#but i can barely use the computer without both my hands exploding at me

[kingprinceleo]

"Poor meow meow (tortures people)"

Does this mean there's lore for the dessert vampires au 👀👀👀👀👀

theres always been lore ! im still fleshing it out though, theres no overarching plot rn its just setting up the most important base details i have a REALLY clear vision for how i want to introduce the whole au so its pretty unfortunate i cant share anything until i drop the introduction

[cornfarm]

summertime cicadas

saiki kusuo x reader

word count: 1.6k

synopsis: you go to saiki’s place to play some video games. saiki learns a bit about your dirty laundry.

cw: suggestions of past sexual abuse. it’s not explicitly stated but it’s heavily implied.

genre: fluff, hurt/comfort

reader is gender neutral!

===================================================

notes:

i’ve had this sitting in my drafts for a few weeks now, but i was never happy with it.

it’s implied that you and saiki are in week 2-4 of dating;;;

i have some other stuff in the works but im tired so notes r boring today

enjoy waaaaaa

===================================================

When Saiki and you were left alone together, the tension that hung in the air was fun and playful. Coy glances, the heart jittering brushes of skin, and the almost knowing smiles you two would shoot each other. This time around, it was heavy, and it weighed hefty on both your shoulders.

It was your first time over at his place since you had begun dating.

You had texted him: can i come over? i bought a new game i wanna play it with u

He was very happy you decided to make the first move, he didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. 

Immediately, the “devlivered” at the corner of your text changed to “read”. He hastily typed back: Sure, let me know when you’re here. My parents aren’t home.

You saw letters on your screen, but you squinted your eyes shut upon them entering your field of vision. You had thrown your phone across the room, too nervous to look at his response. Tentatively picking it up, your heart nearly exploded at his words. You quickly respond: okay! be there soon :)

Saiki suddenly felt a bit on edge, realization finally striking him that you were about to be in his presence. In his bedroom. Alone. 

Saiki Kusuo never really felt things too intensely, so to feel it strike at his heart and stomach was almost a bit too much for his liking. 

Saiki wound up sitting patiently at the dining room table, using his telekensis to pick things up, rearrange ornaments and fine china, and clean up trash. The last thing he wants is you coming over when the place is a mess.

The doorbell rang, not that he needed it to know you were here. Beckoning you in, you pull out a small disc box from your bag. 

“I heard really good reviews from it. I was interested in it since I liked the art style but I wanted to wait until people played it and reviews came out before I committed.”

He takes it from your hands to inspect it, “I’m not super interested in recent games, I like older ones a bit more. Indie ones too. I’ve heard that the gameplay is really compelling.”

“That’s okay, we can still play together, right?” You almost look a bit nervous. Saiki gnawed at the inside of his lip.

“Sure,” you don’t look satisfied, “I don’t mind, doing things with you is nice.”

The content expression on your face satisfies him. You follow him upstairs.

Then the tension settles. You’re so close, the pleasant floral scent from your detergent lingering where you walk. He peers behind you as you take in his room: simple, clean, minimalistic. It’s painfully in character. You smile, flopping face down on his bed.

“I’ve only ever been here with everyone else, it was so lively then, but it’s so different when it’s quiet!” You situate yourself so you’re sitting at the edge of his bed, legs dangling off the side.

“It’s the same room.”

“Yeah but, now it’s just me and you.”

“I suppose so.”

You watch as he peers to the wall, a bit away from you.

“What, you’re not nervous are you? Do I make you, THE Saiki Kusuo nervous?”

He clicks his tongue, and begins stalking towards you. He stops right in front of you, shins nearly touching the mattress of his bed. He looks down, expression deadpanned like usual. Perhaps thats precisely why you got so flustered. Your hands coming to clasp politely in your lap, you look up at him, determined to hold eye contact.

“Mhm,” he smirks, “you do. What will you do about it?”

He watches as your lips part into a small ‘o’, before you turn your head down and begin to pout. He’ll spare you this time. The small proximity between you settles in; he should get out of here, nervousness is finally catching up, it’s a bit too much for him to handle. For such a cocky one-liner, he really can’t keep it together. He exits his room for a moment with a brief “wait here”.

He hears you let out a sigh down the hall. Taking the chance to inspect his belongings, you peer under his bed, nothing suspicious there, before making your way to his desk. There’s his computer, a nice leather desk chair, a lamp, and a small empty mug that holds pens, pencils, and highlighters. You thumb through them.

He re-enters his room, quietly opening the door, but just enough so where you hear. Outstreching his arm, he hands you a bottle of iced tea.

“This is,” inspecting the label, “you don’t usually drink these, right?”

Saiki stays quiet.

“So you got it for me? You remembered I liked it?” 

He nods.

You beam at him, mutter your gratitude, and pull out the games box.

Placing the disc onto the disc reader, and pushing it in, you start up the game, and watch the intro animation. 

“Yeah, the graphics are really nice,” he comments.

You adjust yourself, sitting on top a cushion on the floor, he moves a bit closer. 

Skipping though dialog, tutorials, and the first few levels of the game, Saiki controller finally begins responding. 

“I’m sorry, I thought the multiplayer feature would be available from the start.”

“It’s okay, you can pick first”

“Hmm...” you pause, brows furrowing in focus as you look through the different player avatar options. Finally, you turn to him and smile, “this one! Your turn.”

Saiki bites at the inside of his lip, again, moving his thumb over the joystick, he picks his avatar.

It’s nice, it’s quiet, the sound of cicada’s chirping outside his bedroom window, and the soft hum of his fan are gentle. Neither of you are talking about grand things like aspirations and inhibitions, but you didn’t have to. The soft, casual tone of conversation is something Saiki’s making sure to cherish. The game’s fun, Saiki is enjoying himself, he enjoys you. 

But tension still looms heavy overhead. You aren’t the only one who was thinking about it, how close you two were, how your elbows kept bumping, the small,and the way you both tried to get just a millimeter closer.

Saiki knew what you wanted, but he couldn’t pull himself to take initiative. Why? Was nervousness just another curse set out to plague him?

He’s reading your mind, he knows without a doubt you want to, so why is he so nervous to reach out and touch you? He wants to run away.

“Saiki?”

Your voice broke his thoughts, he turns to you. “Are you okay?”

He does it without thinking, slowly placing the controller down and putting his palms on your shoulders. 

“I’m just not used to this,” he finally says, “like, dating and all that.”

You wrap your fingers around his wrists, “that’s okay, I’ve never dated anyone either, we can just take it slow. We have time.” You reassure, “I’m nervous too,” voice smaller than before. He lifts his hands off, hovering them in front of you, debating on where he should put them. Should he put them back on your shoulders, or would that be weird? Maybe it’s okay if he takes your hands into his, but right now your hands are...

His vision finally focuses, and he looks at your hands, defensively positioned in front of your chest with your palms facing him. You’re looking at him with a half smile, but your brows are pursed down. You’re watching him very carefully.

Your thoughts still, pausing until he moves again, taking your hands in his own. He’s confused, why do you look so skittish?

You look visibily confused that he takes your hands. He’s granted one thought:

He’s not gonna do anything, see? He’s just holding my hands, that’s it. He’s not gonna do anything.

Do what? What do you mean? Do what?

“What do you mean?” He blurts out, voice ringing through your head.

Astonishment paints your face. Shit, you didn’t think you said anything out loud. Could he read your mind? He chooses not to say anything.

You shake your arms, he retracts his hands.

“I’ve just had bad experiences with people in the past, I got nervous, that’s all. I’m sorry.”

Oh. Your internal dialog isn’t as pleasant as the words you choose to say. 

“Maybe I’ll tell you about it more in the future,” you still have the strength to smile at him?

He reaches out to touch you again, but never connecting. He hesitates this time, fingers hovering over your forearm. 

“I’m not really interested in that sort of stuff. I wouldn’t do that to you. I won’t do that to you,” he corrects.

With a smile pained with melancholy, you shift yourself forward, wrapping your arms around his torso, burying your face into his shoulder, legs finding their way between his. He wastes no time wrapping his own arms around your back, pressing your chest closer to his own. Your hearts pound against each other, breathing syncing as you both exhale a sigh. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I know,” your voice is muffled. 

You stay like that for a few moments. Cicada’s chirping, fan blowing, there’s nothing to say- the silence is comforting in it’s own way.

You finally pull away from him, voice much brighter, “but I’m not ready to kiss you yet, I think my heart would explode!” He flushes red. Adjusting to sit back onto the cushion, you lean your weight onto his side. He tension has finally settled, and Saiki sighs contently. 

Saiki only uses his powers in ways to convinience himself. Fortunately, keeping you safe was more than convinient to him: it was the bare minimum- an absolute necessity. 

As soon as you leave, he’ll find the bastards that did it. 

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 9

Previous | Next

So this chapter is longer than chapter 8 and I think from next chapter, they got longer. As we get closer to the chapter I’m currently writing, the frequent updates will unfortunately die. Just letting you know so you won’t be too disappointed! Oh and my Wattpad name is the same, ‘yannowhatigiveup’. If you know any way I can improve my writing please do tell me!

Gabriel Agreste stood in his observatory after recently detransforming. 'She can control her emotions well but when she's angry, it's incredibly strong. This girl could be one of the strongest in Paris, she could be one that senses auras. I must find a way. I will use her to eliminate all of heroes. All I need is time'.

————————————————————

The bluenette sat in her uncle Jagged's hotel room, tapping a pen against her lips while watching the conversation, well it was more like an argument, between Jagged and his manager Bob Roth. Bob was stating that they should leave the song writing to the professionals while Jagged protested, saying that his niece was overflowing with talent and that she could do it no problem. Penny was on the phone with someone but Marinette didn't eavesdrop in her conversation. She stated at the blank notebook in front of her, eyeing it suspiciously. Then she got an idea and began scribbling down the lyrics she had in mind, not knowing that she had unintentionally gained the attention of everyone in the room. She managed to write the whole song in one sitting which was very impressive even for professional song writers at the time. "Did it" she said putting the pen down. Penny then came over to take the notebook and read what the bluenette had written. 'I hope it's ok'

"Wow Mari, this is great!" Penny said her mouth agape. She passed it to Jagged but Bob had snatched it out of his hands, only to give it back when Fang looked at him hungrily.

"Yeah, this is rock'n roll Nettie!" He praised her while giving his manager a 'I told you so' look.

"Yes this is exactly what we needed, a little change in the album. Thank you for this Marinette. We shall produce the song while you can sing the lyrics-"

"If that's alright will you of course" Jagged said, interrupting his manager.

Marinette nodded hesitantly. "I can give it a shot" she murmured.

Marinette walked home after visiting Jagged and showing Damian the designs she had in plan for his brothers, without showing the design she made for him. She was careful not to shake her purse too much as Tikki was sleeping, it was a busy day for the kwami as Marinette had let her go visit Plagg for some 'Kwami business'. Marinette didn't press for answers though. Soon she entered her parents bakery to find them already there, waiting for her.

"Maman, Papa what is it?" She asked.

"Your father and I are discussing if we should open a second bakery" Sabine answered enthusiastically.

"There's a few spots available in Marseille, we already booked a flight and a hotel to stay at" Tom answered, maybe even more excited than his wife.

"That's great! But isn't Marseille far away? It's closer to Italy than Paris" Marinette answered.

"Well surprisingly, we're already well known there" Tom replied.

"Oh cool! When will you be leaving?"

"On Saturday at 2 am" Her mother replied. "It's late but it was the next available flight. We'll be gone for a week maybe longer depending on all the paper work"

"Well you better start packing then!" Marinette said happy for both her parents. "I'll be going to bed now. Good night!" She hugged both her parents before going upstairs to change and finishing up her designs.

~~~

Adrien sat in front of his computer early before school, looking through all of Kagami's recent posts and he liked the photo that she posted yesterday, the photo was of when they went for ice cream earlier today. Alya and Nino were also in the picture, smiling for the camera but Adrien noticed someone else in the background. 'Marinette...' She was eating her ice cream, unbeknownst to the picture being taken, with the spoon still in her mouth. Adrien felt distracted by the way the sun reflected off her hair. He loved Kagami truly but his new love for Marinette shadowed it. "Plagg" Adrien said. "I think I have a thing for bluenettes".

"So your type is blue-haired girls? What makes you say that?" The kwami replied, not really enjoying the conversation.

"Well I like Ladybug, Kagami and Marinette and they all have one thing in common. They all have blue hair" Adrien sighed. "The last thing I need is another blue-haired girl to come into my life"

"Ughhh this is too cheesy, I much prefer actual cheese" Plagg groaned while looking around for Camembert.

Adrien sighed, smiling while going back to think of the girls he liked. He liked Ladybug for her quick, sly and smart nature. Kagami was incredibly skilled and very easy to relate to. And Marinette had a kind personality as well as unmatchable beauty. He couldn't decide which one he liked most as all the options were as great as the others. Then a notification on his computer distracted him from his thoughts. It was a notification that Jagged Stone had posted something. 'Huh, I wonder what it could be'

~~~

Jason was flicking through the channels on the TV, looking for something interesting to watch when a notification appeared on his phone. 'What's this?' He then realised that it was a trending post from Jagged Stone and went to view it. "HOLY SH-"

"Master Jason, language"Alfred reminded him.

"Oh yeah sorry" he whispered before shouting again. "HOLY MOTHER OF UM SOMETHING!"

Dick and Tim then entered the room, wondering what Jason was talking about. "What?" Dick asked.

Jason then connected his phone to the TV and showed the post he was talking about.

@official_jaggedstone

(Photo of a blue-haired girl with a medium long braid and her back facing the camera, writing on something)

Wonder what MDC is writing up for the bonus track? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

All three of the boys then fanboyed over finally being able to see what their favourite designer, and idol, looked like. Alfred then sighed while exiting the room.

"She's pretty!"

"She looks smart!"

"What's she writing?"

"I'm gonna call Damian, that room looks similar to the room he's staying in"

"Yes do, I want to pester him"

Dick then dialed a number on his phone. After a few rings, the phone finally answered.

"Tt, Yes?" A stern voice came through on the other side.

"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Tim shouted into the microphone.

~~~

Damian had already seen Jagged's post, he smiled to himself. He was about to go back to reading his book when his phone rang. He would've picked it up straight away if he hadn't see the name, it was Dick. He let the phone ring for a little while before answering.

"Tt, Yes?" He said in a stern voice.

"HAVE YOU SEEN JAGGED'S RECENT POST!?" Luckily Damian had the phone further away from his ear otherwise Tim would've exploded his eardrums.

"What about it?"

"He posted an image of MDC, the very first one ever on the internet!" Dick answered excitedly. "There aren't any pictures of her anywhere".

Damian smiled to himself knowing that he had seen MDC before his brothers, he had seen her smile. "There aren't?"

"Yeah! Weird right? She doesn't even show up to Jagged's live performances!" It was Jason's turn to speak now.

"Well I'm sure she goes to the performances, she's just never seen" Tim told his brother in a matter-of-fact way.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Tt, bye now" he said, immediately turning his phone off not allowing any of his brothers to protest. He then texted Marinette.

Me: Just got off the phone with my brothers, they were fanboying over you.

Surprisingly Marinette replied straight away.

Angel: They are too? Everyone is fangirling over MDC

Me: Because of Jagged's post, he posted a picture of you. The back of your head specifically

Angel: Oh hah I see it now, I guess that has to be my signature hairstyle as MDC now.

Me: It looks great on you though

Angel: You really think so?

Me: Mhm

Angel: Aw, thanks

~~~

Marinette had blushed when Damian said she looked good in that hairstyle. She really liked him. Then Marinette looked at the time, she was early for once. She decided to make use of this and get ready for school. She had finished getting ready quickly and she was able to walk instead of run to school like she usually did. When she entered, she noticed that there was barely anyone here. 'Perfect! I can work on my designs' that was until a familiar face showed up.

"Hey girl! You're here early wow!" The sound of her best friend made Marinette laugh until her facial expression changed from surprised to smug. Marinette was about to ask but Alya had brought her to the locker room where they were alone. "So girl, spill"

"What?"

"Do you like Chat Noir?"

Marinette giggled but she saw her best friend's face. "Oh you're not joking"

"Nope, now you can tell me so that I can get you both on a date." She blushed profusely. "And I ain't backing down, I've spent too much time on trying to find out who he is. Don't think I haven't noticed how you're jumping at anytime to be with this boy." She said the last statement with a soft voice.

Marinette sighed, grateful of her best friend but hesitant to tell her without Damian's permission as he never seemed like one for social interaction. "I'll ask" she said while taking her phone out.

Me: Shaytan, my best friend found out that I've been sneaking off to go see you.

Shaytan: Césaire?

Me: Yeah

Shaytan: You said she wanted to be a reporter right? Well then I guess this is expected, she did a good job.

Me: So should I tell her your name?

Shaytan: That's up to you

Me: Ok thanks!

Marinette put her phone away and looked at her best friend.

"So?" Alya asked. "Can you tell me?"

Marinette nodded. "So um, his name is D-Damian"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal

[bold-writing]

The One With Whiskey Eyes || 18 || My Peace, Like Shattered Glass

Words: 3200+

Warnings: Trauma, Acts of Violence

Previous || Next

~18~

“Ow!”

“That’s why I wear gloves,” Iris teased gently as she smoothed a Band-Aid over the badly stinging cut that Jessica had obtained when trying to rip open a box—it was basically a papercut, but when it was caused by cardboard, the pain was considerably more; as was the amount of blood that had welled up to the surface of the cut.

“I thought that was to hide the mark,” Jessica admitted quietly, her low voice deliberately making sure that their coworkers didn’t hear what she said. “You’re always wearing them.”

“This is the fourth time you’ve cut yourself this week,” Iris pointed out in counterattack, causing the younger woman to flush in embarrassment before she simply shrugged her shoulders. There was no defense against that. Iris shook her head with a gentle smile, collecting the garbage from disinfecting and covering the cut, tossing them into the nearby trashcan of the office. “You should get a pair, you know. Boxes and books don’t just cause papercuts, but they dehydrate your hands as well. Wearing a pair of these will stop that.”

“Don’t rub it in,” Jessica grumbled half-heartedly. Iris just gave that same smile as she stood up.

“I know it’s a bit earlier than usual, but why not take your break now?” Iris asked instead, briefly checking the time on the bottom of the office computer’s screen. Jessica agreed easily, happy to get off shift and eat something. The two women went their separate ways once they left the office, Iris making her way back into the store as she smiled to her coworkers and reclaimed her place behind the register.

She knew they were whispering about her, confused by why she was constantly smiling and always seemed to be happy. Not that she’d been doom and gloom before, but they couldn’t remember a time when she had smiled and showed her happiness so openly and constantly. Jessica was still the only one to know about her marks—or at least the fact that there is more than one—but they had all been able to notice the change in their manager in the past few weeks. She’d gotten worse, to the point that she had been forced to take time off, before she miraculously got better.

There were still days when they could tell she hadn’t slept well, for whatever reason, but they were few and far between.

Iris wasn’t able to see her soulmates every day, try as either of them might, but they spoke constantly. She would wake up to emails from whoever was in the light that day, but she would usually write to all of them every morning—she hated feeling like any of her soulmates were being neglected. Continuing to do this as more and more of them are met, she isn’t sure, but she knows that she will go out of her way to make sure they are all…loved. Welcomed and acknowledged for their individuality.

It was surprisingly difficult to focus on her work—she had never had anything in her life to distract her before. Even fear of her parents had bled away after a time, but her soulmates were ever present on her mind.

Absentmindedly, Iris stroked a fingertip over the mark on the back of her palm.

They were all so different, it made her wonder who else was in the body of Kevin Crumb. When would she meet Hedwig, the supposed child? Or Jade, a younger female than Patricia?

“Looks like the cold-front has arrived,” Sarah called from the front window, a box perched on her hip as she glanced back toward Iris. The young woman’s eyes turned to the window, blinking in shock at the white-out of flurries that had overtaken the view outside the storefront.

Her face pinched slightly uncomfortably, knowing that her walk home was going to be horrendous. “That’s gunna be so cold,” she mumbled to herself, but it was loud enough for Sarah to hear. It had been chilly enough on the walk in to work, heading home through the snow was going to be so much worse. Sarah gave her a pitying look before she turned to get back to work.

Instead of letting herself become distracted by thoughts of walking home, Iris collected one of the boxes that needed to be scanned through and took it to the main counter. Sarah continued to clean and organize the front displays—it was a quiet day and there was very little to do for the group without more customers coming in.

Iris herself had been there since five o’clock that morning, completing some of the reports that needed to be sent to the owners by the end of that week. Not wanting to wait and rush through it, she decided to come in a few hours before her usual time and get in a bit of silent work. She was feeling more exhausted as the day drew on, but at least her sleep the night before had been a fitful one until her alarm had gone off.

Of course, her day did not get any better when she got a call from David, who sounded like death, saying that he had tried but he wouldn’t be able to come in to work. As an old habit, she didn’t want to bother anyone else and just decided that she would stay for the full shift and close the store down as well. Jessica and Sarah both shooed her to the back for a long break, however, and made sure she ate the soup she had brought and even made her a tea with the kettle they had in the break room.

It made Iris wonder if they had gotten a lecture about how she was always doing things for them. Her boss definitely had not liked how she was always working, taking the weekend and evening shifts or filling in for the others when they did not or could not come in. It wouldn’t have surprised her if her employees had gotten a lecture during her forced days off.

“Do you want me to get you a tea? Or a coffee? How about-”

“Jessica,” Iris interrupted, her voice carrying an amused tone as she shook her head at the younger woman. “Calm down! I’m fine, I promise. There’s only a few more hours before close and the snow kept it quiet today. I promise I’ll head straight home and eat.”

“Remember, I’m opening the store tomorrow so I better not find you here early,” Jessica forewarned, pointing a threatening finger at the frail woman. “I swear, I’ll make you sleep in the break room.”

Shaking her head at Jess’s antics, Iris motioned toward the door. “Go home, Jess. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

She was given one more warning look before her new friend and old coworker disappeared out the door into the white flurries that had dominated the window most of the day. Supressing a yawn, Iris sat herself down at the main cash with some of the paperwork from the back office—she still had work that she needed to get done, even if she had to stay and help Sarah until closing.

The odd person or two would wander in throughout the day, making small or simple purchases that Iris handled easily and with little thought. Sarah kept up with cleaning and stocking to busy herself, giving Iris several assurances that she would take care of the aisles and to not worry. By the time the final hour rolled around, and it had been at least forty-five minutes since the last customer, Iris was tempted to send Sarah home early.

The shelves were spotless and there were no other boxes that needed to be put out, so there was nothing else for the young woman to do. Iris had even spent a good thirty minutes explaining to her how to run the computer programs that she used to manage all of the store’s books. Sarah just sat with a bewildered look on her face and they both decided that management was not something that she was interested in learning.

“It’s deserted today,” Iris finally declared, leaning against the counter as Sarah wandered by with a dusting rag. “You head on home, okay? I’ll stay and finish my paperwork and if someone does come by I can handle it.”

Sarah blinked at her owlishly. “Are you sure? I don’t mind staying!”

“There’s no point in both of us being bored out of our minds. Head on home, I’ll be fine.”

And then there was one.

Iris fought another yawn as she glanced at the computer screen. Just one more hour. Sitting back in her chair to rub at her tired eyes, the dark haired woman could feel them sting slightly with the effort she had been putting in to keep her eyes open.

She used to have no problem staying up for ungodly hours, but she’d been adjusting to a new way of living lately and now it seems going back to how things were would be impossible.

Sitting forward with a silent sigh, she tried to focus on the paperwork in front of her. Only a minute had gone by before her concentration was shattered, similar to the store window that exploded in a shower of glass as something was sent flying through it.

A shriek of surprise tore from her lips as Iris ducked behind the desk, too far for the object to reach but fear drawing the defensive reaction to the forefront. Her heart had rocketed into a galloping pace in her chest, hands shaking in fright against the edge of the counter. The roar of wind and the tinkling of glass hitting the once clean floors filled the silence of the store.

The rush of cold against her covered arms and bare neck made her shiver, skin already beginning to feel feverish from the sudden rush of adrenaline that flooded her system. Shivering and panting, Iris remained crouched and hidden as she waited and listened for any sign that the person who had broken the window might come inside.

However, even as time passed and nothing happened, she couldn’t bring herself to move. Trembling in fear and shivering from the cold, her hands gripped the desk above her head until her knuckles were white beneath her gloves. Eventually the distant sound of police sirens broke the silence, bringing her mind back to the present. She’d forgotten about the security system—if one of the doors were opened while the code was inputted, the police were alerted, but if a window was broken at any time the police were called immediately.

Trying to force her hands to relax on the edge of the desk, the sirens grew louder until the police cars came to a screeching halt outside of the store.

Taking in deep breaths of the cold air, Iris exhaled through trembling lips as she finally detached her hands from the desk. Shuffling out from her hiding place, she used the desk to support herself as she finally stood up and surveyed the damage. The front was a mess now, a combination of glass and snow covering the floor and surrounding displays.

The first thing that came to her mind was how the books were going to be ruined if they got snowed on.

“Police, don’t move!”

Iris jumped and choked back a gasp, hands shooting up as one of the officers stopped outside of the broken window. She was the only person visible in the store, so she could understand being suspicious.

“I’m the manager!” she shouted, her voice shaking. “My name is Iris Mayfair, my employers are Melissa and Gerald McIntosh. They would have been contacted as soon as the alarm was set off.”

“Please step out where I can see you, ma’am. Do you have ID on you?”

Walking around the desk on shaky legs, her hands still raised, Iris nodded. “My employee card; it’s with the keys around my wrist.” She shook her arm to demonstrate, causing the keys to jingle soundly and flash the little badge attached to it that had a barcode scanner for her to access the computers upon opening. Jess had one as well, for when she opened the store.

“Are you hurt?” the man asked as he stepped forward, some of the other officers entering behind him as they surveyed the damage and entered the store, checking through the aisles.

“No, I was behind the desk-”

“You have glass in your hair,” the officer interrupted gently once he had checked the ID on her wrist, comparing the information she had given to him with the name and photo on the card. Naturally, her hand lifted to her head to feel for the sharp projectiles. Thankfully, the officers caught her arm gently to stop her before she cut her hand. “No, don’t worry. It’s only a few pieces. Shake your head and they should fall right off.”

Iris did as instructed, shaking her head as she closed her eyes. She could feel when the fragments fell out, tapping down past her shoulders before they hit the already messy floor.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” the officers asked again—a glance at his shirt revealed his name was Montez—and Iris nodded her head dazedly. “Were you the only one working?”

Iris stood in the storefront with the officer as she answered his questions, giving him the time to write them down between answers. As the wind and snow continued to blow into the store, Iris steadily started to shiver more heavily. The adrenaline was bleeding from her system, causing her vision to blur in and out. Montez must have seen her sway on her feet because he abruptly stopped talking and reached out to claim her arm.

“Woah, let’s go sit you down. Is there a back office in this place? Somewhere warm?”

“Yes, just back down that aisle. There’s a door that leads to the stock-room at the end.”

The place was crawling with police by now, and one of them informed her and Montez that the owners were on their way down. There was a camera out front that might have caught the person who threw what turned out to be an old pipe through the window, but Iris didn’t have authorization to scroll back into the recorded footage so she was no help to them.

As they entered the back office to finish giving her statement, Iris found herself wishing that her soulmates were with her. Glancing at the nearest clock, she realized that they would be home by now and waiting for her to let them know that she was home safe.

Her shift had ended twenty minutes ago.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” Montez asked from across from her, worry clearly evident on his face as she trembled and stared blankly at the clock. “Is there someone you’d like me to call for you?”

Small and pale, Iris look like a terrified, small animal. The chair she was in made her appear that much smaller; her feet didn’t touch the floor and her boney frame was enveloped in the black leather of the chair-back. Montez felt like he was interviewing a terrified child. If she got any paler in her face, he’d be calling in the paramedics to check on her again. She looked on the verge of passing out.

The liquid gold of her eyes watered further as she gave a stuttered nod.

“Kevin Crumb,” she answered meekly. “His number is in my cellphone,” she answered, motioning to where she had left the phone on the office desk. She preferred not to have her cellphone with her when she was working, so she usually left it in the back office.

She was probably never going to do that again, not after what she had just experienced.

Montez nodded calmly, picking up the small phone and having her input the password before he stepped away. One of the other officers, a woman named Sinclair, came into the office briefly to inform Iris that her employers were here and she could leave once her statement was complete, they would help the police with anything else needed.

Iris just gave a short nod as she stared at the floor, yet to regain any colouring in her face.

Sinclair gave Montez a sympathetic look as she left, understanding that speaking to someone who was in shock could be a trying endeavor.

The ringing in his ear cut off, drawing his attention back to Iris’s phone. “Hey, Iris, you get home okay?” The casual question, filled with true concern, almost caused the officer to wince. He hated when he had to tell the unsuspecting spouse or loved one that something had happened. At least Iris appeared unhurt and he could offer that assurance.

“This is Officer Liam Montez; is this Kevin Crumb?”

There was a pause on the other end, silence filling the line for a long beat. “Where’s Iris?” the male voice demanded, upping in pitch as fear sharpened his words.

“Miss. Mayfair is fine; someone threw an item through the window of her store but she is safe and unharmed. It would be best if someone was with her right now, she’s in a bit of shock and will able to leave as soon as we finish getting her statement. She asked me to call you—are you able to come down to Pages of the World right now?”

“Yes, yea, I’m on my way. She’s alright? You said she wasn’t hurt?”

“She was far enough away that she only got a bit of glass in her hair, but no, she wasn’t hurt. I might recommend bringing her something warm, preferably tea or something that doesn’t have caffeine in it.”

“Can I talk to her, please? Just for a second?” the plea in the man’s words were impossible to ignore—Montez was certain, as he turned to hand the phone to Iris, that this was a soulmate he was dealing with.

Iris could barely hold onto the phone as she leaned her head heavily against the cellphone, into the pressure of Montez’s continued grip on the device. He was sure that she would have dropped it if he hadn’t helped hold it up. “Hello?” He couldn’t hear the man’s words, but Iris’s bow-tight body finally relaxed slightly at the sound of his voice.

Definitely soulmates.

“Hey, Sweetheart, it’s Barry. You okay? I’m on my way right now.”

“I don’t feel good,” Iris answered weakly, as though she was ashamed of her body’s reaction.

“That’s just the shock, Sweetheart. I’ll be there in ten, okay? Just try and take some deep breaths. Are you sitting down?”

“Mhm.” The conversation barely lasted a few seconds more before Iris suddenly dropped her hand, letting Montez pull the phone away. Glancing at the screen told him that the man had already ended the call, so he simply placed her phone on the desk as he reclaimed the other chair.

“Are you alright to continue?”

Swallowing thickly, Iris gave a tired nod as she met his eyes again.

Previous || Next

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot: Ask Questions, Throw Shield Later.

Intro: Steve and Katie have an unwelcome late night visitor…

Warnings: “Language!” Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing:  Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

W/C: 1.9k

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: The first of two (yes, two) special 29th May Birthday One shots. Happy Birthday Tony! Man, I missed writing for these guys in this timeline! This fits into SSB within “I Told You I Said Yes”.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Fuck, Steve...” Katie groaned, her head tilting backwards as Steve gave another deep thrust upwards, “right there... Jesus.”

“Good?” Steve panted as his hands grabbed her waist, finger tips digging into the flesh that covered her hipbones.

She nodded, grinding on him faster, his hands pulling her down making sure he hit as deep as he could.

Their soft, intimate sounds filled the room and, wanting to be as close to her as he could get, Steve sat up drawing a gasp from Katie as he did so. His hands moved to her back. One splayed half way up her spine, the other cupped the back of her head. His fingers tangled in her long, silky hair as he pulled her face to his. He kissed her, hard, his tongue dominating hers as he swallowed her moan, one that rumbled in her throat as if it came from the depths of her belly.

They’d already danced this tango once already that night. After a few beers with the team in anticipation of Tony’s birthday (minus Natasha as she was still on something Fury was running), they’d retired and gotten a little frisky some two hours prior. But then Steve had woken, his super sharp hearing alerting himself to some form of ransom noise deep in the floors below them and, well, he couldn’t get back to sleep. So he’d hugged Katie close.

Too close.

As ever he was unable to control his reactions to his girl and had ended up with a boner. Meaning she’d woken with him basically rutting up against her back, feigning innocence when she’d given him a grumble at the fact he’d dragged her from her slumber.

She hadn’t been grumbling for long.

“Stevie... I’m gonna...” Katie’s forehead pressed into his, her mouth open as her lips hovered over his, and he thrust upwards again, his nose brushing hers softly, like the touch of a butterfly.

“Let go. Doll,” he panted, actively fighting his own high, “cum for me.”

Her chest heaved, pert nipples brushing his bare skin and her movements stuttered. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, which cracked into a half grunt, half moan as she felt herself go, her body positively floating from her high.

By the time she came round, Steve had also finished, his broad shoulders rising and falling as he gathered his breath. Katie collapsed forward with a soft chuckle, her forehead pressing into his collar bone as he fell backwards, taking her with him.

They lay still for a moment, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the soft rustle of sheets as Steve pulled the bedding up around them. The smooth cotton brushing over her sensitive skin made Katie shudder a little. Steve smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple, his large hands running up and down her spine.

“Am I forgiven for waking you up?” He asked and she shrugged, not even bothering to try and find the strength to sit up. “It’s three AM. I’ll think about it.”

Steve chuckled and she sat up slightly, leaning down to give him a slow kiss.

“Love you.” she pulled back a little, her eyes shining in the dim light, and Steve smiled.

“Love you too.”

Fifteen minutes later they were both settled down and on the verge of sleep once more when a loud crashing in the apartment made them both sit bolt upright.

“What the...” Steve was out of bed in a flash, wrenching the door to their room open.

Katie was seconds behind him, stopping only to grab Steve’s shirt from the chair at the vanity. As she shrugged it on, she ran into the hallway and heard a familiar metallic whoosh. There was the squealing of metal on metal and Katie flicked on the light just in time to see a flash of blue, red and white as Steve’s shield flew back to his hand. He looked over to Katie as she stepped towards him, her mouth falling.

“Is that...” she glanced down at what looked like a version of one of Tony’s suits. It lay motionless on the floor in two pieces, Steve’s shield having severed it at the waist. The failing electrics sparked as the various boards and cogs died, before it fell silent.

Steve nudged it with his foot. It didn’t move. He turned to Katie, a frown on his handsome face.

“Did he tell you he was making them autonomous?”

“That’s nothing new, JARVIS has always been able to control them remotely.” Katie shook her head as she crouched down, her hand gently touching the helmet. She tried to move the face plate but it didn’t open. Rapping her knuckles on the skull, she was met with a solid sound, not the usual hollow echo.  “JARVIS?”

There was no reply.

“Why isn’t he answering?” Steve looked at her.

“Tony might have him down.” Katie answered. “He runs the updates at night some times. I do know one thing though.”

“What?” Steve asked as she stood up.

“That couldn’t have gotten in here without Tony letting it in one way or another.” She glanced at Steve, her pretty face full of annoyance. “Imma kill him, fucking idiot.”

She turned to leave and Steve gently caught her arm. “Honey...”

“Seriously? You want me to let this go?”

“Hell, no.” He shook his head, “I want you to wait for me to put some clothes on.”  

Despite herself, Katie grinned as her eyes scanned Steve’s naked body, his shield still on his arm. He rolled his eyes and nodded to the suit on the floor, “I’m going to give him his property back, along with a piece of my mind.” **** Tony spun round, his brow arching as Steve and Katie walked into the lab. But whatever smart quip he had been about to come out with died as he spotted what was slung over the super soldier’s broad shoulders. With a loud slam, Steve threw the two parts of the robot down on the desk.

“What did you do to it?” Tony moaned.

“Threw my shield at it.” Steve folded his arms over his chest, the sleeves of the white ribbed Tee he had shrugged on straining over his thick biceps.

Tony was that distracted by his destroyed robot that he failed to notice Katie stomping towards him. She drew her right fist back and punched him hard on the shoulder.

“Ow, Kiddo!”

“You dick!” She yelled. “What the hell were you doing sending that into our apartment?”

“Wanted to test your reaction to it.” Tony shrugged. “See how it came across.”

“How it ca- Tony, it’s half past 3 in the morning!” She shrieked.

“Exactly.” Tony scratched his beard. “Total element of surprise. I thought you guys would give me a base of how people would react to them. Can’t have been that well if Spangles felt the need to cut it in half with his frisbee.”

“We had no idea what or who it was.” Steve felt his anger beginning to rise, “what was I supposed to do?”

“I’ve told you before, big guy. Ask questions, throw shield later.” Tony shrugged, “I can’t believe you killed Iron Kid.”

“Iron Kid?” Katie blinked.

“Yeah, the name’s a working progress.”

“Tony, what is it?” Steve pressed.

“It’s a prototype.” Tony informed them. “I had the idea last week. The Avengers exploded after New York. You should see the piles of fan mail that the guys downstairs sort each day.”

“Less bragging, more explaining.” Katie narrowed her eyes.

“The point is, we attract attention. So I had a thought about something that could help keep the public at bay,” Tony gestured to the pile of metal, “we can use them to issue instructions, help aid the emergency services. Keep civilians out of the way.”

Katie and Steve looked at one another, and Steve hated to admit it but the idea made sense.

Sorta.

“Clearly I need to rethink a little.” Tony mused. “I mean if they freaked you out then...” “It freaked us out because it was in. our. apartment!” Katie groaned. “In the middle of the night.”

“That’s the point, it was supposed to have the element of surprise, wake you up.”

“Well there’s your first fuck up!” She hissed. “We were already awake-“

“Why?” Tony frowned

“Because we just finished a great, sweaty sex session.” She shot back and Steve groaned, feeling the heat in his neck as he looked down, his bare toes flexing against the cool floor of the lab. “And you wanna be grateful we had finished because if we hadn’t I’d be really, really mad. You get me?”

“That’s.. disgusting.” Tony wrinkled his nose.

“And you’re an asshole.” Katie shot back.

With a shudder, Tony moved and picked up a screwdriver. He turned the helmet up aside down and opened a small hatch at the back. Stooping slightly, he prodded and poked at something inside.

“Huh, least the main board wasn’t damaged.” He straightened up and turned to face them both. “So, other than scaring the shit out of you what was it like? Voice interface okay? Too much me or not enough me or-“

“There was no voice interface.” Steve replied.

“What?” Tony frowned, “JARVIS was supposed to be controlling it. It should have told you why it was there and-“

“Well he didn’t.” Steve rolled his eyes, his already stretched patience wearing dangerously thin.

“He didn’t...huh?” Tony frowned and Katie moved past him to a computer.

“Oh for the... he’s on mute you dumbass!” She tapped a few buttons and JARVIS’ voice rang out.

“Thank you Miss Stark.”

“Shit.” Tony gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, buddy. Forgot I turned you off.”

“Mr Stark, may I suggest you call it a night, Sir? It is rather late and you’ve been awake for almost twenty-one hours. Miss Potts instructed me to ensure you-“ “And that is precisely why I did.” Tony rolled his eyes and Katie let out a growl of annoyance

“I’m done. Come on, Steve.”

She stalked towards the door and Tony looked up. “You not gonna wish me happy birthday?”

In response she raised the middle fingers on both her hands, flipping him off over her shoulders as she stomped out of the door.

Steve watched her go before she turned to Tony. “You know, I think you’re onto something. Keeping civilians away would make things a lot easier.”

“Wouldn’t it?” Tony nodded, eagerly. “We’d need a fleet of them, an Iron Fleet, no that’s... like i said, the names a work in progress.”

“We can discuss this tomorrow. Give it some proper though.” Steve took a deep breath. “Just don’t send any more into the apartment, please?”

Tony saluted him and Steve rolled his eyes. He turned to go before he stopped, and looked back at his friend.

“Happy birthday, pal.”

Tony snorted. “Cheers, Spangles.”

Tony watched Steve walk out of the lab, before he glanced back at the destroyed robot.

“Mr Stark... Miss Potts is awake...”

“Ahh shit.” Tony groaned. “How much trouble am I in?”

“I don’t think a Roman Legion would protect you.” JARVIS replied and Tony stilled, a huge grin spreading across his face.

“Iron Legion.” He tossed the screwdriver up in the air and caught it, chuckling. “JARVIS, you are a genius.”

“Why thank you, sir. And now I really must insist you go to bed.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m going. Lock everything down will you? Oh, and order us all breakfast from the diner on the corner of fifth.”

“Of course. The usual?”

“Yeah. Have it delivered about 10:30. Should be enough to calm Kiddo down.”

“Very wise Sir. I’ll ensure there’s extra bacon, just in case.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t love extra bacon?”

[maxineswritingcenter]

You Saved Me - Derek Hale x fem!reader part 6

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

To say that I was doing well after I left Derek’s house would be a lie. I really don’t understand why it hurts so much. We barely knew each other outside of a few encounters. Was it just me that felt the aching in my chest? I want to believe that he felt the same thing, but that seemed selfish. That I wanted him to miss me. That I dreamed of him showing up at my window and begging to see me. But that wouldn’t be real, that was a fantasy. Derek would never act like that. That was just my fantasy. 

I promised Stiles I wouldn’t get romantically involved with Derek, but it was more painful than I have ever imagined. 

-

I sat in Coach Finstock’s office while the school day went on. Relacing the netting on the crosses that were used in case any of the players broke their own. The repetitive movements were mind numbing so it was probably for the best. I could zone out and not think about Derek. 

Tonight was parent teacher conferences for some students who weren’t doing well academically, both Scott and Stiles were a part of that list. But who could blame them? One of them was a werewolf and the other was friends with the aforementioned werewolf. The weeks seemed to run together, it didn’t even feel like autumn yet, but we were halfway to winter. 

I had stayed away like I promised. The only times I even heard about Derek was from what Scott told Stiles. They were both planning on finding the alpha and taking him down together. That would be good for him. Good for both of them. I have been feeling so many emotions since then. A lot of anxiety and anger. But they never felt like my own. I sighed and rested my eyes for a minute, the repeated movements slowing my brain down enough to sleep on Coach’s desk. 

The man in front of me was badly burned, one side of his face was pink and muddled, much of his hair was burned on that side. 

“I need your help.” Derek’s voice echoed, “If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything. Just… Just something to point me in the right direction, okay?” The man, his Uncle Peter, stayed in the same position. 

He sighed, “Someone killed Laura. Your niece, Laura? Whoever he is, he’s an Alpha now… but he’s one without a pack, which means he’s not as strong. I can take him. But, I have to find him first.” Still no response. 

“Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Did someone else make it out of the fire?” 

Still getting no response, he became agitated, “Just give me anything! Blink! Raise a finger! Anything!” He growled, reaching for the man, “SAY SOMETHING”!

“Hey.” I jolted at the sound of Finstock’s voice. He stood in the doorway of his office. 

“You alright, kid?” He asked, his eyes went from my face to the crosse that I was aggressively fixing the net on. What was that? Was I… seeing what Derek was seeing? No, that was impossible. Insane even. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” I went back to relacing, tugging the knots taut and reaching for a lighter to burn the ends of the string so they wouldn’t unravel. 

“Do I need to kick his ass?” He asked, his large eyes looking a little more crazy than usual. He was trying to seem threatening, but I wasn’t threatened by his booming voice and looks anymore. He was alluding to someone not treating me right but it couldn’t be further from the truth. 

I chuckled a little, “No. It’s not his fault. He’s going through a lot right now.” I stood up and placed the crosse in the spare locker with the rest of them, “Besides, I probably shouldn’t be dating considering the last guy I was dating murdered my parents and tried to murder me.” The humor was dark, but what a way to cope. 

“Any news on that guy?” He stood up straight, walking to his desk. 

“Nope. I think he skipped town. He’s the feds' problem now.” 

“Does Stiles want to be a doctor?” He changed the subject, he was looking at a paper in his hand. 

“Uh… Not that I know of.” I shrugged. 

“Because he wrote a detailed history of male circumcision on his economics test.”

-

I got out late, well past the time the student teacher meetings were over. Filing records, grading a couple things for Finstock and ordering more pearls for the upcoming games since we were running low. These days really run together, especially when you’re trying to forget most of the year that happens. 

Speaking of happening, was I really seeing the same thing Derek could? It didn’t make sense. They were just random dreams. Like the one the other day where Derek was speaking to this woman about how she didn’t kill his sister. That was just a dream. But… Why could I feel sadness? Sadness, guilt and pain.

I got home, seeing that Stiles’ Jeep was nowhere in sight meaning that he was off to do more werewolf nonsense with Scott. I trusted Scott to keep him safe, but that didn’t mean I wanted Stiles running around where there was an alpha on the loose. 

That night I made dinner, ate, saved two plates for Uncle Noah and Stiles and sat in the living room. They were running a story on another body that had been found. A bus driver killed in an animal attack. They were calling it a mountain lion. A mountain lion was more likely than a werewolf normally. But here we are. Officially werewolf capital of the world. I turned off the TV and laid back on the cushions, closing my eyes. Maybe a couch nap would relax me a little, it would kill my back in the morning, but I would be able to tell when Stiles came home. 

Scott and Stiles were walking towards me across the school lawn, playfully pushing each other. 

“I’m gonna kill both of you.” Derek’s voice said, “What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?” He was frustrated and angry, but also a little scared. Finding the alpha is what he needed to do, at the same time though, this person got the jump on Laura. 

“Sorry…I didn’t know it would be that loud…” Scott said sheepishly. 

“Yeah, it was loud… And it was awesome!” Stiles cheered. 

“Shut up.” Derek barked.

“Don’t be such a sour wolf.” Stiles mocked. 

“What’d you do with him?” Scott asked, looking around me. 

“What?” Derek asked, I turned to see an empty backseat, “I didn’t do anything…” I saw Scott and Stiles’ eyes widen as pain exploded through my back. Blood gushed from my mouth as I was lifted up. I was coughing and choking on my own blood. Pain and fear were running through me, my heart pumping so quickly causing more and more blood to gush from my mouth. The last thing I saw was the world rushing by me as I was thrown towards the school wall. 

I woke up before I made impact. My heart was racing and my back ached. I reached behind myself awkwardly. The only thing I felt was the raised bumpy scar from my stab wound. So it was just a dream, but it felt so real. So…Was it real? Did I just experience Derek…

I looked up at the clock and saw it was well into the early morning. I got up and made my way upstairs, Stiles’ door was slightly open and there was still light inside. I just went in, panic already starting to build in my chest. Stiles was sitting at his computer, he turned and looked up. He looked like he had a long night. 

“Stiles, is…” I swallowed thickly, “Is Derek d-…Dead?” My lip was trembling. He opened his mouth to answer then closed it.  He avoided my eyes. 

“I really don’t know.” He explained what happened at the school that night. How the alpha attacked them and chased them around the school and that when they got out, Derek’s body was gone. 

“I don’t know if he crawled off somewhere or if the alpha dragged him away before the cops showed up. But I’m pretty sure I won’t have to go back to school until Monday. We tried to blow the alpha up. And we also kinda blamed Derek for it.” 

I shook my head and chuckled, “Nice. Throwing a dead man under the bus, after all he’s done for me.” 

“It wasn’t my idea!” He shouted in a hushed tone, “We thought he was dead for sure. But now I don’t know. Besides, we couldn’t give up the big secret to a hunter’s daughter, a dick, and Lydia who has been through enough already.” I nodded and left the room. He called after me but I couldn’t be in the room anymore. Just… they could have blamed anyone. A rabid animal even, but they were blaming Derek. I closed the door and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until I met the floor. My chest felt tight and I wanted to cry. I had cried so much lately I didn’t know if I could. My emotions were running so high and it was so confusing? Why was everything so different? 

-

It was Monday morning and tonight was another full moon, meaning Scott was jumpy and could turn at any moment. The night before they had gone off to “hang” but Stiles was really bad at hiding the alcohol he had taken to get drunk with Scott. 

I was eating cereal at the kitchen table when Stiles came down. He was groaning and definitely hungover. 

“Booze doesn’t pay, does it?” I smiled. 

“You’re more chipper than usual.” He grimaced a bit, holding his head. 

“Not chipper, just really good at fakin’ it.” I went in for another spoonful. He looked away, hearing Uncle Noah coming through the kitchen on his phone. 

“We are watching his family’s house. Maybe he’ll wind up there?” Uncle Noah looked up, seeing Stiles, “Give me a second.”

“Don’t you have a test to get to?” He asked. 

“What’s going on? Did you find Derek yet?” Stiles asked, more pep in his voice. 

“I’m working on it. You go take your test.” He said firmly. 

“All right, Dad, listen to me-” Stiles stood up.

“Go!” He shouted, I had never heard him shout before. 

“This is really important! You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight.”

“Stiles, I’m always careful.”

“Dad, you’ve never dealt with this kind of thing before, okay? At least, not like this.”

“I know. Which is why I brought in people who have. State detective. Go take your test.” Stiles grumbled but grabbed his book bag and left the house. Uncle Noah sighed and went back to his phone call as he followed Stiles out the door. 

-

Later on in the day, Stiles texted me. He probably shouldn’t be, especially with his test. 

STILES: Scott had a panic attack about Allison. He said he might kill someone.

I sighed, my thumbs dancing over the phone screen. 

(Y/N): Then we’ll chain him up so he can’t get out. I’ll pick up some chains at the hardware store.

-

After a stop at the hardware store, I got to the lacrosse fields where Coach Finstock was looking over a list. 

“How’s the pink-eye epidemic?” I asked. He rolled his eyes. 

“Real good, half of my players had to go on the bench. Goddammit, Greenberg.” I looked over the list. 

“Who’s Bilinski?” I squinted at his sloppy writing. 

“That one.” He pointed his pen towards Stiles. 

“You put Stiles on the first line?” I smiled, perhaps my subtle hints had worked. 

“Yeah, and we made McCall co-captain.” 

I blew air out of my mouth, “I’m sure Jackson shit a brick.” 

He shook his head, “Yeah, he’s not taking it well.”  I shrugged and made my way over to the bench where Scott and Stiles were in the middle of a conversation. I didn’t join, just listened in. 

“Yeah, she likes you. She’s totally into you.” Scott smirked. Stiles grinned, clearly excited. The She in this scenario could be none other than Lydia Martin. But there was something about Scott’s tone that threw me off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lydia making her way to her seat in the bleachers, pulling out a compact mirror and fixing her lipstick. I didn’t want to believe that Scott would do that to his friend, but the facts were pointing towards it. 

Practice seemed to be going well, that is until Scott got pushed over during a practice run. I could practically feel his anger from across the field. 

“All right, you’re up, big boy! Let’s go!” Coach called. Scott retaliated this by knocking into another player, and sending him hard on his back. I winced, intaking a breath through my teeth. 

“That’s it, McCall! That’s the spirit! You earn it! Earn it, McCall!” Coach grinned. Maybe this is why we had so many players on the bench. Coach could see victory when Scott played. It was Stiles' turn on the offensive against Scott. With the full moon so close, I don’t think their friendship would do Stiles any favors, he shoved Stiles away just as hard and fast as the other player. Each time he got a goal. The next player, Danny, also was a victim of werewolf rage since Scott hit him in the face, sending him to the ground. I grabbed Coach’s whistle and blew it, calling for the play to pause. 

I jogged up to Danny and knelt down, some other players surrounded as well. 

“Danny, can you hear me?” He nodded slowly, holding his bleeding nose. I stood up, “Take him to the bench guys.” I walked back over to Stiles and Scott. 

“Everybody likes Danny. Now everybody’s gonna hate you.” 

“I don’t care.” Scott said smugly. Stiles shook his head and went back to the benches. 

“What the hell is your problem? You make co-captain and it goes to your head.” I shoved his shoulder. He breathed out, his eyes glowed yellow 

“You don’t want to mess with me right now.” 

I narrowed my eyes, “Is that a threat?” He smirked, his eyes going up and down my body. 

“It could be.” I looked at him in disgust. 

“First Lydia and now me? You’re a really shitty friend, Scott.” I made my way back to Stiles who was staring back at the bleachers. Jackson and Lydia were talking. 

“He did it.” He whispered. I squeezed his arm lightly. It was going to be a long night.

-

That night, Stiles and I went to the McCall’s house to get prepared for the full moon. Stiles carried a duffle bag to the best of his ability, even though it had the steel chains  and locks I had bought. One of the only reasons I came was so if I needed to I could get him out quickly. The other was because I didn’t know how he would react to the situation with Lydia. Stiles unlocked the door and went inside. Did Mrs. McCall know he had a key?“

Scott?” We heard her call. Mrs. McCall turned the corner and saw us in the hallway. She was in her scrubs, probably going in for a late night shift.

“Stiles.”

“And (Y/N).” I waved.

“Ah.” Her eyes went to Stiles' hand, she pointed, “Key.”

“Oh, yeah, I had one made.” Well, that answers that question. 

“That doesn’t surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn’t surprise me” And then, like a buffoon, Stiles dropped the duffel bag with a heavy thud. 

“What is that?”

“Uh, school project.” He lied. Mrs. McCall, who either believed the lie or just wanted to change the subject, asked: “He’s okay, right?” 

“Who, Scott? Yeah, totally.” Stiles lied.

“He just doesn’t talk to me, not much anymore. Not like he used to.” She said somberly. I could only imagine that’s how my mom felt when I went into high school and into a phase where parents were uncool. 

“Well, he had a bit of a rough week.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Yeah. Um, okay. Uh, be careful tonight.” 

“You, too.”

“Full moon.” She looked out the window. Stiles and I stiffened. 

“What?”

“There’s a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nutjobs.” 

“Oh.” He breathed out, both of our shoulders dropped.

“Yeah…” She said awkwardly. 

“Right…”

“You know, it’s, um, actually where they came up with the word "lunatic.”

-

We opened the door to Scott’s room. Stiles dropped the duffel and turned on the lights. We both jumped when we saw Scott sitting in his computer chair. 

“Oh my god.” I put a hand on my chest, trying to catch my breath. 

“Dude, you scared the hell out of us. Your mom said you weren’t home.”

“I came in through the window.” he said blankly. Stiles and I shared a glance. 

“Okay, um, let’s get this set up.” Stiles bent down to get into the duffel bag that was near the radiator, “(Y/N) got the heavy duty stuff.” I kept my distance from Scott, staying right by the door, ready to grab Stiles and book it. 

“I’m fine,” Scott said, causing us both to stare, “I’m just gonna lock the door and turn in early.” We all knew a door wouldn’t stop him, he had other plans in mind. 

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked, “Cause you got this kinda serial killer look goin’ on in your eyes. I’m hopin’ it’s the full moon taking effect cause it’s starting to freak me out.” 

“I’m fine.” Scott repeated, “You should both go home.” 

“Alright, we’ll leave.” He stood up then stopped, clearly trying to put his back up plan into motion, ‘Well would you at least look in the bag and see what we bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don’t.”

“Just in case you’re feeling a little anxious.” I smiled. Scott got up and walked to the duffel bag. He bent down and pulled out the thick, metal chains. 

“You’re thinking I would put these on? Chain me up like a dog?” He snarled and dropped the chains. 

“Actually, no.” Stiles quickly pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and slapped him on Scott’s wrist, chaining him to the heater. I grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away when Scott lunged. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Scott growled. 

“Protecting you from yourself.” Stiles sighed and glared, “And giving you payback. For making out with Lydia.” And there it was. Maybe I should have checked the bag for other items he bought. He went downstairs, leaving me and Scott in the bedroom. 

“(Y/N), uncuff me!” He struggled. 

I shook my head, “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t have the key.” 

He lunged and growled, causing me to jump. I looked away, embarrassed that I was showing him that I was afraid. But I was afraid. I’ve known this kid practically his entire life and he was turning into a completely different and dangerous person. 

“You like that? Hmm?” He hummed suggestively. I shook my head, talking to him was probably going to just make things worse. Thankfully, Stiles had come back…with a dog bowl.

“I brought you some water.” He said, pouring water from a bottle into the bowl and setting it down in front of Scott.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU” Scott roared and threw the bowl at Stiles.

“Stiles…” I whispered. The situation was getting dangerous. 

“You kissed her, Scott! Okay? You kissed Lydia. And that’s my…The one girl that I have-'' Stiles shook his head, “You know, for the past three hours, I’ve been thinking it’s probably just the full moon, you know? He doesn’t even know what he’s doing and tomorrow he’ll be back to normal. He probably won’t even remember what a complete dumbass he’s been. A son of a bitch. A frickin’ unbelievable piece of crap friend.”

“She kissed me.” Scott interrupted. 

“What?” Stiles looked so betrayed. 

Scott grinned menacingly, “I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.” Stiles glared and walked out of the room, I followed behind. 

“She had her hands all over me, she would have done anything I wanted! ANYTHING!” Scott’s voice rang through the house. Stiles paced back and forth outside the door. 

“Stiles?” Scott called through the door, “Please let me out. It’s the full moon, I swear! You know I wouldn’t do any of this on purpose. Stiles, let me out. This is starting to hurt. You said it, Stiles, it’s the full moon. It’s Allison breaking up with me. It’s not just a break, she broke up with me. It’s killing me! I’m feeling hopeless. Just let me out.” Stiles paused, looking towards the door. I looked him in the eye, shaking my head. 

“He’s just trying to make you feel bad.” 

Stiles nodded, “I can’t.” He called. 

“No! No no no!” Scott shouted, followed by screaming. And then silence. Stiles opened the door, Scott was gone. Only broken handcuffs remained. I grabbed a set of chains and started going downstairs. 

“Stiles, stay here.” 

“(Y/N)!” He called, grabbing my arm before I went out the door. 

“Stay put.” I glared, shutting the door behind me. Scott was a sweet kid normally. But if I needed to keep Stiles safe and if that meant knocking out a couple of his teeth then I would. I went around back to his window and followed the path of broken grass into the woods. I gripped onto the chains tightly, ready to swing if I needed to. My plan had been to knock him out and chain him to a tree. Not sure how well that would work though. 

I stopped in a clearing, having lost the trail. Behind me a twig snapped. I’ve always been an act first, ask questions later in these situations. I swung the chain, cracking Scott across the face. My eyes widened at the state of him. Like Derek, he had coarse hair growing down his cheeks, the bridge of his nose was scrunched up and appeared more animal like, his brow bone protruded. His jawline though? Still weird. 

Scott’s head had swung to the side with the chain, he looked back slowly, and glared as he spit blood onto the ground. The scrape on his cheek healed almost immediately. 

Ha ha, I’m in danger.

“Scott.” I said cautiously, taking a slow step back, “You know me. I’m your friend.” He wasn’t moving closer, but he also hadn’t stopped looking at me with his glowing yellow eyes like I was food. 

“So, uh, you blow off your steam. Do some running, clear your head, that good stuff. And I will see you tomorrow. Okay?” I smiled nervously, he didn’t answer, “Okay.” Now it was time to run since I had gotten myself a decent head start. I turned and ran, hearing a roar and footsteps behind me. I threw the chains back over my head, hoping to trip him or hit him in the head. That didn’t seem to do much since he didn’t slow down. 

All at once I was body slammed to the ground and turned on my back. Scott was sitting on top of me, leaning down he roared loudly in my face. His large pointed canines shone in the moonlight. 

I screamed, shoving and kicking at him, “SCOTT! SCOTT PLEASE!” He thrusted a clawed hand down towards my chest that I barely caught. He seemed slightly confused, but pushed down. I whined, using everything I had keeping his sharp claws from my chest. I couldn’t even breathe.

“Scott, please don’t hurt me.” I begged through my teeth. He roared again, raising his other arm to strike when something flashed across my vision. Whatever it was, it knocked Scott off of me. I gasped for air, my lungs and  muscles were screaming at me. The two began to fight, growling and snarling. I sat up, scrambling to get out of the direction of the brawl. I couldn’t see much in the dark since the clouds had covered the moon, but whoever it was got Scott on the ground, roaring down at him. The other stood up straight just as the moon’s light peaked through. And there stood Derek Hale - tall, proud, and very much alive.

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

Read part 7 here!

Oh boy, who could have seen that coming? Anyone who’s seen season 1, that’s who. 

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yIt's done. It took me waaaay to long to write this piece out but between June and my computer apparently deciding to kick me in the teeth this month, the fact I made it to 5 full squares completed anyways I will gladly take as a victory! And, just fyi, this WILL be the last piece for this month. I know that there is still another four days left of June, but I am sick and tired of dealing with my keyboard so this is the last fic you're gonna see from me until I get a new laptop hopefully fairly soon. (Unless I decide that I'm desperate enough to try and write things out on my tablet of course...)

Anyways, the First Date trope was specifically requested by @jesus-hotsauce-christmas-cake when I let her know that the one she did guess (road trip) was going to be a second chapter of a twoshot. Which you still might get because I'm very likely going to be sharing the short little summary blurbs I had written down for each trope so people can very easily bully me into writing them anyways if people still wanted to read them. And even though it would be like months and months late, still post them under this bingo board because I can and I had a cool idea for what I was doing with the colours and layout before life decided to say 'NO!' in a very firm voice. (Unless of course the three lovely ladies that came up with this idea in the first place say no obviously)

Rambling over though now I promise. Chocolate Covered Confessions can be read over and AO3 of course, with the full fic also under the readmore as well.

Chocolate Covered Confessions

Trope: First Date Fandom: Until Dawn Characters: Ashley Brown, Chris Hartley Words: 8214 Rating: General (though reader beware there is some almost scandalous hand holding and a couple of scandalously public kisses. You have been warned...) Authors Notes: Oh look, more chrashley fluff. Who da thunk it? Pride month? What pride month? This is just me apparently figuring out how many different ways I can get Chris and Ash to confess their feelings. Because you only read like three of them, I still have another two waiting in the wings. Plus at least three others if you count climbing chrash lol.

Something was...weird. It wasn't something that Ashley could put her finger on just yet, but something was definitely off that was for sure. The problem of course was that she didn't even know where to start looking in the first place, because for the most part her day had been extraordinarily ordinary.

She, Chris, and Josh had planned to go and see a movie Saturday morning a few days back and then hang out the rest of the day. But seeing as they were, you know, best friends that certainly wasn't the issue. Not even close. They always made plans to do stuff like that together. And yeah, okay, so maybe Josh had 'coincidentally' texted them just before the movie started to let them know that something unavoidable had come up and he wasn't going to be able to meet up with them. And when her and Chris had brought up just waiting until a later showing when he was free, he had immediately been quick to affirm that nope, he was going to be busy the whole rest of the day actually. So the two of them could continue with their original plans and they could make it up to him another time.

While certainly suspicious, that wasn't what was wrong though. Josh had been flaking out on their plans more and more, especially when it was plans that took up an entire day. Ashley Brown wasn't stupid. No siree Bob she was not! She knew exactly what Josh was trying to do by leaving her to spend the day with Chris. Alone . And she appreciated it (she really did!), but if Chris was going to make a move then he would have done it ages and ages ago, because she sure as hell wasn't going to do it! Ashley Brown wasn't stupid, but she also wasn't exactly what you would call brave either.

Not that Chris had seemed to notice what Josh was pulling though, he had just sighed and rolled his eyes with a grumbled "fucking typical", and then the two of them had entered the theater to watch the movie. And as per their usual shtick when Josh wasn't there with them, Chris paid for the tickets while she paid for the food and drinks. Or, at least, that was how it normally went. Instead, when she had decided to take a run to the bathroom while he held their spot in the long concession line, she had come back to Chris waiting for her with the pop and popcorn already in hand. After brushing off her flustered apologies, he had explained that shortly after she had left, another cashier had popped on till so the line had gone down in half the time either had expected. And it seemed like a dick move to just wait there until she came back so he had just decided to get the food instead.

She still felt a little guilty about it honestly, even after swearing that she would get both the tickets and food next time.

And, to be completely fair to Josh, he hadn't exactly been missing out on a lot by skipping out on the movie. It wasn't a horror flick (he would never even think of skipping out on that after all) so it wasn't one that he would feel the need to make the two of them watch again with him. Which was more than fine honestly, because if she was to describe the movie in a single word, well, that word would definitely have been 'dreadful'. If she was given a few more words, then she would have easily elaborated and stated that it was 'a boring, plot-hole driven mess, with only extremely over-the-top action scenes and explosions every five minutes to carry any semblance of the extremely loosely written plot'. In other words, she had lost interest in the movie barely half an hour in, and considering that Chris had started scrolling through his phone bored, she wasn't alone in this boat either.

Still, Ashley had resolved herself to sit through this over-budgeted explosion fest if only because movie tickets were horribly expensive. Not to mention the fact that Chris had shelled out money for both the movie and the food. But then he had turned to her, asked if she was as bored to tears as he was, and once he got that confirmation, asked if she wanted to just ditch the movie entirely. And she did—she really, really did—but didn't want Chris to waste the money he had spent more. And then yet another explosion...exploded on screen, and she realized that she was wasting precious hours of her life that could be used to do something more fun and less mind-numbingly boring.

Like watching paint dry. That at least had a semi-cohesive plot.

And so the two of them had walked out, continuing to share the extra buttered popcorn between them (the movie may have been awful, but the popcorn certainly wasn't) as they left the movie theater behind and wandered into the nearby mall. That wasn't the strange thing either. The mall and subsequent window shopping had absolutely been part of their day plans after, even if those had been unexpectedly pushed forward a couple of hours.

Admittedly the art show that the mall was running in one of the empty storefronts was unexpected, but  it had been simply a nice surprise and a great way to kill time. So after paying the $2 entrance fee, the two of them had continued to share the popcorn as they looked at some of the paintings and sculptures that had been on display, giggling childishly at most of them. And okay, so one of the curators had been glaring at them( or rather, at their greasy, butter-covered fingers) the whole time, but that had just been a little rude and insulting. Not strange. And that had stopped almost the moment they had run out of popcorn, Ashley nudging him in the stomach with her elbow as she licked her fingers clean, and the two of them laughing under their breaths at the curator who had looked exceptionally much more at ease once Chris had crumpled the empty bag into a ball.

The rest of their day in the mall had just been spent following the rest of their day's plan, wandering from shop to shop and browsing at all the things that caught their eyes, and then taking a break after a few hours to have a late lunch in the food court. The two of them checked out another couple of stores, these ones to try and get some ideas for Josh's birthday in another month, before moving onto the small arcade on the top floor. As part of their deal and agreement since it had just been Josh and Chris (Ashey not joining the duo until five years later), Chris bought the tokens needed while she scouted out the various games for an empty console and claimed it until he could join her in another couple of minutes.

They spent the next hour in there, trying to beat each other or work together depending on the game in question. They almost never played a game twice before moving onto the next one, in hopes to both try as many games as possible before their self imposed hour ended and to see if they could beat their previous high scores or make it onto the leaderboard in only a single try. But as the hour came to a close, they both made their way over to their final game: one of the racing simulators scattered around the arcade. And as had been done for ten years now, played to determine which of them would be paying for the tokens next time they came.

And once the race ended, with Ashley winning by photo finish for the third time in a row (and celebrating her winning streak by maturely sticking out her tongue and doing an awkward little shimmy dance in the seat while Chris jokingly sulked and pouted), they had finally left the mall altogether and got into Chris's truck. There, he had surprised Ashley with the novel she had been eyeing in the bookstore (or at least, eyeing closer than all the rest she had picked up) and that he had somehow been able to buy without her noticing. And that certainly hadn't been weird, because it had been so exceptionally sweet of him, sweet enough that Ashley had so badly wished that she could thank him properly. But as mentioned before, Ashley Brown was a coward pure and simple, so she had just clutched the book to her chest and beamed at Chris in heartfelt thanks instead.

He may have said something in reply, but Ashley had already settled into the passenger seat and opened to the first page of the book, so she was already long gone. A fact that Chris had anticipated, if the light chuckle he had let out before starting the truck meant anything. And no, Ashley reading a book while Chris drove them to their usual game store across town was not the strange thing either. If Chris hadn't wanted her to read on the drive over and talk to him, then he never would have given her the book now of all times. He would have waited until he had dropped her off home, or not even bought the book in the first place. After over a half a decade of friendship, if anyone knew what would happen after giving Ashley Brown a new book, it was Chris Hartley.

The drive over is done quicker then she had expected, and even then Chris still hadn't let her know that they had arrived until she had finished her chapter. Yes he had certainly teased her about it the entire time, joking about how she would never find someone as understanding of her reading habits then him (he didn't know how right he was, that she didn't want to find anyone else), but the fact that he had just continued to let the music play in the truck and distracted himself on his phone was so unbearably sweet that she decided to let it lie.

The fact that Ashley and Chris hung around in the game shop comparing dice and looking at new books while wincing over the prices for nearly two hours wasn't what was off either. Hell, if anything the fact that they only spent a couple of hours there before leaving was weird! Her, Chris, and Josh could easily spend almost half a day in there flipping through comics and rolling dice to test them out, only leaving because a tired employee was forced to ask them to leave for making too much noise and taking up a table when they weren't playing anything, especially when there was a group that had been waiting for a table for close to an hour now.

Which brought Ashley to where she was right now, sitting at a sticky plastic table under the shade of a cheap umbrella while Chris had run off to get them some ice cream before dropping her off at home. Her new book was open in front of her, the pages crisp white even in the umbrella's shade, but her mind wasn't on the book anymore. A random line had a character mentioning that something had been feeling off all day ever since they woke up ('like everything had been moved three centimeters to the left, so while it all looked normal, nothing felt right anymore'), and Ashley had also realized that hey, wait a second, her day was also feeling just a little wonky too! But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. Today had just been a normal day hanging out with Chris after all. They went to see (and bailed) a movie, spent hours hanging out in the mall and at the game store, and now they were each going back home. Nothing unusual had happened, so why did it feel like something hugely monumental had been going on all day?

"Oi. Earth to Ash, you okay in there?"

A light flick to the center of Ashley's forehead has her blink in surprise, and she finds herself back into the present once again. Chris is standing next to her, carefully balancing the two cones in his right hand and his left ready to flick again if needed, and a bemused smile on his face.

"Oh, uh, sorry Chris. Got a little too into the book I think." She closes the book, not wanting to get melting ice cream all over its crisp white pages (and she really hasn't absorbed a single word for nearly ten minutes now), but Chris doesn't hand her the cone just yet.

"Yeah, I'm not buying that," Chris says as he snorts in disbelief. "I know your 'praise be to books' look, and that was not it. That was your 'head full, too many thoughts' look."

"Excuse me? What? I do not have a reading look! Or a thinking look for that matter!"

"Oh you do. You really, really do. Trust me. You may have been staring at that book but there was no way that you were reading, I would bet my own ice cream here on it." Chris brandishes his double chocolate cone at her, then seems to reconsider and switches to show off her own dipped soft serve that he still has yet to actually let her eat. "Actually, you know what? I would eat your dipped monstrosity if I'm wrong."

Ashley sighs, but she can't keep the smile from her face. "It's not that bad this time, oh my god. It's chocolate ice cream dipped in blueberry syrup. This is actually a normal combination for people who go out of their way to order more exciting cones then two scoops of chocolate." She leans forward and places her elbows on the table to support her head in her hands. "But I wanna see you do it anyway, so tell me exactly why you're so convinced that I wasn't reading."

Chris opens his mouth, but immediately closes it a second later, as though he didn't realize exactly what he had signed himself up for here until now. Ashley of course takes it as a sign of victory. "I knew it. So let's see this Chris, I wanna see you eat something that isn't—"

"When you read you get, like, super attentive." Chris's face is pink, and not looking at her but at the book on the table as he bashfully continues. "You become so drawn in to whatever you're reading that you ignore everything going on around you, because all of your attention is now on that book. Pretty sure a bomb could go off right next to you and you wouldn't even notice sometimes. And it's always so easy to tell what's happening in the book when you're reading too, cause your face is always so expressive. Like your eyes get big when something exciting or surprising happens, and when you're really enjoying whatever it is you're reading, you start giggling like a loon."

Ashley is too stunned and, quite frankly, her heart is beating too fast for her to even think of a proper response to that . She manages to squeak out a quiet little "oh, um" but Chris doesn't notice. Not when he's still babbling and not looking at her at all.

"But when you get deep in thought, you're not like that at all. All of your attention goes inward, and everything around you disappears cause all the important stuff is going on inside your head right now. Your mouth falls open just a little, sort of like you're gaping at all the information in front of you. And-and sometimes you'll mouth out what's going on inside your head as you try to fit the pieces of everything together so it's neat and tidy like a puzzle. And even though you have the, like, blankest stare imaginable, it's not empty at all if that makes any sense. Cause your eyes narrow and your forehead scrunches just the tiniest amount so you have a small little wrinkle form like right here—" with his unoccupied hand Chris points at the bridge of his nose right between his eyes "—and it's weirdly, insanely cute? But when you finally figure out the puzzle in your head, your face lights up like a kid on christmas morning and...and..." He lets his words trail off and stops awkwardly there, as though finally realizing exactly what he's been saying this entire time.

His face is almost beet red now, and Ashley is pretty sure hers is too. "Oh, uh, wow. I-I didn't realize you paid any attention to me when I was like that..."

Somehow his face only gets redder, and though he mumbles the words under his breath, Ashley can still make them out. "I'm always paying attention to you."

But not close enough attention it seems, she thinks sadly. If you did then you would have noticed something way more obvious than that. But she doesn't want to embarrass him anymore than he already is (then she already is), and she isn't sure what else she could possibly say that wouldn't be her blurting out that she likes him, so instead she pretends that she hadn't heard a single thing and wordlessly accepts the ice cream that he hands to her, accepting her defeat as she takes a small bite of the blueberry covered chocolate soft serve.

...The blueberry covered chocolate soft serve that he had bought for her. Or, you know, the ice cream he had paid for himself. Just like he had paid for everything today. Kind of like it was almost a, uh, date. Like he had taken her on a date.

Oh .

"Oh boy, let me guess: I was right and your ice cream really is a crime against taste buds?"

Ashley comes crashing back down to reality to see Chris, his face still a little red but the playful smile back on his face as he teased her. And yet, that only makes it worse as she can't help but feel the usual gymnastics routine the butterflies in her stomach perform at that particular smile, only they're a thousand times worse now that's she's realized exactly why today had felt so strange. And she can't help thinking how much everyone else would classify what was just a day hanging out with her best friend as a date. And how much she really, really wished it was one.

"Nope," she unfortunately squeaks out, and clears her throat so she can continue in a more normal tone of voice. "Nope, sorry to disappoint Chris, but the ice cream tastes fine." She takes another bite for proof (and to her credit she's not lying, it tastes more than fine). "Just, uh, realized something funny that's all." And the moment the words leave her mouth she realizes just how badly she's screwed everything up, because there is no way in any world that Chris Hartley is just going to let that comment lie.

"Funny? Oho, well now I'm interested. You mind sharing your glorious epiphany with the rest of the class Miss Brown?"

Taking another small taste of her ice cream, Ashley averts her gaze as she gives what she is kicking herself for is obviously an extremely forced laugh. "Did I say funny? I meant boring, just super boring actually."

"Well now I just want to hear it more."

"No, you don't. Trust me, you really, really don't."

Chris's brows furrow in concern. "Ash? You okay?"

She isn't, of course she isn't. She's now realized exactly what a date with Chris would be like, and it would be exactly like this. With them going to all the same place and doing the same things but she's allowed to hold his hand and kiss him when he does stupid sweet things like buying her the book she's been eyeing and talking about all day. She's never wanted something to be so true so badly in her life. And it's likely this thought in her mind that causes her to blurt out "A date." before she even realizes what she's said.

That only makes the confusion on Chris's face go deeper, which is appropriate considering she's sinking deeper and deeper into her chair in a futile effort to hide or escape as well. "What? Are you saying that you just remember what date it is today? Or that you had something you were supposed to do today instead? I'm not really following you right now Ash..."

This is perfect. It's the perfect excuse, she could laugh and say that she totally forgot what day it was and that she had an essay due pretty soon, or that she was supposed to babysit for a neighbour tonight. Anything really, the sky was quite literally the limit. And instead she just bit her lip and stared at the ice cream melting in her hand before weakly admitting "No, a, uh, date. As in, the romantic kind. I realized that today probably looks like a date to anyone else. Funny, huh?"

She's not sure how Chris would react to that. Maybe a startled laugh, and hand wave as he brushes her off. A scoff as he assures her that this definitely isn't a date, cause they're just friends and that's all they'll ever be. Whatever the reaction she expected, it was certainly not the fumbling for his ice cream as he nearly drops it in his shock, and how absolutely flustered he sounds as he trips over his own tongue. "W-what? I-I-I, uh—I mean, th-this obviously isn't—Who would even—? Wh-what would even give you the idea that we could um, possibly be on a date?"

Ashley shrugs weakly. "Isn't it obvious Chris?" She ignores his even more flustered babbling that no, he absolutely did not see what was so obvious as she continued on, still too nervous to look him in the eyes. "You've kind of paid for everything today."

"I wha—? I mean, no I haven't!"

"You kind of have, Chris. The theater?"

"You know I always pay for the tickets, and it would have just been really rude to make the line even longer!"

"The art show?"

"It was just a couple of toonies! And you saw the face of the worker there, they would have kicked us right out if they'd had to break a twenty. It was just easier."

"Lunch?"

"They-they'd had a special on for a two-person meal at that stall in the food court, and they wouldn't let each of us pay half..." he neglected to point out that Ashley could have easily paid for their lunch, and probably should have, but before she had been able to offer he'd already been swiping his debit card.

"The arcade?"

"Okay, that was my turn to buy the tokens, you know that. That one doesn't even count."

Ashley lifted her eyes from the ice cream to the book that sat menacingly and innocently all at one at the center of the table, it's pristine cover mocking her. "The book?"

"T-that was just a gift! You seemed really into it at the store and friends buy each other gifts all the time—"

There was no describing how soft and nervous her voice got as she asked the question that would put the final nail in the coffin. "The ice cream?"

"I, uh, it was just—um..." Chris let out a breath in a weak chuckle. "Shit, I guess I kind of did, huh?"

Ashley doesn't say anything, and neither does Chris, as the table goes silent. She's bracing herself  for when Chris inevitably shoots her down and confirms that it doesn't matter. That the two of them will never be anything more then friends and that she never should have hoped for anything more and by revealing this she's ruined their friendship for good—

"Hey, uh, Ash?" He sounds so nervous that it immediately takes Ashley out of her anxiety driven thoughts of doom and gloom, but she can't do anything more than just shakily nod to let him continue. "It's, uh, probably like a really, really, really stupid question but—" he takes a nervous breath "—did you want this to be a date?"

Her head immediately shoots up as she stares at him with wide eyes, her breath caught somewhere in her throat where her heart is currently lodged. She frantically rakes her eyes over Chris's face looking for any hint that he's mocking her, or playing some cruel joke on her and her feelings, but all she sees is just nervousness all over a pale, shaking face with what she thinks ( prays ) is a glimmer of undisguised hope. But it's still too much uncertainty, and she's too scared to risk it all on a mere glimmer that she is likely only imagining because she wants it so badly to be real, so she throws the question back at him instead.

"...would you have been opposed if this was actually a date?"

"Nuh uh, I asked you first."

Ashley realizes that he's just as scared at what the answer might be as she is. She wants to tell him, has wanted to tell him for years and years and years. And maybe this is the chance she's been waiting for her whole life. The two of them sitting at a sticky plastic table under the early evening sun, long forgotten ice cream melting in their hands, and she can finally tell him that she's had such a huge crush on him since she was twelve.

"Yeah." The word is less choked out than it is released. Like it's a breath of fresh air and she feels simultaneously lighter and heavier for it. "I-I think I would have liked that. I would have liked that alot."

Chris snaps his gaze up to meet hers, and the glimmer of hope that she had seen earlier has now nearly taken over his face at the disbelieving smile that's threatening to crack his face in two. "Really? I-I mean, uh, I would have been alright with the idea too. More than alright actually."

She can feel her own smile start to nervously match his, and then the first giggle breaks out. His own ecstatic laughter quickly follows her own until the two of them are both giddily laughing at the table, but too embarrassed and bashful to even look at each other now. The giggling abruptly cuts off when Chris lets out a yelp of surprise when he realizes how much of his ice cream has melted onto his hand and Ashley joins him in trying to finish off their ice cream before it's melted entirely. But there's definitely a change in the atmosphere around them now. The contentness and laid back ease that always formed between them whenever they hung out was still there, but there is a charge that hadn't been there before either. An excited anticipation that only surges higher and higher whenever Ashley shyly glances in Chris's direction to find he's looking at her with the same disbelieving smile beaming on his face.

They never say anything more about it as they both finish off the ice cream, but Ashley knows. With that little agreement, the entire day had changed. This wasn't just them hanging out as friends anymore, this was an actual, factual date now, pure and simple. So when Chris hands her a couple of extra napkins to clean herself off, she may have let her fingers brush against his for just a moment. The resulting blush and dumbstruck smile on his face when he cautiously took his hand back so he could clean up the rest of the mess on the table was oh so worth it. And when he returned from his trip to the garbage can and held out his hand as an offer to help her up from the chair, she accepted it readily.

Once she's back on her feet, the two of them drop their eyes to stare at their still clasped hands, realizing that they could easily hold hands the entire short walk back to Chris's truck if they wanted. And she does want that—horribly in fact—but it seems it's still a little too early for either of them to make that teeny tiny but monumental jump to hand holding so they let go awkwardly and slowly, letting their fingers linger against the others before letting go completely. As though giving themselves a taste of what may yet actually come to pass in the (hopefully) very near future.

The short walk back to the truck is filled with both anticipation and dread alike, but unusually silent. Ashley knows it's because she's now a buzzing ball of nervous energy, terrified that saying anything at all will shatter this dream that's apparently coming true before her eyes, but Chris is different. He looks more like he's trying to work up the courage to say or ask something, and is spending all his energy on that alone. So when he reaches out to open up the passenger side door for her, Ashley can feel her heart pick up speed when he stops with his hand on the door handle and looks at her nervously. His mouth opens and shuts a couple of times as he tries to work up the courage to say whatever it is he wants to say, and all she can do is stare at him expectantly as she struggles to hold back an excited smile.

"Hey, Ash, ca—nevermind. It's, it's stupid. Don't worry about it." A second later, he has the door opened for her and the moment she can't see his face, she lets her smile fall crestfallen. But only for a second before a polite one replaces it as thanks when he closes the door for her and continues to his side of the truck. It's fine, she supposes as she buckles herself in, while the two of them have been hanging out all day, it's only been an actual date now for barely ten minutes. And once he drops her off home in just another few short minutes it's going to be over. The fact that she even managed to get this far is franky mind blowing, so expecting anything more from her dreams would just be extremely selfish. She can't have everything she wants all at once, no matter how long she's been waiting for it.

The drive back to her place is also quiet, filled with only the droning of the radio playing in the background. Ashley's returned back to her book, but she knows that Chris knows that she's not absorbing a single word, hasn't turned a single page even. She keeps glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as he nervously taps at the steering wheel, and then tightening his grasp when it looks like he's going to say something, only to return to the nervous tapping when he inevitably backs out at the last second and returns to the frantic pep talk he's likely giving himself. The air that fills the vehicle is heavy and thick with anticipation and it's taking almost everything in Ashley to not start shaking the question out of Chris at every red light they stop at.

But, eventually, they pull up in front of her place and Chris stops the truck. There's a moment where the two of them just sit there, not wanting to leave because leaving means the end, and Ashley schools her face into a cheery smile in an effort to hide as much of the disappointment as she can when she turns to face him and bid him farewell, only to have it fall to confusion when he starts fumbling at his own seatbelt.

"Chris? What are you doing?"

He struggles further at it, frustrated that the buckle's apparently decided that now is the perfect time for it to stick once again. "Trying to get this fucking thing off."

"Yeah, I figured that much. But why are you trying to take it off, you're just gonna leave right away again anyway."

He slows his fumbling as cheeks start darkening in embarrassment. "I, uh, I just thought that was something you were supposed to do after a date, walk them to their door to stay goodnight. I mean, at least I think this is a date now? And, and only if you're okay with it! I can stay in here instead if you don't want me to. I was just hoping..."

The once forced cheery smile on her face is certainly not being forced any longer, if anything she's trying not to show how much the idea of Chris walking her to her door thrills her. "N-no!" Well, so much for trying not to show how desperately she wants that. The startled look he gives her at the unexpected outburst had her trying to control her voice into something less desperate, but considering she doesn't think she's ever going tame the frantic butterflies that have been flapping around non-stop in her stomach ever since the ice cream realization, she's probably doing a terrible job of it. "I-I mean if you want to, it's completely up to you after all..."

"Cool. Cool cool cool. Just, just give me a second." He continues to struggle with his seatbelt buckle, letting out more and more agitated curses escape the longer the thing continues to stick, and Ashley is getting the feeling that if he was able, Chris would have ripped the entire thing straight out of the seat by now. Broken safety laws and ensuing repair costs be damned. The moment he finally manages to unstick the traitorous buckle it's with a cry of victory and relief so exuberant that Ashley finds herself laughing in disbelief and awe that he had wanted to walk her the short ten or so feet to her front door that badly. Thankfully, for both of them, her seatbelt unclicks easily and much more quickly in comparison, only taking another couple of seconds to grab her bag from the footwell and joining him.

The far too short walk up to her door is over before either of them realize it. One second the two of them had been standing awkwardly and nervously by the truck as she fought the urge to reach out and grab his hand, and the next they're standing just as awkwardly and nervously (if not moreso) in front of the front door. Both of them waiting for the other to say or do something to break the tension, but cleanly aware that doing so would signal the very final end of the day, and the date. In fact, just knowing that Chris doesn't want this to end just as badly as her, is what gives her the courage to look at him with a surprisingly heartfelt and soft smile.

"Today was fun."

Chris lifts his eyes from where they had been staring at the dried leaves on the doorstep to match her smile. "Yeah. It was."

"And thanks. For the movie, and everything else." Ashley raises her hand to give the new and still shiny paperback a small wave. "And, you know, the book too. Of course."

"Yeah, it was no problem. Anytime." There's something with how he says the last bit—not really emphasizing it but making it clear all the same that he means 'anytime'—that causes her face to flush giddily as she pulls her lower lip in between her teeth in a weak effort to fight back against the ecstatic smile that forms anyway. And when she sees his eyes lower just a smidge to follow the motion and the way his shoulders stiffen in reaction, Ashley very quickly also finds she's trying (much more successfully) to hold herself  back from just saying 'to hell with it' and throwing her arms around Chris so she can finally kiss him silly and until they're both breathless. But considering that she's too much of a coward to initiate something as innocent as hand holding apparently, there is absolutely no way that something as...as scandalous as kissing him on her doorstep is ever going to happen. Clearly.

And yet, she gives Chris another few seconds to try and work past that blockade in his throat, but when he still can't muster a single word, she decides to just put the both of them out of their misery. Or further into it. It's probably just the same thing really. "I guess I'll see you next time. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She turns away and puts her hand on the doorknob, and tucks the book under her arm so she can dig into her bag for keys, but is stopped when Chris's hand abruptly snakes out and wraps itself firmly around her wrist before she can reach into the bag. And it works—boy does it ever —turning back to him and the hand wrapped around her wrist as excitement just starts to bubble up inside of her.

A second later though, his brain has apparently caught up with the movement he clearly hadn't intended to make, because his face goes beet-red and he's dropped her hand so he can shove both into the pockets of his jeans. He averts his eyes so he's back to staring at the loose gravel and dried leaves under their feet.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine, Chris." Ashley tries to smile softly at him in reassurance, but it's considering she's gripping the doorknob in an almost vice-like grip in anticipation, it's likely far more eager than she would like. "What is it?"

Somehow, his face goes even redder and he blurts out the question so fast that it may as well have been one word. "CanIkissyou?!"

Immediately, Ashley's gaping at him wide-eyed and her mouth open in shock as her heart's beating so fast that she's pretty sure it's ready to burst out of her chest at any moment. "Wha—"

"I-I mean goodnight. Can I kiss you goodnight? That's what people are supposed to do on dates, right? A-a-a-and I think we agreed that this is a date now, or at least I really, really hope we did. Cause I've wanted to go on a date with you for the longest time and-and-and I didn't want Saundra or-or-or any of your neighbours to see cause I know that would just really embarrass you and me but I've been trying to ask you for the past thirty minutes now cause I've wanted to kiss you since forever but I was scared about how you would react cause I really, really, really like you Ash and I just wanna to kiss you so fucking bad right now you have no idea and—"

Ashley would like to believe that she's brave enough to throw her arms around Chris and drag him down into that searing kiss she's been dreaming about forever and ever, but she doesn't. Even with a confession that is everything she's ever wanted to hear and more. That's not to say that she doesn't want to do it—god does she want to do it—but she's so frozen in place from shock that she physically can't. So instead she just continues to gape at him as he (adorably) rambles on and on, and giggles out an elated little "okay".

His nervous rambling stops dead in its tracks, and he finally looks back up at her, nervous relief evident all over his face. "Really? I mean, are you sure? I'd understand if you didn't want to—"

" Chris ."

That immediately shifts the relief to a different kind of nervousness entirely, one of excited disbelief, but even then neither move to actually initiate this promised kiss for several seconds. Instead just staring at each other waiting for the other to be the first to move, Chris with his hands still in his jeans pockets and Ashley glued to the doorknob with her other hand frozen as it hovers over her bag. Finally, Chris is the first to slowly bend down to meet her awkwardly half turned body, and she unsteadily tries to rock herself onto the tips of her toes without losing her balance completely and falling over. And still, they both pause about an inch away from each other's faces, though whether to give the other an out if needed or just to work through the logistics of how to do this exactly without their foreheads or noses smashing into each other or Chris's glasses getting in the way is anyone's guess.

But finally, mainly due to the fact that Ashley can't lean forward anymore without falling completely on her face, Chris closes that final bit of distance and kisses her. It's a nervous brush of the lips really—a quick peck at best —but they jolt back from each other so quickly that the single action may as well have activated some hidden magnetic repel function that neither had been aware of until this moment. Both of them are staring at each other wide-eyed and breathless as the magnitude of what they had both finally managed to accomplish hit them. The kinda-sort confession and the almost hand holding meant absolutely nothing in comparison to this. Those she could have (and would most likely have) brushed off as her reading too much into innocent statements and gestures when she thought over everything that had happened today in the safety of her room later tonight. But this? This was physical proof .

Looking back, Ashley's not sure which of them moved first. One second they had been staring at each other in disbelief, stuck in the same awkward bent and leaning stature from before, and the next it's as if the magnetic attraction between them reverses its flow entirely. Chris is cupping her cheek with one hand as he kisses her in the way she always dreamed he would, his other hand slowly skating across the back of her neck so he can pull her up closer to him. The book that had once been clutched protectively under her arm was completely forgotten about—fallen to the ground with a sharp crunch as it crushed the dried leaves beneath their feet—as her arms wrapped possessively around his shoulders as she props herself as high as the tips her toes will allow her. She can still taste a hint of the chocolate from earlier on his lips, and the small part of her that isn't being blown away by all of this is wondering if he can taste the blueberry and chocolate on hers as well.

She's not sure how long the two of them stood there on her doorstep, kissing for all the world to see, but she does know that they still separate much, much too soon for her liking. Not that they fully separate of course. She may be back on the soles of her feet, but neither of them have removed themselves from the embrace itself. And with the way that Chris is lightly brushing his thumb over her cheekbone as he just stares at her with the same stupidly giddy grin she's got, Ashley would be perfectly fine if they could just stay standing like this forever.

"So..." she starts, and stops to take a moment to giggle when Chris bumps his nose into hers. "I think that was a perfectly acceptable first date if you ask me."

Chris doesn't let go of her when he leans back to consider her, the comically raised eyebrows in shock doing nothing to take away from the absolutely thrilled beam of his smile. " First date? Why Miss Brown, are you perhaps asking me out for a second one already?"

"I mean, if it's not too presumptuous of me, I suppose I am. I-if you're not opposed to it of course." She can't help the way her nervousness starts to bleed through with that last sentence, already panicking that she's somehow completely misread everything that's just happened and that maybe that kiss didn't mean as much to him as it did to her after all.

His next words completely derail those fears entirely. "Of course I'm not, I would love nothing more than to go on a second date with you. Followed by a third and fourth and even a fifth if you have the time for it."

"I mean, I'm a pretty busy girl but I think I can open up as many days in my schedule as it takes if I need to."

Before she knows it, the two of them are leaning in for another kiss when the sound of pot being dropped in the nearby kitchen through the open window jarringly brings them back to reality and the two of them let go of each other red faced and embarrassed. Oh no, how much of this had her mother heard? Or worse, saw? She wants to leave the doorstep (which is rapidly becoming her favourite place in the whole entire world) even less now, but the longer she takes the worse the excited interrogation from Saundra will be so she starts digging back into her bag to try and find her keys once again.

"I'll text you later, okay? And, maybe, we can talk some more about that second date...?"

The reply from Chris is flustered but eager. "Yeah, totally. I-I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Cool. And um, the next one's one me. The date that is. It's only fair after all."

"Yeah, right. Only fair. Totally. And, uh, your book..."

She finally finds her keys from where they had sunk to the bottom of her bag, and looks up at him and the paperback book that had fallen during their, uh, intimate embrace. "Oh! Uh, right. Thanks." She could easily leave it at that, but the last few minutes have made her bold so when she reaches out to take the book back from him, Ashley curls her fingers over his and bounces onto the balls of her feet so she can give him one last kiss on his cheek—almost the corner of his mouth really—before finally stepping back with the book and keys in her hand. "I mean it. Thanks . For everything."

"Yeah. No problem. It was my pleasure."

She lets herself have one last glimpse of the stupefied grin on his face just as he turns to walk just a little unsteadily down the path back to his truck. The only sounds being the leaves crushing underfoot and the jangle of metal as she sticks her keys into the door to finally unlock it. A sound that it quickly interrupted by not only the click of the door unlocking, but a muffled shout.

Alarmed, she turns quickly expecting to see Chris having accidentally shut his coat into the door as he is sometimes known to do when the weather gets colder, but instead watches in elated shock as he continues to keep energetically flapping his arms and fist pumping into the air and screaming what she can vaguely make out as 'yesyesyesyesYESYESYES' over and over again.

Suddenly it hits her. Despite the shy confession over ice cream, and then the much more rushed and rambled one only minutes ago, and followed by the kiss(es) that are still sending her heart into rapid fire, Ashley still hadn't believed what all the evidence had been saying. Chris liked her. He really, really liked her. Possibly as much as she liked him even! This wasn't just a one-off event that would now make things awkward between them for the rest of their lives. This was happening. They'd just had a first(!!!!) date and after Chris had kissed her goodbye, she had asked him out for a second one.

And he had accepted .

Ashley fumbled with the door and the moment she was in the house, slammed the door behind her, not even bothering to lock it. She let her bag fall from her shoulder to the floor with a soft thump and slowly slid down the door until she was sitting against it with her eyes wide and breathless. She ignored the surprised clatter coming from the kitchen as Saundra immediately dropped whatever it was she had been doing in and held up the book so she could stare at the once innocuous cover in amazement.

He had bought her this book and the ice cream because he liked her and he had gladly and excitedly accepted to go out on another date with her. And even more if he had been serious about that third date and beyond line.

And not that either would ever know it, Ashley mirrored Chris at that exact moment by placing her head into her hands and screaming as the built up joy and bliss finally exploded out of her.

[morceid]

Snowy Sniffles

💡SPENCER REID X DEREK MORGAN💡

read on ao3

Summary: Derek gets the flu when he and Spencer are snowed in on a case in Colorado.

Word Count:  2k

Category: fluff, slight angst

Content Warnings: swearing, sickness, case details

A/N: enjoy my otp being cute and cuddly for my first day of 12 days of moreid :)

The snowy mountains of Colorado. A serial killer as cold as the air was out there, and It was the job of the BAU to catch him.

The team boarded their plane like normal, occasionally Derek coughed and cleared his throat. Not enough to realize what was happening, but enough to get a “You okay?” from JJ.

There weren’t many hiccups with local police, except for them withholding information about the victims. Derek and Spencer were sent to profile the dump site, JJ and Emily to interview victims' families, while Rossi and Hotch set up at the station.

The dump site was in a clearing next to a mountain frequently used for sledding. A visiting family from Texas was recommended the mountain by a friend and since they weren’t familiar with the area, the mom got lost and they came across the body. Thankfully the kids weren’t there to see it.

Spencer and Derek walked out of the black SUV and ducked under the police tape in their fleece jackets and large boots. 

“The victim was Hannah Gentry. She was a fourteen year old girl who ran away from her abusive father. No sign of sexual assault, but there were signs of restrains on her thighs and around her stomach.” Spencer walked around the area the body had previously been found, searching for anything left behind by the unsub.

“Maybe he thought he was saving these girls. How old were each of the victims?” Derek said, pulling tissues from jacket pocket.

“Ages ranged from 13 to 19. All had someone abusive close to them. You sure you’re okay?”

Before Derek could reply he was coughing and gagging into the torn kleenex in his hand.

“I’ll be fine,” The stuffiness in his nose was apparent in his voice now. “Let’s go back to the station. I’m sure Rossi and Hotch are at the M.E. now.”

The two walked back to the car and headed towards the police station. On the way it started snowing and Spencer said something about growing up in Vegas without snow, and how in Virginia they never really saw the snow fall, they just woke up to it on the ground and in the streets.

Between the snowfall rapidly increasing, the windshield wipers not doing anything to help, and Derek driving in an unfamiliar area, he began having a coughing fit and swerved off the road.

They didn’t get hurt in the accident, just a large rush of adrenaline, but the car wasn’t in the best shape. The engine made a sound that contorted Spencer’s face.

“We should probably check that.”

Derek tried to push his door open but he had driven into a ditch and snow was piled up tp his window. He rolled it down and shoveled some of the snow with his gloved hands. He got the door all the way open with a little wrestling of the handle. The boot of the car was opened and steam was rising from it. Spencer had crawled across the center console and got out from Derek’s side.

“Do you think we could get an officer to pick us up?” Derek sniffled.

“I think the snow is coming down too hard now.” Spencer’s black coat was powdered with snow that he didn’t bother to shake off, knowing it would be back there in an instant.

“I’ll call Hotch.” Derek fished his phone out of his pocket.

“You fell in a ditch? Morgan, this is a very time sensitive case. This guy kills every three days and it’s been the second day since the last body was found. We need you guys here.” Spencer overheard Hotch’s near yells over the phone.

“Okay, dad, calm down there. I’ll call up Garcia to find us the closest hotel and we’ll crash there. Reid says snowing too much for an officer to come pick us up.” It was around 7:30 and the sun was starting to set.

“Alright, we can send someone to get you tomorrow.” Hotch hung up and Derek called Penelope.

“Hey-llo my chocolate thunder! Anything I could do for you?”

Derek coughed a couple of times.

“You okay, Derek?”

“Yeah, uh, me and Reid got stuck in the snow and we can’t get back to the hotel. Are there any near us that we can crash at?”

“You’re in luck, Derek Morgan, There is a motel only a seven minute walk away from you. Anything else?”

“Not right now, baby girl, take care of yourself.”

“So what are we gonna do?” Spencer had begun chewing on his fingernails and pacing in a circle around the car.

“Kid,” Derek took Spencer’s cold hands into his warm, gloved ones. “Stop your worrying. I can see all of those gears in your head going a million miles an hour. Garcia found a motel near us and we can walk there and stay the night until someone can pick us up. We’ll be okay.”

“I know I’m gonna be okay, it’s you I’m worried about, Morgan.” Spencer took his hands out of Derek’s and leaned into the car to grab his bag.

“What do you mean? I’m fine.” As if on cue, Derek started having a coughing fit.

“I’m talking about that, Derek. You’re showing signs of getting the flu. Your heart rate has sped up by 39% in the last couple of days. You constantly have a running nose and you won’t stop coughing. I am not getting sick, I cannot afford to get sick, especially on a case, so I hope this motel has two beds.” Spencer pushed away from Derek and began walking.

“Wait!” Derek ran to catch up. “Pretty boy, you’ve already been with me for almost 24 hours. I think you are already infected. Besides, you, my friend, are shivering. Now let me give you one of my coats.”

Spencer slowed his walking and let Derek drape his second jacket over his thin, purple one. Having a crush on your coworker was the worst.

When the pair reached the motel the sun had fully set and they had snow covering their shoulders and resting on their heads. They brushed it off before entering, where they were bombarded with the overwhelming scent of perfume as what could only be presumed as the owner tugged them in with both of her arms. She was short and wore a sparkly pink dress not unlike one Penelope would wear.

“What can I do for you kind fellows today? Did ya crash on the side of the road? Lots of people did tonight. Can I get you a room? Was it your engine? Faulty car?” The woman rambled.

“Um, we fell in a ditch a little bit back. We just need two rooms for the night,” Spencer looked down at her nametag, “Sasha. Thank you.”

“Well, boys, I am sorry to disappoint but we only have one more room for the night. You’re just gonna have to share.”

“Are there at least two beds?” Spencer whined.

“Sorry,” Sasha took Derek’s credit card and punched in the numbers on a computer that looked almost a decade old. “You good there? You look like you could throw up any second?”

“I’m fine, ma’am. Just give us the room key please.” Derek cleared his throat.

“Alrighty, there you go FBI guys.” Sasha handed them the room key labed 7B.

Given the overwhelming personality that brought them in, neither had a chance to look around and profile the front office. When they got to the room they realized just how miserable the stay would be.

The heater seemed to be turned off resulting in the room being colder than the outside. Complementary water bottles on the nightstand had frozen, expanded, and exploded. The pipes in the walls creaked and whined. Derek moved towards the bed, which when he pulled up the sheets, they were stiff and barely moved at his touch. Spencer moved past the bed and to the kitchen, where he found a coffee machine and cups in the cupboard.

“What are you doing?” Derek coughed.

“Making coffee. It’s something to keep me warm.” Spencer still had Derek’s jacket across his shoulders.

“Alright well, you might be right. I think I’m starting to get a fever. I’m gonna hop in the shower. Hopefully it’s just the reverse air conditioning that’s broken.”

Derek’s observations were proven correct as he unexpectedly walked into the spray of a nearly boiling shower. His muscles relaxed as he began thinking about the events of the day. His nose ran more than it had in the cold weather and it reminded him of a moment in the office that happened some while ago, back when Spencer first joined the BAU.

It was a slow day in the bullpen. With Spencer being nearly fresh from college, Derek wasn’t expecting him to take the best care of himself, no one was. Derek looked up, ready to throw Spencer a rolled up note about how bored he was. Instead he was greeted with an empty desk. After asking Hotch where the boy genius was and getting a surprised ‘I don’t know’ in response, he went in search of him. Spencer was found laying on the couch in an empty office. HIs skin was red and burning to the touch. Derek gave him a couple of shakes and he woke up, groaning. Spencer had gotten the flu and didn’t know how to deal with it at work. Not wanting to disappoint Hotch by skipping a day for something so insignificant as a virus, he settled in an office he correctly assumed was vacant. He insisted that he was okay but Derek refused to believe him. He dropped Spencer off at his apartment and immediately knew. He was in love with Spencer Reid. And he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

When Derek was in the shower for at least 15 minutes Spencer presumed that the shower was warm, so he called Sasha at the front desk from the phone in the room. She wouldn’t be able to get someone to come fix it for another day. He sat on the bed, spreading his arms and legs out in an attempt to warm the sheets. Letting his mind wander, he started asking himself questions. Why did he like Derek? He was just his coworker. Just someone in his life. An attractive person in his life, but just like anyone else in his life. Did Derek know how much he meant to him? Would he ever know? Would he be given the chance to let Derek know that he loved him and wanted to spend his life with the other knowing?

He was taken out of his day dream when Derek came out of the bathroom. Derek was shaking. He wore thick, flannel sweatpants and a grey hoodie, along with his socks, not wanting to leave a single part of his body too exposed.

“Uh, I know you’re super germaphobic and probably want nothing to do with my running nose and sore throat right now, but kid, all of my muscles are aching. Do you mind if I-”

“Not at all.” Spencer wrapped his arms around Derek’s middle as he sank onto the bed.

Derek let out a sigh of relief and settled in Spencer’s arms. It wasn’t long until his breathing evened out and he fell asleep in the lanky man’s arms.

“I think I love you, Derek Morgan.” Spencer whispered.

The next day Hotch called Derek to let him know that they caught the unsub. He was an amateur child groomer who left a hair in his latest victims mouth. An officer picked up the pair from the motel and they boarded the jet. Derek’s flu passed as soon as it came and he was better in the morning. A little cuddling with Spencer was just what the doctor ordered.

“Hey, Spencer.” Derek sat across from him after everyone on the jet had fallen asleep.

“Yes, Derek?” Spencer noted the use of his first name in his head.

“We need to talk about last night.”

“What about it?”

“I heard you, Spencer.”

“Wh-what are you talking about? Heard me say what?”

“Spencer,” Derek put his hand on the other’s knee, “I love you too.”

In a panic, Spencer leaned forward and pecked Derek on the lips.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” He stammered.

“It’s okay. We can do that if you want.” Derek leaned back in for a real kiss from Spencer. He still tasted like the cheap hotel coffee.

“We can do anything as long as we’re together.”

TAGLIST: @greenaway-lewis @pretty-b0yy @w0rmpi3 @sunflowrly @fuckshitupm8-deactivated3728 @the-sassy-one @endetit @adhd-lesbian @nobody121113​ @stalinthestripper​

[skytimil]

A bad day | Monoma Neito

anon said: “hey can i have a scenario where monoma is mean to the reader when she's having a bad day and she cries? lots of fluff and a lil angst please :3″

Thank you so much for your ask. It’s been in my inbox for ages, I’m so sorry it took me so long to do this asdhfga. hope you’re doing great!!

Word count: 1.5k

Genre: fluff, a little bit angsty

Warnings: cursing, (tried to make it a bit steamy at the ends but lol I’m a f*cking joke)

“Y/n how many times did I tell you to make a copy of the files on my desk? For God’s sake can’t you see were full of work?!” You hear your boss yell while looking for some papers on her desk. You look at the monitor of your computer observing how much time you still needed to finish this document. “Cmon we don’t have all day!” She shouts again, looking you in the eye.

“Yes.” You murmur as you get up from your chair and make your way to her side the fastest you can, grabbing the files she mentioned, walking up to the printer after you had them all in your hands. Yeah it must be really fun being a boss, ordering people around all the time. Did she forget the tonnes of work she’d ask you to do before asking you to print some files? You could barely breathe with so many things you had to do today.

After you were done printing every file and making sure every one came out looking good, you bring them to your boss’s desk putting them next to her. “Here are the files.” You inform taking a step back.

“It was about time, Y/n, honestly.” She hastily takes them in her hands, without taking her eyes off the monitor, making wrinkles on the pages, because of the force she was using to grab them, after all the care you had with it.

Not saying another word, you make your way back to your desk as you take some deep breaths, to try and finish your load of work before work hours ends.

(...)

You open the door of your shared apartment with you boyfriend, Monoma Neito. Dating for two years already, you decided to move in together a couple months ago. Everything was new, sometimes some fights would break out because neither of you were yet used to living together, but in general, that was the best decision you both could have made, because your relationship had grown a lot from there.

You enter the house, closing the door right after being inside. Your shoes are taken off your feet, being place next to the rest on a small cabinet right next to the door. You put on your slippers and the fluffiness of them crawl from your feet to your brain, bringing a sensation of comfort to replace the tiredness that this day had bring upon you.

“Nei, I’m home.” You call, not very loud, thinking he would be in the living room, however, you had no response from him. “Neito, are you home?” You ask for him, making your way to your room, after you saw the empty living room.

When you open the door to your bedroom, you see him sit at the little desk you have in the corner, eyes fixed on the computer.

“Hey Nei, I’m home.” You greet with the little energy you had left from the tiring day you just lived.

Your boyfriend, however doesn’t answer you, so you make your way to him, furrowing your brows. “Nei, are you listening me?”

“Hi.” He greets in a monotone without even looking your way.

“How was your day? Let’s eat I’m so hungry.” You try to call him, without any effect. Monoma kept looking and writing something at the computer.

“I already ate, serve yourself.” He spits his words a little harshly, leaving you stunned looking at him.

“What’s wrong?” You ask, eyes locked on his figure. He was acting so strange. He usually brags a lot about his day, his work, and today he was simply giving you a cold shoulder without any reason.

“Didn’t you say you were hungry? Have you checked the time?” You look down at your wrist clock, noticing how late it was. You ended up having to work extra hours to be able to finish every task your grumpy boss told you to do.

“I know I’m late, but you have no idea how it was today... work never stopped coming through and my boss was in such a bad mood today, she asked me to do all kinds of stuff when I was so busy already and-“

“Doesn’t she pay you to do your work? Why are you complaining?” He shots you an annoyed look and you lost track of your words. Did he really say that?

“What..” you whisper to yourself, really confused with his weird behavior. “What the hell are you saying to me?”

“Listen I’m not in the mood today, can you go eat or something and leave me alone?” He asks turning his eyes again to the computer in front of him, completely neglecting your figure right next to him.

His behavior on top of the entirety of this day made you explode and do something you never ever thought of doing. Your hand flew to connect in full force with his cheek, making his head turn. Tears prick your eyes as you fight the urge to run right that instant.

“The only thing that made me endure this fucking shitty day was the thought of having you home waiting for me at the end of it all. But then..” you make a little pause so the knot in your throat would easy a bit and let you talk without showing any weakness in your voice. “But then I get home ready to forget it all and there you are, ignoring me and treating me like pure t-trash.” You let out a little hiccup, not letting any other word out.

Monoma had yet to move. He was petrified, his cheek completely burning from your slap. He felt like a true idiot. Of all the people he could treat bad today, it had to be you. He cares so much about you, and yet here he is, attacking the only person who puts up with his personality. He’s usually very calm, but today he had to deal with some complicated people at work too, but that was not an excuse at all. You had it bad as well, probably even worse, and yet here you were, eager to see him and talk to him and spent the rest of your awful day with someone you cared about.

When he hears your hiccups, his chest instantly becomes really heavy and his stomach flips around due to the amount on guilt he feels. He was a dumbass and he had no idea how to make it right. None of your fights were this severe, but due to pure idiocy by his part, he hurt you really badly when the only think you were looking for was simply a little bit of comfort to add at your day.

Monoma slowly raises its head to find you with tears in your eyes. After you realize the fragile state you are exposing to him, you quickly wipe the tears from your face and turn away, striding to the empty kitchen. Taking a deep breath, you put a kettle on to boil water so you can make some tea, in an attempt to calm down this day.

You hear slow steps come to you, but you ignore them, knowing perfectly well that they belong to your boyfriend. You take a mug from the washed dishes, waiting for the water to boil.

You feel a pair of arms around your waist, and you hear a whisper come out of his lips. "I’m sorry. I was really stupid to you...” his voice comes out in a genuine tone, which instead of making you even more irritated, brings tears to your eyes again. “I should never have said those things.”

“Well, you did.” You attack, not moving in his embrace.

“I know it’s hard for you, I know how much you like your job, but how hard your boss makes it for you.” He continues, hiding his face on your neck, leaving gentle kisses in the area. “Let me make it up to you.” He gently turns you to face him, gently taking the mug out of your hands and placing it lightly in the counter.

Your eyes never leave his face, as you study him as a work of art. His bangs covering part of his eyes, which showed a tired look. He looked now at you, a gentle smile adorning his features. Monoma places his hand on your cheek, gently caressing it, closing the space between both of you, placing his lips on yours. It was a suave kiss, one that made you be sure he meant every word of apology he said to you.

As the kiss intensifies, you take your hands to his hair, closing now the space between your bodies, wanting to be the closest you could be to him. His hands are now on your waist, as one of them slides down to your butt, squeezing it. “Neito...” you warn, in a whisper.

He looks at you with his smug expression that was so familiar to you. “Tell me you don’t like it.” He provokes you, taking your lips in his once again.

And like that, lost in his touch, in his scent, in his words, your awfull turns a little better.

[good-rwbyaus]

honorable-asshole asked:

Au where Whitley has actually been running the bank accounts since he was young and keeping the group financially viable

#Rising Snow AU   - [ first ]  [ next ]- mod lilac

7. Red

The Schnee Dust Company was hemorrhaging money. He would’ve thought it absurd a couple days ago - couldn’t believe the profit margin graphs he saw at first demonstrating worsening debt every year. It was to the point where the company may very well collapse in just a few scant years if the trend continued.

His first thoughts were that the graphs must be all lies. How could the SDC be on the verge of going bankrupt? The Schnee Dust Company was practically a household name - because there was no one else people can turn to for their Dust needs. A monopoly in every sense of the word. They were successful both at home and abroad with branches everywhere, even in Vacuo where the populace outright hated them. Why were they losing money? 

Was this why Father meticulously scoured everything involving the budget? 

He tapped his finger against the table, the milkshake Klein had provided having turned soupy a long time ago. Those fingers moved to massage his temples, eyebags from lost sleep causing his vision to blur. He gritted his teeth and punched the table with a loud bang. 

Why was his father going off taking vacation when there was a very real chance his company was going to keel over and die?!

Why were they still having extravagant monthly banquets, costing millions of Lien when they were on the brink?

How could things have gotten to this point?

Wait, why don’t people know about this? 

Something like the Schnee Dust Company about to go under was big news.

He looked into the glowing computer monitor, gritting his teeth - knowing he’s probably not going to like what he’s going to find. 

____________________________  

8. Trust

“Klein. Is father reachable right now?” said a pale Whitley, breath smelling acrid from the dry retching he did earlier in the bathroom earlier.

“I’m sorry, young master,” Klein replied apologetically, “your father has always been out of contact when he’s on vacation.”

Damn it. He knew that, but he had hoped... It was a stupid hope. Even back when his sisters were around - even when his eldest sister got badly injured from training, his father had never left a method of contact during his vacation. What made him think that would change? He felt like he was going to explode from what he learned.

He needed to talk to someone. This was a problem too big for him to handle, but the only one who he can talk to...

He stared at Klein whose eyes changed to a bright blue, staring him with...concern. Something he’s never seen in his father’s eyes.

“Young master, are you feeling okay?” 

Even the man’s words of care, said frequently, were never said by his father even once. It...was honestly something he’s always taken for granted. Until now.

“Klein, I need to talk to someone.”

“If you nee-”

“You can’t let father know about what I’m about to tell you,” he cut Klein off, staring at him straight in the eyes.

Without skipping a beat, Klein replied, “Young master, so long as you say so, I will not relay a single word to your father without your permission.” 

“...There was never a test, was there?” he let it out there.

The butler hesitated for a moment before nodding his head.

Whitley took a deep breath.

____________________________

9. Downhill

“This company is a landmine with the amount of debt that’s been accumulating,” Whitley pinched the bridge of his nose, “And when it explodes, it’s not going to just affect our family. It’ll affect all of Atlas, maybe beyond that.”

“Tens of thousands of people are going to die when this company folds over. And I can’t figure out how to stop it.”

Whitley agitatedly stalked back and forth as he clenched his fists back and forth, his only audience of Klein quietly but attentively listening.

“And Father’s content on just ignoring the prob- No. He doesn’t care. He’s cooked the books enough to make it look like we’re only barely in the red - enough to demand subsidies from the government to help prop us up instead of causing the state of emergency that would happen if we were to reveal how badly in the red we are now.”

He stomped his foot.

“But that solution is not sustainable. We’re just pouring water into a sieve, and I cannot solve this problem. The only one who can solve it is intent on just getting what jollies he can from the company and leaving.”

He never thought he would say that about his father, but the evidence he perused through several days of scouring didn’t lie. His father, from the very start, only cared about making sure he had all the power but didn’t care about anything else beyond his fancy dinners, expensive vacations, and his appearance. 

Cautiously, Klein made his opinion known.

“Young master, have you ever thought...that this problem may not necessarily require you in particular to solve it? You could always repo-”

He shook his head vehemently at Klein’s suggestion.

“And then what? The Kingdom of Atlas has always been merciless to those that disturb its order - the Schnee’s are only tolerated because we have both the power and the resources to both help and contend with them,” he gritted his teeth, wiping away a dampness in his eyes with a sleeve.

Klein opened his mouth to say something, but he could only cut him off.

“Don’t argue with me on this point. You haven’t attended those high-class dinners. They’re all snakes maneuvering to get the biggest piece of the pie. If we report the SDC’s situation to the government, all those snakes - the government, the biggest of all - will just slice the SDC into bite-sized pieces under the guise of management, and we’ll be left with nothing.”

“Father will probably go to jail. Weiss will likely be asked to leave her school in disgrace. Maybe Winter will be left unscathed, but that’s only because Ironwood admires her skills; she won’t be able to protect us. Mother might even have to join Father in prison, even though all she’s been doing is drinking her days away and doesn’t care about anything anymore.”

He couldn’t help the bitterness in his voice at the last bit. Yeah, she’s a horrible mother, but she’s his mother. 

“Even if father is content to let this company go to ruin, I won’t let it. I can’t. Even if I have to fix every stupid problem from gross corruption to a leaking toilet myself, I will not let our only shield against the world break in my hands.”

“..But I just don’t know where to start,” Whitley finished bitterly, “Or who to trust. I’m smart enough to know when a problem’s too big for me to handle. I’m good at numbers. I’m good at reading people. But I’m not nearly experienced enough to fix the problems that need fixing all by myself. ” 

“I feel like we’re going to capsize and drown, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” 

[ next ]

[occasionalstorytelling]

Summary: While the Teen Titans (Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven) are taking down some of Slade's robots, they bump into a robot that isn't a robot--in fact, it's a kid, about their age, with black spiky hair and a domino mask under the Slade black-and-orange faceplate. It's Slade's apprentice, Dick Grayson, rescued from the circus after his parents' death when Batman wasn't around for him. Dick (or his villain name, Apprentice) has never tangled with heroes before, but he's not going to let Slade down. If only someone had warned him that nobody can stand up to the Teen Titans.

Excerpt:

“Okay, Titans, just like we planned,” Cyborg raised his sonic cannon and pointed it at the door.

Whoever Slade was, he’d sent villain after villain to destroy the Titans, but now he’d changed tactics, and was trying to steal a series of computer chips from tech companies around the city. The Titans had staked out Wayne Tech, ready for Slade’s next robotic army assault. Cyborg and Beast Boy were down on the main storage room floor, ready to fight off the creepy robots with their identical forms and blank masked faces. Starfire and Raven were both in flight, covering all possible other entrances and exits to the room.

They could hear a loud, repeating banging sound as the robots beat on the door. Starfire powered up, eye glowing green. Beast Boy nodded at Cyborg and turned into a T-Rex, ready for whatever was coming through.

“Here it comes!” Cyborg said. “Raven, shield us!”

Raven’s magic washed over them, a black shield against which shrapnel from the door scattered harmlessly. The shield flashed away, revealing an army of Slade’s robots standing in the doorway.

“Titans, go!” Cyborg yelled.

Beast Boy roared and stomped into the fray, tearing robotic limbs to shreds with his T-Rex teeth. Cyborg stood behind him, firing blast after blast of his sonic cannon into the robots. One of the robots was different than the others, he noticed. It was smaller, more agile. Most of the robots were big, lumbering tanks that would keep charging forward until they met their goal or got destroyed. This robot was light, and Cyborg watched it cartwheel one-handed out of the way of one of Beast Boy’s swiping attacks. Cyborg pivoted to face it, but it was fast. It almost danced around him, the way it moved. It leapt into the air, making a grab for the chip, when Cyborg finally caught it in the leg with the sonic cannon. It wasn’t a good enough hit, though. The robot still had both legs, and it kept coming. It reached into a pocket and threw something at Cyborg. The something exploded on contact, clogging up Cyborg’s sensors with smoke and ash. It almost destroyed his power cell in one hit.

“Star!” Cyborg coughed.

“I see it,” Starfire said. She flew over Cyborg’s head and attacked the smaller robot. It turned and ran from her, towards one of the walls. She threw starbolt after starbolt at it as it ran, then it ran up the wall a few steps, did a backflip over her head, and threw another something at her. The explosive force slammed Starfire into the wall as the robot jumped away, heading for the chip again. Cyborg fired another few sonic cannon shots, but it rolled and ducked like none of the other robots could.

Raven swooped down, putting herself between it and the chip. The robot froze for a second, as if sizing her up. “Azarath metrion zinthos!” Raven said, and the floor panels under the robot’s feet began to rise, shoving it away as they formed a protective wall around the chip. The robot pulled out another device, one that looked like a gun. It shot at Raven, and she threw up a shield to protect herself, but the robot hadn’t been aiming for her. It was a grappling hook, and the robot used the line attached to her makeshift wall to swing under it and grab the chip out of the security force field.

“It’s got the chip!” Cyborg yelled. “We can’t let it take it!”

The robot launched itself back towards the crushed lab door and the safety of numbers, but Beast Boy had left the robot army not much more than a pile of parts. He was now an octopus. “Got you!” Beast Boy said, grabbing the little robot with a few of his arms. The robot pressed a button on its belt and Beast Boy yelped and twitched as electricity flooded through him. He dropped the robot and collapsed, shifting back to himself as he did. Raven used her power to raise the rubble into the air, blocking the robot’s escape. The robot turned to face the Titans, the only one of its peers left standing. It pocketed the chip and raised both fists, ready for a fight.

“This one is…smaller than the others?” Starfire frowned.

“That doesn’t mean it’s any less of a threat,” Cyborg scowled. He fired another sonic cannon blast, but the robot had already moved. It had used the grappling hook to connect to a vent close to the ceiling, and was making a run for it. Before any of the Titans could stop it, it was inside the vent and on the move.

“Throw me!” Beast Boy said. Cyborg picked him up and launched him. Beast Boy turned into a mouse mid-flight, and landed inside the vent. “It’s heading for the roof!” Beast Boy yelled back, already on the move following the robot.

“Then let’s go get it,” Raven said. She raised her teleportation raven to encircle the three of them.

“Wait,” Cyborg frowned. “Did any of us get hit?”

“I for one was hit most strongly, but I am fine,” Starfire said.

“Beast Boy’s blood is green, Star’s is orange, Raven’s is black, mine is blue,” Cyborg said, tracing one finger through the sticky red pool on the chip platform. “So whose is this?”

“The robot… It’s not a robot,” Raven said.

“Do you think it is Slade himself?” Starfire asked.

“Cyborg to Beast Boy, it’s not a robot,” Cyborg spoke into the communicator. “We’ve got to try and take him alive. We’ll meet you at the roof.” He nodded at Raven, who cloaked them. They reappeared on the roof. It was night, and the huge WAYNE TECH sign glowed white in the darkness. The vent clattered open as Beast Boy emerged as a badger holding onto one of the not-robot’s legs with his teeth. The not-robot landed a solid kick to Beast Boy’s face and tried to escape, but it was surrounded by the Titans, with weapons hot. The not-robot raised a weird-looking gun of some sort, attached to his wrist, but Starfire swooped down and crunched it into useless dust with one hand. “I believe we have caught you,” she said, keeping her grip on his wrist. The not-robot suddenly tensed and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her head-first into the ground and leaving a crack in the rooftop cement. He ran at Cyborg, fists raised.

“Dude, you do not want to fight me!” Cyborg said. “We know you’re hurt, and your fists won’t—hey!” After a few futile punches from the not-robot, he’d given up and tried his electrical attack on Cyborg, who just barely managed to dodge it. The not-robot didn’t even pause, he just ran for the edge of the roof and threw himself off of it.

“Raven!” Cyborg yelled.

“Got him,” Raven said. Her eyes glowed white as she held up a sphere of energy, trapping the not-robot inside of it. He struggled against it for a few moments, tried out a few gadgets on it, before seeming to give up. He slumped on the floor of the sphere.

“So…what do we do now?” Beast Boy sat up, rubbing a bump on his head.

They took the not-robot back to the Tower, careful not to let him out of the sphere until they were ready. They dumped him in a secure room, but nobody wanted to be in the same place as him. He was tough, and probably strong enough to take any of them down in a one-on-one fight. The not-robot sat in the secure little cell, and the Titans watched him from a connected window.

“Should we…turn him over to the police?” Beast Boy asked.

“I’m not sure,” Cyborg frowned. “We’ve been fighting Slade for so long, I don’t think we can afford to miss out on whatever we can learn from this guy.”

“Who is he?” Starfire asked.

“He’s not Slade, that’s for sure,” Raven grumbled. “Maybe Slade finally decided to find some new friends.”

“He looks like a robot,” Beast Boy shrugged. “With the faceplate and all…are we sure this isn’t just one of Slade’s fancy new toys?”

They looked down into the room, where the not-robot was ripping his shirt sleeve into pieces and tying them around his leg. There was a little red stain on the floor below him.

“Huh,” Beast Boy said. “Well…okay.”

“He is injured. Should we not help him?” Starfire asked.

“We can give it a try,” Cyborg shrugged.

“Not it!” Beast Boy tapped his nose. “I do not need to be alone with that guy. My head’s gonna hurt for a week.” He rubbed the bump where the not-robot had kicked him.

“Starfire, you think you can handle him?” Raven asked.

“Surely,” Starfire said. “Though I may require additional instruction in your Earth medicine.”

Loaded up with a box or two of medical supplies, Starfire opened the door to the room. Without even taking a moment to hesitate, the not-robot stood and leapt at the door, but Starfire held him back with a starbolt. The not-robot faltered, and took an awkward step back onto his hurt leg. The security door closed, the the not-robot slumped sadly.

“For your leg,” Starfire said, as brightly as she could. She held up the boxes of supplies. The not-robot didn’t move, he just seemed to stare at her from behind the faceless mask.

“You are hurt,” Starfire said, pointing at his leg. When he’d tried to escape, he’d ruined his own makeshift bandages. He took a hasty, nervous step away from her, holding up his fists.

“No, I am not here to fight you,” Starfire shook her head. “I am here to help. I will not hurt you.”

The not-robot froze for a long, horrible moment, considering her. Then he sat against the wall and tucked his hands behind his back, as if promising he wouldn’t hurt her, either. Starfire came closer and examined the injury.

“I will have to remove some of this material,” Starfire said. The pant leg was torn and bloody, and the armor was preventing her from seeing much more. The not-robot didn’t comment one way or another, so she removed the metal plate armor and used a thin beam of energy to slice away the torn fabric. The not-robot stayed very still as she did so, clearly not entirely convinced she wasn’t going to hurt him.

There was a long, angry slice of red where Cyborg’s sonic cannon had grazed him. “You are lucky,” Starfire smiled. “If you were less agile, you would be missing the whole leg.”

The not-robot continued his silence as she gently wiped the wound with a damp cloth and bandaged him. “There you go!” Starfire said. “Does that feel better?”

The not-robot nodded carefully. “…Thank you,” he said, after a long hesitation. His voice was muffled behind the mask.

“Oh! You can talk?” Starfire tried not to sound as surprised as she was.

The not-robot nodded slowly.

“Um…” Starfire looked up at the window for help. Cyborg just shrugged. “Um, my name is Starfire! It is nice to meet you,” she said.

“I’m Apprentice,” the not-robot said. He took off the faceplate mask, revealing a secondary domino mask beneath it. He looked about 15 years old. His hair was black and spiky, but a little misshapen after being under the helmet for so long.

“It is…nice to meet you,” Starfire said again, awkwardly. She looked back up at the window, where the other Titans were kind of flailing around unhelpfully.

“Aren’t you going to kill me?” Apprentice asked dryly.

“What? Of course not,” Starfire said, confused. “We—”

“Don’t talk to me,” Apprentice said. He pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest, with only a slight wince of pain as he did so.

“We can help you,” Starfire said. “Are you inured anywhere else?”

“You don’t care. It doesn’t matter,” Apprentice said, glaring at her from behind his knees.

“Perhaps I could—” she reached towards him and he visibly flinched away from her. She looked back up at the window once more. The Titans had disappeared. She squinted, trying to confirm this, when the door opened again and Cyborg came into the room, leaving Beast Boy and Raven outside. The Apprentice turned back into a ball of rage and energy until the door sealed shut, trapping him once more.

“My dude, we caught you, fair and square,” Cybrog crossed his arms. “You’re not getting out of here.”

“So I’m supposed to stop trying to escape?” Apprentice spat angrily.

“I’m Cyborg,” Cyborg said.

“I know who you are,” Apprentice glared. “I know who all of you are. The Teen Titans…” he scoffed and shook his head. “You’ll never stop Slade. No one can.”

“So are you a showoff, or do you have a broken arm?” Cyborg said.

“What?” Apprentice went white.

“You do all your fancy cartwheels, but you haven’t been putting weight on your right arm,” Cyborg said. “You keep it held close to your chest as much as you can. You’re doing it right now.”

Apprentice hastily dropped his arm and held it behind his back.

“Did we do that?” Cyborg said, a little softer. “I’m sorry. I thought you were a robot, and, you know…”

“Robots don’t stop until you break them,” Apprentice sighed. “Yeah…I know. But it’s fine, and anyway, you didn’t do it.”

“Wait, you came to the secure weapons facility with a broken arm? Why?!?!” Cyborg gestured angrily.

Apprentice just glared back at him in silence.

“We can hook you up with a cast,” Cyborg offered.

“I can’t fight in a cast,” Apprentice said.

“You can’t fight like this, either!” Cyborg gestured again. “What is your problem?!?”

“Cyborg,” Starfire said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “perhaps we should try a different approach.”

“I won’t talk,” Apprentice interrupted quickly. “I may not be a robot, but I won’t—I mean, I…I won’t…you can’t—”

“Woah, woah, slow down. We’re just trying to help you,” Cyborg said.

“No, you’re trying to soften me up so I give away Slade’s secrets,” Apprentice said. “I won’t do it. So you might as well kill me now, because I won’t talk, no matter what you do to me.”

“No one’s going to kill anyone,” Cyborg started to say, but the door opened again as Raven and Beast Boy entered with the x-ray machine, and Apprentice launched himself at the Titans with complete disregard for life and limb.

“Titans, careful!” Cyborg said. “Beast Boy, don’t—”

“I can take care of myself,” Apprentice wrenched his broken arm away from Beast Boy and ran for the door, which Raven sealed with her magic just before he got there. Apprentice beat his fist on the door, just once, and leaned against it heavily.

They were finally about to coax the dejected Apprentice into the x-ray machine. “Dude, you’re covered in broken bone scars,” Cyborg frowned as he looked at the readings. “Half your ribcage is messed up.”

Apprentice just grit his teeth in response, staring pointedly up at the ceiling.

“Slade sure sends you on a lot of missions, doesn’t he?” Beast Boy shrugged.

Apprentice refused to answer, he just kept glaring at the ceiling like it was personally responsible for his failures.

“I’m not sensing any kind of mind control,” Raven said, touching her temple as she felt around with her magic.

Apprentice snorted at that, laughing a very teenager-y laugh. The hollow sound echoed in the secure room. It made the Titans shiver. Apprentice wasn’t some evil adult villain, he was the same age as them. He might as well have been laughing at one of Beast Boy’s jokes, he sounded so normal.

“And I’m not detecting any kind of mechanical control, either,” Cyborg continued.

“Maybe I just work for Slade, okay?” Apprentice sighed. “Maybe, just like you all chose to be ‘heroes,’ I chose to work for Slade.”

“How did that happen?” Beast Boy scoffed.

Apprentice clammed up again.

“Wait, I’m picking up something,” Cyborg frowned. “A signal of some kind, originating outside the Tower. We—”

Apprentice rolled out of the examination bed, took a small device from his ear, and smashed it onto the ground with one heavily armored boot. He didn’t stop until the device was completely destroyed.

“—and, the signal’s gone,” Cyborg sighed, snapping the plate on his arm closed again. “Let me guess, that was so Slade could communicate with you?”

“I don’t have to talk to you,” Apprentice raised his fists.

“Let’s end this,” Raven frowned. She drew herself up to full height and stood in front of Apprentice, who glared up at her as he held onto his fighting stance. “Apprentice, was it?” Raven raised an eyebrow.

Apprentice just glared up at her and clenched his fists a little more tightly.

“Raven, you do not have to do this,” Starfire said quietly.

“If anyone has a better plan for figuring out what Slade wants before he blows up the whole city, I’m listening,” Raven said.

“Do it,” Cyborg nodded.

“Whatever it is, I won’t let you,” Apprentice said desperately, backing up against the wall. “I won’t talk. It won’t work. Don’t—what are you doing?”

“Best Boy, can you hold him?” Raven asked.

Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and grabbed Apprentice in a hug, holding him still.

“Don’t! Stop! Let me go!” Apprentice struggled in the tight grip.

“Ow! He bit me,” Beast Boy grumbled.

“Azarath metrion zinthos,” Raven breathed, and she closed her eyes as she drifted into Apprentice’s mind.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in a circus tent. Everything was tinged brownish-grey, more with Apprentice’s emotion than with age. Raven looked around. It was a strange, creepy place. There was a tightrope, but the netting below it had been replaced with a pile of crushing gears. There were gears everywhere, Raven realized—they lined the floors of the animal cages, they made up platforms and audience seating…

It was deathly quiet, except for a repeated shing…thunk sound. “Hello?” Raven called. “Apprentice? Anyone there?”

The shing…thunk sound stopped for a moment, then it picked back up again. Raven followed it around a corner, to where a boy in a blue uniform sat on one of the giant gears. He had spiky black hair. Raven watched him draw a small, thin knife from one of his pockets—shing—and throw it across the room, where it landed in a wooden target with deadly accuracy—thunk.

“Apprentice?” Raven asked.

“Huh?” the boy looked up at her and smiled. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Are you Apprentice?” Raven asked.

“My name’s Dick,” the boy shook his head. He jumped down from the gear and did a lazy backflip towards her. “Who’re you?”

“I’m Raven,” Raven said. “What is this place?”

“You don’t know?” Dick’s smile dropped. He gave her a sad look. “You should probably go, then. You don’t belong here.”

“I can’t go until I find Apprentice,” Raven said. “I need to talk to him.”

“I can show you around, I guess,” Dick shrugged. He led her through the circus, pointing out the attractions as they went. If he noticed the creepy stillness, the emptiness of the circus, the dark energy flowing around them, he didn’t say anything, and it didn’t seem to dampen his smile.

“This is where I grew up,” Dick was saying. “I used to do an act with my parents, before.”

“Before what?” Raven asked.

“Just before,” Dick said, smile never dropping. Now it looked more like a facade, though. Like an act. Like he was performing for her benefit. “Anyway, after it, Master found me. He’s been training me. That’s what I was doing when you found me.”

“Training?” Raven asked.

“Yeah,” Dick said, and he moved quickly then, the way Apprentice had. Knives appeared in his hands like magic, and he threw them at her. She raised both arms to shield herself, but they whizzed harmlessly past her. She turned, and saw Dick had made a perfect outline of her in knives behind her on a wall.

“Can we have some applause for the audience volunteer?” Dick beamed and raised his hands wide, turning to face an invisible audience like he’d performed an excellent trick. Then a shadow slammed into him from the side, hitting him in the chest and knocking him to the floor. “Ouch,” Dick winced from where he’d landed in a pile of rubble.

“You know the rules,” Apprentice growled.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Dick hung his head.

“Get up,” Apprentice held out his hand and helped Dick to his feet. “Sorry doesn’t matter.”

“I know,” Dick said, accepting the help and standing up.

“Apprentice,” Raven said. “Why are you working for Slade?”

“I already said, I don’t have to talk to you,” Apprentice growled. “What makes you think I’d be more willing in here?”

“Tell me what he’s planning, and I’ll get out,” Raven said.

Apprentice crossed his arms. “It’s my mind. You’ll get out anyway.”

Dick pulled a short stick from a pocket, which extended into a long bow staff. “Sorry,” Dick smiled apologetically at Raven. Then he leapt at her with the staff.

Dick stabbed and jabbed at her again and again. It took all of her concentration to fend off his attacks, even though as far as she could tell, he didn’t even have powers. Dick somersaulted away from her and grabbed a chair and a whip. “The lions have nothing on you,” Dick grinned. Raven flew up into the air, out of his range.

“Now that’s what I call high-flying!” Dick said. He dropped the props and clambered up one of the tightrope poles like a monkey. “But can you do this?” He swung down at her, and kicked one of his shoes to reveal a knife coming out of one of the toes. Raven dodged it and used her magic to detach the ropes holding up the bar. Dick fell, and Apprentice leapt into the air to catch him before he hit the gears below.

“Look, I don’t know what Slade’s planning. He doesn’t tell me that stuff. Will you just get out of here?” Apprentice set Dick down and glared up at Raven.

“No. Why are you working for him?” Raven asked.

“There was nobody else after,” Dick said.

“Shut up,” Apprentice said.

“Slade said he could be like a father to me,” Dick said.

“I said shut up,” Apprentice growled at him.

“He protected me,” Dick said, looking up at Raven.

“He’s going to hurt a lot of people,” Raven said. “That’s why my friends and I need to stop him.”

“This is why we’re not talking to you!” Apprentice said. “You’re just going to stop me too, like you stopped all those robots.”

“No…the Titans don’t kill people,” Raven said.

“Oh, sure you don’t, you just invade minds and try to poison me against Slade,” Apprentice rolled his eyes. “Much nicer.”

“Master could hurt a lot of people, though,” Dick said quietly. “He cares about you, and he still hurts you. Imagine what he could do to people he didn’t care about.”

“You know that was for training!” Apprentice rounded on Dick angrily. “Once I’m good enough at fighting, he won’t be able to hurt me anymore. That’s the whole point.”

“Slade can’t hurt you while you’re with the Titans,” Raven said.

“Wanna bet?” Apprentice scowled.

“If that’s why you’re working for him, because you’re scared of him—”

“I’m not scared,” Dick said, at the same time Apprentice said “Of course I’m scared.” They looked at each other, then both looked up at Raven.

“Keep talking,” Dick said.

“Shut up,” Apprentice said.

Raven made a solid attempt. “You don’t have to do what Slade says anymore. You’re safe from him here, we can—”

“We’re not listening!” Apprentice roared. He grabbed Dick by the shoulders and threw him into the gears, then leapt down after him. “This is what happens to us because of you! You make us weak!” Apprentice pummeled Dick with punch after punch, not giving him time to get up.

“Stop it!” Raven swooped down and tried to pull them apart.

“You’re the one who’s weak!” Dick got a grip on Apprentice and pushed him into the pile of gears. As they fought, they began sinking into it, like quicksand.

“I’m not the one who says ‘thank you’ to my captors,” Apprentice pulled Dick’s hair.

“I hate you!” Dick jabbed an elbow into Apprentice’s side.

“I hate you!” Apprentice got the upper hand and put it around Dick’s throat, squeezing, seeming not even to notice as they sunk deeper between the gears.

“Let him go!” Raven yelled, trying to get a grip on them with her magic, but they slid out of her grasp. She tried to grab Apprentice’s shoulders, but his head turned around backwards and he grabbed her with both hands, pulling her down into the gears. She struggled to pull away, but more hands appeared, grabbing her, pulling her down into the darkness and the crushing weight—

“Get out!” Apprentice yelled, and Raven opened her eyes. She was back in the secure room with the Titans and Apprentice, still being restrained by Beast Boy.

“Slade can’t hurt you in here,” Raven said. “He can’t even hear you.” She gestured at the broken communications device where Apprentice had crushed it on the floor. “Why are you so desperate to get back to him?”

“He’s all I have,” Apprentice said, giving her a pleading look behind the domino mask. “Why won’t you let me go?”

“He’s not training you for anything, he’s just using you as a punching bag,” Raven said. “At best, you’re a human shield.”

“I’m not listening to you!” Apprentice screamed and slammed his head backwards into Beast Boy’s forehead.

“Ow!” Beast Boy couldn’t keep hold of him, and Apprentice dropped to the floor. He lunged at the door, trying to figure out how to open it.

“You’ll never get out,” Cyborg said. “That door is reinforced with the best security I know how to make. You’d have to be some kind of genius to hack out of—”

The door opened and Apprentice bolted down the hall like a scared rabbit.

“Get him!” Cyborg said.

“What happened to ‘he’ll never get out?” Raven raised an eyebrow.

“We can update the security after we catch him!” Cyborg groaned.

Apprentice was learning his way around their powers. He dodged starbolts, anticipated Beast Boy’s animal changes, and sealed himself in their living room, jamming the door mechanism to buy himself some time.

He had to shield his eyes against how bright it was. The room was basically all windows. He went to their massive communications screen and controls, trying to open a line to Slade.

“Slade, it’s me,” Apprentice said. “I need help. The Titans got me, but I can escape, I know it. I need—”

“Whatever you need, you must hope the Titans will provide it,” Slade’s face appeared on the screen, larger than life and imposing as hell. “You are no longer welcome, my old apprentice.”

“What? But Slade, I did everything just as you said. I didn’t tell them anything. I’ve even still got the chip!” Apprentice took it out of his pocket and held it up.

“You’ve been with the Titans for multiple hours now. That is more than enough time for you to have been compromised,” Slade said. “We had a good run, but I’m afraid I can no longer trust you.”

“Master, you can trust me,” Apprentice said, almost in tears. “Please, I—”

“If I see you again, I will kill you, Dick,” Slade said. “Goodbye.”

“No,” Apprentice fell to his knees as the computer screen turned off. “Wait, don’t…” But it was too late. Slade was gone, and he didn’t want Apprentice back, even if he could finish escaping from the Tower. Which didn’t seem likely, as the Titans were already busting down the door to the living room.

Apprentice stared down at the chip. If he’d just refused the mission to go after it, the pain from Slade’s punishment would already have gone away by now. He clutched it close to his chest. Surely, he could still deliver it. Even if Slade didn’t want him, he’d want the chip, right?

“Drop it,” Cyborg said, pointing the sonic cannon at him. It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order. There would be no more orders from Slade anymore. Apprentice dropped the chip and stared down at it. In a matter of hours, Apprentice had become less valuable to Slade than this piece of computer technology. Apprentice was envious. He wanted to smash it into a million pieces.

“Hands in the air,” Cyborg said.

Apprentice obeyed. “This is your fault,” he said quietly, staring at Raven. “If you hadn’t captured me—”

“Then Slade would be one step closer to taking over the city,” Raven said.

“Guys, I think we really took out Slade’s second in command!” Beast Boy beamed. “Titans rule!”

“So,” Apprentice sighed heavily, hands still raised. “What are you going to do with me now?” Unfortunately, it was seeming increasingly unlikely that they were going to kill him.

“Um…” Beast Boy looked at Cyborg.

“That’s…a good question,” Cyborg said.

Apprentice just sat there, motionless, keeping his hands raised, staring down at the chip. Apparently, he had all the time in the world to wait for their answer. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go.

I hope you enjoyed! This was just chapter 1. You can read the rest on my AO3, @OccassionalStorytelling. Link above!

[sd1970x]

Marinette, work in progress - Ch4 - BlueCollar

Read also on AO3: here first chapter | previous chapter | next chapter

Marinette took the short path home as she hopped, still transformed, towards her balcony. No sooner than reaching her room, she thrust herself into her bed and her face into her pillow.

“Spots off.”

The suit dissolved and Tikki emerged, hovering about. She was quick to pick up on Marinette’s distress.

“Marinette, is everything okay?”

Marinette turned her head towards Tikki, peeking just a tad out.

"No.” She tersely replied, then turned away again. “I’m not fit to be a superheroine.”

“What? Why would you say that?” Tikki shuddered.

“Why? because I’m not even a real girl and I nearly failed because of that!”

Tikki just stared back, wordlessly.Marinette slowly rose up and sat upright at her bed.

“If being a girl is so much better for me… why wasn’t I just born one? Maybe I should just accept my fate. I can’t win this one.”

Marinette tried to look away as Tikki hovered in front of her, denying her the option to end the conversation just yet.

“Maybe fate has crossed your path with the miraculous because of that? Because your burning desire to be a girl means something?”

Marinette looked back, contemplating Tikki’s words.

“All it means is that I’m a wannabe and that I’ll end up embarrassing everyone who believes in me. Like Alya and Mylene.”

Marinette recalled the conversation back at school lunch. Alya and Mylene sure seemed to think very highly of her.

“They sure don’t seem to think that way, and they should know a thing or two about girl power.”

That much was true, even Marinette had to admit it.

I don’t know Alya and Mylene that much and yet they’ve both already managed to impress me, Alya for standing up to Chloe and Mylene for standing up for what counts in this city. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to brush off their instincts, and take their trust as affirmation.

“What is it that makes you think you’re a boy, Marinette?”

Marinette’s mind screeched to a halt.

I might not be a true-born girl… but I’m not a boy either. What the hell am I, again?

“I… I don’t know anymore.” she whispered and Tikki smiled.

Marinette flared up her computer and started looking at some of her designs. She followed by reading some of her hidden computer diary entries.

The more she looked at her designs, the more she read into her diary entries, the muddier the answer in her mind became.

Maybe these tell the story of what I am better than everything else? What is it that makes a design “a girl’s design”? Or a story “a boy’s story”?

Before she noticed it, it was time for dinner, followed by shower and bedtime.

---

It was the last thing Marinette thought would happen to her. Chloe was the first to point at her and explode into mocking laughter, interrupting the morning’s lesson.

“Look at Marin! What’s Gay-boy doing with pink trousers in class?”

Instinctively she tried to cup her breasts, but they weren’t there anymore.

Oh no… the magic… it… dissipated? But… how? Why?

Soon enough, most of the class burst into laughter. She braved a look at herself and her heart sank.

She was back in her boy-suit, the one she thought she had discarded already. The sensation of body hair that she did not miss, back to haunt her.

Everyone laughed at her. Even her teacher! Caline bustier, otherwise a fair and decent teacher, joining up with class, pointing at her.

No. No no no. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!

She tried to scream, but only muffled sounds came about. She tried to run away, but she felt like her muscles betrayed her. The sounds of laughter echoed around her, piercing her soul.

“Gay-Boy! Gay-Boy in pink!”

She decided she must gather her energy and leave class, but felt herself jerked upwards instead.

Into a seating position, in her bed, covered in cold sweat and panting heavily.

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki flew by, worried.

“It was a nightmare.” she blurted out.

A most vivid one, that’s bound to come to life as soon as the magic dissipates.

Marinette woke up early that day, still exhausted from the night. The sight of herself in the mirror did quite a bit to cheer her up.

It’s not a dream after all. Maybe if I hold onto it, it won’t slip from my grip.

She combed and tied her hair neatly, brushed her teeth and went downstairs to have her breakfast.

“At least you won’t be late today, honey.” Her mom smiled at her.

Having a properly-paced, non-rushed breakfast also proved helpful for her mood. She walked towards school, hoping that the new day would bring relief from yesterday’s battle and that awful night.

---

Mylene was one of the first to enter class, picking up the aptitude test results from the teacher’s desk.

While she feared many things, math wasn’t one of them. The good grades were sure to make her parents happy and perhaps more lenient in letting her go out on more activities like she had wanted.

Then again, someone next to her was clearly unhappy about their test results.

Ivan seemed to be very happy to see her come over, but immediately switched his looks back to his test results and gloominess was quick to take hold.

“What’s the matter, Ivan?”

Ivan paused before spitting it out.

“I… barely passed it. I was this close to flunking it. I’m no good at maths.”

Chloe kept filing her nails as she overheard their conversation.

“Oh, don’t you worry about it, there would still be plenty of higher education options available for people like you.” she commented.

Ivan looked at her, dumbfounded, while Mylene eyed Chloe suspiciously.

What’s she planning? Is it a rare moment of kindness, or a ploy to make things worse?

“ Ecole-de-imbecile , of course. You’ll eke out a meager living hauling boxes for people like me who will run daddy’s hotel.”

And to think I believed it could be the first for even a split of a second.

Ivan grit his teeth and looked like he was about to respond, then looked at his test results again.

“... Up until you become totally useless, at which point you’ll probably find yourself homeless in the streets, your wife dumping you, if you ever had one in the first place. Guess that’s too bad.”

“Chloe, you’re the meanest! Ivan is-” Mylene tried to protest but Chloe was quick to shut her down.

“-a loser, and the world doesn’t need losers in it. Sorry, that’s just how it is.”

Ivan clenched his fist and ran off to the locker room. Mylene looked at Chloe accusingly for a brief moment, only to refocus her attention on following up on Ivan.

---

Light intruded upon Hawk Moth’s domain as his senses picked up on a victim of choice.

“Fear of the future. Fear of who you may become. Uncertainty. Go forth, my precious akuma, let his self-doubt seal the fate for Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

---

Marinette was walking through the corridor, looking at her aptitude test report card, when Ivan nearly bumped into her. She dodged it at the last moment and was quite surprised when Ivan said nothing.

He is usually very nice and polite, despite his brutish looks. That’s not like him not to apologize.

Something must have happened. This doesn’t look good.

Before she had much time to dwell on it, Mylene came about, looking around.

“Marinette, have you seen Ivan?”

“Yeah, he went that way.” She said as she pointed out the direction. “Has anything happened?”

“I’m tempted to just say ‘Chloe happened’”, Mylene replied, “but she’s outdone even herself.

She told Ivan his test results set him for a life of failure.”

“How mean!”

Mylene nodded.

“He deserves so much better than that.”

With that, she rushed forwards to search for Ivan, leaving Marinette behind with more than one thing to think about.

Does this one test really set up our fate for the future?

Of course not! I mean, I’m sure Ivan can change it!

Are we the masters of our own fate, or has it been written for us?

Then again…

She looked at her hands and imaginary boy hands were superimposed on them.

Is my fate in my own hands?

---

The butterfly easily homed on the sobbing student in the locker room, landing on a decorative pin he was wearing.

“ BlueCollar , I am Hawk Moth. Your fate has been rewritten, your destiny now changed. You shall lead a revolution.”

---

Marinette was just leaving class as a confrontation outside on the street drew her attention. It was Chloe and her dad, the mayor, arguing with a figure that seemed like a large and sturdy construction worker.

“Shouldn’t you be doing your job?” Chloe yelled at the figure. “Daddy, tell him!”

“How insolent. I don’t report to you. I’m BlueCollar and I report to Hawk Moth.”

Chloe and the mayor shuddered at these words and tried to back away slowly, but BlueCollar wouldn’t stop.

“Maybe you two will finally do something useful for the people of Paris!” BlueCollar went on and a blue streak of energy engulfed the two of them.

Chloe found herself donning a sanitation worker’s uniform and holding a broom. In a moment, magical compulsion forced her to start cleaning the street, much to BlueCollar’s satisfaction.

Marinette was quick to hide in a nearby alley.

“We’re needed. Time to transform! Tikki, spots on!”

Marinette emerged from the alley, with Chat Noir arriving at the scene at the exact same time.

“Please, Ladybug, Chat Noir, save us from this fate!” Chloe managed to say before BlueCollar’s magical compulsion forced her to tend to her work again.

Marinette barely managed to stifle her giggle.

Isn’t that some poetic justice out there. A taste of your own medicine, Chloe. Maybe a few hours of work would do you good.

Marinette and Chat Noir both hopped on to a higher ground to make plans. Then again, one of them had plans the other probably did not think of.

“So. BlueCollar’s power is making people work for him. We must avoid his strike at all costs.” Marinette remarked.

“We have more than enough work without his powers employing us. But would you like to go for coffee once our work is done?”

Marinette froze in place as she tried to digest his words.

“Huh? Are you… asking me out?”

He flashed a grin.

“Well, all work and no play is a major hassle. I’m a playful cat, try me”

He can’t be serious. My god, what’s wrong with him?

“A playful cat.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And your game is... prowling about, hunting down a superheroine for a superhero.”

“Yep.”

“Swooping someone, from partner to lover. Oh, such brag rights! A game with a prize!”

“I don’t see why not. If you’re into it...” he smiled.

My god. He really knows no limit.

Marinette poked him in his chest.

“Do I look like I’m some prize to be won, partner?”

His smile faded in an instant.

“We save Paris together. Save your romantic aspirations for someone else.”

She then pointed his head towards BlueCollar as he went towards the city hall. “Does this look like a game to you? No? Then this should be your focus.”

Both Marinette and Chat Noir darted down to confront BlueCollar, avoiding his zaps successfully but making little headway.

Chat Noir managed to strike him with his baton, only to feel the recoil as he proved far too sturdy to be impacted. Marinette fared pretty much the same, as he simply flung her away with her own yo-yo.

Making things worse, they were quickly approached by a league of BlueCollar’s supporting workers, armed with whatever they were using for their jobs.

“Looks like we need some pest control.” One of them remarked as he eyed Marinette.

“And a feral cat problem to handle.” another added, looking at Chat Noir.

“Hate to disappoint. I’m fully domesticated. Cataclysm!” Chat Noir called it as he touched the ground, creating a chasm and allowing both Marinette and him to escape to safety.

“Well, we don’t have much time, do we?” Chat remarked and Marinette nodded in agreement.

“It’s time for my thing, then. Lucky charm!” she called it, cupping her hands to grab a falling...

״Miner’s helmet? What am I going to do with that?״

She briefly flicked its headlight on, then flicked it off.

“Okay, Chat, here’s the plan…”

---

BlueCollar kept roaming the streets, until something caught his eye. It was an open manhole in the middle of the road, with an electricity cable running into it.

Clearly, someone was doing maintenance work in a negligent and extremely unsafe manner. No markings whatsoever, no signs to ward off pedestrians and no one to call should help be required.

As BlueCollar approached the manhole, Chat Noir jumped downwards from a nearby building and landed forcefully on his back. BlueCollar fell forwards and upside down, finding himself jammed into the hole, unable to move.

The hole was dark as night, although in a moment he was blinded by what seemed to be a flashlight. A short while afterwards, he managed to see it for what it was - Ladybug wearing a miner’s helmet.

“This site does employ some workplace safety” she commented as she walked slowly towards him. He could only watch as she removed his collar and broke it in two, releasing the akuma.

“No more evildoing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!” she called it, as she whipped her yo-yo and whisked it away.

“Miraculous… Ladybug!”

As she flung the helmet upwards, it burst into a stream of Ladybugs, releasing all those bound to work by BlueCollar’s powers, including Chloe and her father.

---

“Pound it!” Ladybug offered her hand for a fistbump, and Adrien’s was quick to respond in like.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” he offered cautiously.

“It was a close call” she replied, her face showing little emotion, but she quickly softened. “But you do make a great partner. Respect my limits and it will stay that way.”

She followed by a short-lived smile, then hopped away and disappeared.

Adrien’s eyes followed her wake until she was gone from his sight. He breathed in relief, then sighed.

“I guess it’s just partners then. Even if I…”

Even if I want it to be more than that.

I’ve met the girl of my dreams… and I nearly ruined everything.

Is there any way I can get her to see me as more than that? Or are we fated to remain no more than partners?

---

A now de-akumatized Ivan made his way back to class, where Mylene was quick to warmly greet him.

“I’m sorry, Ivan. It’s just one test! And if you want, I’d love to help you with maths.”

“You would? That’s… that’s so wonderful!” Ivan beamed at her words, his joy clear to everyone around. Yet Mylene had more to say.

“But for your own good, you really shouldn’t let Chloe get to you! You’re the kindest person I know and that’s worth so much more.”

“I usually don’t… it’s just that… well…”

Ivan was blushing furiously now as he picked his words.

“I had plans to confess to a girl today and then Chloe just sapped all my confidence.”

“Oh? Who would that be? I-If you don’t mind me asking...”

There was a short pause before Ivan managed to say it.

“It’s you.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” She replied, a wide grin to her face. A moment later, she hugged him tight and his blush deepened by two shades.

“Aww, these two are meant to be together!” Rose said as she dug herself into Juleka’s arm.

---

Marinette smiled as Ivan and Mylene hugged each other, some of their elation sweeping her as well.

Maybe some of our fate lies in the hands of others who love us, that’s not so bad too now is it?

What does fate have in for me?

I seriously hope it’s more of an ‘Adrien’ direction than a ‘Chat Noir’ one!

Chat’s a good partner… and that’s where the line gets drawn.

But Adrien… He’s something special. I got to see a glimpse of a soul so pure.

It’s time for me to take fate into my own hands, and I will.

A girl’s fate.

[headfulloffantasies]

WonderTrev Secret Santa

For @pennywaltzy Happy Holidays!

Sometimes- A WonderTrev fic. Rated PG

Sometimes, Diana dreamed that Steve didn’t die.

Sometimes         

   Sometimes, Diana dreamed that Steve didn’t die. Some nights, she saw the plane explode in a flash of orange against the black night sky. And when the smoke cleared, a white parachute drifted through the air. Diana ran across the landing strip, her boots pounding the asphalt. Steve’s knees buckled as he hit the pavement. Diana caught him, held him tight against her chest. It felt like crashing into the sun. His warm body, still alive, brough tears to her eyes. She vowed to never let go.

Steve’s arms wrapped around her. He said something into her ear. But like before, she couldn’t hear through the muffled ringing.

“I thought I lost you,” she whispered. She ran a hand through his soft hair, pressing him even closer to her. His hands ran up and down her back, soothing the ache of loss.

They left the battlefield. They walked hand and hand away from a war finally won. They saved the world, and the promise of tomorrow was their reward.

Diana hated that dream. She woke with tears staining her pillow. Sometimes she put on her armor at night and went out looking for crime just so she wouldn’t have to face that dream. Eventually, she learned to live with the dream. She stopped putting on the armor.

Diana told her story to very few people. The legend of Wonder Woman became a myth, and then a fable. Just a story soldiers remembered hearing in the trenches. Sometimes though, Diana got lonely.

Bruce Wayne gifted her the photo of Steve, Samir, Charlie, and Chief. Diana sat down and sent him an email. “Thank you for bringing him back to me. Will you meet me for coffee? I’m ready to tell you my story.”

They met at Diana’s apartment. She set two mugs of earl grey tea on the coffee table. Bruce fidgeted on her couch, clearly unsure how to start this conversation. Diana sat next to him and began. “I was not born in the world of men…”

 Sometimes, when she had told people she’d lost her only love, people would say “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Bruce said nothing. He sat in his brooding silence when she finished talking. Diana’s tea had made had gone cold. Bruce finally lifted his eyes. They were blue like Steve’s, but icy where Steve’s had always been warm. Bruce took Diana’s hand in his.

  “Steve sounds like a very special person. Thank you for sharing. People like us seem to carry far too much pain.”

 “People like us?” Diana raised an eyebrow.

  Bruce didn’t respond. He gathered his coat and left.

  Diana wished sometimes she’d never left Themescara. The only people in the world who might understand her were barred from her. She could never return. But sometimes, she imagined what she might say to her mother. Diana could feel the sun-warm grass beneath her bare feet. She imagined sitting in the glade where she’d learned to ride horses. Her mother would sit across from her. They’d share a drink of wine.

Diana would lift her face to her mother and say, “I found a man worthy of the Amazons. The man Steve Trevor, who defended us on the beach.”

The imagined Hippolyta raised an eyebrow. “I recall his name, Diana. It’s not every century a man finds his way to our island.”

  “Yes, mother,” Diana hid a smile. “If I told you I loved him, what would you say?”

  Hippolyta also smiled. “So long as you are happy, I am happy for you.”

Diana swallowed hard. “I lost him.”

“Not all things that are lost are finished,” Hippolyta said.

Diana snapped from her daydream. Her mother had never said that before in her mind. Diana’s heart raced. Where had that thought come from?

             Not all things that are lost are finished.

  What did it mean? Diana was sure the thought had not come from herself.

The next day Diana sat at her desk in her office. She typed up her proposal for the museum’s newest exhibition, attaching her notes on the rarity of the Greek artifacts included in the display. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her temples. She’d had the dream again last night and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep after.

Diana’s email pinged. She looked up, expecting something from her supervisor. The message had no subject line. She checked the sender. No sender listed. Diana frowned. She really shouldn’t open anything like this. She deleted the message, hoping no other spam would make it into her inbox. Another ping immediately drew her attention. The subject line of the new email read “READ ME, DIANA”.

There was still no sender. Diana chewed her lip. She clicked the message. It had only one line.

“Not all things that are lost are finished.”

A chill ran down Diana’s spine.

Another message popped up. Diana clicked it. She lurched back in her chair.

It was a photo of Steve Trevor. He wore a grey sweatshirt and glowered at the camera. The sight of him in colour stole Diana’s breath. This couldn’t possibly be real. Someone had photoshopped the image, surely. Diana frantically searched the message for the sender. No sender, but the subject line read “FIND ME”.

Diana’s pulse raced. Steve’s face swam in front of her eyes. Diana forced herself to her feet. A thousand memories crashed over her like a wave. Steve’s smile, his blue eyes, his hands clasped around hers, the snow falling between them. Diana could hear the music in the chilly square.

Diana couldn’t stand still anymore. She paced back in forth in front of her desk. Tears ached in her throat, but she forced them down. This couldn’t be real. Diana needed proof. She leaned over the desk and tapped frantically at the computer. There was one person she knew who would help without asking questions. Bruce Wayne.

She forwarded the photo of Steve along with a quick plea. “Can you verify this photo is real and find the source?”

Diana went back to her pacing while she waited. Her breaths came in ragged gasps. If Steve was alive-. She forced her thoughts elsewhere. She had to find whoever had sent the picture. Diana sat at her desk again. She stared at Steve’s face glaring back. His thick eyebrows pulled harshly over his eyes. Diana traced a finger over the crease in his forehead. The only photo she had of him was too faded and grainy to make out much of his neutral expression. She’d never forgotten how deeply he conveyed his emotions; but she hadn’t seen it in so many decades.

At last, Bruce replied to her request. Diana slammed her hand on the mouse to open his response.

“The photo is real. Unable to track the sender. Do you need backup?”

A sob clogged in Diana’s throat. Steve. Steve alive. How? How could this happen?

The sharp ring of Diana’s cellphone startled her out of her thoughts. “Hello.”

“Do you have any clues as to who did this?” Bruce’s low growl grounded Diana in her seat.

“No,” she admitted. “All I have is the picture.”

“I’ve also been receiving disturbing messages,” Bruce said.

Diana sucked in a breath. “Do you have any leads?”

“One,” Bruce did not elaborate.

Diana resisted rolling her eyes. Bruce remained as difficult to talk to as ever. “I would be grateful for any assistance you may have,” she said.

Bruce paused. Diana waited; the tempests of Bruce’s moods not new to her. “The messages I’ve had were not, let’s say, traditional.”

“How do you mean?”

“Dreams,” Bruce said curtly. “I’ve been having dreams of someone I thought to be dead. She might not be.”

Diana stilled. “I’ve also had dreams.”

“I’ll meet you in an hour.”

Diana went home. Bruce rang her door bell exactly one hour from when he hung up the phone. Diana welcomed him into her apartment.

Bruce glanced around the airy penthouse suite. He stuck his hands in his crisp suit pockets. “You have good taste.”

“We both know you’re not here to compliment my décor,” Diana closed the door. “Please sit,” she gestured to the couch. Bruce perched on the edge of the cushion. Diana noted he’d placed himself where he could see all the windows and doors. She didn’t comment.

Diana sat across from Bruce. “Tell me about your dreams.”

Bruce frowned. “They’ve been chaotic. I only ever dream of the night my parents died. Now, I’m having vivid recollections of Justice League missions. I thought maybe someone was trying to gather intel on the League.”

Diana noted the dark circles under Bruce’s blue eyes. “You haven’t been sleeping, have you?”

Bruce shook his head. “It seemed irresponsible to give her an in.”

“Her?” Diana raised a quizzical eyebrow. “You know who’s doing this to us?”

“Maybe. I have a suspicion.”

“Who is she?” Diana asked.

Something flickered across Bruce’s face too quickly for Diana to recognise. “Her name is Ace. I knew her when she was a child. It seems she’s grown up. And grown even more powerful.”

“How do you mean?” Diana pressed.

Bruce straightened his spine. Diana was beginning to recognise his stiff posture as a form of armor he gathered around himself. “Ace is psychic. When I met her, she was sick. Her powers overflowed, wrapping people in vivid hallucinations. I thought she had died in my arms.”

“Did you kill her?” Diana didn’t want to say it.

“No,” Bruce said. His sharp gaze reprimanded Diana for even asking.

She folded her arms over her chest. “If this girl can warp people’s minds, how do we know any of what’s going on is real?”

“We don’t,” Bruce pinned her with another look. “But are you willing to risk it?”

“Yes,” Diana replied immediately. Anything for Steve. The bubble of hope that had grown in her chest expanded. She didn’t dare nurture it. If all this was only a trick, she didn’t know how she’d react. She couldn’t lose Steve a second time.

“What do you propose?”

Bruce shrugged. “It’s probably easiest to go to sleep and wait for Ace to contact us.”

A knot of anxiety squeezed in Diana’s stomach. “Yes, I suppose,” she conceded.

Diana set Bruce up in her spare bedroom. The bed hadn’t seen any guests in quite some time. Bruce protested that he could sleep on the couch, but Diana refused.

“Hospitality is a virtue among my people.”

Diana left Bruce to try to fall asleep in her fresh sheets. She went to her own room and closed the door.

She laid down on top of her covers and closed her eyes. In the dark of her own thoughts, Diana thought of Steve. She recalled the smoke of their little camp in the European wilderness. Steve’s coat dropped around her shoulders. Charlie sang a soldier’s song of longing to go home. Diana watched out of the corner of her eye as Steve curled up and fell asleep on the ground. His face softened in repose. Diana longed to lay next to him, to drape his arm over her shoulder and to burrow into his side. She missed him dearly. What would she give for a chance to get him back?

Diana rolled over. Her alarm clock told her she’d been laying there for an hour. She sighed. She obviously wasn’t going to fall asleep. Diana levered herself up and went to check on Bruce.

She tapped softly at the door. There was no answer. She pushed the door open. Bruce lay half curled around a pillow; his fingers gone lax in their grip on the sheets. He’d thrown his jacket over the chair in the corner. Diana crossed over to the chair and settled herself down to wait until Bruce woke. His body had relaxed in sleep, but his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. It did not look peaceful.

Bruce woke with a jerk. He made a snuffling sound like an adorable puppy. Diana hid her smile behind her hand. Bruce sat up. His hair stood up in spikes on one side of his head. He scrubbed the sleep from his eyes and finally noticed Diana.

“How long were you there?” He asked, his voice rough.

Diana shrugged. “A few minutes only. I could not sleep.”

Bruce nodded. He slid off the bed and straightened his collar. “I got a location.”

Diana’s head snapped up. “Really?” She rose from her seat.

Bruce nodded. He slicked his hair back, all business again. “Ace showed me the facility she’s being held at.”

“And Steve?” Diana pressed.

Bruce frowned. “I think so. The details are fading. We should move.”

“You have your suit?” Diana asked.

Bruce smirked. “Always.”

Diana ran to change.

Bruce was waiting at the door when she came out in her armor. His face hid behind the black cowl. He cut an imposing figure with his cape trailing the floor and the horns on his head stabbing towards the ceiling. He reached for the door knob. “The Batplane is on its way. We’ll have to go to the roof.”

“Not that way,” Diana strode to the balcony and threw open the glass doors. She braced a foot against the balcony rail and turned back to Bruce. She extended a hand. “Are you coming?”

Bruce took her hand. She tugged him into her side and wrapped an arm around his waist. Diana lifted her head, calculating the distance to the roof. She bent her knees and jumped. They rocketed into the air. They launched up over the roof. For one second, they were suspended over the city, the sunset spreading golden below. Then they dropped. Diana adjusted her grip on Bruce to compensate his weight. She took the force of their landing with a jolt through her bones.

Bruce scrambled out of her grip. “A little warning would have been nice,” he grumbled.

The roar of an engine alerted them of the Batplane before it appeared at the edge of the roof. Bruce strode over to the tiny aircraft. Diana approached the cramped cockpit dubiously.

“I can fly behind you,” she offered, noting the single seat.

“No,” Bruce answered. “We have to make a plan as we fly. Ace said there wasn’t much time left.”

“Fine,” Diana climbed into the craft. She squeezed her knees behind the pilot’s chair. Bruce leaped in and flicked a dozen blinking switches on the controls in front of him. The canopy descended and sealed with a hiss. Diana wriggled her shoulders, trying to relieve the pressure of something digging into her spine.

“Tell me what Ace said,” Diana demanded as the plane roared to life and surged towards the horizon.

Bruce kept his eyes on his instruments. “They’re in a facility underground. Someone’s been running tests on them. Experimenting.”

  Diana’s stomach dropped. Images of a faceless scientist hurting Steve ran through her mind. She clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking.

Diana finally asked the question that had burned in her chest for hours. “Did you ask Ace about Steve?”

  Bruce nodded. “She said he’s been there the longest. But not awake? She thinks he was in some kind of suspension until recently.”

Diana held back a growl. “What’s the plan?”

  Bruce glanced back at her. “There are other prisoners there as well. The priority should be getting them out.”

“Agreed.”

Bruce passed a radio back to Diana. “We’ll have to split up. Do you think you can make a loud distraction?”

Diana managed a savage smile. “I can do that.”

The bunker in the snowy woods crouched against the side of the mountain like a soldier defending its stance. Diana marched straight up to the solid iron doors. Her shield hung loose in her grasp. Her sword trailing the ground left a slice through the newly fallen snow. She approached with her shoulders back and head high. Diana didn’t bother yelling for attention. She drew back her leg and slammed her heel against the door. The metal buckled. Diana kicked again. The hinges groaned. One more attack and the doors crumpled in on themselves.

The tunnel leading down into the earth yawned black and abandoned. But Diana could hear the sound of running feet and shouting. Too late, an alarm shrieked overhead.

  Diana strode down the tunnel. Just as the smooth floor evened out, a dozen armed guards rounded the corner. Diana leaped. She slammed into the oncoming assailants. They didn’t stand a chance. Diana cut through them with her lasso and shield. Once they were all down, she looked around. The grey concrete hallway she found herself in branched to the left and right. To the left she heard more shouting and stomping feet. To the right, then. Away from the security’s hub, where Bruce was slowly making his own covert progress.

Diana took her time, moving at a sedate pace. Any time a new batch of guards caught up, she disarmed and dispatched them quickly. She was aware of the blinking cameras in the corners following her every move. She did not care. Calculated fury filled Diana as she marched through the base.

Losing Steve before had given the same battle clarity. But this was different. The incident with Ares had been fire. This was cold as ice. Steve was here. Nothing else mattered.

Diana descended down a flight of stairs to a white door marked “Labs”. Diana shoved the door open.

  The smell of disinfectant hit her nose. She found a room of sterile white chambers. Diana drew nearer, a humming sense of urgency finally breaking through her cold exterior. Each chamber resembled a cell with a white bunk and a glass wall separating it from the rest of the lab. Figures moved in each chamber.

Diana drew level with the first cell. A woman pressed against the glass. She wore the same grey sweatshirt and pants as Steve in the photo. Her stringy hair fell across her eyes. Those same eyes widened at Diana’s approach.

  “Wonder Woman?” The woman gasped. “Are you here to save us?”

“Yes,” Diana nodded. She drew back her shield and slammed it into the glass. The woman ducked with a yelp. The shield ricocheted off the glass, the vibration jarring Diana’s arm all the way to the shoulder. The glass didn’t so much as crack.

Diana stared in disbelief.

“They knew you’d come,” the woman whispered.

“Who are you?” Diana demanded.

“Tara.” The woman sniffed miserably. “I’ve been here for ages. Doctor Leslie talks about you all the time. She hates you. She designed the cages to be impenetrable.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Diana studied the locking mechanism on the cell door. It looked like a simple key card lock. Diana brought her sword down on the lock. It

Tara stepped out on shaking legs. “Thank you.”

“I’m searching for someone,” Diana said. “His name is Steve Trevor.”

Tara nodded. “He’s here. Doctor Leslie came and took him away when the alarms started.”

Diana didn’t know whether to be afraid or relieved.

She released the rest of the prisoners. They told her the same thing: they knew of Steve, but hadn’t spoken to him. They’d all been experimented on, but the head scientist, Doctor Leslie, seemed to hate Steve more than the others.

Diana pointed Tara and the others towards the exit. “Head that way. Keep out of sight.”

The prisoners scurried away. Diana hefted her sword and kept going. Somewhere here, Steve was wandering around. She’d find him.

“Diana,” the radio Bruce had given her crackled to life. “I’m in the main security office. I have control of the building.”

Diana pulled the radio from her belt. “Where is Doctor Leslie?”

“Keep heading forwards. She’s holed up in lab 237. I’ll meet you there.”

Diana’s heart pounded in time with her boots as she ran down the hallway. The numbers on the lab doors streaked by. She skidded to a halt outside lab 237.

The door hung open. Diana unsheathed her sword. The lights were off in the room. Computers whined at the numerous desks. Strings of numbers ran over the screens, casting flickering patterns of light on the walls. Diana edged forward. At the head of the room, a woman bent over a desk, pressing keys on the computer.

“Stay there,” Diana ordered.

The woman’s head jerked up. Her hair escaped her bun in wild curls and her glasses sat askew on her face.

“Doctor Leslie?” Diana asked. She took another step closer.

The doctor adjusted her glasses. “My, you are a specimen, aren’t you?”

Diana ignored the jibe. “Where is Steve Trevor?”

“Dead.”

The world fell like a bolder on Diana’s shoulders. The air punched from her lungs. She flew across the room and grabbed a handful of Doctor Leslie’s lab coat. “You’re lying,” Diana growled.

Doctor Leslie seemed unaffected by the fact that her feet no longer touched the ground. Her face twisted with rage.

“Do you remember Doctor Poison?” Doctor Leslie hissed. “She taught me everything I know. And she had a special hatred for you. Together we found your precious Steve Trevor after the war. She put him on ice. She refused to bring him out to play. But after her death, how could I not avenge my dear teacher?” She chuckled. “He was such a lovely specimen. I’ll cherish his last moments forever.”

  A stripe of panic ran down Diana’s spine. “No.”

  “Yes,” Doctor Leslie cackled. “Dead! I killed Steve Trevor! How does it feel?”

Diana’s grip on the woman’s collar tightened. Doctor Leslie gasped for breath. Cold chilled Diana to the bone. She’d let the men responsible for Steve’s death live once before. Not this time. She’d raze the base to the ground.

“Diana?”

Diana knew that voice. Her fingers went lax. Doctor Leslie collapsed onto the floor. Diana hardly noticed. She turned.

“Steve?”

He stood in the doorway. His chest rose and fell with harsh breaths. Diana stood still as the statue of Zeus as Steve came closer. He held his hands out to the sides as if approaching a startled animal. His blue eyes were deeper than she remembered. Diana took the last step separating them.  

She reached out for his face with a shaking hand. She pulled her fingers away just an inch from his skin. “I don’t want this to be a dream,” she said.

“Diana, I’m here,” Steve assured her. His pleading eyes begged her to believe him. “I’m not leaving you again.”

Diana crushed him to her chest. He still smelled the same. Apples and musk underneath the disinfectant of this place. Diana curled her fingers in the short hairs at the back of his neck. His cheek pressed to hers.

“I’m here,” Steve murmured. “I’m not going anywhere.”

There was a scrambling noise as Doctor Leslie hauled herself from the floor and made her break for the door. Diana’s hand went to her lasso. Before she could snap the magic rope around the doctor’s ankle, Doctor Leslie ran straight into a shadow standing in the doorway.

Batman glared down at the doctor. She cowered.

Diana turned back to Steve, ignoring Bruce snapping cuffs on the doctor’s hands.

Diana wrapped Steve in her arms again. “I was so scared I lost you again,” she admitted.

“Give me that magic lasso,” Steve demanded. Diana unraveled it into his hands.

Steve wrapped the cord around his wrist like he had those ages ago in London. The magic glowed gold on his skin. “I am never leaving your side again.”

Diana didn’t know how long she and Steve stayed there wrapped in each other’s arms. At last, Bruce cleared his throat. Diana pulled back from Steve enough to crane her head at Bruce.

“Did you find Ace?” Diana asked.

“Yes.” A young woman with short black hair peeked out from behind Bruce’s shoulder. Her grey eyes danced with mirth.

“I knew you’d hear me,” Ace said. “Steve won’t shut up about you. I knew if you loved him half as much as he loves you, you’d come for him.”

Steve’s cheeks flushed. Diana laughed at his blush. She dropped her hand to grasp Steve’s fingers. “Let’s go home.”

[cuddlepilefics]

13.    Christmas Lights

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Jeongin

Caregiver: Chan, Jisung, Felix

 Noone‘s POV.:

Stray Kids were on their long-awaited Christmas days. It was only for a few days but they finally had some time to relax. Being unable to travel home, Chan, Felix and Jisung spent most of their time in their rooms, facetiming their respective families. Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin had gone home to spent the holiday season with their families. Jeongin was supposed to travel home a day after them too but as the the day to get on the train home arrived, he woke up not feeling like himself. Afraid he might be falling ill, he didn‘t feel up to taking the long train ride and decided he‘d stay with his three hyungs at the dorm. He called his mother to explain the situation, who was understandingly worried but he assured her he‘d have his hyungs around him who‘d take care of him just fine. When Chan asked him why he wasn‘t heading out already during breakfast, the maknae explained that he‘d be staying back with them, so his hyungs wouldn‘t feel too lonely or homesick. Cooing at the concerns of their youngest, Jisung and Felix hugged Jeongin tightly, touched that he would choose them over his family.

After breakfast however, each member withdrew themselves to their rooms and computers. Not wanting to hang around Jisung while he was talking to his family, Jeongin tried to avoid their shared room as much as possible. He grabbed a book and made himself a home on the couch. The slightly off feeling he had had all day only grew as the time passed, so the youngest decided to just take a short nap in an attempt to sleep it off. That was his first mistake. When he blinked his eyes open about an hour later, his head was pounding, making it hard for him to even lift it from the pillow. Struggling into a seated position, his vision went black for a few seconds while the couch under him seemed to move. Jeongin took deep breaths to rid himself of the dizziness while tears sprung into his eyes. He was no stranger to migraines but having one around Christmas while being away from home sucked. The only thing he was thankful for was not boarding the train this morning, otherwise he‘d be stuck on a moving vehicle with a migraine.

Feeling safe to stand up after a few minutes, the maknae slowly made his way to his oldest hyung‘s room and knocked gently. Receiving no reply, he figured both Chan and Felix must be wearing their headsets as to not disturb the other‘s conversation. He knocked harder but after getting no answer still, he just entered the room, startling both of the Aussies. He could tell they were both a bit irritated at him for disrupting their videocalls but tried to not let it show too much. “What do you need?“, Chan asked, glancing back at his screen. He didn‘t even spare his dongsaeng a proper glance, otherwise he would have noticed the paleness of his skin, the slight pink rims around his eyes along with the held back tears of pain and the tense crease on his forehead. “Hyung, do we have any painkillers?“, the maknae asked, gaze turned to the floor as he curled his toes. “There must be some aspirin in the bathroom cabinet, why?“, Felix replied in a low voice, not looking up from his videocall. “I-I just have a bit of a headache“, Jeongin mumbled, wanting to leave the room as quickly as possible since he didn‘t feel very welcome there with the cold treatment he was getting. “Just take an aspirin and lie down for a while. Remember to drink enough water“, Chan advised, nodding at his dongsaeng before turning all of his attention towards the screen again.

Fleeing the discomfort he had felt, the maknae shuffled into the bathroom, each of his steps, no matter how hard he tried to keep them light, sent shockwaves of pain through his skull. Before being able to even open the bathroom cabinet, he had to hold onto the sink as his head swam and his stomach churned. Keeping his eyes screwed shut he hovered over the sink, convinced he‘d lose his breakfast at any minute but unable to move over to the toilet. After what felt like an eternity of being frozen motionless in his spot, the nausea grew less intense. It was still lingering in his stomach but he didn‘t feel on the verge of throwing up anymore. He quickly went through the cabinet, finding the pills Felix had told him about. However he doubted he‘d be able to stomach them at the moment and instead shoved two of them into his pocket. He knew the pain wouldn‘t get better anytime soon, rather increase as time passed,  if he didn‘t take anything for it. Sadly, he was also sure, if he put anything into his stomach at the moment, it would come back up faster than he had choked it down. The maknae was in dear need for comfort from any of his hyungs but afraid of bothering the two Aussies again. That‘s why he decided to go to the room he shared with Jisung. He‘d have his hyung around and would be able to rest in his own bed rather than the couch.

The journey their was a long one, with his head hammering along to the beat of his heart as Jeongin dizzily trailed his hand along the walls for balance. As it was his own room, he didn‘t bother to knock but instead stumbled straight to his bed to sit down. The impact of letting himself plop down sent a sharp stabbing pain through his head and he saw bright flashes of light in front of his eyes. The sensations becoming to much, the maknae couldn‘t help but whimper, fighting back his tears. His distress went unheard by the rapper in his room who sat facing away from Jeongin with his headphones on. The youngest sat for a while with his face in his hands, debating whether he should approach the older or not, afraid he‘d get the same reaction as earlier. After a few minutes of sitting there, his wish and need for some support exceeded his anxiety hand he stood up on wobbly legs, tapping the rapper‘s shoulder. “Hm? What is it Innie?“, Jisung hummed, focus still on the videocall he had with his family, barely paying the maknae any mind. “M-my head h-hurts“, the younger mumbled quietly. “Aw, did you already take anything for it“, the older asked emotionless without looking up. “N-no hyung. My stomach f-felt off, so I didn‘t want to take the medicine“, Jeongin explained. “I don‘t know what you expect me to do, Innie. If you refuse to take medicine there is not much I can tell you. There are some crackers in the kitchen, maybe if you eat those first they‘ll settle your stomach enough for the pills. If you don‘t want that, just try to sleep it off“, the rapper glanced up shortly to shoot the younger a sad smile, despite sounding rather annoyed. The maknae nodded though his hyung was looking away and didn‘t see it.

The ground seemed to move under his feet as Jeongin fought his way to the kitchen with his head pounding with the rhythm of his heart. By now the pain had become unbearable and all he wanted for his hyungs to be with him and to tell him it would all be ok eventually if he just hung on a little longer but the maknae was on his own. In one of the drawers in the kitchen, he found the crackers Jisung had talked about. Tearing open the packaging, his stomach twisted at the sight of food. The youngest had to rest his head on the arms he had crossed on the counter, taking steady breaths through his nose till the nausea subsided a bit. He understood Jisung‘s line of thought, he had no right to ask for help from the others if he refused to help himself. That‘s why, moving as close to the sink as possible, he forced himself to follow Jisung‘s advice and nibble on some crackers after eyeing them distastefully for a few minutes. To his own surprise, the first two crackers did nothing. However, when he bit into the third one, he could feel his stomach rising up his throat. Luckily, he was already standing over the sink when the first wave shot past his lips. Sobbing, Jeongin clutched his pounding head, which seemed to explode from the strain of vomiting. His sobs soon triggered another gag, which brought up even more. Having no mercy on the young boy, his stomach kept expelling its contents till there was nothing left and the maknae‘s vision was clouded with black spots. All he knew was that if he didn‘t lay down immediately, he would pass out. So that‘s what he did, stretching his slender frame out on the kitchen floor, too weak to even call for help. Not that his hyungs would have heard his cries anyways, all of them being in their own little world, oblivious to their donsaeng‘s distress.

Jeongin didn‘t know how long he had been lying on the ground, he didn‘t know much at all. Between the ringing in his ears and the sparks in his vision, all he knew was that his head hurt and it hurt badly. All he could do was trying not to move while trying to breathe steadily as tears streamed down his face and the ground seemed to steal his body temperature from him. “Fuck, Jeongin, hey! Can you hear me?“, from somewhere he heard Jisung‘s voice and cried out at the loud noise. Trying to locate his hyung, he opened his eyes a crack, only to notice, there were no lights on and it was already dark outside. “Turn on the lights, so I can take a proper look at him!“, that was Chan, who had run in upon hearing Jisung‘s yell. Suddenly everything was bright, burning Jeongin‘s eyes which he barely managed to close in time before covering his face with his hands to block it out. He was too exhausted to cry, only small whimpers leaving his mouth.

Watching the maknae‘s reaction, Felix immediately turned the light off again, walking up to the trio on the kitchen floor. From his standing position, he saw what the other two didn‘t notice. The sink was filled with puke, next to it lay a cracker and two painkillers. Remembering their conversation with the maknae earlier, he was able to connect the dots. Gently pushing Jisung aside, he knelt down next to Jeongin and covered his ears before speaking up quietly: “I think he has a migraine. He told us about a headache, he threw up in the sink and the way he reacted to the light. It‘d only make sense.“ After checking the sink, Chan agreed, feeling guilty for misjudging the situation earlier. Jisung rubbed up and down his roommate‘s arm, trying to calm him down while Felix removed his hands, whispering into his dongsaeng‘s ear: “Innie, we‘re going to put you on the couch ok, you feel cold to the touch already. Just keep your eyes closed, we‘ll be careful.“

After carrying Jeongin to the couch, Felix left to gather some blankets. He couldn‘t imagine how long the maknae must have been on the floor for his skin to feel as cold as it did. Chan knelt next to the couch, carding his fingers through the sick boy‘s hair. “Innie, it‘s a migraine isn’t it?“, he hummed as quietly as he could. Nodding his head the tiniest bit, the maknae couldn‘t help the strangled sob that escaped his lips. The leader cooed, rubbing Jeongin‘s arm, at a loss how he could help the other. He frowned as he took notice of the small shivers shaking the maknae‘s body: “Do you know how long you‘ve been lying there?“ Jeongin just shrugged, all he knew was that the sun was still up when he lay down and now it was dark.

While, Felix had gone to collect a few blankets, Jisung had filled to hot-waterbottles and carried them to the living room. As he approached the couch, he placed one at his dongsaeng‘s feet and put the other in his arms, so the maknae could hold onto the source of warmth. Felix followed soon with the blankets, layering them on top pf the shivering boy and tucking in the sides to trap all the heat. Being exhausted, the warmth and Chan‘s hand in his hair managed to calm Jeongin down, despite the pain pulsating relentlessly. “Innie, we‘ll have to turn on the light again. We can‘t really see you, nor each other with how dark it is“, Chan explained carefully, not wanting to put the younger through this torture again but they couldn‘t help him if they couldn‘t see. “Hyung, what if we just turn in all the Christmas lights and maybe light a candle? It‘ll be dim but enough for us to see“, Felix muttered in a low voice. Barely able to register Chan‘s nod, he end Jisung started their task of switching on their Christmas decoration and lighting a candle on the coffee table. Soon their was a cozy ambience in the living room and the maknae dared to open his eyes. He was able to look at his hyungs without the light stabbing his eyes and he could tell they all looked very guilty. “Do you think you could stomach the painkillers now?“, Jisung whispered, holding the pills he had collected from the kitchen counter. Jeongin shrugged, still not fully trusting his stomach but he agreed to try when Felix promised to get a bucket, just in case.

Chan sat on the couch with Jeongin‘s head on his thigh, so he could continue petting his hair while the four of them waited for the painkillers to kick in. Felix had climbed onto the couch, squeezing in next to his dongsaeng while draping an arm across his chest. Jisung had pulled up a chair from the dining table and sat next to the couch, holding his roommates hand. He was the first to apologize for brushing the maknae off without giving him a proper look. Chan and Felix were soon to follow. The apologies brought their youngest to tears once again, as he remembered, how hurt and abandoned he had felt. However, being the pure child he is, he quickly forgave his hyungs, accepting all the comfort they were giving him now. He‘d rather get their affection late than not getting it at all.

When the pills had dulled the pain enough for his stomach to stop doing somersaults and he could get up without feeling dizzy, Jeongin allowed his hyungs to feed him some plain rice. He had barely eaten all day and what he had eaten, hadn‘t stayed in. Felix had offered to watch movies in the living room but got turned down, since the maknae struggled to look at a bright screen still. However, he also didn‘t want Chan to carry him to bed because he had fallen in love with the ambience in the living room. That‘s why the trio stayed cuddled up on the couch till late into the night when Chan took the sleeping Jeongin to his bed, letting Jisung slip under the blanket too so he could hold the youngest, before the leader tucked both of them in. Afraid to let their sick dongsaeng out of sight, the two Aussies shared Jisung‘s bed, falling asleep in each other‘s embrace.

[timextoxhajima]

Playlist Feels

*SHORT SERIES

Part 3: Love Somebody

Member: lee fucking juyeon AGAIN

Genre: fucking aggressive smut/angst/romance cause inspiration hates me and only comes when everybody is fucking sleeping

Links to other parts:

I Never Wanna See You Again

Frustrated (light smut) 

Love Somebody (light smut)

~

“that’s up to your own interpretation.”

you couldn’t decide what catalysed your hunger to have him both physically and emotionally: the static that hung in the way his eyes were stuck on you, or that you were both stark naked. 

you smirk to yourself, well aware that obscene thoughts were flying around in that mind of his. there was no reason for you to hold back now that he was yours, so you thought: why not?

“so show me.”

juyeon’s eyes changed with a blink, like you just flipped a switch. 

the need to have him swallows you whole, and despite the traces of fear you harboured from the lack of knowledge of what he could do to you, there was nothing that could convince you that you didn’t want this. 

juyeon attacks your lips, his arms wrapping around your waist so tightly that he closes every gap between the two of you. you feel your curves press against his like puzzle pieces, and the lavender-scented water only alleviates all your senses. 

he grabs your jaw harshly, his thumb and middle finger pressing into your cheeks as he turns your head away, giving himself access to your neck. you smile, completely filled with bliss as a mixture of moans and laughter escape your throat. his sucking on your neck leaves red and purple marks, and his hands have found your chest. 

you let him fondle you like you were his doll, and for a moment you wish you weren’t human so you could let him manhandle you without any repercussions. 

but knowing him, he’d probably start snapping himself back to reality every now and then that he could still hurt you if he wasn’t careful.

your fingers caress the muscles on his back as his lips travel from your collarbone to your chest, his tongue finding your tip and sucking on them like he hadn’t just had dinner. 

you don’t realise how much of a mess you were until you feel his manhood against your core. you violently jerk upon the contact, and he pulls away, tilting his head upwards so his eyes were basically eating you out from beneath you. 

how were you topping but he was still in control of everything?

without warning, he digs his fingers into your hips and shoves you downwards, one hand keeping his manhood aligned with your entrance. you let out an inhumane noise you didn’t know you were capable of producing, and he licks his lips lustfully without making any noise on his own. 

he wasn’t moving, so you assume he was just letting you get used to him while he continues leaving marks on your skin. 

your neck, your collarbones, your chest and even the space in between... not an inch where his mouth could reach was spared. 

already a mewling mess, your nails were digging into the flesh of his back, possibly creating bright, pink lines on his damp skin. 

“juyeon,” you felt your breath hitch in your throat, feeling the water lap against the spot where the both of you were one. “please-- move.”

he doesn’t respond for a few seconds, pulling away and admiring a new bruise he’s created on your chest. he looks up at you through his wet hair that was sticking to his forehead again, and the look of lust sends chills down your spine like you were just hit by a gush of cold wind.

“whoever said i was going to listen to you?” 

your eyes widen, but it doesn’t last. his fingers find your sensitive nub underwater and begins applying pressure on it in circles. your arms tighten around his neck as you lean forward, pressing your forehead into his shoulder. the action closes the space for him to play with you, so he aggressively grips your ass and lifts you up, leaving just the tip of himself inside you, only to drop you back down. 

the sensation shoots bolts up your torso and down your legs into your feet, and you let out a cry of ecstasy when you realise you started a game there was no way you could’ve won. 

he wraps your arms around his neck tightly and makes sure your legs were hooked properly around his hips before lifting you out of the tub. the water gushes down off skin as he steps out of the tub, and he sits you on the marble surface with a mirror perpendicular to it. 

you think he was going to turn you around and destroy you against the mirror, but you realise the full-body mirror directly opposite the both of you. 

he wasn’t going to fuck you against the mirror, he wanted to you see him do it. 

he finds your hands and interlocks his fingers with yours and pins them against the mirror by your head. you let out soft laughs that sounded like pure pleasure as he dips his nose into your neck again, continuing his masterpiece on your skin. 

you feel your walls stretching with every small move he made, even if it was nowhere near your womanhood, and it was driving you crazy. 

not only could you hold him the way you wanted to, he wasn’t even moving.

you arch your back off the mirror, the shape of your waist printed on the surface in the form of water vapour when he finds your sweet spot on your neck. 

“oh my-- fuck-- please--” you whine, starting to feel your core throb with need. 

“begging now, are we?” he whispers into your skin, tongue finding yours before hungrily tasting every corner of your mouth. 

you were about to protest against him being selfish, but he pulls out enough to leave only his tip inside you, before harshly slamming his pelvis against yours. 

but he does it once, and then you pick up on his game. 

“oh god, juyeon-- don’t do this.”

you hear him chuckle under his breath, which was so calm and regulated compared to yours. 

“you wanted me to show you what you aren’t ready for, and you asked for it, sweetheart.”

you grit your teeth in frustration, never knowing that you were capable of feeling so deprived in your life. you tilt your head upwards, pressing the crown of your head against the mirror behind you as you subtly try to shift your hips to meet his.

but he collects both your wrists and holds them above your head now with only one of his hands, and his free arm holds your hip down to prevent you from moving. 

you made a noise that resembled a growl, and it clearly turned him on because he finds your nub again, drawing circles that had the bare minimum amount of pressure.

“this is so-- fucking unfair--” you bite your tongue, ashamed that you’ve been completely destroyed when he’s barely even done anything. 

“all you need to do is say one word,” he leans into your ear and bites on your skin, goosebumps exploding all over your body. 

“i’m not going to move if you don’t say it. and right now...” his voice was so low and dark, you wonder for a moment if this was the same person you knew from earlier that day. “you don’t look like you can take it anymore.”

you cry out in frustration, hands balling into his fists and your small attempt to break free from his hold fails miserably. 

“please, just move.”

he pulls out and bucks his hips harshly against yours, the impact causing your breath to stop in your throat and your eyes roll backwards. 

you’ve lost all your pride by now, so resigning to your fate wasn’t too difficult to do, though it meant losing completely. 

the pleads spill out of your mouth like a broken radio, and his hands were now on your hips, holding you down so you don’t shift away from him. your eyes look ahead and you see his back view slamming into you mercilessly in the reflection. the heat between the both of you was fogging up the mirror you were leaning against, and you were starting to see nothing but white while you feel the rope in your stomach get tighter and tighter. 

“shi-- oh, fuck-- i’m gonna--” your scream from your climax was muffled as he shoves his tongue in between your lips. you feel your entire body go into a spasm while he continues thrusting into you, helping you ride out your climax. 

he pulls away from your abused mouth and pulls out, shooting his load all over your stomach. your eyes run down his hair that was wet with both sweat, to his chest and toned stomach, and you couldn’t help but blurt out,

“why are you so hot?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you jerk awake, another one of those falling sensations hitting you while you were asleep. the light pouring into the room from the familiar glass panel windows blinds you momentarily. 

you try to sit up, only to realise the aching sensation in your core, and you suddenly remember that you’ve lost every bit of pride you had left in you, in the worst possible way it could happen. 

you turn over, looking at the large, but empty bed you were in. the silk blanket was tangled in your legs, and you note that you were in an extremely large pullover with boxers that were a little loose on your hips. 

your arm stretches out to the side, wondering where he was when the door of the room swings open, and you see him fitted in another set of office wear you don’t think you’ve ever seen him in. 

maroon blazer with black button down was a new combination.

but wait--

“oh, good god, what time is it?” you sit up in an instant, but the ache between your legs contorting your face into an ugly mess. juyeon straps an expensive-looking watch to his wrist and leans on the bed with his arms supporting him, pecking you on the cheek.

“it’s 7.45, and don’t worry, i’ve already told your manager you’re taking the day off,” he pulls open a door of the wardrobe in the corner of the room you don’t even notice and checks himself in the mirror. he looks at you through the reflection, and a smile spreads across his lips before he closes it. 

“or maybe a few days off.”

what--

you look down at yourself, looking through the gap of the collar rim and under the pullover. you weren’t wearing a bra, so noticing all the bruises on your skin wasn’t a difficult feat.

“oh good god...”

“i’m gonna go, and if you want to work on the case, you can use the computer in my office right down the hall. just ask any of the staff and they’ll show you,” he checks his hair in the reflection off the glass windows, hand already holding onto his suitcase. “breakfast is ready in the dining hall and if you need anything, just ask the staff. if they’ve got no clue what you’re talking about, then you can call me.”

he walks over to you, offering you a soft kiss on your forehead, and walks away with a bright smile on his face. 

you hear the door of the room shut, and sigh to yourself, unable to forget the events that unfolded in the last few weeks. 

“jesus,” you mumble to yourself, pressing your chin and lips into your palm and fingers. “i’m fucking playing with fire.”

Part 5: Stigma

[oh-sweet-mama]

Leaving my side Pt.1

T.W: Sex, angst, self hate

Y/n

Whipping around a corner and swinging into a desk chair, I got to work. The lines of text across the screen blurred together in an angry haze.

I had worked day and night scripting and coding for thousands of future projects. A simple zap deleted every single save file ever owned under my name.

"Y/n to the front bridge- Y/n to the front bridge."

"Fuck!" I slammed my fist against my desk, and quickly saving my document, followed by shutting the technology off.

Taking off down the hall I walked slower, building up my calm appearance.

"I was requested General Hux?" You asked the ginger General.

"Ah yes, Y/n- Supreme leader Kylo Ren should be here soon- now."

The tall masked man dressed in black stormed up to me.

"I want that girl!" Boomed Kylo- in my face.

"Yes Sir, I'll request a scout team at once-"

"No- no- No! I want you out there!"

"I can't sir-" I hesitated. Knowing how to step around his barrier.

Kylo huffed un annoyance. Hux tensed knowing what could happen.

"Why can't you?" He demanded in an oddly monotone voice.

"I'll go." I said not wanting to dig a deeper hole. He dismissed me with a wave of his hand.

I walk down the halls to my office. Sitting in my desk chair I slowly rotate. Pondering in deep places of my mind I know I dare not to touch.

Kylo Ren- such a powerful man- An intelligent, strong, nimble, smart, and breath taking being. Me and him used to train. Training lead to talking. Talking lead cuddling. Cuddles lead to well- sex- love making.

Ren told me he loved me. I returned the gesture, expressing my feelings. He then retaliated with kissing.

Yet this girl? I knew about their force bond. She understood him in ways I could never. He didn't know I was force sensitive. I kept that much from him. At first what I could do scared me. Then I embraced it. I routinely requested books or ancient scriptures, that I would use for future first order projects and for my own personal use.

However Kylo seemed to be invested in this scavenger and completely forgotten about our 'love'. I rubbed my eyes, Not enjoying being in my head.

"You need to stop thinking so deep, I still love you."

"No you-" I took a breath "No you don't, I've seen the way you look at that girl."

Ceasing my actions I powered up my computer.

"I'm working on your mission to find the girl- I'll have her to you as quickly as I can."

"What's wrong?" Kylo can and sat down in the chair in front of my desk

"My files were zapped." I continue to type.

"I love you y/n, I- I can't imagine a world without you. Is that why you haven't come to my quarters in over a week? I can't sleep without you. you know that? I just lay there, waiting until you're in my bed, with my arms wrapped around you."

"I can't tell if you're telling the truth or if I was just an affair." I let a tear slip. Kylo took my hand. Pulling me to his room. "I shouldn't be here Kylo."

Kylo pushes me back up his bed and straddles my waist.

"That girl- she means nothing to me- a simple scavenger that could strengthen the first order- that's all." Kylo unbuttons my tunic and pulls it off.

Followed by my pants, panties, and bra. Leaving me bare and vulnerable to his touch.

Kylo was such a harden strong man- yet so gentle and kind in the bedroom. He pulled the top off his uniform off. Grabbing my hands, he placed a kiss on each top of them then connected them to his chest.

I slid my head hands over his chest and biceps enjoying the feeling of his toned body and soft skin. Ren pulled his pants off.

"Do you- do you want to do this?" He whispered- unsure.

"Yes-" I whispered even lower than him.

He slowly pressed into me. The desire for him suddenly exploded.

"Please- please more!" I whimpered.

"Shit- fuck- ok-" Kylo moaned. We were both feeling the effects from not doing 'it' in a week.

Kylo sped up his pace, and was eventually pounding into me. My legs wrapped around his waist.

Ren reached down between us and his thumb coming in contact with my clit. Rapid circles caused hot rods of pleasure to rip through my body. My back arched off the bed. I felt the familiar tightening in my stomach.

"Shit- Kylo I'm going to-"

"I know- I know princess- let it go-"

Stars danced in my vision as waves of pleasure hit me. Kylo bucked his hips into mine getting sloppy and soon spilling himself into me.

I came down from my high. Panting. Kylo laid on my chest. I pet his hair, moving stuck pieces of hair from his face and tucking longer strands behind his ear.

"I love you y/n and you're never leaving my side or this bed- well for work- but you'll be here every night."

"Ok-"

3rd person

Kylo lay with his head on his lovers chest. Listening the the slowing pace of her heart. He looked up and made eye contact with Rey. He felt whole and complete with y/n.

Suddenly Rey was gone and sleep pulled Kylo into the world of rest.

916 words.