#and so if needed he can always make a quick getaway if the cops come

[bestjeanistmonster]

Dc au- Vector as Killer Croc!!!

A crocodile detective mutated during an investigation to become the massive, ravenous monster in Gotham’s sewers

Knuckles only comes up to the height of just above his knee so he’s massive

Vectors role has been SUPER fun to think about cuz he’s killer croc and plays the role of commissioner gordon (cept that he’s not a cop cuz any of these characters working willingly with a COP is just so out of character to me that i couldn’t do it)

He was an independent detective starting out, then after an incident where he gets mutated he gets sent to arkham cuz he kind of went on an accidental rampage and cuz he looks rlly scary.

Vector’s bummed out at first but then he realises that he could use this to his advantage and basically be undercover inside the super criminal scene, he already has a scary reputation and he can listen in and gather info about the other criminals and what their planning and tell batman about it

The rumours in Gotham that he eats ppl rlly helps with his villain cover lol. Like it was just speculation and when ppl look at Vector they just assume that he uses those massive teeth for something so it became quickly accepted as fact by everyone (he prefers pizza)

[malloryslourd]

So Much Better

Pairing(s): Mother!Misty Day x Reader, Mother!Cordelia Goode x Reader, Platonic!Zoe Benson x Reader, Platonic!Madison Montgomery x reader

Warnings: Alcohol Use, Smoking, Strong Language

Words: 3,560

—————

A/N: the end of this is so rushed... ANYWAYS😐

—————

"This party kinda sucks," Y/N knew she was yelling, but there was no other way to make sure Madison could hear her. Three hours ago her, Madison, and Zoe had claimed they were heading up stairs to go to sleep after dinner. In reality they were waiting for the household to settle so they could make their "grand" getaway out of Madison's room and to a party they had been invited to a week prior. There was no use in asking for permission to go, the answer was always no so they decided to answer the question themselves.

Madison looked at Y/N, almost offended at what she said. "The party is fine, you suck," she wrapped an arm around the witch's waist, pulling her out of the way of someone passing behind her. Y/N stepped back, pushing the arm off of her and grabbing the drink from Madison's hand. "There you go! That should make things a little more fun!" the blonde teased as she watch her finish what was left in the cup. Zoe had set out to get them all something new to drink so she wasn't as mad as she usually would've been.

Y/N nodded, slightly crushing the cup in her hand. "Hopefully... I'm starting to be over it already." The music was too loud to even understand what they were playing, there had been at least three fights within the past hour, and Zoe had been gone for a lot more than "just a minute" like she had promised. She would've had more fun actually studying or once she drunk something strong enough to fill a few of her senses.

As if God himself heard her thoughts, an arm stretched over her shoulder with a plastic cup almost too full to handle without a spill. "Take it before someone steals it," Zoe's words weren't any softer than Y/N's or Madi's. She handed the other cup to Madison, full just about the same amount but obviously falling victim to a few small spills. The girls took the cups, smelling of much stronger alcohol than what they had previously.

Zoe pressed up against Y/N's back, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Thank you ma'am," Y/N took a sip of the drink. She could feel the hangover building from the one cup alone.

"See, already so much better."

—

"Hurry the fuck up!" Madison pulled Y/N behind her as she pushed pass people on the stairs. The drunken pair was laughing obnoxiously, tripping over their own feet as they tried to squeeze their way through groups of people who were somehow more drunk than them. Madison tried to open a door, failing on her first attempt and additionally giving herself a bruise to wake up to. She tried again, successfully turning the knob this time.

They were over taken with drunken laughter as they sat on the bed, Y/N falling back to look up at the ceiling. Madison took a hit of the vape she had convinced some guy to sell her for lower than half the price he was offering to everyone else at the party. She waved the device in front of Y/N's face, holding it in front of her lips when she nodded her head quickly. Y/N leaned forward, placing her hand on Madi's to hold it steady while she took her hit.

They laughed when Y/N blew the smoke back in her face. Madison laid back to lie down next to her. "Good thing Momma Delia doesn't know, she would have a fucking fit," Madison looked out of the corner of her eye to a now slightly pissed off Y/N. It was amusing to her just how quick she could make the witch's mood change. "Or maybe even Misty for that matter." She made herself laugh- Y/N, not finding it as funny as she did.

"If she knew this was your idea, let alone we just so happened to both be here, she would drag your ass again," Y/N rolled her eyes. She grumbled an insult when Madison jabbed her side, returning a softer elbow to her arm. "And Cordelia would just kick me out and call it a day."

"The fuck she would," Madison laughed. She looked at Y/N, chin basically resting on her shoulder. "Why the hell would she throw her pride and joy out to the curb? Me and Zoe would get abandoned before you did." Madison had a theory that Cordelia and Misty would empty the coven of everything but Y/N before they admitted she was at least a little responsible for her less than star-child behavior. In that theory she was the first to go.

"Whatever."

"What are you 'whatever'ing? It's true! Exactly how it fucking works actually."

"They don't hate you if that's what you're trying to say."

Y/N almost said it so low that Madison didn't hear. But she did, and that's what was important. "They do."

"They don't," Y/N looked at Madison, almost upset that's how she thought her mothers thought of her. "You're my friend... I wouldn't let them hate you, but you don't exactly help yourself.."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mo- Cordelia tries... We talked about it once, how you try sometimes to do your best but you always end up, like, doing shit to piss everyone off and start all over again," Y/N took Madison's hand, playing with the rings on her fingers. "Is this mine by the way?"

"Maybe."

"Cunt... Anyways!" Y/N rolled over. "Like, sad shit aside... They don't hate you, no one really does. Well I mean I hate you," she laughed at the way Madison rolled her eyes.

"Fuck you!" Madison took her hands out of Y/N's as she fought back the smile on her face.

"Now that's how you really get kicked out!"

The pair erupted into laughter. Madison took Y/N's hands this time, leaning to kiss her cheek. "That's how I get burned at the stake, don't even." They laid there for a while, laughing at random things the other said, sharing Madi's vape, and complaining about the music they were playing downstairs.

"Get the fuck up, we gotta fucking go."

Madison and Y/N looked over at the door- surprisingly still hanging on its hinges despite how hard it was thrown open. Zoe stood there as pale as a ghost, something the pair had chalked up to cheap booze mixed with even cheaper booze, or maybe even a bad hit from whatever some random was smoking. She rushed over to the pair, grabbing their hands and attempting to pull them up. She was determined, but evidently not enough to get them out of the bed.

Madison pulled her hand back, Zoe almost falling with it. "Okay... chill the fuck out," another puff of smoke traveled up the contours of the witch's face, disappearing into the air and leaving nothing but the smell of a cheap candy flavoring to linger for a moment. She noticed Zoe was red in the face, but couldn't decide if it was too much to drink red or anything a bit more serious.

Zoe had stopped pulling at Y/N's hand but held a firm grasp on it. "Do you think I'm fucking joking? Get your shit Madi," she took the puff out of Madison's hand, tossing it at the wall when she attempted to get it back. "Y/N get the hell up," another useless tug that barely made her move.

Y/N propped herself up with her free hand, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Zoe. She pulled Zoe down to be more level with her. "Why are you so uptight Zo? Like come on, it's a par-"

"-The neighbors called the fucking cops."

The drunken smile on Y/N's face turned into half-sober wide eyes. Madison, who at some point moved to the floor to find the discarded vape, shared the same expression as she looked over her shoulder. The stares lasted only for a few more seconds before they rushed to grab everything they owned in the room. There was no discussion necessary. They needed to leave as soon as they possibly could.

"You could've fucking said that!" Madison struggled to slip on her shoes. She lost her balance more than once, practically falling on top of both Zoe and Y/N at one point. "You were just gonna let us sit here until they walked in?"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "I'm so fucking sorry that I told you we had to leave and you were too busy laying on your ass! But hey, you're so fucking wasted you probably don't even remember!" Madison looked back at her, almost asking her to say something else to give her an excuse to bite back. No matter how good of a mood either of these were in they had always made a point to form some type of argument by the end of the night.

"Where the fuck is my phone? Oh my fucking God." Y/N was panicking, not even focused on the two about to fist fight behind her. She was sure they couldn't even hear her over the below the belt remarks they were making to one another.

"This was all your fucking idea!"

"It was Y/N's!"

"You wanted us to go out!"

"Shut up!"

"What are you even looking for?"

"My keys so we can actually fucking leave! We've got like thirty seconds to get out of here and you're standing there like a dumbass!"

"I'm the dumbass? Okay, says the bitch who probably got three different strands of mono tonight!"

"Both of you shut the fuck up and help me find my phone!" The pair turned their attention to Y/N who was pulling at the covers of the bed.

"I have your phone!" Zoe pulled the phone from her back pocket, holding it in front of her.

Y/N almost fell off the bed, catching herself with her hands moments before she tipped forward. "When the fuck did you get my phone?"

"When I had to talk you out of texting the fucking groupchat!"

"Give it a fucking break! Let's go!" Madison had already been making her way to the door. Zoe and Y/N looked at her then to each other before they followed after her, Y/N pulling Zoe after her as attempted to keep up with Madison.

Suddenly the blonde had stopped when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked back at Y/N and Zoe and before either of them could ask a question a police officer had already walked up to Madison.

—

“Do you know who I am?” Madison struggled to take her wrist out of the officer’s hand, scoffing at him as she turned around to look at him.

He sighed, turning her back around. “Quite frankly maam, I do not care who you are. And if you keep giving me trouble you’ll be taking the ride with your hands cuffed behind your back.” With that Madison stopped fighting, easily letting him guide her to the car Y/N and Zoe were already sat.

As soon as he opened the door she was met with two teary eyed witches. Zoe’s head rested against the window of the car, moving only slightly to look at Madison get in. Y/N’s head was rested on Zoe’s shoulder, tears a bit more visible on her face than the brunettes. “They’re gonna fucking kill us.”

Never did the thought of ending up in the back of a police car ever pass through Y/N or Zoe’s mind- Madison was a different story. She knew they were done for when Madison made a big deal of announcing their names to the police officer like it would make any difference in the outcome of the night. From that point forward she knew the next obstacle was her mothers. And that was going to be the biggest obstacle of the night.

—

The front door slammed hard enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. Y/N, Zoe, and Madison looked up at one another, each looking as if they had been to Hell and back in the span of the last few hours. Zoe's mascara had met at her chin and continued down her neck. She didn't have the perfect behavior, but she was yet to get caught so she was in a deep state of overthinking every decision in her life that had led up to this moment. On the other hand, Madison was conditioned to this already. She knew all the lines about disappointment and responsibility, but she had only seemed to look upset when she saw Y/N and Zoe.

Y/N had returned to stare off into the distance, hoping that possibly this was a really bad dream or even a trip from some secondhand smoke cloud she had walked through earlier that night. She didn't even have the energy to cry anymore, that was over with after the first turn in the direction of the police station. The silence of the car ride back to the academy was almost enough to make her start crying again, but she found herself paying attention to every small detail she could.

Cordelia's extremely white knuckles wrapped around the steering wheel as she broke every speed limit by at least 10 over. Zoe clicking her nails against each other as she readjusted in her seat every other second. Misty holding onto the handle above the passenger door almost as a way to fight back the urge to turn around and let the three of them hear every word she had built up on the way over. Even the slight sticky feeling that Madison's lipgloss had left on her cheek during their heart to heart in that strangers bed.

She was snapped out of her recollection of the night when Cordelia and Misty walked into the dining room where they were sat. Misty was red in the face, she hadn't said a word since the girls got into the car. Madison had sworn she was just a sitting statue in the passenger seat for most of the ride. Cordelia on the other hand had plenty to say when she first saw the girls. "Get in the car," the first words uttered. "What the hell were you three thinking? Are you all fucking idiots?" as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Out of all the things you could've done this what you decide to get caught up in!" just as they pulled up to the house.

As soon as Cordelia parked the car they had hurried inside, just barely hearing her say to wait in the dining room. Even then they couldn't say anything to one another. That's where they were left now, dizzy and tired as they waited for anyone to say anything. Misty took a seat across from the girls, Cordelia pacing behind her.

"We-"

"Don't fucking talk!" the girls shrunk at Cordelia's words, shocked at a harshness they were unfamiliar with. She hadn't stopped pacing, arms crossed firmly in front of her. "I don't want to hear any of you talk, not a single fucking word. Oh my God, how fucking stupid can you be!" Cordelia paused for just a moment. She had been thinking about this almost the entire ride over, yet couldn't find the words to say what she wanted to say. "Anything could have happened tonight and we didn't know where you were, and I sure as Hell hope you weren't stupid enough to get anyone else tangled in this!"

Y/N looked at Zoe, who was staring at her lap, then to Madison, who was staring up at Cordelia. She couldn't help but notice the dramatic difference in how they were taking it. She looked over at her mothers, Cordelia pacing again, Misty staring straight at her. She followed Zoe and fixed her gaze on her own lap.

"It was my idea." Focus in the room switched to Madison. She leaned back in her charge and let out a long breath. Weighing her options, it made the most sense for her to take the fall or this. It was in character for her. "I asked them to-"

"Madi," Y/N cut her off quickly. “It was me... I mean... Fuck,” she ran a hand over her face, hands slightly shaking as she did so. “They were my friends who invited me, I asked Zoe and Madison to go. Going to the party was my idea.” It wasn’t right in her mind to let Madison go down for this just ‘cause. It was her friend’s party. It was her idea to go out tonight. It was her who asked them to go with.

Shock took over Misty’s and Cordelia’s expressions. Cordelia stopped pacing, head turned to look at her daughter. Misty shook her head, “You don’t have to lie for her.”

Madison’s mouth fell agape. Y/N furrowed her brow. “I’m not,” she stated at Misty who obviously thought she had the whole situation figured out beforehand, but was now struggling to understand what was actually happening.

Cordelia leaned onto the table next Misty, staring just as hard at Y/N as Misty was. “Zoe, Madison, go to your rooms,” her gaze didn’t leave Y/N’s as she took the seat next to Misty. Zoe and Madison shared a brief look with one another before they hurried out room, afraid Cordelia might change her mind.

“Really?” Misty’s question was laced with venom, a look of utter disbelief sealing her tone.

Y/N nodded, wringing her hands in her lap. “I know,” she was soft spoken. “They don’t deser-“

“-Quite frankly, I don’t really want to talk about those two,” Cordelia held up her hand. She was biting back her tone, afraid if she was too loud she would wake everyone else from their sleep. “This all comes down on you.” It almost hurt her to admit.

Misty sat back in her chair, barely diverting her gaze. “Madison, I expect this from. You and Zoe? Never in a million years,” she spoke so calmly Y/N could feel chills travel up her spine. Misty’s anger was unlike Cordelia’s. Cordelia was simply just an angry Cordelia who would let a few more words slip than usual. Misty was a different person. Her smile faded, she offered no kind words, and she was willing to get years worth of tension and anger off of her chest in mere minutes if she so pleased. “I don’t think you understand what could’ve happened tonight.”

“God knows what type of trouble you three could have gotten in while we were here.”

“Trouble might’ve done you some good, especially if you think any of this is acceptable.”

Y/N nodded her head. The tears she was deprived of since the ride in the back of the police car were fighting to be released by now. “I’m sorry.”

“Save it,” Misty shook her head. Even Cordelia was a little shocked to hear her, possibly because she had never talked to Y/N like this. “We raised you so much better than this. It’s disrespectful!” her voice rose with her temper. “You would think you would have no reason to act out like this! But no, lets end up in the back of a fucking police car by the end of the night!”

Y/N couldn’t find anything to say, she was at a lost for words looking at her mother. She couldn’t remember the last time she had raised her voice at her. Every apology she could think about was stuck in her throat. They wouldn’t have much effect anyways.

“You’re better than this Y/N,” Cordelia spoke softer than Misty, but no less stern.

“You’re damn right she is.”

A sigh left the Supreme’s lips. She was tired, eyes heavy and barely put together enough to even look like herself. “It’s disappointing to us to know you’re better than this and for you to still go out and do something like this,” her volume rose slightly, obviously able to handle her temper much more than Misty. As much as she knew what she did was wrong, Cordelia couldn’t deny that this was her baby. She had felt more disappointment in herself than she did her.

Misty stood, face red and knuckles whitened from how hard she was clenching her fist. “You’ll think of some way to apologize for this, possib- hopefully,” she held on to the back of the chair, looking down at Y/N. “Whatever the hell this is,” she waved her hand around, “I want it fucking fixed and nothing short of fixed. The day any fucking child of mind tries to pull that shit is a horrible fucking day for this coven.” And with that she pushed the chair against the table and turned to leave, muttering unseeing her breath about “how unbelievable” this all was.

Y/N watched as she walked out of dining room, Cordelia following right after with no less speed. She could feel the anger in the room dissipate, but every word her mothers shared with her were still there as if they were being repeated right in front of her face once again.

[boop-le-snoot]

cupid carries a gun

masterlist • taglist & faq

dark!Bruce Banner x named!Reader. Rated R.

Dr. Banner is a serial killer known as the Doctor and Bailey has his soulmark. He escapes imprisonment and meets his soulmate. ~2,2k words. Serial killer fluff??

[no y/n, no 'you', no reader description, race/age/body type neutral, only first name]

This is more of a concept I wrote in an hour than an actual fic. I think it would make a good multi-chapter, but really, my hands are full now and I just needed to get this weird dream off my chest. Yes, I had a dream he was a serial killer and I was his soulmate 💀🖐🏻 I need to ease up on true crime shows istg...

St. John's was suffering a nasty collective psychosis. That would be the only logical explanation Bailey is willing to accept for the jittery, jerky way everybody is behaving. Some of it could be attributed to the armed guards roaming the halls and scaring the patients - but in America, a gun slung over the shoulder shouldn't invoke such a reaction from people.

Only select few know what these people are there for, anyways. Most hospital population is clueless, only vaguely perceiving the sense of dread those harbouring the knowledge seem to carry around. People are easily scared - the thought doesn't leave Bailey's head her whole shift.

She, however, knows exactly what is happening. She's good at her job, brilliant even, nerves made of purest steel and bedside manner perfectly compassionate and tender. It doesn't come as a surprise that she is the one that got chosen to handle the problematic, uncooperative patients.

The bar is high, and this time - neigh impossible. A man so dangerous, so volatile, it required the sheriff to dispatch their town's squadron of special forces - not that was anything but a slight setback for the Doctor. The halls of this hospital will be forever marred with their blood, will forever be haunted by the echoes of their screams abruptly cutting off with a wet squelch.

Bailey thought she'd done her part to protect the innocents. Her colleagues, young women just like her (they're not, Bailey's mind whispers), all safely locked away in a storage closet for the cops to find. There are no windows and He won't see or hear them... If they're smart.

There he is, the man everybody is savagely afraid of. He is everything and nothing she had imagined - Doctor Bruce Banner is on the shorter side, stocky and sickly pale in his hospital issue pajamas, the bluish tint to his skin contrasted by dark crimson stains of blood on the rancid green cotton of his clothes.

The axe in his hands is held firmly but clumsily - Bailey's sure it wouldn't have been his weapon of choice should he had been given one. A choice. She swallowed the unease that spread all over her determination like mold, seeing his eyes, wild and crazy, land on the crook of her arm - where his mark laid, bright red and angry, as if it had been carved into her flesh mere days ago.

"Are you, perhaps, in need of a nurse, doctor Banner?" Bailey inquired softly, fingertips shaking, as the man crossed the space between them with short, powerful strides. The woman's stance widened, involuntary shivers running through her bones at the unexpected tenderness coming from him - Dr. Banner's palms gently wrapped around her arm, warm, chapped lips touching the angry, red soulmark near the crook of her elbow.

"It's been so long since I had a nurse," the man's mutter was barely audible. His eyes, the warmest brown she'd ever seen, met Bailey's wide, shining ones, for her to discover no trace of the madness she was told should be there. Bailey smiled.

As the hospital building grew smaller in the rear view mirror, so did Bailey's anxiety, paving way to excitement and muted curiosity. Her mother always had told that fate had a way of intervening when it was needed - and her mom had oftentimes taken up the role onto herself, moving them out of the state when Bailey's soulmark began to appear on dead people's bodies, burned or cut into skin as a signature. Bailey was not old enough to understand what it meant, back then, but she'd always been a clever girl.

With her first mobile device, she figured out why her mother strictly prohibited her from speaking about it, why her mother always kept a stash of large bandaids to cover it should Bailey be required to remove her long-sleeve shirt.

Only Bailey's physician knew. She'd expected terror, disgust - or even pity, but Dr. Strange always kept his mouth and eyes shut. As Bailey grew older, blossomed into a fine young woman, she thought she saw envy leak into his chiseled features - but Dr. Strange was as quiet and cynical as ever.

As long as nobody tried to separate them, it would be fine. A small smile stretched her plush lips, hand squeezing the one holding hers with giddiness creeping into her youthful features. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an expression of curious tranquility on Dr. Banner's- Bruce's face as his eyes stayed firmly on the road as the radio crackled static in-between songs.

"Penny for your thoughts?" The man she'd grown to crave and fear, his salt and pepper curls bouncing with every pothole the car hit; his warm hand, larger than hers by a stretch, provided comfort she hadn't known she needed.

"Where to, doc?" The woman couldn't hold back the anticipation. She wanted to hold him, to be close - closer than her small, cramped cheap car allowed them to be.

"I have some friends waiting for me," the man announced, as if he hadn't spent the last five years in a maximum security prison. Not that it mattered to Bailey - but knowing there was no way back from this, Bruce's so-called friends became a point of doubt to the young woman. The doctor noticed it, his responding smile both dangerous and comforting, all sharp canines and moist lips. "You know them, baby. Dr. Strange is a colleague of mine and Tony Stark is a great friend."

Bailey's eyebrows rose, mild disbelief caught somewhere in her trachea as she attempted to clear her throat. Her family physician and the businessman rumoured to be the largest crime boss of their side of the pond. Suddenly, Strange's long glances and penetrating stares acquired a new meaning, a sense of indignation seeping into Bailey's newly found joy. "And he never said anything," the longing, the countless nights spent studying every publicly available material on Dr. Banner, the killer surgeon that terrorised the Tri-State area burned acrid in her chest.

"He told everything to me," Bruce's remark stung if only from the fact that he'd known about her all along. "Who, do you think, pushed for your transfer to St. John's?" Bruce's smile glinted a little wicked in the meager light of passing-by streetlights as the evening sun simmered down to a rest below the horizon. "I don't actually have cancer," the second remark was more optimistic, spoken hopefully, with another gentle squeeze to her hand.

Bailey puffed out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The puzzle pieces slowly started to arrange themselves, revealing a bigger picture than the one before. She wanted to be mad - mad at Stephen, for not saying anything; mad at Bruce, for getting himself caught years prior. And the anger at her own mother, for taking away her right to stand by her soulmate, for all the countless fights and nights spent locked up in her room.

Bailey had been treated like a monster as soon as he soulmark showed up - and after so much time spent trying to show she wasn't one, perhaps, it was time to face the truth. Perhaps, it was time to show them how much of a monster she could be, if they were so unhappy before.

Gravel flew under the wheels of Bailey's beaten up Toyota Corolla, sending little pebbles to bang noisily against the bumper and the stone flower beds surrounding the driveway to a large two-story mansion. Two cars stood in from of it with two men leaning each against their own vehicle.

The shorter figure was well-dressed, suit obviously bespoke and expensive, sunglasses reflecting the headlights of her Toyota even from a distance away. The taller figure stood out with familiarity, a lit cigarette freely dangling between the finger of his gesturing hand - Dr. Strange and his long, sculpted legs, Bailey could recognise even from a mile away.

Bruce parked, killing the engine and exiting the car with a free, lopsided grin carelessly thrown in Bailey's direction. Fumbling with the lock of her seatbelt, the woman's eyes latched onto the figure of her soulmate eagerly embracing the shorter man, their reunion evidently long-awaited and happy. Stephen's coarse laugh penetrated the interior of the car as the wacky passenger side seatbelt finally let Bailey free.

Three pairs of eyes bore into her body still wearing the scrubs from the hospital - one laughing, Strange was amused; one curious - none other than Tony Stark and his shameless smirk had made an appearance at their first getaway destination; and Bruce, looking so damn proud and lovesick. The grin tugged at Bailey's lips as the presence of the other men barely registered in her elevetaed emotional state.

"Damn, Brucie-bear, lucky you," Tony Stark wolf-whistled, clapping the doctor on the shoulder and receiving a fond eyeroll in return. Those two really were good friends. "Well, I won't hold you two back from getting to know each other better," Stark wiggled his eyebrows salaciously. "We can talk business tomorrow," with that, Stark waltzed over to Bailey, snatching the keys to her car out of her hands with a quick flick of his wrist. "Can't have a car allegedly containing a runaway prisoner on my property, now can I? Don't worry, babycakes, my people will take care of it. Bruce is family. You better treat him well, or else," the river of words flowed from Tony's mouth, causing the surprised Bailey to simply freeze in place and withstand his rambling, surrounded by the smell of whiskey and Stark's expensive cologne.

Despite his easy tone and the relaxed demeanor, Bailey knew a dangerous man when saw one. Tony Stark was not to be fucked with. "Yeah," she mumbled, scampering for the trunk to take out the duffle bag she carried around everywhere - just in case. Just in case her serial-killing, incarcerated-for-life soulmate would somehow found his way to her.

Tony looked at the spectacle with amusement. "You won't need your ID, sweetheart. All of that is going to be taken care of, don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"Duly noted," Bailey couldn't help the annoyed frown at Tony's frivolousness. Her government ID was the last thing on her mind. She wasn't stupid, she knew her mother would go to the cops as soon as she saw the news. "I have my own business to attend to. Might need a hand," the realization came with the dull thud of the trunk being slammed shut.

Tony's eyebrows rose; Bruce approached her with caution, wrapping an arm around her waist from behind. "Is it urgent?"

"Her mother knows about their connection," Strange piped up, glowing ember of the cigarette flying somewhere over the car. The sound of a lighter followed immediately, another dot of shiny red standing out in the twilight. "Don't worry, Bailey, she's detained and sedated for the time being," he offered with a crooked smirk, nearly no trace of the quiet man who bandaged her boo-boos when she was a child.

"You planned this," Bailey observed, fighting the dread crawling up her spine. The realization - she will never step back, will never be able to escape this life - set in. She was unprepared, having acted on a whim, prepared to live on the run but not within an arm's reach of her previous life yet unable to resume it.

"A long time ago," Strange nodded. "You always were a clever girl, Bailey. It is delightful to finally you where you belong," he smiled at Bruce in earnest.

Bailey wondered what else was going on in the sleepy town of hers. What kind of atrocities were committed daily under her nose, by the very people she knew and trusted. There was so much evil in this world.

But not Bruce. He could never be evil, even as he cut the hearts out of the men that had been treating those around them as objects. Bruce merely made them what they should've been; the greed, the infidelity - what use did those men have for their hearts? The Doctor was merciful and true: he never caused his patients undue pain and always, always left them in a state they were true to themselves. It wasn't his fault so many of his patients were heartless beasts for men.

Those clever hands, the same hands that brought the world at his feet, brought Bailey at his - voluntarily so. Their bodies hot, impatient for each other, with their blood singing a song of lust and longing, both of them hidden from the world by the heavy velvet curtains of Tony's estate - it was hellfire in heaven.

No amount of time too long as Bruce's teeth closed around Bailey's jugular, sinking into the flesh tenderly, all the while her nails penetrated the skin of his back; both drew blood, content to drown in it and wash their sins away with it. Heaven and Hell were merely words for the two, anyway.

Bruce Banner taglist:

@couldntbedamned @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @bluecrazedandbeautiful @slothspaghettiwrites @pilloclock @sapphicnoodle69

[arcanadotcom]

𝕄𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝟞 𝕒𝕤 𝔻𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤

⊱ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⊰

(Hi everyone! I came up with these when me and my sister went out for a quick little drive after feeling sick of staying home 😘✌🏻 my driving skills got rusty. smh!)

(This is my first time writing so i’m sorry if they’re all over the place!)

⊱ ────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────── ⊰

☆ Asra

owns an old used car from the 90’s that makes you feel nostalgic

it kinda reeks of weed sometimes...

has random shit laying around the back including a blanket because he totally takes naps in the car between his classes

he’s a pretty slow driver (goes 23mph slower than the rest of traffic)

but as soon as he sees a yellow light he FLOORS IT

this lil shit never uses his blinkers...smh!

giggles when people cuss him out. he don’t give a fuck!

will always give you the aux cord because he vibes with whatever. any tunes you like, he likes too 🥰

often misses freeway exits because he’s too busy chatting with you (“wha..? oh haha...anyways!”)

he easily gets distracted with anything really, so you have to remind him to keep his eyes on the road all the time (it’s cute at first...but after a while it’s just annoying)

always offers to pick you up but never asks for gas money (pretends to forget but he just doesn’t care because it’s you and he care you <3)

overall he’s a cautious driver, he just has very erratic speed patterns and takes really shitty turns

★ Julian

has had the same old black car for about 8 years (hates that it’s a stick shift, but he got over it already)

he’s actually quite a responsible driver. doesn’t break transit rules

never got his license though, but it doesn’t really matter (u gotta do what u gotta do)

he never arrives on time, always late (super apologetic about it)

loses parking tickets and misplaces his keys all. the damn. time. so you usually end up carrying them instead

makes a HUGE fuss over your safety. please wear your seatbelt or else he will go bonkers

but at the same time will not hesitate to be your designated getaway driver (if you need to gtfo of somewhere, he will get you the fuck out of there)

he actually has to use glasses because his vision sucks and can’t read road signs. he looks so cute

his car doesn’t have an aux cord outlet, so he has a bunch of cassettes of different kinds of music ( 70’s rock, jazz, some obscure russian band, etc ) lying around. he can’t drive without music!

has a bit of road rage; if he’s with you he’ll mutter curses under his breath trying to keep composure

but when alone he will absolutely yell at people, but his way of doing it is somewhat.....endearing?

will occasionally bump into things, but has never caused any serious damage

has never been pulled over and only gets tickets due to expired parking meters in downtown (somehow manages to talk his way out of them all the time)

he’s had enough experience around the city so he talks to you about places no one really knows about

he will literally take you a random phone booth that is actually the entrance to a secret undergroung café that looks like a place where academics would hang out and conspire new literary movements

☆ Nadia

doesn’t drive, she has a chauffeur

but if she did, she would own one of those beautiful, modern, pearly off-white cars.

it’s perfectly clean, well kept and smells great

no food or drinks allowed inside. periodt

you’d probably be afraid of ruining the seat when you first get in. she assures you everything is okay

totally drives around wearing a pair of gloves, headscarf, and gorgeous sunglasses to protect herself from the sun. also because she’s so classy <3

she excels at everything in driving

flawless breaking and parking, but thinks that going around looking for a spot is a waste of time so she’d rather just pay extra for valet parking

her only flaw is that she gets super impatient with how long it takes for a red light to turn green

and she almost never stops for pedestrians

would usually call you to see if you’d like to go shopping with her or just accompany her for some errands (pls go with her she adores having you around 🥺)

doesn’t have a problem with giving you rides, but she’s always busy with a tight schedule, so rides from her are very rare

probably feels bad about it so she’ll send you an uber black instead

★ Muriel

hates going out because it means he has to drive ://

he just wants to get from point A to point B without any issues really

you’ll notice that his car always has a layer of dirt on it since he never really uses it (he doesn’t bother to give it a little wipe before hoping in)

would probably own a normal, practical car that gets the job done and doesn’t need much maintenance. nothing too fancy

.......but i really want to see him with a jeep so i’ll make him own a jeep ☺️

highkey anxious and hyperaware of his surrounding drivers

he looks too tense and grips the wheel hard....tell him to relax pls

if someone tries to pass him, he will absolutely give them a Look through the rear mirror

not one to listen to music (will sometimes turn on the radio but slams it off eventually because it’s annoying)

used to be terribly afraid of highways

mumbles and grumbles about how dangerous and stupid it is to carelessly swerve lanes just to go fast and look cool

☆ Portia

drives all the time so she’s definitely the most experienced on the road

owns a cute convertible beetle that she takes care of and loves very much ❤️ (has so many cute ass bumper stickers)

will not hesitate to change the tires on her own if needed

music is always loud and top is down most of the time

she’s got anything you might need in her glove box (hand cream? tissues? sanitizer? pocket knife? she has it yes ma’am)

when she’s by herself, laws simply do not exist

lowkey a threat to society. get her off

she goes so fucking fast like she zooms💨 down the road (mainly because she’s always on a hurry)

basically breaks whatever law she wants but once she spots a cop, citizen of the year

ohh but if you and/or anyone else is with her, it’s a whole different story

she drives carefully and slows down, would hate to put your safety at risk (same as julian)

road trips with her are THE BEST. going on drives with her always feel like a scene from a coming of age film 💕✨🧚‍♀️

★ Lucio

not necessarily an irresponsible driver, he’s just reckless and obnoxious

owns a restored, fancy vintage car that’s either red or white (his license plate is personalized, bedazzled and borderline opulent). genuinely proud of it

revs the engine just to piss people off

is always willing and able to be there for you if you need him

when he’s there to pick you up, he will absolutely make a scene for you to notice him. simply giving you a call is out of the equation!

the backseats are full of white hair...you know he brings his adored babies everywhere he goes

blasts music at an ASTRONOMICAL VOLUME and he just sits there like 🤪✌🏻🎶🕺🏼

but believe it or not, his music taste is actually really good....it slaps. so it’s okay

likes to drive fast (“oh you want to see some speed? i’ll show you some real speed”)

cannot stand traffic and slow drivers make him go batshit crazy

honks at everyone for everything but gets offended if they honk back >:(

you’ll still see him at the red light despite him doing 84 lane changes

tells you he LOVES the attention he gets because of the car, but then feels super self conscious if people stare too much or too long......although he will never admit it

this guy loves to gossip with you and likes to make fun of random pedestrians... you gotta admit he makes you snicker quite a bit. who am i kidding he’s funny as fuck of course you’re gonna laugh

doesn’t slow down for speed bumps, will blow quick kisses at the little fake cameras on top of the traffic lights, and has definitely scratched the lower sides of his car on curves more than once (*frantic wheel stirring* “not my fault not my fault!!”)

this man’s biggest struggle is parking. he cannot park for shit (secretly embarrassed about it)

it takes FOREVER for him to parallel park. might as well snooze while he’s at it

genuinely tries his best, going as far as to do the “arm behind the seat to look back” move (he wants to impress you dammit!!), but gets frustrated and gives up

so most of the time he ends up taking two spots despite trying so hard not to

gets tickets all the time (“now they’re ganging up against me! and for what?? what the fuck did i do!!”)

cannot comprehend street signs (“lucio you will get a $650 fine” “darling wdym?? it costs $650 to park here”)

going on a drive with him can be stressful and a bit crazy, but it’s always entertaining and you get the best stories to tell

[eerythingisshaka]

PTA III

[Trevante Rhodes x Reader]

Word Count: 2.2K

Summer had come and gone in the blink of an eye yet felt as long as finals week when you were earning your teaching degree.  School ended last quarter with a clumsy splat seeing as the first wave of virus knocked everything out of order very quick. You stressed out running lessons to the school for kids to pick up and working with families with limited to no internet access pulled your patience to its thinnest layer.

So when all had officially finished, you had to take the time to yourself as best as you could.  In a normal summer, you would plan a getaway to just about anywhere you hadn’t seen before and the more solo the better.  Sipping something alcoholic in a warm climate with the Sun toasting your skin to its peak melanated beauty was all you would need to pack you full of endorphins that could last you into the next year.

But that wasn’t the plan now.  Travel restrictions keep you from going out of town and you can’t even get a decent dinner anymore seeing as most restaurants are dine out only.  The only silver lining you can muster is the mask mandates allowing you to keep from smiling at strangers in awkward politeness when they get in your way.  It is a layer of protection for your sanity and solitude.  

However that wasn’t the only silver lining you have from the summer.  Mr. Rhodes, or Trevante as he has to still remind you, became very generous with his time with you outside of the classroom.  As much as you try to keep things professional for your jobs sake, he won’t let you be for any little thing.  Your email has message after message from him asking about simple math for everyday things that apparently Nemour needed refreshing on, followed by a ‘so how you been doing?’

Email 1

“Dear Ms. (Y/N), I am contacting you in regards to my son, Nemour.  While in the grocery today, we came across a sale for oranges, 3lb. for $5.  But then this other store has 5 lb. for $6.  Now he is itching to know what price would be the better one to go for?”

Your response:

“Dear Mr. Rhodes,  Although my primary concentration is History, you can tell Nemour that he should go for the second deal with 5lb.”

“Perfect, that’s why you’re the teacher!  So...how’ve you been?”

Sometimes you reply, and sometimes you leave him on read, it depends on how conversational you feel.  But as time progressed, you got excited to see his emails asking to remind him what the 3 branches of government are or what amendment means what?  He even got you on video chat to discuss.

“What?!  So slavery isn’t really abolished on that bullshit?”  Trevante exclaims in awe.

You throw your hands up, aghast as if you just learned it yourself.  “That’s the thing about American government.  They will throw a loophole where you least expect it and throw a parade like the shit ain’t bout to pop out.”

“Damn!  That’s like some Trojan horse shit honestly,”  he shakes his head, taking a swig of his beer.

You snap your finger, “Exactly, my man, exactly!  That’s why nobody can agree on anything worth a damn.  There’s gonna be a clause somewhere that adds some shit that makes the whole thing rotten. But you didn’t hear it from me, so don’t let Nemour know I’m saying this kind of stuff.”

He twists his face in confusion.  “Why wouldn’t I?  My son got a right to know about what this country is founded on.  Everyone does.”

“Yeah I know.  Just...when topics like these pop up it’s difficult to keep it all…” your voice trails off as you search your bedroom for the words you are looking for.

“Politically Incorrect?”  he offers.

You nod a little.  “Kinda, yeah.”

He sets down his beer, sitting a little closer to the screen.  “You shouldn’t have to worry about that.  History is literally set in stone.  If we didn’t have it, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves now.”

“Do we know what to do now though?”  you ask in a higher pitch, squinting like you stepped in hot coals.

Trevante took a minute looking at you before dipping his head down to chuckle.  You could hear the pounding baritone in his chest from your speakers.

“What?  What’s that about?”  you ask.

He sits up again, stroking his beard, “It’s cute when you make your face like that.  That’s all.”

You roll your eyes, pulling your scarf further down your forehead to make up for slipping.  

Trevante tuts at you.  “I need a bucket or something to catch these compliments you keep throwing away that I toss at you.  You don’t believe me or what?”

You give a very dignified look, “I believe I am beautiful.  I just don’t believe in entertaining a parent, is all.”

Trevante sighs.  “Summer don’t count (y/n).  You’re not his teacher now so what’s the issue?”

You look off to the side and back at him.  The crisp white t shirt he has on is obstructing more of the view of his body then you care for but the tightness at the sleeve around his bicep makes up for what you know is already there.

“Hello?”  he says.

You blink a few times, crossing your arms.  “Hm?”

“You go off into space a lot too.  What’s on your mind when you do that?”

His arms around your waist that tightly bind you to his body as you inhale his sweet cologne that is perfectly distributed from his neck to chest.

You scratch your neck, and tell a half lie.  “Oh, just this new school year.”

“See this is a perk of having a teacher friend.  Fill me in, what’s up?”

“Well, all I have right now is that we are doing hybrid learning, so some classes at the school and some at home.  Now the district just need to provide the materials for the kids to be able to do that.  The internet, the laptop/tablets, and make sure we can all connect and no one is behind on lessons.  And since I am on the front line, I have to get creative with the lesson plans and keep people on task and on time.”

Trevante nods.  “Well me and Nemour are excited to see what you have for us next year, whatever it is.”

You smirk at the encouragement.  “Thank you Tre, but I can’t guarantee we will be together for the next school year.  That’s decided at random.  Plus the grade he is in next year is the last one I teach.”

“Nah, we gonna be in there.  If I have to sign a petition or boycott like these hot breathed whites out here not wearing masks, we will be in your class this fall.”

You bust out laughing at his determination.  “Dang, Tre!  Don’t go starting a ruckus up there cuz of me!  He will still be taught well, whoever he has a teacher.”

He makes a cut it motion across his neck.  “Nah, we only rock with the best and that’s you up there.  I will make all the, what you call it?  Ruckus?  That shit!  So I will be seeing you first day in the fall, ok?”

You feel heat spread over your skin from shyness.  His brash attitude comes out and makes you feel like a superstar.  “Ok, I’ll hold you to it.  How’s Nemour doing anyway?”

Trevante nods, picking up his laptop as he changes rooms.  “He is doing well, being a regular kid.  Playing and doing his chores.”

You nod.  “Great!”

He closes a door behind him as he lays the laptop down, you can tell he is laying across his bed on his stomach as he speaks.

“He has been asking me a lot more questions about police and like, if they stop me or him, what’s gonna happen and what do we do?  Should we run away?  Can we not live by cops, stuff like that.”

You heart breaks hearing this. “Wow, and this is coming from a child?”

He nods, resting his chin on his forearm.  “It’s part my fault.  I’m always looking at the news and if he sitting at the table eating breakfast or whatever, he’s gonna see it.  I cut it off when they show bodycam footage though cuz that is nothing but toxic.”

“I can’t count how many times I had to see them replay that man dying in the street.  And in front of people watching, they don’t care who is watching cuz what can you do?  You can’t interfere or that’s a charge on you but he could’ve lived.”

Trevante looks spaced out for a second hearing this.  “I know, and that’s why it’s hard explaining to Nemour what everything is about.  I give him the basics though:  Do what the officer says, don’t argue, and don’t get into shit that’s gonna get the cops called  on you either.  But it sounds played out to even say.  What did everybody else do that’s dead now?”

“Nothing.  Sleep in their bed, going to the store, jogging.  Not a damn thing that warranted a bullet.”

Trevante gives a small shrug, looking sad like he is staring at his reflection in a pond.  “Yeah, so he been grappling with that and that’s a lot for a kid his age.  That’s why I want him to be your student still too cuz you’re one of the only Black teachers there and I honestly think he is uncomfortable with white people right now.  We went to the store the other day and he calls himself protecting me saying if the man getting bread bothers me, he put on his little Timbs so he can stomp him for me.”

You gasp at the thought, giving a weak smile.  “I mean, that would go viral for some child to curb stomp a big old white dude.”

Tre smiled some too.  “I think Nemour was this close to saying ‘Don’t worry bout it sweetheart.’  I can’t let him look at no internet again.”

You put your foot up and say, “He finna give him that SPLAHH!”

Trevante laughs heartily, wiping his eyes, “You more hip than I thought too.”

“I had some wine earlier, so that might’ve helped.”  You put a finger to your mouth and pull up the glass from the nightstand.  

“Oh shit!  So this is Turnt Teacher!  Go head then, don’t let me stop you”

You wave him off.  “You aren’t stopping anything.  If nothing else, you keeping me going.  All this house shit is working my last nerve, it’s nice to see a familiar face every once in a while.”

“I think so too.  You’ve been a great addition to some weeknights this summer.”

You put a thumbs up as you sip your wine.  “Are we still doing a movie tonight?  I think it’s my turn to pick.”

Trevante curls up a lip.  “Nah, I don’t think so.”

Your heart sank a little, already having queued up a selection to watch.  “That’s ok, it is late.”

“Yeah, but really I wanna see you in person.”

Your body tensed at the invitation.  Thinking over the last few months of chatting, he has warmed up to you as an individual, but you aren’t sure if that feeling can translate outside of a screen.  Behind the camera it’s safe, you can be cute and mysterious but vulnerable and clumsy and it all comes up roses for him.  In person, cute and mysterious can seem pretentious and vulnerable and clumsy could just be a weirdo geek to him.

“Well,” you start, “I would but...you know this...pandemic is just…”

“I know,” he says.

“...awful, right?  So I just don’t think I can comfortably do that...now?”

Trevante thinks for a second.  “We can stay within the parameters of the guidelines though right?  Six feet, masks, no crowded space.  If you want, we can do that.  I just…” he sighs heavily, looking tired as he rubs his eyes, “...I have been getting stir crazy and you are the main one I have been keeping contact with outside of family, yet I only spent time in person on Valentine’s Day that one meeting we had.  And you had a date later!”

You laugh at him, remembering their first meeting that could’ve been an email no doubt.

“Yeah, you’re right.” 

“Do you wanna go out with me?  Be honest!”

“Tre, I told you-”

“See?  You even call me Tre now.  We familiar right?  I don’t usually have to beg like this but ma’am, you almost got me on bended knee!”

“Uh…”  you start to feel bad but your mouth stops working under pressure.

“Six feet,” he reminds you.  If nothing else, that makes you less inclined to want to go because what can you do?  No kissing that’s for sure.

“I don’t want to confuse Nemour,”  you rebuttal.

“He will be watched by a guardian, trust me.  He won’t be cramping out grown folks business.”

You feel a flutter in your stomach that fuels your excitement.  A plan to go out, with a man no less!  This could turn the summer around or be a disaster on the horizon.

“Don’t overthink it.  You’re a smart woman, but I don’t want you to overcalculate this.  You wanna see me, I wanna see you.  We’ll play it safe, and finally see each other in some natural light.”

You nod slowly, a smile creeps across your face as his argument finally sways you.  “Ok, I’m in.  Pick the time and place.”

Tag you!

@chaneajoyyy​

[karihighman]

Witness – Upstead AU

PART ONE: MEETING YOU WAS FATE

Hailey couldn’t believe it. Well, she could believe it, since she saw it happen right in front of her eyes. But she really could not believe that she would be the one to witness such a thing.

She was walking to her car from her family’s Greektown cafe and bakery, where she worked, and she heard a rustling in the alleyway across the street. She turned, but couldn’t see anything. She had just put her key into her car door to unlock it when she almost jumped out of her skin.

A gun shot.

That she knew she heard.

Before she could even blink, the gunman was fleeing the alley. He was panicking, but not only from the crime he had committed. No, Hailey had a feeling he wasn’t from around the area, because if he were, he would’ve ran the opposite way, as the back of the alleyway would dump you onto a service road, which would make the perfect getaway.

No, this guy ran to his right, forward, and even crazier, in the direction of Hailey. She had tried to avert her eyes, but she felt frozen with fear as she heard strangled sounds coming from said crime scene.

Oh god, was someone dying? Shit. She couldn’t just leave them there. She had to help.

She blamed it on her masters in psychology, which she was just two more months away from completing. She was splitting her time between school, and work. It was actually how she met her now-roommate, Vanessa. They studied at CCU together.

Hailey whipped out her cell phone and dialed 911. She was talking with the dispatcher when she cursed herself for not shining her flashlight in the dark alley. She flipped it on, and in front of her was a man, couldn’t be more than 5-10 years older than she, lying on the ground.

His words were mangled, but it took Hailey a moment to realize it was because blood was spilling from his mouth. She held her breath, as if that was going to help something. She was trying to find where the actual wound was, but she was having a difficult time.

The man’s fancy suit jacket was covering his arm that put pressure on his abdomen. Shit, that’s not good, Hailey thought to herself as she tried to assist. “Yes, at 501 S Racine. Yes, he’s been shot in the stomach, he’s bleeding really bad, please hurry.”

“Ma’am, paramedics and police are in route.”

Hailey heard the dispatcher as she dropped her phone, not caring where it landed, and turned her attention to the dying man in front of her.

“Sir? Hey, the ambulance is on its way,” she tried, but he wasn’t responsive. “Hey,” she said with a bit more authority. “Do you know who did this to you?”

He barely moved his head up and down, but that was enough for Hailey. “Who? Who did this?”

“My,” he croaked, his speech cut off by the gurgling of blood. Hailey idled helplessly as the man’s eyes shifted closed.

“No, no, no. Hey, hey!” She exclaimed, ears perking up when she heard the sound of the sirens. “Sir, please hold on. They’re almost here.”

She saw a myriad of flashing lights, red, blue, and white. She had the most idiotic thought when she looked at it. It reminds me of the flag. As fast as it entered her mind, it was gone as she screamed for the first responders to get over here. She wasn’t sure if they could see them from the street.

She saw shadows along the brick wall, rushing to meet her own. She didn’t expect to be pushed and prodded, but she supposed it was what needed to be done. She was plucked up by a paramedic, while 2 tended to the man. He was up on a gurney and into the first waiting truck before the one that stood by Hailey spoke.

“Ma’am? Are you hurt?”

Hailey hadn’t spoken yet, but when she brought her hands up to her face to brush her hair out of her eyes, she found them to be covered in blood. His blood. She felt her breath come in spurts, and she felt like she couldn’t move, let alone say anything. So much blood.

“Okay, we’re gonna get you to Chicago Med just to be safe,” the medic told her, leading her zombie-like frame over to the second ambulance. “Did you see what happened?”

Hailey parted her lips only a tad, still unable to form the simplest of words: yes. So, in a disturbing twist of events, she took her bloodied pointer finger, and etched a “Y” onto the back of her hand, which was clear of blood. She felt like she was watching herself do these things: showing her hand to the medic, hearing calls for a cop to follow them to Med, and a distinct two taps on the back of their truck before it propelled forward.

What the hell just happened?

——————-

Jay wasn’t the hugest fan of the late night calls that Intelligence seemed to always pick up. Well, at least not lately. Seemed like he barely clocked in two hours of sleep a night because he was always on the clock at work.

He wiped the sleep from his eyes as he surveyed the remnants of the crime scene. They couldn’t call it a murder yet, because as it stood, their victim was on his way to the hospital. Blood littered the brick wall, some trickling down to the unevenly paved cement ground.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he took it all in. Why the hell would someone be shot here? It was just outside the dinkiest shopping lot, with a bakery across the street, a gas station on the corner, and a couple of random stores in between.

“Halstead,” Voight’s voice echoed over his own thoughts. “Get to Med. You’re interviewing the witness.”

Jay opened his mouth, wanting to at least get someone else to come with him. Ever since his ex-partner and subsequent ex-girlfriend Erin left a few years back, he’d been rotated through all the rest of the Intelligence Unit. He’d felt most comfortable with Adam, as the two were able to dick around in their free time to take the edge off the homicides and robberies they dealt with every day.

But, because Adam was a bit – according to his fiancée Kim, a lot – dismal, he’d managed to get stuck with a needle while chasing after a suspect a few days back. He was holed up at the apartment he shared with Kim until the end of this week, when his tests would come back. Just to make sure he didn’t catch anything. Adam had called it a “free vacation”; Kim called it “the dumbest decision he’s made in a while.”

So, he was left without his usual buddy, and everyone else had already been assigned a job. Kevin and Kim were out canvassing, meanwhile his sergeant and sergeant Platt were knee deep in the middle of a discussion. It made sense that the only other missing piece was the witness statement. The medics had whisked them away before anyone could speak to them. Jay didn’t even know if he would be speaking with a burly guy or a timid girl.

Only one way to find out, he figured as he climbed back into his truck. Off to Chicago Med, he went.

When he arrived a short time later, he saw a flash of red hair, which meant his brother was making his rounds. “Will!”

The redheaded older Halstead turned at the sound of his name. His face softened for a split second when he saw it was his younger police brother, but fell serious once again when he realized why Jay was there. He’d not been in the operating room while Dr. Marcel was working on their gunshot victim, but, he knew by hearing the experienced surgeon call “time of death” that they couldn’t save him.

Him turned out to be interim Superintendent Jason Crawford. And Will, being the nice guy that he is, would break the news to his brother.

“Jay,” he said carefully as he walked over to his brother. “He didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

“Dammit!” Jay said, slamming his fist against the nurses station. Maggie gave him one of her looks, and Jay mouthed a “sorry.”

“Shit. Will, who was it?”

“Ex-superintendent Jason Crawford.”

Jay just stood there for a second, mouth slightly agape. Well, fuck. This couldn’t get any worse.

He slapped a hand over his mouth as he began to pace. Will’s hands steadied his shoulders, making him focus again. “Jay. Go make yourself useful and interview the witness. I think April’s finishing her vitals now,” he nodded his head across the way. Jay’s head swiveled, following until he saw April’s coiled hair and nurses uniform.

Got it.

“Yeah,” he said, giving Will’s shoulder a quick pat of gratitude. “Thanks.”

He made his way over towards April, and when he asked her how they were doing, he was surprised when she said that “she’s good to go. No injuries, just shock. Blood was not hers, it was your victim’s. All yours, detective.”

He played off his surprise with a cough. “Thanks, April.”

He finally turned to face this mysterious woman, and was met with the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen. Her blonde waves were mussed, but he assumed that was from the hospital staff poking at her all night. Her lips were pursed, and she sat calmly on the hospital table.

“Hi,” was the first thing that tumbled out of his mouth, and if it was remotely possible to stick his foot in his mouth whilst standing up, you’d better believe he would’ve done so. Really, that’s all you got? He tried to pull it together so he wasn’t just gawking at her. “I’m Detective Halstead, with the Intelligence Unit. Can you tell me what happened?”

She blinked, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah, sure. I was walking to my car, and I heard a noise. I wasn’t thinking much of it until I heard a gunshot. Once I remembered how to use my legs again, I ran over to where the guy sat, er, lied. I asked him if he knew who did this to him, and he nodded – well, as best he could. He only said “my” before he passed out, or went into shock, I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. But, if I had to guess, it was someone close to him, because a close range shot like that suggests they were within arms lengths of each other.”

Jay was in the midst of scribbling down her answers when his ears perked up at her suggestion. He felt a small smirk play on his lips, and he miserably failed to tamper it down. “Not a doctor, huh?”

“Nope,” she responded, popping the “p.” Sensing he’d want an explanation, she tacked on: “Future psychologist.” She nodded, the smallest of smiles gracing her lips. She held out her hand, and Jay had forgotten what the custom meant. Damn her prettiness.

He regrouped, placing his hand against hers to shake. Their fingers connected, and even though it was a simple handshake, he’d not felt anything during all the other hands he’d shook in his lifetime. Not a one.

“Hailey Upton.” Even her name was pretty.

He locked his eyes on hers. “Detective Halstead, but you can call me Jay.”

[blueflamedemon]

BlueSky { Dabi x OC }

Chapter Five - Dirty Little Secret

*Chapter Summary - Sora joins the league on a quick mission to capture Overhaul and steal his Quirk-killing drugs.

Overhaul was on the move. Tomura called it, telling them that they had to carry out the plan now or not at all. Minus Twice and Himiko, he quickly gave everyone a quick recap of this idea to steal the bullets. They would wait until Overhaul was caught by the police and then attack.

"Spinner, you go out and get the truck ready. I knew there was a reason we kept it." Tomura was saying, pacing around in a circle with his hands behind his back. "Compress, Dabi, you two will be in the back with me."

"Wait..." Sora sucked her lip between her teeth and looked around the room. "What am I supposed to do? I don't have full power yet..."

"That's alright, dear." Compress walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "We'll cover you. You are great with combat, we've noticed."

"Better than Dabi, for sure." Spinner snickered as he followed Tomura out one of the warehouse doors.

"Watch it, Lizard." Dabi hissed, walking out behind Spinner. "Don't get your tail into a twist."

"Don't call me lizard!" Spinner shouted.

Sora followed Compress out, letting Spinner and Dabi hash it out before they started climbing into the delivery truck. "Compress, I noticed you have acquired a limb."

"Ah, yes! Isn't it beautiful? Looks just like the old one!" Compress gleamed, holding up the new arm. "It's not much, but Giran did his absolute best. It's a great illusion!"

Sora giggled. "Leave it to you to find this amusing."

"What can I say, child?" Compress smiled. "The show must go on."

"What are you two talking about? How to chop a woman in half?" Dabi showed up beside Sora, sliding his fingers through her beltloops behind her.

"Someone is jealous." Compress chimed.

"Don't listen to him. He's just upset that he didn't get a cool arm." Sora smirked at the boy behind her. "Don't worry, we'll find something cool for you, too."

"No thanks." Dabi mumbled, clearly annoyed with the both of them. He let go of Sora and walked over to the truck, which Spinner had pulled forward so the others could jump in back.

"The three of you, come on!" Tomura huffed impatiently as he climbed into the box.

"We're still waiting on Toga's call." Compress stated, though he followed his boss in climbing into the bed, too.

Dabi placed both of his hands on the floor and jumped in easily, spinning around to sit down and let his feet dangle off the edge. He extended his arm to Sora, expecting her to take it so he could help her up.

She ignored his hand and copied him, placing her hands on the floor of the bed and hopping inside, though she sat with her legs crossed, a little scared to have her legs dangling out.

Dabi huffed beside her.

"I don't need help with everything." She giggled.

He rolled his eyes and hit the side of the truck a few times, letting Spinner know that everybody had climbed inside and they were ready to go.

Spinner took off, taking the directions that Tomura had given him previously, and told Dabi to close the doors before they were a little closer, just so they wouldn't get caught.

Fussing under his breath, Dabi closed the doors and got to his feet, leaning against the wall and pressing his forehead to the cool metal.

Find Overhaul, that was the first plan. He had the bullets that contained the Quirk ending drug, possibly the same drug that Sora was given. Though that was not confirmed, Sora still hoped. If there was a bullet full of those drugs, Overhaul was sure to have a cure for emergencies, right? As long as she took that, she might get her Quirk going in no time, so long as she could get over the withdrawals.

They drove around the city for a bit before Compress' phone finally rang with Toga on the other line, letting them know that Overhaul had been arrested and taken, and that she and Twice had gotten away long before anyone could catch them.

"I think they actually found us." Dabi stated, cracking open the door as he peered out and saw a couple of vans just behind them, both belonging to the police force.

Tomura grew impatient and kicked open both of the doors, somehow hoisting himself to the top of the truck, where he disappeared in a matter of seconds. Sora shook her head and blinked, making sure that she hadn't just been daydreaming.

"Wait a minute, I didn't sign up for this!" Spinner called from the front seat. "I can only drive for so long with this tank!"

"Just shut up and try to keep this damn truck straight. I'm getting nauseous back here!" Dabi complained. He was holding his stomach with one hand and the wall with his other.

Sora sat on the floor, looking right at the police in the truck. She hadn't thought to grab her wig or hoodie, she simply threw on a dress with biker shorts underneath. It was obvious when the guy saw her that he knew exactly who she was. Her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach and she copied Dabi, holding onto her tummy after feeling queasy.

Compress hung up his phone and stood at the doorway alongside Dabi, tipping his hat out of respect.

"I think they spotted me." Sora stated, unsure what to do now.

Dabi glanced down at her, his eyes wide. "Well, time to go." He looked up at the van and raised his hand, a ball of fire appearing in his palm. "Sora, stay down." He commanded, shooting his ball of flames at the van that they were sure Overhaul was strapped up in.

Sora watched, waiting on the van to flip over, blow up in flames, something. Instead, it seemed as if Dabi's flames were being sucked up by something, which was near impossible. His flames were some of the hottest flames in a Quirk that anybody had ever seen, for something to absorb them....

Dabi clearly saw the flaw here as well, so he dropped his hand and his flames evaporated into thin air. "The fuck..." he mumbled.

In front of the large police van, there was now a smaller cop car, a man hanging out of the window. At first, Sora wasn't sure what she was looking at, but then she noticed it as the Pro Hero, Snatch. His Quirk was sand, which was known to stop fires.

Snatch seemed to notice Sora, which made him hesitate using his sand for a moment too long, long enough for Tomura to jump down from the stop of the truck and land on the hood of the cop car. Yet again, Sora felt unmatched, useless. If only she could use her Quirk, she might've been able to help, seeing as Dabi's flames and Tomura's decaying Quirk wouldn't be much again sand.

"Dabi, he noticed me, too." Sora pulled on the tail of his coat. "That hero. He knows who I am, very well."

Dabi and Compress exchanged looks before coming to a quick, mental agreement together. Compress brought out one of his magical orbs and threw it at the police car, saying something clever that completely went over Sora's head as she watched Dabi jump out as if Spinner wasn't speeding away from two police cars.

"W-wait!" Sora got on her hands and knees, crawling to the edge of the truck.

"Stay with Spinner, my dear. We can't afford you to get hurt." Compress stated, jumping out just behind Dabi.

"Wait!" Sora watched, wide eyed, as Tomura, Compress, and Dabi stopped the cars with very little effort.

Spinner slowed down to a stop, the tires skidding across the pavement. "Stay in here, little lady!" Spinner called. "Don't jump out!"

"Spin! We have to help them! Before Snatch--"

The truck spun around, facing the scene of the crime. Sora could no longer see what was happening, so she grabbed onto the door with one hand, stepping on a lever with her foot, and peered around the box to see a burst of flames that had to be Dabi, and then nothing.

When Spinner made it back to the others, he stopped the truck, remaining in the drivers seat incase they needed a quick getaway. He wasn't much on being the center of attention, Sora always noticed how he stayed back and let the others deal with things, almost as if he were hesitating.

Sora jumped off the truck and hurried over to Compress and Dabi, who were just standing in the middle of the road, beside a burning vehicle.

"I told you to stay in the truck." Compress sighed. "Don't you ever listen?"

"She doesn't." Dabi commented, dusting his shirt off. "Go back to the truck so you don't get hurt."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Sora crossed her arms, only then realizing that she no longer saw the hero. "Where's Snatch?"

"Who?" Dabi blinked.

"The hero."

Compress walked over to Tomura, who was standing over Overhaul. They were both talking to him, taking out their revenge. Dabi and Sora stood back, letting them have it. After all, he was the one who took Compress' arm.

"Gone. He won't be telling anybody about our little secret."

Sora looked up at him. "What if that cop paged it in before we could get to him? I think he saw me, too."

"I'll handle them." Dabi grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him. A small gasp left her lips. "Just like I did this hero. And I'll continue to do so until we can figure out what's wrong with you so we can defeat Endeavor together."

Sora met his gaze. She loved how bright his eyes were, how unbelievably blue they were. Butterflies fluttered around her stomach, in a good way this time around. Gently, she pressed her hands against his chest, unsure what else to do with them. The smell of burning flesh pinched her nose and stung her eyes, but she was starting to grow used to it. "I would say you're my hero, but I don't like them."

A smirk cracked his lips.

Spinner honked the horn of the truck, calling for them to get back inside before any more cops showed up.

"I got them, Sora. Come on," Tomura walked passed them, oblivious to the two tangled together.

Compress took a final bow before he started walking back to the truck, pulling his mask to the side so he would wink in Sora's direction, which obviously made Dabi uncomfortable. He held her just a little tighter and kept his arm around her, leading her back.

Inside the truck, everyone was a bit quiet. Dabi sat against the wall, hugging his knees close to his chest. Sora wondered if he ever replayed his crimes in his head, and if this is what it looked like, or if he thought about it when he was alone.

Then she recalled him telling her that he could not cry. It struck her as an odd thing to say, though at the time, she hadn't thought much about it. Why had he told her? If he could, would he be crying more? Did he regret the choices he made?

Sora glanced up at Tomura, who was hugging the case he stole from Overhaul. "Did you kill him?" She asked, realizing she heard the man scream, but never saw the body.

"I did something much worse," Tomura muttered, staring off into space. "took his arms from him."

"As a little payback." Compress tipped his hat.

"Good." Sora nodded. "I hope this is the cure..." she breathed, looking down at her feet, feeling more useless by the minute.

[userarchive]

Unexpected Circumstances Ch 11

Warnings: Language, talk of the job/sex trafficking. A/N: Y’all this took a fcking WEEK to work through cause there was so much detailing to pay attention to. Sue me if things aren’t accurate/canon/whatever. I think it turned out okay enough?!

**

To say you were practically exhausted would nearly be an understatement at this point. Living undercover was never easy, but with it being the Christmas season simply made things worse, parties were larger, filled with more people you needed to document, the drugs and alcohol moved freely through them, you dealt with more suppliers than any other time of year. You’d finally made your way past Christmas day, relishing in a couple of days of relaxation. Alejandro ordered a feast of delicacies, mimosa’s with breakfast and far too expensive wine with dinner, gifting you with the diamond bracelet you so ‘obviously deserved’ over lunch. While you had to admit, living the high life was something you did sometimes miss from your childhood, you were more than happy knowing there were only six days until SVU would make the bust, only six bullshit parties until you’d finally be free from this specific hell.

It was the evening of the 26th, you’d wrapped up Christmas, the penthouse returning to its normal decoration, prepping for the New Years Eve party. You’d set up a number of rooms for clients and girls, the top wing where your and Alejandro’s rooms were clearly off limits, but you had security placed at the top of that staircase. You traipsed down the stairs, heels in your hand, hair curled loosely around your shoulders, blue dress hugging every inch of your body like no tomorrow. The log book tucked under your arm, a smirk on your lips as you met Alejandro’s gaze.

“You ready?” You asked at the base of the stairs, slipping your feet into the heels, “Should be an easy night.”

“I’m just waiting for the 31st Chiquita.” He replied. You gave him a soft smile, happily indulging into the food he’d ordered for the two of you, gratefully accepting the glass of champagne he poured for you.

Slowly over the next couple of hours the girls started to arrive, escorted by their pimps/madams, you were quick to baby them, reminding them that when they were in your house, they didn’t need to do anything they didn’t want to. Anything unacceptable happens, they were to call you, and you’d fix the situation. You were quick to remind the pimps that it was, your house, your rules, you knew most of the girls that came through your parties were of age and willingly doing this, but there was always a limit of no. If they didn’t want it, you didn’t allow it and you were definitely going to kick a customer out and red list him from as many parties as possible.

A few hours later and the party was in full swing, you had a good handful of perps throughout the suite, everything was going smoothly, the money, booze and drugs were flowing smoothly. Alejandro kept a protective eye while you finished up the books, handing you a fresh glass of champagne when you flipped the book shut, letting out a hefty sigh. You passed it off to one of the nearby security guards, insisting he put it upstairs where you kept the others. 

“You okay Mija?” He questioned as you moved from the island, facing the extravagant living room.

“Yeah.” You ran a hand through your hair as you took a hefty gulp of the alcohol “I just have a bad feeling about tonight…” You glanced up at him,  “I think you should get out of here.”

“And what? Leave you to deal with the blow out on your own?” You tossed him a wicked grin,

“We both know all I have to do is shed a few tears and flip on a few of these idiots and I’ll be walking away with a misdemeanour. That last bust…wasn’t vice, sex crimes is onto us now. The target on our back is getting bigger.” Your words were quietly muttered into the rim of your champagne flute, eyes watching the room. 

“Well it sounds like you know the drill, do exactly that, and we run. How do you feel about the French Polynesia? Sure beats the New York winter.” You rolled your eyes at his comment. Sure, a tropical getaway of a vacation sounded fucking wonderful right about now, but the last thing you wanted was another year under. You took a swig of champagne, leaving the glass on the counter, muttering that you were going to do a quick round of the house, not that you would find any trouble upstairs. Oh no, the trouble was walking in the door while you made your way back down the staircase.

“You really think you can throw a party on my turf without me darlin’?” Fucking Declan.

“Last I checked you weren’t invited O’Rourke.” You strode towards him, hands settling on your hips, “Not to mention this isn’t your turf.”

“C’mon sweetheart, you forget what I have to offer?” You scoffed at that, noticing Alejandro cautiously moving towards the two of you.

“Oh, what!? Strung out sixteen year olds?!” A hand wildly gestured to the four girls behind him, obviously under age and obviously not sober. “You’re just here to pretend you’re fancy when you are in fact, a piece of trash. Get the fuck out of here.”  Your personal rage towards the man, knowing that he still had his bosses convinced that he was undercover when he was in fact a criminal, blinded you from noticing him pulling the gun from inside his coat. You yelped as he crashed the butt of it into the side of your head, yelling something about how you were no better than a stupid whore.

“HEY!” The shout came from Alejandro, he moved to push Declan against a wall but you were a hot second faster, a heel to the balls, you had the gun out of his hand and unloaded in a matter of seconds, tossing the magazine to the floor in the direction of the nearest security. Nonetheless he shoved his shoulders hard enough to send the other man stumbling in the direction of the elevator. You heard the all too familiar ‘gun!’ shout with just enough time to look up at Alejandro.

“Run!” Grasping your hand he tugged you towards the back entrance, you were halfway through the door when ESU caught you, coming from that entrance. The cops behind them were more than quick to wrench you and Alejandro apart, no doubt knowing exactly who you were, and catching the big fish was more important than trying to gather up minnows.

‘You have got to be fucking kidding me…’

***

You knew hours had passed, you’d been taken down to the 2-4 and very unceremoniously tossed into an interrogation room, at least they’d been generous enough to un-cuff you and give you an ice pack for the pistol whipping you’d taken. Whenever a bust happened with you and Alejandro they were always going to send in the big guns, and they usually let you wait it out while they started with him. You’d collapsed yourself against the cold metal table, legs dangling off the edge, you couldn’t believe this, five days, five fucking days until SVU was supposed to make the bust. You were livid with whatever dumb ass Captain approved the bust without communicating to other units, and on the 26th of all days?! It was your smallest party, aside from the added bonus of Declan in cuffs, there was no upside to this whatsoever.

With the sound of the door opening, you lolled your head to the side, annoyed expression on your face matching the one on man who walked in, clearly Alejandro wasn’t talking.

“Get up.” Shooting a glare at the way he kicked the leg of the table, you rolled your eyes. Stereotypical, send in the big burly guy to play bad cop with the Queen. You knew who he was, and if Elliot Stabler was questioning you, Organized Crime seemed to also be on your tail.

“Make me.” It slipped out before you stop yourself. It was late, way too late for you to be strapped into a too tight dress and stilettos, you knew you were either spending the night in a holding cell or heading back to your precinct to work the case, your attitude wasn’t exactly ideal. Stabler sighed heavily, grabbing the leg of the table by your head and giving it a hefty tug, pulling it out from under you causing you to nearly topple over as your heels met the floor. He moved back in front of you, a tilt of the head, smirk on his lips, sizing you up as he moved in closer.

“Your King’s not talking, figured maybe you’d be more up for it.”

“Am I supposed to be afraid of you?” You cocked a brow, “Cause it certainly isn’t working, this whole, bad cop thing? Hasn’t aged well.”

“Sit down.” 

“And I suppose you want me to not shut up this time.” The only reason you even considered obeying the order was the aching in your feet from being in heels all night, “What does Organized Crime want with us anyways. It’s usually Vice.” He stalled slightly at that, making you smirk, you loved having the upper hand on men like him.

“Someone let it slip on the way in?”

“Oh…no. Sergeant Stabler, you know who I am, why shouldn’t I know who you are?” Yeah…this was definitely Organized Crime’s first time dealing with the royalty of Manhattan. “Shame you didn’t run your little op past the other departments, would’ve heard New Year’s was the night to go in.”

“What, you got cops working for you? Letting you know the little secrets so you can evade arrest?”

“Am I under arrest Sergeant?” You gave a smirk at the sigh he released in response.

“Technically, we don’t have anything on you…yet.”

“That’s what I thought.” You stood from the table, eager to get the fuck out of the unfamiliar precinct and back to the confines of your own. You barely noticed Stabler moving faster than you could imagine behind you. The door never made it open, you were jerked backwards, his hand closed around your wrist, 

“I said yet.” You felt the cement of the wall hit your body, head ricocheting off it, his forearm pressing into your collarbone. Your hand shot up, fingers hitting his parotid, the reaction causing his elbow to slam into you mouth, you felt your lip split as he stumbled from you. You were done playing, and you were certainly done playing the good girl role.

“You touch me again and I’ll have IAB so fucking far up your ass you won’t be able to shit for a month. Do I make myself clear?”

“Playing the cop angle now? You just assaulted a police officer.” He shot back, still right up in your face, rubbing the spot behind his ear you’d hit.

“Oh wow, I’m so scared! A class C felony, mark yourself down for the same offence. I’m undercover you moron.” You growled at him, if there were this many different departments on your ass there was no way you were going to be able to hide for six months, much less restart the ring afterwards.

“Yeah, right.” He scoffed, “Colour of the day?”

“Gold.” You shot back. Your heart immediately dropping into your stomach when you saw the laugh on his lips. Fuck. Gold was the 31st, you’d been so focussed on the SVU bust you’d forgotten today’s.

“Nice try.” He smirked, “Now you can either sit your ass down in that chair and tell us everything you know about Alejandro Martinez, or you can go to jail for solicitation and that assault collar.”

“I don’t make deals with cops. I make deals with A.D.A’s.” You crossed your arms over your chest, “And you’ll never find the evidence you need in the penthouse even if I do flip on Alejandro.”

“What exactly is it you want then?”

“Take me back to the apartment, I’ll get you what you want, but you take me to A.D.A. Carisi at the 16th. And in the meantime you can call Rita Calhoun ‘cause I’m not saying another word without my lawyer.” He gave out a huff at that, 

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes when he pulled the cuffs from his belt, thankful at the very least that he cuffed your hands in the front, giving you a little bit more movement ability.

**

All you could do on the way to the 1-6 was pray that some amount of the squad was there, preferably Olivia or Fin, you knew Sonny would’ve been called, and honestly felt horrible for dragging Rita out of bed in the middle of the night for literally nothing. No matter what kind of facts you relayed to Stabler he wasn’t about to believe the fact that you were a cop. You’d spewed off your badge number so fast you’d accidentally swapped the last two numbers, the exhaustion and multiple glasses of champagne wearing on you by then. Thankfully you’d been able to retrieve what you needed from the penthouse, before being not so gently shoved into the back of the cop car on the way to your own workplace. 

The desk sergeant was nearly asleep as the three of you made your way into the precinct, not noticing that their apparent perp was someone he saw nearly every day. Elliot’s partner was carrying the books you’d grabbed from the house. It was when you finally made your way into the bullpen that he dropped the heavy books down onto an open desk, gaining the attention of the minimal people in the room.

“Doll..Oh ma god.” Sonny took one look at you before nearly freaking out, “Imma grab some ice.” His lips hit the unbruised side of your head lightning fast before Rita spoke up.

“Un cuff her now!” The outburst brought Olivia out of her office, and exhausted look on her face that mirrored yours.

“Why should I?” Stabler shot back,

“Because she’s one of mine! Jesus El.”

“She had the wrong colour of the day.” You rolled your eyes, thankful at the release of the metal on your wrists, rubbing at the reddened skin of your wrists.

“Montgomery, you okay?” Olivia asked softly, noticing the marks on your face.

“Yeah,” You murmured, “No thanks to your old partner.” You accepted the bag of ice from Sonny, alternating it between your lip and purpling eye, “Murphy showed up at the party, fucking pistol whipped me.” You turned back to Stabler, “Keep him in fucking custody, guy’s dirty, has been for years.” You felt Sonny’s arms wrap around you, the shaky exhale of his breath making you realize just how relived he was to have you in his arms again, how happy he was you were okay. You gave him a gentle squeeze with your free arm before pulling away, turning to Rita. “Sorry to drag you out at this hour, but you know how these guys won’t stop until they hear the word lawyer.”

“You sure you’re okay?” She asked, giving your arm a gentle squeeze as you nodded.

“Yeah, get outta here.” Rita was an old family friend, she was always your go to when you needed a lawyer over the years of undercover work, even if she never actually had to defend, you were always quick to buy her dinner for waking her up. You turned to Benson, “Cap, I’ve got the books, call in Kat and Fin if you wanna start working on the case.” You shot a glare back to Stabler, “And for the love of God, keep Martinez in custody this time, but do not mention anything about me being a cop, understand? On the rare chance he gets off or doesn’t have a reason for arrest, I don’t need him knowing I’m a UC.” He glanced up to Olivia for confirmation, who simply gave him the very obvious nod, 

“She’s been working this ring for nearly 8 years, I’d trust her if I were you.”

“Okay.” He held up his hands in defeat, “I’ll send the case your way.”

“Thank you.” You practically groaned, your eyes back on your Captain, “Please tell me I can at least power nap before the others get here?”

“Yes.” She gave you a soft smile, noticing how you grabbed Sonny’s hand, “Hey! No funny business.”

“Liv I’m too tired to even think about that right now.” You called over your shoulder as you dragged him into the bunk room. Even if it was only going to be twenty minutes, twenty minutes curled in your husbands arms was the only way you wanted to end today. 

[pagesoflauren]

Ride & Prejudice Epilogue (Steve Rogers x reader; cowboy!AU)

Summary: A take on Pride & Prejudice, certain circumstances in your life have led you to take refuge and work in a farm village, particularly on the ranch owned by Steve Rogers. He doesn’t take kindly to you, having bad perceptions about city folk. Your only reaction to that is the one you deem acceptable: get annoyed at every little thing he does whilst doing your best to annoy him and still keep your job.

Warnings: mentions of violence, reader has PTSD & traumatic flashbacks, guns, mentions of animal violence, non-human-inflicted animal injury, swearing, angst, slow burn, eventual smut

A/N: I’ve had so much fun writing this series! I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to these characters yet, though...

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

You and Steve stayed in a bubble for almost two weeks now, basking in the glow of being newly weds. 

You couldn’t go anywhere without checking in with the Witness Protection Program and Steve couldn’t go on any vacations because he had a farm to run. 

Peter was bunking with Nat and Bucky for two weeks, helping them out best he could while also giving you privacy to enjoy your marriage with Steve. 

Despite being “on a honeymoon,” Steve still did some chores, rotating hay and taking Brego, Ivan and Ash out to the corral for some exercise in the mornings. You didn’t complain, though. You would wake up shortly after he left and scamper down to the kitchen to make some breakfast. When Steve returned, you were rewarded with a view of him shirtless and glistening with sweat. 

Needless to say, breakfast was cold by the time you got around to eating it. 

Nearly a week after your ceremony passed before you and Steve decided to start opening presents. 

A lot of them were things for the house, new kitchen supplies or personalized accessories with your shared surname on it. There were some monetary gifts that you and Steve decided to put to use for bringing more color into the house. 

“S’like you.”

“What do you mean?” you ask as you look at paint colors in the hardware store’s catalog.

“You brought color into my life.”

“God, you’re such a sap!” you exclaim, smacking his arm with the flimsy booklet. 

He’s on you in the blink of an eye, tickling you and sending you into a fit of giggles.

You’re saved by the doorbell, suggesting it’s probably a delivered gift like the new set of plates and cutlery from the woman at the dress shop. 

Steve kisses you and reluctantly gets up to answer the door.

“Wow, that’s a big one,” you hear him say. 

You sit up to see him sign the postman’s touch pad before tugging the package inside. 

He was right, it was rather large.

“Who’s that from?”

Steve squints as he reads the return address. Your heart drops when his eyes widen.

“It’s from my brother.”

He leaves the living room and comes back with a pocket knife, slicing through the tape and flipping the top flap of the box open. Your head tilts in curiosity as you watch him.

His brows furrow. 

“What is it?”

He doesn’t say anything, only lays the box on its long side and kneels next to it. He pulls out…

“He gave us a luggage!” Steve says exasperatedly, “Fuckin’ bastard.”

“Well, it’s an expensive one,” you say, noticing the LV printed all over, “Maybe we could sell it, make a buck or two.” 

You join him on the floor and survey the surface for any nicks.

“You think anything’s inside?” you ask.

“Doubt it,” he says, but goes to unzip the luggage anyway.

It’s empty.

Save for the single white envelope in the middle. 

Steve picks it up and looks at both sides, noticing there’s no writing on it. 

He sticks his thumb under the corner of the flap, dragging it to tear it open. 

On the inside of the flap, he recognizes his brother’s scrawl: 

I believe this belongs to your wife. 

Steve can see your expression fade from curious to terrified as he pulls out what’s inside: a chunky beaded necklace with a broken chain. Your favorite thing to wear to work and bring a pop of color to any outfit.

The last time you wore it, you killed a man. 

“Sugar, you alright?”

Ransom is used to junk mail, but recognizes an oddly shaped envelope amongst the pile that lays just inside his front door. 

Everything else goes in the trash and he tears open the top of the envelope. 

You’re invited…

So, his stupid, useless hick of a brother was getting married. 

As he takes in the picture of you two perched on horses, he notices Steve looks just as he remembers. 

His eyes land on your face and he twists up in confusion. He’s seen you before. Where has he seen you before?

He props the card against his napkin holder and orders from DoorDash. 

He stares at the photo as he eats, the TV droning in the background as he tries to pin your face to a memory. 

In bed, he stares at his empty ceiling. 

When a car passes by, headlights flashing through the translucent cover of his curtains, he remembers.

He was waiting in the getaway car. It would be a quick job. 

Afterwards, he’d take them to a bar and maybe they’d let him join the gang. It’d be more financially secure than investing in startups that always fell through somehow.

He needed money. Badly. There wasn’t much left to his name. The way he saw it, he had two options: join the gang or go home. 

No way was he going to spend his days shoveling horse shit.

He hears the popping sound and goes to start the car.

But another car starts. 

He hears the familiar voices of his acquaintances yelling and a few other popping sounds. In the rearview mirror, he sees them run toward the street. 

Ransom gets out, sneaking to peer around the corner. 

“Let me go, let me go, please!”

“No chance, baby, we can’t let you jabber to the cops.”

She fought and fought, Rumlow grabbing her by the shirt collar. Ransom caught the glint of metal as a chain dangled. Rumlow threw it far over his shoulder, the piece of jewelry landing at Ransom’s feet. 

“I won’t, I won’t, please just let me go. I’ll say nothing!”

“There’s only one way we can guarantee that--” 

Ransom’s eyebrows raised when she threw a punch. He was impressed. The gun fell out of Rumlow’s hands and onto the ground. The other men in the group backed away, not wanting to be in the path of a stray bullet. 

They struggled for a moment until the trigger was pulled and they both stilled. They were all shocked when Rumlow was the one who went limp. 

Sirens wailed in the distance. Ransom picked up the necklace and got into the car, speeding away. 

He sat up and turned on the lamp on his bedside table. 

So, his stupid, useless hick of a brother managed to marry the woman the gang would pay a very generous amount of money for. 

Maybe his brother wasn’t so stupid or useless (he was still a hick, though).

Ransom would have to plan. He would have to be smart. But he knew his lovely little sister-in-law was the perfect addition to his family. 

Tagging: @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123​ @jamielea81​ @viarogers​ @plutonium-m​ @simsadventures​ @ntlmundy​ @rohaintahquil​ @what-is-your-plan-today​ @icanfeelastormbrewing​ @csigeoblue​

Sequel: Love & Brotherhood

[falafel14]

El Camino Review: “Dude, you’re my hero and shit.”

 Where to start? (Bitch). 

Okay so I loved that Mike was the one who gave Jesse the idea to start over in Alaska. Jesse’s determination to follow a path that Mike recommended for him felt like he was desperate to honor one of his very last memories of Mike, which felt like a very Jesse thing to do. Then there was Mike’s line about how Jesse can never put things right. It’s the one thing he’ll never do. And when Mike said that I couldn’t decide whether he was establishing that Jesse’s redemption was impossible or just calling his redemption an impossibility so that Jesse could subvert expectations. In my heart, I wanted the latter. But I got the former. So was I disappointed? Actually...no. We’ve lived with the Choose-your-own-Jesse-Pinkman-ending thing for the last six years. I fan-ficced my own Jesse resolution and that gave me closure. Now I feel like I’m getting to see Vince Gilligan’s own personal Jesse resolution that he needed to give himself closure. And Vince’s choices are very different to mine, but understandably so. Vince is the one who personally made all those creative choices to put Jesse through the worst kinds of Hell (not me, I didn’t do that shit...). So after years of torturing this character so excessively I can understand why Vince needed to deliver his most abused creation to a place of peace and safety (Alaska apparently).     

And if I couldn’t get a redemption story for Jesse...well, at least I got one for Skinny Pete! Damn. Skinny has always been my favorite of Jesse’s friend circle and this film solidified why. Like Jesse, Skinny’s another smart compassionate guy who could have amounted to so much more if he hadn’t fallen into the drug world. The moment when he called Jesse his hero brought me to tears. I mean Skinny never saw the worst of Jesse’s crimes, but this line suggested to me that regardless of what Jesse had done, Skinny always saw Jesse as an impressive, admirable and decent person. And that was fucking lovely. It was heartwarming to see characters like Old Joe prepared to help Jesse out purely because they remembered him as being a good kid. But Skinny’s the one who risked his own freedom (”I’m on probation, yo!”) to give Jesse a chance to escape. So here’s hoping that your mad piano skills are discovered in prison, Skinny Pete! Oh and Badger’s lines about Skinny’s driving had me howling - “You couldn’t drive Miss Daisy!”, “You couldn’t drive Thelma and Louise off a that cliff!” Vince, if you want to write a straight up comedy next, then I’m here for it.      

Skinny Pete aside, I’d say my favorite parts of El Camino were the flashbacks. I mean...who knew we were going to get so much fucking Todd? And you know from my fanfic that I wanted the full horror of Jesse’s time as Todd’s prisoner/pet explored and...yes, it was every bit as horrific as I had expected. And yes, I feel terrible for laughing so often at Todd’s cheerful oblivious psychopathy. I wasn’t laughing all the time though. Who knew that the most heartbreaking line of all Breaking Bad canon was going to turn out to be... “Pepperoni”? Let’s just get it out of the way and say Aaron was devastating once again as Jesse Pinkman and is surely set to win a fourth Emmy for this role. And if Aaron’s going to be in the lead category this time, could we get a supporting actor nod for Plemons? Because DEAR GOD, he was blood-chillingly brilliant as Todd.

Then we have these two fuckers back together again. I knew they’d have to bring Bryan back in some way and Jesus, if you’d asked me to pick any missing Walt and Jesse moment from canon that I’d like to have seen...I swear my first choice would’ve been the journey home from 4 Days Out. This was the last time Walt still had his humanity, the last time we had juvenile “Yeah bitch!” Jesse and the last time before their relationship was so horribly poisoned by betrayal. Just before the mess of Combo’s murder, then Jesse’s heroin spiral, then Walt letting Jane die that they never came back from. It was just so wonderful to go back to a time when you could see these two genuinely cared for each other, even while being the most hilariously dysfunctional odd couple (”I totally graduated high school, dick!”) I never thought I’d get to see Bryan and Aaron acting together as Walt and Jesse again, especially this version of Walt and Jesse. It was a gift. This scene alone made the whole of El Camino worthwhile. 

Which is not to say the rest of the BrBa movie is anything shabby. While it is a getaway story rather than a redemption story, it still had me on the edge of my seat. Man, I love that Vince is such a merciless writer. Like, normally in a movie when your antihero character is in a room hiding from police, the writer will give you a moment of tension then allow the character to slip away. But Vince is all nope! The worst is going to happen. Jesse is going to get caught and worse still those guys aren’t even real cops but men who were complicit in his kidnapping ordeal. Man! And I love how Jesse gets a moment of being a badass when he judged that the Kandy Welding guy wasn’t going to shoot him, but then we get him being a dumb dipshit thinking he could call the bluff of the Disappearer guy. And yet it all felt consistent because Vince’s writing and Aaron’s performance have always balanced Jesse’s smart and stupid moments so well. And while I personally didn’t want Jesse to commit further crimes and get more blood on his hands in his bid for freedom, I can’t begrudge Vince going all the way in making Breaking Bad a contemporary Western complete with its own gunslinger quick draw scene. That was awesome (”Dude, you’re on fire...”)

Did I love everything about El Camino? No. Like Felina was for Walt, Jesse’s resolution did feel a little overly neat. I didn’t really want the Vacuum repair guy to be the solution since Saul had stressed that Jesse would only have one shot with him. The guy then giving him a second chance but being persnickety over the exact money felt like a contrivance. Also, I didn’t like Jesse screwing over his parents again. I know that Jesse’s folks could be dicks, but still. Lastly, the letter to Brock. It was pure fan service, I know. But if the moral of this story is - ‘Jesse doesn’t get to make things right’ - then he shouldn’t get to write a letter to Brock either. Because what could Jesse possibly say that would make things better for Brock now? I have to say, that beat didn’t feel earned for me. 

Finally though, I will say I liked the choice to end on the Jesse/Jane scene. As with the Walt flashback, this comes just before the end of S2 and the last hope Jesse had of a happy ending. Because I don’t really feel like Jesse’s new life in Alaska will be happy from now on. I feel like Jesse will always be lonely, scarred, self-loathing, guilt-ridden and haunted. He’ll never escape who he has been. But the message of Jane’s last line seemed to be simply telling Jesse to be his own master from now on, which I suppose is a good mindset for a guy whose biggest downfall was being too easily led. Did Jesse redeem himself for his crimes? No. Could he have ever redeemed himself for his crimes? Probably not. Do I think Jesse should go on suffering? Nah...leave him be. 

[apollo-writes-random-shit]

The Final Heist

Final part fam!

Read it on AO3!

Word Count: 2,894

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 (You’re here fam!)

She should have known something was up when Gavin kept staring at the jewels room.

Ignoring all the chaos in the dining hall, curtains parted a familiar face standing in front of the microphone in front of the small band. At first, her face fell as she saw everything going on, spotting a server being chased and tracked by the police. She should have known something was up when Gavin kept staring at the jewels room. In her mind, Gavin never suited the young man. Shaking her head, she opened her mouth and began to sing a favourite of the patrons.

Sometimes when I, wanna run away and hide.

Race grinned, hearing the soft cry of frustration as Sean lost him. He was sure anyone else would slow down to blend in more. After all, the cops were looking for someone who was running away but Race? He was smarter. Sure at the start, he'd been too cocky, letting himself slow down and blend in. He however quickly learnt that it was a bad move from both the police and Snyder.

When there's no one on my side, and all my pride had disappeared.

His experience as a thief had taught him a lot of skills, both good and bad. To others, being a thief was despicable in situations like his but honestly, he really didn't care. He loved the rush that came with his job. Yes, there were times where everything felt like it was crashing down and that he should run from the job but those moments were rare. At least that's what he liked to tell himself.

I take it off my mind and leave it all behind.

Race shook his thoughts from his mind as he spotted more of Sean's crew leaving. No doubt they were not just leaving the building to answer questions. They were also there to look out for him retreating with his prize. A smirk painted his face as he turned skidded towards a window, barely dodging Sean's hand, letting out a laugh as his fingers brushed against his jacket.

It was only then that Sean noticed where he was heading and he doubted the detective would try to follow him.

Nothin' left to do but try to take the leap and follow-through.

It wasn't the first he had jumped out of a window and he knew there was a chance that he might have to do it again. No matter the number of times he had to use a pane of glass to make his escape, he still wasn't used to the feeling of it shattering around his body.

And that's exactly what I'll do~

Had he meant to land on Sean's head? No. Did he? Yes. Was he going to apologize? Probably not. He certainly wasn't going to stick around. He had an important delivery, after all, one he could not afford to fuck up.

I know to you I don't seem very strong but I assure you before you can find me I'm gone.

Sean grunted as he stood up, already nursing a killing headache. He honestly didn't care that he had blacked out for a few seconds. Instead, he was more focused on catching up to the infamous thief. He'd yell at the person who had fired two warning shots later. In the chaos of attempted capture, no one noticed two men slipping away.

So come on and catch me you've still got a chance...But not for long~

His heart fell slightly as he stood in the door of the casino. There were multiple ways Racetrack could escape...Too many. "Same teams as last time! Remember his tricks and do your best to block off any place you believe he can use as an escape!"

He took off, hearing his trusted colleague and friends fan-out to look for their target. They all knew there was a high chance he could escape like always but they hoped that tonight would be the night. They were all sick of this game of cat and mouse but mostly, they were sick of Sean's obsession with the elusive thief. Sure they all wanted the cocky bastard behind bars but at times, they felt like that goal ruled Sean's life.

I'll be rollin' place to place, won't stop till I win the race!

Even Sean himself could admit that he wanted nothing more than to catch Racetrack and lock him away before moving on to other cases though he doubted he'd find any as interesting as the current case.

Although I may have crossed the line.

He knew he'd win eventually. Race may be the fastest person he has ever seen but even he had to slow down and finish at some point.

No time to waste on you.

Race hummed as he skated along, holding back laughter, hearing his competition ask questions to random patrons. Humming softly under his breath, he calmly hit a slot machine. After all, even grandmas needed a big win sometimes.

Idly, he pulled out the diamond, inspecting it for a few seconds. However, the second his back hit another one, he instantly regretted his action, watching with horror as it flew across the room.

I don't plan on slowing down, no I'll keep on going even if you think I'm in the wrong

He swallowed, ignoring the offended cry from behind him as he crossed the room, clumsily launching himself onto the pool table. "Come on you piece of shit." He bit his lip, holding back a cry of frustration as it slipped through his fingers yet again.

Just know that, although I may not think everything though I don't take back what I say or regret what I do.

He found himself unable to hold back a small cry of triumph as he caught it, even though he had hit the ground face first.

Race clambered to his feet, wincing slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He sighed softly, shoving it back into it's hiding place before staring at the man in front of him, giving him a weak grin. "Well hey, Jackie boy. If you don't mind, I'ma just...Leave? Have a good night Sir!" Was he surprised at a hand tightly grabbing his collar? No. Was he surprised to be shoved into the wall? Also no.

He tuned out the normal Miranda rights speech all police gave, paying more attention to the light wind ruffling his hair. Yeah, he knew he had the right to stay silent or whatever but where was the fun in that? "Look. I get this is ya job and shit but eh. I don't have time for this." With a grin, he grabbed the curtain, using it as a cover as he jumped out of the window, ignoring the curses coming from behind him.

I know that some stay in line and they stick to the plan, but if you leave it to me I'll do whatever I can 'cause I know that's what I'm here for.

He was grateful for the short distance between the window and ledge. Knowing that the small team would have alerted the others to his trick, he took off running. He may be stupid at times but no way was he going to use his skates on such a narrow landing. The thief silently praised himself on his quick thinking as he found himself almost tumbling off the edge. A sharp turn later and he found himself jumping from letter to letter, thanking Pulizer for having such a large sign.

In the split second he took to come to a stop so he could catch his breath, his ears were filled with both an annoying and familiar tune. The whirring of helicopter blades and a voice coming from behind the blinding light. "Hand yourself in Racetrack! It's over."

A smirk overtook his face. "Can't hand myself over to you when I can't see you!"

"Oh for god's sake. Turn the light down Wiesel!" With a groan, Sean turned back to the smug thief. "There. Happy Mr Drama Queen? Now just hand yourself and the diamond over. It's not that hard."

"Not very professional are you Spot?" Race always liked the way he could annoy his rival with a few words.

I don't wanna wait around anymore, even if you can't see.

He pulled the diamond out of his jacket, flashing the annoyed detective an innocent look. "Do you mean this diamond?" A laugh escaped him as he stared at Sean's blank look. "Alright alright. Here." He hummed, holding it out. Sure this wasn't part of the original plan but he was used to thinking on his feet.

The good inside me...

The second Sean's hand touched the top of his stolen good, he slapped his hand over it, laughing yet again as he used his arm to swing across the gap between The World casino and the building next door. "Thanks for the hand Spot!"

The frustrated swear from his opponent was music to his ears. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light in the alleyway. He took a few moments to pull out a stashed briefcase, yet another step to the conclusion of his final plan.

A smirk graced his face as he jumped down, unable to hold back a chuckle as the two figures waiting for him. "Hello, boys~"

The smirk just widened as the pair spun around, posed for a fight. "So. Shall we get going?"

"First things first. Hand over the briefcase kid. We gotta check you have what you promised."

"Awwwww. Don't you trust me, Morris? I have the briefcase right here so naturally, I have what I promised."

Oscar huffed. "How do we know it's not empty? Open it and show us or we'll hand you over~"

"Oh, I don't think you will."

"Why not?"

The two brothers tensed as the thief pulled out a gun, grin wiped from his face, replaced with a schooled blank expression, his posture bored. "Listen here, boys. I'm not really in the mood to play around tonight. This job is important and all you have to do is drive me to the bridge. Remember, your dear ol' uncle is in tremendous debt and just because the boss is behind bars doesn't mean it's completely automatically cleared...Now. Get in the car and start driving." Race flicked the gun towards the car watching smugly as the two scrambled to get into the ute that was going to be used as his getaway vehicle.

They didn't need to know that the weapon was empty. He never liked the idea of spilling blood. The idea of snatching someone's life from them sickened him but he knew he didn't have a say in it. Sure he was Snyder's prized thief but he had morals. He wasn't like the other members of the gang. To him, human life meant something, no matter who's life it was. Yes, he had been told to get away and if needed, to kill his enemy but Race was never going to have blood on his hands. He would rather die himself instead of ruining the lives of people's loved ones. As far as he knew, he had never landed anyone in hospital and he always made sure it'd stay that way, even if it meant being yelled at by his boss.

I don't have the time to tell you why I do the things that I do.

The ride was silent, allowing Race to take a breather as he removed the wig he had been wearing all night. As fun as it was to 'dress-up' as Snyder used to call it, he found it better when he was allowed to be 'natural'. He allowed the wind to mess with his hair as he removed his contacts, putting them away happily. He wasn't the biggest fan of them, no matter how helpful they were...Mostly because he still poked himself in the eye a lot when he was putting them in and taking them out like an utter moron.

He smiled softly at the diamond in his hand. Soon this would all be over and he could relax in the first time in years. Sure he'd miss the rush he got from outsmarting the police but it would still be better than scanning the streets each time he decided to take a walk.

Before he knew it, the Brooklyn bridge was rolling under the wheels of his transport and with a soft smile, he tucked the diamond away, knocking softly on the window. "This is my stop boys! Money's in the back so keep driving until you get a chance to see it." The wanted man carefully jumped out from the ute tray, allowing himself to just roll as he stared at the view offered to him, ignoring as the car turned around to return to The World. He grinned to himself, wishing he could see the looks on the Delancey brothers' faces as they opened their 'payment'. After all, it had taken him a while to get enough Monopoly cash to fill the briefcase.

Just please hold on and soon you'll see that I'm not the villain I appear to be.

Shaking his head, he hummed to himself as he stared off at the police blockade in front of him, an annoyed police force staring at him. No one seemed more pissed-off than Sean 'Spot' Colon. The sight of everything just filled Race with joy. Now came the fun part.

Diamond clutched in hand, Race did what he did best and sped towards them, keeping an eye on each person in front of him, trying to guess the move they'd make before it even entered their mind.

Movin' along, no I won't settle down until I'm locked behind bars or I'm kicked outta town!

He managed to hold back a gasp as Sean attempted to hit him with his baton at his head before attempting to grab him. (Honestly who aimed for the head? What was he trying to do? Hit him in the temple and kill him?) While he was able to hold back the gasp, he couldn't stop the soft squeak escaping his lips as a bullet grazed his cheek. Like he gets it. They had to arrest him and if that involved shooting at him to force him off balance then they could do it. Still, being shot at was never a fun feeling.

"Jeez, Jojo. You'd think you'd know not to shoot at me by now but apparently not."

So you can keep on a runnin' around and around and around.

He winked at the flustered man as he stuttered out an apology before pausing. "Wait...Why the hell am I apologizing to you?"

"Because I'm just amazing like that~"

With a hum, he skidded to a stop by the railing, holding the diamond over the edge, watching as Sean threw his arms out. "Alright Race. Just hand the diamond over and hand yourself in."

"Dunno guys. That doesn't sound like fun but I guess I can be nice."

But you will never quite catch up to me!

He saw the way some of their eyes lit up in satisfaction but he saw the suspicion in Sean's eyes. With a hum, Race tossed the diamond over to his rival before launching himself over the group, laughing at the confused noises of the group. How none of them noticed him removing the top of the diamond right in front of him, he had no idea.

And I know you think I'm crazy.

Using their brief confusion, he pushed himself on, ignoring the footsteps chasing him, the calls for him to stop falling on deaf ears. Tucking away the real stolen good, Race jumped towards the gently swaying rope, allowing it to wrap around his wrist.

"See you around!" He blew a kiss to the frustrated group before pulling himself further up the rope, grinning as he popped his head into the helicopter's open door. "Money's with ya nephews Weasel~ See you around!"

He allowed himself to jump down onto the support beam, wincing ever so slightly at the feeling of cold steel against his body, his uniform doing little to protect him.

But I hope that maybe now you'll see why...

He took a deep breath and jumped to his feet. Pulling the small ball out of his pocket, he threw it into the air as hard, praying that his throw would be strong enough. He was a runner after all and rarely had to throw things in his job.

His eyes lit up with both joy and relief as the bomb exploded far in the sky, decorating the sky with a firework. Even the feeling of being shoved roughly to the platform couldn't take the relief away. He couldn't be bothered to question how they had even gotten up to the platform.

"You're under arrest Racetrack. You have the ri-"

Race chuckled, cutting Sean off. "To stay silent. I get it. It's been three years Colon. I'd say it's been long enough for us to be friends ya know? Besides, I think you just got rid of the fella known as Racetrack~ Can we move this along? It's cold out."

"You're being arrested...And your complaining about the temperature?"

"Looks like your ears work DaSilva! Anyway, I guess I should congratulate you all for this huh?"

"God, you're annoying."

All Sean and his team got as a reply was tired joyful laughter.

I had to try!

[chaptersinprogress]

romeo this ain’t a tragedy, it’s a goddamn romance

The front door slammed open with a bang and a man in the Royal Thai Police uniform strode out.

“Stop right there boy!" he shouted, voice carrying clearly across the space.

Kongpob froze with his hand poised to throw the 10th egg. Fuckity fucking fuck.

Rating: M

Warnings: swearing, mentions of blackmail, violence, murder

Pairings: Arthit/Kongpob, brief Prae/Ting

Prompt: ‘im egging your house for a dare but your parent is a cop and they’re yelling at me so i told them that you were my ex and you wronged me and now you’re coming outside and please go along with this i don’t want to go to jail’ au - by @mraculous

an au of demolition lovers

Rage flooded Kongpob's veins as a laughing John and his friends displayed the damning photos in high-definition. Aim and Tew were frozen beside him, shocked and horrified by what they were seeing and the implications.

Photo after photo flickered by in a mocking slideshow - pictures of himself, Aim, Tew and Wad in varying states of undress in the university locker rooms, and some looking like they were picking fights with other people.

If the photos had been of Kongpob alone, he wouldn't have worried too much. There was nothing in there that could truly damage him irreparably even if they had been released.

Yes, his reputation would take a hit, but that could be easily cleared up. Besides, money talked, and he was fortunate enough to come from a family both financially and politically powerful. The whole situation could've been hushed up and action taken against the perpetrators.

But it wasn't just him involved.

Worst of all were the pictures of Prae and Ting. Plenty of candid photographs and selfies made it obvious that their relationship went far deeper than friendship. And some of them were very clearly meant to be private.

Case in point: the final picture - a sultry photo of Prae on a bed in the nude, sheets artfully draped over her curves.

If those pictures were leaked, the impact on Prae, her girlfriend, and their families would be devastating. Not only would Prae stand to lose her title as Campus Star, but the media would pounce on the scandal surrounding the heiress of one of the most prominent engineering firms in Thailand. That wasn't even considering the risk the company's position and the livelihood of their employees would face.

However, that wasn't what troubled him the most. The more pending concern was just how P'John and his goons had gotten their grubby paws on those last few photos. Because Prae and Ting were anything but careless. And since the probability that they could've gotten them from Ting was almost nil, that meant that they had a mole among their cohort.

Kongpob's lips curled over his teeth in a barely concealed snarl.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Tew shift slightly, subtly pulling out his phone and texting someone with one-hand, carefully concealing it behind his back. Some of the tension that had pulled his shoulders tight bled out.

Tew must've updated Ting on the situation. And if Ting knew, Ram would soon find out, and so would Duen. Savage satisfaction warmed his chest. Those poor idiots had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. He idly wondered if their bodies would ever turn up.

When the fools started talking again, he forced himself to pay a modicum of attention to them. He just needed to play along until the Chao Pho dealt with the photographs.

Except, the situation soon escalated far beyond his control.

Kongpob gritted his teeth as his hands shook, from anger or fear he wasn't too sure himself. The knife John's friend was digging into Aim's throat caused blood to drip slowly down the boy's neck, staining the collar of his shirt dark pink. Tew was pinned to the floor, John's other buddy kneeling on his back, twisting his arms at a painful angle behind him.

Their phones had been taken and smashed to pieces. In the dark of the alleyway they were all standing in, shadowed by the evening sky, they were very unlikely to get help from any passersby.

"What the fuck do you want, Ai'John?" Kongpob spat.

"I would suggest you think carefully about how you address me, Ai'Kong. I'm the one with the photos after all," said John with a smirk, shaking his own phone mockingly. He tapped his chin in mock consideration, "But you know what? I'm a nice guy."

He continued, "I just need you to do a very simple thing. You see that house there? All you have to do is egg it with these dozen eggs, one by one. But they must break open on the house itself; no dumping them on the lawn."

Kongpob narrowed his eyes. "And why would I do that?"

"I didn't take you to be a coward, Kongpob. Heard that you were such as hero standing up to your hazers, but you can't do this simple thing." John laughed. 

"Well if you do it, I promise to delete all these photos and we'll never talk about this again. If you're too scared, I can always just post them on the campus page. I have a lovely draft already set up and just need to press the button."

"Your problem is with me, John," Kongpob snarled. "Leave my friends out of it."

Shrugging, John replied, "I am. All you have to do is do as I say, and they'll be out of it."

Aim spoke up, "No, Kong! Don't -". He cut himself off as the knife was pointedly pressed deeper into his neck.

Helplessly, Kongpob took in the horrible situation they were in. Even if Ting and Ram had left the moment they got the texts, it would still take them at least another half an hour to reach their school, traffic violations included. And then they'd still have to track them here.

There had to be more to what John wanted. Egging a house in exchange for deleting the blackmail? It certainly wasn't an equivalent exchange, so there had to be a catch in the request somewhere. But there was no choice to be made really.

If it were between Kongpob alone getting into trouble or dragging his friends down with him, he'd always choose to be the only one in the line of fire.

He just hoped that Tew had managed to activate the signal blocker before their phones had been destroyed - just in case John decided to go back on his word and post those pictures anyway.

"Fine!" sneered Kongpob. "Hand the eggs over."

With a smug smile, John shoved the carton of eggs into his hand and waved him out of the alleyway. And like a condemned man walking to the gallows, Kongpob dragged his feet to the house and stood outside the massive gate. He scanned the area subtly, before sighing. There were security cameras covering the entire front of the house - which meant that his actions would be captured on tape.

Which was the point, he supposed. This way, John and his friends were safe since they were not directly involved in Kongpob's actions, should there be an investigation. And Kongpob, Aim or Tew couldn't breath a word about it without revealing the type of blackmail material John had, which was what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

Which meant this was yet another loose end for Duen's people to take care of.

The saving grace of this whole situation was that at least he wasn't in uniform. Or anything else too easily identifiable. He ducked down beside the wall, out of the sightlines of the cameras. Pulling out his sunglasses and a handkerchief from his pocket, he slipped on the shades before tying the cloth to cover the lower half of his face to further obscure his features. Then tucking the carton of eggs securely under his armpit, he boosted himself over the iron-wrought gate.

Dropping onto the grass below in a crouch, he froze - waiting for any sign that the people inside had noticed his presence. When nothing happened, he let out a harsh breath in relief, and crept forward till he was at the halfway point - a close enough distance to throw properly, but far enough to make a quick getaway.

(Hopefully)

"Ok Kong, in and out… easy peasy… just do it and run… yeah, ok," he tried to psych himself up.

Taking an egg out of the carton, he weighed it in his hand for a second before drawing his arm back and launching it. With a wet smash, it exploded all over the door. Immediately, he picked up more eggs and kept pelting them one by one. They crashed into the walls, the pillars, and the porch.

2, 3, 4, 5

As Kong let the 6th egg fly at one of the windows, a figure appeared behind it right before the runny liquid coated the glass. A high scream rang out.

"Oh shit," Kongpob cursed under his breath.

He hastily attempted to finish his task.

7, 8, 9

The front door slammed open with a bang and a man in the Royal Thai Police uniform strode out.

"Stop right there boy!" he shouted, voice carrying clearly across the space.

Kongpob froze with his hand poised to throw the 10th egg. Fuckity fucking fuck. He dropped the egg and the carton, spinning on his heel to sprint away.

"If you take one step from there, I'll bring you straight to the station kid! Don't test me!"

Kongpob's shoulders slumped. He hesitantly turned back around to face the furious officer striding towards him. The man came to a halt an arm's length in front of him and glared.

"Take those things off your face," he ordered.

Kongpob briefly considered protesting, but common-sense won and he took off the sunglasses and handkerchief without argument. The man's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Aren't you Kerkkrai's son?"

Kongpob's blood ran cold. How did this man know him? He glanced between the name on the uniform and the man's face a few times before it clicked - the Commissioner! He'd briefly met the elder at a fundraiser while accompanying his father. The two adults had bonded over the fact that both their sons were both in engineering and lived in dorms, though the Commissioner's son was a third year.

And that meant that he was now doubly fucked.

"You don't seem to be the kind of kid who runs around egging people's houses," the Commissioner commented with a raised eyebrow, concern clear in his voice. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

Think, think, think!

Kongpob flushed, "Erm, sorry Khun, I didn't know this was your house. I thought… I thought it was my faen's… well ex-faen's."

The man seemed stunned. "Oh?"

"I guess I'm at the wrong place," said Kongpob, rubbing his neck sheepishly. He crossed his fingers behind his back. Please let him believe it…

"What happened?" the Commission asked.

Fuck! What excuse could he give for being there?

Kongpob shifted his weight from side to side. "I… well, my faen is my head hazer. We've been keeping our relationship down low for his reputation's sake, but… there was a limit to how much I could take. And when I pushed the issue, he broke it off."

The man rested a consoling hand on Kongpob's shoulder. "He doesn't deserve you then. Do you want to share?"

Well he was already in this deep with his fictional relationship, it wouldn't hurt to embellish it with the truth.

Kongpob looked at his feet. "The hazing did get to me a bit. And it didn't help that I might have been pushing his buttons in return. So he was a bit of a… mean person. He had me stand on a table in the canteen and announce that I liked men, then ask 10 guys out. And at one point, ordered me to run 54 laps for talking back and also kinda flirting with him - though I didn't finish more than 7."

And now back to the lies.

"But it was him denying any closeness with me that was the limit. I guess he didn't plan on coming out anytime soon, and… I didn't want to be his dirty little secret forever."

He finally dared to glance at the man, trying to judge his reaction to the concocted sob story. A heavy frown decorated the Commissioner's face, though it didn't seem like he was angry at Kongpob.

"I think," the man finally spoke. "You might be at the right place after all."

Kongpob stared at him in confusion. What could he mean by that?

"Oon! Come out!"

Panicking, Kongpob shook his head frantically while trying to dislodge the hold the Commissioner had on his shoulder. "Khun, it's ok, you don't have to do this."

Who ‘Oon’ was and what at exactly 'this' was, Kongpob himself didn't have a clue, but he sure as hell wasn't planning on sticking around to find out.

The Commissioner merely tightened his grip, forcing Kongpob to stay in place. "OON!"

A boy dressed in an oversized T-shirt and basketball shorts, with a bird's nest for hair, stumbled out of the door. He took in the pungent smell of raw eggs, puddles of it dripping down the house, and finally the teenager firmly held in the grasp of his father.

"0062?" he gaped.

Kongpob's face visibly drained of all colour. "P'Arthit?" he whispered faintly, his entire life flashing before his eyes.

The harsh voice of his head hazer dragged him back to the present. "Did you do this?"

"Oon, come here!" the Commissioner snapped.

Arthit came to a stop in front of the two and wai-ed. "Por, I'm so sorry about this junior, I'll take care of this -"

"Did you make him stand on a table in the canteen and announce that he liked men, then ask 10 guys out?"

Arthit drew back, stunned. "What? What has he been telling -"

"I asked you a question, Oon."

Nodding stiffly, Arthit answered, "Yes Por."

"He's the one you ordered to run 54 laps."

"Yes Por."

"DOWN 50!" the Commissioner roared, causing Kongpob to almost jump out of his skin in shock.

Arthit scrambled into push-up position and began the punishment, counting the reps loudly.

"1! 2! 3! 4!"

"How dare you force your junior to say such things?! Do you know how dangerous that was?!" the man yelled over his son. “Did you think it funny?! I didn't raise a homophobic brat!"

"12! 13! I'm sorry Por! 14! 15!"

"What are you even sorry for?! Were you trying to humiliate him?! How do you think N'Toota would've felt - watching you mock his sexuality as if it was something to be ashamed of!"

"24! 25! 26!"

Kongpob stood as still as a statue as the Commissioner continued giving the head hazer a vicious tongue-lashing, the heavy weight of guilt lying in his stomach like a rock. He hadn't meant to get P'Arthit into trouble, deserved as it may be. His head began to pound, and he stifled a groan.

This whole day had been nothing but one mess after another.

"Get up!" the officer ordered harshly.

Arthit scrambled back up, his posture a perfect imitation of that of a military recruit.

"I expect you to make up with your faen, and once you're done, for both of you to come to dinner."

Arthit's jaw dropped. "Faen?"

His father gave him a sharp glare. "N'Kong has already told me everything. Don't try to fool me."

"But Por-"

"Enough Oon! I had expected better of you."

Arthit hung his head.

Kongpob winced as the man's glare shifted to him. "And you. Don't think that I've forgotten about what you've done here. Both you and Oon are going to clean up this mess."

Wai-ing, Kongpob replied remorsefully. "Yes Khun. I apologise for my actions. I know I was wrong and have inconvenienced you terribly. I wasn't thinking clearly, but it won't ever happen again."

"See that it doesn't. This is no way to resolve spats." The Commissioner's expression softened and he squeezed Kongpob's shoulder gently. "You will always be welcome here. Does Kerkkrai know?"

Kongpob shook his head. "No... we hadn't exactly talked about telling our families." 'Because there wasn't anything to tell,' he continued wryly in his head.

"Then we'll keep this between us for now," said the man, releasing his hold. "Make sure there's nothing left of this mess before you both come for dinner," he warned, before making his way inside the house.

When the door securely shut behind his father, Arthit turned to Kongpob, eyes boring holes into the other’s skull.

"What. Did. You. Do." he growled.

Kongpob began to slowly back away, arms lifted in surrender. "P'Arthit, I can explain!"

"KONGPOB!"

[princess-of-the-corner]

Last Ladybug AU concept I promise. Okay that’s a lie but you know what I mean

But I found an old post that’s about a Miraculous Ladybug Phantom Theives AU and like usual I want to go hog wild.

So:

Ladybug and Chat Noir are Phantom Thieves by night. They have the sort of Sly Cooper/Robin Hood/Leverage type thing going on, only stealing from other thieves or criminals.

By day, Marinette and Adrien use their jobs as detectives to find new targets and keep suspicion away from themselves, and arrest the criminals they target.

However: Ladybug and Chat are Rivals, who have no idea that the other is their detective partner that seems dedicated to finding out their identity.

Okay, first, let me address the ‘Phantom Thief’ thing. Like how it works and the culture around it

Being a Phantom Thief is like being a thief, but also a Magician, Actor, and Attention Whore.

While thievery is the main part, there’s the theatrics. Outsmarting your target, stealing everything not nailed down, and avoiding the police, along with over-dramatic bragging to the reporters, yet always getting away somehow.

Like, in this modern age, the only reason heists aren’t livestreamed are that it would make it too easy for the cops. But the thieves might occasionally post videos(untraceable, of course.)

Some Thieves announce targets beforehand, hyping it up and making the heist more of a challenge. Some take the ‘Phantom’ part literally, only leaving a calling card after the fact. Others do something in the middle, purposely sending an alarm out half-way through, which makes the heist itself easier, but gives them a bigger crowd.

The culture about it is kind of weird. People enjoy the ‘show’, and the more of a ‘show’ you put on the bigger fanbase you get. But, ultimately, even if kids think it’s cool and all, most everyone agrees ‘yeah, they’re still criminals, let the cops handle this’.

Side note: While our heroes are the ‘steal from actual bad guys and help the good guys’ type, some thieves are legit bad guys. But we’re not going into that.

And before I get to our main characters, some notes on the Miraculous in this AU:

The Miraculous and the Kwami still exist in this AU, but they’re less… Good vs. Evil. I mean, while the Phantom Theives are technically doing good, stealing from actual evil people, the Kwami aren’t meant to be given to Heroes. They just exist and give power to those who wield the Miraculous.

As for how everyone got their Miraculous… I debated about still having a Guardian handing them out, or possibly you have to ‘win’ it from someone and all our thieves found theirs in someone’s collection on their first heists, but….

Idk. I think I’m going more ‘random chance’ combined with ‘Magic is attracted to Magic’. Basically the Miraculous ended up in the possession of our characters out of random chance, but because Magic attracts Magic, they all end up close to one another, even within the same family.

The Miraculous’ powers are a bit different. They can stay transformed indefinitely, even if they use their Power, but the Power has a much longer cooldown instead of just ‘detransform, eat, transform again’.

One part of the power that is completely nerfed is the part about ‘the Ladybug and the Black Cat combined gives ultimate power’ thing. They just have their normal Creation/Destruction Powers.

That said, while the Magic is still there, it’s a bit downplayed, as all have the usual thief skills that you’d expect.

Onto the characters: I’m keeping it to just the ‘main set’ of Miraculous. For now. So the Zodiac Set doesn’t really exist. The characters themselves do, and are allies to our cast, but they don’t have actual powers. Also, in case it wasn’t obvious, the characters are all bumped up in age in this. Like, the teens are in their early-to-mid-twenties.

Marinette/Ladybug

Obviously a Ladybug themed Phantom Thief.

Leader of a ‘team’.

She uses the power of Creation to make temporary fakes to buy time (no one’s looking for a painting that isn’t missing), or sometimes to get out of desperate situations. Sometimes she can even conjure up disguises.

During the day she’s a Detective hunting down the various thieves around the world. She uses this to find new targets. Ladybug’s team shows up and robs them blind, then Marinette’s team comes in to arrest them.

After encountering Chat Noir on a heist, she focuses on catching him. She keeps trying to figure out who he is, and how to finally take him down. Of course, that’s difficult when they’re face-to-face in the field. He’s pretty and charming, and their ideals would have them make a great team. Perhaps once she finds him, she’ll offer to let him work for her instead of arresting him.

However, there is her detective partner, Adrien. While he’s great and wonderful and Mari will admit to having a crush on him, it’s a bit difficult to let him get close to her with how obsessed he is with finding Ladybug.

Adrien/Chat Noir

A Cat-themed thief

Leader of his ‘team’.

He uses the power of Destruction. Sometimes it’s needed if a safe takes too long to crack, or occasionally used to make a quick getaway through a wall.

Chat uses the same tactics as Ladybug, though neither knows it. You’d think they’d figure it out when Ladybug and Chat Noir show up for the same night of a heist, but they’re a little oblivious.

Chat and Ladybug met on a heist, and while he got away with the treasure they were both after, Ladybug stole something far more valuable: His heart. Adrien would love to make her part of the team, but Ladybug has made a game out of it: she has to catch him first. Too bad he can never be caught.

On the other hand, his detective partner, Marinette… the fire and determination in her when she’s tracking down his secret identity, well, Adrien has to keep himself from giving up and letting her cuff him, if you know what I mean.

Alya/Rena Rouge

Fox -themed thief

Main member of Ladybug’s team.

Uses the power of Illusion to create distractions and keep the guards busy while she and Ladybug grab the target.

By day, Alya is a reporter. She uses her job to gather info for Ladybug, and also get her access to high-profile places. (News coverage on galas, or famous people giving interviews, etc.)

While she’s suspicious of Chat and his team, she actually trusts Adrien completely. She knows Marinette has feelings for him, and thinks he’d ‘turn to the dark side’ if they offered for him to join the team.

She’s also interested in another theif, but we’ll get to him later.

Chloé/Honeybee

Bee-themed, of course

Main member of Chat Noir’s team.

Her Power, Venom, is used to stun guards. Also, because I want more Sly Cooper jokes here and I can’t let go of the Honeybee AU, instead of a spinning top, Honeybee’s weapon is more like the Cooper Cane.

Chloé’s parents are still the same, her dad the mayor and her mother the Fashion bitch. She gets easy access to mansions and galas, always invited and bringing Adrien as her Plus One. But this also gives her access to information, dirt on various targets.

She is impressed by Ladybug and her team, admitting that they might be just as good as Chat Noir and Honeybee , but she’s suspicious of Marinette. She plays nice because Adrien likes her, but she’s concerned about her focus on Chat Noir.

While many people believe she’s into Adrien, some even believing they’re a couple due to how often he’s her ‘Plus One’ to events, they’re far more sibling-like for reasons I’ll get into later.

Nino/Carapace

Turtle themed, naturally.

Carapace is actually somewhat neutral, a member of both teams. They all know this, of course. But they also know he’s incredibly loyal, and won’t give away anything to the ‘other side’.

He’s rarely in the field, usually the tech guy hacking into things (Look, I already pulled out the Sly Cooper references. Let me have hacker turtle.). But when he is needed, Shell-ter can keep them safe from guards and traps.

Nino is of course DJ for his main job.  

He’s good friends with both teams, in both identities. He doesn’t actually know anyone’s secret identities though. That said, he does think the ‘rivalry’ is a bit silly, since he’s worked with both and knows that they’d easily become a fantastic team.

He’s been dating Alya for a while now. It’s not yet time to get to the ‘hey, honey, I love you and I should probably tell you I’m a master thief’ talk. But they’re soon getting there.

Gabriel and Emilie/Paon and Mariposa.

So…. here’s the thing….Why isn’t it ‘Hawkmoth and Mayura’?

Because I have old headcanons about things that involve Gabriel being the Peacock and Emilie as the Butterfly, but they did switch sometimes.

The switch was usually when other skills were needed. Like, as I said they don’t rely 100% on their magic. They have other thief skills and they have different strengths and weaknesses. Emilie was better at sneaking(since she’s smaller), Gabriel was better at safe-cracking and disarming traps(More detail-oriented), etc.

So, like, sometimes they’d need the Butterfly’s power near a trapped room, and the Peacock’s power in a place only accessible by small vents or something and they’d switch for the night.

It did help keep the cops on their toes, since they weren’t predictable.

I’m not entirely sure how their powers would work other than distracting guards, but tbh I might change the Peacock’s powers(I kinda hate it’s canon powers anyway, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

Gabriel and Emilie were actually training Adrien and Chloé, hoping to pass the titles of Paon and Mariposa on to them.

Training Adrien is obvious, but why train Chloé? Because she is Adrien’s best friend for most of his life and does show skill in it early on.

The Agrestes practically adopt Chloé. Her mother is never even in the country, and her dad is usually too busy, so she spent nearly all her time with Adrien and his parents. Especially once they decided to train her.

While Chloé does still love her actual dad, since he tries to be a good parent, she hates her mother and is hoping to one day target her as Honeybee. She thinks of Gabriel and Emilie as her parents more than them.

However, on a job where Gabriel and Emilie had switched powers, there was an accident. I’ll go into detail what all happened to her, but while she is still alive, she’s taken out of the game and the Peacock Miraculous is broken.

Realizing how dangerous this life is(well, they always knew this was dangerous, but this was too close a call), Gabriel and Emilie decide to go back on that training. Paon and Mariposa ‘retire’, and forbid the kids from trying to get into this more than they already have.

Then Adrien and Chloé find the Cat and the Bee, becoming thieves on their own. They’re figured out pretty quickly, since Chat Noir and Honeybee use many tactics that Paon and Mariposa used.

While Gabriel and Emilie are hesitant to let them do this, they also knows they can’t stop them now. They resign to mostly minor mentoring, keeping out of too much danger, but not going out of their way to help with heists.

That said, if there was ever a situation dangerous enough, Gabriel might become Hawkmoth to help them. (Due to reasons I’ll explain later, Emilie can’t use the Butterfly and the Peacock is broken).

Of course, Paon and Mariposa are kind of legendary in the business. Like, they were very well known and.. I don’t want to say ‘well loved’ since they were thieves, but you know. They had a lot of fans. It’s a big mystery of what happened, because a few years ago they suddenly ‘disappeared’. Most people speculate that they died, since they would’ve pulled another heist again if they were still around.

Onto other story elements:

What happened to Emilie

So, I don’t have exact details, but she gets very injured and the Peacock is broken.

Her physical injuries are enough to take her out of the game, at least for a long while. She definitely recovers after a good bit of time. But the Magic Backlash of breaking the Peacock has made her Magic unstable. She can’t even safely use the Butterfly.

So she ends up retiring entirely.  

Because of this, Chat Noir and Honeybee tend to focus on finding Magic items to steal, since they could potentially fix the Peacock Miraculous and/or Emilie’s Magic.

Even if they are aware that the Ladybug Miraculous could do this, they aren’t entirely aware that Ladybug has it. The Ladybug theme could be coincidence, but even then, it’s not enough of an emergency that they’d steal it from her. After all, Chat is sure that Ladybug will willingly join him eventually.

Ladybug and Chat’s ‘rivalry’ starts early on in their careers

Both had done enough to establish themselves beforehand. So when they run into each other and the rivalry starts, their ‘fans’ get invested.

the first time they meet is actually the first time Marinette and Adrien happen to be working a case together as detectives, actually

Ladybug and Chat Noir planned a heist for the same night. They run into each other in the treasure room, and fight over the prize.

They have some wonderful flirt banter, but ultimately, Ladybug kind of kicks his ass

Only reason Chat wins is because of Honeybee using Venom

Now, every time they meet, they have their flirt banter and try to one-up each other, both in general ‘impressing with thief skills’ and also getting the loot and running off.

Marinette and Adrien get along very well though

They have an issue at first, basically this AU’s version of the gum incident.

When they’re assigned to partner together, the first day involved Adrien sort of panicked and leading her in a wrong direction because of the ‘I don’t want her to figure out that this ‘investigation’ is me casing the place’ thing.

Mari thinks it’s him being a jackass about having to work with her, or disrespecting her for being a girl detective or some thing.

He does apologize later, and it’s all good

They end up as close friends. Obvs Mari is still a bit nervous because of her crush(as is Adrien tbh), but in this AU she’s a grown ass adult instead of a teenager, so she is able to reign in her anxieties and isn’t nearly as wild.

So, the other’s friendship with Chloé is a little different than Canon

Chloé is less of an outright bitch in this AU. This is because she realized early on that her real mom is terrible, therefore she stopped trying to imitate her and impress her. And the Agrestes provided genuine parental affection.

She’s still very blunt and can come off as rude, especially to people who haven’t yet earned her trust.

But because she wasn’t going out of her way to bully people, she doesn’t have much of a history with Marinette and Nino, and while Alya was quick to judge her as some dumb rich girl coasting on daddy’s money, she reconsiders once they start hanging out.

Since I’m discussing personality changes, let’s discuss the differences between the Agrestes.

Gabriel is still a bit emotionally distant, though the Persona he uses for Paon balances this out since ‘Paon’ is very dramatic(Look, the man is a Peacock. They are known for it.)

However, the biggest shift between Canon personality is due to Emilie. I mean, first off she’s alive and all so he doesn’t have a reason to go off the deep end and become a supervillain. She also balances him out when he’s being a bit of a fuck.

Both are protective of Adrien, but considering they were training him for a dangerous life, they do give him his freedom. He still has to sneak out though since getting past the house’s alarm system is good practice!!

That said, they didn’t start training him until he was a teenager. They probably taught him simpler skills, like lockpicking and safe cracking as a kid, but anything dangerous like disarming traps waited until he was older

Speaking of Adrien, he did go through a ‘rebellious phase’. As I said, sneaking out. This was very enabled by Chloé, since as much as she loves Gabriel and Emilie, she does think Adrien should get out more.

He’s a good bit more independent now, partly because when he started ‘rebelling’ they listened and gave him more freedom, and partly because he is an adult and has technically moved out.

Next, let’s discuss Carapace being the middle man between Ladybug and Chat’s rivalry.

He thinks the rivalry is dumb, and doesn’t even bother keeping it going

literally, if he’s working with both teams on the same heist, he’ll have them run into each other and be like ‘work together damn it!!’.

He’s probably the closest to figuring out everyone’s identities though.

Especially since Rena and Carapace are kind of crushing on each other but have discussed ‘look I’m already in a relationship so I’m not gonna fuck that up’, but they keep noticing things that are just a little too similar. Which makes Nino notice similarities between everyone else.

He’s mostly staying in denial because if he’s right then he’s not sure he wont just punch something in frustration.

The Kwami!!!

Okay, so, as I mentioned, the Kwami still exist. But they’re entirely neutral instead of forces for Good. They don’t care what their Chosen use their powers for, as long as said Chosen is someone Worthy of the Powers. All have been used for both Good and Evil in the past.

Plagg, Pollen, Nooroo and Duusu all hang out together since their current Chosen are family.

Side note: While the Peacock is broken, this doesn’t effect the Kwami entirely. Duusu kind of flickers in and out for Human perspective, but the Kwami can always see them.

Tikki and Trixx hang out as well, since Mari and Alya share an apartment.

Wayzz is a bit lonely, but since Nino has his own place he doesn’t have to hide.

Plus, they can hang out whenever their Chosen are together

Because the Kwami can sense one another’s presence, and figured out who was who. They don’t tell anyone though because they find the drama too entertaining.

Next question: Do their families know and how do they feel about the Phantom Thieves?

For the most part, no, families don’t know. But I’ll go individually.

Marinette’s parents are still bakers, and they don’t know that she’s Ladybug. However, while her parents agree that two wrongs don’t make a right, Mari assures them that these thieves aren’t that bad, and are actually fairly helpful to taking down actual bad guys.

Alya’s parents are pretty much the same. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they seem to be doing good.

Her younger sisters are actually very invested in the thieves, thinking it’s super cool! Big fans of Ladybug and Rena Rouge (Alya is low-key proud about this)

Her older sister, on the other hand, well… Nora is in the same boat as the parents, but she’s concerned over how much Ella and Etta idolize the thieves, since they are technically idolizing criminals.

Their parents don’t think it’s that bad. It’s a cool thing a lot of people are into. It’s not going to ruin the fabric of society since these kids still understand that stealing is a crime.

It causes some problems since in her over-protectiveness, Nora sometimes says some hurtful things toward the thieves, not knowing she’s insulting Alya.

Nino’s family are also similar, but they don’t know about Carapace since he’s more behind-the-scenes. They do keep telling him that since he’s so talented with computers, he should do something more with that instead of just music. If only they knew…

Chloé’s parents are more outright against the thieves.

Her dad has to be, since he’s the mayor. In private he does express that he’s thankful to Chat Noir and Honeybee, since they’ve exposed several corrupt politicians, which has helped him with his job.

Her mother, on the other hand, well… her mother is one of the kinds of people that they would target. And several of her friends have already been arrested because of their crimes being exposed. She doesn’t care what crimes her buddies committed, just that they got caught. Every conversation between them is like: Audrey: “I miss going to the Merciers’ Holiday parties. They always hired the best catering.” Chloé: Yeah, too bad he was arrested for ripping off innocent people with insurance fraud. Just hire the same catering business.’.

Since we already know what Adrien’s parents think of all this, let’s discuss Nathalie!

She’s a friend of Gabriel and Emilie’s, and did become Gabriel’s assistant at his day job.

However, she was not really part of their Thief work. She knew about it, of course. She couldn’t know them as long as she did without knowing them. And se would help in casing places and planning things, but stopped short of fully helping because they wanted to let her have some plausible deniability should they get caught.

Nathalie did pick up some skill over the years, like lockpicking and dodging traps.

Adrien and Chloé see her as a big sister. She would usually babysit while Gabriel and Emilie were out.

First heists:

Chat Noir and Honeybee’s first heist was against some corrupt politician.

Right after Emilie’s accident and they were forbidden from doing things, Adrien and Chloé found their own Miraculous.

While they’d been casing a few potential targets, they picked this politician after one fancy dinner event thing where he pissed off Chloé in particular, and they decided to hit him first.

After the heist, when the news was reporting, they said that it had several classic hallmarks of Paon and Mariposa. Gabriel and Emilie are watching this report and giving each other the ‘please tell me they didn’t...’ look. When news then shows Chat Noir and Honeybee showing off for the cameras, they recognize their kids.

Ladybug and Rena Rouge’s first heist happened in this AU’s version of Silencer.

Marinette and Alya found the Miraculous. They wonder what exactly to do with them, even thinking about becoming Superheroes.

When their friends start a band and are ripped off, they use their powers to break into the studio to find proof of this.

They didn’t mean to become Phantom Thieves, but they were good at it. So they keep going.

Carapace

I’m not sure about his first heist. It was probably something personal, but he covered his tracks well enough when he first did it. And he decided to keep going, righting wrongs and all that.

Nino would’ve been a thief before finding the Miraculous, but he found it soon after and got his ‘theme’.

Paon and Mariposa

Their first heists were years ago, before Adrien was born. Hell, Gabriel’s first heist was before he and Emilie got together.

I feel like this started with Gabriel being in a similar position Ladybug and Rena Rouge. Like, he’s still a Fashion Designer, and some asshole ripped off his designs so he used his power to find proof. Then kept with it.

He was originally a solo act until he met Emilie. He eventually sat her down for the ‘hey I’m a master thief’ talk, and she wanted in. She already had the Butterfly, but had yet to do anything with it.

Let’s talk about the other characters for a little bit. AKA, the classmates. I don’t have specific ideas for all of them yet, but the basic idea is that they’re various contacts in the business. Some are people with special skills, others are contacts to sell things, and a few people who can gather info or give them access to their targets. All of them would have their own codenames too, each corresponding to their in-show Hero Persona. But most of those haven’t been revealed yet so you know. Not sure how their Akuma forms would work at all.

Sabrina – A friend of Chloé’s. Information gatherer. She’s good at remaining invisible, so to speak. People don’t notice her, allowing her to hear secrets. Exclusive to Chat’s team, doesn’t know their identities(she thinks the info she gives to Chloé is for her dad’s political career)

Alix – Museum contact. Good at figuring out value and origins of the various treasures they steal. Not to mention that she knows how to break into various other museums. Also a great getaway driver. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Nathaniel – Art world contact. Oh, you have a valuable painting? Hm. Looks like its worth a few million. Let me find you someone who could buy that. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Max – While he can rival Carapace’s hacking skills, his specialty is in robotics, flying drones and stuff. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Kim – trap and weapon expert. While our thieves do rely more on Magic, they do sometimes need more mundane tools. None of them kill, only subdue. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Members of Kitty Section – The band itself is a way for Marinette and Alya to have access, as they’re invited to places as either guests or entertainment, and can bring along a friend or two. Exclusive to Ladybug’s team, suspect Marinette and Alya are the thieves, but decide it’s better not to know in case one of them gets caught.

Some of them do have special skills on their own, but I can’t think of them right now.

I’m going to go ahead and say that Luka is Marinette’s ex. They broke up on good terms with little heartbreak and are still very close friends, but they’re no longer together. (Luka does give Adrien the ‘you hurt her and I’ll fight you’ talk. I mean so does everyone but you know.)

Kagami – Along with fencing she does a different kind of fencing if you know what I mean. Originally exclusive to Chat’s team, but does end up working for both. She might know identities, but idk.

I want to say she used to date either Adrien or Chloé, but whichever one it was they’ve since broken up(on good terms)

Back to Story:

More on the Lovesquare:

Adrienette – very cute, as usual. Everyone thinks they’re a couple. Literally the only thing keeping them from getting together is ‘if we hook up I have to tell you about my secret identity and you might hate me/arrest me’.

Ladynoir – oh. If you thought their flirt banter was bad as partners, imagine the Rival Flirt Banter. During the whole mission the rest of the team are always like ‘uh… would you two like to take a time out while we handle this?’.

Ladrien – This doesn’t get much interaction, because Ladybug doesn’t want Adrien to catch her. I mean, she trusts him enough to know that even if he does catch her, he cares enough about ‘Marinette’ that he probably would let her go. But she thinks he might hate her for it. When they do meet, she’s more reserved than usual, which always throws Adrien off.

Marichat – oh boy. While there is still the fear in the ‘she might hate me if she finds out it’s me’, and they don’t interact much, Chat’s mindset is more ‘if anyone is to catch me, it will be you. And if you manage it, you deserve to know.’. So he can’t help but flirt with Marinette. And since she has no fear of Chat finding out who she is, she flirts back.

I haven’t addressed the fashion!

So, Gabriel’s day job is still fashion designer. That was his original dream anyway, before becoming Paon. While he does take it seriously, like the rest of the thieves he uses it to gather information on targets. Especially because no one thinks of a fashion designer as a threat.

Marinette is in a similar boat. She wants to be a designer, and was heading there before becoming Ladybug. She hasn’t exactly ‘quit’, as she still designs and makes outfits in what spare time she has, but her other jobs take up most of her time.

Mari actually didn’t make the connection between Adrien and Gabriel until Adrien is like ‘hey my dad wanted to ask why you stopped designing?’. Like, she knew Gabriel had a son her age and obvs she knew Adrien’s last name, but why would the son of a famous fashion designer be a detective?

After she does make the connection, she starts to stammer something about how she doesn’t want Adrien to ask his dad about this, because she doesn’t want to use their friendship to further her career even if it’s a career she hasn’t furthered in a while.

Adrien’s like ‘Oh no. I just mentioned your name and he remembered you from a while back. You won a few of his contests and designed for a couple celebrities. He thought you had a lot of talent but then you disappeared and he was wondering what happened.’.

She explains that while she still likes it and would love to be a designer, various things get in the way. Adrien says that if she ever wants to try again she has an invite from his dad. Mari kinda dies.

Of course, all of this leads up to the eventual story line where they do end up teaming up to go after a specific target. Why would they team up now even though they’ve been targeting the same people for months? Well, because they have not just a mutual target, but a mutual enemy.

Adrien comes into work one day to find Marinette studying images from a recent heist.

From the images, it looks like Rena Rouge has gone off the rails. Not only pulling a heist without Ladybug, but pulling a heist on an innocent target.

Adrien finds it odd, wonders what happened, but the way Marinette practically growls at him when he suggests that Ladybug and Rena had a fight makes him think otherwise.

Mari can’t tell him, of course, but Rena has a solid alibi. In fact, Adrien is part of that Alibi since the five of them had been hanging out that night.

Hm… a Fake Fox… You know where I’m going with this.

Next heist, Rena can’t keep herself from addressing the press when they showed up. ‘Hey, heard there’s someone out there impersonating me! Not cool man!’.

A few days later, there’s confirmation of a different Fox-themed Thief. ‘Volpina’.

She plays off the whole ‘Rena Rouge’ thing, claiming that she’s the real Fox, and Rena is just copying her.

Then she takes it a step further, claiming to be Paon’s successor, after he dropped his last ‘Assistant’, Mariposa for being so inadequate.

Both teams are fucking pissed.

Ladybug and Chat both try and call Carapace at the same time, asking him to get them in contact with the other. He’s just connects them now.

Both are immediately like ‘I need you to help kick Volpina’s ass!’.

They’re a little surprised. While Chat knew that Ladybug was upset about Volpina’s Fox theme, he didn’t expect her to ask him for help.

Ladybug, in turn, asks him why he wants her help with this.

He claims that it’s about honor. Volpina’s claim of being Paon’s successor is insulting enough, but she went on suggesting that Paon would be okay with her methods and choice of targets. And bringing Mariposa into the mix is despicable.

Everyone notices that it seems personal, but he doesn’t go into it.

They all agree to meet at Carapace’s base.

After our five Thieves get together and start working out the details of how this will go, someone else shows up. A man, about twice their age, in a purple suit and mask.

Chat and Honeybee are surprised, but grinning.

Ladybug and Rena are on the defensive.

Carapace asks how the hell he got in there without setting off the alarms. The man replies with ‘I’m a Phantom Thief. It’s what I do.’.

When asked on his name, he tells them that while he used to go by ‘Paon’, it doesn’t quite fit his new outfit. Hawkmoth sounds much better, doesn’t it?

Honeybee mutters something about him being dramatic.

Cue Ladybug, Rena, and Carapace freaking the hell out over Paon. Like trying not to fangirl.

After that, identities start to fall apart.

It starts when Chat refers to Hawkmoth as ‘Father’. When they’re like ‘wait, what?’, he just gives his best cat grin and says ‘told you Volpina wasn’t Paon’s sucessor’. They also take a moment to clarify Volpina’s words about Mariposa, saying she wasn’t an ‘assistant’, but Paon’s partner and wife of several years.

I actually think it’d be hilarious if Gabriel figures out the identities first. It happens when Ladybug is taking a break, having gotten frustrated. She decided to start sketching something out, and he recognizes the style as Marinette’s. Of course he makes the connection to the other two friends being the other two thieves.

Gabriel doesn’t tell any of the team. He goes home to Emilie, tells her, and she’s just laughing at how ridiculous and convoluted it is.

The biggest reveal, of course, is between Chat and Ladybug.

While they’re planning this out, trying to pin down Volpina so they can target her like usual, they realize that this feels a lot like working with their detective partner. Each can barely keep from saying their partner’s name instead of their ‘rival’s’ name.

Chat gets an idea. A very bad and dumb idea.

When Ladybug leaves for a break and goes back home as Marinette, she finds Chat waiting for her.

He offers her a deal. She helps him take down Volpina, and she’ll get him. He admits it’s a gamble, but he has a feeling she won’t actually arrest him. The only part of it is that she’s not allowed to go after the rest of his ‘team’.

Mari is amused, and knows there’s probably a trick to let him not get caught at the last second, but she agrees to the deal. She does manage to text Rena and tell her not to react to what’s happening.

Chat leads her back to the base. Hawkmoth is amused at Chat’s decision because of who it is. Honeybee is pissed because ‘damn it she’s trying to arrest you don’t bring her here!’. Carapace almost gives himself away because he nearly forgets that he doesn’t know ‘Marinette’.

At first, they set up as a ‘Marinette will help us’ thing. But, honestly, it’s Hawkmoth telling her to do away with the trick. Because it’d be easier if she just helps instead of pretending to be two people.

Marinette and Rena are a bit shocked he figured her out so quick, but agree.

Marinette admits to being Ladybug. Everyone realizes that means Rena is Alya.

Chat just decides ‘well, since we’re telling secrets here...’, and reveals his own identity to them. Obvs they connect Chloé to Honeybee and Hawkmoth/Paon to Gabriel(along with Emilie being Mariposa)

Mari has a minor freakout over how her two idols in both professions are the same person.

Carapace just starts ranting with a ‘this is complete bullshit I can’t believe you idiots’ and detransforms into Nino half-way through

They find out the Kwami knew the whole time and there’s several shouts of ‘you little fucker!!’.

Mari and Adrien kinda have a talk on their own

Mostly just the ‘hey, now that I know you won’t arrest me...’.

Legit though, they had fallen in love twice and now it’s kind of a thing. They do agree that they should probably put off the part where they get all snuggly and all until after this job.

You do get some flirting like Adrien saying ‘Well, even if you won’t arrest me, you can still put me in cuffs.’. (Chloé overhears that and passive-agressively kinkshames him)

At some point, they discover that the Ladybug Miraculous might be able to fix other Miraculous, and the Balancing Ability of it and the Black Cat might be able to fix Emilie’s unstable Magic.

Oh yeah. Paon and Mariposa are back in action!

Jokes aside, they decide to make ‘taking down Volpina’ be their last heist, officially and publicly calling Chat and team their ‘Successors’.

Back to them tracking down Volpina

They find out that most of their other contacts have been in contact with her (You know, to parallel Lila manipulating the class).

At first they were a bit enraptured with the idea of ‘Paon’s successor’ and liked working with her, despite their hesitation with her methods.

But since Ladybug and Chat have the real Paon, along with the real Mariposa, they can prove that Volpina has no clue what she’s talking about.

The actual heist is a beautiful amount of fuckery.

The main team of seven doing their own various parts, disabling trap after trap and stealing anything not nailed down.

They call in literally everyone just to make this seem as easy and ‘fuck you’ as possible.

And it actually does go really smoothly. Perhaps overkill, but they wanted to make sure.

All of the attention this gets is WILD

I mean, I mentioned people being fans of the thieves. And can you imagine how much all this is for them?

Ladybug and Chat’s team up being official, along with a definite ‘She pulls him into a kiss in celebration’ thing.

The return of Paon and Mariposa, along with it being their Finale

Them calling the whole team their successors, though dropping the drama bomb of Chat being their legit kid.

The fact that they returned just to spite some new thief who insulted them on such a personal level.

Also, Volpina herself had gotten a lot of fame quickly, so her downfall is very big.

After that, Paon and Mariposa officially retire, Ladybug and Chat officially team up permanently, Marinette and Adrien get together, and they all have happily ever after and stuff.

[crossbows-and-moonshine]

Blood in the Water (Sequel to Such a Softer Sin) Chapter 15

(Chapter 1)

(Chapter 2)

(Chapter 3)

(Chapter 4)

(Chapter 5)

(Chapter 6)

(Chapter 7)

(Chapter 8)

(Chapter 9)

(Chapter 10)

(Chapter 11)

(Chapter 12)

(Chapter 13)

(Chapter 14)

Okay, so some of you guys might be a little upset with me since it’s gonna feel like I've skipped over some stuff. So let me explain myself a little before the pitchforks come out looool.

I’ve mentioned before I don't plan my writing, I free write. I literally open a blank document, start typing randomly and the story makes itself. Because of this, I’m often surprised myself with where the story goes and believe me when I say the whole baby thing was not expected and it became a little hard to write honestly with my personal experience on the matter.

The story was in a very dark place, and I was so stuck on how to move it forward. At one point I almost considered not even finishing it o.O

So, this chapter is me trying to move things along back to a place that's nice to read and not so horrible and dark. As much as I love hurt and angst, too much of it is a bad thing.

So if you’re upset with me for skipping over some things, I’m sorry. It was either this or abandoning the story altogether.

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

The back of the van was slightly cold and Lila shifted, her ass going numb as she sighed.

“Think they’ll be done soon?” Rocco asked quietly from beside her, he was fidgeting himself and she knew he was nervous.

“I have no idea Roc.” She replied softly, laying her head on his shoulder. It was D day, the day she had been waiting for and the boys and their father were currently inside the courthouse. There was a risk, being in public like this. They had quite a few cops on their side but anything could happen and they were both nervous for the boys to return. Rocco had been instructed to stay by Lilas side for two reasons; the first one being the assholes thought he was dead and they all wanted it to stay that way, they wouldn't go looking for a dead man. The second was the fact that the boys were reluctant to leave Lila by herself at all, and having Roc there eased their minds when they wouldn't be able to be with her themselves.

It had been a couple of months now, it hadn't been plain sailing in the slightest. Despite Lila and the boys wanting to go back to how it used to be, it of course took time. The distance the boys had created by leaving her for so long and the heartache of the baby still loomed over them, making things awkward and strained at first. Connor had been the one to push through, knowing he had no choice. He would plonk himself down next to her and sling an arm around her shoulders, he knew it would encourage his brother, give him some confidence to touch the girl himself. Eventually, with each passing day, things started to ease up and they managed to slip back into the same easy routine they had always had. Both boys touching her without thought, Lila enjoying it, the three of them just gravitating towards each other all of the time.

Lila’s mental state was also something that took time to piece together. At first, she had nightmares every night which worried the boys to no end. When she would wake screaming, she wouldn't let them touch her and would mutter things to herself. Her mood swings had also been almost unbearable, but they pushed through because they loved her, and even though she no longer blamed them, they still blamed themselves. In time, the nightmares got less frequent until they were rare, and with that, her moods seemed to settle and she started to seem happier than she had been. They were all grateful for it. The boys knew they made the worst mistake of their lives with leaving her, they would never be able to take it back, all they could do was help her through anything she needed and be there for her, or give her space when she wanted.

The boys were unsure at first if she would ever want another baby with them, to start a family, but when they started being intimate again, they didn't use protection and she hadn't said a word. It was unspoken between them, almost like all of them were too wary to bring it up, but the knowledge was there all the same that they still wanted that with each other. They knew if she got pregnant again, it wouldn't replace the life lost, not by a long shot. That wasn't why they wanted to have another baby with her. They wanted a family with her, a new baby would just simply be an extension, the baby they had lost was a soul in their own right and no amount of other children would ever take their place.

The bags were packed and ready in the van, Noah would be driving them to the docks where they'd already got passage on a boat. It was all set up and ready, all Lila and Rocco had to do was wait for the three to return so they could be off and start their new life. It felt like a lifetime until the boys opened the back doors of the van and hopped in, Noah getting in the front and making a quick getaway. She looked at them questioning, no words needed, asking if it was done. They both nodded and she sighed in relief. The boys looked lighter and she knew why. They had sent that piece of shit to judgement and the boys knew, they had faith that God would punish him justly for what he had done, not just to them and their girl, but anyone he had ever crossed.

Rocco moved over to the other side of the van knowing the boys would want to sit either side of her and he wasn't wrong, the boys settling on each side. Connor laced his fingers with hers as Murphy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It was a profound moment after what they had just done, where their life was heading, and none of them could bring themselves to speak, just letting the moment wash over them. It didn't take too long to get to the docks and on the boat, Lila sharing a room with the boys and Rocco sharing with Noah.

It took a few days to get to Ireland, they were all getting a little stir crazy by the end of the trip and Lila couldn't wait to just have some decent rest. The beds they had been staying in had been small and reminded her of prison cots, she had been alternating between each boys bed every night since they couldn't move them together, they had been attached to the wall. The plan was that Rocco and Noah were taking one car, going to the farm they’d be living at now, their new home, whilst the boys took Lila on a little detour to see their Ma. They'd be living close enough to her that if they had children, she would be able to be part of their lives. They had all agreed not to tell their mother about anything, especially not the baby, they didn't want to hurt her. All she knew was that the boys' father had come back into their lives and they had all decided to move back home. Annabel hadn't been upset about it, it meant they were close by and she really wanted to meet Lila.

Lila was nervous if she was honest. She knew the woman liked her, they had talked on the phone a lot and got on well. But meeting her face to face was different, especially when Murphy and Connor kept going on how scary she could fucking be. They pulled up a dirt road to a quaint little house, Connor stopping the car. Murphy had been sat in the back with her and he jumped out, her following suit. The door opened and Annabel walked out, a wide grin on her face at seeing her boys for the first time in years.

“Ma!” Murphy laughed boyishly as he ran over, wrapping his arms around her. It was fucking adorable and Lila watched him with a smile of her own. Connor smirked at her, walking with her as they made their way over to the door. When she released Murphy, Connor embraced her, it warmed Lilas heart to see the boys with their mother.

“Well, come on then, let's look at ye.” The older woman grinned as she practically shoved Connor out of the way to see Lila. Murphy snorted at the offended look on his brothers face.

“Christ on a cracker, ye little shits failed te mention just how pretty she is.” She chided, making Murphy squint at his Ma whilst Lila blushed furiously.

“Well that's a fuckin’ lie, we told ye all the fuckin’ time how beautiful she is.” He huffed, wincing when he got a clip around the ear. Lila had to bite her lower lip so she didn't laugh but Connor was more than happy to laugh loudly at his brother's misfortune.

“Language around the ladies, ye little fuck.” Annabel scolded him, making him pull a face and lower his head.

“What ladies?” Connor snorted jokingly, only to grumble when he too got a clip around the ear. It seemed to cheer his brother right up though.

“It's lovely te meet ye lass, me lads are lucky te have found someone te put up wit’ their shit.” Annabel grinned as she wrapped her arms around Lila.

“They're not all bad.” Lila snorted as she hugged her back, making the woman bark out a laugh.

A few hours later and just like Murphy had imagined all that time ago, their Ma had shown her every baby picture of the boys she owned whilst complaining about everything they had ever done wrong. They were sure the woman had a fucking list somewhere that she had kept to keep track of everything. The twins had watched on with stupid smiles on their faces, loving how their mother seemed to love the girl as much as they did, it was nice watching them laugh together, for them to be home. It just felt right that she was there with them.

“I can get ye a job at the Anvil, the boys' uncle Sibeal could use a spare set o' hands and he wouldn't mind another pretty face te have around.” Annabel said as she sipped her tea, making Lila grateful, she had been worried about getting a job here.

“Just make sure he keeps his fuckin’ hands te himself.” Connor squinted as he pointed at her.

“Aye, or we’ll cut ‘em fuckin’ off.” Murphy scowled, making his mother snort a little. It was strange to see her boys, now real men, being so protective and jealous. She wasn't too surprised though and she knew exactly what they meant. Sibeal could be a bit of menace when he wanted to be around women but she had no doubt Lila would put him in his place herself if it ever came to that.

“So, when's the weddin’?”Annabel asked bluntly. The three of them went quiet. They hadn't really talked about it, or thought about it. The wedding was supposed to be in Boston but that obviously couldn't happen now despite the fact they had paid for some of the shit already. Now they didn't know what they were going to do. Annabel looked between them all and laughed, noticing their faces.

“I should've known ye wouldn't have thought about it, ye little fucks. Don't worry about it, I’m sure Father O’Malley will be happy te do the weddin’, I’ll have a word wit’ him and get it all sorted.” She said, clearly excited about the whole thing. It was weird for the boys to see their mother enthusiastic about something other than booze. They were glad though, not only was she approving of the relationship, they knew she would indeed take care of everything and after all they had been through, planning a wedding wasn’t something they were looking forward to.

After some more ear bashing about the fact they hadn't called and made her worry, they were once again on their way, this time to their new home. When they pulled up, Lila was shocked at how much land they had. She wasn't sure just how they had acquired it but she wasn't going to ask. As she got out of the car, she noticed the little cottage with the lights on, knowing that's where Noah would be. Rocco was living in the main house with the three of them but he would be living in the extension which had all its own facilities. She had no doubt though he had no intention of cooking for himself when she would do it for him. It was like this place was made for them and she could honestly imagine raising children here, it made her excited and her heart hurt all at the same time.

The boys came out of the car and stood on either side of her, Connors arm around her waist and Murphys around her shoulder

“So, what do ye think?” Connor asked, glancing at her with a smile.

“I really like it, it feels like home already.” She grinned, making boy boys beam smiles at her. They could make it work here. It was time to look forward to the future now and try to let go of the past, and this was certainly a step in the right direction.

Taglist; @risingphoenix761 @daryldixonandfrogs @arlaina28 @divadinag

[khrsecretsanta]

To: Pickingweeds (Choi)

ARC 1 - COMING SOON!!!

ARC 2 - Crismalsnowburst (Hana)

Arc 2! @Pickingweeds I really had fun with this one! I hope you have a wonderful holiday <3

ARC 3 - Raineynight713 (Rainey)

Hello, this is my Arc 3 gift for Pickingweeds (Choi)! I hope you enjoy it!

So they slept together occasionally. That didn’t mean anything. They were adults, and neither of them were unattractive, and it was convenient. Romance didn’t even enter into it.

Damn Bianchi and her romance obsession.

“Oh Hayato, I’m so happy you found love young. I’ve only ever wanted the best for you, little brother,” she said sappily as she pulled him into a choking hug. He gasped, trying to claw his way out of her grasp.

“What’re you talking about, you crazy woman?!” he growled as he patted his suit down to remove any wrinkles caused by the sudden attack of affection.

“Why, this of course!” She brandished a magazine and waved it in his face until he grabbed it irritably and read the title of the article it was opened to.

“Couples Bucket List? What does this have to do with anything?”

“I saw you reading it earlier, Hayato. Don’t think you have to hide it from me, I’ll never turn you away because of who you love,” she proclaimed dramatically, clutching his lapels. He tried to brush her away to no avail.

“Look, I don’t know how you know about that, but love doesn’t enter into it. It’s an understanding between coworkers, that’s all,” he gritted out as his face turned red.

Bianchi gave him a knowing look, made all the more aggravating because she was wrong, before turning dramatically away. “Whatever you say, dear Hayato. But remember, the bud of love can only bloom when given sweet nourishment and delicate care.”

Hayato was left standing in the middle of the corridor, befuddled, holding the stupid magazine, and wondering if that had been an innuendo, or if his sister was just nonsensical.

For days, he hadn’t been able to put it out of his head. The question would lurk in the back of his thoughts, waiting until he’d almost forgotten about it, then strike. Was he in a relationship with the Baseball Idiot? Surely not, they just slept together, they didn’t do couple-y things.

_________

Number 36. Horseback Ride on the Beach

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I told you to make sure we had a getaway vehicle, you moron!” Hayato screamed, in a not at all high pitched voice, from where he was clutching onto Takeshi for dear life. Bullets were hitting the sand around them, spraying it into the air as they charged down the beach.

His very valid criticism was met with laughter, of course. “Mah, I didn’t know you had a preference. You didn’t say earlier,” Takeshi said with a smile. Hayato couldn’t even see his face, since he was riding behind him on the horse, but he just knew there was a big smile on the idiot’s face. He could feel a vein in his forehead throbbing.

“I didn’t think I needed to, it should be understood that when I said getaway vehicle I meant a car, not a fucking horse!” Hayato devolved into Italian curses, which garnered more laughter.

“Haha, it’s rude to talk about people in languages they can’t understand Hayato.”

“That might be true, but don’t even fucking try to tell me you don’t speak Italian, you-” Hayato’s angry shouting was cut off when Takeshi spoke again.

“So would this be a bad time to tell you I don’t know how to drive a horse?” The idiot didn’t even have the decency to sound ashamed.

“You don’t drive a- wait, what did you just say?!”

If they both made it out of there alive, it would be a miracle.

Number 48. Cliff jump while holding hands

The screams had died down behind them, leaving only burning wreckage behind. Unfortunately, their bikes had been casualties of an explosion, and one of the guys had gotten off a signal for reinforcements before meeting a swift end on Takeshi’s blade. They’d been forced to run through the forest at the back to escape.

“Ch, I don’t know what those bastards thought they’d get, doing sick shit like that on Vongola turf,” Hayato huffed as they ran.

“Haha, yeah, it was pretty dumb,” Takeshi answered with a grin. His voice abruptly darkened for his next words. “They’re lucky it was us that was sent to dispatch them and not Mukuro. He doesn’t take kindly to human experimentation. He’d have their brains leaking out their ears.”

Hayato couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down his back at that tone of voice. It always did something for him when the Baseball Idiot got into one of his dangerous moods.

They abruptly pulled to a stop when the ground they had been running along dropped sharply off into a cliff that ended in a large lake.

“Huh, I don’t remember this being in the area maps we received, do you?” Takeshi asked, ruffling his hair in consternation.

“No, it wasn’t. Must be pretty recent. How to get around…” Hayato wracked his brain to find a way out of their situation.

“We could just jump,” Takeshi suggested nonchalantly, his smile growing when disbelieving eyes were turned on him.

“That’s at least a two story drop, there’s no way we’d make that, plus we have no idea if there’s rocks at the bottom. How in the world do you think we’re gonna survive that?”

“I think I can use Rain flames to get us down safely. I mean, in theory.”

“In theory?! Theory isn’t gonna mean shit when we’re splatted-” Hayato’s rant was cut off when Takeshi grabbed his hand and leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Trust me?” he asked with a warm smile.

Hayato huffed. The idiot already knew the answer to that question. He tightened his hand, and the next moment, they jumped.

Number 63. Kiss in the rain

“Ugh, it’s been raining for days. I hate the fucking rain,” Hayato grumbled as he walked across the courtyard. There was no point to ducking under an awning to escape the downpour, he was already soaked.

Strong arms encircled his waist and a familiar body molded itself to his back. Warm breath tickled his ear.

“But you love fucking the Rain, right?” Takeshi asked teasingly, a wiggle of his hips making absolutely sure Hayato couldn’t miss his meaning.

“Really? That’s the line you’re going with? Try a little harder, Baseball Idiot,” was the snide reply.

“Aww, c’mon Hayato, I just got back from my mission. I missed you,” Takeshi whispered into his ear, leaving light kisses on his earlobe and starting down his neck.

Hayato ruthlessly suppressed the smile threatening to show. “You should go to bed if you just got back, idiot.”

“But Hayatooo, I’ve been thinking about you all week,” he whined piteously.

“If you’ve been waiting for a week, you can wait a few more hours. Some important paperwork just came in regarding an alliance Juudaime has been working towards,” Hayato told him firmly.

Takeshi huffed, clearly realizing he wasn’t going to win that argument. “Fine, but at least give me a little sample to tide me over.”

Before Hayato could ask what he meant, he was being turned around and pulled to Takeshi’s chest. Warm hands slid slowly down his sides, over his hips, and landed on his ass, where they pulled him even closer and copped a generous feel while his lips were caught in a kiss.

The kiss didn’t last for more than a moment, but it was enough to leave him breathless. Takeshi smirked down at him. “Alright, I’m off to bed. I’ll see you later, Hayato.” With a wink, he was off, and Hayato was left to hurry inside out of the rain. The sooner he finished with work, the sooner he could teach that idiot a lesson about teasing him.

Number 61. Slow dance

The Christmas Gala was packed, just like all Vongola events were. Juudaime would be happy, he’d organized the event specifically to raise funds for charity.

The guardians were keeping watch around the ballroom (excluding Hibari, who Juudaime had tasked with patrolling the grounds for the sake of everyone). There usually was at least one bastard willing to try something at these things, but so far there’d been no trouble. Maybe it was the holiday spirit infecting everyone and making them practice goodwill to all men or something. Hayato didn’t really care, so long as no one ruined the event Juudaime had worked so hard on. His fingers itched for some dynamite at the thought of some bastard trying just that.

“May I have this dance?” A deep voice asked from beside him, and he whipped around, ready to turn the invitation down with prejudice before he realized who was asking.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought it was some other idiot,” Hayato said, catching Takeshi’s smile and cursing his fair skin when he felt himself flush lightly.

“You’re seeing other idiots? I thought you were a one-idiot kinda man,” Takeshi teased, using Hayato’s spluttering as an opportunity to lead him onto the dance floor and wrap his arms around his neck, encouraging Hayato to put his own around Takeshi’s waist.

“Most guys here would make it some kinda dick measuring contest, trying to figure out who could lead,” Hayato said, tightening his arms as he resigned himself to dancing. Takeshi snorted, burying his face in Hayato’s hair to muffle it.

“Yeah, but most guys here can probably dance better than me,” Takeshi said with a smile.

Hayato rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that, idiot.”

“Mmm, your idiot,” was the whispered reply. He almost said something sarcastic, but instead decided it was a better idea to kiss Takeshi until they were both out of breath.

_________

Damn it, they were a couple. He hated it when Bianchi was right. She was always so smug about it.

Biting his lip in indecision, he decided to hell with it and shot Takeshi a text.

10:16am, Me: hey, you wanna go out for dinner w me tonight??

10:16am, Baseball Idiot: YES :DDDD

Snorting, he turned his phone off and got back to work. It was a busy day, so he’d have to hurry if he wanted to finish in time to get ready for his date.

_________

List can be found here: https://bucketlistjourney.net/couples-bucket-list-things-to-do/

[maizeofloverp]

Full name: Billie Copeland

Age: 31

Birth date: August 5th, 1987

Gender & pronouns: Female, She/Her

Affiliation: Northside Rascals

Occupation: Mechanic & Owner of Copeland’s Garage and proprietor of her fight club, The Gym

Faceclaim: Mary Elizabeth Winstead

B i o g r a p h y »

Despite her mother’s best efforts, Billie Copeland grew up idolizing her father, Buck. The youngest daughter of a local criminal in a backwater Kentucky town, Billie quickly beat out the rest of her siblings and secured her spot as her father’s favorite. Her parents had some issues to sort out that she couldn’t quite understand at the time due to her youth but even then, their arguments didn’t matter to her. All that mattered was being included in her father’s affection and being let in on his little secret. Buck had the habit of disappearing for times on end but she paid no mind of it, always dreaming of him coming back. He always did and with him came stories of his exploits, filling her with wonder. Even as a child, Buck made it a habit to be honest with his daughter, pulling her onto his knee and explaining that he had spent the last two days casing a store in a nearby town in order to rob it with his friends. Bribing politicians, illegal gambling, shaking down folks, his activities didn’t invoke a sense of morality in her but rather a lack thereof. Other children might have wanted to be cops or firemen or teachers or astronauts but Billie wanted to be a criminal.

She received her first chance to show her grit at age eleven when - on a dare from one of her brothers - she stole her first car. It wasn’t hard to jimmy open the driver’s door like her father had showed her one night. It was even easier to slip into and hotwire. Sitting on some books and stretching her leg out to press her foot on the gas, Billie didn’t have the prickling of conscience as she sped away from the parking lot and left her brother gaping after her. She didn’t feel shame or guilt later that evening when the exasperated local cops dropped her off at home much to the horror of her mother. All that mattered was the quick grin and wink her father gave her when he came home to find his favorite child being severely reprimanded by her mother still hours later.

No longer satisfied with stories, Billie confessed to her father that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and so began her informal education. She suffered through dull classes at school to keep her mother off her back but coming home to learn the ins and outs of unsavory activities from her father was what she looked forward to every day. She’d come home at 3 pm everyday and join Buck in the garage, watching him mess around with the engine of a getaway car and listening to his tips. Her father started involving her in more of his activities, taking her to jobs with him. Everything was going swimmingly until a larger gang moved into their town of Corbin, effectively chasing out all small time criminals. Finally listening to his wife that things were getting too risky, Buck picked up his family and moved them to Muddy Waters when Billie was 16. After reopening his garage and chop shop, he quickly immersed himself with the Northside Rascals and continued with them until an incident landed him in the hospital with buckshot in his chest. While he made a full recovery, Buck decided it was time for him to retire and for Billie to take his place.

After taking over her father’s garage and chop shop, Billie wasn’t necessarily satisfied. The chop shop worked fine but she wanted something more. After helping her family with her father’s recovery, Billie started to formulate a plan in her head. It took a few years to come to fruition but after working her ass off, running jobs and reaching out to her father’s old associates throughout the states, Billie purchased a large plot of land with a few dilapidated buildings from a man who just wanted to sell the land and be done with it. With the help of some of her childhood friends she invited to Muddy Waters and another year, she managed to turn that trash heap into a den of immorality. After relocating her garage and chop shop there, Billie opened her land to outsiders, quietly promoting a fight club complete with gambling and even a safe place for the occasional sex worker needing a place to operate out of. True to his nature, when Buck heard of his daughter’s exploits, Billie received the biggest grin he had ever given.

P e r s o n a l i t y »

Billie’s been able to slip in and out of trouble since she was young without ever really feeling bad for her actions. She doesn’t lie, cheat, drink, fuck, steal, or fight to fill some void in her. She does it because it makes her feel good. Breaking the law just feels so good. Shrewd and adaptable, Billie took what she learned from her father and went even further with it by expanding. While she might have participated in her fight club in the beginning - no stranger to throwing a punch - she’s now content to play ringmaster to the cheers of criminals around her. Still, she’s never forgotten her roots as a mechanic and can often be found working on or racing her 1970 Plymouth Barracuda when she’s anot spending time with her family.

She’s playful and entertaining, loyal and supportive but also vengeful. Billie never forgets a slight, known to throw troublesome clients out on their ass when they push her hard enough and never let them back in. By greasing a few palms inside the MWPD, Billie keeps herself ahead of them in regards to raids, often using the opportunity to give them ridiculous but otherwise legal scenes to stumble upon. Billie might open her arms to all her fellow criminals but betray her trust and she’ll make things incredibly difficult - especially in the procurement of goods. Her resourcefulness has only increased with the help of her father’s connections, allowing her to get her hands on a variety of illegal goods depending on the whims of her clients. Need something? Billie is your gal. All for the right price, though her friends get discounts every now and again.

Played by Royan