#adding that tag just for old eva......... just in case just in case

[soumuchforthat]

4eva

[spencersprentiss]

Best. Present. Ever. (Roommate!Spencer X Reader)

a/n: I know I’m cutting it a little close, but I had this idea and really wanted to get it out. I really hope you guys like it and aren’t to mad at me for putting off “Where is my mind?” for this. Unsub!Spencer doesn’t really scream Christmas. 

Summary: y/n has feelings for their coworker and roommate. So Jack decides to help them out a little. 

Word count: 1310

“Thank you y/n, this means a lot. Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to make it up to you?” Hotch yells from Jacks’ room while helping him get dressed. You pull your vision from your bouncing leg back to the rest of the room. 

“Of course not, I’m happy to help!” You call back as thumps descend the stairs. In seconds Jack is jumping the second to last step and looking back at Hotch. 

“Dad, I’m gonna pee before I leave with y/n!” You’re smiling as he races down the hall towards the bathroom and Hotch sits beside you to put his shoes on. 

“Really, thank you so much. We’re rarely home from a case, and when we are I’m here with Jack. Normally Haley would get all of Jacks’ presents so it just slipped my mind this year.” He lowers his voice, to assure his son can’t hear or out of guilt, you can’t tell. You rest your hand on his shoulder and sigh. 

“I know, but hey, we’re all here to help and I promise. You just get through this, and it’ll all get easier from there.” He nods and wipes the tears from his eyes.  

“I’m ready!” Jack yells, bounding toward you and pushing you back on the couch. “I missed you.” He states as his arms squeeze your shoulders tightly. Hotch smiles at the display of affection from his son. 

“I missed you too little man!” You laugh and start to tickle him. “You wanna come with me to pick up my gift for uncle Spencer?” You ask as his laughter dies down. He nods enthusiastically and you grin. 

“Let’s get going!” He grabs your hand and pulls you off the couch.  

--

"Did you get it?" Your voice rings cautiously from the door. You bite your lip and tighten your grip on Jacks' hand in anticipation. 

"Yes! Oh god y/n it's perfect. He's going to love it!" Oz calls across the shop and you drop Jacks' hand, taking off in a sprint. 

"Let me see!" You yell as Jack makes his way to the kids spot in the back of the store to pet the cat. 

"Original press, perfect condition, y/n it's an original copy." Her voice fills with amazement as you take the book from her hand. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe inscribed in gold on the blue felt spine. 

"I swear, if you don't give him that note that you spent hours writing, I'll kill you." She laughs and your heart drops. 

"What if I give it to him and he says he doesn't love me too?" You ask, running your fingers along the corners of the book. 

"Trust me, he's going to. He loves you kiddo." She smiles warmly at you and you nod. 

"I hope you're right." You huff, the patter of feet cuts off your conversation. 

"y/n, I'm thirsty." Jack smiles up at you and Oz pulls an apple juice from the fridge. 

"So did what I gave you cover it, or do you need more?" You wince at the thought of how expensive the book in your hands should be. 

"I took care of the rest hon, you just tell that boy you love him and give me two dollars for the kids juice." She smiles while pointing at Jack. 

You nod, anxiety still littering your body. 

"Hey, he's going to tell you he loves you too." She pats your shoulder and you smile, giving her the money for Jacks' drink. 

--

"Okay! It's time for presents!" Garcia shouts and you all gather in Rossis' living room. 

Jack sits in your lap as Morgan sorts through the gifts. Lots of laughs and 'thank you's carry across the room as the team opens their gifts. 

"Oh my god-" You hear Spencer inhale sharply and your gaze snaps up. He's looking at the book, grinning like an idiot with tears in his eyes. "You found one." He looks up and you, and your heart clenches at the joy in his eyes. 

"Yeah, took me like five months." You laugh, everyone in the room watching the scene unfold. 

"y/n… this probably cost so much. Why would you do this? I would have taken socks." He laughs and you giggle. Another voice cuts you off before you can speak. 

"Cause that's the stuff you do when you're in love. Right, dad?" Jack looks up from his new art set, courtesy of JJ, to his father. You feel your heart stop, and Spencers' jaw drops slightly. The room stills. 

"How about we go outside?" Hotch laughs, grabbing his son and making a b-line for the back door, the others tailing close behind. 

"y/n?"

"Yeah?" You ask softly, keeping your gaze on the floor. 

"Have you opened your present from me yet?" He asks you, as if it's the simplest thing in the world. You shake your head. "I think you should." 

Your hands are shaking as you take the box from your pile. 

"Didn't I wrap this?" You ask, glancing up at him. He nods, still watching you intently. 

"Wrapped your own present and didn't even know." He nods and you force a laugh. 

When you open the box, you're met with a pair of custom FBI converse that you had asked for a few months prior. It was something you had off-handedly mentioned to Spencer while laying on the couch one night. 

“Spence, they’re amazing!” You smile up at him, and he nods back at the box, telling you to continue. The shoes are placed on a small tin box, one you hadn’t seen in almost two years. 

You make quick work, pushing the shoes away and opening them. Sure enough, the inside is filled with an assortment of things from your childhood. Notes, report cards, pictures, small things you had collected over the 4 years of highschool. 

“I-” The words catch in your throat as you look through all of the things you considered to be long gone. “I lost these when we moved into the new apartment.” You look up at him, and he had tears running down his face to match yours. 

“You were so upset when we lost it in the move. All of the things you kept close were gone. So a few months ago, I tracked it. I know every single person who touched it between the old apartment and now.” A sob escapes you and he bites his lip. “I added a note.” 

He moves to the spot beside you and takes the lid softly from your hand. He pulls a small note from it’s tape, and hands it to you. You look into his eyes, and you see how anxious he really is. 

“I’m not going to read this.” You whisper softly, and set it in the box. He looks shocked, and for a second it feels like you stepped on a puppy. 

“Why not?” He asks, pain is his voice, more tears wheeling in his eyes. 

“Because I wrote you a note too, and now it’s under my mattress, I’m not going to tell you that I’ve been in love with you for five years by giving you a note. And you’re not either. You state, and before you can continue, his lips are on yours.  It feels right. The two of you, like this, holding each other. 

“I love you.” He breathes against your lips. 

“I love you to-” Another voice cuts off yours. 

“Guys! Hurry up it’s fucking freezing out here!” Emily screams, and a shout of ‘language’ comes from Garcia and JJ. You roll your eyes as footsteps carry into the house. 

“Aaron, I’d like to have a chat with your son.” You smile, crossing your arms over your chest. The room fills with laughter and Spence holds your hand. Best. Present. Ever. 

Tags: So i don’t really have a taglist for one-shots because this is my first one, so I’m just going to use the series tags. Please let me know if you don’t want to be tagged for these!

  @fish-on-trees  @pumpkin-goob @reidsmissmatchedsocks​ @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel​ @eva-cadeau​

[the-marvel-imagines-blog]

Madness | Chpt. 11

Requests are Open

Chapter Title: “The Choice”

Pairing: Loki x Original Female Character

Word Count: 6,802

Warnings: ???

Name Pronunciations: Hjalmar: “He-all-mar” | Aaldir: “All-deer” | Ephinea: “Eh-fin-ee-uh”

Summary: Eva rediscovers a piece of herself she thought died long ago. In another vision of the past, she witnesses Aaldir making the hardest choice of his life.

A/N: This chapter, as you may notice, has pieces of dialogue and story from “Iron Man 3″, and while this may be frustrating, Eva’s part to play in the events that take place are vital to the story itself. I’m leaning away from some of the source material and trying to add as much original dialogue into it as possible in the hopes of bringing some originality to it. Once again, I’m sorry for the hiatus. Work, school, and family responsibilities have taken up all of my time, and I’ve had no time or energy to write. I like to stay ahead by three or four chapters, but I’ve only written and edited up to chapter 13 at this point, which is frustrating for me. To those of you who waited patiently, reaching out to check on me, YOU are what makes the hard days seem easier. Once again, you’re all so amazing for even reading this in the first place. I love all of you so, so, so much <3 -Ellie

Tagged: @teddyboobear @alledeglyfunny @xletmetaste-yoursmilex @itsknife2meetu @mynameisyara @j-j-ehlby-writes (anyone who wants to be tagged can message me and ask. It’s not a problem at all)

*Eva’s POV*

I walked through the streets of the town with Harley on my right and Tony on my left. Harley had insisted on walking next to me, and I could feel him growing closer and closer with every passing step. Every time we passed by another person-regardless of whether it was a man, woman, or a child his age-Harley grew closer to me. It was a feeling I never thought I would have again, not after her. When Harley drew closer to me, I felt his need for security. I felt the way his heart raced as if it were my own, and I realized that the call of life was so strong because it was him. The life energy within him was more radiant than the brightest star in the universe. Whenever he drew closer to me, I rested my hand on his back just as my father did to me when I was young. It was a gesture filled with reassurance and encouragement.

In the silence that fell between us, I was reminded of the vision from earlier that evening. It felt as if my very soul became frigidly cold at the mere thought of the vision, at the thought that my mind could have been playing the cruelest of tricks on me. I had been searching for answers my entire life-always wishing, always waiting. I wished for them to walk back into my life, and I would have forgiven them the moment I met them. I would have rushed into their arms and embraced them. Of course, there were questions I had for them, but I still loved them. I couldn’t fathom where the vision came from or if it was even true. I could only believe that the vision was just a hallucination that I was seeing because of the injury I had sustained. It felt like it was tearing me apart on the inside, so I surmised that there was some sort of correlation between the two. Perhaps I was going mad.

Noticing that I was lost in thought, Tony began to speak as we walked, hoping to pull me back to the present, “the sandwich was fair, the spring was a little rusty, the rest of the materials, I'll make do,” he said, his words aimed at Harley. Still, it gave me something to listen besides the thoughts that raced through my mind. Tony came to an abrupt halt, gazing down at the 12 year old boy, “by the way, when you said your sister had a watch, l was kind of hoping for something a little more adult than that,” he noted, gesturing to the device on his arm that was fitting for a little girl.

“Kaia’s six!” Harley defended his little sister with bravery. While he clearly had a fondness for Tony, he had a passion when he defended his sister, one I admired, one that reminded me of my older brother.

My protective instincts kicked in when I remembered the small golden-haired child we left at the house. I hadn’t been so bold as to introduce myself, as Tony and I waited outside, but I saw her through the window as she wrapped her arms around Harley before he left. She was a petite girl with golden hair that was much wilder than Harley’s. While his golden brown hair fell in waves, her hair was in curls. She looked like a little porcelain doll, like the ones Loki and I used to admire in the window of a shop that was owned by a man who offered us a room in his home while we were visiting. He never knew that we were Asgardian, but we took up his offer, always staying with him when we visited Midgard. His death was hard on Loki, but we were with him until the end. Albert. I shook the thought of him from my mind as I glanced down at Harley, “are you certain she’s okay by herself?” I asked, a wave of fear washing over me.

He nodded his head, “we’ve been on our own for a long time. Mom used to leave me at home by myself with Kaia when I was her age and she was just a baby. She’s done it before, so she’ll be okay,” he answered, easing my nerves somewhat. Still, I didn’t like the idea of a child being left on their own, especially so young. Part of his answer also broke my heart. The puzzle was beginning to come together, a puzzle that I didn’t even know was solving itself in every word Harley spoke and in every action of his. He turned his eyes back over to Tony, “anyway, her watch is a limited edition. I got it for her on her birthday,” he added, a proud smile forming on his lips, “so, uh...when can we talk about New York?” he asked, fumbling over his words in an attempt to bring up the subject as naturally as possible.

“Maybe never,” Tony answered, his charm shutting down as I felt him tense up at the mere thought of having to discuss what happened in the city that day, “relax about it,” he insisted, shoving his hands in his pockets as we walked down an alley that was dimly lit at the end. As I was sensitive to all of Tony’s emotions, I closed some of the space between us and looped my arm through his. At the small gesture, I felt his unease begin to fall away.

Harley-not having sensed Tony’s distress the way I could-continued, “what about the Avengers? Can we talk about them?” he asked, offering the billionaire another option if he didn’t want to talk directly about New York. I sensed his curiosity, which was something that always intrigued me about humans in general. It was as if no amount of information or knowledge was ever enough for them. Tony was like that, and Harley was also like that.

In that moment, under the will of the demons that lurked in Tony’s mind, he was unable to see how many similarities he shared with the boy. He shrugged off Harley’s question, “I dunno. Later!” he snapped in a hushed voice before pulling his opposite hand out of his pocket and holding it up to get even more space between himself and Harley. It was his way of measuring the distance between himself and the harmless child who was threatening to pull up some of the memories Tony worked so tirelessly to bury, “hey, kid, give me a little space, okay?” he asked, trying to settle his quickening heart rate.

I squeezed his arm in my own before catching his gaze. His brown eyes were filled with fear under the rim of the hat Harley had found for him. I doubted many people would recognize us, but Tony was adamant about being certain we were undetected. Harley understood and quickly found a hat. While Tony preferred I wore one as well, I denied it, knowing that my plain Midgardian attire would be more than enough cover for me. I had left Soulkeeper in the shack to avoid drawing unwanted attention, and I hid behind an illusion of painfully average clothing. My long brown curls were pulled back into a low bun as I tried to distance myself as far away from my well-known persona as possible. Tony, who was dressed in common street clothes, was trying to do the same.

The moment Tony’s eyes met mine, they softened. He knew that he was being harsh to the young boy who had no qualms with taking us in and showing us the same hospitality many people would refuse. I saw the regret in his eyes when he heard his own voice playing back in his mind as if it had been recorded. Something about it bothered him. Noticing that he was falling into another unhealthy train of thought, I squeezed his arm once more, pulling him back to the present, to me. He turned his head to look straight ahead at our destination, and I knew that it was for the best to leave him be. I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t want to talk about it with Harley present, and that was if he would be willing to talk about it at all.

Glancing down at the young genius, I took note of the gentle features of his face in the time he was oblivious to my gaze. There was a softness of his cheeks, one I could feel without having to touch him. I knew that feeling. I watched as his eyebrows furrowed when he lost himself in his own thoughts. He wouldn’t make a sound, but his eyebrows would pull together, and he would scrunch his nose involuntarily. I found myself wanting to know what was going on in his mind, much like I did with everyone I had ever known, but especially with her. I saw as the fear twisted his features every time he thought he heard something behind us, every time the sound of footsteps became too close for comfort. I felt him grow tense, and his big blue eyes widened in fear before he pushed it back with the same stubborn strength that I’d witnessed in Tony and Loki-the same stubborn strength I saw in Hjalmar every day of my life.

Hearing faint footsteps behind us, I watched as Harley’s head snapped around in terror that someone was going to sneak up on us, a fear that should not have fallen onto his shoulders. I knew it wasn’t a case of “monsters hiding in the dark” but that he had seen monsters in the light, and he knew what the could turn into in the dark. I felt his pain and his paranoia. I wanted to know, but it wasn’t my place, nor was it the right time. As soon as he glanced behind us, my eyes travelled to the entrance of the alley to see that it was just a simple passerby. Upon seeing that we were in no imminent danger, I rested my hand on Harley’s back and caught his gaze with mine, “they’d have to get through me,” I murmured in a voice low enough for only him to hear. Tony was too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear me, but it was specifically to calm Harley.

Tony came to an abrupt halt at the end of the alley, and my eyes scanned the scene. Five shadows-silhouettes of people-were imprinted on the stone walls. Surrounding the walls were candles, wreaths, pictures, and numerous items to symbolize mourning. The outlines looked almost like art, but from the hitch in Tony’s breath, I knew it wasn’t. He glanced over at Harley, who broke away from me and walked over to the sizeable crater, “what's the official story here? What happened?” Tony asked as I released his arm.

He followed Harley over to the crater, but when the young boy sat on the edge of the crater, Tony continued to stand. I knelt at the side of the crater and rested my hand against the Earth beneath us. I felt myself becoming tied to the spirit of the world beneath me once more before a horrible pain washed over my entire being. It didn’t stem from the wound on my abdomen, but it came from deep within my soul. As my eyes scanned the outlines, I heard terrible screams, almost as if they were happening in the alley at that very moment. I felt the heat, and I felt the pain. I didn’t see what happened, but I felt it. I felt the terror, the hopelessness, the loss of life.

When I finally managed to pull my hand away from the ground, I lowered myself down next to Harley as he began to answer the question, “I guess this guy named Chad Davis used to live roundabouts. He won a bunch of medals in the army,” he explained, picking at the cold dirt. He looked uncomfortable recounting the events, but Tony would be just as uncomfortable hearing them. From the outside looking in, he seemed to have it all under control, and it may have looked as if loss of life wouldn’t affect a former weapons manufacturer. However, every casualty-every innocent life lost-affected him...just as it affected me. I admired that about him, but wished that he’d never been given that burden in the first place. I knew the happiness it could cost. Harley continued, “one day, folks said he went crazy and made a bomb. Then, he blew himself up...right here,” he added, pointing into the crater.

Tony ran his fingertips along the stone walls, along the shadows left of the people who had died, “six people died, right? Including Chad Davis?” he inquired once more.

Harley nodded his head, “yeah, yeah,” he answered, a bit confused as to what the genius in front of us was trying to get at. I knew that Tony was on a path, but I never knew quite where he was headed. He always had a way of catching me by surprise, and no matter how much he would deny it, he had that in common with the titan who came before him.

Tony shook his head and walked over to us, glancing down at Harley and I before his eyes connected with the shadows again, “yeah. That doesn't make sense,” he sighed, sitting down on the opposite side of Harley, “think about it: six dead, but there are only five shadows,” he explained, pointing at the shadows on the stone walls. It sent a wave of pain through my body to think of the victims but also the man responsible for taking those lives. I thought of the path he walked that brought him to an alley with a bomb. I thought of the devastation that the families must’ve felt because I knew that living was the hardest part.

“People said these shadows are like the marks of souls going to heaven,” Harley stated, staring at each of the shadows. His eyes held all the sadness in them that I felt for the cruelty that was exhibited in that place. Harley was just as susceptible to that. He sighed, “except the bomb guy. He went to hell, on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there’s only five,” he explained, wringing his hands in his lap as he drew further into the sadness he felt over the senseless killing. I knew, even from our short time together, that he was a strong child, that he would pull himself back. However, I also knew that I couldn’t watch him sit in sorrow for much longer without reaching out and pulling him back like I did with Tony. While I didn’t know Harley the same way I knew Tony, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from helping Harley because I could feel his life essence.

Tony scoffed at the explanation, “do you really buy that?” he asked

I furrowed my eyebrows, glaring over at him in utter shock that he would be so cruel to Harley. My jaw hung slack, and for the first time in a long time, I felt speechless. I let out a sigh, “Tony!” I exclaimed, upset that he wouldn’t empathize with Harley and treat him like the kid he was. There was no reason to push him into a different frame of mind. If Harley found comfort believing it, why would he try to spoil that? I could understand Tony’s skepticism, but I knew why people had their beliefs in things that were more abstract instead of concrete. I knew places like that existed to an extent. Our fallen went to Valhalla or Folkvangr if they died in battle. Some went to the Realm of Death, where they were looked after by Death herself. I found comfort knowing that my brother was still doing what he loved most even in death: fighting.

Tony’s eyes met mine, and he shrugged. Harley glanced over at me and offered me a sweet smile, and I knew he would shrug it off. Even if Harley didn’t believe the theory, I was still a bit upset by how Tony approached the situation, “it’s what everyone says,” Harley replied, a tense silence falling on the three of us as we sat around the crater. Tony’s eyes continued to scan the wall, my eyes scanned the constellations Loki and I would look at every night we visited Midgard, and Harley’s eyes scanned the crater. He cleared his throat, and I focused my attention back on him, “you know what this crater reminds me of?” he asked, clearly aiming his question at Tony.

“No idea. I'm not-I don’t care,” Tony huffed, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand as he continued to study the shadows on the wall.

Instead of accepting Tony’s clear indifference in that moment, Harley continued, a wide grin on his face as he remembered a time that seemed so long ago for me, “that giant Wormhole in, um, in New York,” he reminisced, his excited eyes searching Tony for any sign of interest to talk about the time he tried so desperately to forget. Harley didn’t understand the toll it took on all of us, and we had taken it upon ourselves to bear the burdens of the world for that time. However, Tony was just a man-an extraordinary man, but a man nonetheless. Harley wouldn’t know the impact it had on him, “does it remind you?” he pressed.

I watched Tony intently as he rubbed his face, trying to push the memories back as they began to resurface, and I knew this would be a slippery slope. He barely talked to me about his troubles after New York, but I saw what it did to him. I had my doubts that he would bend to Harley’s will so easily. He sighed and glanced over at the young boy, “that’s manipulative. I don’t want to talk about it,” he stated, and I noticed the slight tremble in his hands.

Harley tensed up, noticing that something was happening, “are they coming back? The aliens?” he asked, panic clear in his voice.

The moment I heard his fear was the moment I knew I had to step in. The more anxious Harley became, the more anxious Tony would become, and vice versa. In order to keep it from spiralling out of control, I knew that I had to keep Harley as calm as possible and let Tony decompress, “no,” I answered, not knowing if my words were entirely true. I couldn’t give him a definitive answer because I didn’t know for certain if aliens would find their way back to Midgard. Asgardians-Loki and I-had been travelling to Midgard for millenia. Still, I didn’t want Harley to worry about his safety.

“Maybe,” Tony answered, completely breaking down the wall of safety and security I was trying to build for Harley’s sake. The answer made the young boy jump, but I wasn’t sure if it was the answer itself or the harshness of Tony’s voice, “can you stop? Remember what I-”

Tony’s voice began to fade away as my ears began to ring again. I felt the fear creep up in my chest as I wondered what could possibly be happening this time. The wound on my abdomen began to throb again, and the searing pain shot through my body, almost like a poison flowing through my veins, threatening to tear me apart from the inside out. It felt like my body was beginning to decay, but I was forced to live through it. I gritted my teeth, trying to avoid making any noticeable signs of discomfort. It was bad enough this was happening when Tony needed my support, but I couldn’t stop it. I heard a loud crash behind us, and my attention tore away from the middle of the crater over to where the alley met the street. However, I watched as the street seemingly disintegrated, and the view from within my childhood home took its place.

The loud bang that drew my attention was from the door of the cottage being busted open, and the Allfather himself stood in the doorway. I pulled myself up onto my feet and began walking over to the scene in desperate need of answers to the hundreds of questions I had been asking since I was a child. I could no longer feel the cold air nipping at my skin, the crunch of packed snow beneath my feet, or the pain from the wound that seemed to bring me these visions; all I could feel was the warmth of my home. I watched as my father whipped around, cradling one child in his arms. As I grew closer, I noticed the other child in a small crib that he had crafted next to an identical one that belonged to the child in his arms. I could vaguely remember rummaging around the basement when I was younger and finding two cribs, but I always assumed one was mine, and the other was Hjalmar’s when he was a baby. What if this was all true?

“Aaldir,” the Allfather greeted my father with a slight nod of his head, as he entered the house uninvited. Through my own personal experiences with him, I knew how harsh he could be, but I had never witnessed this level of apathy from him before. He gestured to his Kingsguard to wait outside for him as he closed the door behind him.

I watched as my father became visibly tense, holding the child in his arms tighter against his body, and I felt a warmth wash over me, “what here requires your presence, my King?” he asked, his voice steady as ever. In all my life, I never knew my father to be one to succumb to fear. He always explained to me that fear was what drove him to his most unvarnished place of peace, and that was where he drew his calm demeanor from. Still, I could tell that he was fighting the urge to tremble as he remained completely still.

Odin glanced around the house, “where’s your boy?” he asked

“Did he do something wrong?” my father asked, his eyebrows furrowing as a look of concern fell upon his features, “if he did, I promise to speak with him when he returns home,” he said, the side of his mouth twitching ever so slightly. That was how I knew he was being deceitful. Hjalmar was home. I felt his presence as strongly as I felt my father’s. I knew that he lied to protect Hjalmar, something he had also done for me when I was growing up. He knew Odin’s wrath, and he would never subject either of us to it.

The Allfather shook his head, “Hjalmar did nothing wrong, but I didn’t want to do this in front of him,” he said, and my eyes widened just as quickly as my father’s did. Odin stepped toward him, and his voice lowered, “I’m sending one of them back,” he murmured.

“What?” Aaldir asked, clearly not understanding what Odin was talking about. Deep in my heart, I knew what he meant, but I didn’t want to believe it. I think my father understood what he meant as well, and when Odin’s eye landed on the child in the crib, it reinforced what he was talking about, “you cannot be serious!” he nearly yelled, causing the child in his arms to squirm as he nearly leapt between the crib and Odin’s darkening gaze.

“Do I look to be lighthearted?” Odin asked, taking another step closer to my father as well as the two infants in his care, “you have a choice, Aaldir: the boy,” he said, gesturing to the child in the crib before his eye landed on the baby in my father’s arms, “or the girl,” he finished.

That was when my father became hostile, “what gives you the right to take one of my children away from me?” he asked, challenging the King of Asgard. I had never seen him act with so much anger toward the Allfather, but it was deserved.

“I have every right because I am your King!” Odin’s voice boomed, nearly shaking the entire house before he collected himself and proceeded with a more distinguished tone of voice, “and you seem to forget that they are not your children, they are under my care, and you are merely looking after them for the time being,” he reminded my father. They were words that were meant to sting, “besides, it’s bad enough with one abomination in this realm, but two is unacceptable!”

“You gave Death your word that both children would be under your care,” Aaldir reminded him, bringing up the vision I had witnessed in the woods that same night.

“I changed my mind,” Odin replied with a cold tone, as if he didn’t care about the promise he made.

Aaldir was visibly frightened, but a look of extreme sorrow crossed over his face at the thought of having one of his children taken from him. Just as quickly as he became hostile only a moment prior, I watched the tears fill his eyes, “please, I’m begging you to leave them with me. I’m more than capable of handling these two on my own, even with Hjalmar added into the mix. I have not once complained that they were too heavy a burden. I want to raise them. Please, just...don’t take them,” he begged, not pausing even once as he begged for his children.

My heart broke as Odin came face-to-face with him, not a hint of sympathy in his eye, “do you know what they could do together? These two could become more powerful than you or I could ever possibly imagine, and the only way to keep that from happening is to separate them. I’m not doing this to tear your family apart, but I’m doing it because they will have the combined force of the entire Asgardian army, including the Gods and Goddesses themselves. They could tear apart entire worlds, cause death and destruction wherever they go, torture and maim as-”

Aaldir cut him off, “or they could become the most powerful force for good that the universe has ever seen. What makes you so quick to assume that their power will be used to aid the forces of evil that exist out there? What makes you think that even if they had began to fall into the clutches of anger and hatred, I couldn’t intervene? Do you believe me to be so inexperienced that I couldn’t protect them as well as the realm itself?” he asked, anger and sorrow clear in his voice. Before the Allfather could speak, he continued, “I have sensed nothing but light within them, and I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t surprise me. I was expecting darkness, especially knowing where they came from, but I have sensed nothing but love, light, and curiosity from both of them. They weren’t born evil, and I know I can raise them to be good...I just need you to give me the chance,” he begged.

After a long moment of silence stretched out between the two of them, Odin shook his head. I saw the conflict within him, but he was still attached to his idea, “I have faith in you, Aaldir. You have fought by my side since you could wield a sword, and you have helped me lead the Asgardian people since the beginning. I know that you would do your very best to change the path they were on when they felt the call of the darkness within them. Still, I cannot leave that up to chance, for I know that they will become more powerful than you or I could ever hope to be. I cannot sit idly by and wait to see if they will spread peace or destruction, to see if they decimate Asgard or turn it into the most beautiful realm of them all,” Odin explained, a frown etched into his expression, “I will offer up one of the children to their father, and I will keep the existence of the other a secret. You may decide which one stays with you, but they must be separated,” he added.

I watched as my father trembled with unchecked devastation. He knew, as well as I did, that there was nothing he could say or do to change the mind or the intent of the Allfather. Still, he wasn’t going to sit idly by as Odin pawned off one of his children, “I’m begging you not to do this. I can’t choose between them, not when I know the fate of the one who does not stay in my care. They’re good, and they will remain good and pure if they stay with me. All I ask is that you reconsider what you’re doing. You’re sending a child to their death,” he explained, trying to convince Odin to think about what he was doing.

“Choose!” Odin demanded in a booming voice, “if not, I will decide which one stays and which one will live out their life in the deepest depths of the Asgardian dungeons. Not even I can stand to venture down there and look at the filth. So, you choose, or I can choose. Either way, I’m leaving this house with a child, but I’m giving you the opportunity to decide which one,” he said, and I grimaced. How gracious of him to force my father’s hand like that.

I already knew the outcome, but I couldn’t peel my eyes away from my father. I watched as one stray tear cascaded down his cheek as he turned and looked down at the infant in the crib. He reached down and stroked the child’s cheek with his finger, “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, and I heard the devastation in his voice. He felt like he was failing both children by forfeiting one of them. I had never seen such pure conflict and pain in my father’s eyes before, not even when I saw him after Hjalmar died. He fought back the tears even more as he stared down at the innocent child in the crib, still holding tightly to the one in his arms, “you have protected your sister so much already. I know if you could tell me what to do, you’d tell me to send you instead of her. Someday, she’ll know about you and what you went through to protect her,” he murmured, another tear rolling down his cheek. After a moment of silence, he stepped to the side to allow the child in the crib to be taken.

My heart shattered as Odin reached down and pulled the baby into his arms with a look of disgust flitting across his features. He walked over to the door, opened it, and handed the child over to one of the members of the Kingsguard. Once the deed was done, he turned back to my father, “I have shown both of them mercy by-”

Aaldir cut him off, “you have shown them no mercy!” he boomed, causing the baby in his arms to whine slightly, “and by taking one of them away from me, you have shown me no mercy either,” he growled, his voice lower this time as not to disturb the child. Those words were the same ones I had told Odin in the palace when he refused to pardon Loki and place him into my care.

The look on Odin’s face was similar to the one he wore when I said the same words to him: shocked and displeased. Aaldir had always been his most trusted confidante, and I had always been his best soldier. It was as if we betrayed him by showing him our disappointment in his decisions. He elicited a level of anger and resentment from us that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Upon hearing my father’s unkind words, he stepped back outside but left the door open to say a few last words, “keep it in the woods, and if you must bring it to the palace, don’t take it along the streets and dishonor the Realm. The moment it shows any signs of being what it truly is, kill it!” he ordered, “it is, after all, a monster,” he added before closing the door and leaving my father to place the baby in his arms into the crib that had been empty the entire time.

Once the infant was safe in the crib, he fell to his knees and allowed the tears to fall as he grasped the side of the empty crib. I listened to hurried footsteps rushing down the stairs and watched as a tearful Hjalmar crashed into our father, throwing his arms around his neck. The two of them cried together, Hjalmar not a fool to what just happened. Once the emotions began to settle, our father pulled away from Hjalmar and looked deep into his eyes, grasping his shoulder the way he always did to both of us, “I never want you to forget this. Remember it as you would the color of the grass even once the snow blankets the land. I want you to remember what was taken from you, but let the anger go. She can never know about this. Never.”

The thudding of Tony’s heart pulled me back to the present. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, but they dried almost as soon as I felt Tony’s fear. My heart leapt to my throat as I whirled around to see him scramble up to his feet and run from Harley and in my direction at the end of the alley. I was confused as to what transpired while I was “gone,” and a part of me felt guilty that I hadn’t been present to stop Tony from spiralling that far to begin with. My mind raced with the new knowledge that I had about my past as well as the confusion I felt because I didn’t know if the visions were memories or just fabricated hallucinations that meant nothing. I watched as Tony caught himself on the wall and fell to his knees. The moment he hit the ground, I ran over to him and knelt down next to him, grasping his hand in my own. Like I had on other occasions, I focused my energy on easing his fear and paranoia that was born of uncertainty.

As I closed my eyes and focused on his breathing and heart rate, I felt our life energy intertwining once again. The process of connecting on any level with an individual was personal and intense. The connection created a bond between the other person and myself, and it became more and more durable the more our life energies had the opportunity to connect with one another. Once the paranoia and anxiety diminished, I pulled up a beautiful memory for him. It was of her. I could only glance at it for a moment because if I stayed glued to it for too long, it would tear me apart. Once my eyes opened, they connected with his dark brown ones. In that moment, I knew that he was just as enchanted by me as I was by him. I shared the strong connection with only a handful of people-a love and bond I would have been lucky to experience only once, one that was gifted to me on multiple occasions.

Tony’s dark brown eyes searched mine as he looked for answers to a question I didn’t know. He had an insurmountable level of self-loathe, so he was more than likely questioning why I would have done that for him. He never believed he deserved even a shred of kindness from me or anyone else. I could remember Steve hugging him when I came back to Midgard after the battle of New York. Tony had a really rough day, and Steve asked no questions and offered no words, all he did was wrap his arms around Tony. He lingered there for just a moment, but it was long enough to bring tears to Tony’s eyes. Steve knew how to move people, and his mere presence was enough to elicit some kind of emotion. I knew that all too well. Tony didn’t let the tears fall, but when he dismissed himself, I could hear his faint sniffling. He never believed he deserved compassion and love, but I did everything I could to show him just how much he was cared for.

“What the hell was that?” Harley asked as he ran over to the two of us. His question was directed at Tony, but his blue eyes flickered between both of us.

“Language,” I blurted out, those instincts kicking in.

Tony’s eyes widened with surprise before he snickered in clear amusement at my response. Still, there was a hint of sorrow hiding behind his amusement. He knew. He turned his attention to Harley, “that was 100% your fault,” he remarked, reaching down into the snow and throwing a handful of it at the young boy.

“Don’t start blaming anyone, Tony,” I warned him before glancing over at Harley, “it wasn’t your fault,” I stated, grasping his arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. While I didn’t know what was said that caused Tony’s reaction, I knew that it couldn’t be considered someone’s fault, and to lay the blame at the feet of a child wasn’t right.

“He spazzed me out!” Tony defended himself to me, gesturing at Harley before he locked eyes with the boy, “you spazzed me out,” he accused, letting out a deep breath.

I glanced over at Harley just in time to see the frown take over his face. I knew he already felt guilty for saying something to cause Tony’s outburst, but to have one of his heroes throw it in his face that it was his fault caused him distress. I saw the way he looked at Tony; it was the same way I looked at the man I considered the strongest Avenger. I watched as Harley did everything in his power to impress Tony, thinking that if he were to succeed, it would validate him in some way. To have one of his idols upset with him caused the heat of shame and guilt rise up in his throat. I rested my hand on his back, and he stepped closer to me, accepting my support.

My eyes met Tony’s as those instincts kicked in once more, almost like Tony had snapped at one of my own, “he’s just a kid! He was curious, no different than you when you were a child,” I reminded him, my voice still soft and comforting, not wanting to work Tony up again. He needed me to be gentle with him in that moment, but I wouldn’t put Harley’s heart on the line. I glanced back over at the young boy, “it’s okay, Harley,” I murmured, pulling him closer to me, “maybe next time we should steer clear of the subject. I have plenty of stories I can tell you of Asgard and the many alien races I’ve encountered over the years,” I said, thinking of the battle tales I could tell him, the adventures that made up countless years of my life. I wanted to distract him from asking Tony questions that could upset him, but I also didn’t want his spark to die away.

Tony cleared his throat, and I felt his discomfort over something that I had said or done. I couldn’t put my finger on it as the only thing I did was defend Harley, “okay, back to business. Where were we?” he asked, putting his hat back on and straightening it. His eyes caught Harley’s, and I watched as his false confidence filled his features once more, “the guy who died. Relatives? Mom? Mrs Davis, where is she?” he asked, placing his faith in Harley. I knew it was his way of apologizing without actually saying the words. The Tony I knew, once the facade was stripped away, had no problem apologizing or shedding a tear. Of course, he wore his shame and guilt on his face, but he didn’t put up the barriers around his heart when it was just the two of us, not when I gave him the comfort he so desperately needed. The Tony on the ground was the guarded one, the one who hid his pain with a snarky comment or a sly smile.

Like Loki.

[finn-nelson-for-the-win]

Hello, my lovelies! I had a little bit of time to write this past weekend, so I managed to write this story and make some progress on other stories/ideas I have in the works, which I’m really happy about! So yeah, this is just a fun Modern-Day Music Festival AU that I had the idea to write forever ago but never did until now!

I’m trying to be better about tagging people who want to be tagged, and I’ve decided to start tagging people who have said “I want to be tagged” beginning with the first chapter of the multi-chapter story that I’m gonna be posting relatively soon. If you wanna be added to my tags list and have yet to let me know if you want to be added to my tags list on this post or a something I posted in the last month or so, feel free to let me know! (I also have not added people to the tags list if you liked the tags list post, because I didn’t want to assume anything unless you directly asked to be tagged, but if you do in fact wanna be added to my tags list, just let me know!)

You can find all of my writing here if you wanna check out some of my other recent stories (it’s not fully updated, sorry, but you can also peruse my “my writing” tag to find everything I’ve written).

***

I Don’t Wanna Wait for the Endless Summer

After watching her best mate standing in front of her full-length mirror for at least ten minutes, alternating between holding a few different pairs of denim shorts up to her body, Rae huffed in frustration. “Honestly, babes. Just pick one! The last few options you showed me all looked about the same!” Rae complained without looking up from the screen of her cell phone in front of her. “It’s not that easy, Rae! I can’t decide if the look I’m going for is ‘stylish and casual’ or ‘stylish, casual, and sexy’!” “Chloe, we’re going to an outdoor music festival in the middle of summer. By the end of the day, you’ll be so gross and covered in dirt, your sweat, and other people’s sweat and spilled drinks that it won’t even matter which shorts you decide to wear.” “Maybe, but at least I can start off the day looking cute!” Chloe replied earning an eye roll from Rae as she chose which shorts she would be wearing and returned the others to her closet. “What time are we supposed to meet the gang to head to the festival together?” “Twenty minutes ago,” Rae said as Chloe stepped away from her closet wearing the shorts she had decided on. “Really? No problem, you can go ahead and text Archie to let him know that we’re on our way over there now!” *** Chloe and Rae pulled up to Archie’s house and Chloe parked her car on the street. “Well look who decided to finally show up!” Finn called as he stood up from the curb and flicked his cigarette into the street. Rae scoffed as she slammed the passenger door and looked towards Chloe on the opposite side of the car. “Please remind me why I agreed to go to this stupid fucking music festival knowing that Finn ‘complete twat’ Nelson was part of the deal?” Rae groaned. “You didn’t think that the music festival was stupid when you saw the band line-up for the Endless Summer Festival, so you’re not fooling anyone,” Chloe replied as she waved at the gang where they were gathered outside Archie’s house a short distance away. “Not to mention that if it weren’t for Finn and Chop, we wouldn’t even have these tickets. Finn is part of the gang too, Rae, even if you two can never seem to get along.” “I guess you’re right. Let’s just get on with it and try to make the best of the day, yeah? I wanted to go to Endless Summer Fest for the music and to hang out with the gang before we’re all too busy to see each other and not even Finn can screw that up for me!” Rae replied as she and Chloe approached the gang as they finished deciding who would be driving together to the festival. *** Rae stepped out of the passenger seat of Archie’s car and walked around to stretch her legs while she waited for the others. Before the gang had left Archie’s house, they had been trying to decide on the best way for them to drive up to the festival in two vehicles and Rae had been very vocal about her appreciation that Archie volunteered to drive up with her and Chloe. Spending the day in the general vicinity of Finn would be testing Rae’s patience enough, so the last thing she needed was to be locked in the same vehicle as him for over an hour on the drive up to the festival as well. “Let’s get a move on, lads! Thanks to Archie driving like my mum, we’re already gonna miss the first band performing on the main stage by the time we get in the gates,” Chop joked as he walked past Archie’s car alongside Izzy with Finn trailing a short distance behind. As the gang approached the queue where their tickets were scanned, the music from the main stage became increasingly louder until the large stage surrounded by a massive crowd of people was visible a short distance away in the wide open grassy field. “I’m gonna go buy a schedule from the tent over there so we can plan out what bands we want to see on which stages,” Archie said as he walked away from the gang and towards a small tent close to the entrance to the festival. Rae stopped walking and looked out at the massive crowds of people gathered around the five stages and various pop-up shops selling food and band merchandise in awe. “Is it everything you thought it’d be, Rae?” Chop asked as he walked up beside Rae and draped an arm across her shoulders. “It’s amazing, Chop. I could never thank you enough for getting us these tickets for the Endless Summer Fest months after the tickets available to the public had sold out.” She replied as she turned and pulled Chop in for a hug. “I can’t take all the credit. It helps to know the right people, but Finn really did all the hard work and pulled the necessary strings to score us free tickets!” “I suppose you’re right,” Rae replied reluctantly. “You’re welcome, by the way,” Finn said as he walked up beside where Chop and Rae stood and intentionally ran into Rae’s shoulder as he passed them, “not that I actually expected you to have any manners or show appreciation for me offering you a free ticket as well, May.” “What a prick,” Rae muttered as she removed herself from Chop’s embrace and walked further down the small grass hill to catch up with where Izzy and Chloe were standing. “Wow, this place is massive! I hope we don’t get lost!” Izzy said as she looked around at all the stages and tents set up as far as the eye could see. “I’m sure we’ll be fine as long as we stick together,” Rae replied with a small reassuring smile. “The last thing we need is any of you getting lost or something, and from what I recall from past years the cell phone reception in this area is shit, so make sure you always use the buddy system and stick with the group!” Finn replied, earning a scoff from Rae. “Perfect. We’re using the buddy system like we’re six bloody years old again, are we?” “Looks like it. At least it’s right at your maturity level, right May?” Finn quipped before walking away. *** After the gang had planned out which bands they wanted to see and determined where each band would be performing and when, they had mapped out the best strategies to ensure that they had the best views of the stage for the more important bands they were waiting to see. “How long do we have until the next set we’re gonna see?” Rae asked as she looked over Chloe’s shoulder at the list of bands and set times printed on it. “Uh, close to an hour, just like the last time you asked a few minutes ago,” Chloe replied with a chuckle. “I’m sorry, I’m just getting tired of sitting here waiting. None of the stages have anyone worth watching right now and the band currently playing is utter shit.” “Finally something I agree with you on,” Finn muttered as he pulled his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and brought one up to his lips to light it. “Well if you two are both so miserable, you should go look around at some of the vendors or go buy something to eat or drink or something. If we want to have a good spot in the crowd, a few of us will have to stay here to keep the space, but if a few of you want to wander around that’s fine.” Archie replied as he switched from talking to Rae and Finn to the gang as a whole. “I can stay here,” Chloe said. “We’ll both stay too,” Izzy added after looking at Chop to see if he had a preference. “So it’s settled. You two can go off exploring for a bit and the four of us will keep our spots in front of the stage,” Archie said to Rae and Finn, “Try not to kill each other before we’re able to see all the bands that we came here to watch, alright?” “Ugh, whatever. Do you at least want us to get you all some drinks or something while we’re walking around?” A chorus of “sure” and beer orders resounded from the gang and Rae tried to commit everyone’s requests to memory before beginning to walk away with Finn trailing a short distance behind. “Oh, and one more thing!” Archie called after them, causing Finn and Rae to turn back around, “Don’t forget to use the buddy system!” Rae groaned and continued walking, but she did not miss the shit-eating grin Archie gave them or the laughter from the rest of the gang coming behind her. *** “Can this line move any slower?” Rae muttered to herself as she stared at the line to buy beer and other beverages from the vendor next to one of the smaller stages that bands were performing on. “I dunno, but I could check with them and see if they could call in the favor for ya,” Finn replied sarcastically. “Whatever,” Rae replied with an eye roll as she turned away from the line to face the stage closest to them. In the time that she and Finn had been standing in line for drinks, the band that had been on that stage finished their set and a new one was already a couple songs into their own set. “Good afternoon! I see a lot of new faces out there, so in case you don’t already know, we’re Eva and the Shouty Humans!” A petite woman with a hot pink pixie cut hairstyle called loudly into the microphone. “Wow, I can see where they got that band name. She’s rather ‘shouty’.” Finn mumbled. “I’m fairly certain she’s ‘Eva’ in the band name, so if she’s already this much of a screamer, I hate to imagine how shouty her bandmates are!” Rae added causing Finn to chuckle. As Rae listened to the loud, screaming punk music of Eva and the Shouty Humans she was pleasantly surprised to learn that their music was actually pretty decent. The line for beer had been slow-moving, but by the time they neared the front of the line, both she and Finn had actually become interested in watching the band’s performance. “They weren’t half bad,” Finn mused as the band left the stage. “I don’t know that I would’ve listened to them if I stumbled upon them under different circumstances, but I think they put on a great show,” Rae agreed. Rae felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out with a small groan. “What is it?” Finn asked with a small smirk pulling on his lips at Rae’s response. “Chloe is getting impatient and texting me,” Rae replied before returning her attention back to her phone screen. >WHERE >ARE >YOU >GUYS Rae rolled her eyes and typed out her response, sending one word at a time as well because two can play at that game. <WE’RE <FUCKING <GETTING <DRINKS As she clicked send on the final single-word text message, the symbol on the top of her phone indicating that she had cell service disappeared and the messages that she typed were taking much longer than expected to send. “Oi, I heard it’s supposed to rain today,” one of the people in front of Rae in line said to their friend in line with them. “Is that so? Well hopefully it’s not as bad as the storm the night before Endless Summer last year. They had to postpone for weeks because the damage to one of the stages was so bad!” Both having eavesdropped on the conversation in front of them, Rae and Finn simultaneously looked up at the sky to see if there were any traces of clouds or signs that a storm was on its way. Rae noticed that Finn had done the same thing she had, so she gently nudged his side with her elbow to get his attention, making him chuckle sheepishly. “Alright, you two. What can I get for ya?” asked one of the vendors selling drinks. “Oh, it’s about fucking time,” Rae muttered in relief as she and Finn stepped forward to order the drinks. *** “Do you need me to carry one of the drinks for you?” “Finn, you’re already struggling to balance four cups of beer,” Rae replied, “I think I’ll be fine with carrying these two cups of beer and a bottle of water. But thank you.” Finn and Rae kept walking through the crowds of people trying to get back to the main stage where the rest of the gang was waiting for them, but after a few minutes, Finn stopped walking. “Wait, Rae, I think I just felt water hit my arm. Is it starting to rain?” “You probably just splashed a little bit of beer—oh wait! I felt water hit my face too!” When Rae looked up, she could see that there were more clouds than there had been before, but she continued to feel one drop after another hitting her face in rapid succession. “Hurry! Let’s get under this tent over here, yeah?” Finn suggested as the rain picked up even more. “Where the fuck did this storm come from?” Rae asked once she and Finn were both under one of the tents that was used to sell band merchandise. “It’s the curse of Endless Summer Fest,” replied another voice from behind them, “for the past four consecutive years something has gone wrong during Endless Summer that makes them cancel or postpone and by the looks of this rain, I don’t think this year is the exception!” “Wow, that’s insane!” “Since it looks like we’re all gonna be huddled under this big tent until the rain slows, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Eva,” “Oh! As in Eva from ‘Eva and the Shouty Humans’?” “The very same!” “Very cool! We caught your set earlier today and we both really enjoyed it!” “Thanks man! I appreciate it!” Finn continued chatting briefly with Eva and her bandmates that were under the tent as well while Rae went to the far edge of the tent to watch the pouring rain that was already beginning to pool and make the large grass field muddy. “So much for getting to see all the bands we wanted to today,” Finn muttered as he walked to stand next to Rae and watch the rain, “by the looks of it, they’re gonna have to cancel the rest of the festival tonight.” “Do ya think so?” “Yeah, all the rain and moisture fucks with the sound equipment and the muddy fields are considered a safety hazard.” “Ah, well so much for today being a fun ‘end of summer’ outing for the whole gang,” Rae replied with a slight chuckle. “Tell me about it. After all the trouble I went through to get the tickets for us all to come and now the festival gets canceled. That really is just my luck,” Finn muttered. “Which reminds me,” Rae began, “I know I was being a dick about it earlier, but I really appreciate that you got me a ticket for today as well. I’m sure this all started out as a lads trip until Chop basically begged to bring Izzy along too.” “Hah, this was hardly ever going to be a lads trip,” “What do ya mean?” “Well, uh...let me ask you a question. Who of the gang was actually excited to see any specific bands performing today opposed to just going to the festival overall?” “Well Archie likes a couple of the bands, I think. But I suppose...maybe, just the two of us.” “Exactly. The others would enjoy the festival, I’m sure, but they wouldn’t have the same appreciation and excitement about seeing the bands performing that you or I do.” “So you’re saying that you got tickets for the whole gang to come to Endless Summer...just because you wanted me to come so you had someone to obsess over the music with?” Rae laughed. “Well, ya don’t have to laugh at me,” Finn mumbled.

“Oh, come on!” Rae said as she wrapped her arms around Finn and rested her head on his shoulder, “I’m not laughing to mock you, I just wouldn’t have expected you to go to all that trouble just for me!”

“Would you honestly have agreed to come if I’d just asked you and said it’d be the two of us?” Finn countered. “Most likely not,” Rae replied sheepishly, “I probably would have assumed you had ulterior motives for inviting me and told you to go fuck yourself.” “Exactly, so if I wanted you to come to Endless Summer with me, I knew I had to invite the whole gang. I’ve been planning out what I wanted to say to you today after each band performed all week because I wanted today to be fun and was hoping that if we could find common ground with some of the bands, we could get along for just one day.” “Well, I suppose your plan worked,” Rae replied with a shrug.

“I mean, I think this is the longest you and I have spent time in each other’s company without bickering. It’s kinda nice.” “It is kinda nice, isn’t it?” Rae agreed with a smile, “And even if the festival did get rained out and today was a total disaster, thank you for wanting to invite me as somewhat of a peace offering anyways.” “Any time, Rae!” The two fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the rain slow to an almost complete stop after nearly an hour, but Finn could not help but notice Rae trying to contain a shiver as a breeze blew by. “Are ya cold, Rae?” “A little bit, but I’m fine really. It’s just that my clothes are still damp from when it first started raining.” “Oh, right! I might have something I can lend you...” Finn replied as he pulled his backpack from his shoulders and opened up the main pocket. “No, it’s fine, really!” “Too late!” Finn replied as he pulled a dry flannel shirt from his bag and handed it to her, “I planned for it to get cold in the evening, so I brought along my flannel. It’s a good thing I did too, huh?” “Thanks, Finn. I’ll be sure to give it back later,” Rae replied quietly as she slipped her arms into the sleeves of the flannel and tried to huddle into it for warmth. “Hey! Your name was Finn, right?” Eva asked from a few feet away as she walked up to where Finn and Rae stood, “I just got confirmation that they canceled the rest of the festival today and they’re ushering everyone to the exit now that the rain pretty much stopped. If either of you two need a dry shirt, we’re more than happy to give you one of our band tees, free of charge.” “Oh, yes, please! Thank you!” Finn replied as he followed Eva to go pick out a dry shirt for him to wear. Rae pulled her phone from her pocket to check if she had any new messages from the gang, but only saw one missed text message from Chloe: >WHAT THE FUCK Rae rolled her eyes and sent a text to Archie letting him know she and Finn would meet them by the cars and then slipped her phone back into her pocket. When she turned around to see if Finn was ready to start walking back to the parking lot to meet the gang, Rae gasped lightly when she noticed that he was in the middle of removing the wet shirt he had been wearing before putting on the new shirt he had gotten. “Holy fuck,” Rae muttered as she watch Finn change shirts in front of her. “Did ya just say something, Rae?” “Oh! No! I mean, yeah, I was just gonna say that I told Archie we would meet them by the cars.” “Okay, perfect. We can head over there right now!” Finn and Rae thanked Eva and her bandmates for the free shirts and for letting them hide from the rain under their tent before beginning the long walk back to where the cars were parked and they were supposed to meet up with the gang. *** Just as the gang was coming into view, Rae stepped into a particularly muddy patch of grass and nearly slipped, had it not been for Finn grabbing her arm to steady her. “Be careful, girl. I don’t want you slipping in the mud and getting yourself hurt,” Finn replied with a smile as he pulled her hand into his while they walked. Chop turned around and noticed Finn and Rae walking up to their car together and began calling out to them and wolf whistling. “So kind of you two to show your faces finally,” Chloe replied with a scoff. “What do ya mean? As soon as it started raining, we went under a band’s merch tent until the rain stopped and then we walked straight here.” “Uh huh...sure you did,” Chop replied with a wink. “It also looks like you two may have changed clothes since we last saw you. Isn’t that your favorite flannel that Rae is wearing, Finn?” Archie asked with a smirk. Finn rolled his eyes and ignored the gang’s heckling as he and Rae neared, but Rae still decided to remove her hand from his. “Are we ready to head out now? I could really use some warm food,” Archie asked. “Me too!” Izzy replied before turning to face Rae, “Rae is it alright if we trade places and I ride with Chloe and Archie this time?” “Uh, sure,” “Perfect!” “Oi, Finn!” Chop called to get Finn’s attention before tossing his car keys to him, “Take care of my girl, alright? And be careful with the car too!” Finn stood beside Chop’s car in confusion as Chop gave him a wink and raced to climb into the backseat of Archie’s car next to Izzy. “Uh...so I guess that leaves you stuck riding with me, huh?” Rae joked as she walked towards the car. “Looks like I’m the one that lucked out then,” Finn replied with a smile as he walked around to the driver side door, “Is it just me or were the gang acting really weird?” “No, I got that feeling too,” Rae replied with a shrug as they both climbed into the car and got settled, “I’m sure it’s nothing.” “Huh, alright. Do you wanna pick the music for the drive back or do you trust my taste in tunes?” “Let’s see what you have to offer. I’ll be giving each song marks out of ten, so you better impress me!” “Oh, you know I always aim to please, girl!” Finn replied cheekily as he turned on his favorite playlist and began driving. THE END

A/N: So this story was inspired by a post I saw on Tumblr and I just felt compelled to work a story I had already drafted up around the post haha. I based this story off of my own experiences going to summer music festivals because where I live, we get a lot of severe storms that come out of nowhere during our monsoon season towards the latter half of summer. Every year, summer music festivals have to be canceled/postponed due to the weather and does anyone learn and plan the festivals for early summer or a better location? Nope! I also used a band name generator to come up with that punk band name, which turned out to be a very accurate name to describe the band I was writing about lol. Surprisingly good, but quite shouty.

I also thought it’d be fun to make Finn and Rae unaware of the confusion caused by the unsent text messages, because I never realize when a text I sent didn’t send properly until it’s too late lol.

Anyways...until next time: Stay awesome, my friends! :)

[douxreviews]

Supergirl - ‘Will the Real Miss Tessmacher Please Stand Up?’ Review

Brainy: I urge you, follow your heart. Not your orders.

This episode had some very good bits, but it also had a storyline that dragged.

Someone getting stood up at the altar is a standard trope in TV shows. What I’ve never seen before is abandoning your child at a funeral! After last week’s episode, which ended with an alien murdering George Lockwood’s mother, I wondered how the Supergirl writers would keep the young man pro-alien. Well, they found a way. Ben Lockwood’s behavior was so outrageous that even his son accused him of being the catalyst for his mother’s murder, which was absolutely true. If you start beating people (or aliens) up, at some point some of them will defend themselves. And I didn’t think Ben Lockwood’s behavior was out of character. He is, as his son said, a bitter, angry old man.

Lena and Kara working together was fun. The plane that could fly itself dispensed with the need for additional characters, which I suppose is easier on the budget, and meant that Kara could go be Supergirl during the inevitable disaster, in this case a purple lightning storm, which nearly crashes the airplane.

They make their way to Lex’s lair, which has conveniently been left with only Eve Tessmacher to guard it. Except it’s many copies of Miss Tessmacher, thanks to Lex’s siphoning off the powers of the alien Kopy. Miss Tessmacher makes many copies of herself, but the more copies she makes, the stupider they become. As she looks exactly like the stereotypical dumb blonde (despite her character being an accomplished scientist in this series), it’s fun to watch her sputter and splutter. The blue-tipped pain sticks were also fun, as was the time that Lena broke off her heel and pulled out a knife.

The other sequence with lots of action involved Ben Lockwood chasing aliens. He goes to the DEO to get assistance, and with Colonel Haley and Director Danvers both away, no one can stand up to him (although Brainy tries). Ben Lockwood ends up taking the Harun-El to give himself superpowers – which makes him sort of alien, too.

There are some good fight scenes in the action-oriented storylines, with lots of blue-tipped pain sticks, cars being tossed about, Dreamer doing some swirling blue waves, many copies of Miss Tessmacher, James and Brainy, and finally J’onn J’onzz showing up. Cutting between multiple fights is visually interesting, so I thought that was entertaining. However, the only bit of dialogue that resonated was Brainy’s, when he urged the people following Ben Lockwood’s orders to stop.

The visit to the lair in Kaznia is fruitful. Kara and Lena discover plenty, from the torturing being done to aliens to the complicity of someone in the White House. Kara also discovers that Red Daughter may have some good in her. There’s also the great dilemma of whether or not Kara should tell Lena that she’s Supergirl (given that Lex already knows, there’s no practical reason not to tell her).

After the last week’s episode, I was expecting some bonding between Alex Danvers and Kelly Olsen. However, the story for them in this episode felt forced. True, Alex did apply to an adoption agency a while back, but this storyline of “baby coming within the next twenty-four hours” to “baby not coming but being kept by the biological mother” felt unearned – especially as Alex says at the end that she’s so “wounded that she doesn't think she'll ever recover” by its not happening. That’s too much wounding for a baby she didn’t know about two days earlier, especially as she spent the whole time eating chocolate and hyperventilating about how she didn’t know if she was ready to be a mother (all stuff that has been repeated ad nauseam on a million different sitcoms). If she wants more than anything to be a mother, how come she didn’t make any more investment in the process than browsing online for a pram? And given the crisis at the DEO, how come no one from there called her? (That would have shown the work/mother dilemma, which ought to be big for Alex.) Also, Alex gushes how wonderful her mother was; why didn’t she call her when she was about to get a baby? The only consequence of this storyline was that we discovered that Kelly Olsen is also a lesbian, which makes her a potential partner for Alex. I don’t mind Alex and Kelly together, but I did not like this storyline.

Another problem with this episode is that there was nothing between Alex and Kara. The Alex-and-Kara relationship used to be the heart of the show. In this episode Kelly asks Alex what advice Kara would give, and Alex knows Kara well enough to say exactly what she would say – but that’s all we get, and that is not enough. Ever since Alex’s memories of Kara = Supergirl had to be wiped, their relationship has gone missing. Before Kara goes to the White House to get herself captured we see her in a conversation with James. She can confide in James, but not in Alex.

There’s a great tag at the end with Kara/Supergirl getting captured, and our discovering that President Baker is apparently aware of what has been going on in Kaznia. The rot goes all the way to the top.

Title musings: “Will the Real Miss Tessmacher Please Stand Up?” This phrase was the line (well, without "Tessmacher") in a show called To Tell the Truth, in which three people would all claim to be the same person, and where the question was what led to the reveal. (Thanks to Billie Doux for remembering this.) The obvious reference is to all the clones of Eve Tessmacher. But it is also a less obvious reference to Kara/Supergirl, who is not being her real self with respect to Lena and to Alex.

Bits and pieces

Historically Eve’s last name has been Teschmacher, but Amazon has spelled it Tessmacher and IMDb (owned by Amazon) has spelled it both ways. Sigh.

Since they used a similar technique with many copies of Manchester Black a few episodes back, I guess this is something that the special effects team has mastered. Or can do at less expense,

After Lena turned one of her heels into a knife, wouldn’t she be fighting funny? Having one foot in a high heel and the other not makes for an awkward gait.

I liked George Lockwood's story about his mother painting her tooth black.

Quotes

Alex: Must be strange to have a sibling with superpowers.

Ben Lockwood/Agent Liberty: Let’s start with James Olsen because I would like to know how the hell he got superpowers.

Lena: Cut the crap, Eva Braun. You’re a backstabber and a liar.

Kelly: You care too much to fail, Alex.

Alex: What did your scars teach you?

George: I saw you today. Just another bitter, angry man.

Overall Rating

Much of this episode was quite good. I liked the Ben/George Lockwood storylines and the Kara/Lena stuff. Some of the dialogue was a little flat, but the directions of those stories were good. The Alex/Kelly thread, however, was forced and cliché and dragged down the episode. Two and a half out of four blue-tipped pain sticks.

Victoria Grossack loves math, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.

[foggydraws]

HeartLess Eva

It was homely feeling, a caring mother in the kitchen, a quiet yet lively daughter sitting at the table reading the town’s newspaper. There was nothing truly exciting about the articles in the paper. The girl frowned as she found nothing but a few county fairs, autumn sales, and corn maze ads.

“Anything special, Eva?” The mother asked as she washed the dishes besides her. Eva shook her head gently. Her mother sighed, she always hoped that maybe one day Eva’s vocal cords would work. It wasn’t Eva’s fault, she just wasn’t born with fully developed vocal cords. Makes it slightly difficult to speak, doesn’t it.

Eva was getting antsy, she was bored of the town that she lived in, she wanted excitement. She sighed as she stood up. She wanted to live somewhere where there was always something going on.

“How ‘bout you go out for a bit,” Her mother suggested, “maybe you can make some friends!”

She knows that Eva didn’t see that as an option, other people almost always found Eva’s silence as ignorance. She did have one ‘friend’ though, Lars. Eva stood up and slowly walked out of the room and to the front of the small cabin-like house.

“Be careful out there!” Her mother peeked around the corner to see Eva nod. Eva continued and opened the door after putting a pair of shoes on. She walked out into the frigid air and walked along the path that she knew well. She then plugged into her phone and listened to her music.

Eva was a special case. Her lack of human contact has made her indifferent to what was considered normal. She was very fond of gore and horror. Fantasy horror wasn't enough, Eva needed something that was real. Eva always had her nose shoved in her own notes of the reports in the newspapers and magazines. All that filled the book were accounts of murder.

Eva thought nothing of it, she saw kids playing war and saw the small fights that broke out between friends. She thought that it was no different. She has continued this obsession as she grows. Her mom

thought she was different now that she was 16, but just because she doesn't look like she still has a love for murder doesn't mean she doesn't continue with the craze. A mute girl can hide many of secrets.

Eva slowly strolled by the trees and felt a strange buzzing in her head that made her uneasy. It was soon gone as she continued walking. She soon made her way into the town that she found so dull. She pushed the door to a convenience store open and waved greetings to her one friend.

“Hey Eva, the normal?” Lars smiled gently. Eva nodded back and Lars grabbed the few snacks and rang her up, “ I’ll see you next time!”

She waved to Lars and made her way out of the store, but before she could leave, Lars grabbed her shoulder, “ be careful, I heard there was a murder in the forest that happened earlier today,” Lars patted her and walked back to the register, “ be safe,”

Eva couldn't believe her ears, a murder! It was so close. She couldn't wait to read about it! On her way back home with her bag of goods, Eva felt the same sensation. This time her mind was running to it's darkest corner, telling her to kill. She still pushed on, paying it no mind. She left the trail and walked into her house in which her mom gave her a great, giant bear hug and was sobbing.

“I didn’t know, oh my god, I didn't know!” She cried into her indifferent daughter’s shoulder. Eva lightly gave her mom a pat and stepped away from her mom and gave a twirl as to say, ‘I’m okay!’ Her mom laughed and pulled her into one last hug before wiping her tears and ruffling up Eva’s hair. The small teen scowled and tried to hastily fix her hair.

   Eva made her way to her small bedroom. When she got there she plopped down on her bed with a giant smile. A murder. A real murder! Not any normal murder. As Eva found in the next few weeks, there were more murders. All in the same area. All in the same way. It was a serial killer. Eva couldn’t have a brighter grin on her face when she heard about the most recent one. It was so close to her house.

The victims had only one similarity; their hearts were gone. A jar was normally laid down next to the victim with the heart in it, half eaten. Eva had to see the sight. She had to be fast, they were going to start cleaning it up. She waved her mom goodbye and gave her a hug before taking off towards the forest.  

   Eva then strayed from the path and realized she had no idea where she was going. She began to panic when she found herself to be lost. A figure was lurking in the forest, stalking the petite 16 year old. Her head began buzzing again as the figure approached. She turned to see the figure. A tall figure with no features was seemingly watching her. Its lanky body swayed gently with the breezy, almost as if he were a tree. It was wearing a black suit and a red tie. Eva gasped as the headache grew stronger and her vision became fuzzy. She heard her voice talking, inaudibly, in her head. Somehow she knew what it said. She fell to her knees and clutched her head. The figure stood in front of her. It touched the top of her head and she let out a piercing scream. She stopped abruptly and slowly lifted her head to look at the being in front of her. She smiled wide.

With that, the figure disappeared. Eva snapped out of her insanity and stood. She started walking again. She reached the point where she was jumpy. Soon her instinct told her to get out of there. She turned and ran. She heard a fast-paced run behind her, she sped up. She was tackled to the ground. She lay on her stomach, a knee holding her down. Eva struggled and was flipped on to her back. She was met with a smile that was so contorted and insane it rivalled the Joker.

The person that pinned Eva down, leaned close to her ear and whispered, “ Tag you’re it,”

Eva grinned as her insanity kicked in. She laughed as the killer stumbled, not expecting the grin that stretched across Eva’s face. Eva kicked the killer off of her and stood up with a rocking motion. She raced towards the killer, in which they dodged. They then grabbed hold of her and stabbed and dragged a knife across Eva’s chest. Eva coughed up blood and smiled as she was pushed on to the ground. The killer tore open her skin, stretching and tearing at her chest. Eva in her insanity couldn’t hold back the scream of pain. They broke her ribs and broke into her thoracic cavity. They then grabbed hold of her heart and ripped it out. Eva faded into darkness.

“Hello child,” a distorted voice echoed

‘What? Where am I?’

“The Veil,”

‘Okay, well, who are you?’

“We’ve met before,”

‘You are the one who made me like this, well, like that?’

“It’s the way you reacted to it, not how I want you to,”

‘So, why are you even talking to me?’

“I want to give you an offer,”

‘An… Offer?’

“I’ll give you life again, to go on with your dreams, if you become my proxy,”

‘Deal,’

“You will have a hard time getting back though, either you or your insanity will make it there first. The first one there takes control, the second hides in the far corner of your mind,”

Everything around Eva shifted, yet she was still in her own mind. Two versions, one had a large smile plastered across her face, the other had a neutral look. Insanity raced towards Logic with the same contorted grin. Logic dodged and Insanity ran and slowly turned towards Logic. Logic looked intensely at Insanity. Logic knew she had no chance, Insanity was tainted with thoughts of murder, thoughts of how to do it, thoughts of who to do it, thoughts of not getting caught. Insanity was agile and quick while Logic was slow and clumsy. Insanity wobbled slightly and raced back toward Logic. Insanity knocked Logic over and Logic lay there, waiting for Insanity to take over. Insanity pushed her hand through Logic’s chest and took over the mind of Eva. Logic was screaming.

Eva opened her eyes and pushed herself up. As she stood she rocked slightly, balancing herself out. Blood was still pouring through the hole in her chest. Branches slowly crept through the hole. Eva gave a low laugh, straining her small amount of vocal cords. She started to walk slowly towards her killer, who was packing Eva’s now half eaten heart in a jar, humming. The killer heard Eva’s laugh and slowly craned their head over to the undead girl, blood dripping from their mouth.

“What?” They said stupidly as Eva dashed forward, knocking them over.

She held up her arm and it ripped and a bark type texture wound up her arm. Blood now dripped from the wound and stopped, no more blood in her system. The bark on her right arm continued to twist and point. Her hand now had bark claws in which she slammed into the chest of her killer. The killer gave a scream, but Eva couldn’t hear over her own insanity. She then ripped the heart from their chest. She licked the muscle and bit down on it. She then placed the heart in the mouth of her kill. She carved HeartLess in the tree that the kill was closest to. She then pocketed the knife and disappeared into the mist.

[wayward-demons]

Game for Anything PT. 15

Word Count: 1,720 Warnings/Notes: N/A other than im sorry it took too long too post.  Tags: @crawegirl @nea90sweetie @littlegirlsdontplaynice @queen-of-moons-peace-out-bitches @gaysmutstiel @xolyssaaa @uruburock13 @lisa-horn @jencharlan @fangirl1802 @spn-4-eva @hey-um-misha ((if you want to be added to the list just let me know))

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /  Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 

The bag around your head was making you feel claustrophobic. Your breathing was steady, but you could feel your heart racing in your chest. Your arms were tied behind your back, ankles tied to a chair below you. You tried to listen to your surroundings without moving, without giving any clue that you were awake.

You could hear footsteps around you, the soft breathing of a few different people. You could hear the faint whispers of people around you but nothing clear enough to make out what they were saying. You sat as still as you could, head laying low against your chest.

“How much longer we have’ta wait?” A male asked from your left. “Shouldn’t she be awake by now?”

“Shut up. She’ll wake up when she’s ready and then we can get started. We’re not going to force her awake.” His voice traveled around you, his footsteps light. This voice sent chills down your spine. A voice so familiar and yet so foreign. You almost couldn’t place it. It’d been so long since you heard it.

Now you couldn’t control your breathing, your chest rising and falling quickly. The bag around your head seemed to get tighter, the restraints suddenly hurting you as you sat there. You didn’t mean to move just yet, but you couldn’t help it now. That voice. It was making you move.

“Ah, looks like we don’t have to wait too long.” The voice said again. The bag became loose, and suddenly it was off your head. The light blinding you for a moment as your eyes adjusted. “Good morning beautiful. Have a good little nap?” He asked, hand cupping your chin and forcing you to look up at him.

You gulped, words unable to come from your mouth. “Yeah. I understand. It’s been a while. I’ll let you sink this all in for a moment. Go ahead, look around.” He stood behind you, hands resting on your shoulders.

You did as you were told, eyes scanning the room for a way out, except there wasn’t one. Instead there were just tall walls with no windows, walls lined with people. Everyone watching you, all waiting for you to react. Everyone looking hungry and wanting of you. And that’s when you spotted them. The ones that took Randy all those years back. They hadn’t aged a day, and didn’t look any different than that day.

“V-V-Vampires?” You asked, eyes finding the one familiar and warm face from before. “What is going on?” You asked. Your voice back to normal.

“Oh, come on, you have to be able to put this one together. You’re a smart girl. Use that beautiful mind of yours.” He tapped his finger on your head. Each press getting harder and harder until it started to hurt.

You didn’t move, lips pressing into a thin line. It didn’t take long for you to understand, after all his face hadn’t changed at all either. He still looked like the young and beautiful Randy from before. The last time you saw him though, he was being pulled away from you by the Vamps in the corner. The ones snickering and laughing as you once more glanced around the room.

“How’d you find me?” You asked.

Randy laughed, “We’ve been casing the joint for a while. You were bound to turn up again. Especially after all those sad and pitiful phone calls.” He pinched your cheek waiting for it to turn a nice rosy pink. “It’s okay. I can understand. You were just so heartbroken about losing me. I mean wasn’t everyone?”

“Fuck you.” You spat at his feet. And suddenly the whole room started to laugh. “Fuck all of you. Let me out of here before… before…”

“Before what Y/N?” Your name came out so velvety smooth, just like it had so many years ago. Only this time it didn’t make your heart flutter, instead it made your stomach spin and the feeling of vomit coming up. “Before your partner comes in to save the day? Oh wait, you don’t have partners anymore.” He laughed to himself, walking around and getting on his knees in front of you.

He raised a hand to trace your chin, eyes focused on your own. His touch was gentle, and for just a moment you forgot all the years he’d been gone. It was like you were back in time with your best friend. The one who picked you up and bounced you around. The one that would force you to go to the gym only so he could stand around while making you work your ass off.

And then reality sank in. This wasn’t then. He wasn’t that guy. You were tied to a chair and he was a vampire. Everything was different. And he was right. You had no one to come and save you. You were alone. Only you could get out of this mess.

You had already counted the Vampires in the room. Knowing that you could take them all on, you’d taken on more before. It was Randy. He was the only thing stopping your brain from calculating a plan. His eyes still on yours as if he was memorizing your body all over again.

“You really should have gotten out and stayed out when you had the chance. Hunting hasn’t been easy on you. I can see the years of stress already taking their toll.” His thumb trailed along your cheek to your lips. “I mean you took off what? A month? Was that really all you needed to mourn the love of your life? Your best friend?”

“I never got over your death. Probably because you never actually died.” You spat the words out, trying your hardest to remain as calm and collected as you could. Not that it mattered, Randy was a vampire now, he could hear your heart racing in your chest.

Randy chuckled as he got to his feet. “Well, being a turned into a vampire was the best thing that ever happened to me. I mean look at me!” He spun around, hands out in front of him. “I look perfect. And oh Y/N, the perks! I mean sure you gotta drink a little blood. But all of this is so worth it!”

You crinkled your nose, disgusted by his flamboyance and utter acceptance of his new gift. This wasn’t who you knew, this wasn’t Randy.

You let your mind wander, trying to come up with a plan as Randy rambled on. The ropes behind you were tight, because Randy would have known you were able to get out of anything else. Your pockets picked and secret weapons taken so you couldn’t try and escape without their knowledge.

“Ah yes, you are starting to realize just how screwed you really are. No little knife in your pockets, no lighters, nothing.” He pointed to a little table in the corner where you could see all your weapons, all your tricks and gags. “I know your tricks Y/N, even the ones you think I wouldn’t. you haven’t changed much. Still the same old Y/N.”

You were annoyed.

“Guys, why don’t you leave me alone with her? We have a little catching up to do. After all its been what? 17 years?” Everyone seemed hesitant to leave, all remaining in their spots for a moment. A deep and husky growl sounded from Randy and everyone jumped to their feet.

After they left, in a door behind you that you couldn’t see but could hear being locked, Randy seemed to relax. His shoulders softening. He pulled a chair up to you, sitting down so he was at your level. He let out a deep sigh. “I do have to admit it was good to see you. I wish it was, well I wish it was a little different.”

He laughed and leaned back in his seat. “What’s your plan Randy? Tease me? Torture me? Kill me?”

“All of the above?” He offered, and a part of you was intrigued. But you knew better. You stood your ground and kept your face as still as you could.

You let your head hang low, growing defeated. “Let’s get it started. Or has it?” You looked up at him, and saw him flinch from the look in your eyes. “This small talk you seem to want to have is the torture?”

“Not at all little Y/N.” His voice was too soft, “I want to take my time with you. I mean its been so long why rush things? Tell me. How’s the life?”

You didn’t answer, instead you kept your mouth shut and in a thin line. Lips pressing hard together. Randy circled you, his cold hands dragging across your shoulders. It wasn’t until a knock on the door made the both of you jump that he stopped. His hand suddenly finding its home at his side. The person at the door didn’t bother to wait to be invited in. No, they walked in a moment later with boots clicking against the ground below them.

“Boss? Can I talk to you for a moment?” His voice was like you would imagine a snakes. Drawling out his words nice and slow. Randy gave a heavy sigh before he walked away, joining the stranger in the corner of the room behind you. You couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t hear them.

They tried to whisper, but with this empty room it echoed. “Look they’re all talking. They don’t like the way you’re handling this one. They say you’re going soft and aren’t going to handle it like you should.”

“Handle it like I should?” Randy asked, and even you could hear the anger in his voice.

“Yeah, cause you know? You know her.” The stranger vampire emphasized that Randy knew you. But the silence afterwards is what sent chills down your spine. Because the silence was followed by the drop of the stranger vampire’s head.

You gulped, the sound was so familiar, and yet you’d never been so scared to hear it. Randy approached you, his hand covered in the blood of his fallen friend. “Seems I have a little mess to take care of. I’ll be back.”

With that he left you. Leaving you alone in the room with the fallen vampire.

(Pt. 16)

[wayward-demons]

Game For Anything PT. 14

Word Count: 2,238 Warnings/Notes: Uh, this chapters a little slow. But give it a moment, k guys? Tags: @crawegirl @nea90sweetie @littlegirlsdontplaynice @queen-of-moons-peace-out-bitches @gaysmutstiel @xolyssaaa @uruburock13 @lisa-horn @jencharlan @fangirl1802 @spn-4-eva @hey-um-misha ((if you want to be added to the list just let me know))

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /  Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13

Dean gripped the steering wheel of his car with a loose hand. He practically let the car drive itself at times and had no qualms about it. Specially this time of the day. The roads were empty and that was just the way he liked it. Empty so he could do as he pleased on the road. So what if he swerved a little bit? His brother sat at his side, old but good classic rock music made its way through his speakers, and for a moment, things seemed normal.

He’d almost forgot about seeing you in Sam’s arms. Sam’s bare and naked arms holding you close to him. But something like that couldn’t be forgotten just like that, and Dean knew that. So, what did he do? Bury himself in this case. Not that it was a case, but it was easier to say that then to admit they were just running to find you because of the way you left.

Dean almost had himself convinced to not go after you thanks to Sam. Why should he? It wasn’t his fault you left in such a rush. It wasn’t his fault Sam was feeling guilty or that Sam felt the need to get you both in a room together so you could see just how much you needed one another.

Meanwhile Sam was practically sweating bullets as he sat there, all but chewing on his nails at this point. The air seemed thick to him, seemed as if all the tension in Dean’s shoulders were floating in the air towards him. As if to remind him that he fucked up. And he fucked up bad.

After a few phone calls, and by few there were about 30, they had found a hunter that knew of you. A lot had heard of you and met you, but not all of them could place you to a single place. Apparently, you got around, but in a good way.

Sam and Dean were shocked to find that you had an apartment in a little no name city in Ohio. “Well it makes sense I guess. It’s pretty remote and out there.” Dean commented when he found it on the map.

“More remote than here.” Sam agreed. Sam paused, eyes staring at the map with extreme focus. He wasn’t sure what to do right now.

“So, what do we do?” Dean asked, kicking back in his seat. He wasn’t sure what to do here. Now that they knew where you were going, and knew it was a ‘safe’ place for you Dean seemed less worried. You were just clearing your head, after all that happened he could respect that.

But he couldn’t deny that he didn’t want to rush to your aid. Not because you needed help, but because he wanted answers, wanted to know what the fuck was going on. Did you feel things for Sam? Did you feel things for him? Though, Dean didn’t want to know the answer. He couldn’t imagine what it would be and wanted to avoid it.

Sam sighed, his mind racing with the possibilities of what to do right now. “I mean she’s going home. She’ll be safe. Why don’t we go finish that case?” Sam was trying to defer his brother, trying to keep him from running to your aid. Because that’s all Sam wanted to do.

Dean took a long drink, “Yeah. I uh- cased the joint but never actually caught the thing. It’s just a demon. Should be nice and easy.” Dean was all for going back to work. It seemed like a nice distraction from the reality around him. Work meant he could focus on killing, trapping, and not on you.

And yet there he sat, with you racing around his mind. You with your smile, and that laugh. Something he could get used to seeing in this dark world around him. Except every time he thought too hard about you, he would remember seeing you with Sam. He remembered walking in on the two of you all comfortable with one another.

He was dying to know what had happened. Had anything? Was it just cuddling or had Sam laid on the moves? All questions he could never ask. Sam wasn’t usually one to kiss and tell, but this one instance Dean wanted to hear the details. Well, maybe not the fine details.

Sam shrugged, getting to his feet and stretching after his long time spent bending over his laptop. “Nice and easy sounds perfect right now.” Sam commented. “Give me a few minutes to pack.”

Dean sat alone, his fingers drumming against his laptop. He wasn’t ready to call it quits. Something in him told him to find you. Digging into a case wasn’t going to be enough to forget you. He knew that. Sam did too.

Sam, packing his bag as slowly as he could. Guilt setting in that he was willing to leave you behind and work on a case instead. He had mentally planned to sneak off and go find you himself. Leave Dean behind so that he could talk to you alone. But Dean was smart, and Dean would find him before he got too far. After all, he’d caught him before.

So here they were, on the road to a little shit town so they could fix things between you. Every fiber of Dean was telling him to stop. He’d never in his life chased down a girl before.

Sam sighed, reaching over to turn the music in the car louder. As if it would thin the air out a little bit. “Everything okay Sammy? You never turn up my music.” Dean glanced over to his brother.

Sam gulped, “Yeah I just, I like this song.” Sam lied, leaning back in his seat and cracked open his laptop. He wanted to talk about this. Wanted to fix the situation. But the last time he had brought it up Dean had all but kicked him out of the car. And now they were moving at 80mph.

“What are we going to do when we get there?” Sam asked, breaking the tension. His fingers rested above the keys, he had already typed in your city and state, setting out to search for clues about why on earth you would pick there of all places.

Dean leaned forward, turning down the music. “I don’t know Sam, you’re the romantic. What do you think we should do?” Dean asked, his voice thick with sarcasm.

“Don’t.” Sam resisted holding up a hand. “I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is going to happen when we show up at her door step. Provided she’s even there.” Sam wasn’t sure what to expect. He had barely gotten to know you at this point. But he knew you weren’t going to be happy to see them.

“Well, I’m assuming we’re both going to get a swift kick to the face. And then we’ll sit down and have a few drinks and talk about our feelings.” Dean’s voice was once again thick with sarcasm. Sam rolled his eyes and Dean knew this without even looking at him.

Sam didn’t know what to say. There was no getting through to Dean at this point. “You didn’t have to come ya know?” Sam said under his breath. He began to read more, scanning article after article that he could find that would be remotely interesting.

“And leave you to chase after her alone? Yeah right.” Dean fought the urge to pull over right then and there.

The thick tension was back, filling the air and making it harder to breathe for both brothers.  “Wanna talk about things now?” Sam asked in the smallest voice he could.

Dean grunted, “Fine. Let’s get the touchy feelings out of the way.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Dean.”

“No Sammy your right. Let’s get it all out in the open. Ask your questions.” Dean shifted in his seat, pretending to get more comfortable. “Come on, let’s do the whole therapy session thing. Oh wait, should I lay down and get all comfy in the back seat?” Dean pointed to the back seat, and even attempted to look back at it.

“Never mind Dean.” Sam looked out the window, drinking in the surroundings the best he could. Not like he hadn’t seen them already, but it was better than paying attention to Dean’s sarcastic ass. He returned his attention to the laptop in front of him, and when he clicked on his next link he wanted nothing more than to be engrossed in the article.

“Okay. Sorry, I’ll get real.”  Dean cleared his throat. He waited, waited for Sam to ask his questions like he always did. But when Sam didn’t answer Dean cleared his throat and began for him instead. He faked Sam’s voice. “Dean do you like Y/N?” He asked himself.

“She’s different. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t want to… well you know.” Dean wagged his eyebrows at his brother.

“But Dean. There’s more to her than sex.” Dean said once more trying to imitate his brother’s voice.

Dean sighed, “Oh Sammy. The things you don’t know.” He shook his head in disapproval. Like any older brother who felt they had failed at their job of teaching their younger brother the ins and outs of sex and its importance.

“Dean come on be serious.” Sam finally spoke up, he tilted his head towards his brother, in that oh so condescending way of his.

“I am. Look at it this way. I have never met anyone like her before and it intrigues me. What about you? Huh big boy? You like her or what?” Dean pushed his elbow against his brother.

Sam didn’t know how to answer this. He wanted to be truthful with his brother and tell him that he did. But he knew better. Especially when it was more than evident that Dean had caught feelings for her as well. Plus, Sam knew Dean had been there first.

“That’s what I thought. So again, what are we going to do when we get there? Stick her in the middle of the room and call to her? See which one she goes to first?” Dean asked, his serious voice back.

Sam shook his head. He was growing more and more annoyed with Dean as this conversation went on.  “I don’t know Dean. I just don’t think letting her leave in that state was okay.” Sam didn’t lie. It was bothering him that you packed up your things and left like that. The way you speed away, it all was bothering him.

“I don’t blame her. She was upset. I would be too if I woke up in your arms.” Dean tried to crack a joke, but even he was starting to hate himself.

“Dean.”

“Look. All I’m saying is that we don’t need to go to no shitsville Ohio and talk to her about this. She left, she worked her case with us and left. End of story. She even stayed a bit longer.” Dean slowed his car, the brakes forcing their bodies forward as he did. He wasn’t sure why he was slowing, but he felt he had to.

Sam looked over at his brother’s hardened face. A face he never could see through and understand. “And you’re okay leaving it like that?”

Dean didn’t answer. Mainly because he wasn’t okay with leaving anything the way it was. He was dying to know who you would pick, him or Sammy. But also, because he didn’t want to answer. He didn’t want to chase you down and ask you. Because why? Why trouble you if you wanted to leave so bad? If you still wanted to talk to Sam or Dean you could find him. They weren’t impossible to get ahold of. They knew practically everyone.

“Dean?” Sam asked after a long moment of silence. “I think I know why her home is here…”

Dean’s ears perked up at this. He waited for Sam to continue. “Well about 23 years ago, there was a fire. Killed everyone in the house but a small girl and her brother. The fire’s cause seems to be unknown by authorities, but sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Except Azazel wasn’t trying to find more students 20 years ago.”

“That we know of. We don’t really know how long he was going around making his… creations…” Sam couldn’t mutter the word. It had been so long since someone had brought it up, but he had never really forgotten those days. Of demon blood and trials.

Dean didn’t know how to respond. Confused with all this information. It had been so long since he had heard about any of this, Azazel and demon blood. He tried to avoid it for Sam’s sake. Because every time it was brought Dean could see his brother squirm uncomfortably. “So, she’s a Demon baby like you?”

“Well she wasn’t a new born at that point. Says here she was about 5.” Sam continued reading.

“And her brother?” Dean asked, breaking his brothers silence.

“Older.” Sam said while he kept reading.

Dean leaned back, shoulders relaxing as he started to think about all of this. “So it doesn’t fit in to Azazel’s MO.”

“And then about 17 years ago there was a massive murder at a local business. A bloodbath. 20 casualties. And 1 missing person.” Sam inhaled sharply. “Randy.”

((Part 15)) 

[wayward-demons]

Game For Anything PT. 13

Word Count: 2,575 Warnings: Okay here we go! Let the drama begin Tags: @crawegirl @nea90sweetie @littlegirlsdontplaynice @queen-of-moons-peace-out-bitches@gaysmutstiel@xolyssaaa @uruburock13 @lisa-horn @jencharlan @fangirl1802 @spn-4-eva ((If you want to be added to the list just let me know!))

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 /  Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12

Sam’s bare feet padded against the cold concrete as he looked for his brother. He wasn’t sure where he could be, Dean wasn’t known for running away from situations. He usually just entered them, beat the crap out of anything in his way, and left after it was “solved.”

Sam mentally cursed himself for not putting on shoes, or at least a shirt. It wasn’t like he thought the bunker was going to be this cold. But what else do you expect from a place that was mostly underground and made of concrete?

“Dean?” Sam asked, turning into the garage. He could still see the Impala, which meant that Dean was here. “Dean come on, let me explain.” Sam said, spotting his brother in the vehicle. Dean’s knuckles white from holding on to the steering wheel to tightly. Sam sighed, opened the passenger door, and slid into his all too familiar place next to his brother.

Sam wasn’t sure how to start this, he weighed his options in his head, carefully choosing his words so that he didn’t make matters worse. “She had a nightmare and I didn’t want to leave her alone.” Sam’s voice was soft, and light in the air. But that didn’t calm Dean down at all. It made it worse. Like Sam was talking down to Dean.

Dean scoffed, hands falling to his lap finally. “Sure. That’s how it always starts.”

“Dean nothing happened.” Sam turned to his brother, rubbing his hands against his arms to warm himself up.

Dean shook his head. “Except I saw you with your arms wrapped around- Know what?” Dean raised a hand to block his brother from his peripheral view. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not anyone’s after all. Go ahead Sammy. You deserve it.” Dean still looked forward, unable to bring himself to look at Sam. Sam without his shirt still, Sam who looked like he still was holding you in his arms.

Sam tried to reach out for his brother, but fell short, knowing Dean would only start to raise fists if he had. “Dean. Come on.”

“I mean it. It’s been what? Years?” Dean looked over at his brother now, and instantly regretted it. He tried to focus his eyes solely on Sam’s face, because despite the need to punch it with his fists until he felt better, it was easier to look at that anything else right now.

Sam shook his head. “It’s not like that.”

“I don’t care anymore.” Dean returned his hands to the steering wheel, and his vision to the front of his car. “I have a lot of asphalt to cover and a case to finish.”

“Wanna talk about why you left the case in the first place?” Sam asked, his therapy voice on. Sam had been trying to use it more and more on him, but he often tried to ignore it. Because it only made him want to punch him more, especially right now.

“Not really no.” Dean said sternly.

“Dean.” Sam pleaded, something he wasn’t used to doing.

“Sam, I said no. Now get out of the car.” Dean’s big boy father voice cut through the air and it made Sam flinch; like it always had.

“Fine Dean.” Sam sighed, shaking his head and opening the door. “But Dean-”

Sam was cut off by the sound of the door swinging open, one swift kick that you had placed upon it with your boot covered feet. You all but threw your bags into the back of your car and didn’t stop until you were sliding into it and turning it on. Sam and Dean had both watched you, eyes wide in confusion as they did.

You hadn’t bothered to say anything,all that you had come out of you were a few grunts from the weight of your bags. You sped off, tires squealing loudly against the concrete floors. You weren’t sure where you were going, but suddenly being at that bunker, surrounded by Sam and Dean seemed like too much.

You had overstayed your welcome anyway. This wasn’t supposed to be a long-term thing and suddenly you had been there for 5 days. 5 days longer than you had wanted too. Remember putting up a fight against the boys? Where had, that day gone? So here you were. Back out on the open road, just you and your car, your baby. The only thing you could depend on.

Sam and Dean were almost like figments of your imagination now. Just another case under your belt. You kept driving, unable to pay attention to anything but the road before you. Sitting in utter silence as you put the distance between you and the bunker.

After 30 minutes of fast driving you felt more at ease. Your chest felt lighter, you could breathe again; no more choked out staggered breaths. The road wasn't familiar, it never was, but that didn't matter. What mattered right now was that you were forgetting all about that bunker and those men.

You stopped at a gas station, walking up and down the aisles aimlessly. There wasn't anything that you needed, it was more of an excuse to get out and stretch a little before you had another long drive ahead of you.

“Can I help you little miss?” A male asked from a little farther down. It only took you a moment to look him up and down and get a good reading of him. He was what you would expect from a man who felt the need to talk to you while in this dive of a gas station. He cleared his throat, ready to ask you again.

You turned to him, a huge smile on your face as you did. “Oh, little ol me?” You asked, using the sweetest voice you could muster. It felt weird on your tongue, but you wanted to play along.

He warmed up, making his way down the way towards you. His hips sauntered as he closed the gap, his tongue darting out and moistening his lips. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. Can I-“ He leaned his hand against the counter in front of you. “show you around a little bit?”

You giggled, pushing your hair behind your ear, “That sounds…”

“Perfect?” He interrupted.  

“Perfect.” You repeated, your voice soft and flirty you set down your goods, placing them carefully on the shelf before you. He smiled, nodding as he understood what you were doing. He placed his cold hand on the small of your back, goosebumps covered you. Goosebumps that told you he was more than he appeared.

The air outside was thick with tension, tension he thought was sexual. But you had a whole new agenda in mind. He led you to his beat-up truck, paint shipped off the sides, you already knew the crappy noise that was going to happen the second he started it.

He took off his trucker hat, running a hand through his hair and placing it back on top of him. “So, sweet thing, what brings you all the way out here. Normally it’s just truckers and low lives.”

You bit back your tongue, resisting the urge to comment. “I guess I took a wrong turn and ended up here. It’s what I get for not using my GPS.” You lied, again trying to flirt. You placed your hand on his arm, and gigged again. You were growing annoyed with yourself.

“Its all good. I’ll help you get back on track. But first…” he trailed off, leaving his words open ended. Though you knew what he was getting at. He opened the front door of his truck, the small and yet large front seat looked almost more wore out than the truck itself. He held the door open for you, and watched carefully as you climbed in.

Your heart was racing, and you could hear it as he climbed into the seat next to you. He slammed the door and the whole truck shook. You could smell the old food wrappers collecting mold under the seat, could feel the scratchy seat under you, and hated every second of it.

You wasted no time. As his hand reached out to turn the truck on you reached out for his wrist. Placing your handy salt coated ring against his skin. You waited, seeing the reaction from him before acting out your next move.

He flinched, just as you thought he would. His eyes black as he hissed at you. He attempted to rip your hand from his, but you were quicker. And before he knew it you were stabbing him in the hand with a knife.

Your mouth moved quickly afterwards. Uttering out the Latin words to expel the demon inside of him. He screamed, cursing at you in every language he could. You watched as the thick black smoke left the man’s mouth and floated out through a crack in the door.

You sat back, letting out the breath you were holding out. The man came to quickly, groggy and rubbing his eyes. And then he saw the blood, felt the pain in his hand that you had caused. “What the?!” He screamed, finally laying eyes on you.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay now. My name’s Y/F/N.” You cupped his face in your hands and tried to calm him down. His breathing was still erratic, but he seemed calmer now. “Do you remember anything?”

He shook his head no. Eyes unable to focus on one thing. “Okay good. You’ll be okay. Here.” You pulled off your jacket, and ripped a piece of your shirt off. You wrapped it tightly against his hand, applying a slight amount of pressure to his wound. “Just, keep this on. And clean it as soon as you can. I am sorry for all the trouble.”

And out you went. Slamming the door behind you and running towards your own car. You could get gas at a different station. This one was compromised now, this one suddenly had eyes focused only on you now.

Your tires squealed against the asphalt as you took off. Speeding down the street to your next destination. If you thought your heart was racing before, it was even worse now. Adrenaline was one hell of a drug, and right now you were riding it out as you created more and more distance between you and your problems.

Sam and Dean searched the satellites for you and your car. Only they were falling short. “This is starting to become annoying.” Dean muttered under his breath. He closed his laptop and looked over at his brother. “I don’t think we’re going to find her this way.”

Sam sighed, running his hand through his hair. “You’re probably right. So how far could she have gotten?” He asked, closing his own computer.

Dean stood, unfolding a map across the table and laying it out flat. “Well I’m guessing she drove faster than me. So. About this far.” Dean pointed at a ring of places you could possibly be with his finger. “Would be helpful if we had any idea where she was going.”

It hadn’t taken you nearly as long as you thought to get back to the place you used to call home. Your car slowly moving forward over the speed bumps preventing you from speeding. You turned your music down as you drank in the surrounding’s. It had been so long since you had been here, so long since you had wanted to be here. And yet suddenly this was the only place you could imagine being.

Your apartment had an odd smell, one that mostly reminded you of mold and dust. It almost smelt as if you were walking into yet another abandoned building. You coughed, flipping on a light and seeing just how empty this place was.

You dragged a hand along your desk, fingers collecting the thick layer of dust. You sighed as you reached your home phone. A phone that seemed to be out of date and unused. Except for the bright red number 90 flashing at you. You sighed, and walked past it.

Your bedroom was clean, the bed freshly made and clothes packed safe and soundly into your dresser. You’d never seen this room so clean. In fact, the last time you had been in here you had trashed the place. Throwing anything and everything you could against anything else you could. You’d been so upset, so heart broken and unable to handle life.

You returned here after Randy’s death, entering the place with anger and sadness. Cindy stood confused and scared. She flinched as you started throwing things, starting with whatever was directly in front of you. You hadn’t even really seen Cindy in your blind rage. But after it was done, and you were sitting in the middle of your living room splitters of what you used to own surrounding you.

“It finally happened.” Was all Cindy said as she sat next to you. She handed you a drink and after a few hours the night became a blur. The next morning you left and never returned.

You silently thanked Cindy for picking up your mess. Assuming it was her who had cleaned it all up. You sat on your bed, letting the cloud of dust settle around you. This was more than you were ready to handle, more than you thought it would be.

It didn’t take you long to reach the fridge and find a bottle of whiskey to drink. And hell, who needed a cup when you could drink straight from the bottle? After about half of it you approached your voice mail, clicking the button so it would start playing.

“I know you’re not here, but I just needed to talk to you. Pretend like it was old times and you were there for me when I needed you. Its hard out here, it’s not fun and easy like they make you believe when you’re a kid. And now not having you? I just…” your voice trailed off, words floating around you as you listened to them.

Hours had gone by and a bottle of whiskey had been ingested, and still your voice rang out against the stark quiet of the apartment. You hadn’t stopped crying, hadn’t been able to cope with your messages to your dead friend. You never realized you had called so many times, never realized that at some point you would have so many messages to listen to.

Finally, you were on the last message, eyes red and burning as your drunken words impaled you. “Randy, I wish you could answer these. I need advice. I need to hear your voice again. I need to hear you tell me what I am doing is a mistake. Remember when I promised to never get close to anyone again? It’s happening. And I don’t know what to do. They’re both perfect. Both so…” you stopped the message. Stopped hearing your slurring words.

Your door kicked open, wood flying past your face. Your reaction times were slow, the whiskey in full effect now. You tried to rise to your feet, only to meet with the ground under you.

Everything went black. You no longer could smell the dust and mold, replaced instead with the soft scent of lavender and spices. Then you felt a sharp pain to your head, and you were out.

((Pt. 14)) <Coming Soon