#collapses and the fog clears to show i am too tired

[crepe-of-wrath]

Stormy Shouta Story Saturday

notes/warnings: 18+; fem reader; masturbation + accidental voyeurism; Aizawa is a tired man; Reader takes care of him the old-fashioned way

You did not like thunderstorms.

But you did like how Shouta would fuss over you and distract you if a storm got real bad.

This one was getting real bad. You needed him to come home from patrol soon. Not only did you just want to feel his calming weight pressing you into something, but it was the end of term so he'd been even more scarce than usual for the past couple of weeks. You were in desperate need of a solid, forceful railing.

You imagined Shouta standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Tall. Strong. Ready to take you. You imagined how he would pin you down on the mattress, keeping your faces close to distract you from the lightning. Maybe if you wriggled too much because of the storm, he would use his scarf on you.

That made you moan and you could feel your body start to throb and flutter. You began to graze your hands over your breasts; even though you were still fully clothed, you felt you nipples harden. You needed Shouta so badly. You wanted his large, rough hands to be squeezing and pinching your breasts, for him to latch on and kiss them.

Your hips started to shift and move, and your skirt started to bunch up. You helped it on its way, and your fingers pushed your panties to the side. They were never going to be a replacement for Shouta's tongue or cock, but, if you imagined that it was Shouta preparing you for a good fucking--yes, there it was, the right pressure on your clit. You cried out at the same time as the thunder. Your breathing steadied and the lustful fog in your mind dissipated (a little, anyway). You gently rubbed your breast again. That had been nice, a good little warm up for when Shouta--

"Kitten?" The voice shattered your fantasizing, even though it sounded almost bashful.

Your eyes flew open. Shouta was standing in the doorway, just as you had imagined, but he looked--well, he looked rather pitiable. You could tell he was quite embarrassed to have walked in on you in your moment of, er, triumph. But, as his water-logged clothes, which were plastered to his body, made clear, he was also aroused. But, one look at his face also showed that he was absolutely depleted and drained.

"Shouta" you said, "come here and sit down." You patted the mattress. He did as he was told--his weariness made him unexpectedly docile. You wrapped your arms around him, letting him collapse his head on your neck. "Baby, you're exhausted. You need me to take care of you."

He dutifully opened his mouth to protest, but you just kissed him quiet. "I am taking care of you, Shouta Aizawa. OK?"

Aizawa nodded. He was bone-weary, utterly obedient putty in your hands.

"Good boy," you said, (it made him blush) kissing him again as you started the somewhat complicated process of getting him out of his wet clothes.

"Do you want something quick or a bit longer, honey?"

"I'm sorry, kitten, I'm so tired, if it could be..."

"Quick it is." You kissed his neck, his shoulders, and his chest, while you hands raked down his back. Thanks to these ministrations, he was fully aroused. You carefully wrapped your hands around his cock, starting with gentle strokes, like he had showed you. As Shouta leaned back into the mattress, letting himself go a little bit, you began to stroke his balls. He was mostly grunting and moaning, but managed to get out a few instructions, like "faster" and "the head." You chuckled a bit: your Shouta was not exactly a poet in these passionate moments (not that you wanted him to be anyway).

You increased your pace and ran your thumb over the head of his cock in response to his orders. As Shouta's attempts at further speech faded into mere moans and his body began to jerk in some tell-tale ways, you wet your lips and leaned down to gently take him into your mouth. You sucked a few times, and, with a loud groan, Shouta came. You swallowed and lifted your head so you could look at him. It took a minute for his eyes to open, and when they did, you both shared sincere, loving smiles.

"Wait just a second," you whispered. A bang of thunder drowned out his reply. You popped into the bathroom and did a lightning version of your nighttime routine before rejoining Aizawa on the bed.

He had put on some sweatpants and used his very last mote of energy to crawl under the covers. You joined him and drew him into your chest. He wrapped his arms around you and tried to entangle his legs with yours.

"i'm sorry," he muttered, pressing some butterfly kisses into the top of your breast. "Next time, I promise...sorry...so..."

"Don't you dare apologize for anything, Shouta," you murmured into his hair. He didn't reply because he was already asleep.

You laughed softly and continued to hold him and keep him safe while the thunder rolled.

[salemwritesxx]

𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼.

𝔹 𝕒 𝕜 𝕦 𝕘 𝕠 𝕦  𝕂 𝕒 𝕥 𝕤 𝕦 𝕜 𝕚

     ⇴ male reader [24, pro-hero, alpha, quirk: ice-phoenix]      ⇴ all characters are depicted as [18]+

↳ summary: Bakugou and [Your.name] were dating, about to get married. Though one morning, everything that was dear to [Your.name] was brutally ripped away when he found a letter from his fiancé. Katsuki was gone, no traces left behind. And now, after three years [Your.name] was suddenly confronted with the reason when he meets his ex-fiancé again in a small town in Hokkaido.

↣ rating: mature ↣ warnings: abo universe, male pregnancy, bonding (biting for the bond mark to appear), drama / angst that turns into a happy end though; angst ending version read here.

AN: This was inspired by @amgjiks ’ request they sent in a few months ago! posting this story under your original request feels kinda “wrong” since I’d be ignoring half of what you requested basically so imma keep the original for when inspiration kicks in, in the future :)

part 2.

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Walking along the streets, you didn’t have a destination in mind. Just walking around and letting fresh air clear your fogged up brain. You had been overthinking – again. It was one of those days were you couldn’t help but think back to three years ago. Tomorrow three years ago would have been the date were you and Katsuki would have said “Yes”, but alas… it all came differently.

Running your hand through your hair, you sighed deeply.

“I need to stop thinking about this. It’s been so long! Like this, I will never be able to forget him.”

But how were you supposed to forget the love of your life? Especially when it all came so quickly and out of nowhere? One day everything was fine, the next, he was gone. And as much as you tried to find him, despite him stating in the letter you shouldn’t try, it was all in vain anyways. It’s as if Bakugou Katsuki had never existed. Even his parents, that were always very much in love with you as their son-in-law, completely ignored you and cut you off.

It was such a deep cut, even time wasn’t able to heal anything. The last three years were rough. Sleepless nights were a normal thing by now. And while media praised you for working so hard on your hero career, you just pushed yourself like that so you wouldn’t need to think about the past. Because when you were working, it all just faded away.

However, after collapsing one day, the agency forced you to take time off and so you landed in Hokkaido. Far away from the bustling streets of Tokyo, your gloomy small apartment and your work place. With nothing to do, you found yourself overthinking day and night. If you just could ask him one question.

Why?

-

Putting on his scent-blocking collar, Bakugou suddenly felt a little tugging on his t-shirt, hence he looked down. [Eye.color], big eyes stared at him and the toothy smile immediately had him smiling as well.

“Are you ready to go outside, Hiroto?”, he asked his son who looked so much like you, reminding him every day what he had done.

“MH! Can I bring Popo?”, Hiroto’s big eyes sparkled a little, making it very difficult for Katsuki to say no, hence he nodded a little.

Watching his son, it only took a few moments before he came back with his stuffed animal, it was a phoenix. Rather, it was your merchandise. It… was complicated.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeess!”

And so, Katsuki locked the door behind him, leaving to go for a walk around the block and a quick park visit.

-

Leaning against a bridge, you stared down, still pondering. If you had just acted differently, maybe you could have saved your relationship. Whatever it was you had done, it pushed him away from you and it was eating you inside to not know what the reason was.

You didn’t know how many hours you had been wandering around town, trying to stop thinking, but as always, you only thought harder the less you had to do. Hence why you decided to go back to the inn you were staying at.

After hours outside, Hiroto was tired, his plushy Popo hugged tightly against his chest as he silently walked besides Bakugou along the streets. One more time, Katsuki tried to pick his son up, “Hiro? Want me to carry you home? Aren’t you tired?”

“NHN!”, he shook his head, “Daddy is never tired when he fights the bad guys! So I am also not tired.”

Hiroto was stubborn as he kept walking besides Bakugou who was just sighing a little. It was his own fault, but he couldn’t lie to his son. Without even thinking about it, Katsuki talked about you whenever you were on TV. He didn’t know why he just couldn’t keep quiet about you being Hiroto’s father. So now, whenever you were on TV, Bakugou had to lie and say you were in another country fighting the bad guys, even though you were still in Tokyo, mere 4 hours away with the train. But Katsuki couldn’t come back. Not after he had hurt you so much. It was his decision to raise Hiroto alone. You deserved to be successful, it had been your dream. Kids just weren’t a thing you had planned for, at least not with 21.

Being caught up in his own thoughts, Bakugou didn’t see you on the other side of the street. Neither did you see him. Both of you staring ahead, thinking back to three years ago, what had been and what it could have become. However, something connected you both. You never had a chance to bond with him, was it a tradition in your alpha family to bond during the wedding night, but your connection was different. Said connection was looking up and across the street.

Hiroto just looked around tiredly when he saw someone. Someone he had seen on TV multiple times. The little boy didn’t know how many times he had wanted Katsuki to show him YouTube videos of you fighting.

“HAAAHHH!? DADDY!?”, a piercing cry came from the little one, shaking you and Katsuki awake. The latter immediately grabbing Hiroto, but.. it was too late.

“HIRO?!”, he yelled, though his son ran across the streets.

You, on the other hand, were so incredibly confused. There he was, standing literally on the other side and then there was a little child, running towards you and calling for you. Was this the “Why?” you had searched for, for so long? You couldn’t think about it when your legs moved on their own to get the kid out of a potential dangerous situation.

It was a blessing that the small town didn’t have much traffic, hence why you could easily run towards him, scoop him up and get back to the safe sidewalks in mere seconds. You didn’t want to imagine what could have happened in a busy city like Tokyo.

Then you stood there, awkwardly holding Hiroto who was crying and sobbing into your t-shirt while Katsuki’s own emotions were all over the place. The Omega had never imagined the possible chance of meeting you again. After three years, all he had built up from scratch to have a comfortable life far, far away from you, as to not disturb your career, it all broke apart.

However, Bakugou wasn’t the only one hearing something shattering, your own heart dropped into your stomach. The already broken pieces shattering more when you saw the pure horror displayed on his face. This was not how you imagined meeting him again. He hated you. You were certain of that. Whatever you had done to him, he never wanted to see you again. It all was so clear to you now it almost brought you to tears then and there.

Your inner Alpha was strongly urging you to just grab him, Katsuki was your Omega, even if you never had a chance to mark him, that’s just how it was. He was yours. But…

Slowly pushing your son away you put him into Bakugou’s arms. There were no words said, the only thing disturbing the silence was Hiroto’s sobbing. Especially when you loosened his tight grip on your t-shirt, he started squirming and screaming, trying to grab onto you more. He had seen you on TV so many times and now you were right in front of him. Yet, Hiroto had to watch when you turned around and left him behind.

You had so many questions rushing through your head, but at the same time, you couldn’t bring yourself to utter them out loud. Not after seeing Bakugou’s expression. This was never supposed to happen. Even if your heart yearned for answers, especially regarding his son… your son?

Without thinking about it, Katsuki put Hiroto down to let him run after you once again. It was such an impulse thing to do, he truly didn’t know why he had done it. Though after three years, why should he hide anymore when you had seen everything now? Also… after so long, he might have not been able to ignore his heart’s desire and yearning any longer.

It was so incredibly hard to ignore Hiroto’s crying and just walk away as if it had never happened, but for the sake of Katsuki’s happiness, you chose to go. However, a sudden tug made you stop. Looking down you saw ice around your ankles. It was weak and thin, easily breakable really. Hiroto’s? When you turned around, he had already clutched your leg tightly. Why?

When you looked back up, Bakugou also stood in front of you, his ruby eyes shimmering a little.

“Do you … want to talk?”, he finally asked, his voice breaking at the end though as he tried his hardest not to cry. What was he doing? It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen you in like three weeks, it had been YEARS since he left without any other word. Why would you even want to have anything to do with him or Hiroto?

“Yes!”, you said and it truly caught the Omega off-guard. After everything he put you through… If he was in your position he probably would have been so angry and furious, but you just seemed exhausted and tired.

But finally, you would be getting some answers.

--

All night long, you couldn’t sleep. After you had calmed down Hiroto enough, Bakugou gave you a little piece of paper with his address on it. “I work until 7. So we can talk without any disturbance.”, he said when he gave you the information. It was probably for the best. You didn’t want to imagine what would happen when your feelings would overcome you out in a café. [Your.hero.name] seen screaming in Hokkaido – you could see the news all over the internet already. So, it was probably for the best to meet him at home.

But that didn’t mean you weren’t nervous. How had your ex-fiancé been living his life the past three years? It was all exciting and scary at the same time to find out those things.

When you knocked on his door, your inner Alpha was impatiently pacing up and down. It was as nervous as you. But when the door opened and Katsuki stood there, you were sure for the first time in the last 12 hours, that it wasn’t a dream. Walking inside was heaven and hell at the same time. Everything smelled like him. The Omega’s scent was so familiar, but another one was mixed in – probably Hiroto’s.

“A friend of mine is looking after Hiroto tonight so he won’t be dragged into this.”, he said, nervously fumbling with his scent-blocking collar.

It was weird wearing it at home, but for you and himself, he had to wear it. His Omega had been going in circles ever since he met you again yesterday. It wanted to be taken and to be honest, Bakugou was also close to surrender to you. But it wasn’t that easy. You probably had so many questions.

“Oh… Yeah that’s for the best. Katsuki.”, you suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallways.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry I can't wait, but you need to tell me now. Hiroto, he… called me Daddy and he has an ice quirk… so I am not wrong to assume that he is… our son?”

Katsuki could vividly feel your emotions, the Omega was shuddering, his throat dry and hands sweatier than usual.

“Yeah…”, was all he could choke out.

“Oh.. my God.”, you just mumbled to yourself. Hearing it out loud was like another punch in your stomach.

“Did you… leave me when you were pregnant?”, was your next question, still standing in the middle of the hallway.

However, Katsuki couldn’t even blame you. There were so many questions left unanswered.

“We were too young…”, his ruby eyes were shimmering again with tears, but he tried his best to keep them at bay.

“Too young?”, you were speechless for a moment, before looking back, “Why didn’t you tell me?! Why did you just… leave? Why… did you do everything yourself?!”

Now you were finally angry. After so long, you just couldn’t understand why he would leave you without saying anything. It could have all come differently if Katsuki would have just been honest!

“You had your career?! A baby didn’t just… fucking fit into our lifestyle! What else could I have done?!”, Bakugou yelled back. He knew it would come to this.

“SO?! You also had your career, we were both working hard to become well-known heroes so that’s not a fucking excuse. What else?? You seriously ask me?!”, you gestured wildly.

“You wouldn’t have wanted to raise a child, it was too soon!”

“It was NOT your right to decide that for me!”, you yelled, your voice breaking as tears welled up.

Bakugou once again being a little taken aback. His heart was racing and his tears so close to falling.

“You could have asked me, we could have worked it out.”, the first tears successfully fought their way out as they rolled over your cheeks.

“I loved you SO MUCH. If it was possible I would have literally brought you the stars from the sky. I would have done anything. And you? You just leave. Without anything but a letter telling me you cannot marry me. Do you have the slightest idea how I felt?”, your voice was shaking and breaking here and there, but it was freeing to finally let it all out.

“I thought it was for the best. I didn’t know what to do.“, Bakugou’s voice was so uncharacteristically weak and small.

“You didn’t know?? Did you never trust me, Katsuki? Was I just- such a horrible Alpha to you? Did you think I’d force you to an abortion? Was I not good enough to be a father?!”, you asked trying so hard not to scream, but all these pent up feelings, it all just gushed out without any sort of valve to stop yourself.

“That’s not it! I knew you wouldn’t do that, I just-“

“WHAT? Please tell me why! Why?! Why was I not worthy to be your mate? Why did you refuse to tell me and just leave?! Why did you chose raising OUR baby alone, I-“

“I DON’T KNOW, OKAY?! I don’t know! It was a fucking stupid decision out of nowhere!”, he finally screamed back, tears cascading down his face.

“Don’t you think I have regretted it? Do you think I LIKE being a single parent?! I know I fucked up. I know I threw it all away because I panicked, okay?! I just panicked and before I knew it I was on the train.”, Katsuki sobbed, desperately wiping away his tears.

“We were so fucking young! We had planned to marry, we were talking about saving up for the future to build a house, to have a family in like 10 years or more. But… But I just messed up! I forgot to take my medication before going into Heat, it was my fault I got pregnant- I… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. Throw everything we planned out the window because I was too fucking stupid to remember.”, his voice broke horribly, being squeaky from time to time as Bakugou’s guilt just overflowed.

The Omega was shaking and instinctively, you and your inner Alpha wanted to protect him. Hence why you wiped away your tears and took a deep breath to calm yourself.

“I know I messed up. Fuck.”, he cried and yet laughed at himself. Hands buried in his hair, Bakugou just wanted to cease to exist in that moment. He had done so many things wrong in his life. The only good thing that had ever happened was meeting you and falling in love with you and even that he destroyed.

He was gasping for air due to talking nonstop while gesturing with his hands wildly. And then, you just hugged him. Your Alpha scent surrounding him and soothing him. Your arms strong and warm, just perfect to melt into them and let everything loose. Oh, how he had missed that.

“I just… wish you had given me a choice. I wish you would have trusted me more. I would have done anything for you and our baby. It would have been hard, I know, but I am sure we would have been able to make it work.”, you quietly said while soothingly caressing his back and letting a quiet, calming purr erupt from your throat. A sign how close you truly were as you would never purr for anyone else than Bakugou.

“I’m sorry.”, Bakugou sobbed and clawed at your clothes, “I love you and I missed you and.. it was so hard alone, but I know I don’t have any fucking right to complain about it because it’s all my fault and I hurt you so much and-“

You hugged him a little tighter.

“I regret everything, I… I… can you forgive me? Can you give me a second chance? I know I don’t deserve it. I know…”

Had you ever seen him so weak before? No. And it truly tugged on your heart strings. There is nothing you wanted more. Get back together. Be happy again. But-

“Katsuki… have you ever thought of coming back to me? Like, if I had never shown up, if I had never found out… wouldn’t you keep on living without me just fine? Don’t you think this is your guilty conscious speaking? You don’t want me. You don’t need me.”

That was the last thing you said before you pulled back from him at last. Bakugou was quite speechless, just staring at you, red, swollen eyes and a tear-stained face made it hard to just go. But it was for the better. Even if he had regretted it, he was never pushed so far as to come back to you. Like that, maybe it was for the best.

Though before you could turn away, he grabbed your hand.

“Katsuki…”

“I wanted… during the pregnancy, after Hiroto was born and every time I saw you on TV, I was so close to leaving all of this. But at that point, I was too fucking scared. I had no right to go back… There are so many letters I’ve written and never sent. [Your.name], I… I literally have a suitcase ready to go. I’ve been waiting for some sort of sign or I don’t know and now? You’re here. Right here in front of me. I know it’s foolish and I’m stupid and have no fucking right to demand this from you, but please… Let me come back. Please forgive me. Please… be Hiroto’s father.”

He had never in his life begged. His superiority complex definitely wouldn’t allow for any of that, but right now was different. He realized the hurt he had caused. How wrong he was. Bakugou had regretted running away in the first week of living in Hokkaido. He always told himself it was “the right thing”. So maybe it was pathetic that he came crawling back, but if there was a slight chance you would take him back, he just had to take it.

You just sighed. Your heart was confused. While your heart screamed yes over and over again, your brain was telling you no. What if it was just a spur of the moment thing? What if he would leave you again when things would get tough?

But then, you looked down and onto his hand. The gold engagement ring you had gotten him around four years ago was still on his ring finger.

“You still… wear it?”, you asked as you reached for the hand that gripped your wrist tightly. His hands were shaking still – you have never seen him like that.

“It’s the only thing that kept me connected to you…”

“Katsuki…”

Reaching out, you cupped his face with your big hand, the Omega instinctively leaning against it. It was okay. Even if you were to get hurt again. Even if you forgave too quickly. Everything was okay now as you leaned in to connect your lips.

Holding onto you immediately, Bakugou’s fingers clawed at your t-shirt not wanting to let go ever again. Your lips melting together, emotions overwhelming you both as you pressed him into the wall. One hand reaching up to his collar. It took mere seconds for it to snap open. Then it fell to the floor, unleashing all of Bakugou’s Omega scent.

It being overwhelming was quite the understatement. Your knees were weak and legs shaking. You couldn’t resist the urge to bury your face in the crook of his neck.

“Oh my God…”, you moaned as you slowly slid down onto the ground with him, Katsuki just whimpering as he hugged your body as close as possible.

He would never let go again – never!

-

With your teeth gracing along his neck, your sweaty bodies collided over and over again. Bakugou only able to sob as he held on to your hands tightly, nails digging into your skin and almost drawing blood.

You were hovering above him, hearing his cries and sobs. The sweet scent from his neck being so irresistible. You just wanted to bite. Mark him. It had been a tradition in your household to do so on your wedding night, but…

“Do it…”, you suddenly heard.

Bakugou could barely choke it out, ruby eyes filled with tears of pleasure as he whispered one more time, “Do it… It’s overdue…”

And then, without thinking twice about it anymore, you grabbed him tightly while your teeth sank into his skin.

A marvelous burning pain rushing through his body almost made Katsuki pass out. The sweet torture of being bonded to his mate was almost too much. That was all he had longed for, for so long. He didn’t know why you would take such a coward like him back, but he was so grateful and plain… happy.

--

Once you opened your eyes the next morning, it all felt like a dream. Especially when you reached to your side and it was empty.

Sitting up abruptly, you looked around – definitely not your room. So what happened last night was not a dream. However…

Without putting anything on, your heart was beating so fast when you rushed outside the bedroom door. Flashbacks to three years ago were haunting your mind.

“Katsuki?”, you tore open the next door, prepared to just see another letter on one of the tables.

Though it, thankfully, wasn’t the case. There he was, standing in the kitchen, your flannel from yesterday the only thing covering his body while he was talking to someone on the phone. Unintentionally, tears had formed in your eyes, but now, you just sighed shakily and wiped over your eyes quickly.

Bakugou, who had turned around once he heard you calling for him, certainly had his heart sinking in the pit of his stomach.

That was his fault.

“Okay… okay, thank you.”, then he ended the call and turned to you, “Sorry, it was about Hiro. Akitoshi will bring him over before lunch.”

“Ah? Mh, okay.”

“Hey…”, putting his phone onto the table, he walked towards you. The Omega’s strong arms wrapped around your waist as he cuddled against your chest.

“I am not running away again. I promise.”, Katsuki barely whispered.

Hugging him tightly with your hand buried in his hair, you just quietly sighed and then kissed his forehead before leaning your head against his.

“I know. I just need some time.”, you also said quietly and Bakugou understood.

Hence why he reached out to cup your face, smiling softly.

“I love you.”

A small smile also flitted across your lips. Your hands cupping his own as you leaned down to kiss him.

“I love you, too.”

Walking back into the bedroom, Bakugou soon lost the flannel again as he slipped into bed, snuggling against you; legs tangled and naked bodies melting together. Unintentionally your hand had slipped down to his belly. That’s when you felt uneven skin and a scar underneath your fingertips. Yesterday, you were caught up in all your pent up emotions too much, so you didn’t notice.

It was his C-Section scar.

“Katsuki?”

“Hm?”

“Tell me about Hiroto.”

Subconsciously, his lips curved into a smile. That you wanted to know more about your son melted his heart but also made him feel more guilty. If only he could turn back time.

“Yeah.”, and then, he started talking and you just listened to the soothing voice of your Omega.

There were three years to catch up on, but due to Katsuki telling your son about you all the time, at least it was easier for Hiroto. With how he was clinging to you yesterday, it was obvious he loved you even though he had never met you in person. And you wanted to be there for him at last. You had only met him yesterday for a brief moment but your heart was already filled with so much love that you wanted to give to him.

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@salemwritesxx || do not repost, edit, modify or translate my works

⇻ salem.talks: I’d love to know what y’all thought of this story? :) once again I took inspiration from the request and I am pretty happy with the outcome!

[azuregiggles]

Home Again

3.7k words.

Summary: Karl is attempting to outrun the monsters that chase him and the voices that echo in his head. On his escape route he meets an unusual being who helps him realize that maybe things aren’t all what they seem.

WARNINGS: Angst, Tickling, Light bondge?, Derealization? But its fluffy in the end :)

Karl’s breathing was heavy as he crashed through the woods. Over bushes and under branches he didn’t dare look back. He knew his pursuers were close behind. Monsters who’s hoarse cries echoed through the trees behind him. That screaming, that heavy screaming. He couldn’t bear to hear it any longer. He had one thing on his mind. Escape.

Every shadow and shifting twig made his heart jump into his throat. DANGER. They were chasing him. They wanted to capture him and drag him back to the den he’d woken up in. Back to that prison of lies. They wanted to laugh and watch as he slowly lost his mind.

His mind raced as. Fast as his legs and heart. HIDE. He needed to lose them. RUN. RUN. RUN. He couldn’t bear the voices that screamed in his head. They weren’t his yet they told him what to do. They were the only thing that seemed to be constant in his life these days and so he listened. He followed the instructions to not stray from the path.

One voice told him where to go STAY ON THE PATH, it rang again. “This is the FOREST there is NO PATH” Karl screamed in reply. The second voice called his name the same way the monsters did. They knew his name and never stopped calling it, hunting him and haunting him simultaneously.

Their faces were unknown, their intentions unclear, their voices all torturous and painful. He continued to run as fast and as far as he could, slowly growing tired. The sun was setting. The voice in his head whispered, slowly growing in volume. Dark. Cold. Danger. Danger. DANGER! The voice yelled and Karl skidded to a stop, only inches from careening into a deep ravine. Lava boiled down below, soon to be one of the only sources of light. Waterfalls along the edges roared in Karl’s ear and amplified the echoes in his mind. LAND IN THE WATER. JUMP. SAFE. RUN. HIDE. He stepped forward.

“Don’t” a new voice, a more physical voice rang in his ear.

Karl spun in a circle but he couldn’t see anyone. ALONE. HIDE. JUMP. THE WATER. DANGER. He turned again to see the faint glow of torch light approaching slowly as his hunters ran towards him NO TIME. RUN. Karl looked into the gorge and his stomach turned.

“Come to me Time Traveler, Shapeshifter, Karl Jacobs.” The new voice spoke again. This time Karl noted that it was soft and comforting. When it spoke it was like two people with the same voice speaking in unison.

“Where?” Karl shivered in place. His inability to identify the voice’s location made him all the more cautious. ENEMY. DON’T TRUST. RUN. STAY ON THE PATH. “WHAT PATH!?” Karl screamed at his own mind.

“This way Karl. Follow the lights.”

Karl turned to the torchlight that grew closer “NO! I won’t go back to them! They’ll kill me!” LIGHT. TORCH. DEATH. HUNTERS. MONSTERS. DANGER. The voice in his mind reassured him.

“Not the torch Karl. The lights. Look to the east.” The soft voice almost whispered, the comforting tone slowly drawing Karl from his panic.

Karl turned east and watched with awe as dozens of little lights rose from the grass. Fireflies. They gathered in two lines creating a path out of their glow. A few swirled around Karl in a warm breeze. The trail led across the ravine and continued into the woods on the other side. “How do i cross-“

A stone bridge built itself, spanning from where Karl stood “Come now” the voice called like an old friend.

Karl found comfort in realizing that the voice had direction now, he could tell it came from the woods beyond where the fireflies lead. He stepped onto the bridge DANGER. RUN. ESCAPE. The voice in Karl’s head screamed louder than ever, it was almost deafening THE PATH. THE PATH. STAY ON THE-

“SILENCE” the comforting voice commanded and the presence within Karl head retreated. The echoing ceased.

Karl was suddenly aware of the sounds that had previously been drowned out. The crickets chirping, the rustling of the leaves in the breeze and the evening birds’ song. He could hear the cries of his hunters, their voices clearer, they almost sounded human.

“Come along then Karl. This way”

Karl took a sheepish step onto the bridge as if it’d collapse. With each step forward the stones behind him would vanish. He couldn’t go back. The gentle glow of the fireflies brought him peace of mind, the warmth of the breeze eased the tension in his every muscle. “Who are you?”

“A friend. A protector. Come see me. Let’s talk about the people chasing you.” The lights made a way through the wood.

“Can you stop them? Are you here to save me?” The soft glow left no trail behind Karl as he walked into the growing darkness. He sped up as the screams and shrieking of his hunters echoed through the air beyond.

“So full of questions. I can promise you safety. Come now. Quickly, we have little time before they come for you.”

Karl began to sprint after the firefly trail. He soon tripped into a clearing with an enormous tree. It stood at least 50 blocks high, its branches were widespread as if it was trying to reach across the forest. The strangest part, however, is that it was green. Not just the leaves which had an almost neon glow about them but the trunk and branches as well. It’s roots above the dirt we’re almost as tall as Karl. He wandered towards it slowly. Thousands of fireflies danced around it in the grass.

“Come to the tree Karl. It is where you’ll find me. I’m here to help you.” The soothing voice called to him.

“Where are you?” Karl asked again as he reached the center of the clearing. He put his hand gently on the bark. The tree shuddered and from its branches descended a tall creature with four arms. It was dressed in a long green cloak with the hood drawn up over its head and a porcelain mask with a wide open smile hid any sign of its face.

“Welcome to the center of the forest. This is a place not often seen by mortals. I have brought you here for a reason.” The creature drifted down much like a leaf before landing directly in front of Karl. It was when their feet hit the ground that Karl realized how tall the thing before him truly was twice his own height at least.

“What do you want from me?” Karl was too afraid to run.

“I want nothing from you that you are aware of. I am going to assist with that which has been troubling you. I am XD guardian of this world. You have been brought to my home.”

“You’re a guardian? Can you save me from the monsters that chased me here?”

“What monsters? Nothing hostile can reach this far into my woods.”

“They’re not like skeletons or creepers! They’re more like humans, b-but one has horns and a tail like a demon, th-the other has golden wings. They’re hybrids or something.”

The god chuckled and held out two of their hands, a light blue mist swirled between them. Slowly it became an image of Sapnap and Quackity. Both had tears streaming down their faces as they held up torches and screamed in search of their missing fiancé.

Karl nodded and backed away from the image “They know my name! They had me trapped in their house , I-I thought they were going to kill me so I ran. Th-They’ve been chasing me and they want to kill me. My inner voice told me so!” Karl was frantic and clung to the god’s robe.

XD’s interest peaked “Oh? An inner voice? Tell me about this voice.” The was an almost mischievous undertone to his previously monotone voice.

Karl nodded “Yes, it helps me understand what’s going on around me. It keeps me safe.” DONT “It makes sure I don’t stray from the path.” NO! DANGER! RUN! PLEASE! RUN!

“I thought so” the god sounded like a disappointed parent as they sighed “Karl allow me to clear the fog from your mind.” They held up the vision of Sap and Big Q “These two are searching for you not hunting you.”

“But the voice-“

“Was wrong” XD interrupted softly “They want to take you home. To make sure you’re safe. Look closely, don’t they seem familiar?”

LOOK AWAY. Karl looked closer and a warmth rose in his chest as he realized their expressions showed concern and fear rather than malice and hostility. “They’re… worried?”

“Yes”

“About me?”

“Correct. That voice you’re hearing is wrong. These two care for you greatly. They love you.”

LIES! the voice screamed with more force, taking his mind. “You’re lying” Karl backed away. RUN. Karl tried but was effortlessly lifted by the god.

XD held the struggling semi-human with no effort “Please don’t make this difficult Karl. I can assure you I only wish to help.”

“No! Let me go! HELP!” Karl shrieked and kicked the air. “Put me down you monster!”

XD gave an indignant huff “Monster? That’s rather rude.” They carefully began to knead Karl’s side. “All three of you need to calm down. Now will you listen Karl?”

“Yes! Okahahay! Plehehease juhuhst stahahap.”

The fingers stilled “Do you want your memories back Karl? I can get them for you.”

The time traveler froze. “You can do that?” He felt elated when the god nodded “How?”

“It’ll take some convincing that voice of yours but no worries, I’m very persuasive.” XD chuckled and laid Karl against the root of the tree, making sure the position was comfortable. One of their large hands pinned both of Karl’s hands above his head. “I need you to trust that I won’t hurt you okay?”

“O-Okay” Karl was giggling as his nerves ignited with how vulnerable he was. A vine slowly curled around his wrists allowing the god to have use of all four hands.

“Now let’s see if we can’t convince that voice of yours to come out, shall we?” XD wiggled a single dull claw into each of Karl’s sides.

“Aaah! Wahahait nohohoho” Karl whined and kicked helplessly. He could hear two sets of giggles apart from his own. The voices in his mind was, laughing?

“I knew you were in there. Now come on out and leave the mortal alone. Both of you!” XD’s second set of hands dug into Karl’s ribs.

All three shrieked and began to beg “STAHAHAP NAHAHA PLEHEHESE” GOHO AWAHAHAY. A white circle of light appeared over Karl’s belly button.

“So that’s where you’re hiding.” The smirk could be heard in XD’s voice. Two hands now clawed into the hollows of Karl’s armpits, the third massaged his hip and the last hand wiggled a single claw into Karl’s bellybutton.

To say the man screamed would be an understatement. Karl squealed so loud he was sure he’d wake the entire forest “NAHAT THERE PLEHEHEASE NAHAHAT MY BUHUTTON”

XD chuckled “Weak spot?” They chuckled again as the mortal frantically nodded and kicked.

OUT! LET ME OUT!

XD withdrew his hands. From the ring of light on Karl’s belly appeared two blobs, one black and one white. “There, no more misleading little voices.” They picked up the two blobs from the grass.

Karl, who had been thankful for the ability to breathe, was quickly driven back to hysterics as XD used one hand to claw his belly to keep him distracted.

“You both have some explaining to do” Quackity and Sap’s voices were drawing closer causing the god to sigh “We’ll talk later, give me his memories XC I know you have them.”

The white blob had an X where it’s eyes would be and a deep frown that resembled the letter C. It shook its head no.

The black blob looked a bit more angry with a V where xyr eyes would be and a downward bracket for a mouth. >[ head butted XC and made a series of angry chirps and squeaks.

XC gave in and burped out an orb of blue light. It squeaked in frustration.

“Very good. Now both of you stay quiet.” XD hid them in the sleeves of their cloak. They ceased tickling Karl and couldn’t help but grin beneath their mask at the sight before them. Karl’s cheeks bright red and his eyes teary. His hair was a fluffy mess and he giggled from the phantom tickles.

“Is ihihit ohohover?” Karl snorted. He found relief when XD nodded.

“Look what I managed to get.” XD held up the blue orb.

“Is that?”

“Your memories” the god confirmed.

“How do I get them back?” Karl looked at it in confusion as XD cradled him, removing the vines from his wrists.

“It’s like a pill. But wait until they find you. It’ll help with the rush.”

Karl would have asked for an explanation but as the god put him down, the moment his feet hit the floor the world spun and the clearing was gone. Karl was left with a glowing blue orb and a lot of questions. He slowly became aware of the voices that screamed not too far away and walked toward them.

“KARL! Where are you!?” Quackity sobbed as he screamed into the night.

Sapnap sat on a rock and tried to calm himself “Fuck! We lost him, he’s actually gone.”

“Don’t talk like that! I don’t care! We’re finding him and bringing him home!”

“He doesn’t even know what home is Quackity! He doesn’t know us!”

“I don’t care! We’ll find a way to make him remember , he HAS to! I said I was going to marry both of you assholes and I meant it!”

Sapnap’s tail and horns ignited and he punched the closest tree “He can't remember that we’re engaged! You can’t force him to marry us! Face it, even if we find him he’s GONE” he saw the betrayed look in Quackity’s eyes and punched the tree again, knocking it over “FUUCCCKKK” he fell to his knees “What do we do?”

Big Q hesitated “We keep searching. We’ll tell everyone what’s going on and have them keep an eye out for him. We’ll get him back. We just-” he paused hearing a branch snap. He spun with his torch to see Karl standing there shyly. “Karl! Oh my god!”

Karl held up the glowing blue orb.

“Karl what is that-“ Sapnap was cut off as his forgetful fiancé looked him in the eye and popped what appeared to be a glowing marble into his mouth. “I- Karl! Spit that out!”

Karl swallowed it. The blue glow spread to the rest of his body and Karl fell to his knees as his memories started flooding back. His childhood, his time travels, his fiancés. His mind became stuck on the two men who rushed to his side and were currently cradling him.

****Flashbacks****

Karl had finally worked up the nerve to ask Sapnap, his longtime crush, to hang out one on one. Sapnap, of course, caught on immediately and teased Karl into a flustered mess throughout the entire day. By the end of the date Sap had to ask Karl out because the time traveler had been too shy.

**

Karl and Sapnap had finally agreed today was the day, they were going to ask Quackity to be their boyfriend. It had been a long process to work out and ensure they were all comfortable and emotionally able to handle the situation. The day was sunny and warm, when Quackity agreed it felt all that much warmer.

***

The three men sat together on a picnic blanket basking in the warmth and the breeze of the day. They all laughed and smiled about the dumbest jokes. Karl and Sap joked about how Quackity finally seemed to be at ease whenever it was all three of them instead of just one on one.

"Sh-shut up assholes! This whole poly thing is new to me." Quackity giggled and argued.

Karl wrapped his arms around Q's waist and kissed his cheek, Sap repeated the motion from the other side causing the duck's face to go red.

"I hate you both" Quackity chuckled.

"We love you too," Karl and Sap said in unison.

****

It had been a lovely trip to Las Nevadas. A place built up by Quackity to show his boyfriends. They'd gambled, spent time in the pool, eaten amazing food, and even taken naps together. After a week of being spoiled came the cherry on top. Quackity dropped to one knee and pulled out a black box with two rings. He'd hardly had time to finish the question before he was smothered by hugs, kisses and a million yeses.

***** End Flashbacks *****

Karl teared up and came out of his daze. He was leaned against Sap who had his back against a tree fast asleep. Quackity was pacing back and forth in the torch light. “Ducky?”

Quackity froze and turned to Karl, eyes wide. “What did you say?”

Karl began to sob and held out his arms “D-Ducky, Quackity! I love you!”

Quackity beamed as tears began to swell. “You remember me?” He laughed his frustration away as Karl nodded, standing. He yanked Karl into his arms and tangled his fingers in the brunette’s hair. “Holy shit I’ve missed you.”

“Is Karl awake?” Sap’s voice was heavy with sleep. He grunted as he was tackled back to the ground by Karl. “What the hell. K-“ he was cut off by lips smashing into his own. A light blush dusted his cheeks.

Karl sobbed and cradled Sap’s face, looking him in the eyes “Hi Kitty. Sapnap. I’m so sorry I forgot about you.” Karl was promptly pulled into more kisses by both of his loves.

The three laid in the grass slowly calming down. Karl was blaming himself and the other two weren't having any of it.

"Karl, it's alright. It's not like you were in control of what happened." Sap reassured him. "We're just glad to have you back."

"You're not allowed to beat yourself up." Quackity added.

"What do you mean!?" Karl's chest heaved and his voice broke "I FORGOT both of you! I-I ran away thinking you were MONSTERS I don't deserve- AAAAHHH"

Sapnap smirked from where he was laid across Karl’s legs, chin on his waist and hands poised on his hips. "Did you forget about this~" he gave a low chuckle that made Karl shiver.

Karl turned bright red "N-No…"

Quackity purred in the oldest's ear "Karl~ are you still ticklish?" His fiancé squealed and craned his neck away.

"Stahahap guhuys, nohoho!"

Sap chuckled once more, pushing the hem of Karl’s hoodie up "Well, well, well~ what a delicious looking belly you have my darling Bunny~ Mind if I have a nibble?"

"Sahahahappy, Kihihitty dohoHOHONT AAHH!" Karl was cut off by his blaze fiance nibbling his lower belly, using his fangs to his advantage. "SAHAHAP NOHOHO" Karl twisted in Quackity’s hold and kicked what little he could with Sap on him.

Quackity giggled and, not wanting to be left out, vibrated his fingers into Karl's ribs. He indulged in the shrill shrieks that followed. The contrast between Q’s rough tickles and Sap’s slow paced nibbles was maddening.

Karl twisted back and forth trying to dislodge the attacking fingers. "DUHUHUCKY STAHAHAP" he relaxed between his lovers, too emotionally and physically exhausted to really fight back. Not that he wanted to. He vividly recalled how tickling was an important and constant part of their bonding. They used it to cheer each other up and pester one another. It was practically their love language.

Sap looked up at the others “You guys ready to go home? I don’t want mobs to sneak up on us.”

Karl was still under attack by Quackity who now nibbled on his ears. “Okahahay lehehet’s gohoho.” Q moved to nibble on Karl’s neck, his golden fangs grazing over the hypersensitive area. The time traveler tried to scrunch up his shoulders in defense but the duck hybrid had already locked himself in place. “QUAHAHAHACKITY NAHAHAHAHA PLEHEHEASE!”

“Say my name again.” Q demanded before resuming nibbling.

“QUAHAHAHACKITY! DUHUHUCKYY”

“Once more”

“JEHEHERK!” Karl earned himself a raspberry “AH! QUAHAHAHACKITY!”

“Good” Q ceased his attack “Never forget it again. Promise?”

“I prohohomise. I’ll never forget my Ducky or my Kitty again” Karl grinned, hugging each of them as the trio stood. All three knew it was out of the time traveler’s control but for now that promise was something to ground them after months of feeling they were fading away.

Hand in hand the three wandered home with Karl falling asleep about halfway. Sapnap easily carried his love on his back. Quackity pushed open the front door and started to pick up the few things Karl had knocked over during his rush to escape. Sap carried the slumbering man to their bedroom and softly laid him down in the center spot.

“Do you think we’ll still have him in the morning?” Q asked, walking in.

“After everything that’s happened today we better.'' Sap chuckled.

“Any idea how his memory came back?”

“Not really. But that marble he ate…”

“But where’d he get the marble?” Q’s tone had dropped. “Did he always have it or did someone give it to him?”

“I don’t know. Can we not talk about this tonight?” Sap’s tail wrapped around his fiancé’s waist pulling him close. “It’s already been a lot to process. But I understand your concern. Just, please not tonight.” He yawned and kissed Quackity.

“Fine, we’ll figure it out later” Q sighed softly.

“Kitty” Karl muttered in his sleep “cuddle me Ducky.”

Both men smiled down at their sleeping love and climbed into bed on either side of him. Sap rested his head on Karl’s chest, listening to his heartbeat. Quackity nuzzled into Karl’s neck. The three slept soundly through the night and when Karl still had his memories the next day they were elated. Home felt like home again.

[whump-a-la-mode]

Nemesis - Part 8

This one is... something. I was supposed to be asleep hours ago. The sun has come up. But it was all more than worth it, and now I am going to pass out.

Based on votes from last time, option B was chosen-- speak to Leader and Hacker. There’s going to be a little flip in allegiances this time around, and some questions will finally be answered! The choose your own adventure aspect is going to be a bit different too, this time around, but more detail about that at the end.

For now, I hope you enjoy!

CW//Drugged whumpee, confusion, nightmares, past trauma, murder, strangled to death, minor body horror (shapeshifting)

The wave of cool water felt heavenly as it washed over Villain’s throat. Even as the movement exhausted them, they drank every drop as if it would be their last, and, when the last drop was at last reached, they whined.

“There you go.”

The voice felt closer, this time, coming from behind only one layer of fog rather than a thousand. It was close, just like the warm hand, wrapped around their shoulders, keeping them upright.

Everything was so warm...

“Hero... Hero warm...”

A slight chuckle replied to that, the hand on their back gently rubbing between their shoulder blades. Making them feel like they had blood, like there was something inside them other than dry ice.

They had been so cold, just a moment ago, mind spiraling with something... something bad. What had it been? Had it been anything at all?

Did it matter, now that Hero was here?

“Yeah. Hero warm. Are you warm enough?”

“Mhm.” They purred. The silk webbing wrapping around them, that which had once been uncomfortable, restraining, now felt so soft. They could sink into it forever...

“Do you need anything?”

“Tired.”

“You want to go back to bed?”

“Yeah. Hero stay...”

“Yeah. Yeah, Hero stay.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Hero.”

“Yeah. Goodnight, Villain.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 

The warm body in Hero’s arms, hardly recognizable beneath layers of fleece and fabrics, took only a moment to turn heavy and limp, breathing slowly until it was only shown by the slow rise and fall of their chest.

Even as exhaustion tugged at their own limbs, even as they wanted more than anything to curl up in those blankets themself, they knew they couldn’t. Hero couldn’t stay.

As gently as they could manage, given Villain’s limp weight, they laid their ward down on their side. The unconscious person murmured and twitched as the blankets were readjusted, but did not stir.

Villain was comfortable. Villain was safe. That was what mattered. Even though...

Hero took their phone from their pocket, flinching at the blazing screen light.

Seven in the morning. They had hoped to be able to claim a few hours of rest alongside Villain, but their own worry had made that impossible. Now, it was already morning.

Hell, they were supposed to be eating with their team by six thirty. Yet, no one had knocked to awake them, yet.

Hero hauled themself to their feet, limbs aching and joints popping all the way. They hardly registered the chill beneath their feet as they made their way to the door.

Only for it to nearly slam into them. They leapt backwards, barely catching themself.

“Oh, shit, sorry!” Leader’s wide eyes showed that they had been expecting Hero just as much as they had been expecting them. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, you didn’t hit me.”

“Good.” Their gaze cast downwards, to the item carried in their arms-- a platter of food. Fortunately, none had fallen.

“Is that for Villain?”

“No, dimwit. I don’t think they could get anything down if you forced it down their throat. This is for you.”

“Oh.”

“When is the last time you ate?”

“Um...”

“Lunch yesterday, got it.”

“It’s... Isn’t everyone else already eating?”

“They’re already done. I told them you needed your rest. Thought you’d prefer eating in here.”

Hero shook their head, pointing back at the snoring pile of blankets.

“Can’t wake them up.”

“Oh.”

“I can just, um, eat out there.”

“No, you’re going to-” Leader bit their tongue, reformulating their sentence. “Um, how about you come and eat with me in my office? I haven’t eaten yet, either.”

Hero was in no way used to such a delicately formatted request.

“Sure.”

“Alright.” Leader nodded, handing over the platter, which they gratefully took. The two moved out of the room-- the former taking surprising care to close the door gently, so as to not make any noise.

The common room was deserted, thank the heavens. There were no distractions as they moved to Leader’s office. The chairs still hadn’t moved since their discussion last night. Hero sat.

“So...” Leader maneuvered around their side of their desk, seating themself. “How did you sleep?”

“Didn’t.”

“Not at all?”

“Maybe a bit. I’m not sure. Villain woke up and...” They trailed off.

“And?”

Leader had no need to know of Villain’s words.

“I had to get them back to sleep. They drank some water, too.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” Hero perked their ears, hearing a noise beyond the office door. “I’m surprised that they’re leaving us alone.”

“I told them to.” Leader speared a chunk of scrambled eggs with a fork, raising it to their lips.

The events of last night came flooding back.

“What did you tell them? What did you tell everyone? I thought they’d have been all over me once they knew I came back. They do know, right?”

“They certainly wanted to bother you.” Leader swallowed the chunk of egg. “I didn’t let them.”

“So they do know?”

“Kinda.” They straightened themself, playing with the food upon their plate momentarily. “I told them that I came back last night, and found you here. As far as they know, you escaped on your own, and Villain’s whereabouts are unknown.”

“And they believed you?”

“I think they were just glad to know that you were okay. And, y’know, not dead. You’re probably going to get hounded with questions later, but, for now, I made it very clear that you’re to be left alone.”

“Thank you.” Hero spoke half-breathlessly.

“It’s not a problem. You’re officially relieved of mission duty until you’ve recovered.”

“R-Really?”

“You need to rest. Even if you aren’t injured, you’re exhausted.”

“Yeah...”

“So, until you’re feeling better, let me handle that.” They took another bite, making Hero note the fact that they hadn’t so much as looked at their own food. Even the thought of eating something made their stomach twist.

“Thank you.”

“Really, it’s fine. So... How is our, y’know, secret?”

“Villain?”

“Duh.”

“They’re... they’re fine, I think. Still out of it. But, like I said, I got them to drink some water. And they seemed to recognize me.”

“They didn’t recognize you before?”

“No. I don’t think so, at least. They were really out of it.”

“Are you ever planning on telling me what happened to them?”

Hero had almost forgotten that Leader was in the dark about the whole thing. Yet, they were being so trusting. Hell, they hadn’t even trusted Hero when they hadn’t been lying to them.

“Um...”

“You don’t have to.”

It was the first time they’d ever heard Leader string those particular words together.

“But, I would like to know. You need your rest, and Villain needs a caretaker. I was a nurse once, y’know.”

“You were?”

“I don’t know if your surprise should insult me. But, yes. I can keep watch over them while you sleep, but it would help if I actually knew what was wrong with them.”

“Yeah.” Hero scratched the back of their neck. “Thing is, um, I don’t really know?”

“Well, you said they were drugged, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know that for sure.”

“Do you know what with?”

“About that...”

Leader raised a brow.

Hero let their next words tumble out of their lips like a waterfall, unable to stop once it had begun to flow.

“Villain has been kept sedated to unconsciousness for the last year. They were supposed to be rehabilitated, but they were drugged instead. I don’t know why.”

Leader dropped their fork.

“Oh.”

“I don’t know what drugs they were given. Just that they were sedated.”

“I see. How did... How did they leave the rehab facility.”

Hero diverted their gaze.

“That’s not really important.”

A sigh.

“Okay. We can talk about that later. Thank you, for telling me. Was there... Was there a reason? They wouldn’t just be drugged for no reason.”

Hero shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t know.”

Leader bit their lip.

“With everything going on recently, I hesitate to ignore the possibility that Director had something to do with it.”

“You really think so?”

“Maybe. You aren’t planning on eating, are you?”

“I...” Hero felt their face flush. “I don’t feel too well.”

“That’s fine. I’ll clean up. You go get your rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll keep everyone away from your room. And, Hero?”

“Yeah?”

“Sleep in your own bed. I can keep an eye on Villain.”

“Thank you.”

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Collapsing onto their own bed felt like falling onto a cloud. The mattress curved, shifting to cradle their aching body. For a moment, Hero could not help but nestle themself in it, letting their pillow almost envelope their head.

Birds had long since begun their outside chirping, but that was inconsequential. At that point, Hero could have slept through an earthquake.

But, apparently, not through a phone call.

The ringing noise jolted them from their blissful repose. Without thought, their hand blindly searched for the vibrating device on their nightstand. They blinked against the screen’s bright light.

Hacker. A wave of relief filled their chest-- they were okay. Without thought, they accepted the call, placing the phone to their ear.

“Hero?”

“Yep. Hey, Hacker.”

“Oh, thank god you’re alright! Though you do sound a little bit like garbage.”

“Hey.”

“I’m just saying, just saying. Oh, you have no idea how worried I was. The news only just broke this morning. I could hardly sleep, last night.”

“I thought you were like, nocturnal.”

A stutter.

“I mean, you kept me up all day, so. You know how it is. But I’m just really glad. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. Just tired.”

“You must be. The news... that wasn’t right, was it? They said you escaped from Villain.”

“The reports are wrong. I never got captured in the first place. But, I’m just fine.”

“I’m glad to hear it. How is...”

“Villain?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. Really out of it, but fine.”

“That’s good. Look, I know you’re tired, but I just found something that... Well, I think you’re really gonna want to hear it.”

“What is it?”

“Not here. Not over the phone. Too dangerous.”

“You want to meet up again?”

“Mhm.”

“Are you sure that’s, like, a good idea?”

“Not in public like before. That wouldn’t be good for either of us, I don’t think. But I know another place.”

“Oh?”

“It’s, um, so, this is gonna sound bad. It’s this abandoned warehouse thing. And I know that sounds sketchy as hell, but it’s fine, I promise. I’ve been to a few parties there. The underground kind of people use it a lot, so it’s perfectly safe.”

“Um... Okay. Where is it?”

“Ashworth, on the East side. It’s pretty obvious once you see it, but the number on it is 62.”

“You’re sure this is a good idea?”

“Yeah. It’s not exactly, like, it’s abandoned, but there’s parties there all the time. And it should be empty during the day. How fast can you get there?”

“Um...” Hero blinked with leaden eyelids. “Does it have to be right now?”

“I guess it could wait. Why?”

“I feel like I’m going to collapse. I’m exhausted, Hacker.”

“Oh. How about tonight?”

“Tonight is fine.”

“Does eight sound good?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay. Uh, sleep well.��

“Yeah. Thank you.”

And, with a collapse onto their pillow and the click of a hung-up phone call, Hero was out.

Yet, as they fell into unconsciousness, a single thought couldn’t help but worm its way into their consciousness:

Hacker hated other people. They wouldn’t be caught dead going to a party.

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“Villain?”

It was a soft voice, yet marked with a distinctively higher pitch. Villain stirred, kicking at their layers of blankets.

“Hey, Villain. Can you open your mouth for me?”

The voice was odd, yet warm. They blinked their eyes open, letting the world come into focus around them.

A figure, kneeled down in front of them. A face...

They knew that face.

Someone familiar. Someone they’d fought before...

Leader. Why was Leader here?

“You need to open your mouth for me, okay?” It was Leader’s voice, but not their tone. It shouldn’t have been that soft, right? Or maybe their memories were simply foggy.

Regardless, they allowed their jaw to fall open. The taste of plastic filled their mouth as an eyedropper was placed upon their tongue, followed by the bitter taste of medicine, sliding down their throat. Villain struggled to cough up the liquid, but their jaw was gently held in position until they had swallowed every last drop.

“There.” The taste of plastic retreated, disappearing as a few sips of water were washed down after. “Thank you.”

“W- What is...”

“It’s gonna make all that drug withdrawal easier.”

The face went out of focus, replaced by a black dot, in the center of Villain’s vision. A spoon.

“Can you look at this?” A fingernail tapped the plastic dinnerware. They nodded.

Slowly, at first, the spoon began to move. First left to right, then up and down, before moving around more erratically. After a few moments, Villain blinked, shaking their head, eyes exhausted.

“Thank you.” The spoon lowered out of view. “You’re gonna need a bit more time to recover, but you’re getting there. Do you want to go back to sleep?”

“Mhm.”

“Okay. Goodnight, hun.”

Villain let their heavy eyelids fall closed, barely registering as their blankets were tucked back in around their chest. Warmth enveloped them, mind wrapped in blissful heat, until...

Chill. An unmistakable chill biting their skin, nipping at their reddened nose. They blinked, rubbing their eyes with one hand, the world around them taking shape.

Taking shape...

Taking the wrong shape.

Where were...

They blinked once more, their surroundings coming into focus. Far more focus than their vision had permitted them in a very, very long time.

The building before them was large enough to block out the sun.

It could only be described as a brick-- that was what it was, a brick of concrete, marked by little more than faded graffiti and tattered signs that may have once warned against trespassing. The only marking that remained clearly visible was the number-- the building number, sticking out in brown-painted metal.

62.

Villain felt bile rise in their throat. They knew exactly where they were. The car they’d used to get here was only a minute’s walk away. They needed to get to it, to run, to turn and leave as fast their legs would take them. This was it! Their second chance! Their chance to leave, to make everything right again. To unmake the decision that had ruined them.

But they could not turn. Their legs would not move under their command, instead, alien limbs began to move forward. Towards the building’s entrance.

No, no, please no!

They needed to turn, to leave, but...

They did not have the power to make that decision. They could only watch.

Why had they been here in the first place? All that time ago... To confront someone. To find Supervillain. They’d done something. Hurt someone, maybe?

Panic twisted their thoughts far too much to allow them to focus on such far-away memories. The panic of moving, moving eternally forwards. To the entrance, through the doorway.

Into the warehouse.

Inside was terribly dark, small slivers of light illuminating only an expanse of boxes long since left abandoned, their cargo doomed to rot. They had never understood why Supervillain spent so much time here. Certainly they could have found a better hideout.

But, Supervillain was strange. No one understood them.

They were here, though. Villain could feel them, hear heavy breathing, sense the way their presence disrupted the psychic landscape around.

Villain stilled.

Leave. Turn around. Go! It’s not worth it, they begged themself. But...

But their hand reached for their pocket, producing a phone in trembling hands. They tapped the screen, activating the flashlight, flooding the concrete floor with illumination.

However, they hardly needed the light to remember what came next. The image would never leave their mind, they were certain of it. Never remove itself from where it was burned irreversibly into their corneas.

One figure, leaned over another. Holding them to the ground.

Hands over their neck.

If Director had at any point struggled, their straining had long since ceased. The only sign of life they displayed came in the way they weakly kicked against Supervillain’s unyielding grip.

Villain was not the one being strangled, but they could not breathe even so.

“Who the hell is there?” The voice, that furious, terrible tone, echoed off of every concrete wall and rotten crate.

Supervillain looked up from their victim, gaze meeting that of their newfound witness.

“Who!”

Villain’s legs went stock-still. They could have run, at any point, they could have run, they could have run.

But...

Director stopped struggling. Supervillain stood, rolling out their shoulders.

For a moment, their body twisted, snapping and curling in on itself. Bones morphing, shrinking or extending, muscles rearranging themselves in a horrible scene.

Villain had forgotten just how horrible it was, to watch Supervillain use their powers.

When, at last, their transformation was complete, Villain was staring back at the living face of Director.

Cold, grey eyes met theirs.

“Villain?”

Supervillain, the new Director, grumbled, moving over to the corpse of their victim. Prying a walkie-talkie from their belt.

Holding it to their own mouth.

“Hello, HQ? I’m going to need some backup, here.”

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Inside the warehouse was terribly dark.

Hero’s legs felt nearly numb, wandering within, only the slightest slivers of light able to creep in through the door. They walked by those shreds of light, though they hardly did so much as allowing them to see their own feet before them.

Still, they walked. The building smelled terribly of rotten wood.

“Hacker?” Their voice echoed off of every concrete wall and rotten crate. “Are you here?”

“Over here.” The voice called from the other side of the building-- how had they gotten all the way over there?

“Where? Is there a light in this place?”

“It’s been abandoned for half a century. No, there are no lights. Doesn’t your phone have a flashlight?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Hero fumbled in their own pocket for a moment, taking out the device. Even with the flashlight, however, the darkness still seemed to envelope the whole world. They cast the beam of illumination around, scanning, yet finding nothing but crates and graffiti. “Where are you? I can’t see you.”

“Here.”

A figure stepped out from behind a support beam. Hacker’s small frame looked even more minuscule, surrounded by crates twice their height. They were half-hidden by an oversized hoodie, yet, their hood was not pulled up.

They always pulled their hood up.

Hero shook their head. They were being paranoid.

“I’m so glad to see you’re, like, alive.” Hacker smiled, approaching at a quick clip. Their laptop bag was hung across their chest, bouncing with their movements. “You aren’t hurt or anything, right?”

“No.” Hero shook their head, moving forward to meet their friend in the middle of the building. “I’m okay.”

“That’s too bad.”

“What?” Hero rubbed an ear-- had they heard wrong?

“I always heard you were a fucking idiot. Guess I just never realized to what extent.”

That... That was not Hacker’s voice.

Hero took a step back, a chill filling their chest.

Hacker’s form quickly began to fill their formerly oversized hoodie as, below them, their legs extended with a horrid noise of cracking and popping. Their facial features did the same, shifting as though molded in putty.

Director was taller than Hero.

Hero gulped.

Director took a step forth-- polished shoes clacking against concrete. How had Hero not noticed the shoes? Hacker would never wear something like that.

They...

Director held out a hand. To shake.

Hero raised an upper lip, baring their teeth.

“Where is Hacker?”

Laughter echoed against the walls.

“That’s what you’re worried about, right now?”

“They’re my friend!” Hero stomped. “And a civilian. Don’t bring them into this.”

Director smirked.

“I assure you, your friend is fine.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Well, right now, you’re going to have to.”

Hero took another step back, turning to run, already feeling their heartbeat elevate to a quick tattoo in their throat.

But...

There was nowhere to go.

“I didn’t bring you here for no reason, dear.”

There must have been a dozen of them, if not more. A dozen figures, scattered in loose formation, blocking the entrance. Surrounding them.

Hero spun back around. They were there now, behind Director, too.

And they knew every last face. Every reformed villain. Every rehab center graduate.

They gulped.

“Now.”

Hero didn’t realize how close Director had gotten, not until they laid a massive hand upon their shoulder.

“We are going to talk.”

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Thanks so much for reading! This time, the choices are going to be a bit different. In the way of, there are no choices! At least, none that I am coming up with. You guys have given so many amazing suggestions in the past, so I thought, how about you suggest what happens next in our story.

Instead of giving you guys choices, its up to you to decide what our Hero will do next. If you really like another person’s suggestion, you can vote for it! Otherwise, I will choose what I find the most interesting.

I’m hoping that this will be fun. If it proves to be difficult/complicated/etc, I can certainly add choices, but I thought I’d do something a bit different this time around ^^

[sonoftatooine]

Whumpay 2021

DAY 9: GENTLE/BRUTAL

It’s a couple of days late but I started writing it dammit so I’ll finish it ha

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala

Warnings: Implied/referenced abuse, torture, neglect, blood and injury

Summary: Anakin doesn’t become a Jedi after the Battle of Naboo, but is instead snatched up by Palpatine and raised secretly as a Sith. Years later, known to the Galaxy at large by a Sith assassin in service of the Separatists, Darth Vader makes the decision to rescue Republic Senator Padmé Amidala from execution by the CIS. Injured in the escape, he is left at the mercy of Senator Amidala to treat his wounds.

***

“Stay still.”

The weight of the small, slim hand on his chest was so gentle compared to the usual touches that he was used to enduring that Vader half thought he was hallucinating it through the pain of the blaster wound in his shoulder, but it stilled him just as surely as his master's biting grip promising violent punishment should he not comply. Eyes which he knew to be a soft brown, but which the red lenses of his mask painted a deep black, stared down at him, and the face of Senator Padmé Amidala swam before him, pale and wan and worried. Her Force presence, which had been full of equal parts determination, suspicion, and confusion in the mad dash from the cell which had meant as her coffin, had lit up with a heady mix of fright and concern when he had run his saber through the last of their pursuers only to stagger and collapse to the ground as the pain in his shoulder that he had barely felt in the heat of the fight finally caught up with him. He could feel that concern now, wearing down his tired shields, with all the force and all of the gentleness of a wave roaring up to shore in the wind only to break softly over rough sand like a gentle caress.

“Vader, can you hear me?,” Padmé asked. Her voice was tight and distressed, and he felt a sharp spike of fear from her like a shard of ice through his heart. “I need to know if you're awake. I— You're losing blood. You have to stay awake—”

“I am...” Vader gritted his teeth against the burning pain in his shoulder. “I'm awake.”

Her relief felt like a cooling balm in the Force. It was baffling and pleasant and terrifying all at once, and when he tried to untangle the mess of emotions from one another, he found that he had no idea where one began and the other started. Why should she be relieved that he was awake when him being unconscious would surely have provided the perfect excuse to escape both his company and the Separatist-held space she had found herself in? Why would she be concerned for him in the first place? And what's more, why should he find himself reaching out to the sensation, wanting more, when he knew it was the very antithesis of what he should desire as a Sith?

You know why, said the small, snide voice in his head that had come over the years to sound very like his master's. His master who had always said, between vicious bouts of Force lightning that left his skin painted with a map of thin, spiderweb scars, that his biggest weakness was his need for attachment. It was like a leech bleeding him, Sidious claimed, and that all he did to him was to stem the flow that was draining his hatred, his resolve, to make him strong. Well, if his attachments had been comparable to open wounds, he thought, he had just ripped out his stitches. Rescuing one of Tyranus' prisoners meant for execution, killing his men all because of little more than a week's worth of memories from a past life? Damaging himself fighting against his own side to save a sworn enemy of the Sith? His master would be so angry, and his punishment—

“Good. That's good.” He was brought abruptly out of his spiralling thoughts by the sound of ripping fabric, and with a wince and a bitten down groan, he shifted to see where the noise was coming from. To his astonishment, he saw that Padmé was ripping off sections of her soft white cloak with an expression of fierce determination on her beautiful face.

“Wha—?,” he rasped, then tried again. “What...are you doing?”

Padmé didn't even pause from her task. Bundling up one of the strips into a ball, she leaned down and pressed it firmly against the entrance to his wound. He hissed at the contact, the sound too quiet to be picked up by his mask's vocoder.

“You're bleeding a lot,” she said by way of explanation. Even though her worry sung as loud and clear in the Force as ever, her voice was now as full of determination as the expression on her face. It reminded him of all those years ago when she returned to Naboo—full of her plan of action, ready to carry it out and damn anything or anyone that tried to stop her. “We need to keep pressure on the wound.”

I know that, Vader wanted to say. Of course he knew that. It was hardly the first time he had been hit by a blaster bolt. Nor was it as if he had never had to treat his own injuries. In fact, as long as it was not too far beyond his abilities to fix, his master demanded it—getting injured was a result of his own weakness, and it was only fair that he was forced to deal with the consequences of his own mistakes. What he did not understand about this, however, was why she was bothering to help him. You didn't show your enemies mercy, and you certainly didn't show them care. Her concern and relief had been strange enough without adding this to the mix, and really, he was starting to feel far too dizzy and faint to try and figure out the reasons behind it on his own. But he did not say any of this to her. Instead, what he said was:—

“You're ruining your cloak.”

Not for the first time, he was glad of his vocoder, for it transformed the pathetic almost-whimper the words came out as into the deep, unwavering tones that his enemies knew him by. Yet it didn't seem to make much difference to Padmé's reaction, as he felt a stab of shock in the Force, her lips parting in a soft 'o' and her brows turning upwards in a frown, before his senses were overwhelmed with a heavy, concerned sadness.

“You're hurt,” she said quietly, slowly, as if she were trying to soothe a wounded animal. “That's far more important than keeping my cloak intact.”

Oh. He didn't— He couldn't—

“Do you need that mask to breathe?” Padmé asked all of a sudden.

“I—what?” His brain, muddled and too full of fog to register what she was asking him, stalled.

“Vader,” Padmé repeated gently. “Do you need the mask to breathe?”

“No, it's— No.” The mask was to hide his identity, Sidious had claimed when he had first gifted it to him. He didn't see much point to it, personally, other than perhaps to hide his youth and to give him a more intimidating voice—at this point, not even his old friends on Tatooine would have been likely to recognise his face—but his master was always very insistent upon it, that he never remove it in front of enemies. But why would Padmé want to know? He didn't understand—

“Can you keep this—,” she nodded towards the cloth, stained dark with his blood, that she was holding against his wound, “—pressed against your shoulder while I take your mask off?”

His mind, still too sluggish and slow for his liking, had taken in the first part of her request long before he could take in the second, and by the time he had registered what she intended to do, he had already taken the rag from her hand and was pressing it down against his wound.

“No!,” he exclaimed, somewhat belated, as a sudden sharp panic stabbed through him. “You can't! You can't—”

Padmé frowned.

“Why?” she asked.

He should lie, he knew. He should make up some reason or other, but he couldn't—

“My master,” he said. “He's forbidden me— He will be angry if he finds out—”

Padmé's frown deepened at the mention of his master. The Force was once again flooded with that overwhelming sense of sadness.

“I don't think your master will be pleased with you saving my life either,” she pointed out, not unkindly. “Vader, please. You're losing blood and I can't tell how bad it is if I can't even see you underneath all of— I need to get that mask off you.”

As much as he wanted to, Vader couldn't argue with her logic on either count. He had already made his master incandescently angry by saving Padmé from the execution the Sith had had planned for her—after that, nothing would cool his ire, and keeping his face hidden would have seemed like a poor appeasement in comparison to his crime. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded.

He felt Padmé's relief in the Force for the second time that day, soft and bright as it was before. It was met with his own apprehension as she reached down, a frown of concentration upon her brow, trying to figure out how to release the helmet's mechanisms. All of a sudden, he was unsettled, not just on account of his master's orders, but by the realisation that Padmé would see his true face. The face that he had kept hidden from all except his master and Tyranus ever since he had been snatched from Naboo as a child. He felt very like that child now, trapped, helpless, caught in the horrible awareness of his own vulnerability—the same vulnerability that he had fought so hard to burn out of himself long ago. He— The mechanisms of the mask clicked and whirred, and the comforting, stifling black plastisteel was pulled away from his face and set on the ground beside him.

“Oh.” Though he could hear Padmé's voice, he could not quite make out her expression—he was still adjusting to the burst of light and colour his eyes had been assaulted with after the dull red of the mask's lenses. “Oh Force, you look pale. Are you usually that pale?”

Vader blinked. The brightness had faded to a more manageable level, and he could now see her face—the first time he had seen it in full colour since the Battle of Naboo, rather than in varying shades of red. She was as beautiful as he remembered, even drawn, white-faced, with dark, tired circles under her eyes, and her expression half one of open-mouthed shock, half one of fierce concern. He blinked again, trying to take in her words.

“I'm usually pale” he said, his words coming out as a soft croak. Years of isolation and darkness in the Works of Coruscant and the deep chambers of Sith temples had rid him of the golden tan his home planet had given him, turning his complexion a pallid white, save for the dark shadows painted beneath his eyes by just as long of fear and stress and lack of sleep. Combined with the limp tangle of curls atop his head and the yellow of his eyes, he was sure he must look quite the wretched sickly creature to her eyes. A far cry from the fearsome image his master had intended him to strike with his enemies.

“Right.” Padmé let out a breath, rubbing the back of her hand against her forehead. Then, before he had time to register what she was doing, she had brushed a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes and pressed the flat of her palm to his own brow. He jerked back in surprise—or at least he tried to. With his head already lying on the ground, it came out as nothing more than an odd little twitch. “You feel a bit cold. Really, I'm not qualified to deal with this kind of injury—especially not without bacta. We need to get you to a proper medic. Fast.”

“My ship,” Vader hissed out. “There's a med-droid and supplies on the ship.”

The ship that he had intended for them to escape in throughout their pursuit from Padmé's cell. It was not so far as to be a problem for two healthy, uninjured people to reach, but with him wounded and losing blood... Above him, Padmé seemed to have seen a hint of his thoughts upon his face, for she frowned.

“Do you think you can reach it?”

“Yes.” No. Perhaps. No, he could do it. He had done it before, pushed through far worse agonies and triumphed against the limitations of his body. He was a Sith—pain only served to fuel his power, give him focus.

Blood loss, however, a snide little voice in the back of his mind that he steadfastly ignored said amid a new wave of dizziness, is rather harder to turn into something useful.

“I'll...have to bind the wound” he said.

“Alright.” Once again, the presence of a solid plan seemed to fuel Padmé's determination as much as pain did his strength, burying her worries beneath a thick wall of resolve. She stripped off another length of fabric from her cloak, and he reached out his trembling flesh hand to take it. She shook her head.

“It will be easier if I do it.” He could still sense an undercurrent of fear beneath her determination. Fear that she would do something wrong, that she wouldn't be able to get him to a medic on time. Despite herself, it scared her in a way that he could not understand, no matter how he tried. “If you can just—”

“I can do it” Vader interrupted as she gestured for him to pull his hand still pressing the cloth to the wound away, so that she might access it. Despite his confusion at her concern, despite the knowledge that she was his enemy, that she didn't know to look upon him as anything but an enemy, he didn't think Padmé would hurt him. She had no active malice in her—not like his master, and the med-droids that followed his orders when he was dealt any serious damages that required attention beyond his own. But the instinct to recoil, to not let anyone near when he was so vulnerable was too strong. He pressed the cloth clutched in his mechno hand tighter to his shoulder, shying away from the reach of her fingers. Padmé frowned.

“Let me, please,” she murmured. “I can't help you if you don't let me.”

He didn't want to let her. He didn't want to let her—let anyone—near. Her worry felt sharp and jagged, like broken shards of transparisteel, and despite himself, he wanted to soothe it. She wouldn't hurt him. She was an enemy. She wouldn't. He sensed no cruelty from her, no desire to cause pain. She wouldn't— Slowly, reluctantly, he drew his hand back, and let her approach.

Padmé's fingers were soft and gentle as she pulled back the tattered fabric of his robe to get to the injury beneath, but he froze dead still at the touch nonetheless. Her concern spiked higher in the Force at the sight, but she didn't waste time in getting to work. The pressure from his hand against the wound was soon replaced by that of the rag tied tight about his shoulder. He couldn't quite hold back a quiet sound of discomfort as she accidentally jostled him tying the knot, and her Force presence gave an odd little flinch in apology.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Sorry.”

Vader blinked, confused.

“It's fine,” he said. Really, what was she apologising for? He couldn't remember having been treated so carefully since the days when his mother had treated his scrapes and bruises after he crashed his podracer, or after the worse of Watto's beatings. But no, he didn't want to think about his mother. He had shown enough weakness in front of his enemy for one day. “We should get to the ship.”

He tried to sit up—they had to get to the ship fast, before any reinforcements came looking for them—but his body seemed to have other ideas. His shoulder screamed in protest, but he barely noticed it through the fierce wave of dizziness that had suddenly overcome him. It was worse than the previous ones—nauseating, causing his vision to swim so violently that the world turned into a blur before him. When his vision finally sharpened again, he was lying on his back, and Padmé was bending over him, white-faced, one hand gripping his prosthetic tight where it lay against his stomach.

“I don't think we're going to get you to the ship,” she said shakily. “Perhaps I could bring it here. If I can get to it—I'll be faster—then I can fly it here and the med-droid can see you—”

“Why?”

It was the question Vader had been burning to ask ever since the injury had overwhelmed him. Why was she doing this? Why did she not take the opportunity to save herself when he would only slow her down? When he was her enemy, as far as she new, a Separatist assassin, a Sith, a danger to everything she had ever worked for and believed him? Padmé, however, didn't seem to understand him, for she frowned down at him in confusion.

“Why?” she echoed.

“Why...are you helping me?,” he insisted. “You...you could escape back to the Republic much easier if you left me.”

Padmé drew back sharply, though she did not let go of his hand.

“I'm not about to leave you here bleeding out on the ground when I can do something about it!” she exclaimed, indignant.

Vader frowned.

“I'm your enemy.”

“My enemy who just saved me from being killed,” Padmé retorted. “You got shot protecting me. That's more than just helping someone treat their wounds. You could have been killed! If anything, it should be me asking you why you chose to help me.”

Vader was silent. For what could he say? What could he tell her? That no matter how much his master tried, he had not been able to fully crush the affection that she had sparked in him when she had stepped into Watto's shop all those years ago and showed kindness to a little slave boy who had thought she was an angel? That despite her opposition to all his master and the Sith intended to achieve, the thought of her death rended his heart in two? He could barely even believe he was that boy most days; how could she possibly believe it? How could he reveal to her the monster that boy that had once risked his life to help her had become? Even if he had wanted to, he would not have been able to find the words. So he said nothing, focusing on the pain and the heady faintness so that he wouldn't have to think of her disappointment reverberating in the Force.

“Alright,” she sighed. “If you don't want to tell me, that's your choice. But whatever your reasons, you still saved my life. I'm not about to repay you by abandoning you. We're both getting away from here. Together.”

She spoke so fiercely that despite the pain from his wound, despite the blackness that threatened to encroach upon his vision every time he shifted, he could almost believe her. It was foolish, the kind of naïve idea he had once believed with all his heart, and a habit that his master had taken great pains to break him of. And yet— And yet, he wanted... He wanted— Padmé squeezed his hand tight. Though small, her grip was strong and steady, and her eyes shone with a fierce light.

“You saved me. Now I'm going to save you. No matter what.”

[champion-leon-imagines]

Chronicles of Galar - Prologue 3: Y/N L/N

The Chapter you all waited for. Don’t worry, we’ll get to your past soon enough in the story, so stay tuned. Amila is a fake region my best friend made. He is also your brother in the story and the Professor of Amila. And don’t forget to save the tag Chronicles of Galar for updates ^_^ You can also find the story on AO3: Here

[Prologue: Y/n L/n]

Light footsteps echoed through the darkened Slumbering Weald, Galar. You tried to make your way through the thicket and a white Vulpix kept you company. The little Pokemon had a very shy and timid nature and was trembling with fear all the time. The unknown has always had a tense effect on the pre-stressed Pokemon. No wonder, when you thought about what those monsters from Team Skull in Alola must have done to it. You didn't want to think about that anymore and took out your smartphone to dial your brother's number. "Yes? [Y/n]? Man, we're looking for you everywhere. We were supposed to meet at Wedgehurst station. Are you lost again? " a male voice sighed at the other end.

“What does 'again' mean here? Sorry for not memorizing the entire map of a new region the first time I explore. Not everyone can have such a photographic memory as our Professor Mamoru [L/n]. ”You countered jokingly. "Very funny. Where are you?"

"If I'd know that. There is a forest here. I followed a little Pokemon that I don't know yet. That was so cute. Such a small blue creature, a bit similar to Ralts, with pigtails. I HAD to go after it, that's why I ran after it. "You explained, describing the Pokemon Hattrem, the intermediate form to the Pokemon Hatterene, a Galar Pokemon with the dual types fairy and psycho.

".... You walked into an unknown forest because of a 'cute' Pokemon?" Mamoru sighed and covered his face with his hand. That was just so typical of you.

"Pff. If it had been a new Arcanine Pokemon, you would have done the same. ” You shrugged your shoulders and heard a woman's voice laughing on the other side. "Hello Aki."

While you were talking to your brother, you did not notice at first that a fog was coming up. At first the fog was light and transparent, but soon you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your eyes. "Damn. Where does this fog come from all of a sudden? Hello? Mamoru? Can you still hear me? Hello? “ You asked several times after you didn't get an answer. You looked at your cell phone and then saw the connection go dead. "Strange."You muttered and tried to connect again.

Connection failure. The empty wifi symbols blinked mysteriously and that made you even more alarmed than you already were.

Vulpix jumped into your arms, the fog must have made it even more frightened as it snuggled into your chest. You pressed the fox creature close and tried to calm it down. “Don't worry, I'm here. We can do it, ” You whispered in a calming tone.

Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes next to you, made you stopping in your tracks. You swallowed and hugged Vulpix even closer. "Okay .. keep calm. That is .. just the cute blue Pokemon from earlier .. definitely .. I'm sure of it "Your mantra died in your throat when a large, wolf-like Pokemon came slowly walking towards you. It was mostly blue and the tail, as well as his shoulder jewelry and a long, pigtail-like fur chain, were in a red. The animal looked graceful but also dangerous. You knew from your trainer battle experience when a wild Pokemon is too strong to risk a fight. Since you had not brought any other Pokemon to Galar except Vulpix and Primarina, you did not dare to challenge this mysterious Pokemon. Especially since the fog was too thick for a real fight.

You backed away as the unknown wolf pokemon stepped closer. It seemed to be assessing the situation without actually giving the appearance of wanting to attack. You didn't wanted to risk anything and so you turned around and tried to escape. You held Vulpix with all your strength so that you wouldn't drop it while running.

However, it turned out to be a wrong decision to run through an unknown forest in thick fog. At every corner you almost bumped into the trees and one time you could not avoid the roots that were on the way and stumbled. At the last second you were able to turn your body to one side so that you wouldn't crush Vulpix with your body.

In return, you fell so hard on your shoulder that you had to cry out in pain. Vulpix whimpered helplessly and tried to comfort it's trainer by licking your cheek when you got up again and wanted to run away. To make matters worse, you were getting tired too.

It wasn't long before you passed out when you let go of Vulpix and collapsed. In this unknown fauna with a wolf on your back and nobody knew where you were. Was that the end?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Char?"

You had a headache and your shoulder hurt badly when you slowly opened your eyes. You felt as if you had been grilled with a Rapid Spin. Above you was a shadow that turned out to be the head of a Charizard and that made you blink.

"Oh? You are finally awake? " a male voice, unknown to you, spoke up. You straightened up before you realized you were covered with something. A blanket? No. A cape? It was red with a yellowish border and next to the red check pattern there were many different symbols, probably from companies from Galar. Sponsors maybe? Then you looked at a campfire.

A young man was sitting there, no more than 1-2 years older than you, and gave you a sincere and charming smile. His irides were amber and glowed from the fire. His purple hair was moving gallantly in the blowing wind and his parted goatee gave him a wise and manly touch. He wore a kind of leotard with a sword and a shield, short white trousers and long, equally white leggings underneath.

"What happened?"You wanted to know and held your shoulder. The memories, of what happened, were rather vague. “Charizard found you. And at the right time. You passed out right in front of a cliff. “ the man said and crossed his arms. "However, it took a while to save you, because your little protector thought we were enemies at first." the purple-haired man smiled and then pointed to a white fur ball next to you. It was Vulpix who slept next to you. You blinked and looked up. "W-what?"

The man's smile widened. "It really wanted to protect you heroically, even though it was trembling with fear."

[Flashback after you passed out]

[Leon's POV]

Charizard scanned the area to find a way out of the thick forest. If my brother ever finds out that I'm still lost in the Slumbering Weald ... I sighed and continued on my way through the fog. It was strange, the last time there was a fog like this, I looked for Hop and Gloria. The two reported about a rare Pokemon. Had it reappeared?

"Char-Charizard!"

My faithful companion drew my attention to something. A person was lying near the cliffs. Here in this part of the forest people rarely got lost, so I was astonished to meet someone here. Charizard and I stepped closer to identify the person. It was a woman. Just as Charizard was only a few steps away, a Vulpix attacked us. But it looked different from what I knew. It was snow-white and otherwise looked slightly different. Was that a so-called "Shiny"? I've never seen anything like it in my life! It had to belong to the woman. “Don't worry, my friend. We mean no harm. We want to help you. " I tried to calm the Pokemon. It stood protectively in front of its trainer and growled at us. But I also realized how scared it was. His entire body was shaking and his eyes showed despair and uncertainty.

I leaned down so I didn't looked so tall and held out my hand slightly. "Do not worry. We are not enemies. ”I tried again, but the Vulpix barked and shot an aurora beam at both Charizard and me. Wait? Aurora beam?!

I had no time to be confused about what was going on with it's element.

Charizard intercepted the attack with his wing and tried to counter. “Charizard stop! Don't fight. “, I ordered him and looked back at Vulpix. Just as I was trying to figure out how to make it clear to the Pokemon that I just wanted to help, it seemed to run out of strength and it collapsed. "That poor thing. Who knows how long it had been so weak and it kept on its feet the whole time to protect its trainer. "

[End of flashback]

"Vulpix must love you very much." The man added gently to his story and you smiled gratefully when you lightly petted the head of the Pokemon. "Oh Vulpix .." you whispered softly. “By the way, my name is [Y/n]. And your name is..?"

Now the man looked surprised, almost shocked. Or maybe .. disappointed? But then he had to smile again. "And I thought I am most famous trainer in Galar," he said, although his tone was not arrogant. "So you're not a fan of me, unfortunately." he added jokingly. "Hahaha. I'm sorry. But I'm not from Galar. “ You explained to the young man. "Will the most famous Galar trainer tell me his name?", You asked, a little amused yourself, whereupon the friendly stranger had to laugh gently. "With pleasure. My name is Leon. “, He finally introduced himself. "I am pleased to meet you. And thanks for the rescue. “ You replied kindly. "You're welcome. Where are you from, if I'm allowed to ask? ”Leon asked curiously.

"Of course. I grew up in Sinnoh. But originally I'm from Amila. ”You explained proudly. “Oh, I've heard a lot from Amila. Has your family moved to Sinnoh? "

"No no. It's a somewhat complicated story and, frankly, a bit too private. "You answered the question with an apologetic smile. Leon seemed to understand your intention and nodded. "Then of course I won't ask further. But it's nice to see that trainers from so far away are drawn to our beautiful Galar. But what are you doing here in the forest and why were you passed out? "

"Um .." You scratched your cheek in slight embarassment. “I wanted to meet my brother and his fiancée in Wedgehurst. Then I saw this real cute Pokemon and followed it blindly into the forest. At some point I lost sight of it and then this thick fog came. There was this Pokemon .. graceful, big, blue and red .. and I fled from it because I didn't fight unnecessary fights .. At some point on my escape I dislocated my shoulder and then passed out from exhaustion.“ You sighed in frustration. Oh man, that really sounded like a story that could only happen to a beginner. Leon grinned slightly. "So, a cute Pokemon got you into this misery. Well, you seem to me to be a very caring trainer and also very cautious tactically if you don't risk fighting against the unknown. ", Leon began and put his hand under his chin in a thinking pose. “You remind me of me. I'm just as devoted when it comes to Pokemon. And I ... uh, have no sense of direction. I even get lost in houses ... “, he then admitted with a laugh. "So? Is that why you walk around here by yourself too? Are you lost? In an area that should seem familiar to you as a well-known trainer of Galar?“ You tried to tease him. "Well .. at least I'm not so clumsy that I hurt myself." "Touche."

The silence between you two lasted a very short time until Leon spoke again. "And which Pokemon fascinated you so much that you walk into a dark forest that you are not familiar with?" He asked while he went to you with a first aid box. He was probably trying to fix your shoulder. You smiled and were grateful that you liked to wear strapless shoulder tops. So you didn't even have to undress and Leon got to the affected area without any problems. “Well, it must have been from this region because I didn't knew it. It was small and blue, with two braids and a white body. It looks a little like Ralts or Kirlia .. " You described while Leon took care of your shoulder and made a professional splint from a piece of a big leaf and bandages. “Oh, you mean a Hattrem. You can find them here in the forest, but quite far inside. They are also considered to be very shy when it comes to human interactions, because they react strongly to emotions. So I'm amazed that you saw one far enough from the forest to follow it. ”Leon wondered and blinked. “Then it was obviously my day of luck and bad luck at the same time. Because it got away from me. “You giggled and thanked him for the treatment. "Are you hungry? My cooking skills are modest, but so far Charizard and I have not had any food poisoning, "Leon laughed and handed you a plate of homemade curry. You accepted the food with a thanks and ate a spoonful. Leon paid attention to your facial features and at the moment when the corner of your mouth went down slightly, he laughed embarrassed. "So bad?"

You giggled slightly and swallowed the somewhat tough curry. "Well, some spices are missing, but it still tastes better than when one of my brothers tries to 'cook'." You said and ate the rest of the curry. It wasn't quite as bad as he had advertised it. Leon smiled and then looked at the sleeping Vulpix. "I think your little protector is waking up," he said and pointed to Vulpix. Its small head rose and it noticed that its trainer was no longer next to it. "Vul ..!" It shouted happily when it saw that you were awake and jumped joyfully into the arms of its trainer. You hugged it lovingly and breathed a quick kiss on the Pokemon's head. "There is my heroine."You said meekly and Leon couldn't help but smile happily while he saw the interaction between trainer and Pokemon. There weren't many trainers who had such a close and friendly relationship with their Pokemon, which was actually very sad. Many saw them only as toys or tools, as battle puppets, to become famous. Many did not care how the Pokemon are feeling. But that was exactly what the champ of Galar wanted to change.

"If you feel fit enough, then we can look for a way out together." Leon suggested after you gave your Vulpix some PokeBlocks from your home to eat. After all, you didn't wanted to let the poor thing suffer from the bad curry.

"Yes, I am. Vulpix surely too, right little one? “You asked and Vulpix replied with an enthusiastic: 'VUUU!', Whereupon both trainers had to laugh and went on their way. On the way you held a little small talk, about your wisdoms on how to take care of Pokemon, about the fact that you wanted to settle down in a region at some point in order to run a fairy gym, since this position was already taken in Amila . And in the other regions that you had traveled to. The subject came up about the strange colors of your Vulpix. "I wondered something. Is your Vulpix a Shiny? Because I've never seen a white Vulpix before. His fur is also a little different. ", Leon said and looked next to him. You walked next to him while Vulpix made herself comfortable on your not injured shoulder.

"No. But it comes from Alola. You know, the Vulpix in Alola had to adapt to the changed weather conditions and basically ... changed their element. These Vulpix are ice and fairy type. "You explained and now it made " click "at Leon. "Aaaaah, that explains why it attacked with aurora beam," he laughed then. "You have never seen an Alola form?" You asked, flabbergasted. "No, we actually never have trainers who come from Alola," Leon answered thoughtfully. "I think you're the first one I see with an Alola Pokemon in my 10 year trainer career," he added. It was a few more hours before you reached the exit. You two noticed that you got along pretty well and that your chemistry was really good. You laughed a lot, of course you didn't try to get lost again and you actually felt a little wistful when you got out of the forest. Because that meant that the ways of you and this personable trainer parted again.

"Hey! Sister! ", Mamoru shouted, who was already waiting in front of the entrance with his fiancee Aki and an unknown young man.

"Huh?" You blinked and ran to your brother. "Who is this?"

“This is Hop. He lives in the village and is currently visiting his mother. We got to know him and he wanted to help us find you. But as I can see you've found your way back. ", Mamoru grinned mischievously. You knew that grin. "Brother!" Hop called and hugged Leon. You blinked. So Hop was Leon's brother? If that wasn't a coincidence. "Really, have you got lost in the Slumbering Weald again?" The younger sighed and put his arms on his hips. "You know how bad my sense of direction is." Leon laughed and raised his hands defensively. "However. Mother would like to see you again, so move your bum to her and say hello, "he ordered.

"Well, then it's probably time to say goodbye first.", Leon said and turned to you. "Um .. Here, this is my league card. You can all have one. ", He said a bit embarrassed and first gave Mamoru and then Aki a card. He gave the last one to you and grinned. You looked at it and blinked.

"... Champion Leon .. Wait, you are the champion of Galar ?!", you asked completely perplexed and pointed at him. "That offends me now, that you are shocked." Leon laughed and winked at you.

"No of course not. That somehow makes you sympathetic that you are so absentminded. "You smiled. Just as Leon was about to reply, Hop poked him in the side. "Stop flirting and get on your way, brother."

Leon laughed, then turned back to you. "Now that you now know who I am .. Is there a chance that you will become a fan of mine after all?" He asked you slightly teasingly.  You smiled back. "I already am." Your answer surprised him and your next words made him even a little blushy. “You are my savior after all. My hero. Of course I'm your fan. "You added and also winked.

Leon just stood there with his mouth open and everything he wanted to say died in his throat. Hop grinned broadly and then pulled his brother behind him. "Maybe we'll see each other again, folks!"

"See you then, Hop! And Leon. ", Mamoru shouted afterwards with a laugh, until he turned to his sister with a grin. "Already Found a little romance here yet? ”He teased you. "Dont talk nonsense. I do not know him. But he was .. nice. “You said and then looked at his League Card. Under the name was soemthing written in small letters: 'Turn the card'. You blinked and looked at the back of the card.

....

You grinned broadly and hugged the card when you laughed softly. "What's going on?", Aki wanted to know. "Oh nothing."You smirked and took your smartphone to type Leon's home number, which he had attached to the back with a small message, into your phone. He was kind of cute and this was just the beginning of a new wonderful friendship. You were sure about this.

[silverlightqueen]

Moonlight 

silverlightqueen’s SKZ Scarefest

werewolf!Chan x human!reader ft. the rest of skz and itzy lia, ryujin and yeji - comedy, fluff, Chan is a cute shy softie but also a big strong muscly Alpha

Word Count: 3.5k+

Summary - y/n likes the night shifts at the diner. She rarely gets any customers coming in, so it’s peaceful, and she can even sneak in a nap from time to time. But not tonight. No, probably not best to nap when, in the early hours of the morning, a pack of wolves walk in looking like hell.

Warnings: a little bit of blood, talk of violence, raw bloody meat (never thought that’d be a warning but here we are), I think that’s it but pls let me know if you noticed that I missed something!

a/n: and here is the first instalment of my SKZ Scarefest! I really hope you guys enjoy it, and keep an eye out for the following parts in the next few days! this is for you @silverlightprincess​ bc you’re the best proofreader and I love you x

taglist: @kodzu-ken​ @silverlightprincess​

silverlightqueen navigation

‘Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?’ Lia asks me, and I laugh, nodding for the fiftieth time. ‘I’ll be totally fine. Just go, pick up your stupid boyfriend,’ I say, and she rolls her eyes, doing up the buttons on her coat. ‘If I have to pick him up from A&E one more time, I’ll be the one sending him there,’ she threatens half-heartedly, my laughter following her out of the back door.

The diner falls silent once the door’s shut, and I turn on the radio, putting it on low so I can hear if any customers enter. It’s highly unlikely for anyone to show up at this hour, but just in case. I roll my neck, tired after working such a long shift, and I check the clock. Just an hour and a half until 5am, when Yeji and Ryujin will show up for a shift change. An hour and a half of time to kill. I decide to get some food cooking, ready for the breakfast rush at 6am – truckers love their early morning waffles and pancakes – and then I sit at the stool behind the till, scrolling through my phone aimlessly.

It's a cold night outside, the windows fogged up and the pitch-black night sky just about visible through them. A pretty crescent moon shines down a pale white light, casting an eerie glow over the surroundings, and there are no cars passing by on the road, meaning I’m completely alone. A text comes through from one of the girls in my friendship group friend, Chaeryeong, asking if I’ve decided what I’m wearing to our friend Jackson’s Halloween party next week – it’s 8 nights away to be exact. Jackson’s Halloween party is always the party of the year, and we’re all so excited for it. It’s a full moon and everything, so we’re hoping it’ll be a little spookier than usual.

The bell at the front door rings out into the quiet, cutting across the generic lofi song playing from the radio and making me look up in surprise. A boy – he can’t be much older than 20 – walks in, his clothes dirty and ripped, his clear skin marked with mud and grass stains. His blond hair, long enough to brush his shoulders, is a tousled and tangled mess, woven with twigs and grass, and he looks tired as hell. He trudges in, not even looking at me, and collapses into the chair closest to him.

My heartrate instantly increases. What on earth is going on? Why has this… kid walked in, at half 3 in the morning, all alone, looking an absolute state? Should I ask him if he’s okay, or leave him to it? I should mind my business, right? Probably best not to talk to someone in that state. He might be some psycho. What if he is a psycho? And this is some ploy to get me to go over to him so he can attack me? Maybe I should phone my boss? Who am I kidding? There’s no way his lazy ass will answer.

The bell ringing for a second time interrupts my spiralling train of thought, and my eyes flit to the door to see another boy walking in, around the same age, and just as messy as the first boy. And another boy follows him in. And another, and another, and anoth-

There are eight of them in total, slumped into chairs around the two tables closest to the door. They all look exhausted, and in absolute states. And then realisation washes over me, making me relax a little. They’re werewolves.

We’ve always had werewolves around here. Two different packs live on opposite sides of town, and their rivalry has meant their identity has never exactly been a secret. This is the first time I’m ever seeing any of them in their human form, though (I’ve seen flashes of wolves running past the house in the middle of the night when it’s a full moon, but never close up) and I’m… surprised. They’re all quite… small. I guess I always expected werewolves to be tall and bulky, but only two of them are really… muscly, and they’re all short.

They’re all completely silent, save for their heavy breathing, and I wonder why they’ve stumbled into the diner to just sit at their tables. ‘Are you gonna just stand there, breathing obnoxiously loudly, or are you gonna take our order?’ one of them calls out tiredly, his back to me meaning the only part of him that I can see is his black hair, and I feel my face twist with annoyance. I don’t care if he’s a carnivore that could kill me in an instant if he wanted to. He does not get to come into my workplace and disrespect me. ‘Actually, you’re supposed to come up here and order,’ I reply indignantly, low laughter rippling through the group of boys as the boy who spoke lifts his head, turning to look at me angrily, his eyes flashing red. He has a long cut across his cheek, blood dried around it.

‘What did you just say to m-’ ‘Shut it, Jisung,’ the blond-haired boy says with a small grin, the black-haired boy – Jisung – turning to him aggressively. ‘Don’t tell me to shut it, Hyunjin. I won’t have a little human girl disrespect m-’ ‘Be quiet, Jisung. You were disrespectful to her first,’ another of the boys says calmly, and my eyes flit to him, my stomach turning when I realise he’s already looking at me. He’s one of the muscular boys, his hair sandy brown and fluffy, and his face soft and kind. His lips quirk up in a smile, a deep dimple denting one cheek, and I give him a small smile back, my heart fluttering. He might be a werewolf, but he’s a cute one.

I expect Jisung to give him some annoying retort, but he bites his lip, slumping down in his seat angrily, and the brown-haired boy rolls his eyes, rising from his seat. He makes his way over to me, and I try not to ogle him, but it’s difficult with his shirt ripped diagonally across the front, exposing one strong shoulder and a flash of hard abs, my heart skipping a beat at how gorgeous he is. Thank god I decided to wear a cute outfit today, even if it is hidden behind my white apron.

He slides onto one of the stools on the other side of the counter, leaning on one hand with a sigh, and I don’t know what to say other than, ‘Would you like to order something?’ ‘Um, yeah, actually. We’re quite… hungry. Have you got any… chicken, or beef, or any meat, for that matter?’ he asks, and I blink at him in surprise. I’ve never had someone ordering meat before lunch, let alone at half 3 in the morning. Though, I’ve never served werewolves either, so I guess I’m having a few firsts today.

‘Meat?’ I ask, and he lets out a little chuckle, his soft brown eyes locked with mine and making my heart flutter. ‘Yeah. Meat,’ he says with a small smile. His voice is nice, smooth and melodious with a hint of an accent. ‘Um, I don’t have any ready now, but I’ll start cooking some, and it should be ready in… half an hour?’ I say, and his smile slips into a small frown. ‘Um… no, that won’t be any good. You’ve got raw meat, right?’ he asks, and I feel myself malfunctioning for a moment, before I nod. ‘Can we just have a portion of raw meat each, please? I’ll pay whatever for it,’ he says, and I just stare at him.

‘You want… raw meat?’ I ask, and he lets out another soft chuckle. ‘Yes, please. I’m sure you’ve worked out what we are by now, so you probably know we can eat meat whilst it’s still alive. Raw meat’s just fine for us,’ he says with a grin, and I just nod, still in shock. ‘Okay. I’ll… get you raw meat. Is beef okay? One raw steak each?’ I ask, and he nods, smiling widely. ‘Beef’s perfect. But make it two steaks each please.’ ‘Um, okay. 16 steaks,’ I say, unable to believe I’m about to prepare raw steaks for 8 werewolves, and he just nods, still smiling his handsome smile.

He pays for the steaks, and orders a stack of pancakes and a milkshake for each of them too. The total is one of the most expensive orders we’ve ever had, but he doesn’t bat an eyelid, putting it on his credit card wordlessly. I go into the back to get their steaks ready, trying not to retch at having to put raw bloody beef onto plates for them, and I’m still holding back a retch when I take their plates over, the eight of them staring at the food hungrily. But I can’t help but let out a gag when one of them lifts his plate to his mouth and takes a massive chunk out of the steak, blood rolling down his chin.

The rest of them all laugh at my reaction, the brown-haired boy wincing as he says, ‘half of that bite was gristle, Changbin.’ So they’re happy to eat raw bloody steak, but they’re above eating the gristle? Weird but whatever. The boy who ate the steak – Changbin – just nods, before opening his mouth and pulling out the gristle with his dirty fingers, grinning at my look of disbelief. ‘Never seen a werewolf eat before?’ he asks, eyes sparkling, and I shake my head, still blinking in shock.

‘Take a seat, sweetheart. Tell us about yourself,’ one of the boys says with a smile, hand running through his chocolate brown locks, and I feel my heartrate increase. ‘Don’t worry. We’re not gonna hurt you,’ another of the boys says softly before I can even reply, his hair grey and long at the back, his eyes sparkly and wide. ‘I’m not worried,’ I lie, and they all laugh. ‘We can hear your heartbeat, and it’s pretty fast,’ one of the boys says, this one kind looking with blue locks and a soft baby face, and I feel ridiculously stupid.

‘Well… I can’t sit. I’ve got a job to do.’ ‘There’s no one here other than us. If you don’t want to sit with us, just come out and say it. Don’t beat around the bush,’ Jisung says bluntly, steak in his mouth as he speaks, his cheeks puffing out adorably. ‘We’re a group of werewolves; why would she want to sit with us?’ the brown-haired boy says amusedly, and I hope he doesn’t hear my heart stopping momentarily when he turns his half-smile to me. ‘Usually human girls find us attractive,’ the blond-haired boy – Hyunjin – says matter-of-factly, too focused on his raw steak to look up at me. ‘I probably would find you attractive if you didn’t all look like you’ve lost a fight with an angry bush,’ I say dryly, all of them laughing with their mouths full, making me feel slightly… disgusted.

‘Are the pancakes ready?’ the boy with black hair asks, and I check my watch. ‘Four minutes. How come you guys are so… hungry? Haven’t you been hunting?’ I ask, and they all exchange an amused glance before looking to the boy with brown hair. He doesn’t say anything, just looking at me unreadably, and it’s clear that there’s some sort of secret here. He lets out a little sigh, obviously deciding to tell me, and then he speaks; ‘We only hunt on full moons.’ ‘Oh, of course. The full moon isn’t until next week,’ I say, feeling stupid again, and they all nod. ‘On Halloween. Let’s hope there aren’t any trick-or-treaters in the woods,’ the chocolate brown-haired boy says with a small smirk, and I feel a shiver go down my spine.

‘Do you guys really attack humans?’ I ask, and they let out gentle laughs, obviously amused at how little I know of them. ‘We don’t have much control over our wolf selves, so if a human crosses our path, yes. Well, Alphas can control their wolf selves, so our Alpha will usually stop us from attacking a human. But if our Alpha isn’t there… we’d kill them without a moment of hesitation,’ the grey-haired boy explains, and I listen intently, interested. ‘Who’s your Alpha?’ I ask out of curiosity, and they all look to the brown-haired boy, answering my question. My stomach turns with butterflies when he looks at me, a small smile playing at his lips as he says, ‘that’d be me.’ I don’t know why, but something about him being the Alpha wolf makes him ten times sexier than he already is.

‘Oh. Okay. So, wait, if you guys weren’t hunting, why are you all so… dirty?’ I ask, and Changbin raises an eyebrow. ‘I thought you were supposed to be telling us about you.’ ‘I’m nowhere near as interesting as you guys.’ ‘No, sweetheart, we’re very interested in you,’ Hyunjin smirks, my heart fluttering. And then, as though they can hear something I can’t, they all suddenly turn their heads to the brown-haired boy, almost… nervous expressions on their faces. ‘I didn’t realise, Chan, sor-’ ‘It’s alright, Jin, don’t apologise,’ the brown-haired boy – Chan (definitely suits him) – says gently, his eyes not leaving mine, and I can’t help but wonder what on earth just happened. It’s like they had some sort of conversation and I missed the entire thing.

‘We got into a fight with some of the boys from the other pack,’ Chan murmurs, the atmosphere returning back to normal, and I feel my eyes widen. ‘Really? Who won?’ I ask, a light laugh running around the group at that question. ‘Us.’ ‘Really?’ I ask, even sounding sceptical to my own ears, and they all laugh again. ‘Might not look like we won, but we’re all still alive. Can’t say the same for the other pack,’ Chan says softly, and I blink in surprise. ‘Oh. Why’d you fight them?’ I ask, and they all look to Jisung, the boy rolling his eyes. ‘Because they provoked me.’ ‘No. One of them looked at you, and you started on him,’ the black-haired boy says bluntly, Jisung pouting. ‘Whatever, Seungmin. You didn’t see how he looked at me,’ he says sulkily, the others rolling their eyes at him.

‘However he looked at you, it wasn’t enough to warrant me killing him, but I did anyway, because of you. So learn to keep a lid on your temper, Sung, because I’ll make you fight them yourself next time instead of us involving ourselves. Understood?’ Chan says, tone gentle with a slight edge, and Jisung just nods, obviously opting not to pipe up to the Alpha. Everyone’s silent after that, and the air becomes a little awkward. ‘I’ll just go get your pancakes,’ I say, not waiting for a response before I turn and head towards the back.

I plate their pancakes up, all pretty with syrup and whipped cream and strawberries, and I take them out to them only a few minutes later. They’ve stacked up their empty plates for me at the edge of one of the tables, the gristle all piled up on the top plate, and my heart warms a little; it’s quite sweet of them to make my job a bit easier for me. I put their pancakes down in front of them, each of them murmuring their thanks, and Chan grins at me when I put his down. ‘It looks pretty,’ he says, and I preen at the praise – I always plate up the waffles whenever I’m on shift, because my boss, Jinyoung, liked the way I do them. ‘Pretty like her, huh, Chan?’ Changbin says with a grin, my cheeks heating up, and Chan just death-stares him, the others all silent. ‘Sorry,’ Changbin says sheepishly, dropping his head to look at the plate in front of him.

‘Did you guys fight the other pack as humans then?’ I ask, trying to change the subject, Chan chuckling at the question. ‘You’re a curious girl, huh?’ he asks, and I feel a little embarrassed. ‘Sorry.’ ‘No, don’t… be sorry. It’s cute,’ he says hesitantly, and I can’t hold back the shy smile that spreads across my lips, the other boys all looking amused at their Alpha’s shy flirting. He clears his throat, embarrassed, before answering my question; ‘those of us that are older wolves – myself, Minho and Changbin – can turn into wolves at will, but the younger ones aren’t at that stage yet. Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin can do a half-turn, and Jeongin can’t complete any kind of turn yet. He’s getting there, though,’ Chan adds kindly, patting the blue-haired boy’s arm.

I can’t help but quiz them, so fascinated at how different they are to me, despite looking so normal. By the time Ryujin and Yeji arrive for their shift, I’m perched on a table, chatting comfortably to them about their pack hierarchy whilst we all sip on milkshakes. ‘You look busy, y/n,’ Ryujin calls out amusedly from behind the counter, her and Yeji both grinning at me, and I feel my cheeks heating up. ‘I made some new friends,’ I say mildly, the boys all grinning at the girls, and I realise with a little jolt that all of them have perfectly white teeth, their canines sharp and lethal.

‘We better get going. The pack elders won’t be impressed with you, Jisung, and they’ll be even less impressed at us disappearing all night,’ Chan says sombrely, Jisung looking ashamed of himself as he nods. They all start to rise from their seats, ready to leave, and I feel a little sad as I watch Chan trying to fix his shirt, his muscles rippling with each movement. ‘We’ll drop in again, for some more steak. Maybe cooked next time,’ Chan jokes as the others head towards the door, and I let out a little laugh, nodding shyly. ‘That’d be nice.’ ‘Here. A tip, for your great service,’ Chan says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of notes. He takes my hand into his gently, a thrill running up my arm at the contact, and puts the notes into my palm, closing my fingers over them. ‘Chan, that’s too gener-’ ‘It’s fine. Just take the tip… y/n,’ he murmurs softly, my name sounding heavenly on his lips, my eyes locking with his sparkly brown ones, his smile mesmerising me. ‘Thank you,’ I reply, and he grins, his dimple reappearing and making my heart flutter.

He heads towards the door where the other boys are waiting, waving goodbye once more before they leave into the dawn, the door shutting behind them with a thud. ‘Oh, my God! y/n has a cute werewolf boyfriend!’ Ryujin exclaims, and I hold a hand over my face embarrassedly. ‘He’s not my boyfriend!’ ‘He wants to be! Look at the tip he gave you. He’s into you.’ ‘And he’s hot, y/n! If he comes in again, you better get his number!’

I leave after promising them I’ll make a move next time I see him, and I’m still laughing to myself at their enthusiasm as I step out of the back door, wrapped up in my big winter coat. The sun has just begun to rise, streaking the sky with beautiful pastel colours, but it’s still freezing, my breath fogging in the air as the cold sets into my bones.

I head over to my car, opening the door, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I see something move in the trees on the other side of the car park, and I look over, alarmed. There’s a big dark… shape, and I squint into the darkness, trying to make it out. I realise it’s a wolf, with thick, glossy sandy brown fur and big shiny brown eyes. The wolf stands proud, exuding power, and I just know that it’s Chan. I smile, knowing I’m probably crazy for smiling into the eyes of a lethal and wild creature, even crazier for lifting up a hand in a coy wave, but I’m rewarded when he bows his head in a nod, and maybe I’m imagining it, but I’m almost certain I can see an amused glint in his eyes.

I climb into my car, smiling to myself, Chan still stood there watching, and I wait until he’s disappeared into the trees before I start the car. A loud howl echoes out into the air, ringing in my ears, followed by a chorus of howls, melding into one another like a symphony, and the sound makes me smile.

When I get home and collapse into my bed, I decide to count through the notes that Chan gave me as a tip, and my heart melts when a little slip of paper flutters out of the notes – his phone number with a smiley face written beside it. My parents always told me to stay away from the wolves, but maybe they aren’t all bad.

[punkfandomtrashprincess]

One Fateful Night

Rating: T Ship: Geraskier Word Count: 1202 Summary: For the first time in a long time, Geralt’s world is silent. Vampire!Geraskier AU inspire @tishawish​‘s art. Great big thanks to the artist for permission to write this! Italics is flashback to the comic, plain text is present.

original art here

read on Ao3 here

For the first time in a long time, Geralt’s world was silent. 

Geralt was used to hearing Jaskier’s heartbeat almost constantly. As a vampire and a witcher, Geralt could hear things that most humans couldn’t, but he paid special attention to Jaskier’s pulse. It was a metronome, it was his tether to the human world. So of course when it was gone, Geralt found its absence palpable. The steady thumping from within Jaskier’s chest had been replaced with a deafening silence. Jaskier’s warmth was replaced with a touch as cold as Geralt’s own. It was reminiscent of how the witcher had discovered the bard the night before, on a fateful hunt in the woods.

The forest was dark, and even with his heightened vision, Geralt was having trouble keeping track of the wraith. It flitted between the trees, dodging his attacks before disappearing into the fog.

Getalt swore. It had taken him all night to find the damn thing. With a sigh, he returned to the spot where he’d told Jaskier to wait for him. The hunt was supposed to be quick, but the wraith was old and powerful, and Geralt had his work cut out for him.

Jaskier wasn’t in the hollow when Geralt returned. “Where did he get to?” Geralt wondered to himself, “I told him to stay put.” Perhaps Jas had simply gotten bored and wandered back into town-

Suddenly, he smelled it. The slight tang in the air, like copper and rust. Blood.

“Jaskier,” he murmured. He nearly slipped on the wet grass and leaves in his hasted to follow the scent. He could only hope he wasn’t too late.

~

Geralt studied Jaskier now, as the bard readied himself for his coming performance. He’d promised the tavern owner to play that night in exchange for a room. And as he loved to remind Geralt, “The show must go on.” Jas had insisted, despite Geralt’s reservations about letting a newly turned vampire in front of a room full of people. 

So, after they’d found something for Jaskier to feed on and hurried back to the inn, he’d begun the process of warming up and getting dressed. He looked almost the same as he always did. His posture was the same. His head bobbed and his foot tapped as he mentally rehearsed. The biggest noticeable difference was the paleness of his skin. It was so white it was almost blue, much like Geralt’s. The same color it had been when Geralt found him again. 

~

“JASKIER!”

The bard was collapsed in a heap, lying in a pool of blood. Geralt’s stomach dropped. The wraith must have attacked him and then fled, to keep Geralt distracted and make its escape.

Geralt fell to his knees at Jaskier’s side. “Hey,” he murmured. Jas wasn’t moving. His skin was pale and cold. Geralt realized with rising fear- the woods were silent.

He couldn’t hear Jaskier’s heartbeat. 

~

Jaskier’s voice interrupted Geralt’s brooding. “I know I was dying,” he said, examining the puncture wound on his neck with his fingers, “but did you have to bite so high?”

Geralt grumbled. Jaskier’s vanity never failed to confuse him. “I should have bitten his face,” he growled, just low enough so Jaskier wouldn’t hear. If Geralt was being honest, he wished he hadn’t needed to bite Jaskier at all. But he hadn’t had much choice.

~

No. No. NO.

Geralt started to panic. Jaskier couldn’t die. Not like this. There was so much left for Jaskier to do, so much that Jaskier needed to know, that Geralt hadn’t told him. And if Geralt didn’t act fast, he’d never get the chance. 

Cradling Jaskier as gently as he could, Geralt leaned down to sink his teeth into Jaskier’s neck. The pop of his fangs breaking through skin made Geralt’s stomach roll, but he tired to focus. It was Jaskier’s only hope.

Please, Geralt prayed silently, PLEASE, let this work. He forced himself to extract his teeth and stop himself from drinking- not that there was much blood left that hadn’t seeped into the dirt below- but he stayed close, watching for a sign, any sign, of life.

~

Lip curling, Geralt felt his anger resurface. “I wouldn’t have had to bite you, if you hadn’t been so reckless!” he snarled, “I told you to stay here, and when you refused to do that, I told you to stay hidden. But you couldn’t even do that!”

Jaskier sighed- a dramatic, long-suffering sight that Geralt had become all too familiar with. “How am I supposed to write epic ballads about your adventures if I’m not there to see what happens?”

“Fuck’s sake, you were dead, Jaskier!”

The shout echoed around the room, and hung in the silence that followed.

After a moment, Jaskier cleared his throat. “Well, now I’m UNdead, thanks to you. You saved my… well, you saved me. And I will be eternally grateful.”

Geralt scowled at the floor. Eternally grateful. Jaskier’s choice of worst was a grim reminder- he was immortal now, too. Geralt’s regret almost rivaled his relief. 

~

Geralt had all but abandoned hope when Jaskier’s eyes finally fluttered. “Jaskier?” he murmured, his heart in his throat. 

When Jaskier’s eyes opened, his pupils were dilated, and his irises were blood red. Jas groaned, blinking as his eyes adjusted. Geralt knew from experience that the moon would be too bright, the smells too heavy. But even through his haze, Jas still recognized the witcher. “Geralt?”

Geralt had never been so relieved to hear the bard say his name. 

Jas winced when Geralt pulled him to his chest. Geralt loosened his grip, but didn’t let go. The minute that Jaskier had been dead was the worst minute of Geralt’s life. 

“Geralt?” Jaskier whispered hoarsely, wrapping an arm around Geralt’s shoulders. “Are you alright? Talk to me.”

Geralt wiped his eyes before he pulled away so Jaskier wouldn’t see. “I’m fine,” he replied gruffly. Clearing his throat, he asked, “How do you feel?”

“...  Hungry.”

~

Geralt studied Jaskier as he finished preening. Despite his reservations, Geralt was glad that Jaskier was still there. He was different, he was a vampire now. But he was healthy, and safe.

Closing the distance between them, Geralt put a hand on Jaskier’s shoulder, avoiding the bard’s gaze. Jaskier watched him, curious, but waited patiently for Geralt to speak his piece. “Just…” Geralt started. His voice was thick with emotion, and soft. He cleared his throat. “Just be more careful. Please.”

Geralt held his breath, unsure how Jas would respond. To his surprise, Jaskier curled a finger under Geralt’s chin, lifting his head to look into his eyes. “I will. But only for you.”

He pulled away, reaching for his jacket, but Geralt was glued to the spot. He cursed his traitorous heart. If it hadn’t been physically still as tone, it would have been doing somersaults. 

“Look on the bright side,” Jaskier said, breaking the spell, “Now neither of us will age and you won’t be prettier than me anymore.”

Geralt chuckled as Jaskier swept past him and out of the room. He turned to follow, until he realized what Jas had said. If he’d had a pulse, he would have blushed. He thinks I’m pretty?!

fin

[tsarisfanfiction]

Escape: Chapter 2

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort Characters: Gordon, Scott

So much for being a oneshot.  This has decided it wants to be a full blown fic and who am I to deny it?  I don’t think it’s going to be overly long, although I do know there’s a minimum of three more chapters after this, so who knows.

<<<Chapter 1

Gordon didn’t remember much of the swim.  He remembered the start, desperation propelling him as he hauled Scott through the water, big brother obligingly limp and malleable – they all knew the basics of water rescue, all knew that a ‘helping’ rescuee was nothing but trouble – as he found his pace.  It was a balance between speed and endurance; the distance was long, but they were also completely exposed and it only needed one of their pursuers to spot them and there’d be crafts flocking to scoop them up.

He had to set a punishing pace.  His muscles screamed, vocally displeased about the situation, but there was no choice. They had to get to safety, he had to save Scott.  All he needed to do was get them to the next island.  If their comms were down, John probably already had Virgil on his way to their last known location; all they had to do was get out of range of the jammer and then Virgil and his beautiful green girl could come pick them up.

They just had to get there. He just had to get them there.

It wasn’t a choice.

His world narrowed, focus purely on three things.  The ocean, not hindering him but not helping, either.  The island, a blur on the horizon that barely seemed to be getting any bigger.  His brother, limp in his hold.

And then it narrowed further, awareness seeping away and a mantra the only thing circling in his mind.

Get to the island. Get to the island.  Get to the island.

Nothing else mattered. Not the burning of his lungs, nor the screaming of his muscles.  Not the salt water peppering his face from the spray.

Just.  Get to the island.

His limbs were like lead, already weighted down from carrying Scott across the land even before they’d hit the water.  It didn’t matter.  Couldn’t matter.

Oxygen came in gasps, instinctive training kicking in to keep going even though it felt like his lungs were going to burst.

The contact point between his arm and Scott’s body was searing hot, couldn’t be ignored if he tried. That was why he was doing this, that was why he had to do this.  It wasn’t just his life at stake, and none of them could afford to lose Scott.  Gordon couldn’t afford to lose Scott.

It urged him on, pushed him forwards even after his vision faded to nothing, an abstract landscape of get to the island interwoven with Scott and the roaring of his own breath in his ears. He couldn’t hear the ocean, the rush of water deafening in its absence.  Until it wasn’t.

Until Gordon wasn’t a human, brother held securely as he ploughed through the waves, but just a concept, a slaved need to get to the island and Scott.  Even the concepts couldn’t hold their own identity, merging into get Scott to the island and reducing down to the barest bones of Scott-island.

The gravel scraping at his bare skin didn’t register at first.  Sharp stones bit into his skin, scratched his face and arms, and ground him to a halt.  He struggled, Scott-island bouncing around in a panic, but he had no energy left to fight.

“Gords.”  The voice was weak.  The hand that touched him wasn’t much better.  “Gords, you did it.”  There was awe, reverence almost, and pride.  Pain. But no disbelief.

The touch brought with it awareness, the fog fading enough to show him where they were, reengage his senses.  Scott was still in his hold, both of them more in the water than out, but the gravel wasn’t an obstacle blocking their way.  It was a beach.

The beach.  The island.

He’d made it.

The sound that erupted from his mouth could have been a laugh, but it was too raw, too exhausted to classify.

Gravel shifted, scraping together under pressure, and under his arm Scott was moving.  Muffled gasps and groans reminded him – no, he hadn’t forgotten, just faded it from hyperawareness – that his brother was seriously injured, and it gave him just a little more energy.

They were still half in the water.  A rogue wave could wash them back out at any moment, Scott needed to get clear.  Scott needed treatment, warmth against the shock until Virgil found them with the full compliment.

His arm burned, muscles pushed beyond their limits, but he had to get Scott safe.  Balling his hand in his brother’s shirt, protests shooting down the tendons of his hand at the motion, he tensed his shoulder and hauled.

Scrabbles echoed his movement, Scott working with him to pull himself clear of the water.  His brother knew the score, too, knew it was too dangerous to stay there.

It was a herculean effort, his arm trembling with exertion and for all that he hadn’t done any of the swimming, Scott’s strength was drastically waned by pain.  Their gasps, effort and pain, combined until Scott’s feet were clear, somewhere around Gordon’s head.

With one last gasp, he let go of his brother, arm flopping weakly to the gravel.  He was still half in the water, could feel the gentle caress of the waves, but that wasn’t important.  Scott was clear, Scott was safe, and Gordon’s eyelids fluttered shut.

Only for a hand to rudely fist itself in his collar and yank.

“Come on, Gords,” Scott insisted, pain interlacing through every word.  “You, too.”

Gordon groaned weakly, a protest at the idea of trying to move any more, but Scott was insistent – and strong.  His strength may have been waned by the whole experience, the fist in his collar might have been trembling with strain, but he was still Gordon’s big brother, and Gordon was well aware by now that that meant something when it came to situations like this.

He was also well aware that if he didn’t help Scott, his brother would no doubt worsen his injuries pulling him clear, so he dug deep, finding that core of never give up that had got him this far in life despite everything, and dragged out a last dredge of strength to push when Scott tugged.  Scott was trembling but he was, too, burning energy he just didn’t have as he forced his beyond reluctant body to move, just a little bit.

Just enough to get clear. Just enough to collapse on the drier gravel, up beyond the momentary reach of the tide.  Just enough to reach for Scott and find him close enough he could almost be a pillow.

Would be a fantastic pillow, if his ribs weren’t busted.  Gordon directed his too-tired, too-heavy, head to land on the gravel, uncaring as it rolled into his hair and promptly tangled.

“Gordon?”  He heard the gravel crunch against each other as Scott, too, gave in to exhaustion and let his own head hit the gravel.  His face was white, taut with a pain Gordon could do nothing about, and bright blue eyes were half-lidded.

“Got you out,” he mumbled, the urge to touch welling even though he could barely move.  Barely was a generous descriptor, too casual to encapsulate the agonisingly slow inching of his hand as it desperately dragged itself to Scott, fingertips so light he barely felt the skin of Scott’s jaw when it could move no more.

Scott swallowed at the touch, eyelids drooping further until a flash of determination had then snapping open again.

“You did,” he agreed, breathy as wet, clammy fingertips brushed the back of Gordon’s hand.  “You’re amazing, Gords.”

The words were heartfelt, genuine and wrapping Gordon in a haze of contentment.  Still, he felt his lip twitch, the closest he could get to a smug smile.  “’Course I am,” he murmured to the gravel, feeling cool, wave-smoothed stone against his lips.  “I’m me.”

“That you are.”  There was a smile in Scott’s voice, the pride of a big brother.  “Get some rest.”

“Virg,” he mumbled, and Scott’s sigh was exasperated fondness.

“I’ll call him,” he said, the promise washing over Gordon.  “You’ve done more than your fair share, Gordon.  I can handle the rest.”

“Keep you safe,” Gordon mumbled.  The light touch of fingers on the back of his hand grew slightly stronger, twitched from side to side in what could almost be a reassuring caress.

“Yeah.”  There was something melancholy about his agreement, Scott never liking it when he had to rely on one of them for his own well-being. He hated it when it came with a cost, but Gordon would take the exhaustion over whatever fate would have been in store for his brother if he’d obeyed his desperate command to leave him.

Gordon’s eyes slipped closed, reassured by his big brother’s words despite knowing his injuries were bad and Scott was trying to pretend they weren’t.  He was just too tired, exhausted down to his bones, to be able to do anything about it.  He’d tackle Scott once he’d got some rest, if Virgil hadn’t already arrived by then to deal with their stubborn eldest brother.

The crunch of boots on gravel jolted him back to awareness just as he edged to the cusp of sleep and his eyes flew open to meet Scott’s.  Blue eyes, filled with a panic that hadn’t been there a moment earlier, flickered to something behind Gordon, where he couldn’t see.

“Run,” Scott rasped, voice barely a whisper, when he noticed him looking.

He was still white, still cool to the touch and washed out from pain.  Gordon knew his brother couldn’t move, but this time, he couldn’t move him, either.  His muscles were still trembling from the over-exertion of swimming so far, from getting Scott here. Getting Scott safe but if Scott was looking like that, telling him to get away, then Scott still wasn’t safe and Gordon’s job wasn’t done.  The gravel kept crunching, multiple footprints.

Multiple people.

“I’m not leaving you,” he reminded him, equally quietly, feeling his energy levels starting to rise as the adrenaline started pumping.

“Gordon-”

He moved his hand, fingers that had been tickling Scott’s jaw questing further, until they cradled the back of his head in a mimicry of earlier, when he’d promised Scott he’d get him out of there.  The movement was enough to silence his brother, although piercing blue eyes made Scott’s frustration and disapproval clear.

Besides.  They were surrounded.

Dammit, if Gordon had been a little more aware, if he hadn’t relaxed so quickly.  If he hadn’t let down his guard-

“That was an impressive feat.”  The owner of the voice seemed to be the one whose boots were closest to Gordon’s head, barely visible in his periphery.  “Not many people could make that swim.”

Gordon turned his head to look at the speaker, face rearranged into a scowl.  He felt Scott grip his arm tightly, a warning and a plea not to do anything stupid.  The sun was directly behind the asshole’s head, rendering his features entirely in shadow.

“Unfortunately, while it was a good effort, I’m afraid it wasn’t good enough,” he continued, and snapped his fingers.

Hands grasped Gordon, yanking him backwards, away from Scott until the only contact he had was the constrictor-tight grip Scott had on his arm.

A boot, studded and closely resembling something military-issue, slammed into Scott’s wrist. Gordon hissed as the impact forced Scott to yank his arm hard.  It didn’t break his grip, although Gordon wasn’t confident the same wasn’t true for Scott’s wrist.  Another blow, equally as hard, sent vibrations all along his arm until it jarred his shoulder.

It was the third that forced Scott’s grip to give, a crack snapping through the air and telling Gordon another bone or few had been added to the fatality list.  Gordon was yanked further back, out of his brother’s reach, and snarled.

“You’re a stubborn man,” the same bastard spoke again, stepping past Gordon to stand next to Scott, looking down at his brother.  His face was still in shadow, but that didn’t stop Scott glaring up at him defiantly.  “Hard to pin down, and harder to keep there.”

Scott didn’t say anything, but his jaw was set and there was defiance in his eyes.

“But not impossible.” Without warning, he lashed out with his boot, a hard strike straight to Scott’s broken leg.

The swallowed whimper it elicited from Scott cut Gordon deeper than any scream, and the rage that had been slowly bubbling up – at the assholes surrounding them, the bastard standing over his brother, himself for letting his guard down too damn soon – flooded him.  He’d promised Scott they wouldn’t hurt him again.  But they had and he couldn’t just sit back and watch.

Bone deep exhaustion was overpowered in a flash, rage-fuelled adrenaline tearing through him and throwing off the hands holding him effortlessly.  They hadn’t been expecting resistance.  Nor was Bastard, as Gordon slammed him out of his way, into the gravel with all of his strength.

It was a fight he couldn’t win; he knew that.  They outnumbered him beyond any odds he could handle unarmed, especially with Scott an obvious target.  But he could put himself between them and his brother, be a shield if nothing else.  They would not hurt Scott again.

Bastard pulled himself back to his feet slowly, deliberately.  Behind him, Scott was hissing his name, demanding that he stop being an idiot and run.  But Gordon couldn’t do that.  Call him an idiot, call it the move with the least strategic advantage, but he couldn’t leave Scott to handle the assholes alone.

“You know,” Bastard said, pulling himself back up to his full height.  Blue eyes – cold, nothing like Scott’s – flashed as he spat out a small stone.  “Our intel was wrong.”

Intel.  The word by itself was enough to churn Gordon’s stomach.  Their security was tight; always had been, always would be.  Kayo expected no less.  It had seemed too neat for a random encounter, but the blatant admittance… Gordon didn’t like the implications. Not one bit.

“The eldest and the youngest,” Bastard continued as though he hadn’t just soured Gordon’s insides.  “That’s what we were told.”  Those blue eyes bore straight into him.  “But you’re not the youngest, are you?”

Alan.  They’d been expecting Alan, and Gordon seethed at the idea they’d been planning on attacking him.  Except there was no disappointment in Bastard’s voice.  He sounded amused, almost cat got the cream.

“That impressive swim. Your combat training.”  Lips curved themselves into something satisfied, and Gordon got the sinking feeling Bastard preferred that it was him. “WASP, wasn’t it, Gordon Tracy?”

Gordon bared his teeth. Behind him, Scott was hissing, words too quiet to be heard, but Gordon knew his brother well enough to know it was an incessant demand for him to run.

He would have done, if he’d thought it would do any good.  If he thought he could get Scott out, too.  The clues were slotting together, the same clues he knew had snapped in place for Scott.  From the outfits, these assholes were some sort of private militia.  Illegal, because since the World Government had been founded and the last of the resistance squashed, there was only the GDF for the land and sky, and WASP for the seas.  Scott had been their primary target.  Scott had been in the Air Force, just before the final dregs were enfolded into the GDF; Scott was Commander of IR and had corresponding high clearance with the GDF out of necessity.  The sheer delight in the way the man had said WASP.

These assholes wanted intel. Even out of date intel was worth something, especially for WASP and their ever-expanding research.

A hand signal flashed, unfamiliar to Gordon but of course they wouldn’t have one the legal forces would be able to comprehend, and the assholes descended upon him.

“Gordon!”

It wasn’t a fight he could win.  He knew that, Scott knew that, Bastard and his infuriatingly smug grin knew that.  There was no way to escape right then, and the more of a fight he put up now, they more they’d beat him down so he couldn’t fight back later.

And he was still exhausted. Adrenaline could only do so much to push his battered muscles on.

When the hands grabbed him, he let them, keeping a strict eye on where Scott was and how many men were on his brother.  Scott looked anguished, and he knew it wasn’t the pain that was causing it.  Gordon sent him a grin, before snarling at the asshole that yanked his brother up by the freshly-broken wrist.

He got a backhand across his face for that, and turned his glower on the asshole responsible for a moment before looking back at Scott.  His brother was fighting, as much as a man with as many broken bones as Scott could fight, but it was an exercise in futility.  Gordon lunged forwards with a cry as one of the assholes kicked the broken leg again, tearing another muffled yet pained noise from his brother, but they’d learnt their lesson from last time and the waning adrenaline wasn’t enough to tear him free.

Metallic cuffs clinked shut around his wrists, wrenching them behind his back, and he saw the same happen to Scott, before both their communicators were torn from their wrists and thrown down to the gravel.

The sight of them reminded Gordon of Virgil, no doubt on route and completely clueless what he was going to be flying into.

If he and Scott hadn’t stood a chance, Virgil would be completely helpless.

But if Virgil found just their communicators…

“Walk!” one of the assholes holding him barked, kicking at the back of his knee.  Reflexes had him stumbling, and he sent a baleful glare their way.  Another asshole had Scott thrown over his shoulder, and Gordon hoped to hell his brother’s ribs weren’t as bad as he’d feared, otherwise there was probably some bone making contact with something soft and squishy it was supposed to be protecting right about now.

Scott wasn’t moving, seemed to have given up fighting.  Gordon hoped he’d given up, otherwise the limp body told a very different story – and not one Gordon was fond of.

There was a submarine sitting in the water, and as Gordon half-stumbled onto it, dragged along by assholes with no care that their unwilling companion had technically hit his physical limit long ago and was running on pure adrenaline and spite, he heard a distant whine of an all too familiar engine.

A green speck, barely visible, appeared on the horizon, and then he was shoved through the airlock, replacing the blues and green with a boring uniform grey.  It slammed shut behind them, and humming machinery as familiar to him as breathing ran through the corridor.  Instinct had Gordon adjusting his footing as the floor below him slanted.

They were diving.

Oh, hell.  That wasn’t good.

Chapter 3>>>

[wrenthemoralfander]

Shapeshifting Gem.

Remile Story:

Tw: Transphobia, deadnaming, misgendering, and gender dysphoria.

Remy couldn’t believe it.

He couldn’t. His family shamed him for being himself.

Two years ago, Remy had a huge gender identity crisis, and couldn’t bring himself to look in the mirror as all he saw was an unrecognizable girl in his place; a lady he didn’t know. He didn’t feel happy or comforting in dresses. Skirts were fine, but not dresses.

Very few make up items such as red lipstick, foundation, and eye shadow were nice.

He remembered his mom and dad’s reaction. At the time, Remy lived with his parents, and they loved Remy.

“Mom, Dad? I need to talk to you.” Remy said. He was nervous but was convinced he could do it.

“Yes, Renee?” His father said, smiling as he was reading a book. His mother was cooking, but she could hear her child.

“For two years, I grew to see something and It was never a choice.” He said, before he continued. “I have made a very important self discovery and it was not easy, as I kept questioning myself but I knew.”

He took a deep breath and spoke, his body starting to shake from the nervousness; he forced himself to be still.

“Mom, dad. I’m trans. If you need time to accept it, or need some time to process this, I understand.” He said.

His father closed his book, glaring daggers. “Young lady, are you fucking serious right now?!”

His mother turned off the fire, and walked over to Remy’s father. She looked at him, worry in her eyes. “Robert, honey, it’s a phase Renee is going through.”

Remy shook his head, blood was boiling. “It’s not a joke, and it’s not a phase. My name is Remy and I’m your son.”

His mother looked at him. “You’re a girl Renee. I can’t believe you, you are not trans.” Anger in her voice.

Remy argued with his parents, but they didn’t listen. His father told him to go to his room.

Since then, Remy’s life has been hell. His mother constantly dead names him, his father tells him that there are only two genders, and how trans men are not men, but how they are girls committing sins against the lord.

They forced him to wear dresses and makeup. They even went as far as to rip Remy’s trans flag and throw it away to remind Remy that he was a ‘girl.’ He cried himself to sleep, and sobbed. He was disgusting.

Remy had enough.

He packed all his things, and told his parents he was leaving. They threw a fit and told them they would call the police to return him.

“Go ahead and try.” He said, giving them the middle finger, before leaving. He ran into the forest, and ran, not caring if they were serious. He blocked their numbers, and ran until his legs could move no more.

He was exhausted but forced himself to keep going.

He found a road and walked down the road. The chances of a car hitting him was extremely low but not impossible, so Remy stayed to the side just in case.

Remy’s kept walking, exhaustion starting to roll over him and make him almost pass out when he saw a city a city he’s never seen before, as he lived in a small town.

He put his hood on and walk towards the city. When he got there he noticed that the people had magic powers. 

So this was a fantasy like city, where people used magic.… or Remy had already passed out and was dreaming. He pinched himself to be sure and sure enough, he was not dreaming.

He kept walking for a short time before his body collapsed. He felt so tired that he ended up passing out on the sidewalk.

When he woke up, he was in a bed.

He was unsure why but he saw his bag propped on a chair so he knew he wasn’t at his parents house. He knew because the chair looked way too nice to be his parents.

“Good morning, how are you feeling?” A voice said, the voice sounded sweet, and friendly.

“Morning. I slept good.” He said before freezing. The voice was coming from a Tiger. He jumped and screamed.

“Please don’t eat me! I don’t wanna die.”

The giant cat looked at Remy. “Relax, I’m not gonna eat you. Hold on.”

He shapeshifted into a guy. He had light brown hair, light green eyes, and the cutest smile. The guy had a pink hoodie on, some khaki pants, and some white socks.

“This better miss?” He said.

Remy looked down.

“I’m not a lady.” He said, a pit forming in his stomach.

“Oh, my apologies, I didn’t mean to assume. Let’s start over, I am Emile, the Rose Witch and a profound shapeshifter, I go by he/him. And you?”

Remy looked up and smiled. “I am Remy, I’m a trans human and I go by he/him.”

Emile frowned. “Let’s get you fixed up, hun.” He said before casting a spell. As the spell was cast, Remy’s chest flattened and brown fog spun around him before fading.

“There we go.” He said.

Remy’s eyes widen as he realize that Emile had saved him from having to pay for top or bottom surgery.

“Thank you.” He said smiling.

Emile smiled has he gave Remy some clothes, “Go get changed.”

Remy got changed and was happy.

Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.

And maybe, just maybe, Remy found not only a person who excepted him, he found a witch who didn’t scare him but instead made him fall in love.

It’s been two years and seven months since he last saw his parents.

He cut contact with them, however they showed up one day. 

Remy answered the door. “Hello, can I h-”

He froze when he saw his parents.

“Renee? Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

He looked at them.

“First off, bitch. It’s Remy, Second off, why the hell are you here? I thought I made it perfectly clear I was not coming back.”

His father glared at him. “Don’t use that tone with us, young lady.”

Emile was in the kitchen when he heard someone say young lady. He went to the front door and saw Remy’s parents. “Coffee Bean, who are they?”

Remy wasn’t going to involve Emile, his new boyfriend. “Nobody babes, just some transphobic people I thought I knew.”

His mother grabbed Remy’s wrist, and tried to drag him. “We are your parents! You will come home at once, Renee!”

Emile pulled Remy back. “Leave us be.” He turned to Remy, “Who’s Renee?”

Remy looked at him, “…it’s my deadname.” He said, tears running down his face.

Emile comforted him.

Emile turn to Remy‘s parents, rage filling in his eyes.

“I can’t Believe you two! Remy is your son and you have the audacity, no, the nerve to deadname him. He looked up to you, he thought his parents loved him enough to accept him. You shamed for years, and now you have the audacity to come here and demand he come with you?! He’s not your property, he’s his own person, so the next word that comes out of your mouth better be ‘I’m sorry Remy.’ You two will leave, because if you don’t, I will report you to the authorities, and none of them will put up with your transphobic bullshit.”

Emile looked at Remy with a comforting smile. “Come on love, I made you a special mocha with some delicious chicken and rice.” The shapeshifter said, before taking Remy in for lunch and slamming the door.

His parents left, and Remy hasn’t heard from him since. Emile made sure to cast a spell on them, so nobody would put up with their bullshit anymore.

Oh come on, they deserved it.

As for Remy and Emile, The two were very happy together. Remy even learned how to use magic.



[clareguilty]

Kinktober Prompt #4

So not only is this prompt late, but its not even the one i said i would have done today because of writers block. Anyways, i hope y’all like weird, magic, tentacle smut.

Witch!Mercy/f!reader Rating: Explicit | Tentacles, magic rituals, dubcon, face sitting… i went HAM y’all Word Count: ~1800

Read it on AO3

You probably should have listened when your friends warned you not to go near the Witch of the Wilds. She was dangerous. Wicked. A powerful sorceress and a master of life and death. She had bewitched many, committed unspeakable evils. And you were intent on seeking her out.

 Her lair was hidden deep in the woods, and it took you quite a while to find it. Still, you strode up to the heavy wooden door with as much confidence as you muster.

 The door opened on its own. Swinging inward slowly with a high creak. Okay. You probably should have expected something like that in all honesty. This was the Witch of the Wilds.

 You tentatively stepped inside, peering around in the dark entry way. The second both of your feet had cross the threshold. You blacked out.

 The first thing you saw when you woke was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen.

 “An angel?” you asked, trying to clear the fog from your head. You couldn’t move, but that would make sense if you were dead.

 She chuckled, a low sound that seemed to fill the air around you. “You’re sweet, but I’m far from holy.”

 She was sitting a little ways away, large book propped open on her crossed knees. A feather quill hovering in the air beside her.

 “You came looking for me? I assume you wanted something.” She closed the book and set it aside. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her. Your initial assumption had been far too innocent. This was no angel. She was a temptress. You dragged your gaze away from her legs and saw the wickedness in her eyes. “I give nothing for free, so I’ve already taken the liberty of arranging my payment. Once I am finished, we can discuss your request.”

 You were bewildered. What was she talking about? You attempted to sit up, but you had hardly moved an inch before you realized that you were tied down. Stripped naked and bound to a large wooden table. The sigils carved in the wood left a pit in your stomach.

 “The Witch of the Wilds,” you breathed.

 “I guess that’s what most call me these days,” she tutted. She was at a long table covered in instruments and vials and parchment. “It has been quite a while since someone sought me out deliberately. I can’t wait to learn what it is you want. Unfortunately, it’s the night of the new moon and I’ve been wanting to perform this ritual for a long time. I hope you don’t mind if I take my end of the deal first.”

 Your confusion was quickly giving way to fear. You may have bitten off more than you could chew.

 “It was very lucky that you showed up when you did. Not many people travel on a waning moon. I just happen to have everything else I need all ready here.” She was mixing some sort of paste in a stone bowl. “It’s amazing how many materials one has to gather just to get yet      another    material.”

 You tensed as she turned to you, carrying the bowl to the table you were fastened to. There was no way in hell you were eating that.

 You didn’t have to. Instead, she began painting sigils across your body. Teasing you when she first slathered the cold substance right across your chest. She was deliberate. Careful. Occasionally taking a thin metal instrument to scrape away at the paste until it was the desired shape. It was a strange sensation, especially as the paste began to harden and darken against your skin.

 “What kind of ritual is this?” you asked, already dreading the answer.

 “A summoning,” she answered simply. “I require materials from a dark world being. The being will not come to this realm without an offering. That’s where you come in.”

 She took in your expression and quickly added, “Of course, you’ll survive the ritual. There’s no need to be worried. Everything should be finished by dawn.”

 You decided you didn’t want to ask any more questions.

 The painstaking process was soon complete, and you had been covered in sigils from your neck to your toes. She even adjusted the bindings on your ankles, spreading your legs wide before tying them back even tighter than before. You were ashamed, embarrassed to be so exposed, but the Witch was unfazed. She procured a large shallow basin and placed it between your thighs.

 You watched her carefully arrange a series of items in the basin. Powders, herbs, stones, and strange things from jars. The last addition was a few drops of glowing blue liquid.

 “Thank you for being so patient with me,” the Witch smiled at you, opening her large book once more. “If you could keep quiet for just a moment longer, I’ve got the incantation and we’ll be all set.”

 She began the incantation. It was a language you had never heard, and it sounded strange and uncomfortable to your ears. Every passing second made you more and more afraid of what was to come.

 It had been nearly a minute of recitation when you felt it. The sigils on your skin began to feel warm and strange. Buzzing like an insects wings. It wasn’t uncomfortable but you opened your mouth to scream anyways. You had barely parted your lips when a palm firmly clamped over your lips. The witch hadn’t finished her incantation.

 Next, the materials in the basin between your legs erupted in bright blue flames. You screamed against the witch’s palm, thrashing in your bonds as the flames began to take shape, opening into some kind of portal.

 The portal was pitch black. The witch watched it with bright, eager eyes, waiting for what would come through. She finished her incantation with a smile, setting the book aside as she watched the flames. They licked at the insides of your thighs, but didn’t burn. Just as the sigils glowed and buzzed against your skin.

 At last, something reach through the portal. A thin, dark tendril snaked its way out, tapping along the wood of the table until it found your thigh. You immediately tried to scream again, but the witch covered your mouth before you could make a sound.

 “Please keep quiet,” she asked, sounding more exasperated than anything. “We wouldn’t want to scare it with your noise.”

 The tendril snaked up your leg, tapping along the sigils before coming to the apex of your thighs. Apparently, that was just what it was looking for, because it began rubbing against the sensitive flesh there. You tried to move away, but you were bound too firmly.

 Your panic only increased tenfold when another tendril brushed against your knee. They stroked you between your legs. You felt a wave of shame as you realized that it felt good.  

 And then one of them pressed inside you. Moving back and forth in a familiar motion. Your screams against the witch’s palm turned to moans of pleasure.

 “Ah,” she grinned. “Perfect.” Her cheeks were flushed, and she was watching the creature with rapt fascination. “If only I could have served as the offering myself.”

 She watched you. Watched your mouth fall open as the tendrils worked their way inside of you. Stretching you and filling you. Several more had emerged from the portal, wrapping around your legs and up to your chest. Occasionally, one of the tendrils would fill you with a warm, tingling liquid and retreat back into the portal, only to be replaced by another shortly after.

 “We had best keep you quiet,” she mused. “And I’m feeling a little bit left out of the fun. What if I…?” She chewed her lip. Nodding as she came to a decision.

 She climbed onto the table, pushing her already revealing skirt to the side as she swung her thigh over your head. “Be a good girl for me,” she murmured as she lowered herself to your lips.

 Your tongue met her pussy and you moaned against her. She made an appreciative sound, grinding down to meet you.

 You did the best you could to serve the Witch of the Wilds. The tendrils between your legs made it difficult to stay focused. They brought you to orgasm again and again, never relenting. You wanted to do the same for the witch.

 She rode your face until your jaw was tired; then she freed one of your hands so you could use your fingers. You never backed down until she nearly collapsed, sliding off of the table and disappearing into a heap on the floor. You were a fucked out mess, still subject to the tendrils that never seemed to tire. You were a mess, covered in whatever it was they created and nearly mindless with pleasure.

 The witch recovered after several minutes, gathering up a number of empty jars and collecting the substance that was pooling between your legs.

 And then the portal closed.

 It was abrupt. You were so lost in bliss that you hardly even noticed until the witch was removing you from your bonds.

 “It must be dawn,” she noted as she began wiping off the jars to put them away. “Here.” She lifted you from the table, carrying you with ease to a large basin across the room. “Rest as long as you need to. I’ll bring food and wine in just a bit.”

 The water in the basin – probably enchanted – was soothing. And it eased your aches as you ate a plate of fruit and nuts that the witch brought. Unfortunately, the paste that had created the sigils on your body had stained your skin, and you were still covered in strange markings after it was washed away. It was only after you were wrapped in a soft robe and settled in a large chair by the fireplace that she spoke.

 “Thank you for assisting me with that. It is a great help to me. I will now grant you anything you ask in return.” She smiled warmly. You were still entranced by her beauty, even after all you had been through.

 “Let me stay with you.”

 “Excuse me?” The witch asked.

 “I came all this way because I wished to learn magic. Powerful magic. And after everything that happened last night, I would like to become your student. That ritual was… amazing. And I would gladly be your offering again on the next new moon.” You rushed in your explanation, hoping she wouldn’t turn you away.

 Instead she laughed. “Well, I won’t be needing to perform that particular ritual any time soon. But I can think of many other ways in which you can assist me.” Her lips curled, and your heart began to race at the shine in her eyes. “Very well, you can remain here with me. It would be nice to have a willing subject for my spells and experiments.”

Ko-Fi | Paypal | Masterlist

[salemwritesxx]

𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼 | 𝓾𝓷𝓯𝓲𝔁𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮

𝔹 𝕒 𝕜 𝕦 𝕘 𝕠 𝕦   𝕂 𝕒 𝕥 𝕤 𝕦 𝕜 𝕚

     ⇴ male reader [24, pro-hero, alpha, quirk: ice-phoenix]      ⇴ all characters are depicted as [18]+

↳ summary: Bakugou and [Your.name] were dating, about to get married. Though one morning, everything that was dear to [Your.name] was brutally ripped away when he found a letter from his fiancé. Katsuki was gone, no traces left behind. And now, after three years [Your.name] was suddenly confronted with the reason when he meets his ex-fiancé again in a small town in Hokkaido.

↣ rating: mature ↣ warnings: abo universe, male pregnancy mentioned, angst version – if you want to read the happy ending version read here.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

Walking along the streets, you didn’t have a destination in mind. Just walking around and letting fresh air clear your fogged up brain. You had been overthinking – again. It was one of those days were you couldn’t help but think back to three years ago. Tomorrow three years ago would have been the date were you and Katsuki would have said “Yes”, but alas… it all came differently.

Running your hand through your hair, you sighed deeply.

“I need to stop thinking about this. It’s been so long! Like this, I will never be able to forget him.”

But how were you supposed to forget the love of your life? Especially when it all came so quickly and out of nowhere? One day everything was fine, the next, he was gone. And as much as you tried to find him, despite him stating in the letter you shouldn’t try, it was all in vain anyways. It’s as if Bakugou Katsuki had never existed. Even his parents, that were always very much in love with you as their son-in-law, completely ignored you and cut you off.

It was such a deep cut, even time wasn’t able to heal anything. The last three years were rough. Sleepless nights were a normal thing by now. And while media praised you for working so hard on your hero career, you just pushed yourself like that so you wouldn’t need to think about the past. Because when you were working, it all just faded away.

However, after collapsing one day, the agency forced you to take time off and so you landed in Hokkaido. Far away from the bustling streets of Tokyo, your gloomy small apartment and your work place. With nothing to do, you found yourself overthinking day and night. If you just could ask him one question.

Why?

-

Putting on his scent-blocking collar, Bakugou suddenly felt a little tugging on his t-shirt, hence he looked down. [Eye.color], big eyes stared at him and the toothy smile immediately had him smiling as well.

“Are you ready to go outside, Hiroto?”, he asked his son who looked so much like you, reminding him every day what he had done.

“MH! Can I bring Popo?”, Hiroto’s big eyes sparkled a little, making it very difficult for Katsuki to say no, hence he nodded a little.

Watching his son, it only took a few moments before he came back with his stuffed animal, it was a phoenix. Rather, it was your merchandise. It… was complicated.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeess!”

And so, Katsuki locked the door behind him, leaving to go for a walk around the block and a quick park visit.

-

Leaning against a bridge, you stared down, still pondering. If you had just acted differently, maybe you could have saved your relationship. Whatever it was you had done, it pushed him away from you and it was eating you inside to not know what the reason was.

You didn’t know how many hours you had been wandering around town, trying to stop thinking, but as always, you only thought harder the less you had to do. Hence why you decided to go back to the inn you were staying at.

After hours outside, Hiroto was tired, his plushy Popo hugged tightly against his chest as he silently walked besides Bakugou along the streets. One more time, Katsuki tried to pick his son up, “Hiro? Want me to carry you home? Aren’t you tired?”

“NHN!”, he shook his head, “Daddy is never tired when he fights the bad guys! So I am also not tired.”

Hiroto was stubborn as he kept walking besides Bakugou who was just sighing a little. It was his own fault, but he couldn’t lie to his son. Without even thinking about it, Katsuki talked about you whenever you were on TV. He didn’t know why he just couldn’t keep quiet about you being Hiroto’s father. So now, whenever you were on TV, Bakugou had to lie and say you were in another country fighting the bad guys, even though you were still in Tokyo, mere 4 hours away with the train. But Katsuki couldn’t come back. Not after he had hurt you so much. It was his decision to raise Hiroto alone. You deserved to be successful, it had been your dream. Kids just weren’t a thing you had planned for, at least not with 21.

Being caught up in his own thoughts, Bakugou didn’t see you on the other side of the street. Neither did you see him. Both of you staring ahead, thinking back to three years ago, what had been and what it could have become. However, something connected you both. You never had a chance to bond with him, was it a tradition in your alpha family to bond during the wedding night, but your connection was different. Said connection was looking up and across the street.

Hiroto just looked around tiredly when he saw someone. Someone he had seen on TV multiple times. The little boy didn’t know how many times he had wanted Katsuki to show him YouTube videos of you fighting.

“HAAAHHH!? DADDY!?”, a piercing cry came from the little one, shaking you and Katsuki awake. The latter immediately grabbing Hiroto, but.. it was too late.

“HIRO?!”, he yelled, though his son ran across the streets.

You, on the other hand, were so incredibly confused. There he was, standing literally on the other side and then there was a little child, running towards you and calling for you. Was this the “Why?” you had searched for, for so long? You couldn’t think about it when your legs moved on their own to get the kid out of a potential dangerous situation.

It was a blessing that the small town didn’t have much traffic, hence why you could easily run towards him, scoop him up and get back to the safe sidewalks in mere seconds. You didn’t want to imagine what could have happened in a busy city like Tokyo.

Then you stood there, awkwardly holding Hiroto who was crying and sobbing into your t-shirt while Katsuki’s own emotions were all over the place. The Omega had never imagined the possible chance of meeting you again. After three years, all he had built up from scratch to have a comfortable life far, far away from you, as to not disturb your career, it all broke apart.

However, Bakugou wasn’t the only one hearing something shattering, your own heart dropped into your stomach. The already broken pieces shattering more when you saw the pure horror displayed on his face. This was not how you imagined meeting him again. He hated you. You were certain of that. Whatever you had done to him, he never wanted to see you again. It all was so clear to you now it almost brought you to tears then and there.

Your inner Alpha was strongly urging you to just grab him, Katsuki was your Omega, even if you never had a chance to mark him, that’s just how it was. He was yours. But…

Slowly pushing your son away you put him into Bakugou’s arms. There were no words said, the only thing disturbing the silence was Hiroto’s sobbing. Especially when you loosened his tight grip on your t-shirt, he started squirming and screaming, trying to grab onto you more. He had seen you on TV so many times and now you were right in front of him. Yet, Hiroto had to watch when you turned around and left him behind.

You had so many questions rushing through your head, but at the same time, you couldn’t bring yourself to utter them out loud. Not after seeing Bakugou’s expression. This was never supposed to happen. Even if your heart yearned for answers, especially regarding his son… your son?

Without thinking about it, Katsuki put Hiroto down to let him run after you once again. It was such an impulse thing to do, he truly didn’t know why he had done it. Though after three years, why should he hide anymore when you had seen everything now? Also… after so long, he might have not been able to ignore his heart’s desire and yearning any longer.

It was so incredibly hard to ignore Hiroto’s crying and just walk away as if it had never happened, but for the sake of Katsuki’s happiness, you chose to go. However, a sudden tug made you stop. Looking down you saw ice around your ankles. It was weak and thin, easily breakable really. Hiroto’s? When you turned around, he had already clutched your leg tightly. Why?

When you looked back up, Bakugou also stood in front of you, his ruby eyes shimmering a little.

“Do you … want to talk?”, he finally asked, his voice breaking at the end though as he tried his hardest not to cry. What was he doing? It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen you in like three weeks, it had been YEARS since he left without any other word. Why would you even want to have anything to do with him or Hiroto?

“Yes!”, you said and it truly caught the Omega off-guard. After everything he put you through… If he was in your position he probably would have been so angry and furious, but you just seemed exhausted and tired.

But finally, you would be getting some answers.

--

All night long, you couldn’t sleep. After you had calmed down Hiroto enough, Bakugou gave you a little piece of paper with his address on it. “I work until 7. So we can talk without any disturbance.”, he said when he gave you the information. It was probably for the best. You didn’t want to imagine what would happen when your feelings would overcome you out in a café. [Your.hero.name] seen screaming in Hokkaido – you could see the news all over the internet already. So, it was probably for the best to meet him at home.

But that didn’t mean you weren’t nervous. How had your ex-fiancé been living his life the past three years? It was all exciting and scary at the same time to find out those things.

When you knocked on his door, your inner Alpha was impatiently pacing up and down. It was as nervous as you. But when the door opened and Katsuki stood there, you were sure for the first time in the last 12 hours, that it wasn’t a dream. Walking inside was heaven and hell at the same time. Everything smelled like him. The Omega’s scent was so familiar, but another one was mixed in – probably Hiroto’s.

“A friend of mine is looking after Hiroto tonight so he won’t be dragged into this.”, he said, nervously fumbling with his scent-blocking collar.

It was weird wearing it at home, but for you and himself, he had to wear it. His Omega had been going in circles ever since he met you again yesterday. It wanted to be taken and to be honest, Bakugou was also close to surrender to you. But it wasn’t that easy. You probably had so many questions.

“Oh… Yeah that’s for the best. Katsuki.”, you suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallways.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry I can't wait, but you need to tell me now. Hiroto, he… called me Daddy and he has an ice quirk… so I am not wrong to assume that he is… our son?”

Katsuki could vividly feel your emotions, the Omega was shuddering, his throat dry and hands sweatier than usual.

“Yeah…”, was all he could choke out.

“Oh.. my God.”, you just mumbled to yourself. Hearing it out loud was like another punch in your stomach.

“Did you… leave me when you were pregnant?”, was your next question, still standing in the middle of the hallway.

However, Katsuki couldn’t even blame you. There were so many questions left unanswered.

“We were too young…”, his ruby eyes were shimmering again with tears, but he tried his best to keep them at bay.

“Too young?”, you were speechless for a moment, before looking back, “Why didn’t you tell me?! Why did you just… leave? Why… did you do everything yourself?!”

Now you were finally angry. After so long, you just couldn’t understand why he would leave you without saying anything. It could have all come differently if Katsuki would have just been honest!

“You had your career?! A baby didn’t just… fucking fit into our lifestyle! What else could I have done?!”, Bakugou yelled back. He knew it would come to this.

“SO?! You also had your career, we were both working hard to become well-known heroes so that’s not a fucking excuse. What else?? You seriously ask me?!”, you gestured wildly.

“You wouldn’t have wanted to raise a child, it was too soon!”

“It was NOT your right to decide that for me!”, you yelled, your voice breaking as tears welled up.

Bakugou once again being a little taken aback. His heart was racing and his tears so close to falling.

“You could have asked me, we could have worked it out.”, the first tears successfully fought their way out as they rolled over your cheeks.

“I loved you SO MUCH. If it was possible I would have literally brought you the stars from the sky. I would have done anything. And you? You just leave. Without anything but a letter telling me you cannot marry me. Do you have the slightest idea how I felt?”, your voice was shaking and breaking here and there, but it was freeing to finally let it all out.

“I thought it was for the best. I didn’t know what to do.“, Bakugou’s voice was so uncharacteristically weak and small.

“You didn’t know?? Did you never trust me, Katsuki? Was I just- such a horrible Alpha to you? Did you think I’d force you to an abortion? Was I not good enough to be a father?!”, you asked trying so hard not to scream, but all these pent up feelings, it all just gushed out without any sort of valve to stop yourself.

“That’s not it! I knew you wouldn’t do that, I just-“

“WHAT? Please tell me why! Why?! Why was I not worthy to be your mate? Why did you refuse to tell me and just leave?! Why did you choose raising OUR baby alone, I-“

“I DON’T KNOW, OKAY?! I don’t know! It was a fucking stupid decision out of nowhere!”, he finally screamed back, tears cascading down his face.

“Don’t you think I have regretted it? Do you think I LIKE being a single parent?! I know I fucked up. I know I threw it all away because I panicked, okay?! I just panicked and before I knew it I was on the train.”, Katsuki sobbed, desperately wiping away his tears.

“We were so fucking young! We had planned to marry, we were talking about saving up for the future to build a house, to have a family in like 10 years or more. But… But I just messed up! I forgot to take my medication before going into Heat, it was my fault I got pregnant- I… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. Throw everything we planned out the window because I was too fucking stupid to remember.”, his voice broke horribly, being squeaky from time to time as Bakugou’s guilt just overflowed.

The Omega was shaking and instinctively, you and your inner Alpha wanted to protect him. Hence why you wiped away your tears and took a deep breath to calm yourself.

“I know I messed up. Fuck.”, he cried and yet laughed at himself. Hands buried in his hair, Bakugou just wanted to cease to exist in that moment. He had done so many things wrong in his life. The only good thing that had ever happened was meeting you and falling in love with you and even that he destroyed.

He was gasping for air due to talking nonstop while gesturing with his hands wildly. And then, you just hugged him. Your Alpha scent surrounding him and soothing him. Your arms strong and warm, just perfect to melt into them and let everything loose. Oh, how he had missed that.

“I just… wish you had given me a choice. I wish you would have trusted me more. I would have done anything for you and our baby. It would have been hard, I know, but I am sure we would have been able to make it work.”, you quietly said while soothingly caressing his back and letting a quiet, calming purr erupt from your throat. A sign how close you truly were as you would never purr for anyone else than Bakugou.

“I’m sorry.”, Bakugou sobbed and clawed at your clothes, “I love you and I missed you and.. it was so hard alone, but I know I don’t have any fucking right to complain about it because it’s all my fault and I hurt you so much and-“

You hugged him a little tighter.

“I regret everything, I… I… can you forgive me? Can you give me a second chance? I know I don’t deserve it. I know…”

Had you ever seen him so weak before? No. And it truly tugged on your heart strings. There is nothing you wanted more. Get back together. Be happy again. But-

“Katsuki… have you ever thought of coming back to me? Like, if I had never shown up, if I had never found out… wouldn’t you keep on living without me just fine? Don’t you think this is your guilty conscious speaking? You don’t want me. You don’t need me.”

That was the last thing you said before you pulled back from him at last. Bakugou was quite speechless, just staring at you, red, swollen eyes and a tear-stained face made it hard to just go. But it was for the better. Even if he had regretted it, he was never pushed so far as to come back to you. Like that, maybe it was for the best.

Though before you could turn away, he grabbed your hand.

“Katsuki…”

“I wanted… during the pregnancy, after Hiroto was born and every time I saw you on TV, I was so close to leaving all of this. But at that point, I was too fucking scared. I had no right to go back… There are so many letters I’ve written and never sent. [Your.name], I… I literally have a suitcase ready to go. I’ve been waiting for some sort of sign or I don’t know and now? You’re here. Right here in front of me. I know it’s foolish and I’m stupid and have no fucking right to demand this from you, but please… Let me come back. Please forgive me. Please… be Hiroto’s father.”

He had never in his life begged. His superiority complex definitely wouldn’t allow for any of that, but right now was different. He realized the hurt he had caused. How wrong he was. Bakugou had regretted running away in the first week of living in Hokkaido. He always told himself it was “the right thing”. So maybe it was pathetic that he came crawling back, but if there was a slight chance you would take him back, he just had to take it.

You just sighed. Your heart was confused. While your heart screamed yes over and over again, your brain was telling you no. What if it was just a spur of the moment thing? What if he would leave you again when things would get tough? You still loved him. There was no doubt about it. But was that enough? Loving him hadn’t been enough to stop him from vanishing. It hadn’t stopped him from running away and not telling you about his pregnancy.

All you wanted to do was come back, forget everything and love him. The urge to throw yourself at him was almost unbearable, but…

“I’m sorry…”, you croaked when you gently pushed his hand away, “I can’t forgive you.”

It was for the better. Even if it hurt, even if all you had wanted to do was to get back together these past three years, now that you knew the reason? You simply couldn’t. It hurt too much. Knowing he had hidden your son from you all this time. If you had never accidentally met him, Katsuki would have never tried to find and tell you about your son. You would have never known Hiroto existed if it wasn’t for that accidental meeting.

You had so many unanswered questions and now that you had answers to them it was impossible to forget what had happened. He left you. He betrayed your trust. Even if he did have a suitcase ready to go, even if he did have letters that were never sent – what did it matter? The hard truth was, despite his suitcase and unsent letters, he was still in Hokkaido. He was still living alone with Hiroto and he was still managing just fine without you.

Bakugou broke down completely. He knew it. And he knew he deserved it, but hearing it out loud was too much.

“I will be... there for Hiroto and not leave him alone again.”, you took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down, though it didn’t really help.

“But I can’t be together with you again. You hurt me too much. I’ve struggled to find a reason to stand up in the morning for so long, wondering what I did wrong, what I have done that drove you away. Having to contact each and every one of our friends and my family to tell them we canceled the wedding because you left… was the most humiliating and painful thing I ever had to endure. And then to find out it’s because of… this… It’s too much Katsuki, I can’t do it. I wish you would have just been honest back then…”, you struggled to talk as you wiped away your tears.

Your inner Alpha was howling sorrowfully. Katsuki’s inner Omega was weeping bitterly.

But you both understood and so, when you turned to walk away, Bakugou stayed behind. There was no point in fighting anymore. As much as he was hurt, as much as he wanted to cling onto you and not let you go. He knew he deserved it. He did have everything back then. A loving family, an amazing mate, a successful, thriving career as a hero and then he threw it all away because he couldn’t be honest with the one he loved the most.

All those years he had still hoped that one day you would forgive him. Maybe one day, everything would be alright, but Katsuki was wrong. Nothing would be alright. Some broken things just couldn’t be fixed anymore no matter how hard someone tried to glue them back together. The relationship had shattered into million little pieces when he left that day three years ago.  

And now, he had to watch as you walked out of his apartment and didn’t turn back again.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

@salemwritesxx || do not repost, edit, modify or translate my works

⇻ salem.talks: I think someone’s cutting onions in here AGAIN. well, I thought before I post the second part to the happy ending, it’s a good decision to post the angst version first. hope everyone got a good cry out of it!

[brideofcthulhu10]

The Lost Boys Find Out Their Fem!S/O is Pregnant [3/4]

Guh, this one has taken the longest so far. Dwayne is such a strong silent type, and unfortunately got the least lines in the film so I had to really push myself to get into the right mindset. I think it came out fantastic, I hope you guys love it too. Now it's time for:

DWAYNE

Rays of light were beginning to crack through the little nooks of the ceiling, a slow sunrise ushering the vampiric quartet into the depths of the hotel ruins for a long anticipated rest after another wild night. The last to go was your night bird, Dwayne. Calloused hands dragged on your cheek, stealing away any kisses he could. You savored the smokey scent his hair carried and nearly giggled at how his stubble tickled your neck.

"Dwaaayne, I'll still be here tonight," you insisted, gently nudging him off. "Go inside before you burst into flames."

He chuckled with a wide grin, taking one last kiss. "Alright, I'll be back. 6 o'clock on the dot, as soon as the sun goes down."

"It's a date."

You watched him scurry into the cove, pushing past collapsed beams and cobwebs. How they could sleep in that you would never know. Still, that meant you had an entire day to kill before they would be up again. A long, boring day.

You had stopped verbally complaining long ago, every time you did David would insist if you just let Dwayne bite you, this wouldn't be a problem. But you just weren't ready. At least, not yet. The night was so alluring, and every day you felt yourself wanting to be beside them more. However, you still had some final days to cling to. Maybe it was just the fear of making such a massive change. Cowardice.

Just waiting around the cave quickly grew boring, laying atop the bed that once housed Star and Laddie now eerily vacant. You tried to pass the early morning hours by flipping through magazines, listening to your portable cassette player- yeah, you knew it was going out of fashion, but CDs were so expensive, and you were not about to let the boys steal a $200+ player just to listen to Mötley Crüe on a slightly different player. You'd brought your own entertainment after so many visits, but you soon groaned when you realized it was only 10 am. There were still 7 and a half hours of waiting to go, and you were nowhere near tired enough for a nap!

Maybe a quick walk would kill your boredom, a quick snack on the boardwalk, pick up the guys something to munch on before they go out hunting. Yeah, that should be good.

With a soft grunt you scooted off the bed, wedging your feet into your boots with your backpack slung over your shoulder. "I'll be back soon," you whisper out loud, looking over at the dusty hole they'd disappeared into. Dwayne definitely couldn't hear you, but it still felt nice to give a little goodbye every time you went out. This time you'd use the cave entrance that led up those old wooden stairs. The walkway was a gorgeous deck barely over the water. On high tide it could wash over and hit your feet. Part of you was amazed it was still standing after so many decades of wear and tear.

However, the moment you looked outside it made your eyes squint, weighing heavy on your brow. Was it always this bright during the day? 

It got significantly worse once you were fully outside shuffling around the debris littered across the rocks. It wasn't just your average tired eye sting. That was pretty common after spending all night out, and half the day in a dimly lit cave. But you'd never experienced it like this. It was a splitting, throbbing headache that almost made you lose your footing. You had to close your eyes just to feel any kind of relief. Noise was amplified- Oh god, those stupid seagulls made your ears ache! 

Walking just made it hurt more. It was taxing on your body, like wading in molasses in August. Now, you weren't a stranger to the heat. After all you grew up on California sunshine. Almost thrived in it. Now you barely made it up the stairs atop the cliffside, until you just had to sit down. Wedged tightly against the banister you reveled in the tiny slivers of shadow that cascaded from the wooden railing. When your jacket became to much you peeled it off to use for cover, and eventually you forced yourself to continue walking. What was happening?? Those few steps were enough to make your stomach wretch and twist with starvation. Truthfully you hadn't been eating well lately, everything just made you nauseous. Stomach flu, maybe. Why was the ground spinning..?

And that was it. The next time your eyes opened the last bits of sun were long gone. Something- no, someone, was shaking you, trying to snap you out of that fog. They yelled out, nearly swinging you around like a ragdoll in a panic. It was muffled, you could hear another voice, then another.

"Y/N! Y/N!"

"Dude, you keep shaking her like that, she's gonna break something."

"What is she doing out here in the first place anyway, man?" 

A huge breath of life reanimated your body, almost screaming as you sat up crashing into the chilled chest of Dwayne who still had you in his arms. "Hey, easy, easy. You're okay, it's just us."

Quickly your eyes darted around. Dwayne's arm was hooked under your back elevating you off the ground, Marko was knelt on your other side with Paul leaning on the smaller vampire's back. David was just behind Dwayne with arms crossed, looking down at you. 

"You know, Y/N, if your bed was uncomfortable we woulda gotten you another," Paul teased. 

"Dude," Marko questioned, lightly elbowing him in the ribs. 

"Ow. Aw, c'mon I'm just kiddin'."

Dwayne still wouldn't set you down, pushing sweaty locks of H/C from your face. "What happened," you managed to ask in a raspy voice, carefully shifting your weight onto your butt. 

"We found you out here, I was hoping you could tell us," David answered with a cigarette clenched between his teeth, a small flame roasting the end into ashy cinders. 

"I honestly couldn't tell you. I only wanted to head over to the boardwalk for an hour or two. I thought I could pick you guys something up on the way back but..," you held the side of your head, the remains of your headache still lingering from earlier. "My stomach hurt all over and.. I just fell."

Something just wasn't adding up, enough that David paused, looking at you. Your heart beat was calm but… every other beat an entirely new rhythm would chime in. Rapid, quiet, stirring. "You sure you hadn't been with anyone else, Y/N?"

"What," You questioned, immediately offended by the implications of that question. Unsurprisingly, Dwayne was equally outraged as he helped you onto your feet. 

"Y/N isn't like that, you know this David," he snapped. Dwayne always had that sulking gaze but it wasn't often he was legitimately upset. With his arms still around your waist you could feel his muscles tighten into cement. The atmosphere was so thick you could cuz it with a knife, and after a few minutes of intense glares… Dwayne's eyes widened. 

He heard it too. Faster than your own heart beat, buried deep below it was almost too soft to hear. A pulse submerged in water.

He had been so busy worrying about your fainting, he never realized why. It made sense the more he thought about it. Grabbing you, he spun you around to face him. He hadn't intended to be so rough that even Marko was telling him to ease up. "You swear.. you swear you haven't..." The suggestion was cruel. He didn't want to even say it out loud, and your face twisted into one of disgust, slapping his hands off your shoulders.

"Alright that's enough," you snapped, stepping away from all of them. "What is with all of you?! Is this just how you guys check up on people who faint, accuse them of adultery? What the fuck?!"

You could feel tears forming in your eyes and you immediately had to look away. You were not about to show weakness while angry. Dwayne gently took your wrist before you could storm off, looking deep into your eyes. Why did he look so afraid, even in the inky night you could see something haunted those chocolate orbs. "Dwayne...What's going on…," you asked again, this time softening your tone. David, easily sensing the building tension, cleared his throat. 

"Marko, Paul, let's wait inside."

"Aw what," Paul chimed in, arms up in the air. "No way man, I wanna know what's going on! What's with all the crazy??"

Marko looked at David, then back and for between you and Dwayne. Oh. He got it. While Paul still protested, Marko slung his arm over his shoulder and yanked him down to whisper in his ear. At first he looked utterly confused, but then his face went wide. The realization of the century. "Ohhhhhhh," he finally said, looking over at you. "Gotcha. Good luck babes, we'll give you guys a little alone time." Both blondes had these odd smirks on their face, no doubt clued in on the inside joke you were definitely a part of yet left completely clueless. David followed them down the steps with a smug grin, giving a small wave. 

Alright, now you were confused. Dwayne didn't speak though. He just clasped your hand tightly in his. All he said was "c'mon" while lightly pulling you along. The moon was so huge tonight in lit up the ocean, a sea of stars dipped in black. There you both sat, legs just barely hanging off the edge in utter silence. Whatever it was must have been weighing heavy on his mind because he never turned to look at you. Instead he kept your hand firmly clutched in his own, staring straight off into the unknown. His sigh broke the silence, fingers tightening around your hand again. "There's more than one heart beat… coming from inside you."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in. Another..? What did that-...

Oh. That's why they were being so weird. It was hard to breath, like someone was sitting on top of your chest. And now what haunted Dwayne's thoughts now crept into your own. Their suspicions were reasonable. No one figured that.. well considering the boys were undead it wasn't exactly expected for you to..

"Dwayne I…," you started, looking at him. "I've never been with anyone else. You know that, right?"

This time he couldn't speak, just nod in agreement. Of course he knew you were loyal. Honestly he never doubted it, but the shock of what that meant was a bit much for him to handle. He'd taken care of Laddie alongside Star for years, even before he turned, he was great with kids. But the thought of fatherhood never really crossed his mind. Were he human it'd be common sense, he'd be at the proper age. Maybe even already have a family.

But he was 19. He just… happened to be 19 for a very long time. Quietly he pulled you by your waist so you were beside him, then nudged your head onto his shoulder. You weren't scared, just in awe. For a moment you brushed your hand over your abdomen. It was warm, already firm to the touch. In the months to come you knew it would grow, your baby would grow. But in that moment, as Dwayne's calloused hand placed over yours feeling that little life stir inside you, you felt at peace. That was that. You two sat there for what felt like hours, watching the waves, watching the moon rise high above. It really was a beautiful night. A perfect night. The first night of many more to come.

[yuulina-vre]

Gifting you a new life

First Meeting

Pairing: Steve x Bucky, Reader insert

Warnings: None here :D just mentions of Migraines 

Word count: 3197 words

Part: One

Summary: Y/N lifes with her best friend Steve in a house she inherted from he grrandmother. Starting the day is different this morning.

Masterlist

* * *

Waking up is almost always a struggle. Not only because sleeping is just the best thing in the world but because you have to face the real world, the real problems. You have duties and responsibilities. You have to get up and to work, hence all the early mornings and nights with too few sleep. The worst of waking up, though, are the people that are chipper in the morning and start chatting before the first three cups of coffee. Bombarding you with questions, tasks, chatting idly about the happenings of the last few days, that you mostly have witnessed by the way, and still sound happy. Y/N hates people that are like that. They don’t have to come close to her before it’s 10 am and even then, she’s still grumpy and sleepy, answering only with grunts and looks.

She clearly isn’t a morning person, and she doesn’t intend on getting be one. She loves sleeping as long as she can, never wakes before her last and loudest alarm and even then, it’s a fight to not turn around a last time for some shut eye. It’s a miracle if she gets up before it or stands up right away. She’ running late more often than she’s actually on time. Steve knows that very well, having witnessed enough panicking mornings with rushing, grumbling and hectic. Occasionally he got punched for scolding her, which resulted in him not saying anything anymore, instead just watching while calmly sipping his cup of coffee and eating Y/N breakfast, which he knows she won’t have time to eat. Some mornings he’s up to the challenge and cautiously wakes her up, dodging half attempted, sleepy punches and laughing at muffled insults. Though, he always greets her with a cup of coffee in the kitchen, on rare times even at her bed.

Today, though, Y/N wakes before her last alarm and she feels good, great even. She’s fully rested, having fallen asleep earlier than usual and slept like a baby with a proper amount of eight hours of sleep, that her body seems to need and rarely gets. Turning her alarm off, she wonders mildly why Steve wasn’t here to wake her for the fifth time like the rest of the week. He had made it his goal to get her up early and annoy her to ends. Sadly, her roommate is a morning person and succeeds in annoying her. Usually, he’s wide awake before her first alarm blares through her room. By the time she walks down, he was on his run, has showered, was eating his breakfast, and reading the latest paper, always greeting her with a soft smile. She hates it. Y/N stretches the arms over her head, pressing her hands against the wall and stretches her whole body as long as she can, toes almost reaching the edge of the mattress. A high-pitched sigh escapes her, back popping once, just then does she stop, sits up and swings her legs out of her bed. She wonders briefly if she’s feeling what Steve feels every morning. It doesn’t feel as bad as she thinks.

The floor feels cold to her bed-warmed feet. She doesn’t like cold feet. It’s a chilling feeling and Y/N always feels like it takes half of the day to get warm again, at least when she’s not putting on socks soon. Looking around her room she tries to find her fluffy socks that she knows she had put out yesterday, but in the depth of her room that’s filled with dirty laundry, school stuff, pencils, canvases, and some books, it’s difficult to spot the socks. Steve had gifted them to her after they moved in together. He always complained when she had shoved her ice feet under his thighs on the couch to warm them up. She looks around but doesn’t spot them. She sighs deeply and wanders into her attached bathroom to grab a quick shower. Since she’s up early she has the time for a pleasure like that. Most of the time she’s so late that she reduces her showers to be at night before she goes to bed.

The warm spray of water feels incredibly on her limbs, she feels wide awake. It’s a secret, that she can understand morning people right now, but no one ever will hear her say it out loud. She shuts the water off again, without really washing herself. She did that the night before and wasn’t sweating at all the whole night, so it’s okay for her. Stepping out of the shower cabin she’s freezing. The air in the room is chilly on her wet skin, not having the time to heat up. Not even the mirror is fogged over. Wrapping herself in a big blue towel, hair secured in a smaller one, so it won’t make her screech when the cold, wet meet’s her skin on moment she hasn’t counted it on happening, she walks back out.

She glances at her door to the hallway and debates if she should look for Steve or not. He’s a grown up after all and maybe he just wasn’t feeling like waking her up this morning. She looks to her clock on the nightstand. She still has about forty-five minutes until she needs to head out, so she leaves her room only to stop at Steve’s closed, a clear sign, that he’s still inside and not on his run or something. “Steve are you up?” She listens for an answer an any other sound but hears nothing. “Maybe he went for a run after all.” She thinks before she continues her way down into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water to take up to her room. It’s not unusual for Steve to go on an early morning run and stretch it a bit longer. He did that a lot when they were still in the university, less since they work, though.

Back in her own room, she takes a big gulp of water before she dries her hair as best as she can and then takes her hair dryer to get it actually dry. She quickly slips into her bra and a panty, dark blue jeans and a white blouse, studying herself in the mirror. One look to her nightstand shows her, that it’s quarter past seven and Y/N frowns a little. If Steve is actually on a run then he would already be back by now, making breakfast and complaining about her needing so long. Which she can’t understand, since she’s not doing any make up for work, she’s actually pretty quick in getting ready, at least when she’s already up. She needs longer to get out of bed than to actually get dressed. She walks back into the hall for the second time after putting the towels back into the bathroom for drying. “Steve! Get up or you’ll be late! It’s the second time that I knock now.” Y/N knocks on his door but there are still no sounds from inside. She shakes her head, goes back to her bathroom, and quickly brushes her teeth and her hair, pulls it up into a ponytail and looks herself over for a last time. In her bedroom she packs her bag for work and goes out into the hall for the last time, stopping at Steve’s room again and frowns a little.

She’s the one who loves to sleep in and sometimes Steve has his dear struggles to get her awake and presentable in time. When he’s not waking her then he’s either on his run or she’s the one to wake him but that is pretty rare. Sometimes Steve grades his essays until deep into the night or he does some art of his own. That always causes him to sleep in a little. He usually gets up by the second knock though and Y/N knows that he did neither of the things last night.

She knocks again. “Steve? You’re up?” She waits but receives no answer, just like before. “I’m coming in, yeah?” She waits for him to respond again but as the silence stretches, she lets her bag fall to the floor and opens the door carefully. The room is pitch black. No sound comes from it and Y/N is a little confused. Steve rarely draws his blinds closed. He loves to gaze at the stars and search for constellations when he can’t fall asleep. She steps in slowly and looks around until she spots Steve’s figure on his bed. “Steve?” The man does not react to her call aside from a little twitch. She sighs a little frustrated and turns to the light switch to turn the light on as she hears his, surprisingly silent and tired sounding voice. “Please don’t. No light.” Y/N raises her eyebrows in surprise before she frowns at him again and she walks over to Steve’s bed, crouching down beside him. She sees his features. He really looks tired. And pale, even in the nonexciting light. She raises her hand and places it on his forehead. “Are you sick?”

“Nah.” He answers with a rough voice and then groans. “Migraine.” Y/N winces in sympathy. She knows Steve’s migraines are getting pretty bad sometimes. Normally it’s just a mean headache that sits behind his eyes, letting him think they pop right out. He still powers through teaching then and collapses on the couch when he’s home to sleep it off. Y/N usually strokes through his hair then and sometimes reads from her recent book to him until he falls asleep. If the migraine is worse, than he can’t get up from bed. Light feels like it’s making him blind, and he constantly feels sick but never vomits, which makes him mentally exhausted and a little antsy sometimes. He’s always waiting to vomit, hoping he would feel better afterwards. His limbs would hurt pretty much, and he rather stays in bed then move an inch. Y7n levels her voice to a silent, soft tone. “How long has it been now?”

“Started around three.” He groans again and hides a little further into the pillows. Y/N runs her hand lightly through his hair, scratching her nails a little at his neck and massaging it. Steve let’s out a small sigh. “You should have woken me, Stevie. I could have done something.”

“Nah. Didn’t want to wake you up. Can’t do anything ‘bout it that helps anyway.” Y/N sighs and shakes her head, watching the blonde hide in his pillow. She runs her hand through his hair carefully and sighs. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Her voice is low and soft but a little annoyed, showing him that she’s not pleased that he didn’t say anything but still worries and cares about his wellbeing. She stands up silently, leaving the room. There’s not that much time left she needs to leave for work, but she takes what little time she has to make sure Steve has everything he needs. God forbid she leaves him hanging in his misery. Y/N practically runs down the stairs to the kitchen to gather three water bottles from the fridge, some light food, and another pack of pain meds out of the first aid box under the sink. As fast as she can she runs the stairs back up and to Steve’s room, trying to make as few sounds as possible. The door is pushed open with her hip and she tiptoes back over to Steve and places her gatherings on the nightstand, arranging it after his possible needs, before lightly touching his back, where his shirt had ridden up. She scratches his skin a little making him groan. She doesn’t really know if it’s in comfort or not, but he’s not struggling away, so she takes it as a win. “Stevie. Take some painkillers. No, don’t give me this look. Come on.” Y/N helps him to sit up, holding his shoulders while he blinks for a few moments. He probably git dizzy, no matter how slow he sat up. She has to admit that he actually looks a little green around his nose, too. “need to puke?”

“No…” Steve shakes his head lightly, groaning instantly afterwards. “Feels like my eye pop out.”

“Hopefully not. Would be a shitty kind of work to get them back in.” She jokes and is pleased to see the littlest smirk on his face. She manages to coax some water in his hands and a few painkillers in his mouth. Steve gets them down in record time, taking some cautious sips of his water and passing it back to her. The moment the water is out of his hands he collapses back down with a groan. “It’s a really bad one, huh? You’re several shades greener than before.”

“Hm.” Steve hums and drapes his arm over his eyes. “Shit.” Y/N curses and rubs his arm. She feels conflicted. She really needs to leave to get to school on time, but she doesn’t want to leave Steve alone if he feels this bad. She knows he can cope with his migraine and that she actually can’t really do anything to help him if he stays but her mind would be at ease. Who knows, he could fall over while attempting to go to the bathroom or something. If she stays home, she will know he’s alright and not dying in some dark corner. Pepper and Tony wouldn’t be happy about her calling them both in sick, though. And Steve wouldn’t either. “I can stay, you know.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.” She frowns a little, placing her head on the mattress next to Steve, hugging him a little with her arm over his chest. She stays for a few seconds like that, only listening to his breathing and the faint ticktacks of a clock somewhere. “Alright, okay. I need to leave.” She sighs again and sits up, rubbing her hand over his chest. He hums at that but doesn’t move more. “Did you call or text Pepper? Called in sick?” Steve grunts a no. “That’s okay. I’ll do it on my way to school. You just stay here, okay? Rest, don’t move. Maybe try to sleep a little.” She leans in and presses a soft kiss to the space on his forehead that she can reach before she stands back up. “Call me if you need something. Anything.” She waits a second until he nods before she gently squeezes his ankle in and silently slips out of his room. She quickly grabs her bag and a toast from the kitchen to eat while driving. She grabs her keys and leaves the house, almost running because she’s actually running late now and sprints the way to her car. She fumbles with her phone while opening the car door, slips in, starts the engine and drives while dialing Pepper‘s office number, toast in her mouth. She barely managed to grab it. “Stark’s school for gifted children, Pepper Potts, hello?”

“Hi, Pepper. It’s Y/N.” Y/N quickly chews the last bite and swallows it down, suppressing the need to cough because she didn’t chew it properly and it almost got stuck. “Hello Y/N. Good morning. What can I do for you?” Pepper’s chipper voice sounds through the speaker making Y/N aware of her hate for morning people. But she likes Pepper. Not only is Pepper the school’s secretary, she’s also Tony’s wife and deputy headmistress. And almost always in a good mood, except if Tony did any dumb stuff again or someone even dares to look at the school, kids or the teachers in the wrong way. “I want to call in sick for Steve. He’s sick and won’t make it to work today. And maybe tomorrow from the looks of it.” Y/N is glad that it’s actually Thursday already, so the students won’t miss anything important now. Summer break is in two weeks and the most stuff they have to teach is over. Now the children only have to study on their own most of the time to get ready for the last big exam before they go on their much-needed break. She hears Pepper sigh, if it’s in sympathy or something else she can’t tell but she knows Pepper never means to hurt someone, so she hopes its sympathy. At least her voice sounds like it. “Oh no, okay. I type him in. Is it that serious? His asthma?”

“I hope not, and his asthma is fine, still as few attacks as usual. He says it’s a migraine. But a bad one as it seems. He was pretty pale and couldn’t even sit up in bed for long.”

“Oh man. That’s the second one this month. Will he be alright? You did order him to sleep it off, right?”

“Who do you think I am? Of course, I made him sleep. He’s not supposed to move an inch.” Y/N smiles while she stops at a red light. She really likes that Pepper worries about her and Steve so much. They actually got pretty close in the last year. They consider each other as friends already. it wasn’t so easy with Tony, at least for Steve. Tony almost instantly liked Y/N after they started teaching five years ago. Steve, though, was a whole other story. Somehow, the two men almost constantly were on each other’s throats. Last year Y/N and Pepper had enough. They had sat them down in a room, gave them a lecture and locked them in it with the promise to let them out when they got things sorted. It actually took an hour for both of them to get along. Y/N remembers lots of shouting, but it worked out fine. Since then, they are pretty good friends. Still fighting now and then but always making up after a week or so.

“That’s good. I can see here that he has three art classes today.”

“I can take them. One is in my free hour and one after I’m usually finished. The other one can be put together with my art class for the new kids. I can make them work together. They can learn a thing or two. His history classes should have enough work to do with studying for the exam he set up for Monday. He has just two of the starter classes today if I’m right.”

“Yeah, I see it. His plan tomorrow is with only one art class and four history classes. You need to call in tomorrow morning to tell me if he’s coming.”

“No problem.” Y/N only needs five more minutes until she’s driving on the parking lot of the school, so she drives a little slower, not speeding so much. “Okay. But he’s supposed to have a meeting with Tony around two, today. I need to talk to Tony about it.”

“If it’s about the art classes than I can take the meeting over, otherwise I’m afraid you need to reschedule.”

“I’ll talk to Tony. You better come in when you arrive.”

“Sure.” She tells Pepper she’s there in two minutes and comes straight to her. Then she hangs up and sighs.

Next Part

[smutnug]

The Ruins

Returning late and weary from the Bannorn, it was morning before Alistair discovered the note. A worn scrap of parchment tucked in the frame of Briony's dresser, it was a fiddly thing to unravel. 

The ruins.

"How long has this been here?" he asked Winston. The dog thumped his tail softly. "We've been gone a week and it's midwinter. Couldn't she hide somewhere warmer?" 

He fumbled about for clothing: all his travel garb had been whisked away for cleaning last night. "Serviceable?" 

Winston looked away. 

"Yes, the jerkin's a bit flowery. But it's warm."

The mabari huffed through his nose. 

"It's not you I need to impress, you know." Alistair's fingers found the hidden catch. "This tunnel's going to be all cobwebby again, isn't it? Ugh." He fastened a heavy cloak around his shoulders. "You'd better stay here, old man. It's a long way down."

Winston grumphed. Please, his look seemed to say. I am a Mabari. 

"Well yes, you traipsed halfway around Ferelden. But that was a long time ago." The dog looked him up and down and raised a grizzled eyebrow. "Now that is just rude," Alistair admonished. "Fine, you can come. I won't carry you back, though."

The way was darker than he remembered, and more uneven. Lonelier, too: even the Mabari couldn't replace Briony's comforting presence. But, Maker willing, he'd see her soon… 

"If she hasn't frozen to death," he grumbled. The descent was icy; more than once his boots skidded and he found himself sliding several bumpy yards on his bottom. "Don't even say it," he warned Winston. 

The darkness stretched on, time and distance only measured by the growing cold and the complaint of his knees. He rested - for Winston's sake, you understand - and drew the cloak around him. 

"Is she home for good this time, boy?" 

The dog squeezed alongside him in the narrow passage and laid his big head on Alistair's knee. 

"No, I suppose you're right. Why sneak around if she plans to stay?" With a final scratch behind Winston's velvety ears he stood up, ignoring his protesting joints. "We'd best not waste any time then, had we?" 

An age passed. A freezing, stumbling, sliding age and then the breath in front of Alistair's face grew ever more visible. More light seeped in and the tunnel widened; at the final bend the glare was enough to make his eyes water.

"Bri?" he called uncertainly. There was no answer, but Winston bounded ahead with a speed that belied his age. 

Outside, the old arches and columns were festooned with icicles. A thin fog lay all about; Winston's paws sank in the snow as he snuffled around. He froze with a low growl. 

"What?" Alistair followed his line of sight to a half-collapsed building, little more than a round wall and part of a curving roof. Dead foliage surrounding the entrance had been recently hacked away, and as he looked a thin plume of smoke drifted out. 

"Bri?" 

"Here." The familiar voice was cracked with disuse. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm here, Alistair."

"Oh, thank the Maker," he muttered, lumbering through the snow. Heedless of stray branches that snagged on his hair and clothing, he blundered into the makeshift shelter. 

"Briony." She gave a muffled squeak as he fell and embraced her. 

"You took your time."

"I've been away. Stupid Bannorn business." Her shoulders felt frail as a bird's beneath the oiled cloak she wore. "I'm sorry," he murmured in her ear. "If I'd known -" 

"I'm joking, Alistair." She wriggled free. "Let me look at you."

"Me? Not much to see, I'm afraid." Her grey eyes flickered over his face. "You, though…you look…" 

"Tired, I know." She rubbed at a dark smudge beneath her eye. 

"I was going to say radiant." Both were true. 

Briony gave a rueful laugh. "In your wholly impartial opinion."

"I'm your husband," he said, tracing her cheekbone with a careful thumb. "I'm supposed to be partial."

Her lips were dry but warm when they met his, and parted. "Too long," he mumbled when he had a chance at breath. 

"I know." She peppered his lips with kisses, holding tightly to the front of his cloak. "Seven months?" 

"Twenty-eight weeks," he said. "Five days. But who's counting?" 

"Alistair." Their foreheads rested together, cold noses just touching. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long. It's been -" 

A low growl interrupted her. Winston stood at a distance, his brindled fur on end, fairly vibrating with intensity. 

"Winston!" said Alistair. "What's gotten into you?" 

"It's fine," Briony said wearily. She patted her leg, and the dog reluctantly crept forward to sniff her, ears pressed back against his head. "Settle, Winny." He whined, but slowly dropped to his belly. 

"What was all that about?"

Briony sighed and rubbed her eyes. It occurred to Alistair that she wasn't merely tired, but bone-weary; it seemed an effort for her merely to sit upright. 

"I should tell you where I've been."

"Come back to the palace first. We don't have to tell anyone. You can stay in Maric's rooms if you really want to remain hidden, at least you'll be warm." He squeezed her fingers. "It can wait, Bri."

"Not really." With an effort, she rose. "First I have to show you something."

Her pack and a neat pile of cookware lay nearby. Next to them, a burlap sack tied around with ropes. When she prodded it with her foot it sprang to life, wriggling and snarling. 

"Briony…" Alistair wrinkled his nose against the smell. "Is that a darkspawn? Why do you have a darkspawn in a sack?" 

She smiled ruefully. "It's just a genlock. I picked it up a few leagues away."

He stared at the squirming bundle in disgusted fascination. "Before you ask we are absolutely not keeping it."

Briony produced a knife from within her cloak. She hunched forward and carefully opened a slit in the burlap, and immediately a foul head poked through. It gnashed and floundered, spewing guttural noises up at its captors. 

"Winston knew," Alistair said slowly. 

"Yes." Briony's face was carefully blank. "He smelled it."

"But I didn't… I mean, I should have …" He sat down heavily. "I should have sensed it."

"Yes." With one swift thrust of her knife, Briony dispatched the creature. Again, standing seemed to cost her an enormous effort. "When was the last time you sensed darkspawn, Alistair?" 

"It's hard to say. I haven't spent much time around them since I left the Wardens." He scratched his beard. "You know, I really couldn't say."

She nodded. "For me, perhaps two years? I didn't notice at first. I took cues from the Wardens around me, I suppose. Then when I was out on my own…" 

"You too? So the darkspawn…have changed, somehow?" 

"No." Briony's mouth pursed. "You didn't hear the false calling, did you?" 

"No, but -" 

"Nor did I."

"Perhaps we weren't close enough."

"That's not it." She stared out into the snowy forest. "I've been in Orlais. I followed a lead from the White Spire -" 

"The Circle?" 

"Yes. To Skyhold."

"The Inquisition? They were looking for you. So you met with them?" 

"Not exactly. I didn't announce myself. I was there to speak to the former Grand Enchanter." Her eyes softened as she watched for his reaction. 

"Fiona." Small, dark and elven, with sad brown eyes. 

"You had your suspicions, I know."

"And…?" 

Her face told him all he needed to know. 

"Does she know something that will help with the Calling?" 

"In a manner of speaking." Briony clutched his shoulder, unconsciously smoothing his hair with the other hand. "Do you know she was a Grey Warden?" 

"So I've heard." He had made his enquiries, as discreetly as he could manage. "Was she, though? Could the Joining ritual have been done wrongly somehow?" It was the only explanation he could understand. 

"She was, Alistair. And then she wasn't." Briony tilted his chin, solemn grey eyes meeting his. "Thirty two years ago."

"I don't understand."

Her face etched in pain, Briony guided him to his feet. 

"I went in search of a cure, Alistair. And what I found wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it does offer hope." A tear escaped, trickling down the side of her nose. 

"Bri…"

"I don't know how to help the other Wardens, Alistair. My men and women, who fought beside me -" Her voice shook. "I wanted to save them. To keep them from death and madness. And I still don't know how."

"What did you find, Briony?" His own voice was dangerously unsteady. "What is it?" 

She stood before him, draped in a cloak of Warden blue. Exhausted, sorrowful and yet somehow luminous, as beautiful as he'd ever seen her. 

"There's a cure, Alistair. It's not what I wanted, but it's enough. Enough for us."

"Tell me," he whispered. 

She took his hand in both of hers, seeming to marvel at its mere existence as she traced the lines of his palm. "Alistair." She looked up at him from beneath tear-damp lashes, and brought his hand inside her cloak to rest on the round swell of her belly. 

"It's you, Alistair."

[flowerfan2]

Pineapple Dreams

McDanno, 3k, A03

Summary:  Instead of being away with Catherine, Steve is right here beside him.  This may be the best dream Danny has ever had. 

Danny comes to slowly, immediately aware that something is wrong.  He wishes it didn’t feel so familiar.  At some point, he’s really got to stop getting bashed around like this.  He’s not getting any younger.

He tries to take a deep breath, but everything feels heavy, and any attempt to move his head results in shooting pain.  There are voices nearby but he can’t tell what anyone is saying and each sound lands like a tire iron to his head.  Although he tries, he can’t make himself open his eyes.  Resigned that he’s going to have to wait, and not having any other options, Danny slips back into unconsciousness.

When he wakes again, the pain has faded to a manageable ache.  He holds still, not wanting to make anything worse, and tries to take stock.  He can tell he’s in the hospital, but he doesn’t seem to be hooked up to much, and he’s obviously breathing on his own.  He gingerly shifts his toes and fingers, and, deciding that nothing too awful seems to have taken place, opens his eyes.

“Danny,” a relieved voice breaths out, and then Steve is leaning forward, his face coming into focus in front of his own.  He needs a shave.  “You with me, pal?”

Danny can’t manage a response, but any words are tossed right out of him anyway when Steve leans even closer and brushes a kiss across his lips.

 “Glad you’re back, Danno,” Steve says softly, holding his gaze.  “I missed you.”  Then Steve sits up, straightening his shoulders as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened, and turns to respond to the doctor who has come into the room.

 What the hell is going on?  Danny quickly closes his eyes again and tries to think.  He really doesn’t feel injured and all his limbs are still attached.  Maybe there’s a life threatening bullet hole somewhere he can’t figure out?  Maybe he’s been diagnosed with a fatal disease, or the building’s about to collapse? Terrorists, perhaps?  

 It’s got to be something dire, because Steve does not <i>kiss</i> him.  Sure, he throws an arm over Danny’s shoulder, gives him a socially acceptable bro hug, flashes him those shining smiles, but there has never been any <i>kissing</i> involved. They may be friends, even best friends, but it has never gone further than that, no matter how chummy they are on movie night, not even when there was only one bed in that damn D.C. hotel. Steve’s not interested in him, not that way.  If nothing else, Steve leaving the island to find himself right after Danny got shot had made that abundantly clear.  

 Danny resolves to just play dead (not actually dead, just sleeping, it’s a saying) until he figures this out. He’s a detective, after all, there must be some clues to consider if he can concentrate hard enough.  With this decided, Danny forces himself to relax, and hopes Steve buys it.

 “Hey, buddy, good idea,” Steve says, apparently in reaction to his feigning sleep.  “I’d want to tune out, too, if I had a day like you did.  Today sucked, but you’re okay now.  You’re on the mend.  I’ve got you.  Sleep for a while, you’ll feel better.”  Danny feels Steve’s hand land gently on his shoulder, and it’s all he can do not to shrug it off.  It isn’t like Steve to tease him, not when it matters.

 Danny tries to listen when the next doctor comes in to poke at him, but his brain is still foggy and he can’t focus. He thinks he dozes for a while, safe in the darkness.  It’s much less confusing there.  When he surfaces once more, Steve is still right there next to him.

 This is definitely not normal Steve behavior.  Sure, in the past when Danny has gotten injured Steve will sit at his bedside until he wakes up, but then Steve’s off and running, tracking down the suspect, saving the island from the scumbag of the week.  But Danny’s already woken up once, and doesn’t seem to be at death’s door, yet Steve is still here.  It doesn’t make any sense.

 It must be a dream, Danny decides. He got knocked out, his brain got scrambled, and now he is caught in a dream, a dream where his painstakingly secret crush has turned out to be not so unrequited as he thought.  A dream where his feelings for Steve are returned.

 Danny is considering whether he can convince his addled brain to stay in this dream for a while, to bask in the fantasy sunshine of Steve’s love, and maybe get another one or two of those kisses, when his musings are interrupted by a well loved voice.

 “Uncle Steve, hi, I came as fast as I could, how is he?”  

 What is Grace doing here?  She’s in college, on the mainland.

 “Gracie.  He’s fine.  Don’t worry.”

 Steve’s hand leaves Danny’s shoulder (his hand was still on his shoulder?) and Danny can tell he’s getting up and hugging Grace.

 “Is my dad going to be okay?”

 “Absolutely.”

 “But you said he was drugged.”

 “It only lasts a little while, and he’s already waking up.  Come on, sit with him a minute.  Take my chair.  I’ll go grab a coffee.”  

 Danny is distracted by Grace leaning over him and giving him a gentle hug, and then he realizes he’s alone with her. He shouldn’t feel so hurt by Steve’s departure, Steve was never really here anyway.  

 “Danno, stop faking.  Why won’t you open your eyes?”

 Danny can’t help a small laugh. His daughter is too smart for her own good.  He looks up at her, drinking in the sight.  He may not have Steve, but Grace is as wonderful as ever, although she is looking far too grown up for his tastes.  He supposes dreams are weird that way.

 “When am I gonna wake up?” he asks, realizing as he does that dream Gracie isn’t likely to know the answer any more accurately than Danny himself does.

 Grace smiles and shakes her head. “You’re wide awake now, Danno.”

 “Nah, I’m not,” Danny says indulgently. He doesn’t want to argue with dream Grace, but she’s wrong.  

 “Steve says the drugs will wear off soon.  You’re going to be fine.”

 Danny closes his eyes again.  He loves his monkey like crazy, but he does wish Steve would come back too.  They could all be here together in the dream.  A dream family.  That would be awesome.

 “Danno… open your eyes.  Talk to me.”  Grace can still whine with the best of them, even in his dream.  Too bad.  “I’ve got to go soon, I can only stay until Steve comes back.”

 Danny squints one eye open. “He’s coming back?”

 Grace grins at him.  “Of course he’s coming back, silly.  Where else would he go?”

 Okay, that’s not a helpful question. Steve has plenty of other places to go, all of them away from Oahu.  Away from Five-0, and his ohana.  Away from Danny.

 Danny presses his cheek into his pillow and pulls an arm up over his face.  He doesn’t like feeling so confused.  Grace is keeping something from him, and so is Steve.  There has to be a reason for the way everyone is behaving. He just wishes dream Steve would return and keep him company until Danny’s brain clears up and he can return to reality, whatever it might be.  He’d be fine with being best friends again, especially if Steve would keep kissing him every so often.  It could be their thing, their special best friends/partners/housemates thing.

 Danny drifts off, and then Steve is back, bringing the welcome smell of coffee into the room.  Grace whispers something about being late for an appointment, and Steve tells her they’ll talk later.

 Steve sits down next to Danny, and Danny risks a quick glimpse.  Steve is gazing right back at him, a terribly fond look on his face.  Danny quickly closes his eyes again.  He’s got no fucking clue what’s going on, and it’s making him nervous.

 “It’s all right,” Steve says, his coffee breath in Danny’s face.  “Take all the time you need.  I’ll be right here.”  Then there’s an unmistakable brush across Danny’s cheek.

 Again, a <i>kiss.</i> A <i>kiss.</i>  It doesn’t make any sense, but Danny likes it anyway.  Loves it. Is already addicted to it.  He can’t help tilting his head towards Steve, and he’s rewarded with a quiet chuckle and <i>another kiss,</i> this time on the lips.  He wonders if he can dream this dream forever, because it’s pretty damn good.

 “You really should wake up soon,” Steve says, pushing Danny’s hair away from his forehead.  “There’s still lots to do.  Grace is handling some of the last minute stuff, but she keeps asking me questions, and I know you’ve got opinions, even though you’d think everything would be decided by now.  Who knew weddings were so much work?”

 Danny sucks in a breath, stricken. If Steve notices he doesn’t say anything, just moves his hand to hold Danny’s as a nurse engages him in small talk about his favorite surf spots.

 That’s why Steve is here.  Grace is getting married.  Danny knows he should be happy for her, but at the same time, this information sends his dream crashing down around him.  Steve isn’t here for Danny, he’s here for Grace. That’s why he came back from wherever he danced off with Catherine, trekking the Himalayas or saving endangered pandas.  He’s just here for Grace’s wedding, and then he’ll leave again, and Danny will be on his own, pining for what might have been.

 But if Grace is getting married, why can’t Danny picture her spouse-to-be?  And he’s sure that the last time he talked to Grace, she was single, and confidently declared that she wanted to remain unattached, at least until she decided where to go to grad school.  Although, if she’s already thinking about grad school, what’s happened in the meantime?  Isn’t Grace just a sophomore?  

 It occurs to Danny, like a beam through the fog of his mind, that whatever he got drugged with must have affected his memory, because he’s got no idea what led up to his little girl getting married.

 Danny’s confusion must show on his face, because Steve has noticed this time (he can be very observant, it’s annoying how easily he can read Danny), and is now clearly worried about him.  Danny can’t stand this, can’t stand being so disoriented.  Nothing makes sense, and it’s scaring him.

 “Danny?  You okay?”

 Danny squeezes his eyes shut, and a tear slides down his cheek.  Well done, he thinks to himself.  Now he’ll definitely believe you’re asleep.

 “Hey, it’s okay.”  Steve wipes the tear away with a fingertip, and Danny squirms.  “Really, you’re gonna be okay.  Trust me.”

 Now there’s a loaded comment. Trust him. Danny does, though, despite Steve leaving after he was shot, despite the fact that Catherine went with him, despite everything.  Danny doesn’t remember what day of the week it is, or whether Grace is marrying a boy or a girl, but he knows he trusts Steve.  He just wishes someone would tell him why he feels so lost, and why he can’t ever catch a break.  He’d almost rather not have had this stupid dream, not when Steve is just going to leave again.

 “The drugs will wear off soon, Danny. You got a low dose, just hang in there, it’ll get better.  Noelani went over the results from the last victims, and she’s sure of it.”

 Danny’s not sure what Noelani has to do with any of this.  She can’t keep Steve from leaving.

 “Come on, relax.  Take some deep breaths for me.”  Steve is running his hand over Danny’s hair again, and Danny wants to scream.  Deep breaths aren’t going to help this situation.

 “Tell me what’s wrong, Danno. Just tell me, let me help.”

 Steve’s affectionate tone breaks him, and Danny can no longer control himself.  “How soon are you leaving after Grace’s wedding, huh?” he spits out. “Might as well go now.  Save me the goodbyes.”  He knows he probably isn’t making any sense, but he doesn’t care. He just can’t go through it again, losing Steve.  Waiting for his texts as they get more and more infrequent, wondering if things will ever go back to normal.

 Steve takes Danny’s face in his hands, and speaks firmly to him.  “Danny, open your eyes.”

 Danny shakes his head.

 “You are a stubborn bastard, aren’t you,” Steve says, and leans down and kisses Danny, right on the lips. It’s a more assertive kiss this time, and Danny feels himself respond, a strangely familiar feeling coursing through him.

 Danny can’t help looking at him when Steve pulls back, even as he pants to catch his breath.  “Why do you keep kissing me?”

 Steve smirks.  “Preparation for the wedding.”

 “What does that even mean?”

 “We’re gonna kiss in front of everyone, and you’re acting like you’re out of practice.  So, I’m fixing it.”

 “Steve…”  Danny looks around the room, hopelessly out of his depth, but no one is there to give him a clue.  “I don’t understand.”

 Steve’s grinning his just-for-Danny smile, and Danny recognizes it, despite his confusion.  “There <i>is</i> going to be a wedding, you were right about that.  But Grace isn’t getting married.”  Steve shifts and pulls a box out of his pocket and places it in Danny’s hand. “We are.”

 Danny stares as Steve opens the box for him, revealing two simple gold rings nestled in the black velvet.

 “I picked them up from the jeweler yesterday, just before all hell broke loose.  They’re ours, exactly how we wanted.  See?”  Steve takes a ring out of the box and slips it onto Danny’s finger.

 “You’re joking.”

 “I am not.  This is your wedding ring.”

 “I’m dreaming.  Not that I mind, actually, but this has to be a dream,” Danny insists, but Steve just smirks at him and puts the other ring onto his own hand, holding it up and smiling at Danny.

 “It’s not a dream, pal.  Just rest, and try to relax.  You’ll remember soon.”

 “Remember?  What are you talking about?”  Danny’s chest feels uncomfortably tight, and he wonders if he is having a panic attack.  He’s pretty sure you can have a panic attack in your dreams, he’s had nightmares of every shape and size, why not add panic attacks into the mix?  He’s drawn away from this line of thought by the squeak of the hospital chair as Steve shuffles it closer to Danny’s bed.

 “I wasn’t supposed to say anything until the drugs wore off, apparently it agitates people to realize that their memory is impaired.”  Steve leans in and wraps his arms around Danny.  “I didn’t mean to stress you out.”  Steve is pressed so close against Danny, he can feel the rise and fall of Steve’s chest against his own.

 “Breathe with me,” Steve implores. “Come on.  You can do it.”

 Danny does, his nose practically touching Steve’s cheek, warm air exchanged between them as Danny matches his exhalations to Steve’s.  When the room stops spinning, he pulls his left hand out of Steve’s grasp, and looks at the ring Steve placed on his finger.  He slides it off and sees the simple inscription.  <i>Danny & Steve -- 10/1/22</i>

 “No way.”

 Steve catches his gaze, and looks at him steadily.  “I wouldn’t kid you about this Danny, not after how long it took us to get our act together.  This is real, I promise.  Here, wait a sec.”  Steve takes out his phone holds it out to Danny.  “Our engagement party, back in the spring.  You drank three pineapple mai tais.”

 “Now I know I’m dreaming,” Danny mutters.

 “Come on, check these out.”

 Danny looks at the pictures as Steve swipes through them.  There are multiple pictures of Steve and Danny with their arms around each other, dressed smartly in slacks and dark button-downs, elaborate leis around their necks. There’s a picture of them kissing while surrounded by their friends and family.  There’s a sweet one of Danny’s mom in the middle of a Steve and Danny hug, and a picture of Tani doing a Charlie’s Angels pose with Mary and Bridget. Everyone’s there – their friends and family, ohana from the island and from New Jersey.

 Steve swipes to another picture, just the two of them dancing in front of a banner that reads “Congratulations Steve and Danny.”  Each of them have a plumeria flower behind their left ear.

 It’s still awfully hard to believe.

 Steve swipes once again, and this time it’s a silly photo of Danny’s kids making faces behind Steve’s back. This one is easier to accept, although… “Charlie looks so big.”

 “Growing like a weed,” Steve confirms. “Grace is going to bring him by later, if you’re still stuck here.  But I think I’ll be taking you home soon.”

 “Home?”

 “Yeah, babe.  Home.”

 <i>Babe?</i>  Isn’t that Danny’s line?  “This is a very confusing dream,” Danny says.  

 “A good one?”  Steve asks, his eyes searching Danny’s face.

 Danny can’t possibly lie about this. “Are you serious?  It’s amazing.”  Danny doesn’t know what to think as Steve flat out climbs into the freaking hospital bed and snuggles – snuggles – up against him.  Could Steve be telling the truth?  Are they getting married?  How had Danny possibly pulled that off, luring Steve back to the island, away from Catherine, and back with Danny where he belongs?  How had Danny convinced Steve McGarrett to give him his heart? It is both too incredible to believe, and at the same time… Steve asked him to trust him, and he does.  God help him, he does.

 “Enough worrying for now,” Steve says, snuffling against Danny’s neck.  “Sleep for a while.  It’ll all come back to you soon.  Hopefully in time for the bachelor party.  Kamekona’s going to be pissed if we have to cancel.”

 Danny lets himself drift off, safe and warm with Steve’s heavy arms wrapped around him.  When he wakes a few hours later, his fiancé curled up against him, Danny knows this isn’t a dream.  It’s his life, his wonderful, crazy life, and it’s better than any dream he possibly could have imagined.