#and then something happens and luce is sent into a panic because he learns that marcus used to laugh with sil and the retired warden

[sqlmn]

OC RNG stuff.

-Lucinda is engaged to the oldest prince in a family of nine where there are 8 brothers and then the youngest is the only girl. She adores her future husband. -Ink Blot is a really dumb mage who acts as a street performer using fake magic despite being an actual mage. He just wants to be the center of attention. -Ruby and Luce are from the same plot (thank you RNG I love the dream wardens). They're part of different pairs and basically just patrol to keep dreams in check. Ruby and Luce also don't really meet each other in canon. Their routes don't overlap but they both interact with the main duo which is Colette and Marcus. (Ruby wants to beat Marcus up while Luce wants to kiss Marcus for what it matters.)

[rafivadafreddy]

Pretty Little Psycho

A Nevada Ramirez and Nettie Perez Story. Part One.

Summery: Nettie is a girl with a horrible past. After her aunt left her house in her name, Nettie moves to Washington Heights. There she is able to stay low and not get noticed by many people. Until one night Nevada comes into the shop she works to leave a shipment in the back. (Yes another OFC. Only cause I can’t write fics with y/n. I need description! so.. sorry.)

Word Count: 2,019 Warnings: Cursing (surprise!) Panic attack. Talk about drugs. Nevada gets handsy, some spanish in there.

Living in Washington Heights for the past six months had been a nice experience so far. Her last living relative passed away and left a small home for Nettie. One by one, death came for her family members until she was the last one standing. Her grandparents died from natural causes, at least that’s what she was told when younger. Her father was shot, right in front of Little Nettie at the time. She was only 10 years old. Her mother died a few years later, Nettie had been 17, being used as a rag doll most of the time for her mother’s pimps whenever they were over. So, when she came home and saw her mother with a needle in her arm and not moving. Her pimp nowhere to be found, not that that surprised Nettie. She could only guess what had happened. By the time the paramedics arrived. Nettie already knew her mother was gone. Something Nettie felt no remorse over. Living with her mother meant living in a home filled with men, drugs and alcohol. Nettie being smacked around and used as they pleased. Nettie could only think ‘good riddance’ after the funeral.

The only living family left was an aunt who lived in Washington Heights. Nettie lived with the crazy old bat until she went off to college. Getting her degree in dance and fine arts. Taking up self-defense classes as well, needing to protect herself. Nettie could barely go near men without freaking out the slightest. When she graduated, her aunt died and left her house to Nettie. It was paid for and all Nettie would have to do is keep up with the bills.

So, with a heavy heart, the 25-year-old girl headed back a neighborhood in the northern part of Manhattan; Washington Heights. Not that she wanted that, but Nettie figured she would live in the house and work until she could get enough money to leave New York behind and never return.

Even with her degree, Washington Heights didn’t give her lots of options for jobs, meaning that Nettie had to accept whatever crap job that would accept her. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, right? With nothing to her name but student loans, Nettie accepted a job at a coffee shop where she learned how to brew the perfect coffee and even bake. The owners were a kind older couple who always spoke to Nettie about their grandchildren and children who lived all the way in Miami.

Life was going nicely for the girl she kept her head down and didn’t cause trouble. She never went out, didn’t bother to go to the clubs. If she wanted to drink, she would buy her liquor from the store and drink at home. Nettie wasn’t known to anyone, except those who came by the café and were regulars. Then they knew her name. Just the first, she never dared give out her last name. It was a curse after all.

It was late one night, being asked to close the shop, Nettie assured Camila and Dalvin that she would be alright.

“There are some supplies coming in tonight. Just… let them take the things out back. Okay? Don’t ask questions.” Dalvin told Nettie who was confused but nodded.

“You got it boss, I won’t ask, even if that sounds super suspicious.” She smiled and assured the two she’ll be fine.

They had left since Camila had been feeling some pain in her knees and since Dalvin was the only one around to help his wife. They left and Nettie continued to clean up. Having some pastries as she cleaned. Glad that everything was freshly made and so they wouldn’t mind her eating.

Putting on music, hooking her phone to the stereo and playing her dance playlist. Nettie grinned as Daddy Yankee started to play. Nettie grabbed the broom and danced along to Gasolina, singing along and just getting lost in the music.

“Ella prende la turbina No discrimina No se pierde ni un party de marquesina Se acicala va pa la esquina Luce también que hasta la sombra le combina Asesina, me domina Janguea en carro, motora, y limusina Llena su tanque de adrenalina Cuando escucha Reggaetón en la cocina”

As she danced along with the broom as her partner, doing a simple Merengue step dance. Nettie never heard the door open and people entering the café. To her, she had locked the doors, so she had nothing to worry about. By the time the song was over, and it changed to Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie. Nettie let out a yelp when someone started to clap.

“Who the fuck are you, puto and how did you get in here?” she demanded, gripping the broom in her hand. Ready to use it as a weapon.

“Now cariño, that’s not very nice of you to say hum… I would hate for something to happen to this…. Cute little place.” The guy in the middle who wore all black said.

That caused Nettie to pale, she looked at the men and took a step back. “I’m sorry… please, just do what you need. I won’t get in your way.” She assured them and quickly went over to turn off her music. Only to be told to keep it on. Leaving it, Nettie took a deep breath before returning to work. Sweeping the floors and starting to wipe down the tables and counters.

“So mami… who are you and why have I never seen you before?” the same man from before asked as he stepped closer to her. Nettie glad she was on the other side of the counter.

“First of all, with all due respect. I’m not your ‘mami’ so stop that.” She eyed him before licking her lips. “My name is Nettie. I mainly stay at home… and to myself.” She added, decided to humor him since she didn’t want anything to happen to the café.

Excusing herself, she quickly returned to her cleaning and grabbed the garbage bags to take out back to the dumpster. It was when she was outside, lifting the bags up did she feel a hand on her shoulder. A masculine hand at that.

Dropping the bag, grabbing the unknown hand and turning around quickly, twisting the man’s arm around harshly and pushing him against the building brick wall.

“AH YOU CRAZY PUTA! LET ME GO! NEVADA!” the guy yelled out, undoubtedly in pain.  The way she held his twisted arm behind his back, Nettie was sure to press down on the pressure point in his hand.

When the back door opened again and the man in black came out with his henchmen. They stared with wide eyes. “Nettie… can you let go of Jose… I sent him out here to help you with the trash bags. Not to get attacked.” The guy she had talked to before had spoken.

“Well, next time. Tell him not to sneak up on a girl!” she said through gritted teeth and let the guys arm go and took a step back. Breathing heavily, Nettie blinked a few times before rolling her eyes. Going back to the trash bags, she threw them into the dumpster.

“Look, do your business. Let me do mine. I don’t need any help.” She eyed the four of them and pushed past to get back inside.

Letting out a breath of air that Nettie didn’t even realize she was holding. She went back to the front of the shore and rubbed at her forehead.

“Mira aquí mami… i don’t know who the fuck you think you are. But what you just pulled? Not fucking cool.” The guy in black said as he came over to where Nettie was seated.

“Yeah well, I’m not here to please you. Sorry, I’m here to work and get my paycheck.” She mumbled and hissed at the pain in her head. Grabbing her purse, Nettie quickly grabbed a bottle of Advil and took one, drowning down the pill with the water in her water bottle.

“Jefe! All done.” The guy she had attacked called out, narrowing his eyes at Nettie who glared back.

“Great! Goodbye, see you next time you decide to do whatever it is you did. Have a nice night!” Nettie jumped up and grabbed the keys to the café and her things.

“I’m going to give you a warning this time, mami because I happen to like Dalvin and Camila… Next time you treat us so poorly, well you’re going to regret messing with Trujillo”

Staring at him, confused. Nettie opened her mouth to say something but shut it. Only to repeat the process a few times. “I- I’m sorry, did you just refer yourself to Trujillo? Rafael Trujillo? Please tell me you didn’t and that’s your name.” she bit down on her lip. Knowing she was probably messing with the wrong people, but Nettie did not have a filter for her mouth. It was probably why her father was killed. Mouthed off the wrong people.

By the looks of the guys henchmen, Nettie knew she was playing with fire.

“Do you have a death wish you crazy puta?” he snapped, stepping closer to her and Nettie visibly tensed up. “Now… the next time we run into each other. I expect you to have better manners… Me entiendes mami?” he spoke lowly as his hand reached up and wrapped themselves around her neck, gripping at the soft skin as he glazed into her eyes.

“Sí… entiendo.” She found herself mumbling as her heart raced in her chest. Her breathing became harder and she was trying not to gasp for air in front of this man. Her chest ached something awful and Nettie didn’t even realize she was crying until the man backed away and stared at her in shock.

Backing away and wrapping her arms around herself, Nettie slid down the wall she found herself up against and she tried to calm down but that just seemed to make it worse. Nettie felt like she was going to be sick and could barely focus on what was going on around her. Her nails digging into her skin and soon someone was in front of her.

“Okay chica… listen to me. You gotta control your breathing.” A voice she didn’t recognize spoke to her. “Come on… breath with me. In. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Now out. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…” he felt doing that while holding her hands until Nettie finally got her breathing back to normal.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” but she could hardly get a sentence out.

“No, none of that.” The man shook his head and quickly got up and grabbed a chocolate from the counter. “Come on. Eat this and you’ll be fine.” He smiled before glancing over at his boss. “My nephew has panic attacks all the time.” He explained and the guy just groaned.

“Fuck…” he mumbled and nodded to her. “Grab her things and let’s get out of here. We’ll drop her home.” He turned on his heel and walked out.

Nettie allowed the guy to help her up and grabbing her bag, they walked out of the shop. Miguel, she leaned was who helped her. He locked up the café and assisted Nettie into the black escalade. Once telling them her address, she closed her eyes and just waited to get home.

“Gracias, I’ll… I’ll make sure to respect you next time Trujillo.” Nettie said in a soft voice as the car was pulling up to her home fifteen minutes later.

“Nevada…” he sighed as he watched her get out. “My name is Nevada Ramirez. Just watch your mouth next time.” He said simply, looking forward again.

Nettie just bit her lip and nodded before bidding them goodnight and walking up to the house and letting herself in. Hearing the car drive off after she locked the door, Nettie dragged her feet to her room and passed out on top of the covers. Never realizing she had left her bag on the floor of the black escalade.

Tagging- @the-baby-bookworm​

Kinda not sure how long this will be. Probably just 5 parts with how I have my ideas written out. I hope you enjoyed. Heart and Re-blog 

[cheshiresense]

Can you continue the arrange marriage AU? Like, the aftermath and everyone view on it? Please? Thank you.

Eh same deal as the other one, I only posted this here after I ran out of steam on discord so I don’t really have anything to add. I guess morning at the Giglio Nero compound brings fresh panic when the servants report that Yuni wasn’t in her room, and three hours of searching the grounds came up empty. Even Aria grows increasingly agitated, and her mother’s grave “If she has truly run away from her duty, your sister has doomed us all.” doesn’t help. They don’t even know how Yuni escaped. They’ve suspected her to be a flight risk since she was fourteen; the compound is sealed with Luce’s own Sky Flames, which would flare an alarm and contain Yuni if she tried to flee, but the barrier is still intact, and there’s no sign of anyone having tried to force their way through, let alone succeed.

Luce locks down Yuni’s disappearance; nobody is to speak of it, it cannot leak back to the Vongola, at least not until they’ve ascertained that they can’t retrieve her within the next few days before Yuni is supposed to visit the Vongola mansion again. But their search is in vain; Aria’s Sight fails her, even Luce’s Sight hits a dead end, and that’s never happened before. She’s the strongest Giglio Nero Seer since Sepira, and yet somehow Yuni evades her notice. It’s the first time Aria’s ever seen her mother look… angry. It’s a cold, quiet sort of wrath, and it makes her shudder just catching a glimpse of it. She doesn’t know what Yuni is thinking, betraying them like this, but she doesn’t envy her when Luce catches up to her. Because of course Luce would; nobody can hide from her long. It’s how she gathered her generation’s Arcobaleno; the Cloud wasn’t able to break away, and even the hitman Reborn was tamed in the end. Yuni’s never gone against a Sky as powerful as their mother before. She won’t be able to run forever.

But first they have to break the news to Vongola. They certainly don’t tell Timoteo that it’s already been three days since they discovered Yuni gone from her bed. Luce masterfully frames it in a way that makes it seem as if Yuni might’ve been kidnapped, and even if she wasn’t, surely it was her immaturity and free spirit that got the better of her. She has no friends her own age, and girls her age are often flighty and foolish. Even Aria winces at the unimpressed look Timoteo levels at them, even if he doesn’t outright call them on it. All he does is nod and offer his own people to join the hunt, they’ll drag her back home if they have to, and really, Aria thinks her sister deserves a bit of rough handling. A Giglio Nero daughter has never caused so much trouble; she doesn’t understand why Yuni has to be so difficult.

Of Timoteo’s sons, it’s Massimo who looks the most irate. He must’ve really been looking forward to marrying Yuni, hoping to be chosen. Aria’s seen how much attention the second son often pays her sister; why Yuni would turn her nose up at such fortune is beyond her.

Enrico doesn’t seem to care beyond an amused twist of his lips and bored agreement to help with the search, but Aria concedes that someone a few years older than even Aria herself would’ve found Yuni’s fanciful whims tiresome.

And Federico is a hard read, even for Aria, he doesn’t seem particularly upset either but at least he agrees to help too and doesn’t seem angry at Yuni’s slight.

Nobody bothers calling the Varia and asking Xanxus; no matter how irritated some are, nobody wants Yuni back in pieces.

So, search parties are sent out. They keep it quiet because it wouldn’t do for other famiglie to find out that a future Vongola bride has done a runner.

Eventually, someone asks if maybe Tsunayoshi kidnapped Yuni, or if Yuni’s eloped with Tsunayoshi. There’s some laughter at the first because everybody knows Tsunayoshi doesn’t have very strong Flames, barely even average, to have been passed over as the next CEDEF leader by his own father for some Rain nobody. But among the upper echelon of Vongola, there’s a lot of side-eyes and grim looks, especially between Timoteo and Iemitsu.

It’s possible that Yuni ran off to join Tsunayoshi, misguided by a silly girl thinking herself in love. So they reach out to the Gesso, and because if you look up the word ‘overkill’ in the dictionary, ‘Vongola’ would be included as a synonym, instead of reaching out diplomatically, they send in a few Mist assassins to sneak onto Gesso grounds and grab Yuni if she’s there. They even get two birds with one stone this way - if Gesso is caught red-handed harbouring a Vongola ally “against her will”, they could wring a few more inventions and maybe even a subordinate famiglia to Vongola.

The result - the Mists don’t come back. They just disappear. Nobody knows what’s happened to them, and spies report that Gesso’s going about business as usual.

Vongola sends in another few assassins, because those secure in their power and superiority are always the slowest to learn. They even post spies just off the Gesso property who report back that the assassins managed to get inside.

But again, they never come back out, and even Vongola feels a little uneasy now, especially when Luce still can’t See anything definite for them.

They send spies in one more time, this time just to report back the situation because they don’t need Sight to know there’s something very weird going on with the Gesso.

Not twenty-four hours later, the Pacifier around Luce’s neck flares to life before literally ripping itself away. She’s too slow to grab it, and Aria doesn’t think she would’ve been able to keep a hold of it anyway, and before anyone else can react, it disappears in a flash of Sky Flames.

Simultaneously, the Vongola Sky Ring wrenches itself off Timoteo’s finger and likewise disappears, leaving both bosses stunned and then alarmed.

Someone from the Vongola gates rushes in with a box with a bow tied around it. They don’t know who delivered it; it was left on the ground with nobody around.

They open it only after they make sure there aren’t any traps.

It probably shouldn’t be such a surprise when they find the pieces of their assassins stuffed inside, with only a single note taped on top, half-soaked in drying blood:

They say Helen launched a thousand ships. Let’s see how many Vongola can muster. The Gesso has no need for wooden horses :)

The smiley face was just adding insult to injury.

It’s as good as a declaration of war, and of course Vongola doesn’t fail to rise to the challenge. The box is a taunt, a dare, an insult, and even without Yuni in the equation, their pride won’t stand for it.

And… idk where the fuck i was going with this, omg i wasnt even going to write this much. Just. THERE IS WAR. Prob guerrilla warfare or sth at first before escalating.

[crazyzaika]

Love on Detours - Chapter 2

Hey guys,

and here we have chapter 2. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think. And until now, its unchecked, but it will be checked.

Greets Z

Chapter 2

She was afraid of going back to class. Noise came out of the classroom and she heard the loud crash, heard the splintering of wood. They were fighting again. She didn't know it any different and it didn't surprise her either. Shortly she swallowed and bit her lower lip. It was a real miracle that nobody at home had noticed that she had come home Saturday morning at 5. That had been almost too easy. However, she had absolute panic, the message on Line that he had sent her ... did he remember? It was more normal for her to remember and not for him.

It scared her. So much that she could barely breathe. Redness spread to her cheeks as she remembered his message. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, swallowed lightly and felt the nervousness in her rise.

Luce … we have to talk.

And suddenly an arm wrapped around her shoulders and she froze. Her eyes widened as the scent of his after shave rose into her nose and enveloped her. Her heart was beating up to her neck and a deep blush was burning on her cheeks, but she didn't dare turn her head to look at him.

"Hey Luce," he said quietly and she could hear his insecurity. Carefully she lifted her eyes and looked into those dark eyes, swallowing lightly. He grinned at her embarrassedly.

"I have to talk to you, Luce", he said and she saw the blush on his cheeks. Natsu was embarrassed and apparently he seemed to have thought seriously. She wanted to detach herself from him, but the grip only tightened when he realized her intention and he simply pulled her with him.

"No excuse, let's go. The ones in there are only fighting each other, you can't learn anyway. I don't know how Levy always manages that," he said and she stumbled after him, followed him through the dirty and garbage-strewn corridors of the school. She looked at the floor. The linoleum seemed to be much more interesting than anything else. Natsu dragged her up to the school roof and couldn't be stopped by the locked door to the attic either, he just kicked the door open.

Warm summer air welcomed them as they stepped out. She looked up as he pushed her further onto the roof and then closed the door. Lucy clung to the hem of her skirt and didn't know what to say or what to do.

"So... we...", Natsu started and pushed around. Lucy slowly raised her eyes and looked at him. He stood in front of her and was a bit insecure. His gaze was on the floor and she swallowed. A slight breeze plucked at the confused salmonhaired boy and at the red and white striped tie He had buttoned the white shirt with the emblem of the school messy and it was crumpled. He had rolled up his sleeves to his elbow and she could see the narrow scars on his tanned skin. Her heartbeat became faster and faster and her throat tightened. She had the feeling she couldn't breathe.

"It was..." he began again and she looked at him. Apparently he didn't know what to say. Lucy bit his lower lip. She didn't know what to say herself. Did she love him? Yes. But they were best friends and she had always held back, never wanted to risk it. She swallowed easily and bit her lower lip. Did he think she was expecting something like a relationship now? She had said something like that before. That she only wanted to go to bed with someone she loved. And she swallowed. Obviously he remembered it well. And he didn't want her to suffer. She looked at him, but she knew that he did not love her. That he only saw her as his best friend. Pain burned in her heart. She would make the decision for him.

"Natsu ... I can't remember anything", she said and lied to his face cold as ice. She smiled and had put on a wrong mask. She was good at that, but she had never lied to him before. Because he was her safe haven, where she could be herself. Her heart was beating up to her neck and she felt insane. Natsu looked at her and blinked confused.

"Uh... really?" he asked carefully. He seemed confused. Lucy laughed quietly and stepped closer to him, grinning like she always did.

"Yes ... sure, it was a real shock ... waking up next to you, but ... we are best friends or not? And we were really drunk. That's when it happens. Besides ... I looked ... and I'm still a virgin, don't worry. We didn't have sex, if that's what you think," she said, and now he seemed honestly confused. Blinked. Pain burned in her heart. She lied to him so boldly in the face and she knew she betrayed him with it somewhere and knew if he got to know the trouth ... then she would be on the ass, then this friendship would be they both so long joined no longer. Even if she lied out of pure fear. She did not want him to force himself into a relationship because they had had sex. Lucy smiled broadly. She didn't know if he remembered anything, but so far ... it had always been so that he couldn't remember anything when he had drunk so much alcohol.

"Natsu ... come on. Don't look so droopy. It's not the end of the world. We'll be best friends after all, won't we?" she asked and leaned forward a bit and looked at him waiting. He swallowed and then nodded as he looked down at her. She beamed at him, turned around and then hopped to the door leading down from the roof.

"Super", Lucy looked at him again, then she grinned broadly, "I'll go ahead and Natsu, don't make such a face. I won't twist a rope out of it," she said, opened the door and left the roof. The heavy door crashed into the lock behind her and her face distorted, becoming a mask of pain. Tears came to her eyes and she sniffed as she walked down the stairs. She had lied to Natsu. She had decided for both of them that nothing had happened and had given him the opportunity to pretend that nothing had happened and that they had just slept. Naked. But they were best friends and she wanted to keep that. She didn't want him to force a relationship on him with her just because he felt he had to make her happy. And so ... so they could act as if nothing had ever happened. Her heart whimpered and she felt her throat shrink. It was so wrong to lie to him, but ... she couldn't catch him like that, could she? Not like that. If she started something with him, then because he loved her too.

Hastily she wiped away the tears and ran to the girls toilet to wash her face. She did not want him to know that she had cried. Sniffing she stepped in front of one of the mirrors and looked at herself. Somehow she looked up ready. Her skin was pale and her eyes red and you could see that she had cried a little. Deep dark circles were under her eyes as she hadn't slept much all weekend. She looked at her hair. They were a mess of hair.

Quickly she rummaged out her pocket for eye drops and concealer and her brush. She would give him no reason to doubt. Nothing had happened after all. She put a few drops in her eyes, blinked violently and then dabbed concealer over the redness and dark circles. She quickly combed through the hip-length hair so that it looked at least halfway reasonable. Then she threw everything back into her pocket and ran to her classroom, opened the door and silence lay over the raging class. Everyone stared at her and she stared back.

Lucy tightened her shoulders, walked through the rows of tables to her seat, dropped her bag and sat down. The others ignored her and the usual turmoil continued. Levy, sitting a row in front of her, had turned to her and moved her chair a little closer to her table.

"Lu-chan ...", she began and Lucy let her head fall on the table top.

"What?"

"I can only remember darkly, but... didn't you make out with Natsu at the party?"

Lucy moaned annoyed. Did the topic really come up now? She had hoped that nobody had noticed, but apparently she was wrong. She sighed slightly, then lifted her head and looked at Levy. She was narrowly built, dainty and no one really knew how a smart girl like her had ended up in a school like this. But Lucy knew. Levy had run away from home and fled to her boyfriend, with whom she had gone to the same middle school. She knew that Levy's father had beaten her, that things had got worse and worse because he was an alcohol and gambling addict. And now, thanks to Gajeel and his father, she had her own apartment and had come to this school with him. If she had good grades, then nothing else mattered. Her best friend looked at her waiting, the big brown eyes innocently big. No one here touched her, because no one willingly messes with Gajeel. Lucy sighed.

"Yes ... ", she grumbled at Levy's question and Levy turned red, but giggled and leaned a little further forward.

"And how far did you get?

"We did it ... ", Lucy whispered and burning redness spread over her cheeks. Levy beamed and you could see that she was happy for Lucy, she knew how much Lucy loved Natsu. But then she saw the sadness on her best friend's face. She saw the pain on her face and concern lay in the features of her narrow blue-haired girlfriend.

"Lucy," she asked and then the sliding door of the classroom was opened again and Natsu entered the classroom. He was surprisingly quiet, came into the classroom and then sat down next to Lucy. She immediately stood up and put on a carefree smile. The smell of tobacco penetrated her nose and she blew up her cheeks briefly.

"Naaatssuuuu," she said, pulling her brows together as she turned to him and gave him a headbutt. He flinched and stared angrily at Lucy.

"Luce, what are you doing?"

"You shouldn't smoke! That's not healthy for you," said the blonde and put her hands on her hips. He snorted and turned his eyes to the side, while blush spread to his cheeks. She had a guilty conscience towards him, but she didn't want to lock him up. That just didn't suit him.

"Leave me alone with that," he growled and she blinked. Was he in a bad mood? She sighed slightly. She grabbed her chair, turned it to him with the backrest and sat down on the chair with her legs apart so that she could lay her forearms on the backrest. Then she stabbed him in the cheek with her finger.

"Naaatsuuuu," she said and pulled a light pout. Something that always worked normally, but he just grumbled and she kept stinging. She saw his muscles tense after four more minutes and knew she was teasing him. She knew he didn't like that. But she wanted to tease him a little, to ease the tension between them, to dispel his doubts and to behave as usual.

"Neee ... Naaatssuuuuuuuu," she said and grinned broadly. It was fun to annoy him because he was always so easily annoyed by her. Anyone else would probably not annoy a yakuza's child and find it funny, but Lucy knew him from elementary school and he wouldn't hurt her. So she kept poking him in the cheek. Then he growled irritably and snatched after her finger, which made her jump back in shock. What the ... ? Did he just try to bite her fingers?

"What do you want?", he asked irritatedly and obviously angry. Her heartbeat accelerated and she looked at him waiting.

"Are you mad at me," she asked after a short hesitation and he snorted. Redness spread to his cheeks. He didn't tell the truth, she noticed, but he didn't lie either.

"No," he growled and then yawned. She blinked and pulled up her eyebrows.

"Ah ... you are tired?" she asked with a grin and he put his head to his neck.

"Yeah ... ", he grumbled and his voice sounded rough. Lucy smiled. Goddess how she loved this idiot. Then she rose, grabbed his right arm and pulled on him. Or at least tried, because Natsu wouldn't move if he didn't want to.

"Come on, you get your chocolate milk, then it's to the infirmary," Lucy said and giggled. After a rumbling Natsu rose sluggishly and followed her reluctantly. Then the front door of the classroom opened and a tall man with light brown longer hair came in. He had an angular face, clear features and even the shirt could not hide the muscles. Suddenly calm returned to the class. But that wouldn't stop Lucy from taking Natsu to the infirmary so he could go to sleep.

"Hey, where are you two idiots going again?" her class teacher yelled and Lucy looked at him cool.

"Leave us alone, Gildarts-Sensei," Lucy hissed, snorted and then pulled Natsu out of the classroom with her. He was tired, so she would make sure he could sleep. And she had her tricks there. One of them was to supply him with his beloved chocolate milk first, then he was more peaceful after waking up. She knew exactly how to deal with the beast in him and acted accordingly. Given his mood, it wouldn't be surprising if he beat someone else in the classroom to the nearest hospital. It was funny in itself when he was irritable or sulking, but when he freaked out, the fun was over for her. Because then she could often hear that he was a monster and that she should end the friendship with him. Something she had absolutely no desire for. They went to one of the vending machines and she pulled a pack of chocolate milk. While he was drinking it his mood seemed to improve and she almost dragged him to the infirmary.

" Morning Dragneel-Sensei", she greeted the school nurseGrandeeney, who was among others Natsu's mother. The slender, cool beauty turned to them and sighed annoyed when she saw her son. She had hip-length white hair, blue eyes and her skin was as white as milk. She was an absolute beauty who was usually very gentle, but she was worse than the men in her family and they were all afraid of her. Lucy saw Grandeeney's left eye twitch.

"Lucy, what is my ungrateful brat doing here again," she growled irritatedly. The blonde smiled and swallowed. Then she pointed to the chocolate milk and the woman sighed. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and then snarled. Obviously she was not in a good mood and Lucy wondered if Igneel had talked to her. She did not hope. She liked Grandeeney, but this woman had a way about her that you couldn't refuse. And without saying anything else, Lucy pushed Natsu to one of the beds direction.

"Sleep for a while ... I'll come back to sports and wake you up," she said, smiled and closed the curtains so that he had his privacy. Then she smiled at his mother, who returned that smile only slightly and she made her way out of the room. Her heart was beating up to her neck and when she closed the door of the infirmary behind her again, she sighed in relief. Good, that was done.

"Have you talked to her?" she asked and pushed the white curtain aside again and looked down on her mistaken son. Her eyes were as cold as ice. Natsu slurped out the rest of the chocolate milk and crushed the drink pack. He sighed annoyed and let himself fall backwards.

"I tried ... but she said we only slept and did nothing", whispered into the silence of the room. You could hear that he wasn't enthusiastic and for a moment a face was pulled out. He didn't want to hurt her and had come to terms with it, had made friends with the thought that they could have a relationship. He loved Lucy, without question, but ... so far he had never perceived her as a girl. Never seen her as a woman. She had always been just Lucy. Burning redness spread to his cheeks and he heard his mother's annoyed sigh.

"Like your father", she growled and sat down beside him on the bed. He laughed quietly. For everyone else it always seemed as if his mother didn't like him, but he knew that she loved him. Otherwise she would have strangled him long ago.

"Did you at least use contraception?" she asked then and her voice was lurking. Natsu swallowed easily and bit her lower lip. He only remembered the party vaguely. It had clearly been too much alcohol. But what he definitely knew was that they had been too drunk for contraception. Although he wasn't sure if they had actually had sex. Lucy had denied it and actually she had never lied to him.

"No ... but ... Lucy takes the pill as far as I know," he said and his mother laughed slightly.

"That means nothing at all, with the devil's semen of this family," she growled and Natsu straightened up jerkily and stared at his mother with big eyes.

"What ... "

"Your father and I weren't married when I got pregnant with Cobra, you idiot. We even used contraception. But look at your family. Igneel's sperm obviously made it through the condom," she growled and Natsu turned flaming red. That was obviously unpleasant for him.

"Kaa-chan", he said and rubbed his nose, looked tense and embarrassed to the side. His mother snorted, then she punched the edge of her hand on his head. Pain twitched through his skull and he rubbed his head.

"You are all idiots. I should have you all reversibly sterilized. And I think Wendy and Juvia will get a chastity belt soon," she said and nodded slightly. Natsu swallowed and shook his head.

"I swear I'll never do it again, okay?" he crawled a bit towards the wall. His mother growled irritably.

"Cobra got another girl pregnant. Some slut like that. Kinana or whatever her name is. And Juvia? She keeps running after this Fullbuster boy. If they weren't in the bed yet, I don't know either. I don't want to be a grandmother yet, all right? You're all underage and the place is already full of idiots. Idiots with brats on their necks would be even worse," she hissed and Natsu swallowed again. He nodded and goose bumps had spread all over his body.

"You will talk to her, all right? If necessary get on her nerves!"

"But ... Mom!"

"Don't come with me But Mom," Grandeeney hissed and rose jerkily. Natsu flinched and nodded slightly.

"But if she doesn't remember and I'm just not sure if we really had sex or not! Normal ... Lucy is quite drinkable and ... ", he replied, chewed on his lower lip and stopped, "she said she was still a virgin. She never lies to me, Kaa-chan. After all, she has no reason to. And ... if she does then ... "

Grandeeney sighed and felt a headache and massaged her temples. She loved her children, her family and even her stupid husband. But sometimes she just wanted to lock the whole damn gang up or sink them in the next river. And Natsu was so damn careless that it already hurt. Her eyes were on her son again. But that Lucy and her son hadn't slept together surprised her. They had heard the two loud and clear. Hadn't been to be overheard either. Did Lucy lie? And if so, why? Grandeeney had known the blonde girl for a long time. She knew exactly that she had no reason to lie to Natsu.

"When she arrives and tells you that she is pregnant, you will have your ass in your pants and take care of her, right?", she asked and he nodded violently. Now he might have promised her that, but did he know what it all meant? He would have to do everything for Lucy. And if that meant he had to buy ice cream or chocolate in the middle of the night, then so it was. She remembered how she was almost freaked out every time she was pregnant. Except for the fact, that Lucy had lied to him then. But ... what if Lucy did it out of fear? She knew how much Lucy loved her Natsu. She had seen it in her eyes. And the fact that Lucy went to this school because of Natsu was obvious. That her son hadn't made it yet, while all the others were betting on when the two came together, was a real phenomenon anyway. She knew Natsu wasn't an innocent lamb. It wasn't anyone in this stupid pile. Grandeeney sighed again and dropped onto the swivel chair, then pulled out her papers and started working.

[theolddarkmachine]

Must Love Cats- Chapter 8

Levy hadn’t planned on being a pet sitter when she’d moved into the city. She also hadn’t planned on pet sitting for a sex god either, but here she was.

AKA the one where Levy is a pet sitter, Gajeel is her client, and Lily is the glue that binds them together.

The writer’s block on this was REAL you guys. Sorry there ended up being a week delay, like I said I didn’t want to give you guys a pile of poop just for the sake of getting it out on time. Y’ALL DESERVE GOOD THINGS AND I WON’T GIVE YOU POOP JUST BECAUSE. Sooooo, hopefully you don’t think this is poop lol This chapter was a bitch because I wasn’t happy with what originally happened, then I wasn’t happy with what I’d come up with instead, then I got writer’s block, then I still didn’t like the direction it was going. And then when I woke up this morning i was like AHA THAT’S WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN so, there ya go lol As always, thank you so so much for reading! I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

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There was only supposed to be five days until he came home. Why did this have to happen now? Gajeel tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of his plane seat as he bore holes into the window with his glare. When he'd finally gotten his phone charged enough to turn it on, he was stunned to see so many missed calls and texts, the majority in which had been from Levy. He'd never felt anything like the pit that had formed in his stomach when he saw her name so many times. It wasn't that he didn't think she'd text him while his phone was dead, but he knew she'd only call if something had gone wrong. Without even checking any of the messages, he had called her back only to be met with the news that Lily was sick and that they were both at the vet. It hasn't taken him long to find a last minute flight back home, but even the few hours it had taken to get into the flight were enough to drive him crazy.

Things had been going so well, and he was going to be home in five days, and he was going to ask Levy out. Why did this have to happen now? Lily was going to be fine, that he was sure of. Lisanna was an excellent vet and he knew it would be fine, but Levy's terrified voice continued to echo through his mind. It wasn't her fault, and yet he could tell just by how she'd sounded that she thought it was. Gajeel's fist closed tightly around the armrest as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He needed to get home.

***

Levy wasn't even sure how long she'd been at the vet anymore. While she knew it had to only have been hours, it felt like days. The kindly receptionist had informed her it was okay if she wanted to step out and maybe get something to eat, but Levy just couldn’t bring herself to leave. She knew Lily couldn’t possibly know if she was there or not, but it didn’t feel right leaving him alone. At least that’s what she told herself. Really she just couldn’t bring herself to go back to Gajeel’s apartment just yet. Mirajane shot her a worried look when she passed on the opportunity to go, but didn’t say a word as she returned to her desk. With a sigh, Levy dropped her head into her hands, and closed her eyes to the outside world. She shouldn’t have been so preoccupied with him and paid more attention to Lily. That was her job for fucks sake, she should have caught that something was up, and now he was in surgery and Gajeel was on the first flight home probably worried out of his mind and hating her for letting something happen to him. What must he have thought of her when she’d told him? That she was completely irresponsible and shouldn’t have this job most likely.

What an idiot she was, letting herself become so preoccupied with an owner that she wasn’t able to properly care for their pet. She had known this was a bad idea, and yet, she just couldn’t stop herself. Her phone started to vibrate on her lap, alerting her to a phone call. It wasn’t Gajeel, that she knew, and yet a shock of panic still rocked through her body before she looked at the screen and saw Lucy’s name. Quickly standing from her seat and heading towards the exit to take the call outside, she answered it.

“Levy!” Lucy’s voice shouted into the phone before she could say anything first. “Are you okay? How’s the cat?” Levy had almost forgotten that she’d texted Lucy about everything when she hadn’t been able to get a hold of Gajeel and first arrived at the vet.

“H-he’s going to be fine,” she stuttered, unaware up until that moment that she’d started crying. “They said the surgery went fine, but they want to keep him overnight just to be sure.” A small, wet hiccup escaped her lips. Lucy let out a relieved sigh on the other end.

“That’s good,” her friend replied. “But how are you?” The emphasis on the word only let Levy know that Lucy was more than aware of the inner turmoil she was suffering about the whole situation.

“I’m,” Levy started before she paused. How was she? Not good, that was for certain. Far from it actually. If she was being honest, she was exhausted and her spirit felt so low. Her worst nightmare had been a situation in which a pet ended up at a vet on her watch, and it happened to happen with Gajeel, who she had allowed her feelings to grow out of control for. It left her with a hollow feeling in her chest, and apparently, it was making her cry.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. Lucy would pick up on the lie, but at this point Levy didn’t care. She didn’t want anyone to tell her it wasn’t her fault, or give her a pep talk. This was something she would deal with on her own. The beat of silence between the two of them stretched as Lucy considered if she would pursue the lie or not.

“That’s good,” Lucy replied, letting the lie slide. For now anyway, Levy was sure she’d say something later. “Are you going to be home soon?”

“No,” Levy sighed as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand, spreading the tears around her eyes. She was thankful she wasn’t wearing any makeup. “Gajeel asked me to meet him at his apartment tonight since he’s headed home right now because of this.” All Lucy responded with was an affirmative hum.

“Just don’t beat yourself up about this, Lev,” her friend said suddenly. “This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that can be avoided, so don’t shoulder too much of the blame, okay?” This caused even more tears to slip down her face. A part of her knew this already, and yet she still couldn’t shake the feeling of responsibility.

“Yeah, alright,” she mumbled, sniffling back some of the tears.

“I gotta go though, I only stepped out long enough to give you a call. I’m sure Natsu has destroyed the store already in that amount of time. Call me for anything though, okay? You have the store’s number too.” Lucy’s voice was thick with worry for her friend. Great, now she’d caused someone else emotional pain too.

“Will do, Luce,” was all Levy said before she hung up the line. The bluenette shoved her phone into her pocket and took a few breaths of fresh air, allowing it to clear her mind as she mopped up her tears with her hands. It was time to head back to the apartment. Gajeel wouldn’t be home for a couple more hours, at least according to the itinerary he’d sent her before hopping on his plane, but there was still a matter of the mess that had been left at the apartment when she’d left. With one last steadying breath, she headed back to the apartment and what was most likely the end of whatever it is that her and Gajeel had been doing.

***

After cleaning up all the spots of vomit, taking out the trash and cleaning and changing the bedding, Levy was ready to sleep for days. She hadn’t realized how late it had gotten, and especially hadn’t realized just how tired she was feeling until she let herself fall onto Gajeel’s couch. The furniture wrapped her into a soft, warm hug of cushioning. The worry she’d felt the entire day was finally ebbing away as she accepted the fact that most likely Gajeel would let her office know he never wanted her watching Lily again and that would be the end of that. They’d had a good run, but all good things come to an end, right? It just wasn’t meant to be, she told herself as she yawned. Stretching out slightly, Levy propped her arm on the arm rest of the couch, using it as a makeshift pillow as she rested her head on it. Gajeel should be home any minute now. The thought ran through her mind over and over as she felt her eyes slowly start to drift shut. Gajeel should be home any minute now...

***

That damn flight had taken far longer than necessary, Gajeel thought angrily to himself as he hauled his luggage into the elevator of his building. He wasn’t actually sure if it had taken any longer than he’d been told, but it sure as hell felt like it. By the end of the flight, he’d been a bundle of nerves worrying about Levy and Lily. When he’d hopped off the plane, he’d received the text from her saying that Lily was going to be okay and that they were keeping him overnight but that he should be able to come home in the morning, but it hadn’t said anything about how the little bluenette was feeling, which only caused him to worry more. If there was anything he’d learned about her in the short time they’d been talking, it was that she took her job seriously, and shouldered a lot more of the blame of things than she needed to. Lily would have gotten sick no matter what, that was the nature of what happened. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Levy would think it was all her fault and he wanted nothing more than to assure her that she was wrong. The elevator finally dinged as it reached his floor, and he stepped out before the doors could fully open. Unlocking the door, he threw it open, Levy’s name stopping in his throat when he saw her on his couch.

Levy had her head resting on her arm on the arm rest, with her legs tucked underneath her, as she breathed slowly and evenly in what seemed like a very deep sleep. Her cornflower locks fell partially across her face and down her shoulder, and her mouth was open slightly as she breathed. Gajeel’s heart skipped a beat as she took her in, afraid to wake her, but also afraid of what the sight of her in such a peaceful state in his living room as doing to his heart. While he really wanted to speak with her, he could only imagine how hard of a day she’d had, so without a word he closed his door and left his luggage by it. Walking overly quietly, he gently lifted her from her sleeping position on the couch, careful not to jostle her too much. As he lifted her from where she was, he paused for a moment as she squirmed before she nestled her face into his chest and sighed deeply. The room was suddenly very hot and he swallowed back the feeling that had suddenly started to burn within him. With as much care as possible, he walked towards his room, and set her gently in his bed, covering her with his comforter. She was still sleeping heavily as she settled herself further into the covers and clutched the edge of the pillow before sighing what sounded suspiciously like his name. (Not that he was going to dwell on that or anything. It did not make his heart fall into the pit of his stomach for a moment.) He carefully brushed a lock of hair from her face before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

He would make sure she didn’t blame herself for anything in the morning. For now, he would let her sleep.

***

Light was pouring across Levy’s face, not only making her inexplicably hot, but also waking her from what may have been the best sleep of her entire life. Which, was weird, given her side of the room didn’t have the window. Suddenly the entirety of the day beforehand flashed across her mind’s eye and ending with the last thing she remembered: Falling asleep on Gajeel’s couch. It was only supposed to be a moment to let her tired eyes rest, but she must have slept for much longer. Sitting up quickly, her eyes darted around the room, only disorienting her further as she didn’t quite recognize her surroundings. This wasn’t his living room either.

“What the hell?” She muttered under her breath before it hit her that she was in Gajeel’s room, and tucked into his bed. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she quietly padded to the door and opened it. Low snores greeted her as she slunk into the living room to find Lily’s owner sprawled across his couch, one leg hanging off the side and one arm thrown over his eyes. If the guilt of the day before hadn’t awakened in full force, she’d have found the moment to be endearing. She may have even noticed the slice of stomach that peeked out from the hem of his shirt that had been raised as he slept. Her veins were coursing with guilt though, and she just couldn’t bring herself to wake him to speak with him about what had happened. It was cowardly, and she knew it, but she just couldn’t do it. As silently as she could, she walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the magnetized notepad that hung on the fridge. Scrawling out an apology and a recap of what the doctor had told her, she hung it back on the fridge. Grabbing her purse and shoes that were by the door, she opened it quietly and stepped out, turning back to take in Gajeel one last time.

“Goodbye, Gajeel,” she whispered under her breath before she closed the door behind her.

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[timelessduo]

Chapter Six: Try

((Hey all! Here is a new chapter of We Might Fall! We are lucky to have our new co-writer Chloe. We also have a new editor, @aworldwithcolor! 

The fanfiction will be on all of the original platforms EXCEPT AO3, because we are missing some account information. Also, chapter 7 will be announced soon! So, without further ado: CHAPTER 6!))

The next morning everything was a blur.

Wyatt groaned slightly and tried to sit up, but felt something heavy on his chest. He looked down to see a blob of curly brown hair under his chin. He squinted, noticing it was Lucy.  Dazed with sleep, a content smile painted itself on his lips.

They had somehow migrated to a laying position on the couch, Lucy curled up along his body. Her face was tucked in his neck. He couldn’t help but stare at her, she was beautiful.  Wyatt was content to just lay there and watch Lucy in complete amazement, before he felt her start twitching about restlessly, realizing it was Lucy who  had awoken him.

Her whole body contorted as she started making concerning noises. Whimpers slipped past shaking lips, her eyebrows scrunched as she violently twisted. Wyatt knew what was happening. The same thing happened to him after the war in Afghanistan. She was having a nightmare.

Wyatt quickly sat up and shook her slightly as her eyes popped open, tears flowing freely. Her eyes remained dazed and glanced around, like she was still in the dream. He remembered what Jessica had done for him when he woke from his own nightmares.

He sat up to meet her, pulling her head to his chest. “It's okay.” He rocked her like a child, back and forth. “I've got you. You're safe. It's okay.” He whispered into her ear as he bent his head over hers.

Wyatt felt her shiver and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around them. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be okay. You’re here.” He held her as close and as tight to him as he possibly could. He felt her heartbeat, her breath, her tears. Wyatt lazily ran a hand up and down her frightened back until her body finally relaxed. “You’re not drowning Luce..”

This time he watched her brown eyes turn to meet his own blue ones. Behind the tears, he saw the small woman who flew over a bridge, terrified of death. She was clinging to him, her arms around his waist and her small hands clutching the back of his shirt like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. Her face was buried deep into his neck, tears now running down and hitting his gray shirt. She felt like she couldn’t get closer to him as she pulled her body to his, feeling like it was the only thing keeping her from completely falling apart. Lucy tucked herself further into his warm body. She sat there crying, listening to the steady beat of his heart, counting each beat like it was his last, and listening to his kind words as they pulled her from her panic attack.

Lucy didn’t realize how long she was staring, and it probably would have been considered weird if Wyatt wasn’t staring back, calming her down with one look. She also didn’t realize that one of his hands had moved from her back to her face, cradling her jaw, his callused thumb stroking it every now and again.

Once she finally had her senses together, she sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Thank you.” she murmured, “you are always saving me Wyatt Logan.”

Wyatt gave her a kind grin. “It’s my job, ma’am.”

Lucy chuckled, taking in his scent. It was musky, masculine, but not overwhelming. It was just… Wyatt. She took a moment to really enjoy this moment, before breaking away and finally moving off the couch, only to step on cold pizza from the night before. She squealed as pizza sauce got between her toes, making Wyatt laugh loudly. “We fell asleep with pizza last night.”

“That is absolutely disgusting Wyatt Logan! Why didn’t you pick it up when you woke up?”

Wyatt chuckled, “I was preoccupied and I didn’t notice it.”

Lucy’s face suddenly dropped, “I’m so sorry about that. It was just so bad and I couldn’t--”

Wyatt stood up and quickly grabbed her hand. “Stop. It’s okay, I used to have nightmares all the time, and they are horrifying. You don’t have to pretend with me Luce.”

She looked at him, seeing that he was completely serious, and sat back down next to him. “I wanna learn how to fight.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose, “Really? You want to learn how to fight?”

Lucy nodded before taking a deep breath, “My nightmare started off with not being able to fend off Emma’s men. There were so many and I was so weak, and I felt like I was drowning all over again-” She breathed. In. Out.

Wyatt patiently waited for her to continue.

“-Anyway, I couldn’t defend myself. You’re awesome at your job Wyatt, but you can’t protect me all the time. There are going to be times where I have to fight, so I need to learn.”

Wyatt was quiet for a minute, just looking at her. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Lucy looked up, “Really?”

Wyatt nodded, “You’re right. As much as I want too, I can’t protect you all the time, so you do need to learn.” he muttered softly, picking up the pizza from the ground. “I know a place near here. I could take you and we could spend the whole day there, if you want, and maybe if you’re lucky enough, I’ll buy you another pizza.” He grinned playfully as Lucy chuckled.

“Sounds good.”

Wyatt nodded, “Well then, let’s change and get going.”

Wyatt changed into a black muscle tank and gray sweatpants. He looked very comfortable and very attractive. He urged Lucy to dress comfortably for their sparring session. So, of course, she chose a classic tee shirt that was a little too big for her and a pair of sweats that Amy used to call “her professional sweatpants, which were classy yet comfortable.”

Lucy smiled at the thought of Amy. She often thought about what she would think of all this, especially the new people in her life. In her head she could just hear Amy saying . “Jump on that! A loyal solider who also looks like a freaking model is hard to find! Get with him before I do.”

Suddenly Wyatt poked his head through the door, “Ready?” Lucy nodded and followed him out and down the stairs.

They got in Wyatt’s truck and he started the car.

“So, when are you going to let me drive this?” Lucy asked grinning. Wyatt turned his head, smiling.

“Do you know how to drive a stick?”

Lucy blushed, “No, but I’m a fast learner.”

Wyatt chuckled, “If you learn how to drive a stick well, then you can drive Shelby.”

Lucy broke out laughing, “You call your truck Shelby?”

Wyatt nodded as they turned down the street. “Hell yeah, and she’s tough too.”

Lucy laughed more, making Wyatt keep a permanent grin on his face, relaxing against the wheel as he pulled into an empty parking lot with quiet building. “Alright, it might look abandoned, but it’s actually a training ground for the military, well, it was. I actually used to be a trainer here.”  

Lucy listened intently, she wished she knew Wyatt before all the craziness happened; who he was before his wife died.

“Well, let’s do this then.”

Wyatt grinned and parked the car, Lucy following closely after him into the building.

They walked through the door and Wyatt was attacked with a hug from another man.

“Wyatt Logan! I haven’t seen you in forever. How are you?” The man asked when he pulled away. He looked a little younger than them, with bright blonde buzz cut  and chocolate brown eyes.

“Hey Drake, I didn’t even know you were still here.” Wyatt said grinning, “But I’m good. Really good.”

Drake grinned, “I see.” He looked at Lucy up and down, “So...how do you guys know each other?” He winked.

“We work together. She’s a colleague of mine.”

“Colleague huh?”

“We’re not together.” Wyatt said plainly, cutting off Drake’s assumption.

There was an awkward pause before Wyatt coughed. “Anyway Lucy, this is Tyler Drake. We were in military training together, and I helped trained him here for a bit. Drake, this is Lucy Preston, probably the smartest person you’ll ever meet.”

Lucy blushed. He was pretty good at making her face turn red.

Drake shook her hand, “Nice to meet you. You must be pretty great if Wyatt Logan is complimenting you.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Drake is dramatic, I compliment plenty of people. Anyway, I’m going to be training her.”

Drake scrunched his blonde eyebrows. “Is she part of your team for the secret mission that you're on?”

Wyatt nodded, “Yeah.” He gave Lucy another flashing smile. “You ready?’

She nodded without hesitation. Drake grinned, “Well, it was great to see you Wyatt, and nice to meet you Lucy. Wyatt’s a great trainer , so you’ll be in great hands.”

With that the younger man walked away, and Wyatt gave his full attention to Lucy. “Let’s do this.”

They walked down to a private room and Wyatt opened the door. There was boxing gloves and bags set up.

“Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and relax your body.”

Lucy did as he said and then looked up at him.

“Throw a punch at me.” He said, moving to stand in front of her.

Lucy’s eyes widened. ‘What? No.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes, “Lucy, I’ve handled harder punches. I can take yours.”

Lucy stared at him for a minute, before pulling her fist back and punching him in the chest. Of course Wyatt didn’t move, or even showed that it hurt him.

“Okay, well first things first. The way you’re making your fist is wrong.” Wyatt took her hand, which of course sent chills up her body, and unfolded it, repositioning her thumb to make a proper fist. Now her thumb was on the outside. “Always make sure that your thumb isn’t trapped in your fist, you could break it like that.”

“Just make sure your thumb stays on your ring finger when you hit.”  Lucy looked down at her hand. The new position was weird, but she could understand why it worked.

Wyatt worked with Lucy by the punching bag, making sure she always had the correct form and managed to put some power behind her punches. When he saw her starting to flag, Wyatt decide to move on to some self defence maneuvers.

“Let’s move on to something else” said Wyatt after what felt like Lucy’s hundredth punch.

“Thank god, my arms were starting to feel numb.” She panted, and flashed him a tiny smile.

Wyatt smirked, “That means it’s working. You’re gaining some muscle in those tiny arms.”

Lucy mock glared at him, “I prefer the term fragile.”

“Whatever you want to call it.” Wyatt laughed as he moved to stand behind her. “Next is self defense, very important.”

“Isn’t everything we’re doing important?” Lucy questioned. She could feel Wyatt’s breath on her neck.

“Well, yes, but punching isn’t going to do you any good if they have you in a choke hold.” He murmured.

Very carefully, Wyatt wrapped an arm around Lucy’s neck, feeling her tense up. He tightened his hold just enough to where she couldn’t get out of it. His other hand made a fist at her lower back, his knuckles softly digging into her back and he pulled into his chest.

“The first thing to remember is not to panic” he whispered into her ear. “The next thing to remember is to use both your hands to pull his hand away from your neck, relieving the pressure and allowing you to breath, giving you survival space.”

“The next thing you need to do is to drop your weight and grab my free arm. Then pull it underneath your arm, which traps it.”  Showing Lucy exactly what he meant, and pulled her in even closer.

Every inch of them was touching each other, no space. Lucy felt herself getting lost in the feel of him, her breaths wavering. Did he always smell this nice?

“Next, aim your fist to the groin, if you get a free hand. The first thing you do is slam your arm to the weak area.” He muttered, his voice snapping her out of her spell.

He took her free arm and aimed it at his inner thigh, “It will hit around here. By then you only have a split second to turn yourself around, use your elbows, let them dig into anything they can, and then run for your life.”

Letting Lucy go, Wyatt turned to face her. He looked at her intensely with his ice blue eyes. “Hopefully you won’t have to ever use what I’m teaching you, as I will always protect you. But if you do, and get away, don’t stop running until you find me.”

Lucy found herself once again lost in Wyatt’s hypnotic gaze. She forgot what they were doing and where they were. She felt, in that moment, so safe and protected.

It was the loud bang of the door that broke their intense gaze. Realising that they were just staring at each caused both of their faces to turn a light shade of pink. Wyatt coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking up to see Drake smirking. “Am I interrupting?”

“No...we’re just practising some self defence techniques” replied Wyatt. “Ok Luce, let’s go through it again.”

All Lucy could do was nod her head, coughing slightly. “Can I get a drink first?”

Wyatt nodded, handing her his water bottle. While Lucy drank some water, Wyatt turned to Drake to ask about the guys from their unit as Drake was Wyatt replacement after he left for Mason Industries.

After awhile they somehow got onto the topic of the past, where Drake took great delight in bringing up the next topic to Lucy. “Did Wyatt ever tell you what his nickname was?”

Lucy looked at Wyatt, smiling. “Nope.”

“Drake, please-” Wyatt started.

“It’s Firestone.”

Lucy looked at him confused, “uh, why?”

With his face turning red, Wyatt looked away in embarrassment.

“Well, he got his name from a good old homemade Texas whiskey that good ol’ soldier boy Wyatt here won at the local county fair. You see, he entered this drinking competition with some buddies from the Air Force. He thought he could out drink them, but in the end he was the only one that came out holding a toilet. He was sick for days. Both Jess and our CO were livid. But he won a year's supply of Firestone whiskey that a lovely little old lady made in her barn.”

“After that, he was always known as Firestone.” laughed Drake, taking absolute pleasure in seeing Wyatt red in the face and Lucy giggling.

Lucy couldn’t stop giggling from hearing how Wyatt got his nickname Firestone. At one point, she had to hold on to Wyatt because she was doubled over from laughing so hard.

“Well, what can I say? Those Air Force boys know how to drink. I’m just glad I could do us proud and out drink them, even though I spent a day in the brig with a hangover after our CO found out why I couldn’t go on that exercise.” Wyatt mumbled whilst Drake slapped him on the back in agreement.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again Wyatt. Don’t be a stranger. Whenever you’re free, let’s go for a beer soon with the rest of the guys.” Drake waved on his way to the door.

Once the door shut behind him, Wyatt turned to Lucy to see that she had the biggest smile on her face. He was glad that Drake’s story had cheered her up. It had been so long since he had heard her laugh or even smile. She was beautiful when she smiled. He definitely had to get her to do it more often.

“Now that Drake has left, do you want to go and get some lunch after we’ve changed?” asked Wyatt, hoping he could avoid any questions about that embarrassing night at the fair.

Throwing Wyatt a knowing look, Lucy smirked. “Yeah, sure.” She replied as she made her way to the changing rooms. “I’ll meet you by the car as soon as I’m done.”

Wyatt nodded slightly, chuckling to himself as he exited the room and headed to the changing room, and then out to the car. Their training session went better than he expected, and he got to see something light up in Lucy that he hadn’t seen in a while: her grit, her strength and her determination. He saw that same fierce look in her eyes as she practised the self defence steps over and over again that he saw when she was telling them that they had to protect history.

“Maybe I should just let Drake tell more embarrassing stories about me.” He muttered to himself as he reached the car, unlocking it before climbing in the driver’s seat and turning on the ignition. He was glad when he felt the wind from the air conditioner hit him.

Before he knew it, Lucy was in the car, and they were on their way to the restaurant for lunch.

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After being seated at their table, Wyatt happened to glance up from his menu to see a Lucy frowning down at her menu.

“What’s wrong?”

Startled, Lucy looked up. “Nothing.” She replied and went back to looking down at her menu.

Putting his menu to the side, Wyatt leaned forward and whispered “No, it’s not nothing. I know that look. Something’s bothering you. What is it? Maybe I can help”.

Sighing Lucy finally looked “I’m just thinking about my living situation, or should I say our living situation”.

“What about it?” replied Wyatt.

“Well, I can’t live with you forever Wyatt. I need my own place and I can’t go back to my mother’s house now that we know she’s Rittenhouse.” Lucy frowned.

“You know you can stay with me as long as you like. In fact, I would definitely prefer it. That way, I’ll know you’re safe. Look, things are hectic right now with Emma and your mother turning out to be Rittenhouse. They still have the mothership and we are now chasing Emma through history, trying to stop her from completely rewriting history in Rittenhouse’s favour. We’ve been on the go non-stop. If this was an ideal situation we would have time to digest these new relations, find out what Rittenhouse’s plans are, and find you a new place to live.”

Leaning back, Wyatt continued to speak softly. “But we don’t. We can only deal with the fallout and control what we can. Where you live is definitely something we can control. You need to have a safe place to sleep and decompress, otherwise you’ll burn out and I need you safe. The best place right now is with me.”

Lucy looked into Wyatt’s eyes, he was serious, he didn’t want her to leave. She sighed softly. “Okay, but only for a little while longer. I can’t keep expecting you to always catch me when I fall. As soon as it’s safe, I’m going to find an apartment.”

Wyatt started protesting, but Lucy cut him off. “If you want, I’ll make sure it’s close to you. That way you can come and rescue me.” She sent him a small smirk, making Wyatt grin. There was a slight blush over his face, then a chuckle.

With that the waitress stopped by their table, eyeing Wyatt up and down briefly, giving him a once over. She obviously found him attractive. She was a young woman, around her early twenties, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else than at work.

“Welcome to Joan’s. I’ll be your waitress. My name is Sarah.” She said as she winked at Wyatt. “What can I get you? Any drinks?”

Lucy coughed slightly, reminding the waitress that there were two people there. “Yes, I’ll have a water please.”

Sarah glanced at Lucy, writing down her order on the notepad, then turned back to Wyatt. “And you sir?” She gave him a flirty smile, not that Wyatt seemed to care much. “I’ll have the same thing please.”

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After they got their food and dealt with the never ending flirting from Sarah, Wyatt paid their bill and started to get up to leave. But, of course, not before the waitress slipped her number on Wyatt’s check.

“Call me sometime handsome. ;)”

Once they exited the restaurant, Lucy rolled her eyes. ‘Well, aren’t you just the ladies man?” she said sarcastically.

Lucy couldn’t help that deep inside of her, she was a little irked. Of course that went away when Wyatt suddenly threw the check away in the trash.

‘Why’d you do that?” Lucy asked, confused. The girl seemed like Wyatt’s type: bubbly, blonde, funny.

Wyatt glanced over at her and simply stated “I don’t have time for dating.” And with that, he unlocked the car and got in. Before Lucy knew it, they were on their way home.

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

It was past midnight when the call came in for them to get to Mason Industries. Emma had taken the mothership out again.

Of course Christopher called Wyatt, knowing that they would be together. Wyatt stormed into Lucy’s room, waking her up quickly and telling her to hurry up and get dressed. They had to go save the past again.