#but hey hopefully with all this insanity she’ll come out on top as the most sensible. unfortunately she doesn’t really hav a choice

[captains-simp]

Can I get a request where Yelena's dating R and has been for a while because things are going great but Natasha (being the protective big sister she is) realllllyyyy doesn't like R and R keeps making things worse because Nat intimidates her and all bdaksnakwk😭 and she finally accepts R when she gets caught up in a mission somehow and almost dies for Yelena🥺

Nat simps: Nat doesn't like the relationship because she's jealous

Me: n-no

Nat simps: she actually loves R😃

Me: guys no-

Nat simps: but-

Me: N O

(You guys are getting a big Natasha fic after this, calm your tits🙄)

3.6k words

Warnings: graphic injury description, implied torture and murder

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"My sister does not hate you." Yelena chuckled as she opened the car door and stepped out. You stayed put for a second, staring up at the Avenger's tower as you chewed your lower lip.

"She definitely does." You mumbled as you stepped out of the car yourself. Yelena held her hand out for you to take, marginally helping your nerves when she gave it a reassuring squeeze. She noticed your silence and tried again.

"Okay maybe she's not your biggest fan right now but she'll warm up to you. I did." The blonde winked. You bit back a smile and rolled your eyes. "The others sure as hell love you." You hummed in response, you couldn't argue with that. You got on with the other heroes like a house on fire. "And I love you." Yelena said earnestly as you stopped outside the main door for your girlfriend to plant a soft, quick, kiss on your lips.

"I love you too." You said with a smile.

"There she is." She grinned back as she stroked your cheek with her index finger. "Now come on, I'm starving."

"You ate that bag of M&Ms in the car." You laughed as Yelena led you through the building. The blonde scoffed.

"They only half fill them, y/n." She complained. "So it was half a bag." It was hard to argue with that logic. 

You made your way through to the top floor of the building, all while holding onto the expensive wine bottle you bought. Your hands were sweating so much so you held onto the bottle with both hands, not trusting your grip. The last thing you needed was to smash it on any of Tony's expensive carpets. You were met with a round of laughter when the elevator doors opened, presenting the Avengers all sat around the living area. Their eyes turned to you and Yelena with wide smiles and they all shouted hellos across the room. Wanda gave you a warm hug as Yelena high fived Bucky and you felt your nerves soften. 

"She's just finishing up." Wanda said knowingly. You wondered for a brief second if she had taken a peek into your mind but when you looked at the redhead she was smiling reassuringly at you and you realized it must have been obvious that you were anxious to see her again. Unlike Yelena, everyone else could tell you were Natasha's least favourite person. "For what it's worth she seems to be in a pretty good mood tonight." Wanda assured.

"Whose in a pretty good mood tonight?" Came the voice you had been dreading to hear. Natasha strolled into the living room with a content smile on her face but halted in her tracks once she saw you. You locked eyes for longer than you were comfortable with but you were determined not to look away. Sometimes you thought that if you asserted yourself more then maybe Natasha would at least respect you. Today wasn't the day for that because you looked away quicker than you would have hoped to. In your defence, it was really hard to maintain eye contact with the Black Widow. 

"What's she doing here?" Natasha spat. Oh. You winced as you rubbed the back of your neck, clearly the Russian wasn't aware that you were attending the dinner too. 

"I told you she was coming." Yelena said as she strolled towards her sister and gave her a bear hug. Natasha continued to glare at you from over her sister's shoulder. 

"I thought you were meant to be on a mission."

"Luckily it was over by lunch." You smiled weakly. "Meant there was still brownie left in the cafeteria." You laughed awkwardly but Natasha didn't respond. 

"If you want, I could give you the recipe for my brownies." Wanda said in an attempt to ease the overwhelming tension in the room. The Sokovian was always the best at that and you were sure it was entirely down to her calm demeanour.

"Really?" You asked hopefully as you all made your way to the dinner table. You avoided Natasha's eyes the whole time but consequently ended up taking a seat opposite her. You froze when you sat down, already under her heated gaze once again. You gulped thickly and turned to Yelena while you tried to ignore the pair of emerald eyes burning holes into the side of your head.

The rest of the dinner wasn't altogether awkward but it wasn't the most comfortable you'd ever been. Natasha didn't acknowledge you, though it was rare that she did, and you both engaged in separate conversations with the rest of the team. You had never known if there was a particular reason the redhead didn't like you. You guessed it was down to her being protective of her little sister, something you could understand given all they had been through. But you would never hurt your girlfriend, in fact you would do anything to avoid that. So it bothered you that there was nothing you could do to sway Natasha's opinion of you, because you had literally tried everything. You had been dating her sister for six months. Surely if she was going to accept you it would have happened already. 

When dinner was finished Natasha excused herself as Yelena picked up some plates and took them to the kitchen. You were hooked on a story Sam was telling when they left, both your elbows on the table as your face rested in your hands, eagerly waiting for Sam to reveal how he was able to escape a whole squadron of planes with a malfunctioning suit. As a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, you didn’t get to experience half the things the Avengers did. Sure, you had had some crazy missions and your fair share of close calls, but their stories always won. 

Once Sam dramatically finished his story with some over the top sound effects, you noticed Yelena had missed a few plates and still wasn’t back. With the dishes in your hands, you made your way to the kitchen, soon hearing the strong accent of your girlfriend. “You're being unfair.” She scolded with a hushed aggression. 

“I’m trying to protect you, Lena.” Natasha’s voice fired back. Your ears pricked up at the verb and you were unsure of whether or not to leave the plates on a near table and go or stay to hear about the apparent threat your girlfriend was facing. “She’s going to get herself killed.”

“Oh and you’ve never done something reckless?” Reckless. That was a word you had seen in your S.H.I.E.L.D assessment reports enough times to get a vague idea of who the pair were talking about. Natasha being on the opposing side proved the point more. “When will you drop this?”

“You couldn’t have just dated a normal civilian? Or at least an agent that manages to not get themselves in harm's way on the way to the paper copier.” Well that was hardly accurate. S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t use paper copiers. 

“You know maybe if you spent less time being a bitch to her and more time actually getting to know her you would understand why I love her.” Yelena said in a more disappointed tone, most of the frustration drained away from exhaustion. You wondered how long they had been talking about this. Or if they had before. Yelena always acted like there wasn’t any tension between you and her sister. Maybe she thought if she ignored it things would sort themselves out. 

There was a heavy silence over the room so with a pang of guilt, you stepped out from behind the wall with the plates still in your hands, fauxing mild surprise when you saw them both, like you didn’t even know they were still there. If they saw through your act, they didn’t say anything. “Thanks, just put them there.” The blonde smiled and pointed at the counter near her. Natasha stayed silent as she watched you from the other side of the room. It always felt like she was studying you for any sign of a weakness when she looked at you, waiting to spot something she could use to strike. 

“You need a hand?” You asked as you spied the excessive bubbles in the sink that coaxed your girlfriend’s forearms. “Before you break something.” You joked and watched as Yelena’s cheeks tinted pink as she remembered the shattered glass in the bin at home. 

“She’s capable.” Natasha interrupted with stone cold glare. 

“That’s okay, detka (babe).” Yelena mumbled and kissed your cheek. “I’m just finishing up.” She said before looking briefly at her sister. “Then we’re going.”

*

To no surprise of your own, Natasha didn’t get any friendly towards you after what you could only assume wasn’t the first discussion the sister’s had had about you. In fact it got considerably worse; not straight away though, that came a few weeks after when the pair came rushing into the cafeteria. Yelena marched in the room with her eyes set on you as the redhead followed by her side, exclaiming something wildly with her hands. 

“This is insane. Yelena!” Unfortunately for Natasha, her sister’s stubbornness fiercely rivaled her own. 

“Hey, detka.” Yelena smiled as she sat down on the seat in front of you. You gave a small wave as you finished chewing your sandwich, eyeing the pair cautiously. Natasha continued to stand with her arms crossed, mumbling under her breath in Russian. “You busy now?” 

“Not really.” You shrugged and brushed the crumbs off your hands.

“Yelena, no.”

“Zamolchi (shut up)!” The blonde fired back. “That’s great,I could really use a hand on a mission.”

“I will go with you.” Natasha insisted but Yelena shooed her away distractedly. “They know who you are, it won’t work.” She hissed.

“That’s why disguises exist!” Natasha yelled, gaining the attention of every other S.H.I.E.L.D agent in the room. 

“It won’t work.” Your girlfriend said firmly, her choice was already made and set in stone. 

“Okay.” You shrugged and immediately fell under Natasha’s most heated glare. 

“Don’t you dare.” She gritted. “There are thousands of agents in this base alone and you’re picking the single most reckless one who will get you killed.” The redhead continued but Yelena, unlike you, wasn’t fazed. 

“Great, go pack your stuff.” Yelena cheered.

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t fucking move.” Your body betrayed you, keeping you glued to your seat in fear of what method, of the hundreds the widow knew, she would choose to kill you if you stood up. 

“I don’t trust anyone else to do this.” Yelena said earnestly to her sister. Natasha considered her sister carefully but still looked unconvinced when her younger sister gave a frustrated huff and took you by the hand to drag you to your feet and past her sister who surprisingly didn’t follow after you both. 

As your girlfriend led you down the halls she explained the basis of the mission, telling you how you were to set up a last minute buy with a high profile weapons smuggler. Annoyingly, that was how he worked, telling buyers the location and time of a deal at the last minute. Beneficially, he was a smug prick who only believed in carrying out deals on his own. While he would be armed, there would be no one else with him, making yours and Yelena’s job easier. Yelena was the sniper, shooting to kill. S.H.I.E.L.D had tried apprehending the guy alive but it always ended in casualties and they were finally done with going easy. 

You considered it all when you were changing into the outfit Yelena had given you, planning what exactly you could say to the dealer to get him to the specific part of the warehouse that Yelena could shoot at. You were buttoning up your white blouse when the door swung open and Natasha stepped through. “You sure you can handle this?” She asked right off the bat. 

“I’ve been through my training just like everyone else here, Natasha. I know you don’t think I’m capable but I’ve been on my fair share of missions and I know protocol and-”

“Just keep her safe.” The Russian said. You blinked and opened your mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words.

“I don’t care if Baros comes out of there in a body bag or in a limo.” You blinked again and continued with your shirt as you decided to just listen to Natasha. “But if one hair on Yelena’s head is harmed I will make you live to regret it for the remainder of your long and very painful days.” She said darkly and you could only nod dumbly. Natasha studied you for a long moment before turning around to head out of the room far less dramatically as she had entered. 

“She trusts me for a reason.” You couldn’t help but call out as the redhead opened the door. She glanced at you for a second and left as she called over her shoulder to you. 

“I don’t.”

*

“Do you want to get take out tonight? I was thinking that new Chinese place around the corner.” Yelena spoke clearly but she might as well have been thinking aloud because you couldn’t respond. She knew that of course. She knew that you speaking would ruin your cover if Baros had cameras set up around you. “So that’s a yes on the Chinese?” She continued. Okay she was definitely doing it because she knew you couldn’t respond. “Detka there’s no need for you to insist on paying. I owe you one right now.” You bit back a smile until the warehouse doors opened and Baros stepped through, watching you eagerly. 

“So nice of you to join me.” You deadpanned. You couldn’t help it. The guy literally chose the time and he was still half an hour late.

“Yes, my apologies.” Baros said in a very unapologetic tone. “Something came up.” He muttered as he placed a large box on the table and unlocked it with an 8 digit code although you were sure there was a lot more to it than that. Not that you cared about his weapons right now. “Now I hear I have something you’re interested in.” 

With that, the sale began. At first you thought you were in luck. Baros made a habit of strolling around the room as he explained various weapons that you pretended to be interested in, but he never went to the spot Yelena could shoot. It became irritating very quickly. You walked around too in an attempt to lead him to wear you needed him but he always backed off at the last second. You heard Yelena groan into the earpiece a few times too. 

“Is there anything here that’s of interest to you? Or are you more concerned with listening to whoever’s on the other end of that earpiece?” Your eyes snapped to Baros as he watched you curiously. “Where is she?” He asked coldly. Your earpiece wasn’t meant to be visible and the thought that Baros had found a way to get around S.H.I.E.L.D’s technology concerned you greatly. 

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, I’m here alone.” You swallowed thickly. Baros gave a throaty laugh in response, some primal hunting impulse starting up. 

“I’ve killed every S.H.I.E.L.D agent that has come after me, you and your friend will be no different. Now where is she?”

You wanted to charge at Baros. To knock him to the ground and wrap your hands tightly around his throat and squeeze long and tight enough to make him regret ever threatening your girlfriend. Except you couldn’t move. It wasn’t a fear induced freeze up like you had gotten from Natasha’s glares a few times. There was a much larger and more dangerous obstacle that stopped you moving. Something toxic. Baros gave another manic laugh as he watched that realisation dawn on you. But really, what was panicking you most was that Yelena had been silent for a long time. 

“You see, Agent l/n, while you were trying your hardest to get me to play your game, I was beating you at my own. I’ve grown immune to the toxin that’s been circulating the room since your arrival.” You trembled as you dropped to your knees and fell onto your side, only able to watch and listen. “And what your friend sees is a mere projection of us continuing business, audio included of course, so she won’t be coming to get you anytime soon.” You exhaled as heavily as you could in relief at the knowledge that Yelena was safe.

“Now where were we?” Baros asked as he knelt down besides you and lifted your head up, placing the flat of a blade against your cheek. “Oh yes, you were just about to tell me about the other one.”

“Go...to...hell.” You grimace, every word spoken feeling like one of the hardest things you had ever done. 

“I’m sure you’ll feel as though you’re there very shortly.” He muttered as the knife very slowly started to dig into your skin.

*

You had no idea how long you were with Baros, how long since he had first started slicing your skin, how long your bones had been broken or even how long since you had first started to cough up blood, most of it staying in your mouth because of your weak diaphragm. You had exceeded your limit long ago, only using your energy to make the occasional snarky comment that made the next attack harsher. You couldn’t seem to stop yourself. It made you feel like you had some control, as did the fact that you never said a word about Yelena.

A gargled scream was ripped from you when Baros pressed the burning hot knife against your latest stab wound, cauterising it to stop you bleeding out and keep you alive for as long as he needed you. A sickening smile crept onto his lips as he watched your eyes fill with tears once again and leant back once he was done. Much to your long awaited relief, that smile was wiped from his face when a spray of red erupted in front of you, shortly followed by Baros dropping to the ground next to you, dead on the spot he had accidentally stood in. 

You didn’t trust your relief, you didn’t trust yourself not to be hallucinated after the endless hours of torture, even when a heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D team flooded into the room. A few gathered around you, asking questions you couldn’t quite understand as bright white lights filled your vision. Then you were being lifted into the air, not aware of the fabric of the stretcher beneath you until the back of your hand dropped onto it. You managed a small trace of a smile before you passed out. 

*

There was an arm draped across your stomach when you woke up. It was the first thing you felt, a fact that you were extremely grateful for. You blinked frantically a few times before you turned to look at your girlfriend sleeping by your side on the hospital bed. You smiled at the sight of her peaceful form and tucked some stray hairs behind her ear softly, careful not to wake her. You were glad you cherished that moment of peace and relief, because it wasn’t long before you had more company.

You took your hand away from Yelena’s face when Natasha walked in, settling to keep it by your side, although there was nothing you could do about the arm that was squished between yours and your girlfriend’s body. “I tried my best-” you started but Natasha shook her head. 

“You...you did great, y/n.” You smiled sheepishly, sure there were some drugs in your system. “No one could have done any better.” She said as her eyes flickered to the cuts on your face. “So thank you.”

“It was no trouble at all.” You shrugged. Natasha rolled her eyes but smiled faintly, something you never thought you would see directed at you. “I’d never let anything happen to her.” You said honestly. The redhead nodded as she looked at her sister.

“I know that now. I was just scared, I can’t loose her again and you have to admit you’re not the most reliable person on the planet.” You blushed and looked away. “But I trust you now and I’m sorry I doubted you.” She apologised sincerely.

“No harm, no foul.” You joked again, truly not knowing how you were meant to act around the Russian now that you were finally in her good books.

“Don’t make me regret this.” Natasha warned with a smirk. You chuckled lightly and watched as she made to leave. “You should get some rest.” She advised and you nodded but frowned when she was nearly out the door.

“How’d she know?” You asked, making Natasha turn back to you with a quirk of her brow. “That something wasn’t right.” The redhead smiled and shook her head.

“You hadn’t made a smart ass comment in ten minutes.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 2/?

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Y/N - your name, A/N - any name (your best friend’s name)

Warnings: Swearing, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

Welcome Back! I have, once again, written more of Jason Todd because he’s a fucking teddy bear and I love him.

(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) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Y/N and Jason both returned from that date feeling all giddy about each other, but trying their dammed-est to not let their hopes get too high about the other. However, that was extremely, extremely hard for Jason to do with family like Dick in his life. It’s like coming home to a hopeless romantic of a shipper as a nosey bitch. Lovingly, of course. No one’s like Dick.

“So, Y/N?” Dick asked Jason immediately as he entered the Manor.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“So, many questions: Was that a date? If no, will there be a date? Is there going to be a second date? Do you like her? Do you think we’ll like her? Does she know you’re Bruce Wayne’s son?” Dick rambled at his little brother.

“Okay hold on god damn, yes it was a date, yes there will be a second, yeah I think she’s cool and I like her, slow your roll Circus Boy, I don’t know when she’ll meet you lot, I don’t think she knows who I am, she’s from Metropolis, so I don’t think she knows the Waynes well.” Jason answered Dick with confidence.

“So you like her!” Steph mocked as she entered the hallway, probably heard her brothers talking about Y/N, so she wanted in on it. Somehow she had evaded Jason’s gaze though, so she startled him immensely.

“Jeez, how many of you will scare me today? And yeah, dumbass, I like her. But I’m doing this magical thing called ‘Not getting my god damn hopes up about her since it’s only the first date’ you hopeless romantic fucks.” Jason barked at them.

“Yeah, but you love us.” Dick said.

“That might be true, but your meddling is only going to cause chaos, Dick and Steph.”

“What about my meddling, Jay?” Bruce asked. Once again, he had heard the talking about Jason’s new crush and decided he’d parent the boy on his girl. Jason jumped out of his skin, because, he had once again, not seen Bruce enter the hallway despite his best efforts to not get startled again.

“You, are going to give me a heart attack.”

“Looks like this girl let your guard down.”

“Can we just go on patrol and stop badgering me?” Jason muttered under his breath.

“Nope!” Barbara exclaimed. Clearly, there’s a pattern with Waynes escaping Jason’s attempts to not get startled today, “We’re still going to badger you, Jay,” Barbara finished.

---------------------------------------

When Y/N made her way back to A/N, she couldn’t help but turn her radio as loud as she could and try to take the longer journey back home. Pieces of quiet and tranquility always surprised and drew her in. Like a good book on a Sunday morning before the rest of the bustling city of Gotham or Metropolis awoke itself. If New York never sleeps, she thought, then what the hell do Gotham and Metropolis call themselves. She laughed.

There were a few good things about Gotham, like the people you’d meet on the street at 4am were some of the weirdest but kindest people you’d ever know. It’s like the city radiated off of the energy of the people in it, and in spite of the villains constantly hitting the city with their worst, somehow everyone never let it get to them. It was admirable. Metropolis was the same in that avenue, but it didn’t feel like the cold Gotham streets.

Y/N thought Jason was one of the kinder people she had met in her travels and classes. And she never thought that she’d meet someone she liked this much in her criminal psychology class of all places, but hey, the universe had different pen strokes for her.

She went and parked her car in the driveway of the rental house she and A/N shared. Only the two of them shared it, but if either of them lost their jobs, they’d be looking for another roommate immediately. Pulling out her bag which was full of notes written by Jason, the original notes written by her, and binders upon binders of criminal cases she was looking into at the time, she would get out of her car and begin walking to her door.

Of course, like most people, she would kick off her heels the minute she walked through the doors of the house, to which, A/N paused her music and went to go question Y/N about Jason.

“So, you know how this works, babes, lay it on me, how’s hottie? Is he kind?” A/N pondered.

“He’s so kind, he paid the printing fees for my notes and rewrote all of them, I guess it’s a system for us now. I write the notes in class while he tries to take it all in, we meet up, and he rewrites them all and pays the printing fee.”

“He paid the fee?! At that college?” A/N said, completely shocked.

“Is that shocking?”

“Well, the printing fees are so fucking expensive, hun. Mans must have daddy’s money to do that.”

“Really? Well regardless money doesn’t matter, he’s kind and I can make a name for myself if I graduate at the top of my class.” She said, fully believing this. Smart woman. She knew she could do it.

“I believe in you, do you have homework tonight? I can make dinner for you so you can study.” A/N offered.

“Nah, I’m just going to go file my notes and shower, I’ll come join you and help after.”

“Well, don’t drown.” A/N joked.

“Do you know how much effort that would take?” She laughed as she walked towards her room, once she got there she pulled out her papers and began the slow filing process of them into her desk.

About 2 minutes into this, she got a text:

Hey stranger.

If someone had a heart monitor hooked up to her, they could have bet their last penny on her heart skipping a beat. 

Hey Jason. She sent back.

I had a fun time today with you, do you want to do the same thing tomorrow, I could use your fast writing skills to get by in classes. And I just like talking to you. What do you say?

She thought. Maybe something legit is here, hopefully I’m not just used for notes. She worried about that, since she was just a tad insecure about him. He was pretty. She knew she was a looker, sure. But he was something more.

I would love to go on another budget date with you.

Budget? Actually yeah, I guess it is budget lol. Maybe next time I’ll actually take you out to lunch like I said I would.

I, honestly, completely forgot you said you’d take me to lunch, I was just having fun as we were talking.

Me too. You’re a hoot.

A hoot? That’s a book nerd statement if I’ve ever heard one. She joked. She didn’t actually know if he was a book nerd at this time, but they had been joking the entire time when she was filing her notes. She was no where near done filing her notes, Jason was a distraction from that, it wasn’t that important, she would end up finishing it later. She just liked some semblance of organization so she didn’t have to put it off.

I’ll have you know I’ve probably read more books than you.

Well book nerds are cute.

Eventually the messages from Jason and Y/N started slowing, Y/N assumed he was tired or working so she took her chance to file her notes and start running her shower.

Sorry Y/N, this has been fun but I’m going to get really sparse with replies, I got work to do.

That’s fine! Where do you work, by the way?

And she got into the shower. Halfway through her shower her phone pinged, she assumed Jason was texting back, so when she finished her shower, before she even got her towel on, she decided to answer him:

I work at Wayne Enterprises with my dad. It’s quite fun.  He had said.

Oh! I’ve heard the owner of Wayne Enterprises is a lovely man, have you met him? She asked him back.

And within an instant, he answered.

He’s my dad, so yeah.

You’re the Jason Todd? Heir to the Wayne Manor and Wayne Enterprises? She started thinking back on what A/N had said. Yep, she thought, Daddy’s money indeed. She started to slip into her pajamas, which were literally a mess and not put together, because this is the real world, not every girl has matching sets, when he answered:

I hope that doesn’t change much, Y/N.

Explains the camera I saw but didn’t mention, and that’s about it.

You saw the cameras? Damn it. I tried to shield you, they may have pictured us together, sorry.

Worth it for a lovely date. I’ve seen worse, my mum works with Clark Kent, who I guess you probably know since he’s Bruce’s best friend, and the paparazzi loves to take Clark’s picture.

Oh yeah, Uncle Clark. Yeah, the pap love him. You get used to it. I guess you somewhat know my family lol.

Nah, that’s about all I know. Wasn’t really interested in drama about you lot because it’s just not my business. Probably not a shared ideal with the general public.

She finished getting dressed and went to go cook with A/N, and share the news.

----------------------------------

“Girl! You were right about daddy’s money oh my god,” Y/N said when she entered the kitchen.

“Go on,” A/N urged.

“You know Jason Todd? Guess what. That’s hottie from Crim Psych 101.”

“Are you serious? That’s insane. You’re probably plastered across the internet right now for that date,” A/N laughed, “are you scared to date a famous man?” She asked.

“No, he’s really sweet and if this gets serious, I can just block out the flashes.”

The two of them laughed and started cooking. A/N was Latina, so, of course, she was in charge to cook most nights. But Y/N made killer desserts and pizza. Tonight was fajitas, so Y/N kind of sat bat and let A/N do her thing. Trying to know more so one day A/N wouldn’t have to do all the work, Y/N went onto the internet and the first thing she saw?

Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire, Jason Todd, out on a DATE with a Mystery Girl?

Like clockwork, Jason answered:

I guess I have a lot to teach you, and I hope you haven’t been on the internet recently.

I have. Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire. She texted back.

Fuck those damn tabloids. He said, she couldn’t help but agree, the paparazzi seem like they’re very invested in stories that aren’t theirs to tell.

Can’t agree with you more. We should put on a show for them tomorrow, actually give them something to write about.

I like your thinking.

You’ve opened up a lot today.

Is it your turn now?

What do you want to know? You asked him before turning to A/N.

“Tabloids talk too much,” you sneered at her.

“Cat should get their tongue and choke on it,” she finished, “did you at least look cute in their pics?” she asked.

“Somehow. Wasn’t even posing,” Y/N finished.

“Well, food’s done, are you still hungry?”

“Always.”

--------------------------------------

Jason turned to his brother, Dick, Nightwing, and said, 

“She knows now.”

“That you’re rich?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess I have to be more wary of her now,” he sighed, “I hope she’s not in it for the Wayne fortune.”

“Doubt she is if she agreed the tabloids can suck it, Red Hood.”

“I pray you’re right.”

He then drew his guns and fired at the ground underneath their laest venture into crime-fighting. This was gonna be one hell of a ride Y/N embarked on, not even knowing what she was getting into.

[scripturiends]

law school episode 9 musings

warning: very very long post ahead. i have a lot of thoughts.

hey folks — how we feeling about episode 9?

given that there are so many plotlines in the show, i’m afraid i won’t be able to extend my analysis of the episode as far as i would like, but there are three characters who stood out to me the most last night that i’d like to talk about for now:

kang dan

there’s a lot that we got to uncover about her thanks to professor yang’s trial. if i’m piecing it all together right, the basic summary of what led to her disappearance goes like this:

she was a volunteer for assemblyman ko’s campaign, but upon discovering that he was spreading fake news about his opposition, dan reported him to the authorities (i’m guessing not just the police but also the media) and became a whistleblower. assemblyman ko tried to buy her off with money, but she refused, so he attacked her where she’s most vulnerable instead — by using her family.

i’m not completely sure about this (please feel free to correct me!) but it’s either byeol is (1) the twins’ half-sister, or (2) their stepsister? it’s so hard to tell, especially since korean terms can get lost in translation in the process (i watch on netflix, if that helps). but anyway, sol and dan’s mom married someone who was abusing her, and in exchange for dan’s silence (and her fleeing), the husband signs a contract that he would stop hurting his wife.

so that’s the backbone of dan’s story. however, this still doesn’t answer a lot of things, like where seo byungju or lee manho fits into the equation, the whereabouts of their mom’s ex-husband, or why dan was sent into boston in the first place.

i usually don’t like theorizing, but i do have one: there is an ivy league school located just outside of boston — harvard. (it’s technically in cambridge but you know, i’m taking liberties here.) professor yang said in passing one episode that he thought he saw dan when he went to the school for a seminar or a talk or something. could it be that assemblyman ko offered her an education at a top school in exchange for her silence? it could explain why she gave it up all so easily. what if she took that topnotch education as a chance to prepare, so that when she came back, she had much stronger leverage to take assemblyman ko down, given the knowledge and network of connections she’ll have earned in that school?

the theory’s plausible but i might be overestimating assemblyman ko’s kindness — unless he’s insanely desperate, he might not give a damn about dan’s education. it actually benefits him more if she stayed uninformed, but still. let me know what you think about it.

yoo seungjae

in this episode, we learned a little bit more about how yoo seungjae was able to hack into the professors’ laptops, and they also confirmed some of our previous speculations about him: that his wife yujeong was an ob gyn, and so was he, and that they were trying for a baby. unfortunately, i find it all to be a bit lacking in substance. i was hoping we could get down to the nitty-gritty of why he did what he did.

i say this for one important reason: i don’t know about you guys, but i would never make such a stupid mistake in undergrad, let alone in law school. seungjae has gone to med school, so we know that he knows the repercussions of his actions. why would he go to such lengths? sure, he found an opening, he was tempted, and he took it. but he didn’t just do it once, he did it multiple times, and those offenses add up (hacking, stealing exam papers, and cheating). surely he must know that something like this can ruin careers even before they even start, and not only would he get kicked out of the school, he would also get blacklisted from the industry once he implicates himself. so we understand why he’s so hesitant to testify (especially now that his wife is pregnant).

but why did he do that in the first place? we could say he’s insecure about his skills, but he’s survived med school. how much harder could law school be for him? i just don’t think that the payoff is worth the risk. what must be so important for yoo seungjae to do all of this for? what does he get in return if he successfully pulls it off and gets straight As during his entire time in law school? who is he doing for?

i hope it runs deeper than just wanting a ‘good future’ for him and his wife and their baby or something — because he could just as easily do that as a doctor. there must be another reason he went into law.

still, though, and this is just a personal opinion, even if i did find out his entire backstory, there’s no way i could ever defend him. we see in the show how his guilt builds up (from observing how kang sol A studies so well, to his conversation with jeon yeseul in the hospital), but at this point there is no more excusing what he did. not that i ever condoned it in the first place.

we’re still in the dark about a lot of things regarding yoo seungjae. hopefully by the next episode, we get something. but until then, he is still a shady, shady man to me.

kang sol B

her screen time in this episode was short, but i still wanted to highlight her because she is pretty much a ticking time bomb.

she’s in a tight spot right now because even if she testifies about having seen the sugar packet, the prosecutor will just twist the argument by saying she colluded with a murderer just to cover up her plagiarism.

and now, seo jiho needs her help, probably for something related to his case with prosecutor jin. in exchange, she puts pressure on him to ‘confirm’ that she didn’t plagiarize in middle school, since they were schoolmates and rivals.

there may be more to this plagiarism issue than meets the eye. who knows, we might find out later on that she actually didn’t plagiarize? but given what i know now, i have no reason to believe that she didn’t. i don’t blame her specifically for that, seeing as she has to pay for the consequences for something that her awful mom forced her to do. but now that the mess has been made, i want to see how she cleans it up.

kang sol B is a very elusive character to me. the scary thing about her is that she’s on no one’s side but her own. and that’s why i think she’s a ticking time bomb.

~

bonus: han joonhwi

so that’s all i have for the serious stuff. as a bonus, i’d like to talk about han joonhwi and his four (4) children jeon yeseul, seo jiho, kang byeol, and min bokgi.

one of my friends brought up how it’s so funny how he’s somehow just at the right place at the right time all the time. this happened when he ran into kang sol A when she was looking for yeseul (i still think they were on the phone with each other beforehand but this is just my shipper self talking — truthfully, if the focus was shifted towards that phone call without divulging who it was, i have a feeling it might be more important later on), and when seo jiho confronted prosecutor jin. adding his elevator conversation with kang sol B, i think it just solidified what we already know: han joonhwi is a very compassionate person. but he doesn’t sacrifice his own personality just to appease them — he recognizes that these individuals have agency, and he’s just giving them the little push they need to make them realize what they need to do.

i also felt the need to bring up kang byeol. the show does such a good job of ensuring that all the solhwi scenes that we get, no matter how indulgent and “fanservice-y” they might seem, actually have a deeper purpose. again, i could go on and on about what each solhwi scene has actually contributed to the development of the plot, which is exactly why i love them so much! because all of their scenes are so meaningful. but anyway, it’s nice to see han joonhwi care so much for his, ehem, future sister-in-law.

and for min bokgi — this scene was so short, but i absolutely loved it so much (i tend to pay attention to the throwaway scenes): min bokgi is going off about how yoo seungjae is acting weird, and he says to joonhwi, “hyung, you should call him.” and joonhwi responds with, “sure. eat your food.” it’s such a fatherly thing to do and it’s such a great contrast to bokgi’s dynamic with sol A, with whom he’s so loud and vibrant, moods that both match their personalities, but with joonhwi, who is more subdued, he’s like a little kid in need of rescue from an older brother, or even a dad. ah, i love it so much. min bokgi is such an underrated character. i wish he had more screen time. (if he doesn’t get a central ep, well, you guys know where i’m going with this, right? it means i’ll give it to him myself.)

~

so that’s it for now! i’m sorry i went on rambling again, but if there’s anything noteworthy in this post that you think is worth discussing, please do tell! if there’s anything that you found thought-provoking in the episode that i didn’t get to touch up on, let me know as well!

i personally don’t make any theories about the overarching plot myself, seeing as by the time the new episode comes out, we get fed information that renders the theory useless. still, that doesn’t mean we should stop coming up with our own ideas. sometimes, the theories are more interesting than the canon itself.

[carewyncromwell]

The POTC AU is continuing, and with it, the reveal of the Brethren Court at Shipwreck Cove! Above we have six out of our seven Pirate Lords -- you’ll be meeting all of them in this section one by one, but to list them off, we have Merula Snyde; Arjun Singh (pictured with Aishwarya Mehra) @hogwarts9; Ellie Hopper @that-ravenpuff-witch; Jacob “Black Jack” Cromwell Roberts; Orion Amari; and Jae Kim.

Merula’s outfit is modeled slightly off of Angelica Teech’s from the fourth Pirates film, though with an oversized 18th century-style men’s undershirt rather than the “Renaissance Fair”-style shirt we get in the movie, while Jae’s most closely resembles Elizabeth Swann’s Pirate King ensemble from the third movie. Ellie’s is most closely modeled on Carina Smyth’s from the fifth Pirates film, though I did make some more period-worthy adjustments like the sleeve length and the light-weight scarf underneath the neckline, which were often worn by women of the time to obscure any deep cleavage and/or for warmth. Arjun and Jae, like the rest of the male pirates, I also gave facial hair because it was considered bad luck to shave while on board a ship, and so most pirates would invariably have beards of some variety, since they would be at sea much more than on land. In the 18th century in particular, beards were kind of “out of fashion” for men on dry land -- were you to have one, you were generally presumed to be eccentric, wild, uncouth, or just flat-out insane. (Which honestly kind of fits the traditional image of a pirate. XD)

The song “Hoist the Colours,” in the original Pirates films, actually refers to Davy Jones and the Brethren Court “binding Calypso in her bones” -- but since in this version of events, Finn McGarry/Davy Jones @theguythatdraws had no part in the Court binding Calypso (because seriously, OG!Jones?? Dick move), the “King” in the song is the original Pirate King, not Jones. It’s actually a rare case where one can take a lyric more literally than metaphorically. XD

A kumiho is a nine-tailed fox spirit from Korean mythology, rather like the Japanese kitsune. One of my personal headcanons for Jae Kim is that his Patronus is a fox. *grins at @kyril-hphm* 83

Previous part is here; whole tag is here; and also featured in this section are Jules Farrier-Weasley @cursebreakerfarrier (happy belated birthday, mon couer!) and Samantha O’Connell @samshogwarts!

x~x~x~x

Shipwreck Cove was a settlement made out of hundreds of wrecked ships, all stacked on top of each other inside of a dead volcano. It was an imposing fortress, lit by thousands of lanterns in the night. Even its location at the end of the treacherous Devil’s Throat gave it a sense of impregnability -- it needed no tall walls to keep its enemies out.

As soon as Charlie arrived on the island, his new First Mate Barnaby Lee cheerfully showed him and the rest of the Phoenix’s crew around before he guided them to the Hall of the Codex, the room where members of the Brethren Court gathered, whenever they convened. Barnaby advised Charlie to make sure he stuck his sword in the globe before approaching the table -- it not only signaled his status as Pirate Lord to the other gathered Lords, but it also was a sign of respect to the others, indicating that he would not incite violence at the meeting.

“You can bring other weapons to the table, though, so you could still start a fight if you really wanted to,” Barnaby added rather brightly.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” laughed Charlie.

“CHARLIE!”

The new captain of the Phoenix looked up, and his face lit up at the sight of a familiar freckled face racing towards him.

“Bill!”

The two Weasley brothers latched onto each other, squeezing each other in a giant hug.

“Thank God, Charlie!” Bill mumbled as he clutched at the back of his brother’s coat.

Jules ran over too so she could also bring an arm around Charlie, resting a hand on the back of his head as she and Bill both hugged him tight.

“We were so worried about you,” said Jules, her voice a bit more level than Bill’s but no less relieved.

She glanced curiously at the new hat and coat his new crew had lent him.

“...Is there a story behind the new clothes?”

Charlie grinned a bit sheepishly. “Uh...aye! Actually...”

“Can we send Weasley and her crew out so we can call this meeting to order already?” came a rather impatient female voice from the table.

“Captain Farrier-Weasley and the crew of the Revolution are my guests,” said the level, patient voice of Orion.

“This meeting is for Pirate Lords, Amari,” said the impatient voice irritably. “You can’t just invite non-Lords to it -- ”

"Jules’s father is the Governor of Port Royal,” said the logical voice of McNully. “Since Port Royal’s the current base of operations for Cutler Beckett and the Navy, there’s a 65% chance she’ll have some good insight about how to approach this whole thing.”

“And considering we’ll likely be missing a member of our Court, I thought it might be helpful to have another captain present who could fill in for our seventh Lord,” Orion added calmly.

"You can’t decide that all on your own, Amari!”

“He’s not trying to!” snapped Skye’s voice. “At least Orion’s trying to bring something to the table besides tantrums -- !”

“Skye, please,” Orion soothed quietly. “Samantha, is it against the Code for Pirate Lords to invite other captains to meetings?”

Charlie’s ears perked up. Samantha O’Connell was there too?

Jules beckoned Bill and Charlie with a jerk of her head to follow her into the Hall of the Codex properly.

There was a large, stained, circular table set up in the middle of the room, around which two women and two men --  presumably four out of the seven Pirate Lords -- were already seated with Orion. One of the Lords -- a young man with tanned skin, bright blue eyes, and a black ponytail -- had a dark-haired woman who closely resembled him standing behind his chair with her arms resting on top of the back. Charlie guessed they must be related.

“...The Code does state meetings of the Brethren Court are to be attended by the Pirate Lords and their crews,” said Samantha. She was sitting with her legs slouched over the right arm of a high-backed chair in the corner of the room, a gigantic, dusty, leather-bound book open in her lap. “But it doesn’t say that it can only be attended by those people...so any dispute to the rule could be settled by popular vote. If any other Lord wished to co-sponsor your guests, Orion, they could stay.”

Samantha then flashed a beady look at the brown-haired female pirate -- likely the one who’d been arguing with Orion -- across the table.

“What is stated, though, is that all active Pirate Lords must be present before a meeting starts.”

The blond female captain sitting closest to the door nodded in agreement. “And we’re still missing one Pirate Lord.”

“Technically we’re missing two Lords,” the tanned young man pointed out in a rather charming, amused voice.

“I doubt the Lord of the Pacific Ocean will show up, Arjun,” said the woman leaning against the back of his chair. “I mean, there hasn’t been one since the first Brethren Court...”

“You’ll have one for this meeting.”

Everyone turned around in surprise as Charlie strode forward toward the globe, stabbing his dragon-hilted blade into it just as Barnaby instructed.

“Charlie?” said Bill, perfectly stunned.

Charlie walked up to the table, the crew of the Phoenix following along behind, and stopped in front of the empty chair beside Orion’s. He shot Samantha a smile and a little wave, before he glanced around at the other Lords more more seriously.

“I’ll second Captain Amari’s sponsorship of Captain Farrier-Weasley and her crew,” he said firmly. He tapped his hat to indicate the S-and-anchor-trimmed “Piece of Eight” button he’d sewn onto it, before removing it and setting it down on the table as he took a seat. “The crew of the Revolution is welcome to attend this meeting.”

He shot a cheeky grin over his shoulder at his brother and sister-in-law. Bill’s mouth had dropped open in shock and disbelief. Jules looked rather stunned too, but she recovered more quickly and soon smiled broadly herself, coming up to stand between Charlie and Orion the way the woman with Arjun stood behind him.

Orion gave Charlie a muted, but still very pleased smile.

“Captain Charlie Weasley...allow me to introduce Captain Merula Snyde of the Blackbird, Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea -- ”

He indicated the impatient pink-eyed brunette, who was now slouching in her seat and crossing her arms irritably.

“ -- Captain Ellie Hopper of the Treasure, Pirate Lord of the Mediterranean Sea -- ”

The blonde pirate wearing the thigh-length teal dress and brown tricorn hat nodded politely to Charlie and smiled. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“ -- Captain Arjun Singh of the Naga, Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean, and his cousin and co-captain, Aishwarya Mehra -- ”

The man called Arjun and the woman behind him both smiled and inclined their heads respectfully to Charlie.

“ -- Captain Jae Kim of the Kumiho, Pirate Lord of the South China Sea -- ”

A pirate with a long black braid dressed in a beautifully patterned gold silk tunic, who was slouching casually in his seat, raised his hand in an off-hand wave. “Hey.”

“ -- and last but certainly not least, Samantha O’Connell, Keeper of the Code.”

“We’ve met,” said Charlie with a cheeky grin.

Samantha’s lips were tugged up into a broad smile too as she closed the large book in her lap and got to her feet.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And of course you already know Orion -- Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea.”

“So the last Lord is for the Atlantic Ocean?” said Jules after a moment, once she’d mentally listed off all the seas she’d heard.

“Aye -- that I am.”

Everyone looked up as a man with a long mane of dark curls and hollowed-out, almond-shaped blue eyes strode up to the round table.

“Black Jack!” said Barnaby in relief.

The rest of the Phoenix chattered happily at the sight of the Tower Raven’s captain. Charlie was relieved too, seeing that Carewyn’s brother was all right after all. Unlike the rest of the captains present, Jacob only had Ashe accompanying him instead of a full crew, and both men were also missing their hats and dressed in sopping wet clothes.

“Apologies for my tardiness,” muttered Jacob as he sidled into the seat next to Merula’s. “Ashe and I had to swim most of the way here, as that twat Rakepick decided to blow up my ship -- ”

“Swim?” repeated Merula, sounding both perfectly scandalized and disbelieving. “How could you have swam all the way here from...wherever the Hell you were?”

“Very strong lungs and muscles,” Ashe said in such a cool voice that it put an end to the train of conversation. He stood over Jacob much the way Aishwarya stood over Arjun, draping his arms around the back of the chair so as to hug Jacob from behind, and shot beady looks at the remaining Pirate Lords. “Seems they’re all in attendance, Jack.”

“Aye,” said Jacob. “Shall we begin, then?”

“Aye,” agreed Samantha. “Now, as per the Code, we can call this meeting of the Fourth Brethren Court to order.”

“Finally,” growled Merula.

She immediately shot to her feet and addressed the others.

“All right -- for those of you who aren’t aware...the Flying Dutchman, cursed ship of the damned, has been impressed into service by the British Navy. Then, under that arse Cutler Beckett’s orders, it attacked Tortuga.”

Jacob looked stricken. “Tortuga?”

Merula nodded. “Two hundred people have now been hanged in Port Royal, all for supposedly aiding and abetting pirates -- men, women, and children.”

Ellie looked back at her crewmates, visibly disturbed by the news. Arjun and Aishwarya exchanged a grim look.

“Both of the Captains Weasley and I were on Tortuga at the time of the attack,” said Orion, indicating Charlie, Jules, and himself. “I’m afraid the Flying Dutchman has burned the settlement to the ground. It’s no longer safe to return to.”

“It’s worse than that,” Charlie said lowly. He glanced from Jacob to Orion. “...Commodore Carey Weasley...warned me that Beckett is on his way here, to Shipwreck Cove.”

Orion’s dark eyes widened. Jacob stiffened sharply.

“You saw Carey?” said Bill, his voice strained with desperation.

Charlie glanced at his brother uneasily. “Yeah. ...He’s aboard the Flying Dutchman.”

The pronouncement made Jacob lunge to his feet so violently he knocked his chair over with a clatter.

“What?!”

His face was as white as a sheet as the rest of the Pirate Lords and their crews muttered amongst themselves. Ashe squeezed his lover’s shoulders that bit more tightly, his own brown eyes narrowing in concern. Bill had also blanched, his freckles sticking out sharply on his face. Orion’s gaze dropped onto his hands as he clasped them together on the table in front of him.

“Sh -- he can’t be on that ship!” Jacob shouted. “I explicitly told him to stay in Port Royal, away from the sea -- !”

“Carey had to have been ordered to go,” Jules cut Jacob off as gently as she could, even if she looked just as anxious as Bill and Charlie were. “If he got the order, he wouldn’t have been able to disobey it...not if he wanted to keep his position as Commodore -- to protect all of us.”

She glanced at Bill and reached out and took his hand, squeezing it empathetically.

Arjun exchanged a confused look with Aishwarya.

“I’m sorry -- but I think we’re missing something here,” said the Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean with a bit of a sheepish smile. “Is the Commodore of the British Navy our ally now?”

“Of course not!” scoffed Merula. “Beckett’s been puffing his chest out for weeks, crowing about how he’s roped ‘the great Carey Weasley’ into his anti-piracy campaign. Rumor has it that the Commodore himself was the one who suggested sacking Tortuga in the first place!”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” said Jae.

Everyone turned to look at him, startled.

“Amari here captured Carey Weasley to send a message to the British Navy and the East India Trading Company, didn’t he?” said the Lord of the South China Sea. “Yet Weasley escaped him. Then, only a short while later, Amari got arrested in Weasley’s hometown of Port Royal, only to be ‘liberated’ by Weasley’s own brothers and the Governor’s daughter, who has now become his sister-in-law.” He nodded curtly at Jules, Bill, and Charlie. “...It seems clear to me that all of it must’ve been planned. There’s no reason I can see for Charlie, Bill, and Jules Weasley to break Amari out of prison unless he and the Commodore were allies.”

The Pirate Lords’ crews excluding Orion’s starting muttering again. Charlie glanced at Orion, but the Captain of the Artemis’s gaze was still solidly on his clasped hands on the tale.

“...That’s true,” the second eldest Weasley said at last. “Captain Amari and my twin staged the escape. That was the reason Jules, Bill, and I helped Captain Amari escape prison, so he could help us rescue Carey from Charles Cromwell. Carey may be with Beckett...but he’s only agreed to it so that he’ll be in a position to protect us, now that we’ve been branded pirates.”

“Your twin’s smart,” said Jae with a nod. His black eyes then flitted over to Jacob. “What I want to know, though, is how you know the Commodore, Black Jack?”

Jacob’s skull-like blue eyes narrowed very coldly upon Jae’s face. “My history with the Commodore is none of your business. Nor is it relevant.”

He turned his focus back to the rest of the Brethren Court, his eyes blazing. “If that bilge rat Beckett does know where Shipwreck Cove is, then we’ll need to make preparations.”

“What preparations?” said Jae. He looked oddly unconcerned as he slouched back in his chair. “Shipwreck Cove is a fortress. It would take ages for anyone to penetrate our defenses.”

“The British Navy has broken out their Man O’ Wars from the War against the Spanish,” said Jacob grimly. “No pirate I know of has a ship that large and heavily armed.”

“Even so,” said Arjun bracingly, “it would take at least a month for them to reach us here, even if they found Shipwreck Cove. Would Beckett really want to waste that much time?”

“And money too,” Ellie pointed out. “That’s always what men like him worry about most.”

“Not to mention all the lives of the men he’d lose,” said Aishwarya.

“I’m afraid those things mean little.”

Everyone looked at Orion. He slowly raised his gaze from his clasped hands at last to look at them all.

“Cutler Beckett may be a man of business,” the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean murmured, “but he’s also a vengeful, close-minded, and ambitious person. He seeks status and wealth, and he has no compassion for those who might stand in his way of achieving them. And right now, in his eyes, what stands in his way -- in the way of the East India Trading Company’s profits and his own personal ambitions -- is every person who sails under a pirate flag or who shows any sympathy for our plight. Beckett may be crafty enough to manipulate others rather than just using his own physical strength...but he only acts like a gentleman when he doesn’t have absolute power over another person’s life. When he does have that level of control over someone...he can be as ruthless as the Kraken itself.”

Despite the calm, serious expression on his face, there was an odd flash of cold emotion that crackled through his dark eyes. No one doubted Orion’s testimony.

“If the fleet Beckett’s assembled does contain Man O’ Wars,” said McNully, as he rolled his wheeled chair up beside Orion, “then there’s a 73.2% chance this could turn into a siege.”

Jules’s dark eyes became a little smaller and she set her jaw tightly.

“...Then we’ll just have to assemble our own Navy and fight back,” she said firmly after a moment.

The other Pirate Lords’ crews started to laugh.

“‘Navy?’” repeated Arjun. He wasn’t laughing, but he did look a little incredulous. “Captain Weasley...we pirates may have a Court and Lords, but we’re not a country. Even those of us who have fleets -- or had fleets,” he gave a nod toward Jacob, “don’t answer to anyone else.”

“Even Shipwreck Cove isn’t a military fort or town,” said Aishwarya. “People stay here, and it’s very well-protected...but it’s no one’s home.”

“No pirate has a home,” said Samantha solemnly from the sidelines. Her emerald green eyes had drifted off toward the wall absently. “Just a ship, if we’re lucky.”

Charlie’s eyes lingered on Samantha’s face, clearly struck by how grim and oddly sad she seemed, saying this.

Jules, however, didn’t falter in her conviction even slightly. If anything, her dark eyes grew sharper as she put a hand down on the table and leaned over it.

“Cutler Beckett is an ally of my father’s, so Beckett hates pirates just as much as he does -- likely more, if we take Orion’s word -- and we’re all pirates. There’s no way any of us could defeat Beckett on our own, and if he reaches Shipwreck Cove, it’s likely he’ll treat it the same way he did Tortuga. If that happens, where else will anyone branded as pirates be able to go? Where else will we be able to go, if we decide to run instead of standing our ground? Even if you don’t have a home, we all need a safe place to rest and resupply...”

Bill nodded in agreement. “We all need a sanctuary to escape to, now and again.”

Jacob rested his head in his hands on the table, interlacing the fingers over his lips thoughtfully. Ellie Hopper placed both of her hands on the table so as to hoist herself up and out of her chair to her feet.

“You bring up a good point, Captain Weasley,” she said to Jules, “but it’s as Captain Roberts said -- none of our ships are comparable to a Man O’ War. And although there are pirates who were once soldiers...” she inclined her head respectfully to Bill and Charlie, “...there are quite a few of us who never were. Most pirates who were once in the Navy were privateers -- sailors who only ever attacked merchant vessels, not war ships -- and others, including both you and me, have no military experience at all. We don’t have the strength needed to defeat an entire fleet of Man O’ Wars.”

“We don’t,” said Orion very softly. “But there is someone who does.”

He glanced at Charlie. “Charlie Weasley...is Chia Dalma still with you?”

Charlie blinked. “Aye...she didn’t seem to like the thought of meeting the rest of the Court, so she stayed behind on the Phoenix.”

Orion nodded, but seemed unconcerned -- likely he’d presumed as much.

“You all recall, I hope,” he said, “that the Brethren Court was first formed when the original Pirate Lords decided to steal control from the goddess Calypso?”

Most of the people in the room nodded and murmured in assent. Charlie, Bill, and Jules did not.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that story,” said Jules.

“I’ve heard of Calypso,” said Bill slowly. “She’s supposed to be a goddess of the sea, isn’t she?”

“She was, once,” said Orion. 

“There’s a song that tells the tale,” Skye added.

They both glanced at Merula, who straightened up in her seat and sang in a rather lovely voice,

“The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed

And bound her in her bones --

The seas be ours, and by the powers, where we will, we’ll roam.”

The tune immediately sounded familiar to Charlie, Bill, and Jules -- it was the same one Carewyn had sung for Pearl, just before she died.

“You see, the original Pirate King, Henry Morgan, and his allies were buccaneers who were scared of how dangerous the sea was,” said McNully. “Because their livelihoods depended on their ability to sail, they all decided to tame the sea enough that it’d be safe to travel on, without them needing to appeal to the whims of a ‘heathen goddess.’”

Jules’s eyebrows came together tightly.

“And how did they ‘tame’ her, exactly?” she asked, her low voice betraying some cold disapproval.

“They ‘bound her in her bones,’” said Jae, “or, more simply, trapped her in human form. The transformation restricted the use of her powers significantly, making the seas less turbulent to sail on and therefore making it safer for the Lords and other pirates to evade the Navy and ‘ply their trade.’”

Jules looked furious. “So they cursed a goddess, just to help themselves?”

“To protect themselves,” Merula shot back a bit defensively.

Skye nodded in passionate agreement. “Calypso was terrifying at full power. She could create maelstroms out of fat air, send wild sea creatures to attack ships. She was the one who created the Kraken and the Flying Dutchman in the first place. Davy Jones was her lover, so they say...”

“The decision is more complicated than you think, Captain Weasley,” said Jacob, and his skull-like blue eyes drifted absently off toward the ceiling as his voice grew more thoughtful. “The Pirate Lords, much like us, could only support themselves and their families through their buccaneering. They did not come from wealth as you have. There was no other good way for them to make a living or a better life for themselves and their loved ones, as they weren’t land-owners and didn’t have any financial collateral. Not to mention many of them were God-fearing Christians who were intimidated by what they thought must be a servant of Satan, since there can be no other God before Him. What they did was cruel, of course -- no question...but it was made out of self-preservation and fear, not just greed.”

Jules crossed her arms, clearly unmoved. “It seems to me that people who so clearly value freedom shouldn’t try to justify why someone else should be denied theirs.”

“I agree,” said Orion, and although his voice was much softer and more level than Jules’ was, his eyes twinkled with something like approval in response to her words. “And that is why I propose that we reverse the First Brethren Court’s decision, from all those years ago...and release Calypso from her bonds.”

There was a silence. Then, very abruptly, all of the other pirates started shouting and arguing.

“Are you insane?!”

“That’d just make everything worse!”

“Cut out his tongue!”

“Calypso has no reason to help us -- she’d no doubt hate pirates, for what we did to her -- ”

“Give him a good shot to the head!”

“We’d be fighting both a sea goddess and the entire British Navy, if we did that -- !”

Even Skye and McNully looked at Orion with notable trepidation.

“Orion, I’d say you might want to pull back on that idea a bit,” McNully muttered to him.

Even if the volume and anger in the room did take him aback slightly, Orion kept his cool. He rose to his feet, holding up a hand for calm, but many ignored him and instead shouted louder. Seeing this, Charlie got to his feet too and, pulling his pistol of his belt, pointed it at the air and shot at the ceiling. The loud BANG scared everyone enough that they fell silent and the Lords who were standing all returned to their seats.

Orion nodded to Charlie in mute gratitude and addressed the rest of the pirates again, his hands clasped in front of him.

“We currently don’t have the force needed to overcome Cutler Beckett and his Company. We do not have the force needed to defend Shipwreck Cove, or even to ensure that we all escape this storm alive. We could hole up here for a month or so and hope that the Navy tires themselves out -- but as McNully stated, that could easily become a siege, at which point this place would become our tomb. We could all evacuate the island before the Navy arrives -- but as Captain Farrier-Weasley said, we’d lose the last sanctuary we have remaining in the world, as well as the last place from which we could plan a counterattack. We would all be out for ourselves at that point...leaving us to be picked off one by one by Beckett’s greater forces.”

His dark eyes grew a little smaller and more solemn.

“Therefore...the only path remaining to us is to stand our ground. And if we don’t wish to die on that path, we’ll need to gather whatever strength is available to us. Uranus and Saturn are set to collide in the Heavens...hinting to a climatic battle between order and chaos. We cannot know what the outcome will be unless we decide not to fight at all...but if we did that, then we’d only know the outcome because it would indisputably be failure.”

The other Pirate Lords exchanged wary looks among themselves. Jacob then gave a loud sigh and gave a reluctant nod.

“Amari’s right,” he said lowly. “Regardless of what your positions on releasing Calypso are...we don’t have a choice in whether to fight or fly. We will have to fight...and it’d be stupid and pointless to try doing it on our own.”

He glanced at Ellie, who nodded in agreement, and Merula, whose pink eyes narrowed disapprovingly.

“We can’t declare war,” the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea pointed out in a rather arrogant sort of voice. “Only the Pirate King can do that.”

Orion actually blinked in surprise. “Really?”

He turned to Samantha. “Is that true, Samantha?”

The Pirate Dragon’s emerald eyes narrowed slightly as she reopened the large leather-bound Codex in her lap, flipping through the pages and scanning each line to find the proper section.

“...As per the Code,” she said lowly, “‘the Pirate Lords shall select a captain by popular vote to serve as Pirate King, who shall represent the entire Court when all cannot be present. The Pirate King alone can declare a state of emergency; declare war; take custody of the eight Pieces of Eight; take governorship of Shipwreck Cove; and give commands to ships that he himself does not sail.’ Looks like Merula’s right.”

Charlie frowned and turned to glance back at Barnaby, who’d been standing on the opposite side of him as Jules.

“The Pirate King is the leader of the Brethren Court, right?” he muttered to him.

“Aye,” Barnaby whispered in his ear. “Only, there hasn’t been one since the first Brethren Court.”

“Why?”

“Everyone from the other Courts just voted for themselves...so there was always a six-way tie and no one could decide on a winner.”

“I call for a vote,” said Orion serenely.

A lot of the other pirates in the room sighed in frustration or covered their faces and shook their heads. Jae himself plopped his chin down on his hand and rolled his eyes.

“Amari, are you serious?” he said tiredly.

Orion looked perfectly nonplussed. “Captain Roberts, would you start us off, please?”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Orion and exchanged a suspicious look with Ashe, before he shrugged and nodded.

“I vote for Black Jack Roberts,” he said coolly.

He glanced at Merula sitting next to him.

“Captain Merula Snyde of the Blackbird -- most powerful ship on the seven seas,” she said, her lips curled up in a dry smirk.

“Ellie Hopper,” said Ellie uncomfortably, exchanging looks with some of her crew members.

“Captain Jae Kim,” sighed Jae.

“...Arjun Singh, of the Naga,” Arjun said after he’d exchanged a bemused shrug with Aishwarya.

When it was Orion’s turn, the Pirate Lord gave a quick sweep around the table with his eyes, before they shifted to his left, twinkling with something almost like mischief.

“Captain Juliette Farrier-Weasley.”

“What?” said Jules.

“What?” said Charlie and Bill, just as taken aback.

Orion’s lips actually spread into a full, broad grin seeing how much his choice had blindsided everyone.

“The Pirate Code said that the Pirate Lords must select ‘a captain’ to be the Pirate King,” he said airily. “It never said that captain had to be a Pirate Lord. So I vote for Captain Juliette Farrier-Weasley of the Revolution to be our Pirate King.”

He then nodded to Charlie. “Captain Weasley -- your vote?”

Charlie grinned broadly from ear to ear and he shot a glance over his shoulder at his sister-in-law, who had flushed a dark shade of red and looked very stunned.

“Captain Juliette Farrier-Weasley,” said the Lord of the Pacific Ocean.

The other Pirate Lords and their crews all started chattering at once.

“What?”

“If I’d known you could pick any captain, I would’ve voted for Aishwarya -- ”

“Choosing your own sister-in-law -- ”

“I call for a recount -- ”

“How long has she even been a pirate?”

“Pure nepotism, that’s what it is -- ”

Orion raised his eyebrows very coolly. “Am I to take this to mean you all will not be keeping to the Code?”

Everyone almost as a unit turned to look at Samantha, who was glaring very pointedly at them as she rotated a pair of grenades in one hand.

Ellie, the Pirate Lord who had reacted with the least hostility to the decision, turned to Jules with a solemn look.

“The votes have it,” she said. “So Pirate King Weasley -- what say you? What shall we do?”

Jules, her face still very red, glanced hesitantly at her husband. Bill looked at her with pride, his eyes sparkling fondly as he squeezed her hand. Her lips spreading into a comforted smile, Jules raised her head and faced the Court with new confidence.

“Gather together and arm every vessel that floats,” she said firmly. “At dawn, we’ll prepare for war.”

With the meeting having come to a close, the Pirate Lords departed one by one to begin their preparations for the battle to come. Jules (knowing that, even though she was now Pirate King, she lacked military experience) immediately asked Bill, McNully, and Charlie to help her with figuring out what strategy would work best to defend the Cove. Orion himself seemed very pleased with the final outcome -- Charlie had asked him why he didn’t vote for himself, but Orion merely smiled and didn’t reply. Bill, however, thought he could guess.

“I don’t reckon Orion’s the sort to want to rule over anyone,” he said with a knowing smile. “Guide them, yes -- lead them, maybe -- but not rule.”

Orion looked at Bill, his eyes as calm and unreadable as ever.

“Interesting conclusion. What made you draw it, Bill Weasley?”

Bill’s smile faded, but his brown eyes lost none of their warmth. “Because Carey’s the exact same way.”

There was a strange spark in the back of Orion’s eyes -- something almost like surprise, which then morphed into something warmer and softer...fonder.

“...True,” he murmured. “Although she may have the heart of a queen, and all of the grace...Carewyn Cromwell would never choose a crown for herself.”

Bill’s gaze softened. Before he could say anything, however, there was a very loud WHAM.

Jacob, who was still in his seat and had been talking to Ashe, had abruptly slammed the large table across the floor with all of his strength, nearly knocking it over as he barreled over.

“YOU!”

Out of nowhere, the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic seized Orion by the collar with both hands.

“Jacob?” said Bill, completely taken aback.

“Jack!” said Ashe, his eyes narrowing in concern.

But Jacob didn’t seem to hear either of them. His blue pupils were dark, irrational slits of rage.

“IT WAS YOUR VOICE! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CALLED MY WYN BY HER NAME! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO SPOKE OF HER IN THAT SOFT VOICE, YOU MAGGOT-INFESTED BASTARD -- !”

“Jacob, let him go!” said Jules. 

Orion amazingly didn’t look the least bit scared -- instead his expression was rather tense as well as a bit confused.

“Captain Roberts,” he spoke quietly in an attempt to soothe the other man’s anger, “I understand what Carewyn means to you -- what you mean to her. I would never harm your sister. I could never hurt Carewyn, nor could I ever wish to -- ”

Bill was reminded of when Orion was trying hard not to fight him, back in Port Royal. Jacob, however, was just as unmoved as Bill had been.

“STOP CALLING HER BY HER NAME!” he roared.

Jacob yanked Orion around by the collar, slamming him roughly into the wall.

“IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT JONES IS AFTER WYN! SHE WOULD BE SAFE NOW IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU -- I’LL KILL YOU, YOU SCABBY, BILGE-SUCKING SON OF A -- !”

“Jacob, stop!” Charlie bellowed.

“Get off Orion NOW!” yelled Skye.

Samantha, Barnaby, Skye, Jules, and Charlie had all grabbed onto the back of Jacob’s coat and onto his arms, trying in vain to pull him off of Orion. Jacob, however, was ridiculously strong, and his grip tightened around Orion’s collar and throat, making the taller man wince.

Bill, his expression darkening more than anyone had ever seen before, very sharply skipped grabbing onto Jacob and instead stepped right between Orion and Jacob, taking his pistol out of his belt and pointing it right at Jacob’s temple. The move prompted Ashe to make an angry move toward Bill, but the eldest Weasley put out his other hand to hold him at arm’s length.

“Jacob, Carey’s not here, so I’ll say this for her,” Bill said very icily. “‘I’ll never forgive you if you hurt him.’”

Jacob gave a sharp flinch. His mad, hollow, slitted pupils never left Orion’s face, but they seemed to lose some of their focus -- almost as if he was looking right through Orion.

Ashe, furious at Bill having held him back, grabbed the red-haired man’s wrist and twisted it painfully out of the way so he could run over to Jacob himself. He brought both of his arms tightly around his lover’s neck, his face resting in the dark curls over Jacob’s brow as he hummed something under his breath. The sound seemed to calm Jacob little by little, making his shoulders loosen and his grip slacken. Light gradually returned to his eyes as he slowly removed his trembling hands from Orion’s throat, breathing shakily.

Jules immediately moved to Bill, bringing up a hand to his wrist to make sure it wasn’t too badly hurt. Once she’d confirmed he was okay, she turned to Jacob with a fierce look.

“Jacob, what do you mean Jones is after Carey?” she demanded. “Why is she in danger?”

Jacob’s gaze had fallen to the ground, throwing his eyes into shadow as he continued to take heavy, labored breaths. Ashe, still holding Jacob tightly, turned around, a very hard, grim look on his face as his eyes flickered from Orion to Jules.

“Jones aims to force someone into servitude on his ship,” he said lowly, “and he’s decided that person is Jack’s sister.”

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Guardians of the Creatures; AU! Queen x reader Prologue

*Author’s note*

Hey gang I know this year has been INSANE but I am here to tell you all that I’ve now got my next upcoming Halloween FIC series ready at the helm. Now it’ll be slightly similar to my last Hallowqueen fic series (it being in 2nd person POV after this chapter), with some differences.

Now then I wish to give credit to @kinole009x​ for allowing me to use the same physical appearance that they made for our beloved Deacy in their fabulous series “NEVERMORE” (which you ALL should check out if you haven’t read it. Trust me, you will LOVE IT!!). 

Now Idk when the next chapter will be up cause work is REALLY starting to pile up on me now. But I promise this fic series WILL go on, I won’t abandon it after this. I’ve got plans for this series. Enjoy my lovelies and I hope you all enjoy this new HALLOWQUEEN series :)

Warnings: Blood, dark magic, evil witches and wizards, close-to-death experience.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@queensdivas​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@dancingcoolcat​

@kinole009x​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@klausidiot​

___________________________________________________________

I……Am the eyes of the world.  I can see the past—and the future.  Chaos, and darkness.  The end of the world, and the rebirth of it.  My people have been around since the beginning of time itself.  But with the birth of so many creatures, my kind couldn’t survive.  Except for me.  Who am I you might ask? It is I—Freddie Mercury, who witnessed the rise of creatures, and men.

I’ve seen the world continuously trying to survive with the rise of each new species of the world.  And it is here that I have seen a darkness of which no one would ever see before.

Look into my eyes—and trust in me.

There are many dangerous creatures that live within our world. For a certain time period there were were-creatures, Elves, faes, goblins, dragons, mer-people, and all those creatures you would believe to be in your fairy tales and mythologies.  But the most dangerous creature of the time wasn’t man.  

But Witches. Warlocks. And Sorcerers.

I’ve seen generations of these creatures slaughtering and imprisoning other creatures.  And breaking the mythical creatures ancient laws.

And then—one fateful night. I saw our world place our hopes into the hands of two people, the like of which—no one would ever suspect.

*3rd Person POV*

Flying through the dark midnight sky was a cloaked figure and in his arms he held a young woman close to his chest.  He dove down as fast as he could to the ground knowing full well that he couldn’t continue flying anymore, not with the woman now starting to cough out blood.  

When he finally reached the ground, he picked up the woman and gently set her down on the ground.

“Lumos.” He softly whispered.  His hand soon made a light, about the size of a star, appear in his hand. His pale skin could only be compared to the white glow of the moon, while his long jet black hair framed his face and his black eyebrows arched with both fear and concerned for the woman that lay beneath him.

As he shined the light upon the young woman he could now see that blood had now stained her once pink lips.  Her sclera was now starting to bleed red and she was coughing out even more blood.

“Serafina. Oh my darling Serafina please hold on.” He pleaded softly as he cupped the side of her cheek.  Piercing through the air was a maniacal female laugh.  Thinking quickly he made the light from his hand vanish and he covered both himself and Serafina with his black cloak.

High above the air riding on their own brooms a swarm of witches were flying over the air.  One of them in particular had curly madded hair (that almost resembled a lion’s mane), she wore a long black dress that was a mix of fabric but also leather that made a corset-like shape around her midriff.  She took the lead alongside five witches and four wizards.  

All of them wearing black and baring a snake tattoo along their necks.

“They’re not here cousin!” hissed a ginger haired witch.

“Keep searching for them. They’re around here somewhere. That spell I gave her will buy us some time to catch up to them. There’s no way he’d leave her behind.” She cackled softly before flying on ahead with the eight other witches and wizards following her.

Once the coast was clear, the young wizard removed his cloak from the two of them and he slowly picked up Serafina.

“We’re gonna have to travel by foot. I’m sorry my love.”

“John.” She croaked out before suddenly coughing out more blood.

“Shh, shh, shh. Save your strength my love.” He soothed her as he rested her head against his shoulder so that he could press his head against hers.  He trudged on through the thick forest, all the while his love continuously coughing out more blood.  

He knew that if he didn’t at least find a way to slow down the curse that had been bestowed upon her, she would continue to bleed out internally until she died.

After walking for god knows how long, he set her down in a decent sized thicket.  He gave her his cloak and lay down some twigs, grass and leaves before muttering out a quick spell to make them into a pillow.  He lay her head on the pillow and stroked her dark hair out of her face.

“I’ll be back my love, I’m going to find some ingredients to slowdown her curse.” He went to stand up but Serafina grabbed his hand and weakly said.

“Don’t…….go……John.” he looked down at her with sympathy and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll be careful. I promise.” He covered her up more with his cloak then casted a protection charm around her, in case either the witches or anything else dangerous were to come by.

John raced through the woods hoping to find some familiar herbs that could hopefully be brewed up.  He searched and searched but he wasn’t having any luck, and he could hear every now and then the haunting piercing manically laugh of the head witch leading the hunt for them.

It wasn’t until finally when he arrived by a small creek and he had found the perfect healing herb for his love.  To some it was known as Athelas plant but in the common tongue it was called Kingsfoil.  A weed but it had healing properties.

He took out his wand and shifted it into a small knife and went to cut the root, when he heard a strange sound coming from the creek.  A hypnotic, siren-like song soon began to echo through the air.  John turned towards the creek and was shocked to suddenly see a hand burst out from the water.

Slowly a body began to rise up over the water.  The body was pure water at first until it finally dissolved and morph into an actual human skin.  The man that now stood before John was handsome.  Beyond handsome actually.

Almost as if he had been carved by the Gods himself.  His wild, untamed blonde hair shone under the full moon’s light, and his hypnotic deep blue eyes stared right at John curiously. But when John took a closer look and saw the long claw-like nails, the gills along his neck (that almost looked like deep scars), and the fact that his eyes were inhuman with how they were just pure blue and white, he realized just what this man was.

This was a Nokk.  A water spirit said to be a handsome man that is known to lure women and children to their deaths by either singing or playing a sweet song before drowning them.  They are also known to be shapeshifters going between a handsome man, or a beautiful white horse.  Tempting all that see him in his horse form to ride him before sending them to a watery grave.

Little did he know that while staring at the Nokk, he soon felt a long sword blade slide right down his neck.  Thankfully it wasn’t the actual blade of the sword itself, it lay flat against his neck but it still sent fear through him.

“What do we have here? A wizard caught off his guard?” a soft, honey-like voice spoke with a sternness to it.

“Please, I mean no harm. My Serafina needs help.” At hearing that name, the Nokk’s eyes went from defensive and anger to concern and worry.

“Serafina you said?” the voice behind John spoke.

“Yes. Please I don’t have much time, I need to get this Athelas to her. She’ll die without it!” John then whipped out his wand and turned the sword blade into a stick.

He quickly turned around and held his wand at the attack only to soon find out that his ‘attacker’ wasn’t who he thought it was.

This man had curly hair that resembled an animal of some kind, but unlike the witch they were hiding from, his hair was tamed and well kept. John also took notice of the man’s attire and the ears that stuck out from his hair.  It was then he realized just who this person was.

“You—you’re an Elf.” the Elf closed his eyes and did a faint nod as he hummed, a hum that sounded like the faint wind.

“Brian May. High Elf Lord of the West. We were also told of your arrival by a friend of ours. He can help her.”

“Just who is your friend?”

“I can sense your hesitance.” Brian spoke.

“Of course I’m hesitant! We’re being hunted by our own cult! My love is dying and I’m sitting here in the dark forest with an Elf and a Nokk!” the Nokk lowly growled that’s when Brian lifted his hand and said.

“Quilda Roger, quilda.” The Nokk named Roger softened his growls but continued to glare at John. “As you’ve said we don’t have much time. Please allow us to help you heal her. And take her to our friend who is a healer.”

“I thought Elves were known to be the best healers?” John asked.

“We are. But by the time we would reach my kingdom it’ll be too late to save her. Our friend is the closest for he lives in the Black forest.” Not being given much choice, John agreed and led both Brian and Roger to where his love was.

Serafina continued to wheeze out her breaths and occasionally coughing up more blood.  And either it must’ve been the curse having a side effect, or due to the pressure on her brain, she saw this blinding light coming up towards her.

She turned and there she saw a horse running up towards her and the glowing figure rode on top of the magnificent creature.  Skillfully it unmounted from the horse before walking towards her.  Finally she could see a man who was too ethereal to look upon.

His tall lean frame, the pale skin, and the halo of curls almost made him look like an angel.  His piercing blue eyes stared right down at her, almost as if they were piercing her very soul.  He knelt down before her and whispered with what sounded like the sweetest honey-like voice she had heard (that could only be compared to her love John’s voice).

“Serafina. im Brian. Telin le thaed. Lasto beth nîn, tolo dan nan galad.” After hearing this beautiful language coming out of this man’s mouth, Serafina turned her head back upwards to the sky as she softly began coughing again.

John soon came in with a small brewing bowl and was currently stirring up the brew.  Brian knelt down beside Serafina softly calling out her name once again as he touched her head.

“This curse is strong.” John finished stirring up the brew and gently took his love’s head and lifted it up, with Brian’s help, and he gently poured the Athelas brew down her throat.  “She won’t last for much longer. We need to get her to Freddie now.”

John picked her up bridal style and the two of them walked towards Roger as Brian said.

“The five witches are still out there searching for you both further in the woods. The four wizards however, I do not know where they have gone.” John gently placed her on top of Roger’s back and steadied her.

“Thank you for your help. But I can take it from here.”

“Roger and I are the fastest together, I’ll take her.” Brian said.

“No. I won’t leave her!”

“You will take the safest road down the river. Once you reach the end, you will go East and soon you will arrive at our friend’s hut.” Brian explained to John the fastest route he could take.

“But what if they find you? Or worse what if this Nokk betrays you and takes my beloved away? I know of what his kind does to women and children!”

“I understand your concern for her. But she is in the safest of hands John Deacon. Roger will ensure that they can’t reach us.” Roger turned to face John.  His ears bent back slightly and he gave the young wizard a bow of his head.  “A Nokk’s name is powerful. He will not harm her.”

John faces Roger and in his horse form he gave the young wizard a small huff before lightly nodding his head.

“As you wish.” Brian softly smiled and hopped onto Roger’s back, sitting behind Serafina so that she now had support to lie back on. “I’m trusting you both with my heart. Ride hard and run swift. Do not let them catch her.”

“Noro lim mellon, Noro lim!” Brian spoke to Roger in Elvish tongue, soon Roger took off running deeper into the forest.  

As he watched with a heavy heart, John prayed to Merlin above that Serafina would be safe and healed in time.

Running with the speed of mercury, Roger ran across the woods in almost a blur.  Brian holding tightly to his friend’s long white mane while keeping an arm wrapped around Serafina so that she wouldn’t fall out.  But soon he heard a whooshing sound and through the trees and when he turned right he soon saw one of the four male wizards flying just a few feet beside them.

He looked to the left and he saw that a blonde witch was also flying beside them, the two of them flying closer and closer to Roger’s body hoping to pin him so they could claim their prize.  But never doubt the speed of a Nokk in horse form.

Roger ran faster but as he turned into a clear opening in the woods, that’s when the rest of the scouting party descended.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! WE’VE GOT THEM NOW! TEAR THE BEAST DOWN! KILL THE ELVISH FILTH! BUT LEAVE THE GIRL ALIVE. For now. HAHAHAHA!!!” the leading witch cackled manically.  Brian turned to the witches and wizards behind and saw one of them take out their wands and fire an attack.  He shielded Serafina with his body from the blast that sent an excruciating pain all over his body.

His bite his lip to try and hold back his screams that desperately wanted to come out.  He gripped Roger’s mane tighter as his friend ran faster through the woods.  But no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many times he tried to lose them through the trees, the party still kept on their tail.

When they came across an open meadow, the witch party now had them surrounded like wolves taking down their prey.  Brian was almost certain that they were about to die right then and there.  But when he saw the crazed woman extend her arm out towards Serafina, it was then Roger took over.

Using his long whip-like horse tail, he whipped the woman across the face and sent her back several feet right off her broom.  He repeated the technic with the other wizards and witches that were too close for comfort, allowing him to take off even faster than he had ever ran before in his life.

Two of the witches flew back towards their sister witch and helped her up.

“That filthy mongrel. HE COULD’VE KILLED ME!! I’ll get him. I will kill him and wear his skin like a coat!” the woman cried out as she got back on her broom and took off flying with her sisters following behind her.

Roger soon got them into a thicker part of the woods where the trees were lower and more condensed together.  He swiftly turned around every other tree to try and confuse the party that followed behind him and it worked.  For some they had to regroup high above the trees just to get out of the condensed area, and others they ended up flying off their brooms cause of the low hanging branches.

Roger leapt over a log and ran down a hill which led to a small river-like creek.  He ran across the water till he came onto the other side of the creek.  He stopped and turned around to face the witches as he huffed and panted heavily.

“Well done Roger, well done.” Brian praised his friend as he too looked at the incoming party.  However once they came to the shoreline of the creek, they found that they couldn’t cross it.

Almost as if there was higher magic blocking them from coming any closer to their targets.

“Give up the traitors, filthy Elf and mindless brute!” the leading witch snarled.  Roger let out a loud roar as he reared high into the air while Brian revealed his sword and held it in the air.

“If you want her, come and claim her!” he challenged the party. All nine of them soon took out their wands and all together they fired at the forcefield that kept them from getting any closer.  

The forcefield held for as long as it could but it was starting to break.  When they noticed the forcefield beginning to break, the party slowly moved forward across the water.

Unbeknownst to them, Brian’s eyes shifted as he stared at the water while softly began to chant in Elvish a spell that had been put up for only him and Freddie to speak out since they were both ancient creatures of old.

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

The water slowly began to rise and once Brian finished the chant, the wizards stopped their attack as they suddenly heard a rush of water. Soon storming down from further up river was a tsunami-like wave.

Fearing for their lives, the witches and wizards hopped on their broomsticks and took off flying, but the rushing water was right on their tail. If you would look closely, you would notice that the shapes that were forming in the water were dozens of snakes, all slithering outward towards the witches.

Just before any of them thought they were in the clear, one by one they were each swallowed by the raging waters and taken downstream.

Brian and Roger stood satisfied over the boulder but that’s when they heard the fain wheezing coming out of Serafina’s mouth.  Brian took Serafina off of Roger’s back and lay her down on the ground.  Her face now almost completely red from bleeding internally, tear streams of blood stained around her eyes, and her eyes were almost devoid of any life.

“Serafina, no! Serafina don’t give in. Not now!” pleaded Brian as he gently shook her.  But with one last croak out of her mouth, she went still.  

Roger threw his head back and whinnied out a desperate neigh for help as Brian held her in his arms.

‘What grace has given me. Let it pass to her, let her be spared. Save her.’ Brian prayed in his head.

“Someone call my name?” a voice echoed through the air. Both Brian and Roger looked around when the voice spoke again, “You two honestly call yourselves the fastest team? Even I have ran across the world at least three times faster than that.”

“Freddie.” Brian said.

“How quaint to see you again Brian. It’s been—what 200 years since we last met?”

“187 actually.”

“And Roger, my big strong, handsome Nokk how’s the clan doing?” Roger huffed softly and a soft chuckle rang through the air. “That’s good. Don’t want those nasty other wannabes to let them reign supreme over you. Other than me of course.”

“Please Freddie, we need your help. She’s dying.”

“I know. Which is why I’ve already brewed up the proper counter curse for her. Give her to me now, her partner is running himself ragged wanting to see her already.” Appearing from the bottom of the boulder was a large snake tail.

Brian picked Serafina up and placed her body down along the snakes coils.  Slowly they wrapped around her until almost her whole body was covered.

“Go now, make sure those nasty witches are dead. I won’t have them interfere any longer.” Then almost as quick as lightning, the snake coils disappeared deep within the forest.  Brian looked towards the forest and prayed.

“By the light of the Valor, please let her be saved.”

“She will be.” A soft, raspy voice spoke to him.  He looked up and saw that Roger was now in back in his human Nokk form. “She has to be. I’ll be dammed if after we ran all the way here just for her to die like this.”

“And you’re sure it’s not because of your feelings for her?”

“It’s not like that and you know it! The first women to not fall for my charm even when so many married women have fallen for me, Serafina she—she’s special.” Roger said. “Now c’mon. You heard the naga, we have to see whether that crazed bitch and her lackies are dead or if they somehow survived the spell.” Brian nodded and soon the two of them took off running downstream.

In a quaint little hut, the snake coils soon lifted Serafina into the hut and they set her down along the floor.

“Serafina. Oh Merlin’s beard she’s—she can’t be…..” John pleaded.

“Not yet John dear, now quiet I need to concentrate on the spell.” Freddie’s voice soon spoke up.  Soon coming down from the ceiling was a man with long pitch black hair, his dark tanned skin glistened amongst the candle light, but what would catch your eyes were the dark green and yellow scales all over his arms, chest, neck and even dotting around his face.

His lower half would be twice as shocking for there wasn’t human legs, no his lower half was pure snake.  Dark green with hidden yellow scales.  He also had deep brown eyes with the traditional snake pupil.

Slowly he lowered himself down before the witch, his snake-like tongue flickering out so he could get a read on her.  She was practically knocking on death’s doorstep.  He soon stood face to face over the young witch. His tongue flicked across her bloodstained lips as he hummed gravely.

“The world still has big plans for you my dear. You and your darling lover.” He then raised his hand and forced her mouth open before hissing out in a language that was unknown to John.  

It sounded pure snake-like and it was terrifying to listen to. It sent a cold shiver up John’s spine. Freddie’s voice turned almost ghostly as he continued to chant out this unknown spell and soon he let out a low, threatening hiss as he opened his mouth wider and wider revealing not only the overbite, but the other rows of snake teeth in his mouth.

At first John thought his love was about to be swallowed alive by this monster, but just before he could grab his wand, a red smoke shot out of his love’s mouth and entered inside Freddie.  The naga was actually swallowing the curse!

John watched with both terror yet fascination as the naga devoured the very curse that had poisoned his love.  Freddie placed his hands beside Serafina’s head as he continued to swallow the curse.  Once the last bit of it was swallowed, Freddie lurched back and with a gasp, Serafina woke up.

“My love?” John asked.

“My heart.” She whispered.  John happily smiled and the two young lovers embraced each other.

“I thought I had lost you.” John whispered in her ear as he stroked his fingers through her hair.

“I thought I was gone too. But you saved me my love.”

“I didn’t do it alone though.” That’s when he turned towards Freddie and once Serafina got a good look at her savior, she jumped back. “It’s alright my love, it’s okay. He won’t hurt us.”

“It’s you.” she whispered in awe.  John looked at Serafina confused.  Freddie hummed with interest at the young witch.

“So you remember me?”

“Remember him? My love what does he mean?”

“All will be explained young John. Just know that you have a special witch by your side.” John leaned his forehead against his love’s and whispered to her.

“I know. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Their noses gently brushed up against each other’s lovingly.

“Since you recall our first encounter, I’m sure you’ll also remember Serafina that the world needs you. Both of you. Now more than ever.” The young witch and wizard looked at each other perplexed.

“That’s always puzzled me. What do you mean the world needs us?” Serafina asked.  Freddie looked out of his hut and said.

“I have seen the world shift, burn and rebuild itself time and time again. But with what your people are doing, I fear the world may finally burn and not rebuild itself in a peaceful light.”

“We know. That’s why we left. We couldn’t stand along with what they believed in. Now we’re marked for death.” John said grimly as he took his love’s hand in his.  She placed her hand on top of his and the two stared at each other solemnly.

“Which is why I have seen a potential future for all of us. But for that to happen, it needs you two as the star attractions.”

“What do you mean?” asked Serafina.

Thus…….I began to tell them of a future that I had seen.  A world where all creatures and deities large and small alike could be free, equal, and at peace.  But in order for that world to come to pass, we were gonna need one more star.

And that my darlings, is where you come in.

[elizabeethan]

My Hands, Your Hands- Part 2/2

Part 1

Read on AO3

Emma wakes up feeling grateful for Advil. She wonders what her head would feel like without it, considering the headache she’s sporting now.

Rolling over slowly and noisily, she smells bacon and considers whether she’s going to eat some or be sick. The smell effectively pulls her head from the pillow and she makes her way to being vertical, despite the throbbing pain that radiated from the base of her skull. She finds a sweatshirt while simultaneously barely opening her eyes and scurries to the bathroom where it was decided that she was indeed going to be sick. She could make some definitive statement about never drinking rum and coke again, but she knows that’s foolish, as she’ll be in the same state next weekend.

Problematic? Maybe. For a 29-year-old? Definitely.

Once her teeth are brushed, she’s able to shower the sweat and regret from her body, cranking the water as hot as it will go as memories from last night flood her mind. Most noteworthy would probably be the fact that she and Walsh broke up, although that was less than surprising and not at all upsetting. The more she thought about him, the more she knew that she was only with him because she felt like she had to be. She didn’t want to be his girlfriend because all of her relationships end badly.

So, when he came over expecting her to need him, and became upset when she didn’t, she knew it was time. She may not have gone at him the way that she did if she hadn’t been drunk and full of feelings of rejection, but what’s done is done.

More memories assault her as she thinks back to being rejected, how that felt, and the nature of why she was rejected. She and Killian were ordered behind the Iron Curtain, and while she suggested that they casually get the kiss over with, he felt entirely differently. I really don’t want to kiss you like this.

Of course, more memories come to her as she picks up her purple shampoo. Killian has always been sweet to her, and she’s always seen him as her brother’s best friend, but she has to face the fact that he is insanely good looking. He’s got those icy blue eyes that rival the color and depth of the ocean, contrasting with his dark hair and fair skin. The way he smirks, all the damn time, literally drives her insane, and whenever he does that stupid thing where he pinches his bottom lip between his right thumb and forefinger, she wonders what it would be like to bite down on it.

She may be attracted to Killian, but he’s always been her brother’s best friend. Sometimes she thinks of him as her friend, too. Like when he makes her coffee in the morning, exactly as she likes it. Or when he drives her to work when it’s raining so she doesn’t have to walk. Or when he goes on runs with her in the park, claiming that he wants to be there to keep her safe from killer waterfowl.

(That last one is a joke. He wants to be there to make fun of her in case another swan decides to attack her so that he can relive his favorite memory. He’s told her this several times.)

The truth is, he’s never been anything less than sweet to her, and to have him reject her drunken-self last night must’ve really done a number on her ego. And now, when she thinks back to what he said in the kitchen, she just feels as though he was taking pity on her because of how pathetic she was being. What I mean is, if I were to kiss you, I’d want it to be more special than it would have been behind the Iron Curtain.

Was he serious? Considering this was daring. Accepting that he was serious about this and genuinely wanted their first kiss to be special will be detrimental to Emma’s ability to pretend that she doesn’t find him insanely attractive. This takes her feelings beyond physical attraction and into crush territory. AKA, serious danger.

Imagine having a crush on your roommate? Yikes.

But a crush on your older brother’s best friend, who also happens to be your roommate? Double yikes.

As Emma makes her way back into her bedroom, the smell of bacon blitzes her again and she feels just how empty her stomach is now. Once she smells the cocoa and French toast, though, the grumbling coming from her can likely be heard throughout the loft.

“Swan?” Killian calls, confirming her theory that her hunger is evident to all. She hears his footsteps coming towards her as he calls to her again: “do you want some breakfast, love?”

Well, here we go. “Only if you’re making it right,” she grumbles with a roll to her eyes.

“Bacon extra crispy, French toast with cinnamon, but not too much, extra butter, cocoa with cinnamon and whipped cream. You think by now I don’t know your hangover food, Swan?”

She tightens her robe around her middle as she takes in the sight of him; black t-shirt and checked gray pajama pants hugging his muscles perfectly. She nods and offers him a small smile as she says, “so you know how to get me drunk and how to cure me the next day, huh?”

He smiles back at her, blue eyes twinkling impossibly. “Aye, that’s right, Swan. Now get dressed and get out here before this gets cold and all my hard work goes in the bin.”

“We don’t call it a bin here, Jones. Honestly, you’ve lived in American for how many hundreds of years now?”

He breathes out a scoff. “Just get dressed, woman. I won’t have you in a robe distracting me from my breakfast.”

She rolls her eyes but listens to him and steps back into her room. Her cheeks are hot and she knows she’s blushing, and hopefully she can blame it on the hot shower. She picks out a new pair of underwear and leggings and a clean sweatshirt, choosing not to utilize a boob prison today. Her boobs deserve the Sunday off.

When she gets out to the kitchen, the table is set and her plate is full of bacon and French toast, her favorite mug filled to the top with delicious, perfectly prepared cocoa. She grins, unable to stop the blush from hitting her cheeks again. “Looks great,” she says, not bothering to turn her attention to him as she makes her way to her usual seat across from hers.

“I hope so, it took me all damn morning. Honestly, you couldn’t have chosen a hangover food that’s easier to make? French toast has to be the most tedious breakfast.”

“And yet I seem to be eating it every Sunday now,” she says, finally looking in his direction and smirking.

“Aye, well, I figure it’s easier to fill you up with eggy bread now than it would be to listen to you complain for the rest of the day.”

Her face scrunches up as she takes a sip of her coffee. “Ugh, do you have to call it that? Again, you’ve lived here for centuries. Just call it French toast.”

He chuckles as he shoves a strip of crispy bacon in his mouth, choosing talking over manners as he says, “eight years, love. I’m really not that old, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” she says with a nod as she takes a bite of bacon herself. “But David’s an old man and you’re his friend. Also, the way you complain about your muscles being sore after you run just makes you sound like you’re 200.”

“Well, I can assure you I am not 200. I’m actually a few years younger than David, thank you very much.”

“Still older than me,” she says with a shrug. He breathes out a laugh and shakes his head, turning his attention back to his breakfast. Then, before she can stop him, she sees him scooping a spoon full of cubed watermelon onto her plate. “Hey, no healthy food allowed.”

“Healthy food is exactly what you need right now, Swan. What did you have for dinner besides the popcorn you threw all over the living room? You’re welcome, by the way, for vacuuming that up for you,” he says sarcastically and with a smirk playing at his lips.

“My hero,” she says with eyes rolling to the back of her head. She wonders briefly if rolling her eyes is a defense mechanism so that she doesn’t have to look at him when his face does that…

“It’s fresh, love. The best money can buy for my Swan. Eat up.” My Swan, she’s swooning.

“Where is everyone,” she wonders as she takes a bite of watermelon. And he’s right, it’s fresh as hell. Shit, it’s delicious.

“David went to church with Mary Margaret, Will hasn’t been home yet. I’m pretty sure Ruby slept on the couch, but she was gone when I woke up.”

“Where did Will go?”

“Home with Sabine.” His mouth is full, and it shouldn’t be hot, but it is.

“Whoa, really? I didn’t even notice they left last night.”

He smirks again, “I’d wager you didn’t notice much, love. You were completely obliterated. Five drinks was all it took, I suppose.”

“Hey,” she whines, “I’m pretty small! Five drinks is a lot, especially when you're the one making them. You put so much damn rum in them, I swear you were a pirate in a past life.”

He hums, “maybe I was. At any rate, you were absolutely smashed. Do you remember much?” Is he testing her memories? Does he wonder if she remembers everything that happened last night? Does he hope she doesn’t?

“Pretty sure I remember everything, although I suppose I wouldn’t know if I didn’t.”

“Ah, so you remember how desperately you wanted to kiss me then,” he says as she chokes on a sip of coffee.

She’s coughing so hard now that she can hardly respond. “I did not want to kiss you, I wanted to win the game.”

“Winning the game isn’t a real thing, Swan. The winner is the person who makes it to the end, who also happens to be the one to drink the most. I’d say based on how you seem to feel this morning, you don’t actually want to be the winner.”

“I’m very competitive,” she says. She wipes her mouth with her napkin and drops it to her now empty plate.

“Aye, love, I know,” he says with a chuckle as he does the same and stands, taking her plate from her and stacking it on top of his own.

“I guess I did kind of ruin the game, though, didn’t I? What with Walsh and everything,” she trails off, standing from the chair and making her way to where he was standing at the sink and lifting herself up onto the counter.

“The game didn’t matter at that point, Emma,” he surprises her again by using her name, which he really only does when he’s being serious. “I’m sorry.”

She draws her eyebrows together and says, “sorry? For what?”

“For everything,” he responds, tapping her legs out of the way so that he can open the dishwasher and place their dirty plates inside before he starts on the pans he used to make breakfast. “I shouldn’t have hit him. It was childish, but when he said that to you… I couldn’t stop myself. I could barely even see straight.”

Right. She knew Walsh had come over and embarrassed her, but she forgot all of the details until now. He called her a slut and before he could step out the door, David grabbed him and Killian swung his fist into Walsh’s jaw.

“It’s okay,” she nearly whispers. She allows herself to glace at his right hand and see the bruises that formed on his knuckles. “Did you ice it?”

“Aye,” he chuckles softly, “you practically forced me to. You were very adamant that I take care of my one good hand,” he says as he smirks up at her. She feels her chest and cheeks go red again.

“I did not say that.” Her voice comes out as weak and small as she feels.

“Oh, you did. Then you practically started crying,” he smirks again as she drops her head into her hands.

“No,” she groans. “This is mortifying. I’m so sorry, I’m sure I didn’t mean it.”

“You told me that you didn’t mean it in a bad way.” She lifts her head slightly and allows herself a glance at his left hand now. “I appreciate you looking out for me, Swan. I know you weren’t trying to be offensive. I didn’t mean to make you feel badly about it.”

“I wasn’t, I’m not. I’m sorry, Killian,” she raises her eyes to meet his, perhaps for the first time that morning.

He surprises her by meeting her gaze and smiling softly, his right hand coming up to pull hers away from her face and then touching her cheek so lightly that she thinks she may have made it up. Her breathing quickens as he says, “it’s alright, love. Thanks for looking out for me.”

Instead of choking over her own breath like she thinks she might, she says, “I don’t ever want to make you feel like I’m treating you differently, you know?”

“Aye,” he breathes out, his words barely over a whisper, his hand falling to hers atop her knee. “You never do.”

Just as she thinks he may close the gap between them and take her lips between his, the front door swings open and her older brother walks in, Mary Margaret following closely behind him.

Killian backs up so fast that Emma nearly loses her balance and falls off the counter, straight into the dishwasher. With a clang, Killian steps forward to steady her and hits his ankle against the door, hissing and cursing.

“Uh oh,” Emma says as she jumps down to his aid.

“Shit, I’m fine, it’s fine.” He groans lightly as he rubs his ankle, and it shouldn’t be hot, but it is. Dammit.

“Hey, you’re up. How was breakfa- are you okay?” David walks in to see Killian hunched over and Emma standing awkwardly, hands out as if she’s trying to will the pain away with magic or something.

“Fine mate. Just walked into the dishwasher.” Emma smiles lightly now, realizing how silly this whole situation was. Rather than focus on the fact that she was sure Killian was about to kiss her, she chooses to focus on how dumb they must look to David and Mary Margaret. She would much rather focus on that than on the fact that her crush, which she didn’t know she had until very recently, may actually be reciprocated.

~~~

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she groans into her pillow as she flops down face first into her bed.

“Me either, if I were you, I’d stop trying to fight it.” Emma lifts her head to glare at Ruby, who sits down on the other end of the bed and flops over as well.

“Of course, I’m fighting it. He’s David’s best friend! That’s insane. Not to mention the fact that he literally lives across the hall from me.”

“Definitely insane, but most likely worth it, girl. Honestly, I thought you guys were already… you know. I’m more surprised that you aren’t.”

“What could possibly make you think that?”

Ruby rolls her eyes and smirks, “Emma, come on. A blind man could see the way he looks at you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s completely in love with you. And you’re not so good at hiding it either, my friend. I’ve never seen someone blush as hard as you did last night.”

Emma sits up, unable to remain still. “So, what do I do?”

Ruby smirks again and says, “Killian,” waggling her eyebrows up and down and giggling. Emma groans again.

“No way! Besides, he’s still getting over Milah.”

“Please! It’s been almost a year since that happened! You don’t seriously think he’s still hung up over her, do you?”

“Well, yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him take a girl home, and he never sleeps out. Obviously, he still loves her and he isn’t over her. First heartbreak and all that.”

Ruby’s mouth is agape and her eyes bug out of her head. “Emma, seriously? Tell me you’re kidding right now. He hasn’t hooked up with anyone because he wants you, not because he can’t get over his ex!”

Emma ponders this briefly. It’s true, she hasn’t known him to be with anyone in months. She doesn’t think he has since she moved in nine months ago, but that couldn’t be right. Emma knew Killian as her brother’s friend before they became roommates, and she always thought of him as a lady’s man, even when he was with Milah. But Ruby’s theory, that he hasn’t been with anyone because he wants to be with her, is almost too much for her.

“Look, before last night, I had no idea I even felt this way. He’s always just been David’s hot friend. This is a lot.”

“Yeah,” she nods, “I know it is, but don’t you owe it to yourself? You’ve really been striking out lately.”

“Thank you so much for that reminder, friend.” She rolls her eyes again.

“I’m just saying, your first boyfriend died and that was tragic. Then it was Neal, and that was tragic in a completely different way. Now Walsh? The guy was a total douche!” She’s right. “Your track record is not good. I wanna see you happy, Emma. You’re my best friend and I want what’s best for you. And I just think… maybe that’s Killian.” Emma throws her head down into her pillow again and groans loudly. “Hey, come on. At least wait until I’m gone before you start picturing-” Emma hits her with a throw pillow. “I mean seriously, if you don’t I will. Even with one working hand I bet he could make a girl-”

“Ruby! Leave him alone!”

“Sorry, sorry! But seriously, how did that happen?”

“You're being insensitive,” Emma says accusatorily.

“I’m just curious, I know he told you. He’s barely told anyone what happened, but he told you, so there’s that.”

“There was an accident when he was in the Navy. Something to do with his Captain, I think. His arm and hand got tied up and crushed. Nerve damage.” Ruby cringes. It is a horrible story, and it must’ve been a horrible accident. Killian’s lucky to have a hand anymore, even it if it just for aesthetic purposes. His arm is so damaged it barely works, and Emma often finds herself wondering what his recovery process was like all those years ago- not that he ever talks about it. “Don’t let him know you know. I don’t even think he meant to tell me, I’m sure he wouldn’t want me going around telling people.”

“So, what you’re saying is, his love for you is so strong that-” Emma hits her with another throw pillow. “Alright, alright. I’m gonna go, okay? I’ve gotta get to work. I’m lucky I got out of the breakfast shift but now I have to do dinner.”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks for the pep talk.”

“I expect a full report, got it?”

~~~

“Care for a movie tonight, Swan?”

Emma’s dragged from her thoughts as she pretends to scroll through her Instagram feed when she hears Killian’s voice from across the room. He’s standing near the curtain on the outside of the living room donning another black Henley and gray joggers. Of course the bastard was wearing gray sweatpants.

It’s absolutely pouring outside, and if she’s being honest with herself, there’s nothing she’d like more than to curl up on the couch and watch a good movie. Maybe have a good snuggle… She clears her throat and rolls her eyes. “Fine, as long as you make the popcorn.”

“Is that why you threw it all over the place last night? Because I didn’t make it? It must not have been very good.”

“I told you what happened, and it had nothing to do with you, Jones.”

“Actually, I don’t think you did say what happened,” he said as he made his way into the kitchen and took out his infamous air popper and some butter.

“Oh,” she stood from the couch and followed him, grabbing two glasses and filling them with ice. “Well, I was leaving Walsh a voicemail and the pipes made a sound, so I jumped. Not really that big of a deal. I didn’t even scream like he said I did,” she fibs.  

He chuckles and says, “I suppose he was behaving rather dramatically, wasn’t he?”

“That’s for sure,” she grumbles with an eye roll. She fills the glasses with water and adds lime to hers, then makes for a lemon to add to his when he stops her.

“I’ll just take a lime as well, Swan.”

“You hate lime, what do you mean?”

“Well, as one of my good friends has been reminding me constantly, they're really not that different. I suppose lime has grown on me, over time.”

“I’m your friend?”

“I didn’t mean you, Swan,” he deadpans.

She narrows her eyes and draws her brows close together. “Okay, weirdo. What are we gonna watch?”

He smiles as he takes the popcorn bowl with him into the living room and plops down on the couch. She places the glasses down on the coffee table and sits next to him so that he’s sitting on her left side, just as he always is.

“Don’t you want to watch Dirty Dancing?”

She’s stunned into silence. Of course this man, this perfect specimen of a human, would offer to watch her breakup movie with her without prompting. Of course he would think of that, even when she didn’t.

“Oh, um, I don’t know, I don’t really know if I need to.”

“No? Not even after Walsh?” He seems even closer now, and she wonders how it’s even possible for someone to smell as good as he does right now.

“I mean, that wasn’t really a breakup. I guess it was, but… I guess I’m not that upset about it.”

His voice is so soft and gentle. His hand touches her left knee and he smiles at her before saying, “that’s great, Swan. It would be a pity to see you upset over such an animal of a man.”

She’s still stunned, still silent as she nods back at him. Before she can stop and think, she thinks she’s leaning in closer to him and she thinks she doesn’t mind it, not one bit.

After some time, once he’s put on an episode of The Office and they’ve settled themselves into the couch and eaten their fair share of popcorn, she speaks up. “I guess I’m more upset about what he said to me than anything,” she nearly whispers.

He hums softly and she can see his throat moving as he does, and shit it’s sexy. “That was rather upsetting, although I suppose we already know how I was feeling about it, don’t we,” he says with a soft grin, his eyes crinkling; she literally almost combusts as she nods, completely breathless.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she breathes. She nearly feels her lashes fluttering as he moves impossibly closer. She can practically feel her lips buzzing with how much she wants him to close the space between them and take hers between his. There’s a coil heating in her belly as she looks as his stubble covered face and feels his fingers delicately touching her knee.

“You know during the game, when I said I didn’t want to kiss you like that?”

She can’t breathe, so she nods in response. Before she can think, she sees his eyes fluttering so that they're almost closed as he moves so close to her that if she moved at all they would be touching. Then she watches as he grins beautifully, then his face closes the gap before hers and he presses his lips to hers so delicately that she could barely feel it.

Her eyes close effortlessly and within seconds as he kisses her softly then draws away far too quickly. Her eyes fly open again and she looks at him as if to say what the hell, come back. He listens as he presses himself to her more firmly, pursing his lips into hers and reaching his hand up from her knee to her cheek. She breathes into him and reaches her own hand into the back of his hair, feeling the softness between her fingers and the heat growing hotter in her belly. She can feel his tongue softly swiping between her top and bottom lips, as if asking permission to kiss her more deeply, so she parts her lips ever so slightly in invitation. She feels him suck on her top lip lightly before he licks it softly and she nearly loses it. His hand laces it's way behind her ear and into her hair as she tugs on his lightly before she hears him groan into her mouth, igniting her from the inside out.

She bites down lightly on his bottom lip and feels him stir in his seat as he leans closer to her, pushing softly until she’s laying down on the couch and he’s on top of her and kissing down her neck. She thinks she hears the popcorn bowl hit the floor, spilling whatever was left, but she can’t be assed to care.  Her legs part as he fits himself between them, drawing their bodies even closer together, but somehow not close enough. She thinks he may have bruised her neck slightly, but she doesn’t care. She just keeps carding one hand through his soft hair as the other feels his muscles rippling through his shirt at his back, his chest, his triceps. He meets her mouth with his again and kisses her hard, as if he needs her like she needs him. She’s certain he does, based on the firmness she feels pressing against her upper thigh, and she’s tempted to rut her hips up towards his, but stops herself, reveling in his mouth on hers.

Moments later, they separate and their foreheads touch, his hand coming to her face and his thumb stroking her chin as he smiles breathlessly at her and she smiles breathlessly at him. His lashes flutter once more and he softly touches her cheek before drawing her to him once more, kissing her with a passion that she’s sure she’s never felt before.

When he finally pulls away, she’s gasping for breath, barely able to open her eyes. She thinks she may be dreaming, or dead, until he says, “I meant something more like that.”

She breathes out in a whoosh before saying, “holy shit,” embarrassment immediately taking over as she laughs lightly.

He laughs hard, and she can feel his chest vibrating against hers and she thinks it might be killing her. “Aye, my thoughts exactly.”

“I guess I can see why you rejected me, then,” she breathes out, reaching her hand to touch her own mouth, as if checking to see if it’s still there.

“I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings too much, love. I really wanted to kiss you, I have for a while, but I wanted you to remember it happening afterwards. I also didn’t really know if you were sober enough to actually consent last night,” he laughs. She pushes her forehead up to his and laughs with him some more.

“Probably not.” Who the hell thinks like that? Is that a symptom of adulthood? Emma thinks she should probably stop dating children if that’s the case.

He pecks her lips once more with his and she’s tempted to grab him and pull him back to her, but she doesn’t. Not this time.

“A while, huh?” she asks, and his brows raise as if he didn’t even realize he said that.

“Aye, I suppose so.” He lifts himself off of her and grabs a throw pillow before taking her hand in his and hoisting her back into a seated position herself. “I don’t really know if I should have done that. But I’ve wanted to kiss you basically since I met you and when you said you weren’t upset about Walsh… I guess I just…” He trails off and looks away from her, down at his hands.

“I wasn’t. I’m not. I was going to end it soon anyway.”

“Aye, you said that last night.”

“It’s true.” He looks back at her, finally, and smiles. It’s her favorite smile of his; the one where he grins with all of his teeth and his eyes scrunch up, but it softens after a second. It’s got to be the cutest and sexiest thing she’s ever seen. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Aye, of course,” he says, drawing his dark brows together as he does when he’s concerned, as if he’s worried about what she’s going to ask him.

“Why didn’t you bring anyone home last night? You said you wanted to, and that girl seemed more interested in you than in Will, but you didn’t go for it. How come?”

He’s quiet for a moment, glancing down from her eyes to the mess of popcorn on the floor, before he responds, “I didn’t really want to. I haven’t had a very keen interest in quite some time. I don’t know why I said that to you last night, honestly.”

She hums in response, then thinks back to what Ruby said. “So, when was the last time you… you know…” she trails off, realizing very quickly that this wasn’t really an appropriate line of questioning for her best friend whom she’s kissed one time.

“Such an interest in my sex life, aye Swan?” he smirks, finally looking at her again. She smiles back sheepishly, no doubt turning a very bright shade of pink. “It’s been a while, that’s for sure. One time with Milah just before you moved in, and then a drunken Halloween night with a girl dressed as Tinkerbell.”

She rolls her eyes at the thought of him hooking up with Tinkerbell and not knowing her actual name, then says, “you and Milah hooked up after she broke up with you?”

“Aye, a lapse in judgement, I suppose.”

She nods, understanding completely. There was a point after her breakup with Neal when she considered going back to him, although she luckily had a change of heart after a very loud conversation with Ruby.

“Can I tell you something, Emma,” he says so softly that it’s almost a whisper, but she can still hear the deep timbre of his voice.

“Yes,” she whispers back.

He’s breathing heavily, his forehead is close to hers and his hand is back on her knee. “I’ve had a massive crush on you since you moved in. Since we met, really, but I think when you moved in and I saw you crying on the couch while you sang along to the ending of Dirty Dancing, I was done for. And you're my best friend and I don’t wanna put any pressure on you, but I want you to know… how I feel.”

Emma hasn’t breathed for several moments, and this didn’t change anything. “I’ve had a crush on you since, like… last night, I think,” she says, smirking.

He laughs again and she sees an evil glint in his eyes before he wraps his right arm around her waist, pulling her up onto his lap and tickling her mercilessly as she laughs loudly, likely drawing attention from her roommates.

“You are absolutely wicked, Emma Nolan. Last night? Are you serious?” His fingers are still brushing lightly against her waist and she’s still giggling, actually giggling, for god’s sake. “Can I take you out for dinner, then?”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes and says, “you better,” before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and kissing the holy hell out of him.

[rookie-ramsey]

Baby Blues, Chapter 7 (Bryce X MC)

Description: Bryce and MC can handle just about anything. Hopefully, pregnancy and parenting fall into the “just about anything” category.

Preview: Bryce frowned and touched her arm. “Em? What is it?”

“I’m really dizzy…” Her knees went weak. Darkness started to fill the corners of her vision. Dropping their merchandise, Bryce caught her just as she stumbled forward.

Previous Chapter

Maybe Emily was mistaken, but the rest of her second trimester seemed to fly by.

“I’m gonna have to buy bigger socks and shoes. My ankles are starting to swell.” As they browsed Target for their weekly shopping adventure, she tossed a package of socks into their shopping cart. “And more maternity clothes. Nothing fits anymore.”

“If it’s any comfort, you look stunning in them.”

“Stunning, huh?” Emily grinned. “I feel reassured.”

“As you should.”

Laughing, she picked out some tops and pants, trying them on before they checked out of the store. In the next store, they perused the baby supplies.

“Check this out.” Bryce held up a box containing a baby carrier. “I can wear this on my chest and carry her around in it.”

Emily’s face softened as she imagined it. “That’s… so ridiculously cute that there should be a law against it. I’m serious. It’s illegally adorable.”

“Illegally adorable, huh? I never knew that was a thing.”

Emily shrugged. “You made it a thing.”

“I’m buying this. I can walk around showing our insanely cute kid off to everyone.” Bryce tucked the box under his arm and followed Emily to the clothes.

Emily browsed the clothes, unable to resist picking out some. “I know I buy something every time we leave the house, but… it’s so tempting, even if she won’t be here for a few months.”

“Hey, babies poop a lot and grow fast. She’ll need a lot of stuff.”

“I already know Sienna wants to plan a baby shower.” Emily picked up a package of tiny socks. “What we don’t buy, I can put on the registry she’s ordered me to make.”

As she reached for a package of pacifiers, a sudden wave of dizziness made her pause. Feeling light, she rested a hand on the shelf for support.

Bryce frowned and touched her arm. “Em? What is it?”

“I’m really dizzy…” Her knees went weak. Darkness started to fill the corners of her vision. Dropping their merchandise, Bryce caught her just as she stumbled forward.

“Emily!”

XXXXXXXX

A groggy trip to the hospital later, Emily winced and touched her head, feeling a dull ache.

“Hey.” Bryce squeezed her hand. “There you are. Do you remember the ride over here?”

“Somewhat. I mostly remember passing out in the middle of Target.”

“That’s accurate.” He nodded softly. “You almost made me wet my pants with fear, but everything’s okay. Your iron was really low.”

“Anemia.” She nodded slowly, smoothing a hand over her stomach. “The baby and I will both be fine with iron supplements and a good diet.”

“Mm hmm.” Bryce leaned over and kissed her gently. “Just don’t freak me out like that again.”

“Sorry.” Emily leaned into him. “What tests did they run?”

“A full workup to be safe. Everything else came back fine.”

“That’s good. It also means we can leave so we can enjoy the rest of our day off.”

“You need to eat something first. Then I’ll spring you out of here.”

Emily sighed, but her stomach rumbled hungrily. “Okay. Can you get me some soup and a salad?”

“Got it.” Bryce left the room, returning a few minutes later with her requested meal. When he set it on the tray, Emily sat up and started eating.

She sighed in relief as her headache began to fade. “I’m feeling better now.”

“Good.” Bryce smoothed her hair back. He waited until Emily finished her food, then helped her up. “Let’s get you out of here.” Together, they left the hospital. Instead of going back to the store, Bryce drove back to their apartment, where they curled up on the couch to work on their registry.

“Do you still want that chest carrier?”

“Hell yeah.” Bryce grinned. “I can’t not buy it.”

Chucking, Emily clicked on the item, adding it to their list. “I can’t wait to see you wear it.”

“I can’t wait to see me wear it, either.”

“Someone’s awake.” Feeling the now-familiar flutter, Emily took Bryce’s hand and settled it on her abdomen. “She’s kicking harder now.”

“I feel that.” Bryce gently rubbed her stomach, feeling another soft kick.

“What did I do to deserve the cutest boyfriend in the world?”

“Well, I have the world’s most gorgeous girlfriend. So there.” Bryce grinned. “I can’t miss a chance to one-up you.”

“You’re a goofball.” Emily buried her fingers in Bryce’s soft hair. “But you’re cute enough to get away with it, so it’s okay.”

XXXXXXX

As fast as her first two trimesters soared, the third trimester slowed to a crawl.  

“I’ve never seen so much stuff before,” Emily awed as she admired the pile of presents in her old apartment.

Sienna grinned. “Not everyone showed up, but almost everyone sent you something. I encouraged people to send things you really need, like diapers, but I’m sure you’ll have plenty of surprises. Your mom and I had a lot of fun planning this together.”

“We certainly did,” Allison confirmed. “It’s not every day I get to plan a shower for my first grandbaby.”

“I’m just excited to sink my teeth into one of those cupcakes.”

“Soon!” Sienna adding the finishing touches to the last cupcake. “Food’s ready! The mom gets to go first.”

“Yay.” Emily fixed a plate with the spread of finger foods and grabbed one of Sienna’s cupcakes. “I think the thing I miss most about living here is your baking.”

“What are we, chopped liver?” Elijah teased.

Bryce joined Emily on the couch. “I’ve gotta say, this is the first baby shower I’ve been to.”

Sienna shrugged. “All female baby showers are antiquated. I thought it would be more fun with all the residents.”

“It definitely is.”  

“I’m just stunned that Ines convinced Zaid to come.” Emily couldn’t resist an amused smile as Ines instructed Zaid to set an oversized gift with the rest of the presents. The rest of their guests fixed their food, enjoying the snacks until Sienna started the games.

Emily arched a brow as her mom helped Sienna set up the first game. “Why do you two have so much baby food?”

“We’re going to use it for a game.” Allison smiled mischievously and handed her daughter a bowl containing slips of paper. “Everyone has to smell and taste and try to guess the flavors. You pick the first victim.”

“I feel dangerous.” Emily reached into the bowl and grabbed a slip of paper. She unfolded it and snickered. “First up… Zaid.”

Zaid’s face fell. “I knew I should have thought twice before putting my name on that paper.”

“Go on!” Grinning, Ines urged him toward the table at the front of the room. Sighing, Zaid eyed the baby food jars warily.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“You’re going to smell each baby food and even taste it if you can’t guess it. Write your answers down, then we’ll see who gets the most right. The winner gets a gift card to a restaurant of their choice.”

She handed Zaid a piece of paper, a pencil, and a handful of tongue depressors. “Use a clean tongue depressor for each food if you taste it.”

“Did these come from a supply closet?”

“Maybe.”

Trying to stifle a laugh, Emily drew the next few names. “You’re next, Bryce and Jackie. Get in line behind Zaid.”

Jackie nudged Bryce. “I bet you ten bucks you won’t take a big bite of each one.”

“Don’t underestimate me. You’re on.” To prove himself, Bryce scooped a generous portion of a smelly green food and tried not to wince as he swallowed it.

“Why in god’s name would you willingly eat this for twenty dollars?” Zaid cringed as he caught a whiff from a jar containing an orange food. “This smells like vomit.”

“A bet’s a bet.” Bryce jotted down his answer for the first jar, then dipped a clean tongue depressor into the orange jar that Zaid set down. He swallowed it and made a face. “Not as disgusting as the first.”

“Let’s change the bet.” Jackie smirked, sniffing the jar’s contents and writing her answer down. “Twenty bucks if you make it through without puking.”

“It’s still a deal. Wanna add anything, Dr. M?”

The senior resident shook his head. “I’d rather not puke today, thank you very much.”

“I’ll give you the twenty bucks I’m about to win from Jackie if you take one bite of this.” Bryce held up one of the orange jars.

“I value my intestines more than twenty dollars!” Rolling his eyes, Zaid sniffed the last jar and wrote his final answer down, handing the paper to Sienna. “Now that my nostrils are destroyed, I’m going to sit down.”

“Thanks for playing!” Sienna grinned and took Bryce and Jackie’s papers as well. Once everyone had played, she called out the answers. “Looks like Bryce wins!”

Bryce grinned. “Lucky me.” He returned to his seat on the couch next to Emily.

“Care to explain your expertise in identifying baby foods?”\

He shrugged. “I’m talented in many areas.”

For the next several minutes, they laughed at the ridiculous games their guests played. Finally, it was time to open presents. Emily excitedly rubbed her hands together and started opening, finding several cases of diapers, as well as outfits, a car seat from her mother, bibs, and pacifiers.

“That one’s from me.” Elijah grinned as Emily opened a bag containing a tiny pair of scrubs. “I thought they were too perfect to not buy.”

“They’re adorable!” Emily added them to the stack of clothes. The next present revealed an assortment of warm hats from Sienna, followed by an oversized stuffed elephant from Zaid and Ines. “This is gonna look great in the nursery!”

Ines grinned. “Believe it or not, Zaid picked it out.”

Zaid’s cheeks flushed as he tried to look anywhere else. “Uh… you’re welcome.”

“It’s perfect. You have good taste.” Emily set the elephant on the coffee table. By the time she finished opening everything, she was exhausted and ready for a nap. As the guests started to leave, Bryce helped Sienna and Allison clean up.

“Bryce, you don’t need to help. You’re a guest of honor, too,” Allison chastised.

“I like cleaning up party messes.” Bryce shrugged and filled a trash bag with paper plates.

Emily stretched and yawned. “Mom, Sienna, thanks for planning everything. I don’t know how we’re going to fit all of this stuff in the car, but I feel like we have enough to last for months.”

“Just wait until you see how many diapers babies go through.” Allison smirked. “I thought I would need to have a truckload delivered a week when you were a baby.”

“Mom,” Emily groaned. “I think the ridiculously huge box Ethan sent will tide us over for a while.”

“At least you won’t be making trips to the store at two in the morning.”

“Yeah. Little girl should be here in four to six weeks.” For a moment, she fell silent, blinking in surprise as she realized the closeness of her due date.

It wouldn’t be long now.

Next Chapter

Tags: @elephant9998 / @mvalentine / @fortunatelywaywardsandwich / @whatchique / @achalantspitfire / @lahellacute / @virtuallytakenby / @oofchoices / @dang-lahela / @miss-whit12 / @drakeismyweakness / @sitsoncornflake / @a-tragical-tale / @bitchloveskcbaseball / @laceandlula / @paulfwesley / @bloomingsivan / @anotherbeingsworld / @vamped99 / @datynasuha / @doctorsurferbro / @loveellamae / @drethanfreakingramsey / @trappedinfandoms / @rookielahela / @macy-ray85 / @mrsdrlahela 

[let-it-raines]

Hello! Don’t know if you’re accepting prompts but just saw a clip of gerrit and amy cole playing catch- she’s pregnant and still bringing the heat! Thought of emma and killian in the CMIYC verse :) hope the muse inspires you, pretty please and thank you :)

I saw that video @galadriel26! Too cute! If anyone wants to watch it, I’ll link it      | Here | 

And if anyone is interested in reading this on ao3, that’s | Here |

-/-

September 2022

Emma hates him.

She really, really does, and she doesn’t plan on changing her mind about that anytime soon. He doesn’t deserve it, and she’s going to stick to that thought process for the foreseeable future.

Because that’s definitely rational, and she is a beacon for being rational at all times.

Or not.

Definitely not. But at least part of the time.

“Take the train home,” Ruby says as she hands her the largest cup of lemonade Emma has ever seen. She’s going to have to pee approximately eighteen times after she drinks it. “I’ll ride with you so you’re not alone.”

“We don’t take anything close to the same route, and I don’t care about riding alone.”

“I don’t care that we’re not on the same route.” Ruby taps her shoulder into Emma’s as Emma takes a sip of her drink. God, this is delicious. She could probably live off of lemonade right now if she didn’t think about how many calories she consumed with a cup this size. And the peeing. So much peeing. “We could get Graham to come get us. He can give us a police escort.”

“That’s excessive.”

“You look miserable. Excessive might be in order.”

Emma hums and leans back in the stadium seat, propping her feet up on the back of the chair in front of her. She needs to wash her sneakers. They have seen better days, and she loves these too much to do anything but preserve them forever. She definitely should have bought more than one pair when she got these.

Killian would have killed her.

As if he doesn’t have a million shoes of his own.

She’s definitely buying at least two more pairs of these shoes when she gets home. She deserves them.

“I’m not miserable,” Emma promises before taking another sip, “but I’m tired. I have been here since eight this morning, and Killian is out on the field running around in circles.”

“That’s called jogging.”

Emma rolls her eyes and tilts her head to lean it on Ruby’s shoulder. “Shut up.”

“I will soon because I’m about to leave for the day. I just wanted to make sure my nephew was going to be okay.”

“Oh, so what about the woman who is wearing extremely elastic shorts to house your nephew? Because if you don’t ask about me, I swear I’m going to pop off on you.”

Ruby chuckles and wraps her arm around Emma’s shoulder. “People ignoring you and only mentioning your stomach today?”

“Oh my gosh, yes. And my boobs. I had actual, real people reference my boobs and how much bigger they are because I work with a bunch of assholes who can only focus on a woman for her boobs.”

“Your boobs are absolutely gigantic, and you’re only seven months.”

Emma’s eyes narrow. If she didn’t want this lemonade so badly, she’d pour it on Ruby for that comment. “If you ever have a kid, I’m going to remind you that you think being seven months pregnant in the summer in New York is an easy thing.”

“I only meant that your boobs are going to get even bigger along with your ankles.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs, gently hitting Ruby. “I should have never told you I have to wear compression socks while working.”

“That was a mistake.”

“My ankles are normal size.”

“If you say so.” Ruby nods down toward the field. “It looks like your baby daddy is winding down. You going to be okay if I leave you to him? Or are you going to murder him for making you wait here? I’ll support you in that, but there’s only so much I can legally do to get you out of that situation.”

“Nah, I like him too much to murder him.”

“I’ve heard he’s really good at sex, too.”

“Rubes, you’re ridiculous.” Emma pulls herself away from Ruby, standing from the seats and wiping away the sweat that’s pooled at the back of her thighs before grabbing the hair elastic off her wrist and pulling her hair up into a ponytail. “You’re also not lying if I have to be totally honest with you.”

“Ha, I knew it.”

Her eyes rolls, and when Ruby stands, Emma leans over to hug her. She doesn’t actually know what she would do without Ruby and her penchant for asking totally inappropriate questions.

“Go home and let me go try to drag the crazy man off the field, okay?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s trying to win the World Series again to impress you.”

“That would be ridiculous.”

“But it’s definitely true. You might be married to the most romantic man alive.”

“I’m going to tell Graham you said that.”

“Please do. He could step up his game.”

“I’ll slip it into the next conversation, but try as much as you might, there’s not much of a chance of Graham winning the World Series. But I’ll send him a text with a very blunt hint.”

“Perfect.” Ruby places her hands on Emma’s stomach, and Emma has to bite her tongue. She only lets Killian do that because people touching her stomach is freaking weird and should not be a socially accepting just because she has a human growing inside of her. “Baby boy Jones, your mom is going to murder your dad for making her stay here all day, and she’s going to murder me for touching her stomach, so I want you to know that I am the most beautiful woman you’ll ever see.”

“Goodbye, Rubes,” Emma sighs. She takes another sip to keep from laughing. “I’ll let you know if we’re still here in the morning.”

“You might as well wait. You’ll just be super early for work tomorrow.”

“At this rate, we both will be.”

Ruby turns and walks away toward the exit while Emma makes her way down the stands until she’s at the gate that will let her out onto the field. The sun is nearly finished setting, the overhead lights turned on and beaming down onto the field, and the heat from the day is finally melting away so that it’s not excessively sweltering.

She cannot wait for winter. It’ll be cold and comfortable and she won’t be pregnant anymore. She’ll probably be freaking out because she has no idea how to be a mother, but at least her ankles won’t be slightly swollen anymore.

Hopefully.

It’ll all be worth it. Supposedly.

No, definitely.

She’s just miserably hot today and wants to be home on the couch with Netflix on so that she can get up and do this all over again.

They’re going to the ALDS, and she’s so damn excited. They’ve been rebuilding the team for years now, getting back to the top of the game, and this is the first time in a long time that Emma’s felt it in her gut that they’ve got a chance. 2019 feels like decades ago, but it’s only been three years since their lives were insane.

Well, insane in slightly different ways.

At least there are no deadbeat dads working with ex-boyfriends to ruin their lives. She couldn’t go through that again. She needs some kind of calm to be able to get through the next few weeks and keep from getting too stressed.

Pregnancy was obviously a great idea.

“Hey, twenty-nine, they called off practice a few hours ago.”

Killian keeps jogging, but he slows his pace until he’s in a walk and heading straight toward her. He has absolutely soaked through his t-shirt and his shorts, and he is definitely going to smell horrible on the car ride home if he doesn’t shower here.

“I’m getting extra credit, love.”

“You’ve already aced the test. Let’s go.”

Killian pushes his hair off his forehead before reaching back to tug at the back of his shirt, pulling it off and tossing it to the ground. Emma’s stomach swirls, and she swallows the lump in her throat.

Damn, she is luckier than she has any right to be.

Maybe sitting on the couch and watching Netflix isn’t what she actually wants to do right now.

“You see something you like there, Swan?”

“I feel like you took your shirt off because you know my hormones are crazy and that I’m still a little extra horny…on occasion.”

“I took my shirt off because I’m covered in sweat. Something like what you suggested would simply be a perk.”

Emma laughs and meets Killian halfway when he kisses her. “You are incredibly sweaty.”

“If you’re willing to wait a little longer, I’ll shower here.”

“I’m expecting it.”

“Good.” His lips run across her jaw before he pulls back. “You want to do me a favor and do some pitching practice with me?”

“You’re kidding.”

“I notice you didn’t say that as a question.”

“Because it wasn’t.”

Killian’s lips stretch into a smile, and she recognizes it. He’s about to try to charm her pants off, probably quite literally, but she’s not going to let him. She’s going to ignore him and keep on drinking her lemonade.

“C’mon, sweetheart. I’ll cook dinner if you practice with me.”

“You’re already cooking dinner, so you’re really slacking on the convincing.”

“Damn. But to be honest, I was counting on not wearing a shirt to be all the convincing you need.”

Emma shakes her head and takes one last sip of her lemonade before putting it down on the ground. “You have to rub my feet when we get home, and you better promise that you’re not going to nail me with a ball.”

“So many dirty jokes I could make there.”

His brows waggle, and she reaches over to shove him before walking to the pile of equipment behind home plate. She finds a glove that she doesn’t hate, grabs a ball, and meets Killian on the side of the field where he’s waiting for her. They’ve done this countless times out here, in stadiums across the country, and on the rooftop of their house. Though, that last one has led to a broken window at the brownstone across the street, and that was not a pleasant conversation.

She misses one catch and disaster happens.

“I got another jersey today,” Killian tells her as she gently tosses the ball his way.

“For a newborn or for an older kid?”

“I’m thinking toddler. It was cute. They’d gotten it customized with my name and number.”

He pelts the ball back. Okay, so they’re not going super slow today.

“You get it from a fan?”

“Yep. A group of women.”

Emma closes her eyes and shakes her head as she smiles. That does not surprise her in the slightest.

“We’re going to have enough onesies and jerseys to dress this kid until he’s a teenager because of groups of women who love you.”

“What can I say? My pretty face attracts a lot of women.”

“How pretty would it be if I gave you a black eye?”

“I think I would still be at least in the top two of the most stunning men on the team.”

She hears the thwack of her ball in Killian’s glove. “You are never lacking in confidence, are you?”

“I think we both know the answer to that.”

All the time, she thinks.

He lacks it all the time, but he hides it until the darkness of night when it’s just the two of them. The demons have been coming out to play lately with the pressure of the season mounting, that possibility of greatness at the tip of his fingers, and with her due date getting closer as they’re all wrapped up in baseball.

The two of them wanted this more than anything, but their own parents screwed them over so badly that Emma gets the demons. She has them, too.

Not when they’re out here, though, and there’s nothing and no one in the world but the two of them.

“Did I tell you Ruth is coming to town next week?”

“Is she staying with us?”

“If that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, of course, love. I’ll wash the sheets in the guest room and get some groceries delivered. She still on a pasta kick?”

“She definitely is. You should see the texts she ends me. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at that much pasta.”

“I have, but it wasn’t the good kind of pasta.”

“All pasta is good pasta.”

His ball hits her glove a little harder than she was expecting. Damn, Jones. “That, darling, is not true in the slightest. For instance, wheat pasta and then that pasta you burned.”

“That was one time,” Emma groans as she shakes out her hand while adjusting her stance. “I swear I can cook. I haven’t died of starvation yet.”

“It helps when cereal is available.”

Emma throws the ball as hard as she can at Killian, but he doesn’t even flinch when he catches it. She can throw a fantastic ball, too, so he definitely should have flinched.

Sweat is now dripping down her back, the humidity in the air seeping into her clothes and her skin, and maybe she should take her shirt off as well so she doesn’t get covered. Killian might have had the right idea there.

She is not taking her shirt off in the middle of Yankee Stadium no matter how badly she wants to. That would somehow not go well for her and someone would see, and she’d have even more shit to put up with. Emma’s definitely punching the next person to tell her that she looks like she’s going to pop any minute now.

She’s not.

But why the hell do people think that’s okay to say to a pregnant woman? She swears some people forget that pregnant women are still people all on their own.

“Twenty-nine, I love you, but if you keep making fun of me while killing my arm, you’re going to have to sleep on the couch. And the bad one, not the one in the living room.”

“Does your arm really hurt?”

“I may be a little sore from working out this morning. I’m mostly miserably hot even though I thought it was getting cooler out here. Can we move somewhere that never gets this hot?”

Killian nods and starts walking toward her. He takes his glove off and once he reaches her, he pushes the hair that’s curled on her face back up into her ponytail. “We can go someplace with air-conditioning right now. I feel like that’s an okay compromise.”

“After you shower, right?”

“What? I don’t smell great right now?”

“I already told you that you smelled awful.”

Killian hums as the corners of his lips turn up, and she doesn’t have enough time to run before he’s wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in until she’s covered in sweat and the awful smell of someone who desperately needs to shower. It’s a million times worse than when he leaves his sweaty clothes in the hamper instead of putting them in the washing machine.

“Stop,” Emma groans as she pushes him away. “Killian, stop. I’m going to smell awful.”

“I think it’s too late for that.”

“Oh my gosh,” she laughs as she stops trying to pull back. She’s already screwed. This is disgusting. “You’re a child.”

He shrugs and smiles so widely that his eyes crinkle. “I’m in my thirties, and I play baseball for a living. I’ve never had a reason not to be.”

“Well, that’s not true.”

“No, I suppose it’s not.” Killian releases her from his embrace before stepping away. “C’mon, Swan. There’s no one in the clubhouse. We can go shower. I’ve got clothes for you.”

“If you wanted to get me naked, all you had to do was say.”

“I have been trying for that this entire time.”

Emma shakes her head and chuckles. “You’ve got an early game tomorrow, and you actually have to play. Let’s go shower and then go home. I’m exhausted, and I was promised a foot rub.”

-/-

“What the hell?”

Emma shifts in bed and twists her neck to look at Killian. “What?”

The mattress dips and suddenly Emma feels Killian’s pressing into her back as his arm loops over her stomach. “Look at this.”

She looks down at his phone and at the video that’s playing. It’s the two of them from last night when they were throwing the ball back and forth.

What the hell?

“How did someone get this?”

“I don’t know. There must have been someone still in the stands that saw us and then they sent it in to SportsCenter.”

“Usually I’d be bothered by something like this, but I look like a hell of a lot better pitcher than you here. Look at that accuracy. And according to the caption, I’m a catch.”

“It also says it’s unfair to me because we’re playing two on one.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs as she leans back into Killian’s embrace. “Have you already looked at the comments?”

“Against my better judgment, I did. There were quite a few about my lack of a shirt and how they could understand how you got pregnant.”

“I feel like a hell of a lot of people have no idea how sex works then.”

Killian snickers into the back of her neck and drops his hand to her stomach. “You do have great accuracy, love.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Rob?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely, Rob. He’s undoubtedly the best pitcher on the team.”

“I guess you’ll have to keep practicing with me until I get that title.”

“We’re going to be practicing for a long damn time then.”

Killian pulls her back against him and buries his nose in her neck. His scruff is prickly against her skin, but the burn of it is pleasant as his lips run across the cords in her neck before settling just below her ear.

“Are you and the kid going to gang up on me or are we going to let him like me for a little while?”

“I think we’ll let him like you until he’s five, and then he’s my partner in crime.”

“That is the most reasonable plan you’ve ever had.”

She huffs and places her hand over Killian’s on her stomach. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, babe. Though, I’m definitely going to be the one to teach Jace how to throw a ball. You suck.”

“Aren’t you the one who broke the Taylor’s window?”

“I said teach him how to throw. That was a catching problem on my part. We’ll have to let Scarlet teach him all about that.”

“The thought of Scarlet teaching my kid anything is terrifying.”

“Please. You trust Will with your life.”

Killian nods into her neck again and places a soft kiss there. “I trust him with you, yeah. Do you want some breakfast? We need to get ready for work soon.”

“Do we still have that fruit bowl?”

“Mhm.”

“I’ll have that. Just give me five more minutes and then we can get up and get ready.”

“Five more minutes tends to mean about an hour.”

“No,” Emma sighs. “Five minutes. I mean it.”

“Fine, Swan, we can have five more minutes.”

-/-

-/-

@mrtinski​ @bluewildcatfanatic @killianswannn @dorisquinn​ @onepunintendid​ @authorarsinoe​ @stunningswan​ @eala-captian @galaxyzxstark @xellewoods @mariakov81 @ultraluckycatnd @royalswan @shey-starsfury​ @superchocovian​ @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @karenfrommisthaven @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @notoriouscs @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog​ @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @qualitycoffeethings​ @carpedzem​ @tornadoamy​ ​

[javierpenaspinkshirt]

Dear Diary

Javi x Diarist - One Shot

Warnings: brief mention of some NSFW activities, mentions of tight jeans, some Carrillo thirst because I’m only human.

Words: 2.7k.

Summary: writing in her diary, the Diarist documents her first few weeks at her new job and her first encounters of Javi.

Day one - Monday

Dear Diary,

Today was the first day of my new job! Mom said I should keep a diary so I can look back when I’ve been in the job awhile and see how much I’ve progressed. To be honest with you, Diary, I feel a bit daft writing in you… but hey ho! Maybe you’ll be fun to look back on?

Anyway! Today was the first day of my new life in Bogotá! I’m a secretary for the DEA at the American Embassy in the city – the building is a bit posh! The university isn’t too far away so I can easily get to my evening classes (studying History with Spanish) and even though I’m classed as a ‘mature’ student (mature! HAH!) I’m hoping I’ll make friends both at class and at work… maybe someone with a car so they can drive me, teehee!

It’s a group of five girls working as secretaries for the DEA. We have a good age range and I sit sort of in the middle of the group age-wise I think. They’re all really lovely, there’s two other Americans and two Colombians so a cool culture mix. Hopefully they all like me!

I didn’t do much work today, just shadowing the others and walking round to meet everyone. The agents all seem to keep to themselves. There’s two Americans down the hall from my desk – I didn’t catch their names (whoops) but apparently they’re the two I’ll spend the most time working with. I should introduce myself properly tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to my first Tuesday on the job!

Day two - Tuesday

Dear Diary,

Today was day two. It was good, there’s a lot of information to learn and it’s especially difficult to flick between English and Spanish in my brain… But I guess I’m new to all this and I’ll get the hang of it! One of the other secretaries – Erica – has promised to speak to me mostly in Spanish so I can get into the habit of speaking like a local, I thought that was sweet of her!

But that wasn’t the most interesting thing to happen today, Diary, oh no no! Today I met Javier and Steve. They’re the two Americans I’ll be working for mostly. Steve is nice, barely speaks any Spanish which I can tell frustrates him and Javier, but just like me he’ll get there! I think I might end up his interpreter… but he seems kind and he is really into the job! He’s got a wife and they haven’t lived in Bogotá all that long either so we have that in common! Well… the being new here… not the wife bit(!)

And then there’s Javier, who all the other secretaries call Javi… so I guess I will too. I can tell he’s going to be trouble. He came up to my desk after lunch just to tell me that he liked my blouse and that the color suited me! I have to admit he is very handsome… But he strikes me as the ‘would ruin your life for a shag’ type? That might be harsh and he does seem nice. The others all say he’s lovely and is a man you can depend on but he is a dreadful flirt!

I wish I’d had something smart to say back to him as he stood in front of my desk telling me he liked my blouse but honestly, Diary, I think I just whimpered?? I was so taken aback by it! If there’s a next time I’ll have to be smarter!

Day 3 - Wednesday

Dear Diary,

This morning Javi bought me a coffee and brought it to my desk. He actually apologised for trying to flirt with me yesterday! He was very sweet actually. He said he wanted to make sure we got off on the right foot so wanted to apologise if he made me uncomfortable! I told him he didn’t I was just surprised he would even notice me! He was very sweet and said something like ‘I’d have to be blind not to notice you’… wait was he flirting with me again??

Diary, I am going to have to get better at this!

Day 4 - Thursday

Dear Diary,

I think we have a situation. I think I might have a teeny little crush on Javi. I mean, I am certainly not the only one! All the girls seem to melt slightly when he talks to them… Except Coleen actually… somehow she’s immune to his charms… Maybe she’ll teach me?

I caught myself actually waiting for him to come over to me today because I was looking forward to chatting to him. He always seems to make time to chat to us all and sees us as actual people… a lot more than most of the other staff.

He does wear some insanely tight jeans though. It's like it's 1985 and he thinks he's Axl Rose! But Javi does look good in them... like really good… Oh dear… I think I fancy a government agent. Who have I become??

Day 5 - Friday

Dear Diary,

That was my first week! Done and dusted! I think it was good! Everyone has been so kind and supportive and Erica has even invited me out for drinks tomorrow night with some of her friends! I cant wait!

School is going well too, I had my first classes this week and I think I’m going to be okay! The subject material isn’t going to be easy, but we like a challenge don’t we, Diary?

Now back to the important stuff – Javi’s outfit of the day. I was sat at my desk making some phone calls when Javi walks passed in a pair of those damn jeans and a red shirt. He caught my eye as he walked passed and gave me a smile and – I shit you not – my brain kicked in to gear and I said:

‘Nice shirt, the colour suits you’ and I was so cool and casual with a little smirk on my face, Diary I have never played anything so cool in my life. I got a chuckle from him and a wink and I swear down I would have taken my panties off right then and there.

Diary, my mom can never read you.

Day 6 - Saturday

Dear Diary,

It’s pretty late as a write this but that’s because I’ve been out with Erica and her friends! A couple of the other girls from work joined us as well so it was a lot of fun! We just went to a bar and had a few drinks and a giggle.

Erica did tell me she noticed me “making eyes” at Javi in the week though and I must’ve turned as red as the strawberry daiquiri I was drinking because she laughed at me. She told me he is, to quote her, ‘a bit of a slut’ and that most of the girls in the city know him in the biblical sense... I don’t think that put me off? I mean it’s the 80’s, do we still shame people for having sex? And to be fair, here I am making heart eyes at a man I’ve known for a matter of days. So no, Diary, I don’t judge him for that.

But I also don’t think I’m going to pursue him? I’m certainly not looking for a boyfriend. Although as I write this down I kind of figure he’s not after a commitment either? I mean I don’t know him that well but what kind of man shamelessly flirts with the new secretary on her first day if he isn’t looking for some fun? Maybe that’s what I’m looking for?

Diary, no more daiquiris for me!

Day 7 – Sunday

Dear Diary,

I went shopping today. Not the boring food type of shopping, clothes shopping! It was a lot of fun actually! I got to explore the city a bit and although it has a reputation (and my mom would kill me if she knew) I actually felt fine walking around on my own! I was in the busy shopping streets mind and it was daylight, but I really think this city could feel like home!

I bought a couple of pairs of jeans because mine are old and raggedy and I got some new shirts and tops for work, but the buy of the day – a pencil skirt that makes my butt look like I’ve done a 100 squats a day since the day I was born. I mean, not to blow my own horn, but I look GOOD in it!

I’m going to wear it to work one day… And yes Diary, I know I might be playing with fire, but a little fun never hurt anyone?

Day 8 - Monday

Dear Diary,

I wore the skirt.

Oh my! The girls all gave me compliments on my ass and legs (which lets be honest is better than any compliment from any man!) so that was great!

I’ll be honest though, by the end of the day I wanted to rip it off myself… I had severely underestimated how difficult sitting in a pencil skirt for 8 hours would be. Lesson learned!

I did see Javi though. He didn’t say anything but I was stood up as he walked passed and his eyes were stuck on me for so long Steve had to practically drag him up the stairs. Diary, I was very pleased with myself!

Day 9 - Tuesday

Dear Diary,

I don’t know what it is about the American Embassy but somehow the building attracts the most beautiful men.

Today, Diary, I met Colonel Horacio Carrillo and believe me I have never seen such a MAN! He must be 90% shoulder and 10% snark because Diary he is built like a wall and has a mouth sharp enough to even shut up Javier Peña! Not that I was listening in, I was collecting some papers in their office as the Colonel was talking to Javi and Steve.

Steve introduced me to the Colonel and he shook my hand (Diary, his hand was the SIZE OF MY HEAD)… he was wearing a wedding ring though. I’m no home wrecker… but my god is he beautiful!

I did catch Javi’s eye before I left their office though and I’m sure I’m not making it up when I say there was a flash of jealousy. I thought I was being crazy and arrogant to think that but no, I’m sure! The Colonel was very polite to me, very courteous, and were he not a married man I would have wished I was wearing my new skirt again. Diary, I can not stress enough the thickness of this man’s arms.

Anyway, despite definitely having the hots for the Colonel, I think I’d still rather go out with Javi. If we put the whole Carrillo-is-married thing aside, I just think Javi is more my kind of guy? Up for a laugh, not too serious, likes a drink and likes a smoke... very pretty!

I think we’d have a lot of fun if we went out. I’m beginning to wonder if he thinks the same?

Day 10 - Wednesday

Dear Diary,

Today the five of us girls went out for lunch. It was great! They showed me their favourite café, great for people watching but far enough from the embassy that we weren’t just looking at officials in suits! Great food too, I really do love this city!

I was sat with Coleen at lunch and she told me Javi had caught her after I’d left work for class and asked her about me. Apparently he asked if I was single!! Coleen told him she didn’t know because she didn’t want to drop me in it if I wasn’t interested in him (bless you, Coleen!) but I definitely am interested! Diary, when she told me he’d asked about me my heart raced! Like I’m some kind of school girl!

I really do like him and I’d like to get to know him better. But I think I’ll give it some more time maybe?

Day 11 - Thursday

Dear Diary,

I spent the whole day look at Javier Peña and his black fucking shirt. Oh my god, Diary! I am in too deep. He walked passed my desk while I was on the phone today and I stopped listening completely so I could concentrate on his butt.

It is becoming a problem.

So I have resolved to do something about it. I have decided that I’m going to ask him out for a drink tomorrow night after work. Fingers crossed for me!

Day 12 - Friday

Dear Diary,

Well… it’s sort of actually Saturday… I didn’t have time to write in you yesterday, Diary because… well because I didn’t come home last night (!)

Let me explain the events of last night:

When I got to work yesterday morning Javi was sat at my desk. He was wearing that damn leather jacket that, for no reason at all other than its his, I find incredibly sexy and was waiting for me. He said good morning to me then got up to let me sit down.

He watched me as I took stuff out of my bag and settled in before, seemingly out of nowhere, he asked me if I wanted to go for a drink with him after work!

Diary, I was so uncool. I was like one of those nodding dogs people have in their car or on their desk.

He laughed and said he’d come by my desk to get me when we were done. I spent the entire day obsessing about whether it was a date or just a friendly drink? Erica was sure it was a date, so sure in fact she made me borrow her red lipstick and made me promise to wear it.

I did wear it. And was I glad I did!

He complimented me on it when he came by my desk to get me. As we left the building he put his arm out for me and we linked arms and walked down the street and Diary it was the easiest, loveliest conversation I’ve ever had! He made me feel so at ease straight away, it was sort of like I’d known him for ages?

We actually ended up at the same bar I’d been to the weekend before… so I was back on the daiquiris!

We talked for ages, right up until closing but it was still like there was so much more to say! When we eventually got turfed out of the bar we ended up walking the streets, arm in arm again, laughing and chatting. Diary, it was lovely!

Turns out he only lives a few blocks away from my place but his is closer to the bar. We stopped at his door and he invited me up. I’ll be honest, I hesitated… but I was wearing his leather jacket (he’d let me wear it for the walk home) and he’d been such a gentleman, well I couldn’t resist the smile on his face!

So I ended up sat on his sofa as he told me about work and fixed me a whiskey… I don’t know what possessed me but when he came over to give me my glass I stood up and kissed him!

Diary, you know me, I’ve never been particularly forward! I blame those daiquiris… but oh no, it didn’t end at a kiss.

Before I knew it we were pulling each other's clothes off (I didn't even mind that he ripped one of my new tops)! I don't know if it's because he's well practised or he's just one of those guys that knows what he's doing... but lord did he know what he was doing!

Before I knew it he had me on my back on his sofa, screaming his name and Diary… well what can I say… I’ve had to write this all down quickly because I’ve just come home to shower and get a change of clothes before he comes to pick me up. That’s right, we’re going out again tonight!!

Diary, don’t wait up!

[amelink66world]

Love of my Life

Hey guys!! This is the third chapter of my series. Ypu can read it on wattpad too! Enjoy 💞😉

Pheromones

Amelia's PoV:

I have to give Link some credit. He really knows what he's doing in the bedroom. I can safely say that he's the best I've ever had. But he can't know that. Male ego, you know. As far as I've come to know him, he'll start floating ;) Even Owen wasn't ever able to bring about that kind of a reaction from me even after the many years we were together which Link was able to do in just a SINGLE NIGHT !!

I have to say I'm quite surprised.

The amazing sex helped my mood quite a lot. All of the sadness and despair just vanished in thin air with his touch. So far I've been able to successfully avoid him. It's been two days since the conference in San Diego and still I just cannot take him off my mind. I've just seen him around the hospital once or twice. I actively run away whenever I see him. I just dash in the opposite direction. I make sure he doesn't see me. Just one look in his direction brings back all the memories of that night. I just know it in my soul that my self resolve will break and I will jump his bones as soon as I see his muscular arms, his full lips which seem to draw me in unintentionally, his soft eyes, his ton...STOP!! UGGHH!! I'll kill him. I can't even think straight. Ufff.

Maggie has recently introduced three rooms in the hospital as part of her research. I personally like the Blue and Green rooms more. They seem to have a calming effect on me, the green one more than the blue one but it's fine.

Link's PoV:

I've never experienced this feeling before. Not to brag but I'm accustomed with women throwing themselves at me and not the other way around. This woman has been haunting my dreams since the moment I laid eyes on her. I find my eyes searching for her even though she's not in the room. It's been two days since I've seen her. I really think she's avoiding me. I've caught glimpses of her in the hospital but as soon as I reach there, phuushh she's vanished. Ughh. I know she said it'll be a ' one- time thing ' but I just don't want to lose a friend like her. Maybe hopefully in the future things might be different but at least now just being her friend will be enough.

When I heard that Dr. Pierce has introduced three 'mood rooms' , I have to say my interest was piqued. I decide to check those rooms out. Maybe I'll even find her sister in the process, you never know right? ;)

Currently, Maggie and Amelia are sitting in the Blue Room finally having a much needed 'Sister Moment'. Maggie is telling Amelia how the Blue Room works. She wants Amelia to feel better as she knows how she had been recently. If only she could strangle that ginger man and the mother of his child for time and again hurting her beloved sister. Her whole life she had been a single child and now that she has been gifted with two amzaing sisters, she finally understood that she had needed them all along and can't help but feel fiercely protective towards them. No one can hurt them on her watch, she'll make sure of that. She loved them too much to see them hurt.

So here they are in the Blue Room, Maggie trying to uplift Amelia's mood that had been somber for a few days. If only she knew about the conference....

The room has definitely made Amelia curious. She wants to know what this room does. While languidly spinning in her chair, Amelia asks, " Sooo, blue light lowers blood pressure? "

"Significantly. And some studies even suggest that it could even improve your mood." Maggie wants to help Amelia in any way she possibly can and adds, "Well I'm not saying that it's a cure all or anything but you might wanna spend some time...", she trails off after turning her and noticing that she most definitely has lost her audience. Amelia is in her own world lazily spinning in her chair thinking God knows about what. Maggie is surprised to see Amelia in such a good mood after all the Love Triangle fiasco.

She curiously asks Amelia when she sees that she has yet not gained her attention, " Okay the room doesn't work thaaatt fast. I deserve an award if it did but...what's going on? " she smiles looking at her happy expression.

"Nothing" is her only reply. Since when did AMELIA of all people become a woman of a few words? Huh, astonishing.

Maggie probes further, " Nothing?? I can't believe it 'cause the last time I saw you there was a fair amount of crying and absolutely zero chair spinning. So spill, sister."

Finally getting her to answer, " Fine. I might have had some insanely good sex at the conference in San Diego " she says while stretching lazily.

Shock is written all over Maggie's face. How can her sister have sex with a stranger at a complete unknown place? She sometimes just cannot believe Amelia. Many a times Amelia's antics force Maggie to question Tom Koracick's surgical skills. Did that arrogant man leave a part of her tumor behind in her sometimes highly illogical brain? Guess she'll never know.

Chuckling nervously she asks, " Wait, WHAT? You had insane sex with a complete stranger in San Diego? I knew you should not be left alone. I definitely should've gone with you!! Ugghh "

" Hey!! That's mean." Amelia laughs. " By the way, it was not insane sex, it was insanely good sex. And not with a complete stranger. It helped my mood a lot more than your precious Blue Rooom" she sings trying to get under Maggie's skin.

" Oooh, so like a rebound !! "

" More like muscle-bound ", both laugh.

Link's PoV:

I just checked out The Game Room, I realised it can be useful for my patients who have trouble doing PT. Games are a form of PT only. I have to keep that in mind. The Plant Room was actually soothing. I really liked it. Only the Blue Room is left now. I step towards the room when all of a sudden I hear giggling inside the room. I immediately recognize the voice. Amelia!! Finally I found her. I enter the room with a grin on my face, " Knock knock..."

Meanwhile in the Blue Room:

The door suddenly opens to reveal none other than Link, " Knock knock...", he says with a goofy grin on his face. Ugh that mouth!! Ehhhh. What do I do now? I can't even run away! Thank God there's Maggie here.

Link's grin is replaced with a nervous smile as soon as he spots Maggie sitting on the other chair.

" Oh hey. Dr. Pierce!! ". He's just standing there like a dumb person nervously looking between the two when he suddenly recalls Dr. Pierce's email. Now there's a topic.

" Dr. Pierce I took a look at your sternal reconstruction thing and emailed you some thoughts.", all the while avoiding eye contact with Amelia because he knows as soon as he'll look into her eyes, his smile will give away their secret.

" Sorry it took me so long. I was at a conference in San Diego.", Link says, subtly glancing at Amelia's way.

Amelia's eyes widened at his slip up and she jerks her head towards Maggie. " Oooh ", is her reply. Amelia can practically see the dots connecting in Maggie's head. Her back straightens and she moves towards Link quietly scrutinizing him, silently letting him know that she's aware of their shenanigans. Maggie then looks at Amelia with humor and playfulness in her eyes and then looks at Link.

Link gets extremely uncomfortable under Maggie's scrutiny. He chances looking at Amelia to see her reaction but her head his down in embarrassment and she is trying her best to avoid eye contact with either of them. Oh shit Maggie knows!! Link then goes on to ramble, " Umm, nice room...very blue. Uhhh it's very cool", chuckling humorlessly. He quickly acknowledges Amelia's presence in the room, nodding in her direction, " Dr. Shepherd " and leaves hurriedly.

Oh my God that was awkward.

Maggie swiftly turns towards Amelia judging her slightly, " OH MY GOD!! "

Amelia tries to redeem herself by justifying her actions, " It was a one-time thing!! That is it. I just needed some pain management." Amelia then nervously rambles to escape Maggie's questions, "Does this room change colours? Does it do pink? "

Maggie just looks at her smugly, " Didn't I ask you to totally hit that Ortho God in the beginning? Okay so now you realise I was right all along? Heh? Ohh, this is so great. And to answer your question, no it doesn't do pink", she laughs with mirth.

"Oh shut up Maggie. I have a surgery. Bye ". She quickly leaves to avoid Maggie's further questioning and the look of smugness on her face. Yeah yeah yeah she was right. But I can't just say it to her face. She won't let me see the end of the day with her boasting then. I'll just kill Link. It's all HIS fault!! Why did he tell Maggie he was in San Diego? Where is that gorgeous, no wait, scratch that, stupid man?

Maggie can't contain her joy. She is exultant. I have to tell Meredith! I just don't understand why these two stupid sisters of mine don't acknowledge the fact that I'm the smartest and the most intelligent of them all? On top of that, I'm always right. Heh heh heh. Look in Amelia's case, I just knew Link is right for her. I guess I'm the most sane sister in The Sister Lafy Chiefs or The Lady Chief Trifecta...whatever it is that Amelia likes to call it. With a smug look on her face she leaves to search for Jackson.

Amelia gets paged in the pit. She bumps into Link on her way and corners him with accusations.

Link leans down slightly to hear her better as she is whispering and her body is too small and petite in comparison to his tall, muscular figure. He is smiling at her when she says, " I thought we agreed we weren't gonna tell people? "

" Yeah we did" , he looks at her quizzically.

" Why did you tell Maggie you were in San Diego? " Is she blaming me? He can't help but smile at her restlessness.

" Cause I was. At a conference ", he slightly raises his eyebrows.

" Yeah but I told her I had sex at a conference. She obviously connected the dots! "

" No no no, wait. Hold up. So you told her about the sex but I'm in trouble for mentioning the location?!", he teases her. Amelia realizes how unreasonable and ridiculous she sounds.

That teasing gleam in his eye is distracting her. She starts walking away and says, " Okay. Can I just reiterate that it was a one-time thing. It was..."

" Pain management like you said ", he says in a sing-song voice, completing for her.

" There's more to it. For acute pain, not a chronic. One dose. Do not refill ". She stops. Wait. That sounded really really wrong. " Ew. Sorry ".

Link laughs at the unintentional innuendo. That woman is too damn funny sometimes.

She again quickly walks further away from him. He follows her. " I think to be safe, we need to steer clear of each other for a while."

Link panics. How much longer does she want to avoid me? Why? " You have already managed to successfully avoid me for 2 days. Did that help? "

He asks incredulously, " You really think that's necessary? "

" I do. Because...", she trails off and turns towards him. Her eyes slightly glaze over and she stares at his muscular arms and sturdy chest, her mind obviously in the gutter while saying, "...pheromones"

Her answer somewhat shocks Link but he obviously notices Amelia staring at his chest whilst speaking. He then decides to mess with her a little and steps closer to her, " What about them? ", he says with a teasing grin.

She takes a while to answer, still looking at him.

" I really like yours " , she says straightforwardly. Ooh I like women who know what they like.

" Okay then. I'll avoid you completely ", he whispers seductively. Amelia stares at him a second longer, nods and then turns around sharply. She thinks, I have successfully managed to embarrass myself twice in less than 15 minutes. What is the matter with me today?!

" You paged? ", both simultaneously question Richard entering Trauma Room 2. Both of them look at each with surprise. Link has a very happy and teasing grin on his face. Amelia is a different story. She just wants to run away from there. How will I survive this day around him? I know I'll jump his bones before this day ends if he keeps looking at me like that!!  She has a shocked expression on her face.

Both of them now put their game faces on and examine the patient. But the whole while Amelia keeps bumping into Link. Is he doing this purposely? He just knows I cannot resist. Ughh I don't like him at all!

Link is just having a blast. He finally came to a conclusion that the patient needed and MRI stat.

He informed the orderlies, " I'd like to take her for an MRI". He realised that he was not the only one saying this sentence. He turned towards her to realise that she had said the exact same words as him at the exact sa.e time. He smiled at her in a flirting way and she got extremely flustered and turned her head away softly whispering. " Oh God ". Thi bwas going to be an interesting case.

In the Scan Room:

They are waiting for the scans to come up. Amelia is sitting on the chair with Link leaning on the wall behind her. Both of them are painfully aware of each other's presence but don't say anything. Link gets tired of the wait and rests his hand on the armrest of Amelia's chair. Amelia glances at his hand and sharply turns away her head recalling all the beautiful things his hands are capable of doing. She blushed fiercely and quickly whispered, " I have to get off this case."

Link obviously understood why Anelia said what she said and smirked. Before he could say anything, the scans were up. They were disastrous. The patient was at an increasing risk of paralysis if they didn't do anything soon. They agreed that the patient needed both of their surgical skills and put aside their feelings and teasing for a few hours.

In the OR :

It would be an understatement to say that Link was impressed by Amelia's surgical skills. She had precision, stable hands, perfection, calmness, confidence and she knew exactly what the patient needed. This made her even more attractive to him.

He complimented her surgical skill and engaged in light flirting with her. He noticed her obvious smile behind her surgical mask which reached her eyes making her eyes gleam in a very captivating way. For a second there, they got lost in each other's eyes and seemed to forget that there was a patient open on their table. They quickly recovered and the surgery was going really well.

Suddenly a nurse informed them that the patient just lost motor signals in all of her extremities. Both the surgeons looked at each other in panic, double-checking their work but they had yet to make any mistake. What had happened?! Did they do something wrong? But we were nowhere near those nerves!! In the end, the patient ended up quadriplegic.

Both of them were deeply disappointed and disheartened. They were continuously thinking what had gone wrong there? Both came up with nothing. Amelia was more bothered by the surgery and was devastated. She quickly disappeared after updating the patient and her daughter about the outcome of the surgery. Link was worried for her. Where did she go? He was feeling oddly protective towards her and wanted to take away her pain. He wanted to comfort her and quickly found her in the only place he knew she'd be at the moment.  The Blue Room.

He silently entered the room to find Amelia leaning on the wall dejectedly. He closed the door and leaned opposite to her, near the door. She noticed him and walked in his direction. Link saw her sad expression and wanted to wipe that expression off her face. When she came face-to-face with him, he clasped her hands in his and held on to them tightly.  Amelia freed her left hand from his grasp and locked the door quickly. She then held his hand tighter and started leaning towards his lips.

He quickly understood what she needed. He could really use some pain management himself. When their lips finally touched, the failure of today quickly relieved their body and the whole world seemed to just vanish until there were only the two of them holding each other. The kiss soon became heated and Link let go of her hands to wrap his arms tightly around her slim waist. He swiftly glided his hands up her back, one rested just above her hip and the other just below her shoulders eliciting a long moan from her.

She quickly wrapped one hand around his neck to deepen the kiss and the other hand held onto his arm for dear life. Her knees grew wobbly. Link pressed her body to his until there was no space left. Amelia could not even describe this exhilarating feeling. He changed their positions so that she was now pinned  to the door by his sturdy chest. They continued kissing desperately. She slowly started backing him towards one of the chairs until he was sitting. He pulled her to him, deeply aroused, until she straddled his lap. The were sitting chest to chest vigorously kissing in the Blue Room taking away each other's pain. They stayed there taking away each other's pain until there was no hurt left and laid there in each other's arms in peaceful silence for the long night.

Author's Note:

Sooo how was it?? I was just too excited having started my first story that I just couldn't stop!! I just wish that these scenes could be included in the show. Anyway, please don't forget to comment your thoughts !! Until then.

[rogueariadne]

To Have A Villain’s Quirk

SEVENTEEN: JEALOUS

Song: White Dress - Parachute

"After fifteen minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, twelve cavalry teams are preparing to go head-to-head!" Mic's voice rang through the stadium as the timer went off, catching Kaida's attention as her team prepared, hoisting up Shinso to be their rider. In that time, Kaida still couldn't figure out what was going with with Ojiro and the student from 1-B, but as he commanded them, it clicked. He was using his quirk. But why wouldn't he use it on her? Maybe there was a limit? She didn't even know what kind of quirk it was but it was some type of mind control. "Come on, everyone get your hands in the air! It's time for an arena-thumping UA battle royale! Let me hear ya scream!"

As the teams gathered around the battle field, Kaida carefully gripped the boys leg, smirking. In the extra time they had left, it gave Kaida the chance to fuel back up, her power back to one hundred percent. Sure, she was still worn out from the previous round, but the amount of flesh she ingested put her back on top to be able to deal with her classmates. Bakugo and Midoriya would be the easiest ones to deal with, seeing as she has somewhat trained with both of them, and she at least knows the fighting styles of the rest of her class.

"Okay, all you first years! I hope you're happy with your chosen teams! Let's get this party started! One final countdown before the game starts!" As Mic started the countdown from three, she felt a small tap to her head, her looking up at Hitoshi.

"Defense." It was just one word but she knew what he wanted.

"Begin!" Quirk activated, four tails swirled around her team to protect them, two other tails watching their backs. Just like every other team, they were after Midoriya, picking up the pace until they took off into the air thanks to the support course's equipment. With every team distracted, Kaida took the opportunity to try to steal headbands along the way, using her extended arms to her advantage. Her team was mostly passing the others by, taking headbands when they could. They weren't too focused on getting to Midoriya now like some of the others were. It was only the halfway point, and their best bet was to really wait it out, with how many points they had at the moment. They should be okay. With the other teams getting frozen over, Shinso was happy to take some of their headbands away.

"Only one minute left! Todoroki has cornered the ten-million-point team and is poised to seize the ultimate prize! At least, that's what I would have predicted five minutes ago!" Todoroki cornered Midoriya's team? There's no way he'd be beaten in strategy by them.. Izuku's too smart for his own good sometimes. There's just no way.. "Unbelievably, Team Midoriya's been able to keep away from the ice master for the last half of the game!"

"Wo-ho-ho! What just happened?! That was one big blur!" Her team came to a stop, looking in the direction of the ice walls. "Holy smokes, folks! Why didn't he show that super speed in the preliminaries?" That had to be talking about Iida? She was dying to know what happened, as time was almost up. "Insanity! This entire game was just turned completely on its head! Todoroki's team has the ten million points, and Midoriya's team is suddenly left with nothing at all!"

"What..?" A couple of tails disappeared from shock, Shinso quickly tapping her head again.

"Focus."

"Ah, right." But she didn't need to.

"Time's up! And with that, the second round is officially over! Now, let's take a look at who our top four teams are!" She let the boy down, stepping aside as they all stared up at the leader board, fingers crossed. "In first place, Team Todoroki! In second place, Team Bakugo! In third place is Tetsute- Wait, what?" Some of the cameras were met with two very confused boys, and the smirks of Kaida and Hitoshi. "It's Team Shinso? When did they come back from the dead?"

"Thanks for all your help." The boy said, walking away from the group while Kaida crossed her arms, turning to look at Ojiro. He was staring, terrified, after the other.

"And in fourth place is Team Midoriya!" So, he did advance! She grinned up at the cameras, seeing the boy in question crying a fountain. "These four valiant teams will advance on to the final round! Now, let's take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya soon!"

"Uh, hey.. Hiyama..?"

"Hm?" She turned her gaze to her blond teammate, tilting her head in question. "Mashi, are you okay?"

"What.. happened?" It was almost as if he was scared.

"We, our team made it to the finals. Do you not remember?"

"I.." He glanced away from her, her following his eyes after Shinso. "I just remember him asking me to join.. then nothing." She looked between the two before looking down.

"Hm..."

*

"Hi-To-Shi~!" The boy in question heard footsteps pounding behind him, getting closer down the outside corridor. He shuffled to a stop as he turned, only to be greeted with the female he had teamed up with during the cavalry battle, her waving away and catching up with him. "Hey!"

"Ya know it's rude to use first names with people you don't know well?" She only tilted her head, coming to a stop just a few feet away from him.

"Really? But, I thought you called your friends by their first names?"

"I don't recall us being friends." She had a warped concept of friendship, seeing as she called most of her classmates by their first names, and they never once complained, so she figured that made them friends. And that Hitoshi didn't stop her when she gave him a nickname.

"Oh. Hm.." She glanced away for a moment, a small frown coming to her face. "Your quirk.. it's some kind of mind control, isn't it? That's how you got Ojiro and the boy from 1-B on your team."

"You put that together from very little evidence?" He had a brow raised in question, a small smirk trying to form. She just shrugged.

"It's a gift. Anyways.." She looked away, watching a few small rodents run up and down the trees. "How come you didn't use it on me? Wouldn't that have benefited you more?"

"Did you want me to?" She snapped her gaze back to him, shaking her head quickly and taking a step forward.

"No, that's not wh-!" What was happening? She couldn't move, or say anything.

"Because I didn't need to tell you what to do, you already knew. But now, go away." She felt her body, turning around to head back to where she came from.

'No, no, no! Stop! What are you doing?! I wasn't finished talking!' She tried to yell out but she didn't make a sound as she disappeared back into the building. Once around the corner, she felt his quirk stop working, her being able to move freely. She gasped and ran back to where they were talking, only for him to be gone. "Dammit!"

She wandered around the grounds, weaving through the crowds and looking at all of the booths and festivities they had set up. It was pretty amazing. She had never really gone to a festival, let alone a school festival. So, walking around, she distracted herself with the chatter and the laughter. It was so cheery, light hearted. Though it was a happy atmosphere, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed. There were so many people, it had to be her imagination. Right?

"Excuse me!" Kaida jumped as a hand clamped around her arm, head swiveling around to meet wide golden eyes. "Hi! You're one of the first years that are moving onto the finals round, aren't you?"

"Ah.. yeah, I am!" She'll admit, Kaida was a little freaked out. A girl comes out of no where and won't get out of her personal space, almost fawning over her. She guessed that her expression was enough for the girl to let go, giggling a little.

"I'm sorry, am i making you uncomfortable? My bad~! I'm just a big fan! Your quirk is so cool! And you're really pretty, you remind me of someone. What was your name again?" The blonde bounced a little, tilting her head with a toothy smile.

"Oh, I'm Kaida. Hiyama-"

"Hiyama. Hiyama. Oh! Like Kaori Hiyama! That's who you look like!"

"That's my mom, you know my mom?" She was a little shocked, she had never heard anything from her mom about any kids she might've known. Kaori was mostly a stay at home mom, but normally went out every other day to do shopping or the like. Her side of the family was never really in town, and she never knew her dad's family.

"That's your mom?! I see her in town all the time! She's super nice and always gives me snacks if we run into each other!"

"Ha.. yeah, that kinda sounds like her." She scratched the back of her neck, slipping a hand into her pocket. The pretty girl in front of her grinned, nodding away as she clapped her hands.

"We should definitely hang out sometime, I think we could be really great friends!" She looked behind her before grabbing Kaida's hands in hers. "I gotta go but hopefully we'll see each other again! Bye-bye lil' sis!"

"Wait but I don't even know.. your.. name.." Kaida called out to the girl but she had already disappeared into the crowd. She sighed, playing with her hair as she turned to go back to the stadium. The lunch hour was almost up, and she didn't know what else to do. What could she do besides wait? She could always find Shinso, she wasn't done talking with him. Before she could do that though, she could here Present Mic's voice all the way from where she was, saying how it was almost time for the last round. Kaida sighed once again, quickly finding her way back to the stadium. Only to be met with an astonishing sight that made her cover the giggles erupting from her.

"Wh-what are you guys wearing?" The girls from 1-A turned and looked at her, completely embarrassed. Yaoyorozu whined, covering her face.

"It was the stupid pervert's little scheme.. we all fell for it.." Kaida gently patted the taller girl's shoulder, walking with them over to the tournament board to determine who they'd be fighting.

"Don't worry Momo, we'll get him back. I promise." That seemed to reassure the team of girls, most of them glaring at the little grape boy and his electric side kick. All of the first year students gathered in front of the platform where Midnight stood, watching as she picked up a box and walked to the front. Standing beside Momo and Mina, she heard some of her and Sero's conversation about the finals but mostly ignored everyone.

"Come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against. Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start. The sixteen finalists have the option of participating in those activities or sitting out to prepare for battle. I'm sure you all want to conserve your stamina. I'll start with the first place team." She started to walk before Ojiro put his hand up and caught everyone's attention.

"Um. Excuse me. Sorry. But I'm withdrawing." Kaida gasped and she moved around everyone to rest her hand on his arm.

"Mashi.. What are you doing?"

"Ojiro, no way!"

"But this is a rare chance for you to get scouted." Midoriya and Iida chimed in, turning around to face the boy.

"It just wouldn't be right. I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until the very end of it. I... think it was that guy's Quirk." The maroonette frowned, turning her eyes just a little to the left of them. Shinso. He just turned away. "I know this is a great opportunity. I wish I could take advantage of it, but my conscience won't let me." Midoriya told him to think about, making the tail boy a little defensive, Kaida dropping her hand from his arm. "Everyone gave their all in round two, but I was just someone's puppet. No way. I don't wanna advance if I don't even know how I got here. It wouldn't be fair."

"You're making way too much of this! Just kill it in the finals and prove you should be here." Hagakure's pom poms fluttered about as she waved her arms, Mina joining in to comfort him, but it was all in vain.

"That's not it. I'm talking about my pride here. I refuse to give that up. Also, why are all the girls, except Hiyama, dressed like cheerleaders?" The girls all groaned, asking themselves why he had to throw that in. Kaida looked up in time to see the other boy, that was on the team with her, withdrawing as well.

"This sort of talk is incredibly naive, my boys. That turns me on!" Hiyama shuddered a little. She got that Midnight was an R-rated hero.. but this was a high school game.. "Shoda! Ojiro! You're withdrawn!" Taking a deep breath, she smiled at Mashirao, nodding.

"I'm sorry it came to this. I'll fight for you then. You deserve some wins." He looked down at her, a thankful smile taking over his features as he nodded back.

"Thanks, Hiyama. It means a lot."

"Now, let's see... We'll have to move up two students from the fifth-place cavalry team so we have enough contestants." The 1-B team of girls decided against filling in, since they were frozen the entire time, rather giving the spots over to another team. "And so, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki have advanced to the finals! Take a look at the bracket, my dears. These are your opponents!" Kaida gasped and looked over to the pinkette who was grinning away at her.

"I can't wait to melt your butt!" She yelled at the maroonette, making her laugh as she cracked her knuckles with a smirk. Her eyes changed, signaling her Quirk activating which made Bakugo snort.

"If you can even touch me, I'll throw you out of bounds without a problem."

"Look, the battle of the Raccoons." The girls growled and turned to the ash blond.

"What did you say, Sparky?!"

"Don't fucking call me that!"

"Okay! Let's press pause for a momentary interlude! Before the battles begin, it's time for some pulse-pounding side games!" Mic quickly interjected, getting everyone excited. Kaida looked at the girls before sighing, catching their attention.

"Hey Momo?.. Wanna.. Wanna make me one of those uniforms?" The group gasped, Jirou shaking her head quickly while Mina and Hagakure grabbed her hands.

"You would really do that?!"

"Well, it's not fair that all of the girls got humiliated but me. So, let me join in in this madness." Her face was already turning red but she just waved it off. It wasn't fair that they all had to deal with this dumb prank. Momo was quick to make the uniform, quickly handing it over while the girls shoved her to the changing rooms. Oh, she was going to regret this. They called out the first game, Scavenger Hunt, her shaking her head as she changed while catching a glimpse of the scar she had gained from the USJ attack. Normally, her wounds would've healed without one but they were usually just paper cuts and the such.

Kaida took a moment to actually take the look in, twirling a little. She couldn't help but feel... giddy, being able to do something almost considered fun. She left the changing room, after folding her clothes neatly, putting them to the side, and walked out to the girls. Mina turned and jumped happily as she saw the girl. "Oh my god, Kai, you look so pretty!"

That exclamation caught everyone else's attention and she could see some students of the other classes, and even her own class, falter and trip up some. It made her giggle while Hagakure handing over an extra pair of pom poms to her. Ochaco, Mina, Kaida, Hagakure, and Tsu started to cheer their class on. She could see the looks on the students faces, Mina pointing it out and convincing Kaida to do something with her and Hagakure.

"Uh.. are you sure this will encourage them..?" The maroonette's face was turning red from the suggestion, Jirou hearing what they were planning and pulling Kaida aside.

"Don't fall for it, it's super embarrassing!"

"But.. it'll help our classmates keep going, right?" The girl sighed, covering her face.

"You're too nice, Kaida.."

"Kai-Kai! Come on! They're coming this way, let's cheer them on!"

"Ah, okay!" She joined the two girls, pulling the poms in front of her chest and looked at the girls to follow their lead. With a big smile, she danced along with the girls, moving her hips the way Mina taught her as they spun around, kicking up and cheering for 1-A. She could see Uraraka hesitantly join the girls, only because she wanted to help cheer, and Tsu was soon behind. It was a little embarrassing but she saw the looks on Denki and Eijiro's faces. It looked like the encouraging was working! When their little dance came to an end, she looked towards one of the entrances, seeing a certain purple haired boy watching. Making eye contact, she grinned wide and waved. She could see a small smirk come to his face as he turned away. That was a good sign! Maybe they'd be friends yet.

* "We didn't even have to convince Hiyama to wear the uniform, she did it all by herself!" Mineta whispered over to Kaminari, a few of the other males joining in with the staring.

"Yeah, but she knows it was your idea. You're gonna die, dude." Sero interjected. The little boy was nearly crying out of happiness.

"This was so worth it!"

* "What the fuck are you wearing, Red?" The girl in question turned to face the blond coming towards her, his natural scowl on his face. A big smile came to her face.

"Oh, Katsu! Hah, well.. Mineta pranked the other girls, and I felt bad that I was the only one that didn't have to deal with it. So, I thought i would join in." He rolled his eyes and threw something towards her, her quickly catching it and looking at the fabric I her hands. Her gym jacket? "Kat-"

"Just put it on." He said, starting to walk away before stopping. "The pervert and a few others are drooling over you, cover yourself up."

"Are you jealous?" She couldn't stop the words coming out of her mouth, but his reaction made her laugh, his cheeks tinted pink.

"I'm not! Fuckin-! Whatever!" He quickly walked off to the waiting rooms, head down as he grumbled to himself. She watched him leave before her eyes traveled to the jacket in her hands, slipping it on and burying her face in her hands. That was.. oddly sweet of him.

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[intelligentdumbass]

Just Another Day

“Ah, Persephone!-” Demeter sighed.

“She’ll be fine.” The voice was Hera’s, who approached holding two cups of ambrosia.

“Well yes, but she could’ve at least told me where she was going to run off to.”

Olympus was loud and crowded, slurred laughter echoing across the halls; tables adorned with ambrosia and all sorts of earthly delicacies. The muses danced on gilded floors; their voices accompanied by Apollo’s own and the strings of his golden lyre.

The goddess watched as her daughter walked through the crowd, returning every hello with a greeting of her own, until Hermes swiftly glided into Persephone’s view.

“Looks like somebody’s a little late.”

She stopped, meeting his gaze and smiled. It’s been about two weeks since she’s been able to properly hang out with anyone. “Spring’s a busy season. I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

“Nothing important-” “Oh, but before anything else…” Hermes’ voice dropped into a whisper.

“Oh?” The goddess feigned surprise. “Don’t tell me you did that?”

“Do you want me to?” He raised an eyebrow and laughed, grinning with a certain glint in his eyes. “Your mom told you?”

“Not who it was; said I should find out when they come forward and tell me themselves.” She sighed. “I assume you won’t tell me either.”

“They’re not not not not an Olympian, I’ll give you that.”

“Huh.” Now she was curious, but she didn’t let her sudden interest show. “Anyway, would you at least tell me where the others are?”

“Of course! Right this way my dear asphodel.”

“Wait, there aren’t any mud tracks, right?”

“Yep, no dirt trail in sight!”

The queen curiously eyed her sister as she handed her a drink. “What’s with that smile, Dia Thea?”

“…They grow up rather quickly, don’t they?”

----

Listening to both Phoebus’ and the Muses’ melodies was like watching them paint with all sorts of colors, brushes and techniques that perfectly harmonized into one of the most beautiful murals you’ve ever seen. There was something else that had caught the goddess’ attention however; as she picked up a plate of one of the dishes she wanted to eat.

“Whatcha thinking about, Ares?” Persephone asked.

The god of war blinked. “Just bored. Nothing that interesting has happened yet.”

“Well, I just saw Hermes talking with Eris a few minutes ago but they disappeared before I could get any closer.”

Then someone else sighed, it was Athena.

“Hopefully they’re not planning anything too chaotic.”

Ares scoffed. “The more insane, the better. Every year this celebration’s just father bragging with our uncles and that blonde showing off.” He motions to Apollo who had smuggest look on his face when he nailed that high note.

Persephone took a bite out of her meal. “To be fair, if you had that range you’d show off too.”

He eyed her dish. “What even is that, anyway?”

“Secret.” She grinned. “I’ll tell you this though; some of the seeds in here could easily be very toxic if not handled properly.”

Athena raised an eyebrow. “That’s a little… ominous.”

The earth goddess quickly cleared her plate and placed it back on the table.

“Hey Athena, can I borrow that?” She points at the helmet on top of the war goddess’ head. “Actually, maybe a sword and a spear too.”

“And… why, exactly??”

“I’m bored, and Ares said he’s bored so...” She points the spear Athena summoned for her at her brother’s face. “Come on, first one to get stabbed loses!”

Ares laughed. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“Fine, first one to trip and fall loses… coward!”

“Look, I don’t want to get skinned alive by your mom! Also, no cheating so no plant powers.”

Athena sighed, again. “At least do this outside.”

----

Hermes leaned against one of the marble columns. “Who do you bet’s gonna mess up first, Pal?”

“Oh Persephone, a hundred percent.”

That answer caught Artemis off guard. “Athena? Siding with Ares??”

“Well no, but he’s still a god of war. Persephone is obviously powerful in her own right, but this is far from her skill-set.”

“What about you goldie?” He managed to place his arm on Apollo’s head as if it was an arm rest while the musician was sitting down on one of the steps.

“Don’t you think that would be cheating if I of all people said something?” The blonde glanced at his brother, his voice dripping with annoyance.

His twin, on the other handed, was confused. “I thought your prophecy powers were extremely unpredictable and usually about really important life-changing stuff?”

“Well…” He muttered. “Sometimes you don’t have to have supernatural foresight to know what’s about to happen.” And she could’ve sworn she even saw him wink.

Her suspicions were further exemplified by that fact that Hermes was somehow… gone. She glanced around, but all she saw were the other half-siblings that had come to watch; not a single Hermes in sight.

Then before she could say anything else, Ares swore and acted like an invisible insect just bit his foot. Persephone used the opportunity swing at his leg with the blunt side of the spear as hard as she could.

Athena wheezed, quickly covering her mouth to try and suppress the laugh. Artemis jumped and a few of the other deities started chuckling too, if not because of Ares, because of Athena’s sudden outburst.

Persephone was just as surprised as everyone else that she actually won, and looked rather smug about it. Meanwhile, Ares got up and glared at the goddess of wisdom. “YOU DID SOMETHING!”

“I can’t believe you actually loss to Persephone… but no, I did not have anything to do with that. I just gave her two weapons and a helmet.”

“Pal isn’t lying, actually.” Apollo smiled innocently. “And neither am I when I say that I was also not the god who did that.”

“So you admit that someone did it?!”

Apollo just shrugs, while Hermes sat beside him with a shit eating grin. Artemis blinked, wondering where he had been, when it suddenly hit her. Ares must’ve came to a similar conclusion too as he soon started glaring at Hermes instead.

Before he could go up and strangle him, Persephone placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Okay wait how about this, since you lost, I just want you to answer this one question and you better answer it honestly.”

She whispered something into his ear.

There was a short moment of silence.

“…Yes.”

Her eyes perked up. “Who-”

“Sorry Perse, you only said I should answer one question. Now if you excuse me-”

And with that Ares ran off, chasing after the brother that immediately started sprinting for his life. Now she was the one that cursed.

“What was the whispering about?” Artemis asked, as Persephone walked back onto the palace’s golden floor.

“Nothing important.”

----

They were back near one of the tables; the goddess of spring holding a cup of nectar. “Where’re the other muses?”

“My sisters?” Calliope glanced around. “We’ve spread out-”

“Hey, guess who’s back!” Hermes popped out of nowhere, now standing in front of them.

Apollo raised an eyebrow. “Where is Ares?”

“Who knows? Not me, and hopefully it stays that way. Also-” “Say Perse… You wouldn’t happen to know who left that trail of mud over there now, would you?” He motioned over to the tiny brown patches on the floor behind her.

She definitely remembered checking to make sure her sandals were dirt free when she stepped back inside. She also couldn’t help but notice a small speck of dirt on the tip his nose. “Nope, I think not.”

“Well…” Apollo raised an eyebrow, flicking off said dirt on his brother’s nose. “Evidence seems to suggest-” “WHAT IN THE NAME OF ZEUS?!”

Hermes suddenly bit his finger, to which the musician promptly retracted his hand and smacked his brother’s face so hard he fell, back-first, onto the ground. Despite the small “O-” “Ow”, the younger god was just laughing his ass off and the two goddesses snickered.

“You okay there buddy?” Persephone outstretched her hand, helping him up, while Calliope wrapped an arm around Apollo’s shoulder, giving him a few pats in case he was thinking about committing homiecide.

Now Hermes was the one that made a face. “Ew, pda.”

In response, the muse chose to wrap an arm around the blonde’s waist and pulled him in even closer.

Persephone smiled; just another day in Olympus.

She missed this.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Hypothetical plot outline for “Spiderman 2”

We start off with a cold opening. The year is 2010 and Norman Osborn, CEO of OsCorp, is meeting with smuggler Ulysses Klaue over a trade for vibranium. Klaue suddenly flees when he realizes they are being watched and Osborn is attacked by members of the Dora Milaje. T’Chaka shows up and tells Osborn that they knew about the deal weeks earlier and that the original plan was to kill him. However, T’Chaka decides Osborn’s punishment should be more severe and so he lets him live...but exposes his affiliation with stolen vibranium and Ulysses Klaue. Osborn is forced out of OsCorp and is sent to prison, which leads into present day. It’s a few months after Infinity War. Peter Parker has been brought back from the dead but is haunted by his time inside the Soul Gem pocket dimension. This is mainly to mirror Tony Stark’s anxiety arc from “Iron Man 3”, with Peter being reluctant to return to his Spiderman suit. Prom is approaching and teen love is in the air. Ned Leeds tries to get Pete a date but Pete isn’t having it. At the same time, Princess Shuri arrives in New York City to attend a Young Geniuses’ Convention. Ned, still wanting to be a good friend to Pete, puts out a joke request on Twitter and Instagram. “Hey Princess Shuri, my friend Peter Parker has been feeling down a bit for these past few weeks. Problems at home and stuff. Do you think you can be his date to prom? Help cheer him up a bit?” It’s a complete joke but to Ned’s surprise, Shuri publicly accepts the request (mainly because she already knows he’s Spider-Man from T’Challa). Peter isn’t thrilled and is about to cancel the prom date until he comes across a group of thugs discussing Shuri’s arrival in the city. Peter listens in and learns that someone is offering a hefty reward to assassinate her. Horrified by this, Peter decides to stick close to Shuri in order to look out for her assassin. Who’s the assassin? The movie’s “main” (actually, secondary) antagonist, Rhino. Rhino is a Russian criminal whose Rhino suit is made of OsCorp technology. He’s personally approached by the person who puts the kill order in the first place. Their identity is a secret...for now. Anyways, Rhino attacks and Peter gets into a big fight with him. Although Peter can hold his own, his anxiety attacks nearly cripple him in the fight. Rhino escapes and Peter and Shuri begin their investigation on who put out the kill order. As this is happening, Ned introduces Pete to his date; Peter’s childhood best friend, Gwen Stacy who has recently moved back to New York City. Gwen is also an awkward genius who immediately clicks with Peter due to their past friendship. At the same time, Michelle Jones starts getting closer to Peter, noticing that he’s not fully well. A love triangle forms between Peter, Gwen, and MJ, with Shuri and Ned following the drama. Now, Gwen’s interest in Peter feels intentionally forced. Although she’s going to prom with Ned and has history with Peter, she keeps trying to spend time with him, forcing him away from everyone else, and most of her dialogue is a bit cliche. We do get some backstory, mainly that her mother struggled to support her. Gwen’s mom in the MCU was a maid who worked for the elite. MJ’s interactions are a bit more realistic, with her giving space to Peter when he needs it. Peter tells MJ that he’s been having panic attacks since Thanos and MJ says she understands. This leads us to one of the big moments of the movie; MJ says she knows Peter is Spider-Man. She says she figured it out when Peter abandoned Liz Allan at Homecoming. Ned confirms this, saying that he revealed Peter’s secret identity to MJ sometime after Homecoming when MJ pressed him about Peter’s disappearances. Noticing that Peter and MJ are getting close, Shuri tells MJ that even though all of them are going to prom together, MJ’s first dance should be with Peter. The day before prom, Peter tracks Rhino down and tries to capture him. Rhino escapes but Pete manages to catch one of his henchman. It turns out, Rhino’s been working with OsCorp employees. Originally, Pete thought that Rhino stole the suit but with this revelation, Pete learns that the person who sent out the kill order on Shuri is tied to OsCorp. Prom arrives and MJ, Shuri, Ned, and Gwen head over without Pete. Pete decides to cancel, deciding to follow up on the OsCorp lead. Shuri tells him that when it comes to OsCorp, a reason why someone would want her dead is because her father ruined Norman Osborn’s reputation. Peter then decides to sneak into the home of the current CEO of OsCorp, Mendel Stromm, and see if he can pull any information on Norman. Peter doesn’t find much...except a letter which grimly says “YOU RUINED MY FAMILY” at the top. The rest of the letter mainly blames Mendel Stromm and OsCorp for not defending Norman in his trial. Peter focuses on the “my family” section and he realizes that whoever is out to destroy Shuri is related to Norman. Also, the henchmen who are working for Rhino are OsCorp employees that are still loyal to Norman, hinting at a civil war within the company. Unbeknownst to Peter, MJ, Ned, and Shuri leave prom halfway through the night to help him. Gwen tags along, much to MJ’s chagrin. While on their way to Stromm’s mansion, Rhino attacks and captures everyone but MJ. Peter arrives and tries to rescue them but suffers another anxiety attack and is knocked out. MJ nurses him back to health and tells him what happened. Peter brings up the “YOU RUINED MY FAMILY” letter and they do some investigating. There’s no records of Norman ever having a child...except an affair with one of his maids. Cut back to Shuri, Ned, and “Gwen”, we learn that the person who put the kill order on Shuri is none other than “Gwen”. Turns out, “Gwen Stacy” was the name her mother gave her. However, her father knew her by another name. Harriet Osborn. Yes, in addition to benig the MCU Gwen Stacy, she is also the MCU Harry Osborn. We learn through flashbacks that Harriet is Norman’s illegitimate daughter due to her being a result of an affair. She’s been planning her revenge against OsCorp and the Wakandan royalty for years. Although she originally wanted Rhino to kill Shuri, she changed her mind and wanted to do it in person. Thanks to Ned making the joke request for Shuri to go to prom with Peter, Harriet made the move to reconnect with Peter in order to get close to Shuri. Shuri says Harriet’s insane and Harriet says, “True...my mind’s been all over the place after I did this to myself.” Harriet pulls out a vial of the Goblin formula, showing that she’s already enhanced herself, at the cost of her sanity. Harriet pulls out a knife, ready to kill Shuri, when all of a sudden, Rhino’s suit explodes (during the scene where Shuri and Ned were kidnapped by Rhino, she threw one of her specialized grenades at him which didn’t go off until now. Shuri makes a joke about how the delayed fuse saved their lives). Shuri and Ned escape and Harriet orders Rhino to go after them, unveiling a bigger, more destructive suit for him. Meanwhile she puts on the Green Goblin suit and flies out on the glider. Peter and MJ arrive at the scene. The final battle mainly goes like this: Peter and Shuri fighting Rhino and Green Goblin Ned and MJ trying to warn people to get off the streets. Rhino goes down first, with Shuri disabling his suit and Peter delivering the final blow. As the team cheers Rhino’s defeat, Peter is captured by Green Goblin, who takes the fight away from Shuri, MJ, and Ned. Harriet throws Peter through the walls of the now-abandoned Osborn mansion. They have a heart-to-heart, with Harriet saying that her father’s legacy are now these ruins and Peter snaps back, saying Norman is responsible for his own downfall. Peter says he doesn’t want to fight her but stops just short of telling her his secret identity. Harriet says, “It’s too late for that,” and they fight. Harriet ruthlessly taunts Peter the whole time. Eventually, Peter fights through one last anxiety attack and gets the upper hand and has Harriet webbed to the floor. Harriet than taunts Peter some more, saying that he should just finish her off since she’ll just escape and go after Shuri again. Peter then coldly states that he’ll be ready if she ever goes after him or Shuri again. However, Harriet gets the last word, saying, “I’ll see you again soon...Peter,” revealing that she knew about his secret identity the whole time. As the movie ends, Peter is sulking on the roof of his apartment. MJ joins him and says that he saved the day. Peter’s sorry that he ruined prom and MJ tells him to not worry about it. “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel then starts playing and MJ and Peter see that Shuri is at the base of the apartment, holding a boombox over her head (hopefully, anyone reading this gets the reference). Pete says, “What is she doing?” and MJ says, “I think she wants us to dance.” Peter and MJ dance, ending the movie. MID-CREDITS SCENE: Aunt May is watching the news and is talking about the Spider-Man to Peter. She points to the news, saying that Spider-Man saved a woman falling from a bridge. Peter says that’s impossible (mainly because he didn’t do it) and when he turns his attention to the TV, he sees Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) swinging away. Peter is stunned at the sight of another person with spider powers. POST-CREDITS SCENE: Ned storms the offices of the Daily Bugle and throws their latest paper at J. Jonah Jameson. Ned shouts that he hates their negative coverage of Spider-Man before he is kicked out by security. Jonah simply shrugs and goes back to what he was doing.

[parkerrogersgirl]

Tempting Fate- Chapter 20

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Word Count: 2,702

Warnings: you might cry because @sonofadeanwinchester wrote the best flashback EVER (it actually made me cry) and I crushed the other part 

 A/N: Hey, y’all! @sonofadeanwinchester and I decided it’d be cool if we wrote a series together. SO, HERE’S CHAPTER 20! ALSO she hasn’t read anything except the flashback so y’all are gonna get to see her real reaction 

------

“DARLING WAKE UP IT’S CHRISTMAS,” you hear, waking up to see Sebastian kneeling on the bed.

You groan, putting the pillow over your face, “Sebastian, it’s too early for this.”

“Sorry, darling, we have plans today. It’s 8, and we have somewhere to be at 9:30. And I let you sleep in way longer than I usually used to on Christmas. At least it’s not 5am Leggo,” he says, pulling you out of bed.

You sit up, crossing your arms over your chest, “no.”

He shakes his head, “you asked for it,” picking you up and putting you over his shoulder. “I WILL KILL YOU, SEBASTIAN.”

“No you won’t, baby, you love me too much.”

He carries you downstairs and sets you down in the kitchen, kissing you softly. You glare at him and he wraps an arm around your waist.

Your mom and Gabe are cooking Eggs Benedict, sausage, and cinnamon rolls, another Christmas tradition. Your mom had even remembered that Sebastian liked cheese on his scrambled eggs, making them especially for him. They always made a variety of food Christmas morning just in case someone decided they wanted something different. “Merry Christmas, you two!” Your mom says, quickly hugging you before going back to the stove.

“Merry Christmas, losers,” Gabe says from his spot where he’s making the hollandaise.

“Where’s Emily?”

“Oh, she went for a run, of course. Don’t worry, she’ll be back by 9.”

“Does everyone know what’s going on except me?”

Seb winks, “you’ll find out, darling.”

“You two go to the living room, we’re almost done here. DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING,” your mom says.

You go to the living room and sit in front of the tree. Sebastian sits behind you, pulling you onto his lap. He kisses your neck, sucking on it lightly.

“This isn’t fair. I feel like they’re mocking us. I want to open them.”

“Baby, we can’t. Your mom will kill us.”

You groan, looking at him, “I wanna open yours first.”

“Nope, sorry, darling. Mine goes last.”

“But Sebbbbbyyy I wanna open it first because you mean so much to me.”

“Nope. I’ll open yours last if that makes it better.”

You turn on his lap, facing him, “pleaseeeeeeee?”

“Baby, no. You can give me the puppy dog eyes all you want, I’m not gonna change my mind. My present has something to do with our surprise later.”

You groan, frowning at him, “fine. But then that means you can’t open my present till everything else is opened.”

“Fine with me,” he says as your parents and Emily walks in, looking more dressed up than usual.

“Alright you two, cool it with the PDA.” Gabe says as he hands you a tray with you and Seb’s food on it.

“PRESENT TIME,” your sister yells.

You hand your sister a huge box, which has the record player in the bottom and all of the records on top. She opens it and screams.

“OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” She pulls out each of the records, grinning when she sees the record player. She leans over and hugs you tightly, “THANK YOU SO MUCH.”

You laugh and grin at her, “you have no idea how long it took me to find those. Especially “Red.” “RED DESERVED A GRAMMY, OKAY?!” She says, hugging the record, “TAYLOR WAS CHEATED AND SHE DESERVES BETTER.”

You shrug as your mom hands you a box with blue wrapping, winking at Seb.

You look at them skeptically, opening the box slowly. You gasp when you see the necklace that she wore when she married Gabe. It’s a gold, heart-shaped locket, and you’d always wanted to wear it.

“Mom… I can’t accept this.” “It’s a loan, honey.”

“Wait…. What?”

“I’m gonna let you keep it for a few months, and then you’re gonna give it back.” “Why give it to me at all?”

“Oh my god just accept it we have to go soon.”

“SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE WE’RE GOING.”

“Nope, not gonna happen, darling,” Sebastian says.

You roll your eyes and hand Gabe his present. He opens it, grinning, 

“DUUUUUDE THIS IS AWESOME IT’S FUCKING THREE FEET LONG LONG. AND IT’S MADE OF ROPE. THIS IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE. BEST STEPDAUGHTER EVER.”

“What the fuck, Gabe?” Emily says, glaring at him.

He high fives you and Emily hands you a present, “so this is just something little for now, I have something else for you later.”

You open the bag and pull out a light blue headband and a small box. You open the box, which has a set of gorgeous turquoise earrings in it.

“Oh, Em… These are beautiful.”

“I thought you’d like them. Turquoise has always been your color.”

You hug her tightly, then hand your mom her present. She opens it, winking at you “I’m definitely gonna use this later.”

Gabe shrugs, looking at you, “my present is coming later.”

Seb hands you a simple white box, and you hand him his two presents. He opens the bag with Dug first, kissing your cheek.

“Babe, why’d you get me two things? This is all I need.”

You shrug as you start to open your box and you look at him, “trust me, you’ll want the other one.”

You open your box to find a white dress with a blue ribbon around the waist, smiling at him.

“I love it. Does this have anything to do with what we’re doing later?”

He winks as he opens his present, gasping, “Oh my god, darling. This is incredible.”

You blush, kissing him softly, “I’m glad you liked it. I was hoping it would go--”

“--in the apartment? Done,” he says, hugging you.

“Alright, now that we’re done with all that, everyone go get dressed. (Y/N), you wear everything you got today and everyone else, dress nice. We leave at 9 sharp.”

“Can I at least finish eating?” “Depends, can you eat all of that in 5 minutes.”

Sebastian looks at you, smirking, “hell yeah, she can.”

-------

I flipped over on my side and felt a pair of eyes on me. “Sebastian, are you awake right now?”

With my eyes still closed, I heard a giggle. “Why?”

He leaned forward and kissed my nose. “Because it’s Christmas.”

I huffed a reply, curling into his chest. “What time is it?”

His weight shifted, letting me gather he was straining to see the time. “Uh, 3:45.”

I sighed deeply and curled into him once he was back on the bed. “It’s not even sunrise yet.”

He kissed my nose again, whispering. “But it’s Christmas.”

I peeked open an eye and smiled. “It’s Christmas.”

He nodded, “our first Christmas as a couple.”

I leaned into him, taking my turn at kissing his nose. “Hopefully not the last one.” He smirked, his cheeks going rosy. “But seriously, go back to sleep.”

He huffed, flipping so he was laying on his back. “But, I love Christmas.”

“Babe, I love Christmas too, but this is insane.”

He turned his head slowly and squinted at me. “Your parents have never gotten up before sunrise to open gifts?”

I shook my head. “No. We all enjoy sleep in this family.”

He rolled his eyes and smirked. “Not even when you were a kid?” I shook my head. “Typical Gabe, depriving you of life’s greatest gifts. I’m gonna have to talk to him about that.” He turned his head back so he was facing the ceiling. “When I was a kid, I would always wake up somewhere in the early morning. Some Christmases my parents were lucky to have slept past three.”

“In the morning?” I scoffed.

He smiled, closing his eyes, the memory warming his soul. “Yeah. I’d sneak out of my bedroom and tiptoe down to my mom and step-dad’s room, creaking the door open just enough to see if they were awake.”

I kissed his chest. “And were they?”

He snorted. “Never. So that always gave me the opportunity to run full force towards their bed and jump as high as I could and scream at the top of my lungs ‘IT’S CHRISTMAS!’.” He smiled again, scrunching his nose in happiness. “They always were so angry at first.”

I chuckled. “I’m sure.”

He turned towards me and smiled. “I want our kids to feel like they can do that with us. That they can sneak into our bedroom and scream, run around like complete morons, yelling in excitement about it being Christmas.”

I cleared my throat. “Our kids?”

He shrugged. “Not right now, obviously. But eventually, I always thought we would have one or two.”

I smiled, snuggling into him again. He brought the blankets to just below my chin. “I like the idea of that. A couple of kids running around, laughing and talking about their days. Of course in Romanian.”

I felt him smirk against my hair. “You want the kids to learn Romanian?”

I shrugged. “Of course. It’s something that your mother kept alive in your childhood and now you can still speak it fluently. I think that the kids should have some form of Romanian heritage, don’t you?” He nodded. “Good. Besides, it would make your mom happy to know that.”

We tried to fall back asleep but the conversation just kept flowing. That was the good thing about being in love with your best friend; you had a childhood of memories to talk about. You were completely comfortable with them. They were the one person that you could always be yourself around. What felt like days was just a few mere hours because Gabe was knocking at my door, quietly opening it to smirk at the picture he saw in front of him.

We lay together on the bed, blankets off of him and up to my neck on me. “I thought I said to keep the damn door open.”

His voice startled us and I sat up, the blankets falling to the bed. “Gabe.”

He smirked, nodding towards my clothing. “Glad to see you stayed dressed.”

I dropped my head, embarrassment flooding my face. “Gabe, come on.”

He winked at me and smiled. “I figured Sebastian would’ve had you up and singing ‘Kumbaya’ around the tree.”

He rolled his eyes and snorted. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think? I’m very disappointed in you, Gabriel, for not allowing this sweet child to do such a thing when she was a kid.”

Gabe made a face, “she always had that option. Most times, we had to wake her up.”

Seb’s jaw dropped and I giggled. “Like I said, we like our sleep.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Unbelievable.”

Gabe sighed and waved his hands towards the hallway. “Come on, you two. Catherine has got some cinnamon buns in the oven for breakfast and I think there was a large man in a red suit here just a few hours ago.”

Sebastian snorted. “Santa.”

I nodded. “Of course, who else do you think brings the gifts to us.”

His smiled dropped and his eyes widened. “Y-you still belie-”

“You’re telling me that Santa isn’t real?” My expression change to one of worry.

He shook his head. “Of course not, who else would bring the gifts on Christmas Eve.”

I cocked a brow. “Sebastian Stan, do you still believe in Santa Claus? Come on, aren’t you a little old for that.”

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head slowly. “Damn you, you had me fooled!”

I winked and kissed his cheek, hopping out of the bed to run towards the kitchen. “CHRISTMAS!”

I heard Sebastian coming behind me and Gabe speaking to him. “You’ve got your hands full with that one.”

Sebastian snorted, “good.”

---------

You get ready with Sebastian, who walks out of the bathroom wearing a tuxedo. You lick your lips and he smirks at you.

“Like what you see, darling?”

“I’ve seen you in a tux in magazines, but goddamn. That’s a sin to look like that, Seb.”

He looks you up and down, “darling, you look incredible. I forgot how good you look in white.”

“Why am I wearing white, again?” You ask as you put your shoes on. You’d gone to the effort of curling your hair before putting on the headband, and you’d practically been shaking when you put on your mom’s necklace. The earrings Emily had gotten you were perfect, and they weren’t too flashy.

“You’ll find out, darling.” He helps you stand and kisses you softly, walking downstairs with you.

Your parents and sister are dressed very formally, and you look at them, confused.

“Someone tell me where we’re going or I’m not leaving.”

Sebastian hugs you from behind, nibbling on your ear. “Baby, please. This is important. It’ll be special for both of us, I promise.”

“Fine, I’ll go.”

“ALRIGHT,” Gabe yells, “now get your asses in the car so we’re not late. If we’re late, you owe me money.”

You get in the backseat with Sebastian and your sister. Gabe looks back at Sebastian, raising an eyebrow.

“Forgetting something there, buddy?” “SHIT yeah oops,” Sebastian puts an eye mask over your face and you groan.

“What the fuck, Sebastian?”

“Sorry, darling, but it won’t be a surprise if you can see where we’re going.”

You sit with your arms crossed as you suffer in silence in the car, and you gradually feel Sebastian get more excited.

“Sebby, chill. You’re stressing me out with how much you’re bouncing.”

“Baby, I’m just excited.”

“YEAH I’m sure I would be, too if I KNEW WHERE WE WERE GOING.”

“Shhhh we’re almost there. Relax,” he says, stroking your cheek.

You feel the car stop and Gabe opens the back door and helps you out. Seb holds onto you so you don’t run into anything as he leads you to your destination.

“Sebby, I smell churros. Why am I blindfolded if we’re just at Disney?”

“(Y/N), shut up and let him do this for you,” Gabe says.

You pipe down and walk into the park, holding on tight to him.

“Is the park even open? It’s Christmas, how are we here?” “SHUT UP,” you hear from the peanut gallery.

You bite your lip and Sebastian stops, standing near the fountain on Main Street.

“Ladies, you go ahead. Gabe, don’t fucking move.”

Sebastian takes off the eye mask and your eyes meet him piercing blue ones.

“We’re getting married today, darling.”

Your eyes go wide, and you let out a quick laugh.

“Excuse me we’re what?”

“We’re getting married. In front of the castle. You always wanted a Disney themed wedding with just family, the man you love, and a white sundress. I took notes, baby.”

“When did you plan this?” He smirks, “the day I proposed to you. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And I had to pull a lot of strings to get them to be here on Christmas Day, but it’s so worth it.”

“So we’re getting married?”

He grins, nodding, “we’re getting married, baby.”

Gabe clears his throat, “Sebastian, I believe you’re needed elsewhere?”

Seb kisses you softly, whispering in your ear, “I’ll see you there, love.” He walks away as Gabe links his arm with yours.

“You ready, kid?”

“Gabe, I’ve been ready to marry Sebastian Stan for 15 years.”

The ceremony isn’t too long, and you were surprised that Sebastian had gotten a priest on such short notice. When he mentions vows, Sebastian grins at you. “I’ll read you mine another time, I didn’t want to make you feel left out.”

You go through the standard vows, and by the time he gets to “I promise to love you forevermore,” you’re crying, and you notice that Sebastian’s eyes are less piercing and more gentle, and they’re almost brimming over with tears.

When you get to “husband and wife,” Sebastian doesn’t waste a moment taking you into his arms and kissing you deeply.

“Well yeah okay I guess kiss her anyway,” the priest says, and your family laugh as you and your husband keep kissing.

“Okay you two, break it up,” Emily says, making you break the kiss to giggle.

You look at Sebastian, whose tears finally betrayed him, “Merry fucking Christmas, Seb.”

“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Stan.”

----------

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[mirkwoodshewolf]

Finding out the truth about Freddie; Queen x reader

*Author’s note*

Here we go with the next chapter, now I hope you got your tissues ready cause I swear people, these next few chapters are gonna be heavy. Now in this one there is an insane amount of fluff first but then as the story goes on, YEESH! I’ll say this I HATED writing a portion of this chapter cause I was CRYING!!!

Also in the near future I may do a sorta HC type thing because there is one additional surprise that’s in this chapter (it’s nothing bad trust me) but I may just do that instead of making another fic of it. But I hope you all enjoy this part as much as you enjoyed the previous. And look out for the next and final update coming in just a few.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@platawnic​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queensdivas​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@kairosfreddie​

@onebigfangirlworld​

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@starswin​

@bohemiansweede​

@5sos-wdw​

@labessieisallama​

@isabella-bby​

@dj-lowkey​

_______________________________________________________________

*December 15th, 1990*

It was like any other day in holiday home of Montreux.  I was getting the place ready for the boys to stay while they got some work done. Brian wouldn’t tell me much but just the fact that the press were really hounding on Freddie lately. Now I have heard that there had been rumors that Freddie was sick but of what I had no idea.

The boys refused to tell me every time I asked. The last time I had seen Freddie and the guys in the public view was when they won the award for best band of the 1980’s.  

And I’ll definitely say that something did look wrong with him, he was so thin and pale it was like I wasn’t even looking at the same person.  But a walking corpse.  I checked the clock really quick and said to myself.

“Okay Jack should be back with them any minute. Their flight was supposed to have come in a half hour ago. That is if there had been no delay. But there shouldn’t have been otherwise he’d call me. Okay bedrooms have been assigned, dinner’s just about done, and the twins are upstairs napping. Susan will drop Kelly back home after the playdate with Amy, okay I think that’s everything.”

Soon I heard two separate barks from upstairs on the balcony.  I knew that it was Sammy our 3 year old golden retriever and Bucky our 6 year old German Shepherd, sounding the alarm that company had arrived.  I smiled and raced towards the door and opened it to reveal the guys coming out of the cars.

I smiled widely and raced towards them not helping myself to an ecstatic squeal that came out of my mouth.

“Ahh her royal majesties have finally arrived!” As the first person I tackled in a hug was Brian.  Seeing me coming at him, he immediately was ready as he picked me up and spun me around making me laugh as I said.

“Oh you guys look at you all!” He set me down as I brought Deacy in for the next hug.  He pecked my cheek and embraced me back and as I hugged Roger and Fred at the same time I said, “Oh it’s been too long, I’ve missed my boys soo much. Oi,” I separated from them and gathered them together so that I could scold them like the mother I was, “Just because you four are now some hotshot band of the 80’s doesn’t mean you can forget about the people who most love you four. I worry about you guys I expect a call every now and then.”

“You know we check in on you love.” Said Roger. I grinned at him and said.

“Yeah I know but still. I don’t want you four to forget about little ol me.”

“Darling it’s impossible to forget about you.” Said Freddie.

“Hey you guys hungry? I’ve made cornbread and chilly.” I asked.

“Wait did I just hear cornbread and chilly?” Jack suddenly came into the group circle making us laugh and I said.

“Yes darling, it’s in the stove, should be done about now.” I took the guys inside the house and as they got a good view of the house from the inside Deacy said.

“Wow (y/n), your home is beautiful.”

“Thanks Deacy, the perfect vacation home for three kids. But oh lord the sleepovers that will happen in the future. It’ll fit an entire classroom.” I teased the last part.

“Speaking of which where are the little ankle biters at?” asked Roger.

“Well the twins are upstairs taking their afternoon nap, and Kelly is at a friend’s place. Should be back around 5-10 minutes or so.”

“How have they been doing?” asked Brian.

“Well the twins just had their 18month checkup about a month ago. Everything’s all healthy, Jack Jr. grew another 3inches. And Georgie gained 3 extra pounds.” Deacy whistled and said.

“Seems you’ve got a weed on your hands with Jack.”

“Tell me about it, by the time the boy’s in junior high, he’ll probably be as tall as an NBA player.” They looked at me confused and that’s when I stated, “Basketball player.” To which they nodded in understandment.

“And how’s the little nightingale?” asked Freddie.

“She’s been good. Really liking her kindergarten class, her teacher says she’s the smartest little girl she’s ever seen.”

“And we wouldn’t expect nothing less, she’s like her mother in every sense, shape and form.” Roger praised as he gave me a fatherly peck on the temple.  I playfully shoved him and said.

“But I know she’ll be excited to see you all. She doesn’t even know you guys are coming.”

“My, my you are a sneaky mother lion aren’t yah dear?” teased Freddie.

“I do my best Fred. Okay so let me show you all to your rooms so you can set your stuff down and then we can have dinner.” I then led the boys up the stairs.

But as I reached the top I began to notice that Fred seemed to be struggling immensely.  

I walked back down towards him and took his luggage and he looked at me and I smiled softly, hoping that I wasn’t crossing any boundaries.

“Thank you darling.” He said with a nod and I nodded back to him and tried to help him up the stairs but he refused telling me that he got it under control.

“Okay Freddie this room is yours,”

“Thank you darling.” He said as he set himself down on the bed and for the first time since arriving I saw him truly become relaxed. I set his stuff down at his bedside and said to him.

“I’ll let you know when dinner’s finally ready.” He thanked me once more and that’s when we all heard barking coming down the hall.

Bucky had entered Freddie’s room and trotted right up towards him.

“Hi Bucky!” Freddie said trying to sound enthusiastically but that’s when Bucky started to bark at him and not in the happy way.  He almost sounded alarmed or defensive.  I walked up towards him telling him as I ruffled his fur.

“What is wrong with you yah rotter? It’s just Freddie.”

“Oh I think my outfit just smells like Delilah that’s all.”

“I am so sorry Freddie he’s never acted this way before to anyone.” I apologized.

“No apologizes necessary darling.” He assured me. I knelt down to Bucky’s height and he sniffed under my chin whimpering and grunting as I scowled him.

“What’s the matter with you huh? It’s like you smelled something bad on him.” Bucky let out a couple more barks before a whistle was heard and Bucky went trotting over to Roger who began to pet him.  “Again Fred I’m so sorry about this, hopefully Sammy will be nicer for the both of them. You just get yourself situated and I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

“No need to hover over me like a mama bear darling, I’ll be fine.” I just grinned at him and left his room and took the rest of band members of Queen to their rooms.

Deacy and Roger had rooms that were next door to each other’s while Brian’s room was just across from the master bedroom.

Once the guys got settled in, Jack had gotten the table set up and now everyone was gathered around the table ready to eat. I set the food down and I heard Roger say.

“Ahh about time, at least this will be better than airplane food.”

“Oh (y/n) this smells absolutely delicious.” Complimented Brian.

“Thank you boys, and please help yourselves to as much as you want.”  We all then dug into our dinner.

“So how far did you say the studio was from here?” asked Freddie.

“It’s literally 20 minutes from here. Can’t miss it, it’s a beautiful building. I’m actually about to do some recording myself there tomorrow for my next album.”

“Mind telling us about it?” asked Roger.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no you cheeky devils. You’ll have to wait till it hits the shelves. I’m not spilling a single detail.”

“Ahh come on love, we tell each other everything in regard to work.” Said Brian.

“Nope, not gonna get anything outta me.” I said as I took a spoonful of chilly into my mouth.  The front door soon opened and shut as we all heard a tiny little girl’s voice call out.

“Hi mummy!”

“There she is.” Proclaimed Deacy.  Soon coming around the corner at 5 years old now with my (h/c) locks that went past her shoulders and (e/c) eyes that shined like little gems was my dear little Kelly.

“Uncle Deacy!” She raced over to Deacy who picked her up and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he said.

“How’s my favorite niece doing? Ohh you’re getting so big.”

“I see how it is Kelly, you go to Deacy but ignore the rest of us.” Freddie taunted.

“No Uncle Freddie, I never forget about you!” Kelly whined.  Freddie grinned at her and said.

“I know you wouldn’t. Now come give your uncle Freddie a kiss my little nightingale.” Kelly got out of Deacy’s lap and went over to Freddie who picked her up and kissed both her cheeks.  I noticed that Freddie was straining to pick her up, he tried to hide it but I could see it in his face as he picked her up.

“And what of my hug and kiss Kelly?” Brian asked. She giggled and Freddie passed her over to Brian.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed Brian’s cheek.  I picked up Jack Jr. from his booster seat while Jack took Daniel.  Brian gave Kelly her Eskimo kiss before kissing her forehead which made her giggle.

“Where’s papa Roger?” she asked innocently.  I turned to Roger who went to grab another beer can to see his goddaughter being held in Brian’s arms.  I grinned at him as he said as he set his beer down.

“Why don’t you turn around and find out.” Kelly immediately turned around and raced towards Roger who got down to her height and picked her up under her arms holding her close to his chest which caused the whole room to erupt with soft laughs.

Just like me, Kelly’s always favored Roger out of the guys.  Thankfully Roger took the role of godfather to a whole new level.  Anytime I needed advice with Kelly, he was always there day or night.  He adored Kelly with all his heart and like he did with me, he treated Kelly like his own child and gave her the entire world.

“You happy to see your uncles and your god papa sweetie?” asked Jack.

“I’m very happy.” Roger hugged her close to him and repeatedly kissed Kelly’s cheek making her giggle and squirm in his arms.

“And get this poppet, your uncles and godfather will be staying here with us for a while whilst they get some work done.” I told her.  Her eyes lit up and she turned to Roger and asked him.

“Really?”

“That’s right love, hope you won’t get too sick of us like your mother does.” Roger teased.

“No I miss you guys!” She said as she hugged Roger’s neck and buried her face into it which made all of us laugh.  Roger kissed her head and set back down in his seat while I got a bowl ready for Kelly.  Once I set it down, she whined out, “Aww mummy, I don’t like chilly though!”

“Sorry darling but you’re gonna have to expand your eating habits. Just try a couple of bites.” I told her.  She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest pouting.

“Ahh come on now lovey, listen to your mummy and try at least a spoonful.” Said Roger as he gave her the puppy dog eyes but Kelly still refused.

“Okay then, I guess that means I’ll have to give the extra ice cream sandwiches to one of the guys then.” I started off.  It was then Kelly perked up and said.

“Wait! Wait! I want an ice cream sandwich!” I smirked knowing that I had her right where I wanted her.  I knelt down in front of her and said to her.

“Then you’ve got to eat your chilly.” She whined as she looked between her bowl and me.  “It’s either that or not dessert monkey.” She then finally gave in and reached for her spoon and took a bite of the chilly.  “That’s my girl.” I kissed the top of her head as Roger said.

“You’re so bad with her.”

“Well I did learn from the best,” I pecked his cheek and went to grab the ice cream sandwiches from the freezer.

The rest of the night was spent catching up with the guys and eating our dessert.  Kelly was coloring in her coloring book while the boys were playing with their blocks at the center of the living room.

“So how have you two adjusted to dealing with 3 kids now?” asked Brian.

“It’s a struggle at times, but we’re happy to have our boys.” I said.

“Jack Jr. is an angel from heaven, Georgie however is a little devil in disguise. Jack Jr. clears his plate like a gentleman, Georgie on the other hand will just scatter his food down to the floor. Like the other day they were eating cheerios and he goes shoving the cheerios onto the ground, but what he does next is that he just looks at me like this,” Jack then made a ‘stare-down’ face as he said, “Like he’s saying, ‘I know you’re gonna pick that up’.” Which got the guys laughing.

“Trust me Jack, I went through the same thing with Robert when he was first born. But eventually he grew out of it, hopefully it’ll be the same with Georgie.” Said Deacy.

“Let’s hope so, I don’t think I can raise a mini-Jensen.” Jack groaned which made us laugh again.

As the night drew darker, Kelly who was now leaning against her godfather yawned and that’s when Roger said.

“Seems like someone had a long day today.” I stood up to take her upstairs but he stopped me and said, “It’s fine love, I’ll take her up. You take care of those boys of yours.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah it’ll be fine.” Roger then slowly picked Kelly up without trying to wake her up and took her up to her room.  

God she looked so cute leaning up against Roger like that, reminds me of me at that age when my real father would take me up to bed after I had fallen asleep doing something.

“It is getting rather late. I think we should all be in bed by now, we want to get as early of a start recording as we can.” Stated Freddie.

“Agreed.” Brian spoke up.  It was then decided that we all turned in for the night.  Jack and I put the twins in their nursery jointed right next door to the master bedroom and I said goodnight to the three queens and they bid us a goodnight back.  Jack and I unfolded the sheets and got into bed.

“How long do you think you’ll be staying in the studio for?”

“I’m hoping to plan just 9 hours, but I can’t make any promises. Plus with the guys here, they may need me. Hope that isn’t any trouble for you.”

“No, no it’s fine. It’s been awhile since you’ve got to work with the boys, they might need you back with them.”

“Yeah they are lost without me.” We kissed each other and then snuggled up for the night.

*3rd Person POV*

While everyone was getting situated into bed, Roger finally arrived at Kelly’s room and walked over to her bed.  He gently set her down and just before he could cover her up, she moaned and opened her eyes and said.

“Papa Roger?” Roger looked up at her and smiled and said.

“Hey you, I thought you’d gone to dreamland by now.”

“I couldn’t with you and uncle Deacy, uncle Brian and uncle Freddie here. I’m too excited to sleep now.”

“Oh really?” She nodded but then Roger took notice that she had the same sad look that she inherited from her mother. “What is it lovey?” he asked.

“I don’t think I can say it.” She responded solemnly as she looked down away from Roger.  Roger looked at his goddaughter as said.

“Kelly, you know that if something’s bothering you, you know you can always tell me anything, right?” She nodded hesitantly and that’s when Roger lifted her chin up and said as he sat down at her bedside and extended his arm out, “C’mere darling.” Kelly crawled up onto Roger’s lap and gripped onto his shirt and fiddled with it.

Roger adjusted her so that she was fully sitting on his lap and wrapped his arms around her back keeping her steady as he allowed her head to rest against his chest over his heart, much like he did with her mother.

“Talking about it will help you feel better, so come on little lioness, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Kelly fiddled with Roger’s shirt a bit more before finally saying as she looked up at Roger with this (e/c) eyes that she got from her mother.

“Is uncle Freddie okay?”

At this point Roger didn’t even know what to tell her.  He had hoped that Kelly wouldn’t notice the change in Freddie due to his AIDS but he knew he had been fooling himself.  

She was after all the daughter of (Y/n) Kline, the cleverest girl he had ever met.

“I—didn’t want to say anything to mummy at dinner because I was afraid she’d get sad. I didn’t want her to be sad.” Roger stroked Kelly’s hair and said to her.

“You definitely have your mother’s cleverness thank god for that.” He first teased which made both him and even Kelly laugh. “Listen darling; your uncle Freddie he’s—he’s just trying out a new look. He hopes that it will help him look younger to fit in with the new ongoing crowd of fans. That’s all.”

“Well I don’t like it. He looks sick, can’t mummy help him feel better? I want the old uncle Freddie back.” Roger brushed some strands of her long hair out of her face and said.

“Maybe, if your mum will allow it.”

“She always helps me whenever I feel sick.” She said softly.

“She is a good nurse isn’t she?” Roger asked remembering all the times that she’s helped him and the guys whenever they partied too hard and were completely shitfaced by morning when they were forced to record.  After teasing them, mainly him of course, she’d then have medicine, water and crackers to help settle their stomachs.

Kelly nodded but still looked sad.  If there was one thing Roger knew when it came to his best girls, whether it was the Kline girls or even his own daughter, it was to never let them go to bed sad.  With a mischievous gleam appearing in his eyes and a cunning grin coming across his face, Roger proceeded to try and get Kelly to laugh.  First he playfully pinched her nose as he said.

“I’ve got you nose.” Which made Kelly giggle as she tried to escape her godfather’s embrace.  As she now fell back onto her bed, it allowed Roger to grab her ankle and lift her foot in the air as he said, “Got your toes!”

“Papa Roger, stop! I’m too big for nose and toes!” She laughed.  This was a playful game that Roger not only played with his own daughter but with Kelly as well to get them to be happy again.

“Uh-oh, you’re missing a toe. Alright you little ankle bitter, where’s that missing toe?”

“I’m not missing a toe.” Kelly cried out.

“Oh yes you are, see. One, two, three, four.” He said counting her toes skipping over her middle toe.  “Now where you keeping that toe at young lady?”

“I don’t have it anywhere.”

“Ah-ah better tell the truth, or I’m gonna tickle it out of yah.” He then dived down and began tickling Kelly’s stomach.  The two of them laughing as Roger kept Kelly close to him as he tickled her, not allowing her to escape an inch away from him. Kelly tried as best as she could to roll away from him but Roger always brought her back close to him, she tried to push his hand away but it wouldn’t budge.

When she was nothing but pure smiles and no more trace of sadness was in her eyes, Roger ceased his tickle attack and scooted her up so that her head was now resting on her pillow.

“Okay lovey, time for bed.” He tucked her in and stroked the top of her head, brushing away the bangs that fell down over her eyes.  “Now don’t you worry about your uncle Freddie okay? He always bounces back up, and I know he will from this.” Roger lied.

He hated to lie to Kelly but he had no choice. She was too young to understand and he didn’t want this to affect her badly by telling her that her uncle was going to die soon.

He refused to allow Kelly to be told that right away, especially if it was from him and not from her own parents.

Plus he knew Freddie would never forgive him had his favorite niece been told he was so sick.

“Okay.” Kelly said softly.

“That’s my girl.” Roger kissed her forehead and whispered, “Goodnight my love.”

“G’night.” Kelly whispered before finally closing her eyes and went back to sleep.  Roger stayed by her bedside for a few moments stroking her head gingerly before finally decided to head to his own room and went to sleep himself.

As he lay down on his bed, a single tear fell down his face.

*My POV*

As the next year came around; the boys continued to stay at the house, balancing work and spending time with their niece and nephews.  I’ve really began to notice the signs of Freddie not doing so well.

Some nights he would lose his appetite and not want anything to eat.  There was also the signs of him struggling to get out of bed in the mornings and even walk up and down the stairs.  One day there was even an accident where he fell and broke his ankle.  Also both Sammy and Bucky would just bark at Freddie anytime he would pass them, they even went as much as to avoid him at all times which they had never done before since we had gotten them.

I was really starting to get scared for Freddie’s sake because Kelly was starting to ask questions.  She told me that she and Rog had a talk about it but he told her not to worry about it.  So I would go up to either Brian or Rog since anytime Freddie was brought up, Deacy wouldn’t even speak and the two of them would tell me not to worry and that Fred was just trying something out, or he went to the gym after their rehearsals.

I was currently sitting on one of my chairs by the back entrance going over a new song for my upcoming album.  Doing some rewrites and trying to make the song work better when I heard Freddie’s voice coming down the hallway.

I put my feet up and lowered myself further down the chair hiding myself from view as I heard Freddie say.

“Just tell the press to bugger off and not say a word that I am here with (Y/n) and Jack. I refuse to let the Klines get involve with this Jim darling. If they ask, just tell them I’m in Japan recording…..I know, I miss you too my husband. I’ll call you later tonight, bye-bye my love.” I then heard Fred sigh heavily and heard him enter the living room as he said to himself. “God this is fucking ridiculous. Now they’ve got to pull my beloved Rock Angel into this, she doesn’t deserve this torture either.”

Finally I had had enough, I poked out from behind the chair which caused Freddie to jump backward as I said to him.

“Care to confess your sins there, Mr. Mercury?”

“Bloody hell (Y/n) don’t scare me like that.” He said as he rubbed his chest.  I set my notebook down and stood before him saying.

“Well that’s rich coming from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You Fred. If anyone’s scaring anybody here is you that’s scaring me. Are you sure there isn’t anything you want to talk to me about?” He remained silent and just stared at me with wide eyes.  I raised my brow at him and proceeded to say as I circled around him, “Like; why Bucky and Sammy won’t come near you without barking up a storm? Or why your appetites changed? Not to mention this weight loss, the fact that you can barely walk some days without help, not to mention the phone conversation I just heard about me getting involved with something you don’t want me a part of. Fred I’m really worried about you.”

I now stood face to face with him by the end of my rant and that’s when Freddie told me.

“(Y/n) I—I’m just going through some personal things that’s all my dear.” I looked at him suspiciously and said.

“Okay,” I sighed heavily as I dragged my hands through my hair as I said, “God if I didn’t know any better I’d say it’s almost as if you—” I stopped as I looked at him.  I then shook my head and said, “No. No way. I’m going straight to the worst case scenario.” I turned around and walked away.

“What scenario would that be darling?” Freddie asked me.  I turned back around toward him and said to him trying to play it off.

“Nothing, nothing Fred forget I even said anything.” As I turned back around to walk away it was then Freddie dropped the bombshell.

“Because only a clever girl like you could decipher….when one has AIDS.”

I froze in my spot.

I slowly turned around and looked at Freddie. I have heard about the AIDS crisis that had been breaking out worldwide.  It was unlike anything I had ever heard of, and it was strongly affected the gay community.  Already Jack had lost some old friends from this disease but never did I—oh my god.

I slowly walked towards Fred finally putting two and two together as I choked out his name.  He looked at me with solemn eyes and said the four most gravest and heartbreaking words I will ever hear in my entire life.

“I’m afraid so darling.”

My eyes grew wide, my heart sunk and I almost collapsed to the ground in tears.  I held my hands to my mouth trying to hide my shocked expression but tears quickly filled my eyes.

“Oi Fred!” Roger’s voice called out.  He came up from the back entrance and stood beside Freddie and said to him, “Fred, Brian and Deacy managed to figure out the problem for the song, we want to run it by you.” It was then Roger turned to look at me.  I sniffled and couldn’t help as a tear fell down my face.  “(Y/n) what’s wrong?”

Even in his weak and frail state, Freddie still had that strength in his eyes that told me to not cry and be strong.  I snapped out of my state and choked out as I tried to do what Freddie was telling me to do.

“Wha? No, nothing’s wrong dad. I’m only just picturing Freddie the way he’d want me to right now. The day I first met him…..Me sitting at the piano and him trying to get me to sing another song…..” I couldn’t help a sob that came out as I choked out again as I held my arms out, “Can I please hug him?”

I walked up towards Fred and gave him a hug as I wept hysterically.  Crying into his shoulder while he rocked me back and forth rubbing my back trying to comfort me as I wept.

“Oh god no! Not you…..” I felt him kiss my temple and that’s when I felt his embrace and backed away as I choked out. “Okay I’m going to go calm down, then tonight. You and me. Garden. Because we need to have a serious talk about this okay? Okay?” I wiped my tears away before rushing out of the living room and upstairs to my bedroom.

*3rd Person POV*

Roger who was completely baffled by what he just saw turned to Freddie who turned to him solemnly and he confessed.

“I told her.” Roger sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

“How did she find out?”

“She’s clever that lion cub of yours. She put two and two together without even having to say it. Plus she was hiding when I was on the phone with Jim. Already the press back home are spilling rumors that our beloved Rock Angel is aware of my AIDS and is keeping me in hiding.”

“Those fucking wankers.” Roger sneered.  He then looked toward the direction where (y/n) had gone and tried to go after her but Freddie stopped him and said.

“Leave her be Rog. Give her time to calm down, and like she said I will talk with her. This has to be between me and her.” Roger nodded and the two men went back to work.

As agreed, the sun set and (y/n) was currently out in the gardens sitting on the pergola swing set with a vodka bottle in her hands. It was a full size bottle but the content inside was almost empty.

*My POV*

My mind maybe fuzzy from dousing vodka most of the afternoon, but I was still sober enough to go to the garden and get on the pergola waiting for Freddie to get here.  

I can’t believe this is happening. It’s—it’s like a bad dream or something.  Please God don’t let this be real.

“Knock, knock.” I looked up and there stood Freddie. I gestured for him to sit down and he did as I said.  I refused to look up at him because I knew I would break down, shitfaced or not. “Never did take you for drinking so early darling.” Freddie tried to lighten up the mood.

I spoke not a word.  Everything was dead silent except for the crickets chirping.

“How long has everyone known?” my tone was completely broken.  I heard him sigh and he confessed.

“I told Miami shortly after I was diagnoses in ’86. The boys didn’t find out three years after Miami found out.”  I shut my eyes as tears fell down my face not believing this.

“So this whole time you all knew about this? And you didn’t bother to let me in on it?!” I snapped as I finally turned towards him.  Tears stinging my eyes and threatening to come down.

“Darling I just wanted to keep this to myself. I wanted to protect the ones I loved most closest to me from being told this illness. Not even my family knows about this yet.” I looked at him, seeing the strength in his eyes behind his frail face.  “I thought by not telling you, I would be sparing you this heartache. But I should’ve guessed I couldn’t hide anything from you this long. You’re just too clever my darling.” He gently stroked my cheek with his index finger wiping away the tearstains from my face.

I turned away from him and just looked down at my feet as I muttered brokenly.

“I did this to you.”

“What?” I sniffled and said.

“I did this to you Fred.” He looked at me confused and said.

“My rock angel that’s ridiculous, how could you have done any of this?” Finally setting the vodka down, I wiped my tears away from both my eyes and sniffled as I confessed and looked directly at him.

“Do you remember a few months before my wedding? Shortly after you and the boys shot the ‘I want to break free’ video?” Freddie looked at me solemnly and said.

“You mean the day I said those horrible, nasty things about you? I wish I could forget that day but it happened.”

“I told you that I wished that you were struck down in the worst possible way……and now here you are with the worst thing anyone could ever have!” I sobbed out.  Covering my eyes with my hand, shutting them trying to keep any more tears from spilling out.  “I did this to you Fred…..I did this…..”

“That’s bullshit darling!” he exclaimed.  I felt him take my hand that was at my side as he said, “(Y/n), my rock angel look at me,” I was hesitant but I turned towards him, looking like a sad, pathetic drunken woman but Freddie didn’t care.

He stroked some of my hair out of my face tucking it behind my ear as he said.

“Now you listen to me darling; no one is to blame here. You are not to blame for this, the one person responsible for this is me. I was reckless, stupid, and gave too shits about what I was doing. I might’ve known the risks but I didn’t give a fuck about it. My moto was ‘I’m doing everything with everyone’ and not once considered what the result would be. But never, ever think that this was your fault, because it wasn’t. I don’t blame you; the boys don’t blame you; no one blames you.” I looked at Freddie with teary eyes and choked out in a faint voice that it almost appeared like a whisper.

“But why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“As I said I wanted to protect you darling. You were finally booming in your career just as we were. I didn’t want anything to drag you down. You didn’t deserve to be distracted by an old aging queen like me.” That managed to get a laugh out of me.  “See, there’s my darling rock angel.” He wiped the tears away and I fully turned towards him.

He cupped my face into his hands and he looked straight into my eyes as he said in a more serious tone.

“Now I’m going to tell you exactly what you told the lads and I when we first found out about your parents; I don’t want you to fuss about it or frown about it, but above all don’t bore me with any sympathy. Because that’s just seconds wasted, seconds that can be used making music, which is all what I want to do with the time I have left. And you need to do the same, can you promise me that darling?” I sniffled and croaked out.

“I’ll try.”

“No dear, you either will or you won’t. Now give me the right answer.” His voice stern which made me flinch a bit but I knew it wasn’t out of anger at me directly.

“I promise.” I vowed to him.  He nodded softly and said.

“That’s my Rock Angel, now no more tears darling, okay?” I nodded and that’s when he brought me into his embrace and I hugged him back as tightly as I could but kept it gentle so that I wouldn’t cause him any pain.

I remained in his arms for the rest of the night.

The next morning, Fred invited me along to the recording studio.  Since I had completed my album, he thought it would be best for me to come over and see him record this one song that he had been working on with the guys.

He wouldn’t tell me much about it, just to come along and even bring Kelly along so that she could see it too.  

Once we had arrived at the studio, I held Kelly’s hand in mine and that’s when she asked me.

“Do you think you and uncle Freddie could sing the pressure song after they’re done?”

“Maybe, but don’t count on anything okay Kelly? Your Uncle needs to rest his voice.” I entered the studio and was greeted by some of the technicians and office workers who pointed me in the direction of where the boys were.

When we reached the room, I saw Freddie put down a vodka bottle as he proclaimed to Brian who was sitting right beside him.

“I’ll fucking do it, darling!”

“Language Freddie, there is a child present in the room.” I exclaimed as I covered Kelly’s ears.  The boys all turned toward me and that’s when Freddie said.

“So sorry dear.” I just shook my head at him as I grinned and that’s when Kelly raced up towards Freddie.  He picked her up and set him on his lap and she asked him.

“You going to do a new song uncle Freddie?”

“Indeed I am my little nightingale, care to watch?” She nodded enthusiastically and that’s when Brian took a hold of Kelly and set her in is lap while Fred slowly got up from his chair and walked into the recording booth.  I took Freddie’s seat and Roger came over and stood over me while Deacy was in the back isolated but still kept his eyes on Fred.

“Okay this is ‘the Show must go on’ take 1.” Brian spoke into the mic. “You ready Fred?”

“Yes Brian dear, let’s do it.” I then heard the track beginning to start.  It was a powerful beat that already struck a chord in me and as it decrescendo, Freddie began to sing.

Play video

Even with as frail and ill that he looked, a man that was practically a walking corpse right before my eyes, his voice still held such power.  Sure not as much as he once had, but Fred didn’t allow his AIDS to stop him from working, he kept at it.

Once the first chorus hit and his voice hit that falsetto I couldn’t help but have my breath literally be taken out from my body as I just stared at him.  The lyrics were truly about Freddie and his struggles with this illness but he still knew and kept up with his famed phrase ‘The Show must go on’ no matter what.

And he sure as hell proved that on that day to me.

I could only stare at him in pure awe throughout the whole recording.  To nail the notes he needed on just the first take, only someone like Freddie Mercury could do that.  And I was damn proud to not only call him my idol, but my family.

At the very last note he hit with such raw power, I felt a shiver run up my spine as my eyes refused to leave him and I may or may not have been aware of it, but a few tears had fallen down my face.

By the end of the song, I heard Kelly say.

“Mummy you’re crying.” I turned to her and felt my cheek and could feel the wetness of the tears in my face.

“They’re happy tears my love.” I assured her as I wiped them away and saw Fred looking right at me.  I pressed the mic button and said.  “Killed it as always Fred.”

“Good, because I don’t think I can do it again.” Which caused me and the guys to choke out a laugh.

The following day at just before dawn, we were all at the airport and the guys were waiting for their private jet to take them back to London after doing a successful recording.

“You sure we can’t tempt you all to stay for a few more days?” asked Jack.

“No Jack darling we’ve taken up too much of your time. It’s time we were headed home.” Said Freddie. Jack nodded and that’s when Deacy spoke up.

“Thank you both for allowing us to stay in your lovely home.”

“Anytime Deacy, beats having to stay at a hotel or some rundown home the studio sometimes provides.” I said.

“Must you guys really leave?” Kelly asked as she leaned against her father’s shoulder looking toward her uncles and godfather sadly.

“Afraid so love, but don’t worry. You’ll be coming to see us soon.” Roger assured her as he lightly bopped her nose.

“How soon?” she asked.

“Faster than you think little one.” Brian answered her as he stroked down her hair before leaned down and giving her a kiss goodbye.  The rest of the guys soon followed and we all hugged and kissed each other goodbye as their jet soon landed.

The boys grabbed their luggage and they left to get on the plane.  They waved bye to us one final time and we waved back before they finally disappeared.

“I hope next time we see Freddie this fall he at least gets better. He looked so frail and ill; do you know what’s wrong with him (Y/n)?” I didn’t turn to face Jack but I immediately responded.

“I have no idea; they wouldn’t tell me anything.” I hated to lie but I made a promise to Fred.  He made me swear to him that Jack and Kelly didn’t need to know about his illness because he didn’t want anyone else besides me to know now.

So I vowed to him that I’d keep his secret, and I did. From mid-February till late November I kept Freddie’s secret.

[jenna347-blog]

Lira Woods pt 1

                                                           Chapter 5

Well, Lira and Jim were about to have their baby daughter. They rushed to the hospital, hoping Lira didn’t give birth on the way there. “I can’t believe that we’re about to have a devilish child of our own, my sexy husband. To me I could just dance my heart away I couldn’t be happier.” “Let say, my dear evil wifey, we’ll make sure we make this baby as bad as we are, my sexy lover. I wish I’d met you a lot sooner, my love, but I’m just glad that this is really going on. It seems like a dream. All of this just feels like a perfect dark dream.” Right after they arrived at the hospital, they immediately walked toward a desk clerk. “Hey! How can I help you today?” “My wife is having a baby.” “OH! We have to send her to a room quick.” Meanwhile in their room. “My dear Jim, hopefully when our baby comes out, she’ll either kill them or make them her slaves. We’ll bring her up to make her one of us. Then we all will rule this land, all for one and one for all, my dear husband.” The doctor walked in. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Woods. I see that your water just broke. I am a bit concerned. I have given you every test known to man, Mrs. Woods, and it seems like the numbers don’t add up. It’s like you’re not even human at all.” “Oh, doctor, whatever makes you think me or him aren’t human?” “Plus, it’s like you’re not even alive, but to me, this doesn’t make sense. How could you be dead but still be active, and it’s like you’re either a witch or a vampire. It doesn’t make any sense. But at the same timing, it’s like a puzzle to me. I should research this about you and him. Plus, I’ll have to do more research and tests on the baby. I just want to make sure everything is okay with all of you. I hope you don’t mind.” “Oh, doctor, I think me, and my wife are alive and 100 percent human, but I have no problem with you trying to find out what is going on. What do you say, my Lira?” “I agree. Do whatever you feel you need to do, doctor.” “Ok, whatever you guys say. I’ll make sure that the nurse gets all the tests that we need. You guys have a great night.” “Don’t you worry, my dear Lira. He’ll never find out about our little secret. I’ll make sure of that.” “Oh, I know, baby. Our unborn daughter will make sure of that, too, and she’ll make sure that these people kneel before us. If they refuse to bow to our command and control of all, then they will die. And, of course, we will get away with it all. I don’t care who finds out. They’ll never get in our way of making this world ours. No one can stop what we are trying to get our hands on, my lovely husband of mine, and you, too, my baby demon girl,” Lira said while patting her swollen belly. “Oh, man! I love the way you think, Lira. It seems like you always know just what to say. Like I said before hand, it’s like something brought us together and wanted us to rule this great land together. And with our child, we’ll be more powerful than ever before, and yes those who refuse to bow will be tortured to death and eaten. I would love to make more people suffer. It’s a turn on. I know you feel the same way, my dear evil Lira. I need to tell you something, my dear wifey. I’ve always been a cannibal and a slave master for years. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while that I’ve been like this since I was a young lad. I hope you don’t mind that I’m a pro also, but it may turn you on that I am.” “I love that you’ve always been this way like you said it is a turn on when you’re a bad boy. That’s what I want — a naughty bad boy that knows what he wants and gets it also, no matter what they say or do. It’s your right to choose who you want as a pet and to feed your hunger pains. When we get back, I’ll make sure to make your favorite dish, my dear deadly hubby, and like I said, I couldn’t replace you for the world. No one can top you in anything. I don’t care what it is. You’re one of a kind and my kind of man.” The next morning, the test results arrived, and the doctor was still in disbelief at what he was seeing in the blood work. With his hand on his hips and sweat pouring down his forehead, he shook his head. “Mr. and Mrs. Woods, what in the hell are you guys? After looking very carefully at all the tests and blood work, I that this baby isn’t normal, and neither are you, Mrs. Woods. The baby is a vampire, isn’t it? This isn’t a good thing to have. I mean, I know this can’t be real or shouldn’t be real, but it is very much true. That baby is not even human, and neither are you guys. Is there something you guys aren’t telling me that will help me understand? Is there something that I could have overlooked? Why is this happening? Or am I going really insane?” He paced back and forth while he talked. “Well, Doctor, let’s just say that our daughter is very special, just like my devilish wife over there. Doesn’t matter what the child is going to be; it’s still ours. Whether you like it or not, we want our child, no matter what you say, because, to us, she’s still human. All you need to do is rest, Dr. Thompson, and it’ll all be ok. After all, you’ve just gone through a lot of stress right now. You probably just read the test wrong. There’s no such thing as vampires or witches. Whoever told you that they were real was high on drugs. You shouldn’t go back to work; instead you should just take the rest of the day off and get some good R&R, ok? Just get someone else to check in on us, ok?” “You know what, Mr. Woods? You’re right. I may just need a seat and some coffee to calm my nerves a little bit. I need to stop worrying about all this crazy crap that is going on, and hopefully I’ll feel much better. Plus, I do tend to get stressed out from this job. You guys have a great night for now. Hopefully we can deliver your baby girl tomorrow.” “Yes, my dear doctor, I’ll be so happy to have this graceful child. I can’t ask for a better timing and day to have a wonder husband and soon to be daughter, so I can have two of the most important people in my life till the end.” The doctor left the room to try to clear his head, but while he was on his way to the lounge to drink some coffee, Sorcery rushed into the hospital, looking for Lira. “Doctor, can you help me with something? I need to see Lira Woods. She told me to come visit her. I’m a close friend, so can I please see her? I really need to see her. She needs me.” “Ok, miss. You can come and see Lira and Jim. Let me show you to their room.” While they were walking toward their destination, the doctor stopped outta nowhere. He had a frozen look on his face. He looked like he was under spell. He turned to Sorcery and, with an evil grin on his face, said, “Hey, Sorcery. It’s me. Jim. It’s an honor to finally meet my wife’s childhood friend. I know you are wondering, how in the hell is he controlling this dumb doctor? Are he and Lira using mind control? Well, duh! Now what’s the reason why you really showed up, girly? Let me guess. You’re trying to split us up? I don’t think so. It’s like this. You can’t stop me for loving that wonder woman. She’s just like me in so many ways. You just don’t understand the remarkable things that this woman brings to my table. Even though you guys grew up together, you don’t understand her like I do. It would break both of our hearts if me and my fair lady ever had to split up. And I know you’ve probably met my brother already. I can sense that you have. Oh, yeah, Sorcery, one more thing before I let him go, what did Lira or Tony ever see in you? All you are is just some low life that doesn’t deserve anything, not even life, and I would love to make you my dinner someday. Plus, Lira never wants to see you again. Do you have any questions for me before I leave, my dear?”  “Let’s say it like this, Jim. I know that you’re only using her for her fucking powers. You don’t truly love her. I can’t believe she even fell in love with you. I’d rather be with Tony more than with you. To me, you’re just a dead beat. You’re a cheating, smooth talking dumbass. It’s like, how is a person like you even alive right now? Men like you make me fucking sick to my stomach. I truly think Lira needs a real man in her life, not a low life like you. To me, you’re nothing but a troll who deserves to be blown off the face of the earth. You don’t truly deserve love at all. What does anyone see in you at all?” “Oh, Sorcery! I can’t believe you tried to break my little cold heart. That’s no way to talk to your friend’s husband. I truly thought you were better than that, my dear Sorcery. You’re not the girl that Lira told me about. You’re just like my brother. He’s weak and a waste of our time. How is it that you are even still been alive? And how dare you call yourself an evil witch? You can’t make any mortal your slave, and you haven’t killed anyone.” “Just because I am one doesn’t mean that I’ll be just like you or what you’ve brainwashed Lira to believe in. I’ll do anything in my power to stop you dead in your tracks, and I know Lira will finally open her fucking eyes and see what kind of loser you really are because my friend can do a whole lot better than your sorry fucking ass. And mark my words, Jim. You’ll never get away with what you’re doing to her and that child. You don’t even know what they’ll do to her. The elders will punish you both in a terrible way. They will torture you to the point where you wish you were never born, and I do hope they find out about this marriage because she truly doesn’t need a monster like you in her immortal life. If you do anything to harm her in any type of way, I will put a curse on thee.” “Oh, Sorcery, I’m so damn scared. I mean really, girly. Do you really think you can harm a vampire like me? Oh, yeah, if you’d done your research, you would have found that witches are much, much weaker against vampires. They’re the lowest of the low to us. You’re just like my twin brother Tony.” “Then what did you marry Lira for?”  “Well, because she fit so damn well with me. She has a devil may care attitude, just like me. Also, she’s so damn perfect, in each way. It’s like this. You wouldn’t understand our deadly love for each other. The type of love we have is hard to describe. It’s kind of like when a devil falls in love with a hot, sexy evil maiden that you find in a great graveyard on a dark full moon night. I mean, I never had feelings for any other girl, but Lira is a whole lot of woman and more, and she is more of a woman than you could ever be. To me, you’re just a little girl when I compare you to my evil wife, and you will never stop us for having this child. I know what you’re trying to do, and it really pisses me off that people like you are trying to stop others’ happiness instead of trying to find your own happiness. I’m about to go back to my love now. And I hope you don’t follow me either. You bitch. Now I see why Tony felt so fucking bad for your sorry ass.” He spits on her high heels. She walked up to him. “How dare you spit on me, sick freak. Like I told you, I hope you get punished for your crimes and die in the most horrible way possible. You’re one sinner that I’ll never forgive, and I never will see you as a demon. Plus, you should be ashamed of yourself, calling yourself a worthy husband and soon to be father. To me, you’re just a nobody who thinks that he is all that and a bag of chips. All you are is a fucking punk with no respect for anybody but himself.” Jim gave an evil laugh. “Sorcery, you crack me up when you act all tough and what not. You can’t beat me. I’m with Lira and having this child once and for all. Whether you like it or not, we’re going to rule this fine Planet and the other Planets as our own, as well. You won’t be able to stop us at all, and you know this for a fact. Look at you are shaking like a little leaf. Are you scared of me, just like all the other dumbasses I’ve encountered over the years, just like all the other who hated me or tried to have me arrested? My own fucking brother turned me in for something I thought it was right and normal, but he turned his back on me for no reason. It was like he never even tried to be a great brother, wing man, right hand man or whatever you want to call it. Shit! I’m to the point of not even fucking caring, but like they said, he’s still my brother, and I still hate him for what he has done to me in the past. Like I told you and him, being a cannibal is my fucking passion. It’s a hobby really. It’s something that you two will never understand at all. Well, Sorcery, it was nice meeting you, my lovely, but my wife is waking up and calling me, so bye, asshole.” Back in the room, Jim told Lira, “Baby, wake up. It’s time. She’s ready to rule and eat all these mortals.” He told one of the nurses who was in the room, “Get the doctor and other nurses, my love. My wife needs you guys to come right away.” They all ran toward the bed as Lira started to breath hard. “Ok, Mrs. Woods, I really want you to keep breathing while trying to push, ok? And hold onto your husband’s hand, ok?” Lira started to twist, turning it 360 degrees. When her face was facing forward again on her twisted neck, she slowly said, “I hope your mother rots in fucking hell and sucks dick for a living while there.” Then she gave this evil laugh, while all the nurses and the doctor looked at each other like they’d never seen anything like this in their lives. One of them said, “Did you just see and hear the same thing that I just did. Please say yes, so I won’t act all crazy.” “Yeah, Nurse Green, I did see and heard it, too,” the doctor said, and the whole room agreed. Lira looked up and yelled, “Are you going to fucking get this damn baby outta me for fuck’s sake. I’m ready to kill someone in this room at this damn point. Or maybe, I’ll kill all of you!” “Ok, Mrs. Woods, I want you to push really hard for me, ok? And keep breathing really slowly.” “What the fuck you think I’m doing, your worthless piece of shit for a doctor?” Jim told the doctor, “You have to forgive her. She’s going through it in more ways than one.” About two hours later, they finally welcomed their baby girl into the world, but this child was different from the rest of the other baby. This one already had teeth coming in, and they were very sharp, sharp enough to bite through a copper rod in one chump. Plus, she had an upside-down cross on her chest. If you guys don’t know, an upside-down cross is a satanic symbol. The nurses all looked at the doctor. It was like something they’d seen in a movie or in their craziest nightmares had just come true. “Um … Ken, have you seen anything like this before in your life?” “Nurse Kendra, I think we have a special, unexplainable case on our hands. In all my years as a doctor, I’ve never seen anything this horrible.” The newborn baby opened her eyes and start growling and laughing at the same time. She could speak in complete sentences, even though she had just been born a few hours ago. “Hey! How are you? I’m so glad to finally meet you all on this fine planet that we call earth. Now, tell me where my parents are located, and yes, I know this is shocking —  a newborn communicating to you all like an adult would, but just to let you know, you’re not going crazy. I am talking to each one of you adults in this room. I am quite hungry as well. I really need to be fed as soon as possible.” The new born started on her feeding spree. Oh! she was very hungry and thirsty indeed. “Oh! Hello, my dear lass, pardon the mess the I made, and yes, I know you’re very shocked about all of this. And you’re asking yourself, how in the world can baby could do all of this by herself? But you just must realize that I have no choice. You’re not going crazy. This is really happening. You are really hearing and watching a baby talking to you in the flesh, but I wouldn’t tell that to anyone because they may think that you really are going insane. I just must find my mom and dad. You may have heard of them — Lira and Jim Woods. Do you know where they are located? And please don’t look at me like you’ve seen a ghost or some satanic demon or something like that, even though I have demons burning crosses, but that’s beside the point. Listen, pure mortal, if you don’t take me to my fucking parent, I will do the same thing to you that I did to these dumb fuckers. They called doctors and nurses, and I don’t want to repeat myself. Damn it! What are you waiting on, slave? I’m not getting any younger here, you bitch-ass fuck, unless you want to fucking die, and I would love to watch your family cry over your dead, useless body while me and my parents laugh our asses off.”  “I would rather die than listen to some damn baby, and you know what? You’re lucky I didn’t call the cops on your parents, and yes this could be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, watching and listening to a walking, talking demon baby. I already know people wouldn’t believe me. I will stop your way. No matter what you say to me, I won’t let you get away with anything.” “You know what’s so sad? You shouldn’t have made that stupid wish. Like they always say, you get what you wish for, and sometimes it could be the worst wish that you could ever made in your fucking life. I may just have to kill and eat you, or just make you suffer, then just kill you. Man, there are so many choices and don’t think you can run away from me. Yes, I can read your mind, my fair nurse, and I can see into the future, as well. Now, you better march on to the room right now and show me your wish come true.” The nurse thinks about it for a minute and just went on with what the baby had wanted. She showed her where Jim and Lira where located. “Momma, Poppa, I did what you wanted me to do, but I do need a name, my dear parents. Yes, I know you must be wondering how could I talk? The reason why this is happening to me is all because, when you were at the grave site, you allowed your lord to do anything that your mind wanted, and Dad got me the power to talk and walk like an adult would, be a mind reader, and you can say I’m the smartest baby that you had ever created. Momma? Why do you have a shocked look on your face, like this is all new to you? Maybe it is.” “No, it’s not that, my child. I just couldn’t believe that you’re already here, our little slave master. My dear husband, what should call her. I think we forgot to mention that one while she was in me,” Lira said with her hand gracefully on Jim’s face. She had a smile on her face. “Well, Lira, I think we should called her Omen Darcey Woods. How do you like that, Omen, my child?” “I love it, Father. Now we should take this fine city as proud Woods rulers and make this fine land just as we planned it on being. So now, Mom and Dad, what’s the plan that you have to offer?”  “Yes, my dear daughter, we do have plan for our devilish unwell doing for these humans who deserved to be our slaves. Your mother and I had thought of a plan before you were born to make these humans our slaves. If they don’t do what we want, we’ll have to kill and eat them, but we all must stick together as a family for this to work, my dear daughter and wife.” A nurse walked into the room in a complete shock. Well, you’d be in shock too if you saw a walking and talking baby acting like an adult. “What in the hell is going on here?” the nurse asked. Omen grabbed another nurse. “If you come any closer, this bitch here gets fucks up and eaten. You understand, you little fucker? You better do as we tell you before we eat her. We might eat you, too.” “Ok, I’ll do anything that you guys want me to do. Just don’t harm her, ok?” she replied while crying like a waterfall. “That’s a good slave, and I’m very proud of you, Omen, my devilish daughter. Let the other nurse go. Now bow down to your master’s right this second, unless you want to suffer the most painful death that you’ll ever face,” Jim said. “Yes, do as my father told you. Either he’ll or I’ll have something bad, if you can catch my drift, and it won’t be a quick death but a painful slow death. Now I want you to do something for us. It’s for my mum. I want you to come with me for a bit. I want you to get me something, but I want to make sure you’re not going to run off on me.” “Ok, master, I’ll do as you wish.” “There you go. That’s what I want to hear. Come with me, my lovely slave,” Omen said while she hopped on the nurse’s back. The nurse and Omen walked down the hallway. Omen was invisible and telling the nurse to stay calm. “So, no one will think something is up, you understand, you little winch?” The nurse nods her head softly. “Ok. That’s what I thought. Now I want you to go get some meds for my mum, and you better listen to me because I’ll make your life so damn miserable till the point that you wish you were never born. Let me say it like this, I’m very much worse than my parents. Do you want to know why I say that? Well, the reason why I say that is because I always wanted to torture someone while that person is tied up in the chair. I’d like to skin someone’s arm slowly and make them suffer like no other mortal has before.” But what Omen didn’t know was that this was not really a nurse or mortal. It was really Sorcery, and she was worried that she’d get caught, so she tried to stay calm and pretend like she was a nurse and go on with what Omen wanted, but she can’t believe this was happening.  She wished that Lira had listened to her and not married Jim and had his kid. Because she was afraid of the worst happening. She was afraid that their world might have wanted to start a war with the humans’ world if they found out about what was going on. “Keep going, mortal slave!” “Ok, master, here we are. We’re in the med room. Pick as many and as much as you’d like.” Also, Sorcery was acting like she was under Omen’s mindreading spell. Omen was getting the right meds to make a healing spell for her mom, so they all could then make all these mortals their worthy zombie slaves. An hour later, she’d finally finished the healing potion. “Ok, slave, let’s go back to my parents’ rooms, so you can give this to my mom. I don’t want anyone to think that I was doing anything fishy, and if you do this, I will kill in such a terrible way till the point your family won’t remember your face at all. I would love to see what kind of expression they’d have when they see your face is skinned off slowly and love to hear you screams for mercy while you’re tied down and can’t do anything about it. My parents will help me with the process, meaning chopping you into little pieces like a deer on the side of the road and slow cooking you and maybe roasting your family up, too. I bet they’ll be so tasty in our mouths. Don’t you say, Ms. … umm … I never caught your name, my lovely slave. “Umm … my name is Mrs. Jones, my mistress Omen, and is there anything else I can provide for you at this moment? Or do your parents need anything else from me?” Sorcery said while bowing down to Omen. “Let me see if my parents need anything, slave.” They walked back to Jim and Lira’s room. Omen proceeded to give Lira the potion for a faster recovery to great health. Then Lira took all the IVs out of her arm. She also removed the heart plugs from her chest, and then got out of her bed, acting like nothing was wrong with her. She licked her fingers, puts them on her needle marks and vaginal area, and all of it was healed all the way through. As they left the hospital, no one knew what kind of danger Lira, Jim, and Omen were going to bring to them. Hopefully, it didn’t get too ugly. Plus, they still don’t know that the nurse that helped them out with this creepy operation was Lira’s best friend Sorcery, who was trying to tell her the truth about Jim. She wanted to tell Lira that Jim’s real intentions were to use her to get her pregnant, so he could use Omen to rule the world. Now that Omen had been born, he was prepared to drop Lira like last week’s old trash. “Thank you, my dear Omen. I feel like a million bucks. I’ve never felt better in my immortal life. So, my dear lover and daughter, I think we should start making these mortals do our bidding in the hospital first, then in the world because no one, and I do mean no one, can stand in our way.” “Like they say, Mom and Dad, one for all and all for one. They’ll have to serve us unless they have enough money to buy their freedom. I can’t wait to torture them to the point where their loved ones wouldn’t even recognize them at all,” Omen said while giving an evil laugh. “That’s right, my lovely Lira and Omen. We have to make sure this crazy world I controlled by our evilness, and their leaders have to go by what we say, and there’s nothing that they can do about it, and for those who try to stop us, we have to make sure they suffer the most pain.” “We have to show these mortals who’s boss and what the Woods family can actually do. As your daughter, I will make sure to make you happy because I want to let you know that I can be the most powerful slave driver ever. No matter what they say, we must make our mark on this stupid pure planet they called Earth, and I’ll also make sure, Mother and Father, that they have what’s coming to them. If they disrespect our command, they will be tortured so damn brutally and then eaten.” “Ok. My lovely daughter and husband, let’s make this world ours. Let’s make them our breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”