#also a girl putting her phone up super quickly at the start of bomb bomb nearly elbowed me in the face

[nettlestingsoup]

kard was SO FUN but honestly people need to be FAR more mindful of their phones at gigs. i get that you want to film for friends or for memories or whatever other reason, but every time a song starts and a hundred phones go up it makes it REMARKABLY difficult to actually see the stage.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Ch. 2 Finding Out (Family/Friends)

Prev 

AO3

@maribat-bdbwm

“Mari!” Adrien yells, running past Batman to sweep her up in a hug. Marinette’s face instantly heats up, but she buries herself into the hug. After all, it’s not every day she faces a supervillain determined to kill her with a dangerous weapon...without her suit, anyway.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Marinette reassures him, relishing in the comfort. A cleared throat makes her jump back and look at Batman who, despite clearing his throat and cutting off the most amazing hug ever, has no emotions on his face. Whatsoever. Cause that’s not intimidating or anything.

“The police will need your statement, Miss Dupain Cheng.” Batman says. Marinette nods, squeaking when Adrien reaches down and entwines his fingers with hers. Following Batman’s directions to the awaiting police, Marinette feels nerves flood her systerm as she sees the sheer number of officers on the other side of the door. Sucking in a deep breath, she feels Adrien squeeze her hand. Shooting him a thankful smile, Marinette uses her unattached hand to open the door and step out into the mess of personnel. A man with a mustache and square glasses steps forward immediately, his hand extended.

“Hello Miss Dupain Cheng. I’m Commissioner Jim Gordon. We were in communication with Batman while he was inside so we heard some of what happened. Would you be comfortable telling us what happened? We can get you checked over by paramedics first, if you want.” Commissioner Gordon says.

“Oh, no, no. I’m fine. I don’t-” She starts to say, but a gruff voice cuts her off.

“She should be examined immediately, Gordon. She may have inhaled smoke from the smoke bombs due to proximity. She also could have burns to her face or ears from Joker’s gun. He shot it and then proceeded to prod her with it.” Batman says, the last part of his ‘report’ slightly more gruff than the first. Was he…..worried about her? Marinette shakes that thought off almost immediately. Why would Batman be worried about her? Wait, was he really going to make her see the paramedics when all she wanted to do was talk to the officers so she could get back to the trip?

“I assure you, Monsieur Batman, Monsieur Gordon, I don’t need to see the paramedics. I’m a little shaky, but that’s all. I mean, I was held at gunpoint. I think shaky is appropriate, non?” Marinette asks, flashing the two a bright smile. Gordon raises an eyebrow and glances at Batman who shakes his head stiffly.

“She gets examined.” He says, leaving no room for questions as he pulls his grappling hook (?!?!) out and retreats to the rooftop.

“You heard the man. We can talk as you’re examined, if you’d prefer. I’m sure you just want to put this whole business behind you.” Commissioner Gordon says kindly. Marinette sighs in relief and nods, smiling again at the man. Hopefully this would be taken care of quickly. --- Bruce Wayne was slightly panicking, though he would never admit it. When reports of the Joker being spotted at the Gotham City Museum of Modern Art first rolled in, he assumed his biggest challenge would be keeping Jason from murdering the clown. He did not expect to see a small girl being held at gunpoint. A girl who looked like a strange mix between his mother, and someone else. But he couldn’t place his- of course. Memories flood his mind as he thinks back to the woman who was so clearly related to the small girl. Bridgette Le. A woman that he, at one time, thought he would be able to spend the rest of his life with. Until she left Gotham and cut off all contact between the two. Oh god. She wouldn’t….would she? --- “I don’t understand why that older paramedic looked like she’d seen a ghost.” Marinette says with a pout as she continues working on the embroidery for a jacket for Jagged. Design never sleeps.

“What d’ya mean?” Adrien asks from his nest of blankets on her bed. Marinette tries to focus on keeping her blush down. Apparently, the attack at the museum had scared Adrien more than her, though she imagined he was scared on her behalf. But she couldn’t quite understand why...nevertheless, he had become attached at her hip and hadn’t left her side since they got back to the hotel. Even though all she really wanted was a little alone time to talk to Tikki. Especially about the chance of the Miraculous Cure working here. Maybe if she was in the battle…

“Didn’t you notice? He was fine til he looked into my eyes and then he got super pale. He looked like he was going to say something, but Monsieur Gordon stopped him before he could.” Marinette recounts, remembering the way the paramedic had to switch out since his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“I didn’t notice that. That’s weird. Anything else happen like that today?” Adrien asks, finally sitting up and giving her his full attention. Marinette pauses her stitching and purses her lips as she runs the days events back through her head. The paramedic. Batman. Joker. Arriving late to the museum. The cab ride. Being left at the hotel. Coffee-

“Well,” Marinette starts, furrowing her eyebrows as she tries to rationalize the man’s actions in addition to the actions of the paramedic. But something wasn’t adding up. “There was my cab ride to the museum.”

“What happened? Was someone creepy? I can fight them for you!” Adrien offers, a little too cheery. Marinette freezes as she studies his face, searching for something. Adrien had been off all day. More protective than he’d been in awhile. And the few times Lila had spoken, he had scowled at her instead of ignored her. Was he finally coming around to the idea that the high road would not work with Lila? Pushing those thoughts off for another time, Marinette shakes her head.

“No, no. Nothing like that. But as I was leaving, he called me Miss Wayne.” Marinette admits, not expecting Adrien’s uncontrollable laughter.

“He, you, oh my god!” He laughs, clutching his sides. Marinette’s eyebrows furrow in confusion as she sets the jacket down on the desk.

“What?” She asks, completely and totally frustrated with the situation. Adrien laughs for another minute before calming down, wiping tears from his eyes and shooting her a blinding smile. Not his model smile. An actual smile that warms her heart and her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry Mari. It’s just, I think he was referring to the fact that you look like the typical kid Bruce Wayne adopts.” Adrien says and Marinette’s blood freezes.

“Did you say Bruce Wayne?” Marinette asks and Adrien nods, his previous mirth wiped from his face.

“Yeah, Mari, are you okay?” He asks. Marinette nods, then shakes her head, then groans and throws up her arms in frustration.

“I don’t know! I just- you remember how I told you I’m adopted?” She asks. Adrien nods, then stops. A look of mixed terror and awe flooding his face.

“Oh god, Mari. You never told me the name. Your birth father-”

“His name is Bruce Wayne. But there’s gotta be hundreds if not thousands of Bruce Waynes in the US right?” Marinette asks, even as her hope in that idea dwindles.

“The US? He’s confirmed from the US?” Adrien asks, already pulling out his phone.

“Yes. Adrien, what are you doing?” She asks, suddenly worried as she jumps onto the bed next to him, desperately trying to see his phone.

“I’m googling Bruce Wayne and Bridgette Le as a combined search. Wayne is one of the most prominent figures in Gotham, all of his previous relationships have photographic evidence. Except for whoever the mother of his youngest is. But that’s probably because he wasn’t in the country at that time.” Adrien says, typing away furiously on his phone. Marinette’s eyebrow quirks up in amusement.

“Since when were you a master researcher?” She asks with a grin.

“Since one of my best friends found out she’s adopted and it could be the man who hosts the only palatable high society parties. Seriously. And they’d be much better if you were there and-holy shit. Your bio mom looks just like you!” Adrien exclaims, turning the phone to her. Marinette inhales deeply and thanks whatever power there is that she’s not in Paris right now. The emotions running over her at an indescribable speed...not all of them are positive. And they’re all overwhelming as she looks at a picture that very clearly shows her bio mom with Bruce Wayne. As in the Gotham Bruce Wayne. Not a different unknown Bruce Wayne across the country somewhere. Nope. A man who is apparently prominent enough that Monsieur Agreste makes his son go to the man’s parties.

“I don’t suppose she just had a type for men named Bruce Wayne?” Marinette says weakly. This was not what she expected. --- This was exactly what he expected. Looking at the birth records for one Marinette Le, where he’s noted as the father. Though why he wasn’t notified before the girl’s custody was signed over to Sabine Cheng, he’ll never understand. His jaw clenches as he continues reading, eyes scanning over Bridgette’s death certificate before glancing back at Marinette’s birth certificate. A daughter. He had a daughter. Another child that he would never be able to hold when they were small. Another child that grew up without him. Another child that he didn’t meet until they were already a person. Someone with their own experiences individual from his own, someone that may not even know he had found them. And that he wanted nothing more than to get to know someone who was brave enough to stand between the Joker and her friends. Someone who was determined not to let what should have been the most traumatic experience in her life be a set back. He had a daughter. And he wanted to meet her.

***

Next

Note, my headcannon is that the paramedic that panicked did so because he was one of the first responders the night that the Waynes were murdered. And while she looks a lot like her birth mom, Marinette also definitely has Martha Wayne’s eyes and the paramedic could NOT deal. Also, let me know if you want tagged!

Tag List: @jjmjjktth

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Let The Bells Ring (A Stricklake Wedding)

Good news everyone! I was finally able to motivate myself to finish this fanfic, which took me weeks due to work and weak motivation lol. Since I’ve been sick this week with not much to do, I was able to motivate myself to power through!

So this is a continuation of my Making Things Right fic, which is an alternate ROTT ending where the timeline is NOT reset and everyone lives and gets to attend the Stricklake wedding! This in general is how I imagine a Stricklake wedding going, regardless of the overall plot of ROTT. I got so much inspiration for this from throughout the fandom, including @bklily & @undeadchestnut <3 Enjoy!

~~~

In the weeks to come, the people of Arcadia and perhaps, the whole world would continue to recover from what would’ve been a large-scale apocalypse. To celebrate the end of this war and help everyone with healing, Barbara and Strickler felt that they should get married as soon as possible. Barbara nearly lost Strickler in his attempt to save Jim and stop the ice titan, and she was never more determined to tie the knot and be with him for the rest of her life. It was thanks to her excellent medical skills that both him and Nomura were able to recover from their life-threatening injuries, even though his wings were permanently damaged from the blast.

The day of the wedding arrived on a bright spring as the flowers began to bloom in the trees across Arcadia. Everyone was busy and super pumped getting ready for the big day. Claire, along with Aja, Darci, and Mary were all getting ready in her room. With Papa Skull music playing, they did their hair, nails, and makeup while also fooling around quite a bit. Aja sat right in front of the mirror back in her human form after a very long time.

“I’ve never been to a human marriage party before!” She squealed in excitement as her girlfriends did her hair and makeup.

“We’re so glad you can be with us, Aj,” Darci responded wholeheartedly as she pulled Aja’s light blonde hair into a beautiful, flowery updo with some loose hairs falling to the side. Claire and Mary both focused on getting her makeup done and when they were finally done, Aja gazed into the mirror in awe. 

“Wow! I look.. I look soo..”

“Lively!” The girls cheerfully finished the sentence for her.

“Hey Claire Bear, Darc and I are gonna grab a few things from my car. You and Aja finish getting ready, ok?” Said Mary as she and Darci left the room. Claire helped Aja get into her hot pink strapless dress, and Aja couldn’t help but squeal in excitement and twirl around in her high-low skirt. Aja quickly enveloped Claire into a tight hug.

“Oh thank you so much Claire! This is amazing!”

Both girls chuckled and smiled at each other.

“Also,” Aja started. “It’s so nice to have another girl to fight side by side with, I don’t get to do that a lot. And your shadows of magic are so lively!”

“Thanks! And yeah same. Boys clubs can get pretty annoying, haha,” Claire joked. "We should definitely hang out more," Aja nodded in agreement and they both smiled warmly at each other. 

“We’re back!” Mary said as she and Darci finally came back with more accessories. After they all finished getting ready, Mary took out her phone and they all posed for a selfie.

“Aw C-Bomb! It’s so good to have you back! We missed you like crazy when you left Arcadia! You and Aja!” She squealed cheerfully, squeezing Claire into a tight hug. Darci joined in and grabbed Aja as well. “Yeah girl! Don’t ever leave us out of nowhere like that again,” Darci said with a frown as she hugged Claire tighter. Claire chuckled and took both of their hands. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. It would be nice to take a break once in a while, hopefully,” She assured her girlfriends and hugged them again.

Moments later, the girls rode in Mary's car to Jim's house. When Aja got out from the back seat, the front door suddenly flew open and Steve ran out to her.

"My royal, ninja-kicking angel is here!" He yelled. 

Without any hesitation, he swung Aja up from her feet and spun her around as she screamed joyously. He kissed her so passionately that Aja eventually started pushing him.

"Steve!" She chuckled. "My makeup! You're going to mess it up!" Steve laughed and then they both pressed their foreheads together and smiled lovingly as they held each other.

Jim stood at the front door watching and shaking his head while the remaining girls chuckled and let out some "awws" from the car. Claire eventually opened the door and walked out from the front seat, and Jim couldn't help but let out a "woah."

Claire stepped out in glimmering heels and wore a beautiful, midnight dress with a slit to the side. She smiled at Jim and her smoky eyeshadow made her beautiful, brown eyes glow even more. She walked up to him and he gently took her hands in his.

"You ready to be the greatest best man?" She asked. 

"Ready as I can get," Jim chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. Claire smiled, then cupped his cheeks in her hands and leaned forward to press her lips against his. When she finally pulled back, she carefully stroked his hair and tucked it behind his ear.

"Good luck, I know you got this," 

Jim smiled and put his hand on hers, letting out a sigh of relief. 

Toby and Aaarrrgghh walked out of the front door beside them and the three trollhunters smiled at one another. It's good they were all back together. And actually happy this time! Toby walked over to Jim and Claire for an affectionate group hug while Darci and Mary walked over.

"Toby!" Darci screamed as she ran over to hug her boyfriend. With a massive smile on his face, Toby hugged her back and held her tight.

"Oh TP! It's so good to have you back! I missed you so so much!" She started, her eyes tearing up. Toby on the other hand, after everything he went through, just wanted to revel in this moment

"It's good to be back, Darc," he responded softly. 

Darci smiled at him and was totally digging his wedding look. "Looking good in a tux, TP,"

Aaarrrgghh nodded in agreement. "Mmm, Fancy,"

Toby put his hands on his hips and smirked. "Oh, well, yeah I do gotta look awesome-sauce for Dr. L's wedding, am I right?"

The gang laughed and finally went inside the house. Everyone headed towards the backyard except for Jim, who waited by the stairs. Toby and Claire looked back at him and gave him a nod of good luck before walking out the door.

Later that evening, more guests arrived and filled the seats in the backyard and Strickler waited for his bride at the altar. Blinky stood behind the stand mic with a piece of heartstone in his hand. Nomura stood by where Barbara soon would be. After all the help she's gotten and the time they spent together, Nomura became so close to Barbara that she gladly accepted her request to be her maid of honor. They were surrounded by a magical, embellished flower arch made by none other than Nari. Bright lights twinkled all around the place and soft, mellow tunes filled the atmosphere, played by both Krel on his keyboard and Douxie on his guitar. They high-fived each other for successfully setting a romantic mood.

Jim stood inside his house and then suddenly, he heard click-clacking from the stairs. It was his mother, so beautiful in her lace white dress. He couldn't help but tear up at the sight of his mom finally being happy again. She made it down the stairs and wrapped Jim in a warm hug. 

"I love you so much, kiddo," Barbara told her son as her voice began to break. "I'm so proud of how far you've come and couldn't be any happier to be walked down the aisle by my beautiful boy,"

Jim held her even tighter as he chuckled lightly, tears falling down his cheeks. Barbara then looked at him lovingly as she wiped his tears. She leaned forward to kiss his forehead, then put her arms in his as they began heading towards the back door.

The guests looked around as the beautiful bride made her way down the aisle. Strickler couldn't stop gazing and smiling at his soon-to-be wife as she walked towards him, returning his smile. Barbara finally stood looking towards him and Jim stood by Strickler's side as his best man. Blinky finally cleared his throat and approached the mic.

"Greetings everyone. We are gathered here today to join our dearly beloved Barbara Lake and Walter Strickler in holy matrimony. After everything that has transpired in Arcadia over the past few years, what a blessing it is for all of us to congregate here to cherish and celebrate this union. Despite all the trials and tribulations that have been faced by this lovely pair, well of course the unusual beginning they’ve had..." 

Strickler cleared his throat, interrupting Blinky’s speech. Jim couldn’t resist letting out a little chuckle. “Uh, Mr Blinky,” Barbara whispered. “We don’t need to go into all the details. What’s in the past can stay in the past. What’s most important is the here and now,”

“Right, right, right,” Blinky continued clumsily. “These two warriors have persevered through it all, the thick and the thin leading up to this very special moment. From this day forth, they will continue to strive and triumph together for the rest of their lives. Now may I have the rings?” 

The audience clapped while Blinky signaled for Archie to fly over and bring the cushion that bore the rings.

“Now both of you place your hands on this heartstone as you say your vows. Do you, Walter Strickler, take Barbara Lake to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Strickler took a deep breath, then smiled wholeheartedly and answered. “Yes, I do,” Followed by the clapping in the audience, Blinky turned to face Barbara.

“Do you, Barbara Lake, take Walter Strickler to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do” Barbara responded softly, with light tears in her eyes as she smiled brightly at her soon-to-be husband. They let go of the glowing heartstone, then took their rings and gently placed them on each of their left ring fingers. They finally held hands tightly in excitement and couldn’t take their eyes off of each other.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss,” 

Strickler pulled Barbara closer to him and they finally leaned in for a warm kiss. Loud cheers spread throughout the audience with some sniffles of joy. Jim stood by wiping tears off his cheeks. Finally! Nothing brought more happiness into his heart than to see his own mother finally again, just as she deserved. And never did he expect that someone he once resented would eventually become someone so dear to both him and his mother. 

Claire looked towards Douxie across the front row and they both nodded. Absorbing shadows from around her, she released a couple of black and purple shimmering doves into the sky and in turn, Douxie cast out beautiful blue sparkles to light up the scene even more. A round of oohs and aahs echoed was followed by a standing ovation.

A few moments later, Barbara turned around and was ready to throw the bouquet to a competitive crowd of single ladies of all ages and… Varvatos, who’s made it his quest to be the next in line for Nancy. As the bouquet suddenly flew into the air and was falling back down, out of nowhere, a shadow portal opened and swallowed it up. The audience gasped and looked around in confusion as another portal opened and the bouquet was caught by Claire. She glanced over at Jim whose eyes widened and cheeks turned pure red. In response, she winked at him as he sheepishly smiled back and waved. All the other ladies grunted and Mary and Darci approached her. 

“Claire Bear! You’re not supposed to do that here! That’s cheating!” Darci told her with her arms crossed while Mary nodded in agreement. Claire chuckled and held the bouquet victoriously as she went to sit back down. “Um, I don’t remember there being a rule book for bouquet tosses as far as I’m concerned,” 

“Preposterous!” Exclaimed Varvatos. “It should’ve been I who won this battle for Nancy!” He heard Nancy walk up to him giggling and grabbing his arm. “Oh Varvatos, you don’t need a bouquet to marry me! I’m way past that!” Varvatos’s eyes glew up and he let out a big smile. “Glorious!” He yelled. laughing maniacally. 

Later that night, everyone got up and slow-danced to the sweet, charming tunes that Krel played. Douxie danced with Zoe, who he finally caught up with and they got to hunt niffins and grab burgers together as promised. Toby and Darci danced together and enjoyed their well-needed reunion, sharing a few kisses here and there. While Steve and Aja danced, they discussed their future plans and whether they would be together on Akiridion-5 or remain long distance.

“Well now, since we got wormholes and stuff, maybe I could come to you more often on Akiridion-5 while finishing college and who knows what will happen next?” Steve started as he held Aja and slightly dipped her. She smiled back at him and pushed her hair behind her ear. “You know, I really miss this mudball and seeing you more. I think maybe I too, should come visit and go on more Earth dates,”

Jim shared a short and sweet dance with mother then hugged her so tightly, before Strickler walked over to them and asked if could borrow his wife for another dance. Jim went over to Krel’s turntable and whispered something in his ears. Suddenly the music stopped as Krel plugged Jim’s phone to his turntable and pressed play. 

Claire sat and chatted with Mary and a couple of friends when she suddenly froze. It was a familiar melody that took her back to the night of Spring Fling, her first ever dance with Jim. The guitar strings of Eres Tu played as she turned around and saw Jim hold out his hands to her. She looked up at him smiling and grabbed his hand. She got up and walked with him further away from the crowd until they were almost alone but could still hear the song. They started dancing as the Spanish lyrics began to be sung, while Jim sang along parts of the song, just like last time. 

“Nice little trick you did back there with the flowers,” Jim joked as he spun her around. Claire chuckled and blushed a little. “Oh I bet you wanted me to be the one to catch it. But don’t worry, there’s no rushing into this. We just enjoy every moment together and take this all little by little, ok?” She assured him. He smiled back at her and stroked her cheek. It was so good that they finally got to enjoy this moment of peace without needing to defeat gumm-gumms or evil wizards trying to destroy the world. For both of them, it was a relief that neither of them felt the need to dread any upcoming battles hopefully for years to come. Without any further talking, they just danced together slowly reminiscing their beautiful memories they’ve had throughout their relationship, putting a warm smile on each of their faces. Jim spun Claire, then hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek, while Claire’s smile only got bigger and brighter.

From a distance, Barbara and Walter watched Jim dance with Claire while they too danced. “You’ve raised an amazing son, Barbara. Young Atlas has come so far in life and he wouldn’t have become the man he did without an amazing mother like you,”

“He’s also had a wonderful person like you come into his life and help him grow a lot. I couldn’t be more thankful he had you and Mr. Blinky help him become a strong trollhunter,”

The stars continued glimmering in the night sky as everyone enjoyed the rest of the wedding. A cool breeze blew through and the petals on the flowers and the twinkling lights slowly flowed along. The heroes of Arcadia have truly found an adventure worth telling for generations to come, whether it was on Earth, the caverns below, or on Akiridion-5. It was a one of a kind adventure that each hero will continue to remember and hold onto no matter what comes next. Despite all the trauma and heartbreak they all went through, they have also gained so much strength and wisdom, along with many great allies that will always stay together whatever comes next.

~~~

Thank you so much for reading this fic! I know this was super long but I definitely put in a lot of stuff that I wanted to see in the TOA series, including Aja and Claire bonding and a happy ending with a Stricklake wedding! I know this isn’t the best I’ve written and that I wasn’t able to give each character but I’m glad I was able to get it done! Stay tuned for more and hopefully more focus on other characters!

[cherrybracelets]

til the end of time

spencer reid x fem!reader / bau x platonic!reader

word count: 5.1k | warnings: typical cm violence, pregnancy and childbirth mention. other than that, all fluff and corniness

an: this is super stupid and corny; just sometbing i threw together !! i also wrote a lot of this on my phone if there’s typos don’t @ me

You had been imagining the day of your wedding since you were 12 years old, and attended your Aunt Maria’s wedding. It was the first wedding you had ever been too, and it was so much fun. Well, looking back, it was actually a very cheesy and poorly thrown together party in a cheap hotel, but at the time you were amazed.

You have attended quite a few weddings since then, much that were way nicer than Maria’s. Every one you went to, you gathered more and more ideas for what you wanted to do on your own big day (when the time came, of course.) You knew you wanted white roses in the centerpieces, vanilla raspberry cake was a must, and your dream venue was saved a thousand times on your Pinterest boards.

But, nothing ever goes as planned, right? When you started planning your wedding with Spencer, you know you would have to sacrifice a few of your ideas that weren’t exactly plausible. But you never in a million years thought you would be here.

It all started about a week ago, back in the lovely conference room of the BAU. You and Spencer sat next to each other, whispering away about wedding and honeymoon plans, the rest of the team scattering in and preparing to hear about a new case.

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do if my Uncle Mike brings his girlfriend…” you frowned, your stomach doing flips as you stressed more and more about the big day.

“Just have your mom call him and talk to him, he’ll listen to her,” Spencer assured you, squeezing your hand tightly, trying to pull all of your stress away. He hated how much anxiety all of this was bringing you. For him, your wedding was the brightest day of his future, it was all he could think about. And you felt the same, of course, but the planning was exhausting.

“Sorry to bring everyone in again, I know we’ve barely been on the ground a day, but we have a weird one today. Garcia,” Hotch motioned to the tech analyst, who smiled happily as she stood up and began her presentation.

“So, my friends, we are going to Spencer’s favorite place, Las Vegas!” She giggled, trying to bring lightness into a place that had seen so many horrors.

“Oh! I’ll have to call my mom!” Spencer smiled, always excited at any chance to see his mother.

“Let’s focus on getting this creep, first,” Garcia shuttered, pulling up multiple photos of dead bodies on the screen. “These are the two victims that we know of, Jenna Benson and Evan Perry.”

“What was the cause of death?” Morgan asked.

“Gunshot to the head. But, there are two ante mortem shots on each of the victim, one in the leg and one in the… nether regions,” Garcia shuttered, pulling up more pictures of the injuries on the bodies.

“Genital mutilation, that’s a statement,” you responded.

“And it was done before he killed them, so it’s definetly torture.”

“Do you think he could be trying to extort information? One bullet each time you don’t get a question right? You have three strikes to get it right?” JJ suggested.

“I don’t know, but these bodies were only killed a few hours apart, and chances are he’s already moved on to his next victim. Wheels up in 30.”

The group began to dismiss, Spencer’s hand still locked in yours as you left and went back to your desks.

“I’m gonna go grab our bags from the car and call my mom, you’ll be okay for a few minutes?” Spencer questioned, his eyes wide as he awaited your response.

“Yes, I’ll be fine on my own, Spence,” you giggled, rolling your eyes as you turned towards him and back at your desk, mixing thoughts of your big day and the big case racing through your mind.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

The plane ride was long, going backwards in time to reach the opposite coast always took a while. The team spoke for a bit about the case, before saying all that could be said and separating into their own comfort. You and Spencer sat close in the chairs, your head resting on his shoulder as he flipped through some case files.

Garcia had popped in earlier with the knowledge that the victims attended high school together, making these killings seem a lot less random.

“Jenna was a freshman when Evan was a senior, it’s probably unlikely they knew each other,” Spencer whispered to you, his brows furrowed as he tried to uncover something between the lines.

“I knew a lot of seniors when I was a freshman,” you shrugged, dismissing his theory.

“Yeah, but you went to a small school, everybody knew everyone. Vegas high schools aren’t like that,” he responded sharply, his knowledge of his hometown showing through.

You decided to let Spencer think silently; he tended to work best that way. You shut your eyes for a bit, only waking back up to feel the plane descending.

You didn’t know how you had managed to let time pass away like that, but the stress of everything must have been wearing you down. Spencer had fallen asleep too, his groggy eyes reopening as the plane hit the ground.

Hotch had already given you your assignments, you and JJ off to the second crime scene, which happened to be Evan’s house. The cars were there when you walked off the plane, and an extra car tasked with delivering your luggage to the hotel you probably wouldn’t have a chance to go to.

As you landed, Hotch took a quick phone call, his face making that familiar look when something happened.

“Another body?” Emily asked as he hung up the phone.

“Two. Let’s all go back to the station, for now. We need to sit down and go over everything. If he’s working this quickly, this is a spree. And we have a lot less time than we thought.”

“I’ll let the Detective know,” Rossi nodded, walking towards the car and hopping in the driver's seat. The rest of the team followed, you and Spencer walking side by side to the car that Derek had claimed as his.

“Glad I took that little nap on the plane, doesn’t seem like we’ll be sleeping for the next 48 hours,” you giggled, getting in the back seat of the SUV.

“Probably 72, if we’re being realistic,” Spencer teased, getting in the passenger's seat. He always got in the passenger's seat when the two of you were in the car with one other person. You never questioned it, but one day he let it slip that he just didn’t want the person in the front to be lonely.

You got to the Field Office about twenty minutes later, partially thanks to Derek’s driving. As the rest of the team continued to arrive, the three of you walked into the building to begin your work. You greeted the Agents and Detectives, avoiding small talk as you knew the urgency of this case. Luckily they had a room and boards all set up for you guys. Spencer and Derek began hanging evidence on the boards, as you called Garcia to get an update on your latest victims.

“Hey baby girl, what do you have for us?” Derek flirted, while neatly hanging photos.

“The two vics were actually killed previous to our two victims. Not graduates of our high school, but! One of them is Jenna Benson’s mother, Cheryl. But I cannot find a connection to the other one.”

“Her mother? So there’s gotta be some dirt in that family. What can you find?” You asked, twirling a pen in your fingers.

“I’m looking, but I can’t find much. Cheryl’s husband and Jenna’s dad, Clint, apparently left them when she was 15. Filed for divorce and just left. Other than that, they look pretty normal.”

“What about hospital records, medical stuff? Are there signs of abuse?” Derek asked.

Your phone started ringing loudly on the desk, which you quickly declined and put in your pocket.

“Sorry, go on Garcia,” you apologized, uncomfortably shoving your phone in your jacket pocket.

“Doesn’t appear so… oh, woah. This is odd.”

“What did you find, baby girl?”

“When Jenna was 14, she had a doctors appointment where they noted she was 6 months pregnant. And there’s no other documentation of it. No other ultrasounds, no birth or death certificate of said baby.” Garcia was clicking away, trying to find any trace of other evidence.

“What year was this?” You asked.

“1991.”

“So if the baby was born, they would be 29 now. Fits the profile of a spree killer,” Spencer shrugged.

“Yeah, but how is there no record of this child anywhere?”

“Children,” Garcia chimed in, her voice filled with dread.

“Come again?” Derek asked.

“According to her doctor, Jenna was pregnant with twins.”

At this point, the rest of the team had finally arrived, coming in just in time for the call. Garcia filled everyone in, each of you silently going over the facts. You tried your best to focus on the case, but your mind was still drudging over the details of your wedding. Your phone kept buzzing in your pocket, and you were certain it was some vendor or family member trying to take your money or beg for a plus one. But you couldn’t think about that, not now. You had to be here, be present. You had to catch this man.

“I have another information bomb that is going to blow your minds,” Garcia chimed in, her voice in shock as she awaited permission to talk.

“What is it?”

“In 1992, Cheryl and Clint Benson deposited two sixty-thousand dollar cash deposits in the same week.”

“That’s about how much a baby would go for on the black market,” Spencer added, his fact bringing you all to the same conclusion.

“We have to find Clint Benson, he’ll be the only one that can help us,” Rossi said.

“Do you think he’ll cooperate? That’s super illegal, he might not indict himself,” Emily added.

“We can offer him some kind of deal. If our unsub is one of the children, he’s the only shot we have at finding him.”

“I’ll work on finding the dad. I’ll talk to you guys soon.”

The team split up into smaller conversations, your phone still vibrating violently in your pocket. Spencer walked up to you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close.

“You doing alright, honey? You seemed distracted earlier…” he pouted, kissing the top of your head with ease, showcasing his clear difference in height from you.

“I’m just thinking about all the wedding stuff… it’s stupid,” you answered, shaking your head in defense. “It sure doesn’t help that my phone won't stop ringing!” You groaned, ripping it out of your pocket and slamming it down on the table. The team stopped what they were doing and looked towards you, but Spencer waived them away, as if to say, ‘I’m handing this, don’t worry.’

“I’ll answer, and take care of it whatever it is. You focus on the victims, see if we can find some more connections, okay.” Spencer gave you a reassuring kiss on the lips, holding your phone in his palm and walking out to the hallway to handle your never ending stress.

You turned towards the files, trying to take your finances advice and focus on the victims. You looked at the photos over and over, trying to see if there was something you missed. Something that would make this make more sense. And then you had a thought. Something that might make this make sense.

“What if he’s looking for the dad?” You shouted, hoping someone would be drawn to your thought.

“The two men have nothing in common,” Derek responded.

“No, no. I know. But, like…” you stuttered, trying your best to organize the words into your head so they would understand. “The old man is still an outlier. But this younger victim, Evan. He went to highschool with Jenna. What if all the information he had on his dad was he was a senior at her school. Maybe he had a picture, and he’s hunting guys who might be the one.”

“If he came face to face with his mom, though, why not just ask her directly? If he is shooting them to get information, why wouldn’t she give in?” Emily questioned.

You thought for a moment, but JJ came in with an answer before your brain could think of one. Thank god.

“Maybe she wanted to protect him.”

“How would he have gotten a picture of his supposed dad though? Why would she give him a picture and not a name?”

“We’re missing something here. And unfortunately the only way we’ll find it is with more victims,” Rossi said, crossing his arms in frustration.

“And there are. Two more bodies have been found, this time much more recent. Time of death is only two hours ago,” Spencer added, walking back in from the hallway.

“And identification on them yet?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah, they’re sending their names to Garcia. It’s two more men, though. Roughly the same age as Evan. Same look as well, according to the Agent that told me.”

The phone in the middle of the table started ringing, a sign that Garcia had important information to fill your heads. Her voice always brought a kind of sweetness to your thoughts, making the whole room seem brighter.

“Garcia, what’s up?” Rossi asked her, awaiting the key to unlock this case.

“Two more victims both went to high school with Jenna. And they do look a lot alike…” Garcia said.

“Okay, can I state the obvious here. If these babies were sold, what are the chances either of them make it to 29? Most creeps buying infants don’t want them for longevity,” JJ shuttered, feeling sick at the words she was saying, but knew it needed to be discussed.

“Actually, an alarming amount of babies purchased illegally are bought by real parents looking for children to adopt. The adoption process is incredibly lengthy and difficult, and it’s even more difficult to find a newborn. A lot of… more affluent couples take this route.” Spencer nodded quietly after he spoke, something small you had always noticed about him. It was almost if he was reassuring himself that he did okay, that he said all he needed to say.

“So the only shot at finding either of these babies is through Jenna’s father,” Hotch sighed, realizing again that almost all cases came down to one cruical final piece. Clint Benson was your final piece.

“Lucky for you, Aaron Hotchner, I have found our man of the hour. Clint still lives in beautiful Las Vegas, only about fifteen minutes away from where you are now. Sending the home and work addresses as we speak,” Garcia teased, a few of you giggling as your phone’s received her information. Spencer handed you your cell back and smiled, kissing your forehead.

“I handled everything. No one will bother you again,” he assured, making you feel relaxed for the first time in weeks.

“Well, people can bother me a little, it’s still my wedding,” you teased, pushing Spencer slightly as he rolled his eyes and walked back towards Derek.

“I think we should bring Clint here versus ambushing him at home. He may not know about Jenna and Cheryl yet. It only hit the news cycle an hour ago, and they aren’t even releasing the identities,” JJ spoke, her motherly instinct always kicking in in times like these. She was right, as she usually was. It would be better to hear that kind of news here.

“Reid and Derek, go to his house. JJ and Rossi, go to his work. (Y/N) and Emily, stay here and start working on a profile based on what we have so far. Hopefully we can present something soon after we talk with Clint.” Hotch nodded at you all, making sure you all understood your tasks. You blew a kiss to Spencer as he walked out, feeling calmed by his quick smile before he was gone.

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Clint Benson was devastated when he heard the news of his wife and daughter. He still loved them both, but the guilt and shame of what happened was too much for him. According to Clint, the whole thing was his wife's idea. When she found out Jenna was pregnant at 14, she was heart broken. It was too late for an abortion, because they had only officially found out when she was six months.

“Cheryl was humiliated. Pulled her out of school, locked in her room. Didn’t want none of our friends to see her, to know what she did…” Clint sobbed, his voice tripping over itself.

“Which is why she never saw another doctor?” Hotch asked, carefully poking around for answers.

“Yeah… I kept trying to talk to her, ask her what we were going to do. Telling her Jenna needed to see a doctor. But Cheryl just said she was handing it, was taking care of all of it. I… didn’t know what to do. And then when Jenna went into labor, I begged Cheryl to take her to a hospital… but she wouldn’t. She barricaded herself in front of Jenna… until it was too late. She had them… right in her bedroom… a boy and a girl. They were so, so beautiful.” Clint was crying more, his words sounding more garbled with each passing second. You felt sick, horrible for the man.

Times like this made you wish for the distraction of the wedding. You tried picturing the suit you had planned for Spencer. The colors were perfect for him, and would match the rest of the theme perfectly. But then you remembered the guest list, and the caterer not having enough vegan options, and the open bar messing up your signature cocktail… And don’t even start with the DJ!

“Where are the babies now, Clint?” Hotch asked, his voice now rough and full of urgency.

“I… don’t know exactly. There wasn’t much information passed. Just names and cash.”

“What were the names?”

“Uh… the girl… she went to a couple named Ashley and Brian. The boy… Danielle and Andrew…” Clint mumbled, trying to remember more.

“Wait…” you whispered to yourself, something finally clicking in this case. You ran into the interrogation room, interrupting Hotch, much to his shock.

“Do you remember Andrew’s last name? Or what he looked like?”

“Uh… I think his last name started with an M… He had glasses. Does that help?”

“Hotch… our first victim was Andrew Masters.”

“Yes! Masters was his last name! Wait… victim? Did something happen to him? Is this connected to what happened to Cheryl and Jenna?”

You and Hotch looked at each other, a silent understanding between the two of you. You both knew what was happening here. Andrew Masters was killed by his own son. He was one of two babies given away by the Benson family that fateful evening. But why start murdering your family out of the blue? There was still something missing here.

“Have Garcia find out everything she can about Andrew’s son,” Hotch instructed, nodding you away as he readied himself to continue talking to Clint.

You ran into the hallway and called Garcia, looking around for Spencer, trying to tell him about the break in the case. Whenever either of you found something vital to the investigation, you always told each other immediately. You had done that since your first day on the team.

“What can I do for you, beautiful?” Garcia asked, distracting you from your thoughts about Spencer.

“Andrew Masters, our first victim, can you find anything on his son?”

“Uhh, sure. I can do that... what am I looking for exactly?” She questioned, still typing away madly in the background.

“We think he may be the unsub. Any triggers, any red flags?”

“Hmm, well here’s something. Up until two months ago, he was engaged. Can’t find a reason why it ended, but almost two months ago exactly they cancelled the venue, vendors, everything…”

“For no refunds, I’m sure,” you giggled, knowing well how the wedding industry worked. “What’s the ex fiance up to?”

“Well, she moved back in with her parents, Ashley and Brian, who look relatively normal…” Garcia responded.

“Wait, say that again. What were her parents' names?”

“Ashley and Brian Gregg.”

“Holy shit, Garcia. You’re a genius. Thank you!” You kissed loudly into the phone, hanging up the call and running towards the conference room. Everyone except Hotch was there, but you texted him to meet you in the conference room- that it was urgent.

“Guys, you will not believe this,” you finally said, after everyone arrived and was quiet enough to hear you. “Our first victim, Andrew, was the father of the son that Jenna gave away. Now, Jenna also gave away a daughter to another couple. Now, what are the odds of this. These two kids grow up, fall in love and get engaged. Talk about a trigger, finding out the love of your life is your secret twin.”

“You’re joking… evil twins again? Didn’t we already do this?” Emily laughed.

“It’s most likely just the guy. I’ll call Garcia and get her to send us everything she has on him. We gotta find this dude,” Derek instructed, leaving the room to speak to Garcia.

“How did they find out, though? Chances are the parents didn’t even know they were twins,” Rossi asked.

“Most likely not. Clint said the babies were picked up on different days.” Hotch added.

“It doesn’t matter how he found out, what matters is that he’s gonna kill a lot of people until he finds his ‘Dad’. He wants to punish anyone he thinks is involved in this crime.”

“We’ll put his picture out all over the media, and an APB on any vehicles he has. He won’t be able to hide for long. He has a mission, he’ll have to complete it.”

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Hotch, as usual, was right about the unsub. He did not stay in hiding for long. The police and FBI searched for six hours in his comfort zone, almost giving up hope, until he finally caved and came looking for another victim. JJ and Derek got to him first, trying to persuade him to drop his gun and come with them.

When it was finally all over, you felt equally ecstatic and exhausted. You couldn’t wait to crawl up onto a leather private jet chair and take an amazing nap. You were sad you didn’t get at least one night in the hotel. Something about hotels made Spencer get in a certain mood… even if you got a night away, there wasn’t much sleeping happening.

But you were grateful to be going home, at least until the next case popped up. You and Rossi were the only two that stayed back while the team went searching, wanting to be here in case any new bodies popped up. Rossi was wrapping up some paperwork with the other Agents out in the main room, and you paced back and forth in the conference room, hating the silence that was left when you were alone.

Rossi walked casually back to the conference room, and you could’ve sworn he had changed clothes. Maybe it was the extreme lack of sleep, but you could’ve sworn he didn’t look so… nice when he left the room.

“You ready to head to the airport? Everyone is gonna meet us there.” Rossi said, holding the door open for you.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure,” you responded, slightly confused at why the team didn’t come back here first. They usually did. But, everyone was tired and there really was no need to come back, you and Rossi had taken care of everything you needed to do to leave.

You followed Rossi down to the car, making small talk as he got in the driver’s seat and began heading away. You had only ever been to Vegas on trips for work, so you’d never really seen much of the city. It didn’t help that every street looked almost identical. You felt lost as you stared out the window, wondering how a young Spencer Reid could’ve survived in this massive city.

“Oh, before we get there, I just have to make one quick stop,” Rossi said, turning the turn signal on and pulling to the side of the road.

“Oh, uh, right now?” You questioned, jolting up as he hastily parallel parked the car.

“Yeah, it’ll be real quick. But, this isn’t a great part of town, so maybe you should come in with me…” He instructed, turning the car off and waiting for your answer.

“Um… I think I’ll be okay, Dave.” You laughed, rolling your eyes and turning to look at your phone.

“I really think you should come with me.”

“Are you not gonna go unless I do?”

“Pretty much.”

“Fine!” You rolled your eyes, opening the passenger door and getting out of the car. You stood on the sidewalk, standing angrily as you waited for Rossi to get out and walk to you.

“What are we even doing here-” you asked, turning around and getting smacked in the face with one of the cheesiest and most stereotypical Vegas chapels you had ever seen. Neon flashing lights, Elvis decor, cheap paint. It was amazing.

“Why the hell are we at a Chapel? Are Emily and JJ finally getting hitched?” You laughed, staring at disbelief at the building.

“Why don’t you just go inside…” Rossi instructed, waiting for you to enter the building so he could follow.

“Alright…” you responded, walking in the door and being immediately bombarded by JJ and Emily. They were in dresses, which made you even more confused.

“Come with us! You’ve gotta get ready!” JJ said, grabbing onto your arm and pulling you towards a door down the hallway.

“What is happening? Did we drink too many Margaritas at the taco place again…” you said, still being dragged against your will to a secret room.

And then you saw it. Emily opened the hideously pink painted door to a small dressing room, and in the middle was the single thing about your wedding that had gone right.

The dress. You found it a few months ago, and immediately knew it was the one. It was one of the first dresses you tried on, but you knew immediately it was the one for you.

“How did you… what is happening…”

“You’re gonna put the dress on, and then you’re gonna get married. That’s what's happening,” Emily shrugged, pushing you in the room.

“But… no… what about… and…” you stuttered, sitting down on the cigarette infused couch, the smell of stale smoke so strong it made you gag when you sat down.

“Okay, let’s not sit on that,” JJ laughed, pulling you up and away from the toxic furniture.

“I can’t get married. I’m not ready!” You protested, Emily stripping your clothes as you stood shocked.

“Just get in the dress, everything will be okay,” JJ assured you.

“No… I can’t…”

“Get in the dress, (Y/N), or I swear to God I will have to hurt you,” Emily joked, her eyes trying to be serious but a tiny smirk made it obvious.

“Fine. But I’m not happy about this.”

But then you put the dress on. And they were right. Everything made sense. You loved Spencer, and nothing mattered except marrying him, promising your life to him. The location, the guest list, the food… it didn’t matter. Your love mattered. He mattered.

“I’m ready,” you nodded, a few tears flowing down your cheek.

You walked out of the worst dressing room of all time, your dress dragging on the cheap shag carpet behind you. Emily handed you a bouquet of fake flowers, which made you and JJ laugh as you opened the doors to the chapel.

On the other end of a long red carpet was Spencer Reid, the one person you loved most in this world. He had on his suit, the one you designed in your head. You weren’t sure how he made it possible- you weren’t sure how he made any of this possible. But you couldn’t stop crying, a gush of hot tears flowing down your face as you walked anxiously down the aisle to your new forever.

“You are the most beautiful person in the world,” Spencer whispered to you, taking your hands as you reached the end of the aisle. JJ and Emily sat down next to the rest of the team, the only other guests in attendance. It was perfect, though. You couldn’t have imagined it any other way.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the love between (Y/N) and Spencer,” the man said. “Thank you all for coming to this beautiful celebration. Spencer and (Y/N) have decided to share their own vows.”

“Um, I don’t have my vows,” you sighed, looking around awkwardly at the crowd.

“Should’ve memorized 'em, like I did,” Spencer winked. You rolled your eyes in annoyance, lightly shoving Spencer on the arm.

“Do we need to do all this? I mean… I know you love me. I know I love you, and I hope you know that. I know that every small thing you do makes me fall more and more in love. And I can’t imagine any day of my life without you by my side. Can’t we just skip to the I do part and get married!” You wrapped your arms around Spencer’s waist and pulled him closer.

“I just want to say one thing before I kiss the bride. Nothing has mattered more to me than you since the moment we met. I would stop the world for you if I could. I wanted to do something to take away all your stress, and although I couldn’t do it perfectly, I think this is going pretty well.” Spencer smiled goofily at you, squeezing on your hand.

“Oh, the rings!” You squealed, looking around for the small box.

“Right here,” Derek smiled, handing the box to Spencer. “Best man duties.”

Spencer slipped the metal circle around your finger, his hands shaky as he slipped it on. You grabbed his ring from the box, putting it delicately on his hand, your heart racing, still unable to process what was happening.

“Is that it?” Spencer asked excitedly, looking up at the ordained Elvis, hoping to be married already.

“Well, I have to say one thing. I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your bride!”

Spencer wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you into him. He kissed you excitedly, his lips moving rapidly with yours.

tags: @gayprentiss @blakeprentiss @bitchyreid @spncersreid @yesimaunicorn @slutforthegubes

[flowers-creativity]

Fic: Sweet Daughter Mine

Fandom:  The Musketeers Characters: Porthos, Marie-Cessette, original male character Warnings: None Summary: Even sweet little girls (and of course Porthos is adamant that his girl is the sweetest of them all) get in trouble sometimes.

Notes: Originally a fill for Musketeer March, vaguely covering either "Porthos" or "Favourite Character" and "Favourite AU", but well, it's May by now, so it gets to stand on its own.Children are pretty hard to write, yo!

AO3 link

Porthos looked up at the grey, nondescript building and scrubbed his hand through his hair uncomfortably, then let his hands fall down to tug at his suit jacket. He had managed to put on an outfit that was making him feel both over- and underdressed – or, no, it wasn't so much the outfit as the situation that was making him feel ridiculously nervous. Someone who faced terrorists, bomb threats, mobsters and a disgruntled Captain Treville on the regular should not be intimidated by a meeting with the principal of his daughter's school.

But he couldn't help it, schools just sent him back to the time when he'd been the one called to the office for whatever trouble he had gotten into in his illustrious career as an adolescent delinquent.

He sighed and gave his sleeves a last tuck before he squared his shoulders and marched towards the building. Hopefully, Marie-Cessette had good reason to be in trouble and hadn't stepped into his shoes with regard to petty crime. Not that she'd ever even know about that if Porthos had any choice in the matter.

He made his way to the office and gave his name to a kind-faced secretary. She did not smile but her look was sympathetic as she lead him into a small hallway leading to a closed door. Before it, two chairs were sitting side by side, and on one of them was his daughter.

“Papa!” Marie-Cessette cried out and jumped up to rush to him and give him a hug.

He returned it and smiled, glad to see that whatever was going on, she was fine, no sign of tears, ripped clothing or bruises. “Hi, little bug.”

“Papa, they--” she started to say but broke off when the door behind them opened.

A man stood in the door, critically eyeing Porthos and his daughter. After a moment, he said: “M. du Vallon? I'm principal Porchet. Please come in. You too, Marie-Cessette.”

Porthos nodded and followed him when he went back into the room. Inside, M. Porchet shook his hand and gestured to the two chairs set up in front of his large desk. Porthos took a seat and pulled Marie-Cessette onto the chair next to him.

They sat for a moment in uncomfortable silence, and Porthos had to suppress the urge to fidget. Next to him, Marie-Cessette was losing the same battle, tugging at the hem of her shirt not very unlike how he had tugged on his suit jacket earlier. Finally, M. Porchet started to speak: “I'm sorry to call you in during work hours but I really felt the need to address this situation with you in person.”

Porthos made a dismissive gesture. “No need to apologise. I've got a very understanding employer when it comes to family affairs,” he replied. Well, that and they were between assignments anyway, so work was slow and mostly involved paperwork that ended up being used as paper planes Aramis and he were throwing at each other across the room.

M. Porchet didn't look exactly pleased by that – he was probably a stricter employer – but nodded and continued: “Alright, then. Now, are you aware that your daughter has an ongoing feud with one of her classmates?”

Porthos frowned and looked sidewise at his daughter. “I know there's one boy who she's been clashing with before,” he said slowly, trying to remember what exactly Elodie had told him over the phone after she had been called in to see the principal before. “I think he's called … Christophe, I believe?”

M. Porchet nodded. “Christophe Faucher, that's correct. As this has been ongoing for some time, we have kept a close watch on the two of them. Children fight, it happens, but the level of animosity between your daughter and Christophe is worrisome.”

“Marie-Cessette,” Porthos said, using a moment where M. Porchet had to take a breath and not caring that he didn't seem to be finished yet. He could feel Marie-Cessette give a start at his side at her name being spoken and put a hand on her knee to calm her.

M. Porchet raised his eyebrows at the interruption. “I beg your pardon?”

“My daughter's name is Marie-Cessette.” He quickly looked at his girl to give her a smile. “I'm well aware that she's my daughter, so please give her the respect to call her by her name when speaking about her.” He returned the principal's gaze with a hard look, which he knew was hard to resist.

As predicted, M. Porchet looked away first.

He cleared his throat and then said somewhat stiffly: “Of course. Now, as I said, we were keeping an eye on the two of them. For the most part, they seemed to keep it to the occasional insult and argument, steering away from anything physical, so we left it at reprimands for inappropriate language and made sure they didn't spend too much time near each other. That is, of course, until the unfortunate glue incident last month ...”

Porthos pinched his lips and fought to keep back a growl. Elodie having to cut their daughter's hair by about a hand's length to remove the strands stuck together with superglue had indeed been unfortunate, and he'd hated not being there, not being able to hug her when she cried about losing her beautiful blonde curls. They had just grown back enough that they were brushing her shoulders again. Porthos thought that she'd looked absolutely adorable with that curly bob but he knew that Marie-Cesette had loved her long hair.

Out loud, he said: “Elodie – my wife – had told me all about that, yeah.”

M. Porchet nodded. “We kept a close watch on them afterwards, in case any retaliation were to take place. Christophe had been punished, of course. But things seemed to settle down again. Until today, when they got into a screaming match during lunch break. I'll spare you the details but I need to tell you that we are very concerned about some of the things your dau-- Marie-Cessette said during this argument.”

Porthos raised his eyebrows and looked at Marie-Cessette again who had her arms crossed over her chest and was staring intently at the floor. “Which were?” he asked.

“Among others, she claimed that you are a super-spy,” M. Porchet declared, and Porthos felt a whoosh of air leaving his lungs as if he had been punched. “Never mind that according to our files, you are a pharmaceuticals salesman.”

Porthos kept his face carefully neutral when he replied: “Marie-Cessette has a very lively imagination.” He ignored the hurt little “Papa!” whine coming from his daughter. “Was that all?”

“No.” The principal steepled his fingers. “She also told Christophe that you would hunt him down and that you would hold him over the edge of a roof until he apologised, and if he didn't, you would break every bone in his body, one after the other.” He fell silent and let the silence stretch before he continued: “Now, lies and tall tales are one thing. As you said, Marie-Cessette has a lively imagination. But threats of violence of that kind are something we are not willing to tolerate, M. du Vallon.”

Porthos directed a frown at Marie-Cessette who was still finding the floor extremely interesting. “I understand,” he said. “I can assure you that I will have a serious word with her about this.”

M. Porchet nodded. “I appreciate that. Since it was still only verbal, Marie-Cessette's punishment won't be too severe this time but I sincerely hope it will not happen again, or I would be forced to take more drastic measures.”

Porthos sat up straight and looked the principal in the eye, mustering his best look of absolute honesty. “I'll do my best to ensure it won't, as will my wife.” He waited a moment, then added: “Lessons should be over by now, so I can take my girl home now, right?”

M. Porchet looked at the clock on his desk, then said with a sigh: “Of course. Thank you for coming at such short notice. Let's hope it won't be necessary again.”

“Yeah, let's,” Porthos agreed. He stood and shook the other man's hand, then turned and held out a hand to his daughter. “C'mon, bug.”

She looked at him with something that was a cross between a pout and a scowl – he had no idea how she managed to do that, and how it could be so cute – but took his hand. “Goodbye, M. Porchet,” she said politely, despite the general air of annoyance she was projecting.

“Goodbye,” Porthos followed her lead almost sheepishly. They made their way outside, with Marie-Cessette smiling sweetly and waving at the secretary when they passed her.

Once outside, Marie-Cessette pulled her hand free and whirled to face him, again crossing her arms over her chest. “I don't have a lively imagination!” He almost thought she would stomp her feet but the glare she gave him was impressive enough.

“You have, little bug,” he returned.

“Not about the spy thing!”

Porthos sighed and dragged a hand over his face. “No, not about that,” he allowed. He had known that it might become a problem one day – he hadn't wanted to lie to his family about what he really did but it was hard to drive home the need of secrecy to a child. “But do you remember what I told you about bein' a spy? What's the most important thing?”

“Uh...” Marie-Cessette's glare melted as she thought. “That you're keeping everyone safe?”

“That, too. But I meant that a spy needs to be secret, that no one knows he is one,” Porthos explained. “Else I can't work anymore when everyone knows I'm a spy, darlin'. You can't go around and tell people about it.”

His daughter's face crumbled in dismay. “I'm sorry,” she said, stretching out her hands, and he acquiesced with the unspoken request and picked her up. She hugged her arms around his neck and hid her face in his shoulder. “Christophe said such stupid things about you, that you're a loser and just a stupid salesman who doesn't even have his own shop.”

Porthos couldn't suppress a snort of laughter at that. “He doesn't know much about pharmaceuticals salesmen, then,” he said, unperturbed. “I mean, would've been impressed if he did. But point is, let him say about me what he wants, bug. You know I've got a great job. That's enough, isn't it? Your classmates can think whatever about me.”

She peeked at him and then nodded against his shoulder.

“Good,” Porthos said as he turned towards the visitor parking space and started walking. “And now, about that threat ...”

“I know,” Marie-Cessette sighed, “I shouldn't have said that.”

“Damn right you shouldn't,” Porthos agreed. “How do you even come up with somethin' like that? Danglin' someone from the roof?”

His daughter was quiet, drawing patterns on his chest. Porthos tried to be patient but when no answer was forthcoming by the time he had reached his car, he poked her with his free hand. “Cat got your tongue?”

She shook her head. “No, but--” she looked up at him, “you're gonna be mad.”

Porthos frowned. “Why d'you think that, bug? I'm not gonna be mad at you.”

“No, not at me,” Marie-Cessette clarified, “but--- Uncle Aramis, he--”

Porthos groaned. “He told you about that?”

She just nodded, and he had to fight down the urge to faceplant on the roof of his car. “Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath, “I promise I'm not mad. Okay, I'm a bit mad. But I promise not to yell at him, okay? I'll just tell him the same I'm tellin' you: Don't talk about things like that outside of home. And in your case, darlin': Don't threaten other kids, you understand? You can tell them I'll come and yell at them – no, wait, probably not that one, either. Just don't threaten them.”

Marie-Cessette could not suppress a giggle but then nodded, giving her best attempt to look serious. “I promise I won't, no matter how much of an asshat Christophe is being.”

Porthos laughed a bit desperately. “And where does that word come from?”

“Uh … Uncle d'Artagnan?”

Porthos gave in and slumped forward onto the roof of his car, bouncing his forehead lightly on the cool metal. “Shouldn't be a surprise,” he mumbled. He straightened up again and gave his daughter a glare. “We'll talk about that, too,” he promised her. “Lots of serious words to be had all around.”

She shrunk a bit under his glare and nodded.

“Alright,” he said with a sigh. He unlocked the door and set her down in her seat, then rounded the car and got into the driver's seat. A quick check that she had buckled herself in correctly, and he was pulling out of the car park and turning the car towards home.

Where he would have to have some words with those brothers of his. Wasn't it fun to have kids? Especially the part where he was also parenting two grown men in their thirties ...

[fanaticfangirl001]

Like Real People Do Ch 4: Gadget

Author's note: Gadget is a character from The Disney Rescue Rangers show,Rocky Graziano is a boxer from the 40s, from Brooklyn. And in the United States there currently is no such thing as a conditional pardon, so I headcanon that it was specifically made for Bucky and other super powered individuals

Taglist: @p3nny4urth0ught5, @kissofvenom922

(I really thought that this wouldn't fit, I guess they fixed the word limit)

“Buck. Are you watching this?” Winnie asks looking away from the television

“I am.” Bucky says shortly.

“You okay?” Winnie asks as the interview with Good Morning America begins.

“No.” Bucky answers flatly.

“I found out where the Flag smashers are.” Winnie changes the subject.

“Good” Bucky answers, his eyes not looking away from his television screen.

“So did Sam.” Winnie adds.

“I’m not calling him.” Bucky thinks about throwing something,anything at the tv but stops himself.

“You don’t have to. I leave Fri-tomorrow to check it out.” Winnie informs him.

“You can’t go alone.” Bucky shakes his head even if she can’t see him through the phone.

“I’m not alone.” Winnie packs her bag.

“If you’re right and these are super soldiers, you and Sam won’t be enough to take them.” Bucky insists.

“Then grab your oil can and let’s go.” Winnie laughs.

“We need a plan,”Bucky says.

“What we do have is a plane, a former avenger, a man with a vibranium arm, that’s you, and a stunning tech whiz, that’s me.” Winnie says.

“That will have to be enough, I guess.” Bucky sighs.

“ Meet me at the bus station, four in the morning tomorrow.”Winnie hangs up.

Winnie and Bucky stand at the lower part of the military complex.

“Your guy better be here.” Bucky says.

“He is.”Winnie points up towards Joaquin and Sam.

Bucky sighs.

“Shouldn’t have given up the shield.” Bucky walks over.

Winnie follows and holds him by the shoulder. “Easy Buck.”

“Good to see you too, Buck.” Sam scoffs.

“This is wrong.” Bucky starts.

“Hey hey, look, I’m working, all right. So all this is gonna have to wait.” Sam stops him.

“You didn’t know that was gonna happen.” Bucky asks.

“It was pretty obvious.” Winnie interjects.

“Who are you?”- Sam looks at Winnie.

“I’m Winnie, Ex- shield and a hacker friend of Buck’s.” Winnie answers.

“Anyway, no of course I didn’t know that was gonna happen.” Sam adds. “ You think it didn’t break my heart to see them march him out there, and call him the new Captain America.”

“Steve didn’t want this.” Bucky says bluntly.

“Oh my god. What do you want me to do? Call America and tell them I changed my mind. Huh.”Sam replies.

“You had no right to give up the shield.” Bucky says sternly.

“Buck.” Winnie warns.

“Hey, this is what you're not gonna do. You’re not gonna come here in your overextended life and tell me about my rights. It’s over, Bucky. Besides I have bigger things to deal with now.” - Sam walks away with Bucky and Winnie following.

“The Flagsmashers, we know.”- Winnie explains.

“How do you know?” Sam asks.

“I hacked Joaquin’s phone and your drone, Green Sparrow.” Winnie says.

“Red Wing.” Sam corrects.

“Green, red it’s the same to me.” Winnie shrugs.

“I don’t trust red wing.” - Bucky adds.

“You don’t have to trust Redwing, But I’m gonna go see if he’s right. Cause I have a feeling they might be part of the Big Three.” Sam puts on his goggles.

“Big three?”Bucky asks.

“Androids, Aliens, and Wizards.” -Sam replies.

“That’s not a thing.” Bucky says definitively.

“That’s definitely a thing.” Sam argues.

“No.” Bucky argues back.

“Everytime we fight, it’s one of the three.” Sam readies his wings.

“Who are you fighting now, Gandalf?” Bucky scoffs.

“How do you know about Gandalf?”- Sam questions confused.

“I read the Hobbit in 1937 when it first came out.” Bucky says.

“Old man flex but okay.” Winnie adds.

“So you see my point.”

“No I don’t. There are no wizards.”

“Doctor Strange.”

“Is a sorcerer.”

“A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat.”

“You know I thought he was missing something.” Winnie interjects.

“But these guys aren’t magical, they use brute force just like you, the incredibly annoying guy with the staring problem.”

“I’m coming with you.” Bucky insists walking towards the plane.

“Me too.”- Winnie follows

“No you’re not.” Sam follows the two of them to the plane.

Winnie taps her rocket boots making sure they are ready for the big jump.

“So you made those?” Joaquin asks.

“Yeah, a couple of other things too. These coveralls, completely bulletproof, the kevlar long sleeve under shirt also helps. Steel whip, taser bombs, black out bombs, dagger boomerangs.” Winnie tries not to brag.

“And Shield never used any of it.” Joaquin asks, confused.

“Yeah, that’s how the cookie crumbled.” Winnie trails off

Bucky is glaring at Joaquin. He has no reason to dislike the guy, just he’s too friendly with Winnie.

“One minute to drop off, Sam.” Joaquin reminds.

Sam and Bucky are now staring at each other.

Winnie sitting beside Bucky.

“So what’s our plan?” Bucky asks.

Sam ignores him.

“Great no plan.” Bucky says to himself.

“Yeah we’re winging it.” - Winnie nudges Sam to receive no reaction.

“ Thirty seconds.” Joaquin warns.

“Enjoy your ride, Buck.” Sam says.

“No, you can’t call me that.”

“Why not? That’s what Steve called you.” Sam reasons.

“Steve knew me longer and Steve had a plan.” - Bucky adds.

“Fifteen seconds to drop.” Joaquin comes back again.

“I have a plan.”- Sam readies himself to jump.

“Really. What is it?” Bucky asks.

Sam jumps out of the plane.

“Nice plan.” Winnie adds getting herself together to jump.

“Great, where’s the chute?”- Bucky asks Joaquin.

“We’re at 200 feet. It’s too low for a chute.” - Joaquin answers looking out of the plane.

“I don’t need it anyway.” Bucky shrugs and jumps.

“Bye Joaquin.” Winnie yells before jumping out with her rocket boots.

Winnie glides through the air gracefully landing on her feet beside Bucky who fell and screamed.

Redwing hums beside Bucky.

“You alright, Buck.” Winnie taps her boots back to normal.

“Yeah.” Bucky lays on the ground.

“I have all that on camera, you know that right.” Sam's voice comes from Redwing.

“Get out of my face, Sam, or I’ll break it.” Bucky growls.

“So Sam, about Red Wing…” Winnie starts.

“No.” Sam cuts her off.

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask.” Winnie

“Bucky keep Gadget over there away from Red Wing.” Sam says.

“Fine.” Winnie huffs.

“Head north you two, come on.” Sam is outside the warehouse.

Bucky and Winnie run up to the warehouse.

Red Wing flies above Bucky

“Oh-ho-ho. Don’t hurt him.”Sam laughs at Bucky swatting at the drone.

“I think he’s cool.” Winnie shrugs.

“You’re doing the staring thing again.They’re in there”- Sam reminds Bucky.

“Where’s the guy?” - Bucky peaks over.

“I don’t know.” Sam watches.

“There has to be more of them.”Winnie gets a look for herself.

“I think they’re smuggling weapons though.” Sam gestures towards the crates.

“But if they are super soldiers, then why do they need to smuggle weapons. They’re the weapon.” Winnie interjects.

“I think Sam could be right. Only one way to find out.” Bucky adds.

“Hold up.” Winnie grabs him.

“I see a clear path. I say we take it.” Bucky tells the two.

“We’re not assassins.” Sam stops Bucky.

“I’ll see you inside or not.” Bucky pushes him off.

“Hey come on man, I’m just messing with you. Come back.” Sam whispers.

Winnie follows Bucky stealthily.

“Look at him all stealthy.” Sam laughs. “ A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther.”

“It’s actually White Wolf.” Bucky corrects.

“Huh?”

“Not to interrupt the banter, but we have something kind of important over there.” Winnie interrupts.

“We’re inside. Therefore, way ahead of you. Not great but doable.” Bucky says to Sam.

Sam stealthily and quickly is beside the two.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“No, wait.” Sam grabs him

“I got a vibranium arm. I can take them.”

“And I can fly. Who gives a shit? Wait.” Sam watches the guys.

“Sam’s right, like I said earlier there has to be more.” Winnie adds.

“I want to see where they're going.”Sam and Winnie watch the guys grab crates and load them into a truck.

“There’s two people.” Bucky says.

“You only see two.”

“That’s what I saw.” Bucky replies.

“Let's see what Red Wing sees.” Sam taps on his arm controller.

“All right.”Bucky sighs.

“You two bicker like an old married couple.” Winnie scoffs.

“How many people do you see now? One two...Oh here it comes again.” Sam shows the two of them.

“Four five” Bucky counts.

“Yeah five yeah.” Sam says.

“So they’re strong. Whatever.” Bucky scoffs.

“Too strong…” Winnie adds “ I was right.”

“All right let’s go.” Bucky

“Wait.” Sam

A small oil can clatters when it hits the ground.

“Shit.” The three hide behind the shelves.

“There’s an eighth person. I think they have a hostage.” Sam sees through Redwing.

Bucky runs, Sam flies with his wings. Winnie taps her boots and goes to rocket boots. She’s in the air with Sam. The wind flies through her hair. She instantly feels like her old self again, the Shield badass inventor and agent.

Bucky is in the truck with the hostage. He opens the truck and climbs in.

“Hi” - Bucky says to a small looking girl.

“Bucky, talk to me. What’s going on?” Sam asks.

“You okay.” Winnie’s voice through Red Wing.

“Found the hostage.”- Bucky says to Sam then turns towards the girl“ You okay?”

Girl smiles and kicks Bucky out of the truck, against the next truck.

“Shit” Bucky groans.

The girl puts on the mask. Bucky is grabbed by the masked people and taken to the top of the truck. Red Wing shows up to fight and is grabbed by the girl and broken.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,”Bucky says while being captured.

Sam lands on the truck and kicks the girl.

“Glad of you to join the fight Sam.” Bucky is being held by two guys.

Winnie drops onto the truck and grabs a guy by the arm with her whip, she’s nearly thrown off the truck with her own whip until she flies around with it and kicks the guy From above two new people join the fight and the shield is involved. A helicopter delivers another guy kicking people off the truck.

“Sam. John Walker, Captain America” The new man introduces himself.

“Lemar Hoskins.” The man beside him introduces.

“Looks like you guys could use some help.” John adds.

“A little less talking, more punching.” Winnie yells as she’s thrown off the truck.

She grabs the other truck with the side of her whip and throws herself into the grass.

Bucky is hanging upside down onto the bottom half of the truck.

“That little girl kicked your ass.” Sam reminds.

“Ahh!” Bucky yells as he tries to slow down the trucks with his arm.

Sam weaves through the wheels of the truck and tackles Bucky onto the grass, both of them rolling into a field of wildflowers.

Winnie is there wearing a flower crown cleaning herself off with a medicated wipe.

“Could have used that shield.” Bucky adds.

“Get off of me.” Sam pushes Bucky off of him.

“Oh uh Sam…” Winnie starts.

“I don’t want to hear it.” Sam interrupts.

“Okay.” Winnie grabs her book bag and reattaches it to her coveralls.

“Those were all Super Soldiers, Sam.”

“I know.” Sam nods. “You’re welcome by the way.”

“I think we did pretty good.” Winnie says “ All things considered. No one died.”

The three of them walk along the small stretch of backwoods.

“Sorry about Red Wing.” Bucky breaks the silence.

“No you’re not.” Sam deflects.

“About Red Wing I..” Winnie trails off.

“I know you wanted to mess with him.The answer is still no.” Sam

“I grabbed what was left of him. No man left behind.” Winnie taps her backpack.

“Thanks.” Sam says to Winnie,then turns to Bucky “What’s going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing.” Bucky replies sarcastically.

“I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning.Oh they’re malfunctioning, shutting down, Yep, they’re on fire.” Sam goes along with it.

“We gotta figure out where the serum is coming from.” Bucky says finally.

“And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin’ loose?Sam adds.

“They are not very selective in who they give the serum to.” Winnie adds “ I mean the red head looks like a kid.”

The car pulls up and honks beside them.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” John Walker smiles at them.

The trio ignore him.

“Look at least we know what we're up against.” John Walker says “ And we’re pretty sure it’s one of the big three.”

“Aliens, Androids, or wizards.”

“Pretty sure.”

“There’s no such thing as wizards.” Bucky says firmly.

“Then it’s aliens, or androids.” John Walker

“Or Super Soldiers.” Sam adds.

“Shit. Super Soldiers,for real.” Lemar asks.

“Yeah.” The trio nod.

“Then we gotta work together.”

“That’s not happening.” Bucky shakes his head.

“I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..” John insists.

“Just cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean you’re Captain America.” Bucky blurts out.

“Look I’ve done the work.” Walker insists.

“No you haven’t.” Winnie argues.

“Who are you?” Walker looks at Winnie up and down.

“Winnie, ex-shield operative. I keep a low profile but you haven’t. Being paraded on television, kissing senator’s hands and shaking babies,” Winnie mocks.

“You ever jump on top of a grenade?” Bucky asks.

“Yeah actually I have. Four times. It’s this thing I do with my helmet.Anyway it’s twenty miles to the airport, do you guys want a ride. Guys, Gary stop, get in.” John Walker says.

The trio looks at each other and gets in the car.

“Okay so eight super soldiers on a bulk supply run.” John starts trying to theorize.

“They say they're trying to get things like they were during the Blip. Maybe they’re trying to help.” Sam answers.

“Funny way of showing it.” Bucky adds.

“That serum doesn’t have the best track record. No offense. “John says.

“Buck’s problem wasn’t the serum.” Winnie interjects.

“Winnie, he didn’t mean.”Bucky puts a hand on her shoulder.

“You got a good woman by your side.” John nods.

“We’re not.” Winnie adds.

“Oh.” John trails off.

“We need to figure out where they’re going, How did you track them here?” Sam asks Lemar.

“We didn’t track them. We tracked you, uh through Red Wing.” Lemar answers.

“You hacked my tech?” Sam adds.

“It’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property. Kind of the government.” John.

“More like you’re government property.” Winnie rolls her eyes.

“I’m not. Anyway does he always stare like that?” John asks about Bucky’s staring.

“You get used to it.” Sam shrugs.

“You know things have gotten kind of uh” John trails off.

“Chaotic.” Lemar finishes.

“Yeah the GRC is doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip.” John Walker explains.

“Reactivating citizenship, social security, health care. Managing resources for refugees who were displaced by the return.” Lemar adds.

“The Global Repatriation Council does that. I get that. So why exactly are you two here.” Sam

“Intimidation, Occupation, Why send a whole army when you can get by with two.” Winnie answers darkly.

“No, They provide the resources, we keep things stable.” Lemar answers.

“Violent revolutionaries aren’t good for anyone’s cause.” John adds.

“Usually said by people with all the resources.”Sam argues.

“We got a lot of resources. If you guys joined up with us, we could..” John insists on a team up.

“No.” Bucky adds bluntly.

“I got mad respect for y’all but you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up.” Lemar adds.

“You know they fought a genocidal alien right?” Winnie asks. “He was purple, snapped everyone away.”

“Who are you?” Bucky asks, shifting his gaze to Lamar.

“Lemar Hoskins.” Lamar says.

“Look I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskin.” Sam scoffs.

“I’m Battlestar, John’s partner.” Lemar adds.

“Battlestar, Stop the Car!” Bucky calls out.

“Look I get it.” John starts.

Bucky gets out of the car shaking his head.

“And I’m not trying to be Steve.I’m not trying to replace Steve.I’m just trying to be the best Captain America I can be.” John adds to Sam and Winnie.

“One thing, don’t call him Bucky, you haven’t earned it. For you it’s James. Two, the three of us know what we’re doing. There’s a lot out there John, that you’ve never seen.” Winnie says harshly.

“I think I know what I’m doing. And It’d be a whole lot easier if I had Cap’s wingmen on my side.” John adds.

Sam scoffs leaving the car,“ It’s always that last line.”

“This is my que.” Winnie announces and starts to climb off.

“You know, Winnie, I could get you a nice desk job, with the CIA if you walk away from them.” John informs.

“John, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t trust the government.” Winnie laughs.

“Why not?” John leans on the shield.

“A lot of reasons, but right now you’re one of them.” Winnie deflects.

“I’m a good old boy from Georgia.” John explains.

“And I’m from Brooklyn, but you know what, you’re right. I should be a little more welcoming.” Winnie has an idea about how she’s going to get that blood sample.

“You could start with a smile.” John suggests.

“Give you a nice warm Brooklyn welcome.” Winnie leans on the car as she grins at him.

“That’s better.” John smiles back at her.

Winnie slugs John straight to the nose.

Lemar pulls John away from the edge of the car. “Go Gary Go!”

Winnie turns back to see Sam smirking with his arm crossed and Bucky is staring at her.

She puts the ring in a small plastic bag.

“You throw a good punch, Gadget.” Sam

“Thanks.” Winnie adds “ We should get to walking.”

“Bucky, are you coming?” Sam asks.

“Yeah.” Bucky walks on the right side of Winnie with Sam on her left.

“I’d do it again.” Winnie puts her fists up.

“Easy, Graziano.” Bucky pats her shoulder.

“I can do this all day.” Winnie starts shadow boxing as they’re walking.

Sam’s laughing at her bob and weaving.

Bucky stares at Winnie and thinks, Man Steve would’ve liked her a lot. He’d probably help her punch John even though she didn’t need any help. He wouldn’t understand the constant technology but would love to see her sketchbook. They’d probably draw together.

The three are picked up at the airfield. Bucky sits in the middle and Sam off to the side laying down. Winnie sits on the other side of Bucky.

“You alright?” Sam asks.

Bucky nods.

“ So any ideas on where to go now?” Winnie asks.

“Let’s take the shield, Sam. Let’s take the shield and do this ourselves.” -Bucky says gruffly.

“I like that idea.” Winnie adds.

“We can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it.” Sam shakes his head.

“I mean you could.It’s doable.” Winnie nods.

“Do you remember the last time we stole it?” Sam asks.

“Maybe.” - Bucky says.

“I’ll help you in case you forgot. Sharon was branded an enemy of the State, and Steve and I were on the run for two years. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to live the rest of my life la vida loca” Sam reminds.

Winnie looks off when Sam mentions Sharon.

“We just got our asses handed to us by super soldiers and we got nothing.” Sam continues.

“Not entirely true. There is someone you should meet.” Bucky says.

When the plane lands in Maryland Bucky looks over towards Winnie.

“You okay?” Bucky

“Yeah.” Winnie says.

“So who’s this guy, you want me to meet.” Sam asks.

“You’ll see.” Bucky

The plane lands near Baltimore, Maryland.

Two kids playing as Bucky, Sam, and Winnie pass them.

“Hey it’s Black Falcon. What up?” The first kid says.

“Just Falcon, kid.” Sam corrects.

“No, my daddy told me it’s Black Falcon.” - The first kid argues.

“Is it because I’m black and I’m the Falcon.” Sam continues.

“Bucky, are you sure this is a good idea?” Winnie asks Bucky as Sam is busy with the kids.

“Yes.” Bucky nods.

“It’s just the shield file says…” Winnie trails off.

“You don’t have to go in.” Bucky reminds.

“Great, I’ll call Joaquin, I have a favor to ask him.” Winnie thinks back to her punching John and her ring.

“Well technically I mean yes.” The first kid says to Sam.

“So are you like black kid?” Sam asks laughing.

The first kid sighs.

“I got him, right.” Sam laughs.

Bucky and Sam knock on the door. Winnie is standing on the driveway near the road.

Winnie sees the two not getting in at first and starts to call Joaquin.

“Pick up..” She says softly.

“Hey, Winnie the pooh.” Joaquin answers.

“Can I get a different nickname?”- Winnie asks.

“Breech, or Rocky.” - Joaquin answers.

“Oh so you heard about me punching John.”Winnie sighs.

“Yeah, not a lot of people are happy with that, but it’s okay by me.” Joaquin says simply.

“Why?”

“You were defending Bucky, or at least that’s what John told everyone.”

“He what?”

“ He said that you were defending your boyfriend’s honor, which now that I think about it makes sense, he was glaring at me all throughout the drop off.”

“Buck isn’t my boyfriend.”

“You call him Buck.”

“Yeah, if I were to date someone, I’d call them something more affectionate than Buck.”

“Anyway, what did you need?”

“I don’t trust John.”

“Obviously.”

“Those tests from MIT were off the charts. There has to be something wrong with him.”

“I’d need blood to run some tests on.”

“Is dried okay?”

“Yeah, so that’s actually why you punched him. To collect a sample.”

“That and he has a very punchable face.”

“Where are you right now?”

“Uh Baltimore,why?”

“How good are you at scrambling a police car's computer.”

“I’ve done it a couple times, why?” Winnie

“There’s a warrant out for Bucky.”

“What did he do?”

“It’s more about what he didn’t do.”

“Therapy.” Winnie sighs.

“Yeah, part of his pardon.”

“Conditional pardons aren’t even part of the Federal process, that was something made up just for Bucky.”

“Yeah, it’s bull shit, just stay out of trouble, Rocky.”

“I’ll try.” Winnie hangs up.

Sam and Bucky are quickly out of the house and arguing.

“Sam” Bucky says

“Why didn’t you tell me about Isaiah? How could nobody bring him up?”Sam asks, getting louder.

“I see this went well.” Winnie follows the two out, closing the gate behind them.

“I asked you a question, Bucky.”Sam continues.

“I know.” Bucky ignores the first question.

“Steve didn’t know about him.” Sam asks.

“He didn’t. I didn’t tell him.”Bucky answers.

“Most of Shield never knew, either. Coverup stories run deep.” Winnie adds.

“So you’re telling me that there was a black Super Soldier decades ago and nobody knew about it!” Sam says loudly.

People are starting to watch. Sirens pull up to the three.

“Hey!” An Officer yells getting out of his car.

“What’s up?” Sam asks.

“Is there a problem here?- Officer asks.

“No we’re just talking.” -Sam answers.

“We’re fine.” - Bucky answers.

“Young lady, are you okay?” Officer asks Winnie.

“Yeah, I’m good. You can go back to the Wee Woo Wagon.” Winnie pulls out her phone to record this.

“Can I see your ID?” Officier asks Sam

“I don’t have an ID, why?”

“Do you have a reason to be asking?” Winnie asks.

“Okay sir just calm down.”

“I am calm. What do you want? We’re just talking.”

“Just give him your ID.” Bucky says.

“James, stop talking.” Winnie warns.

“No I’m not giving him shit. We’re just talking.”

“Is he bothering you?” Officer asks Bucky again.

“Do you know who he is?” Bucky gestures towards Sam.

Second officer comes up and whispers “Hey these guys are Avengers.”

“Oh god I’m so sorry Mr.Wilson. I didn’t recognize you without the goggles.wait here” The Officer goes back to his car.

“I didn’t tell anyone because he had already been through enough.” Bucky says softly to Sam.

“Mr.Barnes.” The officer comes back. “There’s a warrant out of your arrest.”

“Shit.” Winnie starts typing on her phone to mess with the computer’s in the police cars.

“The president pardoned him for all that.” Sam defends Bucky.

“Not for that. You missed your court-mandated therapy.It’s like missing a check in with you PO. Sorry Mr. Barnes, you’re under arrest.” He handcuffs Bucky and walks him to the police car.

Bucky is put into the back of the police car, he can see the computer malfunctioning and can’t help but to smile a little. It starts to short circuit.

“So let’s go to jail.” Winnie starts walking.

“Wait, did you know?” Sam follows her.

“Know about Isiah, yes but I wasn’t supposed to. I wrote to him, and asked if I could help him” Winnie explains then stops.

“And.” Sam

“He asked me to leave him alone. So I did.” Winnie ends the story.

“Not Isiah, did you know about Sharon?” Sam asks as the two walk out of the neighborhood.

“Uh no.” Winnie answers shortly.

“Were you two close?” Sam asks.

“Yeah.” Winnie nods.

“Do you have her number?”

“No, I deleted it a few days ago.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Winnie then asks “Do you have any money to bail Buck out.”

“No, what about you?” Sam turns his pockets out.

“Fifty bucks and a coupon for frozen yogurt.” Winnie shakes her head “Not even enough for a good bribe.”

“What did you talk to Joaquin about?”

“I don’t trust John.”

“Same here.”

“I asked Joaquin if he could test John’s blood for anything irregular.”

“You think he has some serum in him.”

“Well not enough to make a difference, we got our asses kicked.”

The conversation stops.

“For real though, what’s up with you and Bucky?” Sam breaks the silence.

“Coworkers, I guess. I did intel so he could make his amends. He texts me so I guess we're friends.” Winnie shrugs.

“He lets you call him Buck.” Sam reminds.

“Yeah.” Winnie shrugs again.

“That’s pretty big.”

“Is it?” Winnie asks.

“Yeah that was Steve’s thing.”

“What happened to Steve, he never told me.” Winnie asks.

“ The truth or what we tell civilians.”

“The truth.” Winnie clairfies.

“He went back in time, and created a different reality for himself.”

“He abandoned Buck.”

“I’m sure he had his reasons.”

“I’m not so sure I would have liked Steve, if he can just abandon his friends.”

Sam and Winnie make it to the jail and are waiting in a large room with couches and an old coffee maker.

“I’ve heard a lot about you Sam. I’m Dr. Raynor, Bucky’s therapist.” Dr. Raynor shakes Sam’s hand.

Winnie looks up at the women speaking.

“You must be W, nice to meet you.” She adds.

“Thank you for getting him out.” Sam shakes her hand.

“That wasn’t me.” Dr. Raynor says.

“Christina!” John Walker calls out walking down the hallway.

“You gotta be kidding me. You know him.”

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.”

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in. Bucky’s not going to be following a strict schedule any longer.”

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?” - Dr. Raynor asks.

“Um.” John gestures towards himself.

Winnie stays seated near Sam ignoring John, with the small bandage over his nose.

“He’s too valuable an assent to have tied up. Just do whatever you got to do with him, then send him off to me. Got some unfinished business me and him, you too, Wilson. I’ll be outside.” John explains.

Winnie sits up when she hears that.

“James, condition of your release session now, You too, Sam.” Dr.Raynor says.

“That’s okay I’ll be out here with…” Sam trails off.

“That wasn’t a request.” Dr. Raynor walks off to the room.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Gadget.” Sam says to Winnie before following Dr. Raynor.

“You and Buck are taking all the stupid with you.” Winnie stands up and makes herself a coffee at a dingy machine inside of a cheap styrofoam cup.

She goes outside with it.

“Winnie.” -John says sharply.

“John.” - Winnie replies. “ Here.” she holds the coffee out to him as a peace offering.

“What did you do to it?” John asks looking in the cup.

“A little sugar, little cream.” Winnie answers, the cup of coffee looks like a very light shade of brown.

“No poison.”

“No poison, unless you hate cheap coffee.”

“Thanks.” John takes a sip.

“We got off on the wrong foot.” Winnie starts.

“The wrong foot that ended with you punching me.”

“Yeah sorry about that. Would you like a coupon for free frozen yogurt.”

“No.”

“Listen, I care about Buck.”

“You showed me that when you broke my nose.”

“Again, sorry, I just wanted to talk to you about what you said earlier.” Winnie

“I’m not helping you get a CIA job.”

“No not that. You called Buck an asset.”

“He is one.”

“I just want to make sure he keeps his autonomy, and isn’t treated like a weapon.”

“And he will, I promise.” John adds “ Regardless of what you are or aren’t to Buck, he has a good woman by his side.”

“You can’t call him Buck, you haven’t earned it.”

“Getting him out of jail isn’t enough.”

“No.”

“Listen, you’re trying my patience. I’m just trying here, being the best Captain. I can be.”

“Speaking condescendingly to two Avengers who’ve saved the world from aliens isn’t helping you. You’re out of your element, having Buck and Sam around, dealing with things in ways that you can’t, is more helpful than you know.”

“You don’t know anything about me, and what I can handle.”

“You’re right, I don’t and I don’t mean to annoy you. I’m sorry.”

The conversation goes silent.

“Must be heavy, huh?” Winnie gestures towards the shield.

“Not really.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Do you want to hold it?” John asks.

“Sure.” Winnie answers.

“You’re not going to try to run off with it, are you?” John asks.

“No,but could you take my picture with my phone.”

“Sure.”

Winnie hands John her phone. John hands Winnie the shield. From behind the shield, Winnie takes off a button from her coveralls that has a tracker inside, she attached it to the furthest part of the reinforced leather strap facing the shield so John won’t see it or notice it when he’s holding it. She smiles and John takes the picture. Winnie hands John the shield back and gets her phone back.

Sam and Bucky walk out of the police station, John makes the siren go off to call them over.

“Gentlemen.” John calls out. Winnie stands beside John, leaning against the car. “ Good to see you again.Look if we divide ourselves, we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.”

“What do you got?” Sam asks.

“The leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau.We’ve been targeting civilians who’ve been helping Karli move from place to place.” John answers.

“They geotag the location then scramble the signal.” Lemar adds.

“ But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe.”

“We think she’s taking the medicine she stole to one of those camps.”

“Well there are hundreds of those all over the planet since the Blip.” Bucky adds “ So I guess you’ll look real hard.”

“Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh.”

“Where is she now, Walker? Do you know? Bucky asks.

“No we don’t know Bucky.” John answers “It’s only a matter of time before we find out.”

“Time is one thing we don’t have John.” Winnie adds.

“Things are really intense for you, aren’t they Walker?” Bucky asks ruffling John’s feathers.

“Take it easy, Walker’s right. We need to find and stop them.” Sam adds “But you guys have rules of engagement,and all kinds of authorizations you have to get.”

“All that red tape, we just cut through it. The three of us, we’re scissors.” Winnie adds.

“It wouldn’t make sense for us to work with you.” Sam says.

“A word of advice then: Stay the hell out of my way.” John warns before walking away with Lemar.

“You two, don’t worry about them.” Winnie says looking at her phone as the three of them walk down the street.

“He sounded vaguely threatening. Why shouldn’t we worry about John.” Bucky asks.

“Oh I put a tracker on the shield. See how he likes being tracked through his own equipment.” Winnie answers.

“How did you..” Sam trails off.

“Oh I apologize for punching him and then tricked him into it.” Winnie shows Sam the picture of her with the shield. “ He’s not that smart.”

“You had the shield and didn’t run off with it.” Bucky asks.

“Well if you were there I would have tossed it to you. But you had to get yourself a warrant for not going to therapy.”

“You could have scrambled the officer's computer before he arrested me.” Bucky snaps.

“I didn’t know you had a warrant before calling Joaquin. Also if you two weren’t yelling at each other on the street no one would have called the cops.” Winnie snaps back.

“Both of you stop arguing.” Sam says “ We need a plan.”

“Well I know what we have to do.” Bucky “When Isaih said my people.”

“Don’t take that to heart. That’s not what he meant.”

“No he meant Hydra.”

“You think the groups might be connected, through their scientists.” Winnie interjects.

“Not a chance.” Sam says to Bucky.

“Walker doesn’t have any leads.” Bucky shrugs.

“I know where you’re going with this, no.” Sam insists.

“Hear him out.” Winnie texts Joaquin to meet them at a small airport.

“He knows all of Hydra’s secrets.” Bucky “Don’t you remember Siberia?”

“So you’re just going to sit in a room with this guy.” Sam asks doubtful.

“Yes.” Bucky answers hesitantly.

“Never mind, Sam was right. This screams Danger, Will Robinson, Danger.” Winnie agrees with Sam.

After a minute of thinking “Fine, Let’s go see Zemo.” Sam says.

“ Huh, didn’t take that much convincing.” Winnie scoffs following along.

Once at the airfield Winnie looks around for Joaquin.

“Hey Rocky, where’s the sample?” Joaquin asks.

Winnie hands him the bag with the ring.

“I’m gonna need the ring back, but there’s blood and maybe some skin left on it.”

“It’s still pretty bad ass, you broke his nose.” Joaquin

“Yeah, I’m not making it a habit, so call me Gadget.” Winnie says following Sam and Bucky onto the plane to see Zemo.

[obx-snippets]

Chapter 1 ∫ ≈ Rush Hour and New Friends

Summary: Reina finds herself flustered on her first day of work. And the Pogues make quite the first impression on her when she has to take their order.

Warning: light cursing? That’s about it....

Word count: 3.5k

Pairing: JJ Maybank x female!oc

Masterlist

a/n: I probably should have mentioned this in the beginning but this series is a...

SUPER  S L O W   B U R N.  

So enjoy! Feel free to ask to be tagged!

Reina's limbs were growing weak at the speed she was going down the lengthy sidewalk along an empty road. To her dismay, every corner of the island seems to be next to a beach, and the only sound that was able to come at par with the wind muffling her ears was the beating waves. She regretted not bringing her cassette with her; the music would have gone nicely with the Kildare county atmosphere. It might have also helped with her rapid heartbeat, wishing the ocean would just disappear. Nature sprouted from every corner, various people making their way down the opposite sidewalk to shop at different vendors. They seemed relaxed for the most part, but then again, many of them worked for their share, and the mask they wore wasn't fooling Reina. She wore the same one all too often.

Too deep in thought, she nearly missed the sign that read 'the Wreck' and came to a skidding stop, her body slightly jolting forward as she gripped her bike's handlebars. The wind from the ocean brought her hair to blow in her face as she dipped her eyes down to her phone, her GPS reading arrived.

After finding a comfortable place to park her bike, she made her way up a wooden ramp to enter the restaurant's threshold. The closer she got, the slower her pace as she heard a mix of rowdiness coming from inside. It was just her luck that the Wreck was extremely busy and evidently short on staff. Reina heaved around a few people who were waiting in line to be seated. Customers were grumbling among themselves, complaining about how the food had better be the best they've ever tasted if they had to wait that long. It was breakfast hour, and that was when people were the crankiest.

She blew air from her mouth once she made it to the front desk, a few customers muttering how she cut. Smoke from the kitchen just in front of her filled her nostrils, and her eyes brightened with delight. Only two men were hard at work, one with his belly hanging out from his stained white shirt while another tall man with tanned amber skin cutting fruit relentlessly. And with skill.

Reina was enthralled in the dynamic that she hadn't noticed how far she was leaning over the counter to watch everything they were doing. The taller man briefly looked over his shoulder before noticing the ripped paper wedged between her knuckles.

"Hey!" the man called over the spiel going around the crowded restaurant and the clinking of pot being moved about, continuing his cutting on a pineapple. Reina snapped her attention to the man, slightly embarrassed that she had been staring so long. "You Chris and Mina's kid?"

Reina shrugged, "Well technically, stepdaughter but uh--same thing yeah, that's me." she skipped the specifics of it all, not wanting to cause the man's forehead to crease more than it already was. "I uh--I came for the interview..." she looked down at the paper, about to ask about the cooking job when he suddenly advanced toward her.

"You a good cook?" he questioned sternly, almost hopeful. His eyes were desperate, sweat already trickling down his forehead.

"Absolutely," her confident answer came out almost immediately, making the man smile. She would cook all day if it meant not facing the water that was just a few hundred feet away from her. Even over the uproar in the open restaurant, she could still hear the waves taunting her like a dark, menacing laugh.

A toothpick twisting between his lips, he tapped his fingers harshly against the counter, contemplating if he should let a new teenager take part in his kitchen. "Fuck it, get in, kid." he pointed to the other side of the counter for her to enter. He didn't miss the ever-growing smile touching her lips as she hustled around the counter, already pulling her hair into the messiest low bun before washing her hands thoroughly. "Start cracking them eggs and beat 'em'. We got an order waiting at table five."

Reina's whole demeanor changed. She was locked in and moving like a ballerina, careful not to bump into anyone as she veered about to collect seasoning for the eggs. The tall man, which she learned went by the name of Mr. Carrera, watched her intently. All he had to do was tell her the recipe once, and she was already whipping everything up by memory. So much so that she served the waited tables in under an hour. It seemed the frequent customers took notice of the new girl as well; her sweet smile was inviting like she had been doing this her whole life. Reina was known to be more easy-going around adults compared to kids her age. She was the life of the party back in Cali, extremely outgoing and adrenaline-driven. But since the incident, she felt more comfortable being in her own reserved shell.

Mr. Carrera wasn't the only one noticing the girl's natural skill in the kitchen. Kiara Carrera led the way into her father's restaurant, her fellow pogues trailing behind like hungry puppies. Harlow Westwick struggled to keep up as they hadn't waited for her to tie her shoelaces, and she nearly tripped forward before finding her balance again.

"Woof," John B furrowed his brows, sidestepping around a woman as he took in the scene around him, "busy in here today, huh?"

The kids maneuvered their way through the packed dining area, all of their eyes searching for an empty table.

"Hell yeah, it is," Kie responded, her eyebrows stitching together as she caught sight of an unfamiliar raven haired girl in the kitchen.

She knew her dad had set up an interview with someone the other day, but he was never the one to hire and put to work the same day. Her father was very strict about who came in and out of his kitchen and how it was run.

"Found one!" JJ called, running across the floor to get to it before someone else could. He plopped down on a chair, running his ring clad fingers through his blonde locks before placing his red cap backward on his head. Harlow pulled the seat out next to him, flicking his red hat from behind, bringing the boy to quickly catch it before it hit the table.

Kie followed them wordlessly, her eyes still locked on the new cook in the kitchen as curiosity tickled her brain. "Do ya'll know who that is?"

The three boys and Harlow turned to look, all of them shaking their heads in response, a chorus of 'no's' or 'uh huh's' here and there.

Kie pursed her lips, her slender fingers tapping at the wooden chair before she signaled to the guys that she'd be back in a minute and moved towards the kitchen. The girl in question had swiveled around one of the older cooks, trading spots with him as she grabbed a pair of plates off the counter.

"'Scuse me," she smiled with a bow of her head, moving past Kie to put the plates down at one of the tables.

She turned around quickly, wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead with a rag before throwing it back over her shoulder.

"What's your name?" Kie questioned, crossing her arms over her orange halter top.

"Uh, Reina," the girl responded, a little confused by the random girl's straightforward inquiry before hurrying back to the kitchen, not giving Kie a chance to say anything else.

Just as the mystery girl - Reina, disappeared back into the kitchen, her father rounded the corner, giving her a nod to assure that he knew her and her friends were there, and they would get their food as quickly as they could get it out. Kie gave him a small smile in return and went back to her table, not before grabbing a stack of paper cups and a jug of water.

"You find out who the new girl is, Kie?" JJ asked, swiping a fry off an empty table.

"Just that her name's Reina," Kiara shrugged, offering the guys a cup and some water.

John B craned his neck to try and spot the dark-haired girl in the kitchen. "I haven't seen her around before," he pointed out.

"You think she's a kook?" Harlow questions, more so to herself as she noticed the seemingly expensive top.

"Maybe she's new," Pope chimes in his suggestion, his eyes fixated on how quickly she moved about the kitchen like muscle memory.

"Who moves to the Outer Banks?" JJ questioned around a mouthful of fries.

"Ew, gross," Kie muttered as her face scrunched up and finally took a seat next to Pope.

The Pogues chattered amongst themselves as customers were in and out of the restaurant. They were so used to sitting there for hours on end that they hadn't realized a difference in the food until it was displayed in front of them.

JJ was the first to mindlessly get a forkful of food into his mouth, suddenly moaning at the taste, pointing aggressively at his plate,

"This is fucking bomb, dog," he mumbled.

Upon seeing the other boy's reaction to the food, Kiara picked up a few eggs off of her plate and stuffed them into her mouth, "Holy shit," her eyes widened, knowing for a fact that this was not her father's cooking. "this is really good."

"Whoever made these needs to cook everything on the menu," Pope chuckled, diving into his fluffy pancakes lovingly.

Harlow was munching happily on her toast, her light brown hair that had recently been dyed two shades lighter at the tips was pulled back into a ponytail. She didn't bother making any comment, too entranced with the powdered sugar that she gladly licked off her fingers before wiping them off on a napkin.

John B peeped up from his plate, his chewing slowing down when he saw how white powder coated Harlow's pink lips. He rolled his eyes, grabbing a napkin and nearly scaring the girl to death when he wipes her lips with his thumb. "Much obliged, JB," Harlow chimed once he finished.

Reina had just finished washing her hands of the sticky juices of fruit when she noticed the group of kids hadn't been served their drinks. It seemed the Wreck was even short on servers. She huffed to herself, already dreading having to interact with them. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand before grabbing a paper and pencil that sat on the counter to get their drink order.

"Hey, sorry for the delay on the drinks," Reina apologized when she made it to the table. She grew uncomfortable by how all their eyes bore into her own, and she dropped her attention to the notepad in her hand. "what can I start you off with?"

"I'll take a Sprite, please!" Pope exclaimed, instantly taking notice of the group's surprise in his response.

"Okay," Reina responded, quickly writing down his drink order in her notepad, "for you?"

"I'll take a raspberry ice tea," replied JJ, earning groans from the rest of the table, "with four pumps of the syrup, and only fill the glass halfway with ice so I can stir in my sugar-"

"Oh my gooooood!" groaned Harlow, "why are you so weird, JJ?"

JJ makes a face, "How am I weird? She's asking for my order!"

"Yeah, your drink order, not the secret recipe for a heart attack!"

"You know, what?-"

"What?-"

"Well, maybe if you let me finish my sentence-"

It wasn't long before the entire table erupted in a full-blown argument. Reina stood at the end of their table, brows furrowed, mouth parted. What the fuck..

Her eyes glanced around the packed dining room, her fingers twitching around her pencil. The place was still crowded, and the kitchen seemed to be going up in flames.

"I hate to interrupt, but does anybody else want anything to drink?" Reina spoke over the shouts.

The table quieted immediately, seemingly having forgotten about the girl waiting to take their order. The teens passed around embarrassed looks before the girl who'd come up to Reina earlier spoke.

"Pepsi's are fine."

Reina pursed her lips and gave her a nod before shoving her notepad and pen back into her apron and hurrying away from their table.

"Nice going," Kie snapped, throwing a rolled-up napkin at JJ.

                                                •≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈•

As the day carried by, the restaurant's capacity was waning down to only a few customers an hour. Reina hadn't expected the day to be so eventful. Some adults and teens discerned that she was new to the island and welcomed her before paying her a generous tip. Mr. Carrera was already falling in love with the new girl's cooking and didn't bother telling her she got the job; it was already guaranteed. He told her to have the day to herself tomorrow, and she could come work every other day. Reina would prefer to keep herself busy in the kitchen instead of being forced to explore the island, but she obliged nonetheless.

The seven pm sun was warming Reina's skin as she walked alongside her bike. She decided to take her time heading home, hoping her surprisingly laid back step-parents would say it's too late for her to go to the party at the beach. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore was enough for her jaw to clench, wishing to drown out the sound. For a moment, the wind picked up around her loose hair, and she instinctively let her fingers ghost over the scars on her neck, flashing her back to that night.

•

"Reina, just jump, bro!"

The California moon was set on full display as the stars were barely distinguishable from the colorful, luminescent lights blinding the party at a rich kids' beach house. After Reina's friends informed her of a party being held in the Hamptons, she couldn't refuse. Not when the boy throwing the party was loaded with cash. School was nearly over, and one last party would surely end the year with a bang.

After a few heavy drinks and five shots, Reina found her unbalanced body standing on the highest point of the house's roof. The cold California night air brushed against her skin, but the warmth from her drunken state didn't let goosebumps make an appearance. Her hair was tousled behind her; space buns atop her head, keeping strands from invading her vision. Her black eyeliner was smudged from the excessive wave of laughter that overcame her a couple of hours before, and her chapstick was secured in her back pocket of her shorts in case of a possible make-out session.

"You think I'll make it?" Reina's crazed question was muffled out over the shouting and cheers coaxing her to jump into the vast pool below, and she let one of her bare feet dangle off the edge.

Her brown eyes caught sight of her sweet friend Vanessa, who was acting as a chaperone for the night, glaring up at her through the rims of her blue glasses. "If you're actually asking for a probability, you're insane!" Vanessa yelled.

"C'mon Nessa!" a brunette boy, Dimitri, came tumbling toward the red-headed girl draping his wet arm over her shoulder. His bare upper body smelled of herb and chlorine as his brown hair was swiped back from the pool. "Quit being a killjoy. The jump isn't even that high."

"It's not the jump I'm worried about, ass wipe." Vanessa growled, shoving the boy away from her, "Do you not see how drunk she is? If she even tried to jump, she'll land face-first on the cement."

Even beyond the overpour of music blasting through her ears, Reina heard Vanessa and saw it as a challenge. "Prepare for landing, ladies, and gentlemen!" Reina warned with a playful salute, loud enough for the crowd of teens below to roar out an applaud, making a clear opening for her in the pool.

"Rae, no! Stop!" Vanessa tried lunging for the house, but Dimitri pulled her back by her arm. "I swear to--"

It was too late. Reina opened her arms wide and let gravity take its toll once she leaped from the edge of the roof. She tucked her body into a ball just when she made contact with the water. The music invaded her eardrums, and the white noise muted all the applause from her life-threatening jump.

A wide grin set on full display on her lips brought ease to Vanessa, knowing she wasn't hurt, and she decided to retire into the house, too angry to say another word to her reckless friend. Reina's buns came undone, and her raven hair was dripping down her shoulder as she swiveled around people to exit the pool.

The crisp air made itself known as it nipped on her skin, but it vanished as soon as Dimitri came crashing toward her. Her black bikini top nearly shifted out of place from the boy's abrupt intrusion, but as this was his party, she would let him do whatever. As long as she could find his wallet in the depth of his pool trunks, she was good to go.

Dimitri separated from her and gripped her by the shoulders. "Badass Reina. Fucking hot," he breathed out sporting a smirk, his breath laced with weed.

Reina shrugged innocently, "The roofs not even that high off the ground. It's nothing."

Dimitri rolled his eyes before trailing his hands down her soaked waist and pulled her close enough for his lips to graze over the shell of her ear. "Wanna do a line? I got some of my buddies sellin' here tonight. My treat?"

Reina bit down on her lips, her audacious nature taking root once again. "Bet you can't last more than two lines," she mumbled with natural confidence. Dimitri lifted a brow and nodded leisurely, taking hold of her small hand, lacing it with his own.

"You're on, Bayard."

•

The honking of an obnoxious horn penetrated her thoughts, and Reina whipped her head around to see a VW van slowing down until it made a complete stop.

She was surprised to see the boy from early in the driver's seat with his arm draped out the window. His unruly brown curls sat atop his head, almost looking like a surfer and frat boy at the same time. His sun-kissed skin was radiant under the North Carolina sun, and she realized how handsome the boy really was.

"Hi again," the boy greeted with a casual wave of his hand that was gripping the steering wheel. Reina flashed a tight-lipped smile, nodding in response. She had only realized the girl from earlier on the passenger seat when she poked her head out from over his shoulder.

"Reina yeah?" the girl asked, hopefulness in her tone that she got the name right. Her mocha eyes were squinted from the bright sun behind Reina.

Reia nodded gradually, kicking the metal bar on her bike to let it park. "Yeah..." her tone came out as a question, puzzled that the random girl would make another appearance.

"I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for how we acted today; you had enough on your plate and didn't need to deal with us acting like children."

Reina could hear commotion from the back seat due to the girl's tone directed to a friend of hers.

Reina's rigid shoulders relaxed at her words, taking a step closer to the beat-up van as she ran her hand down her arm. "Oh, no, it's okay. I've dealt with worse," she replied dismissively.

"Still," the girl shrugged before a small smile appeared on her lips, "By the way, I'm Kiara, we'll be seeing a lot more of each other now that you're working at the Wreck."

"You work there too?" Reina asked.

"My dad owns the place." It suddenly made sense why the teenagers strutted in the restaurant like they owned the place.

Kiara's hand stuck outside of the window, waiting for Reina to shake it. She did so wearily, an awkward chuckle leaving her mouth.

"This is John B," the boy driving the van sent her a nod, "and in the back are, Pope, JJ, and Harlow." a mix of greetings was heard from the back.

Pope? Odd name.

"Hi," Reina replied softly. The interaction seems like a simple one, but a storm was brewing in Reina's head.

"We're throwing a party down at the Boneyard - you know where that is?" John B asked, toying with the bandana around his wrist.  

Reina pondered for a moment, "Is it that party at the beach I heard about?"

"Kegger!" a male voice corrected her from the back seat, earning an eye roll from Kiara.

"Right yeah, that. Shouldn't be hard to find."

"Great!" Kiara beamed, a bright smile on her face, "you should come! It's gonna be fun!"

Reina parted her lips slightly, not expecting the invitation. "You really don't have to invite me--"

"No, no, seriously. If you're the one who cooked that killer food back at the Wreck, a drink is well deserved." John B licked his lips, waiting for her to respond to his attempt.

Reina wanted to decline almost immediately. But Chris' demand came jogging back to memory. "Make friends!"

"Uh, yeah, okay," Reina nodded nonchalantly as if her brain wasn't exploding at the idea of being so close to the water, "sure."  

Her mind wandered the rest of the walk home, thinking up every horrble possibility. When Reina arrived home, she pulled out her cassete from one of her boxes she was yet to unpack and fell on her bed. Her eyes drifted closed, as she tucked the plastic ear buds in her ear and hummed along to work all day

@pogueszn​ @mdlyncline​ @cordeliascrown​ @acvross-the-universe​ @bricksatanakinswindow​

[dc41896]

First Impressions

Since a certain rude giant wants to attack us lol, this is a quick idea I had that’s also paired with a prompt request from @lovelymari4. I did change some things around with the prompt so hopefully that’s ok and that you guys like it😄!

Pairing: Florian Munteanu x Black Reader

Prompt: Florian makes the reader feel some type of way with the choice words he has about her favorite artist

⚠️: None💕!

Watching the metal doors of the elevator slide open, you let out an exasperated breath you’d been holding in since leaving labs. Being in classes since 10 this morning, saying you were happy to be home was an understatement. You couldn’t wait to soak in your tub with your favorite bath bombs and light candles all around as part of your new mini self care routine you recently adopted so you could de-stress.

That is if you could get through the door.

Finally reaching your apartment, you find multiple boxes labeled with various household items blocking the entrance while your neighbor’s door in front of you was wide open. Music not blaring, but at a loud enough volume you could hear a few feet down the hall, you use the knocker below the peephole hopefully banging loud enough they could hear you.

“Um hello?! Scuse me, but I’m trying to figure out who’s stuff is in front of my door?!”

Appearing from around the corner in only his cotton shorts and socks stood who you assumed to be your new neighbor.

Your freakishly good looking and fit neighbor.

Shouting at someone in the room he just left in a language you couldn’t immediately catch, he makes his way towards you taking his shirt from the couch to quickly pull it over his head.

“Sorry about that, we’re moving in and kinda just left everything in the hall since it’s only our apartments on this end. Plus we knew you weren’t home-,”

“Wait how did you know I wasn’t home exactly?”

“Hey Y/N!,” your friend, Dana, smiles appearing from the same room followed by another man.

“Dana what are you doing in their apartment? And I guess you told them I wasn’t home?”

“I’m doing my part in helping the new neighbors move in of course!,” she smiles, helping slide one of the boxes inside before moving to stand beside you.

“...but you don’t even live here and you also hate packing or unpacking.”

“That’s not true, I helped you when you moved!”

“With one box and then you left to get food and it took you two hours to get back,” you retort with a smirk making your new neighbors quietly laugh to themselves and Dana roll her eyes.

“Anyway! I didn’t tell them you weren’t home they figured that out on their own but I did confirm said suspicion.”

“Yea earlier this week we went to everyone on the floor and introduced ourselves. We tried your door a few times but never got an answer. We figured you were either very busy or a hermit,” the originally shirtless one laughs. “I’m Florian by the way and this is my brother Masias.”

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you,” you reply shaking both of their hands. “Well since you guys are busy I don’t want to be in the way so I’m gonna head out.”

“You won’t be in the way if you stay, in fact we’re almost done for the day if you want to hang out for a bit. That is if you’re not too tired or don’t have a lot to do.”

“C’mon I know you’ve been stressed out with school, hang out and get your mind off of it for a while! Plus these are two super hot guys and I’m trying to get us dates,” she responds, whispering the last part and making you give her a look.

“Alright sure just let me put my bag up and change,” you answer as your best friend lightly bounces on her feet as she cheers.

———

After returning from changing into one of your university tees and sweatpants (which Dana insisted you not wear in a text she sent not long after you left knowing your usual go to outfit for when you’re home), you joined everyone else on the couch.

You got to know Florian and Masias more as you guys talked and they learned things about you as well, like how you weren’t a hermit but in graduate school working to become a Physian’s Assistant, which explained why you were never in your apartment.

A little later, Florian suggested watching a movie on Netflix to which you first were apprehensive about considering you should probably be spending your time in a more productive way, like reading over your notes and studying. However like Dana said, you didn’t have any tests for a while so you could afford a free day.

Handing the remote to Dana, both men agreed to let you guys pick which movie you wanted to see. You weren’t picky and up for anything leaving the choice to Dana.

Flipping through the different titles, you notice her instantly light up seeing her all time favorite singer, Beyoncé’s, Coachella documentary. “Ok just telling you now, if we don’t find anything else to watch this is gonna be it.”

“D, I’m sure they would rather watch something else than see Homecoming,” you lightly laugh, Dana rolling her eyes as she waves you off continuing to scroll.

“It’s fine, whatever you guys want to watch we’ll be ok with,” Florian replies, softly smiling as the setting sun shines through the open blinds onto his face making him look even more gorgeous.

“Jesus who are his parents, Greek Gods?!,” you thought as you turned your attention back to the bright screen in front of you to not stare.

“I’m not gonna lie though, I don’t really see what the excitement is about her though,” he spoke instantly causing everyone to go silent as all eyes were now on him.

Even Masias knew his brother had just messed up as he looked down shaking his head. “Flo you did not just say that in front of them.”

“I mean she’s beautiful don’t get me wrong, it’s just the music I can’t get into,” he replies, ears turning red from his nerves about what would happen next.

“Ok so I take it you’ve never really sat and listened to a Beyoncé song?,” Dana asked hands pressed together on the table in front of her as if trying to solve the greatest mystery to man.

“I mean I have, but still it didn’t do anything for me.”

“We might need to get your ears checked then.”

“Dana! Don’t listen to her, I understand. Beyoncé does make music more so for women or those who love pop and R&B. You’re more into rap so she’s not really on your music radar,” you explain trying to not only make Florian not feel bad but also let your crazed fan girl of a friend calm down from hearing the slander.

Dana was the textbook definition of a beyhive member. Any form of “disrespect” from anyone towards the queen wouldn’t be tolerated and she definitely had something to say. Never in a threatening way though like how some others were who took it too seriously.

You on the other hand were beyhive adjacent, as you liked to call it. You were technically part of the hive from your love of Beyoncé, but you definitely weren’t about the drama that would happen at times. Thus, you were off to the side of the hive in your own little honeycomb condominium.

“You know what? Just for that, we’re definitely watching it now,” she smiled starting the movie and humming along before the music even started.

———

Now after 11, you helped Florian in the kitchen clean up the glasses and two large bowls you guys used for snacks as Dana talked with Masias on the couch about the places in LA he had to check out.

“You guys don’t hate me too much do you?,” Florian asks leaning against the counter as he wipes water off his hands.

“No why would we hate you?”

“From the looks on your face when I said I wasn’t really into Beyoncé, you’d think I kicked a puppy,” he deeply chuckles making you laugh.

“I’m not gonna lie, when you first said it I did have a couple points listed if it would’ve led to a debate,” you lightly laugh. “Butt it’s like I said you have different preferences in music and that’s ok. Just maybe never mention that in front of Dana again,” you reply making him laugh harder.

“Yea don’t worry, I definitely learned my lesson.”

You spend a few more minutes talking and laughing before a small yawn creeps it’s way out of you as you cover your mouth.

“Uh oh, have we kept Cinderella out pass her curfew?,” he smirks.

“Afraid I’m gonna turn into even more of a bum than I already look?,” you ask matching his smirk as both of you laugh at what others would probably look at as a dumb joke. “I have had a long day so I probably should get going.”

“Ok, let me walk you out.”

“Florian I live literally across the hall right in front of you, you don’t have to.”

“True but anything could happen in those 10, 15 feet. Then not only will Dana hate me for not listening to Beyoncé but also because I let her friend walk out by herself.”

Giggling, you grab your phone and keys from the counter before slipping your feet into your slides beside the front door. “If you insist,” you reply slightly shrugging your shoulders. “D I’m about to leave, are you staying with me tonight?”

“And hear you up at the crack of dawn? I love you girl but I need to sleep in my own bed so I’m gonna head out in a few too,” she answers with a small stretch.

“Ok well text me when you get home. It was nice meeting you Masias!”

“Nice meeting you too Y/N! Hopefully we can all hang out again,” he smiles waving as you and Florian walk out the door.

“Thank you for walking those dangerous 10 feet with me! Who knows what would’ve happened if you weren’t here,” you say, doing your best damsel in distress impersonation.

“I’m sorry I’m a gentleman that always makes sure to walk a lady to her door,” he laughs. “But seriously though if you ever need anything don’t hesitate to get one of us. Even if you just want to get away from your work you’re welcome over here.”

You were trying to continue your cool, nonchalant attitude but the more you stood outside with him, you could feel yourself breaking. Unsure if it was the intense yet soft gaze of his green eyes looking back into yours, or how although he was nervously rubbing the back of his neck he still exuded all the confidence in the world, you felt your palms become sweaty and hoped you didn’t do or say anything stupid.

“Thanks I appreciate that. Well I have class tomorrow so I guess I should get to bed,” you softly smiled as you unlocked your door. “See you later Florian.”

“Goodnight Y/N.”

With a smile and small wave, he waited until he heard you lock the door from inside before going back to his place. Smiling to himself just as you were doing with your back pressed against your door.

Taglist: @momobaby227 @crushed-pink-petals @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicana @melinda-january @lady-olive-oil @themyscxiras @lovelymari4 @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @itshinothey @wildfirecracker @nina-sj

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[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 13

Friendly reminder to please Like and/or Reblog. It helps more than you think! :)

Word Count: 3,028

Warning: ANGST!!!!!!

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

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Something about Friday nights at the bar always seemed to put Zoey in an energetic mood. As hectic as it got, there was always something new and exciting happening on the weekends. Groups of newly legal drinkers, bachelorette parties, rowdy swingers, there was always something. And the group of people she worked with on weekends only improved the fun. Andy was at his prime tonight, mixing and mingling with everyone that approached the bar while Brett flirted with all of the girls, Zoey was making everyone laugh, and a few other servers bounced around, as well. 

They had busy weekends down to a science by now, knowing where everyone was, what everyone would be doing, and reading the signs on when they might be able to take a quick break. This was, by far, the most organized bar she’d ever worked at. Zoey stepped out of the storage closet, carrying a box full of napkins when she bumped right into Brett.

“Whoa, if you wanted me to get on the floor for ya, all you needed to do was ask,” Brett grabbed his arm where the box had hit him as he stumbled backward, smirking. 

She could bet that he was so used to flirting for tips that it just came as second nature to him. Still, the idea of getting plowed by him in the closet right now seemed almost too good to pass up. Especially considering how Australian he sounded tonight. It’s been a minute. She smirked back, looking at him through her eyelashes, “Well, the closet’s free now if you want to meet me in there in five minutes?”

His eyes widened slightly before standing up straighter and stammering, “Oh, uh. Probably not a good idea right now, actually. It’s super busy out there. We can’t leave the others alone.”

“Oh, yeah. I was kidding,” Zoey laughed, blowing it off and countering, “I’m still out of a bedroom right now, otherwise I would invite you to spend the night.”

A week and a half ago after Zoey had gotten home from her date there was a pretty bad storm in LA. While she was on the phone with Harry, lightning had struck the top of their building and hit an electrical box that shut the power off on the top dozen floors of her building, including her unit. The electrical current that ran through her apartment had also caused their water heater to build too much pressure which made it burst, spilling water out of the utility closet and leaking into the hallways and the room closest to it, which happened to be Zoey’s room.

Luckily they were able to get the electricity back up rather quickly, but the damage had already been done. Water damaged the carpets, the underlayment, and the bottom of the walls. It even caused water damage to the ceiling in the unit below them. Thankfully the furniture was salvageable, and the building maintenance and property manager were very helpful in trying to get everything fixed and sorted for them, but it did take some time. They had to move all of Zoey’s furniture out of the room and into the living room to rip up all of the carpets, put holes at the bottom of the walls to get air circulation inside of the walls, and install dehumidifiers and drying fans around the back half of their apartment. It looked like a bomb had gone off in there, and because of this, they hadn’t had visitors over since.

He nodded, hesitantly admitting, “It’s okay. I have plans tonight, anyway.”

“Oh, nice. Another date?”

He paused, “Yeah, kind of.”

“Ooo,” she sang, teasingly, “Good luck. Hope they’re not as crazy as the last. How were her parents, by the way?”

He laughed, pushing her lightly, and walking away saying, “From now on I’ll have to mention it upfront. No parents on the first date.”

She continued on her way and began filling up the containers underneath the counter with napkins when Andy came over, smiling and lightly kicking her shoes as she crouched. Zoey looked up and grinned at her friend, pushing the box to the side and standing up, picking a piece of lint off of his shirt.

“I think Brett’s dating someone,” she told him.

Andy faked a frown and teased, “Awe. Are you sad ‘cuz your fuck buddy can’t fuck you anymore?”

She rolled her eyes, hip-checking him, “A little. He’s just being so sketchy about it. I don’t get why he can’t just be honest and tell me we can’t fuck anymore because he either doesn’t want to or because he’s seeing someone. Boys are annoying.”

Andy nodded, pursing his lip, “Girl, I get it. I don’t want to like boys, either. Shit sucks.”

When 1 AM rolled around, Zoey was exhausted. She made out pretty good tips, but she felt like she could have fallen asleep on the drive home. To her surprise, the living room lights were still on. Usually, Nancy and Aurora were in bed by now. They could have accidentally left it on. But just as the thought crossed her mind, a soft door closing and heels clicking caught her attention and she turned to see Rory stumbling in, gasping a little at the sight of Zoey.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Zoey giggled, setting her bag down on the island.

Rory shook her head, her cute little mixed French and British accent squeaking, “It’s okay. I lost track of time. I should have known you’d be home soon.”

“Are you heading out?” Zoey noticed her roommate still fully dressed. Her eyes widened in realization, “Ohhhhh, are you going to Harry’s? I know he said he was thinking of coming home early, but I haven’t talked to him today, so I didn’t realize he did.”

Rory hesitated for a moment before stuttering, “Yeah, but it’s a quick visit. I’ll be back in the morning.”

Zoey nodded, yawning and dragging her feet over to the couch, “Have fun, you crazy kids!” she joked, plopping onto the sectional and muttering under her breath, “Can’t wait to have my bed back.”

“You can sleep in my bed tonight if you want. Since I won’t be here,” Aurora offered.

“Really? Thank you! Might actually be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight,” she grinned standing up.

Aurora paused for a moment before smiling back, putting her head down with a nod goodbye, and walking out the door. With another yawn, Zoey grabbed an oversized tee and a pair of sweatpants from the pile of her clothes in the corner of the living room, quickly changing, and headed towards Rory’s tidy white bedroom. 

Her roommate’s mattress had to be the most comfortable mattress she’d ever been on, by far. As soon as she hit the pillow, there was no stopping it. Not even her most nagging thoughts could keep her awake.

Zoey dreamed of life before all of this. Back to her boring Pennsylvania town with all of her boring adventureless memories. But not all of her memories were boring. She had a good life. It might not have been a fantasy life, but it was stable. She dreamt back to days with Jess, swimming in the pool, and nights with her ex-boyfriend, settling down after a long night’s shift at the bar. She’d be so exhausted that she’d practically crawl through the pitch dark apartment to find Michael already asleep in bed. She dreamt about how she’d climb into the bed beside him and he’d instinctively reach out and pull her closer to him, nuzzling his face into her shoulder to fall back asleep. She remembered that feeling of warmth and security encasing her as she drifted off to sleep.

Except that warmth and security wasn’t just a dream. As Zoey’s consciousness grew, she became more aware of the fact that there was someone in the bed with her, their arms wrapped around her stomach. Automatically her first thought was that Brett’s date must not have gone as well as he’d hoped. But she started to realize more and more that not only was she not in her bed, but the faint red glow on the inside of her eyelids told her that it was morning now, and the way this person’s arm rested across her side so comfortably, and the sweet, yet spicy scent of the person’s breath on the back of her neck was something she never encountered with Brett, who normally smelled of beer and stale peanuts. Zoey suddenly came-to, gasping and pushing herself away from the figure behind her, which caused them to sit up in a panic and gasp as well. 

“Harry? What the fuck are you doing here?” her vision barely came into focus.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? I thought you were Rory!” Harry’s eyes widened.

“Why the fuck would I be Rory?! Rory’s with you!” she shot back, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Comprehension of what she just said smacked her in the face and she slowly took her hands from her face to get a good look at Harry’s face. She saw his expression range the emotions in a matter of seconds from confusion to realization, hurt, annoyance, and anger. Zoey sat up, eyes wider, holding her hands out and motioning for him to calm down. 

“Hang on a minute,” Zoey pleaded as he stood up, “I didn’t mean to say that, I was half asleep when I came home and you scared the shit out of me. I think I just misunderstood her last night.”

“I fucking knew it,” Harry ignored her, pacing the room, “I knew she was cheating.”

“Alright, now that’s a bit dramatic,” Zoey rolled her eyes, getting out of the bed, “You’re not dating yet, so let’s just relax. You don’t know where she is.”

“Where else would she be?” he shot back.

“Hello? She has other friends besides me and Nancy. Let’s not jump to conclusions. She said she would be back in the morning, let’s just make a cup of coffee. I’m sure she can straighten this out when she gets here and she’ll be so excited to see you.”

Under different circumstances, Zoey would have been excited to see Harry. But her head was pounding from the abrupt wake-up call that she honestly couldn’t figure out her sentiments just yet. She had to physically drag Harry out of the room and keep a hand on him at all times in an attempt to keep him grounded and from running off, whether it was her squeezing his arm, holding his hand, or grabbing his shoulders. He was so full of tension that it just barely worked.

They sipped their coffee at the kitchen island and Zoey did her best to distract him by asking about his final show and trying to talk about what he was going to do when he got back home to England, but it was no use. Harry’s eyes bore holes into the countertop gripped onto his mug so tightly that she was certain it would shatter any minute now when they heard the front door open. Harry instantly got to his feet, darting into view with Zoey at his heels, pulling him back by his wrists when Aurora walked in, her grin fading at the sight of them.

“Harry,” Rory breathed, taking a step back.

“Where were you?” He demanded, yanking his arm from Zoey.

Both girls recoiled, surprised by his tone and actions. Neither of them had ever seen Harry so angry before. It was completely out of character that it sent them both into a temporary loss for words. 

Zoey was the first to bounce back, giving Rory the biggest apologetic eyes she could muster, “I’m so sorry, Rory. I think there was just a misunderstanding. I thought you said you were going to Harry’s last night and I spoke before thinking. He’s just had a long flight, that’s all. I told him you were probably just with a friend and I misheard you.”

“I-” Rory stuttered, looking between the two, unsure of what to say.

“You were with Brett, weren’t you?” Harry accused, eyes glaring.

Zoey shot her head at Harry and gritted her teeth, “Would you stop it with the Brett thing? She wasn’t with Brett! You know him and I have a thing going on. Stop accusing her!”

But when she turned her attention back to Aurora, the color had drained from her face and her eyes glassed over. Zoey furrowed her brows as Rory’s gaze turned to her, pleading as she shot her hands over her mouth and let out a sob, tears finally spilling from her eyes, “Zoey, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to lie to you. It just happened. I swear this is the only time. I didn’t mean for this to happen. We were only planning on hanging out but one thing led to another. I’m so sorry!” she begged.

Zoey’s heart dropped at the sight of her friend and roommates anguish and guilt, trying to take everything in. All she could muster to say was, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Harry spat, “I fucking told you this would happen!” He turned his attention back to Rory who was still crying, “I came back here for you! I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend today! Instead, I come here to surprise you, find my best friend in your bed, and find out that you were sleeping with her boyfriend? What kind of person does that?”

His voice boomed so deeply that Zoey felt the vibrate in her chest with every syllable he spoke. It was so loud that it managed to wake Nancy, the heaviest of sleepers, who pitter-pattered down the hallway to see what all of the commotion was about. Zoey managed to squeak out a quick, “He’s not my boyfriend!” but no one heard over the screaming match that pursued. 

“Don’t you fucking dare try to insinuate I’m a whore! I’m not your fucking girlfriend! You had nearly half a year to ask me out and you didn’t! I told you I wasn’t going to sit around and wait forever!” Rory scowled at Harry. His jaw tightened with each word she hurled, “What was I supposed to think? You talk to my roommate you’ve only known for three months more than you talk to me! You fly back here just to spend time with her, you barely spoke to me that weekend except when you wanted to fuck! And that was only after you spent all day in her bedroom! You tell me what the fuck I was supposed to think!? How would you feel if I did that?!” Nancy softly took hold of Aurora’s arm to try and soothe the tension.

“Rory, I didn’t mean-” Zoey started, suddenly feeling guilty, but was cut off by Harry. 

“I was just trying to be a good friend! I told you that you had nothing to worry about! You knew Zoey was going through something and wasn’t in a good place! You saw her! Zoey’s been nothing but a good friend to you, so what are you even trying to say? First, you sleep with her boyfriend and now you’re accusing her of cheating with ME? You’re deflecting!”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Zoey spoke louder this time, but again it fell upon deaf ears as Rory spoke.

“I’m not accusing Zoey of anything!” she turned her attention towards her roommate, her eyes softening, “Zoey, I’m so sorry, I know nothing happened between you and Harry. And I would never do anything to try and hurt you. I promise I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“But it did happen, and I fucking said it would, didn’t I?” Harry, turned towards Zoey.

“Oh, you said it would happen?” Rory’s sarcasm dripped through her teeth like silk, “Congratulations! Once again, your instincts were correct! What do you want? A fucking medal? If you knew it would happen, why did you even come here?”

“Because I wanted to be with you!”

“If you wanted to be with me so fucking badly, why did it take you five months to figure it out?! You never really wanted me! I was just a convenience for you! That’s why you waited until the tour was over! You have nothing else to occupy your time with!”

“And that’s why you ran to fuck Zoey’s boyfriend, is it? Because he’s emotionally available for you?” Harry’s sarcasm intensifies.

“He’s not my fucking boyfriend!” Zoey screamed, standing in between them, causing the two to retreat, taking a step back. Zoey glowered back and forth between Harry and Aurora, frustrated at the disgusting display of animosity towards each other. She had half a mind to start screaming at them, but when she saw Nancy’s reassuring gaze, she took a breath and calmly reasoned, “Listen. Obviously, we all need to talk things out, but right now the tension is way too high and it’s way too early in the morning to think clearly. Let’s all just take some time to calm down.”

“How about I just go?” Harry retorted, pulling away from Zoey and storming towards the door.

Zoey watched him as he stomped to the door, shooting a glance at Nancy who mouthed, “Go.”

She quickly grabbed her phone and threw on the first pair of shoes she found before jogging towards the door. Rory grabbed her hand quickly, eyes still red and raw from crying. Her voice was so soft that it was barely a whisper, “Zoey. I’m so sorry.”

Zoey looked into the eyes of her roommate and it nearly broke her heart. She placed a hand over Rory’s and managed a sympathetic smile, “It’s okay,” she said, seeing the relief wash over Rory. “I’ll talk to him.”

Rory nodded and Zoey ran off, catching the elevator doors just before they closed and slipping in with a still fuming Harry. When the doors closed and the elevator began its descent, his arms jerked upwards, grabbing onto the back of his neck, doubling over as he shouted, “FUCK!” 

This should be fun.

KEEP READING

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Taglist for Somebody To You:

@thurhomish​ , @stilljosiegrossie​ , @odetostep​

[allweneedissix]

A Target Run: Six the Musical Fanfiction

The queens needed to go to Target. Usually, just two or three of them would go, but it was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and everyone seemed like they needed an outing. At least, that’s what Catherine said.

“Yes! I want Starbucks!” Kat was almost singing.

So Catherine got her list from the kitchen and they all piled into their SUV. As Anna drove, Catherine went over some of the things that they needed to buy.

“And lastly, granola for the yogurt. Does anyone have any particular requests?” 

Anne raised her hand.

“No, Anne, we are not buying any more Five Hour Energy drinks. Last time was a disaster.”

Anne put her hand down, and Anna patted her leg consolingly.

After they got into the building, Catherine immediately got out the list and headed for the grocery section. Kat goes for the Starbucks line and grabbed Cathy’s hand.

“C’mon, Cathy! You look like you need a boost, and I know you haven’t had Starbucks before. You’ll love this coffee!” Kat was insistent.

Cathy shrugged. She didn’t have anything in particular to shop for anyway.

Anne looked at Anna. “Wanna have some fun?”

“Absolutely.” 

They walked off at a pace that made Jane very suspicious. She decided to go after them, but as she turned the corner to follow them, she found that they had disappeared. Well, she had to run into them eventually! She picks a random direction, unintentionally going the direct opposite way from the other girls.

==

“Ok, so the frappuccino is kinda like coffee, but a lot sweeter, and iced and blended. It’s honestly more like ice cream.” Kat giggled. “And we already went over what the refreshers are, even though they aren’t technically coffee. Any questions so far?”

Cathy shook her head. “Really, Kat. Black coffee is fine. Any coffee fine.”  

“But Cathy! Starbucks is too special to just have black coffee. Here, let me tell you what a mocha is, you might like it!”

==

Catherine stood silently, looking at the granola. Should she get the smaller kind? The one with chunks of nuts? No, Kat is allergic to nuts. The one with dried berries? Maybe, but would that work with the yogurt that she was going to buy? What about the nutrition factors!?

“Anne! We need to go try out the switch in the video game department!”

“Yes! I bet you three oatmeal creme pies that I can beat you at super smash bros.”

Anna almost looked offended, but she shook Anne’s hand nevertheless. Behind them, Jane wandered in between the aisle Anne and Anna were in without noticing them.

“Hey Anna, was that Jane?”

“I don’t think so. She usually sticks with Cathy or Kat.”

==

Cathy was getting exasperated. “Kat! For the last time, I appreciate your commentary, and I’m sure whatever a macchiato is, it’s delicious, but can I just get a coffee?”

“Cathy a macchiato is a coffee! Now should I get two or three shots in my iced caramel latte?”

“No-”

==

Jane passed the exercise equipment for the third time. Was this area familiar? She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn that she just heard Anna. Oh, well. She was sure that those two were up to something, but she’d just have to keep looking.

“Ok, just because you beat me at Smash this one time doesn’t mean-”

“You’re just bitter, Anne. But I will give you a chance to redeem yourself in with a bomb shopping cart ride.”

“You’re on. Hey,” Anne looked around. “Did you just see Jane?”

“Was she with anyone else?”

“No” 

“Then it probably wasn’t her.” 

Anne shrugged. “Ok.”

==

Kat ordered first, then Cathy. Kat went over to the other end of the counter to wait for her drink. 

“Cathy, what did you end up ordering?” Kat said excitedly.

“A black coffee.” 

“That’s boring!”

“I thought you’d say that. That’s why I got it with cream AND sugar.” 

Kat shook her head. “Whatever floats your boat, I guess.” She grabbed her grande iced caramel latte with two shots and an extra pump of caramel. “I think I’m going to go look for Catherine to help her with the groceries. Do you want to stay here?”

Cathy looked toward the seat by the window and thought of the new book in her purse. “Yeah, if you’re sure that you’ll be alright by yourself.”

“I will!” Kat walked purposefully towards the grocery section.

==

Catherine had narrowed it down to three bags of granola. They were all nutritious and had equal promises of deliciousness, but now it came down to value. She pulled out her pocket calculator.

==

Jane had given up on finding Anne and Anna. They can’t get into that much trouble, can they? She was currently searching for Catherine, or Kat, or anyone, really. But she wasn’t actually nervous, which was surprising, but she would still rather be with someone. Behind her, a cart races by with Anna in the cart, and Anne pushing at top speed. 

“Hey, was that Jane?”

“Nah.”

==

Kat went toward the health section alone (she figured that’s where Catherine would be), having left Cathy at Starbucks seating area with her book. She had assured, Cathy that she’d be fine, but in reality was more than a little anxious, and maybe that double shot in her coffee hadn’t been a great idea after all. She was almost to the cereal section when she thought she saw Jane out of the corner of her eye. She whipped around, knowing how Jane tended to wander. She went down the aisle that she thought Jane had gone down, and barely saw her blonde hair disappear around the corner. “Jane?”

==

“Anne! Slow down!”

“Slowing down is for the weak! I want a rematch at Smash Bros!”

“FINE! Just slow down, because if we crash, I’m the one who will go flying!”

“Well you know what they say, right?” Anne said slyly. 

Anna had a bad feeling about this. “What?”

Anne sped up. “It do be like that sometimes.”

==

Catherine thought she saw a cart speeding by out of the corner of her eye. She shook her head. What idiots would be dumb enough to race around in a cart when there was a large display of tomato soup right down the next aisle? Anyhow, it didn’t matter, because she had finally decided on a bag of granola. She went to set it down it the cart when she saw it: what could very well possibly be a better deal!

==

Cathy actually couldn’t be more content. She had a hot coffee, a good book, some solitude, and a seat by the window. And it had started to rain! Perfect. She sighed and took a sip of her coffee. Her phone dinged, and she saw that it was the group Snapchat that Kat had made them last month. It was a video from Anna. She opened it to see the front of a cart going faster than a cart was ever made to go (was she in the cart?!). The camera flipped around to show that Anna was indeed in the basket of the cart holding up a peace sign and grinning, with Anne, beads of sweat running down her face, sprinting and pushing the cart. And was that Jane in the background?  

“Oh no.” 

She got up, and started listening for the sounds of absolute chaos.

==

Kat was really starting to get nervous. She kept just losing Jane, and she still hadn’t run into any of the other queens. She gave up on finding Jane by herself and went to look for Catherine to help her. She really didn’t like being by herself.

Catherine dropped the granola into the cart. Confident with her decision, and satisfied her ability to find the best deal. Only twenty-two more items to go! She starts to turn the corner and nearly runs into Kat. The youngest queen looks extremely relieved to see her, and Kat runs over and gives her a tight hug. 

“Kat! Are you alright? What’s wrong? Where’s Cathy and Jane?”

==

Jane was in paradise! Who knew that there was a sewing and craft section in Target? Certainly not her, but she was quickly making up for lost time. Christmas was right around the corner, and Kat had just shown her how to use YouTube for quilting tutorials!

==

The crash that the shopping cart made when it hit the display of soup can was very satisfying. At least it would have been if Anna weren’t also crashing into the display. Fortunately, the rest of the queens (besides Anne) weren’t close enough to hear the crash. Unfortunately, the security guard was.

==

Cathy was lost. Which was actually fairly on-brand for her, not that she would ever admit that to the other queens. She thought she could just walk to the back of the store, put an end to Anne and Anna’s shenanigans, and walk out. Apparently, this was not the case. But it wasn’t like she got lost every time! This was a Super Target, for goodness sakes! She passes a stack of books, and one catches her eye, Birds: Are They Real? Surely she could spare a few minutes.

==

“It’s ok, Kat. Just breathe.” Catherine spoke as soothingly as she could. Kat seemed like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack, and Catherine was really starting to worry. After a few minutes, Kat’s breathing evened out she was able to tell Catherine her predicament. Even though Catherine thought she still looked a little shaky, Kat insisted that she was ready to keep going. 

“So can we please go find Jane?” Kat stands up from where she and Catherine had sat down. “I don’t want her to freak out if she’s lost and I wanted her to try my latte. She’ll probably hate it though.” She gave a small smile. 

Catherine chuckled. “Of course.”

When Kat and Catherine do find Jane (It probably would have gone faster if Kat’s phone wasn’t dead, and if Catherine hadn’t left hers at home) they were pleasantly surprised. Apparently lost didn’t mean helpless, because Jane had not only filled a cart with quilting supplies and patterns, but she had filled another cart full of groceries! 

“Jane!” 

Jane smiled.“Kat, Catherine? I was looking for you guys!” She had barely finished when Kat slammed into her for a hug. 

“I’m so glad we found you! Here, try a sip of my latte.” 

She took a sip. “Thank you! I don’t like it.” 

“I knew you wouldn’t.” Kat grinned. “Now let’s check out and find our other half.”

Catherine, Kat, and Jane didn’t have to look far before found Cathy. They had unintentionally gotten in line behind her, and didn’t notice until she turned around, looking…gleeful?

“Guys, you’ll never guess what I learned!” 

“What?” Jane wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She could have sworn Cathy’s already large grin got even bigger 

“Birds aren’t real!”

==

Anne and Anna had been sitting outside of Target for a good half an hour (thank goodness it had stopped raining) before the rest of the queens came out. 

“Why are you two outside?” Catherine didn’t like the sheepish looks that spread over their faces. 

“Yeah,” Anne started, “We got kicked out.” 

“What-” 

“But it was for a good cause!” Anna finished. 

Kat whispered something into Jane’s ear. “Kat’s right. Catherine, dear, do we really want to know?”  

“Nope!” They answered in unison. 

“Come on everyone, let’s go home.” Kat said. The others muttered their agreement. 

“Besides,” Cathy said eagerly, “When we get in the car, I have the best news to tell you all about birds!”

[puckngrind]

Roommates: Chapter 3

Warning: poly-ish relationship, swearing

This is written slightly different than Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.  Hope you all like it.

Time frame All-Star Break

Josh tried to wrap you up in his strong arms but nothing was easing your mind about the phone that he kicked off the bed. You are pretty sure he tried to break it to not deal with the situation.

"Josh, could you please let me go and tell me what the hell is going on?" You try to pull away from his chest to look at his face. You could enough to notice the full range of emotions he was trying to hide but you knew him and he couldn't hide it from you.

"I need to figure out what to do. I need to make a call. Can you just jump in the shower and meet me on the couch okay?" Josh kissed your forehead and you nodded in agreement. Josh slid out of bed, picked up your phone quickly. His eyes shifted to the iPad on the dresser. "Yeah, I'll be taking that too Babe." His smirk appeared for a second and you threw your body down on the bed in defeat.

_____JOSH_____

"How the fuck did she get tagged Murr?" His voice was low but tense while pacing the kitchen checking to see if (y/n) was following his direction.

"I don't know Andy, but she was and we need to untag her now!" Ryan was remarkably calm sounding. Josh picks up (y/n)’s phone and types in the code.  “What are you doing?  You need to talk.”

“I’m untagging her.  And I’m gonna need you to restrict your tags NOW.”  Josh rubbed the back of his neck remembering when a crazed fan made him do the same a few years prior.

The post he was staring at painful to see.  (Y/n)’s bracelet in clear view as someone snapped a picture of him at Forno then with Ryan from a tagged pic in North Market, and sitting with some of the Lady Jackets at a game this season.  In her typical position of legs up and arms folded across her knees.   The caption: Is @ (y/n username) just a friend, a roommate, or more?  Who has the deets?

The ballsy instagram account was known to stir the pot with all NHL players.  Josh was thankful Columbus was a small enough market and that he kept under radar.  Here and there they would try to link a girl to him but without proof it died.  This.  The connection of (y/n)’s bracelet was damning.  “Fuck!”  Josh finally broke the silence.

“Andy, we are fine.  This isn’t going to effect anything.  I’ll be back in a day and we can talk about it before the team party.”

“And what the fuck do you want me to tell her, huh?”  Josh barked.

“Just tell me please.”  (y/n)’s voice was small sounding compared to the yelling in Josh’s head saying his world was about to come crashing down.

“I’m facetiming you.”  Ryan stated and there he was on the screen.  “(Y/n), I’m not sure why this happened....”  he started.  

“And we already untagged all of us and moved you to private.”  Josh chimed in and wraps his arm around (y/n) while holding the phone so Ryan could see her face.

“Wait?  What?”  (y/n)’s voice squeaked out.  “I’m in photos with the two of you...and we were tagged?”  The color in her cheeks fully gone and Josh wanted to take it all away with a kiss but he just squeezed.

The boys spent the next few moments letting her look at the pictures, the comments, and then (y/n) retreated to the couch to create a blanket cocoon.

“I’m sorry doesn’t even cut it, Baby.”  Josh sits close enough but intentionally giving space.  (Y/n) leans into him and the sigh of relief that she wasn’t super mad at him was audible.

“You didn’t do anything J.  I just...I mean...I don’t.”  Tears formed and fell without warning but in a sense of knowing, Josh leaned down to kiss at them away.

“Let’s just order breakfast in and watch movies all day okay?”  Her head hardly moved but he took it as yes.

_____RYAN_____

“You okay man?”  Alex looked up at Ryan in the living space of their beach rental.

“No, something at home came up.  I’m going to catch a flight today.  I’m gonna pack but I’ll see you at the team party this week.”  Ryan didn’t even look up from his flight itinerary.

“Home home or Columbus home?”  Alex’s voice sounded concerned.

“Columbus.”  And with that Ryan retreated to his room to grab his things.

The flight seemed like eternity and he flipped through every group photo with (y/n) in it to see if anyone could see more than a bunch of friends hanging out.  He scrolled through (y/n)’s instagram looking for anymore pictures of her bracelet that she never took off.  It was in almost every picture where you could see her wrist.  Ryan rubbed the bridge of his nose and willed the plane to fly faster.

He opened the door and dropped his bag.

“Holy shit!”  Josh’s voice was groggy and Ryan’s attention shot to the couch.  He could see (y/n) under her favorite blanket nestled into Josh’s chest.  

“Sorry.  I thought you would be in bed.  She okay?”  Ryan made his way to the couch and sat next to them.  

“I don’t know actually.  She seems fine then a tear will appear out of thin air.  She hasn’t even asked to see her phone.  I got a text from her mom asking if she was home or if I’d seen her.  I told her she wasn’t feeling well and hadn’t picked up her phone.  Hopefully that didn’t send up too many red flags.”  Josh looked down at (y/n) and then back to Ryan.

“Let’s get her to bed, kay?”  Ryan popped up and scooped (y/n) up then headed to her room.  He took in her facial features while walking.  Her face seemed slightly blouchy but nothing saying she cried all day.  She whimpered a bit when he sat her down.  Josh was right behind him.  “I’m going to change but I’ll be back.”

_____JOSH_____

“We don’t have to go (y/n).  Right, Ryan?”  Not going would looks super suspicious.  

“Maybe you two should go and I’ll just stay home and order in.”  (Y/N) raised her head from the couch cushion.  “I’m not a WAG or a teammate...not sure WHY I should go to the team party anyway?”  Josh’s look at Ryan was one that needed no words.  (Y/n)’s mood about the post went from random tears to everything is fine to well I’m not a girlfriend in anyone’s eyes so who fucking cares in the course of two days.  

“We are going and I’m not taking no for an answer.”  Ryan was firm and didn’t even address her self-deprecating statement.  “We are ALL going.  We are ALL taking a Lyft together.  We are ALL going to do this thing just like we always do.”

“Yeah, what he said.”  Josh half chuckled which made (y/n) slightly smile.  “Now will you get your ass up and change into something besides my sweats please?  We need to get going.”

The ride over was silent for the most part expect Ryan’s small talk with the driver from the front seat.  Cam and Natalie’s house wasn’t far from downtown thankfully.  The trio slipped in and almost immediately separated.  (y/n) found the drinks and a chair to sit in that was awkward enough that no one would approach her really.  Josh mumbled to himself watching her actions wishing he could sweep her up and kiss that mood away.  

“We need to fucking talk friend.”  Seth leaned into Josh.  Without turning around he nodded and headed towards the front steps.  Both men sat down.  Seth looked around before looking at Josh.

“How was the Bahamas?” Josh started.

“Fine and we missed you but that’s not what I want to talk about.”  Seth had his going to be captain one day voice on and Josh knew exactly what was coming next.  “Look, I’ve known there has been something going on with you and (y/n) for some time now beyond roommates but I also see the way Murr looks at her.”  Seth grabbed Josh’s knee.  “I’m just worried about you Andy.”

“Thanks but I’m fine.”  Josh left it at that hoping Seth would make his opinions known and leave it be.

“No you aren’t.  You aren’t fine and I can see it.  You forget how well I know you.  How much time we spend together on and off the ice.”  Seth took a deep breath.  “Just tell me this, do you love her?”  Josh nods in agreement and puts his face in his hands.  “Does she know you love her?”  

“Yes.”  His voice sounded foreign with the simple word.

“Do you like sharing her?” Seth’s words stung and Josh felt it.

“What are you idiots doing out here?” Luc comes around the corner.

“Just catching up from break.”  You would never know by the way Seth said it that he dropped a bomb as big as Hiroshima on Josh’s heart seconds before.

_____RYAN_____

“(Y/n), come play Kan Jam with me?”  He reached out his hand.

“No, I’m good.  Natalie is frosting cookies with the kids so I’m going to help with that in a sec.  Go play with Wenny.”  (y/n) pointed out the window to where Felicia and Alex were setting up the cans to play.  Ryan brushed his knuckles across her’s before retreating to the back yard.

“Muuuuurrrrr!  You going to play with us?”  Felicia squealed.  

“Sure.”  Ryan shrugged and flashed a smile that was missing something and Felicia seemed to catch it.  

“Give us a minute Babe.”  She held up a finger and pulled Ryan towards the back of the yard.

“What was that for?”  Ryan acted like he was clueless on why she just over powered him to talk where no one could hear.

“Talk. Now!”  She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.  Eyebrow raised looking dead into Ryan’s eyes.  He just stood there.  “Okay.  I’ll talk.  I follow (y/n) and you AND JOSH on Instagram.  I’m not stupid.  She was tagged in a very interesting post.  What the Fuck Ry?”  Felicia wasn’t holding anything back.  “I know Alex didn’t see it but I’m not guaranteeing anyone else on the team didn’t.”

“Okay?  Roommates cannot hang out?”  Ryan quickly replied.

“Tjurskit!”  She shouted.

“Canadian here Felicia!”  Ryan pointed at this face.

“Ok, well I call bull shit.”  The corner of her mouth turned up.  “And here is why...” holding up her fingers to count.  “You never agree to the dates I try to set you up on.  You come to couple events with our friends alone.  You lead her out by the small of her back.  You don’t look at her like a roommate but someone you are sleeping with.”

“It’s more than that.”  Ryan whispered kicking at the grass.

“WHAT?”  Felicia pulls his face up with the fingers she was just counting with.

“I love her.  I’m in love with her.  She’s the one and I’m stuck.”  Ryan cannot believe the words that came out of his own mouth.  He’s kept that under lock and key for the good part of a year without even telling his sister who assumed there was more to the relationship besides friendship.

“Stuck Ry?  How?  Is that post true?  What is going on?  If she’s your girlfriend just come out and say it. “

“It’s just complicated...okay?” Ryan exhaled.

[nothingbutfangirlsmut]

The Girl Out of Time

Pairing: Bucky x Reader and Sam x Reader

Background: Willow Roffe was born and raised in Brooklyn. She lived her life as happily as she could with her two childhood best friends Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers. When they both left her to join the military she tried to continue with life but that didn't get to happen for her for the simple fact that she meant something to James Buchanan Barnes.

Rating: Story will be overall MATURE but not every chapter. There will be strong language, talk of both mental and physical abuse, some good ole angst, and smut. There will be a warning at the beginning of the chapter when it includes smut.

Chapter 27

After we were cuffed they put James in a large truck by himself. The four of us were put inside a van. I sat next to Sam with T’Challa and Steve in front of us. My knee bounced as I chewed on my lip. What were they going to do to James? They would kill him for the smallest reason.

"So, you like cats?" Sam asked T’Challa.

"Sam" Steve warned.

"What? Dude shows up dressed like a cat, you don't wanna know more?" Sam asked him.

"Your suit... it's vibranium?" Steve asked the king.

T’Challa slowly turned his head to look at my friend. It was like he was studying him for a few seconds before he looked forwards again.

"The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior. And now, because your friend murdered my father I also wear the mantle of King. So, I ask you as both warrior and King, how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

A shiver ran down my spine. He spoke slowly punctuating everything he said. He made sure we all knew exactly what he was saying. It was a threat. Even though I'm a super soldier I was still nervous with this guy.

When the van came to a stop we were unchained then let out of the van. The first thing I noticed was the glass prison they had strapped James into. There had to be something we could do to help him. I followed Steve over to Sharon who was standing with an unknown shorter man.

"What's gonna happen to him?" Steve asked.

"Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation and extradition." The man said.

"This is Everett Ross. Deputy Task Force Commander." Sharon informed us.

"What about a lawyer?" Steve asked Everett.

The man chuckled dryly.

"Lawyer. That's funny." He told Steve then turned away.

"See their weapons are placed in lock up. We'll write you a receipt." He added.

"I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that." Sam warned stepping forward.

I grabbed his arm stopping him from doing anything stupid. I glanced back at James who was already looking at me. I have to help him. Sam grabbed my hand wrapping his fingers with mine. He tugged gently pulling my attention back to him and away from James. I let Sam pull me with him as we followed the group into the actual building.

"You'll be provided with an office instead of a cell. Now, do me a favor, stay in it?" Everett said from his place next to T’Challa.

"I don't intend on going anywhere." T’Challa said in a slow determined voice.

Nat appeared next to Steve as we walked. She definitely looked irritated.

"For the record, this is what making things worse looks like." She said quietly.

"He's alive" Steve said simply.

I had to agree with Steve's simple point. If we didn't interfere James would most definitely be dead. Neither of us could have lived with that guilt. With that loss. Not for the second time.

We entered what looked like a command room with a few offices surrounded by glass walls. I could hear Tony speaking loudly as soon as we entered.

"Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup." Tony said into his phone.

"Try not to break anything while we fix this." Nat told us then walked away.

"Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else? Thanks you, sir." Tony hung up the phone then stepped towards Nat.

"Consequences?" Steve asked him.

"Secretary Ross wants you three prosecuted. Had to give him something." Tony shrugged.

Steve sighed.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve asked.

I think we all already knew the answer to that.

"Technically, it's the government's property. Wings, too." Nat said over her shoulder.

I was silently glad I had nothing for them to take from me.

"That's cold" Sam said.

"Warmer than jail." Tony retorted.

Tony pulled Steve to the side while Sam and I were shown to our "office". Once we were closed inside we couldn't hear a thing going on outside the glass walls. We both sat down at the table.

"How you doing?" Sam asked softly.

"I've been better." I told him honestly.

"You worried about him?" He asked.

"Of course I am. I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Something bad is going to happen." I explained.

"I think all the bad already happened Will." He said quietly.

"No, no, this is something else. Something to do with James." I shook my head.

Sam sighed.

"You saw what he is locked in. I think he's the safest out of all of us right now." Sam said in a bitter tone.

I stood from my seat just as Steve walked into the room.

“I know you’re not happy about this situation but I can’t change it. My past with James is important. I know you don’t like it but please just try to understand.” I told him softly.

Steve walked to the end of the room to watch out the glass. He was staring at all the monitors that a group had started to form in front of.

“They’re about to do Bucky’s evaluation.” Steve said crossing his arms over his chest.

“So we get to watch it?” I asked coming to stand next to him.

“No. The sound is cut off in here. All we can do is stare at those monitors.” Steve said bitterly.

I stood next to my beat friend as the monitors on the other side of the glass showed James still strapped in to the glass cell. A desk sat a few feet in front of him where a man sat down with papers in his hands.

The door to the room opened as Sharon walked inside. She closed the door behind her then stepped over to Sam.

“The receipt for your gear.” She said handing him a piece of paper.

“Bird costume? Come on.” Sam said in irritation.

“I didn’t write it.” Sharon sounded exasperated.

She walked to the end of the table then glanced around the room. She quickly pushed a button on the device on the table. The small screen next to Steve lit up showing us Bucky.

“I’m not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James?” The man asked in a thick accent.

James just stared at him.

“I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, James.” He said softly.

“My name is Bucky.” James told him.

Steve turned away from the TV to stand next to the table. I kept my eyes on the screen.

“Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?” Steve asked from behind me.

“Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?” Sharon said like a question.

I kept my eyes on Bucky but listened to the conversation behind me.

“Right. It’s a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb. Get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.” Steve explained.

“You’re saying someone framed him to find him?” Sharon asked in disbelief.

“Steve, we looked for the guy for two years and found nothing.” Sam said flatly.

“We didn’t bomb the UN.” I said turning around to face them.

“That turns a lot of heads.” Steve added.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t guarantee that whoever framed him would get him. It guarantees that we would.” Sharon said.

Sharon, Steve, and I all shared the same look the next second.

“Yeah” Steve breathed out.

Somethings wrong. Somethings not right at all.

“Tell me, Bucky. You’ve seen a great deal, haven’t you?” The man asked Bucky bringing my attention back to the screen.

Something about this situation is wrong.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” James said through clenched teeth.

“You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don’t worry. We only have to talk about one.” The man’s voice turned sinister.

A chill went down my spine. It’s him. That man is what’s wrong. Before I could say anything the power went out leaving us all standing in darkness. The feed to James cut off.

“Steve” I said in complete fear.

“Sub-level five, east wing.” Sharon said quickly.

Without hesitation the three of us took off as fast as we could. We had to get to Bucky. I had to get to him.

—

[gotatext]

                   hllo ! i’m nora ( she / her, 24, gmt ) crawling back to this rp once more like the dirty sewer slug i am !! i just can’t get enough, baybeyyy ! u may remember me frm such roles as alma putnam, rory bergstrom, bridget matusiak or greta o’driscoll 2 name jst a few.... sure there were more over these long years, bt the show must go on.... this is mimi, she’s dogmatic, tenacious n single-minded 2 the point of recklessness, she doesn’t like handouts n she’s funding her degree through her onlyfans account n moaning abt shit on tiktok. we love 2 see it !!  slam that like button n i’ll creep into ur DMs like the slippery worm i am   OR u can discord me at that bitch carole baskin#8664.   a humble pinterest.

『ALEXA DEMIE ❙ CIS-FEMALE 』 ⟿ looks like MIMI MARTÍNEZ is here for HER SOPHOMORE year as an ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY student. SHE is 22 years old & known to be STRONG-WILLED, GOAL-ORIENTED, ARROGANT & EASILY BORED. They’re living in MORIS, so if you’re there, watch out for them. ⬳ nora. 24. gmt. she/her.

this is p embarassing but i actually originally wrote mimi for a discord rp based around love island asgjag dont laugh at me but it was so chaotic n someone deleted it w-out telling any of us so i lost her bio.... all her threads....e verythin.... it was mad. but anyway we startin from scratch w this intro so bare with

mimi is a really extra character so when trying to flesh her out i thot of the most extra thing i could do n made a colour coded mindmap with watercolour paints detailing her values, aesthetics and early life. shoot me

background: she grew up in a trailer home in boulder city, abt half an hour from vegas. her mom had worked in a vegas casino for most of her 20s but relocated to boulder city for a slower pace of life / lower crime rate when she started having kids. mimi has 2 older brothers n she’s the youngest. has that invulnerable younger sibling complex n basically thinks nothing can touch her. very confident in her own intelligence and her ability to get shit done 

has mexican ancestry on her mom’s side. doesn’t know her dad. was raised with spanish catholic principals n found it all very stained glass windows and extra n that’s why she was kinda drawn to the decadence of vegas and all these massively high key aesthetics, like dia de les muertos was her fave thing growin up just bcos the pure feel of the festival and painting a sugar skull on her face n being able to party on the streets in a flower crown where everyone was kinda anonymous but together in this celebration

in boulder city her mom worked as a carer as there’s a lot of retirees there. mimi really resented the slow pace of life, longed for some fucking energy n life. she was a cheerleader in school but outside of school there wsn’t much to do except practise stunts and go on bike rides.  occasionally they’d get dressed up and catch a bus to henderson, the next biggest city for them to get tht sweet night life

her teenage years consisted mostly of hanging around the renovated motel blocks used as housing projects n tanning by the pool. very florida project if you’ve seen that. she reminds me a lot of the mum in that. also she started working as an avon rep going door-to-door when she was 16 bcos she wanted to have her own income. like as young as 14 she’d decided she was smart enough to go to college but she didn’t have the money n her family didn’t really see it as a worthwhile thing, her mom was very like the mom from matilda “you chose books.... i chose looks!” which i think is where a lot of mimi’s more shallow / appearance-driven traits come from

wasn’t really ‘cool’ until high school. before that she was a bit of a lisa simpson type. won a spelling bee when she was 9. was in the mathletes squad in middle school. when she went from middle school to high school she started cheer and tried to reinvent herself basically. always been very concerned with social mobility and keen to socially climb, like when she enters a new situation she’ll find out who the alphas are and quickly try n befriend them

when she turned 18 she moved out and went to vegas despite her mom hating the idea bcos it was everything she’d tried to get her kids away from. she worked in the clubs there for several years as a shot girl, a table dancer, n eventually she started workin behind the bar in a strip club. in the club it ws really hard to resist becoming a dancer bcos of the sheer amount they made in tips. no one really pressured her into it she just eventually decided tht it was way more logical to do it while she was young n fit and had the stamina and ppl were willing to pay to see her body so she started taking pole fitness lessons. she also started working as a cam girl around this time

working in vegas strip clubs is basically whats paid for uni. like she didn’t go at 18 like most of her friends did bcos she didn’t have the money and she didn’t want to feel indebted to a college like she had to compete for her place and not put a toe out of line bcos she was on a scholarship. she was determined to pay her own way and it took 4 years of working really hard and saving n even tho she was working in vegas she basically never went out bcos every penny she had needed to go on uni n thts how we get to radcliffe baybeeyy

part 2  - interior / values / personality

values: the aesthetic !! literally loves the aesthetic so much. everything she owns is super embellished, she’s a pop socket gal, her dell laptop is covered in glitzy stickers, she always has acrylics n probs makes nail art videos on tiktok. really tuned into tiny details like painting a little hello kitty above her eye which translates into her degree when she’s doing small-scale mockups of town plans n stuff... she jst puts so much detail into them. ppl often get surprised when she tells them she does architecture but it makes so much sense bcos she grew up in a trailer park n was always thinking about ways the space could be more efficiently used, like she loves re-conceptualising neighbourhoods, definitely spent hours on sims as a kid. she also grew up near hoover dam n so loads of school trips they just took them there n she was like.... this is tight but it could be cooler.... where’s the passion....

massively into photography, has such a neat instagram feed like everything just compliments the tones in the next post like mMMM. idk if any of u know any architecture students but this is literally the one constant i can find…. like they all have super good instagrams feeds. is that bitch that will take 40 fake candids of u in a row at different angles to get u the perfect profile picture cos she understands the importance of marketing urself and having an online #brand

has wire rimmed glasses that she doesn’t need to see BUT they r like a magnifying glass for when she’s working with really small materials to do a mock up of an urban plan, and also just sometimes wears them for the aesthetic bc she’s such a pinterest bitch

assassination nation is such a big mood. literally the aesthetics of that and lily colson’s whole brand of feminism and nudity not being inherently sexual but at the same time wanting to profit off that bcos why the fuck shouldnt she use a corrupt system to her advantage is incredibly mimi

literally a human personification of a bratz doll both in attitude and fashion sense

somehow simultaneously gansey in the raven cycle AND elle woods in legally blonde? the two genders 

values cont bc i started rambling: her independence and freedom. being the best at any given task she sets her mind to accomplish because she is unable to accept failure. social mobility. sexual liberation. interested in the psychology of sub-cultures and how ppl form groups and interact w each other and cult identities which is why she minors in anthropology. pro-choice. pro-weed legalisation. pro-sex worker rights. very activist.

aesthetics tht remind me of her: von dutch. a strappy cami top that says ‘please do not do coke in the bathroom’. low-waisted jeans that show off her belly button piercing. acrylic nails tapping against a heavily embellished second-hand dell laptop. heart shaped sunglasses in every colour. translucent stripper heels with barbie doll heads and plastic spiders in the heel. spraying champagne you cant afford all over the walls. narcotics in a heart shaped locket. an amazon wishlist full of lingerie linked on your tinder profile. sex tapes recorded on VCR. a religious devotion to waxing clinics. necking shots like you were born to do it.

she’s an enfj type which makes her pretty charismatic and confidence, like she has a fierce kind of energy to her, but she’s also super unwilling to accept criticism, dogmatic and can only really see her own way of thinking, quite ruthless when it comes 2 other ppls emotions despite having a poor control of her own and being prone to turbulence / throwin a bitch fit in the craft lab. easily bored. competitive. self-assured to the point of arrogance. forceful. adaptable. usually more rational than emotional but occasionally loses the ability to make rational decisions when blinded by a need for perfectionism.

very goal-oriented. money motivates her. money and clothes. she wants to look bomb while earning big bucks. when she gets her mind set on a project it literally consumes her she will forget to eat and sleep? i don’t know her.  like when a final design project is due for architecture she’ll be up all night doing adderall and speed to keep her awake working on the placement of a single tree for ages cos its gotta be perfect

loves chaos. will spill your secrets and pretend it was an accident. will always be that gif of kim kardashian sipping her tea while drama unfolds around her. lives for the drama like that gifset of bratz when she comes running and gets her phone out to record a fight.

im makin her sound like a really bad person but hopefully she’ll be somewhat likeable she can be very charismatic and endearing and she’s naturally quite funny. also now she’s finally in college and doesn’t have to worry so much about money she actually allows herself to party n bcos she denied herself of it for so long she kinda makes up for it by going p wild like will be the girl climbing on to stage to crowd surf at gigs or doing a summersault off the bar and being escorted out by bouncers, thats the energy were looking at, pure dionysian hedonistic impulse

really gd at talking her way out of shit like parking fines. so good at being an ‘im baby’ girl and often dumbs herself down to figures of authority to appear less like a threatening ball-breaker and more like a confused fiat 500 girl who didn’t know red meant stop she thought it meant slow down

listens almost exclusively to female artists. has fergalicious on repeat when she does squats infront of the mirror n just the biggest fergie stan. also lana del rey’s whole vibe is massive mimi energy

ok ya thats all i have for now..... hopefully this is somewhat coherent and not just garbage.

[gold-from-straw]

Frozen Heart - ch2

Tony makes an appearance! I’m going to tag anyone who liked/reblogged last time, if you’d rather I stopped, please lmk! And if you’d like me to tag you in the next chapter, please leave a <3 or a reblog!

And if you’d prefer to read on AO3 from the beginning, here you go!

Tony threw a handful of dried blueberries in his mouth and spun around on his chair, trying not to stave off the impending depression for just a little longer. Finishing a project was fantastic. Best feeling in the world. For like, five minutes? And then the boredom set in, and when the boredom set in, the depression was only a heartbeat behind. If Tony wasn’t actively doing something, he was not a happy bunny.

Then again, when he was actively doing something, he got super anxious, because he hadn’t finished yet, and it didn’t count as an achievement unless he’d finished it. Fucking goblin brain.

“JARVIS, bring up the list of unfinished projects, would you?”

“Of course Sir,” said JARVIS briskly, a file opening on the holo-viewer. “There’s a set of body armour you started for SHIELD.”

“Eh, archive that. In fact, archive anything I started for those bastards, they lost their TV privileges when they injected me with chemicals without my consent and tasered a man with a heart condition.”

“Thank you, Sir.” JARVIS made several files disappear with an obnoxious trashing noise. Tony smirked. JARVIS pulled up another file. “There’s also a prosthesis for--”

Tony was already shaking his head. “Nah, I replaced it with something better, remember? That neural transmitter implant which connects to a prosthesis so the kid doesn’t have to get used to a new one every time they grow out of a leg? Archive that as well.”

There were only three projects left. Tony felt a hollow fear start up under his arc reactor and rubbed his solar plexus, biting his lip. How had he let it get this bad? Was he losing his creativity? Was he going to have to… god forbid, be idle?

Something bleeped and Tony jumped, springing to the readout in the corner of the room. Behind him, JARVIS closed the holo-viewer and brought up a map in response to Tony’s touch. “What’s going on here? Solar flares?”

“NASA hasn’t got any solar flares of this significance predicted for the next four weeks, sir.”

Tony frowned at the map, replaying the readings of the last five minutes, but his heart was jumping with glee. The endorphins played a refrain of something new something new on his pulse and he grinned as he localised the readings to the New Mexico desert, not far from a little town called Puente Antigo. “Hey, JARV? Ready the mark XII, would you? I think we need a little break from the city.”

As the repulsors whined to slow his descent, Tony turned his head in all directions, gathering as much data as he could. It was obvious where the anomaly had been centred; a vast circle spread across the dirt, a little bit streaked to the south, as if a meteor had crashed at a steep angle. But the crater itself was like nothing he’d ever seen, a complex runic pattern burned into the ground and then overlayed with… “JARVIS, are those frost patterns?”

“Yes, Sir, the frost appears to have originated from the centre of the crater.” JARVIS marked the point on the heads-up display. “Perhaps you should talk to the people to the left of the crater, judging by the equipment they’re getting out of their van they seem to be conducting some sort of research on the crater.”

Tony’s eyebrows raised. “I’m always ready to talk science to new people,” he said, wheeling low and banking hard. “Except anti-vaxxers, if I wanted to be burned as a witch I’d have invented time travel by now.”

He landed gently and flipped his faceplate up. One of the women already had her phone out to video him, quietly muttering “holy shit, holy shit, it’s Tony freaking Stark,” under her breath. The other woman was tugging at her hair and having a nerdgasm at the patterns branded into the earth, and Tony knew immediately he was going to get along great with these girls. The older guy, maybe not. He looked at Tony as if he was a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of all of them, which, while probably true, he didn’t need to be quite so obvious about it. Rude.

“Room for a little one?” Tony asked with his favourite media smile.

“Holy shit holy shit it’s Tony freaking Stark!”

“Yeah, hi,” he said, stepping out of the suit and waving at the girl in the glasses.

The other girl looked up at last, big brown eyes wide, as if she’d genuinely missed the noise of his approach. “Huh? Where did you come from?”

He jerked his thumb behind himself at the suit. “New York.”

She stared. “Holy shit, Tony Stark.”

“Yeah. Hope you don’t mind me butting in.”

She looked slightly pained. “Uh. Yeah, sure.”

“I mean, you’re on lead, of course,” he added quickly and watched her face light up again. “First come, first served.”

“Oh my God, really? I mean, you’re not gonna just… call seniority?” she said.

“I can’t call seniority, I don’t know you,” he shrugged.

“Oh, Dr Jane Foster, astrophysicist. This is Dr Erik Selvig, also astrophysics, and my assistant Darcy Lewis.”

“‘Sup,” said Darcy, apparently over her star-struck moment.

“Tony Stark,” he said again, pointing to himself. “No Doctor, so you definitely take seniority. What are we looking at?”

She turned back to the crater, her focus sharpening instantly. “I’ve been working on the spontaneous formation of Einstein-Rosen bridges for the last three years of my life - to the detriment of my entire career. The readings we picked up from here were literally off the chart, the frequencies alone were exactly the same as those the Fermi picks up from distant pulsars! But then we got here fifteen minutes ago, and it got weird.”

Tony followed her over to a rickety machine and looked at the readout over her shoulder. The screen flickered and she smacked it, hard. Tony winced and put his twitchy fingers behind his back. Not my machine, not my machine, no touchy!

Jane made a triumphant noise and pointed to the values as she scrolled up. “My array system here is picking up trace gamma radiation congruent with the kind of energy output of an atomic bomb, but it seems to have been entirely concentrated in this one small area, with no ill effects beyond the scorching of the soil here. And these symbols!” She turned, her hair flaring out and hitting herself in the face. “I mean, I’m loath to call them symbols, because that implies some sort of meaning, and obviously we have to be careful not to anthropomorphise, but it’s hard to deny, they look a hell of a lot like writing, don’t they?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and there was the actual alien, too?”

Tony turned towards her. “There was an alien?”

“Supposed alien,” Erik said, helping Jane with another machine that looked like it’d fall apart in a stiff breeze. These guys needed some engineering lessons, that was for sure. “I’d wager he was one of those crop circle guys, just… diversifying or something.”

“He was blue, Erik,” Darcy insisted. “And he had horns!”

“Amazing what they can do with prosthetics and makeup these days,” Erik shrugged.

“Yeah, but Erik,” Darcy whined. “He froze the ground!”

Erik shook his head, but the machine slipped and Jane yelped, and his attention shifted off them. “He froze the ground?” Tony asked, turning towards Darcy.

“Yeah, dude, like he was in the middle of the crater, having some sort of a panic attack or something. Jane ran towards him asking if he’d seen what caused the anomaly, because she’s a total dumbass and didn’t, like, notice he was blue or something? I dunno. Anyway, he looked at her like she was some sort of dangerous creature, held his hand out and frosted up half the crater, and then disappeared.” She shrugged. “I got a photo, but it’s really blurry, I won’t even bother putting it on Facebook.”

“Do you mind sending it to me anyway?” he asked. “I can see if JARVIS can clear it up a bit.”

“Yeah, let’s do that CSI bullshit,” she said, holding out her phone to him.

He came around beside her instead of taking it, putting his shades on and activating JARVIS in the lenses. “Oh, yeah, that’s a shitty photo.”

“I know, right?” she said cheerfully.

The snap was shaky and grainy, like she’d pressed the button before she’d got the phone in place. JARVIS reduced the noise and adjusted for motion, and slowly a clearer version began to resolve itself in Tony’s display. “Woah,” he muttered.

“What? What?”

“JARVIS, bluetooth it to her.”

“Holy shit, I’m gonna need your image software,” she yelped as the photo appeared on her screen.

The man - or whatever he was - had his hands thrown out in front of him. He was crouched over, like he’d just picked himself up off the ground, or like he’d been startled, and silvery threads poured from his blue fingers. His face was mostly hidden, but Tony could make out a snarl.

“He was just standing up when we arrived,” Darcy said, zooming into the cleaned-up photo. “Jane started yelling at him, saying he should get out of there, he was messing up the data, and he turned around - that’s when we saw he was all blue, with those horns. He freaked out, iced the place up and disappeared. Pooff! Just like that.”

Tony frowned down at the phone, and then looked out at the markings on the desert floor. “JARVIS, can you send the footage we got from the air off to Dr Foster here? And maybe shift the markings to account for the trajectory, if we get rid of the parallax error we might be able to get some information from the markings.”

“Do you think he’s really an alien?” Darcy asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Damn, that would be so fucking funny, you know, go work for a serious scientist and end up caught up in some conspiracy theory.”

“Could be,” Tony hedged. “I mean, just because we haven’t seen any evidence of aliens yet doesn’t mean they don’t exist. But it’s a long shot, so yeah. We should probably wait until we have more information.”

“Boring,” she said, scrunching her nose up and poking at the screen again. “I’m calling aliens.”

A cold wind blew across both of them suddenly, and Tony shivered. “What the hell?” Tony murmured. “JARVIS, is there a storm forecast?”

“All meteorological data up until the last hour have shown between an eighty to ninety percent chance of clear skies, no disrupted weather at all. However approximately fifteen minutes ago a low pressure area appeared localised to Mount Nahokos, eight miles north of here.”

Tony frowned as the satellite imagery appeared on his sunglasses display. “Is that snow?”

“Yes, Sir. The meteorological anomaly appears to be growing, causing exponentially increasing snowfall. The intensity appears to be decreasing in the inverse square law with the distance from the epicentre.”

“You had me at inverse square law,” Tony said. “Hey, Doctors, I’m gonna go find out what’s causing snow in a New Mexico summer, I’ve sent you my phone number, come play science with me, yeah?”

Jane stood up and tucked some hair behind her ear as he stepped into the suit. “Wait, are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” he said, tapping his arc reactor. “And I know a bit about those bitches. I’ll send a jet for you, we’ll have fun.”

The face plate closed on him and he sighed, closing his eyes. “Too clingy?” he asked.

“They should be honoured, Sir.”

“Yeah,” he said, straightening up a little. “Yeah, damn straight. Or something. OK, let’s go find the abominable snowman.”

***

Tagging!: @red--thedragon @shoot-the-smiles @tkillustration @yohanzen

@senpaiweird @fallenlux @superwhojohnlocked @saturnjuice @individual900 @schmadfoot @mikeystealth01 @timekeeper31289 @tomlinchanel @angrysockpuppetnoises @unistudentinperpetualsuffering @rabentochter @oolaan @victoriagreenleaf - again if you want me to untag you just let me know! Or just don’t like the post and I’ll leave you alone lol! <3

[arkus-rhapsode]

Captain Marvel Movie: My Thoughts

So I just went to see Marvel’s Captain Marvel and I have some opinions. Repeat, these are opinions. You are free to disagree with me if you so desire. I respect your decision, and I simply wish to tell you that this is not an objective dissection of this film. But before I do, I will be warning you (obviously) Spoilers Ahead. I will be putting this under the cut.

Other thing I’m warning of this (I cannot believe I’m doing this). I know this film has been having some controversy. And frankly I don’t give a shit. As someone has actually, y’know, watched the movie, I can say nothing about the controversy seems to have any effect on this film, nor should it. I’m saying my piece as a film goer.

So one last time spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

So before I talk about the film proper. I would like to give my general opinions the comic Captain Marvel Carol Danvers. I love her. I love Carol Danvers as character, she, in my opinion, is Marvel’s Wonder Woman. Her no nonsense attitude, but compassionate heart, would make for a great character in a solo film. As well as add some much needed diversity in terms personality in Marvel’s cast (Trust me, I was relieved by Black Panther actually not making jokes and being primarily serious).

I should also say, I love Marvel Cosmic. Seriously, Marvel’s cosmic stuff is so creative and you better believe I’m all for seeing them finally come to the big screen. To see the Kree and Skrull finally fight on the big screen, hell yeah. I was expecting the adaptation to have changes because getting the concept of the Cotati and the Celestials. But as long as its done well, it can work.

And boy oh boy, this movie was kinda underwhelming. Yeah, its not even like backlash hype, but this movie was kinda boring. It says something when during the first third of the film I checked my phone’s time. Yeah... Not a great sign. I do wanna say this though, the film does pick up after the first act. Like really it improves as it goes on, but boy is it bit of a hump.

Again, I wanna make this clear. This movie is fine. I recall people walking out of the theater saying I liked it. And as this is a marvel movie, it is better than other genuinely bad movies. But unfortunately as it isn’t strong one way or the other, its not in the best area. I didn’t mind that I saw it. For something to do for 2 hours it was nice. It got a few good laughs out of me. But boy this was... Kinda textbook Marvel film.

Okay, people have a tendency to say Marvel’s too formulaic or its too childish at times. And this movie fixes that. Oh not by twisting those formulas on its head like Black Panther. No it does the formula and removes most of charm. Yeah, this movie is Marvel films distilled. Everything in this film, you have seen done somewhere else, and done better.

Okay maybe I should get into the story. The story is again fine. It almost feels like a syfy channel original at times. And maybe that comes from the fact this movie had 5 writers and 2 directors. Cause boy this film is all over the place.

At first it seems like its all Kree vs Skrull, but its never really elaborated on why. There is no bitter history or reason other than they are skrull. Which is weird cause this film is exposition heavy. There’s one moment that sticks out and that was Monica telling Carol about her dad and her having a bad relationship. Now granted we saw a glimpse of this during one of many flashing sequences, but its never truly let sink. Its just the bare minimum. And Carol’s relationship with her dad and how he treated her is a big part of who she is.

But back to the juggling plots, when Carol lands on earth it seems like they wanna go the Thor 1 route while also there being a secret invasion. Which could work. Y’know, start of with the war, then Carol is trying to stop the invading Skrull who are planning on using the earth. But then it becomes a McGuffin run. Where the skrull apparently only want this lightspeed engine, and Carol must stop them cause... Skrull.

But then it turns out the Skrull are actually the victims this whole time and we need to get them off here before the Kree kill them. And I’m sure your asking, “what is even the point of this already?”

And that’s just the thing. This film is trying to be clever, but simultaneously, its really behind the times. Its almost fitting this is in the 90s as this feels like a 90s family movie. Its just so bland. Like got this ship dog fight in a canyon, its got the friend who lets the heroes go when they are suspects, and its got the whole, I was originally from here by looking at a photograph. By trying to be many things, it end up being nothing. Its just kinda okay. Not a bad movie, but when you’re in phase 3, this is shockingly more.

If this was like phase 1, maybe. But if you are expecting a Wonder Woman style film, this one is blown out of the water by WW. And I’m a guy who’s Marvel leaning when it comes to comics. But no Marvel, banking on this, its outdated.

In terms of characters, lets talk about Carol herself and her performance. Brie Larson is not a bad actress, but boy... The problem with her in this film is that Carol isn’t consistent in characterization. There are times in this film where I’m like, “Amazing, you got Carol.” Then there are times where she acts like a generic marvel protag. And then there are time “you really wanna go with that take?”

A wise word I heard was that how you know someone is the right fit for a marvel hero is you can see no one else playing that role. You can’t see Nick Fury not being played by Samuel L Jackson, you can’t see Iron Man not being played by Robert Downey Jr. etc. And unfortunately, I can see Carol being played by someone else. And it didn’t help that person was in this film.

Lashana Lynch acted her ass off in this film and was a better Carol Danvers than Carol Danvers. She played Maria Rambeau (Though really she’s playing Monica Rambeau in spirit, but given the time period, Monica is actually a little girl, but Maria acts exactly how you’d expect Monica to act from the comics and wibbily wobbly timey wimey) who is acting circles around Larson. She’s allowed to be very human while express a full range of emotions. While Carol is just kinda bland. (Also doesn’t help Monica was actually captain marvel before carol while she was still Miss Marvel) So if that’s one thing this movie got me eager for, it’s Monica Rambeau in the MCU.

Sam Jackson does a great job and is basically the linchpin of comedy in this movie. Yeah this movie’s humor is kinda non existent for a while. Again, it gets better as the film goes, but its again a slog. That said, Jackson handles the roles like a champ and is doing his best.

Talos was actually doing pretty good as a villain. He’s not Loki or Vulture, but he’s closer to Darren Cross from Ant Man. Having fun, while trying to be menacing. But he’s not a villain. Literally, the twist in this movie is the Kree were bad this whole time. Even though the point of the kree-skrull conflict is that both sides are wrong, nope. Skrull are the victims and they’re refugees. Christ, this movie basically told me, “Yeah, you’re never getting super skrull or a good secret invasion.” Christ.

All in all he turns in my favrite performance, but his Jason Statham impression is kinda distracting. I really think he could’ve been a good adversary in a better script.

No are real villain is Yon and he is basically Kaecilius from Doctor Strange. He’s Carol’s handler, he does that whole, playful banter while fighting thing. Then he disappears from film. Then it turns out that he’s the one who shot down Carol and that he’s the real villain. And he is not interesting.

Kinda comes with the fact that you literally didn’t make this twist until the end of the second act. So we have no strong impression of him as a character. Hell there is also his squad who fights Carol and its basically like watching the Black Order fight but blue. Its boring.

Oh there is the supreme intelligence. And that’s done so weird too. It projects itself int whatever form the person holds dearest (For Carol its Mar-Vell) and that seems like a great thing. Using the skin of a loved one, but in reality being nothing than cold unfeeling pragmatism. But then they start acting really gitty and emotional when they go into carol’s head again. This should be horrifying. This is just Jeff Goldbloom as the Grand Master lite.

Ronan also shows up in this movie. And he’s not the main villain! You have this chance to make Ronan (one of the most universally thought poor villain) and make him better. It would make a larger tapestry in films as we know what he’s like in guardians, but I would’ve like to see him before this. Show the seeds of just someone overtly self righteous that would bloom into zealous. I feel like this film could be much better with replacing Yon with Ronan.

But nope, in this film he’s just some asshole who is on screen for like 5 minutes. Oh but he’s got this group called the accusors that bomb out Skrull. Which also leads to this plot hole, why did Carol think that the Skrull caused ruins on the planet she visited? We saw her squad arrive while Ronan was bombing!

Then we have Mar-vell. Mar-vell is a woman this time and I was fine with that. She’s a good actress, if not enough time with her. Also the cause of Carol’s powers is the tesseract. Sure. Makes more sense.

I’ve been sounding lime a dick for a while, so I’ll quickly list off the good stuff in this film. I like the color pallet. I actually think Carol dressing in the grundge outfit is cool. I love goose. I think Talos and his family’s scenes are adorable. And I think the scene where Carol stands back up is empowering, but god I wish it was in a better film.

All in all, this film is fine. But its so on the bland side. And that leaves me in a wierd place. I want this film to do well, mainly cause I know how board executives work. “Oh a female superhero movie wasn’t profitable? Guess no more female superhero films.” And that’s not the case. We saw with Wonder Woman that you can do a female super hero movie, just get good writing and good directing. I want more females in Marvel movies. I want a damn Black Widow movie for christ sake!

But at the same time, I kinda want Marvel to take the L on this one. I want them to see that doing the bare minimum isn’t going to fly in the this oversatured market. Marvel was the best and only game in town for 10 years. But now. DC has clawed its way up, Wonder Woman was good, Aquaman was good, Shazam looks good, etc. And they all seem to want to try something new while being good. Marvel, you need to step it up. Because you’ll soon not be top dog anymore.

I feel like this film would’ve benefited from a director like Taika Waititi. Someone who knows how to take the fantastical of Marvel cosmic and  make it come to life. I also think it needs one writer. You though Justice League was bad as it feels like it was done by two different films directed by two different people, well this feel the same.

Is it bad. No. Its basically ghostbuster 2016. Its not bad, its not good. Not seeing seeing this film doesn’t make you a misogynist, seeing this this film does make you an asshole who is betraying the comics. Am I going to think less of you if you like this, god no! Am I saying its drek? No I still enjoyed the 2 hours I used up to watch this movie. So ball’s your court folks.

[hazzasgayvodka]

17 * SNAP OUT OF IT * 17

Impact: Chapter 17

Chapter title song: Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys

JESS

I wake up to see the sky already dark outside his window. He's snoring softly above me and I turn in his arms to look up at him. The usual crease between his eyebrows is nowhere to be seen and the constant smirk that adorns his lips has been replaced with a parted pout. He stirs in his sleep as my phone buzzes on the nightstand and I curse under my breath as I untangle myself from him and turn it on silent.

Despite my efforts to keep him asleep, he rolls over into my lap and peels his eyes open with a groan. I mindlessly run my fingers through his bedhead as I scroll through countless posts I'm tagged in from the party last night. Most of them are just drunken sing-alongs and the beer pong game but a significant few are pictures of me and Harry kissing.

"What are you looking at?" He asks quizzically, straining to look at my phone while leaning on my shoulder.

"It's nothing." I sigh, turning my phone off and setting it back on the side table.

"It's not," He says, looking up to meet my eyes, "What's wrong? You went from being fine to being pissed in like two seconds."

"It's just," I huff, wondering why I'm even mad about this, "There's so many people posting about us kissing last night and rumors are everywhere about me dating two guys."

"So what? Who cares?" He laughs, standing from the bed and walking over to the mirror above his dresser.

"I do, Harry," I sigh, following him to the other side of the room, "I don't want to be known as some school slut."

He turns around suddenly, grabbing me by the shoulders, "Hey, you aren't, it's just a bunch of people with nothing better to do than talk shit."

I sigh, letting my eyes drift from his to the floor but he's not having that. He grabs my chin in his hand and tilts my face up to meet his again.

"If it's bothering you than let's do something about it." He assures me.

"What are we going to do? Never speak to each other again?" I huff.

"No, obviously not, who the hell would I play beer pong with?" He laughs, "No, we're gonna go somewhere."

"How is that going to help?" I groan, watching as he paces over to his closet, deep in thought.

"I've got it, The Stroke." He says simply.

"The what?"

"The Stroke, it's a bar on the rougher side of things but-"

"Wait, a bar? That's how we're going to fix this?" I huff, folding my arms across my chest.

"Listen dollface, think about it, I'm intoxicated in a room full of easy women, it won't take long for the student body to find another rumor to spread." He winks smugly, a smirk spreading on his face.

I roll my eyes, shoving him out of my way to get to the bathroom but of course he follows me all the way there defending his idea.

"My god Harry, you're so-"

"Charming? Charismatic?" He suggests, leaning against the closed door of the bathroom, "Oh wait I've got it, ruggedly handsome?"

"How about not nearly as badass as you think you are." I smirk, opening the door and shoving him back through it.

I close it again and hear him protesting on the other side, his fist banging against the wood.

"Jess! Oh come on, I'm joking you-"

I open the door abruptly to see him with his arm still raised in the air, the end of his sentence dangling on the end of his tongue.

"What was that you were going to say? You...fantastic person who is also my best friend in the whole world?" I grin and the worried look in his eye vanishes as he throws his arm around my shoulders and walks me back to his bedroom.

"Yes, exactly what I was going to say." He laughs, shoving me into his room and shutting the door behind us.

We agree to meet Sam and Louis at the bar in an hour. Sam is overly excited considering I never want to go out anywhere and both of them are overly in love from staying with each other for a solid week alone. As soon as we get inside they're sitting on barstools and grabbing all over each other, their lips super glued together.

I turn away from the burlesque next to me to see Harry snapping at the bartender to get his attention. He comes over with a pad of paper, a pen, and a name tag that reads Kevin.

"I'll have a Jager bomb and she'll have a vodka and sprite." He says nonchalantly, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it between his lips.

I roll my eyes knowing that he is fully aware that I'm not a fan of vodka. He turns to me with a smirk and blows a cloud of smoke the other way.

"Can I get some I.D.?" Kevin asks, interrupting our staring.

Harry turns to him with his eyes narrowed, removing the cigarette from his lips. While Kevin looks unbothered I know that Harry's about to chew him up and spit him out.

"I.D.? Really kid?" He asks, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to display his forearms completely covered in tattoos, "How's this? I didn't get these yesterday mate."

Kevin rolls his eyes, "Listen, it's procedure."

Harry huffs, his cigarette bobbing between his lips as he takes out his wallet and produces his I.D., sliding it across the bar counter and I do the same. Kevin takes a look at both of them and nods, handing them back to us but Harry grabs mine before I have a chance to.

"Harry, give it back, it's horrible." I groan, reaching around him to grab my I.D. from his hand.

"Wow, Jessica Rose, huh?" He laughs, handing it back to me.

Before he has a chance to put his away I snatch it from his hand hoping to see his middle name too. I'm surprised by his picture to see his hair cropped short and his arms free of tattoos. He looks like any regular guy without any metal in his face and his hair above his shoulders.

"Oh my god." I gasp, holding it out of his grasp as he wraps his arms around me to get it back.

I scan the rest of it, Harry Edward Styles. Birthday is February first, he's twenty-five.

"Hold on, wait," I think aloud, turning to see his face over my shoulder, "You're twenty-five?"

"Yeah, why?" He shrugs.

"Because we're both seniors and you're another three years older than me. You started college at twenty? I thought schools in the UK graduated from high school sooner than us, not later."

"They do, I just didn't go to college right away." He says carefully, taking the card from my hand and putting it away.

"What did you do out of high school then?" I ask curiously, the image of him tattooless still in the back of my mind.

He opens his mouth to speak but Kevin cuts in, placing our drinks in front of us as well as taking orders from Sam and Louis who have pulled away from each other long enough to get two beers. I desperately want him to finish explaining but we're once again interrupted as a blonde girl in a pink dress approaches him with a wicked smile on her lips.

"Harry! I had no idea you'd be here tonight." She smirks, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Lynnette, what's up." He grins, turning on the charm as he turns to talk to her.

Suddenly I'm between two parties of flirting, third wheeling on all sides and wishing I could just go home. I take a sip of my vodka soda and gag, putting it back down quickly and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Lynnette grabs Harry's hand and starts to drag him towards the dance floor before he's barely taken a sip of his drink. I know he needs at least two beers worth of alcohol in his system to be up for dancing, but he lets her drag him to the middle of the crowd.

She grabs onto him, running her hands down his chest and moving her hips in ways that I could never. His hair is sticking to his forehead in minutes and his hands are roughly grabbing her waist and moving her against him. She presses her lips to his and I turn around, sighing as I come face to face with the bartender.

"You've got some shitty friends." Kevin remarks with a smile as he leans on the bar top across from me.

"They're just having a good time, this isn't my scene anyways." I shrug, mistakenly taking another sip of the vodka soda in front of me.

He laughs when I nearly choke on it, putting it back down and pushing it away from myself so I don't accidentally drink it again.

"Want a real drink?" He asks, taking the glass away from me.

"Please." I laugh.

He grabs a shaker and multiple bottles of schnapps and syrups. He measures them all expertly before pouring the mixture into a cocktail glass and garnishing it with maraschino cherries. He slides it to me and I bring it to my lips, taking a small sip of the sweet pink drink.

"I call it the love potion." He grins, expectantly.

"It tastes amazing, almost too good, I could probably drink five of these and not feel it until I stand up." I laugh, taking another sip.

"I'll make four more if you let me drive you home after." He smirks, finally working his play into the conversation.

I open my mouth to answer but I'm cut off by his voice behind me and his hand on my shoulder. I look up to see his face reddened and I can't tell if it's out of anger or being flustered on the dance floor.

"Don't you have some glasses to clean up?" He huffs, glaring at Kevin.

"No?" Kevin says innocently.

Harry grabs the cocktail glass and shoves it off the bar top, letting it hit the ground and shatter into a million pieces.

"Now you do." He smirks, grabbing my hand and dragging me away.

I rip his hand away from mine and shove him away, "What the hell are you doing?"

"You didn't drink any of that did you?" He asks, cutting me off.

"Yeah, I did, I was having a great time until you just had to-"

"Jess shut up, how much did you drink? Did you see him make it?" He asks worriedly, grabbing my shoulders worriedly.

I shrug him off, finished with his over protectiveness, "Harry this isn't some college party, he didn't lace my fucking drink!"

He grabs my hand midair and tugs me to him, keeping his voice low, "Jess, this place is famous for drugging girls up, they have a track record."

I roll my eyes, trying to decide whether or not to believe him. He's always like this, trying to scare me into letting him control me. My mind goes back to Kevin's suggestion of letting him drive me home. No, he's wrong, he's just trying to make me nervous like he always does. I was barely talking to a guy and he just has to ruin it. Meanwhile he's eating Lynnette's face on the dance floor and I do nothing. Not today, not tonight. If he's going to ruin my night, then I'll ruin his.

"You're right, I'm sorry." I say as confidently as I can.

He eyes me warily, he knows this is out of character. I've never apologized, perhaps that was too far. I grab his hand and drag him back to the bar where Lynette is sitting with two beers for the two of them. My blood boils when I look next to her and my eyes land on none other than Ashlyn, waving Harry over to them excitedly. I grab Harry's hand and wrap it around my waist instead. I can read his eyes as we approach the only two seats left at the bar, I can nearly hear his voice in my mind, "What game are you playing, Lawson?"

He takes a seat on the barstool and Lynette offers me the only one left right next to him.

"No thanks, I've already got a seat." I grin, taking a seat on his lap and nearly making him spill his drink.

I reach for his denim jacket, hung on the back of his chair. I slide it over my shoulders and grab his beer from his hand, bringing it to my lips and taking a sip. Lynette and Ashlyn are looking at me with daggers for eyes and Harry is trying to suppress his surprise.

"Oh, it's you, what's your name again?" Ashlyn asks carefully through gritted teeth.

"Jess, you're Ashlyn, right?" I ask.

"Yup, that's me," She smiles, "so I didn't know you and Harry knew each other."

"We sure do, we hang out all the time, not sure it's in the same light that you two, hang out, however." I smirk, raising my eyebrows.

Her jaw nearly hits the ground and suddenly Harry is choking on his beer, spitting his sip back into his cup accidentally. I lean back into him, grabbing his arm and wrapping it around my shoulders. I smirk at Lynette, a confident grin to let her know to walk away. I know I've had the intended effect when they both stomp away from us and over to Sam and Louis sat at the other end of the bar.

Harry picks me up and sets me back on the ground, getting off the barstool and following them. I grab his hand and tug him back to me and he eyes me angrily, glancing between me and the other girls a few seats over.

"What the hell are you doing?" He huffs.

I wrap my arms around his waist loosely, catching a glimpse of Ashlyn's angry stare from the corner of my eye. I can't help but grin as I look up at him, his own face pulled taut and glaring.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I smirk, releasing his waist and taking his hand instead.

"Jess, I thought-"

"Call me dollface, you know I like it better." I tease obnoxiously as I lead us past them making it loud enough for Ashlyn to hear clearly.

He looks at me like I'm insane, he knows how much I hate the nickname. I decide we're both going to need another drink if I'm going to make this work. Just glancing at Ashlyn makes me livid and reminds me of the time I walked in on her and Harry in her dorm. It makes me sick just thinking about it.

"Fine, dollface, I thought we were here because we didn't want people to-"

"Let's dance, come on, Louis and Sam are already out there." I say quickly, cutting him off.

I feel Lynette and Ashlyn's eyes on me as I drag him towards the dance floor. I shove him in Sam and Louis's direction and go back to the bar to order two double whiskey cokes. I bring the glass back to him and clink them together, both of us knocking our heads back and chugging them down. He's eyeing me warily; does he know what I'm up to or have I fully confused him?

I grab his hands in mine and tug him to me, turning around in his arms and placing his hands on my waist. I move my hips to the pulsating beat coming through the speakers around us and bump into countless sweaty bodies around me. He's rigid at first, continuing to spew questions of what I'm doing and why I think this is a good idea, but I don't care, I only pay attention to the awestruck faces of the two bimbos sat at the bar.

I can feel the whiskey hitting him as his movements get sloppy. Surely enough his hands are moving all over me and my vision is doubling. The world around me is moving like it's under a strobe light. I can hear my heavy breathing echoing in my ears and the bass from the speakers is thumping in my chest. His hands are like fire on my skin, holding me against him and occasionally reaching to rub the sweat off his forehead.

Suddenly his lips are pressed to the back of my neck and I'm gasping as every inch of my skin is covered in goosebumps. He blows cool air against the veil of sweat on my skin and causes a shiver to run down my spine before his lips continue moving down my neck and to my collar bone. I'm nearly shaking in his arms as the fiery feeling of his lips on my skin lingers. Suddenly Sam is standing in front of me and grabbing my hand to tug me towards the pool table. I'm ripped away from him and as soon as I'm no longer intoxicated by his touch I can think clearly. What the hell was I thinking? What just happened?

"Come on, there's a pool tournament, Louis and Harry should play." She slurs, tripping over her own feet as she drags me along with her.

Louis and Ashlyn are already leaning against the table with beers in one hand and pool sticks in the other. I look around for Harry and my eyes meet his across the room. He's chugging a glass of water, blinking his eyes rapidly and swallowing hard. I walk myself over to him and convince myself not to grab his face and kiss his swollen lips.

"I thought we were, I thought we weren't doing this." He says exasperatedly.

"Doing what? Surely I have no idea what you mean." I smirk, my words slurring as they pour from my mouth.

His eyes follow me, and I can sense the anger in his glare but the way he's eyeing me with his lip ring pulled between his teeth tells a different story.

"You make absolutely no sense, dollface." He groans.

"I know, now come on," I grin, grabbing his hand and tugging him, "You said you were going to teach me billiards and I'm holding you to it."

He reluctantly allows me to lead him to the now crowded pool table. He picks up the remaining pool sticks from the corner and passes one to me as Louis and Ashlyn walk around the table, blindly shooting at the billiard balls on the table.

"Have you ever played pool?" He asks, leaning on the table and lining up a shot into the right corner pocket.

"Maybe once or twice." I say but it comes out sounding more like a question.

He brings his arm back and shoots the pool stick forward quickly, causing the sharp snapping sound of pool balls hitting each other before he sinks two of them in the right corner pocket. I don't expect him to be as good when he's drunk but he stands up proudly, his usual smirk adorning his stupid face as he tosses his pool stick back to Louis.

"Alright, Lawson, bend over." He smirks, obviously buying into my challenge.

"Cute." I muse, rolling my eyes as I meet his glossy, drunken ones and he moves behind me with that slumped grin on his face.

He guides me to lean over the table just like he was and wraps his arms around me, holding my arms in the right position. He pulls my right arm backwards and prompts me to shoot it forward just like he did. Despite being worried that I'll somehow injure him with my elbow, I do as he says and hit the striped ball straight into the left middle pocket. I look over my shoulder to see him already staring, a huge grin covering his face.

I hear Ashlyn's huff of exasperation from across the room and my eyes just barely flicker to see her walking back towards the exit into the full bar. Just seeing her sauntering across the room makes my blood boil and my eyes instantly move back to Harry to make sure he's not watching her little show. When his eyes drift to her, I'm livid. I hate that he's staring at her the same way that he was staring at me only a few minutes ago.

I position myself against him, leaning even further down against the table and I feel his arms tense around me as he helps me line up for my next shot. He sucks in a breath, his body going rigid against me.

"Fuck, baby, what are you doing?" He grunts mindlessly.

His words make me shiver and instantly I want to do anything that will make him say it again. Suddenly Ashlyn and Lynette are nowhere in my mind, only images of his swollen pink lips and dangerously green eyes. I turn around in his arms and he shakes his head, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, that just came out-"

I cut him off, grabbing a hold of his shirt and tugging him down to me, connecting our lips. Our lips meet with a smack and several gasps can be heard around the room. He's surprised at first, his lips like statues as he tries to take a step away from me, obviously I caught him off guard.

"Jess, what are you doing?" He mumbles against my mouth.

"Shut up and kiss me." I huff, wrapping my arms around his neck and threading my fingers through his hair.

He smiles against my lips, that devious smirk of his, I can taste the liquor on his breath. His hands reach around my waist and pull me flush against him, causing my breath to nearly catch in my throat. He presses his mouth to mine, much more elegantly than I did. His hands reach down and grip my ass, pulling me upwards to straddle his waist before he sets me on the edge of the pool table and positions himself between my shaking legs.

Every nerve in my body is exploding with fireworks as his lips move against mine and Howlin' For You plays through the speakers above us. I can feel Ashlyn's eyes on us along with everyone else's, the surprise in the air is tangible. He pulls away from me and rips his denim jacket from my shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, his burning eyes never leaving mine. The curve to his lips and the severity of his gaze sends a chill through me and I'm shaking as he leans back into me and tugs my lip between his teeth, making me shudder.

Suddenly he pulls away from me all together, grabbing his jacket from the ground and shrugging it back up on his shoulders. He takes out a cigarette and lights it between his lips, running a hand through his now messy hair, while I'm sat on the edge of the pool table, frozen. Why did he stop?

"Why did you-" I mutter, my voice barely audible.

"Show's over, right?" He quips, cutting me off, "They all left." He smirks, gesturing to the empty space around us.

"What?" I huff for the second time tonight, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just didn't think you were the type." He shrugs thoughtfully, leaning against the wall and twirling one of the pool sticks in his hand while he takes a drag of his cigarette from the other.

"What type?"

"The jealous type." He laughs.

"I am not jealous." I argue, "I have nothing to be jealous of."

"Oh, whatever. Look me in the eye and tell me that kiss wasn't just a stunt because you want to prove something to Ashlyn." He says maliciously, stepping closer to me and leaving the pool stick leaning against the wall.

"I have nothing to prove to Ashlyn! Who cares what some whore thinks of me!"

"Exactly." He smirks, "So why does she get to you?"

It takes every fiber of my being not to scream in his face that it's the way he wraps his arm around her waist that makes my blood boil. That thinking of the day when I walked in on her in his room makes my skin crawl. Any thought of her is enough to bring on a rage I haven't felt in a long time and all I want to do is shock her to the point that her perfectly puckered lips hit the floor along with her gaping jaw. If he would have just left me alone with Kevin none of this would have happened, he could have gone home with Ashlyn and I wouldn't have batted an eye. I wouldn't have wanted to ruin his night just like he ruined mine. This is his fault.

"I can't believe you think I'm stupid enough to get caught up in this jealously bullshit." I sigh, turning away from him.

He reaches for me as I'm walking away and calls my name behind me, but I just keep going. I'm not jealous, there's no way I'm jealous. What do I have to be jealous of? Sure, Ashlyn has him along with every other slut on campus, what do I care? But why would he kiss me back like that if he thought it was all a show? Why did he play along?

My head hurts as I approach the crosswalk and try to decide where to go. If I could go back to hugging Miles in the drive way I would, I never would have walked into that bar. I made a mistake, that's all, it was nothing. The tingles from my fingertips to my toes, the exquisite feeling of his smirking mouth pressed to mine, it was nothing. It keeps replaying in my mind over and over and suddenly I realize it was something, it was everything, because now I'm sat at a cross walk at midnight, miles from anywhere with my trembling fingers pressed to my electric lips hoping that the feeling of him pressed against me never fades.