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tisfan · 6 years

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Ad-vengers in Babysitting

for @ifdragonscouldtalk ‘s challenge, Avenging comes in Small Packages.

“Hey, platypus,” Tony said, mock cheerfully. “You busy? I could use some backup here.”

Rhodey could always tell when Tony was fronting. It was a skill that Rhodey had developed out of sheer self-defense. “I’m not currently on duty,” he said, carefully. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong, sour patch? Why would anything be wrong?”

“Aside from the use of the word backup, and also, the alarmingly there’s-nothing-wrong-here voice you’re using. Don’t bullshit me, Tones, just tell me what it is.”

“I… might need you to track down a bad guy for me and smack him around a little until he gives you his magic hourglass.”

“Uh… you might want to start at the beginning? And like, should I be taking notes, and where the hell is the rest of your actual team?”

“Right here, sugarlump,” Tony said. “They’re… uh… All about four to seven years old.”

“Okay, on my way,” Rhodey said. He shook his head and twisted the grey chased black bracelet that he wore all the time, even though it was against a dozen uniform violations. His suit was not -- and would never be -- as cool and responsive as the Iron Man armor, but that was because he couldn’t afford to be down on Tony’s lab every single day and letting Tony fuck with it. (Also, Rhodey had no intentions of going through the nanobot injections, he’d seen the scars Tony had from that, and no thank you.)

But the bracelet would notify his armor that he was on the way -- even with the prosthetics that Tony had rigged up for him, Rhodey just wasn’t as fast as he used to be -- and get everything ready.

“Stay in the suit,” Tony cautioned him. “This de-aging dust is pernicious.”

“Yeah? So how old are you right now?”

“‘Bout thirty, ish. Hard to tell, really,” Tony said. “I’m in the suit, which doesn’t exactly come with a rear-view mirror for me to admire my makeup in.”

“You put the suit on and it kept this from happening?”

“Well, I popped the faceplate and he got me with a little bit of the dust, so I think the sealed environment keeps it out.” Tony said. “I’m leaving the suit on because Bruce has temper tantrums and a five year old Hulk is destructive as shit. Just sayin’, kid’s got some anger management issues. And let me tell you, I need serious therapy for smacking a five year old around, even if he was a Hulk. Well, mostly I just sat on him, but still. This is not enhancing my calm at all.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what they mean by babysitting, Tony,” Rhodey said. He stripped out of his jacket, tie, and regulation shoes before letting War Machine close up around him. Ah, he loved being in the armor. Even after the fall, he still felt safe inside… like, if he died in the armor, it would be the best possible death.

“Boot me up, baby,” he told the suit as he stepped in.

“Good morning, Colonel Rhodes,” ROXY said, her voice fond. She was still a little stiff, not quite as expressive as Friday, or as JARVIS had been, but Rhodey loved her, too.

(more below the cut)

“Okay,” he said as soon as he kicked off from the ground. “Give me the sitrep.” He got a brief look at Tony in the HUD, face at least a decade younger, the lines eased around his eyes. Then someone -- probably FRIDAY, because Tony’s girl just had that sort of sense of humor -- gave Rhodey a pulled back shot from a security camera.

Iron Man was sitting awkwardly, metal legs in a criss-cross pattern, holding a tiny little tea cup in one enormous metal gauntlet. A princess tiara was perched precariously on top of the helmet and a fluttery, purple glitter cloak was thrown around his neck.

“Aren’t you precious?” Rhodey chirped, delighted. “Oh my god, I totally want like full-color photos of this. I might even get one of those life-sized cardboard cutouts, Mrs. Nesbit.”

“God, you’re an asshole,” Tony said.

“You need me,” Rhodey sing-songed. “So, tell me about this villain.”

“Um, totally cliche bullshit type of guy,” Tony said, and the HUD threw up several pictures of a skinny dude in a yellow spandex suit that looked homemade, along with a blue, shimmery cloak. He was carrying an hourglass that was almost two feet tall and probably weighed at least fifty pounds, based on the way Mr. Skinny was bowed over. “Calls himself Chronos.”

“Like the greek god of Time?”

“Linear time, at least,” Tony said. “Could be. He looked more like he was going for the Piers Anthony novel character. Anyway, he threw a handful of this dust out of that hourglass at Cap. We didn’t even realize anything was wrong for a while. Cap delivered the beat down on the guy’s minions--”

“He has minions?”

“Well, he did,” Tony said. “Cap busted ‘em up pretty good.”

“And you guys are all safe?”

“Relatively,” Tony said. “As long as I keep drinking tea, Nat’s happy, and if she’s happy, then Bruce is staying mostly not-green. I haven’t seen Clint in a while, and that’s worrisome even when he’s a grown up. Steve’s drawing pictures on the walls, that’s probably permanent marker -- oh, no, Cap, come on, can we keep the sketches to the walls and not on Thor?”

“Thor’s a baby, too?”

“Yeah, it’s both adorable and weirdly concerning,” Tony reported, “because he can still lift that stupid hammer of his. I swear, it’s a fingerprint, or DNA coded or something, because there is no way in the world that some three year old with a questionable vocabulary and the drinking habits of Howard Stark is worthy.”

“Baby Thor is swearing?”

“No, he’s threatening to wreak havoc,” Tony said. “Blood-thirsty little tyrant. I’ve got him snipe-hunting, at the moment, to prove his prowess.”

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, you bet your shiny metal ass I did,” Tony said. “Also, Wanda and Viz are missing, also worrisome, so, reinforcements on the babysitting end would be good, too.”

“Yeah, gonna give the baby avenger nanny job a miss. So, uh, what do you want me to do about the villain?” Rhodey asked. He checked his surroundings; damn he loved being able to just leave the driving to his AI, that was so handy. He knew Tony had sometimes used travel time to actually sleep, which was a little more than Rhodey wanted to do, but it was convenient to not have to worry about deployment.

“Find him, take the hourglass away from him, and go badger Strange into doing the bibbity bobbity boo schtick,” Tony said. “Wait, Nat, honey, can you get down from there, sweetie? Come on, just… yeah, there we go. What did I say about climbing on the furniture?”

“You think this is magic?”

“It sure as fuck isn’t science,” Tony said.

“Mis’er Tony,” a piping voice said, and the kids were all so young that Rhodey had no chance of identifying which one it was, “waz fuck mean?”

“Better wash your mouth out, Mr. Tony,” Rhodey said, in all seriousness. “You’ve got impressionable children around you.”

“Bite me, sugarbear,” Tony said. “Fuck is a bad word, and you shouldn’t say it where your Uncle Rhodey can hear you.”

“All right, Tones,” Rhodey reported. “I’m eleven minutes out. Don’t let the Spy Kids get you down.”

“Just hurry up,” Tony pleaded. “My rates for babysitting go up if I have to feed them.”

“Look at it this way,” Rhodey said, “at least none of them are in diapers, still.”

“Remind me when all this is over and I’ll tell you about Captain America and the Winter Soldier flooding the bathroom by trying to rescue one of the toys they ‘accidentally’ flushed down the toilet,” Tony grumbled.

Rhodey laughed. “You can’t say you don’t deserve this,” he said.

“I absolutely do not deserve-- stop laughing at me, honeybear,” Tony complained. “Ack, gotta run, Clint’s climbing up shit again.”

Rhodey grinned. “Record all this for me, Friday, you sweet thing, you,” he said.

“Already on it,” Friday reported.

“Good girl.”

“It’s not very often that the B-listers get to save the day,” Sam said. He’d been doing his thing down at the VA when the assemble call came in and decided that the team could handle it. Sometimes, comforting vets who were suffering from PTSD was way more important than busting up some third-rate knock off villain.

Apparently this had not been that time.

“I hardly consider myself a B-lister,” Dr. Strange said. He was doing that annoying, floating thing again, the damn showoff.

“It’s okay, man,” Sam told him, nudging Strange with his shoulder. “You’ll get your time to shine. I mean, you’re not quite as handsome as me, but you’ll make a really cute doll.”

The cloak that Strange always wore shoved Sam away. Sam had never been able to figure out if that cloak responded to Strange’s thoughts or if it had some sort of agenda of its own, but it hovered around the man like a velvet attack dog, and Sam had seen it do some pretty nifty tricks that a fancy bit of flannel should not manage.

“Your thinly disguised jealousy is an ugly thing, Mr. Wilson,” Strange said.

“What are we doing again, here, banter?” War Machine thudded across the street and dropped another one of the time-lord’s minions into the pile. “Also, they’re called action figures, Wilson,” Rhodes commented, turning his War Machine mask in Sam’s direction, which always made Sam a little nervous. It wasn’t Sam’s fault, exactly, that War Machine had taken a bad hit in the airport battle, but it kinda was, and guilt was a slippery subject.

“Just thought you needed a new story for the parties, Colonel,” Sam said. “The one with the tank is getting old.”

“This one begins to show some signs of regaining consciousness,” Strange said, and he did that weird… thing with his hands; glowing golden runes in moving, twisting circles appeared. The minion was wrenched to his feet by invisible hands. “Will it help if I threaten you first, or would you just like to tell us where we might find your boss?”

“Oh, just turn him inside out as an example for the rest of these assholes,” Rhodes suggested. “I’m tired, I’m bored, and I didn’t get coffee this morning, before Tony rousted me to come deal with his cleanup issues.”

Sam was pretty sure that War Machine without coffee was more terrifying than Strange, but each to their own.

The minion, on the other hand, just looked stubborn.

“They’re all a bunch of stupids,” a tiny little voice said.

Sam whirled around so fast he almost got whiplash. “Oh, hell no, what… no, no, this is not… Vision, what the-- how are you even a kid?”

Vision, a tiny purple toddler, was floating nearby. He was holding hands with an equally tiny Wanda Maximoff. “A question that concerns me as well. But it has, it seems, happened, and we must deal with it. Wanda and I have located Chronos, if we might be of some assistance.”

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know y’all ain’t supposed to be out running around when you’re toddlers, right?”

“Hey, Tones,” War Machine was already on the communicator with Stark, which was just as well, because Sam didn’t want to deal with telling an already stressed out Iron Man that they’d found two runaway mini-vengers. “We found your runaways. Flying preschoolers are hard to keep a hold of, I get it, man, I do, but…”

“Chronos left behind a unique radiation and trans dimensional signature. Between Wanda and I, we were able to follow it.”

Strange flicked his fingers in one of those convoluted patterns; he always looked more stiff and formal than Wanda, whose magic danced from knuckle to knuckle like she was listening to her own personal rave. Sam couldn’t always tell if that was a result of Strange’s injuries, or differences in their training, or something else entirely.

Lines of shimmering blue symbols extended from Strange’s hands and circled the two children, coiling around until--

“Leashes?” Sam blurted. “You made magical mommy leashes?”

“It seemed, somehow, appropriate, given the circumstances,” Strange said. “After all, toddlers are trouble on the best of days, and magical, flying toddlers likely to be more taxing than most.” He looped the glowing runes around his wrist. “This way, we should be able to keep track of them, at least.”

The two flying kids looked like surreal helium balloons more than anything else, but working together, Wanda and Vision managed a spell that drew a brilliant yellow, crackling line between the mind stone in the middle of Vision’s forehead all the way to wherever Chronos was.

“I gotta say, that’s a neat trick,” Sam commented. He kicked off from the ground to scout ahead. “Even if if looks like something out of a damn video game.”

“It is the traces of his effects on us that Wanda’s spell is able to detect, pointing in the direction of the source,” Vision said. He was always a bit pompous, sounding like Tony’s old AI, which in turn supposedly sounded like the Stark’s old butler, but hearing that voice and those tones from a tiny little purple gummy bear of a kid was super disconcerting.

The line was as the crow -- or, in this case, the Falcon -- flies, so Sam zipped along the line, hoping the guy hadn’t done something like gotten on an airplane in the meanwhile. “I don’t suppose you can tie them up outside on the corner lamppost or something, while we bash some baddies?”

“Mr. Wilson, that would be very irresponsible,” Strange said. “Maybe we should leave them in your tender care while the colonel and I deal with the situation.”

“No, I ain’t drawing straws to see who stays the kids,” Sam said. “I got nieces and nephews and I have done just as much uncle-duty babysitting as is mandated by the state of New York--”

“Perfectly qualified, great, thank you for volunteering,” Strange said.

“Man, shut the hell up.”

But, of course, he got stuck with watching after Viz and Wanda while Strange and War Machine went inside to kick ass. Taking names was optional; he’d heard a rumor that Strange had taken one man’s name permanently -- like the dude never remembered his name again. Even nicknames. It was weird and scary and petty as hell, but it did make one a little leary about going up against the Sorcerer Supreme.

Chronos didn’t seem to have gotten that memo, so Sam was stuck outside, entertaining two highly dangerous, low on patience, kidlets. The usual things that Sam did to keep his sister’s kids out of trouble did not go over well with Viz -- being a synthoid apparently kept playing video games on Sam’s smartphone from being quality entertainment.

“A’ight now, Wanda, is that a real tiger there, or are you puttin’ a whammy on me, because I don’t appreciate no whammies,” Sam said. He was pretty sure it wasn’t an actual tiger, like escaped from the zoo sort of critter, but it was entirely possible that Wanda had gotten bored and decided to import a tiger. Or grow one from an alley cat.

“Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me--” Viz started, and then they were both singing that stupid song from Monsters, Inc.

“It’s a work in progress,” Sam muttered as the tiger disappeared in a puff of scarlet mist. “Why is it that you even know Sully and Mike, Viz? I didn’t think you were big into cartoons.” He pressed one hand over his chest, willing himself to calm. Down. No tigers. There were no tigers here, damn it.

“I do have access to my… former self’s memory stores,” Viz explained. “And Mr. Stark was particularly fond of showing a wide variety cinema to Captain Rogers.”

Movie nights. Sam sighed. It’d been a while since the Avengers had had movie night. “Huh. Do you like that sort of thing? Like, when you’re a full sized synthoid and not a pint sized technological terror?”

“I am fond of popcorn,” Viz said, thoughtfully. “And hearing the thoughts of my companions about the movies, although I find most cinema to be… less than engaging.”

“Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn!” Wanda bellowed. She jumped up onto Viz’s back, wrapping her arms around his throat. “Gimme a biggy pack ride!”

“I’m quite certain what you meant was a piggy back ride,” Viz corrected her, gently, which was probably just a bad move, because no one appreciated that shit. And yeah, there went Wanda sticking her tongue in his ear and blowing a loud, wet raspberry.

“I know what I said!”

“That was truly unnecessary,” Viz complained, but nonetheless, he hooked his hands under Wanda’s knees and trotted her around in a circle. Which worked great as a distraction right up until Strange’s magical leashes got all tangled up around Sam, and the three of them ended up stuck together like the world’s most awkward slinky.

On the plus side, War Machine came out a few minutes later, carrying a huge hourglass. He turned it over, opened the -- Sam assumed, bottom -- and sprinkled a little bit of dust on each of the kids, like some sort of metal Tinkerbelle.

“Hey, watch it with that stuff,” Sam protested. “Don’t need to be any older than I already am.”

“With age comes wisdom,” Rhodey said.

“Yeah, I’m good man. Wise enough, thanks.”

There was no possible way that the War Machine’s faceplate could indicate sarcasm.

It did anyway.

Tony was sleeping.

Steve, probably the oldest of the de-aged Avengers, was playing an entirely age-inappropriate video game on the playstation while the Winter Soldier was poking someone’s smart phone, looking up cheat codes and walkthroughs. Apparently kid-savvy with tech outweighed both of their “I was an adult in the 30s, don’t expect me to care about your smartphone” stubbornness. Or, as Rhodey had often thought, privately, they were both perfectly fine with tech, the two of them just liked yanking Tony’s chain. A hobby that, most of the time, Rhodey could get behind.

On one side of Tony was curled a just-barely toddler Thor, Mjolnir in his arms like a teddy bear.

Peter Parker was the only infant, but still apparently sticky as velcro; he was clinging to the front of the Iron Man’s suit, napping, thumb shoved firmly in his mouth. There was drool dripping down his chin and onto the suit.

Black Widow was still having a tea party and had managed to talk Clint into wearing a purple princess dress and glitter flats and drink pretend tea out of little plastic cups while discussing the neighbor’s begonias. Hulk was a great, green toddler, nearly as tall as Tony was as an adult, but he was sitting, criss-cross, on the floor at Tony’s feet, petting a cat.

Where the hell had they gotten a cat from? Rhodey didn’t know if he wanted to know.

“KITTY,” Hulk bellowed, softly, as Rhodey tiptoed around the sleeping and resting avengerlettes.

“Yeah, I see that,” Rhodey said. “Hope Bruce likes cats.”

“PUNY BANNER LIKE KITTY!”

“Yeah, okay, so we have a Compound pet,” Sam said. “I’ll have Friday put in an order for litter and food. Or something.”

“Hey, Tones,” Rhodey said, shaking his shoulder gently. “Come on, wakey wakey, old man, time to give your kids back.”

Iron Man very gently wrapped one armor-clad arm around the sleeping Parker. “Shut up, sour patch. I just got them napping. ‘S everything okay?”

“Well, aside from the World War Twosome traumatizing themselves by playing Outlast 2,” Rhodey said, “we have a cure. And the baddie’s on his way to prison. And Strange is trying to figure out how to get the hourglass back to the person it belongs to, more power to him.”

“A cure,” Tony said. The facemask peeled back and a somewhat less aged Tony looked up at him. “Almost sorry to hear that. These kids are a lot of work, but--” he stared down at Peter, then smiled, a little dopey and sad. “I kinda like it.” Tony shifted a little until Thor was sleeping on the floor, still curled around his hammer.

“Yeah, thought you might,” Rhodey said. “You’ve always been Team Dad.”

Wanda was sprinkling the re-aging dust on various Avengers. Steve and Bucky suddenly growing back into their adult selves did not seem to keep them from fighting over the PS4 controller like rowdy teenagers.

“It was just… you know… nice,” Tony said.

Rhodey glanced around. “Kinda thought you might think that.” He handed Tony a pair of little ziplock baggies. “Save it for a special occasion.”

Tony’s eyebrows went way up.

“Just sayin’, Tones,” Rhodey said, “that it might be nice to spend an afternoon as kids again, don’t you think?”

Tony’s eyes softened. “Oh, yeah. Absolutely!”

#fic #tony stark #deaging avengers #tony is a good babysitter #sort of #bad ass Rhodey #War Machine #war machine rox

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kryptsune · 6 years

Note

For the trope prompt: star crossed lovers fell!frans (you got me hooked on this ship i blame you XD)

🌼This was an old RP that I had sitting around between @riskyredfontaine and I. I thought it worked nicely for this prompt. I have so many of these it is not even funny. It is literally just a google drive filled with one-shots and other writing. I also… I have no shame in converting you my friend >;3 Risk is OTP and life. I will win everyone over one shipper at a time! MUHAHAHAHA

~~~Heaven and Hell~~~

It was a late morning as the sunlight streamed through the only open portion of the curtains. It was mid-morning at least. A girl with a short auburn bob of hair lay in bed. She was wearing only a black tank top and a pair of white shorts with little blue hearts all over them. One of her hands hung limply off the side of the bed as she snoozed. It was clear from her appearance alone that her physical prowess was probably lacking but she had a greater power. It was a hidden power. An ancient one. As well as a task. To protect the mortals of this world from the immortals wanting to cause havoc. She mainly slept in so late due to her late night missions and one mission in particular always weighed heavy on her mind. All she knew was after a long day at work all she wanted was to come home to the person in her life that meant the most to her. She just prayed that he would never learn the truth about her “side” job.

Red always tended to sleep in, the guy was a night owl for sure, but made the attempt to get up during the day for her. In truth, this was why he sought others. He refused to harm her. He even went so far as to protect her from others like him. He had no such loyalties. There was this feeling that he received when human’s soul, their essence, drained away giving him added life and vitality. It was a wondrously almost addictive thing. He kept her blissfully ignorant of his life after dark. It was one of the reasons why they lived together and yet stayed in separate rooms.

Now, Red was awake and the scent of bacon wafted from the kitchen in the house that they now shared.

Frisk groaned lightly as the scent of succulent juicy bacon found its way into her room. Her inky lashes parted to reveal stunning cobalt blue eyes like sparkling gems. She moved her head to look at the clock only to gasp and scramble out of bed. The hardest part about being some kind of anointed demon hunter was the cleanup. She would come home with wounds that would heal quickly but difficult to explain. Totally forgetting that fact she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen still in her pajamas. How embarrassing. She rubbed her eyes gently before taking a place on one of the bar stools, “Good morning.”

He used his band gigs as a kind of cover as not to raise suspicion not that humans even believed in his kind in the first place. The acceptance of monsters had made it easier for him to blend him being a skeleton and all. He gave her a sharp-toothed grin, “Mornin kitten.” We came close to her, kissing her deeply. Her scent intoxicated him so very much. It was from this love that kept her from feeling his teeth in her soul. The only time she ever felt his sharp teeth was when he loved to nibble at her neck, “I admit.. I don’t want to go ta my gig tonight and spend all ma time with ya instead sweetheart.” He had a smirk on his face the usual fair, “And uh somethin else~”

It was a good thing that she was not eating or drinking anything because she would have either choked or spit it out. She recollected her rather scattered thoughts to clear her throat. Her cheeks were a pale pink, “Kinky but not unwanted. I’m sorry I was out kind of late last night so I got up too late.” She did not know why she had to apologize for her own schedule but she had not seen him much lately. She was not one to back down from a challenge even if he was not joking but no one in this world could cause her to melt like Red could. It was simply unnatural and unfair. She smirked lightly, “Humm did I say I was out late at the hospital? Nah, I was at a strip club because my boyfriend is just so rough with me” She knew he was playing around.

He chuckled, “Eat yer breakfast. Then after….” He did not even have to finish his sentence. He had no shame with that baritone voice and people wondered why his singing was always so entrancing. He leaned in close behind her whispering something in her ear laughing when her reaction caused her to nearly fall off the stool she was sitting on.

Frisk was wrong dead wrong. She should have known better but damn who could say no to- Her thoughts were cut off for a moment by the growl that just randomly came from her stomach “Uhh… I guess I am more hungry than I thought. ” There was something about the way he spoke that just put her into almost a trance. It was hard to stay focused. How the hell did she snag him in the first place?

He could say the same. What about her called to him that made him want to keep her and not just play with her and kill her? It was something he spent hours thinking upon and never held an answer for. He moved away from her, putting a plate of bacon and eggs with toast on the table, “Eat up kitten.”

Frisk had spotted a look in his eyes that told her he was deep in thought. She was not going to question it and instead turned her attention on her lovingly prepared breakfast. Her hand reached for the fork only to place some eggs on the toast munching quietly. “You know you don’t have to make breakfast for me. I feel bad enough already sleeping in so late.”

He stood behind the island and rested his elbow on the countertop before speaking softly, “Well I wanted to.” He took a plate for himself mimicking her action of placing the eggs upon the buttered piece of toast in his hand, “I figured you’d be hungry in any case.” He did not exactly have to eat the way monsters or humans had to but he could still enjoy a meal. It was not like he could not taste just that his body did not need food to survive.

Frisk flushed slightly he was always so thoughtful of her even when she felt as though she was not of him. She had been so exhausted lately that normally she would just come home and crash as soon as she was in the vicinity of a nearby couch or bed. She just prayed that she never ever brought her work home with her. She did not know what she would do without him. After a while, she just smiled and shook her head, “How on earth did I manage to be with a guy like you? You’re too good to me.”

There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice, “Guess ya got lucky huh? I’ve got another gig tonight so I’ll be out late, rougher part of town but it’s payin me well. The sooner ya eat as well the sooner I can relax those tired muscles of yours.” He emphasized the last part with a wink. His fingers were like magic when it came to giving massages, among other things.

Frisk stared at her empty plate for only a moment, “I sure as hell hope luck had nothing to do with it.” She shook her head before nodding and pushing her plate away, “Alright. I think I might take the day off. I have not been feeling so well lately”. His wink only caused the flush on her cheeks to spread further.

That just fueled the fire more, “Ooh I gets ya all to m'self, do I? Well then.” He rose to his feet and pulled her up to him, “Let’s make up for missed nights shall we?” He claimed her lips in a deep kiss holding her tightly to him. He loved all of her, to be sure, every part of her from her feistiness to her loving loyalty to him. They were traits that only she possessed and it made him lover hare all the more.

Stars Frisk was unable to resist that freaking smirk and let’s face it his hands all over her. Her cheeks only darkened in color as she was not prepared for the sudden kiss. He was tall but not too much taller than her so she usually had to look up at him. She was about to answer his question before she was caught off guard by the deep kiss. It caused her head to spin a little bit. He was like a drug that she just could not get enough of, “o…only until you leave for your gig.” She replied rather breathlessly in an attempt to calm her already racing heart.

He said as he pulled back, “Then we got plenty of time, darlin~” He beckoned her toward the open door of her bedroom, “Com’ere and lay down kitten and let’s get ya nice and relaxed shall we?” He certainly had ulterior motives if his tone held any indication. This was typical for him especially when it came to something he wanted. He was not used to be turned down.

Frisk had to clear her thoughts before following him into her own bedroom. She knew by his tone of voice that he wanted something from her but she also could not pass up the opportunity for a massage. She needed one desperately. Just the other day a demon nearly attempted to slice her arm off. It failed but the thought was a none too pleasant one. She laid down on the bed and sighed in content. It just felt good to relax for a change, “Darling? That’s a new one…” He had given her a long list of pet names but dear was never one of them.

He raised a brow bone, “Ahh… I heard some gossip that human women loved that kinda stuff. When they get called dear. That wrong?” It hard to believe he was actually a true monster when he was always so suave and composed but times like this, well it just seemed cute how hard he was actually trying. He came to straddle her legs then, as those magical hands of his laid upon her, a soft red magic would give her a tingly sort of sensation as he began to rub her back.

Frisk only chuckled at the question, “Well I suppose so but it just sounds strange hearing you say it.” She completely melted against his hands like butter. Stars he could get her to do just about anything he asked. She closed her eyes relaxing. When she felt him getting a little handsy she just couldn’t contain the sass. “Shameless huh?”

Red chuckled as he continued, “Do ya really expect anythin less from me?” He chuckled, leaning over her to nip at her neck, trailing that faintly glowing tongue right over her soft flesh. Yep, 1000 percent shameless.

Frisk shook her head as much as she could in this position, “Pfft not really. Humm? Needy much?” She had that typical seductive yet snarky tone to her voice. It usually meant she was flustered to the point that she had to cope somehow. She couldn’t suppress the pleasurable shudder though. There goes her ability to think again.

He continued to massage her back, even as he licked and nibbled at her neck. He would lean over to whisper into her ear. “Don’t hear ya complainin~” His tone was seductive and yet loving. He would never do anything against her will, never. He knew that her job had been wrecking her with its long sporadic hours and overnights. It was a wonder she was able to have energy at all. He just enjoyed teasing her as much as he could.

Frisk took a deep breath. All she could do was facepalm in response cheeks burning, “Do you want me to?” She asked quizzically. Typical of Red. He was flowery in tone until he couldn’t control himself anymore. She was so worn out she feared with the relaxing massage she was being given that she just might fall asleep in the process, “Can we just stay like this?” She was being worked into the ground regardless if a job at the hospital was not the cause.

She just wanted a relaxing massage. She was getting waaaay more than she bargained for as always. I guess that’s what she gets for being out late so long and crashing nearly every night for 2 months straight. He was whispering sweet nothings into her ear nibbling at it again with those sharp teeth. She wanted to roll her eyes at the wording but they were still closed, “Stars that feels good.” She opened them turning her head to try and see him. She felt so much better after this even though she knew he wanted something more. She could only chuckle at his nibbling antics, “H….hey hey that tickles.”

He smiled down at her, “Well… You are certainly easy to please.” He replied with a soft chuckle, kissing her lips, “I need to get going my little kitten but know that you are the only woman that’ll ever look at.” He kissed her again softly as he felt that hunger begin to creep up on him once more. He needed to feed and he was not going to do it on her. He could kill her even if he was able to control himself.

Frisk gave him a deadpan glare accompanied by a defensive flush, “I…I am not!” The look disappeared immediately when he kissed her. He had to leave so soon? She could not exactly argue with him about it since she had to leave so often. She was about to object before she received another kiss, “I will never doubt you. I will be here when you return.”

He smiled softly running skeletal fingers through her hair, “I will see you soon sweetheart.” He grabbed his guitar from the stand in the corner of his own room and left for his so-called ‘Gig’.

Frisk just lay there for a moment before deciding to take a long shower. It was her day off but her job never really rested. As long as demons and other things preyed on humans her job would never be done. She always played so innocent and sweet but the truth was that she was much stronger than she appeared. She was half angel after all. A blessing to most but a curse to her. She let the hot water wash over her. This house was the only place she could be herself. Naturally, she would have to disguise herself when she did her work making it impossible for them to find her. She leaned her head against the tile wall before staring off into space in thought. She removed herself from the warm water and dried herself off. She put on some comfy clothing in order to relax and took a spot on the couch. She was so tired. It was unnatural. A tired that exceeded what it should have. She didn’t care she was able to spend the morning with the one she loved and that put a smile on her face as she closed her eyes to try and slip into dreamland.

The starving demon snapped his fingers changing into a form that would be unrecognizable to others of his kind as well as the angelic hunters that roamed the streets. No one would be able to recognize him as he lured unsuspecting humans and monsters alike to feed on their life energy draining the soul to the point of collapse. He finds another target grabbing a hold of the poor human and forcefully grabs their neck forcing it to the side.

———————————

Frisk had been asleep for a little while before a ring when off on her phone. The sound caused her to jolt awake and roll off the couch only to rub her side, “Owww.” She stared at the screen and began to chew her lower lip. The one day she might have gotten some rest. Of course, that was too good to be true as she stood up quickly. She nearly ran out the door before realizing she was without her illusion. She closed her eyes letting the magic work over her letting her human form change to what she actually should have looked like. No humans could see her as she ran her way through the streets searching. A few rooftops later and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

There was her nemesis to be sure the dark demonic vampire only known as Crimson, embracing a human as he fed on her neck. The human did not even resist. Frisk finally spotted who she was looking for or rather what she was looking for. She dropped down right in front of the two. Her now amber eyes were cold and her tone demanding, “Let the girl go!” She had been hunting the bastard for years and he always somehow managed to slip out of her grasp. It set her very much on edge. The council, or rather the group of angel blooded humans that she reported to, had alerted her that he was probably one of the most dangerous out of them all. As a younger girl, she had gone off on her own thinking she could take him on by herself with disastrous consequences. He nearly killed her save for the others that came to save her. Her hand was balled into a fist as she remembered his teeth in her nearly inches from death. All the warriors had a codename of sorts she happened to be integrity.

Red looked up as he heard her, letting the dead woman fall to the ground. His mouth stained with her blood. He chuckled when his red eyes fell on her, “Well if it isn’t the cute little rookie again! Out and about without your babysitters, I see. That’s sweet. Run along home little rookie, or do you actually have a deathwish?” He half spat yet he seemed so amused with her to Red she was nothing special as those hypnotic eyes stared right up at her.

Frisk would have bit through her jaw if she ground her teeth anymore but she had to speak. She had been too late. There was another person dead because of her. If she had been just a little bit sooner. It had always tortured her the nature of her job. She had to save others but it she failed, “I am not a rookie you bastard! That was a long time ago and I am never letting it happen again!” It was true it had been years since that time and she had pushed herself to be one of the best. He always mocked her and her anger only grew.

His laughter echoed off the alleyway as he jumped up, scaling the wall to stand on the roof opposite her, "Very well then little rookie. We’ll dance if you so wish to die, but don’t say I wasn’t sporting enough to give you an out.” He then jumped towards her, using his speed as an advantage like his brother had taught him oh so long ago. He had learned over the centuries that angels could be dangerous, even the foolish ones.

His laughter only seemed to enrage her even more. It was unbecoming of someone with her lineage but there was no helping such feelings. One day she was going to wipe that smirk off his smug fanged face. She immediately dodged his incoming jump by jumping to the side materializing a set of golden and white pistols, “Don’t underestimate me!”

He continued to taunt her as a sword formed of red magic. It was his standard fare, as his eyes blazed with red, “I am going to enjoy draining the life from your eyes!” He hissed as he lunged forward, wanting to knock her down, to pin her and to hurt her. All without knowing just who she was to him.

She only smirked as she dodged his attacks with a look of boredom on her face. "A sword… really? How predictable… it’s the modern age grandpa why don’t you upgrade a little bit and give me a challenge?” She pointed her right pistol at him and fired.

His laughter echoed behind her as she fired dodging the attack effortlessly smirk ever growing before he toyed with her, “Hmm not bad..” He teased her sides with his fingers. He said as he moved to grab her, to bring his sword to her neck, “That fire is rather lovely my sweet angel. Maybe I just might keep you~”

Frisk jumped in surprise. It wasn’t an attack but an extreme violation of her personal space that only made her even angrier. Now she just wanted to shoot him in the face. She elbowed him directly in the face her eyebrows furrowed and twitching, "I am spoken for thank you very much! You are not in the least bit enticing so hands… OFF!” She whipped around and pointed both of the pistols at his face firing consecutively.

One hit him right in the arm as he managed to dodge, which caused him to hiss, “Well I suppose I deserved that one..” He laughed it off, however, as he kept coming at her, aiming attacks that fired at her, with a summoned hand sending tendrils of light blue magic to try and wrap her tight,

“Besides.. you? Spoken for? Ha! Come now, everyone knows that you angel kin are just lovely little~” He was cut off before he could say the word.

Frisk cracked a small smile when she was able to hit him. Not in his face directly but she would take it. She never actually had seen the demon under the hood, no one had. She slid to the side only to realize he was trying to grab her. Just as the magic was about to close in on her she took to the sky. She rarely used her wings but they were useful in times like this, “Nice try… w…what?! Yes, I am spoken for! Why is that so hard to believe?“ She floated in mid-air ready to go on the defensive or offensive if the opportunity presented itself.

He flippantly replied, "Frankly yes. I do find it surprising. You are entirely plain only worth for a quick meal and a little fun.” HEe chased after her shooting attack after attack not letting the angelic hunter rest, “Besides…I didn’t gain the reputation of Angel killer, just by killing angels little rookie. Didn’t your superiors tell you about just how bad it is being a female angel around me?” He smirked, letting it sink in. He played with female angels in more ways than one and then killed them after.

Frisk’s eye twitched. Even if she could hold her own the mental battle was one she was not winning. Her evasion in the sky had increased but the onslaught was causing her strength to drain. She was tired earlier for some reason she was unable to place and this was not helping. He caught her off guard when she heard what he was saying. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach causing her to lose focus enough for one of the attacks to clip one of her pretty gold and white wings, slowly the wound began to dye the feathers a crimson. The pain was harsh but she grit her teeth and bore it. Her superiors had told her nothing. They said his name was due to his danger class, crimson being the highest of them all. They never mentioned- “My superiors told me… nothing.” Why would they not tell her this information?

He laughed as he shot out red strings of magic to bind her tight, “Well why would they tell a rookie who shouldn’t even be out on her own yet? Or maybe…” He chuckled as he reeled her in, “… they believed your plainness to be a deterrent since beauty is my forte.” They were harsh words, but Red fought dirty.

Frisk didn’t catch the attack as the magic wrapped around her trying to reel her in like a fish caught on a line. She struggled but like before her energy was being sapped. If he caught her then…She did not even want to imagine it, “Y…you don’t know what I look like!” Why was she getting so defensive? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought back to Red. If what Crimson was saying was true then would he get bored of her? WHY WAS SHE THINKING ABOUT THAT IN SUCH A CRITICAL SITUATION?! Nonetheless, a tightness began to form in her throat. She had slipped very crucial information, that this was not what she looked like. She continued to struggle as much as she could. She could not raise her arms but she could raise her wrists as she fired as many shots as she could with her arms bound at her sides, “l….like hell I care about your opinion! L….let me….let me go!”

He laughed evilly as he dragged her close to him using those strings, “Well my little angel. I’ll give you at least some bit of pleasure before I send you back to the heavenly hole you came from!” His eyes burned as he thought of ridding the world of yet another angel.

She audibly gulped. It was true she was young but she wasn’t a rookie. What was wrong with her!? Her disguise was starting to falter as the wings behind her seemed to crack and shatter. Why was her body not responding like it should! It was maddening. Why was nobody coming to her aid? What was going on?! She dropped the pistols to the ground unable to hold them any longer. The grip on her would have suffocated a normal human, “W….why…why can’t I ever.. beat you?” Her pride was wounded. No matter what she did just couldn’t do it.

He frowned as he brought her close to him, “Because I am more than you angels will ever understand.” What he would never say was how her scent drove him wild. He wanted her badly. As much as he wanted his own… wait a second… her wings.. they faltered! Red was not an idiot. He grabbed her hair roughly, holding her back to his chest as he bent to sink his teeth into her. He had to taste her. He wanted it more than he could ever understand. It was driving him mad.

Frisk gasped for a moment when he tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her back roughly. The wind was nearly knocked out of her. No one was coming to her aid. Had they intentionally sent her to her death? They hated that she was in a relationship with a monster no less. It was like an unspoken sin to them. Her decisions had made her an outcast within their ranks as powerful as she was. She could best any demon, any vampires, any creature that crossed her path but when it came to Crimson there was no doubt she had been unable to live up to her potential. Either he truly was that strong or something happened where she had become weak. It made no sense to her. All that she did now was fight the tears threatening her eyes at the thought of never returning home. He would never know. She had never told the truth. She should have but she was afraid. She was always so afraid. Her eyes screwed shut at the feeling of teeth at her neck. She expected it to be an excruciating pain but it was the opposite. She wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t whimper and give that devil the satisfaction. All she knew was that her angelic form was fading away little by little. It started with her clothing returning it to its original state. A black fluffy sweater, black pants, and brown boots. Her final attempt was to pull his arm away from her and rip herself out of his grip even if it would tear her neck open. She would die on her own terms.

He gripped her tightly forcing her neck to the side after he had taken a few deep sips from her only to shove her away and growl, “Damn it! Fuck no..” Red growled again as he moved back from her, looking at her now as if she had grown a second head. .That was when he fled.

He had her right where he wanted her WTF?! Frisk fell to the ground hitting it rather hard and whimpered. She was still bleeding and her illusion was completely gone now. Her face was turned down as she panted. What on earth? She looked up to see him running away? What the hell!? She managed to sit up and cover her hand over the wound. How was she going to explain this? The wound hurt and stung but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She stood shakily to her feet blue eyes scanning the area, “Don’t you run away from me you asshole!” She whimpered at the pain before sighing in exhaustion. Her hand slipped into her pocket to see the time and panicked if she was not home before Red!!? She made her way back as quickly as she could, bursting through the door to find her secret stash of healing items that would fix her wound. She was starting to feel light headed. It just kept bleeding and her face was starting to pale. “Come on …come on.”

What she heard then was the sounds of anguish from Red’s room. He was yelling at someone? “What’s more, it’s her! That fucking rookie, it just HAD to be her didn’t it?! and I damn near killed her! Son of a bitch. Why did I have to fall for a fucking angel of all creatures?!”

At least you know now Sans but we did tell ya this could happen. No one could find a damn thing on her background, not even your spy network could figure out anything. That shoulda been tip number one Crimson. It wasn’t a girl’s voice, but it wasn’t masculine either.

Frisk grabbed a hold of the bottle she was looking for and downed its contents as the wound disappeared completely. She lay on her back letting the bottle roll out of her grip until she heard someone. She lifted herself up and peeked her head around the corner only to hear it coming from Red’s room. She leaned her ear against the door and listened in only to feel her chest tighten. Everything fell away into a black abyss as she leaned against his door. Her blue eyes were wide and filled with a combination of horror and disbelief. The words went in one ear and out the other 'rookie’, 'angel’, the nickname Crimson’. She couldn’t breathe all she could do was stay there frozen until the door gave way and caused her to end up face first in his room.

He turned as a tall skeleton looked at her then at him with a look of disbelief. Well, that speaks to the healing power angels have. You really need to kill her Red.” Red looked at her, “I can’t Saros. I really can’t.” He used his red magic to bring her closer to him, “Suppose this is what they mean by sleepin with tha enemy. I Wonder what yer angels would think of you now. I have drunk of yer blood and even taken all that ya were. So now little angel…Frisk. What are we goin ta do? Know you ain’t stupid, ya have much too bright a mind for that.”

Frisk could feel her entire world spiraling downward. What would they think of her? Did they know? Is that why they continued to send her out after him hoping they would eventually kill each other? Frisk had a hard time looking at him for a moment. All she could do was look off to the side fighting back her urge to cry. Her voice wavered, “D…do you want to kill me? It would be easier for you right? Not having… to deal with me an…anymore?”

He shrugged, “If I’m honest, yeah. It would be easier but I meant what I say nearly every mornin kitten. You have managed to ensnare my heart when no others could. That would explain why it physically hurt me to drain you of ya soul’s life. So ya tell me, dear little angel. What does ya soul feel when I’m near? Before you knew I was Crimson? or when I was Red to ya.. What did your soul feel?”

Frisk heard the words 'honest, yeah’ and her heart nearly broke. She had closed her eyes in defeat in that split second before opening them again. She shouldn’t be afraid of the one she loved right? In essence, even though she did not know who he was he still loved her and she felt the same. The question caused her cheeks to flush a soft pink. She couldn’t look at him, not yet. She let a soft yet painful sigh escape her, “Like I would die if I could never see you again. In fact, I think it begins to. Every time you leave I become physically weaker it would explain why I can’t fight you at my top ability. Something inside me prevented me from doing so. N…Now I know why. I think about you all the time when I am out there. I thought about you at the time even though I didn’t know… How I wouldn’t be able to come home and…” Her voice choked up.

Red let her go then, letting her sit on the bed, “It did always make me curious.. hmm..” He attempted to bring her soul out for him to look at, “I wondered why ma soul had started ta crack recently. I assumed it had been from lack of sustenance.” A muted white soul combined in a glow with her bright blue when he drew it forth. It was Red’s own soul with a muted white base, tinted with blue and red, “Shortly after we met tha first time, these bright blue swirls started appearin in my soul. Care ta take a guess where they came from?”

Frisk fell gently to sit on the bed. It was a weird feeling to have your soul extracted from your chest. It was a bright blue just like her eyes and glowed turning everything around them blue. She had never felt something so strange. So this was her? The very culmination of her being? She stared at the souls in front of her unable to fully comprehend what she was looking at. The very sight of a soul was foreign to her as her cheeks flushed. “M….me?”

He nodded gently, “There’s tha mind I enjoy so much. Yeah, these blue lines are in fact, from you.” His tone was soft and informative just looking at her not caring the information from before, “It’s not cracking it, but rather healing tha cracks and my soul pulses as it wants to join with yours.”

Frisk’s cheeks darkened exponentially at what he was saying. Her hands came to rest in her lap. She was healing the cracks in his soul? How could that be? “W..what are you saying?”

He sighed softly only giving her a lopsided toothy grin, “Our souls want ta bond Frisk, pay attention. Did ya not read the books I gave ya? I’ve been hintin for a week now.”

Frisk just blinked before scratching the back of her head sheepishly, “I…I’ve been so busy I have not had the chance to. I…I’m sorry though technically you have been keeping me busy so…” She closed her eyes with a nervous laugh before returning to normal, “W…why me? If… if you know the truth then why would you still want to be with me?”

He had never felt this way about anyone in his entire existence. She was healing the cracks that made him what he was and that was unheard of. He couldn’t stop thinking about her or wanting to be around her. Even his more physical desires were calmed by her. She made him better than what he ever thought he could be, “Tha soul wants what it wants Frisk every monster is bound to it If my soul wants ya, I can’t fight that without havin a metaphorical hole within it for all time.”

Frisk’s heart skipped a small beat at the implication of it. In front of her the heart that made her who she was quivering by the strongly held emotion. She had her hand held against her chest. Her heart was beating a little too quickly for her liking. She lowered her head slightly, “You asked me once before how I would feel…w…without you. I don’t think I could bear it. It would tear me apart. E…Even knowing… what I know… I…” She tried to get the words out.

Red looked at her, “Same here sweetheart. My soul doesn’t want ta live apart from ya.” He put a finger to her lips, “But herein lies tha problem my angel. What we are will try ta tear us apart. My end will urge me to just chain you up like a toy…absolutely barbaric honestly and I doubt yer kind will be as forgivin knowin that I’ve been a demon this entire time.”

Frisk took a slow and steady breath as if the air in her lungs burned with every breath. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her. The soul was something even she couldn’t resist. She would rather rip it out of her chest then be apart from him. Normally she would have made a snarky remark about how she was into it or it was a kinky notion in general but the light-hearted words were stuck in her throat. She finally looked up at him cobalt eyes filling with unshed tears. She was on the brink and all she could see was her lack of options. When he mentioned her kind she scoffed, “Angel…don’t call me that I know you mean it endearingly but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. My kind…my kind has no love for me. They sent me to you time after time with limited information so you would do their dirty work. I…don’t care about them or what they think.” Her voice wavered for a moment, “The only person that’s ever loved me….is you.”

Red smirked, “Well ya ARE mine and ya are an angel” He chuckled and pulled her onto his lap, “One solution ta this little problem is ta just stop fighting and remain with me.”

Frisk was ready to protest to anything he had to say next thinking it would be something along the lines of star-crossed lovers never meant to be yadda yadda. Just as she parted her lips, “I can’t live witho- wait what?” She felt that heat rising in her cheeks as he pulled her onto his lap. Stars he had her wrapped around his little finger. That’s right she was his and she wouldn’t have it any other way now that the drama had ceased she could be a little snarky again, "Goodness me of all people? I distinctly remember someone saying I was only good for ah…how did you so eloquently put it? Oh right… a little fun and a quick meal?” She had a small smirk playing on her lips now she could use all those things over the years as payback. They didn’t hold any value anymore to her only ammo.

He chuckled, trailing that tongue over her neck and back into his mouth. “Ta be fair kitten. Ya didn’t even know who I was until this moment, and I didn’t know who ya were till I nearly killed ya.” He touched the side of her neck where he had almost drained the life from her soul, frowning, “I feed on others so I’m not tempted ta feed on you.”

Her body shivered at the feel of his tongue on her neck. Damn, why did her body always betray her? The smirk she had curled on her pale pink lips faded at the look on his face, "Sure you could say that but… Well, I think my soul knew deep down. It wouldn’t let me fight you which is why you always bested me. H…hey I’m still here and you didn’t know. I…I was going to tell you the truth before you left this morning but I was afraid you would think I was crazy. Talk about taking your work home with you.” Instead of a lewd remark or a snappy comeback, all she did was smile gently, “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” The comment hit her hard as a look of surprise passed over her face followed by concern, “d..do you want me that much? I…I don’t want to hurt you like that.” She was the reason others had died? No, she couldn’t think like that.

His eye sockets furrowed giving him a look of concern, “Of course I do. Why else would I have stayed with ya? Ya know my MO Frisk. I find a victim, sometimes play with em, then kill em and move on. Never once had ma soul reacted like it does for you… Never once.” His voice was soft as he kissed her deeply before he whispered against her lips., “You are the only one that makes it sing.”

She just smiled gently relaxing against him. She knew this was not going to be easy. His side would come after her and her side would come after them both. That did not stop them from being together. A painful revelation that somehow changed into the happiest moment of her life. She did not care about Crimson the demon but rather Red and skeleton. He felt the same way about her. Even if they are truly the epitome of star-crossed lovers.

~~~THE END~~~

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