#and i saw one that was basically a continuation of canon (not counting the cursed child) and that's when

[t0paz616]

EWWWW, CANON

[queers-gambit]

Now and at the Hour of His Death

prompt: any who say, "it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," were never loved by him.

pairing: Osferth x female!pregnant!wife!reader

fandom: The Last Kingdom

word count: 6.1k+

note: fuck you, Netflix.

warnings: you already know - author needs therapy, projects hard, pregnant wife, Lord’s name in vain, Christianity (obviously), and a fuck ton of fucking ANGST because fuck your feelings. hurt NO comfort, drama, oneshot, cursing, canon-typical violence, injury, and blood. character death and spoilers - yeah, i'm giving you THAT scene. requires maturity and caution. good luck.

also please note: NO, i do not age Osferth to be 16 - that's just a reference age for when he eventually runs away from the monastery.

again, you are missing nothing if this upsets or triggers you and you choose to skip. value your wellbeing, my angels. author is not responsible for the media YOU choose consume, but still, as usual, MDNI

"You should not be doing this sort of work," Ingrith's voice scolded you, and when you turned, you saw the blonde woman standing with her hip cocked and a stern expression. "It's bad for your health to be in such filth, we've stable boys for this sort of chore."

"I do not mind," you sniffled in the brisk air, shoveling the horse shit of the stable into a muck bucket to be dumped into the fields later. "It keeps me busy," you grunted lightly, sure to bend your knees when lifting the pitchfork, "keeps me humble," you listed, dumping the waste to grin at your friend, "and keeps me young."

"In what way?"

"Reminds me of my childhood," you eased, continuing your work. "I slept in a stable from the ages of 4 to... Oh, shit, I guess I was about 16 before I left The Loft."

"What?" She breathed in confusion. "Never knew that."

"Yeah, yeah, true story," you beamed at her, still shoveling shit. "I slept in the stalls with the horses, sometimes in the grain rooms - basically anywhere I could since my work didn't include official room and board, so, I had to make do with what was available. Then, one day when I was about ten, Old Man Rivers said I could use the hay loft if I cleared it out, fixed the rotten planks. Stayed up there till I was about 16, and after that, I kinda ran away."

"Old Man Rivers?"

You nodded, "My mother lived on his homestead, but she was real sick, you see. So, he kinda took me in without assuming responsibility for me," you cleared your throat, shrugging, "let me stay in his barn if I worked with the horses and livestock for him."

"Why would you want to be reminded of that?"

"Seems simpler when I look back."

Ingrith sighed, "C'mon, put the pitchfork down. Come help me prepare the rabbits. The scouts say the men aren't too far off, they'll want a hot meal."

You chuckled with ease and set your pitchfork aside, giving a hearty pat to one of the horse's necks as you passed by to exit the stable. Ingrith made sure you washed up before you were both mounting rabbits on the rack to start skinning them.

"Could I ask something?" She wondered after a time.

"Anything you'd like."

"Why'd you run away? From Old Man Rivers?"

You laughed, "I was in love."

"Oh, you and Baby Monk go that far back, huh?"

"Try even farther," you teased. "Our mothers were friends, and when I worked in the stable, he was in the monastery, but when he came to me, saying he couldn't do it any longer, I couldn't let him go alone. Life was supposed to offer more than what we were given, so, we set out to find the legendary barbarian, The Dane Slayer," you teased, both giggling, "our Lord, the legendary, Uhtred of Bebbanburg."

"And all this time...?" She smiled, watching you shuck hide like you've done it your whole life. Ingrith inferred you probably did.

"Yeah," you eased, "all this time, he's been by my side. Kept me close, never left me behind. The others weren't too sure about me on account of being a woman, they told us to piss off a few times - but they came around after Osferth refused to send me away."

"He's a good lad, Osferth," she nodded.

"Arguably one of the best ones," you agreed, nudging her arm gently, "but look who I'm telling, right?"

"Oh!" She giggled, swatting at you loosely before going back to your work for a moment. Suddenly, the townspeople of Rumcofa stirred to life, and over the voices, you heard them announcing their Lord's return - which meant all of your men were home. You both grinned and breathlessly left your post, Ingrith pausing a young lad to ask, "How many return to us?"

"Does it matter? Come, c'mon, let us see ourselves!" You all but squealed, overwhelmed with excitment; eager for your own reunion with the man you've loved since you were a young lass.

"Warn the alehouse!" Finan was heard shouting. "Osferth's thirsty!"

"Jesus," you laughed, dodging around the procession of people waiting to greet their warriors on their return home so you could approach the white gelding your husband rode.

His face was absolutely priceless when he caught sight of you. As Osferth eagerly dismounted, your hands smoothed over the small swell of your belly - purposefully wearing a dress that accentuated your ever-changing figure. "Am I dreaming?" He laughed, a stablehand taking hold of his horse so his hands were free to caress your belly. "Oh, my God, I'm not, 's real, oh, God," he beamed, laughing with you. "You're pregnant? Truly? Yes? I-I am not - I am not being deceived?"

"No, my love, I guess our prayers were finally heard."

"OH-HOOOO!" You heard Finan holler as Osferth finally pulled you in for a sweet kiss; both ignoring the Irishman. "Lord! LORD! Uhtred! Hey! Did you hear!? Baby Monk's got some spunk in 'im afta all!"

"Oh, God," you laughed against Osferth's lips, but he was quick to shush you with another breath-stealing kiss.

"A baby Baby Monk! AHA!" Finan was still laughing, your husband's hands caressing both your cheeks when he pulled back just in time for Finan to descend. You grunted lightly when his heavy arms dropped over both yours and Osferth's shoulders, his laugh still booming as he gave a squeeze and cooed, "Oh, congratulations, yah two love birds! Wasn't sure you had it innyah, boy!"

"Don't be so rough with her, Finan, for God's sake," Osferth scolded, nudging his friend to get out from under his arm.

"What?" Finan looked at you gobsmacked. "Sayin' I gotta treat yah different now or somethin'?"

"I didn't say that," you told him prettily with fluttering lashes, fist quickly balling up to jab him in the weak spot of his armor - making him grunt and wheeze. "Aht-aht!" You warned with a pointed finger when he flinched as if to retaliate, "Can't hit a pregnant woman."

"Oh, yeh li'l shite," Finan laughed, Osferth pushing him towards his wife so he could stand in front of you and command all attention.

Osferth took a moment to simply look at you; thumbs gently tracing over your cheeks in sweeping motions, a slow grin breaking across his lips. "This almost doesn't feel real... But how I have to praise God for this blessing. A baby," he breathed.

"A little you and me," you agreed softly. "Sound okay to you?"

"More than okay," he chuckled, pecking your lips, "sounds like a lifetime together."

"Good by me." His nose nuzzled up yours, the sweet moment broken when he sighed sadly; eyes shut and smile dropping. "What is it? What's wrong, love?" You asked, stepping into his embrace so you were nuzzled into his neck and his arms were wrapped around your form in a vice.

"Uhtred means to move us again," he whispered in your ear. "Brida, she... She's got Father Pyrlig, and - "

"What!?" You snapped, rearing back slightly to pin him under your hardened glare. Pregnancy hormones would surely give Osferth whiplash.

"My love, I did not - "

"Brida's got Pyrlig? Fuck are we standin' here for, let's go!" You reached for his hand, ready to march off.

"Uh, no, no, no, no," he pulled you back to him; anchoring his hands on your hips so you could not escape. "You are not going anywhere. Not now - especially now," he glanced at your still-growing bump. "The men will go, you know we will return, but you have this new responsibility, and that's keeping this little one safe. For us," he smiled at you.

You huffed, "I'm not unfit to do what needs done, Osferth."

"I did not say you were unfit, but look at the timing of it," he frowned. "I should've been here when you learned, but I was not, and I am truly so sorry for it. Look, I do not know how long this venture will be, but you know I will return. We've waited for our family for far too long, I will not jeopardize this - so I will return. If you go with us, and something were to happen," he shook his head, "my angel, I would never forgive myself. So I need you to stay here, stay safe, if for nothing else but for me."

"But Pyrlig - "

"Will be saved," he assured.

"And Brida - "

"Will be dealt with," he eased, chuckling lightly. "My angel, you worry too much about everyone and yet never about yourself."

You pouted, "Well, why is it just me meant to stay back? This is your child, too, Osferth, and should have the right to meet them! You can't always control what happens, accidents are real, what if you don't return - "

"Don't think like that - "

"But it's a real threat to us - "

He agreed, "Of course, but - "

"Yeah, I know," you nodded, cutting him off, "we serve Lord Uhtred. This comes first, and I'm not - "

"I've made a vow to him."

"You made one to me, too, you know."

"Angel, please, don't do this. Do not ask me to choose," he begged with a frown, and you caved.

So, with a sigh, you nuzzled into his embrace and relented, "All right, yes, fine, go after Brida and Pyrlig. And when you find them, tell him I am waiting for his safe return, he is dearly missed. Ideally, I'd have him birth our child."

"Of course," he breathed, finding a small reprieve of relief that you did not fight him further about leaving - about choosing which vow to fulfill: the one to his Lord Uhtred or the one to his wife.

Both made to God.

Luckily, Osferth married his best friend and you were never one to pick fights with him. You liked the harmony you had; the peaceful environment you had both cultivated to preserve the trust and love you built through the years. He was genuinely one of a kind; a man who walked many lines between faith, humanity, right, wrong. He was the voice of reason, constantly striving to do better than he did before, learning all he could as if a rag soaking in water. For all he was, Osferth has always been enough for you, and for that reason alone, you never felt the need to argue.

To fight. To voice contempt.

"Question," you perked up, smirking at him as your pregnancy symptoms ran a little wild, "think we've time to, you know, really give our thanks?"

"Angel - "

"What?" You grinned. "You fucked me on the alter all those weeks ago and look - your seed stuck. We might as well go give thanks in the same manner, just to really show God how thankful we are for this blessing he's given us."

"Think the Devil's gotten into you," he laughed.

"Or your child is ruining my hormones," you countered, his lips meeting yours in another passionate display of his excitement.

"C'mon," he whispered, taking your hand, and leading you to the chapel - thinking you were being sneaky, but your matching giggles made Ingrith and Finan beam at each other.

"He does know she can't get more pregnant, right?" Finan teased, flinching when Ingrith smacked his upper arm.

"WHY!?"

"My angel, please - "

"What the fuck is going on, Osferth!?"

"I'm trying to explain - "

"The Queen? The fucking Queen is dead in our village! How can that possibly be explained!?" When Osferth didn't answer, just sat in the wooden chair before the shared hearth of your humble home, you snapped, "Well!?"

"Are you finished? May I speak now?"

With a huff, you nodded and gestured for him to speak; arms crossing around your swollen tits. He explained to you the reason for Haesten's arrival, the wagon his men toted, and why he brought the Queen's dead body to the settlement of Rumcofa. He told you Haesten wanted to keep the peace when King Edward found out, claiming Uhtred's son-in-law, Stiorra's husband, Sigtryggr, had ordered this death - thinking war would surely roll over his lands.

You never knew Haesten to be a generous man, nor much of an honest one, but it seemed the severity of the situation made everyone eerily on-edge. Uhtred dispatched his men; leaving Finan and Osferth in the village with you, developing a plan that would save both Saxon and Danish life. And yet, it was all futile when evil forces worked against good.

You didn't feel safe in Rumcofa anymore, there was a stench in the air; tension that mounted to embrace all residents with discomfort. Something was about to happen, but nobody knew what. You didn't claim or pretend to know what was happening, but Haesten's abrupt appearance spelled danger for everyone involved. So, as a security measure, you kept a long sword buckled around your swelling waist and a dagger strapped under your skirts. With Lord Uhtred gone, there was no invisible fence protecting Rumcofa - leaving it up to you, Osferth, Finan, and Cynleaf to pose as guard.

Yet you'd never be enough.

Like the surf over sand, a group of angered men descended on Rumcofa. "Who's men are yah?" Finan asked, you lingering at Osferth's side to watch the interaction from a short distance.

"We come from the King," a burly Saxon replied, your head cocking in interest - swearing you've seen him before. "Dane murderers are hiding here and you must hand them over."

"You're mistaken, sir," you kindly offered, the man's eyes shifting over you, "because we live in peace. Any murderers have surely moved on from here. We do not host them."

The man growled, "Don't think that's true, love."

Finan held a hand back at you, meeting your eyes and nodding simply. He turned back for the man in fur, diverting, "Of course, my men will attend to it."

Finan turned from the group, his eyes connecting with yours as he passed by. There was urgency, a quickened pace he adopted; having no intention to hand anyone over, wanting to remove these men without bloodshed. However, that was a distant thought because Father Benedict tried to assure the Saxon leader that nobody in Rumcofa would murder Queen Aelflaed.

You wanted to step in when the Saxon evidently didn't know about the Queen's demise - getting in Benedict's face and demanding to see what he spoke of.

"No, no, no," you muttered nervously, "he can't see the body, love, no, no, no, this is bad. Very bad."

"We can't stop Father Benedict without altercation," Osferth whispered back, keeping a tight hold of your hand, just watching the group. "If something happens, you need to get yourself safe."

"How do we truly know they're from Edward? What credentials do they have?" When Osferth shook his head, you worried, "Got a bad feeling 'bout this, angel."

Then the violence began.

The strange men took charge when their leader walked away, starting to physically harass the citizens; making both you and Osferth step in to try and diffuse the tension. You pushed men off unarmed women, got in between them and the children, did what you could without drawing a weapon.

When a man shoved you away from him, Finan wrangled him away, sneering, "Get yer hands off of her!" He kept the violent men at bay for a moment, telling you, "You need to go, darling - "

"Not now, Fin, look around us! We need to contain the situation, you'll need all hands you can get," You snapped, the two of you forced to part way.

Osferth panted nervously and looked left and right, turning to meet the Saxon and demand, "Tell your men to stand down!" But then, his eyes squinted when you joined his side to pull him back a step or two, recognizing him just as you did.

"I don't think they're here for the Queen, love," you heaved for breath in warning, still backing him up. "They've planned this."

"Finan!" Osferth barked, "These men have been here before!"

The Saxon roared over the fray, "Danes of Rumcofa have murdered our Queen!" His men jeered in anger, making Finan brandish both swords and for Osferth to push you back further from the attention. "Do your duty and rid the cockles from the wheat!"

You were left no choice. Osferth and you both armed yourselves, starting to fight off the Saxons as their leader demanded Danes and Christians be separated. You were unable to help, engaged in battle, but Young Uhtred gathered the Danes and begged Father Benedict to declare the church a sanctuary - thinking it would save lives.

It was only leading the Danes to slaughter.

The Saxon, Bresal, punched Father Benedict when he tried to stand in the way; his men holding Young Uhtred in the doorway to let their men enter the church the Danes were gathered in. They forced Young Uhtred to watch the massacre - men, women, and Danish children all slaughtered with no escape. No hope. No answer to a single prayer. Nobody to stop this bloody situation.

You fought on, Osferth, Finan, and Cynleaf doing their best to protect you by keeping you in the middle of their wee group. But you still got plenty of action.

"This is madness!" You cried out, slicing a man's throat open. "We need aid! We need more men!"

"This way!" Finan encouraged, "We must cut a path for Ingrith! Check the docks! Check the docks!"

You and Osferth ran towards the water, Cynleaf not far away. You searched for Ingrith, but you had no time to linger; engaged one-on-one again, forced to protect yourself and unborn baby. Not a minute later, you saw Ingrith on horseback, being stalled by a Saxon and for your husband to rush to her aid. He punched the man away from the horse, you hacking at another enemy, in time to see Osferth engaging with two Saxons - one being the leader, Bresal.

It all happened so fast.

You were already racing towards them when the unexpected. Osferth was battling on two fronts, holding Bresal at bay, fending off the other Saxon, screaming for Ingrith, who only managed a few paces before the Saxon's dogs spooked her horse. The noise was deafening; people screaming, crying, dogs barking, horses whinnying, swords singing as they clashed.

You watched it happen in slow motion.

You sprinted faster than ever before.

"INGRITH!" Osferth bellowed in worry when her horse reared back and dropped her to the dirt. It left an opening for Bresal to stab his dagger into Osferth's lung - freezing time and wrecking your world.

"NO!" You screamed, Bresal smirking at you and yanking his dagger free. Osferth wobbled, eyes wide as he met yours, the Saxon walking away as Osferth dropped to his knees. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Oh, God, no, no, you can't take him - not yet! Please, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," You repeated, sliding on your knees in the dirt to catch him. "No, no, oh, my God, no, Osferth, no, please! Not now, not now, please, no, God, no! Don't do this! Please, please, please," you rambled, readjusting to better hold him, hearing Cynleaf and Finan yell for Baby Monk, too. You raged at God, "You can't take him yet! You can't have him! He's mine!"

But you heard nothing except your husband's labored breathing.

"An-Angel, angel, my angel," Osferth choked, wheezing and crying as he couldn't hold himself up and completely slumped back into your body. He pawed at your arms in an attempt to get closer.

"No, no, no, you're all right, you're okay, you're okay, my sweet love, you're all right," you insisted, hands stained in his blood as it poured from his wound. You knew it was essential to add pressure to a wound, but also, that this was all futile. Yet you needed to try. "Hey, hey, hey, look at me, just look at me, sweetheart, please, only look at me, nothing else matters," you pleaded with him in a rush, the lads sprinting to where you held your husband to your lap.

Nobody interrupted you.

"Where's the wound?" Osferth sobbed, trembling, blood spurting from his mouth; going paler by the minute. "Angel, please, the wound? Where's the wound?"

"No, no, no, don't worry 'bout that, hey? Don't you worry, you just keep looking at me," you sobbed, holding his neck and cradling him to your swollen belly. "Just at me, my love, okay? Just look at me - don't look anywhere else, okay? Nothing else matters."

"H-How bad? How ba-ba-bad-bad is i-it?"

"You're going to be all right," you lied to Osferth for the first time.

"Oh, my God, oh, my God," Osferth repeated through his tears and fears, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die."

He held onto you desperately, sobbing, you slowly rocking. "No, you're all right, Osferth, it's okay, just look at me." You caressed his cheek, smearing blood, but locking eyes. "My love," you whispered, "listen to me - "

"I don't wanna die, please, please, angel, my love, please," he coughed, holding your arm tightly as if it would give him life. "Don't let me die," he wheezed, "don't let me die, my love, please, please. Don't let me die, I don't wanna die. I-I wanna meet our baby, please, I want to meet our baby, I want to be a father. Don't let me die, love, please, I-I wanna be your husband longer - "

"You'll never not be my husband and you'll never not be a father, hear me?" You sniffled, trying to smile at him. "Don't you worry, you're gonna be okay, you're okay, Osferth. You'll always be my husband, nothing will change that - I swear."

Blood pumped with each beat of his frantic heart, making it gush over your fingers. You didn't even feel it.

"Please," he choked, more blood bubbling from his lips, "don't let me die, I don't wanna die. Don't let me die, please, not now, not when our baby isn't here yet, please, I just wanna meet 'em, be a family, I wanna stay with you, don't let me go. Please, don't let me go, I don't want t'go! Don't let me - "

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay. I'm here with you. I'm right here, Osferth, you're not alone, you're never alone. I'm here. I've got you. I'll always have you, I won't ever let you go. Never."

He sobbed harder. "I don't wanna leave you. Please, I don't wanna go, I don't wanna be without you - " But the words choked him, a splatter spraying across your face when he coughed; you didn't even flinch.

"Listen to me," you begged, "I commend you, my dear, sweet husband, to Almighty God, and entrust you to your Creator."

Finan was heard behind you, retching jarring sobs as you read Osferth his death rite prayer. "Don't let me die," Osferth begged still, as if you held that power.

He had always looked at you as if you hung the sun and stars, and now, as if you were his very reason for living. You hated God in that moment for forcing you two through this.

"May you return to Him who formed you from the dust of the earth. May Holy Mary, the angels," now, you choked on your words, emotion clawing your throat, but still continued, "and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. May Christ who was crucified for you bring you freedom and peace." You sobbed, "May Christ who died for you admit you into His garden of paradise. May Christ, the true Shepherd, acknowledge you as one of His flock. May He forgive all your sins, and set you among those He has chosen. Amen. Please, please, say amen, Osferth, say it, please!"

"A-Amen - Amen!" He coughed, trying to get closer to you, nestling into your warmth as he felt impossibly cold. "Don't leave me, don't leave me, please, please, I don't wanna go, I don't wanna be alone. I can't go without you, please, don't let me go - don't let me die, angel, please, I can't go without you. I-I’ve never been without you my whole life, I don’t wish to start now. I love you. I-I love you, please, don't let me go, I love you. I need you."

"You'll never be without me," you promised, face coated in blood, grime, dirt, and ash; all streaked with your tear tracks. "You will always be my husband, hey? Hear me? You're always gonna be with me, I will never be apart from you. I'll love you forever, Osferth, I won't ever stop." You felt your chest cave in as you sobbed, "Please, don't you leave me - "

But Osferth was wheezing and panting, only staring up at you. "I only need you," he whimpered, "I've only ever needed you, I can't do this without you. Please, I can't - I can't go without you. I don't want to leave you, I can't leave you, please!'

"So don't leave me," you sobbed, him still clawing at you in desperation. "I love you more than life, Osferth, please, don't leave me, okay? Don't go. I love you so much. Being loved by you was my greatest pleasure in this life, I want our child to know your love, too, Osferth, please, don't go."

"I-I wanna meet our baby, I wanna hold 'em, love 'em," he repeated. "Please, this can't be the end, don't let this be the end. W-We have so much more - we were supposed to have eternity together, my love, my angel, please! This isn't the end, I can't - I can't go without you!"

"You're okay," you soothed uselessly, rocking more prominently. "Just stay with me, my love, okay? Stay with me. Don't go. Only look at me, all right? You hear me?" You sniffled, caressing his cheek. "You're the best thing in my life, Osferth, yeah? Understand me? Where you're going, y-you'll be welcomed a hero, with open arms. You'll be my own angel. My real angel. The reason I keep going for our child. An-And you'll stay there just for a little while until I join you, okay? You'll watch over us, me and the baby, right? Our own angel? Hey? 'Cause you'll never be part from us - you'll never be apart from me. You and I are a forever sorta thing, we'll never be apart, we'll always be part of each other no matter what."

Osferth lost his words, eyes widening and pulling you closer.

You just soothed, "I'm here with you, my love. I'm here, I've got you. You're not alone, I'm right here, I have you. I've got you. I love you. I love you so fucking much, Osferth, okay? I love you more than anything, you're my everything. I love you," you sniffled, breaking down in worse sobs, repeating, "I love you, I love you, I love you so much, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I wasn't faster, I love you, this shouldn't be happening. I'm so sorry, I should've come faster! I love you, I'm so sorry."

With his last breath, Osferth choked, "L-Love y-y-you."

"I love you," you hushed, bending at the waist to rest your forehead on his, "I love you so much. You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be all right, you'll be safe - where you're going, you'll be safe. I'm so sorry, my love... I'm so sorry."

You felt him go still. You felt the last of his breath exhale, his body deflate. You felt his soul detach from his body.

You froze.

"Oh, my God," you breathed, pulling back to look down at his petrified features. "Oh, my God, no, no, no. God, please, please, give him back," you sobbed, "give him back to me! Do not take him! It's not his time, you selfish cunt! Give him back! It wasn't supposed to end like this! Give him back to me, please! Please! This isn't how this was supposed to happen! We promised eternity together, please! Let us have that! Let us be together, give him back to me! I need him!"

Your shrill hysterics were heard all over Rumcofa.

Finan sobbed into his wife's arms behind you, Cynleaf knelt to slowly extend his hand onto your shoulder. "I'm so sorry," he offered, but you pushed him away harshly; knocking him into the dirt.

"No! I don't want your fucking condolences!" You snapped, holding Osferth tighter, "I want my husband! I want my husband back! Can you give him to me? Can you, Cynleaf? Can you give him back to me!?"

"No - "

"Then you have nothing to offer me! I want nothing else, nothing from you! I only want him!" You looked away from the young lad, finding Osferth's wide open eyes staring up at you. You whimpered, "I only need him, so, please. Please, give him back to me. Please. I need him, I need him, I can't do this without him, please, God, don't do this. You take so many lives, why add him to the mix!? Give him back! C'mon," you begged the cooling body, "c'mon, love, get up. Get up for me, please, just wake up. Come back to me, get up... Get up, Osferth, get up! Please! WAKE UP!"

But Osferth never moved. Never blinked. Never drew breath. And God never answered your pleas. Your dress was saturated in your husband's blood; a pooling puddle seeping into your knees, bodice drenched, his baby moving in your belly. You wailed into the still air, holding your husband tight to your chest; mouth agape to release the terrible screams of anguish, tears never ending, rocking on your knees. You didn't know what to feel... But devastation was prominent.

You wept until your throat went raw, jaw tender from your open mouth. "I'm so sorry!" You repeated, "I should've been quicker! I should've been at your side! You shouldn't have been alone! This is my fault! This is all my fault, I shouldn't have been away from you. I should've been with you, you did not deserve this end. Please! Forgive me, wherever you are, forgive me, I did not intend for this, I shouldn't have left you, I should've been at your side, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, I'm so sorry."

"No," Ingrith whispered, "no, do not say this is your fault, you did nothing - "

"Exactly!" You snapped at her, eyes ablaze, her husband silent. "I did nothing, I wasn't with him! I wasn't where I was supposed to be! And he was stabbed because of you!"

Finan whispered your name in reprimand.

"No! How many times have you rode a fucking horse, Ingrith!? And now, today, the time it truly matters, you fall; you posed distraction," you sobbed, crumpling in on yourself. "He was distracted by your fall... This shouldn't've happened, this is all wrong!"

The trio just watched you, knowing your emotions were raw and unwavering, that your words did not have meaning because your husband had just died in your arms. Hours passed, you did not move. Hours passed, your husband did not return. Hours passed, and your heart shattered with each passing breath you selfishly drew.

Because living felt selfish now without Osferth.

"Sweet one," Finan whispered, the sun setting, "we should move him. Bring him to the church so Benedict can pray."

Your head shook, "No."

"Darlin', we have to - "

"No," you whimpered, "because if you take him to Benedict, it's real. If we move, he's truly gone... He can't be gone, Finan," you sobbed, meeting your friend's eyes. "If you move him, he's gone, I'm not ready to say goodbye, please. Please, don't take him from me."

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, "but he should be laid to rest."

"Don't take him from me," you begged, a new wave of tears starting. "I just - we were supposed to be a family. We were supposed to have this baby, and now, it's just me? This cannot be, so please, don't take him from me, I only need him back. Give him back to me, Finan, please, I can't be without him."

"I know," he nodded, gently encouraging you into his embrace. It meant you had to let go of Osferth, something you did slowly and gradually, leaning into the Irishman's chest. "All right, I got yah," he whispered, looking to his wife. "C'mon, stand with Ingrith. I'll carry him."

"Be gentle," you sobbed, feeling Ingrith grip your arms to help heave you to your feet; watching Finan scoop Osferth over his shoulder. The change of position made more blood splatter to the dirt, your heart stalling in your chest when you heard the mess.

You felt your soul shriveled and hidden somewhere deep in your chest, following as if in a trance. You watched Finan and Cynleaf slowly lower Osferth to the ground with the other dead Danes, feeling yourself drop to the ground in shock.

Seeing Osferth amongst the dead made it so much more real.

"It's all my fault," you sobbed, Finan moving to your side, "it's all my fault, I got him killed. I should've been quicker. This is my fault, my fault, I did this, 's my fault."

Finan knelt beside you, bringing your foreheads together to hold you tightly and let you sob into his embrace. "You didn't do this," he promised, "you did nothing wrong. You are not at fault. Do not carry this guilt."

You sobbed without reprieve.

Young Uhtred halted Father Benedict from praying over the Danes, telling the older man they had different customs, but looked back at you. He asked your name softly, wondering, "Do you wish for a prayer for... Him?"

Even Young Uhtred couldn't stomach the truth, avoiding using Osferth's name out of sheer disbelief.

"That'd be nice," Finan agreed, turning to sit beside you and hold you under his arm. You leaned into his embrace, head to his shoulder. "She read him his death rites when... It happened."

Young Uhtred nodded, bowing his head, leading, "Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Then, you joined from under Finan's heavy arm, sobbing through your words, "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death."

Benedict finished, "Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end."

Together, you, Ingrith, Young Uhtred, Benedict, Finan, and even Cynleaf ended, "Amen."

Feeling the most level-headed, Ingrith stepped in and directed the men; informing that Young Uhtred should lead the remaining Danes to Daneland, Finan and Cynleaf would meet Uhtred on the road, and she would accompany you to Wessex - where Osferth could be laid to rest at the place of his birth. Then, the people mourned together for their fallen.

Finan disagreed initially, telling his wife you were his responsibility now that Osferth was passed. But there was no way you could continue with the company, not in your pregnant state. Finan didn't like the idea of you being without him, considering you close to a sister; something of a best mate, someone he couldn't turn his back on - no matter the situation. However, he understood the predicament and finally agreed to part ways, but not before he untied Osferth's crucifix and latched it around your neck. At the gates of Rumcofa, before separating, Finan gifted you his rosary; thinking it might bring comfort in his physical absence.

Years from then, you would bring up a single son named Gabriel (a name your husband favored, a name benefitting an Angel) under Lord Uhtred in his birthplace of Bebbanburg. You never remarried. You never even so much as looked after another man with lust. Gabriel would grow into a handsome warrior and a devoted man of God, satisfied on tales about his father; being painted as a man of honor, integrity, and bravery. Osferth, too, was a man of God, a man of the sword, and a man of his word... Until the very end. And when your time came, you were brought back to Wessex to be laid to rest with your husband; your son having a son, naming him Osferth, and knowing, both his parents shined down on him in pride.

It was a comfort for everyone to know, somewhere in the afterlife, in God's warmth, you and Osferth were reunited; looking just as you did the day you parted from one another.

requesting rules and masterlist

[hollowed-theory-hall]

What do you think Voldemort's sexuality is?

Well, it could honestly be anything since we don't really know. Like, you can headcanon away pretty securely here because Voldemort's romantic endeavors aren't something that's explored in the books. (I do not count Cursed Child as canon)

I'm not very fussed about whether he's attracted to men, women, both, or neither, I think the more interesting question here is how Tom Riddle/Voldemort views sex and romance. In connection with himself, that is.

Because Tom is interesting in that respect, he's both incredibly distrusting and doesn't allow himself to get too attached, but at the same time, he is desperate for a real human connection and understanding. This kinda leads me to believe Tom likes the idea of romance but thinks himself incapable of it (whether he's aro or not, doesn't actually matter, it's more about what he thinks about it). I think Tom/Voldemort is likely to convince himself he is above plebian things such as romantic attachment and love, not because he doesn't want it (he does, even if he won't say it) but because he fears he's incapable of it. I think he would like the concept of someone who is his, but he also never really saw a good healthy relationship, and his views on what a romance is are a little skewed. But because of his fear that he can't experience these feelings — this sort of attachment — he would convince himself it isn't a weakness or failure on his part, but a strength. He doesn't need to busy himself with such frivolous pursuits.

I think sex is actually something Tom/Voldemort would find easier to be interested in. Sex is a physical need, it's about practicality. Viewing sex in this cold and logical way is something Tom would have an easier time getting behind. He knows how to deal with things people need and want. So, I think a purely physical relationship without the romantic side would be easier for Tom to rationalize and keep his act with. Because real romance requires emotional vulnerability, which... yeah, Voldemort's not great at that.

With a romantic relationship (if he were to have one), I think he would get sentimental, but he's going to be really weird about it. I mean, full-on control freak, obsessive Voldemort. It's not going to be pretty and very few partners are probably going to be able to handle it. I also don't see Tom/Voldemort allowing himself emotional vulnerability, it'll take a while to wear him down, but beneath all his walls, he really does want human connection. And once he has one, I imagine he'd be pretty damn possessive and protective of it.

Tom is not really about give-and-take relationships, though, it's his way or the highway, which doesn't really work in a healthy relationship. He likes to have control over everything. He would want to continue his academic magical pursuits and he wouldn't allow a relationship to get in his way, but he would also be very protective of this one real connection and wouldn't let anything get in its way. I think Tom would love a lot of attention from his partner, honestly. I think he'd thrive on being the most important person for someone.

Basically, Tom Riddle/Voldemort isn't dating material for a healthy human being, but I think that's obvious.

[angel-eyes05]

bite the hand (chapter 5)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

pairing: spider-woman!oc x miguel o’hara 

summary: lorena's whole world was taken away from her in the blink of an eye, after she accidentally broke a canon event. lucky for her though, she was able to find a portal watch in her dimension and used it to get out before she glitched out of existence. unfortunately though, running from dimension to dimension, she's been named as an anomaly by the spider society. now, she's constantly on the run from them, their leader in particular. when she eventually gets caught though, she's recruited onto a mission to catch another anomaly who might be from her past. to her dismay though, her partner on this mission is her very captor. will she be able to stop arguing with him for long enough to get the job done?

info: enemies to lovers, maybe a slow burn depending on chapter count, oc is 24 and miguel is 27, both oc and miguel are super sad lmao, they're also both super violent so, they also hate each other what a slay, in regards to my oc you can read her character sheet right here

warnings: there might be spoilers for atsv in this so watch the movie before reading this, cursing, blood mentions

word count: 1.9k

notes: i had a little trouble with this one but we're chill now lmao

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

Lorena found it slightly confusing when she saw the orange, hexagonal inside of the portal disappear, but still had this falling sensation. That was until she saw the tops of buildings pass by her face, and the wind breaking through her body started to sting her arms. She was still falling. And the ground was getting increasingly closer. This was of course the perfect time for her web shooters to jam up, as she slammed her fists together like that was going to do anything. 

Her acid webs wouldn’t be much help, as they would disintegrate through anything it would touch. She decided to try anyways. She winced as the burning acid ripped through the gloves on her suit and shot onto the glass windows of a nearby building. Lorena was granted some relief when it stuck at first, getting her to stop falling for about 5 seconds. This was until it eventually dissolved the glass, causing her to continue falling before she could get herself to attach to the wall of the building. 

Accepting her fate, she quickly braced for the impact of the concrete quickly approaching. Then, she felt the sudden impact. Not of the gravel though. Of a web slamming onto her stomach just before she hit the ground. She was surprised the whiplash didn’t kill her. Then again, she was surprised a lot of things hadn’t killed her yet. Lorena looked up to see Miguel, basically hanging off the edge of a building, holding onto the web attached to her for dear life. He pulled her up slowly, as she took moments to catch her breathe, currently high on adrenaline from the mix of the chase the the near death experience.

“Hold on!” Lorena heard Miguel call out. “Why?” she called back. She didn’t feel very reassured when she saw him duck behind the building roof so she couldn’t see him. “O’Hara?” Quiet. “O’Hara I swear to god if you leave me hanging here!” “Shut up and let me focus!” She thought she was hallucinating for a second when she thought she felt the web swinging slightly. Once she felt the full force of her body rocking back and forth though, she knew she wasn’t. She quickly grabbed onto the web for leverage as she swung in the sky.

Lorena wasn’t normally afraid of heights, having gotten used to swinging through the skyline early on into her career, but something about her life being in the hands of someone who was previously trying to kill her made her just a little bit nervous. Her screams rang out in the sky as she was fulled propelled into the air above the buildings. She looked down to see Miguel using his strength to swing the web up into the air, then basically slamming her down into the cold, wet, gravel roof. She coughed, the wind knocked out of her lungs, and the force of her getting slammed onto the roof quickly reminding her of the pain in her arm and leg from the bullets.

“What the fuck was that!” she shouted at him, slowly and shakily standing up. “What do you mean, I saved you,” he said calmly, looking down below from the edge of the roof. “No, I mean couldn’t you just pull me up normally?” “This way was quicker.” “Ok, then what about dropped the portal in the middle of the fucking sky?!” “You think I can control that?” Lorena just groaned at him, inspecting the bullet wounds. “Okay, we need to get movi-.” “Can you give me a fucking second, pendejo,” she cut him off. “What do you need now?” he asked annoyed. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just need a minute to take the fucking bullets out of my body, which by the way, was your fault.” He just rolled his eyes at her, and braced his side with his hand. He probably got injured too, but she was too mad at him to care right now. 

Lorena stuck herself in a far corner by the roof, the rain making a soft pitter patter sound on the roof. Since she, obviously, didn’t have any medical gear, she had to use her fingers to get the bullets out. She dug her pointer and middle finger into the hole on her tricep, wiggling them around to try and pull out the bullet. She groaned as blood squirted out of her arm once she finally got the bullet out. She took a moment to herself catch her breath, her arm throbbing in pain. 

She could feel Miguel’s persistent stare on her from the other side of the roof. She knew she should probably ask for his help, but she was too mad at him right now. She wasn’t even sure why she was. She knew that he didn’t mean to drop them where he did. But it was definitely his fault for getting chased through the streets. The pain circulating through her body was calling to her attention though, so she decided to put the thoughts away for now. She detached her left glove from her suit and bundled it up to her arm to try and stop the bleeding. 

Now, she would have to reach back to her right hamstring. She tried stand up to reach back there, but she was too busy using her right arm to press the glove onto her other arm, and her left hand couldn’t reach. “Are you really gonna be that stubborn, chiquita?” There was that nickname again. Lorena hated it. She hated him. But, here he was, standing above her, mask off, offering her his help. She groaned, but then nodded. He chuckled lightly, the first time she had heard him do so. “Sit,” he said softly. She sat down slowly, extending both legs out in front of her. 

She blushed a little bit as his big hands scooped up her right leg, his suit disintegrating off of his hands so it wouldn’t get dirty from the blood. She couldn’t help but think back to her dream from the other day. How close they were to each other. How his hands felt on her bare skin. She found herself having to keep herself from resting her head on his chest. Though that might’ve been dizziness from the blood loss.

Her dreamlike ideal of him disappeared though when he roughly shoved his pointer finger into the wound. “¡Ay, chingado!” she yelped. She looked up at him, who had a smug look on his face. “Was that really necessary?” Lorena said, shifting to get more comfortable. “That was for the attitude earlier. Glove,” he said, holding his hand out. She ripped her right suit glove from her hand and handed it to him. He looked at her hand for a second before taking it. He then darted his eyes back down to her leg. He was a little gentler now when he pressed the glove to her injury, using his calloused hand to cradle her thigh. 

They were both silent for a bit. Until.

“Does it hurt you?”

“What?”

“The webs. You have a bunch of burns on your wrist.”

Oh, that’s what he was referring to.

“Sometimes. But I think I’ve gotten used to it.”

A soft hmm.

Then more silence. 

“Why the sudden interest?”

He took a bit to answer. “I just thought. If they didn’t hurt, you could’ve used them back there. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten shot.”

An annoyed look formed on Lorena’s face. “I wouldn’t have gotten shot at all if you didn’t get us in trouble in the first place.”

She yelped again when he suddenly increased the pressure on her wound, and slapped his arm in response.

“What’d you even say to her?” “I didn’t say anything.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed. “I owed her. I left her behind on a mission one time. She wanted to get back at me.”

“So you let her men chase both of us with guns?!?!” she bursted out. “I didn’t think anything of it!” he argued. “And look at where that got us!” Lorena yelled, pointing at his hands, covered in her blood. “I wouldn’t have…” He trailed off in his words. “What?! You wouldn’t have what?!” she pushed. “I wouldn’t have done it if I knew you were going to get hurt.”

He sounded like he was almost embarrassed by those words. Like it took every ounce of his confidence to say it. Because why on earth would he try to protect someone like her? An anomaly. Destroyer of worlds. She was cursed. And she was going to curse him if he didn’t try to stop her. His walls had to stay up. But something about her was so enticing to him. He didn’t know what. But he had to stop himself before it was too late.

She turned her face away from him, slightly embarrassed by how she lashed out before. He could hear her mumble something. “Speak up.”

“Thank you. For catching me,” she said quickly after. “Even if your landing was rough,” Lorena added on, almost as if she was correcting herself. Miguel smiled.

“You’re welcome, chiquita.”

The nickname didn’t sound so bad to her this time.

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

Earth-526. He didn’t just drop them in some random dimension like Lorena thought. He was here. She could just bump into him randomly on the rainy street. The thought made all of the confidence she had built up over the mission wash away with the rain. Miguel noticed her fidgeting with her hands as the set up camp in a random alleyway. “¿Qué pasa?” he asked softly. “¿Qué quieres decir?” she responded, eyes glued outside to the street, almost as if she took her eyes away for a second, Eddie would pop up right next to her.

“You keep picking at your fingers.” “Glad you noticed.” He stayed quiet for a bit.

“If you don’t feel comfortable…I can send you back.”

She turned to look at him this time. He seemed serious. He was so set on making her stay a while ago. What made him change his mind? She took a second to think about it. “You can make up your debt some other way.” Was he letting her go? No, he wasn’t. If she backed out now, she would probably get put back in that cage until they found her useful for another mission. And if she would back out of that one, the cycle would keep continuing. She’d come so far already. She wouldn’t let her past get in the way of her future.

“I got it O’Hara. Don’t worry.” He nodded. “Okay.” Miguel looked back at his watch. “It’s late. And neither of us are gonna get better by sleeping on the street. I’ll get us a motel room for the night. Is that ok?” No response. She was too busy dissociating. “¡Oyé!” he said, snapping his fingers. That caught her attention. “It’s fine if you stay, but you can’t be getting distracted like this.” He walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I need you paying attention. I’m not risking my life to come and get you when things start to get messy and you’re stuck in la la land.” It almost sounded like he added the last sentence on as extra, just to make sure he didn’t sound too caring. Lorena just nodded. “Say it back.” 

“I’ll be fine,” she said in a detached tone. He sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get through to her now. “Come on lets go.” He put his arm to her back to lead her out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk towards the motel.

Except this time, she wasn’t so eager to move away from his touch.

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

NEXT CHAPTER

a/n: y'all are gonna have to keep me AWAY from the one bed trope next chapter cause im not strong enough to not do it lmao. also i just wanna clarify, im not gonna stop writing this. i was just posting the scent of you to try and boost my interactions cause they were getting really low with this fic (which kinda worked lmao). but im not gonna stop writing it cause i really enjoy writing this story and we're about to get into the juicy stuff with eddie's introduction. i just need to learn to write without validation lmao its a struggle😭 but yeah just a quick psa lmao be on the look out for the next chapter!!!!

taglist: @the-ikran-man @jenniferdixon05207 @yuuuumii @elwyn7 @waniesss @lust-for-pan @natthernandez @pix-stuff @ang3lf4c3 @artfulthoughtswp

[dmwrites]

Gem was wandering around the community area, gardening as a stress relief, when she saw in the chat that Joe had died to a skeleton.

“AAAHHH oh hi Gem nice to see ya!” Joe appeared in the garden next to her, looking harried.

“Hi Joe! Do you need help? Do you want me to kill something?” Gem rose to her feet and wiped the dirt off of her hands.

“I wouldn’t want to bother your stress-gardening time.” Joe said.

“It’s okay! Killing mobs can also relieve stress!” Gem grabbed her sword.

“Thanks Gem!” Joe smiled at her and lead the way over to the cave he had been trekking through. Gem killed a bunch of zombies while Joe ran to his things. They both had to very quickly escape the cave after that because a horde of creepers decided to rain down on them.

“Man, that cave was intense!” Gem said, throwing a few more of Joe’s items at him. “Even you still look a little pale from it!”

Joe chuckled and looked away. “The monsters still get me I guess. Well, thanks for helping. See ya later!” He walked off rather fast and abruptly.

Joe’s troubles, however, seemed to continue. One, two, three times he fell off of his roof and died. On the third death message, Gem headed over to his house to make sure everything was okay.

Joe was picking up his items as she approached him, but something was definitively different about him. Most notably, she could see the brick wall that should have been blocked by his body.

“Joe? Are you… okay?”

Joe turned around to look at her with a wildly frustrated and surprised look on his face, which she could also see though.

“Ah, yes, I can understand why this might be distressing for you. It’s been so long since we had newcomers, I forgot you didn’t know.” Joe finished picking up his items. “Come inside, let me explain myself. I need a break from falling off of roofs anyway.”

He lead her inside and sighed. “I’m so sorry for all of this, it’s been quite the day for me too, if that’s any consolation. So, you may be looking at me and wondering why I am looking so light and airy. And more see-through then normal. All valid questions.”

“Joe, for goodness sake, stop doing a soliloquy and just tell the damn story.” Cleo fell through a hole in the ceiling and landed on the floor next to Gem. “I swear, he tells this story like he’s trying to reach the word count on an essay.”

“Cleo! Hey! How long have you been in my house?” Joe asked, looking tiredly at the new hole in the ceiling.

“I was rotting in your attic for like a whole day to see if that would improve my mental health. It did, which is good because you seem to be going through it extensively. Now tell Gem the story before we traumatize her more.”

“Fine, okay, abridged version. So way back in my meddling days I did some things that I shouldn't have to a person I should have stayed far away from. I didn’t stay away, and they cursed me for the rest of my life. Basically, whenever I die, like, for instance, falling off a roof, a percentile of my living being disintegrates. With every death, I become closer to the spirit world then this one, so I begin to loose color and transparency. And eventually, I lose my sense of self.”

“He turns green and malevolent. It’s funny.” Cleo said.

“And that all get resets once a day at 6am. An infinite death loop, an eternal punishment.” Joe sighed. “It’s become easier over time to deal with. Being transparent isn’t too bad, but the Other Joe isn’t my favorite. He likes to cause property damage and steal.”

“Joe… i don’t even know what to say.” Gem looked utterly bewildered.

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s old news to most. You can, however, now put your hand through my chest and grab a golden apple as a reward for helping me and bring so kind today.”

Gem did just that, and it was very weird to see her arm through Joe. He and Cleo waved Gem off.

“Watch out for green malevolent creatures!” Joe called, still very transparent.

“Like Shrek!” Cleo said.

“No, I don’t think Shrek is canonical to Hermitcraft, but honestly-” Joe’s voice cut out as Gem walked away.

Gem walked straight to Pearl’s house and kicked open the door.

“Pearl, holy shit, you’re not gonna believe what I just found out.”

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Boom, what if they knocked down and tied up Tommy before he killed anyone (like Sam in 94) and now reader and the gang are just dragging around Tommy (scary dog privileges). And reader is just talking to him to ease their nerves and it seems like he still understands them even if he's just responding in huff, grunts, and aggressive nods

Ooh!!!! This is such a cool idea!!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

Are You in There? (Tommy Slater x Reader)

Warnings: angst, mentions of restraints and a gag, Tommy is trying to kill everyone still, possessed!Tommy, the reader and Arnie kind of sit on the sidelines while Alice and Cindy do everything :), Arnie and Alice are canon compliantly jerks, discussed murder/abandonment

Word Count: 1.5k

You sat with Tommy's head in your lap. You were trying to keep him calm by petting his head, rubbing his temples. But this wasn't just a headache you were trying to cure.

Something was seriously wrong with your boyfriend. Like, seriously wrong.

He'd gone for an axe, just before you, Cindy, Arnie, and Alice had stopped him. You'd tied him up, and even gagged him. If you didn't, he'd yell and try to bite. And if his hands were free? Well, he'd already given Arnie a nasty bruise on the cheek and he'd nearly thrown Cindy. He was like a feral dog more than your sweet Tommy, and, well, you needed to not draw attention to where the five of you had gone exploring. Especially with what was in the next room.

Really, how would you explain your boyfriend's sudden urge to kill everyone he saw? Even if you did show them the room that Alice and Cindy had found, his name on the wall, it still sounded crazy. And what would they do with him?

You shook your head. It didn't matter, because it wasn't going to happen. You were going to fix him. You'd told him that a few times. Without mobility and the ability to bite or yell, the boy in your lap settled for glares full of hatred as his only response.

It was a little jarring to see him look at you with such contempt. Usually, his eyes were soft and kind. He was nice to everyone, but he saved a special part of his sweetness for you. And now?

You sighed as you brushed your hand over his cheek, trying to will this away with your thoughts alone. This wasn't your Tommy. It looked like him, but, whoever this was, it wasn't the man that you fell in love with.

"What are we gonna do?" Cindy asked, her arms folded in front of her. You were wondering the same thing, and your heart sank when Alice said,

"I say we leave his ass." And both you and Cindy cried out at the same time,

"No!"

"We can't!" And the pair of you looked at eachother, and then at the bleached blonde. It comforted you that at least Cindy was on your side, but hurt was etched in your face as you started at Alice. You couldn't believe that she would just leave him behind. But, Arnie sided with his girlfriend,

"Did you two forget the part where he tried to axe me? And then punched me in the face? Or, Cindy, when he fucking threw you?" And you grimaced. Yeah, Tommy hadn't exactly done himself any favors when it came to getting people on his side. But, you looked up at them, and then directly at Alice.

"You saw his name on that wall, Alice. Whatever this is- whatever that is," You said, and pointed towards the room. "It's not Tommy. It's the witch." And you knew, you knew, that you were right. You could feel it. And you knew she did too. How else could you explain everything? Nurse Lane had been right about everything so far, so you grabbed the book from her. She yelled,

"Hey!" When you snatched it but you didn't care. You flipped through it, and read from it,

"She reaches from beyond the grave to make good men her wicked slaves- See! This is what I mean! Tommy's possessed." You said, and, the three of them looked between eachother. You knew Alice and Arnie, to some degree, believed in the witch. But Cindy?

"Don't be ridiculous. The witch isn't real." And you gave her a glare. You gestured towards the room, and then asked,

"Oh, so did that just develop over time? Listen to yourself, Cindy! That's witchcraft!" You yelled, and Tommy shook in your lap. Your rising voice seemed to be riling him up, and you quickly shushed him. You stroked his face, trying to calm him, but he didn't calm so easily. He huffed and shook, but when you started scratching his scalp, in a place you knew he liked, he seemed to falter for a second. He sighed, and you watched as he settled. It made part of your heart swell, even if his eyes didn't soften.

"So- So, what if it is the witch?" Alice started, and you looked up in surprise. Everyone looked to her, and she continued with, "Well, Nurse Lane- Nurse Lane tried to kill Tommy. Maybe, we should-" And you couldn't believe what she was saying. First leaving him and now killing him? You stared at her in shock, and you were quick to yell,

"No!" And, thank God, Cindy agreed with you. She was quick to ask,

"Are you crazy? You want to kill someone? Kill Tommy?" And, you swore that Cindy was possibly the only one with sense between the three of them. Already, you were missing Tommy's even-tempered mind. Quickly, she tried to defend herself,

"Well, what else are we supposed to do with psycho here?" She said, gesturing towards him. You broke in, your voice even as you said,

"We help him. We break the curse." Your voice was serious, even if Arnie scoffed. You glared at him, and your voice was almost deadly as you stared at him and said, "He would do it for you." You paused, looking at Cindy before settling on Alice. "Tommy would do it if it was any of you." And neither Alice or Arnie seemed to have a smart remark to reply to that with. They knew it was true. Tommy was just like that. He wouldn't even give it a second thought. Even if he didn't believe in the witch, or her stupid curse.

"Well, how exactly are we supposed to break the curse?" Arnie said, and you didn't even have to answer. Alice, from memory, said in a deadpan voice,

"By cutting off her cursed hand, she keeps her grip upon the land." And then you watched as she let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. It seemed the situation was weighing heavily on everyone. "We have to find Sarah Fiers hand and put it back with the rest of her body." Alice said, and the four of you looked between eachother. Yeah, this wasn't exactly the treasure hunt you had planned for later on in the week. Sarcastically, Arnie said,

"Great. This is gonna be so fun."

***

Getting Tommy up had been an ordeal all in itself. He'd thrashed, squirmed, and basically tried to harm anyone around him in any way he could. And getting him through the crawlspace you'd found behind the desk? Yeah, right. So, you and Arnie sat in the creepy room with all the creepy names, with Tommy's head back in your lap. At first, you'd offered to watch him by yourself, but the three of them had each given you a glance.

Getting him restrained between the four of them had been difficult, but leaving him with just you? Yeah, no way. So, Arnie sat a few feet away with his back against the wall, playing with a loose string of his tank top, just in case Tommy got loose. You, on the other hand, were talking to Tommy.

"Y'know, after all this is over, I bet the witch would make a great Halloween costume." You said, rambling on about anything and everything that came to your mind. You were trying to understand the curse more. The whole 'wicked slaves' thing was sort of vague. Part of you wondered if Tommy was even still there, or if it was the witch inside him. But, you'd started to lean towards the former a little bit. Tommy grunted. It was muffled behind the gag, but that wasn't the first time.

He seemed to be almost reacting to some of the things you said, even if the reaction wasn't always kind. When you argued earlier, he'd gotten riled up. But, when you talked to him like this, all he did was let out little grunts and huffs.

You stared down at him. At his strawberry blonde hair and his crystal blue eyes. He had a cut jaw, and nice cheekbones. You even smiled as you traced the dimple in his chin. He was your kind, sweet, perfect boyfriend. And you weren't going to let a stupid witch have him.

"Are you in there, Tommy?" You whispered, tracing his jaw. You just wanted to know, wanted some sort of sign. Something solid. Something sure. But, before you could ask him something else, Arnie let his hands fall to his lap with a clap and said,

"Can you not get all," He interrupted himself with a gesture of his hands, and you gave him a look. Really, sometimes, you didn't know what Alice saw in him.

"Are you gonna be an ass all night?" You asked, and, to your surprise, Tommy seemingly huffed in agreement. It made you smile, and, to you, that was as good of a confirmation as any.

[quindolyn]

heyyyyy, can you do harry imagine where when they fight with the death eaters fem reader rescues sirius from bellatrix because she know he is the only relative harry has and gets hurt, so in the hospital harry visits her and thanks her and she tells him that she loves her? like lots of fluff😻

To Be Lovable || Harry Potter

Word Count: 4069

A/N: Hey love, I hope you enjoy this! It was a lot of fun to write.

Warnings: mentions of a broken bone, let’s just pretend that Sirius’ name has already been cleared, obviously not canon, I believe that that is it.

Masterlist

Life had fucked Harry Potter over, that was for sure. It basically said “fuck you” and gave him the responsibility of saving muggle and wizardkind alike. Robbed him of a family, of a childhood, of any semblance of the confidence he so desperately needed. 

But life always outs. Life will always find a way to straighten itself out, even the scales. Life had given Harry Sirius Black, so it was doing a pretty good job so far. Just as life had fucked Harry Potter, it’d fucked Sirius Black too.

When life gave them each other it slowly started mending its wrong doings with Sirius’ false imprisonment, Harry’s lack of a father figure, their shared lack of affection of any sort. In Harry Sirius had found a friend, a son and in Sirius, Harry had found a father, someone to care.

You had spent the last five years watching Harry suffer trial after trial all while you suffered a trial of your own, the trial of loving him from afar. As much as you adored Harry, and you really did, how could you not? From the blush that painted his cheeks at the slightest compliment, to the way his glasses sat crooked on his nose, to the messy black mop of hair that sat upon his head the boy was completely and utterly loveable. But it was because of the love you harbored for the boy that you refused to confess your feelings to him, he had more than enough on his plate. The Boy Who Lived most definitely had better things to do with his time than deal with the feelings of a hormonal teenager. Perhaps that was life’s way of fucking with you, making you love a boy who didn’t have it within him to love you back.

Life didn’t get to fuck with Harry Potter anymore, he’d done more than his fair share of suffering, of grieving, he’d more than served a punishment he’d never earned. That’s all you could think about as you saw Bellatrix point her wand at Sirius’ form, laughing maniacally as a jet of green light shot from the tip of her wand, aimed directly at Sirius. 

Head thrown back in laughter, eyes closed, it was clear that he wasn’t going to be able to dodge the curse leaving you with no other option but to full on tackle him. You threw your body at him, aiming to take him down at the knees but failing rather miserably instead wrapping your arms around his chest and instead of knocking him to the ground, making him stumble backward.

Regardless, on the floor, or a few inches to the right, you still managed to knock him out of the curse’s path. Sirius hadn’t realized who was on top of him or that their intentions were good rather than evil, in the heat of the moment, with curses flying to and fro you were flung from his body as he knocked you onto the floor.

As you landed on your side, your arm trapped beneath you, you heard the distinct, sickening snap of what couldn't have been anything other than bone. The sound rang through the din in the room, impossible to miss but yet no one seemed to offer you so much as a glance, anyone except Sirius that was. 

“Shit” He swore, bending down to access the damage, gently turning you on to your back so that he could get a better look at your arm, “I’m so sorry (Y/N).”

“It’s fine Sirius,” You slurred, not daring to look at your arm, the pain you were feeling was enough, you were more than fine without visuals to match. Having never broken a bone before you were not ready for the immense pain that festered in your arm, sharp and stabbing it felt like every single nerve in your arm was being bludgeoned over and over again, mercy be damned.

“You’re slurring your words (Y/N),” Sirius scolded, not angry at you but rather at himself, “You’re not okay and it’s not fine. Now did you hit your head too?”

You thought for a moment, had you hit your head?

Yes, you remembered the thump of your skull against the hard stone of the room hidden deep within the Department of Mysteries, and the more you thought about it, the more clearly you could feel that the dull thrum of pain was still present where the initial impact had occurred.

 “Y-yeah,” You stuttered out, your vision blurring as the man kneeling above you started to fade, “I think so, it hurts.” Black spots began to dance through your vision, the cacophony of noise in the room became a low buzz as the sound of your blood rushing through your veins overwhelmed you. It became the only thing you could hear.

You heard the faint noise of Sirius letting out a slew of curses, not all of which seemed to be in English as his hands moved to your scalp, gently pressing down until a sharp pain coursed through you. 

“Fuck,” Someone, swore, him or you, you weren’t sure. It was very possible it had been either of you as Sirius pulled his hand away from your head and back into your visage. His middle three fingers were soaked in blood, your blood. Crimson and dripping from his digits the metallic scent flooded your nostrils making you work not to gag as you found the stench to be truly nauseating. 

He spoke again, or at least you thought he did as you could faintly make out the whisper of his voice and the moving of his lips.

Faintly you wondered if you heard the familiar voice of a certain bespectacled boy, frantic as he approached you, and the glimpse of dark, messy hair you caught almost convinced you of such. But as more and more blackness took over your vision it became harder and harder to tell until you were completely swallowed, and your eyes blinked closed into a dark, dreamless sleep.

“She’s not exactly asleep,” Someone was talking.

“Well she sure as hell isn’t awake,” There was someone in the room.

“If you’d let me finish Mr. Weasley-”

“Oh shut up,” This voice was new, deeper than either of the previous ones, its posh accent distinctly different than the other two, “No need to condescend the boy just tell us if (Y/N)’s going to be alright. Harry’s going to want to know when he finishes his business with Dumbledore.”

Harry? Was Harry alright? Stupid question, if precedent was anything to go on, he probably wasn’t.

At the mention of his name you felt a wave of energy surge through you, it was only with that energy you were able to blink your eyes open. They desperately wanted to close as the harsh white light of the room flooded your irises but you refused to let them, instead squinting so that the light entering your vision was limited. 

“As I was saying,” The first voice continued, “She’s in a medically induced coma, this isn’t a restful sleep this is because she can’t afford to be conscious right now and when she wakes up she’s going to be in a whole world of pain and having the six of you here isn’t going to help her.”

No one seemed to notice your new state of consciousness as they continued their conversation, voices tense with worry as they batted back and forth in a game of verbal racketball, a question met by an answer which was countered by another question.

You were too out of it to take offense to their neglect as you felt that surge of energy start to slip away from you, like sand through your fingertips. Grasping onto the last whispers of it before it drifted away from you entirely you cleared your throat, the sound minuscule but apparently just loud enough to catch the attention of a certain red headed girl.

“(Y/N),” This voice was unmistakable Ginny. You turned your head to face the source of her voice, met by the blurry outline of unmistakable Weasley red, they really should just patent it at this point, hair surrounding a pale face. “(Y/N) you’re awake!” She lunged towards you gripping your arm in her hand, albeit a little painfully, but all pain, and sound, and sight seemed fuzzy, like remembering a dream from the night prior.

At Ginny’s words, all heads in the room snapped to your form where you laid in the hospital bed, looking as though you’d seen better days. Which granted, you had. 

It took a second for them all to register the meaning behind what Ginny had announced, but as soon as they did they went into a flurry, a healer rushing to take your vitals, moving her wand up and down your body, muttering incantations under her breath. Molly was at your side, gazing at you with brown eyes swimming with worry as she ran a hand down the side of your face which was still lolled to the side. Two identical boys stood at the foot of your bed while two girls, the previously spoken of redhead and her curly haired friend stood back, giving the Healers space to move about. 

Sirius stood over Molly’s shoulder, his eyes drowning in guilt as he failed to return your gaze. 

“Where am I?” Godric you sounded awful, and it felt like there was gravel in your throat, irritating you even as you merely swallowed.

“St. Mungo’s darling,” Molly answered promptly, trying and failing to suppress a sniffle, “You were hurt at the Department of Mysteries.”

You remembered, oh you undoubtedly remembered. The ache in your arm and head was more than enough to remind you of what had occurred, it was reinforced by the dark haired man looming in the corner refusing to meet your eyes.

After a good deal of fussing both by the Healers and Molly people finally started to stream out of your room, first Ginny and Hermione, followed by the twins and finally the Healers and Molly. 

That left just you and Sirius, who still refused to meet your eyes, in the small room which smelt of dittany and blood. 

It was silent for a minute, then two, before you simply couldn’t take it anymore, if he wasn’t going to say something you would, “S’not your fault Sirius,” Your voice was still rather hoarse but it had improved significantly after downing the three cups of water than had been placed in front of you. 

“You were just trying to save me, you did save me and now you’re hurt.” His head which had previously been hung raised to finally meet your eyes, the shame he carried in his eyes was palpable, remorse etched into his face. A face which reflected every year he’d lived on this planet and then some. 

“M’gonna be fine Sirius, you didn’t know it was me I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.” You shook your head lightly to refocus your eyes but that just amplified the pain already pounding in your skull.

Reluctantly Sirius trudged towards you before pulling a chair up to your bed and eventually resting himself in it, not looking at your face but rather at the foot of the bed. “Why’d you do it (Y/N)? Why’d you go to all that trouble to save an old man like me?” There was none of his usual humor in his voice, only a sorrowful curiosity.

“You’re all he has left Sirius,” This drew his attention, craning his neck to look at you, his eyes, accompanied by his continued silence urged you on, “You can’t die on him because then he’ll have no one.”

For the first time since you’d tackled him in the Department on Mysteries however long ago, Sirius Black smiled. Unlike his usual smirks or grins, the one that graced his face was gentle, and perhaps a bit hopeful as well.

“Not so sure about that love,” He let out a laugh so light it was barely a laugh, more like a puff of air, “He’d still have you, wouldn’t he?”

You willed yourself not to give away your true feelings for Harry to his godfather of all people, but the nervous grin that adorned your face was a dead give away to his already good guess.

“He cares about you (Y/N),” Sirius was merciful, sparing you from verbalizing the feelings that the both of you now acknowledged existed, “We had to drag him away from you at the Department of Mysteries.”

“That was Harry?” You perked up, “I didn’t just imagine him?”

“Nope,” He replied, popping his p, “He almost punched Moony when tried to drag him away from you.”

Not knowing how to respond to that you simply didn’t.

“He had to meet with Dumbledore to discuss something, that’s why he wasn’t here when you woke up,” Sirius explained.

“Oh, its okay, I’m sure he has much better things to do than come visit-”

You were cut off mid sentence by the sound of feet thumping down the hallway outside your room. Both you and Sirius turned your heads to watch someone fly by the cracked door of the room, his voice booming as he called out for you, then Ron, then Hermione. 

“Sir, I’m going to need you to be a little quieter,” The stern but kind voice drifted into the room from the hallway.

“Where is she?” Yup, that has Harry. The sound of his voice was ingrained in your head and had been for countless years now. 

You and Sirius stayed silent, still watching the door, listening to the tense conversation taking place between Harry and the St. Mungo’s staff member before you heard Hermione’s voice cut in, trying to calm the two men down.

“Well it sounds like he’s going to be in here soon,” Sirius said, standing up from his chair, gazing down at you.

“It does,” You agreed.

“I will never be able to thank you enough (Y/N), not only for saving my life today but for being such a good friend to Harry, giving him the love that he deserves.” Tears brimmed at the raven haired man’s eyes as he laid his palm atop your hand.

“Of course Sirius,” Your voice cracked mid sentence as you too were gulping down tears.

Leaning down Sirius pressed a fatherly kiss to the crown of your head just as Harry burst through the door.

“Speak of the devil,” The older chuckled, pulling back to his full height as Harry bounded towards you, completely ignoring the presence of his godfather. 

“(Y/N)!” His long legs got him to you in no time at all, when he reached you his eyes snagged on your broken arm before meeting your own. 

Sirius sent you a silent wink as he slipped from the room, you hadn’t noticed him even make his way towards the door. He made sure to shut the door tightly behind him so that you and Harry would be granted some privacy.

“Hi Harry,” You let out a watery chuckle as you took in his appearance, he looked like he’d gotten caught in a wind tunnel with his hair all messy, and the fabric of his tight fitting t-shirt clinging to his chest. 

“Don’t laugh,” He frowned down at you as he settled himself next to you on the bed, “You might hurt your lung or something.”

You smiled at his clueless, over protective behavior, “S’not my lungs that are hurt H, just my arm and my head.”

“There’s nothing just about it,” He countered, “You’d be fine without your arm but you need your head (Y/N/N), can’t go walking around without it.” 

You opened your mouth to say something but you didn’t get the chance before he started talking again, pushing himself off up the flimsy mattress to pace next to your bed, “What the hell were you thinking jumping on Sirius like that?”

You rolled your eyes at his outburst, “Bellatrix had cast the Killing Curse at him, Harry, he was going to die if I didn’t do something!” Your voice raised against your will as you got defensive, you may have loved Harry but that didn’t stop you from getting aggravated with him when he was being an idiot. Take now for example.

“You could’ve died (Y/N)! Don’t you understand that? You could’ve died and I-”

“But I didn’t Harry! I didn’t die and I’m fine now.”

“The hell you are! You’re lying in a hospital bed at St. Mungo’s with a broken arm and a concussion, if that's your definition of fine then I’d hate to see what not fine is!”

“I’m a big girl Potter, I can take care of myself,” You argued, pushing yourself up on the bed so that you were sitting upright, independent of your pillows. How was he being so daft? You’d saved the closest person he had to real family and now here he was, completely railing on you.

He was so caught up in his own head, continuing to pace up and down the length of the room that he didn’t seem to notice when you started swaying, no doubt because you had lifted yourself up too quickly and your head should’ve been resting on your pillow. 

“You may be a big girl (Y/N), but clearly you shouldn’t be left to your own devices because what would possess someone to do something so idiotic?”

You tried to swallow the anger you felt bubbling up in your stomach, threatening to explode in an eruption of words you weren’t quite ready to say out loud. But as he went on and on you found it harder and harder to swallow your feelings until they inevitably bubbled over.

“You idiot,” You cut him off, too fed up with him to listen to what he had to say, “I wasn’t going to let Sirius die because he’s the only family you have Harry! You love him and it would kill me to see him ripped from you, just like so many other good things have been ripped from you, because…”

You went silent, all of a sudden your voice seemed very loud in the sterile room and you realized it’s because he finally shut up. 

“Because why?” He asked turning so that he was facing you, “Because why?”

“Because I-” You felt a rush of heat flooded your face and quickly averted your gaze from the boy, focusing instead on the clock hung on the wall opposite your bed. 

You were quiet for a moment, hoping he would show you mercy and continue on with his ranting but he didn’t. Harry never did stand down from a fight, especially not one that he could win. 

Coming to terms with the fact that the only way this was ending was with a confession from you, you gulped. And with your saliva you swallowed your pride, turning back to face the boy who still hadn’t taken his eyes off of you. 

“Because I love you, okay?” You admitted to him, letting your vision glaze over so you wouldn’t have to see the eventual look of guilt wash over his features before he gently turned you down, apologizing, calling you beautiful, telling you how you deserved someone better. Even though there was no one better than him.

You thought he looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he stared at you, unblinking. 

Eventually, after what could’ve been a couple of seconds or could’ve been a couple of hours, he spoke, “Y-you love me?” He sounded incredulous like he didn’t really believe you.

And that’s when it hit you, he didn’t really believe you. 

As a wave of indescribable sorrow washed over you, at the notion that the beautiful boy in front of you really had no clue just how beautiful he was, you maneuvered yourself so that you could stand up, throwing one leg over the edge of the bed, and then the other.

Pushing yourself up into an upright position you were immediately swaying, ready to collapse onto the floor, and Harry must’ve observed that as he came back to his senses as he looped his arms under yours, pulling you into his toned chest, hard from countless hours of Quidditch practice.

“What do you think you’re doing (Y/N/N)?” His voice was softer now, meant for only you to hear.

“Was gonna show you how much I love you,” Your voice was muffled by the fabric of his t-shirt as you abandoned all of your inhibitions, you needed to tell him how you felt, “You clearly don’t believe me when I tell you and that’s ridiculous Haz because you’re lovely and wonderful and you light up my day every time I see you. I can’t imagine my life without you,” You paused your ramble, not noticing the brilliant shade of vermillion his face had turned.

“No, I can imagine it without you Harry and it’s horrible, it’s not a life worth living.”

“Don’t say that (Y/N),” He cut you off, a frown gracing his enviably red lips.

“Would you let me finish Potter?” You sniped playfully, “I love you, Harry, I’ve loved you since we were first years and it kills me that you don’t see how lovable you are. Because you are lovable Harry,” You pulled back a bit to rest your chin on his chest, gazing up at him, “You are completely lovable, and that’s why I put myself in harm’s way today, because if it meant saving someone you love, then it is worth it. It will always be worth it.”

You watched as tears spilled down his cheeks, but you could tell by the smile pulling at his wobbling lips that they were happy tears, “Y-you love me?” 

How your heart could break at three simple words baffled you but it did, “I love you, Harry, I have loved you and I will always love you.”

A smile overtaking his entire face split it in half, a toothy grin you’d like to see on him more often, “I-”

“You don’t have to say it back H, the fact you’re not turning me down right now is more than enough. You don’t have to say it back, we can take it slow,” You cut him off, not wanting to rush him.

“I want to though, I want to say it back.” He insisted, sounding like an eager puppy.

“Really?” You couldn’t suppress the optimistic lilt to your voice.

He nodded surely, still grinning down at you. “I love you (Y/N).”

You had to stop yourself from crying, or screaming, or jumping in the air, or some combination of all three, but that’s all you wanted to do. You wanted to scream and jump and cry but you preferred being in Harry’s arms much more. 

“May I kiss you?” Harry’s voice dropped to a whisper you could barely hear.

“Yes please,” You giggled, standing up on your tippy toes as he leaned down to capture your lips in his.

You poured all the passion of the past five years into that kiss, all of the stolen glances at him, all of the nights spent sobbing, thinking that he could never love you back. All of the sacrifices, all of the hugs, and the smiles you shared. They were all poured into the kiss and they all meant so much more now because being part of something so beautiful could only make those memories better.

Harry wrapped his arms around your back, pressing your body to his while being careful to mind your hurt arm. You dug the fingers on the hand of your healthy arm in his thick hair, using it as an anchor to pull yourself closer to him.

You pulled away first, taking big gulps of air in an attempt to refill your empty lungs. 

“You love me,” Harry stated simply, staring down at you adoringly.

“I love you,” You agreed with a small nod of your head.

“I can’t believe you actually love me.” He smiled again, this grin even goofier than the last, making his emerald eyes shine.

You smiled at the look of childlike happiness that adorned his face, “And I can’t believe it took me this long to tell you.”

tagging: @randomoutsiders @weasleyposts @kittykylax @amourtentiaa @superbturtlemakerathlete

[bontenswrath]

Sano Manjiro x Fem!Reader,

Genre: Heavy angst, fluff, comfort

Warning: Mentions of violence, cursing, suggestive mentions.

Word Count: 1.7k

NOT CANON

Note: Sorry for the long wait! I hope you enjoy chapter 2 and remember to read the warnings before continuing! Thank you for continuous support and especially the feedback!!!

Chapter 2: A New Start

Previous - Next

Masterlist

........................

Previously on ‘I’ll Protect You’

“I wonder… I wonder if they remember me?”

~~~~~~

After what seemed like hours, the sound of a car approaching her direction could be heard. Y/N stood up and flung her bag over her shoulder, letting out a deep sigh. ‘Wonder what she wants to talk to me about. Does she look the same?’ she thinks while walking towards the street where  a black car pulls up and rolls a window down.

“Hi sweetie, hop in.” without needing to say more Y/N was already opening the passenger door and sliding in. Setting her bag in between her feet, making sure to avoid looking at her mother. She wondered how she felt. It had been years since she last saw her and she looked so different. Her mother’s hair was no longer brown and long, instead, it was blonde and shoulder-length.

“Have you eaten?” her mother asks while putting her car in gear before driving off. Y/N could only shake her head as a response, feeling her throat go dry.

“I know a nice cafe we could go to, we’ll have our talk there while we eat.”

As the two walk into the small cafe, a sweet and soft smell fills Y/N’s nostrils making her realize just how long she had really been gone from society. A feeling of sadness started to consume her just by thinking of what she had missed out on while being away.

After ordering their beverages and food they take a seat in a booth. Both women were full of awkwardness and nerves, not seeing one another for years, neither knew what to say. Knowing her mother wasn’t going to break the silence anytime soon she decided to go for it and break it herself after a server set their order on their table.

“So… What did you want to talk to me about...”

“Oh, right. I… I don’t know how else to say this. I love you Y/N, but… You… You can’t come back. I’m sorry sweetie.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at her mothers words, slowly balling her fists that sat on her lap. Of course she wouldn’t be welcomed back into her life. Not after what had happened. Then again, she also didn’t expect to be kicked out of her home the second she had finally come back.

“I’m glad to see you again Y/N, I really am, but your step-father wouldn’t accept it if you were to live with us, he worries for the girls an-”

“The girls? Step-dad? What the hell are you talking about mom?”

Her mother cursed under her breath. She hadn’t meant to tell Y/N that, but it slipped out and now there was no backtracking her words. Life with Y/N gone had been great, she was finally living the life she wanted, a loving husband, rich and other children that were ‘normal’. Of course she would never admit these things to Y/N, much less say them outloud.

“A few months after you had left, I met someone at my job. We hit it off really well, we started dating and a year later we got married and ended up having 2 daughters together…”

Y/N couldn’t believe what her mother was telling her. How could she just go off and get married and have more kids while she was gone? She never got a single letter or visitation from her own mom in the four years that she was away. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Excuse me? Y/N I’m your mother, have some resp-”

“My mother?! Are you serious? When was the last time you sent me a letter? Or called me? Or went to visit me? Not once in the last four fucking years! You show up once I’m out and basically tell me I have nowhere to live because your new husband and kids won't accept me? And you have the audacity to call yourself my mother?! Seriously?”

Y/N had balled her fists so tightly at this point that her knuckles turned white and her nails dug so deep into her palms she had drawn blood. Y/N was pissed. She couldn’t speak without tripping over her words.

“I… I’m YOUR daughter. You have been nowhere these last few years. You got up and started a new damn life while I was away?! You forgot about me! I-I’m sorry I ruined your life and that I went away, but it was for the best, but… But you're supposed to care about me… I see now that it was a mistake to call you. If you don’t want me around then fine. You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll get out of your way so you can live your new life without me being in the picture and ruining it!” and before her mother could say anything else she had already run out of the cafe to her mother's car to grab her bag, then bolting as fast as she could to anywhere else that wasn’t where she was at the moment.

After running for a while, she came across an empty park and decided to sit on the swings. Letting a small chuckle escape, she kicks the dirt.

“What hell did I expect? Of course she wouldn’t want me back in her life. I’m fucking delusional for thinking other wise. Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?” she sighs while taking her bag off her shoulder and unzips it looking for her notebook. “Aha. there you are.” she flips through the pages smiling as she reads through the hand written notes and photographs that she had glued in it.

“Man it’s only been a few hours since I got out of that shit hole and I already miss you guys.” as she slowly runs her fingers on a group photo in her notebook. A group of six people, including Y/N, posing for the photo. One tall boy with white hair, another tall male with red hair, the last male in the photo being short and his black hair in a bun. While the two girls in the photo looked almost identical, one having pink hair and the other purple. The thing they all had in common? A fox mask tattoo with kanji in the middle of it saying 狐 (Kitsune/Fox) on all their necks.

“Are ya stupid or somethin’!? I know you got more cash on ya, so hurry it up and cough it over before I beat your ass!” These shouts pull her out of her bitter-sweet thoughts. Y/N turns her head towards the direction of where she heard the yelling, a small tick mark forming on her forehead. She sighs and puts her belongings away in her bag before getting up and walking towards the commotion.

As she walks closer, she sees a group of 3 boys pushing around some blue-haired kid, who looked no older than 15. That seriously pissed her off, these other guys looked her age, what the hell were they doing ganging up on a kid that was clearly younger than them?

“HEY!” Upon hearing her voice, the group of boys turned their heads in her direction.

“Ehhh?! What the hell do you want? Fuck off. This ain’t got nothin’ to do with ya.. Get lost.”

“Aren’t you too old to be bullying kids younger than you? I suggest you leave him alone.”

“M-miss, y-you should just go! I can handle mys-” the poor boy was cut off after a fist made contact with his gut. “Who told you to talk ya shit-stain?”

Now Y/N was pissed, seeing the boy fall on his knees, while holding his abdomen, as the others broke out in laughter. “What the hell is your problem!?”

“I thought I told ya to fuck off. But I think you’re just lookin’ for some fun! I won’t lie to ya, yer pretty hot. I don’t mind.” Just hearing those words come out of his mouth made Y/N want to gag. The ‘leader’ slowly started walking towards Y/N, as the other 2 stayed back and began kicking the boy who was still on the ground.

“How about you go and bungee jump without the cord?” replying to the boy with a devilish smile stretched across her lips.

“The hell did you just say? If you want me to fuck ya all you have to do is ask! No need to act like a bit-”

The boy just blinked and now his body lay unconscious on the ground after receiving a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his head, with his eyes rolling to the back. His 2 lackeys whip their heads towards their fallen leader with wide eyes. “Toru-san!” they were so confused, how could this girl have taken down their friend so quickly, who was she?

“Unless you want to get what your friend did, I suggest you get the hell out of here.” The 2 boys rush towards their friend and drag him along as they run like dogs with their tail in between their legs.

“What a bunch of weaklings… I was hoping I would have some decent fun- guess not.” Y/N walked toward the boy, who was now standing up, “You should head home, ice your face.”

“T-thank you Miss! You’re strong! I can’t believe you took Toru-san down so fast! Thank you again!” waving goodbye, he leaves the park. Y/N walks back to the swings and takes her bag, finding a spot under a nearby tree to sit under to continue looking through her notebook.

Not knowing that from a distance 2 boys had seen what had happened.

“What. the. Hell. What  just happened?”

“Ken-chin. That was my kick.” The two blonde boys stood there in surprise, who the hell was this girl? A thought popped into Mikey’s head, making his heart hurt and his thoughts race. He was determined to find out why this girl was able to intrigue him so quickly and why there was this feeling that she gave him.

“Ken-chin…”

“Hmm?”  the boy with the braid hummed in response. “Oi Mikey, where are you going?”

“Let’s go make her our friend.” he says, while turning to give his taller friend a small smile.

And that's it for chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

As always, tell me what you think! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list so you know when the next chapter comes out!

Thank you for the support! Reblogs and likes are appreciated✨

TAG LIST [open]: @frogtits1 @rizakari @theresapancakes @toobsessedsstuff @lunalily19

© ‘I’ll Protect You’ belongs to bontenswrath. Do not plagiarize, copy, translate to other sites, or repost/reblog as your own.

[djadins]

jate’kara | the mandalorian x f!reader — part two

You and the kid run into trouble on Nevarro’s surface.

warnings: canon-typical violence

rating: T

word count: 2k

The short walk into town was quiet, save for the tiny green gremlin’s snores. You couldn’t help but beam down at him every once in a while as one of his little fists had started grasping your shirt. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t know that Mando was behind you. He was as silent as the night.

Navarro and it’s inhabitants were bustling this morning. Vendors were out in full, selling their goods and wares. You made a mental path for yourself to follow in order to get everything you needed quickly and efficiently, but doubted Mando would leave you if you went a little past midday.

A touch on the small of your back sent a shiver up your spine. “I’ve got something to take care of before we head out. I’ll find you out here when I’m finished.”

You nodded at the Mandalorian. Your back still tingled at his touch as you watched him walk away. His movements were deft, weaving through the crowd with ease and precision. Only the end of his cloak made contact with any of the passerby’s. You released the breath you were holding. Looking down, you noted the baby was still asleep. You hoped he would stay that way until the shopping was over.

You were happy that your visits to various stalls went quickly. You grabbed some general maintenance supplies you might need for the ship, a few new clothes, a blanket, some food. You mentally cursed yourself for not taking better stock of what was already on the ship, but you figured Mando had a basic first aid kit and some food and water at the very least.

The kid started to wake up, his hunger finally starting to get the better of him. He made a sad sound, looking up at you with his big eyes. “Alright buddy, I’m pretty much finished anyways. Let’s have a little snack.” You patted his big green head and walked to the outside of the market.

You lifted him out of your makeshift sling and set him on your lap. You had found a crate to seat the two of you for the time being. To your back lie run down houses with many interconnected alleyways. It was colder here, Nevarro’s lone sun not quite shining behind the buildings. You grabbed some of the jerky in your bag and handed a piece to the kid. He put the entire piece in his mouth and swallowed before you even had a chance to blink. “Note to self, teach the kid some manners,” you said sarcastically under your breath while grabbing the remainder for him to eat.

You were about to pass over what was left to him, but before you could, he leapt out of your lap and went scrambling down one of the alleyways. “Kid!” you screamed after him, tripping over yourself to get off the crate. You quickly made your way after him, but you were unsure of where he went. Three paths were laid out in front of you and you weren’t sure of which he took. Panic began to creep in. You closed your eyes and took a breath in. Sweat had accumulated on your upper lip and forehead and you wiped both away, opening your eyes. You knelt on the ground and felt the dirt below your hands. Focus, you told yourself.

You noticed a strange little trail in the dirt. It had to be the kid’s shawl. You got up, quickly following the winding alleyway further and further. When you heard what you thought was the kid, you started to sprint down the alley.

When you rounded the corner you saw him. He was sitting on the ground, mouth closed but expanded as if it was full of something. He saw you and swallowed down the lump in his mouth, cooing and shuffling towards you. You angrily scooped him up and held him tight to your chest. “Don’t ever run off on me again you little terror,” you said breathlessly.

You heard a whistle come from around one of the buildings near you. “Ay sweetheart. That your kid?” came an accented voice. You clenched your jaw, lifting the kid into his sling around your body. “Must get his looks from daddy, you could do better.”

You rolled your eyes. “From the likes of you? No thanks.”

The man chuckled and whistled again. “From the likes of us,” he corrected.

Three other men came slinking out from behind the buildings. You took a breath in to steady yourself and looked at your surroundings. With all the running to catch the kid, you weren’t sure exactly where you were or how to get back to the market. Your calves were burning and you were flushed and out of breath. The man who had been talking to you wasn’t big by any means and under normal circumstances you could have probably fought him. But you had the kid, and his three buddies were much bigger than the both of you.

“Bet she smells as pretty as she looks,” came a deep voice from a balding, tattooed man.

You bit your lip, considering your options. Running was out of the question, as the kid would slow you down and you were certain the four of them would catch up to you. Fighting was definitely not an option. So, that left talking.

“Look, my employer is expecting me and he’ll be really upset if I’m not back in a few minutes.” Nice one idiot, real threatening.

“Ah, your employer ya say?” said the first man, taking a few steps toward you. You in return took a few steps back. The man pulled a knife out, wiggling it around in the air. “I think we could be your new bosses, ain’t that right boys?” A few hoots and whistles came from behind him. He continued to creep forward towards you and you continued back, until your shoulders hit the side of building and you couldn’t go back any further.

“We’ll be *real* nice to ya,” he whispered venomously, only a few feet from you now.

“Don’t touch me,” you threatened, your voice coming out low and throaty. The kid whined into your chest.

The man chuckled. “We got a feisty one boys!” His men joined in on the laughter. You couldn’t stop the shiver that reverberated through you.

You tensed up as he approached, only inches away from you now. His hand ghosted over the side of your face and you turned to face the other direction. You watched his other arm shoot out beside you, palm lying flat against the wall of the building. One of his fingers grasped your hair and you whipped your head back into his direction. Your knee made contact with his crotch faster than you could register what you were doing. He crumpled over in pain, shouting at his mates. “I said don’t touch me,” you muttered.

“Grab! Her!” he yelled at them from the ground, pointing in your direction.

You took off sprinting in the direction you thought was right, holding the kid tight against your chest to keep him from bouncing around too much. Every turn felt wrong but you couldn’t stop now, your legs carrying you as fast as you could physically manage. You could hear the men’s laughter behind you, coming closer and closer.

Before you realized it, you had an arm around your throat, slamming you into the ground. You gasped for air. It was the bald one. He put his hands under your armpits and lifted you to your feet, pushing you against the wall of another building. “Got her boss!” he called out.

The man you sent to the ground earlier was back on his feet, creeping around his friend to get a look at you. You struggled against the big bald one’s grip. He responded by taking one of his hands against the side of your face and pushing your head into the building. Your cheek felt cool and wet against it.

“It’ll be worse for you if you struggle,” the boss warned.

The big one took his grip off you and was replaced by the smaller man. The other three hovered closely behind him. He again pulled out his knife and pushed the tip of it lightly against your cheek.

“Why don’t we start again, darlin’,” he whispered, lips brushing your ear. You closed your eyes tightly. The kid whimpered into your chest again, burying his little body into yours.

“O.. Okay,” you conceded. “Just let me put him down.”

The man jerked his head to the side. “Fine.”

You took your bag off slowly and put it on the ground next to you. Then you gentle reached toward the kid, unclenching his fists from your shirt. He struggled to stay against your body. You lifted him out of the sling and set him down by your bag. He jumped towards your leg and wrapped his arms around it. You undid the sling from your chest and set it on top of your bag.

The man’s mouth curled into an unpleasant looking smile. “C’mon boss, lets get started already,” one of the men groaned from around you. You gently pushed the kid off your leg with your other foot while the boss trailed his knife down the length of your body.

You grabbed the hand holding the knife and twisted it back as hard as you could. It fell out of his hand and as he started sinking to the ground you punched him as hard as you could in the face. You kicked his chest and he fell hard. The other three started to react and you scrambled to grab the knife from the ground.

A wire wrapped around the bald ones leg and sent him flying back. He landed face down into the dirt and the two left standing whipped around. You choked back a sob at the sight of Mando, blaster in an outstretched arm.

“Let them go,” his modulated voice warned.

One of the two men’s hands started towards the blaster holstered on his waist. You quickly threw the knife, hitting him square in the hand. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees on the ground, cradling the hand with the knife sticking out of it.

Mando shot the last one in the leg and he, too, sunk to the ground in pain. Blaster still in hand, pointed at the men, he made his way over to you and the kid. You saw a flash of green and brown running towards him and Mando was quick to scoop him up into his free arm.

He walked over to you, his back never facing the men. “Are you alright?”

You couldn’t speak so you nodded, adrenaline flowing freely in your veins. The boss started crawling on the ground towards you and Mando put his foot on the man’s throat. He lowered his blaster towards his head.

“Mando?” you called, voice sounding smaller than ever.

He shot, missing the man’s head purposefully by a few inches. The dirt stirred around his face. “All of you. Leave. Now,” Mando growled.

Mando’s foot left the man’s throat and the lot of them scurried away. You both watched in silence as they fled down the alleyway, hobbling and tripping over themselves. After a few moments Mando turned to you. You looked into his helmet only to see your disheveled appearance staring back at you.

“Did they hurt you?” he inquired again.

You shook your head.

Mando holstered his blaster and grabbed the hand that you had used to punch the man earlier. You sucked a breath in, hand tender and swollen. He flipped it around, examining it. “We can take care of this back on the ship. Grab your things, we are leaving.”

You did as he said, stuffing the kid’s sling in your bag. You followed Mando back to the ship, neither of you saying a word. The kid was mostly silent too, cradled in Mando’s arm. You stuck as close to Mando as you could without tripping over him.

When you finally made it back to the ship, Mando placed the kid on the floor. He closed the ramp and turned to you. You stood in front of him, motionless. He gently took your bag off your shoulder and set it on a crate. “Have a seat on the bed,” he instructed.

You did as he said and he pulled a little white box from a crevice in the ship’s wall. He kneeled beside your legs, rummaging through the box. When he found what he was looking for, he looked up at you. “Your wrist is sprained and your hand will probably bruise from that blow you landed. I’m going to wrap it for you and then you and the kid can get some rest.”

You bit your lip, looking down at your hand and nodded. Mando took off his gloves and you focused your eyes on what he was doing. His hands were rough and peppered with scars, but he was gentle, slowly wrapping a gauze around you. His voice pulled you out of your trance.

“That knife throw, where did you learn how to do that?”

You cleared your throat. “My uncle. He taught me the basics.”

“Basics? That throw was incredibly precise. I don’t even know if I could have done it.”

You chuckled. “Don’t try and flatter me, Mando.”

Mando tucked the end of the gauze in and looked up at you. “I’m not,” he stated matter-of-factly. “That throw was impressive. You have skill.”

You shrugged. “I’ve had to defend myself before.”

The Mandalorian huffed and rose to his feet. He towered above you from your place on the bed. “Please, rest. You both could use it.” He slipped his gloves back on and turned around to pick up the kid from his spot on the floor, already fast asleep.

You kicked off your dusty shoes and crawled backward into the bed. Mando gently placed the sleeping kid into his hammock. You saw him give the little one a few head rubs. You curled into your usual ball and closed your eyes.

A weight on your body caused them to flutter open and you noticed a blanket had been placed on top of you, but Mando was nowhere in sight.

[slutsofren]

Danger Days Chapter 7: I Never Told You What I Do For A Living

summary:  Joel isn't looking good after the recent run-in at the university. Ellie and you have to do everything you can to stop the bleeding and save his sorry ass.

word count: 2,648

content warnings: gore, hurt/comfort, cursing, unconscious Joel, general canon-typical violence, you know the drill.

note: this was so exhausting to write lol

read on ao3 here / masterlist

“I think we're safe.”

You look over your shoulder, back to the stone walls that lined the university. The three of you narrowly escaping it and you wanted to scream, yell, throw a fucking tantrum at the situation but you held it in. “For now,” you replied spitefully. “C’mon, kiddo, we should put more distance between us and them.”

“How is he holding up,” Ellie asks you tensely,

“If I’m being honest, I won’t know until we find somewhere safe.”

“You gotta tell me what to do,” she was beginning to sound more and more scared as your back got coated with Joel’s blood. What little patching up you did on Joel wasn't holding up, and wouldn't for much longer.

“Keep an eye out for where we can hold down for a couple nights. I gotta watch Texas here and make sure he doesn't fucking die on me.” Literally.

Ellie looks over at Joel, “Let's go.”

The two of you took off, Whiskey sensing your agitation and being the gentle beast he is, didn't jolt around too much. Speeding as best you could've in the situation you were tied down in, you suggested to Ellie that it would be nice to find somewhere rather far away from the university, far from trouble. She agreed, not wanting to run into whatever group that was again.

After a couple miles, safety seemed within grasp.

“Look, over there,” Ellie points off to the distance. You can see it, just barely. A shopping mall.

Like everything else in the area, it looks abandoned. Even by infected standards. It’s quiet and private, therefore it’s perfect.

Upon further gazing at the storefront, you recognize the banner. “Is that Swirls? The yogurt place?”

It takes you a bit off guard, recognizing something familiar from the time before, but for some reason it brings you a tiny bit of hope. Maybe.

“It says ‘Colorado Mountain Plaza’ over there,” Ellie points out.

“Looks safe enough.”

“Thank fuck.”

“Language.”

“Sorry,” she apologizes. Then sarcastically adds on, “Mom.”

You snort at her, shaking your head. Although she teased, you’ve come to enjoy the way she called you mom, but those were thoughts for another day.

Approaching the yogurt bar, Ellie jumps off Callus and reaches for the garage type door and lifts it. It creaks loudly which puts the two of you on edge but no signs of infected ring out. Joel does grumble a bit over your shoulder, likely at the sound of metal grinding on metal.

“Careful, Ellie.”

She waves you off then ducks beneath the door, disappearing from your sight. You hear a muffled ‘it’s clear’ from the other side as she lifts it up again to its full height. She leads Callus in by his bit and you follow with Whiskey. 

“I’m gonna need your help, El.”

You try not to jostle around too much as Ellie comes close to your side, “What do you want me to do?”

After taking a couple moments explaining how to safely pull him down, you adjust yourself on Whiskey. Side-saddling him, you put your arms around Joel, “He is not gonna like this one bit.”

“Damn straight he’s not,” Ellie mumbles.

“On three.”

Sliding down Whiskey, you pulled Joel with you and with her help, the two of you managed to get him down with potentially only minor bruising. Laying Joel on the ground as gently as possible, he groaned harshly at the adjustment. “I know, cowboy, I know,” you said to him softly.

Checking over him one last time, Ellie looks up at you. “Now what?”

“Now,” you sighed. “We try to stave off an infection. The bar itself wasn't clean by any means. And you see this,” you pointed to where the puncture wound was. “This is where his large intestine is.”

“Okay,” she shrugs. “What does that mean?”

You hesitate for a moment, mouth agape. “It's where food gets absorbed and gets-,” you trail off.

Ellie looks at you for you to continue.

You sigh, “The biggest problem is his poop okay? Basically if the bacteria from his intestines, specifically his colon leaks out into his body then we're going to have much bigger problems than the wound itself.”

“Gross.”

Chuckling, “Yeah. Imagine how he's gonna feel if his own shit kills him.”

Ellie lightens up just a little at your off-colored joke. “He would be really pissed.”

“I'd argue maybe even a tiny bit of embarrassment.”

The two of you lightly laugh, both just as drained as the other. “How do you know all this stuff anyways?”

“I was a field medic with FEDRA, remember? Didn't last long there, after I lost my finger but I picked up a thing or two from the other nurses.” You shrug, you never found out much about the soldiers you aided, if they survived or not but maybe that wasn’t the best thing to tell her right now. 

You point towards the metal garage door, “Go lock that up for me will ya?”

She gets up and does it, using a padlock to secure it shut. “Think there's anything out in the mall?”

“Possibly,” you groan as you get up off the ground. “I'll have a look around.”

“No, you stay with him, I can go,” Ellie offers. For a moment you want to argue with her, you know what you're looking for, but you see it in her eyes. Just a hint. A hint of uncertainty and fear. “You know how to keep him alive.”

It takes you a second but it clicks, Ellie doesn't want to see Joel like this. “Okay,” you relent. “I saw a map on the way in, I think there's a pharmacy on the second floor.”

“What do you need,” she asks, shifting on her feet.

You rapidly tell her everything within reason - needles, thread, alcohol, gloves, anything and everything that could possibly help the situation within reason to help the fucking dying man laying in front of you. “I'd be grateful if you found a saline bag or a IV or, fuck, even a staple gun but that’s bein’ too damn hopeful. Whatever you find, just bring it back alive. Take your bow.”

She nods as she picks it up along with her backpack and you give her a tight hug. “There and back, Ellie.”

“There and back, promise,” she says, her words slightly muffled by the embrace.

She backs away and opens her mouth to say something but decides against it. Instead mumbling a couple words of encouragement to herself as she leaves. Turning on her heels and lifting the gate separating the shop from the mall with little to no hesitation, Ellie is gone before you know it.

As the metal slams behind her you sigh, listening to the sounds of her locking the gate behind her. Faintly hear her talking to herself. You chew on your bottom lip, thinking of what to do next.

Well, for starters, it would be awfully nice if the man of the hour didn't fucking bleed to death before Ellie comes back, you thought.

Taking off to your left, you scoured behind the bar looking for something, anything, that would help. The shop itself looks picked over so whatever is here isn’t going to be much. Finding nothing but nearly empty drawers until you find a roll of duct tape. Nice.

You walked back to Joel and dropped to your knees, taking off your backpack. Lifting his shirt up to see the poorly done bandages you had applied earlier were thoroughly soaked in sickly copper tinged blood. “Shit,” you whispered.

“Okay, Texas, this shit is gonna hurt like a bitch but you're just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it.”

You took a moment listening to Joel’s uneven breathing, the moans of pain. Hoping to hear some kind of response from him but received nothing from the man. Nodding to yourself, you went to work. “Okay, I can do this,” you mumble to yourself. “Nothin’ you haven’t done before.”

Reaching into your backpack you pulled out some fresh gauze, water, and the bottle of alcohol you were genuinely hoping to drink one day but it is what it is. Next, you grabbed the duct tape and pulled off some strips and lined them up, making a square patch. 

Lifting his shirt, you removed the front bandage from his stomach. A slight gag came up from the smell but you suppressed it, allowing yourself to dissociate from the situation and work mindlessly. Grabbing the water bottle, you rinsed your hands then his stomach, repeating the same motion with alcohol, and used one of the extra shirts you had in your backpack to dry him off. Blood still seeped from the wound but you used the gauze to seal the puncture then covering it with the duct tape square.

One side down, now the other.

“Hold tight,” you told him as you pushed him onto his side. His back looked just as bad as his front but you grabbed another spare shirt and shoved it under his head, adjusting him to make him lay on his stomach in an indirect way to put some pressure on the front.

Joel groaned in pain at the movement, you tried to be gentle but he was not being a rather good patient. “I know, I know, I'm sorry,” you whispered.

You got to working on his wound, doing the same as what you did on his stomach. Rinse, disinfect, gauze, patch. Once the duct tape square went on, you sighed heavily looking down at yourself.

Truly a sight of horror. Your hands and clothes were soaked in Joel's blood. Blinking once, then twice, turning your hands over, seeing the glistening and the flakes peeling off from long since dried blood, you rose and reached for more clothes to change into. 

Discarding the stained ones save for your coat. It was going to get colder, winter was soon. Shit, winter was already fucking here, you recalled the first hints of it when snow started falling earlier. It would be best to not throw away the only thing that would give you warmth in the coming days.

After you changed, you thought you should also change Joel. His dirtied clothes would only worsen his situation if any germs or bacteria got into his injury. You approached Callus and got Joel's pack, scouring around until you found a suitable shirt, flannel, and coat for him.

“This is going to embarrass me more than you,” you told the unconscious Joel.

If you were being honest with yourself, this was not the way you wanted to undress him but those were thoughts for another day. One where he survives this whole fuckin’ ordeal.

You got to work on him, doing everything humanly possible to be careful. Once the bloodied clothes were off and fresh new ones were on, you were going to take one hell of a break.

Adjusting the coat back onto his body, you laid him down gently as before, resting his head on a makeshift pillow. Now the only thing you could do is wait for Ellie.

She’d been gone for an hour tops, nothing to worry about just yet. Maybe the pharmacy was a bust and she’s looking around for first aid kits, you think. It wouldn’t do you any good to worry just yet.

The two horses start chittering behind you. “Looks like we got a couple of chatty birds over here,” you raise a brow at them.

Callus neighs a bit loudly at you and before you say anything you hear a very loud voice. “Hey! I hear the fuckin’ horse behind here! Help me get this open,” then the locked gate started rattling. Those fucking people must have followed you all through the fucking snow.

“Oh, shit,” you curse and immediately start rummaging through your things to reload your empty guns. Your hands were shaking, making the reloading just that much more difficult. You looked up once you heard another voice.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get the door. You guys keep searchin’, I don’t wanna get ambushed.”

No shit, I don’t either, you think.

You try to make haste and get your shit together. After you top off with whatever remaining bullets you have available, you corral the horses against the wall and drag Joel behind the bar to shield him from any debris or accidental fire.

Just as you finish you hear a loud bang, someone kicking the door in frustration. “Fuckin’ door!”

You couldn’t help but smile. Good door.

“Get the kid, take the woman, and find the old man. I’ll go for the door,” the same voice shouts.

Then another voice further away, “Shit! There’s someone out here.”

Ellie.

“Wait, shit, I think it’s starting to give,” the first one shouts as the metal door begins to creak and whine.

You decide to do something incredibly stupid but before you could talk yourself out of it, you dive and lay down next to the door. It begins to lift and you hear how the men start to cheer. Just as it gets high enough you take aim and shoot at them, unloading a healthy mix of lead, anger, and frustration into them.

Just as the door slams back down with a loud clang, you hear two soft thuds as their bodies drop.

“Oh fuck this, I’m comin’ Ellie,” you say as you get up and begin lifting the metal door. Just as it slides high enough for you to get under, you slam it shut behind you as you run forward and take cover behind some metal crates that were conveniently positioned just outside the yogurt place. As you do, you see a flash of pink and white to your left as Ellie comes running next to you.

“It’s the same guys from the university,” she says breathlessly. Her freckled face is etched with frustration, matching yours. It’s like none of you could catch a break, catch a breath.

You put a hand on hers, “We got this, sweetheart.”

Her hand squeezes yours and the two of you start fighting back. Fighting for survival, each other, for Joel, fighting for the sake of seeing another sunrise together.

A bullet whizzes overhead and hits the wall, “We got them pinned down over there! Finish them!”

You smile at the men’s clear underestimation of the two of you. Chuckling, “You go left, I’ll go right. Meet here in say ten with dinner?”

“Sounds good to me,” she bumps her fist with yours. With a nod, she’s off. You, the same.

Trying to take it easy, you found yourself trying to be stealthy by using the hunting knife Gustavo had gifted you months ago. It was hard between the harsh winter wind and lowering visibility with the ongoing snowstorm outside that was leaking through the broken roof of the mall. It possibly hurt more than helped.

Two gunshots rang out on the opposite side of the mall than a shout, “Shit! Infected!”

“I’ll take that as a no for dinner,” you mumble to yourself.

You pick up a couple bottles and throw them at the men who were hunting you, screams and clicks followed the noise until you heard more gunshots until silence. Figuring it would save you on ammunition if they just fought and killed each other. You followed this same sequence until there was complete silence, only for it to be broken by Ellie.

“That’s it! If anyone is alive don’t even think about surprising me! You’ll end up like your friends. You hear me? Yeah? Yeah.”

You laugh a little loudly, tears welling up. Just for a moment you let yourself reel in the moment that the two of you fucked up those people on your own. “C’mon kid, let’s save that old bastard of ours,” you shout at her.

[cordonian-literature]

Forever Mine

prologue

❦ summary — The time for Princess Riley to step into her role as queen fast approaches and finding the future king is Cordonia’s top priority. Commander Liam is aware of that, and plans to make sure the Princess ends up with someone suitable. 

➺ a/n: so i got this idea for an evil-Liam fic, where the roles between him and Riley are switched, but they don’t meet the same way & nothing besides the Social Season is similar to things that happen in canon. basically, Liam is one of the higher-ups in Cordonia’s military (i don’t know much about militaries in a monarchy, so bear with me and keep in mind this is fiction) and yeah, it all just goes from there :) this might end up being a mess, but I hope you all enjoy it!

❦ word count: (+/-) 1195

➺ catch up here!

*all characters belong to Pixelberry, except those unique to my story*

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Liam remembers his first audience with the royal family. He had become a General just a few weeks prior. The air had been tense, and the silence almost gave him a headache. The king had invited him to dinner with his family a week before — as Constantine’s declarations of war became more frequent, Liam’s superiors had confidently brought him to the table. The King was a witness to the crazy strategist who was willing to gamble everything on a whim. The king almost dismissed him from his presence, but again, the young General’s superiors were frighteningly confident with him. 

At the dinner, Princess Riley had quickly glanced between her father and her brother. Liam had heard that Prince Leo had come to the dinner reluctantly. Tired of the silence and aware that he had to impress the king, Liam effortlessly picked up a conversation with the young princess. The life in her eyes enraptured Liam. He had never been a lover of music, but her voice was a melody that only a goddess could create, and he wanted to listen to it nonstop.

But he told himself to not let his gaze linger on her for long. For one, he was there for the king, not the childish princess. The entire nation knew she was sheltered and unwise in the ways of governing. Many people spoke of her recklessness as well. 

Secondly, Liam knew the impression he made tonight could mean another promotion: in the past few days, the king had summoned Liam instead of the Commander that he had relied on most of his reign. Liam was not going to jeopardize this opportunity. 

And lastly, the difference between their statuses was too large for Liam to dream of any possibilities. No matter how hard he worked, in the eyes of society, he would never be good enough for her. More than that, they were from different worlds. She was expected to marry a well-known noble from one of the Great Houses, or perhaps her hand in marriage would be used as a peace treaty. 

So Liam turned his attention to His Majesty, and soon had Leo engaged in the conversation, too. He would accidentally glance in the princess’s direction a few times, and his heart would jump when he noticed her intense gaze on him. 

After that evening, Prince Leo always spoke comfortably with Liam, relying on him before having audiences with Constantine, and even inviting Liam out for an occasional drink. 

The next time he saw the princess was when he bumped into her and her childhood friends, Duchess Olivia of Lythikos and Drake the commoner. Riley had introduced Liam with words sweeter than candy, and he felt he would have died happy had those been the last words he heard. 

Liam and Drake already knew each other through Leo. Drake gave him a friendly pat on the back. Though the Duchess was polite, she had an edge to her tone. Riley asked if Liam would join them for dinner again. He was obligated to comply, but he wouldn’t have denied her for the world.

He slowly became close friends with Leo, Riley, and most of the people within their circle. He was only a bit older than them, but they shared common interests. Liam had never prioritized making or having friends, but not only was this group pleasantly sociable, but it also helped his public image. He maintained his focus on his duties as General, though, and always remembered to keep a distance from Riley. Though his heart longed for her love and attention, Liam had to convince himself that he was fine with a merely platonic relationship. 

Weeks later, when Prince Leo abdicated, Liam had been the one to hear Constantine curse his son while Leo packed his bags on the other side of the palace. Liam had seen the panic in Riley’s eyes. Liam had been the one to calm her, to tell her she would be the perfect queen, and he even offered to guide her through everything she was going to have to learn. 

Leo had believed that Liam sympathized with him, so the Prince had ranted about his father endlessly the night he left. Leo made Liam follow him out of the front door, and made him promise to watch after his sister. 

“Make sure she doesn’t get into trouble,” he had said with a smile. Liam knew that even though Leo had made such a request, he still had to keep his distance from her. “I wish I could stay and help her with the transition, but you know I just can’t be here.” 

“Of course,” Liam had stated, though he’d never be able to understand why a man would abandon his duty to his nation. Leo was also putting Riley in pain. He was going to leave her alone. Who could have the heart to leave such a precious soul? “We’ll all be here when you visit.” 

Leo had given Liam and brotherly hug, then got into a car and drove away. 

In the coming weeks, Riley had begun to see Liam as a useful source of knowledge and kept the young General on her side, even when the king demanded his presence. Liam taught her whatever she wished to know, and found her far more intelligent than people gave her credit for. Her presence was always a sweet blessing: her smile was enchanting, her focus never faltered from him, she was more optimistic and kind than anyone he had met. 

She never failed to make him happy and was always ready to cheer him up when a meeting with her father hadn’t gone as planned. He loved her, and he wanted her to love him. 

Becoming Commander had pushed Liam away from Riley further — it upset her, saying that she detested being pushed away from a close friend, and she constantly requested his presence during their free time. Even though most of his time was spent with the king or other advisors discussion Cordonian issues, he was eager to clear his schedule for her.

Liam joined the royal family for dinner almost every night, and he was practically living in the palace. He had noticed that the princess was making herself scarce after meals. This behavior of hers had lasted barely a week before Liam decided to investigate, Leo’s request to keep an eye on her echoing through his mind. 

Through the window, he sees her going into the garden. Liam found himself racing down the staircase and following in her direction.

Liam knew to stop when he heard a rough voice call out to her. “I’ve been waiting for you,” an unknown man says. 

The princess laughs, a sound which draws Liam to her, but he maintains a distance and hides himself from their view. He can’t hear what they say, but after a while the man walks away from the garden, passing by Liam’s hiding place. Formal clothing. A noble, Liam realizes. But who could it have been? 

He waits for an appropriate amount of time to pass before he comes out of his hiding place. 

“Riley?” he calls out to her. She always insisted the Commander call her by her first name. 

“Liam!” Her face lights up when she sees him. She pats the stone bench next to her, signaling him to sit. Though it would be improper, Liam knew that Riley wouldn’t stop insisting, and he hated to see her upset. 

“I’ve seen you come here often lately,” Liam says. He expects some kind of reaction from her, but she only smiles. 

“I like to think of my mother when I come here,” she states. “I’ve been thinking of her often as of late.” 

“May I ask why?” 

She doesn’t hesitate to continue on, and Liam’s heart swells at how comfortable she is around him. “I wish she would give me some advice about becoming queen.” After a pause, she continues, “But also...”

When she doesn’t continue, Liam prompts, “Also?” 

A gentle frown comes across her face. She lowers her voice. “There’s... this noble. From one of the lower houses. I... I think...” 

Another pause. Liam knows who she’s talking about. Is she in love with him? he wonders. What other reason would there be for her to mention him? 

“Your Social Season is about to begin soon,” Liam reminds her, partly hoping that would convince her to forget about that man. 

“Yes, but... say he was one of the contenders. Do you think maybe...” Her voice was as hopeful as a child’s. 

Liam stands from his seat next to her. He reaches for her delicate hands and raises it to his lips. “If he is worthy enough, then of course.” 

He leaves her in the garden and goes back to the palace. He knew that whoever that lesser noble was, he was in no shape or form worthy enough for his darling. 

Days before, Constantine had taken Liam’s advice when the king approached him and wondered if it was time to start his daughter’s Social Season. The only reason Liam agreed was because he knew he was in the perfect position to influence which man she would marry. Even if Riley felt that she was the one in control of her Social Season, she would be wrong; Liam was the one who knew who was good enough for her, and he planned to implement that knowledge during the season.

Liam thinks to himself for a while, and estimates that he can have that man gone by morning. Perhaps sooner, if he didn’t show up to dinner with his Majesty. 

Security footage provided Liam with the rooms he was occupying. He asked some servants for his name. After some research about the man and his reputation — something the princess clearly didn’t know about — Liam drafted a straightforward letter and had two of his inferiors deliver it, who were tasked with escorting him out of the palace. 

The next morning he found Riley crying in her quarters, a wrinkled letter in her hands. Liam’s heart gave a jolt, and he wondered if she had found Liam’s threatening letter. But as he entered her room, he saw that it was a different one. He wrote to tell her goodbye. He’s gone, Liam thinks to himself. 

He takes a seat next to her on the edge of her bed, Drake on the other side of her. Riley doesn’t hesitate to lean her head against Liam’s shoulder, and Drake goes to close the door. 

Once her crying slows down, Liam retrieves something from his back pocket, convinced it would make her feel better. He had been holding back his feelings, afraid that he would draw her away, but Liam still wanted to give her a token of his affection. 

A necklace. Immediately her tears subside. She turns her back to him, asking if he would help her put it on. 

Liam stops himself from caressing the smooth skin on the back of her neck, aware that Drake was still in the room. 

She walks towards her mirror and examines her new piece of jewelry. Liam stands behind her, and she gazes at him through the mirror. They make eye contact and, she quickly averts her eyes and blushes. 

The door opens. Riley’s handmaid, Maria, rushes towards her. Noticing tear stains on Riley’s face, the woman grabs a tissue. 

“The Masquerade Ball beings in a few hours,” Maria tells her. “It’d be best if we start getting ready.” 

“Of course,” Riley says. As Liam and Drake walk out the door, she offers the men a smile. 

“I feel like Constantine’s rushing the Social Season” Drake says to Liam when they leave her room. “Leo’s didn’t happen this quickly.”

“The King has his reasons,” Liam says, though he doesn’t know what they are. Maybe he’d ask His Majesty about it later. 

“Hm.” Drake gives Liam a pat on the back before walking off. Liam continues on his path towards the king’s office, itching to see the guest list and who exactly Riley’s suitors would be.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

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tags: @twinkleallnight @gkittylove99 @sweatyrysconnoisseur​ 

[third-generation-female-warrior]

Ordinary Date

Ahaha! So I did write something for Valentine’s Day, now that it’s basically over, but it’s still 9:40pm my time, so it counts! So, sequel-ish to The Path we Walk and prequel-ish to Goodbye Winter, with Talbott and Ravenclaw!Alexus, my favorite pairing to write about, it seems. It’s not a fic of the Valentine’s Day Ball sidequest, this is kinda AU-ish on what I think their first date would really be like. First date hymns, poetry, angsty stuff, the world’s smallest canon complaint, preppy-nerds-who-pine, banter, little proof-reading, this did not go remotely the direction I thought it was gonna. Things started out so nice for them. He made her feel like an ordinary girl, if only for a few hours. But she was not meant to last a whole night, it seems. Rated T, 6,000+ words.

-

The soft glow of the street lanterns casted an orange glow onto the otherwise pearly white snow that rested to the sides on the main street of Hogsmeade, dulled grey by the night’s gentle darkness. It wasn’t snowing, but the clouds looming in the sky suggested that fact would change. There was a gentle coldness in the air, not a biting freeze, but it still made the breaths of the passersby illuminate a smoky puff as they walked along the wet cobblestone path. Their breathes would turn orange or yellow as the air would catch the soft light glow of the window shops. The people walking in front of the warm interiors would only have half their face casted in light, the other halves of their bodies turning to near translucent shadows.

Talbott Winger watched people turn into silhouettes, only seeing shadows as they walked from shop to shop.

He stood on the opposite side of the street of the Three Broomsticks entrance, the adults and the students pouring in and out of the establishment, walking hand in hand, or storming out furiously, one girl running out, crying. It must have been a date gone wrong. It was Valentine’s Day, after all.

Talbott’s first Valentine’s day with Alexus Johnson, the girl from his year he gave his heart to on accident and against his better judgement. It was not a deathbed confession, but she was recovering after being tortured by a dark witch when he confessed his mutual attraction.

A lot of their relationship milestones seemed to be an accident. He accidentally let his guard down enough for her to become his friend. She accidentally confessed her feelings first. He accidentally got feelings for her, more than he knew what to do with.

He just didn’t want to accidentally ruin tonight.

He was waiting outside the Three Broomsticks because that’s where they agreed to meet. She was discharged from the Hospital Wing earlier today, and he left while her friends dragged her to the dorm room to “get her ready” even though Alexus herself was wildly protesting.

Talbott was anxious, even if he would never admit it. He would never admit he was anxious or that he consulted his dormate, Andre Egwu to help him pick out an outfit.

Andre was ecstatic, almost insultingly so, to help Talbott dress for such an occasion as a date, and while throwing different clothes from Andre’s own wardrobe onto Talbott’s bed, he admitted to giving the girls tips about what should be Alexus’s outfit for the date.

So, that was how Talbott ended up standing in the cold while wearing some dull tan overcoat over a light grey pullover sweater and that was over a white button-up shirt. Not to mention, blue jeans. Overall, he was kept warm, which Andre must have accounted for. Maybe a little too warm, as the back of his neck was burning. Maybe that had nothing to do with the heat of his clothing layers. He let out a breath, that smoky breath that visibly danced in front of his face before disappearing the next second. He gently placed a hand over his chest, over the feather charm on his necklace. He pressed down, feeling it against his palm, against his skin. He was nervous.

God, who would have known he would be nervous taking out the girl he really liked?

They both agreed to no grandiose plans, as Alexus was still technically in recovery and they both hated grandiose plans. Talbott knew what his ideal date entailed, and he had a decent idea of what Alexus would enjoy for a date.

So why was he so nervous?

“Talbott!” he looked up and his heart stopped.

There she was.

“Alexus,” he said as she walked up, not quite smiling, but he stared at her with something soft in his eyes.

She wasn’t alone, but he saw only her, his vision tunneling as her appearance was stunning. She wore a neck dress that was a deep, royal shade of blue that cinched at the waist and swayed around down her legs with each step, ending just above her knees, the rest of her legs covered by black, opaque tights. White lapels peaked over the collar, and a fitted dark grey cardigan hugged her torso.

Alexus walked in the middle of a trio which consisted of her, Badeea Ali, and Penny Haywood, the three girls linking arms, walking to Talbott like they were moving down the aisle, giving their daughter away for a wedding. Maybe that was a semblance of their motivations, but in reality, he knew they were just making sure she made the walk to him, as they were rather unsure of all the spells that dark witch had used on Alexus just recently, unsure if there would be any lingering effects.

As they reached him, Alexus broke from the girls and slid her hand into Talbott’s waiting one.

“Thank you,” she said to them.

“Have fun!” Penny waved off cheerily.

Talbott nodded his head to them respectfully before they disappeared into the Three Broomsticks. He watched them leave before looking down at Alexus. He brought her hand to his lips for a second. “Are you ready to go?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” she replied, smiling at him.

He returned her smile before leading her away, down the street of Hogsmeade.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I feel you’d prefer to avoid crowded places today,” he started as they walked.

“I’d prefer to avoid crowded places any day, but since the rumors of my dating habits have been picking up, I would prefer to be away from as many other students as possible.”

“As you wish,” Talbott said, winking at her.

Alexus rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Since when do you watch The Princess Bride?” she asked.

“Since you mentioned how good it was in five letters after fourth year,” he chided.

“It was good!” Alexus said defensively.

“Well, you always were a sucker for romance. Who would have known?”

She poked his side. “You have no room to talk, Mr. Read-Poetry-to-the-Girl-in-the-Hospital.”

He stopped walking and looked down at her. “As I recall, you enjoyed being read to.”

She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I never said I didn’t.” She walked further along, dragging him with her a few steps until he started walking on his own, again, taking the lead.

“You’re… impossible,” he said with admiration and burning cheeks.

“You’re paradoxical,” she retaliated as she fell into step with him. Before he could question her adjective, she continued. “Where are we going, anyways?”

He frowned, but let it roll off his shoulders. “You can fly, yes?”

“As gracefully as the day I first transformed.”

“Oh dear, we might be in trouble then.”

He laughed as she nudged his side with her shoulder.

“The Courtyard, Alexus. The Clocktower Courtyard.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You have me escorted all the way to Hogsmeade just to fly back to Hogwarts?”

“Well, eventually. I thought you’d enjoy Honeydukes first. You can tell a lot about a person by the sweets they enjoy.”

He stopped as they reached the front of the shop in question. She didn’t even realize that’s where he had taken her.

She opened her mouth, probably to say something smart back to him, but he was already opening the door for her like a proper gentleman and ushering her inside from the cold.

She gave him a look that was half a smirk and half a challenge and half a battle of wits when they left.

He just winked back and grabbed her hand, walking with her through the shop. There were other students, more crowded than they both would have liked, but also not as busy as a place such as the Three Broomsticks. There were other couples, walking and poking around the shelves.

“So, what is your favorite sweet?” Talbott asked as they made their way through a natural path of the store. He inspected a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans.

“Not that. Too much risk,” Alexus replied, scrunching her nose at his selection.

“You break curses in your spare time,” he pointed out, almost laughing.

“Ever since Jacob gave me a wasabi flavored bean when I was four, I’ve been rather weary of them.”

He laughed and kept the package. “Then I’m definitely getting this. I’ll give you the good ones.”

“Oh, you’re such a gentleman,” she said, sarcastically before reaching up. He found it incredibly endearing that her fingers barely brushed the bag of liquorice wands, straining to grasp them before she caught the plastic with her fingers, pulling it forward just a centimeter before pulling it closer until she could slide it off the edge slowly and into her palm.

“You could have asked for assistance or a step ladder you know,” he said, trying not to burst out laughing, but there were tears in his eyes from the strain of holding himself back.

“Sod off, Talbott,” she muttered before looking at her parcel. “These are my favorite.” “Liquorice wands?” he asked, glancing at her hands.

“Ever since I was little. My mum…” she stopped and looked at him cautiously.

He caught her look before turning away, trying to make his demeanor as eased and nonchalant as possible. “Continue,” he assured her.

“My mum always bought these when she went to a wizard market. Jacob and I would pretend to duel.”

Talbott laughed lightly. “See? I told you, you can tell a lot about a person based on the sweets they enjoy.”

She rolled her eyes. “What about you? What’s your favorite?”

Talbott hummed and put the peppermint toads he was holding back onto the shelf. He grabbed her empty hand with his own before leading the way to another aisle. He picked up a displayed cardboard box with a saran wrap window, showing off the gelatinous sweets inside.

“Jelly slugs?” Alexus asked incredulously while Talbott beamed, like he was the creator of the confections.

“They’re right and proper when you have a craving for sweets, Alexus,” Talbott said seriously.

“They’re good, but I didn’t think they’d be your favorite sweet,” she shrugged.

“Oh? What did you think would be my favorite?” he asked, added the box to his collection.

She hummed, thinking before letting go of his hand, disappearing behind a shelf before reimaging, walking up to him and shoving a box of ice mice into his hand.

He stared as she pressed her lips together, eyes lit up with something wicked.

“You know,” she said, voice shaking with restrained giggles. “Because… well, birds of prey tend to enjoy mice.” She laughed as he gave her a pained expression.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him as he put the box back. They looked at other sweets when they were approached by a wiry and young employee with a tray in his hands.

“Chocolate raspberry fudge?” he asked. “Free samples for Valentine’s couples.”

Talbott looked at Alexus before taking two off the tray, thanking the employee.

“Are you fond of raspberry?” she asked.

“Very, when it’s paired with chocolate,” he replied, handing her a small square of the pink and brown treat.

They ate them together as they finished their shopping and walked to the register, Talbott grabbing two bottles of butterbeer on their way. They paid before they left the shop, still talking about the sort of treats they would enjoy in their childhood.

“Muggle candies, have you ever had those?” Alexus asked.

“I can’t say that I have.”

“You’d love them. If I make it to summer, I’ll be sure to buy a bunch to share with you.”

He looked at her. “If?”

She blinked. “Uh, when,” she corrected herself, “I mean, when I come back from the summer.”

He stopped, his grip in her hand making her stop as well. She turned to him, reluctantly meeting his piercing red eyes.

“Do you not think you’re going to make it past the Final Vault?”

“It’s- it’s not that, Talbott. I just… can’t guarantee it,” she looked down and held his hand tighter. “I have to be realistic.”

He sighed and kissed her head. “That is the path you walk?” he asked.

She nodded and pressed her head against his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her. “Then I’ll walk it with you. I promised you that much, Alexus.”

“You’re… paradoxical,” she muttered before pulling away.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

She looked up at him and sighed before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He admired her, that orange glow illuminating half her face, her emerald eyes shining even brighter as the moonlight casted it’s soft mercury glow onto the other half.

He felt a compelling force that almost pushed him down, if only to… well, he wasn’t sure. He felt some great pull towards her, a desire for something but he didn’t know what. He saw that in her eyes, he saw so much in them. That mysterious and compelling force.

She leaned back, taking her hand into his. “Let’s go back. The long way, yeah?”

He nodded and walked with her back down the street of Hogsmeade.

They didn’t talk. They didn’t need to talk, which was not an infrequent occurrence with them. Sometimes, the only thing they needed to say could be expressed with the silence, the energy that they could feel passing between them.

As they got to Hogwarts, it was around dinner time, so not too close to the curfew, but it was close, so Talbott and Alexus knew they had to be careful about avoiding any teachers or other staff members as they walked past the Great Hall.

Eventually, they walked outside and into the Courtyard. They held hands still as they sat at the base of the fountain.

Alexus took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

He smiled before opening the two bottles of butterbeer, setting one down next to her before he took a swig from his own.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing, actually,” she replied, opening her eyes and grabbing her bottle. “Just… the sound of the fountain, and the silence of the night, it’s always relaxing, to me. I missed it, while I was in the Hospital Wing.”

“Yeah? You sneak out here often?” he asked, reaching through his bag, pulling out his box of jelly slugs.

“Not as often as you go to the Owlery for the same reasons,” she replied before taking a long drink from her bottle.

He gave a small chuckle and opened the box. He selected a strawberry and lime flavored slug and bit into it, leaning back before looking at Alexus.

He was startled to see her looking at him, that intense look, where the expression holds the million thoughts running through her head faster than light, every single one causing the most minute shift on her face, but at the same time, all those million thoughts were about one subject. Him.

Her eyes, catching the moonlight again fixated on him, one eyebrow raised, the other pressed down in the lightest furrow, a crease in her forehead because of it. Her lips, pursed together, mostly hidden under the hand that she pressed to her mouth, one corner of her lips only just lifted and visible next to her thumb. Anyone else might have seen a soft neutrality, a few thoughts, a contemplating look. He saw that and so much more.

The way something lit up in her eyes when he looked at her, the flush in her cheeks, a centimeter rise in that one corner of her lips. He did that, by looking at her.

He felt that great pull on him again, like there was something inside his chest, in his instincts that was gripping him, trying to move him forward. He wondered if this was what being under the Imperius Curse was like. Something was trying to control him? No. He’d read personal recounts from survivors, about the effects, and this was not that.

But what was this pull?

Alexus slid her hand over his and reached over him, grabbing one of his jelly slugs for herself. She bit the head off and chewed before laying her head on his shoulder.

He moved his arm to wrap it around her lower back and pulled her closer.

“I hope the lack of eventfulness was okay for our first date,” he murmured, pressing his lips to her crown softly for a second.

“With my daily routine? Lack of eventfulness was the best thing you could have planned. Thank you for making me feel ordinary for the night.”

He chuckled. “Somehow, I don’t think you can be ordinary, Alexus. You are… fantastically remarkable.”

“And you are fantastically corny.”

He laughed, turning away from her to hide his little outburst, which made her laugh.

“Corny, but appreciated,” she assured him, gently putting a hand on his chest reassuringly.

He looked down at her, at the laughing grin on her face, and as she was wiping away a tear from her eye, he leaned down, tilting his head.

He kissed her.

So suddenly, he kissed her, soft lips meeting softer lips, eyes closed, her hands sliding across his arms to wrap around his shoulders, his hands moving to cup her face.

As suddenly as he kissed her, he pulled away, taking a couple deep breathes, watching her, eyes wide, mouth agape with a breathless panting. Her cheeks grew warm rapidly under his hands.

“I-I’m sorry… I don’t… uh… I don’t know what came o-”

She cut him off by leaning up and kissing him this time.

It was hard for him to say how long passed before one of them pulled away again.

When they kissed, he discovered in about five seconds that time became lost. The world was lost. Stars twinkled around in the sky above them, water trickled into the pool behind them. Talbott could swear he felt the ground move beneath them. Until it was all lost. There was nothing around them, there was no world, no stars, no water, no ground.

Just her.

Just him.

Just them together, connected in the purest form of a kiss.

When it was over, when they were pulling away from each other, the noise of the world slowly came back. There was that water trickling, soft insects calling in the night. An owl hooted somewhere far away, a wolf howled in the distant forest. Heavy footsteps clacked on the stone floor nearby, and it was coming closer.

Talbott and Alexus looked at each other before at their supplies from Honeydukes.

“Conceal it!” she whispered quickly, whipping out her wand, Talbott following suit. They quickly casted the disillusionment charm over their bags and bottles before pocketing their wands. They nodded to each other before assuming their animagus forms, Talbott as a brown eagle, Alexus was a chihuahuan raven. They flew up, right to the end of the courtyard as some… unknown person walked into the courtyard.

Alexus watched, ready to fly away at the first sign of trouble. Whenever dark-hooded figures with most of their faces obscured walked in her general area, it was never good, and they always seemed to be for her.

Talbott let out of call, a warning one.

Alexus looked at him, where he was perched on a ledge that overlooked the courtyard.

Alexus got ready to fly away, waiting for when the stranger would least likely be bothered by two non-nocturnal birds. She watched as the wizard stalked around the courtyard, poking stone with his wand.

As his back was turned, Alexus called out to Talbott, and they both spread their wings to take off. This was something they had to report, and fast.

They flew up, Alexus aiming for the sky to disappear into when there was a terrible, fiery pain in her right wing. She cried out, the vocalization coming out as a pained caw.

The wind was rushing through her feathers from her rapid descent.

She landed on her side, curling her arm into herself, black feathers swaying onto the ground around her.

“Alexus Johnson, small raven. Right there in the registry where any one can read it,” the wizard said, making his way over to her.

Alexus groaned, slowly sitting up, her wand in her grip, but she couldn’t lift her arm, it hurt too much to bend it. Her cardigan and shirt sleeves had already been burned or blasted off.

“It’s a chihuahuan raven, actually,” she corrected the wizard as he pointed it wand at her. “The base of the neck has a white coloration, native more to the Mexico and western United States area.”

The wizard didn’t say anything as he stood over Alexus.

Alexus smiled and set her wand down. “I’m not coming quietly. In fact, I’m not coming with you at all,” she assured him as she slowly rose to her feet, eyes trained on his wand.

“You know what ‘R’ wants, so you might as well make it easy now. Before we make you abide by our ideals.”

Alexus laughed lightly. “No.”

There was a screech and Talbott descended, talons extended, right towards the dark wizard’s face.

While he was distracted, Alexus stooped down to grab her wand with her left arm.

“Get away!” she shouted to Talbott.

He flew off, and Alexus sent a powerful blasting spell at the dark wizard, sending him flying back across the courtyard, landing in the fountain.

Talbott landed next to Alexus, turning back into human as he did. He pulled out his wand and kept it trained on the wizard.

“Do we run?” he asked.

“No, he’ll slip away.” Alexus walked to the wizard, ready to attack if he moved. “You go get a teacher, Dumbledore, Filch, anyone. We can’t let him get back to ‘R’ when he knows.”

Talbott didn’t want to leave Alexus alone, but he knew she could handle the wizard better than he could. But he still hesitated, looking at her.

“Talbott, go!” she insisted as the dark wizard started to stir.

She wanted to watch him leave as he ran into the castle, but she was too terrified to take her eyes off of the dark wizard.

“So… ‘R’ must be getting more desperate, if they’re just sending any idiot to try and retrieve me,” she commented as the wizard slowly sat up from the water.

“What can we say? Your work with the Vaults continues to be impressive.”

“I believe I have given you my answer already. Incarcerous!” Ropes sprang from the tip of her wand and coiled tightly around the torso of the dark wizard, binding his arms to his sides.

She walked over and grabbed his discarded wand, kicking it further across the courtyard.

“You gave us the wrong answer,” the wizard said, nonchalantly.

“Ferula,” Alexus muttered, pointing her wand at her burn. Bandages delicately wrapped around the injury. She’d find Chiara for a more permanent solution.

“It is cute that you think ‘R’ is giving you a choice.”

“Stupif-!”

“PROTEGO!” Alexus shouted, twirling on her heel, slashing her wand up, throwing up a quick shield to counter the second assailant’s attempt to stun her as they came up from behind. The force of her opponent’s spell on her shield made her slide back a few inches.

“You didn’t think I’d come alone to collect such a… volatile target?” the man asked, inching his way out of the fountain as Alexus faced the new dark wizard.

“I was certainly hoping, but I guess no one wants to be alone today,” she muttered, planting her foot behind her. “Expelliarmus!”

The wizard dodged and sent his own spell back to her, causing her to jump to the side.

“Locomotor Mortis!”

Alexus tripped as her legs were bound together. She swore under her breath and gripped her wand as the wizard advanced upon her.

“Flipendo Maxima!” she shouted, trying to buy herself more time, but he blocked that too.

“Stupify!”

All Alexus saw was red sparks and then stars. Lights and shadows swimming in the darkness of her vision. She groaned and turned on her side, towards the fountain. Vision was slowly coming back to her, her surroundings blurred.

Semi-conscious…. Semi-conscious was better than unconscious, which could have been the outcome with the stunning spell.

She saw the two dark wizards at the fountain as blurred figures, coming in and out of focus. “She really got you, didn’t she?” the second assailant asked as he undid the ropes on his companion.

“She had a bird friend, another animagus. Little bastard got my face, went to get help.”

She looked at her hand, extended, laying on the ground.

Her wand…

She had a wand.

“We better get out of here quickly.”

She moved her fingers, brushing along the stone. It must have been knocked out of her grip. Then, she felt it. That familiar wood, the warmth in her fingertips as she found her wand. She gripped it firmly and looked back at the two. The second one was helping the first wizard up out of the fountain. She pointed her wand at the ground by them. “Bombarda!”

The second wizard jumped back as there was a small explosion at his feet, the first wizard falling back into the fountain.

She sat up as the second dark wizard whirled around to face her.

“Everte Statum!”

“Lacarnum Inflamari!”

His robes caught on fire as she was sent rolling back across the courtyard, stopping when her body collided with the far wall, a sharp pain in her torso where the spell hit her.

“PUT IT OUT!” the wizard shouted, stomping on his dark cloak rapidly.

“My wand!” the other one shouted, jumping out of the fountain and looking at the dark ground.

If Alexus wasn’t reeling, she’d be laughing, but as the pain was subsiding, she slowly climbed to her feet as the wizard just shrugged off his robe, revealing his face.

He was a gruff-looking figure, with patchy black and white facial hair on his jaw, his head shaved, a massive scar on his scalp. His dark eyes pierced Alexus as he raised his wand.

Where was Talbott? Should it have taken him this long to get help? Was he on his way with Dumbledore and all she had to do was stall?

“I told your friend, I wasn’t going to come quietly,” she said, raising her wand as well

“And I told your friend, I’m willing to take you in bloody if that’s what it takes.” He shot a spell at her, and she jumped to the side before firing her own at him.

“What did you do to him?” she asked, trying to keep her voice bold and even.

“Just gave him a full-body bind so he wouldn’t have to get any pesky teachers involved. Someone will find him, but you’ll be gone by then.”

Alexus set her jaw. Talbott would be terrified. She couldn’t let him be any more scared than he already was with her in her danger. But more importantly, they got to Talbott. They hurt him. She couldn’t let that slide either.

If Talbott was in that courtyard in that second, only he would have seen the darkness in her eyes, like a thunderstorm overtaking clear, green, rolling fields. A brewing and dangerous storm that made it seem like the sky was about to explode, Heaven’s fury being unleashed like Hell’s wrath.

Alexus focused her wand on the men in front of her as the wizard finally found his wand and joined his partner.

The air became still for a second as the intensity of the silent rage culminated in her chest.

“Incendio!” she shouted, waving her wand in arch before herself, sending a wall of flames to the men in front of her.

They only had time to wave the flames away in one swoop before she thrusted her wand forward, at their feet.

“Confringo!”

The bald wizard threw his arms in front of his face while his friend jumped back as shards of stone flew up in all directions from their feet.

She sent furious spell after furious spell, making them dodge and jump out of the way to avoid serious injury. Now that there was no backup, she had to win.

“Expelliarmus!” she disarmed the bald wizard, his wand flying behind him.

He looked at the discarded wand behind him before back at her. “Who knew you had such a weakness, Miss Johnson? Don’t worry, weaknesses aren’t allowed in ‘R’ so that will be fixed soon enough.”

She froze, only for a second, but that was enough for the other wizard.

“Diffindo!”

The air stilled again.

Alexus pressed her hand against her stomach, shuddering as she felt something arm and stick saturating her clothes and hand. Gulping, she pulled it away and held it up in front of her face, even if she already knew. In the moonlight, she saw the dark stain on her hands.

Before she could do another thing, before she could even think about healing herself, the first wizard snapped his wand at her.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Eyes widened, mouth slightly agape, wand outstretched, bloody hand near her chest, she became frozen.

The first wizard rushed forward as the second one went to retrieve his wand.

“There we go,” the first one muttered as he moved his wand over her injuries, healing her slowly.

“Don’t need to kill ya, just needed you stunned enough.”

Alexus moved her eyes, watching him as the wound disappeared, like it was never there. He patted her head when he finished. She would have broken his hand if he could move.

“Ready to go?” he called back to the bald wizard as he picked up his wand.

“Take her wand from her first. I’ll bind her, you unfreeze her.”

The first wizard snatched her wand from her hands and took a few steps back.

Alexus watched the bald wizard and he raised his wand at her. “On three.”

“One… Two…”

“THREE!” Alexus looked past them just in time to see the red sparks before the first wizard was sent flying forward, skidding at her feet.

The bald wizard turned around only to be knocked back the same distance, his back colliding onto the wall behind her.

“Excellent knockback, Mr. Winger!” Professor Flitwick complimented, pocketing his wand after knocking the second assailant.

Alexus had never been more relieved to see her head of house and the Headmaster before, but it was Talbott’s presence who reassured her the most. He was okay.

He gave no acknowledgement, instead, running over to Alexus.

He cupped her face lightly and looked down at her. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?” he asked.

She wanted desperately to collapse into his arms. For him to hold her as she felt her legs could no longer support her. But she couldn’t. She could just control her eyes and even then, she couldn’t stop the heavy streams of tears that spilled, cascading down her cheeks, catching on his hands.

“Mr. Winger, I believe she is petrified at the moment,” Professor Dumbledore stepped forward. “Allow me.”

With a wave of his wand, Alexus stumbled forward, right into Talbott’s waiting arms.

She closed her eyes and stifled a sob in his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso and hiding her face into his chest.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, softly, cupping the back of her head with his hand, holding her close to him.

“Miss Johnson, are you hurt?” Professor Dumbledore asked.

Alexus pulled away and took a breath, quickly collecting herself. “My arm, it got burned.” She extended it to show the bandages she had placed on her arm.

“I see. Mr. Winger, will you please escort Miss Johnson to the Hospital Wing to be treated while we take care of the mess here?” Dumbledore requested.

“Yes, Professor. We’ll go straight away.”

Talbott gently placed his hand on her back and they began walking, but hadn’t taken more than two steps when Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

“Miss Johnson?” he called, prompting them to look back.

“Yes, Professor?” she asked hesitantly.

“Your wand, don’t forget it please!” he held up her wand, which he retrieved from the first wizard.

“Oh! Right, thank you, professor,” she said while walking over. She took it and nodded in thanks before walking back to Talbott. They finally left the courtyard, silently.

He kept his hand on her back, reluctant to not feel her with him, but she didn’t mind. She stayed close to him as they walked.

When they went into the Hospital Wing, it was filled with mostly petrified students. But there was also Chiara Lobosca, attending to a girl who looked sickly with a very runny nose.

“Just take this potion before bed and your cold will go away by the end of the night. Be mindful of smoke in the ears,” the Hufflepuff was advising the girl as they approached.

“Chiara,” Alexus said, softly.

She turned around, a pleasant expression on her face, but when she saw Alexus, the bandages, the blood, her eyes turned as big as the moon.

“Alexus!” she almost cried, quickly walking in front of her.

“The slice was healed, I’m not bleeding anymore, but I am faint from the loss of blood I did experience, but the most severe injury is my arm, it’s burnt under the bandages I applied. I was in a duel. Don’t tell the Circle yet.”

Chiara blinked, processing, before nodding and she quickly guided Alexus to an empty bed.

“Are you okay?” she asked, gently extending Alexus’s arm out and unwrapping the bandages.

“Barely. Talbott got Dumbledore and Flitwick just in time,” Alexus winced at the movement.

“Thank you, Talbott,” Chiara said, looking at him before back at Alexus.

She looked at the burn before back at Talbott. “There are bandages in that cabinet. Can you please get them for me?”

He nodded and walked over to the cabinet while Chiara gently traced her wand on Alexus’s wound.

Alexus flinched and wanted to yank her arm away, but the skin slowly started to mend.

She bit her lip and turned her head away from the healer and tried to suppress any cry or outburst.

“There we go, you did good,” Chiara assured her before pocketing her wand again.

Talbott came back with the bandages.

Chiara took them and began dressing the wound, slowly wrapping the bandages loosely over the area.

“It will take a few days to heal fully, but there shouldn’t be any scarring as long as you leave it alone.”

“Thank you, Chiara,” Alexus said. She gently moved her arm back and looked at the bandages.

“Remember, if you want to talk about it, I’ll always listen,” she reminded.

Alexus looked at Chiara, incredibly touched. “You’re too kind,” she said, smiling softly. “I’m good for now. I think now is a good time to call in the night.”

“Goodnight, then, you two. Hope your next date is safer!”

Talbott walked into a hospital bed and slammed his leg into the railing while Alexus nearly fell off her bed.

“Who told you?” they both asked, almost shouting, making the healer jump back.

“Penny! Penny told me before she went to help you get ready!” she quickly said.

Alexus groaned and buried her face into her hands. “Hasn’t she ever heard of stylist-client confidentiality?” she cried.

“Oh no,” Talbott muttered under his breath, remembering Andre.

“Well, you two better get going! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help!” Chiara quickly and pleasantly excused herself before walking to another student across the Wing from them.

Talbott looked at Alexus, resigned.

Without a word between them, they both walked out of the Hospital Wing.

The second they closed the doors behind them, they looked at each other.

Alexus gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. You… definitely saved my life.”

“I’m sorry that your cardigan got ruined.”

Alexus snorted and looked at the burnt off sleeve that now ended at her bicep. “I can remedy it… I think.”

Now he snorted. He looked down the hall and sighed. “Let’s head to the Common Room, before Snape or someone deducts house points for being attacked after hours.”

She laughed and grabbed his arm gently before leading the way.

“Hopefully, our sweets are still there by the morning, we can get them then,” Talbott said.

“They were still invisible by the time we left, so they might be,” Alexus agreed hopefully.

“I’m sorry this… didn’t end up how I wanted it to,” he looked down at her.

“You don’t have to apologize, Talbott,” she assured him. “It was magical. I had a really great time.”

“I’m glad.” He glanced at her and took a breath. “The… kissing… was that okay? I should have asked, and-”

“I wouldn’t have kissed you back if it wasn’t,” she assured him. “You don’t have to worry, you gave me an amazing night. I was ordinary for a couple hours. That’s the best thing you could give me.”

He gently nudged her side with his arm. “I told you before, you’re incapable of being ordinary. You’re… the most… remarkable girl I’ve met.”

She smiled. “You make me feel remarkable, Talbott. I’m really just doing things that need to be done. And sometimes, doing those things…”

“Lead you down a hard path?” Talbott completed for her.

“Yes. You’re the one I want to walk with me. I know that now. I realized that when I was dueling, oddly enough.” She looked forward.

“Oh?” he said, not pressing her to continue, but he still wanted her to say more.

“It’s… that dark wizard, he told me he petrified you. I… lost it. I was scared. You could have been hurt, I couldn’t just… let them get away with that.”

He looked at her, not sure of what to say. He was stunned, but unharmed. Dumbledore and Flitwick had stumbled upon him in the hall. All he could say was that Alexus was in danger before running off. He was terrified for her. He thought she was going to die and it would have been his fault for not being better. That he could have done more. Just like with his parents.

He just brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently before they continued walking.

The common room was almost empty, students tired from a night of festivities, winding down, talking to one another about their dates and otherwise.

“Hey,” he tugged on her hand before pulling her to a nearby bench, gesturing to sit down. “Before you go up to your dorm, I had… one more thing planned.”

She tilted her head, looking at him quizzically.

He gave a small smile before pulling a small box out of his pocket. He held it out to her.

She took it and gave him a small smile before opening it. Her eyes widened when she saw the contents.

“Talbott,” she said softly before grabbing the silver braided chain and pulling the necklace out.

There was a single charm, a brown eagle feather.

“From my own wing,” he muttered.

She looked at him before kissing his cheek. “I love it,” she whispered before quickly fastening it around her own neck.

“I’m glad,” he said, relieved.

She admired the feather before looking at him apologetically. “I didn’t… get you anything, but… I was thinking… I could maybe… read a poem to you?”

He pulled out a small booklet from his other jacket pocket. “I’ve been waiting all night to open this.”

She snatched it from him. “Reyes’s Handpicked Poems!” she exclaimed.

“I may have already marked a couple,” he said, a little slyly, a self-satisfied smile crossing his face as she eagerly thumbed through the collection. “It’s not as hefty as The Romantic Collection we fight over, but there’s something charming about knowing these are the author’s favorites.”

She stopped on a page and quickly skimmed it. “Found one,” she muttered before leaning against him. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes

Come see me, Eros Where the woodland sings of their secret songs of the evergreen

Come see me, Eros In the break of the trees Where Apollo touches the land where lovers meet

Come see me, Eros In this forestry dream Surrounded by nymphs and Demeter’s love

Come save me, Eros Follow me down Where Hades’ lips kiss away the light

Come save me, Eros From Thanatos’ grip that’s keeping me away from you

Talbott sighed. “That’s a sad one,” he muttered.

“It’s heavily symbolic, which just adds weight,” she agreed.

“Death of the Lover… what a perfect poem to end Valentine’s Day on,” he muttered sarcastically.

She closed the book and looked at him. He waited for her sarcastic rebuttal, but instead, she kissed him.

He was shocked, but he wasn’t going to complain, and instead, placed his hand on her cheek, closing his eyes.

“Oh dammit all to Hell, they’re kissing!”

They pulled away quickly and turned to see Tulip Karasu fuming. Alexus didn’t like the look in her eyes before the mischievous Ravenclaw ran to their dorm room. “BADEEA! TELL TONKS PENNY WON! I’M OUT FIVE SICKLES!”

“Oh… Merlin’s saggy left…” Alexus grumbled before burying her face into her hands while Talbott sighed.

There were better, more romantic notes to end their first Valentine’s date on, but this was not one of them, it seems.

[danceworshipper]

The Family Business AU: Part 1

Part 2

I'm finally getting around to writing something! This story is an AU where my main mcs, Gracie and Tessa Chiva, were raised in R their whole lives and are only just now, at the age of sixteen, starting to have doubts. I'm not sure how long the story will be, but I've been toying with the idea for a while now and I couldn't stop myself from writing it any longer. The basic background info is that the twins' maternal grandmother, Lorraine Black, founded R while her four children were still relatively young. In canon, her children weren't really on board, but in this AU all but one stayed with her. Clarissa, the twins' mother, never truly approved, but saw what happened to her brother and decided abandoning her family wasn't worth it. If you know my mcs, you'll know that while Gracie and Tessa are technically identical twins, Gracie has alternate coloring to her from a curse that happened in their first year (Tessa has dark brown hair and dull green eyes whilst Gracie has bright white hair and unnaturally bright green eyes, and is much paler). In this AU, that still occurred, however the curse was staged to give them a reason to go into the vaults as their brother never did, and she has no negative side effects from it. The 'Jacob' character has been renamed to Vance, just because I honestly don't like the name Jacob, Gracie and Merula are together, Tessa is single and newly the captain of the Slytherin quidditch team, Rowan is the prefect because she deserves it, and the two additional mcs in the story belong to @gcldensnitch and @weirdcursedvaultkid!

The Great Hall always felt so loud and bright on the first day of school. Even on the days the whole family was gathered together, their grandmother's dining hall was never as noisy as when the whole of Hogwarts was sitting eating dinner together. It made Gracie's head pound, and Tessa wasn't faring much better. If only their mother had listened to their pleas to drop out of school - but alas, Clarissa was firm in her belief that they needed to complete their education despite being next in line. It's what they deserved for asking the parent who had been a Ravenclaw during her own time at Hogwarts.

Of course, education aside, the twins really did need to stay in school. Them dropping out now would raise too many questions, especially with the two of them so invested in the Cursed Vaults. Besides, they would miss their friends. The friends that they'd been lying to since they met them. The friends that were now in terrible danger.

The twins had different thoughts about their lies. Tessa felt much more guilty about it, always having been the more empathetic twin. She especially felt guilty about lying to her best friend, Colette Belrose, whose older brother Jacob was someone Tessa saw rather frequently while Colette herself had no idea what he was up to. It reminded Tessa of how she had no idea where her own brother was, and if he was okay or not. He had run away from home directly after graduating and hadn't contacted his sisters at all. R had placed him high on the 'wanted' list. Seeing his name still there, not crossed out, was the only way Tessa and Gracie could have hope he was still alive.

Gracie was better able to justify her lies to herself. How could she continue to be trusted by her friends if they knew she was a member of the very group they were trying to take down? How would they react if they knew that she hadn't been cursed in her first year, but marked as the next leader? In order to protect the people Gracie cared about like Rowan and Merula, she needed them to trust her, and they never would if they found out about her lies now. It wasn't like she could tell them even if she wanted to; the secrecy oath she swore when she was eleven made that impossible. She suspected that was the only reason Vance hadn't told everyone before he ran away. You didn't break the oath by leaving. You broke the oath by dying.

This very oath, while necessary for R's security, was something that the twins were growing to despise. Lorraine, their grandmother, the founder and current leader of R, had laughed at them when they screamed and cried about Rakepick torturing Merula while the group was in the Portrait Vault the year before. Rakepick was just playing her part, Lorraine said. It didn't matter how close Gracie and Merula were, because in the end, Merula was an enemy to R and their mission, and would be treated as such. If Gracie wanted Merula safe from R's members, she'd have to convince Merula to become one.

This was the twins' goal this year. Between working on the final Cursed Vault (that the Hogwarts students knew of; the twins knew it was, in fact, the second-to-last), they were determined to convince their closest friends to join up with R for their own protection. How they would do that without being able to tell their friends about their family, they didn't know. But they had to try.

"Tessa!"

Tessa's head shot up as Colette sat down on the bench next to her and threw her arms around her. Colette had a smile on her face as she pulled back.

"Your hair is so long now!" Colette exclaimed. "I love it!"

Tessa smiled back weakly. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just not used to the noise yet," Tessa responded truthfully. "It's not very loud back home."

Colette squeezed Tessa's shoulder in comfort. "You'll be used to it in no time."

Gracie watched the exchange and sighed. Rowan was a prefect, so she was off making sure the dorms were ready for the new students who would be coming in, and Merula was nowhere to be found. Merula had been off all summer. Having the Cruciatus curse cast on her had caused her to become even more determined than ever to prove herself as powerful, and it left their relationship wanting.

Gracie plugged her ears as the chatter around the hall grew even louder, feeling Tessa lean closer to her. The first years had just entered the Great Hall to be sorted. Hopefully Rowan would be here soon.

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

Dinner had been miserable, just as it always was during the first week or so. The twins never truly appreciated the quiet at home while they had it. Rowan had finally arrived just as the last first year was sorted, still catching her breath but beaming from a job well done.

"The Common Room is sparkling," she had told Gracie. "And I scented the candles with a faint hint of orange, just for you."

Rowan was so good. She cared about Gracie more than almost anyone else, and though she was nerdy, weird, and awkward, she was one of the most incredible people Gracie had ever met. Rowan was the one Gracie was most desperate to get on R's side. As much as she loved Merula, Rowan had been Gracie's friend from day one. Losing her would hurt the most, she was sure of it. Rowan had to be turned.

Tonight, though, Gracie had to find Merula, or else she'd likely stay out all night. Rowan said she had seen her out of the Training Grounds blasting the dummies to pieces, so that's where Gracie went after dinner was over.

The night sky was clear, and the air was nice and warm, a welcome change of scenery as Gracie let her stress wash away for just a moment. Staring at the stars always made Gracie feel less anxious. The stars didn't care what happened to her. She was nothing but a speck of dust in the universe, and nothing she ever did would matter. It was a comforting thought.

"Are you just going to stand there, Chiva?"

Merula was now standing next to her, looking at her with a cold expression.

"Hi," Gracie said softly. Every time she saw Merula she was caught off guard by how pretty she was, even when she was angry.

"What do you want?"

"You missed dinner."

"I wasn't hungry."

It was a bad lie. Gracie held out the plate of raspberry tart she had been able to sneak out, and Merula took it without a word.

"What were you doing?" Gracie asked.

"What do you think?" Merula jerked her head toward a group of dummies, two of which were still lying on the ground in pieces.

Gracie sighed and pushed her hair behind her ear. "This isn't healthy, love. I want to get back at Rakepick too, but you're running yourself ragged like this. We've barely spent time together recently."

At those words, Merula seemed to deflate just a little. She had another bite of tart before answering.

"I know."

They stood without talking while Merula finished her tart. She didn't say thank you, nor did Gracie expect her to. Merula just vanished the plate and crossed her arms.

An owl hooted in the distance. Gracie wondered if it was a school one or a wild one.

"Train with me," Merula said suddenly.

Gracie shook her head. "It's late. Come inside with me."

"Duel me once and we can go in."

"You're the Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts," Gracie teased, enjoying the way Merula rolled her eyes even as they lit up. "You have nothing to prove to me."

"Just one?" Merula asked again.

And Gracie was never able to resist. "One."

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

"I've already been asked by three different people when I'm going to be holding tryouts," Tessa whined. "It's the first day back; can they not wait a single second?"

"Apparently not," Liz said, leaning back against her headrest. The two were sitting on the bed, catching up. Liz hadn't been able to visit for the second half of the summer as she had been on vacation in Canada, so they had a lot to talk about.

"I snuck out of the hall to visit everyone in the Reserve," Liz continued. "You need to come with me tomorrow so you can see how much bigger the thestrals are. Victoria says hi, I think. I still can't see her."

Tessa raised an eyebrow. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I want to see how beautiful she is! You keep saying she's the prettiest thestral you've ever seen but I don't have a point of reference."

"Take my word for it, Liz, she's gorgeous."

Liz frowned. "I wish seeing the death of a pet counted. It's like even magic itself thinks creatures are less than humans."

"But if seeing the death of a pet counted, Thestrals would never be able to live in peace because then nearly everyone would be able to see them," Tessa reasoned.

"I cannot believe Hogwarts uses them as carriage horses. Thestrals as carriage horses! What disrespectful prick came up with that?!"

Tessa glanced around the dorm as Liz carried on with her rant. Gracie wasn't back with Merula yet. Colette was talking with Rowan and Alex Vega, happy as could be, completely unaware that twenty feet away from her Tessa was trying to figure out how to recruit her to the very wizard cult her brother had abandoned his family to work for. And what about Alex? Would Tessa and Gracie try and get Alex too? Alex was in danger; she had gotten involved with the Vaults a few years ago and now spent a lot of time with Ben, someone who, at the end of last year, made quite an enemy of himself in the Portrait Vault. If only he had stayed a spineless coward, he might have been safe. It might be the only circumstance Tessa was displeased with someone's personal growth.

Ismelda was sitting by herself, skimming through this year's History of Magic textbook. Ismelda was probably the safest one in the room, having never really helped the Vault hunt or done anything that would anger R. She mostly just kept to herself. Ironically, Ismelda was probably the most likely person to be willing to join R.

Liz snapped her fingers in Tessa's face, making her jump.

"You look scared," Liz stated, blunt as ever. "It's okay, you know. Dumbledore knows now that Rakepick is evil. She'll have a hard time finding us to try and hurt us."

She was kind of close, Tessa thought, but that wasn't quite it. It wasn't like Liz could know Rakepick would never, under threat of death, ever hurt even a single hair on Tessa's head other than under strict orders for cover.

"Yeah, I know. But it doesn't feel right."

Liz elbowed her in a way that was probably meant to be encouraging. "We're a team. No one is going to hurt you on my watch."

That only made Tessa feel worse. Liz would never say those things if she knew who Tessa really was. Salazar, how was Tessa ever supposed to convince Liz to join R? Rakepick was in R; no one at Hogwarts would ever consider being on her side. Besides maybe Ismelda.

The door finally opened to reveal Gracie and Merula. Tessa watched her sister accept Alex's hug, looking just fine. How did Gracie do it? Did she really believe she could change her friends' minds, or was she just better at hiding her emotions than Tessa?

You're too sensitive. Leaders have to be able to step back from their emotions and look at a situation rationally. If you can't do that, Tessa, you can never be a leader.

She didn't want to be a leader; Gracie could do that. Tessa just wanted to be good enough to be worthy of being the leader. She wanted to stop being second best. She didn't want to be Tessa, Gracie's twin sister anymore. She wanted to be Tessa, her own person. It wasn't like her Quidditch skills would matter in a couple of years when she had to work for R full time. Maybe she could talk to Diego tomorrow; she needed to get back into her dueling training.

Merula stomped off to talk to Ismelda after having been convinced to hug Alex as well. Gracie spoke with Rowan for a moment before they both came to join Tessa and Liz, leaving Colette and Alex fawning over Colette's cat together.

"I beat her," Gracie told Rowan, then turned to address the whole group. "Merula made me duel her again."

"Isn't she ever going to get tired of getting her ass kicked by you?" Rowan joked.

"She won't stop bothering you until you let her win, you know," Liz told Gracie.

"She'll know I let her win and then she'll be even more mad."

Gracie looked over at Tessa, who had drawn into herself. Tessa felt the Legilimency link they shared open up.

You okay? Gracie asked.

I'm scared.

I know.

Gracie paused to laugh at something Liz said. Tessa attempted a chuckle. She didn't know what Liz had said.

We can do this, and if we can't, we can protect them. No one is going to get hurt. I promise.

You can't guarantee that.

"I'm tired," Tessa announced, closing the link and standing up.

Gracie stood and pulled Tessa into a tight hug.

"I love you," Gracie said.

"I love you too."

Tessa, having already changed into her nightgown some time ago, climbed into her bed and shut the curtains, ignoring the concerned looks from her dormmates. She'd feel better tomorrow, she told herself. She was just tired and it was making her worse. That was all. It wasn't like she had to turn everyone by the weekend; the first proper "attack" Lorraine had planned was over a month away, and it was less of an attack than a "scare the kids" bit. They'd be fine. She had plenty of time.

"Did something happen at home?" Liz asked quietly.

What hadn't? It was a better question, but no one knew that.

"Our grandfather is sick," Gracie lied, hoping she'd remember to tell Tessa before someone said something tomorrow. "He'll probably be fine, but he's old, you know? He was still in pretty bad shape when we left."

Rowan made an odd face, but it was gone before Gracie could even process that it happened.

"I'm sure he'll be okay," she said.

"Yeah, he's made it through dragon pox, he can handle this," Liz nodded, yawning. "I might go to bed too."

"Yeah, it's late," Gracie agreed. "I still have to get changed though."

Rowan perked up. "You'll like what I did in the bathroom. Pretty tough bit of magic, but I think it was worth it."

"Really now?"

"Mhm. Here," Rowan said, holding out Gracie's toiletry bag before she could even open her trunk. "I got it out for you, and your nightgown is hanging above the heating stone so it'll be warm."

Gracie felt another surge of guilt wash through her. "You're the best."

Rowan grinned. "Come on, I want to see your reaction!"

What Rowan had done in the bathroom was charm the mirrors to look like the surface of a calm lake. When Gracie put her hand out to touch it, it rippled.

"This is so cool!" Gracie exclaimed, momentarily forgetting her troubles.

"I know! And when you want it to be solid so you can see perfectly, you just tap it with your wand and say sile, like so."

Rowan tapped her wand against the mirror to demonstrate. The water-like surface stilled and became clear as a regular mirror, as if it had never moved.

"Libera."

Another tap, and the mirror once more began to flow gently.

Gracie ruffled Rowan's hair, earning a smack to her wrist. "How long did that take you?"

"The first one took a good ten minutes," Rowan admitted, smoothing her hair back down. "After I got it it was easy to do the others."

"You did this in all the rooms?"

"Of course I did!"

"You really are incredible."

Rowan beamed. "Thanks, Gracie. You want me to wait up for you?"

Gracie shook her head. "It's okay, I have to wait for Merula anyway."

"Ooooh, you're gonna cuddle?" Rowan taunted.

"Oh, shut up!" Gracie laughed.

"You never cuddle with me."

"Did you want to cuddle?"

"Not really," Rowan conceded. "But maybe if you held my hand once in a while I'd feel better."

"Get out."

"Night!"

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

Both twins had a nightmare that night, a dream full of blood and tears that made them wake up with a scream.

[pillsofpink]

Apokolips War Thoughts and Feelings

First of all 9.5/10. LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT

As a massive Damirae shipper it is all I wanted and more

!!!SPOILER WARNING AFTER BREAK!!!!

*This includes analytical views from a filmmaking perspective*

1) AGYUFbeijwbfnkewnfou

2) (skip this if you don't care about my analysis) I love the way they used flash backs in this, just like I had hoped, not to dump all the info at once was great. The scene toward the beginning in the pub perfectly sets up the tone and general attitude after the defeat. A great moment that introduces the limitations on Clark and Raven. I think that the ending, with the whole flashpoint thing, though logical, cheapens the movie in the retrospective. It would have had a much greater impact had they left it as is and just continued to have a new universe. 

3) I for one was so surprised by the overall change in demeanor and attitude in Raven. From the first scene we saw her she was cynical (more so than usual) and aggressive and just generally tired of everyones shit, AND I LOVED IT. it also very much set up how the characters are after the changes that have happened and what has happened to them.

4) “For fucks sake” if you're in the chats that I am in, you remember the long conversation we had discussing who would get to curse with the R rating, and we had basically agreed not Raven. Ive watched that 10 seconds too many times to count, brilliant.

5) Etrigan, whom I have never really cared much for was such a highlight.

6) Constantine & King Shark. idk if it was canon or Fanon that had John as bisexual, but we STAN A BI KING

7) Dick in the cell absolutely demolished me

8) I was a bit peeved by how little reaction Clark had to Lois’s death. 

9) In that vein of thought, the way that Bruce took a moment to mourn Damian’s death but then got right back up and it did not seem to affect him much after that, which is somewhat in character. However when Damian died in the comics Bruce was inconsolable (BTW if you have not read that storyline please do so. it is somewhere after Batman Inc. #8 but I could not figure out which one) so it felt a bit off, but the mission comes first, eh?

10) I am not the biggest fan of John and Zatanna (I like it, just never been one of my biggest ships) but all of that was SO HEARTFELT.

11) I wish we had more with Damian leading the League of Assassins, I also think they should have explored more why he went back there. I think that his returning is a very important character point and it was brushed over.

12) I NEED AN AU OR SOMETHING WITH DAMIAN AND RAVEN AT THE HELM OF THE LOA

Now for all my Damirae:

1) YAY CANON

2) I loved the fact that Damian immediately dropped his impending verbal match with Clark as soon as he realized Raven was unwell. 

3) It is incredibly showing of the impact of little things that the scene where Damian admits his feelings and Raven shares her suicide attempt , is not the most impactful moment for me.

4) Raven going absolutely ape when Lex hurt Damian is my kink. How dope was that line too? “No one will mourn you” Savage

5) Are we not going to talk about the main threat that Trigon gave Raven? that he was going to kill Damian?Because that's major that that was such a conflicting force for Raven, and sadly, most likely a huge part of her attempt.

6) Damian’s “last words” being “Remember. Justice, not vengeance. Save them. Save her.” Because HOLY ANGST BATMAN. first of all that his last thought was her safety, but secondly that he was reminding his father of thee lessons he had been taught. Knowing that Bruce would have gone into psycho mode, and reminding him of those values.

7) Something coming COMPLETELY out of left field and I was totally nt expecting was the “I love you” I was not even expecting a kiss and then we got that moment. Damn.

8) kiss. Need I say more?

I have many more thoughts but I was using this as an excuse not to study for my Bio exam so I actually need to do that now. Boo.  

[shianhygge-imagines]

{R} [DMC Reactions] S/O Sacrifice Scramble

AN: No, thank you! For supporting my angsty ass during my days of procrastination and getting my life together, lmao! That is an interesting idea! So... let’s take the same scenarios from the original reaction post... and just replace the s/o with another character’s s/o! :3

Let’s be honest... it’s not gonna be a happy affair! And given how the DMC universe is... it’s highly likely something like this would happen.

|Link to Original S/O Sacrifice|

|Masterlist Link|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dante

Gets saved by Vergil’s S/O

He’d needed an expert with him on a job when it happened. His usual carelessness had gotten a loved one killed. 

Dante cried in agony as your head rolled away, remembering how he’d promised his older brother that he’d bring you back safe and sound. 

How Vergil had promised Dante a slow painful death if anything happened to you. How Dante had agreed that if anything happened, he would let Vergil kill him. 

He didn’t know what to do, going into a full blown demonic rage and butchering the demon that killed you. 

All he could think to do after was to bring your body back to Vergil. 

The moment Dante returned, the roar of his motorcycle the telltale sign of his return, Vergil had practically flown through the shop front doors. His face didn’t show it, but his heart leapt in joy at your return, longing to hold you in his arms after a time apart.  

Upon seeing only Dante standing in the dark, tears in his eyes and a white bundle in his arms, Vergil paused, his mind quickly connecting two and two together. “Y/N?” Vergil asked for you, his lips twitching to fight a frown. When Dante only met his twin’s eyes and tearfully looked away, Vergil took a step back. “No.” He denied, eyes shifting to stare at the human sized bundle in Dante’s arms, “She can’t have…” 

“I’m sorry, Vergil.” Dante tried to apologize, but his brother practically snarled in denial. 

But little by little, Vergil’s mask crumbled when a hand fell out of the bundle. Your hand. Your wedding ring. You. Unmoving.

A sob escaped Vergil’s lips before he could stop it, and his legs suddenly gave way as he could only stare in despair. You’d loved him during his darkest time, and gotten him through it. And you were dead. 

Was this karma for all the harm that he’d done in the past? Was this the world taking its revenge against him for nearly bringing the end of humanity two times?You were supposed to be his redemption. His salvation. That you were gone… did that mean he was damned for all eternity? That he was destined to stand alone forever.

He’d wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, but now that was a distant dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vergil

Get’s saved by Dante’s S/O

“Gah! Fecking hell, Vergil!” You screamed, practically diving into the swarm that your brother-in-law had sprinted into. From behind, you could hear Dante calling for you to let Vergil do his thing. But from his position on the cliff below, he couldn’t see the number of demons that awaited his twin.

They’d finally started to have some semblance of a non-toxic relationship again, and you were damned if you would just let Vergil get himself killed.

Dante had only just gotten his brother back, and it made you happy that the brothers had started to mend their relationship. If anything were to happen to either brother, you were sure that their relationship would have been set back by a great deal. And with how much you loved Dante, you couldn’t allow anything to happen to the only surviving member of his family.

That was why you threw yourself in front of a fireball, suffering through burns in order to protect a man that was usually frigid in demeanor despite his turning over a new leaf. And the pain was unbearable, your skin melting and clothes burning. You were only able to verify that Vergil was unharmed before you collapsed into his arms unconscious.

Vergil knew that he was a class A jerk to you, so he was surprised that you, someone who only held a small fraction of demonic blood, would throw yourself in the way of an attack that might have left him incapacitated, but not too severely injured.

He caught your falling body as it fell in front of him, surprise flickering on his face for a brief moment before he schooled his expression.

The demon that had burned you so badly shook in fear at the icy malice on Vergil’s face after he’d laid you on the ground and covered your damaged body with his coat.

“Y/N is precious to someone important to me. I hope you’re ready to suffer through a slow and painful death.” Vergil hissed, unsheathing the Yamato with a deadly ring of metal.

After the demon had been dealt with, Vergil calmly picked your body up from the ground, noting that you were still alive. With the still unsheathed Yamato, Vergil quickly opened a portal back to Devil May Cry, where he gave Dante the scare of his life by immediately barking out instructions on how to treat your wounds.

After you had been treated and left to rest, Vergil would break the news to Dante like ripping off a band aid. “She saved me from an attack.” Vergil saw the punch coming at him, but didn’t move, letting his younger twin land a strike to his face.

“Next time, you better be the one looking after her.” Dante growled, clenching and unclenching his fist, beyond furious that Vergil had been so negligent as to let you get hurt.

Knowing that there would be a next time because of your stubbornness, Vergil nodded. “Next time, I’ll look after her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nero

Get’s saved by V’s S/O

As loathe as Nero was to have to take you along on a hunt, he didn’t quite have the balls to defy you when it was your fiance’s life on the line

A few days prior, several demons had appeared to attack V, vowing revenge on the Sons of Sparda, blah blah blah, like you hadn’t heard that reason half a million times.

Due to having been a part of Vergil, V’s continued existence was sustained through absorbing demonic energy, much to your surprise and confusion on how that would work in the first place.

During the attack, V had been alone except for his demon contracts, Shadow, Griffon, and Nightmare. Normally, this wouldn’t have been much of a challenge for the four of them, but V had been severely weakened after Vergil ‘resurrected.’

Not only did the attacking demons manage to severely wound V, they had also taken it upon themselves to steal V’s demonic power. The only thing sustaining V was his contracts with Shadow and Nightmare. Griffon had decided to forge a contract with you in order to help. Now, you and Nero were racing against the clock to kill the demon that housed V’s power.

Despite not having an upraising involving combat, you held your own whenever demons appeared, brandishing V’s cane and a rifle borrowed from Lady.

“A Bride on a Mission” Griffon had called you after you struck down a demon with no mercy.

Despite being able to hold your own, you were under no illusion that you could kill the demon that had assaulted your fiance and left him for dead. So, when you saw Nero getting backed into a corner, still reluctant to use his Devil Trigger, you commanded Griffon to give you a boost, sending you soaring towards Nero.

Though you stuck the landing wrong, earning you a twisted ankle, you’d managed to blast through part of the horde. You didn’t get to celebrate your victory much, when you felt the painful end of a horn dig into your stomach and send you tumbling backwards.

“Y/N!” Nero cried out in alarm.

Now, normally, you tried not to curse... but laying on your back with a hole in your abdomen, you couldn’t help but let out a swear, “Fuck!”

The demon that had stolen your fiance’s power had come out to play, and you were pretty much down for the count. Nevertheless, you propped yourself up on an elbow and aimed with your rifle. “Heh, I’m not dead yet, you fucker.”

Nero, meanwhile, had finally started to take the fight seriously, blasting through the rest of the demon horde before advancing on the bastardization of a bull demon that had attacked you when he wasn’t looking. “Hey! Do you know how much trouble I’m in now that you’ve poked a hole into my friend’s fiance?!”

The banter was a front. Nero was scared shitless that he’d have to bury another friend and break the news to V... who might just find a way to kill him for not looking after you.

Activating his Devil Trigger for the sake of killing the beast, Nero followed the battle up with picking up the crystallized demonic energy embedded in the bull demon’s horn before using his Devil Trigger to get you to a hospital.

Somehow, between getting checked into the hospital, and waking up from surgery, Griffon had left you to return to V, who found out about what had happened and immediately brought himself to the hospital to yell at Nero and look after you.

When you woke up, V sat in a chair beside your bed, one hand holding yours and another holding a book. Seeing you awake, V set the book down and gently chided you after making sure you were okay. “Please, Y/N... Don’t do that again. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

V

Get’s saved by Nero’s S/O

For the sake of this request, we’ll say that Nero’s S/O is different from Kyrie (even if it’s the canon pairing >.>, The reason why I have to clarify... well, that’s a story for another time)

V had long since retired from hunting demons, instead, investing his newly mortal life in learning about the world with the help of you, Nero, and Kyrie.

He was only a month old when he’d assisted in defeating Urizen, and had barely grasps the basic human mannerisms and fundamentals. Like the use of money, or the fact that a bullet to the head would kill him, or your personal favorite, that he had to consume food for survival. Truly, when Nero first introduced you to V, you thought him to be a child.

Though, the first thing you did after meeting him had been to take him clothes shopping. Sure, it was summer, but once the colder seasons rolled in, you were sure that V would need proper shirts instead of... the trench coat corset thing? You’re amazed the thing didn’t come apart during his battles.

There were a few times that V was forced to fight demons, either to absorb their demonic energy in order to extend his life, or to beat off random assaults from demons that swear revenge upon the Sons of Sparda. These times were increasingly annoying for the young man, as he’d long since separated himself from Vergil.

Most of the times that he’d get attacked were during his walks in the streets of Fortuna. It was a beautiful town with old architecture, so V often found himself observing the towering structures.

One day, you decided to accompany V on one of his strolls, taking a sketchbook along just in case you found another spot to stop and sketch while V took his time looking at the building designs.

It is unfortunate, then, that while the two of you were doing just that, Shadow popped out of the ground beneath you, growling in warning as several demons decided to claw out of the ground around you.

Despite having V, Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare with you, your group was quickly overwhelmed by attacks from all sides. You’d never had to fight in your life, and by not having a weapon on you, you were just a burdening presence. That didn’t stop you from calling out enemy presence in the street and slapping bitches with your sketchbook, mind you. You were unprepared and untrained, but damn it you weren’t going to be a useless damsel.

This was foolhardy of you, taking on demons despite the fact that V probably had it all handled... especially the fact that V had asked you to stay back from the demons. You didn’t listen to your fiance’s friend, and so when you’d taken a shot at one of the downed demons, raising an arm up to slap the mofo, you suddenly felt pain, and heard a thump to the floor. The blood that trickled down your arm brought your attention to the fact that you were now missing your non dominant hand.

“Fucking hell!” you screamed, wanting to panic and flail around as V quickly took care of the remaining demons before hobbling on unsteady feat towards you, unbuckling his belt to tie it around your bleeding arm.

“Y/N...” V called your name as he applied the make shift tourniquet, “Y/N, which way is the hospital? We need to get you to the hospital soon, or you really will lose your arm.”

The two of you sprinted with as much haste as possible to the hospital, you trying not to scream in panic, and V, trying not to imagine your fiance’s ire as he held your severed arm.

The minute you entered the surgery room, Nero arrived on scene at the hospital, and practically accosted V, “What the hell, V! Y/N’s not a demon hunter! You’re supposed to protect them!”

V, already feeling guilty for being unable to protect you, winced and responded with a calm voice, “I should have had Shadow escort them away, that was my mistake. But your fiance is as stubborn as you, Nero. They wanted to help... and now they may lose their arm... or not. You did regrow your arm after all.”

Brain running a mile a minute and having already decided that he should now at the very least teach you some basic defense, Nero growled, “That’s not a normal thing humans can do, V. I know you’re still getting used to being a real boy and all, but...” Nero simply sighed tiredly. “Just... make sure you watch their back when you’re with them, okay? We were lucky that they’re not half dead.”

Hours later, your arm was reattached, but you made stump jokes that made Nero simultaneously want to kiss you and slam his face in the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-fi!

[scarlettwitcher]

Baby Girl Chapter Five

Summary: Y/n tried to avoid her past with a certain Statesmen but when they’re partnered back up for a mission that could cost millions their lives, Y/n must make the right choice. (This is the Kingsman: The Golden Circle movie basically in writing with reader insert. I recommend watching the movie, it’s amazing! It’s on Amazon Prime Video.)

Characters: Agent Whiskey x Agent Gin(Female Reader), Tequila, Ginger Ale, Eggsy, Merlin, Champ, Harry, mentions of Poppy, Charlie, and Clara

Word Count: 3,356

Warnings: angst, a lot of it actually, canon typical violence, cursing, guns, uh 

Author’s Note: This one’s going to be a hell of a ride babes. If you haven’t seen the movie, you will leave a little angry after this one. I’m sorry! We are getting close to the end of this series though! Buckle your seatbelts, its going to be INTENSE! Hope you guys like this chapter. Thank you for reading and as always, feedback is always welcome/needed. (Also I should warn, I know i’m posting pretty often but it’s because of the free time so if i disappear for a little, don’t freak, I’m just busy. Love y’all!)

Previously..

“And with all disrespect… I'm not going anywhere without him.” Eggsy sat down next to Harry as he motioned towards him. Both Champ and Whiskey looked at Eggsy with different thoughts running around their heads. One thing you respected was Eggsy’s undying loyalty. You knew this was a hard trait to come by and with the way he was protective of you already on missions, you trusted him. “Brains,” He motioned to Harry before motioning to himself. “Skills,” He looked at you and winked as he motioned towards you. “Bad-assery.” You snorted as his comment brought a smile to your lips, giving you a bit of relief from the entire situation. Eggsy looked at Whiskey and took a second to think of what he wanted to say. “Skipping rope?”

Whiskey clenched his jaw as he stared Eggsy down, before moving his gaze to Champ who went into a deep laugh. You couldn’t contain your smile and you covered your mouth with your hand, hoping Whiskey didn’t hear your muted giggles. Whiskey glared at you as he spoke, his deep baritone voice sending shivers your way. You knew you were going to pay for laughing. “It's a lasso.’

“Whatever. Come on.” Eggsy stood, looking to Harry to follow him as Whiskey watched them both as Champ continued to laugh before dismissing the both of you. 

“Go on. Vamoose.”

“Yes, sir.”

Now..

The flight to Italy was long but you got there in time as the sun glazed over all the gorgeous mountains covered in snow. You watched in awe at the scenery. You had never seen snow to this extent and you found the view gorgeous. Whiskey watched you amused as you were excited over the mountains like a little kid. 

“Agents, Antidote confirmed at the target's location. Good luck.” Ginger’s voice came into your comm and you said your quiet thanks. You walked next to the boys into the lift before Whiskey stopped to look at Harry. 

“Hold up. We need you down here, Galahad. To secure the control room.” You watched as Harry stopped, looking at Whiskey with suspicion before Eggsy quickly chipped in. 

“Probably a good idea, Harry. Call you from the top, yeah?” You waved at Harry softly as the doors closed on the three of you and slowly did its descent to the top where the antidote was.

“Within a few minutes, Harry’s voice filled the silence in the lift. “At the controls. In position.

“Keep this cable car here till we get back.”

“Roger that, Eggsy.” You finally arrived at the top but you couldn’t shake the bad feeling you had in your gut. You felt off and before you left to the warehouse where the antidote was and you pulled Whiskey aside. 

“Baby, hold on.”

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Whiskey scanned your face in concern, trying to find what was bothering you. 

“I just have a bad feeling about this. I feel like something’s going to happen.” Whiskey let out a breath as he pulled you into him, holding you tightly. He kissed your head gently as he tried to reassure you.

“Sweetheart, everything’s going to be okay. I promise. After all of this is done, I’m going to take you somewhere mighty nice. The best for my girl.” You felt some relief at his words as he held you. You reached up, wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling you down to kiss him with all of your love. Whiskey responded immediately to the kiss, getting carried away in your taste. Eggsy cleared his throat as you reluctantly pulled away. 

“Clara's definitely here. We're getting warmer.”

You nodded, following Eggsy’s lead throughout the facility. “The pink looks very nice on you.” You looked at Whiskey and noticed he was checking you out. Even in thick winter clothes, Whiskey craved you. You giggled, shaking your head as you motioned for Whiskey to pay attention. He chuckled as Eggsy’s tracker beeped louder, stopping in front of a random point in the wall.

“Looks like we've got a door.” Ginger and Merlin quickly got to work, the door opening after a few seconds. 

Whiskey motioned towards Eggsy and then the door. ‘We'll cover.” Eggsy nodded as he walked in. You could hear his voice in the background as he talked to a guard. You looked around keeping watch when you felt an arm wrap around your small form and you smirked, looking at Whiskey. 

“Baby, we’re on a mission.” Whiskey bent down and captured your lips with his and you whimpered. You melted under his touch but you pushed him away. You tried to glare at him but it was hard with his cheeky smile. 

“Oh come on, doll. It’s been so long since I’ve touched you.” You giggled quietly as you kept space between the two of you.

“You are insatiable.”

“You motherfucker!”

“Bye, Charlie.” You heard Eggsy as he ran up the stairs towards the both of you. Looking in, you saw another man running after Eggsy and yelling out profanities. 

“Sound the alarm! You fucking cockroach!” As soon as Eggsy ran out the room, you both followed suit, running towards the lift. Ginger closed the door on the man that was chasing you and you heard his pounding echoing throughout the corridor. 

“Galahad, we're coming. All clear at the bottom? Galahad, come in!” Whiskey’s voice boomed as he tried to get in contact with Harry but he wasn’t responding. 

The three of you made it inside of the lift but the doors were still open. “Harry, come on, we're in. Let's go.” You watched Eggsy frantically as he tried to talk to Harry. Whiskey held you close to him, the three of you sitting ducks in the motionless lift. “Butterfly? No, Harry. You've got to shut the doors, please. Come on. We've gotta go now. Please! Shut the fucking door, Harry!” You looked up at Whiskey with wide eyes. His jaw was clenched and his grip on you tightened. “Harry, are you there?” The doors started to close  and the lift moved down, following its descent to the station at the bottom. “Well done, Harry. Good. Thanks, man.” You let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding as the lift moved. Whiskey looked you over, checking on you and you nodded your quiet reassurance that you were okay. 

“You all good down there, Harry?”

“All clear.” Before you could all call the mission successful, the man from before appeared on a screen on the lift. 

“Hello, Eggsy. Enjoy the ride, bruv." You felt the lift start to turn and you quickly moved to grab onto Whiskey since you couldn’t reach the handles at the top. The lift span faster and faster and you felt the wind knocked out of you as you were propelled against the glass wall. Whiskey tried to reach for you but he was stuck by force in his spot. You cried out in pain as the spinning became painful. You felt your consciousness slowly slipping from you. Before you knew it, you were overwhelmed and you succumbed to the darkness. 

“Gin?! Shit!” Whiskey groaned as he was getting close to passing out. He managed to pull his whip out from his back, lighting it up. The electric whip burned through the glass, leaving a sizable hole. Everything that happened next was like a surge of adrenaline. Whiskey’s whip fell out of the hole, cutting the lines that were holding the lift up. As the lift fell through the air, the three of you floated about freely. Eggsy and Whiskey started screaming for their lives as you slowly started to come back to consciousness. Whiskey held you close to him, his screaming jolting you awake the rest of the way. You realized you were all falling through the air and you started screaming with the boys, fearing for your life.

The line still attached to the lift saved you from falling down the large cliff but the impact had you hitting the walls with a huge force. You cried out in pain, feeling your body becoming severely exhausted. The line swung the lift onto the mountain, knocking down the tower that was holding the wires up. “You've gotta be fucking kidding!” Your screams filled the air as you tried to catch your balance from all of the movement. You could barely stand and you stayed on the floor. The impact had both Eggsy and Whiskey flying to the other side of the lift. Whiskey fell against you and you groaned in pain. Whiskey wrapped his arms around you protectively before leaving you on the floor and standing back up with Eggsy. That’s when they noticed it. The large building they were barrelling straight towards. Eggsy looked around frantically before looking at Whiskey. He grabbed him and pushed him up against the hole he had made earlier, pulling his parachute. The parachute launched out of the hole, effectively slowing down what was left of your lift. Whiskey started to scream from the pressure of slowing the lift down and as the pressure got harder and harder, he groaned in pain, Eggsy soon joining him. The lift slowed down, stopping right at the walkway of the building. Both of the men were panting as you laid motionless on the floor. As soon as they knew they weren’t moving, Whiskey ran to you, checking your vitals as best as he could. He sighed in relief as he saw you were still breathing. 

“Fuck baby girl. You’re okay. You’re okay.” You groaned at the movements and Whiskey pulled you into his arms, walking out of the lift as Eggsy spoke to Harry. The three of you made your way to the small, secluded cabin. Eggsy got to building the fire quick as Whiskey laid you near it so you could rest. He watched you sleep, afraid of what could’ve happened inside of the lift. Whiskey took a deep breath as he sat next to Eggsy who was analyzing the antidote he had in his hand. 

“So weird to think this tiny thing could save the world.” Whiskey clenched his jaw, staring the vial down as it offended him. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt just because of your mission to get the antidote and it angered him.

Whiskey held his hand out towards Eggsy. “Let me have a look.” Before Eggsy could hand it to him, there was a knock at the door and Eggsy stood, opening it, revealing Harry at the door. 

“Harry.”

“Am I late? You found the antidote.” Whiskey watched the two men and noticed the guards behind them.

“Get down!” The cabin was shot at as everyone took cover. Whiskey lunged towards Eggsy, protecting him from other shots. Eggsy dropped the antidote, the vial cracking and spreading the golden liquid across the floor. Whiskey’s eyes frantically looked over to you, hoping you’d be okay soon. Harry’s eyes followed Whiskeys and he saw you on the floor. 

“You fucking dickhead!”

“Fuck you! I just saved your life!” 

“Yeah, and cost millions of people theirs!” Whiskey growled out as he looked over the window, watching as the guards were reloading their guns, taking cover.

“All right, they're going for cover and reloading. I'll fix their wagons. Cover me, boys!” As Whiskey ran out of the small cabin, Eggsy moved towards the door, taking shots at the guards, taking a few down. All of the shooting stirred you awake and you whimpered as you came to. You listened to Harry and Eggsy, both unaware of your conscious state.

“Wait. Eggsy, I think he could be working for the other side.” Harry pushed Eggs back out of the way. You frowned as you listened to Harry’s confession, feeling a deep pit build in your stomach as you took in his words. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You're having a brain fart! Look! Does that look like he's working with them?” Both of them looked out the door as they watched Whiskey shoot a few guards, punching others with the butt of his guns. “Harry, are you seeing butterflies again?”

“I know what I'm seeing.” 

“As do I.” You clicked the safety off of your gun as you pointed it at Harry. Your hands were shaking just a bit. You were pointing your gun at your, who you thought to be, friend’s head. Eggsy looked at you wide-eyed as he held his hands up in surrender. 

“Gin, hold on. We can tal-”

“Whiskey ain’t on their side. He’s on ours. He wouldn’t betray me. He wouldn’t betray us or the agency.” Harry and Eggsy shared a look as neither raised their guns at you. You noticed this and you felt your hands shake harder. You didn't know why you wanted to be upset that they weren't trying to detain you but it made things harder for you. You felt your resolve crumble just a bit, wondering if you were imagining things because of your injuries. 

“Gin, listen to me. We know Whiskey is good. Harry isn’t thinking straight.” You focused on Eggsy, keeping your gun trained on Harry. “Gin, focus on me, okay love? We’re not the enemies and we know that Agent Whiskey isn’t the enemy either, right Harry?” Eggsy turned to growl at Harry. Harry stared you down and he saw the conflict behind your stare. You really didn’t want to hurt him but the corner you were backed into was bad. Harry narrowed his eyes at you before nodding once. He knew of your kind nature and he knew you wouldn't hurt him unless you had to. He gave you a soft reassuring smile as he watched you. 

You wanted to trust them but after what you heard, you knew you needed to keep a close eye on them. You slowly lowered your gun, but you didn’t put the safety back on, in case of whatever could happen. Eggsy, let out a breath of relief as you backed off. Soon, Whiskey came running back in, successfully getting all the guards. “Thank fucking Christ I didn't need any backup! I'm out of ammo! Troop carrier coming in. What've you go- Baby!” Whiskey noticed you and ran towards you, holding you tightly. You held him back, moving to kiss him, needing to taste him, to feel him. He cupped your cheek as he looked over your features. "I was so worried darlin."

"I'm okay." Before Whiskey could say more, Eggsy interrupted you. 

"Fuck! Shit! There's a fuck ton of 'em!" You swallowed thickly as Whiskey reluctantly pulled away to go through Harry's bag. 

"What is this? Looks like you packed for a fucking slumber party, not a mission!" Whiskey glared at Harry as your eyes jumped from Whiskey to Harry before looking out the window seeing the guards start to prepare outside of the house. 

"And they've got fucking Gatling guns!"

"You have 10 seconds to surrender before we open fire!" Harry was watching Whiskey with suspicion as Whiskey yelled at him. 

"Guys, hurry up!"

"Ten."

"Hey!" Whiskey yelled at Harry who wouldn't move his gaze off of him and your grip on your gun tightened. 

"Nine."

"Butterfly guy!" Whiskey snapped his fingers at Harry, trying to get his attention. 

"Eight."

"You don't look like Ginger fixed you right." 

"Seven."

"I said I'm empty!"

"Six."

Whiskey stood up and walked towards Harry, reaching out for his gun. Harry pulled his gun up defensively and Whiskey flinched back as your eyes widened. "Give me yours."

"Five."

"Harry, give him the fucking gun!"

"Four." 

Everything happened so fast. One second Whiskey had made his move to grab Harry's gun. The next, he was laying on the floor with a bullet through his head. Your screams and Eggsy's pierced the cabin walls and everyone's ears as you stared at Whiskey's limp body. You felt the tears drop down your cheek. You raised your gun against Harry to shoot him but before you could, the cabin was rained down by gunfire and you threw yourself on the floor for cover. 

"Harry, get down! I mean, honestly, Harry, what the fuck is wrong with you?" You cried over Whiskey as you tried to reach for his hat but your hands were shaking violently. You pulled out Ginger's alpha gel, placing it delicately over Whiskey. You inserted the serums and watched as they went to work to save your lover. 

"He broke the vial on purpose!"

"You're a fucking idiot! You're out of control, Harry!"

"If we made it out of here, he was gonna kill us both!"

"For fuck's sake, it looks like he wouldn't have fucking had to! But now, it'll be Agent Gin who will gun us down and piss on our graves!" 

"Oh, ye of little faith." With all the commotion, gunfire, and yelling, Harry was able to find his cologne, turning the bottle on, and tossing it out of the window igniting a goo bomb that killed all the agents, freezing them in a blue casing. Eggsy peaked over the window before lowering his gun. 

"This does not mean you're off the fucking hook!"

"We need to go dark. We don't know who else at Statesman could be working against us." 

"Shit! This is all my fault. You weren't ready for the field and I pushed for it!"

"He showed his hand. You think he'd let us live? You should be thanking me for saving our arses!" 

"Saving our arses? Try saying that to fucking Whiskey!" Eggsy looked over, seeing Whiskey's body alone. He looked back up and he saw you with your gun pressed against Harry's temple. Your face was covered in tears, your hands shaking a mile a minute. 

"I trusted you Harry and you shot him in the fuckin head!" You cried out, your emotions taking over you. He took a deep breath, moving to reach out for you, to get you to lower your gun. You pushed the gun harder against him and he stopped moving. "How could you?" Your voice cracking made Harry question himself for a few seconds. He knew what Whiskey meant to you. He knew he had hurt you beyond relief but he trusted his instincts more than anything. 

"Gin, I've always trusted my instincts. They've never let me astray. You need to believe me when I say he had other intentions. I know you care for him but trust me in this."

You whimpered silently, your sniffs filling the silence between your words. "You shot him in his goddamn fuckin head. How dare you ask me to trust ya?" The angrier you got, the thicker your southern accent became.

"Gin, understand that I'm doing what I believe is best. What's best is getting that antidote out to save everyone, including Tequila. You can either help us or shoot me now and risk the mission. Is that what you intend to do?" You clenched your jaw, willing your tears away as you looked at Whiskey. Eggsy was on edge but he could see how much you were hurting. Anyone with a brain could. You looked back to Harry, clenching your teeth so hard, you thought they would crack. 

"You better fucking hope Ginger can fix him up or else I will blow your fucking head off." You reluctantly pulled your gun away from Harry, moving to get your lover's things, throwing Whiskey’s favorite hat on your head. Harry shared a quiet look with Eggsy while Eggsy glared at him. Eggsy exited the cabin, trying to connect to Merlin. 

"Merlin, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Eggsy."

"Whiskey's down. He's been shot."

"What happened?" 

Eggsy looked at you and knew there was no point in lying and he sighed, rubbing his head. "Harry shot him. Gin has applied the alpha gel. We'll bring him in. But first, I've gotta find a way to get back up to that lab and retrieve more antidote." Just as Eggsy finished his sentence, he watched as the facility went up in flames, exploding in the distance. He sighed in annoyance. "Merlin, change of plans. Wu Ting Feng, Singapore."

"Who?"

"Exactly. It's the only lead we've got."

“So I suggest you find out who he is. Come on.” Eggsy watched Harry walk off as he shook his head. He was upset at Harry’s actions, more so, at hurting you. He looked back over at the cabin and watched as you had moved Whiskey’s head onto your lap. You hoped Whiskey would be okay after everything. Eggsy slowly walked over and grabbed the rest of yours and Whiskey’s things. He heard you sniff and stopped. He wanted to comfort you but he didn’t know what to say. He leaned down next to you, putting a light hand on your shoulder. Your body shook as another wave of tears surged through you. 

“Let me help you love.” You reluctantly agreed to Eggsy’s help. He grabbed Whiskey as best as he could, throwing him over his shoulder. You stood up, grabbing his whip, and in heavy silence, you followed him back to the jet. The ride back was tense. You had every right to go and put a bullet into Harry’s head but he was right. You had to work together to get the antidote before more people died. You wondered why Harry didn’t suspect you. You were with Whiskey, you were ever as much a suspect as he was. You didn’t want to think how it would be if you were the one shot and Whiskey found you instead.

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