#but soon i think it might be. literally no choice but a wheelchair

[milkweedman]

One of those shifts that makes you wonder if, objectively, you are perhaps too disabled to work.

[morganaspendragonss]

fic request because i am d e s p e r a t e : tarlos carlos whump with supportive gabriel reyes ??? if you’re down to write him that is. i love ur work n ur whump n i think u would write a p good gabe. 🥰

holly’s august extravaganza day 1: against all odds (we're still here)

i'm always down to write gabriel! thanks for the prompt trick, i hope you like it!

ao3 | 2k | car accidents, whump, major character injury, angst with a happy ending

“I told you we should have brought the car.”

Carlos scowls over at TK, shifting one of the many bags he’s carrying higher on his arm. It cuts painfully into his skin, his good mood from earlier long since soured. The knowledge that TK is, of course, right isn’t exactly helping matters.

“In my defence,” he starts, for probably the fifth or sixth time, “when we texted your dad to see if he wanted us to pick up anything from the store, I wasn’t expecting a full list.”

“We could have told him no.”

“TK, he’s your dad and we are literally crashing his home right now. I’m not gonna tell him no.”

TK opens his mouth, presumably to retort with a comment about how his dad loves Carlos and loves having them around. Both of which are things Carlos knows perfectly well, thanks, but he’s still not interested in testing it by refusing to get Owen’s kale chips or that specific brand of shampoo which took half an hour—and two stores—to track down.

Whatever TK was about to say is abandoned when one of his own bags slips out of his grasp and falls to the ground with a depressing thud. It bursts open—because why wouldn’t it—and spills their purchases across the sidewalk. The only solace is that nothing breaks, but that’s where the good news begins and ends; Carlos’s eyes track a can as it rolls down the street and into the gutter, landing in a puddle of dirty water. TK looks forlornly between the dropped bag and those still balanced on his arms, then heaves a long-suffering sigh and crouches awkwardly, easing the other bags down as carefully as he can manage.

“Call an Uber,” he grumbles. “We are not walking home like this.”

On that point, they’re in agreement. Carlos spares himself a moment of idle amusement at TK’s predicament before beginning the arduous task of extracting his phone from his pocket without dropping any of his own shopping.

He’ll hate himself for it later, but he’s so focused that the screech of tires coming around the corner barely registers as a blip on his radar. He doesn’t notice anything until TK suddenly barrels into him, throwing Carlos to the side just before something else, something heavy, crashes into them with a blinding flash of pain, and then—

Nothing.

*

Oh my god!

Someone call 911!

Are they even alive?

Just hold on, son, you’re going to be just fine.

*

Beeping.

Carlos frowns, slowly blinking his heavy eyelids open. It takes a minute to register his surroundings for what they are—a hospital room—and a further minute to notice the presence at his side. It’s his father, looking exhausted, turning his cowboy hat in his hands as he stares at the floor.

“Dad?” he croaks, wincing at the soreness in his throat. “What happened?”

His father’s head jerks up, his eyes going wide as he sees Carlos awake. “Mijo. It’s good to see you awake.”

“Dad, why am I here? What happened?”

He sighs, reaching out to pat Carlos’s arm. “There was an accident,” he explains. “A drunk driver lost control of his car and mounted the curb right where you boys were standing. He was speeding, so he hit you pretty hard. Your foot was crushed under a wheel, you have a fractured wrist, and you bumped your head when you fell so you probably have a concussion. The doctors say you should heal just fine, though, gracias a Dios.”

Carlos lifts his head to look down at his body, only just registering the casts on his arm and foot. There’s a dull ache radiating through his entire body and his head is pounding in time with his heartbeat, but he’s alive and he’ll heal. He should be happy about that, but the only thing occupying his mind is his dad’s silence on TK.

“What about TK?” he asks, part of him dreading the answer. “I remember him pushing me; is he okay?”

“He’s…” His dad hesitates, sending a cold slither of fear down Carlos’s spine. “Alive.”

Carlos stares, the beginnings of panic stealing his breath. “What does that mean?”

His father blows out a long breath. “It means you were right,” he says, meeting Carlos’s eyes. “He did push you, so he took the brunt of the hit. He suffered a serious open pelvic fracture and broken ribs, which punctured his lung. Last I heard, they managed to fix him up and they’re not expecting any further complications, but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up.”

“He hasn’t woken up?”

“Not yet. He will, you’ll see.”

“I want to see him.”

And Carlos knows what the answer will be to that—a resounding no. He also knows that he won’t be able to argue; his father is incredibly stubborn, and when he digs his heels in, there’s no moving him. But he needs to at least try—he’s not going to stop worrying about TK until he sees him, and probably not for a long time after that.

His dad sighs and fixes him with a firm look. “Carlitos, you and I both know that’s out of the question,” he says. “You’ve only just woken up, you need to give yourself time to heal before exerting your body even more. Besides, he’s in good hands and Owen is with him, so we’ll know as soon as there’s any change.”

“Joder, Papá, I know all that,” Carlos cries, frustrated, barely able to refrain from throwing his head back on the pillow. “I just hate that he’s here, hurt, and I can’t even see him.”

“Lo sé,” His dad smiles gently, something that’s probably supposed to be comforting, but really only gets on Carlos’s nerves. “Escúchame, hijo. Descansa. Cúrate. Then you can focus on TK.”

It’s easier said than done and his father knows it, but Carlos has no choice. The conversation is effectively put to an end by his dad reaching over and pressing the call button next to the bed. A nurse comes in and quickly sets about checking his vitals and asking enough questions to make Carlos’s head spin. His probable concussion becomes definite, but otherwise he’s in good shape, all things considered.

He can’t help but wish he weren’t.

*

Two days later, Carlos is deemed fit to be discharged, providing he has someone to help him and providing he agrees to rest and not do anything even close to strenuous. TK is also awake now but, according to Owen, he’ll be kept in the hospital for at least another week. The break to his pelvis was bad, so he’ll need a wheelchair for a while even after discharge, and his refusal to take strong painkillers means his recovery is going to be long and painful.

Carlos is itching to see him. It’s been torture cooped up in his room without knowing how TK was doing—there’s only so much relief messages passed through their fathers can bring. It had only been his father’s stern and steady presence that had kept him in that bed when he felt like he was losing his mind with worry.

But now, finally, he’s being wheeled into TK’s room and helped onto the chair next to the bed. Owen stands off to the side, watching the two of them with a mixture of affection and sadness in his gaze, and his dad hovers behind him, but Carlos only has eyes for TK.

He looks incredibly tired, but he attempts a smile when he rolls his head to look at Carlos, extending his hand out across the distance between them.

“Hey, Ty,” Carlos says softly, taking TK’s hand in his good one. “How are you feeling?”

“Been better. Not sure if I’ve been worse. I think this might just beat getting shot to that title.”

“That’s not funny.”

TK just hums, his eyes drifting closed for a second. “Maybe not.”

“Why did you push me?”

TK’s eyes fly open at the question, confusion overtaking his expression as he stares at Carlos. He moves as if to sit upright before groaning in pain, his face screwing up. Carlos reaches out for him, but he’s beaten to it by his father, who places a reassuring hand on TK’s shoulder.

“Take it easy, son,” he says gently. “Don’t move too much.”

“I hate this,” TK mutters, his body relaxing bit by bit. His gaze is still clouded when he looks back over at Carlos, but he manages a soft smile all the same. “I pushed you because I didn’t want you to get hurt. The car would have hit me either way; I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to get you out of the way in time.”

Carlos blinks at him, dumbfounded. “You’re sorry?” he asks, disbelief colouring his tone. “Ty, you’re in the hospital, seriously injured, because you chose to save me instead of yourself. Why would you do that?”

“You know why.”

Carlos does; of course he does, but it’s not enough to assuage the guilt still bubbling in his stomach at the sight of TK in the bed.

TK sighs, squeezing his hand. “You would have done the same for me,” he points out. “We both know you would have, so don’t you dare ask me to apologise for my choices.”

“I know. I won’t.” Carlos closes his eyes, deflating a little. “I just hate seeing you hurt.”

“And I hate seeing you hurt, so maybe you can do us both a favour and go home. I’ll be fine.”

Carlos must need his hearing tested, because there’s no way TK just said that. There’s no way his boyfriend told him to leave right after calling him out for hypocrisy. Except apparently he did, because he’s trying to disentangle their hands, and Carlos is not having that.

He grips onto TK even tighter and glares at him. “TK, if you think I’m leaving you here—”

“Carlos,” TK interrupts quietly. “I get it. But, babe, you need to rest and heal, and you can’t do either of those things sitting here.”

“Watch me.”

“No.” TK shifts his gaze over Carlos’s shoulder, a slight smirk playing at his lips. “Mr Reyes, can you make sure he rests?”

His dad laughs, leaning over to pat TK’s shoulder. “Of course. I’m sure once his mother sees him, she won’t let him out of her sight for a week anyway.”

TK grins. “Good to know.” He yawns and resettles himself slightly in the bed, his eyes fluttering shut. “Carlos, if you’re still here when I next open my eyes, I’m not kissing you for a month.”

“You shouldn’t make threats you know you can’t follow through with.”

“Don’t make me make it two.”

Despite himself, Carlos laughs. He leans over and presses a lingering kiss to TK’s temple, then stands as well as he’s able, leaning on his dad for support. “Alright, I’m going. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

TK already sounds half-asleep when he mumbles, “Love you too,” back, and Carlos can’t even be embarrassed by how ridiculously smitten he must look, even though he’s in front of both their fathers.

He allows his dad to move him back to the wheelchair and says a quick goodbye to Owen, keeping his eyes on TK for as long as he can. Just as they reach the door, he catches TK’s eyes opening to slivers, obviously checking to see if Carlos is actually leaving. Carlos shakes his head at him, causing TK to flush at the knowledge he’s been caught. His eyes slam shut again, his tongue poking out childishly, and Carlos laughs, a lightness settling in his heart even as TK’s room disappears from view.

It’s going to be a long few months for the both of them, but they have family behind them to help them get through it.

And they have each other. Which, given everything, Carlos thinks is nothing short of a goddamn miracle.

[heybeybey]

Ready, Set, Don't Go

Words: 1,833

Genre: Angst/Family

Rating: G Summary: Levi may have resigned from the military, but he'd underestimated how much his daughter is as much of a fighter as him and Petra. (Set almost 2 decades after canon events)

Happy Father's Day, folks!

I'm sorry for contributing slight angst today but don't worry, nobody dies. 👍 Also here, have some wheelchair Levi and a teenage Ackerbaby.

And thank you to @levis-petras for being my beta for this fic 💖

- - - -

Levi wasn't much for celebrations ever since he was young. In fact, he only recognizes five dates that are worth commemorating:

His wife's birthday.

His daughter's birthday.

His twins' birthday.

His and Petra's wedding anniversary.

And Mother's Day, but that one wasn't just for Petra. Truthfully, it was also the only way he gets to celebrate his late mother. He barely remembers her birthday, and he wasn't even sure he knew in the first place.

So, you see, he only celebrates when it's all about the people he holds dear. He doesn't really see the point in All Hearts Day or even his birthday. A more cost-efficient option too.

However, it still hurts that he's spending Father's Day this way.

The day started off normally. He woke up to Petra peppering kisses down his neck, greeting him a Happy Father's Day. The twins—Luke and Philip—then came bouncing in, both boys eager to show him the cards they drew for him.

He came down to Izzy brewing tea—a blend his daughter bought for him as a gift—and greeting him with a hug. He'd have to admit that it's been nice to be coddled by his family.

Then came dinner time.

He noticed that Izzy had been uneasy the past few days, and all those nerves seemed to have culminated during dinner. The brat had been on edge the whole day that he had to snap at her to just spill it.

It first started with an off-hand comment about how there will be a ceremony the next day for new military recruits. He sees his wife give Izzy an encouraging look from the corner of his eyes as she stumbles through her words.

Izzy, who's not much of a great liar to begin with, quickly muttered 'I signed up for the military.' and refused to meet his eyes.

"What?"

"I know that you might not agree now and that you and mom had been through a lot," Izzy starts to explain in a rush. "But I know this is what I'm meant for dad! I think there's not going to be a lot of battles to fight and it's more just—"

"No," he cuts off.

Her squeaking words quickly turned into a hiss, and it only got worse when he demanded that he drop her spot.

Soon, Petra was ushering their twins up to the second floor, knowing how arguments between father and daughter can get nasty.

"This is not fair!"

"The answer is no, Izzy," he said, matching his teenage daughter's tone. He rolls his wheelchair to follow her all the way to their house's front door, hearing her rage around the house. "Oi brat, what did I say about banging on the fucking furniture?"

He distinctly hears Petra scold, "Language, Levi!" from upstairs, but both father and daughter ignores her.

"I'm 16 now, dad," she snaps back, ignoring his last comment. "You can't tell me what to do."

Izzy finally turns around to face him, never one to back down. She's looking at him now with fury in her eyes and a retort ready on her lips.

Definitely her father's daughter.

"Do you even know what you're doing, Izzy?" He said, voice finally softening as he takes in the loaded backpack on her back. He feels the weight of her decision then.

"I wouldn't have signed if I didn't."

He'd always had a hunch that Izzy was fond of the military. Too fond for his taste, if he's going to be honest about it.

Guilt pinches him a bit whenever he thinks back to his promise that he would stand by his children no matter the choices they make. Even at the age of 56, he remains steadfast to his belief to live a life with no regrets.

But he'd be damned before he even allows any of his children to enlist.

So the first time she daydreamed of becoming a soldier at the tender age of eight, he had quickly shut down the idea.

"Here, girls like dolls right?" he had said as he pushed the plushie to her arms. He doesn't really give a damn whether she likes toys that are meant more for girls or boys. He'd buy her anything she asks for, budget permitting. But for some reason, that moment had settled uneasily in his gut. "I bought this for you today."

"But I want that one!" she'd screech, pointing at the display of two toy dual broadswords.

Petra had reprimanded him, telling him that he shouldn't discourage their child just because of their experiences. He could only give his wife a worried look in return.

Izzy was 11 the next time she approached the topic, asking him about his time as Captain Levi Ackerman. While he and Petra had moved out of Paradis since the Battle of Heaven and Earth, never even thinking of looking back, Petra was able to keep a few portraits of their team and the other Scout veterans.

Izzy, the curious young teen that she was, found them.

"See, it says here that you were a captain!" Izzy exclaims, eyes sparkling with excitement and reverence. She'd been bouncing to and from the box with the portraits and other memorabilia during his and Petra's time in the Scouts. She then settled down, looking from the portrait of a younger version of Levi with Erwin to her father's scarred face now. Levi feels his hands clenching on the armrests of his wheelchair, his vision starting to blur the more he looks at his former commander's face.

"It's so cool that you were in the military. And that you even had a high position! Do you think I'll also become a captain in the future? Maybe you can train me so I can reach that level! Please dad, can you tell me more? Is that why you have that badass scar? Mom won't tell me anything—"

Brat didn't know that he was there until the end. He doesn't know what they teach in history classes to children nowadays, but he and Petra had agreed that there's no sense in mentioning their time as soldiers and the literal hell they've been through to any of their children.

Not really a good bedtime story for kids.

The thought of his own child witnessing the same shit he and Petra went through was enough to give him a new set of nightmares every night.

"She's young, Levi," Petra consoles him after he sat up sweating from a nightmare. Tears were also streaming down her cheeks as she clings on to his bare shoulder. "She might still change her mind."

The last time Izzy mentioned it, she was 14. Everything was starting to pick up again during that time. Paradis' military, unsurprisingly, was the strongest.

Armin came over to tell them that a new order will be established—a neutral party from different nations that they all hope would promote and retain the fragile facade of peace they all had before one side goes batshit crazy. Arlert had been the same level-headed young man that he was since Levi had to revive his charred ass back in Shiganshina as he explained everything to the former captain.

With this change came a new branch of military for implementation.

Izzy had been starry eyed since then.

"This might be the world's chance to truly fix things," she babbled on that whole day—a mixture of rants about the current state and how everything is being handled, and reverence at the possible future this change might bring.

"Imagine... Imagine being a part of that..." Izzy had trailed off then, eyes faraway but lit up with optimism.

All Levi can hear and see is another Isabel from years past.

Back then, he'd chalked it all up to the fanciful thinking of a child who doesn't know any better. Now, Levi desperately wants to believe that maybe this is just a rebellious teenage phase. He'd been around a lot of teenagers during his time and he'd witnessed how crazy they can get.

Like Eren and—

He tears himself away from the memory before his mind fucks him up further. He and Petra already deals with it on an almost nightly basis, and it's a thought he'd rather not dwell on during his waking hours.

The living room was quiet for a moment as both father and daughter stare each other down. Levi looks at his first-born now—committed and kind like Petra, blunt and fearless like him. The best of his and his wife's qualities mixed together.

But who knows when shit will go down again? Things were shaky enough in this damned world as it is. While he and Petra were able to find their own safe spot to raise their children in, one can never be too complacent.

He'd already lost too much, and most days he wakes up thinking that even his family is temporary. There one day, gone the next.

"I can do my part this way, dad," Izzy finally replies, drawing her father back to the present. She sighs, dropping down her bag and kneels on one side of his wheelchair so they'd be at the same level. "Like what you did. Like what you and mom did."

He remains quiet as he takes in the determination in her eyes. It's the same look Petra would have more than two decades ago when she saves another soldier from being titan shit. The same look his daughter would have whenever she refuses to let go of a toy before bath time back when she was a toddler.

He knows then that there's no swaying her from her decision.

"You're too much like your mother," Levi says, resigned. They even have the same strawberry-blonde bob, he notes. Izzy gives him a sad smile then.

"You're just too old to 'deal with my teenage bullshit', dad," Izzy retorts to lighten the mood, doing her best to imitate her father's previous rants.

He doesn't tell her that maybe what he's too old for is the possibility of losing another person he holds dear.

- - - -

When he sees her off the next morning, already in the uniform issued by the military, he decides that he'd rest easier at night knowing that Izzy believes he's there to support her. He fought for Paradis' freedom for half his life. Why would he rob his daughter from her freedom to choose the path she wants?

"I'm proud of you, Izzy," Levi whispers against her ear as she hugs him tightly, fighting against his desire to beg her to not to go. It may be uncharacteristic of him to want to sob out and cling further to her but damn it, this is his daughter.

But Izzy's breath hitches at his words, and tears soon started to fall. His own arm encircles tightly around her while he supports himself with a crutch. She looks at him gratefully, true joy in her eyes, and that was enough to stop him from forbidding her further.

"You're not allowed to die," he mutters instead—so similar to the 'encouraging words' he gave the young recruits he guided before.

Izzy laughs through her sobs and teases him, "Is that an order, 'captain'?"

"Damn right it is, brat," he replies, fondly ruffling her hair.

[boognish-worshipper]

Midnight City AU

i’ve been having fun writing this story, all these lil snippets n pieces comin together n shit,,, but i also find myself getting so frustrated writing sometimes even tho ik that’s a given with literally creating anything 😭 anyway uhhhh scheming shit ensues in this chapter, and we see another familiar pal pop up 🙏 also included obligatory reference to those aesthetic photos with song lyrics 🏃‍♀️💥

//Chapter 2: Oblivion

The vinyl store was a short walk from Sterling Lake, but Ron and Trevor decided to run there like idiots. Trevor was out of breath by the time they got there placing his hands on his knees, while Ron looked ready to keel over and pass out, pressing a hand against the front of the store.

“Remind me why we chose to run here?”

“So we could,” Ron wheezed out a breath, inhaling deep to stable himself.

“So we could hurry up and get Wade.”

“It was a rhetorical question.”

“Right. Sorry Trevor.”

Trevor swung the door open hastily, calling out for Wade right away. A head with muddy locs popped up in their direction.

“Hey Trevor! Hi Ron!”

“Wade! Get over here, no time for pleasantries!”

Wade rushed over to meet them outside.

“Get out of my G-damn store Trevor!”

“I’m going, Debra. Say hi to lovely Floyd for me, will ya?”

“Get out!”

The trio walked away from the place, not knowing where to head next.

“Let’s go talk in my truck, where we won’t be… disturbed by any fuckwad wearing Andés brand sherpa jackets. Why do they even need jackets out here? It’s like 90 degrees all the time!”

He was parked across the way from Sterling Lake, and as he went, he tried his best to avoid running into the clique of phony fucks. The minute they all piled in, Trevor peeled out so loudly it was surprising he tried being discrete at all.

“So, Ron. Fill Wade in.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

“It’s the Merryweather Night Club.”

“Ooh, are we goin’ in to see them pretty girls dance?”

“No, Wade.” Trevor interjected.

“Then what-“

“It’s about Steve.”

“Who?”

Trevor impatiently shot out a breath, trying his best to breakdown the situation to Wade. He put a hand to his face briefly before speaking again.

“Haines, Wade. Steven fuckin’ Haines.”

“Ohh him! That fancy dude at the park.”

“Yeah. The fancy dude at the park.”

“What about him?”

“Well Ron here caught word that Devin Weston is hosting some big event there for Haines and his crew.”

“We invited or somethin’?”

“For fucks sake- No, Wade. We’re gonna plan out how to completely crash and wreck the party, so we can get that club the fuck out of here.”

“How’re we gonna do that?”

“Well first, we’re gonna scope the place out. Get a better idea of what we’re dealing with here.”

Trevor thought to himself that if he didn’t have a good look from the outside, that’d he’d have to get a layout of the floor plans himself. It’s not like he hadn’t visited the club before, but he hadn’t been… sober exactly when he dropped by those few times. So it was basically like seeing it for the first time. If he couldn’t get much from the outside, he knew only one person who could accomplish getting the layout of the place.

“We’re almost there, get ready to do some creeping boys.”

The sun was setting, and soon it would be dark out. And when it got dark in Los Santos, it got dark. The only way the city could be visible was from the surplus of lights that were nearly everywhere, except for a few places. They at least had some darkness to rely on so they wouldn’t be spotted right away. Trevor parked a block away, and the three of them hid on the rooftop of the building across the way. Neon lights flickered on, reading “MERRYWEATHER’S SUNNY DAYS NIGHT CLUB”.

“Such a stupid fucking name. I mean, why is it called Sunny Days if it’s a night club?!” Trevor angrily muttered.

As the sky grew dark, the club began to stir, with some random rhythmic song starting up. Ron lifted a pair of binoculars he brought with him, and gasped.

“There he is! Mr. Weston himself!”

Trevor snatched the binoculars from Ron, causing him to crash into his side.

“Uh, Trevor, it’s still around my neck.”

“Then take it the fuck off, before I take it off for you.”

He fumbled around with it, tossing it into Trevor’s hands. Below them, he saw Devin standing outside, with a pristine woman beside him. Trevor whistled lowly, so they wouldn’t be heard.

“That lady’s wayyy out of that fucker’s league.”

He watched them speak to the bouncer outside, hearing them laugh about something before heading in.

“They’re probably laughing it up now, plotting their next move to take over the city!”

“Shut up Ron, we lost them.”

He growled in frustration, handing the binoculars back to Ron.

“Let’s sneak ‘round back, maybe we’ll see something there.”

As they left, Trevor made a mental note of where the Merryweather bouncers were placed. Two burly men guarded the entrance, with a thick velvety rope not too far in front of it. They had to avoid the streetlights, seeing as people like them were sure to raise suspicion being near one of the hottest night clubs in LS. He couldn’t be made, not when he already had a reputation there.

“Alright Ron, you see anything?”

They hid near a dumpster, away from the lights.

“Not really, it’s too dark-“

Suddenly, the back door swung open. Ron and Trevor ducked while Wade’s eyes were transfixed on who was coming out. Trevor yanked him down, holding a finger to his lips.

“So I says to him, ‘You ain’t payin’ me enough to stay on this failure of a fuckin’ show Solomon!’, old guy flipped the fuck out.”

“That’s that Pelosi actor though!” Wade said, rather loudly.

“Wade! Shh!”

“And then I- wait a minute. The fuck was that?”

“Shit! Shit!” Ron panicked.

“Yo!” Pelosi started to walk in their direction.

“We better get out of here. Now.”

All three of them scrambled up to run off back to Trevor’s truck.

“Get back here! Security!” The actor began to chase them, along with one of the Merryweather guards.

They continued to run down the block, Trevor breaking into a sprint so he could start the car up before anyone caught up to them.

“Get in! Get the fuck in!”

The truck revved up, and Trevor drove off in a haste. Even though it didn’t go as planned, Trevor couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“Whew! What a rush, huh?”

“Rush?! We almost got caught, Trevor!”

“Yeah, only because Wade couldn’t keep it down for 5 fuckin’ seconds.”

“I’m sorry! That Pelosi guy is famous! I ain’t ever seen a actor up close.”

“Yeah, but he’s already washed up. Nothing special.”

“Isn’t he our age? How can he be washed up if he’s still-“

“Can it, Wade.”

Trevor came to the conclusion that there wasn’t enough visibility of the place from the outside. It didn’t have a single window. He mumbled to himself that he needed to go see a friend of his. The travel to El Burro Heights didn’t take long, with Trevor telling the other two to wait in the truck.

“Ron, please make sure he doesn’t do anything dumb.”

“Got it.”

“It was one time!”

He made his way up the steps, banging on the door. He lifted his head up to the outdoor camera, snarling at it.

“Let me the fuck in Wheels!”

The front door clicked open, and Trevor walked right in. He shut it behind him, and trotted over to a bedroom.

“Trevor. Didn’t think I’d see much of you again.”

“Neither did I old friend.”

“What is it. What do you want.”

The room was lit up with aqua and pink shades, a visual of a permanent sunset on his computer. Some kind of synth music played faintly. A nerdy looking guy was seated in a wheelchair next to a set up that looked like it was pulled right from the 90s, various posters and novelty items strewn about.

“Let me cut to the chase. It’s Merryweather again.”

“Again? Trevor, I thought we agreed you’d leave them alone!”

“Ah ah ah! I didn’t finish, Lest. Get this, there’s some big event going on soon. Steve Haines- some big get together with him and his posse of lame-os.”

“Really? Devin’s letting those guys in? I thought it was all big name people.”

“Yeah, well Steve isn’t exactly poor Lester. I thought we both knew that.”

“Duh, but still. He’s not exactly Devin’s type of crowd.”

“No no no, I think they might be in kahoots. Planning something.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Hmm. Let me see…”

He turned to the computer, clacking away on his keyboard. It was rather vintage looking, and Trevor was surprised it worked at all. Lester was into technology more than he was though, so he probably worked some kind of magic on it.

“Hm. You’re right. Seems like they’ve known one another for quite some time. Guess their dads work together.”

“Fuckin’ daddy’s boys.”

“But, I still don’t think interfering with that party is a good idea.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“You’ve had enough run ins with the both of them already.”

“But if we infiltrated the club, we could get it shut down!”

“What are you planning, some sort of raid? You and your buddies? 2 other people isn’t much to work with if you wanna take down one of the most popular clubs here.”

“That’s why I came to you!”

“For what?”

“So you could do your cyber shit, find the floor plans or something!”

“You know that’s gonna take a long time, right? I mean, getting the blueprints, not to mention finding other people who’re on board with the idea of it all-”

“Well no shit.”

“Are you paying me?”

“What?”

“I said, are you paying me?”

“What the fuck would I need to pay you for?”

“Taking time out of my day to get that done for you.”

“Right. Because you’re sooo busy.”

Lester frowned slightly, upset by the remark.

“I’m gonna just ignore that. Anyway, I’m not asking for a whole lot. Just something for the effort I’m putting in to find the plans.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“What choice do I have?”

“Absolutely none my friend!” He said, grin wide.

“Y’know you’re still gonna need to assemble a crew that doesn’t consist of only your… minions or whatever. That’s your part. Now shoo, let me do my thing.”

“Oh Lester the Molester you never let me down!” He said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

“Aww, and here I thought you liked it!”

“Just go already. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. No funny business.”

“But funny business is my specialty!”

“Oh my God, go!”

He made his way back over to the truck, seeing Wade passed out in the back. Slamming a hand on the truck bed, he yelled for him to wake up.

“Boys! We got some recruiting to do.”

“Wh-what? What d’ya mean? Who are we gonna find? I thought it was just gonna be us-”

“We’re not taking out one of the biggest clubs in LS on our own, Ron.”

“But I-”

“No buts! Now let’s go.”

They all drove across the city, back to the apartment complex Floyd lived in, Wade’s place being the first one you see pulling in. He had been nice enough to pitch in some cash to pay his rent, seeing as Wade basically had no money to begin with. The trio brainstormed for a bit, chattering away about needing to find people who hated those guys just as much as they did, before Wade and Ron promptly passed out. Trevor threw on a random shuffled playlist to keep him occupied as they slept, and some song he’d never heard before played. Some artist called Grimes? The intro was wobbly, like someone was shaking laminated paper. He kept it on, liking how funky it sounded. The music reverberated loud in his ears, the singer’s voice light and dreamlike compared to the dark, heavy tone of the song. It was the experimental stuff Trevor was into. He opened nosedivr, scrolling through his usual feed. This was a thing he did often when he couldn’t sleep. As he kept going through posts, he noticed he still followed Amanda; they stopped being friends long ago and the task of removing her on there slipped his mind. She had posted a new photo though, and he instantly recognized who she was with just from the shoes. It was that Michael guy.

@krystal-klear-tears

𝔦 𝔱𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔰 𝔞 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔫 𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔶𝔬𝔲.

#grunge aesthetic #lana del rey #lyrics #black and white aesthetic

His finger hovered over the reblog button, and he hesitated. What was he doing right now? He didn’t give a shit who Amanda was with anymore. Michael was just another name, another face, another person she was just gonna dump later on. She could never do commitment. That was the one thing he knew for sure in the period of time they had been friends. Amanda wasn’t exactly a bad person for it, she just didn’t express her feelings in the best way. It was why she jumped from guy to guy. They didn’t need anything more than her facade, her surface level personality. So when the time came that she would be close to showing her true colors, she’d cut them off. Trevor didn’t like that. If there was one thing he truly could not stand, it was people being two-faced. He wished Amanda embraced herself more. But like he said, it was whatever now. Soon enough, he wouldn’t see anymore posts like that.

Still, he figured he could unfollow her another day. Part of him did wanna see how long this one would last. Was that bad? Maybe. Who cares. By the time he had finished scrolling mindlessly on his phone, he’d finally grown tired. He wanted to dream about tomorrow, because tomorrow promised a plan in the works, and it was fucking spectacular. He couldn’t let something so meaningless like a new boyfriend of hers distract him. Yet despite that, he still found himself wanting to know more. This was the first guy in a while that Amanda got with that she didn’t run to tell him about. It felt… strange. But again, he couldn’t let that distract him from what was at the front of his mind. He didn’t have time for that. He had to focus on Merryweather first and foremost. Shutting his eyes, a smile grew on his face. He was finally gonna take those stupid fucks down.

//sorry if these seem short rn,,, it’s gonna be a slow build up tbh. it’ll be worth it later on when i complete future chapters lol. don’t wanna rush it too much ,, also i feel like i’m gonna accidentally make this sound all over the place so uh apologies in advance 💯 i will go into more detail abt amanda n trevor’s friendship in this too btw so expect that eventually ig

[westallenfun]

WestAllen secret santa gift From: @sophisticatedloserchick For:  @candiceverse

Summary: AU. Much to his embarrassment Barry twists his ankle slipping on ice. But then he meets Doctor Iris West and maybe his luck has turned.

Rating: PG

Word Count: 2042

A/N:I hope you enjoy this! I tried to do an uncommon AU trope since you said you’ve read so many Westallen fics :p

Barry had done some pretty embarrassing things in his life. Like the time in fourth grade when he confessed his love for the most popular girl in school Tammy Lawson only for her to turn him down in front of everyone in the cafeteria. Or the time he spent weeks preparing to try out for the school football team only for him to fail at every challenge. There were more but Barry didn’t like dwelling on them if he could help it.

Now years later Barry had more or less grown into a accomplished and capable adult. He got a great job working as a CSI for the CCPD, owned his own apartment and even made meals for himself that didn’t requite a microwave a few times a week. Which is why the events leading up to him ending up in the hospital on Christmas Eve night made him want to crawl into a hole and never come out of it.

“You okay there bro?” Cisco cautiously looked at him.

Barry gave him a withering look before gesturing to himself. Where he currently found himself in a small hospital bed and the unflattering hospital gown he wore, right down to her left ankle the shade of dark purple and swollen three times its normal size.

“Right sorry,” Cisco winced, “Dumb question to ask.”

Barry returned to staring up at the bright florescent lights of the hospital room contemplating his bad life choices.

After several minutes of silence Cisco awkwardly coughed to get his attention and held up his cellphone.

“So your parents said they’ll be here soon,” Cisco said looking like he needed to brace himself.

Which turned out to be the right instinct to have.

“Cisco!” Barry bolted upright in the bed and sucked in a sharp breath of pain from jostling his leg. “Why would you do that? I don’t want them to know about this.”

“Dude come on,” Cisco tried to reason with him. “You don’t think your parents wouldn’t notice the swollen ankle and the limp?”

Barry scowled because as much as he hated to admit it Cisco had a point.

“Did you tell them the whole story?” Barry narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

“No I swear I didn’t,” Cisco held up his hands placatingly. “I only told them you slipped on some ice.”

“Good,” Barry sunk back into the hospital bed. “Getting a swollen ankle on Christmas Eve is bad enough without letting my parents know what an idiot I'am.”

“I promise no one will ever know,” Cisco comfortingly clapped Barry on the shoulder. “Look on the bright side things couldn’t possibly get any worse.”

At those words the dark blue privacy curtain was sharply pulled back to reveal the doctor.

“Hello there,” She smiled pleasantly at the two of them. “I’m Doctor West, I’ll be your doctor this evening.”

Barry felt his jaw literally drop looking at her.

She couldn’t of been much older than him which meant she must of been smart as hell. As she smiled at him Barry felt the air go out of his lungs simply looking at her. Her skin a smooth rich brown and her long black hair sensibly clipped back to keep tendrils of hair out of her face. She dressed in the typical light blue scrubs and white lab coat but somehow Barry knew she looked better than most girls dressed in designer clothes. But what Barry found he couldn’t take stop gazing into were her dark brown eyes framed with thick lashes.

“Barry, Barry,” Cisco’s fingers were snapping in front of his face, “Earth to Barry!”

“Huh….what?” Barry blinked out of his stupor then felt his cheeks go red when the doctor looked at him in concern.

“You weren’t responding for a minute,” Doctor West immediately went to his side. “Are you feeling dizzy? Any headaches?”

She suddenly pulled out a pen light and flashed the light in Barry’s eyes checking for a response.

“No, no I’m fine,” Barry reassured her. “Only a little tired maybe.”

Doctor West looked at him thoughtfully before walking to the end of the bed to grab his chart.

“Well looks like you didn’t sustain a head injury with your fall,” She said while scanning the chart, “Would you mind telling me how it happened?”

Cisco and Barry both exchanged panicked looks that had Doctor West narrowing her eyes at both of them.

“Gentlemen I can’t give proper care unless I know the whole story,” She put the chart back and walked back closer to Barry again, “Now please tell me what happened.”

“I…Ummm…Well you see,” Barry fumbled over his words.

He found his brain couldn’t work properly when Doctor West looked at his directly. Something about those dark almond shaped eyes made Barry melt.

“I pushed him!” Cisco said suddenly.

Both Doctor West and Barry turned to look at him shocked.

“I’m sorry you did what?” Doctor West asked in disbelief.

“We were horsing around,” Cisco practically gulped as Doctor West stared him down. “And you know we got too rough and he didn’t see the ice. Boys will be boys right?”

Cisco ended his explanation by awkwardly waving his hands about nervously. Barry buried his face in his hands already knowing the doctor wouldn’t buy one word of this.

Before Doctor West could open her mouth to say anything else Cisco pulled out his cellphone making sure they both saw it.

“Oh look that’s my mom calling,” Cisco said even though the phone didn’t ring once. “I better go take this. So I’ll be going and I probably won’t be back, k bye.”

As Cisco practically fled the room Doctor West turned to give Barry a disbelieving look.

“I hope you know I don’t believe a word of that,” Doctor West folded her arms across her chest. “Care to tell me the truth?”

Barry slunk down in the bed having to accept he wouldn’t be getting out of this. Not only would he be telling this embarrassing story but he would be telling it to a incredibly gorgeous woman that he would normally ask out on a date under the better circumstances.

“So there was this old lady,” Barry began nervously.

“Uh huh,” The doctor’s lips twitched upwards in an almost smile.

“And she was crossing the road, and its all snowy and Icy.” Barry continued already dreading continuing. “I went to go help her. To make sure she didn’t slip and fall. And well…”

Doctor West reached out to squeeze his shoulder and give him an encouraging smile.

“I guess I must of startled her because she hit me over the head with purse.” Barry continued.

Doctor West’s eyes went wide surprised at the turn in his story.

“And she kept hitting me, then I slipped on the ice and hit the ground,” Barry kept going knowing there was no point in stopping now. “She kept hitting me with her purse and screaming that I was trying to rob her.”

Doctor West pressed her hand to her mouth and Barry could tell she had to struggle not to laugh.

“I tried to get away fast but when I got up and tried to cross the street a car hit me and I slid on the ice right into this Christmas tree and then-”

“Okay okay I get it,” Doctor West broke out into laughter. “You’re painting a very vivid picture.”

To Barry’s shock and surprise somehow this night got so much worse.

“Listen I’m sorry,” Doctor West calmed her laughter when she noticed Barry pouting. “Honestly what you did was very sweet and chivalrous.”

“You think so?” Barry looked at her in disbelief.

“Definitely,” Doctor West gave him a soft smile. “Not many guys would go help an old lady cross the street. I can tell you’re a good guy.”

Barry felt a wave of warmth spread through his chest as he rubbed the back of his neck shyly. He still felt embarrassed by the whole incident but getting praised by his beautiful doctor made him feel that much better. As they looked at each other Barry found himself drowning in those dark brown eyes, his chest tightening the longer they gazed at each other.

Doctor West bit down on her full lower lip thoughtfully which made Barry’s stomach do pleasant flips again.

Barry couldn’t help but be compelled to lean in closer to her and to his surprise she didn’t pull away.

But the sudden appearance of his parents put a stop to that.

“Barry sweetheart are you okay?” His mother rushed past the curtain to Barry’s side.

Doctor West quickly pulled back to put a respectable distance between her and Barry. He felt himself caught between answering all of his mother’s many questions and watching Iris shake hands with his dad and them chatting.

Before Barry could divert from his mother’s attentions Doctor West gave a small wave and walked out of the room.

Barry tried to school his features to conceal disappointment at Doctor West leaving so he wouldn’t be too obvious to his parents.

“Good news son,” His dad come over to his bed, “The doctor said after they put your leg in a cast they can discharge you tonight.”

“Yeah that’s great,” Barry smiled weakly but kept thinking about how he wouldn’t have a chance to see Doctor West again.

Two hours later after getting his leg in a cast and filling out piles of paperwork Barry ended up in a wheelchair being pushed by his dad to the parking lot. Barry kept craning his neck and looking at all the doctors as he was being pushed down the hall hoping to spot Doctor West.

As they got closer and closer to the exit Barry had resigned he wouldn’t see her again tonight.

“Wait a minute Mr Allen!”

Barry’s parents stopped pushing wheelchair as all three turned around to see Doctor West speed walking towards them. Barry felt himself blushing again when she beamed with happiness when she caught up to them. If only his parents weren’t here Barry might get the nerve to ask her out on a date.

“Is everything okay doctor?” His mother asked her nervously.

“Yes of course,” Doctor West rushed to reassure them, “I just wanted to give Barry an updated prescription.”

Iris turned to smile at Barry handed him a folded piece of paper. Their fingers briefly brushed and Barry could feel shocks of pleasure go through him at the small touch. More than ever he mentally kicked himself for not getting her number when he could.

“Thanks Doctor,” Barry stumbled over his words, “For everything.”

Barry locked eyes with Doctor West and as ridiculous as it sounded he felt a connection between them.

Iris gave him a final nod before turning around and walking back down the hall.

“What a nice girl,” His mother said as his father started pushing his wheelchair again, “You should ask a girl like that out on a date.”

“Leave him be,” His dad chuckled at his wife’s not so subtle hints. “You can’t expect Barry to ask every girl out on a date.”

As his parents to continued to discuss his dating life, or lack thereof, Barry unfolded the piece of paper to see what she wrote.

‘Dear Barry,

This might be crossing over a line but its not often you come across a cute guy who is also the nicest. So if you’re interested too give me a call’

Barry stared at the phone number with suppressed glee and if he didn’t have a twisted ankle he would be jumping with joy. Already in his mind he planned when he would call her and ask her out on that date, preferably when he could walk without needing assistance. His eyes then went down to where she signed the note at the end.

Iris, Barry thought to himself, what a beautiful name.

Turned out getting your ankle twisted by a old lady on Christmas Eve had its benefits.

[miioouu]

This is sorta a personal request and you don’t have to do it! I’m currently going through a lot of disease issues and I’m going to have to stay in a wheelchair for over a year. Do you think you could do a few head-canons of class 1-A helping a s/o in a wheelchair (characters are your choice!)

I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope everything gets better soon honey! Thank you for requesting!! ❤️💜❤️

-The class was always so so caring.

-Even the ones you'd expect the least, they helped you.

-And they never make you feel any inferior or any diffrent.

-Also something really cute they did is decorating your wheelchair.

-It might look a bit weird or tacky, but you love it, every sticker, every word reminding you of your classmates it's just so so sweet.

-The boys will literally fight on who will carry you if there's stairs.

-And the girls always cheer you up.

-Let's not forget the teachers!!

-They will do their absolute best to make you feel more comfortable and more at ease.

-So that was a few general hc about the whole class, now onto more specific characters.

Kirishima Eijiro ❤️

-Ok so we all know Kirishima is the sweetest meanliest boy out there.

-So he'll make sure to take extra care of you.

-He'll carry you if needed.

-He'll get you the things you want on his way to class.

-He just loves to pamper you.

-With all that being said though, he never makes you feel any diffrent.

-He treats you like everyone else, because he's just that nice.

-If anyone tries to bother you or make fun of you, he'll always, without a doubt defend you.

-If you ever feel weak, or worthless, Kirishima is here to cheer you up, telling you how special you are with or without your wheelchair.

-And he'll reminds you everyday that he loves you no matter what, he'll stay by your side no matter what.

Jiro kyoka 🎧

-Jirou is the best.

-Because not only she never makes you feel inferior, she also trearts you like everyone else.

-She always havr you doing something so you don't feel out of place.

-On your wheelchair, she drew you a little guitar and a heart to tell you how much she absolutely loves you.

-If you're having a bad day and feeling a little insecure or something, she'll sing you your favorite song.

-She'll even teach you how to play a new instrument that'll be easy to carry around and to play.

-If anyone even dares to think about making fun of you, she will get into a fight with them.

-She's so sweet and she just wants you to be happy!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #461

“this city looks so pretty, do you wanna burn it with me?”

Have you ever wanted a Nikon camera? Or do you have one already? My camera before the one I have now was a Nikon D3200. I use a Canon now. Who was the last person (if anyone) you said Happy Birthday to? A friend. Do you have Photoshop? If so, how often a day do you use it? I have it, but I barely use it nowadays. I use it to edit photos for character profiles or profile pictures, add a watermark for my actual photography, and I used to make Mark-oriented gifs like crazy. They mostly did really well, so... I might wanna get back into that and get That Sweet Validation. Do you watch any shows that you know your parents wouldn’t approve of? No. Have any of your exes gotten married or had kids since your breakup? None, I think. Do either of your parents have a mental illness? My mom has depression. Can you tolerate children for a long period of time? NO. Have you ever lived with someone you felt thoroughly uncomfortable around? No. Are you into dubstep? Yeah, I tend to enjoy it. Zelda or The Sims games? Can I pick neither? lol I don't feel very much at all for The Sims, and Zelda games have always looked... boring to me? Like I've watched most of the Game Grumps' playthroughs of all the games, and they make it hilarious of course, but the games themselves? Nah. Are you terrible at assigning bands their proper genre? YES YES YES YES YES YES. Even in my preferred category, that being metal, FUCK if I know the sub-genre. Have you ever made out in a closet? No, that shit sounds claustrophobic as hell. Have you ever been to a laser tag place? Yeah, on a triple-date once! It was SO fun. How do you wanna celebrate your next birthday? Have a couple friends over, pig out at The Cheesecake Factory. o3o Do you tease your parents about them being old? No, especially not Mom. She's self-conscious about getting older. Are you in love with someone? "In love" is a bit too far, buddy. But I love someone. Have you ever ridden a unicycle? No. Have you ever wanted a pet bunny? I was VERY serious about getting a lop-eared bunny for quite a while, but we just couldn't afford to adopt one (even off Craigslist) and get a cage for it, toys, etc. Are the bottom of your feet clean? I HATE seeing the bottom of my feet. Not because they're dirty, but because it's Callus City. I ain't even fuckin jokin'. Do you like really salty food? Yeah. :x When’s the last time you bled a lot? Well, I just recently finished my cycle after not menstruating for three or four MONTHS, so you can figure that one out. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah. I like to know exactly when it's coming. Have you ever seen someone get a piercing/tattoo? Yes to both. When you’re done eating finger foods, do you usually lick your fingers? Usually kasdjlf;kalsdjf shut up ok I like food. What’s the most racist thing you have ever said? As a little kid, when my really good friend (a neighborhood kid, even) asked if he thought we'd be a good couple, I told him no because "blacks and whites don't date" or something like that. It was an idea I'd never been exposed to before; the idea was so foreign to little kid me. I had no idea I was being racist. It ended in a small fight and we didn't talk for a few days 'til he came to my house telling Mom that he had to "be a man" and fix this and if that ain't the cUTEST SHIT RIGHT THERE. We were friends again after that. He's still on my Facebook, and he actually semi-recently got married! :') Do you know someone that is mute, deaf or blind? No. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. Where do you see your closest friend in ten years? Successful and happy she kept pushing. Mama to so many reptiles that are blessed with the best lives possible in human care. Got at least one amazing book out there. If she's reading this, you've fucking got this. <3 Would you like to have twins? Mother of fucking god, no. Even if I WANTED kids, do fucking not give me twins. Who was the last person you got into an argument with? My mom. Want to have kids before you’re 30? Once again, I don't want kids, but IF I did, that'd be preferable before the risk of birth defects and other issues climb with age. Does anybody have a tattoo with your name on it? My older sister has my initial. Do you think somebody’s in love with you? No. Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in ten years? Yes, I genuinely do. Who were the last people to hang out at your house? Miss Tobey, our friend and landlord. Does anyone like you? Welp... I hope he still does. Guess we'll figure that out soon. What person on your Facebook do you talk to the most? VIA Facebook? Probably my friend Lyndsey. She likes to comment on stuff I share. Do you want to fall in love? I do, but I'm also utterly horrified to and risk being hurt again. Are you interested in more than one person at the moment? No. Once I realized I was so deeply into Girt, all other romantic feelings kinda just... poofed. How was your last break up? Civil and done with both of our best interests in mind. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to say? Probably the first time I admitted I needed to go to the hospital for suicidal thoughts. I was so, so scared of what it was going to be like. What is the hardest thing you NEEDED to hear? That if Jason wasn't happy with me, he had every right to move on. She was right. Do you treat yourself well? No... but I'm trying to change that. What was the last song you sang out loud to? This "Set Fire to the Rain" cover. Do you take good pictures? I think I do? Have you ever done any internship? No. What’s a topic you’ve drastically changed your opinion on? Holy shit, so much, especially when it comes to morality and political stances. I am now a massive supporter and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I'm pro-trans rights, pro-choice... I've done like a dozen 180s in a lot of topics. Do you know anyone who has a PhD? I mean, some doctors, but no one in my truly personal life. Do you know anyone who works as a lawyer? Yes: my cousin. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? LAKSDJFKLA;JWD NEVER AND I PRAY TO THE HOLY LORD THAT I NEVER DO. Does the thought of having wrinkles when you’re older upset you? Not massively? Like literally everyone gets them and is natural and inevitable. Do you know anyone who’s struggling with addiction? I know one alcoholic, and one that's probably borderline. I also have two friends who are extremely addicted to weed. Look me in the eyes and say it's not an addictive substance and I wouldn't believe you one bit. Is there a video or computer game that you can get lost in for hours? Eh, sometimes World of Warcraft. Some days I'm really into it, and others I barely touch it. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? I have no clue. I don't even remember movies that were made *for* Disney exclusively. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. We have a friend from the dance studio mow the lawn. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? My iPod has a whole live album of Ozzy. Did you or do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Both did and do. Britney is a boss bitch. Does your favorite band have a male or female lead singer? Male. Have you seen the movie Moulin Rouge? No, but I've seen some of that P!nk music video of the song and it brings out the Gay in me. Do you have a key to anything besides your house? No. Could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle? I've done that before. I miss doing puzzles... Have you ever been to any sort of convention? I went to a reptile expo with Sara!! I REALLY want to go to another when my legs are stronger and can handle standing and walking so much. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom. Have you ever tried to walk on a moving vehicle and fallen over? No????? What is your favourite kind of bread? Is there any of that in your house? Pumpernickel. No. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? I played the flute all through middle school and I wanna say half of HS. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? Never even been to one. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? I think once for some reason I don't recall? What is your favourite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men, probs. Or chocolate bunnies!!! :') How do you feel right now? My stomach is KILLING me. I'm super excited though that Girt is coming over tomorrow. Have you ever had surgery that kept you in the hospital for over a day? No. What would you like your generation to change? How we treat nature. Is there anyone that you truly could not live without? No. I learned that is a very unhealthy mentality to have. Do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? I just hate carrots. What restaurant did you last go out to dinner at with friends? With friends? I couldn't even guess. Does your refrigerator have an ice maker or do you use ice cube trays? It has an ice maker. Do you have a favorite sibling, if any? No; I love them all. Do you have a favorite brand of clothing? I STAN CLOAK. How’s the love life? Something new might start tomorrow. I think it will. Do you watch the news? No; that shit is depressing. Who do you admire most? Mark. Do you have a favorite album? Black Rain by Ozzy Osbourne takes the cake and always will.

[secretadventuresociety]

Episode 29 Recap

Hi, hey, hello SASholes! I’m Bren, resident SAStorian and your best friend. Welcome to Episode 29: Mother, She Wrote.

Treehouse of Horror

We catch back up with the Nobodies as Kess exits her greenhouse, letting Detective Brienne collect her thoughts after the trio’s separate testimonies. The first thing she sees is Pearce anxiously pacing with Kü trailing behind, mimicking his every step. Cutting off their questioning glances, Kess tells them to grab their coats and leads them to a treehouse in the backyard of the manor. Now, if you’re picturing something simple, made out of wood, maybe even for children-- you must be a new listener! Hi, and welcome to Mardosta’s Thieving Veterans’ (or, more simply, MTV) Cribs: Kess Edition. This ‘treehouse’ is an extravagant (albeit rundown) tower, secluded from the rest of the house. Kü immediately takes off to scramble to the highest point, and his companions climb after him-- winding up in a circular level with a small fireplace; because lest we forget-- Mardosta is fucking COLD.

Kü casts a magical bonfire into the fireplace, fixing his gaze on the blaze (come for the recaps, stay for the mad rhymes, amirite?) as Kess makes a perimeter check to ensure they were not followed, nor being listened to. Once she is satisfied, she turns her attention to the group, curious about how their interviews went. Pearce tells her he had been relatively candid-- only leaving out the part where her parents are criminals, which Kess is thankful for. Kü remains silent, and Kess worriedly attempts to get his attention. Kü answers her while still staring at the flames-- asking if someone will throw a log in so that he can stop ‘concentrating’ on the spell. As soon as the requested wood catches, Kü drops his spell, and relaxes just enough to tell Kess that it must have gone well because Mother told him Brienne didn’t suspect a thing. 

Even Pearce’s outraged cries regarding the fact that Kü outed the gunslinger as the most violent man he’s ever met (come on, Pearce, the boy has met all of THREE men in his short life) go quiet in this aftermath. The group can’t fathom why she would say such a thing if they hadn’t done anything to Xarus. Kess asks if they can talk to Mother-- but responding to Kü’s panicked face, she recorrects and implores him to try to talk to her. Kü worries she may not answer, but calls out a tentative “Mom?” regardless. Moments pass before Kü’s mind echoes with a full-bodied voice asking what he wants. The transition from Mother’s whispered tones to this powerful resonance does not escape our kobold, and it shakes him just as badly as if he had stepped into the emerald-drenched quarters of a mighty wizard, but Kü presses on.

“You’re Better Than I Am.”

With difficulty, Kü manages to inquire if Mother had anything to do with the death of Xarus. When she goes momentarily silent, Kü continues nervously on, reassuring her he won’t be mad, no matter her answer. Mother’s response drips with disbelief. She thought he had been with her that night, but he only remembers sleeping off his ass-kicking. Mother mutters a pleased ‘Interesting.” and talks down to Kü; telling him that since she is growing in strength she needs time to stretch her legs-- and as such-- she did indeed murder the loathesome dickbag. With an air of gloating, Mother croons that as Kü gains power, so does she. Now. You know I love for you all to read my recaps. However, I need you to go to the SAS Youtube (link at the end of my ramblings) and scrub to 45:30. You can literally watch Kü’s mind backfiring as pieces of this puzzle refuse to line up. He can’t understand why Mother killed something (BARELY someone) that they didn’t even eat, and you know, he’s not wrong. It’s wasteful.

Mother can only say that the slaughter sustained her in ways he couldn’t even imagine, and her enthusiastic lilt grows angry and gritty as she scolds Kü. She tells him he hadn’t complained when she used her talents to protect him in the fighting pit. The kobold physically recoils-- immediately ducking his head and begging her forgiveness for being ungrateful. He thanks her for taking care of him, and she spits a venom-laced acknowledgement before taking her leave from the conversation. Kü looks up at his friends, afraid to divulge what he’s learned. Pearce pinkie promises him he won’t be angry-- and once Kü reveals Mother DID in fact murder Xarus (possibly to consume his power?)-- the gunslinger points his weapon into the air and fires it, dust and rubble raining down on him while he screams in irritation, “I’m so happy you were honest with me!” and subsequently mumbles about their imminent doom. 

I need to give a trigger/content/hard-hitting roleplay warning before this paragraph. If mental and physical abuse is something you’re uncomfortable reading about, please feel free to skip to the next heading. Cool? All right. Pearce and Kess begin to question Kü about Mother, and he gets increasingly more uncomfortable after each question. Has Mother ever fought with him? Hurt him? How does he feel when Mother gets upset? Kü goes mostly silent, replying with no’s where appropriate and ending on his view that his feelings don’t matter-- and that he’s never considered himself his own person. Kess reminds him of things that separate him from Mother; his love of shiny things, his fashion choices, and his friendship with them. As the kobold reaches up to wipe a tear away, Mother’s skull shifts ever so slightly to display a sizable, healed scar on his nose. Kess gets down on his level and tells him she believes him to be Good (™, ™, ™), and Mother has nothing to do with that. Pearce even brings the kobold into a hug and whispers the same sentiment into his ear. Kü’s confidence is bolstered, but tampered down by the fear of Mother overhearing and punishing him.

Kü, Interrupted

Pearce, having calmed down, admits to Kü that he’s not angry about what Mother did, but instead HOW she went about it. Her carelessness (I mean, what did we expect from a disembodied voice wreaking havoc in our terrible little angel’s mind) has put them in a precarious position. The gunslinger does, however, chime in with Kess to console Kü that none of it is his fault. Dear Reader, once Kü started in with, “If I had just stayed on the island none of this would have happened.”, I was absolutely hyperventilating from sobbing so hard. I could barely hear between my wheezing cries, but the new SAS captions made sure I knew that mention of the island caused Kü to realize Mother’s body is still there-- and he shuddered to think what might happen if it was destroyed. At this point, my eyes were swollen and my nose was running, yet I made out the abject fear rolling off of Kü when Kess suggested maybe it wasn’t his actual mom he’s been talking to, and offered to help him take off the skull to be sure.

I held my breath (or was my throat just closing up from emotion?) as I waited for Kü to answer. He ducked his head and shook it in refusal, having been pushed too far. So, the group did the only thing they could think of. Redirected the thoughts of the kobold to temptation of-- you guessed it-- meat. They had all slept past breakfast, and in all the commotion, had not realized the grinding emptiness of their guts. Kess promises the party fish, so they climb down from the ‘treehouse’ and make their way inside. As they enter, however, they are waylaid by an unfamiliar figure on the ground floor of the house. Well, unfamiliar to all but Kess. She brightens and calls out to him. It’s Vendreth, resplendent in his enchanted wheelchair. They catch up for a moment, Kess makes introductions, then the baron confesses he’s making a house call to talk to her mother.

Kess jumps at the chance to escort him to her parents’ floor-- he glides along in his chair as Kü chatters about fish while ascending the stairs, but before they can take Vendreth any further, Norse comes from around the corner on the second floor and intercepts them. Norse steals him away as he calls for some tea, and maybe a light snack of fish. Seems Kü rubbed off on him. Our heroes slink away; Kess wishing to be in the room where… well, whatever is happening. I tried, Lin. I tried. Anyway, Pearce encourages her to ‘go be a Shadowmore’ and he and Kü will try their hand at waitstaffing. So, Kess races to catch up with the pair of Adulty Adults (™, ™, ™), only to be turned away. Her mother tells her she needn’t worry herself with the discussion, and tells her to rejoin her friends.

Li’l Butler

Surprisingly, Pearce leads Kü without incident around the maze of a mansion to the kitchen, wherein the gunslinger immediately begins rifling through the cabinets. He finds two crystal chalices, and prides himself on his excellent glassware taste. Kü, feeling left out, climbs his way to one of the top shelves and tosses a claw out to grip a similar cup-- almost falling and bringing fragile glass down on top of him. However, he smoothly recovers, climbing down just in time to see Kess leading Pearce in making a pot of tea. Our gruff friend throws a tea towel over his arm and places the chalices and teapot on a tray; hellbent on playing butler for their important visitor. The trio walks carefully back up to the room Norse and Vendreth have claimed. Pearce hands the baron one of the fancy glasses and begins to pour the boiling water into it. Everything is going well, Pearce is making a stunning impression-- and then the chalice shatters from the unyielding temperature of the tea. The room goes silent as Pearce screams an expletive, apologizes, and bows himself out of the room. 

Kess is unfazed; using this opportunity as an excuse to escape the house. She once again orders the boys to grab their overcoats and proudly announces they’re going to the library of Mardosta. On the way there, the party stops by a food stand and procures buckets of fish sticks. Yes, you read that right. Fish sticks, the way Mother used to bake. Kü goes somewhat silent, enjoying his long-awaited meal, and Kess uses his distraction to divulge to Pearce what it is they’re going to be looking for. She hopes that there will be some sort of clue to not only Mother’s identity, but also that of Ashe. The changeling notices as they walk that people seem to be recognizing Kü from his epic showdown in the Underfrost. She smiles and keeps it to herself as she is pulled from her reverie by Pearce voicing a need for ammo. She agrees to take him to the Night Market once they finish researching. Kü, coming up for air from his bucket of grease, feels that good good food coma coming on. Pearce tells the kobold they are basically going to ‘The Napping Place’.

Entering the gargantuan (FIVE floors, guys. Who has that many books?!) marble building, Kü seeks out a warm cubby near a fireplace to curl up and sleep off those yummy processed seafood spears. Pearce and Kess split off, one headed to search for fallen gods and the other to hone in on beings that are known for their close relation to shadows. The gunslinger finds three novels of note; skimming them and cramming them under his arm to have Kess read into further. However, our Druid has much more luck. A book dedicated to ‘ancient evils’ catches her eye, and as she flips through it, her gaze lands on an illustration of snaking shadows squeezing a humanoid as they appear to howl in pain. Reading the section, she learns about ‘The Shadowmother’, also known as Skugamor-- a being of unknown origin who has the power to contort and control shadows. Her focus dims after this section, brain buzzing with terror, and so her search into Ashe is less satisfying. However, she does hit on an interesting piece as she focuses on fire itself-- learning that there are beings (Titans and Quasigods) who are made of the remnants of slain victims of gods or dead gods themselves. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

Pearce’s Parable

Pearce and Kess find each other and share their pertinent findings. Kess decides to check out the three books Pearce brought to her, but steals a second pass at the tome with the information on Mother. She soundlessly rips the informational page from its binding and slips it into her bag. I mean-- I knew her family was made up of criminals but…. DEFACING A BOOK, KESS? What kind of MONSTER are you?! So, Book-Ruiner Shadowmore heads to the librarian to get at least SOME knowledge legally, and at the same time, Pearce comes across Kü still sleeping soundly. The gunslinger attempts to scoop up the kobold without waking him, but as soon as Kü is in Pearce’s arms-- he startles. Pearce assures him everything is okay, they found what they needed and are about to leave. Kü, without missing a beat, brings a small hand up to Pearce’s cheek and asks the gunslinger to tell him a story. Remember how I told you to WATCH that sad moment? Well here’s a palate cleanser! Go to 2:39:39 and hear the entirety of ‘The Hungry, Hungry Kobold’. 

The fairytale is good enough that it lulls Kü back into sleep, and Daddy Pearce carries him outside and waits for Kess. When she leaves the library, they fall into step together and make their way to the Night Market. It is an impressive, overpowering bazaar-- stalls snuggled up to each other with a glass roof overhead, the calls of merchants hyping up their wares ringing out, and the faint smell of animal feed permeating the air. Despite its sprawling floor plan, it doesn’t take long for Pearce to sniff out the gun show. The proprietors he finds do not have anything that will work for Iris, and so the gunslinger requests the components to make the ammo himself. As the shopkeeper mills around to fulfill his request, Pearce notices that all of the guns being sold in this part of the market are branded with the curlique GG insignia of his father’s weaponry business. He pays the shopkeep extra to give him the name of the supplier of her guns-- and she warily imparts that a contact in Nevyra keeps them stocked. This is, apparently, where Pearce’s deadbeat dad hails from. Can we REALLY tackle mommy AND daddy issues in one episode?!

As the group leaves the market, Kess wakes Kü up to have a midnight snack of… more fish sticks. Between bites, all three discuss their wild dreams at sea, and how they mostly revolved around people they care about dying, aside from Pearce-- who was completely alone. As Kü admits that he dreamed of killing both of his companions while Mother cheered him on, Kess has a brain blast. She turns and makes a beeline straight back to the Night Market-- seeking out Greg’s Wonderful Magic. There, a charming southern gentleman asks how he can help, and Kess requests a Speak With Dead spell scroll. The scroll is there, however after some debate, the Druid realizes she is unable to cast it. Thus her plan of speaking with Mother’s skull is momentarily foiled, and so the three of them return to the manor to close out the longest day of their collective lives.

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

TL;DR

Listen, I’m curious to see what would happen if they tried to talk to Kü’s helmet-- but I can only handle so much trauma in one episode! Please let me BREATHE!

Apparently you shouldn’t pour boiling water into glass. Thank you for this lesson, DM.

If you are a victim of abuse, know that it is not your fault and you are not alone. And thank you to the SAS crew for telling this important story. https://www.crisistextline.org/

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

Pearce be with you and catch the next session over at twitch.tv/lochness on August 25th at 7:30CST/8:30EST! If you’d like to watch THIS episode, follow the link below:

Secret Adventure Society | Session 29: Mother, She Wrote | CW: familial trauma and mental abuse

[ethanramseyyy]

OPEN HEART : SECOND YEAR CHAPTER 7

Wow! What a chapter. I feel like there was so much that happened in this chapter I don’t even know where to start. Just so you know the only diamond scene I bought was the one with Ethan so if anyone bought any of the others make sure to explain what happened/your opinion about it! Let’s start with the patient.

I love love LOVED the storyline including the girl that woke up after 13 years in a coma. I did not expect that to happen at all! I think that the storyline about her overdosing on drugs due to the stress of exams/school is a very challenging topic that I believe isn’t talked about enough. I think that choices developed the storyline just enough were it educated people on the damage of overdosing but also making sure it didn’t go into too much detail were people would feel uncomfortable reading it. I like that they also included Stephanie’s parents into the storyline as that doesn’t really happen a lot in Open Heart and it created a different dynamic to the character of Stephanie. As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts I really enjoy when Open Heart focuses abit more on the doctor aspect as I feel towards the end of OH1 it was more drama based, so I liked that in each book so far they’ve had at least 1 patient that the diagnostics team have studied and cured as this makes OH stand out from any other books on the choices app.

I picked the option to talk to Stephanie about smartphones. And I thought that scene was ADORABLE! I think the Open Heart MC is one of the best on the choices app, they are the perfect mix between badass but caring. I love that she (my character is female) treats every patient as a friend and makes them feel comfortable. And I like that June was more involved in this chapter as I feel like we haven’t really had much of a chance to talk with her on a friendship level and with this chapter it really explored more of the friendship between MC and Hirata. Obviously this backfired a little at the end but we will get into that one.

I ADORED the bit when we got to the apartment and Aurora and Sienna were making scones. It’s weird to think that we hated Aurora in the last book. They really did her character dirty during book 1. She fits so well into our friendship group. A lot better than What’s his face did anyway. To be honest the scenes with our friends are some of my favourite like I just think the relationship between MC and her friends is goals to be honest. I feel like Siennas Intern is a dick. Pardon my language but honestly, throughout the book so far Whenever we bring up our interns or anything to do with the hospital with Sienna she seems to be really upset and then pretends that everything is ok. I really hope we get to see what is actually happening between Sienna and her intern. I think it might be something to do with her intern not seeing her as an authority figure as she’s quite a young and ditsy person. Frankly I don’t care as long as he stops upsetting sienna. She’s so cute 🥺.

I like that our feud with Declan has now changed to a feud between Jackie and Declan. I was honestly scared that she was doing something really dodgy with the labs especially since she’s having money issues. I’m just glad she’s not going to leave to go to some other hospital or get her medical licence revoked.

When Hirata said she knew MC and Ethan had history. I nearly had a heart attack. Did he tell her!? If he did that is the cutest thing ever. But if he didn’t then did Naveen tell her, we all know that Naveen wants MC and Ethan together more than any of us Ethan Stans. I just want to know how she knows. Also we don’t use the past tense when talking about MC and Ethan’s relationship. Not so much History but Ongoing romance. To be honest she came across as quite intrusive and manipulative but I don’t want to judge her character too quickly!

Whenever Ethan’s mother comes up you can literally see how upset he is about it. It actually breaks my heart, i just want him to be happy 😔. The fact that we persuaded him to not so much go and see her but try and get some answers at least. Obviously I chose the option to go with him for obvious reasons.

When he said he might not recognise her my heart literally shattered. I don’t know why but that line was so so upsetting. The fact that he was scared he wouldn’t recognise her. I think the storyline between Ethan and his mum is quite a sensitive storyline and something that happens to a lot of people and I think it’s really nice that @playchoices aren’t too scared to go into depth with storylines like this. It really shows people of all ages can have bad relationships with their parents for whatever reasons.

When he got so happy when thinking about his mum and dad being happy together, it was so nice to see him have happy memories from when his parents were together. You can tell that he does love her but just can’t find it within himself to actually forgive her. And that’s where MC comes to the rescue. Hopefully, we get to see Ethan and his mother’s relationship develop abit more (which I’m sure we will do) as soon as he’s willing to actually speak to her face-to-face.

Can we just talk about how spot on they got Ethan’s parents. They 👏🏻 really 👏🏻 did 👏🏻 that. You can actually tell that he’s related to them which is a very very good thing compared to some other books.

And then. Ethan Jonah Ramsey held our hand ALL THE WAY back to Edenbrook. And people say romance is dead. I loveee that he always goes to MC for support like it’s just a habit now. @playchoices are literally doing the best job at making Ethan and MCs relationship seem more emotional and not just physical and although I love that, I do just want a 30 diamond scene in his office, on his desk. Is that too much to ask for.

But of course all good things must come to an end. Especially when Stephanie took our advice completely wrong and decided to hop in her wheelchair and pop off to Mass Kenmore. What is with peoples infatuation with that damn hospital. Do they not know that Edenbrook has the BEST doctors. And the best name. What kind of name is Mass Kenmore. I liked Stephanie’s character and I’m so annoyed that she left. But also what happened with the money from the guy in the last chapter. Did they just forget about that. Like we won the competition which means we won the money right?! Maybe I’m confused but I could have sworn that he was meant to pay the hospital. Anywayssss..

This chapter really was one of the best. I feel like I say that all the time but it was jam packed with information. And plenty of diamond scenes. Like I said I only got one so I could only really talk about the one with Ethan so if anyone would like to Explain what happened in the others that would be truly appreciated. I would like to give a special mention to Bryce stans as he didn’t seem to make an appearance well not when I played it anyway, so just know we are thinking about you 🙌🏽. For anyone that celebrates Easter I hope you have/ are having a good Easter weekend and if not I hope you are having a good weekend. I hope everyone is well and staying safe 💛

(Sorry this took forever there was just so much to say)

[axther]

For CH/JJBA Basic info: straight female, 5'4, Scorpio! If it matters my mbdi is debater, which I think is accurate. I'm a bit curvy/soft and I have really long wavy hair and glasses. Now for fun stuff! I'm a split between being very hyperactive (almost like a puppy lmao) or very quiet (not shy, but more indifferent. I've been told I'm intimidating) I'm into polyrelationships so the more boys the merrier. I like hiking and sports when I'm with people but don't do it by myself cause it's boring. 1

HERE’S UR FOOD QUEEN. also tumblr got me fucked up w no CH gifs :(

Cute Earth High Defense Club Love (Season One) V1

#1 is…Atsushi! 

He’s the most normal out of all the characters, to be honest

When he sees you, it’s nothing spectacularity radiant, per se

There’s a pretty girl in his school! cool! 

The strangest part is that it’s an all-boys school, so naturally, he’s confused

Through a series of plot shenanigans, you’re there as an exchange student

And he’s been told he has to help you get settled!! 

He introduces you to the Earth Defense Club, and slowly you two grow acclimated with each other 

While you’re friendly to everyone else, there’s something different between you and him 

It’s chemistry, and even Ryuu wouldn’t dare poke it 

One afternoon, someone asks you out via love letter, all the extra stuff

And you turn them down as politely as you can 

But thanks to the indifference, the boy gets offended 

He turns into a letter-shaped monster, and the Battle Lovers have to step in 

Atsushi is both appalled and terrified 

Did the monster hurt you??

Why did the monster appear around you? 

Was it something to do with you? 

He spends half of the battle just covering you 

And once the monster starts spewing slander, Atsushi is having none of it.

Whatever the monster says, Atsushi refutes, defending you until the rest of the battle is at a standstill and he’s just bickering with the monster. 

Eventually, Atsushi practically makes the monster choke on respect women juice, and on behalf of the passed out student, Atsushi begins apologising non-stop to you

You’re confused as hell 

The internet-famous Battle Lovers know you??

All you can see is the blurred out faces, and the blue one, the self-declared Piercing Prince, Epinard, seems to be constantly hanging over you 

And honestly 

He’s a cutie 

This results in a sailor moon-esque situation 

Where you have a crush on Epinard, Atsushi has a crush on you, and he’s miserable upon realising what he’s done 

Does he reveal that he’s Epinard???

Honestly, probably not on purpose  

I can absolutely see them talking about it and he’s like ‘do i always have to yell out im Epindard’ and he turns and sees you 

And you’re like ‘????? excuse me???’ 

Which results in more shenanigans 

#2 is…Yumoto! 

babey boye 

He falls for the flirting every time 

He reciprocates as best as he can, but for the most part, it’s just him being soft 

He hugs you so much omfg 

It gives Wombat a break, and though you don’t know he’s a talking wombat, he’s all for you being there 

What’s interesting is that he’s telling everyone he’s gonna marry you

And since most of the ppl in the school are bros, no one’s told you 

Which gets awkward 

Because he’s 200% told you that he loves you 

But you take it as ‘:D! I love platonic love between my Friends! :D!’ 

So it becomes a Situation that everyone gets second-hand embarrassment from 

Yumoto has told his brother that he’s gonna marry you and you’d be the bathhouse’s Okami 

But you’re thrown for a loop when Gora asks you when you and Yumoto started dating 

And you’re like ‘??????’ 

This results in a brief but stern conversation between Gora and Yumoto 

And Yumoto feels guilty, of course

But you’re so sweet! And you flirt with him!! Doesn’t that mean you like him??

It’s a bit of a wakeup call, but he’s still only got two brain cells

You gotta cut him some slack 

For about a day, he chills out, though he’s melancholy 

After that he’s back to being oblivious and sweet 

#3 is…Kinshiro! 

Did someone say ‘emotionally constipated teenager who’s in a rivalry with his childhood best friend for the girl they like but he has no idea how to approach her due to the fact stated above (he is emotionally constipated)’???

no????

Ok that’s valid

But you want a polyamorous relationship???

He and Atsushi are gonna be your best bet. 

This boye is completely lost when it comes to wooing you 

He thinks you’re graceful in a quiet sense

And while you’re a flirt and a meme lord, you’re also yourself 

Ibushi notices almost off the bat 

And he’s like ‘my guy, my dude...my cousin??? Fr???’ 

Kinshiro is crazy confused and embarrassed 

He’s always considered himself to have tunnel vision

But then you pass by and he gets a whiff of your shampoo and 

Oh no 

he gets kinda lightheaded and blushy but wipes it away fast 

Whenever you pop by to say hi to Ibushi he completely freezes 

Like he just stops moving altogether

 It’s something you, Ibushi, and Akoya have noticed 

Y’all exchange glances every time he freezes while sipping tea 

The MOMENT he realises you like Epinard he gets lowkey pissed

 Do you seriously like that barbaric, stupid Battle Lover??

He’s like ‘I’m elite, graceful, rich. I’m the better choice :(‘ 

Make him drink just a bit of respect women juice 

But he’ll be very, very soft for you

And after he finds out about Atsushi being Epinard and Atsushi likes you?? 

Well, it’s two birds with one stone 

He’ll do his best to hint that he likes you, but Akoya and Ibushi have to help him along 

Especially Ibushi, since he’s your cousin 

Get ready for a flood of thoughtful but expensive gifts

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure V2 

(Note: If you want a poly relationship, all three of these lads have convenient best friends...👀)

#1 is…Josuke!! 

Mans is a himbo (refer to chat) 

Sure he’s got like, one brain cell, but it’s dedicated to you!! 

He’s a bit of a flirt, too, so be ready to fend off the fangirls 

Since fangirls in the 90’s were chiller than ones in, say, the 80’s, they mostly respect that he’s got a girlfriend 

But the moment one of them tries to hurt a hair on your head, it’s game over 

Now

The thing about it is that you get shy 

But your shy is looking scary as hell 

So all they see is a glare that would make the devil run, and they bail 

Josuke relates to your fear of bugs!!

He’s not fond of turtles, so you guys can have each other’s back!! 

If you want to draw him something, he can and will frame it in the best frame he can convince Joseph to buy 

Is it gold foil?? Maybe 

Before y’all get together, he pines like no other 

He’ll start frequenting places you go to just because he wants to see you

And he doesn’t think it’s creepy but gets worried that you will 

But he thinks you’re incredible 

It’s something makes him short circuit a bit 

You: :) 

Josuke: Now Playing: Beautiful Girl (Alternate Version) [Tempo Track] - Jimmie Thompson, Gene Kelly & Lennie Hayton (Singin’ In The Rain) (1952) 

#2 is…Johnny!

Southern boye drank his respect women juice after he got shot 

And once he sees you???

He CHUGS it 

First off this is like the late 1880’s so anyone who bathes is probably stellar 

So he, too, has the Joestar Blessing of having Beautiful Girl play on repeat 

But as soon as you start flirting???

He’s GONE 

I mean this in the most literal sense 

He’s a good Christian boye (theoretically) 

So once you talk about dating him he flushes bright red

He’s aware that you’re just flirting, but oh hmmm 

He starts crushing fast 

Plus if you don’t judge him or think he’s weaker for being in a wheelchair? 

Give him a second he’s trying to find a ring 

He might be in a wheelchair but he’s in no way inadequate, if you get what I mean 👀

(who am I kidding, of course you do) 

Considering that memes weren’t much of the thing in the 1800’s if you find some, he probably wouldn’t understand them 

But he does enjoy when you play the piano 

But let’s say there’s a stand attack

And you just bust out knives??? 

instant boner 

#3 is… Joseph!

Flirt, but times two 

Y’all make anyone blush 

No one’s safe 

And with each other??

It can get foul, fast 

Does Lisa Lisa step in?? 

No, not really 

She’s not gonna interfere at Joseph’s chances of getting laid 

Plus she approves so!! 

Catch him trying to flex while you’re around 

Be it him trying to beat Cesar’s ass (and failing) or literally flexing, he wants to impress you 

And while he knows that you’re a flirt for the sake of being one, he also gets a bit nervous when you flirt with others

Especially if he hasn’t confessed, actually confessed, yet

Plus, he’s got a special arm 👀

Y’all know what’s up 

@matchupdomain @peeshposheddie

[yodawgiherd]

Birthday Girl

Rating: T

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Hey hey people. I know that last time I've promised you some dirt in the next chapter, but then Mikasa's birthday came around and I just had to make one where she's simply, you know, happy. Because she deserves it. I'll do my best do deliver the next time I write, pinky promise :)

Enjoy!

It’s amazing what a human mind can achieve once it's freed from its carnal desires. Calling his time “productive” would be an understatement for Eren. Just a day after having his most basic desire taken away, he was already sharing a much needed catch up dinner with Armin, talking about everything that happened over the last few months. He learned that his friend’s book was going along well, for once, as Armin picked up the pace and began working on it again. His sessions with Hitch were less frequent too, the psychiatrist saying that Armin was good, and only getting better. To get a second opinion on this, Eren called Hitch, but she only confirmed what Armin said. Although mentioning Annie was still difficult for him, he was finally over her.

Moving on with his catch-up journey, Eren paid a visit to the bar, to see how Connie and Sasha were doing. And while Armin had only good news for him, these two weren’t doing that well. Sasha was obsessed with something, Connie said, but she wouldn’t share what it was, often leaving for hours and coming back late. An activity that was dangerous for anyone, and especially for a woman in a wheelchair, but Sasha was adamant that whatever she was doing, she must do on her own.

Next, Eren grabbed a quick drink with Jean, noting that his friend seemed more relaxed than ever, but when asked all Jean did was shrug and say that he confronted some old demons of the past. And finally, least but not last, Eren finalized his order of the gift for Mikasa’s birthday, an event that was coming up. A celebration would be held at the Third Wheel, of course, but he had something special for his girl, a gift that would be best shared just between the two of them, not out in the public.

The party itself still required some planning, and Eren was just about to call if the cake is ready when his phone pinged, indicating an incoming message. From the birthday girl herself, nonetheless.

��Hey.”, it said. Quite non-descript.

Well then.

“Hey yourself.”

“You doing something?”

Eren arched an eyebrow at that. What a weird thing to ask.

“Not really, what’s up?”

“I need your help.”

Oh? But before Eren could ask what Mikasa needed a hand with, his phone pinged again.

“What do you think about my posture?”

And a photo right after. A photo that made Eren’s fingers tighten around the phone, eyes widening. Apparently, his lovely girlfriend was at the gym right now, working on herself. The picture was nice, to be sure, a nice photo of a mirror reflection that displayed Mikasa bending over and showing herself off to the best of her ability. Her ass was a godlike one, Eren always said, and dressed in the short workout shorts it was a delicious snack he would do anything to get. The angle was very good too, if anything, her modeling career taught Mikasa how to strike a pose to really get someone going, and it was working wonders on Eren. Correction, it would be working wonder if not for a certain deal he made just a day back, a deal which now prevented his body from reacting normally to this kind of stimulation. Instead of any hardening, he was hit by a very unpleasant wave of tightness between his legs, the restrictive device working as intended. God. Fucking. Damnit. Yet before he could retaliate, another ping.

This time she was facing the camera, holding the phone up, giving him a very nice view of her cleavage and the smug grin that sat on her face. Sweat was running freely down her skin, so she was probably working herself hard as usual, but the way the corners of her lips turned up left no room for discussion. Mikasa knew exactly what she was doing. And Eren was once again left completely stunned.

“You think I’m standing right?”

Oh, now she asked. Eren could only imagine how much she was enjoying herself right now, giggling at the gym. The tease. Breathing in, breathing out, Eren looked away from the screen, closing his eyes and trying to empty his mind from the pictures that were burned into his brain. Honestly speaking, he didn’t even notice the cage before this damned conversation, busy as he was, easily ignoring the added weight at his crotch. But now it was painfully present, pushing down his budding erection, and Eren had to agree that it was rather uncomfortable. Another ping cut into the darkness. Then another. And another. Damn spammer.

He should ignore those messages, Eren reasoned with himself, just put Mikasa on mute for the day and move on with his party planning, but as always, his reasonable side got pushed down by the primal one. He had to see her, just had to. With a sigh, knowing that whatever she sent will be another test of his self-control, Eren cracked his eyes open. Well, he was correct.

“Eren?”

“Are you ignoring me?”

And lastly, another picture. This time, Mikasa went all out, holding her shirt and bra between her teeth, shamelessly flashing her tits into the camera. Judging from the surroundings, she moved to the changing room, and it was logical considering that Mikasa was hardly the type to undress in the middle of the gym. Unable to help himself, Eren stared, mesmerized, at the small perky mounds, pale skin bathed in sweat, dark nipples in the middle, the cage slowly changing from uncomfortable into an infernal torment. Breath wheezing, he forced his fingers to move.

“Your posture looks fine.”, he slowly typed in, knowing very well that Mikasa had years and years of experience with how to treat her body. She knew what to do but abusing her boyfriend’s chastity situation was simply too tempting.

“Nice tits.”, he added after a pause.

There. That will show her. An answer pinged soon after.

“Thanks 😊”

Eren had to move her mind away from this, otherwise, there was a chance that she might just document her whole shower to him. And while normally Eren would welcome these nudes, right now they were a source of pain, not pleasure.

“You coming to the party tomorrow?”, he asked.

“I believe I don’t have a choice, considering it’s my birthday party.”

“I took care of the planning, but you still need to invite those fashion people.”

“I did. And Kiyomi is going to attend, would you believe that?”

“That woman really likes you, huh?”

“Well, I do have an exclusive deal with her agency. I’m making her some good money.”

Eren chuckled.

“It’s not like she’s paying you bad tho, is it?”

The three dots indicated that Mikasa is typing something, but then they stopped, giving Eren a pause. But then it clicked for him.

“You don’t even know, do you?”

Half a city away, Mikasa grimaced, staring at the message. Ok, maybe she kinda stopped caring about her financial situation a while back. She had her card, and when she wanted to buy something, she simply bought it, just like that. Some might say that it’s irresponsible, leaving all of her monetary worries on her fiancé, but Mikasa grew in an environment where they had to literally count every penny to make it to the next paycheck, and it felt damn amazing to just stop caring. Levi was with her, back when she was signing the agreement with Kiyomi, making sure that they weren’t getting ripped off, but Mikasa didn’t pay much attention, half in disbelief that anyone would hire her for modeling work. In short, she had no idea how much Kiyomi was paying her. Carefully, she wrote back to Eren, doing her best to appear in control.

“Let’s say that hypothetically I really don’t know. Is it a lot?”

“Hypothetically?”

Hell, he was onto her. She sighed.

“Fine, you got me, I have no idea. Can you please tell me?”

A smirking emoji with the following message.

“She’s paying you very well Mikasa, combine that with the MMA winnings and you are rather rich at this point.”

“I am?”

“Yup.”

Mikasa felt a rush of light-headedness, sitting down on the bench. She was rich? The girl who ate cheap ramen five days a week during her teenage years? The same one who had to buy cheap replicas for her jewelry and the only pieces that might be worth something were her crucifix earrings and the necklace with the massive silver cross from Levi? Funny how that worked out. Satisfied that he stunned her enough, Eren smiled to himself. Now that Mikasa’s mind was wandering elsewhere, he was once again free from her demonic temptations, at least for a time.

“I still have to finish with the party planning.”, he wrote, “Love you.”

With that, he pocketed his phone, only to realize that he was just about to call about the cake. With a groan, he pulled it out once more. So much to do, so little time.

After a bit of thinking, Eren decided to give his gift to Mikasa before the party. So when she woke up on the day of her birthday, she came down to a surprise that made her eyes widen.

“Happy birthday!”, Eren said, leaning on the gift.

The gift which was nothing else but a full-fledged dance pole, including a small stage and everything, with enough room around that she could practice any wild moves Mikasa ever dreamed of. Pole dancing was a serious sport, and it was taxing as hell too, hard to master, a workout for your whole body. He had this idea of getting her one ever since they visited the strip club together and she was so taken with the dancers there, but logistic problems along with other things delayed it. However, when Eren realized that her birthday was coming, he finally kicked himself to act and finalize the deal. And here it was.

Judging from the way she tackled him, murmuring thank you between the kisses, Mikasa loved the gift. Now all she had to do was survive the party and she could start doing some killer workouts at home. To train for MMA matches by pole dancing might not be the standard, but it would be a welcome addition to her routine, and Mikasa was already looking forward to it.

As it turned out, Mikasa Ackerman was more popular than she expected. The bar was full, people were even standing outside, but as the weather was reasonable for once it wasn’t that big of an issue. Most of the new faces that Eren couldn’t recognize were Kiyomi’s fault, of course, as the old woman moved expertly between them, often pulling Mikasa along to show her star girl to the potential customers. Eren couldn’t even remember if he ever spent so much of a party on his own, his fiancé being carried from one small talk to the other by the inexhaustible fashion mogul. Leaning on the bar, he watched the happening around himself for a moment, a smile tugging on his lips. A large number of people understandably meant a large number of presents too; the gifts now piled up on the table in the middle. The most scandalous one was Kiyomi’s, as the old woman gave Mikasa nothing else but a damn billboard. Replacing the old Coca-Cola advertisement was no one else but the birthday girl herself. It wouldn’t be Kiyomi if she didn’t turn it into some profit for herself tho, so Mikasa wasn’t just occupying the billboard without use. In fact, the gift itself was simply an ad, if you looked at it, it was a promotion of the new biker gear collection. Next to the fashion brand’s name, Mikasa was sitting on a bike, looking over her shoulder to the camera, dressed in very stylish leather clothes that didn’t look like they saw a day on the road. And to Eren’s amusement, they made her wear heels for the photoshoot, a thing that Mikasa herself despised, as wearing heels to a bike was nothing else but pure vanity that could end up very badly for the driver. The same could be said for the overly “badass” jacket, as it had a skull on the back with a “Ride or Die” slogan above it. Yet Eren was forced to admit that if he overlooked these unnecessary wrinkles, the photo itself was very well done, Pixis knew what he was doing. Mikasa was hot and badass at the same time, surely getting the attention of anyone who would look at the billboard. And getting someone’s attention was the first step to a successful sale, as Kiyomi herself said.

“Hi there.”

Startled, he looked to the right, seeing that the voice came from a woman he didn’t know, a blonde with startlingly blue eyes and cleavage deep enough to draw the attention of any male in the room. From the way she looked Eren guessed that she was most likely a model too, same as Mikasa, probably invited by Kiyomi or someone affiliated with her.

“Hey.”, he replied, not sure what the woman wanted from him. Did he have something on his face?

“Fun party, huh?”, she continued, twirling a strand of her hair.

“Sure is.”, Eren felt a pang of pride in his chest upon hearing those words. After all, he did all the planning himself, and it was good to hear a stranger’s appreciation.

“Are you here alone?”, the blond went on, her eyes getting bit flirtier as she leaned in, giving Eren a prime view of the aforementioned cleavage. And she was definitely well-endowed, no denying that.

Her question combined with the pose finally made Eren realize what this whole thing was about. It felt weird, being hit on randomly, it almost never happened to him as Mikasa was on his arm at basically every social occasion, and Eren never tried to hide his affection for her. It reminded him of that one time when he took a random girl’s offer and ended up in the bathroom unable to get hard. Fun times. It also reminded him that even should he respond to the blonde’s advances, he was literally unable to fuck her, locked up as he was, while his keyholder was somewhere at the party, dragged behind Kiyomi. The realization was funny, making the corners of his lips turn up, a response that the girl took as a positive one. But when she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes darted to the left and she frowned instead, confused. What confused her was quickly revealed too, as a hand snaked around Eren’s waist, pulling him to press his body against someone he knew intimately.

“You having fun baby?”, Mikasa whispered in her low, dangerous voice, eyes burning holes into the blonde even as she spoke to Eren.

“I was.”, he replied, watching the other girl very quickly vacate her chair and disappear into the crowd, once again proving that Mikasa’s death stare was terrifying. He turned on his chair to face her. “What about you? Kiyomi finally let you go?”

“I managed to slip away from her.”, with a tired sigh, Mikasa took the chair left behind by the blonde, “That woman is insane.”

Reaching out, Eren put his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of silent support, fully agreeing that Kiyomi could be too much sometimes.

“Have you talked to Jean?”, he asked, willing to get her mind off the old woman.

“I did.”, Mikasa’s face lit up, “Him and Hitch are really hitting it, aren’t they?”

“True, I don’t think they care about being secretive anymore.”

“Talking about secretive, Sasha still won’t open up.”, the smile on her lips twisted a bit, “I can’t get her to talk about whatever she’s doing, and Connie is clueless too.”

“Maybe Armin will succeed where we failed.”, Eren offered, “He was always the best of us when it came to talking.”

“And he’s liking the party too,”, Mikasa added,” I haven’t seen him this relaxed in ages.”

Armin was enjoying himself, but as much as he liked his friend, there was one person whose approval Eren was after the most. She was the birthday girl, after all, this party was for her. Clearing his throat, he asked.

“What about you, do you like it?”

“Yes, it’ amazing.”, leaning forward, she pressed a kiss to Eren’s cheek, “Thank you so much.”

“Better than the first party I threw you, huh?”

“Oh, you mean…”, Mikasa’s face lit up with a smile, “That one.”

“The one where I took you to a sushi restaurant.”, Eren clicked his tongue, “Do you remember what you said?”

She was full-on laughing now, and just shook her head to indicate that she can’t really speak right now.

“That’s okay because I remember. You said, and I quote: “That’s kinda racist to assume that I like sushi just because I’m half Japanese.” “

“It was a joke!”, she squeezed out, unable to stop herself from laughing, “I liked it!”

“And I had no idea that you were just making fun. We were dating for a few months; I was terrified that I fucked up.”

“Oh Eren,”, finally able to control herself, Mikasa just hugged him, hiding her grin into his neck,” I love you so much.”

“So much that you stare down any woman that dares speak to me, huh?”

She just shrugged.

“You’re mine, I’m not letting anyone else have you.”

“Huh, and who’s possessive again?”

“I’ll be honest, seeing you talk to that girl was a bit hot.”

Eren pulled back, raising an eyebrow.

“Hot?”

She nodded against his skin.

“She had no idea that you’re mine, no idea how much I own you.”, Mikasa’s voice was a whisper now, low and seductive, “She had no idea what you let me do to you.”

Pulling back herself, Mikasa fished between her numerous necklaces to find the chain she was looking for, holding out the key after. Her smile switched from amused to sexy, doing things between Eren’s legs that were bound to be uncomfortable.

“I see all those women looking at you, puppy, I know that they want you, want to have a taste of what’s mine. But they can’t.”, she clicked the key with her black fingernail, “They can’t, because your cock is mine, only mine, isn’t that right?”

“Yours, mistress.”, Eren breathed out, adding the title without even realizing it.

If Mikasa ordered him to kneel before her there, to slide down from his chair and kiss her shoes Eren would do it, she controlled him so easily that it wasn’t even funny. Luckily, Mikasa did nothing of the sorts, letting go of the key as it disappeared back among the collection around her neck.

“And I’ll make it all worth it for you, soon enough.”, the smile on her face changed once more, sliding from sexy to cruel, “I’ll make you suffer, puppy, but you will be loving it all the way. Because I can do anything I want with you, right?”

“Of course, mistress, anything.”

Pulling hard at his tie, Mikasa made him bow down to her height and claimed Eren’s mouth in a wild kiss, one that was sure to leave plenty of black lipstick on his face, sealing her lips on his with a dark promise. One that was bound to come true, as soon as Friday rolls around.

[saiilorstars]

The Beginning of Everything

Ch. 20: The Unicorn, the Wasp and the Golden Girl

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: Female OC x 10th Doctor

(OC Renata’s Face claim: Marjorie de Sousa) (Gabby’s face claim: Victoria Moroles)

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Chapter Summary: The idea was to attend a nice, relaxing party in the 1920s, but instead the group get an alien bee and a thief. Still, it's one of the few times that the Doctor sees Renata genuinely excited over a trip...she gets to work with an author she admires, Agatha Christie!

"The 1920s? Are we really going to the 1920s?" Gabby followed Renata around the TARDIS wardrobe room like a lost puppy. "New York!?"

Renata scoffed very uncharacteristically. "I think not. I specifically told the Doctor you were not allowed there."

Gabby's pout resembled that of a child being told 'no'. "Why not?"

"Because I've been there…" Renata began looking through a rack of 20s clothing, "...and it is not a place for you. It's full of alcohol and violence and humans are very susceptible to it."

"But there was prohibition there!"

Renata scoffed again. "And you really think that was the end of it? Ever heard of speakeasies?"

Gabby's face lit up at the mention of the family establishments. "Yes!"

"Not gonna happen!"

Gabby pouted again. "Dammit!"

"Language," Renata calmly reminded while she looked through a few dresses.

Gabby moped as she moved around a few racks herself. "So if we're not going to New York in the 20s, where are we going?"

~0~

The Doctor was getting impatient with his friends. Yes he was aware that he wasn't the most patient man as it was but he felt like this time it was appropriate. There he stood outside the TARDIS, in front of a beautiful home and no one was there with him. "Would you hurry up?" he banged on the TARDIS doors. "We'll be late for cocktails!"

Donna was the first to poke her head out and reveal a nice, black and orange dress on her that hung a few inches above her knees. Her ginger curls we're nearly tucked into a small low bun. "What do you think? Flapper or slapper?"

"Flapper. You look lovely," the Doctor gestured her to come on out already and was relieved to catch Renata and Gabby's forms coming out from the corridors. "We're going to be late!"

"We're not even invited!" Renata shouted just as they'd come out.

"You want to shout that a little louder?" Donna pointer over her shoulder where the party was going on.

"Sorry," Renata did apologize before setting her eyes on the Doctor. "And you...are you sure coming to an elegant home is the way to stay down-low?"

"Mhm, yup," he answered fairly fast. His attention was mostly on her choice of dress.

She had chosen a white-gold dress with a mermaid scale pattern with golden fringe down the waist. The gold outlined each scale pattern as well as the hemline of the sweetheart neckline. Her usual long hair was tucked someway that made it her hair seemed like it a true 1920s haircut. Her face was brightened with a light, natural makeup.

She looked absolutely beautiful.

The Doctor was reminded of her 1913 look and wouldn't you know it? It brought up the same feelings - he didn't even realize he still had them. What was he supposed to do with them? Get rid of them, what else!? They were itty-bitty things that were so irrelevant he shouldn't even pay attention to them.

That's the plan! Now let's execute it...

"Oh wow, this is a really big house!" Gabby's excitement pulled the Doctor's attention. She was staring at the two-story house across from them with a gaping mouth. Her sapphire blue flapper dress twirled as she spun to look at every single detail of the garden.

"Hey, I helped you put that hair into a bun - don't ruin it!" Renata called in exasperation. She had properly placed Gabby's hair into a sophisticated bun and even stuck one of those black and blue feathers Gabby swore the movies always had. "Gabriella!"

Gabby stopped spinning but she laughed at Renata's face. Her face went red way too easy! "Sorry."

"Well how about instead of staring at the house we actually go to the party?" Donna sarcastically gestured towards the back garden. Here they were wasting time just staring.

"Sounds good to me!" Gabby laughed and took the lead, despite not really knowing where she was going.

"Gabriella, hold on!" Renata called but Gabby didn't listen.

"Ah let her go, it's more interesting this way," the Doctor grinned. He held her arm for Renata to take and despite her initial reluctance, she linked her arm through his.

"I guess I'll just go solo," Donna quietly though she said it with a smile. It was just too funny sometimes.

Gabby was the first one to reach the lawn and when she did she was mesmerized. There were a few tables lining the area, each full of snacks and refreshments. A few servants were finishing up setting the last of the food on the tables. There was a record player set at the right, playing soothing background music. It was all so real.

Gabby was beaming.

"Good afternoon!" the Doctor happily greeted the staff.

"I'm beginning to think that Gabriella really should have taught you the definition of 'down low' instead of me," Renata whispered to him. Gabby thought it was important for Renata to start learning more about humans and their daily vocabulary, but Renata honestly thought slang words were horrendous. Why butcher up words when there was a proper word to use instead? Like 'down low'. What even was that? Gabby had a good time explaining to Renata what the words meant, even crossing into the 'low key' territory where Renata completely got lost.

"Drink, sir? Madam?" one of the waiters, Davenport, came up to the pair.

Donna was quick to put herself beside Renata to order. "Sidecar, please!"

Gabby turned as well, still overly excited, "Oh and I want-"

"-something without alcohol," Renata finished for her. "And same for me."

"Lime and soda, thank you," the Doctor went last.

Gabby huffed at Renata. "You're my friend, not my mother!"

"But you're still not 21. Plus, you're going to want to remember this," Renata made a gesture to the garden.

Just as Gabby was about to respond, one of the waiters, Greeves, made an announcement for the group. "May I introduce Lady Clemency Eddison."

A petite, blonde woman dressed fancily arrived at the scene with a flashy smile. She soon spotted the group but unlike Renata who was already feeling nervous of their uninvited presence, the Doctor was eager to meet her.

"Lady Eddison!" he shook the woman's hand like he was talking to an old friend.

Lady Eddison looked at him for a couple seconds while she tried to place him. "Excuse me, but who exactly might you be…and what are you doing here?"

"I'm the Doctor," he answered easily.

"And I'm Gabby!" Gabby was just as excited at the Doctor when she pushed her way beside him to shake Lady Eddison's hand too.

"We're about to be thrown out," Renata brought a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Just go with it," Donna nudged her on the side before moving up to introduce herself next. "And I'm Donna Noble."

"Renata Cartwright," the Time Lady weakly said afterwards. She was calling this trip over now.

The Doctor flashed his psychic paper in front of Lady Eddison's face. "We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the ambassador's reception."

There was an immediate 'recognition' in the woman's face, one that utterly disgusted Renata.

How fake, she thought.

"Doctor, how could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose!"

Gabby gasped so deeply that those around her stopped to look at her. "A unicorn!? Are there real unicorns here!?" she started spinning around to catch sight of the unicorn until Renata forced her to stop, but by that time Gabby was a bit dizzy.

"Uh, the Unicorn. The jewel thief?" Lady Eddison clarified, though her gaze lingered on Gabby for a second. "And nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose."

"Funny place to keep pears," Donna mumbled to Gabby and quietly snickered together.

"May I announce the Col Hugh Curbishley, the Hon Roger Curbishley!"

The trio then saw a young man pushing an older man in a wheelchair towards the party.

"My husband. And my son," Lady Eddison moved to join them just as they arrived.

"Forgive me for no rising. Never been the same since the flu epidemic back in '18," the older man, Hughes, laughed.

"My word! You are a super lady!" the younger man, Roger, exclaimed at Renata.

The woman seemed at a cross between amusement and confusion. "Um...thank you?"

"I''m the Doctor," the Doctor cut in to shake hands with Roger.

"How do you do?"

"Very well, thanks."

Davenport walked up with Roger with drinks on a tray. "Your usual, sir."

Roger took one of the glasses from the tray. "Ah, thank you, Davenport. Just how I like it."

Donna lightly tapped the Doctor's arm. "How come she's an Eddison but her husband and son are Curbishleys?"

"The Eddison title descends through her. One day Roger will be a Lord."

"That can't end well," Renata said. She got a ditzy vibe from the son.

"Miss Robina Redmond," the same waiter announced again.

A young dark haired woman walked up to the party in a confident stride. Even her smirk promised a party.

"She's the absolute hit of the social season. A must," Lady Eddison said as she moved to personally greet the woman. "Miss Redmond!"

Robina seemed to love the attention. "Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady!"

Another guest arrived and turned out to be a Reverend, Arnold Golightly.

"Ah, Reverend! How are you?" Lady Eddison greeted him personally as well. "I heard about the church last Thursday night, those ruffians breaking in."

"You apprehended them, I hear," Hugh added.

"As the Christian fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses," Golightly said. "Quite literally.

"Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing," Rogers declared.

Davenport happened to pass by and momentarily stopped by him. "Couldn't agree more, sir." They seemed to share a moment of mutual stare.

"Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus," Donna muttered, making Gabby chuckle.

"Or Time Lords," the Doctor thought to add, making Renata playfully roll her eyes.

"Oh stop it you two," she said.

"Now my lady, what about this special guest you promised us?" Golightly inquire once a the others guests were settled.

Lady Eddison was proud as she made a gesture towards an incoming woman. "Here she is. A lady who needs no introduction."

Everyone began to applaud as a woman joined the party, though unlike Robina this woman seemed more humble as she smiled at them.

"Oh, no. Please don't. Thank you, Lady Eddison," the blonde woman gave a personal greet to Lady Eddison. "Honestly, there's no need." She moved to greet the travelers. "Agatha Christie."

Donna shook hands with her, none the wiser about the woman's real identity. "What about her?"

"That's me!" the woman clarified.

Renata suddenly gasped and staggered back a few steps. "What!?" she'd even lost air in that one second.

The Doctor was the one to pull her back - an act that was shocking to him - and steadied her on her feet. "Are you alright?"

"N-no! That's-that's Agatha Christie!" Renata could barely put her words together. And seeing the author come towards her after greeting Gabby made Renata fall onto the Doctor's side.

"Hello," Agatha Christie extended a hand to shake with Renata but the Time Lady was still in shock to move. The Doctor had to physically move her off his side and make sure she wouldn't fall back before shaking hands with Agatha.

"You are brilliant!" he exclaimed, making Agatha blush of embarrassment. "I was just talking about you the other day, actually. I said, 'I bet she's brilliant'. I'm the Doctor and this is-" he only stopped to see how Renata was doing but she was still staring wide-eyed, "Oh, I love your stuff! What a mind! You fool me every time. Well…almost every time. Well…once or twice. Well…once. But it was a good once-"

Renata finally came back to life and whacked his arm. "Shut up. Hi!" she shook hands with Agatha, a smile quickly forming across her face, "I'm Renata and I adore your books. I'm not much for human authors but you..." she dramatically gasped, though in her mind it was a justified gasp, and laughed, "...you are an amazing author!"

"I have never seen Renata so excited like this," Gabby whispered to Donna who hummed in agreement. It was novelty. Renata rarely showed emotions like this, especially so heightened. She laughed and smiled here and there but she was always the calm one. Sometimes Gabby wondered how Renata managed to do that even when the situations just begged for a roaring laugh or a wild reaction. It was graceful, but it was also odd.

And now here she was, finally expressing a loud delight. Gabby couldn't get over it. The smile on Renata's face seemed like it would crack her face any moment now, but even then she wouldn't stop.

"But it's kind of familiar," Donna said suddenly, tilting her head for a moment as she studied Renata.

"She's brilliant!" the Doctor joined Renata with the same beaming face. "I have all of your books! And I literally mean all of them!"

"He does!" Renata nodded fairly fast that Agatha was concerned the woman would hurt herself. "We read them together! It's always so shocking even though we already read the books!" She laughed, almost squealing, as along with the Doctor.

"Oh," Donna suddenly went, her eyes widening while Gabby looked at her questionably. "Now I see why it's so familiar. They're the same person."

"What!?" Gabby made a face, about to politely tell Donna that was most ridiculous thing ever when she turned her attention back to Renata and the Doctor. The pair were hanging onto each other's arms, excitedly rambling on about all the books they'd read from Agatha. "Oh..." Gabby brought a hand up to her mouth in time to muffle her laughter, but only slightly.

That was hilarious.

"Now I can see it," Donna whispered to Gabby then. It was no longer news that Renata had some secret feelings for the Doctor and Donna honestly didn't know if that would actually work out solely because of the Time Lords contradicting personalities. The Doctor was too him to ever be able to keep up with Renata's routines and calm personality, and Renata was too her to keep running with the Doctor. But now Donna had no doubt that it would so work. They complimented each other without even realizing it.

Agatha already disliked the huge attention she often got but at least right now she was amused. "Thank you, thank you," she managed to cut into the pair's ongoing ramble but her hand may have hurt a little after so much shaking. "You, uh, make a rather fitting couple."

That comment froze Renata for a minute. She exchanged a look with the Doctor. Their blushes were the same.

"We're not married," the Doctor shook his head.

"And we're definitely not a couple!" Renata was quick to add and untangled herself from the Doctor's arm. She didn't even realize when she grabbed it!

"Obviously not—no wedding ring," Agatha pointed to Renata's hands.

Renata did a double-take at her hands, as if she'd forgotten that she truly had no wedding ring, and laughed. "No, of course not!"

"I'd stay that way if I were you," Agatha leaned a bit closer to Renata. "The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture."

Renata caught Agatha's gaze flickering between her and the Doctor and soon felt the warmth creep up on her face. "Oh! No, he's not - there is no chase...at all…" she exchanged another awkward glance with the Doctor. "...right?"

"Mhm," the Doctor looked away while his own blush faded. Why would he want to chase her? Him? Chase her? Of course not!

"This just got really interesting," Donna told Gabby and Gabby almost felt like scolding Donna for her smirk but...it was a bit funny still.

"Mrs Christie, I'm so glad you could come," Lady Eddison cut in - Renata thanked the heavens - and turned Agatha towards her and the others. "I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Uh, is, uh, Mr Christie not joining us?"

The question made Agatha's face go flat. "Is he needed?" even her tone had gone sour for a second. "Can't a woman make her own way in the world?"

"Yeah," Gabby did a fist in the air, one that Donna quickly lowered.

"Mrs Christie, I have a question," Roger raised a finger. "Why a Belgian detective?"

With the crowd distracted, the Doctor asked for the newspaper Hugh had. He pulled Renata with him, prompting Donna and Gabby to do the same.

"The date on this newspaper…" the Doctor skimmed the newspaper but most of his attention was on the date. "It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared."

"I remember that," Renata pointed at him while she thought back to her own days in the 20s. "It was a huge story because…" she gasped and looked at Agatha with a newfound emotion, "She just discovered her husband was having an affair."

"You'd never think to look at her smiling away," Gabby tilted her head and let her gaze follow Agatha as the author mingled with each of the guests.

"Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do—they carry on," the Doctor shrugged. "Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened—she just vanished."

"I remember reading the newspapers and...nobody ever figured out why she disappeared," Renata now cautiously looked around their area, as if whatever the reason would pop up in a moment. "If I remember correctly, her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later she turns up at a hotel in Harrogate. All she said was that she'd lost her memory but...I mean...I think she was just lying."

"Why?" asked Donna.

"She just found out her husband had an affair! She wanted some time alone!"

"Well...I guess..." Donna shrugged. It did sound a logical reason but maybe there was something else that happened, who knew.

Renata cleared her throat and pulled him away from the other two women to speak in a quieter voice. "Whatever happened to Agatha is going to happen today...and we are going to be smack in the middle."

But unlike her who was worried, the Doctor beamed. "I know, isn't it great!? So exciting!"

"No!" Renata hissed. "It means we brought Donna and Gabriella to another dangerous trip. Maybe we should just go."

"Oh no, we can't do that! Look at how happy they are," the Doctor made a quick gesture to Donna and Gabby who'd drifted towards the food. "Plus, you certainly seemed happy a few minutes ago. I'd definitely liked to see more of that, if I'm being honest."

Renata crossed her arms, not entirely convinced. "I'm happy plenty of times."

"C'mon Renée, loosen up a bit. You've had better times when you do that." He was careful as he uncrossed her arms for her, but he knew he was good when she started fighting a smile. "There we go. Let me show you around, yeah?"

She scoffed but laughed in the end. "Show me what? The refreshments?"

He playfully rolled his eyes and offered her his arm. "C'mon!" She sighed but linked her arm with his again. "We can take a walk along the garden later on, if you'd like?"

"To me that sounds perfect but to you I'm sure it sounds boring."

"Yeah but it makes you happy and that's what I want for you."

Renata looked up at him in surprise, but her smile was quick to come back...along with another blush. "I am happy here, you know. I just can't help but worry about the dangers."

"I'm sure things will be fine-"

"The professor!" the housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala, came running towards the party. "The library! Murder! Murder!"

Renata's face fell flat and when she looked up at the Doctor again, this time he had to give in. "Okay, okay," he would give her the point.

~ 0 ~

The travelers, with Agatha, had ran first into the library where the supposed murder had occurred. Sure enough, there was the corpse of the professor on the floor. The Doctor hurried in first and bent down to examine the corpse.

"Bashed on the back of the head. Blunt instrument," he noted and tapped the professor's watch. "Watch broke as he fell, time of death was quarter past four."

"Oh! I've watched enough Law and Order to know that this-" Gabby had picked up a piece of pipe near the desk, "-is the murder weapon."

"Call me Hercule Poirot but I reckon that's blunt enough," remarked Donna.

Agatha had wandered towards the fireplace and found a scrap of paper. Renata watched the author silently tuck the paper into her hand and said nothing about it.

"There's nothing worth killing for in this lot," the Doctor said, seeming disappointed his quick search of the paper pile on the desk had no good results.

"We need to call the police," Agatha announced and had the agreeing nods of the others who hadn't really dared come fully into the room.

"You don't have to," the Doctor whipped out his psychic paper. He heard Renata's sigh and couldn't help but smile. "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. And these are…" he swayed his head at his friends for a second.

"Better be clever how you finish that sentence," Renata warned him in a whisper when she walked past him to the group. "We're assistants. We're just here to help out the, uh...inspector. Please go into the sitting room. We will question each of you in turn."

"Come along," Agatha ushered the group out of the room. "Do as they say. Keep the room undisturbed."

"Did Renata just lie?" Donna looked at the others with an expression akin to disbelief.

Renata turned around to them and sighed. "Please don't follow what I did. It's terrible."

"But needed," the Doctor pointed at her. He went searching for any other clues he may have missed the first time.

"Why don't we phone the real police?" Gabby asked.

"The last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in. Especially…" the Doctor paused for a moment as he pulled something gooey off the floor, "...now that I've found this!"

"Do you know what 'this' is?" Renata inched closer as he got back on his feet.

"Morphic residue!"

"Morphic residue? In 1926?"

"Can we speak English for a second?" asked Gabby who was helplessly looking between the pair.

"It's something that gets left behind when certain species genetically re-encodes," the Doctor explained.

"So the murderer's an alien?" Donna blinked.

"Which means that one of that lot is an alien in human form."

"Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery and Agatha Christie!"

"So?" the Doctor sniffed the residue in his possession. Renata crinkled her nose. He always had that habit no matter what incarnation, apparently. Would it ever stop!? "Happens to me all the time!"

"This is what I meant about danger!" Renata exclaimed.

"But it's also kind of exciting," Gabby walked up to stand beside her. "We get to figure out who did it. As an Agatha Christie fan, that's gotta be pretty exciting right?" she nudged Renata on the side.

"That's...not the point…"

"Oh just let go a bit!"

"Would everyone quit telling me to do that!" Renata groaned and stalked out of the room first.

"She'll get there," the Doctor said casually about it and followed her out.

Renata found Agatha in the alcove of the staircases. "Miss Christie, you shouldn't be out here on your own."

"I want to know who did this," Agatha said and paused when she saw the Doctor holding the residue. "What…?"

"We need to question the suspects," the Doctor said, putting the residue into a vial from his pocket. "Gabby, Donna, you search the bedrooms and look for clues." He leaned closer to them to whisper, "Any more residue," for better clarification. He put away the vial and took out two magnifying glasses in return. "You'll need this!"

Donna didn't seem as excited as Gabby was - she'd taken her magnifying glass without question.

"Doctor, I'm not sure about letting them go on their own…" Renata began but Gabby wagged her finger at her.

"Oh you can go question suspects! Bet that's exciting!"

"Yeah, I thought it'd be," the Doctor grinned. Donna rolled her eyes and took her magnifying glass and went up the stairs with Gabby. "Right then!" the Doctor turned to Renata and Agatha. "Solving a murder mystery with Agatha Christie. Brilliant!"

Agatha frowned at him. "How like a man to have fun while there's disaster all around him. I'll work with you—gladly—but for the sake of justice, not your own amusement."

The Doctor paused and took the moment to calm himself down. He may have come across as careless - it happened often.

"Hey," Renata now frowned at Agatha, "You keep your personal problems out of this. It's his personality, alright? He cares way more than anyone would." She took the Doctor's arm and led him away.

"Renée, you didn't have to do that," the Doctor said behind her, though he was smiling a bit for her defense.

Renata came to a stop outside the sitting room and turned to face him. "Let's get one thing straight, Doctor. I am a terribly difficult person but you are...wonderful, with all of your stupid grins and excitement, and I will not let anyone insult you about it. Not even Agatha Christie."

It was moments like these that truly warmed the Doctor's hearts. He knew Renata was more than what she thought of herself - that 'terribly difficult' person - and he knew that it was hard for her to express what she truly felt. So, for her to have these small moments of honesty with him...made him feel a little special. When she complimented him like this, he felt a warmth on his face that he couldn't get rid of.

He smiled at her so earnestly, so long, that it made Renata blush. She wanted to urge him to say something but...she'd lost her voice for a second. And it seemed like he had to. So, he did what he wanted to. He swooped down and kissed her cheek. She was stunned but at least she could still blink.

"Let's go interrogate some suspects," he smiled softly and took her by the hand.

"R-right…" was all Renata could say at the moment.

~ 0 ~

Reverend Golightly was first on the list to interrogate. They had given him a chair in the room, facing the Doctor, Renata and Agatha.

"Now then, Reverend… Where were you at a quarter past four?" asked the Doctor.

"Let me think," Golightly said, his gaze lowering a bit. "Why yes, I remember. I was unpacking in my room."

"Oh, so no alibi then?" Renata folded her arms. It was the easy way out. "Because you were alone."

"With the Lord, one is never truly alone."

Renata had to to her eyes. She wasn't a very firm believer anymore - that had died a very long time ago. "Next!"

Roger was second but like Golightly, she had an uncorroborated alibi. "I was taking a constitutional in the fields behind the house. Just taking a stroll, that's all."

"Alone?" Agatha inquired.

"Oh yes, all alone. Totally alone!"

Renata pulled the Doctor a bit away to whisper, "You know he's lying, right?"

"Mhm. But it's not his fault he can't openly say he was taking a walk with Davenport, can he?"

"Guess not," Renata agreed and cut him loose. As of now, he was the only one out of the suspect list.

Robina Redmond was the next suspect. But unlike her predecessors, she seemed more irritated that she was being questioned in the first place. "I went to the toilet when I arrived, and then, um, I was preparing myself. Positively buzzing with excitement about the party and the super fun of meeting Lady Eddy."

"And we've only got your word for it," the Doctor was weary of the theme going on.

Robina smirked. "That's your problem, not mine."

"It is when the threat is going to jail or being murdered," Renata's words did fade that smirk quicker than Robina had planned. "So go on then. Next!"

When Hugh came next, Renata had half a mind to tell the Doctor the man couldn't be the murderer. The professor had been far too tall for someone in a wheelchair to knock him out against the head. It just wasn't logical. Still, she let the interrogation go on but wasn't surprised when another uncorroborated alibi was given.

Lady Eddison was no better either.

"I was sitting in the blue room taking my afternoon tea. It's a ritual of mine. I needed to gather strength for the duty of hostess. I then proceeded to the lawn where I met…you, Doctor and I said "And who might you be and what are you doing here?" and you said, "I'm the Doctor-"

"Yes, yes. You can stop now. I was there for that bit!" the Doctor reminded.

After everyone had been questioned, the trio stayed in the sitting room to go over what they had...which was nothing.

"None of them have alibis which means anyone could've done it," Renata sunk into the chair the suspects had been in.

"That means we must look for a motive in order to identify the murderer," Agatha said.

"Use the little grey cells," Renata said in a sudden Belgian accent. The Doctor stopped to give her an amused look. This might just be her trip after all.

"Oh yes, little grey cells. Good old Poirot," he chuckled. "Y''know, I've been to Belgium."

"Course you've been," Renata straightened in her chair when he stopped by her.

"I was deep in the Ardennes trying to find Charlemagne…" he started to explain. Renata watched him fondly, not having the heart to stop him when he looked so happy sharing his trip. "He'd been kidnapped by an insane computer. It took me days to find him but-"

Agatha had no problem ending the memory. "Doctor! Doctor!"

The Time Lord blinked and looked at Agatha to see her more amused than anything else. "Sorry." He checked for Renata's expression but she seemed just as amused as Agatha was.

"Charlemagne lived centuries ago," remarked Agatha after a moment.

"I've got a good memory!"

"For such an experienced detective, you missed a big clue."

"What, that bit of paper you nicked out of the fireplace?" Renata surprised the author. "Yeah, I used to work with all sorts of rascals. One human-" The Doctor cleared his throat. "I mean one author, is not going to doop me," Renata quickly amended. She needed to start learning how to make herself sound more...human. Calling people 'human' was the way to expose herself. Plus, it was rude.

Agatha took out the scrap of paper and walked up to show it to them. "This is all that was left."

The Doctor studied the bit as best as he could, but he wasn't getting a lot. "What's that first letter? N or M?"

"It's an M, clearly," Renata squinted her eyes. "I think the word is maiden."

"Maiden!" the Doctor exclaimed a bit too loud that it startled the women. "What does that mean?" he asked in a whisper.

Agatha sighed and lowered the paper. "We're still no further forward. Our nemesis remains at large. Unless Miss Noble and Miss Gonzalez have found something."

~0~

"Hey, Donna, can I ask you something?" Gabby made the question just as Donna found a locked bedroom door.

"Uh, now?" Donna briefly glanced at Gabby. The door was seriously locked!

"It's important. I haven't been wanting to say anything but I also noticed that Renata and the Doctor seem really close lately-" Gabby actually flinched when Donna snorted. It was a very hard snort.

"Close? That doesn't begin to cut it!"

"Yeah, I know," sighed Gabby and caught Donna's attention.

She stopped trying to open the door - for the moment - and turned to Gabby. "Why do you say it like that? Don't tell me you suddenly have feelings-"

"Ah! No!" Gabby exclaimed and shuddered, making Donna laugh. "I don't even want to hear how that sense was going to finish! It's just...no!"

"Just had to make sure! So if that's not the problem, what is it?"

"I've been working with the Doctor on something that he's made for Renata and while we've been working... I've started to notice the way he talks about her...looks at her…"

"Right, so we're on the same page! Why are we on this again?"

Gabby sighed. "Because I know something that the Doctor should know about but Renata has forbidden me from saying anything."

"What is it?" Donna crossed her arms.

"I just said that I couldn't say anything."

"But you're obviously worried."

"I am," Gabby nodded. "It's concerning because I've come to love Renata and...she...she's in danger."

Donna blinked. "How do you mean?"

Gabby knew for a fact that the Doctor and Renata decided to keep Renata's 'infection' a secret from them. Gabby herself wasn't supposed to know but she'd eavesdropped. Still, she didn't tell either that she knew. It just wouldn't help anyone, but it wasn't. It wasn't helping Gabby that only she knew what that Ood told Renata a while ago. It was driving her mad that Renata was keeping it a secret from the Doctor, especially when he was looking after her because of the infection he knew about. If he knew about the Ood's prediction, he would try to keep Renata safe at all costs! And maybe that's what Renata needed.

"Gabby?" Donna asked again, now truly noticing the struggle Gabby was in. "Look, I won't say anything if that's what you're worried about. I'll keep your secret. You can get it off your chest with at least one person, right?"

Gabby could do with that, she could really do with that. "Back at Zhe's place, Renata and I were exposed to...alien energy? That Block transfer thing and then...and then I don't know if that's the proper term for it but that's when an Ood we learned that Renata could possibly die."

Donna tilted her head, very much interested now. She hadn't heard anything of this - she was sure the Doctor hadn't either. "Hold on, what did this thing say?"

"It just said her song might end sooner and that...that means death. I know it does. I know songs," Gabby shuddered. She couldn't fathom the idea of Renata ever dying.

"Well, the Doctor said when Time Lords die they don't actually die they-they do this sort of body changing thing," Donna tried explaining it as best as she could but even then, Gabby didn't want to hear it.

"She can't die Donna," she whispered. "I'm trying my best to keep an eye out for anything strange."

"Well, maybe we can do it together now. And we can maybe even figure out a way to make Ren talk about that nasty prediction."

"God I hope so," Gabby exhaled deeply. "I've tried talking to Renata about it. I tried convincing her that she should say something to the Doctor - get his help, you know? Who better to heal her than the Doctor, right?" she nervously smiled. "But she hasn't. And she's going to get really hurt if she keeps it a secret. And what worries me too is that, well, like you said, she and the Doctor are getting really close and if something bad does happen to Renata…"

"He'll be heartbroken," Donna finished for her with a saddened smile. "Or heartsbroken, in his case." Gabby nodded. "That's terrible!"

"I know! No matter how hard I tried she won't listen to me! The only reason I'm telling you this right now is because I realized that the Doctor is falling for her, and she for him. It's a guaranteed heartbreak and I don't want to see either of them get hurt, not when it can be avoided."

"We'll figure something out," Donna said determinedly. Like Gabby, she wanted both their alien friends to be happy and very much safe. She had come to learn how Renata operated and it was an annoying self-sacrifice theme that the Doctor often did. They truly were made for each other.

~0~

Renata had found a mirror hanging on the wall in the hallway. She stopped momentarily and faced her reflection. Part of her wanted to laugh at herself because she never pictured herself standing there, much less travelling with the Doctor and two humans.

"If they could see me now," she whispered. Her hand reached to touch the mirror but just as she did, a golden wasp of energy emanated from her hand. She drew her hand back with a gasp and quickly examined it. She looked up at her reflection again and found the same energy was rising from her head, forming what looked like...golden butterflies?

There was a queasiness in her stomach, growing more as the energy continued to drift from her body. What the hell is happening to me? she gulped.

"DOCTOR! RENATA!" Donna's shrill scream pulled Renata away from the mirror. At the same time, the golden energy disappeared but Renata didn't notice as she ran for the second floor.

She, naturally, arrived first at the scene and came to a skidded stop outside the bedroom door that had been previously locked. "What!? What is a? Who's hurt?"

"There is a giant…wasp!" Gabby cried.

Renata stopped and gave the two women a strange look. Behind her, the Doctor and Agatha had arrived.

"What do you mean there's a wasp? We have seen wasps before right?" Renata's expression was a bit condescending and totally not needed right now.

"We mean a wasp that's giant!" Donna tried to explain but it wasn't much better.

"It's only a silly little insect," Agatha remarked and Renata agreed with a nod.

Donna was the one to stop now. She glared at Agatha and Renata. "When I say "giant", I don't mean big, I mean flippin' enormous! Look at its sting!" She stepped to the side and pointed a finger at the huge stinger stuck through the door.

Renata gasped in horror, but the Doctor was eager to examine the thing. He flung the door open and rushed into the room. There was nothing except the open window. "It's gone! Buzzed off!"

"But that's fascinating," Agatha was more focused on the huge stinger left behind. She was about to touch it when Renata yanked her back. The poor author stumbled back from the force.

"Whoa there! I'm pretty sure touching an alien Stinger isn't the best idea."

"Alien?"

"You were bound to know anytime soon," Renata left her to go check on Gabby. "Are you alright?"

Gabby nodded but there was still a trace of fear left in her face. "It was...huge!"

"Giant wasp…" the Doctor had taken out another vial to collect a sample of the stinger. "Well, there are tons of amorphous insectivorous lifeforms but…none in this galactic vector."

"I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty!" Agatha exclaimed.

"Lost its sting, though. That makes it defenseless," Donna to tried to be optimistic about their chances of capturing it.

The Doctor all but scoffed. "A creature this size? Gotta be able to grow a new one."

"Uh, can we return to sanity?" Agatha almost waved your hands to get the attention back. "There are no such things as giant wasps."

"Which begs the question of what is that?" Renata made a gesture at the stinger on the door.

"And what's it doing here?" added the Doctor.

Their moment of thought was cut short when they heard yet another shrill scream, this time belonging to the housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala was found just outside the house with a gargoyle over her chest.

"The poor, little...child…" the woman said her last words in a strain before dying.

"Who pushed that gargoyle off the roof!?" Gabby looked around until Donna shook her arm to get her attention.

"Th-that!"

The 'huge wasp' was back and buzzing threateningly at them.

"Let's go!" the Doctor led the chase back into the house in hopes of capturing the wasp.

"Well this is certainly new!" Donna exclaimed as they headed up the stairs. "There's a monster and we're chasing it!"

"Can't be a monster. It's a trick!" Agatha argued on their way up. "They do it with mirrors!"

"Do you see any mirrors around us!?" Renata stopped at the top of the staircase and gestured to the hallway where only portraits hung. Agatha didn't want to admit she was wrong but the fact there could be an alien wasp just...it had to be wrong.

"Oh, but you are wonderful!" the Doctor was gazing at the large wasp with a huge grin on his face.

"Doctor - it's a wasp!" Gabby reminded him and as if the wasp wanted to help prove her point, it raced towards them with its stinger first. They all ducked but the wasp swiftly turned around to do the same thing again.

"Oi! Flyboy!" Donna called to it and raised her magnifying glass up in the air. It didn't do anything and so the wasp flew away.

"Don't let it get away!" the Doctor was the first to run after it again. "Before it reverts to human form!"

They followed the wasp down the hallway and made a turn into a new one, only to find it had disappeared into one of the guests' bedrooms.

"Where are you!?" the Doctor demanded. "Show yourself!"

All the doors in the hallway opened up to reveal each of the guests looking mighty confused at the commotion.

"Well," Renata folded her arms. "That's just cheating. And unfair."

~ 0 ~

Lady Eddison wept for Miss Chandrakala in the sitting room. Everyone else was upset but no one more than her. "My faithful companion! This is terrible!"

"Excuse me, my lady," Davenport stopped behind her chair. "She was on her way to tell you something."

"She never found me. She had an appointment with death instead."

"You mean murder," whispered Renata. The gargoyle had been planted on the rooftop and it wouldn't have fallen if the wasp hadn't pushed it over. And the wasp had been exact in its calculations to push it just at the right time. It was a cold murderer indeed.

"She said, "the poor little child". Does that mean anything to anyone?" the Doctor studied the reactions of the guests to see if anyone led on about the phrase, but no one did anything suspicious.

"No children in this house for years," Hugh remarked then shaped his son a glance. "Highly unlikely there will be."

"Mrs Christie, you must have twigged something. You've written simply the best detective stories," Lady Eddison shifted in her chair to face Agatha, but the author seemed at a loss for words.

"Tell us…what would Poirot do?" asked the reverend.

"Heaven's sake! Cards on the table, woman!" Hugh unexpectedly slammed his fist against his armrest. "You should be helping us!"

"Well shouting at her won't make anything better," Renata rose from her seat. "And she's an author who writes about this stuff - it doesn't actually mean she's a detective." She then added in a much lower tone so that no one would hear her, "And neither are we."

"But surely she can crack it!" Robina made a gesture at the author who only kept shaking her head. "These events, they're exactly like one of your plots!"

"But what? I've no answers. None!" Agatha got up from her seat. "I'm sorry, all of you, I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help us, it's the Doctor, not me." She shook her head again and left in a hurry.

~ 0 ~

Renata sat by herself in the sitting room later while the Doctor returned to the TARDIS to examine the residue he'd found earlier. Donna had gone after Agatha in hopes of cheering the author up and Gabby…

Well, she didn't really know where Gabby was. Right now, Renata's attention was on her hands again. She couldn't get the image of the energy coming out of her hands...her head...her body.

"I don't understand," she whispered as she turned her palms over and over. Her skin was normal - she felt normal. Could it be what the Ood was talking about? Renata gulped. She hoped not. But, if it wasn't, then what was happening?

"Are you alright, Ren?" Gabby's voice - though soft - startled Renata. Her hands dropped to her lap when Gabby came into the room. "You're looking pale!" Gabby noticed and quickly rushed up to Renata. "Are you getting sick?"

"No, no, I...it's just been a long day," Renata's warm smile was not going to fool Gabby.

"No, this is what I was afraid of - it's what the Ood said back at Zhe's gallery. Renata, what if this is how it starts?"

"What starts?" Renata repeated in a low chuckle.

Gabby wasn't going to let her downplay the situation. "Renata, why don't we go talk with the Doctor?"

"What? Absolutely not-"

"-just - just listen to me!" Gabby practically begged. "I'm so tired of keeping this a secret! Something bad is going to happen and you--" she pointed at Renata with a desperate ferocity that froze Renata, "-are going to get hurt! Beyond that - you could die!"

"Enough!" Renata hissed. "Now you need to calm down before someone, especially the Doctor, hears you!"

"Renata, I'm scared," Gabby admitted softly. "I'm scared for you."

"But you shouldn't be," Renata put on her best happy smile for the girl. She put her hands on Gabby's shoulder and gently squeezed them. "I'm fine. Nothing has happened."

"You're really pale," Gabby repeated and touched Renata's hands on her shoulders. "And you're...actually really warm���" her face scrunched in confusion. "Like...burning hot."

Renata immediately pulled her hands away and balled them into fists. "Well, that means I'm fine."

"No, it really doesn't!"

"Look, Gabby-"

"I've got something!" the Doctor strode in looking happy as ever. "It's a Vespiform - what's happened?" he caught onto the vibe of the room and much more, like Gabby, he noticed Renata's new shade of skin color.

"I think Renata is getting sick," Gabby was hesitant to say in the beginning but if she didn't give at least a bit of a clue, then Renata could possibly be a goner. And it was worth all the death glares Renata had to give.

"What?" the Doctor frowned. He forgot about everything else for a second as he walked up to Renata. He touched her face - an action that made her feel even warmer - and realized what Gabby meant. "You're burning hot. Are you running a fever?"

"Don't be silly, I don't get fevers - we don't get fevers," Renata swatted his hand away from her. "Least the human kind."

"Still, that's an unusual amount of heat you're exhibiting." The Doctor gingerly sat her down in the nearest seat.

"You two are making a big deal out of nothing," Renata felt her stomach churn and it wasn't the heat she was feeling. She was overly nervous about being caught and that thought alone was scary.

"Gabby, make sure they bring us some drinks. Renata might benefit from one," the Doctor suggested. Gabby was all over it and ran out of the room.

"Honestly, Doctor," Renata swayed her head, trying to laugh things off.

"Don't belittle our concern, Renata. Now as soon as we're done here, I'm going to run new tests on you-"

"-but-"

"-there is no room for discussion about this!"

"Doctor, look what we found!" Donna came rushing into the room holding a small tool box in her hands.

Despite the current matter, the Doctor took the box from her to examine it. They found an array of tools inside. "Ooh…someone came tooled up…the sort of stuff a thief would use," he remarked.

"The Unicorn—he's here!" Agatha gasped.

"The Unicorn and the wasp," the Doctor said with a sigh. Of course.

"I've got the drinks," Gabby returned a short moment later with a tray in hand. "Davenport says any of them will definitely help Renata gain some color."

"What? What's wrong with, Ren?" Donna studied the Time Lady and realized she'd been unusually quiet.

"I don't need a drink," Renata muttered but the Doctor had already taken one glass off the tray and was holding it to her. "Doctor…"

"One glass will not harm you. Please take it."

"Please Renata?" Gabby whispered hopefully.

Renata sighed and took the glass from him. She took a sip and did admit to herself that it was rather tasty.

"So, um, did you figure out that science stuff?" Donna asked but she kept a lingering gaze on Renata.

"Hm, Vespiform sting. Vespiforms have got hives in the Silifax Galaxy," the Doctor answered but he kept a close eye on Renata as well.

"Again you talk like Edward Lear," Agatha said, sounding more resigned that she would never fully understand him.

"For some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books," he said.

"Come on, Agatha," Donna sat beside the author. "What would Miss Marple do? She'd've overheard something vital by now because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady."

"Clever idea," Agatha admitted. "Miss Marple—who writes those?"

Donna made a face and looked at the Doctor. "I've done it again, haven't I?" he silent nodded. "Well, copyright it: Donna Noble. Add it to the list."

"Renata…?" Gabby noticed that Renata had gone even paler and she thought it was impossible.

Renata opened her mouth but no words came out; all she managed were croaks. Something was closing her throat and it was burning.

"Doctor! Something's wrong!" Gabby turned to the man but he was already running up to them.

"Renée! Ren! What's-"

Renata started shaking her head and swatting his hands away. She made a flapping gesture to her drink she'd placed on the table next to her chair. "Poi….p...poison!"

"How could she be poisoned!?" Donna asked when the Doctor took Renata's glass and sniffed it. "Gabby got her the drink!"

Fearing for a second that she could be blamed, Gabby quickly exclaimed, "They served me the drinks!"

"This is cyanide!" the Doctor almost threw the glass at the wall out of anger. "How could this have happened!?"

"I-I don't know! I'm sorry!" Gabby was scared out of her mind, but the Doctor wasn't paying any attention to her.

"Kitchen - NOW!" he grabbed Renata's hand and yanked out of her chair and out of the room.

"What are you going to do!?" Donna ran after him with Gabby and Agatha in tow.

Renata breathed heavily - and strained - by the time they reached the kitchen. What's more was that she could feel that same warmth from before spreading over her body again. The Doctor leaned her against the isle and went around in search for something, she wasn't listening. Her hands were glowing again! She quickly hid them behind her back.

"Ginger beer! Where is it!?"

"I beg your pardon?" Davenport was nearly outraged that the Doctor was chucking things around the kitchen.

"I need ginger beer - where is it!?" the Doctor was going crazy in search of the damn ingredient. His entire body was on a new speed. He was going from one place to the other, dashing like a blur. His hearts were thumping against his chest, his mind screaming to get the detox fast. Renata was practically choking, he needed to do something!

"The gentleman's gone mad!" one of the waitresses exclaimed.

"Oh shut up and just help him!" Donna snapped.

Eventually, the Doctor had found the ginger beer and ran back to Renata. Gabby was helping the Time Lady stay on her feet but she could feel how badly Renata was shaking - how long could she last this way?

"Drink it now!" he practically ordered and despite it being weird, Renata took the drink and drowned it as fast as she could.

"I'm an expert in poisons, Doctor. It's fatal!" Agatha tried to stop him but he shoved her out of the way. Though she was completely stunned, for the man hadn't even noticed his rudeness, she still insisted on her perspective of reality. "There's no cure!"

"Over my dead body!" he snapped. "Renata, we can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein! I need protein!"

Renata seemed out of it - as was understandable - but she checked her palms again and saw the glow was fading. Well, at least if she died, she wouldn't be caught with a strange gold glow...unless it was regeneration energy? Could that be it? What if the prediction was a silent killer one? She never considered that one.

"Walnuts!" Donna had found a bag of them and tossed it over to the Doctor.

"Renata, eat!" he then handed a good amount to Renata who very poorly stuffed them into her mouth. She chewed as fast as she could.

"Now I need something salty!"

"There's a bag of salt over there!" Gabby ran to the other counter where she'd seen the plastic bag.

"No, that's too salty!"

"But you said you needed salt!"

The Doctor groaned. "Not that salty!

"What about this?" Agatha tried her hand at helping and showed him a jar of anchovies. If he was going to prove this was actually curable then she wanted to see it firsthand.

"Yes, now you're getting it!" the Doctor took the jar and pulled the lid off.

"I don't like anchovies!" Renata managed to say with a more open throat.

"And I don't like you dying, so take it!"

Renata frowned like a child but she took a lot of anchovies and chewed them as fast as she could to get rid of the taste in her mouth.

"What else do we need now?" Gabby was fast to ask.

The Doctor had stopped all of a sudden. "...a shock."

"Well, what kind? Like...scary!?" Gabby wondered what the hell they could use from the kitchen to scare Renata. "Like Halloween scary!?"

"-mallowveen!?" Renata repeated as she forced down the terrible anchovies down her throat.

Gabby shrugged. It was all she had!

"Not that type of shock," the Doctor took in a deep breath as he hurried back to Renata. "Now I'm very sorry about this Renée but I'd do anything to keep you alive, so…"

Renata barely made a face when he grabbed both sides of her face and kissed her. Of course it would be a shock - perhaps the shock of her lifetime. The Doctor held her tightly, kissing her as if their lives depended on it. Hers did. And yet, despite the fierceness that drove him, the kiss felt very familiar. He wasn't sure if it was because of their time in 1913 with the Family, but then...why else could this be familiar?

Renata was the one to eventually break the kiss by pushing him away, but in doing so she felt an overwhelming power to gag (and it was not from the kiss). She threw her head back and exhaled a black smoke that left her stomach churning afterwards.

"Detox," the Doctor breathed in relief. He finally felt his hearts begin to lose the speed it gained in the last few minutes.

"Renata, thank God!" Gabby made a move towards her but Renata wagged a finger at her and then the others.

"Don't...I don't want anyone near me," she raised her hands, indicating her need to be entirely left alone. There was a foul taste in her mouth from everything the Doctor fed her and if she wasn't careful, she might just throw up on the spot.

The Doctor, however, took it the wrong way. "Renée, I didn't mean-" even the Doctor was included in her demand.

"Don't," she warned in a harder tone. His hearts stopped momentarily. She was mad at him. She shook her head and made her way out of the kitchen, albeit a bit wobbly.

The Doctor couldn't let himself be consumed by his concern for her reaction. He would much rather focus on where that poison came from. He turned to the staff, ignoring their stunned reactions, and glared at each and every one of them. "Who is responsible for this?" None of them had anything to say, which only infuriated the Doctor even more. "I said who did this!?" he stormed towards them and had a few of them, including Davenport, back away.

"We-we don't know! None of us did anything!" the younger waiter said.

"That poison came from somewhere!"

"She-" Davenport pointed a finger at Gabby, making the girl's eyes widen, "-brought the drinks! How do you know it wasn't her!?"

"Because it wasn't!" Gabby frowned. "Why would I poison my own friend!?"

"Doctor, calm down," Donna went up to the man and turned him away from the scared staff. "It was obviously the wasp alien."

"But why would it try to poison Renata?" Gabby asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"Because the glass wasn't meant for her," the Doctor realized very soon. "It was for me. There were three glasses on that tray...and I gave Renata the wrong one. It's my fault."

"No, Doctor, it's not," Donna said very slowly before he made other assumptions. "It's the wasp's fault. So we better catch him or her before it strikes again."

The Doctor nodded, but it didn't mean he was content. Renata would surely hate him now for real.

~ 0 ~

Renata had ample time to calm herself down before coming to dinner. She had not seen the golden energy again and she was taking that as a huge win - the last thing she needed was for any human to see her like that, much less the Doctor. And speaking of the Doctor...her face still warmed every time she thought about him.

That's what happens when you kiss him, she berated herself. It was still the same old story. One kiss from him and she melted. It took her forever to get over him on Gallifrey - and she honestly didn't do a very good job there - and then 1913 came around to knock her back down...and now this moment. She still loved him. A lot. And no matter what incarnation she was in, or he was in, each kiss still felt like the first one they shared when they were young.

When dinner time came around, Renata made the biggest effort to push all those feelings away. She came into the dining room and found mostly everyone was already there. As soon as he saw her, the Doctor got up from his seat and hurried around the table to meet her.

"Renée, I'm so sorry-" he began to apologize when Renata raised a hand to stop him.

"I'm not mad at you, silly," she smiled kindly at him and it was, admittedly, a relieving sight for him. "You saved me from a regeneration."

"You just looked upset…"

"Because I'd been poisoned. I'm not mad at you, Doctor. Thank you for saving me," she said honestly. "I do mean it."

The Doctor nodded, albeit nervously, but it was something to start with. He offered her his arm again and she gladly took it. They returned to the table and sat together. A short while later, dinner was served.

"A terrible day for all of us. The professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala cruelly taken from us, and yet, we still take dinner," the Doctor played with the soup in front of him.

"We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?" Lady Eddison inquired as if it was obvious this was what they had to do.

"Uh, maybe not act as if everything is alright?" Renata's heavy sourness was uncharacteristic but rightly appropriate. "Somebody here-" she picked up her knife and used it to point at each guest, "-decided to poison me. Although after great thought, I realize that I wasn't the intended victim. It was my friend, the Doctor, which makes me-" she suddenly stabbed her knife into the table, startling the others, "-madder."

"She's really good when she's scary mad," Gabby whispered to Donna on the side. The ginger silently agreed.

"Don't you worry, Renée," the Doctor gingerly uncurled her hand from the knife and set it down on the table. "I kind of got an idea from all this poison."

"And what would that be?" Golightly inquired.

"Well, poison," the Doctor smiled in an eerie manner. It made everyone stop eating. "Drink up. I've laced the soup with pepper."

"Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy," Hugh laughed and gladly ate from his soup, proving once again that he was the only real innocent one amongst the group.

"But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine. Traditionally used as an insecticide," the Doctor explained just before thunder cracked behind them.

"Fitting," Renata watched as each guest stared at their soups in horror. "Anybody want seconds?"

Thunder cracked again and cut the lights. One of the windows behind them flung open and brought in a gust of wind that took out the lingering candles.

"What the deuce is that!?" Hugh demanded as a noise from a distance crept up.

"It's a buzzing noise…" Gabby trailed off when they realized what it was.

"No…no, it can't be!" Lady Eddison suddenly cried, something that Renata took special note of.

"Show yourself, demon!" ordered Agatha who rose from her seat.

"Nobody move!" the Doctor warned as the others started to get up. "Stay where you are!"

The Vespiform - the wasp - finally revealed its form to the room.

"About that 'stay where you are' thing…" Donna began to backtrack with Gabby.

"Just run!" Renata shouted. She and the Doctor made a run in the opposite direction towards the doors, pulling Agatha with them.

They all met in the hallway but some of the guests were still inside.

"Well we know the butler didn't do it," Gabby thought to humor them since Greeves was with them, but it was a poor joke.

The Doctor grabbed a decorative sword on the wall and headed back for the dining room. But when he did, the lights were back on…

"My jewelry…the Firestone—it's gone!" Lady Eddison cried when she realized her prized jewel wasn't around her neck anymore. "Stolen!"

But the most horrific part came when they realized that Roger had been stabbed in the back.

~ 0 ~

"This is getting far too dangerous," Renata led the way back into the sitting room. Donna came in behind her and went for the nearest seat. "I think you, Donna, and Gabby, need to go back to the TARDIS."

"I think not!" Gabby immediately refused. "You're the one who was poisoned. If anything, you should go rest and let us figure this out."

"I don't think so," Renata shook her head.

Agatha let them figure that one out while she went to Donna's seat. "Did you inquire about the necklace?"

"Lady Eddison brought it back from India. It's worth thousands."

"Not much there, then," sighed Agatha. "Doctor?" she turned to the man by the fireplace. He'd been very pensive since they'd come in and hadn't said anything since then.

"This thing can sting, it can fly… It could wipe us all out in seconds—why is it playing this game?"

"Every murder is essentially the same—they are committed because somebody wants something."

"Well what would a Vespiform want from humans?" Renata made a gesture to the ones in the room.

"Oh please stop," Agatha told her. "The murderer is as human as you or I."

"UH Uh," Renata cocked her head to the side, about to retort when the Doctor gasped.

"You're right! I've been so caught up with giant wasps, I've forgotten!" he moved around fast until he stood in front of Agatha. "You're the expert."

Agatha thought otherwise. "Look, I told you. I'm just a…purveyor of nonsense."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, 'cause plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why?" the Doctor checked around for anyone with an answer.

"Because she understands," Renata was the one to answer. "I mean...it's why I loved your books," she admitted with a small smile. "You are the only author that I can identify with. You've lived…you've fought…you've had your heart broken. I've had that too. And you know about people—their passions, their hope and despair and anger, all of those. You are the best. If anyone can solve this, it's you."

Agatha was touched but there were still many things to think about. Maybe it's what she needed though: to really think. Up until now, she didn't want to think that aliens were real and that could be what was hindering her from seeing the truth.

~ 0 ~

An hour later, all the guests were brought into the sitting room. Agatha hadn't said anything but there was a new determination in her face that no one was going to question.

"I've called you here on this endless night because we have a murderer in our midst," the Doctor stood at the fireplace, at the head of the group, "And when it comes to detection, there's none finer… Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Agatha Christie." He moved to take a seat next to Renata. He hadn't meant to but his hand brushed her arm and he felt the same burning heat again. He looked at her but she was none the wiser as she considered taking Donna up on her offer of a grape from her bowl.

Something was wrong there.

"This is a crooked house…a house of secrets," Agatha took the Doctor's place at the fireplace. "To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you…Miss Redmond."

Robina straightened in her seat, momentarily appearing nervous but she pushed away by putting on a flashy smile. "But I'm innocent, surely."

Agatha saw right through her. "You've never met these people and these people never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her!"

Robina chuckled but her nervousness was back. "How silly." Her smile turned tight and as she spoke again, she did it through gritted teeth. "What proof do you have?"

"You said you'd been to the toilet…"

"Oh, I know this—if she was really posh, she'd say 'loo'!" Donna said in-between munches of grapes. Gabby laughed but she quickly covered her mouth.

"Earlier today, Miss Noble and I found this on the lawn right beneath your bathroom window." Agatha grabbed the tool box and walked up to Robina to hand it back to her. "You must have heard Miss Noble and Miss Gonzalez were searching the bedrooms and you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence.

"I've never seen that thing before in my life!"

"What's inside of that?" Lady Eddison inquired. Robina was refusing to take the box off Agatha's hand.

So, Agatha beat her to it. She opened the box for Robina. "The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond, or should I say…the Unicorn. You came to this house with one sole intention—to steal the Firestone!"

Robina cocked her head and stared at Agatha for a long minute until deciding to give it up. "Oh al right then. Ot's a fair cop!" she spoke in a Cockney accent. "Yes, I'm the bleedin' Unicorn!" she rose from her seat and sent each guest a sour smile. "Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it." She reached under her dress' strap and took out the Firestone. She chucked it towards the Doctor and rolled her eyes. "Go on then, ya nobs, arrest me. Sling me in jail."

"So...is she the murderer?" Gabby leaned closer to Donna's side as if that would do it for protection.

"Don't be so thick little girl," Robina snapped, completely ignoring Gabby's scowl. "I might be a thief but I ain't no killer."

"Quite," agreed Agatha who dropped the tool box into Robina's seat. "There are darker motives at work, and, in examining this household…we come to you…Colonel."

Hugh groaned. "Damn it, woman! You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me!" He rose from his chair, stunning the others.

"You—you can walk? But why?" Lady Eddison rose as well and faced her husband.

"My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?"

"I don't understand."

"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later, some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you."

"That's overly disgusting," Renata didn't hold back her thoughts. "And not to mention manipulative."

Hugh chose to ignore her comments and focused his anger on Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs Christie! How did you discover the truth?"

Agatha blinked away her shock to respond, "Um, actually, I had no idea. I was just going to say you were completely innocent."

Gabby laughed again, but this time Donna laughed with her.

"Not the time," the Doctor whisper-hissed at them but Renata decided it was very much the time.

"Serves him right," she said.

Agatha moved onto Lady Eddison and what she had to say was not good news for the woman. "You brought the Firestone back from India, did you not? Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been locked ever since, which I rather think means—"

Lady Eddison frowned. "Stop, please!"

"I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India…unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid, later to become housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala."

"Clemency! Is this true?" Hugh looked at his wife in shock.

Lady Eddison wouldn't look at anyone but she wouldn't deny it. "My poor baby. I had to give him away. Oh, the shame of it."

"You gave your own child away because you were ashamed?" Renata felt a new wave of disgust for the guests. "You're perfectly made for each other," she said to the pair.

"I had no choice. Imagine the scandal, the family name. I'm British—I carry on!"

"Oh my God…" Renata glanced at the Doctor, "We need to get the hell out of here."

The Doctor patted her hand - once again feeling the insane warmth of her skin - and promised her they would leave very soon. They just needed to finish up here. "The pregnancy was not an ordinary one, was it?"

Lady Eddison only spared him a look because she was shocked that he'd figured it out. "How can you know that?"

"Excuse me, Agatha, this is my territory," he got up from his seat to take place at the fireplace again. "But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, "It can't be". Why did you say that?"

"You'd never believe it…"

"Try me."

"It was forty years ago. In the heat of Delhi one night. I was alone and that's when I saw it—a dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house—Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire and I held nothing back. And in return, he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He made himself human to learn about us. This was his true shape. I loved him so much it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the Great Monsoon. The River Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift—a jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I keep it close. Always."

"Just like a man—flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven," Robina carelessly remarked and didn't even notice the glare Lady Eddison sent her way.

"A "poor little child". Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Prof Peach worked it out," Agatha said. "He found the birth certificate."

"Oh, that's "maiden"—maiden name!" Donna realized. "So she killed him."

"I did not!" Lady Eddison angrily said.

"Miss Chandrakala feared that the professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you," Agatha told the woman, but Donna had something else to say.

"So she killed her!"

"I said no!"

"Lady Eddison is innocent. Because at this point… Doctor?"

"Thank you," the Doctor nodded. "Because at this point when we consider the lies and secrets and the key to these events, then we have to consider…it was you, Donna Noble…"

"What?" Donna blinked and nearly dropped her bowl of grapes if Gabby hadn't dove to catch it. "Who did I kill?"

"Nobody, he's just being dramatic," Renata assured the woman.

"No, but you said it all along, the vital clue—that this whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. Which means…it was you, Agatha Christie!"

Agatha blinked when the finger was pointed her way. "I beg your pardon, sir?"

"So she killed them?"

"Donna, it might be better if you just wait," Renata suggested.

"Agatha, you wrote those brilliant, clever books," the Doctor went on. "And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points…at you, Lady Eddison."

"Leave me alone!" cried the woman.

"Oh my goodness," Renata sighed. "Doctor, get on with it!"

"Last Thursday night, what were you doing?"

Lady Eddison still glared at the Doctor for his constant push but she did answer a few minutes later. "I...was in the library. I was reading my favorite Agatha Christie thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. But how is that relevant?"

The Doctor bobbed his head to the side. "Just think—what happened Thursday night?" he set his eyes on Golightly and the man had the audacity to be surprised.

"I'm sorry?"

"You should be," the Doctor frowned. "You said on the lawn this afternoon, last Thursday, those boys broke into your church."

"That's correct…they did. I discovered the two of them—thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them."

"Really? A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say, forty years old…exactly."

Lady Eddison was shocked all over again. "Oh my God!"

"Lady Eddison, your child—how old would he be now?"

"Forty. He's…forty."

"Your child has come home."

Golightly laughed at them all. "Ha! This is poppycock!"

"Oh? You said you were taught by the Christian fathers, meaning, raised in an orphanage," the Doctor reminded him. "You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger for the first time in your life and it broke the genetic code. You changed. You realized your inheritance. After all these years…you knew who you were. Oh, then it all kicks off 'cause this…" he took the Firestone from Lady Eddison and held it in the air, "-isn't just a jewel—it's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you—your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time,

it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You killed in this pattern because that's what you think the world is. Turns out we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha."

"Huh, what do you know, it really was one of her stories," Renata nodded in her realization.

"Dame?" Agatha repeated in confusion.

"Oh sorry, not yet," the Doctor shared an amused smirk with Donna. It was harder than he thought.

"So...it was the Reverend, then?" asked Gabby. "He killed them?"

"Yes."

Golightly stood up from his seat and shook his head. "Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening. Really, you can't believe any of this, surely, Lady Eddizzz—"

"Lady who, now?" called Renata. There was a smirk trying to start at the corner of her lips.

"Lady Eddizzzon…"

"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?" Renata leaned forwards, now letting her smirk fully show.

"Don't make me angry!"

"Don't make you angry!?" Renata practically jumped out of her seat. "You murdered people and you poisoned me!"

"Damn it! You humanzzz!" Golightly practically stomped his foot. "Worshipping your tribal sky godzzz! I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezzz… What'zzz to stop me killing you? What'zzz to stop me killing you all?" He started shaking violently until the Doctor figured out he was going to transform back into his true form.

"No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!" Agatha had taken the Firestone and ran out of the room.

"Agatha, don't do that!" Renata sighed and rushed after her, prompting the others to do the same.

They came out of the house but lost Agatha for a few minutes. She showed up in her car, honking the horn to get the Wasp's attention. And it was just in time because the it burst through the front door.

"Agatha, come back!" Renata called but Agatha drove into the darkness.

"C'mon!" the Doctor led them towards another car for them to follow.

"What is she doing?" Gabby asked as they stopped by an empty car.

"She realized she can control it," Renata said, ushering her into the car. "She's going to try and stop him on her own. Humans!"

"Hey!" went Donna and Gabby.

The Doctor took the well and went after Agatha and the Vespiform as fast as he could.

"Now wait a minute, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory!" Donna remembered.

"Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed!" the Doctor said.

"Over my dead body!" Renata huffed.

They followed Agatha up to the lakeside where she was forced to stop. She'd gotten out of her car and held the Firestone in her hand.

"Here I am! The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform!"

"She truly is controlling it," Gabby said once they stopped their own car and were able to get out.

"It's mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked," the Doctor explained.

"Quite so, Doctor. If I die, then this creature might die with me," Agatha held the Firestone high in the air.

"Don't hurt her! You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind!" the Doctor called but the Vespiform was still coming towards them.

"It's not listening," Renata said in frustration.

Donna took a decision and ran up to Agatha, snatching the Firestone from her hand and throwing it into the lake. The Vespiform dove into the water to retrieve it but ended up drowning instead. "How do you kill a wasp? Drown it," Donna sighed. "Just like its father."

"Donna, that thing couldn't help itself," the Doctor shot the woman a look.

"Neither could I," Donna said quickly. She wasn't going to let it kill anyone else.

"Death comes as the end. And justice is served," Agatha said but she didn't really feel like they'd done much of the justice part. "Just one mystery left, Doctor. Who exactly are you?"

"I don't think you have the time to listen to that bit, Agatha," Renata cleared her throat and looked away before the Doctor could see her smile.

But suddenly, Agatha doubled over in pain. She groaned and nearly fell to the ground if the Doctor hadn't caught her. "Oh! It's the Firestone! It's part of the Vespiform's mind! It's dying and it's connected to Agatha!"

It was true. Agatha's body was glowing purple just like the Vespiform was in the lake. But just as it started, it stopped and Agatha fell unconscious.

"What just happened?" Gabby looked out into the lake and saw that the purple glow had also disappeared from the water.

"It let her go. Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to safe someone's life," the Doctor realized.

"Is she alright, though?" Donna neared closer to them, seeing Agatha wasn't even moving.

"Oh, the amnesia," Renata had gasped when she made her own realization. "This is how she loses her memories. The Vespiform...it wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders…"

"And us," Donna looked up from Agatha. "She'll forget about us."

Renata smiled sadly. "The only human author I liked...and she won't ever remember me. Of course."

~ 0 ~

"So what's going to happen to the others?" Gabby asked once the group was back in the TARDIS. "Lady Eddison, the colonel, and all the staff—what about them?"

"A shameful story. They'd never talk of it—too British," the Doctor said and watched how Renata practically fumed at the excuse. "While the Unicorn does a bunk back to London Town, she can never say she was there."

"But what happens to Agatha? Will she be okay?" asked Donna.

"Oh, great life! Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote!"

"She never thought her books were any good, though. And she must have spent all those years wondering."

"Yeah but, I don't think she ever quite forgot." There was a knowing smile on the Doctor's face as he went around the console till he pulled a part of the floor like a lid. "Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like Miss Marple!"

"I should have made her sign a contract," sighed Donna.

"What's all that stuff in there?" Gabby peered over the Doctor's shoulder as he dug through dozens of objects under the floor.

"Souvenirs," Renata answered from the console, eyeing the open part of the floor with distaste. "Some of them - if not most of them - being completely dangerous."

The Doctor kept digging through the objects until he found what he was looking for: a copy of one of Agatha's books, Death in the Clouds. He showed it to Donna who quickly recognized the large wasp on the front cover.

"She did remember!"

"Bet that was a scare for the people who were at the party," Gabby chuckled as she took the book into her hands.

"Somewhere at the back of her mind, it all lingered," the Doctor said. "And that's not all. Look at the copyright page."

Gabby turned to the page and checked the publication. "Facsimile edition published in the year…5 billion!?" She and Donna shared the exact gaping mouths.

"People never stop reading them. She is he best-selling novelist of all time."

"Well earned," Renata said from her spot by the console.

"But she never knew," Donna sadly said.

"Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered. We can only hope for the best," the Doctor said, giving her a cheery smile. "Maybe that's what kept her writing. The same thing that keeps me travelling. Onwards?"

Donna playfully rolled her eyes. "Onwards."

~ 0 ~

Renata had been so close, so close to escaping the Doctor's clutches...but he was too smart for her...and fast. He was really fast.

Keeping true to his word, he'd brought her right into the medbay to run those tests he'd mentioned earlier. Renata was scared out of her mind thinking what the results would say, and much more what the Doctor would do. What if she truly was dying already? Or worse, what if she wasn't dying but there was something freaky going on with her insides?

"This is really strange," the Doctor murmured as he read through the results on the computer screen. Renata looked up from her palms to see him thoroughly focused on whatever was on the screen. "The energy we talked about, the Bloxk Transfer Matrix from the Zhe's gallery is still there and so is the Osiran energy."

"Well...what's it doing exactly?" she curiously asked.

"Getting stronger by the looks of it," the Doctor glanced at her, his eyes scrutinizing her for any obvious sign of the merge he spoke about. "You're not expelling it.

Renata wondered if her body was struggling to expel the energy and that's why she was suddenly glowing golden. The Doctor tore his gaze away from the screen to see Renata's reaction. She was mighty good at keeping her expressions neutral. All she did was stare at the screen.

"I'm afraid it's going to get stronger and stronger until it starts...hurting you," the Doctor swallowed hard and turned the computer off. "This is energy that no one - not even us - should have. It's...it's…"

"Contamination," Renata said shakily. "I'm...toxic," she bit her lip as a sour chuckle slipped through. "Not surprising there."

"No, you're not. I'm going to find a way to get that energy out of you, I swear," the Doctor told her.

"Oh, I know you would," sighed Renata. She didn't want him overworking himself just for her. She didn't deserve that. "But listen, I'm okay right now. I'm good."

The Doctor knew by now that Renata wasn't the most open woman - she was used to hiding and that included her personality and feelings. He hadn't yet figured out how to get her to open up entirely, but he wouldn't give up.

"I'm tired, Doctor. I'd really like to go to bed now," Renata said after a moment of silence. She made to leave when he gently grabbed her arm.

"Can I take you somewhere first?" he asked. Renata raised an eyebrow at him, obviously confused with his question. "I, uh, I wanted to give you something. It'll be fast, I promise."

Renata couldn't see why not so she nodded and allowed him to lead her out of the room. He brought them back to the console room and landed them somewhere new, apparently.

When Renata poked her head out she saw it was still night time but they were somewhere in a garden, a beautiful large garden. She felt the light breeze with her flapper dress, but she didn't mind. After feeling like she was on fire, she could use a breeze. "Where are we?" she chuckled as she came out.

"Well, you did say you'd like to take a walk in a garden," the Doctor came out behind her.

"Right, well, I meant in the daytime," Renata took a few steps away from the TARDIS and looked around the place. It was so green and bright despite it being night time. "And, you know, with the others."

"I don't think we should bother Donna and Gabby right now," the Doctor said. "C'mon." He took her by the hand and led her down the cobblestone path.

"You haven't told me where we are, though" asked Renata. She spotted a bright red rose bush coming up and she couldn't help wonder who was in charge of the place - it was simply beautiful!

"It's part of a mediation facility. Welcomes all types of aliens who just want to...relax."

"Well I'd love this place!"

"I thought you would. After a day like the one we've had…"

Renata slowly came to a stop and turned to face him. "You're not still thinking that I'm upset with you over what happened, right? I get what you were doing."

"I just...I don't like putting you in danger, Renée. I know you can take care of yourself but...if I can prevent it then I will."

Renata softly smiled at him. "Oh my Doctor, you are far too kind for a woman like me."

"You're too kind for a man like me." The Doctor sighed, making her smile fade.

"No," she said automatically. "And I will not discuss this any further. I don't want you to stop smiling because of me. It was an overall okay day," she said and because the Doctor knew she was just trying to cheer him up, he smiled at her again. "Got to visit the 20s again. Always a nice time period, if you know where to go."

"Hm, and just where was the past Renata during this time?" he curiously asked. "Speakeasies?"

Renata flushed with embarrassment. "Only a few-"

"Oh!" the Doctor's eyes widened with even more curiosity.

"Don't give me that look!" Renata laughed and let go of his hand to walk a bit ahead.

"Give me a break! It's hard picturing you of all people dancing in a speakeasy!"

Renata refused to look at him while he tried to picture those images. It was embarrassing enough but at least they were doing well again. "Oh, stop it! It wasn't all about the speakeasies. I personally loved the authors and cultural shifts the period had."

The Doctor playfully rolled her eyes. Of course she would prefer to focus on the more classical features of the 20s. "Like what?"

"Well, like...oh, I personally liked F. Scott Fitzgerald's work that started coming out," Renata smiled. "All the quotes that came out of his work were amazing. He was a trouble author, as was his wife, but his quotes always had this clear truth in them."

"Like what?" the Doctor walked alongside her now that she'd slowed her pace down.

Renata hummed and crossed her arms, thinking of the many quotes that she was fond of. After a few seconds, she decided on one even if it was truthfully bittersweet. "I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything..." She came to a slow stop and sighed lightly. "It's a sad line, you know? Love is beautiful but at the same time it can hurt you. And it has, on many occasions."

The Doctor could only silently agree. He'd been there himself of course. "And that's the line that spoke to you? Out of everything he ever wrote?"

Renata nodded. "Unfortunately."

It resonated with her because it was basically her story with the Doctor. The day she met him was the day everything began. She began to smile more, laugh more, be more spontaneous...she learned how to be a better version of herself who could have fun. It was the beginning of a wonderful, albeit rocky, story. He was such an impossible man even back then, making her 'think outside the box' and do the craziest of things. It was the beginning of her first and true love for someone. But at the same time, it was also the end of things, of several things. It was the end of her sanity - he drove her crazy almost every day with his shenanigans - and the end of any possibility of her ever being to love someone else with the same intensity she loved the Doctor with.

The Doctor stared at her while she got lost in thoughts. He was sure that something terrible once happened to Renata that made her like this. He had zero idea what it could've been but he wished it hadn't happened because Renata deserved to be happy. She shouldn't feel like she needed to hide things from her friends. He would never judge her, he just wished he could show her that, make her understand that he was right there.

Start with what you have, the little voice in his head scolded him. That's when he remembered the point of bringing Renata out in the first place. "Renée," he gently called to her so as to not scare her. She blinked out of her thoughts and listened to him. "I've, uh...I've been sort of working on something. Gabby helped with a few things, actually. I...I thought you might...you know..."

Renata followed and nodded at his hand gestures but he wasn't making much sense. "What is it?"

"Well, uh...it's..." the Doctor had to stop and exhale because otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep talking. He was super nervous all of a sudden and he had no reason to be. You decided to make it, now give it to her! The voice was right. "I've made something for you."

"Oh," Renata blinked with genuine surprise and perhaps a bit of curiosity. What could he have made for her?

"Yeah, um...hold on," the Doctor reached for one of his coat's inside pockets and pulled out a small rectangular box. "I-I thought - well, after the whole Monaxi thing, I thought you might benefit from one."

"Benefit from what?" Renata gingerly took the box from him.

"Open it." The Doctor intently watched her pull the lid off the box, his hearts possibly beating quicker when she gasped.

Renata's eyes had widened the moment she saw a golden white sonic screwdriver tucked inside the box. She looked up at the Doctor with the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile. "Is it...is it actually a...a sonic?" She looked like she wanted to laugh so the Doctor presumed she was liking the gift. "It's a sonic screwdriver!?"

"Yeah, um, I figured you might like one so that you can...you know, not have to use your balled fists?" the Doctor raised his own fists for show, making Renata laugh when she remembered how she wanted to take on the Monaxi even without a sonic and just her hands.

"Right," she brought her hand to her stomach while she laughed. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe you would do this for me!"

The Doctor loved seeing her face so bright with delight. She very rarely had these moments and he proud that he was responsible for her happiness right now.

"My own sonic screwdriver, ha!" Renata picked up the sonic from its box and studied it. It was similar to the Doctor's sonic only hers seemed to have a bit more width to it, and it had a clear tip that, once she flicked it on, shined a light golden unlike the Doctor's that shined blue. She laughed at the golden light. "My favorite colors!"

"Gabby's idea. She helped design the thing - loves to draw - and I worked on the, uh, well, the features." the Doctor said, smiling as she went through some of its basic features. "It's identical to mine in its working methods, just...with a few touches for you."

Renata's eyes twinkled with happy tears. I never deserved someone like you. She hurried over to hug him tightly. "Thank you so much! I love it!"

A total wave of relief washed over the Doctor when she said that. He hugged her tighter, letting himself breathe in her sweet perfume and natural scent. "I'm glad you like it."

"How could I not? It's wonderful and so are you!" Renata wrapped her arms around his neck and really took the moment to relish in it. Of course she then noticed the light gold glow on her right hand, reminding her that not all was well.

[having-a-freddie-time]

save me

summary: Y/N is trying her hardest to get out of an abusive relationship without telling anyone. However, she can’t always hide the bruises, especially from her best friend since childhood, Ben Hardy. Once he finds out, he tries his best to help her out without her getting hurt.

warnings: slight angst?, doctor talk, hospitals, cussing, lil bit of fluff. overall, nothing too bad.

a/n: i feel like four parts is a good buildup for the bomb to be dropped, right? i hope y'all enjoyed the last chapter. it was shorter than i anticipated but i think i got the point across?

word count: will put in later

•••••••••••••

Ben lied to the nurses at the nurse's station saying he was your fiance just so he could stay with you all night. Gwil, Lucy and occasionally Rami would stop by. Even Brian and Roger stopped by. When Ben was filming Bohemian Rhapsody, he snuck you onto set just so you could meet Brian and Roger. They instantly loved and adored you, which made them your grandpa figures. You'd joke with them and call them "gramps" or "papa".

On one particular day, you felt a wave of depression hit you hard. You loved having your friends visit you and all, but you still felt incomplete. Like there was something missing from you. You were on the road to recovery, yet you felt like something was still wrong.

Suddenly there was a soft knock at your door and in walked your neuro surgeon. He greeted you with a warm smile as he and his group of nurses walked in. It was a shame he wasn't Derek Shepherd. He was young, probably late late 20's early 30's. He was not bad looking at all, shiny dark brown hair, forest green eyes and the sweetest smile you'd ever seen. Sadly, he had a ring on his finger, which you respected.

"Good morning, Ms. Y/L/N. I just came in to remind you that you have a neuro checkup in a few hours. We're just going to get a CT to check the brain bleeds and how they're healing, then we're going to be asking you a series of questions. Otherwise, it's a pretty normal checkup."

He smiled sweetly and tapped away at the tablet in his hands. Nurses took your daily vitals, checked your incision sites and gave you your antibiotics to fight any infections that might appear. You had already gotten used to this daily routine that you could basically do it yourself, the nurse was just there to assist.

Ben had left to go get some breakfast for the both of you. The day you found out that you were finally allowed to eat solids, you begged Ben every morning to get you waffles from your favorite breakfast diner. You still ate the hospital food every now and then because it wasn't as shitty as people make it out to be. It wasn't like you were in some run down hospital, you were in the number one trauma center. They were number one for a reason.

Ever since you had gotten here, you felt safe and at home. Doctors and nurses treated you with such kindness that you were baffled. The staff always made sure you were comfortable and not in any pain. You tried your hardest not to be one of those pain in the ass patients. Nurses had told you horror stories of them having to deal with patients who had to stay as long as you had to. The craziest story you've heard was when a woman was here for five months and acted like she owned the hospital. You laughed and joked around with Anita on the daily. She was an older black nurse that had you laughing so hard you had tears. You made a mental note to send them gift baskets when you leave.

Although you had been pretty happy for a trauma patient, you had your depressing days. Days where Ben would just sit and watch you. He'd try to start a conversation but it was no point, you wouldn't even look at him. Doctors told him that it was completely normal for domestic abuse survivors to have these types of days and the only way to help is to just be there for them. You didn't argue when you were required to see the trauma therapist that they had there. He was a nice old man, very wise and really helped you realize so many things. You appreciated his quick wit and humor. He knew when to be serious and when to be a little goofy.

Ben came back into the room, setting your waffles down in front of you. You silently dug into the scrumptious breakfast before you and watched whatever was on the little flat screen before you. You had been moved to a more private room in the hospital. This area was more for big name people and since Ben was with you, you qualified for one. This private area kept paparazzi and unwanted people out. It wasn't much different from the other rooms, just more private.

"I have a neuro check up at 1 today, gonna get a CT and they're gonna ask me more questions." You mumbled before shoveling a piece of waffle, drenched in syrup and whipped cream into your mouth. Ben nodded as he ate bacon dipped in syrup.

"Did they say anything else about anything? Like if you would be released soon?"

You shook your head no and swallowed. They said it would take quite awhile for you to heal but you had been healing faster than anticipated.

"I think they just want to make sure I'm mentally and emotionally stable before they discharge me. Which I understand completely."

"You've been doing good with Dr. Smith?"

You nodded with a small smile lifting your lips. Ben mirrored the smile and continued to stuff his face with bacon and waffles. After about 15 minutes of the two of shoving your face with food, you were finished. Ben took your to go box and threw away, along with his stuff. You sat back into the bed, sighing softly and closing your eyes.

"I feel incomplete."

"What do you mean? You just ate."

"No not that way dummy!"

"Then what do you mean?"

"I miss my family. I wish they were here with me. Don't get me wrong, I love you and everything and you're the closest thing to family I've got but I want my mom and dad, and my brother. Now that Trevor is gone, I want to contact them."

"Then why don't you call them?"

"I'm too scared. I'm afraid they're angry with me and that they won't want to see me. I literally isolated myself from them for two years, Ben!" You exhaled and bit your lip. Your eyes dropped in sadness as you went into thought. You heard Ben move around then a second later he's laid up next to you.

He throws his arm lazily around you, carefully so he doesn't touch any of your incision sites and cuddles into you. You smile softly and melt into him. It wasn't uncommon for you and Ben to be cuddled with each other. Ever since kindergarten, you'd both take naps with each other. Your parents could have sworn that Ben was the long lost triplet you and your brother had.

Soon enough, you had both fallen asleep, light snores filling the silence that pierced your room.

▪▪▪▪▪

About 2 and half hours later you woke up to the sound of Anita knocking on your door. She walked in quietly, smiling at the sight before her. You nudged Ben to wake him up, it took him a second but he finally opened his eyes, rubbing them with his fists.

"Time to take you to your check up, hon. We'll be back soon."

You nodded and sat up, stretching your arms out. Ben transitioned from the bed to the chair, looking at you. You swung your legs over the bed and carefully stood up. Your balance has been a little off but it's a normal issue for you.

Ben held his arms out for you, in case you needed him. Anita walked over to you to move the metal rolling thing that had your I.V on it. Slowly you both walked to the wheelchair she had brought it. You plopped into the cushioned seat and situated yourself.

"I'll see you soon, Bear."

Ben nodded at you and brought his index and middle finger to his forehead, signing off to you. You giggled and mirrored his actions as Anita wheeled you out of the room.

As soon as Ben could see you were out of ear shot, he picked up his phone and made an important phone call. He bit his lip in anticipation, waiting for the person on the other line to pick up.

"Mrs. Y/L/N? It's Ben!"

•••••••••••

Finally you and Anita arrived to the CT machine. You stood up slowly while Anita situated your I.V. Dr. Peterson, your neurosurgeon, sat on the other side of the window, a welcoming smile on his lips.

"How you doing today, Y/N?" He asked into the microphone.

"I'm dog tired and wanna go home but otherwise pretty good. No headaches or anything. Vision is still a little bit fuzzy but we both know I need glasses." You said, giving him a thumbs up.

"That's good to hear. You ready to get started?"

You gave him another thumbs up as you laid down on the table. He nodded and pressed the button, which caused you to move backwards, your head going into the circle.

You sat there for about 5 minutes when you heard the speaker beep. The machine whirred and slowly brought you out of the machine. Dr. Peterson gave you a thumbs up, indicating that it was okay for you to leave.

Anita came in and quickly got you sat down and ready to go. You yawned and laid your head back on the chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Just meet me in the exam room, I'll go have get the results." Anita nodded and wheeled you into an exam room.

Once you got there, you sat down and waited patiently for him to come back with the results. You tapped your fingers against your thigh as Anita took your vitals and started a conversation with you.

"You know, cardio and general cleared you. All you need is to get cleared by neuro and psych. Then sometime in the next week or so, you'll be discharged."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! You've been here for nearly two months. Your wrist is healing perfectly, your incision sites are perfectly fine. Now all we need is for your emotions and your noggin to be cleared."

You giggled at her word choice and smiled. You couldn't wait to get out, as nice as it has been, you miss your bed. Dr. Peterson walked in with a huge smile on his face. You hoped it was a genuine and not fake.

"I think I have the best news you've heard all week."

"Tell me!"

"Well Ms. Y/L/N, your CT results are in..." He took a dramatic pause as if he was about to announce who just won an Oscar for best drama.

"Your brain bleed is completely healed, you're concussion free and your brain function is the best it could ever be!"

Your eyes lit up in excitement as you couldnt believe your ears. You stood up and instantly wrapped your arms around his neck, squeezing him so tightly. You released and gave him the biggest smile, then you turned to Anita and did the same, all the while laughing and cheering.

"I can't believe it! I'm gonna get discharged soon!"

The three of you cheered and hugged. You had just heard the best news you could ever hear. You couldn't wait to tell Ben and finally be able to leave. Without realizing it, you had tears streaming down your cheek. Not because you were sad, no, because you were so happy.

"I'm so happy. Not only because I'm getting discharged soon, but because when I leave this hospital, I will be a survivor of domestic abuse. I won't have to worry about having to cover up bruises and scars and cuts. He's gone. I'm free."

You sobbed with pure happiness. You never felt so happy in your entire life. Anita pulled you into a tight but careful hug. She was the closest person to a mother figured that you've had in awhile. She felt the same amount, if not more, happiness that you radiated.

Dr. Peterson couldn't help but tear up to. He had to admit, working on cases with domestic abuse victims, sexual assault victims or anything like that, really hit him hard. He was so honored to have helped her to the road of recovery.

After the three of you celebrated and cheered, you finally were headed back to your room. Today had been pretty long and exhausted, but it was all worth it in the end.

Soon enough, you approached your room. Anita wheeled you in, not realizing that there were more people in the room. You had your eyes closed as you yawned and stretched your body out, from your arms all the way down to your toes.

Suddenly, you had heard a familiar voice echo throughout the room.

"Y/N, my baby..."

"Mummy...?"

•••••••••••••

taglist: @benhardyisdaddy @monochromedeacon @queenbbarnes @haileylansley @shesakillerquueennn @onexlittlespark @zcars777 @kate-player @beatlezrcool @likeit-or-leaveit @mrsmazzello @caborhapch @jacqueline1916 @thegarbage-queen

perm taglist: @benhardyisdaddy @haileylansley @queenbbarnes @beatlezrcool

[crazynekochan]

Hospital AU! Kazuichi is signed into the hospital because of (condition of your choice) and he meets Gundam who is (either a doctor or patient, you choose). After some hostility, Kaz breaks down at the idea of going back home to his dad (who's even more pissed with how much he has to pay for his son's medication) and Gundam comforts him. This is the start of their relationship but what could you add to it?

This is going to be fun, considering that I work inside of a hospital and thus often spend my time daydreaming about Kazuichi and Gundham being inside of one

So now I’m going to spam a bit now x)

I would go with Kazuichi being a patient who ended up in hospital due to a working accident inside of the family’s bike workshop, that is partly his dad’s fault. Let’s say due to it Kaz needs minor surgery on his leg, rendering him immobile and of course unable to work for a while even after he gets out of the hospital

Gundham however is a nurse who has to take care of Kazuichi

Kazuichi’s stay at the hospital would be a train wreak of awkwardness and he will never for his life understand how he ended up with Gundham’s number when he was allowed to leave

Now imagine all the possibilities

Gundham comes in for the first time and like a good nurse, introduces himself to his patient. At least he tries to, because he is new, he is very shy and Kazuichi nearly chocked on his drink the moment he saw the breathtaking nurse and spilled everything onto himself. Good first impression

Later on when Gundham takes Kazuichi’s vitals and checks his pulse and heart rate, he is quite confused why it suddenly started getting higher and faster, while Kazuichi is having the most biggest gay panic ever because now that he was up close he was able to see just how fit and well trained the other is

Right after the surgery Kazuichi would be still a bit dazed from the anaesthetic and just start happily babbling just how handsome and cute Gundham is and that they should go on a date sometime, leaving Gundham extremely flustered and his colleague Sonia just giggles in the background. Within minutes the whole ward ships them

Kazuichi would suffer even more in heaven and hell at the same time, because he can’t really move on his own due to his injuries. Meaning to get out of bed into his wheelchair he needs Gundham to more or less lift him. Thus Kazuichi can always enjoy the sensation of being carried in Gundham’s strong arms

However Kazuichi also struggles with things like getting changed and washing himself. Meaning he does need help with these things. Gundham would try to be professional about it and ignore how cute the other is, while Kazuichi is so highly awkward at having a way too hot looking guy, having to undress him and more or less touch him while he is completely undressed. No matter how aware he is that this isn’t weird at all but totally normal, tell it his very embarrassed and gay brain. His mouth should also maybe need to get the message, because it’s not the best time to very awkwardly and badly flirt with the guy who is currently busy with washing you

Now this is the point that leads to the drama

(This is based of my hc that Gundham’s dad was a piece of shit to his mum before she left him and took Gundham, which also involved a few times where his dad hit his mum) While either helping Kazuichi wash himself or getting changed, he notices that some of the wounds and injuries the other has can’t be from he accident at the workshop. The position and how they look like just doesn’t fit at all, and Gundham has to think about how his mother sometimes looked like when he was a young child. This leads to him having suspicions about something being wrong

When he first meets Kazuichi’s father he is able to notice the very faint scent of alcohol on him, however since he doesn’t seem to be drunk he has to let him through. However he does notice that the father only stays as long as it took him to find out when Kazuichi can work again, which led the man in an obvious sour mood, while Kaz himself was very tense and looked almost like a child who was caught doing something naughty and knew they would be in trouble now. However he doesn’t say anything yet, because Kazuichi quickly changed the topic completely

Over Kazuichi’s recovery his father very rarely visited and it seemed more like something mandatory, and every time this very faint scent of alcohol followed him. But aside from these Kazuichi was always in a good mood when he got to talk to Gundham, even if he still is extremely awkward about it. Not that Gundham is any better mind that. Like literally everyone is aware about how attracted they are to each other, including Kazuichi’s friends that visit him every day and decided to find out more about Gundham

Everything is fine and nice the whole time and Kazuichi and Gundham get quite close. At least as close as a nurse can get with his patient, that is. However when one day the doctor comes out Kaz’s room with a smile after telling him that his leg was fine and he was good to go on the next day and should be able to work again in 2 weeks or so of resting

Let’s say Gundham has night shift that day and when he hears about Kaz being able to leave the next day he is a bit bummed out. He really likes Kaz, but he is too shy to really do anything and as soon as Kaz leaves he might never see him again. Though Sonia keeps on insisting that he should give Kaz his numberDuring his night shift Gundham ever so often checks up on the patients as he should and while passing Kazuichi’s room in the completely silent ward he is able to pick up the very faint sound of crying and what seems to be hyperventilating. He of course would quickly go into the room and check what has happened, which is where he finds Kazuichi sitting in bed, crying and shivering while being in the middle of a panic attack. Gundham would go to him immediately and check up on him and try to find out what is wrong, while Kazuichi just clings onto him and begs him to not let him go back home, because his dad would kill him for missing out on work for even longer than he already did and also when he sees the bill for the medications

This would of course be the conformation for Gundham that Kazuichi was indeed being abused by his father. He would stay with him and calm him, while trying to figure out an effective solution for this problem, mainly where Kaz can stay while Sonia’s girlfriend Kyoko (who is still a detective in this AU) investigates the case of child/domestic abuse

In the end they would of course be able to help Kaz, no questions there, and Kazuichi just smile with glee at having Gundham’s number and being able to ask him out and date him

(This is more than I expected

But as I said, I spend a lot of time daydreaming about them in hospital AUs. I have a few more scenarios with them in a hospital, like Gundham being the patient and Kaz the nurse or both being doctors in training/nurses, but it’s getting late here and I need to work tomorrow. So I’m off for now ♥)

[ageless-aislynn]

Title: “Conditioned” Author:  @ageless-aislynn​ Characters/fandom: Caitlin Snow/Harrison Wells|Eobard Thawne (ReverseSnow), The Flash Summary: Caitlin just wants to wash her hair. For Snowells Week 2019, Day 1, prompt: Time Loop Rating:  PG Length:   1,698 Spoilers/warnings: None Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! ;) A/N: Yay, another Snowells Week, one of my favorite times of the year when I get to legit make time to spend with Caitlin and Eobard, lol! \o/ I love writing them so much. They're my happy place, what can I say? :D (And right now, I'm writing this in the literal middle of house repairs, where sawing is going on on all sides of me, so I definitely needed my happy place! O_O ) If you read, I hope you enjoy! :D ♥

As soon as she stepped into the shower, Caitlin spotted the upside-down bottle of conditioner, signaling it was empty, and groaned softly in frustration. She'd forgotten to replace it after her last shower.

Maybe I have an extra under the sink? she thought hopefully, taking the bottle with her.

Padding unselfconsciously naked in front of the open doorway into her bedroom, she tossed the bottle into the small trash can then bent to rummage with decreasing hope beneath the sink.

I can't believe I forgot to buy conditioner. Well, I'm going to have to just deal with a bad hair day, I suppose, she mused, making her way back.

As soon as she stepped into the shower, Caitlin spotted the upside-down bottle of conditioner, signaling it was empty, and groaned softly in frustration. She'd forgotten to replace it after her last shower.

Maybe I have an extra under the sink? she thought hopefully, taking the bottle with her.

Padding unselfconsciously naked in front of the open doorway into her bedroom, she tossed the bottle into the small trash can then bent to rummage with decreasing hope beneath the sink.

I can't believe I forgot to buy conditioner. Well, I'm going to have to just deal with a bad hair day, I suppose, she mused, making her way back.

As soon as she stepped into the shower, Caitlin spotted the upside-down bottle of conditioner, signaling that it was empty, and groaned softly in frustration. She'd forgotten to replace it after her last shower.

Maybe I have an extra under the sink? she thought hopefully, taking the empty bottle with her.

Padding naked in front of the doorway, she paused, feeling inexplicably like she wasn't alone. She grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it around herself before walking to the doorway.

"Is anybody there?" she asked but when she tried to peer into the other room, an unseen force prevented any part of her from going through. Even the empty bottle in her hand came to a sudden stop as if there were a thick pane of pane of glass blocking the way.

There came the familiar sound of a speedster in motion and she sighed in relief, opening her mouth to call Barry's name.

As soon as she stepped into the shower, Caitlin spotted the upside-down bottle of conditioner. "What the--?" she muttered, snatching up the empty bottle and stepping out of the shower without intending to, as if her body was moving on automatic.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of a predicament, haven't you, Dr. Snow?"

The distorted voice made her shriek and she instinctively pitched the bottle at the man in the yellow suit lounging in her bathroom doorway. It hit an invisible barrier and clattered noisily to the floor.

She grabbed a towel and hastily tucked it around herself. "What are you doing here?"

Despite his blurred face, his grin was evident. "When you're sensitive to the Speed Force, you feel any sort of time disruption like an itch you can't scratch. Thought I'd see what was going on."

"Nothing that's any of your business," she snapped, picking up the conditioner and throwing it in the trash.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Oh, well, if you're enjoying being in a time loop, who am I to interrupt?"

As soon as she stepped into the shower, Caitlin stumbled to a halt with a muttered curse, though wasn't able to keep from picking up the empty conditioner bottle. She quickly wrapped a towel around herself as she stepped out of the shower and glowered at the man smiling at her.

"This isn't funny," she said, throwing the bottle in the trash can hard enough it bounced back out onto the floor. She left it.

"No, this is actually Trattenburg's Theory but with accelerated tachyons, isn't it?" His tone became wistful as he stopped vibrating. "We were going to try this one together."

He had a lot of nerve sounding hurt. "It's not like I..." she scrambled for an appropriate metaphor "...binge-watched a series without you. You've deceived me -- us -- for years. You're evil. I don't owe you anything."

His blue eyes looked surprisingly sad in his mask now that they had stopped glowing red. "Loop," he said softly.

"What?" she was saying as she stepped into the shower. Without pausing, she grabbed the empty bottle and donned the towel again.

"So, do you know how to break a time loop?" she asked, swiftly introducing the bottle to the trash can.

His melancholy demeanor faded. Good, the last thing she needed right now was the Reverse Flash moping because she'd hurt his feelings.

"It's simple with the right ingredients."

"Which are?"

He removed his gloves with twin flourishes. "You need physical contact with someone outside of the loop," he said, pulling back his mask and ruffling his hair.

"Excuse me?" she said flatly.

He shrugged. "I don't make the rules." He walked deliberately through the barrier in the doorway as soon as she stepped into the shower.

She growled. Bottle, towel, trash can, in quick succession until she stood before him with her hands on her hips. The towel slipped and she hastily tucked it around herself again.

He gazed back, unfazed by her thunderous expression. "You can always think about it for a few more cycles of the loop," he offered. "Might be interesting to see how far you can stretch it, how inevitable some things are and how malleable others can be made to--"

She made her choice in a rush, not wanting to have to wash, rinse, repeat yet again. And maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of worry that if she thought about it too much, she'd never get the nerve to do it.

Striding forward, she reached up and pulled him down to her level, kissing him squarely on the mouth. He went still, surprised, and that made her falter back.

"Fascinating that your mind went straight to here," he murmured, his gaze heavy-lidded. "Just a hand-clasp would've sufficed."

Her cheeks burned scarlet. "Then what was all... that about?" She gave a vague flutter of her fingers at where he'd been standing a few moments ago.

"Theatricality. You know I have more than a little tendency to be overly dramatic." His eyes were going from hers to her mouth and back again. When he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, she instinctively leaned into his hand. He smiled.

"I'm also an opportunist," he continued and the next thing she knew, he'd picked her up around the waist and was kissing her with the kind of enthusiasm she'd only ever seen him have for amazing scientific breakthroughs.

He walked them backwards through the doorway into the bedroom and her ears popped as if she'd changed altitude.

"That break the time loop?" she muttered and he leaned back, looking thoughtful.

"Yep," he proclaimed, hopping her up onto her dresser and resuming the kiss.

She put her hands up -- surely to push him away, right? Reverse Flash, evil guy who'd impersonated her friend and mentor for all these years? No, she couldn't possibly be kissing him back and putting her hands in his hair and there was no way that she had her legs hooked over his hips because that would just be ridiculous, now, wouldn't it? It had to just be because he looked so familiar--

 --though he'd been "confined" to a wheelchair for years now and she hadn't seen him standing in a long while and certainly not while wearing such an infamous yellow outfit--

--it was just triggering some ingrained, conditioned response--

--not that in all this time they'd ever been more than colleagues, had they? Things had always been professional between them, no matter how many times thoughts to the contrary had tried to creep in. He'd been Harrison Wells, her boss, and there were lines that she could not cross with him--

--but he wasn't really Harrison Wells and, for the first time, she realized that that meant the restrictions she'd mentally put on him as Harrison Wells no longer applied. And he was a really good kisser--

 --one might even say exceptional, even--

--and there was a small part of herself that seemed to be thawing--

 --or freezing over into a brand new configuration--

--and things that didn't seem possible before now seemed very possible, indeed.

He broke the kiss with a sigh, leaning his forehead against hers. "Seems that someone has finally tardily tracked down the source of the time loop. You ever want to try Trattenburg's Theory again, give me a call."

He presented an actual business card printed on ridiculously high card stock with a phone number on it and no name.

"You're giving me your card?" she asked, arching a brow.

He grinned broadly. "Be interesting to see if you turn it over to the rest of Team Flash to try and track me down or if you keep it to yourself, hm?" His eyebrows waggled, then he rather impishly kissed the tip of her nose. "See you around, Dr. Snow. Oh and by the way, you've lost your towel."

"Wha--? Oh!" She slid down from the dresser to retrieve the towel from where it had puddled to the floor at some point -- How did I not notice that? -- and hastily tied it around herself once more. By the time she looked up again, he was gone.

Almost immediately, her doorbell rang and she opened the door to find Barry in his Flash suit.

"Cait, you okay? There was some weird thing going on with the Speed Force and Cisco and I finally pinpointed it to here."

"Yeah, um, let me just get dressed and I'll tell you about it," she said, inviting him in.

"Oh, and is this yours? It was on your doorstep..."

He held up a new bottle of conditioner -- her brand, but of course -- and she had to bite her lip to hold down a smile she couldn't explain.

"Yeah, that's mine," she confirmed and when she went to put it up, she also took the opportunity to hide the business card.

[poppyknitt]

The Doctor’s Choice, an Evil Schneep AU

chapter 2 (part 2/3)

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TWS: Strangulation, brutal violence, smoking mention, self-harm allusion

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Six years. It’d been Six years. Six years, waiting hopelessly for their hero to return. Marvin was sick of this. He had to figure out what happened, especially now that Seán was in the hospital, recovering from that damn demon’s attempt to kill him. Or, so Henrik had told him. So far, Henrik had refused to let anyone visit him, claiming it would be too scarring to their mental health at the moment. He believed him, since he knew it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

… He’d have to start a journal to keep track of his findings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

14-02-XX

(31-10-16 our time)

Entry no. 1

Jack’s in the hospital. Jackie’s still missing. Henrik refuses to talk about either, unless he’s saying I’m not allowed to visit Jack. I don’t trust this. But I have to play my cards as though I’m oblivious until I’m sure that my current theory is correct.

God, I hope it isn’t… I don’t want to have to get into an argument with Henrik. That could ruin our friendship… And it’s already lonely enough, with he and I being the only egos in the house…

I think I’m more terrified of what might happen to me if I have to encounter Anti than anything else. I’m not prepared for that. I barely even know anything about him.

… this would all be so much easier if Jackie was still here… but he’s not. He probably doesn’t even know who Anti is.

Damn it, I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’m gonna have to sign off here, before I waste ten pages on random, panicked gibberish.

~Sincerely, Marvin Reed

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…

....

(~03-11-16 our time)

Marvin stood before Henrik, his expression full of fury and hatred.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“Oh? Whatever do you mean by that, kleiner spatz? Have I done something wrong?”

“No! Don’t you fucking dare play stupid, you sick fucking bastard! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU FUCKING DID TO JACKIE AND SEÁN!” He yelled, already feeling his voice starting to die from how loud he screamed. That fucking bastard-! He fucking- He knew what he did! He fucking kidnapped Seán and Jackie! He knew he did! He never even tried to fucking hide it! If only Marvin figured it out sooner, maybe… Maybe he could’ve saved Seán… He didn’t even know what he’d done to either of them. He just knew he took them from him. He took his friends. He took them. It was all his fault! Marvin finally had something worth living for in life, and Henrik fucking took them from him! He was going to kill him! He didn’t care what it took. He had to kill Henrik. He- He had to make him regret ever being born! His crimes couldn’t go unpunished! He had to avenge his friends!

“... I see.” Something changed in the doctor’s expression and tone. Something seemed to click. He didn’t know. There was just… an unsettlingly dark undertone to the doctor’s act now.

Before he could process what was happening, a fist slammed into his mask, almost breaking it. He could feel its edges rip into his face, breaking a few bones in the process. He stumbled back, hand flying to his face, as he stared down for a moment or two with a horrified look on his face. As soon as blood began to leak down from the places where it tore into his flesh, he looked up at Henrik, not even flinching or blinking as a few trickles of blood began to run over his eyes.

He gritted his teeth in anger, and summoned his magic. “You stupid piece of shit-! I’ll fucking kill you for what you’ve done!” He spat, and went to tackle Henrik in a fit of pure rage as all the evidence he’d gathered flooded back into his mind at once.

… And yet… nothing happened. At least, not until he registered the immense pain erupting through his gut, as he felt the doctor literally force his fucking hand through the magician’s abdomen. He made a strangled, desperate gasp for air, eyes wider than the full moon during the time of year where the moon is closest to the earth. There was no weapon needed. No knife. No dagger. Nothing. He just ripped through Marvin’s liver with his bare hands.

Schneep removed his hand from his abdomen, and Marvin stumbled back once more, only to be caught by the throat. The doctor held him up, his hands wrapped tight enough around the magician’s throat to cut off his air flow. He felt his energy draining, as the doctor’s cold, emotionless glare bore into him, and as he effortlessly strangled him.

His vision slowly went black, his mind numb and body screaming at him to breathe until the very last split second before he fell unconscious.

…

….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(~17-11-16 our time)

Red. So much red. Everything hurts. I don’t know where I am. I can hear Jackie sobbing in one of the cells on the other side of the hall, but he’s too far away to see him. I tried calling out to him one time, once I was sure he would be able to respond, but all i heard was a really quiet and weak “no”... I don’t think he knew Schneep got me, too… I… should’ve stayed quiet… He probably blames himself for this now. It’s all my fault, isn’t it?

Jackie… Jackie called out to me. I don’t even know how to respond…. I yelled back to him. He started sobbing again. He… He asked if it’s really me. Of course, I had to answer…

He broke down, I can’t see him, but I know if I could, I would break, too. I don’t think I could stand to see my best friend so broken… He’s been here for years… Who knows what Schneep’s done to him… God I hate this… He’s just sobbing and saying I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t have to suffer like him, he should’ve been there to stop him from taking me… I kept trying to tell him he isn’t responsible to protect me from my mistakes. He won’t listen. I don’t know what to do…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…

….

…..

Marvin woke up, and immediately froze. He was… home. In his bed. He… how..? He could have sworn he was chained up in a cell just last night…

… No, wait… last night… was another experiment… Probably the worst yet… He could swear he felt himself begin dying towards the end… Sure, he wasn’t totally unfamiliar with that feeling anymore, but… Before, it was put to an end. This time the doc decided to let him die…

He sighed heavily, and cleared his head, so he could actually process the world around him. He pushed himself up, but froze, as searing pain ripped through his body. Right. Perpetuated pain. He forgot about that, especially after the self-inflicted cigarette burns that littered his left wrist had stopped hurting a while ago. God, he hadn’t had a smoke in who knows how long… How the hell did he survive that? Eh, whatever. It didn’t matter.

Not wanting to make it any worse for any longer, he let himself fall back onto his mattress.

“Alright, Marv, yeh old fuckin’ sack’a potatoes, how th’ fuckin’ hell d’ya plan teh get ye’self outta ‘is one?” He asked himself out loud, not really caring to mask his accent like he normally did, since he was entirely alone right now, “Ay, no, that won’t work, yeh fuckin’ idiot, yeh’ll still be in pain if yeh use crutches or a wheelchair. Yeh can’ even sit up without havin’ yer nerves screamin’ at’cheh.”

He sighed shakily, and raised his hands to cup around his face in annoyance. Then, something occurred to him.

He remembered the fans all getting excited back before Hen got to him. Something about this new channel, some guy calling himself “Bro Average”, who happened to look a hell of a lot like the egos, and more specifically, Sean himself. He looked over to the nightstand, where he’d left his phone, and shakily lifted his arm, picking it up and unlocking it.

Chase.

Chase Brody was the guy’s name, and. as he thought, he was definitely an ego.

He knew what he had to do. As soon as he was healed enough to move, he would find the perfect opportunity to introduce himself to the new guy.

He was so relieved.

So happy.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

He wouldn’t have to do this all on his own anymore.

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AH HECK, i forgot to update yesterday, sorry guys!

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