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samanthadalton · 3 years

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Star Crossed Lovers (part 14)

Do my eyes deceive me???? part 14???? we did it. im so sorry its taken forever, i will try my best to be more consistent with my writing. love yall for being patient with me it means the most. thank you, thank you.

warnings: throughout this fic there will be mentions of substance abuse, homophobia, sexual abuse, violence, NSFW, mentions of abandonment, depression and death including suicide

reader discretion is advised

warnings: angst, swearing (lots of it)

taglist: @drmmyrs @cloud9in @somewillwin @save-me-the-last-dance @baexpoppy @stanzoeywade @ognenniyvolk @thepotatobleh @crazzyplays @fall3ngods @helpconfusedpersonhere @clowneryme @dopeyouth @boys-girls-i-cant-help-it-baby @vonda-b-real @uselesslesbianfr @veenast @cloakanddaggerthings @somethindarker (sorry again if ive missed anyone, if you wanna be added on this taglist or my general one just let me know 😊)

word count: 4k (i feel like its short considering how long it took me to write but i still hope you guys enjoy) (also i didnt check for grammatical errors properly so sorry if you find any)

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12 part 13

The first steps to moving on

“Bea please,” Poppy whispers, a repentant look creeping up to her face as she looks away from her girlfriend. “It can’t wait.”

Bea sighs, her shoulders slumping as the last remains of her anger disseminates from her body. “Okay fine, lead the way babe.”

Poppy stiffens that the pet name but she doesn’t let her awkwardness slip as she leads Bea to a secluded classroom, far away from prying eyes. Both her and Bea turn to look at each other, and both simultaneously open their mouths to talk.

“I know you wanted to tell-”

“We need to talk-”

Both clamp their lips shut, a mutual smile playing on their lips as they look at one another.

“You go first,” Poppy gestures towards Bea, as she moves to sit on the edge of a desk.

Bea inhales softly, her tongue darts out licking her lips as she looks down at the ground, her face calculating. “Why does Chloe hate me?” She looks up to Poppy, her eyes boring into the strawberry blonde’s, sadness swimming inside of them, “I just don’t get what I’ve done for her to hate me.”

Poppy sighs heavily, her eyes awkwardly darting away from Bea’s. “It’s complicated Bea.”

“Complicated?” Bea lets out a humourless laugh, “I almost just went off on Chloe after she gave her condolences for my mom dying because I just felt she wasn’t genuine and you wanna tell me it's complicated?”

Poppy sharply inhales, contemplating for a few moments before saying, “it’s because of your mom.”

Bea scrunches her brows up in confusion, “my mom? What the hell does she have to do with this?”

Poppy ineptly plays with her hands, not being able to look Bea in her eyes, “at first it was just a classist thing. When you first came to Belvoire, she just wanted to make herself feel superior over you, but in the last year you’ve noticed her getting more mean right?”

“Right.” Bea stares at Poppy, her expression emotionless.

“Chloe’s parents have been fighting non stop recently, and it’s been affecting her a lot.”

Bea’s brows furrow in confusion, “what does that have to do with me or my mom?”

“Just let me explain first before you react, please.” Bea’s eyes bore into Poppy’s for a few seconds before she nods understandingly. “Her dad cheated on her mom. A lot of times actually. But he was blackmailed by one of the women he slept with.” Poppy pauses for a few seconds, “your mom.”

Bea lets out a shaky breath, her eyes blinking in disbelief, “no, you’re lying.”

Poppy nervously bites her bottom lip, “look Bea-”

“How long have you known?”

Poppy’s face scrunches up in anger, “this isn’t my fault Bea. I only found out that day I went to talk to Chloe about us. Chloe made me promise not to say anything to you-”

“Poppy! My mom OD and I don’t even know why. And now you’re telling me she was blackmailing the St James family and it doesn’t occur to you that might have had something to do with her death?”

“They’re not the fucking mafia Bea, jesus. They were trying to settle it quietly by giving your mom some money and make her sign some stuff so she couldn't threaten them anymore.”

The devastating ramification of Poppy’s admission hangs in the air as the two girls let the words settle into them. “Chloe really is sorry about your mom Bea, we all are.”

Bea sighs, staring off into space, as a few tears begin to fill up in her eyes. “I just don’t know what to do.” Bea begins sniffling, but Poppy makes no movement to console her girlfriend. Bea notices and her expression sobers, “so, uh what did you wanna tell me?” Bea sniffs a few more times, before looking up at Poppy, giving her a small encouraging smile.

Poppy looks away, guilt creeping up on her face, as she tries her damndest not to catch Bea’s small smile on her face. “Bea…”. Bea carefully assesses her girlfriend’s demeanour, noticing the similar body language during when they first asked to take a break, she thinks back to the last couple of days, she had barely heard from her girlfriend, and now she’s not affectionate, even after she almost had a mental breakdown in the middle of the hallway and her smile drops. “We have to break up,” Poppy says, her tone so monotone and dry as if she didn’t mean the words she was saying at all.

“I don’t understand,” is all Bea can muster, evidently hurt by Poppy’s admission. Poppy winces slightly at Bea’s tone, finally breaking her robotic demeanour as she lets out a few sniffles. “So is that it? We have to break up,” Bea retorts mockingly, “is that all I get after all these years?”

“Bea..” Poppy reaches out but Bea immediately takes a step back, tears flooding in her eyes.

“No,” she holds her hands up, “I don’t get it, things are going good, or at least whatever twisted definition of good we’ve made up. Where the hell did this come from?”

“Bea my dad-”

“Of course! Hayden Min fucking Sinclair had something to do with this. Why do you still live under his shadow? You talk all this shit about breaking out of your father’s prison and wanting to achieve your own goals but he sucks you back in.”

“That’s not fair Bea,” Poppy interjects, balling her hands up into fists in an attempt to subdue her trembling, “my dad has given me so much and he’s threatening to take it all away.”

“Yeah, all you have to do is get rid of me. Me or the Min Sinclair name.”

“Bea this is the life I have, okay I’m not like you, I’m not built like you.”

“So what? I can grow up without a dad and now without a mom but it’s okay because I’m used to pain and disappointment?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, you have a plan, things you can achieve, I need the Min Sinclair name, I’m nothing without it.”

“Wow.” Bea shakes her head, “So I just meant nothing?” Bea wildy throws her arms in the air, anger bubbling under the surface of her demeanour. “We’ve practically been together since we were kids. And you’re just gonna fucking throw that away? And for what? Fuck you Poppy.”

Poppy takes half a step back, dumbfounded by Bea’s outburst. She scrunches her brows, evidently hurt, “you don’t get it Bea. Even though your mom wasn’t the best, she still supported you, even if you didn’t know about it. My dad he- my mom what would she think?”

“Your mom? Poppy what kind of shit is your dad brainwashing you with? Your mom is dead! You have no idea how she would react to having a gay daughter, but I know she’s probably disappointed in you.”

“Fuck you Bea.”Poppy runs out of the classroom, tears streaming down her face, leaving Bea on her own.

“Shit,” Bea whispers to herself before throwing a bunch of punches at the wall, each more cathartic than the last until she can’t physically hold herself up anymore. Bea defeatedly slides into a chair, cradling her head in between her hands, letting the tears free fall, as reality begins setting in that she lost the one thing in the world that was her everything. Poppy Min Sinclair was her rock, the girl who she gave her heart to, the love of her life and just in a matter of moments it was over. Maybe it was too good to be true. The beautiful, perky popular rich girl and the girl who had almost nothing, complete polar opposites, it never should’ve worked. But time and time again when faced against the world they persevered so why was this time different? Poppy had chosen her namesake over the love of her life. She chose the life of glitz and glamour over the girl who gave her her entire heart. Bea feels her entire world crashing down, how much more heartbreak could she take? Was her life always going to be so hard? So full of hurt? Full of pain? She winces at the thought, her head hammering as she comes to the realisation that she understood her mother’s pain more than she thought.

….

Bea hops off her bike, parking it in front of her house, as she pulls her phone out to look at the time. ‘It’s lunch time,’ she thinks to herself. After the day she had today, school wasn’t the best option for her right now. She makes her way to her front door but stops in her tracks when she realises her front door is slightly ajar. Her survival instincts kick in as she effortlessly pulls out her pocket knife, carefully pushing the door fully open. As she steps into the living room, her eyes dart to the closed door of her mother’s room, but when she hears a creaking sound coming towards her bedroom, she cautiously moves towards the source of the noise, the grip on her knife tightening. As she creeps up, she sees the door of her room half opened, a hooded figure standing by her bed with their back facing her.

Bea stealthily sneaks up to the figure placing the knife a few inches from their throat before lowering her voice to a threatening tone, “who are you and what the fuck are you doing?” The figure gasps, dropping a bag that’s in their hands with a deafening thud before raising their hands in a sign of surrender.

“It’s me, it’s me,” the voice whimpers out.

“AJ?” Bea raises her eyebrows, retracting the knife from his throat while pulling down his hood with her other hand. “What the fuck are you doing?” Bea takes a step back while AJ scrambles grabbing the bag he just dropped moments before. When he turns to face Bea, his eyes are wide, filled with fear as he clutches the bag closely to his chest.

“I have to go,” he says as he attempts to run out of the room, but Bea pulls him back, her face crumpled in suspicion.

“No we’re not doing this, give me the bag now,” Bea snatches the bag out of his hands before he can protest and opens the zipper to find it filled with cash. She grits her teeth, anger settling into her features as she whips her head up to AJ, “is this my fucking money?”

“Bea, I- I can explain-”

“What the fuck AJ!” Bea throws the bag onto the bed, the cash spilling out as she jabs an accusing finger at AJ’s chest. “You’re stealing from me now? I haven’t seen you in god knows how long, you don’t call, text nothing. Even after everything that’s been happening in the last few weeks but you have the audacity to fucking steal from me? Money that I’ve spent years saving? Money that I’ve bussed my fucking ass off for, are you serious right now?” Bea’s voice is filled with rage as she’s practically screaming, her voice now thundering. AJ winces, guiltily averting his gaze to the ground, unable to meet Bea’s eyes.

“I’m sorry about your mom Bea, I wanted to visit-” AJ croaks out.

“But you didn’t,” Bea interjects, her voice lowered but filled with hurt. “And now you’re taking money- I mean what is so important you had to steal from me.”

AJ paces towards the bed, hanging his head in shame, when he speaks his voice is quiet, full of fear, “I’m in some bad shit Bea. These guys aren’t playing around.”

“I told you not to fall into the wrong crowd, I warned you this shit would happen.”

“Bea please, I’ll pay you back I just need it.”

“No! What the fuck, when will you pay me back huh? This is my college money, I’m not letting you give that away to your crackhead friends.”

“Bea please,” AJ clasps his hands together, his tone pleading, “I don’t know what to do.”

“AJ I have too much shit on my plate right now, I can’t deal with this. You need to find something else, I can’t help you.”

AJ’s face pales but he stands up, and makes his way towards the door, before leaving he turns to look back at Bea, “I’m sorry about everything.”

Bea keeps her eyes trained on her bed where the money is sprawled all over the mattress, “yeah me too,” she replies quietly. Bea hears the front door close and she collapses to the ground, letting the tears flow.

……

A few days later, Bea sits in her dark living room, curtains shut and lights completely off as she wallows in her sadness, drinking from a bottle of cheap beer, as she stares absentmindedly at the ceiling, so drowned in her thoughts she doesn’t hear the resounding knocks on her door until she hears a voice call out, “Bea! Are you there?”

Bea crumples her brows, forcing herself to stand as she makes her way to the door, she wearily makes her way to her front door only slightly opening the door before poking her head out. “Veronica?” Veronica gives the girl a wide smile before pushing the door more open, ushering the figure behind her into the house too, “Carter? What are you guys doing here?’

Veronica looks around the dark room, noticing the pile of empty beer bottles on the floor, “yikes, drinking on your own on a friday night Hughes? That’s really sad.” Carter stands near the edge of the living room, as if he’s an explorer, his eyes darting all over the living room as he assesses this new environment.

Bea on the other hand scowls at Veronica, “what the hell do you want Veronica, I’m not in the mood.”

Veronica frowns slightly, pouting her lips together, “we heard about you and Poppy.”

Bea rolls her eyes, “yeah well I’m trying to forget about her.” Bea picks up her beer bottle from the ground and makes a show by exaggeratingly drinking from the bottle until it's empty. She discards the empty bottle along with the other ones before turning to look at Veronica and Carter, “so if you’ll excuse me.”

Veronica steps towards Bea, wrapping her hand around the brunette’s arm, “we’re not here for Poppy stupid, we’re here for you.”

Bea raises an eyebrow, “for me?”

Veronica turns to look at Carter, beckoning him forward, Carter breaks out of reverie and clears his throat, “yeah uh, we wanted to take you to a party.”

“A party?” Bea looks between them confused, “I’m not that interested guys.”

“Wait, wait, wait Bea,” Veronica pleads, pulling Bea closer to her, “you’ve never been to a Belvoire party and the year is almost over, we thought we should take you to at least.”

“I don’t know guys,” Bea says skeptically, “a lot of people don’t like me.”

“Who gives a shit? You just had your heart broken and you need to let loose.”

Bea sighs, pulling away from Veronica, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Come on, it beats drinking in the dark on your own.”

Bea sighs, dropping her shoulders, “what about uh Poppy?”

“Poppy?” Veronica arches a brow, “her and Chloe are staying in tonight, she said she needed to catch up on homework or something.”

Bea purses her lips together in thought before sighing, “fine.” Veronica cheers, “but,” Bea over enunciates, “only for a few hours and if I don’t like it I’m going home.”

“Okay, deal,” Veronica squeals, wrapping Bea in a big hug. Carter chuckles as Veronica gestures for him to join the hug, he awkwardly wraps his arms around the two girls, before pulling away.

“Okay, I’ll wait in the car while you girls get ready. Just uh don’t take too long.”

Veronica playfully rolls her eyes as she Bea towards her bedroom, yelling back “thanks Carter.” Giddy, she rushes to Bea’s closest, assessing her clothes until she finds a short red dress hidden in the back. “This!”

“No, no, no,” Bea shakes her head, pulling the dress out of the ombre-haired girl’s hands.

“Why not? It would look so hot on you,” Veronica’s eyes trail down Bea’s body, as she sharply inhales. “Bea, you’re single and sexy, stop holding yourself back okay?”

“I’m not,” Bea pushes back defensively, “I just-” she sighs heavily, “no one at Belvoire has ever seen me dressed up, I’m just- I’m nervous I guess.”

“Then we have to show them what they’ve been missing for the last three years,” Veronica gives Bea a devilish smile as she takes the dress from Bea’s hands, sliding the dress off the hanger before handing it over to Bea.

“Uh you gonna stay in the room?” Bea nervously wrings her hands together.

“Why, are you offering a show?” Veronica lifts a teasing brow, noticing Bea’s cheeks redden slightly, which prompts her to let out a small laugh, “I’m kidding, don’t worry I won’t look.” Veronica makes a show of raising her hands to cover her eyes. Bea laughs as she slips out of her clothes and into the dress, she awkwardly clears her throat, grabbing Veronica’s attention.

“Hey, uh help a girl out with her zipper?”

“Sure,” Veronica moves to stand behind Bea, her hands ghosting around Bea’s exposed back, her breath momentarily taken away. She sturdies herself and places one of her hands on the small of the brunette’s back while the other moves towards the zipper, zipping the girl up. Bea smooths the dress down with her hands appreciating herself in the mirror, “you look gorgeous,” Veronica whispers into the shell of her ear.

Bea’s face completely flushes red and slightly jerks at Veronica’s admission, “uhh thanks.”

Veronica notices the awkward shift in the atmosphere, and promptly changes the subject, “so where’s your sister?”

Bea sits in front of her mirror, a comb in her hand as she brushes her long locks, “she’s staying at a friend’s tonight.”

“Cool,” Veronica answers back but her tone falls flat. The girls bask in the awkward silence as Bea continues to get ready but when Veronica notices Bea struggling to do her winged eyeliner she breaks the silence. “Hey do you need help?”

Bea smiles bashfully, “yeah.” She rubs the back of her head with her hand, “sorry Poppy used to help me with my makeup.”

“Right,” Veronica’s face slightly falls but she quickly covers it up, ushering Bea to come and sit on the bed. “Come on, I don’t bite,” Veronica bites the bottom of her lip, “unless you want me too.” Bea laughs but obliges sitting on the edge of the bed. Veronica clambers onto her lap, her thighs settling on the sides of Bea’s legs, and in response, Bea’s eyes widen in surprise but she remains glued in her spot, too shocked to move.

“V, what are you doing?” Bea whispers, her voice attempting to come across as reprimanding but it comes out as breathy.

“Relax, I’m just doing your eyeliner.” Veronica plucks the wand from Bea’s hand and angles herself close to the brunette’s face, as she begins drawing on the wings on Bea’s eyelids. Bea steadies herself, as she feels the heat of Veronica’s body so close to hers and when Veronica is finished with putting the finishing touches on her eyelids, she hops off Bea’s lap, making her way towards the desk, scuffling through Bea’s makeup bag before taking up her place on Bea’s lap once again. “Now I think this colour would look good on you,”

“You don’t think it’s too much red?”

“Oh babe, red means power, dominance, you don’t wanna be thinking about Poppy the entire night, you wanna have all eyes on you Bea Hughes.” Veronica uncaps the lipstick, her eyes burning into Bea’s lips as she carefully applies the red colour to her lips. “Perfect.”

Bea smacks her lips together, evenly spreading the red on her lips. “Thanks V.”

Veronica’s eyes dart to Bea’s lips, her tongue slightly running along her bottom lips before she breaks out of her reverie flashing Bea a smirk, “don’t thank me yet, thank me when you’re having the time of your life at the party.” Veronica slides off Bea’s lap, holding her hand out, “come on let’s finish up because Carter’s been waiting for a while.” Bea smiles up at Veronica, taking her hand as she lets the ombre-haired girl pull her off the bed, as they continue getting ready.

………

Once they arrive at the party, Carter drops the girls off at the front of the huge house before telling them he will park the car. Veronica’s gaze darts to Bea, who’s nervously toying with her hands, looking up at the intimidating house, the lights blaring and as the music echoes throughout, the bass thumping in their ears. Noticing the nerves settling into her, Veronica slips into Bea's, giving her a reassuring squeeze, “hey, it’s okay, it’s just a bunch of drunk, preppy uptight teenagers, nothing you don't usually face everyday.”

Bea lets out a small laugh, “just in a big ass house,” she jests.

“Yeah, just in a big ass house,” she gives Bea a light squeeze as she starts pulling Bea into the house with her. Automatically, they’re met with stares and whispers, as the students look astonished at Bea, some appraising her outfit, while others are confused about her presence. “Hey, just stay with me okay?” Veronica whispers over to Bea. Bea nods, her eyes roaming the room. “I’ll get us drinks.” The ombre-haired girl gives Bea a reassuring pat on her arm and leaves her side and Bea walks into the living room, observing the difference between the vibes of the party between the north and the south. Her thoughts then move to think about Poppy, how Poppy would love going to parties in the north but Bea couldn’t find the appeal in it. Poppy. Poppy, who broke up with her. She’s interrupted from her thoughts by a tap of her shoulder, and Bea turns around to see Veronica offering her a red solo cup, Bea takes a sip and winces.

“What the hell is this crap?”

“Yeah for a bunch of rich kids, their taste in beer isn’t the best,” Veronica jokes, slightly nudging Bea.

“We have way better beer in the south side.”

“That I can agree with.” Veronica looks over to Bea who looks lost in thought, “hey what are you thinking about?”

Bea sighs heavily, “Poppy,” she mutters.

Veronica nods once, “right, yeah.”

“Poppy would’ve loved a party like this, big fancy house an-”

“Bea,” Veronica says, her tone slightly agitated, “this,” she gestures around the room, “is a no Poppy zone. That means we don’t think about Poppy, only about fun.”

Bea nods, “fun. I can do that.” Veronica lifts her cup in the air, “what are we cheering to?”

Veronica gives Bea a smile, “here’s to the first steps in moving on.” The girls tap their cups together before downing their drinks. “Now if we wanna get drunk, we’re gonna need a lot more of these.”

The party is still ongoing, and Bea sits in a circle with a few girls from the volleyball team and a few of the football team and other people she doesn’t recognise while Veronica sits beside her.

“Bea you look so pretty,” one of her teammates says.

“Yeah Bea your makeup is literally gorgeous,” another chimes in.

“Who knew strip tease can clean up well,” Ford jests, but Bea slumps her shoulders a little, remembering that these people are not her friends.

Carter enters the circle slapping Ford on the head as he goes, “shut up, Hughes is cool.” Bea gives Carter a nod of appreciation before looking down at the drink in her hands. Her thoughts move a million miles a minute, but there’s a constant one stuck in her brain, Poppy.

Veronica looks over at Bea, frowning. “Hey come with me.” She stands, excusing herself from the group and Bea follows her close behind.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re gonna play a private game of truth or drink.”

#playchoices #queen b #poppy min sinclair #poppy x mc #star crossed lovers #thank you for waiting #i promise to be more consistent #love you guys

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cunningambitousdetermined · 3 years

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The Plan (Natasha Romanoff x F!Reader)

title: the plan

pairing: natasha romanoff x f!reader

warnings: mild swearing, mentions of homophobia, FLUFF with a dash of angst

summary: Y/N has been in love with Natasha Romanoff for a VERY long time and honestly, Tony is getting sick of watching it. Natasha has been in love with Y/N since the very first day and Steve can’t take the assassins obliviousness anymore. Steve and Tony, reluctantly of course, team up to make the pair notice how perfect they are for each other. (OH SHOOT IM SORRY I SUCK AT SUMMARIES WOW)

requested by @iamninaanna:

Hey Sunshine, I love your writing, so I'm here to request something :)

Can I please request a Natasha Romanoff × reader, where the Avengers are playing truth or dare, and somebody challenges Natasha to kiss the reader, or something like that, and then they confess their feelings to one another. I was having something in mind, I hope it's not to specific, that like Natasha rambles about the reader to Steve A LOT, and he's so sick of it, he has to do something about it, while it's the same situation with reader, just that she's talking to hers best friend, which can be any of the Avengers, you decide, and then Steve and the reader's best friend make a plan together, and well, you know the rest <3

Okay, that was a lot, but I'm really excited😊 Thank you if you write it!!

a/n (i think that's what i put when i’m responding, if i screwed it up please let me know, it would be much appreciated) :

hi taja! thank you so much, this is the first time someone has requested something and im really excited. but also terrified. more terrified. reader is a girl but if someone wants me to rewrite this as gender neutral, i can. hope i do it justice and if your reading this, thank you for reading. if anyone has any feedback, it’s always welcome. okay here i go!!

the story:

Y/N Y/L/N flopped backward on to Tony Stark’s bed, grabbed the nearest pillow and let out a angry scream into the unsuspecting piece of cloth and feathers.

“Woah kid, what’d the pillow do to you?” Tony joked, his eyes still trained on whatever new gizmo he was working on, chuckling at his best friends antics.

“It’s fucking Natasha” Y/N mumbled quietly into the pillow, her voice muddled by the soft white sheets that she buried her head farther in. Tony was silent, the only sounds was the clinking of the Tony’s robots and tools working, so she assumed he hadn’t heard her. Not that she wanted him too anyway.

Y/N was in love with Natasha Romanoff. Head over heels, fully in love with the assassin that she’d worked closely with for the past years. To describe how Y/N felt about Natasha in words would never to how she really felt in justice. Natasha was a tall glass of Coke: Orange Vanilla. Rare, unsuspectingly sweet, and utterly addicting. Her red hair, the black bodysuit, the way she fought, she could take down 10 men on her own, with her bare hands. She was sweet- always sharing her secret candy stashes with Y/N- smart -helping Y/N out when she was still taking classes.

Sometimes Y/N really thought Natasha felt the same way, then she flirted with a guy here and hot girl there and the idea fled from her brain. Y/N had never seen Natasha have an inclination toward women, she flirted with every living thing. Y/N liked to think it was a coping with feelings for someone and that's why she was so flirty but in reality, Y/N knew there was no way she felt near the same way. She was an extra to the Avengers. And besides, no one even knew she liked girls.

“It’s what, darling?” Tony had moved and was now sitting in front of Y/N, spinning around in his chair like a little kid in their dad’s office.

Y/N wanted to tell him how in love she was with Natasha, she wanted to tell him all the little things she noticed, all the little things she loved. But she couldn’t. How would Tony take it? Tony might take it okay, but the team? Steve? Bucky? They were from the 40′s, women didn’t love other women openly back then, did they still think it was... unnatural? She didn’t think she could deal with being any more of an outcast. Did Natasha like girls? The thoughts were drowning her slowly, cutting off her air supply, the last bit of air building up into a scream that she would never let out.

Tony coughed and Y/N realized she’d been silent for too long. “Tony....” she took a deep breath in, “I- uh-...,” Tony raised an eyebrow, waiting for to go on. Y/N coughed clearing nothing from her throat, elongating the silence before she just spit the words out like hot fire. “I’minlovewithNatashaandIdontknowwhattodo?”

“You’re what?” Tony asked, having caught nothing of that sentence, something about Natasha but honestly he was still lost.

Y/N felt a little better and slowed herself down. She trained her eyes on a seam in the comforter and whispered, “I’m in love with Natasha and I don’t know what to do”

There was a silence and Y/N could feel it smothering her, pulling her into the water, dunking her head under, she was drowning and, and and- Tony erupted in laughter. Y/N’s head shot up and she stared at him, color drained from her face. Tony rocked back and forth but when he came up again, he caught the absolute terror on her face and his smile dropped.

“Y/N?” he asked softy, he stood up, plopping on the bed next to her, “Babe?” Tony tried to catch her eye, ducking his head but she turned away. He grabbed her chin in his large hands, “Babe, I wasn’t laughing at you. God, I’m such an idiot.” he blew out a harsh breath, “I was laughing because I already knew, not because you are in love with her.” Tony felt her face relax and he turned her chin to meet his eye.

“You knew?” Y/N asked softly, tears still gathered in her eyes. Tony’s eyes softened as he saw the tears and he used the pads of his thumb to wipe them away.

“I’m sorry Y/N. I don’t care if you like women. I’ve known you had some sort of feelings for Natasha for a while, you can see it when you look at her. I was just waiting for you to tell me.” Y/N laughed at this now and threw her arms around Tony, who wrapped her up in a hug. “Now, tell me more about Natasha and this ‘love’” he said, his voice muffled by her hair.

“STEVEEEE” Natasha groans, letting down her normal assassins façade.

“Mmm” Steve hummed in reply, motioning for her to come in to his room. She smiled and darted to the spinning chair in the corner, propping her feet up on the desk. It was silent for a little bit, the pair just enjoying each others company when Natasha spun her chair around and broke the silence.

“Do you think Y/N likes women?” Steve already knew the Natasha liked women and he was totally cool with it. Nat has been surprised when he had been super supportive but was very grateful for all the love and reassurance he’d given her.

“Nat,” Steve sighed dramatically, “She can’t NOT know your in love with her, unless she’s totally oblivious which she may be...” He turned to face her, jumping on his bed to be closer to her, “You should just tell her”

“But...” Nat frowned, “what if she doesn’t like women? And I creep her out? And..” She stopped as she felt Steve lay a hand on her shoulder.

“How could she not like you?” he questioned, “And trust me, it’s quite obvious how she feels.”

“HOW SHE FEELS?!” Nat practically screamed, so unlike her that Steve leaned back. She cleared her throat, “Sorry- she feels...?”

“She’s in love with you, obviously”

Nat grabbed a pillow from the bed and screamed into it, then looked at Steve, wary, “Really? Y/N with her...” Steve tuned out the rest of what Nat said, he’d heard it all before. Too many times. Nat sighed, in a happy way that Steve had never heard from her before, “Y/N...”

Steve knew that this had to end, Natasha and Y/N pretending they weren’t head over heels for each other. He’d heard enough of Nat’s wistful rants, it was so unlike her, it was starting to worry him. If he was correct in his guess, Tony was feeling the same way. So, despite Tony being, well, Tony, Steve sought him out to solve the mess.

“Truth or dare, old man?” Clint smirked at Tony, all the avengers had settled for a night in and decided to play truth or dare. Y/N had rolled her eyes at this, they were too old for it, but settled in next to Tony anyway.

“Dare, obviously” Tony rolled his eyes at Clint, eagerly awaiting his fate.

“I dare you to stand on top of the tower and sing at least 30 seconds of ‘Rich Girl’ by Gwen Stefani and livestream it.” Tony laughed at this and stood up. 10 minutes and one livestream later, all of them were laughing harder then they had in a long time.

“Okay, okay, my turn to ask,” Tony smiled, “Natasha, truth or dare?” Steve couldn’t help the smile that overtook his face, the plan was in motion.

“Dare...” Natasha didn’t let her voice waver, her signature smirk on her face.

“I dare you to kiss Y/N”

The whole room fell silent. Y/N’s face flamed and her eyes filled with tears. Was this a joke? Tony knew how she felt. How could he? The eyes in the room were on Nat and her but she ignored them as she got up and ran out of the room. Tony’s eyes widened as Y/N darted through the door.

“Nice going, Tony. You upset her.” Natasha’s glared at Tony, angry. But inside she couldn’t help but wonder if she ran because she didn’t want to kiss her. Maybe she hated the idea. Maybe she didn’t like women after all. Nat got up, she had to face this. “I’ll go get her” She dragged her hand over her face and got up. Tony and Steve exchanged a glance as she left, hopefully this wouldn’t blow up in their faces

“Y/N!” Nat yelled down the hall, “It’s me, I’m sorry Tony was a jerk. Can we talk?”

Y/N heard Natasha’s voice and faltered, she had to face this at some point. She took a deep breath, letting the cool confidence she had on missions fill her.

“Yeah, I’m here Nat” She called back and within seconds Nat ran around the corner. Nat’s eyes softened as they looked into Y/N’s beautiful eyes, still just as mesmerizing, puffy and red. Nat took an unconscious step forward, her thumbs caressing the hidden tear streaks. Y/N’s breath caught, her heart flipping at Nat’s touch. Before she could think about it, Y/N leaned up and let her lips meet Nat’s. Nat responded immediately, pulling Y/N to her, wrapping her arms around her, teeth tugging at her bottom lip. Y/N groaned into the kiss, letting her fingers card through Nat’s hair. They pulled away after a minute, smiling like idiots. Y/N looked down slowly before glancing back up shyly at Nat.

“Um... I really like you Nat” She whispered, with a smile

“I really like you too Y/N” Nat chuckled, pulling her in again for a sweet, soft kiss. It said everything they hadn’t said. All the nights of longing, the confusion and the love.

Tony, Steve and the rest of the team watched from the security room, smiling and high fiving at the happy couple.

AHHH I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!! feedback is always appreciated!!

tagging: @iamninaanna (to be tagged when i write something just drop me an ask)

#natasha romanoff x reader #wlw fanfic #marvel #avengers x reader #tony x platonic!reader #steve x platonic!natasha #pining #fluff #hint of angst #marvel fanfic #my writing

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emmaaaasalvatore · 3 years

Text

im sorry; tony starks

warnings: bad parenting, cursing, sad ending.

pairings: tony starks x daughter!reader, Peter Parker x stark!reader, Steve rogers x reader, Natasha Romanoff x reader

_______________________________________________

* flash back *

“ no sign of my dad yet ?” I whispered into my little ear piece as I stand in line for my diploma, “ no kiddo” Steve responds back “ you want me to call him again” Natasha asked “ no guys it’s fine, I’m glad that you guys are here” I looked at Peter and he gave me a sad smile.

“ I’m fine Peter, before you ask” he lets out a sad chuckle “ I’m sorry babe” he kissed my forehead “ y/n stark ?” I walked onto the stage and grabbed my diploma and started my speech “ well in my fantasy I would said thank you to my dad but in reality I want to say thank you to my second dad Steve Rogers and my other mom Natasha romanoff, ever since I was little they have taken care of me when my dad was too busy sleeping with people or too worried about making money instead of spending time with me-“

“ you guys might think ‘oh but your dad is like crazy rich why aren’t you happy ?’ Money can’t buy happiness, at least not for me.” Everyone claps and I walked off the stage, I meet up with Peter and my ‘parents’ and they give me a hug “ We are so proud of you y/n” Natasha says “ thank you guys for everything” I smiled “ you wanna go home to get changed and then we go out to eat ?” I nodded.

- at home -

I walked into the house to find my dad and his little girl playing and running around the house “ go get changed love” Peter whispered and I nodded “ where the hell have you been young lady ?” My father asked as he stopped running and I scoffed “ I was at my graduation” I announced and he picked up Morgan “ no you weren’t, you graduation was last month” I let out a hurt laugh “ and guess what that shows that you wouldn’t even have been there last month, it was today for gods sake !” I shouted.

“ do not get angry with me young lady ” my father said as pepper walked into the living room to get Morgan “ I have every right to be angry with you, instead of being at my graduation today, you were here playing with Morgan- something you never did with me” he rolled his eyes “ this is because of jealousy” I threw my graduation hat to the floor “ you’re right it is because of jealousy ! I have to fight for your attention- which I don’t even get- while Morgan gets it for breathing. And for someone who isn’t grateful for things, you sure have to be grateful for Steve and Natasha- they were and are the parents I never got” I went to my room and slammed my door.

“ what the hell did I do-“ Steve shushed him “ you do everything except be there for your daughter who is going through a lot because of you” Steve goes to walk away but tony gets a message “ there’s an emergency around here, tell y/n we have to go” Steve just simple nodded and walked to your room, “ love, are you okay? We have to go on a mission before we got out to celebrate” I opened the door “ okay” I got ready and we left.

When we arrived to the place we were at, there we multiple robots and other weird things. I couldn’t help but freak out. As I was fighting I realized I didn’t put my suit on correctly before I left so I went to hide to put it on correctly when I saw Morgan and pepper walk to where I was going, I ignored them and started putting my suit on correctly when everything happened so fast.

Pepper pulled me in front of her and Morgan, I felt a sharp pain right next to my heart and dropped to the floor, pepper screamed and everyone came running over “ Y/N !” Steve yelled covered my wound “ y-you’re going to be okay baby” he brushed my hair back as Natasha ran over to me and started crying “ TONY !” She yelled, my dad came running over here “ I-I don’t wanna die da-dad, I don’t want to go”.

Peter didn’t know what was going on until he walked over here and gasped “ Y/N ?” He pushed everyone out of the way “ b-baby focus, focus on me” I looked at him and he chuckled “tha-thank god you’re alright” he said until I started coughing up blood “ I-I’m sorry- I’m sorry guys for ruining this. I know I’m going to die and I just wanna say that I love all of you guys here a lot and that I’m especially sorry for everything dad.” I said using my last breath.

and just like that i was gone. “ NO SHE - SHE CANT BE DEAD I WONT ALLOW IT” Tony yelled as he started crying, pepper went to hug him but he pushed her “ WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE ANYWAYS” she gulped “ I-I don’t know” he let out a maniac type of laugh “ get the hell out of here pepper and take Morgan” he said as she started walking away.

Steve held Peter as he started crying hysterically, Natasha couldn’t believe any of this, Thor killed every robot and didn’t know what was going on “ what happened guys, where’s y/n ?-“ he looked at my dead body and ran to me “ y/n? Y/n wake up” he shook my body and I didn’t, he let out a soft sob. Tony couldn’t stop crying “ my baby - my baby girl is gone. I can’t believe it”

* present time*

it’s been a year since you died, everyone visited your grave today “ hey my love- I miss you everyday” Natasha said crying “ I can’t believe you’re gone baby” peter said putting flowers by your grave “ I love you y/n, I always have and always will and will never stop” Tony sighed “ i-I’m sorry y/n, I’m sorry I let you down, I’m sorry you died and couldn’t even experience what it was like to be an adult” he puts a hand on your grave.

“ hey Tony” Steve says “ mm?” Tony looks up “ I’m thankful for everything you have done for but I’m really thankful that you decided to keep y/n” Natasha let out a sad laugh “ I am too, I remember when she took her first step because she saw you walk threw the door” Steve laughed as he started crying even more “ w-when was this ?” Tony asked feeling horrible as shit because he wasn’t there “ you Weren’t there” natasha rolled her eyes.

“ her 7th birthday, she wore the iron man dress and pretended that she was iron girl” Steve laughed at the memory “ I miss her so much nat” Natasha pulls him into a hug “ so thank you Tony for keeping y/n, because without that little girl I probably wouldn’t have been happy like I was before she died, she was my baby, the one and only kid I liked and loved like my own”

Steve agreed “ and that little girl will be revenged,” he turned to your grave and Tony did also “ I promise you will baby girl” Tony whispered.

_______________________________________________

a/n: I lowkey cried for this LMAOOO.

#tony stark x teen!reader #tony stark x stark!reader #steve rogers #peter parker x tony stark #peter parker x y/n #steve x reader #natasha x reader

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cafedanslanuit · 4 years

Note

would it be ok to ask for hcs of the main 6 + vaderwood and how they would react to their normally energetic and funny mc being a little off and making some self-deprecating jokes (like a little too dark to be funny) as a way of coping and hiding their anxiety/depression? if not thats ok im just in a similar mood today.

self-deprecating jokes are my thing too, tbh. hope you’re feeling better! Also, I couldn’t picture Vandy for this particular hc, I’m sorry :c

Yoosung

This boy honestly loves how fun you are. He will always laugh with you and you don’t tease him that much (Saeyoung does that for you)

One day, when he comes home from his job at the vet, he finds you calling for pizza. He lets you finish the call and then you look up.

“Hey, welcome back! I accidentally left the stove on for too long and messed up dinner” you casually said, with a small giggle. “So I called Pizza Hut, hope it’s okay”.

“It’s okay!” he says. “I love pizza”

“I know, me too” you smile. You stand up and stretch your arms. “Okay, so I’ll take a shower before it gets here. How the fuck did I forget the stove on, I don’t know” you laugh. “I swear to God I would totally leave me at this point”.

Yoosung says nothing, shocked. He watches you walk to the bathroom and turn on the shower. He knows you like to joke around, but that joke had been pretty specific. Leave you? Why would he leave you? Over some burnt food?!

He waits until you come out, wrapped in a towel and hands you a cup of your favourite tea. You smile weakly.

“An award for my awful cooking?” you tease him.

“Hey! It’s just food! And you solved it. I don’t really care, MC, please let it go”. He sees your lips tremble a little bit. “Are you okay?”

You had a really rough day at work. You tell him all about it while sipping on the tea and he silently listens to you, nodding at the right times. The pizza finally arrives and he puts on your favourite show so you both can watch it. When you go to bed, he makes sure to give you extra cuddles, so you never have to feel any more pressure on yourself.

Zen

Honestly, he’s not the best at comedy. But he really likes how much you can make yourself laugh with your own jokes.

He comes home and hands you his tablet. You arch an eyebrow and look at him from the couch. He sits beside you and asks you to press play. You nod and comply his request.

It’s a video from rehearsal. He’s singing at he’s actually hitting all the notes just right. You smile softly, watching the video in silence. When it’s over, you turn and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re amazing, babe. You did the song soooo good! How can you be so talented?”

“Thank you, babe. And I don’t know, can’t help it. I’m just talented.” he shrugs, with a confident smile.

“Well, someone has to be” you responded quickly. His smiled faltered and he looked at you, confused.

“What are you talking about? You are talented too. I’ve seen your drawings, those building projects you have been working on. They’re masterpieces, MC, I love them and–”

“I didn’t get the job, Zen” you quickly answer, not looking at him. “They didn’t like those ‘masterpieces’” you added, making the colons signs with his fingers.

Oh. So they had already sent you the email.

Zen would put the tablet aside and hold you on the couch. Whisper over and over again how talented you truly are and how they were in the wrong for not noticing it.

“If they can’t see how brilliant you are, why would you want to work for them?” he asked. “I’ve been rejected more times that I can count. I know how you feel. And you know what makes me feel better?”

You look at him and shake your head.

Ten minutes later, you’re both riding on his motorcycle, feeling the air against your face. you hug him tighter and smile.

Jaehee

Jaehee’s not one for jokes. But she does enjoy the occasional laugh she has with you. You make tons of jokes, but, unlike Saeyoung, you know when to stop

“Babyyyyyyyy, I’m a mess!” you complained, stretching on your bed. Both of you were working on your laptops, when suddenly you put yours aside.

“C’mon. Help me, Excel Goddess! Can’t seem to make this thing to work and I need to show it to my boss tomorrow” you asked. Jaehee smiled softly, put her laptop aside and grabbed yours. She started typing formulas, fixing your work.

“You’re so good to me, baby. Thank youuuu. That’s why you’re the smart one here”. Jaehee just smiled, continuing her work.

“They should have taught me Excel in school instead of sports. Did anyone of my class turn out to be an athlete? No one. Are we struggling to get a job because we don’t know shit about Excel? We are”.

“Maybe that’s why I’m failing. Maybe that’s why I had to settle with this shitty job, because I can’t comprehend the monster that in Microsoft Excel. Maybe that’s also why my Computer Science teacher hated me at school” you said dramatically. Jaehee chuckled softly.

“Maybe that’s why my whole life is a mess right now. Maybe that’s why I can’t find joy in the things I do anymore, maybe that’s why my father left us. Because I’m a shitty person who can’t do Excel and can’t get a decent job”.

She stopped typing and looked over at you.

“MC. What are you saying?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m tired. Don’t think about it too much”

“I-… Do you want me to talk to Mr. Han? Maybe there’s a position and… I know C&R takes most of my time but an entry level job may be good– at least for your resumé and–”

“I’m fine. Don’t think about it, baby” you dismissed, but Jaehee grabbed your hand.

“Can’t you really find joy anymore?” she asked. You sighed.

“Happens to me when the cold weather beggins. Will go away in a couple of weeks” you shrugged. Jaehee squeezed your hand.

“Let me know if I can do anything to help you… well, find joy again”.

“You do help!” you assured her. “I can find bits of joy here” you smiled and gave her a small kiss. She smiled and kissed you back.

Jumin

Jumin doesn’t understand most of your jokes. Most of the times, you have to explain them to him. He doesn’t mind, but it’s only because he really enjoys watching you laugh at your own jokes. The sight of you giggling it’s enough to light up any day.

That day, you decided to visit him during lunch. Which wasn’t a rare occurrence, you tried to visit him at least once a week, making sure with Jaehee you wouldn’t be interrupting.

“Good afternoon, my love. Didn’t expect you here” he greeted you, giving your cheek a tender kiss when you approached him. You gave him the bento you had prepared and sat in front of him, on the other side of his desk.

“I know. I just thought your darling, loving wife might make an appearence. I do have to keep those heiresses away from you” you laughed. He smiled softly and opened his bento. “Don’t want them making you change your mind about marrying some poor girl who couldn’t even afford university by herself”.

Jumin arched his eyebrow while eating his lunch. “Is there a problem with your classes? I thought you were excited about finally attending university, even if most of the classes are online for security reasons. Are the professors not competent enough? Are they not grading you fairly?”

You laughed. “No, Jumin, classes are fine. I just… Don’t really fit with your social class, you know. I mean, I knew I wouldn’t fit, but someday’s it really… just… I don’t know. You can put a working class girl in a Channel, but you can’t really change who she really is inside, right?” you smiled weakly.

Jumin furrowed his eyebrows, visibly upset. “What are you talking about?”

Your facade disappear and you sighed. You reached out for his hand and held it tighly.

“Please, don’t misunderstand me. I love you, I really do. Nothing can change that. But I can’t– I can’t pretend I don’t hear the whispers when I come here to have lunch with you. How I listen to them mocking these nice clothes you bought for me” you said, pointing at your light blue dress he had given you. “I don’t… I didn’t grow up with these things. I must look really dumb pretending to be part of a class I’m not”.

“Who made that comment?” he asks, angrily.

You try to cover it up, but after some pushing, you tell him it’s the secretary that works two offices away. She has a desk beside Jaehee’s. Jumin stands up, not stopping when you ask him to. He takes one step outside his office and spots the secretary you must be talking about.

“You’re fired. Assistant Kang, take care of that paperwork”.

Jumin returned to his office and locked the door. You can’t believe what just happened. He walks over to you and lifts up your chin with his hand, gently.

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you you don’t belong here. Or that you don’t deserve elegant clothes or anything I want to give to you. I know you didn’t grow up the same as me, but that’s why I love you. Because you didn’t look at me and saw my money or C&R, you looked at me. At who I was. Who I could be. I want to be the best man I can be, just for you. And I want to please you, giving you anything I can so you can enjoy life at its fullest. Also, look at you” he said, taking a look at your whole outfit. “You look breathtaking. You look classy, and it’s not just the dress” he smirked, kissing your cheek and making his way to your neck, leaving you a mess of giggles.

Saeyoung

Ok, so we all agree he’s the king of dark humour and self-deprecating jokes.

And he’s used to be like that around you and sometimes you make the same jokes and you both just laugh it out.

So that day, he doesn’t notice something’s off from the start.

He’s fixing the robot cat, since it had been malfunctioning. You’re reading a magazine on the couch while he’s sitting on the floor, both of you talking on and off.

“One day you should teach me who to do that. You know, fixing stuff and such”

“I wil! But you’ll need to call me sensei during our lessons.”

“Sensei? Isn’t that japanese?”

“It is! I’ll be your sensei if you wish. But what do you want to learn to fix?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want to be the dumb one of the relationship”

“Awww. But we make such a good pair~”

“Just because you haven’t got tired of me yet” you chuckle.

“How could I get tired of your cooking? Never!~ I swear my mouth waters just thinking about your waffles.”

You laugh. “That’s all I am? My cooking?”

“Well, also how clean you keep this, Ms. Vanderwood hasn’t been complaining as much as before” he teases you.

“Well, you know I have to keep this apartment clean and your stomach full. That’s why I’m here, right? Until you get tired of my stupidness” you chuckle.

Saeyoung looks back at you, stopping on his fixing of robo-cat. He’s not longer smiling.

“… You really think that? That I think you’re stupid?”

“Well… I’m no genius. I’m just one more secretary, I’m… c’mon. You’d have more fun with someone who’s just as smart as you. I’m just here… until my time’s done. I’ve accepted it long ago.”

Suddenly he’s over you, making you lay on the couch, pinning both your arms over your head.

“Stop! What? Stop, just stop, what are you even saying?! You are kind, compassionate, generous and the most beautiful soul I’ve ever seen. You stayed by my side when I was at my worst. You saw all parts of me and still loved me. I’m the one who isn’t worthy of someone as loving and forgiving as you. I– I could never. I could have never rescued Saeran without you. I could have never been happy or even think about real happiness if it weren’t for you. So honestly, what if you don’t know anything about computers or hacking? That doesn’t matter to me. It’s you and your heart. It’s always been about your loving heart, MC. Please, please don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve loved you my whole life. Even before I met you. I just didn’t realize it.”

Your eyes water

damn, saeyoung i almost cried as well, you fucker

You both stay on the couch, holding each other until you fall asleep. He keeps whispering soft and warm words to your ear every now and then, making sure you never doubt yourself again.

Saeran

“i want to die” “same”

It’s so usual for you both to make dark jokes, he doesn’t really notice when it stops being a joke to you.

You’re both laying on the couch. You’re on top of him, resting your head on his chest. You can’t remember how it started, but you start joking around.

“Your girlfriend’s a mess, you know”

“She is. Have you seen her hair?” he teased.

“What the hell does she think she’s doing? Have you seen the way she dresses?”

“Total mishap. It’s like a match made in hell”

“And her voice? More like a screech” you laugh, making fun of your own voice.

“Will she ever shut up?” he sighed dramatically, smirking softly.

“Why does she think she actually make someone happy?” you chuckle. His smile disappears.

Saeran stays silent for a minute. “You’re not happy?”

are you not happy with him? has he already bored you out of your mind? are you having second thoughts about your relationship? because he’s been trying, he’s been seeing a psychologist and even though there still isn’t a big change, he— is it because there hasn’t been a big change?

“Well, you’re not” you replied in a small voice. “And I can’t– And I don’t how– Maybe it’s me?”

So, Saeran decides to try something he’s been talking about with his psychologist. Better now than ever, he thought.

“I love you”

You raise your head, looking at him in disbelief. He’s never said that before. When you started dating, he had kissed you and you had understood how it was hard for him to express feelings due to the severe trauma he had gone through, so you hadn’t pushed him but… Saeran was still looking at you, a tense expression on his face. You suddenly realized you hadn’t said anything back.

“I love you too”. You had said it before. You had told him that a million times, but it was the first time you said it back.

“I know it seems I’m not making progress– But I think I am? I mean, I just told you that, right?” he said, scratching his head, a little nervous. “He said we were going to work on expressing feelings, and it was easier to express the most intense ones.”

“Your most intense feeling– one of your most intense feelings is loving me?” you asked, still surprised.

“Shut up” he said, making you laugh for real this time.

#mystic messenger #mystic messenger headcanons #mystic messenger headcanon #mysme hc #mystic messenger hc #mm hc #mm jumin #mm zen #mm jaehee #mm yoosung #mm saeyoung #i've lost my ability to make small hcs #this turned out to be seven pages on a google doc #SEVEN #will i ever make small hcs again #idk

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goosewhisker · 3 years

Text

this crooked posture (is all you’ve ever known)

read this on ao3 || read this on fanfiction.net

i wrote this whole thing in a span of about 5 days :pensive: as u can maybe tell i have a lot of feelings abt that one conversation btwn scourge and jules...there is so much potential here and im sad we never got to see it

as far as timeline goes- this would probably take place in the pre-boot universe about six months or so after scourge & co escape from zone jail. the destructix are camping out on mobius for the time being to avoid drawing zonic's attention and knothole has wrapped up the ixis naugus/metal sally arcs.

Summary: Fiona heads off with a wave, and he's left where he started - staring through a window into a nearly-empty kitchen, looking in on a life was never his and never will be. Inside, the robian sets bacon on the stovetop to fry and starts making toast, blissfully unaware of the hedgehog just outside. It's hard to tell on a robot, obviously, but he looks perfectly content with his life. Happy, even.

Pathetic.

Or: Scourge avoids his problems, Fiona is exasperated, and Jules is mostly oblivious.

It's the early hours of the morning. So early, in fact, that it shouldn't even technically be called morning because it's still basically nighttime and no one sane is up right now.

Which is probably why the idiotic robian is up at five o'clock in the morning, puttering around in the kitchen and making breakfast. There's literally no reason for it. It's not like he can eat anything, after all, and his stupid son lives off chilidogs, so he's not going to eat it. And his stupid wife isn't getting up for like two hours, so she's not eating it either. See? Idiocy.

Yet another thing that their universes seem to have in common.

"What are you doing?"

Scourge almost shrieks - key word is almost, 'cause he's too cool to scream like a dork - and tackles Fiona into the bushes. "Shhh!"

Fiona splutters indignantly and a second later her fist bounces off his jaw, which, ow. "Are you nuts? Get off me!"

"Shhhut up!" Scourge throws a quick glance over his shoulder at the window. No one's come outside to investigate, so hopefully no one's heard. He rolls off her a second later. "You wanna get us arrested, woman?"

"Hey, I'm a legal citizen of this universe!" Fiona protests. "If anything, it's you who's getting arrested, Mr.-Snooping-Through-Other-People's-Windows. That's so creepy."

"We're both wanted criminals here; if we get caught, we're going down together," Scourge points out, graciously ignoring her last comment. "And anyway, I'm... gathering intel."

Fiona snorts. "Pull the other one, Scourge. That's not gonna work on me." Crossing her arms, she adds, "You've been gathering intel every night for the past week. And I know you're technically the same person, but watching Sonic sleep is really weird."

"I'm not watching him," Scourge snaps before he can help himself.

"Oh?" Fiona's eyes glint and it's then that Scourge realizes he's slipped. "Then who are you watching?"

"Uhhh..." Scourge fidgets while trying not to look like he's fidgeting. "No one. I'm just passing through, not watching anything. Why'd I want to do that anyway?" He forces a laugh. "So lame."

Fiona regards him with a flat stare. "Your fingerprints are smudged all over the window."

"What?" Scourge whips around to check the window. He'd been so careful not to leave any traces of his visits, but-

Waitaminute.

"Very funny," Scourge growls into his gloved hands. Fiona snickers.

"Look, if you don't want to tell me, I won't make you," she says, standing up and brushing the dirt off her pants. "But I'll find out eventually. And if this new obsession of yours endangers yourself or the team, I'm going to put a stop to it."

"Yeah, yeah," Scourge mutters, waving her off. "Get lost."

"Mhm. We still on for that movie night?"

"'course. See you there, babe."

Fiona heads off with a wave, and he's left where he started - staring through a window into a nearly-empty kitchen, looking in on a life was never his and never will be. Inside, the robian sets bacon on the stovetop to fry and starts making toast, blissfully unaware of the hedgehog just outside. It's hard to tell on a robot, obviously, but he looks perfectly content with his life. Happy, even.

Pathetic.

Scourge kicks the side of the house, suddenly incandescently furious with everything. Inside, Jules looks up in surprise, but Scourge is already gone.

"I need to stop," Scourge says later. The movie is over - some samurai flick that Simian had picked out and Lightning had ruined with his constant nitpicking - and they'd gone out for ice cream afterwards (read: robbed that nice gelato place downtown). Getting used to having teammates again is... something, Scourge supposes. But it's not completely terrible.

"You need to stop," Fiona agrees. She's texting furiously, slouched into the ratty couch in their current hideout with Scourge's head on her lap.

"It's just weird seeing him alive, is all," Scourge tells the ceiling. "That's all it is. Like, when you see something weird, and you just gotta look at it. It doesn't mean anything."

"Are you trying to convince yourself or me?"

"Not tryin' to convince anyone. I'm just saying what it is."

Fiona sets down her phone with a sigh. "Look, you gotta stop hurting yourself like this."

Scourge sits up a little too fast. "Hurting myself? What? Babe, have you forgotten who you're talking to? I'm Scourge the Hedgehog, I don't hurt."

Fiona gives that all the acknowledgment it deserves, which is none. "I told you about the... the prison, when I was a kid," she says. Scourge falls silent. "I went back there a few times, after I was big enough to handle myself. There wasn't a reason, really. I just thought I had to see it. And it sort of helped the first time - I cleaned out all the bots and made sure that place couldn't hold anyone ever again - but after that, I just went back again and again because it made me hurt and that felt good. Because I was hurting anyway, and being able to make it worse when I wanted to made me feel like I could control it."

Scourge doesn't say anything.

"But that wasn't true," Fiona says. Her voice shakes just a little, and without thinking Scourge takes her hand. It's stupid (sentimental) but she smiles faintly. "I wasn't healing or in control or anything. I was just hurting myself. And I can't stand watching you do the same."

"Babe," Scourge begins hoarsely.

"Tell me it's not the same," Fiona says flatly. "Or tell me- tell me that if I went back to that prison and crawl through that tunnel I dug with my own hands and relive every moment of the hell I went through, that you wouldn't stop me. That you would watch me do it."

He can't tell her that. He can't tell her that and she knows it.

Scourge looks away.

Fiona sighs and runs her hand along his spines. "He's not your dad, Scourge," she says quietly. "He's an entirely different person. Hurting yourself isn't going to make anything better."

"Okay," Scourge agrees. "Okay." Then, after a moment, "Thanks, babe."

Fiona smiles again, and there's something so sad about it he squeezes her hand again (uncool, but it's not like there's anyone else to see it). "No problem, hun."

He goes back again the next day.

This time, the wife is there too.

Scourge crouches in the massive oak tree beside the window, pretending he doesn't feel like a massive creep. His green fur blends neatly with the leaves, rendering him all but invisible to any casual observers, particularly when it's not-quite-light. With luck, it'll fool robian eyes as well.

Anyway.

Scourge doesn't remember his mother. She was simply never in the picture; whether because of death or divorce he never knew. Generally, he suspects the latter - months upon months of neglect, of being constantly passed over and ignored for the more important burdens of the state and the good of the people - yeah, he can see how a divorce would happen. Not that he'll ever know now.

The hedgehog in the kitchen doesn't look neglected. She throws her arms around the robian, not seeming to mind the cold metal, and dances around him as they prepare breakfast. The robian, in turn, leans into her touches and takes advantage of a moment of distraction to dab pancake batter on her nose. It's disgusting. Scourge gags.

Part of him wonders what he's gaining out of this. Hiding in a tree, spying on some losers and their dumb domestic life - not exactly fitting behavior for the former king of Moebius, after all.

It's not... It's not that Fiona's right. It's not like he's hurting himself - like he told Fiona, he's Scourge the Hedgehog. He doesn't do that emotions garbage. That kind of wimpiness is more Sonic's thing.

(Let alone that Fiona had said it happened to her. Let alone that she's usually right, and that she's one of the strongest people he knows.)

He's just curious. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less.

(The voice in his head sounding suspiciously like Fiona whispers, Yeah, right.)

Inside the kitchen, the robian starts flipping pancakes. For a second, Scourge tries to imagine his own father like that: Jules the Hedgehog, king of Moebius, flipping pancakes in a frilly pink apron and laughing with his wife. Arguing over who gets to wake up their son. Talking and hugging and laughing and living -

- and the illusion dissipates. Jules wouldn't set foot in a kitchen. He had servants to do that kind of thing, just like he had servants to take care of his son.

Scourge drops down from the tree branch and lands lightly on his feet. He's done here. He slinks off into the streets, hiding his face from the strengthening sunlight as synthetic laughter rings out behind him.

"Hey, Simian," Scourge says a few days later.

Simian continues lifting weights without slowing. "Yes?"

Scourge likes Simian, as much as he likes anyone. The ape is steady and has a solid head on his shoulders, and while it's kind of a drag most times, he does occasionally have helpful bits of advice. And when he goes loose on the battlefield, he can be really fun to fight alongside.

So that, plus the fact that Hawk doesn't care and Lightning would probably make fun of him and he'd rather eat his own shoes than talk to Fly, makes him Scourge's best option.

Scourge swings his legs back and forth as they dangle off the chair and tries to think of a way to broach it. He just needs to be subtle, right? "When was the last time you saw your parents?"

And maybe that wasn't super subtle after all, because Simian stops in the middle of his workout session (he never stops in the middle of a workout session) to stare at him. It feels... extremely uncomfortable, actually, wow. Scourge hops up and starts his stretches (anything to avoid looking back).

"When I last left my village, I was eighteen," Simian says at last. He sounds thoughtful, which is never a good sign. "That was several years ago... six years, I believe."

"That long, huh?" Scourge moves to quad stretches. "You're pretty old, man. Slowing down anytime soon?"

He's rewarded with a sharp grin. "I'm not that old. Though I suppose most people look slow next to you."

"Damn straight!"

"Why do you ask?"

And that's the issue - when even Scourge isn't sure why he's asking. He takes his time answering. "Oh, you know... just curious. Ever think about 'em?"

There's another ponderous silence, which mostly just succeeds in making Scourge antsy. Well, antsier.

"Sometimes," Simian says. "But I am a dedicated member of this team. You can rest assured of that."

And that's nice, but it's not what he's asking-

"...but that's not what you're asking, is it?"

Scourge freezes. Is he just that transparent? Why can everyone suddenly read his mind now? "What're you on about, man?" he deflects.

Simian shakes his head. "I do miss them, sometimes. It is natural for children to miss their parents."

"Not me!" Scourge laughs, and if it comes out a little too sharp, well, who's to blame him?

"Of course," Simian says, sounding vaguely indulgent. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Uh, sure," Scourge lies. "A little heavy on the oversharing, but it's cool." And then he scarpers, because if super speed's good for anything it's for escaping uncomfortable conversations. Simian doesn't say anything about it later, and thank Chaos because he doesn't think he'd be able to face Fiona if she ever got wind of that little talk.

The next time he's in town, Scourge picks up a new set of woodworking knives and leaves it on Simian's equipment. It's not like he's gone soft, buying presents for his friends or whatever, Scourge tells himself. He's just... buying Simian's silence. It's a bribe, is all.

(Simian saves him some extra ice cream the night after and that's that.)

It is natural for children to miss their parents, Simian had said. Ha! As if. Scourge hasn't missed his old man a day of his life and he's not about to start now.

... that'd carry more weight if he wasn't spending two or three mornings a week moping outside their kitchen.

Scourge sips his frappe and pretends he's not sulking. Right now, he's outside some random diner in Knothole in full disguise, complete with a trenchcoat, fedora, and sunglasses. He was honestly expecting someone to stop him before now - this kind of garb is about as suspicious as it gets - but no one seemed to even notice anything out of the ordinary. Idiots.

Fiona would kill him if she knew the kind of risks he's taking - which, of course, is why she doesn't need to know.

Scourge checks the time. Seven o'clock, meaning the wife is just getting up and they're having breakfast right now - Chaos, he has their entire morning schedule memorized, doesn't he? Fiona was right, he is obsessed. Scourge slumps over the table and buries his head in his arms.

He can still turn this around. Knowing their schedule is useful, from a strategic standpoint; he could threaten them, take them hostage... even kill them. Sonic would be taken completely offguard. It would be simple. Easy. The smart thing to do.

Scourge's groan is only partially muffled by the table.

"...you alright, son?"

What-

Something electric shoots up his spine. Scourge's claws dig into the edges of the table with a crunch as he bolts upright. And there, before him, with a look so familiar but so foreign in his eyes is-

He's not the same.

His skin is metallic where it should be flesh, plated where it should be furred. His eyes burn a bright pixelated red when they should be brown. That stupid tuft of fur on his head is shining chrome that glints under the bright sun.

But the way he stands - colored though it is with a hint of a soldier's posture - that proud tilt of his chin, the gentleness in his hands as they reach out to him -

It's Jules.

It's different from seeing him in that dim, lamp-lit room. In the daylight, the differences are exaggerated - and so are the similarities.

For a second, Scourge can only see his dad standing there.

He reacts on instinct. Scourge rears back and smacks Jules' outstretched hand away. "Don't touch me!"

Jules straightens up, virtual eyes widening with shock. "I'm- I'm sorry, it looked like you were unhappy. I only meant to-"

"Well, don't," Scourge spits. "Get lost."

Jules looks at him longer and then, for some Chaos-forsaken reason, doesn't leave. Why isn't he leaving, Scourge thinks furiously, and only realizes he's breathing heavy when his breaths start coming too fast and harsh in his ears. Jules says something, but the words don't make sense and he can't tear his gaze away from the polished metal. Beneath his fingertips, the table starts to splinter.

And then there's warm hands on his shoulders, and a steady voice in his ears, saying, "Listen to me. Do you want me to leave?"

Nothing comes out of his throat. Scourge shakes helplessly. He wants him to leave, he wants him stay, he wants to never see him again. He wants his dad.

Jules must take it as permission to stay, because he doesn't leave. The grip on his shoulders is a solid, unmoving presence, and Scourge can't help but lean into it. "I'm going to count slowly. Try to match your breathing to my voice - it's alright if you can't. Starting now. One, two..."

For some completely batty reason, he tries, and it helps some. His breathing is a little too fast and a lot shaky, still, but it settles into a more even pace instead of the uncontrollable rush. Sense comes back slowly, and with it, an acute, uncomfortable awareness of what just happened.

Well. At least he's not crying.

Scourge stands abruptly, tearing himself from Jules' arms. The robian raises a brow but doesn't protest. "Are you feeling better?" he asks instead. It's entirely casual, with no hint of pity, and Scourge hates himself a little for being pathetically grateful.

"Peachy," Scourge snaps and whirls around, hiking up his collar. Jules isn't screaming yet, so he clearly hasn't realized who he is, and Scourge is in no hurry to correct him. Honestly, this hedgehog's stupidity knows no bounds.

"Well." The robian stands up, reaches for a grocery bag that Scourge only just realized was there, and adds, "Stay safe, son."

Scourge's vision briefly whites out from fury. "Don't call me that," he snarls and takes off running before Jules can reply.

He finds a secluded place in a lonely corner, throws his warp ring, and promises himself that he'll never go back.

Scourge does some research.

It's called a panic attack, apparently. Common among soldiers, which is probably why Jules knew what to do - he said he'd been on the front lines, hadn't he? Common among victims of PTSD, the website says, and Scourge scoffs and closes the tab. Trauma - ridiculous. Scourge doesn't do trauma. If anything, he gives it to other people.

He's still snickering at his joke when Hawk comes in to tell him that Finitevus called in with another job. Normally, Scourge would tell him to screw off, but he's offering a massive stack of Anarchy beryl in return - something they've been in short supply of since they ditched Moebius.

Scourge's body itches at the thought of going super again. He accepts.

Thirty minutes later, they're waist-deep in smashed Eggman bots and struggling to fend off a fresh wave while Fiona and Hawk bicker over the terminal.

"I'm telling you, if we do that, we'll get locked out of the system entirely!" Fiona snaps.

Hawk throws up his hands. "Fine! Ignore me! It's not like you literally just have to enter the code or anything!"

Scourge spindashes down the line of Eggpawns, smashing through them like paper. He hits the wall at the right angle to bounce right off and uncurls in midair to land on his feet.

"Wrap it up, guys!" he yells and ducks beneath a stray kunai. "Watch it, Lightning!"

"Thought you were supposed to be the fast one," Lightning calls back.

"And I thought you were supposed to be able to aim!"

"I can." Lightning flicks a wrist and Scourge drops backward into a roll to avoid the next kunai that comes his way. When he springs back onto his feet, ready to chew out the idiotic trigger-happy lynx, there's a Badnik pinned to the wall right where he'd been standing. Lightning shoots him a smug grin.

"Right back atcha," Scourge mutters and barrels through the cluster taking potshots at Hawk and Fi.

"Ugh, fine!" Fiona shoves Hawk away and starts typing furiously.

Scourge drops another five Badniks and skids to a stop as an Egg Launcher smashes through the wall directly in front of him. "Fiona!"

"Give us a minute," Hawk snarls back.

The Launcher brings its arms down to eye level and Scourge leaps into the air as its targeting system locks on - and then Fly drops out of nowhere onto on its shoulders. "Need help?" the frog giggles (sweet Chaos Scourge hates him) and rips the thing's head off. Scourge blitzes right through its chest.

As its body slumps bonelessly to the floor, another Launcher steps through the wall behind it... and another one. And another. Chaos.

"If those things unload all those missiles in here, we're going to have a problem," Lightning says, echoing Scourge's own thoughts.

"Out of the way," Simian grunts, swinging the first bot's disembodied missile launcher-slash-arm onto his shoulder and taking aim.

"Are you nuts, man?" Scourge yells. "Didn't you hear Lightning? You fire that thing and this whole building's going down!"

"Better have the exit ready, then," Simian returns evenly.

"Got it!" Fiona announces, jumping up from the terminal with a chip in hand. Hawk follows, looking severely disgruntled. "Turns out we really did just have to enter the code. Hah."

"I told you," Hawk begins, but Fiona waves him off.

"You were right once, don't go getting a big head. You got the ring ready, sweetie?"

"Everyone over here! You miss the ring, we're leavin' you behind!" Scourge doesn't wait for a response and throws the warp ring. The portal spins into existence, glistening faintly in the electric light, and they all pile in. Simian fires off a final missile salvo before the ring vanishes and they tumble haphazardly into the Doc's lair to the sound of the entire base going up.

For a second, no one moves, too tired and bruised and tangled together to bother getting up. Lightning sighs heavily from the bottom of the heap. Scourge laughs.

"I trust you have what I asked for?" Finitevus asks from literally two feet away, and Scourge isn't even going to question how he knew where they'd end up. After all, they are at his mercy inside his weird evil lair, and Scourge knows how to be tactful.

Scourge props himself up on an elbow. "So do you like, practice being creepy, or is it natural?"

Without looking, Fiona smacks him in the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"We have it," Fiona says, extricating herself from the tangle. Scourge considers tripping her as she walks past, decides against it, and settles for hooking his ankle around Hawk's heel as he stands up. The bird goes down with a satisfying squawk right on top of Lightning and the ensuing chaos lets Scourge hop up onto his own feet.

Fiona ignores it.

"All the files relating to the roboticization process are on this USB," she says, holding it out. Finitevus takes it and, after a moment's inspection, slips it into his robes.

"So why'd you want that, Doc?" Scourge asks, adjusting his sunglasses. "Woulda thought that robot stuff wasn't quite your style."

"It is true that roboticization is a perversion of the natural order and representative of that which I seek to destroy," Finitevus concedes. "But I am not opposed to much that will give me the advantage against my nemeses. And I must admit the idea of enslaving your opponent's will to your own has a certain... charm."

Scourge and Fiona exchange a look - of the literally why is he like this and the why do we talk to him again variety - and Scourge shoves his hands in his pockets and steps up. "Uh... yeah, man. Totally. Anyway, if we're done here, can we have the beryl now?"

"Of course. But first, I have one more task for you."

Scourge scoffs disbelievingly. "Are you kidding? The deal was we break into Eggman's lab, steal your stupid information, and hand it over. We've done that. It took like forever and it was a massive pain in the butt the whole time, we are not adding anything else onto that and that's final."

"...I'll double the amount of beryl."

Scourge hesitates.

... which is how they ended up here. Scourge crouches on the windy rooftop, tugging his dumb fancy suit jacket closer and hoping idly that something happens soon. "Can we go in yet?" he asks.

Hawk, who's busy adjusting his own disguise, shakes his head. "You really have no patience at all, do you?"

"Nope!" Scourge tugs on his overly-tight tie and mostly just makes it worse. "How 'bout now?"

"If you were any good at infiltration, Fiona would've let you go in already," Hawk says. He's typing on his communicator, syncing all their devices into something they can actually use. It's not that Hawk's particularly adept at technology, or anything; it's just that all the rest of them are so abysmal at anything electric that tech duty usually falls to him or Fiona. "Unless Plan C falls through, you're not headed in 'till the last minute."

Scourge sighs loudly, letting his feet dangle off the edge of the building. "I could just walk in and grab him. They wouldn't even see me coming. Then we wouldn't have to spend a million years sitting out in the cold."

Hawk doesn't look up. "And then Sonic would pursue, and then we'd have to fight him off while trying to kidnap a geriatric former soldier without killing him. Which, given our previous track record..."

The bird trails off and Scourge grimaces. Yeah. They'd given up on kidnappings for a reason. They wouldn't have even considered this one if not for the offer of Anarchy beryl - which has been in extremely short supply recently, given they can't hop dimensions without instantly snagging Zonic's individual attention. And it's not like Scourge isn't flattered that the self-important dimensional cop will drop everything for a chance at catching him, but he's not planning on seeing the inside of Zone Jail ever again.

Anyway. It's a small blessing that Zonic hasn't come looking for them personally, or sent Sonic after them, but it's one Scourge isn't willing to throw away just for a power-up. Thus the kidnapping mission.

Scourge swings his legs contemplatively and longs for Fiona to hurry up so he can bash some heads.

Right on cue, their communicators ring. "Alright, boys," Fiona's voice comes through a little tinnily. "You ready?"

"Heck yeah," Scourge says immediately.

"Ready to go whenever," Hawk confirms.

"Roger. Meet me where we agreed." The comms unit crackles and goes silent. Scourge hops up and starts stretching quickly, trying to limber up his half-frozen muscles. Hawk sets his communicator down and picks the lock on the trapdoor they'd been sitting next to. Once it's open, they slip down a small flight of stairs and through an empty hallway. At the end, they take a right through another hall and stop outside a janitor's closet.

Scourge raps on the door. "Knock, knock," he says.

There's a moment of silence. Then Lightning opens the door. "Hurry up," he whispers, peering over their shoulders.

Scourge clicks his tongue in disappointment. "Dude, you're supposed to say 'who's there.'"

"Yeah, Lightning," Fiona says from inside. "You're ruining the script."

"I- what?" Lightning sputters. "You people are so immature. Simian, can you tell them to shut up?"

There's a good fifteen seconds of judgemental silence. "...you should've said 'who's there.'"

Lightning rolls his eyes and Scourge pushes past him into the room. Simian nods as he enters and Fly, who's doing something he can't quite make out, cackles in a corner. Scourge spreads his arms wide. "Alright, I'm here now, the party can start!"

"Good to have you," Fiona says. She's sitting on an overturned bucket, one ankle folded over her knee and eyes glued to her phone. "Alright, so Plan A failed."

"Yes!" Scourge cheers, pumping a fist in the air.

Fiona shoots him a glare. "We weren't able to get him away from his bodyguards and the speech is about to start soon. I didn't want to do this in front of a crowd, but we may not have a choice. Right now, we only have to deal with the normal security and Sonic. After the ceremony, they're going to meet up with a bunch of Sonic's friends before going back home to Knothole."

"Wouldn't it be better to wait, then?" Simian asks, folding his arms.

Fiona shakes her head. "No for two reasons. We can handle the normal security easily, especially if we use the crowd for meatshields while Scourge is distracting Sonic. Sonic's friends are, frankly, a much greater threat than the security, and they will not be holding back. And if we wait until they go back to Knothole, we have that... woman to deal with."

Everyone shudders at the mention of Nicole. Their last attempt on Knothole is not a memory anyone wants to relive.

"So if we use the crowd for cover and Scourge's able to distract Sonic for long enough, this is doable," Fiona resumes. "We'll just have to time it right. And we can not let Sonic know our target at all costs. If he realizes we're trying to kidnap his uncle, he won't let the old man out of his sight, and our job will get a lot harder. Got that?"

A quick briefing on everyone's roles later and it's time to go. Scourge starts to follow the guys out the door and is caught short by Fiona's hand on his wrist. "Sweetie, can I talk to you for a second?" she asks and drags him back inside before he can answer.

She turns him loose and Scourge spins around, rubbing his wrist. "Alright, if this is about what I think it's about-"

"Don't worry, I'm not yelling at you. Just..." she trails off to stare at him.

Scourge tries not to fidget and goes for a confident smile, propped up against the wall. "Babe, don't worry about me. This'll be a lark."

"It's... you know." Fiona shrugs and apparently decides to just go for it. "You've been having issues about your dad. I need to know if that'll affect your performance here."

"What?" Scourge is almost kind of offended. If it was anyone but Fi asking, he would be offended. "Babe, my uncle was a total nutjob. Like, worse than my old man. No issues here."

Fiona looks at him a second longer. "Alright," she says at last. "If you say so. I'm counting on you."

She brushes past him on her way out, squeezing his hand on the way, which is nice since she's weird about stuff like that. Scourge follows a minute later.

I require one more thing for my research, Finitevus had said. Charles the Hedgehog. Inventor of the roboticization process. He is receiving an award for his technological advancements in Central City in two days. Bring him to me alive and you will have your full reward.

Scourge scans the crowd for Charles now, leaning on the fancy railing of the fancy indoors balcony overlooking the fancy banquet hall. There's a name for a balcony like this - a mezzasomething - but he can't remember what it is. Maybe Fiona would know.

Scourge tugs at the collar of his unbearably fancy suit jacket and longs for his sunglasses.

He'd told Fiona the truth earlier - his uncle was a wackjob. Paranoid, jittery, simultaneously ravenous for power and terrified of it - no one had liked him, least of all his nephew.

Jules had liked him, probably. Enough to give him a home and a laboratory for his crazy experiments and to turn a blind eye when they started getting darker and more deadly. That had gone on up until Charles had invented a machine that turned moebians to robots, and its first (unwilling) test subject had been Jules.

Yeah. After Ivo managed to save Jules' life, they'd put a stop to that real quick.

They'd told Scourge that Charles had gone far away to someplace he could be happy. He still remembers that scene - Jules crouching down before him with mournful eyes, one arm cold and stiff where the roboticization process had gotten it before Ivo had pulled him out. His flesh hand had been warm and comforting on his shoulder, and Scourge had been so distracted by the touch that he hadn't even cared that his uncle was gone. He'd faked tears just to get Jules to stay with him a little longer.

Scourge shakes his head wildly, dissipating the memories. Anyway, it was painfully obvious in hindsight that Charles had either been jailed or executed for treason. Not that Scourge would have cared either way. Mostly, he's just vaguely curious to see what Charles is like in this world. Still a mad scientist, or something more benevolent?

A mass of whispering erupts at the main entryway of the hall. Scourge straightens up.

A bunch of bodyguards in black enter, followed by a few people who could be family or friends. Sonic's there, obviously, and next to him can only be Uncle Charles.

Scourge doesn't really remember his uncle; he was, after all, a kid when the guy vanished, and he avoided him whenever possible. But the face before him is undeniably like his own. He has the same sloping forehead, the same pointed muzzle. Honestly, he looks exactly like Sonic with a mustache.

Scourge leans forward, intrigued, as the old guy says something that has Sonic pitching forward in laughter. It's weird, seeing him. Not like seeing Jules, or even like seeing the mom. Just... weird.

Not the kind of weird that Fiona's worried about, thank Chaos. No, he'll have no problems handing this schmuck over to the Doc.

Charles and his little squad sit down in the front row while the bodyguards split up to cover the exits. Scourge tracks their positions automatically, mostly focused on the target. Charles claps his nephew on the back and leans over to whisper something in his ear. Scourge looks away with a sneer.

The ceremony starts. A bunch of people Scourge doesn't know talk about a bunch of things he doesn't understand, blah blah blah. Scourge yawns and taps a tattoo on the railing with his claws. Luckily, all the civilians seem to have gone down to the seating area, so he's alone on the balcony. As long as the security doesn't notice him, he should have no problem staying under the radar until it's time to make his move. Until then, he amuses himself trying to find the rest of the Destructix hidden in the crowd.

Down below, the speeches start wrapping up. Charles ruffles his nephew's quills one last time and heads up to the stage. Scourge straightens up as he accepts his award and takes the mic.

"First, I'd like to thank you all for being here today," the hedgehog says. Scourge taps his foot impatiently. "I know it's a bit of a long way for a lot of you - we've got some visitors from Holoska, even! - and it means a lot to me that you'd take the time to make it here today. So thank you."

Ugh, so boring. Can't Fiona hurry up? At this rate, they'll be doing the audience a favor by sparing them all this drivel.

"- of the University of Spagonia for funding my research and going out of his way to help me whenever I needed it. Thank you, old friend."

Scourge taps his communicator and almost jumps when it crackles to life.

"Alright, everyone's in position," Fiona says. "On my mark, Scourge, you're going to distract Sonic. Jump down there, challenge him to a fight, anything. His sole concern needs to be beating you up."

"All he has to do is be himself and Sonic'll be jumping at the chance to tear him a new one," Lightning interjects. "Works on me."

"Oh, shut up," Scourge says. "Fiona, tell him to shut up."

"...well, he has a point."

Lightning's amused huff is audible over the comm. Scourge rolls his eyes. Traitors, all of them.

Fiona's voice goes serious. "But for real. Get him mad and get him out of here. Make him chase you 'till I call you back, and don't give him a second to realize there's more going on. If he comes back here before we're done, it's over. Okay?"

"I got it handled, babe," Scourge says. "Worry about yourself."

"Believe me, I am." The comms go silent a second later. Scourge stands up, shakes the stiffness from his limbs, and hops up to crouch on the railing. It's showtime.

On stage, Charles is still talking. Does the hedgehog not know how to shut up? "And finally, I'd like to thank my family, who loved and supported me every step of the way, up to and including being here with me today as I accept this award. Sonic, my amazing nephew - you've grown so much and, while I wasn't there for all of it-"

Well, that's enough of that. Scourge leaps into the air, curls up, and lands a perfectly executed homing attack on the podium. Splinters, chunks of wood, and a massive dust cloud fly everywhere. Someone in the audience screams, and behind him he can hear Charles stumbling back and coughing furiously.

"Uncle Chuck!" In the front row, Sonic rockets to his feet and dashes forward, only to come skidding to a stop. As the dust dissipates, Scourge grins. He can feel the light glinting off his fangs.

"Long time no see, faker," Scourge spits. He pulls his sunglasses out of the stupid suit jacket's pocket and slides them on with a flourish. "Can't exactly say it's a pleasure seeing you... then again, I always look forward to a chance to kick your butt."

"Wh- Scourge?" the blue idiot sputters. The shock only lasts a matter of seconds before fading, as the flabbergasted expression turns into something more like a smirk. "Well, well. I haven't heard from you since I demolished you and left Zonic to drag your sorry carcass away. Did they let you out on good behavior?"

Good behavior. Hah. As if Sonic knows anything about what goes on in Zone Jail. "Please. I smashed my way out of there the first week. The Zone Jail's in shambles; just ask Zonic! Oh wait - you can't." He laughs.

Sonic's smile slips a notch and the quills on his back bristle. "What happened to Zonic?"

Scourge keeps laughing.

"Alright, pincushion. Maybe you'll tell me when I beat it out of you!" Apparently done talking, Sonic curls up into a spindash. Scourge, still laughing, topples off the wrecked podium and leaves Sonic to smash into the stage where he'd been standing. People are screaming, someone's escorting Charles off the stage, and Scourge is reveling in the chaos.

"Slowing down, blue boy?" he mocks him. "You'll never find out about your stupid friend if you can't even touch me." Zonic's perfectly fine, actually, unless you count the truckload of paperwork Scourge saddled him with after his escape from Zone Jail. Not that Sonic needs to know that, 'cause if anything ticks him off, it's a threat to one of his friends.

And, true to form, Sonic snarls wordlessly and Scourge knows he's got him.

"You're looking kind of slow today - let's see if those legs of yours still work," Scourge calls over his shoulder and takes off. The world blurs around him as he taps into his speed, rockets between panicked partygoers and confused waiters and angry bodyguards. Out of the corner of his eye, he briefly spots Fiona crouching behind a pillar before she's blown away in his wake. Like this, outside sounds, sights, everything drops away, leaving him alone with himself and the wind.

It's nice. Peaceful, even.

And then the only other being who can keep up with him barrels into his side, sending them tumbling over each other right through the big open doors outside. Scourge lands a kick to Sonic's chest, sending him spinning away, and sprints down a sidestreet towards the marketplace. A moment later, the sound of footsteps running at 300 mph picks up behind him.

Scourge grins. The plan's working, then - Sonic's so ticked that he hasn't even stopped to wonder why Scourge isn't stopping to fight, or why he crashed the party in the first place. Now he just has to play this out 'till Fiona's done.

"Been slacking your exercise regimen lately? 'Cause I thought you were faster than this!" Scourge calls out.

"That so?" Sonic returns. The sound is unexpectedly close and Scourge looks back to see Sonic running only a few paces behind him. "I could say the same for you."

Scourge growls and vaults a fruit cart, sending it flying with a back kick. Sonic dodges the cart and dives through the onslaught of flying fruit, coming up without a scratch. Scourge's gained a precious few seconds, but in a contest of speed, those seconds mean everything. He blocks Sonic's path - kicking over trash cans, dodging in front of moving cars, knocking a baby out of its mother's arms with a well placed swipe. Sonic dodges the trash cans, goes over or around the vehicles, and loses a good fifteen seconds saving the baby. By the time they've cleared the marketplace, Scourge is about thirty feet ahead and gaining.

"What's wrong?" Sonic yells. "Scared of a little fight?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Scourge yells back. "Dunno 'bout you, but I'm not wasting my time fighting someone too slow to keep up!" Up ahead, a pile of trash bags is stacked against a sloping wall, reaching up to the edge of the roof. Scourge leaps up in a single bound and sprints along the rooftop. Behind, the trash bags crinkle as Sonic races up, and tiles creak as the hedgehog fights for balance. Scourge snorts and picks up speed.

The rooftop run is fraught with near-misses and almost-falls. This area of town has a mixture of buildings; some are modern and boxy, with flat tops, but there's a number of older structures with pointed tile roofs. Scourge skids down the sloping ridge of one of these, slips off the building, snags a flagpole on the way down and turns his fall into a launch point. He lands upright on the narrow ledge of a skyscraper and darts along the line of windows, flashing a mock salute at some goggle-eyed kid in its bedroom.

Sneakered feet hit the concrete behind him as Sonic pursues, grinning despite his ferocious eyes.

Scourge hooks a fast right as the ledge ends and drops down to the top level of the parking garage nestled against the 'scraper. Mostly he's planning on going back down to street level, but Sonic puts on a burst of speed and tackles him right there.

They roll head over heels across the concrete, colliding with a dusty pickup truck hard enough to dent in the side. Scourge throws himself out of the way and rolls onto his feet just as Sonic picks himself up. The blaring car alarm is the only sound as they stare each other down.

Sonic moves first. He doesn't bother curling up, just lunges fist first at Scourge's face. Scourge ducks the punch and goes in low for Sonic's solar plexus, narrowly dodging a knee to his face. Sonic slams his heel down on Scourge's foot and drives an elbow into his neck. Scourge stumbles back, falling into a roll to avoid Sonic's left hook, and comes up on his feet with room to spare.

There's another moment of staring and circling as they pant heavily and pretend they're not.

And then Sonic steps something that crunches and looks down.

Scourge lunges. Sonic sidesteps him easily and snatches it up - and wait, Chaosdammit that's his communicator-

"Is this a mic?" Sonic asks disbelievingly and then the pieces click.

He stares at Scourge blankly, and Scourge can practically see his train of thought - comms means accomplices, accomplices means there's a plan, a plan means Sonic was intentionally drawn out here away from the ceremony, and if Sonic's out here then -

Then -

Scourge swears and moves to tackle Sonic but the idiot's already gone. Instinctively, his hand goes to his ear - "Fiona, he's coming your way, I-" No, wait, Sonic's got the communicator and it's broken anyway, dammit. The plan's falling apart and it's entirely his fault.

Well. It hasn't fallen apart yet.

Scourge takes off, running full-tilt after Sonic. The irony of the situation isn't lost on him, not that he appreciates it. Sonic's trail is a direct beeline back to the hall. It should be easy to follow, but for some reason Scourge can't catch up those last few feet.

"I thought you wanted to fight, you dingus!" Scourge snaps. "Make up your mind already, sheesh!"

"You tricked me," Sonic growls.

"Uh, yeah? I'm the bad guy. It's kinda what I do."

"What's your actual plan?"

"Thought you were gonna beat me up and find out?"

Sonic snarls and, impossibly, picks up speed. Scourge has to drop the conversation entirely to focus on just keeping up.

They hit the convention hall scarce minutes later. There's clearly a fight going on inside; explosions and the faint sound of screaming accompany the flood of people battering down the doors in their desperation to escape. The Destructix are clearly having fun... and more importantly, haven't escaped yet. What on Moebius are they doing?!

Sonic zips through the crowd, dodging panicking mobians with practiced ease. Scourge doesn't bother; he kicks one middle-aged cat into the heart of the rush and vaults over the resulting pileup without missing a step. "Babe! Hope you're wrapping it up in there!" he yells as they burst into the ceremony hall.

The Destructix are more than holding their own. The security has been almost entirely cleared out; fallen guards litter the area while none of their own are even scratched. Fiona, wielding a G.U.N. issue stun pistol, jerks up in surprise as Sonic skids into the room. "Scourge, you had one job!" she screeches.

"So did you!" Scourge rams into Sonic from behind, sending them both flying into a row of seating. Scourge comes out on top. "What happened to Ch- the target?" he asks, pinning Sonic down with an elbow to his throat.

"Escaped," Fiona says grimly. "We've already informed the Doc... and, uh, we have a new objective now."

Sonic makes a choked-off sound and Scourge leans down harder. Something shifts behind him but he ignores it. "Alright, what is it?"

Fiona hesitates.

And then cold metal claws clamp down around his shoulder and tear him off Sonic, lifting him bodily into the air. The hedgehog wheezes for breath on the ground, but Scourge isn't paying attention. He's not paying attention to anything anymore, because in front of him-

"What the hell are you doing here," Scourge breathes.

Artificial red eyes burn into his own. "Don't touch my son," says Jules, and the anger in his voice causes every limb in Scourge's body to lock up with instinctive fear.

Of course Jules is here, Charles is his brother, why wouldn't he attend the ceremony - hadn't the blasted hedgehog said as much during his speech? Scourge should've realized it then. This was a bad idea, they need to get out of here, why did Scourge even come here in the first place-

Something in Jules' mechanical expression thaws.

The clawhold on his shoulder eases as he's lowered to his feet, but Scourge's brain is still spinning in circles. He's gone completely unresponsive, some part of him knows, but he can't think.

"Get away from him!" Fiona yells and plants a high kick right in the center of Jules' chest. The robian goes flying, pursued by Simian, and Hawk swoops down behind them to tackle Sonic away. "Babe," Fiona says, kneeling down beside Scourge, feeling frantically at his shoulder. "Did he get you?"

The world shifts a little bit back into place. "No," Scourge mutters. "Fiona, I don't-"

"Save it." Fiona's eyes are full of worry as she grabs his wrist and hauls him to his feet. "I think you need to sit this one out, sweetie."

"What? No." Scourge grips her hand like a lifeline. "I can fight. I can still fight."

"Scourge... the new target is Jules."

Something in his chest catches. Scourge stares at her, and around them, the noise of the battle seems to fade. "...what? Why?"

Fiona grimaces. "We lost the inventor of roboticization. Next best thing is its last survivor."

"No. We're not doing that." Scourge has no idea what he's doing, only that they cannot hand his- hand Jules over to Finitevus. He catches both her hands in his own and squeezes them tight. "Call off the mission, we're going home."

Fiona stares at him. "What? Scourge, you can't be serious! After all the work we've put into this? And what about the beryl?"

"We already got the beryl from the first mission. We'll be careful and save it until we can restock. We've gotten this far without any beryl at all, we don't need it that badly!" Scourge hesitates. "...Fiona, please."

It's the last word that breaks her. She knows how bad he hates saying it, knows how much this means to him that he's saying it now. Her shoulders slump in defeat. "...fine. But you get to explain this to the Doc - and please, let's try to avoid burning that bridge again."

Scourge squeezes her hand one last time before letting go. "Thanks, Fi. And don't worry about the Doc; I'll take care of him."

"That's what I'm worried about," Fiona grumbles, but she's smiling. "Alright, team," she calls out, pulling out her warp ring. "Mission's off. We're going home."

"Wait, what?" Hawk asks and nearly gets clobbered by Sonic for his trouble. "Why?"

"Ask questions when we get home," Fiona says and throws the ring. As the portal whooshes open, Scourge turns to survey the troops. Lightning and Simian are slowly retreating back to the portal, fighting Jules every step of the way, while Hawk and Fly are trying without much success to fend off Sonic long enough to run.

Scourge spindashes into Sonic, knocking him off-balance. "Get to the portal, idiots!" To Sonic, he adds, "Sorry, but it looks like we're cutting this date short." If Chaos has even a drop of mercy in its unforgiving soul, Sonic will have been too thoroughly distracted by the fight to have overheard his exchange with Fiona.

And it looks like for once, his prayers are answered, because Sonic's grin, strained with exhaustion though it is, hints at nothing off. "I'm not letting you get away this time," he says and launches into another spindash. "I still have some questions for you to answer!"

"Then they'll have to wait for next time." Scourge ducks the attack and slams his heel into Sonic as he passes, boosting his momentum to slam into the opposite wall. "Alright, time to go!" he yells, scrambling for the portal. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the rest of the Destructix doing the same.

Fiona's already waiting at the portal, with one leg halfway through, and-

"-aaaaaAAAUGH, WHAT THE HELL," she screams and falls back, pinwheeling wildly.

"Fiona!" Scourge yells and then the world blurs briefly and he's at her side, hauling her to her feet. "Fi, what's-" and then he screams too, because Finitevus is literally right there, climbing through the ring like a monster in a horror movie.

The battle cuts off. A few feet away, a newly recovered Sonic skids to a stop, staring incredulously. The Destructix are sort of ranged out behind him, looking to Scourge and Fiona for the next move. And who knows where Jules is.

"Dude," Scourge says emphatically, putting a hand to his chest. "Don't do that."

"What are you doing," Finitevus hisses.

Scourge makes a show of looking around. "Uh, escaping? I mean, what does it look like?"

"I should have known better than expect you lot to pull through," Finitevus mutters, and hey, that's actually kind of offensive.

"Hey! Screw you, man!" Scourge yells, shaking his fist. "We're leaving 'cause we want to, not 'cause we're losing!" Fiona slaps a palm to her face.

"Oh? And what possible reason could you have to do that?" Finitevus asks, but he doesn't seem very interested in an answer, because his hands flare with dark energy a second later, and Scourge knows what that means.

"Scatter!" he yells and hits the ground with Fiona as a bolt of Chaos energy goes right over their heads. Fiona rolls out from under him as he leaps to his feet.

Sonic seems to have switched targets. Currently, he's hammering away at Finitevus' defenses, running his mouth the whole time. The ring portal is still open behind Finitevus, but they need to get the crazy echidna out of the way first.

Fiona, as usual, is two steps ahead. "You're going to need to team up with Sonic."

"What, seriously? Can't we just let Sonic take care of the Doc and ditch?"

She gives him a flat look. "I don't know how he did it, but Finitevus must have hijacked the ring's signal and keyed it to his lair. I need time to reset it before we can leave. Just, you know-" she waves a hand vaguely. "Move the fight away. Whale on Finitevus. Keep them both off my back long enough for me to work."

"Ugh. Fine." Scourge turns around on his heel. "Hey, loser!" he calls out, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Five minute truce?"

Sonic uncurls in midair long enough to yell, "Make it two!"

Fiona had better work fast, because this isn't going to take long. "Destructix, watch Fiona's back," he orders and throws himself into the fight.

Finitevus was clearly anticipating something like this, because he moves smoothly into defending against the both of them without hesitation. And it's - frustrating. Whenever Scourge throws a punch, a ring portal swirls into being in just the right place to take his hit. If he tries a kick, the same thing. And Chaos forbid he spindashes, or he'll wind up on the opposite side of the room (or, more accurately, slamming into Sonic).

Between the ring portals and the constant misdirection, the two minute mark passes and they haven't landed a single hit. The guy isn't on their level, exactly, but he's unpredictable with enough tricks that he could probably take either of them on their own. Against both of them, he doesn't stand a chance - or he wouldn't if Sonic would get out of his way.

"Dude, we're supposed to be working together!" Sonic snaps.

Scourge flicks his ear (it's been ringing since Finitevus dropped a portal that sent a spindashing Sonic on a collision course with Scourge's face) and ducks beneath a Chaos-infused punch. "Not my fault you can't keep up."

He sidesteps a second punch and follows up with a roundhouse kick that comes inches from the Doc's face before another ring portal intercepts. Dammit.

Sonic, of course, chooses that moment to go for a homing attack, which takes him right into the portal as Finitevus dodges. From somewhere on the other side of the room, the moron makes a faint oomph sound as the portal spits him out.

Scourge rolls his eyes and sweeps his legs under Finitevus' ankles, forcing the echidna to stumble back. "You make a remarkably disloyal minion," Finitevus says and drops into a portal.

On a hunch, Scourge spins around and slams a haymaker into Finitevus' face when the echidna reappears behind him. "Calling me a minion was your first mistake, Doc," Scourge says. "I'm the king, baby."

Finitevus snarls and vanishes again. "I must wonder at the cause of this particular instance," his voice says. Scourge whirls around, fists up before him, but the scientist is nowhere to be seen. "You were, after all, so eager to serve at first. What changed your mind?"

"You really gotta learn the difference between serving and making a deal, bud," Scourge says. "This why your friends always leave you?"

Finitevus ignores him. "Nothing changed between then and now. Nothing... except the target." Something flickers in the corner of Scourge's eye and he starts to turn, but he's met with a blow to the jaw followed by one to the shin. Scourge crumples to his knee with a cry of pain and looks up to see Finitevus' Chaos-powered boot swing for his face-

And then someone's hand snags his wrist and they're moving.

The world blurs just a little as Sonic hauls him across the room at lightning speed to drag him behind an overturned table. Scourge clutches the lapels of his jacket and tries to force his racing heartbeat to settle. For a second, they just breathe.

"Okay, we need to coordinate," Sonic says belatedly.

"Don't tell me what to do," Scourge says, mostly on reflex.

Sonic rolls his eyes. "If you draw his fire, I'll go behind to take him offguard. Think you can do that?"

"What? No. You draw his fire and I'll sneak up behind him."

"Yeah, maybe I'd do that if I had any faith at all in your stealth. You aren't exactly subtle, bud."

Scourge thinks back to every mission that involved some level of sabotage/stealth/general sneakery and their inevitably disastrous ends and winces. Unfortunately, he has a point. "Fine, whatever. Don't mess this up, dweeb." A blast of chaos energy rocks the floor beneath their feet - time's up. Finitevus is here.

Scourge breaks for the left.

"Hey old man, having trouble keeping up?" He leaps into the air as Finitevus goes for a sweeping kick and curls into a spindash, aimed at the scientist's head. Predictably, he sails right into a ring portal and falls out several feet away. In midair, he uncurls and kicks off the ground to rebound towards Finietvus.

The Doc raises his hands coated in Chaos energy and actually catches the spindash. For a moment, they war against each other - dark energy to living buzzsaw - before Finitevus shoves back and they break apart.

Scourge hits the ground in a crouch and lunges again. This time, he feints an uppercut followed up with a knee strike to the gut. The echidna stumbles back, but recovers almost instantly. As Scourge goes in for another strike, Finitevus snags his collar and yanks him off-balance, slamming him into the dirt. Scourge tries to wriggle out of his grip, but the Doc pins him to the ground with a hand on his throat and a knee on his chest.

"I can't say I haven't been waiting for this," the mad scientist breathes, and raises a handful of swirling black energy.

Scourge scrabbles helplessly at his wrist and wonders, briefly, if this is it.

And then a blue ball of spikes rockets out of nowhere, smacking into the back of Finitevus' head so hard the floor creaks when he faceplants. Scourge kicks him off and rolls back onto his feet, smacking away Sonic's outstretched hand. The echidna staggers upright, but his shield is broken and Sonic and Scourge poised on either side of him. The echidna eyes them warily, rings at the ready, and for a second no one moves.

"Got it!" Fiona's voice breaks the spell.

Sonic's concentration slips. Scourge can see it; the way his posture straightens slightly, the way he half-turns to face her. Finitevus sees it too.

And then Finitevus' hands are up, radiating dark energy, and Scourge drops into a defensive stance 'cause the blue buffoon can get himself killed if he wants but Scourge is going down fighting- but Finitevus isn't looking at either of them.

He's looking behind them.

At Jules.

Jules, who has no Chaos abilities, can't break the sound barrier on a whim, can't dodge bullets point-blank.

Jules, who both is his father and isn't, who's a machine but still alive, who stood across from Scourge in a dark room and didn't flinch though Scourge held his life in his hands, who loves his wife and child and wouldn't hesitate to die for either of them.

Jules, who would walk a random stranger through a panic attack on the street but can't dodge a Chaos spear if it's pointed at his chest.

Time slows down to a crawl. Scourge doesn't think.

He just moves.

The last thing he sees, as pain erupts from his chest like lightning and the world is drowned out by the black of corrupted Chaos energy, is the bright red of Jules' horrified eyes.

There's a beeping noise somewhere near his ear. Fiona's phone, probably (even though it sounds nothing like her alarm). Scourge reaches up to shut it off and is stopped halfway by the clink of cold metal.

...huh?

He opens his eyes to dim electric light and a pounding headache. There's a hard surface beneath his back, thin sheets around him, and a metallic chill around his wrists, ankles, and throat.

Through the haze, something about the last one feels familiar.

Beside him, something rustles, and a soft voice says, "Awake, then?"

"Dad?" Scourge mumbles foggily. For a moment he's eight again, in the hospital after a near-drowning, and his dad took a whole day off from work to rush to his bedside and hold his hand. It was the first time he'd seen him in a week.

Then reality catches up and reminds him that no, his dad is dead and whatever's going on here is something to worry about. The fog is gone in an instant.

Scourge's eyes snap open and he throws himself as much he can to the far side of the bed from the figure standing there now. Jules is there - a little scratched and dinged up but very much alive.

There's a flicker of something like relief inside him before Scourge stuffs it down and crushes it very firmly. Chaos, Fiona was right. He let his stupid hangups about this robian get out of hand, and now look what's happened - the mission went south, Scourge is chained to a hospital bed, the rest of the Destructix are nowhere to be seen, and worst of all, he made a heroic sacrifice like he's Sonic or something.

Chaos, Scourge is never living this one down.

"It's good to see you're moving around already," Da- Jules says in that same too-soft tone. "Some of the doctors were convinced you wouldn't live another day. I suppose any son of mine, even from another dimension, is just too durned stubborn to go out like that..."

"Don't," Scourge rasps.

Jules blinks at him. "Pardon?"

"That." Scourge lets go of the bed's railing just long enough to gesture irritably. "I'm not your son. Don't call me that."

Instead of rearing back in offense or dropping the nice act altogether, Jules tilts his head slightly, as though in recognition. "Ah," he says after a moment. "So that was you."

Scourge freezes and tries to play it off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That day in front of Chuck's diner," Jules says. "That was you. I wasn't sure, since you were still supposed to be in Zone Jail then."

"Chuck's diner? What?" Scourge forces a laugh. It comes out entirely fake and just a little unhinged.

"You had a panic attack," Jules continues, unperturbed. "I walked you through it. Honestly, at the time, I thought it was because of me."

It was because of you, Scourge wants to say. Instead, he asks, "Whaddya mean?"

Jules gestures vaguely to himself. "I'm a robian," he says. "Robotnik put Knothole through a lot when the roboticizor was still functioning. Plenty of people have had... adverse reactions to my body in the past. It's unfortunate but can't really be helped, except through time and patience."

...for some reason, that stings. Scourge pushes the thought away and snorts. "Sucks to be you. Don't see what that has to do with me."

"You did ask," Jules reminds him, which is fair. He supposes. They lapse into silence.

Scourge slumps against the bed, a little more relaxed with no attack evidently imminent, and holds up a hand to the light. The dangling cuff glints coldly. He can't reach the collar on his neck, but he suspects it shines the same way - like the inhibitors back at Zone Jail. "You guys already talked to Zonic, then?" he guesses.

He's not really expecting an answer, but Jules gives one anyway. "We did. He gave us that inhibitor collar you're wearing right now." Nailed it. "He wanted to take you back with him to Zone Jail right away, but with the condition you were in, we didn't want to risk moving you until you were stable."

Scourge flexes his fingers, watching the muscles move. He'd suspected already, given how drained he feels right now, but knowing that he's wearing the collar is... disheartening. That level of powerlessness is something he'd never wanted to feel again. "I'm stable now. So when will you be moving me?"

Jules hesitates. "Now that you're awake, we'll probably call Zonic to pick you up sometime tomorrow. It's nighttime right now."

"What? How long was I out?"

"Two days."

Two days, and he's still here? Either the Destructix got nabbed too (possible), are planning a rescue mission (unlikely), or ditched (most likely). That... also stings. A lot. He'd liked Fiona, and he was getting used to the rest of the idiots, too.

"What about my team?" he asks.

"Vanished. They tried to retrieve you but retreated when reinforcements arrived."

It doesn't mean much - he is, after all, their strongest fighter and tactically it makes sense to avoid losing him if possible - but it makes Scourge feel better to know they'd at least tried. He lets his hand fall back to the bed with a metallic jingle.

"I still don't understand," Jules says, and Chaos, why won't he shut up? Is this something inherent to Sonic's family? "Why did you save me?"

Scourge inspects the patterns of cracks on the ceiling. That one looks like Sleuth Dog's face. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he mumbles.

"You took an attack meant for me. That much concentrated Chaos energy would've killed me - it's likely the only reason you survived is because you're a very adept controller."

"Sounds like you already have an answer to me."

There's a brief pause. Scourge continues avoiding eye contact. "I do have an idea," Jules says softly. "But I'd like to hear a confirmation from your own mouth."

Scourge doesn't say anything.

What's he supposed to say - that every time he sees Jules some stupid, long-dead part of him longs for his approval? That Jules is dredging up memories better left buried? That when he saw his dad - any version of him - in danger, that his first instinct was to protect him, despite everything he'd done?

Ha. Yeah, right.

"Think what you want, old man." Scourge bares his teeth. "It doesn't mean anything. It was an accident."

Jules doesn't waver. "I think we both know that's not true."

Can't this guy take no for an answer? Scourge huffs and rolls over as much as he can so his back is toward Jules. "Leave," he says. It's what you're best at, after all.

"Sonic heard that you attacked the ceremony to kidnap Chuck."

Scourge has a sudden, sinking feeling he knows where this is going. "I don't care. Go away."

Jules marches on, implacable. "He said that halfway through, after Chuck escaped, Finitevus told you to switch targets. That the new target was me."

"Shut up!"

"And that when you heard I was in danger, you-"

"So I called it off, alright?" Scourge bolts upright. The handcuffs snap back against his wrists painfully and his ankles scream as the cuffs cut into his skin, but he's too furious and aching and raw to care. "Yeah, I called off the mission. Yeah, I took that stupid attack. It doesn't change anything! I'm still your enemy, I'm still going to kill Sonic, I'm still going to tear apart your world and everything you love! So what if I- if I..."

"Risked all that to save one broken-down, tactically unimportant robian?" Jules finishes quietly.

"Yes! No!" Scourge tries to bury his face in his hands and can't even do that, damn this tiny range of motion. "Will you leave me alone?" Metal glints in the corner of his eye as Jules reaches out a hand. Scourge growls deep in his throat until the hand is slowly drawn back.

Mercifully, the robian is silent while Scourge desperately tries to keep himself from falling apart. Chaos, what is wrong with him?

"What do you want from me," he mutters.

This time, it's Jules who looks away. "There's not much time before I have to call Zonic in," he says. "Before he left the first time, there was talk of... life in solitary confinement. Or execution."

Breathe. It's fine. Scourge has been in worse scrapes before. "I can see where the similarities between you and my dad come in," he says softly. Venomously. "He never hesitated to lock me away, either." Sure, it hadn't exactly been tossing him in a prison cell and throwing away the key, but the perpetual grounding to an empty mansion, the total abandonment of him to an endless stream of nannies... and then, of course, that fiasco right before he died.

Dads. So eager to foist their screwups on other people, wash their hands and move on.

"Doesn't any of this setup seem odd to you?" Jules asks abruptly.

Scourge blinks, thrown. "What? You hit your head somewhere, old man?"

"Think about it. You're a top-priority prisoner. You've broken out of Zone Jail. And yet your only security here is an inhibitor collar, some handcuffs, and a broken-down old robian."

...there's a trap here somewhere, Scourge knows it. "Yesss?" He eyes Jules warily. Is this some kinda reverse-psychology thing?

Jules laughs wearily. "You're not the only one with emotional ties he can't quite cut, son."

"Don't call me that," Scourge says reflexively before the weight of Jules' words catch up to him. "Wait, what? Are you saying-" and then he cuts off, because that's so ridiculous it shouldn't be said out loud.

"Yes," Jules confirms. "I volunteered for guard duty because I had to ask, first. To make sure for myself that something of my son is in there."

"I am not your son," Scourge snaps. Distantly, some part of him recognizes that he's being actively detrimental - that if he plays his cards right he could actually walk out of this free - but he's past that kind of rational behavior now. "You're chasing ghosts, old man! Stop looking for stuff that isn't gonna happen!"

"You're not my son," Jules agrees. "You're not my Sonic. But you're a Sonic, and somewhere... that potential for great good is inside you."

And isn't that exactly what Sonic had said on their last birthday - the day he'd finally ditched that lame Anti-Sonic moniker, had finally stepped out of Sonic's shadow into his own light - that all it'd take is a bit of decency, and Scourge would be just like him? The echo stills him.

"You're making a mistake," he says hoarsely. He's not going back to Zone Jail, he'll die before he goes back to that hellhole, but he needs Jules to understand this. "I'm not Sonic. I'm no hero. If you let me go, I'm just gonna go right back to doing what I did before. People will die because of you."

"No, they won't," Jules says, half-smiling. "I've done my research. The Destructix don't kill. You wreak havoc and destroy things, but... no bodies. I understand it's to avoid trouble with G.U.N.," he adds, holding up a hand to forestall Scourge's protests, "But you don't have a body count. That's important."

Shows what he knows - but Scourge can't bring himself to point out the obvious. "I still ruin lives," Scourge says instead. "There's other ways to kill people without holding a gun to their heads."

"I know. And that's where I'm being selfish." The half-smile turns into a full smile, but it's so sad and wracked with exhaustion and bitterness that Scourge has to look away. "I... I lost my son once. I can't help it... I can't watch a son of mine - from any universe - be destroyed while I can do anything to stop it. I'm not a good person, Scourge. I've lost too much to try. So I'm going to be selfish, just this once, and hope you don't make me regret it."

Scourge is silent. He's silent when Jules stands up and unlocks the cuffs, one by one. He's silent when Jules reaches up to his throat to unlock the inhibitor, and he's silent when it falls away and power rushes freely beneath his skin once more.

His boots are on the floor, suit jacket draped over a chair. He pulls on the shoes and digs through the pockets until he finds his sunglasses, but leaves the jacket behind.

"Scourge," Jules says quietly, as Scourge pushes the window open. He hesitates over the window sill, half inside and half out.

If Jules asks him to stay, he doesn't know what he'll do.

But he doesn't. In the end, Jules looks down and whispers, "If you ever need somewhere to rest, my home is always open. Till then... be safe, son."

The words catch in Scourge's throat. He nods, wordlessly, and drops out of the window to land lightly on his feet on the ground below. For a moment, he dallies beneath the window, waiting for-

For...

He doesn't know. Scourge shivers in the cool night air and starts running.

...thanks, Dad.

He finds the base a few hours later, jogging to the next town over and hopping a train the rest of the way. When he walks in, the base goes dead silent.

Fiona leaps up from the circle of Destructix - planning a rescue mission, he later finds out - and tackles him, hugging and pounding him in equal measure. She cries a little too, which he only discovers when she points out he's tearing up himself. The Destructix surround them, yelling over each other and clapping him on the back until Simian picks them all up in a group hug. It's at that point that Scourge declares he's done with all this mushy stuff and if they don't knock it off he won't bother coming back next time. Fiona announces that if there is a next time he won't have to worry about coming back because she'll kill him first, and Simian gives them all one last squeeze before turning them loose.

Scourge retrieves his leather jacket with a sense of great relief and they all end up watching another trashy samurai movie, which Lightning ruins again. Fiona holds him tight the whole time and doesn't chew him out like he deserves, for which Scourge is unendingly grateful.

He doesn't go back to the house. He pulls jobs with the Destructix, they beat up on Sonic and his lackeys, they have one run-in which Finitevus that they come off much worse for. And they watch crappy movies, eat ridiculous amounts of junk food, and get personally banned from every arcade and amusement park across the continent. He's... not gonna lie, it's actually pretty fun.

But in the back of his head, the house is always there. The robian bustling around the empty kitchen in a pink apron. The scent of pancakes frying. Till then... be safe, son.

It takes a long time - months of denial, of wondering and longing and furious self-restraint - but he caves eventually.

He shows up on a morning he knows Sonic and his mom won't be there. He doesn't knock on the door, or ring the bell. Mostly, he just hovers outside, unable to work up his nerve to do anything.

He's about to leave when the door swings open. Jules stands there, looking exactly the same as he did that night by the hospital bed, with eyes too soft for his wayward not-son. Scourge, half-frozen on the sidewalk, searches for something to say and comes up empty. They stare at each other silently.

Scourge shoves his hands in his pockets and forces back the lump in his throat. "I was in the area, so I dropped by," he mutters. "Don't think this means anything."

Jules looks at him for a long moment and Scourge forgets to breathe. Slowly, softly, his dad smiles. "Welcome home, son."

#sth #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #scourge the hedgehog #fiona fox #jules the hedgehog #destructix #fanfiction #sonic fanfiction #sonic fanfic #i cant look at it anymore take it

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sunsetnest · 4 years

Note

What is your vetting process? How do you tell the difference between your "spirits" and a thought form you made up

Hi! So because it’ll take less space, I’ll answer the second question first!

Actually, scratch that, I’ll answer all your questions don’t worry, but first, why does it matter? Like aside from the fact that it’s lying and deceitful, a thoughtform is just a spirit that wasn’t birthed/hatched/etc like normal. They were made from pure brain power sure, but they are *sentient*. If they weren’t sentient they would be servitors which are like robots. So there’s this spirit with a cool personality and that you vibe with, that doesn’t make them any less of a spirit than others just because they didn’t have a childhood at all (unless you make a child...but that’s a conversation for another time lmao.)

There’s always the issue of a thoughtform not being well developed and how if you don’t give them a good energy source/connection/whatever things can go wrong, but thoughtforms are sentient and can live on their own and make their own decisions just as much as me and you.

While yes it’s wrong to adopt out a thoughtform presented as a spirit, I feel like that’s not the worst that could happen. Now when the shop purposely lies about this stuff and every single spirit is a thoughtform they made with no assurance that they know how to safely make thoughtforms in a way that lets the thoughtforms have a good life, and that these thoughtforms 100% choose to go into companionship, that’s wrong. But again, my concern is the safety of the thoughtform and their own personal willpower and ability to make decisions and such, rather than the fact that they’re actually a thoughtform.

Anyway, sorry about that tangent, that ends Mod Fox’s rant about thoughtforms lmao.

Now onto the questions!

So, first, I feel like this might be directed at us, so I want to clear that up! I, Mod Fox, cannot make thoughtforms. I can make servitors, but not thoughtforms. If you want more details on why I cant, please send an ask off of anon so I can answer it privately because its really gross and disturbing. Admin Jess is our Admin and does no spirit work stuff. Mod Dove (previously known as Red) is on hiatus and while they can make thoughtforms, they do not have the energy to do so nor would be able to make thought forms on the level that we would need them to be. Apprentice Niko is still learning how to do everything shop wise, including how to make thoughtforms. I actually don’t know if Mod Rowena can make thoughtforms at all....Even if she could, she’s still mostly vetting for the shop as we have many spirits in vetting and we don’t really conjure unless we need to, therefore she wouldn’t need to make thoughtforms to begin with.

So, 1/5 people can even make decent thoughtforms. Now if you adopt from us, or another shop I would like to tell you a few ways to tell if a spirit is a thoughtform! First, ask them! “Hey, are you a thoughtform? Do you remember your childhood? Or did you just come into existence?” Unless lots of work is done to shape past memories (and I mean a lot of work), most thoughtforms know that they were more recently brought to life. Which is why most thoughtforms need lots of care after being made because like,...suddenly they just exist and know how to talk and what they’re looking at, also they’re (probably) a mature adult and who knows what that entails. It’s a lot to drop on someone! IT takes time to learn how to use a body! So yes, most thoughtforms know and will tell you if you ask.

So, you still can’t tell if they’re a thoughtform or not - time to move onto energy work! WITH PERMISSION, ask to examine their energy. Does it feel “natural”? Or does it feel new? Less formed? I don’t really know how else to explain it? Like it’s just something that I know because I’ve felt it.

I’m actually unsure of any other way to tell. I, Mod Fox, do not really work with thoughtforms. All thoughtforms I have worked with, know that they’re thoughtforms or it’s been very obvious when meeting them. But like I said, as long as the thoughtform is healthy and happy and choosing to do X, does it matter? It doesn’t to me.

ONTO LORELEI’S VETTING PROCESS!

When we first conjure a spirit, they go into something called pre-vetting which is a very intensive 3-5 day vetting time. This time is basically to make sure that the spirit isn’t malicious or going into companionship for something other than pure want to be a companion. This is a small background check, being able to cross through around 3000 wards that keep those who are, for shorthand words “pure of heart” (not actually but explaining it all would take a while). We ask a series of questions and judge their reaction. This is all to see that they’re not malicious, not lying about anything really big, and just an okay spirit. We vet each spirit differently because the way to vet one spirit may not work for another. We figure out baseline personality here.

After that they go into a kind of waiting period. They are added to the bottom of the list of spirits “in vetting”. These spirits are asked to live in City, a place that Mod Fox made specifically for spirits in vetting. Vetting spirits who do not want to permanently live in City are given more money than most to spend and some other things. They go about their lives as normal but often check in with us and are often just generally observed (not stalked, but ya know, watched, not ignored). City does have surveillance and I also talk to locals (on a friendly manor, im not like, forcing them to watch or anything. Just chillin) (also, spirits can ask to not live in City. We always work to make sure the spirits are happy and safe.)

This can go on for days or up to years. When they reach their turn in the queue to be intensive vetting, they are brought to group vetting. Each person has their own vetting style, so at Lorelei’s 3 people have to individually vet a spirit and all of our notes have to line up for the spirit to pass. This involves questions, background checks, family dinners, just chilling, adventures, lots of things to really pin down the spirits personality, find out how they react in situations, and just really get to know the spirit. Our goal is for us to become real good friends and trust them. At first of course there’s a level of authority and making sure that they understand the rules, but as we get to know each other, it calms down. We do this so that the spirits aren’t scared of us, or disappointing us, or anything like that, if something goes wrong, we take it with seriousness, but we also consider everything we know.

Once we had a spirit, who did not pass vetting, but after 2 weeks broke down and cried about why they actually wanted companionship - which was not to be a companion. I’ll keep their personal information, well, personal, but they were given the help they needed to be in the situation they wanted to be. We want to be friends with our spirits so that we can help the best we can. We truly love them.

Spirits who don’t pass because of a fixable reason, are given the help they need. For example, a spirit with too extreme anger issues is given the therapy they need and I can’t wait to post him in the coming years because I’m so proud of the progress he’s made, all for the want and joy of being a companions!

I will not lie, it’s a lot of work to vet, but we would not work here if we didn’t love it. Working with spirits and learning about their cultures and species and lives is so fun for me. I love to learn!! I really do, if you know anything about me, it’s that Fox loves to learn and teach. I love to get to know them and make friends and cry whenever they’re adopted and go to their forever home. I love it when I meet their parents and their parents show me baby pictures as though I were their child’s date. I love meeting their friends who are so excited for their friend to go off on a new adventure. In some cases, it’s fun to meet their children and see lil kids and babes. I love to interact with these spirits that I vet and it’s something I wouldn’t give up for the world

If you have any further or more specific questions, please feel free to ask!! Me, or if you want input from another mod, would be more than happy to help!!

#vetting #thoughtforms #other tags idk lmao #Anonymous #asks

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oh-theatre · 5 years

Text

Objection!: Chapter 5

Chapter title: Liam

A/n: Anyway yeah I did the ‘infinitesimal’ :) Also I hope you enjoy PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS.

First | Previous | Next

words: 4125

summary: An unexpected figure from Pattons past returns...

pairings: Eventual logicality, eventual prinxiety, platonic demus

warnings: Murder mention, child murder, implied abuse, swearing

Ao3 Link

“So” Virgil slams the files onto the table, pulling up a chair “You've been busy, huh?” He scoffs, almost spitting on the man sitting in front of him. The man doesn’t look up, he eyes the files but ultimately he just sits. Virgil nods, eyeing the glass behind him. “Ok, you don't want to talk” He shrugs. He flips through the files wincing as he picks out the murder photos. He slides them in front of the man. “Look familiar?”

“Yeah, I killed them” The man confesses. The calm oozing out of his voice made Virgil shudder. He shook his head feeling himself loose control.

“Why does Patton want to defend you?” He murmurs to himself. Pure unadulterated loathing seeps into the room.

“I don't know...He really shouldn't. I'm guilty” The man says again, something shifts. Virgil turns angrily to the man. The fiery pit in his stomach grew, he stares at the man sitting in front of him. He feels an overwhelming need to punch him or strangle him. Either works for Virgil.

“So you're just confessing like that? No fight, not begging, why? Why did you even accept Patton's help in the first place? You seem so adamant to go to jail, why make it harder to get there?”

“Guess it's more fun this way” The man's voice remains still, monotone. As if he's a robot. “Plus, who could say no to Patton?” Virgil bites his lip, point to the murderer. He fondly recalls another man sharing the same feelings about a certain lawyer.

~~~

“I'm sorry, are you saying you might actually agree with Patton on this L?” Virgil asks practically scoffing. Logan shrugs. “You never agree with him!”

“Patton is rarely wrong, it would be silly of me to ignore the facts. I'm just saying that maybe the man isn't so bad” Virgil squints trying to read if Logan is serious.

“How is he not the worst?” Virgil begs. “He's a murderer”

“He likes Patton, and Patton believes in him,” Logan says as though reciting a routine. Virgil knows he's kidding...right?

“That can not be where the bar is” Virgil declares, voice becoming desperate

“Figurative or Literal bar, I trust Patton,” Logan says as they push open the doors to the cafe “Always have and always will” Virgil shakes his head, hiding a smirk

“Fair enough” Virgil resigns, defeated. Although, Logan does make some good points

~~~

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Virgil spits, his temper boiling over. The man laughs, finally raising his face so Virgil can meet his menacing eyes.

“I just enjoy killing people, what’s wrong with that?” He shrugs, Virgil’s feels himself recoil, suddenly wanting to hide.

“God you’re sick” Is all he can manage

“No, no… I’m not” he paused, suddenly a smile appears upon his face, unsettling Virgil even further “But your son Damian, he is right? Stomach virus… shame”

Virgil feels his stomach drop below his feet as if something inside him shattered. He could feel his breath shaky, clutching onto the table.

Weak

“We are done here,” Virgil says standing up. He closes the case files and signals something to the people behind the mirror. He glared once more at the man, don’t give him the satisfaction.

“Ah, but we aren't are we? Not even close Detective Tormine. Because I’m going to destroy you, I'm going to ta-

“Oh my god” Virgil moans “Shut up, It's literally just me and you in here? Who are you monologuing for?” He smirks as silence falls on to the man, he takes the files leaving the room, shutting the door briskly behind him.

~~~

“But why Dada?” Remus whines in Logan's arms, both of them becoming quite comfortable in each other's embrace. Patton turns to him, holding a sleepy Valerie. He pouts at his son and Logan can't help but imagine having that look at him every day. Wanting to make it go away, fix whatever made his face like such.

“Because Logan is a very busy man, so he can't come over to play” Patton explains delicately, Logan appreciates the softer tone flowing from the man's mouth. Logan could listen to him talk all the time, it's one of the reasons the man gets so excited to go into a case against Patton. That and winning of course.

“Romans busy and he comes over all the time” Remus insists, driving his bargain. A sudden wave hits Logan at Remus’s words. His instinctive nature pounces once more, wanting to do what the judge did and more. He furrows his brows considering this, thankfully saved by an eager intern.

“Mr.Tolentino! There you are!” Reeve shouts from across the foyer. He makes his way over to the pair, looking between Patton, Logan and the kids. “Oh! Im sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything.” Logan tilts his head, glancing over to Patton.

“You did not interrupt Reeve, how can I help you?” Logan inquires, unconsciously adjusting Remus in his hold. Reeve looks down at his notes, then to Patton, finally settling on Logan.

“Sorry, just looked like you and your husband were heading home” He mumbles, writing something down in his notes. Logan freezes feeling a deep blush rise and spread quickly through his face. He darts his eyes over to Patton expecting shock or a look of pure disgustion. However, Patton stands there smiling sweetly, clearly stifling a giggle.

“Oh, no silly! Lo and I aren't together” Something shifts as Patton says this, Logan ignore this “He was just helping me out with the kids!” He secures Valerie with one hand extending the other out to Reeve “Im Patton, by the way, Patton Hart” Reeve shakes back nervously, the shade of red matching that of Logans.

“So not only are you two not married...but your his rival” Reeve manages, feeling very faint. “Oh my god…” he murmurs to himself. Patton looks over to Logan, smirking.

“Rival?” He says coyly

“Shut it” Logan finally speaks, not wishing to further this discussion

“Am I your rival Lo?” Patton questions sweetly. Logan curses himself for telling Reeve anything. Remus giggles in Logan's arms, looking between the two men. “I thought I was...hmm what was it? ‘Too emotional’ for you” Never, you're never too much of anything.

“Remus here is clearly getting tired, you should return home,” Logan says, his face returning to its normal color. Remus folds his arms cross, pouting, matching a similar expression used earlier by his father.

“Am not” He says curtly, Remus turns to Patton “Dada! Please, can Logan come over?” He begs once more. Patton sighs shaking his head, Logan feels something pull inside him. He wants to scream, he wants to speak. Yes, I can! I would love to!. He tries to shake away these thoughts, overcoming him. Patton goes to speak but is interrupted by a voice calling behind him. He spins to face the source, taking two frantic steps back meeting the person's eyes.

~~~

“That was hot” Roman comments as the moody detective exits the interrogation room. Virgil glares at him pushing past him to make way for his desk.

“Which part?” He starts “The part where he said he enjoys killing people, or the part where he knew my son's name?” He looks up curiously at Roman yawning, who now shares the same silent face of the man. Roman nods awkwardly to the sound of Remy's uncontrollable laughter.

“I-im...Im sorry Virge” Roman says shyly, Virgil shakes his head, waving him off.

“It's whatever” he mumbles, he spins his chair turning towards Remy “Hey I wanna follow up on a lead, check it out with me?” He asks, Remy considers recovering from his fit, he nods.”Kay just gotta go grab Damian, Emiles got some patients so I gotta drop him off”. Remy gives him a thumbs up grabbing his things. Virgil stands grabbing his jacket and pushing past Roman again, he smirks feeling the judges silent shock. The judge manages a quick goodbye standing still by their desks. Remy shoots him a goodbye before making their way towards Emile's office. Once they are out of earshot Remy turns to Virgil, He glances up at him both erupting into laughter.

“You are cruel” Remy insinuates, Virgil nudges his partner feeling comfortable. He sighs relieved at the normality returning after the past few weeks. “God, are you ever going to give the poor judge a chance?” Remy asks as they make their way further through the dark, restrained halls of the precinct. The halls echo the tragedies that had occurred that day.

“Oh absolutely not,” Virgil says, almost disgusted. Both detectives decide to ignore the blush rising on Virgil's face. “It's too late for this anyway, im exhausted. I just wanna follow up this lead, solve this case, then go home and chill with my son” He sighs, covering up another yawn.

“What's it been? Like...8 years?” Remy recalls as they reach an opening, a reception area. Chairs lay empty, waiting for their next client.

“Longer...so much longer” Virgil moans, recalling his past with the precinct, the judge, the lawyers. He shakes his head suddenly exhausted. He reaches Emile's door, knocking politely. After a moment the door creaks open revealing a smiling, purple haired, cardigan wearing man.

“Virgil!” Emile exclaims happily, he ushers the two detectives inside, immediately greeted by a hype Damian.

“Papi!” Damian hugs his dad's legs, Virgil laughs picking up his son. He hugs him, tickling him sweetly. “I had so much fun with mister pickle!” He explains, gesturing wildly. Virgil stifles a laugh, unfortunately, Remy doesn't.

“And you're feeling better?” Virgil turns to Emiles, a knot forming in his stomach “How was he?”

“Virge, he was great” Emile smiles looking at the little boy.

“M-mister… pickle! Oh my god” Remy’s laughing now, he turns to Emile whos struggling to keep a smile. “B-babe, can I please, for the love of all that is holy, call you pickle?” Remy gasps for air, recovering from his 4th laughing fit this week. Emile bites his lip, shaking his head,

“Absolutely not, keep laughing and you're sleeping here, on the couch” Emile responds, Remy smirks. Virgil clears his throat raising his eyebrows, Damian remains bouncing his father's arms ignoring the current conversations. “Righto then, I do have a patient so, as much as I love hanging out with the little guy…” Emile ruffles Damian's hair much to his delight. Virgil nods and thanks him before the detective makes his way back out.

“See you in a sec, imma talk Emile real quick” Remy notfies, turning back to Emile. Virgil moves on, making his way back to his desk.

“Oh Roman! You're still here, perfect!” Virgil rejoices in seeing the judge standing idle by the captain's office. The judge perks up, instantly smiling as he sees Damian. Damian sharing the same feeling pushes against his father, making grabby hands at Roman. Virgil sighs but gives in handing Damian off to Roman carefully. The judge takes him with absolute glee, securing him safely. “What are you still doing here, by the way?” Virgil's inquires as Damian plays with his father's hands, Virgil allows this feeling a sense of calm. Roman coos at the young boy before turning to Virgil.

“I wanted to discuss the case with the captain, I just want to make sure I know everything I need to know” He whispers, Damian remains oblivious. Roman makes a funny face at the boy further serving his joy. Virgil nods understand Remy clears his throat walking up behind them. “Detective Remington” Roman acknowledges, not looking up from the young boy babblin in his arms.

“We gotta go Virge” Remy advises, Virgil nods knowing he's right, hesitant to return back to the cruel world of murderers and terrorists.

~~~

“What on earth are you doing here Liam?” Patton spits coldly. Logan is taken aback by the tone, something in the puzzle has broken. Liam simply laughs maliciously, an ear grating sound to the people present. Patton shakes his head looks back towards Logan. “Lo, will you please take Remus and Valerie to the car?” His gentle voice returns, as his eyes plead to Reeve and Logan. Logan doesn't hesitate immediately securing Valerie in his other arm. Reeve helps by taking Pattons and the children's things, he scurries out. “Thank you” He whispers to Logan, who simply nods still ever curious. Logan stays.

“Patton? I think we should leave” Logan advises, his concern growing noticing a familiar pale look on the lawyer's faces. The smaller man doesn't respond keeping his eyes on the one called Liam. “Patton?” Logan tries once more, his tone soft as ever. Remember, please remember.

“Got yourself a new boyfriend Patton?” Liam condescends, he takes a look at Logan scoffing. Logan tightens his grip on the twins whose faces are now riddled with scared confusion. The man takes one look at them and they hide away burrowing their heads into Logan. Liam tries to move forward but Patton moves quick creating a barricade between them. “Oh? I'm not allowed to say hello to my kids?” Logan feels an unexplainable disappointment, my kids? Why was this so upsetting? Logan knew these were Liams kids, to whatever extent. Logan knew that these were not his kids, he knew that he didn't go home every night and feed them, bathe them and take care of them. He knew that that was not his job, but...I would not mind it. He shakes his head focusing his attention back to the twins. Patton asked you to do one thing, so do it.

“Why are you here Liam?” Patton begs, his voice remains unattached. Liam tilts his head, smirking. Logan doesn't believe in the concept of truly good or truly evil but this man. Let's just say, gun to his head, Liam's name might be at the tip.

“For you, Patton” He responds, Logan almost believes him. “For you, and the kids” Patton scoffs, a sound that should not ever come out of his mouth. He balls his fits, trying to ground himself, Logan watches.

“Oh yeah? Where were you for the last 4 years then?!” Patton erupts, a volcanic explosion, Logan feels the twins nestle further. He can feel them shaking. Patton mocks a happy smile, a finger pointing up, mimicking a lightbulb. “Oh, that's right! You were out cheating on me, sleeping with anything that passed by.” Liam goes to speak but Patton's not finished “Were you as cruel to them as you were to me? Did you hurt them if they didn't listen to you, Liam? I'm curious, did you hurt them before or after you adopted two wonderful kids with them?” Patton finishes, he mocks fake interest, stroking his chin. Suddenly Logan’s blood is boiling, a fiery sea of anger erupts towards this man, the same one he felt all those years ago. A small whimper escapes from Remus, this catches Patton. He turns quickly facing the twins, instantly Logan recognizes his friend. Remus looks up at his father, watery pools lining his eyes.

“Dada, I wanna go home” He pleads, reaching out to the fatherly man. Patton frowns sadly, disappointed in himself. He walks over to Logan, taking Remus delicately, embracing him. “I-im scared” Remus mumbles through his small tears. Patton shushes him stroking him lovingly.

“I know crabcake, im sorry” He whispers, the quiet foyer freezing. Logan looks around, gifting Patton the privacy he deserves. Patton turns back to Liam, a certain fury returning to his eyes. “You will leave, do you understand?” He commands firmly, both Logan and Liam are taken aback by the sweet man's tone. Logan nods impressed, deciding to mimic Patton's comforting technique on Valerie. Liam tries again but Pattons been through the wringer before. He won't be gracing Liam the chance today. “Goodbye Liam” Patton turns back to Logan nodding, he understands following the lawyer out of the courthouse. Neither turn neither gives Liam the satisfaction of being recognized.

~~~

“What a total bust!” Virgil groans, lightly kicking a trash can as they walk back to the car. “God! I feel like anytime I get anything..” He purses his lips tightly, he gestures something zipping by “Nothing! Then I'm back to phase one” Remy listens, that's all Virgil needs. “I don't understand” He mumbles sliding into the car, Remy does the same.

“Go through it” Remy suggests “Tell me everything, act as if I don't know anything from the past 24 hours” He starts the car, squinting through the foggy layer that had set over the city. Virgil exhales slowly, nodding.

“Ok,” He shakes his head “I don't understand! All of our security measures, including cameras clear him. He was at the jail all night, no one in, no one out. Then 2 murderers happen, both following his style, following with the previous ones. Then he confesses, just like that, but there is no evidence linking the two.” Virgil ponders annoyed, he slams his hands on the dashboard, Remy remains, he's used to it. “It doesn't make any sense Rem” His partner admits. Remy bites his lip, something unsettling him, Virgil notices. “What is it?” Remy turns confused.

“Hmm?” He hums keeping his eyes glued on to the road.

“I know you have a thought, you have the look” Virgil glances at Remy's hands “And you do this thing with your hands.” Watching his partners clutch on the driving wheel. Remy scoffs.

“Oh, do enlighten me” Remy mocks, Virgil shrugs.

“You do this thing with your tongue, pushing it around your mouth. You tap incessantly on the wheel, always to the tune of a lullaby, creepy by the way. Then your eyes, they don't move, they stay planted furiously at one spot. As if you were to move your eyes, you would lose the channel of thought. And finally your nose, it flares, like really weirdly” Virgil finishes, as if reciting a long memorized monologue. Remy relaxes immediately, releasing the tension he feels. They really are detectives. “So...what is it?”

“Ok fine” Virgil claps victorious, Remy rolls his eyes “I was just thinking, why is he so adamant to be put into jail? His record has been spotless, perfectly clean. He has solid alibis for every murder but insists he did them? What if…” Remy trails off, biting his lip. “What if… he's being framed? Or threatened? I mean, Patton has never been wrong.” Virgil throws his head back. “What? I'm sorry, it's true, look Emile might be a therapist, and we might be detectives but Patton just...he has a way with people.” Virgil tenses, knowing Remy was right “The man rarely loses a case… I mean why do you think he's highly requested?”

“But could he be wrong? Just this once?” Virgil tries again, he wants something more, something to go off on.

“It's possible, it's always possible. Look, Virge, let him talk to the client, but this time watch him” Remy advises, his voice serious as they pull into Virgil's parking lot. He parks the car, then turns to Virgil. Virgil watches intense, hoping for a smidgen of anything. “Listen to everything they say, analyze everything, leave absolutely no stone unturned. You can get something out of him, Patton can do that. Let him talk to the client” The knot in Virgil's stomach returns.

“So I'm using Patton?” He responds, feeling a bitter taste settle in his mouth. Remy makes a face. Virgil shrugs “That's what it sounds like”

“No...no! Look you're doing your job, Patton is not a cop, you are. Your job is to find the perpetrator and bring him to justice. But this will allow you to see if you can get anything more, for or against his case” He pats Virgil's back “But hey, you're the lead, it's up to you. Whatever ever you choose, I gotchu partner” Virgil knows its a light tease, but he smiles gratefully. “Now go! Damian’s probably sick of Roman at this point.” Virgil chuckles, he says his farewells making his way inside. Damian better be asleep, or Roman will be calling in sick to work tomorrow. He bites his lip, reminding himself that he has to thank the judge for all his help.

~~~

“Patton?” Logan approaches slowly, he closes the door carefully having secured the twins into their seats. Patton leans outside the door, gazing off into the cloudy night. Patton smiles sadly knowing its not just him, knowing he's not the only one who just can't seem to think clearly. Logan tries again “Patton? Are you...are you alright?”

“You know, I used to try and count the stars when I was little... “ Patton starts, Logan remains silent taking his place next to the lawyer. “It was a distraction but after a while it became routine. Every time my parents fought, I’d count.”

“Well that's highly unrealistic” Logan notes “There an infinitesimal amount of stars in the sky, you wouldn't be able to count all of them. And the probability that you counted the same star more than once is highly likely, your data would not be accurate” Logan finishes, Patton tries to hide a creeping smile. “What?”

“You said infinitesimal” Patton snickers, Logan's face drops, horror glazing his eyes. Patton goes to talk but Logan quickly cuts him off.

“I made one mistake Patton, no need to overreact,” He says adjusting his glasses “It's an uncommon occurrence, I rarely make mistakes” Patton smiles wildly, oh no.

“So I guess you could say, the amount of mistakes you've made is…” He ponders mockingly, lighting up excitedly. “Infinitesimal?” he says placing his two fingers together. Logan groans quite audibly, rubbing his temples. Patton giggles and Logan feels a strange tightness in his chest. They simmer down, the surrounding darkness accompanying them.

“But truly Patton, are you alright?” Logan queries trying to keep his concern under control. Patton physically sighs, his shoulders relaxing.

“I don't know... “ He admits, he glances at Logan. “Lately, I just can think or see clearly” Logan nods, urging him to continue “Guess that's why I need glasses” He chuckles resigned. Logan debates whether to reprimand his joke, but the sad tone it took Logan feels his own depressing feelings. Suddenly, desiring the return of the witty puns he so despises. Patton notices the almost scolding look upon Logan's face, he continues. “Am I doing the right thing with this case? I mean every time I think that I’m right something comes along and proves me wrong. What if I’m just defending a…” He pauses faltering, he tries to stop the sniffles “A murderer?” He chokes back a sob. Logan becomes more alert, his posture becoming less relaxed. He watches the usually cheery man struggle against his own emotions, something sets in Logan.

“Patton, you are the smartest person I know” He starts, Patton lazily returns his attention to Logan.

“You must not know a lot of people then” He tries lightly, failing. Logan purses his lips almost in shock. He shakes his head, much to Patton's interest. “What?” Logan decides easing into this will not work.

“Has it truly been four years since you have seen Liam?” Logan jumps right into it, Patton exhales sharply.

“Yes, it has” Patton's voice takes on a chilling tone “See, after he cheated on me, multiple times, and hurt me for years I didn't really want him in my life anymore” Patton snaps, he immediately bites his lip, recoiling away. “I'm sorry… I don't mean to..”

“Don't apologize, Patton” Logan reassures “I did not like him” He admits, a more relaxed tone. Patton giggles sadly.

“Yeah, I know. You, Roman and Virgil made that clear” Patton jokes, Logan nods, inhaling the cold air. A minty feeling gracing his lungs.”I should have listened to you all the first time around, but...I was so desperate to be...” He trails off, Patton's voice has never sounded so defeated, Logan scrunches his brows, desperate? “Thank you, Lo, for helping me out” Logan turns to him.

“Always Patton” He takes another look around “I should go, and so should you. It is getting quite late” He smirked slightly “I wouldn't want my rival to be too tired to argue, now would I?” Patton giggles once more, nudging Logan. Logan doesn't even try to hide his clever smile.

“No we wouldn't” Patton faces Logan, smiling into his eyes. “Goodnight Lo, I'll see you in court” He leans forward placing a quick, soft peck on Logan's cheek before turning away and into his car. Logan raises his eyebrows, resisting the urge to feel his cheek.

“Hm,” He simply hums, a light dust of pink rising on his face. “See you in court” He murmurs, making his way to his own car.

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needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves · 5 years

Note

Gunmax and Deckred first time having sex.

"Yo, Double Deckerd. I'm going out for a ride, you coming?"

Deckerd looked up from his screen, to a grinning Gunmax. Gunmax was always a promiscuous type of fellow, who hit on basically anyone, and Deckerd didn't mind it, afterall, he worked hard for the team, and cared for Yuuta. Everything else was irrelevant. And Deckerd wouldn't lie, the attention was rather nice. Deckered chuckled.

"I have to decline. I have to drive Yuuta home tonight, it's getting close to his bed time."

He was about to stand up to do just that, when Shadowmaru put his hand on his shoulder, making him sit down.

"I'll take him, Deckerd. You deserve a little time off babysitting duty. I'll hold the fort until you get back."

"Are you sure? I know you and Duke had something planned tonight."

"Oh it's no trouble. He just told me he's a little tired tonight. Really, you two go have fun."

"Oh. Well, I'd love to then, Gunmax. Give me a few minutes."

Deckered walked out of the break room, to his own room, and Gunmax grinned, fist bumping Shadowmaru.

"I owe you one, Bowser babe."

"I'm not going to address that one. Purely because I'm beyond tired of the dog jokes."

"Must be ruff."

"....Yuuta! Let's go before I kill Gunmax!"

------

It wasn't very long until Gunmax rode down the freeway, with Deckerd in tow. Ever since that weird event with the world almost ending, and the whole alien thing, things have been rather quiet in the city. Occasional crime here and there, petty thieves and breaking speed limits, but no giant robots for about a month or so. Things were so calm, that even the road they drove on was barren. It was nice. The road was gently lit by street lights, and the cool air brushed against his front. It was relaxing, but Gunmax was everything but calm. Feeling the bike murmur under him, and feeling Deckerd's body pressed against his own, bringing warmth to contrast the chilly night air. He turned his helm a little, looking at Deckerd.

"D, how you holding up back there?"

"I'm doing just fine! This is nice. I'm glad we're alone together, Gunmax."

Something about how he said that. Something about how he squeezed his midsection, was too much for him. Gunmax WAS a horndog, he wasn't going to lie, but Deckerd looked and felt too good to not handle this. He pulled up to the side of the freeway, and put the brake on the bike, stepping off of. Deckered raised a brow, swinging his body to the side, facing Gunmax.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"...no. The issue is, you did the exact opposite."

Before Deckerd could ask exactly what that meant, he felt his lips on his own. Deckered froze up, unsure what to do. He didn't return the kiss, nor did he shut his optics, or pull away. All he could do was just gawk. Gunmax caught onto this, and pulled away from the kiss far sooner than he wanted to. He had leaned himself against the bike, wedging Deckerd in between a rock and a hard place. In Gunmax's case, a VERY hard place.

"I...sorry. I guess I just...kinda like you. I mean, you get me. And not a lot of people do."

He kept himself where he was, not wanting to give Deckerd a chance to escape. At least, not until he knew something important.

"You're my friend. My leader. I got your back, and I know you got mine. And I don't like you JUST because you're well built. It's just, you and the kid? You're some kind of special. I wanted to say thank you in a way I knew how. But, I'm not getting that same feeling from you. So, just forget I even offered. Alright?"

Deckered didn't say anything. There was a slight panic in the back of his processor. Nothing too awful, just little shocks of doubt. There was just something about that still face. He pushed himself off the bike, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, mark me down for inappropriate behavior, but at least SAY something. You're making me get all kinds of shaken up."

"I...I'm sorry. I knew you found me attractive, like everyone else-"

"Okay but can you blame me?"

There was a scowl from Deckerd, and Gunmax nodded, acknowledging he should shut up now. He let him continue.

"But I didn't think I emotionally meant anything to you. And I'm...flattered, Gunmax. But I...hesitate to let you touch me."

"Too soon?"

"N-no. I...I have thought about it, once or twice. But I...I dont think im ready for that sort of thing. I don't do this sort of thing often."

"...oooh. I feel you. Really, I do. But tell you what. Why don't we just try it out? You don't like it, I'll knock it off. We'll go easy."

"Out...here?"

"Oh come on, we've already stolen stuff, might as well cross 'indecent exposure' off the bucket list."

"Oh for gods sake Gunmax…"

Gunmax shrugged, not all that ashamed. And from how Deckerd pulled him into a kiss, grabbing him by his face, Deckerd wasn't really either. Cute, really. Gunmax was the first to pull away, and the first to get this party started. He popped his panel open, and lightly whistled at the sight. They didn't hesitate with this guy, did they? They were a bit different from each other, with Deckerd being slightly thicker, with a bit of a curve, while Gunmax was more straight (ironic, he was aware), and on the slimmer side. Gunmax carefully grabbed his spike, and slowly stroked it, very much enjoying the hitch of the others breath.

"This is cool, right, Deckerd? I feel like this is something to ease you into this sort of thing. You don't mind, right?"

"I...do. I'm the only one out."

"Heh. You could just ask, you know."

Gunmax exposed himself, and allowed Deckerd to touch and stroke him at his own pace. Deckered wasn't his first, and certainly wouldn't be his last, so he clearly wasn't as sensitive as the other. Deckered put his forehead onto the others, staring into his optics. Deckered wasn't used to this, given how quick and jerky his strokes were. But honestly, Gunmax would take it. Gladly.

"Gunmax...t-thank you."

"My, someone's a good boy, thanking me~"

Deckered wanted to continue, but hesitated, feeling Gunmax's thumb press onto the head of his spike.

"No I'm...thanking you for trusting me. Partner."

Oh. Oh he throbbed at that, to his surprise. Gunmax lightly panted, slowly moving his hips back and forth into the others palm.

"Say that again."

"Thank you for trusting me?"

"No no no, the P word."

"Partner?"

Oh that felt good. Damn good. Gunmax nodded, and gripped tighter on the others spike, making the others helm toss back. Gunmax couldn't help but wonder how often Deckerd touched himself. At least, properly. Being a babysitter to the entire team didn't leave a lot of room, he was sure. And it sucked, because Deckered deserved a damn good overload. And as he gripped both of their spikes together, he thought about giving him JUST that. He took advantage of the exposed neck, pressing his lips against his cables, much to the others delight.

"Yeah...partner. That's exactly what we are. Now you let me help you out, and you help me out. You wanna know how you can do that?"

"H...how?"

"Just sit there. Keep liking what I'm doing...and remind me just what we are."

"My p-partner?"

Gunmax wasn't at all surprised that they were already slicked up with fluids. Not with how Deckerd's lips moved when he said that word.

"Yeah...that's it. Partner. Just keep calling me that, big bot."

"My p-partner."

Gunmax refused to let him halt. Deckered needed no more prodding however, starting to repeat those words as Gunmax only went on and on. It wasn't long till Deckerd was laid back onto the bike, whimpering of how good his partner felt, rubbing up against him. And Gunmax was LIVING for it. Deckered was probably more so, given how he appeared to be absolutely melting. Gunmax leaned down, and pressed his lips against Deckerd's, swallowing his moans, just in time to stifle the sound of his overload. Gunmax grinned once he pulled away, tempted to just jerk it right onto such a helpless, content face. But he was their captain, he'd give him just a little more respect than that. Not too much though, definitely not enough to not pat his cheek, just a bit roughly.

"How'd that feel, partner?"

"I...I...I feel guilty."

Gunmax tried not to get nervous. Did he regret this? Did he ALREADY regret being his partner? He was going to ask just what he meant, when Deckerd sat up, wearily smiling.

"Afterall, you didn't overload."

Gunmax looked down at the mess in his hands, chuckling.

"Hey, no worries. Afterall,"

He licked at the fluid on his palm, grinning at the color on the others cheeks.

"This won't be the last time you're gonna overload on my hog."

"But...this isn't a harley davidson."

"...you're lucky you're a looker, partner."

#bpjd #Gunmax #Deckerd #lemon #hope you like it!!

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bohemian-napsodyy · 5 years

Text

(im)Perfections

Request: Could I get an imagine with a plus size Fem!Reader with Freddie or Rami, please? Or even both if you could cause that'd be awesome? Either way, I'd love to see either of those, especially since I'm a plus size woman. 😊 -- requested by anon

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: a bit of body image insecurity, but not extreme <3

A/N: I hope this is okay! This really warmed my heart while writing it and I hope it warms yours too <3 thank you for being so patient and sorry about the wait for this one, anon! much love xoxo

Sometimes you really wished the tabloids would just go to hell, dammit.

Most of the time you avoided them — especially since your boyfriend would appear in their magazines on occasion. You knew it was all gossip of course, so why waste your time? Ignorance is bliss, you told yourself.

And it was true. You were happy.

There was something about being with Rami that just made you feel wonderful about yourself at a level you never experienced before. You could look in the mirror and actually see that the love Rami felt for you was reflected in your own eyes. It would be the little things he’d do — wrapping his arms around you from behind in a hug as you were cooking, nuzzling his face in your neck as you watched a movie, even just tucking your hair behind your ears and pausing to gaze at you in such a profound way you felt you were falling hard and fast into the deep end.

Loving him was helping you learn how to love yourself more than ever. You’d look in the mirror and see the light in your eyes and you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from beaming. You could practically see yourself stand a little straighter, smile a little wider, laugh a little louder.

You were comfortable around Rami. And the more time you spent together, you grew more and more comfortable with yourself.

But sometimes, little damn annoyances would get in the way.

Like today, for instance.

You collected magazines — not to read, but to collage with. You’d find interesting artwork, some nice colours, or even photos of historical figures to turn into pieces of art. When you weren’t working, this was your favourite hobby.

You had gotten a package in the mail from your mom — she knew you liked using magazines for art purposes, so after she was done reading her own, she’d mail them to you. That way, you didn’t have to pay a dreadful amount of money for paper you were just going to tear up.

There was a celebrity magazine included in this month’s collection — and you couldn’t stop staring at one photo in particular.

It was of Rami, along with Carly and Portia. They were at an afterparty for Mr. Robot, and they all just looked so... perfect. It didn’t help that the caption said nothing but nice things about the three of them either.

You knew that if you had been in that photo, the caption would’ve probably been different. Almost passive-aggressive. In the small handful of photos people had managed to snap of you and Rami together, the only thing they seemed to want to comment on was your physical appearance in comparison to his other female costars. They had done it before, so who was to say they wouldn’t do it again in the future? Especially in an industry that was so emphatic on the right hairstyle.

The whitest smile.

The perfect physical appearance.

The tabloids made your heart hurt. Why did they have to be so judgemental, so cruel?

A part of you knew why, it was all for attention after all, but the photo still bothered you.

Why couldn’t you be perfect like them?

“Working on another collage, babe?” Rami asked as he passed by your spot at the dining table on his way to the kitchen. He gave your shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he walked by.

You could only hum in response, your eyes still glued to Carly and Portia’s perfect figures.

“What ideas have you got this time?” Rami asked as he pulled two mugs out of the cupboard and boiled water for tea. You didn’t realize you hadn’t replied until the chair across from yours let out a dull screech as Rami pulled it out and sat down. He nudged your mug of tea encouragingly towards you.

“Earth to Y/N,” he called out gently, reaching over and capturing your hand in his. You could see the joy leave his features when your eyes met his, and he leaned forward with concern.

“What’s wrong?” He whispered, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. “What happened? Talk to me.”

You wanted to pass it off as nothing, but your eyes gave it all away when they couldn’t help but trail back to the photo you’d been looking at this entire time.

“Could I see?” Rami asked gently, motioning to the magazine. You nudged it in his direction and he spun it around so it was facing him now.

“It’s me with Carly and Portia,” he remarked, frowning at the photo then at you. You could tell by the way he was searching both your face and the photo for clues that he was trying to put two and two together.

“They’re just so perfect...” you mumbled in frustration, burying your face in your hands. “And I’m...”

“Hey, no, no, don’t say that.” Rami interrupted. He got up from his chair and knelt down in front of you, grasping your face gently between both his hands.

“Y/N, babe, you outshine them both.”

You let out a laugh that carried a hint of a bitter edge, and shook your head as you let your gaze fall to the floor.

“I don’t feel like do.”

Rami nudged your chin upwards so you were looking at him once more.

“Y/N,” he said, all previous light tones gone from his voice. His eyes seemed melancholy but at the same time you could see there was still a fiery passion that lingered in them. “You are so beautiful. I won’t let anyone, or anything, convince you otherwise.”

“Easy for you to say,” you protested with a laugh. “You’re practically perfect.”

Rami blinked, his features softening as he sank to the floor in what almost seemed like defeat. He gazed up at you, before motioning to join him on the floor.

“I’m far from perfect, Y/N.” Rami sighed. He wrapped both his arms around your waist and pulled you close before resting his cheek against your shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“I hated my eyes for the longest time.”

“Your eyes are gorgeous,” you protested, placing your hand over his own. “They’re like looking into all the oceans in the world wrapped up and placed inside a forest.”

Rami’s shoulders shook as he let out a laugh.

“Other kids in high school used to tease me for it -- they thought my eyes were too big.”

“But they’re beautiful...” You mumbled, unsure of the point he was trying to get across.

“To me, they were an imperfection,” Rami explained, lifting his head off your shoulder so he could look at you once more. “But you don’t see them that way, do you?”

You could only shake your head, lost for words.

“The same goes for you.” He said gently, smiling as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ears. “The parts of yourself that you see as imperfect, and I genuinely don’t see why because they make you all the more beautiful... Y/N, those parts are absolute perfection to me.”

You gaped at your boyfriend as you searched for words. You couldn’t believe what he had just said.

“You really think so?” You whispered incredulously. Rami nodded, a smile lighting up his features as his hands trailed down to trace the outlines of your hips.

“I’m more than certain, babe. You’re beautiful in every way.”

You smiled, feeling little happy tears begin to prick at your eyes. You leaned forward and kissed Rami gently, silently expressing your gratitude for having such a wonderful person to support you through rocky times.

“I love you,” you whispered, pressing another soft kiss against his lips. “I love you so much.”

Rami smiled before returning your kiss and pulling you close.

“I love you more, Y/N.”

#rami malek #rami malek x reader #rami malek imagine #rami malek oneshot #freddie mercury #freddie mercury imagine #freddie mercury oneshot #freddie mercury x reader #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody x reader #mr robot #elliot alderson #elliot alderson x reader #elliot alderson imagine #request

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sikasupernova · 6 years

Note

20 KISS THIBG FOR PYRO AND ICARUS BC IM EMOTIONAL

All aboard the angst train!!

An explosion rattles the landscape as comm chatter echoes in Icarus’ ears. The abundance of noise makes them lose focus for a moment, but a voice catches their attention.

“We’ve been hit. The omnics flanked us, and we need to pull back.” It was Pyro, trying to keep their voice calm. “Hana and I can’t get out of the building.”

Icarus looks up towards Commander Morrison, who’s usually stern expression under his face mask is concerned.

“Angela, rendezvous with us at the corner of 10th and Main Street, we need to get in there.” His gruff voice speaks into the comms.

“It’s too dangerous!” Pyro’s voice is slightly panicked as a string of curses follows what they said. Another sound of an explosion is heard. What follows is more cursing and a loud cry of “DIE YA FUCKS!”

With that, Icarus is already on their way out the window of the building that they and Commander Morrison were in. They let themselves free fall for a few moments before letting massive robotic wings spread behind them. With a powerful flap of their wings, they soar through the air several blocks, past their teammates, too quick to offer any assistance. Their focus is on one thing only. Get their friend and their lover out of there safely.

They speed towards the building the two are positioned in, and scopes out how everything is going. Omnics of various shapes and sizes attack the building, and a few are crawling up the side. Icarus takes out their pistols and easily shoots those down. They bolt towards the ground, land easily and spread their wings.

“The sun shall burn you.” They growl as they spin, releasing steel feathers from their wings. Those that strike into an omnic emit a small blast of energy, making them explode. Icarus’ back is turned to a larger omnic when they’re done, and the omnic grabs them by the wing. Being roughly handled by an omnic was not ideal, especially when it breaks said wing. Icarus cries out as the tech is snapped, sending a jolt of pain through their body. They whirl around with a heavy hitting right hook, which makes the omnic’s head snap sideways. They’re released from the robot’s grip and bolts back towards the building. Their wing is beyond functioning even though it still hangs on, bent in the middle. The shortest way to the rescue wasn’t an option anymore. Icarus feels their stomach sink as the cursing on the other end of the comm had been silent for a while.

“Yuu, come in.”

“Yes Commander?” Icarus starts running, shooting down omnics that are in the way.

“Have you retrieved them yet?”

“No, sir. I am in the building though. Some assistance would be welcome.”

“Angela and I are just down the street. We’ll be there soon. Morrison out.”

That leaves Icarus to concentrate on running up the stairs. They lose track of the floors for a while, but finally manage to get to where Hana and Pyro are.

“Indah! Hana!” They burst into the room to find Hana crouched behind her broken down mech with Pyro pressed against it, unconcious.

Icarus wanted to break down in tears right there. Hana grunts, holding her arm to her chest. “They hit us real bad a moment ago. I’m not sure how bad Pyro’s hurt.” She looks scared as Icarus takes shelter next to her.

“Is your arm broken?”

“Probably.” She wrinkles her nose in disapproval. “I’ve got some other cuts and bruises, but other than that, I’ll live. I’m just worried about Pyro. They took a bad hit.”

“Try and see how their doing and give yourself a break for a minute. I’ll work on the omnics. Help will be here in a few.” Icarus darts out from behind the mech and unleashes a spray of fire on the robots.

Icarus paces the waiting room of Overwatch’s hospital. Their feathers flicker with their irritation and impatience. They were under the impression that they could stay with Pyro after being rescued, but they were seperated the moment everyone got onto the transport.

The solid metal doors open to reveal Hana. She looks very tired and her signature pink whiskers have been wiped off, revealing the scar on her cheek. Her arm has been wrapped in a cast.

“Are you alright?”

“Could be worse.” She chuckles. “At least we made it out alive. I’m a little upset at losing my mech again, but it’s not too hard to build a new one.”

“Can I watch you build the next one? I want to know how they work.” Icarus still feels a little uneasy at the lighthearted conversation.

“Sure. I’ll give you a holler when I start.”

“Sorry to interrupt.” One of Overwatch’s medical interns pokes his head through the metal doors. “Indah Bray’s surgery was a success, but they’re still sleeping off the anesthesia. You may visit them in the meantime.”

With given permission, both Hana and Icarus dart into the room they’re directed to. The two burst into the room to see Pyro sleeping soundly in the hospital bed, and Icarus breaks down. Tears pour down their scarred face as they dash towards the bed. They desperately want to hold onto Pyro, but they’re unsure if it would accidentally hurt them. They settle for leaning against the side of the bed, gently resting their functioning wing over Pyro’s body. They’d refused to have it fixed until Pyro got out of surgery.

Icarus hadn’t moved from Pyro’s side since they’d arrived. Hana had left a few minutes ago to retrieve some tools for wing repair.

Rustling in the bed makes Icarus’s head pop up, alert. Pyro was slowly waking up. Groggy, they look at the person curled up next to their bed.

“Babe?” They sound confused.

“I’m here, Kaji.” Tears well up in Icarus’ eyes again. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help sooner.”

“S’alright.” Pyro reaches up a hand to try and touch their face, but it doesn’t get very far, so they settle for holding onto their partner’s hand instead. “We’re both okay, and that’s what matters.”

Icarus nods with a loud sniff.

“I’m gonna have a few more scars to the collection though.” Pyro chuckles and leans their head towards their partner.

“I think I’ve got you beat.” Icarus wipes away a tear and leans close to kiss their forehead.

“That’s not fair, you’ve got one big one.” Pyro returns the affectionate gesture by pressing a kiss to Icarus’ scarred jawline.

“I’m not cheating on purpose, I promise.” They laugh softly and snuggle close to their partner.

#i finally wrote it after 2000 years #spaceydragons #ask the queer deer #oc shenanigans #pyro #icarus #hot wings #writing shenanigans

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ofstaffs · 6 years

Text

rey: rey will be like 'ah..... so UR the one my best friend is fucking but like not right'

steve: or peggy

rey: rey will be like 'wait is that a mirror nope ur a different person ok hi'

steve: u know vision could pick up the mjolnir so why cant rey

steve: she got the force

rey: REY SHOULD DO IT WITH EASE AND STEEB AND TORE WOULD JUS T BE THERE LIKE '........wut'

rey: and then shes like 'hAH tricks on u ive got the force, bitches'

steve: can rey and ben join the avengers thx

rey: rey would ruin all the undercover stuff

steve: GUYS http://www.cinemablend.com/new/An-Avenge...

rey: she cant work the sweatshirt, sunglasses, and hat

rey: bYE

thor: the instant steve announced the challenge, thor tore his way through the ballpit and lunged after him, mere seconds behind. the very first tunnel proved to be a challenge in and of itself, however. huffing out a frustrated breath, thor awkwardly half-shimmied, half-crawled through. "these tunnels weren't made for asgardians, that much is clear." by the time he finally made it through the other side of his fifth tunnel, his chest was heaving with exertion and the sides of his arms were bright red from squeezing through the tunnel walls. "i surrender," he called out grudgingly. without warning, he collapsed onto his back in the middle of the tunnel, thankful that this one was at least made up of some type of rope rather than the hard plastic of the others.

thor: rip thor

thor: CROSSO VE R OH MY GKSL

steve: rey drag him with ur jakku junk dragger™

thor: LOL nah she can just climb over his corpse it's ok

steve: I WAS TRYING TO FIND A PIC OF THE JUNK DRAGGER AND I FOUND THIS http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/...

rey: rey immediately got into competitive mode as soon as steve brought up the challenge. within moments, she was crawling through the holes and squeezing past crevices with ease. scavenging in small areas helped with that, along with her tiny body. unfortunately, an irregular diet helped with /that/. but finally she slipped through the last tunnel and came out victoriously, holding her arms up. "i win!" she grinned happily. then she laughed as she saw that thor was stuck, and moved quickly to him, placing her hands on her hips. "maybe if you weren't so strong, this wouldn't be happening," she teased.

steve: LIKE OMF

rey: no shell just go cuddle him

steve: IT LOOKS SO REAL

rey: WTF I THOUGHT THAT WAS REAL AT FIRST

thor: OH DANG WTF

thor: IT DOES LOOK REAL

steve: steve took a seat in the cube area that connected two tunnels, letting rey pass him up. even for a super soldier it was really hard. he got a glimpse of thor laying in the center of a rope tunnel. as soon as rey announced her victory, steve found a slide by the next tunnel up. he even slid down it defeatedly. "i'm too old for this." the avenger mumbled as he got to the bottom of the slide, which ended a few feet from rey. if laser tag included narrow passages, then he would be on his way to the area where the parents sat earlier.

steve: cap is #done

steve: i love how thor and steve can beat the fuck out of huge robots and space dragons but fail at playgrounds

rey: LOL I LOVE THEM

rey: ok i think kayla passed out and im about to too rip

rey: well def continue tomorrow tho omg

steve: same

steve: night!!

rey: night fam

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steve: im lowkey here

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rey: I'm low key here now omg

rey: i should be around for a little while

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steve: hello!!

rey: HELLO

steve joined the chat 7 hours ago

rey: HI

thor joined the chat 6 hours ago

thor: I PASSED OUT LAST NIGHT RIP ME

thor: thankfully, thor recovered swiftly. he had no intention of navigating his way through the godforsaken tunnels to get out, however. "my strength is not the problem," he informed rey, eyes glinting as he realized exactly how he could escape this monstrosity. rolling over onto his stomach, he grabbed hold of the ropes directly below him and forcefully pulled them apart. they surrendered easily to his strength, the tunnel giving out underneath him in a matter of seconds. landing in a crouch, he shot rey a grin. "see? these fragile midgardian materials cannot hold the mighty thor."

thor: thor has no chill tbh

steve: im dying

thor: don't die omg what will america do without u???

thor: RAI WHERE R U

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rey: IM SO SORRY I WAS AT A GAME RIP

rey: IM MOBILE FOR A BIT

thor: IT'S OK OMG DID U HAVE FUN

rey: YAS SO MUCH

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thor: WAIT WHAT KIND OF GAME WAS IT

rey rey giggled in admiration as she watched thor literally rip the ropes apart, and land in a crouching position. then she met up with steve and shook her head. "no..." she complained dejectedly, reaching her hands out to him. "we-we still have the trampolines. and-and laser tag!" she grinned, hoping to get his spirits up.

rey: I MANAGE FOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL AT MY SCHOOL

thor: OMG REALLY?? THATS SO COOL

rey: YA ITS FUN

thor: i suggest a rey/thor laser tag team-up against steve

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rey: YES PLS

rey joined the chat 93 minutes ago

rey: iM HERE ON A COMPUTER BLESS UP

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thor: NICE 2 bad steeb's missing :////

rey: fml ik

rey: i messaged mia tho

thor: gosh does she have a life or something?? RUDE

rey: yA WTF IS UP WITH THAT

rey: IM GETTING TO THE MEME U SENT ME NOW RIP

thor joined the chat 87 minutes ago

thor: OMG OK BUT DONT KILL ME WITH CUTENESS AGAIN THANKS

rey: NO PROMISES THO

thor: OH GR8

rey: brb dinner ayy

steve: HEY BITCHES

thor: aYYYYY IT'S STEEB THE DWEEB

steve: steve hoisted himself up from the slide, joining rey and a crouching thor. he had no idea what a laser tag was or why they'd let children play it, but he proceeded to agree anyway. the laser tag facility was unlike anything he had ever seen. the room was pitch black, aside from the various neon obstacles and graffiti on the walls. there were staircases leading to ramps above the floor. there were guns, presumably 'lasers', lining the wall next to the entrance. steve grabbed a laser, before tossing two to rey and thor.

steve

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8pmB7nlC9mI

i watched this shit

thor: omfg i admire ur devotion sm

thor: thor caught the weapon effortlessly, though he held it slightly away from himself in wary consideration. it appeared to be of the same style as most other midgardian weapons, yet they were used for games? reminding himself that steve was the one handing them over – so it couldn't be /that/ harmful – he wrapped his hands more securely around the gun in preparation for battle. leaning close to rey, he murmured, "join forces with me?"

thor: rip steve

steve: https://49.media.tumblr.com/e0a9dce6eefe...

thor: LMFAO

thor: get out ben, this ain't ur battle

steve: if ben found out this was happening he would be like http://66.media.tumblr.com/a95daaf244c20...

thor: LOL BEN OMG CALM DOWN

rey: IM HERE

rey: IM H ER EE

rey: FCK

thor: FIN ALLY

rey: HUSH

thor: NO

steve: HI

rey rey followed steve up the stairs, making sure thor was there behind her, then giggled excitedly at the pitch black play area. she carefully caught the laser gun he tossed her, grunting slightly at the force, then looked up as thor leaned down beside her. she giggled silently, hand going over her mouth, and nodded her head swiftly. "let's do it," she whispered back, then winked and moved to steve. "okay, let's spread out first. i'll start our guns with the panel on the wall. then we go. agreed?"

rey: HI BABE

steve: steve caught a glimpse of the two whispering out of the corner of his eye. he was too busy trying to scope out the area to realize what was going on. "okay." cap spoke as he zeroed in on the perfect spot. as soon as their guns were activated, the avenger was bolting up the stairs to the first hanger. the ramp was dark so soon enough he lost sight of the two. he kept his gun on the rail in true assassin fashion, ready to shoot at the friends.

steve: steve learned his moves from bucky ))

steve: wtF IS THAT THING

rey: thE EMOJI OMF

rey:

thor: tHE EMOJIS LMAO

steve: steve, finding out his friends are t8rs:

steve: tr8s***

rey: t8r tots

thor: "agreed." thor slid his finger over the trigger, readying himself. it didn't surprise him when steve was the first to take off as soon as rey gave the signal. considering his history as a soldier, thor had opted to take on an ally against him for that very reason. with one last nod at rey, he began navigating his way after steve as quietly as a man of his build could manage. it was much too dark, however, and thor soon found himself using one of the several odd glowing pillars for cover as his gaze scanned the area for signs of movement.

thor: T8R TOTS

thor: delish

rey "okay, ready? go!" rey shouted to them once they were all dispersed, using the force to start up the panel that gave their guns power. she began running along, mainly for cover at first, and ducked expertly behind walls using her stealthy silence. soon, she saw steve on the second floor and grinned to herself, running up the back stairs. she stayed ducked behind a wall, but stuck her gun out just enough to zero in on her target, and shoot rapidly at him, the sound effects going off.

rey: LOL

thor: GET HIM REY GET HIM

rey: if ben and rey ever played laser tag, shed get v emotional bc she tried to go after him with a gun on takodana rip

thor: sudden feels

steve: steve caught a glimpse of someone shuffling behind a pillar below. his finger snuck down to the trigger, slowly but surely ready to shoot the target. alas, his grand moment was ruined when laser beams sounded off behind him. he expected thor to be the one behind the shots, but he was faced with rey crouching behind a wall below. "rey, you traitor!" the super soldier exclaimed, surprisingly offended by her actions. he took off down the stairs determined to take her down.

rey: feel trip

steve: pft ben wouldn't go into the laser tag room, the darkness is too ~tempting~

rey: 'Does Rey call you Daddy ' riP

rey: the darkness works with his aesthetic tho

steve: wtF

rey: YEP U GOT US SHE SO DOES

steve: i don gettit

thor: the commotion from nearby, quickly followed by steve's shout, brought a grin to thor's face. remaining in place, he cocked his head and listened closely for the careless series of telltale stomps down the stairs as steve searched for his victim. alas, thor fully intended to protect his ally. as soon as he heard the other man moving passed his pillar, thor lunged out from behind it, sound effects deafening the quiet as he unloaded a series of shots directly at steve. "hide, rey!"

thor: oMG i saw that ask & i screamed

rey rey couldn't stop laughing as she ran as fast as she could away from steve, tripping over her own feet every now and then, though she allowed herself a break as she heard thor's gun go off, meaning he found steve. now was her chance. she ran up the stairs steve had been on earlier and crouched behind a wall again, then fired her gun... at thor. she fired shot after shot, right when he least expected it, then turned her gun on steve as well, continuing to laugh as she nailed them both. "sorry, i had to trick ya!"

steve: the confusion on his face was absolutely priceless as rey shot at them both. he was unbelievably aggrieved that the two had teamed up against him, but then this? steve didn't spare the laughing girl a look before lifting his laser and shooting it at her. "number one rule of war, skywalker: never get distracted on the battlefield."

steve

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-i99TPwXSoM

steve rn

rey: HAHAHAHAHAH

rey: OMFG

thor: his own ally had turned on him. when steve turned his own weapon on her in return, thor used it as cover, swiftly moving to circle around rey. it would have been a prime opportunity to shoot her again, but she deserved far worse than that. throwing an arm around her waist, he lifted her off her feet and draped her over his shoulder. "no more fun," he announced in a cheerful tone as he casually made his way back to the captain. "rogers, how do you punish traitors on this planet?"

rey "hey!" rey gasped as steve shot her, moving to run away again, then shrieked and laughed hard as thor picked her up and laid her across his shoulder, kicking her feet playfully. her gun slipped out of her hands in the midst of all the fighting, and she was laughing even harder as they approached steve, crossing her arms stubbornly. "not fair!"

rey: i shouldve had her say 'spank me, daddy'

steve: NO

thor: oMF G

rey: o ya

thor joined the chat 20 hours ago

thor: http://images.idakoos.com/B0220000BL0000...

rey: oh my og od

steve: "well, it usually goes something like.." steve pretended to stroke his chin in thought, before deciding on a torture method. "tickling. lots of it. it worked on the nazis every time." the captain joked lightly, letting his gun clatter to the floor beside him. "tickling on a trampoline seems pretty brutal to me."

steve: pcE

steve: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236...

rey: nO RAI IS SO TICKLISH SHE WILL START CRYING

rey: stop

rey: SOTP*

steve: can u imagine derek walking in one two burly blonde dudes tickling tf out of his gf

rey: ON A TRAMPOLINE

steve: can u imagine thor and cap on a trampoline like girl

rey: yum

rey: ive gotta go yeet to the shower after i do this next reply

thor: "tickling it is." tossing his weapon onto the floor as well, thor then turned on his heel and began making his way for wherever the 'trampolines' were. eventually, he managed to find them – and stepped onto the closest one without even hesitating. instantly the unstable, bouncy terrain threw him off-balance, and his grasp on rey loosened as he fell onto his back. as soon as his head stopped spinning, he spoke dryly, "/this/ is supposed to be fun?"

thor: prepare 4 me 2 randomly pass out again as soon as u shower xoxo

rey: omg ill try 2 hurry rip

rey "no, no, no!" rey protested and shook her head swiftly, knowing how ticklish she was, and laughed again as thor carried her to the trampolines, though she gasped as well as he fell, allowing her to break free from his hold. "yeah, it's so much fun! look!" she giggled and began jumping up and down, reaching her hands out to steve.

thor: if u guys would just move to the superior east coast this wouldn't be a probLEM

rey: OK BRB

steve: ive never been to the east coast i am down

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rey: I AM BACK

rey: WAS THAT FAST ENOUGH

rey: OR NO

rey: WHERE DID U ALL GO

rey: WHAT

steve joined the chat 19 hours ago

steve: im heeree

rey: friEND

rey: I LEFT FOR LIKE 10 MINUTES DID THIS PLACE DIE OR SMTH

steve: steve's left angle gave out beneath him on the canvas of the trampoline. he stumbled a bit before finding his footing. as soon as rey approached him, he reached his hands out to attack her ribs. he began to tickle her, seizing her jumping movements

steve: idK YOU LEFT AND THEN KAYLA LEFT SO I WAS LIKE OK PCE

rey: i tolD U WEHRE I WAS GO ING

steve: MAYBE SHE FELL ASLEEP IDK

rey: GDI

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thor: I FELL ASLEEP AGAIN IM S ORRY

rey: LAAAAME

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rey: ayyyy

thor: ayyy hello ur fav sleepaholic is here

rey: LOL

thor: upon carefully finding his footing (which proved immensely more difficult when rey was bouncing all over the place) thor stepped over to join the pair engaged in a one-sided tickle fight. bending his knees a couple of times in a test bounce, he glanced down at rey with undeniable smugness. "i would help you, but this is your rightful fate after betraying me." and if asgardians were good at anything, it was holding grudges.

thor: i love how we're all rarely on at the same time lmao

rey: thats so tru

thor: REY MEETING LOKI THO

rey "no!" rey shrieked as steve began tickling her, causing her to completely lose her footing. his hands were the only things holding her up now, and she was laughing so hard it was almost silent. and thor wasn't helping. time to pull the guilt card. "ow, steve. /ow/," she winced, hand going to her ribs, where he had bruised her from hugging her too hard. "it hurts, stop..."

rey: rey u bitch

rey: I K NOW

rey: WE PLOTTED SOME THINGS MWAHAHAH

thor: YOU WHAT OMG IM AFRAID

rey: BE AFRAID

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steve: WAS GOOD

steve: steve withdrawled his hands with a mortified look on his face. how could he forget? that bruise was bound to be there, and worse than it was before. "i'm so sorry," the avenger gushed. his apology was a little humorous due to the way he swayed back and forth on the trampoline.

thor joined the chat 2 hours ago

thor: hOW DO WE ALWAYS MISS EACH OTHER WTF

thor: thor's earlier amusement quickly turned into a whirlwind of confusion and concern. while steve withdrew, the asgardian lowered himself to a crouch beside rey, his hand tentatively enveloping her shoulder. "what happened?" his eyes scanned the girl for injuries before snapping to his fellow avenger accusingly. "did his tickles harm you?"

steve: im here

thor: SUP

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rey: riP

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rey: IM SRY

rey rey bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. the bruise was already almost gone, and she wasn't hurt at all. she just liked to mess with her boys. as thor asked his question, the smile finally spread across her cheeks as she shook her head, easily rising to her feet and bouncing up and down a bit. "actually, i'm feeling a lot better," she giggled and winked before bouncing away as she laughed even harder, knowing they'd want to get their revenge. "gotcha!"

thor: thor picked himself up off the ground, reaching up and patting the back of his head in the process. the bun still held. huh. it really did hold better thanks to rey's superior method. "if anyone attempts to arrest us, i'll stop them," he replied with confidence. narrowing his eyes in rey's direction, he added, "besides, i don't wish to ever come back here again. it will only remind me of betrayal."

rey at the mention of getting arrested again, rey's smile immediately disappeared as she stopped her bouncing, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. she felt slightly more relieved at thor's promise of keeping them out of jail, nodding her head. then she moved to thor and couldn't help but wrap her arms around him, still overall grateful that he would even think about stopping people from arresting them. she couldn't do that again. "thank you..." she whispered, then reached a hand out to steve.

steve: "don't worry about getting arrested." the captain shot a smile to rey. "rey has the force. she can get us out of everything." he spoke highly of the girl, grasping her palm in his.

thor: though thor was supposed to be annoyed with her, he couldn't help but soften as her small arms wrapped around him. he enveloped her in one of his own in return, rubbing one of her shoulders. "the force?" he repeated, brows furrowing. "she is tiny. what force could she have?"

rey "...if snoke doesn't get in my way..." rey replied quietly in a pessimistic manner, glancing shyly up at steve. then she clasped onto his hand before looking up at thor, smiling softly. "the force surrounds us all. it controls... basically everything. watch," she whispered then turned to the ball pit, lifting her free hand up. but nothing was happening. "...no," she breathed out, shaking her head as she tried again and again to at least make one of the small, colored balls levitate. "no, no, no..." she could feel its absence in her mind, in her heart. with snoke so strong now, it was hard to keep in touch with it. "steve, i-i can't- it's gone..."

steve: snoke. he had heard that name before.. it was the sith lord who invaded rey's brain. the captain moved closer to her, bending down slightly to get a better look at her. "are you alright?" he pressed. at times like this, he wished wanda was here to help.

thor: if the force surrounded them all, thor had no idea how he'd never sensed it before. he watched, captivated, as rey seemed to be attempting to do something –– but failed. "what's gone? the force?" thor looked back and forth between steve and rey, faintly irritated over his lack of understanding. instinctively, his arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. "we will help you find it."

rey rey looked into steve's eyes nervously as he ducked his head down to look at her, much like derek did when she was upset about something. "it-it doesn't hurt yet, but i can't... i can't focus on doing it," she whispered, wrapping her arms around thor again as he hugged her. then she nodded her head and stepped back as she took a deep breath, thinking about the hope that both steve and her new friend, thor, had for her. she closed her eyes and held her hand up again, focusing as hard as she could. when she opened her eyes, only one ball had popped out of the pit, and rolled a few inches on the ground, then stopped. she sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands, hoping she wasn't losing touch with the force for good.

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ur favorite grandpa joined the chat 2 days ago

ur favorite grandpa changed name to thor

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steve: steve smiled gently as the ball rolled forward. he knew it must have took a lot to persevere with snoke inside of her mind. "don't get upset." the avenger chastised the girl. "you just need to.. find the force again. is there anyone who can help you?" he knew that rey had multiple family members in magnolia. they had to be able to help her, someway or somehow. "could we help you?"

thor: a ball levitated in midair, seemingly doing so as a result of rey's concentration. thor barely heard steve as the man spoke, too busy gaping at the ball in newfound fascination. an amazed laugh escaped him. "did you move that with your mind?" he turned to face rey, eyes dancing with enthusiasm over what he had just witnessed. "is this the force? i did not realize you were capable of something so incredible." after a pause in which the solemn mood washed over him, he added, "if you could do that, then the force is still within you. you haven't lost it."

rey rey turned sheepishly towards the two again, nodding her head to steve. but then, noting thor's reaction, her own expression lightened slightly, her shoulders straightening. "r-really...?" she whispered, feeling more reassured by the way he was so interested in her force skills. "as-as long as snoke's here, i don't think i can get any better..." she mumbled to steve and stepped back. in fact, she could feel him coming now. she opened her mouth to explain it to them, but just turned and moved off the trampolines onto the floor, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

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steve: "don't say that." steve called after rey as jumped off the trampoline. he looked at thor before following after her. surely this snoke guy could be stopped. they've dealt with aliens before, what made this one so different? "what can we do to help?"

steve joined the chat 43 hours ago

thor: the mention of snoke nearly drew a low growl from thor's throat. the idea of an unseen opponent harming someone like rey right beside him while he was powerless to do anything to stop it was beyond upsetting, to say the least. "there must be a way to track him," thor added as he trailed after steve, worried gaze on rey's back. "if i know where he is, i can put a stop to this. even if he has armies, they will not stop me."

rey rey buried her face in her hands now and sniffed, trying to push him out of her mind as much as possible. but it wasn't necessarily simple. at the first small pain, she winced and jumped slightly, hands dropping to her mouth. "no, no, no, no..." she murmured under her breath as she began to tremble, pleading for him to leave her mind. then there was another, sharper pain and rey tucked her knees to her chest, beginning to rock back and forth.

steve: steve dove to his knees as soon as rey fell. "hey, hey," he cooed, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. he knew whatever she was feeling or seeing was much like what they went through when wanda brainwashed them. if not worse. he felt a intense need to protect his best friend. "it's gonna be okay, rey. i love you. stay with us," he cooed, rubbing her back as his heart hammered in his chest.

thor: it appeared steve and rey were even closer than thor originally suspected. the revelation did little to ease the tension in his muscles as he began circling restlessly around the pair, hands curling into fists as he itched to summon his prized weapon and smash something, anything. "we must help her," he finally said, stopping to glare at steve. "there must be a way. think of something."

rey rey clasped her hands over her ears and began to cry as she buried her face in his chest, but managed to murmur, "i-i love y-you too..." through her sobs. just so he knew how appreciative she really was of his kind, caring heart. her hands moved about until they landed on thor's chest, curling her fingers into his shirt and holding it tightly, tugging him closer. another sharp pain caused her to shriek and weep even harder, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

steve: "you're the one from space." steve gritted his teeth, trying to focus on the girl falling apart before him. she was in excruciating pain by the looks of it, and it killed him not being able to stop it. "rey, listen to me. is there anything we can do? what makes it hurt less?" the usual put together soldier was now stumbling over his words in an attempt to help his friend.

thor: thor allowed himself to be pulled closer, teeth grinding together as he fought to keep his rage against an invisible foe in check. his temper wouldn't help, especially not when the likes of even steve rogers was losing his cool. "i could take her to asgard," he said slowly. "our healers may lessen her pain while we search for answers." assuming everyone on asgard cooperated and sought to help her as much as he did.

rey "d-derek..." was the first thing rey choked out. he usually helped her after a snoke episode. by... doing exactly what steve and thor were doing now. holding her. talking to her. maybe things would be okay. she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on clearing her mind, like anakin and ben taught her, attempting to push out all thoughts of anything dark. instead she focused on memories of derek. of ben, of steve, of thor, everyone. and slowly, gradually, she calmed down, eyes finally fluttering open. he was leaving. he was smart enough to pick his battles, rey was sure, and probably couldn't fight this one.

thor joined the chat 41 hours ago

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steve: steve's jaw clenched at the mention of derek, but he quickly shook his rage off to focus on rey. her body noticeably let up moments later. he retracted his arms once he knew she was alright. "how often does this happen?"

thor: the unfamiliar name made thor frown, glancing at steve for answers – only to find an odd expression awaiting on the man's face for a split second. dislike? mentally tucking it away, he refocused on rey. where steve moved back, the asgardian leaned forward, slipping his arms beneath rey and lifting her effortlessly into his arms. steve already asked the question on his mind, so he remained quiet, merely looking down at her with expectance.

rey rey's arms slid easily around thor's neck, noticing how he didn't even flinch when lifting her small body. she really was curious to know how strong they both were. "it's-it's been happening more often than not lately..." she admitted in a whisper, rubbing at her eyes with her fists then returning her arms around thor's neck as she looked into steve's eyes. "i-i'm okay, though... please don't tell derek, i don't want him to worry. please."

steve: "do you know how to get to this snoke person?" his tone was firm and assertive, much like the one he reserved for the avengers. he ignored her question about derek and continued with the questions. "can your family help you at all?"

thor: there was that name again. derek. thor's eyes narrowed in annoyance over not knowing yet another piece of information in the rapidly developing mystery of rey. at least the captain was back in action, a small silver lining. "if she knew where snoke was or if her family could help, i'd wager she would have already said as much by now." looking back and forth between the pair, he added, "who is this 'derek'?"

rey "/no/," rey snapped in frustration, mostly at herself for not being able to rid of the sith lord. "just-just forget it, he's gone now..." she mumbled, then closed her eyes again at the mention of derek. now she really missed him. she took a few deep breaths to keep the tears from filling her eyes, then rose to her feet shakily, one hand still in thor's, and the other in steve's. "i-i don't wanna dwell on snoke anymore... not tonight... please? i need a break...'

steve: "her boyfriend." steve answered curtly as rey let out her frustration. he couldn't understand how she could try to move on from something like that. his grip on her palm was loose. "what do you want to do?" he looked around, mentally checking off everything they had done. ball pit, check. playground, check. laser tag, check. trampoline, check. "i saw a game room near the front?"

thor: for a long moment, thor didn't move, only staring hard at the captain. if derek was rey's lover, why was steve so visibly displeased by the very mention of him? thor had only ever seen one reason for that type of behavior. as a fresh understanding dawned, thor wordlessly tightened his grasp of rey's hand and began leading her in the direction of the game room. when they arrived, he stepped passed several brightly colored loud machines until one in particular caught his eye. "captain america and the avengers?" he read aloud, amused in spite of himself.

rey "yeah, can we do that?" rey whispered as she took out her pigtails, trying to let the smile appear on her face again, though it was still shaky for now. she let go of steve's hand, knowing the reason behind his sudden closure, and instead held thor's with both of her own, stumbling along behind him. "whoa..." she whispered in amazement at all the machines, her eyes widening. once at the machine thor stopped it, she began giggling and moved to sit down on the floor in front of the game, knowing from experience to not be on her feet for too long after a snoke episode.

steve: "sounds about right." steve laughed under his breath, leaning against the side of the arcade game. he stared at the giant, cartoon version of himself for a few beats before moving around again. he wandered off toward a skeeball machine where he grabbed one of the basketballs. the avenger stood there, absentmindedly dribbling the basketball. the first time he shot, it went in effortlessly even though he hardly paying attention.

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thor: thor watched rey settle down onto the ground before glancing once more at the machine. uninterested in trying (and likely failing) to figure out how to toy with it, he shifted his attention to steve and the ease with which he tossed a ball through a hoop. "how long have you known each other?" he finally asked, looking back and forth between them. he could have asked more about derek, but keeping the peace felt like a better idea right then.

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rey: \

rey rey watched steve as he moved to go shoot a basketball, still staying where she hd sat on the ground. then she glanced up at thor and shrugged a shoulder. "i-i don't know... a month or so...? maybe longer?" she asked steve, smiling shyly to herself and resting her chin on her knees. "i used to have the biggest crush on him."

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steve: steve nearly choked on his tongue at rey's confession. instead of replying, he merely shot the basketball into the 100 point section. "you might not want to tell derek that." the soldier muttered as he collected the tickets that spewed out of the machine. he handed them over to rey, seeing that he had no use for them. "go get a prize."

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thor: "yes, go get your prize," thor agreed, pushing at rey with gentle but insistent nudges toward the area with several objects scattered along the wall that he assumed were prizes. as soon as she was out of earshot, he turned to steve, arms folding over his broad chest. "where i come from, we settle these situations with duels. have you considered fighting derek for her heart?" he kept his voice low, lips curving to betray his amusement. then, just like that, his features turned solemn. "if not, you must let go of her, friend. this pining is not easy to watch."

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rey rey looked up hesitantly as steve handed her the tickets, collecting them all into her arms and rising to her feet slowly. she didn't move immediately, but at thor's gentle persistence, she finally made her way to the counter, oblivious as to why they sent her away. she was too excited about her prizes. the worker there, the only one left, seemed less than thrilled about accepting the tickets, and told her to pick out three things. she looked over her shoulder at steve and thor, seeing them still talking, then glanced at the shelves to pick her prizes.

steve: steve scowled at thor's proposal. he wasn't entirely subtle about his dislike for derek, but he didn't think it was that obvious. "i'm not fighting derek." his gaze followed rey, who was eagerly awaiting her prizes. "i'll get over it. i always do." he shook his head, eyes falling down to his fidgeting fingers. it was a total lie. he wasn't even over peggy yet — and that was seventy years ago. he couldn't even close his eyes at night without thinking of her or bucky.

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thor: "no, you will not." thor knew an overly-attached lovestruck fool when he saw one. he himself had been on the opposite end of that sort of infatuation more than once, in fact. "these things do not simply fade away. they grow stronger, along with resentment, until you find yourself saying something you will regret." throwing rey a glance, he then dropped a hand on steve's shoulder, squeezing more tightly than truly necessary. "do not destroy your friendship with her. take some time away, if you must –– but let go of this before it harms both of you." thor released him and, without awaiting a response, strode over to join rey.

rey "thank you," rey gasped as the worker handed her her three items, hugging them close to her chest. then she turned towards her friends as thor made his way over to her, showing them the three bears she'd picked out. ( http://www.buildabear.com/ProductImages/... , http://www.buildabear.com/public/images/... , http://www.buildabear.com/ProductImages/... ) "aren't they so cute?" she giggled then moved to steve, wrapping her arms around him the best she could with her new toys. "thank you so much, steve."

steve: the crease between steve's brows tightened following his words. he knew thor was right, but the thought of distancing himself from the girl brought a sharp pain to his chest. he knew he would have to get over his schoolboy crush or else it'd cause damage. the soldier managed to muster a smile at rey as she approached. the stuffed animals tucked under her arm were cute, indeed. the cap and thor bears coaxed a laugh out of him. there was another one that strangely resembled darth vader. "you're welcome." his voice was distant, but the smile gracing his lips still remained. "where to now?"

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thor: thor cast a disapproving eye at rey as she embraced steve, but resigned himself to trusting that the captain would take his advice and move on. if not, thor would do his best to help pick up the pieces when things made a turn for the worse. "is this supposed to be me?" he took hold of his lookalike bear's paw, feeling the soft plushness of it. "hm. we should get ice cream." his eyes met rey's with a wink. in his experience, mortals loved their ice cream.

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rey rey grinned softly at steve's laugh, wishing he would do so more often, then looked between him and thor. "of course it is," she giggled, holding up the thor-themed teddy bear she'd chosen. then she gasped before nodding swiftly. "yes, yes, yes!" she begged, and didn't even wait for an answer before moving to the exit, but not before scooping up her captain america figurine that steve gave her, and holding it with her three teddy bears. "c'mon, you two are so slow!"

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