#but hey ive never even had a 1 year plan so i think this counts for smth

[treestargarden]

theres a grief that comes with realizing past severe mental illness that held u back from living ur life n learning things on the "age appropriate" timeline.

in my late 20s n im just now realizing like, what i actually wanna do. like this is this the first time in my life i have a "life" plan that extends past "get thru this day".

[stranger-fanfiction-n-things]

CHAPTER 1: THE VANISHING OF WILL BYERS

This is an Original Character fanfiction. All Stranger Things characters and content are owned by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers.

a/n: This was my favourite part to write. I love Diana and Lucas scenes.

Word Count: 2917

Masterlist

PROLOGUE || PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV

SINCLAIR RESIDENCE

Barb drops me home after school. I decide to study for Kaminsky’s test on my own. If I need help, I’ll call Barb. I open my front door, slipping my loafers off my feet. 

“Mom? Dad? I’m home!” I call out, closing the front door behind me. 

I take off my coat, hanging it on the coat hanger and pad down the foyer pass the sitting room towards the living room. Our home is open concept painted in muted colours of white and beige. On the light grey couch Erica is sitting watching television while playing with her dolls. 

“Hey monster,” I greet, kissing the top of her head. “Where’s mom and dad?” 

“They went to the supermarket; said they’ll be back in an hour.” She replies, looking at her dolls. “Aren’t you supposed to be at Nancy’s?” 

“Change of plans.” 

“Is it because of Will?” 

I frown shaking my head. “No, why would it be?

“I overheard Mom talking to Miss Byers on the phone. Miss Byers says Will is missing.” 

I flinch, my heart plummeting to my stomach. I grip the back of the couch. “What?” I exclaim. “Didn’t the boys all leave Mike’s at the same time?”

Erica shrugs. “I don’t know.” 

“Where’s Lucas?” 

 “In his room.” 

I run up the stairs to his room finding the door closed. My heart flutters in my chest. A closed door is a bad sign. Lucas rarely kept his door closed. I gently knock.

“I said leave me alone, Erica!” Lucas snaps. 

 “It’s me,” I say, calmly. “Can I come in?” 

Lucas doesn’t respond.  A sudden stab of anxiety is in my gut and I rock back and forth on my feet. I understand Lucas not wanting to talk to Erica. She was eight and annoyed him to no end, but me? I can’t wait any longer and raise my hand to knock again when I hear the faintest ‘yes’ from the other side. I sigh in relief, scared of Lucas shutting me out and open the door. 

I poke my head in first, just to make sure I heard him properly. Lucas lay on his bed staring blankly up at the ceiling. He doesn’t flinch or twitch at my presence so I open the door wider, letting myself in before closing it shut behind me. Lucas kept a clean room. All of us did, not like we had much of a choice. Dad was serving in the Vietnam War when he met Mom and brought with him all his military training and customs when they decided to marry and raise a family together. I gradually extend my leg tendu devant, looking at the arch in my foot before relaxing it. 

For the first time ever, the room feels cold. Lucas still hasn’t moved from his bed or even acknowledged me and it worries me. I stroll to the bed, climbing on top and lie down beside him staring up at the ceiling. Even lying beside my little brother, I feel like I am miles away from him. I don’t know what to say. I never understood how Nancy and Mike could go hours without talking to each other in their house. It was like they lived separate lives. Not here. I want to be a part of Lucas and Erica’s lives. I want both of them to know they can talk to me about anything. I’ll always listen even if I don’t understand. 

I turn my head, gazing at Lucas. When I was three years old, I asked Santa for a little brother. Then Mom got pregnant with Lucas and I never stopped talking about it. I told anyone who would listen. Santa got me a little brother. When Mom and Dad brought Lucas home from the hospital, it was love at first sight. I knew from that moment on, I would do anything for him. Sometimes I think about Lucas and Erica growing up and get emotional. They were once so small and followed me everywhere. Now, they don’t care what I do. I miss the times when Mom would dress us three alike. It was ridiculous because I am four years older than Lucas and eight years older than Erica. I don’t know how Mom managed to get matching outfits in threes. I should ask her tonight at dinner. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lucas asks. 

“Because I love you,” I reply without thinking. 

“You’re freaking me out.” 

I smile, turning my head back to the ceiling. The room feels warm again, but my smile fades. I have to ask the one question a person did not want to be asked when something was clearly wrong. 

“Are you okay?” 

Lucas doesn’t respond right away. I push down the panic bubbling in my chest and rely heavily on patience. A few minutes pass before he shrugs his shoulders. I try again. 

“Erica told me about Will. Do you want to talk about it?” 

No answer again. My stomach shrivels and panic rises in my chest. I push myself up to sit leaning back against a pillow and cross my legs. On instinct, I point my toes. 

“Can you please talk to me?” 

Lucas closes his eyes and I let out a deep sigh accepting defeat. I desperately want to know what he is thinking and feeling, but maybe now isn’t the time. I shuffle to the edge of the bed. 

“Will didn’t show up to school today.” 

My heart leaps in my chest and I look back at Lucas. His eyes are open again but he is still looking up at the ceiling. I lean back on the pillow, not daring to say another word. Lucas wants me to listen, not talk. 

“I thought he would show at for AV club at least. Mr. Clarke got the Heath Kit Ham Shack I’ve been telling you about,” he sits up leaning against the other pillow, tucking his knees close to his chest. “It’s so cool. Mr. Clarke says we can communicate with people as far as Australia.” He gushes with a faint smile. My heart warms at the joy in his dark brown eyes. “Me, Mike, and Dustin were using the Heath Kit, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Will and what he would think about it, y’know?” 

“Then Principal Coleman came and asked to speak to all of us. Chief Hopper was outside the classroom looking at us and I knew it had to be about Will. We follow Principal Coleman to his office and then Chief Hopper starts asking us a bunch of questions about Will, but we haven’t seen him since last night.” 

“Questions like what?” I ask. Lucas looks at me for the first time since entering his room. 

“Like, when was the last time we saw him? How does he get home? We were all trying to explain to Chief Hopper that Will takes Mirkwood to go home.” 

I tilt my head to the side inquisitively. 

“It’s where Cornwallis and Kerley meet.” Lucas explains. “We could’ve shown him but he told us to go home after school. He won’t even let us help him look for Will!”

“You are helping Chief Hopper find will, Lucas. If you boys didn’t tell him how Will gets home, he wouldn’t have known where to look.”

Lucas disagrees with my reasoning, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head. 

“No one in town even knows Will exists. Only we do.” Lucas spoke, expression full of disdain. “We know Will more than anyone here. It’s not fair for us to be stuck at home when he’s missing!” 

“I understand, but we don’t know what happened to Will. If he’s been kidnapped or if the person who took him is still out there. What if you go out there and something happens to you too?” 

“I have my wrist-rocket.” Lucas says matter-of-factly. 

My eyebrows go up at his response and I press my lips together to keep from laughing out loud. I know he isn’t kidding about the wrist-rocket and that’s what makes his answer so cute and endearing. I remember when Dad bought it for him and how against Mom was about it saying it was too dangerous for Lucas to have. Dad says the wrist-rocket is harmless, but I’ve seen Lucas practice with the sling-shot and it was far from harmless. 

“What’s so funny?” Lucas asks, squinting his eyes suspiciously. 

“Nothing is funny.” I reply, grinning as I slide down until my head touches the pillow. 

Lucas plops backwards onto the pillow with a ‘hmph’. I roll to my side facing him, knowing he was ignoring my stare again. Reaching out my hand, I poke his cheek with my finger. A faint smile appears on his pink lips and he rolls to his side, batting my hand away. I can see the sadness beneath his kind eyes and it makes my heart ache for him.  I know how much Will means to my brother and the boys. They were a unit. A family. I would be frustrated too if Nancy or Barbara went missing and I wasn’t allowed to help look for them. But I’m turning 16 and Lucas just turned 12. The risk of him endangering himself out there is far too great. 

Lucas shuffles closer, resting his forehead under my chin. On instinct, I wrap my arms around his back holding him close, drawing circles against his back. I close my eyes breathing in his scent. He smells of the outdoors and coconut oil. His shoulders relax beneath my fingers. Lucas would die if the boys knew he loves to cuddle. It’s something we did together often. On the couch, in our beds, on the floor. Sometimes Erica joins when she’s in the mood, but that was rare. We are quiet for a long moment enjoying each other’s company. 

“I think it’s best you stay inside and let Chief Hopper look for Will, okay?” I speak. “Wrist-rocket or not.” 

 Lucas sighs. “Okay.” 

 “We’re going to find Will. I promise.” 

Lucas doesn’t respond, instead he nuzzles against me. I peer over his shoulder at the window. I think about Jonathan and Miss Byers and can’t fathom to know how they must be feeling right now. Nothing ever happens in Hawkins. It’s a quiet suburban town outside the metropolis. People don’t go missing in Hawkins. Most of the town knew each other growing up or grew up together. It’s why Dad loves it here so much. Hawkins is safe. Peaceful. Unassuming. Everyone’s day starts and ends the same way every day. The disappearance of Will Byers frightens me for that reason. It doesn’t make sense for him to vanish on a route he took every day and if someone knew this and took Will…I shudder, pulling Lucas close. I can’t bear to think of someone doing that and hope Chief Hopper finds Will soon. 

Dinner was quiet tonight. No one brought up Will’s disappearance for the sake of Lucas, but it weighed down on all of us. Lucas went straight to his room closing the door behind him. 

“Give him space.” Dad said, looking down at Mom who looked like she was about to follow after him. 

That was over three hours ago. 

Heavy rain rattles the window and thunder booms and cracks in the sky. I rub my tired eyes reading through my cue cards. I made at least 50 cards to study from, each colour-coded according to chapter. I softly hum a sequence from the Swan Lake tape playing from my boom box and I glance at the clock at the corner of my night table. 10:13pm. I sit up in my bed twisting my body to the side to crack my back and slipped out of bed. 

Dad went to look for Will with the search party Chief Hopper gathered and came back about an hour ago. There was still no sign of him. I bend forward touching my hands to the floor and stretch out my hamstrings. Stretching calms me down. My anxiety is through the roof. The Nutcracker showcase, Kaminsky’s test, Will’s disappearance, and the emotional state of my brother, it all played out in a loop in my head. I lower to the floor and sit in a side straddle. While flexing my feet, I lie down on my stomach in a middle split and close my eyes. 

I breathe deeply, allowing my body to relax into the stretch. Despite everything being scrambled up in my brain, the one thought at the forefront is my brother. I feel for him. I feel with him. When we spoke in the afternoon, I saw the way his eyes lit up and how excited he was to see the Heath Kit Ham Shack. The way he immediately thought of Will…I open my eyes and sigh, swimming through the split until my feet are behind me. I know Dad said to give Lucas space and I honour his space, but that was three hours ago. I need to check on him. 

Mine and Erica’s rooms are across from Mom, Dad and Lucas’s rooms. I slowly open my door careful not to be loud. Mom and Dad are in their room watching the news in their room. I saunter across the hall to Lucas’s room and softly knock, waiting to be let in. Nothing. Maybe he’s sleeping. I turn the knob, carefully opening his door. The lights were off except for the bedside lamp. I frown at the lump under the covers. It’s too smooth. Lucas is a terrible sleeper; his bedsheet would’ve been halfway off his bed if he were really asleep. 

Unless.

No. He wouldn’t. Lucas is too smart to leave home at this night, especially in the middle of a storm. Checking to see if anyone was around, I tiptoe to his bed and peel off the covers. I freeze staring at the pillow posing as my brother. I want to scream. I want to call Mom and Dad. Instead, I count down from five in my head, willing my mind and body to relax and I pull the covers back over the pillow.   

This is so stupid, even for him. I am in the mudroom by the garage wearing a bright yellow raincoat, slipping on a pair of red rainboots. The moon shines bright, illuminating this side of the house. I stand up reaching for a long umbrella in the umbrella stand and a flashlight on the shelf. Lucas is just in the front yard, playing soccer. I lie to myself. I know I should get Mom and Dad, but with Will disappearing, I don’t want another unfortunate spectacle to happen in Hawkins. 

My senses heighten as I hear shuffling in the garage and I stand still in case my mind is playing tricks on me. The door to the mudroom opens and Lucas slowly enters, closing the door carefully behind him. Without thinking, I march towards him. 

“Lucas!” I whisper loudly. 

Lucas jumps in a startle and I cover his mouth before he has a chance to scream. Waking up the entire house is not part of my plan. Lucas’s eyes are wide and fearful. Upon realizing it’s only me, he sighs in relief. I remove my hand from his mouth pulling my hood off my head at the same time. I am so overcome with anger and relief; I don’t know whether to hug or hit him. 

“Were you outside this whole time?” I hiss, quietly. I don’t give him the chance to answer. “Where were you, Lucas? Please, please tell me you didn’t go out to look for Will on your own.” 

“I didn’t. I swear. I was with Dustin and Mike.” 

“Like that’s any better.” I retort. “You have got to be kidding me! Chief Hopper had a search party out looking for Will tonight, Lucas. Dad went!” 

“We can’t just stay here and do nothing. We had to look for him ourselves. Will protected the Party from the Demogorgon, we had to at least try to find him.” 

I shake my head trying to make sense of what he just said. Demogorgon? I don’t know what he’s talking about. 

“What are you even saying right now? Do you know what time it is?” I don’t give him time to answer again. “You’re lucky it’s me and not Mom and Dad or worse Erica finding you.”

“I know.” 

I put my hands on his damp shoulders. “Don’t ever do that again.” 

“I won’t.” 

I sigh in relief, unbuttoning my raincoat. At least I don’t have to go outside in the rain. Lucas shrugs off his backpack and unzips his jacket, hanging it on the hanger. He then takes off his muddy running shoes, hiding them and picks up his backpack. By then, I am already in my pyjamas. 

“Diana?” Lucas says. I turn around. “Are you going to tell Mom and Dad?” he asks, eyes wary. 

 “No.” 

I know I should. But I won’t. Lucas is back in the house safe and sound. Mom and Dad don’t need to know what happened tonight. Lucas hugs me and I cringe, scrunching my nose. 

“Thank you. You’re the best.” 

“Ew, you’re cold and wet.” I grimace. “You need to take a shower before you get sick.” 

Lucas laughs quietly and I can’t help my smile. Eventually I hug him back kissing the top of his head. He’s safe and sound. That’s all that matters.

CHAPTER 2: THE WEIRDO ON MAPLE STREET

[annisthree]

Chapter V: The two sisters

previous chapter // series masterlist // next chapter

Pairing: Cassian Andor x Original Female Character

Word Count: ~5k

Warnings: Explicit language, canon typical violence, mentions of death, mentions of violence, mentions of homicide, mutual pining, alcohol, jealousy, spoilers for Andor episode 1

Chapter summary: Cassian and Marla begin an undercover mission to help the rebels liberate their home planet.

A/N: Cross-posted on AO3 (same username)

A/N:

Sorry it took a bit longer; I had a bit of an existential crisis yesterday and needed to sleep on it.

I guess there are minor spoilers to the first episode of the new series, although, to be honest, this had been part of my headcanon for years.

*

'Well, I'll be damned. How come pilots don't get such fancy outfits?'

It's been a couple of days since they agreed on the plan to have Marla and Cassian infiltrate the governor's close circles by posing as his sister-in-law and her entourage. In the meantime, they were delivered some supplies from the governor's wife: a datapad full of information on their family and a crate full of clothes and accessories to help make Marla look the part. While waiting for the day Ethre's "sister" was scheduled to arrive, they spent most of their time with the insurgent group they'd met last week; the Rebellion supplied some guns and equipment, but now someone had to make sure that a group of farmers and working-class townsfolk knew how to point a blaster. Luckily, they were eager to learn, and most were already physically fit enough to handle military training.

'Come on, Marla, we need to leave for the city soon. And we still need to rehearse your... oh.'

Marla never really got to dress  nicely . There was no reason for her to do that, and there weren't exactly too many formal galas on Yavin IV. And so, when she opened the crate of clothes she received from Ethre, she had to work really hard to hide her absolute, unlimited awe. All the beautiful materials she couldn't even name, all the colours, shapes... it was just so different from what she was used to. She didn't want to look too eager, not wanting the rest of her crew to think she had suddenly gone soft, but inside she was squealing like a little girl who had just gotten into her mom's wardrobe.

She picked out a long, grey dress that had sleeves and a reasonable neckline, which - she hoped - would shield her from the cold (some of the other things she was given were ridiculously short or had a cleavage that barely covered anything - they looked amazing, of course, but she was not ready to freeze for the sake of looking good). The only problem with the dress was that it was tight. Uncomfortably, intimidatingly tight. Marla was never particularly self-conscious, but she would be lying if she said she was feeling completely confident in such a form-fitting garment.

'Is it this bad?' she asked, discouraged by Cassian's silent stare, suddenly wanting to get back into her baggy Rebellion uniform.

'No, it's- it's okay, I guess. I don't know. Although you could do something with the hair, you know?' he muttered, his voice suddenly cold and flat.

'Hey. Rude.'

'No, seriously. Did you see any of the holos Ethre attached? They don't wear their hair down like this; it's too... common. You have to pay attention if you want this to work.'

'Who cares,' Marla began getting frustrated with the sudden wave of criticism.

Cassian sighed, 'I do. And you should, too, if you want this to go well. The devil's in the details,' Marla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. 'Okay. Come here.'

She froze, processing his words, 'Excuse me?'

'Come here. Sit down.'

All of Marla's bad mood suddenly vanished, replaced by a mixture of disbelief and amusement, 'You cannot be serious. Tell me you're not serious,' she blurted out, trying desperately to stifle a laugh.

Cassian's expression was still stone cold as he motioned towards the pilot's seat.

'I can't fucking believe this. Cassian Andor is gonna be doing my hair. Why did everyone have to go somewhere? This is gonna be a fucking sight.'

She eagerly sat down in the pilot chair and turned away from him. Soon, she felt his fingers run through the length of her hair, splitting it into a couple of sections. His hands were surprisingly warm and gentle. Both of them fell quiet, the silence on the ship interrupted only by the faint humming of the heating system.

'How do you even know how to do this?' she finally asked. Cassian just mumbled something unintelligible, so she decided to suspend the interrogation.

Instead, she sat back in the chair and closed her eyes, taking in the pleasant sensation of his hands running through her hair. At one point, he accidentally brushed the tip of his fingers against her earlobe, and a sudden bolt of electricity ran through her body. She couldn't see him, but she felt his closeness, she heard his steady breath, and Maker, that was a lot for her to process. As much as she hated to admit it, this whole situation was doing something funny to her, as evidenced by the gentle tremble of her hands and a stupid, inexplicable warmth spreading in her chest.

'I grew up taking care of my sister,' he murmured from behind her, answering the question she had long forgotten.

In all the years she'd known him, he never mentioned anything about his family, and she was never one to pry. It felt somehow wrong to hear him talk about it. Wrong, but also special, like she was entrusted with a big secret. She decided not to react, afraid to say something inappropriate.

'Okay, that's as good as it's gonna get. I haven't done this in years.'

Cassian turned the chair around to inspect his work from another angle. He leaned forward, carefully studying her hair and then briefly shifting his attention to her face. She quickly looked down, suddenly feeling small and exposed.

It felt like ages before he straightened up and stepped away from the chair.

'Okay. Get ready. We need to get going.'

'Yeah. Right. Thanks,' she mumbled, realising she had forgotten entirely about why she was there. She closed her eyes again and took a long, deep breath before standing up and following Cassian to the exit.

*

'Let's go over this again. Name, age, date of birth, place of birth.'

Marla groaned loudly. On their way to the spaceport, Cassian was determined to ensure she remembered all the details about her cover, and so he spent every second of the journey asking the same questions over and over again.

'You really don't trust me with this, do you?'

'I really don't. Name, age, date of birth, place of birth.'

She sighed with resignation, 'Ioan Shan. Twenty-nine. 12 BFE. Scehpira.'

'Good. Parents' names?'

'Lumina and Emer. I'm not going through this all over again, Cassian. I'm done.'

'Not Cassian. Bespo.'

'Whatever. I hate this.'

'I thought you'd love the opportunity to boss me around.'

'I can do that anytime,  Captain .'

'Yeah. I know,' he murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

The spaceport was large and busy, mostly due to the numerous trading ships going in and out. Marla assumed the increased traffic was one of the  benefits of the Imperial presence  that the governor advertised.

Among the crowd, the merchants were clearly distinguishable from the locals; their clothes richer and more colourful, their eyes filled with pride and - sometimes - disdain. All around them, workers were hurrying between ships and carrying different types and sizes of cargo. There was also a fair number of children, with dirty hands, holes in their clothes and outstretched hands, running from one rich-looking merchant to another.

Marla had never really experienced poverty, at least not to the extent that these people did. Sure, her parents weren't exactly filthy rich, and money became a bit tight when her father died - but they always had just enough to get by. And then, after she'd joined the Academy, she didn't even have to think about getting food or clothing; everything was provided. It was bland and boring and standardised, but it was also a given, which - as she later realised - was a fantastic luxury. After the fall of the Republic, she did struggle for a bit - being on the run didn't exactly provide her with a steady stream of income. But then again - as soon as you have proven yourself to be an enemy of the Empire, there was always someone who would quietly take you in, give you some food and a roof to sleep under. And what she didn't get this way, she was able to buy with the money she occasionally earned as a hired gun - taking jobs that targeted Imperial officials or facilities, making use of her training and ever-growing anger.

Therefore, the poverty she saw on Scen wasn't something she knew from experience, but even she understood it was wrong, so fucking wrong. To have the Imperial bootlickers flaunt their wealth so ostentatiously and cruelly while most of Scen's population couldn't even afford proper clothing to shield them from the cold. She felt sick to the stomach just looking at the colourful fabrics, at the abundance of fur and jewellery, at the looks of superiority and disgust.

'Here we are. That's our ship. Remember, from now on, you're Ioan Shan. You're royalty. Act accordingly.'

She pressed her lips with annoyance.

'Perfect. Just be vaguely irritated at everything. I know you can do it.'

'Once this is over, I will make you regret ever even thinking about signing me up for this fucking masquerade.'

'Language,' he raised one of his eyebrows, a slight hint of teasing in his voice.

Oh, he's enjoying this way too much.

Slowly, they approached one of the ships docked on the platform. They had already made an agreement beforehand with one of the port workers - in exchange for a bunch of credits, he would let them pretend they had just arrived on one of the ships and unload previously delivered bags and crates, and for an additional bonus he would falsify the shipping manifesto and the arrivals log to create a trail of paperwork, should anyone bother to check.

The man nodded as they approached and pointed his chin at the ship's ramp. Leaving Marla outside, Cassian went in to grab their bags from the ship while she paid one of the locals to unload the remaining cargo, making sure to tip him handsomely.

Soon enough, she was approached by a smart-dressed elderly man who had just stepped out of a shiny airspeeder.

'Miss Shan? I was instructed to pick you up and help you get to your sister's house. May I take your bags?'

'It's fine,' she said, stifling a small grin. 'He has to earn his keep somehow,' she explained, motioning at Cassian, who was just coming their way with a bag in each hand.

'Absolutely. In that case, please follow me,' the driver said flatly, guiding her towards the vehicle. She managed to flash Cassian a victorious grin before leaving him behind to load the luggage onto the airspeeder.

*

'Sister! It is so good to see you, my dear,' a sweet voice that made Marla slightly sick welcomed her once they arrived at their destination.

As expected, the governor's mansion was ridiculously luxurious, the stark contrast with the streets they had just left making Marla want to grab Cassian's blaster and shoot someone, anyone. Maybe even herself, just to get away from this idiotic situation.

Instead, she forced a smile and allowed Ethre to embrace her in a stiff and superficial hug.

No wonder her real sister never visits.

'Your servant can follow our staff; they will assist with your luggage and show him to the servant quarters,' Ethre flashed Cassian a faint smile, to which he nodded dutifully and followed inside.

He was right; I do love this.

*

'Sorry about that, Cassian. It would have been suspicious to put my sister's servant in one of the guest rooms. I had them prepare a warm bed for you downstairs; you will also find some food, clothing and a couple of books. Let me know if you need anything, and I can make it happen.'

'Don't worry about it. I'm sure I've slept in worse conditions,' Cassian flashed Ethre a smile, their prolonged eye contact making Marla want to gag.

'Okay. What's the plan now, sister?'

'I've convinced Odric you are too tired to socialise today,' Ethre explained, shifting her attention to Marla. 'Tomorrow morning, I am scheduled to give you a tour of the property - I guess it makes sense for your  servant  to come along too - and then you are invited to a dinner with my husband and me. It's just the three of us, but don't be fooled; Odric loves every chance to show off. I'll send one of my maidens to help you get ready.'

'Great. Do we have other plans besides fine dining and looking at pretty furniture?'

'We have several objectives,' Cassian interjected. 'The main one is to neutralise the governor's influence, rid him of any political power. That's largely dependent on the intel I gather in the next couple of days - I need to find his weak spot, a way to quickly and quietly make him disappear. In the meantime, we need to keep our eyes open for anything that could help Gaere and his men with the planned attack on the garrison. We know the governor is close with his Imperial friends; maybe we can find some documents, datapads, lists, names, anything. And finally: we know they've been imprisoning some of the rebels, but no one knows where exactly they take them and what they do to them. We know from Ethre,' he nodded at her, 'that the governor is at the very least aware of this operation. Perhaps he has some more intel. Maybe we will be able to find the location or at least some clues as to how to get to the prisoners. If we are to free them, we need to do it right before the main strike - otherwise, I can guarantee that as soon as the Imperials realise something is happening, they will start killing the prisoners one by one. Whatever they are doing there, they're not gonna wanna make it public knowledge.'

'Okay, so, to summarise, we snoop around. Boring, but doable,' Marla sat on the bed behind her, crossing her arms across her chest.

'Honestly, you just focus on distracting the governor. Attend his lavish dinners. Request a drive around the city. Have him show you the sights. Just keep him off my way, and I'll do the rest.'

'Great. And what if he expects me to start praising the Empire with him, and I accidentally impale him on the fence?'

'I'll be there,' Ethre cut in. 'I'll help minimise your interactions with him. I already told him you're very shy and quiet,' she smirked.

'I still have a bad feeling about this.'

'You have to try, Marla,' Cassian squatted beside the bed, looking up at her face. Maker, was he always so terrible with respecting personal space, or did she only start noticing recently? 'You can do it. I know you can.'

'Fine,' she sighed. 'I'll try. But don't be surprised if I stab him with the fork.'

*

The house tour that Ethre took them on in the morning helped them get an understanding of the layout of the place, highlighting potential hideouts and exits. It also gave them ideas about where the governor might be storing important information. While pretending to be introducing her sister to their large art collection, Ethre subtly pointed out the location of her husband's office, commenting on how he never even lets the servants clean there and how it must be dusty and disgusting. She also gave them quite a detailed summary of their security,  so that you can feel safe while you're staying with us, dear .

This took them all morning and a large chunk of the afternoon, with a quick break for lunch in the gardens.  The gardens  were, in fact, a large greenhouse with plants and flowers imported from all over the Galaxy. Marla suspected there was more greenery in that place than on the remainder of Scen. It was, of course, breathtaking - the greenhouse walls were covered with various vines, locking the garden in a green embrace and separating it entirely from the bleak landscape on the outside. The whole place was heated, so they had no issues sitting down on the lusciously green grass to eat the food that had been delivered by one of the servants. They sat beneath an enormous tree, its lush branches outstretched far beyond their heads. In the distance, a group of gardeners was tending to the shrubbery, taming some unruly twigs and ensuring they stayed shapely and thick.

In the afternoon, Marla was finally allowed to return to her room to 'rest and get ready for dinner'. The mere thought of the upcoming meal made her feel nauseous, so she decided to make use of the large bathtub to relax and come up with a strategy for the evening.

The water was warm and covered with bubbles. It felt amazing. When was the last time she had an actual bath, as opposed to a quick cold shower in the ship's refresher?

Need to speak with the general about installing some bathtubs on the base.  She imagined herself coming back after a long mission, emerging tired and sweaty from her X-wing, only to return to the base, shed the dirty clothing and submerge herself in hot, perfumed water. Yes. It would do wonders for morale.

Suddenly, her bliss was interrupted by the sharp ringing of her comlink. She fished it out from the pile of clothes on the floor and saw the name on the small display. Cassian. She panicked momentarily, gathering all the bubbles around her chest before turning on the comlink to see the blue projection of his face.

'Marla... what the hell are you doing?'

'You told me to act like royalty. I don't know about you, but for me, nothing speaks royalty louder than a warm, luxurious bath.'

'You- seriously. Couldn't think of anything useful to do?'

'Hey. I'm regenerating. Gonna need all the chill I can during the dinner. Let me tell you, it is absolutely glorious. You need to come and try it for yourself,' she suggested eagerly, only to suddenly feel her breath sinking in her chest as Cassian's eyes widened ever so slightly. 'I mean, while I'm having dinner. The bathroom will be free. You can try it for yourself. By yourself. When I'm not here,' she blurted out nervously.

Great job, Marla. Now he thinks you're a fucking creep.

'Right,' Cassian cleared his throat, 'Anyway. I wanted to tell you I have an idea where to start searching for some clues. I'm gonna need you to stall the governor for as long as possible. And ping me when you're finishing so that I know how much time I have.'

'Right. Yes. Sure,' she muttered, painfully biting into the insides of her cheeks.

'Okay. Good luck. And,' he hesitated for a moment, his pupils dilating again, this time accompanied by a small, smug smile, 'have a nice bath. Don't get too cosy.'

As the projection disappeared, Marla let out a loud groan. All her tranquillity vanished into thin air, leaving her inexplicably jittery and self-conscious. Stupid bath, stupid soft towels, stupid mission.

*

The dinner was not going well. That was hardly a surprise, but Marla was at least hoping she would be able to not participate in the conversation and just stuff her face with food, letting them forget about her existence. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

'I hear Ethre gave you a tour of our grounds today. What did you think?'

Marla quickly stuffed a bite of food in her mouth to buy her some time. 'It's beautiful,' she finally blurted out, staring intently at her plate.

'Yes. Yes, beautiful. I imagine you must miss these kinds of living conditions, right? How is the rebuilding going?'

The governor was speaking slowly, pronouncing each word with exaggerated precision. He was sitting a fair distance from Marla, at the top of a large wooden table. He was much older than Ethre - his hair was completely grey, and his face was covered in deep wrinkles. He was just about as pleasant as you would expect - his eyes were hollow and spiritless, and whenever he spoke, Marla couldn't decide if she wanted to fall asleep to the monotonous intonation of his voice or strangle him for the not-so-subtle undertones of superiority.

Recalling quickly what she had read about Ethre's home planet, Marla looked up at the governor and replied flatly, 'We're making progress. Still a long way to go, though.'

'Oh, I imagine. I must go there sometime, see the new Scehpira for myself. It's been expensive, but I'm happy to support your family in any way I can,' he said, his voice suggesting neither happiness nor any other positive emotions.

Marla nodded curtly, feeling a rush of anger beginning to fill up her mind.

'Isn't it great how the Empire supports their people?' he continued. 'You must be delighted your father finally came to his senses after how his blind loyalty to the Republic cost you your home.'

Marla gritted her teeth and took a slow, laboured breath.

'Yes. Delighted.'

Scehpira was a small planet, not really significant or special in any way, to the point where Marla wasn't sure if she'd even heard of it before the mission. What she's learnt over the past couple of days - and what Cassian had her repeat over and over again to make sure she knows the planet's history like the back of her hand - was that around the end of the Clone Wars, they were attacked and completely obliterated by the Separatist forces. They were an easy target, and their natural resources were a tempting enough prize. Their king - Ethre and Ioan's father - was given an opportunity to surrender but remained loyal to the Republic. Overnight, more than half of the planet's population was killed in a horrific air invasion, which left most of Scehpira burnt to the ground. The remaining inhabitants were evacuated by the Republic, but no further help was provided. The planed remained barren and empty for years, until one day, the governor of a Scen took an interest in a potential investment and offered his financial help in exchange for Ethre's hand in marriage and a promise of alliance with the Empire.

Marla wasn't particularly fond of Ethre, but learning her story made her feel physically sick. She's seen courage, she's fought side by side with some of the bravest people in this Galaxy, and she herself has been risking her life many times in the name of the Rebellion. And yet, she was not sure she would be able to do something like this. To wake up every day next to... this man. Knowing he was licking the boots of the same people that stepped on her homeland. Knowing that as long as he was in power, she was chained to her golden cage, any attempt at escape threatening the well-being of her homeland.

'Are you all right, Ioan? You're looking pale. Did I say something wrong?' the governor's words cut through the silence and began ringing in Marla's ears as she lowered her eyes and began staring at her balled-up fists.

I can't do this. I can't fucking do this.

'Darling, I'm sure you're exhausted after yesterday's journey. Silly me, I've been rushing you around all day, not giving you a moment to breathe,' Ethre's soft voice brought Marla back to reality. The woman gave her a wide smile, but her eyes flashed with a subtle warning. 'Let me get someone to take you back to your room. I'm sure you'll be feeling better after a good night's sleep.'

Marla murmured something unintelligible, focusing all her attention on steadying her breath and hiding her anger. She stood up from the table, and within seconds someone's gentle hands were placed on her back to help support her balance.

'Good night, darling,' she heard Ethre's melodious voice.

'Good night,' she muttered, letting herself be guided outside and towards her room.

*

'Don't tell me you're already finished. Kriff, I told you to stall,' the holographic image of Cassian expressed surprise and worry.

'No, they... they still have two courses left. I'd say you have at least another hour.'

'What happened?' he froze, expecting the worst.

'Nothing. It's just, I... He started talking about politics, and... I stayed calm, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Ethre excused me; she said I needed to rest. I'm sorry, Cassian. I just...' she murmured, not looking at his face.

He went quiet for a moment before resuming in a calm, slow voice, 'It's okay. What's done is done. I suppose I could use some help. Meet me at the top of the stairway to the third floor.'

*

It will all be over soon. The bastard will get what he deserves,  she repeated in her head as she hurried through the empty corridors towards their meeting point. Cassian was already waiting for her, a bundle of fluffy white towels tucked under his arm.

'If anyone asked, I was on my way to bring you fresh towels,' he explained, noticing her confusion. 'I already checked the library, nothing of significance there. I thought we might have more luck in the governor's office, but we'd need to get the keycard first. From what I've managed to learn from the maids, they have spares in the supply closet on the third floor. The one next to the music room, remember?'

Marla nodded shortly, 'Sounds good. Let's do this.'

They followed down the corridor, careful not to make too much sound. Most of the staff was currently helping in the kitchen or preparing the bedrooms, so they had pretty good chances of remaining unnoticed.

The hallway they were currently crossing was long and mostly empty, with an occasional sculpture or a long antique bench set along the walls. It was eerily silent, only their steps (partially muffled by the soft carpet) echoing quietly off the walls.

They were about to make the last turn when Cassian suddenly stopped and froze. Marla followed suit, listening carefully for anything unusual. He was right. There was another set of feet audible in the distance, the sound getting louder and louder with each second.

Both of them turned quickly around, desperately trying to find a hiding place. The closest room was a significant distance away from them, and the nearby sculpture was way too small to provide any sort of cover.

Suddenly, she felt Cassian's grip on her arm, yanking her back and down towards the floor. A quick look in that direction explained what his plan was; there was a wooden bench on the opposite side of the hallway. It was long enough to fit an adult human and - most importantly - was protected by a decorative slipcover that reached all the way to the ground.

Before she could realise it, she found herself pushed under the bench with Cassian squashing her up against the wall. Not a moment too soon - the steps became loud and accompanied by two voices, clearly approaching their position.

'I told her someone is gonna notice sooner or later, and then we all become suspects. I get that she has a family, but she's become careless. Someone will eventually notice stuff has been disappearing.'

The hallway was now echoing with a hushed voice and an even louder sound of footsteps.

Focused exclusively on not getting seen, Marla tuned out all the other aspects of this situation. Like the fact that, due to limited space, Cassian's body was now pressed firmly into hers. She was therefore completely unprepared for the sudden sensation of a gentle brush on her waist, followed by a jolt of electricity spreading through her body.

'Yeah, I heard the other day that the governor was looking for his cufflinks and threw a fit. A couple more of these, and they will start suspecting something. And it's gonna be our heads on the line.'

The hushed voices were now directly next to them, but to Marla, they sounded far, far away. As her eyes started getting used to the darkness, she began seeing the outline of Cassian's face and realised how close it was to her own.

'You're right. Someone needs to talk with her before it's too late.'

Too late . The words echoed in Marla's head as she felt Cassian rest his hand against her waist, this time decidedly, without hesitation. She gathered all of her courage to look up and search the darkness for his eyes.

She was now looking directly at him, and Maker, she felt utterly devoured by his gaze. She quickly looked down again, focusing on the rising and falling of his chest, and realising that she had completely forgotten to breathe.

Slowly, his hand began trailing up along her waist. Her head was now spinning, a buzz of excitement starting to fill her mind, forcing her to close her eyes.

The time stopped completely. Was there ever anything else than this? Was his warm breath ever not fanning over her face, were their bodies ever not clashed together, was she ever alive outside of this moment?

And then, just as suddenly as it all started, she noticed the pressure of his body decreasing and realised the footsteps had long faded away. For a moment, she felt completely numb, frozen in place, looking at Cassian crawl away from underneath the bench and slowly registering the absence of his warmth. It took her a while to remember where she was and what she was doing before she took a deep breath and forced her body to move.

He was standing with his back turned, straightening his jacket casually. Marla absentmindedly observed her own hand grabbing the wall for support and stifled another sigh.

She was back to reality, back in the brightly lit corridor, back to being focused on finding the keycard to the governor's office. But it was obvious something was different; you could still feel the residue of tension between them, even though Cassian made sure to act as casually as possible.

Well, that's definitely gonna be a problem. 

*

A/N:

Right.

The next chapter might take a couple more days than usual, I'll be having a tough time at work.

Thank you all for being so amazing and supportive.

[smireyac]

new year, same post

so... 2022 huh?

i didn't even write a reflection post last year (well i tried but i never finished writing it) which i'm kinda really sad about because i really like having these snapshots of where i am at in my life every year... and i feel like i'm missing a year! because i am! so while i can't do a whole reflection of 2021, i can do my best and that's the best anyone can do

so 2021 was the start, crawling out of the hellscape that was 2020... in terms of overall quality, 2021 was a major improvement from the previous year. to make things easier, first i'll go thru what i actually accomplished on my list of goals i made at the end of 2020:

☑️ read new books: my goal was 10 and i read 8, three of which were comics/graphic novels and one was a road trip guide book? so technically i read more than before

☑️ watch new shows/movies: i made a letterboxd to keep track of what i watched instead of the notebook idea i had and i watched 48 movies/tv shows !!! wowie that's pretty good i never counted that out b4 :D

☑️ listen to new music: my spotify wrapped had very much different music than previous years so i did the dang thing too ...it uh... got flooded by OM music cuz i had a phase in the summer but other than that its all pretty diverse !

☑️ eat new food: i had kbbq for the first time in 2021 so i think that counts?

☑️ go on a road trip/visit some place ive never been before/go to a club: so i planned a pretty spontaneous trip to LA cuz i saw an ad on Instagram for a city pop night at a club in DTLA... i thought it was a rare thing (turns out it ain't lol) so i got my friends to go and it was really fun and i knocked these 3 things out in one go (tho the road trip one is a little ehh bc we didn't make any stops, we just drove ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) bc i've never been to little tokyo and it was in a club! so check!!

so as far as goals go that's pretty good! other notable highlights of the year include:

⭐ i passed my drivers test (after failing the first time lol) and got a car that i love so dang much!

⭐ tried dating (the first time) and it didn't get far lol (that's on me)

⭐ karaoke night after not seeing people in person for over a year

⭐ played d&d in-person again finally

⭐ HELLA MEGA TOUR!! THAT WAS TIGHT AF 10/10 would recommend

⭐ saw lindsay and kaveh at a book signing event that was pretty cool !! (still have to read the book lol;;)

so yeah ! it was pretty great, all things considered... i think around this time last year covid cases were surging and things were feeling bad again so my perspective of the year was tainted by that cloud but looking back, i think i had a pretty good run...

i had made another, separate doc as a kinda goal list ? but i never finished it either lmao but i did put 3 things on it:

🌠 read more (surprise surprise)

🌠 write something

🌠 join a club at school

i said 2021 would be the year of new and i think i accomplished that

SO 2022 HUH??

thats what this whole thing was supposed to be about lol

lotta stuff happened... started off strong by getting covid (lol), went to big bear for the first time, technically saw snow (on the ground) for the first time, saw remi TWICE in ONE YEAR, tried dating again (still didn't get very far), saw ORI AGAIN FINALLY, hung out with pals A LOT, ate good food, got really (back) into comics this year??, worked full time at the library this summer, got over my stupid crush FINALLY, went to 3 conventions - 1 of which being COMIC CON... anD OH YEAH I GOT PROMOTED!! pretty accomplished i would say

as far as my goals from last year i actually accomplished something!! and hey 2 outta 3 ain't bad ;^)

i reached my reading goal with 13/12 !! granted 5 of them were graphic novels again but i stuck with my book club (kinda;;) and read some stuff!! i started a lot more books than i finished this year but i want to push myself harder next year (this year)!! my want-to-read list on GoodReads is 500+ and that hasn't even been updated recently!! i gotta step my game up man,, i think i decided i want to try to be an editor someday so i gotta go for it!!

did i write something this year??? in fact i fucking did!! i wrote fanfiction even!! something i srsly never thought i would actually accomplish... and i started a first real draft for J+M and got thru most of the first "season" of that!! so that's cool!! i wanna write more!! i found this writing tracker like halfway thru the year and was trying to add to it retroactively but it was hard so i don't know exactly how many words i wrote this year BUT it's more than 40k!! so WOW!! I'll keep better track this year so we can know fr fr

if 2021 was the year trying new things, 2022 seemed to be the year of getting used to the new normal bc surprise!! covid is still around!! but ig it'll be endemic now instead of a pandemic bc we couldn't fucking eradicate it 🙄 whatever...

the last couple months of 2022 kinda painted the whole year a somber color but looking back, i can see that i had a really good time for the most part... i hope 2023 will be nice :^)

SO... GOALS:

🎆 read more!! let's keep the ball rolling! 12 more!! once a month!!! and i'm not gonna add comics unless i've read a real book with words first!!!!

🎆 write more!! no goals let's just see what happens :^) i hope that maybe some fandom interaction will motivate me bc i love attention and praise!!! also my secret writing project 👀

🎆 apply to transfer to university next year!! this was supposed to happen this year but... shit happened yk

🎆 do stuff with friends!! gotta keep it up bb: NYC, hot springs, see snow, MKE??, LA

🎆 make new friends?? perhaps??? 👀 idk!!!

i will end this post with all the movies i'm super fucking pumped to see this year: M3GAN, the mario movie, the D&D movie, the BARBIE movie!!, new transformers movie??, blue beetle movie, SPIDERVERSE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!

it'll be a good year for me for movies ❤️

here's to 2023!! 🥂

[havin-a-wee]

If Only She Knew

pairing: dad!harry x cheerleader!reader

word count: 4.2k

warnings: smut (fingering + unprotected sex), cheerleading position implies readers weight, 20 year age gap

hi! ive been having some really bad writers block but i wrote this and even though its def not my best work i like it enough to post it :) also, i totally didn't mean to imply the readers weight, i only realized afterwards, so im really sorry about that. also the age gap is kinda big, so if ur uncomfy with that you shouldn't read this <3

PLEASE REBLOG IF YOU ENJOY

“Geez watch where you’re going!”

You don’t even look up at the girl, recognizing her nasally voice easily from how annoying it is. You were nose deep in a book while walking down the school hallway, and of course your worst enemy had to be walking down the same hallway, at the same time, in the opposite direction. You are both at fault for the collision, considering Ella had her eyes locked on her instagram feed. But knowing the girl, there is no way in hell that she will take any responsibility, even though you are the one who has coffee dripping down the front of your white blouse.

Since middle school, Ella Styles has always hated you. You have never known why, but she seems to have a vendetta against you, and tries her best to make your life miserable. You never let her, always refraining from giving her the explosive reaction that she was looking for. And that makes her hate you even more.

High school is over in 2 months, and although you are going to miss the freedom of being a child, you most definitely won’t miss the people from the tiny town you’ve lived in since you were young. You’ve always been the type of person to have a small friend group, only 4 people in your circle. But that’s how you like it, because crippling social anxiety makes it difficult for you to meet new people.

“I- sorry.” You still don’t look at her, instead peeling the soaking wet top off of your stomach.

“You better be sorry.” She flips her blonde hair, ensuring that the fluffy locks hit you right in the face. You are lucky this time seeing as she didn’t take it further, because sometimes she would purposely embarrass you after small incidents such as this one.

Tears well at your waterline and you run into the nearest bathroom, pushing open the blue door and locking yourself in a stall.

After all these years of torment, Ella rarely was able to get to you. But sometimes, she does something that pushes you off the edge, leaving you with red, tear-stained cheeks. The final straw this time was her ruining your brand new shirt, the one you were anxiously waiting to debut at school.

But now there was coffee dripping down your chest and staining the bright white fabric. Your only saving grace is the cheerleading uniform in your backpack. In fact, you were walking to the locker room to change for practice, and then for the game at 6 tonight.

You had been excited for the game, knowing that Friday night games always led to parties and fun afterwards. You rarely go to parties of course, but the buzzing energy never fails to rub off on you. But now that stupid Ella had to go and mess up your day, you’re dreading seeing her smug face while she asserts her dominance as cheer captain.

You untie your top and rip it off in a haste, frustrated tears running down your face periodically. You could’ve put a jacket on and gone to the locker room, but Ella would be going there soon, and the last thing you want to do is run into her with teary eyes. She can’t know that you let her get to you.

You brush your hands down your uniform, pulling down the skimpy costume and stuffing your old clothes in your backpack. Once out of the stall, you pull your hair up into a high ponytail, reapply your lip gloss and walk back into the hallway, having already done your makeup that morning. You’re happy that it’s a home game today, because the home game uniforms are two pieces and the skirts are smaller than the ones on the away game uniforms. There is a certain someone you are looking to impress, and the way your tits spill out from the top of the outfit will most certainly help you in your mission.

It’s not like you need to impress him, because he’s shown time and time again that he finds you sexy no matter what you wear. And when he doesn’t tell you, he shows you, by pressing his hard on up against your ass after you just woke up, despite your messy hair and bare face.

However, he also loves when you tease him. And that’s exactly what you’re planning to do.

You sling your heavy backpack over one shoulder and trudge down the hallway, the old fluorescent lights practically blinding you on your journey. The locker room is dingy, smelling of cheap soap and Victoria’s Secret perfume. At least it doesn’t smell like the boys locker room, which smells like sweat and more sweat.

It's already bustling with people, your teammates scrambling to get ready in time as to not get yelled at by the coach.

“Y/N!” The familiar shout of your best friend Rose is like a breath of fresh air, and you bound over to her. She’s standing in front of your lockers, the two of you obviously picking ones next to each other. “Wait, why are you already changed?”

“The bitch spilled her coffee all over me,” you grumbled, your eyes shifting over to where Ella and her little goons are giggling.

“I keep telling you, anytime you want me to beat her up I will gladly do it.”

“Not that I doubt your abilities Rose, because I know you would have her on the ground in a heartbeat, but I can’t let you do that. She can’t know that she upsets me.” You lower your voice for the second sentence, irrationally fearing that she can hear you over the loud chatter echoing through the room.

“I still think you should let me beat her up, but you do you I guess.” Rose shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her locker, bursting out into laughter with you after a beat of silence.

The rest of the getting ready process goes smoothly, Rose distracting you from the girl side-eyeing you in the corner. Soon enough, the whole squad was in formation outside, and you have your hands on the shoulders of Rose and another girl named Bethany. You are a flyer, meaning that you’re the one who the bases support while you pose and flip in the air. Its a hard job, but you are one of only three girls on the team who is advanced enough at flying to be safe doing it in routines. One of the other three girls is Ella.

Ella is the flyer for the middle group, seeing as she is the captain. You are on the right and the other group is on the left. Luckily, Rose is a base in your group, so you feel a lot better putting your safety in the hands of someone you already trust with your life.

“ELLA! YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!” Coach Habbiths voice is piercing, her angry shrieks bouncing off your ear drums. Ella audibly huffs, displaying her frustration with the critiques she has been receiving since we learned the routine weeks ago. That’s one of the biggest problems with Ella, she believes that she's always right.

Every single practice she has done a needle instead of a scale at the end of the routine. It's aggravating for everyone, and that frustration is amplified everytime she makes the same mistake over and over. “Alright, everyone down. group 1 and group 3 take five, Ella and group 2 stay on the field.

The team obliged to her instructions, and you are brought down from the air.

“Okay Ella, I want you to watch how Y/N does the last move, because she’s actually doing it correctly.” Coach is standing in front of you now, and she emphasized the word ‘correctly’. This is much to Ella’s dismay, and much to your excitement.

Nothing brings you more joy than seeing Ella’s face when you one up her, and this time is no exception.

Aside from a few eye rolls and nasty looks, Ella corrects the move without much fuss. By now there's 15 minutes until the game, and the players have been warming up on the field for about half an hour.

“Did you see her face!” Rose tugs on your arm while you walk back to the locker room, water bottles in hand.

“I know! I should’ve taken a picture!”

“We can only hope that it knocked her ego down a peg.”

“I doubt it” Rose nodded in agreement and you continued your chatter, talking about the random things that best friends talk about.

“It’s go time ladies!” You jumped in surprise when Coach Habbiths yelling booms through the locker room, the hefty amount of metal in the room enhancing the echo.

In a blur, your entire team rushed out onto the field, the crisp air cooling your warmed skin. There was a huge crowd. probably the biggest the teams ever had. But that makes sense, because this game was against your school's biggest rival. Luckily, despite the huge crowd you were able to lock eyes with those piercing green irises you have gotten to know so well over the past couple months. Everytime you see him he gets more and more attractive, and this time is no exception.

At this point, the teams routine is muscle memory and you’re done with it before you can blink. Most people would think that being thrown in the air is memorable, but your main concern is the growing wet patch on your panties that spreads each time you squeeze your thighs together. Just the thought of the man is enough to turn you on, and now that you’re sitting on the cold metal bench your imagination has time to go wild.

The only thing that snapped you out of your daze was the eruption of appaulause from the audience, and the realization that the other cheerleaders were standing up and running towards the players. You breath out a sigh of relief, recognizing the cheering as a signal that the game has ended.

“Hey, you coming?” Rose tugs on your arm, looking down at you still on the bench.

“Um, actually I don’t feel so well, I think I’m going to go home.”

“I should’ve known. You know, one day you’re going to have to go to a party.” Rose places her hands on her hips, giving you a sarcastically annoyed stare.

“And today is not that day.” You grab your backpack and sling it over your shoulder, turning back to Rose for a second. “Have fun and be safe.”

“I always do.” Rose places a chaste kiss on your cheek before turning back to the gathering crowd on the turf.

Instead of heading to the sidewalk and walking home, you duck under the bleachers and walk down the gravel path, pushing open the fence that separates the field and the school. The contents of your backpack slosh around while you sway your hips as you walk. Finally, you make it to the back wall of the school, leaning your back against it and plopping your heavy backpack down by your feet.

And now you wait.

Much to your convenience, the wait this time isn’t long, only five minutes passing before you see the familiar man following the same path you did earlier.

He has a pair of brown slacks on, pressing against his waist courtesy of his black belt. A button up white shirt hides the tattoos on his stomach, but he's rolling up his sleeves as he walks over to you. He's walking with intention, hungry eyes zeroed in on you.

When he’s only steps away, you cheekily bite your lip and use your finger to push up your skirt a little bit more.

Your actions have the intended effect, his eyes blowing wide and hands grasping at your waist.

“Y’can’t do that.”

Before you have a chance to ask what he means, his lips collide with yours, his tongue slipping in only moments after the initial kiss. But as soon as he started, he pulls away.

“Y’can’t be teasing me on the field like tha’, had me hard next t’my friends.” His hand is on the wall above your head, and his other arm is wrapped around your waist pulling you into his chest. He’s panting, and you are too.

“Sorry Mr. Styles,” you push your bottom lip out in a pout, giving him the most innocent look possible. “Just wanted to wear it cause I know how much you like it.”

“Aw, my babygirl wore this f’me? Well I guess y’can be forgiven. Now let’s get t’my house before I fuck yeh right on this wall.” He places a soft kiss to your lips picking up your backpack from the floor and turning to the direction of his car.

“But it hurts!” He turns around again, giving you a sympathetic look and caressing your cheek. The rings on his fingers are cold, but you’re used to the feeling.

“I know sweet girl, but I can’t take care of yeh here, s’too risky.” He pauses for a moment, thinking of a solution to your not so little problem. “How bout I give y’my fingers in the car? Hows that sound hm?” You nod eagerly, pulling his hand down from your cheek and holding it. He takes the signal and begins walking to his car while you follow him.

You never planned to sleep with your bullies dad. But a few months ago your parents dragged you to a family friends housewarming party, and that friend happened to be a friend of Harry’s too. There were no other teenagers there, so your focus was on the attractive older man who had been checking you out since you first locked eyes, and after ending up in the upstairs bathroom together the two of you have been fucking at least twice a week. You only learned that he’s a dad when you saw him for the first time outside the party. He didn’t look the part, and you actually thought he was in his 20s until he corrected you. He’s 38, having become a parent at only 20 years old. Your relationship is a bit taboo, but you’re a mature 18 year old and you and Harry get along well. So well that your time together has developed from casual sex to a mutually exclusive relationship. (Neither of you like labels, but you’re basically boyfriend and girlfriend).

He makes you really happy, and when you have to face off against Ella, it helps knowing that you have power over her, even though she doesn’t know it.

“Did she do anything today?” Harry is walking beside you, hands still intertwined.

“Besides spilling coffee on my shirt, nothing much.” Harry sighs in frustration and squeezes your hand as a show of affection.

“M’so sorry, I wish y’didn’t ‘ave to deal with her.”

The thing about Harry and Ella is they can barely be considered family. Ella’s mom is, for lack of a better word, a bitch. She’s snobby, conceited, and rude, and those behaviors have rubbed off on Ella. Another thing that rubbed off on her was her mom’s hatred for Harry. Being young parents put strain on their already struggling relationship, and they split before Ella’s first birthday. Harry said he tried his best to make it work for Ella’s sake, but her mom was looking for someone to pay for her life, and Harry had just started working his way up as a businessman.

Now, he’s a CEO, but luckily Ella’s mom already found a new beau with plenty of money, so she didn’t come crawling back to him. However, the success Harry achieved only a few years after their breakup made her jealous, and so she instilled that anger in their daughter. So currently Ella spends most of her time with her mother, and when she is with Harry she doesn’t treat him kindly.

“It’s not your fault Harry, you don’t have to apologize for her actions.”

“I know, I jus’ hate tha’ she treats yeh like that.” He sighs again, reaching into his pocket to grab his keys. In a few more steps you’re standing outside the sleek black suv, walking around to the passenger seat and sliding in once you hear the click of the door unlocking.

You both take a few seconds to breathe, an unspoken gesture to prepare for the night's events. Harry turns to you, a sexy smirk plastered on his face. “What d’ya think about fixin’ that ache darlin?” You nod eagerly, sliding down a bit in your seat to give your legs room to spread. “Think yeh can take off y’skirt fo’me?” Your head bobs once again as you nod, hooking your fingers under the elastic waistband and shimmying out of the skirt. While you’re doing that, Harry turns the car into the deserted street, using only one hand to steer.

You toss the tiny skirt into his lap, giving him a signal without distracting his eyes from the road. He reacts immediately, his free hand coming down to squeeze your thigh. You mewl at the contact and bite down on your lip, trying to stop your hips from bucking up in search of relief. His squeezes move up your thigh, and finally his fingers press against your weeping cunt. Swiftly, he pushes your soiled panties to the side, swiping his fingers up your folds collecting your juices. You shriek and buck your hips up into his hand, but much to your dismay he removes it from between your thighs. The car comes to a stop at a red light, and Harry takes the moment to look at you, his eyes wandering your squirming body. He’s practically drooling when he places his fingers in his mouth, tasting your sweet wetness.

“Sorry pup, jus’ needed t’taste yeh.” He chuckles again, and you whine softly in desperation. In one quick motion, he dives his hand back to your pussy, pressing his thumb on your swollen clit.

“Fuck!” The pleasure shoots up your spine, goosebumps raising across your body as he rubs circles on the puffy button. “Harry- please,”

“What d’ya want puppy? Want m’fingers?”

“Yes, yes,” you breathe out, words barely comprehensible through your panting.

“Alright, alright, I gotcha.” And with that his two fingers press into you, filling your tight hole perfectly. There is no hesitation before he begins pumping the digits in and out of you and his thumb never lets up on your bundle of nerves. “Such a needy puppy, got yeh soaking f’me from out in the stands hm?” His eyes are still on the road, but you can picture the lust filled eyes that are undoubtedly on his face.

“Get so wet jus- just thinkin’ about you,” you gasp, writhing as his fingers slam in and out of you.

“Yeah? This is my cunt, m’the only one who can make yeh this wet, isn’t tha’ right?”

“Only Harry.” At your confirmation he speeds his hand up, your vision clouding with white spots as the knot building in your stomach grows tighter and tighter.

All of a sudden, he pulls his fingers out of you, leaving you empty. “Wha-” You begin to question him but you realize that he’s pulling into his driveway. Instead of complaining, you sit up quickly and unbuckle your seatbelt, pulling your skirt back up your legs to avoid being nude on his front lawn.

As soon as you feel the little jolt your hand yanks on the handle and you hop out of the car. Your brain is fuzzy with need and all you are focused on is alleviating the aching between your thighs. You hear Harry lock the car while you're on the steps, and you turn back to ensure that he’s behind you. And sure enough, he’s hot on your trail, just as eager as you to get inside and onto his bed. Your foot is tapping on the ground anxiously, waiting for Harry to unlock the front door. After what seems like an hour, he is next to you again, fumbling with the silver keychain in his hand, eventually unlocking and pushing open the door. You both practically run inside, hands roaming each other's bodies and lips locking as you shuffle through the hall.

You disconnect breathlessly when you reach the stairs, subconsciously wrapping your hands around Harry’s neck so he can pick you up bridal style. He does so hastily, barely a second passing before he’s plopping you onto the fluffy mattress. “Finally,” he pants, hands fumbling with his belt buckle. There’s a prominent bulge in his trousers, and although you’ve seen it plenty, you are always in awe at how thick and big he is. While he’s busy removing his clothes, you are practically drooling at the sight of his bare cock, full, heavy, and dripping precome.

“Harry?”

He looks back down at you with his emerald green eyes, simultaneously dropping his recently-removed shirt on the floor. “Can I ride you?” The look he gives you is indescribable, a mixture of need, lust, cockiness, and beauty all rolled up into one.

“Whatever y’want puppy,” His hands scoop under your ass, and he lifts you up and switches your positions. Now it’s your turn to undress, and Harry makes himself busy by running his hands up and down your torso. “So gorgeous, y’know that?” You nod quickly then pull your shirt off of your head. “Most beautiful girl in the world I reckon.” You blush at the compliment, butterflies being added to the many sensations occuring in your body. You straddle his thighs, wrapping your hand around his length and tugging a few times. A loud groan rumbles through his throat, and you smile knowing you’re the one who made him feel like that. “Thought- thought yeh said y’wanted to ride me pup.”

“I do.” You keep your hand on his cock, sitting up on your knees and lining him up with your weeping cunt. All at once, your body is put at ease as his cock fills you up perfectly. He bottoms out inside of you, both of you moaning and groaning while you adjust. “So big-” Your words come out in choppy pants, the syllables being cut off by your heaves. You suck in one deep breath and move upwards, sinking back down onto him quickly. His large hands hold a tight grip on your waist, guiding you up and down his member. His lips attach to your neck, suckling on the supple skin just enough so that it doesn’t bruise.

“What a dirty little puppy you are,” he growls, eyes focusing heavily on where your bodies connect, watching himself disappear inside of you as you bounce up and down on his cock.

“Feel so full-” Tingles ricochet down every part of your body, and your legs are becoming weaker with each movement. Harry can feel your movement faltering, so his hips thrust upwards to meet yours, fucking you from underneath. “Harry!”

“I know pup, I know.” His thumb strokes your cheek and he leans in for another kiss, devouring your plump lips and swirling his tongue around yours. “So fuckin tight,” The words tumble from his mouth in a low growl, which sends the butterflies in your stomach into a frenzy. His cock twitches inside of you, encouraging you to muster all your energy and finish both of you off. Adrenaline kicks in and your strength returns, riding him faster and harder than before. “Let go f’me Y/N.” It only takes a few more thrusts for you to come undone, Harry’s orgasm following suit. The waves of pleasure roll through your body, and you throw your head back in ecstasy as you allow the feeling to overcome your body. Spurts of his hot cum cover your velvety walls and you ride out your orgasms together, resting your foreheads against one another.

You end up sleeping at his house, feeling safe knowing that Ella is staying with her mom today. It’s normal for you to sleep at his place, seeing as both of you are usually so tired that you pass out before you can leave. What isn’t normal is for you to be woken up in the morning by Harry’s phone ringing. Harry is a deep sleeper, and you laugh at the sight of him conked out while his ringtone blares on the nightstand just a few inches away. Carefully, you reach over his sleeping body and grab the phone, planning on hanging it up and going back to bed. However, when you saw that it was Ella calling, you changed your mind. Making a split second decision, you slide the icon to the right, holding it up to your ear.

“Hello?” Her whiney voice rings through your eardrum and you wince. Not the nicest thing to be woken up to.

“Hello,” you answer, your voice not reflecting the cocky grin that spread across your face.

“Who the hell is this!” she shrieks, and you make a mental note that she must not be a morning person.

“A friend of your dads.” Your response is once again calm and monotone, trying to stifle the laugh that is bubbling in your throat.

“Ugh! What’s your name?”

“Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N”

[dinosaurtsukki]

savior | fyodor x gn!reader

pt. 2 of broken from my angstcember series

anon 1:  Hey bestie, how are you? I hope your doing well and staying safe, can I get some more Fyodor content? P.S your my fave bsd writer atm xx

anon 2: Can you make a part 2 of “broken” the angsty fyodor fic, really enjoyed that one

summary: you knew that your relationship with fyodor would one day lead to you lying on the ground and him standing over you, holding your life in his hands. except, you didn’t think he’d choose to save you

words: 1.5k words

contains: mentions of death, blood, murder, emotional manipulation, your regular fyodor fic 

a/n: i have a whole bunch of fyodor requests so i decided to put both of these in one. also haha flattered that somebody would ask for a pt. 2 of that fic. that said, i tried to write this in such a way that you could read it independently from broken. 

fyodor knows all too well just how fragile human beings are. after all, he was born with a physically weak body and as much as he wanted to dismiss that reality, it would often catch up to him in the form of his own bodily limitations. luckily, he had his own genius to more than make up for that and it only convinced fyodor that he was greater than the average human.

his subordinates came and went, some of them fyodor had intentionally disposed of to benefit a plan, such was the nature of their work. he had grown used to standing over people grasping for their last breath before fyodor himself kindly put them out of their misery with his own ability. 

he knew very well that one day, he’d be doing the same to you.

“so... this is what came of you,” he mused, looking down at your body. one of your hands was pressed to a bullet wound on your side and blood pooled beneath your body. your eyes were glassy and focused at the ceiling but fyodor could tell from the slight rise and fall of your chest that you were very much alive.

he kneeled down and gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. with a soft smile on his face, he remembered the you from a year ago: the young university student that he met in a library with the shy smile and the soft expression. ‘so innocent,’ fyodor thought, chuckling softly. and now, look where you ended up.

“tell me, did you intend to get yourself shot?” he asked. your eyes landed on his and your breath rattled as you inhaled.

“you could figure that out for yourself,” you replied. 

“since when did my dear y/n get so cheeky?” fyodor sighed, resting his chin on his hand. 

“i hope... you don’t die... anytime soon,” you struggled to say.

“hm? have you grown fond of me?” 

“no,” you chuckled, only to cough painfully on your own blood. though, it looked like you didn’t regret it. “i just want to enjoy a few years in hell before having to see you there.”

that got fyodor chuckling again. “maybe i will miss you y/n,” he said. you smirked at him.

“screw you.” 

you closed your eyes, expecting fyodor to deliver the final blow. he observed you silently for a few seconds, his hand hovering just over your wrist, only to reach into his pocket to pull out a phone.

“nikolai? i’ll need some help here.”

...

you thought those were your final words because you slipped into unconsciousness right after saying them only to wake up a day later lying on a couch in an unfamiliar room. 

“what the--” you looked around groggily and found a bandage over the bullet wound in your side and what appeared to be an IV drip injected into your arm. fuck, you were still alive. only question is, where were you?

you got your answer just a few seconds later and almost wished you hadn’t.

“oh good, you’re finally awake,” fyodor said, entering the living room. he wasn’t dressed in his usual ensemble and wore a plain sweater and pants. for a minute there, you could imagine yourself back in that library a year ago before everything happened. “well, the bullet didn’t hit any fatal areas either so you’ll be good to go in a week maybe.” you clenched your jaw.

“why the fuck did you save me?” 

“is that anything to say to your savior?” fyodor tutted and sat down on the armchair nearest you. 

“you’re not my savior. not if the only reason why you chose to save me is to just toy with me,” you seethed. 

“hmm, you make a compelling argument,” fyodor nodded contemplatively. “though, that’s not entirely the case.”

“care to tell me what it is then?” you asked in a mocking tone. you hated that no matter how much venom you put in your words, fyodor would just chuckle as if he was watching a child threaten him. but to him, you were just as threatening as a child.

he leaned back in the armchair and cocked his head while regarding you. “having you around... entertains me.”

the way he enunciated every syllable sent shivers down your spine. you know that fyodor was always good at pandering to your insecurities, making you feel as if you were his whole world when in fact you were probably just a pawn to him. no way were you going to fall for this again.

luckily, months of working for his terrorist organization sharpened your movements. with one hand, you grabbed the letter opener from the coffee table and swung it at fyodor. except, his hand grabbed your wrist in mid-air just as you were about to plunge it into his throat. the point of the letter opener was pressed against his throat but your captor was completely unharmed.

“see what i mean?” he smirked at you. “was it just last year when you were desperate enough to leave me that you got yourself caught? and now look at you,” he crooned, twirling a strand of your hair with his long index finger. “so defiant now.” 

his grip on your wrist tightened and you dropped the letter opener. “just you wait. one day i’ll--”

“you’ll what? run away and try to live a normal life? you know better than that, y/n. with everything you’ve done under me, how could you possibly live amongst mere humans?” fyodor scoffed. “and dying? my dear y/n, you never really wanted to die that day, did you?” he smiled knowingly. 

the hesitation must have been clear on your face because fyodor let go of your wrist. you felt yourself sit back down on the couch you had been lying on. “you’re one of the only people i haven’t been able to completely control and i think that in itself makes it worth having you around.” 

“and if i decide to use that against you?” you asked. 

fyodor stood up and made his way across the room to the kitchen. “that’s always up to you,” he said, feigning nonchalance. “now, how do you like your tea?”

...

you spent that entire week recovering in fyodor’s place and it was strangely incident-free. he’d be away most of the day after all and often came back in the late hours of the night, asking about your condition if he caught you awake and even offering to bring back painkillers if needed. at one point, the two of you even had dinner together. that is, if sitting at the table drinking in soup while fyodor rambled on about the next stage of his grand plan could be counted.

a year ago, before you knew of his true colors, you would have wanted something like this with fyodor. you would have wanted him to come home to you making dinner and spend the rest of the night listening to him read out from your favorite book. of course, that scenario was just a pale ghost now in comparison to your reality, but sometimes you tried a bit harder to convince yourself otherwise. 

“you’re all healed. i suppose you could leave now if you wanted,” fyodor observed. “of course, you could come and go here anytime you like.”

“thanks but, no thanks,” you said stoically.

“hmm, shame,” fyodor sighed. “i won’t even be around for the next couple of weeks.” 

“so, you’re really planning to get yourself put in jail,” you said, looking up at him. fyodor was standing in the middle of the bathroom with the door ajar, fiddling with the ends of his dark hair. 

“just for a while,” he hummed. and then, “my hair is too long again. y/n, could you cut it for me?”

the request took you aback and it took you a while to realize that fyodor was serious with his request with the way he looked at you expectantly. slowly, you got up off the couch and walked over to the bathroom where he was. 

“how short do you want it?” 

“just at my shoulder,” fyodor answered. with one hand, he reached into one of the bathroom drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors. they weren’t just the regular kind of office stationery. the scissors were made completely of metal and the blades were long and sharp at the very tip. 

when he handed the scissors to you, fyodor’s gaze lingered pointedly on yours long enough for you to understand what he was doing. the corner of his lip curled slightly upwards before he turned back around. of course, he was taunting you.

the metal was cold in your hands and carried substantial weight. with fyodor’s back turned, you could probably kill him if you wanted to; plunge the blades deep into his back or his nape and have him crumple to the floor. then, you’d be the one standing over him, waiting to see what kind of person fyodor would be in his last few moments of life.

but he knew you too well.

“lean your head a bit forward,” you whispered. fyodor obeyed and you started snipping at his hair. not once did he even look up at the mirror to check your progress, placing his complete faith in you.

it was better to be at the devil’s side than his enemy. 

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

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[burnedbyshoto]

spiral

— Honestly, what could go wrong when you’re lusting over your close friend and you’re locked in a box with only one way to get out? Well, not a lot, honestly.

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pairing: kaibara sen x fem!reader

warnings: smut, 18+, gloryhole, dirty talk, praise, fingering, sexual tension, reader is a pervert, quirk use during sex (spinning cock lol)

word count: 2,695

a/n: this is the second gloryhole fic ive written, but its completely different from the last time because its like not a cult fic LMAO!!! anyways, I think yall basic shouto and bakugou stans could do well to stan this class 1-b man because when I tell you he is another deviation of the two of them personality wise.... I mean it! 

day 5 main kink: gloryhole

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If you had known precisely what you had just gotten yourself into right now three hours ago, you would have laughed at yourself. Without a doubt, there was no questioning that the predicament you had concealed yourself in was one that would bring you great shame once this wall was gone, but for now, you would deal with it.

At the bitter age of twenty, having graduated from the hero department over in Shiketsu High, you had been almost shocked when you were reached out upon by the graduating class over at Yuuei, to come and join their agency. You had accepted it with caution, unsure if you could live a life paycheck to paycheck that was as new as they come. But, it was a decision you would come to never regret.

Or at least, not until right now. 

You had been on patrol with your coworker turned friend, Kaibara Sen, hero name: Spiral.

His quirk was an interesting one. A quirk that allowed him to gyrate -- spin -- every limb and ligament on his body. It caused some pretty asshole moves in close combat that not only stung with the piercing metal on his gloves but also sent you flying away. Countless amounts of times, you had pinned him only to spun around like a spinning top and slammed back into the practice mats.

You hated it.

Or well, you hated his quirk in a sensical way (note: do not attempt to beat him through a crowd, he always wins). In the nonsensical, coming of age brain of yours that had been for the most part silenced due to Shiketsu’s no-dating-policy, but as you grew fond of your coworker, frequent workout buddy and sparring partner, you couldn’t help but wonder just if… well… if he could spin his cock.

You would be lying if you said you had never imagined what it could feel like. You wondered if his cock was curved, or if it was straight. Would the veins be prominent? Too many times, when watching quirk-plot porn videos, you found your mind lingering onto his ability, which leads you to scream into a pillow, your hormones both skyrocketing and plummeting in your horror. 

You weren’t a perv, you like to remind yourself as you changed into your hero costume. It was merely a rational, human thought! Humans were curious beings, after all! Sure, Kaibara was attractive, and his voice was… so low, deep, and raspy that sometimes you would try to – NOPE NOT A PERV!

Blazing hot cheeks drummed in time with your hammering heart as you finished dressing, hoping to get out and clear your mind with helping out the community as a hero! You were a hero!

Not a perv!

Nodding to yourself in the mirror located in your designated locker, you slammed it close and left.

Unfortunately for you, or fortunately, Kaibara was already dressed in his costume and waved at you in greeting as you approached him.

“Afternoon.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up!” you flustered, your back stiffening as you continued to stomp ahead, readying to leave the stupid agency and get your afternoon rounds done. 

You weren’t a pervert!

With three years since graduating from high school, three years of this agency having been founded, and three years of becoming friends with the esteemed and infamous class 1-A and 1-B from Yuuei, you had learned one thing for sure. This group of Yuuei students seemed to attract the worse kind of trouble like a moth to a lamp.

Without a doubt, you knew that was the reason why you had Kaibara somehow ended up in this horrible, ridiculous quirk from a child that just so happened to manifest their quirk out in the open. And of course, it would be the most humiliating shit to ever happen in the entire world of quirk apparitions.

“Uh, the mother said it’s probably the father’s quirk!” came the apologetic, nearing frantic voice of Deku from outside the steel box both you and Kaibara were trapped in. 

You couldn’t even see Kaibara’s face, and the perv in you screamed over the lack of even having his body pressed against yours! No! Nothing! As a matter of fact, there was a divider between you and Kaibara, a giant wall with a hole near your crotch area.

“I can’t believe you idiots got yourselves trapped in this!” came the amused, annoyed, and somehow antagonizing voice of Ground Zero. 

“Shut up!” you screamed back. “They looked at us, and it happened! It’s not like we touched the kid!”

“Y/h/n,” Kaibara’s voice sighed, and you felt your face ignite at the sighful tone on his raspy, deep voice. You pouted at the slight scold in his manner and felt yourself looking down in shame as he continued. “Don’t argue with Ground Zero. Hey, Deku, how we get out of this?”

The both of you were silent for some time, the outside world quiet as you waited for an answer.

“Oh, um, I don’t think you’re going to like it…” Deku’s voice laughed awkwardly from outside the box, and you frowned.

“Just tell us.”

“I-It’s uh… it’s a quirk called Gloryhole!” Deku squeaked, and just as you knew the successful and well-recognized pro hero outside of this box was undoubtedly red in the face, you felt your already warm face turn into an inferno. “I-I-It’s exactly… ohmygod!”

“The shitnerd is apparently a fucking perv and can’t finish his stupid sentence. Anyways, this quirk only works on shits like you with unresolved sexual tension and only removes after you use it,” Ground Zero’s voice barked from outside the walls.

“KACCHAN!”

“Shut up, Deku!” Ground Zero fired right back, and you could feel your body trembling at the news. Oh no, your perverted mind finally caught up to you in the worst of ways?! Although he did say unresolved sexual tension, that could totally be onesided, right? “We’ll be back in an hour, get it done, or fucking else.”

They left you, and you realized that despite your panicking pitched breathes, there was no noise coming from Kaibara’s side.

Oh no, this was all your fault! 

Oh no, oh no, oh no!

“You, uh,” Kaibara spoke softly, and you felt your hands clutch onto the fabric above your breasts. “You have unresolved sexual tension with me?”

“No,” you denied immediately, your forehead crashing against the barrier between you and Kaibara at the blatant, stupid lie. “Yes. Ugh, I do, but that wasn’t something I was planning on telling you!”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s embarrassing? What was I supposed to say when you pin me against mats during sparring sessions? ‘Hey, Kaibara, does your cock also spin? If so, can you fuck me with it?’”

You slap your hand across your mouth, eyes going wide in your panicked embarrassment. That mouth of yours was genuinely going to get your tongue cut off or lips sewn together one day.

It’s silent for a bit, but there’s a sound of clothes ruffling. The rate of your heartbeat seemed to increase exponentially as you saw something shift from the view you had of the Gloryhole. “Well, if you want to find out, I’ll be more than willing to give you a demonstration.”

The pervert you may or not be did not hesitate to respond back.

“Please?”

And you watched as his shadowed figure approached the hole, and a pink-headed cock pushed through the hole into your side. You watched with a gaping jaw at the still-growing cock before you. Without a doubt, it was more than seven inches and was glorious, gravity defyingly curved upwards. It was proud as it was thick, and you watched as the underneath of his cock scraped across the bottom.

A soft grunt strangled in his throat at the cold, rough sensation, and you watched a small, glistening bead of pre-cum appear from the slit on his head. You’re not sure how quickly you dropped to your knees, but you did know that your mouth took him on completely. Within the first drop of your mouth on his cock, you enveloped at least half of his cock in your mouth. A loud bang hit the wall, and you felt a warmth in your chest, knowing that you had already affected him.

Your lips and mouth glided against his length, your tongue pressing and lapping at the underneath of the head of his cock, trying to cock to become as hard as it could be, because it was still growing. A particular needy, near sloppy suck of yours, sent a loud, dizzying guttural noise from Kaibara’s side. A noise that sent liquid heat spilling into your cunt as your hand gripped the base of his cock, bobbing your head slowly, as leisurely as you would allow yourself.

His taste was indescribable, faint yet had you licking his length for more, trying to cover your tongue in his pre-cum. 

But the issue with a proud curving upwards cock, was that you found it awkward to choke yourself down his impossibly stubborn curve as he began to thrust his hips to meet your mouth and travel into your throat. Grunt, gasps, and growls seemed to be growing in volume and repetition on his side of the wall as you relaxed your throat, chokes, and gags sounding wet and sloppy on your side. 

“Fuck, just like that, wait up,” Kaibara moaned, a thud coming straight above your own head, letting you know that he had pressed his head against the wall. The thumping of his hips on the wall was slowly becoming musical, white noise as you bobbed your head further along his length, throat vibrating with your need to make him feel good. And the weirdest, most surprised splutter came from your throat as his cock spun in direction.

Once curved upwards, making it nearly impossible in the space to take his cock all the way down your throat, was now downcurved. It stretched your jaw out entirely as he didn’t bother to pull away to do it, and your throat stretched out in a way you had never experienced before as you coughed and staggered against his length. But, it was a pain that made your clit throb and allowed his cock to go even further down your throat.

You did what you could only do once your throat stopped hurting, and the sheer pleasure of having your throat stretched out in a more desirably wait set in: you moaned.

It was a long, pitchy noise that you swore you could feel against the steel wall that your free hand supported you against. Your toes curled at the way his intensely thrusting hips faltered for a moment, undoubtedly turned on by your noise if the twitch in his cock said anything about it. You moaned again, and again, and again. You continued to do so against his snapping hips until Kaibara was practically snarling your name with the intention and muttered promises of what he would do to you once the barrier was gone. 

Your mind was gone at the point, the promises of fucking you against the window of his apartment that overlooked the Tokyo skyline had you shoving the pants off your hero costume down. Your hand on his cock tightening in its grip, but the one manipulating your pants off, sunk into your cunt, thumb on your clit. 

A mewl left your lips as you began to play with your wet heat, and you drove your mouth and head closer to the hole, enthusiastically taking him in further and further. 

“Imma fuck you so good when we get fucking out of here,” Kaibara promised, teeth undoubtedly pulled into a snarl, his thrusting in bizarre speeds as you tried to keep some piece of sanity as you continued to finger fuck yourself, all too pleased with him absolutely using your mouth. But, you registered his words just well enough to respond back, choking an agreeing noise as you bobbed your head enthusiastically. “Had I known you just wanted that slutty pussy of yours to be fucked, I would’ve done this with you ages ago. Would’ve pinned you down on that mat, and claimed your cunt as my prize.” Your eyes rolling back in your hormone-induced euphoria, your own dirty fantasies having played that scene in your mind countless times. “I want to hear you choke on my cock more, I want to hear the saliva and drool leaving your mouth. I know you’re fucking your cunt, so do it well enough you’re moaning like a paid prostitute. I promise you, I’ll make sure you never want to see another cock again that isn’t mine!”

A choking, hiccuped, and wet breath expelled from your mouth, and you hadn’t even realized you were crying at the moment. But, you agreed, head bobbing in your agreement.

And so, it continued. 

You pushed forward, his length reaching new depths of your throat until you had your nose smashed against the metal, cold wall. Your throat manipulatively squeezing and milking his throbbing cock, tongue, and teeth rubbing against his protruding veins until Kaibara was stuttering out your broken first name. 

The wet noises of his saliva drenched cock meeting your drooling throat and mouth grew louder with every slap, and you wanted more. You needed more.

“Fuck, y/n, you take me s-so fucking good. I think you have me entirely in your mouth like the fucking little pervert you are,” Kaibara hotly laughed, a soft thudding from near your chin sending your mind in a feral daze of how it was probably his balls. “Doing so well with my directions, you really do deserve to be fucked properly after this.”

A low, lewd whine strangled from your throat, your hot, swollen lips sucking harshly against the base of his cock as he continues drilling, and the melodic moans from his mouth made it all worth the fact your lips and nose are starting to tingle from the sufficient lack of oxygen. But it’s also your curling, pumping fingers in your cunt that add onto the headrush you get, the slick and essence coating and dripping from your pounding fingers send you into a series of keen and mewls against his cock. And you can perfectly find each sweet little pleasure spot. 

You were close, and by the consistent twitching and throbbing of his cock and the thick coating of precum on your tongue, Kaibara was too.

With your impending orgasm, you felt your body begin to tense up, shaking, and moaning with the tipping sensation you loved. And Kaibara, entirely lost in his own passionate, horny endeavors, shook as he slammed into you again, again, and again.

With a fiery determination, your cheeks hollowed out on his length as he pulled out, a resonating “fuck!” screamed from his lips as your tongue swiped at the salty silt on his cock, and it was all over.

You came on your fingers with a loud, pitchy scream, and thick, hot ropes of cum spurted from his cock onto your awaiting mouth, dirtying your face slightly in his heavy ejaculation. Swallowing the cum, a shiver ran down your spine as you quickly cleaned the remaining cum on his cock. Slowly, you removed the fingers in your cunt, and you shuddered at the pulsating heat form your core as you dropped to the floor as his soft cock disappeared from the hole. 

Laughing softly, you looked up at the ceiling of the box that was slowly disappearing, allowing fresh air to enter the sex smelling box.

“So, how about dinner?” Kaibara asked, and you chuckled, running a hand through your abused face.

“I don’t think I’m hungry.”

“No?”

“You might’ve proved you can spiral your cock,” you began, turning your head to look at Kaibara, who was collapsed on the floor, barely put together as the two of you locked eyes. “But I still would like to try it out for real while you properly fuck me. After that, if I’m hungry for food, I’d love to go for dinner.”

He laughed, his hand running through his sweaty locks.

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

[spacedikut]

how to ask a girl out ; spencer reid

pairing: spencer reid (criminal minds) x reader

summary: elle sees an opportunity to teach spencer about asking a girl out. 3275 words

a/n: based on this scene. this is the longest fic ive ever written so sorry if it’s a painful read 

Spencer feels creepy staring at you like this.

There’s no other way to put it. He feels like he’s twelve again, the youngest in his Las Vegas high school, staring at all the pretty girls that get his heart racing just by existing. But you’re more enchanting than those girls. He could watch you do anything, he thinks, because no matter what you’re doing you look picture perfect, like you don’t have a single bad angle.

Spencer still has the social skills of twelve year old him, though. Especially when dealing with cute people.

“You know,” The voice makes Spencer jump, “If you stare long enough, she just might notice.”

Elle is smirking with her arms crossed, shooting Spencer an incriminating look. He tenses.

Seeing his discomfort, Elle relents, “I’m teasing, Reid.” He visibly relaxes against the door frame he’s half hiding behind, half leaning against.

“I’m not trying to be weird.” He mumbles. Elle thinks he sounds like a kid that was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I know you’re not. Have you… spoken to her?”

You’re somewhat new to the unit. Some kind of assistant to JJ who joined several months ago (three months and three days, if Spencer counted correctly) (he did), which means the team don’t see you that much, just enough that you’ve been the topic of discussion a few times. It doesn’t help that JJ sings your praise, and Hotch recently revealed you made yourself available for babysitting his new-born if he ever needs it. Every time someone mentions you, it’s followed by some kind of compliment. Everyone loves you. Spencer has said all of five words to you, and he’s smitten.

“Hi. I’m Spencer. A doctor.”

When you were introduced you didn’t pay him much attention. He can’t blame you, it was overwhelming for you – being introduced to a whole bunch of FBI agents and then thrown head-first into sorting cases for them. But Spencer paid attention. He couldn’t tear his eyes away. Derek’s caught him staring one too many times, but it isn’t Spencer’s fault he can’t stop thinking about you. You enter the room and Spencer’s attention is pulled to you, like a magnet.

Derek thinks it’s time he made a move. Spencer agreed and maintained that confidence for all of fifteen minutes, until he heard your joyful laugh dance down the hallway and his tongue felt too heavy to form words.

That’s when Elle noticed.

Across the room, you’re laughing at something Derek said with JJ. Seeing you smile makes Spencer smile, and Elle nudges him.

“Have you considered approaching her? Rather than, you know, watching her from afar like she’s prey?”

Spencer huffs, “You think I haven’t tried?”

Every time he’s moved to start a conversation, he finds himself unable to complete a single sentence. After he says hello, then what? He dies?

Elle breathes through her nose in frustration. “She’s a nice girl. I’ve spoken to her a couple of times. She mentioned the other day she wants to visit the local museum, since she just moved and hasn’t really explored yet. Shame no one is available to accompany her, right?”

“Are you implying something?”

“Yes.”

“I-I don’t. I can’t-“

“You can’t or you won’t?”

Spencer’s always admired Elle’s ability to be blunt and fearless. But he isn’t Elle, Elle isn’t him, so to him it doesn’t feel like he simply chooses to pussy out of talking to you – it feels like he’s physically constrained. Like he’s fighting against the tide of the ocean to reach you, and he keeps getting pushed back, further and further away from you.

Elle’s eyes shift between you and Spencer, like she’s watching a tennis match. “Just go up and ask her. It’s that simple. If she says no, she says no. No big deal!”

Spencer shakes his head, “I can’t do that. It’s Y/N! She’s-she’s-“

“A normal human being. You know, like you and me? The second you start putting people on pedestals is when things start falling apart.” She pats him on the shoulder as encouragement, “Have some confidence, Reid.”

And she walks away, as if just telling him to have some confidence will make him suddenly have the courage to whisk you off your feet.

He wishes he could whisk you off your feet.

+++

The paperwork is never ending. Times like this, Spencer considers recanting his stance on technology – maybe having everything on an online database would be a good idea. The stacks upon stacks around him would agree.

A paper ball hits the back of Spencer’s head.

He turns, slowly, and Elle gives a wave from her desk. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Can I… help you?”

“Yes, you can.” She nods to the paper on the floor, “Read it.”

He leans and grabs the ball from the floor, opening it with furrowed brows.

Step 1: Actually talk to her.

Suddenly, Elle is standing right next to him, looking all-too-pleased with herself. She leans over him.

“What does this mean?”

“You wanna date Y/N? Talk to her. That means marching right up to her pretty little face and saying more than, like, a few words to her. You need to have a conversation with her to let her know you’re interested.”

Elle’s clearly confident in her plan, but it seems she’s forgetting an important detail – this is Spencer that she’s dealing with. Not Derek, who can charm anyone out of anything (or into anything), not Hotch who, when he wants to be, is the smoothest criminal ever. Not even Gideon, with his soft eyes that make anyone that stares into them feel safe. He’s Spencer Reid who, according to one guy, looks like a pipe cleaner with eyes.

Spencer’s hesitant to take any of Elle’s advice.

“What would I… say to her?” He asks. If he does talk to you, what does he even say? Do you even want to talk to him? What if you immediately hate him and JJ beats him up? She could do it. He’s seen her guns.

Elle looks at him incredulously, “Reid! C’mon! Anything! Ask how her day has been, if she had a good weekend, are there plans for this weekend… Literally anything.” Spencer gives a look of distrust, “You’ll know if she’s interested, trust me. She’ll reciprocate. If she doesn’t, she’s not up for it, and there’s your answer without even asking her out.”

At that moment, you and JJ appear from thin air, whispering to one another with your arms full of files. Both Spencer and Elle’s watchful gazes follow you right up until JJ’s office door is clicked shut and when you can only slightly be seen through the blinds, Spencer still stares. Elle hits him over the head.

“Pay attention!”

“She’s distracting!”

“She walked by you, not gave you a lap dance! Focus on the plan!”

With a sigh, he looks back to the crumpled paper in his hands. “What’s step two?”

The paper’s yanked out of his hands and Elle furiously scribbles something before handing it back to him.

Step 2: Make her laugh.

“I can’t do that.”

She scoffs, “Reid.”

“People laugh at me, Elle, not with me. The only way she’ll laugh is if I make a complete fool of myself and when I do that, I’m running away and never looking back. You’ll never see me again.”

Sick of the self-deprecation, Elle leans close to Spencer’s face and begins to whisper menacingly.

“Listen, bud,” She threatens, “You need to stop being so hard on yourself. You’re young, you’re inexperienced – that’s why approaching Y/N is so terrifying. Not because she’s out of your league, or you’re not good enough, it’s because you’ve never done this before. It’s simply a fear of stepping out of your comfort zone, so stop being so hard on yourself.”

Spencer isn’t sure how to respond, silently wishing something could get him out of this situation. He’s not used to being complimented so ferociously.

God answers his prayers. In the worst way possible.

“Incoming. Make her laugh, Reid.” Elle says, slinking off back to her desk.

Spencer quickly realises you’re approaching and his hands grip the armrests of his chair. He’s not ready for this. He wishes he had time to prepare, maybe google how to woo a woman, but you’re in front of him, all precious smiles with a manila folder in your hand.

“Hi, Doctor Reid.”

Your voices sounds like heaven. He can’t help but think, despite only listening to classical music, he could listen to your voice and only your voice if given the option. It’s like honey, sweet and smooth, and something inside him stirs. Everything about you is lovely.

He clears his throat and nervously wipes at his nose, “Hey. What can I do for you?”

“I was told to bring this to you,” You hand him the folder, “And JJ wanted me to check up on you. She said you’ve been working non-stop and that you probably consumed your bodyweight in coffee with enough sugar to give a small army diabetes. My guess is she wants to check your heart is still beating.”

Spencer laughs at that, which encourages you to giggle along. He freezes when he sees the way your eyes scrunch and smile widens when you laugh – he’d only seen it from a distance, up close it feels intimate and causes his throat to tighten. When your laughter dies, you’re left with an awkward silence as he stares. You shuffle your feet.

Elle is trying to look like she isn’t paying attention, but in her head she’s screaming at Spencer to say something!!!

“Sorry for disturbing you if you’re – um – if you’re busy.” You gesture to the mess on Spencer’s desk, and it’s then that he realises how his silence could’ve looked – to him, you quite literally took his breath away, but to you? He’s a weirdo that is still holding the file mid-air and hasn’t said a thing for far too long.

“No! No,” Spencer brushes his hair back, “Thank you for the file. JJ’s right, I should probably take a break-“

He looks up then. This is his chance, right?

“Are you busy right now?”

You glance around and your eyes find JJ’s office, where she’s signalling for you to come over, “Yeah. Sorry.”

It feels like a punch in the gut – is this rejection? – but there’s a look of sadness that crosses your face. Your mouth falls at the edges and your brows slightly crease – do you wish you weren’t busy?

If Spencer didn’t feel like he’s seconds away from vomiting, he’d ask. Maybe. That sounds a whole lot like flirting and he isn’t sure he can handle that.

You quickly leave, not before you tell him to look after himself (his heart swells), and the second you’re far enough away Elle is marching right over and throwing the paper at him, again, even though she’s standing right in front of him.

“She rejected me.”

“Yea- wait, what?” Elle starts to celebrate, but stops at her words, “No she didn’t. Did we see different things?”

“It sure felt like rejection. Felt weird.”

“That was the perfect chance to ask her to go out after work or maybe on the weekend, but, in your defence, that’s a Derek-level response and we’re not quite there yet. Step three, go.”

Spencer unfolds the paper ball begrudgingly, wondering if any of this is actually worth it.

Step 3: Get JJ to back the fuck up.

Spencer laughs.

“Either you tell JJ you like her assistant and ask for her help, or you tell JJ you like her assistant and that she needs to stop using her so much.” Elle sounds matter-of-fact and confident.

“You want me to tell JJ to stop giving her assistant work?” Spencer asks, face scrunched.

With a shrug, Elle says, “Or you could ask her to help you. She knows the most about Y/N.”

Looking up to JJ’s office, he realises how true Elle’s statement is. JJ knows you better than anyone else here, you’ve quickly become good friends, and JJ wouldn’t lie to Spencer about you if it involved his feelings. He trusts JJ like that.

But then you throw your head back in laughter, a hearty laugh that JJ follows with her own tinkling chuckle, and Spencer is reminded of the sinking feeling he’s had when he’s been rejected before. The emotional slap in the face that causes you to lose all confidence. In his head, he rationalises that attempting to ask you out is pointless. You won’t like him, scrawny profiler who follows his team members like a lost puppy, the guy unable to maintain eye contact for more than four seconds. The logical side, however, the side that runs the show when Spencer is on a case and hides his feelings, tells him he has nothing to lose. Morgan would be proud of him, not ashamed, because Spencer had the guts to ask someone out – Spencer! Elle would understand and tell him something about learning for next time, and the rest of the team wouldn’t really care.

He has nothing to lose and everything to gain. A date with you? A relationship with you? That’d feel like winning the lottery. It feels more likely than winning the lottery, too.

Then Morgan walks past him, more like swaggers, all good looks and charm and everything Spencer doesn’t have.

Spencer decides he’ll save himself the rejection.

+++

JJ gets involved without Spencer realising. He connects the dots on the way back to Virginia, after a case in which you were brought along instead of JJ.

There was a “family emergency”, apparently, after the debrief and right before take-off. Although it wasn’t your first case, it was your first time travelling with the team. When you pad in, sparkling eyes gliding all around the jet, Spencer zeroes in on the gruesome scene photos to avoid being caught staring.

You fit into the role flawlessly. It’s like you were born for the part, effortlessly slipping into the job of communicator between the team and the police force, standing fearlessly in front of the press as they piled on the pressure.

In the conference room where the team set up, he noticed you actively try to stay out of the way whilst simultaneously help in any way you could. You offered coffee every two hours (Spencer counted), cleaned up any and all rubbish the team left around – burger wrappers, useless post-it notes – and mothered the team by reminding them they need breaks, too.

At the hotel, you jokingly poked Spencer in the shoulder and said, “No more coffee for you. You’ll get a sugar rush and won’t be able to sleep.”

“Like a toddler?”

“Exactly like a toddler. Straight to bed for you.”

You grinned at eachother before you separated to go to your rooms. Around three am, Spencer instinctively went to make himself a drink but stopped and thought of you. He decided for that night, just that night, he could get a somewhat decent amount of sleep.

Now, on the flight home, Gideon pauses before his move in their third game of chess to stare at something behind Spencer’s shoulder. When he notices, Spencer turns to see what has his mentor’s attention and stutters when it’s you. You, looking like you’re straight out of a cheesy romance movie when you push your hair back while reading your book.

Gideon switches from staring at you to staring at Spencer.

“She’s a pretty girl, huh?”

Spencer knows where this is going.

“Elle told me you’re sweet on her.”

“Elle shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Elle has been watching you two the entire case.”

“Elle-“

Gideon clears his throat, making Spencer finally make eye contact, “You scared? Worried?”

“About what?” Spencer asks.

“Rejection. If she’ll laugh in your face, say something about never wanting anyone like you.”

Sometimes, Spencer is terrified of Gideon’s ability to read people. He swears he has this inhuman ability to take a peek into people’s minds, read their most intrusive and negative thoughts, and confront them about them. Like he’s doing to Spencer now.

“Something like that, yeah,” Spencer murmurs. He shuffles uncomfortably in his seat, “It’s your move.”

“I know.” Gideon nods to you, making Spencer look again, “Don’t you think, in twenty years’ time, you’d want to look back at this moment and be glad you asked? No matter the outcome? Rather than wondering if she’d said yes, asking all kinds of what-ifs…”

“You’re telling me to ask her out?”

Gideon gives Spencer a smile that fills him with confidence. He doesn’t know what it is, but he trusts Gideon with his whole life. If he tells him to go for it, then he should go for it, right?

“I happen to know the Virginia museum is having a deal on tickets if you order them online. Might be something to look into.” He sounds borderline smug now.

With one last look to Gideon, he stands and slowly waddles to the chair opposite you.

“Mind if I sit?” He asks, a hand gently resting on the back of the empty seat. You startle slightly at the unexpected voice, but gesture for him to sit with a smile.

“How are you feeling?” You wonder, squinting slightly as the sun shines in your eyes. It makes them sparkle, and Spencer has never understood wanting to drown in someone’s eyes until that moment.

“Just glad the case is over. You did a great job, by the way, filling in for JJ last minute.” Spencer is surprised that his voice doesn’t crack or stop completely.

You beam at the praise, “Thank you. JJ’s got some big boots to fill, even if it’s for one case.”

He shrugs and pulls a face as if you’ve said something ridiculous, “Don’t sell yourself short. When she realises how good you are, she’ll start taking all kinds of holidays.” He jokes.

He can’t help but grin when you laugh.

Elle passes. In the very brief eye contact they make, Elle’s eyes are wide and jumping from you to Spencer, Spencer to you. She’s sending him a message, and he bets Gideon is watching, too.

“Hey,” He starts, leaning on the table between you. You instinctively lean closer, too, which Spencer takes as a positive sign, “How would you.. like…”

He has to take a second to inhale a shaky breath and nervously push his hair behind his ears. You wait, all patient and divine, and his eyes dash around your face.

“To go to the museum with me?”

It comes out rushed and you look confused. “Huh?”

Spencer tries again, after clearing his throat, “How would you like to go to the museum with me? When we get back. As a date.”

“You’re asking me on a date?”

“…Yes?”

If you weren’t staring directly at him, he’d think you were making fun of him and about to unleash a nice bout of rejection.

You move one hand to lean your face against, moving in a little closer, “I would love that.”

Spencer is speechless. You would love that?

“Oh- wow. Yeah, thanks. Good.”

Who says thanks when someone agrees to go on a date with them?

You giggle.

“We’ll plan when we get back?” You ask.

“Yes. Definitely.” He nods three times.

You can’t help but bite your lip, he’s too cute, and it immediately draws Spencer’s attention.

Behind you both, Gideon turns to Elle. “Success.”

Elle rolls her head against the back of her seat and stares out the window, “Step four: Get Gideon to get the job done.”

[xsarcasticwriterx]

Wonderwall-part 2

Summary: Y/n find out something that changes the course of her relationship and life forever.

Pairing: tony stark x reader x bucky barnes

Warnings: angst and angst and angst, panic attack, swearing, some bitter sweet fluff,

note: I know its a weird change cause i went from she/her to you and stuff but i like writing you more than her so here we are pfft also i mention civil war but this story doesn't fit in the timeline it just fit for the scenario.

Wonderwall masterlist

You and tony sat on the ship with IVs being stuck into you. bucky sat next to you “hey... wanna talk about it? he ask softly. you shake your head. “not now not yet” you say with tears falling down your face. you had cheated on him. you cheated on the love of your life the person you'd been with for 3 years. Not only that but with someone who has tried to kill bucky on multiple occasions. Tony moved next to you. “Hey...” he said with a sigh. “Promise me we will never ever tell them about this” you say with a panic. he nods frantically. “that's exactly what i was going to say.” and with that you two spent the rest of the time in silence.

You sat in your room. It was 4 days after you got back. you felt weird and had been getting sick for the past few days. The others assumed it was due to your body still adjusting to being on land with consistent water and food. but you had other ideas as to why this could be happening.

Your hands shook as you paced the room. “fuck fuck fuck ok it'll be ok” you said to yourself. you walked into the bathroom and opened the pregnancy test box. panic was all you felt as you took it. you set a timer and walked back to your room. you continued to pace. what would you do if you were pregnant. what would you tell buck? what would you tell tony?! you two promised not to tell anyone. the timer went off. you put your head into your hands. “ok its probably negative i mean what are the chances” you say walking back to the bathroom. you heart was going at a pace that was scary. your whole body was shaking. you grab the test and flip it over.

positive.

you stared at the 2 lines. you felt tears fall down your face and your breathing become rapid. a panic attack that's what this was. you fell to the ground as your breathing became uneven. “no no no no no” you say getting louder. you curl up and feel your whole body shake. you try desperately to grab for every breath but its like inhaling nothing. you start to cough from lack of oxygen and tears. snot ran down your face. you grab onto your hair and scream into your legs. the door immediately opens and bucky rushes to your side. 

“hey its ok im here” he says putting his hand on your shoulder. “count with me ok” he says. you barely hear him it's like being underwater but you nod with what strength you have. “ now 1″ he says. “1″ you reply dryly your throat is dry and your lungs feel empty.

you two count to 10 slowly. you gradually catch your breath. the shaking stops and you feel more exhausted than ever. he pulls you close. “wanna talk about it?” he ask kindly. you look down seeing the pregnancy test and bucky sees it too. he grabs it and turns it over. his breathing gets deeper and he stands up. he walks back and forth and nods. “tony?” he ask with an angered tone. you nod. his nodding and pacing gets faster. 

he walks out the room. you stand up quickly and chase after him. “buck bucky don't” you say quickly seeing him walk towards the one door that would fuck up everything. he nods hard and fast. You feel the tears fall faster and faster. “bucky stop it!” you yell at him. Tony opens the door and immediately is met with a metal fist. “fuck!” tony says holding his nose. Bucky pushes him again which shoves tony down. bucky get on top and keeps hitting him. “bucky! stop!” you say going towards him you try to just pull him but that does nothing.ok next plan. you grab his shoulders “Stop!” you say using your powers. 

you keep pulling him and he does stop. he falls back into your lap. “you promised me you'd never use your powers on me” he says looking up at you. “i'm sorry buck” you say tears falling still. his head falls back onto your stomach. tony looks up at you his face bloody and beat. the metal fist definitely did not help. he looks at you confused. “im pregnant” you say to him. you see his eyes widen. “wha-what” he says shaking his head. 

“shes fucking pregnant with your damn child” bucky says trying to pull out of your arms. you panic and hold him with all your strength. “sleep” you say feeling him go limp in your arms. tony just blinks looking down at the floor. “your....” he says trailing off. his breathing gets deeper.

Doors open in the hall. natasha is the first to come out then steve. Bruce slowly emerges. Wanda and vision come out in a worry. Clint is the last to come out hes geared up ready for a fight. “what's going on?” nat asks. they see tony and bucky's bloody fist. “I thought we were past this?” steve ask in a panic. you look up at wanda and natasha. 

Steve takes bucky away from your lap and takes him to the main room and lays him on the couch. You stand up with natasha and wanda's help. vision,clint, and bruce still look concerned but less worried. “anyone gonna tell us what happened?” clint ask.  

Bruce hands tony a rag to put on his possibly broken nose. “uh let's go sit on the couch.”  wanda says leading you to the main room. bruce helps tony to the couch. “I should...” you say nodding to bucky. They nod as you slowly go to him. you put your hands softly on his head. “wake” you say and immediately bucky shoots up angry and tears edging his eyes.

“buck buck hey calm” steve says grabbing bucky's shoulders. Buck stares at steve angrily. “sooo?” clint ask sitting on the couch. nat and wanda sat down too. you were in front of all of them. “tony and I spent a month and a half up there.” you start off. everyone sits up more. neither you or tony had spoken of your time up there sense yalls return. 

“We saw no end and I was about to have a meet and greet with death himself. Tony was giving up his food and water to keep me going” you say looking down messing with your hands. “I don't understand why this led to bucky beating she shit out of tony.” Clint ask. “let her finish” steve said. “We got closer than ever and had agreed that there was no chance at us returning. We were desperate to stop the pain to just be with someone be cared for before the end. We slept together.” you state. bucky's breathing gets more rapid and his hands form fist. everyone starts to yell at tony natasha tried to silence it which only made her a target.

“Shut up!” you say yelling at them. They look at you surprised. “shut up before we end up with another battle and let me fucking finish what the hell i'm saying before attacking tony which by the way it takes two to tango so shut up please.” you say looking at the floor hands making fist. everyone turns to you and shuts up even bucky and tony.

“Now I am pregnant with tony child. Now before you all start yelling and attacking tony just try to understand the situation.” you say. “Understand the situation?!” bucky yells. steve tries to calm him. “no no just no ok. He mmm he saw her vulnerability and used it!” bucky says standing up and pointing at tony.

“Buck no that's not it he didn't do that. I saw a world without you with no one except me and tony on that stupid ship dying slowly and mercilessly.” you say feeling tears falling again. natasha stood up and walked to you. “I know your pissed as hell at tony and at y/n but right now” she points at tony “you are going to be a father” and she points at bucky “and if you stay, which i think you should, are going to be a step father so let's just try to deal with that right now.”

Natasha held you by her side. Bruce stood up “I’ll help it whatever way I can.” he said. “me too” clint said standing. “I will too” vision said standing. Wanda stood “You always got me.” she said with a small smile. steve looked at bucky then tony and then you. He sighed and stood up “you got me too” he said with a nod. 

you swallow “thank you all of you” you say softly then look to tony and bucky. “You definitely have me i'm not going to bail on my child just because its a complicated situation.” tony said standing up. bucky let a soft growl out. “buck?” you ask hesitantly. He looks up at you and shakes his head. He walks off and soon yall hear a door slam.

You dropped your head. “Give him time” nat whispered to you. you nod. she nods to steve and steve nods and walks after bucky. natasha takes you to your room nodding to tony who nods back and walks to the kitchen. sittin on your bed you look down at your stomach. there's a person in there well soon they'll be. nat sat next to you “how're you feeling?” she ask. “I don't know...Im going to have a child and it's not the child of who i always pictured it as. I broke the love of my life's heart and broke tony and I’s promise.”

“bucky just needs time is all steve is talking to him and i'm sure tony understands that you couldn't keep it a secret you two made that promise when you didn't know you were pregnant and don't worry you have all of us here to help and protect you.” nat said. “I’m an avenger...I had a father who used me as a testing subject and gave me powers i couldn't control till i was 17 how am i supposed to be a parent? Their father is a billionaire who is ready to die at any shot and their possible step father was born in 1917 and was brainwashed to be a murderer.” you spew out.

“you'll be ok we are all broken and a mess but together we can raise this child. I promise. We will figure it out” she says rubbing your arm. The door opens and in comes tony with a glass of water. “figured you could use this” he says walking towards you. nat looks at you and you nod. she stands up and walks out. 

Tony sits next to you. “i'm sorry” you say immediately scared of tony being angry. “no no don't apologize you had to say something its not like you could just avoid questions when your stomach grows.” he says with a chuckle. “y/n i want you to know i am going to be the best damn father i can be and if you and bucky stay together...because you and bucky will stay together i know he will have a huge role in that child's life and i'm so glad they get 3 parents who love them more than anything in this world. I will protect the with my life I will not die for them. I will live for them.” 

“Tony...” is all you can get out through choked sobs. you hug him holding him close. “thank you” you say pulling away “what about pepper?” you ask concerned. “I’ll tell her just need to let this” he moves his hand to the room “settle before any more people get mad” he says. the door slowly opens and an exhausted, messy haired, red eyed, wrapped hand, bucky opens the door. upon seeing tony he sighs.

“can I speak to her alone?” he says with no emotion. tony nods and walks past bucky out of the room. tony closes the door behind him and walks towards the bed.

he sits next to you and sighs. “buck-” you starts but he cuts you off “don't....let me speak” he says. “I am pissed as hell at you dont get me wrong...but i understand...you didn't see a possibility as being back here all you saw was death. I will be the best step father i can and the best boyfriend i can be. I am far from forgiving you but I still love you and I don't want us to end and this child is amazing news even if they aren't mine. I will be as much of a father to this kid as I can be and I will raise them as my own. I'm here for the long run.” he says looking at you. you smile and hug him. “I love you too bucky...thank you” you say. 

This journey was far from over but for now the world felt damn good. This kid would have 3 parents who love them more than anything or anyone in this world.

[nanamikeento]

serendipity

pairing: Marcus Pike x female!reader

summary: You’ve never been one to believe in luck, but when you get to know your handsome neighbor, something makes you change your beliefs.

warnings: tw blood, gunshot wounds, medical inaccuracies, mentions of sex (or lack thereof), one (1) line from Ratched (i couldn’t help it), also fluff and a sm**ch

word count: 3.7k

series masterlist | general masterlist

You’ve never believed things happened for a certain reason. Several failed relationships taught you that things happen because simply they happen. There’s not always a meaning hidden behind, or a lesson to be learned. Sometimes, they do. Most times, they don’t. And that’s okay with you.

Lady Luck isn’t always by your side and you’ve gotten used to it, even now as you try to push a loveseat through the door of your new apartment. It’s early in the morning and you didn’t want to waste time moving your things to the new place, given that you have a shift in the hospital this afternoon. You’re exhausted already, and it’s not even nine in the morning. Maybe you’ve underestimated the weight of a loveseat. During your struggle, you don't notice you're blocking the way in the hallway until you hear someone clear their throat. The sound makes you jump and you quickly look up to find a very handsome man staring at you. Heat creeps on your neck and cheeks immediately.

“Do you need help with that?” He asks, gesturing to the loveseat.

You usually don't accept help from strangers, – no matter how handsome they are – but right now, you don't even think about refusing, the sweat down your back reminding you that this is only the start of a very busy day with moving.

"Please," you answer and watch him place his travel mug on the floor and move to help you push the loveseat into your new apartment.

"Where do you want it to be?" He asks, his raspy voice sending shivers on your skin. You give him the directions, pointing to a corner in the living room and tell him you plan to leave it there.

"Thank you." You sigh, already worn out by the physical labor.

He laughs softly and lets out a breath. "No problem. I’m Marcus."

You give him your name with a nod. The smile he gives you is breathtaking and you have to look away or he’d catch you staring.

"You need help with anything else?" He puts his hands on his hips, letting out a small sigh.

"Oh, no, that's okay!" you quickly answer, shaking your head. "I see you're off to work. I won't hold you any longer."

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” He smiles at you. Your cheeks warm under his gaze and you smile shyly at him. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the 44.”

“Thank you.”

You watch him leave with a smile on your face and your heart hammering inside your ribcage.

…

Your hands still shake as you wash them, watching the diluted blood go down the drain of the sink. His eyes are still plastered in your mind, those chocolate colored orbits full of fear that almost made you hesitate.

“Marcus stay with me, okay? Don’t close your eyes.” Your own voice echoes inside your head over and over and the image of him covered in his own blood won’t leave you alone as you wash his blood from your hands.

“Hey.” A soft voice startles you and you jump, looking at your coworker, Anne, through the mirror. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you wash your hands harder.”

You look at your now clean hands and blink, turning the faucet off. You could swear they were still covered in blood. Letting out a shaky breath, you move to dry your hands with paper towels.

“You know him, don’t you?” She asks when you don’t say anything. “The guy who got shot?”

“Yeah.” You breathe out. “He’s my neighbor.”

It’s not every day that chaos happens in the emergency room, despite what people think, so you’re not really used to it yet. When the time comes, you do your best as a nurse to help people and do your job.

But when you saw Marcus being wheeled in, something inside almost made you stop. You almost didn’t know what to do, almost stopped in your tracks, and panicked as soon as you realized it was him, with a gunshot wound and bleeding badly. Then, your instincts kicked in and you acted fast, trying to stop the bleeding before a doctor came. He kept looking at you with those eyes, panic and fear in them, and kept talking to him, trying to make him stay awake. You managed to stop the bleeding and he tried to speak, reaching for you, as they rushed him to the OR.

You barely registered the brush of his hand to yours as they wheeled him away, his eyes fixated on you until he was out of sight.

“Oh,” Anne pulls you out of your own thoughts and gives you a malicious look. “You and him…?”

“What?” You frown at her as you leave the bathroom. “I just met him, what kind of person do you think I am?”

“A sexually frustrated one, who needs to get laid.” She starts walking by your side.

You stop walking and look at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Wow.” You shake your head and head to the ER again. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

Anne is the first friend you’ve made when you were hired to work at the hospital and you made the mistake to tell her the last time you’ve been with someone was over three years ago. Now she won’t stop bugging you about it.

“No, wait, sorry!” She tried to fix it, running after you. “I just thought– I’m sorry, I–” She sighs. “It’s just the way you looked at him…”

You frown. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “It was just a look. He looked at you the same way and I thought… You also knew his name and he said yours…”

“He said my name?” You widen your eyes.

“Yeah, didn’t you hear?”

Shaking your head, the line between your brows deepens. There’s something about Marcus, something you can’t put a name on it, that keeps tugging on you. You decide to ignore it and go on with your day, but he never leaves your mind.

Anne is the one who informs you that Marcus is stable, hours after he came in. Alive. You visibly relax at the words, earning a knowing look from her. You don’t talk to her for the rest of the day, not because you’re upset, but because you were busy during your shift. When she’s about to leave, she touches your shoulder and whispers:

“Room 117.”

You don’t need to ask what she’s talking about. But maybe she knows you better than you thought.

It’s not until your shift is over that you decide to follow her unspoken advice. Gathering your things, you shoulder your purse and walk to the room in question before you can change your mind. The nurses in the ward are quite nice and they let you in the room, saying Marcus has been in and out of sleep all day. Some friends had come to visit and left him things, but now he was alone. So they let you sneak in for a few minutes.

When you enter the room, he’s asleep. He looks peaceful, rested. Different from when you saw him earlier. You’re tempted to touch his face or hold his hand, but you refrain from doing that and check the IV instead.

“I knew I wasn’t hallucinating.” His voice is rough, tired, and laced with sleep. You look at him to see his tired eyes, his gaze soft on you. “Knew it was you…”

Sighing, you offer him a smile. “Just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I didn’t know you were a nurse.” He smiles at you. It must be the drugs, but the smile is honest, wide. It makes your stomach churn in pleasure.

“You sound disappointed,” You answer, sitting on the chair beside the bed.

“I’m not.” Marcus huffs a laugh and then grimaces, hugging his torso with one arm. You grimace too, touching his arm and pulling it gently from the wound.

“Try not to… touch it.” Your voice is gentle as you place his arm by his side, your fingers brush against his warm skin.

He looks at you and there’s something different in his eyes. A light in them. A flash of the memory of him covered in blood appears in your mind and you have to look away, letting out a deep sigh.

“They told me…” He starts when the silence stretches out. “They told me if a nurse hadn’t stopped the bleeding, I wouldn’t…”

When Marcus trails off, you look back at him and your eyes meet his, holding his gaze surprised.

“Was it you?” He whispers, his fingers twitching, wanting to touch your hand. You nod in silence but don't speak, deciding to leave the details out. “Thank you.”

“Just doing my job,” You say quietly.

“You saved my life.” He insists.

You pause for a moment, holding his gaze before tearing it away from him as you speak.

“You save a life, you’re a hero. You save a hundred, you’re a nurse.”

“Who told you that?” He laughs again.

“It’s just common sense.” You shrug at him, smiling too.

“Well, common sense can go fuck itself.” He watches as you snort a laugh. “You saved my fucking life, and I am grateful.”

The smile you give him is genuine and honest, and it makes you feel like a teenager looking at her school crush. You stare at each other for a moment before you clear your throat and stand up.

“I should go.”

“Will you come by tomorrow?” He asks before you could say anything else. You pause to look at him, feeling your heart skip a beat. You wonder, once again, if it’s because of the drugs and if he’ll change his mind once they’re not in his system anymore. But you nod anyway and tell him you’ll try.

…

Marcus ended up staying at the hospital one more night. You went to visit him after your shift again and told him about your day and he revealed he was an FBI Agent and got shot during a task force. He was as happy to see you as he was the night before. After that, when you arrived at the ward to visit him again, the nurses said he was sent home that morning. You couldn’t stop thinking about him the entire day and the feeling of butterflies in your stomach wouldn’t leave you alone. That night, you knocked on his door to see if he needed anything.

“If I knew, I could have brought you home,” You told him, fidgeting with your keys nervously.

“Don’t worry.” He smiled. “I had my partner pick me up.”

“Oh.” The smile falls from your face and embarrassment takes over you. “I-I didn’t know you had a partner.”

Marcus huffed a laugh and shook his head. “My work partner, I mean.”

“Oh,” You laughed at yourself, feeling your cheeks heating up. “Sorry, I forgot you were a federal agent.”

He laughed with you, but never at you. Eyeing the blush on your cheeks, he thought you were adorable, getting all flustered because of him.

“I wanted to tell you I was home, but I didn’t have your number,” He said, nonchalantly, after a small pause.

“Don’t worry about it, I never use my phone at work anyway.” You shook your head and he raised his brows, nodding at you. Marcus waited for the penny to drop. “D-do you want it? My number…” Before he could answer, you tripped over your words, stuttering to explain. “For-for emergencies, o-of course.”

“I’d love it.” He gave you one of those wide smiles you liked so much.

It’s funny to think about how a gunshot wound made you two get closer. You’ve been checking on him every night for the past three weeks, helping him change the bandage and cleaning the wound. He recovered quickly and was past the point where he needed help, but you didn’t mention it and neither did he. You kept showing up even after he was healed and fine.

You can't deny the tension and the feelings that come to light when you're with him. It's like you're eager to see him everyday, and every minute you're not with him is like torture. You get all happy and excited when your shift ends because you know you'll get to see him. You don't know if he feels the same, that's why you don't dare to breathe a word of it to him.

“I’d like to take you out some time,” He says, pulling you out of your thoughts. You look up from where you’re washing your hands at his kitchen sink and feel your cheeks warm. He smiles at you as he leans on the door frame of his kitchen. “You know,” He says quickly. “To thank you for the help. I happen to know a nice restaurant around the corner…”

Biting a smile down, you reach to turn the faucet off, drying your hands on a dishtowel. “Is it fancy?”

“A little.” He frowns his lips and then shrugs. “Not too much. Don’t wanna go overboard on the first date.”

“Ah, so it’s a date?” You smile at him, watching as he blushes.

“If-if you want to…”

You approach him until you're close enough to feel the warmth of his body. “I’d love to.”

Marcus smiles at you and then clears his throat, looking away from you. He lets out a deep sigh and smiles down at you.

“Are you free tomorrow?” He asks. For a moment his eyes stare at your lips and you suppress a smile.

“Tomorrow?!” You exclaim, raising your eyebrows.

“Or is that too soon?” His eyes shift from soft to worried. “We can go on the weekend–”

“Tomorrow is perfect.” You interrupt him, nodding.

Marcus sighs again and you both stare at each in silence for a moment. Your heart skips a beat when you realize he’s looking at your lips again.

“Is it weird that I want to skip dinner and kiss you right now?” He says, voice low and quiet like you’re not the only person in the room. You feel like your heart is going to burst, hammering inside your chest, your cheeks burning intensely... Marcus realizes he maybe was out of line and starts apologizing. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean– I mean, I did mean, but– fuck, I–”

“It’s not weird.” You laugh. “But… Pay me dinner first, and then maybe you can kiss me.”

Marcus laughs and then nods.

“Deal.”

…

“Hey,” Marcus breathes when you open the door. He takes your form and you feel shy under his gaze. You’re wearing a black glittery bodycon dress that compliments your curves and black heels. “Wow.”

“Too much for a first date?” You playfully grimace at his reaction.

“No, no, no,” He’s quick to respond. “You look… Amazing.”

Biting your lower lips, you nod. “You too.”

Marcus frowns and looks down at his own clothes, a simple black suit. “Really?”

“Yeah,” You say softly, closing the door and locking it.

“But you see me in a suit almost everyday.”

“I know.” Turning your body to face him again, you see the redness on his cheeks and smile widely.

Both of you walk side by side in the streets, since the restaurant is around the corner, just like Marcus said. Your hand brushes occasionally against his and you feel the urge to touch him all of a sudden. Your stomach bubbles with anxiety, the good kind of anxiety that makes you eager for something. There’s a bit of nervousness in your chest as you sit down in front of him, and try to concentrate on the menu.

“So, do you bring all your neighbors here?” You ask, sipping your wine.

“Just the ones that save my life.” He shrugs, a teasing smile on his face. A soft laugh leaves your lips. “Did you always want to be a nurse?”

“Yeah.” You nod. “Since I was a kid. I broke my arm once and ended up in the hospital.” A smile spreads on your face. “There was this nurse in the ER and… She was really kind to me. Ever since I just knew I– wanted to be like her.”

“So, you like helping people?”

“I do.” You pause and smile at him as he looks at you with adoring eyes. Your heart skips a beat. “And you? Did you always want to be a federal agent?”

Marcus lets out a laugh and shakes his head. “It was never in my plans. I actually went to art school.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I was going to be a teacher, but…” He sighs. “Other things got in the way.”

“Other things?” You look at him, curious.

“Yeah.” He doesn’t explain and you don’t press him. “But I’m glad I chose this career.”

“Oh, so you like catching art thieves, huh?”

“Nah, it can get boring pretty quick.” Marcus shrugs, tilting his head. “But it led me to you, so…”

Rolling your eyes, you scoff at him and shake your head.

“Sorry.” He laughs. “Was that too corny?”

“Yes, it was!” You laugh, smiling at him. He laughs with you, taking his glass of wine and bringing it to his lips.

“I haven’t done the date thing in a while, please go easy on me.”

The confession makes you pause and look at him for a moment. “You’re kidding me.”

Marcus lets out a laugh and nods. “Two years.”

“I don’t believe you,” you say, smiling.

“Why not?” His voice is laced with laughter and happiness and it makes you smile even more.

“I mean, you’re so nice and… handsome and,” you try to ignore the heat creeping on your neck. “I’m just surprised you’re not married yet.”

And just like that, Marcus’s smile falls from his face and your heart drops. His demeanor changes and, suddenly, he’s not very receptive anymore. He tries to hide the change of mood but you pick it up fast and sigh quietly.

“Oh, shit.” You mumble, grimacing at him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Marcus laughs softly, giving you a tight smile. “It’s okay.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t worry.” He assures with a soft voice and then hesitates. “Yeah, I, uh– I was married once.” A pause hangs in the air as you nod at him, encouraging him to continue. “A-and then, there was someone, but… She chose someone else.”

You can see the insecurity in his eyes when he looks away, feeling your heart clench at the thought. Marcus is an amazing man, caring and kind, why would someone ever think of leaving him?

“I’m sorry about that,” you tell him, reaching for his hand over the table. His skin is warm and rough under your fingers and you try to ignore the pleasant butterflies in your stomach. “For what’s worth, I think they were fools. No one in their sane mind would–”

Marcus raises his eyebrows when you interrupt yourself, your face on fire. You clear your throat as you start to pull away from him, but he squeezes your hand, stopping you. The rough pads of his fingertips press against your skin and you swear you feel a wave of electricity running through your veins.

“What were you going to say?” He asks softly.

Laughing softly, you hesitate. “I, uh– I just don’t see why s-someone in their sane mind would–” You exhale shakily. “Leave you. You-you just seem like a nice guy, that’s all…”

He gives you a half-smile, mesmerized by you.

“You’re adorable.” He lets it escape and squeezes his eyes shut, mentally cursing himself. You laugh softly, looking away from him and feeling your cheeks warm.

“I’m so–”

“Don’t apologize.” You interrupt, smiling at him. “I kinda like it.”

A smile splits his features and you sigh. When the food arrives, you both eat and talk like you’re old friends. With Marcus, it’s easy to talk and get to know each other. He makes you strangely comfortable, which is something you’ve never felt on a first date. You feel peaceful, despite the initial jitters you felt earlier.

“Not bad for a first date, huh?” He says, once you both are back at your doorstep.

“The best first date, actually,” you tell him, smiling. “I had a great time, Marcus. Thank you.”

"You're welcome," he says softly. He's close to you, his body almost touching yours. His eyes are looking deeply into yours like he knows all of your secrets and you fight the urge to look away. You don't feel shy anymore, growing used to his loving gaze on you.

"Are you gonna kiss me, or what?" You whisper quietly, and Marcus laughs, the sound of it echoing in the hallway.

"Is that okay?" He asks as he leans in, brushing his nose to yours.

"Yeah."

Marcus closes the gap between you two, pressing his lips gently on yours. Butterflies flip in your stomach and your breath gets caught in your throat. Your heart speeds up as you cup his cheek, his beard tickling the palm of your hand. It's soft and sweet and gentle, and it's nothing like you've felt before.

When he pulls away, his lips mere centimeters from yours, he lets out a shaky breath, smiling.

"I want to take you out again," he whispers softly, eyes still closed. "I'd really like to get to know you better."

A soft breath leaves your lips as you let your hand fall to your side. He waits patiently, ready to tell you it's okay to say no, but your answer surprises him.

"I know a nice drive-in theater we could go." You smile when you see the look on his face. "Let me take you."

He nods, brushing his knuckles on your cheeks. "Next Friday?"

You nod. "It's a date, then."

Marcus laughs and shakes his head as you turn around to unlock your door. The butterflies in your stomach give you a pleasant sensation as you enter your apartment, smiling like an idiot.

Maybe Lady Luck is by your side after all.

__

@goldafterglow​ @forever-rogue​ @bestintheparsec​ @murdermewithbooks​ @hiscyarika​ @haildoodles-writing​ @aerynwrites​ @yespolkadotkitty​ @adikaofmandalore​ @theocatkov​

[come-on-shitty-boys]

//the fourth spring. miya atsumu//

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.4K

Notes: kshfkekhs sorry for this being ungodly late in the day oops

PART I. II. III. IV.

Spring is the season of new life.  Baby birds chirp in harmony as baby bunnies hop amongst the newly budding flowers.  Everything is filled with a new wave of joy now that snow has melted away and the air has begun to warm.  There were smiling faces in every direction and laughter danced on the wind along with the fresh pink cherry blossoms.  Atsumu had never seen a more beautiful day, but maybe his mind was clouded with the anticipation to finally see you, to finally hold you in his arms, and share that first kiss as a married couple.  

It had been a long year of planning and shopping, tasting cakes with various fillings and icings, trying on suits and dresses and making dozens of phone calls to every florist in the city because it seemed like no one would have white hydrangeas in time for the big day.  But it was all about to be worth it.  He had stood by your side for three springs now and he couldn’t think of a better way to bring in this new spring than with you by his side, bearing his last name, silver bands tying you together.  

Miya Atsumu had always believed that he would be much older and much further into his twenties when he decided to start being serious about his relationships and start actually looking for someone to spend his life with rather than just someone to have a good time with on the weekends.  But all of those springs ago, you had taken him by surprise, showing him a whole new side of himself that he never wanted to let go.  You had made him laugh and blush unlike anyone ever had and, even after all this time, his heart would still beat a little faster every morning when he would wake up to you sleeping peacefully next to him, hair tousled in a way that somehow only made you look more ethereal in the morning sunlight.  Every time he placed a kiss to your temple right before he left for his morning run and heard the soft little whine as your sleep met a slight disturbance, it felt like his day was started off in the right direction.  When each groggy, “I love you, princess,” was returned with a sleepily slurred, “I love you too, ‘mu,” he swore that he had never felt happier.  You really were his everything: his sun, his moon, his night, and his day.  He had found you, his cherry blossom that drifted so elegantly on the breeze, in a field of wildflowers, never wanting to let you go another spring without you.

He reaches up to fix his collar for what felt like the thirtieth time that hour, hands shaking with nerves unlike any he’s ever felt before.  His groomsmen were dressed to the nines, straightening black ties, tying shoes, all preparing for Atsumu’s final walk as a bachelor.  He kept checking his phone, watching as the minutes ticked away, letting his lips slip into a smile every time his screen would light up to show you smiling back at him from his lock screen. 

A buzz and a soft chime come along with a new notification.

1 new message from: Princess

are you done getting ready?

He quickly typed out a short reply of affirmation, watching as those three dots appeared shortly after his message.  The chime signifying another new message. 

1 new message from: Princess

think the boys will let you escape for five minutes?? i miss you :((

He didn’t need to be told twice, fingers moving over letters with a meeting place, telling the others that he wanted to get a little bit of fresh air before they were all being stuffed into cars to make the trip to the park where it all began four springs ago.  Atsumu ducked out of the hotel room that was serving as their dressing room for the morning, his pace quickening as he moved down the hallway towards the elevator.  He had never wanted to see you more than he did right now.  It had only been a few hours since the two of you had parted ways this morning, but there was nothing that he wanted to do more than hear your voice right now and watch the way your face scrunches up when you giggle.

You were the most beautiful sight he had ever seen and he couldn’t help but let out a low whistle before letting his smile take over his face.  Hair pinned perfectly, no strand out of place, lips painted with the prettiest shade of pink he had ever seen.  His eyes were locked on you and he would be okay with never looking at anything else ever again.  Atsumu could only laugh as you rolled your eyes at him, nevertheless standing from your seat to let him pull you into his arms, securing your body against his chest.  

“You’re so gorgeous, princess,” he whispered, letting you pull away from him only so you could wrap your arms around his neck as his hands melted down from your back to hold onto your waist, thumbs making small circles against the fabric of one of his button-up shirts that you had borrowed to save your hair and makeup from the tragedy of getting ruined from a normal shirt.  It still had whiffs of his cologne on the collar that was now mixed with the daintiness of your perfume.  

Your fingers ran through the dark roots at the nape of his neck, nails creating that tingly sensation that always sent shivers through his spine.  He probably looked so stupid, standing there with a goofy smile on his face, but if they were getting to marry you, he was sure that they wouldn’t be able to hide their smiles either.  These past years had been the happiest years of his life.  He was living his dream, playing volleyball amongst life-long friends, getting to spend every waking moment doing what he loved.  He really didn’t think that it could get better, but he was pleasantly surprised at how addicted he had become to your kisses, to the sound of your voice, and how every single aspect of you became almost essential to his day-to-day happiness.  Miya Atsumu never expected to fall in love so hard and so fast, but each time spring rolled back around and a new year by your side began, he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into that vast ocean, not a single desire to swim back to the shore ever crossing his mind.  

 His face nestled into the crook of your neck, his ose grazing gently against your skin as he moved slightly to place a short kiss on the exposed skin.  His smile never faded as he continued moving his hands over your sides, letting you play with those short strands of hair.  “I can’t believe I get to marry you, princess,” he whispered, the feeling of his breath against your skin tugging the edges of your lips into a gentle smile, that sense of familiarity easing whatever pre-wedding jitters had been bouncing around inside your head.  

“Hey, ‘mu?” You whisper, pulling his face away from your body so that you could look him in the eyes.  His brown eyes scanned your face, searching for any signs of fear or regret, letting his shoulders relax when he found nothing but the typical shine of contentment in your eyes.  “I’m really happy to be with you.  I can’t think of another man that I’d rather spend the rest of my life with or another last name that I would rather take.”

Spring had become Atsumu’s favorite season over the past four years.  He used to hate every second of it.  It brought allergies and bugs and too much rain for his liking.  But, now spring was the season filled with cherry blossoms that sprinkled down onto you, forming crowns of pink that contrasted so beautifully against your hair.  It was the season of first kisses from the love of his life and midnight allergies that brought you to him in a moment's notice.  Spring was for tearful acceptances of proposals and for secret meetings between two young lovers, but most importantly, it was filled with “I do”s and vows of a never-ending love and devotion to one another, a binding kiss shared between a couple that never would have expected spring to have so much beauty hidden behind the flowers.  It was for that pretty pink lipstick to be transferred onto a new husband’s lips as he leaned in to steal a second kiss from his new wife.

{Taglist: @moncymonce​ @nicka-nell​ @celosiiaa​ @lovinnoya​ @kuronekomama​}

[h2bakugou]

Okay so based off the song Interlude IV Bakugo and reader they could be maybe shiggy’s sister or Dabi’s who is todoroki’s twin but Dabi took her before Endevor got to train her and ran away basically raising her and knowing what her dad is. So they are both UA traitors and maybe major villains and maybe Kiri is one with them and UA are currently questioning him trying to get infro out of him and they are in the dorms talking about it and at the last line there’s a knock at the door(being the other hero’s) so they leave out the window having to come back for Kiri going back to the League

a/n: ooo when i first listened to this song after receiving this request, i was blown away, the song was so fucking good! i hope i did this justice!!

summary: as shigaraki’s sister, things have only gotten harder for you. being a ua traitor among bakugou and kirishima is a lot to handle, more so when things begin to turn south.

key: (y/n) - your name / (f/n) - first name / (l/n) - last name / (e/c) - eye color / (h/c) - hair color / (y/q) - your quirk

warnings: swearing, angst

word count: 1.5k

»»————-　★　————-««

»»————-　★　————-««

“Do you understand?” Shigaraki glared at the three of you. You nodded and glanced at Bakugou and Kirishima. 

“(Y/n). I want to speak to you, alone.” Shigaraki wandered off away from the group, waiting for you to follow him. 

“Yeah?” You ask as you finally reach Shigaraki at the end of the hall.

“Don’t disappoint me. Keep an eye on those two.” Shigaraki was tense. He was worried about this entire thing. You’d been attending U.A. as an affiliate of the league since Tomura was reunited with you.

Recruiting Bakugou and Kirishima was just another step of Shigaraki’s plan. Your romantic connection with Bakugou was deemed pointless to Shigaraki, and he would’ve preferred if you’d keep the romantic connections in the league to a minimum, but he supposed it was going to happen sooner or later.

As long as it didn’t cause any problems or distractions, Shigaraki could care less. He was worried as a big brother that you were getting too involved, but as the leader, he needed to put trust into his members.

“I won’t, and I’ll make sure they stay in line.” You reassured your older brother, staring down at the ground. Being his younger sister was tough. He had a temper from hell, and he was just pretty childish in general.

You were, in a way, his rock. If he was stressed, you were there for him, as you should’ve been all those years ago, but something happened and separated you from him. You were grateful to have found him when you did, and you vowed to never leave his side again.

You were going to show the heroes just how strong your brother was, and you were going to do it standing right beside him, fighting alongside him.

- - -

“Kirishima, Principal Nezu would like to speak with you after class.” Aizawa handed the redhead a slip of paper as a pass for him when class was over.

You exchanged a look with Kirishima before looking over to Bakugou. You were worried now.

It’d been about a week since Shigaraki asked you to look after the two boys. So far that was easier said than done. Bakugou was loud and obnoxious, but he wasn’t the type to go around and spill secrets and his business to everyone else.

Kirishima, on the other hand, was a bit harder to manage. He could, upfront, have determination, but he was used to second-guessing himself sometimes. You had to tell him to pull it together a couple of times.

But now things were falling apart.

After class, you tried to get to Kirishima, but the world was against you. Aizawa stopped you and asked you a few questions about your previous work and why your grades had slipped up.

“It was just an accident. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, I’ll get them up.” You lied, trying to hurry this along so you could get to Kirishima before he went to Nezu.

“In a hurry to get somewhere?” Aizawa asked, noticing just how anxious you looked.

“Just said I’d meet up with a friend and I’m running late.” You lied again, glaring at your homeroom teacher.

“You can do better, I expect higher grades from you, you’re top of the class.”

Finally letting you leave, you darted out of the classroom. Bakugou had already left back to the dorms. But upon arrival to Nezu’s office, Kirishima was already walking in.

You sighed and turned around, running across campus to get back to the dorms. You had to get to Bakugou, and figure out what the fuck was going on.

- - -

You didn’t even knock. You opened the door to Bakugou’s dorm and locked it behind you. You looked around, making sure nothing look suspicious.

“Hey what the fuck?” Bakugou asked, gripping your wrist.

“Kirishima’s in Nezu’s office.” You spoke, sitting down on Bakugou’s bed, running your fingers through your hair. This was way too complicated. It should’ve been simple, just investigate and act normal, but you couldn’t even do that.

“Calm down. Look everything’s going to be okay.”

“Can we even trust Kiri? He’s been doing pretty good sure, but if he cracks under pressure, we’re done for.”

“He’ll handle it. He has too.”

Kirishima sat in the overly-padded chair in front of Principal Nezu’s desk, staring at the glass of caramel candies. He was too scared to make eye contact. He shouldn’t be worried about anything, but he was.

“Kirishima. Do you know why I’ve called you in here today?” Nezu began, sitting in his own chair, behind his desk.

“No sir. I don’t.” Kirishima replied, a million things running through his mind.

“I’m giving you a chance. I know you’re only working for them to get information. But you can still change.” Nezu was playing his cards upfront. There was no need in trying to deny it, they’d already collected plenty of evidence, and a few students had come forward about seeing Kirishima messaging some shady people on his phone.

Hacking into his phone was easy, and collecting the records and who he’d been messaging was also a piece of cake.

“W-what?” Kirishima stuttered, looking around the office frantically.

“You have an affiliation with the League of Villains. You can turn yourself in, and I’ll make sure your punishment isn’t as harsh.” Nezu was being sincere. He knew deep down that Kirishima wasn’t evil.

“I’m not!” Kirishima was trying to buy himself sometime while trying to think of a way out.

“Can you give us the names of the other U.A. Traitors? In your messages with Tomura Shigaraki, he mentions two other students.” Nezu persists.

Fuck. Not good.

Kirishima begins to sweat. It was too late. If he tried to escape, Nezu would get him, but there was probably a group of heroes waiting for him outside as well. He was completely trapped.

“He’ll be fine. We need to figure this out now.” Bakugou gripped your shoulders and forced you to look at him.

“This is bad. I promised I’d look after you two.” You groaned, hitting your forehead against Bakugou’s.

“Bakugou Katsuki. (L/n) (F/n). Come out at once.” A loud voice boomed from behind the doors. 

“Is that Endeavor?’ You panicked, glaring at Bakugou, holding onto him tighter.

“On the count of three, if you do not exit now, we will enter with force!” He yelled again, pounding on the door.

‘he turned us in!” You gripped Bakugou tighter, yanking him up off the bed.

“What do we do?” Bakugou asked frantically.

“We have to go, it’s too dangerous here.” You looked around.

“1!” Endeavor shouted.

“Shit.” Bakugou was gripping your hand tightly.

“2!” You rushed for the window, pulling Bakugou along too.

“3!” Endeavor shouted, kicking the door down. The sound of shattering glass erupted in the room as you and Bakugou leaped down.

It was a rough landing, but Bakugou pulled you up as the two of you ran. There was no going back this time. This was your life now. 

- - -

The ticking sound of a clock irritated your thoughts. It’s rhythmic chime every second seemed to only bug the silence with each passing minute.

“We’re finally free.” You mumbled, looking at Bakugou, waiting for the league to arrive.

“It’s just you and me now, standing alone.” You continue, reaching for Bakugou’s hand.

“The world is ours.” You intertwine your fingers with Bakugou’s.

“No, it isn’t.” Bakugou broke the silence that had enveloped him earlier.

“What?” You asked. 

“Kirishima. They got Kirishima.” Bakugou ripped his hand away from yours.

“He’ll be fine. Besides, he wasn’t nearly as involved as we were.” Your words were laced with Venom as you spoke. As much as Kirishima getting caught hurt you, you couldn’t dwell on this.

“You promised the world to him, a goddamn lie!”

“What do you want from me!?” You shouted back at Bakugou, anger and sadness building up inside you.

“Oh, look outside yourself!” Bakugou shouted back. He was upset and angry. None of this would’ve happened if he could’ve been by his side, but he had to go back to the dorms, you said it was suspicious to constantly be seen together.

“You’re lost.” You groaned, turning away from him, wanting to end the conversation already.

“Is this what love is really for? Is this all I get for being yours?” Bakugou’s hand reached out to grab your shoulder and turn you back to face him, but the door opened to the building you were currently hiding out in.

Shigaraki rushed in, anger fuming on his expression.

“What happened?” He seethed.

“They got Kirishima.” You replied, stepping away from Bakugou. 

Bakugou furrowed his brows and stared at the ground, his hands clamped in fists. He should’ve been there. He could’ve helped him.

“We’ll move on. We need to go.” Shigaraki walked back to the exit and you followed.

“Bakugou.” You called to the blonde, a small feeling of guilt resting on your chest as you looked at him. He was upset and angry.

“We need to go.” You spoke softer, reaching a hand out for him to grab. His fingers laced into yours and motioned that he was ready to go.

“We’ll get him back. I promise.” 

»»————-　★　————-««

masterlist

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 9/?

Word Count: 1.7k

Author’s Note: Y/N- Your Name, A/N - Any Name (Your Best Friend’s Name)

I am sorry. lmao.

Half of my links are glitched tf out fuck this shit, touched grass yesterday but that grind don’t fuckin stop babey

Warnings: Angst - Injury, Description of said injury, Mentions of Jason’s past, Swearing, Dark Themes, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(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)

Jason clutched his right side as he gasped for a long breath of the cold, rainy air surrounding him. Everything hurt and he could barely move enough to text Dick that he was down. He would hold and add pressure to the stab wound sitting directly on his waist, but he could feel the blood seeping through the gaps in his fingers as he held it. His hands were covered by the blood and he was losing it fast.

He wasn’t going to walk this off by any means, he was going to need Dick to go get him and bring him back to the hospital wing of the Batcave because he couldn’t move and he felt his eyes drooping as he waiting and tried to keep his breathing in check, while Dick was scrambling to go get him.

There would be a few questions he would have to answer to Y/N. Not even just Y/N, to Lian, his Goddaughter, who he was planning on seeing in the morning since Y/N was going to a dance competition, or at least he thought she was.

But in that moment, so many memories flew back into his head, the hopelessness as he sat there for a few seconds, bleeding out after the explosion that Joker had set off on him. And then the minutes in the Lazarus Pit as he drowned himself back to life, the water filling his lungs as he cried and screamed. But no one came.

This time, however, Dick came.

Dick swooped his baby brother up and onto his back and he tried to run to the Batmobile as fast as he could, knowing time was of the essence for saving Jason’s life. Jason had broke off from Dick for a few seconds before this moment, and it was the only thing Dick was worried about. That Dick had said to come back to him, alive.

In the car, Dick put his hands on Jason's gaping wound, trying to press his hands into it as well to slow the bleeding, the Batmobile had the ability to drive itself, and Dick thanked whatever God was watching that it did. Jason was struggling for breath at this moment, and Dick was terrified.

“You’re going to be oaky, Jase. I swear. Please. Don’t die on me, it feels like yesterday that I got you back,” he leaned into Jason’s face, “Not again, please,” Dick begged and begged as he rushed Jason to Alfred, who was waiting to operate on Jason.

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

Y/N woke up as always, this time, without a text from Jason. She thought nothing of it, thinking he was safe in his house with his loving family. She went to go get coffee to kick start her day, and A/N wasn’t in the kitchen. She, still, thought nothing of it, since A/N’s lover was over the night before and she had to turn up her music to ignore the sounds coming from the other side of the house. She sent Jason a quick text,

Good morning, Jay. I hope you slept well.

And she returned to her room, coffee in hand, to write some quick little stories about  what she had placed in her journal. Not many of the ideas in there were able to be built off of, but she still tried her best with every idea she had, to see if it could be something more.

It normally never was, but it was always something she craved. The ideas of writing a book always enticed her, but she never thought she was talented enough to do so.

She heard her roommate’s door open and then the front door as A/N waved off her lover. It was a quiet Saturday morning, and Y/N loved that as she dove further and further into her work, immersing herself in the story of two lovers who were destined to meet after one moved to the hometown of the other to pursue criminal psychology.

She couldn’t get her mind off of Jason. They hadn’t even known each other for a week but she knew he was worth her time. A few hours passed by from when she sent the first text.

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

Dick held Jason’s hand as he was hooked up to many different machines, he could breathe on his own, but the IV and the blood bags were hard to keep Dick’s eyes off of. If only I had been watching a little closer, he thought.

Jason fumbled in his pain-induced sleep, moaning and groaning as he did so when he opened his eyes to find a worried, sleep-deprived and very rough-looking Dick at his bedside, to which, Dick collapsed on Jason in a hug.

“Thank God,” Dick breathed.

“What... what the fuck.... what the fuck happened?” Jason stuttered, like a blanket of sleep and drugs had limited his mobility and brain function.

“I don’t know, Jase. That’s what I was hoping you’d tell me, but then again, your blood alcohol level was suspicious.”

“I... I didn’t drink... drink that much.”

“No, you didn’t. But you did drink, who was with you?”

“I don’t... know.”

“I think you were roofied so they could get the upper hand on you. You almost died, Jase.”

“Come...c’mere,” Jason managed to say, and when Dick came to him, he moved on of his hands onto Dick’s cheek, “Big... big annoying... big little annoying brother.”

“Shhhhhh, little wing,” Dick comforted his little brother, “You weren’t supposed to grow that much taller than me,” he laughed, “Dickhead,” he laughed again, then sighed, and stepped back from Jason to pace back and forth, he was stressed, “I told Roy-”

“Will.”

“Will, sorry. I told Will that you won’t be able to see Lian today, he asked what happened, he might drop by.”

“He should... shouldn’t have to... see me this... this way,” Jason said, eyes pooling with tears, “No one... should.”

“Don’t know how we’re going to explain this to your little girlfriend.”

“Oh... Man... I like... I like her.”

“I know you do, and that’s an issue when you’re high as a kite in a hospital bed, bleeding out, Jase,” Dick tried to explain, “Especially when she doesn’t know you’re Red Hood, dumbass.”

“Oh,” he said.

“I know, Jase. If it was me and Barbara didn’t know, I wouldn’t know what to do,” he sighed, “Haven’t even met this girl,” he laughed.

“It’s... it’s only been... 5 days,” he stuttered.

“and 3 back-to-back, multiple hour, spanning days, worth of dates. You don’t do that with someone you don’t think should meet your family.”

“You’re... stubborn.”

“And you’re my brother. It doesn’t take blood to exhibit the same traits.”

“The meds... are... are wearing off.”

“Do you need more?”

“Not... yet,” he struggled with his words, “Phone?”

“I mean, yeah I can give you your phone,” Dick said as he went to go unplug and hand Jason his phone, realizing that Y/N had texted Jason he said, “Guess you have someone who wants to know where you are more than Will does.”

“Will cares,” Jason said as he took the phone and read Y/N’s text,

I guess it isn’t morning anymore, huh.

Well that’s on me for texting you at 6 in the morning after I know you’ve been working late.

And I’m going to see my Goddaughter today, so I’ve been sleeping in to preserve energy for her.

Can’t forget that she’s what, 1 year old? Girl must have a lot of energy.

Her name’s Lian, and yeah. She’s a ball of energy.

He said as Lian and her dad, Will, formerly known as Roy, walked into the hospital wing of the Batcave. The secret wasn’t hidden to the little girl yet because she couldn’t remember a lot. But, she sure did recognize her Uncle Jay when she screamed her name.

Will brought his daughter up and put her beside her Uncle, and she cuddled into him, he would hold her back.

“Hey... Will.”

“You look like shit, Jaybird.”

“I feel... feel like shit.”

“You’re also talking slow, bud.”

“Drugs... do that... Will.”

“At least you’re not dead, I have no idea how I’d cope or even explain that to Lian.”

“She... she has your... eyes.”

“She’s growing into my nose too.”

“Your nose... looks like shit... on your face.”

“Okay, dickhead. You’re bedridden but yeah, attack me like you used to, I’ll just pull the plug.”

“Lian... would hate you... you for that,” he groaned as he said it.

“Do you need more drugs? I can tell Dick,” Will asked.

“Yeah... I think-”

“Don’t worry about finishing that, Jaybird. I got you.”

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

The wet ground surrounding the house Y/N lived in was a representation of what she considered, the bad things, washing away from her life as she got to know Jason more. She wished they could talk more that day, but she did not want to take away time from him and his Goddaughter. Family matters a lot to Y/N, so a thought like that just seemed selfish for her to think when she knew that little girl needed him.

She didn’t think he got injured or anything from the Office, it was a safer place than the fuckin Wayne Manor hallways. She texted Artemis,

So, you’re Wally’s girlfriend, and Wally is Dick’s best friend? Am I hearing you right?

That’s basically the intertwine we have here, yes.

So once you’re in this family, you’re IN, huh?

Nervous?

Not a chance.

The thrill of flipping off pap hasn’t left you yet?

Does everyone know about that? And yes, it’s still massively fun to do.

Wally says Dick is the only one who doesn’t think its that funny.

Lame.

C’mon now, that’s my best friend, but yeah, that’s pretty fucking lame.

You’re the fun best friend, then. You see the fun in making a fool of the pap.

You know it.

Artemis knew of what happened on patrol between Jason and his unknown attacker. Dick had told Artemis to distract Y/N from wondering why Jason seemed drunk, if he seemed drunk. The extents they went to to hide the fact that they were the vigilantes protecting the city, they didn’t know if she was going to be able to keep the secret.

Jason would talk to her after that message,

That storm last night was terrible.

I wish that we were together when it happened. I hate lightning.

Well, you were in Cali.

Did I not tell you? My competition was cancelled because the entire country is fucked with weather.

Oh. That sucks.

Do you want to spend the night here?

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

Do you want to spend the night here?

Jason stared at that text for a while. He did, he wanted to spend the night with her, but he was in pain, hooked to machines, with obvious wounds and bandages. He couldn’t spend the night with her.

I can’t. I’m in Metropolis with Will and Lian. Can we reschedule?

Of course we can. As long as you make sure we actually get to spend the night together.

He asked Dick in that moment, “How... how long... long til I heal?”

“Depends. You’ll be okay-ish in 5 days, but in 7-10 we have to take out your stitches if you’ve been taking care of them,” he said.

“That... that long? Damn.”

[kota-bee]

moony

a/n: hey look a new series because i got overhwhelmed by in the dark. this will be a self indulgent story so its ok if you dont like it. im trying a new writing style so let me know if its any good. this isnt really edited so read at your own risk. shout out to anyone who can figure out which part of this chapter i inserted after it was done.

chapter 1/? word count: 1628

warnings: none i think. a weeny bit of blood.

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

towering trees and bright flowers are all i can see for miles, it was the most beautiful thing ever. mother held my hand, swinging it as we walked along the dimly lit dirt path. "happy birthday my love! how does it feel to be 6 hm?" mothers words are soft and full of love as she looks down at me fondly. "not much differnt, i think im taller maybe?" i screw my face up trying to think if i felt taller or not, i *felt* taller. mother laughed heartly as she looked around us. "youre almost past my hip now! youve definitely gotten taller." mother cooed still looking happily at me. i smiled, i *am* almost past her hip now! i swung her hand even more as we contiuned on our walk. "dad doesnt like to go on these walks does he?" i questioned, looking up at mother. "he doesnt like to get his fancy shoes dirty, Alexander has always been that way" she reasured me softly. the bush in front of us rustled, mother excitedly pulled me down to crouch so we didnt scare the critter moving towards us. i wiggled excitedly, hoping it would be a bunny. "stay still. maybe its a deer" mother whispers into my ear. the rustling get louder before a dirty tired looking man stumbles out. mother pulled me up harshly and hid me behind her. i tried to peek out at the man but she shoved me behind her again. i suddenly remebered what day it was, the full moon. i clutched to mothers shirt as she put a hand on my shoulder.

"can i help you sir? you look ill" mothers voice is shakey but firm. "now that you ask... i do need help"

im on my back on the floor, its uncomfortable and bumpy. my hands are wet and warm, it feels gross and sticky.i raise my hands to my face, theyre red? i turn my head to see if mother knows whats happening and... the man is on top of her, his teeth digging into her neck. shes screaming, crying, "m-mom?"

"mom?" i whisper but im not in that forest anymore, im on my bed in my room. i look around my room, at the posters and drawings on my wall that i made myself, at my trunk and bag near my door. it takes me a second to register the knocking at my door. "andi we need to go" a sandy haired man says softly as he pushes through my door. its just remus, im safe. i push myself up to sit on the edge of my bed and run my hand through my messy curls. "are you alright sweetheart?" remus- dad, asks me softly. "nightmare" i mumbled sleepily. he sighs and sits down next to me. he rubs circles against my back. "its always worse after the full moon, give yourself some patient love" dad said softly, he knew i wouldnt actually give myself time to bounce back. it was frustrating to admit i needed time to heal, i didnt like admitting i was differnt. dad sighed and kissed my forehead gently "get dressed, you can eat at the weasleys, molly will have plenty of food for you"

i pull my t-shirt and worn jeans on and try desperatley to make my hair less of a mess. i dragged my trunk downstairs towards dad who was waiting patiently at the door. "ready? molly will have some ointments for you when you get there."

"i double checked this time" i chuckle, more than once ive forgotten something important, my school supplies werent exactly cheap so that wasnt exaclty ideal. dad chuckled and looped his arm through mine and, with a loud pop, we landed at the burrow. my second home! i live here as often as i do at dads house. it was the most brilliant house ive ever been too.

the door flew open and two lanky twins came flying towards me. fred and george collided with me, hugging me tightly. i giggled squeezing them tightly. Remus put his hand on my shoulder “I’ll see you at the train station, be safe” and with a pop he was gone.

“He never comes inside” a sweet voice came from the doorway. A plump woman was looking fondly at the three teens. She opened her arms wide, beckoning me forward. i smiled and wrapped my arms around molly. “Hello dear” she cooed into my hair. Molly pulled back and looked me over, cupping my face and turned it side to side, examining the new cuts and bruises i donned. She hummed

“Ginny! Ron! Come here!” Molly shouted as she pulled me inside, the twins following.

“She’s going to coddle you” Fred whispered into my ear with a little chuckle. i rolled my eyes as i followed molly into the kitchen where Ron and Ginny had just rushed in.

“Andi!” Ginny bounded towards me wrapping her arms around me and hugged me like it had been years since the last time she had seen me. Ginny had always looked up to me like an older sister ever since she could speak. i hoisted Ginny up and into my arms spinning her around. god i loved the weasleys, every one of them, including percy.

“I’m a little offended you didn’t do that for us” George huffed feigning hurt.

“Yeah come on andi, I thought we were your favourite” Fred added, mimicking his twin.

“Now when did I say that boys” i teased as i plopped Ginny back on the floor. The twins rolled their eyes before throwing their arms over my shoulders. the twins did this to me so often, we were always joined at the hip in some way.

“I dunno I just have a sneaking suspicion that you like us” the boys said in unison. i snickered and gave Ron a happy “hello”

“Now now boys don’t be too rough on her” molly scolded shooing the twins off of me. i sighed, Molly always had a tendency to treat me like i was fragile. “Oh come on mum it’s not like we’re throwing her around” Fred whined. “We could if you wanted” George whispered. The trio had learned early on that the best way to annoy the younger groups was to mock flirt with each other. After awhile it became an inside joke that the three found hilarious. Much to everyone’s dismay.

“Come on andi let me clean you up” Molly’s words are sweet but insistent. i know better than to argue with molly over this stuff. Molly is a excellent healer and it would be stupid to deny her help. i looked over at the twins who are grinning ear to ear, they did warn me i suppose. i rolled my eyes once more before following molly to the living room. i sit down on the sofa the twins and i often crowd. It was far too small for three lanky teens. Molly began rustling in a little bag near a bookshelf. She was humming a song and shaking to a tune only she could hear. Ah ha! Molly exclaimed as she pulled out a little jar full of white paste.

“This will help it heal a little faster, it won’t keep it from scarring unfortunately” molly starts excitedly before mumbling off the last part. i knew this, magic was wonderful but it couldn’t prevent scarring in most situations. i had more scars than i cared to count. Molly cupped my face as she smeared the paste over my wounds, i winced slightly. no matter if it had numbing ingriedents or not, this part always hurt

“I know it hurts, just breathe” molly humed. “Do you have anymore?” Molly questions looking me over. “You know the answer to that question” i chuckled dryly as i stood pulling my shirt up with me. Revealing a bandage stretching across my stomach.

Molly sighed, she hated seeing her kids hurt, not that Andi was her kid but it certainly felt like it. Molly peeled the bandage off slowly trying desperately to keep it from hurting too much.

i shuddered biting back tears as i felt the bandage pull healed skin with it.

The twins were watching from the doorway as molly tended to Andi. They knew what Andi looked like after full moons but they never got used to the gashes and bruises she dawned afterwards. Fred turned away, he felt sick to his stomach, he loved Andi, he wished he could take this from her. She didn’t deserve it.

Molly patched andi's stomach up once more and pulled her shirt down over it.

“Put this on your face twice a day and I’ll help you with your back until you go to school then then ask one of your friends to help” molly instructed waving her finger at me to enunciate her words.

“Yes ma’am” i mock soluted, i knew how much that annoyed her. i turned towards the door way and gave George a lopsided grin and peeked past him at Fred who was leaning against a counter.

“Want to show me what your letters talked about?” i said my tone dripping with mischief. The twins faces lit up as they grabbed my hands and dragged me up the stairs, giggling like kids the whole way to their room.

“What are you three planning??” Molly shouted up the stairs. She knew those three were troublemakers at heart. They had been since they met when they were 7. Remus needed help with Andi after a rough full moon and the rest is history. The three of them managed to turn rons teddy bear into a spider once.

[makknays]

connection: severed

a/n: totally don’t just write about my own life as an outlet this is part 1; i wrote it a while ago and i need to figure out where i want this to go...

word count: 1.7k

genre: angst??? idk??? 

Jungkook and you had crossed paths before, just over a year ago to be precise. The two of you had matched on a dating app, not looking for anything more than attention and validation from a stranger, but ended up taking a liking to each other. Everything was going smoothly for 6 months but then both of your destructive tendencies got in the way; he stopped communicating what was wrong and you acted with your emotions instead of your brain. You hurt each other and the trust you had had now disappeared. You both had decided that it was best to stop talking to each other for a while to figure out everything you wanted and needed from each other.

In Jungkook’s defence, he had told you he wasn’t ready to be in a relationship with anyone. You had no idea why he did what he did though. Why he treated you like you were his entire world? He said that he still wanted to be friends, but you knew that was just him being polite. You knew your friends were right about him, but you didn’t want to believe it. He took your heart and tore it into pieces, yet his hoodie was still hanging in your closet after all this time. Every so often your mind would wander back to the time when he loved you back, even though he never said he did, it was evident in his actions that he did. He was always available when you were, always ready to buy you food or offer you clothes when you were cold. 

He could never see you in the state that you were in when you first tried to get over him; you hadn’t left your apartment weeks, barely making it to lectures and classes. Your friends had come around a few times to make sure that you were alive, but even they stopped checking up on you. You weren’t in the state that you were in because of him, no, you were that way because life had become a mess ever since you met him and everything had come crashing down. You no longer knew what to do and where you were going with life; you had lost yourself when you lost him and now you were left to find that girl again

Now here you were a year later, standing across from him at a college party. It was a Friday night, you’d had a long week and wanted to let steam off, so you agreed to join your friend at some party that was supposedly a big deal. He looked just as good as ever and you quietly took in all his features before quickly turning away when he noticed you. “Bea, he fucking saw me; I need to go somewhere else.” “Oh, c’mon ___, it’s been like a year, just talk to him. It’s not like you still have feelings for him, right?” “That’s not funny.” “He’s coming over now, go!” “Bea!” you shouted, but she had already left you to go talk to someone she’d probably hook up with later, at least someone was gonna get some.

“Hi stranger.” “Uh, hey, what’s up?” you plainly spoke, God, you wanted to get out of this conversation but no matter where you looked you couldn’t find an exit cue. “Already trying to find a way to avoid me?” he chuckled and you couldn’t help but notice the way he still looked down when he did. “No, it’s not that at all! I’m just, uh, wondering where my friends are.” “Sure, you don’t have to lie to me.” “I’m sorry,” you sighed “It’s just, I wasn’t really expecting to see you here, or anywhere really.” “How could you not when we go to the same college?” he laughed, you always loved his laugh, the sound of it could light up the whole world. “I don’t know, I guess, I just. I guess I just didn’t want to.” you shrugged, looking away from him, trying your hardest to avoid any eye contact. “Hey, how about we go outside and have a real conversation? Wouldn’t that be better?” he asked before holding his hand out for you; you stared at it and then at him, before sighing and grabbing it. You followed his lead into the garden and sat in the corner, away from all the noise.

“So…” “So…” “How have you been, ___?” “Uh, good, yeah. You?” “Good.” he nodded, looking away and realising just how awkward the two of you had become. “Remember when things were good between us?” he softly smiled. “Yeah, how could I forget? That was the healthiest thing I’ve had in a while.” “Did you date anyone after?” “No, didn’t really want to. You?” “Eh, kinda, but realised I didn’t want to either.” The two of you sat in silence for a moment afterwards, both thinking about how it all went wrong. “Do you want to try again?” he suddenly asked. “Jungkook, you know I can’t answer that.” “Sorry, it was a stupid question.” “Jungkook, that’s not what I mean. I just think we hurt each other a lot.” “No, it’s okay. I get it.” “How about, uh, you and I hang out sometime? Let’s catch up properly.” “Sure, are you free tomorrow?”

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

“Hey, I hope it wasn’t too hard for you to get here; this is one of my favourite cafes ever.” you smiled when Jungkook approached you. “No, no, it was pretty easy actually. I don’t live too far from here. What’s so amazing about it?” “Let’s go in and I can show you.” Jungkook opened the door to the cafe, signalling for you to walk in before him and followed after you. “This is why.” you smiled, pointing at the display of cakes they had on show, as soon as you entered the cafe. Jungkook took a moment to take in the display and the rest of the cafe’s pink and natural aesthetic; there were plants in every corner and even a cat wandering around, asking for pets from customers. “I can see why this place would be your favourite, it feels very you.” he smiled, looking back at you. “Thank you, let’s order and find a seat.”

“So...how’s college going?” you asked as the two of you sat by the window. “You know, it’s okay. Kinda boring, kinda stressful, at least I’ve got baseball though. You?” “Oh yeah, I forgot you were on the team. Same for me though, you know, stressful.” you chuckled, awkwardly tucking a piece of your hair behind your right ear. “So…” “Yup…” “What are your plans for later?” “Oh, um, just hanging out with Bea, you remember her, right?” “Is she the one you live with that dated that really weird guy on the swim team?” “Yup, that’s her. I’m surprised you don’t remember her as the girl who split wine down your favourite shirt, you know, after we, uh, stopped talking.” “Oh yeah...no hard feelings.” he awkwardly chuckled. The two of you had grown a lot more distant than you had even realised and you were now wondering if being here was even worth it; was there even anything you could fix?

“I missed you, ____.” “Jungkook.” “No, hear me out.” you could feel yourself holding your breath, worried about the sudden confession. Who was he to miss you? Especially after what he put you through. You were over it, but you never received an apology and you were just disappointed that he ever did all the things that he did. “I blamed you for so much and I’m so sorry. I never admitted anything was my fault. I didn’t think it was, but looking back, I can see how my behaviour triggered your reactions. I’m sorry I lied to you, I know, it doesn’t take back anything I did or said, but I want to work on getting you to trust me again. You were my everything, ___. I was just as scared as you were, but I didn’t want to show you and I let us grow apart instead. I hate that I didn’t try to fight for us the way you did; I just gave up. I regret it so much, ___. I miss having you in my life. You are such a radiant light and your personality was so addictive; I couldn’t get enough and I find myself missing the girl that would cheer me on and woke me up to good morning texts and photos of her smiling before class.” “Jungkook.” “It’s a lot, I know.” 

“Jungkook. I’m gonna need some time to think about everything you said.” “That’s okay. Hopefully, not a year.” he chuckled, trying to keep things lighthearted. “I was really hurt when you didn’t fight for us. I was hurt when you gave up and allowed your feelings to disappear. I felt like I didn’t know who you were and the person I was talking to didn’t exist. You put me through a lot.” “I’m sorry, that’s all I can say. I want to show you that I’ve changed though.” “Just give me some time to figure stuff out, okay?”

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

“He said what?” “Bea, chill out.” “I can’t believe him, after everything he put you through he’s basically asking to come back into your life like it didn’t happen?” “Bea has a point. ___, your heart is too big sometimes.” Daisy, the third part of your trio, stated. “Daisy, this wouldn’t even have happened if Bea protected me at the party but she left me to talk to him.” “Bea...” “I’m sorry! I thought he was just gonna ask her to fuck or something, you know, something she can defend!” “It doesn’t matter guys! What’s done is done. Now do I give him a chance? Maybe, as a friend? I don’t want to exactly date him anymore...those feelings are gone.” “Are they really?” Daisy teased, knowingly. “For the most part.” you pouted, dragging out ‘part’. “Okay, I got it! Don’t speak to him!” Bea said, she was being serious. “Bea, you know that won’t happen. Especially with how impulsive ___ is with these things.” “Ugh, you’re right. Okay, just be friendly? Tell him this is purely friendship.” “Yeah, that’s a good start...” Daisy laughed. 

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

[11.11pm] you: hey, ive had a chance to think about what you said

[11.14pm] jungkook: oh? 

[11.15pm] you: i think it’s best for both of us if we’re just friends for now, but id like to rebuild that trust we had :)

[11.17pm] jungkook: well, thats better than not having you around :)

[11.19pm] you: are you gonna come to jimins party this saturday ?

[11.20pm] jungkook: would hate to miss it 

[the-irish-mayhem]

This is a series of short, unrelated vignettes/oneshots that was supposed to be posted for Fosterson Week a year or two ago and I finally got around to finishing it. Enjoy!

5 Universes In Which Jane Is Worthy and 1 Where She Isn’t

Read on AO3

1.

On the top ten list of bad ideas she’s ever had, this is so, so, so bad the number one spot doesn’t even seem adequate. The guy who thought he was Thor clearly got caught trying to get her stuff back, and so she is  so  screwed unless she goes in herself. God, why did she go along with this again? He’d claimed he’d fly out once he got what he was looking for (which,  god , again, why had she kind of believed him?)

Her feet crunch quietly against the hard-packed sand leading to the hole in the plastic tarping making up the walls of the facility that Thor had kicked a guy through, and she, without nearly as much hesitation as she should probably feel, hops in.

The place isn’t huge, and it doesn’t take long for Jane to find the main room.

Thor had helpfully drawn nearly everyone in security away from where her equipment is stowed, next to a… hammer in the dirt. Literally, they built this entire site around a hammer? What the  hell , archaeologists never get this much funding and government attention. And what does her equipment have to do with it?

Jane shakes herself. She has a lot more important things to do instead of trying to puzzle out the weird and wild workings of shady government agencies. Things like capitalizing on their inattentiveness and getting her gear back.

She grabs her notebook first, stuffing it into her back pocket, and then trying to figure out how she’s going to cart out at least two hundred or so pounds of equipment.

“Hey!”

Jane nearly leaps out of her skin and turns, seeing a pair of security guards sprinting towards her from one of the halls.

“Shit,” she spits, and frantically looks around at her equipment. Lightest and hardest to replace… Radio spectrometer retrofitted for wormholes. Yep, that one. She scoops it up in her arms and takes off.

Even running as quickly as she can, the guards are still within arm’s length of her before she’s taken five steps.

Oh, they are not taking her work. Absolutely not. Erik isn’t here to hold her back this time.

She reaches an arm out, barely managing to hold onto her spectrometer as she grasps the handle of the hammer. Old or valuable, the thing is still a hammer, she can still swing at them with it.

A crack of thunder. A blinding flash of light. The feeling of grabbing a live-wire running through her body for a handful of terrifying seconds until the euphoria comes.

If she be worthy , she hears.

May she possess the power of Thor.

Oh, Jane thinks.

Oh,  fuck .

 2.

“No, I don’t know what… That’s why I’m coming out here to… Look, all the issues with our readings at the site are originating from this one spot, so yeah, I’m going to go take a look,” Jane says into the phone.

“Who is it?” Darcy whispers. Their truck rumbles along a remote road in Norway leading to the coast, and the interference from their mystery site makes it so they don’t get any radio stations, so Darcy is starved for entertainment.

Jane covers the mouthpiece and whispers back, “Caplan. He’s--” she uncovers the mouthpiece. “No, there’s not any danger. You--no… No… Wait, but that time wasn’t actually my fault, so…”

“Being a dick again?”

Jane’s eyeroll is all the answer required. “Look, we’ll be ba-- in--” Jane makes an almost comical crackling noise in the back of her throat. “Wha-- interference from the-- thr-- breaking up--bye.” She hangs up without any further discussion.

Darcy contains a laugh. “You’re gonna pay for that later, you know.”

Jane rolls her eyes again. “Well, it’s my being at his facility that’s even getting him funding in the first place, so, you know.” She shrugs. “If he wants to fight me, I’m the one with more published papers and theories that changed the laws of physics.”

Darcy pumps a fist. “Fuck yeah.”

She waves a hand. “He’ll be fine. He’s pissed we took the Mule without asking.” Where they plan on going, there’s no vehicle access, so the ATV was their only recourse. “If he thinks I’ll be satisfied with this one spot fucking up my results over and over again, he’s got another thing coming. Speaking of which,” the device that rests in Jane’s lap begins to ping, “pull over here.”

“Woo, off-road time,” Darcy cheers, and follows Jane’s instructions.

Another hour of driving in the Mule later, they reach the geographic nexus that’s been screwing with their readings.

It’s a pretty spot, bright green grass running all the way to the edge of the cliff, where a sheer drop would land them in the ocean. Norway’s fjords are always breathtaking, and Darcy counts herself lucky yet again that she gets to visit places like this and get paid for it. All in all, a pretty rad job.

“Can you set up--”

“Magnetic perimeter and radiation scanners?” Darcy finishes. “Yeah.”

Darcy unloads the equipment from the back of the ATV as Jane approaches the nexus.

It looks like a storm is beginning to swirl overhead, and Darcy eyes it nervously. Without any cover, they are pretty much sitting ducks if any rain starts to fall, god forbid if lightning starts. Where the hell did all these thunderheads come from? This blew in awfully fast.

Jane crouches down and reaches for something on the ground. “Darcy, you should come look at this,” she calls out. 

Quite suddenly, the hair on the back of Darcy’s neck stands straight up. The sensation is so strong and sudden that it literally causes her to gasp in shock.

“Jane--” she starts but she doesn’t get the chance to finish.

Faster than the blink of an eye, a massive bolt of lightning tears from the sky, slicing straight down to where Jane kneels.

Darcy barely has time to scream.

She is thrown backwards by the force of the lightning strike, and she thinks she hears a voice whisper before she hits the ground behind her.

If she be worthy.

When she looks up again, she knows she hears it.

A strange woman stands where Jane once was--massive, tall, blonde, with impressive armor and Mjolnir in her fist.

May she possess the power of Thor.

 3.

Fragile isn’t a word that could ever have been used to describe Jane Foster, but with her cheekbones hollowed out by weight loss, neck and wrists gone skinny and tendons standing out against her skin in sharp relief, fragile almost seems generous. A plastic band wraps around her wrist, stamped with her name, attending physician, allergies, and a barcode encoded with all her patient information.

She is tired, often, but with Darcy’s help still manages to go through her research and rough out an outline for her next paper she plans to publish.

Jane likes to plan, likes to say things like there’s a conference next September that this paper will do really well at, and Jane knows that Darcy is trying to hide her heartbreak at these statements. Darcy used to not hide anything from her, used to barely have the capacity, let alone the desire, but it’s strange the effect dying can have.

Her hospital room is outfitted with several whiteboards scribbled over with notes and formulae, the answers Jane constantly seeks waiting to be pried out of the clutches of the equations she can spend hours puzzling over. It’s a good use of her time, when she’s not--

Elsewhere.

Jane is careful to hide the hammer. It’s her secret legacy, her last hurrah, her hidden responsibility and duty--

Mjolnir is many things to her, but burdensome is certainly not one of them.

She swings her legs over the side of her bed, gripping her IV pole to help her stand. She walks over to the window, where the sunlight of the early afternoon has been shrouded over by storm clouds. She slides open her window, the cool wind of the storm washing over her face.

In the distance, she hears the rumble of thunder.

Jane Foster smiles.

 4.

His axe is buried in Thanos’s chest, and there’s a blinding moment of what feels like sour vengeance--so many have died already, and now the Mad Titan will perish for his crimes.

He presses the blade of Stormbreaker in further, for Loki, for Heimdall, for every one of his slaughtered people.

Then Thanos whispers, “You should’ve gone for the head.”

And he feels his heart drop.

And then, and suddenly as Thor himself had dropped from the sky, another streak of lightning blazes in from the east, and Thor can feel it--  Mjolnir .

But how?

He can’t even tell who is wielding it until the hammer smashes Thanos’s skull in, and the Mad Titan is finally felled. The Infinity Gauntlet drops, the stones unused, the universe saved.

The woman holding Mjolnir is tall, with shining armor that looks well-crafted, including a helmet that hides the upper half of her face. In spite of that, he can see her eyes.

Eyes he would know anywhere in the galaxy.

She looks almost as stunned as he is.

“Jane?”

 5.

The cell phone footage is grainy and difficult to make out. Shot by a civilian in Garching, Germany, the shaky video peeks at the action from behind a brick wall. A voice out of frame whispers,  “Dude, I think it’s Thor!”  and is quickly hushed by the one holding the camera.  So at least two more witnesses to track down,  Natasha thinks tiredly.

The observation, though, is rather striking in its accuracy. The figure has a red cape and flowing blonde hair, and displays a command of lightning that Natasha hasn’t seen since Thor more-or-less retired after their last showdown with Thanos.

The opponents are a small gaggle of aliens, impossible to fully make out but probably more scavengers who’d come to pick the bones of Thanos’s last battlefield. In the two years since the Snap, they’d been getting a steadier stream of extraterrestrial threats looking to take advantage of Earth’s vulnerability.

“How is it that we have holographic video technology widely available, but every civilian who has useful intel has a Nokia from 2004?” Natasha grumbles, squinting and trying again in vain to enhance the footage.

From her place next to her, Okoye chuckles. “I think we’ve demonstrated that we have the worst luck imaginable,” she jokes darkly.

The figure is still hard to make out aside from the gaudy cape and lightning. The electricity in the air made the audio on the video spotty at best, mostly static and a few loud bursts of accurate recordings of a fight, but mostly useless. Then a few video frames give them a clear view of the front of the figure.

“Pause,” Natasha says, sitting forward in her chair. “Go back three frames?” The computer obeys her voice command, ticking back to the moment when they had the best view.

Both Okoye and Natasha freeze as they take in the image.

There’s a shard of disappointment that goes through Natasha when she realizes, once and for all, that it definitely isn’t Thor. That disappointment turns swiftly into suspicion because she does not know this person, and they certainly have powers that would’ve landed them at the top of a SHIELD watchlist back in the day.

It’s a woman. She’s massive, arms and legs thick with muscle, and extensive armor that could be Asgardian make, but with the graininess of the video, it’s hard to tell. Her helmet covers almost her entire face, only exposing her mouth and jaw. Some sort of chainmail on her legs, perhaps, and a sleeve on her left arm. Her right arm is bare, and clutched in that hand--

“Mjolnir,” Natasha breathes.

“I thought it was destroyed,” Okoye says.

Natasha nods. “We all did.”

Despite the video quality, there’s no mistaking that hammer. Especially when Natasha resumes the video and the mysterious woman throws the hammer, and it returns to her hand moments later.

“We haven’t seen any new powered people since the Snap,” Okoye says, breaking the silence. “With our…  situation  being what it is,” she continues, tactfully calling the mess they’d made of the world a  situation , “we should either ascertain if this woman is on our side, get her on our side, or terminate her as soon as possible.”

Natasha nods in quiet contemplation. They cannot afford to have a powered person running around the world unchecked, not with the way things are. They’re barely managing to hold it together as it is, and the Avengers are spread extremely thin. Not to mention their help is often rejected in an official capacity, a lionshare of the blame for what happened falling to the World’s Greatest Heroes who failed to save the world. It’s a PR nightmare, and there are many nights when Natasha wishes that she’d just been dusted along with the half of the world who didn’t make it.

But she didn’t. She’s still here, and someone needs to lead.

“Want me to track down Thor and ask him about her?” Okoye says. “Based on her strength from that video, she’s probably Asgardian.”

Natasha’s kneejerk reaction is to say no, that Thor can’t handle this, that he’s been in an almost constant state of inebriation and/or depression for the last two years and she won’t expose her friend to something that might be painful for him. Then her rational mind kicks in and she nods at Okoye. Thor is their best lead. “I’ll come with you.” (Then her vicious mind raises its hackles and says if she’s got to wade into the shit that is the post-Snap world, then Thor should have to get right into it with her.)

That night, the evening news features a story with the grainy footage Natasha could’ve sworn she’d managed to scrub from everywhere (but alas, she is no Vision.) The ticker at the bottom of the screen reads The New Thor: Who is she, and can we trust her?

***

They find him at a hightop table in a hole-in-the-wall bar in New Asgard, and if Natasha had been serving him, she probably would’ve cut him off at least four drinks ago, but the bartender doesn’t seem concerned with denying their monarch his alcoholic solace.

“Do I need to go get Brunnhilde?” Okoye whispers to Natasha.

Thor sways in his barstool, hands clasped around a large stein of beer, but seems coherent enough to answer their questions.

“Not yet.”

“Wha--?” Thor mumbles, eyes half-lidded. “What’re you saying?” His words are disturbingly slurred. Maybe getting Brunnhilde wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Natasha refocuses. “Have you watched the news recently?”

Thor snorts and takes a drink of beer. And doesn’t stop taking a drink of beer until the stein is half-empty. Natasha’s eyes widen when he lets out a loud belch.

“Apologies,” he says, not sounding apologetic, “but you’ll have to excuse me for not keeping up with current events.”

Okoye cuts in, “How about this current event?

She slides a set of photos out of a manila envelope, laying them down on the bar table. The paper sticks to the surface of the table.

Thor shakes his head once, as if trying to rein in the spinning the room is likely doing around him. He leans down and squints at the photos. “That--” He cocks his head. “That isn’t me.”

“No,” Okoye confirms. “It isn’t.”

“These photos were taken two days ago in Garching, Germany. Know of any Asgardians who settled there?”

Thor swallows, and doesn’t immediately answer. He raises his free hand not on his beer to the photos, and the tip of his middle finger drags over where Mjolnir is inked onto the paper. “I thought it was gone,” he mumbles.

“So did we,” Natasha says, tempted to reach out to him at the abject sadness in his voice.

Okoye slants a glance at Natasha.  Focus , she seems to say with her eyes, before redirecting Thor, “Are there any Asgardians in Germany?”

“A few,” he says. “None that look like this woman.” He looks up at them. “Do you know how she found Mjolnir?”

It’s his most coherent question yet. Natasha shakes her head. “We just found out about her. She looks pretty confident with it, so maybe she’s been training somewhere.”

“I don’t underst--” Thor loses his battle with his balance and gravity and falls off his barstool. Natasha and Okoye both reach out to steady him, but he manages to catch himself before he hits the floor.

Natasha goes to Thor’s side, her heart falling quickly as she puts an arm around him. It’s hard to see Thor like this, especially knowing the kind of man he used to be. (Of all the people she thought would stick with her, after Clint and Steve left, she thought that Thor would be the one to stay. He’d fought through so much heartache, sided with them in New York against his own brother, protected the Earth from the Dark Elves after his mother’s murder, faced down Thanos even after his planet had been destroyed, and yet he’d always been ready to fight. It’s downright unnatural, utterly tragic to see him laid so low.)

Turning to Okoye, Natasha says, “Go get Brunnhilde.” Okoye doesn’t need to be told twice.

“Thor,” Natasha prompts, getting the man to look at her. His eyes look pained. She’s sure hers must reflect his. “You’ve gotta stop this.”

“Stop what?” he mumbles.

“You know what.” She hesitates before offering, “You could come back, you know. Join the Avengers again. I really could use the help, and you’ve got more experience leading than everyone else on the team combined.”

He’s already shaking his head. “No.” Clear, concise, and completely at odds with his drunkenness. “No, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

His answering smile is sad. “I have nothing left to offer you.”

“Yes, you do,” Natasha answers softly, but based on his tone, this isn’t an argument she’s going to win. Not today, at least.

A beat passes. “You really didn’t know about Mjolnir?” she asks, one more time.

“I’m not worthy anymore,” he whispers. “Why would it call to me?”

Natasha doesn’t answer that. There’s a lot of layers there that she doesn’t think she’ll ever fully understand.

Okoye returns with Brunnhilde at her side. She says to Okoye, “You know, sometime you’re going to have to visit me when it’s not for the purposes of picking his sorry ass up off the floor.”

Okoye chuckles. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Brunnhilde proceeds to pick Thor up in a bridal carry, making Natasha stumble a bit when his weight is no longer against her. “Come on, your majesty,” she says, tone almost bored. “Let’s get you home.”

Natasha bites her tongue against all the questions she wants to ask.

How often do you do this for him?

How is everyone around here blind to what’s happening to him?

Where on earth is he getting enough alcohol to regularly get drunk?

Before she can even think of pursuing another line of questioning, she gets a call from Carol--she is needed urgently back at headquarters.

She sighs. The hunt for the new Thor will have to wait for now.

***

It’s only once Natasha and Okoye are on a quinjet and flying back to their base that Brunnhilde unceremoniously drops Thor on the ground.

He huffs, but quickly stands up and brushes himself off, perfectly sober. “Unnecessary.”

She glares at him. “How long are you going to keep this act up?” she demands. “Those are your  friends .”

“Natasha is a friend,” Thor corrects, “Okoye thinks I’m a worthless drunk.”

Brunnhilde rolls her eyes. “Because she’s never known you as anything else.”

He grits his teeth. “It’s for the best.”

“That’s what you keep telling yourself, but they  know  about her. What’s your act doing to keep her safe now?”

The muscle in Thor’s jaw works furiously, but he calmly answers, “They don’t know her identity. They think she’s a rogue Asgardian.”

Brunnhilde bristles and brusquely pulls a folded manila envelope out of her back pocket. “Okoye gave these to me, said to ask you about them again when you sobered up.” She quickly opens the envelope and tears its contents out and holds them right in his face. The edges of the photo paper crease under the force of her fingers clenching down on them. “You see this? The better she gets, the more this is going to happen. And you know what’s eventually going to happen?” She jerks her head backwards. “Your friends are going to find her. She’s on a crash course, and then she will be a part of this. You can’t stop that. It was a fantasy to think you ever could.”

“I didn’t think I could keep her from it forever,” Thor replies evenly, and he wraps his fingers around Brunnhilde’s wrist and lowers the photos from his face so he can look her in the eye.

“Then  why ?” she asks.

“Because she needs to be better than me,” he says, like a release of steam from a pot. “She needs to be better, and she’s not yet.”

Brunnhilde shakes her head. “I don’t know if you’re going to get a choice for much longer.

   and the one time…

“Jane.”

His shoulder jumps under her head.

“Hm?”

“We’re almost there.”

“Oh,” she says groggily, and pushes herself off Thor’s shoulder. “Oops,” she says when she notices the spot of drool on his shirt. “Sorry.” The weird half-sleep that comes along with car rides is slow to depart, clawing at her eyelids until she reaches to her right, where a bottle of water sits.

After she downs half the bottle and truly wakes up, he gives her a soft smile, one that says he probably wasn’t far behind her in terms of falling asleep. “It’s no matter. I thought you’d want to be awake before we arrived.”

She stretches her hands over her head as much as the towncar’s roof allows, and a series of satisfying pops go down her spine. She grunts in satisfaction before saying, “I need to go over my speech one more time.”

“I’m fairly certain  I  could give it at this point with how many times I’ve heard it.”

“You’re a good person to practice with!”

“I’m only teasing,” he says. “And besides, this is hardly your first time doing this.”

“This still feels bigger, somehow.” 

He makes a soft sound of agreement. Jane offers the water to him, which he accepts and drinks his fill before capping it and setting it aside.

Jane continues, “It’s one thing to get, you know, a big science award. Like, the last time I got the Nobel I felt almost old hat at it, you know?”

Thor gives her a look. “I recall you saying that you felt like you were going to throw up before you went onstage to give your speech.”

Jane flaps her hand at him. “Okay, sure I was nervous, but I was….used to the shape of it? This is a completely different type of thing.”

“Yes, excelling at heroics is something you usually leave to me.”

“Hey, I have plenty of behind the scenes heroics!”

“Of course, dear,” he says with a laugh, “but none of those behind the scenes heroics resulted in a singlehanded defeat of the Infinity Stones, handicapping Thanos’s plan, and saving untold lives.”

Jane tilts her head back onto the headrest, a smile spreading across her face. That day, that last fight that Strange predicted would end in only one way, would be permanently emblazoned in her memory as long as she lived. Thor had asked her to stay away from the battlefield, and initially, she’d agreed. She and Tony had been theorizing about the nature of the stones, and they hadn’t had time to parse out the quantum entanglement theories together before her thinking buddy had to jet off to try and save the universe.

It came to her like a lightning strike only minutes after the team had left for the last battle. She’d built a frequency jammer that would disrupt the quantum entanglement of the stones in thirty minutes flat, and then raced out of the Avengers compound like a bat out of hell. She’d just have to get within range of the stones, and they’d be rendered inert, their effects immediately reversed, and they’d just be ordinary stones, and then they could be destroyed.

And, incredibly, even though the science of it was shaky at best, and she’d had to improvise on the fly when some of the wiring on the jammer had shorted out, it worked.

The army from the past was gone, snapped back to their original chronological configuration; Natasha and Gamora were spat out of whatever pocket universe they’d been trapped in; and Tony hadn’t had to use his gauntlet, hadn’t had to sacrifice himself for the universe as she’d  known  he’d planned on.

(Dr. Strange had sputtered, shocked, saying that of the fourteen million six hundred and five futures he’d seen, he’d only seen one possible outcome where they won, and it wasn’t this.

Jane shrugged, breathless, dirty, bloody, and grinned. “I found number fourteen million six hundred and  six .”)

“And all without a single power to her name aside from her intellect,” he finishes.

“I am pretty cool.”

“Both pretty and cool, much agreed.”

She lets her head fall to the side so she can look at him. His beard is long enough to be braided, and he’d done so this morning, and he’d taken care to braid some of his hair as well before pulling it back with a tie. He looked good. Great. Amazing, even.

She reached out her hand closest to him, trailing a finger along one of the braids in his beard. A streetlight from outside catches on her wedding ring just so.

After the Snap, she and Thor had drifted back together, partially out of shared grief and guilt, but had ultimately rediscovered why they’d worked together for years before the distance had become too much strain. They’d officially tied the knot a few years after Tony and Pepper had. (Steve had been Thor’s best man, and Darcy Jane’s maid of honor. Tony walked Jane down the aisle in Jane’s mother’s absence. Morgan had been their flower girl.) 

She wonders if any of this would’ve happened if they hadn’t found each other again. If they hadn’t rekindled their love for each other in the horrible aftermath of the Snap, would she have been around to help? Would Tony have reached out to her with the time travel issue? Would he have invited her to collaborate on the quantum entanglement of the stones if she hadn’t re-integrated herself into the Avengers circle? She likes to think so--they were friends, at least somewhat, before the Snap (but their closeness now was only formed in those last five years of wounded peace.)

“What are you thinking about?” Thor asks, and mirrors her position so he can look at her.

“Just that I’m really glad I married you.” She nudges forward so she can kiss him. “Really, really glad.”

“I’m glad you married me, too,” he answers. “Not many women would have had the fortitude to put up with me for as long as you have.”

She grabs his hand and pulls it over to her lap. “How many people did Pepper say were going to be here?”

Thor shrugs. “Less than two thousand, but there is the webcast as well.”

“ God .”

He squeezes her hand. “Go through your speech once more. It’ll make you feel better.”

“I’d feel better if we could skip past the ceremony and go right to the drinking and partying portion of the evening.”

Thor laughed. “If only I were planning the evening, Jane Foster. Now start from the top.”

Jane laughs, and closes her eyes. With her husband’s hand in hers, his warmth a steady reassurance at her side, she recalls the words she’s memorized and feels her nervousness retreat as she begins to speak.