#and the security person just said it was the council's decision. so i left it at that and i had to call my mum to get her to give us a lift

[katya-goncharov]

today i acted kind of karen like in public for about the first time in my life, and i'm honestly still astonished at myself

[murdockussy]

More Than A Mission (2/6)

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader

Part one HERE | Part three HERE

Chapter Summary: Obi-Wan informs yourself and Anakin about the details of your mission, and your Master begins to seem cold towards you. 

Note: So glad you guys are enjoying this so far! :) (P.s, reader is NOT a minor, reader met Obi-Wan at 18 yrs old and is afew years older)

Words: 3,500 ish

“No, young one. You’ll be made out to be more... a woman of a more desirable interest to our target”

The words caused your breath to get stuck in your throat, you almost choking out loud as Anakin's mouth fell open, his eyes wild as he turned to look down at you, “They want her to appear as though she’s an... escort? Did the council serio-”

“I know, Anakin, but it’s the counci-”

“When I suggested she dress as a slave for that one mission the council acted as though I was deranged, now they're basically promoting th-”

“Like I said, it was in the council's best interest for the miss-”

“This is unbelievable. Do they even listen to themse-”

“Enough!” You cried, rising from the couch, the frantic movements from both the men pausing as their attention fell onto you, “I’ll do it”

“Are you sure? I have no issue going to the council right now and maki-”

You interrupted Anakin, raising your hand to shush his ramble, “It’s fine. This isn’t about you, Ani, this is about the mission”, you said, you speaking these words not only to convince your fellow padawan, but yourself, you pushing through your anxious thoughts as you continued, “As long as you follow through and stick to the plan, which you will, then odds are I won't be necessary, right? I’ll just be a blur in the background”

“Exactly. Just in the background” Obi-Wan said with full confidence, his smile weak as he read between the lines of your lies, him seeing beneath the façade of faith and recognising the fret in your eyes, him internally feeling the same.

As Obi-Wan continued in depth the plan of action, he was interrupted by a knock on the door of your apartment, two creatures entering your home with bagged costumes thrown over their shoulders and luggage gripped firmly in their hands. Rounding up his speech, the people introduced themselves, informing Obi-Wan that they were sent by the council to dress Anakin and yourself to ‘look the part’. Dismissing the two of you, you each followed the stylists into your rooms, Obi-Wan returning to his to not only mentally prepare for the mission, but more so preparing himself for the persona you we’re about to become.

Sitting down on your bed, the female instantly got to work, her making light conversation as she began drawing an exotic look on your face with makeup. As a padawan, you weren’t allowed to own such possessions, but you always admired the beauty of those who wore it, whether it was for traditional or personal reasons, you held an appreciation for the artwork people wore on their skin.  

After finishing the desired look, she packed away the products back into the bags and pulled out a brush and curling tools. Combing through your hair, she swiftly explained her reasoning for styling your hair the way she was, pinning the long locks into a high bun, securing it with crossing braids over the pile of hair as she pulled a few loose strands down, curling them to frame your face, clarifying that it gives easy access to the skin on the neck and chest, creating desire to those areas, her words causing heat to rise across your cheeks.

With your hair and makeup complete, she left you sitting on the bed as she sorted through the pile of clothing, comparing the bagged clothes against your seated frame as she hummed, making her final decision, compiling the discarded options into a neat pile.

“I think this one will complement your look best, as well as flatter your frame beneath those robes” she said, her smile genuine. Gesturing for you to stand, she unzipped the clothes from its covering to reveal one of the sultriest outfits you’ve ever seen. Overcrossing shapes of thin material overlaid the skirt, the silhouette of the outfit confusing you, your expression causing the creature to laugh. Handing you the bunch of fabric, she turned her body facing away from yours and asked you to get undressed, the question catching you off guard, but you did so anyway.

Once you were in just your undergarments, she directed you on how to pull the outfit over your body, you slithering your way into the top material before stepping into the skirt, you instantly growing uncomfortable at the unusual amount of air touching your skin.

“Do I have permission to adjust the clothes for you before I leave?” The woman said, her body still facing away from yours.

“Sure...” you replied hesitantly.

Spinning around, your instant reaction was to cover what skin you could on your torso with your arms, the woman's face lighting up with surprise as she stalked over your frame. Her eyebrows raising, she made her way to you with a laugh, “I know I shouldn’t speak such way to a Jedi, but I'd be lying if I said that outfit wasn’t made for you. You look stunning, my dear”.

Heat continued to warm your cheeks as she delicately fiddled with the fabric, pulling and pushing it around your midriff, excusing herself as she tugged the fabric covering your now exposed cleavage before adjusting the bottom half. Once she finished her tailoring, she briefly returned to the bags on your floor, pulling out a matching pair of heeled shoes, the short wedges bringing you a small amount of height as she assisted in dressing them on your feet.  

With final touches on your face, she stepped backwards from you, nodding in appreciation of her work as she began packing up her belongings, “That’s my job done. I must say, you look exceptionally stunning. I know it’s against your code, but I'd be more than happy for you to keep that costume”

Shyly laughing at her words, you kindly denied her offer, her shaking her head as she continued, “I mean it, once I'm gone you can see for yourself”

Rising from her spot on the floor, she left a black robe on your bedding for you to wear in the meantime. Bags in her hand and remaining costumes back over her shoulder, you shook her hand with thanks, her holding onto your grip momentarily longer than you anticipated.  

“We people appreciate what you Jedi do for us, and I'm incredibly grateful for your service. But woman to woman, a look this good shouldn’t be put to waste, enjoy what you can of it” whispering the last part, you giggled at her words, thanking her a final time before she exited your room. Unsure of what to do, you decided to make your way to the refresher, interested to see if you believed the truth behind her words, and the moment you caught yourself in the reflection, you knew she was right.

You couldn’t resist from gawking at yourself, the deep red crisscrossing fabric falling from your shoulders to then covering your breast, wrapping itself across your midsection twice before ending in a knot at the base of your hip, only to be followed by an asymmetrical skirt ending just below the knee, the shortest side of the fabric with a slip that cut off mid-thigh. Alongside the outfit, you were completely blown away by the art of your face, the edges of your eyes smokey and extended, your features exotic and alluring, almost cat eyed like, finishing off with a perfect but not too overwhelming glossy lip. Twisting yourself from side to side, you ran your hands along your exposed figure, a wave of excitement flowing over you.

You’d experienced before what the women of the night wore before, passing many in evening missions, and you always had the upmost respect for them, understanding their jobs as you would anyone else's. Anakin's curiosity towards them sparked one of the first time’s Obi-Wan had ever explained what they experience in their line of work and the topic of sex, always dabbling in both the good and the bad, adding the cherry on top being it was inappropriate for some Jedi.

And although you’d never admit it openly, you’ve always wanted to experience such pleasures for yourself.  

Sure, you knew there were ways around self-pleasure, but the fears of being walked into like the time poor Obi-Wan did once on Anakin had prevented you from participating in such activities, only allowing yourself to do it when you were alone – which was extremely rare. But from what you knew, having the act of someone performing such pleasure onto another could be such a beautiful and powerful thing, bonding and exciting, and you’d secretly wish to experience that yourself, even more so with the one man you know you’d never be able to do it with. But now, seeing yourself dressed polar opposite to how you usually would, you felt an urge to play the part. You couldn’t deny the adrenaline coursing through your veins, the provocative feelings forming inside you – you felt mature, sexy, for the first time in your life, and you wanted to see how far you could take the act, wanting to allow yourself to not put the look to waste, just as the stylist said.  

The loud conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan caught your attention, bring you down from your excitement high causing you to realise that the both the men would see you dressed this way for the first time, the revealing outfit worse than the slave one Anakin had you wearing for a mission months ago causing your anxieties to rise once again. It didn’t worry you as much about Anakin, the boy spent half his days off from missions and training shirtless, you only feeling slight embarrassment about your revealed figure in front of him. But your Master on the other hand, his possible reaction had you feeling as though you could turn light headed at any moment. Would he be uncomfortable? Your costume being a shame to the Jedi way? Or maybe he’d be shocked, even impressed by your outfit?  

Taking a final look at yourself, you returned to your bedroom, slipping the long black robe over your shoulders and tying it at your waist, your revealing costume completely covered by the fabric. Sucking in a deep breath, you grabbed your lightsaber from your bedside table, holding your breath momentarily before releasing it, your cleared airways relieving the building anxieties as you opened your door, leaving the room.

Returning to the living area, your eyes first caught Anakin, the boy sitting alone on the couch as he fiddled with his clothing. You must admit, he did look good. His mid length locks were pushed back, his usually wild eyebrows somewhat tamed. Discarded of his neutral toned robes, he wore a fitted black shirt with a grey scarf draped over the top of it, paired with black slacks and laced boots. As in awe of your friend you were, you also found it somewhat amusing, him looking completely out of place from his usual getup. But judging by the shock on his face, he was feeling the exact same about you.

He scoffed, breaking the silence as he stood, a small fit of laughter rumbling from his chest.

“No, Ani, I don’t want to hear a single word” you said, shouldering him as you walked past to take a seat, waiting for your Master.

“Oh c’mon, I wasn’t going to say anything bad, you look... well different, but good. Really good” his head tilted as he spoke, his eyes raking over the tops of your head as he peered down at you.

“Anakin” you heard your Masters voice from down the hallway, your nerves rising as he drew closer, “You need to remember this is for a mission only, you both are...”

His voice came to a pause, as did the rest of his body as he locked eyes on you, instantly blown away by what he was seeing. You, his innocent and pure padawan, looked as if you were a completely different person. Your hair delicately framing your face alongside your intense makeup, your usual kindly glowing eyes now seductive and alluring had Obi-Wan feeling as though the air around him was running thin, a bolt of electricity coursing through his body, making its way to his nether regions where it remained, causing him to tighten his robes around himself as he stared walking again. The most beautiful person in his life somehow had grown more beautiful in the minutes they were out of the room, and the aftermath had him overwhelmed by many emotions.

You watched from the lounge as your Master's skin grew a deep shade of red, his eyes wide as he drowned in your appearance, you unsure of whether his reaction was good or bad.  

Breaking the silence, both your heads snapped to Anakin as he spoke, “See, even Obi-Wan can agree. Tell her, Master, she looks different, but in a good way”

Your eye’s locked once more onto Obi-Wans, you becoming desperate for the reassurance from your Master, a deeper need forming inside you wanting to her him compliment you. Clearing his throat, he stumbled over his words as he continued his path past yourself and Anakin, a tug pulling at your heart as he failed to give into your wants, “Not now, Anakin. This is time sensitive, we must leave immediately. Have you both got what you need before we go?” he asked, his eye’s catching Anakin's and never returning to yours, causing a pit to form in your stomach. Both synchronizing your reply of “Yes”, Obi-Wan grabbed his saber off the bench and attached it to his waist, you following behind Anakin as you all exited your apartment.

Walking though the nearly empty temple, Obi-Wan rushed ahead of yourself and Anakin as he led you to the waiting transport. You could sense the tension within him, your focus drifting back to his flowing robes as Anakin replayed over his planned dialog for the mission.

Arriving to the waiting transport, you we’re met by one of the council members waiting outside the hovering craft, your Masters and his quiet conversation leaving you and your fellow padawan in the dark. Obi-Wan placed a hand on the Jedi’s shoulder, giving him a final sentence before entering the transport, you watching as the council member quickly scurried away while Anakin climbed inside, you following suit.

The inside of the craft was small, the four-seater transport only holding enough space for the three of you. Anakin seating himself besides Obi-Wan, you crawled in across from them, your robe catching on the bottom of your foot revealing the skin of your exposed thigh. Seating yourself across from the two men, you noticed your Masters gaze drifting over your bare skin, him clearing his throat as he looked away, you adjusting your robe quickly. Raising your eyes to your Master's face, you could tell he was purposely avoiding eye contact, his focus on the spare seat beside you.

“What does the council have to say now? Another detail you wish to hide from us?” Anakin spoke, once again breaking the silence. Obi-Wan exhaled a sharp breath from his nose as if he did a small laugh, finding the straight forward burn amusing.

“Anakin, in my defence the council asked for the information on the bounty hunter to be remained hidden until further notice. It’s never my intention to keep information from you two, you know that, but it's my duty to follow council requests. However, there’s been a slight change in plans”

The words caused yourself and Anakin to perk up, your anxieties continuing to rise at a more rapid pace.

“The council believe that if anything we’re to go wrong and the bounty hunter identifies who we are, there may be a likelihood that he, or someone affiliated with him, may follow us back to the temple, so in hopes to avoid that, they wish for us to reside elsewhere for the evening”

Anakin caught your eye, a devious smile forming on his face. In the past, the two of you had been known to sneak out from your residing locations while on missions, heading out to explore the world around you and have some fun, the news that a possibility of that happening again tonight bringing some light to your stress.

The rest of the ride you remained silent, listening as Anakin hassled Obi-Wan over who would get the best room, Anakin insisting that if he succeeds, he should have the rights to the biggest room. And although it was small talk, you couldn’t have cared less, your emotions stirring as your Master continued to deliberately avoid you.  

On any other mission he would go out of his way to save you a seat beside him so you could rest your head upon his shoulder, or at least link your arm with his. But this was different, him not even making the effort to communicate with you was completely out of character. And it frustrated you, causing multiple excuses to throw themselves around your brain.

He was the one who agreed to the mission, he knew what it entailed, and he still said yes. So he has no right to avoid you. Was he disappointed in how you looked? Was he angry? If so, he had no need to be, you doing what you had to do for the council. No matter what way you tried to resolve his cold demeanour, you couldn’t crack it, causing yourself to get wound up more and more. And then it struck you. If he was going out of his way to be cold, you would do the same, deciding to play at his own game.

Your transport coming to a slow stop, yourself and Anakin prepared to climb out of the craft - him energized from excitement, you determined by other means – before being paused by your Master, him still failing to make any form of contact with you, “Now remember, this bounty hunter is extremely dangerous, and I deeply wish nothing to go wrong. Anakin, stick to your script, pull whatever strings you can to rope him in. And if you feel as though he isn't taking to it, we’re here for backup. Let’s try and make it out of here in one piece"

You internally scoffed as your Master failed to give you any sense of direction, his precautions directed to only Anakin semi hurting your feelings, but you’d refuse to have him to sense it.

Climbing out of the transport, you waited until the two were out first then followed behind, Anakin giving you a helping hand meanwhile Kenobi faced the opposite way, scouting out the club. You’d only been in this part of the city a handful of times, but never late enough to witness its night life. People and creatures of all sorts bustled their way around you, sounds of laughter and joy passing you in each direction. As Obi-Wan began leading yourself and Anakin to the Kyorgs, a wave of excitement washed over you at the length of the crowded line waiting to get in. Luckily for you, the owner was expecting your arrival and fully aware of the operation, wanting to dismiss the bounty just as much as the council did, allowing yourself and your fellow padawan, as well as your Master, an instant welcoming, and full access to all amenities of the club.

Drawing closer to the entrance, Obi-Wan spoke with the bouncer, the distant sound of deep bass rattling itself inside your core, only fuelling the excitement you felt. Mumbling to himself, the creature stepped past and opened the entrance door, the volume of the music accelerating instantly. Copying your Master, you stepped inside and walked down a hallway to the left, the music growing quieter as you wound up inside a sound proof room with glass furniture and blue accents. The door shutting besides you once you were all inside, Obi-Wan asked the two of you to sit down, his hands shifting to the pockets inside his robes, your eyes drawn to his hands as he now held them out to yourself and Anakin.

“These,” he said, opening his palm to reveal a small C-shaped device, “are hearing devices we’ll be able to use to communicate with one another”

“Master, we’ve used these before” Anakin laughed as he snatched the device from Obi-Wans palm, you doing the same.

“These, young one, are different. We've been given them as a trial. They’re made of a more advanced technology, more efficient, clearer. The council requested us to use them to accommodate with the volume of the club. There’s also a small notch underneath that can send out an alert to us, as well as the council, so best not to touch it unless absolutely necessary”

Placing the device behind your ear, it immediately connected, syncing your attachment with Anakin's and Obi-Wans, their words sounding as if they we’re coming from next to you, their breaths soft, but noticeable.

“To disconnect, all you have to do is take the device out. But please, do be gentle with it, we wouldn’t want to upset the council” Obi-Wan spoke, the sarcasm evident in his crisp voice, the closeness of it sending chills down your spine causing you to feel a rush of warmth between your legs.

“Now please remember, stick to the mission, do what you must to keep... in character... but be smart about this. This might be out only shot, let's try and get do this smoothly”

[imaginethreehouses]

Im not sure if you're taking requests at this time, so please ignore this if you aren't!! 😅 But could I request Jeritza with a mute s/o (mute as a result of damage done by crest experiments). They use sign language, and/or writes in a notepad to communicate. They have a wyvern/work as the teacher for wyvern-riding

Sorry if this is too specific! And of course, no pressure if you don't wanna write it! I hope you have a good day C:

Anon!! I'm not sure if I've written about it here before but I've always had the headcanon that someone who communicates through writing would be the ideal person to get close to Jeritza. It just makes sense doesn't it? Since he feels like he needs to stay physically away from people to protect them from himself. I've forgotten a lot of Jeritza lore in this past year since I was last active in the fandom but here goes my best try... I hope I can do your concept justice! 💙

Jeritza with a mute S/O:

At the beginning when you barely know each other, Jeritza would only talk to you when it was absolutely necessary. He didn't know sign language back then, so you'd write down what you wanted to say, and he was so stoic about the whole thing that you had no way of knowing if he felt any particular way about it.

The thing is, he didn't know what to do with the little notes you'd give to him that he'd find in his pockets at the end of the day. You were always so kind and had such a way with your words... he was ashamed of how much he enjoyed reading the little things you had said to him over and over again.

Writing was one of the few ways he could be close to someone, after all. No matter how much he wanted to spend more time with you, he feared the Death Knight hurting you too much to approach you and ask you out.

But eventually, he figured there was no harm in writing you a letter. From a secret admirer, of course. What was one more secret identity? Perhaps under this one, he thought, he could actually be true to himself.

And so you started receiving these letters that grew bolder each time, from a mysterious yet sweet man who loved ice cream and kittens, but was adamant that no matter what happened, you could never meet.

It broke his heart when you asked in one of your replies if the reason why he didn't want to meet you in person was because you couldn't speak. He realised then that any amount of reassurance to the contrary would fall flat if he continued to hide his true motives.

But how could he possibly reveal them? He realised that he had locked himself in a path with no way out. How foolish he had been to believe he could have a shred of a normal, happy life, he thought!

The war broke out soon after, and the further lack of replies meant you were left wondering if the person you had fallen in love with through these letters had ended up on the other side of it... or worse.

Now this would be significantly angstier if you did not join Edelgard and were indeed, on opposite sides. But I'm going to take a guess and say you did.

So it was during a war council meeting that you first started connecting the dots. When the matter of stealth infiltration behind enemy lines was being discussed, you were surprised to see Jeritza suggest sign language as a way to communicate without calling attention to yourselves.

Turns out, he had seen you use it before the war with some family that visited and had been learning it on his own ever since. He wanted to surprise you with that someday.

Edelgard thought his idea was brilliant and assigned the two of you together for the mission. Despite Jeritza protesting in private after the mission was over, she did not change her decision.

During the mission, after your objective was secured, tragedy struck, and you were gravely hurt. Thinking it might all be over, Jeritza rushed to confess his identity and feelings while he held you in his arms.

You had never seen him so distraught, and you could barely hear most of what he was saying, but you knew one thing: despite your state, you felt safe and loved in his arms.

He did not dare visit you while you recovered. He feared hurting you when you could not defend yourself or run away far too much.

He did send you flowers each day, though, and also your favourite sweets. Of course, he wrote you letters.

He tried to be discreet about it to avoid unwanted gossip from the soldiers under his command, but sooner than later he had to accept that his secret was out.

One deadly glare was enough to shut them up quickly, though.

[thewalkingdead-imagines]

TWD - Negan Imagine ~ “Rouge Elements”

Imagine about the 11th and 12th episode of Season 11

Summary: Negan and the Reader’s life goes on in Alexandria after some of its residents join the Commonwealth, and they have to prepare themselves for new challenges, including Pamela Milton’s visit and a mission outside the walls

Warning: (fluffy) Smut

The next morning after the Commonwealth’s arrival approached quickly after your first night home, back in your own home and your own bed.  Your decision to stay hadn’t changed though, and even after Daryl and Lydia had left later in the evening, you found yourself more confident that you’d made the right move for now.  This was your home, the place where you wanted to create a future with Negan, and it was worth to give it another chance, especially until you’d know how things actually worked and operated in this new place. With a soft sigh you closed your jacket a little tighter around your body, preventing the chilly fall air to slip underneath the fabric as you made your way down the streets of Alexandria, past the Commonwealth soldiers that were moving around their vehicles. It was still odd to see them walk around your banged up community, with their tidy and polished armors in between the piles of burning walkers and pieces of debris that hadn’t been cleaned up yet.  “You think many people will join?”, Negan asked as he glimpsed with a wary look from the soldiers back at you. “Honestly? I have no idea....guess we’ll find out soon though”, you mumbled back as you took a turn to walk into the next road straight towards the church that already seemed packed with people who were waiting for the town meeting to start, while a few others were still chatting outside.  One thing all of them had in common though was the sense of nervousness and restlessness that laid over them, elicited by the same uncertainty you and Negan were feeling about the most recent events and even more so, about everything that was about to follow after the meeting. Gulping thickly you steered towards the main entrance only to be stopped by Gabriel’s voice loudly calling out your name, urging you to glance around and quickly find him rushing from the side entrance down the church’s wall, raising his hand slightly to make sure you stopped indefinitely.

“You okay, Gabey?”, Negan asked, the big grin on his lips clearly audible through his voice as the priest quickly nodded. “Yes, I just meant to ask how you’ve decided. It seems like the council is splitting quite disproportionately up and your decision could bring some more insight into what happens with it now.” “We’ll stay, for now at least”, you said, watching as Gabriel started to slowly nod,”Just wanna wait a bit and see what happens.” “Okay, okay that might make things here easier to handle. Aaron stays too”, he said after a short moment of silence, running his hand over his freshly shaved cheek while he still seemed to ponder. “And you won’t?”, you asked, gaining his attention right back as you could feel a bit of surprise slipping into you as soon as he let out a small sigh and slowly started to shake his head.  “For as long as Alexandria isn’t build up again, Rosita thinks it’s safer for Coco at the Commonwealth, especially after the latest storm…and I agree. So until we know it’s entirely safe and secure here again, we’ll stay there.” “Yeah, I get that”, you said, nodding softly even though it still left you a bit shocked and nervous that the person, the council member and friend who’d usually stood up for you and Negan was leaving now. “So it’s only me and Aaron? We’re the only ones of the council who stay?”, you asked, watching as Gabriel slowly started to nod. “Looks like it, just talked to Nora and she’s leaving too”, he said, his glance bouncing in between Negan and you,”We’ll see what we do about it, but it’s a good thing to have you here as our head of the infirmary...now, let’s get inside.”

Two hours and seemingly endless discussions and talks later, just about half of Alexandria decided to join the Commonwealth, the overwhelming majority of them already determined to return to your community as soon as most of it was fixed up and cleaned again. Carol, Connie and her sister, Ezekiel, and Jerry and his family were among those that decided to leave, others, like your colleague Steve and his husband Dan, decided to stay back for the same reasons as you and Negan did, to just wait and see what happened.  Just a day later, half of the Commonwealth soldiers left along with those who’d made the decision to join them, forcing you to say goodbye to Daryl, Judith and RJ for now. It was an odd feeling that was stuck in you during these days, with your home missing some of those people you felt closest to and with new, strange soldiers occupying parts of it.  It had advantages though, Alexandria finally seemed to start moving into a better direction with the supplies and materials that helped building it up again. Slowly but most definitely surely. More food started to fill the shelves, more tablets than self-made tinctures finally found their way into the infirmary’s drawers, and while you appreciated this, you stayed wary of the Commonwealth and their agenda, still unsure of what you were exactly supposed to think of them.  It was all a bit of a dichtomy, despite your wary feelings, you could see Alexandria starting to flourish again and it felt good to finally have a reliable and full food source again, that allowed you to work on your future with Negan, have the dinners that you’d planned to have for so long with Lydia, and here and there have Steve and Dan over for lunch to talk about the newest events, especially considering the Commonwealth. The days passed faster without worries about food and shelter, that was for sure.  A little over a month later, Alexandria was already partially fixed, most of the east and north wall were restored and it seemed like they were making a good process with the damaged houses and the south wall as well. Your help here was a little less needed than before and the infirmary was quiet, which allowed you and Negan to finally plan a trip outside the walls to Scottshill, one of the small towns you’d talked about back during your missions at Meridian. You had enough food now, enough supplies and had even gotten a few new clothes, but you still wanted to get a bit of time away from everything, just the two of you together,  and check out whether you could find anything interesting out there on your own.  Before you’d head out for a few days, there was still something else you had to do though, which was your long awaited call with Judith that made you find yourself sitting in the radio room, a promise that the Commonwealth had kept.  They insisted on keeping a guard in there with anyone who had contact to a Commonwealth member though, and while that tended to give you a bit of an odd feeling, your excitement overpowered it. It was good to hear her voice again, and it was even more better to have the feeling that she was allowed to be a kid right now, especially after everything she went through after Michonne had left. She sounded happy and bubbly, and regardless of your suspicious feelings towards the Commonwealth, the joy you could hear in her voice right now was more important than that.  “Oh and we had a suuuper big halloween party, and people were all over the streets, it was super cool”, Judith’s voice echoed through the radio through to you as you shifted a little closer, pushing down your button to respond. “Really? Sounds awesome, what did you guys dress up as?”, you asked, immediately hearing her answer with just the same enthusiasm in her voice as before. “I was a witch, with a black dress and a big, fluffy black hat, and RJ dressed up as spiderman. Oh and uncle Daryl had a job at the halloween party for the really important people and now he’s a real soldier”, she rambled on, barely able to contain her excitement,”We just got a new apartment.” “Wow now that’s exciting, do you like it?”, you asked, even though your mind jumped to another thought for just a moment. Halloween party for the really important people? That sounded pretty much like it confirmed your thoughts back when you’d first read the Commonwealth’s booklets and info sheets. That place seemed to have a particularly soft spot for the privileged and rich from before the fall, and this now, this small, innocent comment seemed to give you another hint that there was a divide between people, between classes especially, back over there. “A lot”, you heard Judith disrupt your short moment of pondering ,”Especially because our first apartment was super weird, like we ate on the floor and everything was so loud and-” WIth that, the guard in her room on the other side of the radio interrupted her as he cleared his throat, likely not enough for Judith to grasp what was happening but enough for you to catch on. She was revealing too much. Especially too much of the Commonwealth that wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. “Y’know what? Why don’t you tell me a bit about your new friend? Are you guys going to school together?”, you asked, trying to steer the conversation into a different direction to stop risking it from being cut short and it seemed to work as Judith quickly responded, relaxed and still as excited as before. “No, I think she’s a bit older than me, but we can also meet up outside of school”, she said, taking a moment to think before she rambled on,”Now that I have an allowance I really wanna check out more of Princess’s record shop, y’know Eugene’s friend that I told you about? It’s super cool, I just have to make sure that I can make it in time after school...the teachers are nice though, but it’s really different to the teachers back home.” “Yeah I can imagine that”, you said with a soft laugh,”Apropos teachers, Negan wanted to know if the teachers are better than him? He doubts it, but he wants to know.” “He’s silly”, Judith said with a small giggle as you found yourself nodding while a small snort fell from your lips. “Yeah, he is.” “They’re stricter...Negan is more fun to be honest”, she answered your question before another small giggle fell from her lips,”They’re not as distracting as him though.” “Y’know what, I can really imagine that”, you said with a laugh,”I’m gonna tell him that first part, he’s gonna like that.” “Yeah, I’m sure”, she answered quickly, just before you heard the guard in her room raising his voice again, merely loud enough for you to hear it on the other side of the radio. “Please wrap this up now”, the male voice said in a rather monotonous tone,”Your time is almost over.” “Okay aunt (Y/N), I have to go now”, she said, audibly already shifting off her chair as its legs made a loud screeching sound as it shifted over the wooden ground,”I miss you, I hope I see you soon and greet Negan.” “I miss you guys too, I’ll greet Negan from you, do the same for me with RJ and Daryl, alright?”, you answered, your voice hushing just as you heard a rusting voice coming from your guard’s walkie, not clear enough for you to directly hear what was being said, but enough for the guard to rush outside the room without another word. Confused, you turned around, seeing the open door that the guard had been  too busy for to close and hearing some voices down in the hallway, hasty and almost nervous though they were too far off for you to identify any clear words.  “Alright, I hope I can talk to you soon!”, you heard Judith say, forcing you to turn back around to the radio station,”Bye!” “Bye Judith”, you responded one last time before the line went silent and you got up from your chair, slowly starting to walk towards the door to see whether you could find your guard again only to see him rush up the stairs as soon as you stepped outside into the hallway.  “Ah there you are, are you done with the call?”, he asked as soon as he spotted you, moving closer as you started to nod. “Yeah, just finished”, you answered, watching him mirroring your nod while a slight bit of tension still seemed to be stuck on his face. “Good, there are news. The Governor will pay Alexandria a visit in two days to become familiar with the community”, he said, as all the suspenseful and hasty talking back in the hallway suddenly made sense,”She’s expected to arrive in the morning hours and we will need you, as head of the infirmary, to lead her through Alexandria’s medical department. We expect Aaron to take over for the rest of the community and possible travels to the Hilltop, but the infirmary will be your job.” “Alright”, you nodded, and even though you could already feel some nervousness slipping into you, you tried to not let it show,”Is there anything else that I should know before she arrives?” “At this point? No”, he quickly answered, already grabbing his walkie again, seemingly eager to get going,”Just be well prepared to answer questions about your approaches and procedures within the infirmary and the current state of supplies.” “Okay, thanks for letting me know”, you answered, and with that leaving him to go back to his responsibilities and make your way finally back home. You were always eager to get to your house in the evening, but today, you were extra excited to come back and discuss the next steps of your little run outside the walls. Most of the organizational stuff was already done, you’d worked down the vast majority of your bullet points on your checklist and Negan had laid out most of the supplies that you’d needed out on a table in one of your storage rooms already. Now, what was mostly left was your procedure once you’d reach the town, the stores there and then, find all of it on the map that Gabe given you before he’d left for the Commonwealth. Both him and Aaron had marked spots on there while they’d been on their last mission, and you already felt kind of curious to see what you’d be able to find. Jumping up the stairs of your porch you quickly moved towards the front door, already seeing Negan standing by the stove and cooking dinner as you peaked through the window before you nudged the door open to move inside. “Hey there”, you said, closing the door behind yourself with a small thud as you stepped inside, already smelling the delicious scent of the dinner that immediately fueled your hunger. “Well lookie who we got here”, Negan said, turning around from his spot by the stove as you moved in closer and greeted him with a quick kiss,”Truly a damn good sight for my sore ‘n tired eyes.” “You’re that exhausted?”, you asked with a small chuckle as you reached up to  run your hand down his tense back, circling your fingers over the fabric of his shirt while he leaned into your touch and nodded. “Mhm it’s done now but the clean up today at the south gate was a fuckin’ lot, and you’re married to an old man”, he said with a grin, groaning slightly as he circled his shoulders back, trying to loosen them a bit up. “Pff I gotta veto that last part”, you said, nudging him softly before you leaned past him to snatch one of the roasted potatoes right out of the pan and plop it into your mouth. “Damn those are good”, you mumbled as soon as the delicious, savory taste filled your mouth and made you let out a content hum. “Course they are”, Negan quickly retorted with a wink before he nodded back down towards the vegetables,”They need a bit more time though.” “Alright, I think then I’ll quickly jump under the shower before dinner”, you said, leaning in to press a small kiss against his shoulder before you stepped back to move towards the hallway. “Okay but I wanna hear about everything you heard on that call with Judith as soon as you’re back, I’m curious!”, Negan called out, pointing at you with his spatula as you were about to step through the door. “Sure”, you chuckled, peeking once back into the kitchen, ”I also have some other news.” A hot shower and a good dinner later Negan knew everything newsworthy you’d heard today, most importantly Judith’s call and her opinion on the teachers at the Commonwealth. The Governor’s visit sparked his interest and curiosity as well though, especially as you started to move from the dinner table over to the couch, where he had already sprawled out the map of Scottshill onto the coffee table. “Alright then so we’ll just leave after she’s gone again? Or the day after?”, Negan asked, running his hand over his beard as he plopped down onto the couch, watching as you set your glasses down next to the map and sat down next to him. “I mean…we can just wait and see how early she arrives and how long it takes? If she gets here so early that we can’t get as much sleep as we wanted then we should probably go the next day, just to be well rested, who knows when we get to sleep again after that”, you mumbled, glimpsing over at him as he slowly started to nod,”And I mean we still need to have time to go to that town and set up camp during the daylight, so if we get enough sleep and she leaves fast, we could still start that day...if not, we’ll leave the day after...one day won’t change much either way.” “Mhm good call”, Negan mumbled as he leaned forward to lean his elbows onto his knees and glance over the map, while your thoughts drifted for another moment to the Governor’s visit, forcing to slip some of the nervousness you’d felt earlier right back into you. This could be big, this could decide things for this place and having that responsibility put into your hands made you feel slightly uneasy, especially since you had no idea what to exactly expect from this woman. “What?”, Negan asked, ripping you out of your thoughts as your glance bounced towards him, seeing him looking over his shoulder at you, a bit worried and slightly confused. “I’m a bit nervous already to be honest”, you said, shrugging your shoulder softly and sighed,”Feels like this might be more than just a random visit…if it might decide over how many supplies and support we get from them this is super important.” “And you’re gonna rock it either way”, Negan said with a soft grin, sitting himself back properly up to make sure that he could hold your glance,”No one knows that infirmary like you do.” Slowly you started to nod, even though you didn’t feel much more confident. “Yeah, but...If they’re so snobby about their education as they seemed in their brochures…”, you said, trailing off as you gulped thickly, trying to find the right words,”I just hope that she takes me serious.” “She sure as shit should because you’ve been doing a great job there, diploma or not, that doesn’t mean shit in this world”, Negan said, reaching around you to wrap his arm around your waist and pull you closer against him, the soft, encouraging smile was still on his face as his glance stayed focused on you,”she should see that and if she can’t, her loss…but let’s not jump to any conclusions, alright? You’re gonna do great.” Slowly you started to nod, hoping to soak up some of that confidence and hope as Negan pulled you closer in, pressing a soft kiss against your temple before he moved just enough back to look at you and give you a small wink. “Okay?”, he asked again, raising his brows as you slowly starting to not, just hoping that he was right, “And after that we’ll go on that little adventure and get our head’s free.” “Yeah”, you said, finally allowing yourself to smile back at him as he leaned in to give your lips a soft, quick peck before you watched Negan nodding towards the map as soon as you let go of him. “Apropos”, Negan said, his arm still wrapped around you as he gestured with his other hand as the notes on the map,”What do these abbreviations mean? Been trying to figure it out.“ “Uhm wait”, you mumbled, shifting a little forwards to get a closer look at Gabriel’s handwriting that was scribbled onto the paper, mostly two letter abbreviations in circles with arrows pointing at spots around the main road of the small town,”GS should be general store, there won’t be any food left but we might find other stuff in there. Aaron said there was a pharmacy in there but so if we’re really lucky, there could be some small things left. C should stand for Clothes I think and then this one here FS is farm supplies, we might find some extra stuff for the horses there.” You pondered for another moment, your eyes running along the lines and notes on the sheet before you glimpsed back over at Negan. “I’m pretty sure there are more stores but those are the ones he marked down.” ”Well that’s a good start, once we’re there we can just see and take a look at ‘em all”, he said with a nod, a bigger smile starting to grow on his lips as he pulled you a little closer into his warmth,”Maybe they have some baby stuff too. I bet that store for clothes has some cute ass rompers or small socks n’ stuff...or pregnancy clothes, you need those too.” “Slow down cowboy, I’m not even pregnant yet”, you chuckled, playfully nudging him as he quickly shrugged his shoulders, the smile still stuck on his lips. “Never too early to start lookin’ for those things, and I think it would be nice to have some new stuff instead of all the old things from Judith and the other kids”, he said, giving your waist a soft squeeze before you started to nod. “Yeah, that’s true”, you said as the look on Negan’s face grew just a bit brighter before he nodded back at the map. “Already have an idea where we could set up camp?”, he asked, watching as you shifted a little closer towards the coffee table again and pointed at the area on the right next to Gabe’s notes. “Well as far as I heard there should be an area with normal family houses right next to that main street with the stores, so we could probably pick one that looks good and has some space to keep the horses safe”, you mumbled, circling the spot with your finger. “Alright. Dan told me he’d get two of the horses ready for us so that’s done as well”, Negan mumbled, running his palm over the side of his face before he gave you another tired but soft smile,”Sounds like we got a plan for now, huh?” “Yeah”, you quickly nodded, glancing one more time at him as he pulled you a little closer and moved in to press a small kiss against your shoulder. Leaning into his touch you smiled to yourself, almost expecting him to let go of you again within the next moment so you could huddle up on the couch and give the evening a relaxed ending. Instead however, his lips started to travel along your shoulder until they met the exposed skin on your neck, placing soft kisses on it and nibbling it gently as he pulled you even closer in and let his hands slip underneath your shirt. “I thought you were tired”, you mumbled with a small grin, though still relishing in his touch as you leaned into it while the vibrations of Negan’s low chuckle rumbled against your skin. “Mhmm that’s why were gonna go for something slow tonight”, he said, moving just enough up to hook your glance on his and reach up to cup your jaw, his eyes giving you that exact look, created with just the right mix of hunger and adoration, that always made your heart skip a beat. “Okay, I’m not gonna argue with that”, you mumbled as a grin mixed into the smile that was still on his face while he pulled you in to meet his lips in a deep kiss. “Good.”

Negan’s hot breath brushed over the side of your neck as he settled in above you on the couch, pulling one of your thick blankets over both of your bodies as his warmth started to lull you in, enclosing you entirely right before you could finally feel him thrusting himself slowly into you. A soft moan fell from your lips as you wrapped your legs around him, responding immediately to his familiar and rhythmic movements while low groans fell from Negan’s lips and vibrated against your skin. Feeling him place kisses along your jaw, you hummed contently, running your fingers over his broad shoulders and the tiny freckles that speckled his skin on them here and there. A smile pressed in over your lips, only disrupted as another moan fell from them within the very moment Negan looked up and moved his arms to cage you in between them. The side of his face was enlightened by the warm, dim light of the lamp by the fireplace, perfectly enhancing his rough features and the warmth of his eyes that made you swoon right there and then. “You look so...so damn handsome”, you mumbled, humming as you felt another one of Negan’s slow strokes and saw a mix of a smile and a grin pulling on the corners of his lips. “Mhm and you look so fuckin’ beautiful...as always”, he said, interrupted by a soft groan that slipped from his lips as his thrusts continued to bring waves of pleasure through both of your bodies,”So perfect, inside ‘n out.” A happy sound fell from from your lips, watching as a small grin spread over his lips as he pecked your lips. “Didn’t mean your pussy with that”, he mumbled, winking at you before another deep moan rumbled up his chest,”She’s pretty damn perfect too tho.” You let out a small laugh, caressing him as you found yourself diving back into your little, pleasure filled trance as Negan’s lips continued to place kisses over yours. “I love you”, he slurred against your lips as he pecked them softly, still focusing on his slow, yet deep strokes that filled your body with the familiar yet ecstatic warmth.  “Mhm I love you too”, you mumbled back, reaching in to stroke your fingertips softly through his beard stubble, caressing his cheek as he leaned in to place a soft kiss over your lips and rocked himself a little deeper. You found yourself getting lost in him, relaxing entirely as you stayed wrapped up in his arms, entangled with him as you moved together in rhythm, relishing in that slow and sweet lovemaking that was the perfect end for your day. Not all too soon after you became complete undone, you found yourself cuddled up with Negan on the couch, his head resting on your chest, his long legs settled in between yours while your fingers caressed slowly through his thick hair while small, content hums vibrated through his broad chest and against your stomach. His lean figure was hidden underneath the thick blanket, only vaguely traced out as the fabric hugged his body up to his upper back and merely gave you a peak at his broad shoulders that flexed slightly in order to embrace you. “Mhm I love laying like that, so fuckin’ good”, Negan mumbled, tightening his embrace around your body a little before he let out a small chuckle,”Only thing I don’t look forward to when my boys finally do their damn job and give you that baby bump...won’t be able to do this for a whole damn while.” “Well then enjoy it while you can, huh?”, you mumbled back with a soft laugh, running your fingers down to the nape of his neck to caress softly over his still heated skin.  “Oh I sure as shit will”, Negan grumbled, nuzzling his nose into your skin as a content, happy sound fell from your lips and you cradled him a little tighter as you closed your eyes. Negan had once told you, after he’d made it out of the deepest depths of his depression years ago, that laying like this was what usually made him feel as safe as nowhere else in this world. Just as safe as you felt when he’d wrap you up in his arms.  This small thought always crept up in you whenever you found him huddled up to you like this, and it always filled you with that certain type of warmth that made your body tingle pleasantly. It happened right now too, and you found yourself holding him a little tighter, appreciating these moments as much as you possibly could while you tried to focus your thoughts on the man in your arms and your little adventure that would wait for you as soon as you’d met the Commonwealth’s leader. And all you hoped was that things would finally run smoothly and open more doors to the future you found yourself working on. You deserved it after all this time, you really did.

[ohmsjedi]

𝘞𝘢𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘞𝘦 𝘎𝘰

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘧𝘧𝘦 𝘹 𝘎𝘕 𝘑𝘦𝘥𝘪!𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

Summary: Jedi padawan reader experiences the events before and after Order 66.  

Warnings: Angst, violence, death, injury. 

Word Count: 6,296

Today was no different from the others, but on this specific occasion you felt off. The lack luster of pride, confidence, and tranquility was no doubt obvious to the legion. You were just unable to correspond or focus normally as per usual.

You stood and observed the planet Cato Neimodia from the docking station. Soldiers were scattered around tending to transport ships and various other Z-95 Starfighters that needed more modifications before departure.

The whole reason to you feeling this way was because this was your last mission with the men, alongside master Plo. Your future afterwards would lye in the hands of the Jedi council.

You begged the stars that the Jedi council wouldn’t screw you over. Then again, anything is possible. Whether it be good or bad, there’s always an outcome to everything.

The sounds of beeps caused you to look away from the planet. Tilting your head down, your astromech droid, EV-9E, circled around you, making noises to get your attention. You smiled down at the chipped grey and white droid, then squatted down to be eye level with it.

“What took you so long?” You curiously asked the droid as it made unamused beeps. You placed a hand on its dome, and raised an eyebrow as the droid continued to make unsatisfied noises. EV then opened up one of its compartments where your hand was placed, causing you to retract your hand away. The droid broke out into even more angry beeps.

"I know, I know, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. I can’t bring you on this mission and that’s final" the droid wheeled back and twisted its head around, even teetering from one leg to the other, almost like a youngling having a temper tantrum.

"You've been around Artoo too much" you joked. EV stopped and wheeled up to you with a bit of force and bumped into your knees, nearly knocking you off your feet. You haltered the droid by putting your hand up in front of you and glared at it.

"Fine fine" you readjusted your position, now in a kneeling stance "You can prepare my ship-” EV started to beep happily “but I'm not promising that I'll need it" you gave EV a pointed look. EV ignored your words and continued to beep happily as it turned away from you and headed straight to the sector where your ship resided untouched.

"Blasted droids never’ listen" you rolled your eyes at the gruff voice and stood up from the ground, turning your whole body around, now facing an unhelmeted Wolffe.

"Not to you of course" you quipped, folding your arms and cocking your head to the side "I take it you're still not over the whole fiasco with Artoo and 3PO" you teased as you gave Wolffe a sly smile.

Wolffe scoffed and took his helmet from his right arm and switched it to his left. Keeping his eyes focused on the ground, he pushed his slightly cupped right hand towards you. You moved closer to him, eyeing the object in his hand curiously, he shook his hand a little, a sign to take it. With delicate fingers, you took the now obvious rounded pendant into your hand, the chain dangling down and grazing the back of your hand softly. 

Carefully, you untangled the chain and held it up in front of you, the chain swayed, and gleamed from the lights above. Your eyes softened, you rested the pendent in your hand, bringing it closer to your face for further inspection. The pendant had a small engrave of what you assumed looked similar to the packs logo. Your finger lightly traced over the engraved markings, the small pendent feeling cool underneath your fingertip.  

"An elderly native gave it to me as a thank you gift for helping them recover most of their belongings of what they presumed was lost during our relief mission." you looked away from the pendent and looked at Wolffe "They said it was made out of beskar, and recommended I gift it to someone who was worthy of having it" Wolffe met your eyes, and you smiled at him. For a moment, you felt like the luckiest person to coexist, then that quickly subsided. Your face faltered, having the mindset of being unworthy of a gift from him, especially something as rare as beskar. 

“It’s beautiful Wolffe...but I just can’t-”

“Cyare this gift is meant for you and only you” Wolffe froze, his eyes widening a little from the small slip up. He blinked a couple of times before clearing his throat “What I mean is...this is a gift of gratitude, from me to you. Take it as a thank you for allowing me to serve alongside you”

You opened your mouth before closing it, Wolffe gave you a sincere and honest look. You nodded and graced a small grin on your face.

“Thank you for this, and it was an honor serving alongside you” Wolffe felt his heart ache, feeling as everything was coming to an end so soon. 

Originally, he wasn’t planning on gifting the necklace to you this early on. A unsure master Plo had mentioned to him that you would take a separate ship to meet with master Yoda on Kashyyyk after fending off the separatists on Cato Neimodia.

Once Wolffe received this information, he had no other choice but to force himself to give you the necklace on short notice. He was just worried that he wouldn’t have another opportunity like this to give it to you.

“Wolffe I have to ask you something“ Wolffes brows raised at you, he examined your face noticing how you seemed hesitant. You fiddled with the necklace in your hand, now starting to feel anxious.

“That is?” He drawled as he gripped onto his helmet tighter. 

Confrontation was never your thing, out in battle it was different. Being faced to face with someone alone and away from prying eyes was more of a nerve wrecking experience then expected.

“I was curious about-“ The call of both of your names caused you both to turn your heads towards the direction of the recipient. Plo made his way across the hanger as he looked between the two of you. Wolffe was quick to stand at attention, fixing his posture and clutching onto his bucket.

Plo stopped in front of you both.

“Commander Wolffe, I would like you to begin boarding protocols to your men”

“Yes general” Wolffe placed his helmet on top of his head and made way towards his comrades that were wondering around. Your eyes followed Wolffes retreating figure, then soon you looked back towards your Master.

“Nervous I sense” Plo held his hands behind him as he continued to take in your force signature. 

“Just a little, but I’ll get over it” you shrugged and gazed down at the chain that was peaking out of your hand.

“No need to torture yourself with your worries of the Jedi councils decision. I for one know that you’ll make a fine Jedi knight” You bit the inside of your cheek and held onto the necklace a little bit tighter.

“But if they were to disagree, I’ll be sure to reconcile and talk with the Jedi masters in hopes of making them reconsider their choices, which I doubt is something I’ll have to do.” You nodded and kept your head low.

“Rest assure you’ll be just fine. Then again, if you can’t get over your nerves by the time you reach the bridge, just stick with the pack and if you have to, hold position till you feel okay, then do so” You took Plos words into consideration before mumbling a ‘yes master’.

“May I?” Plo pointed towards the Beskar necklace in your hand, you nodded and carefully handed it to him and turned around. Plo unclasped the chain and carefully placed it around your neck, in just a few seconds the hook was successfully secured into the eye clasp. He then let the ends go and backed a few steps away from you. You turned back around and thanked him.

“I’m surprised that you were able to do it so fast”

“Well, I did come to know two younglings who were very infatuated with necklaces during their youth” Plo grinned to himself, remembering both a young you and a young Ahsoka.

Plos comm link went off signaling that it was almost time to depart from the Venators hangar. Plo looked at you one last time and gave you a small nod.

“I trust you that the center bridge will be secured by the time we’ve finished off the separatists fleet?” Plo raised his brow bones up at you

“Yes master, we will be sure to secure the bridge and escort any remaining citizens to safety” you fixed your posture, now feeling a bit more confident than you originally were. Plo rested a hand on your shoulder.

“Good luck y/n, I’ll see you on the grounds before you know it.” Plo retracted his hand away from your shoulder “Be sure to watch out for the men” Plo turned around and walked the opposite direction to where the fleet and his ship were.

You brought up your hand and took the pendent in between your thumb and pointer finger, feeling the engraved logo. You looked over towards master Plo one last time before turning around and heading towards the LA/AT ships.

From a distance Boost eyes followed your walking figure, he turned his head to Wolffe who kept his head down.

“You didn’t tell them...did you?” Even if Wolffe couldn’t see Boost's face, he knew his vod was a bit disappointed.

“No...I didn’t. I just couldn’t bring myself to confess the way I originally planned to.” Wolffe said in a hushed tone. Sinker patted Wolffes back, providing a bit of comfort for his commander. 

“It’s alright vod, you’ll get your chance another time” Wolffe sighed and clenched his fists as he adjusted his posture. 

As you got closer to them, Wolffe was quick to move towards the LA/AT. Boost and Sinker shook their heads as they watched a retreating and irritated Wolffe bored the ship. Once you arrived, they were all quick to greet you while boarding alongside them.

You watched as the fleet took their departure, you blindly reached up and grabbed a hold of the handle bar. The ships blast doors closed slowly, the red emergency lights turned on, casting a red hue inside. You stared at the ship's door, it was too quiet for your liking. Only the sounds of your rapid heartbeat thrumming and a few feet scuffing on the ground.

Oh how you disliked these moments where everything felt so tense and the air seemed so thin. It was always you who started small talk with your comrades before and during transportation. But you couldn’t bring yourself to it.

You were just a mess.

The small rocking of the transport ship signaled that you were taking off. You clutched the handle a bit tighter to prevent yourself from losing balance, but also a way to keep you mentally grounded.

***

Entering into the Cato Neimodias atmosphere was a rough start. Explosions caused the ship to have minor turbulence, you all stumbled and clung onto the handles, even grabbing onto one another’s shoulder for balance. You quickly let go of the handle and latched onto the side of the ship next to the blast door. 

The door you were next to slid open, you squinted your eyes from the reveal of the harsh lighting. Once your eyes adjusted, you poked your head out, observing as launched missiles had either bypassed transport ships or exploded mid-air.

One particular missile headed straight towards one of the transport ships, reaching your hand out, you made the missile take a detour before it could strike down the LA/AT.

The closer you got to the surface, various Starfighters and separatist ships had zoomed past. As soon as the center bridge's ground was in view you turned your head and signaled to Wolffe with a simple finger gesture, he nodded and grabbed hold of his pistols while the others adjusted their blasters.

You moved closer to the opening, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Adrenaline pumped full speed through your veins, your heart beating at an unnatural rate. With one last final examination of the battle below, you quickly jumped out of the ship and landed elegantly on your feet. 

Before any of the droids could turn around, you slashed through them with your blue lightsaber and pushed forward.

You continued to block blaster fire and as soon as you got closer to a few more droids, you raised your hand up, bringing the droids up with it and quickly formed your hand into a fist causing the droids to short circuit and crush into pieces.

Once the LA/AT ships landed, troopers were quick to get into fighting formation. Commander Wolffe, Boost, Sinker, and a few new recruits were quick to catch up with you as you deliberately blocked and slashed through various droids. The clustered together buildings on the bridge made the battle more difficult to move around and correlate properly.

You’re wondering eyes stopped on the sight of a tank moving foreword in the distance, no doubt preparing to strike. Everyone seemed to have noticed the distinct blue colored tank on the front lines of the separatists side.

You and your small group took cover behind a building right before a cannon blast had collided into the ground. You watched as a building crumbled, causing a few troops to yell out and take cover.

“So much for mild destruction” Boost shrugged his shoulders while Sinker snickered as he gripped onto his blaster rifle.

You peeked over the side of the building, glancing around for any potential advantage points. Your eyes landed on explosive barrels that were planted just near the active tank.

“Wolffe could you maybe fire a few shots at those barrels” you gestured your head in the direction of the explosives. Wolffe shifted in his spot, nearly leaning over you to get a look at the explosives.

Wolffe retreated backwards to avoid the possibility of being shot at “Will do” he nodded his head and positioned himself, focusing for a moment before firing a single blaster bolt, triggering the explosive barrels.

The tank exploded, alongside a few droids that were close by. With the tank gone, this gave you all a much greater advantage.

“I’m gonna lead first, I just need you and your men to cover me till I reach the center of the city” you turned your head towards the group of six. Boost and Sinker glanced at each other while the shines titled their heads in question. Wolffe raised his eyebrows slightly, his helmet raising up a bit which you instantly could tell he was about to scold you.

“Are you crazy? That’s suicide! You could-“

“I’m well aware Commander, but now is not the time to be arguing about this! Causing anymore destruction to the city, especially on a bridge, is the last thing we want to do” your eyebrows knitted together as you looked at his visor.

“Likewise, I trust you all with my life! Just this once, for the sake of the mission, follow my orders” Wolffe stared at you, he was indeed concerned for your safety, but he was a good soldier. Good soldiers followed orders.

He tilted his head down before nodding in approval “Fine. We’ll be sure to cover you” your face relaxed, you grinned at him before you turned away from the group and continued onward.

“That’s a Jedi for you” Boost half-heartedly joked while observing his commander who he could tell was internally worrying himself.

“Tell me about it” Wolffe grumbled before pressing down on the public comm link channel.

You heard faint orders from Wolffe telling the others through his comm to cover you as you proceed to clear out the rest of the way while they trailed behind you, making sure to finish off whatever you left untouched.

As the attack on the ground continued, the droids slowly started to retreat back, losing more ground as you and your men continued to take down all protocol droids, and various other commando droids. That high peak of adrenaline was quickly cut short

One of the various ships from the sky spiraled downwards causing Wolffe to yell out to ‘take cover’. You were quick to move out of the way of the crash landing ship. The impact caused a huge explosion, leading to various debris to fly around, damaging clustered buildings even more. After the explosion subsided, it was an obvious indication that the ship had caused a blockade, dividing you from the rest of the troops.

“Y/n are you alright?” You heard Wolffe shout from the other side of the crashed ship, you took a quick glance behind you and noticed droids coming your way. You snapped your head back towards the ship's direction, you cupped your hands around your mouth:

“I’m alright! Just find another way around!” You quickly ignited your lightsaber and heard a faint ‘yes sir’

Using your force sprint, you launched yourself off of a nearby crate. Having landed much closer to the enemy line, you reached your hand out and pushed half of the droids backwards, causing them to pile on top of each other.

You reached out to one of the battle droids and pulled it towards you, making sure to impale it with your blade. Once done, you discarded the battle droid by forcefully pushing it towards an oncoming group of droids, knocking them all off of their feet. You dodged multiple blaster bullets, before exterminating the remaining droids that were left.

You looked around, making sure there were no more droids. Sure enough there weren’t any around you. Looking briefly up at the sky you watched in awe as your master perfectly piloted his starfighter, taking out countless separatist ships alongside the fleet. You admired for just a moment, reminiscing on all the fond memories you had being raised and taught by Plo.

Emotional attachments were unacceptable in the Jedi order, but when it came to the people you truly cared about, it didn’t matter to you. You were not ashamed to accept that Plo Koon took on the mantle of a fatherly figure. If it weren’t for his kindness and his heart, you would’ve been nothing but a heartless, uneducated individual.

You were grateful for him being the man that you knew you could rely on.

Your body had suddenly flinched. A slow aching pain in your head started to form. You brought one hand up against the side of your head and pressed your fingers down. The sounds of incoherent yelling, conflict, and raw emotion was overriding your senses.

Suddenly everything stopped.

Your face was scrunched up in confusion as you wondered what that strange encounter was.

A shiver ran down your spine. The small act made you realize how unbalanced the force had become. Your eyebrows raised. You quickly looked up at the sky, and witnessed in horror as your masters ship was being shot at.

Your eyes widened and you started to panic as one of your own fleets pilot got a direct hit on Plos ships wing.

Your eyes stared blankly at the receding ship as it crashed into one of the cities towers right where the blockade was located. Your breath hitched, as you slowly walked backwards, now feeling terrified.

Your body shook unnaturally, unable to process the scene right before your eyes. Your bottom lip quivered, you looked down at your hand that was holding your lightsaber hilt, watching as it shook. Your instinct to fight and survive kicked in.

One faint nearby voice caused you to start sprinting towards the opposite direction. Yells had erupted and soon all hell broke loose.

You were stuck in a crossfire.

Pressing down on your comm link, you input your coordinates and sent them instantly to your droid. You brought your comm link close to your mouth and started urging your droid to start dispatching from the hanger.

“EV, I need you to autopilot the ship and come to my coordinates now!” You activated your lightsaber and skidded to a halt.

If it’ll take time for your ship to arrive, then you surely would make time.

The first initial sighting of one of the troopers, you quickly reached out towards a convenient stand and threw it towards the direction of the soldier. Knocking him and a few others that trailed behind him down.

Blaster fire soon erupted and you worked quickly by blocking and dodging. Every so often you’d notice a stray object at the corner of your eye and threw it towards their direction.

You knew you wouldn’t last for long with just continuously blocking blaster fire and throwing objects at them. You had to work quick before all odds were lost.

What worried you the most was how familiar they all were with how you fought and your infamous strategies. They knew how fast you could think and work which took them little to no time to adjust to your fast pace.

With your complete focus on the enemy in front of you, you completely casted aside your focus behind you.

A fiery graze against your bicep caused you to hiss and your hand holding your lightsaber faltered as another blaster fire grazed your wrist. You made a quick glance to the side and noticed Wolffe and a few other troopers forging their way towards you.

You backed up, continuing to dodge and block as much blaster fire as you could keeping hasty eyes to keep track of your vulnerable points. As soon as you nearly backed up into an abandoned barrier you gave yourself a boost with the force and did a backflip over it, landing right behind it.

Quickly gaining your balance on your feet, you threw both your hands out in front of you and forced pushed the barrier towards the troopers. The screeching metal against the pavement made you grimace at the ear-wrenching noise.

The ends of the metal barrier scraped against the nearby buildings; the buildings crumbled and collapsed into debris. The impact against the pavement caused a mixture of dirt and particles to fly in the air. One accidental inhale and you started coughing violently.

You wavered your hand in front of your face to shoo away the mixture, you scanned the perimeter and quickly turned around, continuing on your way.

You were nearly coming to the end of the giant rock arc, as it became more prominent in size. Fast winds soon started to pick up, now bringing in the atmospheres dense fog.

The motivation to survive turned futile. All you were doing at this point was wasting your energy, using up all your stamina. Everything in training felt like it was thrown out in space. You were unable to control your breathing, you continued to be reckless by using force techniques that were far more advanced and out of your radar.

The sound of your comm link beeping made you look down at your forearm. EV had sent a signal that the ship had just reached the atmosphere. You quickly imputed your new coordinates and sent the signal to your droid.

The fog had settled in, completely covering the whole area of the bridge. You listened around carefully, the sounds of the howling wind breezing by.

You clutched onto your saber, thumb already placed on the ignition pulse. You backed up slowly and carefully avoiding the rubble on the ground. The sound of metal scraping against the pavement made your eyes move around frantically.

You naturally synced into your fighting stance, preparing for the un-proclaimed attack. A gust of wind blew over your face, the cold stinging your skin. You continued to shuffle backwards cautiously, trying to pinpoint the enemy.

A sudden arm wrapped around your neck, causing you to gasp. On instinct you brought both of your hands up to the armored arm, and started to pry at the hold.

“Enough Jedi scum” the voice seethed, your eyes widened at the familiar gruff voice. Wolffe quickly brought his pistol towards the side of your head. You let one hand go of his arm, bringing it up towards his hand that held the pistol. You forcefully pushed against the pistols body, knocking it right out of his hand.

The small act caused Wolffe to become distressed as he struggled to maintain a decent hold on you. Making quick moves, you gripped onto his arm that was wrapped around your neck. You moved your body slightly forward, now handling his full body mass on your back, you body slammed him to the ground. His helmet had flung off of his head, discarded somewhere off to the side.

Wolffe yelped at the impact, he blindly moved his hand on the pavement, attempting to find his discarded pistol. You kicked the nearby pistol away from arms reach and stared blankly down at your commander.

He grimaced and glared up at you, distaste coursed through his system, his one good eye showing nothing but pure hatred. His chest rose up and down frantically.

In a situation like this, you’d feel proud of yourself. But this was reality.

He jutted up, quickly you stuck your hand out in front of you and pushed him back down to the ground with the force. Wolffe attempted to move his body, but to no avail he was unable to budge.

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill each and everyone of you Jedi!” your hand that you were using started to shake. You felt the beskar pendent press against your chest, feeling as if it was burning a hole through your skin.

“Why? Why are you doing this to us? To me?” You whispered the last part to yourself. You studied Wolffes face, as his forehead creases became more prominent.

“Good soldiers follow orders” chills ran down your spine as you continued to watch Wolffe struggle underneath the force hold. The last strand of hope you held onto for dear life finally snapped.

You were mortified. Your stomach churned at the thought of how little time it took for them to change their motives on the both of you. Why? Why was this happening? You wished you could cry and scream out in anger, but now wasn’t the time.

The recognizable sounds of your starfighters engine became more distinct and loud. Looking up you noticed as your starfighter broke through the dense fog. You almost sighed in relief before gunships followed suite, attempting to gun down your ship.

In one swift move, you wavered your hand to the side, Wolffes whole body slid towards the direction your hand went. His plastoid armor scrapping against the duracrete.

Your feet moved on their own as you ran from the pilots blaster fire. Heat creeped up upon the back of your neck as more shots were fired down on the ground. Your frantic eyes observed as your starfighter had made a loop under the first bridge.

Your feet had sped up, your legs ached and the muscles burned.

Once you were close to the side edge of the bridge, anxiety and doubt started to cloud your mind. You shook the thoughts away as best as you could and dived off the bridge with no hesitation.

Falling felt so slow. The tension and the wind wavered against your body. You closed your eyes to calm yourself, keeping your attention on the distant engines coming closer.

You opened your eyes, and reached your hand out as your ship dived down with you, keeping a decent distances away from you. You pulled yourself towards the open hatch of the ship, your fingertips barely grazing the rim of the hatch. Continuing to reach, your fingertips soon got a hold of the rim; you laid your hand flat on the matrix armor and held on with a death grip as you struggled to bring your other hand to grasp the ring.

Maneuvering your body quickly, you got into the cockpit and closed the hatch. Pressing a few buttons you grabbed a hold of the steering handles and took over the starfighter.

Fighter ships soon trailed behind you, erupting in blaster fire.

“Shake them off of me EV” you flipped a switch and your droid whirled it’s head around and took over the small blaster cannon that was attached to the underside of the ship.

Your fingers quickly grazed over the small screen, blindly you input random coordinates to a random sector, one that you knew would be far away from the republic based planets.

Pulling back the steering handles, your ship pulled up fast. The dense fog soon engulfed your whole perimeter, small drops of water tapped violently against the viewport as the ship started to increase in speed. You’d managed to lose most of the enemy ships in the fog besides one.

Explosions erupted right next to your ship, shaking the entirety of the vessel violently. The flashing lights blinding you for a split second. Beeps started to alarm, signaling an oncoming missile was locked on your ship.

You embraced yourself and turned the stirring handles to one side, your ship soon started rotate at a fast pace. At the last minute, you made a loop over the ship that was in back of you and quickly went back in front of it. The tactic worked and the missile had struck the fighter ship that was trailing behind you. The impact had caused you to jolt forward and the ship shook while you successfully made it out of the planets atmosphere.

Those on the ground, were unable to tell if you were desecrated or escaped.

A now helmeted Wolffe stared up at the fogged sky, watching as a small flicker of light cascaded for a second before fading into nothing.

“Sir, there’s been no word from the piloting fleet as for the whereabouts of the Jedi’s ship” Wolffe looked towards Sinker before looking back at the foggy atmosphere.

“Tell the others to call off the search for now, we’ll be sure to hunt down the Jedi until they’re executed under Order 66” Wolffe walked off towards the remaining transport ships that were left unoccupied on the bridge.

Wolffe glanced over to the side, observing as his men inspected the remains of Plo Koons ship to assure the Jedi’s death was a success.

There was faint ache in his heart that he easily ignored. He turned away and continued to the transport ships.

****

You adjusted the rods of wood, and forced them down into the ground to keep them stable. The small fire crackled, the source of light wavering and illuminating the small shelter you made.

You landed on some unknown planet and were fortunate enough to have found few scraps of material near your location. You let out a soft huff as you sat down on the ground underneath the tarp. You wrapped your robes around you tighter, feeling a small gust of wind overpass your face and exposed skin.

The planet was cold and quiet, only sounds of a few chirps from birds in the distance and rustles from the trees. Your arm and shoulder blade hurt, all from the blaster fire that had managed to get a snag at your body.

You had no medical equipment, no bacta patches, nothing. You worried that your wounds would get infected if they weren’t treated anytime soon.

Carefully, you slid your robes off your body, alongside your top. You shivered at the contact the cool wether made with your upper bodies skin. The tank top that you left on did nothing to help with the cold.

You tore a long strip of fabric off your lose white ribboned tabard. You eyed the length of the fabric before wrapping it around your left side bicep. You winced at the uncomfortable contact the fabric made, it rubbed lightly against the blaster wound that was still oozing blood.

Tightly securing it with a decent knot, you ripped another piece with the same length and wrapped it around your dominate hands wrist. You grimaced at the irritating sting, your wrist hurt more than your bicep. You carefully put back on your robe, not bothering to secure it around you.

Letting out a shaky sigh you pinched the bridge of your nose. 

Your eyes gazed down at the small fire, heat barely radiating from the flames. You brought your legs up to your chest and hugged them. EV beeped more quieter as the astromech droid wheeled up to you.

“We’re not going home EV” your voice was hushed, nearly cracking. EV beeped lowly, shifting to stand on its two legs. “Yeah bud...it’s over. Theres nothing for us to go back to...not unless we want to be killed like the others” you turned your head towards EV, placing a hand on its dome before retreating it back to pull at your robes. You sat quietly for a moment, thinking over thousands of thoughts that were running through your head. 

“Everything we’ve been through...the losses, the near death experiences....we did it all for nothing.” You whispered to yourself, accepting your once overthought ideology that the Jedi were bound to fall to ruins at some point. But not in a million lightyears did you ever think the jedi would end like this. 

You gently rubbed at your temples to sooth the small headache. EV opened up one of its panels, outstretching one of its tools. A blue hue started to illuminate, broadcasting one of the voice files that your droid commonly used for decoding or recording private messages.

The conversation had started off quiet. You were almost incapable of interpreting the words correctly, which you guessed that during the time of the recording, your droid was far off in distance from whoever the recipients were.

“You plan on giving the beskar pendent to them?” Your head slightly perked up, relishing at the familiar voice you could pinpoint out of all the clones.

“Yes...may not be much, but it’s all I can offer” there was a faint cling. On instinct, you brought your hand up to the pendent that rested against your chest.

You shut your eyes, squeezing them before burying your face into your hands. Curling into yourself more, you adjusted your hood over your head, and laid down on your un-injured side. A small piece of cloth was the only thing separating you from the dirt and blotched grass.

“I’m sure it will be enough for them. Besides, what that pendent is made out of is worth more then our own lives.” your eyes stayed glued to the fire as you continued to listen to the voice memo.

“I’m just worried that the gift won’t...benefit the both of us” Wolffe sighed to himself, feeling frustrated and conflicted from however he was feeling.

“It takes time Wolffe, you just need to have more patience’s, be more understanding of people instead of getting irritated and irrational over the simplest things” Comet studied Wolffes face, watching as his features softened before his brows creased together.

“Still, what can you do? A clone and a soon to be jedi knight going against the republics law and having secret retaliations together? We could both get in trouble, even worse, we can both get exiled which is the last thing I want to do” Wolffe stared down at the ground, compressing his human emotions. Comet shook his head and glanced to the side before looking back at Wolffe.

“I’d recommend you give it to them, even if you’re heavily influenced by wanting to be the best commander you can be. Then again, most rules are meant to be broken to help you improve and grow as a person” it was silent for a moment before Comet continued on “Plus their droid may just as well confess for you” Wolffe looked at Comet, then turned his head, witnessing as your droid retreated back to the hanger.

The audio files soon stopped playing, everything fell silent, just the sounds of the wind and the fire crackling. You blinked away your tears and looked at EV who beeped sadly.

“So that’s why you were late and Wolffe complained about you?” you said softly, gracing a sad smile on your lips before the corner of your lips turned down once more.

The real meaning behind the gift felt like a punch in the gut. It hurt. Terribly. It was worth more than simple admiration or representation of a ‘thank you’. There was much more behind the necklace then what was explained.

But what hurt more was the horrendous heartbreak and betrayal. The only people that you ever trusted and loved were gone. Plo, the only man you’d ever cherished and looked up to was wiped out of existence. The men you worked alongside with that you cared for wanted you dead. And Wolffe, Wolffe was a much more sensitive topic.

You were alone. You were alone and you’ve never felt more useless your whole entire life.

“I just wish we had more time” you murmured quietly to yourself, feeling as your eyes watered in mockery. You shut your eyes and a warm tear slid over the side of your nose and fell. Your tired and sore body ached for rest. Distant thunder rumbled, the noises seamlessly getting closer every minute.

The muffled noise lulled you into slumber as you snuggled into your robes even more.

The least you could do for yourself is rest one last time.

A/N: i wanted to create an experience with a genuine order 66 approach. since not much of the planets city was described, i had to do a bit of tweaking and research during the time to get it as accurate as possible. as you can tell i tried my best to write some action and i hope it fulfilled the standards. overall i hope it made up for my absences and broke your heart.

with love,

- 𝔈 🤍

[alj4890]

Hi you are awesome! Got an ask. What do you think will happen if the gang found out that Barthelemy along the others involved was behind Queen Eleanor's deat, just after days of him threatening to take the Princess and be a regent?I want to know Liam's POV on it.

Aww!!! Thank you ☺Honestly, I think Liam would have figured it out when he realized the goblet was from both Godfrey and Barthelemy. He was the one to devote his free time to secretly study the effects of poisons and ways it could be administered. Once the group found his mother's secret room, I think it would have all come together in his mind. For your request though, I will try and show Liam's reaction if he discovered the connection after Barthelemy's threat. Plus, I think this is one circumstance where he wouldn't want to involve the others. To be able to capture his mother's murderer would be something he would want to do himself with the help of his king's guards.

@gkittylove99 @darley1101 @krsnlove @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09 @mom2000aggie @ofpixelsandscribbles @twinkleallnight @lodberg @twinkleallnight @amandablink @neotericthemis @mm2305

Masterlist

Subversion

"I've got you." Liam gently took his wife's trembling form into his arms.

The nightmares were getting out of hand.

Ever since Maxwell's father had threatened to take their daughter from them, Riley's nerves were shot. She tried so hard to put on a brave face during the day, but when night came across the land, she fell apart.

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she held fast to Liam. Her breaths hitched at the thought of Barthelemy Beaumont winning in the end.

"How did he get so many of the court on his side?" She whispered. "After all we've done for them!"

Liam rested his cheek on top of her head. "I don't know."

"He's been gone for what...fifteen, twenty years or so?" She grumbled. "We saved the country from Justin. We secured the throne with Eleanor's birth." Her anger began to overcome her fear. "And these traitors do this to us?!"

"The court serves its on purposes." He explained. "They always have. It is rare to find a truly selfless noble amongst the group."

Riley left his arms to reach for a tissue on her nightstand. "I saw how selfish they could be during your bride search."

She blew her nose softly before a frown firmed her lips. "I mean, the whole reason Bertrand wanted me to win you was so House Beaumont could be restored, reputation wise. He said he also wanted to see us happy, but now I doubt it."

Liam listened quietly as she went through her nightly rants of those that had betrayed them. She then went into a litany of how ridiculous it was that they had to travel with a one year old to their homes in the hopes of swaying their fickle minds back in their favor.

Before long, she had worn herself out and began to doze off. He held her until he felt her slow deep breaths. Easing his arms away, he crept out of their bedroom.

As had been his nightly ritual for the past year, he first went to the nursery.

His lips curved over his one year old daughter's tendency to cocoon herself in her blankets. Eleanor's head and that of the purple stuffed bunny she loved to sleep with were the only things visible.

He tenderly brushed her hair from her forehead as he gazed upon his most prized possession. His inner resolve hardened with the vow that nothing would ever take her from him and Riley.

On his way out of the nursery, he paused to pet Chance. The sweet corgi seemed to almost understand that something was going on and that he needed to guard the little princess. Lady Luck and their puppies were curled up at the foot of the toddler bed, being the next line of defense if Chance failed.

Liam quietly closed the door and continued downstairs. He nodded briefly to the guards that were stationed at various points along the halls and staircase. None seemed surprised by their king up at such a late hour.

Why should they, when he had been doing this for a year now?

Liam met Bastien in his study. The older man handed him a steaming cup of coffee, before sitting down across from him.

The workspace between them was covered with pictures, reports, and test results.

"Anything new?" Liam asked.

"I received this from one of my underground informants." Bastien handed over a set of photographs. "And I uncovered this report through the help of the queen mother. We came across this while going through your late father's personal files."

Liam's lips firmed into a thin line as he flipped through the old photographs. Barthelemy had made a wide variety of friends during his supposed' "coma".

"Is that...?" Liam handed the picture over.

"It is, sir." Bastien reached across the table for another set of photographs. "Lord Barthelemy along with Godfrey had been developing close ties with both the Nevarkis family and those that raised the leader of The Sons of the Earth."

"I see." Liam tapped his fingers against his mug. "So our initial theory was correct. Godfrey didn't act alone when my mother was poisoned."

"In all honesty sir, I never thought he had the stomach for such an act." Bastien frowned over the picture of the late Queen Eleanor that also showed Jackson Walker in the background. "Of the two friends of your father, I suspected Barthelemy."

Liam looked up. "You did?"

Bastien shrugged. "I was the junior agent when the first attack on your mother failed. Jackson told me only what was relevant." His eyes narrowed in memory. "He said it was for her protection that I wasn't told more. Now I think he and your mother were hoping to not put anyone else at risk with what they were uncovering."

Liam focused once more on the last picture his mother had taken. It was the very ball in which she received the poisoned golden goblet. He felt that familiar breath aching pain in his heart. She had missed so much of his life. His growing up, his marriage, his child.

He wanted to destroy the men responsible for this. He wanted vengeance for his mother and all the lives affected by her death.

He wanted them to suffer as he had. As his late father had.

They deserved it. They deserved so much more agony than a mere prison sentence or swift death could give.

He knew it was wrong, but he hoped Barthelemy resisted being captured. Then the king's guards could use other methods to apprehend him.

Godfrey's capture had not given him the satisfaction that Liam needed. Something had always felt off when he thought of the fastidious former Duke of Karlington. He just couldn't believe the man had acted alone.

"I believe we have enough evidence with this last report." Bastien handed him another sheet of paper. "Queen Amalas sent this along with her regards."

Liam read through the many sheets.

This was it. This was the final nail to Barthelemy Beaumont's coffin.

Liam stood up. "Prepare the guards. We are going to Ramsford immediately."

*****************

Duchy Ramsford, at the first blush of dawn...

"We have every inch surrounded, sir." Bastien whispered.

"Good." Liam squared his shoulders. He tried to itch his side, but encountered nothing but the Kevlar vest his guards insisted he wear. "Let's go."

The pair, flanked by four more guards walked up to the front door and banged on it.

A sleepy servant appeared, perplexed to see the king standing on the steps.

Liam and Bastien pushed past him, stating they were there for kingdom business, and began to climb the stairs.

Their footsteps were silent as they checked each room they came to.

Having finally come to the family wing of the manor, they opened the door to the room where the culprit slept.

Before the old man had a chance to come fully awake, he was handcuffed and shoved out into the hallway.

"What is the meaning of this?" Barthelemy yelled. "How dare you come into my room in such a manner?"

Bertrand and Savannah rushed out, only to stop in surprise at the sight before them.

"Barthelemy Beaumont." Liam's voice held a sinister edge. "For crimes against the royal family and Cordonia, I hereby sentence you to death."

"What?" Barthelemy dropped his easy going mien he had maintained since he first reappeared.

Something more dark and evil took over his features. "You do not have the power to do that, King Liam. You gave the Council those rights. Now that you're family is under attack, you think getting rid of me will stop them from taking the princess away?" He snorted in derision. "Even if you find a way to kill me, others will make certain neither you nor that pitiful excuse for a queen ever see Princess Eleanor again."

"I do not think any noble will fight my decision once they see your list of crimes Liam's blue eyes blazed with fury.

He began to approach the man who had formulated the plan to kill his mother. The man who had blackmailed numerous nobles so that they were forced to support him. The very man trying once more to destroy his family and take the crown from him.

Barthelemy snarled at him "You know nothing of my supporters." His chin lifted in triumph. "There are many outside of Cordonia who would love to see me take the throne as Prince Regent."

Liam's slow, deliberate steps caused Barthelemy to shrink back. He stumbled over his own feet as he was backed into a corner.

His eyes were wild as he looked for anyone who might possibly be on his side.

"Bertrand! As the Duke of Ramsford, you must stop him before he--"

His son shook his head. "House Ramsford has always stood behind King Liam and Queen Riley." He felt Savannah's hand slip into his to help him through this. "Anyone, be them blood relation or friend, who does not will become an enemy of this duchy."

Barthelemy began to spew insults upon his son. His hatred and disgust was then directed to both of his progeny having failed him in every possible way.

Bertrand didn't flinch or even appear to hear the diatribe directed towards him. He instead reported his own investigation into his father's activities.

"Forgive me, your majesty." His voice was hoarse with emotion. "I had to make it look like I had truly turned against you and our queen to make my father more open about his plans. I have all the information you might need for what he intended to do to take the princess away in my bedroom's safe."

"Traitor!" Barthelemy struggled anew against his handcuffs and the guards holding him. "How dare you betray your own blood--"

Liam punched him, knocking out the old man with an uppercut. A blessed silence followed his drop.

Bertrand stared dispassionately upon his father's crumpled form, then turned on his heel, leading Bastien to the safe.

Liam took long, deep breaths to calm himself down. The urge to continue to beat the man at his feet was strong.

He remembered every tear shed in the dark over his mother. Every need for a hug from her. Every holiday memory without her. Every single worry and secret he had longed to share with her.

He then thought of the miserable years he and Riley would have had without their daughter. Every single moment without her sweet smile. Missing each milestone. Being denied the right to even speak to her. No hugs. No kisses for skinned knees or bad dreams. No playtime. No chance of checking on her during the night.

He never knew he could hate a man as much as he did Barthelemy Beaumont.

How had such a man fathered two of Cordonia's most loyal noblemen?

Liam realized he should be grateful for the late Annabelle Beaumont and her sweetness overshadowing all that this man tried to teach them.

It would have hurt even more so, if Maxwell and Bertrand had betrayed him.

"Your majesty?"

Liam lifted his eyes and took the folder filled with all Bertrand had uncovered. It was enough to put his father away for multiple life sentences.

"Sir, I hope..." Bertrand's shoulders drooped. "Do you think Riley will understand why I did what I did?"

"I do." Liam placed a grateful hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, for this and for your continued loyalty."

Bertrand bowed his head, unable to speak from his own relief that it was at last over.

The guards dragged a still unconscious Barthelemy down the stairs and into the back of an armored truck.

Liam and Bastien followed close behind.

The king took a deep breath of the early morning's crisp air. The sun beginning to shine reminded him that this was indeed a new day...one in which he could return to his family victorious, knowing they were once more safe.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Out Of Time ~ 109

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 3,025ish

Summary: Secretary Ross holds a meeting. Steve and Y/N get some news.

Tony sat in the corner of the facility’s conference room, away from everyone else. Secretary Ross stood in the front next to the monitor. Steve, Rhodey, and Natasha were seated at the table on the side closest to Tony. Sam, Vision, and Wanda were seated on the other side. Y/N was sat down at the end of the table, opposite Ross.

“Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass… I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective,” Secretary Ross stated. “The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives… but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some… who would prefer the word ‘vigilantes’.”

“And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?” Natasha cut in, snarkily.

“How about ‘dangerous'? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?” Secretary Ross activated the monitor behind him. It started playing news reels from past Avengers and SHIELD matters. “New York.”  A clip of the Chitauri invasion played out. “Washington DC.” When SHIELD fell. 

“Sokovia.” Ultron. “Lagos.” The team’s most recent mission.

“Okay,” Steve said, noticing Wanda’s uncomfortableness. “That’s enough.” 

Ross turned off the screen before continuing. “For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution.” He threw a thick book on the table. “The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries… it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary. The Accords will also require anyone who is enhanced to be put on a registry.”

“Like me and Y/N?” Wanda wondered. Y/N glanced at Tony, who refused to look her way, as Wanda continued. “We’d be put on a list so that you can watch our every move? Maybe even experiment on us?”

“We wouldn’t experiment on anyone.”

“Why?” Y/N questioned. “Is it cause you already are?”

“The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place,” Steve stated, trying to change the topic. “I feel we’ve done that.”

“Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?” Steve merely looked at Ross, unable to answer the question. For all they knew, Thor was on Asgard and no one had seen or heard from Bruce since Sokovia, a year ago. “If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes, you can bet there’d be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That’s how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground.”

“So, there are contingencies,” Rhodey spoke up. 

“Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords.” 

Steve and Tony briefly made eye contact,Tony quickly looking back down. Y/N noticed. That floor must be really interesting, interesting enough for a man who never shuts up to stop talking.  

“Talk it over,” Ross continued.

“And if we come to a decision you don’t like?” Nat asked.

“Then you retire.” Ross answered. Everyone kinda glanced at each other. “Let me know what you guys decide.” And with that, Ross left. 

~~~

They moved to one of the common area’s of the facility. Rhodey and Sam were going at each other about the Accords while Steve flipped through them and everyone else listened.

“Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor,” Rhodey argued. “Which is one more than you have.”

“So let's say we agree to this thing,” Sam said. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, ‘No, that's cool. We got it.’”

“How long are you going to play both sides?”

“I have an equation,” Vision stated, interrupting their bickering.

“Oh, this will clear it up.” Sam grumbled sarcastically. 

“In the six years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man,” Vision started, “the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.”

“Are you saying it’s our fault?” Steve questioned, as he looked up from the Accords.

“I’m saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe. Oversight… Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.”

“Boom,” Rhodey said.

“Tony…” Nat called, causing everyone to look at him. “You’re uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal.” 

Tony, who had been laying down, moved his hand off from over his face and looked at Nat. She was right. He’s always very open about his opinion. Y/N had to keep pushing down the urge to read his mind, let his thoughts in.

“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve stated.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony said sarcastically. Tony stood up and walked into the kitchen, rubbing the back of his head as he went. “Actually, I’m nursing an electromagnetic headache.” He opened a cabinet and grabbed a mug. “That’s what’s going on, Cap. It’s just pain. It’s discomfort.” Tony looked into the sink. “Who’s putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed-and-breakfast for a biker gang?” He tried to causally pull up a holographic image on his phone. 

“Oh, that’s Charles Spencer by the way,” Tony continued. “He’s a great kid. Computer engineering degree. 3.6 GPA. Had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world, maybe be of service. Charlie didn’t want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer, building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia.” Y/N closed her eyes. “He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won’t know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass.” 

Tony threw some pills in his mouth and took a drink before continuing. “There’s no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I’m game. If we can’t accept limitations, we’re boundary less, we’re no better than the bad guys.” 

“Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up,” Steve stated.

“Who said we’re giving up?” Tony questioned. 

“We are, if we’re not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame.”

“Sorry,” Rhodey interrupted, “Steve, that, that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we’re talking about. It’s not the World Security Council, it’s not SHIELD, it’s not HYDRA.”

“No, but it’s run by people with agendas and agents change."

“That’s good. That’s why I’m here,” Tony said. “When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing them."

“Tony. You chose to do that. If we sign these, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don’t think we should go? What if there’s somewhere we need to go, and they don’t let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.” 

“If we don’t do this now, it’s gonna be done to us later. That’s a fact. That won’t be pretty.”

“You’re saying they’ll come for me…” Wanda whispered.

“And me,” Y/N said.

“We would protect you,” Vision promised, looking at Wanda.“Both of you.”

Y/N looked to Tony, trying to see where he was going with all this. But nothing. He just refused to meet her eyes.

“Maybe Tony’s right,” Nat suggested. Tony looked at her, shocked. “If we have one hand on the wheel we can still steer. If we take it off—”

“Aren’t you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?” Sam cut her off. 

“I’m just raiding the terrain. We’ve made some very public mistakes, we need to win their trust back.”

“Focus up. I’m sorry,” Tony interrupted, the hint of surprise in his voice, “Did I just miss hear you or did you just say that you agree with me?” 

“Oh, I want to take it back—“ Nat quickly shook her head. 

“No no no,” Tony said, as he shook his finger. “You can’t retracted it.” 

Sitting close to him, Y/N could hear Steve’s phone buzz. She watched as he pulled it out to check it and immediately grow sad.

“I have to go,” Steve stated.

He got up quickly, dropped the Accords on the coffee table, and slipped into the stairwell. Concerned, Y/N stood up and followed. She found him a couple of flights down, leaning against the banister with his head hung low.

“Hey,” she gently said, coming up to him. “What’s going on?”

When he lifted his head, his eyes were glassy. “She’s gone,” he struggled to say. “Peggy’s gone.”

“Oh, Steve.” Y/N quickly pulled him into her, tears forming in her own eyes as well. 

“She’s gone.”

~~~

Tony found Y/N in their room later that day. He wanted to talk to her about the Accords. He had no clue where she stood. When he entered, he noticed she was packing.

“Are we going somewhere?” He asked.

“Peggy’s dead…. She’s gone.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Tony came over, allowing Y/N to fall into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

“She was just one of the few I had left from then.”

“When’s the funeral?”

“In three days, in London.”

They stood in silence for a moment. “The Accords are being signed in Vienna that day.”

Y/N pulled her head away slightly, brows furrowed. “I tell you that my close friend just died, and you are worried about the Accords?”

“That’s not what I meant—“

Y/N pulled away fully, going back to packing. “I can’t believe you.”

“What? I just stated a fact. And you’re going to go sign them, right? Red’s going so you can just go with her.”

“Stop, Tony, just stop.”

“It’s a question. Are you going to sign them?”

Y/N let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes, Tony, I don’t know.”

“Why? Explain to me why you don’t know.”

Y/N dropped what she was working on so she could face Tony. “Because I see both sides! I see and understand that we need a little more leash than we have. We need to be monitored, as a team. But then I see the other side as well. The Accords are so strict! What if they force us to fight for something we don’t agree with? Or won’t let us fight when we need to? And there’s the fact that those will powers will have to be monitored. But they were never specific on what that entailed.”

“I will protect you.” Tony stepped closer. “Like always.”

“You can’t promise that if you sign the Accords. It’s not up to you.”

“I already signed them.”

“What?”

“I signed them before Ross even brought them to the team.”

“How— why—you should have talked about this to me first. Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Because I guess I thought that you would sign them too.”

“Out of what? Love? Duty to my boyfriend?”

“Yes! And because I thought you’d understand why we need to have this.”

“I do understand! I just think that the Accords aren’t the answer!”

“Well I do! And if you loved me, you would too!!”

“What?” Y/N’s whisper of the word still gave away her angry tone. “If I loved you? What the hell do the Accords have to do with love?!”

“Because one of the reasons, my biggest reason, for doing this is because I love you! I’m doing this for us! And to make things right!”

“You’re doing this for you, Tony! And no one else! You’re hoping that you’ll be able to sleep better at night after this. That the guilt of everything that’s happened won’t drive you crazy anymore.”

“So what if that’s part of it?! We need to be put in check, Y/N! God! How do you not understand that?!”

“You know what? I understand perfectly.” Y/N threw the rest of the clothes on their bed into her suitcase. Slamming it shut. “It is my decision whether or not to sign the Accords. I need some time to think.” Zipping it up, she grabbed the suitcase. “And I think it needs to be away from here.”

“So, what, you’re leaving here? Running away?”

“Don’t even, Tony! I am not running away. I need to make this decision on my own, without any opinions in the way.”

“But you’re going to London with Cap, right? I’m sure he’ll try to sway you.”

“My friend just died! The person who used to be my best friend! The only person I knew after waking up. So, yes, I am going to London. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be taking Steve’s side. Or any side.” A portal opened next to Y/N. “Please, let me have some time.”

As Y/N stepped through the portal, Tony called out one last thing, “You have less than 3 days, Y/N. Better make your decision quick.”

~~~

After the portal closed, Y/N hurried to find a nearby trash can, emptying her gut into it. The baby clearly wasn’t a fan of that. Y/N got a hotel room in London. She texted Steve telling him where she was and that she would see him at the funeral. Steve questioned is she was okay, which Y/N just waved off.

She stayed in her hotel room until the funeral. When she arrived at the cathedral, it was already packed with mourners. Y/N quickly found Sam sitting in the front row.

“Hey,” he greeted, bringing her in for a hug.

“I didn’t know you’d be here, Sam.”

“I figured you would both need some support.”

Y/N pulled away. “Thanks, Sam.” 

She tried to discreetly look around. She was hoping that Tony would do the same thing. They hadn’t spoken or texted since that argument. 

“He’s not here,” Sam said, turning her attention to him.

“What?”

“Stark, he’s not here.”

“I wasn’t—“

“Yes you were. Steve may not be immediately again to see it, but I do. You two got in a fight. Was it over the Accords?”

“Yes,” Y/N sighed with a nod. 

“Your stance?”

“I still don’t know. I see both sides… there just has to be a better way.”

“I hope you figure one out. And figure it out fast."

~~~

Steve helped carry the casket down. As he sat down beside Y/N in the front pew, he immediately grabbed her hand, squeezing it. Y/N squeezed back. They listened to the speakers, Y/N staring at the framed photo of Peggy in front.

“And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words,” the Priest stated.

Steve was watching Y/N when Sam leaned over and nudged him. Steve looked up to see Sharon Carter, formally known as Agent 13 from SHIELD and Steve’s neighbor, up at the podium. Y/N knew that Sharon was related to Peggy, but it was clear that Steve did not.

“Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD . . . but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy,” Sharon began. Steve took a surprised breath. "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related.” Sharon looked directly at Steve. “I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move . . . it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in they eye and say, ‘No, you move’.”

~~~

After the ceremony, Steve and Y/N were the only ones left in the cathedral. Y/N was standing in front of Peggy’s picture while Steve had his head down, leaning against a pew. Natasha walked up the isle to Steve.

“When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone besides Y/N,” Steve said. “Then I found out that she was alive. I was just lucky to have her.”

“She had you back, too,” Nat responded. “The both of you.”

“Who else signed?”

“Tony. Rhodey. Vision.”

“Clint?” Y/N asked, still looking at the photograph.

“Says he's retired.”

“Wanda?” Steve wondered.

“TBD. I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet.” Steve sighed as Y/N turned around to join them. “Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

“What are we giving up to do it?” Nat sighed as Steve shook his head. “I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it.” Nat looked at Y/N.

“I don’t know yet, Nat,” Y/N responded. “I see both sides, I’m affecting either way. I just… I don’t know.”

“I know,” Nat responded.

“Then what are you doing here?” Steve asked.

“I didn’t want you two to be alone.”

next chapter >

NOTES: There was going to be more gifs, but I got lazy..... sorry.....

From now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Some Semblance of a Man

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31716874

Kaz

Kaz Brekker was always looking for a challenge, for the next rival to ruin, for the next near death experience. He’d learned quickly that sitting idle in The Barrel got you killed and he’d been running ever since. But with Pekka gone, Inej and her parents reunited, and the Council of Tides temporarily abated, Kaz was beginning to realize there was nothing else for him to do but wait.

Of course, there were the day to day activities, he still had The Crow Club to run, he still had slavers to gather information on. But after everything he and the Dregs had been through recently, those tasks seemed trivial. He didn’t want his crew to think that just because he’d come into a bit of money that he had gone soft, and he didn’t want rumor spreading throughout the Barrel that Kaz Brekker was getting bored. Without his crew around the Slat, Kaz had to find other ways to pass the time, and for the sake of maintaining appearances, Kaz would walk the streets at night, pretending to look at his watch, pretending to trail a random person, or spreading rumors. Sometimes he would walk to The Menagerie and think of what it would look like burned to the ground.

That’s where he’d been tonight, with a gentle mist of rain turning the cobblestone to mirrors, pools of colored lights spilling out across the street. There were few people out, the rain enough of a nuisance to make them think twice about spending their coin in gambling halls and pleasure houses. Despite the hour growing ever later, the Slat was teaming with life when Kaz returned, the air smelled like alcohol and sweat, the newer additions to the crew were trying to have a conversation, which had mostly devolved into shouting over the out of tune cacophony of voices singing drunkenly across the bar. Kaz bought a round for everyone, though he knew the chance of anyone here betraying him in favor of another gang was slim, keeping his crew happy with a bit of booze usually made his job a little easier. Besides, the longer the crowd was down here, the longer he had for some quiet of his own, in his room on the fourth floor, where the voices did not carry.

Kaz held his breath as he started his climb up the stairs, it was never easy, but Kaz valued the privacy and protection afforded by his room more than he worried about the pain. He bolted the door behind him, leaning his head against its frame and biting his lip as he massaged the twitching muscle of his thigh. He stretched, rubbed a knot from his neck, and reached for his hat.

He paused, the pattering of raindrops puncturing the peace. “Won’t Jesper and Wylan be missing their Wraith?” Kaz asked his empty room, his back to the window, hiding his smirk. He moved slowly, hanging his hat on the doorknob and turning around just in time to watch Inej swing gracefully from the rafters of his ceiling and drop down to his bed.

“No, they’re going over the books tonight, so they’ll be busy for a few hours at least,”

“Wylan’s books take hours to go over?” Kaz asked, leaning against the wall to take the weight off his bad leg.

“No,” Inej replied “But the boys tend to get distracted by...paperwork and usually have to start over,”

It took Kaz longer than he’d ever admit to understand her meaning, but once he had he merely quirked a single, bemused eyebrow at her. Something hungry and desperate twisted its way through Kaz’s stomach when Inej smiled wryly back at him, her eyes flitting to his collar. “What business?”

“I’ve been reading up on cannons.” Inej began, her face a picture of concentration. “Specht and I are going to be taking a few people we’ve been eyeing for our crew out on the water sometime in the next few weeks to practice. We aren’t going far, just far enough to where the cannon fodder won’t send other ships into a panic. We want to see if they can work well as a team before we commit to hiring them.”

“A wise decision,” Kaz agreed, ignoring the way his heart seized within his chest. It made him happy she would have her freedom, but the thought of losing her to the sea always left an ache.

“I wanted to extend an invitation to you,” the confidence Kaz had grown so used to seeing in Inej’s shoulders melted away, she pulled out a knife, turning it over in her hand. “to join us on that trip. I thought you might want to be there to ensure your...investment is taking form the way you’d hoped it would,”

“It wasn’t an in-” Kaz swallowed the rest of the sentence. It wasn’t an investment. He thought, don’t you know this was all for you? “How long will you be gone?”

“Not long, a day, maybe two.”

“When you have the dates secured, let me know, I’ll see if I can make the time,” He knew already he would make the time.

Inej nodded, a glint of something in her eye “And you? What business?”

“I have a job for you,” Kaz took this as an excuse to get closer to Inej, moving toward his desk and stretching out his leg. “I recently came into the possession of some ledgers,”

“You can use the word ‘stole’ Kaz, I’m not the stadwatch ,”

“They have the names of all the ships that have docked in the harbor, the captain, and their cargo,” Kaz continued, “I was looking through it for leads on slavers when I noticed something,” Inej untangled her limbs, and pushed herself upward, walking over to Kaz’s desk. Kaz had forgotten how comfortable it felt to have her by his side. “There’s a ship that keeps appearing, but it never stays for long. It docks at last light, and it departs first thing in the morning. I’ve looked at the dates of it’s arrival,” Kaz handed Inej the first of the ledgers, she took it from him without a word, scanning the pages in search of the same patterns he had found.

“The Sankta ?” Inej hissed and Kaz could hear the disgust on her tongue.

“I thought that might catch your eye,” he opened another ledger, pointing to the name of the ship and the dates it had docked in Ketterdam. “It comes in every six months or so, and when it does the population in the Barrel always seems to increase. The clubs start advertising more heavily, the pleasure houses start getting more traffic,”

“You think they’re smuggling people into the city?”

“I don’t know for certain what they’re trading, the ledger has different cargo listed every time. And the Captain...I’ve never heard of them before.” Inej placed the ledger in her hand back down on the desk, leaning in closer. Her braid fell down across her shoulder, barely an inch from Kaz’ face. Focus . “If the pattern holds they should be docking here in-”

“Three days?” Inej finished for him, reaching for the second ledger. Her fingers brushed against his gloves, her forearm against his jacket. Kaz lost all sense of time and place, despite the warmth of the room and the floor beneath his feet. One second he was in the Slat and the next he was cold and drowning. Inej was saying something, something like “tell him”, maybe? But he wasn’t quite sure, there was cotton in his ears, his heart was in his throat. There was water rising around his ankles.

“Kaz?” He heard her voice, far off, like a siren calling him to shore. He did not trust himself to speak, as it was he struggled to find breath “Kaz!”

He slammed back into himself, pressing one hand flat against his desk, wrapping the other around the head of his cane so tightly his knuckles went white beneath his gloves. Solid wood and solid metal, no flesh or water in sight, this was always how it went. The place beside him where Inej had been was empty, she had retreated, pressed herself up against the wall, her hands behind her back.

“I’m sorry, I-,” Kaz would have done anything to wipe away her guilt. “I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t mean to-”

“I wasn’t prepared,” he said, unable to look her in the eye, to admit to the weakness they both knew that he carried.

“I know,”

“I didn’t expect-”

“I know,” Inej interrupted. “Does the Sankta change the Berth it docks on?”

“No,” Kaz would never have the words to express the gratitude he felt at her diversion. He turned slightly in his seat, pretending to study the documents in front of him. Pretending like every cell in his body wasn’t honed in on Inej. On the way she was looking at him, distracting him once again with talk of plots and schemes, intangible actions that would let him fly high above the harbor he was drowning in. “It uses the same Berth every time.”

“Do we know who that dock belongs to?”

“It’s paid for by the Council, it’s designated for public use,”

“I’ll see what information I can gather,” Inej said and Kaz nodded, trying to force the image of Jordie out of his head. “Goodnight, Kaz,” Inej whispered after a moment, and though he did not hear her footsteps, he felt her absence immediately.

Where the water had been, regret replaced it. He balled his hand into a fist and closed his eyes. “Wait!” he called out after her, turning around slowly to not seem overeager. Inej was frozen, partway out his window. He felt picked apart with the way her gaze fell upon him, her eyebrows knit together, her face desperate and searching. Whatever unease still lingered in the center of his stomach, whatever terror still wrapped around his ankles, it fell away at the sight of Inej, sitting here on his window sill, backlit by moonlight and held up by hope.

At some point the fear of what her touch would bring him was dampened by his need to hold her close. He was broken and crooked and the most unworthy man, but he needed Inej to know it wasn’t her fault. Wanted her to know that he was trying to push the pieces of himself back together, into someone, something she would not be ashamed to love.

When Kaz and Nina had broken into the morgue all those months ago, he had powered through his fear with thoughts of Inej; the warmth of her skin, the sound of her voice. But as every second in that room of corpses passed them by, Kaz had forced Inej from his mind, not wanting to taint his memories of her with the scent of death. Kaz had believed for so long that the foolish little boy he had been had died in the harbor, but as his eyes fell upon Inej now, he knew he had been wrong. He had carried Kaz Rietveld with him every day of his life, and had pulled that doe eyed little fool to the surface on the back of his brother’s bloated body with every touch since then.

He’d learned very quickly what it meant to be weak in The Barrel. The Barrel starved, and beat, and stole all the kindness and compassion and love out of those unlucky enough to build a life inside it. Weakness got you killed, so Kaz had buried his weaknesses so deep they had turned themselves into shadows. He had kept them there in the dark for so long they had grown claws and teeth, they had become so rabid, so feral that Kaz was finding it harder and harder to keep them locked away.

But maybe he didn’t have to anymore. Because now he had the Wraith, he had Inej, and Inej made him strong. Inej made him wish for things he had convinced himself he could never have. Perhaps if he tried it, if he tried it enough, to touch her, to put her hand in his, to let her rest her head against his shoulder, to...to kiss her, he could finally put the little boy in the harbor to rest. Yes, he would drown his fear beneath the tidal wave that was Inej, he would burn away the memories of corpses against his flesh with the warmth of her skin against his.

“I want to try again,” it pained him to admit to it, it thrilled him to have said it. Kaz failed to keep his heart beat steady when Inej planted her feet firmly back into his room, and closed the window.

“Try what again?” she asked, stalking forward until there was nothing more than breath between them. Kaz studied the head of his cane, his skin prickled with the thought of what she’d feel like in his hands.

“I-” He dared a glance at her, she was ethereal, she was calculating, she was Inej and the rest of Kaz’s wish was lost with his nerve.

“Kaz, tell me,” Inej leaned forward, Kaz leaned back. He clenched his jaw, locked himself away behind his mask. “Tell me what you want,” He could feel the way she looked at him, like she’d created her own gravity and he’d collapsed beneath it. But he couldn’t make himself form words, it had taken everything he’d had to say something the first time, to show her such weakness again would surely break him. When Inej spoke there was an edge to her voice that was sharper than her knives. “Say it, Kaz. For once in your life just...say what you’re thinking. There is no one else here but us. There’s no one else to see you, to hear you treat me like you actually care.”

Kaz hung his head in shame, it was a fair blow, but that didn’t stop him from shattering into a million pieces at the acknowledgement of all the times he’d failed her. “I want to take my armor off.” He forced himself to meet her eye. “I want to beat this, I will beat this. Will you help me?”

They’d done this little dance for months now, the day on the docks, when he’d shown Inej her ship, he’d managed to hold her hand for a whole five minutes without sinking below the waves. He’d tried a couple times since then, with various levels of success. Some days he’d managed to throw his arm around her, others just the thought of her face caused him to tug on his gloves.

“Of course I’ll help you, Kaz, you only had to ask,” Kaz committed that smile of hers to memory. “Are you ready?” Inej asked.

No. Kaz steadied himself and straightened his posture “Yes,”

They started slowly, Inej resting her palm on the back of his gloved hand, Kaz took a deep breath, he could do this, he was fine. Inej’s fingers curled around his hand, she pressed their palms together. Kaz pushed the water away. She laced their fingers together, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“You okay?”

“Fine,”

“Do you want to keep going?”

“Yes,”

Kaz wasn’t sure what kind of sound he made when Inej began to tug the gloves from his hands. She froze, looking up at him, reading him the way only she could. She dropped her hand, Kaz wanted to reach for it, but he let it fall away. “I’m sorry, did you want to do it?”

“No, it’s- no one else ever has,” Kaz cleared his throat, biting back a smile at the way Inej’s cheeks flushed. Tentatively, Inej continued, it took a lifetime to complete her task, it took a second. The metal of his cane was cold against his fingertips, for the first time in a long time it no longer felt comforting. He reached out with his other hand, and gently Inej took it, her palm against the top of his bare hand. It felt like fire, but Kaz preferred the burn to the icy harbor he had always known. His breath caught in his throat, Inej continued until their hands were pressed palm to palm.

“Breathe,” Inej whispered, Kaz exhaled and peace rushed in to fill his lungs. She interlaced their fingers, the water started in. Think of her . Kaz clenched his jaw. Think of that day at the docks . Kaz faltered when Inej wrapped her other hand around his wrist, the one that held his cane. He thought that she might pull their hands away, and though he was not a man of faith, he thanked every Saint he knew that she kept her hold on him.

She repeated the pattern, gripping his wrist, his elbow, his shoulder with all his layers on. He kept his breathing purposeful, controlled, his eyes trained on the wall for fear he would look at Inej and see a corpse standing in her place. She slid her hand from his shoulder to his chest, he hoped she could not feel his heartbeat. He nearly lost his footing when her arm went to his waist. He was impossibly warm, sweat had started beading at his temples, he gripped his cane a little tighter.

Inej released his hand and a weight Kaz hadn’t realized was upon him disintegrated in his chest. But it returned in a flash when Inej began to pull off his coat. “Saints,” he whispered. “Why won’t it stop ?” he hadn’t meant to say it, he hadn’t meant for it to send Inej shuffling backward, too far away for him to grasp.

“It takes time, Kaz,” Inej replied, tossing his coat on the bed, taking a tentative step forward, then another when Kaz responded in kind. She brushed her fingers against his shirt sleeve at the wrist, it was an apology and a question. “You can’t kill this kind of monster in a day,” she traced a line up to his elbow. “It took me months,” Inej said, so simply that it knocked his world out of alignment and he had to take a step backward to right himself. Inej reacted on instinct, clutched his shoulders to make sure he did not fall.

“I’m not strong enough,” Kaz blurted out, hoping that if he spoke, he could force the feeling of rotting flesh out of his mind. “I’m not as strong as you,”

“That’s not true,” Inej ran her fingers across his chest and down to his waist. “My weakness just wasn’t visible, yours is,” she unbuttoned his vest, Kaz hadn’t even noticed and the implication of that made his stomach do a somersault. “When someone touches you, you are present, aware.” She continued her pattern, hands going back to his wrist, making sure he could anticipate where her next move was going to be. “Me? I disappeared,” Kaz caught her eye, and threw his thought away. He refused to pity her, he knew she wouldn’t want that. “I looked calm and collected, but no one knew what it was doing to me, to shake their hand or have their arms around me,”

She smiled at him, unrestrained and brilliant, and he looked down to realize he had his hand upon her waist, her arms wrapped around his in kind. This felt like a victory, it felt like a curse. Against the roughness of her jacket, his hand began to tremble. She stepped away, he didn’t want her to, but it was exactly what he needed.

“Your tie,” Inej stated, and Kaz could have worshipped her right then, for understanding that if she had brought her hand up to his neck, he might not survive the evening. He undid his tie, though the tightness in his throat did not relent. He unbuttoned his shirt, hoping that the action would steady his hand. He was feeling light-headed but he wasn’t drowning...yet. He wiped the sweat from his brow, ran a hand through his hair, forced his anxiety out with a breath. He had never gotten this far with her before.

Inej repeated the rhythm: wrist, elbow, shoulders. Her hand was Jordie’s hand, her flesh was Jordie’s flesh. His chest, his waist. The waters started rising, coming in with the strength of a flood. Inej could sense the change in him immediately, “Tell me about the tattoo,” Inej said, he did not want her hand on him anymore, he needed it to stay so he could keep trying. He knew why she was asking, she knew he needed a distraction, and he chuckled darkly because she did not know that this particular question serveed an opposite purpose.

“Not tonight,” But someday .

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No,”

Her hand has been in his for seconds, minutes, days, long enough that Kaz let himself hope that one day he could be rid of this. This ghost of his brother, the phantom of his skin, slipping underneath his hand, his chest, his face. Carefully, never breaking eye contact, Inej brought his hand up to her lips, Kaz focused on his breathing, on the moonlight spilling across Inej’s plait. Kaz tasted salt on his tongue, no not salt, iron. His vision went blurry, and he lost the shape of Inej as a result. This was unbearable, but he was desperate for more, it was easier this way. Feeling her lips against his skin, instead of her skin beneath his lips. She pressed another kiss to the creases of his palm, to his wrist. This felt nothing like a corpse, but the traces of her lips burned like ice, like water.

“I never asked you,” Kaz began, relaxing the tension in his jaw “Are you okay with this?”

“I’m not doing anything I don’t want to be doing,” she whispered against his forearm, lips brushing the dark ink of his Dregs tattoo. He flexed the hand that held his cane, releasing some of the stiffness in his knuckles. She continued her familiar path across his body, through the smoke of Reaper’s Barge Kaz noticed she took care to avoid the R tattooed to his bicep when she kissed him there.

His whole body was alight, electrified, dying. He could smell death in his nose, he could feel the warmth of Inej’s body wash over him. He was tired, he was treading water, knowing any minute he could drown. He saw Jordie’s face, swollen, purple, eyes cloudy, No. He thought of Inej, of her laughter, her smile, of her voice whispering his name. Kaz Rietveld and Kaz Brekker were at war with one another, and right now, he wasn’t sure who would win. He should tell her to stop, but he didn’t want her to.

Inej took another step in, her hands balling into fists. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to be doing . She had just told him that, but he saw her now, saw how tightly she carried herself. He’d been so caught up in his own head, he hadn’t realized she’d been trying to shed her armor too. She leaned in, and Kaz was back in a hotel bathroom, she paused mere inches from his chest, sucked in one shaking breath, and ran her lips against his collar bone.

The current pulled him under; Kaz Rietveld had won again. Sudden, uncontrollable panic seized within his chest, snapping the leash to which he tied his weaknesses. They ran him over, all snarls and teeth and claws, turning him into something wild and furious. Before he could control himself, before he was even fully conscious of what was happening, he had flung his arms outward, pushing Inej away from him. “Stop,”

Inej, working to quiet her own demons had not been expecting this outburst from Kaz, she lost her footing, stumbling backward, and though she did not fall, Ghafa’s never fall , she did slam the back of her knee into the hard metal of Kaz’s bed frame. Inej cried out, more out of shock than out of pain. Desperation, horror, fury, regret pulled Kaz further under, the room was spinning, the moonlight hurt his eyes. Kaz caught himself on the edge of his desk, fumbling frantically for the waste basket he kept there, the cold metal of it in his hands bringing the briefest moment of comfort before he was vomiting up his dinner.

“Kaz?” Inej’s voice was sturdy, grounding, calm, but he could not turn to face her.

Inej

Kaz Brekker had gone by many names, and Inej had heard them all, whispered fearfully through the streets of Ketterdam by cowardly men. Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel. Inej had spent so many nights on this city’s rooftops, seen only by the stars, listening in on the conversations that twisted up to her like crow feathers in the wind. She knew what people thought of him, he held a place amongst the most dangerous and feared of men. To some he was a bogeyman, to all he was a threat. And though she had seen him do terrible, violent things it still sent a sharp bolt of surprise crackling through her body whenever she heard the word “monster” following his name.

That monster stood before her now, leaning against his desk. Trusting her enough to turn away, to leave himself defenseless in her presence. Not trusting her enough to show his face. He was sweating, and in the light that spilled from the lamp upon his desk, Inej could see his hands twitching with the slightest tremor. She knew he was slipping, knew he was trying desperately to pull his armor on. But she was not here for Dirtyhands, and she had no time tonight for bastards. She thought about those names, the truths they carried with them. Could they really be titles for the man she was watching now? A boy who could not look her in the eye? No, the person that stood, half naked and shaking in this tiny little room, was neither of those things. This, she realized, this was simply

“Kaz,” she tried again.

“Leave,” and if she had known him any less she would have thought that he was serious.

“No,”

“Inej,” She was never sure how he could do that, how he could make her feel coveted and worshipped just by saying her name “ please ?” and his voice became a quiet, broken thing.

“No.” She said again, gentle as the breeze “I will not leave you, not like this,”

“I don’t want to see you,” it wasn’t a lie,

“You did great, Kaz, you’re making progress, ” and so was she, though she wasn’t sure Kaz realized it.

“Inej, get out,” he hissed, as if it hurt him to say the words.

“Why?”

He stiffened, and she bit back a smirk he hadn’t been expecting that . “I-” he hung his head.

She knew he didn’t have a reason, not one that he would admit to anyway “Is it because you don’t want me to see you like this? Because you’re worried you can’t give me what I want?” She tried to dampen the delight that bubbled in her chest, when she watched blotches of red blush paint the back of Kaz’s neck and spill down across his shoulder blades. “Is it because you feel ashamed?”

Kaz screamed with a rage she had seen up close only twice, a wild, guttural thing. When he got like this, destruction usually followed in his wake. As if on cue, Kaz slammed his hands down on the table, sweeping everything that rested there- every half drawn blueprint, ledger, and plan -onto the floor. His lantern tumbled with it as did a small wind up dog toy Kaz always kept sitting at his desk. The force of their impact caused both to shatter, sending pieces of glass and metal skidding across the hard wood floors. The paperwork took longer to fall, floating gently in the air around him like snow.

Kaz finally turned to face her, fury exploding behind his eyes. He wanted a fight, but Inej would never give him that satisfaction. When the dust settled, the anger that had possessed him had begun to burn low, confusion taking control of his posture and his brow when he finally saw Inej.

She had crossed her arms and tried her best to look bored. Based on his reaction it may have been working. “You can’t scare me away, Kaz,” It was the wrong thing to say, but it’s what he needed to hear.

The fire that flickered behind his eyes turned to ice, “I am the Bastard of the Barrel,” Kaz spit, stalking toward her, making sure to punctuate his words with the tapping of his cane against the wood. “I brought down Pekka Rollins, I conned Jan Van Eck, I broke into the Ice Court and made it out alive. Men run when they see me coming, parents tell their children I’ll steal them away in the night if they do not behave.” Kaz only stopped when her back was to a wall. He wanted her to feel cornered, he wanted her to feel trapped. On any other night, that may have worked, but she knew this was an act, and she had maneuvered herself so she was near the window, and he hadn’t seemed to notice.  “I scare who I damn well please,”

Inej could not hold back anymore, she hadn’t meant to do it, but she started to laugh. “That’s good,” Kaz blinked in surprise, his posture shifting, his grip loosening on his cane. She took a step forward, he took a step back. “I can see how that would work on most people. But I know you Kaz. Sure, you took down Pekka and Jan Van Eck...with help,” she took another step forward, reveling in Kaz’s retreat. “But you’ve also fainted in a carriage, nearly drowned in Djel’s river, and got embarrassed when Jesper’s Dad caught you two in a fist fight.” Kaz ducked his head to hide the redness rushing to his cheeks. She took another step forward, he ceded his territory. “You got good at palming cards and picking pockets not because you planned for a life of crime, but because you like magic tricks . You’ve lost a hat in every corner of Ketterdam,” Kaz lost his footing, his knees buckled beneath him, sending him tumbling onto his bed. With nowhere left for him to go, Inej smirked, and leaned in just far enough so he could hear her whisper. “And, when you wake up in the morning, your hair sticks up to one side. Jesper and I pretend not to notice, but we both think it’s adorable,”

Inej spun gracefully on her heel, gliding back towards the window, because she was not cruel and did not want Kaz to suffer...she didn’t want Kaz to suffer much . Kaz glowered at her, but seemed to otherwise have calmed. “You know,” Inej said when the silence grew too heavy. “I’ve been afraid of a lot of people since I came to Ketterdam,”

“Even Jesper?” Kaz asked eventually, she could tell from the cadence of his voice he was exhausted.

“Especially Jesper” Inej trusted Jesper with her life, he had brought so much chaos and joy into her world. But he was kind and charming in a way that sent shivers down her spine. Inej had had too many clients come to her, all smiles and compassion. Jesper scared her because she knew what kind and charming men could do. Kaz flinched and looked away.

“But not me?”

“No,” Inej wanted to touch his cheek, to smooth the worry that lined his forehead “Never you,”

Slowly, deliberately, Kaz stood. Inej’s breath caught in her throat when her eyes met his. He looked paler than usual, and maybe a little green, but his hands were still, his stance was steadier. He had locked his thoughts away, no emotion showing on his face, but there was a shine in his eyes Inej had seen before, when Kaz was trying to let go of hope. He quirked a single eyebrow at her, a challenge.

“I’ve been scared for you,” she admitted. “I’ve been scared to disappoint you, I’ve been scared of what it would do to me to lose you.” Inej stepped forward, already knowing what would happen, knowing that Kaz, having slipped away once already, would take a step back. But instead he stood rooted in place, his grip tightening ever so slightly on his cane.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve never looked at me the way everyone else does.” She considered the weight of the words on her tongue. “One day at The Menagare would have been enough to show me what kind of place Ketterdam truly was, and I spent a year inside it’s walls. I’ve collapsed beneath a million broken promises, but never yours. I’ve heard a million gentle lies, but never from you. I have felt a million….unwanted hands,” Inej wanted to shrink away into the shadows, but she refused to show her weakness, she refused to look away. Like magnets they were pulling toward each other until they were sharing the same air, until they were standing as each other’s equals in the center of the room. Inej held out her hand, not a demand, not a question, but a wish. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest when Kaz, without a moment’s hesitation, took her hand. He clenched his jaw, and drew a soft line across her palm with his thumb, it was a certainty, it was a promise. “But never yours,”

Kaz cleared his throat “I haven’t been scared of anyone since Jordie died,”

“Not even Jesper?” Inej teased, because she didn’t know what else to say.

Kaz bit back a smile “Never Jesper,”

“Not even me?” It was another joke, because she’d wanted to see more of that smile.

His face fell into something powerful and serious “I’ve always been scared of you, Inej,” she knew how much it must have taken for him to have admitted it. “From the moment you snuck up on me with bells on,”

“Really?” she could not hold the joy she felt at bay, it spread throughout her body, warming her all the way down to her toes.

Kaz nodded.

“But I was nothing then,”

“You have always been something.” Kaz corrected. “Back then you were Silence,”

“And now?” her eyes kept falling to his lips.

“You…” Kaz continued, leaning down, sending Inej’s heart into a frenzy she was worried she could never tame “should be going home,”

Inej scoffed, Kaz’s walls slipped down just long enough to let a small chuckle pass his lips. She would tuck that away in her memory, a look into the boy he could have been, a minute of vulnerability all for her. “That’s not fair! I told you mine!” If it had been Jesper standing in front of her, Inej would have backhanded his shoulder. But this was Kaz and he had done a lot tonight, she didn’t want to push her luck. Especially when she was enjoying this feeling of his hand in hers, she wasn’t looking to ruin it. “Come on Kaz,” she whispered, “why are you scared of me?”

He chewed his lip, and she could see the gears turning in his head, the debate he was conducting. Should he tell her the truth? Or keep his feelings a mystery and send her away. She was getting tired of being sent away. “Because I trust you.” Kaz said. “Because, you make me want to tell you everything. We deal in secrets, Inej, because we know that information can be more valuable than money. You’ve learned my patterns, you know my mind, you could unravel everything I have built with a single word to the right person,”

It was true, but it hurt. She pulled her hand from his, and regretted it. “You think that I would?”

“No,” he said it so fast, so sure that it knocked the air out of her lungs, it tore her voice from her throat. “And that is why you scare me. Because I know that thought has never crossed your mind.” He tugged gently at the bottom of her braid, twisting it around in his fingers. This was a system they had worked out months ago, for when Kaz wanted to be physical but the feeling of her skin was too much. “You are kinder and stronger than I will ever be and I am scared that-” he dropped her braid, placed both his hands atop his cane, and broke eye contact. “I am scared that you will finally see yourself for everything you are and know I am not worthy of your time or loyalty.”

“Kaz,” she said, because she didn’t know what else to say. Because she couldn’t say I love you . The tension in the room, the cord that pulled the two of them together, was severed by the tolling of a clock.

Kaz broke first, eyes skirting to the city stretched out below them. “Goodnight, Inej,” he whispered, his voice rougher than usual.

“Goodnight,” she managed, slipping out of his window and vanishing into the night. Kaz watched her go until he could not feel her presence any longer, then he turned, and started picking up his mess. When Kaz woke the next morning, his heart stuttered in his chest. Sitting in the middle of his desk was a brand new wind up dog toy and laying next to it, reflecting the early morning sun was a geranium made out of glass.

[ilguna]

Anteric - Epilogue (f.o)

summary: secrets have more worth than you gave them credit for.

warnings; swearing. DEATH MENTION.

wc; 5.3k

NOTES; I give reader a last name to fit the world.

–

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in Dauntless, the universe always comes back around to prove you wrong. Which is a surprise every time, because after you started studying under the leaders, there wasn’t anything under the sun that was off limits. And you’ve been doing this for years.

Mags currently stands with you, Caspian and Damon by the train tracks, waiting for the train. Last week, Erudite’s leader, Coriolanus Snow, had gotten in contact with the leaders of each faction to discuss a new serum that they have in the works. He didn’t exactly say what the serum would be for, only that it would help with security.

Before he had said that, Caspian was convinced that you wouldn’t have to tag along, since you’ve gone to more than your fair share of meetings. By now, you understand the whole process, from the very beginning, to the very end. If they had decided to send you alone today, you would’ve been able to take care of it without a worry.

However, if the serum concerns security, you have to be there because Finnick can’t. It’s not that he can’t get up and go, it’s more of the fact that it would be inappropriate to bring him. He may be the head of security, but he’s not in any position of power within the Dauntless headquarters.

Which is why you’ll be working as his spokesperson. You’ve worked alongside Finnick plenty of times, you know his job as well as he does. And just for good measure, you got permission from Caspian to tell Finnick what you all do know about the serum, so Finnick could tell you things that he would specifically be looking for.

Generally, Dauntless is already at peak performance with the technology you have at hand. You can always appreciate Erudite when they have more improved versions of what you have. But past that, new inventions aren’t necessarily a priority. As far as you’re concerned, everything is under control.

Finnick highlighted a few questions for you to ask while you’re there. And if the Erudite get technical with the words, you’re there to decipher what they have to say, and combat it if you have to. Over these last couple of years, you learned that not only is your Divergence one of your biggest dangers, it’s also your biggest advantage as a future leader.

You had expected that it would only be you, Finnick and Damon visiting the Abnegation building, considering that Mags has begun to hit the point where she can’t navigate Dauntless anymore. It’s not memory, it’s more of the fact that she’s not physically fit enough to go up the winding path of the Pit, or through long hallways in stretches of darkness without knowing where the next step is.

It’s no surprise, though. Mags is the oldest member of Dauntless, staying long past people expected her to. It’s a miracle she hasn’t broken anything yet, with the way that the compound is structured. In Dauntless, there are no old, only the young that will lead the future generations. As soon as Mags proves that she’s incapable of living the lifestyle anymore, she’ll be forced out, becoming factionless.

Not that Caspian likes to talk that way, but he’s said that her time is right around the corner. Maybe next week, maybe next month. All you know is that you’ll be replacing her, and you’ll join Caspian and Damon in making official decisions for the faction. Sometimes, it’s a scary thought. Other times, you wonder just how much of an impact you can leave before it’s your time to leave, too.

Anyway, Mags decided that she couldn’t really sit out on the meeting if Erudite might alter the way of life for everyone. Which means that she’s going to have to jump on the train, and you haven’t seen her do it at all yet. In all your time of helping lead, Mags has never shown the want or need of jumping onto the train. 

She has to know that it’s more dangerous to her than anyone else, right? Damon might slowly be tallying up his own years, but he could still run circles around her. If she breaks her leg, or something important, then that’ll be it for her. She’ll get sent to the nearest Erudite hospital with the label ‘factionless’.

You guess you shouldn’t be worrying over her like this. You should be hoping that she makes it onto the train so that you don’t have to take up her position all of a sudden.

“Here it comes,” Caspian says, breaking the silence.

You look over to the left, double-checking to make sure he’s right, and he is. The horn blares a couple of times, warning you four that it’s coming in hot. You bend your knees slightly, stretching out your calves. You’re not sure who wants to get on the train first, all you know is that you don’t want to be stuck behind Mags, if she does end up taking her time getting on.

The lights flash, the sound of the horn repeating. Just as it begins slowing, you take off running beside it, not waiting for the other three to make their decision. You’d rather be the first on the train, with the responsibility of helping the others inside. Compared to being last, with little to no room to work with before the train has sped up and left you behind. 

You chase the car for a few more steps before throwing yourself to the left, hand out to grab the handle. Your hand curls around the metal, which is warm from baking in the sun all afternoon. With a jerk of your hips, your right foot lands on the floor of the train car. You reach inside, above the doorway, to grab the second handle with your right hand. And all in one motion, you pull yourself inside.

You get out of the way by moving to the left side of the car. Still holding on, you lean out a little to see the others, allowing the wind to carry your hair off of your shoulders. The next person running up is Caspian, blonde hair slicked back because of how fast he’s running. He throws himself left too, and you offer out your free hand to pull him inside.

His hand grasps yours tightly, and using your combined strength, he gets into the train with no problem. He’s got years of experience beneath his belt, you’d be surprised if he, out of all people, made some rookie mistake. 

Instead of Damon being third, it’s Mags. She’s not moving as quickly as you two did, but she’s within range of the train car. Caspian leans out as far as he can, reaching for her. After one big burst, she takes the chance on his hand, being prepared for the yank forward and the ground disappearing beneath her. You grab her other hand, and her feet meet the train flooring.

Damon waves you and Caspian away, wanting to get in on his own. Mags takes a corner on the far side away from you, away from the door so that she doesn’t get caught in the force of the wind. Caspian backs up too, letting Damon have a wide range to work with. As soon as you give Damon the thumbs up, he gets in with one fluid motion, perfected from his years of experience.

After that, you’re left to fall back and wait until you have to get off the train. Which brings out a whole new question on how Mags will get out unharmed. You suppose that you’ll see when the time comes.

You look over at the others, “How many Abnegation leaders will there be?”

Like you’ve said, you’ve gone to plenty of these meetings before, but when it comes to Abnegation, they’re always a mystery. There have been times when they brought half their board, and there’s been times when they’ve only brought two or three people. One young, one old. There’s only been one time where they’ve allowed one person to go by themselves, and it was because they had a lot on their plate that month.

Damon shrugs, “Probably three, like normal.”

“But this is a serum that we’re talking about,” Caspian says, shaking his head twice, “Abnegation isn’t going to pass up the opportunity to argue with them.”

“The Abnegation don’t argue, they use judgement to break the other person down. It’s why Erudite hates the selfless idea in the first place, Abnegation projects it onto others, and it works.” you say, straightening up.

“So, what? You think they’ll bring more people?” Caspian asks, and then he glances at Mags, “What do you think?”

You and Damon have to lean in to hear her through the sound, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought the whole council. It’s Coriolanus we’re talking about, not some intern.”

She’s right, it’s the point you were trying to direct Caspian and Damon to. Erudite has a history of sending interns--leaders-in-training like you--to meetings, instead of Coriolanus himself. The funny thing about sending the interns is that you’ve never seen the same person come back, ever. It’s always a new person, and they vanish as quickly as they came.

If Coriolanus is calling a meeting personally, it means business, real progress. At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised if the whole Abnegation population came to the meeting to deflect any information that Coriolanus has. Unless, of course, he’s come up with a way to help the factionless. He might steal their hearts all in one go, even if it’s not willingly.

The four of you don’t talk again until you’ve made it to the city, nearly thirty minutes later. With how far away the Dauntless compound is, you have to leave early if you want to make it anywhere in the city on time. It reminds you a lot of the bus rides to school when you lived in Abnegation. Only, you’d be delayed so badly solely because you had to give others the opportunity to get onto the bus first. And if there was no room left for you, you’d have to wait for the next one to come around.

You don’t miss Abnegation, not at all.

Now that you’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to come first, it’s addicting. You can take what you want, when you want it. You know that there will always be your underlying Abnegation urges every now and then. But you’re predominantly Dauntless since you’ve become a member and lived the lifestyle.

“(Y/n) and Caspian out first!” Damon shouts, motioning for Caspian to join you at the door.

You’re a few steps back, as is Caspian. If you get a running start out the door, you have a better chance at landing on your feet when you get out. Plus, you’re less likely to go and accidentally twist your ankle. 

A patch of grass finally passes in front of the door, and you take off running, pushing off when your toes just barely hang over the edge. The wind whistles in your ears for a moment, but then your feet touch the ground, and you’re stumbling forward to slow yourself down.

Caspian stands just fine next to you, hands in his pockets. The two of you watch as Mags and Damon leave the car next. Mags dissolves into a crouch so that her knees catch the entirety of the blow. Damon does the same thing that you and Caspian did, only much more gracefully.

The walk to the Abnegation headquarters is fairly quiet, each of you preoccupied with your own thoughts. You mainly worry about making sure that you’ll be able to ask every one of Finnick’s questions. If he has all the information possible, he’ll be able to decide whether or not Dauntless should back up Erudite. Which is important, considering that you are their biggest ally.

Soon, you can see the tall building looming over the street, casting a dark shadow. The closer you get, the more you’re able to see that there are Abnegation members everywhere. Some stand along the sidewalk, talking to each other. Some are waiting for the bus to come around, probably running errands for others.

Once you’re noticed by one person, more follow behind them. Their stares are judgmental, and you can already hear what’s going through their minds. The tight clothing, the brightly colored tattoos that are in obvious areas, the piercings on display for them to see. And it’s all shamelessly, attention is what the Dauntless crave.

The girl working at the front desk must have been waiting for you, because she’s out of her seat in an instant, moving around the counter, “Follow me, please.”

The inside of the building is boring, with grey fabric walls, and shiny white floors. The girl’s hair is pulled back into a bun, a few hairs hanging loose out of the bottom. She holds her arms behind her back, hands clasped together. You remember seeing Calandra, Caspian’s older sister, doing this exact same thing before she transferred to Erudite. It’s because Naida walks this way too, it must be some sort of tradition that your family never picked up on.

Then again, your family has never been for traditional roles. Two kids too many, both parents dead, two transferred children. Your brother is raising your sister by himself, in a house that is far too big for him to reasonably occupy. He might have moved, but you really doubt it. The house has three bedrooms, and it’s roomy on the inside.

The receptionist stops in front of an elevator. She removes her hands from behind her back to press the up button. She settles for intertwining her fingers in front of her, staring at the metal doors.

“You know, your hair is distracting,” Caspian teases, he must be referring to the hair that hangs loose.

The girl goes rigid, shoulders tensing. You press your lips together in an effort to suppress your laugh, shaking your head at Caspian. Damon’s got the same expression you do. Mags doesn’t look like she’s having as much fun, you can only imagine how badly her knees must be hurting now.

The elevator doors open, and the girl moves aside to let you four go inside first. When this happens, she takes the opportunity to reach up behind her head to feel the bun for herself.

“I was just teasing,” Caspian winks, coming in and standing next to you.

Her face turns bright red, eyes squinting at him slightly. If he’s not careful, he’s going to worsen the narrative that Abnegation has set on Dauntless. Not that you guys actually care, of course. They could call all of you horrible people, the truth of the matter is that you’re the ones protecting them from danger.

Inside of the lift, she presses the number thirty. It’s not the highest floor that this building has to offer. If you look around her, you can see it goes up to fifty. There must be some office spaces above, where the Abnegation are working together to plan out another city repair. As if the first hundred didn’t fail, too.

The girl holds the door open for you to pass through, and then she leads the way down a couple of hallways. Up here, the floors are grey carpet and the walls are painted white, a reversal of the first floor. Grey is such a boring color, you can see why they’ve chosen it.

She stops in front of the door at the end of the hall, one hand on the doorknob, the other giving a quiet knock to let the people inside know that you’re coming in. You hadn’t heard talking initially, but once she knocks, the murmur on the other side ceases. She pushes the door open, allowing you to go inside. She gives you a smile, and then closes the door behind her when she leaves.

You turn your attention to the people in the room, after that. And the first thing you notice is how you’re the last to show up, every other leader is here. They were just missing you four. You can’t say that you’re surprised.

Coriolanus Snow is dressed in a dark blue suit, his white hair is combed back. There’s a beard on his face, also dawned in white. Caspian told you that Coriolanus was just as old as Mags, maybe a few years younger. Honestly, you’ve never seen him up close before, only in pictures in passing.

He sits up straight, as if a stick has been shoved up his ass. With his attitude, you wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. Looking at his face alone, you can see that he holds the Erudite arrogance with pride. Not a surprise, the Erudite think they’re better because they can score higher on tests.

To his left sits a man in a black suit with a white undershirt, Haymitch Abernathy. He’s the leader of Candor, with unkempt curly dark hair, and purple bags underneath his eyes. He’s not sat up as straight, he’s slouched in his chair, arms lazily crossed on the table. He’s as old as Damon, middle-aged. You wouldn’t be surprised if Haymitch had kids.

Amity’s representative, Elysia Petalsong, sits to Haymitch’s left. Every time you see her again, you can’t help but picture her during Mox’s Choosing Ceremony. She had looked younger then, she’s older now. Not as old as Haymitch and Damon, though. Elysia wears a red dress, gold bracelets line her wrists, with one heart locket necklace around her neck. Her dark hair falls in waves over her shoulders, hands are in her lap, and you can imagine her legs are crossed in a tilt.

There’s only one Abnegation leader sitting at the table, directly across from Coriolanus Snow. At first, he doesn’t turn to face you all, it’s only when Mags has already taken her seat next to Coriolanus, to his right, does the man finally look over to greet you four.

Your eyes lock for only a second, but it’s the longest second of your life.

Reed sits with confidence, hands laced and on the table in front of him. He looks so much like your father like this, that it’s insane. He’s finally grown into his body, his face more matured. You’re sure that if he stood up, that he’d be a couple of inches taller now.

You haven’t seen him in a long time.

His eyes stay just long enough to remember your face, before looking over the actual leaders of your faction. With the way that they’re sitting down, from oldest to youngest, you’re going to be stuck sitting next to him. You don’t know if you can do that. 

You don’t think he’s even realized it’s you yet.

Caspian notices your hesitance, and takes the seat closest to Reed, leaving the one next to Damon open. You take the spot quickly, wondering how Reed had somehow convinced Abnegation that he was a leader that was fit for them.

Abnegation has a history of picking people that don’t want to be leaders. Mostly because if the person they’ve elected doesn't want the power, then they’re less likely to get out of control. You don’t think Reed is after power, you’re just confused on how he became well-known enough to end up here.

Actually, you take that back. You know why he’s well-known, you said so yourself on the way here. The Gallows family is far from perfect when it comes to Abnegation standards. Then again, shouldn’t that be a drawback on why he shouldn’t be elected? 

Amon, Naida’s husband, must’ve recommended Reed.

“There’s four of you.” Coriolanus says, as if it isn’t obvious.

Mags clears her throat, “She’s a leader-in-training at the moment, she’ll replace my position when the time comes.”

Coriolanus stares at you longer than you wish he would. 

You sit up, deciding that you might as well push for the meeting to get started. This is more important to you, than to anyone else, “You said that you’re developing a serum that’ll help with security?” you ask.

“Yes, that’s right.” He says, eyebrows drawing in.

“What is it going to do?” you lean your head against your hand.

“To put it into simple terms, it’s a tracking device.” 

Elysia lets out a noise that sounds like a scoff, sitting up in her chair, “What would we need tracking devices for?”

“It would be a precaution, let’s say a person goes missing. We could then activate the transmitter, and find the person without any worry.” He says this with a wave of his hand, as if the idea isn’t a bad one.

However, you can find a hundred different reasons why this is a bad idea. 

“People don’t go missing often enough to need tracking devices, though,” you squint at him, “In fact, when people do go missing, they’re often found the same day, alive.”

“It doesn’t have to be used for that scenario exclusively,” he says, “What about a wanted criminal that hides among the factionless?”

Reed is the next to go rigid, “If you’re implying that the factionless are the cause for most crimes, you’re wrong.”

“You work with them all day, of course you’d say that,” Coriolanus says back, “You don’t see them the same way that the rest of us do.”

“And how’s that?” Reed asks, “They’re human, they deserve to be treated as such.”

“Settle,” Elysia says, placing her hand on the table, “Coriolanus isn’t far off with the second use.”

“I have a question,” you start, “if this comes to life, Erudite will be in charge of the tracking information?”

“Yes,” he says.

You shake your head, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“How?” Coriolanus asks.

Caspian’s face twists, “Because Dauntless is in charge of security.”

“I’m sure that you all do a good job doing that, but it’ll be easier for the Erudite to navigate a system they already know. You’d have to teach your people how to use it, which will be time consuming.”

The four of you have different reactions to what he said.

Damon jumps into the conversation, asking, “What do you mean by ‘your people’?”

Mags has her lips drawn into a tight line, glaring at Coriolanus. While you and Caspian have two different points to bring up. Caspian’s the first to blurt out, “We have plenty of time to learn a new system. More than enough!”

You shake your head, “What do you think we do each time you give us a new way to monitor the city? We’re always relearning the technology you give us, so how is this any different?” Coriolanus opens his mouth to speak, you hold your finger up, “Also, if we let you take control of the tracking devices, it defeats the purpose of Dauntless being the primary resource for security.

“We patrol the walls, we supply your police officers, firefighters, and construction workers. We have cameras all around the city, always watching to make sure that you’re safe. So why wouldn’t we be allowed to have this resource? You’re not making any sense when you speak.”

Coriolanus is measured, “Tell me, does your head of security know the ins and outs of the system?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” He raises his eyebrows.

“If you’re referring to all the secrets that you hid within the programs, yes we found those,” you tilt your head, “He found those years ago, during his first week of training beneath people that had been working with that set of technology that you provided, for years.”

Coriolanus doesn’t speak immediately, “It would be faster access if the system were inside Erudite headquarters. Dauntless is too far away.”

“That’s why the calls would go directly to us.” Caspian says, “There would be no middle man.”

“How do you plan on distributing it? Especially when it comes to the factionless, who don’t necessarily like Erudite.” you raise your eyebrows, waiting.

Reed lets out a breath through his nose, “Coriolanus will probably ask us to do it, since the factionless are more keen to the Abnegation because of how often we help them.”

Coriolanus is hesitating, “That’s not true.”

“You’re lying.” Haymitch says, finally joining the conversation, “And you’re hiding something.”

The Candor aren’t always the best company to have around, but you’re extremely glad that Haymitch is here. Otherwise, you’d go in circles with Coriolanus all day and not get anywhere.

“What color is the serum?” you finally ask.

Coriolanus’ face twists, “Orange-brown, why?”

You grit your teeth, shaking your head at him. A small laugh escapes you when you fall back against the chair.

“What is it?” Elysia asks.

You look at Mags, “Can I speak as a leader?”

She doesn’t nod right away, like she’s waiting for an explanation. When it doesn’t come out immediately, she goes ahead and gives you permission.

You look at Coriolanus, “One more time, you’re telling me it’s colored, correct?”

“Yes--”

You cut him off before the word is completed, “Dauntless rejects the serum. If it were a tracking device, it wouldn’t be colored. Colored serums contain transmitters inside, and transmitters are used to induce hallucinations.”

Silence sweeps the table. It’s especially heavy on Coriolanus’ part, because he’s not jumping to correct your statement. You’re right.

“How do you know this?” Reed asks.

You look right at him, “Finnick, our head of security, gave me questions to ask to make sure that the serum wouldn’t be anything dangerous to work with,” your eyes switch to Coriolanus, “Or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“What would you need another hallucination serum for?” Elysia asks, “The couple that Dauntless has works just fine, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” Damon says, “They do.”

Coriolanus is waving his hand, “Forget it, we’ll trash the serum entirely.”

You don’t trust him. If the serum is so far developed that he would call a meeting for it, then it’s practically ready to use. Why would he just throw it all away? At best, he’s probably going to set it aside to use later.

“Are we finished?” Elysia asks, “It’s an important week in Amity.”

“I think so.” Haymitch says, he’s already gotten to his feet, “A waste of time, if you ask me.”

You don’t miss the glare that Haymitch sends to Coriolanus. A few steps after Haymitch is Elysia, also eager to leave as soon as possible. Reed gets to his feet, opening the door for them. In the hallway waiting is the receptionist, her hands tied in front of her.

She perks up, “Anyone else?”

Coriolanus rises from the table with the four of you, heading to walk out of the room before the rest of you, “Are you an Erudite transfer?”

“No, I was raised in Abnegation.” you snap, quiet when you say the next part, “I just know that the Erudite has a history for not telling the whole truth.”

He doesn’t get mad like you wished he would. He lets out a small laugh, placing his hand on your shoulder, then he leaves the room. You squeeze your fists, wanting to punch the back of his head.

“You four, too?” the receptionist asks.

“Actually, I was hoping I’d get to talk to (Y/n).” Reed says, your eyes flash to him.

So he did recognize you, he just decided not to say anything during the meeting.

“Okay, what about you three?” 

“We’ll stay up here and wait.” Damon says, he’s looking between you and Reed. He’s probably trying to remember if your name was mentioned at all. It wasn’t, he’s not going crazy.

“This will only be a moment,” Reed says, “Excuse us.”

With you still inside of the room, Reed goes to shut the door. Right before it closes, you can see Caspian lean over, probably telling Damon that the two of you are related, that’s how you know each other. The door clicks shut.

You feel like you’re standing too close to Reed, so you move back a little.

“(Y/n),” Reed says, a slight smile appears on his face, “You’ve grown up. I think you’re a little bit taller, too. How are you?”

You squeeze your hands again, jaw setting. To think that Reed has the fucking audacity to speak to you like this, like you’re still on good terms. ‘You’ve grown up’? Is that really how he wants to play this?

“Good,” you start, trying to sound light, “I think Finnick might propose soon, and within the next month I should become a leader of Dauntless. How’s Alyssum?”

The Finnick part is true, the two of you have begun to settle in more. He’s got a handle of security, you’re finally going to have your job down. There wouldn’t be a reason not to. Plus, he’s been acting a little more anxious lately, which isn’t like him.

Reed gives you a funny smile, “She’s in first grade now, she looks a lot like our mother. Alyssum reminds me a lot of you, in some ways.”

“Oh, so does that mean you’re actually telling her that Mox and I exist? Or are you brainwashing her?”

His face twists, “What are you talking about?”

This, the feigned ignorance, makes you angry.

“Well, after Mox transferred to Amity, we never spoke about him again. Much less, went to see him on his Visiting Day. And since you didn’t come to see me either, I figured that you were giving me the same treatment.”

Reed doesn’t say anything back.

“Mox is doing great, by the way. Unlike you, he came to see me during my initiation. Back then, he had a wife and a daughter, now he has a son, too.” you glare, “Mox broke Amity rules to see me, because he knew that you wouldn’t get over yourself to do it.”

He stares, still not speaking.

“You know, Alyssum will end up leaving you, too. I wonder if you’ll finally have the heart to forgive her when the time comes.”

“You can speak to me like that, but I know that if it weren’t for me staying in Abnegation, you three would’ve been put in a foster home,” he says, “My aptitude result wasn’t Abnegation, it was Erudite.”

You grit your teeth harder, body heating up, “Congrats, Reed. We should throw a whole parade for you for being such a good little son by staying with dad after mom died. Should I give you a round of applause while I’m at it?” you snap, hand wrapping around the doorknob. You’re ready to leave, “You aren’t respectable in the slightest. It’s not even impressive that you stayed in a faction you don’t belong in--want to know why?”

Reed is staring at you with a familiar neutral expression. The one that every adult in Abnegation has down, to the very last detail. It’s where they all go to hide to avoid showing the emotion that’s boiling underneath. You’re glad you could get under his skin, like he had picked at you for years.

“Because my result was Abnegation, but you’re so fucking insufferable that I couldn’t stay any longer.” you lean in, “I used to regret transferring, and leaving you behind, but this has been one big reminder on why I did it. So, thank you, Reed. I can finally sleep soundly knowing that you haven’t changed in the fucking slightest!”

You open the door, fully aware that Caspian, Damon and Mags just heard everything you said. It turns out that the receptionist has heard too, because she’s standing stiffly, mouth slightly agape.

“You okay?” Caspian asks.

“I don’t regret a single word.” 

--

ANTERIC IS A SPIN-OFF DIVERGENT AU //MASTERLIST//

add yourself to the TAGLIST

@amixedwitch / @justthatfangirloverthere / @fnnshelbys / @neenieweenie / @vxntae / @liaaacantwrite / @terezasworld / @i-dumb-bitch /

[giggles-and-freckles]

I heard you're taking prompts! 😍

May I suggest ✂: drooping eyelids + my favorite grandmaster and grandpadawan? 🌺

[you absolutely MAY because we all know I’m a pathetic sucker for that duo!!! and oh would you look at that–this somehow became...1k+ words? hahaha oops?]

“I thought I might find you here.”

Ahsoka scrambled to stand, rubbing at her tired eyes, but Obi-Wan offered a placating hand and a sad sort of smile from the doorway, dropping to the floor beside her instead and resting his head against the side of the bed.

She felt embarrassed to be found sitting on the floor of Anakin’s quarters, but didn’t have the energy to construct an elaborate excuse.

“I couldn’t sleep,” said Ahsoka quietly, wishing it wasn’t true. She was so tired.

“Neither could I.”

They sat, silently, for several moments. In the two years of her official apprenticeship, she’d learned a great many things from both her master and his master. They were such a dynamic pair, offering opposing methods, solutions, and dispositions in just about every circumstance. At first, she’d felt the pressure to choose: would she do things Anakin’s way or Obi-Wan’s way?

Time and experience had taught her how silly a mindset that had been. As juxtaposing as the two Jedi’s ideas often were, there was no distinguishing the line between them–not really. Ahsoka found that she molded into the space between them, easily.

It was always Obi-Wan that she found comfortable silence with.

“This is torture,” she said, finally.

He didn’t respond.

“They bar me from going or asking any questions and then they just leave. No timeframe or anything,” she rambled on, not bothering to conceal her bitterness. She knew Obi-Wan was a council member, but she didn’t care right now. “They could have at least told me when they’d be back.”

“There’s a reason you were left behind, little one.”

“Stupid reason.”

“And a reason I was left behind as well.”

“My security detail,” she huffed grumpily.

The corners of his lips twitched. “I wish that were the case.”

She turned her head to look at him.

“Our personal relationships with Anakin would make our involvement in this...dangerous.” He was choosing his words carefully, the way Obi-Wan did everything.

“That would make our involvement necessary! Our personal relationships with him make us the best chance for his survival.”

He smiled sadly, then. “That sounds like something he’d say.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“Master Yoda himself is leading this mission, Ahsoka. Anakin is in capable hands.”

“I don’t care about capable, Master Obi-Wan. I want him to live.”

“And what makes you think Master Yoda will not be able to deliver on that in the same way you could?”

“Because,” she spat, “if it came down to Anakin’s life or the Republic, Master Yoda would give up Anakin without batting a fucking eye.”

A part of her felt guilty for yelling at him. It wasn’t Obi-Wan’s fault that she’d been cast aside in this situation or that Anakin had been captured. How could it be when she’d been the one leading the ground assault–

“Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan said softly, “would Master Yoda be so wrong to make that decision?”

It wasn’t a question Ahsoka wanted to answer. Not to Obi-Wan, who was perfect, and had never struggled with the constant torment of whether or not caring for others was a blessing or a curse. He’d never felt the crushing weight of guilt that came in knowing she’d easily give up a Republic victory to save one clone or sacrifice the entire war outcome if it meant guaranteeing Anakin would survive all of his stupid, stupid stunts.

When Ahsoka didn’t answer, Obi-Wan hummed thoughtfully. “I agree.”

Ahsoka looked at him again, unsure of what he was agreeing to.

He tilted his head, staring at the wall in front of them with an inscrutable expression. “I’ve been in more dangerous situations with Anakin than I can count at this point. I’ve been asked to sacrifice life, limb, and countless other things to save him.” He paused, his lips thinning into a straight line. “I’ve chosen him every time.”

“But you–”

“Oh, I know,” he sighed. “I’ve heard the whole of it from the council, believe me.” He chuckled darkly. “Thus, dear one,” he motioned to the empty room in front of them, “our imprisonment.”

Ahsoka watched him for a moment, mulling over his words. Obi-Wan struggled with attachment. This discovery was strange and not what she expected. Even so, it was comforting. She’d had so many conversations with it about Anakin and she found solace in knowing she wasn’t completely alone–but Anakin’s struggle with this facet of the code also made him susceptible to overcompensating where she was concerned and being extra hard on her in that arena.

But Obi-Wan–her grand master, her friend, her safe place.

“I didn’t know,” she all-but-whispered.

“He’ll be okay,” said Obi-Wan, with a firm nod. Ahsoka couldn’t tell if he was affirming her or himself.

Ahsoka moved until her shoulder was pressed against his. Silently, he linked his arm through hers and folded his hands in his lap. She followed the motion with her eyes and struggled to keep up. Her eyes were heavy. 

But she couldn’t fall asleep. He’d be back soon. He’d walk in the door and she’d need to be ready–to help him, to hug him, to tell him how sorry she was for letting him get lost–

“Go to sleep,” Obi-Wan tilted his head slightly, his voice a soft murmur.

“But Anakin–”

“Will be okay, whether you’re awake or asleep.”

Ahsoka blinked, slowly, willing the sleep to go away. She couldn’t fall asleep, not now. “I need to talk to him. I need...I need to tell him–”

“Shh,” he moved his hands from his lap to engulf one of her smaller hands, giving it a quick squeeze. “Sleep, Padawan.”

She shook her head, weakly. “I can’t. Not tired,” she said, even as she yawned.

She felt his low chuckle more than she heard it, his shoulder bumping against hers. “You’ll have to be more convincing than that.”

“Will you–,” another yawn, “will you stay here?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Obi-Wan moved one hand to gently coax her head onto his shoulder, adjusting his own posture to allow room for her montrals. She wanted to fight it, to stay upright and awake and ready for when Anakin stumbled through the door because he would. 

He’d never let her down.

“I’m not sleeping,” Ahsoka insisted. “Just...closing my eyes.”

She felt the deep rumble in Obi-Wan’s chest again as he nodded against her head and said, “All right.”

“I mean it, Master.”

“Shh.”

…

When Anakin stumbled in several hours later–his good arm in a sling and his wrists burning from the shackles that had suspended him for the past two days–he grinned and dropped to the floor next to them. Taking advantage of his former master’s unconsciousness, he planned to make good use of his available shoulder. 

It had always been Anakin’s favourite pillow substitute.

Obi-Wan stirred as Anakin fully settled on the floor next to him. His eyes opened, blurrily, and Anakin prepared himself for the exhausting reprimands of his carelessness, his impulsiveness, his utter disregard for his own safety, but he was only met with a sleepy smile.

“You’re okay,” Obi-Wan whispered, careful not to disturb the sleeping Togruta on his other side.

“Did you ever doubt it?” Anakin attempted the smirk that always drew an eye-roll from his former master, but it fell flat. The past couple days had been...difficult.

“C’mere,” said Obi-Wan, with a yawn. “Sleep.”

Anakin lifted his eyebrows in surprise. “You do know there’s a bed right behind–”

“C’mere.”

So he did.

[yourreddancer]

February 2, 2022 (Wednesday)  HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Today, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman sued Donald Trump, Jr.; Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani; as well as Fox News Channel personalities, including Laura Ingraham, for obstructing an official proceeding “by intimidating and retaliating against a key witness.” The lawsuit describes an “intentional, concerted campaign of unlawful intimidation and retaliation against a sitting Director of the National Security Council and decorated military officer…to prevent him from and then punish him for testifying truthfully before Congress during impeachment proceedings against President Trump.”

Their goal, the lawsuit says, was to portray him as disloyal to the United States, a spy, and “a politically motivated ‘leftist’ within the military who was insubordinate and even broke the law.” In addition to the effect on Vindman himself, it said, the attacks “left a stain on our democracy.”

And so, on Groundhog Day, we have come full circle.

Vindman was a key witness in the first House of Representatives impeachment hearing in 2019. A Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, he had been on the July 25, 2019 call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. After hearing the call, Vindman had reported to John Eisenberg, the top lawyer for the National Security Council, that the call was troubling, with Trump pressing Zelensky to deliver an investigation into Hunter Biden, the son of potential rival Joe Biden, in exchange for promised military aid to Ukraine so it could resist Russian incursions. Eisenberg told Vindman not to tell anyone else about the conversation.

Vindman’s opening statement before Congress recalled the American dream. He explained that his father, who had brought Vindman from Ukraine when three, was afraid to have his son testify against the president. Vindman assured him it would be okay. “Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth,” Vindman said he told his father, “because this is America, this is the country I have served and defended, that all of my brothers have served, and here, right matters.”

After Vindman’s testimony, he was ousted from the National Security Council, and his twin brother Eugene, a senior lawyer and ethics official for the NSC who had not been involved in the impeachment hearings, was also fired, escorted off White House grounds “suddenly and without explanation,” according to Alexander’s lawyer David Pressman. The two men were fired on the same day Trump told reporters that he was “not happy” with Vindman’s testimony.

On July 8, 2020, Vindman resigned from the military after more than 21 years, citing the “campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” led by the president for his decision to leave public service.

And now he is suing the allies of the former president, demanding they repair the damage they did, both to Vindman and to democracy. "The threat to our democracy came from a conspiracy among people within the highest reaches of our government and their close allies. President Trump and his aides and other close associates, including Defendants, waged a targeted campaign against Lt. Col. Vindman for upholding his oath of office and telling the truth."  “I filed this lawsuit,” he said, “because I believe in the active role all citizens must play in upholding our democracy.”

It’s an interesting moment. The former president is still strong. His fundraising emails, full of fake promises of 700x matching and dinners with the president, might sound just like scams, but they work: he started the year with $122 million in cash. He seems to be stockpiling it for himself; the only significant expenditure he has made is $1 million to a nonprofit, the Conservative Partnership Institute.

But things are not all ducky for him, either.That million-dollar payment to CPI is significantly higher than any other donation, and it went to CPI, where his former chief of staff Mark Meadows now works, weeks after the House created the January 6 committee, which has subpoenaed Meadows.

Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is supposed to go live this month, but when Business Insider reached out to Trump’s people—including to former representative Devin Nunes, who left Congress to become the CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group—to ask about it, no one responded. The investor presentation for the company was “so bad, it is laughable—literally says nothing,” one person to whom it was circulated wrote. The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) behind Trump’s company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yesterday, Trump tried to take back his statement of Sunday indicating he wanted then–vice president Pence to overturn the election. He released a statement saying he only wanted Pence to send the electoral votes back to the states “for reassessment.” This, too, would have been illegal, but it is significant because it shows he recognizes that his earlier statement adds to the case against him.

At his rally in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday, Trump promised to pardon the insurrectionists if he is reelected, and today Tara Palmeri of Politico reported that Trump had considered blanket pardons of the rioters, asking advisors if he had the power and if it was a good idea. Belying the idea floated by right-wing media that the rioters were “antifa,” he asked, “Is it everybody that had a Trump sign or everybody who walked into the Capitol,” who could be pardoned. Trump also wanted to announce that he was running in 2024 even before Biden’s inauguration, hoping to frame any future prosecutions as being politically motivated.

Representative Pete Aguilar (D-CA), a member of the committee investigating the insurrection, said on CNN that Trump’s promise is “absolutely” witness tampering. He wondered what it would take for Republicans to say enough is enough.  “I don’t know where the floor is on that side of the aisle,” he said.

  That seems a reasonable question, as right-wing personalities are upping the ante in their political rhetoric, echoing authoritarians in their suggestion that they will use the power of the government to go after those they consider political opponents. Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, for example, has expressed interest in arresting President Biden's chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying, “[w]e are going to create criminal referrals…. There needs to be an example made of him.” 

As right-wing fury seems to mount, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is quietly gathering evidence, and those testifying seem to be getting closer to the heart of the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Yesterday, yet another member of former vice president Mike Pence’s team, top aide Greg Jacob, met with the January 6 committee for more than eight and a half hours.The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, has appeared before the committee this week and has answered “many questions,” according to his lawyer, although he has exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination with regard to other questions. 

Today, former Department of Justice lawyer Jeffrey Clark met with the January 6 committee for close to two hours. Clark backed Trump’s attempt to cast doubt on the election, and Trump entertained the idea of making him attorney general until Department of Justice leadership threatened to resign as a group if he did. Initially, Clark refused to answer a subpoena, and in December the committee voted to hold him in criminal contempt. The committee remained willing to talk, though, and apparently it now has.

We learned today that the committee has also subpoenaed from T-Mobile the phone records of Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, both of whom signed a document falsely claiming that Trump had won Arizona’s electoral votes. The Wards filed suit in federal court today to block the subpoena, saying that because the Wards are osteopathic doctors who use their phones to talk to patients, the subpoenas violate patient-doctor privilege. 

Meanwhile, the committee has put off Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s testimony while it discusses the scope of his subpoena with his lawyer. Today, committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that the committee expects to hear from Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter and White House advisor, whom the committee expects to call this week. 

Raskin also said public hearings will likely be held in April. This will make them uncomfortably close to the midterm elections, but they have had to be pushed back because of obstruction by Trump’s people.

And so we are back to where we were in 2019, when Vindman first reminded us that in America, right matters. At long last, will most of us decide that it does?

[antoine-roquentin]

SO, WHAT DO WE KNOW about them, these vocal second-home owners? They worked hard for everything they own. They are clear on this. Their critics, they believe, are often motivated by jealousy. “I’m certainly not ‘rich.’ I’ve worked for my entire life to have the properties I own,” wrote one group member. Like many mountain communities, the Gunnison Valley attracts a motley mix of younger residents — seasonal public-land employees, ski bums who work the lifts, river guides, college graduates who stick around. “Irresponsible, non-tax-paying, bored children who will never plant roots here successfully,” one Facebook comment called them. In early April, a second-home owner from Oklahoma City, described “local adult skateboarders and bikers” picking up donated food at a food pantry in Crested Butte. “These takers need to pony up or get out,” she wrote. “Sadly,” another replied, “there are many entitled ‘takers’ here.”

In a phone interview, Moran dissected the implications of the word “rich.” Describing the second-home owners as such was a tactic employed by the media to “divide people by social strata,” he told me. I pointed out Gunnison County’s housing shortage to Moran, who, from 2008-2011, was an advisor of the private equity firm Lone Star Funds — the biggest buyer of distressed mortgage securities in the world after the 2008 financial crisis. After the crash, the firm acquired billions in bad mortgages and aggressively foreclosed on thousands of homes, according to The New York Times. I asked Moran if, compared to locals who struggle to pay rent, people who own two or more properties should be considered wealthy. “I think that’s wrong,” he replied.

Over the summer, I obtained access to the Facebook group. Beneath the anger at the County Commission and the exasperation with the local newspapers and adult skateboarders, a deeper grievance burned, one that was expressed consistently in the group. “Our money supports all of the people in the valley,” wrote one man. “Where is the appreciation and gratitude for the decades of generosity?” wrote another. According to the second-home owners, Gunnison County’s economic survival and most of its residents’ livelihoods depend on their economic contributions and continued goodwill. Their donations prop up the local nonprofits. Their broken derailleurs keep the bike shops open. In late April, Moran sent an angry message to a local server who had criticized the second-home owners, posting his note to the GV2H Facebook group as well. Moran, who had apparently left the server a large tip, called her comments “a betrayal of the good people who have been gracious to you.” Around that time, there was talk on the Facebook group of compiling a list of locals they considered ungrateful. “People who rely on others for their livelihoods should not bite the hand that feeds them,” wrote one second-home owner.

The list, which was posted on Facebook, became known as the Rogues Gallery. It named 14 people described as “folks who oppose GV2H.” The list, which was later deleted, included a local pastor and an artist. Sometimes it noted where someone worked and what they did. Repercussions were hinted at. “One of those big mouths is slinging drinks for tips — I’ll be sure to leave her a little tip — ‘Maybe don’t run your mouth so much on social media when you depend on those people to help pay your bills,’ ” one Facebook commenter wrote.

Amber Thompson, a longtime server at Crested Butte restaurants, was not in the Rogues Gallery, but was mentioned later as a possible addition after several online arguments with Moran and others from the GV2H Facebook group. She gets especially mad, she told me, when a second-home owner cites a big tip as evidence of their authority and value. As a server, she said, her job is simply to deliver food. The demand for gratitude, the resentment when they don’t receive it: “It’s a way to intimidate people, to make them bow down, and I just won’t do it.”

The first name on the Rogues Gallery was Ramgoolam, and he, too, declined to back down. His offence was a Facebook post in which he asked why Gunnison County residents were incapable of making their own political decisions — a thinly veiled critique of the super PAC, which Moran had registered in May. Shortly after learning about the Rogues Gallery, Ramgoolam wrote another Facebook post, thanking the community for its support during the pandemic. It included a picture of him in a red bandanna, carrying a Captain America shield. He intended it as defiance.

“I think (the super PAC) spits in the face of the relationship we have with our neighbors in this valley,” Ramgoolam said. “Whether you are a primary homeowner or a second-home owner, you respect people’s opinions and everyone is welcome to the table, but to overpower everyone at the table and try to take all the chairs for yourself is just wrong.”

For many in the Facebook group, opinionated locals interfered with their ability to relax and enjoy the Gunnison Valley. Fun, after all, is what brings them to Crested Butte. But fun was hard to come by in 2020. People were irate when the county declared a mask mandate on June 8. “We come to decompress, to relax, to regenerate!” one person wrote. “That’s a pressure we don’t need! Or don’t WANT, which isn’t a crime either!”

This came to a head when local demonstrations were held, prompted by George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police. One of them took place on June 27, in Crested Butte. After a short rally, a crowd proceeded up main street, led by the Brothers of Brass, a funk band from Denver. Demonstrators then lay on the blacktop for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the time that Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck. Many diners, who were sitting at outdoor patios on either side of the march, paused their meals for the duration. But on the Facebook group, indignation bubbled up. “People come to the Valley to relax and enjoy nature,” wrote one commenter. “This is made impossible when ‘protesters’ are bused in for a photo-op (not to mention pollution, noise, aggravation, and trash).” Several other commenters also insinuated outside influence. (Other than the band, there is no evidence that the protesters were not primarily local.) The Crested Butte Town Council’s subsequent decision to paint “Black Lives Matter” on the main street prompted another wave of irritation. “Crested Butte has clearly forgotten why people (tourists or second homers) like going to the mountains. It’s about escaping the craziness and the BS of the cities,” one of the second-home owners wrote. A few others announced that they would no longer go downtown.

This hostility came as no surprise to Elizabeth Cobbins, the lead organizer of the Gunnison Black Lives Matter demonstration. The second-home owners come to their vacation properties to “escape the real world,” she said. They forget, she told me, that the valley is more than a ski destination. It includes a college that is home to many students of color, and a sizable Hispanic community. The second-home owners feel their opinions matter because of their economic contributions, which, Cobbins said, are important, but, “the people who serve them live here, too, and they live here for the whole year.”

[luverofralts]

Post Arkhelios

Kamalani Bellamy was a woman surrounded by secrets, none of which she felt particularity inclined to share with other people. Her sudden divorce of Omar had left him stunned, but he really should have seen it coming. He was a boring, unobservant man who didn’t understand the first thing about Arkhelios. Her only regret about the whole divorce was leaving Roman with him, and his insufferable father. Look at how that had turned out. Her son was missing and was apparently about to have a child of his own with a completely unacceptable person. If only she could have returned to Arkhelios sooner, this whole mess may have been avoided. As it was now, things would be incredibly difficult to right again.

She was certain that Omar was just as ignorant of Roman’s location as she was, but it didn’t hurt to see if Roman was desperate enough to reach out to his father. People did many stupid things when they were desperate.

The last thing in the world Omar expected to see at his door was his ex-wife. Kamalani had left him and Roman without any explanation, and made it clear that she wouldn’t be contacting him again. She hadn’t even told Roman how to contact her, which had only made the distance between Omar and his son widen. Roman blamed him for the divorce, and Kamalani hadn’t exactly made it easy for Omar to disprove that.

“Where is our son?” Kamalani demanded, not even bothering with a greeting before launching into an attack on him. “How could you let him be with a Helios of all families? How have you not ended this whole affair?”

“Hi to you too,” Omar grumbled. “Roman is a big boy now, who can make his own decisions about his life. Maybe if you stuck around for more than a day or two you could see that.” He stepped closer to the door so he was out of earshot of Wbuna. “Where have you even been? Don’t say an art show because we all know that’s just code for trying to hit on people like my little brother.”

Kamalani rolled her eyes.

“Roman is a minor, and he very clearly needs some authority in his life,” she snapped. “When I end this whole pregnancy drama, don’t expect to see him again anytime soon. I won’t let you and Salem continue to lead my son astray.”

With that said, Kamalani snapped her fingers and disappeared in a ball of smoke, leaving Omar completely bewildered.

“Like you had any plans to ever come back here,” he muttered angrily to himself. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but it’s got nothing to do with concern for Roman. You left him just as easily as you left me.”

Roman was still missing after being separated from Abe, but Omar had several toddlers crawling around to worry about. His parents had been the ones signing up Roman for schools and taking him shopping for clothes while Omar grieved his marriage, and he was happy to let them try to clean up the mess Roman had made on their watch. Especially if Kamalani was now suspiciously involved.

Today had been one of the greatest days of Kaeileen’s young life. Not only had she secured the most scandalous story of the year, her breaking the story had completely ruined Roman’s plans to run off with Abe. Now she was the hero that prevented the Helios family from the pain of not knowing where their son would have run off to. She finally had the spotlight at school, and if she also got to kick Roman while he was already down in order to keep that spotlight, then the next few weeks were going to be great.

Her grandfather Giovanni wasn’t thrilled that she seemed to be enjoying this scandal a little too much, and said so to her. No amount of parental disappointment would bring Kaeileen down. Not with a victory like this.

Her grandmother had been the same amount of worried and disappointed in Kaeileen as Giovanni. The Bellamys and Helioses were powerful enemies to make, especially when their children were threatened. For the next week, Kaeileen would be grounded, and forced to write Elaine and whoever was in charge of that Bellamy boy this week a sincere apology for her actions. The last thing Emilia needed in her life was Malika Bellamy causing a scene, and Salem aggressively reviewing any bylaws the Rivales family factories may be breaking. It wasn’t good business to anger the loudest voice on city council, no matter what his grandson was up to.

“That was really mean what you did to Abe and Roman,” Pia chided. Her niece was usually troubled, but her enjoyment over the suffering of fellow students crossed a line. As usual, Kaeileen was only thinking of herself. It was all she and her gossip hungry cohorts did.

Kaeileen opened her mouth to throw insults at Pia, but was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise. Was someone’s phone on vibrate? Where was it coming from?

Kaeileen screamed as a swarm of insects surrounded her.

“What’s happening?? Oh my god!”

The swarm had become so thick with bugs, it was impossible to see Kaeileen’s body. Her screaming had brought every member of the household into the room to see what was happening.

It was a horrific sight to behold. Eventually the screaming stopped. All that remained of Kaeileen was a pile of dust heaped upon a strange red marking that had been burned into the floor.

Watching the gruesome death of his granddaughter had been too much for Giovanni to handle. As Pia and Emilia attempted to pull themselves together, Giovanni collapsed on the floor next to Kaeileen’s ashes, the victim of a trauma induced heart attack.

What was Pia supposed to do in this situation? Did she call the police? She wasn’t sure Melvin Hydes had the ability to arrest a swarm of bugs for murder. What was the strange seal burned into the floor?

Emilia was the next to drop onto the floor, and Pia was at her side in moments, ready to preform CPR should her mother suffer a heart attack as well. Jolanda was already on the phone with the emergency response line, and another suspicious death case would soon be arriving on Melvin’s desk.

When Jolanda hung up the phone, she immediately started coughing again. She had been feeling better that morning, but like clockwork, she became reinfected again that night.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Alrighty, time for the rest of chapter 12! Featuring the Smile of a good bean, and the cool shenanigans of our favorite zoomy boy. 

(Honestly, this bit really IS cool, not gonna lie.)

[No. 12 - Yeah, Just Do Your Best, Iida!]

We transition into Lunch Rush’s cafeteria, where our intrepid trio is eating lunch together. (Also, I think this is the first mention of the support and business courses.)

I really need to save this as a reaction image, it’s just so cute. <3 

Izuku is still worried about whether he can really be class president. Ochako and Tenya both assure him he can, with Tenya going on to explain how Izuku’s grit and decisiveness in a pinch makes him perfectly suited to lead, thus why Tenya voted for him. Which comes as a shock to Izuku.

Ochako notes that Tenya wanted to be president as well, plus comments on him having the glasses and everything. Izuku thinks that Ochako really just says whatever pops into her head. Tenya replies that ambition and suitability are different, and that he felt he made the right choice. 

Both Izuku and Ochako notice his use of ‘humbly’, with Ochako asking if Tenya’s a rich kid based on how he talks. Both of them listen as Tenya explains that he tried to hide it, since he doesn’t like people to know, but he does come from a renowned hero family, the Iidas, and that he’s the second son. The two think this is pretty cool.

Lookit that family legacy, can’t believe grandma Iida is still around and kicking. The one right next to her is Tensei with that forward horn on the forehead, while the man in front and the woman on the left… probably one parent and their sibling, or both parents but one’s hiding the lack of engine quirk with the armor. But this shows that the Iida family has been in heroics for a long time… possibly even since the dawn of quirks… (cough cough)

Tenya asks if they know the turbo hero, Ingenium. Izuku, being a hero nerd, confirms it immediately, getting excited to ramble about the 65 sidekicks at his Tokyo office, before he then connects the dots and determines that Tenya’s related. 

Lookit that, so excited to meet a fellow fan of Tensei. These boys…

Tenya confirms that Ingenium is his brother, with the other two impressed that he’s so frank about it. Tenya goes on to describe his brother’s leadership and his strict adherence to rules and regulations, and that it’s Tenya’s admiration for his brother that’s inspired him to become a hero. 

(Not pictured: Me, trying to imagine Iida Tensei following a single damned rule in his life.)

(Hmm, where do we see the most of Tensei’s personality come from, anyways? I’m guessing the Vigilantes manga, right? Still makes this so hilarious I cannot even.)

Anyways, moving on. 

An Smile. I just had to change my discord pfp to this because it’s so Good. 

Tenya knows he’s not ready to lead anyone yet, thinking about his talk with Izuku back in chapter 5 about the true nature of the entrance exam. He repeats his belief in Izuku as the superior candidate for the role. 

Ochako and Izuku, much like me, are temporarily at a loss for words at seeing such a pure, good smile from our serious boy. Ochako tells Tenya she’s never seen him smile before, which startles Tenya before he assures her that he does smile on occasion. Izuku watches on with an awkward but fond smile, thinking about how, just like he has All Might, Tenya has Ingenium, and that he-

Whatever the thought, it’s cut off by a loud alarm, startling all three of them (poor Ochako, choking on her food like that.) The intercom then announces to the concerned students that security level three has been broken (aka someone’s gotten into the school proper), and that students need to evacuate in an orderly fashion.

The students:

I dunno what else the school expected, really. In the one panel before this, Tenya asks a third year what’s happening. The student replies that a level three breach means someone’s infiltrated the school, and that that hasn’t happened in any of the student’s two and change three years there. The kid then warns them to get outta the cafeteria with the rest of them (and also makes an aside about Tenya’s hand chopping I guess?)

The three end up getting caught up in the crowds, being shoved around inside the stampede. Ochako wants to know what’s going on, Tenya makes a comment about the rapid response to danger that feels like it’s just a touch sarcastic, but it’s so hard to tell with him because he’s so earnest. Izuku makes an aside that the response is maybe a bit too rapid, and that everyone is panicking.

RIP Deku, guess it’s time for Tenya to become the new main character. Press f in the tags to pay respects to our fallen protagonist.

Our new champion takes to the role immediately, wanting to figure out who could have infiltrated. He unceremoniously gets shoved into a window right afterwards, where he can see the press within the school grounds. 

Said crowds are crowding around Present Mic and Eraserhead, demanding a comment from All Might or even the staff in general. They try to warn off the crowds with how All Might’s out for the day, and that giving an inch will have them demanding a mile. Mic asks aside about how this is illegal, even villainous, wondering whether they can be blown away already. Eraserhead tells him to lay off on it, and that the media will write what they want either way. Better to just wait for the police.

Tenya tries to let the students know that there’s no danger, it’s just the media, but no one is listening because of their panic. Tenysa wonders where the teachers are, and if they’re all dealing with the press. He then notes Kirishima and Kaminari caught up in the crowds, and determines that no one knows that it’s a false alarm because of their panic. With a brief shriek, he’s alerted to Ochako being dragged away from him by the crowd (which how it took this long for that to happen is a wonder - maybe she’d been trying to fight her way to him through the crowds to stick together? Would make sense…)

I love this, because he already puts his admiration for Izuku - and his confidence in Izuku’s abilities to handle a crisis - at the same level as his brother. God, I love these three, they are the goodest of friends. <3

Tenya gets Ochako to use her quirk on him, their hands slapping together before Tenya leaps up above the crowds, losing his glasses in the process. (No wonder he has whole shelves if he loses or breaks them this often!) He thinks about what will get the crowds attention, eying the exit that everyone is trying to crowd out through. His shoes fall off as he tugs up his pant legs to unveil his engine thighs (which are fucking HUGE what the hell) and turns them on to boost himself across the room gracefully.

And by ‘gracefully’, I mean ‘not at all graceful’. Though I do wonder if this eventually gets turned into a super-move between Ochako and Tenya once he gets a better handle on momentum and angles for movement in zero g. 

(Oh, and turns out Izuku’s still alive, just stuffed deep inside the crowds. Guess the funeral is delayed a while longer, folks.)

Tenya grabs onto the pipe above the exit for stability, taking a moment to catch his breath and center himself before shouting out at the crowd. He thinks about how he needs to make his announcement short, concise, and bold, while out loud he tells everyone that everything’s fine. The crowd stops to stare and listen as Tenya explains that it’s just the press, and that there’s nothing to panic about. He goes on to chastise them a bit - this is UA! Behave like you belong there!

We fade out and to a bit later, when the police arrive and the reporters are driven away. Mic cheers as they’re gotten rid of.

Meanwhile, in class, Momo encourages Izuku to go ahead. Izuku is nervous as he explains about choosing other student council members, but that something else needs to happen first. He then says that he feels Tenya is better suited to be class president, picking up confidence as he focuses the class attention elsewhere. He explains how Tenya led everyone in the crisis, so he feels he’s the right choice for the job. Kirishima and Kaminari agree, hyping up Tenya’s actions more.

Aizawa tells them to get on with it with a glare. Izuku’s narration concludes that that was how Tenya became class president while Tenya stands up and says he’ll accept the job. The class jokingly cheers for ‘Exit Sign Iida’ (the first class meme, how sweet) while Izuku wonders how ‘they’ managed to… something. I’m guessing this is his own thoughts drifting to how the media got in, since that’s what we transition to right after.

(Also, Momo there sweating wondering if her position is safe.)

At the gate, we see Nedzu, Recovery Girl, Thirteen, and Midnight examining the damages done. Nedzu notes that no ordinary reporter could have managed this break-in. SOmeone else instigated this, but the question then becomes whether someone actually slipped inside, or if this is the start of some greater war.

And on that ominous note, we end chapter 12! Although I wonder why none of the reporters even stopped to question the destruction of the gate in favor of getting inside and demanding answers about All Might. Ah well, I don’t think the media in this series is exactly portrayed to be in any form accurate, so. :)

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 2 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT:  Gene Page/AMC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: Part two of the Savior Sessions. Negan asks about how the reader met Rick Grimes and they have a question of their own. 

Word Count: 2231

Warning: None

Song I Wrote To: “Lost On You” by LP

Note: Thank you so much for the love on the first one. As I said before, these are just going to be uploaded at random, but I was having writers block so this came out of it while I work on my other works.

---------

It was early the next time you pushed open the heavy door that led to Negan’s cell. 

“Rise and shine,” you sang as you entered, biting into a fresh apple. Negan was already awake, sitting on the floor of his cell bouncing a tennis ball against the stone wall. 

“Have you always been so cheerful in the mornings?” Negan asked and then succumbed to a yawn. You smiled as you took your chair and positioned it once again in front of the bars.

“Absolutely not,” you answered. “Mornings were the bane of my existence before the world ended.” 

“What changed?” he asked. 

“Probably the fact that Walkers woke you up no matter what and if you slept in, you risked being eaten or murdered in your sleep,” you finished with a shrug. Negan just shook his head, already amused. “Oh, I got you something,” you told him and then dug into the bag at your side and produced another apple that you had grabbed from Eugene’s backyard. “Breakfast.” Tossing the piece of fruit through the bars, Negan easily caught it, turning it over in his hands. 

“Special delivery from my new favourite person? How did I get so lucky?” Negan asked as he took a bite of the apple. 

“You’re locked in a cell because you started a war with Rick Grimes, I wouldn’t exactly call that lucky,” you said. 

“Actually,” Negan said, getting to this feet, “he started it with me.” 

“Optics,” you said with a wave of your hand. Negan chuckled and collapsed onto his cot, watching you through the bars. 

“So, what has been going on with you, (Y/N)?” 

“Not much,” you said, “I was roped into helping Porter with something yesterday that I highly regret.”

“How’s that?” 

“Eugene needed some help scavenging for scrap metal and parts for some new radio he’s going to attempt to build. We went to an old office building about forty miles West and after looking for a couple of hours, he finally found what he was looking for…in the ceiling.”

“Oh no,” Negan said as he took another bite of his apple, clearly absorbed in your story. 

“And of course, I was the only one who could fit into the small space so I hauled my ass through the ceiling to grab his damn wires. I have never been a fan of small spaces, but this felt like I was crawling into my own casket. Not a fan and no matter what Eugene wants, that will never be happening again.” 

“Ah, Eugene,” Negan mused, “I do miss that weirdo. I did have a soft spot for him at one point.”

“Until he went all double-agent on your ass and blew up your bullets,” you said fondly as you remembered that particular day in the field. 

“Can’t win them all, (Y/N),” Negan said. 

“No, you cannot,” you agreed. Sitting further back in your chair, you crossed your ankles. “What about you? Anything interesting happening around here?”

“How would I know about anything that goes on in this postcard of a town?” Negan asked with a glint in his eye. 

“I know that you listen to us through your window,” you said, pointing to the small hole that offers him a peek at Alexandrian life. Negan smirked, leaning back against the stone wall, matching your position. “Out with it.”

“Very well. Gabe and Scott were arguing about something to do with the council. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but Scotty boy isn’t on the council, right?”

“He’s not,” you confirmed, “but he’s one of Michonne’s right hands when it comes to security. Normal for him to have concerns. He’s practically Judith’s personal bodyguard these days.”

“As if Miss Grimes needs one,” Negan said with a smile. 

“You should see her when she used the sword,” you told him. “She looks just like her mom.” 

“Always knew she was a special kid,” Negan said. It was silent for a few moments as the two of you finished off your apples and basked in the quiet. Eventually, it got too much and you finally spoke. 

“I’ve been thinking about heading over to the Kingdom,” you said, “check in on the King.”

“That guy is weird as shit,” Negan said, “and what was up with the tiger?” 

“Shiva?” you asked with a grin. “She was incredible. Ezekiel was a zookeeper before the Turn and he saved her when she got hurt once. When everything went to hell, he went back for her and the two of them took on the Walkers together. Shiva was with him every step of the way.” 

“What happened to her?” he asked, noticing your use of past tense. “I didn’t see her after the day everyone rode in here.”

“Walkers got her,” you told him. “Ezekiel was cornered and she fought them off to save him, but there were too many of them.” 

“Damn,” Negan said.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” you said. Shiva’s death had hit you pretty hard when Jerry had told you. When you had met the big cat, she had immediately taken to you. Besides Ezekiel, only a few people were able to get close to her. Yourself, Jerry, Daryl, and Carol were those people and all four of you had mourned the loss of Ezekiel’s tiger for weeks after her demise. There was something so primal about hunting alongside the cat and as weird as it was, it felt almost natural to move through the new world alongside a predator such as her.

“So,” Negan said, snapping you out of your reverie. “What’s on the agenda for the day?” 

“That’s up to you. I’m just here as a sounding board,” you told him. 

“We both know that’s not true,” Negan said as he smiled at you. You shrugged and waited. Eventually, he sighed and gave up. “Fine, fine, I will start,” he said. “How about you tell me how you met the infamous Rick Grimes.” 

“I can do that,” you agreed and settled in for the story. “I met Rick the same day that he was reunited with his wife and son. Do you know what happened to him at the beginning of all this?” 

“No,” Negan said, intrigued, “do tell.” 

“Well, you know he was a cop, right?” Negan nodded. “Right, so before the Turn, Rick was shot on the job and he ended up in a coma. His partner, Shane, tried to get him out of the hospital when everything happened, but he couldn’t wake him up and so he left him behind so Shane could get Lori and Carl to safety. He barricaded Rick’s hospital room to keep him safe and then he left. Rick woke up well after the Walkers began taking over and he was all alone in the hospital.”

“Jesus,” Negan said, cringing at the thought. 

“He ended up meeting Morgan not long after and he explained everything that had happened.”

“Stick guy?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “eventually, Rick made it to Atlanta to look for the refuge centers, but of course the city was overrun. He was pretty much screwed until someone saved his life and got him off the street.”

“Who was that?” Negan asked and you paused. You had tried not to think about Glenn now that you were tasked with speaking to the man who had murdered him, but now it was unavoidable. Negan waited while you tried to control your anger that swelled in your chest. 

“It was Glenn,” you said, “Maggie’s husband.” Recognition flashed in his eyes and his face fell, but you continued. “Glenn was just a kid then, but he risked everything to get Rick to him and got him to our group that was scavenging in the city. They’re all dead now, but they were good people. Well, all of them except for Merle Dixon, Daryl’s brother. He was a piece of work…”

“And what happened to him?” 

“The first time? Rick handcuffed him to a rooftop cause he was being a racist misogynist and then eventually Merle cut off his own hand to get away. The second time, this asshole we had problems with killed him and let him turn. Daryl had to put him down.” Negan’s brows rose at that, but he didn’t interrupt. “Eventually, Glenn, Rick, and the others got back to our camp at the quarry, and Rick, Lori, and Carl were reunited. Lori introduced me to Rick shortly after.” 

“Did you two get along?” 

“Not at all,” you laughed as you remembered your first meeting. “I didn’t like him when I met him. He was too...uptight. Daryl also hated him for leaving Merle, but those two worked it out eventually. Rick just showed up and took charge and it bugged me, but I soon realized he was the best person to lead us and so we all fell in line. He ended up saving our asses more times than I can count so I guess we made the right decision after all.”

“Hero type, huh?” 

“No,” you disagreed, “if you knew everything he did to protect us, you wouldn’t call him a hero. He was just one of the only ones to do what was necessary to do what needed to be done. I learned a lot from his actions.”

“Meaning what?” Negan asked. 

“Meaning I learned quickly how to kill someone when it was necessary to keep my people safe. We all did.”

“Even Carl?”

“Even Carl,” you agreed. “As I said, we’ve all done things. This world never cares how old you are, you just have to survive.” 

“Who was the first person you killed?” he asked. You stared at him as the images flashed through your mind. The face of the man whom you killed as he went for Tyreese when the Governor attacked the prison. You could still feel his blood on your fingers as you removed the knife from his skull. It was the first of many kills, but it was still the first. 

“We’ll save that one for another time,” you said.

“Did I touch a nerve?” he asked, but it wasn’t his usual snarky comeback, he genuinely seemed concerned. You smiled at him.

“I’m a lot tougher than I look, Negan,” you told him. “You can’t piss me off that easily.” 

“Good to know,” he said. His expression changed then, watching you as if trying to read every inch of you like a book. “I can see the gears turning in your head, (Y/N).”

“Is that so?” 

“I know you have a question on your mind,” he said. “Go on, ask me what you want to know. God knows I’ve been doin’ all the damn talking.” Negan was right, you did have something you wanted to ask him and it had been on your mind since the day Jadis, or rather, Anne had shown up at the gates of Alexandria looking for Rick.

“Why did you kill all of Jadis’ people? What was the reason for wiping them all out? Was it vengeance or were you just bored?” You hadn’t meant for it to come out as harsh as it did, but this was something you needed. While Jadis wasn’t your favourite person, she had helped your group when it was needed and before she disappeared, she had become a key member of the group. Negan sighed and you could see that the question bothered him. 

“I didn’t kill them,” he said in a low voice. “I ordered Simon to go and speak to her and get them to drop their alliance with you, but I never wanted him to… Simon killed Jadis’ people. I didn’t know about it until she told me herself.” You watched him, trying to see if he was lying, but you also knew he wasn’t a liar. In fact, Negan’s whole thing was that he never shied away from the truth. It was annoyingly charming and something that you admired and found incredibly irritating. 

“So, you’re not a cold-blooded killer then,” you concluded. 

“Not always,” he said with a slight shrug.

The sun was getting higher in the sky now and it began to stream through the small window of Negan’s cell. You knew you would have to leave in a bit. You had promised Aaron that you would watch Gracie so he could run an errand. And by errand, you knew that meant meeting up with Jesus. The man thought he was being slick, but you could see right through his lovesick lies. It was adorable. 

“(Y/N),” Negan said, gaining your attention once again. “Let me ask you this because I have been curious since our last visit.” 

“Shoot,” you said. 

“What was your vote on what to do with me?” he asked. 

“We didn’t vote,” you reminded him. Rick had made the decision and that was that. 

“Well if you had,” Negan said, “what would you have chosen?” You thought about telling him, but a part of you loved keeping him on his toes. 

“I’ll tell you next time,” you said as you got up from your seat. 

“Tease!” he said dramatically as he fell back on his cot. You rolled your eyes but didn’t stop the smile that spread on your face. 

“Not used to getting what you want, Negan?” he looked over at you with narrowed eyes. You leaned over and wrapped your hands around the bars. “Tragic.”

TAGS: @thanossexual

@yes-sir-hotchner​

@boom-bunny​ 

@delusionalteenagewhispers​

@sophia-gwendolyn​

@ritajammer21​

[stellarstarwarsimagines]

Daydreams With Me

Pairing - Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader

Summary - Obi-Wan Request: For several months now, Obi-Wan and you have been in a secret relationship. With being a Princess, and him being a Jedi, you knew that it would never be more than that, and you were okay with it. Until a secret plot threatens not only your relationship, but everything you hold dear. 

Word Count - 4,472

Warnings - None!

“I don’t wanna.” You whined as Obi-Wan finished lacing up the back of your dress. 

His chest shook with a chuckle against your back, his hands moving to rest on your hips. “You don’t have a choice, my love.” 

“Shouldn’t the Princess be given a choice about what frivolous parties she has to attend?” You asked him, leaning back into his warm embrace with a sigh. “I want to stay in here with you and pretend nothing outside exists.” 

Obi-Wan’s lips pressed against your cheek for a moment before he nuzzled into your neck, causing you to giggle as his beard tickled your skin. “You have a duty to dazzle all of your citizens and government with your intelligence and beauty.” He said, looking at the two of you in the mirror. “As I have a duty to protect you.” 

You turned around in his arms, pressing your forehead against his. For years now, since he had become a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan had made frequent visits to your planet under an order from the Council to protect you. Your father had a good relationship with them, and was a very important member of the Republic Senate. Due to a fraction of men no longer wanting to adhere to the matriarchal society it had held for so long, your planet was at constant threat of a Civil War and in need of Jedi negotiators. Any public appearance had your life threatened. 

It had only taken several visits and him to take a blaster shot for you to realize you were in love with him. You were pleased to discover the feeling was mutual. 

Not that anyone could know. 

So stolen moments, like the one you were in now, were all that the two of you could share. It made going out in public all the more irritating when all you wanted to do was curl up in bed with him and look out at the sky. As the future Queen though, you knew that wasn’t an option. “Can you expand your duty to entertaining me tonight as well? If I have to listen to another word from Lord Tarsi about the grass levels, I might end up having to throw myself off the balcony.” You asked him, your fingers tangling in his long tresses. 

“See, that’s where my protecting you would come in.” He replied, bumping your nose with his. 

“Oh, that even applies to me hurting myself?” You teased, grinning at him. 

“Especially when it applies to you hurting yourself.” He replied, pressing a soft kiss to the tip of your nose, causing it to scrunch up at the tickling sensation. 

“I suppose that means no jumping off balconies?” You asked him. 

“I’m afraid not, my princess.” Obi-Wan replied, an affectionate smile on his face as he looked at you. 

While you heard the title several times, from everyone you came across on your planet, there was something even more special about hearing it from Obi-Wan’s mouth. He said it in such a way that you knew he didn’t mean that you were the princess of your planet, but the princess over the territory that was his heart. 

You would guard that heart with your very life, like you would your kingdom. 

“I suppose I’ll have to be on my best behavior then. For your sanity of course.” You said, pulling away from him, but keeping a hold on his hands. “But just in case, I would appreciate it if you escorted me into the ballroom, Master Kenobi.” You said, a grin on your lips. 

A glint in his eyes appeared at your use of his title, “You might want to work on that best behavior while the night is still young Milady.” Obi-Wan told you, but nevertheless held his arm out for you to take. “I will escort you though, for your safety.” He added as if that was the reason. 

The both of you knew it wasn’t. 

By the time the two of you made it to the ballroom, you were all giggles, your face heated from the words that Obi-Wan had been whispering in your ear when your father appeared. “Darling, you look beautiful.” He told you, kissing both of your cheeks. 

“Thank you,” you said, smiling at him, leaving Obi-Wan’s side to embrace him. “Where is Mother?” 

Your father tried to keep his face the same, but it didn’t escape your notice how his shoulders slumped and the tiniest frown formed for the briefest moment. “I’m afraid she had a small spell. She’s hoping to be along later.” 

An uneasy feeling filled your stomach at the information. Your mother was having more and more spells as the days passed. You knew that they were trying to keep it from you, but despite the healer’s best efforts, your mother wasn’t getting any better. You weren’t ready to think about the implications of that.

You didn’t know how he did it, something to do with the Force most likely, but Obi-Wan could always sense your emotions. He stepped forward to greet your father, but in the process placed a comforting hand on the small of your back. “I’m sorry to hear that Senator. It looks to be an entertaining evening.” Obi-Wan said. 

“Ah, it always is Master Kenobi. I appreciate your attendance and diligence watching after my daughter. I know it’s not an easy job.” He teased, shaking Obi-Wan’s hand and giving you a teasing smile that you rolled your eyes at. 

“But an important one.” Obi-Wan replied, the short look he gave you implying the job of looking after you as more than important to him. 

It made your heart flutter in your chest as you gave him a gentle smile. 

“Indeed.” Your father interrupted the moment, taking your arm. “If you’ll excuse us, we’ve got to get dinner started.” 

“Of course,” Obi-Wan replied with a bow. “I need to find my Padawan anyway.” 

You shot Obi-Wan a look over your shoulder as your father pulled you away, mouthing the words, “help me!” 

He gave you an amused smile and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Darling, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Your father told you as he led you to the high table. 

Those words never meant anything good. Whenever you heard them, you knew it was another attempt by your father to set you up. These days it seemed that all he wanted was to see you married off. Not that it mattered. The decision on who you married was up to you in your society, and since the one person you loved wouldn’t be allowed to marry you, you were destined to live out your days as a “single” Queen. Not that it mattered to you. “Father, we’ve been over this.” You groaned. 

“Yes, I know Sweetheart, but -”

“I don’t want to get married right now.” You cut him off. 

“No one is saying you have to get married right now, but your mother and I think you should meet him.” He continued. 

“Why?” You asked, stopping in your tracks so you could face him. “Why are you and mother pushing this so hard?” 

Your father glanced around to make sure that no one was listening. When he turned back to you, it was as if his whole body slumped. He looked so . . . tired. How could you have failed to notice the bags under his eyes? The droop in his shoulders? “Darling . . . your mother . . . she wants to know you’re happy before she -”

You placed your hand on his arm, stopping him from finishing a sentence you knew that you weren’t ready to hear. “I . . . I’ll meet him, but I’m not going to promise anything.” How could you? Glancing over at a corner of the room where your Jedi now stood with his Padawan, a caring look in his eyes and a smile on his face as he spoke with him and pointed out various features in the room, you knew that nothing could ever come from this man your parents wanted you to meet, no matter how much they wanted it too. What you could never tell your mother was that you already were happy. So happy you wanted to shout it from the rooftops. You wanted to visit every planet in the galaxy to scream it. 

But he was a Jedi Master, and you weren’t going to let your love take that from him. The galaxy was a better place with him looking after it. 

“That’s all I ask.” Your father said, oblivious to your inner turmoil. He took your hand and brought you to the head table. “Linor, this is my daughter.” The man stood up and gave you what you assumed was supposed to be a charming smile, but to you he looked pained. The man took your hand and pressed a kiss to it. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said. 

“Likewise.” You replied, your years of being trained to be polite stepping in. 

Linor pulled out a chair beside him for you. “Will you join me?” 

It took all the self control you had to not sigh and give a polite nod instead as you settled into your seat. 

“Well, if you two don’t mind, I have to go have a word with Master Kenobi about some security details for the evening.”  Your father said, giving you a pleased smile as he left the two of you alone. 

If you hadn’t been with company, you would have called him out on that one. 

“He’s not very subtle is he?” Linor said from beside you. 

You turned to look at him, studying his features for a moment. He was handsome, that you couldn’t deny. He had a clean shaven face, a strong jawline and high cheekbones. That, combined with the full lips and head of dark hair gave him a confident look, but there was something about the darkness in his eyes that made you uneasy. 

Or maybe it was the fact that they weren’t a light blue filled with warmth. 

“He’s not, I apologize for his behavior.” You said, watching him walk across the room to where Obi-Wan and his Padawan Anakin were standing. 

“No need to apologize. I’ve been eager to meet you Princess. Not even in power yet, and you’ve made quite an impact on our planet already.” He said, raising his eyebrows at you. 

Despite his supposed eagerness, there was no admiration in his voice as he spoke, in fact he sounded as if he was merely stating the conditions outside. “Oh? What action did I take that made you so eager to meet me?” 

He smirked. “I found your protection order on the caves to be very intriguing. What made you decide to focus on that?” He asked. 

“I found the farmland that rested on top of it to be far more important to us than the metal that lies inside. Not to mention the dangers of those caves. As of right now we’re unaware of the stability of them, and what they would do to the people if they collapsed, above and inside them.” You took a sip of the drink in front of you. “I don’t believe in endangering the people for some unnecessary scraps of metal.” 

“Unnecessary? Aren’t you worried that we might need that at some point?” Linor asked, his lips pulling into a tight line. 

Okay, now you were sure that there was something about him that you didn’t like. “For what?” You asked, narrowing your eyes at him. 

He seemed to know that he had set off alarms for you. He backed off, and what was meant to be a charming smile once again formed on his face. “Oh, nothing. I’m sure you’re right. You are the future Queen after all.” He said, raising his glass to you while he took a sip, never taking his eyes off of you. 

Your stomach churned, and you turned away from him, looking out at the crowd until you found Obi-Wan. He seemed to be in deep conversation with your father, and you frowned as you noticed the look on his face. 

You’d spent many hours with Obi-Wan now, and had become somewhat of an expert at reading his expressions no matter how hard he tried to hide them. Whatever your father was telling him . . . it was upsetting him. 

Almost as if he could feel your eyes on him, he looked up and met your gaze. The longing that was there as he looked at you took your breath away. When you gave him an inquisitive look, he gave the smallest shake of his head, and turned his attention back to your father. 

Well, you were for sure going to have to ask him about that later. 

____________________

By the end of the night, you were not only exhausted, but worried as well. Several times throughout the night you had attempted to talk to Obi-Wan, even get him to dance with you, but each time he had cited an excuse and managed to drift away. Even now, as he escorted you back to your quarters, he was silent, and seemed to be lost in thought. 

You couldn’t help but think that something was wrong, and that whatever your father had said to him was the cause of it. Wondering what it could be, you wouldn’t have noticed you had made it to your quarters if Obi-Wan hadn’t brought you to a stop. “I’m afraid this is goodnight Milady.” He said, bringing your hand up to his lips for a kiss. 

“What?” Okay, now you were positive something was wrong. There hadn’t been a night when Obi-Wan visited that didn’t end with him holding you close as you both drifted off to sleep in many years. 

“Anakin and I have been called back to Coruscant. We’re leaving first thing in the morning.” He told you. 

“That doesn’t mean you can’t stay tonight.” You said, gripping the hand he was holding tight. You had known he wouldn’t be able to stay much longer, but you weren’t ready to say goodbye before you had to. 

His expression softened as he looked at you, his thumb stroking your hand. “I thought it might be easier -”

“Please stay,” You said, “Besides, you’re the one who said you slept better with me by your side.” You reminded him, raising your eyebrows at him. 

He couldn’t argue with that, and you knew it. Obi-Wan nodded and let you lead him into your room. As soon as the door shut behind you, you turned back to him, letting go of his hand and crossing your arms over your chest. 

“All right. Tell me what’s going on.” You said, trying to make your voice sound stern. It was hard when he was looking at you with those gentle blue eyes. 

“Darling, it’s not something we have to talk about.” He told you, shaking his head as he took a step towards you. 

“I think it is. It’s distressing you enough to want to leave without a proper goodbye.” You took a step forward yourself, uncrossing your arms and leaning up to cup his cheek in one of your hands. “Tell me what my father said to you that has that frown on your face.” You said, brushing your thumb across his cheekbone. 

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh as he leaned into your touch, placing his own hand on top of yours. You thought for a moment he was going to try and avoid the subject once more, but he didn’t. “Your father asked me to try and convince you to marry that man. He believes, considering how close we are, that you would listen to me.” 

Everything made sense. “Oh, Obi . . .” You shook your head, upset with your father for asking that of him, but also knowing you couldn’t blame him. He had no idea the position he had put Obi-Wan in. “You know that will never happen.” You told him. 

He squeezed your hand, and opened his eyes, staring into yours with that longing once more. “Maybe it should.” 

You shook your head at him, not believing for one second that was what he wanted. “You don’t mean that,” You said. 

“He might be good for your people. Bring some more prosperity to your Kingdom.” He tried to reason with you, but made no move to put more distance between the two of you. 

“Our Kingdom is fine without his help. I assure you. You know that too considering how many meeting notes you’ve watched me pour over and tell you about.” You reminded him. 

“He could give you children . . . and a marriage.” He admitted. 

Ah, so here is what he was concerned about. “You’re right. He could give me those things.” Obi-Wan’s gaze drifted to the ground. “But I don’t want them with him.” He looked back up at you. “There’s one man in the entire galaxy I would want those things with, and that’s you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I will never love anyone like I love you. I couldn’t marry another man knowing that.” 

Obi-Wan pulled your hand to his lips, his warm breath heating up your palm as he closed his eyes again, seeming to struggle with what he wanted to say. “Do you want me to leave the Order?” He whispered. 

Your eyes widened in disbelief, your mouth parting in shock. “What?” This wasn’t something the two of you had ever discussed. You had imagined the rest of your life with Obi would be as it was now, but this . . . 

“I love you with everything I have . . . If I left the Order, I could marry you, I could give you children . . . anything and everything you want and deserve.” He pressed another delicate kiss to your knuckles as he opened his eyes. “All you need to do is ask.” 

It was tempting. It was so, so tempting, the life he had laid out for you. You had dreamed about it often, because dreaming was all you dared to do. No longer having to hide your love for each other. A beautiful wedding in the gardens at sunset, your mother all smiles as your father gives you away to the man in front of you. Him ruling by your side, a fair and just ruler as you knew he would be. Then becoming pregnant with a little boy or girl with his golden hair and crystal blue eyes. You knew he would be a perfect father, and as he said, all you had to do was ask.

But it would be selfish to do so. 

“I could never ask you to do that Obi. The Council needs you. Anakin needs you. The galaxy needs you. My desires fall far under those.” You told him with a sad smile. 

“Not to me,” He argued. 

He was not making this easy on you. “Fine then. I desire for you to keep saving the galaxy while I wait patiently and happily for every moment I get to spend with you.” 

For the first time since he had stepped into your room, a small smile graced his handsome face. He let go of your hand to wrap his arms around you, tugging you into his chest and resting his forehead against yours. “So stubborn, little one.” 

You rested your hands against his chest, fidgeting with the edges of his robes. “You must be rubbing off on me.” You teased, smiling yourself when he pressed a short peck to your lips. 

The two of you sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the moment together in each other’s embrace. When Obi-Wan did speak, it was soft, hesitant, even vulnerable. “Tell me I have nothing to worry about.” 

Obi-Wan was so strong and confident, it was strange hearing the worry in his voice. The almost pleading in his tone as he spoke. “You have nothing to worry about, Obi. It’s always going to be you who owns my heart.” You reassured him. 

He let out a deep sigh of relief before pulling you in for a sweet kiss. 

____________________

You weren’t sure what it was that woke you up. Normally, when you fell asleep wrapped up nice and warm in Obi-Wan’s arms, you slept for hours until you were woken up. This time it was still dark outside judging from the doors to your balcony, and try as you might, you couldn’t get back to sleep. 

Deciding to give up for the time being, you pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s forehead and slipped out of his arms, smiling as he clutched the pillow you had been sleeping with close to him. Hoping some fresh air would do you some good, you decided to take a step outside. As soon as the doors shut behind you, you took in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh night air. 

Until you felt a blaster against your back. 

It was an instinct at this point, the way your body leaned into it for a moment while you turned towards your assailant, using one hand to strike him in the neck while using the other to grip the blaster so he couldn’t retract it. You distracted him with a knee to the groin and as he stumbled backwards, you took the blaster from him, backing away and aiming it straight at his chest. 

“Your lover has taught you well.” Your attacker spat, unbothered by the blaster now pointing at him. 

“What the hell are you talking about, and what are you doing on my balcony trying to kill me, Linor?” You snapped. 

“I wasn’t trying to kill you. Just subdue you. Killing you would defeat my purpose, and is Master Kenobi not lying in your bed right now?” He asked with a smirk, taking a step forward. 

You faltered for a moment. How the hell did he know that? “What’s your purpose then, if not to kill me?” 

He ignored your question and gaze, dancing his fingers across the railings in front of him and staring out at the city below. “I tried to understand you know. It’s been taught to us that women are the more intelligent beings. More capable of a fair and just rule, but then . . .” He let out a low sigh. “Your protection order? You don’t even have the slightest clue what you’ve done. It showed your lack of ambition, Princess.” 

“I think it’s time you leave.” You said. 

Linor continued on as if you hadn’t spoken. “Pretty soon . . . the world’s going to change. There’s a new power rising, and I, for one, am going to be on the right side of it.” He said. 

“Oh yeah? And how are you going to do that?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at him. 

“By marrying you of course.” He said, turning around to look at you. “Once I do, and once your mother passes, oh you’ll be in charge, by name alone, but I’ll be the one pulling the strings. Your order of protection will be withdrawn, and the mining will begin again.” The grin on his face made you want to throw up. “You know, Princess, the Trade Federation is very eager to get their hands on that metal, and they’re willing to pay handsomely.” 

The Trade Federation? What would they want with that metal? You didn’t have a clue, but you did know one thing. 

Linor was crazy. 

“If you think I’m going to marry you after all this, you have lost your mind.” You snapped at him, fingers tightening on the blaster. 

He shook his head. “Princess, I know you will, because if you don’t, the whole Jedi Council will find out about your relationship with that Jedi in there.” He said, pointed back to the doors. “Unless I’m mistaken, the Jedi aren’t supposed to form personal attachments, and I’d say what Obi-Wan Kenobi feels for you is a personal attachment. I wonder how he would go on, no longer being a part of the society that shaped him so.” 

If the Council discovered his relationship with you, you knew what their reaction would be. He would be stripped of all his honors, having to relinquish his lightsaber, possibly banished, if not worse. There was no telling what would happen to Anakin. What would happen to the galaxy without Obi-Wan there to protect it so valiantly. As much as he had reassured you earlier about this same subject, you couldn’t help but wonder if there would be some bitterness in his feelings towards you. 

Your voice was shaky when you replied, and you cursed yourself for it. “Sounds like I should kill you where you stand. Let it all go away with your corpse.” 

“You think I’m the only one with this information? You don’t think if you kill me another will rise in my place? Then your intelligence has been grossly overstated. Face it, Princess. You have no choice. Either way, you’ve lost your Jedi for good.” Before you could even react, he’d snatched the blaster back out of your hand. “If we do it my way, at least he’ll still have his dignity.” 

“Get out,” You gasped, unable to look at him for a moment longer. 

“As you wish my dear. I’ll leave you to think about it.” Linor said, leaning forward to press a kiss on your cheek that had you shivering in anger. “Don’t wait too long though.” 

Without another word, he climbed down your balcony. 

Was this what it felt like, you wondered, to have your world crumble around you in a matter of minutes? Less than ten minutes ago, you had been comfortable in the loving embrace of Obi-Wan, happy for your life to continue the way it was. Now here you were, blackmailed, about to be forced into a marriage that would not only ruin your kingdom, but break a man’s heart. A man who you had just told had nothing to worry about.

You leaned against the wall, trying to calm your breath. There had to be something you could do to change this. Some loophole that you could discover that you were too tired to think of right now. Brushing some stray tears from your eyes, you took a deep breath and headed back inside. After stripping yourself of your robe, you climbed back into bed, curling up into a still sleeping Obi-Wan’s arms. 

Your reappearance woke him up, and he groaned as he nuzzled his face into your hair. “Is everything alright?” He mumbled, still half asleep as his lips brushed against your head. 

“It’s going to be fine, Obi.” You whispered, tightening your own grip around him. “It’s going to be fine.” You repeated, more for yourself than him this time. 

Because it would be. No matter what it took, you would do anything not to break this man’s heart.