#and we didn’t get to see it but whatever Cas’s reaction after the fact must have been

[musclesandhammering]

Completely out of the blue, but the line “Goodbye stranger, it’s been nice. Hope you find your paradise.” + the megstiel death scene has me weeping.

[orionsangel86]

I’ve been thinking a LOT this morning about this comparison that keeps getting drawn between what meta writers are saying now about 15x20 and Destiel and the JohnLock Conspiracy(TM) and aside from just linking you all back to THIS POST by @winchestersingerautorepair which explains it all perfectly anyway, I do feel the need to stress some very clear and very glaringly different points that basically prove outright that this situation is Not That.

1. We already have confirmed Canon Destiel. The romantic feelings are confirmed in text. Destiel is canon. Arguably currently textually unrequited canon (yeah right) but it IS canon. It’s also Word of God canon. Basically, where we currently are is actually more canon than even Aziraphale and Crowley ever were. You can NOT say the same for JohnLock.

2. The JohnLock Conspiracy was all about how the actual final episode of the show was a “fake” bad finale, and how they would release a secret finale which would fix everything and make JohnLock canon a few weeks later. There was zero actual evidence of this anywhere. (Sorry JohnLock shippers, I feel for you I really do, but I just couldn’t ever see any evidence that the secret good finale was ever gonna happen.)

In contrast, we haven’t seen the Supernatural finale yet. It actually is next week. This is FACT. 15x20 is not a figment of Destiel shippers imaginations. We really do have one episode left which hopefully will give us everything we wish for.

3. All of this comparison has come out of meta writers saying 15x19 was written like a finale. We are calling it a finale and that’s why for some reason we are being mocked and compared to the JohnLock conspiracy... but... did those people who mock us not watch 15x19?!? (or at least get a plot summary and watch the final 10 minutes like me).

I can’t speak for my own opinion on the episode being bad, as I haven’t watched it. I have seen reactions both saying it was bad, and others saying it was good, or funny, or “so bad it’s good” but like, whatever. The point is, it WAS a finale. It was the episode that wrapped up the mytharc plot, had a callback montage to brother best moments and had them driving off into the sunset together now they are finally free. Like??? Call it whatever you want, but that was a finale.

Which is WHHHYYYY its SO WEIRD that there is still one episode left. What could POSSIBLY BE OUTSTANDING?

4. So yes. the FACTS are that UNLIKE Sherlock, Supernatural DOES have two finales. This isn’t some conspiracy. It’s a fact. We can joke that 15x19 was the “bronly” finale, but however you wanna see it, that was a finale. 15x20 can only be the long epilogue. The episode that wraps up the entire show. The episode JohnLock shippers dreamed about.

I really don’t mean to rub salt in the wound either. I don’t wanna insult anyone who believed in the conspiracy at the time, because hope is a funny thing that can have devastating effects - believe me, I know. But mocking us and trying to say the two are the same thing is just... wrong.

We don’t know how 15x20 will play out. But we do know the following FACTS:

Chuck is defeated. The big bad is gone.

There are no raised stakes anymore

the brothers are free (textually they confirmed this)

Jack as the new God, has fulfilled Castiel’s prophecy that he would bring about peace and balance to the universe. It’s done.

There is no story left concerning any of these big plot points.

BUT

Castiel is still in the Empty

Sam didn’t reunite with Eileen

Dean hasn’t said a damn thing about Castiel’s textually explicity confession of homosexual love for him

These are literally the ONLY things left to wrap up. There is NO WAY that the finale is going to be just a brothers road trip, growing old together, meeting random women, having kids and saying “Castiel Adam Jack Winchester you are named after the bravest men I know” kind of ending! It would be UNTHINKABLE for Dabb to do that.

I am seriously rubbing my temples on this whole thing because there are still so many naysayers that are pissing me off - particularly certain wannabe SPN writer BBFs who steal meta from Tumblr and pawn it off as their own “journalism” spewing crap all over Twitter about the matter because they have super secret insider knowledge from people who worked on the show that confirmed Misha isn’t back.

Oh Misha’s not back you say? Fuck you. Seriously. Fuck you. Everyone knows he went back to filming. He confirmed it himself over and over again until the CW finally panicked and told him to shut his damn mouth and change his story. These are the same people who have been feeding rumours into fandom for years to misdirect us. The same people who probably convinced KNOWN DESTIEL SHIPPER and SPN writer Meghan Fiztmartin to laugh at, deny, and mock Destiel shippers on Twitter literally only a few weeks before IT WENT CANON. They are doing everything in their power to put us off the scent. They don’t want us to know Cas is back because the ENTIRE ENDING RESTS ON CAS COMING BACK AND IF WE ALL KNEW IT WOULD BE SPOILED. DESTIEL IS THE ENDGAME THEY DON’T WANT SPOILED.

This is not anything like the JohnLock conspiracy because we have actual facts to back it up. We have all the evidence, we have all the logic, the narrative is BEGGING for the love story to be wrapped up. Dean MUST use his words and tell Castiel he loves him. Even the General Audience at this point can see that. So I beg you, stop mocking us for something you don’t know anything about.

If there is ONE THING you should trust right now. It’s the meta writers. We are the ones who have been telling you for YEARS that Destiel is a thing. That there was writer intent. Hell, we even predicted Jack would become God in the end (like seriously anyone with any understanding of literary analysis could see it was going that way). Mocking us after we have already been validated by canon confirmation of the DeanCas romance is just idiotic at this point.

[cooloddball]

JIB9 (JIBCON 2018) ANALYSIS PART 2

Go read part 1 of jib9 analysis if you haven’t read it already.

Continuing from where we left off...

Misha says no, he doesn’t think that Cas feels like part of the family and Jensen smirks and looks down while Jared smiles

Jensen helps Misha along with his answer 

Jensen defends Sam and Dean after Misha says they don’t show emotion saying things like “I love you so much”

Jens: “There are a few scenes where you know,”

Jared: “Didn’t you see the one with the whole if we die we will do that together too?”

Jens: “Yeah that was emotional”

This is getting serious people. Remember this is season 13 they are talking about.

Jens keeps going on “you know there was embracing, and then there was a lot-I mean…” This whole time Jensen is looking at Misha

Misha is like “All I’m saying…”

And Jensen cuts Misha  off and says, “Did you miss that?”

Look at Jared’s face here though. He’s like are you guys having a lovers’ quarrel? Am I missing something?

Misha tries to talk again but Jensen is adamant, unrelenting to give up on that there was an emotional scene between Dean and Cas. 13x05???  “Were you not there?”

Misha being who he is and not backing down either he says, “NO” rather defiantly. 

Jared’s face here though. He stopped talking and is watching these two lovers go at it. (No, not the sexy kind)

Jensen doesn’t look too thrilled about what Misha said. Jared laughs Jensen is basically done at this point. Look at his face.

Misha continues “That was Castiel”

And Jensen just looks appalled, he raises his eyebrows looks down at his hands [0.43 insert Jensen’s face atm] and since Misha is looking at him and he sees that Jensen is unhappy he adds “I’m very method.”

Jensen goes to say something but stops himself, Jared senses the tension, Misha is still looking at Jensen and Jensen hasn’t looked at Misha since he asked him “were you not there?”

IDK what is going on here but it fees like more than just about Dean and Cas and more like it’s about Jensen and Misha. I mean Jared and Misha are having fun with it and Jensen just seems adamant to prove they care A LOT about Cas which is weird considering the fact that the moment Misha was asked that question Jensen agreed with Jared that they are not as pleased that Cas was back (this was a joke) . So what has changed since then? Only a few seconds have passed.

Jensen presses on, “I mean was Cas there? I know he was there physically but was he there emotionally? Because it doesn’t sound like it.”

The way Misha is holding his microphone he looks scared. Jensen can’t take his eyes off Misha.

Misha says, “see this is what I’m talking about” I think he realizes Jensen is getting too emotional and personal on stage and he decides to guide the conversation to the funny side.

Jensen laughs .

Misha says “ I don’t think he [Cas] lets himself feel worthy or wanted” and Jensen keeps looking at a fixed spot on the floor and I don’t know what’s so interesting there. Jared says “smart” in reference to Misha’s statement and Jensen nods.

Jared tries to make fun but Misha is not having it, he [Misha]  looks at an imaginary watch and says  “That said-uh…that said I think this season he’s felt more part of the team and the family…probably *looks at Jensen* more than ever before” Now I talked about that moment here but I have to reiterate, something is off here tbh. I don’t know what was going on with Jensen but something was definitely off.

I have been thinking about what the causation of Jensen’ s behaviour could be and I have come to a very weird and maybe kind of controversial conclusion, IDK. But  here’s what I think. Maybe Misha finally told Jensen that he didn’t feel like he was part of the family because of the way they treated him and talked shit about him at J2 panels? Like how he pretended to gag when he saw Misha on screen during the jib9 j2 panel the previous day. Or the extreme pranks Jared played on him and Jensen just stood aside? The way some  j2 fans send hate to him and that it gets to him. Maybe he finally opened up. Because if that is the case then,  Jensen blamed himself for making Misha feel like that when he didn’t have any intention to? I hope I’m making sense. Or maybe it could be something else entirely but I feel like since 2017 Jensen had stopped going along with Jared’s attempts to make fun of Misha at their panes. So maybe this was him feeling bad that he ever played a part in that??? Okay my head hurts I have to move on. 

Since that moment Jensen doesn’t look okay, even when Mishalecki are bantering with the next fan, Jensen just seems sad? Sad is not the right word but he seems kind of upset 

So the fan makes a small mistake in what she’s asking and Misha laughs  then Jensen turns to look at him for a brief second, it’s literally for a second and Misha looks at him with his big blue eyes but Jensen looks away rather quickly. I think they can both feel the weight of the previous answer Misha gave simmering beneath the surface but they can’t talk about it atm. 

Now Jared says something rather weird to me, “A man who goes to sleep with an itchy butt wakes up with a smelly hand.”   (I know it’s a saying or whatever but it’s just a strange thing to say or maybe it’s just me) Jensen is nodding along to that but Misha doesn’t look amused. I think it’s an interesting thing to say when two of your best friends who play with each other’s butts are seated on stage with you. I’m not sorry I said that because it had to be said.

For a literal microsecond, Misha looks at Jensen but Jensen is looking at a fixed spot on the floor as has become norm in the last 2 minutes. Mish suppresses a smile because he knows Jensen still feels bad about earlier.

Jared says that’s why he thinks the brother’s and Cas have to die in order for the show to end and Jensen’s face is just stoic. Dude wtf?? 

Jensen joins in the banter and makes a joke about a man who stands on a toilet while high on pot he’s not crazy he’s just high? J2 make another joke about a man going backwards to Bangkok or something. Misha manages to laugh at those jokes.

Jared asks Misha  if he has anything to add and Jensen looks at Misha smiling look at the way he’s looking at Misha. It’s like he wants to stuff him in his pocket and take him home with him.

Jensen is laughing so hard now because Misha says that the only sayings that come to mind are the only ones he doesn’t want to say.

They try to pronounce the German word and it’s hilarious AF.

So Jared makes a joke of a sound that the fan is helping them pronounce and Jensen is just done. Completely done because he looks away and scratches his beard like he wants to be anywhere but there. JFC What is going on? He was happy again.

OMG husbands whispering at each other while Jared is engaged with a fan. Gossipy Jensen. Also I’m glad whatever tension was there after the Cas question is finally gone and they are back on track again.

They are in there own little world because IDK what Misha whispered to Jensen but Jensen is unicorn laughing. Aww J

 “We just said some really bad shit” I like it when Jensen curses. Now I want to know what they said because when Misha whispers it to Jared, he laughs really hard as well. Oh to be a tiny ant crawling around, listening to their whispered secrets. A girl can dream am I right?

7.33 Jared asks the fan what her “that German/Austrian word” was that morning and I am inclined to think whatever the husbands were whispering to each other had something to do with a sex-related orifice because of the way Jensen reacts.

The fan puts Jared in his place. Look at Jensen’s reaction.

He’s like you go girl.

Jensen wants to whisper something to Misha so bad but he stops himself.

Okay so Jensen says he did bicycle touring and he did take part in some of the quests. Is he talking about GISHWES because he never can pronounce that word. LOL.

So Jared interrupts Jensen starts telling his story and Jensen just shuts down just look at his face the entire time Jared is telling it.

Misha and Jared are talking about how it’s so hot on stage and Jensen is just miming to the fans how it’s not hot. I love when he does that. Naughty boy.

Misha moans and he and Jared just rush off to point the fan in their direction while Jensen just stands over the fan on his side of the stage and cools his balls off.

OMG!!!! Misha is doing the mating dance while making fiery eye contact with Jensen and sips from the bottle. Jensen heeds his husband’s call to mate and walks briskly in long manly steps to wards him and he takes the drink off his hand while looking at him like he wants to eat him [it’s called a mating dance for a reason] and inhales the drink whatever it is and it must be really strong because he looks away and says something to Jared. Misha walks away says something to Jared and goes to sit down.  Jensen starts twerking his booty. Misha your man wants to mate on stage do something. Anyway Jensen pours the drink that Misha had sipped directly from the bottle in a shot glass  and does the rck on sign and sips it. The entire time Mishalecki are just looking at Nesnej and laughing not understanding what is going on.

Jared sniffs the drink and says “poker face” and Jensen says “thanks Lady Gaga” IDK if this was a snide comment or just banter but now we know Jensen listens to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry (re: jib8).

This part is really funny when the fan thanks Misha for sending a recovery message to her friend but Misha says that  he had no choice but to do it because the fan just held out the phone to Misha and Misha was like “oooh, heeey”

I think Jared asks Misha what happened and Misha explains because Jared folds over laughing.

Jared starts talking before Jensen can answer the question and again Jensen doesn’t look too amused. This guy keeps stealing his thunder.

Jensen manages a smile when he hears that Misha did a German accent 

Misha asks Jensen if he wants some tips on accents and Jensen smiles and says no. Ouch. Sorry Mish, your man doesn’t want your help. He’d rather wing it.

Misha is not backing down and compliments Jensen by listing all the accents that Jensen can do. We love a supportive husband. Hype your man Mish.

Jensen says that he speaks French and he has a little have a  tête-à-tête in français. I find it funny how Misha pretends not to know Jensen speaks French yet he just listed all the accents Jensen can do. Sure Jan.  And after the French interaction which Misha adds a flair of a French accent when he talk as and , Jensen tries really hard  not to smile. Someone’s excited. #accent kink ;)

Jensen says he doesn’t think Michael is going to need an accent and Misha says yes he will in French accent and Jensen is just trying really really hard not to smile.

Look at Jared’s face though he’s like dude are you seriously turned on by Misha’s weird accent right now? It’s not even funny and Jensen can’t stop smiling.

Jensen is done with Misha’s shenanigans so he just cuts him off and Misha is exasperated and Jensen proceeds to ask his question.

Fan says she would improve on Misha’s German accent and Misha gasps scandalized and  even Jensen is not happy about that but he takes this moment to make fun of Misha so the comment doesn’t seem as harsh 

Look at Misha’s face

and here is Jensen’s face  he can’t believe someone was mean to his baby.

Anyway, in an attempt to make it less painful for his man he tries to make and joke and says, “I didn’t send that out with the insult in mind but I’m really glad that happened.” 

The joke makes it worse and Misha  doesn’t seem to feel better. Poor Misha.

It’s over.

Time for the closing ceremony

Jensen and Briana singing.

 Misha and Adam

I love their friendship, makes me think of the possibilities that could’ve been between Cas and Mick on the show.

OMG Jensen you naught boy, yeah I see you have experience humping and spanking. Go on Rockstar we love to see it.

Even Jason Mann’s sees Jensen humping the air and Misha and Jensen turn to look at Jason. Jensen is  smirking at him after what he just did. OMG.

The way Jensen is looking at Rob when Rob tries to sing the remaining verses of carry on my wayward son. Jensen you need apple juice. Jensen is me. He is insane and he is me and I love him. JENSENKIN!!!!

Why are Jensen and Misha gravitating towards each other unconsciously? Do their hearts have magnets that pull towards each other?

Speaking of them why does Jensen seem extremely tall here and Misha looks so tiny.

Am I the only one who doesn’t like the guy who played Ketch? OMG he just rubs me off the wrong way.

 OMG is Jared trying to touch Jensen’s hand? Eww He touched Jensen’s arm and Jensen didn’t even look at him. This is embarrassing. Jensen hasn’t looked at him once/ HELP.

Misha and Jensen are standing the same way at the exact same time and they aren’t even looking at each other. OMG!! This is insanity.

Jensen turns to smile at Misha. Aww J

Jensen looks at Misha with a smile on his face when Daniela says they’ll be back the next year the year that gave us straddle gate and boners.

It’s over guys. 

So I have come to the conclusion that something was going on between Jensen and Jared at jib 9.

See you on the next one.

Part 1

[mittensmorgul]

Incoming sad rant about the spn ending. Don't read if you're not interested in reading something like that, but I literally don't know anyone in real life I can talk about this with, and I really need an outlet:

Sometimes I can put the way SPN ended out of my head and think "it's just a stupid show. I don't have to accept the finale, and the writers/network are wrong." But other times I just get gripped with really intense sadness at the disrespect that was done to my favorite characters. To the point where I'll sit still for hours a day, just wallowing in it. It ruins my whole day and mood. And then I think to myself "I'll just find some other stories that end better!" but then I get sad again, cuz I don't think I will ever love other characters as much as I love Dean and Cas, and then I spiral again thinking about all the potential this unique beautiful love story had, and how we're never going to get the closure we deserve.

I really hate that after all this time, I'm a grown ass adult getting sad over fictional characters. I know it's not that trivial, but I sometimes wish it was so I could get over it 😞

Hi hi, and first of all *socially distanced internet hugs* I’m sorry you don’t have an outlet, but you’re always welcome to chat with me (if you come off anon we can talk privately if you want. My DM’s are always open, even when it takes me a bit to reply. no one should have to feel alone in this.)

I’m actually gonna start at the bottom of your message and work my way up, because I also, as a grown-ass adult, get sad over fictional characters. And I need to emphasize that this is the *point* of fiction. A well-written and developed fictional character is *indistinguishable in our minds from an actual real human being.* The way we react to them *feels exactly the same to our brains and bodies* as how we react to real people, and that’s a testament to just how well developed Dean and Cas were in canon.

I am not a young person. I have engaged with a lot of media over my life, and have *never* felt this strongly about fictional characters before, so I understand what you mean when you struggle to think about finding another story that ended better, or struggle to think about finding other characters you might become this attached to or experience this sort of emotional investment in. And I think there is another factor you didn’t consider there: The vast majority of other media I have engaged with, I was able to relate to on a level of “oh that’s nice for them” or “wow that sucks for them.” I have never, and possibly never will again, feel so utterly invested in fictional characters, to the point where it affects my real life as much as Supernatural has. Period.

I will likely never experience *literal physical lovesickness* over two fictional characters ever again. I hadn’t ever experienced it *in my own real life* before, and yet 15.18 triggered all those symptoms in me. As an aromantic person, this was pretty shocking to me. It also says a lot about just how real these characters feel to us, and how important they have become to us. They make us feel this! This is not an accident. It’s *incredibly difficult* to create fictional characters with this range and depth of emotional connection, and yet here we are.

I think that’s the biggest evidence possibly to present in defense of the statement that THIS IS NOT JUST SOME STUPID SHOW.

Other evidence: this fandom, still going strong after 15 years. Look at every SPN convention for proof. Look at AO3, where there are more posted stories about Dean and Cas than literally any other pairing on the planet (by a not-small margin, too). If that isn’t enough evidence, we have fanart to look at as well. Look through @theroadsofararchive where at the time of this posting there are over 40,000 artworks catalogued, and more being added all the time. Same with @canonspngifs where you can search through through nearly 75,000 gifsets organized by an excellent tagging system and made by dedicated fans out of love for the thing. This is all proof that you are not alone, that so many of us care just as deeply about them as you do. Not even mentioning the people who have written hundreds of millions of words of meta, articles, and even masters theses and doctoral dissertations on Supernatural and the fandom. This is a unique thing, even within the larger fandom culture. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your feelings for it are stupid or irrelevant or wrong.

But also don’t let anyone try to convince you that you must accept the finale as part of the story if you don’t want to. Don’t even let *yourself* believe that if you don’t want to. This show has done more to play with the themes of “what is reality” and “who gives a story meaning” and alternate universes and curses and djinn dreams to easily account for whatever the heck the finale was.

my current go-to theory: everything after Chuck’s defeat takes place in the Mockumentary Alternate Universe... it fits way too uncomfortably well... and then I just apply the fic I received in a cosmic transmission from the actual supernatural universe wrote detailing the events of what *I* hoped would transpire afterward. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me, mostly because it *has* to. It means far too much to me not to.

You are not alone in having invested yourself into this story, and these characters. Your feelings about them are not wrong or stupid or frivolous. And the proof is everyone else who feels the same exact way, who connected to this story (and to each other through this story), and whose lives have been forever altered through this journey together. The fact that Dabb turned out to have been Chuck Junior and couldn’t see (or was prevented from showing us) what Team Free Will would’ve chosen to do with that after defeating their original creator just stands to prove to me that the finale can’t possibly be The Truth, you know?

I don’t know if any of this will help you, or provide you some small comfort right now, but maybe it will eventually. We’re all processing the loss of the show and the abject failure of story that was the finale in different ways, and I’m sure our emotional reactions will shift over time. It was just A Lot to process all in the span of a few incredibly emotional weeks-- not even mentioning how all of that emotional response was compounded by the american elections and surrounding nonsense, the general stress of enduring a global pandemic and all that entails, and *waves hands around broadly at everything else contributing to the trauma occurring in the collective of humankind right now.* We’ve all been emotionally compromised, so be kind to yourself in how you feel you’re coping with it all.

And know that no matter what, you are not alone in how you’re feeling. The grief is real, and our brains don’t care if it’s felt for fictional characters or real people. This was honestly a once in a lifetime experience for a lot of us, and not even the wtf of the finale can kill it for us if we don’t let it. I reject that particular piece of rusty rebar and choose to believe in a just and narratively coherent resolution. To do anything less feels like dishonoring the story and characters who have drawn me in and made me feel so much for them over the years. If the story itself couldn’t honor them properly, then I can choose to do so myself.

<3

[haledamage]

92 for Kai?

This ended up being my first Kai/Adaryc fic! They ended up being a lot of fun to write! Something about their dynamic feels very Regency Romance.

This takes place immediately after the Eyeless fight when you first meet Adaryc in WM2

---

92. “Don’t move.”

"Wait." Kai reached out and grabbed Adaryc's elbow as he and his soldiers turned to leave. "Your men need medical attention. Let us help."

It was the truth. They'd all gotten pretty banged up by those… creatures, constructs, whatever the Eyless were. They may have won, but they'd paid a heavy price for it, and no one had left that fight unharmed. The Commander himself had a large cut over one eye that was still bleeding sluggishly, and he held one arm close to his body in a way that told her it was likely dislocated, if not broken.

He froze at her touch as if she'd warned him of a bear trap underfoot - or like he was expecting her to sink a knife in his back and finish the job the Eyeless had started. He somehow went even more still when she tugged on his good arm and started leading him back toward the cabin they'd first spoken in.

"Watcher, what are you--"

"Kai," she corrected tersely. "I don't like being called 'Watcher' any more than you do, I'd wager."

He nodded, conceding her point. "Kai. What are you doing?"

"Helping you." She closed the door behind them and brought over a chair. "Sit down."

She didn't wait for him to comply, stepping away to hunt for a water basin and dig through her pack for medical supplies.

"One battle together doesn’t mean I take orders from you," Adaryc grumbled, though in spite of his words he sat down on the stool she'd dragged over.

"Why not, my dear?" she muttered. "That’s how it worked with everyone else." She reached for him again, but this time he flinched away. "You’re injured."

"It’s not serious."

"Your arm is dislocated, and I doubt you can even see out of your left eye right now." Kai tried to gentle her voice, to make it a request instead of a demand. "Let me take care of it."

"Ordering me around again." He didn't sound annoyed this time, more amused.

"It seems to be the only way you’ll listen, Commander."

"Adaryc."

"Adaryc," she repeated with a slight smile.

They let silence fall as she worked on removing his armor, keeping her movements careful so as not to jostle his shoulder.

He broke it first, voice almost hesitant. "You're a skilled fighter."

She raised an eyebrow, trying to judge how sincere he was. "You sound surprised."

"I am," he admitted easily. "I expected you to be… softer. Your memories…"

Ah. That explained it. She must look very privileged to someone like him; in many ways, she supposed she was. "I was raised nobility. It… didn't suit me. I ran away."

"To Dyrwood?" Adaryc seemed genuinely curious rather than judgemental like she expected.

"Eventually." Kai bit her lip, considering how much to say, and eventually settled on, "It's a long story."

A small smile tilted the corners of his lips, the first she'd seen from him. He looked like he was trying to remember how smiles worked. "I'd like to hear it sometime."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she said dryly. She set down the last piece of armor and reached for the wash basin, wetting a cloth and bringing it toward his face. "Don't move."

This time, he obeyed without argument. He didn't flinch or make a sound as she cleaned the cut on his forehead and washed the blood from his face.

After a couple minutes, Adaryc once again broke the silence. "How long have you been…"

"Been what?"

"Inflicted." He said it like a curse, which she supposed to him it was.

"Six months, give or take. My grasp on the passage of time is… tentative, some days." She left it at that, confident that he'd understand.

He looked surprised. "You've adapted very quickly."

"Not really. I'm very good at pretending." That was a remarkable amount of honesty for someone Kai had just met, but he had already had a front row seat to some of her memories so she let it go just this once. "But I'm no stranger to power and this one, at least, is mine alone. It requires nothing except that I am me and I exist. Few other powers can boast the same."

"You are a strange woman."

That startled a laugh out of her. "You are not the first man to tell me that. Though you are the first to make it sound like a compliment."

"I'm as surprised as you are that I meant it as one." There was something akin to fondness in his voice, enough to bring color to her cheeks.

She turned away to mask her strange reaction, cleaning blood off the cloth as an excuse to hide her face. "So how long have you been 'inflicted'?"

Adaryc was quiet so long that she didn't think he was going to answer, but eventually he just said, "Years."

"That's a long time to be at war with yourself," Kai said quietly.

"I have no other choice." His conviction was clear in his face, but it just made her sad.

"There's always another choice, darling. Gifts and curses alike are nothing more and nothing less than what you make them." She didn't think he was really listening, but she knew enough of self-loathing to know how to be heard over it. She tried a different tactic. "Do you think me less because I'm a Watcher?"

"Yes," he said automatically. Then, "...No."

"I think you have enough war in your life. You don't need to battle yourself as well." She carefully pressed a poultice to the cut over his eye, giving him time to consider her words.

"I will… think on what you've said." He sounded like he meant it, and that was good enough for her.

"That's all I ask. Thank you. Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to hurt you." Without any more warning, she pushed hard at his elbow. With a sickening pop his arm slipped back into the socket.

He hissed, but made no other noise at the pain. His voice was only a little rough when he said, "That never gets more pleasant."

"I'm sorry," Kai said, and she meant it. "If I could have done it gently, I would have. I'm afraid without a healer available, I'm the best you've got." They did, technically, have a healer, but she tried not to subject strangers to Durance's ministrations unless absolutely necessary. Especially not such a devout Eothasian as Adaryc.

She took off one of her scarves and tied it behind his neck, making it into a makeshift sling. "That should keep until you can get somewhere safe enough to bandage it properly. Do try to go easy on it."

"I will. Thank you, Kai." There was that barely-there smile again.

She smiled back, fragile and unfamiliar in its sincerity. "You are quite welcome, Adaryc."

She stepped back to put away the supplies, but she only made it a step before he grabbed her arm.

"Wait."

She turned to face him again, unconsciously following his orders like he kept doing to hers. "What is it?"

He stood up from his chair and moved closer. He tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Even though things had calmed down, there was still something feverish in his eyes; it made it difficult to look away from him. "May I?"

"May you--" her question ended in a sharp hiss as he brushed a wet cloth over a cut on her cheek that she hadn't known was there. "You could have just asked, darling. Words are not your enemy."

He chuckled, a warm and raspy sound. "I will try to remember that for next time."

Kai rather liked the idea that there would be a 'next time,' but she didn't say it and let him clean and bandage her wounds without fuss.

His touch was both gentler and more hesitant than she expected from a man who led a group like The Iron Flail. His fingers were rough and calloused, but she didn't mind. In fact, she found herself having to resist the urge to lean into it. It had been a long time since anyone had been so careful with her.

They both lingered after he was done, standing close but no longer touching. Kai was surprised by how much she wished they were.

"I hope…" he started, but he trailed off and made no attempt to finish the sentence.

"You hope?" she repeated, trying to jostle the rest of the thought loose.

Adaryc cleared his throat and ducked his head, an unexpectedly shy gesture. "That we... will see each other again. Perhaps sometime less dire."

"I'd like that." The last thing she'd expected when she snuck into an 'enemy' fort today was to leave with a friend, but here they were. "You're always welcome at Caed Nua."

"It would be my honor." In a quick, fluid motion, less like a formal bow and more like disarming an opponent, he lifted her hand and pressed a firm kiss to her knuckles. "Farewell, Watcher."

She grinned and bowed her head, somehow managing to make the casual gesture look formal. "Farewell, Watcher."

Adaryc gave her a wry, boyish smile, and then he was gone.

"Gods above, Kiki," she whispered to herself once she was alone, "what have you gotten yourself into now?"

Unsurprisingly, she didn't get an answer. Kai followed Adaryc out into the fort, but she knew by now he'd already be gone.

[insertdeeplyrics]

On the ending of Supernatural

Hi, I’ve never actually posted anything on Tumblr of my own creation (I mostly reblog stuff), but I’ve just seen the ending of Supernatural, and given that this is where I’ve been fed my SPN content, it felt right to share my thoughts here. I’m sure nobody is going to read this, but whatever, I just need to get this out of my chest. Sorry in advance if this is too long, but I have to type this out if I want to move on.

I still need to take some time to process everything that’s happened, because it is a lot. I did have my hopes up for the finale, thinking that Cas would at least show up, but like many of the fans, I was let down.

So I guess that would be the first issue I had with the episode. Regardless of what Dean felt towards Cas, if he reciprocated his feelings or not (which he totally did, I mean, we have all been watching the same show for 12 fucking years, and if you don’t believe me, there are plenty of metas that would support this statement), he still is his best friend and it doesn’t sit right with me the fact that he doesn’t even try to find a way to rescue Cas from the Empty. And okay, maybe he didn’t, make Cas got resurrected by Jack, then why the hell wasn’t he on the final episode? He was a pivotal character for the series, I mean, the proof is in the ratings: Season 7, when he was killed off to apparently never return, the ratings were at their lowest. The show may have started as just Dean and Sam, but over the years it became much bigger than them, and it is so disappointing that the show runners failed to acknowledge it. But I’ll get back to this point later.

Okay, I need to talk about Dean’s death, the only part of the episode that made me cry, because my poor baby had to suffer so much! Like, when he started saying that Sam never put up with John’s crap (which reinforces my headcanon that John was abusive towards the boys) and how much he admired him for it, my heart just shattered. I just love Dean Winchester so freaking much, and they did him so dirty... Don’t get me wrong, Jensen and Jared’s acting was 10/10, like, I thought I had a grip of myself and then Sam started crying and tears came back to my eyes. Nonetheless, I felt that the scene was so freaking long! I mean, Dean was dying, and he had time to make a 10 minutes-long speech! C’mon! Also, I get that Sam and Dean’s relationship is quite deep and strong and whatever, but I felt a bit unconformable watching it: it didn’t feel like a brotherly goodbye, more like a lover’s one. They were too touchy and intimate, and, overall, their relationship from this point on was coded as a romantic one, in my opinion. And Chuck, did I hate it! I have an older brother and I know what it is like to be close to your sibling and to love him more than anything else in the world, but the way they portrayed their relationship on this last episode felt incest-y, which makes me believe that this scene was originally written with another character in mind (cough CAS cough) or the writers don’t know the difference between romantic and brotherly love. To finish off, the way they killed off Dean??? I mean, I did expect Dean to die, but this was such a horrible and ridiculous way to go... I would have accepted it if he died actually fighting, but impaled??? After all he’s been through, after fighting so many demons, angels and deities, that’s how he dies??? That just felt cheap and rushed. Dean did not deserve that ending and I refuse to accept it. In fact, I refuse to acknowledge the existence of this whole fucking mess of an episode. Also, I just can’t believe that no one showed up to Dean’s funeral. I just can’t. I get that maybe it was difficult to bring in a lot of actors due to the pandemic, but they could have added them on post-production...

Next, we have Sam’s ending. He quits hunting and finally obtains his white-picket fence life. I did like the fact that he honored all of his friends and family that he lost along the way, especially Dean. Like, yes, if my brother died, I would like to keep a token (don’t know if that’s the actual word for it, my first language is not English), to have something with me that reminded me of him and to have him with me wherever I go. And I did like that he named his son Dean, in honor of his brother. However, we don’t know how he met his wife, we don’t even know who she is. They set up Sameileen for what?? Like, Sam and Eileen deserved better, tbh. And, again, even with Covid restrictions they could have done something to signal that Sam got married to Eileen, you don’t need the actor there. In fact, we never actually found out what happened to her, and just like I can’t believe that Dean didn’t even try to save Cas from the Empty, I can’t believe that Sam didn’t reach out to Eileen. Furthermore, the montage with his son felt cheap and a way to try to appeal to the audience’s emotions... (Btw, as a side note, the grey wig and the glasses, my god, they did Jared dirty 😂😂). But it wasn’t doing it for me, I didn’t care much for the kid, and while I do believe that was always going to be Sam’s ending, I didn’t like how it was executed.

And the worst part of it all: that suuuuuper long scene with Dean driving in Heaven, waiting for Sam. They could have used that time to show something more meaningful, even to develop a bit more Sam’s new life, how he adjusted to domesticity and fatherhood and all that crap. Or, I don’t know, A TEAM FREE WILL 2.0 REUNION??? And I guess this is my biggest issue with the whole episode. I get it, Sam and Dean are the central characters, the ones that started it all, but family don’t end with blood, and they were not the only ones who deserved a goodbye. They had formed so many bonds and friendships over the years, and to not have them address them on the final episode just feels infuriating. Especially Cas. His arc was not finished, he deserved to be on the finale. We never got Dean’s reaction to his confession, we don’t know how he felt about him, nor did Cas get to say goodbye to any other character. How did he get out of the Empty? What is he doing now? Is he still an angel? Also, he gave his life to save Dean, only for Dean to be killed not long after. My headcanon that is helping me cope with Dean’s death is thinking that he was so quick to accept his death because he was hoping to reunite in Heaven with Castiel. A girl can dream, ok??? But also, what about Jack? He is the new God, but I highly doubt it that he won’t drop by the Bunker from time to time, after all, Sam and Dean (AND CAS, ESPECIALLY CAS) raised him. And Charlie? Did she get back with Stevie? Did she and the boys go for drinks from time to time? And Jody? Donna? Claire? Sorry to be so repetitive, but I just can’t understand why the writers thought that these characters weren’t important enough to deserve a spot on the finale, and not just an off-hand mention (and not even all of them got that). Of course, the brothers are the main characters and their goodbye must be the longest and the most emotional of them all, but like I said before, the show stopped being just about the Winchesters on season 3, when Bobby was first introduced, maybe even 4, with Cas.

Overall, the finale left a lot of questions unanswered, most of them regarding secondary characters (but not less important for that!), completely destroyed Sam and Dean’s character development (Dean never got to be free, like he had been fighting for all season, probably all his life; Sam’s development is non-existing, as he ended up as he would’ve if he never had gotten on that hunting trip with Dean 15 years ago), and completely disregarded all the themes they had been setting up this season, probably on previous ones as well. It is sad knowing that the writers, either don’t know the show good enough to give it a proper goodbye, or they just didn’t care to do so. I don’t know who’s to blame here (definitely not the actors, though, probably someone higher up the chain), but I just know that I am so fucking disappointed. I expected more from the last episode of a 15-season TV show, one that has been part of my life for 7 years. I guess, that despite all of it, I can’t hate Supernatural. Maybe I was not a hardcore fan like some people on this site, but I did care for the characters and what happened to them. This is the show that introduced me to the world of shipping (Destiel will always hold a special place in my heart, it doesn’t matter how badly their relationship was treated, as well as the characters) and I got to discover one of my favorite characters, Dean Winchester. He is just such so complex, one that I relate to on so many levels, and his relationship with Cas has been the source of many short stories that I’ve never posted anywhere, but that have made me take up writing again. That’s the reason why I love the show so much, it has helped me tap into my creativeness and go back to writing, a passion of mine that I seem to have forgotten over the years. Anyways, maybe one day I’ll publish some of those stories, and maybe even write my own fix-it fanfic, but right now, I can’t deal with anything that has to do with the show, I am too hurt. Maybe once the five stages of grief are over, I might give it a try and read all of the amazing codas and fanfics that I’m sure will be posted here or on AO3. But for now, Supernatural is dead and gone, and I don’t want to talk nor think about it anymore. I’m done wasting my time here, because I feel like that’s what I’ve been doing this past 7 years after watching this crap of a finale.

To finish this long rant off, I just want to say thank you to some meta-writers, the true heroes of the fandom. Thanks to them, I carried on watching the show, because they made me have hope that things will get better. They are the ones that have made this experience worth something, and even though I’ve never spoken to any of them, I see you and I love you. Thanks for everything ❤. 

@tinkdw @charlie-minion @dotthings @heliodean @verobatto-angelxhunter @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover

[donutloverxo]

Salty Baby

Chapter six

Summary - When you moved to New York in hopes of living a glamorous life this isn’t what you expected. Steve offers to help you but your pride gets in the way. Pride isn’t going to pay your rent and college loans.

Chapter themes - This chapter you meet the Avengers. Will you be able to make a good impression on them? smut, semi-public sex, angry sex, jealous steve.

Pairing - Steve Rogers x reader

Word count - 3k

Masterlist is linked in bio! Previous chapters can be found in it!

You were nervous about getting lavish gifts from Steve, for the twenty-five five gifts of Christmas he was going to give you. Things you didn’t really need, like the diamond bracelet he got you for your two month anniversary. You couldn’t exactly wear those kinds of things to class. Where your classmates talked about was dungeons and dragons or whatever a doctor who is.

But Steve’s twenty-five presents, all of them, were anything but materialistic. You were amazed at how he personalised each of them specifically for you. He knew you so well and in such a short time. Like how he got you first edition Sylvia Plath books, which you actually had the time to read now, or how he woke you up with your favorite breakfast, or how he woke you up with his mouth. You liked that much more than the breakfast. He also got you a big cosy grey sweater that swallowed you whole.

“You look so cute” He beamed at you bending down to kiss your forehead. You couldn’t help but blush at that. “I’m not cute!” You almost stomped your foot “You’ll always be cute to me doll”

You were pleasantly surprised when Anna invited you and Steve for Christmas dinner at her place. You did miss your nephews. Brock was, as always, gone for work. She didn’t want to spend Christmas alone with the kids. She also had to make a dig at you, how you’ll be in the same boat as her, what with Steve’s demanding job. Which was far from the truth, but you let it go.

The only problem was that it was the same day as the Christmas party at the Avengers tower. Steve, being the angel that he is, said you could go to the party after dinner, it would probably start late anyway.

“Doll, how does this one look?” He asked as you stared at him noticing how thick he looked under the off white cable knit sweater.

You gulped down smoothening the flare of the white lace dress Steve gifted you. “It’s perfect Steve. And stop being so nervous! I told you I don’t care about Anna’s opinion”

“Yeah but she’s the only family you have. I want to make a good impression” he said giving you a pout which you kissed away.

Thankfully you didn’t have to ask him to not take his death trap of a motorcycle. He got you both an uber. You enjoyed the whole city lit up with the beautiful festive lights. You couldn’t help but think you wouldn’t be half as happy if you didn’t have your man sitting right next to you.

“Oh my god. Ca – Captain America” Anna stammered as she looked at your boyfriend. Right, you never did mention you were dating Steve Rogers.

“Ma'am” he gave her a curt nod handing her the non-alcoholic wine bottle he had got since she was pregnant. She pushed about how considerate he was. Which was true.

Your nephews, instantly loved Steve. It didn’t take much to impress them, the lego sets and other toys and chocolates you got them probably helped as well. Both of them hanging off of his biceps as he sweeped them off the floor. While Anna tried to process that The Captain America was standing in her living room.

She dragged you to the kitchen excusing you both away from Steve. “What is wrong with you?! You never told me you were dating Captain America!” She whispered harshly.

“What difference does it make?” She only shook her head calling you a liar “Omitting information is not the same as lying. On that note I haven’t really told him about Mom” You paused gauging her reaction “I would appreciate it if you didn’t either” You winced as she smirked at you. Wouldn’t she love having such power over you?

“What do I get in return?”

“What the fuck do you want?” you snapped.

“I’ll think about it. But remember that you owe me”

You couldn’t get her words out of your head. As you kept stabbing at your meatloaf barely eating it. Steve squeezed your thigh, under the dinner table as if to reassure you. He threw his head back at the kids antics and making polite conversation with Anna.

“I’ve worked with Rumlow before” He mentioned referring to the picture frames he saw of Brock.

“Oh goodness really? He never mentioned it. But he never really talks about work. Are you good friends?” She asked eagerly.

He cleared his throat sitting up straight “Not really. But I would like to get to know him better”

Friends was always a touchy subject for Steve. Having lost so many of them, you were amazed at how he was still willing to open his heart up. He couldn’t connect to or trust anyone in this era. He didn’t need to tell you that, you could sense it. You were almost anxious, did he feel connected to you? Atleast half as much as you did to him.

Maybe that’s why you were more scared to meet his ‘family’ than he was to meet yours. You had to crane your neck up, to the point that it actually hurt so you could get a view of the Avengers tower. It was majestic and maybe a bit over the top. Not really your cup of tea, but from what you heard from Steve about Tony Stark, he loved going all out. Which was probably why there were humongous reindeers next to the A of the Avengers.

“It’s amazing!” You gushed as you both got in the elevator making your way over to the party deck. You could see why they called it a white party. The Christmas tree decorated with silver and white ornaments, which seemed to be the theme of the party. “Oh” You let out as you read that all the decorations and the tree would be bio-degradable. How is that possible?

“Cap you finally made it” You turned around to look at a blonde man, who was taller and larger than Steve which you didn’t get to see everyday, and a redhead, whom you recognised as the black widow, greeting Steve. You quickly stood next to him, holding his hand and lacing his fingers with yours.

“Oh you must be Steve’s lady” He raved squeezing you into a tight hug, which would normally be uncomfortable for you but somehow it wasn’t when he did it. It was almost comforting, like a bear hug. You awkwardly patted his back. With your face smashed in his chest you could barely breathe.

You finally pushed him away trying not to hypnotised by his eyes wrinkled by his wide gein “Yes I am the lady” you chuckled nervously smoothening the wrinkles of your dress. You looked down at the pretty white thing. You had never even worn a dress before, you weren’t sure if it was for you.

“Hope Steve is treating you well” Black Widow smiled at you before looking at Steve. “Aren’t you gonna introduce us?” she raised a brow at him.

“This is Thor” Steve frowned at the bulky blonde out of the corner of his eye “And this is Natasha” She smiled shaking your hand. Now Natasha, she looked absolutely ravishing in her grey bodysuit, that seemed to hug her in all the right places, she looked like someone who was made to fit into a place like this.

“Can I borrow Steve for a minute? We have some business to attend to” She said lacing hers arm with his.

Your breathe hitched at the thought of being left alone. “I – uh” You stammered.

“I can keep you company if you like” Thor offered and you smiled at him. Feeling his presence already comforting. You thanked him letting Steve know that you were fine.

For the next hour, Thor told you all about his home, which was in another world, something you still couldn’t wrap your head around. His delinquent brother Loki, who’s never up to any good. And his girlfriend Jane who unfortunately couldn’t join you too. His face beamed up when you told him you study physics. “I believe that is what Stark does”

“Oh I’m not sure it would be the same field. But maybe” You hummed.

“Where is he” He looked around, his silky long strands shaking with his head. “Oh Clint! Come meet Steve’s lady” He called out to someone.

“Oh you know what? I think I have to use the restroom” You stood up abruptly collecting your clutch. “I’ll catch you later” You said briskly walking away. You had caught a glimpse of a balcony on the when on the way from the elevator to the party which was your destination. As much fun as it was supposed to be to hang out with everyone, how all your classmates and your sister were ‘so jealous' of you, you were exhausted and completely burned out.

You breathed in the cold fresh air as you stood near the railing of the balcony, which was empty save for a few people. You wrapped your arms around yourself as you felt the air creep chills up your body. You close your eyes, your teeth clammering as you tried to rub your arms to create some warmth

“You don’t look so comfortable there” Your eyes snapped open as you heard someone drawl out. You looked to your left, where the voice came from, and instantly recognized the face. You’d have to live under a rock not to. It was the man who saved New York.

“I’m fine” You brushed him off. Not knowing how you could possibly speak to such a larger than life personality.

“It’s a nice party. Isn’t it?” He moved closer to you standing just a few feet away from you now “No? I’ll try to do a better job next time I guess” He shrugged his lips curling up in a smile.

“It is nice. But – I don’t know” you stopped yourself “– I’m just an introvert”

“See that's what people get wrong. Introverts don’t hate parties. I know plenty of ‘em who are the life of the party in fact”

“Name one” You scoffed.

He hummed for a minute as if thinking it over “Oh the hulk!” you cringed as he yelled enthusiastically “Banner is an anti social geek but the hulk is actually a pretty fun guy if you get to know him” he said leaning on the edge of the balcony.

“I don’t think that counts. Hulk and Banner are not the same...” you trailed off not quite sure if they were or weren’t and this time he scoffed not believing you “It’s true!” you argued “just like how Steve and Captain America aren’t the same person”

“Who capsicle?” he tilted his head.

You tried to hold it in, you really did but you burst out a laugh and quickly held your hand over your mouth to contain it. “Cap – what does that even mean?” You shook your head finally giving in and throwing your head back laughing at the ridiculous nickname.

“There you are” You stopped laughing as soon as you heard that voice. You whipped your head to look at Steve approaching the two of you, his jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed. “I’ve been looking all over for you” He said pulling you into him by grabbing your waist.

“Oh I’m sorry I got caught up -”

“You two know each other” Tony interrupted you and Steve introduced you as his girlfriend.

“We should get going. There are some other people I want you to meet” Steve said looking down at you, somewhat sternly, his tone reminding you of his authoritative side, the one he used on the battlefield and in bed with you.

You felt your heart beat fast and your mouth dry as you nodded. Steve held onto your wrist guiding you away from the balcony

“Wait!” Tony called out for you “don’t you wanna know what it means?”

“What’re you talking about?” Steve rolled his eyes, still pulling at your wrist but you stood your ground, you did want to know. You looked at Tony expectedly.

“He spent decades in the ice frozen like a capsicle” He chuckled “and because he always has a huge stick up his ass”

Your smile faltered at that. You thought it would be something fun his friends tease him with, but this just seemed mean-spirited. “It was nice to meet you Tony” You bid him goodbye and he waved you off as you walked with Steve back to the party.

You could feel Steve fuming beside you, but you weren’t exactly sure what he was angry at. You didn’t think a stupid nickname would make him so mad. You were about to ask him but you were pushed into a coat closet? What the hell? You yelped as your backside bumped against the desk in the middle of the closet. “What - Steve!” you scolded him as you looked at the brown grease on the desk stain your white dress. “this isn’t going to come off you know” you tried rubbing at it but you were sure it was ruined.

“What were you laughing about out there with Tony? I left you alone for barely half an hour” He said. His tone contained and cool. As if what he was saying was completely rational and true. Which only served to piss you off even more.

“You left me for an entire hour! You know I’m not good at these things. Why am I here?” You said pointing your at your chest “I’m here for you! And now you’re saying what? I’m flirting with other men?”

“That’s what it seemed like” He said with the same even tone and your hand twitched wanting to smack him across his stupid beautiful face.

“Whatever Steve” you shook your head pushing him away to get away from him. You never thought you’d need distance from your Steve. “Steve let me go” you pushed him again but you knew it would be of no use. You were no match against the great Captain America.

“No” He walked close to you caging you in till you had no where to go. You felt his hot breathe fanning against your face as he stared you down. You let out a breathe, disgusted that you could feel his erection against your thigh. That you were just as turned on.

“Fuck it” you leaned up on your toes crashing your lips onto his wrapping your hands around his neck, your teeth clattering together as his hands worked to push up your skirt and pull down your panties. He pushed you up to sit you on the desk and you cringed thinking of your once beautiful dress.

He pulls away from you, his face flushed and his lips swollen from your rough kiss. He put your panties into his dress pants. “I’ll buy you another one doll” But you didn’t know if he was referring to your dress or your panties. And frankly you didn’t care. You were so angry and hurt, that all you could think about was his dick inside you, your golden boy railing you in a fucking coat closet.

Your hands made quick work of unbuckling him and pulling him out of his briefs. His cock already hard and ready. You pulled it in to line him up with your entrance but he stopped you, swatting your hands away.

“I’m too big for you doll” He leaned into your ears to whisper, two of his fingers entering your channel. “And you’reso tight. We have to get your prepared” he groaned driving his fingers in and out of you adding a third one as you held onto his shoulders for life, biting into the crook of his neck to muffle your screams.

“Don’t you dare come” He warned you as he felt you clench around his fingers. You could only whimper to answer him, holding off on your release. Knowing that if you didn’t listen to him he wouldn’t fuck you. In that moment you felt as if you’d die if you didn’t feel his cock inside you. “Please fuck me” you tried to catch your breathe as tears clouded your vision. You cried as you felt his fingers slipping out of you. You were about to say that you didn’t come. That you were good. You deserved to get off!

But then, in one single thrust he pushed his cock deep inside you, hitting your g-spot. You sighed biting his earlobe and sucking on it as a way to thank him. The weight and warmth of him cooling down the burn in your core just a little bit. But you were still very much on edge.

He rolled his hip as he started fucking into you. You grabbed onto his hair with your hand pulling on it a bit. He groaned at that driving into you faster.

With his cock hitting your cervix, again and again with such ferocious pace, you couldn’t even remember what you were angry about. Were you angry? What were you doing in a coat closet? It didn’t matter, not really. The only thing that mattered was him, his cock inside you and your impending doom. “I need to come. Please “ You wailed unable to contain your sounds.

“Go ahead doll” he pulled away a bit to look into your eyes “I’m all yours” He drove his cock into you, in the way he knew you loved. He pushed your hair out of your face, staring at you so lovingly, feeling so vulnerable and overwhelmed you closed your eyes, if you didn’t see him he couldn’t see you either right?

You clenched around him as you felt him fill you up with his warm seed. Your orgasm hitting you like a tsunami. You felt completely spent, not being able to hold yourself up you laid your head on his shoulder.

Your high didn’t last for long. You felt him slip out of you, shuffling to take out a handkerchief and clean you up. You recalled what you were fighting about. How he mistrusted you even though you had given him no reason to do so. You hugged him closer not ready to address all those issues just yet. They could wait till you had had your moment with him.

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Please do not steal or repost my works. Reblogs are welcome.

[almaasi]

reaction post typed while watching SPN 15x18 “Despair”

WOW TODAY SURE IS A DAY, HUH

-

04:40pm

Y’ALL

I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS

I KNOW WHAT’S COMING

BUT AM I PREPARED?

my post leading up to this: https://almaasi.tumblr.com/post/634003656411381760/i-have-seen-the-spn-spoilers-okay-okay-okay

i found a faster torrent and there are 7 minutes until it’s done I’M GONNA GO WANDER AROUND FOR A BIT BRB

-

04:51pm

window is blacked out

i am as ready as i can be, i think

-

04:52

HERE WE GO

-

omg so much has happened irl i fully forgot what happened at the end of the last ep so THANK U RECAP

-

BILLIE JUST

BOMBED THE EMPTY

WITH JACK

:0

-

05:00

just as i was thinking “aaah billie’s probably lying, jack’s capital D Dead” THERE’S JACK

-

JACK’S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-

05:05pm

nice shot

-

05:07

CHARLIE’S PARTNER IS GORGEOUS AND THIS IS SO HAPPY

they better both make it to the end and out the other side or istg

-

OH NO WHERE DID BABE GO

-

babe is named stevie

BRIng STEVIE BACK

-

05:09

THIS PLACE IS CALLED KIM MANOR

-

we’re like 1/3 of the way into this episode?? damn

-

cas and jack hanging out on the hood of the impala like the brothers did all those years ago

good family talk spot

-

05:13

high quality face

-

05:15

cas: WE DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE USEFUL OR--

cas baby yesssssssssssssssssssssss

these are the words cas can say because he knows them for himself

-

05:19

THE DOTS ON SAM’S PHONE CHAT WITH EILEEN

DISAPPEARING

OH...................

-

05:26

DONNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

oh i wish we’d had more donna and jody :/

-

05:29

dean’s gonna lose cas and then it’s gonna be the sam+charlie+dean “i just lost my lover” club :c

-

05:34

just thinkin about the ending of the final episode

the only two endings i really want are:

everyone we love is somehow alive and they drive into the sunset

they all die but wake up in heaven and there’ll be peace when you are done

or some combination thereof

-

05:37

billie: i didn’t hurt your friends

yeah i thought not

-

bobby vanishes and my eyes flood with tears

that last look between him and sam........

-

wait when was donna from another universe??? or did she die at some point

WOW I’VE FORGOTTEN A LOT

-

05:42

dean: “what do we do, ca--- my heart”

.......

yep

i’m not ready for whatever’s about to happen

-

I’M SO !!!!!!!!!!

BECAUSE THE FACT THEY JUST WON’T DIE

AND THEY ALWAYS COME BACK

IS THE SEMI-BOSS FIGHT

I’M LOVING THIS

EVEN THOUGH I HATE IT

-

05:46

this sure is a screenshot huh

-

05:49

/mutes discord bc this needs all of my attention

-

05:51

cas’ eyes are starting to tear up and he’s smiling as he starts to talk and ohhhhhhhhh here it comes

-

05:53

there’s.

literally.

a wall.

between them.

talk about SYMBOLISM

-

jensen’s pupils are so wide right now holy shit

-

“you are the most caring man on earth”

dean looking at these words like it’s news to him

;~;

cas

thank you for saying these things we’ve all been yelling at the screen for years

-

05:58

DEAN HAS CAS’ BLOODY HANDPRINT ON HIS JACKET

........i can’t let myself believe that was it

THERE WILL BE MORE

SURELY

like

in no conceivable world do the writers get this far, give us THAT, and have it never be mentioned again or properly resolved

hello yes i’m waiting for the magic ritual where cas’ bloody handprint plays a part

-

06:02

yeah i mean

if they saved the whole world multiple times over

everyone’s gotta go

-

oh dean................. oh no

-

GOD

THAT REALLY WAS SOMETHING HUH

i feel like my full reaction is reserved 

because this was half a story. this was one-sided and it was just cas’ monologue. dean has things to say

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT OVER

i know people (misha??) has said it’s a permadeath but i do not believe that, and i don’t believe anything anyone says about what’s coming tbh

i got an anon in my inbox a few weeks ago who correctly predicted this, saying they knew someone on set, but like......... the real ending would be top secret and anything that gets out would not end up in the inbox of some fic author along with a bad vibe. (i didn’t answer it, not wanting to stir up shit.)

that anon said cas isn’t in the last two episodes. except that can’t possibly be true because we, the audience, can see people in the empty, and cas still needs to yell at the empty, and death is in there too... and the empty just wants to sleep so we need to see that too, and cas would be there.

THERE’S MORE TO COME, KIDS

two episodes left

i’m wary of the next one because it’s the deadly duo writing, but they seem to be okayish these days so maybe it’ll be fine

but the finale..... fingers crossed <3

fingers also crossed for a blue georgia, north carolina, and pennsylvania <3

/goes back to cnn livestream because I WANNA WATCH WHEN GEORGIA FLIPS

also. back to spn for a sec. i’m a leeeeeeetle bit mad that the gay black woman disappears first. like i know everyone died but. haven’t we had enough of that??

10/10 even so BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN BETTER

eh. this show is what it is, and i just gotta accept that, BUT ALSO I THINK WE’RE GENUINELY GETTING SOMEWHERE WITH DEAN AND CAS HERE

but only so long as this actually has a conclusion

which it must do

because this is very much an emotional cliffhanger. cas just emotion-dumped and then fucked off so dEAN’S GOTTA PROCESS AND THEN CHASE HIM

OBVIOUSLY

BECAUSE THAT’S HOW LOVE STORIES WORK

we didn’t watch 15 years of this thing only to be given half of what we wanted in the closing moments, and then get left left high and dry. the writers/producers are clearly willing to give us canon love confessions, and they're not gonna get as far as this, with a finale as tense and dramatic as this, and be like lol dean's straight and only likes cas as a friend........... after he’s dead and died for the joy of their love........... that's beyond madness

and dean needs to SPEAK. there are so many things he’d never said. and he needs to say them to cas. he was basically silent in this conversation and you can’t just say that’s their ending. it’s not their ending.

AND LIKE

IF THIS SHOW AND THIS FINALE AND THIS SEASON HAS PROVED ANYTHING

IT’S THAT NOBODY STAYS DEAD

AND WHATEVER THE WRITER INTENDS, THE CHARACTERS HAVE THEIR OWN DESIRES AND DRIVES

AND FOR THAT REASON, GAY LOVE WILL PIERCE THROUGH THE VEIL OF DEATH AND SAVE THE DAY

[minhomas-tmr]

The Stars Don’t Know Shit, My Friend - Chapter 5

Thomas stumbled into someone as he was pushed. All he got knowing Minho came through as well, was a subtle brush to his back. The room was surprisingly still packed, but not as much as before he supposed. Most importantly, it appeared Teresa had left.

From the hint his now boyfriend provided, Thomas had a fair idea of what Minho had in mind and it sent a pleasant thrill down his spine. First things first.

He made his way through the crowd looking for his friends, having to pass by a couple archways in his search, which predictably got him some taps and for the most part, he ignored it.

Thomas acknowledged number 16 though, turning towards her. She was fairly pretty to say the least, but he noticed they weren’t even directly under a mistletoe. How had he missed this? No wonder Minho had been pissed… Blinking the thought away, Thomas tried to make out the words through the loud music. His frown must have given away his displeasure however, because she withdrew the hand still on his shoulder.

“Yeah, can I help you?” he said. The girl stammered a lot trying to come up with an excuse of stopping him in between arches. Come to think of it…many of the mistletoe had disappeared. Maybe Newt’s thing had been achieved?

Just then he spotted Rachel. “I have to go.”

Thomas pushed through the crowd, feeling at least five more taps before he reached his friend. He included them in his count anyways. As soon as she spotted him, Rachel marched over.

“Really?!” Hands on her hips, she frowned at him.

“I got held up,” Thomas shrugged. To be fair, Minho had held him up—against the wall—though he doubted Rachel would appreciate that definition. The memory must have warmed his cheeks because his friend’s mouth dropped open.

“Are you serious!! Thomas that’s so irresponsible!…what if—“

“Hey, Teresa isn’t here right? So I’m good,” he shot her his winning smile.

“You’re staying aren’t you?” Rachel’s shoulders sagged, knowing she’d have to sneak back to the tower on her own. If she’d known once Thomas started thinking with his dick, he turned into a shit best friend? She’d have protested his ‘activities’ a little more.

Like he could ready her thoughts, Thomas grinned as he walked away from her. “I believe in you!” And that’s when it happened.

“Hi,” said a voice husked in his ear. Thomas spun around coming face to face with Minho. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. “Number?” That prompted a response.

“Seventeen.” He hardly had to whisper, what with the murmur of the crowd around them. Before either could say anything, another voice called out.

“Minho!” Minho and Thomas turned towards Newt, who was radiating with happiness. Minho raised an eyebrow, a silent question, which Newt answered with a wide smile.

“What is it?” Thomas looked between the two of them, getting a ping of..fuck what was that feeling? Getting impatient Thomas repeated himself, only louder, “What is it?!”

“What do you think?” Newt said smugly as he passed them, pushing Minho towards Thomas purposely so he stumble into him, sandwiching Thomas between his boyfriend (heh) and the wall. He was only too familiar with the position and fuck, his knees turned weak as Minho’s pupils dilated.

“So you gonna kiss me or what?” he breathed against pink lips, just before they slotted in with his. He fought a whimper and failed miserably when Minho’s tongue slipped into his mouth in a wet, claiming kiss.

The sound probably got drowned out by the suddenly too loud Christmas music, but Thomas could literally feel the waves of satisfaction coming off Minho as he growled low, pressing Thomas firmly against the wall.

He may have pulled the Slytherin harder to him. His hands may have found their way into Minho’s hair. He may have parted his legs in subtle invitation.

Minho didn’t take the bait though.

“Public, remember?” Smugness still radiated off him, “Besides…thirteen more to go.” And then he was gone. Thomas sagged against the wall beside the pillar he’d been smushed against, trying to get his breathing under control.

Suddenly, he realized he had an audience. Two girls were staring wide eyed at him, before looking at each other.

“Wow. Harriet, take notes,”

“I ship it!” the other girl giggled, staring after Minho, who parted the crowd with ease. Thomas noticed him getting taps too. Minho didn’t even react and warmth curled in Thomas’ chest.

“Are you finally together now?” the shorter one asked, eyes sparkling.

“Um..” Thomas found he didn’t want to outright lie about his relationship so he was stuck on what to say, just looking at her stupidly. Then her words struck him. “Finally?”

She rolled eyes, and shook her light blonde hair in exasperation. “The staring? In the Great Hall? You do know the Hufflepuff table is between, right?” Thomas blushed crimson. Maybe him coming out to the school wouldn’t be a complete surprise…

“Like I said,” the one still giggling came up closer too, “I ship it. Come on Sonya!! We just got here! Alby finally arrived so Newt’s only kept quarter of the mistletoe!”

She confirmed what he had suspected which..Shit! Newt might take them all down and if that was the case…Thomas may have to purposely bump into people just to get their attention, just to turn them down. Every countdown reaching one, sent a thrill through him. Minho must be watching because as soon as he reached 30, Minho appeared again.

Minho holding him in the middle of the archway made Thomas warm all over, arousal skyrocketing. Here, they were much more visible, and this time *he* was the one to crash his lips against Minho’s, biting his bottom lip hard before demanding more. More contact. More kisses.

They were just them now and he was free to do this, “Washroom. Now!” he growled and walked away.

No sooner had Thomas turned into the hallway leading away, that Minho pushed him into an available washroom.

Thomas' hands roamed everywhere, bodily pinning Minho to the tiled wall, fingers sinking through the Slytherin’s soft hair as they kissed. A big change from their previous dynamic, but Thomas surprised himself, loved this freedom.

A hand sneaked between them and Thomas’ head fell forward, feeling Minho rub over his pants. The lack of underwear and the fact he’d just come, made Thomas push away.

“Sensitive,” he whimpered into Minho’s mouth as an explanation. In response, Minho slide his hands under Thomas’ thighs, lifting him easily onto the counter to remind him where else he was sensitive, the burn on his tender backside making him whine.

“Selfish little tease aren’t you,” Minho bit his bottom lip, sucking on it and that just rocketed his arousal higher, body naturally reacting to the ministrations. “So demanding, I’ll just have to open you up gently then. Maybe that’ll teach you some patience,”

“Minho don’t you dare!!”

“Hey, if our first time as ‘just us’ is going to be in a public washroom because you’re so impatient to get dicked, then you are going to endure my demands too.”

Thomas whined petulantly again, and Minho pecked him on the lips as if that would placate him. He’d experienced Minho taking his time before. At least this time he didn’t have a cock ring on.

Then all of a sudden Minho froze and stepped away.

“W-what are you doing?” Thomas asked confused, missing his boyfriend’s body heat instantly.

“I just..I didn’t even ask if you wanted to top? I mean—since it’s our first time and all, we can swit—“

“Minho just ‘dick’ me already! Or tease me or whatever the fuck you were planning okay?” Minho still looked conflicted, so Thomas took a deep breath and pulled him closer. They were still clothed, so small mercies.

“I think you know we’re not going to be able to not be how we’re used to. When it comes to sex, cuffed or not, I’m always going to be a needy lil’ shit and you’re gonna be the one to put me in my place. Okay?” Minho’s mouth dropped open in surprise and Thomas grinned, pleased at the reaction. “Just seeing you in a hallway accidentally turns me on…And I’m not complaining.”  

“You’re so hot when you’re that eager,” he flicked Thomas’ pant button open one handedly, and yanked it down and off. Thomas slipped out of his shoes without being told. “Always ready for a good time, huh?”

“Yes,” Thomas licked his lips, bucking his hips forward until Minho grabbed them, stilling his movements, “please?”

“I’m sure you can do better than that, since you’re apparently ‘oh so desperate’,” the mischief was back in his eyes.

“Minho, don’t tease! You promised if I said no to them, you would give it to me!”

“That’s true,” Minho tugged Thomas’ shirt signalling wanting it off, and just like that, Thomas was completely bare but when Minho went to undress himself, he was stopped.

“What?”

“Can..ahh, can you leave your clothes on?” Thomas blushed furiously, as his boyfriend’s heated gaze traveled down his body.

“You’re the kinkiest fucker I’ve ever met, Thomas,” Minho shook his head, but obliged him, kissing Thomas’ nose gently when he was pulled forward. Then without warning, he slipped a lubed finger into Thomas’ puckered hole.

“Shit, Minho,” Thomas hissed, surprised.

“You should know,” Minho started conversationally, working Thomas open at a glacial pace. “I really haven’t soundproofed, so you might want to keep it down huh?”

“What!! Nononono Minho that’s no-not—“

“That’s not completely hot? Because this is saying otherwise,” Minho flicked Thomas’ hard cock, that was already leaking precome despite his recent orgasm.

Thomas bit his lip hard, trying to stop pleasured gasps from escaping, which only encouraged Minho to tease him harder. The threat was real so he was about to plead again, when Minho found his prostrate and a shout escaped him, mortifying him, “I ca..ant. Please, you’re wand..use your wand!”

“My wand? You’ll get my wand when I’m satisfied with opening you up…” he growled in Thomas’ ear and he shuddered, fisting his hands on Minho’s shirt like it would save him from the humiliation of being found out if he couldn’t keep quiet.

Then Minho did something surprising; he placed the wand in question on the opposite side of the marble sink Thomas sat on, “There you go. Soundproof it yourself if you’re so worried.”

Thomas blushed and sent Minho a pleading look. The bastard was actually gonna do this to him? The slow romantic song was playing in the party room on low volume, almost felt like it was mocking him—any sounds he made would easily be heard, and if there’s one thing he’d learned about himself being with Minho, he was loud.

“Please!” Thomas whispered in frustration as Minho lightly brushed his prostrate but mostly avoided it all together. He never realized what a difference a command made versus self-will. Being ordered to make no noise was nothing in comparison to the threat of exposing himself if he was too loud. — Minho smirked, watching Thomas’ conflicting face. He wasn’t one to push a kink, so if Thomas did end up using the wand, the Ravenclaw knew Minho would still torture him by gently fingering him open.

They’d maybe slow-dance, maybe leave the party room and find a corridor not filled with judgemental portraits, as Thomas went to his knees. But that’s it—sexual fun times at least. Minho was an endless romance novel.

If Thomas chose not to play at all tonight, they could always try it some other time. This was easy in comparison because they didn’t have immediate company close by, but that wasn’t what this was about, was it?

No..no..this was a deliberate move, getting Thomas to decide his privacy level. It was about admitting it: his desperation, his need to get fucked and his choosing of not soundproofing the room when given the opportunity.

“Please,” Thomas quietly begged again. “I’ve been good.” It was humiliating, but that was the whole point.

“I already told you,” Minho gestured nonchalantly to his wand, slicking up another finger with plenty of lube within Thomas’ line of sight, just to provide next to no friction as he eased them inside, thumbing the head of Thomas’ leaking cock simultaneously.

Minho smirked inwardly, an idea coming to mind. He picked up his wand making it look as though taking pity on Thomas, that a look of relief crossed Thomas’ face. He reacted too quickly. Poor baby.

“Going once.” Minho stared straight into Thomas’ wide eyes, when he realized—

“Going twice.” Watching Thomas admit it, albeit silently, turned him on so much.Thomas opened and closed his mouth, trembling at being taunted like this. It was absolutely delicious the way his face reddened, looking at the wand but didn’t move. Didn't move a muscle.

Even when Minho whispered softly, slowly tucking it away. “Gone.”  

“What now?” Thomas had barely stuttered those words out, when Minho zeroed in hard on Thomas’ prostrate and he moaned loud, hurriedly cut off by slapping a hand over his mouth.

“Fuck, this isn’t slo—“ Minho jabbed his prostrate again.

“Oh baby, you should have taken it,” Minho said casually, as though he wasn’t driving Thomas insane with on and off stimulation, punishing him for mouthing off. “Please,” Thomas trembled against Minho, shirt clutched tightly in his grasp, as he panted into his shoulder.

“Please what, Thomas? You’re the one that wants this party to know how slutty you are.” Minho said. Thomas cried out into his shoulder, undecided if he wanted to back away from Minho’s fingers or push forward to get them deeper. “Ohh..you want more?”

“Yes..n-no I—Minho I can’t!!”

“Yeah, I understand where you’re coming from,” Minho timed it perfectly, finding his prostrate again and circling it slowly, giving continued but light stimulation on the word *coming*, smirking as Thomas arched back, failing to hold back a whimper, trembling as he wrapped his arms around Minho’s broad shoulders.

“I know you can be quieter than this…” Minho said voice low, “which can only mean you want to be heard. You want to be heard begging and crying, and whining to cum. Such an upstanding student you are.”

Using his other hand, he wrapped a hand around Thomas’ still sensitive erection and jacked it off slowly, watching for Thomas' tell-tale signs, until Thomas gasped wetly, shaking against him, right on the edge..the edge—

Suddenly he withdrew his fingers and hand from Thomas’ cock. Thomas stared wordlessly in shock as his dick pathetically ejaculated, but with none of the mind numbing pleasure attached to it.  Minho had actually ruined it—left Thomas horny and so so needy.

Thomas burst out crying, mindlessly begging, fighting so hard to not to be too loud. He had no idea what he was saying, just that the energy which had been building under the surface with Minho’s endless teasing—was still frustratingly there but no relief in sight.

The need being too high, Thomas thoughtlessly grabbed Minho’s fingers to move in him again, even though he knew it wouldn’t do anything but drive himself crazy. Minho couldn't hold his amusement in any longer, eyebrows raised as Thomas' cock bobbed at his gaze, even as he whimpered humiliated.

“Look at you, so desperate for anything aren’t you, baby?” Thomas didn’t respond and keened high when Minho grabbed his hair, yanking his head back, “Aren’t you?” he repeated louder, and Thomas blubbered his agreement immediately.

“Get down.” Minho commanded, and on wobbly legs Thomas obeyed, feeling shame eat at him even more as his painfully hard and exposed cock, brushed against Minho’s clothes—Minho who looked poised and perfectly composed while he probably looked like a wreck.

“Turn around, hands on the mirror.”

Thomas swallowed hard. It was one thing imagining what he looked like while being fucked and another actually seeing Minho destroying his sanity while he was ordered to watch. Because he knew his Dom was sadistic enough that he’d get Thomas to watch.

But Minho was hitting all his buttons tonight and he was in heaven and hell for it. Despite knowing it was useless, Thomas begged anyways, “Please, please no,”

Minho smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile.

Thomas bodily shuddered as Minho’s palms trailed lightly on his sides, before reaching his hips, spinning him around abruptly and Thomas held himself on the counter just in time. Describing Thomas as a wreck was a huge understatement and his red bitten lips trembled at the sight, knowing by the time Minho was done with him, he’d look..look..

“Cock-drunk,” Minho promised darkly, as though he could read his mind, fingers grazing his hole but not giving him what he wanted. He gulped and placed his hands on the mirror, willing his legs not to give out. He could tell Minho was trying not to outright laugh at his pathetic attempt at composure, eyes noticing his cock twitch, and knew with certainty—his sadistic boyfriend was gonna make him scream. — His boyfriend was beautiful in his submission, this level of trust was one Minho would never forget. He pressed himself against Thomas’ back, making him hyper aware of their power imbalance, the course texture of his clothes rubbing on Thomas’ still bruised ass. Given Thomas’ embarrassed face, Minho knew he was super aware of it too.

“Love it when you’re on display for me,” he whispered in his ear, as he twisted Thomas’ nipples, a finger running down the length of Thomas’ cock, getting another jerk as Thomas moaned low, head tipped back onto Minho’s shoulder.

He allowed him that brief reprieve, looking forward to destroying whatever illusion Thomas had of his dignity—made all the more delicious with his given consent.

“Minho,” Thomas whispered.

“Yes, baby?”

“Cock, please..?” his voice was soft, pleading like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to talk.

Thomas tended to sink fast, so Minho didn’t remind him that regular rules didn’t apply this time. They were scening sure, but they weren’t scening per se, but still he didn’t dare break that mindset. By his tone though, Minho would say his boyfriend was on board for whatever he’d planned next.

“You’re asking for cock? Still think your little cock is of importance, I see,” he flicked Thomas’ hard-on with more force this time, making him buck his hips as pleasure ripped across his body. Thomas shook his head frantically, but Minho flicked it three more times just for fun. “What then? Want my cock?”

“Yes, I—I want to please you. I need..I need to please you, please?”

Minho raised his eyebrows unimpressed when their eyes met through the mirror, “You better be able to do better than that, if you want my cock.”

Thomas’ head dropped to hide his red face. Fuck. Knew what he had to say in order to get what he wanted. It made him deliriously horny. “Want to be used. Want you to use me, please? Please use me…”  

“Is my little toy feeling empty already? My slutty bitch gonna make yourself useful finally?” Minho unzipping his pants sounded so loud in the small washroom. Thomas went bright red at the reminder and degrading words but nodded anyways. “Go on then,”

Minho rolled his eyes when Thomas looked confused “Are you expecting me to help you? Put my cock in, and keep those asscheeks spread for me.” Minho smirked as Thomas became unable to keep eye contact. Hand shaking, he guided Minho’s hard cock into his well prepped hole, moaning loudly at the feeling of being so full.

Being inside Thomas felt amazing, Minho was determined to offer the same and drive Thomas crazy with lust. He snapped his hips forward, the action pushing Thomas against the counter, arms shaking as Minho hit his prostrate at every thrust.

Thomas’ jaw hung slack at the overstimulation. His hands still holding himself open, he had no hope to disguise his pleasured sounds and Minho looked on with satisfaction, but you know what would be better?

“Don’t drop your eyes or there will be consequences,” Minho’s pace quickened, Thomas’ hole was so tight, it felt so good, as he watched Thomas watch himself, have to use his stomach muscles to hold himself high enough, Thomas' moans helplessly falling from his red bitten lips.

“Can you imagine?” Minho switched the speed and began fucking into him leisurely, “Imagine if someone found you moaning on Slytherin cock. Holding your asscheeks open, begging for cum, you a proper, supposedly poised, respectable, Prefect acting like a shameless whore?”

“I-I’m not a wh-hore,” To his embarrassment, he whined high as Minho kept a steady rhythm, spreading his thighs wider, displaying his hole clearly.

“Your body doesn’t lie, baby” Minho whispered hotly in his ear, “Exactly how long ago did you cum, that you’re hard already? I even let you cum, what..two minutes ago and still you’re dick’s so shameless, so needy. I can feel you sucking me in. So so eager for more, what does that make you if not a desperate whore?” Minho taunted and Thomas’ face burned hot.

“Go on..tell me. Sure as hell doesn’t make you a good boy.” When Thomas kept quiet eyes dropping in shame, Minho squeezes his balls in warning and he jerked his eyes back to the mirror, his eyes tearing up at the pain. And for the second time that night, Minho backed up.

“NO!” Thomas cried out loud, tears falling in streaks down his face. Hands returned to the mirror, and he struggled to hold himself up with the shock of Minho moving away. Minho smirked as he stood still, watching lazily.

“Look at yourself, baby. Horny and desperate and Loud, you want a reward? You have to work for it dirty boy. Fuck yourself on my cock.”

Without thinking, Thomas pushed his own hips back desperately and judging by his teary eyes widening, he finally clued in.

Minho hadn’t been planning on fucking him stupid. No, this ultimate act of humiliation, acting like a needy bitch came from himself, using his own body, his hole to pleasure Minho like a toy, as Minho simply stood there. It was degrading, feeling like an object meant only to give pleasure without getting any. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped trying to get off, and even after realizing it, couldn’t bring himself to stop.

His shame morphing to arousal only made him leak harder. Made him fuck back harder.

“Go on…show me how much of a slut you really are, so hungry for cock, so desperate to please, using your body to get me, and only me off. Isn’t that right?”

Minho laughed as Thomas’ hands slid down the mirror, jaw slacked, eyes glazed, no strength left in holding himself up now. He was sobbing continuously, so beyond overstimulated but still he had a job to do. All his energy went into pushing his hips back and clenched his hole to make it good for the other boy. He felt Minho's cock pulse in his hole and clenched his splichter tighter, a second later feeling Minho cum in him and then Thomas' pride truly disappeared.

“Puh-please, fuckplease make me come, I wanna come, please!” Dazed and flushed with want, lips swollen from trying to hold back sounds, Thomas pushed his hips back frantically, trying to find Minho’s cock. "I-I'll do anything! Ss-swear more! I'm so empty, wannna wann-"

He was surprised when Minho reached around to jack him off, as he stuffed three of his fingers in Thomas’ mouth, not wanting to chance a student hearing Thomas screaming for permission, over the music.

“I thought I told you to watch yourself,” and Thomas instantly obeyed, despite his front sliding on the counter, his nipples sore, his muscles turned to mush, and could barely hold his head up as he shamelessly sucked on Minho’s fingers. Fuck, he really was a slut.

And again like Minho could read his mind, he said, “We agreed you are a slut right? Do greedy sluts deserve to cum, baby?” Minho took his hand off Thomas’ red, painful, sensitive dick, and before Thomas could react, thrust two fingers suddenly in his hole, abusing his prostrate. A full-body shudder ran through him. “Well?” he asked, taking out his fingers dripping in drool, to let him answer.

“N-n-o Minho,” said the other boy collapsed beneath him.

“No what, Thomas?” For the first time since their hard play began, Minho asked softly.

“No a..a s-slu-t ll-ike me,” Thomas struggled to put words together, voice practically gone.

“Won’t come, right?”

Thomas’ face was wet, as was the counter under his face. His ass felt like it was on fire, hole so sore and a cock begging for release for what felt like hours. He doubted he had any energy left to stand even, twitching as he was still stimulated by Minho’s fingers pleasurably torturing him. Won’t come. Wont. Minho had said. Won’t

“I-I w-won-nt c-cumm,” Thomas cried even harder.

“Promise? Even if you’re forbidden to touch yourself? I don’t know if you have that type of control yet, Thomas. What if you slip up and rut in your bed like a bitch while asleep? You’ll probably need the cage, huh?”

How could Minho sound so concerned as absolute filth left his mouth? Thomas was speechless as he pictured what had been said to him, and flushed even more. Worse was, Minho could see everything through the mirror, could see how much he loved the idea, how much he hungered for it.

“I n-n-neeed t-the cage, pl-lease,”

Finally Minho removed his fingers from Thomas’ ass, “Good boy.” — “Merlin, Minho I swear you fucked out my soul!” Thomas whispered furiously as Minho used his wand to clean them both up. Well, mostly Thomas.

“Doubtful. You can still talk,” Minho gave him a shit eating grin. When Thomas glared, he pointed out, “I spelled your cum-filled hole clean, like you wanted. I even used the cooling spell and numbing cream. Be grateful.” He was satisfied when Thomas dropped his eyes, blushing.

“How many days?” Thomas had yet to put his pants back on, staring at his cock cage expressionless.  

“Three.” Thomas’ head shot up in shock. “It was for every time you looked away from the mirror. The actual count was five, so—“

“Yeah, yeah, be grateful,” Thomas muttered sullenly.

Minho grabbed his chin, tilting it up to kiss him softly. When Thomas’ pout remained, he hesitated. “Hey, I can take it off if it’s too much?”

“Umm..no?” Thomas wouldn’t look at him as he pulled his pants up. “I mean..it’s not too much. Only three days.”

“I won’t make it easy.” Minho warned. "For instance, wear this tomorrow morning,” he handed Thomas a butt plug. A vibrating one, fairly wide. It had a remote but only could be used in close range. Thomas shuddered, his cock trying to get hard already. Minho had to use the cooling charm on his cock too in order to put the cage on.

“Fuck. I’m too sensitive though,”

“Who said anything about fucking?”

“But I have Quidditch practice early tomorrow?”

“Not my problem,” Minho said airly, and Thomas looked like he was about to throw a fit. “Fine! Put it in, in the change room after practice,” Thomas looked mortified at the prospect, so he shrugged, “You’ll just have to be reeeally quiet when prepping yourself, but you’re good at that aren’t you, Thomas?”

“I really hate you Minho,” Thomas glared at him.

“I’m looking forward to that blowjob you’ll be giving me at some point,” Minho gave Thomas a playful kiss before stepping out of the unlocked washroom door. He smirked at the small whimper before closing it fully.

This was gonna be so much fun!

[thebookkeeperslibrary]

Lost Time: Ch. 7

Fandom: Time Warp Trio

Author: The_Bookkeeper_96

Rating: T

Summary: Another summer at Horae Manor begins, but before Joe and Tessa get the chance to train, they are sent out on a mission to explore the magic capital of the universe, Mancika. Rumors of illegal magic conversion spread throughout the city, and Joe and Tessa need to locate those responsible. But after the events of last summer, Joe isn't eager to work with his Aether partner, and the two are struggling more with each other than with their enemies.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. A lot of big life-changes have been happening for me lately. Anyway, enjoy! And as always, please let me know what you think by leaving a review!

Read on AO3

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"I simply cannot save the world on an empty stomach." - Dawne Lisle, Thirteenth Warp Wizard

When I wake up the next morning, I'm no longer physically exhausted. But I still feel drained, like my soul is exhausted. My magic definitely hasn't returned yet.

It's easy enough to get out of bed and get dressed for the day. I throw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, hoping that this will be acceptable enough for whatever Cassius and Rowena have in store for me and Tessa today. But just what did they have planned? They didn't give us any details last night. Hopefully, they’ll reveal a bit more at breakfast.

I mentally check the time. Even in a world between worlds, I can still pinpoint the exact time, seven forty-eight. Breakfast would be starting soon, so I make my way to the dining hall.

Surprisingly, and unfortunately, I'm not the first one there. Tessa sits at her usual spot, twirling her sabre, a far-off look in her eyes. She doesn't even notice me until I take my seat directly across from her.

"Oh!" She fumbles with her sword, quickly flipping it closed and putting it away. "S-sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

I sit back in my chair and say nothing. Something's off with her this morning, but why? I don't think I've ever heard her stutter before. Where is her normally cool and confident self? Did last night in the gym really throw her off that much?

Her eyes search mine. I don't know what she's hoping to find, but I do my best to not give her anything. "Did you, uh, sleep well last night?"

"Like a rock."

She nods and looks down. "That's good."

I take a closer look at her face. Dark circles hang under her eyes. Had she not been able to sleep last night? I shake my head and turn away. Whatever, it's not like I care about her sleeping habits. One restless night wouldn't kill her. And besides, it was probably some form of karma anyway.

I keep studying her face. She did seem genuinely upset last night. Devastated actually. Her reaction had been a little over the top given the situation. Is there something else bothering her? Besides the whole 'save the entire space-time continuum' thing. But I mean, that's practically nothing.

I press my lips together. We couldn't keep going like this. We were stuck together and who knows what Cas and Ro are planning for us today.

It's not easy, but I manage to say, "Listen, I don't blame you for what happened last night. You heard Cas. It was my fault."

She waves me off and rests her head on her hand. "No, it's fine. It's not the first time. I always mess things up."

Before I can ask her what she means by that, Sam hurries into the room. He crashes into the chair next to me, nearly pushing me out of mine. "Joe! Thank goodness you're here. I need to talk to you. Last night, in the library…" he stops, panting heavily.

Tessa and I both lean forward. "What?" we ask together.

"There- I saw- we saw," he continues to huff, "a ghost!"

"A ghost?" I ask. I can’t help the doubt that creeps into my voice. Okay, so Sam's not adjusting well…

"Who's we?" Tessa adds. Any traces of her earlier self-doubt or depression are gone. Her usual mask of over-confidence and sassy attitude reappears.

"Juniper and I." Sam rearranged himself to properly sit in his chair. "And yes a ghost." He glares pointedly at me.

"Are you sure?" I ask, at the same time Tessa says, "What did it look like?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. She didn't really believe him, right? But she ignored me, her full focus on Sam and his story.

He nods eagerly and starts talking a mile a minute, "Yes, ask Juniper. She was with me. She was reading these weird books and promised to teach me about magic. Oh! Speaking of weird books-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Tessa cuts him off. She places her hands on the table in front of her. "Did you say June was reading? But she-"

"Doesn't like books, I know." Sam finishes her sentence.

Between the two of them, I don't know if any sentence will be finished. We're definitely not going to get the whole story this way. Part of me wondered if we should even be talking about this right now. Wouldn't it be better to wait for everyone else to arrive? At the very least, Cas and Ro should hear this.

"Okay, Sam," I offer, "let's assume you did see a ghost. Why don't you take a second to breathe and calm down? Then, when everyone else gets here, you can tell us what happened."

He frowns at me, knowing I don't believe him. To be fair, it wasn't like Sam to just make up some wild story like this. Fred, sure, but not him. We had seen some crazy stuff over the years. I guess seeing a ghost inside a magic school isn't too out of the ordinary for us.

"That's not a bad idea. I have a few questions for June anyway." Tessa sits back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest.

I smile to myself. Maybe there's hope for our little motley group yet.

Of course, that thought gets ruined as soon as I think it.

"For the last time, no." Arwen growls and stomps into the room.

Fred trails in behind her, whining, "Oh, come on, why not?"

"Because I said no. I really can't simplify that any more." She plants herself in the chair next to Tessa with a huff.

"Please? Aren’t we friends now? Why can’t I-"

"Shut up!" Arwen stabs her knife into the table. It vibrates in place, barely an inch away from Fred's fingers.

I jump back, staring wide-eyed at the knife. Just how bad did Fred piss her off? It's only eight in the morning. Sure, Fred can be annoying, but that is excessive.

Fred recoils. "I just thought we really bonded last night."

"Sounds like you two had a lot of fun," Tessa says with a smirk. "I'd love to hear more about this bonding experience."

Arwen glares at her. "You can shut up too."

She rolls her eyes in response and offers Fred a pitiful smile. "Don't take it personally. Ari’s not a morning person, and she really struggles with anger management."

Juniper giggles as she enters the dining hall and joins us at the table. "I'll say. Remember that time she lost it on those kids in the park because they hit her with one of their water balloons?"

"That was completely justifiable."

"They were, like, eight."

Arwen groans and buries her head in her hands. "Okay, everyone can officially shut up. It's too early for this."

"Too early for what?" Our final two members finally walk into the room and take their seats at the head of the table. "I hope you're not ready to go back to bed. You kids have a big day ahead of you."

We all perk up at that. "We do?"

Cas nods. "Oh yes, but first, we must eat." He waves his hand. Green mist hovers over the table and vanishes just as quickly, leaving behind a full breakfast buffet.

Easily distracted by the food, I load my plate with a stack of pancakes and begin drowning them in syrup.

I distantly hear Sam cough next to me, and judging by the pointed look he's giving me, it's not the first time he's done it. He looks from me to Juniper, to Cas and Ro. I almost wish I didn't understand his hint.

Setting down my fork, I sigh. Why does he have to be so dramatic? "Can't we eat first? I'm starving."

"Not surprising considering the surge of magic you let out last night," Cas says, eyeing me closely. "We should look you over before we leave today."

I wave him off, hoping my exhaustion doesn't show too much. "I feel fine. Really."

Cas and Ro both give me a look letting me know they don't believe me for one second. Well, it was worth a shot. I don't want to have to go to the infirmary. I was hoping to avoid it this summer. My nose twinges at the memory of last year's injury.

"Anyway," I say, eager to change the subject. I point to Sam. "Sam claims he saw a ghost last night."

I can't help but notice Juniper tense up. Her hair is covering her face, so I can't read her expression. Sam had said she'd been there last night too. But she’s acting much too casual for someone who saw a ghost the night before.

Sam nods so hard, his glasses almost fall off. "It- he looked sort of like an old monk. He didn't feel nice."

Fred snorts. "He didn't feel nice?"

Sam throws his hands in the air. "I don't know how else to describe it. It felt like he wanted to hurt us. And he sort of did. Somehow, he pressurized the whole room. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head." He stares at all of us. No one looks entertained by his story, let alone like we believe him. He rubs his hand down his face and glares at Juniper. "A little help here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Juniper says, joining the conversation for the first time. She pushes her hair out of her face. "It must have been some trick of the light combined with all that old dust in the library."

"The library?" Cas hums, stroking his chin. "Did this ghost have a really thick beard? And was it wearing heavy robes?"

"Yes!" Sam slams his hands down, practically jumping on the table.

Cas lets out a light laugh. "Oh, that's just old Flamel. He's harmless. In fact, he helped me find my way out of the library when I got lost in there as a kid. Good to know he's still floating around.

Sam's mouth drops open. "Good to know? You knew there were ghosts here and you didn't say anything?"

Rowena shrugs. "We really never had the time or need to tell you."

"Oh, that reminds me." Cas clasps his hands together. "There's a flock of pixies in one of the old classrooms. So, please don't enter any locked rooms. Those things are a pain to catch."

"It took us three weeks to find them all last time," Ro adds, as if this is a perfectly normal conversation to be having.

I blink, a thousand questions running through my mind. Mainly, what are pixies? But also, how often did they get out? Is that something Tessa and I would be doing every month? A heavy sigh escapes my lungs, and I stare at the ceiling. No, Tessa and I have much bigger things on our plate. The universe isn't going to save itself.

"I think we figured out mythic creatures were real last summer when we met the Drake," I point out to everyone. In hindsight, ghosts and pixies, whatever those are, don't seem so strange. Our lives were like a fairy tale, better to swallow that large pill now and move on. "Speaking of summer adventures, you mentioned we had a big day ahead of us?" I turn the conversation to my mentors, hoping they'll give us more information. And that they'll talk enough so I can finish my breakfast in peace. I shove some toast in my mouth before they even have a chance to deflect the conversation back to me.

Rowena frowns at my poor table manners. "Yes, well, today Cassius and I have to go to Mancika. An emergency council meeting has been called, and we can't miss it."

"I thought you two were in charge of the council." Tessa leans across the table to have a better view. "Can't you just reschedule?"

"That's the thing with emergency meetings, they tend to be time sensitive. So, no." Cas replies.

Rowena continues, "While we're gone, we can't simply leave you all to your own devices. So you'll be coming with us."

I nearly choke on my toast. Mancika? As in, the capital of the magic world? I'd seen in it pictures in some of the books Cas gave me to read last year. I probably should have done more than stare at the pictures, but it looked really cool. However, being there, sitting in on a meeting all day didn’t sound very fun. Even if it was for a magic council.

Like she's reading my thoughts, Tessa asks, "You're bringing us to Mancika so we can watch a council session?"

Rowena snorts. "Hardly. Even if you're potential future Great Wizards, council sessions are private, with very few exceptions. We have something else in mind for you."

"Going head to head with magical criminals?"

"Spying on your enemies?"

"Infiltrate an evil dark magic syndicate?"

"What? No," Rowena groans as Cassius chuckles at our responses. She elbows him in the side. "Don't encourage them." He merely rolls his eyes in response.

Their back and forth is kind of a shock. It's the first time I've seen them actually act like siblings. I didn't realize it when I first met them, but in hindsight, I was blind. The two are obviously twins. Other than their eyes, they’re identical. I wonder how that affects their work. I know I couldn't be stuck with Anna like that forever. We'd kill each other. I take a quick glimpse at Tessa out of the corner of my eye. Then again, we aren't exactly off to a great start either. I almost wish my sister was here instead, but she can't do magic.

With a sigh, Rowena explains what we're actually doing today. "We just need you to do some research for us."

A collective groan rises from everyone. They were sending us to the biggest magical city and making us do research? It seems almost cruel to send us there and then just stick us in a library all day. This is definitely busy work to keep us occupied while they get to do the important stuff.

"Now, hold on. We haven't told you what you'll be researching. I promise it's important, and it actually relates to our council meeting today. So it will be useful and valuable information." Cas's hands begin to glow and a cloud of green smoke appears above the table. Slowly a vision starts forming, becoming clearer and clearer until it reveals a news reporter standing in front of a museum. "No doubt you have heard about the recent artifact robberies occurring at several museums and private collections across the world."

Everyone nods. This had been all over the news recently, but it started over a year ago. It’s nothing new.

Tessa and I lock eyes across the table, and I'm sure we’re thinking the same thing. Are they about to tell everyone about the time decay and our role in it? I'm not sure I want that. And why would they pull us out yesterday to tell us about the doomsday countdown clock in private if they were just going to tell everyone about it today? Did they really think a day was long enough for us to adjust to that kind of news?

I chew on my bottom lip and let Cas continue. Tessa taps her fingers on the table, clearly just as anxious as me.

"We need you to sneak around Mancika and see what information you can find as to why this is happening." The vision he'd created changes to an eagle-eye view of a city, presumably Mancika.

The city is laid out in a circle, with clear roads (or are those walls?) that divide it into nine parts. The center of Mancika is an isolated smaller circle housing a few very large buildings. I didn't need to read anything about the place to understand that's the most important part, and no doubt where Cas and Ro are going for their meeting.

"So we are going on a secret mission!" Fred practically jumps up and down in his seat.

"Of a sort. If thinking that way helps you focus on the task at hand, then fine,” Ro says with a sigh. “Welcome to your first official secret mission debriefing."

We all sit up a little straighter at that. Saying it that way made this much more exciting.

Cas clears his throat in a very dramatic sort of way, making his sister roll her eyes. “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to discover any and all information pertaining to the disappearance of these artifacts and the corruption of the time periods they come from.

“For some reason, certain periods of time have become unstable and thus parts of history are vanishing. This may be due to natural causes in the space-time continuum, but we have reason to believe that someone or a group of people is causing this chaos and destruction, but we don’t know who.”

Ro picks up where he left off. “That’s where you kids come in. Cas and I are far too well-known and recognizable in Mancika. No one will be willing to tell us any information without fear of getting in trouble themselves. But you all are strangers and will be able to blend in with the locals and listen to any rumors relating to this issue.

“For this to work, you must maintain a low-profile. So no showing off with magic.” She gives me a pointed look. I flinch away. Last night had been an accident. Besides, I don’t think I could summon up that much magic right now even if I wanted to.

“Time is of the essence. As soon as we can put a stop to this, the better. Any questions?”

Um, yeah. About a hundred. My mouth stays shut though, and we all shake our heads.

“Perfect. Joe and Tessa, we have a few more things for you. Everyone else is dismissed. Go pack any items you think you’ll need, but keep it light. If all goes well, we’ll all be back here tonight just in time for dinner.”

All our friends get up and leave the room, chatting excitedly with each other. All the previous tension between them seems to be gone for the moment. I wonder how long that will last.

“That was a very censored version of what’s actually happening.” Tessa leans back and kicks her feet up on the table.

“That’s the point.” Ro flicks her wrist and a gust of magic sweeps Tessa’s legs back to the floor. She frantically grabs for the table, trying not to fall over, and I have to suppress a laugh. “If you want to tell them the truth, that’s a decision you two need to make. Together.”

My laughter dies in my throat. “So this whole mission is just a team building exercise?

“It has multiple purposes. We do need information on the time decay, but you two need to work on your teamwork and leadership skills.”

“Excuse you, I am a great leader.” Tessa puffs out her chest. “You saw how smoothly the Egypt operation went with me, Ari, and June.”

“Yes, but now you have more people to lead and a co-leader to collaborate with.”

I resist the urge to look at Tessa. It figures she would already have more experience than me with magic missions. I don’t know what the “Egypt operation” is, but it sounds like it went smoother than the time Fred, Sam, and I warped there. And it wasn’t even our skills that got us out. It was a cat and some luck.

“So what do you want us to do?” I ask.

Cas’ lips move into a half-smile. “It’s entirely up to you two. We’ve given you a goal, now work together to figure out the best way to achieve it.”

Tessa frowns and looks back and forth between our mentors. “You’re not going to give us any tips or advise?”

“None at all. You have an hour to prepare. Use your time wisely.”

[bates--boy]

One would think that in such a restaurant bar such as this, -- a branch-off of a four-star tourist-trap hotel, a hub of travel-weary businesspeople and high school socialites with fake IDs, all in top-brand suits and casuals and shoes -- the drinks would be the nectar milked from the teats of whatever deities represented alcoholic drinks.

But they’re shit. They’re absolute shit.

Still, Peter sat hunched over his glass of gin, musing without amusement how it would be no different if he just went to any old convenience store with a medical shelf, buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol with a high isopropyl content and down that, instead. No, there would be one difference: it wouldn’t taste as watered-down.

He planted the slice of lemon in his mouth, nibbling it to mitigate some of the taste of disappointment, scrolling through his home feed to stave off the awful mood of being wrung dry by the bearded, buff barbarian in a sleek black button-up, and the faceless corporation that he worked for. But some part of him was looking to feed his foul mood, or maybe he was feeling adventurous, because he mulled over whether or not he should order a glass of champagne and keep the train of minor bad decisions going. It was the weekend, after all, and he wouldn’t need to be back to work for another week.

When he forced another sip of the gin down his throat, Peter was ready to decide against it when a flute appeared before him, anyhow. “Er...” Peter said, reaching for the waiter’s arm to stop him from popping open the bottle. “I didn’t order this.”

The waiter across the room. “Courtesy of the gentleman over there.”

Furrowing his brow, Peter turned his stool in the direction the server pointed out, ignoring the gentle pop of the undone cork and the hiss of bubbles.

Immediately, a hand rose above the crowd, the crystal whiskey glass capturing what light it could in this dimly-lit cave and twinkling many colors like a beacon in a gray sea.

Either the distance and the low lights must be to blame, or Peter must be forgiven for being mean, but the guy looked like a bore.

Average rectangular frame, his receding and lackluster dark hair snipped into a budget hair style, slacks that were reminiscent of the private high schools of every wild child’s nightmare. Only thing about the man that stood out (at least from across the room) was the well-worn leather jacket with its tarnished buckles, a vintage beauty that spoke to Peter’s tendency for nostalgia.

But a jacket ain’t enough to impress, so Peter turned back to the server to order him to take the drink back, only to find that the man had already disappeared, leaving the filled flute and the open bottle on the bar table. 

“Ah, shit...” Peter mumbled. He picked up the flute and lifted it, lips curled in a half-assed grin to the “gentleman”, whose own face seemed to brightened. And then...

“Ah, shit!” Peter hissed under his breath as he watched the other man rise out of his seat god fucking damn it. And despite his attempt to look casual, the guy sure was legging it, a quarter of the way to Peter’s table by the time Peter had drained half the flute. And maybe the bubbles were getting to Peter’s head, because in the blink of an eye, the gentleman was easing himself onto the seat next to Peter, resting his elbows on the table, giving an oozing, schmoozing smile as Peter hurried to refill his glass. 

“I had a feeling you’d like the top-quality stuff,” the gentleman said.

The “top-quality” stuff tasted like diet off-brand grape soda two years past its expiration date, but still... “Thank you,” Peter murmured. His gratitude was genuine; at least he wouldn’t have to waste money on what he knew was going to be an awful drink thanks to the generosity of the other man. That didn’t change the fact that he kept his head down, eyes on his phone screen, his voice soft from immediate withdrawal of this conversation. 

Of course, the gentleman took it as modesty, and leaned in a bit closer. “You know, it’s been pretty hard finding a lady so refined around here.”

Peter almost choked on the drink, barely catching himself. He cleared his throat, reaching for the folded napkin left with the bottle to dab away the drops on his lips. Thank god for Vice lipstick. 

Peter knew he could never hope for the rich baritone of James Earl Jones or Vin Diesel, but he had something, so he used it when he lifted his head and returned the gentleman’s grin. “Why, thank you, sir.” Then, he waited for the not-all-that-feminine deep voice to register on the other man’s voice, for the man’s eyes to go clear and see all the subtle masculine traits hidden underneath the fashion, like the beginnings of an angular jaw despite the youthful plump and rosiness of Peter’s cheeks, or the broadness of Peter’s lean shoulders to make up for the lack of bodybuilder muscles, or a chest that was flat beyond bee-sting A cups. He waited for...

Well, Peter didn’t know what reaction he was waiting for -- confused, maybe over-the-top like the man apologizing profusely or toppling from his chair to get away, or red in the face and foamy at the mouth, as if Peter’s mere existence in a dress was to cheat him out of an unrequested drink -- but he didn’t expect the heat in the man’s eyes to burn brighter, or the flash of white teeth as the man briefly nibbled his bottom lip. 

For a moment, Peter froze, his mouth cinching close, his jaw locking, something besides the cheap grape juice curdling in his gut. He lowered the glass and tried to wade through the conflicting storms of his hunger for attention and the electrical fright that made him want to zap right out of the room. He gazed around, telepathically calling for an adult, any adult, to come intervene.

The man curled his fingers around Peter’s chin and tilted his head back to him, taking in Peter’s wider eyes and, once more, mistaking it for whatever Peter didn’t even want to know. The man’s brow quirked. He lowered his hand to Peter’s forearm. How can a hand be so dry yet so clammy? “I guess you don’t really do this often, do you?”

When Peter slowly and silently shook his head, something alit even brighter in the man’s eyes. “Wait... would I be the first?” 

Peter would have answered, would have said “no”, not because he had experience with this before, but because he had no experience with this before and he wasn’t planning on doing so ever. But he was frozen further with shock, stunned at the eager in the question, as if the gentleman wanted a resounding “yes”. He swallowed against the tightness of his throat. 

The gentleman chuckled before Peter could say anything. “Wow.... well, alright, then! Don’t worry, I can make your first time here splendid, so you know how to do this right. Do you want to name your price here, or over dinner, or in the room?”

Peter shook his head. “I don’t want--” He blinked, feeling his mouth fall open. “Wait, what?”

The gentleman reached over Peter to get the napkin. He flicked it open, and both of them watched as the plastic card with the hotel’s blue and lavender logo landed on the surface. The man picked up the key card, and the gleam on the man’s wrist finally caught Peter’s eyes. A large, silver watch studded with diamonds around the face. What also hadn’t passed Peter’s notice was the twinkle of the golden band around the other man’s finger.

The storm in Peter’s head brewed more violently, as fire burned under his skin and spread all over his face. He wondered what part of his ensemble -- a brown cashmere jacket, a baby blue skater dress, and black boots no taller than his ankles (wait, was it the fishnet stockings?!) -- gave this guy the idea that Peter was in that part of the field. He imagined that somewhere out there, a wife and two and a half kids were tucked away in a picket fence property, waiting for the return of this piece of shit. And enthralled by the fury that the last thought wrought, Peter developed an urge to throw the drink into this man’s face, followed by a fist with the full force of four tons of steel and concrete.

And centered in the wild storm, still and resolute like a shelter promising protection from the lethal weather, was another bad idea.

Peter kept his eyes wide, holding on to some semblance of his dissipating shock and confusion to help sell the act. He took another tentative sip of his drink. “Oh, well, okay. We can just go to your room, if you want. We can also make it a party if we have another one of these...” He picked up the open bottle and slowly swirled it, tilting his head.

The man nodded and raised a hand to grab the waiter’s attention.

---

Excitement set Peter’s fingertips tingling.

It came not from the bottle of champagne passed between himself and John (not really the guy’s name), nor from the smacking wet lips and the pawing hands John pressed against whatever part of Peter’s body he could reach (at least he had enough decency to not try to kiss Peter’s mouth). It came from the idea taking root within Peter’s skull. Through the buzz, Peter realized that the idea was a fuzzy picture that needed further development. So, he sharpened the image, turning it over as the two men stumbled arm-in-arm out the elevator and down the hall. A familiar stoicism settled in his chest as he tried to work out all the kinks, thought over the many ways this could go wrong and how to prevent them or weasel his way out of them. He felt like he was on the battlefield again in trying to make this foolproof.

That stony, removed feeling crumbled to dust when John stopped in front of a door and fumbled to stick his keycard in the slot with drunk hands. Oh shit, came the sobering thought once again. I’m really going to do this.

The door beeped and John reached behind him to grab Peter’s wrist. Peter let out a series of yelps as John tugged him inside, slammed the door shut, shoved Peter against the door, and locked him in place by tangling his legs with Peter’s legs and wrapping an arm around the small of Peter’s back. And then, to the Sealander’s utter, stomach-dropping horror, came the humping. 

It shouldn’t have surprised Peter, since he knew what John was after, but to so suddenly be thumping against the wooden door while some drunkard ground...pound...rubbed? What was John even thinking he was doing? He was doing something with his pulsing ere..ction against Peters pelvis, and whatever it was, Peter’s body was stunned, the lights above them blinding his eyes as he tried to turn his head away, with a thought ringing loud:

I can’t do this.

Ican’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothisIcan’tdothis

And his fort called to him, ready to put some force in his fight whenever he was ready, reminding him that he had no need to succumb to the sickening, sinking terror and regret. And, oh, how much easier it would make things, to just bash John’s nose in or throat punch him, watch him struggle to breath until he fell unconscious, or punch him in the chest and hope that it was the right moment, the split second between heartbeats...

Then John’s other hand slid up the wall, and Peter caught the shine of his wedding band before John tangled his fingers into Peter’s hair, tugging to angle his head and expose his neck. The fear rot into anger, the anger into dogged and vengeful determination, as Peter felt John reach down to tug at his skirt, and slobber against his neck, “So, how much?”

Peter grabbed onto that moment of clarity, calmed himself with it to think clearly, and began wriggling and shifting his body until John was dry humping Peter’s outer thigh. He let out a flat p.or.n star moan, louder and more strained than John’s muffled grunting, and tugged at the shell of John’s ear with his teeth. “That depends, sweetheart: what do you want, and how long you can go.” And because he was feeling silly, he dropped one of the bottles -- it was mostly empty, anyway -- and used his free hand to smack the tragically tiny bump through John’s slacks that must have to pass for John’s ass cheek. It felt like hitting a brick wall.

But it worked. John backed off enough for Peter to guide them away from the door and to sit his gentleman caller on a nearby chair. He then mounted John’s lap with enough space between them that Peter wouldn’t feel John’s enthusiasm between his legs again, and wrenched the cork out of the second bottle with his teeth. John laid out his demands in a tone that sounded like suggestions, snaking a hand up Peter’s skirt. Peter tossed out some high bullshit numbers to demands he forgot the moment they were spoken, putting the bottle to John’s lips and taking John’s hand off his thigh to suck on one of his fingers (and hoping that the bathroom had complementary mouthwash). With the deal made and already forgotten on Peter’s part, Peter slid off John’s lap and unlaced his boots.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Peter said, toeing his footwear off and shrugging out of his jacket, “I’d like to get freshened up for you. Get the stuff ready for us?” When John tugged out a condom and packet of lube from his pocket with a nod, Peter skipped off to the bathroom.

He closed the door and went to the sink. He turned the water on, and then began the shakes. With trembling fingers and unsteady hands, Peter tried to splash cold water on his face, multiple times, and only stopped once the temperature made his teeth chatter worse and after getting water all over the sink top, the floor, and some of his hair that fell to his face. He straightened, yanking a hand towel from the rack and patting his face dry, then wetting a corner of it to wipe down his neck and collarbone and legs, not caring that it was wetting his stockings as long as the feeling can be scrubbed off. 

The towel dropped to the floor; Peter searched frantically for the mouthwash and, finding it, guzzled half the tiny bottle and swishing it until it burned into his gums. He spat, and felt so awful for the housekeeper who will have to come in and clean his mess, but when he straightened from the bowl and looked at the mess reflected in the mirror, Peter’s focused was on one thing:

He was going to do this.

He was already nauseous, still stunned by the feel of another man’s erection to the point of being dizzy, but he was in a foul enough mood to want to go through with it. 

So, he left the bathroom, finding John standing in the middle of the room, holding a phone to his ear.

“--sweetie, I’ll be home in a couple days, then we can take that vacation.”

Peter approached John’s back, feeling a twinge of satisfaction as he pressed himself against John’s jacket, nestled his chin on John’s shoulder, and ran his palms up and down John’s thighs (not exactly touching anywhere near the pitch tent) then his hips, and then the brick wall that was his ass. It felt mechanical, like Peter playing airport security, but the grazing hands were enough to draw out a sharp gasp from his... client.

“Listen, I’ll have to call you tomorrow, I need to get some rest for tomorrow’s meeting. Love you, bye!”

John tossed the phone on the bed. He gave a shiver as Peter’s hands roamed higher and massage his chest through his shirt. 

Peter kissed John’s shoulder through the jacket. “Hey, you promised me that you’ll make my first time doing this splendid, right?” he murmured.

“Mhm,” John moaned.

Peter nuzzled his nose along the back of John’s neck, breathed on it, whispering, “Well... what if I don’t want splendid? What if I want real? What if I want...” he disguised the chuckle over this utter bullshit as a breathy, needy moan. “Wild?”

John furrowed his eyebrows. “Wild?”

Peter grabbed the jacket’s lapels and yanked them back, wrenching the fabric down until it bunched messily around John’s wrist and bound them behind his back. This could have gone south quickly; maybe John wasn’t into bondage, maybe he was repulsed by it. Maybe he found the idea infuriating, that some fresh-faced streetwalker new to the game and too stupid to ask for money upfront thinks he’s so special, thinks he’s so cute, that he can just change up the terms and, worse, dominate? And maybe Peter was hoping for that, hoping that John would be so turned off that he’d throw Peter out.

But then Peter grabbed a fistful of John’s hair and yanked his head back. The man let out a choked whimper, his hips twitching forward.

“How much would you cough up to make this unforgettable for me?” Peter grunted, toying with John’s belt and holding in a shudder as he felt the cock push against the fabric.

John opened his eyes, and Peter could see them rolled to the back of his head. “You can clear out my bank account.”

It would be a lie to say that Peter wasn’t tempted, to reverse course and make this a real transaction. Why the fuck should he care about some faceless woman far away, it wasn’t Peter’s marriage in the ruins. And maybe a night of getting laid would do his foul mood some good; probably not a good  lay, but how the hell would Peter know the difference? 

Plus, who wouldn’t want to be swimming in coin for a night of feigned passion?

Then the phone started to buzz, and the groan John howled out wasn’t pleasure. “God, I hope that bitch isn’t calling me, again.”

Peter pressed his tongue to his cheek. Nope, none of that was worth it.

He unfastened the belt and trailed enticing kisses along John’s shoulder, up to behind his ear as he worked the button and fly. He tugged the pants down to the ankles, ordering John to step out of them. He led John to the bed and pushed him facedown on the mattress, and went back to take out the belt from the discarded pants. When he returned to the bed, Peter looked down on the sprawling figure with his ass in the air. If he pulled down John’s unremarkable undies down to his ankles, Peter could just leave him like that, since by the time John hobbled his way to the door and managed to get it open, Peter would be long gone. But Peter had to be careful, see how far and how much he could take this.

Standing beside the bed, Peter freed John from his temporary restraints and flipped him onto his back. A hip jutting out, with his teeth biting on his bottom lip, Peter wound one end of the belt around a hand and yanked, snapping the belt. He’d think that with all the times he’s posed like this in front of the camera, it would come easily to him now, but maybe it’s too different when the viewer was right there, and could see his face. Yet, for all the awkwardness Peter felt, John didn’t seem to sense it, gazing up at Peter with glazed-over eyes.

Peter moved John’s hands up to the bed post. Once the watch and ring came off and were set on the bedside table, muscle memory took over, and Peter could almost smell the salt of the sea and the rust of his fort as he looped the belt around the wrists and the wooden post like the many times he secured items to his platform. One final tug, and the leather was biting into John’s limb, already rubbing the skin red as John squirmed to get comfortable. Peter’s hands trailed down John’s arm, down his torso, going to his lap and digging fingernails into the flesh, feeling nothing when John’s breath hitch and came out in a low hiss, still feeling removed when he released John’s thigh and left nail marks.

‘Oh, god,” John rasped, his head lolling to the side. “Oh, please fuck me, Mistress.”

Peter wanted him to shut up, so he stepped back, hiking his skirt up to tug off his boxer briefs and stockings, overly aware of John watching him. He separated the garments, balling the underwear up in his fist. “Open your mouth. Now.”

John’s mouth dropped open, his eyes rolled back once more at the taste of Peter’s fabric being stuffed inside. Surreptitiously, Peter tucked his skirt between his thighs to add another layer of barrier between his own exposure and John as he half-straddled the man’s lap. He hooked his finger through John’s neck tie and undid it, forcing his shaking hands to steady so tying the accessory around John’s eyes wouldn’t be sloppy. He leaned down until he was cheek to cheek with John.

“I’m going to make the next few hours worth every cent, my filthy little slut.” Oh, how Peter was glad John couldn’t see his face twist with self-degrading disgust. He sent out an apology to all the stars of his old favorite stag films for failing them. “Let me get the lube warmed up and the condom ready, then you can make me cum as many times as you can before I even let you.” 

He swung his leg back over John, leaving the bastard shivering with glee as he backed away from the bed. 

The timer was set.

Peter skipped over to the pants, crouching and digging out the wallet he felt in the back pocket. He pulled out the pink wads of kronor and shoved it in his pocket. He stared at the corners of the credit cards poking out of their sleeves, and looked towards the panting, writhing mess on the bed.

You can clear out my bank account.

But he shook his head clear of the temptation and stood up, returning to the bedside; might as well minimize the potential jail time as much as possible. With great care, Peter picked up the watch and ring and placed them in the pocket so they wouldn’t clink. He stared at his client, taking a deep, quiet breath.

And finally: insurance.

He hooked his fingers in John’s waistband, his face twisting up once more. Do it like a band-aid... like a band-aid... Pursing his lips against the rising bile, squeezing his eyes shut and turning his face away, Peter whipped the underwear down. He filled his lungs again, holding it in as he cracked an eyelid open and pulled his phone out.

It’s the same equipment that you have, Peter. The reminder did next to nothing to help quell the screech as his eyes met the swollen and stiff member, uncomfortably pink against the pallor of John’s legs, oozing precum.

“Holy fucking shit,” Peter cringed. He tapped on the camera, made sure that the shutter feature and the flash were both off, and aimed at the sad view that made his skin crawled. He bent down to plant a couple more kisses along John’s calf. It was an odd place to show affection to, but as long as John thought it was still leading to something, and Peter didn’t have to touch his genitals, it would do. He rose from the bed and swiped the leather jacket, draping it over his arm and picking up his own jacket and boots.

In the next breath, Peter was out the door, feeling the coldness within him snap and fall into pieces when it clicked closed behind him.

He did it.

He turned and walked off, leaving behind the muffled noise from John as it turned from confusion to protestation to outright fury, but growing ever softer as Peter legged it. His free hand patted the bulge in his dress pocket as he rounded the corner, and the shakes returned, making the air coming into his lungs shallow, making his skin prickle and his vision tunnel and sway.

When something pushed up his throat, Peter feared it was vomit, or a scream, or a cry. It definitely had to be a cry, as the sensation of John’s dick between his legs burned all over. But it was a laugh. He laughed. Because it shouldn’t have been that easy, but he did it! And --

He stumbled to the nearest trash can, knocking the top off and emptying his stomach in the refuse.

When it was over and Peter came up for air, he wiped his mouth and looked around, feeling so separated from this plane. This called for a celebration.

He rummaged through his jacket pocket, the cashmere one he came in, and pulled out the shades. Then he clipped on the watch and pulled out the wad of cash, setting the jackets and boots down on the floor next to his feet. Raising the phone up, he tilted his head and stuck his little tongue out.

[chipper9906]

Stay, If Only For A Moment

***SEASON 15 SPOILERS***

Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 5296

Status: Oneshot- Complete

Summary: "You know what I would appreciate, Dean?" Castiel interrupts his angry words, the question enough to get Dean to stutter to a stop. "I would appreciate if you didn't just assume you knew how I felt"

Based on that scene from Season 15 Episode 2, where Dean and Castiel have a small argument about Chucks influence in their lives.

"Don't."

Dean spat the command at him with such venom, such disgust, lips snarling as if he was struggling to keep back what he really wanted to say.

Castiel couldn't help it. He flinches ever so slightly, practically able to feel the anger rolling off of Dean in waves. He knew that they had a lot on their plate right now, not even mentioning what had happened before this whole mess.

Castiel knew full well that he had, as the Winchesters would say "fucked up". It hadn't been the first time he had kept something hidden from the brothers, and while they were two very different situations, it had been a long, hard journey of regaining their trust. Would it be the same again? It wasn't like they had the time for it, not when the world as they knew it was crumbling around them, the souls of the damned crawling out of Hell to wreak havoc among the living.

But what else was he supposed to do? Jack's death had been crushing in of its own rights, even when comforted by the fact that his human soul had granted him entry into heaven. Then, finding out that the Empty wanted him, refused to rest until he dragged Jack down into that dark, endless sleep? Surely Dean would understand that he couldn't have just let that happen? That he had to take the risk, of whatever happens to his own life, to ensure Jack's safety and well-being?

He didn't know, though. That's why he didn't tell him. The fear that, if Dean knew of what had become of Jack, or more, what he no longer was, that Dean couldn't risk it, couldn't risk the possibility of Jack losing control. So, he didn't tell Dean. Didn't tell them that he had made a deal, his own life for Jack's. Didn't tell them that while yes, Jack was back, his soul had been reduced to nothing. Didn't tell them the worrying signs he had begun to see.

He didn't tell them. And now, Mary was dead, by Jack's hands. Now, despite giving up his own life to bring Jack back, Chuck had taken him away with the snap of his fingers.

Yes. He had fucked up.

Which is why he was here now. This...thing between himself and Dean. This awful tension, a feeling of uncertainty between them, that one wrong word could set the other off, whether that be into a spew of hateful words, or in a flurry of fists, both undesirable, but the latter being one that might just push them both over the edge of no return.

So, he was here, trying to apologize. He wasn't entirely sure what it is that he had said, nothing more than an apology from what he had heard of himself, and yet to get such a visceral reaction from Dean, for something as simple as an attempt at apologising?

The force behind the word was as powerful as any punch would be. It wasn't just the clear fury packed into the word, it was the disappointment, the scolding tone you'd hear from a mother to their child, a voice that seems to say "How many times do we have to go down this road?"

"You're angry...?"

"Yes, I am angry. At everything. All of it."

"All of it?"

Part of him wondered if he was pushing Dean too far here. Dean had made it very, very clear he was angry. Yet, he needed to know. Needed to know what exactly it was that Dean was angry about. To know that Deans anger wasn't completely directed at him because, if Cas was being honest with himself, he wasn't too sure he could take the brunt of it.

"This mess. All the messes. It turns out we're just hamsters running in a wheel our whole lives, and what do we have to show for it, huh?" Dean lets it all pour from his mouth, all the frustration he's been feeling. "Tell me you don't feel conned. God's been lying to you Cas, forever. You bought into the biggest scam in history."

"You don't think I'm angry?" Castiel asked in disbelief "After what Chuck did, after what he took from me? He killed Jack. But that doesn't mean it was all a lie"

"Really?"

Castiel knew from the get-go that this conversation would be difficult. To turn around Dean's view on everything that was happening right now. But to hear the sharp bite of sarcasm in his voice was made no less painful.

"Chuck is all-knowing. He knew the truth, he... Just kept it to himself."

"Well, now his cover is blown. Everything that we've done, is for what? Nothing."

Nothing? Surely Dean couldn't think that. Surely Dean knew that he was fully aware of the situation they were in, but to say all they've done was for nothing?

"Even if we didn't know that all the challenges we faced were of Chucks imaginations, how would we describe it all? We'd call it - life. Because that's what precisely life is. It's an obstacle course, and maybe Chuck designed the obstacles, but we ran our own race. We made our own moves. And mostly? We did well with that."

"Did we?" Dean argued back, and Castiel’s face fell, hearing the overpowering tone of sarcasm and disbelief in Dean's voice once again. "I'll tell you what we do know- Nothing. Nothing about our lives is real. Everything that we've lost, everything that we are- Is because of Chuck. So, maybe you can stick your head back in the sand, maybe you can pretend that we actually had a choice. I can't."

'Nothing. Nothing about our lives is real' It echoed around Castiel’s head, accompanied by the rhythmic footsteps from Dean as he walked away from him, walked away from this conversation.

No. 

No, He couldn't let Dean walk away from this. From them. This wasn't over yet, and he was tired of Dean running away whenever this thing between them came up, when he was too scared to face it and talk.

"Dean-"

Castiel wasn't looking in his direction, but something in his voice as he called out Dean's name must have reached Dean. The retreating footsteps come to a stop, and the immediate silence after that, unable to hear the shuffling of feet or clothes, tells Castiel that Dean isn't facing him either. Here they were stood, their backs facing one another.

"You asked 'What about all this is real?"

This wouldn't do. He had to see Dean. He needed to look at him in the face, look straight into his eyes. Dean sure as hell wasn't going to talk about how he felt, so what else could Castiel do but try and decipher how he felt from what he could?

Castiel spins around on the spot, expecting to be faced with the back of Dean Winchester. Instead, Dean had partly turned in the doorway to face him, and the guarded look on his face was all too familiar to Castiel.

"We are."

If you weren't looking close enough, it would seem like there was no change to Dean's expression. Castiel knew him well though, could notice the slightest twitch of a muscle just under his eye. What he didn't know, however, was what exactly that meant for him, what emotion that small twitch was trying to convey.

For a while, it's nothing but silence. Neither of them have moved all that much, Dean still stood in the doorway to the room, eyes boring deep into Castiel’s own, both unable to tear there gaze away, unsure where to go from here.

"See, that's the problem, isn't it Cas?" Dean breaks the silence, and Castiel cocks his head to the side slightly.

"Problem?"

Dean laughs weakly, rubbing a tired hand across his face and, when he drops it, he also drops his guard. Castiel can see the bone-deep exhaustion lining Dean's features, the vulnerability he rarely shows shining through his eyes, which now struggle to raise and meet his own.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about..." Dean mutters quietly, a hint of frustration edging his voice.

"No, Dean. I really don't."

"Twelve years, man," Dean whispers to him. "Twelve years I've known you. Twelve years since you walked into my life, and I had no fucking clue the impact it would have."

Twelve years... Had it really been that long? How was it possible that, in his millions of years of existence, that only twelve of them, a small fraction compared to the rest of his life, are the ones that seemed the most important to him?

"And, I... I-- I don't even know when it happened. Not like it came out of nowhere or snuck up on me or whatever. All of a sudden I just knew it was there. And you know what? I didn't do a damn thing about it. I avoided it, as best as I can. Kept it buried as far down as I could, because you know what? I thought that if I ignored it, it would be okay. Because there was no way in hell I could let myself have that, to realise that..."

"Have what?" Castiel asks, and this time it's his turn for the frustration to bleed through.

"To have..." Dean tries to speak, but the hitch in his throat cuts himself off, and he shakes his head at Castiel. "Nothin', Cas. It's nothing. Don't worry about it"

And here Dean was, trying to run away again. And how many times would Castiel accept the defeat, let Dean walk away and calm down, to then treat it like it never even happened the next time they spoke?

"No,” Castiel spoke without even meaning to, slipping out of his mouth without his consent. And yet, he is grateful, as it actually got Dean to stop, stumbling over his feet slightly at the agitated command that had come from Castiel. "I am not doing this again. I am not going to sit back and let you run away. I am sick of it. Sick of getting my hopes up every time, and then for you to take that away when it all becomes too much. How many times have I spilled my own heart to you, Dean? Told you exactly what was on my mind? For once, just once, I'd appreciate it if you returned the favour"

"I don't think you realise what you want," Dean whispered in retaliation. "I don't think you're going to hear what you want to hear."

"Maybe I won't. But it doesn't matter. We're never going to get over this, if you don't talk to me."

"You want me to talk to you?" Dean asked, with that damn tone of sarcasm back once more doing nothing but to rile Castiel up even more.

"Yes.”

"Are you sure about that?"

"Dammit Dean! For once would you-"

"You wanna hear about how I killed myself after you and mom were gone?"

Any words in Castiel’s mouth were ripped right out at that. His jaw stuttered in place, recoiling his head backwards slightly at Dean's confession.

"You... What?"

"It seemed like no matter what we did, God wasn't on our side," Dean said with a humourless chuckle. "You were so damn sure that Jack was going to be the future. Our saving grace, peace on Earth, all that shit, as if you weren't talking about the devil's son"

"Jack wasn't-"

"I know." Dean interrupts him, shaking his head at his attempt to defend Jack. "You knew how I felt about it. How uneasy I felt, all that we were risking, for a kid that could literally wipe out the entire planet? You were so sure. And it got you dead, Cas. I had to fucking watch Lucifer shove that blade through your heart. I've seen you die before--blown to bits, stabbed by that reaper, and still you came back. And you know for a God damn moment, when I watched you drop to the ground, I was expecting you to pop right back up. For some miracle to happen, and you would be fine. For some reason, not until I saw your fucking wing marks in the ground, I... I realised you weren't coming back."

"Dean..."

"All of a sudden we had a Nephilim to deal with, Mom had gone into that portal and you... You were gone. And you know what? I was done. I had enough. I wanted it to be over."

"But... If you killed yourself, then how-?"

"Billy," Dean answers matter-factually. "We were on a ghost hunt and, well, we needed to talk to the ghosts. They weren't talking to the living."

"So you killed yourself?"

"I told Sammy it would only be for a moment. God, Cas, I lied straight to his face. Told him to jam me with that adrenaline, and I'd be right as rain. Billy saw right fucking through me. She knew I wanted to die, and I asked her, man. Asked her not to bring me back."

"But she still did?"

"Apparently it wasn't my time," Dean mumbled. "She brought me back. I never told Sam what I asked of her. Just pretended like it all went how I expected it to. And then Jack, he..."

Dean trailed off, jaw tightening at his own mention of Jack's name.

"I couldn't even look at the damn kid for a while. Every time I looked at him, I saw mom getting yanked through that portal. I saw Crowley stab himself with that blade, I saw your fucking grace burn out through you as you died. Worst of all? I saw you."

"You already said-"

"Not like that. I refused to see it at first, wanted to hold onto that anger. Because if I didn't have someone to blame for your death, then it would just fall to me. I couldn't see how much the kid missed you. That Jack was grieving for you as much as we were. The father he never got to meet, who he so wanted to be like. Every damn day I had to look at this reminder of you, and every day it would remind me that you would never come back."

"It was Jack that brought me back, Dean. He woke me up, and I fought to get back to you, to return to you all. I came back."

"So what?!" Dean yells, and the comment stings Castiel. "You came back, and now? Now you're going to be taken away again! You just had to go and make that stupid fucking deal-"

"You cannot berate me for making a deal, when you did the exact same thing for your brother"

"Yeah, I did. But what did your deal get you, huh? You made that deal, and you didn't tell us. Jack came back different, and you didn't tell us. It got mom killed, and after all that, Jack's dead too"

White-hot fury began to fill Castiel, and he was sure that Dean could sense the static electric on the air just as he did, the grace inside him twisting and pulsing out of control in sync with his emotions.

"You say that like you yourself weren't stood there with that gun ready to kill him moments before," Castiel spat, digging his fingernails into the palm of his hands as they curl into fists at his side. "I had never thought... Never thought you would give up on him so quickly. I knew you never truly cared for him, but you knew how important he was to me. And yet, you were still ready to end his life, like he was nothing-"

"He was my kid too!" Dean roared, storming across the room to Castiel, shoving a finger into his chest as he yells. "Jack meant more to me than you can know. Yeah, we had our rough patches at the beginning, but we worked through it. Coz you know what? You were right. He's a good fucking kid. I was mourning you, and I took my anger out on him, and that was unfair. I get that now. But don't you ever, ever think that I was okay with killing him. I was doing what I thought had to be done"

"What had to be done? Are you saying we should have just killed you, when the mark consumed you, turned you into a demon? Should we have killed Sam, when he returned from the cage without his soul? "

"Those are a hell of a lot different, and you know that. Jack's a fucking Nephilim, Cas. A Nephilim without his soul, that was basically a walking, ticking nuclear bomb, able to wipe out the Earth without even meaning to. Chuck was even scared of him. God himself, feared Jack. Killing Jack would rip me apart, Cas. But would it leave me as guilty, if I left Jack to tear apart the world? What did it matter... I still couldn't do it. Because I do care about him. He's our son, and now... Now he's gone. And fuck, I don't even know when... When the empty is going to take you away too... "

"This is precisely why I didn't want to tell you," Castiel says, softening his voice after Dean's rant. "You were already burdened with so much, I didn't want you to have to worry."

"I'm going to worry no matter what, Cas. If we never found out, and one day you were just... Gone? I would drive myself crazy, trying to figure out what happened to you. Cas, I... I need you. More than I ever have before. I can't see us winning this without you, and... "

"And what?" Castiel inquires

"And... fuck, I'm scared, Cas."

"Scared of what, Dean?" Castiel insists gently, taking one step closer to Dean. He sees the familiar look of panic in Dean's eyes, the same eyes that flick down to the floor, head bowed ever so slightly as he tries to pull away from Castiel.

"Scared that... That I can no longer see you just as a 'friend' anymore..."

The static electric was back once more, though this time for completely different reasons. It was a feeling Cas hasn't felt in a while now, that alluring, budding, growing feeling of hope that settled in his chest at Dean's words, every fibre of his being screaming at him to inch even closer.

"That... That for a while now, I've wanted more."

It still wasn't enough. Things were never clear when it came to Dean, and it was all too easy for Castiel to be jumping to conclusions about what Dean is trying to say, even when the meaning seems clear.

"Even now, I... I don't think I should say it. Admit that, I..."

"Dean," Castiel calls out his name, and Dean closes his eyes at the clear begging sound of it. When he opens his eyes again, "Please. Tell me."

There it was again. That guarded expression on his face as Castiel prodded him for more, and for once Castiel is glad to see it. Because Dean wasn't running away. Maybe, just maybe this was Dean's way of preparing himself. To say what Castiel wanted needed to hear.

"I love you. I tried so hard to pretend it wasn't real, but... it's always...there. I'm always so goddamn aware of it, simmering away in the back of my head. I didn't truly let myself feel it until you were gone. To sit and feel the pain and finally say that yes, I loved you. I loved you, and I never got to tell you."

"I wish you had," Castiel spoke softly. "Dean, I... I never knew. Never thought that..."

Castiel wasn't sure what it was he had said, but Dean's entire demeanour suddenly changed. He raised a hand to press into Castiel’s chest, at first a gentle touch, but then he roughly shoves Castiel away from him, a displeased frown on his face as he attempts to distance himself from Cas.

"This is why I never said it," Dean hisses at him. "Because it would fuck it all up. I didn't want to have to handle the rejection, of ruining what we already have. This is why you shouldn't have fucking pushed me to talk, Cas"

Cas would probably chalk it up to the shock of Dean's sudden mood change as to why he let Dean push himself away so quickly, taking a moment to let his words sink in. At first, he feels confusion at Dean's words, a confusion which quickly turns to anger as he looks at Dean's retreating form, slinking away out of the room.

Cas chases him out into the hallway, grabbing hold of Dean's shoulder and spinning him around to face him. Dean's annoyed expression briefly turns to shock when Castiel pushes him back against a wall, though the agitated look is quick to return once he realises that Castiel is pinning him there.

"Cas, the fuck are you-"

"You know what I would appreciate, Dean?" Castiel interrupts his angry words, the question enough to get Dean to stutter to a stop. "I would appreciate if you didn't just assume you knew how I felt."

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"How could you possibly not know that I love you too?"

This certainly works in getting Dean's jaw to snap shut, flinching in surprise so hard that Castiel could hear Dean's head colliding with the wall.

"You--You do?"

"I thought I made it fairly obvious."

"You, I mean... You never said anything.”

"I didn't think I had to," Castiel says with a frown "I garnered that you had figured it out yourself. I wasn't exactly subtle about it."

For the briefest of moments, Castiel can see a flash of hope on Dean's face. It's gone as quick as it had come, and he was expecting Dean to roll right back into his look of indifference, locking away his emotions from prying eyes.

He doesn't. But he doesn't look happy either. Instead, he appears even more pissed than before, and a frown deep enough to rival Cas own is etched into his face as he tugs at the arm keeping him pinned to the wall.

"I wish you hadn't told me that," Dean whispers harshly, struggling against Castiel’s hold, his words tearing a hole straight through Castiel’s heart. “Then I could have pretended it wasn't true, and leave this be."

"You..." Castiel mutters softly, and the momentary lax of his strength provides Dean with enough time to push himself out of Cas's grip, forcing Cas to stumble back slightly. "You're upset that I love you?"

"Don't say it," Dean snaps, still digging deep into the wound he had made in Cas' heart. "Why did you have to say it?"

"Why is it so bad for me to?" Castiel asks in return, and Dean is forced to close his eyes to escape the heartbreak on Castiel’s face, a pain he was causing.

"Because what if it's not real?"

"What?"

"C'mon, listen to us man," Dean throws his arms up in the air, but there's not much force behind it. "Don't you think we sound like the cheesiest romance side plot in some fucking show?"

"You think that Chuck is behind this?"

"Seems like his MO, don't it?  Seems a hell of a lot to me like Chuck is setting up the biggest dramatic finale he can, and we're a part of it."

"I don't understand, why... Why would Chuck be interested in us? Us- me and you- specifically?"

"Because we're nothing more than an added bonus for his entertainment. What if its all been a fucking set up, Cas? How much shit has happened to send us into each other arms, again and again? Shit that's out of character for us, all to so perfectly align to where we are now?"

"Where we are now, is all due to decisions of our own making Dean."

"Is it? Coz to me, it seems like Chucks had a part to play in every moment we've known each other. You rescuing me from Hell on his orders. I mean, Jesus Cas, you were exactly like every other angel out there before we met! Then all of a sudden, you decide to do a complete one-eighty and rebel? That wasn't you, Cas-"

"You don't know-"

"Yeah, Cas. We do. All the times he's brought you back, pushed us back together, it's all to get us to this point. The big confession, the spilling of our hearts. And then finally, just as we get our shit together, he takes you away from me. I'm not risking that, Cas. Losing my best friend is going to hurt enough. If you become more than that, then... I don't think I can survive that, Cas. I'm not giving in to feelings that might not even be my own."

"Bullshit," Cas spits at him, and the use of the foul language is enough to take Dean by surprise, knocking out any thoughts of leaving. "You're that certain that the way you feel is not your own? That all of it, is of Chucks doing?"

"We don't know, Cas. We have no fucking idea how much he's been interfering with.

"Well, I refuse to believe that," Castiel argues. "God may have pushed us towards a certain goal, but every decision I made along the way, was mine and mine alone. I was the one who decided that humans were worth more than what my brothers and sisters saw. I was the one who made the call that you and your brother were doing the right thing, that I was joining the right cause. I have made a lot of decisions Dean. Some I'm not proud of. But all of them I did because I thought it was the right thing to do. Me."

"Chuck could-"

"This right now? What's happening right here? This isn't like that awful medical show you made me watch-"

"Doctor Sexy is a classic..."

Castiel chooses to ignore that

"And you know what? What if it is. What if this whole time, its been Chuck that's pushing us together?"

"What?" Dean blanches, unsure if he had heard Castiel right. "What if- Are you serious?"

"Did your parents love each other, Dean?"

"What has that got to do with anything, Cas?"

"Did they?" Castiel asks again.

"Of course they did! Dad damn near drove himself crazy trying to gank the son of a bitch that killed mom! Hell, mom made a deal in the first place to bring dad back! You know this!"

"Yes, I do know. Just as we both know that your parents were destined to be together. We already know that your parents were an assigned couple in heaven, brought together by a cupid. Tell me, does that make their love any less real?"

"I..." Dean trailed off, the argument he was forming catching in the back of his throat, quick to die off. "No, it didn't."

"Then why should it make ours any less real?"

For the first time this whole conversation, Dean had no answer. No retort, no argument to Cas' optimism on the shitty situation they were in. His brain had come to a standstill, refusing to make up any more arguments because Goddammit, if Cas' hope wasn't infectious, wanting nothing more than to give in to what Cas was implying.

"You once said that we were better together," Castiel continues. "I still believe that. I have to believe that. Chuck would want nothing more than to break us apart right now, make us weaker for him. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like giving that to him"

Castiel moves closer to him, only coming to a stop once he had entered Dean's personal space, and dammit, the bastard knew about personal space, so he knew full well he was close than he should be, yet he didn't seem to give a damn.

"We are going to do this, Dean. We are going to sort this out. We are going to shove all of those souls back into Hell. We are going to rid ourselves of God. We are going to get Jack back, and we are going to find a way to get me out of this deal. Because the only other alternative is giving up, and that is not us. That's not how Winchesters do things."

Dean gulps nervously at the determination in Castiel’s voice, all his effort going into pushing his head as far back from Castiel, because Cas was right there, lips so tantalisingly close, that all it would take is to tilt his head slightly with a small push, and everything he had been fighting against for years would dissolve right then and there.

"And I'm going to kiss you now," Castiel states like there's no other alternative, and it's enough for Dean's heart to jump into his throat. "Not because Chuck wants me to. Because I want to, because this is my decision. Understand?"

It feels like Castiel’s gaze is burning straight through Dean, peering right down into his soul, and Dean doesn't trust his voice to stay steady right now. Castiel is yet to move, staring at Dean patiently as the seconds tick by before finally, Dean gives a stiff nod of his head.

Castiel’s lips felt as chapped as they looked, and frankly, Dean couldn't give a damn. Not when he feels Castiel pushing him back towards the wall again, this time with Dean going of his own volition.

His senses feel like they're going to overload, trying to take in every little detail they can, all at the same time; the small, desperate whining sounds he can hear from the back of Castiel’s throat, the sharp, angular lines of Castiel’s body pushed against his own, the earthly, 'about to rain' smell that Cas always seemed to emit, though now it was almost overpowering, and yet, he couldn't get enough of it.

Castiel has a hand cupped against his jaw, his thumb lazily trailing down the stubble on his cheek. Such a small movement is enough to send a chill down Dean's spine, shuddering in Castiel’s hold.

Dean raises his own hand to rest against Castiel’s chest, though this time it's not to push him away. He simply lets his hand rest against the scratchy material of his dress shirt, feel the rhythmic thump of Castiel’s heart under his fingers. It gets him to smile against Castiel’s lips, because it was so like Cas. He didn't even need a heartbeat, didn't need to breathe, but he still did, and Dean was glad, glad he could feel the warmth under his hand, the reminder that Castiel was alive, here, with him.

When he finally managed to pull himself away from Cas' lips, it's to see Cas smiling at him in the way that's so very Cas. No flash of teeth, barely a curved movement of his lips. He doesn't need to, because it's all in the eyes. The happy gleam that shines through them, seemingly accentuating the sharp brightness of his blue eyes, well-worn laughter lines crinkling at the corner of his eyes.

Castiel had managed to fan the flames of determination that had been burned out when Jack was taken from them, and for the first time in a while, it seemed like maybe, just maybe, they would be able to put up one last fight.

"What are we waiting for?" Dean asks, enjoying that he didn't have to fight away the voice in his head that comments how damn adorable it is when Cas tilts his head like a confused puppy. "Let's go kick God's ass."

[zacharyleigh316]

Radio Silence

Here’s a little Destiel (au) ficlet inspired by this post. I wasn’t initially sure whether I was going to make this or not (due to lack of motivation, etc.) but here it is! So @mychemicalobsession514 and @fandomtrash2405 this one is for you. Hope you enjoy!

Dean loved being a cop. It was everything he hoped it would be and then some. There wasn’t one thing he hated about his job; he got to protect people, save lives, uphold the law (most of the time), and work with amazing professionals, most of whom did what he did for the same reasons, all while putting the bad people away. Being a cop made him feel good. Knowing that what he was doing everyday, what he was getting paid to do everyday, but more importantly what he chose to do everyday, made a difference in the world, was extremely fulfilling. Even if only slightly, and the world was better off for it? So yeah, he loved his job.

Though, given the most recent events, he might have to re-evaluate that statement.

“Mornin’ brotha’.” Came Benny’s Louisiana drawl from the coffee station. “Chief wants to see you, in his office when you get the chance.”

Dean nodded, making himself a cup of coffee, black, as usual. (Even though he didn’t quite understand why any of the officers continued to get their coffee from the station, including him, seeing as it tasted like absolute shit all the time.)

He looked over to his partner and raised a brow, Benny looking like the cat who caught the freakin’ canary, “What’s got you lookin’ all smug? I’m not getting reassigned are something, am I?”

“Oh no, nothin’ like that Dean. Besides, that wouldn’t be desirable for any of us.”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why you got that stupid look on your face.” Benny just chuckled, tossing his empty cup into the trash.

He slapped Dean on the shoulder when he passed, and paused, meeting his eyes with a shit eating grin. “Just wanted you to know that I love you too brotha.”

Dean brows furrowed in confusion, watching Benny’s retreating back just as clueless as before. Not that he minded Benny’s terms of endearment; the guy was not only his partner but basically his best friend. He was comfortable enough with himself and his sexuality to actually quite enjoy being affectionate with his friends. So it wasn’t as if that was the weird part.

No, what was weird was all the smirking and the chuckling, as if Benny was enjoying some one-sided inside joke that only he was privy to. In fact, now that he thought about it, everybody else was being weird too.

Dean winced at the piss poor excuse for coffee when he took a sip, and made his way over to Chief Singer’s office. He was just about to knock on the door when it suddenly swung open, and Dean was being accosted by one of Garth’s hugs.

“I love you too Dean. Never forget that. I know I won’t. It made my day. Thank you.” Garth gave Dean a squeeze before pulling away, the latter more confused then ever.

Garth held onto Dean’s shoulders for a moment after the hug, just smiling at him, and though he admit he didn’t mind open affection, Garth had this way over overstepping boundaries that sometimes Dean wasn’t aware of.

“Uh, Garth, buddy? Mind stepping back now?”

“Of course Dean. You’re a good man.” He nodded, more so to himself than to Dean, and walked away with a skip in his step.

Dean shook his head and knocked on the doorway, stepping into the office at Bobby’s gruff, mumbled “come in”.

“What a weird guy.” He said in disbelief, chuckling at Bobby’s snort of affirmation.

“Anyway, you said you wanted to see me?”

“I did. Take a seat boy, we gotta talk.”

Dread immediately consumed Dean, his head already rapidly flitting through a million ways to say sorry about hundreds of possible scenarios of shit that he may or may not have done, when Bobby rolled his eyes.

“You can stop that right now, ya’ idjit, you’re not in trouble or anything.” He relaxed, and the Chief shook his head.

“Remember, you can’t hide nothin’ from me boy, I may be your boss, but I’m also like your daddy.” Dean raised a brow, curious as to where this was going.

“With that being said, I hope you know that even though I don’t say it as often as I probably should, I do love you. You and your brother.”

“Me more though right?” Bobby shot him an unimpressed look.

“Right sorry, I love you too, and all that. But seriously Bobby, where is all this coming from? Not that knowing everybody here loves me is a bad thing, but why are you all saying it all of the sudden?”

“You tellin’ me that you don’t know?” Dean shook his head.

“Obviously not. I wouldn’t have asked you if I did, old man.”

“Watch yourself boy,” Chief Singer said fondly, “I’m not against hitting you. That or firin’ your ass.”

“Yeah yeah. Both you and I know you’re just talk.” He smirked at Bobby’s responding huff, and leaned back against his chair.

“So you were saying?”

“Right. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing when this happens, but your radio codes in from time to time, before you come in, and you’re always saying that you love us.”

Dean both paled and somehow colored simultaneously. “Wh-what?”

“Which is why I was saying earlier, or attempting to say rather, that I uh...love you too of course, but the radio ain’t for that, son.”

“Oh my god.”

“What? You look like your trying to pass a kidney stone.”

“Are you freaking serious? You gotta be joking with me, right?”

“Why in the hell would I joke about something like that?” The Chief glared, at Dean, who ran a hand through his hair, and dragged it down his face.

“You okay? It ain’t that big of a deal, Dean. That’s why I’m letting you know now.”

“Oh my god.”

“There something you wanna say?”

“Even if there was, Bobby, I’m too humiliated and embarrassed to even...god, I’m a dumb ass.”

“Okay, well, I’m sure that it ain’t that bad. You have a tendency to over exaggerate, princess.”

“Oh no, Bobby, I’m pretty sure it is that bad. I mean, how is radioing ‘I love you’ out to the whole precinct not that bad? This takes the cake on just the level of bad it is.

“At least this explains why everyone was being spontaneously openly affectionate today.” Dean sighed, burying his face in his hands.

“Minus Garth. He’s always like that.”

Bobby chuckled, “I’m gonna take a gander and say, judging by your reaction, that this wasn’t intentional.”

“Christ, of course it wasn’t!” Dean flailed. “I wouldn’t friggin use my radio for that! Hell, I probably wouldn’t even say it in person unless they said it first.”

“Well, you seem to know exactly why this has been happening.” Bobby raised a brow. “Do you?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Care to explain?” Bobby prompted, when Dean didn’t elaborate.

“Not really no.”

“Fine then, you’re dismissed. Keep your secrets boy. I’ll find them out eventually. And just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Sure thing, sir.”

With that, and a nod from the chief, Dean left Bobby’s office and went to work, which, to no surprise (Dean was very rarely ever that lucky), sought out to personally torture him for the entirety of the day.

Officer Jody Mills and her partner Officer Donna Hanscum called in during lunchtime to profess their love for him, which okay maybe wasn’t so bad, because he did love them back, enjoyed their company immensely, and thought of them as surrogate mothers. Then Charlie, the computer tech, and regretfully also one of his best friends, personally came to his desk, dragging the other tech, Kevin, along, to talk about LARPing, and comics, and game night, and just as Dean relaxed, when they got off their break, the redheaded monster that was his Queen expressed her strong platonic love for him, letting him know he was safe from no one.

When the day was finally over (it hadn’t even been that exhausting, but when every single person you work with takes the time out of their own day to tease you because of one little colossal mistake—that you may or not have made—it begins to take its toll on you) Dean couldn’t wait to get home. He was starting to regret not only his choice of career, but also ever being excited to work with his friends.

He packed up quickly and clocked out, letting out a sigh at the prospect of home. Though, of course the day wouldn’t be over without one final ‘I love you’ from another coworker.

“Didn’t want to you leave with saying I love you, man. Stay safe out there, honey.” Dean snorted, snapping a glare at Detective Henriksen.

“Very funny, Victor. Go fuck yourself.” Victor laughed, and Dean flipped him off on his way out, making the detective laugh harder.

“Whatever you say, darling!”

Dean rushed out of the police station, never more grateful to see his beloved impala waiting for him in the parking lot. At least she couldn’t tell him she loved him, thought he didn’t mind that it was certainly implied.

Yeah, he hated work.

Dean pulled into the doorway shortly after, ready to put the whole day behind him, forget about it all with a nice, cold beer and some television.

He pat Baby’s hood as he got out, and gave the same treatment to the golden Lincoln Continental parked beside her, when he passed it on the way to the front door.

“Dean.” Cas peeked his head out of his office with a smile on his face, and met Dean at the door.

“You’re home, how was work?” He went in for a hug, before being stopped by Dean’s hand on his chest.

His brows furrowed, and watched questioningly as Dean went and switched his radio off.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, s’fine. Just, the last time we hugged, your shoulder must of hit my radio and it called dispatch.” Cas’ eyes widened in surprise.

“So basically the entire precinct, meaning every officer on duty, heard me say I love you when I left the other day. I didn’t even know until I got into work this morning, and everybody started tell me they loved me.”

Castiel’s eyes widened further before a smile broke out onto his face again, and he started laughing.

“Yeah, laugh it up sweetheart. But I would be nice to the person who cooks for you and makes sure you eat.”

“I’m sorry Dean. Work must of been interesting.”

“Tell me about it. So now whenever we hug, I’m going to make sure my radio is off. Who knows what else they may have heard.” His boyfriend rolled his eyes and opened his arms expectantly.

“Well now that it is, may I get my hug now, you drama queen?” Dean snorted, choosing not to think about how Cas sounded both like his brother and Bobby just then, and instead gathered him up into his arms for a hug.

Dean gave Castiel a squeeze, and pulled away slightly, smiling down at his boyfriend. “You’re so needy. Like a pet.”

“Mm, love you too.” Dean chuckled, and joined their lips, bringing Cas closer by his hips.

He hums into Dean’s mouth, and reaches up to cup his face in his hands. (Yeah, Dean prays to anything and anyone who’ll listen that his work buddies didn’t hear something like this).

And then, of course, (once again showing just how unlucky he was) his phone decided to ring, making Cas pull away. Dean whined, and pulled his phone from his back pocket, answering it in the hopes he could will the person who called to hang right back up, just by the sheer amount of glaring at it he did. Cas rolled his eyes, but hey, Dean really didn’t feel like being interrupted at the moment.

“What?” He snapped, holding the phone up to his ear. “This better be pretty friggin’ important Sammy. You better be dying or some shit, or I’m gonna kill you myself, bitch.”

“Jeez, Bobby said you would be home, jerk, so I assumed you wouldn’t be busy. I wanted to call you now rather than later. Guess I was wrong.”

“Yeah, you were wrong, now what do you want?”

“Just wanted to jump on the bandwagon, and send you some appreciation is all Dean, relax.” He could hear Sam’s bitch face through the phone.

“What?”

“Well you’re my brother, and you’ve done a lot...you do a lot, yet I don’t say this often when I probably should so I-“

“No. Nope. You were not just about to tell me you loved me!” Cas chuckled silently to himself, and smirked up at Dean, who was having another meltdown.

“Wha-Dean what’s so bad-“

“No Sammy. Do not say that to me! Seriously dude, I’m freakin serious. After all the people telling me that today, I don’t want to hear another person say those words in the context of me for a week! Actually make that two.”

“Christ alright. No need to be so anal about it. I guess I’ll talk to you later then.” Dean sighed, and visibly relaxed, ignoring his boyfriend smug expression.

“That goes for you too you ass hat.”

Castiel snorted, now ignoring Dean. “Bye Sam!”

“Bye Cas.” Dean glared at their easy rapport, as if nothing was wrong. “Tell Dean to stop being grumpy.”

“Will do.”

“Well he’s still right here, and currently wishing his Sasquatch of a brother would hang up already.”

“Whatever you say, Dean. Love you!” Sam hung up quickly after that, leaving Dean to stare at his phone dumbfounded.

“Son of a bitch!”

[mittensmorgul]

Hi, I have a question, and I hope it would be interesting for you too... Could we talk about angel's wings and feathers?..

I always thought that angel's wings were a part of their true form, a kind of energy which we can only see as a shadows or electric sparks or ash or something like this.

And I didn't think that it could be a real wings with feathers as bird's. Until, while rewatch, I've noticed that angel's feather were mentioned in SPN at least twice (maybe you've noticed more?):

1) In 8.12 when Henry Winchester time travels he uses an angel feather in spell. And then Dean tells that Henry stole an angel feather from the trunk of the Impala. So feathers are reall??? Why did the Winchestets keep the feather in the trunk of the Impala and where they get it? (ok, maybe they found it in the bunker)

2) In 12.13 Sam uses a white feather in spell returning Gavin back in time (we know this spell needs an angel feather)

So now we can see how the real angel feather looks like???

Does that mean that the angel's wings can be presented in physical world like a real wings with feathers and this is not fanfiction? I like this idea so much.

I think that the creators of the show didn't let us to see it, as many other great things, that is sad...

I would really like to know your thoughts about this.

(Sorry for my bad english, it is not my native language...)

Hi there! First off, your English is fine! (lol it’s my native language, and I just typed it “Inglish” by accident, so you’re already doing better than I am :’D)

ETA: DON’T REBLOGGY THIS YET. I forgotted something that @thayerkerbasy just reminded me of, and I’m editing this post... brb... okay NOW YOU CAN REBLOGGY!)

As far as I know, those are the only times in canon we ever see or hear mention of an angel feather, and both times it’s for the same exact spell. They reference that it’s Henry’s spell when they use it again in 12.13, but make no mention in dialogue of it being an angel feather. Yet Sam had a whole jar of fluffy little pin feathers, so the assumption is that they’d been collecting them for a while (unless those were either found in the Men of Letters’ spell ingredient stockpile when they moved into the bunker, or otherwise given to them by Cas at some point).

It’s weird, because they seem like a very limited commodity, especially after the angels fell and their wings all burned up. Even after Cas got his original grace back, his wings never seemingly recovered. When we did finally see his wing prints in 12.23, they were still... not healthy... So my thinking is that any spell that would require them will become impossible to cast when their current supply runs out. All the other angels-- at the end of the series-- were either dead or locked in Heaven with their broken wings. We never learned any of their fates. Maybe they were all rendered obsolete under the Heaven Remodel?

A little behind the scenes from the early days of SPN as a bonus, since it’s tangentially relevant:

When they were filming the very early episodes of SPN, they had a lot of choices to make about what to show us based on what their budget would allow them to portray. Think of an episode like Wendigo, 1.02. One thing I see people say often was that it was a shame we didn’t see more of the monster, but only saw like... bushes shaking, or a vague form moving through the underbrush, or a blur. They made a stylistic choice right there to keep it within budget.

The options they faced were showing us a “dude in a rubber mask” type monster and showing it more, versus one really terrifying shot of a Proper Monster™ dying in spectacular fashion. Rather than go full-on cheesemonster, they chose to leave most of it up to our imaginations, giving us glimpses or hints of the monster.

They went back and forth on this a bit over the years, attempting to show us more on occasion, but most of those times the audience reaction has been varying degrees of wtf... Think about some of the scenes where they attempted to give us more than a glimpse at the supernatural, or a blood splatter, or whatever. It didn’t always work well. Think: the wire fight from 13.23...

I mean, it took us until 11.14 to ever see an angel “flap away,” when we saw Casifer zap Dean off the exploding submarine.

For the most part, I appreciate the fact that they understood the limitations of their own budget and didn’t give angels cheap little wings just to be able to show them on camera. Over time, only being able to see them as shadows, or as char after the angel died, became part of the lore of the show.

I blame Adam Glass for writing that spell, because he probably thought it sounded cool or whatever, that it was effectively a throwaway line because no other spell they’ve ever used has required an angel feather as an ingredient, and in story it was only linked into this larger Men of Letters Legacy plot that in retrospect feels like Chuck tying up loose ends and putting previously “deactivated” plotlines back into play.

I do find it kind of interesting that both iterations of this spell (the second resurrected by Bucklemming) were both tied to Abaddon. Henry’s spell in 8.12 brought her into the story from the past, she eventually travelled to the much further distant past to bring Gavin into the present (presumably with her own power alone, no angel feather required), and then after she was killed, they used the spell to return Gavin to his own time. So in a a way, the spell was part of a closed narrative loop, never to be referred to again.

Kinda wild that we’d never heard of angel feathers being a thing for spells until we learn that Dean apparently had some just stashed in the trunk, though... :’D

As for how corporeal angel feathers are/were, they exist in the earthly plane enough to leave char marks when they burn, when an angel is killed, so they must always have had the potential to manifest physically. I can’t imagine they ever would’ve had a budget to show us anything more than what we usually saw, though. It did give them a LOT of flexibility over how exactly they presented them to us when they DID show us. And I can’t even imagine the suffering Misha would’ve endured as an actor spending all those years wearing some weird wing harness rig. It would’ve been... impractical. And the CGI the show could’ve afforded-- especially in earlier days-- would’ve been... bad...

But what they were able to show us? Was often awesome. Remember when Raphael showed off his wings in 5.03? LIGHTNING!

And when we finally did see actual corporeal-appearing wings in 8.23... it was Dramatique™

And for More CGI Is Sometimes A Bad Thing Science, please have the attempt at Michael’s “true form” from 14.01:

It’s kinda a super-letdown after AU!Michael’s previous shadow wing displays from 13.01, but more specifically from 13.22:

those... were... badass... 

Even the pre-wire-fight wing shadows on Dean were badass:

But if they’d tried to show us more of them, to make them move through action scenes for example, it would’ve been... bad...

So what we’re left with is the knowledge that there is some sort of corporeal element to wings that we simply can’t see most of the time, but clearly angels have the ability to show or hide them at will, even from other angels. Could it be an act of will on the part of the angel that manifests a bit of their grace in the form of a physical feather? Honestly, that’s the theory I’ve personally adopted toward canon. In fanfic, I’ve read tons of various headcanons about what angel wings are and how they function-- everything from “a manifestation of their true form” to “angels share a lot of traits with birds” to “an extension of their grace,” and everything in between.

I personally, in canon, like to think of it as akin to how they’ve used angel grace for other spells. I mean, when we recall that angels haven’t been on Earth much for the last few thousand years (aside from at least a couple of known incidents where angels interfered with humanity, like Ishim and Company in 12.10, for example, and the presumptive extension that the Men of Letters knew of the existence of angels and likely summoned one up a time or two the same way Lily Sunder had, giving one explanation for how Henry Winchester knew of this spell and had an angel feather to use for it, but also recontextualized when Lily Sunder taught us that humans can use their own souls to power spells in the same way angels used their grace... which sort of makes the notion of needing an angel feather AND his own soul to charge that particular spell in 8.12 a bit redundant unless Lily’s knowledge of angelic magic was more advanced than Henry’s... hrmpf.... so much tangent... back to the point)...

We did eventually learn of other spells that required an angel’s actual grace, not concentrated in the form of a feather. The Angel Fall Spell in 8.23 being the prime example. Metatron took ALL of Cas’s grace for that one, even if he didn’t use all of it for the spell and left a “fragment” (Metatron described it as “not a lot, but enough.”). 

ETA: HECK. I have 9.03 on the tv right now and it’s distractedly made me disgusted enough to have forgotten something that Thayer just reminded me of: Lucifer’s “fossilized feather” in 12.07. It held enough grace to restore and heal him after Rowena’s spell in 12.03 had degraded him. Which really only adds to the theory that “feathers” are simply bits of grace that have been rendered solid somehow, but that can be transformed back into grace as needed.

And then there was the Rift Spell for travelling to alternate universes that required archangel grace, as well as the time travel/ward breaking spell that Sam found in 11.14 that ALSO required archangel grace specifically. Would these spells have worked with an archangel “feather?” Possibly, if material feathers are somehow just crystalized bits of grace, but since we never got a full explanation in canon, and never even really saw corporeal feathery wings that dropped feathers or could be plucked, and never even had mention of corporeal feathers outside of their use in this single spell, it’s really up to our own interpretation. And I kind of like it that way, because that way we get to have fun little discussions like this one. :D

I know this isn’t a definitive answer, but it’s how it all makes sense to me, in the hand-wavey sort of way that all of canon works. :’D

[evil-overlord-scriptology]

But I Don’t Want to be a Sensei! Pt 3 (ARCHIVED)

Chapters 11, 12, & 13

Chapter 11: Training, Yanagi-Style!

Demon of the Mist. Master of the silent killing technique.

 So why didn't he kill silently?

 Why did he make his presence known and draw me into a long battle instead of killing Tazuna before any of us could suspect something.

 Tazuna went off on the little brat, but Naruto ignored him by exclaiming that people were hiding around in the bushes all around us. I was about to hit him for being stupid when I felt a surge of chakra behind me.

 Naruto seemed to follow my instincts and aimed another kunai knife at the spot I felt the chakra surge. Tazuna smacked Naruto upside the head and the brat and drunk had yet another yelling match while I went to investigate. Just below the kunai that Naruto had thrown a white rabbit was having a heart attack.

 A white snow rabbit.

 Curse my cursed damn luck. The karma demons must really loath me.

 I stepped away from Naruto's sobbing apologies to casually inspect the clearing, searching for chakra signatures. I wasn't a very good sensory nin, most of it was just pure natural skill since I had spent most of my training on my sharingan and attacks, so I wouldn't be able to sense anyone who was suppressing their chakra at a jounin level.

 Considering that I couldn't sense anyone meant that my suspicions were right and our next attacker was a jounin skilled opponent.

 I hadn't been able to sense Zabuza until he wanted me to.

 So why did he want me to?

 And that kid with him, he was also able to suppress his chakra enough that I didn't sense him until he felt like it too.

 Why?

 Why didn't the false hunter-nin attack me? We both knew that he could easily take me out as weak as I was. Towards the end of the fight, I had been putting on a front. That hunter-nin knew that, I could feel it in his gaze. But he only retrieved Zabuza. Did he want us to be surprised when Zabuza came back to attack us? No. That false hunter-nin would know that I'd be able to figure it out. People like Zabuza and his allies wouldn't underestimate anyone.

 Zabuza was hired by Gatou, I know that. Which meant he was in it for money... or was he? Gatou would want Tazuna dead quickly, so Zabuza should have killed him quickly. Instead he went after me. That meant that Zabuza didn't care for money as much as it would seem. So why? What did Zabuza really want?

 Something to do with Gatou. He had money–Zabuza could be hired by anyone else for that. He could offer protection–Zabuza didn't need it, he was capable of protecting himself and he had an ally. Gatou practically ruled over the Land of Waves–I doubted Zabuza was interested in that. Gatou had a shipping company...

 “Obito-nii! You said you were going to teach me something cool! This is geography!” A younger me whined.

 My older brother laughed, “Just you wait, imoto, you'll see this is cool!” I gave my brother a skeptical look. Obito often lied to me for the heck of it. Nii-san, seeing my expression, reached over to ruffle my curly hair, “That's a promise!” He said cheerfully. I automatically smiled. Whenever Obito-nii said those words, that meant whatever he was saying was true!

 Turns out he was right. It was very interesting learning about rebels often hiding in secluded areas like small islands. Obito was going to teach me about smuggling too, but then Kakashi-baka-nii-san came and interrupted everything.

 Rebels. Smuggling. Zabuza.

 My mind recalled Zabuza's page in the Bingo Book. He attempted a coup d'état on Kiri because he disagreed with the government. It was rumored that he had joined the Mist Rebels, but it was never proven.

 Could working for Gatou be a cover up?

 ...

 “Frizzy-sensei, I know you're awake!”

 “Idiot, don't yell!”

 “Shut up, Teme! I know Frizzy-sensei is awake! She keeps twitching.”

 “N-Naruto, p-p-plea-please q-quiet down. S-sensei is try-trying to r-r-rest.”

 My eyes snapped open and I immediately glared at Naruto, “You call me that again and I'll kick your ass.” I growled threateningly. I tried to sit up and immediately groaned as my chakra system convulsed painfully causing my muscles to spasm and freeze up as well.

 A woman I didn't know was by my side in an instant, “You shouldn't move.” She said in a mothering tone. I eyed her, she looked a lot like Mikoto-oba except her face was a lot plainer than my aunt's. She even acted like Mikoto. “Until you're feeling better you should just lay down.” I gave in with a sigh and laid back down. If this woman was anything like Mikoto-oba, she wouldn't take no for an answer. It'd be in my best interest to just listen to her.

 “S-sensei, are you al-alright?” Hinata asked, coming to kneel beside my futon.

 “Hn.” I responded with the Uchiha general answer for everything.

 Naruto, of course, wasn't going to take that for an answer though, “What happened anyway, sensei? You were fine one minute and the next you were passing out! What gives?”

 Sasuke bopped Naruto upside the head, “Idiot, Yanagi-itoko used too much chakra.” I gave Sasuke a strange look, since when did he call me 'itoko'?!

 Tazuna spoke up from behind Hinata, “Well you did take down a powerful ninja, so I guess you've got an excuse.”

 “He's not dead.” I said, turning my gaze to the ceiling.

 I think everyone had a miniature heart attack.

 “W-what?! What do you mean he's not dead?” Tazuna practically screeched like a girl.

 I closed my eyes and struggled to sit up again. It tore at my pride that Hinata had to help me, but at least I wasn't laying down like some helpless invalid anymore, “Hunter-nins destroy the body where they make the kill. So why did that boy take Zabuza away?”

 Silence permeated the air as that information sunk in.

 Hinata gasped a little, “T-those needles he-he used...” She said under her breath. Everyone looked at the shy heiress and she blushed. “S-sorry!” She squeaked, ducking her head and twiddling her fingers.

 I reached out and pushed her hands down, “No, what were you saying?” I asked. Now wasn't the time for shyness. If Hinata had information, then she should share it.

 The girl nibbled at her lip in nervousness and, after a long silence, finally stuttered out, “W-where he h-h-h-hit... i-it was a pres-pressure p-p-poi-point... that c-ca-causes d-death if hit h-hard e-e-en-enough.” Of course Hinata would know. The Hyuuga fighting style specialized in pressure points, hitting them with chakra to cut off the chakra flow.

 Sasuke stiffened, “The senbon needles. They don't have a high casualty rate.” He said, mostly to himself.

 I nodded, “Exactly. Unless hitting a vital organ, senbon needles don't kill. My guess is that the hunter-nin used the pressure points on Zabuza's neck to create a temporary death. A hunter-nin is an expert in human anatomy, causing the heart to stop temporarily is child's play to them. Also, the fact that the hunter-nin we ran into took Zabuza's body away instead of taking care of him on the spot and using senbon needles for a weapon points to one fact: that boy was trying to save Peaches... not kill him.”

 Tazuna tried to reason with us, “Come on, you're over thinking things!” By the tone of his voice, I could tell that Tazuna really want us to be paranoid and not right.

 I gave the man a serious look, “An Uchiha does not over think things.” I said, a little more harshly than intended. Tazuna cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away. More calmly I recited a rule from the Shinobi Handbook, “The Shinobi Handbook states: 'Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster.'” I narrowed my eyes at Tazuna, daring him to comment again. I should thank Kakashi for being a ninja robot when I first met him; because of him I memorized the entire handbook by the time I was seven.

 Involuntarily, of course.

 I glanced at my genin to gauge their reaction. Naruto was grinning a little psychotic grin and Hinata looked extremely pale. Sasuke wasn't showing any emotion.

 Naruto stood up, his hand still clenched in a fist, “Alright! Let's prepare then!”

 Blinking, I looked at my dumbest student with surprise. Honestly I had expected him to start yelling about going and hunting Zabuza down, not training.

 Even more surprising was when Hinata gave Naruto a look that could have been called a glare... if she wasn't blushing, “B-but Naruto, Y-yanagi-sensei is hurt!” Hinata wasn't even stuttering as much, and she was talking to Naruto! Normally she couldn't say one word completely when talking to her crush.

 “Uh... Sensei?” I blinked and shook my head a little before focusing on a confused Naruto, “What's with the funny look?” The blonde asked, the dread in his voice apparent. Mildly I wondered if he though I was going to whip out another Uchiha-style training session like I did when they bothered me too much.

 I smiled kindly at them, “I'm just impressed by how much all of you have grown. Especially you Naruto.” Naruto squinted at me. I grinned wider until my eyes closed, “You've grown the most.”

 Should have known the praise would go straight to his head, “So you noticed, huh? Things are going to get even better, believe it!” Naruto exclaimed.

 “I don't believe it!” A childish voice, not so different from Naruto's actually, shouted behind the blonde. I looked past Naruto to the doorway where a small child in green overalls stood. He glared at us from under his hat with eyes so filled with hate and... loneliness.

 “Who are you!?” Naruto enunciated each word loudly, pointing an accusing finger at the kid.

 Tazuna spoke before the kid could, “Ah, Inari, where have you been?” My eyes went from Tazuna to Inari, so this was the kid that would cry and cry if we hadn't taken the mission to protect Tazuna after we found out how dangerous it was.

 He sure didn't seem the type.

 Inari, ignoring the rest of us, ran for his grandfather, his voice suddenly happy and eager, “Welcome back, Grandpa!”

 “Inari! That was very rude, these ninja helped your grandfather and brought him here safely.” The woman who I had yet been introduced to scolded. No doubt she was Inari's mother and Tazuna's daughter. Seemed to me that she wouldn't resent Konoha if Tazuna was killed.

 Grandpa Drunk was a dirty blackmailer.

 Tazuna waved off Inari's mother, “Ah, it's okay. I'm rude to them too.” He chuckled.

 I shot him a nasty glare, “Same to you, Grandpa Drunk.” I snapped. Tazuna tried to glare at me, but he didn't hold a candle to any Uchiha. Not even Ibo.

 Inari gave us all a blank look before turning to his mother, “Mom, don't you see, all these people are going to die! Gatou is going to kill them all!”

 Naruto had the right idea when he yelled, “What did you say brat?!” He gave a cocky grin, “Listen up, you know what a super ninja is? Well that's me, only I'm going to be better.” Contradictory much? “I'm going to be Hokage!” Oh dear kami, not this again, “This Gatou or Blatou or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me!”

 The brat scoffed, “There's no such thing as a real hero. You're just full of stupid ideas!” Inari snapped, looking very much like a miniature Uchiha in appalling fashion at that moment. Yeesh, talk about dramatic.

 There was a brief moment of silence before Naruto started for him, “WHAT'D YOU SAY?!” Sasuke luckily leapt up to grab the blonde idiot before he could murder Inari. I almost felt sorry for my cousin for having to be so close the that blaring mouth. No doubt Sasuke would be deaf by the time he was twenty.

 “If you wanna stay alive you should go back where you came from.” Inari said snobbishly then started walking away.

 Finally, finally, Tazuna scolded him, somewhat, “Inari, where are you going?”

 “To look at the ocean!” Inari snapped as he opened the doors and left, slamming the door behind him.

 I sighed, “That boy is going to have a bad attitude when he's a teenager...” I commented to no one.

 Tazuna looked at Naruto after a moment, “Sorry about that.” He said in a 'not so sorry' tone. I should know, I used it all the time.

 Inari's mother took over then and shooed everyone else out of my room, saying I was still supposed to be resting. I sighed when I was alone and wondered what everyone else was up to. Not that I cared, I was just bored. I nearly cried when I realized that if Obito found out about this he was going to murder me for getting hurt! Kakashi would be right behind him. And Shisui would never let me live it down.

 Still moaning about my morbid future, I closed my eyes to rest and plan ahead.

 vvv

 I flicked three small squares at my genin. Being ninjas, even miniature ones, all three snatched the paper out of the air without thinking. They looked at the chakra paper confused, then at me. I leaned against the tree I sat under, “That's chakra paper. When you channel your chakra into the paper it will react according to your chakra nature. For instance,” I held up a fourth slip of paper and channeled my chakra into it. The paper split in two. “That's the sign that I have Fūton nature.” I waved my hand at Sasuke, “Go, Duckass.”

 My cousin gave me a small glare before concentrating on the bluish paper in his hand. As we watched the paper began to crinkle. Sasuke looked at me for explanation. I nodded once, “Seems you have a Lightning affinity. Being an Uchiha you also have Katon nature, correct?” Sasuke nodded silently. Of course he did. The Uchiha clan was born with fire affinity, no two ways about it. There was a reason why we were famous for it after all.

 Naruto went ahead and channeled his chakra into his paper without my say-so. The paper cut in two, “Cool! We have the same... uh... katra nature, Sensei!” He exclaimed.

 “Chakra” I stressed before mentally running through all my wind ninjutsus. I didn't have that many that were low level, and those that I did weren't really battle-oriented.  Anything I taught him would be useless in the inevitable battle against Zabuza. Maybe I should start him on a higher level ninjutsu. With his large chakra stores, Naruto shouldn't be in too much danger.

 But it was Naruto we were talking about.

 Shaking off my dilemma for now, I nodded to Hinata for her to go. She channeled her chakra into the slip of paper and watched as it turned damp with water.

 I tsked, “Well, I don't know any water ninjutsus. It goes against my fire chakra nature.” I said, feeling slightly sorry for Hinata especially with her pulling that disappointed look. She was the one who needed training the most and I couldn't help her at all. Not many people could, really. Unless... I snapped my fingers, startling my three genin, “I can teach you some stealth techniques for now, I noticed you're good at that. And I'll try to find you someone someone to teach you Suiton jutsus later.” Already my mind was going through a mental file of everyone I had seen using Suiton techniques.

 All three of my genin were giving me strange looks. I raised an eyebrow in question, but I already knew what was going on in their tiny little minds. “Why... why are you being so helpful?” Sasuke finally asked.

 I gave them a smirk, “What, you miss the surly sensei? Because I can easily go back into that.” Cue a quick head shake from all my precious genin. I rolled my eyes and explained, “We're going against a S-ranked criminal and his unknown ally. I was barely able to defeat Peach-boy last time-”

 Naruto interrupted me before I could continue, “But that's the point!” I was mildly surprised at his outburst, “If you were unable to beat Zabuza then what makes you think we can?!” Was Naruto... admitting that he wasn't strong? “You passed out last time after that battle, and that weird guy in the mask will also be there this time, so what makes you think we're ready for that kind of-”

 Being the awesome sensei that I am, I smacked him in the head with one of my crutches to shut him up.

 “Didn't I just say that you're getting stronger?” I asked hotly, irritated that my rare praise wasn't warming their sorry little hearts. First time I ever praised Naruto and he was whining about not being strong enough! “Look, I wouldn't have been able to do anything during that fight if you three hadn't done something.” I think the genin were a little shell shocked.

 Naruto, stupidly, tried to speak again. I grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down until we were inches apart. “Look here, Obito Mini-me, you're going to shut up and learn a jutsu because if you don't that little promise you made back when we fought those chunnin will go to waste!” Naruto clammed up after that. I let him go and struggled to a stand, “Good. Now, lets start training. Sasuke, heel.”

 My cousin's right eye twitched at being treated like a dog but came forward anyway. I stared at him intently, trying to figure out what jutsu I could teach him. I already knew he could to the Grand Fireball–it had been a big thing around the clan when Sasuke mastered the technique when he was seven, making him yet another prodigy.

 I swear the Uchiha clan spat out either prodigies or total losers.

 “Do you know the Phoenix Sage Technique?” I asked suddenly, looking down to the duckass haired boy for his answer.

 Sasuke added a slight frown to his otherwise emotionless face, “Aniki says that's a Katon technique.”

 “I know that. I have Katon and Fūton chakra, I can't teach you any Lightning jutsus. Yes or no, did Itachi-san or anyone else teach you the Phoenix Sage?” I said testily. Damn this little brat and his need to question everything!

 Sasuke shook his head 'no'.

 I grinned sadistically. “Good. Now I get to apply Uchiha-style training on you.” I said then chuckled evilly. It might have been my imagination, but Sasuke seemed to turn three shades paler than his normal pasty self. But first, “Sit, while I deal with the others.” I commanded my cousin before pushing down on his shoulder, forcing him to sit.

 Naruto was over his gloom and doom attitude already, “Oh oh! Sensei, me next! Me next!” He yelled eagerly, waving his hand in the air like a child eagerly wanting to impress the teacher.

 Ignoring him, I turned to Hinata. “You're training is simple to explain. Go out deep into the woods and try to sneak back here. Try to suppress both your chakra and the noise you make. If you make it back here before the boys can hear you, then you pass. Got it?” Another nod. “Shoo then.” I said, waving my hand towards her. Hinata hesitated for only a moment before disappearing.

 As soon as Hinata was gone, my vision was filled with yellow and orange, “Yanagi-sensei! Teach me next! I want to learn a kickass jutsu!” I was kind of starting to miss the 'doom and gloom' Naruto...

 Picking up a leaf that laid at my feet I gave it to the blonde brat, “Here.”

 Naruto squinted at the leaf in confusion, “Huh?”

 I picked up another leaf and held it in my right palm, “To master any Fūton jutsu, you need excellent control, even more than the control required for tree walking. Use your chakra to cut the the leaf; it'll be harder than cutting the chakra paper since you must consciously cut, not just channel chakra.” I focused my chakra to cut the leaf I was holding and did just as I told him, “Do that and I'll teach you the Wind Blade.” The Wind Blade was a B-rank jutsu. But since Naruto already knew the shadow clone jutsu, which was forbidden, I doubted he'd have too much trouble.

 “WHAAT?! You said you were going to teach me a cool jutsu!”

 “I will. After you learn to control your chakra better.”

 “I already know how to do that! Teach me the jutsu!”

 “Don't make demands, kid, or I'll do nothing. Shut up and train with your leaf.”

 Naruto pouted, predictably. He crossed his arms and turned his nose into the air like a child. Rolling my eyes I leaned over and pinched his nose between my index finger and thumb. Naruto screeched and tried to swat me off, but I didn't let go, “Look, if you don't learn this then you'll never get any of the wind jutsus I'm going to teach you.” A complete lie, but what's a little white lie if Naruto never found out about it? I let go of Naruto's nose and straightened up, “Unless you want to be defenseless when Zabuza comes back, I suggest you don't question my methods. Get to work.”

 Before Naruto could say another word, I grabbed Sasuke by his ridiculous Uchiha collar and bodily dragged him away, ignoring all his protests along the way. I only let go when we reached a clearing well enough away from Naruto and made Sasuke sit again.

 I sat down across from him, staring intently at my cousin. There was a long moment of silence as we stared at each other. Eventually Sasuke wilted under my gaze and shifted nervously. Finally he looked away.

 Quickly before he knew what was happening, I shunshined further away and made the appropriate hand signs, “Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!” I intoned and several fireballs flew towards Sasuke.

 My cousin's eyes widened as the fireballs roared towards him. I watched in amusement as he dodged the first five before creating a Grand Fireball to cancel out the last of my jutsu. When the fire died away, Sasuke was glaring at me. I smirked and did the same hand signs, “Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!”

 Repeat.

 By the time I did the third Phoenix Sage jutsu, Sasuke was pissed. He snatched a kunai from his weapons pouch and charged me. I laughed at his puny attempts to attack and backflipped away. “Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!”

 “Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!”

 I shunshined behind Sasuke to avoid his fireball and recreated the hand signs, “Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!” Sasuke turned around, his eyes wide and filled with horror as he saw the several mini fireballs flying towards him. There was no way he could avoid them in time. I watched passively as Sasuke managed to dodge the first and second fireball. The third skimmed his right forearm, making the brat cry out in agony. He leapt away from the others, getting out of the fire zone and crouching down to cradle his injured arm.

 “What the hell is wrong with you?!” He shouted at me. I was impressed that he wasn't crying from the burn. The Phoenix Sage Jutsu was hot enough that if the fire grazed you, it would result in a second degree burn. When Obito first taught me the jutsu I was bawling my eyes out when I got burned.

 Instead of answering his question, I started making the hand signs again. Sasuke, finally catching on, leapt away. I kept following him, spitting out fireballs, but every time I did Sasuke only leapt back again. He looked good and riled now. My mouth twitched upwards in a smirk, time to throw in insults.

 “You know for being a prodigy, you're a pretty lousy one.” I drawled casually. Sasuke straightened up from his crouched position, his brows drawn low over his nose. I nodded as if he had said something, “Even my brother, the famed 'dead last of the Uchiha', was chūnin at eleven and had unlocked his sharingan at age thirteen. And let's not get into Shisui and Itachi.”

 “What's your point?” Sasuke snapped angrily.

 I sneered as I made the hand signs again, “My point is that you're going to have a hell of a time learning without that sharingan. Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!”

 vvv

 “Ouch!” Sasuke actually yelped later that night as I applied salve to his burns.

 I rolled my eyes, “Hush up, you big baby! I'm not even hurting you.” I swatted the brat over the head for good measure.

 Tazuna snorted, “Now you are.” He chuckled then made a squeaking noise in the back of his throat when Sasuke and I glared at him.

 Naruto seemed torn between laughing at Sasuke and being jealous that he got to learn a jutsu while Naruto only got to practice more chakra controlling exercises. By mid afternoon he had mastered the leaf exercise to I gave him another, when he master that one I gave him another and another. Sasuke seemed grateful every time Naruto showed up saying that he mastered the exercise, since it was a break from my torturous training methods.

 I tied a knot in the last bandage and pulled it tight, causing my cousin to wince. Sasuke glared at me as he rubbed his arm. I smirked, “If you tell Itachi-san, he'll only tell you to train more. You know he will.” I teased, reading exactly what was on my younger cousin's mind. Well Itachi would probably kill me too, but I'd leave that part out.

 No need to give Sasuke any funny ideas.

 Feeling an evil look staring at me I looked up to see Tsunami glaring at me hotly, “Yanagi-san, you overdid it today. If you keep this up you won't be able to protect us when that man comes back!” Tazuna's daughter snapped at me.

 I waved a flippant hand, “Eh, I'm a jounin, I've been dealt with chakra exhaustion before.” I said dismissively. Granted when the last time I had been on an A-rank with chakra exhaustion I had other jounin to back me up, not fresh genin. Not that I was telling any of them that.

 Tsunami just continued to glare at me.

 Giving in I stood up with a sigh, “Fine. I'm going to bed. Hinata, since you already mastered your training I'm putting you in charge of guarding Tazuna tomorrow. See you two boys in the morning.” I said deviously. Sasuke paled a fraction while Naruto cheered happily. With that I hobbled off for another night's rest.

 vvv

 “Uh... Sensei, what are we doing...?” Naruto asked. Sasuke was off in a little corner of the clearing, practicing the Phoenix Sage jutsu–he had finally memorized the hand signs I had used for the jutsu–while the Kyuubi brat and I sat in a meditative pose in the center of the clearing. It was mid-morning and so far had been peaceful except for Naruto's consent nagging.

 I opened an eye, “Right now? I'm enjoying the morning. Shut up and meditate.”

 “But-”

 “No.”

 “Sensei-”

 “Meditate.”

 “What does-”

 “Shut up.”

 “Hmph!” Naruto pouted, but at least he fell silent. I relaxed and let my mind drift over my musings on Zabuza and his ally again. I needed to figure out what they wanted before they attacked again. Maybe... maybe if they're intentions weren't as evil as I originally thought I could talk them out of their job and thus save bloodshed. Gatou, he would have to go. I didn't need the drug lord around and trying to control the Land of Waves. This whole mission was just a tangled mess. I had to worry about my genin and Tazuna. I had to figure out how to get rid of Gatou. I had to do something about Zabuza and his ally.

 Why didn't I have Itachi's insane ability to plan years in advance?!

 Bamf!

 I opened my eyes to see Naruto had fallen over, asleep. I sighed. This kid was a long way from being Hokage, that much was for sure.

 “Hey, idiot! Wake up or I won't teach you the Wind Blade!” I yelled in Naruto's ear. From his shriek of pain, I guessed that I probably burst his eardrum.

 ...Oops...

 vvv

 “Come on...” I groaned to myself as I dragged the unconscious Naruto back into the house. For a kid, he felt like he weighed a ton! I dumped him at the table and dusted my hands off.

 In the meantime, Tsunami was gaping at Naruto's crumbled state, then at me, “What happened?!” She asked shocked. After a moment the older woman's eyes narrowed as if she blamed me for Naruto's sorry state. Though, it kinda was my fault...

 I gave her a raised eyebrow, “He fell unconscious. He'll be fine tomorrow.” Normal kids took months months to recover from near chakra exhaustion; but Naruto was the Kyuubi container, a little chakra exhaustion wouldn't bother him too much.

 “What's the use? You're just going to die!” Three guess who the doomsayer was, and the first two didn't count.

 It turned out that Naruto wasn't as unconscious as I thought, he was just being extremely lazy, “What do you mean?! We're training very hard to protect you, and you just-”

 Inari cut him off, “It doesn't matter how hard you try, there's no such thing as a hero!” With that the little brat ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. Tsunami ran after her son, calling out his name. I looked at Tazuna, knowing that he had answers.

 Grandpa Drunk sighed and set his tea cup down. He nodded towards a torn picture hanging on the wall, one that showed his family there smiling. I squinted at the picture, along the edges that had been torn, I could barely make out part of a masculine torso behind Tsunami. There was a story behind this family's strange behavior, I could practically smell it.

 “He wasn't Inari's real father, he came into our family later...” Tazuna started. I sat back and laced my fingers behind my head, I knew I was in for a treat.

  Chapter 12: Bitter Taste of Reality

I nudged Naruto's side with the toe of my sandal. He didn't even twitch. Squatting down I poked the brat's cheek with a rigid finger, “Hey, dumbass...” I said loudly, knowing that a knucklehead like Naruto would react if I called him names. He still didn't move. “Obito Mini-me. Brat. Idiot. Dumb blonde. Dead last. Coward.” When the brat didn't react at all I stood back up with a sigh and turned to the others standing in the doorway.

 “Well either he's dead or out like a light post.” I told them, scratching the back of my head. Hinata gasped a little, her hands going to her mouth as she no doubt thought that her precious 'Naruto-kun' was dead.

 Tsunami looked as equally worried as the little Hyuuga heiress, “You don't think he overdid it in training, do you? He was looking pretty exhausted last night.

 “Hn. He was passed out in the forest yesterday morning.” Sasuke commented thoughtfully.

 I groaned and hung my head, I really didn't need this at the moment, “Fine, Sasuke will be on guard duty today and Hinata will train.” I said defeated. I hated it when people screwed up my schedule! “Hinata you know the rules. If anyone suspicious shows up, head for the bridge and warn everyone.”

 “H-Hai.”

 Sasuke frowned, “But that was the rotation yesterday.” I glared at him. Like I didn't know that already, idiot.

 “Hinata still needs to train in her stealth and since Naruto is stealing your rest day, you can take his spot on guard duty. Don't complain, Duckass, true shinobi don't protest orders.” Like I predicted, Sasuke snapped his jaw shut and didn't make another sound.

 Really, it was insulting how predictable that kid was.

 “Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll go with you that way you can relax at the bridge.” Everyone but Inari gave me strange looks. I returned their gaze with an unamused look, “Stop staring like calves at a new gate. I'm bored.” I snapped, perhaps just a little too defensively. By Sasuke's sudden smug look I was guessing he knew why I really was going.

 I was worried about the brat.

 With good reason though. There was no such thing as a jounin who didn't have a sixth sense for danger; and I felt more jittery than when Obito accidentally released those rabid squirrels in the house.

 I mentally shuddered at the memory.

 I moved past the miniature crowd and lead them outside. Turning to Tsunami I began issuing orders, “When Naruto wakes up, just tell him to practice his taijutsu; you also have permission to send him on any errands you have. Hinata, I want you to try and sneak up on as many woodland creatures as you can. If you catch five animals in a row then join Sasuke and I on the bridge. Duckass, Grandpa Dunk, let's go.” I turned on my heel and immediately started for the bridge without waiting for the two idiot males catch up to me.

 “Geez, for a woman you walk pretty fast.” Tazuna panted when he and my cousin finally caught up. It was really pathetic that we were almost to the bridge by that point.

 I gave the old drunk an unimpressed look, “Not all women are geishas or civilians who don't have anywhere important to be. The success of a mission could rely on fast feet, I could possibly save a life that would otherwise be lost if I arrive quicker than my enemies anticipate.”

 Tazuna pulled a face, “Hey kid, are all shinobi like this one or is it just her?” He asked Sasuke.

 Sasuke just shrugged and didn't comment. He practically had to jog to keep up with us adults; I couldn't tell if he wasn't answering because he didn't want to or because he was too focused on not falling behind. I was guessing it was a little bit of both.

 “Tazuna, how long do you have before the bridge is finished?” I asked the old man. Now wasn't the time for fun and games. That sense of dread I had been feeling all morning was getting worse the closer we got to the bridge.

 Grandpa Drunk shrugged, “Depends. If I have a full roster of workers, it should only be a few weeks. But with Gatou controlling everything and scaring the people, I keep losing my workers. Just yesterday I had one of my foremen quiet! I don't even have half of a roster now, it could take months with the amount of workers I got.”

 Grimacing, I halted at the entrance to the bridge, “That's what I feared.” I muttered.

 Tazuna gaped at his unconscious employees littering the bridge. I could tell by their chakra levels that the men were still alive, but only just. “What tha-?!” Tazuna exclaimed, his face twitching in horror. I glanced at him then at Sasuke. Sasuke looked back at me, his eyes gleaming with an odd shine of excitement. He was ready.

 A sudden mist blew in from the ocean. I snarled in frustration and stepped in front of Tazuna, “Stay behind me.” I said sharply. Tazuna didn't say anything, but he didn't move.

 That stupid creepy chuckle drifted out from the fog, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Uchiha. I see you still got that brat with you, but what happened with the other two? Did they run off?” I heard a slight clicking behind me, but didn't glance towards my cousin. I knew he wasn't doing something stupid. Of all my genin I trusted Sasuke the most in a fight, even if he had bouts of cowardice when I least expected it.

 Peaches chuckled again, “Oh look, he's shaking again. Pathetic.” The nuke-nin laughed mockingly.

 There was a small intake of air from Sasuke and I felt Zabuza's chakra spike as water clones surrounded the three of us. I tensed and palmed a kunai, ready to throw it at the clone's head that was in front of me if he so much as blinked in a way I didn't like.

 Sasuke scoffed, “I'm trembling with... excitement.”

 The Zabuza water clones seemed surprised at the admission and I only rolled my eyes. Why couldn't the need for dramatics skip Sasuke? It skipped Itachi and me, why not one more generation?! I had enough drama from Naruto, I didn't need Sasuke filling in for that little brat too.

 Speaking of brats...

 I glanced at my cousin out of the corner of my eye, “Play nice.” I said teasingly. That was all the permission Sasuke needed. He twirled the kunai in his hand around a finger so that the blade was pointing at the clone in front of him. With a delightful smirk that reminded me a little too much of Obito's sadistic grin, my baby cousin pounced at the water clones.

 While Peach-boy's clones were busy trying to defeat an Uchiha brat, I ran through the signs for a summoning and slammed my hand to the bridge's surface, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” I heard Zabuza growl angrily as a swarm of normal sized hawks flew up from the seal, spiraling into a twister of feathers and harsh cries that surrounded me like a moving wall. I held up my right arm and one of the hawks detached itself from it's flock. “Fly to Hyuuga Hinata and inform her to come as back up.” The hawk dipped its head at my command and took off to the sky, flying out of sight before turning in the direction of Hinata. No need to tell our enemies where an ally was after all. The rest of the hawks dispersed among the cables of the bridge, their sharp yellow eyes watching.

 While I was busy with my summonings, Sasuke finished up his little spar with the water clones. He looked about as cocky as a true Uchiha when he returned to his spot beside me. I mentally whimpered and hoped that I didn't get an arrogant little brat who thought he was God's gift to man. If so, I was going to beat that out of him and suffer Itachi's wrath with a smile on my face.

 “Ooooo, the brat's improving.” Peach-boy said from my right. All three of us turned to see the man with horrible fashion sense giving us a leer. At least I thought it was a leer, it was kind of hard to tell when the lower half of his face was bandaged up. His ally stood beside him, still wearing that false hunter-nin mask. “Looks like you've got competition... Haku.” Zabuza continued.

 “So it seems.” The boy, Haku, murmured quietly.

 Trolling time.

 “Oi oi. Peachy's ally, or whatever the hell your name is, are you a boy or a girl? Because honestly, you're a very androgynous individual.” I asked, intentionally playing the ignorant idiot. Tazuna and Sasuke were giving me looks that could only be described as 'way to ruin the suspense, dummy'.

 Haku and Zabuza exchanged looks and I took my chance to continue, “You know what? It doesn't matter anyway, I think I'll just call you Zabuza's Bitch.” I said with a smirk. Both nuke-nins snapped their heads around to glare at me–well I assume Haku glared, it was hard to tell with the mask–while I cackled in delight of pissing my enemy off.

 “Take care of the brat. I'll take the bitch.” Zabuza growled.

 Haku turned his gaze on Sasuke, “Right.” The kid murmured again. Then he moved. Startled I opened my mouth to shout a warning to Sasuke, but Zabuza was on me before I could utter a single syllable.

 I back flipped away from Tazuna, distancing myself from the client and the man trying to kill him. At the moment Zabuza seemed pretty focused on me, so I didn't have to worry. I smirked as I kicked Kubikiribōchō away from me. “Don't tell me I struck a nerve.” I cooed as I deflected another swing with my kunai. Zabuza snarled like an angry animal and charged at me again. I snorted and ducked under his swing. If I had know pissing Peaches off would make him attack like a predictable wild animal, I would have done it a long time ago.

 Kicking off the ground, I gave myself enough time to spare a glance at Sasuke. My eyes widened as I saw Haku performing hand signs with only one hand. That wasn't something you saw everyday. I wonder if the sharingan could somehow pick it up.

 Before I could activate my sharingan to see if I could, Zabuza attacked again, “You're opponent is me! Let's leave the kids to their game.”

 I shot Zabuza a nasty glare, “Oh, go drown in your own water ninjutsu! I didn't come all this way with a bunch of brats and a drunk old man to hear you blowing steam, ya old windbag.” I snapped, getting irritated. I knew Zabuza wasn't taking this fight seriously. He was just trying to keep me from Sasuke and Haku's fight.

 Peachy paused, “A bunch of brats, eh?” He quoted, sounding oddly interested. “So you don't think that those genin are worth anything either.”

 “Oh I think they're worth a lot of things, I just like calling them brats. They're my brats and I'm the only one allowed to call them that and get away with it.” I snapped back and flung my kunai at Peachy-boy's head to emphasize my point. He easily ducked under the kunai and charged at me, his sword back and ready for a strong strike to my legs. I leaped into the air over his blade and put my hands down on Zabuza's back, flipping over him to land between him and the kids.

 I smirked, “Ya know, some people would think you were compensating for something with that big blade of yours.” I commented sweetly.

 “You're letting that big mouth get away again, Uchiha.” Peachy growled.

 I shrugged, “Well at least I'm not trying to prank you as well as fight you like my brother does. That's just annoying.” I said coolly. From the look in Zabuza's eyes, he thought my inappropriate remarks were a hell of a lot more annoying.

 “Argh!” Both of us whipped around to see Sasuke kicking Haku away.

 Sasuke stood in his spot, smirking, “Seems you're not as fast as you think you are.” He said, idly spinning his kunai around his index finger. Cocky little git, I was definitely beating that arrogance out of his system.

 Zabuza glared at his ally, “Haku. Stop messing around and letting a brat beat you, get on with it!” He ordered.

 The masked boy stood back up easily, “Yes.” He responded in an almost robotic voice.

 Frowning I turned my back on Zabuza to watch what the masked brat was doing. Icy blue strands of chakra haloed Haku and he bowed his head, “I'm sorry it's come to this.” The boy said softly and made a strange sign. The temperature dropped drastically and I uttered a curse under my breath as I automatically regulated my chakra to keep myself warm. Of course our newest enemy would have some kind of tie to cold weather. It wouldn't be hell if he didn't.

 Stupid karma demons and their stupid agenda against me.

 The water around Sasuke and Haku suddenly leaped up into the air to form flat frozen surfaces. Haku stepped into the mirrors, senbon needles in his hands. Meanwhile I gaped in surprise, it was not cold enough to form ice like that. Even the most powerful shinobi with water nature had a hard time creating ice even in temperatures where it was easy to form. That only meant one thing.

 Kekke Genkai.

 Peaches chuckled behind me, “Seems you figured it out.”

 Growling I ran for the ice mirrors, but Peach-boy flash stepped in front of me. “If you're going to fight, you will fight me.” He snapped.

 I glared at him. “Bastard.” I spat out.

 The peachy nuke-nin chuckled creepily, “Oh? Out of your witty comments? I'm crushed.” I could practically taste the sarcasm in the air.

 “You have three seconds to step aside before I really crush you.”

 “How cute. You think you can defeat me. You weren't able to before, what makes you think you can now that we're surrounded by even more water than before?” My eyes widened a fraction and I flung my kunai at the water clone that I thought was Zabuza and leaping away before the real Zabuza could cut me down. He didn't look all that happy when he turned to face me. He scoffed when he saw my sharingan, “That again? Are all the Uchiha so weak that they rely on that silly Kekke Genkai of theirs? How pathetic.”

 Sasuke yelped and I looked over Peaches shoulder to see Haku raining senbon down on my cousin like a vengeful thunderstorm. Anger washed over me, hot and heady, when I landed my gaze back on Zabuza. “Two seconds to move.”

 Peaches sneered.

 “One.”

 He didn't move.

 I held my right arm above my head and brought my left to my mouth. Curling my index and thumb around my tongue I whistled loudly, using a small wind ninjutsu to amplify the sound. My hawk summons, having been sitting on the sidelines forgotten, all took flight. They flew in circles like a roiling thundercloud of brown and black, using my upraised arm as the pivot point.

 “Last chance to move.” I said. Zabuza stubbornly stayed where he was. My mouth twisted in an ugly grimace and I lowered my right arm to point at the Mist nuke-nin. The hawks gave one last turn before following my finger and shooting straight towards Peach-boy.

 He smirked.

 My eyes widened.

 “Hha!” I felt water douse my back and I spun around to see Hinata standing in a puddle of water, formerly a water clone, panting slightly. She gave me a shaky grin, “I-I'm sorry Y-Yanagi-sensei. I c-came as fast as I c-c-c-could.” She stuttered slightly, a blush forming on her cheeks. I didn't blame her, Hinata had suddenly become the center of attention after pulling a stunt like that. Even Haku stopped torturing my poor cousin to stare at her.

 I grinned, “Hey, I'm not complaining. You just saved me from being skewered like a roast pig.” I joked before turning serious, “Guard Tazuna, don't leave his side for any reason.” I ordered. Hinata gave a firm nod and leaped sideways until she was in front of Tazuna, in a Gentle Fist stance. When I turned to face Zabuza again, he did not look amused.

 “Oh... did she ruin your little scheme?” I asked innocently, pressing an index finger to the corner of my mouth like a slut trying to act cute.

 That did it, I could practically hear Peachy's patience snap. He snarled and charged at me, “Shut up!”

 I laughed as I jumped away from him, “Looks like you underestimated my brats, Peach-boy. Sasuke and Hinata are clan kids and having been training with their families since they could hold a kunai right.” I ducked under Peachy's swing and shot my left leg out for a round house kick. Zabuza launched into the air to avoid my leg and I pulled back before he could land on it. “Sasuke is the best in his class and no one can defeat Hinata in taijutsu. She's a Hyuuga after all, it's in her blood.” I taunted as I back flipped away from the Kubikiribōchō.

 Skidding to a halt a few feet away from Peaches I smirked, “And what have you got? A coward with a nice Kekke Genkai. Well, I've got two brats with Kekke Genkai and neither of them are cowards!”

 Zabuza's face twisted unpleasantly, “Haku, stop goofing around and kill that pest!” He barked out, his gaze darting over his shoulder to where the ice mirrors stood. Haku didn't respond, but only started throwing more senbons at Sasuke at a more rapid pace than before; I tried not to flinch when I heard Sasuke cry out. Peachy looked back at me, his gaze deadlier than before, “That big mouth of yours is going to get your brats killed, Uchiha.”

 I only smiled, “I'm confident they can handle one little brat, even one as powerful as yours. Besides, you forgot something.” Peach-boy stiffened as it dawned on him that Naruto had yet to appear. My smile twisted into a sneer, “You know, I think my last student deserves to be called the 'Stupidly Brave Shinobi of Konoha' more than I do. After all, not many genin are brave enough to fight someone like you, Peach-boy, let alone get the better of you.”

 As if planned there was a puff of smoke to the right of Haku's mirrors. Naruto's voice drifted from the white billowing vapors, “I resent that, Frizzy-sensei! Call me the 'Fearless Shinobi of Konoha'! That's right, Uzumaki Naruto is here!” My eye only twitched a little at the nickname. I'd let it slide this one time.

 Peach-boy blinked slowly at Naruto then looked at me, “You think some brat like him can do anything?”

 I shrugged, “Why not? It was a dead-last like Naruto who helped turn the last shinobi war back in Konoha's favor.” I responded coolly. I should know, Obito was the idiot I was talking about. “I feel Naruto can do the same with this little spat we have. Dead-last shinobi have a tendency to surprise people.” Naruto took a second to gawk at me, not use to my free praise. All I could say was he had better back up my claims or I was going to murder the little sucker.

 Naruto got a really big grin on his face, “You know how the hero always shows up at the last minute and kicks butt? Well that's what I'm going to do, right now! So don't you worry sensei, you can just sit back and watch me beat these guys!”

 I facepalmed.

 The blonde idiot ignored me, “Alright, you're history!” He formed a sign, “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” But before Naruto could form a single clone, Zabuza twisted around and threw a handful of shuriken at him. Like with the Demon Brothers, Naruto's first reaction was the freeze in fear.

 “Move Naruto!” I yelled, my heart in my throat as I watched the throwing stars head for my frozen student. I wouldn't be able to get there in time to stop them, not even my hawks surrounding the bridge would be able to grab the shuriken in time.

 Out of no where, senbon needles collided with the shuriken and knocked them off course. I jerked in surprise and twisted to stare at Haku half leaning out of his mirrors, still in the position of someone who had just thrown something. Zabuza narrowed his eyes at his ally.

 Now that he was out of danger, I felt it safe to yell at Naruto, “You imbecile! This is a real battle not a stupid spar; a shinobi's lifestyle is deception, not a damn talent show! Always keep your enemy guessing, be unpredictable so they can't figure out how to defeat you. So get your head outta your ass and think before someone makes a dartboard out of you!”

 Naruto turned about as red as Hinata did when Naruto got within ten feet of her. He started yelling apologies, but I ignored him to glance at Haku. Everyone else seemed to think that Haku had thrown senbon at Naruto at the same time Zabuza did and their attacks ended up colliding; but I knew better. One look at my cousin-turned-porcupine told me that Haku did not miss his targets. Which could only mean... he meant to throw those shuriken off track.

 The question was why.

 Peach-boy seemed to be thinking the same thing I was, “Haku, what are you doing?” Peachy demanded. His tone was dangerous and angry, he was pissed at Haku for disturbing his attack. In Zabuza's state of mind at the moment, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he attacked his own ally out of anger.

 One could only hope.

 Haku straightened out of his position and dipped his head towards Peaches, “Zabuza-sama, let me fight this boy in my own way... please.” The brat rasped. Mildly I wondered if all Kiri nins had that smoker rasp, or if it was just these two idiots.

 Naruto glared at the masked boy, “Bring. It. On.” He challenged before I could tell him to not be stupid. I suppressed the urge to hang my head in defeat at the stupidity of the blonde brat and wondered if he knew how powerful Haku was. Sasuke was hardly a match for the nuke-nin, what chance did Naruto have against him?!

 Zabuza chuckled, “As usual you're too soft, Haku. Fine, if that is what you wish.” Soft? What part of that masked brat was...

 I glanced at Sasuke. He was injured but not too bad, nothing that would cause any lasting damage. So either Haku was very sadistic and liked to play with his enemies; or he was soft as Zabuza said and wasn't trying to hurt Sasuke, just stall him. Still, knowing Naruto, he'd piss Haku off enough that the nuke-nin would tear him to shreds. I started to take a step forward to intervene before things got worse, but Peaches blocked my path.

 “Don't even think about it.” Oddly enough, Peachy sounded amused. “You know what will happen if you take on Haku. I'll go after the bridge builder and that little girl.” I stiffened and looked to the left where Tazuna and Hinata stood. There was no way that I would be able to end Haku and protect those two at the same time. Against a long sword like the Kubikiribōchō, Hinata's taijutsu was useless; and without me guiding my hawk summons they couldn't do shit but sit there and look pretty. I supposed I could summon a larger hawk to deal with Zabuza while I took out Haku, but that would cut down on my chakra and possibly put me in a dangerous position.

 Damn.

 Zabuza seemed to know I was in a bind, he smirked underneath those bandages, “Relax, Uchiha. Lets see how our students do... one on one.” I gave him an Uchiha Glare, but he wasn't even paying attention to me. I didn't dare attack, he might not be looking at me, but I know the Peach Bastard was still prepared to fight me. Only an idiot would think otherwise.

 Apparently Sasuke was an idiot.

 While Haku was talking to Naruto, a kunai came flying out of the ice prison that held Sasuke. Haku easily dodged the knife and looked at my cousin, “Don't think I forgot about you, not for an instant.” The masked nuke-nin tilted his head a little, “Some warriors accept defeat gracefully, they know when they are beaten...” Oh great, know I was going to have two idiots who couldn't think straight, “Others do not. So be it, let us finish our battle then.”

 I couldn't help but groan quietly as Haku reentered his mirrors. Zabuza actually snorted and gave me an amused look as if we weren't enemies fighting to the death but two people just watching our students spar. I shot him a brief glare and looked away. I refused to think Peaches was anyone else but my enemy.

 It was torture having to watch my cousin practically being torn to shreds by multiple attacks coming from all the mirrors. With my sharingan I could pick up the real Haku and how he jumped from mirror to mirror to keep the element of surprise. The little pest was fast, even with my sharingan I could just barely pick up his movements as he flashed between the mirrors. But I still didn't know how the mirrors worked.

 “Sasuke, Naruto think! You have to attack the mirrors from the inside and outside at the same time to figure out how they work!” I yelled. Naruto's face brightened with an idea and there was a poof and...

 He was gone.

 It was only when Sasuke started yelling did I realize where he went. My eye twitched and I glanced at Zabuza. The nuke-nin looked like he was on the verge of laughing, I was almost tempted to tell him that I was disowning Naruto as my student after a stunt like that.

 “Katon: Phoenix Sage Jutsu!” Sasuke yelled out and there was a brief glow of orange that surrounded the multiple mirrors at various angles, but none of them melted.

 I could hear the amusement in Haku's voice when he said, “You'll need more firepower than that to melt this ice.” I stiffened slightly. More firepower? I could easily do that, but...

 Peaches smirked at me, easily reading my mind, “If you melt the mirrors you'll incinerate your students. Doesn't that defeat the purpose?” He asked. I shot him a nasty look and mildly wondered why he hadn't attacked yet. Peach-boy didn't have a problem earlier, was he just stalling then to get to this point and showcase his student? He had been hired to take out my client, not show off his student's prowess.

 Once again my suspicions of his involvement with the Mist Rebels surfaced. I eyed the man, trying to figure out his game. I doubted that he was ever fighting me seriously. All he had done was send water clones and swing that big ass sword around. Zabuza had been part of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure, he had gotten the position by being a master of kenjutsu. So far Zabuza had been attacking as if the Kubikiribōchō was just a piece of metal to be swung around and not a great sword.

 Of course it was always possible that he was downplaying his abilities to keep the element of surprise; I had been doing the same by only dodging Zabuza's sword and tossing kunai around when I got the opening. But it just didn't fit Peachy's personality to use deception when he had the opportunity to strike. I glanced at the ice prison as Haku bounded from mirror to mirror, raining senbon down on Sasuke and Naruto. Haku was the same. I knew that that jutsu was meant to trap and destroy an opponent. The positioning of the mirrors and the pure speed of Haku proved that point easily enough. So why weren't my students dead yet? From what I had gathered on Haku, I knew he wasn't the sick twisted kind of shinobi that enjoyed toying with their victims. Not even Zabuza was that way. Zabuza's way of killing was quick, painless, and silent; leaving any survivors baffled and frightened of the Demon of the Mist.

 Naruto's yelling stopped my musing, “I won't quit! Not ever, I'm going to survive and become Hokage because that is my dream!” I didn't know if I should be proud that he still wasn't giving up even after that downpour of needles or still embarrassed that he had gotten himself into that mess.

 What Haku responded with surprised me, “I didn't want to be a shinobi, it's painful. I don't want to kill you, but if you come closer I will have no choice.” What? “I will kill the kindness in my own heart and fully embrace the shinobi way. This bridge will the battlefield where our dreams collide. I will fight for my dream, just as you fight for yours. Please do not blame me, I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him and I will face death for him so that his dream will become reality. That is my dream, and for the sake of that dream, if I must I will act as a shinobi and take your lives!”

 I bowed my head and glanced at the silent Zabuza. It was obvious that Haku was referring to Peach-boy, but why? What did Zabuza do that made the kid so loyal to him? And furthermore, just what was Zabuza's dream? The more I listened to Haku, the more reluctant I was to kill the kid, but if he got in the way of my mission then I would cut him and Zabuza down.

 Peaches shot me a haughty glance, “Tell me Uchiha, does that wimpy village of yours still avoid the most important rule of being a shinobi?” He asked as if he were genuinely curious.

 I only started at him in silence. It was a loaded question, so I saw no need in wasting my breath with an answer that was already obvious.

 Peach-boy cackled like a madman, “I wonder what your precious little Hokage will say when you come back with two bodies instead of three live genin... if you survive that is.” I heard Tazuna inhale sharply as it dawned on him just how outnumbered the genin truly were. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see how Hinata was holding up to the news of her possible death.

 Not too well.

 Zabuza followed my gaze, “She's going to faint.” He observed in a tone that could only be amusement. He looked back at me, “How is it that you ended up with three incompetent brats? You're supposed to be an A-class kunoichi, and yet here you are... babysitting.”

 “Hn.” I grunted. That insult was so pathetic I knew I would lose brain cells just by answering it. One would think that the Bloody Mist would pencil in a trash talk class right after their academy students learned how to gut a helpless victim. At least so they wouldn't kill their opponents from the lame insults flying around.

 Unless... that was their stupid plan all along.

 The damn man didn't shut up though, “Falling back on the Uchiha customary response? How unlike you.” Great now he was adding sarcasm to the list. My eye twitched and I came close to planting my fist in his stupid, bandaged face if only to shut him up; but I somehow refrained... for now. “It must goad you that your precious Hokage would dump a bunch of brats on you. It's such a waste of your skills, chasing after three brats like you're their nanny while shinobi weaker than you take over your missions.” Peachy continued on, not even bothering to see if he was really insulting me or not.

 Finally I got fed up, “Your insults are pathetic. Even my pacifist cousin can talk trash better than you.” I deadpanned. Peachy didn't even have the decency to look offended. He only smirked at me from underneath his bandages.

 I reached into my weapons pouch and brought out a fan. Snapping it open I began lightly fanning myself like a geisha would. I even fluttered my eyelashes at Peaches, “Let's get this over with, ne? I want to leave by dusk.” I simpered like a primping airhead and reactivated my sharingan, having had deactivated it once I realized I would never figure out Haku's jutsu with my eyes.

 Zabuza jerked his gaze away from my sharingan and he reached back into his own kunai pouch. As he charged at me, I made a sweeping motion with my arm so that my fan cut through the air like a blade. When he came into my range, I thumbed the little lever on the handle and fourteen senbon needles shot out of the fan's ribs. Unfortunately due to the large curve of the fan's edge, only five senbons were heading directly at Peaches. He easily knocked them away with his two bladed kunai and jumped back.

 I snapped the fan shut and pointed it at him, “Lesson number one of kunoichi tactics: Everything can be a weapon.” I depressed another button on the bamboo frame of the fan and a three inch blade shot out of the little slot that was embedded into the fan, just to prove my point. Zabuza did not looked very pleased with my Fan of Wonders–as Obito called it.

 In fact, I could swear he was pouting.

 “This won't be like last time, Peach-boy.” I promised him, my smirk melting away to be replaced with the expressionless mask every shinobi seemed to have.

 The bandaged nuke-nin seemed to have stolen my smirk, “You're correct, because this time even if you do defeat me, you have no chance against Haku. When I found him he was just a street rat, but I trained him in the most advanced techniques. I taught him everything I know, and with that Kekke Genkai of his, soon he was able to take on dangerous enemies. Even outnumbered and in total darkness, he could strike with perfect accuracy. He cared nothing for his own life, or the lives of others. Haku became a unique fighting machine, a shinobi. In the end even he surpassed me, with that Kekke Genkai of his nothing can defeat it! I've created a tool that can destroy anyone who stands in my way, unlike those useless brats that follow you around like little lost puppies!”

 I grimaced in disgust at the man before me. Then I glanced over his shoulder at the prison of ice mirrors where the shouts of pain from Naruto and Sasuke were still originating. When I head heard Haku's speech I was ready to put an end to the battle peacefully, just to save the kid the pain of losing his precious person. Now I was ready to roast the fool who dared take advantage of loyalty like that.

 Zabuza laughed as he looked back at the ice mirrors with a crazed look in his eyes, “You think those punks can defeat Haku? He's the ultimate battle tool of destruction!”

 “Would ya shut up already? Geez you sound worse than my uncle when he's talking about Itachi!” I snapped, getting irritated with this 'Haku is so great! You can never defeat him!' bullshit. Was Zabuza Haku's fangirl or senpai?!

 Zabuza didn't understand the reference, so he wasn't offended. Though I had now doubt he would be throwing a temper tantrum if he knew how Fugaku was when he was bragging about my cousin. “Fine, but there is one more thing you should know.” I raised an eyebrow and decided to humor him, not that he needed any encouragement, “Did you really think our last battle was just win or lose? Haku had been watching the whole time, watching every move your made with that sharingan of yours. Haku can see a move once and immediately devise a counterattack; it's one of his... gifts. I've been waiting to see the look on your pretty face when you realize that your sharingan has become worthless!”

 I kept my face blank just to annoy him.

 Zabuza held up two fingers, “Suiton: Hidden Mist Jutsu!”

 Deja vu, anyone?

 The thin mist that had already layered the air thickened to the point of no visibility. I cursed, my sharingan eyes darting to pick up the slighted movement in the mist; but all I could see was Hinata and Tazuna fidgeting around, looking left and right for a thin spot in the thick mist. I pinned Hinata with a look. She was twitching nervously and shaking in fear, “Hinata, stay with Tazuna. Don't leave his side for any reason.” I ordered her in a sharp tone. The Hyuuga girl seemed to get over her fear at the order and nodded firmly before shifting from an offensive to a defensive taijutsu stance. I had noticed over the weeks that she seemed to lose her cowardice when given a direct order. Hopefully she would stand by it even if I went down.

 Shuriken came out of no where and I easily batted them away with my closed fan. I took a cautious step in the direction the throwing stars had come from but stopped and twisted around when I felt Zabuza's chakra behind me. I blinked when I saw that his eyes were closed. Was he trying to prevent looking into my sharingan or was it another reason entirely? I frowned when he started to speak.

 “Next time you see me, will be the last time you see anything.” Okay, for Peach-boy, that wasn't a half bad attempt to be intimidating; but still... even goofy Shisui still beat him by a mile. Of course, goofy Shisui happened to be pretty terrifying when someone did the impossible and actually pissed him off, but that was irrelevant. “Without your sharingan, you're nothing.” Zabuza rasped and then disappeared again before I could attack. I twitched in annoyance. If this was just going to be a hit-and-run tactic I was going to murder someone.

 Preferably Peaches; but I would take Tazuna for putting me in this mess in the first place too.

 Fine. If he wanted to play this game, then I would just pull and Uchiha Tactic straight from the Book of Bullshit and own his sorry ass before he could sneeze. I ran through the appropriate hand signs and slammed my palms together with a loud clap, “Fūton: Gale Palm!” In a large ejection of wind oriented chakra, I managed to disperse most of the mist thinning it out enough that I could see Zabuza's faint outline several paces to my right. I turned to face the outline and began a new set of hand signs, “Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!” I shouted and sent a steady stream of fire at Zabuza.

 I grinned when Zabuza had to leap out of the mist and into my sight, just like I wanted, “I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last part. You left to quickly. Something about me being without my sharingan...?” I said teasingly. Boy, did Peaches look pissed off.

 Somehow that set off a monologue of how Peach-boy had figured out the secret behind the sharingan. I almost started nodding off when he started explaining the piercing eye and the hypnotic eye and how I had used them in battle. Seriously, what was with this guy and explaining things to invisible audiences? Was he so enamored with his own smoker voice that he liked making long winded speeches over obvious things?!

 That would explain a lot of things, actually.

 After he finished lecturing me about things I had grown up knowing, he started talking about his 'ultimate plan to win the day'. Finally I gave up pretending to listen and groaned loudly, “Oh. My. Kami. SHUT UP! At least try to make it harder on me by not explaining your stupid little plan. Dear Lord, do I need to give you the 'a shinobi's lifestyle is deception' lecture I gave Naruto too?!”

 There was a beat of silence when even Haku stopped fighting Naruto and Sasuke, before Zabuza's annoying raspy voice spoke again, “Fine. I just won't give you a sporting chance.” If that was what he called a 'sporting chance' I would gladly go without, if only to keep my ears from bleeding.

 In the back of my mind I wondered who could out talk the other: the Hokage or Peaches.

 The fighting between the three boys resumed with vigor, but something was different about it. I could hear Sasuke using the fireball jutsu as well, which was strange. Didn't he already try to melt the ice and figure out that it didn't work? What could those two idiots possibly be up to? I risked a glance in their direction, hoping that it might shed some light on their plan.

 “Pay attention to your own fight!” Zabuza roared and I snapped my head around with a gasp just in time to feel his foot connect with my jawline. There was a dull crunch and I tasted the sharp coppery twang of blood flooding my mouth; seconds later a wave of pain bloomed from my jaw, momentarily causing my mind to blank. I landed in a heap on the ground, my jaw throbbing painfully. I reached up to cradle it and winced when my hand grazed against the bruising area. The bone was cracked at the very least.

 High killer intent brought my head up and my eyes widened when I saw Zabuza descending from the air, the Kubikiribōchō raised over his head and positioned to bisect me at the waist. Scrambling, I twisted to the side and got my feet under me just as the long blade dug into the ground almost three inches deep. I winced and tried not to imagine what would have happened to be had I been any slower.

 I was really starting to regret pissing Peaches off.

 The Kiri nuke-nin yanked his big ass sword out of the ground and turned towards me, a deranged look in his eyes. “Seems I finally succeeded in shutting up the Uchiha with the runaway mouth. Now to make it permanent.” I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the lame trash talk. This guy was truly pathetic when it came to being intimidating. I was starting to think that awkward Iruka could be more terrifying than this guy. The chunnin might be terrifying to kids, but he was just a socially awkward wimp when it came to adults.

 Peachy disappeared.

 I stiffened and looked around, trying to discern any chakra signal with either my sharingan or my sensory abilities. I swallowed a mouthful of blood, trying not to gag at the overbearing taste of copper, and ran through my options. While the wind jutsu had momentarily cleared the mist, it was back in full force, once again hindering my line of vision. Sight was out, I could deal with that. Peaches was a master of the silent killing technique; he could enter a crowd full of people, kill one person, and be gone before that person even hit the ground–all the while not making a smidgen of noise. That mean I could not hear Zabuza's attacks either and if I did it was probably a distraction. Still I could manage without hearing too.

 That left my sensing abilities and scent. I wasn't a tracker and I was no where near as good at olfactory perception as Kakashi or the Inuzuka clan, but I still had a sharp nose. However, the problem with that was my sense of smell was being overridden by the smell of my blood still filling my mouth. My chances of predicting Peaches next attack were starting to slim down. My chakra sensing abilities weren't the best, it was mostly just raw talent, but I still should be able to pick out Zabuza's large chakra source in the thick mist he had created. It would be like trying to pick out the early morning sun in a thick fog, but it was still doable. Unless Peach-boy suppressed his chakra, I should be able to sense him.

 I closed my eyes and concentrated on spanning my awareness about the bridge. I could feel the chakra of the three boys flitting around inside the ice prison, which appeared to be a thin dome of Haku's chakra, and I could pick out Hinata's still relatively high chakra reserves right in front of Tazuna's stunted civilian level chakra. Wait.

 Hinata.

 Damn it! I had a Hyuuga with me the whole time and I was too caught up in my ego to even think about asking her for help. There wasn't anything that could hide from the Byakugan! And now, I couldn't talk because of my cracked jawbone. Growling deep in my throat I was about to shunshin to Hinata and signal what I needed in my rusty genin hand signs, when the object I was looking for appeared.

 Right where I didn't want it.

  Chapter 13: Reassuring Brats is Such a Drag

“W-where's N-N-N-Na-Naruto-kun?” Hinata asked the next day as she came down for breakfast. I ignored the conversation as I absentmindedly went over my supply of weapons. My instincts were telling me that the final battle between my team and Zabuza was approaching fast. I wouldn't be unprepared this time, I was going to make sure I was as prepared as I could be with my limited resources. I sighed through my nose and wished that the Land of Waves had a weapons shop of some sort. I had gone as far as whittling down sticks I gathered in the woods into makeshift senbon needles.

 There was no way in hell I was going to lose this fight.

 Tsunami's worried voice brought me back to reality, “Well I hope he's alright. A child shouldn't spend the night out in the woods alone.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I reattached my weapons pouch to my hip. Civilians would forever think that a child was a child and not a ninja, no matter what we did to convince them otherwise.

 “I wouldn't worry.” Everyone turned to look at me. I found it amusing that there were sparks of anger in the eyes of the two genin present. It was especially funny coming from Hinata. I shrugged, “Naruto is an immature brat, but he's still a genin. He'll be fine...” A smirk crawled up the corner of my mouth, “Although, he could be dead from chakra exhaustion. He's an idiot for practicing that jutsu day in and day out.”

 Hinata squeaked in fear and daintily covered her mouth with her hands. “S-sensei, you d-d-don't th-think that he–” She didn't finish her thought, as if she was afraid that if she said Naruto was dead it would be true.

 Sasuke hummed to himself, “Sensei is probably right. That dobe is probably dead somewhere.” I mentally grinned evilly as I filed away the quote for future blackmail against Sasuke. If Mikoto ever found out that Sasuke was being rude to Kushina-san's child, my aunt would hang Sasuke by his toenails and proceed to skin him alive.

 Duckass stood suddenly and started to walk away, “I'm going for a walk.” He said nonchalantly as he stuffed his hands into his shorts' pockets.

 I grinned at my cousin as he passed me, “Say hi to your boyfriend for me when you find him!” I called teasingly. Sasuke actually snarled when he glared at me and I laughed with true delight. I swear teasing Sasuke was almost as fun as it had was to tease Kakashi-nii.

 Actually teasing the duckass was more fun because he didn't throw kunais at me.

 Or tell Shisui where I was at any given time.

 The door clicked shut behind Sasuke and I immediately stood up, “Let's go Hinata, you're turn for practice.” I didn't miss Hinata's flinch, but I ignored it. Now was not the time for personal issues, we were about to have a fight on our hands.

 Hinata followed me quietly until we reached the clearing I had in mind to use as Hinata's training ground. I sat down in the middle of the clearing and closed my eyes, “Alright, go out in the woods for a bit and try to sneak back here. I'll tell you if I hear you or not.”

 She didn't move.

 I waited for a moment longer before cracking an eye open. Hinata stood there, still in her strangely defiant mood. If not for the blush on her cheeks or the nervous way she twiddled her fingers, I would have said she was glaring at me. I guess I wasn't getting out of this easily.

 “Look,” I started as I leaned back on my hands and closed my eye again, “it's my job as your sensei to prepare you for the world. I won't apologize for seeming a little harsh; to me Naruto, Sasuke and you are all adults so I won't coddle you. If you can't handle it, then resign from your career as a kunoichi and find a less stressful job.” I opened my other eye to pin the quiet Hyuuga heiress with a serious look, “Otherwise, start practicing.”

 Hinata was quiet for a long time. She just stood in her place, staring at me. I held her gaze. Hinata may be a shy child who stuttered a lot, but I could tell by her eyes that gaining her respect would be a challenge for anyone, and once the had it she would never stop respecting them no matter what they did. I knew that her philosophy came from her clan, so I would respect her beliefs, however much they differed from the Uchiha clan.

 Finally the little girl bowed deeply, as one would to a highly respected elder, and ran off into the woods. I smiled, I was actually starting to enjoy this jounin sensei gig... well at least with Hinata.

 The two boys were still annoying.

 When I was could no longer feel Hinata's chakra signature, I pulled a blank scroll out of my weapons pouch and opened it. Setting it down in front of me, the tip of my foot resting on the edge to keep the scroll from rolling back up, I took out my fan I used for wind ninjutsu and unfurled it. I felt along the fan's edge for the rib that was just slightly larger than the others. Hooking my fingernail under the tiny lip at the top, I pulled out my field brush then I flipped the fan over so I could feel along the base for the compartment that held a block of compressed and died ink.

 With all my supplies laid out I proceeded to make the ink. Scratching off a good bit of the powdered ink into the large thumb indent on my fan that doubled as an ink pot, I spat saliva until the ink was smooth and thin enough for writing. Carefully, to avoid spilling my hard won ink, I set the fan down by my leg and dipped the brush into the ink. Leaning closer to the blank scroll I began the emergency report.

 'Red Update

 Mission status: C-rank updated to A-rank

 Team: Genin Team 7

 Report: Three days out of Konohagakure, Team had encountered two chunnin level nuke-nin known as the 'Demon Brothers'. Minimal injuries. The nuke-nin were taken out by Team Leader with a minor AoE genjutsu. Client confessed to requesting a B-rank level Mission under the rank C. Team decision made to deliver Client safely to Destination and abort the Mission. En route to Destination, Team encountered A-class nuke-nin known as Momochi Zabuza. Presumed Alive with Unknown Ally. Team Leader mildly injured: Chakra Exhaustion. Political tension. Gang trouble caused by man named Gatou. Team has made unanimous decision to remain at Destination until problems are resolved.'

 After the ink dried I rolled the scroll back up and drew three bands around the outside, marking the information as High Priority information. Setting aside the scroll I twirled my brush around and used the sharp end of it to stab my thumb. Quickly I made the hand signs and slammed my palm to the ground, “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”

 A small puff of smoke and a small brown hawk stood there, her head cocked to the side as she stared at me with one sharp yellow eye, “Yanagi-sama? You have use of me?” The hawk summon questioned in her smooth silky voice.

 I picked up the scroll and presented it to her, “Take this to the Hokage in Konohagakure, fast.” The hawk jumped into the air and grabbed the scroll in her talons. I bowed my head in thanks and the hawk was gone so quickly she was nothing but a speck in the sky within a minute. Breathing in relief I knew the scroll would reach Konoha withing two days. All my hawk summons were naturally fast; but Izon was the fastest of the group, I could rely on her.

 As I finished wiping the ink out of my fan's thumb imprint, I called out, “I know you're there. Go back and try again.” There was a moment of silence before I could feel Hinata's chakra starting to move away from me again. For her to get within 50 meters of me without my noticing was a feat; maybe I underestimated the Hyuuga girl.

 vvv 3rd Person~ Sasuke vvv

 Sasuke found Naruto alright, talking to some weird androgynous boy. The Uchiha boy didn't know if he should be amused that Naruto thought the boy was a girl, or annoyed that the loser was blabbing to a complete stranger about shinobi matters. He was leaning towards annoyed. Sasuke wasn't dumb, that boy down there with Naruto wasn't some innocent civilian boy. Having grown up in a ninja clan, Sasuke could spot the small telltale signs of a trained shinobi and that boy was definitely a shinobi of some sort. Why he was bothering Naruto... that was the question.

 Sasuke knew enough espionage to know that one should never be discovered loitering around. When it was clear that the strange boy was getting ready to leave, Sasuke ducked back a few yards and began slowly walking back towards the pair. He tucked his hands in his pockets and made a casual show of looking around; when the boy turned around Sasuke pretended that the movement caught his attention and picked up his pace, his dark eyes solely on Naruto. Sasuke glanced up at the strange boy passed him, just a false curious glance, before returning his gaze on the confused blonde.

 Only when the boy was far behind him did Sasuke pause and glance back. He knew that subtle tension anywhere, he had seen it in his father, Itachi-nii, Shisui, even Kaa-chan. Almost every adult he had ever come across in the clan had that same invisible aura of caution that seemed to run in their blood. There was no mistaking it now: that boy was a shinobi. And from his careful avoidance of Sasuke, the navy haired Uchiha  also knew that the boy wasn't an ally.

 Yanagi-sensei was going to be pissed if she knew there was a possible third-party of ill intent; but she would be even more pissed off if Sasuke didn't warn her of the possibility. Sasuke couldn't help but sigh a little, never had he understood why Shikamaru was always babbling about troublesome women until now.

 To take out his frustration, Sasuke bashed Naruto on the head. The loser automatically started snapping at Sasuke, both his hands raising to cradle his poor abused head, “Hey what was that for?!”

 Sasuke crossed his arms, “Hey, loser, did you forget about breakfast?”

 The blonde idiot blinked a few times before giving Sasuke his signature cheesy grin and chuckling obnoxiously. Sasuke made a disgusted sound and pulled a face, knowing he wouldn't like whatever this idiot just did. He was starting to understand why Yanagi was always so grouchy; if Naruto was anything like Obito-itoko then Sasuke's respect for his female cousin just raised a few pegs.

 Naruto's grin grew until it took up one-third of his face and he jerked his thumb towards him with a large wink, “Just wait til you see what I mastered last night! Frizzy-sensei is going to be so impressed!” With that the blonde idiot leapt to his feet and took out the much battered fan that Yanagi-sensei had loaned to him.

 Sasuke mentally groaned. Yanagi was going to murder his teammate for destroying one of her weapons.

 vvv Normal POV vvv

 Bam!

 “Jounin-san! Don't do that!” Tsunami squeaked in alarm when I banged my head against the table. I only responded by repeating my action, just to annoy her. Damn it damn it damn it! I didn't need any more complications! I needed a nice, straight-forward battle to the death with the Demon of the Mist; I didn't need some secretive little bastard trying to throw a stupid plot twist into this! Especially not with three genin to watch over. I was going to have a hard enough time keeping the brats alive while fighting Peaches, having a secondary opponent was going to be next to impossible!

 Just kill me now, please.

 “Er... Yanagi-sensei...” My head snapped up and I pinned Naruto with a deadly glare. He immediately went white and visibly shivered. Both Hinata and Sasuke edged away from the little brat, knowing that all hell was about to break loose.

 I lifted a hand and jabbed my index finger in Naruto's direction, “You.” I hissed, my voice so cold I was almost surprised that I couldn't see my breath, “You had better start recalling that conversation you had with that bastard. Every. Word. Or. Else.”

 Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his neck, “Uh... Okay... I woke up and I saw this guy sitting there, only I thought she was a girl and-” He fell silent. The Kyuubi brat's breathing started to quicken. It was obvious that he couldn't recall the conversation to save his life, which was truly on the line at the moment. His blue eyes darted to Sasuke in a panic, trying to seek out help. My cousin only looked away from his teammate, obviously not wanting to get in the crossfire.

 My eyes landed on Sasuke, he wasn't going to get out of this. “If you have information, share. Don't withhold information simply because you're too scared of your own sensei.” I snapped.

 I might not have interacted much with my cousin before I became his sensei, but I knew how to push his buttons long before I met him. I made a point in knowing ever single weak point in all my clansmen, both physical and mental. Sasuke wasn't one of the only Uchiha who didn't like being called a coward, but he was the most irrational when someone did. Sasuke was very easy to manipulate. Having a father like Fugaku did wonders; you would either end up as unbreakable and unpredictable like Itachi or basically a pawn like Sasuke.

 As predicted, Sasuke stiffened and turned to glare at me. I kept my expression blank so he wouldn't see the victory in my onyx eyes. This boy was even more easy to manipulate than Obito, which was saying something.

 I closed my eyes, “Stop glaring and start blabbing.” I said to both the boys. Leaning back against the wall by the doorway, I closed my eyes as I began memorizing whatever came out of their mouths. Both were amateurs when it came to relaying information, but I could work with that. In the back of my mind, I added reporting in a concise manner and memorization at the blink of an eye to the already long list of what I needed to teach my brats.

 If we survived this stupid mission that is.

 “What does it matter?!” All conversation stopped when Inari screeched in that whiny voice of his. My eyebrow twitched in irritation, this kid was really pushing it. My already endless patience was coming to an end and someone was going to get hurt soon.

 Everyone looked to see the littlest brat standing at the doorway beside me, his childish eyes wet with unshed tears, “You're all going to die anyway! Gatou has a whole army, they'll just beat you and kill you. You're only wasting your-OW!” Inari fell over on his butt with his strange little hat flying off.

 Everyone twisted to give me various looks of surprise and anger. I only cracked my knuckles and shook my hand, “Such a hard head, that actually hurt.” I grumbled to myself. And I thought Naruto had a hard head, but he had nothing on Inari.

 “Jounin-san!” Tsunami cried out in alarm and anger. I had punched her child after all, any decent mother would be upset; even if her brat was asking for it. I wouldn't be surprised if she kicked the team out because of what I did.

 Still, I had to set this doom and gloom brat right. I set a cold gaze on Inari, who shivered and whimpered. The little coward. I hit Naruto harder than that and he never acted any different. “Never tell a ninja that their career is a wasted time. And stop sniveling, it's silly and childish.”

 Inari was very close to tears by then, “You don't know anything!” He wailed, “You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in! All of you are just laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to be treated like trash!” I was positive that every member of Team 7 stiffened at that comment. We all had sob stories that were worse than Inari's and we knew it.

 Naruto cut in before I could even open my mouth, “Oh yeah? Listen to yourself whining like some sorry little victim.” I glanced at Naruto as my expressionless mask fell over my face, concealing any trace of emotion. First I would see how the kiddies handled it, then step in and finish up whatever was left. Naruto glared at Inari, his blue eyes full of anger and self-righteousness, “You're nothing but a coward!”

 “N-Naruto!” Hinata squeaked in a tiny voice, her pearl eyes wide with surprise. I doubt she had ever seen him so serious. Even I hadn't, and I had been put on his watch many times while I was part of the military police.

 Naruto stood up and stomped away with a growl of frustration. I watched him go silently, keeping an eye of the reactions of my other two genin brats. Hinata looked as if she wanted to go after him, but she stayed in her seat, her Hyuuga eyes trailing after Naruto's appalling orange jumpsuit. Sasuke had retreated into his own mind, keeping his expressions to himself like I was doing, but I could tell by the way his eyes followed Naruto that he was mildly concerned for his teammate. I returned my gaze to Inari to find the little brat sobbing, thick trails of tears coursing down his cheeks. He sat there for a moment, his head bowed so no one could see his eyes, before fleeing from the room like the coward he was.

 Time for me to step in.

 I waited until everyone had gone to bed before searching out the gloomy brat. Even though Inari was a civilian, he still had a chakra signal, albeit an extremely weak one, so finding him on the back porch was a piece of cake. I smirked when I found him sitting at the porch's edge, his knees up to his chest.

 “Hey twerp, got a minute?” I asked, bopping the kid on the back of the head lightly.

 Inari flinched away from me, his hands going to hold his hat in place, as his black eyes stared at me with nervous anticipation. Seeing how I nearly tried to brain him at dinner, I didn't really blame the brat. Inari quickly covered up his fear with a sharp glare that didn't belong on his young face, “What do you want?” He asked, his bravado only breaking when his question ended in a high pitched squeak.

 I took that as an invitation to sit down beside the brat, “You asked what do any of us know about suffering. It came to my attention that Naruto never answered your question, so I thought I would.” I said conversationally. Inari shifted away from me a little. I scoffed at his blatant fear of me and leaned back on my hands, my feet dangling inches above the water, “Where do I begin? Hm... well, I was raised by my brother, whom I don't really like, because my parents died before I even turned three; during the Third Shinobi War. Both Nii-san and I are practically outcasts from the clan because of some stupid reason, too. Sasuke's father constantly belittles him and says he should be more like his older brother Itachi. Hinata's father... yeesh, that guy is worse that Sasuke's dad. He actually thinks that Hinata is a waste of space because she's not the strongest in the clan. Even worse, she's the Hyuuga heiress so the expectations put on her are doubly high.”

 Inari looked more and more surprised at each passing sentence. His young face began to lighten with understanding that he wasn't the only one suffered. I met his gaze and turned serious, “Then there's Naruto. He grew up without knowing his parents too; even worse, he didn't even have friends or anyone who cared about him. At least I had my brother and his team, Naruto had no one ever. Still...” I trailed off and looked up at the low hanging moon, “I never saw him cry or give up. Not even when he completely screws over a mission, he'll still try his best to make amends. That brat wants to be respected, and he'll do anything to get it.”

 I smiled kindly at Inari, “My whole team has a bunch of sob stories and we all reacted in our own way. It's part of what makes us who we are and not your everyday idiot walking around on the streets. I guess you can cope through your losses by crying too... but won't you get tired of crying after a while? Isn't it better to be happy all the time, and loud and obnoxious?” Inari looked down at his feet, contemplating. I chuckled and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. He didn't flinch, “If there's anyone who can possibly understand what you're going through, it's Team 7. We're here to protect your grandfather and make sure your home stays safe from Gatou. And, if I have to die for that to be a reality, then so be it. I'll gladly give my life.”

 The little boy stared at me, awe buried deep within the obsidian orbs. I snorted at his expression and moved my hand from his shoulder to wrap his neck in a playful choke hold. With my free hand I ground my knuckles into his scalp, “Eh, don't give me that look. I may be a grouchy kunoichi, but I still have a heart. I just like confusing people!” I said teasingly and for the first time since my team had arrived, I heard Inari laugh. I grinned in response as I let the kid free from my grip and leaned back again. In truth, I didn't know how to talk to people unless I was yelling at them, but for some reason this little brat managed to break the ice.

 I snorted as I closed my eyes. If Nii-san could see me know, I was sure he would die laughing.

  VVV^^^OMAKE^^^VVV

 The Curse of the Uchiha

 vvv 3rd Person vvv

 “Man, why are we always the ones called off on stupid S-ranked missions?” Obito complained as Team Minato checked in at Konoha's gate. Kakashi shot Obito an irritated look while the two chunnin guards snickered. The Uchiha gave them a sideways glance, they seemed familiar, but Obito couldn't remember their names to save his life.

 Rin giggled behind one hand and smiled fondly at Obito, “Because, Obito-kun, we're the only full team outside of the ANBU Corp that is cleared for S-ranks missions.” She explained happily. It wasn't often that Rin got called out on missions, but she loved every chance she got.

 Obito beamed at his childhood crush, “Oh yeah! I guess it's awesome to be so powerful. But still, I wish they'd give Team Minato some off time. Between the police force and missions for Konoha, I'm being worn out.”

 “Yet you somehow still manage to run your mouth.” Kakashi interjected drily.

 Immediately Obito glared at his rival/friend, “Got something to say, Baka-Kashi?!”

 “I just said it.”

 Obito pointed at Kakashi, “Stop being so cool! We're not little kids anymore!”

 Kakashi pulled out his book and opened it to his place, “You could have fooled me.” He commented. Kakashi smirked under his mask when he heard Obito gritting his teeth. Mentally he made another tally. While he refused to participate in that silly rivalry with Gai, Kakashi saw no qualms in annoying Obito.

 Both men jerked forward a little when someone hit them upside the head, and turned to Rin, who was standing behind them looking annoyed, “You're both children, now grow up and march! We've gotta report to the Hokage.” The little woman ordered. Before Kakashi or Obito could do what she asked, she grabbed her teammates by the fronts of their jounin vests and dragged them along behind her.

 Obito pouted as he struggled halfheartedly to escape Rin-chan's grip. “Rin-chaaaan! We can walk on our own, ya know!”

 “It's not the walking that's the problem, it's your bickering! Honestly, you two never quit.”

 Kakashi didn't seem all too bothered about being dragged around by a woman half his height and weight. “You don't care when it's Obito and Yanagi fighting.” He commented, still not looking up from his porn.

 Rin and Obito both shot their teammate nasty looks, but Rin was the one who spoke, “That's because they're siblings and it's none of my business. Besides I'm not constantly around Yanagi-chan. It's you two idiots I've got to deal with.”

 Kakashi muttered something under his breath that Rin couldn't catch. Obito, however, seemed to understand him and snorted in amusement. The Uchiha quickly ducked his head in shame and sheepishly looked at Rin, proving that whatever Kakashi had said wasn't very kind about her.

 Rin could sometimes understand why Yanagi was so short tempered, if these goons were the ones who raised her. Luckily for Rin, they had arrived at the Missions Office and could give their stupid report and disperse. While Rin loved her teammates like her own family, she could only take so much of them in one sitting.

 vvv

 Hiruzen groaned and rubbed his temples after the rowdy team left. He would never understand how Minato-kun stayed sane around them, especially after all the drama that had happened between the three kids during the Third Shinobi War. It was one thing to have a student supposedly die and come back months later alive and well–that happened a lot in war; but it was entirely another thing to have another student be captured by Kiri-nins and forced to be the jinchuuriki of the Sanbi.

 It was because of Team Minato that people said having an Uchiha on the team was asking for trouble. What was alarming was most of the time they were right; Team Minato, Team Shisui, ANBU Team Ro, and now apparently Team 7 all had horrible luck when it came to missions.

 Hiruzen looked at the emergency mission report he had received from Uchiha Yanagi only moments before Team Minato came barging in the Missions Assignment Office. How on earth did Team 7 manage to somehow go from a normal C-rank mission to A-rank was beyond the Hokage's understanding, even with the explanation Yanagi had given him.

 Frustrated, Hiruzen took a long drag on his pipe and read over the report again. This put him in a bind, he knew that he should send reinforcements to aid Uchiha Yanagi, but he doubted they would be reached in time. His only hope was the pray that Yanagi had the situation under control, she didn't request reinforcements which meant she could handle it.

 Hiruzen paled at the very thought of how many people would be after his hide if Yanagi's team failed to return. At the top of that list would be Obito and Kakashi. Hiruzen shuddered at the thought of facing the two top shinobi in the village.

[yoshichao]

Series: Danganronpa, Detective Conan, Ghost Trick, Devil Summoner, Kindaichi Case Files, Zero Escape

Characters: Conan Edogawa, Saguru Hakuba, Hajime Kindaichi, Lynne, Sissel, Yui Samidare, Raidou Kuzunoha the XIV, Gouto, Heiji Hattori, Raido Kuzunoha the XIV, Goto, Raiho, Kyouko Kirigiri

Summary:  Nine "lucky" guests of DetectiveCon manage to solve a code that showed up in their mailbox alongside their special invitations to the event. But it turns out the "reward" for their efforts is being trapped in a cruel game involving numbered bracelets, a maze of doors, and a ticking time limit. Can these detectives work together to survive the Nonary Game? Or will they be outwitted by their captor - this so-called "Zero"? 

Tags: Crossover, Nonary Game, Temporary Major Character Death, Supernatural Meets Mundane, Amnesiac Character, Puzzles

[As of today’s update (chapter 8), this fic is going on an indefinite hiatus SO I would like to share some previews and teases of later chapters in this fic that I wrote when I was writing out of order. Find it under the cut! Thanks for reading!!]

A few minutes of investigation later, there was a girlish yelp and several metallic rattling sounds, garnering the attention of the others. No one was quite sure how it happened at the time, but somehow Lynne managed to get herself stuck in the chair of a school desk on top of a conveyor belt. Not only that, but she also somehow turned on the contraption she was stuck on. 

In summary: during all her dashing around, she bumped into several inconvenient piles and objects repeatedly, which loosened up several things to cause this catastrophic chain reaction. One shelf she bumped knocked over several planks of wood, blocking off the exit gate to this particular section. While seeing if she could use a long detached chain for anything, she tripped and fell onto the conveyor belt. 

At the opposite end of the irregularly lurching conveyor belt, a large crusher dropped down loudly before lifting back up to repeat the process.

“L-Lynne-san?!” The blond put his hands on the chain-link fence separating the boys from the redhead. He seemed to be in a daze, not quite believing his eyes yet. “What are you doing…?”

“I… I think I’m stuck!” Lynne let out a nervous laugh and tried to lift herself off the chair she was on, but her leg was tangled in the very chain she tripped over. The desk and chair were attached to the belt, apparently. The conveyor belt lurched again, seemingly speeding up for half a second before grinding to a stop. Apparently it was malfunctioning, but whatever was wrong with it wasn’t enough to stop it completely.

Sissel tried to squeeze his small body between a gap in the fence when the belt started moving again, the crusher continuously smashing down at a steady pace. The two humans dashed to the other side of the room to reach the entrance to the area Lynne was trapped in.

“The gate is stuck,” the black-haired boy said quietly, fingers curling against the metal as he stared at the mess of shelves and construction equipment blocking the way. He glanced around calmly for an alternate entrance or something that could help in their situation, but nothing caught his eye, so he settled on scaling the fence instead. The blond hurriedly followed his lead, though he was noticeably less experienced at this sort of thing, as he needed to regain his footing several times in his haste.

Lynne whimpered and inhaled sharply when the shadow of the crusher above her suddenly darkened her space. White as a ghost, she shut her eyes tight when the conveyor belt stopped. The crusher dropped. The black-haired boy vaulted over the fence and landed gracefully on the ground, while Hakuba called out from the other side.

“Lynne-san!!”

Halfway down, the large weight had gotten stuck, and was now looming dangerously over Lynne’s head. The redhead cracked an eye open and slowly looked up, visibly shaking from this horrible, life-threatening experience. The blond, having finally gotten over the top of the fence, stumbled as his feet reached the floor. He turned and called out again, fear and relief clashing together in his voice.

“Lynne-san, are you okay?!”

“I… Y-Yeah, I think--”

Suddenly there was a loud creaking sound, and the chains holding up the weight all snapped. The sound of bones cracking was drowned out by the sound of the crusher hitting the ground, which rang in everyone’s ears long after all was still.

“L.. Lynne… -san…?”

The blond moved past the other boy mechanically, who had stopped moving forward once he realized there was nothing they could do. The Brit stumbled over and placed his hands on the weight, the cold metal icy against his palms.

Breaking the wretched silence was a too-high ding!, which was followed by a small compartment on the death machine opening up to reveal a key. The blond detective just stared at it like it was something alien, while the boy with the cap reached out and took it gingerly, studying it with wide and unblinking eyes, as if he wasn’t really registering its existence at all.

Sissel trotted over and sat himself up against the crusher, averting his eyes from the paint-like splatters around him. The kitten yawned, getting cozy before lying down and closed his eyes. Then the world shifted into reds, oranges, and blues. With a sigh, Sissel reached out and hopped into the yellow core next to him.

“I wonder if you hold some sort of record with all the times you’ve died.”

Before him floating in the red void of the ghost world was Lynne’s spirit, who just grinned cheekily.

“If I did, do you think they’d give me an award for it?”

-

“K… Kyouko-chan…” Yui watches her friend sadly, though despite the situation she can’t help but feel a hint of relief at the implications regarding Kyouko’s behaviour. “Do you… Do you recognize him?”

The ghastly sight that greeted them when they walked into the room was something any detective had come across at least once in their life. A sight so familiar that some of their ilk aren’t even caught off-guard by it anymore.

A dead body.

But the body that the trio found in the study wasn’t just any old person. This was someone both Yui and Kyouko were extremely familiar with - the two of them would recognize this old man anywhere.

Instead of answering Yui’s question, Kyouko silently approached the desk. The room was silent and filled with a palpable dread as unasked questions were left in the air. Once beside the desk, Kyouko slowly put two fingers to the old man’s neck. After a moment, she opened her mouth to speak.

“He’s dead.”

- 

“But… why would they go off on their own like that?!” Lynne asked. “And why would one of them steal the number 0 bracelet? Why not just ask Kirigiri-chan if they could take it?”

“It had to have been Kuzunoha-kun, correct?” Hakuba noted. “Raidou-kun never set foot in the study. But Kuzunoha-kun was there with Samidare-san and Kirigiri-san. He must have taken it before they exited.”

Yui wanted to mention how much sense that didn’t make, because it’s not like Kyouko Kirigiri to miss something like that and the silver-haired detective was the first and last person near the body, but she had no other explanation for how the bracelet could have disappeared. Yui herself didn’t have the bracelet - that was a fact. That would leave either Kuzunoha or Kyouko as the thief. In any other circumstance, Kyouko would seem like the more likely suspect - she did reckless things like this all the time without telling anyone. But when they had two missing persons with a digital root that matched a numbered door...

“As fer why,” Hattori continued, “like th’ 9 bracelet, th’ number 0 doesn’t change th’ digital root. It’s pretty valuable. Maybe he wanted ta have it, jus’ in case.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we had found the number 5 door before now,” Kindaichi said. “I mean, it’s a mighty fine coincidence that those two had numbers that equaled a digital root of 5, but…”

Yui had to think about that. Was it really a coincidence? 

...Well, it had to be, right? Unless there was meaning to the assigned numbers - which she had thought about briefly, but couldn’t come up with consistent correlations for any of them.

“Did they want to work together that badly?” Lynne asked to no one in particular. “Maybe they were just too shy to ask… They were both pretty quiet, after all…”

“To be fair, Yui-chan didn’t really give them a choice the last two times!” Kindaichi said with a grin. Yui huffed at him, but she recognized that he had a point. The only options they would have had this time were door number 5 with Kyouko, 6 with Conan, or 7 with Hakuba. Maybe they didn’t like those odds and figured Yui would want to accompany the lavender-haired woman again, and Conan would want to be with Hattori, and...

“W-Well, whatever!” She childishly stuck her tongue out at Kindaichi, who snickered in response. “Aaaanyways, we should probably go check downstairs to see if they really did go through the number 5 door. If they didn’t and we rearrange the teams, we’ll end up leaving them behind and that door will go unexplored!” Which was something they didn’t have time for. For all they knew, the number 5 door was the key to their escape.

With no arguments, the seven of them rushed down into the basement and through the tucked away door. They came face-to-face with a metal door that had a number 5 painted on it. As some of the boys stepped forwards to investigate the door itself, Yui turned her head towards the RED. 

“Uh, guys? The RED...” Everyone looked over.

On the screen in bright red letters, the word “ENGAGED” confirmed what they had already suspected.

-

“As a reward for your victory, summoner: a parting gift and a word of advice.”

The Pale Rider tossed his scythe to the ground, where it clattered and broke into two separate pieces. 

“When you’ve gone as high as you can go and think you can go no higher, turn your head skyward to find the way forward.”

With that, the horse turned and galloped off, vanishing into thin air with its rider. Silence settled over the basement, and Raidou cautiously approached the broken weapon. The metal had detached from the thin wooden stick, and where they had once been connected, the boy noticed an unusual indent…

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the other summoner, who came up behind Raidou and dropped a hand on his shoulder. He studied the odd gift that was left on the floor in disbelief before opening his mouth to speak.

“...Did Death himself really just give us some ancient wisdom?”

- 

When the door opened, no searching was required. Across the wide and empty room was what they were looking for, bordered by cheap fluorescent lights mounted on the walls.

9.

“We… we did it.” When they all shuffled out of the elevator, Samidare was the first to speak coherently. “We found the number 9… We can get out!”

She whooped and rushed over, putting her hands on the door and experimentally scraping at the paint to make sure it was real. Hajime couldn’t help but grin as he made to join her in inspecting the door. His mirth faded when he realized everyone else remained silent. Turning to face them, none of them shared the smiles the pair of them wore.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, looking between the four of them before settling his eyes on Conan, who wore a thoughtful, serious expression. “Why aren’t you guys happy? This means we can escape, right?”

“There’s only one door, Kindaichi,” Conan said, not even attempting to include the childish chirp he normally used. “That means a maximum of five people can leave.”

- 

“Oi… don’t tell me yer suggestin’ that we split up?”

“Is that not our best option?” Kirigiri crossed her arms. “Would you rather all nine of us die here instead of only four? The five that escape can call for help and potentially save the others before the time is up…”

“K-Kyouko-chan…” Samidare didn’t say anything further, her face betraying how conflicted and confused she felt at her friend’s behaviour.

“H-Hey, let’s not be hasty!” Hajime said, mustering up the most convincing grin he could despite the hollow feeling in his stomach. “Let’s say there is another exit. What if it needs all of us to access it or something?”

“It seems you’re grasping for straws, Kindaichi-kun…”

“He has a point though!” Samidare quickly said. “We should go back and tell Lynne-chan first, and then find the Kuzunohas before we decide on anything.”

“But is that such a good idea?” This had been the most Kyouko Kirigiri had ever said at once during their nine hours together, and every word that came out of her mouth came as a surprise. “The five of you are guaranteed to escape at this very moment, as the only ones who could raise a fuss are yourselves. I have no qualms about staying behind. But if you discuss this with the others, they may not be so… agreeable.”

-

“I-If I had more of these,” Raiho grumbled, hopping on the stool as if to emphasize something, “then I’d be taller than you! Then you’d be looking up at hee, and I’d be a better summoner than you!”

Raidou wasn’t entirely sure what the demon was talking about, but something in his words clicked in the boy’s mind.

“...Raiho, do you mind moving for a moment?”

“Ho? Why? I mean--” The little snowman huffed again, folding his arms over his spherical body. “--Ho way! I’m not gonna listen to you!”

“Raiho, please. Just for a moment.”

“...Give hee your hat first and mayhee I’ll think about it.”

- 

“Hey, Kyouko-chan…”

The beeping had started on Conan and Kindaichi’s persons, but upon turning around, the boys noticed Samidare and Kirigiri were still just outside the door. The brunette had a serious and unreadable look on her face as she planted a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Kirigiri wordlessly studied the brunette, waiting for whatever she had to say patiently.

“Hey, can we get a move on?” Kindaichi asked, nervously gesturing to his bracelet. “You guys need to join us before the door closes…!”

Neither of the girls paid him any mind, staring into each other’s eyes as if they were communicating telepathically. Almost a full nine seconds passed before something happened - Samidare grinned.

“Take care of yourself, alright Kyouko-chan?”

With that, she roughly shoved her friend through the door as it began to grind shut. Taken by surprise, Kirigiri nearly toppled into the two detectives that started shouting at the woman outside simultaneously.

“Oi, Samidare--!”

“--what do you think you’re doing?!”

With the grin still plastered on her face, Yui Samidare gave a two-fingered salute before turning on her heels and running in the opposite direction.

The number 9 door shut between them, three separate sets of ticking bouncing off the stone walls.

- 

They were all horribly out of breath, and only half of them contained enough energy to start stumbling back before the faint sound of an explosion was heard.

“Yui-chan!” Suddenly, Lynne bolted down the way they came, adrenaline revitalizing her. Sissel tried calling out to stop her, but the redhead’s sprint didn’t slow.

- 

“We…” Samidare swallowed, her mouth dry. “We don’t just need a digital root of 9… We also need… nine bracelets…”

The silence was unbearable. Hattori swore again.

“Damn tha’ Kirigiri… She left us here knowin’ this…”

-

“Wait, do you guys hear that?” At Conan’s voice, everyone stopped what they were doing. With the excitement winding down, they all could hear a persistent knocking sound coming from the set of double doors on the other end of the banquet hall. Nobody moved for a moment, but then through an unspoken exchange, they all began to approach the doors as one. Deducing that it was locked, Hattori, leading the pack, cautiously reached out and turned the lock on the door.

Placing both hands on the handles, he looked back at the others for a moment, taking in everyone’s intense expressions. Then, finally, he threw the doors open.