#and New Mouse City is pretty much New York

[ratonahat]

Family gathering 🐭

Geronimo’s kitchen 🧀

A pretty modern apartment kitchen with a classy hint to it. Geronimo’s colours add some personality so that it’s not too dull, and sliding bookshelf doors add a little privacy but also serve a function. They’re quite a focal point in his living room (which I’m working on currently) and just add a little more classical vibe to the place ✨

[dandylovesturtles]

leo and mikey, treat

(fav duo tbh, pretty underrated)

More Sidelined AU! Are you sick of me yet? Hopefully not because this has consumed my brain.

Part 1

Part 2

We're jumping ahead a bit in time to hopefully give you guys a bit more idea of The Flavor of this AU. And also to give it a bit of a happier note. It's not all doom and gloom!

No content warnings to speak of on this one

---

Mikey lands on the roof and powers on his earpiece, whispering, "Mikey in position. Can you hear me, Base? Come in Base."

"Helloooo New York City," comes Leo's voice, loud and clear. "You're tuning into L.A.I.R 179.12, with your host, DJ Neon Leon! Bringing you the hottest rock from the other side of the millennia."

Mikey snickers, then tries to pull himself back together. "Leo, come on! I'm here."

"Who?"

He sighs, even though he isn't mad at all. "I'm here, DJ Neon Leon."

"Ohohoho, excellent." He hears the click of typing, and then Leo says, "Can you get me visuals, Shelldon?"

"Right away, Neon Leon," Shelldon's voice crackles through the comms. There's a moment of silence, and Mikey can just imagine Leo rolling his chair around his "command center."

(He and Donnie had spent ages building it to look like the bridge of the S.S. Starbolt, with added mobility access, of course. Leo loves it as much as Donnie loves his lab.)

"Got your visuals, dudes," says Shelldon. There's some more typing from Leo's end, then he says, "Alright, Miguel, you should see two guards coming around the building riiiiight... now!"

Sure enough, two guards in plainclothes circle either side of the old apartment building across the street. Mikey watches as the two of them meet in front of the entrance, exchange a few words, then turn and head back the way they came.

"Right on time, Leo."

"Perfect, we're synced." Some more typing, and then, "The rooftop will be clear - let me know when you're over there and I'll get you inside."

"Roger that," he says. "Mikey out." Then he clicks his earpiece to silenced.

A hop, skip, and a jump later he's on the opposite roof. There's a door here, and he edges toward it before contacting Leo again.

"I'm here!"

"Alright... Disabling alarms... now!" Mikey can just see how dramatically he must have pushed the button. "Check the door to see if it's locked."

Mikey reaches out and jiggles the handle, but it doesn't budge. "Locked."

"Alright, no problem - you got your lockpicks?"

"Yep!"

"Remember what I taught you?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Alright. Make me proud, little bro."

Mikey grins, pulling his lockpicking kit out of his gear. It takes him a few minutes, because he's nowhere near as fast at this as Leo is, but he gets it done without needing to ask for help. The training Leo made him go through is still fresh in his mind.

"Alright, I'm in," he says as he slips through the door. He's in a deserted stairwell, but just to be safe he crouches down into the shadows near the wall.

"So far, so good. You need to go down two flights of stairs. No guards are coming around right now, but keep it quiet just in case."

"Don't worry, I'll be silent as a mouse!"

"Knowing Dad that's not giving me as much confidence as you think."

Mikey giggles, then sucks in a breath and gets his game face on. Right. Silent. Ninja skills GO.

He does manage to make it to the right floor without major incident. There's no one in the hall when he enters, looking at the rows of numbered doors. He doesn't know why this is where the artifact is being kept hidden, but it doesn't matter.

"According to our intel, you should be looking for door four-oh-nine," says Leo. "The floor's clear, so get goin'."

"Got it," whispers Mikey, then hurries along in a silent crouch to the door Leo specified. He stops when he gets there, hissing in disappointment.

"What's up?"

"There's some kind of keypad lock."

"No problem. Just hook Donnie's doohickey in there."

Donnie would definitely hate it if he heard them calling it a "doohickey," and that makes Mikey grin. He pulls it out of his gear (it looks like a USB stick, but slightly thinner) and slips it into the maintenance slot on the keypad.

"Alriiight, hacking in progress," says Leo. "Big solo mish is going pretty smoothly so far, huh?"

"Yep," says Mikey proudly. "Told you guys I got this."

"That you did. Oh, and... alakazam!"

There's a click as he says it, then the red light on the keypad turns green. Mikey grins and opens the door, slipping inside the dusty apartment.

"You're getting pretty good at that hacking thing."

"Uh, you know I don't actually hack anything, right bud? I just get Shelly here to do it for me, or shoot it off to Dee if it's too complex."

"Don't sell yourself so short, dude!" says Shelldon. "You're picking it up real quick!"

"Ugh, don't say that. It makes me sound like nerd."

Mikey laughs again, searching the apartment for... well, he's not sure exactly. But he's pretty sure he'll know it when he sees it.

"What's the Foot Clan want this thing for, anyway?" he asks.

"Ours is not to question why, Miguel. I'm leaving that question for Donnie to answer."

"Mm... guess so..." He's about to say something else, but then he feels... something. Like a pulse, getting stronger as he moves toward a closet.

"...I think... I can feel it."

"Feel it?"

"Yeah... it's like..." He frowns, moving forward. "Like it's calling to me."

He opens the closet to find a safe. It also has an electronic lock, so once again he inserts the doohickey. The safe door opens with a click, and he peers inside.

There's only one item: a glittering green stone, with markings he doesn't understand carved in its surface. The pulse is super strong now, waves of energy washing over Mikey. Whatever this thing is, it's definitely powerful.

"I found it!" he says to Leo, a little louder than he should. He reaches in and wraps his fingers around it.

"Great! Hold on, just let me see if-"

Before he finishes his sentence, Mikey pulls the stone out - and immediately a loud alarm starts blaring, making him jump.

"What the heck is that!?" he yelps, jumping to his feet. He hears Leo curse on the other end of the line.

"Pressure alarm. Get out of there!"

The windows are barred - it's why he didn't come in that way in the first place. Mikey has no choice but to go back the way he came, dashing into the hallway. He turns on his heel and is making for the stairwell when his earpiece crackles again.

"No good, they're coming up the stairs."

"Then where am I supposed to go!?" he asks, frantic. All the windows are barred in the hallway, too, so that's no good.

"Okay, okay, hold on... oh, I got it! Opposite direction, about five doors down. Laundry chute."

Mikey sprints. Just as he hears the door of the stairwell open, he's tipping into the chute, pulling his limbs into his shell.

Getting chased by guards? No fun. Sliding down a laundry chute? Very fun.

"Whoooohoohooo!" he cheers when he reaches the bottom, landing in a pile of old rags and t-shirts. "That was awesome!"

"I remember having a distinctly less fun time the last time I had to do that," says Leo. "Anyway, stay there. I'm going to set off the roof access alarms and lure the guards up top, then you go up the stairs and slip out the front. Got it?"

"Got it!"

Leo's plan goes perfectly, and within a few minutes he's back outside. One later and he's back on the rooftops, running to safety.

"Yessss!" he yells once he's finally far enough away, jumping in the air and pumping his fist. "Mission successful baby!"

"I knew you could do it, little bro!" cheers Leo, his voice full of pride, and it makes Mikey beam.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Leo," he says back, truthfully.

It takes Leo a second to answer, which puts the smallest damper on Mikey's enthusiasm, but finally he comes back with, "Sure thing. You know I'm always here to help."

It's not perfect. But it's getting better. Leo is getting better, every day.

Mikey's celebratory mood cannot be quashed. He whoops again, eliciting laughs from Leo's end.

"Alright, now get your butt home before Raph freaks out. He's walked past my door twelve times."

"Thirteen," Shelldon corrects.

"Thirteen!" Leo echoes.

"You got it! Mikey out!"

He clicks the earpiece to silent, then runs and jumps to the next roof with an extra spring in his step. His solo mission was a complete success!

Of course, no missions were truly solo anymore. Not with his faithful older brother ever in his ear.

[barbielore]

(I’ll call myself 🌺 anon for easy reference,long time lurker and finally interacting beyond a single ask) So in addition to just recommending it in general in my last ask, I actually love Barbie’s version bc it has much more plot than the OG ballet.

From what I understand, in the ballet Clara wakes up to see the Nutcracker do battle with the Mouse King (sometimes referred to as Rat King, and also sometimes portrayed as a multi headed/limbed mess akin to a real rat king, seriously only google that if you’ve got a strong stomach) and when the battle is over Nutcracker invites Clara back to the Land of Sweets for a giant celebration (which is where most of the dances/iconic musical movements come from)

Now some versions have Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy be the same character, others don’t, it depends on the ages and skill of the dancers in the production/creative direction used. Also, some versions of the ballet have Clara wake up at the end, using “it was all a dream”; others have her keep a trinket to imply her journey was real.

(Funny enough the book version, which I understand the ballet is based off of, makes her adventure real and it was the ballet that invented the “it was a dream” possible ending)

So literally everything in the movie from the Nutcracker vs Mouse King battle on is cut from Barbie cloth plot-wise, with the exception of the dance sequences which were performed by real ballerinas from the New York City Ballet company using motion capture. Pretty amazing, especially for the time!

Thank you for reading this far, I’m a combination Barbie/Christmas buff who grew up with this movie and watches it every year. You’re in for a treat! -🌺 anon

I remember reading somewhere about the mocap ballet, but I didn’t have a lot of context to it!

Thank you for sharing this, I really appreciate it!

[taylortruther]

When folklore was announced Taylor said the songs are fiction and yet, when you listen to it, it's pretty clear how much it's based on her own emotions/experiences. I'm sure it was freeing for Taylor to fictionalize her emotions to process them and also voice her issues in her relationship without having the whole world knowing.

I always thought hoax was partly inspired by Joe mostly based on vibes. It's so heartbreaking and devastating and I refuse to believe it's not inspired by a romantic love.

Taylor released the cardigan demo and I heard "living in a gold age, sneak into my bird cage / laughing like a damn fool, breaking every damn rule" and then I knew cardigan was about Joe (because the cage imagery & bad boy imagery were used so much for him). So he messed up, and she forgave him and it's very romantic and almost the kind of second-chance romance Taylor loves so much.

So cardigan and hoax are about him and it's in an album full of forlorn songs and hoax has so many parallels to other songs that don't feel like a coincidence.

"Don't want no other shade of blue, but you" -> "I'm with you even if it makes me blue" -> "if your cascade ocean waves blue come" -> renegade. The entire concept of Joe struggling with the depression and Taylor saying again and again that she will stay, even if it hurts her, if only he lets her. "your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in"

"You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score?" -> "you did a number on me but, honestly, baby, who's counting?" -> "no more keeping score" -> "cat and mouse for a month or two or three" -> "I can't talk to you when you're like this / staring at the city like I'm not your favorite city" -> "you can't talk to me when I'm like this / daring you to leave me just so I could try and scare you" they go back and forth with their arguing, he gets cold, she gets mad at him, they give each other silent treatments. But hoax was right in the moment so that "keeping score" phrase is more painful.

"My broken drum, you have beaten my heart" -> "deep blue but you painted me golden" -> "a red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground" -> "do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?" Hoax is a song about devotion, it's about loving someone despite the pain and I think this line is a reminder to the both of them that he loved her, he was good to her, so why can't he calm down and be good to her once again?

"You know I left a part of back in New york" -> "back and forth from New York"

"All of my heroes die all alone" -> "you know the hero died, so what's the movie for?" -> "you know the greatest films of all time were never made"

Besides of the parallels, the line "you knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart, but what you did was just as dark" is so devastating. He knew what she's been through and how bad it was, so why would he go and do something that's just as devastating? Why would he betray her like others have?

Now with the breakup and what you said

"and then we got so many songs about wanting to flee, hoping someone understood she couldn't control all aspects of her life (peace), and wanting this person to open up to her and be all in with her (renegade.) "

I look at so many songs differently. When "Is it enough" was it a plea? Was she asking "I know my life is very difficult for you but my love is a fire, is it good enough to make you stay?" Is Lavender Haze a reminder that he could handle her life, that he handled things very well before?

i wish i had anything thoughtful to add, but i don't, because you expressed this all so well. thank you for taking the time and also for devastating me in the process 🫡

[ginger-grimm]

Also, TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT WYATT!!! I MUST KNOW EVERYTHING!!!

Okay, here is what I have so far on my new bb

He was born and raised in Pennsylvania, not that far from where Sabine grew up. He was raised pretty much to be a survivalist but always dreamed of living in the city.

That dream seems to almost blow up when his High School girlfriend tells him she's pregnant and ends up leaving him with the baby. Wyatt is like, the bestest dad though. So very devoted and his family is supportive enough that he still manages to move to New York with Mouse.

It just so happened that the only person who was willing to room with a city-bound survivalist and his almost-one-year-old was one Sabine Mitchell. These two make fast friends and Sabine quickly becomes the mother figure Mouse needs in her life.

Wyatt is taking courses to hopefully become a cartoonist but works at a local Wendy's in the meantime. It becomes a hang-out spot for the gang when Sabine can't stand going to the Spotlight Diner.

He also forms a band with Kurt and they rope Sam into singing with them. Sabine learns to play the drums just to be involved. Unlike Pamela Lansbury or One Three Hill, they actually make it a bit further.

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||Late night Meetings||

*waving* Hello there. It’s time for a silly drabble and this is a fun one for my friend and rp partner @demon-blood-youths It’s a idea I thought of when I was at work so I hope she likes it.

~~Drabble Summary~~

Bakugo Katsuki, along with his classmates, have been working over night for a while or some nights which was alright. However, more villain activity was known that it has been a lot. So now, he’s been keeping the fractions awake at night due to his work. How will this go? Read to find out.

~~Guests for this drabble~~

The Fractions of NYC (Half belongs to demon mun and the other half belongs to me)

Bakugo katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, and Shoto Todoroki belongs to MHA and me since I Rp them as muses.

~~Their will be Grammar mistakes and errors in this but it’s written for fun so please understand. With that said, I hope you enjoy~~

It’s another peaceful quiet night in New York City where everyone is either out enjoying themselves or just being at home. All is well within the buildings and out well almost. Over the last few weeks, Bakugo Katsuki has been working himself to finding as many villians as he can due to seeing so many show up in New York. So, he’s been doing that. The only problem is: He’s been making so much noise, it has been noticed by the Fractions in NYC where they haven’t gotten any good sleep.

~~From the first week~~

The fractions heard loud shouting but ignored it. Bakugo was working on finding this guy but no luck.

~~The next week~~

The loud commotion got worse so the fractions had trouble sleeping for a bit. They were annoyed  but still alright.

~~The week after this one~~

They couldn’t sleep due to Bakugo going to each location causing a disturbance and waking everyone up. It was up to the point they had people complaining while they were being woken up.

~~And the week after that~~

Bakugo begins doing meetings late at night or in the morning but it’s become a problem now.

Now even this night during the new week, Bakugo was trying to track down a villain that was in hiding. So he called a unexpected meeting with the fraction leaders and their teams. Here how it went:

“Alright, so as I said before! We been trying to figure out where or how this jerk been through New York but he’s been hiding! I know maybe one of you guys knows his location or at least can help us out!” He said explaining the situation while Midoriya and Shoto was there as well. They were sitting in the living room in the DBT’s base while it was pretty late.

“So, with you guys help, we can find this guy and bring him down! So any questions!?” he said.

“Uhhhh Bakugo?” Midoirya taps his shoulder as he glares at him.

“What!?”

He heard light snoring and quiet muttering to see the Fractions, in their Pjs or sleepwear, falling asleep. Ink, with her team fell asleep once more while wearing their Pj’s but Ink was hugging a pillow while having bed hair snoring lightly in her pillow. The others were also in their Pj’s asleep while being close. Jinx was in her own cat themed Pj’s as well snoring lightly while her team was sleeping as well while cuddled up against one another. Breezy was sleeping while hugging Rust and he was sleeping.

Melinda was being held by Jaron who was sleeping as well really tired. Echo and Navarro were sleeping like little puppies but didn’t wake up. Mouse was sleeping and resting her head on Fosh’s shoulder and him, he was sleeping but having his laptop resting on his lap with her doing the same. Vivi and Shdwkyz were sleeping beside each other just tired. Fin with his boys were sleeping soundly but he was really tired due to being called here so late.

Kali was sleeping but Alex was sleeping with his head on her lap and tail curled up with her team who was sleeping as well. Joshua and Ashley were sleeping but she was curled up in a blanket but he was sleeping quietly. Their teams were doing the same thing lightly sleeping or snoring while also being called here so late.

Eithan, for reasons we don’t know, along with Willow was there sleeping quietly but also sitting by one another tired as well. How Bakugo got them here? He demanded Vivi make a portal to bring them here along with their teams. Yuuka was there too with her team but she was sleeping by Oblivion while quietly resting too. Even Guam was there! He was resting his head on his hand sleeping but his team was also bundled up in blankets tired but asleep. And Rex was there as well sleeping soundly but his team was knocked out as well.

“Zzzzz.....zzzzzzzzzz......zzzzzzzzz....”

“......” Bakugo’s eye twitched seeing they fell to sleep again. He’s trying to explain something and they keep dozing off. He even saw his two classmates Izuku and Shoto doze off as well standing up tired. Seeing this, he growls to raise his hand and slam it on the table making a loud explosion to shout,

“WAKE THE FUCK UP!!”

“!?!” Right away everyone snaps awake looking confused but also really tired. Breezy and Rust snaps awake but blink to see she was hugging him but lets go quickly saying sorry but he rubs the back of his head to understand.

“S..sorry..” she mutters tired.

“It’s fine...” Rust said but yawns.

Melinda and Jaron snaps awake but blinks to look around but she sits up with him helping her but she looks to rub her eyes while her hair was in a ponytail while he yawns.

Echo and Navarro snaps awake but grumbles being woke up from their sleep.

Joshua snaps awake with a light snort but he felt Ashley wake up sleepy only to keep bundled up in the blanket she had with her. He saw she was really tired but helps her sit up looking sleepy.

Vivi and Shdwkyz wakes up but was annoyed due to Bakugo waking everyone up. Again. Why couldn’t he wait till morning.

Mouse snaps awake but so did Fosh as they caught his laptop and her tablet from falling. The younger members wake up really sleepy but they rub their eyes whimpering. Ethan and Willow wake up but they were both rubbing their eyes but was tired.

“Stop falling asleep! Were in a meeting!” he said but heard groans from everyone while the leaders blink to look at him but yawns quietly rubbing their eyes.

“Ugh..Bakugo.....how long is this meeting? It’s 2:30 in the damn morning..couldn’t you wait to do this meeting..*Yawns* when were all awake?” Yuuka grumbles rubbing her eyes.

“Or when the sun was up? It’s still dark out and it’s freaking cold..” T-bone grumbles.

“NO! I’m doing this because I know a villain is hiding somewhere in New York! I know he’s somewhere but he’s not making it easy to find him! That’s why I had this meeting with you extra-I mean fractions in order to figure this out!” He grumbles but everyone was yawning while stretching or some trying to stay awake.

“Your a idiot then...again, it’s 2:30 in the morning, you moron. This is the 13 time in two weeks you woke us up in the middle of the night.” Rex sighed but he along with the other fraction leaders agree with him.

“He’s right. You seriously are this stupid in finding one, I repeat, one villain who could be sleeping right now! You can’t understand everyone needs sleep even idiot villains too.” Kali growls tried but Alex was yawning while feeling Zed petting his head knowing he was tired.

“I’m not stupid! I just wanna find him because he’s been making it hard to sleep or track him down!” He shouted but everyone had a dumbfonded look while yawning.

‘How do you think we feel?!?’ everyone said in their minds annoyed even if their grumpy from the lack of sleep.

“That’s why I need you guys to help me find him!”

“Again....couldn’t you wait until we got some sleep?” Shdwkyz said annoyed by this.

“I agree with him. This waking us up in the morning is getting stupid...not to forget, it makes it harder for us to get a good night’s sleep if you do this..” Vivi adds him.

“Yeah, this whole waking us up in the morning is getting old..”Vanessa sighed but the others were starting to doze off while Bakugo sighed.

“And I don’t care and I’m going to keep doing it till we find him! So do you have any ideas or not!” he said but saw them starting to doze off again. “AND STOP FALLING ASLEEP!!”

“Bakugo, I swear I really wanna punch you for this. Please can’t you just let us go to sleep? We’ve been woken up by you so much It’s like a loud bomb going off.” Yuu said.

“You’ll be fine!”

“*Sighs* Again, this is pointless...and I’m still not sure why you dragged me and Willow into this..I mean, wouldn’t the villain be here in NYC?” Ethan explains but felt Willow doze off again before he carefully pats her cheek as she wakes up.

“Look, No one is going to sleep unless we do something about this! I demand answers and I’m going to find out where he is!!” He was shouting only to hear some complaining from outside.

“HEY, SHUT UP! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!” A random civilian said.

“YEAH, YOUR TOO DAMN NOISY!!” another shouted out.

“YOU SHUT UP!” Bakugo shouts through the window but Ink dozed off again but snaps awake thanks to Hellmare who was beside her.

“Great, now he’s waking up others around which is good. Wait, how can anyone here us on the-you know what? I’m not questioning it.” Kali said but she was grouchy due to not getting much sleep.

“Anyway, do you have any questions?” He asked but no one rose their hands too tired to do so. “Well?!?”

“No..” They all said.

“OH come on, someone has to have something!” He said but Jeremy sighed.

“look, no one has anything Bakugo so are you done with this meeting? I mean, do you even know what this villain looks like?” he asked.

“No...I was trying to find a picture but nothing came up.”

“...So you woke us up and you have no idea who this guy is and what he looks like?” Enya asked as she yawns again but Bakugo blinks to glare at her.

“I know! I just....I don’t have the photo. Maybe the two hackers know!” he said pointing at Fosh and Mouse who, once again, went to sleep lightly snoring.

“WAKE UP!!”

They snap awake again but Mouse yawns but Fosh groans pushing his glasses up. “...What?” they asked.

“Can you look up the villain that’s been known through the night!?” he said but the two sleepy hackers blink but begins working. Though, they, along with the rest, just wanted to sleep. In a bit, both Fosh and Mouse found something to show him.

“Is this the guy?” she asked showing a male that seems to be in his 30′s, has wild zig zag hair, wearing a really weird outfit. Though, he was using his quirk that seems to make sonic screeching waves.

“What’s his name???”

“It’s same his name is NIghtboom or.....something.” Fosh said yawning. “Though, it’s been said from the news he’s been making a racket around NYC......so maybe this is your guy?” he asked Bakugo.

“Hmmmmmm....He might be. Anything else?”

“No...he’s the only one we found.....the others were already caught and put in jail.” Mouse said sleepy but Bakugo thinks about it.

“That makes sense! So he could be the main one doing this! Aha! We are close to finding him!”

“...............”

“Then I guess were going! You! Give me a copy!” He points to Mouse but she was sleeping lowering her head but he growls but Fosh sighed doing it for her. He made a copy but hands him the photo.

“Here..”

He takes it and looks seeing the picture. “Finally! I will catch you!” he shouted but looks to the sleeping Midoriya and Shoto. “Guys wake up! Were going to find him! Lets go!” he grabs their shirts dragging them on the floor but the other fractions were sitting there while the leaders were tired but looks to yawn.

“Well...at least he got what he needed. I guess we can...go home.” Jinx yawns with tears in her eyes but Ink nods agreeing. So did the leaders.

“Alright guys, lets head on home......Guys?” Jinx looks to her team like the others. They all fell asleep again in the living room. Jinx blinks but Ink yawns to rub the back of her head.

“.....Wanna just sleep over and head home in the morning?” Ink asked the leaders.

“...Yes....”

“*Yawns* Hellmare, do we have extra blankets and pillows?” she asked seeing her nod going to get some with Rust helping her and Breezy too.

~~Minutes later/Morning time 4am in the morning~~

Everyone was sleeping in the living room while the DBT was in their rooms too tired. Finally, they can get some sleep after the sudden meeting. It was like it never happened. Until.....

A loud banging was heard on the door waking eveyone up but heard groans and some shouting. This woke Ink and Jinx up to sigh.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Echo shouts from the room while Navarro was angry.

“HE REALLY IS BACK AGAIN!?” Kali shouts.

“PLEASE, I JUST WANNA SLEEP!!!” Fosh cries out covering his head with a pillow.

“WHY!? WHY CAN’T HE TAKE A HINT AND GO HOME!!” Damien shouted mad even if he was tired.

“......” Both Jinx and Ink groans to get up from the beds to hear the banging.

“HEY, I NEED ANOTHER COPY!! ARE YOU GUYS UP!?” Bakugo shouted but he was banging on the door. the other fractions open the window to look down annoyed.

“Bakugo, it’s 4 in the damn morning! Please leave!” Yuu said but he glares.

“Not till I get another copy!!” he said but before she said anything, Echo and Navarro shows up but they were really annoyed.

“Seriously!? What’s your damn problem! Were trying to sleep!” Navarro said angry.

“Yeah, just come back in the morning!” Echo shouted.

“THEN OPEN UP OR DROP THE COPY OF THAT PICTURE!!! I WON’T LEAVE TILL YOU DO!” he shouted but the two bombers growls but looks to one another then at him.

“Fine..hold on.” Echo said as she goes back inside but Bakugo waited. He did have a villian in his hand but as soon as the two look up, they saw something glowing. Echo was holding a bomb but so was Navarro.

“What the fuck-”

“HERE’S YOUR DAMN COPY!!” They said throwing the bombs as Bakugo dodges shouting.

“HEY QUIT IT!!!” He shouted angry but he saw the villain crash on the ground but he and Bakugo got hit with a bomb by Echo exploding to show some smoke. The two didn’t move but saw Bakugo and the other knocked out.

That’s when a portal shows up but the two look to see Jeremy and Vivi awake while they sent Bakugo back. The other fractions were grumbling now too tired to even complain now.

“If he comes back..I’m fucking murdering him..” Echo said.

“I’ll join you if he does..” Navarro said as the two head back to their beds to sleep. After that. The place was quiet.

~~In the morning at 9am~~

Everyone was sleeping in after last night, even Jaron, who would be up making breakfast as everyone was sleeping. Thanks to Bakugo he kept them up and they decided to just sleep in and take a day off. Good news, the Villian was caught thanks to Bakugo. Bad news, he was in trouble for disturbing the peace of NYC. The teachers even eraserhead shook his head while the others sweatdrop while seeing Bakugo being yelled out.

Oh well, at least he caught the bad guy.

[the-firebird69]

There are a few things to talk about one is Tommy f is ignored almost by everybody he's ruining everybody's lives including the Mac proper and we don't like it it's a little bit icky and long and heading towards suicide alley all at the same time and that doesn't sound right and Tommy f is kind of driving it and it's kind of the mystery and his son does not think he knows what he's doing but that's what he is doing and it might be personal reasons. So we have to look into it more it sounds wrong and it is wrong to leave it there that's one thing we also watch a mouse he shot at our son three times it bounced off and it was our helping our son and wife and his children mostly and we don't want to keep seeing that kind of behavior we need him out. As we need John remillard out and we have aggressive programs in place one of them is a mac program and they needed to badly it is the reenactment of the revolutionary war as Nathan Hale Trump checks out Tommy f is the one in a funny people in pyramids that are shallow he checks out for a serving the empire completely possibly but we think you left and the empire destroyed the evidence as well as all the others there's a few other things happening there organizing here for huge battles tonight against the pseudo empire they're trying to get a huge Force together to go into the rings to at least occupy them and they have to fight Tony f and so do the pseudo empire and it makes a real mess. We don't know how much longer really can bear this malarkey the answer is not much and the schedule says that it will be changing soon in New York City there's going to be a serious of violent attacks by Trump and it isn't it is about the guilty verdict and it's about the sentencing they said they might delay it and it doesn't appear that they've delayed it yet and Trump put in the news that if they did delay it and now he's scrambling and he's in trouble and he's going to go up there and start trouble so he's going to be running up there pretty soon. That's one thing.

-another thing is he does stuff to our son or tries to in his birthday and those two coincide and it might have been hiding the fact that he knows the sentencing is coming up. But there's a series of battles that occur we think it starts today and tonight in New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Long Island New Hampshire Manhattan and main Nova Scotia Newfoundland that whole area and even parts of Maryland district of Columbia and parts of the Carolinas all of that happens in July and August and I think it's late July of South Carolina that's a huge huge battle and while he's up there in New York messing around several movies occur like the quiet place day one and that's coming up in just possibly a few days or a week or two or so not long and these battles wage on after sentencing and the people on the boat are the ones after and they're saying are those your creatures or what. They're also going to try and get him to the mountain by Saturday and they're trying and their assholes and they're going to make an attempt at the office of Jose there's a few other things to make note of.

-Hera was upset this morning and screaming and yelling at her and her husband called and said tell them to take action and to stop them from yelling at her and it was from me and they did work and he said he appreciates it he doesn't need to hear it but the noises are disturbing and we do need to more troops and we have a lot of programs starting and it's true we are cutting the cities off but they're not cut off completely and there's trade going on they're treated as third class citizens but it still happens.

-that brings us to the zeta although we had a wonderful thought about it this morning they have not done much with it and it's sitting there and people don't want to work on it they fired to be somewhere over repulsive car and they want real chassis and they don't want the recycled motors car design either and they said it you don't want to go through the trouble of matching up everything so it works on the same car and they said it's stupid what they should and they thought about it and they've done it before and someone said it's like the military and they started doing stuff but not much and we're going to have to pick it up.

-in other news bja is not doing anything with it either these people are lazy puts and their people are just going to die

They're going to be in the Stone age and that's all there is too

Thor Freya

Olympus

[rafescoke]

Crime ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

Part #1

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Reader would do anything for the boy she loves from a summer ago.

Warnings: Story takes place at the start of season 2 (and some flashbacks from season 1), swearing, angst, death penalty, gaslighting, reader just needing help

A/N: i don’t think this is my best work at all :( but i’ll post the part 2 straight away!! didn’t know tumblr has a word limit now wtf

p.s; tell me what do you think of this fic!!

(Y/N) had begged for somewhere else to spend the Summer. She couldn’t go back to that place, not when there were too many memories that awaited her. No one seemed to listen to her, and her father continued to check something online.

“Rafe Cameron.”

“(Y/N),” she had smiled, and she thought about how gorgeous a boy could be. This man before her; with his hair messily parted and that goddamn blue eyes had her holding her breath, and she wasn’t in her usual demeanour.

“You come down here often?” Rafe asked, raising his eyebrows. (Y/N) watched as he chugged on his beer, and gave her another sly smile again.

“Um, not really. This is my first summer here.”

“That’s nice,” he shrugged, “Welcome to Obx.”

“Thanks,” she nodded, liking how Obx already is. She made a mental note to tell her friends back home about this island, and most importantly; Rafe Cameron.

“Do you wanna take a walk?”

(Y/N) never really accepted any boy’s invitation for a walk, because all the boys in the city never had good intentions with her. She never dated anyone, never bothered to do so.

“Sure,” she smiled, and walked alongside the dirty-blonde boy to the far end of the beach. He sucked in a breath, glancing at her from the corners of his eyes, and laughed.

“You look nervous.”

“You could be a mass murderer.”

“Isn’t that just the perfect person to spend the summer with?”

(Y/N) looked up at him, the moonlight from the sky illuminating his features. God, he really is beautiful. “I guess.”

“So would that be a problem if I killed someone before?”

(Y/N) laughed easily at the joke, bumping her arms against his. She felt a jolt from the touch, and swallowed her saliva. “No.”

Rafe chuckled, “Yeah. That’s more like it.”

(Y/N) had thought of that moment as nothing but a joke. A playful joke, meaning to flirt with her. The next few weeks were spent with only them two, sometimes in his house or (Y/N)’s stay. They were inseparable; always attached by the hips morning and night, and (Y/N) knew about all of his problems.

“Try it.”

“What? Coke?” She asked, bewildered. She looked down to the table, her hands fidgeting, and she quickly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked up to Rafe again, “I don’t know how.”

“Come on, I’ll show you,” he smiled, pulling her by her wrist and seated her beside him. She felt the jolt again, but she had gotten better at ignoring it.

Rafe lowered his hand, a finger placed on his left nostril, and snorted the line of white powder. He grunted, throwing his head back, and after a few seconds, he gave her a smirk.

“Your turn.”

(Y/N) smiled back, reaching for the rolled up bill before lowering his head to the last line. She took a deep breath, still so shaky, and snorted the powder before she could change her mind.

Her heartbeat quickened, and her mind was all over the place. She could feel her forehead getting clammy, and before she could do anything, Rafe cupped her face in his large hands.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay,” he expressed, looking straight into her eyes. (Y/N) didn’t realise she was starting to cry, and stared back into his eyes.

“You’re so pretty,” he said suddenly, rubbing comforting circles on her temples. (Y/N) relaxed under his touch, “Such a pretty girl.”

“I thought you’re friends with that Cameron boy,” her father suddenly said, shaking her out of her memories. (Y/N) closed her eyes, trying to push away the thoughts, and gave her father a grimace.

“So? I don’t want to see him.”

“What happened between you two? You used to ask me to move to Obx,” her father laughed, still clicking on the mouse to the laptop.

“People change, dad,” she muttered, and made her way back to her bedroom to be alone with her thoughts.

“Rafe! You don’t have to do this,” (Y/N) gasped, her hands around her mouth. She looked around the gazebo by the lake, her eyes brightening against the beautiful fairy lights and veins decorating the railings.

“It’s your last week here,” he shrugged, helping her to her seat before sitting for himself. He pointed to the food displayed before then, “Steak. Your favourite.”

“You are amazing,” she expressed, her eyes suddenly glassy. The lake never looked so calming, and (Y/N) wished she could capture this exact moment in her head.

“Just thought you should see the other side of Rafe Cameron,” he shrugged, his lips forming into a smile. “I’m glad you came down here to Obx.”

“Me too,” she breathed, and went for the food. “I’m so glad to have met you.”

“Yeah?” He chuckled, cutting his steak into small pieces before biting into one. “Didn’t you called me a mass murderer the first time we met?”

“It was a joke,” she rolled her eyes, “But I’ll still like you even if you are.”

She didn’t know the truth behind her words.

“You will?” He looked up to her, grinning. “And just like?”

“Just like. What are you playing at, Rafe?” She faked groan, putting her cutleries down and clasping her hand together. “What? You’re going to propose to me or something?”

Everything happened so fast; Rafe chuckled, awkwardly running his fingers through his fair, messing with his slicked back hair. She liked this messy hair better, but she liked anything about Rafe Cameron, messy hair or not.

“No.”

Rafe held out the tiny velvet box in his hands, and (Y/N) never saw a prettier smile than his.

“No,” she repeated, her breathing heavy. She was too shocked by this, only meaning the proposal part of her speech as a joke, and looked into his sincere eyes again.

“I’m not proposing to you,” he laughed, getting down to one knee and opening the box to a beautiful diamond ring. (Y/N) sucked in a breath, mesmerised. “I will though, in the future.”

“Oh my god, Rafe, I can’t accept this,” she gasped, watching as the diamond glinted under the bright light. “You’re too much.”

“It’s a promise ring,” he smiled, “And a proposal to ask you to become my girlfriend.”

He sucked in a breath, and (Y/N) swore her heart stopped. She never thought of herself worthy as these kind of moments, but here she was; all teary eyed, her hand against her heart to calm her crazy heartbeat.

“Will you be my girlfriend, (Y/N)?”

She laughed, wiping the tears that had rolled down to her cheeks, and cupped his face into her hands. “You’re so fucking dumb. Of course I will, asshole, without this whole dinner thing. You could ask me while we’re in the swimming pool and I’ll say yes.”

Rafe laughed, melting into her hands, before taking out the ring he had saved up for (by not buying anymore coke) and asking for her permission to slide it over her ring finger.

(Y/N) nodded, holding her breath, and the diamond ring slid to her finger, and she gasped at how pretty it looked. She wondered about how much it had cost Rafe to buy the ring for her, but pushed the thought away when Rafe tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“We haven’t even kissed yet.”

(Y/N) laughed, “I told you you’re too fast, Rafe.”

Rafe smiled, inching closer to her, and (Y/N) just instantly stopped thinking. He was so beautiful, so angelic, and she wished she could stay at Obx forever.

“I love you, (Y/L/N).”

“Rafe,” she expressed, placing her forehead against his, “I love you too, okay?”

(Y/N) groaned, deepening her face against the soft pillow. She felt like screaming, but she didn’t have the energy to do so.

She would do anything for Rafe, and the next few days after that proposal went too fast that she felt like God was being unfair to her. He made her feel so good, and no one had made her feel the way he made her feel.

She felt like she was in heaven.

Until that one, certain Friday; the day before she went back to New York.

“Rafe, please,” she cried, pulling him by shirt as he pointed the gun at the sheriff, his eyes flaring up in anger. “Rafe, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

She looked at Ward, who looked afraid as well, and sucked in a breath. “You told me-”

“Shut up!” He grunted, his own fingers trembling on the trigger. “Fuck! Shut up.”

She didn’t know what to do. Sarah was looking at her for help, but she had tried her best to console him. She tried to reach for him again, to which he quickly pushed her away.

“Do that again, and I’ll kill you next.”

“Rafe-”

“Shut up!” He yelled again, and before she could do anything the pulled on the trigger, and the sheriff fell to the ground with widened eyes.

“Hey.”

(Y/N) jolted from her position at the knock, and groaned when her mother came in. She scooted away, giving her some space on the bed, and laid with her face planted against the pillow again.

“You never told us about what happened with you and Rafe,” she sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“Okay, so why don’t you want to go to Obx for the summer?”

“I want new boyfriends.”

Her mother laughed, “Okay. Then find new boyfriends in Obx. The blonde boy who helped us carry our bags the first time we arrived there can be one.”

“JJ?”

“He’s always around the island too, helping people for money,” she shrugged, “That’s a good kid. Doing honest work for honest money.”

“I’m not actually looking for a boyfriend, mom,” she rolled her eyes. “It was a figure of speech.”

“Well,” she stood up, “You better be looking for one. We’re spending the summer in Obx, and that’s final.”

. . .

(Y/N) rubbed her eyes against the glowing sunlight of North Carolina, her body screaming with pain from hours of sitting in the same position. She heard the pilot said something, her mind still woozy from only being caffeinated, and placed her head against the seat again.

“It’s a bright day, like it’s waiting for us,” her mother exclaimed, fixing her sunglasses before walking down the stairs to the road. (Y/N) groaned, still so tired, and she wished for nothing but to stay in her room with Netflix to watch.

“Hey, Mr (Y/L/N),” JJ smiled, and (Y/N) noticed the fake exterior he was trying to portray. “Come down here for another summer again?”

Her mother, who admired JJ’s ‘honest work’ gushed out to beside him, asking about his school and his works. (Y/N) rolled her eyes, not interested in making any new conversation, and she looked back at the area where the incident took place.

JJ caught her looking, and when her parents and the little brother had entered the car, he went to her to help her with her bags.

He crouched down, wrapping his fingers around the handle, and quickly whispered. “You saw, right?”

“Huh?”

“What Rafe did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered, and went into the car before he could say anything else.

God. Just how she expected her first moments after arriving in Obx.

“Hey! Welcome back!”

“You called the Camerons?” She groaned, looking at her father for some kind of useless explanation. After the brief conversation with JJ, she wanted nothing that could remind her of Rafe and hoped she could stay in her room for the whole 2 months.

“(Y/N), wait-”

She barged into her room for 2 months, noticing the old posters she had put up the year before, and thought about how happy she was at that time. She felt nothing now, and she couldn’t wait until the end of summer.

“Fuck!” She yelled, her head feeling so light, and placed herself before the naked bed. She sighed, trying to calm herself down, and thought of the ways to ignore the certain boy a few miles away.

Maybe he’s in college.

Maybe he’s going to leave her alone.

Maybe he has found someone new.

She felt a tug at the thought of the last sentence, and she couldn’t explain why she would even be devastated over him finding a new girl. That’s good, she guessed, at least she doesn’t have to think about staying away from him again.

Maybe she should spend her time with the pogues; JJ’s friends. They looked fun to hang with.

“Hey, (Y/N).”

“I’m not in the mood,” she grunted, shielding her eyes from the sunlight. “What do you want?”

“Can we go to the beach?”

“The beach?” She huffed, “We just arrived. Shouldn’t you clean your room or something?”

“Okay. But can you bring me to the beach after I’m done?”

“I’ll think about it,” she expressed, but after a few hours of sweeping and mopping the dusty room, placing the new bedsheet over the mattress and taking down her old posters, all she wanted to do was get out for some fresh air. She had slept most of her time in the plane so she wasn’t feeling like taking a nap at all, and she guessed it would be appropriate to bring her little brother to the beach.

She walked to her room, her hands around her waist. “Hey, you’re- where the fuck did you get that?”

“What?” He asked, raising the frame with his sister’s arms around Rafe, smiling happily at the camera. “This? Isn’t he your boyfriend?”

“Throw that away!” she yelled, “I said throw that away!”

“Okay, okay,” he groaned, throwing the frame into the big plastic bag before dusting the dust off of him. “Can we go to the beach now?”

“You’re an asshole, do you know that?” She huffed, watching as he changed into his swimming shorts, “And we’ve been cleaning for 3 hours. You’re not half done yet.”

“Whatever,” he said, and closed the door. “Just wait for me downstairs.”

The ride to the beach didn’t take long, and (Y/N) actually felt peaceful riding the bicycle and letting the breeze hit her square on the face. She had laughed at a stupid joke by her little brother, and she thought about how she could do this for the next 2 months.

“I wanna learn how to surf,” he said, letting the water soaked his feet and dumped his feet into the sand. “Do you?”

“You’ll forget how to when we’re back in New York,” she mumbled, gazing at the sky, “Also your body’s too weak to fight the waves.”

“No, it’s not,” he argued, “What are you going to do for the summer, (Y/N)? Are you going to be with that-”

“No,” she quickly said, curling her toes at the feeling of the water soaking her feet. “I’m not going to be with anyone.”

“Isn’t that your friend?”

“Ha-ha, nice joke,” she laughed falsely, still closing her eyes against the bright sky. “Who’s the friend? Is it Rafe?”

“Hey.”

(Y/N) sat up straight, her heart beating wildly, and what greeted her sight sent shivers down to her spine, and she quickly clutched onto her little brother’s wrist before pulling him away.

“Ow! What are you doing? (Y/N), let me go!” Lucas groaned, looking back at the boy who wanted nothing but to talk to his sister. “Rafe, help!”

“Shut up, you bitch,” she groaned, still pulling on his wrist. She knew about the possibility of leaving a claw mark on his skin, but she wanted nothing to do with the boy.

“Help me, Rafe! She’s going to kill me!”

“I said shut up!” She yelled, her chest heaving now, and she didn’t care about her hair that was hanging loosely from her hairclaw.

She didn’t know if Rafe was chasing after her, and she didn’t dare to look back.

“Ride your bike home,” she fumbled with the handle, “Now. Please, now!”

“Okay,” Lucas groaned, “What’s wrong with you? It’s just Rafe.”

“Go!” She yelled, already set to cycle back home, with her clothes all wet and sticking against her skin. She couldn’t breathe, and she hated the sight of him. She cycled back home hurriedly, tears streaming down her face, and she wished she had stayed home.

The night after the day on the beach she didn’t bother to come down for dinner, only staying in her room and browsing through Netflix. She didn’t feel like doing anything, and she hated how quick her mood was ruined.

She didn’t think about seeing him that quickly, especially after just arriving on the island that morning. This was exactly the problem; she couldn’t face him, not after what he did, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn him to the authorities. She was pushing him away, but at the same time protecting him.

The next morning, she felt shittier than ever. Being in the small island, where everywhere she goes could remind her back to Rafe, she decided to stay in bed and browse through more movies, only going downstairs for a glass of water before going back to her room. She was glad Lucas and her parents were enjoying most of their time here in Obx, and she would do the same if it weren’t for what happened last year.

She was scared. She was mad at herself too, because she couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone about what she saw. As much as she hated him now, a part of her still loved him.

“(Y/N)! Wait!”

“Get the fuck away from me!” She yelled, her eyes red and her cheeks wet. “You’re a fucking psycho.”

“No, no, baby, please-”

“Don’t call me baby, I swear to fucking god!” She yelled again, getting into the car and watched as Rafe desperately banged against the car window, pleading for her to hear him.

“It’s not what you think-”

(Y/N) cried, her head painful, and slowly slid the diamond ring from her finger before lowering the window by a slit and throwing it outside. Rafe watched the ring roll away but didn’t care to fetch it, only trying to speak to her through the tiny slit.

“I had to do it, please,” he begged, “Please. Baby. I can’t do this-”

“Go to hell,” she hissed, and sped away.

That was the last time she had ever seen Rafe, and she knew he tried to contact her with different phone numbers every day, but she had blocked every single number. The trouble stopped after a while, and (Y/N) realised how much she had been missing him.

Who could she confront about this?

Who could she tell?

She couldn’t. She loved him too much.

A week after settling in their summer home, (Y/N) was tired of all the screaming and nudging by her mother for her to get out of the house, and ‘get a life’. She didn’t feel like having a whole summer of just hanging out at the beach, not when the last time she had went there and bumped onto Rafe, so she decided to keep her distance off Figure 8 and made her way to the other side of the island.

She had only been there twice with Rafe before, to pick up something at Barry’s (he told her not to worry about it), so she never really quite get used to the road around here.

She stopped the jeep by the side of the road, glancing at the signboard and the road behind her. Did she go too far? Or was this just the wrong way?

She rested her back against the car door, already tired, and decided to just wait until she was good enough to drive home.

It was half an hour later when she heard the roaring of a motorcycle, and she quickly got to her feet, her chest suddenly heaving.

“Yo? You’re okay?”

“Huh?” She fixed her hair, “Um- yeah. Just resting.”

JJ nodded, “You should turn off your engine. You don’t want to-”

Just right on cue, the engine stopped completely and (Y/N) groaned, getting into the car to turn the engine again. It made some noise, until silence fell between them.

“That’s what I’m saying,” JJ said, “Where are you heading to?”

“Oh, nowhere in particular,” she sighed, getting out of the jeep and shutting the door angrily. Good. Just like how she wanted her day to be.

“Let me send you back home,” he offered, pointing to the black ride behind the jeep. She shook her head, her mouth forming into a tight smile.

“That’s alright, I can-”

“Walk back home? Come on, you’re far from Figure 8, and you’re 50 minutes away from The Cut on foot.”

She didn’t exactly wish for this, but it would help.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, helping her up to the motorcycle and placing her hands on his shoulders for some balance.

“You’ve never ridden a bike before?” JJ asked, half-amused. “No, no, because you look nervous.”

“I’ve just never ridden a bike with you driving,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Can you send me to the taxi stop or anything?”

“Really? Why can’t I just drive you home?”

She groaned, “Just send me to the taxi port, Maybank.”

He laughed, putting his helmet on, and (Y/N) placed her hands against her ears at the loud sound of the engine.

(Y/N) hate to admit it; but the ride to The Cut was the most thrilling thing that she had ever felt in months. She felt a smile slowly forming onto her face, and JJ swore he could see it too from the side mirror, and when they finally stopped at the taxi port, she was so happy she felt like buying a bike for herself.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said. “Minus one point for no helmet.”

“I didn’t know I would see you laying by the side of the road,” he rolled his eyes, a hint of teasing in his tone. “But where’s the fun when you’re all safe?”

She hummed in response, “I’ll see you around then.”

“So you’re just going to get an expensive ride back to Figure 8? Why wouldn’t you let me send you off?”

She knew exactly why, but she didn’t want to admit it. She was scared of Rafe seeing her on JJ’s bike, knowing that he’s not on good terms with the pogues, and the last thing she had ever wanted was to make him feel like he was being replaced.

“Don’t trouble yourself too much, JJ,” she sighed. “Besides, you can see me for the next 2 months everyday if that’s what you want.”

He grinned, “Good offer. Will think about that soon.”

(Y/N) laughed, tilting her head to one side before making a move to reach for her phone. JJ watched as she filled in her passcode, went straight to Contacts, and handed him the phone.

“What’s this?”

“Oh god, you’re annoying,” she rolled her eyes. “Put in your McDonald’s order.”

JJ laughed again, his fingers sliding over her phone screen easily to fill in his number, and he handed her the phone back after saving his name as ‘Handsome pogue’.

“I’ll see you around, (Y/L/N).”

(Y/N) smiled, this time sincerely, and she thought about the possibility of spending her summer in The Cut with JJ where she knew there would be no troubles awaiting her.

It was safe to say that JJ and (Y/N) were inseparable after spending so much time together the next few weeks. Everywhere JJ goes, (Y/N) would be there with him, either by helping him with his work in the restaurant or running for groceries to deliver with him. She liked it with him; he took her mind off Rafe, and that was everything that she needed.

JJ knew about the girl’s relationship with Rafe last year, but he was careful not to cross the invisible line. He was gentle with her, always studying her reactions at certain places (he was sure Rafe had taken her to those places before) and in return, she knew everything about him.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” she bit her lips, letting the water soaked her jeans as they laid on the sand, gazing at the view. She felt sorry for the blonde boy after knowing the truth about his father, and wished she could help him in any way.

“That’s okay,” he replied. “Hey, I’m bringing you to meet my friends. Would you like that?”

“Your friends?” She raised her brows, “Like Kiera and Pope?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “Would you like to meet them?”

(Y/N) thoughts went back to the many times Rafe had told her about the pogues, but she always saw them as a tight group of friends who always had each other’s backs. She never had that kind of friendship before, especially living in New York where almost everyone is fake, and sometimes wished she could have something like that.

“Okay, yeah,” she nodded, “Would they like me?”

“You’re kidding? You’re amazing!” JJ gushed out, throwing his arms onto the air before slapping the water, resulting in a splash across her face.

She gasped, “Fuck, you’re fucking dead.”

“No, no, I don’t mean it-”

The conversation turned into a water fight, their screams filling the air and attracting everyone’s attention, but (Y/N) didn’t care. She was enjoying the moment, with JJ, and she wished she could do this forever.

“Stop it!” JJ laughed, pushing her down to the sand before pinning her arms on top of her head. He watched as her chest heaved, a smile playing on her lips.

He pulled away, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

(Y/N) pulled him into a kiss, her fingers wrapping themselves around his jawline and allowing the water to completely wet their whole body. JJ softened into the kiss, still so shocked, but he never felt better than ever.

(Y/N) pulled away, giggling. “You’re red in the face, JJ.”

“Huh?” He smiled, and quickly pulled her up with him. “Let’s go to the Chateau. Get you cleaned up.”

“I’m not meeting your friends looking like this, J,” she rolled her eyes, pushing him away slightly. He pulled her close, placing a soft kiss against her forehead that left her all breathless.

“Why not? You’re still pretty.”

She made a face, but let her body be pulled away by JJ to his bike. She was nervous, of course, to see his friends, but she decided it was time anyways.

If she was to date JJ, then she would have to meet his friends and talk to them eventually.

When (Y/N) first entered the chateau, she didn’t know what to expect. Pope and Kiera were friendly to her, but she could feel the strange vibe between her and Kie, but they were both trying to be polite not to mention anything.

(Y/N) knew there was somebody missing from the group, but she didn’t dare mention it to anyone. JJ had hinted about this to her before, something about John B getting convicted, but she had tried her best to stray away from the topic.

“Let’s play truth or dare,” Kie smiled, clasping her hands together and laying her back against the chair. She watched as JJ whispered something to (Y/N), feeling her heart tightened when she laughed, and shook her head. Kie would never let anyone like her trouble her.

“JJ, truth or dare,” Kie said, crossing her arms. Her question was directed to JJ, but she watching (Y/N) intently.

“Dare.”

“Come on, we’re short of one person who could think of the best dares,” she said, and (Y/N) realised the piercing tone and attention towards her. She sucked in a breath, not sure if she was just stating or directing the statement to her in a satirical manner.

“Okay, truth,” JJ rolled his eyes.

“Do you miss John B?”

“Kie-” Pope groaned, “Not the time.”

(Y/N) watched as he glanced at her, but quickly pulled away when he realised she was staring at him too.

“Okay, since you guys wanna be such assholes,” Kie sat up straighter. “(Y/N), truth or dare?”

“I’m not playing.”

“Of course you’re playing,” Kie laughed, “You’re fucking with JJ now right? You gotta show-”

“Shit, Kie, what’s your problem?” JJ sighed, throwing his arms up into the air. “She’s a friend of mine.”

“She’s not your friend!” She suddenly exclaimed, “She fucking saw Rafe shot Sheriff Peterkin but decided to keep her stupid mouth shut because-”

“Stop it!” JJ yelled, pushing her against the seat. “Kie! Not right now!”

“What do you mean not right now?” (Y/N) asked, disbelief lacing in her tone. What was even happening? She was having the best time of her life a few hours ago at the beach, and now this?

“Oh, did your boyfriend not tell you?” Kie laughed. “It’s all an act for you to confess to him that you saw Rafe kill Sheriff Peterkin. Don’t fucking act dumb with me, (Y/N), you saw, and you didn’t tell anyone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she gritted her teeth, “I never saw him kill anyone.”

“Bullshit!”

“Kie!” JJ yelled, using all of his power to hold off the struggling girl. He motioned for Pope to take over and tried to reach (Y/N), only for her to walk straight towards the exit.

“Wait, wait, I don’t mean it-” he sighed, wrapping his fingers around her wrist before pulling her close. “I don’t-”

“You betrayed me,” she said. “Are you that stupid? So you planned about helping me to the taxi stop so that I can confess whatever it is about Rafe? Is that your fucking plan?”

“No, oh my god, I didn’t mean-”

“Fuck! I know I can never trust you guys,” she hissed, pulling her hand away before walking towards the door. She groaned again when she realised the lack of a vehicle to drive home, but she rather walk back home than be in the same distance as JJ or Kie or anyone else.

She walked alone all the way to the main part of town so that she could hire a cab, and just to make her day any better; the rain suddenly decided it was time to cool the island, and (Y/N) was left to soak.

She put her arms around her, shivering slightly, looking back at her previous way and wondering how much time she had spent walking from the Chateau. If only she had driven all the way from Figure 8 to The Cut, she wouldn’t have had to waste her time walking mindlessly.

A few minutes after, she saw a car pulling up beside her. She decided to ignore the black vehicle in hope for whoever it is to finally give up.

“Get in, (Y/N).”

Part #2

[superman86to99]

Adventures of Superman #510 (March 1994)

Bizarro's World, Part 2! Bizarro has kidnapped Lois Lane and taken her to a warped replica of Metropolis he built in a big warehouse within the real Metropolis, like the plot of Synecdoche, New York but with a defective Superman clone instead of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Despite being a big ol' dumbass, we find out that Bizarro definitely retains some parts of Superman's original personality, like his love for Lois (hence the kidnapping) and of course his profound hatred for Jimmy Olsen (hence the part where he blows up a mannequin dressed like Jimmy with his heat vision).

Meanwhile, Superman thinks it'll be easy to find Lois with his newly augmented powers, but turns out they're SO augmented that he can't even focus his super-hearing and ends up having a sensory overload, so he's pretty much useless right now. Fortunately, Lois is very capable of saving herself, which she eventually does by climbing to the top of the "Daylee Plandit" building and pushing the crude globe replica on top of poor Bizarro.

Before escaping, Lois also figures out that Lex Luthor Jr. is somehow responsible for Bizarro's creation, which she deduces mainly because just hearing Lex's name made Bizarro start screaming and breaking stuff.

So yeah, Superman isn't very useful in this issue, because we've reached the point where his "enhanced" powers have officially become a problem. Lois tries to comfort him saying that she wants a husband, not a bodyguard, but only one thing can make Superman feel better: punching the crap out of Bizarro for a while. Continued!

Plotline-Watch:

The best part of this issue are the Bizarro-speak Easter eggs throughout Bizarrotropolis, like the mouse with a sign that says "Kad" (Cadmus), the mannequin wearing a bib that says "O" (Bibbo), the Daylee Plandit employee whose head is a bottle of Perry water (wait, has “Perry White” always been short for “Perrier White”?), and others I probably missed.

Curious that Lois thinks "This creature really is some Bizarro version of Superman," since the term "Bizarro" comes from, well, Bizarro. Where did it originate in this universe? I was gonna say Seinfeld, but the “Bizarro Jerry” episode aired in 1996, two years after this issue (and was probably called "Guy Who Is The Complete Opposite of Jerry" anyway).

The scene where Superman loses control of his hearing powers is pretty similar to the moment in John Byrne's Superman #10 when the same thing happens, only that time they actually pulled word balloons from various other DC comics that came out that month, which was pretty cool. This time, the only piece of dialogue that sounds like it might be from another comic is "wish I was like Barry," but I checked the March 1994 issue of The Flash and there's nothing like that (it does sound like something early '90s Wally West would say on any given issue, though).

An increasingly Lex Luthor Sr.-looking Lex Luthor Jr. summons his mole in Project Cadmus, Dr. Packard, to find out what they know about the mystery illness afflicting all clones in the city (which includes Lex himself, as Packard is shocked to learn), but Cadmus has no idea what's going on either. All they know is that Guardian seems to be the only clone who doesn't feel like crap right now, for some reason. It's worth noting that none of the other clones are losing their hair like Lex, so presumably that's not the Clone Plague but just regular alopecia.

Time's Up for Vincent Edge! Cat Grant goes off script during her show's live broadcast to #MeToo her boss, who's been aggressively hitting on her for the past few months -- the old incorrigible horndog didn't even give it a rest when Cat's young son was murdered. This issue includes Vinnie's worst line yet when he tells Cat he wants to help her career because "Nothing would please me more than to see you on TOP. If you know what I mean." My headcanon is that he's arrested by the cops at the end of this issue specifically because of that line.

Patreon-Watch:

All of the above was seen ten days ago by our patrons Aaron, Murray Qualie, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Hank Curry, and Bol! Find out how to join the kewl kidz club at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99

Don Sparrow’s section below is all-new, though, so click on to keep reading:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow​):

We start with the cover, and I love it—a great callback to Man of Steel #25, right down to the font.  I love the detail of the crystalized flesh flaking off of him, showing the deterioration plaguing Bizarro, and his fellow clones.

Inside the book, we get a look at Bizarro’s World, a shanty play-village version of Metropolis.  Karl Kesel is one of the funnier writers on the Super-team, so there’s a cleverness to the phonetically constructed signage (which to me also read as a nod to the old “Bizarro #1” sign that Superman’s imperfect duplicate would hang around his neck).  But I can’t get past the refrigerator logic type questions, like—wouldn’t it be harder to learn the concept of an egg sitting, rather than “exit”?  And how does he have any written language skills, having only been born a few hours ago?  But, it’s comics, and as we saw in the Man of Steel mini-series, there’s some sort of intellectual imprint on Bizarros from the original article.  

Page 4 has a great flying shot of Superman searching the city for his duplicate...

...and page 10, apart from Vinnie’s painful (and if Max is right, flat out illegal) play on words, we also get a look at some extreme 90’s blazer tailoring on Cat Grant.  The panel of Bizarro lost in his rage at the mere mention of Lex Luthor is an appropriately frightening one.  Quite a nice drawing of Lois lifting herself through the skylight, later that scene.

It’s a cool detail that Cat’s broadcast uses the same candid photos of Superman and Lois from the previous issue’s broadcast, redrawn here by Barry Kitson.  

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

Nice to see that Cat Grant does her own re-writes—she has long been established to be a legitimate journalist, having grown out of her gossip columnist roots.

Cute silver-age callback to the cube globe Bizarro world, as Lois tries to scale the top of Bizarro’s ersatz Daily Planet.

We’ve covered this ground before, but it’s astonishing to me that decades after this issue came out, sexual harassment in TV news remains endemic—it might actually even be worse today than when this story is published.  But it’s cheering to see Cat Grant take down another powerful Edge, again with the truth of journalism as her weapon. [Max: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this is the second Edge boy Cat brings down... and she didn’t even have to sleep with this one. Progress!]

It’s pleasing that Lois rescues herself, rather than Superman finding her, but it also meant Superman didn’t get up to much Adventuring this week. The “Superman is over-protective” angle gets its first mention here and will come to matter a lot more during the David Michelinie era of stories.  

[stanknotstark]

Astral Pt. 7 (Loki x Reader)

Ok so i lied Loki doesn’t come back yet, NEXT CHAPTER i promise XD I didn’t realize there was more I needed to write out, strengthening the relationship with the Avengers and such. We’re finally at the part where they reunite though AHH :) (i don’t think you guys understand I’m writing this and I’m getting just as excited as you all at Loki’s return!!! It’s taking everything in me to not post the next part already XD)

It’s two years later, you’re 21, when you’re offered a spot on the Avengers. You accept right away only too sad you weren’t asked before the Chitauri invasion considering if you had been on the team you would have seen Loki in person. 

You had been working over time on one of the command computers trying to run diagnostic on what was and wasn’t working in the system, what had been compromised when a brainwashed Clint had attacked. You had watched the CCTV cameras picking up on just who was attacking Earth. Of course with you having to work over time you didn’t get to visit the God in his temporary cell when he had been aboard the helicarrier. (The sight and knowledge of him being so close to you stole your breath and made your stomach flutter though) However, you thought on this and decided it was for the best you hadn’t seen him, considering he had been delirious for power and subjugation of the human race. You couldn’t help but doubt the invasion was all Loki because this didn’t seem like the Loki you knew. Loki was caring and that one time he even said you may have changed his mind on humans, even if it was ‘meagerly’. 

Something in your gut told you he wasn’t of his own mind too but no one would listen to you. You had your proof though, his bright blue eyes told you. The Loki you had first met had lovely, hypnotizing green eyes. You regarded your proof as 100% foolproof when you got a close up of Clint and Dr. Selvig who also had bright blue eyes. You couldn’t outright tell Fury though because then you would have to explain where you knew the God from and, in turn, then explain where you got your magic from. Luckily Fury had been willing to let slide where you got your powers from when they brought you in on your 18th birthday. He had skirted around the question and when you didn’t give up anything he just outright asked you. You told him you’d prefer if you could keep this one secret, he could have anything else he wanted from you but that. Fury reluctantly yielded to your one demand and let it drop. 

So, you may have slipped past Fury, making sure to touch him, on his way to speak to the Avengers after the invasion and planted a thought you knew would flourish in his mind. The thought that maybe Loki had been brainwashed too and flourish it did. Fury had told Thor that he would talk to the World Security Council about Loki. Fury then came to you and asked you to gather all possible evidence that Loki had been brainwashed then Thor would look over the information and videos to either confirm or deny if it was something he thought his brother would, or wouldn’t, do. 

With you working missions with both Natasha and Clint you made a name for yourself, you were finally noticed by people. No one had given you a super hero name just yet but you vowed, in due time, you’d give them a reason to. Working with both Nat and Clint however did get you a seat on the Avengers. Natasha had written that you were dependable, adept, and a good team player. Clint had written that you adapted to situations with ease, stayed calm under pressure, and would trust his life in your hands. 

So, you walked into your new room in Stark tower that Tony had all to happily given to you. You had an entire floor to yourself. You couldn’t even begin to fathom how much money Tony had in his bank account right now if this didn’t leave a dent in his pocket. You sighed and fell face first into your new bed, forgetting your two duffle bags at the door. You groaned in delight as you rolled on the bed. 

A knock at your door had you snapping upright in embarrassment. You caught the smirk on Natasha’s lips before she glanced to her right and you saw Captain America, the Steve Rogers, standing in your doorway almost timidly. You smiled and made your way to them, holding a hand out to shake the Captain’s hand. 

“Rogers, y/n, y/n, Rogers.” Natasha said. 

You smiled shyly and then nodded behind them. “You both want to go to the living room, probably be more comfortable than here.” 

“From the sounds you made, I think your bed is quite comfy but sure.” Natasha said making you flush again. 

When all three of you settled in the living room you asked Steve the questions you had been dying to ask since he had awoken from his cryostasis. 

“What’s a new food you like that wasn’t around back then?” You asked, relaxing your body into the couch and setting an arm on the top of the couch while the other hung loose on your lap. Natasha and Steve sat on a couch adjacent to you. 

Steve pursed his lips and looked around the room in thought before you looked back at you and smiled. “Not a food per se but I didn’t realize there were so many ways to make coffee.” 

You raised your brows and looked at Natasha with jealousy, “You took him to Starbucks and left me out?” Natasha gave you a smile like a cat that caught their mouse. Steve chuckled. 

“It wasn’t anything too exciting you missed out on.” Steve said, smiling softly. 

“Oh I don’t know, Steve, Your face got pretty red when the barista asked you what you wanted and you couldn’t give her an answer for 5 minutes.” Natasha said, bringing her legs up under her on the couch across from you. Steve sputtered. “You didn’t tell me there would be over 20 choices when I’ve only known of black coffee with sugar!” 

You laughed with Natasha at an embarrassed Steve. 

“So?” You asked Steve who looked at you confused, “What did you order and did you like it?” 

Steve shook his head, smiling. “I ordered a white chocolate mocha frappuccino and it was amazing!” 

“Steve has a major sweet tooth.” Natasha quipped. Steve knocked his knee into Natasha’s. Hmmm not an unwelcome development you smelled but kept your queries about their relationship to yourself.  

“Has anyone shown you the internet yet?” You asked Steve.

“I know what Google is but that’s about it, haven’t really had the time to explore it more.”

As Steve said this an evil smirk grew on your lips, Natasha rolled her eyes at you but was smiling, Steve looked at you innocently. 

Things were great for a few weeks, the world was moving past the alien invasion and rebuilding New York City. Any time the Avengers stepped out of the tower they were bombarded with questions. Questions about the invasion, questions on if there would be more attacks, questions about how come they could parade about with no legal repercussions. The last question made you sit on edge but no one on the team answered it so you let it die out. 

Your days consisted of talking with the team (Bonding, as Steve liked to put it), embarrassing Steve, knocking Tony a few pegs down with your refined sarcasm, laughing with Clint and Natasha as you talked about old, botched missions. Even sparring together in an interactive training room Tony had made specific to each Avenger if you went in solo, and more general if you all trained as a team. The coolest thing about it was that the A.I. Tony imbedded in it would adapt to you so things never became too easy to handle.

Then Thor came back.

 Without Loki, of course. 

Thor took to you like icing to cake. You spent the first few days finding each other’s boundaries in humor and physicality but once you both got comfortable you were inseparable. He was like a brother you wished you had. Then the week passed and he asked the question he had been sent to ask. 

“Would it be alright if my brother, Loki, resided here until his banishment is revoked?”    

You held your breath as the room tunneled and all you could see was Thor. Loki would be coming here. He would be within touching distance. What would you both say to each other? Would he even grace you with a look, let alone a conversation? 

“Y/n?” Tony asked you, snapping you back to what was going on now, everyone had answered. Considering they knew Loki was brainwashed they all said yes, even Clint although his yes was a little strained.

“Yes.” You breathed out. Swallowing the lump in your throat at Thor’s smile. 

“You will love my brother, y/n, he has just your kind of humor, perhaps he could further your training on magic!” 

You forced out a laugh and smile.

“I bet he can, Big Guy.” 

Pt. 6/Pt. 7/?

Tag list: @justfangirlthingies @emelieh99 @high-functioning-lokipath​ 

[buchananssmolbean]

Wings

Chapter Two - Time To Adjust

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 1223

Warnings: Violence, scared reader, late night cravings?, talk of abuse and mistreatment of humans

A/N: ayo, chapter two is here :) u know the thing. pls don’t copy :p

Summary: bucky helps you settle into your new home… for now.

Chapter Two

1956

July 3

Siberia

"Shh, shh." Bucky cooed, trying to calm you down. Your abrupt waking had been quite a shock to him, but Bucky was there to pick you up afterwards.

"B-Burning!" you bluntly described your feelings.

Despite your statement, shivers wracked your bones—the same reaction Buck'd had. Your body felt like it was on fire, but your skin was burned with a taste of ice.

"I know, Маленький. I know."

Bucky rubbed up and down your arms soothingly, scanning for your reaction. A tiny sense of relief washed over you, though it didn't last all that long.

"Маленький, sit down. I need to get your blood moving."

2018

February 14

New York City

"So... is she, like, hungry or some—"

"Sam!"

"She's just scared." Bucky put an end to his friends' bickering. "Wanted to know if she'd been traded off to us. Asked if she had a cage here." Bucky held back his tears, remembering your words of confusion.

Bucky lifted the back of your shirt, cool air conditioning spiking your spine.

"Y/N..."

"They were crushed in the door yesterday." you admitted with a guilty expression.

"Do they not take care of you—or at least them?"

Bucky softly stoked his finger over the tip of the metal wing, a few feet away from your body. He knew that you'd put them back inside of you as soon as you could.

"They made better things." You shrugged.

Your metallic wings had already started to fix themselves back into useful shapes, ready to insert themselves back into your skin, whenever you deemed necessary.

"I thought they were heard to break."

"It's a heavy cage." you sighed, looking to the nice view out the window, something you hadn't had the luxury of for a while.

"Do I have a cage here?" you asked eagerly, in hopes that maybe Bucky's crew would provide you a bigger, or at least, slightly, more comfortable home, with a proper floor. You wouldn't mind being in a cage, so long as it wasn't the one you had now.

"Did you buy me? How did you find me? Did you mean to?" You bombarded Bucky with questions, fingers wrapping and squeezing his right forearm.

"Do we have anywhere for her to stay?" Sam asked, a bit more sensitively now. He awkwardly rubbed his hand over his neck, and Steve nodded, almost anxiously.

"She can take my room."

While Bucky admired Steve's selflessness, he couldn't do that to Steve. Even more important to him than that, you'd be scared to stay in a unknown man's bedroom. "Thank you, Steve. But she'll be staying in my bedroom. She doesn't like sleeping alone."

Sam was the last person to argue with Bucky on that. In fact, he was pretty excited to see what all of the hype around you was about.

"So, can she be my flying buddy?"

"Absolutely not. That hurts her."

"Then why'd she get the wings?" Sam groaned.

"You really think she had a choice?"

After a short argument, which led to pretty much nothing, Bucky went over a set of new rules that everyone in the house was to follow.

"If my bedroom door is closed, don't barge in without knocking. No yelling when she's in the room. And no flirting."

"Yeah, yeah." Sam nodded, waving his palm, whereas Steve took the rules very seriously. "Can we meet her yet?" he asked quietly.

Ten minutes of coaxing later, and Bucky was leading you into the living room, where Sam and Steve stood curtly. Your wings had been enclosed by your skin again, thank God for the doorframe.

"Good morning." you greeted, quiet as a mouse.

"It's afternoon, Sweetheart." Steve smiled, amusement, but respect displayed on his face.

"Oh..." you sighed sadly, latching onto Bucky's strong metal arm, hiding yourself behind him in embarrassment.

"It's alright, Маленький. Nothing to be embarrassed about." He rubbed your back.

"Hey. I'm Sam." He offered his hand to you, which you took, very gently, still clinging to a Bucky for comfort.

"She's a little nervous to meet you two." Bucky explained. "Y/N, Sam is the one who saved you."

You nodded once, and thanked Sam, who beamed with pride, chest swelling. "It was nothing, really."

"Would you like something to eat?" Steve cut in, gesturing slowly to the kitchen.

You scrunched your nose, but quickly hid the expression of disgust when Bucky laughed. "It won't be porridge or sludge, Маленький."

That's when you nodded excitedly, thanking Steve for his generosity.

1961

December 25

Unspecified Base

USA

"It should be fast. I want confirmed deaths, 48 hours."

You sat, idly picking on a sticker, stuck to the concrete floor. You ended up leaving the blotchy paper residue on the surface.

Bucky was quiet too, but much more intent on listening to whatever the handlers were saying. Bucky was always serious when he was close to them.

"Is this understood?" the tall man in blue practically scolded.

"Yes." Bucky sounded almost bored, but intent on keeping his promise.

"And you, Girl?"

You hated the utter disrespect you were treated with as a woman here. Standing your ground, you basically snarled, shoving your head away from the guard.

"Girl." he repeated himself, without question this time.

"Understood." you mumbled.

The mission started off fine. It was the first one you'd ever been on, though the new bruising on your cheek from being punched didn't go great with your uniform. Turns out the guard didn't take too well to disrespect.

Turns out Bucky didn't like the guard.

"Swing the back, I'll do the killing."

"I can—"

"Stay there, Моя любовь."

You knew he was protecting you, though the urge to follow didn't escape your thoughts. Despite temptation, you stayed behind, staring idly at your feet, hanging inches from the rooftop.

It seemed like ages before Bucky was back, but he watched you flying in circles, tucking and ducking all around. He’d be lying if he’d said it didn’t make his heart race.

“Let’s go, Маленький.”

2018

February 15

New York City

You snuck quietly into the kitchen, quick on your toes. The only problem was that you definitely had grown use to the absence of more super soldiers than yourself.

“Morning.”

“Ahh!” you screamed, launching Bucky out of bed, and almost immediately at your side. You’d ended up sneaking out of bed at around 3:00am to get another snack—something you weren’t sure if you were allowed to have to not—leading you to now.

“Sorry—” Sam murmured, —“I didn’t mean to startle you at all.”

You were practically still shaking in fear, grasping onto Bucky’s loose henley. But he calmed you quickly, with a glass of water and the strawberry you’d originally wanted.

Everyone sounded groggy, but somehow Steve managed to sleep through everything.

“What are you doing up?” you said quietly, hoping to make some kind of small talk with your new roommate.

“Just couldn’t sleep. You?”

“I like… strawberries.” you held up the bright red triangle.

“I can see that.” Sam laughed a little, and you found yourself wanting to give in too.

“D-Do you want want one?” You slowly slid the plastic box towards him. “Thank you.”

“Маленький, let’s go back to bed.” Bucky took your hand in his.

“Okay.”

[a-n-conrad]

Cat and Mouse (PS4! Felicia Hardy x Reader)

[Summary: Being a new hero in New York was hard. It was even harder when all of Spider-man’s old villains broke out of the raft. You had worked with him enough, so when he called and asked you to help with a side project while he was busy, you agreed. Little did you know, the game of cat and mouse would end a lot differently than you expected. (She/her pronouns)

Warnings: Technology that I don’t understand, Cops, mentions of sexual themes, swearing

Request: From my request survey (https://forms.gle/37LyBcqSDHttv2Da9)]

You back hurt. Your chest hurt. Everything hurt. You had been out late at night, helping Spider-man stop a string of simple robberies throughout the city. You were still new at the whole hero thing, so you took quite a few hits. 

You had just started your hero work recently, after discovering that you had the power to summon a pair of wings to appear on your back out of nothing. They were nearly bullet proof, and after a bit of practice you could fly pretty fast. You were still getting used to actually using the wings in combat, though, and they weren’t much help when it came to anything stealthy. So there was still quite a bit of work for you to do.

But your rest was cut short by a familiar ringtone, “Uuuugh. What do you want, Spidey?”

“Sorry to wake you up, Angel,” It was odd to have a hero name like that, one that sounded like a pet name. He always said it so formally, though, which you appreciated, “I’m a little busy at the moment, but an old… friend of mine is in town, and I was wondering if you could help me out.”

“I’m not dealing with any of your big villains,” You said. A lot of them had broken out recently. You understood that it was a lot of work for him, but you really weren’t ready to deal with any of them.

“No, no, it's not that,” He sounded exhausted, “Blackcat might be back in business, and I was wondering if you could just check out what’s going on? I’ll send you the address she told me to go to, just check it out and see what’s up, so I have time to deal with everyone else?”

You had heard of Blackcat. She was good at what she did, but she wasn’t exactly dangerous. She played games, but she wasn’t likely to try to murder you, “Yeah, okay. As long as I don’t have to deal with any of your weird homicidal arch enemies.”

- - - - -

Maybe you were stupid to think this would go well. Finding the message she left for Spidey was pretty easy. Using the camera to find her little cat robot was pretty easy, too. What made it a lot worse, was the second you hung up the call with the police captain that Spidey had been working with, your phone pinged with an influx of notifications. Your map app had lit up like a Christmas tree with new addresses that Blackcat wanted you, or, well, Spidey, to go to.

You were pretty surprised, though, when your phone started ringing with a call from a number you had never seen before, “Hello?”

“Well, hey there, birdie,” You hear a voice purr from the other side, “I wasn’t expecting Spidey to send his pretty new sidekick, but I won’t say I’m upset.”

“I’m not a sidekick,” You say, trying to sound tough. Though, you couldn’t help but blush a little at the word pretty, “Did you need something, Cat? I thought you had retired.”

“Maybe I just want to play a game,” She purrs, “Won’t you play with me?”

- - - - -

She didn’t seem upset that it was you instead of Spider-man. She really seems to just be playing games, so you thought after she realized it was you instead of her boy-toy, she’d get bored. But she still seemed to be having fun. She had set up all the clues, and you could tell they were new, since the recordings were addressed to you instead of Spider-man. 

She seemed to be getting more and more flirty with each recording. You were starting to regret your choice in name every time she said it. You were really trying not to be so much of an idiot that you’d let a beautiful woman with a soothing voice convince you to let her off the hook just because you had a crush on her. But it was a bit of a challenge.

After a while, you were pretty sure that you had reached the end of the trail she had set up for you. It was a lot of flying, and a lot of taking five-minute breaks in order to stop yourself from losing focus. You had seen pictures of her, and at some point you started to wish you hadn’t.

Felicia Hardy was gorgeous. Her hair was white, and it always looked perfectly and shiny in the pictures. Her eyes were bright blue, nearly the color of the sky. She was tall, and surprisingly thin for someone who seemed so fit. And her costume itself seemed to add to her flirty nature. It was perfect for her job, but it also really gave off dominatrix vibes. 

You were landing on a rooftop in order to take a break when you got the phone call. The police captain. She didn’t call you usually. Something was very wrong, “Do you remember all those little cat statues at all of the places you reported Blackcat robberies?”

“Yes…” You drew the word a bit. You remembered. They weren’t really statues. Spidey had told you about them before. They were electronic. They had some sort of radio signal. You figured that the NYPD knew that, though.

“They set off some sort of signal when we put them all in evidence and Blackcat was able to break in and take all of her old gear,” You held back a string of insults. How were they so incompetent that they didn’t realize to block the signal those things put off? But you were sure it wasn’t her fault. It was likely that she just had some street cops deal with it. They didn’t really get a lot of training on mastermind burglars. 

“Alright, I’ll figure it out,” You sigh, still biting back a few snarky comments. You hang up, taking a deep breath before loading up a program on your phone that Spidey had set up. You just needed to find a trace of the radio signal and you’d be able to trace it to a specific location.

You flew up as high as you could, hoping it could pick up something. If there was anything relating to Blackcat in the area, you should be able to trace it. Otherwise, you’d just fly across the city until you could.

Luckily for you and your tired wings, your phone pinged in just a few minutes. You were pretty quick to make it over to the are where your phone marked. Nearby was a subway tunnel that was condemned until it was repaired. And it the theme Blackcat had going, she had marked it with a mural. She was theatrical. 

You ducked into the tunnel, running a hand along the wall to see if you could find anything odd. About halfway in you found a slight gap in the wall, about the same as a few of the other cracks in the wall, but it was too clean. It all seemed a little sloppy for Felicia, so you wondered if it was possible that she was leading you into some sort of trap. But of course, you didn’t think about that until you were already opening the door.

The room behind the moving wall was full of expensive things. Things you were pretty you couldn’t afford if you worked your whole life and spent nothing. Paintings, expensive wine, money. You knew Spidey was too much of a goody-goody, but you couldn’t help but be enchanted by the wealth surrounding you.

“An angel among her heavens,” a voice purred behind you. It was close. Closer than you thought it was possible to get without you noticing. 

White hair, blue eyes, and the signature black mask was all right in front of you. The smirk on her face was much more intimidating in person. Everything about her told you that if she wanted to, she could pin you to the wall with very little effort. And you were kind of into it?

“Cat, what exactly are you planning? Don’t you think that game was a little much?” You ask, trying to sound uninterested. 

“Aw, come on, Angel,” She pouts at you, and your heart flutters, “Maybe I just wanted a bit of attention. You know, I've been neglected lately.”

“Felicia, you stole your gear back. I know you’re planning something big. What is it?” You could tell that she could see that you were breaking, despite how tough you thought you were acting. 

“Hmmmm,” She hummed, shifting a bit closer to you, “Perhaps there’s a way I can convince the pretty little angel to let me slide for just a little while. You can even come catch me in a day or two if you really still want to.”

Her hands were on your shoulders, sliding down your arms. Her eyes were inches from your own. They really were as blue as you thought they’d be. Icy, like a frosty winter breeze. She was sliding her nails down your arms, lightly scratching your skin. God, she was gorgeous. Fuck, you were an idiot.

“Come now, Kitten,” She purred, leaning into your ear, “Let’s have some fun, and then we’ll continue our game.”

You knew it was stupid. But you couldn’t stop yourself. Before you knew it, you were pressed up against a wall, your mouth against hers. She smells like catnip and expensive perfume. Beautiful and floral. Your hands were wandering before you could even think about it. And before you knew it, you were in this far too deep.

[A/N: Btw, if you want to keep on on me with some more personal things, check out my tiktok @ al3x13l where I share my opinions on things, and sometimes post art when I’m feeling up to it. Also, I don’t know this character super well, so I’m sorry if this is ooc.]

[justmypartner]

Make it Work: Chapter 5

Summary: When offered a permanent position with the FBI, Hailey agrees to take it under one condition: Jay comes too. As their personal lives and work lives begin to change, the two partners find it increasingly difficult to navigate their complex relationship and manage their feelings for one another. 

Writer’s Note: I want to first apologize for taking so long to update this fic. I took a break to finish up school related things, and then when I came back to writing I was feeling very uninspired with this chapter. Nevertheless, I pushed through and what I thought was going to be a bland filler chapter ended up being a really fun chapter to write. Starting today, I am back to posting chapters weekly! Please enjoy & I want to thank everyone who has read/supported this fic. As LaRoyce always says: From the heart ❤️ 

TW:// mentions of PTSD

Tagging: @angelsjedi , @brookerz122493 , @cpdfan2014 , @the–carousel , @maya-asturias , @itsdesiree86​ , @tvshowsaremyhappyplace 

Read on AO3 or below

It had been two weeks since their first day at the FBI, and Jay and Hailey had finally found a comfortable rhythm. For Jay, it took a while to get used to solely being a field agent. Part of him missed digging for intel themselves. He missed the long nights in the wire room and the early mornings organizing the case board, but the fieldwork mostly made up for that part of the job he missed. He loved being out on the streets, and in his eyes, nothing could beat the satisfaction of finally putting the offenders in cuffs.

The team was still rolling as a quartet, with Hailey still partnered with Walker and Jay with Daisy. For the most part, they were all out in the field together, but some instances required the pairs to break apart. He and Daisy’s partnership was working, but they didn’t function in the same natural way he and Hailey always did. He missed riding with her, but he was making do with the current arrangement until their training period was up. Overall, he was fond of Daisy. She was competent, cool under pressure, and she had his back when it counted, so he grew to trust her a great deal. Walker was another story. He was good at his job, there was no doubt about that, but he had a way of running his mouth that made Jay want to keep his distance. Things had been icy since they were at each other’s throats on the first day when Jay’s concern for Hailey got the best of him. They were able to patch things up, but Jay knew they weren’t going to be best friends anytime soon. He also didn’t like the way Walker interacted with Hailey. Other than what Jay identified as obvious flirting, he had a way of coddling her that, from Jay’s eyes, demeaned her and her abilities. He wasn’t sure if she didn’t notice it or if she was choosing to ignore it for the sake of avoiding conflict, but she never called him out for it. At least not when Jay was around. So, he never questioned it. He trusted her. Since it didn’t visibly bother her, he tried to not let it bother him either.

“Excited to have your favorite partner back?” Jay asked as he and Hailey climbed onto the elevator. It was officially their first day of partnering together as agents, and he couldn’t have been happier.

“Wait, Vanessa joined the FBI?” she joked, feigning a look of surprise.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“Nope. I know I’m funny,” she smirked back.

“How is she by the way?” Jay asked, inquiring about her former roommate and best friend. Not long after Hailey went to New York the first time, Vanessa was picked out of Intelligence by Major Crimes to do a long-term undercover sting. She didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to Hailey, something they were both sad about, but they remained in touch through an occasional text.

“She can’t communicate much, but when she does she seems good. You know her, she’s a natural-born UC. Quick on her feet,” she said briefly. Jay nodded, noticing a slight drop in her mood as she spoke about her. He knew the connection those two had. Hailey looked out for her, almost to a fault as it was her attempt at protecting Vanessa and her childhood friend that got her sent to New York in the first place. He knew it killed her to not get to say a proper goodbye, and he could see it in her face in that moment. He decided to change the subject to get it off her mind.

“So, are you going to miss partnering with Walker at all?” Jay asked, slightly nervous to hear her answer.

“Mm, not really. I mean he’s a great agent and all, but he’s just too much in his own head. We connected pretty well with small talk and all that, but I felt like I had to keep a constant eye on him in the field. We just didn’t work well together. Not like you and me anyway,” she admitted, flashing him a brief smile. It was contagious and he turned his head to the side to conceal the one erupting across his face.

It relieved him to know that she didn’t feed into whatever connection Walker was trying to build between them. It made him even more relieved to know that they were back together as partners, something he was counting down to since their first day on the job.  

Things jumped off the second they stepped into the bullpen. Drake briefed the team on the case the minute they walked in the room. A rogue member of an anti-military activist group in the city exposed the group’s plans to target a veteran’s convention at the Javits Center in Midtown. Being that their intel came from an insider, the group was oblivious to the bureau’s knowledge of their plans. Drake tasked Jay, Hailey, Walker, and Daisy with attending the convention, posing as veterans as they worked to smoke out the guys before they could carry out their plans. As Drake, a former Naval Officer briefed the case, Jay picked up on some tension and anger in his voice. He recognized it easily because he felt it himself. He pretended he didn’t notice when Hailey’s eyes began to survey his face, what he guessed was her way of trying to read his reaction to the case. He tried his best to remain stone faced, but he knew she could tell something was up just by looking at him. 

If they had caught the case a few years prior, he would have gone to a much darker place, acting on rage rather than ration. However, through his therapy sessions over the years, he had learned to manage the emotions that only things related to the service could elicit. Once Drake was finished briefing everyone, he assigned the teams their positions and sent them on their way. As Jay turned away to head to the locker room to change, Drake called out to him.

“Jay, hang back a second?” He asked him. Jay sent Hailey a small wave, signaling her to go on without him. He followed Drake to his office, shoving his hands in his pockets after he closed the office door behind him.

“Something wrong, sir?” Jay asked, confusion in his voice.

“Jay, I know you’ve got a background in the military. I don’t have to imagine what’s going through your head right now, because it’s going through mine as well. But we need to play this one by the book, so I just need to know if I need to keep a leash on you today,” Drake spoke shortly.

“I’m straight, sir. You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll keep in check,” Jay assured him, nodding his head with his words. His boss bobbed his head slowly as if he were debating whether or not to accept his assurance.

“Let me know if that changes,” he replied quietly, sending the agent a trusting nod.

“Will do,” Jay returned before turning to leave the office.

He quickly changed and made his way to the elevators to head down to the garage. His mind flickered back to his time in country. The faces of the six friends he lost before he came home and his best friend Mouse who was there currently flooded his head with memories. He tried his best to shake them off as the elevator descended towards the garage. The case was stirring up something in him, but he was determined to center his focus on the job and not let it take over. The doors opened and he stepped out, tracking his footsteps with his eyes as he walked. When he looked up, Hailey was slumped against the car. When she saw him, she bounced herself off of it with her foot and walked in his direction.

“Everything okay?” She asked, a look of concern plastered across her face.

“Yeah. Drake just wanted to make sure my head was on straight today… with my military background and all,” he said, his eyes darting around the garage to avoid hers.

“Mm,” she hummed. “Let me know if I can take anything off your plate. You know I’ve got your back,” she told him warmly, peering into his eyes with a look of sincerity.

“I know. I appreciate it,” he told her, forcing a smile.

“Anyway, check out our rig,” she said sarcastically, gesturing to the bureau-issued black SUV behind her. “It’s very unique and way better than your old truck,” she mocked, smiling as she tried to lighten the mood.

Against his best efforts, a smile crept away from his mouth as her weak attempt at cheering him up succeeded. Her head tilted as her eyes looked over at him with a glimmer he had only noticed a few other times before.

“C’mon. Let’s take this baby for a spin,” she finally told him, tossing him the keys as she made her way to the passenger side of the car.

Jay’s nerves picked up when they arrived at the convention center. Since they were going in undercover, they had changed into street clothes to blend in. He had chosen one of his old Ranger shirts and jeans, and Hailey opted for a plain white t-shirt and jeans. When they got out of the car, she reached into the backseat, grabbing a ball cap and securing it on her head before closing the door. The word “Navy” was written across it in yellow letters. She didn’t wear hats often, but Jay admired when she did. They suited her, however seeing her rep the Navy stung him a bit.

“You just had to choose Navy didn’t you,” he mocked at her with a scoff, knowing she could have chosen any branch to represent as they attempted to blend into the crowd.  

“What?” she feigned ignorance as Jay gave her a look of annoyance. “Drake loaned it to me,” she told him, turning her head up and brushing past him towards the entrance of the building.

“Mm. You know you always could have just borrowed something of mine,” he called after her, taking quick strides to catch up.

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have been able to see that look on your face,” she teased, her attention remaining straight ahead as she smirked slyly. He shook his head with a childish frown as he followed her to the entrance of the building.

Immediately upon walking through the doors, they caught sight of Daisy and Walker waiting for them under a welcome sign. They checked in and grabbed their name tags, before walking over to the two agents to convene before they set out into the center to try and track down the activists. Based on the intel provided by the whistleblower, they learned that the plan was to send in five members, each armed with undetectable weapons to disperse into the convention center and target high-ranking officials from each branch of the military. There was a panel later in the afternoon in which these individuals would all be on stage, the perfect opportunity to carry out the attack. Intel also revealed the individuals would be wearing red shoelaces so that they could spot each other in the crowd, a tidbit the four of them were happy to use to their advantage.

“Four of us, five of them. We need to split up. Hailey and I can take the first and second floor, you guys take the third and fourth. We each get a floor and call for backup the second we find any of these guys. If you spot one, take them down quietly, we can’t risk them alerting the others,” Jay commanded, taking point on the operation. They all nodded before breaking off and heading towards their separate floors.

“I’ll take the second floor,” Hailey told him, moving past him to climb the stairs.

“Wait,” he called after her, grasping her wrist lightly to stop her.

She looked down at his hand on her wrist, her eyes lingering for a moment before swallowing hard and bringing them back up to meet his. He quickly released his hand, bringing it to his pocket before he spoke.

“I- Just be careful, yeah?” He said simply, avoiding what he originally intended to say. Despite what he previously told both her and Drake, the case and being in a room full of veterans was affecting him more than he would have liked to let on. He almost told her this, hoping she’d have something to say that would help calm the jumbled mess going on in his brain. Yet, he realized she would just worry more and insist on staying together as they sought out the targets, and they needed to split up for time’s sake. So, before the words could leave his mouth, he asked for reassurance of the only other thing on his mind. Her safety.

Her brow furrowed at his words almost like she knew that wasn’t what he wanted to say, but she just nodded simply in affirmation. She brought a fist to bump his chest lightly before turning back and once again heading toward the stairs. He took a deep breath and recited the prayer of St. Christopher his mother made him and Will memorize when they were younger. These were grounding techniques he learned during his time in therapy. When he first started therapy, he thought the techniques were bogus, but he came to learn they really helped him cope when things began to trigger him.  

He took one final breath before making his way through the crowd of people, glancing down at the floor every few seconds to survey the shoes of those around him, trying to spot any glimpse of red he could.

Half an hour had passed, and it had been radio silence over the coms. He knew the operation would be difficult, but he thought for sure by that point they would have found at least one of the offenders. Just as he began brainstorming different strategies in his head, he caught a glimmer of red on the floor, doing a double-take and stopping in his tracks to confirm his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. The red shoelaces were there, plain as day, and the man wearing them was by himself, surveying the crowd nervously.

“I’ve got one of the targets. First floor near the east corner by a couple of food vendors. I’m moving in now, meet at the rendezvous,” he said into the coms before walking towards the coffee stand to his right. He grabbed a coffee, filling the cup with cream to cool it down before walking towards the target. A few steps away from the man, he faked a trip, sending the contents in the cup all over him.

“Woah, I’m so sorry, man,” Jay called out, reaching for napkins to try and help the man dry his drenched shirt.

“What the hell is your problem?” The guy questioned, a look of fury on his face.

“That is totally my bad. I’m such a klutz. I didn’t see that bump on the floor,” Jay told the man, handing him napkins as he attempted to pat his shirt dry. “Hey, you need to get that under some water. The men’s room is right around that corner and I think there were hand dryers in there,” he said, pointing around a corner. The man angrily turned, making his way in the direction Jay had just pointed to.

“Eyes up, he’s coming your way,” he said into his mic.

They grabbed the man up, locking him in a backroom the convention center had provided to them for detainment. The hope was that they could get him to give up the location of the other men, but his silence proved he wasn’t giving anything up.

“Why don’t you two keep questioning him, Daisy and I will go back out there and sniff the rest of these guys out,” Walker told the two partners. Jay clenched his jaw tightly as he eyed the target on the other side of the room. He hadn’t had the chance to question him yet, but he already knew whatever he had to say was going to just piss him off.  

“You okay for that?” Hailey asked, turning to face him. Her eyes were cut up at him under the brim of her hat, and there was an earnest look on her face as she awaited his response.

“What do you mean by that?” Walker questioned before Jay could answer. He and Daisy weren’t aware of his history, certainly not in the way Hailey was. The last thing he wanted to do in that moment was dish out the details of his PTSD.

“Nothing,” he told the man bluntly before turning back to Hailey. “I’m fine, really,” he told her. As convincing as he tried to be, her eyes loitered on his face as she tried to measure the truth behind his words.

“You guys go ahead, we’ve got him,” she finally told the other two agents before they hesitantly turned on their heels to head back into the convention center. The second they were gone she stepped closer to him so she could speak to him without the man hearing.

“Look, I’m trusting you here, but the second you start to cross a line, I’m pulling you. This isn’t Intelligence. We can’t take the same risks here that we could under Voight. Understood?” She told him in a low voice. He bobbed his head up and down in agreement before making his way over to the man.

When they first detained the guy, they snapped a picture and sent it back to the analysts at headquarters to get an ID. Jay scanned the man’s file on his phone before slowly making his way over to him. He took a chair and sat it across from the man, turning it so he could sit with his arms crossed over the back of it.

“Mark Jones. You are quite the model citizen. Numerous charges for assault and battery, disturbing the peace, unlawful assembly, multiple violations of restraining orders, the list really goes on. But I don’t care about all of that. I care about why you’re at a veteran’s convention considering how public you’ve been about your hatred for the military,” Jay said, his eyes staring daggers into the man’s face.

“I ain’t talking to you. You’re just another pawn in the game. Too stupid and brainwashed to realize you guys are just a bunch of empty-headed murderers, blindly following whatever our so-called government tells you to,” the man spat back.

Murderers. The word made faces appear in Jay’s head. Faces of those he had killed both in Afghanistan and in Chicago. Faces he had spent years tormented by. He took several deep breaths, trying to ground himself. To keep from losing control. He looked over at Hailey who stood beside him, her arms crossed as she glared at the man across from them. Her attention turned to him and the expression on her face remained the same while the look in her eyes adjusted, sending him a soft message of support. This reassured him and he took one last deep breath before turning his attention back to the man.

“Where are the others?” Jay questioned, dragging out each word through clenched teeth. The man only gave him a snarl and an evil smile. He knew he was rattling Jay, and that only got him even more riled up.

“Ranger, huh?” He asked, avoiding Jay’s question completely and reading the letters across his shirt. “Y’all are the worst ones of them all. What’s your body count?” The man questioned, shifting his eyes from Jay to Hailey. “Baby blues here probably wouldn’t even be able to look you in the eyes if she knew how many, am I right?” The man laughed. Jay let out an annoyed laugh, staring into the space behind the man silently. His tongue trailed the back of his bottom teeth, the rage burning inside him and churning with every word that left the man’s mouth. Suddenly, he stood from his chair, kicking it towards the man aggressively before grabbing him by the collar. Almost immediately, he felt Hailey tugging at his arm to pull him off.

“You’re done, back up or get out,” she told him assertively. He continued scowling at the man, not moving from his position. She pushed against his chest, dropping her tone. “Jay, I’m serious. I’ve got this, stand back,” she told him in a whisper. Her voice snapped him out of the state he was in, and he threw his hands up, backing up and making his way to the wall on the other side of the room.

Jay’s ears rang as he blankly watched Hailey question the man. The room felt like it was spinning and whatever words were being exchanged between the two weren’t registering inside his head. All he could hear was a ringing in his ears, and what sounded like his heart beating out of his chest as his breath and heart rate increased out of control. He closed his eyes and took a breath. In for seven, out for eight. He quietly whispered the prayer of St. Christopher once again.

Grant me, O Lord, a steady hand and watchful eye, that no one shall be hurt as I pass by. You gave life, I pray no act of mine may take away or mar that gift of Thine. Shelter those, dear Lord, who bear my company from the evils of fire and all calamity.

When he opened his eyes, he was startled to see Hailey slowly and cautiously making her way toward him. Her brow was raised at him, and she turned around to look at their detainee before grabbing at Jay’s forearm and dragging him around the corner gently, out of the man’s sight.

“Are you good?” She questioned, a fearful look on her face and deep concern in her voice.

“Yeah,” he told her unconvincingly. But the rapid beating of his heart and the fog in his brain said otherwise. Almost like he had lost control of his body, he blurted out the word “no” as he shook his head. “I just, I-“ there was desperation in his voice, and the words fell out between irregular breaths. He noticed Hailey’s eyes begin to gloss over and she removed her hat, placing it on a chair beside them before closing the space between them. She then reached down to grab his hand, raising it to place it over her heart, keeping it there with her hand pressed tightly over his. This froze him, causing him to lose his breath completely as he brought his eyes down to meet hers. Any other time the touch would’ve had his heart racing, but somehow in that moment, it was what was calming him down.

“Jay, just control your breathing. Feel my heart beating, feel my hand against yours. You’re in America. You’re in New York. We’re both right here together, and you’re okay,” she whispered, taking deep breaths. She counted out her inhales and exhales, urging him to match her pattern of breathing. After a few moments like that, his breathing became normal again and they separated, taking a step back after releasing from each other’s touch.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, feeling embarrassed and vulnerable for letting her see that side of him.

“No, do not be sorry. You have nothing to apologize for.”

He nodded. “How’d you know what to do?” He questioned, picking up on the ease in which she was able to help him overcome the episode.

“After watching you deal with your PTSD alone early in our partnership, I decided to learn how I could help you in those situations in case I ever needed to. I actually asked the department shrink back in Chicago if she could give me any tips. She gave me those grounding techniques, the focusing on your senses, controlling your breathing…” her voice trailed off. He was looking at her deeply, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of care and concern she had for him. When she noticed the way he was looking at her, she looked away bashfully, reaching for her hat and securing it back on her head before clearing her throat.

“Anyway, are you okay?” She questioned. He nodded.

“Thank you.”

She took a deep breath before reaching to speak into the coms.

“Bennett, Burrows, Jones wouldn’t give me any leads on where the others are, but we need to find them fast. I was able to find out that at least two of them are carrying deadly aerosols. They’re after more than just the officials, they want to target as many of these veterans as possible,” she told them.

After calling in two other agents to watch the detainee, Jay and Hailey made their way back into the convention center. Against protest, she insisted they clear the place together. He knew it slowed down the operation, but it comforted him to know she was by his side in case he began to slip into a dark place again. About an hour passed, and they had no luck. The panel that would gather most of the convention attendees and all of the high-ranking officials was soon approaching, and Jay had a new idea to get the guys, but it was risky. They reconvened in the detainment room upon his request. Each of the agents eyed him, waiting for him to speak.

“I think we need to let the panel happen. We know this is what these guys are targeting. It’ll be easier to spot them this way, and we can get them all at once,” Jay proposed, looking between each of them for their reaction.

“It’s too risky, we’d be putting everyone in the room at risk,” Walker said, strongly opposing the suggestion.

“I don’t know, he has a good point. Having them all in one place, we don’t risk one of them slipping through the cracks,” Daisy voiced in support.

“Or it makes everything ten times worse, and they all get lost in the crowd,” Walker argued back. Hailey was quiet throughout the interaction, and they all looked to her to get her opinion.

“I think it’s risky, but I also think it’s the only play we have left,” Hailey said.

“Yeah, well you shouldn’t get a say, you would clearly side with him no matter what,” Walker said bluntly.

“Excuse me?” Hailey bit back. Before the conflict could go any further, Daisy butted in.

“You’re outnumbered here, Burrows, and we’re out of time. We’re doing Halstead’s plan,” she said straightly, turning to head back into the center. There was a distinct tension in the room, but they all shook it off to focus on the task at hand.

It was decided, they wait until the panel began and sniff the guys out. They called in another unit of covert tact guys to cover the perimeter of the crowd. Every minute that passed had them all on edge, and none of them had spotted the guys. Eventually, Daisy got the idea to pull the fire alarm. The ones who looked panicked, desperate to get to the exits would weed out the targets who would be desperate to stay inside. With a stroke of luck, the plan worked. Some of the tact guys were able to spot and take down two of the offenders, Jay and Daisy got another, while Walker and Hailey were left wrestling another to the ground. In the process, the man had dropped an aerosol canister. Hailey’s heart stopped as she watched it roll across the floor, but she breathed a sigh of relief when they got to it with the lid still sealed. The day ended much better than they could have all imagined.

Back at the office, they worked on paperwork late into the night. Jay was still distracted, still dealing with the effects of the day. Hailey helped him with the paperwork so they could get out of there more quickly, something he was grateful for. Logging off their computers and closing up files, Walker rose from his chair.

“I’m really sorry about earlier, I say we all go out to drinks. Clear up the air. I’m buying the first round,” he said, addressing every single one of them as he pulled on his coat.

“You know I would, but I’ve got a baby to get home to. After today, all I need are some tiny person cuddles,” Daisy said with a tired smirk.

“I’m in,” Hailey said, looking over at Jay as they awaited his response.

“I appreciate the apology, but today really had me beat, I’d rather just go home and sleep it all off,” Jay said as he rose from his chair.  Hailey’s gaze remained fixed on him a moment, almost like she was asking if he was okay without saying a word at all. He nodded his head, slowly blinking his eyes at her and she sent him a false smile in response.

“You and me then, kid,” Walker said, eyeing Hailey with a less than wholesome look. Jay tensed up at the thought of the two of them, alone in a bar, winding down in the way he and Hailey were so used to doing. But after everything that had happened, he wasn’t feeling social, and the last thing he wanted was to be out for drinks with the two of them as Walker ogled Hailey the entire night. They left the desks to head out, and he slowly pulled on his coat and grabbed his phone and keys.

“Jay, wait up,” Drake called after him as he passed his office.

“Yes sir?” Jay questioned.

“Nice work today, I know it couldn’t have been easy. At least it wouldn’t have been for me,” he told him, sending a look of sincerity.

“It wasn’t easy, but Upton had my back.”

“Yeah, she’s a good one isn’t she?” Drake said. Jay looked behind him towards the elevators where she and Walker were waiting together. Walker said something to make her laugh, causing Jay’s face to drop immediately. He forced a smile before turning back to Drake.

“Yeah she’s a good piece of gear,” he told him, a phrase only a fellow military man would understand. Drake flashed him a smile in return, and Jay hung his head low.

“Goodnight, Halstead,” Drake told him.

“Goodnight, sir,” he returned before heading out.

He was still trying to decompress after the heaviness of the day, but he couldn’t get the idea of Walker and Hailey out of his head. He’d wished she would’ve said no, wished she wouldn’t be on her way to spend who knows how long with him at a bar. He also wished she would show up at his door, despite him saying he wanted to be alone, bearing booze and comfortable silence that always brought him peace after cases like that day’s. Yet, that night he knew she wouldn’t. So, he went home and immediately went to bed. Part of him was scared to sleep, bracing himself for whatever nightmares were to come as a result of the day’s triggers. He kept a light on that night, knowing if he woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream it would remind him that he wasn’t in the middle of the desert, fighting for his life and trying to protect those around him. He recited the prayer of St. Christopher for the third time that day, but this time before he could get out all of the words, he was overcome with exhaustion and gave in to sleep.

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||Do we have a deal part 13: Recovery and a date?|| (Final)

Hi everyone, we are back with part 13 or the final chapter for the Do we have a deal mini series.It has all come down to this, but I hope you guys liked the chapters written for this. I know their was a lot of grammar errors and mistakes but it was for fun so yeah.

If you wish to read the last few chapters, they are under the chapter tag. But this is a gift for my partner and friend. The others will be

~~~Chapters so far~~~~

Part 7: Do we have a deal: Start of the second month, their hidden obsession

Part 8: Do we have a deal: Check up Day; A dragon's scarred memory

Part 9: Do we have a deal: Her training continues; a secret between demon sisters

Part 10: Do we have a deal: Closing in on the end of the month

Part 11: Do we have a deal: His purpose, behind the locked demon gate

Part 12: Do we have a deal: Her acceptance of death; birth of a new death god princess

((Your reading part 13)) Final Chapter

||Drabble Summary||

The two months were finally over. Melinda Brooks has returned to New York city but she was heavily scared from her adventure. Now, she was recovering and going through the process of it. Her team was doing their best to help her but Jaron was doing more of it as he was taking the turn of taking care of her or visiting her. But he also had something to say. What will it be? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~Possible confession leading to a date

~A kiss will be present

~Heartfelt talk

||Guests in the Drabble||

Melinda Brooks and Mouse belong to me.

Jaron Jackal and the DBT belongs to my wonderful friend @demon-blood-youths

((Note: Their will be grammar mistakes and errors in this drabble. It was written for fun so please understand. Thanks for that and hope you like.))

~~Timeskip: A few days later~~

Everything in New york has went back to normal like nothing happened. The fractions lived their lives, helping their territories and visiting one another with ease. Though, most of them was more worried about two fractions; the DBT and the Cursed Vixens.

~~Diary Entry 12~~

Dear Diary,

Just writing to give a quick update today.

I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks since Melinda came back home from the devil's realm. Everyone was happy to see her back but...we were still pretty shocked on her return. At first, we were not expecting 'him' *shudders not wanting to write his name* to do so much to her. We had to put her on bed rest for a while but after checking more into what she went through, it seems she had to be sent to the hospital for another check up. They couldn't tell or figure out what happened to her and thought it was physical trauma.

Honestly, I've never seen Melinda so....scared. She didn't want the doctors to check on her, resulting in the screaming and panicking in the room. We heard from the hallway waiting room that even made us jump but Jinx was angry while crying hearing those screams. That really tore her.

Due to how bad she was screaming, they had to give her some medicine to calm her down. Hearing her screams were...painful. The doctor said she was alright but she was to rest up with nothing else. They said to let her just rest and sleep so we did. However, she went right back after two days when coughing out blood. She was staying there for 2 weeks. Maybe it's the after affects of being in the devil realm for so long? Our devils did say it was not normal for a demon like us to be there yet without getting used to it. I heard the air there was heavy and hard to breath at first.

When she got out, we took turns checking on her or watching her but she was really weak at the time. She barley could speak, she couldn't eat without dropping food on herself, same with drinking anything. She even freaks out if someone touches her to suddenly without telling her. That and having trouble sleeping when she wakes up in the middle of the night, crying. We had to be sure she was able to sleep during that time which took a while. Her sleeping is getting better.

Ophelia, Hex, and Swan were checking on her to see her progress but at first, she would freak out from them touching her. After 4 days, she was calm to let them do check ups too. Everyone has been sending get well cards and other things for Melinda's recovery so far and she seems to be doing alright so far. We did get a update on what happened to her.

From what Hex scanned from his point of view, she was...she went through a lot. She suffered some bite marks on her arm to the shoulder, even in more areas like her thighs, her hands, her stomach and chest. Some heavy scarring was seen on her body but it had to be due to the training she went through with that asshole. They got word her eyes were damaged but she healed them. Sever healed burns, bruises visible on her skin, even given a medicine that was to enhance her blood but it really was some drug he made. All in all, it was terrible. The three healers were shocked that even their own faces paled at the thought. Now, she has that healed up scar around her heart where the other black scaring was.

We decided to get answers from the devils but we got told of what happened by Miss Madam and Senkai and even they sounded angry and disgusted. The devils said they were fighting with 'him and his followers' but it seems 'he' was free to roam the devil realm and here but we haven't heard from him since. And honestly, I hope we don't for a while.

Anyway, everyone saw she was still hesitant but getting better with others being around her. Even Jaron..oh dear, poor Jaron was more heartbroken then anyone. Seeing her like that really upset him. Thinking it was his fault that she went through this but we told him it was not his fault. Melinda did it because she wanted to help and save him. The DBT said they were forever grateful for this but Melinda wanted to do this because she cared deeply about him.

Even in the first few days, she wouldn't let anyone touch her but....Jaron was allowed to touch her or give head pets. It seems to calm her. After a while, he would visit to help her out or help her get some fresh air. She was still scared but we didn't mind. Right now, she's with Jaron at the DBT's base since we knew she still was nervous around the others but we get it.

Anyway, this entry is getting too long but I'll write in you again with more updates. Till next time.

~Mouse~

~~With The DBT~~

He was silent during the few days but he was chopping up a apple for her to eat in the kitchen right now. They said she can eat but nothing too heavy to make her sick. Fruit was fine or oatmeal too. The drug was still leaving her system and too much will upset her stomach. However, he looks to see her laying on the couch resting up while breathing in and out slowly. The others were doing their best not to scare her but they would look in the living room just to be sure she was alright and not freaking out.

"......." He looks back to finishing up but was setting the slices on a plate before cleaning up the kitchen and goes to put everything away to walk back gently seeing her resting.

Being careful, he sets the plate down but bends down to gently touch her head.

"!!!!" She tense to open her eyes but calms down seeing who it was.

"Easy it's just me...I..I got you some fruit to eat if you were hungry.." he said showing the plate as Melinda blinks to look at it then sees him carefully help her sit up so he can help her at least eat some of the apple slices.

She reaches with one hand to pick up a slice and eat it while chewing it slowly. The apple was sweet but she could eat it. Jaron was sitting by her but he made sure she took her time eating them. The two remain in silence for a bit but she ate three pieces of the apple with him having a paper towel to help her clean the fingers of the apple. As she was about to eat her fifth piece she stops.

"?????" He noticed to look at her. "Melinda? Are you alrig-"

"...A.....Are you a..angry with me?"

It's been a while since he heard her voice but looks to her as she was looking down at her lap and the apple slice. Wait, mad with her? Why would he be mad?

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"..........." she didn't say anything to let him think about what she means. Of course he took the time to think when his eyes widen to look at her. Oh, that's what she means.

"N..No, no of course I'm not angry with you about.....that. I was more worried than upset but not at you." he said.

"........N..No, I mean...are you angry t..that I....gave myself up in order f..for...s.....su...s..su...s...s.s.s...." she tries to say his name but couldn't, biting on her bottom lip that Jaron tries to calm her down. Even saying his name around her upsets her.

"Don't. Don't say his name. I get it but no. I was more angry at him for what he did and what he and his followers put you through. I wouldn't be since you were the reason I'm still here. You saved me. You saved my life.......because then I wouldn't be...." He looks down knowing what happened but he didn't believe she did that for him.

".......I knew the risks but I couldn't let you get hurt or leave. You been through too much Melinda and..I just.." He tries to say it but thinking about it only upset him and anger him to calm down. Focus Jaron, this is not the time to get angry.

"I couldn't have that. Not again. You already saved me back then from Megan and many other things and this too. I couldn't let more harm come to you again...even if we know the risks, we do things that puts us in danger." He looks to her then ahead as Melinda looks down at her apple slice.

"I..I know..I just wanted t..to keep you safe. I didn't want the others t..to lose you.." she mutters but Jaron said nothing to look at her.

"But that goes for you too. Your friends wouldn't want to lose you either. Your part of their team but your also our friend...and..someone important.." he carefully reaches about to touch her other hand but was worried it might freak her out to lay it near hers.

"I know it was scary during the two months but I knew and hoped you were going to be alright. I Just wanted nothing more than to see you back safe in New york with us. With.....me." he said but he sighed to close his eyes.

"When I found out when waking up, I was shocked and worried for the few days. I thought it was my fault that you did that to help bring me back to life. You went through hell for two months and made it back....e..even if you..." he started to say but Melinda finishes his words.

"D..died when re..returning."

He winces hearing that word but he looks quiet then sighed. "Y..Yeah...I knew the feeling was right when I felt you....did but I felt relief knowing you were safe again and back..I just panicked and..."

"............" she looks down but sets the apple piece down to clean her hands slowly but Jaron takes the paper towel and cleans her fingers for her. He saw the small bruises too but said nothing.

"....S...so your not a..angry w..with me? After ev..everything that hap..happened..you were...o...okay.." she whispered but Jaron looks to stop cleaning her fingers to hold her hands.

"No. I'm not angry with you. I never was because I was more worried about you. Knowing all of us or me couldn't do anything to help you. Our devil's couldn't help you. We couldn't do anything but wait. I did wanna say I'm sorry.." he said but Melinda was confused.

"S..sorry?"

"I'm sorry..I'm so so sorry you went through that just to help bring me back to life as his payment. I didn't want you to suffer through that but....I was just so upset with myself that you got so hurt by him." He frowns but Jaron only held her hands to remove the paper towel now looking at her hands.

"You were hurt so much. I couldn't take seeing that again and again and yet it did. You got hurt way back before we met and now this. I don't know how to say sorry to you Melinda but I feel like I need to. I just hope you can forgive me that you went through that just to sacrifice yourself like that for me...." He said looking down but Melinda said nothing but it hurt to hear him say that.

However, he only looks to see her hands as the fingers wrap around his own then feeling tears hitting his. He looks up to see Melinda but was quiet. She was crying? Her silver eyes were wide but she was crying to look down.

"....Melinda?"

"....I'm s..sorry....I Just wanted to keep y..you safe. I didn't want y..you to get hurt either. I really wanted to do everything to be sure you were safe...you didn't deserve that..I couldn't let you go through that..I couldn't.." she begins to shake that her tears were hitting her and his hands as Jaron got worried.

"I..I Just...I just wanted to protect you. I wanted to see you safe..I just.....*Hics* I just wanted you to be h..happy. I..." she was shaking now but moves her hands to cover her eyes trying to wipe the tears off.

"I didn't c..care if I got hurt, tortured, or even killed. You being alive and safe means m..more to me. I couldn't bare the thought.." she cried but Jaron was worried.

"Melinda-"

"I didn't c..care....you deserve to live Jaron. You and everyone else deserve to live happy lives.."

"Melinda..."

"Even through all that I..I wanted you to come back to them..t..to me. I couldn't...I couldn't bare the thought of losing you!" she said crying more.

"Melinda!"

"Even if I was killed over and over again, then that means you would be safe and alive-"

"BUT IT WOULDN'T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME IF YOU DIED FOR ME!" he raised his voice to grab her shoulders making her look at him. "Think about it. How do you think I would feel if you left? It wouldn't be the same if the one I.....cared about left this world because of me. I couldn't forgive myself! I felt angry at myself that you went through that for me to risk your safety and freedom to that monster." he looks at her but she was still crying.

".....I..."

"I couldn't forgive myself if you left me for good. Your part of my life like you told me. I'm part of yours right? Isn't it hurtful that if either one of us left we wouldn't be happy as we were.....we have our friends true but..this pain would be different. Because we lost someone who we grew closer with." he lowers his hands but looks to her but she looks down still sniffling.

"...I..I'm s..sorry...I'm s..so sorry..." she said to him but Jaron touches her cheek while she still kept crying from the thought. His hand was gentle but she only sniffs.

"It's alright. I should be thanking you..I owe you my life. You saved me remember? So I really should be thanking you.." He looks to her but carefully pulls her close to hold her while she was resting her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat.

"However, it's over now. Your back home and your safe.....that's all that matters to me. Your back safe and alive with your friends..and me." he said but she only keeps letting him hold her that she grips his shirt to look at him. He looks down but she saw he was happy that she was here.

"........."

"Now please no more tears....." he said gently wiping the tears off with his thumbs as Melinda looks at him. Jaron was silent but she only held his wrist to have him look confused. She didn't say anything with them looking at one another before she leans up close to him as he looks at her with the same expression.

Both him and her said nothing before he and her closes the gap. She kissed him right on the lips softly while he held her cheek. They shared a quiet kiss for a few moments but during that time, Rust and Navarro walked in but stops seeing this.

Jaron and Melinda were kissing! The two was about to say something but Shdwkyz grabs the two by the shirts to drag them away quietly.

"But he-"

"Shhhhh.....for once don't be idiots." he warns but not loud for Jaron and Melinda to hear. "Just leave them alone alright?" he warns but the two grumble to leave but they also were happy because they won a bet having Fin and Guam pay 20 bucks each if they would kiss before this month's over.

"I was right though! He and her need to get married I mean come on!! They kissed man!!" Rust said loud.

"And we get $20 bucks each!" Navarro said loud by mistake.

"WILL YOU TWO BE QUIET!" Shdwkyz said loudly but this made Jaron and Melinda break the kiss to hear as he was blushing to look but then sighed.

".....Figured that was gonna happen." he mutters but Melinda was blushing still sniff to look at him. He looks to the side but sighed to look at her.

"Ummmm, one other thing Melinda.....if it's alright, do you...." he rubs the back of his head but Melinda looks to him.

"Y..Yes?"

".....Would you like to go o..on a date with me? I can take you to somewhere special when your ready to go or when your recovered. If that's alright." he said but Melinda was speechless only to look at her lap but hid her flushed face.

"..S...sure I would love t..to.." she said that Jaron looks seeing her poking her two fingers together but he smiled to kiss her forehead as she closed her eyes to relax now. For now, he was helping her with recovering.

Later that day, Jaron was petting Melinda's head as she was taking a light nap. Her head was resting on his lap while she ate the slices though, he sweatdrops hearing Rust and Navarro spilling that the two kissed. He shook his head lightly chuckling but he was happy to know Melinda was back here safe.

Now he had a date to plan for the later future. Seems this ended alright and he was happy for it.

~~End~~

[rpgsandbox]

Part homage, all farce, the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is an irreverent, affectionate parody of pop-culture tropes and a love-letter to 80s roleplaying games in a new, modern comic-book sized format! It’s a wacky roleplaying game of action comedy!

       Hardcover collector's omnibus, softcover rules and adventures, blank ID cards, monster cards, hero role cards, VTT tokens

Are you a fan of the Ghostbusters RPG from the 1980s? Danger Mouse or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Bill & Ted or Rick & Morty? Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Dracula, or sci-fi adventures on the final frontier? Do you enjoy chortling at TV tropes or chuckling at pop-culture parodies? Then the Awfully Cheerful Engine! is here for you!

ACE! is brought to you by Russ 'Morrus' Morrissey (EN World, WOIN, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD), Dave Chapman (Doctor Who, Star Trek Adventures), and Marc Langworthy (Hellboy, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD). With a foreword by Sandy Petersen, co-author of the Ghostbusters RPG!

ACE! is designed for everybody! From talking animals to pulp heroes to eldritch horrors, kids and adults alike will find adventures to love with the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

This tabletop roleplaying game, which we’re calling ACE! with an exclamation point, is one of fast, cinematic, action comedy. To play you need a handful of six-sided dice, a pen, and some paper. Each player plays one Hero, except for one player who takes the role of the Director.

Think of ACE! as an irreverent, fun-packed movie. You might play as ghost hunters in New York City, a band of plucky galactic guardians, vampire slayers, or soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground. Heck, you might even be cartoon animals. Good grief!

This is a multi-dimensional, time-hopping, genre-mashing, pan-galactic portal into any type of adventure you can imagine! Want to play in a fantasy world full of elves and orcs? Crew a starship as it explores the galaxy? Hunt vampires in Victorian London? Play as animal detectives, robot cowboys, wizards, ninjas, or time traveling bounty hunters?

The only limit is your imagination, and the requirement that you have fun.

This Kickstarter is for the full five-book set.

What? Five books, you say? Fear not -- they're pretty small books! They include the core rules, and four hilarious genre-hopping adventures. Each book is about 30 pages long. Except for one which is longer, but we wrote 'BUMPER SIZE ISSUE' on the front of that, so it's OK. If you’ve ever held a comic-book in your hand, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! will feel very familiar!

The core rulebook is just 30 pages in a bright, colorful comic-book sized format. We even gave it an issue number, like a comic-book! After that, each 'issue' is a standalone adventure, designed for one-shots or short campaigns with new characters each time. One week you might be fighting ghosts on the streets of Manhattan, and the next you might be exploring the frontiers of space in your trusty starship!

You don't have to play them all, or in order. The standalone format means you can fit them in whenever and however you feel like it. GM can't make your regular game? Go bust some ghosts instead! Pickup game at a convention? Investigate the strange goings-on in a small American town in the 1980s. Running a livestream? Board a starship and fight the Kulkan Empire! Play one of them, some of them, or all of them! It's up to you!

                Are they comics? Or are they RPGs? (They're RPGs)

ACE #1: Introducing the Awfully Cheerful Engine! With a foreword by Ghostbusters RPG author Sandy Petersen, this book tells you the rules, how to create your Heroes, and gives you a bunch of Extras (NPCs & monsters) to use. By Russ Morrissey.

ACE #2: Spirits of Manhattan. Strap on your Anti-Plasm Particle Thrower, grab your Electromagnetic Field Detector, and jump into your Ghostmobile. New York City needs your help! By Dave Chapman and Russ Morrissey.

ACE #3: Montana Drones & The Raiders of the Cutty Sark. At the request of Army Intelligence, Montana Drones and her team travel the globe in search of lost or hidden artefacts, often exploring dangerous sites and racing against hostile enemy agents to keep the objects of their quests from falling into the wrong hands. Striking locations, exciting chases, dangerous enemies and monotonous classroom lectures await! By Marc Langworthy.

ACE #4: Strange Science. Welcome to Wilden Falls, your average American town in the heart of the country. Surrounded by trees, nature, and there’s a wonderful waterfall that brings the tourists. It’s a quaint little town. Until weird things start happening at the local research facility, people go missing, and there’s a sudden influx of fitness nuts in the town. That’s before we get to the time travel, bodysnatching, and portals to other dimensions. Maybe ‘strange’ isn’t strong enough a word for it! By Dave Chapman.

ACE #5: Beam Me Up! These are the voyages of the starship FSS Brazen. Its continuing mission: to recklessly go where plenty of people have probably been before… and hope a major interstellar incident isn’t sparked in the process. In this highly illogical adventure for the ACE! roleplaying game, you’ll explore frontiers you never thought you had. By Marc Langworthy.

We give you four adventures to start with, and we have plans for more, but there's also a free compatibility license so anybody can write and publish material powered by the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

Hardy Hobbit. Teenage Samurai. Cheerful Stuntman. Clumsy Vampire. Squeamish Ghost. Who knew you could say so much in just two words? The possibilities are endless.

It’s not just Awfully Cheerful! It’s fast and fun, too!

You won’t get bogged down in endless rules and character sheets that look like tax forms. Your ACE! ID Card contains everything you need to know, and it’s only about the size of a credit card! But don’t try to spend it. It’s not a real credit card. Honestly, we tried, and it didn't end well.

You can download blank ID cards from our website. Don’t worry, there’s a printer-friendly black-and-white version too!

Making your Hero takes about five minutes. And that includes a coffee break.

You can choose from an array of talking animals, alien and fantasy species, and occupations from a bunch of genres. Play a cat, a crow, or a turtle. An alien, an elf, a robot, or a vampire. A knight, a pirate, or a wizard. An astronaut, a burglar, a reporter, or a spy. The core book has dozens of Roles to get you started with, and each adventure book introduces more!

Even better, you can already use our online character builder and make a character in about 30 seconds! It's so quick! Give it a try! And if you felt like sharing your Hero on Twitter with the hashtag #awfullycheerful and a link to this page, well, we'd be most awfully grateful!

                                       Build your Hero online!

Alternatively, each adventure comes with its own selection of pre-generated characters. If you don't want to make your own characters, you can simply use those - perfect for one-shots or new players!

Download the pre-gens for all four adventures from the official website!

In A.C.E! each Hero (that's you!) has a Role. Your Role gives you a special ability only you can use. Here's a quick look at some of the Roles you can play!

Talking animals like Ape, Cat, Crow, Dog, Kangaroo, and Turtle.

Species like Alien, Dwarf, Elf, Ghost, Goblin, Golem, Hobbit, Monster, Ogre, Robot, Vampire, and Werewolf.

Fantasy roles like Alchemist, Assassin, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Knight, Ninja, Outlaw, Pirate, Ranger, Samurai, Slayer, and Wizard.

Occupations like Actor, Archeologist, Astronaut, Athlete, Bounty Hunter, Boxer, Burglar, Chef, Con Artist, Cowboy, Detective, Doctor, Engineer, Gambler, Gangster, Hacker, Hermit, Inventor, Musician, Pilot, Priest, Professor, Reporter, Scientist, Smuggler, Soldier, Spy, Student, and Stuntman.

Even a couple of superheroes like Speedster and Vigilante!

Yep, you can play a Ghost. You don’t take damage unless its from a holy source or some special sci-fi ecto-gadget. But you also can’t pick things up. So there’s that.

Each of the adventures adds some more Roles (or recommends some old ones)!

Spirits of Manhattan adds Ghost, Demonologist, Doctor, Engineer, Exorcist, Inventor, Priest, Professor, Scientist, and Student.

Raiders of the Cutty Sark adds Botanist, Double-Agent, Socialite, and Witch.

Strange Science adds Brain, Cheerleader, Outsider, Protector, Radio Presenter, and Tycoon.

Beam Me Up adds Captain, Chief Engineer, Comms, Hologram, Gunner, Counsellor, and Pilot.

ACE! is a pretty fast, light game. If you played 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, you'll see the influence immediately.

Stats! The AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is a d6 dice pool system*. You have four Stats -- Smarts, Moves, Style, and Brawn. If you have a Moves score of 3, you roll three six-sided dice when you try to jump a motorcycle over a ravine. If you roll high enough, you succeed. It's pretty simple!

Focuses! For each Stat you also have a Focus. For Smarts it might be a science, or chess, or history. For Style it might be bluffing, singing, or fashion, and for Brawn it might be brawling or swimming. You can choose from plenty of focuses. Foci. Focuses. Whatever.  Anyway, if the thing you're trying to do relates to a Focus, you get to roll an extra two dice.

Trait! You choose a trait, like Angry or Cheerful or Rebellious or Despondent. This, combined with your Role, makes you a Gullible Vampire, a Brave Turtle, or a Squeamish Scientist.

Karma! Finally, you have a bunch of Karma points. These can be spent for extra dice or to absorb damage from attacks, and they're recovered by using your trait.

*Fun fact -- did you know that 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis and Greg Stafford, was the first ever dice pool RPG? Also Sandy Petersen has written an awesome foreword for the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE!

What, I hear you ask, is a CALAMITY DIE?

The Calamity Die is how you find out that your friends really aren't your friends. You see, when you make a roll, one of those dice is a different color, and is called the Calamity Die. And if your roll fails, and also the Calamity Die rolls a 1, your so-called 'friends' decide what happens to you. It won't kill you or anything, but...

Well, we'll leave that thought with you.

                             Nooooo! And it was all going so well!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, June 18 2021 10:00 PM BST

Website: [Awfully Cheerful Engine] [EN Publishing] [facebook] [twitter]

[hlupdate]

In a never-before-published 2012 interview, Harry Styles and Niall Horan talk about their childhoods, the future of One Direction, and much more

In the spring of 2012, I spent a few entertaining days hanging out with the five young members of a British boy band who were just breaking big in the United States. The guys from One Direction were unjaded, unguarded, totally charming, and a puppy pile of optimism and energy. On April 8th, in a New York City hotel room, an 18-year-old Harry Styles and 16-year-old Niall Horan sat down with me for a joint interview, published here for the first time. (The reporting was intended for a Rolling Stone cover story that never ran.)

It was late morning, and they had both just rolled out of bed. Styles wore a hotel bathrobe; Horan, with braces still on his teeth, was in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a Dallas Mavericks hat a fan had given him during a recent trip to Texas. The conversation was casual, full of laughs, and focused on their formative years.

What did you do at the gym last night? Harry: One of our security guys, his friend’s over, he’s a personal trainer, so I was working with him, and he ripped me to shreds.

In 12 hours, you have to do Saturday Night Live. Are you ready? Harry: Yeah, I think so. I think it’s going to be a fun day. It’s just really exciting, obviously. The show is so huge. For us to get the opportunity to be on it at all was just amazing, and to us, to be performing and just be involved with the show is amazing.

Have you seen whole episodes of it? Harry: I’ve watched a lot of clips on YouTube. They don’t show it in the U.K.

Growing up, when did you realize you could sing or that you wanted to sing? Harry: I sang in primary school, like the school productions, plays and stuff.

What was your first one? Harry: The first one was…I was five, and there was a story about a mouse who lived in a church, and I was Barney, the mouse. I had to wear my sister’s tights, and a headband with ears on it, and I had to sing a song all by myself. I remember it was just like, whatever…in the second, I was Buzz Lightyear in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so you know when they run and hide in the toy shop? Buzz Lightyear was in the toy shop, so they just created my character. The last one, I was in…you know Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat? I was the pharaoh, but I was an Elvis pharaoh.

Did you have a sense that this is what you wanted to do in your life? Harry: I think in school, I was OK, I wasn’t a bad student. I think I just knew I wanted to entertain people and stuff. I was a bit of an attention-seeker at school.

Niall: Me, too. I just talked too much, sang too much.

You were onstage as a kid and were like, “This is what I like”? Harry: I knew it was fun, I had a lot of fun doing it, and I stopped when I started high school, and then I didn’t really do anything, I just sang at home, in the shower, in your bedroom, that type of thing. I guess it started again when my friends were in a band and they wanted to do this battle of the bands competition that was at school, and they needed a singer, and one of my friends asked me.

What did you sing? Harry: We sang “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, and “Summer of ’69.” We did it more towards the Bowling For Soup version.

How about you, Niall? Niall: I always knew I wanted to sing. I was academic…I was one of those people that if I’m not interested in something, I don’t really care. If I’m not interested in school, I would have never trained or done my homework or anything, I’d have just gone outside and played football or whatever.

Harry: [helpfully translating] Soccer.

Niall: So I always wanted to sing. I was singing here and there, not gigs or anything, but I always sang around the house or whatever, and I played Oliver in a school play. And then I just did that, and people told me I should do something…I was only 10, what could I do at 10? I just did a couple of gigs, and when I got to high school, they told me that I should just try out for The X-Factor.

Who told you? Niall: My French teacher. We used to do talent shows and stuff at school, she was like, “You should do it,” so I did it.

What did that entail? What were the steps from being a kid in high school to getting on the show? Niall: It was the final of The X-Factor the year before, and at the end credits of the final, it says, “If you want to apply for 2010, go online,” so a couple of weeks later, I said, “Right, I’m going to do it,” and I filled in the form online, we were sending emails back and forth, going to this place at this time. The first one is at a big stadium, then if you get through that, you come back the next day. Is that the way they did it with you?

Harry: I had to wait a little bit, I think.

Niall: I was there at five a.m., I got seen at 12, and I was out of there by quarter past 12, and the next day I came back at 10 in the morning. You get through the first round, then they do a round where they don’t tell you if you got through after that.

Harry: They film it.

Niall: The producer and someone from the label. They film it and show it to whoever. Then if you got through that, it takes about two or three weeks until you find out. I was in Spain. Then you just go through the audition.

Harry, how did you wind up on X-Factor? Harry: I basically said, the same as Niall, I was watching the year before, and I remember looking at the young guys on there, and I was kind of like, “I’d love to have a go at it just to see what happens,” and that was kind of it. My mum actually did the application, and then three weeks later, I walked upstairs and she said, “Oh, you’ve got your X-Factor audition Sunday,” and I was like, “OK.”

Niall: In England, it’s the biggest thing ever. It took a while to build.

Harry: The two or three years were steady, and third or fourth, it just blew up.

Niall: It works that one in three people in the UK watch it. There’s 60 million people in the UK, and 21 million people watched the final the year we were in it.

Harry, your band also played at least one wedding right? Harry: Yeah. We actually said that we’d do the wedding gig, and…

Niall: You get paid for it?

Harry: Yeah. 160 quid, between all four of us. 40 quid each…we said we’d do it, and then we found out it was the weekend coming up, and we hadn’t done anything for it, so we asked the bride what kind of stuff she wanted, and she said she didn’t mind, but she wanted some Bob Marley songs. Literally in three days, not even three, probably two days, we learned like 25 songs. We might have known like three of them before. I was 16, maybe 15, singing these Bob Marley songs. There was a girl a couple of years below us, and it was her mum, she said she wanted us to play.

Niall: Can you imagine you’re at a wedding and you have 16-year-old kids up on the stage?

Maybe you were really good! Harry: Yeah, the drummer is one of my best friends from school, he’s a sick drummer, he’s so good.

Did you think the band could be something? Harry: A bit. My friend’s mum was a radio presenter, and she did a radio show  for a bit, so she was trying to sort us out a little bit of studio time, we were going to go in and record.

What do your parents do? Harry: My mum is a PA.  My dad is a financial adviser.

How about you? Niall: My dad works at a supermarket, he’s the head manager, general manager of an area, not just one, and my mum is unemployed now, so I try to help them out whenever I can.

You probably can. That must be nice. Niall: Yeah, it’s nice, it’s good.

Plus, now you can tell them what to do. Harry: [laughs]  “Now you go to bed.”

Were you happy as kids? Did you have adolescent angst and stuff? Did you go through depressed periods? Harry: Not really. I think at one point, I started acting like I was…I had a phase of listening to really heavy music.

Niall: I never went through that.

Harry: Not stupid heavy, but a bit… just because I thought it was cool.

Like what? Harry: Like Nirvana T-shirts, wore black all the time, pretty much.

Were you pretty happy go-lucky? Niall: Yeah, I was always happy. I think me and Harry were lucky. Our parents got divorced quite early, didn’t they, when we were really young. I was four, I didn’t know much, so I was always a happy kid, always up for a laugh, very carefree, and I’m a bit like that now.

Did you both grow up in your moms’ houses? Harry: Yeah.

Niall: I went between both, my mum moved to the country and I didn’t have any interest in it. I always felt like the country is for when you’re older. I was with my mom for a while but got bored, all my friends were in town, I went to school in town and all that stuff. It was more like that.

Harry: I lived with both parents, and then moved with my mum, and we owned a pub for like five years. I remember the first night, it was like a night where a band was playing, and I just thought, “How am I going to get to sleep?” I was three stories up, I was like, “How am I going to get to sleep with this noise?” I was next to a road in Sussex in the middle of nowhere, and by the end, I could fall asleep next to the band, I was so used to the noise.

Was it imprinting your brain? Harry: Maybe. One of the guys who used to play every so often, he used to be in Deep Purple or something… He started teaching me guitar when I was like 10, I think 10, maybe nine.  I loved it. I was 10, 11, all of the regulars, I got on with them. I’d walk behind the bar and my head would barely go over the bar. It’s still going now. We sold it to my best friend, we go in all the time still.

People say you come off as more mature than your age, you come off wiser. Did hanging around all those people as a kid help you mature?

Harry: I don’t know, maybe.  I moved when I was seven or eight from Cheshire, and it was still Cheshire, but half an hour away, but in terms of not driving and stuff, all my friends lived near my school, so that was a bit further out. One of my friends there was my sister’s age, he was 16 when I was 10. It was so tiny, they were the only teenage boys…we’d ride our bikes and go to the driving range and stuff. It was good, it was fun.

You both wanted to entertain – if it hadn’t worked out, would you have been really unhappy? Harry: Yeah, I think it would be kind of like…one of the reasons you go for X-Factor in the first place is that you want to do this, and it kind of helps you get out of the life that you were doing before. I worked in a bakery for two years. Obviously, I didn’t want to do that for ages!

If you’d asked people at school, would they have said, “Yeah, they’re probably going to be famous,” or would they never have guessed that? Niall: My aunt, I was in the back of her car. We used to go across Ireland to go to the beach for a couple of weeks, and I remember we were in the car, I was singing, and she thought I was the radio, and she told me, I never forgot it, that she thought I was going to be famous since I was six, seven. She was the only person who told me that, so I always remembered that.

Harry: My dad said it. I used to listen to a lot of the music he was playing, he’d play Elvis Presley to death, the Stones, I’d sing along to that and he’d say, “You’re going to be famous,” or whatever. He came on tour with us for a few days out here, he came to the Radio City show. He just said, for him, it was so educational. Obviously, he hears about what happens when I call him, but to see it and see it actually happen and how everything works was so good for him, he really enjoyed it. So that was nice.

So you grew up on Elvis and the Stones? Harry: Yeah, pretty much. My dad was a massive Stones fan, so it was pretty much Beatles and Stones in terms of what my dad played.

People say you kind of look like Mick.

Niall: He gets that a lot.

Harry: I get it more here, probably, than I do at home. It’s because of the British thing.

What have you learned about life from the last few years, what didn’t you know? What advice would you give yourself? Niall: How much more independent we actually are – me, anyway. Your mum attends to your every need and does your food and washing and gives you somewhere to live. Then you go into the real world, as you’re told as a kid…

Harry: We’re living on our own now.

Niall: We just started living on our own in the last six months, really.

Harry: I’m moving when I get back.

Niall: We do our own washing, we make our own food, we rent places, we’re out on our own now. You mature so quick, you’re dealing with big businessmen every day, you’re not dealing with school, people your own age. It’s a bit different.

Harry: You seem to learn so many life lessons, but in such a short space of time. If I speak to my friends and they’re having problems with girls, whatever it is, now I seem to just have the answer. I don’t know, it’s just different. Or I think I have the answer. In terms of…one of my friends was trying to decide what to do with school, stuff like that, and I would have had no idea what to say to him before.

The last two years must feel like 10. Harry: Yeah, but at the same time, it feels like six months, it’s weird. X-Factor was two years ago, but it seems like five years ago, but at the same time, it’s gone so quick. It’s a really strange dynamic of how it feels.

Do you have a sense of how this is going to go? Does it matter if it’s two years, five years or forever? Harry: I think how much we all enjoy it, because we love what we do – if you have to call it a job, it’s an incredible job to have, and we love it. We’ll all want to do it for as long as possible. If we have the opportunity to have a Take That kind of career, I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t want to do that. If we don’t, I don’t know…we’ve done some amazing things already, but we don’t want to stop there, we want to keep going. I guess if we didn’t, I think we’d probably want to still be involved in…I’d just write, I guess.

Do you want to act? It feels like you could have your own TV show. Harry: I think it would be more of a documentary, because obviously, we’re not actors.

People must want you to try. Niall: Watch tonight, tell us what you think. Watch SNL.

Will you all make solo albums? Is that inevitable? Harry: No, I don’t think so.

Niall: Let’s do a swing album!

Harry: [laughs] We’ll all do swing albums. We’re just so focused on this, we all feel so lucky just to be part of this opportunity that we’ve all been given, it’s incredible, we’re just loving it. It’s sick.

People make a lot of assumptions about people in your position. They think you’re puppets and do what you’re told. What do you do when people make those assumptions? Harry: When you look from the outside, especially if you’re a skeptic of groups made through TV shows, which is fair enough, people don’t see what we do on a daily basis, people don’t see…I think from the outside, it looks so glamorous, they see us do TV performances every now and again, see us doing an interview every now and again, but they don’t know that we work seven days a week.

Niall: If there was eight days, we’d fit it in.

Harry: It’s not as completely glamorous all the time, of course it’s not, it would be stupid to think that it would be, but it’s hard work.

Niall: You’ve got to remember that you’ve got people on your team that have been doing this for many years and have been through the mill. You have all that experience around you, even from our tour manager, who’s been doing this for 20 years, they know what’s right, but at the same time, we want to have creative control, because at the end of the day, it’s us stepping out onto the stage of SNL tonight and have to sing these songs. We want to be singing what we enjoy, as we said last night. The music we all listen to is what we try and blend together to make this One Direction sound.

Harry: We obviously want to make it authentic and have our say without going, “People say we don’t control it, so we need to take control.” We’re not…we haven’t been writing songs for 20 years, we’re not producers. We’ve got an incredible team around us. Luckily, we’ve been given a lot of freedom, so we don’t go, “OK, we just need more and more control,” because we have a lot of control already. I think we find a really good balance in the way we work with our record label and our management, and it’s just how we work together, I think.

In any case, it’s probably better than the bakery. Harry: Yeah. But I don’t get a nice bun on my break anymore, that’s the thing.

Did you wear an apron? Harry: Oh yeah, I wore a white polo shirt and a maroon apron with white stripes. “What would you like? 78 pence, thank you very much.”

Were you behind the counter? Harry: Yeah, I was behind the counter. It was good. It was Saturday morning, I started at five and finished at four in the afternoon and got like 30 quid, it was a joke.

Niall, did you have a job? Niall: No, never.

So this is your first job. Niall: Yeah, not bad at all. I was chilling, I was being a kid.

Harry: I had a paper route before that. It gave me a bad back, bad posture. It was a heavy bag.

I interviewed some fans downstairs, and asked if they knew who you were six months ago, and they all said yes, and a year ago…They were all early adopters, heard you from the Internet, watched X Factor on YouTube… Harry: It’s the internet. People have friends over here that might tell their friends and look on YouTube and show their friends. It’s insane how it’s blown up. We’ve had the opportunity to come over to America and do shows, and release our music over here, which is amazing. Through the power of social media, we already had a bit of a following before we’d ever been over here, we hadn’t done any shows. We had some fans out here, which was amazing, but weird, really strange. I don’t know, it’s gone crazy. We don’t really see loads of it. We do the shows, then we’re in hotels, then we fly somewhere else. We don’t see massive amounts of it, we just go with it. This whole thing has gone on, and it’s sick.

Do you ever feel anxious through all this? Harry: Yeah, I think, obviously, just naturally, you think about what’s going to happen in the future. We’re 18, 19, 20 years old, we’re young. I wouldn’t say anxious, we’re just excited most of the time, and having so much fun, that if stuff were to finish and you were to look back on your time and all you did the whole time throughout this amazing stuff was shitting yourself about what’s going to happen next, then it would just be…I think you have to enjoy it while it’s going on. I think you should be wary about the future, but not worrying about it all the time. We still enjoy it and have fun, but obviously, you do think, “What am I going to be doing in 20 years, 30 year?” I’ll have kids by then.

Harry, I saw a tabloid with pictures of everyone smiling, and you were looking thoughtful. Do you get down sometimes? While everyone else is having fun, do you start drifting off? Harry: No, I think I’m naturally…not everyone is happy all of the time. I think you always have times when…like when you’ve just landed off a really long flight or miss home or something. They got a picture of me where I wasn’t smiling. I usually smile, but they got one where I wasn’t smiling and used that, and then said I wasn’t happy. They did that for a few days, that’s when we were in L.A. last time. It goes with the morbid voice.

Ringo would say, “It’s just me face.” Niall: “Who’s that little old man?” [quoting Hard Day’s Night]

Harry: “That’s Paul’s grandfather. He’s very clean.”

Sometimes you can drift off, that’s just your thing. Harry: [laughs] I’m just soulful, man, I try.

Harry, do you mind when you’re singled out for attention? Harry: I don’t know. I don’t really…I don’t know. We’re a band. Everything we do is together. I don’t take much notice of it.

So you’re not the Justin. Harry: No.

Niall: J.C. was popular, too, wasn’t he?

It’s not like that for you guys. Harry: Not at all.

There was an imbalance in that group. Harry: I think we find it important that people get to know all of our individual personalities, because…

Niall: I think that’s what’s good about it, people see us as individuals as well as a band, we all have our own personality, and we all give something to a band. Previous bands, they go around and can never explain themselves, they can explain the band, but as individuals, what we bring to the band and stuff…

Harry: We all know that we all have our roles, and we all know that without one of us, it wouldn’t work.