#and it wasn't my weapons what got it but my skills. Had to shoot down its blaster things to use them against it OTL

[cosmicpancakes]

I finally finished this omg!!

TW: graphic depictions of death and stuff, character death, mental breakdowns/panic attacks, stuff like that

Without further ado, here's the oneshot I wrote about that one time Lee Fletcher died lol

__

Tap, tap, tap.

His foot bounced up and down, tapping the tiled floor repeatedly. His nails were bitten to stumps. Will was pretty sure he was going crazy.

He couldn't just leave the infirmary, he knew that, but there had to be something he could do. The infirmary is empty. Even if it wasn't, his sister could easily handle it. He was no help here.

Scratch that. He needed to leave.

Shooting arrows is out of the question, but maybe he could steal a dagger from the infirmary. A spear, a sword- Anything he could use to help with out there. Ritika was already in the infirmary, she could handle an injured person! She was one of the oldest in the cabin anyway, and more skilled than he could ever be. She wouldn't notice if he sneaked away.

The office chair squeaked as it got wheeled back. He couldn't leave through the front, so looking around, he made sure his sister couldn't see him and then opened the window just wide enough for him to jump in the bushes behind the big house.

It hurt. His arms were covered in scratches, painting them an inflamed pink and his knees were stained with a mixture of soil and grass. A wince escaped his lips. He half crawled, half ran out of the Bush and started running towards the armoury.

It was only when he made his way in front of the big house that he realised the severity of the situation. Campers and monsters ran around, littering the green field with scattered arrows and golden dust. Screams and slashes rang in his ears. After a few seconds, his eyes locked onto the armoury just across the canoe lake bridge, and he made a run for it.

Narrowly avoiding monster claws and spears thrown in his direction, Will made his way across the wooden bridge. The planks wobbled beneath his feet until he finally made it to the other side. Greenery got flattened under him as he approached the armoury. It was a medium-sized wooden shed right next to the looming arena.

Shutting the door behind him, he stumbled through the arsenal until he found a decently functional long sword. It was heavier than he anticipated, seeing as he'd never actually held a sword before, but he didn't exactly have time to dwell on that. Just as quickly as he entered, Will made his way out and through the North woods.

This was where the fighting originated, where the monsters first emerged so he knew this was where he would be able to help the most. He could be useful for once. His legs ached, pulsating from the lactic acid build up but he knew he couldn't stop. He ran and ran, and continued running until he reached the labyrinth.

The fighting next to the big house was child's play compared to this. There wasn't a single patch of grass not covered in blood, weapons, or monsters. Corpses of both creatures and demigods were scattered throughout. His eyes moved about frantically, trying to find something he could fight and reasonably win against.

Lee.

His brother was in a small clearing between a few trees just to Will's left. He wasn't a monster, but leaving him alone would just make things worse, right? He sprinted towards him. Lee seemed to be shooting monsters from afar, helping campers on the main battlefield without putting himself in too much danger. It was a smart strategy, one only he could come up with. He was always the smart one, after all. Will was limping from the pain as he approached him, and when they locked eyes, both their eyes widened.

"Oh my Gods- Will! What are you doing here?" He yelled, his words still laced with concern despite trying to scold him. He felt a sense of shame bubble up in his throat.

"I... I couldn't just stay in the infirmary the entire time! I needed to help somehow, I couldn't stand being there doing nothing while people were dying!" He shouted back, his voice hoarse with the sound of sorrow. Lee's eyebrows furrowed.

"I told you to stay in the infirmary for a reason- and what are you doing with that sword? You can't even use it! You're going to seriously hurt yourself." He insisted, dropping his bow and facing him directly.

"I can help! I promise, just give me a chance!" He tried to point the sword towards his brother, but his already exhausted limbs gave out. The sword fell towards him, slashing the arm he was holding it with, and clinked to the ground.

Will yelped, instinctively grabbing the gash with his other hand. Crimson stained his freckled skin as he stood there in shock.

"No no no no no- This is why I didn't want you out here," He ran towards him, softly cupping his face. "Will. Look at me. You need to go back, okay? Ritika will take care of you, but you can't be out here." Lee's voice wavered as their eyes met. He ran his calloused thumb over his little brother's flushed cheek, wiping away tears that would never have been there if he just listened to him for once.

The quiet didn't last for long, though. His brother's head turned to their right as the thudding of too-large footsteps rapidly approached them. It took Lee too long to recognise that it was a hellhound running towards them.

"Just go!" He pleaded, his back turned as he frantically picked up his bow back up. His fingers expertly pulled the string back, arrow steady as he prepared to let go.

Crunch.

The hellhound ran past him, Front paw bloody, making its way for the crowded field. It didn't even see Will.

Something splattered on him. Like when Connor does a canon ball in the creek, and water covers him head to toe.

It was dripping from his face. His shirt was drenched.

... It was blood.

Lee was on the ground.

He wasn't moving.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Where is he?

He slowly made his way to him.

He shook his shoulders.

"Lee?"

More blood gushed out of where his neck was supposed to be. It pooled below him.

"Lee, wake up."

He shook his shoulders again.

"I'm sorry for distracting you."

His brother's t-shirt quickly turned from bright orange to a deep red. The only way you could tell it was him was the medic badge he so proudly displayed on his armour.

He wasn't a medic this time. He wanted to fight.

Will wanted to fight too.

Is that why he fell?

"Lee."

His hands were glowing. Flickering? His hands glowed when he healed people. Shallow wounds. Made them wake up.

They flickered. He wasn't healing yet.

It's okay.

He'll wake up.

His hands, still flickering with a soft glow, hovered over where his head should be. Scattered remains of a shattered cranium and pieces of torn cerebrum decorated the pool of blood like lily pads and algae on the surface of the lake. He tried scooping them in one place. His hands were red. Bright, bright red. Dark red. Lumpy. With bits in it. Sharp bits. Small little bits of brain.

Flicker.

flicker flicker flicker

wake up

wake up

lee im sorry

wake up

please

im sorry

There's screaming. Did those words come out? Did Lee hear them? Screaming. There's screaming.

"...-WILL!" He screamed. Will didn't look back to see who it was. "Will, what are you?-"

screaming

he sobbed

who?

"Lee- Lee, oh my-" He sobbed. He couldn't breathe. Who was yelling? "Will please, we can't- I can't lose you too, we need to-"

He didn't take his eyes off his brother.

flicker flicker flicker

wake up

Arms wrapped around his chest, pulling him. He fought. He fought so hard.

"Let me go! Let me- I need to-" He scratched them. He scratched the arms. Did they draw blood? He couldn't tell. Everything was already so

so

red

Bite. Scratch. Scratch.

They let go.

He fell back down. His hands weren't glowing anymore.

Or maybe they were?

He couldn't tell. Too much red.

A voice wept behind him. It grabbed him. The arms. The arms grabbed him again.

they wouldn't let go

he needs to fix him

why wouldn't he let go?

He was dragging him at this point. He fought so hard. Why didn't they let go this time? Doesn't he understand? He needs to heal him. He needs to fix him.

He lost track of where he was. There were no monsters. He could hear them, muffled as they may be, but they weren't there.

His vision was too blurry, too red to make out the details. Wooden walls again. Swords. Spears.

Bows.

He was clinging to someone. His red, sticky hands stained their shirt. One hand was going through his hair. Another hand was holding him.

Where was he?

Where's Lee?

There was blood running down his face again. So much blood.

Tears.

Not blood. Tears?

He couldn't breathe.

he couldn't breathe

"C'mon, breathe, breathe-" He whimpered, his voice shaking. He was crying too. "We'll- we'll fix him, okay? Shhh, breathe, breathe-"

His heart thumped, and thumped, and thumped and he still couldn't breathe

flicker flicker flicker

it's so red

"No no, shhh- I need to-" The arms shook. Their breath hitched. "It's nearly over, I need to go and help them- Just keep breathing, okay?"

flicker

"Stay here, okay? I'll- I'll come back."

Micheal left him.

He sat against the wall, unmoving. Unblinking.

He's gone.

Lee's gone.

_

Will tapped his foot against the tiled floor of the infirmary.

Tap, tap, tap.

On the other side of the room, Micheal was stuffing backpacks full of medical supplies. 7 rolls of bandages. 3 rolls of medical tape. 6 bottles of nectar.

"I'm missing something," His brother lamented, thinking.

Will watched him closely.

Tap, tap, tap.

Another war. It's only been a year since-

It's only been a year.

It was worse this time, however. More dire. More deaths. All of them could die, if they don't succeed.

Who knows how long they're gonna be there fighting? A day? A week?

Last time it was 3 hours, from what he was told.

He bit his lip.

"Hey Lee, could you pass me the necta-"

Micheal slapped his hands over his mouth, shaking his head. He's gone.

Will stopped looking at him.

His hands were red again. Covered in blood.

His hands never stopped being red; They only ever got bloodier.

Tap, tap, tap.

[lazycats-stuff]

Congrats on 500 followers 🥳 ! I know that the weapon!reader fic came out today but I so badly want a fic about how he got adopted into it, like Ik you told us but could do you do write it out, if you get what I mean? Sorry I suck at explaining lol

I’m so sorry to request so soon, so take your time ❤️

Thanks, it's time for the origin story it seems. Also, I'm closing request for a while, I got 9 of them in my inbox and I would like to catch up with them, so just watch my blog description to see when they open. Also, I wrote 2.9k words... What the hell?

Summary: How (Y/N) got adopted.

Warnings: violence, murder, (C/S)= call sign, (F/N)=fake name, (F/L/N) = fake last name, a random target for (Y/N) to kill.

A weapon. A thing. Not even a human being. That was the motto he was told over and over again. He doesn't remember the life he had before all of this training. Or maybe he was just training from when he was born? Who really knows.

He was always on a strict schedule. Wake up at 6 am, have breakfast at 6:30, then it was time to do training. Whether it's martial arts or just being at a shooting range, his days were often filled with training or missions.

He was always a shadow. A person who just melted with people, who blended in with the crowd and who could disappear easily. More appropriate name would be ghost.

He met the best assassins in their world and he earned their respect for his skills and undying devotion and motivation for the mission.

Even Ra's al Ghoul respected (Y/N) and that was something that is not easy to achieve. Even more so, he was shocked when Ra's wanted to meet with him. It was something about a mission that he was going to get.

It was in Gotham city.

And by meeting Ra's al Ghoul, that meant going to his own base. He closed his eyes as he was driving in the helicopter. The vibrations were slightly comforting as he watched the base materialize in front of his eyes.

He was always in awe of Ra's al Ghouls base. The man was untraceable and the fact that he popped up somewhere in the middle of nowhere and the fact that he led (Y/N) to his base was incredible.

When the helicopter landed, (Y/N) took of his headset and stepped out. He squinted due to the sun shining in his face. He bowed his head when he saw Ubu, Ra's al Ghoul's second in command.

" Welcome to our base (C/S). Please follow me. " Ubu said, turning on his heel and walking back to the base. On both sides there was a row of assassins, just ready to strike at moments notice.

It was eerie. He walked right behind Ubu, looking up at the big base. And that man is untraceable too. This base is massive and although in the middle of nowhere, it's easy to find something massive.

They stepped inside into the shade and (Y/N) was relieved to be shielded from the sun. He saw Talia al Ghoul as she walked by, always gorgeous, but fatal. Femme fatal and black widow mixed in one really.

He remembers one altercation that he had with Talia a few years back. Turns out that they were on the same mission and Ra's and (Y/N)'s handler didn't bother to let each of them know before they tried to kill each other.

(Y/N) still remembered the fight and how brutal it was. Talia might not seem to be physically strong, but she most definitely is strong. She could really punch and the entire room was completely trashed. It wasn't until the room was trashed, faces were bloody and (Y/N) broke Talia's nose and Talia broke his wrist.

Ra's and his handler were shocked when they saw the state of them. Talia and (Y/N) were glaring at each other and if not for their handlers, they would have gotten at it again.

But now, they had mutual respect.

Where was that mission anyway? Metropolis? It could be. He remembers hearing about Superman in the news and he also read the newspaper, seeing that Superman was on the front page.

Talia and (Y/N) nodded towards each other, a sign of saying hello and respect for each other. She walked off down the corridor and (Y/N) turned his head back to look forward.

They stopped in front of the big doors and the two guards opened it. (Y/N) stepped into a lavish room. My God, does Ra's have money to burn. Marble, gold... On the left there was a big bookcase with first editions of the biggest literature works. The said man was sitting down at the balcony, seemingly drinking bourbon.

Who even drinks bourbon this early in the morning?

" (Y/N), please, do sit. " Ra's said, pointing to a chair opposite of him.

(Y/N) sat down and Ra's poured him a glass. (Y/N) sat, hand grazing the gun in his holster. It was still there, loaded and ready to go.

" Now, you must wonder why I summoned you here. " Ra's started, turning his entire body to look at (Y/N).

" I can only assume that it has something to do with my upcoming mission in Gotham. " (Y/N) said, leaning slightly back, putting his arm around the back of the chair, but still keeping his other hand near his gun.

" That is true. I know you are no stranger to Gotham, but you are a stranger to Batman's modus operandi. "Ra's started, picking up his glass, before twirling the liquid around.

" I'm familiar to how Batman works. I'm afraid you are wasting your time if you called me because of that. " (Y/N) said, watching as Ra's smirked.

" I have no doubt you know how Batman works, but that was all in theory. Your handler never fought with Batman. I have. " Ra's replied, taking a sip of his bourbon.

" Not a drinker I see. Well, I know your mission is not about Batman, you have assassinate a prominent politician, but Batman will be all over it. That man can tell when somebody very well trained does it. He can recognize assassins and he can tell if somebody of your caliber entered the city. " Ra's stated, turning to look at his people training.

" Batman is like a dog with a bone, I believe that's the term that Americans use. And it's a good term for Batman. Once he has something, he won't let go of it, no matter what. I just want to warn you, once you do this, Batman will look high and low for you. " Ra's explained, turning his head to look at the young man, who looked back at him with confidence in his eyes.

" I'm pretty sure that I will be pretty quick with my mission and will be gone by the time I'm done. I will be in the city for just a few hours. " (Y/N) said, now taking the glass.

" And those few hours might change your life. " Ra's said, taking his glass too. He raised it and (Y/N) followed. " A little toast to your mission. May all go well. " They clinked their glasses and (Y/N) murmured hear hear.

A few days later, he was landing in the Archie Goodwin airport. He has a small sports bag with him, containing his suit, some extra clothes and a burner phone. He walked out of the airport, seeing the car already waiting for him.

He got in, already having the keys in on him. He turned the car on and he drove to a small, shabby motel in Gotham. He turned on the radio, listening to news.

" Welcome back from our brake. Tonight, at the city hall, Richard Peterson will be starting as a mayor. In the attendance are a lot of prominent Gotham citizens, including Bruce Wayne himself. Mister Wayne hasn't been so present in these types of events, but since it's a charity party, mister Wayne is always ready to show up. But don't get me wrong, that man did more for our city then anybody in the mayor's office and the government combined. Thank you for listening to our news and we are going to be back with our regular program. "

(Y/N) turned the volume down a bit, not really interested in music. It was a rock song, but (Y/N) didn't really listen. He watched the road in front of him. The said road was empty, expect for a few cars. He was never a fan of Gotham. It was a dirty city, both with actual garbage and by metaphorical garbage.

Corruption, drugs, murders, muggings... Crime all around. There wasn't a single sign of changing until Batman showed up. His handler told him that. he also told him that Batman coming onto the scene in Gotham has changed the world.

And Batman also changed it by creating the Justice League. Many were happy, and by many, he meant civilians. Villains were not so happy and they created their own league, the League of Light. He took a turn and he drove into the motel parking lot. He turned of the ignition and stepped out. He frowned a bit at the smell.

Ew. He took his sports bag and went to the reception. There was this old lady, probably old enough to retire. She was smoking and it seemed like he was her first guest of the day.

" Hello ma'am. " (Y/N) said politely, leaning on the front desk

" Hello sugar. I assume you need a room. "

" Yes ma'am. "

" Give me your name. "

" (F/N) (F/L/N). " (Y/N) said, taking the key from the lady. " Is it possible to pay up front? " (Y/N) asked, feeling a stack of cash in his pocket.

" Of course. I presume cash. "

" Of course ma'am. " (Y/N) said with a fake smile.

" I still got it. " She said, giving (Y/N) his key and (Y/N) gave a hundred dollar bill.

" You can keep the rest ma'am. " (Y/N) said, making her smile.

" Thanks sugar. "

(Y/N) nodded, taking his sports bag and he went to his room. He saw a pool, but there was no way in hell that he would go in there and swim. And besides, he has way to important things to do rather than to take a swim in the pool.

He dropped the sports bag on the bed. Now he had to go check out the city hall and the surrounding buildings. And he also needed to pick up his weapon from his contact here.

This was going to be a fun evening.

(Y/N) huffed as he set him self down onto a roof. He prepared his rifle to stand on the edge. He was in all black, with a black mask covering the bottom half of his face. He also had a black beanie, covering his hair.

He had his gloves on too. He can't have any fingerprints linking him to this. That is the most armature thing ever to be caught over. He sat down on the roof, waiting for the ceremony to start.

He watched the politicians rolling in their expensive cars and wives or husbands under their arm, used as trophies. He never saw the appeal of it, but he himself in a way was a trophy to his handler. Although, not because of his looks like in this case, rather for his skill set.

Also, why do you pay so much for clothes? (Y/N) could see without his binoculars that the dresses were expensive and he never saw the appeal of it.

He took out a small protein bar, munching on it as he waited for his target to arrive. One tip he learnt is to never shot from a rifle when you are hungry. So, it's better to eat something.

He put the wrapper into his pocket and he got down. His target just got out of the building and stood in front of the podium. (Y/N) looked through the scope, setting his sights on the politician.

When everyone settled down, (Y/N) took a breath and pulled the trigger. (Y/N) shot him through his forehead directly. Screams started and the police started scrambling to secure the area. (Y/N) took his rifle and separated it into parts, to fit into his backpack.

And then he ran from the rooftop, sinking into the shadows. The plan for this was to get to a bridge and throw this backpack into the river. And then get to on a plane get out of here.

Batman knew that this assassination had something to do with somebody of high caliber. It was dead on in the center and the fact that whoever did this didn't leave any traces on the roof where he stood.

However, there was a security camera.

" Tim, I need you to hack into a security camera on the building across from the City hall. Look who was there at the time of the murder. "

" Will do B. Alfred is looking into this politician, trying to figure out why he was killed. " Tim said, already hacking into it.

" I will show you the footage now B. " Tim said.

Bruce tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet and the video feed was shown. Bruce just looked at the eyes, saw the munching on the protein bar. And it seems that when he was escaping that the wrapper fell out.

Maybe the wrapper had something on it. " Tim, look for other footage of him. We need to get a face for the recognition. "

" Already on it. "

Bruce hanged up and scanned the wrapper. It had some DNA on it and he could probably have a DNA sample from this. He scanned it now and put it into every database known to man, even through the Justice League database.

Oh my. It got a hit. It was by the name (C/S), aka (Y/N) (L/N). He started making waves in the assassin community. But what ticked Batman off was the fact that he is a teen.

Whoever trained him... Whoever trained was going to be maimed.

" Everyone, I have a name and a face. Track him Tim. I want to know when he got into Gotham. Look at the airport, stations, everything. "

" Okay, but I put his face to find him through the city. Right now, he is on his way to... The airport. Robin and Red Hood could intercept him."

" I will. Let me know where he is and the car he is driving. " Batman said, calling the Batmobile. Time to find (Y/N).

(Y/N) was driving peacefully, just ready to get out of this city. Batman and the others, however, had other plans. (Y/N) never saw them coming. Batman rammed the Batmobile into the right side of (Y/N)'s car, making it turn a sharp left. (Y/N) braced for impact and more importantly, he got his seatbelt on.

He was a bit shocked, but that quickly wore off as he saw what hit him. He wasn't staying long enough to fight Batman. Nobody in their right mind would.

(Y/N) got out, gripping his gun. He saw a fire escape and ran for it. He can't fight him, he needs to get out of this city and far away from Batman and his sidekicks as humanely possible. He looked down and he saw Robin. He knew who Robin was, he saw a photo of him once though.

He climbed even faster, getting onto a roof. Nope. He stopped in front of Batman, who didn't look impressed.

" Hello (Y/N). You need to come with me. "

" I'm afraid not. I have to go back so... " (Y/N) said, ducking to the side to run. He jumped to the next roof, but somehow Red Hood jumped him from the right putting them trough a window on the roof. They both fell down and (Y/N) hit his head against a beam.

The world got dizzy and he heard voiced mixing. He closed his eyes, hoping to die instead.

(Y/N) wasn't so lucky as to die. He woke up with a big headache and he knew that he didn't escape. He opened his eyes and was met with a glass ceiling. He turned his head and was met with the sight of Batman and the others.

" Morning (Y/N). " Batman said, moving closer to the glass.

(Y/N) sighed, sitting up at the small bed here. " Yeah, sure. How can I help you? "

" You can start with telling me who your handler is. " Batman said calmly.

" I'm afraid not. Besides, I only know him as the handler so... "

" Where is the base then? "

" Aren't you supposed to be the detective? " (Y/N) retorted.

" And you are supposed to be a normal teenager. Enjoying life. Going to high school. And not be an assassin for someone. " Batman retorted back.

" Either way, I can't tell you anything. And you are going to keep me here? "

" Yes. And I don't care about the fact you are not telling me who your handler is, I will find him either way. I won't allow you to go back to him. "

" So what are you going to do? Adopt me? " (Y/N) asked sarcastically.

" Yes. " However he didn't expect such serious response.

" No. "

" I mean, I need to keep you here. " Batman said, making (Y/N) go eye wide.

" Now I wish that Red Hood killed me. " (Y/N) said laying back down, making Jason smirk a bit.

" Likewise. " Jason said, making Bruce give him a quick glare.

" You will be better here (Y/N). You will have a chance at a free live. Your own life. No control, not anything you don't like. " Bruce said, trying to appeal to him.

" Hmm. No. " (Y/N) said, closing his eyes.

" Well, I can't send you back to that hell. " Batman said, finality in his voice.

" Well, I still don't like this. "

[helloalycia]

the Clarks [five] // alicia clark

summary: you go on a supply run with Alicia and things don't go to plan, leaving her extremely pissed off at you. It takes a reality check for you to understand why.

warning/s: mentions of the dead, injuries, weapons and violence.

author’s note: and this is the final part! such a fun one to write and i do hope the person who requested it liked it! kinda went overboard but you all know the drill with me by now 😂

one / two / three / four / masterlist / wattpad

After being busied by chores and odd jobs around the stadium and then eating lunch, it was soon time to go on the supply run with the others. Alicia and I met the other two residents by the truck out front and we all made sure we were armed before heading out.

"This strip mall we're heading to should be clear enough, but we haven't had a team check it out in a while, so everyone be on high alert," Alicia warned everyone on the drive over. "Only go after the essentials, if there's any left. Ideally, some more clothes and shoes – stuff like that."

Everybody agreed, a focus in mind, and it was silent the rest of the way. Eventually, we arrived at the abandoned strip mall and Alicia pulled up, the four of us splitting into twos. They took to one side as Alicia and I took to the other.

Unfortunately for me, my thoughts were still on Rick and Alicia earlier, their flirting engraved in my mind and my jealousy still in full throttle. I couldn't help but bring it up.

"So, Madison and I were talking about the new residents earlier," I started, trying to make it sound natural. "Lots of good people joining us, don't you think?"

Alicia hummed as she kept her eyes peeled. "Sure is. It's amazing how big our little community has become."

I nodded in agreement, my grip on my knife tightening. "Yeah. New girl Sally is pretty friendly. Her kid's cute, too."

"Aw, yeah, he's adorable!" Alicia agreed with a smile.

"Yeah... there's Rick, too. What do–" I cleared my throat nervously. "What d'you think of him?"

She thought to herself, distracted by looking into the shop windows. "He's nice enough, I suppose. A bit too flirty for my liking, but nice. Definitely skilled with a knife."

What did that mean? She didn't like his flirty-ness? She did? God's sake, I needed more than that.

"Why? Did he say something?" she asked with confusion, glancing over at me.

I perked up, meeting her confused eyes. "What? No, no. Just wondering. I, er, thought the same."

She began to smile, unsure what I was doing, but nodded. "Right... weirdo."

Thankfully, she got distracted by a small thrift store and nudged me to follow her, and the conversation was dropped. There was lots of options to pick from, since it wasn't looted to the bare bones like other stores were, so we gathered what we could and loaded the truck.

Between that and the few others store, we managed to gather quite a few supplies, odd assortments of things but all that would benefit the stadium in the long run. As we were heading back to the truck, Alicia slowed down to look in the window display of a jewellery store. It looked pretty banged up on the inside, no doubt one of the first places to be looted back when the outbreak began, but Alicia was still intrigued.

"There's probably nothing worthwhile in there," I told her, but she was still up close to the glass, smiling at the rings on display.

"It's still pretty to look at," she pointed out lightheartedly, shooting me a smile before returning her attention to the rings.

Something about how excited she was for the moment made me smile to myself and I couldn't just leave it like this. She clearly wanted it.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I suddenly said, straightening up and going to the door.

There was a couch blocking the doorway, clearly put there by whoever had been here last, but it wasn't going to stop me. I began to lean against it in an attempt to push it out the way.

"Y/N, what are you–? Stop it, what if there's someone in there?" she followed after me, half scolding me and half worried.

"Only one way to find out," I said with a shrug, before finding enough strength to shove the couch forward, and it hit the tiled floor with a loud bang.

"Y/N," Alicia groaned at all the noise, but I ignored her and stepped over the couch to let myself in, before yanking open the other door so she wouldn't have to.

"After you," I said playfully, stepping to the side.

She fixed me with a disapproving stare but walked in, looking around. It was ransacked in there, as expected, but there were a few pieces of jewellery still on the shelves. We took a look around, Alicia warming up once she studied the displays. I could have watched her all day, the beautiful smile on her lips that matched the dazzle in her eyes. Seeing her happy was my favourite thing, as lame as it sounded.

"Okay, maybe you weren't that stupid to come in here," she admitted as we looked around.

"Let's not forget why we came here in the first place," I said with a smile, before leading her to the display window. "This one, right?"

I pulled out the ring from the display, a simple silver band with a gemstone embedded within the the metal. Holding it out to her, I tried to put it on her finger, but it was huge and would have fallen right off if I didn't catch it.

"Well, that was short lived," she said with a sigh, before trying not to laugh as she met my eyes. "Thanks anyway, Y/N. It was a sweet thought."

Unimpressed, I shook my head. "No way. That can't be it." I looked around, before my eyes fell to the stock room in the back. "Aha! There's gotta be more stuff back there. Let me have a look."

"Y/N.”

"Just give me a sec," I told her, before taking the ring with me and heading to the door.

Luckily, it was unlocked and I was able to walk right into a small closet-sized space that had an old, wooden shelf against one wall, full of stock.

"Alicia, I might need you to help me because there's a–" I began to call to her, but I was cut off by intense snarling from my right, and then something grabbed me.

I let out a yelp when I realised it was an infected man, the limited light from the front of the store shining through the door and letting me see his horrendous face. He must have been hiding behind a shelf, too late for me to see, and I struggled against him in the small space.

"Y/N!" I heard Alicia call, but I couldn't reply because if I moved my attention away for even a second, I was sure I'd get bitten.

He was so close to me – hot breath and rancid smell blinding me and burning my nose – that I couldn't find an opening to stab him with the knife in my hand. As I took a swing, he toppled right into me, knocking me backwards and to the floor with a thud. My head took the brunt of it, dazing me momentarily, but the snapping face coming at mine brought me back to reality and I just about managed to grab my knife again, stabbing him in the head before he could do any damage.

A second passed and his snarling ceased and I sighed with relief, feeling dizzy in the head. That's when I heard the creaking coming from my feet, and when I shoved the infected off my body, it was too late. The shelf against the wall suddenly toppled over, everything falling off and hitting the floor around me before the heavy shelf itself landed right on my leg, making me scream at the impact.

"No, no, no, no," Alicia suddenly appeared, taking in the scene, before scrambling for her radio and calling the others. "Guys, I need you at the jewellery store now! Y/N's hurt."

I forced myself to sit up, wincing at the shelf that was trapping my leg, and didn't move another muscle because it was too painful.

"You're such an idiot!" Alicia shouted at me, before kneeling down to grab the shelf. "I told you not to come here!"

As she attempted to lift it, I let out another shout of pain because she wasn't strong enough by herself and it was only making it worse. My leg was definitely broken and I wanted to throw up at how strong the pain was, but I forced my eyes shut and tried to push it away.

"You're so fucking stupid!" she continued to curse me out, but the worry in her voice was obvious. "I told you there'd be infected here!"

As much as I loved a good grilling, my head was still throbbing from before and I was still feeling dizzy, leaning on my arm to steady myself in the spinning room.

Finally, the others turned up and, between the three of them, they managed to lift the shelf up long enough for me to crawl out of it. My leg was definitely fucked though.

Alicia rushed to my side to help me stand, but I was nauseous as soon as I did and couldn't say anything for fear I'd throw up there and then.

"You didn't get bitten, right?" she asked, panicked and checking my face and neck.

I shook my head slowly, leaning my weight against her. "I think I'm gonna pass out, Alicia..."

"Help me get her to the truck," Alicia ordered the others.

After making it back to the truck, just about, we drove back to the stadium speedily, each slight bump making my stomach turn and head throb. Before I knew it, I was in the medbay back at the stadium, being sat upright on a bed and struggling to ease the dizziness.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Nick asked a nurse we had.

A bright light was shone in both my eyes, irritating me, and then the nurse replied, "She's got a mild concussion. Possibly a broken leg. But she'll live."

Nick grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently, and then my moment of peace was ruined when Alicia burst through the door with Madison in tow.

"You fucking fool!" Alicia suddenly snapped at me, glaring ferociously. "You could have died! And for what?! A fucking ring?!"

I winced at every word, her words ringing in my ear.

"She's concussed, Alicia," Nick told her sternly. "You're not helping!"

Alicia clenched her jaw, eyes full of tears, and after glaring at me once more, she left the room, slamming the door behind her. I jumped at the sound, surprised at how angry she was at me. Nick gave me a disapproving look but said nothing, and all I kept thinking was how badly I'd messed up.

After being checked out by the nurse fully and having some medication, I fell asleep with a broken but bandaged leg that I couldn't put weight on for a while. I woke up to Nick by my side, who immediately gave me some water and helped me sit upright.

The look he was giving me wasn't easy to ignore, so after downing my pills, I returned his stare.

"What?"

He blinked. "Y/N, what happened out there? Alicia is pissed."

I sighed, Alicia's angry expression imprinted in my mind. "We were at a jewellery store and I went in the back. There was an infected I didn't see, that's all. It got out of hand, but I handled it."

"Handled it?" he asked with exasperation. "You broke your leg and got a concussion!"

"Only a mild concussion," I corrected, before adding, "and I'm alive, aren't I?"

He shook his head, annoyed. "You have to be careful, you idiot. Your life isn't worth some stupid jewellery. Why were you even in there? We don't need that stuff here."

Feeling bad for worrying him, I said, "Alicia wanted to look and I just– I thought it would be nice, y'know? Make things feel a little normal again."

He sighed, his head in his hands. I frowned slightly, the guilt sinking in.

"Is she still mad? I asked, hoping she'd have cooled off by now.

"Uh-huh."

I chewed on my lip nervously, wondering how I'd get her to forgive me. Nick left to go and get Madison, who wanted to be called in when I'd woken up, and I hoped Alicia would stop by, too. But the blonde turned up alone.

"Madison," I breathed out, still happy to see her, even though she didn't look impressed.

"I'll save you the lecture," she began, taking my hand in hers, "but it was pretty stupid."

"I know," I agreed tiredly. "I'm sorry."

To my relief, she really did save me the lecture, instead squeezing my hand comfortingly.

"Is, er, is Alicia coming?" I asked lamely. "I wanted to apologise to her."

Madison smiled apologetically. "Maybe not so soon, hon. She's really angry."

"Right. I guess that's fair."

I had hoped to see Alicia over the next day when I was kept in the medbay, expecting her to at least visit me, even if it was just to shout at me, but she didn't. It stung a little, but I also felt horrible knowing that I'd pissed her off this much.

When I was finally allowed to leave, with the aid of some crutches, the first place I headed was to Alicia's quarters to pay her a visit. I knocked on nervously, anticipating what could happen, and then the door opened to reveal the Clark girl.

"Hey, remember me?" I joked, hoping to lighten the mood, and she simply rolled her eyes, about to close the door in my face.

"Wait!" I said, sticking my crutch in the way, and she stopped.

"What?" she snapped, green eyes darkened with fury.

Losing my humour, I met her eyes. "You didn't visit me."

"If I did, I would have strangled you."

Licking my lips at the awkwardness, I said, "Alicia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. But I thought you'd at least–"

I went quiet. Well, I thought she'd at least visit. She'd never been this mad before, not at me and not for something so minor. And the longer I fell quiet, the more her jaw clenched and she stared daggers into my eyes.

"Can we please just forget it happened?" I asked instead. "Move on?"

Without another second wasted, she said, "Whatever," then closed the door in my face.

I stared at it in awe, stunned at her behaviour. How could she still be mad at me, even after apologising?

Unsure what else to do, I left her place to go and sulk in the stadium's stands which were empty. What else could I possibly do for Alicia to forgive me? I understood I worried her, but I literally apologised and I was okay! She'd never been so mad at me before...

As I got lost in thoughts of the green-eyed girl, sulking and thinking and wondering what I could do, I almost missed Madison finding me and joining my side.

"You seen Alicia?" she asked, knowing I was going to talk to her daughter earlier. "How'd it go?"

I shook my head, still surprised at what occurred. "Not good at all. She's still so angry and I just– I don't understand why! It was an accident, Madison, and I apologised!"

Madison glanced at me from the seat beside me, quirking a brow, and I was even more confused.

"What?" I asked. What had I missed?

She sighed heavily, earning my attention, and looked me in the eyes. "Y/N, hon, I'm saying this with love," she started, "but you're so blind to what's in front of you."

Blind, and apparently lost too since I had no idea what she was talking about. She must have noticed, as she rolled her eyes with impatience.

"Alicia cares about you," she said in a knowing tone.

"I know that."

Closing her eyes with pursed lips, she waited a moment before clarifying, "No. She's in love with you, Y/N. She's been in love with you since you were kids. Of course she's angry, but she's mostly hurt. You almost died over something so stupid! Why else would she be like this?"

My jaw dropped as I stammered to find words. "What? She– what– how do you know that?"

Alicia being in love with me? There was no way that could be true. I refused to believe it.

"I know my daughter, very well," she said like it was obvious, before resting a hand on my knee. "And I know you, too. You feel the same, Y/N."

Immediately growing flustered, I avoided her eyes. She knew? How the hell did she know? I was certain I'd hidden it well. I couldn't have hidden it better!

Oh, God, she knew I was in love with her daughter.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed," she suddenly said with a quiet laugh, "it's okay!"

Horrified, I swallowed hard, knowing my face felt as hot as the sun right now. What did I even respond to that?

"I did think you'd have said something to her by now," Madison added. "It's a lot, I know. But, maybe, it's time you came clean and reassured her. Because, quite frankly, I'm sick of watching you both not do anything about it."

If Madison was right about me being in love with Alicia, then surely she was right about Alicia being in love with me? And if that were true, then... holy shit. I guess it made sense why Alicia was so angry at me – or upset, I now realised.

I couldn't find words, not when the confession was shocking me to the core, so I simply nodded slowly in response. At least Madison seemed to be okay with it, the whole me liking her daughter thing.

"You're gonna be fine," she assured me with a small smile, before squeezing my knee and getting up. "I'll leave you to it. Remember to rest your leg, Y/N."

It took me a while to accept the fact that maybe Madison had been right, myself reliving every interaction I'd ever had with Alicia since I met her, overanalysing and trying to gauge whether she may have cared about me like I did her. Two days to be exact, in which Alicia avoided me completely.

When I finally decided enough was enough, I went straight over to visit Alicia with the hope of finding enough courage to either tell her how I felt or get it out of her first. Clearly I was too scared to tell her myself all these years, so I wasn't too convinced it would go to plan.

I found her at her quarters again, an old dugout converted into a room for her, and knocked on as confidently as I could muster. As soon as she opened the door, her expression hardened and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I just wanna talk," I said before she could think to close the door on me.

"About what exactly?" she asked, her anger still as fresh as it was from two days ago. "About how idiotic you were trying to get a ring?"

Remaining calm, I said, "I just wanted to get it for you, Alicia. Give you a sense of normalcy again and–"

"I didn't ask you to do that!" she exclaimed, before scoffing at me angrily and walking further into her room.

Reluctantly, I stepped inside and tried to defend myself. "I know you didn't, but I wanted to! You seemed to like the display and I thought–"

"I don't give a fuck about a ring!" she shouted, glaring at me, and this time her hurt was present. "It wasn't worth dying over! I care if you're fucking alive! That you're safe!"

The guilt returning yet again, I nodded in understanding. "You're right. I get it. I'm sorry, Alicia."

"No, you don't get it," she retorted, frustration being replaced with worry. "D'you know how– how scary it was watching you back there? Hearing you scream and then seeing you– fuck! Seeing you look so– so fragile? And now look at you! Walking on fucking crutches!"

I chose to stay quiet as she continued to rant, my guilt deepening as she spoke her fears aloud.

"You can be so careless sometimes!" she added, a frown on her lips and glassy eyes darting between mine. "Though, I suppose that's why you're Nick's friend, right? He does the same fucking thing!"

"I won't do it again," I promised her. "I'll think next time."

"Yeah, I hope so," she said bitterly, crossing her arms.

I watched her closely, searching for a semblance of what I hoped to find. "I didn't think you cared so much."

My nerves were creeping in and I so desperately hoped she'd admit her feelings first, so I wouldn't have to.

She looked at me, face flushing shyly before looking away and playing it cool. "Of course I do. You're family. And Nick's best friend."

I waited momentarily, wanting her to say it, but she didn't. And I foolishly couldn't. I was too scared to put myself out there, even after all this time.

Unable to hide my frown, I nodded. "That it?"

She met my gaze, confused. "What else?"

Now it was my turn to grow shy and embarrassed, and I looked away, feeling a little humiliated. It wasn't Alicia's fault at all – she couldn't help how I felt. And maybe Madison had gotten it wrong.

Changing the subject, I shook my head. "Never mind. Sorry again."

I turned to leave, feeling her eyes bore a hole in my back, and somehow I knew that when I walked out of this door, there would never be another chance to tell her how I felt. After all this time, even if she didn't feel the same, maybe I should have finally come clean like Madison said. If I did and we could get over it, maybe I could finally move on?

"Actually no," I said, suddenly feeling an adrenaline rush as I turned around to face her. "I'm not sorry."

She quirked a brow. "Excuse me?"

I sucked up a breath and held her gaze, despite a part of me wanting to leave and never speak again. "I'm not sorry. Not for trying to get that ring. For worrying you, yes, but not the ring."

"Wow, thanks," she said sarcastically, but I didn't let it get to me.

"You wanted that ring," I reminded her. "You looked in that store window and you saw something normal and I wanted to give it to you. I'm not sorry about that. I went in there for you and, yes, you didn't ask me to, Alicia, but you didn't need to. I wanted to! To make you happy, I would do anything. I thought you knew that by now, but maybe I didn't make it clear enough."

Her expression softened as her eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying?"

Now or never, right?

"I'm in love with you, Alicia," I stated with all the confidence left in me. "I have been, since we were kids and since I was old enough to know what love is. And I've been terrified to admit it aloud, especially to you, but I can't keep it to myself anymore. I didn't mean to worry your or upset you or make you so angry, you have to know that."

She didn't say anything as she seemed to digest my confession, and the longer she stared at me without any indication to how she was feeling, the more stupid I felt.

"I can get over it," I told her with a small smile, avoiding her eyes. "You don't need to take this on or anything. I just– I had to tell you. If I've made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry and you have every right to stop talking to me."

"No, just–" she started, and I held my breath as she struggled to speak. "You're in love with me?"

"...Yes."

"I'm in love with you," she admitted, and I could have sworn I misheard until she repeated, "I'm in love with you, too."

"You're in love with me."

"I am," she said softly. "Why didn't you– why didn't you say anything all this time?"

I raised my brows. "Me? Why didn't you?"

She scoffed. "Seriously? I'm your best friend's little sister. How was I supposed to?"

"Exactly," I agreed. "You're my best friend's little sister. How was I supposed to?"

Her eyes flickered between mine. "Like you did just now."

My heart was thumping so loudly I was surprised she couldn't hear it in the quiet of her room. Now what?

"I care about you a lot because I'm in love with you," she said, stepping forward and shakily lifting her hand to cup my cheek. "I don't want you doing stupid stuff that could get you killed. Especially not for me."

"If I had known it was dangerous, I wouldn't have gone in," I told her seriously. "I promised you I wouldn't leave you. I meant it."

She tensed her jaw as she lowered her hand, resting it on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I got so angry and upset. I shouldn't have reacted like that, especially after you got hurt. I just– seeing you like that and knowing it could have been worse, it just– It was frustrating. And I didn't know how to express that, not without revealing how I felt about you."

"Yeah, I kinda thought I fucked everything up when you didn't stop by for a visit," I said, in an attempt to lighten the mood, and it seemed to work as she cracked a small smile.

"I should have visited," she said apologetically. "And I should have told you how I felt."

"Me too," I said gently.

She looked at her hand on my shoulder, avoiding my eyes, and I couldn't stop staring at her as she did. She felt the same way. How could that be possible? How had I missed it?

"Now what?" she murmured.

"Now..." I paused, making her eyes flicker to mine momentarily, hopefully. And, still on a high from being able to admit the truth, I asked, "Can I kiss you?"

She pressed her lips together, nodding slowly, and then I leaned in before I could stop myself, wrapping my crutch and arm around her waist to pull her even close. Her figure fit perfectly in my arms; her lips were as soft as I could have imagined; her fingers left goosebumps across my skin where she caressed my cheek. This was all I'd ever wanted, and now I finally had it.

We pulled apart for air and I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, she wouldn't be there and I'd have imagined it all.

"Y/N?"

I opened my eyes, only to be submerged in golden-green. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I lifted an eyebrow. "For?"

She didn't falter as she said, "For being here for me all this time. For not leaving. For keeping your promise."

I stroked her waist with my thumb subconsciously, eyes flickering all over her face, committing it to memory, and then a smile curled on my lips. "You don't know how much you've done for me, do you? We're even, Alicia."

She began to smile too, making butterflies blossom in my chest, and then just like that, she pressed her lips to mine and I was in heaven once more.

Looks like Madison was right after all.

[jiyansthesis]

NOT A ROOKIE ☆ ANYMORE

SIMON "GHOST" RILEY

x fem reader

summary: it's been a few years, and you've quickly made it up the ranks with your craftmanship and sheer skill when it comes to hand-to-hand combat and guns. when you get put on a new mission, you never guessed who would be there to save you

note: part 2!! honestly some people wanted to know when pt.2 came out, so should i make a taglist for my ghost fics? just comment or msg me if you want me to put you on it! i don't really like this i feel like it's so rushed or something?? idk it doesn't click. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING A KISSING SCENE PLEASE B NICE

tw: brief mention of non-con (but does not happen to any character in past or during this ff)

pt.1 // not proofread

☆☆.

shadow.

shadows can be your greatest fear, not knowing what lies in the darkness ahead of you. an enemy, or is it your mind playing tricks on you?

it can also be a safe haven, a refuge from the blistering sun, or other things.

but that can simply be a facade, a trap for others to fall into.

using the shadows to your advantage can be lethal. being quiet, deliberate in your actions as you sneak up behind someone and take them out without causing alarm.

when harnessed correctly, shadows can be your greatest weapon.

. .

"i've got him in my sights. ready when you are." you said, staring at the back of your target's head through your scope.

you waited for confirmation, but no response came.

"captain?" you spoke, even momentarily taking your eyes off the man who isn't aware of what's about to be his untimely demise to inspect your radio.

"fuck." you wouldn't shoot without orders, having learned your lesson way back, during the mission right after you met ghost. that mission also led you to be called shadow.

you heard a crackle, and what you could make out to be, "go."

you immediately put your finger on the trigger, realigning your gun, and once you were ready, you let out a deep exhale and added pressure, the recoil always making you blink against your will. you watched as the man almost immediately slumped over.

"target down." you began packing up your gear and gun, trying to get to the rendezvous before anyone came to check out the noise.

"shadow. shadow, can you hear me? shadow, how copy?" you heard.

"captain? what's wrong?" you asked, already going down the stairs of the building, sprinting.

"did you shoot?" price sounded slightly worried.

"yes. didn't you give me the affirmative?" did you mishear him? fuck, the only reason why he wouldn't want you to shoot was probably because you shot the wrong target. "don't fucking tell me i shot the wrong person."

"no, you got the right one alright. i just need you to watch out. turns out a lot of people have already found out about your little assassination. they were ready for it. be careful making your way back. i've got a little surprise waiting for you here."

"a prize? you finally rewarding me for my hard work?" you chuckled, now on even higher alert for soldiers coming at you.

"honestly, it's up to you if you think if it's a prize."

"is it a medal? i fucking hate medals. the fuck am i gonna do with them?" you scowled, the balaclava you had on shifting as your nose scrunched up.

"nah, you might actually like this. just get here safe."

"i'm looking forward to this, price. don't disappoint me. or i'll make sure you won't touch another cigarette in your life." you grinned as you stuck to the darker areas, trying your best not to be seen by coincidence.

you paused, hearing loud footsteps. you could tell that it wasn't only one person, but multiple.

"fuck," you whispered under your breath. you took out your knife and strapped your gun onto yourself, ready to do some close combat.

you saw them turn the corner, seeing three men, all armed with guns. there was no way you were going to be able to take them all down, but you can hope that they wouldn't notice you.

you pulled your balaclava down even more on instinct, waiting for one of them to sound the alarm and shoot.

you stayed close to the wall, thankful for the shadows that were keeping you from their line of sight.

two of the men split off, turning left before they could make it to you, but one kept making his way over. as soon as he made it in arm's length to you, you quickly covered his mouth and lodge your knife into his throat, watching as he struggled.

"sorry man, i just had to." you frowned as you let him go to eventually die on the floor, retrieving your knife.

you continued on, realizing that the other two had went the way that you had to go. there was no other route that you could go on.

"fucking hell," you grabbed your gun again, ready to fire before the duo could notice you.

you followed them, and sooner or later you caught up. they kept walking, deep in conversation. letting out two quick shots, they had no time to react.

"that was unfair, wasn't it?" you said to yourself. as you made your way around the bodies, trying to get as far as possible before another group came along.

sadly enough, you couldn't get far enough before another trio intercepted your path, also all armed with guns.

you quickly raised your arms up. how the fuck were you getting out of this one?

"what are you doing here?" one of the men said, and you realized that you were far enough way from everyone you've killed for them to even known what you've done. maybe you could play off being one of them, but that would be very hard considering the fact your gear was so much different from theirs.

you looked at him questioningly as if you couldn't understand him, simply letting out a "huh?"

the trio looked at each other, then back at you. you weren't tricking anyone with the tactical gear you had on and gun in hand.

"come with us," one of them smirked. this fucking can't be good.

you knew you were outnumbered, especially with all of them having guns. there was no way you were going to be able to run away or get past killing one of them before you got shot down.

you nodded hesitantly, and the three huddled around you, one of them holding a metal barrel to your head. you could feel it through the fabric, and you began sweating. this was the closest to death you've ever been, and one wrong move could be the last move you would ever make.

they led you away from the bodies, and closer to where you were originally going to go, thankfully, and you made it to a big house, in better shape than all the other house around.

a cloth quickly made its way over your eyes, and someone pushed you to the floor, tying your legs together, but for some reason not tying your hands together, when that's the most useful thing you could have in this situation. you felt the weight of your gun being taken off your body and be set somewhere else.

"just wait a moment sweetheart, someone will be here to talk to you. they'll be so happy to see you," you could hear that guy smirk. when you got out of this situation, you would make sure you pinned his fucking balls to the wall.

you could feel their presence leave the room, and you went straight to your radio.

"price, you there?" you lowered your voice, not knowing when they could come back.

"shadow, where are you? you should've made it back by now." price responded.

"i've been captured. i'm in some big house, in better shape than all the houses around. it's not that far from the rv point. it's on the route i was taking."

"fucking hell. how many are there? you hurt?"

"i don't know. there was three men bringing me in, said they were going to go get someone. i haven't been hurt- yet." you heard a door open and slam shut, followed by what you guessed was four people.

"look who we have here. ain't you a pretty one, darling?" you made sure to take your hand off the transmission button after he spoke, so price wouldn't respond and get your radio taken away or even worse, cause you to be moved to a different building.

that must be the guy they retrieved, but what the fuck was he going to do with you. you stayed silent.

"not talkative, huh? been a while since i saw someone as cute as you walking around." you felt a force lift your chin up.

you knew that if you did anything too rash, they would shoot you. it's obvious they don't want you for any intel, so that means you're easily disposable.

"i've been looking for a sweet little girlie like you. wonder what you can do." he released you, and said. "why's her hands not tied?"

"didn't have enough rope, sir. you'll already have her tied up in that bed of yours anyways."

they all burst out in laughter and you frowned in disgust. that's what they were doing? you decided to try and get up, placing your hands on the floor to drag yourself upright, when something sharp pressed against your neck. ironic to be threatened in the same way that you killed one of their men.

"don't try anything." the guy you assumed was their superior crooned into your ear, making you shiver. and not in a good way.

sticking to not speaking, you nodded, and the blade's pressure disappeared from your neck.

"good girl," they praised, but you cringed inwardly. you would've smiled hearing that come from anyone else's mouth, especially a certain someone. a certain someone you wished could come save your ass already, but you haven't seen them in years.

simon really was a ghost. you let out a chuckle at your own thoughts.

"something funny?" another person questioned. you shook your head quickly.

"leave her here. and go get some more rope, you think some rope around her legs are going to stop here from leaving? fucking idiots."

you laid the side of your head down on the ground, and slowly began lifting up the blindfold around your eyes.

you heard the scrape of a chair, and then the guy, who you were going to call, "the boss", sat down with a sigh.

"who do you work for?" he asked. "nevermind, that's a stupid question. i bet you're with those fucking assholes who killed our leader."

you smirked a little. little did he know you were said asshole who killed him.

"fuck this. those bastards can't find anything even if it was up their ass." you could hear the rustle of clothes as he stood up and felt him grip your wrist.

"what the fuck are you doing?" you spat. you could take him on in a fight as long as no one walked in with a weapon.

"the only reason why you're still alive babe, is beca-" he was cut off by the sound of yelling and gunshots.

"is that your fucking friends?" you heard him growl.

you shrugged. "probably," you cheerily agreed as you grabbed onto his hand that was on your wrist and twisted it as hard as you could, causing him to yelp in pain.

he let go of you and you grabbed your knife, not needing to see where it was due to memory, and quickly cut through the ropes around your ankles, standing up before the boss tackled you, pinning you to the floor.

you didn't need to see to quickly flip him over, trained in being able to overpower even the strongest person. you brought your legs over his back and used your weight and his momentum to make you the one on top. you didn't know if he still had his knife on him, and didn't take any chances. you brought your blade down on his leg, and he howled.

taking this chance, you ripped the blindfold off and made eye contact with the person in front you, some ragged looking person who could be in his late 30s.

"disgusting." you spat as he held his leg, tears streaming down his face. you saw no weapon on him, and you weren't going to wait around for someone else to come along and attack you.

you got up, getting rope and tying his wrists together, doing what he and his men didn't do to you, and you knew he wasn't going to be walking anywhere anytime soon. you put the blindfold around his mouth and held a finger up to your lips.

"you should be more fucking quiet like a good boy." you stood up, running out the room with your gun to the commotion coming from the front of the house.

peering out from a corner to make sure you weren't going to run out into a bunch of bullets, you saw a familiar man with a mask, and four men on the floor, one in the grasp of who you never expected to see.

"nice to see you're alive, rookie." ghost said as the man he carried crumpled to the ground.

"rookie?" you raised an eyebrow, only to realize he couldn't see you do that since half of your face was covered.

"got a mask of your own?" he walked up to you, and he still had so much height over you, looking down at you as you looked up.

"personally, i think mine is much cooler. it looks better on me." you laughed.

"shadow, you there?"

"nice call sign, shadow," ghost let the name roll of his tongue and your cheeks heated up.

pressing a button, you responded.

"i'm here, price. is this your little surprise?"

"couldn't stop him from going. he was eager to retrieve you."

you shot a questioning look at simon, who wasn't looking at you anymore, but instead looking if anyone else was in the house.

"what are you even doing here?" you asked ghost.

"well, i came to help you guys find someone for your next mission, but i think you already found him," he pointed behind you, and you turned to see the piece of shit crawling over to the two of you. how he even made it this far was beyond you, using his soldiers to propel himself forward.

"this fucking bitch?" you scoffed.

"i see the two of you already met," he noted the stab wound in the man's leg and the rope around his wrists.

"you wouldn't believe what he wanted to do with me."

ghost narrowed his eyes.

"he wanted to do something with you?"

"how else do you think i'm alive right now?"

"sheer will. i heard you've gotten good at close combat." ghost went over to the man and crouched over, and the guy looked up in terror.

"what the fuck should we do with you?" he hummed.

"do we have to bring him back alive?" you asked. you would not hesitate to lift your gun and shoot him.

ghost didn't respond, instead going back over to you, placing a hand on your shoulder that made you jump in surprise. the last time you were this close was when he was taking debris out your arm on that first mission.

"do whatever you want. we don't need him."

you grinned. "yes, lieutenant."

☆☆.

you were happy to be back on the base. that was probably the biggest stroke of luck you've ever had, being captured by the stupidest enemies you've ever seen, and by so few of them being at the house with you.

price was happy to see you back, and presented the prize you already knew about.

"aren't you happy to see ghost?"

"beyond elated. i'm currently pissing my pants of joy right now." the sentence might've sounded sarcastic, but you broke out into a huge smile.

looking over at ghost, you saw his eyes had a glimmer of amusement in them.

"i'll be in the other room. come over if you need me,"

you took off your balaclava and tactical vest and weapons as soon as you got in the room, sitting down on the cot. as soon as you swung your legs up and laid down to take a short nap, a rapid series of knocks sounded at the door.

you groaned, going over to open it to reveal ghost.

"simon?"

"can i come in?" he said gruffly.

you gestured for him to make his way in, and you shut the door.

"anything you want, lieutenant?" you emphasized his rank, still remembering the first time the two of you met.

"you ever gonna show me some respect, shadow?"

you held a hand to your heart, letting out a dramatic gasp. "me? not showing you respect? let me apologize."

you could see his eyes roll.

"since you seem like you were going to take a nap, i want to do some close combat with you. need to see how good you got since you were a rookie." it sounded less of an invitation and more of a demand.

"you asking me as a superior or am i allowed to decline?" you put your hands on your hips, tilting your head.

"are you really going to say no?"

"absolutely not. anything to fucking beat your ass."

☆☆.

the two of you were lying on the floor, and you were sweating. hard.

"thought you were better with guns, simon." you exhaled.

"thought you were better at hand-to-hand combat," he retorted.

you glared at him. "i will pulverize your ass."

he didn't reply, and you took the chance to get up and make him get up also.

"one more. whoever wins gets bragging rights."

"bragging rights?" he questioned, but you already began throwing punches and attempting to get him to fall.

he blocked majority of them, but you didn't let him have a chance to get offensive, instead opting to simply go for his waist and push him to the floor, with you attached. this led to you bear hugging his waist, your face in his chest.

you accidentally took a huge inhale through your nose, and you could smell him. he smelled like gunpowder, dust, and. . . wood?

"are you fucking sniffing me, y/n?"

"well, i'm fucking breathing, aren't i?" you could feel him attempt to flip you over but you kept yourself grounded.

"fucking christ. check where your legs are at." ghost groaned, and you peered down to see your leg against. . .

"holy shit, i'm so fucking sorry," ghost took this opportunity to successfully flip you over, and now you were pinned down again. for the second time today, too.

the space between you too was so small, and you could feel his body pressing on yours. your breathing sped up at the distance.

you've been infatuated with the masked man ever since you met him, never being able to forget those moments you had with him. those times you got to work with him, which was barely, had you cherishing those memories of him.

price obviously caught on, which was why he was calling ghost a prize. a prize you were happy to get today.

ghost could tell the look on your face with your half-lidded eyes and parted lips.

he leaned even closer.

"something wrong?" you could hear the smirk.

"fuck off," you turned your face to the side.

"look at me." you immediately went back to glare at him, but you couldn't with how close you were. "i asked you a question."

"nothing's wrong, ghost."

"so if i checked your heartbeat, it would be normal?"

"you trying to touch me, lieutenant?"

"so what if i am?" you had no response to that, opening and closing your mouth, trying to find the words to represent how you were feeling.

the two of you stayed in silence, just like usual, until you broke it.

"can i kiss you?" you murmured.

"close your eyes." you did as he said, and heard the sound of his mask being pulled up, followed by the feeling of his lips pressing against yours. he didn't let go off you wrists, leaving you to have to lean forward to return the kiss.

you kissed as if you had been thinking about this for years, which you had, and he kissed as if this was something that his life depended on. something that he's needed and has been craving desperately.

you never opened your eyes, waiting for the moment he decides to show you himself on his own terms. besides, doesn't it add to the mystery?

he pulled away much quicker than you wanted him to, pouting. you heard him as he slipped his mask back on and told you to open your eyes.

"sorry gorgeous. remember, i'm too pretty to be showing you my face. might dazzle you too much."

you laughed.

"i'm always ready to be dazzled by you, simon. you've dazzled me since the moment we met."

"oh really? you like it when guys insult you?"

"makes me feel like i've done something." you accepted the hand he held out to help you up as he stood.

"definitely have done something to me," he spoke to himself.

you grinned. seems like you both can dazzle people.

☆☆.

i absolutely despise this. i apologize sm

tags !!

@urfavsunkissedleo @shyyxzi

[xetswan]

The Hunger Games- The Protector: Chapter Three, The Interview

(Peeta Mellark x Reader)

[two] [three] [four]

"Throw the metal thing over there." I nudge Peeta. He gives me a dirty look.

"What? No. Haymitch said we're not supposed to show our skills." He argues with me, I roll my eyes.

"Those guys are looking at you like you're a meal, throw it." I ignore what he said about Haymitch. The blond glances over to the guys, defeated he does as I say.

I see the Careers grow impressed and I walk away with a tiny smirk. If anything Peeta can ally up with them, make it far in the Games.

I walk away, going to the spears. I probably shouldn't but I need to see what I'm possibly working with. I picked it up. It was hefty, obviously better than anything I've ever had hunting with Gale and Katniss.

I swing it around, stabbing the air. It wasn't something I wanted to work with. I placed it back moving along to the other weapons. The knives were nice, easy to throw. I'll have to make sure I get a few in the Game.

I bite the inside of my cheek, walking around, observing the others and how they fight.

Districts 1 and 2 being slight show offs. Not surprising though.

I spot Peeta in the camouflage station, raising a brow as I walk over to him. "Hi." I speak up. "Hey." He mutters, doing some final touches.

"How did you do that?" I ask him, admiring the work. "I uhh, I used to decorate cakes down at the bakery. I'll show you." He goes next to the tree, showing how similar it is. "See?"

"Wow, that's amazing." I compliment him. "Yeah, thanks. Hey, I think you have a shadow." He directs my focus over to the little girl from 11, who I found out is named Rue. She hides behind a pillar.

I give her a small wave. I don't know how anyone could kill her. The thought brings me back to the whole point of why we're here. My chest tightens.

"Tomorrow they'll bring you in one by one and evaluate you. This is important because higher ratings will mean sponsors. This is the time to show them everything. There'll be a bow, make sure you use it-"

"Haymitch, I told you I'm not the best with a bow." I stop him, he sighs and looks at me. "Peeta said otherwise yesterday, just try, sweetheart." He then continues on with what he was talking about as I slump down.

"Peeta, you make sure to show your strength. They'll start with District 1 so the two of you will go last. I don't know how else to put this. Make sure they remember you." He instructs us. The two of us look at each other then back to our mentor. Nodding to let him know we understand.

We've now been waiting in the Training Center for our evaluation. It's been a while and while each person goes in I wonder what they showed them.

How will I compete against any of them? Would I even want a high score? If I get a high score that means that the rest of the districts are going to target me as being lethal.

Wanting to get me first. But if I get too low that shows me as weak, they might want to get my kill over with but that also means I can act weak and they won't know my true strengths. Less sponsors as well. I need the sponsors though. I'll just listen to Haymitch...

"[Name] Everdeen." The caller announces my name and my breathing hitches in my throat.

Immediately I feel like I'm going to throw up as I stand up. "Hey, [Name]. You got this. Shoot straight." He encourages me, I nod my head as I enter the room where the Gamemakers have been. I observe them, they're obviously bored.

I grab a bow and arrow.

"[Name] Everdeen. District 12." I announce myself, getting into position. I pull the arrow back then release but I miss the center.

I hear the Gamemakers laugh, turning away from me. I grab another arrow hitting the center then another that hits the other one, splitting it right in the middle.

When I faced the men above me nobody was paying attention. I breathe heavily, the adrenaline in my body coming out. I notice the roast pig on their table. An apple in its mouth.

I think about Katniss. How she taught me to aim for the squirrel's eyes. How she told me I was getting better and better.

How I knew if she was in my spot she would because sometimes she makes reckless decisions. But it's okay because I was there to protect her. If I do this though, who would be there to protect me?

"Hey, hey, who ordered this pig?" Seneca Crane questions the other men as they begin to crowd it and I knew this is the one chance I had to do something reckless.

Without giving much thought I quickly pulled the arrow back and shot the apple. The Gamemakers stare at me in shock.

I take a bow, "thank you for your consideration." I place the bow and arrows back. Leaving the room.

Oh god, why did I actually do it? How stupid am I? My family could get hurt. Prim, Katniss, Zayden. Oh god, oh god.

I ran to a trash can as the adrenaline left my body and so did the food I ate this morning.

"Hey, what happened?" A voice asks me after I finish throwing up. I lean my arms against the sides.

"Haymitch?" I mutter out. "It's me. Why are you throwing up." He helps me stand up correctly. "I did something so stupid." I hide my face in my hands. We begin to walk away so no one can hear what I did.

I explain how I missed the first shot and when I did the second and third they weren't paying attention, I got mad so I shot the apple. He was quiet the whole time I spoke. But when I was done he began to laugh. I furrowed my brows. "What's funny about that? They could hurt my family." I exclaim.

"[Name], they would've told you that. They let you walk out. That's nice shooting." He nudges me and I roll my eyes. "I can't believe I missed the first one." I frowned.

"Are you crazy?" Effie yells at me, pacing back and forth. "I just got mad." I mumble. "Mad? You realize that your actions reflect badly on all of us. Not just you." She tells me but Cinna steps in. "They just want a good show. It's fine." He assures her.

"How about it's just bad manners, Cinna! How about that?" Effie huffs. Haymitch walks downstairs to meet where we all are.

"Well, finally! I hope you noticed we have a serious situation." She seems glad the blond is there, not knowing we already talked about this and it seems he wants to feed in her frustration, acting as if he wasn't there to console me earlier.

"Nice shooting, sweetheart. What did they do when you shot the apple?" He smirks, joining me on the couch. "They looked pretty startled." I tell them.

"Oh? Now, what did you say, "thanks for...?" He laughs. "Your consideration." I joined him.

"Genius! Genius." He claps his hands and then points at me.

"I don't think we're gonna find this funny if the Gamemakers decide to take it out..." Effie's sentence quiets down.

"On who? On her? On him? I think they already have. Loosen your corset, have a drink. I would have given anything to see it." Haymitch tells her in all seriousness.

The television turns on, cutting off our conversation. Caesar Flickerman pops up on the screen.

"As you know the Tributes were rated on a scale of 1 to 12 after three days of careful evaluation. The Gamemakers would like to acknowledge... From district 1, Marvel with a score of 9. Cato with a score of 10, Clove with a score of 10." And so on and so on. The only one I really paid attention to is Rue, she got a pretty high score for her age, it being 7. Then it gets to 12.

"From District 12, Peeta Mellark with a score of 8." Caesar's voice says.

"Peeta!" Effie says excitedly.

"Bravo." Haymitch nods his head to the blond.

"That's great Peeta." I tell him.

"And finally," I sit up straighter. "From district 12, [Name] Everdeen, with a score of... 11." My jaw drops.

"[Name]!" Portia, Peeta's stylist exclaims.

"Outstanding." Cinna says. Effie lets out a whoops.

"Congratulations." Peeta smiles and I thank him.

"I thought they hated me." I let out a breath I didn't think I was holding.

"They must have liked your guts."

"To [Name], the protector from district 12!" Cinna pulls me into his arms.

That's the nickname I got from the Capitol and Caesar Flickman. Being a protector of my cousins. Also showing clips of me in the Training Center when I did small things for Peeta. A little excessive but if it helps me get sponsors.

"She's staring at all my jewels. She cannot take her eyes off them. Frankly it was rude." Portia was complaining about some lady, it was getting annoying listening to these people's problems while in my district we're struggling to even live. These people complain about how a color is out of place somewhere.

"Oh, Haymitch. You should join us. We're having some of your favorite dinner." Effie waves over the drunk man, I tilt my head to the side. Wondering why Effie knows that.

"Oh, lovely." Haymitch hums, joining us at the table. "Where's Peeta?" I ask.

"He's in his room. Now listen. Tomorrow's the last day. And they let us work our own tributes right before the Games so you and I will be going down at 9." He explains to me.

"What about Peeta?" I question, not understanding why we're talking without him.

"He says he wants to be trained on his own from now on." He tells me, I felt my heart sink a little bit. Separate? It was just getting easier knowing I had him by my side.

At least making it a little farther in the games. Maybe even survive off of each other. Even though at the end it would be inevitable to fight we could've let nature take its course. I don't know.

That's dumb to even think. He's probably right about making it separate. Not having us depend on each other and get too emotionally attached to die at the end.

"I don't understand... I mean I do. Only one winner in the end." I try to force out a smile.

"We should have chocolate covered strawberries." Effie switches the subject once the atmosphere gets too serious. I was a little grateful.

"Oh my, yes." Portia claps. "Please." Cinna digs in as well. I sit there silently, thinking about Peeta. I shouldn't have been so nice these past few days.

"Thank you! Thank you! Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games! Now in 5 minutes, they're all going to be out here. All of the Tributes that you've heard about. Are you excited? Let me hear it!" Caesar Flickerman announces and I look up to Cinna with wide eyes.

"Amazing." He says in a hushed voice, admiring his work. "I don't feel amazing." I hold myself.

"Don't you know how beautiful you look?" He asks with a smile.

"I mean I am sure I am because of you. But I just have this feeling that no one is going to like me, what if I mess up? Say the wrong thing?" I begin to panic, holding my chest now.

"You made me like you. You're a natural with people." He attempts to assure me but I shake my head.

"Out there I have to... try..." I slump my shoulders. I'm just glad I'm the last district because I'm not ready to go out there.

"[Name], you don't have to try as hard as you think. I'll be there the whole time. Pretend that you're talking to me, okay?" He places a hand on my shoulder. I think about it before nodding my head. "Okay."

I glanced in the mirror in front of me, I wore gold makeup, red blush that would make you think I was sunburnt.

My dress was black with gold shimmers around the neckline and then at the bottom. If I twirled it the bottom would ignite in flames. It was beautiful.

"From District 12, you know her as the Protector, and girl on fire! Well, we know her as the lovely [Name] Everdeen!" Caesar shouts and I walk across the stage, it was larger than I thought it was going to be.

I waved to the crowd, forcing a large grin on my face. Thinking about happy moments back home to make it more genuine.

"Welcome! Welcome. Well, that was quite an entrance you made the other day." He says and I nod my head.

"I know it was very electrifying. Feeling everyone's excitement about our outfits." I try not to seem like I was out of breath due to my anxiety. "And being on fire I mean, I was worried somehow due the adrenaline I wasn't feeling the burn." I chuckle as he seems to force out this laugh kind of surprising me.

"When you came out of that chariot, I have to say my heart stopped. Did  any of you experience this as well? My heart stopped." He asks the crowd who agree with him. "So did mine."

"Now, tell me about the flames. Were they real?" He switches to the next question. I look over to Cinna who nods his head.

"Yes, I'm wearing them today. Would you like to see?" I ask. "Wait, wait, wait. Is it safe?" He nervously laughs. "Of course."

"What do you think, folks?" The crowd screams in response.

"Ha ha ha, I think that's a yes!" The both of us stand up, his off to the side. I go away from the chairs and begin to twirl around, the flames coming out. I hear the crowd cheer so I start to slow down but in heels it's a little difficult. Caesar helps me balance.

"Woah, steady! Lovely, thank you. That was really something. Thank you for that." He says as we sit back down.

"I have one more question for you. It's about your cousins. You seem to have some protector energy. We were all very moved. I think, when you volunteered for her at the Reaping. Did they come say goodbye to you?" He asks, my chest tightens thinking about them. I take a breath before speaking.

"Yes, they did."

"They did, and what did you say to them in the end?" He quizzes, I look to Cinna again. I didn't want to tell him something so personal and vulnerable but with Cinna. I can so I need to focus on him.

"I told them that I would try to win. That I will give my all to come back home to them." I say .

"Of course you did. And try you will. Ladies and gentlemen, from District 12, [Name] Everdeen, The Protector!" I wave them goodbye, hurriedly but in the same slowly leaving the stage.

"You did it, darling. That was incredible." Effie pulls me towards her. "Thank you." I give a polite smile.

"Nice job, sweetheart." Haymitch tells me. "Thank you." I repeat. "Nice dress, too." He then whispers to Effie. "Not yours."

"Please welcome, Peeta Mellark! Peeta, welcome. How are you finding the Capitol? Don't say "with a map." Caesar laughs.

"It's different. Very different from back home." Peeta answers. "Different? In what way? Give us an example." The host questions, looking very interested. "Uh okay, well, the showers here are weird."

"The showers?" He's surprised by the boy's answer. "Yes."

"Do we have different showers?" Caesar asks, looking at the crowd who are shocked as well. "I have a question for you, Caesar. Do I smell like roses to you? Take a whiff." Peeta scoots closer to Caesar who's hesitant. "Um, alright?"

"Hmm... yes. Do I smell like it?" I fold my arms, feeling a little cold as I listen to this. Watching on one of the screens.

"You definitely smell better than I do." The crowd's laughs make me a little self conscious about my interview now. Feeling like I bombed it. "Well, I've lived here longer." Caesar points out. "That makes sense."

"Very funny. So, Peeta tell me. Is there a special girl back home?" He grows serious asking this question as if it was very important to him.

"No. No, not really." Peeta shakes his head. "No? I don't believe it for a second. Look at that face. Handsome man like you. Peeta... tell me." Caesar denies what he's been told, so shocked about it. I step a bit closer to the screen.

"Well, there is this one girl that I've had a crush on forever now." He says, the crowd all "awes"

"But I don't think she actually recognized me until the Reaping."

"Well, I'll tell you what, Peeta. You go out there and you win this thing, and when you get home, she'll have to go out with you." Caesar advises him.

"Thanks, but, I don't think winnings gonna help me at all." The three stylists behind me feel for him as I just stare at the screen. "Why not?"

"Because she came here with me." Peeta says and I feel like my world just got dizzy. How... How could he say that? Use that in something like this? I look back to Haymitch who has his hands up defensively.

"Well, that's bad luck." Caesar frowns. "Yeah it is." Peeta agrees. "And I wish you all the best of luck." Caesar tells him.

Peeta thanks him, he leaves the stage and I go up to him.

"What the hell, Peeta? Why lie and put me into it!?" I pin him against the wall.

"You say you want to train alone, I understand that but then you drag me into some love story that's not even real!? What if I had feelings for you as well? Huh? You put it out there during our last days! And not even to my face!" I angrily shout in his face.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Haymitch pulls me away from him. "No! I want to know!" I scream.

"He did you a favor." Haymitch tells me and I huff. "He did something stupid. I don't care if it helps. I should've known beforehand if that's the play we're using." I glare at my mentor who sighs.

"It helps that you didn't know. You could've slipped up. You seem to be very anxious even under all that pride. He made you look desirable, sweetheart." He explained to me but I just scoffed.

"He's right, [Name]." Cinna jumps into the conversation.

"Of course I'm right. Now I can sell the star crossed lovers from District 12." Haymitch smirks. "We are not star crossed lovers." I argue.

"It's a television show! And being in love with that boy might just get you sponsors, which could save your damn life. Ok. Why don't you get out of here. Maybe I can deliver you both in one piece tomorrow." Haymitch points out of here. Peeta already left with his stylist. I shake my head in disbelief.

"Manners." I hear Effie whisper as I walk away.

Masterlist

P.M. ML

Taglist: if you want to be added lmk!

[kit-williams]

If you want prompts to work on you got any ideas for being stalked by an astartes? I got into the rogue trader game andy god the astartes companion is doing something to me.

Idk I just enjoy the idea that on planet or in a ship you can only hide from something stronger and smarter then you for so long.

So you and @bispecsual both were inspired by the Rogue Trader game so I will be tying together both of the asks. Though theirs was more about "holding a lot more power than the usual darling but still having this man be rabidly devoted to her." and "oh he’s a freak… jokes on you I’m into that 😏"

However neither of you gave me a chapter so I asked my husband what chapter to write it for his pick: Drumroll

ALPHA LEGION

Also Serax's voice is based kinda off of the way Warrior Tier does in his alpha legion video

As for Rowena Beaumont... her appearance is whatever the reader wants to be however given a rogue trader prompt I could not resist giving them an over the top name!

tw: SEX THERES SEX also yandere behavior... implied stalking and manipulation... obsessive

Serax had quite a good deal going on. He enjoyed the Rogue Trader he was attached too Lord Captain Rowena Beaumont... Lady Rowena in proper company... Beau to those whom she lures to her bed... and his teasing calling her -ena. Ah yes wouldn't it be nice to have his 'ena call him Serax at night instead of Sven. He was playing the roll of a Vlka Fenryka and perhaps he was playing it too well... for the Mistress of the ship had gotten under Serax's skin.

She was horribly over the top. She was loud. She was a brat... such a brat and he could tell she loved it when he, as Sven, scolded her. Of course, he couldn't do much to her and much less given his cover... but why would he want to drive her away? But it was so easy to play the roll of the brutish Vlka Fenryka as she had told him when he had tried to 'scare' her away from getting too close... she was a gremlin and had announced "Jokes on you I like that!"

Everything was perfect... The blare of the horn as he could tell the gelar field flickered and one of his hearts sank. But that was probably from being thrown by the sudden demonette, that he quickly crushed, before he rushed down the halls to find Rowena. He felt a second hand embarrassment as he howled like the wolf that he was pretending to be.

"SVEN GET YOUR HAIRY ASS OVER HERE!" He hears her shriek before firing her weapon a few more times as she has to make her way to the bridge to get her ship under control. "IF I GET ONE MORE CALL FROM YOU LOT I WILL MURDER SOMEONE!" Again she screams, he sees her only half dressed but no armor on at all as she swings her saber.

"What are you daft puppy?" He snarls out like the protective wolf he was being as he picks her up before backhanding a warped individual. "Is my pup alright?"

"No! Someone tried to kill me in my sleep! I did not get my full rest! And now my ship is falling apart!" She lets out a scream as she grabs a gun and just shoots into one corrupted individual a few too many times. "Puppy lets get you to the bridge."

Rowena clings to her smelly Sven... it wasn't bath day yet. But she watched him be the killing machine that he was always so skilled in what he does... though she found he, like a lost dog, followed the hand that fed him. Which in that case was hers and Rowena did not mind one bit of having a space marine to her beck and call. Besides it was also a bit of a flaunt to also get her world rocked by Sven nearly every night.

"Look out!" Sven shouted as he turned his back to the corrupted crew shooting at them. Rowena watched Sven's pauldron turn teal for a moment... seeing a green hydra in the place of a wolf before it returned to normal before he fired back.

"Oh Sven." Rowena cooed, "You keep me so safe what would I do without you?"

"Hmm probably be dead. Full of a lot more holes... maybe," He lowers his voice an octave, "be less stretched out... less ruined for mortal men perhaps." He laughed as he looked down at the Rogue Trader biting her bottom lip and looking at him with bedroom eyes. Serax grunted looking away, "Not now puppy." He growls softly.

"Later?" She coos rubbing his chestplate.

"If you're a good girl." He feels her lean back, giggle, and kick her feet in joy. She was such a funny little creature.

------

Rowena drums her fingers as she finally got her ship back in order but something was bothering her. The sigil that was on his pauldron... it itched a memory in the back of her mind. Grandpapa told her to fear the hydra though... there was a hydra in their heraldry... a bloodline that could be traced back to when the Emperor was walking around. She always figured it was to mean fear of betrayals but what did the hydra mean.

She hummed as she dismissed herself from the bridge and returned to her room and went into the forbidden library. Oh yes she was suppose to hand these books over to the Inquisition for being heretical and some in xenos origin. Some were heirlooms and she grabs the ones she remembers that had a hydra in them.

Hermetic Tablets of Black Conspiracies, Yesteryear of yearning, Demented Book of Lost Poems, Restoration Of The Frontline, Avoiding The Fires, Dog Of The Forsaken, Omnibus of Enigma, Mistress Alayne's Text of Runes, Invader Of The Void, Neighbors Of The Forest, Armies Of The Curse, Thieves Of Time, Understanding New Technology, Scrolls of Whitchcraft. She frowned not understanding what all of these have in common but Rowena hardly has the time. Besides she is the Rogue Trader and he is on her ship!

She hums as she heads to his room.

----

Serax looks to Rowena feeling his stomach drop as she says just looking at one of his trinkets. "Hiding anything?" He forces out a laugh, "Lady Rowena I'm but a simple wolf. I hardly need to hide anything from you."

"So why did your pauldron turn teal? And don't you fuckin gaslight me! I am the fuckin' queen of Gaslighting, Gatekeeping, and Girlbossing!"

He sighed and watched Rowena jump as the door locked behind her and her microbead and other tech cutting her off from the rest of the ship. She turned around and was grabbed and pressed to the door as red lenses glowed in the dark of the room as he tilted his head his voice sounding different. "Lady Rowena." He purrs and he watches her eyes widen... not expecting that reaction?

"Wha-wha-wha-" Is all she can manage. Before he puts his thumb on her tongue.

"Hush puppy," He rumbles in that deep and to Rowena very seductive timber, "you're not suppose to know about this. Normally... puppies who find out get put down. But... you are my puppy. And normally I would want an adversary to figure out what I am verses your accidental discovery." He watches her tongue move against his thumb tasting the bitter tang of sweat and some iron from what he was tinkering on, his chest rumbles. "Always a naughty puppy. Aren't you? Yes you're Serax's naughty girl." He knew where that rumble went... watching her latch onto his thumb and suck as her thighs closed tightly. Yes Mistress Rowena was always in control... prim... proper... always playing chess with foes around her... political machinations and she was very much like a puppy playing with rabid wolves.

Emperor bless her that Serax found himself in her service to help keep this little puppy alive and in charge. "You know puppy... how much I've been helping you? I deserve to be rewarded... " He groans just looking at his Rowena. He had stalked her before as he originally just needed to be ferried from one place to another and her family was deeply tied to the legion. But she was hardly what he expected from a rogue trader... young and eyes full of stars.

"What do you want..." She moans softly just whimpering as Serax moved his fingers against her groin fingering her through her clothes.

"I want you to scream my name. My name is Serax by the way... get on the bed. And yes 'ena... I'm going to continue to ruin you for mortals." He lets her go and watches her scramble to get onto his bed just looking at him with an eager vibration as she starts to strip and he walks to the machine that will remove his armor. He looks to his puppy and see how eager she is given how her legs are spread wide and two fingers are deep in her sex. "Yes play with yourself." He hums just lazily stroking his cock as he looks at her with the same devotion he would look at her as Sven. "Such a silly puppy... you practically walked right to me. Face down ass up puppy. Good girl. You just needed a firm hand to help guide you. And my legion is all about being the faceless guiding hand working in the shadows... oh yes puppy you're going to keep rejecting those marriage agreements because you have me." He says as he crawls up behind Rowena.

She whimpers into the pillow, dripping wet, as Sven no Serax's voice is pure seduction. She yelps as he slaps, gently for him, her ass causing her to moan into the pillow. He pushes into her inviting cunt as he starts a slow pace. Oh yes he's wanted and imagined fucking the Rogue Trader here in his simple quarters verses her pompous room. His hand grips her hair pulling back as he notices her burying her face into his pillow, "Bad puppy I said I wanted you to scream my name."

"SERAX!" Rowena yelps out as he thrusts into her hard. His girthy cock tickling her clit as his balls clap against her flesh. "Oh God oh Throne oh God!" She pants out in prayer.

"No Emperor here only me. Oh yes tell the Sister of Battle what I said... we both know whom you're going to pick, puppy. Tell me who is puppy going to pick?"

"You... " She moans as he lightly spanks her, "You Serax!" She can feel sweat start to form as fucking a space marine is a full contact sport almost. While Serax was just casually fucking she felt like her whole body was being thrown through the paces.

"Good girl." He groaned as he picked up his pace as he holds her hips tighter being as gentle as he can but really... she can afford to get her hips fixed from an Astartes fucking her. He grunt louder as she screams his name again feeling her walls form a vice grip around his cock. He lets out a low strained groan as he tries not to cum bucking his hips and fucking her through her orgasm. He pants out 'puppy' over and over. Yes he really does just sees her as a cute little dog for him to dote upon and train.

He flips her over grabbing her under her knees and spreading her legs watching her as she gets glassy eyed watching the way his cock vanishes into her sex and causes her to bulge slightly. Its the way she looks at him so helplessly and just putting so much trust into his hands that's what gets Serax off groaning and cumming deep in her. Bottoming out and rocking his hips as his toes curl and he groans softly.

He pulls out and leans in kissing her hard as she whimpers so helplessly... oh yes he made sure that she was the perfect little puppy... making sure she got her write of passage... making sure she would be open to him... he moans into the kiss pulling her to his lap. But of course he won't tell his little puppy just how perfectly he made her for him... she might try to get rid of him. Of course, she was going to get Sven outside of this room but whenever she wanted to experience a far more honest version of himself... all she had to do was come to the Hydra lair.

[clone-anon]

Since you're offering 🤣

Could you do a Fives x Male reader bf where Fives teaches him how to shoot a blaster cause Fives wants him to be able to protect himself when he's deployed? (Sorry if it's a weird ask😅)

This isn't weird at all! I love it. I made it just a bit angsty at the start, but only as a way to get to the blaster training. Now just let me figure out how a blaster works...

Fives woke up from a nightmare slightly sticky with sweat. He reached for you in bed and pulled you closer to him, making sure not to wake you as he tried to focus on steadying his heartbeat and grounding himself in here and now. He felt you breathing and heard you hum in contentment as you slept. He couldn't help but smile at that. He closed his eyes again and tried sleeping.

"Wuhzzit," you asked, barely awake.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just needed you close."

"I know better, Fives." You were more awake now and sensed his unease. You rolled over a bit and started rubbing his back the way he liked.

"Just a nightmare," he answered quietly. "I thought I lost you."

"You're not gonna lose me."

"I'll make sure of it." He kissed you and snuggled close. You both fell asleep holding each other.

The next day he dragged you to a shooting range after breakfast.

"What are we doing here, Fives?"

"You're going to learn how to shoot," he replied.

"Why? I've never needed this. I live in a very safe place, and I-"

He put his hand up. "I know this, but I would feel better if you knew how to protect yourself. Even if you never need it. I just can't stand the idea of my boyfriend going unprotected while I'm deployed."

You knew this had something to do with the nightmare, so you weren't about to ask. You knew he'd tell you more about it when he was ready. Learning this skill wasn't going to hurt anything and if it made him feel better, then you'd do it.

You broke the silence after a few moments of contemplation. "Alright. Show me what to do."

"What do you already know," he asked.

"Umm, point and click?"

He chuckled, "There's more to it than that. We'll start at the very beginning."

Fives helped you pick out a blaster. If you were going to learn to shoot for protection, you needed to have one at home or knowing how to shoot wasn't going to do you any good. He showed you each part of a blaster, how to clean it, how to fix it if it was jammed, and basic safety measures. Once you seemed to have that down, he helped you find the right stance in front of the targets. He stood behind you and helped guide your movements. You fired shot after shot, taking in all his advice along the way. Even after you had your stance down, he continued to stand behind you, but you felt him relax into his usual self. You tried to focus on the exercise and not the feeling of his body against yours, but when you looked back over your shoulder after a particularly accurate shot, he grinned at you and kissed your neck.

"I think that's enough for today," he said. "But promise me you'll practice your aim while I'm gone."

"I promise." You put your new weapon in your holster. Fives wrapped his arms around you and he pulled you in for a kiss. He seemed to linger, wanting to take in the experience as much as he could. You were here. He was here. All he wanted was you in his life. He didn't know what he would do if he lost you.

On the way out, Fives checked with the manager of the range to see what else they offered. There were several different areas where you could practice and they had a set up for practicing with moving targets. You signed yourself up for several time slots.

You went home and spent the rest of the day together. He had to leave the next morning and you wanted to enjoy every moment you had. As you got into bed that night, he held you to him and kissed you firmly. It was always hard the night before he left. You wanted it to last forever, but knew it couldn't. Still, he knew how to make the evening memorable and once you finally fell asleep, only pleasant dreams played on your minds.

[nomoreusername]

Sorry I almost Shot You

Pairing:Newt x gender neutral reader

Summary:When Newt and the group end up in the Safe Haven, they get quite a surprise and a weird start to a friendship.

Ever since I got to the Safe Haven with Harriet and Sonya I'd been in the look-out group with them. There are a surprising amount of people desperate to get shot. Luckily we hadn't had to do that, but a few really have tested out patience. So far we hadn't come across actually worth our time.

"Hey. Look to your left,"Harriet instructed. I looked down and sure enough an unknown and hideous car was driving up.

"Let's wait for them to get out and come closer. Maybe someone snuck out and took supplies without us knowing,"I suggested.

The car came to a stop, and a group of people got out. Sure enough they were strangers. I looked at Sonya and Harriet, and we nodded in silent agreement. We grabbed our guns and covered our faces with our scarves as while we made our way further down.

I counted about 7 people walking around. They were making their way around our road blockage. Someone had their head completely in a window while someone else was curious about an old bullet mark.

We nodded at the other above and gave the okay to begin shooting.

I put my gun over my shoulder. Once they were close enough I pulled the trigger. They scattered in different directions behind different cars.

"Does anyone know where those bloody shots came from?"a male voice yelled. I know it's the wrong time, but his accent is extremely attractive.

"Let's go meet these nice people,"I sighed, walking along the path with Harriet and Sonya beside me.

"Everybody get ready to sprint back to the truck. Cover your ears,"Someone yelled. They should work on their sleuthing skills. We would still be two steps ahead, but it could help with other things.

Sonya and Harriet went to that group as I made my way to the direction of the boy with the accent.

"Drop it!"Harriet instructed. My group looked ahead since they hadn't spotted my yet.

"You two get up!"I demanded. They remained frozen. "I told you to get up,"I repeated. They finally did so at a snails pace with their hands in their air. Harriet and Sonya had the group in the front. The people in the middle obviously weren't going anywhere.

"Get with your friends, and don't even think about running,"I commanded.

"Slowly,"Harriet clarified. By now we had taken the yelling down. They didn't seem like a threat.

"Aris?"Harriet questioned out of nowhere. I slightly lowered my weapon as she completely dropped her scarf.

"Oh my God. Harriet?"He asked in disbelief. He walked forward, and sure enough it was Aris. She threw her arms around him as I put my gun down. "Aris!"I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him.

"I can't believe you're alive."

"You're lucky we didn't shoot your dumbass,"Sonya added.

"Uh, what's happening?"One of the boys I was in charge of asked.

"We were in the maze together,"Aris explained, smiling like it was for the first time.

Harriet blew the all clear whistle, and everyone stood down. We started walking towards the Safe Haven with them being understandably quiet.

"Sorry I almost shot you. I hope that doesn't put a dent in our friendship,"I told the blonde haired one. "Friendship? I wasn't aware of this,"He responded, still shaken up.

"That's what I said. I'm Y/N,"I introduced, shaking his hand.

"I'm Newt."

"Well Newt. Be careful with that beautiful accent of yours. It's the only reason I picked your spot."

[t-z-gow]

First off, THANK YOU for writing for Brok. Sometimes I feel like the only one who likes him lmao. Also this got long whoops

I think he shows love with his smithing. He knows damn well he’s good with a hammer and uses his skills to improve the possessions of the loved ones around him. But I feel like he’d really go all out for someone he has romantic interest in.

So imagine this. You’re bringing him a weapon of yours, asking for a simple fix. He brings it back fixed, sharpened, chock full of enchantments and decorated to the nines. You question him about it, and he just gives you a Brok-ism and waves you off. Meanwhile, Sindri is just laughing in the background, having just watched his no-nonsense brother burn the midnight oil over a weapon with a a 5-minute fix, just because it’s your weapon.

You're welcome! To be honest I think most people don't write for him because the way he speaks is so hard to nail down. At least that's what I struggled with ^-^;

Anyway, enjoy!

Brok x Reader ~ Your Company

You hated this weather. This Gods awful, frigid, skin-freezing weather. Your feet tracked through the snow, your coat tightly wrapped around your frame. It almost reminded you of when you were a kid wrapped up in your blankets hiding from non-existent monsters. The thought gained a small smirk from you, though the bitter cold quickly wiped it away.

You should have been home right about now, warming by the fire, enjoying the hot meal of your recent hunt. That, however, wasn't meant to be.

Your bow had broken. Not the string, but the wood. Snapped right in half when a draugr sent you down a hill. You still managed your kill with the knife you had left, but if you planned on surviving this never-ending winter then you couldn't afford to have a broken weapon. So, in spite of your loathing for the weather, you sought out the only two you knew that could craft you a new one. The fabled Huldra brothers.

Finding them wasn't always easy. Sometimes they showed up the moment you needed them, other times it took a bit of wandering around their makeshift workshops a while. They couldn't be everywhere at once, you knew that. You just hoped one of them would show up soon-

"What's gone and got you all the way up here?" a familiar voice rang. You swiftly turned in their direction, relieved to have found who you had been looking for, Brok.

"I was looking for you" you replied. Your answer seemed to startle him slightly, his eyes flashing to you with a wide smile to match before quickly turning away again.

"And what's would be the reason?" He asked, his question similar to the first as he went back to collecting whatever he came here for. You took the broken pieces of your bow, laying them on the table in front of you.

"I broke my bow" you answered, causing him to pause and, had you believed there to be a reason, you would have said he looked almost disappointed. You quickly brushed it off though, suspecting you might have caught him at a busy moment. However you couldn't leave without the bow fixed, not in this place. So, despite believing you might be annoying him, you didn't take your leave.

He quickly stopped what he was doing, walking over to the broken pieces placed before him, his eyes focused on the items.

"S'ain't worth much now. I'll have ta make ya a new one" he proclaimed as he inspected the broken item. You nodded, reaching into your bag for your coin.

"And how much will that cost me?" You asked as you dug around. He turned his back to you, your broken bow in hand, seemingly returning to his rummaging.

"Won't cost ya nothin'!" He answered, your head shooting up once he spoke it, bewilderment covering your face.

"Are you...are you sure? I have plenty-"

"Course I'm sure! Right positive!" He spoke enthusiastically, though that did little to calm your confusion on the strange answer. You weren't going to argue your way out of a free new bow though, so you held the word 'why?' on your tongue, not letting it escape your lips as it had many times before when seeing the blue-skinned man.

"Alright..." You removed your hand from your bag, instead returning to hugging the warmth of your jacket closer, trying to avoid the nipping cold once more.

"How long should it take?" you asked with understandable concern. Earning his attention once more, his eyes fell over his shoulder and onto you, then turned to search for the sun in the sky before he found his answer.

"Not before s'dark if that's what you's askin'" a strange tone was held in his voice as he stopped his searching, instead quickly moving to put some things in a bag before fully turning back to you.

"Ain't safe goin' round in this shit hole without a weapon. You's best stay with me for the night" he stated flatly before beginning to walk off.

This wasn't an uncommon occurrence when you met with Brok. He did often take much longer to finish his work than Sindri, always saying it was about quality or something to that effect. Either way, it had led to you staying at the dwarves' home more than a couple of times. So you didn't put up a fuss as you followed, knowing it was simply a waste of time to argue with the stubborn man.

You both entered through a portal, finding yourselves in a place familiar to you, yet different than the last time you had seen it. They seemed to have built out even further. You admired the home for a moment as it was certainly a lot more aesthetically pleasing than your temporary homes found in the sides of mountains. You only lingered a moment before following Brok forward and into the house, as beautiful on the inside as it had been on the outside, likely Sindris doing.

"We got company!" Brok suddenly yelled, his voice echoing as he did before he immediately turned to his workshop, busying himself with your bow and likely other weapons. It was then that your eyes fell onto unrecognized faces that sat in the odd corners of the building. They turned to you upon Broks yelling, giving you the same looks of caution that you did to them. A moment of silence occurred before another voice cut through.

"Y/n! I wasn't expecting your company" The man coated in gold armor yelled from atop the stairs in a tone of joy with a hint of tension, likely from failing to inform him of your company ahead of time. He quickly made his way down the stairs as you took off your shoes, stepping further into the building. A smile of recognition falling upon your face as you did.

"Sindri! It's been a long while, hasn't it?" You spoke as you met him at the bottom of the stairs, his own smile now forming.

"And what brings you to our neck of the Yggdrasil?" He questioned, his body leaning away ever so slightly, though that was to be expected.

"My bow broke" you answered for the second time this evening, earning a knowing nod from him.

"I didn't know you had other company" you spoke as your eyes turned to the tall man who stood above a cauldron of food along with a young boy sat talking to a...head?

You brushed off the weird scene, comforting yourself with the thought that you've seen stranger.

"Yeah well it was originally just the boy and his father but uh...others followed" his voice held noticable annoyance for a moment though you didn't take offense to it. You knew how stressed Sindri became with company, having overheard him and Brok arguing the first time the blue dwarf ever brought you here unannounced. The thought made you smile a moment, though you had most certainly not been smiling then.

Quickly knocking yourself out of the memory you turned back to Sindri, only to see a thoughtful look on his face as he stared, focused on something in the distance. You were about to turn to see what caught his attention but was stopped when he spoke again.

"Anyway! I have...work I have to do. So feel free to make yourself comfortable! Though not too comfortable. Oh and uh, you should speak with Brok. He enjoys your company" his words were slightly scattered as he spoke, quickly walking off. Before you could question him any further he disappeared, leaving you with only his words as a guide. Quickly deciding you'd rather do that than introduce yourself to new people, you walked over to where you had seen Brok leave to earlier: his workstation. As you walked you let the words Sindri spoke rest in your head, a certain sentence sticking in your mind.

'He enjoys your company'

You wondered what Sindri had meant by the comment, if anything at all. The man had seemed in a hurry to leave your presence so it was likely just strange wording. Still, you couldn't find yourself parting with the sentence, inscribing more meaning to it than Sindri had likely meant by the comment.

Approaching the workstation you let a smile fall on your lips, seeing just who you thought you would.

"So I heard you enjoy my company?" You spoke, causing the man hard at work to jump slightly, turning over his shoulder. Upon recognizing it was you he gave a short nod before turning back around. It took a moment for him to process what you spoke before waving his hand at the words, knowing exactly where they had come from.

"Sindri told you that, didn't he? The little bastard's terrible at keepin' his mouth shut" he answered, earning your intrigue quickly.

"Is it true?" You asked. He still had yet to turn to you, even as his body tensed at the questioning.

"S'pose so" he hesitated when the words left as he quickly busied his hands. You gave a hum of contentment at his admitting to it.

"Not so bad yourself" you replied, moving further into his forge, soon finding a place to sit and watch. There were a few moments of silence between the two of you, a silence that felt a little strange yet not uncomfortable. Still, you decided to break it.

"Got any new stories I should know of?" You asked, earning a chuckle from him. You couldn't help but smile at the sound, it always felt so nice hearing him laugh.

"Well I do. They ain't no happy stories though" his eyes focused on his work, even as spoke with you. You let out a short laugh at his words, causing his eyes to flick towards you in slight confusion, especially upon seeing the joy that wrote itself on your face.

"Oh please. You could make death seem like a daisy field" you snickered as you spoke. His confusion melted into a soft smile at the compliment, feeling his chest burn at even your smile.

"Really? That weren't nothin' I've heard! Usually s'the opposite!" His voice rose slightly before he joined in laughter with you.

Both of you were fully unaware of the listening ears nearby.

"Mimir," the boy whispered

"Aye, I see it too lad" the head responded, his words more exasperated than intrigued.

"Why's he acting so weird?" Atreus asked, eyeing the strange situation. Mimir chuckled at the boy, knowing full well what was going on. Atreus turned to him about to ask why he was laughing when another voice suddenly rang.

"Sad isn't it?" The boy jumped, quickly turning and, to his relief, seeing Sindri. He settled back into his seat before moving his questioning stare to the dwarf instead.

"What?" Atreus asked, though was seemingly ignored when Mimir spoke up again.

"For such a brash man he really doesn't know what he's doin'" Mimir replied, Atreus only further bewildered by the strange conversation.

"I've tried to help him, you know? But there's only so much I can do. He doesn't make it easy" Sindri continued and was, at this point, outright ignoring the wide eyes and furrowed brows of the young boy.

"Aye, I wouldn't expect him to-"

"What are you guys talking about!" Atreus, utterly confused and at this point frustrated, cut through the two's conversation with desperation at his unsatiated curiosity. The two looked at him for a moment before Mimir held back a laugh and finally, with great amusement, answered the boy.

"Broks boot-over-head for that stranger over there" Mimir explained, a chuckle in his voice.

"Oh," the boy quickly spoke, still not fully understanding what he meant. That was until a few seconds later when it really hit him.

"OH!" He exclaimed, earning a hefty round of laughs from both Sindri and Mimir, leaving the boy more than a little embarrassed. He tried to get the two to shut up, but when their laughs only grew louder he felt himself too red-faced to stay there anymore.

"Screw you guys! I'm going to bed" Atreus yelled, quickly leaving the scene to save what little bit of his pride he had left. The boy was right to leave though, as tiredness began to grip at most of everyone nearby.

This included you; your eyes drooping and exhaustion building. With a few more words exchanged you spoke your goodnights, even if the moon never met this place, before leaving for bed.

-

You arose from your sleep in the makeshift bed you had made yourself, with the help of Sindri. You would have asked Brok to help, but he was already doing a great favor for you, so you didn't want to bother him any more than you had.

Not that it matters now, your eyes blinking back into the waking world, a yawn escaping your lips as you sat up. You stretched before standing and, hoping to be out of the way as quickly as possible, you grabbed all you had come here with, preparing to take your weapon and leave.

Upon leaving your room you found that the place was rather quiet, at least quieter than the night before. It didn't unsettle you as you had been some of their only company before, but it did allow you to immediately notice the sounds coming from the workshop. You rose a brow towards the sound, taking a few careful steps forward, letting the forge come into view, only to see Brok, still hard at work.

"Brok?" You questioned, the man not so much startled this time as he was surprised. He turned to you, his eyes a little bloodshot and with dark circles beneath them. You gave him a concerned stare, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Mornin'" was all he spoke, moving to complete whatever he was working on. You continued to stare, a little worried that he'd been up all night. He was a grown man though, so you weren't about to dig into his business.

"Morning...what are you working on?" You asked, curious as to what took up so much of his time. He didn't say anything for a moment, seeming as if he was doing a few final touches. You were going to ask a different question, assuming he might not have liked the first one, when he turned around.

"Yer bow" he spoke proudly, gently laying the item in front of you. Your eyes widened at the piece, as it was more than you could have ever asked for. Covered in beautiful carvings and runes, laced in gold and silver. You stared at him wide-eyed as if waiting for him to take it away, for him to say it was a joke, for him to make fun of the face you were making. When he didn't, you truly had no clue what to do.

"Brok this is...this is beautiful" you spoke the words, having frankly nothing else you could think to say. His smile grew at your astonishment, seeming pleased with himself. Your hands reached out for it, but retracted a moment later.

"I can't just take this. Surely there's something you want from me-" you tried to reason, confused as to why he would let you even near such a beautiful weapon. He didn't even let you finish your protest before speaking again.

"Ain't a thing" he spoke assuredly. You looked at him with another hesitant stare. Why did he do this then? Why did he make this for no coin? And stay up all night to make it? And make it so perfect?

All of these thoughts wandered through your head as you stared at him, his motives unknown and his smile crumbling your weariness by the second. You finally turned back down, picking up the shining piece of equipment before you. It felt so important in your hold, as if meant to only be held by a god. You moved the item within your hands, observing all of its finer details, along with the weight of it in your grip. After a moment you turned away and pulled the string of the bow back to test its resistance, but was surprised to see it sparkle with a blue magic. You put the bow at rest, turning back to Brok with an amazed look. It was truly the highest quality bow you had ever seen.

"I don't know what to say" you spoke, still blown away by its beauty. His face was lit with glee. He seemed truly proud of himself.

"Weren't nothing. Here. Made ya a couple'a arrows too" he knelt under the table as he spoke before pulling out around fifteen gorgeously shaped arrows, the colors matching your bow.

And it was then that you couldn't hold that word on your tongue. The word you knew only ever got you a blank answer from the man, yet a word you couldn't resist saying anyway.

"Why?" You asked, your gaze turned to look straight at him. His smile fell slightly, his look hard to decipher for a long moment before he turned away again, distracting his hands, his mind.

"Cause I enjoy your company" he answered frankly and you knew you would get no other answer. Truly you were surprised to get even that. Without another word you placed the arrows into your quiver and the bow on your back before beginning to leave. However, where most times you would simply just go, you hesitated. His back was turned to you, yet now you knew that he wouldn't mind you staying.

But you knew you couldn't. You had responsibilities and work to do, as did he. So instead you reached into your bag, pulling out the only valuable thing you could offer in return for his extreme generosity.

The flower of your mountains. Rare and undying. You placed the flower upon the bench your new bow once sat before finally taking your leave.

You hoped you'd find yourself in his company again. Hopefully sometime soon.

-

Brok stood still as a wall, his calloused, toughened, burned and bruised hands holding the delicate, soft flower in his grip. He didn't know what to think, or if there even was anything to think. He simply held the flower at a loss, your astonished look from earlier repeating in his mind, in his soul.

"Did it go well?" A voice called, startling him for the hundredth time in the past day. A strange occurrence for the man usually so hard to sneak up on.

"Would y'all stop with the sneakin' up on me!" He yelled, yet still held the flower gently. Sindri's eyes turned to it, a smile shining clear on his face.

"Was that from them?" He asked, almost teasingly.

"That ain't none’a your damn business ya rotten nosed snitch!" He yelled once more, hiding the flower from his brother's view, embarrassed that he'd seen him with it. A quiet fell between them for a moment, neither daring to say a word. Eventually Sindri realized that whatever had happened, it hadn't been a confession. So he ended the quiet.

"You know you're going to have to tell them one of these days-"

"I know I know. It just-...it weren't today" Brok turned away, finding something that resembled a vase to place the flower in. He would find it water later. He was currently preoccupied with another task, his feet leading him to a semi-reclined chair

"But for right now, I'm going ta fuckin' bed" he said those final words before practically collapsing into the chair, snoring only moments later.

Sindri slightly shook his head, grabbing a coat from nearby to place on him. He would tell you eventually, Sindri was sure of it ...

He only hoped he didn't wait too long.

[seiko-e]

Last and final

Part1(hoshina x y/n)

*still no NSFW

*lazily written, so pls don't make your expectations high

*still long and easy to read

Gen narumi x y/n park (backstory in part 1)

Art by me(the girl is y/n or in other words, you)

After passing the test, you and y/n choi(hoshina fans) got separated, if only y/n choi also uses firearms instead of melee weapons, you two wouldn't have to be separated.

You were introduced by Eiji hasegawa, he led you to the captain's office, once you arrived you were surprised to see a room instead of an office, chips everywhere, stacks of manga, and a BED???

After a bit of nagging from vice captain eiji, you start to introduce yourself

"hello, im y/n park, im the new officer from korea, thank you for having me"

"stop the formalities, call me narumi, formalities don't really matter here in 1st division, what matters here is your abilities and skills"

fascinated and pressured, you salute and he bonks your head with his hands

"i told you to stop the formalities didn't I?????!?"

"now that you've finally met, I'll lead you to your room" Eiji Stated

"NOW NOW ,GO, GO, i just got a game over because of this"

As you and eiji were about to walk out, narumi halts the two of you

"wait, you said you're a defense force from korea correct?"

"Yes!"

"no wonder why your combat power was high, also, the other one, i refuse to accept her, she reminds me of a certain bowl cut in the 3rd division"

"ah, i see.."

"and just so u know, i have 98.1 expectations from you since you're a defense force before, so its normal to expect something high, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOUR STRONGER THAN ME ALRIGHT, DON'T GET MY EXPECTATIONS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, IMM STILL STRONGER GOT IT?!"

Happy from this news you exclaimed "I WON'T LET YOU DOWN CAPTAIN!" And you left.

The next day, your training in korea and here were no different, both were challenging.

Overall your days here were great and normal, nothing much different in korea. But if you compare the strategies and way of protecting, here and in korea, korea was more on the sky and here in Japan was more on land, in korea, each officer used personalized jets and planes, if a jet starts to malfunction or on the verge of crashing, it releases the officer as they start shooting mid air, while the melee weapon user officers went inside the kaijus and destroy their core from the inside

Planes do mostly the same thing, however, they immediately deploy officers once they reach the target and leave the scene once finished deploying.

One day, on a kaiju mission, you somehow ran out of bullets, and decided to retreat and go back to where the others are, and unfortunately, a kaiju was in front of you, now both your back and front have a kaiju moving towards you, the only way left is the building.

Without hesitation you went inside and ran towards the rooftop while both kaijus are after you

As soon as you reach the rooftop, you jump, landing on the ground while in the high ground wasn't difficult since you had a personalized jet before

To your dismay, as soon as you land on the ground, another pair of kaijus appears, at this point you're completely surrounded, kaijus above, back, front, and one on every side, there is no way out

*i decided to just draw it at this point cuz i have no idea how to keep the same hype with this

Ok, i give up, want part 3? I seem to have a writer- block or idk what you call it, but i can't remember how to write🥹

[the-broken-truth]

Ooh! You're doing God of War now? Awesome, I have a request if possible for Yandad Kratos and Yander older brother Atreus who want to protect their youngest male sibling, who unironically makes friends with their enemies (Freya, Odin, Baldur, Thor, Magni, even the Valkyries) while they themselves try to keep him as their own

⦁ [NAME'S] RELATIONSHIP WITH KRATOS AND ATREUS

Atreus and [Name] were twin brothers - Atreus being the older of the twins by an hour and being the larger of the twins - while [Name] was rather small with a slender body like Faye; [Name] favoured his mother while Atreus was more like his father. As the boys grew, Kratos would take Atreus and train him but he would always leave [Name] with his mother - stating that he was too small and delicate to partake in the training of a Spartan. [Name] would protest but Atreus would always shoot him down stating that he was 'The Older Twin', but [Name] would state 'By an hour, that doesn't make you any different than me, Brother.'. Kratos would kneel before his younger son, take his head in his ashy grey & scarred hands, and began speaking softly to play on [Name's] emotions; stating that [Name] was important to Kratos and Atreus and they wanted to keep him safe, he didn't need to train, all he had to do was stay home with his mother and protect the house. [Name] frowned and pulled away from his father and marched into his section of the house and sat in the corner with his head in his hands, but he didn't cry - he wanted to be strong like his father and crying wasn't the way to prove to his father and brother that he was just was strong as his younger brother. Faye understood that [Name] wanted to be strong just like his father and brother but she didn't want to go against her husband and trained [Name] in secret; learning that her son had a hidden talent for magic and held him hone his skills but they kept it from Atreus & Kratos.

When Faye was laid to rest, Kratos gave Arteus their mother's bow but when [Name] asked what kind of weapon would Kratos give to him, the father of the boys stated that [Name] would not be given a weapon and would remain home to see to the upkeep of the house. [Name] roared at his father and brother and ran away into the forest with tears in his eyes, tired of being treated like a burden and not a warrior.

⦁ HOW [NAME] MET BALDUR AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP

[Name] was awakened by the sound of combat outside of the cabin and ran outside to see what was going on, he saw his father fighting some strange man with blue markings all over his body. Atreus tried to pull [Name] back into the house until the man pinned Kratos to the ground and tried to hit him in the head. [Name] lifted his hand and fired a lightning spell at the strange man, sending him flying off of Kratos and over the cliff. When Kratos got to his feet, he questioned [Name] as to how he did that, and [Name] confessed that Faye trained him in secret and they found out that he was able to use magic; this angered Kratos and Atreus, causing them to yell at [Name] that he was not allowed to use his magic ever again, he was not allowed to fight and he would remain home while he and Atreus went on the journey to spread Faye's Ashes. [Name] refused to listen to them and walked away from them and traveled into the depths of the forest again. While walking, [Name] was suddenly snatched up and backed into a tree, coming face to face with the strange man that Kratos was fighting at the cabin a few moments before.

"That was a nice little trick, kid. Seems like there is more to you than a weak little brat." The strange man said with a smirk on his face.

"Well, my father and brother don't seem so." [Name] said as he looked at the snow-covered ground with sadness in his eyes. The man looked at [Name] with an unknown emotion in his eyes before placing the boy on his feet, making the younger man look up at him.

"You having issues with your family too, kid?" The man asked.

"My Father and Brother think that I'm something to be protected and won't let me be the warrior I want to be - the warrior I know I was meant to be. Mother saw something in me and trained me…but she's no longer with me; now, there's no way I can get stronger." [Name] balled his fists and shook them in fury.

"I can understand - you're kinda small for a kid but that attack was strong enough to send me flying. You have something in you, maybe your mother was right about something." The man crouched and was at eye-to-eye level with [Name]. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm [Name]. What about you?" [Name] asked with his hand gesturing in the man's direction.

"I'm Baldur."

After that, Baldur and [Name] would meet up and spar together or just talk about their families; turned out that Baldur was having a hard time with his family too, especially since his mother took away his ability to feel anything and taking away the ability to die and stay dead. [Name] felt bad for him and asked him to try to make amends with his mother but Baldur expressed that he wasn't interested. One day, Baldur didn't show up at their meeting spot, and [Name] was upset but returned home, only to find out from Kratos and Atreus that he would be going with them on the journey. In the end, [Name] came face to face with Baldur again when he appeared before them to fight with Kratos again until he noticed Freya there and turned his attention to her and the anger on his face made [Name] shiver in his skin.

"Baldur, that's your mother?" [Name] asked as he stood from behind his father and brother, who looked at [Name] with shock and horror in their eyes.

"This is the bitch that took away my feeling - the one who took everything from me." Baldur said as he glared at Freya before turning to face [Name], "What are you doing here, [Name], shouldn't you be a home?"

"Father and Atreus told me to join them… Baldur, please, this is your chance to make things right with your mother." [Name] said as he took a step forward but Kratos grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

"Do not get close to him, [Name], he is dangerous," Kratos said as he looked down at his younger son.

"Don't you handle him like that." Baldur said as he pointed at Kratos with anger in his eyes before he turned to Freya, "You want me to forgive you? Take the kid and get him somewhere safe." Baldur said as he looked at Freya, whose eyes widened at the sudden request from her son. She looked at Baldur before looking at [Name], who pulled away from his father's grip and held her arms open wide.

"Come to me, [Name]." Freya said, causing everyone to look at her.

"You are not taking my son." Kratos said as he withdrew his axe and Atreus took out his bow with his arrows. Baldur, seeing that they weren't going to give [Name] up without a fight, charged at Kratos.

"Father!" [Name] called out as he looked at Baldur tackling Kratos to the ground, he tried to get in the way but Freya suddenly appeared behind him and grabbed him gently, holding him up. "Let me go! I have to stop them!"

Freya looked at the boy with confusion in her eyes - her son, who normally cares for no one but himself and his desires, made friends with his enemy's son. She was going to protect [Name] with everything in her. The fight raged on and during it, Baldur was struck by Atreus' arrow and regained his feeling in his body again, Kratos had him pinned to the ground, and [Name] pulled away from Freya to push his father off his friend and stood between them.

"Enough! Leave Baldur alone! All he wanted was his feeling back and he has it! Just stop and let's go home." [Name] begged his father. Kratos, not wanting to see his son said, warned Baldur not to touch Freya and to let go of the hatred he possessed for her before walking away with his sons but that warning fell on deaf ears as Baldur began strangling his mother.

"Baldur, no!" [Name] called out but Baldur didn't stop, "Father! NO!"

Kratos grabbed Baldur by his neck and snapped it, killing him for good this time. Freya swore to make Kratos suffer for what he had done but looked at [Name] who had tears in his eyes before turning to Baldur's body. Kratos and Atreus began walking away and [Name] looked at Freya and Baldur before following his family when Kratos called for him.

⦁ HOW [NAME] MET FREYA AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP

It was weeks after Kratos killed Baldur, [Name] was still upset about the loss of his friend but Kratos was too busy training Atreus who turned out to be the Giant - Loki. [Name] knew he was meant to be more than what his brother and father tried to make of him and trained in secret with his power - he was a God and a Giant after all.

One day, [Name] sought a weapon, something swift and mighty, like a sword or dagger, but Kratos refused to give him a weapon so [Name] went into the forest to look for materials for a weapon when he was suddenly pinned to the ground by a winged woman. She pointed her sword at him and demanded to know what he was doing in her part of the woods. [Name] would have been afraid but something in him heard something in the woman's voice and he spoke a name.

"Freya?"

The Valkyrie looked at him with a gasp and lowered her sword before sheathing it and taking off her helmet - revealing the tearful face of The Goddess Freya. Freya quickly got off of him, allowing him to stand and look at her with wide eyes before looking at her wings. Freya looked at the boy before her and took a step forward, making him take a step back. Her hand reached out for him and placed it on his cheek, gently, like a mother, but her eyes were full of pain and anger - pain for the loss of her son and anger for his father.

"Why are you out here?" She asked him with a shaking voice.

"I..I…I seek a weapon for myself." [Name] said with a tremble in his voice that he tried to steel, he knew that Freya was still angry at his father and might take her anger out on him.

"Didn't your father make you one?" Freya asked.

"No… He's more interested in training Atreus and making him stronger but he wants me to remain at home; he thinks I have to be protected instead of doing the protecting myself." [Name] explained.

"Just like you tried to protect my son from your father's wrath," Freya said.

"Baldur was my friend - he understood what it was like to be ignored and sheltered. He would spar with me sometimes… Freya, I'm really sorry about what my father did to your son; I wish I was stronger, strong enough to protect Baldur too." [Name] looked to the ground with tears building in his eyes. Freya used her thumb to wipe the first tears away before they hit the boy's shirt.

"Come with me." She spoke.

"Huh?" [Name] asked in confusion.

"Come with me, [Name]. Baldur cared about like you were his own flesh and blood, and I shall care for you as if you are my own flesh and blood. Come with me and I shall be the mother you lost. I will train you, give you a weapon, all the freedom in the Midgard." She placed her hands on his cheeks and looked deep into his eyes. "All I ask is that you be my son and mine alone. Stay with me, [Name], and be the brother Baldur saw in you."

[Name] was shocked at Freya's words and opened his mouth to speak but the roaring call of his father in the distance made Freya break away from the boy, turn into a bird and fly away into the trees.

"I shall come for you and once I kill your father, you shall be my son. Mine and mine alone." Freya's voice whispered in the trees. Kratos suddenly burst through the trees and marched over to [Name], demanding to know what he was doing so far away from home.

"Nothing… I was just going on a walk. I hate staying at home alone and you know it, Father." [Name] said.

"That is to keep you safe and well-protected," Kratos said.

"Lies… And you know it." [Name] said before he walked passed his father and went home.

⦁ HOW [NAME] MET MAGNI & THEIR FRIENDSHIP (BEFORE THE DEATH OF BALDUR)

[Name] was with Kratos and Atreus, walking to some kind of gate when a man came falling from the sky on the of a creature as he snapped its' neck. He bore blonde hair, no shirt but a great necklace that stopped at his stomach, and a great sword. He looked at the group of three and from the creature, tossing it to the nearby wall before walking before them.

"Surrender. The All-Father demands it." he spoke with a deep powerful voice.

"No." Kratos took a step forward.

"Good." The man spoke as he pulled his sword from his back with a smirk. The man looked at [Name] and his smirk grew larger. "I remember you - Baldur's Friend."

"Wait… Magni. You're Magni… The Son of Thor." [Name] said as he stood from behind Kratos.

"Aye, that's me, Lad. Baldur told me everything about what's been going on with you and your father. Don't worry, we're going to kill them and give you a better life as a Son of Thor." Magni said as he glared at Kratos and Atreus.

"We?" Atreus said, just them, Modi dropped from the cliff above and landed in front of Atreus with his hammer in his hand and shield in the other.

"Modi! The Son of Thor." [Name] said as he picked up a discarded sword from the ground and defended himself. "Please, you don't have to fight, we just want to pass and get to a mountain."

"Drop the sword, boy!" Kratos demanded his son but [Name] shook his head.

"No, Father. I'm not going to be defenseless anymore." He looked at Magni and Modi, "Please… just let us pass."

"I'm sorry, Kid, but I can't do that. Just stay out of this, I don't want you getting hurt, little brother." Mangi said as he charged at Kratos and Modi charged at Atreus. [Name] cried at he charged at Modi to aid his brother and swung the sword, only for it to be blocked.

"Don't fight us, Little Brother, we only want to help you." Modi said.

"Please, I don't want to fight you but I can't let you hurt my brother! Just let us pass and the All-Father will never hear from us again!" [Name] begged as he pushed the sword again Modi's Shield but the larger man was stronger than him.

"Forgive me for this." Modi said as he used his shield to knock [Name] away, sending him crashing into the wall and slumped to the ground before he began slipping into unconciousness. When [Name] woke up by the feeling of someone shaking him, he blinked at few times to see what was going on - his father, Atreus…and…Mangi was dead on the ground.

"NO!" [Name] hurried to his knees and ran over to Magni's body, looking at the blonde-haired male with tears in his eyes. "No… Not again…"

"He is dead, [Name, he shall not hurt you anymore." Kratos said as he reached out for his younger son's shoulder, but [Name] moved away from his father and glared into his eyes.

"He wasn't going to hurt me, you didn't need to kill him." [Name] hissed.

"He wanted to take you away from us, [Name]." Atreus said with sadness in his voice. [Name] scoffed at his brother and walked over to the sword he dropped and picked it up again, "[Name], you don't need that."

"Yes, I do and I'm not going to be defenseless again. Leave me alone." [Name] said as he walked away from his father and brother.

⦁ HOW [NAME] MET THOR AND ODIN & THEIR FRIENDSHIP

The Son of Odin came to the cabin years after Baldur was killed and Atreus learned about his true name of Loki of the Frost Giants; Kratos trained Atreus even harder and ignored [Name] even more, even though he was an Frost Giant-God Hybrid as well. [Name] was at home when a roaring thunderstorm rolled in and lightning began striking the ground, [Name] walked outside a cloaked man with a runed hammer standing before him. Just by the look of the hammer, [Name] knew who it was.

"Thor… Son of Odin and Thunderer of Asgard." [Name] said as he bowed his head with his eyes closed, this made the Thunderer chuckle at the display.

"The Spawn of Sparta knows respect…and I'm glad that you are the one who was home alone and your father wasn't here." Thor said as he walked over to [Name] and placed his hand on [Name's] shoulder, making the younger boy look up at him, "You aren't like the others."

"You know me?" [Name] asked.

"My Sons - Magni and Modi - spoke about you from the stories with Baldur. When your father and brother killed my sons, you attempted to stop them and made friends with my sons. You wanted to make peace with the All-Father, my father…and I would have loved to call you a son." Thor said with a smile at the young man.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't able to save Magni and Modi, my father didn't listen to me and I wasn't strong enough to help them; Modi knocked me out to keep me out of the fight with my father and brother." [Name] looked to the ground with sadness in his eyes.

"Don't be upset, son, you couldn't do anything at the moment, but I've been watching you and your personal training. Come to Asgard with me and let me train you, [Name]." Thor said with a smile on his face. [Name] looked up at Thor and opened his mouth to speak when a cycloen of black birds came an old man in a fur cape came with an eyepatch over his right eye walked over to them..

"Is this him? This is Loki?" The old man asked.

"No, All-Father, this is Loki's Younger Brother - [Name]. Loki and his father aren't here at the moment." Thor explained.

"The All-Father? Odin himself?!" [Name] asked before bowing his head, "Welcome to my home, All-Father! My name is [Name]." The younger man said as he looked at the ground while his head remained bowed.

"Raise your head, boy. Where is Loki and your father, I need to speak with them about something.' Odin said. [Name] opened his mouth to speak but the trees began to shake as Kratos and Atreus walked out with a deer on the Father's Back. When they saw Odin and Thor, Kratos dropped the deer and he & Atreus pulled out their weapons and aimed them at the Asgards. [Name] got in-between them and held his arms out.

"Leave them alone, Father! They didn't do anything to me, we were just talking!" [Name] tries but Kratos didn't seem to be listening. [Name's] face took a scowl and he ignited his fists in the fire before roaring at Kratos and Atreus, "Listen to me! Leave them alone!" Kratos looked at his younger son's fire and put his weapons back before walking over to them.

"Who are you and why are you in my home, talking to my son?" The Father Asked.

"They are the All-Father - Odin - and the Thunderer of Asgard - Thor. They have something to speak to you about, Father." [Name] said before stepping back a dousing his fire.

Kratos, Thor, Atreus, and Odin went into the house but when [Name] tried to go in, Kratos stopped him and told him to wait outside. [Name] looked at the ground before he began walking away from the house and disappeared into the wilds once again - at least the woods was always there for him in his loneliness.

⦁ HOW NAME MEET HRIST & MIST AND THEIR FRIENDSHIP

After getting abducted by Thor and Odin along with Loki, The All-Father asked for Loki's attendance and left [Name] in the company of Hrist and Mist - Two Valkyries that were loyal to him. They shadowed the boy in the library when he pulled out a book about Valkyries and began reading but the facial expressions he was making got their attention.

"Is something wrong, Brother of Loki?" Hrist asked from her place at [Name's] Right.

"Don't call me that, please, my name is [Name] and I'm more than just Loki's Brother. It's this book, something about it doesn't seem right about the Valkyries." [Name] exhaled.

"You are correct. It was written by a human who thought she knew everything about our race but knew nothing. Are you interested in Valkyries, Little [Name]?" Mist asked with her head tilted.

"I respect the Valkyries. I met a few in my travels but my father…father wasn't as respectful as me and they attacked him. I think they are lovely creatures with vast knowledge." [Name] smiled at the thought of speaking with the Valkyrie Queen before his father killed her - she was kind to him.

"We can teach you about the Valkyries if you wish, young one. You are not like Loki or the Ghost of Sparta, you are respectful and powerful in your words. Come with us, we shall train and educate you." Hrist said as she began leaving the library with a smile hidden under her mask. [Name] smiled and rushed after her with Mist at his back.

The afternoon was of them sparring, learning, or having conversations about their lives when Lady Sif walked over to them with a smile on her face. [Name] noticed her and bowed his head.

"Lady Sif… It's nice to meet you." He said.

"Raise you head, my son, there is no need to bow to your own mother." Sif placed her hand under [Name's] chin and caused him to look at her with confusion in his eyes, "I know you are confused but everything shall be clear soon." Sif said as she walked away.

"What was she talking about?" [Name] asked as he looked at the Valkyries behind him.

"We know not, Little One, but she seems to have taken a liking to you, regardless of your relation to Loki." Hrist said, "Let us not worry about that, let's continue your training." Hrist said as she began walking away with Mist at her side, [Name] hurrying to follow her with a smile on his face. During his training, Sif came again and called for the two of them to follow her because there was something she needed to deal with when [Name] offered to aid them as well but she just placed her hand on his head and shook her head with a sad smile.

"Not this time, my son. Soon, but not today." She spoke in a calm tone of voice.

[samanthamarkle92]

Hey everyone! Still stuck on writing, but have the first part of a Soap fic to give you lovely people something to read! In this story, Soap rescues a young woman named Kate during a bank robbery. He decides to let her stay with him until she feels safe (even recruiting an old friend to help) and soon it turns into something more than roommates. Special shout out to: @deadbranch @nsharks @cravingcoldoreocake123 @ilovehotchocolate @codfanzine @sofasoap @loneghostwolf @shadow0-1 @mistyresolve @islenthatur @bittersw33t-lotus @salbei-141 @m0chac0ffee @fictional-men-have-my-heart @ghostslillady @ghosts-bandwagon @soapxmactavish @mactavishwritings @sleepyconfusedpotato @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot @halcyone-of-the-sea @rileyslibrary @ghostkinnie @mctvsh @macravishedbymactavish @blissful--moon @mistydeyes @cowyolks @maxinequigleyart @ave661 @clownfishenthusiast @xintothewoodswegox @sighmurderbot If I missed anyone feel free to tag and reblog so others can check it out!

******************

All he had come in for was to use the ATM.

He didn't really have any other purpose for being at the bank right now. All he needed to do was go in for his change.

The door slid open and in walked the pretty blonde. She fumbled with her purse, standing in line for the teller.

Soap punched in his PIN, mentally making a list of things he needed. He thought he'd just get some cash out and grab groceries. The machine dinged, and he got the wad of notes that the machine had deposited. He had just got the money in his wallet, when he heard a scream from one of the women in line.

Soap spun around, trying to figure out what could have happened.

Some masked men had slipped in, taking advantage of the crowd. They were grabbing people left and right. One man grabbed the blonde woman, dragging her out of the line by her hair.

Soap felt sick inside.

He took a deep breath and ducked behind a counter. He had been in worse situations than this.

'Just my luck; I survived a dangerous top-secret mission taking out a terrorist cell, and now I get stuck in a bank robbery just blocks from my flat.'

He tried not to think about it too much. He would be out soon. The men who'd abducted the lady wouldn't be able to hold everyone here forever. There would be plenty of police to help. The whole incident would be over before he knew it. His soldier instincts told him to use his head; protect others, but don't be stupid. He reached under his jacket, making sure his concealed weapon was ready. The blonde girl swung her purse into the thug's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. That didn't help the situation though. Another one of them grabbed her by the throat, choking her.

That's when it all went to shit.

It wasn't as if he didn't know how to fight. He had done training, been in war zones, gone on stealth operations. But this was different. This was violence, and it wasn't a world away; it was down the street. The robbers had what they needed, and the biggest one grabbed the girl, using her as a human shield.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' Soap yelled inwardly. If they took her out of the building, anything could happen. No one wanted that kind of thing to happen on their watch.  Soap didn't want that kind of thing to happen.

He started backing up slowly toward the doorway. The gang was only four men, but even the most skilled fighter wouldn't just throw himself into the fight. He waited until they group was almost out the door before he stood, brandishing his gun.

"Let her go!" Soap yelled. He was going for intimidation, which wasn't going to be easy with a handgun pointed at his chest. Some shots were fired into the air, but that was all. Soap ran after them, afraid to shoot in fear of hitting the girl. She was putting up a fight. They were dragging her to the getaway car. Soap took a chance firing above the group. the butt of a handgun slammed into the back of her head, and then the criminals drove off, leaving their hostage prone on the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?!" Soap asked, kneeling down beside her. Her eyes were closed, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. Soap gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up." She whimpered slightly. Soap quickly lifted her head and tucked his jacket under it,  hoping to stop the bleeding from the back of her head. "Oh god, I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry." She mouthed something at him, but no words came out.

His hands shook as he took his phone from his pocket and dialed 999.

"I was in the bank robbery on Churchill Street! I have a woman with a blow to the head! Please get an ambulance!" He hung up, cradling the girl's head.

"Hang on, love....help is on the way....just hang on...okay? You're gonna be fine."

She was breathing normally. Soap put his ear next to her mouth, checking her breathing rate. He let out the breath he was holding. "Thank God...stay awake...you need to stay awake, love."

She opened her eyes briefly before letting them close again. Her face looked pale and sweaty.

"You'll be fine...you're gonna be alright....they're gone...please stay awake."

[branmuffins22]

It says failed game dev in your bio what game(s) were you working on? We're there any stories you wanted to tell?

Not all that much of a story to tell, but here's the gist:

I made a few student games with my twin in highschool (even took one to a trade skills competition, we got 7th place in nationals), went to college to pursue game development as a career, learned the hard way that I wasn't cut out for it (acquired hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and a bunch of stress/overwork-related health complications for my troubles), flunked out in my second year, and haven't made a game since (closest I've come has been almost getting a job as a QA tester for Nintendo of America, brainstorming a handful of game ideas, and helping my twin squash bugs in his own projects sometimes).

As for the specifics, I've only worked on 3 games I'm even somewhat proud of: Run&Gun, Paint the Town, and Custom Fighter. All three were made in highschool, using a proprietary game engine made by the same school my twin and I later flunked out of. As a general rule, my twin handled the art and design, and I handled the programming, but there was some overlap where we dipped our toes into eachother's jobs.

Infodump beyond the readmore:

Run&Gun was a combination First-Person Shooter and Racing Game, with some gravity-bending mechanics, as a treat. In it, you raced on a massive, twisting track against a handful of computer players while shooting them with your trusty SMG, and trying not to get shot yourself. The player could stick to walls, treating everything they raced along as the ground, which let us get a little silly with the track's layout. There was also a really cool section near the end that featured a halfpipe (or maybe more like a three-quarters-pipe) that ended in a ramp and a huge jump, which, due to the nature of the wall-sticking mechanic, had you falling forwards moreso than down for about half of it. It was probably the only bit of spectacle that actually hit the mark.

The game had a lot of neat ideas, but ultimately failed in execution for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it served as many firsts: our first 3D game, our first first-person game, our first game with computer players, our first racing game, our first game with dynamic physics, our first game we worked on for longer than a month, etc. I actually ended up reinventing several wheels while working on this game, since I didn't know what to look for as far as guidance at the time: linked lists, aim-assist, behavior trees, and some really crude vector math being chief among them. On one hand, I really didn't need to do all that, because the tech already existed (and is downright ubiquitous in the industry), but on the other hand, I felt smart as hell when I made it work, and super vindicated when I learned that people smarter than me had been doing the same shit for decades.

Paint the Town was a 2D Action Platformer which took heavy aesthetic inspiration from Splatoon (or, what little of Splatoon we'd seen over the shoulder of a Wii-U-owning friend of ours, anyways). There was only one level, which also served as a tutorial, and it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but with such a limited scope, we managed to squeeze out a solid experience. You played as Fuschia (spelled that way because we thought the real spelling of the word was dumb), an excitable teen who wanted to take back her city from the evil... Blobbers? Bloobies? I don't remember what we called 'em, they were an invading force of aliens that kinda just looked like the slimes from Dragon Quest. Anyways, they were painting everything blue, which made everyone there feel blue, so our hero took it upon herself to paint the town a fresh new hue (fuchsia, obviously).

It was a fairly linear experience, with no special movement mechanics or anything: just a short gauntlet of guys to take down as you hopped across rooftops and construction sites, picking up the occasional extra weapon here and there for variety. The three things I'm most proud of are the relative variety of unique enemies and weapons (patrolling guys, turret guys, helicopter guys, and even a bomb-throwing boss guy, as well as four different weapons with unique shot patterns), the visual effects (the city was a fairly-blank canvas, and you and the enemies would paint over it as you fought), and a handy little tool we lovingly called the ~Vector Trajector Projector~, which acted as a reticle to show the path your shots would go (discounting any spread) while you aimed. It was really just an extremely basic projectile simulation equation, but dammit, I was proud! For a project that only took a couple months to make, it was pretty solid, in my opinion.

Custom Fighter was the last of our highschool games, and the one we took to that national trade skills competition. Well, technically we took all three of them to the competition, but Run&Gun only took us as far as state the year prior, and we pivoted from Paint the Town to Custom Fighter between regionals and state of that final year. Anyways, it was a 3D Dueling Game featuring giant robots that could be decorated and customized in a pre-match menu. The only mechanical effects your customization would have was the robot's physical size (for hit/hurtboxes and so on) and its Weight, which depended on its size and determined its speed, knockback, and to a lesser extent, damage, so the rest was just for fun. Every robot had the same moveset: just a punch, an uppercut, a power-punch, a roundhouse kick, a missile barrage, and a meter-draining super move (a weird timestopping dropkick thing that we couldnt animate in time, and thus really just looked like you stopped time and flew face-first at the other guy in midair).

There were a whole lot of little things I was proud of in this game: dynamic knockback animations, light trails and other such visual effects, my largest attempt at menu/UI design to date (for the customization screen), a really satisfying application of calculus to make the dropkick hit the mark every time, and the fact that I managed to fix every last crash bug the night before the competition's showcase.

But my greatest accomplishment wasn't even technically something I did; rather, it was something I couldn't do.

The time-stopping dropkick had a funny bug that seemingly-randomly caused the player who got hit with it to get flung out of the arena at truly ludicrous speeds, instead of the intended knockback velocity of the attack. The night before the competition, I discovered that it was because the players would sometimes collide physically after the attack's hitbox reached the target's hurtbox (which applied the inteneded knockback), but before time would resume its usual flow. Because the attacking player would be going incredibly fast in-simulation (despite going at a pretty moderate pace as far as any viewers were concerned), they would impart an incredible amount of momentum to the other player, which, once time resumed its normal rate, translated to getting launched offscreen faster than you could blink. I couldn't come up with a way to fix the bug entirely in time for the competition, but I did manage to come up with a band-aid patch that made it a lot less likely.

A month or so earlier, in that same year, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out, and unbeknownst to me at the time, it featured the same exact bug. I only discovered it thanks to the Something About video, which came out a couple years later, but if you've ever seen a speedrunner do a shield surf jump toward an enemy's head, pull out a bow to enter arrow-time, and bounce off to launch way up into the sky, that's exactly the same mechanics at play. The enemy's animation when they get bounced on has their head snap into a different position to start, which, while in arrow-time, translates to an absurd amount of movement over extremely little time. Landing on something while shield-surfing usually only applies a certain amount of bounce to the player, but if the player and the enemy are in just the right positions relative to eachother, they collide physically after the initial hit, and the player gets flung hilariously far away.

So what was once a bug that bested me, the bane of my existence, had become something that hundreds and hundreds of smarter people had tried to fix too, each as unsuccessful as the last. I couldn't fix that bug, but neither could the entire team behind one of the biggest and best games to date.

It was extremely vindicating.

[matchamilkislover]

In The Darkest Corners, 4.

pairing: vi x fem!oc (reader with a name basically)

warnings: mature themes, just an overall minors beware, violence, just general arcane-ness.

word count: 1,525

synopsis: finally leaving the brothel, olive is hopeful vi found a lead. unfortunately, it’s not exactly the lead she was looking for - but it’s exactly the lead vi wanted to find.

authors note: there will be more explicit violence in this chapter because…reasons. vi being the main reason. anyways, hopefully i’ll get chapters 5-11 uploaded shortly after this one.

don’t forget to read parts 1, 2, and 3 first!!

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ

Olive awkwardly bid the woman in the fox mask goodbye and followed Vi through the doorway. The conversation wasn't half bad — but she knew what the woman would expect had she stayed much longer. She released an audible sigh as they exited the brothel and the smoke changed to a smog.

"So you're no stranger to Babette, huh?" Vi asked teasingly.

"That's none of your business," Olive responded with a scratch in her throat, like just the thought was upsetting her.

"Whoa, my bad, didn't mean to hit a sore spot." Vi lifted the hands in her jacket pocket as an informal defensive stance.

"So where are we going now, anyway? Did...Babette have any information?" Olive asked, desperate to change the subject.

"We aren't going anywhere. I'm following the lead Babette gave me, but it's better I do it alone. I'll find you later."

"I'm sorry, what? If you've got a serious lead, I'm coming with!" Olive exclaimed, her face knotted with offense and surprise.

"No, you aren't." Vi's eyes hardened as she stopped and stared Olive down, like she was committing some crime by wanting to be involved in her own investigation. "This is something I need to do myself. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't seem like much of a fighter, and I don't want to deal with being in charge of someone else's life right now." Her voice was firm. Olive knew she wouldn't bend.

"Fine." Olive crossed her arms. "As long as you don't get yourself killed before we figure this shit out."

Vi winked. "Wouldn't dream of it."

—

Olive grumbled to herself as she trudged to her shamble of an apartment, cursing herself for not trying harder to stick up to Vi. Not much of a fighter my ass, she thought. She hasn't even seen me fight! She sighed, knowing it was no use to argue about it with herself. She'd just have to wait and hope that Vi kept her word about finding her. Unless...

Once inside her apartment, she headed straight for the pack she'd been living in since she first left her old home with it. Deep at the bottom, where she hoped she would never have to reach, her hand curled around a metal object. Pulling it out, Olive took a long look at the pistol that once felt warm in her hands. She always resented the shooting lessons and tournaments that her parents forced her into, but now that she actually had a use for her unforgotten skills, she started to understand just a little bit why they enforced it so much. She gripped the weapon tighter in her hand, then checked that it was still loaded like she remembered before standing up and walking grimly out of her apartment.

Olive scaled the walls of the tallest building near her and began to travel along the raised pathways, jumping over gaps and scaling more stories as she needed to. While this wasn't her favorite form of travel, it would be the best way of spotting whatever Vi was getting herself into. She suddenly stopped when she heard Vi's voice.

"Filthy traitor!"

Olive got down low and peeked over the ledge she was on. What she saw was Vi slamming another person's face into a wall. Ouch. Upon taking a closer look, Olive gasped when she recognized Vi's opponent. Sevika? Olive herself had always stayed as far away as possible — that bitch was scary as hell. But she was also giant, with a metal shimmer-powered arm. The fact that Vi was holding her own against her, and actually kicking her around, was impressive.

And hot.

Olive followed the fight as it moved, watching as they slammed each other through walls and made hit after hit. When Vi launched Sevika through a wall into another alleyway, Olive cursed and quickly leaped across another roof and rushed onto a raised walkway to keep track of the fight. She watched as Vi grasped Sevika's throat and held her down with her boot, growling something to her that Olive couldn't pick up. When Sevika replied, she watched as Vi's face slipped into shock and her guard started to come down.

That was when Sevika stabbed her through the abdomen.

Olive gasped in shock, and after a moment she came back to herself and started fumbling to get her pistol out, cursing her stupid fingers. She felt helpless as she watched Sevika kick Vi down from where she was already crawling on the ground and then walk around to pull her up by her chin. Then Sevika raised her arm, about to recharge. Olive knew instantly that she was aiming to kill. Without a second thought, she pointed her pistol at the vial of shimmer that was about to recharge Sevika's arm, and shot. The vial burst open, shocking the great brute long enough to give Olive the chance to keep shooting. She aimed for her now failing arm again and again, but her target quickly jumped back into action, growling at Olive when she spotted her before dodging her shots and running off.

Olive instantly leapt down to the alley Sevika had left Vi in, calling out her name desperately as she rushed towards her. She shoved the pistol back into her holster and knelt down to check that Vi was conscious, or at least alive. To her relief (and surprise) Vi looked at her with a weak smile and held a hand towards Olive.

"You gonna help me up or not, cupcake?"

Olive sighed and pulled Vi up with both arms after holstering her pistol, laying Vi's arm along her shoulders so that she could hold most of Vi's weight while she still walked.

"Stop calling me that, my name is Olive," she said in a tone of half-assed annoyance.

"But you're so sweet, like a cupcake," Vi replied with a smile in her voice.

Olive rolled her eyes but kept helping her along down the alleyway in the opposite direction of where Sevika had gone. A shiver suddenly ran down her spine when she heard shouting and running in their direction.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath, about to hoist Vi more onto her figure so that they could speed up.

"Start running," Vi said, suddenly quickening her own steps with a painful groan. Olive did as she was told and started rushing down alleyways, taking whatever turns and detours Vi instructed her to. They slowed to a stop in front of a ledge that housed levels of scaffolding below it.

"Are you sure you can do this in your-" Olive was cut off by Vi leaping down on her own, and Olive rushed to look what she was doing just in time to watch her slam herself onto a horizontal pole, but keep launching herself down.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Olive cursed in hushed tones before following her lead. She did her best to avoid throwing herself around like Vi had done, but this wasn't exactly an easily navigable path. She dropped herself next to Vi and put her arm out to stop her before she started trying to move again.

"My apartment is just down the next alley, we can go there," She gasped, still trying to catch her breath. Vi nodded and, surprisingly, let Olive continue helping her as they made their way to her apartment.

They struggled up the steps, but soon enough Olive was kicking open the door with her free leg and led Vi to the mat that she used as a bed. The latter groaned and let her head fall against the wall as she shifted her hand that was covering her wound.

"Let me see," Olive said gently, reaching to move Vi's hand and then her shirt that was blocking her full view of the wound. She winced, seeing just how wide and deep Vi's wound really was.

"You're not a bad shot, Cupcake," Vi groaned, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm a great shot," Olive retorted with a sigh, moving to search for whatever first aid supplies she could make out of her few belongings. She found a clean cloth and some alcohol, and turned back to Vi to clean her up.

"This is going to sting," she warned before pouring a bit of the alcohol on the wound and quickly covering it with the cloth to soak everything up. Vi groaned and hissed in pain.

"You're not even gonna give me some of that stuff before you start pouring it on me?" She asked with a grimace. Olive shot her a glare and stood up.

"You need some sort of medicine for this." She stated, looking out the one tiny window in her apartment.

"Good luck on finding that," Vi retorted with another groan.

"I'm sure I'll manage. I'll be back soon." Olive turned and started towards the door, but Vi spoke again suddenly.

"Olive, I...Thank you," she almost whispered.

"Anytime," Olive replied casually before heading out the door and back into the Lanes.

Once outside, she cursed herself for being so confident in finding medicine in the undercity. This wasn't going to be easy.

[imthecosmicbasball]

Introduction of the Hasanagi siblings.

More like other family introduction😅 anyway please don't steal my art and no I don't want anyone reposting this at any website or apps.

Hasanagi Ikari, 28 not single.

Hasanagi Ikari, first division platoon leader the oldest of the siblings, everyone saw him as a tempered mental guy, but once they got to know him his very gentle and very kind. He always improves his officer skills and always has great advice to give them.

Married not single hehehe. Has a daughter named Hanabi.

He would barely show his smile much but with the closest people they'll get to see his goofy, cranky yet fun selves.

Has great patience, is very protective of his sister and doesn't really allow her to date until she is sure she's ready or old enough. He had a cute habit of always ruffling his little brother's head and kissing his wife's forehead and hugging them with his daughter.

A gentleman I could say.

Skillful in close combat, able to achieve 95.9% combat level and has incredible durability, strength and defence. Wield a very heavy Saber which has almost not been used in a very long time. He was compatible using it and the weapon meter response to Ikari order which makes him very reliable and strong for his team and his platoon.

The only flaw on the weapon is that he has not yet unlocked the weapon full potential the Saber can actually be a double blade sword but he hasn't figured it out yet or accomplished it yet. The Saber is a high blazing blade made from a Kaiju who slept inside an active volcano at Bali.

Hasanagi Kishi, 26 not single has well

A real cranky person he may seem like he doesn't look like his siblings but trusts his 100% related to both his brother and sister. The only difference is Kishi is a very introverted person not because he wanted to is because his family circle mocks him being "hideous" or "ugly" but it was completely normal to have different appearance towards oneself.

Kishi suffers rejection, negligence (from society) and everyone who looks down on him for not being good looking like his other siblings. Kishi may seem like doesn't like to be bothered but his the most kind and empathetic person from his family always appears like his about to be mad but scolds his family member out of worries and fear of losing them.

Kishi is not yet married but he met a kind hearted person he ever met that is his girlfriend, Mei.

Kishi is a platoon leader in the first division like his older brother but unlike his oldest, he focuses more on speed durability and endurance. He can shoot long range-never miss his shots, give him any types of guns he can shoot perfectly and precisely hit his target to be dead, he was able to to release a 94% combat level quickly catching up to his brother.

But in this case the weapon is not the problem the problem was the user of the weapon Kishi wasn't satisfied with any types of custom weapon they gave him so decided to make himself- yes he designed the weapon himself Kishi is not only just creative his a smartass, building his own types of weapon following his liking for it and in the end was the first to accomplish making his OWN weapon using Mei's help.

He wields a very complicated weapon it's a gun! But, it can be reshaped to anything thanks to its flexibility of the gun build also the knowledge of Kishi desirable weapons his weapon can shape into anything (imagine it like iron-man nanotech that is small but can make a suit of armour around Tony's body) same like that with his weapon. Kishi has no limits with his weapon perfecting it until it reaches its full potential.

Fun fact: since Akira has red stripes on her left side hair she dedicated to respect and admire her brothers strength also because their eyes are red so her brothers did the same on their right side colouring it blue dedicating to their sister as a sign of strength.

Each siblings respects each other's strength and is always there to look out for each other no matter what.

Dedicated to Kaiju no 8 fan art.

[antianakin]

Okay, I have seen 1x03 of The-Show-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, here's some thoughts all in one post again.

So... my feelings on Crosshair are very negative and my feelings on Cody are very positive which made this episode a little bit of a rollercoaster ride to have to watch. I have literally zero interest in watching Crosshair keep being a fascist and being wow kinda not happy with the way his dumbass selfish bullshit choice is working out for him. I have zero sympathy, he had other choices, he's been given options by people who claim to care about him, he's continuing to be the asshole he's been since season 7 of TCW, I do not care, someone just shoot him and put him out of his misery please. I'm NOT happy that they used Cody for this, a character they knew fans were attached to and interested in, a character who got pulled OUT of the Kenobi show where he seemingly had a bigger role to play, just to be part of a catalyst for Crosshair's story. If we never get to see Cody again and continue to follow his story now that he's AWAY from Crosshair, it will be a complete waste of this character.

That being said, I DO like that Cody ultimately left the Empire and isn't dead. My assumptions for how Cody would be treated in this show was pretty low and quite honestly, they still are. They could still bring him back to kill him or just never show him again and we never find out where he went or what happened to him. I'm also realizing that Rampart could've lied and Cody MIGHT be dead or undergoing torturous experimentation and we only discover this later and that could end up being a final straw for Crosshair or something.

My expectations are in the GROUND here.

I liked the parallel of the moment where Cody is ordered to execute Governor Ames and Palpatine telling Cody to "execute Order 66" on Obi-Wan. This seems to allow Cody to CLEARLY put some things together as he stares at the body of this woman who trusted him, who recognized that she was probably going to be murdered either way whether she let the new governor go or not and chose to go out as the person who tried for peace one last time. She decided not to go out as a murderer. Cody just standing there with his weapon down, his helmet OFF, a direct contrast to how he puts his helmet back ON after Obi-Wan leaves and he gets the call from Palpatine, so he's a faceless drone when he makes the order to blast Obi-Wan off a cliff.

I don't know what this is supposed to imply about the chips at this point, quite honestly. Is Cody's chip still active, but there aren't any Jedi actually nearby so its effects are sort-of lessened? Is Cody's chip mostly INACTIVE now that it's been over a year and so its effects are lessened? Were the chip's effects ALWAYS sort-of laser directed at the Jedi but Cody kept his critical thinking skills which has now led him to sort-of think AROUND the chip? I have no clue. The chips were a really cool introduction to the franchise's lore because it allowed the clones to be individuals, but the more they do with the regular clones in this show, the more confusing they get and the stupider the chips have become. They should've left it as just "the chips overrode the clones' wills and personalities to force them into basically acting like the droids they prided themselves on being better than" rather than whatever this is.

The only other interesting part of the episode to me were Governor Ames' comments about Dooku and Mina Bonteri.

Before TOTJ came out, I PROBABLY would've assumed that we were intended to see Ames saying "Dooku was right" as an ironic untrue statement. That sure, the Republic was corrupt, but we know that Dooku was also a MAJOR part of being the reason it stayed corrupt, the reason it fell and became an Empire. That he probably didn't even truly intend for the Separatists to win the war because it just wasn't a part of the Sith Plan.

But after TOTJ and the way it chose to present Dooku, I'm a lot less trusting of Filoni's shows. I think we're maybe intended to see a certain level of truth to this, that yes, Dooku WAS right, the Republic WAS corrupt and look what it became because it was so corrupt! That the point is not that Dooku was ALSO corrupt as shit, but that the Republic maybe COULDN'T have been saved.

Ames also brings up Mina Bonteri and the events of "Heroes on Both Sides" and "Pursuit of Peace." Which... we can assume from in-context clues that the Separatist leadership (i.e. planetary leaders and senators who aren't involved in anything military) have exactly zero clue what's actually happening during the war. They have no idea what Dooku truly is, they don't have any idea that the Corporate Alliance is LEADING THEIR ARMIES, they don't have any idea what their armies are DOING OUT THERE to innocent civilians in their names. They're so entirely brainwashed that Lux can literally walk up to them and say "Dooku assassinated my mother, a Senator you all loved and trusted" and get declared a liar for daring to speak out against Dooku.

So when Ames says "Mina Bonteri and I tried to put forth a peace proposal and Palpatine just rejected it" it makes sense within universe for her to believe something so vastly untrue. For her not to KNOW that Mina was literally assassinated by Dooku before that proposal could really go anywhere, that Dooku and Grievous attacked Coruscant itself to scare the Republic Senate into believing that the peace proposal was a trap so they would reject it. It makes sense that she would've been lied to about all of that and kept so insulated that news of those events never would've reached her.

But again, I have lost all trust in Filoni's ability to portray things in a nuanced way, and so I can't tell if we're supposed to remember that or if we're just supposed to think the Separatists were right and totally good people and it's the REPUBLIC who was evil the whole time.

It would be an interesting moment if I thought we were supposed to understand that Governor Ames has been lied to just as much as Cody has, that her belief in Dooku and the Separatist government is as blind as Cody's was in the Empire. Cody promising peace only for Crosshair to shoot Ames from behind him, just like Mina promising peace only for Dooku to attack Coruscant, killing all chance of peace ever happening. It was never going to happen in either situation because neither Cody nor Mina nor Ames have enough power to be able to anticipate the betrayals from their own sides striving to keep peace from being an option.

But I don't know if I believe that. And so then it just becomes a flat, half-assed mess of a moment. Which feels a lot more in character for this show, let's be honest.