#criminal activity

[mishacollins]

I don’t normally think of Germany as super sketchy, but these guys tried to fleece me when I was out for a jog.

[breaking-news-the-aroace-has]

[starlocked01]

Your Average Petty Sinner

AO3 link (pending)

Summary- Patton goes through an Emo phase and decides to hang out with the most notorious kids at school, going so far as to try to date their leader.

Relationships- Janus&Patton (Moceit), Remus/Virgil (Dukexiety)

Word Count- 5.4k

Content Warnings- swearing, mild description of injury, mild sexual innuendos

This is my @sanderssidesgiftxchange gift for @lily-janus 💛💙 I really hope you like it! Also a shout out to @infinitesimal-dna for beta reading and putting up with my shenanigans.

“I just don't get it!” Patton frantically paced the small patch of faded pale blue carpet that was visible in his cluttered room, “I literally caught them with cigarettes and lighters in the bathroom- how did they weasel out of detention this time?”

Roman barely looked up from the script in his hand as he lounged on Patton’s bed, “I don't know. Remus didn't say when Mom picked us up. They weren't going to hurt anyone but themselves.”

“Lighters start fires- they could have caused a fire alarm and some freshman could have been trampled in the ensuing panic while the science wing burned down-” Patton whipped back to face Roman who remained unperturbed. 

“And none of that happened. You saved the day, Padre. Why can't you just be happy about that?”

“Because they didn't get in trouble!” Patton crossed his arms tight over his chest and resumed his pacing, “why turn in the bad kids if they're just going to be let go?”

“Sounds like you want to put my brother in jail,” Roman snickered and briefly looked up, “I don't know why. Why do you snitch on them?” Roman countered

Patton bit down hard on his lip before taking a measured breath, “I am not snitching. They just keep breaking the rules in front of me.”

“I think you just want Janus to notice you. Trust me, he does, sweetie. Remus won't stop complaining about how much the goodie two shoes need to fu- leave them alone,” Roman replies, remembering too late the household ban on swears.

“SHH! Don’t let Mom hear you.” Patton whispered tersely, “you’re wrong. I don’t care what any of them think about me– especially not Janus.”

Roman snorted, “Yeah, right. That’s why you’re constantly tattling on him. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that when a boy’s mean to you that means he likes you?”

Patton stopped in his tracks and turned back to face Roman, “That’s… completely untrue.”

Roman rolled his eyes, flipping a page lazily, “Just keep telling yourself that, Padre. I bet if you just asked he’d go out with you.”

“I’m not gay and I don’t want to go out with him,” Patton countered, “will you please just be quiet? My mom would kick you out in two seconds for being a quote ‘bad influence’ if she heard you right now.”

“Mmm fine. Alright. I won’t talk about your obvious crush on Mr. Tall, Dark and Mysterious.”

“I am not- Why don’t you understand that not everyone has to like guys?” 

Roman sat up, “I’m not saying everyone. I just know you, Patt. You don’t like girls. You’ve turned down like twenty of them since homecoming last year. So if you don’t like girls, that just leaves guys. I know you don’t feel comfortable bringing a bf home because of the witch, but you’ve at least got to let yourself consider the possibility.”

“Maybe I just haven’t met the right girl,” Patton replied, not sounding as convincing as he should have to shut down the conversation.

Roman chuckled, “sure. Because she’s actually a boy named Janus and you’re looking in the wrong places.”

“Roman!”

“Just ask him!”

“He hates me. And I don’t like him.”

“You absolutely fucking do!”

“Roman!” Patton hissed, flinching as he could hear his mother’s footsteps coming down the hallway. “Now you’ve done it-” he muttered as the bedroom door clicked and swung open.

“Patton, sweetie. What’s our rule for having friends over?” his mother asked from the door, a falsely sweet and disarming voice cutting through the tension of the argument.

Patton turned, “they need to follow house rules and not distract from school work…”

“That’s right. If I’m not mistaken, I believe I heard Mr. Prince here swearing. That is no way to speak to others, is it?” 

“No, ma’am,” Patton replied, head hung in defeat. 

She turned towards Roman, “Exactly. I’m sorry dear, but you need to leave and reevaluate your vocabulary and manners if you want to spend time with my son.”

“Sorry, Patt,” Roman murmured as he grabbed his backpack and walked past to leave, “tomorrow. Just do it.” 

Patton sighed with exasperation, “Please, Mom, let him stay? He didn’t mean to-”

“You know the rules, Patton. I think it’s about time you got started on your homework,” she brushed him off, escorting Roman out to the front door. 

Patton waited until he heard the front door shutting before closing his bedroom door to get started on his work, trying to tune out his racing thoughts about school. 

___ ___ ___

 Janus slumped against the lockers, ignoring the dirty look from Susan next to him when he accidentally shut hers for her. It wasn’t his fault her locker was so close to Virgil’s. He gripped the head of his cane to keep it from sliding into the throng of students that would trample and crack it without a second thought. The polished wooden cane had cost a fortune, stained black with a yellow snake carved around the shaft up to the handle. He'd refused to adopt a medical-looking metal bully magnet and protected his aide fiercely. Janus silently watched Virgil picking out text books for the next class.

“What a bitch, right?” he asked once Virgil had noticed him. 

Virgil nodded sagely, “Yeah. Who’re we talking about this time?”

Janus smirked, “Mrs. Hansen, of course. It’s like she doesn’t even care that I don’t give a fuck about Physics.”

“She held you after class again? That bitch!” Virgil gaped, closing his locker, “that is so messed up. You should tell the VP that she’s not respecting your accommodations, right?”

“Like he ever cared the twenty thousand other times someone tried to make life harder,” Janus scoffed, glancing at the disturbance coming down the hallway and opting not to warn Virgil.

With all the subtlety of a tornado, Janus watched as Remus pinned Virgil to the lockers, dropping his backpack at Janus’ feet in his hurry to get hands on the boy. Virgil grunted in surprise, pushing back against the attack until he recognized the lips pressed harshly into his neck.

“Rem-! Oh my god!” Virgil laughed breathlessly, “I told you not at school, motherfucker!”

Remus looked up with a devious grin, “and? Your mother said she loved it.”

“Gross,” Virgil chuckled and pulled his boyfriend into a tight hug, “I missed you.”

Janus rolled his eyes, pushing the discarded backpack away with the tip of his cane, “It’s been all of an hour since you two last molested each other in front of the entire school.”

“Jealous, Jannie?”

“Utterly green with envy,” Janus sighed, noticing the crowd in the hall thinning rapidly, “are you done playing tongue hockey yet?”

“Never,” Remus laughed and turned back to Virgil, cutting off his protests with a filthy kiss.

“I’m honestly surprised you haven’t figured out how to make gay love babies yet,” Janus replied, carefully readjusting his treasured suede gloves. The crowds of students dissipated and doors shut as the bell for the next period rang through the now empty halls.

Janus nudged the pair, “Biology will have to wait. Let's get going.”

“Oh come on!” Remus whined, “just tell Mr. Sawan you got held back and we're helping you-”

“It's not a lie for once,” Virgil added, leaning down to grab Remus' bag.

“And they say I'm the bad influence,” Janus scoffed, grabbing his cane to start towards class. Virgil and Remus reluctantly followed, careful to give him space to walk. 

Janus wasn't actually eager to get to class. Everyone always stared when he walked in late, despite arriving late by necessity every day. The scrutiny felt absolutely miserable. 

As they neared the stairs down to the mathematics wing, Janus paused to let the couple go first. The last thing he wanted was to slip all the way down into a concussion.

“Hey!” A voice called loudly from down the hall, “aren't you supposed to be in class?”

Janus glanced over and swore quietly at the sight of the world's most annoying goody two shoes coming towards them.

“Patton. Where do you think we're going?” He asked in a lazy drawl.

“Yeah, calm your tits,” Remus added less than helpfully.

Patton frowned, glancing down at his chest for a brief moment, “I don't have- the bell rang five minutes ago. You're supposed to be in class. I bet you're out here trying to smoke and ditch class.”

“How? You stole my lighter yesterday,” Virgil snarked back, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

“It’s against school policy-” Patton started.

“What's against policy is a student trying to police other students. I literally cannot walk the halls when everyone else is running around,” Janus spoke up, standing up straighter. “We'd have made it by now if you hadn't interrupted us.”

“You liar. You're just messing around to get out of class,” Patton accused, stepping closer as if to intimidate Janus.

He laughed, “we have this discussion once a week! If I didn't know better, I would think you're going out of your way to flirt with me.”

An inscrutable look passed over Patton’s face, freckles melting into a soft flustered blush. “I am not!” Patton whispered hoarsely.

“Then we'll just be on our way,” Janus sneered, starting down the first step, cane first.

“Hey!” Patton gasped, reaching for Janus’s shoulder. Janus flinched at the unexpected touch, shifting to toss Patton as far from him as possible.

Unfortunately, this sent the boy careening down the flight of stairs.

“Shit!” Janus exclaimed,  watching in horror and slight mesmerism as Patton came to a halt on the first landing.

“You killed him!” Remus cackled with glee at the possibility.

“Jan- what the fuck?” Virgil asked, not sure if he should move to help Patton or not.

Janus glanced down the hall, and seeing no one, made his decision.

“Virgil, help me get him to the nurse.” he instructed. “Remus, get to class and tell them Virgil and I cannot make it. Give as little context as possible, got it?”

Remus nodded and hurried to the class.

Janus hurried down the steps as fast as he could manage to the place Patton lay on the stairs.

“Wh- why?” Patton murmured, cradling his shoulder, “I- I wasn't-”

“Next time don't touch people without permission,” Janus snapped, reaching to pick  Patton up, “can you walk?”

“I- I think so?” Patton winced, trying to sit up with both of the others pulling him up, “d-don't pull my arm, please.”

Janus nodded, “right, let's go, before you die or something.”

“Good going, Jan,” Virgil groaned as Patton leaned more heavily against him.

“Shut it, Vi. I didn't do anything.”

The walk down the rest of the stairs and to the nurse's office felt impossibly long and arduous, as Patton moved slower than even Janus. And he moaned in pain at each jostle to his arm.

“You're going to be okay,” Virgil chewed at his cheek, “it wasn't that bad of a fall.”

“I- I hope so,” Patton murmured, “why are the bad kids helping me?”

Janus rolled his eyes, “who said we're bad?”

“I- you always get in trouble,” Patton tried to explain.

“Yeah. Because you're always trying to get us in trouble,” Virgil scoffed.

“I don't expect you to understand, Patton,” Janus stopped as they reached the nurse’s office, “ but sometimes people just don't think like you.”

Patton nodded then tried to walk into the office, “thanks, I guess.”

Janus rolled his eyes, turning to head back to class, only to be confronted with the imposing figure of the school vice principal.

“What's this, then?”

“Oh- sir, I can explain,” Janus offered hastily.

“You will,” the man nodded, pointing towards his office, “If you please, Mr. Shephard.”

Virgil fiddled with his sleeves, “It was completely an accident. We were just helping Patton.”

“He fell down the stairs after slipping on a spilled water bottle,” Janus protested, already tired of walking, “I think he hit his head so we didn't want to leave him alone before he could get over here.”

“I see,” the man eyed the two, “is that so?”

“Yes. That's what happened.” Janus nodded emphatically. He watched the disciplinarian's face to see if he bought the story.

“Get to your class,” the vice principal barked, and the two wasted no time disappearing down the hallway.

___ ___ ___

Patton stirred and sat gingerly up in bed. A needle of pain shot through his shoulder at the weight pressed on it. 

“Oh- f-”

“Patton!” His mother stood at the door to his room with a sour look on her face.

“I was going to say ‘fudge’,” Patton gritted his teeth.

“Honestly, when did I raise such a delinquent?” She shook her head and barged her way in, “bullying other students and now swearing? Certainly nothing I taught you.”

“Mom!”

“I won't hear it. Luckily, some of your classmates collected your homework assignments for you. Behave yourself with them,” she scolded.

“I'm not a bully,” Patton muttered, gazing up at the ceiling as though the stucco could offer him the strength to endure her accusations.

“For the record, no one said you were but her. I don’t know why she thinks that,” Patton looked back to the door sharply, finding his mother replaced with Virgil standing slouched against the frame, a book bag slung over one shoulder. “Hey- I hope it's okay I- let's not worry about how I knew your address. How… are.. you?”

“I've been better. The doctor poked and prodded me a lot yesterday.” 

“Yikes…”

Patton nods, “I’ll be back in school by Monday. Unless I go completely loopy in the head. But I think the sprain in my shoulder is worse. Is Janus okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. He was tired from all the running around but like.. I don’t think he’s mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Virgil glanced back to the door before leaning closer to ask, “is she always like that?”

Patton nodded, “yeah… that’s my mom for you.”

Virgil swung his bag onto the bed, “alright, well, I’ve got your homework for the classes you missed.. And I thought you might like some music to pass the time? It’s the kind I listen to when I get really upset,” Virgil explained with a pointed look as he pulled a disk in a clear cover out of the bag with the school books, “just.. Let me know what you think if you do. I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“It’s not your fault, Virge-” Patton shook his head and then winced, “thank you, though.”

“No worries. I- uh.. Look forward to seeing you..? Yeah. Get better soon.”

Patton watched as Virgil exited his bedroom, confused why he of any of the kids at school brought him make up work. He examined the CD, turning it to read the sharpie writing, a list of songs with artists listed in incomprehensible initials. He turned the case over, noticing a small piece of paper tucked under the CD inside the case. Intrigued, he pried the case open and popped the CD out, laying it on the blanket. He retrieved the small folded paper from his lap, carefully picking it apart. 

I didn’t push you down the stairs. I also did not try to help you after you tripped. If you tell anyone I did, I won’t hesitate to make you regret it. -J

Patton frowned, confused by the note. He tossed it aside and pulled out his portable CD player to listen to the mixtape without his mom listening in. He laid back, letting the beats and melodies wash over him. As he listened, an idea started to form, one of which he was barely conscious.

___ ___ ___

“Are you insane?” Roman stared far more openly than other students in the hall. Patton shrugged and pushed past his friend to his locker.

“I’m just trying something new,” Patton replied, hanging his backpack up and picking out books for the first class. He tried very hard to not express frustration when the bookbag caught on the spikes sticking out of one of his many new bracelets. 

“You look ridiculous. You hate black! What is going on?” 

“I can wear whatever I want, Ro. You sound like my mother right now.” 

That shut Roman’s protests up quickly. Patton hummed to himself, reaching into the bag to pull out a brand new makeup pallet made of browns and blacks, picking the darkest shade to dab onto his eyelids.

“How hard did you hit your head?” Roman asked, staring in even more shock and disbelief. 

“My head is fine, Roman. I told you I’m trying something new,” Patton explained.

“Oh Hey! When did you get hot, Pat-Pat?” Remus yelled, dragging Virgil behind him from down the hall.

“Woah- Patton, are you okay?” Virgil asked as they reached him and Roman at the lockers. 

“Looks like Jannie knocked some sense into him. Hot damn!” Remus leered, earning a smack on the shoulder from Virgil and Roman. 

“Guys, I am fine. I promise. I wanted to see how my mom would take it,” Patton offers, not so subtly searching the halls.

“Right. Suuuuuuure,” Remus giggled, “just remember that Virgie is mine,” he snaps playfully, “I don’t share and I certainly don’t do threesomes.” Remus winked, sending a shiver of disgust running down Patton’s spine. “Congrats, baby emo.”

“If you need to talk or something,” Virgil managed to offer before getting swept away by Remus.

Roman sighed, “Seriously, do you want to talk?”

“I’ll be fine, Ro. I’m still me. I just... I don’t know. It felt right this morning,” Patton offers as explanation.

“Well, you know where to find me. And if this is some ploy to get Janus to like you- it won’t work-” 

“I don’t care if he likes me,” Patton protests, “this isn’t about him.”

“It’s not?” Janus asked in a smooth voice, standing behind Patton as if he appeared there from thin air.

“Janus!” Patton whipped around, “how- when did you- um, hi.” he stammered.

Roman laughed and clapped Patton on the shoulder, “good luck, Romeo. See you at lunch.” He walked away still laughing as Patton blushed and tried to shake the teasing off.

Janus watched curiously. He certainly would never have predicted that Patton would show up in an all black pretend-emo costume. Amazing really how people could still surprise him. 

“I promise that Roman doesn’t know what he’s talking about-” Patton tried to recover his composure.

“He never does. Poor Remus got all the interesting and useful brains,” Janus sighed, examining his gloved hand nonchalantly. “Even if this were some ploy for my attention, I wouldn’t be interested just because you changed clothes and painted your nails.”

“That implies you would be interested in different circumstances,” Patton pointed out.

“Would I? I never said that. You understood my message, right?” Janus asked, changing topics quickly.

Patton nodded, “I- yes, I understood. You didn’t have to threaten me. Everyone thinks I broke my head and wouldn’t believe me saying either thing.” 

“Correct. No use spreading rumors,” Janus smirked.

“Janus?” 

“What?” 

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” Patton asked quietly.

Janus took a moment to think over the question, “Why are you asking me?”

“Because I think you’re probably the person I’ve hurt the most.”

Janus laughed, “Oh please. Like you could hurt me. Since when do you care about my opinions?”

“I don’t know- I’m really trying something new here, Janus.” Patton worried his lip between his teeth. 

“I see. I notice,” Janus nodded and turned to head towards class.

“Janus? Do I… seem like I have a crush on you?”

Janus stopped in his tracks, turning back slowly, “Do you have one?”

Patton shrugged his one good shoulder, “Roman says I must have one. I’m not sure. How do I figure it out?”

Janus studied the black clad teen he would have sworn had it out for him just two days ago. Who was he to answer this kind of question? And why wouldn’t he just ask Roman, the prince of failed relationships?

“I don’t know. Go on a date with me?” Janus was just as surprised at the words leaving his lips as Patton looked hearing them.

“Wait- really?”

“Yes. We can go out tonight. No need to make it formal. Just black, not black tie.” Janus nodded. It surprised him just how calm and collected he felt, proposing a romantic time together. 

Patton hummed, “um.. I assume Virgil… gave you my address,” he replied diplomatically, “would you be able to pick me up.”

“Yes. 9 o’clock?”

Patton nodded, “yeah, that works. I’ll see you then?”

Janus smiled just a bit mischievously, “yes, you will. Good luck in school today. Everyone is going to notice.”

“Notice what?” Patton asked.

“This.” Janus smirked and leaned forward, planting a lipstick stained kiss on Patton’s cheek, turning to leave just as the first bell rang out. 

Patton stood frozen like a deer, slowing reaching up to touch his cheek, “oh, shit-”

___ ___ ___

“Uh, Jannie?”

“Yes, Remus?”

“Where the fuck are we going?” Remus asked, hanging on the back of Janus’ seat.

Janus inhaled slowly, “We’re picking up my date for tonight.”

“Since when do you date?” Virgil asked, lounging in the back seat and scrolling on his phone.

“Since this morning,” Janus answered, “You two just made it look so fun I had to give it a try.”

“Ooooooooh,” Remus absolutely beamed, “so who’s the lucky virgin?”

“Come on, Re. Don’t assume,” Virgil chided, trying to pull his boyfriend back to the back seat. “Wait- I recognize this street-”

“Just shut up,” Janus growled, “You’re the ones who wanted me to date. He’s harmless and might even like me.”

“So you’re trying to go out with the guy who made our lives hell for over a year?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not being some sort of saint, I’m just curious about what Patton’s going through.”

“I’ll cancel the wedding bells,” Remus cackled as they pulled up to the door. The headlights swept over the porch, revealing Patton sitting outside in the dark. He popped up, rushing over to the passenger side of the car.

“Hey Janus- and… Virgil and Remus? What?” Patton squinted at the couple in the back seat, “is this.. A double date?”

“Somewhat. Get in,” Janus commanded, ignoring the snickering from the back seat. 

Patton climbed in and sat down, confused but not about to back out now. Not when Roman would roast him for failing to go on the first date he’s ever been asked out on. Janus pulled out of the driveway and continued on in relative quiet.

“So… where are we going?” Patton asked, a little too bright for his dark exterior. 

“You’ll see,” Janus replied cryptically.

Patton nodded and fell silent, watching the road slip by as they drove along.

“Woof. The chemistry is just bubbling,” Remus snarked after a few minutes of quiet, sitting back to cuddle into Virgil.

Virgil laughed softly, “give them time. I’m sure it’s just first date awkwardness.” He wrapped his arms around Remus and held him close.

Janus turned down a residential street and flicked off the headlights, “Well, Patton, since you’re exploring new countercultures, I figured it would be a good idea to bring you along to a protest.”

“A protest? At night?” Patton asked, fear glinting in his eyes, “what kind of protest?”

“One against ableism in the education system,” Virgil grinned, grabbing cartons of eggs from the floor of the back seat.

“Yeah! We’re gonna show that bitch what it feels like!” Remus crowed, opening the door before Janus could put the car in park and banging impatiently on the trunk. Virgil piled out as well as Janus parked and grabbed the latch to open the trunk for them. 

“This… is illegal, isn’t it?” Patton worried, glancing around the street to see if they had been spotted yet.

“Very.” Janus nodded, “but, lucky us that the Virus have the dirty work covered. We’re just lookouts tonight. Mrs. Hansen has been violating my disability accommodations. That makes my life harder when I end up missing the beginning of class because of the crowds in the hallway. So we’re making her morning a bit harder.”

“Oh.. that’s why you three were in the hallway during class time the other day?” Patton asked, voice softening at the realization.

“Yes. Sometimes we wait until after the bell anyway but she still shouldn’t be holding me back like that,” Janus explained.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t realize that,” Patton offered quietly, wincing as Remus started chucking raw eggs at the car in the driveway.

“Relax, Patton. They’re just letting off steam. I swear they would have burned the school down by now if I didn’t try to aim them at productive activities,” Janus chuckled, glancing down the road for any observers.

“Right. So… this is a date… why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Patton turned in his seat to face Janus. 

Janus slowly turned his head, “what do you want to know?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I’ve never done this before,” Patton laughed nervously, “maybe… when did you know that you’re gay?”

Janus snorted at that, “I still don’t know. You’re the first boy I’ve tried to date. You’d think hanging out around the twins would make that sort of question easy, right?”

“Right! Like, I’ve known Roman really well for years and he sure seems to know… some of what he wants. But I just don’t know how he understands what a crush is versus wanting to be friends.”

“Those two make it seem like you meet someone and suddenly they’re the only thought in your head ever,” Janus nodded to the couple who were busy laying out toilet paper strips in the shape of a penis on the hood of the car, “I’ve never understood it.” 

“Do you.. Feel that way about me?” Patton asks, “since you’re the one who asked me out.”

“Frankly, I find your change of aesthetic rather intriguing. And you seem willing to challenge some of your bullshit ideas right now, so why not?” Janus shrugs, “maybe I just want attention and don’t give a fuck about who you are. You can never know.”

Patton looked down towards his hands, folded neatly in his lap, “I think I’ve been jealous of you all.”

“How so? You seemed adamant about reporting us to the school like a narc for the past year,” Janus challenged.

“Because things like egging teacher’s houses and smoking in the hallways can cause problems for people! But, I do like how you all express yourselves.”

“Really?”

“Right. You just… get to be weird and stand out in classes. You get away with a disturbing amount of rule breaking. It seems really freeing,” Patton sighed softly, “Maybe I’m thinking about it wrong. I’ve just always felt terrified of disappointing people, and in just one day I’ve been able to disappoint almost everyone.”

“So, you’re just dressing emo to make people upset, not to express yourself?”

“I mean- maybe partially?” Patton shrugged, “I never knew you all were this criminal-”

“Patton-”

“And… I think it’s maybe hot that you all stand up for yourselves despite what people think of you?” Patton says shyly, more of a question than an opinion.

“I didn’t bring you along to impress you with like that-”

“No?”

“I thought giving Virgil and Remus a target would give us some time alone,” Janus explains.

“Time  alone to do what?” Panton leaned a bit closer.

“What we’re doing now, talking.”

“That’s all you wanted to do with me?” Patton asked, head tilted a bit.

“Did you want to kiss me?” 

“Patton-”

Patton leaned in even closer until the backdoor slammed open, sending him scrambling back to his seat, blushing bright red.

“Drive- Neighbor might be calling the cops.” Remus replied, out of breath.

Virgil nodded and Janus jumped into action to get away from the crime scene. 

“Looked like a productive date,” Remus teased as Janus slowed back down to avoid suspicion.

“Wow what a rush!” Patton exclaimed. 

“Adrenaline wasn’t the point,” Janus reminded him, “Are you two ready to head home?”

“Yeah, Remus’ please,” Virgil nods.

Remus spent the car ride back to his place giving the lookouts a play by play of the night, with Virgil interjecting with certain facts and figures.. Janus soon dropped the pair off and the silence settled between him and Patton. 

“I just… you guys get away with bad behavior all the time. I wish I could do that the same as you,” Patton spoke up eventually.

Janus sighed and pulled the car over again, this time near a park, “Do you even care about why we do that stupid shit?”

“Well, tonight was about getting back at Mrs. Hansen, right? For treating you badly,” Patton recalled.

“And skipping class is because it’s too overwhelming to sit still learning useless crap with a bunch of jerks who know nothing about what it’s like to try and navigate when your feet don’t just take you to where you need to go. They don’t care that it hurts to walk and it’s just safer to take my time with friends by my side to catch me.”

“I-”

“You just see me as some bad boy to upset people with. You don’t care how I feel about it, do you?” Janus challenged.

“That’s not true-” Patton tried to protest. 

“I’m not some average petty sinner to disappoint your family with at the holidays. I actually have feeling and wants and needs and I just- I-”

Patton reached over to take one of Janus’ hands, “It’s okay. I-I didn’t want to use you, Janus. Not in the long run. Sure, I wanted to experiment and see if Roman’s right about crushes, but I don’t want to trap you in a relationship you won’t enjoy. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Janus looked away, trying to pull his hand free.

“Just remember that you asked me out tonight. So, I thought that kisses were something you’re supposed to do on dates. Can we try again without interruptions this time? See if… well, if we’ll like that sort of thing?”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes, yes I am. You are not a manic pixie dream boy or the dangerous rebel to scare my mom with. You’re Janus. And I don’t know you very well because I’ve never tried to get to know you. But we’re on a date. It’s past curfew. I think you at least deserve a chance at something properly romantic, since defacing property was just the distraction to keep Remus and Virgil busy. It’s too late to get food anywhere. So maybe we can try a kiss and start over again in the morning?”

Janus blinked, trying to process all of that at once. “Um… no.”

“No?” Patton sat back immediately, “did I do something wrong?”

“Not necessarily, I just… you asking makes it very clear to me that I don’t want to kiss you, Patton.” Janus tried to explain.

Patton nodded, “okay. I- actually, thank you? I- I was so scared…”

Janus chuckled softly, “I don’t think we’re crushing on each other. I’m not sure why not. But I’m glad you agree.” 

Patton nodded emphatically this time, “I very much don’t want to be the awkward one. I think… it would feel wrong or empty to try. And that’s not your fault-”

“I get it. I agree. We tried. Dating just… isn’t in our cards,” Janus laughed a bit more at that, “let me take you home?”

“Yes please. Maybe at school… we can just say hi?”

“That would be much more pleasant.”

Patton sighed softly and leaned back in the passenger seat, “I won’t tell about the eggs and toilet paper, by the way. Maybe I should ask Mrs. Hansen why she’s not letting you leave for class on time?”

Janus smiled, “That could be helpful. Maybe she just needs to see one of the responsible students concerned on our behalf.”

“Would have been a lot less illegal if you just asked me to do that in the first place,” Patton giggled, “It makes more sense than vandalism.”

“But throwing trash at her house is fun,” Janus grins, starting the car again.

“It may be fun. But there are much better outlets for the anger, I would think.” Patton grinned.

“Maybe you’ll be a good acquaintance after all,” Janus mused, pulling back out onto the road to take his definitely-not-a-date back home.

[watchpartygirl]

that's the lip bite thing! he's doing the lip bite thing!!!

[daceydeath]

Hierarchy (Part 9)

Heirachy: a system, especially in a society or organization, in which people are organized into different levels of importance from highest to lowest.

Pairing: Mafia Changbin x Reader Word Count: 6.7k Genre: Mafia AU, friends to lovers, slow burn Warnings: 18+, Minors DNI, swearing, mafia violence, death threats, guns, dubious intentions, criminal activity, guns, blood, fighting

🚨Trigger Warning: Attempted Assault of a sexual nature does occur in the chapter against the reader. If you are at all sensitive to this topic I would suggest that you skip this chapter entirely. I am happy to tell you what happens in the chapter via message so you don't miss any of the story so that you can avoid any content that may cause you any form of upset, trauma or pain. Caution is advised.

You have always been utterly uninteresting, safely boring as close. You had a normal job, normal friends and the sweetest bestie on the planet but now everything is upside down and that best friend of yours is far more dangerous than you could have ever imagined.

All Changbin could hear was the blood rushing in his ears after you told him you had been with Felix, you had said you had kissed him but he knew Felix and you were close so he was sure you actually meant you had let him fuck you. He wasn't sure what whether he was angry or hurt and he wasn't sure if it was by you or by Felix but either way Felix was going to pay for it. Slamming the meeting room door open the noise from it bouncing off the wall surprising not only Felix but Chan, Minho and Hyunjin who were talking about other business while Felix frowned his phone to his ear.

"Changbin!" Chan yelled noticing how furious and deathly calm he looked.

"You are fucking dead" he growled lowly ignoring Chan completely as he crossed the room faster than they obviously expected except Felix who hadn't moved but had hung up the phone.

"Binnie, man I can explain it's not whatever you are thinking" Felix explained calmly raising his hands in surrender.

"You fucked my girl you cunt, you fucked her right under my nose you fucking bastard" he glared icily the veins on his neck straining against his skin. "You took advantage of her you piece of shit" Changbin was still the picture of cold calmness as he pulled his hand gun and at point blank range aimed between the younger mans eyes.

The whole house had heard the commotion at this point because the others came running to see what the fuck was going on except Han who already knew and had high tailed it outside to where he knew you had gone with Changbin not too long ago. Hyunjin say nervously wide eyed as Jeongin and Seungmin stood behind the couches at a good distance and even Minho looked apprehensive. He could feel the palpable fear rolling off his crew it had been a long time since he had played the enforcer roll but it was still as much a part of him as you were.

"Woah, woah, lets maybe talk about this for more than a few seconds" Chan demanded his authority over the others obvious as no one else moved "What are we talking about here?".

"The night we brought her here this piece of shit fucked her" he accused eerily quietly raising his eyebrow to Felix to challenge him on it.

"Felix did you?" Chan rounded on the younger one.

"No boss" Felix quipped quickly his eyes not leaving Changbin's

"Then what the fuck is going on?" Chan snarled looking between the two.

"I'm going to kill Felix that's what is going on" he ground out the rage still flowing in his blood like poison.

"Go on then" Felix egged him on eyes hard as he watched his best friends eyes burn "She wouldn't ever forgive you if you did she would be out of here and your life forever, but still take your shot man". The room stopped even Chan was holding his breath waiting for him to make his decision.

"Princess?" he called jogging around the gardens looking for where ever you might have stopped with Changbin finding you whimpering as you walked back from the hedge maze, tear stains on your face and shirt.

"Hannie?" you croaked meeting his eyes with your watery ones. "I fucked up"

"Oh princess" he soothed pulling you into his arms to hold you for a moment "we need to get you back inside your two boys are going to kill each other if we don't".

"Did you just hug me?" you spluttered looking at him in slight shock.

"Well yeah, course were friends so I can hug you like Lix can" he grinned looking like at excited child which made you feel slightly better that you had made your cute walk with Bin into a shit show. "But I mean it they are going to kill each other if we don't get back, the big guy is very good at killing people".

"What do you mean?" you muttered as you followed him back to the house in a much more direct way than you had first wandered.

"Didn't he tell you? before all of us were together he was the enforcer he did all the killing because he is good at it, just shuts himself off, no humanity just a killing machine. That changed when Hyun and I came in and together took over for him but he still takes people out whenever Chan asks" he shrugged like he was telling you the upcoming weather forecast not that Bin could murder on command.

"Fuck" you mumbled as you reached the french doors that led into the kitchen, the house was deathly silent which worried you but Han just squeezed your hand and continued towards the meeting room effectively dragging you there. As soon as you entered your heart leapt into your throat Bin was standing only a few feet from Lix with a gun pointing at him while Lix just stared back, the others watching on in silence.

"Just shoot him already big guy or put it down no one cares which one of you has the bigger dick, especially since our princess couldn't verify that anyway" Han groaned plopping down on the couch and putting his feet up like he was watching a movie.

"What did you just say?" he growled again not even bothering to look at Han.

"I said our princess wouldn't be able to confirm which dick is bigger, because she doesn't. I would know I walked in on them and I would have asked to join in if there was any real fun to be had" he sighed dramatically like it was all a giant joke "Isn't that right princess?"

"Changbin?" you whispered since the air that had been punched out of your lungs by the sight in front of you making it impossible for you to be able to actually speak Felix's eyes flicked to you momentarily, Bin did something to the gun that made it click and your brain shut down sending you into autopilot. You strode across the room and put yourself between them Bin's gun touching your chest instead.

"If you want to kill Lix you kill me first" you snapped fear and anger mingling and mixing in your blood. Bin lowered his gun in a heartbeat his eyes changing rapidly from rage to horror before filling with tears.

"Doll" he gasped dropping the pistol to the floor which Chan dived to get before anyone changed their minds.

"Seo Changbin you are a fucking arsehole" you continued voice shaking "I kissed Felix, I started it he asked me a dozen times if I was sure" you swallowed hard knowing you were airing this in front of everyone "You hadn't told me you loved me, you hadn't don anything but yell at me, telling me you killed people and I was fucking terrified, Felix did nothing wrong so you want to take this out on someone then take it out on me not him. I won't let you hurt my friend or yours" no one said anything until Felix stood from behind you.

"Bubs never, ever stand in front of a gun without its safety on again! You scared the shit out of me just now" He exhaled his hand on your shoulder squeezing comfortingly.

"Sorry Felix" you mumbled "I should just let him shoot you next time?" the adrenaline in your system keeping you from crumbling.

"He wasn't going to shoot me" Felix sighed.

"Well not fatally anyway" Changbin grumbled making Felix look horrified "Hey I wasn't going to actually kill you unless you admitted to it"

"Fucking dramatic arseholes" Minho groaned pinching his nose, the others instantly relaxing.

"That was incredibly dangerous though little one, Lix is right never walk in front of a loaded gun" Chan scolded you. You didn't answer, you couldn't not when you just saw the man who swore to keep you safe turn into the very thing you feared most in that moment. Instead you just fled out of the meeting room blindly and up to the room that you had been given locking the door behind you so that no one could get in.

The day slowly passed and you hadn't answered when Changbin pleaded with you to let him in or when Felix came to check on you apologizing through the door, you had totally ignored Chan and Minho too when they asked you to come out to eat something it was only when your phone started ringing did you realize that Changbin was probably camped outside your door calling you repeatedly which just made you turn your phone to silent determined to not give him the time of day. Mrs Choi had knocked to deliver you some dinner to your room shooing Changbin or whoever was in the hallway away while she made sure you took the food.

Falling asleep after dinner meant you were awake again by three in the morning you could hear what you assumed to be Changbin snoring on the other side of your door and when you checked your phone you had multiple messages from each of them Hyunjin checking if you needed anything but made no attempt to coax you out, Jeongin begged you to come out just to stop the constant whining from Changbin but you only really read the single line message that had been sent by Han

"He's in love with you he just wants to protect that love"

You read it over and over again, you hadn't stopped to really think about the whole scenario you were too terrified that your boyfriend had pointed a gun at another friend and you had tried to stop it from escalating. You didn't think about the gun, you knew Changbin wasn't going to hurt you, but you never thought that violence between them would happen either. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe although you did love him that wasn't enough for you to not have to worry you would set him off and someone else would have to pay the consequences. If you hadn't run out of tears already you would have broken down when the realization that you would have to walk away from two men you loved and the friends of theirs that you had grown fond of, maybe moving to another city would do or maybe your would have to move back to a rural town and find away to survive. There was no other answer your tired mind could come up with.

When morning finally came around you looked terrible but you hoped a hot shower and make up could at least mask some of the obvious signs that you were broken, even if the feeling did compliment the whole cover of a family emergency. You dressed yourself for work in your standard pencil skirt suit and fixed yourself up before slowly opening the door and after double checking that the coast was clear quietly making your way down stairs.

"She has every right to be angry, hurt, terrified or all of the above" you heard Minho grumble as you made your way towards the kitchen.

"I know" Changbin groaned frustratedly "I fucked it up on a massive fucking scale I know that, but I can't change it now can I?" he sounded annoyed and tired which made you feel nervous.

"No you can't and if she wants to leave after this is done you have to let her" Chan snapped "both of you" his words were harsh and he sounded aggravated which caused even more panic to fly through your system.

"Or we could just let her collect her thoughts" Jeongin suggested softly you could almost picture the soothing expression on his face "You, Felix and probably Chan scared her yesterday and that probably has shaken her more than anything she has been through so far".

"He has a point" Hyunjin interjected "she was scared of bad guys who were trying to hurt the both of you and yesterday you two became the bad guys when you decided that airing your dirty laundry needed to be done in front of all of us".

"She would be so embarrassed that we all know she made out with Lix, let alone that she had to admit it" Minho finished "Which was super fucking stupid on your part by the way".

"I know" you heard Felix sighed he sounded almost as defeated as you felt and if you hadn't been so scared of the anger in the room or how much you were sure leaving was the best idea you would have run in to comfort him "We fucked everything up".

You took a deep breath to center yourself before you silently entered the kitchen surprising them as you easily walked past them all wordlessly made yourself a coffee.

"Doll?" Changbin questioned hopefully, but you ignored him hoping they would all get the hint that you were going to remain silent.

"Bubs?" Felix sighed and you ignored him too just pouring milk into your coffee before turning back towards the door.

"Baby, please" Changbin tried again his hand reaching for your arm making you flinch away slightly his eyes widening.

"Please don't touch me" you almost whimpered your voice scratchy from not yet being used as you stepped back from him.

"Doll, you can't be afraid of me, it's me" he mumbled looking genuinely pained by your reaction.

"Don't, please, just don't I can't deal with this right now" you whispered you were almost as scared now as you had been the very first night you had been brought to the company with him, your brave knight in shining armor who would move mountains to protect you. But now you had seen what he could be right in front of you it frightened you, but it terrified you more to know you still wanted him regardless. His arm dropped in defeat as you scurried out of the kitchen to sit somewhere else in the house until the time came for you to leave. No one in the kitchen spoke, Felix hung his head while Hyunjin sighed in sadness, the others looking between each other for some sort of idea of what to say.

"How do we make this plan work if she is too scared to even speak" Minho mused not really ready to face the seemingly obvious pain that was going to come from ending this whole mess.

"I'll be right back" Han shrugged leaving them after he had managed to stay silent through everything so far.

"Whatever Han, we have to think how to reorganize things if she is going to not be able to go through with this" Jeongin nodded trying to come up with a new plan.

"There you are princess" Han smiled brightly if not slightly insanely at you coming over to sit on the staircase with you "you still going to be able to do this?"

"I just want this over with Han" you admitted quietly sipping the coffee you had made yourself.

"I saw you read my message" he continued smiling.

"I did I read it a lot of times to be honest" you admitted putting your mug down beside you "I know he loves me but it's one thing for me to know it's a whole other thing for me to see it".

"He scared you that badly after everything you have been through since you got here? I thought you were tougher than that?" he teased sweetly almost gently.

"I was scared he would hurt Felix, I was scared he would get hurt, I was scared of what you guys do" you explained chewing your lip "But I'm terrified that I am alright with it, that I might be able to love him regardless of the pain and chaos he might inflict of others". You looked at Han who far too pleased with your admission and it just clicked that maybe the fear was a sign that you should run but that you didn't have to.

"Love is meant to frighten you princess that's what makes it fun" He grinned giddily.

"Has anyone told you lately you're actually very philosophical for a madman?" you sighed checking your phone and standing up.

"Not today but I'm glad you noticed princess" he waggled his eyebrows at you suggestively making you snort. "Let's go get the big guy it's time to be that bad arse mafia queen you are meant to be" his eyes sparked as he led you back to the kitchen where the others were still trying to figure out how to make this work for you.

"Changbin, we need to leave I can't be late the first day back to work" You announced to the group breaking your silence with them.

"Are you sure little one?" Chan questioned cautiously "We don't have to do this you can stay here another day if that would help".

"I want this over with Chan" you smiled as believably as possible at him "I want to go back to having a normal life".

"Are you sure you want that?" Bin asked you softly still aware you were upset since you used his name and not a nickname but you totally missed the inference he was making to you about whether you wanted the life you had before of the life you could have with him.

"Yes" you nodded noting the pained expression on some of their faces but you didn't understand the reason for it other than you were about to put yourself in danger.

"Let's go baby" he whispered leaving the kitchen quickly as you hurried to keep up with him scooping up your shoes on the way past the staircase.

Changbin drove silently for the first few minutes he seemed to be struggling to find the words to tell you he was sorry or what he was thinking when it all went wrong yesterday but you didn't mind you were still trying to figure out what you wanted to say back.

"Binnie" you finally squeaked "Are you all sure I'll be ok today?" you tried to keep your voice even so you didn't worry him more than he already was.

"Baby you will be fine" he breathed out seeming to relax slightly "We are all either nearby or watching, there are guys inside to help you and you have our numbers to call us if you need to" he soothed tentatively reached his hand over to put on your thigh, which you allowed you were still having too many emotions to think about the incident yesterday.

"Binnie, we will need to talk about what happened but I can't right now it's too much" you whispered looking down at his hand cautiously putting your own on top of it "But I need you to play my boyfriend today so that I can get through this bit".

"I am your boyfriend baby, I don't need to pretend" he smiled you turned to watch him as he continued to watch the road his lips quirking up when he felt your gaze on him. "When we pull up I will go round to open your door, the whole point of this is to draw attention, women will notice a gentleman helping his girl from the car and kissing her goodbye, men will notice the car either way there are a lot of witnesses who will remember your arrival if anything was to happen". You nodded understanding that

He pulled up in front of your office a just slightly before when you would normally arrive, getting out to walk his way around the car to help you out of your side. You could see the businessmen all taking looks at the cars some younger ones even stopping to get a proper look at it. Letting go of your hand he helped you into your blazer then pulled you to him to kiss you goodbye, it was supposed to be a peck but Bin poured his love into his kiss showing you exactly how he felt.

"I'll pick you up for lunch baby" he smirked noticing your slightly flushed face "Now be brave baby you have work to do".

Walking through the lobby you noticed the guy Seungmin had planted standing next to the desk you assumed that it gave him the best scope for the room but either way you knew where he was. You met a few of the usual interns at the elevators and took them up together chatting and talking about everyone's weekends before you got to your floor. Your desk looked exactly like it did the day you had left over a week ago with the exception of a neat stack of files that the director was going to need for his meetings today, you flicked through quickly to make sure they matched the diary and noticed that the appointment before lunch was Mr A which made blanch slightly.

"Good Morning miss" a friendly voice spoke from behind you.

"Oh good morning" you chirped politely turning around to come face to face with another of Seungmin's men making you smile in relief "Have you been interning long?".

"My second week miss but I'm hoping to learn from you, everyone says you are the most valuable of the assistants here" he smiled looking at the files on your desk.

"Well that is kind of them, has anyone shown you how preparing files for the meetings is done? I have some here that I can show you with" you moved around your desk and gestured for him to follow. "All that needs to be done is that you double check that the correct file has been matched to the correct appointment. As you can see here Director Kim has an appointment with Mr Park at ten this morning and then another with Mr A at eleven" flipping open the file you moved your finger to show him pretend points while he nodded knowingly.

"I'll let the boss know" he whispered as he continued to follow along with your fake instructions.

"Have you been assigned a mentor yet?" you quirked your eyebrow at him.

"Not yet miss" he answered continuing to play the part of a clueless intern.

"I'll find one for you then come back to my desk in an hour and I'll have figured something out for you" he nodded making himself quickly scarce as Director Kim walked into the office eyes pinpointing you instantly.

"Good morning my dear, I'm so glad you are back with me" he purred attempting to take your hand which you filled with the files you were holding.

"Morning Director, I hope you had a lovely weekend, these are this mornings appointments and I can bring you your morning coffee if you like" you smiled politely staying on the opposite side of the desk from him.

"Yes my dear, could you arrange that for me now" he grinned looking at his files. You swallowed hard and nodded your head waiting for him to move to his office before moving from the spot you were in. You made your way to the the kitchen area to prepare his coffee hoping that you looked normal and not like you were trying to hide how disgusted and panicked you were.

"Miss?" another young man's voice turned your attention towards the other side of the kitchen, you recognized him as Seungmin's other insider.

"Good morning" you smiled relieved.

"I am around all day if you need assistance, or any memos to be passed between the departments" he continued to smile at you.

"Thank you, I sent a memo out with another intern I assume that you will have seen it too?" you asked trying to keep us the ruse.

"Yes miss, there is no need to worry we are both here" he nodded goodbye and left you to finish making coffee.

You took your time making the coffee trying to wait until the director was on a phone call or when someone else was in his office but you realized it would look strange if you didn't behave normally so you had to suck it up and pretend you were the girl you were a month ago when there was no fear, no threat and no boyfriend in the mafia. Walking the tray to the door you knocked once before letting yourself in, you purposely left the door open as you delivered the coffee and a pastry. Before anything could be said his phone rang making him look slightly annoyed before you took your leave quickly shutting the door behind you. If this was all you would have to do for the rest of the work day you could definately do that.

The rest of the morning at least ran smoothly despite your planted intern not being able to return to you, you had passed a dozen calls to the Director meaning you spent no time with him and when his first appointment arrived you were quite happy to go down a retrieve him from the ground floor waiting area, you were growing more confident that the day would run smoothly, until you noticed that both of Suengmin's people had been asked to assist other team members just before the appointment you had been dreading was due to start.

Mr A, or Mingi as you learned was his real name from Chan, had entered the office just before his 'appointment' with Director Kim he never waited like any of the legitimate clients did in the lounge which normally annoyed you but under the current circumstances you were pleased that you didn't have to be alone with him while you brought him upstairs to the offices. You had tried your hardest to not feel frightened instead channeling all the anger you possibly could into acting out that your were completely normal as so far it seemed to be working as Mingi passed your desk he smirked at you and winked making you raise your eyebrow and turn away from him which you knew he could be offended by but you didn't care in ninety minutes you would be back with Binnie and hopefully Mingi would be very far away from you. You heard the door close and turned back to your desk looking for your phone just in case you needed it to update Bin or the others about what was going on. Your desk phone chimed letting you know that you were required by Director Kim, feeling the bile rise in your throat you took a deep breath picking up your phone, notepad and pen and going into his office, nothing was going to happen after all you had two back ups in your office and one downstairs you would be fine.

"There you are pet" your boss purred smiling as you stepped into his office.

"Apologies, Director" you smiled knowing that it probably didn't reach your eyes so you lowered your head to cover it.

"No need for that my dearest, Mr A and I just need you to take a few notes regarding his file, please sit" he gestured for you to sit beside Mr A  on the lounge suit that he often used for meetings. Your blood ran cold as you sat realizing too slowly that you were now in the furthest spot from the door.

"Your assistant is very beautiful, Kim, are you sure you still want to do this the risk has increased" Mingi smirked his voice making your skin crawl as he lent closer to you inspecting you face and chest. He raised his hand to move a lock of hair that had come lose from your hair pin. You tried your hardest not to flinch not wanting to show how disgusted you felt.

"She is isn't she, that is why I was willing to risk so much" Kim smirked in return his eyes racking over your form making you feel dread as you tried to subtly unlock your phone to get help.

"No phones" Mingi snapped nastily snatching the device from you and making you shrink back from him.

"Now now there is no need for any annoyance Mr A, she is a very good girl" Kim leered at you his eyes seeming to zero in on you thighs which made you shuffle back into the seat further.

"I understand but my associates have not been so happy with this arrangement now that they know who she is" Mingi sighed leaning back on the chair watching you closely as your face continued to pale. You knew you were in huge trouble now and the only hope was that Felix could see what was happening on the cameras or that Seungmin's guys would realize you were missing. " They can't see you I had the camera disabled sweetheart, and that little intern they planted yesterday has been dealt with for the moment".

"What" you gasped horrified that perhaps you were totally alone now.

"Why does that matter, once she's carrying my child her pathetic little criminal boyfriend wont want her anyway" Kim grinned disgustingly making you try to make for the door as fast as you could. But Mingi was faster than you, catching your waist before you could even get half way to the door.

"No! Don't touch me!" you struggled against him uselessly for a moment before understanding that he was far too strong for a simply struggling to work now that your back was pressed against his chest.

"Now, now none of this, its time you behave yourself and let my uncle fuck that baby into you" he growled into your ear, his hands sliding down to your hips. You wanted to vomit but you knew you had to keep your head to get yourself out into the main part of the office. You were frozen as his hands traveled lower down your legs pulling the fabric of the skirt up until it reached almost the top of your thighs. "I can't wait to watch your pretty little pussy take my uncle's cock, maybe he will even let me fuck you afterwards since you caused us so much trouble".

"Don't please don't" you sobbed as Mingi manhandled you over to the desk pulling your skirt all the way up to your waist to expose your underwear. You grit your teeth knowing you needed to keep you head, you had to get out now no matter the cost. Mingi moved to the side of you groping your arse roughly as he grinned sadistically.

"Come on uncle, I want to see a show after everything we have put up with to get her here" he sneered down at your now tear streaked face. You could hear a belt buckle being undone and knew it was now or never.

"Fuck you Mingi" you snapped viciously yanking your arm closer to your face and biting down on his hand until you could taste blood. Mingi swore letting go of you for a moment which you used to smack him as violently as you could in the abdomen with the heaviest thing you could reach on the desk before pushing yourself up and running to wrench open the door and fleeing blindly as you attempted to get your skirt down your legs.

"You little bitch" Mingi shouted after you "I'll fucking kill you".

You had lost one shoe in the struggle in the office so you slipped out of your remaining shoe and ran as fast as you could to the stairs, with Mingi following you you were never going to be able to wait for the lift he would catch you and you would rather fall down a flight of stairs then let that happen.

"FUCK" Felix yelled as his screens started blacking out in certain sections of your office, hitting speed dial Changbin picked up instantly.

"Bin you need to get in there now something is wrong" he instructed before hanging up and dialing Chan who was on standby near your office with Han and Minho.

"Felix?" Chan answered quickly.

"I'm losing screens Mingi knows were watching" he explained rapidly "They must have made that we were inside the office".

"Were leaving now" Chan called to the others before speaking to him again "Bin?".

"I called him first" Felix swallowed hard before hanging up.

"What's happening?" Jeongin asked walking into the meeting room to see what Felix was so angry about.

"They know we have eyes inside we need Seungmin to contact his guys I've sent the others already" Felix growled trying to reinstate his connection to your office's security feed.

"On it, she'll be fine though man she's tough" Jeongin tried to calm his brother while calling Seungmin to explain.

Changbin had arrived at your building to find people milling around everywhere after an apparent 'evacuation drill' that no one had known was happening. He figured out quickly that you were not among the others from your floor so you must still be inside which in all honesty made him start to panic. Seungmin arrived a moment later a look of thunderous anger splashed across his face.

"My guys have just located one of my guys inside, we need to get in there" He snarled his eyes burning.

"Chan and the others will be here in a few should we start looking from the ground up or split up" he growled making his way through the employees to the main doors where they entered despite the regular securities protests.

"I still have two guys inside so they better have sorted this out" Seungmin barked in reply now looking almost as worried as angry.

"Where is the third one anyway?" he asked pulling his gun and stalking further into the building.

"Half dead. They put two in him but only hit one lung and his stomach" Seungmin answered looking desolate.

"Fuck, at least he's alive which is far more than what Mingi will be after this" he growled his anger growing with each step they took through the empty lobby. The lift doors dinged and opened revealing the security guard plant and Director Kim who was being led away towards the back entrance to the car park giving hushed instructions he thought would help him.

"Bin keep your cool we need to find your girl first" Seungmin hissed keeping his own weapon concealed behind him as they passed.

"I want to take my time with that piece of shit" he muttered savagely.

You continued through the stair wells hoping that you could somehow beat Mingi to either the ground floor or to somewhere you could lock yourself in until someone discovered you. He was still screaming threats at you from the floor above and his yells were getting closer but each exit you came across was either locked or empty of people so you kept going. You were physically exhausted making it down eleven floors worth of stairs already still hearing Mingi as he rattled door handles and slamming open doors looking for you somewhere above you. That was until you opened the 8th floor and almost fell into Hyunjin's arms making him lower his gun instantly and hold you tight as you began to cry hysterically into his suit jacket finally feeling like you could breathe again.

"Got her" he announced sounding relieved before he noticed how wrecked you looked, your skirt hitched so far up your legs that there was no way you had done it yourself to ease your running and the red marks and blood smeared on your arms. "8th NOW" he snapped heatedly his voice tightening in anger.

"Hyunjin" you garbled out between your body wracking sobs your legs giving way as he bundled you onto his left side in case he still needed to use his weapon.

"Shh princess I'll kill anyone who isn't ours that walks through that door" he soothed as best he could his hand hesitating to help you adjust your clothing as you shook in his arms.

"Hyunjin where is our kitten?" Minho called from the other side of the room making his way towards you as Hyunjin continued to slowly move you back from the door to keep more distance between any potential danger. You were not paying much attention to anything outside the sound of their voices.

"Princess can you hold onto Minho for me? It will be easier to keep you safe that way" his voice was still tight but he was trying to be gentle with you, you nodded letting go of his jacket and letting Minho bundle you up in his jacket and pull you against him. His suit jacket was long enough to cover more of your legs which were still almost completely bare but you couldn't even fix it you were too overwhelmed and emotional to even do that. Banging and yelling started coming from the other side of the stairwell door making you cling even tighter to Minho your knuckles tuning white with how tightly you were gripping his shirt.

"Mingi" you gasped pointing at the door frantically as Chan arrived taking in your messy hair and near catatonic state, he quickly stepped into your field of vision so that you would focus on him slowly approaching you to stroke your hear smoothing it down slightly.

"Hi there little one, your'e safe now" Chan soothed "Bin where the fuck are you?" he asked trying to not sound aggressive into what you realized were ear pieces they were wearing. The stairway door flew open and you hid in Minho's chest rather than see Mingi's face again but instead of his threats you heard the opposite.

"Move and I will make you wish for a quick death cunt" Bin's voice cold and ruthless filtered to your ears.

"Binnie?" you hiccuped, tears still pouring down your face, he stepped over Mingi both Chan and Hyunjin taking over from him, Chan's gun in his face as Hyunjin zip tied his hands behind his back. The blood dripping from his wrist and the pained groan that he emitted made Hyunjin realize why you had blood on your shirt sleeve. Binnie just left them to it not seeming to care as he wrapped both his arms around you and cradled you against his chest.

"I'm here baby, I've got you" he murmured into your hair as he ran his hands over Minho's suit jacket trying to sooth the obvious fear and pain from you.

"Can we go home now?" you whimpered sounding less hysterical than when you had found Hyunjin but still far too panicked and breathy for him to be comfortable moving you yet.

"Did you lose your shoes doll?" Bin whispered looking down at your feet pointedly hoping to get you slightly calmer before he took you to the car. You nodded concentrating hard on his face as you turned to look at him.

"They took my phone" you rasped your throat sore from the crying.

"That alright baby, one of the kids will get it back from you" he spoke carefully as your body started sagging against him your breathing getting lighter again. "I'm going to carry you baby. We need to get you down to the car and away from here alright?" His question was difficult for you to concentrate on so you simply nodded as he moved slowly to lift you up so you were nestled against his chest.

" Minho cover us?" He looked towards his brother who nodded sharply as the tree of you made your way towards the lift. You didn't really notice anything other than the heat radiating off his body as he held you close to him until he opened the passenger door of his car, and he and Minho helped you to get in mutely letting him put your seat belt on you, Minho held your hand while Bin get into the car and got himself situated.

"Look after her Bin, I'll call the doc to treat her when you get home" Minho sighed looking worried for you.

"You know I will" he nodded starting the car and driving away from your office. "I'm sorry for everything baby doll, I'm sorry for yesterday, I'm sorry for today, I'm sorry for this whole stupid plan and I'm sorry that I fuck everything I touch up"

"I love you Bin" you sniffled gripping his hand tightly.

A/N: This chapter was heavier than the others but I think it's necessary for the plot. I appreciate all your comments, reblogs or likes they mean so much to me and keep me writing. Special shout out to @christopher-bangnaldoskzz for helping a bitch out xx

Taglist (open): @christopher-bangnaldoskzz,  @3sriracha, @deakyspuff, @symptoms-of-moonlight, @yoonguurt, @shownus-bebe, @ateexyz, @oiphoebe, @leanimal90, @armystay89,@tangerminie, @septicrebel, @damnyouficc,

[jhsharman]

Out on a Limb

I think it is a sign of an old geezerdom that writer Frank Doyle suggests a vaguely sexual component to just writing a phone number on Veronica's leg. I think he might have been leafing over old work, in this case Melody writing numbers on her stomach played as tribute to Goldie Hawn on Laugh In, for plot points. It is here a contrived plot point as Archie should have just jotted the number on his hand, but I guess there flirtatious behavior and she is just setting up an excuse to come by.

We see the number gets differentiated from an unclear scrawl in the original printing. I go with 191120, maybe. Maybe the 9 is a 4. At any rate, keep the number in mind.

Strunk and White correcting the punctuation.

It would have made more sense if the number on Veronica's leg had been played as getting smeared over a day -- at least we have some kind of plot development, a complications ensue. The numbers are completely off from what we not entirely cleanly saw earlier in the reprint.

[sheriffvshoupe]

Finally caught the little punk that robbed @rafe-cameron-official and the anonymous. Justice has been served!

[the-real-satan-the-devil-of-hell]

HEY!!!

Who the fuck took my yummy string cheese from the FRIDGE. Fess up

Or else

[cmweller]

Challenge #03938-J286: Cut the Right Way

As Jay's knife slid into his target's chest, the wild insanity in his target's eyes faded for just a moment. The being grabbed Jay's shoulders, looked into his eyes and said softly, honestly, "Thank you for freeing me, the nightmare's finally over." -- Anon Guest

They weren't always sent after the powerful fascistic type. Sometimes, they were sent after the cruel and unusual. Those beyond the CRC's long arm of jurisdiction. Those who could not otherwise be stopped.

Mengele-class psychopaths. Operating in areas where even the CRC agents couldn't go.

Yet the CRC had a further reach than the boundaries of the Galactic Alliance. Pax Humanis could get anywhere. They were good at it. They sent the particularly goal-oriented murderers to the furthest fields. The ones who could be trusted to do the job and return to their sanctuary. Like Jay.

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[aspenforest732]

Bello Licentiae Chapter 2: Bonding

Summary:

tw: PTSD, trauma, kidnapping, burns, abuse, grounding, dissociation, death/dying, criminal activity Relationships evolve as 1-A starts training for the Provisional Licensing Exam

Notes:

'text' JSL Text thoughts

Akira nodded to Katsuki as they padded into the kitchen to make tea. He quietly handed them his Gang Orca mug at their offer to refill. ' I get nightmares pretty often, ' Akira opened as the chamomile tea steeped. ' Counsellor says it's common for heroes, especially ones with PTSD. '

Katsuki scoffed, still curled up on an armchair. "Heroes don't get nightmares."

Akira raised an eyebrow. 'Eraser does. Heroes are still people, and our brains sometimes need more time to process trauma than we have while we're awake. At least that's what I've heard.'

Katsuki went quiet as they sat down on the couch next to his armchair. The quiet hum of the lights and screeching cicadas outside filled the silence as Katsuki stared into his tea and Akira ran through what they could work on that day. Physical training was out of the question since they were still regaining mass from their kidnapping, so clone work while eating would make the most sense.

The elevator's whir added to the night sounds, so Akira got up to make another mug of tea. Moments later, Katsuki startled up from his tea as the elevator doors dinged open to reveal a tired Fumikage. Akira grabbed a hibiscus rose blend as he entered the common area. Katsuki swiftly stood and started to walk to the elevator when Akira caught his eye.

' We've all got issues. You're welcome to stay if you want. ' At his hesitance, they added, ' We don't have to talk. '

"A film sometimes alleviates the terrors of night," Fumikage offered as Dark Shadow settled between them and started their soothing purr.

A couple hours into a rainforest bird documentary – Katsuki having been outvoted for birds over heroes – the dorm's door opened, and Akira jolted up from dozing on the couch. Capture scarf unraveling from its grounding pressure on their torso, Akira crouched and silently padded towards the genkan as Fumikage let out a half-asleep grumble at their absence. Moments later, Aizawa padded into view, and Akira relaxed back into a neutral stance.

Aizawa looked between them and the two in the living room and sighed. ' Couldn't sleep? '

Akira nodded and signed ' nightmares ' before gesturing to the kettle on the stove. ' Want some tea? '

' I've got coffee. Try to sleep, we're working on ultimate moves tomorrow. ' Aizawa headed up as Akira settled back on the couch after readjusting Katsuki's blanket on the armchair. They barely stirred as Aizawa left half an hour later, sleepily lifting their head to wave at him before settling back down.

Akira woke up a few minutes before Katsuki around five and started making tamago gohan. ' Breakfast now or later? ' they asked, turning just enough for him to see.

"I'll make it later," Katsuki grumbled and grabbed an energy drink from the pantry. "Run with Kiri first."

Not long after the pair left in matching green workout gear, Midoriya sped through the kitchen to grab the same drink and nearly fell as Akira waved from the island with their food. They raised an eyebrow, 'Situational awareness, Broccoli. Be glad Sensei isn't here.'

"Hey, did I do something to you?" Midoriya blurted out while wringing his hands.

' Not recently, but we do need to talk at some point, ' Akira kept their expression carefully neutral. ' Go on your run. I'll approach you when I'm ready to talk about it. '

He hesitated a moment, conflicted, before speeding out the door. The door slam jolted Fumikage awake to Akira's eye roll. ' Do you want breakfast? Or do you also have a ridiculously early run? ' they teased. Fumikage gave them a half-hearted glare before trudging upstairs.

Over the next few hours, Akira got ready for the day, and the class filtered into the common area. Before leaving, Akira filled a couple tumblers with their smoothie and grabbed a few mango jelly pouches. As Hitoshi was the last one downstairs, Akira handed off a purple cat travel mug full of Aizawa's blend. Like Hitoshi sometimes did for them, Akira guided him to class with occasional nudges and pulls to Kaminari's amusement from their snickering.

In class, Aizawa officially announced the weeks' goal of creating ultimate moves for the provisional license exam. In the Training Dining Land, Akira sat down near their Ectoplasm clone and signed, ' I want to focus on fine motor control for better combat and reconnaissance applications. '

"Do you want advice on control?" the clone gently asked, keeping a comfortable distance.

Akira shook their head. ' Our methods of control are very different. I'd like to start solo, and I'll signal if I want to move onto sparring before lunch. I'll dismiss the clone and ask if there's something I need another perspective on. '

Warping a few inches to the side, Akira focused primarily on evasion tactics, running through forms and methods of falling without dispelling the clone for the first few hours. There were enough holes in their clone's defense to be noticeable, and there was still a delay when Akira wasn't inside their mind shadow.

Not long into practice, All Might walked up and initially moved towards their clone, so Akira dispelled it. ' Do you need something? ' they signed.

"Ah, I'm just making observations and giving tips where I can," All Might said awkwardly. "You've mentioned your clones have a heartbeat, yes?"

Akira nodded, keeping their face carefully impassive against the desire to punch the man. ' Yes, why? '

"Have you tried seeing what else they mimic? Fine motor control is important for reconnaissance, but since your clones also copy what you're wearing, they might be able to use your support items."

' Yes, but- ' before Akira could explain, he set off towards the next student. They sighed and warped to continue working. Their capture weapon was too complex to use reliably at this point unless they directed their clones to try and interface with the nanites. Shifting their control up, Akira lightly tugged at the brain area of their clone with the clear image of their capture weapon rising. It shakily rose on their clone, hovering for a few seconds until Akira shifted their control back to the thread trailing from the shadow. Almost immediately, the scarf wrapped around the clone and constricted as if a stranger had tried to interface with it.

When they broke for lunch, Akira grinned at Hitoshi's mixed success mimicking their classmates' mannerisms and speech patterns. He almost had Fumikage's down, but they were struggling with more animated voices like Kaminari.

Hitoshi brightened as he turned to Akira, lowering their mask. "I could create a voice for you if you want," he grinned. "I bet you could learn how to talk in time since they're artificial vocal cords."

Akira froze, rice ball halfway to their mouth. Shoto especially looked curious, but Katsuki stiffened from where his group sat nearby. ' May I? ' they gestured for the mask. Akira hummed, adjusting the knobs and dials several times before they said, "Testing." Akira startled as a slightly higher version of their old voice came through louder than they intended. Adjusting it a couple more times, they tried again, "Does this... yes, this is close to how my voice sounded." It was more difficult than they remembered to vary the pitch without using the dials, but it was a close approximation.

" Your voice?" Shoto asked, eyes bright. Aizawa locked eyes with them and straightened. He drifted closer but stopped back as Akira slightly shook their head.

' When I still had vocal cords, ' Akira signed and held out the mask for Hitoshi. He froze reaching towards it, and Mad Banquet stared at them for a long moment. Hitoshi seemed to shake out of their stupor first and gingerly took the mask back.

"What happened?" Shoto asked. He shrunk back slightly, confusion twisting his expression as the group's focus snapped to him.

' Not important. It's been four years, and I have other means of communication at this point, ' Akira signed before going back to their food. Looking around the group, they continued, ' Really, it's not great that it happened, but I'm out of that situation and am quite capable without my voice. '

"You don't want it back?" Hitoshi asked, anger burning in his eyes although Akira was fairly certain it wasn't directed at them. "Hatsume could make one of these for you."

Akira shrugged, ' I have bigger things to focus on right now, and at this point, I don't need or particularly want it. You're welcome to use my voice as a neutral one if you want, but some may recognize it. '

"Any particular group I should avoid using it around?" Hitoshi asked too casually for the calculating look in their eyes.

Akira sighed exasperatedly, ' Not the time, Blank. '

That night, as everyone filed back into the dorms, Akira slipped into the kitchen with Katsuki. ' You cooking for everyone or just you? '

"Everyone, Reaper," he grumbled. "You know how to make katsudon?"

Akira nodded and started pulling out onions and scallions. After a few chops, they tapped his shoulder to show their usual sizes with Dabi. ' This good? ' They eyed the spices Katsuki set out with a raised eyebrow. ' Might want to leave out the death spices. Not everyone has fire quirk levels of spice tolerance. Unless you make a batch just for you and Peppermint, that is. '

"Those are fine, and what do you mean?" he growled. "Deku loves my cooking."

Akira mock put up their hands in surrender. ' Maybe he's just used to it? Most people stick with salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. I got used to spicy food living with a fire-quirked roommate, but he kept it toned down a bit. '

"Fine, you do the spices, but the extras better not call it bland."

"Woah, Kat's letting someone else lead in the kitchen?" Kirishima grinned as he settled at the island, resting his elbows on the counter. "Anything I can help with?"

Akira blinked, remembering that morning. ' Are you two dating? ' they signed before carefully sliding him a knife and cutting board with the rest of the scallions. They pulled out some milder and earthy spices to balance out the tolerable end of Katsuki's selection.

"I can do it with my quirk," Kirishima protested and blushed, "and yeah, made it official after he got cleared from the hospital."

Akira immediately snatched the chopping board back, scowling at him. ' That's unsanitary! You're worse than Wildfire. ' At his confused look, they clarified, ' Roommate. Either take the knife or just sit there lookin pretty. '

Kirishima preened as Katsuki shot them a dirty look. He sheepishly reached across the island again, taking the knife before Akira would let go of the cutting board.

"Weren't they the bastard who kept burning you?" Katsuki asked as the smell of burnt caramel wafted through the air. Akira wrinkled their nose but was mostly used to the acrid scent by now.

' Yeah, but that was mostly my fault. Can sneak past Eraser and paranoid for a reason don't mix well ,' Akira signed. ' We figured it out, though. He kept trying to use his fire to cook, and he doesn't have good control to begin with. '

"Why do you call him that when he's off duty?" Kirishima paused to compare his slices and went back over his small pile with finer strokes.

Akira cocked their head for a moment before realization struck. ' Oh, I guess because I've known him as Eraser for longer? ' they mused. ' Calling him Sleepy Cat feels weird at this point. '

"So what, did the fucker keep an eye on you for the-"

Eyes wide, Akira warped onto the counter and slapped a hand over Katsuki's mouth. Kirishima yelped as a knife cut dispeled the other clone and Katsuki froze, small explosions briefly lighting up his palms. His eyes narrowed as they shook their head emphatically.

After a moment, Akira released Katsuki and slid off, carefully avoiding the cabinet handles on their way down. ' No, and please don't talk about them. Wildfire offered me a place to stay after my building was destroyed by Endeavor. '

"What's his name?" Kirishima asked awkwardly after a moment. Akira and Katsuki snapped to look at him before shifting back to their stations.

Akira hesitated, glancing towards a quietly approaching Shoto, ' I don't think- '

"Toya," Shoto said as he got closer. "They're arresting father in a few days now that they have his testimony, so there's no harm in Bakugo and Kirishima knowing now."

Katsuki scowled, brow twisting in confusion. "Wasn't Toya your oldest brother? There was a big scandal in the hero forums when he died."

Shoto's neutral expression cracked as he frowned bitterly. He started to speak, but Akira put a hand on his arm. ' I've got this. Wildfire ran away. He nearly died that night and has been biding his time to take down Endeavor. A lot will come out in the trial, and I will probably be unavailable this weekend. '

Katsuki scoffed, "If they're taking down Endeavor, why aren't they going after your family?"

Akira gave him a pointed look and threw up their hands at the defiance in his eyes. ' Fine, you want to know so bad? Meet me down here at eleven. I'll let Eraser know we're talking. ' As the other two perked up, they huffed, ' And no, you two can't come. Murder God only gets this talk because he overheard something while we were kidnapped. '

Dinner was tense, especially with the uncertain looks Midoriya and Aoyama kept giving Akira. Mina tried to keep the others engaged with their ultimate moves, but conversations kept drifting off. After showing Aizawa's permission to Vlad, Akira waited for Katsuki to make his way down. Around 22:30, they texted Fumikage to join them. He might as well get the full picture since he was part of the hospital fiasco .

' Raven has more context because of our lunch conversations and because he was with me at the hospital, ' Akira explained as they set out.

"Why are we leaving the dorms?" Katsuki asked with a hint of uncertainty. "And where are we going?"

' The dorms are too big for me to properly sweep, Ear Jerk and Tentacle Boy have Thinker quirks, and the roof has the risk of quirks that use or are similar in function to satellites, ' Akira said simply. At Katsuki's laugh, they just stared at him straight-faced.

Expression falling, he looked between them and Fumikage. "You're serious?"

Once they were well into the forested area of campus, Akira leaned against a tree and gestured for the other two to stop. ' So we're on the same page, Murder God, did the League say anything after I left? '

"Marbles-"

' Mr. Compress ,' Akira reminded him.

"Mr. Compress was weirdly obsessed with you," Katsuki said. "He kept talking about wasted potential and something called forced quirk manifestation. They were just trying to recruit me after that."

' First things first. Yes, I was born into the Inoue family... ' Akira tiredly explained forced quirk manifestation, their abuse, and their current standing with the family. ' I have plans for them, but it will take years, and I will likely not be around to see them succeed. '

Fumikage startled at that, and Dark Shadow unfurled from the comforting hug he'd been giving Akira to face them. "We will protect you, little shadow! You will see your success," they crowed.

Akira smiled bittersweetly, touched at their enthusiasm as Katsuki let off a few small pops. ' I'm afraid you won't have much of a choice, but I appreciate it. ' They lightly rapped their head against the tree trunk they leaned against. ' The odds of my survival plummeted the moment my family found out I'm alive this early, and they were already pretty low to begin with. I didn't want to involve children – other children, at least, but it happened anyway. '

"We're not children," Katsuki ground out.

' We are, though, ' Akira tiredly insisted. ' We should be, anyways. I had to grow up fast, and our class has had to as well in the past few months. My family is a bigger stage than any of us should be even thinking about right now, but here we are. '

"Fat Gum was aware of your predicament before he arrived," Fumikage said bluntly.

' He figured it out during my internship. Eraser and Principal are involved, and more may be added to the list in the near future. They're aware of Raven and Dark Shadow knowing and of Murder God hearing the name. And of our meeting tonight, obviously. I can't give you more, but I don't want either of you involved while you're students. '

"You're a student," Katsuki grumbled as he kicked a rock.

Akira smirked, ' Yeah, and I was carrying this alone until Fat Gum. '

"No, you weren't." Akira startled, looking to Fumikage. He crossed his arms with a pointed look, "You forget I've learned you like a book. What would you withhold when so much has been revealed?"

Akira sighed, ' Right... There's a group I'm in that has helped me survive this long. Once we graduate or if there are extenuating circumstances, I'll introduce Raven and Dark Shadow, but not before then. Murder God, you'll have no reason to know them as a limelight. '

Katsuki bristled, "Are you saying you're a criminal?"

Akira shrugged, ' I'll be labeled one soon after my plan starts, and Eraser is aware of the situation. ' They leaned against the tree, arms lightly crossed as the pair mulled over the information. Dark Shadow gave a gentle squeeze as Akira started to drift, so they gave the shadow bird a few pets to help ground both. After a minute, they pushed off the tree. ' If you don't have any more questions, we might as well head back. '

"Only the same as I did in the hospital."

Akira winced and signed to Katsuki, ' Raven and I need to talk privately for a moment. You can head back now. '

He scowled, drawing up. "Eh? I thought you were bringing me in."

Akira waved him off, letting some of their annoyance seep through. ' This is different. It's not that I don't trust you, rather that it's a sensitive matter I barely know how to address with Raven. '

Katsuki looked ready to put up more of a fight but with a deep breath, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stalked back towards the dorm. Once Akira heard his footsteps fade into the distance, they sagged against the tree and lowered themself to the ground. Dark Shadow let out a startled squawk and stayed around them as a steadying force.

"Akira?" Fumikage asked softly, treading closer to sit in front of them.

Akira sighed and tucked their knees to their chest as they focused on Dark Shadow's purr to settle their racing heart. ' I'll be fine, just... give me a moment. ' They focused on deep breaths, cicadas screeching, and the soft yet prickly grass underfoot, petting Dark shadow as their family's retaliation gradually felt a little farther away. After a few minutes, they uncurled into a cross-legged position and focused on Fumikage.

"You said he offered something?" he asked gently.

Akira nodded and signed, ' All for One collects quirks. He knows how they work and interact with each other, and he has the power, funds, and resources to take down my family. '

Fumikage slowly nodded, expression clearly fighting to stay neutral as Dark Shadow shifted uncomfortably. "Are you sure?"

Akira tiredly explained his file room, the access they had, and finally the offer. ' Raven, I... his path hurts the fewest people. Has a near-guaranteed chance of success. Doesn't put any other innocents in danger. It- it makes sense, but... '

"But he's tried to maim or kill us on multiple occasions," Fumikage said softly as hurt seeped into his voice. "He wants to destroy the world."

' No, ' Akira signed to his surprise, ' he wants to rule it. ' After a shaky breath, they continued, ' The Commission is not working, and too many people are invested in the status quo for it to be reformed. It's time we make this world our own. It's time someone put them in their place. '

"Have you told Aizawa?"

Akira slumped forward and shook their head. ' I'm pretty sure it's the right choice, but I... I don't want to lose them. I wasn't going to risk losing Mad Banquet either, but you were there. ' As Dark Shadow purred a little louder, Akira smiled slightly at the idea of having people to worry about rejection from.

Fumikage gently took their hands. Akira blinked out of their thoughts, knowing how rare physical touch was for him. "It will take far more than a difference in code to lose us," he said firmly. "In this space right here that we have made for each other, you can say anything and I will not abandon you. The worst things you have or will do don't matter. Watch me hold them up to the light and not even flinch. We are not the Banquet of Light for a reason, and we pledge ourselves to your cause so that you will not bear this alone and have voices of reason in times of turmoil. Speak with Aizawa or one of your trusted adults, and we can continue this with the rest of Mad Banquet."

Akira nodded reluctantly with a shaky smile and forced themself to get up. ' They're probably wondering why we're not back with Murder God. '

Notes:

gosh I had Luke's part of "Last Day of Summer" from Lightning Thief: the Percy Jackson Musical stuck in my head for this chapter. Like yes, it's an inspiration for Akira, but they haven't crossed the line to Luke's stance yet.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[crime-committing-frog]

is anyone free this Tuesday?? i have an unfortunate rat infestation that i need to get whacked,, if ya know what i mean

[ezrablackwood]

https://media.tenor.com/2hCfz7DcxcEAAAAC/boykisser-boykisser-meme.gif

this should be a hate crime

[the-kitten69]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Barry Blitt, Kvetchbook.  ::  [Scott Horton]

* * * *

To defend Trump’s decision to put nuclear secrets IN A STOREROOM BY THE POOL OF A SOCIAL CLUB on a legal technicality, you need to admit that you’re okay with risking “exceptionally grave damage” to the national security. You have to be okay with a violation of law so grave that it might cause war, compromise our national defense, or disclose military technology where we often have a twenty-year advantage over hostile foreign actors. You have to be okay with all of this just to serve Donald Trump.

Is that REALLY who you are?

If it is, then you’re really proving the point we’ve been making for years about how your troop of amoral maggots has long since given up fidelity to our nation. You’re just proving our point that you would sacrifice our ideals, our freedom, and our whole civilization to pay allegiance to this semi-human mess of pottage.

I suspect you are, and while I’ll hope from some midnight conversions before the ax falls, I won’t expect it.

You are who you are.

One final point.

John Milton, in Paradise Lost, wrote about the day Lucifer called all the devils to a meeting but booked the small room at The Trump Hotel in Gehenna. Still, he was their Lord and commanded their presence, so they arrived at the door and started forcing their way inside. When only half of them had entered, there was no more room at all, so each minor devil in creation made themselves smaller to please their Lord of Lies. That meeting, called “the Pandæmonium” by Milton, is as good a metaphor as any for your final stand.

Please, pack yourselves tightly together, and someone, please pass me the popcorn.

The forces of light are coming, and they’re carrying the law.

Hallelujah.

(Michael J. Tallon)

[enigmatic-feral-being]

Stealing

Underground Boxing

Arson

Other things I can’t type cause FBI agent