#clarke: you were also a teen mom please help me

[cas-skz]

FIREWORKS

Your mom decides to throw a New Years Eve party, and eagerly introduces you to her friends son. You and Changbin pop off into a new year and a new friendship.

18+ MDNI!!! plz&thnx

WARNINGS/SUMMARY: *Michael Scott voice* SEX, unprotected sex (wrap ya dingaling) oral (m to f), big peen probs (momentarily), basically kinda cute fluff into the naughty yanno

yapyapyap sorry if the spacing is weird on this, I’m on my phone posting rn but will fix later. real question I have some real wild stuff in my drafts and if u dare me I’ll post it ok. Also Jac didn’t proof read so expect errrors in grammar and spelling ok thanku

cas xx

“Mooooom, why the help would you invite him?! You exclaimed dramatically as your fingers curled a slice of meat for the charcuterie board you were working on. “Hey, his mother is a good friend of mine and you said it yourself you find him attractive.” She laughed, moving around the kitchen area setting things up for your New Years Eve party. It was the first time you’d been home for the holidays in almost 3 years, and your mom had been raving on about her friends son for at least 1.5 of them. People started arriving around 9:30pm, but you were still hid out in your room touching up your makeup. Since it wasn’t a giant party, you decided to dress casually cute and do simple make up.

“Y/N!! Can you come down, please?” You heard your mom yell. A soft groan passed through your lips as you shoved your Ugg’s on, checking yourself once over in the mirror. Your sweater was far too baggy, but it was a vintage plaid and looked really cute with your black leggings. You skipped down the stairs, a small smile in your lips as your mom stood at the bottom, accompanied by a friend and her son. Giving a small wave, you stopped at the bottom of the stairs as your mom did introductions. “And Y/N, this is Changbin. Evelyn’s son I was telling you about.” You couldn’t help but laugh when your mom gave him a nudge, “You’re so embarrassing sometimes.” You smiled, rolling your eyes jokingly. She had always been like this, and you learned to accept it finally.

Around 10:30 the party was in full swing, mainly your parents friends mingling and chatting in the kitchen, while your little brother had a group of friends gaming in the basement. You had taken to the living room with your glass of wine, watching Dick Clark’s Rockin New Years Eve on tv. “Can I get you a refill?” You heard a male ask, turning slightly to see Changbin with a fresh bottle of wine and a glass in hand. “Please and thank you.” You smile, holding your glass up for him to pour into. He joined you in the couch, and your eyes gazed over him for a long moment. You’d only seen him in pictures but in person, he was way more attractive than you expected. Before he catch you looking, your eyes shot to the tv as Miley Cyrus came on. “She looks so different now.” You commented, taking a long sip of wine as you felt your face turn red.

After chatting for a bit and letting the wine settle in, you and Changbin joined the parents in the kitchen as New Years approached. Your dad had forced you into a game of flip cup, pinning you against Changbin, who you easily beat. He threw you a little smirk, “I’ll get you next time.”

The players had switched, and you stood in the kitchen looking out into the house as the group cheered each other on. Your hand gripped the wine glass, taking a sip as you noticed Changbin starting to walk towards you. “IT’S ALMOST MIDNIGHT.” You heard your brother scream as he and he friends came running up the stairs. “He- HEY, watch yourself dork!” You yelled at your brother as he knocked past you, pushing you directly into Changbin’s large and firm chest. His arms wrapped around you, as the rest of the teens ran by, before he looked down at you. “All good?” He chuckled. You nod, fixing your hair a bit and regaining yourself, laughing shyly as you patted Changbin on the chest. “Yes. Just remind me to trip him or something later.” You laughed.

“Oh, look who’s under the mistletoe.” Your mom said from the dining room, as a wave of giggling started between her and Changbin’s mom. Your eyes glanced up, confirming it was in fact above your heads. Changbin’s hands were rested on your hips, and he gave you a small squeeze before a shy chuckle escaped his lips. “Do- uh. Should we?” He stumbled over his words, which made you blush. “Yes we should.” You say, leaning up on your tippy toes as he leaned down for his lips to meet yours. The butterflies it gave you were unexpected, but the alcohol in your system had you craving for more.

You pulled away once the whole house burst into cheers, shyly hiding yourself in your hands. Thankfully, the count down to New Years took the attention away from the two of you. Turning your attention back to Changbin, his hands squeezed your sides once again, this time pulling you a little closer to him. You didn’t mind, and let your hand rest against his chest. “New years kiss?” He asked, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

The countdown from 10 has started in the background, and you slowly nodded as one of his hands moved up your body to cup your cheek. As the clock struck midnight, his lips met yours, kissing you deeply. Your stomach did flips as you kissed back, leaning into him slightly. The alcohol was definitely having an effect on you and you weren’t sure if Changbin was feeling the same or just had plans of his own. With everyone distracted, and your little make out session quickly heating up. His lips were addicting in a way. How they moved against yours, how perfectly soft they were.

You broke the kiss, but kept yourself close so he could hear you over the crowd. “Do you wanna get some air?” You question, biting your lip gently. Changbin nods, taking your hand and quickly heading towards the backdoor. You took one last glance inside, thanking god no one had spotted you slipping out. You pointed him towards the pool house, which your parents had turned into a tiny hang out for your brother to smoke in.

Fireworks has started in the front of the house while you and Changbin quickly entered the hangout, locking the door behind you. Changbin was quick to pin you against the door, his lips finding yours again, rougher and sloppier kisses being shared. His hand found its way under your sweater, resting on your ribs for a moment as his lips moved to your neck. He placed a few gentle kisses, nipping at your skin before speaking into your ear. “Do you want to do this? I just want to make sure we’re both consenting.”

You lifted his head to look into his eyes before placing another deep kiss on his lips. “You have no idea how hot it is when a guy asks first.” You smiled. “Gotta be a gentlemen, even when you’re drunk.” He laughed, returning his lips to yours as his hand worked to unclasp your bra. His hand moved back to your breast, cupping it as his fingers twisted and played with your nipple. You ran your hand over the bulge in his pants before tugging his belt off, working your fingers to undo the buttons and zipper.

Changbin’s arms quickly swooped you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. You tossed your sweater and bra aside, which sent a small shiver up your spine. Changbin carried you over to the couch, laying you down as he hovered over you. “I feel like a teenager.” You giggled, finger tips running along his muscular chest, down along his abs. “Sneaking around behind our parents backs.” Your fingers worked backed to his pants, pulling his lower half closer to yours. “We’re never telling our moms about this, right?” He questioned. You couldn’t help but laugh, using a finger to motion for him to come closer. You softly pressed your lips to his, “never”

Your fingers tangled into Chanhbin’s curls are his tongue slid quickly along your clit, “You taste so fucking good.” He moaned against you, sliding a single finger into your entrance. A small gasp escaped your lips when his finger started to move slowly, “Fuck-feels so good.” You moaned, your head falling back. A second finger slipped inside you as his lips met your jaw line, working their way up your neck before finding your lips. Changbin’s kisses had softened, each one sending tingles down your spine. His fingers slowly slid out and be brought them up to your mouth, pressing them gently into your lips before you sucked them slowly.

The tip of his cock pushed slowly at your entrance, teasing away but also trying to fit his size. “Might be a little too big.” He half laughed, biting his lip gently as he tried to push in. “I can handle it.” You whisper, your fingers moving to rub slow circles onto your clit. Using his thumb to guide his cock, he slowly pushed inside you, barely able to use his full length. You both moaned in unison as he slowly thrusted, each one allowing him to push deeper inside. “I’m gonna cum” you moan, letting your fingers settled as your walls started to contract. Changbin’s hips started to rock faster as you climaxed, your thighs gripping onto him as your body twitched. You pulled him close, kissing his lips roughly as you felt your body relax slightly, allowing Changbin’s thrusts to bottom out. Your walls were clenched tight around his cock, every stoke hitting perfectly.

Changbin quickly pulled out, gently taking you by the wrists to pull you gently off the couch, where he took a seat. You bent down quickly, your hand moving slowly around his shaft as your lips found the lip, placing kisses upon the bright pink tip. You sucked softly, just taking the tip into your mouth as your hand moved slowly. You placed kisses along his length before making back up and straddling his waist, using your hand to guide his cock to your entrance. You slowly eased yourself onto him, letting your hand rest on his firm abs as you slowly rode his cock, quiet curses escaping his lips as his hand slapped gently against your ass. The second round of fireworks started to ring out as your hips moved faster, wetness dripping down as you hid your face in his neck, unable to control your moans.

Changbin’s lips sucked at your neck as your legs started to shake, another climax hitting. You let your body rest on his lap, moving your lips back to his as your walls continued to contracts against his cock. “You feel so good.” He moaned, “I don’t think I’ll last much longer.” He laughed, pecking his lips into yours. His hands moved to your hips, grinding your them down into his. It didn’t take long before you came again, your walls tightening around his cock.

Your lips moved to his neck, sucking hungrily at his skin, “please cum for me.” You moaned in his ear as your hips picked up speed a bit. You leaned back a bit, looking at Changbin as you rode, smiling drunkenly at him as his hands ran over your body. He cursed quietly as his head rested on the back of the couch.

Your hands rested on both sides of his neck, pulling his head back so you could see him. His cock started to twitch inside you as his hands grabbed your hips, slamming you down onto him as his load shot deeply into you. Changbin pulled your lips to his, kissing you deeply as his hips bucked into yours before settling. You let you head fall onto his shoulder, trying to calm your breathing. “What are the odds we can sneak back to my place?” Changbin questioned with a smirk.

[gyubby99]

@disneyanddisneyships so..

Judith Hartfelt headcanons (how she is in hell)

First off I wanna say again that she is the literal opposite of how she is in heaven. Like literally she died a fetus in canon. In hell au she's a little gremlin who likes setting things on fire (judith: just like dad :D)

Alastor has spanked her because duh he's old-fashioned.

She takes ballet lessons from her mom

Despite being in hell her parents and everyone around her was determined to keep her innocence as a child.

Let's pretend she can grow up. Please. I would love that-

Lucifer gave her rubber ducks :D

Charlie is like the best auntie ever! I imagine charlie and aponi having a sister bond of some sort and i would rlly love to see that. She's 100% the backup parent sometimes.

Judith has messed with Vaggie's spear collection one time and then Vaggie found out some were missing. Cue Judith running around with a spear.

Judith helps Niffty clean the hotel. She's a great helper!

Regarding Vaggie's spear, Judith went up to her parents like, "mom, dad! I stole aunt vaggie's knife stick!"

Angel Dust adores her. He becomes the opposite of the personality he's known for when she's around. He would act so wholesome you'd think something posessed him even for a demon.

Mr. Fluffy, keekee, and fat nuggets are her best friends!! She dresses them up in cute little costumes and Angie and Charlie are fine with it.

Whenever Judith wants to play tea party, Alastor alters everyone's outfits into fancy princess ones and summons a big rounded table with kettles and teapots and stuff.

Pretend she can grow up-- but Vaggie in my opinion helped her the most with teenage stuff.. like.. hormones and everything. Like Judith goes moody teen mode and Vaggie would know what to do/say.

Lilith doesn't see her very often, but will help Aponi and Alastor to take care of Judith when she can. Like.. when Judith was a baby she would teach them both how to change diapers. She would sigh and facepalm whenever they do it all wrong.

Lilith: Alastor, you don't hold her like that.

Alastor, holding baby Judith like he would a bag of groceries: ?

Husk doesn't like being pet AT ALL just because he's a cat, but Judith is an exception.

Lucifer takes her to Lu Lu World when he has the time.

Everyone. Everyone in the hotel thinks Judith is just an innocent lil baby. Too pure for hell.

Spoiler alert: They were wrong.

BEE-LZEBUB SPOILS HER WITH SWEETS!!!!! I REPEAT, BEE-LZEBUB SPOILS HER WITH SWEETS!!!

Bee: You don't need to blackmail other kids when you can have the whole stack! Go ahead! Take as many as you want, cause your auntie bee's got it all for ya, hon!

Judith is great friends with Clark! Please- if you're going to canonize a headcanon-

Aella takes Clark to the hotel to hang out with Judith since sinners can't travel through the seven rings and they're stuck in the pride ring. Also given thag the I.M.P building is at Pride and Aella's often with Clark more than N*cholas, I gotta say he and Judy made friends.

Striker: ...you want a beer?

Aella: SHE'S 4!

Striker: I DONT KNOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HER-

I'm just going to say that Judy was from an orpahanage because fetuses cant sin obviously. And hellborn demons can grow up.

Since Judith may be a hellborn demon she can travel through different rings. So she may have possibly visited clark in wrath.. if aella ever lives in wrath. Idk.

Judith HAS played with Vark. I think Mal took him under her wing for a moment because Vox had been a bit busy, and somehow she came across Judy. Dw. Mal told him to be a nice shark.

Mallory is canonly a thief. Past life and afterlife. So i can imagine her sneaking in shit to Judith like the candy her classmate refused to give her

I think Valentino tried kidnapping her once without even VOX himself knowing. Note: tried.

Val: Come with me, I have lots of candies in my house.

Judith, lying: I'm diabetic.

Linda watches Alaponi spending time with Judith from afar, and she just gets livid. She thinks of her own daughter, her own family, and just.. loses her mind.

Linda tries kidnapping Judith also, saying that if she cant have a daughter then aponi also cant.

Aponi feels bad for raising Judith in a place full of.. murder.. and assault.. and sin.

Judith likes to pick on her teacher she almost got expelled.

Vox doesn't care much, until he found out Mal and Aponi signed him up as a godfather.

Vox: Will you stop whining if I play videos on my screen?

Tv man secretly finds goddaughter cute. Tv man secretly wants to protecc lil girl.

Becca and Judith get along swell

Mal was never a fan of kids at all, but holy hell. When she sees that girl.. You know that "menace who stab ppl" persona? Gone.

Mal: you got GROUNDED? For what? A silly prank at school?

The silly prank in question: made her classmates gather around in a piñata only to find that it's full of spiders.

Teacher: She got into a fight.

Aponi: I'm so sorry for that! We'll talk to her right now!

Alastor: did she win?

Teacher: yes.

Alastor: That's my little fawn!

Furcalor doesnt see her that much but definitely adores her.

Stolas: Via, look! It's Judith! Say hi! ☺

Via: um.. hi?

Stolas: they will be great friends!

Charlie braids Judith's hair

If there's a bow on Alastor's tail.. you know who the culprit is.

Judith pronounced the bible 'bibble' once.

Angel would swear around her, and Aponi would give a death glare

Bee would constantly ask about judy in their saturday beelzejuice hangouts

Verosika, to Aponi: you know.. she's way too cute to be yours.

[yorksunited]

“granny?” clarke stood at wendy’s door and shifted her feet. “i have a problem.”   // @borrowedhappiness​ didn’t ask but clarke loves wendy

[the-broken-truth]

Omg what if the guardian bruce found for diana and Clark's kid was none other then selina kyle. Imagine how mad they would be.

Broken (Raises an eyebrow): Interesting Idea...and I can see something like that happening. Let the words weave together!!

SUBTITLE: "A THIEF'S KITTEN"

[WHEN DIANA FOUND OUT]

Diana was the first the find out - she personally trailed [Reader] after they left the school campus and followed them to their Guardian's Home; today was the day [Reader] and their guardian was going to go house hunting for the teen after [Reader] saved up enough money from their part-time job, plus an allowance their guardian gave them.

Imagine Diana's shock when the door to the apartment complex opened and [Reader] walked out with a familiar face beside them - Selina Kyle a.k.a Catwoman - one of Gotham's Worst Criminals, who also happened to be romanticly involved with the Dark Knight.

'Bruce gave my child to a thief?! [Reader] has been raised and trained by her - the kind of person the League is supposed to lock up?!' - The Princess of the Amazons roared in her head. She watched to two of them walk down the street while [Reader] looked at a small list in their hands while speaking to Selina about close apartments and lofts near the school and work.

"I still don't like that my little kitten is leaving the nest so soon but I understand you wanting to have your own space and live." Selina said as she ruffled [Reader]'s head of black hair, "Just let mommy know If you need any money - she'll give you whatever you need." - Selina smiled at the pouting teen.

"Mom, I love you but I can take care of myself; thanks for the offer though." - [Reader] said as the two of them kept walking.

'They...called her...Mom...' - Diana clenched her fist before standing to her feet and darted in the direction of Wayne Manor.

The Dark Knight was lurking around the Batcave - Nightwing & Robin training in the background - when the sensors stating that someone had entered the cave when off; everyone watched at the Heiress of Themyscira came flying into the room with a glare in her blue eyes.

"Diana, is there something I can help you with?" - Bruce questioned as he rose from his seat and walked over to her.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Bruce?! You gave my child to a criminal! And not just any criminal, but to Selina Kyle! Have you lost your mind?!" - Diana yelled at him.

"You told me that you wanted the child gone and you didn't care what I did with it - Selina offered to take the child and give them a good home; I thought maybe it would be a good chance for her to turn her life away from crime. While that hasn't happened, she is a great mother to [Reader] and she doesn't force her ways on them." - Bruce explained in a calm voice, which only angered Diana more.

"It doesn't matter if she's a good mother to [Reader], she is a criminal; a horrible person, and you willingly gave the Heir of the Amazon to her to raise! That's ridiculous! I want you to get [Reader] back from her, I don't want my child around that...that...creature anymore!" - Diana demanded.

"You gave them up, you said that you didn't want them, you called them a mistake because of the way they were conceived and now you want [Reader] back because you saw how powerful they got without you and you angry because you lost the right to be called a 'Mom'. I'm not gonna take them away from Selina - the only mother they've ever known - to please you. Leave, Diana." - The Dark Knight turned away from her and walked back to his supercomputer.

Diana was angered by Bruce's words but at the same time - he was right. She didn't want [Reader] at the beginning because of how they came into the world but that was then and this was now - she was the one who held [Reader] in her womb. she was the one who shared their blood, she was [Reader]'s true mother and there was nothing that would stop Diana from taking her child back.

[HOW CLARK FOUND OUT]

Just like Diana, he would be stalking [Reader] but this time, they would be waiting outside a 24-Hour Cafe - sitting at one of the outside tables, casually looking at their phone as if waiting for someone. It would be a while before a familiar face would walk from the crowd - and that face belonged to Selina Kyle: The Infamous Catwoman and Lover of Batman.

He was tempted to see what she was doing there but his answer came when [Reader] jumped from their seat and ran to her with a smile before shouting a loud 'Mom!' at her before wrapping their arms around her; she returned the action.

'She's the one who raised [Reader]?! What the hell was Bruce thinking, giving my child to her?!' - Clark wondered in his head as he continued to watch them.

After watching and listening, he learned that [Reader] was looking for a place to live, independently from his guardian - not because they hated her or anything but because they wanted a bit more freedom.

"I understand, Kitten; just know that if you need anything at all, just call me and I'll make sure you have it." - Selina said with a smile.

"I know you have my back, Mom, but I'm sure I can take care of myself." - [Reader] smiled at the woman.

Clark didn't like what he saw and made his way to the Lair of the Batman with a few questions - The Man of Steel expected the Dark Knight to have answers.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you and Diana on the same day. I'll tell you as I told: Neither one of you wanted [Reader] until you saw their power against the Red Lanterns, you can't want to take someone back when you see the power they hold; it makes you a horrible person. And you can't pull that 'I'm their Father' card because you were never a father to them and they don't even know you as their father. Just leave them be so they can have a life of their own." - Bruce told him the moment Superman entered the cave.

Clark let in silence - thinking about what Bruce said but it didn't matter: he was [Reader]'s Father and he was going to have his child by his side regardless of what anyone thought about it. First...he had to deal with Selina...and Diana.

[inactive17645]

Safe & Sound [1]

Chapter One: Pilot

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x Reader & Wells Jaha x Reader

Warnings: Swearing & Mild Violence

Word Count: 3637

Author’s Note: Welcome to the first chapter of my very first series here on tumblr! I hope you guys come enjoy the ride and stay until the end. I know there are a few Bellamy x Reader fanfic series on here now, but I really wanted to put my own spin on a The 100 rewrite. Also, please let me know if you want to be tagged in any future parts by either PMing me or through my ‘Ask Me Anything’ tab on my profile!

Season Masterlist

Series Masterlist

      It was supposed to be like any other day. I’d wake up, the guard would give me three small portions of food throughout the day, whilst rereading the various classics and Greek mythology books my father sent. Eventually, I’d fall back asleep with my mother’s dove pendant clutched in my hand as I gazed out the window, into the dark abyss scattered with diamonds. On every other day, you’d make sure to aside time to practice self-defence. Something that my father had guards teach me before I was locked up.

    Today was not one of those days. The chaos of yelling, screaming and grumbling outside the door ripped me from my trance. I shook my head and tried to engross myself again in the book I clutched, but the sound of the door flinging open broke it.

     It also didn’t help that this was the last day before I’d be eighteen. Before I’d be floated.

     “Prisoner 301, face the wall.” My breath hitched in my throat. No! I still had one more day! 

When you didn’t even move an inch towards a wall the guard stalked his way towards you, his presence towering over your sitting form. “Get up on your feet!”

     “No! I still have a day left you cunt!” You screeched.

     With a punch to the man’s groin, he collapsed to the ground and you scampered out to escape. Unfortunately, I’ve tried to escape my cell multiple times so it was no surprise when someone tackled me as soon as I left the room.

      “Get. Me. The. Fuck Off!” I yelled as punch after punch landed on the man’s back. The man grunted after each punch, but he never let me go until I was stood in front of the one man who turned me in a year ago. My own father; Marcus Kane.

     Although it was a relief to see him after so long, I couldn’t help but glare at the man. He was supposed to be there for you no matter what, yet he never visited. Too much of a coward to face you and sent books in his place. The kind of books you and your mom used to read together.

     “Dad?!” I hated him, but I still hugged him. I hated him, but I still loved my father.

     Your eyes glossed with tears that had every intention to escape.

 “I don’t want to die, not today!” I pleaded, refusing the tears to shower my cheeks. “I don’t want to be floated!”

     “You’re not being floated (y/n),” He told you. “You’re being sent down to earth.” A chill ran down my spine.

     “But I thought the earth was still uninhabitable?” Dad just shook his head as another guard hooked me over their shoulder and stalked away from my father’s now retreating figure.

     Typical. Just like when I was first chucked in the skybox. He couldn’t even muster a single goodbye. The punching of another guard ensued as he hauled me over to the dropship entrance.

     Suddenly, there was a prick in my arm and gradually I drew drowsier, and drowsier. My punches slowly weakened after each hit. The last thing I saw before I succumbed to darkness was the menacing smirk of one Commander Shumway, my eyes darkening in both anger and fear.

     In what felt like seconds, my eyes squinted open while adjusting to the poor lighting of the dropship. Screams and yells from others around me filled my ears. As my vision came into focus, I looked around to see the horror morphed on many of the teens’ faces. In the seat five seats down from me, I recognised a familiar head of blonde that I knew oh so well.

     “Clarke!” I called. The blonde whipped her head my way and relief settled on both our faces. “Thank the gods you’re here! If I could I’d smother you in a hug right now I would!”

     The two of us bursted out laughing knowing I’d actually smother her. Before I had the chance to ask her something else, Chancellor Jaha’s voice filled the room.

     “Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You’ve been given a second chance. And as your chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us. Indeed, for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would’ve sent others. Frankly, we’re sending you because your crimes have made you expendable.”

     Expendable? What the hell?! All I did was try to spread the word that the life-support system for the Ark was failing, after overhearing a heated discussion between Jaha, my father and others in the Council.

     “Everyone here being expendable is bullshit and you know it!” My voice echoed throughout the dropship, catching the attention of everyone in the room. I gulped at the stares thrown my way, but it was the stare of the single guard in the room that caught my eye.

     No guards were supposed to be inside. So the only reason why he’d be here would be because he was escaping something… or to protect someone. Perhaps a certain younger sister that wasn’t supposed to be born?

     It had to be Bellamy Blake, the older brother of floor girl, Octavia Blake. His gaze seemed to linger on me slightly longer than the other delinquents around. I wasn’t sure if it was due to pure curiosity or how everyone knew I was Marcus Kane’s daughter. I tore my gaze away from his blank stare and stared down at the metal ground.

     As Jaha’s speech became muffled, I gaped at the floor and the room began to groan and shake. A familiar dark-skinned young man was suddenly talking to Clarke.

     “Wells?” I questioned. His brown orbs tore away from Clarke, his gaze landing on me.

     “(Y/N)! Thank god!” He floated over to me, pulled me up to my feet and smothered me in a hug. A giggle vibrated through my chest. “What’s so funny?”

     “I told Clarke I’d smother her in a hug, yet you’ve gone and did just that to me,” I chuckled. Wells only chuckled as I hugged him back.

     “This is nice —” We both started but ended in a fit of giggles. Two other delinquents then join Wells and I in standing up. I could hear Clarke softly calling my name to sit back down along with the others standing, but I just ignored it. 

     Strangely, Wells still held on to me and sat in the seat I was in just before, plopping me onto his lap and snuggling into me more. He and I did have a weirdly affectionate friendship before both our arrests, but even this was pushing the line between friendship and a romantic relationship. 

     The dropship lurched, sending three delinquents flying who had left their seats despite Clarke’s protests. I clunged to Wells’ neck as his grip on my waist tightened, closing my eyes tight. Something sickening yet sweet filled my nose. Smoke. Sparks went off right and left and with one final violent jolt, the dropship came to a stop.

     We were on the ground!

     The dropship powers down almost instantaneously and echoes of seatbelts unbuckling filled the room. Heat rose to my cheeks as I slowly clambered off Wells’ lap. His cheeks were crimson red as were probably my own. I helped him to his feet and took one of my hands in his, leading him down to the doors, waiting for them to be to opened as a crowd formed in front.

     A dark-haired girl stormed through yelling, “Bellamy!” The guy in the uniform I saw before spun around and stared at the girl in shock. So I was right! He was Bellamy Blake and that girl was definitely Octavia, his sister.

     “My God, look how big you are!” The two smiled at each other before the girl - Octavia - jumped forward and pulled Bellamy into a tight hug.

     “Where’s your wristband?” Clarke asked Bellamy as she sided next to Wells and I.

     “Do you mind?” Octavia cut Clarke off with an annoyed look. “I haven’t seen my brother in a year.”

     “Seriously Clarke?” I jumped in, everyone’s eyes turning to me as I let go of Wells’ hand. “We’ve reached the ground and the first thing you do is ask where the guy’s wristband is?” Clarke was surprised by my outburst, but Octavia and Bellamy looked at me thankful that I stood up for them.

     “Surely you’d like to be known as someone else. Perhaps the first person on the ground in a hundred years?” Octavia grinned in appreciation whilst Bellamy nodded my way.

     I returned the smile as Bellamy pulled on a nearby lever, opening the door to the outside. As a haze of smoke breaks, a bright light shone into the ship, momentarily blinding me but the lush colours of green, blue and brown eventually took its place.

     Finally, I’d be able to put my Earth Skills to use!

     Octavia slowly made her way down the ramp before she stepped onto the ground. She turned back towards the ship, a massive grin etched on her olive face.

     “We’re back bitches!” She threw her arms up as she yelled.

     A parade of teens stormed off the ship in a hurry, yelling and screaming that we’re back. A laugh resonated in my chest as a familiar presence took my hand in theirs.

     “Together?” Wells asked. With a soft sigh, I nodded, but not before I leapt onto his back. He shook his head as he wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

     “Ride on my noble steed!”

     A gush of air swept through my (Y/H/C) locks as Wells sprinted out the door, but within seconds of Wells being on the ground, we both tumbled onto the grass. One glance at each other was enough to send us into a fit of laughter.

     “I missed you, Wells —”

     “I missed you, (Y/N) —” A chuckle from above broke two of us from our trance.

     “It hasn’t even been a day and you two are back to finishing each other’s sentences.” Clarke towered over Wells and I, teasingly shaking her head at us.

     “Are you really surprised at this point, Clarke?” I retorted as I jumped to my feet, smothering the blonde in a tight hug.

     “Nope!” With a quick kiss to Wells’ cheek, I sauntered off in hopes of recognising someone else. Within two minutes I had lost the motivation so I found myself a sturdy and long enough stick I could use to fashion a bow with. Someone’s shoelace would probably work for the string.

     I sat close to the dropship, carving my initials into one end of the stick with a shard of metal that had broken off the ship, when someone sat next to me.

     “Hey, you’re Marcus Kane’s daughter right?” I turned to see Octavia and nodded expectantly.

      “That I am..” I replied slightly bitter. “But you can call me (Y/N).” I held my hand out for her to shake, but she hugged me instead. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

     “Why aren’t you angry with me? My father was one of the people that got you put in the skybox in the first place.” I asked as she pulled away.

      “Because it wasn’t you who did it. It was your dad.” Well, she wasn’t wrong about that. A mischievous look appeared on her face. “Want to get into some trouble?”

      I mirrored her expression. “Oh hell yes!” We both giggled before I grabbed her hand and lead her to the dropship. We pulled up behind Clarke and Finn, who were recruiting two other guys to head over to Mount Weather. “Can we go now?”

     “Sounds like a party, make it six,” Octavia said as she gestured between the two of us. Clarke doesn’t protest, but a certain oldest Blake does. He grabbed Octavia’s shoulder causing her to let go of my hand.

     “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Bellamy scolded Octavia.

     “Going for a walk,” she retorted as she pulled out of his grip. “Are you coming (Y/N)?”

     I glanced from the group to Bellamy a few times, debating whether to follow along to Mount Weather or to help Bellamy around the dropship. Although I’d probably be more help with the group of five, something in my gut told me I’d be just as helpful here.

     “I’ll stay here and help Wells and Bellamy with keeping order. As I’m sure they’ll need my help” I sauntered back over to the ship, ignoring Clarke and Octavia calling my name and a gaping Bellamy.

     Throughout the day I helped Wells with pretty much everything, but as soon as the sun was near the horizon I decided to stop for the day. I wasn’t blind to Murphy trying to get people to take off their wristbands. Such an action was most likely something Bellamy put him up to as he was the only one that could benefit from it. The only question was why.

     A shadow casted to the ground by the fire told me there was someone behind me.

     “If you even think you can get the upper hand on me to get off my wristband, think again Blake.” It wasn’t a long shot if it was him, and my suspicions were proven right when the man himself sat down next to me.

     “How did you —”

     “Your shadow gave it away you idiot and only you or Murphy would dare approach me from behind. Not that Murphy has though.” He just nodded as I finally turned to him.

     Although I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, Bellamy was handsome. His slightly tousled black hair, brown eyes and olive skin put him under the tall, dark and mysterious category. I tore my gaze away before it became borderline staring.

     “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about, Blake?” I questioned. He shifted in his spot slightly.

     “Thank you for earlier, with Octavia,” He admitted. “Although I’m certainly not a fan of your father, thank you.” Something in my gut told me he really did mean what he said.

     “I’m not heartless, Blake” I retorted. “Compared to Chancellor Jaha and everyone else on the council, I’m a puppy.” We shared a look and snorted, trying to stifle our own laughs.

     “Why a puppy?” He asked.

     “Because although I look innocent, anything can still set me off and my bite is much worse than my bark.” I stood to my feet, dusting off any dirt and sauntered back over to the dropship. 

     A couple of hours later the world was enveloped in darkness, our only source of light being from the fire. Everything in me wanted to ignore the world around me. However, the muffled sound of arguing grew louder and louder as I left my daze.

     “My father didn’t write the laws,” Wells’ voice admitted. My gaze looked up and landed on the arguing figures of Wells and Bellamy.

     “No. He enforced him, but not any more, not here,” Blake shrugged. “Here there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want, whenever the hell we want. Now, you don’t have to like it Wells. You can even try to stop it, change it, kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want.”

     I stood up, opening my mouth with every intention to object — at least get Wells and Bellamy to compromise on the situation — but Bellamy seemed to notice this and sharply shook his head. My eyes narrowed at him and scowled. He was taken aback by my scowl and I had no idea why.

     “Whatever the hell we want!” Murphy yelled out to the crowd. The crowd of teenager, minus Wells and I, followed in suit and started chanting the only rule established. A rule that would do more harm than good. 

     “Am I the only one who thinks this is gonna result in chaos?” I asked Wells.

     “You’re not the only one.”

     He wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me close and I rested my head on his shoulder. Something that didn’t go amiss by the eldest Blake. Bellamy’s face was unreadable and I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

     A low rumble echoed from above before a downpour of rain decided to settle. Our first thunderstorm. A soft sigh left my chest as a smile formed on my face. The rain felt so good and I just didn’t care about getting soaked.

     I allowed myself to enjoy the rain a little while longer, looking around at the other delinquents with a smile. My smile fades almost instantly when my eyes meet Bellamy’s dark chocolate orbs. I scowled once more at him before scavenging around for something to collect water in. He needed to know I wasn’t onboard with his so called plan.

     The handrests of the seats inside the dropship ended up being perfect. I struggled a little getting some off, but I managed. With my small collection of water troughs, I sat them outside sitting in front of me as they collected the rain water. 

     The thunderstorm didn’t last for very long, but I’m left with a few troughs filled with fresh water. I drunk some water until my thrist was satisfied and I made sure Wells got some as well. Any water-filled troughs still completely full I snuck into the dropship to hide. 

     Wells then took my hand and lead me to a tree across the clearing and we helped each other up. We sat on a thick enough branch that could hold both our weights, sitting there in silence comfortably for a couple minutes, my head resting on his shoulder. Wells was the one to break the underlying tension in the air.

     “I think we need to address the elephant in the room…” Wells trailed off. He took my hands in his and turned the both of us around, our legs dangling on either side of the branch. I could only sigh and nod.

     “I know we’ve been best friends since we were toddlers and have always been affectionate with each other, but the cuddle in the dropship got me thinking.” Our fingers threaded through each other as he spoke. “I… I want us to be be more friends.”

     My head perked up at his words. Not going to lie, I did develop a crush on Wells two years before I was chucked in the skybox. However, I never acted on it as we had been best friends for years. We grew up together and at one point I thought he had a crush on Clarke.

     “But what about Clarke?” I mumbled as he took my cheeks in his hands.

     “It’s always been you.”

     His lips melted onto my own. Although his lips were slightly chapped from dehydration they were still incredibly soft. It felt as if a fire had started in my heart and I didn’t want it to stop. We eventually had to part for air, but he quickly slammed his lips back on mine, this time his tongue slipping into my mouth. We fought for dominance over each other, but Wells ultimately won. Our lips parted once more and we panted as we caught our breath.

     Wells rested his head on my own and we both sighed.

     “I’d hug you, but I’m worried we’d fall out of the tree.” Wells chuckled and pecked my lips. “I’ll find another tree nearby to sleep, we wouldn’t want people getting the wrong idea.”

     I pecked his lips before jumping down from the tree. Almost everyone was asleep, so I walked quietly as possible to the closest tree nearby. I laid down, resting my head and back against the tree. Just as I was about to succumb to sleep a familiar presence sat down next to me.

     “To what do I owe the displeasure of having your presence, Blake.” Bellamy snorted at what I said.

     “I’m flattered you knew it was me,” he smirked.

     “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” I clapped back. I finally turned to his annoyingly handsome face. Gods I wanted to kiss that smirk off his face — wait what?! I kissed Wells only minutes ago and I was already thinking about kissing someone else?

     “So…” he trailed off. “You and Jaha. When did that happen?” I gaped at the thought of how to respond. 

     “We both had crushes on each other, prior to us both being thrown in the skybox,” I admitted. “Neither of us acted on it before the Ground.” He nodded, but something in his eyes told me he was disappointed about something.

     Mentioning being thrown into the skybox reminded me why I was put in there in the first place. Me trying to expose to the rest of the Ark that life-support was failing, my father being the one to chuck me inside and throw away the key. It was a cowardly move and my father knew it. He never even came to see me the utter bastard.

     “I need help taking off my wristband.” Bellamy looked at me with disbelief. “I want to take it off, but I don’t want to hurt myself.”

     He stared at me right in my eyes, probably to see with there was any hesitation in them. However, when he saw none he helped with the wristband, slipping it off with ease.

     “Thank you.” He wasn’t really supposed to hear my thanks, but he did, just giving me a small smile before he walked off in the other direction.

     My eyes glossed with water, the teardrops threatening to escape but only a single tear rolled down my cheek.

     I’m sorry, Dad.

Taglist:

@hftff-lol​ 

[oh-for-fic-sake]

My Mothers Recipe Book

You see your bosses true colours and quit.

Masterlist

warnings:swearing

A/n: so here is my next Bruce Wayne one shot hope you like it xxx

Taglist: @125bluemachine125​

My Mothers Recipe Book

Alfred sighed walking into the master bedroom tray carrying two large coffees and a few sheets of paper printed from the computer. He was not looking forward to this. Not one bit he had managed to keep the boys quiet about it for the time being but now was the time, there had been...articles online from uncredited news outlets which he knew both you and Bruce avoided with a passion things could be said online which couldn't be printed, cruel and vicious things. But this time they had slipped up big time and he had a name. There had been personal things mentioned in these articles, things that only someone close to you would know at first this online tabloids scoop had been harmless or coincidence, stating the area where you grew up, school you went to and your previous apartment then it became more personal silly things at first, favorite brands, hangouts previous jobs and qualifications and where you work now that caused a few problems now you had to be picked up after shifts by either him Bruce or Dick. you'd mentioned that it had become worse somehow they knew where you were most of the time when you were out on your own places become overrun with the paparazzi having to be picked up by Dick from your favorite take away joint a few days ago when out of nowhere there was camera's everywhere then the next day horrid articles over your nonexistent weight gain and the 'cravings' for the pregnancy that also didn't exist. But this....this was worse probably the worst article to come out, it was an article on how your parents died and how you took on Jack... Going in to detail on how you 'blamed superman' for their death, which could blow up in everyone's face. Alfred was livid but vindicated this time their source was named accidentally he had managed to print it off before it was corrected, a statement was already being circulated that this was fake news, you did not blame anyone for the death of your parents and this was the doing of a vicious woman trying to cause you trouble. Thankfully Clark had got wind of it and was already working on something to help. But Alfred will not be settled until everything was cleared up in the courts. Sighing he opened the door to the master bedroom you was curled up in bed tears streaking your face Bruce was trying to comfort you but Alfred could tell he was furious.

"I suppose you have seen it? then I am already on it I've taken the liberty to have a statement sent out that you don't blame anyone for their passing, Mr Kent is also already working on something to show the truth." Bruce nodded stiffly you just sniffed rubbing your eyes making Alfred  gripped the tray tighter this was not going to be easy to say.

"Who? WHO WOULD DO THIS?" you threw the tablet down on the bed Bruce tried to calm you down

"We will find out who sweets I promise-" Alfred crossed the room placing the tray down then lifted the paper

"It was your boss Y/n" you and Bruce snapped your gazes to the Englishman

"What- How do you know?"

“She was named as their source then it quickly changed I managed to print it off before it was changed tho...I have been watching these articles, Damien and Jack found them just after your kidnapping at first it was harmless but then it got more and more personal here see for your self this is the first one they put up before they corrected it" you took the paper from him with a shaky hand glaring there in black and white was your bosses name as there close source.

"Why would she do this? you know what don't answer that I'm going to work" you strode past the two men Bruce followed you over to the dresser.

"Sweets we can handle this-" you turned abruptly to him making him flinch when he saw your face you was seething

"I know that I'm going in to talk just talk  and there is something there that I need t pick up before anything happens nothing more I promise"

"I can come with you-"

"Bruce honey you have to be at the tower today I will be fine....okay I will be calm but shes done a lot of damage here, I'm getting death threats on twitter! she doesn't get to breeze through this no fucking way shes going to look me in the eye and tell me why!" Bruce nodded knowing that you wasn't going to let this go.

"Alfred can take you....take Tim just in case" you nodded pulling your pajama top off ignoring the way Alfred shielded his eyes with the article just in time making Bruce scoff

"Tim why whats he gonna do?....oh yeah I forgot" you quickly slipped on a black pair of leggings and oversized sweater and left the room calling for Tim to get his ass out of bed.

"I will look after her sir and I will have eyes on the whole thing" Bruce nodded"Thank you Alfred I know you will take care of us you always have" Alfred smiled at him leaving the room with your coffee taking to the kitchen. twenty minuets after Bruce left you was in the back of the rolls Royce sitting wound up Damien was as stiff as a board next to you Jack had tagged along to looking just as angry fists clenched, Tim was supposed to come but once Damien heard what had happens he had....insisted Tim tried to reason with him but...apparently when it come down to it Damien is the one in the family not to fuck with as Tim had backed down pretty fast and by pretty fast you meant as soon as he looked into the younger boys eyes.

"Boys please relax your making me nervous, we are just going to talk I want answers"

"That’s such a bitch thing to do tho, to bring mom and dad into it..." you looked to jack he was as sad as he was angry it made you worse...you were out for blood today no one fucks with your family. Damien was worrying you, he was quiet calm and you could feel waves of....well you didn't know what it was but it was making you want to run ad hide from him yourself, killer instinct or just pure unadulterated wrath and violence coiled tight in the small teen your blood would have run cold if you hadn't been so angry yourself.

"Dami? you alright there bud?" he turned stiffly his eyes said it all he was not alright he was pissed biting at the bit to fuck this woman up. Shit. you didn't have all the details but you know Damien was raised to be , well putting it bluntly a killer and from little bite you heard he was pretty good at it.

"I'm fine, this woman how long have you worked for her?"

"Shit its gotta be five years nearly six" Damien nodded then looked back out of the window you was here her car was out the front. you took a deep breath seeing the barrage cameras out the front all of them held one of the cafes takeaway cups in hand.

"Would you like me to pull around the side?"

"No I am not afraid, I wont let her see me run its time to grow up...If I want to be with Bruce this is what it means,I have to let them know me and I will stand on my own two feet" Alfred faltered stopping the car you cleared your face and before the butler had a chance to get out to open the door you were out of the car Damien and Jack close behind the Alfred who tried pushing to catch up as the paps smothered you. You bit your lip moving forward willing them all away as it got to much then Damien locked his hand in yours squeezing Jack held your arm, you locked eyes with them and smiled you wasn't alone. With a deep breath you turned around abruptly holding your head high and spoke clearly to the manic reporters who was shouting questions waving and yelling to get your attention.

"EXCUSE ME! that's better I apologize for shouting like that, I just wanted to get your attention, I promise to answer all your questions in a few moments but I've left something important at work and would appreciate you allowing me to pick it up first if that's okay with you" You felt a burst of confidence when you managed to get their attention quieting them one man scoffed

"What are you going to get?"

"My mothers recipe book" they all looked stumped a ripple of whispers surrounded you all

"How do we know you'll come back out?" you blinked looking at the other man who had asked and then nodded to the car

"My rides out here I wont be getting far without it" they all quieted down nodding letting you pass. Alfred stood a little stumped the confidence you had used he hadn't seen before he quickly jogged to catch up behind you entering the cafe. as you made your way in you headed straight for the kitchen Alfred lingered by the door making sure the small hidden camera in his jacket had a clear shot of what was going to happen in the small kitchen. as you walked in you noted that your boss was milling about the kitchen you smiled like nothing was wrong and walked over to where your mothers hand written recipe book was and tucked it into your bag .

"Y/n where are you going with that?" you faced her smiling

"Oh Damien likes the blue berry marzipan muffins so going to try and convert it into pancakes that way Alfred technically whine about muffins for breakfast." you said motioning to Damien who looked at you confused but nodded anyway you winked at him, then handed your bag to Jack who was standing behind Alfred.

"Ooh they would be good tell me how they turn out and we could do them here" you laughed a little at the woman, she had no idea

"I might just do that, tag you in twitter or face book...Bruce was talking about me getting my own shop around here after I made some at home" she looked at you from the top of her eyes 

"Oh really?" you laughed and leaned forward

"Yeah but you know me no head for business...but I have got a head for other things you know I'm an overthinker its quite good actually I can figure things out pretty quick" sensing something was wrong she gulped and stopped doing the order forms leaning on the counter

"Is everything okay?" you moved a little and leaned back crossing your arms letting you smile fall into what must have been a nasty face as she swallowed

"I don't know how about you tell me" she laughed nervously trying to wave you off

"What do you mean whats happ-"

"Why did you do it?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much did they pay you? I hope it was a lot." you said looking around the kitchen slowly as if really seeing it for the first time, falling apart tiles, a tap that leaks, flickering light and dirty grout could do with being ripped out and starting again.

"Do what?"

"You know what? that articles online I know it was you" she laughed shaking her head

"I haven't done any articles I think your getting a little big headed aren't you? not everyone cares about you, " you nodded slyly

"They didn't tell you did they? you were named yesterday in the one about my Parents" the color drained from her face and she stuttered.

"Wh-what?! they said they wouldn't do that!" you stood tall smirking at her the smug feeling didn't last long as you realized this woman who had been like a second mum to you had betrayed you, literally put a price tag on your trust and sold it.

"So you have been giving out information about me...gossiping about me to the tabloids..Why Why would you do that?" she had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, they offered money for an interview when I was seen at the Restaurant with you...At first it was harmless and I thought I could ramp up business if I let people know where you worked...it escalated from there" you closed your eyes trying to calm yourself down Damien growled loud at the woman but you placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back a little.

"Escalated your damn right it escalated You gave out my old address! what if me and Jack was still there and better yet why was you telling them where I was? they followed me for days! and rumors of pregnancies?" She flinched going to walk around the center island in the kitchen making to hug you but you took a step back, eyes searching hers for remorse but all you saw was the panic of a woman caught out.

"Do you know I had to talk Bruce down from that one he wasn't even angry that he was the last to know! he was over the moon that we might have a child on the way and I had to break his heart and sit him down in our room and explain to him I wasn't pregnant that it was a lie! only to find out it had come from one of my closest friend's. Do you know what its like to do something like that to someone you love? to upset them like that he was crushed ...And if that wasn't enough you had to bring up my parents! you didn't even know them and you know how I feel about the whole thing and about superman!" she shook her head

"I know you don't blame him for their death, I never said you did I swear I just said that you still found it hard without them here, that you wished they were here to see jack grow up that's all I swear" you shook your head.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe you...these five years how much was it worth? you put a price on my trust..." she ran a hand threw her hair huffing anxiously

"I'm sorry I never meant for it to go this far...I needed the money" you laughed "You needed the money nearly eleven hundred a day goes in that till and you needed the money? sorry if I don't buy that." she got defensive looking you up and down

"Well its not like you would understand" you shook your head

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well we can’t all be sugar babies like you? I've got bills to pay you know rent , tax water that kind of stuff you going to tell me if someone wanted a few comments from you for a few thousands dollars you wouldn't do it" you clenched your jaw, Damien growled at the woman trying so hard not to pounce her.

"No I wouldn't have because we were friends!....Is that what you think of me? a sugar baby?"

"Well that seems to be your claim to fame doesn't it? fucking a billionaire then suddenly you've been given everything? the poor orphan girl who heroically took on her brat brother, one night on your back and your set for life. House,money boyfriend rewards for loosing your dignity no class at all!" you froze that hurt, the venom and spite in her words

"No class...It would seem I have more then you. I haven't ever done anything to you, so all this came from what jealousy? having the paparazzi follow me spreading rumors? for what a few more coffee sales and a bit of revenge? because I got everything you'll never have, A Family and someone to share my life with.... That’s very sad" you moved to got to the door  she smiled nastily no point in her continuing with the nice girl act now she had shown her true colors. "you know your not famous? walking around like you are but your not" you smiled widely at her leaning in.

"No I'm not truly famous...but I'm more famous then you, I quit by the way and I do hope you have money for a lawyer because this is slander and invasion of privacy"

"You've got no proof it was me." she said snidely

"Oh but I have, a recorded confession smile your on camera" she froze knowing she was utterly fucked you smiled and leaned in to her ear.

"I am going to sit back and watch you fall, you tired to destroy me and my new life and failed but most of all you hurt the ones I love so now I am going to destroy yours, I’m going to take you to the cleaners, your going to lose everything" she gasped no one fucked with your family she hurt you but more importantly she hurt Jack and Bruce and she was gonna have to have deep pockets to settle this one cos you was out for blood. You did one final sweep of the kitchen wanting to rub salt in the wound.

"You know...I always liked this place...Think I will buy it once you go bankrupt after our court battle" she stood there mouth agape as you turned walking through the door. Jack and Alfred was let you pass then quicker than you could register you heard a loud shout turning you saw her charge at you making to attack you but Damien was to quick for her capturing her throwing her back you winced hearing her back hit the metal counter in the kitchen

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" you all froze as he shouted not knowing what to do Alfred nodded his head in Damien direction.Get him out. you placed a hand on his shoulder he panted shaking he was angry very angry then looked at you

"Dami, thank you but we have to go now okay? come on Dami go to the car for me please"

"Are you hurt Ummi?" you shook your head not understand what he called you, or why Alfred had gasped so loud at it but didn't care all you wanted was to calm him down and get him out of here.

"No honey you stopped her before she could get to me"

"A-are you mad?" you smiled at him shaking your head again

"Of course not, you protected me just like you said you would now come on out to the car that's enough excitement for one day"and you looked at Alfred he knew what you was asking and nodded he had caught that on film thank fuck.

"She isn't your mother you little brat!" you somehow managed to pull Damien from the kitchen behind you.

"Shut your fucking mouth!!" you you shouted at her livid ushered the others out taking a few breaths as you walked out into the crowd.

"Boys in the car, Jack you got my bag still?" he nodded but Damien was quiet as you pushed him thought the crowd stopping half way taking a deep breath this had to be done, you had to get used to the public side, dick had said something the other day making you stop and think, if you don't interact with these people then you cant ever prove them wrong, you wont be able to ever stand up for yourself and that's what you had to do.You cant let Bruce do this for you all the time, not anymore.

"I'm going to make a statement are you all ready?" most nodded getting cameras ready for pictures and holding out recorders.

"I'm am sure you have all been listening and reading to recent rumors circulating about me in recent weeks. I have been following these myself tho had to be discreet about it, you see these rumors have been started by someone I was close to and I wanted to try and find out who, this is why I have been quiet about it.Last night there was a typo in the article about my parents passing nameing and shameing this woman,she has been handing out details of my personal life, selling my information and been telling lies one of which cause heartache for both myself and my family and has caused many problems for me in the past weeks telling online papers and paparazzi my location anytime she knew. this is a woman who I considered a dear friend and who I have worked for for the past five nearly six years I came here today to confront her, she has admitted to me today about her behavior and revealed to me and my family today that it was done out of spite and jealousy and also thought she would make more money if customers knew I worked here and would come in to try and get a glimpse of Bruce in the cafe. Today I quit my job here and over the next few days will take action threw the courts. I don't not blame anyone for the death of my parents at all, they heard the threat the world was given just like the rest of us but still chose to got to metropolis for their anniversary, they ignored the warnings and paid for it with there lives they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. And no I am not and have not ever been pregnant, this particular lie of hers caused myself and Bruce a lot of heartache which I can not forgive her for, The address she gave out as my residence is not my home any longer I moved nearly six weeks ago so please stop going there I'm assuming the new tenants would like a rest, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to end these things but I just wanted to clear the air and explain to you exactly what was happening" there was a few chuckles echoing across the crowd person shouted out

"So do you Hate superman or not?" you laughed

"No of course I don't, he has done a lot for us even saved myself once a long time ago and I am forever great full to him for that, I am only sad that he has been dragged into this woman's lies and I can only apologize for that I'm sure he has more important things to worry about.Now if that's all I'd like to get going...Its a bit chilly out here and I'm sure the boys are getting board in the car." you turned and headed to the car and amazingly enough they let you, opting to take photos of the cafe you smiled smugly as Alfred pulled away speaking

"Well she wanted fame now she has it" Jack laughed

"Yes something like that....was that alright? I've not done it before on my own...Oh my god what if Bruce is mad? do you think he will be mad I did that? What if I said to much or not enough or-"

"It was perfect miss Y/n you explained yourself with dignity and respect, you were straight to the point and covered everything Bruce wont be mad if anything I think he will be extremely proud of you for handling it the way you did." you sighed and slumped

"Oh thank god all I was thinking was 'be like Bruce, be like Clark, be like Bruce, be like Clark" Alfred through his head back a little laughing and Damian shuffled closer looking down fiddling with his fingers

"You okay there Dami?" you watched Alfred tilt the rear view mirror

"I-I'm sorry I called you mother...and Ummi it wont happen again" you sighed dragging him towards you.

"Hey,Look Damien Your father and I are really serious you know that right?" he nodded slowly waiting for you to rant at him.

"And Because we are serious ...we have already spoke about you boys and this...Mother issue, I would be delighted if you called me mother or mom or u-ummi? but you don't have to...But if you do then I would be so happy, so so happy. But as far as I'm concerned we are a family already either way so you call me what you like okay? and that goes for your brothers to." you watched as Damian's face lit up he looked so young.

"R-Really you don't mind?" you shook your head pulling him in for a hug. Once you all got home you moved everyone into the kitchen and started mixing batter for muffins using your mothers cook book

"Are you really going to make me some blueberry and marzipan muffins?" you nodded to Damian

"Absolutely you liked em right?" he smiled nodding sitting at the counter watching you and Alfred zigzag across the kitchen like a well oiled machine the boys including Tim and Jason sat watching nibbling on the left over marzipan.

"Tim flick threw that book and find coffee walnut muffins" you called out as you placed the current batch of muffins in the oven Tim was quick to take the book from the side and look for the recipe.

"Coffee walnut? that's different for a muffin?" Alfred asked you smiled nodding

"Yep when mum found a flavor combo she liked we had all sorts of it thought Tim would like it... that book there is every Cooke family recipe its why I had to get it quick before all this kicked off" Jason peeked over Tim's shoulder.

"All that fuss for a book?" Jack smiled slyly

"Yeah but more then that...everything in the cafe was mum’s recipes, all the baking anyway without that book they don't have nothing they never made copies, can't make nothing that's why when we took it she asked for it back, she probably hasn't even realized yet. My sister is a bitch never ever piss her off y/n has destroyed her business with out lifting a finger!" they all gasped then laughed loud.

"Holy shit! you go girl!" Jason high fived you making you giggle

"I see now why dad calls you mama bear your scary" you frowned

"He still calls me that?" they all nodded humming you blushed you didn't know that, you looked up as Bruce came through the door dropping his coat on the floor pushing past everyone you frowned thinking something was wrong until he swooped you up into a long kiss pressing you against the counter making you moan the boys cringed and left the kitchen fast.

"EWW THEIR GONNA DO IT NEAR THE MUFFINS!!" you laughed pulling away

"And what was that for Mr Wayne?" Alfred cleared his throat moving to mix the new batter

"Saw the footage then sir? I told you to wait until later to view it we all know you cant help yourself when she gets... what was it again Mama bear?" you whined throwing a tea towel at Alfred making him smirk

"Yes Alfred I did and I'm afraid I'm going to steal her away its urgent" he said a smile in his voice you sighed

"Urgent huh?" he smiled hoisting you up onto his hips making you gasp feeling him grind his erection onto your core

"Oh yes very urgent, urgent enough in fact that I had to cancel the rest of my meetings and probably have a few speeding tickets in the post" you laughed loud at him

"Oh my god!" he quickly spun around making his way to the stairs

"FOR FUCK SAKE PICK A ROOM AND FUCK!!! STOP WANDERING AROUND!!JACK TELL YOUR SISTER"

"FUCK OFF TELLING MY SISTER YOU TELL YOU DAD HE'S THE ONE RUNNING IN WITH A BONER TIM!"

"STOP FUCKING YELLING!!" you rolled your eyes as they continued shouting and screaming at one another.

"You gonna parent them or no?" Bruce shook his head wincing as Jason screeched indicating that someone had hit/pushed/jumped on him

"A little preoccupied Sweets maybe after I've sorted you out....Besides Alfred wont let them kill each other" you laughed as he made it to the top of the stairs and rounded the corner hearing Tim's scream of

"FINALLY OI! THEIR OUT THE KITCHEN QUICK!" and multiple footsteps running back to the kitchen where the baking was happening .

[avocadogirl216]

Sparkling Blue

AN: This was requested by lizzz47 on Wattpad.  I’m so sorry that this took forever to come out and I am sorry if it is crap.

Summary: While your brothers and yourself are looking for Jack, you run into Clark Barker, who you can’t help but feel attracted to.

Pairings: Dean Winchester x sister!reader, Sam Winchester x sister!reader, Jack Kline x reader, Clark Barker x reader

Warnings: Flirting (Is that a warning?), Violence, Fluff, Underage Smoking, Language, Depressed Reader, Kissing

Word Count: 3,263

(I do not own this GIF)

You groan as you wake up on the floor of the nursery.  You sit up and immediately try to find your brothers.  Sam and Dean were a couple of feet away from you, also starting to gain consciousness.  

“What the hell happened?”  Sam asked as he started to stand on his freakishly sized legs.

“The kid.  That’s what.”  Dean said as he followed suit of his younger brother.

“Are you guys okay?”  You asked as you started to look over yourself for any injuries.

“Other than the skull splitting headache, I’m freaking fantastic.”  Dean replied in a sarcastic tone as he made is way over to you and extended his hand.  You put your small hand into his large one and he hoisted you up onto your feet.  “We need to find that kid.”  Dean stated as he found his gun on the floor and holstered it into the back of his jeans.

“Yeah, but how?”  Sam asked.

“He couldn’t have gone far.”  You stated.

“Unless he can teleport.”  Dean replied back while running his hand down his face in a frustrated matter.

“Well let’s think of the smaller picture right now.  Okay?”  

“Fine.”  Dean grumbled.

“Let’s say that Jack can’t teleport, the next best thing for him is to walk.  So we can look around town and ask of they have seen him.” 

“Yeah, lets just go around town asking if anyone has seen a naked newborn nephilim.  Good plan.”  Dean said as he started to make his way out of the house.

You and Sam shared a look.  You just lost Mary and Cas all in the same hour and now Jack, who possibly has the power to end all of humanity with the snap of his fingers, is roaming Chuck’s green earth.  You understand why Dean is pissed, hell you were just as pissed as him, if not more.  Every time you seem to catch a break, something happens, proving to you that you can’t be happy.  As you and Sam made your way out of the house, Dean has already started the car and was waiting on you.

After 20 minutes of driving towards town, you spot a burger place on the side of the road.  As Dean pulls in, you and Sam both volunteer to ask the people inside if they have in fact, seen a naked newborn nephilim. 

When you walk in, Sam immediately goes to the counter, which is occupied by a clearly drunk woman who was moaning for fries.  You start to look around the small burger place with way too much pirate themed decor.  You look at the menu screen to see that all of the menu items were changed to where their names had butt in them.

Immature

“I want fries.”  The woman demanded yet again while setting her high heels on the counter.

“Lady, I’ve already told you, I can’t give you any fries before lunch.  Rules are rules.”  The kid said in a annoyed tone.  He couldn’t have been older than you, 16.

“Screw the rules.  I’m outta here.”  The woman moaned as she stumbled out of the burger joint.

You and Sam approached the counter.  

“Welcome to Pirate Pete’s Jolly Treats!  What would you like today?”  The kid asked, his mood already improving since the drunk woman left.

“Umm we won’t be ordering anything.  We’re actually looking for someone.  A kid, around 17, not exactly clothed.”  You said.

The boys eyes widened.  “Yeah I know who you’re talking about.  He stopped here asking about his father or something and Clark called his mom, who is the sheriff and she came and picked him up.”  He explained.

“Oh okay.  Could you point us in the direction of the police station please?”  You asked kindly.

“Uh yeah, sure.  If you take the main road through town and turn on Greenly Avenue, its just on your right.”  The boy explained.

“Thank you.”  Sam said as you two made your way out the door.

Once you got on the car with Dean, Sam repeated the directions to the police station and you made your way there.  It took about 10 minutes before you pulled into the parking lot of the small station.  As everyone made their way out of the car, you all started to walk towards the front door with caution.  When Dean opened the door for you and Sam you could immediately tell that something was wrong.  The lights were flickering like crazy and the floor was vibrating.  You pulled out your gun along with your brothers and you started to make your way towards the voices in the office portion of the station.  

When you entered the room you could see three people, a woman who was obviously the sheriff, a teen boy with a red jacket and Jack whose eyes were glowing a vibrant gold, clearly angry.  You needed to take Jack down before he hurts anyone, so you made a quick decision.  You ran to the sheriff and stole her taser out of her belt, which got you a confused look, and you shot it at Jack.  

Jack hit the floor with a thud, clearly unconscious.  You handed the sheriff the taser back and holstered your gun in the waistband of your jeans.  The teen boy gave you an impressed and shocked look.

“Dude!”  He exclaimed while raising his eyebrows.

“Who the hell are you?”  The woman asked, confusion written on her face.

“We’re the ones who just saved your ass.”  Dean replied.

The sheriff looked between you, your brothers and Jack on the floor.  “Umm, what just happened?”  She asked.

“Look, we can explain everything but right now we need to get him to a jail cell for your safety and ours.”  Sam explained.

“Fine, but after we are going to have ourselves a nice, long chat about what the hell is going on.”  The sheriff said.

After Sam and Dean both carried Jack into a cell, they were lead into a large office.  “Don’t go anywhere.”  Dean said to you before walking in.

“Yeah, yeah I get it.”  You said as you leaned against a desk.

Once the door to the office was closed, the teen boy looked at you again, awe still in his eyes.  He was attractive.  He had slick, black hair that was almost as long as Sam’s but was curly at the ends, blinding white teeth and sparkling blue eyes.

“Who are you?  Like some superhero or something?”  He asked.

“My name’s Y/N and I am a hunter, which is almost like a superhero if you think about it.”  You said as you crossed your arms across your chest.

“Cool.  I’m Clark.”  Clark said while a smile growing onto his face.

You returned the smile as best as you could, which turned out to be a depressing grin.  Clark noticed this.

“Hey, you okay?”  He asked while tilting his head.

“Yeah, yeah.  It’s just...”  You sighed while looking at the floor.  “Things haven’t exactly gone great for me lately.”  You said sadly.

There was a moment of silence before Clark spoke.  “I know something that might help.”  He said with a mischievous smirk playing onto his lips.

You shot him a questioning look.  Clark grabbed your hand and started to lead you to the back door of the building.  When you made it outside, Clark put a fruit basket in the doorway, preventing you two from getting locked outside.  He then reached into his bright red jacket and brought out a pack of cigarettes.  You raised your eyebrows at him.

“You ever smoked before?”  He asked as he started to pull a cigarette out of the box.

“No, not really.”  You said in a shy tone.

“Wanna try?”  Clark asked as he held one out to you.  “It’ll calm your nerves.”  

You hesitated.

“Hey, I’m not pressuring you or anything.  You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.  I just thought that it would help you calm down a little.”  Clark explained.

You bit your lip before taking it out of his hand.  Clark gave you a wide smile as he pulled one out for him and took out a lighter. 

“Ladies first.”  Clark said while winking at you and lighting your cigarette at the same time.  You blushed a little while feeling fluttery in your stomach.  When he lit his stick, he started to talk again.  “All you do is bring it to your lips and inhale and after a little bit you exhale, like this.”  He said as he took a drag from his cigarette.  After a few seconds he blew the smoke out of his lungs and into the air.  “You think you got it?”  He asked while raising his eyebrows.

“I think so.”  You said.  You copied his movements and followed his instructions carefully and inhaled from a cigarette for the first time.  There was a burning sensation in your throat and in your lungs.  You immediately started to cough and choke on the smoke.  Clark quickly made his way over to you and put a hand on your back, rubbing reassuring circles.

“Yeah, I forgot to warn you, the first drag is a bitch.  But it will get better, trust me.”  Clark said once you started to breath normally, his hand never leaving your back.

“It’s okay.”  You said as you started to wipe your eyes of tears that were starting to form involuntarily.

After a minute you stand up straight again and catch your breath.  You notice that Clark's hand still hasn't left the small of your back and you give him a questioning look.  Once he gets the message, he retracts his hand and puts it to his side as he clears his throat.

"So.... You good?" He asked, clearly trying to clear the awkwardness from the air.

"Yeah, I'm good." You said as you took another drag from your cigarette, noting that it went down easier than the last time.

Clark gave you an impressed look while copying your actions.  After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, he decided to speak.  "So,  your job is to what?  Control people with super powers?" 

"Kinda.  I hunt the things that lurk in the dark."

"Like ghosts and vampires and stuff?" Clark asked with a chuckle.  You have him a serious look, confirming his question. His eyes widened in realization.  "Wait, you're serious? Those things are real?"

"Yep". You said as you looked away from his face and took another lung full of smoke.  

"Damn.  That makes you like ten times more attractive."  Clarke said.  Your eyes widened as blush made its way to your face and neck.  Clark noticed this and smirked, which made your stomach fluttery.  

You cleared your throat, trying to think of something to say.  As you were looking around, you noticed that Clark was wearing a Pirate Pete uniform under his red jacket.  “So, you work at Pirate Pete's?”  You asked.

Clark looked down at himself, seeming to notice the stupid costume that he was still wearing.  “Yeah, my mom made me get a job there since I kept getting into trouble.”  He stated.  “Like that would work, I make my own trouble.”  Clark said as he stomped out his cigarette.

“Were you the one who changed the menu earlier today?”

“Yeah.”  He said.  “Not my finest work, I’m better at other things.” 

“Oh yeah?  Like what?”  You asked as you threw your cigarette down and stomped it out with the heel of your boot.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”  He said while wiggling his eyebrows at you.

A small smile made its way to your face.

Clark’s smile widened while stepping closer to you.  “Maybe I can show you some of my talents later, huh?”  He asked.

“I would but people who get close to me seem to get hurt or worse.  I think that you’re a nice guy and all but I just don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”  You said, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Hey I get it.  I just thought that I would shoot my shot, its not everyday that I meet a superhero.”  Clark said as he leaned against the wall behind him.

Before you could say anything else, you heard a foot steps approaching.  You whipped your head up as you saw three people, the woman from the burger joint who apparently wasn’t drunk anymore, a man and a woman, both of whom you didn’t recognize.

“Well well, if it isn’t the youngest Winchester.”  The not-so-drunk woman said as she started to pull out her angel blade. 

You took out your own blade as you stood in front of Clark, swearing to yourself that you would protect him as much as you could against these dicks that called themselves angels.

“Aww, young love, adorable.”  The woman sneered as she started to step closer to the two of you.

“Clark, run.”  You said as you met his wide, fear filled eyes.

Clark made a break for it to the back door of the station but the angels were faster.  The man grabbed him and held his blade to Clark’s throat, nearly breaking his skin.

“You seriously didn’t think that would work, did you?”

“Doesn’t hurt to try.” You said but before you could make another move, the other female angel came up behind you, knocked the angel blade out of your hand and held her own blade against your throat.  You held up your hands in surrender, seeing that there was no way to get the upper hand without getting your throat slit.

The angels seemed to share a silent conversation with each other and after a couple of seconds, the lead angel opened the back door and lead the way into the building.  You were lead into the office sector of the police station along with Clark.

“Anybody home?”  The lead angel called out.  Shortly after Dean and the sheriff came out of the small office.  You noticed that Sam did not exit the office along with his brother and the cop which meant that he was more than likely in the jail cell.  When Dean took in the scene before him his eyes widened double their size.  Sheriff Barker drew her gun on the angel holding her son hostage, not knowing that it would do nothing to him.

“Hey Deano.  Care for a chat?”  The woman asked.

Dean pulled out an angel blade that he had hidden in his jacket, anger showing in his forest green eyes.  “Let them go.”  He commanded.

“What’s the fun in that?”  The lead woman asked.

“I won’t ask again.”  Dean said in a deadly tone.

“You won’t have to, all that I want is the nephilim.  Give him to us and these two will walk out of here without a scratch.  I promise.” 

“Why should I trust you?”  Dean asked.

“I never asked you to.  Just give us what we want and everyone walks away happily.”

You watched as Dean considered taking the offer.

“Dean I know what you are thinking.  Don’t do it.”  You said.

“Shut up.”  The angel who was holding you captive said as she pressed the blade deeper into your neck, drawing blood.

“Maybe we can work something out.  Just let them go and we can talk.”  Sheriff Barker said, putting her gun back into its holster and putting her hands up in surrender.

The lead angel scoffed.  “You humans don’t get it do you?  If that abomination walks the earth, that can be the end of all life.  We are trying to help.”  

“Then that’s a risk that I am willing to take.”  Dean said, giving you a signal to get ready.  You quickly gave one back saying that you already were.  Before the angels could register what was happening, Dean aimed and threw his blade at the head of the angel who was holding you.  As the blade went through her skull and killed her, you quickly grabbed the blade that was being held at your throat.  You make your way over to Clark and attacked the angel who was holding him.  You stopped the angel just before he could stab Clark in the neck.  You took the blade out of his hand, throw it towards Dean and you stab the angel square in the chest.  Dean gets the upper hand and kills the lead angel in one quick movement, catching her off guard.  

You make your way over to Clark.

“Hey, you okay?”  You asked as you stashed the blade into your jacket.

“Not really.”  Clark responded with fear in his voice.  “I almost died.”

“But you didn’t.”  You assured him while putting a hand on his shoulder.  “That’s what matters.”

“Yeah.”  He said while putting his shaking hands into his jacket pockets.

Sheriff Barker made her way over to the two of you, looking over Clark to make sure that he was okay.  As they started to talk to each other, you walked towards Dean, preparing yourself for the lecture that he was going to give you.

When you eventually got to him, you crossed your arms and looked at the floor, avoiding Dean’s gaze.

“Y/N, look at me.”  Dean commanded.  You sighed, lifting your head to look at your oldest brothers face.  “Are you okay?”  Dean asked, anger melting from his eyes.

You were taken back by his question but you quickly get yourself together.  “Yeah.”  You answered.

“Good.”  Was all that Dean said before he started to walk towards the jail sector of the station.  You quickly followed.  When the two of you got there, you saw that Sam and Jack were in the same cell.  You shot a look to Sam, silently asking if he was okay.  He gave you a single nod before standing up with Jack and walking to the cell door.

“What happened?”  Sam asked Dean.

“I’ll tell you about it later.”  Was all that Dean said before opening the cell door and letting your brother and Jack out.  “We need to get out of here.  The sheriff called for backup and they can be here any minute.”  Dean explained.

Dean started to lead the way out of the station but you were quickly stopped by your name being called.

“Y/N.”  Clark said, beckoning you to come over to him.

“I’ll catch up.”  You told Sam, making your way over to Clark.

“So, this is it huh?”  Clark asked with a sad smile.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”  You said while sharing his expression.

“Well, there is one thing that I want to do before you leave.”  

“And what would that be?”

“This.”  He said before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours.  Butterflies were fluttering in your stomach as you kissed him back with as much passion as you could muster up at that moment.  You two kissed each other for what felt like eternity before you broke the kiss.

Your eyes met his with love and wonder.  “Wow.  You weren’t kidding when you said that you were an expert in other areas.” 

He threw his head back, chuckling.  After a moment, he calmed down and met your eyes again.  “Guess not.”  He said.

There was a moment of comfortable silence before you spoke.  “Goodbye Clark.”

“Bye Y/N.”  He said back with a smile.

You returned the smile before turning around and walking out of the station and towards the impala.  As you climbed into the backseat beside Jack, you couldn’t help but hope that you would run into Clark Barker again.   

[musingsofthesky]

Hello! I’ve been following you for a while now and really like seeing all your fanfiction recommendations so I have a question: do you have any desert island stories? Ones that you could never get tired of? Any fandom! Im curious about dc ones though XD

Absolutely!! I’m so honored that you enjoy my fic recs omg. I haven’t been reading very much dc fic lately but I have a lot of desert island fics in this fandom. It was really really hard not to just list every fic in my ao3 bookmarks but these are some of the ones that I reread the most: 

(also I can’t remember everyone’s tumblr urls so if anyone knows the ones I have missing/see their own work and want to be mentioned here please let me know!)

Vilomah

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22207630/chapters/53022322

Summary: Thomas and Martha Wayne lost their son Bruce in the back street behind a theater in Park Row, a seedy neighborhood in Gotham now known as Crime Alley. Years later two boys show up and claim to be the adopted children of their long dead son and, well, let's just say stranger things have never happened.

OR

Tim and Jason accidentally stumble into a universe where Bruce Wayne died and Thomas and Martha lived.

Minimum Height Requirement

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12694770/chapters/28947333

Summary: Somewhere in the multiverse, there's a universe where letting his children dress up in capes and follow him into vigilantism seems like a good idea.

Bruce is determined that it isn't going to be this one . . . Despite his children's repeated attempts to convince him otherwise.

(Or: "When you're eighteen, you can do what you want. Until then, no capes.")

Latchkey by @goldkirk

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21672928/chapters/51685639

Summary: or, How Tim Drake Found A Family, Became A Photojournalist, Learned To Love Coffee, and Grew Up, not necessarily in that order.

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird nextdoor neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

Come Alive

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17455574/chapters/41103026

Summary: Dick went to Infinity Island on a mission to rescue three. He never expected to return with an additional two. None of them did. AU of 3x06.

(Spoilers for YJ Season 3 ahead)

We’re Not in Crime Alley Anymore by @chimaerakitten

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963506/chapters/24406599

Summary: When Bruce returned to the car that night, it was a nine-year-old holding the tire iron, not a young teen. Somehow, Jason Todd at nine was even more precocious than Jason Todd at 12. Bruce has his work cut out for him.

Taking Flight: A Tragicomedy in Four Acts by @novangla

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14064618/chapters/32400666

Summary: John and Mary Grayson die; Dick becomes Robin. This is everything that happens in between, a/k/a, how Gotham City ripped one family and identity from Dick and gave him another.

An origin story in the Rebirth spirit, weaving together threads from Tec #40, Dark Victory, Robin: Year One, New 52, and more.

Dick just wanted to go back to the circus, to go back to his normal life, waving to crowds and flying through the air. But instead he was in a giant cave under a giant mansion in (outside of?) Gotham, swiftly becoming part of a billionaire's cobbled-together family and trying to solve a murder. And the worst part? He sort of liked it.

An Act of Mercy by @shirokokuro

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19036840/chapters/45214630

Summary: "You're gonna be okay," Tim keeps saying. "I'm here. We're almost home. You're gonna be okay."

Or, that time Bruce gets hit with Fear Toxin.

Stubborn by @audreycritter

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9425156/chapters/21334268

Summary: Dick is usually the one taking care of everyone else and he's bad at asking for help.

So bad, in fact, that he never even actually asks-- but Jason shows up anyway.

And then Dick returns the favor. And then they both do for Tim. And it's just going to keep going from there.

It's probably Alfred's fault. When your butler mom calls and says, "Go check on your brother," you don't argue. You just do it.

a burden shared by @renecdote

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18813457

Summary: Diana puts a hand on his shoulder. “He’s going to be okay, Bruce.”

The gauntlets creak as Bruce clenches his fists. “You don’t know that,” he says, haggard and cracking around the edges.

Diana’s hand shifts up, cupping his face, fingers scraping over the stubble shadowing his jaw. “I believe it.”

Robin is injured. Bruce is worried. Clark and Diana offer comfort.

The Jingle Jangle Morning (also by audreycritter)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19792300

Summary: Dick’s first overnight field trip without Bruce doesn’t go as well as planned.

In My Arms by @lurkinglurkerwholurks

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728655

Summary: There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could change. Those were the rules of the past. Besides, babies cried all the time, even if this was less a cry and more of an angry wail from a little one pushed past its limits.

But still. He should have been on his way.

He likely would have been, had this been a different home.

[queerbutstillhere]

For my favourite writer, Damian and Jon get send to an Alternate Universe (maybe young justice cause I'm more familiar with it) and during their brief stay there everyone they interact with thinks they are dating because they act as a couple.

(I'm not sure how I feel about this, but oh well? I hope it's okay! Also it's kinda a weird situation, like they're in an alternate universe, but it's also just Young Justice? Idk I hope it makes sense!)

You know, it wasn't everyday that you're chilling with your Bros, a big blue portal opens in the ceiling and from it falls two vigilantes, cursing and kicking each other, right onto your coffee table, shattering it everyday.

Or at least it shouldn't be an everyday occurrence.

It certainly wasn't that surprising to say the least.

I suppose you want background, don't you?

It was a wonderful summer morning. Timothy Drake, Conner Kent, Cassie Sandsmark and Bart Allen had gone to visit their good friends Cissie and Greta, retired heroes. Tim, being a rich kid, could afford to do this for a weekend, and of course, the others could just run or fly there. So they went out for lunch and then went back to Cissies house, her mom conveniently out for the weekend. They were just chilling and catching up when the portal opened, people fell, and glass table shattered.

Greta had screamed when they fell, meanwhile the others just jumped up, ready to fight. The two vigilantes weren't terribly large, they had landed on top of each other, and the one on top was covered by a large black cape, a hood flipped over his head. He was the one swearing loudly. The other one was clearly a teen, wearing blue and red, and a red cape twisted underneath him. He had black hair and blue eyes and looked . . . Like Clark?

Tim and Kon exchanged a confused look.

"Damn you!"

"Stop it! Would you just stop fighting and hold still while I get a bearing on where the hell we are."

"No! Let go of me!"

"You're bleeding," the teen responded, arms tightly clasped around the person on top of him.

He had spotted Kon and apparently identified him as the current threat, body going rigid.

"I'm always bleeding, let go!"

There was a grunt and then cape man was pushing up, sitting on his companions stomachs as he looked around, eyes landing on Tim.

They both gasped at the same time.

"Robin?" Tim exclaimed, because standing in front of him was an. . . Older Damian?

"Drake," Damian shot back, tilting his head.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Kon said, stepping in front of Tim. "What's going on?"

"Tim, how does he know that?" Cissie asked.

"Know what? His last name?" Robin said with an eyeroll.

"God, Robin, lay off the bean burgers!" The younger man complained, shoving at Robin.

"Shut the hell up, Superboy. Now is not the time."

A small whine escaped "Superboy" and then he locked eyes with Kon again. Sure enough, on his chest was the S emblem of Superman. Kon took a step towards him, and in a flash, this Superboy was across the room, Robin between him and the wall as he glared at them, an arm behind him, touching Robin.

"Stay back. Who the hell are you people."

"Tt. Kent, don't be so naive," Robin said, poking his head out around the taller teens shoulder. "That is clearly my brother."

"You're-" Tim started confused.

"I see that, Rob, but who are the others?"

".... Admittedly I don't know. It appears Rex's portal dropped us into another dimension. . . Fascination."

"Uh! No! The last alternate dimension we got involved in, my dad was evil! Your dad doesn't even know we snuck out."

"Eh. I'm sure it'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen? They send West after us?"

"Robin!"

Tim raised an eyebrow at the two, motioning for the others to stand down, Cassie relaxed, and Cissie stopped edging towards her bow.

"Bart, can you clean up the glass, please?" Tim asked softly.

"Yeah." The speedster blurred around until all the glass pieces were collected, and then appeared with a vaccum, sweeping the rug.

Superboy and Robin had gone silent, watching this.

"He's a speedster."

"I see that."

"I don't trust them."

"And you think I do? They haven't attacked us yet, though, so that's a start."

Tim watched with hidden amusement, this whole time, as they stood against the wall, they had been touching the whole time, Robin's hands on Superboy's arm, which was wrapped around and hooked into Robin's utility belt. It was almost as if they were holding each other back.

"Okay. Why don't we do introductions instead of standing here and whispering," Tim said, stepping closer. "I'm Tim Drake."

"Red Robin. I know," Robin said softly.

Tim frowned, eyebrow raising. "I'm not..."

Robin's eyebrow also raised.

"Maybe he's not Red in this universe?" Superboy said softly.

Robin gently cuffed the back of Superboy's head. "Use your eyes. Read his body language, his posture, his body shape. He's a vigilante of some kind. It seems only reasonable that he would be Red Robin still. His recognized me, which means I have become Robin in this universe already. So unless he quit, or by some miracle, is Batman..."

"Okay, Damian, just, stop," Tim said, waving his hands. "Yes I know who you are. But I'm not Red Robin anymore."

"Oh you did quit?" Robin inquired.

"No. . . I uh. Changed my name."

"Fucking Drake," Kon muttered from behind them.

"Okay, you know what. Greta and I are gonna go to the kitchen why you guys sort this mess out," Cissie said, and sure enough, the two girls just exited stage left-

"What did you change it to?" Robin asked, he still hadn't moved from behind Superboy.

".... Drake."

Robin blinked once. Then twice.

"What the fuck?"

"Look! Okay! It's a powerful duck-"

"It's literally only aggressive when horny, Tim, what the hell?" Robin interrupted, staring at him with the biggest "what the fuck" expression ever.

"I TOLD YOU!" Bart nearly screamed, zipping over. "Hi! I'm Bart Allen, Impulse! I'm Barry's grandkid."

"Uh, Hi. I'm Superboy?" Superboy said, blue eyes cautiously scanning Bart.

"That's hilarious, because I'm Superboy," Kon said, stepping up, wrapping an arm around Tim's waist.

The two Superboy's had a glaring match.

"Cassandra Sandsmark. Wonder Girl."

"Oh, isn't Donna-"

"Alternate dimension," Robin reminded his Superboy.

Tim didn't miss the small sway that just happened to Robin. Neither did Superboy, as he suddenly spun and scooped up Robin.

"You dumbass," he huffed, looking around.

"I'm fine. We have more pressing matters-"

"You are literally bleeding through your armor."

"Kent I'm fine."

"Like hell."

Superboy looked at Tim.

"He took a shank to the stomach earlier. Do you have medical supplies?"

"Somewhere-"

They sent Bart off to look for those, while Superboy laid Robin down on the dining room table, gently undoing all his armor as Robin was forced to lay there helplessly, and just talk.

"As you have probably figured out by now, I'm Damian Wayne, and this is Jonathan Kent. We are Robin and Superboy from our universe," Damian explained, tugging off his gloves and then his mask.

"Wait does that make us brothers?" Kon asked, staring at Jonathan.

"What?" The younger Kent asked , barely glancing up from his task of gently pulling off Damian's layers, every touch and tug painfully gentle.

"Your dad is Clark, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's mine too. I'm Kon, Conner Kent."

"Oh! Cool!" Jon grinned at him brightly.

Neither of them noticed it, but Damian went rigid, and Jon mumbled an apology, looking back down. Bart returned with a first aid kit finally.

"This is all Cissie had."

"I'll take it," Jon said.

While he got to work, ripping his cape for spare bandaged, and using the surgical needle and string that Cissie had wisely decided there should be inside, Damian began explaining what had happened, how they had been battling an old enemy named Rex, and he had, in a last ditch effort, opened the portal, tossing them through it. Cassie and Tim asked a few questions to better understand, and Damian answered them all, barely bothered by Jon working on his stab wound, bandaging it as best he could.

"So wait. We don't exist on your world?" Cassie asked.

"Well, Tim does, and I do believe I've heard of a Cassandra Sandsmark. But I've never met you, Kon, nor do we have an Impulse. Just the Wally's and Barry. Oh and Jay."

"Wild."

"Well, Jon here doesn't exist in our timeline, so it'd not that surprising," Kon said to Bart.

"Yeah but still. What do people do without us?"

"We survive just fine, I assure you," Damian said sarcastically.

Jon smacked his thigh. "Hey, play nice."

"I am playing nice."

"No. You're being a dick."

"This is him being a dick?" Tim asked, eyebrow raised. "You should meet my Damian. . . Hey how old are you anyway."

"I'm seventeen. Jon is fifteen."

Tim exchanged a look with Kon, right as Damian gave a small grunt.

"Sorry, I'm almost done, okay? Hold still," Jon said, lightly touching Damian's arm before tying off the string.

They almost acted like a couple, with the gentle touches and soft tones they used.

"That's cute," Bart said softly, almost as if he had read Tim's mind.

Jon's head snapped up, and he looked at Bart, cheeks turning red.

"So we should most likely talk to Father, and maybe Kord to see how to get us back," Damian said to Tim.

"Yeah. I'll call Bruce. I think he's in Paris though so he may not be much help."

"He'd still like to know what is going on."

Tim shook his head slightly. "Don't you two worry, we'll get you boys back to your own universe as quick as possible."

"We're not children, Drake," Damian muttered, shaking his head. "God I can't believe you picked Drake!"

So they called Bruce, headed to the watchtower, changing on the way. When Tim walked out from the room on the batwing that he had been changing in, Damian just stared at him.

"Why are you brown and yellow."

"It's my uniform."

"That is the blandest uniform I have ever seen. That's not even the colors of a Drake."

"What?" Tim asked confused."

"You're literally wearing the colors of a female duck," Damian explained.

"Dami! Don't be rude!"

"It's cause he's such a bottom," Kon commented, grinning at Tim.

"Okay, gross," Damian said, making a face.

"What? Is that not gay culture on your universe?"

"I wouldn't know, frankly," Damian said with a sigh, looking down at his touchscreen gauntlet, messing with it.

". . . So you two aren't dating then?"

Both of them looked at Kon in alarm.

"What?!" Jon screeched.

"Why would we be dating?"

"Because you guys are all gross and touchy," Kon said, even as he leaned on Tim.

"We are not!" Jon protested. "He's my best friend!"

And yet, when they got to the watchtower, the two walked with their arms pressed together, murmuring softly and pointing things out to each other and in general acting like a couple. Tim may not know this Damian, but he can read closeted gay anywhere. Well except himself.

All of the Justice League was wary of these new vigilantes, but interested too, asking questions. Tiny angry Damian was not impressed with older, happier Damian, but older Damian just smiled and spoke gently to younger Damian for a moment, and then the kid huffed in annoyance and ran off.

"What did you tell him?" Jon asked softly.

"That it was okay and he would make mistakes and to just learn from them instead of beating himself up. And that I was proud of him because I remembered how hard and confusing it was to follow Bruce's rules, but things will get better."

Jon smiled fondly at Damian. "Things you wish you had been told?"

"Maybe."

"Totally not dating," Tim mumbled as he walked past. They both glared after him.

It took a few hours for them to figure out how to send Damian and Jon back, meanwhile, the two just hung out with Tim and Kon and chatted, swapping stories and finding out information about each other. Tim really couldn't believe they weren't dating. They sure acted like it.

"Okay, kiddos," everyone looked up as Barry walked over. "Time to go, we've got it all figured out."

They walked over to where the portal was supposed to open.

"Thank you, for helping," Damian said, pressing on his mask.

"It was our pleasure," Tim said with a grin.

Jon said goodbye to Kon, and then ran after Damian through the portal. Tim just laughed and shook his head, and turned to Kon.

"I liked them."

"They were most definitely dating without realizing it yet."

"Oh yeah."

Send me a prompt!

[keanureevesisbae]

“Never out of practice” - Chapter 1

Summary: When Darcie’s father loses an important case, a killer seeks revenge, by kidnapping the entire Angel family. Though John thought that he was officially retired, he has to save his Darcie and her family, because he can’t lose her.

John Wick x OFC Darcie

Word count: 2.8k

Warnings: Mentions of a miscarriage.

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

It’s officially October. I’ve always really liked it when it’s autumn again. The only thing is that it’s getting darker earlier on and I’ve never been too keen on the dark. The first year when I owned the cafe, I would be so terrified walking to the bus, that eventually I kept hailing cabs, because dealing with that stress on top of owning a cafe, was too much for me at the time.

Thankfully I have a very tough boyfriend now, who loves to pick me up. Today is no different, except that we go to my parents. For the first time in what seemed like forever, my parents have a night off and they really wanted us over for a late dinner.

Today it’s Jennie’s turn to close off, but somehow Raye managed to stick around. ‘When is your next date?’ Jennie asks.

‘Tomorrow,’ Raye answers, ‘but I think about cancelling.’

I stop in the middle of cleaning a table. ‘Jen, did I hear that correctly? Raye Clarke is thinking about cancelling a date?��

Jennie nods. ‘I’m still a little shocked. I can’t believe this is happening.’

‘Very funny,’ Raye growls, looking actually annoyed. Geez, what is up with her? ‘It’s just, he sounds so stupid. I was hoping his looks would make up for it. His looks were the only reason that I swiped right. But talking to him and calling with him, he is really stupid.’

For Raye to say something like that, means that either something really bad happened or that she is growing. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask.

She sighs. ‘My brother is coming home next week. My parents are really looking forward to it and they keep calling me, demanding I should at least stop by.’

Jennie and I exchange looks. We know Alex Clarke pretty well. He was about a year older than us, but somehow always managed to bully us through high school. I never understood why a nice girl like Raye had a brother like Alex. Alex would always make racist Asian jokes against me and he once cut off two of Jennie’s braids, causing her to shave her entire head..

‘I hate that guy,’ Jennie admits. ‘God, your brother is so fucking annoying.’

‘And he is introducing us to his fiancée.’

‘That bonehead has a fiancée?’ Jennie exclaims. ‘How is it possible that he is fucking engaged and we,’—she gestures to her and Raye—‘are single?’

Raye has been sad for too long, because she literally shakes it off. She always does that. Being sad isn’t something that happens to her a lot. She always says that she’d rather be fake happy than real sad. I really don’t know if that is such a healthy way of dealing with your emotions, but okay. ‘It’s not until next week,’ she states, ‘so no need to dwell on it. I’m going to cancel that Tinder date and you and I, Jennie, are going to hang out.’

‘You can’t just expect us to hang out together, last minute. Maybe I already have plans.’

‘You don’t,’ Raye says. ‘You honestly don’t have plans, like ever. I know you.’

The door opens and when we all look up, I see my handsome boyfriend in the doorway. Tiki and Oreo rush to me and when I crouch down, they push me on my back, trying to see who can lick my face the most. ‘I missed you guys too,’ I squeal and wrap my arms around the dogs. ‘Oh my God, I love you too, but you have to let me get up. John, please help me.’

‘Come here, guys,’ he says, patting his legs, so they look up and let go of me.

I manage to push myself up, only to see Oreo sneaking back to me. I scratch his head, causing him to smile at me. I love that cute smile of his. He is such a big fat baby, always curling up beside me on the couch and always wanting to get in bed with us, but John sends Oreo and Tiki out every time we go to sleep. Somehow he got through an entire year of dating without letting Tiki sleep in our bed and now that we have Oreo, he hasn’t changed his opinion about it. I personally wouldn’t mind if the dogs were in our bed, but John says that he wants me all to himself when we’re sleeping and to be honest, I think that is really sweet.

John walks up to me. ‘Hi sweetheart,’ he says, before kissing me on my forehead. ‘Ready to go?’

‘I am, let me just get my bag.’

I rush to the kitchen and after I collected all my stuff, including my jacket, I give Raye and Jennie a big hug. ‘Say hi to your parents from me,’ Jennie says.

‘Will do. See you two tomorrow.’

‘Bye mommy, bye daddy,’ Raye says and I glare at her. ‘It’s funny and you like it, admit it.’

I send her the finger and with John—who is enjoying this way too much—and our dogs, I walk to the car. While the dogs get in the back, John puts my seat in the right place, but he stops me before we can get it. ‘What is it, honey?’ I ask him.

‘I really missed you.’ He gives me a long kiss and afterwards pulls me in a tight hug.

This isn’t really how he usually is. I frown. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Can’t I show my wonderful girlfriend how much I love her?’

I lean back, so our eyes meet. His dark eyes are so full of love and I can’t help to fall even more in love with him. He is so gorgeous and my boyfriend. Sometimes I still can’t comprehend it. ‘Of course, but… I don’t know. Just wondering.’

I get in the car and when John sits next to me, I still can’t help but worry a little. He has a frown between his brows and when he holds onto the steering wheel, he is also a bit tense, his knuckles almost turning white. When he feels me staring at him, he looks to the side. ‘What’s up, sweetheart?’

‘I love you, you know that right?’

John smiles. ‘I do know that and I also know that you are worried, but please don’t. Going to your parents still makes me a bit nervous.’

‘Why is that? They love you, especially my mom and when you let my dad drive around in your Mustang, he instantly wanted you to be his son in law.’ I place my hand on his. ‘No need to be nervous.’

John parks the car in front of my parents home, but I stop him before he can get out. ‘How about that when we get home and you’re still tense,’ I whisper, ‘I’ll help you relax a bit?’

His eyes widen and a grin appears on his face. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I think a back massage could do wonders.’

He laughs, placing his hand on his chest. ‘You had me there for a second. That is just mean, Darcie.’

I stick out my tongue. We get out of the car and with the dogs we walk to the front door of the house that I grew up in. The door flies open, to reveal both of my parents. My mom nearly pushes me aside to hug John. Mom always wanted to two kids, a boy and a girl. My father once told me that three years before they had me, they were expecting a boy, but in the seventh month of her pregnancy, his heart just stopped beating. They never knew why he never survived and when I asked her at age five why everyone had sibling, except me, she threw her bowl filled with soup against the wall and yelled at me that I should’ve never ask a question like that again.

When I finally got a boyfriend, she thought that she’d treat her son in law like a real son, but she never wanted anything to do with Eric. She hated his guts and at the time I felt awful for not liking her as much as I used to. I mean, Eric was my boyfriend, wasn’t she supposed to be happy?

But the way she loves John like he is her son, though he is only ten years younger than her, warms my heart. I know a tiny bit about his earlier life, how he was an orphan. The way he was welcomed in my family, I know it means a lot to him. When he met my parents for the first time and we got back to the apartment, he told me about how wonderful it felt to belong in a family.

He never really told me anything about Helen’s family, but I feel like sometimes I shouldn’t ask too much about her. I always feel a bit guilty after talking about her, I don’t know why.

But knowing that he was happy to belong to a family and that he would do everything to keep all of us safe (he said so himself), it made me realize once again that John is a good man and that I should never let him go.

I give my dad a hug. ‘I missed you, dad,’ I say to him.

‘Oh, munchkin, I missed you too.’

‘You look tired,’ I note, looking at his dark circles under his eyes.

‘Tough case, that’s all. Don’t you worry about me Your old man can handle it.’

⟢⟡⟣

‘Mom, really?’ I ask her, when I see there are only three chairs at the table. ‘We have four chairs, I know that.’

‘One is broken,’ she lies without skipping a beat. No wonder she is one of the best attorneys ever. For a second I believed her, but I know my mom and I know she’s up to something. My dad and her sit each on a chair, leaving only one left. ‘You can sit on your boyfriends lap.’

Oh my God, I thought once you weren’t a teen anymore, you wouldn’t be ashamed of your mother—guess I was wrong. ‘Mom,’ I whine, ‘please.’

‘Oh Darcie,’ she says. ‘I really like you two together. How do young people call it? Sailing?’

I’m visibly cringing. She always does that, trying to keep up with trends. It was funny when I was young, it was embarrassing when I was a teen, but now I’m thirty one, I really want her to stop doing that. ‘Mom, first of all: it’s called shipping, not sailing. Second of all: John and I are already dating, no need to force us together.’

John can’t hide his amusement. ‘Come on, baby,’ he says, sitting on the only chair left. ‘It’s not so bad.’ He holds my hand and pulls me to him. Knowing I can’t win this (and I’m definitely not eating my dinner standing up), I plop on his lap and my mother, who is a grown woman of sixty, hides her smile behind her hand.

‘I can’t believe you,’ I say to her, but I wrap my arm around John’s shoulders. Not wanting to give this sort of behavior any more attention than it should get, I turn to my father. ‘So, dad, how’s work?’ I ask.

‘It’s okay,’ he says. ‘I’m defending the family of Whitney Bell.’

I’ve heard about that case. Whitney Bell was a twenty five year old woman, whose ex-boyfriend brutally murdered her and dumped her in Central Park. I just didn’t know my dad was defending her family. But come to think of it, I barely spoke him these last few weeks and though I think my parents are doing a great job with the people who they defend, I barely keep up with it, even when it’s in the news all the time.

At first I was a bit nervous to talk to John about this case, since… Well… You know…

But he sat me down and for the first time, he actually mentioned his work, without me asking for it first. He told me that he only killed men who were better off dead than alive. He would never kill a woman or a child and it kind of eased my mind. Not that I was scared that he would murder me.

‘Must be rough,’ John says, before taking a sip of his drink.

‘It is. Family cases like this, it always pains me when I hear their stories. I asked Whitney’s parents to bring a picture of Whitney, to show the jury. Though I asked for one, they brought all their pictures they have of her with them.’ Dad looks at his glass and adds: ‘Parents always do that. I get it, you know. If something happened to you, Darcie, I’d be dragging every picture I have of you with me, to show the jury.’

‘I’m sorry, dad,’ I whisper, but loud enough for him to hear.

‘Don’t be, munchkin. It’s nothing I can’t handle.’ Dad smiles, but I don’t buy it. He is stressing out. ‘Tomorrow in the late afternoon we’ll hear how he is being sentenced for life.’ He wants to sound like he’s got everything under control, but he fails miserably.

John must picked up on his nerves too, because he suggests: ‘How about you and I take a drive in the Mustang after dinner, Christian?’

‘That would sure ease my mind,’ dad laughs and thankfully it’s a bit more real this time.

We talk during dinner about the customers, John’s book binding (causing my mom to say she has some old books) and our dogs, who are curled up beside each other.

John and dad are about to go for a drive in the Mustang, but before John leaves, he picks up Tiki, since she really want to go with him and he presses a kiss on my cheek. ‘I love you, sweetheart,’ he whispers.

My mom manages to keep quiet, but as soon as the front door is shut, she asks: ‘When are you going to give me grandchildren?’

‘Mom! What the hell?’

‘Oh come on, sweetheart,’ mom laughs. ‘I know you are thinking about it. I mean, you call each other mom and dad.’

‘When we’re talking to or about our dogs,’ I defend myself. ‘I know you want grandchildren, but please, don’t say that sort of stuff when he is around. I’m afraid it might scare him off.’

‘Why?’ she asks. ‘I mean, he loves you dearly and I bet he wants kids with you. I mean, who wouldn’t?’

I can’t believe that last makes me blush. ‘I know that, but it is so far ahead in the future, I don’t want to think about it yet.’

Mom wraps her arms around me, giving me a kiss on my cheek. ‘Okay, I’ll shut up about grandchildren. But you are my favorite sail.’

‘Ship, mom, it’s called a ship. And just say couple, please. There is no need to “fit” in with the cool kids.’

‘Yet you knew exactly what I was talking about.’

‘That’s because I have high school kids hanging around the cafe all day every day. I need to fit in with the cool kids.’

We plop on the couch and Oreo stretches himself out, waddles over to us and sits between us.

‘Mom, be honest with me now. Is dad really okay?’

‘You know how he is,’ she sighs. ‘Gets too wrapped up in a case.’ Mom squeezes my cheek and whispers: ‘He’ll be fine after tomorrow, like he always is after he has won a case.’

Mom and I cuddle up with Oreo, who has been the sweetest companion so far, ever since we rescued him from the shelter. He eventually is sitting a little behind me on the couch, his head placed on my shoulder.

The front door opens. My father is laughing, but when I look at him, I see his eyes are swollen and a bit red. ‘Dad, are you okay?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, sweetheart, I’m fine. Just hit my head.’

My mother stands up and wraps her arms around my father. ‘Oh nae wangjamin,’ she soothes, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Tiki rushes to her big brother and jumps on top of him. He simply licks her face, not annoyed by her antics. He never is.

John walks up to me and scratches Oreo’s head. ‘Maybe we should go home,’ John says, ‘it has been a long day.’

I simply nod and when we announce that we’re leaving, my mom gives me a tight hug. When I hold my dad, I’m instantly worried again. This is not who he is, I hardly recognize him anymore. ‘I love you, dad and if something is wrong, just tell me, okay? I’m one phone call away.’

Dad nods. ‘I love you too, munchkin and I will call you.’

Taglist: @toomanystoriessolittletime​ @flhorah​ @allie1804-fan @cynic-spirit​ @raven-black102

[plainvanillapotato]

Quarantine diaries: its still may 22 2020.

Continuation of my “the 100 diaries” cuz y’all asked for it

Season 1. Ep. 2 Earth Skills

These kids sure have some stamina for people who have been stuck on a space blob all of their life. Ok wait imagine if instead of all these super attractive and fit actors we got the space people from wall-E who barely walk to save their lives. Now that is realistic.

Some bones. Mystery. Intrigue. Clearly not a human skull tho.

*hears jasper screaming* yes lets run toward the danger. I know I know be the hero and save the guy but if we’re living by the “do whatever the hell we want” rule then you bet your ass that I’m not gonna be the hero

Also how did jasper not die cuz really it looked like an instant kill

Side note: I’ve just realized where I recognize Clarke’s mom. She’s that aunt in the game plan.

Thelonious… really? These character names are all over the place. I mean you have regular names like Finn and Abby but then you jump to thelonious and Bellamy?! But who am I to judge? I live in a universe where Elon Musk's kid is named X Æ A-12.

Aww wells...such a nice guy! Did he really just bury those two people all by himself? Like no one else saw him and didn’t offer to help him. But I guess as these are some angsty teens who only care about themselves

Wait...wells also stripped them of their clothes kinda gross but you gotta do what you gotta do

Wow first appearance of a shirtless Bellamy. He’s hot

So I really don’t like this Murphy character. It does not help that the jacket that his wearing, the shoulder pad looks like one of those spiky balls I used to play with as a kid. Ill insert some images to prove this. Like I swear to god I bet that the costume design people straight up cut one of them spiky balls and just slapped that on the jacket

Lol I was really worried there for a moment thinking that Bellamy would actually stop that fight between wells and Murphy. Bellamy is chaotic neutral/evil giving wells a knife for a fair fight

Grounders. I wonder if they had a discussion on what they should call the people that survived on earth cuz i feel like there’s a better name for them but idk what. Also does that mean that the 100 and the ark people are called ‘spacers’

Clarke is being very anal about these wristbands like I understand her reasoning but it’s annoying me rn

This show shows more politics than I thought it would. It’s interesting how the kids take on the traits and characteristic of their parents

Wooow this show is really going with the smart Asian stereotype. Like you’re literally keeping Monty from saving his best friend because his brain is too valuable. please tell me there is more to monty than his brains

Clarke really be out here negging Finn AND Bellamy into a suicide mission to find jasper

Also I find it fascinating that one of the main reasons that Bellamy is the leader of these spacers is because he has a gun. Is this supposed to be reflective of real life?

I watch this show with subtitles on and… they spell Adam as ATOM. Like what? I literally had to look it up on IMDb to see if that was an error but nope it wasn’t

Bellamy is a very possessive big brother. Like I know its out of love but its a bit much and kinda anti-feminist like he treats octavia like a doll

Who is this raven character cuz i really don’t be needing another subplot

“Lockup has been quarantined. There’s some kind of a virus” …. CORONAVIRUS?! Is this show the parallel universe everyone is talking about

For a girl who had very limited social interaction, octavia is very confident flirting. Like for real, she flirts with boys better than I do. Possible the most unrealistic part of the show so far

Are they really setting up a thing between Clarke and Finn like keep it in your pants guys? It’s been like 2 days.  Fuck they are making finn and Clarke a thing. And i bet its that troupe where he’s a free spirit and she’s all uptight and he teaches her how to let loose

Also back to my Star Wars parallel, I think I’ve figured it out. Clarke is Rey. Wells is Finn (the guy friend that loves the main girl but she only sees him as a friend). Finn is Poe (the careless fun guy that contrasts the oh so serious main girl). And Bellamy is Kylo ren (the ‘antagonist’ that actually has a heart). Like guys the friend zone relationship between wells and Clarke is VERY finn and Rey like. Then there’s this scene where it seems like Bellamy is trying to turn wells against finn almost like kylo ren trying to turn someone to the dark side. i know rn its finn and clarke but there are strong reylo vibez between bellamy and clarke 

Now there’s atom and octavia jesus this girl moves faster through boys than i have in my entire life but i guess since she lived under the floor for much of her life she has a lot to make up for.

I find it very American who these spacers think that because they have a gun that they are safe.

They really put jasper, titties out, up there in a tree

You know how Bellamy said that he would do anything to get clarke’s wristband even if that means cutting off her hand so that the arc doesn’t come down….he really could have just let her die when she fell into that pit. But I get it plot and to show that Bellamy isn’t all evil. Also very intense eye contact between Clarke and Bellamy.

So this council meeting...ngl i kinda side with Kane especially with that violent table slap

Yess wells you kill that mutant animal thingy. The “now she sees you” yeah Bellamy no shit. Ofc Clarke is gonna notice wells shooting and killing that animal right in front of her. 

Are they really gonna eat that radioactive animal????? I’m serious when i say i want to straight up vomit thinking about eating that. Guess that its a good thing that i don’t live in this universe. Side note it looks like one of those mutant beast that was in the first hunger games movie.

Oh fuck...raven is finn’s girlfriend. Ofc she is

The scene where finn takes the food without cutting off his wristband and Murphy is like no you ain’t special but then finn is like “i thought there were no rules” cut to Murphy’s face is just like “but he’s got a point tho” then finn just walks off with the music blaring like that was the most badass thing ever (the time stamp for this scene is 39:39)….this show is too much

Bellamy really hung atom for kissing his sister…..no just no this is no okay but I’m kind of too invested to stop watching

Oooo a grounder. Does that mask have any functional purposes? Or like is it purely for intimidation

this was murphy’s face when Finn said that there were no rules. 

[bluesravens]

star girl

summary: it’s late and murphy isn’t sleeping. neither is she. warm fires, new friendships, and fairytales fill the night.

pairing: john murphy x reader

genre: angsty shit with some fluff

warnings: cursing, murphy being an ass

inspired by: the moon song by beabadoobee ft pig

author’s note: my first time writing on here so i hope y’all like it !! i’ll be setting up a request page with prompts soon, but feel free to request anytime!

———————————————————————

A sudden gust of wind blew a piece of hot ember from the camp’s fire pit to the soft grass beneath Murphy’s feet. He sat on a splintered log, staring into the flames that sat in front of him, not noticing that Y/N, another one of the 1OO kids sent to the ground, was lying in the dirt on the opposite side of the fire.

Y/N had noticed a while ago that Murphy had slumped onto the log across from her, but decided not to say anything in hopes not to disrupt him or to disrupt her nightly routine of stargazing. Her hair was scattered over the log she was resting her head on and her eyes were lazily gazing at the constellations above. It was calmly quiet out. The sounds of Earth filled the silence around her and Murphy as the rest of the camp slept on the soft grounds of their new home. She glanced at Murphy who was staring into the fire with a hint of sadness and exhaustion in his eyes.

Y/N inhaled a deep breath and relished the burn of the smoke in her throat. She had never felt so alive, but also never as scared as she did right now. A new planet. A new life. A new beginning.

Apparently Y/N’s loud sigh had alerted Murphy of her presence. The boy jumped up from the log and fumbled for some sort of weapon in his pocket. He whipped out a rusted screwdriver and pointed it in her direction with a near steady hand. She sat up and put her hands up in surrender.

“Hey! Hey! It’s me!,” She exclaimed. “It’s me. Y/N.”

Murphy sighed with relief and annoyance and loosened his grip on his weapon. “How long have you been sitting there? Who the hell just sneaks up on people like that?”

Y/N put her hands down and looked at him apologetically. She hadn’t meant to scare him, she just wanted to be alone for a bit and it wasn’t like he was disturbing her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. I was just looking at the stars.”

A content look replaced the worried expression on her face as her eyes returned to the sky. Murphy sat back down and scoffed dramatically to prove his irritation with her. She looked back to him and furrowed her brow. He had a far away look in his eye while he stuffed the screwdriver back in his tattered jacket’s pocket.

“Are you alright?,” Y/N asked. “You’re up awfully late.”

Before she could say anything else, Murphy cleared his throat and the sad look in his eyes dissipated as quickly as it had arrived. He didn’t need her asking personal questions like that “Why are you up so late? Don’t you need to rest up before another long day of kissing Clarke’s ass?”

Y/N didn’t know why it had affected her, but she felt a pant of hurt in her chest. The insult had come so suddenly she was in shock. She was really sick of Murphy’s friends being awful to Wells and Clarke. She agreed with Clarke’s ideas and suddenly she was a target. Maybe Y/N had thought that since it was just Murphy and her he would be a little more kind. Her eyes betrayed her and she new that she looked hurt.

Murphy’s expression softened and he looked as if he was almost going to apologize for being so unnecessarily cruel to her, but this time it was Y/N’s turn to cut him off.

“Don’t you have to get ready for a long day of being Bellamy’s bitch?,” She shot back. His eyes narrowed and she slapped her hand over her mouth. That was not like her at all and she regretted it immediately.

“I’m not anyone’s bitch.,” he spat back. Venom dripped from his words and he got up to leave in a huff. Any chance of him apologizing was gone.

“Murphy! Murphy wait! I’m sorry.,” She said as she jumped up. “Wait! Don’t go!”

Murphy grabbed his small bag and began to walk back to whatever tent he was calling home, ignoring her pleas.

Y/N reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving. He dryly laughed before turning around and looking her dead in the eye. “What do you want now, Y/N? You gonna insult me again? Call me a bitch again?”

She didn’t let go of his wrist, but looked down. “Im sorry, Murphy. Seriously. I shouldn’t have said that. But you shouldn’t have said it either. Why would you try to start something with me?”

He scoffed and pulled his arm away. “Whatever. I don’t need to answer to you.”

Murphy wasn’t used to kindness or people being sincere so he took her apology as a threat. She swallowed and looked back up at him. “Please sit back down. I’m going to my tent anyways. You can go back to whatever it is that you were doing.”

Murphy shook his head and began to walk back to his tent, but she reached for his shoulder this time and gently pulled him back.

“Please. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.,” She asked again.

Murphy eyed her suspiciously and slowly nodded. “Fine.”

A couple of tension filled moments passed as the two just looked at each other, waiting for someone to do something.

Murphy finally went to sit down and pulled a flask out of his bag. He didn’t look at her again as he popped off the lid and let the container rest between his lips.

She sighed and shook her head. Why did everything have to be so damn difficult? She felt hurt and wished she would’ve said something else but she also felt pity for the boy sitting before her. He looked so lonely.

Y/N made a decision and sat right back where she was before. The warmth of the fire heated up her skin and she looked across the fire to see if Murphy was okay. He was staring at her with an angry expression, but also with a look of amusement.

“I thought you were leaving.,” He stated simply. He placed the flask back in his bag and crossed his arms. A humorless smirk settled on his face. “Couldn’t get enough of me?”

Y/N was quietly staring at the night sky and very obviously not listening to him. She looked so elegant and peaceful under the moon light and Murphy couldn’t help but notice. Even though she had just ripped his head off, Murphy could see that she was normally a very kind human.

“Y/N? Did you hear me?,” He asked, interjecting his own thoughts. “I said I thought you were—”

“Did you know that in a few billion years our north star will become a different star called Vega. It has something to do with the tilt of Earth’s axis.,” Y/N explained, ignoring his statement and interrupting his next attempt at talking to her.

He looked confused but brought his attention up to the sky she was so intently staring at.

Y/N pointed to a zigzag pattern in the stars and sighed happily. “And that constellation right there is called Cassiopeia. And that one over there is called Andromeda. I think.”

He watched her as she excitedly pointed out all her favorite star clusters. He didn’t dare interrupt her now.

“My mom was an astronomer. Before she died she always made up fairytales about the constellations and would tell me stories to help me sleep.,” Y/N told him. “Also, there’s not much else to do in a metal box other than read about the universe we live in.”

A look of nostalgia and pain crossed over her face. He looked up once again and Y/N could have sworn she saw a smile grace his lips.

“My mom used to make up stories too. She would write them down and then tell them to me before I went to bed.,” He said quietly, but then let out a laugh. “Man, you never realize how easy you have it when you’re nine, do you?”

Y/N examined his face, but didn’t detect any sarcasm. He was being genuine with her for some reason.

“ No. I guess not.,” She replied, chuckling a bit too.

Quiet replaced the conversation again and the two teens sat on the splintered logs in silence, just looking at the sky together. Murphy felt peaceful for once. This stranger had scared him, then insulted him, then made him feel safe in a very short amount of time and he was starstruck.

“Im sorry.,” Murphy muttered abruptly. “I shouldn’t have said something like that before. You don’t deserve that. I don’t why I was so mean to you.”

He didn’t meet her eyes, but she knew he was being genuine again. “Thanks, Murphy. You’re not too bad yourself.”

Y/N made the bold decision to move a log closer to Murphy. He watched her, but didn’t object. It was quiet again and the two were content.

He smirked at her again and winked jokingly. “You’re brave, Y/N.”

“And why is that, John Murphy?,” She replied, playing along.

“You are officially the first person in this whole camp to be nice to me.,” He said, gesturing around at all the tents.

“I wasn’t kind though.,” She said while talking a little bit quieter than before. She looked disappointed in herself. “I like to be nice to everyone just in case they’re going through something, but I didn’t do that earlier. I was mean.”

“Mean? Seriously, come on. I randomly insulted you and you had a comeback. That isn’t mean. That’s called standing up for yourself.,” Murphy explained, gazing at her with admiration and respect in his eyes. “I’ve never met someone who has the balls to be kind to someone as bitchy as me.”

“I think you’re brave too Murphy. I know why you were locked up. You’ve been through a lot.,” She muttered softly.

Murphy smiled lightly at her and nodded stiffly., “Thanks, Y/N. That means a lot.”

They were facing each other now while they spoke. Y/N was almost thrilled to see him smile again.

“You’re smile is contagious, John Murphy.,” Y/N said boldly. Maybe it was the night air that had taken over her normally anxious self, but right now she was being more flirtatious than ever.

He smiled again and looked down while shaking his head. “I’m gonna hit the hay, Y/N. You gonna stay out here?”

She shook her head and pushed herself off the log. “No. I feel like maybe I’ll be able to sleep now.” Y/N’s cheeks were flushed front the heat of the fire and her eyes looked ready to close any minute. She was positively adorable.

“Sorry about everything, Y/N.,” Murphy said again. He got up too and began to make his way back to his tent. “See you tomorrow night?”

Her heartbeat kicked up and she couldn’t contain the grin that pulled in her lips. “Of course. Goodnight, John Murphy.”

“Night, star girl.”

masterlist

[ofstormsandwolves]

Send My Love

Teen

Zoey x Joan

Follow-up to I’ll Stand By You and Hot for Teacher (first two installments of ‘what the heart wants (or, Zoey’s Extraordinary Gaylist)’)

Canon divergence, canonical character death (Mitch), angst, emotional hurt/ comfort.

Synopsis: Zoey and Joan have admitted their feelings, but now they have to navigate Mitch's final hours, a funeral, and two (potentially) jealous men...

Read on AO3

Zoey Clarke felt sick. One moment she and Joan had been at her apartment, laughing and chatting, and the next she was scrambling to find her shoes and dash out the door.

The day had come.

One fateful phone call from Howie, and the entirety of Zoey’s life had been tipped upside down. To Joan’s credit, she had grabbed her car keys and steered the redhead down the stairs and into her car, plopping her in the passenger seat before calmly sliding behind the wheel.

They talked very little on the drive to the Clarke house, a stark contrast to the giggling conversations they’d been having barely half hour before, and Joan only spoke to ask Zoey for directions. There was surprisingly little traffic, but the sky was already dark when they pulled up outside Mitch and Maggie’s house, but Zoey barely seemed to notice.

“Zoey?” Joan prompted gently. “We’re here.”

Zoey startled, and blinked at her parents’ house. “Oh.” She unclipped her seatbelt and slid from Joan’s car. She was still feeling somewhat nauseous, and as she stood at the end of the path leading to the front door, she found she couldn’t quite bring herself to move.

Joan’s hand slipped into hers, warm and soft and reassuring. Oh yeah, Zoey thought, I’m not alone. She looked across to her partner- and didn’t that still feel odd?- and saw Joan smiling gently at her. Taking a breath, Zoey squared her shoulders and led the other woman towards the house.

It was Howie who let them in, smiling at Zoey and quietly introducing himself to Joan with a handshake. When Maggie called for Zoey to join them in the kitchen, the redhead turned to look at her partner with a small frown.

“Go on, I’ll wait here,” Joan promised quietly.

Joan waited until Howie and Zoey had disappeared into the kitchen to pull out her phone. Dialling a number, she spared a glance into the sitting room where Mitch was, waiting for the caller to pick up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Max, it’s Joan,” she said, trying to keep her voice quiet enough that she wouldn’t disturb Zoey or her family.

“Oh, uh, hi Joan. Listen, if this is about Ava firing me-”

“Uh, no. No, it’s not. Although- I am sorry about that, Max. I can see if I can pull a few strings, hire you back-”

“I’m not sure,” Max admitted. “I mean, unless you could offer me a leadership position. I don’t think I want to go back to being just a coder. I’ve actually been looking at other jobs-”

Joan saw a dark-haired man- presumably Zoey’s brother- walk out of the kitchen then, visibly upset, and she remembered just why she’d called Max. “Um, Max, I was actually calling about Zoey. Well, uh, Zoey’s dad. He’s not doing well, and I think Zoey would want you to know. I know you and she are close.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone then, and for a moment Joan thought Max had hung up.

“Oh god,” Max muttered after a long while. “Uh, thanks for letting me know, Joan. I have to go.”

And then Max hung up. Pursing her lips, Joan slipped her phone back into her pocket, turning to see Zoey walking towards her.

“How are you?” she asked quietly.

Zoey shrugged, her eyes a little damp. “David and Emily are gonna go talk with Dad. I told them I could wait.” She spared a glance towards the sitting room, watching as her brother and sister-in-law approached Mitch. Then she looked back to Joan, eyes bright with unshed tears. “I don’t know if I can bear it, Joan. I mean, what am I meant to say to him?”

Joan let out a sigh then. “I know it’s difficult. And... I get why you maybe don’t want to talk to him. It’s a huge thing. Emotional. But Zoey, remember what I told you about when my mom died?”

“You were at work,” Zoey recalled. Joan had mentioned her mom before, when Zoey had told her about Mitch’s illness, but only a few days ago she had also revealed that she hadn’t been there when her mom had passed because she was busy at work.

“I never got to say goodbye,” Joan reminded her softly. “For weeks afterwards, all I could think was ‘what if I’d left work just half hour earlier?’, ‘what if I’d asked for a day off?’, ‘what if I’d at least called to see how she was?’. I don’t want you to have regrets like that, Zoey. I know it’s terrifying, and I know it’s a huge pressure, but not saying goodbye to your dad is much, much worse in the long run.”

Zoey sniffled at that, and Joan pulled her in for a hug. They stayed like that for several long moments, before Maggie appeared in the doorway. Seeing the other woman, Joan reluctantly pulled back from Zoey.

“Joan,” Maggie greeted, giving the woman a small smile. Zoey flushed, and Joan shifted uncomfortably, and Maggie seemed faintly amused by it. “Good to see you again. I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Me too,” Joan said. “It’s lovely to see you again, Mrs Clarke.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. It’s Maggie.” She gestured to the kitchen. “Did you want a drink?”

“Oh, I can do that, Mom,” Zoey offered quickly. “Why don’t you-”

“What?” Maggie interrupted quietly. “Sit down? Relax? Watch TV? Zoey, honey, I need to keep busy. This is hard enough as it is. I just... I need to do something.”

Biting her lip, Zoey nodded slowly. “Ok. Coffee would be good, if you’re making it.”

The moment her mom was gone, the redhead turned back to Joan.

“Can I have another hug?” she asked meekly.

Joan gave a sad smile, and Zoey quickly fell into her embrace.

 It was nearly half hour later when there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Joan offered quickly as David, Emily, Zoey, and Maggie all looked up in alarm.

She moved quickly towards the door, opening it quietly before stopping dead.

“Uh, Joan. I didn’t realise you were here.”

Max was frowning at her from the doorstep, expression somewhere between confused and surprised.

“Max,” Joan greeted uncomfortably. “Uh, come in.”

The pair of them continued to give each other strange looks as Max stepped into the foyer. He skirted around his boss carefully before moving further into the house.

“Max?”

Zoey had appeared in the kitchen doorway, a look of surprise on her face. Her voice pulled the attention to her, and Max gave her a sympathetic look.

“Hey, Zoey. Uh, Joan called, she told me about your dad.”

He moved to give her a hug then, and Zoey breathed in his familiar scent. Joan shifted a little uncomfortably, not really knowing what to do. After a few moments, Zoey pulled away from Max and gave him a small smile.

“Did you want to see Dad?” she asked quietly. “I’m sure he’d like to see you.”

Max nodded at that, mustering up a small smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.” He glanced to Joan briefly then, before looking back to his friend. “I mean, as long as I’m not interrupting anything.”

Zoey shrugged. “David and Emily have already said their goodbyes really, and I’m still trying to work up the courage. But Dad would want to see you.”

Nodding again, Max moved towards the sitting room, leaving Joan and Zoey behind. Only a few moments later, David and Emily exited the room and headed for the stairs.

“We’re going to try and get some rest,” David explained quietly to his sister. “We won’t be long, though. Just... give me a shout if anything happens?”

“Will do,” Zoey said softly.

Once David and Emily had disappeared upstairs, Zoey held her hand out to Joan and the other woman took it wordlessly. Leading her through to the kitchen, the young woman instinctively began making drinks again.

“Thanks for calling Max,” she said as she waited for the water to boil. She wouldn’t look at Joan, but could feel the woman’s concerned eyes on her. “I’m not sure I would have been able to.”

“No problem. I figured you’d probably want him to know. Wasn’t exactly expecting him to rush over, though.” There was a pause then. “He really loves you, doesn’t he?”

At the tone of Joan’s voice, Zoey couldn’t help but look round. The older woman looked resigned, and perhaps a little anxious. They’d never really discussed Zoey’s almost relationships with Simon or Max. Joan knew that Zoey had sung to them the same day she’d sung to her, but there had never been a full conversation.

“I chose you, Joan,” Zoey reminded her gently. “I want to date you, not Max. And yes, Max has feelings for me, and for a while I thought I might possibly feel the same way about him, but...” She trailed off and shook her head. “There’s only one person who has my heart, and she’s standing in this room with me.”

Joan flushed at that, and tried to cover by rolling her eyes. “Flatterer.” She paused. “I know we said we had to keep our relationship quiet, at least at the office, but you can tell your family. And Max.”

Zoey considered that. “Do you want me to? Tell Max, I mean?”

The brunette shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. It’s up to you. But Zoey, it looks to me like Max still thinks he has a shot with you, and I’m worried that not telling him about us is going to make things worse in the long run.”

“I’ll speak to Max, tell him we’re dating now.” Zoey turned back to finish making the drinks.

Joan pursed her lips, surveying Zoey for a few moments before moving closer. “Zoey, it doesn’t have to be tonight, you know. You have enough going on right now, and it can wait.”

“Not if you’re uncomfortable,” Zoey countered as she stirred the coffee. “I’m not letting my girlfriend feel like that.” She flashed Joan a small smile.

“Ugh, first of all, I’m a grown woman. I can deal with Max having feelings for you for a few more days,” Joan said. “And secondly, we agreed; we’re partners, not girlfriends. I’m too old to be a girlfriend.” She pulled a face.

Zoey smirked then, and pushed a mug of coffee towards Joan. “I beg to disagree,” she said. “But whatever you want, partner.”

 Max didn’t stay long.

“I should really get going,” he told Zoey quietly as the pair of them stood in the foyer. “But you’ll call if you need anything?”

Zoey hesitated at that. She couldn’t help but think back to the conversation with Joan in the kitchen.  As much as the older woman insisted it could wait, she was starting to realise that Max was going to have to know sooner rather than later.

“Uh, sure,” she managed with a tight smile. “I mean, I think we’re all good here, but if I need anything, you’re my first call.”

Max had a slightly odd look on his face at that, and he nodded slowly. “Alright then. I’ll just leave you guys- and, uh, Joan I guess- to it.”

That made Zoey frown for a brief second, but Max was already moving towards to the door. They said their goodbyes quietly, and then she was left staring out into the street as he walked away.

“Zoey? Everything alright?”

Maggie approached her daughter uncertainly, watching as Zoey closed the door and turned back to her with a puzzled expression.

“Just Max,” she said quietly. “He’s acting a little... Uh, off, I guess.”

Maggie sighed, and moved closer to her daughter. “Well, honey, is it possible he just didn’t know how to act around you? Things are different now.”

Zoey frowned. “I suppose so. But he’s known about Dad being ill for ages...”

Giving her daughter a look, Maggie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t mean your dad, honey,” she murmured in her ear as she walked them towards the sitting room.

They stopped just outside the doorway, and Zoey’s eyes went wide as she saw Joan sat with Mitch, talking quietly to him.

“-the best coder we have,” Joan was saying, a proud smile on her face. “I mean, I know we’re both biased, but I really believe that. Zoey’s an extraordinary woman, and I hope you’re proud of her. I... I know I am.”

Wide-eyed, Zoey swallowed thickly as she realised Joan was talking with Mitch about her. Maggie rubbed at her daughter’s shoulders.

“For what it’s worth,” Maggie said quietly, “all your father and I have ever wanted is for you to be happy.”

Blinking away tears, Zoey looked to her mom. “I am, Mom. I am happy.”

Maggie smiled back. “Good.”

 Zoey’s talk with Howie about death had helped, at least a little bit. Honestly, Zoey was glad to have Joan there with her. If she’d had to go through it alone she didn’t know what she would have done. The worst part, of course, was the waiting. She was waiting for her dad to die. The thought made her feel sick.

It didn’t make it any easier, though, when her mom came to tell her she needed to speak to her dad sooner rather than later. David and Howie had moved him into his bed, made him more comfortable, and part of Zoey regretted waiting so long. If she’d spoken to him just a little earlier, she could have spoken to him in the sitting room. Now, he was mostly unconscious, drugged up and struggling to breathe. Zoey sat beside him, biting her lip as she considered what to say.

“I’m going to try to go a different way with this,” she admitted slowly. “I’m doing well at work, the guy I had a crush on likes me back, although I’ve finally figured out my love life and it doesn’t involve him. Or Max. Or, well, any guy. But I think you’ve figured that out, huh? I heard a bit of what Joan said to you earlier. I... I really love her, Dad. We’re keeping the relationship quiet for now, though. We’re still trying to work out the logistics, particularly at work, but I think this might be it.” Zoey broke off, smiling to herself for a moment, before continuing. “And those heart songs I keep hearing? I’m starting to think that they’re not all bad. In fact, I’m sort of warming to them. So... I’m doing alright. Nothing’s perfect, and I’m figuring things out as I go, but I thought you’d want to hear that. That your little girl’s doing well.”

As Zoey finished speaking, she felt a calm wash over her. She’d been dreading this moment for weeks- months, even. And while it had been horrible, there was also something peaceful inside of her. She’d spoken to her dad, she hadn’t broken down, she’d been able to finally give him good news about her job, her love life, her powers.

But then Mitch started struggling to breathe, and Howie hurried into the room to drug him up with more morphine. Maggie and David hovered nearby in concern, and Joan paused in the doorway, unsure what to do. Without thinking, Zoey peeled herself away from the bed to move instead into Joan’s embrace. David spared her a glance, but did nothing more than give his younger sister a tight, sympathetic smile before returning his attention to Mitch.

There really wasn’t anything any of them could do, though, beyond wait for the inevitable. David left the room briefly to check on Emily, but other than that the family remained gathered around Mitch. When Zoey returned to her father’s bedside she tugged Joan with her, and the older woman stood behind the redhead’s chair with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

That was how Joan realised something odd was happening. Zoey stiffened beneath her touch, before looking to the sitting room and standing. Thinking that she perhaps needed space, Joan let her go. The whole thing lasted only a few seconds, and Zoey only got as far as the door before pausing.

That was when it happened. As Maggie let out a sob, Zoey turned back to her family with a smile on her face. It quickly faded, however, and she turned to look over her shoulder again with a concerned look. Blinking, she stared at her dad for a moment before looking to Joan. Without anyone even uttering a word, Joan quickly moved towards Zoey, holding her arms out. The younger woman fell into the embrace with a sob.

Nobody talked for a very long time.

 There was a good turnout for Mitch’s funeral, which surprised nobody. He was a well-loved man, who got on with pretty much everybody he met. Of course lots of people wanted to pay their respects.

It was all a bit overwhelming, though, and Zoey, David, and Emily were all for staying in the car rather than going inside the house. Maggie urged them inside, though, and they were forced to make awkward small-talk with all the guests.

Or, at least, David and Emily were. Zoey was off in her own little world for almost the entirety of the afternoon and into the evening. Joan followed her around the house, making pleasant small-talk with friends of the Clarke family while keeping a close eye on her partner. She knew she was probably raising suspicions, particularly when it came to Max, but she was too concerned about Zoey to care. Although, she did file away Simon’s surprising reaction for future conversation. While the man hadn’t been hostile, he’d been giving Joan sideways glances the whole time, a shadow over his eyes that hinted at jealousy or annoyance.

Oh joy. Not only did Max have feelings for Zoey, but it looked like Simon did too. How were they going to keep Simon off their scent if they wanted to keep their relationship quiet at work?

As she was introduced to yet another old family friend, Joan shook the thought from her head. She was there for Zoey, to remind her to take a break, to eat, to sit down, to step out for some air. They had the rest of their lives to deal with Simon and Max, and anyone else. Right now, she had to get her partner through the rest of the day.

It was a good couple of hours before people finally started filtering out the door. With everyone gone or halfway out the door, Joan was just about to get going when she was stopped by David.

“Are you leaving?”

Joan blinked at him in surprise, looking towards the foyer where Zoey and Mo were saying their goodbyes, before looking back to him. “Uh, yeah. I figured, this was family time...”

David considered that for a moment, before giving the woman a small smile. “I know that you’re dating my sister. I’m pretty certain that makes you family.”

Not really knowing how to respond, Joan stared at him. “So, uh, Zoey told you?”

At that, David laughed a little. “No, no. But she’s my little sister, you know? Besides, I saw the way you two were, the night Dad... Well, let’s just say I could tell.”

Joan folded her arms, a little uncomfortable. “Right. So you’re... Alright with it? I mean, I know Zoey will care, so...”

David shrugged. “We’ve been through hell since Dad was diagnosed. As far as I’m concerned, as long as you make her happy I have no problem with it.” He nodded towards the sitting room, where Emily was already waiting. “So. Are you going to join us?”

Joan glanced towards the foyer again, just in time to see Mo slipping out the door. “If Zoey wants me to, yes.”

David smiled. “Good. Welcome to the family, Joan.”

 Joan eventually left the Clarke residence at just before half ten that night, with Zoey, David, and Emily all staying the night. Unsurprisingly, over the next few days she and Zoey didn’t see each other in person, tied up as they both were. But they did manage some conversation over the phone, which was better than nothing. While Zoey was spending time with her family in the wake of Mitch’s death, Joan was frantically trying to figure out her new role as acting CEO of SPRQ Point while Danny Michael Davis was in prison (still nobody was entirely clear on the charges).

In fact, Joan had resigned herself to not seeing her partner in person for at least a week, and so it was quite a surprise when Zoey showed up on her doorstep five days after the funeral.

“I needed to see you,” Zoey said loudly, pushing her way into Joan’s house before the other woman had chance to fully process what was happening.

Joan shut the door against the orange glow of the evening sun, and turned to her partner with a frown. “Zoey? Is everything alright-”

Joan had barely finished speaking before Zoey’s lips were pressed against hers. The kiss was determined, forceful, and spoke of Zoey’s struggling emotions. Joan allowed herself to lean into the kiss for a moment or two before forcing herself to pull away.

“Zoey, honey, talk to me. Not that it’s not great to see you, but this is a bit sudden...”

Zoey’s shoulders slumped then, and she folded her arms across her chest, avoiding Joan’s gaze. “I just... I missed you. We’ve not seen each other since Dad’s funeral, and even though we’ve talked on the phone, it’s not the same.” She sighed. “I should have called. You’re probably busy. I’m sorry.”

She moved towards the door then, but Joan quickly intercepted.

“It’s fine, honey,” Joan said, taking her arm and instead steering her towards the sitting room. “I could do with a break, anyway. Geez, how Danny Michael Davis was always so chilled out, I’ll never know.”

She gently pushed Zoey down onto the large, plush designer sofa, before sitting down next to her. immediately, the younger woman moved closer, looking for contact.

“I’m sorry I’ve not had much time for you recently,” Zoey said quietly. “And I’m sorry for showing up unannounced.”

“Zoey, you’ve just lost your dad. You’re allowed to be busy, and you’re allowed to be a little out of sorts. Also, you’re allowed here anytime you want.”

Zoey shifted to look at Joan then, a cautiously hopeful look on her face. “Really?”

Joan smiled softly. “Really. Hey, I didn’t demand the house in the divorce just to piss Charlie off.” She considered that for a moment, before shrugging and staring across the room. “Well, that was a big part of it. But I also demanded the house because it’s mine. It’s my home. Charlie was nearly always out, or travelling, or at a hotel after a party. He never really seemed to belong here. But I did. I do, and I want you to belong here too.”

Zoey was unnervingly quiet then, and Joan looked down at her partner with a worried frown. The redhead was staring at her with a look of bewilderment.

“Oh, god,” Joan said, eyes going wide. “Why did I bring my ex-husband up? I’m sorry, Zoey, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable-”

“No, no, it’s not that...” Zoey said quickly, though she didn’t exactly look any more relaxed. “I just... Joan, are you suggesting I move in with you?”

The older woman blinked at that. “Uh... Do you want to?”

“Do you want me to?”

Joan frowned. “So... You do want to?”

“I didn’t say that,” Zoey countered, growing more confused. “Wait... Do you want me to want to?”

“I... Zoey, I don’t even understand the conversation we’re having right now,” Joan admitted, frown deepening as she tried to untangle everything in her head. “I’ve spent most of today figuring out the release schedule for SPRQ Point’s latest products, and I think Danny Michael Davis wrote the whole thing while stoned because none of it makes sense... He’s scheduled floor three’s video chat app for release in Julgust. What does that even mean? Julgust?”

“I- Well, it sounds like he merged July and August,” Zoey pointed out helpfully. “So... Maybe he was hedging his bets?”

“Zoey, it’s Danny Michael Davis we’re talking about!”

“Oh. Yeah. Then he was probably stoned when he wrote the schedule.”

Joan rolled her eyes. “Exactly my point.” Then, she shook her head. “No! No, that’s not my point! My point is that, after dealing with that all day, I’m tired enough that I cannot begin to figure out the conversation we seem to be having. So don’t take this the wrong way, Zoey, but I wasn’t asking you to move in. At least, not yet. We’ve only had one date, the night we called the bake-off off. I haven’t been divorced that long, only a few months. You’re still grieving after losing your dad. I don’t think rushing into this relationship is what either of us need. But I meant what I said; I want you to be comfortable here. You are welcome here any time.”

Zoey nodded slowly, a warm smile spreading across her face as Joan spoke. “That... That sounds good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I have to admit, I kind of got a little spooked,” Zoey admitted, voice quiet but warm. “I don’t know if I’m ready to move in with you, not on any sort of permanent basis. But I would like to spend more time with you, whether that’s here, or my place, or going out on dates...”

Joan smiled. “That does sound good.”

 After a week and a half off of work in the wake of Mitch’s death, Zoey Clarke surprised everyone by showing back up at SPRQ Point at nine on the dot. And nobody was more baffled than her partner.

Partway through fending off kind words and awkward condolences from her team, including Leif and Tobin, the redhead became aware that she was being watched. Standing in the doorway to her office, arms folded and a neutral expression on her face, was Joan.

“Zoey? Can I speak to you a moment?”

Pursing her lips, Zoey moved towards the office, barely hearing Tobin’s muttered comment to Leif about how she was already in trouble and she hadn’t even been in the office five minutes. Once inside Joan’s office, Zoey reluctantly lowered herself into the chair. Joan sat on the edge of her desk, arms still folded and giving the younger woman an exasperated look.

“Why are you here, Zoey?”

“I work here?” Zoey offered, trying to lighten the situation.

The arched eyebrow from Joan told her that it wasn’t going to work.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming in today?” Joan tried again. “We spoke last night! You never mentioned coming in!”

“I just... Felt like it,” Zoey shrugged. “I mean, Mom’s been getting out the house a little to meet with friends, Emily’s had the baby so that’s keeping my brother busy... I wanted to just come in, and work on some code, and not be treated like a delicate object for a while.”

Pursing her lips, the brunette nodded slowly then. It seemed like she was choosing her next words carefully. “Am I... Am I doing something wrong? Is there something you want me to, to stop doing? Or that I should be doing but I’m not?”

Zoey blinked. “What? No, Joan! Why would you think that?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Joan looked away, clearly uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. It reminded Zoey of how she’d reacted when Charlie had walked out of their SPRQ Watch meeting, and it made her uneasy that she’d upset Joan just like Charlie had. “You’re saying you don’t want to be treated like a delicate object, you’re coming back into work without letting me know... It sounds like this is a me-and-you issue.”

“It’s not, I promise,” the redhead responded gently. She sighed. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Joan, and I really didn’t plan to come back in today, or I’d have spoken to you. I just woke up this morning and realised that I didn’t want to sit around feeling sorry for myself anymore. I know that sounds awful, but it’s the truth. Dad would hate it if he knew what was going on, if he knew I still had my life on hold for him. I just needed to come in, needed to do some work and get my mind off it all. And when I’m here, I’m not Zoey-whose-dad-just-died; I’m Zoey-the-team-leader. I mean, sure, Tobin and Leif and everyone are aware of what I’ve been going through, and they’re being a bit nicer than usual, but they aren’t going to constantly ask me how I’m feeling. When I’m at Mom’s house, and people come round, all they want to know is how I’m holding up. When I’m here, or with you, it’s different.”

It was Joan’s turn to sigh then, her expression softening to one of concern. “Honey, you should have told me. I understand, I get that you need to be doing something. But I don’t like being caught off-guard, you know that. I’m not saying you have to ask my permission, not at all, but if you’d just let me know...” She trailed off, took a breath. “I worried. When I saw you come in, I worried.”

Zoey frowned. “You... Worried?”

Nodding, Joan hesitantly met her eyes again. “Yeah. I mean, I told you that you could take two full weeks off, and you seemed so keen, and so when you showed up today I worried that you were doing something you’d regret. You know, that you were coming back early to prove a point or something, or trying to force yourself to do something you weren’t ready for.” She cleared her throat, glanced out the glass of her office to see Tobin and Leif watching in concern. “I guess I’m just feeling a little overprotective of you right now.” She gave her partner a small smile. “And I’m trying hard not to smother you, but... I don’t like seeing you hurting, Zoey.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I don’t like seeing you hurting either,” Zoey countered with a soft smile. “And I’m sorry I made you worry.” She too glanced over at Leif and Tobin then, before looking back to her partner. “I should get back to work before Leif and Tobin start coming up with conspiracy theories about what we’re talking about.”

With one final smile between the two women, Zoey left the room.

 By lunchtime, however, Zoey was finding the office a little stifling.

“Hey,” she greeted Joan as she reached the cereal bar.

Joan was glaring at the options available, clearly taken with none of them.  “These choices are awful. Who chose to go back to a cereal bar? Was it Glenn?”

Before she could shout for poor Glenn, who was probably hiding again, Zoey cleared her throat pointedly.

“Uh, actually, I wanted to speak to you about that. I- Well, if you’re not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for lunch? I just... Need to get out of the office for a bit.”

Concern came over Joan’s face, and she nodded quickly. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. Let me grab my purse.”

They headed for the elevators, with a detour through Joan’s office to grab her purse, and soon they were out of the office and walking down the street.

“Where were you thinking?” Joan asked, slipping her hand into Zoey’s. “There’s a sushi place nearby, if you fancy that. Or there’s a good Italian place-”

“I was thinking somewhere a little different,” Zoey interrupted, giving her partner a nervous smile. “I’m more in the mood for... Well, for something sweet.”

Joan gave a small smile at that, and simply nodded for Zoey to lead the way. They made small talk as they walked, talking about anything that came to mind. Joan complained yet again about Danny Michael Davis’s awful management of SPRQ Point, while Zoey shared stories of her brother and Emily embarking on parenthood.

“I don’t think it will be long before Mom offers to babysit,” Zoey laughed. “She’s already been telling David and Emily about how nice it will be for them to be able to go out for a meal just the two of them.”

“Have you had a chance to meet the baby yet?” Joan asked.

At that, Zoey grinned widely, and promptly dove into her purse to retrieve her phone. “I have pictures!”

Moments later, Joan found herself blinking at an entire album on Zoey’s phone dedicated to her newborn nephew. “He’s cute,” she said, accepting the phone to thumb through the photos. “Tiny.”

“I think my sister-in-law would disagree with that,” Zoey said with a grin.

Joan smirked back. “I’m sure she would.” She came across a photo of Zoey holding the baby then, and promptly fell silent. The photo had clearly been snapped without Zoey knowing, as she stared down at the tiny baby in her arms with such love that it made Joan’s heart clench. She quickly covered the sudden flood of fear she felt with a smile and handed the phone back to its owner. “What did they call him again?”

“Sam,” Zoey said as she pocketed the phone. “Well, Samuel Mitch Clarke.”

She was still beaming from ear to ear, and it was clear that she doted on her nephew. Feeling another wave of unease, Joan busied herself with checking her own phone for emails.

 “This is cheesecake,” Joan said, staring at the food in front of her.

“This is cheesequake,” Zoey corrected as she slid into a seat opposite. “It’s good. Try it.”

Still a little baffled that Zoey had wanted cheesecake over sushi or Italian, Joan picked up her spoon and scooped a small amount of the food into her mouth. Zoey watched her with a knowing smile.

“This is good,” Joan said after a few moments. “How did you find out about this place?”

“Simon brought me here,” Zoey admitted. “And then I brought Max here, after he got fired. It’s good comfort food.”

At the mention of the two men in Zoey’s life, Joan felt her smile stiffen a little. First the photo of Zoey and Sam, and now the mention of Max and Simon. Joan was a confident woman while at work, but Charlie’s treatment of her over the years had left her uncertain when it came to personal connections. She couldn’t help but feel like Zoey was already slipping through her fingers.

“Joan?”

Shaking herself, the brunette forced another smile, hoping it looked more natural than it felt.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” she waved off Zoey’s concern. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Zoey frowned. “Uh, because it doesn’t look alright?”

Joan responded by shrugging. “I’m fine.” She took another bite of food. “Good cheesequake.”

But Zoey pursed her lips, set down her spoon, and leaned forward to take Joan’s hand in hers. “Something’s bothering you. I can tell.”

Brow furrowing, Joan glanced around before leaning forward. “I didn’t... You know? I mean, this isn’t a power thing, is it?”

“What? No, you didn’t sing. Joan, I can just tell. Something’s bothering you. Talk to me.”

Zoey’s thumb was stroking the delicate skin of Joan’s wrist then; a soothing motion that did help to calm the older woman’s racing thoughts even if it didn’t stop them entirely.

“I’m being stupid,” Joan said with a sigh.

“I doubt that,” Zoey said. “You don’t do stupid.”

The brunette’s lips quirked at that, but then she looked away for a moment. “Zoey...” She looked back to her partner, uncertain. “Why are you with me?”

Zoey frowned. “Because I love you.” She thought for a moment. “Is this because I mentioned Max? I’ve already told you, you don’t have to worry about him. I chose you, remember?”

“I remember,” Joan agreed quietly. “But Zoey, you could have Max, or Simon, or anyone else your age. Why did you pick me? That photo of you and your nephew... You do realise that being with me means no kids, right? I mean, I’m not cut out to be a mom! I scare everybody in the office! And even if I didn’t, I’m too old for all that. I’m more than twenty years older than you; in fact I’m closer to your mom’s age than yours!”

Zoey’s frown deepened. “This is really bothering you.” She took in Joan’s pursed lips, her tight posture, her damp eyes. Her heart broke. “Joan, how many times do I have to tell you that I love you? I don’t want Max, or Simon, or anyone else. And as much as I love Sam, I’m not even sure I want kids. And I certainly don’t care how old you are.”

“You might change your mind,” Joan countered, sitting back in her chair and pulling her arm from Zoey’s grip.

The redhead shrugged. “Or I might not. Joan, I never gave any serious thought to ever being with Max, and I never really considered anything serious with Simon either. The only one I want that sort of relationship with is you. And I know that I can’t make you believe this, but I don’t want anybody except you.”

Finally, Joan’s lips quirked into a small smile and some of the tension fell from her shoulders. The pair of them stayed silent for a few moments, no words necessary as they stared into each other’s eyes. But then, Zoey got this strange feeling she was being watched, and reluctantly tore her eyes from Joan. Looking round, her eyes went wide as she saw someone familiar watching them.

With a frown, Joan turned to look too, swallowing when she saw Simon staring back at them with a surprised on his face. As the man approached, Zoey and Joan shared a bewildered look.

“What do we do?” Joan whispered, wide-eyed.

Zoey only just managed a shrug before Simon reached the table.

“Ladies,” he greeted, smiling at the pair of them although it looked strained. “Joan, I see Zoey’s introduced you to cheesequakes.”

“She is,” Joan responded with a tight smile. “They’re good.”

“That they are,” Simon agreed, looking between the two women. “Zoey! I heard you were back at work today. I thought you weren’t back until next Monday?”

“Oh, yeah,” Zoey said uncomfortably. “I, uh, I came back a little early. Wanted to do something, you know. Keep myself busy.”

Simon nodded in understanding, and was about to say something when he was interrupted.

“Uh, hi guys.”

Max was approaching them with a confused look on his face, taking in Zoey and Joan sharing a table, and the awkward expression on Simon’s face.

“Hi, Simon, Joan,” Max greeted with a forced smile. He gave a small nod to his former boss and the man next to him before turning his attention to the younger woman. “Zo, I was about to call you. I didn’t realise you were meeting Joan for lunch. I got cheesequakes.” He held up the two cheesequakes he’d already purchased.

“Oh, well, great minds think alike,” Zoey said, eyes flashing to the two cheesequakes Simon was also holding. “But I went back into work this morning, so I asked Joan to join me for something to eat.” She shifted a little uncomfortably.

Opposite her, Joan was tight-lipped and pale-faced. There was a tense silence for several long moments before, finally, Simon spoke up.

“So, uh, I should get back to work. Lots of stuff to do at the office.”

“Uh, yeah, I should go too,” Max said suddenly, giving the two women a tight smile. “That new job isn’t going to find itself.”

As the two men walked away, Joan’s shoulders sagged.

“Oh, god,” she muttered, giving Zoey a look.

“It’s fine,” Zoey responded quietly as she watched the men leave, “I doubt Simon will say anything, and Max doesn’t even work at SPRQ Point anymore.”

“That doesn’t make it any less awkward,” Joan pointed out. “Both Simon and Max clearly like you, Zoey, and now they’ve seen us together...”

But Zoey couldn’t hear the rest of what Joan was saying, as music started up in her head. She saw both Simon and Max stop walking, turning round to approach her again.

“Oh boy,” she muttered.

It was just Simon who started singing as he approached her, though, and the words surprised Zoey.

“This was all you, none  of it me,

You put your hands on, on my body and told me,

Mmmm,

You told me you were ready

For the big one, for the big jump

I’d be your last love everlasting you and me

Mmmm,

That was what you told me...”

Simon hit the chorus just as he reached Joan and Zoey’s table, Max sliding in neatly beside him and joining in with the lyrics.

“I’m giving you up

I’ve forgiven it all

You set me free.”

The two men started dancing then, Simon moving clockwise round the table while Max went counter-clockwise. Opposite her, Joan was frowning at her.

“Zoey? Zoey, what’s happening?”

“Send my love to your new lover

Treat her better...”

Blinking, Zoey forced herself to look at her partner. “Uh, Max and Simon are singing.”

“We’ve gotta let go of all of our ghosts

We both know we ain’t kids no more...”

Joan’s eyebrows shot up. “Singing? Singing what? Are they going to tell HR about us?”

“I... I don’t think so,” Zoey admitted, watching as the men continued to dance.

“Send my love to your new lover

Treat her better...”

“Well, what are they singing?”

Zoey shrugged. “I don’t know the song. It’s something about... I think it’s called ‘Send my love’?”

At that, Joan’s eyebrow arched. “Oh.”

“We’ve gotta let go of all of our ghosts

We both know we ain’t kids no more...”

Simon’s voice faded out then as Max took over for the next verse.

“I was too strong, you were trembling

You couldn’t handle the hot heat rising

Mmmm,

Baby, I’m still rising

I was running, you were walking

You couldn’t keep up, you were falling down

Mmmm,

There’s only one way down.”

Zoey blinked as she realised the significance of what the two men were singing. Joan gave her a small smile.

“I’m giving you up

I’ve forgiven it all

You set me free, oh...”

Simon came back in for the chorus as the two men came to a stop side by side where they’d started.

“Send my love to your new lover

Treat her better

We’ve gotta let go of all of our ghosts

We both know we ain’t kids no more...”

As they continued to sing, Simon and Max started to back away, moving towards the exit. Their voices faded as they grew further away.

“Send my love to your new lover

Treat her better

We’ve gotta let go of all of our ghosts

We both know we ain’t kids no more...”

And then, it was over. Blinking, Zoey looked to Joan.

“This is a good thing, right?” Joan asked uncertainly, studying Zoey’s face for clues as to how she was feeling.

A smile spread across the younger woman’s face. “Yes. It is.”

And then, just because she could, she stood up, pulled Joan forward, and kissed her across the table.

[ten-ten31]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my first Yuletide and I guess I'm super nervous, but also looking forward to it. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. Do feel free to fall back on my general likes if the prompts don't do anything for you. Or just use the prompts, whatever works best for you. Oh, and should you, dear Yuletide Santa, want to write in German and not in English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with. If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

General likes: I'm a sucker for the old friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all). Things I'll never get tired of include coffeeshop AUs, spy AUs, musical AUs, found families, fake dating, pining, crossdressing, drunken shenanigans, fish-out-of-water situations, pop culture references, etc. Just about any kind of scene you can sneak in there about cooking or eating food (also characters being picky about certains foods and other characters going to some lengths to accommodate that) will make me happy, too. I do have a thing for descriptions of food and expecially impressions of taste - and if you want to make it kinky: food play. ;) I also have a bit of a hand fetish - so descriptions of hands are always welcome. If you want to do it, I probably also won't say no to someone breaking the Fourth Wall, any kind of alternate history AU, crossovers of my fandoms, or even some lovely steampunk aesthetics.

Do Not Want: rape/dubcon/noncon, watersports, scat, humiliation, A/B/O, soulmates AU, vampire/werewolf AU, second-person pov, character bashing of any kind.

*

Fandoms

Just two more thing before I go into detail: 1. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas - feel free to ignore them if you have a better one. :) 2. Not all of the characters need to be used in every prompt; pick and choose as desired.

*

Dial H for Hero (DC Comics)

- Summer Pickens, Miguel Montez

The 2019 12-issue run is just pure love! There is worldbuilding galore, relatable characters, a wonderful coming-of-age and initiation plot, interdimensional shenanigans, the question how Joe Average could get addicted to sudden superpowers, and so much fun with the concept of Superhero Secret Origins. Summer is a wonderfully strong and caring female lead and Miguel is a self-conscious little oddball.

As for prompts: Seeing more of their Metropolis adventures or Red/Yellow/Blue/Black Dial transformations would definitely be a lot of fun. Also, there's this cute boy Miguel asks out in the comics and I would love to see that first date. And what about Summer? She definitely won't be reduced to sidekick!

Feel free to include any other ((teenage) superhero) cameos you feel like. Please do not pair up Summer and Miguel romantically - although I don't have any problems with a fake relationship fic for them. ;)

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)

- any / worldbuilding

I only just disovered Masks as an RPG, and ever since I started playing, it's probably the most fun rping I've had in a long time. I love that playbooks are not by the type of power but the type of problem each teenager faces personally. Like, how do you juggle school, first love, being different in a way no one should know about, being different maybe in a way people will immediately see, adults telling you who to be, chores, and being part of a young superhero team that wants to make a name for themselves? It's hard. And the best sessions alternate between deep emotional connections, hilarious teenage drama and great action scenes.

As for prompts: I would love me some good worldbuilding - so maybe there is a reason the Scarlet Songbird is still around? What was Halcyon City like back in the days of the Golden-Age heroes? What has changed since then? How do especially the older generations view the naming conventions going around for new heroes? Is there a code to follow? Who in Halcyon City pays for all the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by superhero-supervillain fights? What was it like back in the olden days for the Golden Age heroes as opposed to now?  Are there cultural exchange programs with any of the alien races visiting from time to time? Give me a day in the life of an average Halcyon City citizen - they don't even have to be all that close to an epic fight or something. Just their way of coping with the daily madness of a huge city housing most of the world's superheroes. If you like something a little more character-specific: The one actual-play podcast that does it best in my opinion are the Theatre of the Mind Players with their "Future Shock" and "Past Tense" seasons of Masks. And I would love to read more about these characters. Have Sparrow and Figment finally get together. Give me a glimpse of how Horizon assembled his ersatz mom. What will Helix and Remix get up to?

Where to find it: The core rulebook is available from Magpie Games. The Theatre of the Mind Players’ Masks sessions can be found on Youtube.

Super Sons (Comics)

- Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne

Super Sons is how I finally came to like and care for Damian Wayne - which, if you know me, is a major achievement! He is still a huge brat, don't get me wrong, but Jon's influence on him and the way he is confronted with certain issues he has... it's magical! It's wholesome! It's healing! They are both so fiercely protective of each other, and they both grow as characters from their experiences with each other.

As for prompts: So, dear Yuletide Santa, give me character growth and banter and friendship galore. I can see slumber parties at Wayne Manor or at the Kent farm. I can see them getting lost in space and time. I can see more adventures once they're at the same school. I can see a canon-divergence AU where Jon is finally admitted into the the Teen Titans at age 13 - how would that go? Or how about an Interrail Buddies AU?

If you want to write slashfic for them, I will not say no but would probably prefer to age them up a bit. I also most definitely don't mind any background appearances of any of their families.

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Superman Returns (2006)

- any (Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Richard White)

I still love this movie a lot - not because it's particularly spectacular, but it treats the characters with love, it treats the legacy of the Reeve movies with love and it leaves SO MANY questions for fanfiction authors to answer. ;) I mean, I've been a Superman fan for a long time and I've discovered that I'm most comfortable with a Clark who wears a mask both as Clark Kent and as Superman, who isn't either of those two (and who is fallible). And whenever someone learns of his secret identity, they will see that he's so much more than either Clark or Superman. I know Lois is a fairly underdeveloped character in this movie, so I would love for her to be treated not just as a prize, especially since there were those years of her having to put her life back together after Supes just up and left.

As for prompts, I've always wondered about the different coping mechanisms (Lois turning bitter, Jimmy starting up daydrinking - WTF?!) and just how their day-to-day business changed without Clark and Supes there. Give me the Planet staff banding together to rescue Lois when she remembers just that second too late that there will be no superhero to save them (I also wouldn't mind any of the Bats helping out secretly, if that's up your alley). Give me Jimmy trying not to think too much and instead getting on Lois' nerves until he's rescued by Richard intervening. I am also an absolute sucker for continuation fics, so how do things settle down after what happens in the movie? I would love for some real Clark and Jimmy bonding moments, maybe even Jimmy finding out or having known all along and covered for Clark. I would love for some truce and real friendship blossoming between Clark and Richard, as they are both intelligent, compassionate, insightful men. If you want to include Jason anywhere, feel free to do that, as he makes for such a wonderful catalyst for disaster. Feel free to write gen or any canon pairings - I'm also okay with non-canon het/slash pairs (or threesomes) as long as they make sense in-universe. ;)

Where to find it: Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, but since it’s 14 years old now, you can buy it relatively cheap.

Young Justice (Comics)

- Tim Drake (but do feel free to have any of the other characters in the story, too)

No matter if you're into the old 1990s YJ comics, the companion comics to the cartoon show, or the new 2019/20 version of the comics - I love all of them! So much I don't even know where to begin... The snark! The lovable teenage stupidity! The friendship that goes above and beyond! My definite favourite is Tim, because he is such a bright, snarky, secretive, repressed little bird (the moment he takes off his domino mask to reveal a second one underneath? priceless)! I also love his deep friendship with the others because that's his found family. Yes, Batman is his mentor (even though Tim might understand B better than the other way round sometimes) and Dick is his older brother and idol (hero worship, anyone?), but Young Justice is where he wants to be himself and all of it.

As for prompts: Even though I did not put either Cassie or Cissie in my request as I want something Tim-centric, the dynamic with those two strong-willed girls is definitely something I would love to see explored more. Also how the dynamic with the bats is so very different than the Young Just Us dynamic. What's it like being the one without powers in a group of hormonal teenage superheroes? I also just realized that I would love to see more of Mister Sarcastic trolling the rest of the gang. Or how about: What if Tim had powers for one day? If you're into the 2019 comics, how about a 5+1 of Why Drake May Or May Not Be A Good Superhero Alias. If you want to include the rest of the gang, you're definitely more than welcome to. Tim and Kon's bickering and outright arguments in the beginning turning into such a solid friendship (or more) is something I can read about time and time again. Pretty much the same goes for Tim and Bart. Or how about some Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shenanigans? Why is having girls in your group a bad/good idea? How did Cassie's becoming the team's leader affect Tim's sense of self? Heck, if you feel like it, open up the love triangle Tim-Cassie-Kon since there's like a ton of history there. Oh, and anyway, why is Stephanie Brown never part of any of Tim's teams? Dear Yuletide Santa, do also feel free to include any of the other teens (I have a soft spot for Li'l Lobo/Slobo).

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Overall, I’m sure I’ll love what you have for me, and I'm looking forward to reading it! <3

[bxcketbarnes]

A New Start (Part One)

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x Reader

Words: 1951

Author’s Note: Hey guys. Turns out I’m not dead. I’m still writing. I’m just really fucking slow at it. I hate that I am, but with everything going on right now it’s a hit and miss to when I’m in a writing mood. So, season 6 guys. It’s been crazy, absolutely crazy. I hope you all enjoy!

My eyes slowly fluttered open, squinting at the bright light that shines above me. Fingers brush the hair from my forehead and I glance towards the figure standing beside me.

“Hey,” a familiar voice whispers as my eyes come into focus. Bellamy smiles down at me and I return it before looking around at the few people who were stretching.

“What's going on?” I whisper while slowly sitting up, draping my legs over the side of the cryo machine.

The smile on his lips falter a bit and holds his hand out. “It'll be better to show you than explain.”

I take his hand in mine, hopping down before following him towards the cockpit of the ship. My eyes dart over to him, looking up and admiring his freckled face as we walk in silence. It's a shame we're not together still…

The giant metal doors open as we step inside. Raven, Shaw, Clarke, Echo, Murphy, Emori, Abby, and another guy I've never seen before are also in the room.

“You must be Y/N! I've heard so much about you from mom and dad,” the younger guy tells me with a grin on his lips. I glance towards Bell with a confused look on my face before looking back towards the kid. “I'm Jordan.”

We shake hands for a few seconds and I begin to voice my question when Clarke cuts me off, “this is Monty and Harper's son.”

“What?” I gasped out, eyes widening as I look back towards Jordan. “W-Wait, they weren't in cryo with us?”

Bellamy shakes his head and I can feel the tears come to my eyes. “Play the tape,” he mutters towards the blonde.

Clarke fiddles with the computer for a few seconds before a video of Monty comes up. My lip trembles a bit as I step towards the small screen.

“Can you see it? Is it beautiful? It is in my dreams. I hope we do better there. I hope your lives there will be as happy as mine's been,” the older Monty on the screen tells us and I can't help the few tears that slip from my eyes. I sniffle a bit before looking forward, seeing what everyone else is looking at. “Be the good guys. May we meet again.”

“May we meet again,” everyone in the room including me repeats as the transmission turns off. I step around the control panel to get a better view out the window, seeing a gorgeous planet in front of us.

“I know this is a lot to process,” Bellamy speaks up as I keep my eyes in front of me. “Take an hour and meet in the mess. We need to game this out.”

“Guys,” Clarke begins and I glance over at the blonde, “we survived. Monty made sure of it. Now we get our humanity back.”

“Some of us never lost it,” Raven mutters bitterly before leaving the room, Shaw following behind her.

-

I sat towards the corner of the room, twiddling my thumbs as I really look over everyone. A few moments go by when the door to the mess hall opens up and Clarke walks through.

“There you are. Checking on Madi?” Monty's son asks as I basically stare at the teen. Tears come to my eyes as I can see both Monty and Harper within him, my heart clenching at the thought of never saying goodbye to them.

“Yeah,” the blonde smiles before looking down at the bowls of algae in front of her.

“My dad preserved this for when we woke up. It doesn't taste very good, but it's all I've ever eaten,” he tells her and Clarke picks it up before Jordan speaks again. “Your mom's not touching hers.”

I tune away from the conversation as I felt a pair of eyes on me, turning my gaze towards the table to see Bellamy looking at me. I give him a small smile and a wave before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Why are you so awkward?” I ask myself quietly before scoffing, shaking my head.

“News flash, you've always been awkward,” Bellamy's voice chimes in and I jump slightly, snapping my head up to see him standing in front of me.

A playful smile was on his lips as I let out a laugh, nodding my head. “Yeah, you're right,” I mumble. Bellamy sits down across from me, clearing his throat a bit as I watch him. “You good?”

His eyes meet mine before nodding his head, eyebrows furrowed together. “Yeah, yeah. I'm just… surprised you haven't asked a billion questions,” he mentions and I prop my chin onto the palm of my hand.

“Well, you told me you hate when I bombard you with questions so,” I shrug and his shoulders slump a bit.

“I-When did I tell you that? I never hated it,” Bellamy clears up and I let out a sigh, moving my eyes to look at my hands.

“It was over 125 years ago, that's for sure. It was actually during that big fight we had before Praimfaya,” I remind him.

The freckled man reaches out, lifting my chin up so I'm looking at him. “I thought I told you that I didn't mean that. That I said that because I was angry at myself for not having the answers you were looking for?”

“You might've,” I whisper and fiddle with my fingers once more. “I could’ve just forgotten. I tried to bury a lot of memories of us.”

“Don't. Don't bury the happy ones at least,” he softly speaks while gently prying my hands apart and taking one in his, our fingers interlocking. “Know that you still mean a lot to me.”

I nodded my head and chew on the inside of my cheek, watching him as he stood up, our hands separating. He leans across the table to press a kiss to my head before heading back to the group.

“What did we miss?” Raven asks as she and Shaw come into the mess hall.

Bellamy crossed his arms over his chest as he gathered everyone's attention. “Nothing. It's about time. Take a seat.” The couple sit down where he was sitting, Jordan passing the two some algae. “Listen up. Here's what we know. Eligius III was a colonizing mission. According to the file, the mothership went to five planets that met necessary conditions for life, dropping mission teams on each one. Monty picked Planet Alpha for us because it's the closest and probably most like Earth.”

“Was there a “probably”?” Murphy asked and I drifted my eyes towards him, rolling them slightly.

“We have to assume they couldn't know for sure until they got here,” Shaw piped up and I nodded my head agreeing. “We can scan the atmosphere from the bridge.”

“Actually we can't,” Jordan mentions, “none of the equipment we used to monitor earth isn't working. I'm guessing it's interference from the ionosphere.”

“Bottom line is we won't know if it's survivable until we get down there,” Bellamy mentions and I let out a quiet groan.

“Sounds familiar,” Clarke and I say in unison, everyone's eyes going from her to me. Bellamy takes a quick glance back at me before looking forward again.

“What about radio signals?” Raven asks, “anything from the ground that says the mission team survived?”

“No radio signals,” Bellamy answers while shaking his head.

“Likely also, the ionosphere. There's an ultra-high-frequency ping on the radar, faint but-”

“A rescue beacon,” Shaw interrupts Jordan, looking up at the teenager. “We used them on Eligius IV to-”

“Great,” Emori pipes up as everyone glances towards her. “If there's a beacon that means there's someone down there, right?”

Shaw turns in his seat, “not necessarily. They're solar, so-”

“They can last forever,” Raven finishes. “How long ago did Eligius III get here?

I watch in silence and in awe at the discussion happening in front of me. Jesus, was everyone always so smart, or?

“Hard to tell since they never radioed back, but best estimate- two hundred years give or take,” Jordan answers.

“That's a long time waiting for a rescue,” Murphy adds while leaning back in his chair, the room becomes silent.

“I trust Monty,” Echo states and I nodded my head.

“Me too,” I chime in awkwardly while getting up from my seat, moving to stand beside Bellamy.

“Great. Then it's settled. We'll land at a distance, give us time to accumulate and wait for them to come to us.”

The eight of us get our stuff ready to head to the ground, everyone saying their goodbyes.

“You excited?” Bellamy asks as the two of us are walking towards the dropship.

A chuckle leaves my lips as I look up at the freckled man. “So excited,” I say sarcastically and bumped his elbow with mine. “Wasn't too fond of the last time I was on a dropship heading to the ground, so I'm hoping this one will be significantly better.”

“Let's hope,” he mumbled as we pass Jackson hugging Abby. We begin to pass Miller when he stops Bellamy, causing me to stop a well. “Go on. Save me a seat.”

I nod my head, smiling softly before walking into the dropship. I plop down beside Echo, a sigh coming from my lips.

“Nervous?” She asks and I look towards her.

“A ‘lil bit,” I tell her.

“I'm sure it'll be fine.”

-

“Boys and girls, meet Planet Alpha,” Shaw tells us as we get into orbit, seeing various mountains. My eyes widen at the gorgeous sight as Shaw lands the dropship in a woodsy area.

Everyone gets out of their seats and grabs their bags, standing in front of the closed door.

“Please be breathable, please be breathable,” Jackson repeats a few times as I find myself crossing my fingers, taking in a deep breath. The ramp drops as the orange/green leaves surround us, taking my breath away at its beauty. “Breathable air- check.”

“Radiation levels are good too,” Emori informs us, “Eligius III didn't need to send Nightbloods after all.”

“How about that beacon, Shaw?” Bellamy asks.

“Eight clicks due east. I think it's on high ground. There's a water source about halfway,” he answers while looking at the device in his hands.

I love to stand beside Bellamy, feeling his hand grazed mine slightly and I feel the butterflies in my stomach.

“You should go first this time,” Clarke mentions to Bell.

“No. We go together. All of us,” Bellamy tells us with a smile on his lips.

We all begin to walk down the ramp as Miller speaks up. “Anyone got anything better than, “we're back, bitches”?”

I chuckle at his question, stepping onto the soil. “Monty would know what to say,” Murphy mentions as I look all around me.

“He should be here,” Miller adds.

“He is.”

“He already said it,” I start off while beginning to walk by Bellamy and Clarke, ““Do better there.””

“So let's do better,” Clarke finishes.

Shaw looks back at the blonde, a glare in his eyes. “That's easy to say, but talk is cheap.”

I press my lips together as he begins to walk away, everyone following him. I begin to follow, faintly hearing Bellamy tell her that everyone will come around eventually.

Shuffling is heard behind me as Bell jogs up to me, draping his arm across my shoulders. “So, first impressions?” He asks while looking down at me.

“Breathtaking,” I state without taking my eyes off his brown ones. We smile at one another and I bump my arm into his before glancing at the ground.

“I have to agree,” Bellamy states as his hand brushes against mine.

-

Taglist: @writing-in-riverdale @imarypayne @esoltis280 @cutie-potatox3 @autumnleeann13

[snokoms]

Under the Sea

alright alright alrigh. like promised, the extra big chapter. i hope you guys like it

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21310579/chapters/51127240

“Beacon Hills sheriff’s department, how can I help you?”

 “Uhm well. I was hiking, and it looks like something slipped of the road? It could be a car.”

 “Alright, Ms. Can you tell me your name and where you are?”

 “My name is Alexi Hills. I’m about six miles from Beacon Hills on the main road. I’m currently standing next to a broken tree and I think I see something down there.”

 “Alright thank you, were sending a unit your way. Please stay on the line.”

 “Thank you.”

 “I need a unit to the main road. About six miles outside Beacon Hills. Possible car accident.”

“We’re on it”

   It took about 15 minutes before Alexi saw the car coming her way. When a man and a woman stepped out, she quickly walked towards them.

 “Are you Alexi Hills?” The man asked.

 “Yes, it’s right over here.” Turning around she led the deputies to what she believed was a crash site.

 “I noticed it when I was walking.”

 “Why were you walking here all the way out here?”

 “Well, I was supposed to get a lift home from a college friend, but she decided last minute to spend the break with her boyfriend. She had a pretty nasty fight with her mom. So, I took the bus and I’m hitchhiking the last part because my first ride got delayed making me mis my transfer. I don’t have the money for a motel and the bus only goes 2 times a day.”

 “Alright. Thank you. This is where you think you saw something?”

 “Yes. Over there. Something doesn’t seem right about those trees."

 “Okay, we will take a look. If you could give us your contact info in case we have anymore questions, that would be great. After that you’re free to go.” While Parrish finished up with the girl, deputy Clarke started searching for the safest way to get down the ravine. Parrish took one look at it before suggesting picking up some climbing equipment.

   30 minutes later they’re back at the side of the road and Parrish is halfway to the ground.

 “I think it’s a car.”

 “It’s definitely a car. Looks like a blue jeep. I can’t read the brand or license plate from here.”

 “A blue jeep you say?”

 “Yeah, why? You know someone who drives one?”

 “The sheriff’s son.” That gives Parrish a small shock. The sheriff had a son? Sure, he wasn’t stationed in Beacon Hills for long. Just over three months in fact. And he had seen the pictures in the office with a woman and a small child. However, you could see that they were some pretty old pictures. Especially since he knew that the woman was out of the picture. Had been for quite some time. He thought the child had been too.

   “This is deputy Clarke, can I get another unit out here. We found the car.”

   By the time the other unit arrives the male deputy has confirmed that the car was empty and is in fact the car his colleague thought it was. He has also spotted something that looked like blood. The car itself, however, was empty. No sign of the owner or a struggle. Well, apart from the struggle it must have taken to get out of the wreck. It’s a miracle the boy had survived a fall like that.

 It's hours later and all they had found is the blood spoor that ended by a lake. Well, more like it ended by a tree and then one of the k9 dogs tracked it to the lake. That’s where it stopped. Nothing on the shorelines for the next 5 miles.

 Right now, they’re starting up for a search party and something feels wrong about the situation to Parrish. He isn’t sure what. Maybe the way the blood just went missing, considering the amount of blood it is a miracle the boy made it this far. He walks back to where the trail suddenly took a turn and starts looking around again. One of the deputy’s starts walking toward him.

 “We’re about to start the search party, what do you got?”

 “Something about this whole thing doesn’t feel right to me.”

 “Well the blood looks pretty old, even though no one reported him missing.”

 “Yeah, what’s up with that? How come no one noticed he was gone? How come his dad, the sheriff, didn’t notice.” He mumbled the last part, but the deputy still heard him.

 “I don’t know, maybe he thought the kid at a sleepover with his friends or something.” Hmm, that sounded plausible enough.

 “Furthermore, why did he suddenly change course? He had been walking along the ravine for 8 miles before he went into the woods. There isn’t even something within 30 miles near that lake, 50 if you don’t count Beacon Hills, and then it is only a gas station. I checked, okay? It doesn’t make sense. None of this does.”

 “Look, I get that this is one of your first big cases but,” Before Anderson can continue, he is interrupted.

 “I served in the military Anderson; I know when something isn’t right. This feels like Iraq all over again.” Taken aback the other man takes a breath. Alright. The newbie had a point. It didn’t feel right. And considering the shit that went bumping in the night in his town. That said a lot.

 “Alright. So, talk me through it.”

 “Well. He walked all the way here, right? Like he was trying to find a way up. Which would make sense if he didn’t know the area. Just keep walking until you find something." Parrish looks around himself before taking a couple steps back.

 “He was wounded and looking at the blood and the state the car was in. It wasn’t a small cut. So why go into the woods? Were the ground is even more uneven. You said he was a clumsy teen, right? So, wouldn’t he then try to stay on an even road to prevent further damage. Maybe he stopped here for a while. Maybe take a nap? He must have been exhausted after walking such a distance. Where….” He walked around in circles for a while before pointing to a thick tree.

 “Maybe under there?” He carefully walks the thought-out path. It makes sense. Upon getting closer, Parrish notices a patch of darker ground between the roots. Taking out an evidence packet he puts some in there. If it really is blood, they will find out soon enough.

 Anderson is looking thoughtful at the newbie. It makes sense. It had been a pretty big distance to walk after a car crash. Considering the concussion the sheriff’s son probably had, it was a wonder there wasn’t more blood on the floor from where he had fallen.

 “So, then what? He goes to sleep, wakes up and decides to walk the other way?”

 “No, no that doesn’t make sense.” As he walks further onto the path, the man starts carefully examining everything he sees. About 3 meters from the provisional bed he decides to climb one of the trees to get a better look at the surrounding aria, getting a raised eyebrow from the older officer. Parrish gives it no mind, who says Stiles didn’t climb one himself (however unlikely) or someone else was watching the boy. When he is at the top, he hears his radio crack.

 “Parrish, Anderson, you ready. The party is heading out.”

 “Just a moment sir. We’re at part of trail right know. Parrish might be on to something.”

 “Alright, I’ll see you when you’re ready.” He hears his colleague reply.

 Upon looking down, he notices something strange in the tree Stiles slept under. He quickly goes down only to climb in the other.

 “You got something there?”

 “It looks like a broken branch. Well, a couple broken branches actually. I think there might be some

blood on here. Can’t say for sure though.” Filling another evidence bag with a bit of the wood he climbs down and heads for the tree closest in the direction of the lake, climbing that one as well.

After a couple more trees he finds another one with broken branches. It connects to the other if you jump right.

 After finding them on the third tree he walks back to Anderson.

 “Something has been going through these trees. Maybe something took him. From the amount of blood between the car and here I don’t think he’s in any state to safely travel these trees like Tarzan.”

 “No, no he isn’t.” Anderson says laughing quietly. When Parrish looks at him, he elaborates.

 “When Stiles was little, he tried to climb the highest tree behind his house one time. Said he wanted to jump out and be like Spiderman. He broke his arm.” The newest deputy can’t help but smile when he hears the story.

 “You keep up with the trees. I’m going to get some flags so we can see if it goes all the way to the lake. If you’re right, something might just be really wrong with these woods.”

Shaking his head Anderson starts walking back to where the search party is stationed. Hoping to find some flags there.

   ---

   By the time he gets back Parrish has marked some of the trees with small rock formations or sticks. He quickly starts to exchange them for the flags. Noting that they do indeed lead back to the lake.

 Halfway there he finds Parrish looking somber between the trees.

 “I found more of what looks like blood on some of the trees. Noticeable less than on the ground though. So, either the wounds have dried or whoever has taken him found a way to staunch the bleeding.”

Or what. They both think with a slight fear.

 In silence they walk all the way towards the lake. Checking the trees there as well. That’s where the others find them. With grave voices they explain that even though they found the path that was taken from the ravine to the lake. They didn’t find anything around the water.

 The trail went dry there (well it went wet but that just sounds strange).

   ----

   That’s when Melissa had called her son. Hoping that the jeep was just stolen, and her second son was safe and well. The result however had been disappointing. She had noticed Stiles had been around less and less lately. But her son having to think about the last time he spoke to him had shocked her deeply. Especially when she thought about last month when he visited her at the hospital to bring dinner.

 She had noticed he had become quieter but had blamed the supernatural drama the kids had gotten involved with. When she told her fellow colleagues, she heard rounds of concern from everyone. They all liked the kid who had been bringing them all kinds of food since his mom had been hospitalized.

 After three days the labs results came back. It was definitely Stiles blood.

 Two days later they still hadn’t found anything more. The connecting counties where contacted and on the lookout.

      Everyone was waiting and hoping for good news.

 Everyone was fearing that this was the day their Stiles had gotten himself into something he couldn’t get out of.

 No one liked to think of the path that thought took.

 Dark clouds were hanging over the already violent little town.