#dc once again please hire me

[melinoelliones]

Your parents had asked you to babysit your siblings on halloween night as they had, “an important seminar they had to attend” and “needed you to watch them”.... So who was the guy at the door?

MINORS DNI/AGELESS BLOGS DNI/ANTI DC DNI/18+

Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

Warnings: Brainwashing, quickie gone wrong (kinda), death, biting, no prep, dub con, tears, incubus, creampie?, rough sex! fem reader

2.3k words

Imma say this is Dark Content so if you do not like death, blurred lines between consent and no consent or no prep DO NOT READ THIS!! This is not for you i’m afraid. Sae is a incubus. I have never written this kind of thing before so don’t jump me ya’ll. 

“Ugh can you two shut up already, I’ve been dragged to every house in the neighbourhood, cut me some slack will ya” you groaned, throwing yourself onto the couch. Totally ignoring the trails of “but mom said” and “please” that followed behind you.

You had just got home from taking your younger siblings out for Trick or Treating as you did every year, however this was your first official break from starting Uni so you had hoped they’d let you off this time round. To be fair, there was never a dull moment with those two though you had to admit, even if they forced you to dress up with them.

Watching the two kids dressed as ghosts fling their tubs of candy all over the floor you sighed, “I hope you know I’m not cleaning all that up”. “Yeah yeah we know” they rolled their eyes in unison as they began their candy trade whilst you simply scrolled on your phone idly. 

“Stuck babysitting once again, never gets old” you mumbled to yourself, shifting your angel wings off your back and onto the floor. Your siblings had forced you to dress as an angel but you only agreed if you could pick the clothes. 

“Stop, you’re messing up our piles” your sister moaned, flinging them at your head on impulse. “HEY, STOP THAT OR I’LL HA~”, you were cut off as the doorbell rang. Your eyes turnt to the kids on the floor as if to ask if they knew who that was, yet you were met with two matching pairs of clueless eyes.

You all stayed frozen as the rings continued, over and over again until you mustered up the courage to walk over to the front door, your heart pounding out of your chest at this point as your hand hovered over the knob. Who could be at the door at this time, your house was the only one on the block that didn’t have major decorations so people knew to not come knocking.

Slowly turning the doorknob the door flew open causing you to step back a bit, standing a foot away from you was a boy who looked about your age, staring pure daggers at you. “Wrong house maybe?” you questioned sarcastically, pure vim rolling off the tongue as you retook a step forward. Who was he anyway?

“Definitely the right house” the boy scoffed, looking you up and down as he continued “I’m the babysitter, and by the looks of it, I was needed”. You stood dumbfounded as he swerved straight past you and into your living room, turning to face him you retorted, “Wait a minute, you can’t just waltz up into people's houses like that, who even are you?”.

“Sae, the babysitter as I said a second ago, now hurry up and shut the door” he huffed, scanning the cluttered floor. “Oh yeah did mom and dad not tell you? They hired a babysitter", your brother spoke up before going back to his candy exchange. “Weren’t saying that when we were statues two minutes ago were ya. Didn’t wanna mention that huh?” you sighed, face planting your hand before shutting the door behind you. 

Why would your parents hire a babysitter if they knew you were staying the night? You weren’t a little kid anymore, what was the point of that? Not to mention the dude didn’t look like he’d be good with people in general, let alone kids, where’d they even find him. 

You watched as Sae strolled across the room scanning it thoroughly, same blank face plastered on his face as before, “well then? Start cleaning up this trash, it's late”. You stood behind the couch, since he’s the babysitter tonight you thought ‘maybe I’ll get a break after all’.

The twins scoured the man with looks of disgust as he barked orders almost immediately, “and who are you to tell us what to do?” “We are in the middle of a candy exchange”. “They got a point” you sniggered under your breath, turning away sharply as he glared at you. 

“I won’t ask you again, sort this out.” the guy ordered, hovering over the two as if they were ants. Should you step in? You weren’t the babysitter but maybe that was a bit harsh. As you went to tap him from behind the twins nodded, beginning to tidy away their candy in silence. 

“Now how did that work?” you muttered to yourself, you’d have to bribe them with a year's supply of goods to even get them to brush their teeth, let alone tidy up while they're in the middle of doing something. “And why aren’t you helping them?” Sae asked, back still to you as the kids hurried to pack away their candy. 

“Umm, maybe because I don’t need a babysitter, nor do I need a strange pink haired boy telling me what I should and shouldn’t do in my own house” you pointed out. What was not clicking for this guy; first he comes to the house unannounced and now he's barking orders? What is going on today, where did your parents even find this guy, maybe if yall met at a party you could have hit it off but God was he rubbing you up the wrong way right now.

You heard a faint sigh from him as he took a step to the side before pointing at the staircase, “N’ go on, I don’t even want to see your faces till your parents get back”. Your face showed an expression of pure disbelief as you watched your siblings almost march up the stairs with a simple “okay, goodnight”, no rebuttal, no fight back, just compliance. 

As you tried to comprehend the scene that just played out before you, Sae managed to make his way around you, his hand trailing your waist and to your hand, gripping it ever so slightly “I don’t need a strange pink haired babysitter telling me what I should and shouldn't do, was it?” he chuckled, reiterating what you had already said prior while pulling your hand closer, your back pressed up against his left side as he examined it.

“Maybe I should make you eat those words angel”, “what are you doing, this isn't very professional of you mr babysitter” you spat, did he really think this would be the case of easy girl sleeps with the hot babysitter.

“Is there something in the air today” you scowled, yanking your hand out of the guys grasp and turning to face him, your back hoving just in front of the couches back, “If you’re a babysitter, what’s with the fangs and pointy tail hmm?”, “Oh you like em?” he smirked.

You stood your ground as the guy inched closer and closer to you till he was almost towering over you, your eyes refusing to meet his while you spoke “No, do babysitters usually dress as… Wait a minute”.

“You didn’t come in the house wearing that, what are you?” you stuttered, your eyes darting around his body taking in all the new features. There was no way something like that could have slipped your mind, absolutely no way. “Oh lighten up angel it’s just a costume, maybe you’re just exhausted and didn’t notice. But hey, if you wanted a closer look you could've just asked” he ribbed.

You could feel Sae’s presence as he stepped closer, his cold body radiating an eerie aura that made your heart almost instantly start racing like never before. His icy hot hands cupped your face, trapping you in his gaze till you could no longer move your own body, it almost felt as if there was someone else in your skin and you were just the mere shell.

Under the trance he had put you under, your lips met in an all-consuming kiss, every inch of your body quivered with nothing but lust and desire but you had no control anymore. A small moan slipped your lips allowing him full access, tasting every inch of your mouth as your tongue wrapped around his.

Deepening the kiss, Sae slid his hands down your tight fitted dress, tracing every curve of your body as he lifted you with ease, wrapping your legs around his waist and arms around his neck. Sae walked you both around the couch, laying you on the cushions below yet your lips never broke apart.

“Sae please” you whined needily against his lips, pulling him in as close as you could. “Oh don’t worry, I’ll give it to you” he snickered, breaking away from you, a trail of saliva still connecting you both as he looked into your eyes, “It’ll be the last thing you get”.

Those words resonated with you, what was even happening right now. Fear started to sink in as he gazed into your fearful eyes, all you could see back was corruption and death. Sleeping with him was one thing, but what did he mean by “it'll be the last thing you get?”. You weren’t even sure which thoughts were yours and which were his that were being planted in your head.

Sae ran his fingers down to your underwear, the trail of a icy hot burn lingering where they touched as he slipped them down your legs and onto the floor in one swoop. Without warning he pushed himself between your legs with a groan that was lost amongst your own curses, “did I catch you off guard” he asked sarcastically, pressing his lips against yours to swallow your cries.

The heated kiss intensified as the guy slid his hand under your shirt, feeling the warmth of your breast as he took your harden nipple between his fingers, twisting ever so slightly every now and then. He could feel himself harden as he touched you, a feverish heat coursed through his veins. 

With every thrust you felt a fiery coldness inside you that was both unbearable and exhilarating - it was almost as if he was feeding off of your energy, taking pleasure from your body beneath him. “Fu~ck I need you” Sae groaned against your ear between moans, your body was taking him so well. You clung to him, your breathing becoming heavier as he moved inside you. 

You wanted him so badly in this moment yet you knew you didn’t want to die, your mind couldn’t even comprehend the situation you were in at this point. Pain, lust, fear and desire just mixing into one as your body held onto him. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and pretend this was a nightmare, this was your reality and there was nothing you could do. You had no control over your actions.

“You’re so fucking warm” he grunted, his thrusts getting deeper and more frantic as you cried out his name over and over again, tears streaming down your cheeks from the sensations. “S~Sae” you choked out, your eyebrows furrowed as his tip continuously pressed against your sweet spot, it almost felt as if with every stride more air left your body. You were almost suffocating but he made you feel so good.

The sounds of skin slapping against one another and passionate moans filled the large room, Sae’s body almost seeming to get more powerful as your needy cunt swallowed him in each time he grew faster.

“Sae please, i’m so close” you begged, your foreheads almost resting on one another's while he fucked you, your eyesight slowly fading away with each thrust. “Fuck I wish I could keep you to myself, too bad I gotta let you die” he cursed, not wanting to have to let you go, but as an incubus he had no choice.

“Go one, cum for me, paint this cock white before you go” he grinned, his vulgar tone hooking you in one final time, all that was on your mind was the need to fulfil your sexual appetite. Doing as told you came, your walls constricted around him, milking him dry but also coating his shaft completely.

“That’s it” he hissed, longing out his thrusts to allow you to enjoy your final orgasm before sliding out of you. Your vision began to blur and your eyes grew heavy, the realisation that you were fading away hitting you once again. 

You just wanted to slip away and forget everything, before you could drift away Sae whispered in your ear, “Can’t let you go without leaving my mark can I?”.

He sunk his fangs into your neck, an odd coolness running through your veins as he did, any energy you had left escaping as you took your final breath. This was it, this was how it would end for you, where did it all go wrong? Would he have left if you hadn’t opened the door? So many unanswered questions but sadly, time was up for you.

“So sweet, just how I like em” Sae laughed, composing himself while taking in the sight of your cold lifeless body laid on the couch. You were nothing more than a vessel to help him regain his power, however he had to admit, you felt different, not many were able to resist an incubus for as long as you could. But no matter the circumstances you had to pay with your life, life didn’t always get to go smoothly for everyone, life isn’t fair.

Just as those thoughts popped into his mind, Sae heard a car pull into the driveway. As he waltzed out of the house a man blocked his way, a confused expression on his face as he spoke, “erm, who are you and what are you doing here? I was told I was babysitting children”.

Glaring daggers at the smaller built man who looked no older than you, Sae rolled his eyes, “I don’t think it matters now anyway, you’re too late”. Stepping to the side and off into the distance Sae muttered, pointing back towards the babysitter, “But I will say, you’d better get ready to explain the scene in there”. 

Following the direction of Sae’s point the babysitter shuddered, panic and fear seeping in as he turnt the door handle to see the most horrific scene he had ever seen. Turning back in pure terror, the pink haired guy was already gone into the night.

[fyodior]

.˳⁺⁎˚ dip you in honey so i could be stickin' to you ˚⁎⁺˳ .

for my love @doukeshi-kun

✿ pairing: stepdad!fukuzawa x fem!reader

✿ cw: dark content -- st3pcest, daddy kink, age gap (reader above 18) slightly immature reader, mild dumbification, reader referred to as "girl" once, creampie, brother!ranpo, semi-public sex. 18+ minors DNI !!

✿ notes: fic 3 for my 1k event! love this concept so much thank u bean for requesting it :")

✿ wc: 1.5k

dark content disclaimer: this is entirely fiction with absolutely no reflection of reality! i do not condone this nor any other dc i write, pls just block or unfollow if you don't like it, and do NOT report or leave hate comments please!

Fukuzawa – just Yukichi to you – had always been a great stepfather. He took care of you and supported you like one of his own, protected you fiercely, and did everything for you. in all honesty, he spoiled you a bit rotten. He even had gotten you a job at the Armed Detective Agency. Your coworkers had a habit of whispering about the likely nepotism related to your hiring, you didn’t even have an ability, but it never bothered you. Not when you got to spend all day with your beloved stepdad.

When you weren’t in the field investigating cases, you were sat in Fukuzawa’s office at your own personal little desk he had set up working on paperwork. Although, more often than not, he very generously completed your paperwork for you while you sat on his lap and cockwarmed him. It was only just him fulfilling his fatherly duties.

-

“Daddy?” you asked, peaking your head around the door and into his office.

It was one of the rare times you had decided to sit with your fellow coworkers to do desk work instead of with Fukuzawa, so it wasn’t long before he was calling for you to come see him. His face immediately lit up from the default frown that usually adorned his features.

“Hello darling, come sit,” he crooned, patting his lap.

You giggled before padding your way over to him, locking the door behind you.

As you settled onto his lap, nuzzling your face into his shoulder, he rested one hand on your hip while the other pet your hair gently.

“How are you doing, my love?”

“A lot better, now that I’m with you again,” you cooed. He just chuckled.

“And how is your brother?” The deep vibrations of his chest as he spoke were calming, making you cuddle even further into his embrace.

“Ranpo is whining about having to work on this new case because he thinks it’s boring, but I bribed him into cooperating by promising I’d bake him any sweets he wanted when we get home tonight.” You rolled your eyes at your brother’s antics, but you loved him more than anything, too.

“That’s my girl,” Fukuzawa laughed. “So clever and smart.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” you said, blushing at the compliment. Approval from him was always made you swoon.

“Of course, darling. Now I did call you in here for a reason.”

“Hmm?”

“See, I’ve been stressed with all of this communication I’ve been having to facilitate with multiple different organizations pertaining to our most prominent case, and I was wondering if you would like to help me unwind a bit?” he asked, voice low.

You laughed and nodded.

“Of course, Daddy.”

“I knew you would, darling. Always so, so helpful and compassionate.” His smile made your insides feel warm.

“How can I help?”

“I would love it if you bent over the desk for me.” You could hear the smirk in his voice.

You didn’t need to be told twice.

Wiggling off his lap so you could lean over his desk, you hiked your skirt up as your face pressed into the hardwood.

“Like this?” you asked.

“Perfect,” Fukuzawa mumbled.

He leaned forward from his desk chair to run his long fingers over your ass, fingertips just barely grazing over the skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Wordlessly, he gently pulled down your panties so they fell to your ankles, mouth watering as his eyes fell upon your bare pussy.

Fukuzawa undid his yukata so he could fist his hardening cock while he slid his fingers between your folds, making you shiver. He had been fantasizing about this moment for the past hour since he decided to call you in for a quick destressing session and was already eager to take you. It seemed you had been anticipating something of the sort as well, and had already slicked up nicely for him.

Standing up so his tall frame towered over you, he held his cock and ran it in between your lips to gather some of the slick. You moaned, wiggling your ass impatiently. Fukuzawa laughed, but got the memo.

Soon he was lining himself up with your entrance and prodding the tip at your hole.

“Is this okay, my love?” he cooed, voice deep and comforting.

“Yes, Daddy,” you replied with a slightly too eager tone.

With your go-ahead Fukuzawa slowly pushed past the tight ring of muscle at your entrance, making you groan. He gave you a second to adjust, knowing it sometimes stung as you tried to accommodate for his large cock.

Once he could feel your body relax he pushed forward, and you whined louder and louder with every inch he pushed into you. He had to gently shush you when he bottomed out as you let out a loud yelp that very likely could’ve been heard from outside his office. Not many words were needed throughout the process as he knew your body and its cues like the back of his hand, could read you like his favorite book.

“Are you ready?” he still liked to ask, though.

“Please,” you whined.

Tightening his grip on your hips, pulls nearly all the way out before thrusting back into you. His pelvis snug against your ass, he leaned down to press comforting kisses to the nape of your neck as your yelped.

“More please, Daddy,” you whined. He happily obliged.

Slowly building up a rhythm, Fukuzawa smiled as he watched you fall apart over his cock. He ran his hands up and down your sides calmingly as you whimpered, becoming overwhelmed with both the sting and the pleasure of your stepdad’s cock inside you.

He didn’t plan to get too rough as he wasn’t much of an exhibitionist and didn’t want the sounds of skin on skin to be heard by anyone else, but the way you clenched around his length was dizzying, and he slowly started losing control. Fukuzawa began fucking into you faster and you couldn’t help the moans rising from your throat, tightening your grip on the edge of the desk as pleasure pooled throughout your body.

The way his thick cock curved managed to hit your sweet spot with almost every thrust felt like electricity, like he was made just for you.

Fukuzawa could feel the stress draining from his body as he fucked you, sighing. He loved you fiercely, but also loved that he could always count on you to mellow him out in the best way possible. Though in the moment he felt a bit feral, wanting more and more of your tight, wet cunt.

He didn’t want to take too long, didn’t want anyone to question either of your extended absences, so he quickened his thrusts to chase the high he had been needing. The increased pace of his cock pumping in and out of you forcefully clouded your mind and had you drooling on the papers you were bent over.

“Gonna cum soon, darling, want Daddy’s cum in you?” he grumbled, whispering right into your ear.

“Please, please,” you whined. “Need you so bad.”

He was always going to give you what you needed.

He fucked you hard and fast now, the mix of precum and juices squelching and dripping down your thighs. You instinctively started rocking your ass to meet his thrusts, fucking yourself on his cock to reach your own high.

You knew he was close as his hips stuttered and his breath hitched, and you gasped as he came, cock twitching as it shot hot ropes of cum into your throbbing pussy, still slowly rocking his hips to fuck his seed deep into you.

Wordlessly he pulled out and pulled up your panties for you before retying his yukata and gathering you into his arms.

“Thank you for being so good for me, as always, my love,” he whispered into your ear, petting your hair. “I feel much better now because of you.”

You smiled and pecked a kiss onto his lips before curling into his embrace. “Of course, Daddy. Always.”

“Would you like to stay right here with me for the rest of the day? Then I can help you make those sweets for Ranpo tonight?”

“Want that more than anything,” you giggled. The rest of the agency would likely be whispering as to why you disappeared into your stepdad’s office for the rest of the workday, but you didn’t care. Not when you had Fukuzawa loving on you like this.

“Happily for you, darling,” he sighed before tightening one arm around you and picking up his pen once again.

He started once again on his dreaded presidential work with a clear mind and increased motivation, and thanked his lucky stars he always had you around to make him feel better.

some tags :)

@hnnnnnnnmscorner @blueparadis @8kh

[gghostwriter]

Yours Truly, Romeo

Chapter 5 __ Paris

Spencer Reid x FOC

Summary: Washington, DC - A string of grizzly murders and obsessive love letters causes Olivia and Spencer’s paths to intertwine. With a serial killer proclaiming his undying devotion to her and the thick tension surrounding her and her agent turned bodyguard, Olivia’s life is writing out like a contemporary love story that she, as a successful writer, could see herself publishing.

previous chapter || series masterlist || next chapter

“Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee.” - Act 5, Scene 3. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

As Spencer drove off earlier that same day, the remaining two members of the team—the steely unit chief and the specialist in obsessive crimes did just the same. They headed to Random House Washington, Olivia’s publishing label, to interview her agent for possible matches to their profile.

“Ms Amanda Miller, we’d like to ask questions regarding male personnels at your office,” Agent Hotchner stated as he pulled out his FBI credentials. “The man we are looking for doesn’t stand out in a crowd. He’s introverted and shy when it comes to approaching his female counterparts.”

“You described almost all of the men who work for the publishing,” the publicist lightly scoffed. “The publishing industry is filled with introverts, Agent Hotchner.”

“He may be quiet but there’s something about this man that seems off-putting. Something that puts the women on edge,” Morgan explained further as he observed the employees around the office.

“Uhm—there are maybe seven men working in this office that our female employees tend to avoid alone—something they tell newly hires, nothing untoward had ever happened though,” she grabbed a piece of paper and started scribbling down their names and company positions. Once done, she reached out to hand it over to Hotch. “Here you go.”

“Thank you. By any chance, is Ms. Hollie Taylor currently in the office? We’d like to ask for her own observations.”

Her black office chair swiveled to face the computer for access to the company log in and she shook her head. “No, she’s scheduled to work from home today.” 

Thanking her again for her time, the duo exited the premises and drove towards Ms. Taylor’s residence which was a thirty minute drive.

The dark skinned agent, seating on the passenger seat, dialed Garcia as the ex-prosecutor turned right to on the intersection. “Hey Sugar, I need you to run background checks for me.”

“That’s easy work, Hot Stuff. Tell me their names and I can even tell you their last grocery purchase.” 

He smiled as he listed off the names written on the piece of paper.

Before long, the SUV pulled into a stop in front of the red bricked apartment. Both FBI agents exited the government issued vehicle and entered the building, flashing their badges to the security personnel, and rode the elevator up to the 11th floor.

“Ms. Hollie Taylor, I’m SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSA Derek Morgan. We’re with the FBI, Behavioral Analysis Unit,” the stern unit chief spieled out once more. “We’d like to ask you some questions regarding Ms. Olivia Hill.” 

The brunette haired woman gestured for them to come in. “Call me Hollie, please. How can I be of help?” 

“We’d like to ask you about your male colleagues in relation to Ms. Hill’s stalking case. Do any of them stand out to you?”

Morgan added on. “Did any of them flirt with her? Try to ask her out on a date?”

She wrapped her arms around her body, clearly intimidated by the presence of two imposing agents in her home. “Not that I know of. Olivia rarely comes in to the office—only there for urgent meetings regarding new book ideas or promotional book signings prepared by the marketing team. The only male colleagues that she has contact with on a daily basis is Robert, Amanda’s assistant, and Elijah, her senior cover illustrator—”

Her voice drifted off into silence as her brows knitted together in thought before continuing. “We did have a new junior illustrator come in recently—the team met him once since the management wanted to get him on board working with romance writers. Nothing untoward happened but he did seem a little bit flirty with her but he went AWOL after that first week so I’m not sure if that’s much of a help.”

That piqued their interest. “Is his name perhaps Ian Cromwell?”

She nodded her head slowly, a slight furrow on her eyebrows, confused as to why his name had already been known. “Yes—yes that’s right. How’d you know?”

Morgan shared a look with Hotch, not keen on informing her the reason as to why his name has been brought up. Ian Cromwell was the third body found floating in Maryland—he possibly had a connection with the unsub. The latter subtly tilted his head to the side as if to silently instruct Morgan to wrap up the interview. 

“He’s not the stalker, is he? I mean, Olivia met him once and never interacted with him again,” she questioned, the silence further rattling her nerves. “Right?”

“Thank you for your time, Hollie. If there’s anything else you remember—anything at all, give us a call,” Morgan said as he handed his card and hastily exited the apartment.

———

The sun was beginning to settle on the horizon when they arrived back at the station.

“There’s got to be some type of connection there, Hotch,” he said closing the passenger door with a thud.

Rounding around the vehicle and pushing the precinct door open allowing themselves inside as the cool air blasted around them. “I agree, Morgan. Call up Reid and tell him to—”

Hotch cut himself off when he noticed an unopened white envelope with the letter cutouts that spelled ‘For the FBI’ on the meeting room table where their case papers and images were situated. He brought out his own set of latex gloves from his pocket and quickly picked it up, walking up to a nearby man in uniform. “Who delivered this?” 

The officer’s eyes widened as he stuttered to explain. “It—It was found taped on one of the police cars situated at the end of the parking lot. We checked surveillance cameras but that area is hidden by the trees and—and we also ran prints but there was none.”

Hotch deeply sighed, clearly frustrated with not being kept in the loop with the happenings in their own backyard, and dismissed the man in front of him. He returned to the conference room where Morgan stayed behind. Curious as to what had rattled his unit chief, he peeked at the envelope, catching the address, and his eyes widened. “That’s pretty ballsy of the unsub to deliver it here, a deviation from our profile.”

“He’s devolving. Something we did that disturbed his fantasy with Ms. Hill,” Hotch commented before carefully cutting the envelope and pulling out two letters inside. The first was a type written line from Romeo & Juliet.

“I must indeed, and therefore came I hither. Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man. Fly hence and leave me. Think upon these gone. Let them affright thee. I beseech thee, youth, Put not another sin upon my head By urging me to fury. O, be gone!”

“Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!” - Romeo. Act 5, Scene 3

Derek scratched his forehead, silently wishing that Spencer was nearby to translate the lines into modern English. The other flipped to the second page that contained magazine letter cutouts, similar to his first and second letters to Olivia. 

You have provoked my blood coated hands.

No longer must Paris be and come in between me and my beloved Juliet.

He has been struck I tell you. Struck! 

The two agents exchanged stares before bolting out the station and swerving out of the parking lot without so much of a word uttered. 

Ring. Ring. Ring. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system—

Derek noticed the way his unit chief’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter and tighter with every unanswered call. The surrounding lights dashing past the SUV faster as he stepped on the gas further. 

“Garcia, I need you to track Reid’s number for me now,” Morgan urged on the phone without any pleasantries.

Having heard the frustration laced with concern from his voice, she typed on her keyboard quickly without a quip back to lighten the mood. “His phone last pinged on Olivia’s residence. I also tracked her phone and it says that she’s also within the premises.” 

He hung up and cursed under his breath before redialing and painfully hoping for Reid to pick up. The tension inside the vehicle increasing with every automated message. He swore again, wishing he should have gone with him instead and that the boy genius was alright.

———

“FBI!” Hotch shouted as he entered the unlatched front entryway with Morgan right behind. They continued moving forward in darkness with just their flashlights illuminating the way, checking every area, until they reached the staircase landing. The ex-prosecutor pointed upwards with his gun indicating to his team member that’ll he’ll take the upstairs while the other continues the search downstairs. 

Derek nodded once before progressing on inwards on the first floor. He rounded every room with his flashlight darting to every corner looking for any sign of Spencer and Olivia. As he entered the kitchen, a pair of distressed black Converse were caught peeking behind the counter near the ajar pantry door. It was Pretty Boy, lying face down, unresponsive. 

“Reid, Reid!” Morgan rolled him over to check for any bleeding, breathing a slight sigh of relief having spotted none. “Hotch, Hotch! He’s here!” 

Reaching over to where his phone was clipped on his belt, he called for an ambulance and indicated that there was an agent down at their location. Bruises were starting to form near Spencer’s temple possibly from a blunt force object to the head and an empty syringe lying nearby—the unsub was getting sloppy, leaving such evidence that may contain prints at a crime scene. 

As Hotch rounded the corner with the paramedics seconds behind him, there were two things they concluded that were unaccounted for. The first was Spencer’s standard issue gun and the second was Olivia Hill herself.

[pharawee]

Looks like things are so dire with the production company behind My Ride and The Whisperer (K10/Fix Entertainment) that My Ride's author Pat Rangsimant officially distanced himself from any of the company's potential mismanagement and/or contractual breaches. The rights for the My Ride sequel remain with him (I vaguely remember there was talks of filming the sequel).

Here's the full tweet (auto-)translated into English:

Announcement Repeated Once Again As the author of the novel "My Ride", I, Pat, would like to clarify that I have no involvement and no knowledge regarding the case where K10 Global Content company did not fulfill the hiring contract, merchandise sales contract, and any other contracts. My latest encounter with K10 Global was during the closing ceremony of the "My Ride" show at Show DC, and it was only on stage. After that, there was no further communication. Furthermore, the issue of the rights to produce the series "My Ride" Season 2 has never been discussed before. Therefore, if there are sponsors, investors, or any production houses who have discussed this matter with the aforementioned company, please be informed that the production company has never negotiated this matter with me, and the rights to the novel remain with me. This is to inform everyone. Rangsimant

Yikes.

So basically what he's saying is that he has no involvement or even awareness of any of the company's potential mismanagement but there must be some pretty serious rumours floating around for him to address things so directly.

Do I even want to watch The Whisperer finale at this point? 🤨

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lily of the Valley

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: Jason Todd dies and comes back to life. As the League takes him in, he navigates his morality and family values over the years.

Chapters: 28/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul, Ra’s al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Sheila Haywood

Relationships: Jason Todd/Original Character(s)

Additional Tags: Immortal Jason Todd, League of Assassins Jason Todd, Protective Talia al Ghul, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Jason Todd Needs a Hug, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Hurt/Comfort, Adopted Children, Resurrected Jason Todd

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Chrysanthemums

One month after being hired as a security guard, Paul barged into Jason’s trailer, waking him out of his sleep in broad daylight with a young woman. Paul bound the woman with duct tape and gagged her with socks and a bandana. Jason sat up, blinking hard as he stared at the woman. “What’s going on, Paul?” Jason asked. His voice was even and gentle, lacking any kind of emotion. 

“I caught this kid pouring sugar in the bulldozer’s gas tanks… And I want you to make an example of her,” Paul replied. Jason nodded, never taking his eyes off the girl. 

“You want me to dispose of her in any particular space? I can do it clean, but I’m gonna need a minute,” Jason replied as he opened a jar by his bedside and used a fork to fish out a few slices of pickled mango. “Give me a minute to wake up… I’ll get her.” Jason’s eyes glowed, causing something behind in the front of his skull to burn. Paul turned without a word and left. Jason held his breath, his eyes still glowing, and his skull still burning as he waited for Paul to get a short distance from the trailer. Once Paul was out of the way, Jason dropped to his knees and cut the tape that bound her hands. Jason cut her legs loose while she took off the bandana and removed the socks from her mouth. He pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. 

“This isn’t like you. You’re getting sloppy,” Jason whispered, “He’ll think I dismembered you and put you in acid. You can’t let him see you again. It took a lot to plant a false memory like that in his head. It’s messy. I had to unravel his memory and plant an entirely new thread… Is this your mission?” Saru nodded. Jason looked at the coded tattoos on her neck and face. They looked realistic, but they were temporary. The snake on her neck had a red ribbon wrapped around the tail, which meant she was there to kill a woman. The heart and daggers on the back of her neck had the number twenty-one in the center which meant she was alone without backup and the three daggers in the heart meant it was personal. “Who did Trista kill?”

“It’s none—.” 

“It is my business. I have access to her. I’ve been picking off some of her goons one by one… And she likes me. Really likes me. I can kill her for you,” Jason offered. 

“No,” Saru hissed the word. 

Jason squinted at her. He looked into her eyes and felt her hurt. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms. He rubbed her back, feeling her unravel at the seams as she broke down in his arms. “It’s Imay… She killed Imay,” Jason whispered. Saru wrapped her arms around Jason, hiding her face in his sweatshirt as she wept. “Can you wait two weeks? She’ll be here in two weeks to start bulldozing. After Paul tells her I killed you, she’ll want to reward me to keep me quiet, and I’ll be her personal security that day. You can strike then, and I won’t come between you and your target when that happens.”

Saru pulled herself together, but she didn’t let go of Jason. “If something happens—. I—. I don’t want to be revived again. I won’t miss her when I get my hands on her, and I need you to know that if I die killing her, I’m okay with that.” 

“Saru, you can’t be—.”

“Please respect that, Jason,” Saru replied. He shook his head. 

“But you said—. No, I can’t—. I can’t promise you that—.” Saru pushed her way out of his arms. “I love you. I don’t want to live without you—.”

“I slept with someone,” Saru confessed. Jason blinked hard and shook his head. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Jason whispered, his voice breaking as he said it. He knew she wasn’t lying. She still smelled sweet to him, so he knew she used that harsh truth to protect him. “Why would you want to turn your back on me? I know you still love me—.”

“I do… And things have changed since I saw you last. I didn’t know that woman was responsible for killing my brother, and I hadn’t betrayed you yet. I slept with him… With Paul. I wasn’t pouring sugar in gas tanks. I slept with him to find out where Trista was. After it happened, he—.” Jason started to cry. 

“You could’ve asked me. Saru, I never would’ve let him touch you. I would’ve told you anything you wanted to know—.” 

“I don’t need your help, Jason. I don’t want your help. I want you to leave,” Saru replied. Jason held her wrist in his hands, gently as he tried to guide her palm to his cheek. 

He knew what she wanted to do, and it made his heart sick. “Please,” Jason wept like a child as he begged her. “I need you. Please, Saru. I don’t want you to. Say that you won’t—.”

“If you stop me, I’ll lose all the love I ever had for you. I’ll hate you,” Saru threatened him as she took her hand. 

“I don’t have any say in this… Do I?” Jason asked. Saru shook her head. 

“I never thought I’d get the chance to do this, Jason. I said yes to your proposal before I knew my brother’s killer was in this city… You’re free from me. I set you free. You can leave. If she’s dead, the people backing her will disperse. There’s no reason for you to be here. There’s no reason for you to—.”

Jason parted his lips, pressing his forehead to hers as tears streamed down his cheeks. He wanted nothing more than a kiss. If she could kiss him, he could stop crying. If she could kiss him, he could pretend it was all a bad dream. “Please,” Jason whimpered, “Please.” He begged and gasped as if he couldn’t breathe without her. 

Saru chewed her lip and recoiled. “Get out of this city, Jason. Go home to your mother if you have to,” Saru replied. Jason chased her for eye contact, struggling to connect to her one last time, and she reeled back and slapped him. He could’ve stopped her, but he didn’t want to. Jason wanted to remember the sting of her hand across his cheek. He tilted his head back, his eyes closed as tears slid down his cheeks. 

When he opened his eyes, she was gone. It was the last time he saw her before she died. He left the city, returning within two weeks to see if he could catch a glimpse of her before she departed, but he was only horrified to see her gunned down after setting Trista ablaze. It changed something inside him, and he wandered the Amazon in a sickened haze for days out of grief. Paul eventually caught up with him, snapping Jason back to consciousness. He quickly overpowered the man, using his dagger to slice the man open from sternum to stomach. He bathed in the river and returned to his hotel room in the next town to grab his bag. He had to get out of the country, not for fear of being caught, but for fear of losing his mind completely.

[hornystiel]

fics about bruce and harvey? 👀 i am so very intrigued, please tell me more

ok SO. (sorry i'm still excited so this can be long) i read the comics ones (while devouring the gist about them in different comics through tumblr osmosis and memes and relying on my previous dc knowledge) aand they are..very interesting. the thing about them is that they are bitter exes (who may or may not really hooked up in the past but were very close and now are definitely divorced) but who still care about each other. well bruce def still cares about harvey and two face. harvey is...reluctant (the whole thing with harvey not thinking he deserves to be saved, yes). and his dark side mostly hates both bruce and batman and doesn't trust them. which is another interesting thing about them and their 'other sides'. there are basically FOUR different relationships going. batman, two-face (harvey's criminal side and his personality), harvey and bruce. because in half the cases two face doesn't know batman's identity. and all of them have beef and tension. both the angry one and sexual. so it's really interesting how they can coexist and do shit with/to each other. one of the tags i saw was Romantic Face Punching and yeah. yeah.

ALSO there's one fic where bruce is undercover as another criminal dude named matches (i'm a bit all over the place with the comics) and basically hires himself to help harvey in his criminal activities to check on harvey from time to time. and like!! basically bruce isn't either truly himself or batman and harvey, who's instantly figured him out, is like huh. i have angst with bruce and rage with batman but he's neither rn. sure i'll bite. and they communicate by PRETENDING they don't know who they are. and two face is..mostly quieter when matches!bruce is around and harvey is like ??? and this is so good because all the layers of pretending and not being themselves is so them. and harvey doesn't use a coin when deciding things about bruce! twice! also harvey is so vulnerable when he strips for the first time in front of him help

the fic if you're interested

the other fics (i read only explicit fics sorry) were like 'ok we hook up ONCE and it's not PERSONAL' and then well :) it's angsty and too personal anyway

also this happened

two face was like 'if harvey can't say he has a thing for choking and gay thoughts about batman i may very well do him a service while said batman tries to choke me in an alley'. harvey once he's in charge: 'god fucking dammint'. sorry i know it's evil but it was funny gdgdh

anyway i didn't read much (i was doing it at work rip) but they are so unwell and also sad drama queen puppies

i was never interested in other batman ships except for batcat so i think i've finally found my niche thank you misha collins and jackles. again. the first thing i saw with twobats where i thought 'hmm very fruity' was a cartoon with jensen voicing bruce and him and harvey being very cozy with each other <3 when they still worked together and harvey didn't know who batman was

ANYWAy thank you for coming to my insane rambling ted talk i will probably be insane about them in the foreseeable future

[divinecomedyproductions]

RWBY Saints of Remnant Notes: Should the SDC and Jacques be bad guys? Or one of the few Good Guys amongst corruption in Atlas?

DISCLAIMER: This post contains is a radically reimagined Jacques Schnee and SDC in a positive light in a heavily reimagined RWBY AU and has cliche tropes such as "dead mom" which I intend to complement with as "dead dad" of another family, if Canon Jack and SDC has given you a permanent bad taste in your mouth along with Canon Adam Taurus, I understand, this is an AU, just please do not come in with bad faith and ignore me instead.

Said AU is connected to The Emperor-Verse

I'm writing down notes and my gut just wants to make Jacques redeemable, but given how much damaged he has done to others, both his family and an entire people, that seems to heavy of a task without him ending up dead. But that was when I rebooted it by the end of V3.

But making this a hard reboot from the beginning then it hit me, and you do not have to agree with this at all...

What if instead of the SDC and Mr. Schnee being part of Atlasian corruption...

They along with James and the Atlas Military/Academy are the only few good individuals and institutions in Atlas, and both are paying the price for it from their upper class peers?

What if instead of Jacques being this opportunistic conman, he is Nicholas' biological son, and a former huntsmen in his youth who was on the same team as James Ironwood who served as his leader and who Weiss and Winter fondly call “Uncle Jim”, basically to them what Qrow is to Yang and Ruby

Jacques stuck to his father's principles and has managed to uphold The Schnee Dust Company as one of the few ethical businesses in regards to the Faunus, as well as providing support to other ethical businesses in the northern kingdom, mostly forming genuine friendships with their owners, and refused to outsource labor and resources when everyone else in Atlas did.

But as a result, James and Jacques are being ganged up on left and right by the upper class.

The only reason the Atlas establishment has tolerated Jack and his company for so long because the Kingdom was heavily dependent on them along with other companies for Dust and other goods and products, until recently with a growing unethical conglomerate run by Dr. Gray(Watts) with his mega-corporation GigaWatts Incorporated(Think OCP from Robocop and Lexcorp from DC), and plans on getting rid of the SDC and becoming the kingdoms new source of manufactured goods, tech, and labor, including dust mining and GWI is known for unethical use for Faunus labor in both the mines and factories.

Though I might just toss the Faunus Racism thing given how much of a mess it is and rework the WF for something else and have Atlas Upper Class replacing well-paying jobs with robots to keep the lower classes underpaid, or I could try something with both, need input on that.

Buy anyway, The SDC used to be big, but not in a megacorporation way. The SDC was one of the top four successful companies in Remnant back in the day(because 4 is the magic number in RWBY), and as I said before, Jack had made partnerships with other businesses both in his homeland and a few in other kingdoms during trips with his family, but its very few and Jack had made genuine friendships with the owners. He never stripped the human element out of his business.

You could say GWI is a large-scale "Evil Queen" figure

While the SDC is a large-scale "Snow White" figure, in more ways than one, but that's once again another story for another day.

Now GWI is overshadowing them at an accelerated rate with hundreds of Atlasian corporate companies joining it in exchange for Watt’s technology as well as Atlas Military’s higher ups hiring Watts to develop their military technology and last but not least outsourcing Dust Mining to the likes of Vaccou and Jacques and James are the only few who suspect Watts’ whole campaign being a “snake oil” tactic for something insidious as Arthur has all of the upper class eating out of the palm of his hand.

Meanwhile the likes of the White Fang and other kingdoms see Jack, SDC, James and The Atlas Military as just a bunch of rich pricks due to being part of the upper class(millionaires though, not billionaires, and even that’s dwindling now), seeing Jack and Jim as "one of them"

and understandably so mind you, given the rest of Atlas’ actions, but also because the current leader Rina Kumokage is lumping them in deliberately to distract the other members and branches(North, West, and South to be exact) of her own selfish and twisted intentions for the White Fang among other things

Though the White Fang itself seems to be in the hands of corrupt individuals in their neck of the woods. With the likes of Blake and Adam seeking to root it out, Adam being a little too aggressive in his means while Blake seeks outside help, which has strained their brother-sister relationship.

Spoiler alert, the corruption of The White Fang is not from Adam but a new character, Adam isn't the bad guy or a psychopath.

In this AU Adam is more like a cross between Fall of Cybertron Grimlock and Zuko, but he's another post for another day.

But anyway, the persecution of the SDC by the rest of the Atlasian upper class has gotten so bad, radical anti-Faunus militia Kriegsratten Korps aka “The Rats”(they allude to the Rats in The Nutcracker and mixed with Wolfenstein Nazis) and most likely be members of the Atlas Military throughout the ranks supplied with tech from GWI even secretly supported the corrupt council and big business, start attacking the SDC mines killing Schnee family members for being “faunus lickers”, one of them being Jack’s wife Anastasia(both alluding to the Russian Princess, and Snegurochka a Russian fairy tale character) while James struggles to provide the mines and family security while being undermined by higher-ups. 

Yes I know dead mom is cliche but I plan on complementing(is that the right word?) it with Blake losing her own father Ghira and leaving her mother, Noire(aka Kali), widowed. And I have a reason for that later on down the road.

Also Jacques isn't a monster, he just isn't a perfect parent and seems cold on the surface, but its mostly due the burden he bares of being a single parent, and upholding a noble family legacy, giving Faunus descent and honest work, and holding out with other businesses he’s made partnerships with. Their something of a resistance group against GWI.

All with countless of peers trying to sabotage him and James to the point its claimed his family and lover, all of which is straining his relationship with his daughters and his former teammates, James in particular. Plus losing his father at an early age and the board of directors forcing him to become CEO caused him to develop anxiety issues with only his mother and girlfriend and later on wife and children keeping him sane.

James and Jacques together allude to “Atlas” with a great burden weighing down on their shoulders they struggle to hold it up

He's a bit too harsh on Weiss with her huntress training(ie the White Trailer) but in order to defend herself against assassins, and sends her off to Vale in hopes she would be safer there(relatively speaking.) 

But the way he does it comes off to Weiss as her father not caring about her other than making her a trophy for his own reputation and being out of his way otherwise, and HOO-BOY don't get me started with how pissed Winter is with him.

Like I said, if all of this you can't vibe with because its supposed to be Jacques and Canon Jacques along with Canon Adam has put a permanent bad taste in your mouth, thats fine, I feel the same about other characters in other stories. No judgement.

I plan on making a post to dive deeper into Jack, but I will say he's primarily Jack Frost, but his secondary allusion to "The Nutcracker"

I'm also recycling this concept for my own original works, not sure what exactly, but something.

[raonwashere]

HELLO THERE‼️‼️

Tis me, friend 🚶🏻‍♀️actually you can call me Huhu

As promised, I am here to give out some ideas for kaitou joker x reader ideas PLEASE I miss it when people used to write them. Anyway I was thinking a kaitou joker x detective female reader?

Like reader is a detective like kudo shinichi from DC and she is a new person on the police force. Its her first time attending a heist and she’s smart yk yk and explains to the inspector how joker stole the treasure. Joker and hachi hears all about this while disguised as one of the police, even though they already stole the treausure they were both curious of the new person. Hachi is like “ooh this girl is smart! WAIT too smart! She might catch us!” Joker on the other hand stays silent while observing her, its not like this isnt the first detective he’s seen but something about her….makes him feel something OO LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

Anyway thats all I got for that idea *roller skates away* 🛹🛹🛹

MORE INCOMING‼️‼️

HELLO HUHU!1!!1!1 THABK YOU FOR GIVING ME IDEAS !!!

that idea is so cute esmsmsm, enjoy 😋

( sorry if my English is bad I suck 💔💔 )

Love at first sight -?!

— kaitou joker x detective ! reader , she / her pronounce

A new detective was recently hired by Inspector Oniyama.

Today ( or rather night ) was rather special considering that it will be the new detective's first heist ! Although the expectations were not that high , she hopes that she can perform well, or maybe even better than her boss and the rest of her coworkers.

The inspectors plan was simple , a bit too simple. Non the less , she didn't say much and got to work. She was quick , and smart, able to pick up anything out of the ordinary.

She had notice quickly how one of the police were acting quite suspicious . So ,she kept her suspicions , finding an whichever opportunity to question that spesific police.

The police was of course non other than Joker and Hachi themselves. Hachi was nervous , starting to panic inside but Joker kept his cool..

She found it weird on how these two spesific police would walk of at the most random times... Unless , they are the thieves , but it was a thought. She decided to follow the two.

She had caught the two in the act of coming out of their disguises.

— " Aha! My suspicions were correct after all ! "

Joker , impressed by the detective's quick discovery. He was shocked , considering how during his past heist , he's never gotten caught in the act of transformation unless he reveals it upfront.

Not to long after that , Inspector Oniyama caught up to it too, but failed once again to catch the Mysterious Joker along with his partner !

Inspector Oniyama was impressed by her , and how she explained to him how Joker escaped and how they pulled it of.

But did joker actually leave yet ? Nope. The two eves dropped on her explanation , hachi was shocked and started to panic ( again ) on how smart she is. And with that , they left to the sky joker

----

— " hm , the newbie's good. I can't wait help but look forward to seeing her on our next heist. " He chuckles.

After that? He wanted to see her very often. Even started getting slightly disappointed if he didn't manage to see her.

Hachi can only sigh at how his master has fallen in love ... ♡

sorry if it seems short :v , I forgot what the gum was called he uses for transformation 😭

I'm not rly proud w this bcuz it seems so messy , I tried staying to ur idea, I hope u like it !!!

Please correct me if anything was wrong eueieiei ;-;

[noisyjoj]

FALLOUT: CURIE

CHAPTER ONE: IGUANA FIREFIGHTERS

A spin-off web novel by Youssef Hegazy

As the sun rose to the top over the desolate wasteland, the outskirts of Washington came into view. Once a thriving capital city, it was in ruins, a mere shadow of its former self. The streets were littered with debris and remnants of buildings that have long since crumbled. A sense of eerie silence hung in the air, broken only by the distant sound of scavenging creatures, bullets echoing, and the occasional gust of wind.

Guard posts surrounded the area standing tall on a hill, every few meters there was one, the dusty skies spoke in moans and groans on what once was the world before, as an old man on his death bed reminiscing about the old days, some would think that this land was forsaken by God a long time ago.

“Bogie, 30” square to the right of that stop sign” “Affirmative, I got’em”

Up one of the guard posts stationed on the top of the hill, two men kept peeled eyes on the landscape before them, broken roads, rusty hunks of steel and engines resting on all sides, and a traveler, with an eyebot keeping them company.

“One female, early 20s, no weapons visible, one eyebot, doesn’t seem hostile.” “Roger, count that in, keep an eye on them.”

Edwin Blutarch was a seasoned sniper hired by Camp Leaf as one of the guards, some patrol on the ground, he and his spotter, Jacob, on the other hand, keep it tight on top of that decrepit wooden tower surrounded by barbed wires.

“Doesn’t seem like a threat to me…I think she’s just passing by..” “What if she’s a spy? maybe a scout for some gunners or something...”

If ordered to fire, it wouldn’t be Edwin’s first time pulling the trigger on an unsuspecting soul, many people died on these roads, some didn’t deserve it, but he wouldn’t know, to him, a good soldier follows orders, and orders are what brought him peace in this world.

Through the scope attached to his semi-automatic combat rifle resting on the wooden floor of their post, Edwin saw a young woman walking cheerfully with a large backpack, a weirdly warm smile on her face beneath the bangs of her short black hair her eyes looked at the sky with the fascination of a child, she was humming to herself something, seems like the eyebot hovering around her was playing her a song she enjoyed, it echoed throughout the dead silence of the area.

Her glimmering smile, her dreaming eyes, and the subtle way she moved and swung in excitement when the song beat rose, the closer she got, the louder the instruments echoed, it seemed like a rhythm and blues kind of song, then Jacob looked at his left leaving his binoculars for a moment to check on their radio if it worked, seems like the festive fever has caught up with the man. “If Commander Sandler hears Three Dog howling from our post again, he’ll make us sleep with the Brahmin..” “Eddy, please…don’t bring his mother into this…”

Jacob turned back to adjust the radio frequency to Galaxy News, random chatter and mostly white noise filled the post, Edwin followed the traveler with his scope step by step, he couldn’t get his eye off of her and the eyebot, his mind was flooded with nostalgia, warmth, soon guilt, grief started stabbing his heart, the shotgun shell he took in the chest in DC didn’t hurt as much as what he felt at that moment, still…he just couldn’t stop himself from looking at her.

“I think the radio’s busted…no good..gotta borrow one from Freddy later…” “I don’t think “borrow” is the right word…” “Your back still sore from that time? I told you old lady Guinness wouldn’t give us that pie.” “yeah, and you stole it, and somehow! I got caught up in your bullshit.” “And I am the bad guy? I am bustin’ my ass up here with you! And I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I all had was iguana bits!”

“You thank God up in heaven for those bits, I told you Margret was bad news!” “She and her dad can kiss my ass, that guy can’t cook for shit anyway.” “Well here you are hungry for that meat like a cheerleader with her boyfriend’s football team, also I couldn’t help but notice you bringing a lot of behind stuff into your words, I don’t know what you’re into, but keep it away from me, please.” “Well, you learn to share your food!” “Well, you think twice before flirting with the mess guy’s daughter!”

“Oxide 1, Derpy, and Sector 4, action spotted on the eastern front, how copy? over.” A third voice shouted through the intercom strapped on the men’s military rags, a distressed speaker tried his hardest to sound stoic and calm.

“Derpy, action spotted on the eastern front, how copy?! over…”

“Roger that, Covenant, sending in, over.”

With their fiery red exoskeletons and venomous stingers, fire ants crawled from beneath the sand and rocks and struck the traveler and her eyebot companion, their mandibles were sharp as razors, capable of tearing through flesh and bone with ease, and it wasn’t long before the young woman was shooting at them with an automatic laser gun, sparks of bright red flew all over with fire breath from the ants constructed a spectacle in the area, the eyebot flying across shooting the ants with its built-in laser blaster. Jacob looked at the fire erupting from the monstrosities and then looked into his binoculars again. “Wind, left to right.” “Got it, locked on.”

“Send it” A 45 bullet blasted through the muzzle with a large bang hitting a fire ant just above the mandible. “Bullseye!” A hot bullet casing flew from the receiver, as Edwin readjusted from recoil.

“Bogie, the girl’s 3 o'clock!”

“Locked on!”

“Send it!”

Another bullet flew to hit the ant just on the ocelli, then he realized that the snipers from the neighboring towers were finishing off the swarm, one of the ants was speeding to the woman’s back and about to jump on her from behind, but the eyebot was busy finishing off another with her, Edwin fires without preparation and the shot lands right next to the ant’s left leg, causing a gush of dirt to cover it from his sight.

“NO!”

An ominous guitar riff echoed across the field amidst the chaos followed by a .44 magnum bullet flying off taking the attacking ant’s entire head with it, the shot came from nowhere, and the puzzled sniper looked around searching for the gunman but to no avail.

“...Did you hear that??”

Jacob looked momentarily at his fellow guard and then looked back through the binoculars, the ants were almost wiped out, but one last ant was breathing fire relentlessly at the eyebot, as the laser blaster kept firing at it, the young woman shot a plethora of laser shots at the ant before it finally crumbled, the fire was still on the eyebot, turning it insane, it hovered around aimlessly, low and high, hitting the ground beneath it and then rising again producing clouds of sand with how fast it rotated around itself.

“Aww…this ain’t good..” “SHOOT IT DOWN!”

Edwin immediately aims at the flanking robot out of control in hopes of dropping it from the air, one shot, misses, another land on its front speaker, then it turns sideways, the relief the two felt was short-lived as it flew all the way in their direction, it disappeared from their sight for a split second before the entire tower is shock with fire and a blast wave hits them, they both spectated with wide-open eyes as they fell down the hill filed with steel barbed wires and sharp rocks.

“Oh SHI-”

CHAPTER ONE: END

Here's the web novel cover I made for this!

[bistephs]

Thank you for your tags. It always rubbed me wrong when other stan complained "JaSon sTaN aRe alWays cHoosE and pIcK tHe CaNoN tHuS tHeY'rE tHe WoRst" like 1. as if other stans doesn't do that 2. Look at the way Jason is written by canon. He's the most inconsistent character.

While i don't like how fanon wrote Jason most of the time, can we really blame them? because i belive every Jason's version is canon at this point, i can't even count.

hey thanks for sending this!! i always feel kind of embarrassed after posting one of my tag rants so i'm glad you liked it!

and yeah, comics in general are so inconsistent w/ each new writer just changing whole events and characterizations around that i don't fault anyone for picking and choosing things they like vs dislike. imo that's like... the only way to actually enjoy comics, especially with characters who have years and years of baggage and inconsistent writing. personally i think the original under the hood/lost days jason is the most interesting characterization (and i don't think either story is like 100% perfect or that winnick is the perfect jason writer, just that at least it's an INTERESTING story that sets up an interesting character), and it just sucks how little that's actually carried through with other writers. jason has so much potential to be such a great character and late post-crisis storylines like battle for the cowl or morrison's batman & robin just kind of ruined that by making him a boring one-dimensional villain as a lazy contrast to the "good" robins. like i said in the other post i'm not really opposed to jason being a villain/antagonist, but at least make him a GOOD villain, you know?

i'm hoping we get some better jason stories going forward to shake off some of that (and his new 52 characterization which i'm also not crazy about but that's a whole different rant), but i feel like a) no one at dc really knows what to do with jason as a character rn so they just keep throwing him into different storylines and seeing what sticks and b) his current characterization is pretty entrenched and isn't going anywhere. which is really disappointing.

but yeah definitely fans of Every Comics Character Ever pick and choose their interpretations. ppl who liked original jason are pissed that he was downgraded into Generic Murdering Bad Guy Who Shoots Kids For Attention so other characters could monologue about how he's ""too far gone to be saved"". sue us i guess

[browa123]

Numer 4 magicians assistant! 😊

Ask About WIPS! :D

You can find what is posted for Magician's Assistant Here!

Ah, yes. MA. My biggest project in DCMK as of yet. I don't know how finished it is, honestly. It's mostly the culmination of things I want to see happen in DCMK:

Kaishin, Sonokai the BROtp, more Kaito and Makoto interactions, Kaito being the one set up for once because Sonoko is a minx, fluff and angst and fluff, got some whump planned for it later down the line, and Kaito working as a magician for the Suzukis to hit it big.

Honestly, with how much I love the crossover episodes in DC, if feel starved of interactions between Kaito and Jirokichi. I see ZERO fics that touch on their dynamic as the rich guy trying to catch a thief by setting him up. I also think he'd like Kaito's spunk out of costume, which is why I'm putting that side plot in there.

(If anyone does have any fics that have Kaito and Jirokichi interacting please let me know!!)

Also writing about how Kaito views KID as a completely separate person to him, one that he can not take credit for, one he doesn't think of as anything human, just an idea, is really fun to mess with.

Oh, right. Snippet. Guess I can give you a sneak peek.

-

Checking the Security (MA / Chapter 6)

"What do you think, kid?" Jirokichi pats Kaito on the shoulder, looking up at the grand vault that was the newest piece in the elaborate trap to catch Kaitou KID. "Fresh off the press. This baby's got everything. Finger print lock, iris scanner, three different sets of keys, and most of them are red herrings that set of the alarm the moment he tries to crack it!"

Kaito lets out a low whistle, looking over the vault with a keen eye. Well, if he's learned anything about the old man over these past few years, it's that he knows how to put on a show.

"It's very impressive, Jirokichi-san. If I may ask, what is the proper way to open the vault? Just as a reference so I know KID won't spot it," Kaito asks with a level tone. After all, he was "hired" under the table to investigate weak points in the security. The irony would have him snickering if he wasn't forcing himself to be calm and collected right now.

"Can't say. That bastard of a thief probably has bugs everywhere, and is even listening to this conversation as we speak," Jirokichi replies coldly. "You hear me KID! I'm going to be the victor tonight! It'll be me on the headlines once again and those iron bracelets with be slapped on your wrists in a few hours."

Jirokichi cackles loudly, hands on his hips as his belly shakes with laughter. From the motions swaying the old man's coat, Kaito can see the faintest glint of something shiny tucked away in an interior pocket. He lets himself smirk the slightest bit in playing along with the old man's laughter.

We'll see who has the last laugh tonight.

[leftoverenvy]

Secrets of the West Wing (ch. 28 - Epilogue)

Header by @ssa-sapphic

A/n: make sure to watch the time jumps in this chapter.  

This is for @sweetprentiss 's spring writing challenge. Bingo Prompts: wedding; meet the parents

Warnings: a little bit of smut

Read on wattpad | ao3 | previous chapters

Taglist: @ssa-sapphic 🧸; @5raysofsunshine 🌮

Chapter 28 - Eternal

July 2027

This week was hectic.  No one could ever prepare me for how crazy it would be to run the country and plan a wedding.  And I put a rush on it, wanting to be Emily's wife as soon as possible.  Though Penelope had hired the best wedding planner in DC, she told me six months was the earliest she could make this wedding happen.  Her and JJ conspired to make this the event of the decade. 

I begged them to rein it in.  I delegated as much as I could to them, but they needed my input on several things.  Emily was no help because she didn't care.  Every time I asked her opinion on something she said, "I just want to be your wife.  I don't care about the wedding."  I always sighed because I felt the same way.  I didn't care what flowers we had or what our guests ate.  All I cared about was tying myself to her forever.

I had never imagined myself getting married, but when she proposed, it felt right.  I had no hesitations when I told her yes.

January 2027

As was typical for me when I was in a good mood, I was blaring old pop and dancing around the residence, sliding around the slick floors in my socks.  Emily sat on the couch, amused.  Every now and then she would chuckle at how ridiculous I was.

"Come on!" I begged again.  "Dance with me!"

She slunk back further into the couch as if that would deter me.  "I don't know how to dance like this.  I don't even know if you can call this dancing, love," she teased.  I tugged on her arms to get her up, but she wouldn't budge.  I dropped her hands and shimmied in front of her face.  She cracked a smile again, her eyes dropping to the cleavage exposed by the gap in my shirt.

I straightened up and swayed my hips sensually as I walked backwards, hoping I could draw her to me.  When that didn't work, I jumped around and stuck my butt out at her and shook it.  When I turned to face her again, love and mirth poured out of her eyes.

"I love you," she said in admiration. 

I smiled at her and shimmied again.  "I love you too, Em," I said through a giggle.  I was so happy with her.  She never made me feel bad for being silly.  Just to see her smile once again, I pulled out every lame dance move I could think of.  I started with the scuba diver and then moved on the lawn mower.  When that didn't work, I tried the disco.

"Marry me," she blurted.  I froze.  I couldn't possibly have heard that right.  But she was biting her fingernail - a sure sign I had heard her right.  My mind raced a million miles a minute, my heart pounding in my chest.  I was certain she could even hear it over the music. 

I had never wanted to get married; it was a huge point of contention in my previous relationships.  But breathlessly and without hesitation, I answered, "Yes."  She shot off the couch, immediately wrapping me in her arms. 

She buried her nose in my hair, placed a quick kiss on top of my head, and exclaimed, "Yes?!  I didn't think you'd say yes!"

"You've been thinking about this?" I queried.

"Since the moment I watched you walk through those doors."  I swooned, my breath hitching at how sweet she was.  How could I have possibly gotten so lucky?  She tipped my chin up so gently and kissed me softly.  "Wait here," she whispered against my lips. 

She rushed off into our room, disappearing from sight.  If she hadn't returned within thirty seconds, I would have gone looking for her.  She couldn't propose and then leave.  When she walked back into the living room, I stopped breathing.  In her hands rested a small, velvet box. Holy hell.  She was serious.

She dropped down to one knee in front of me and took my left hand in hers.  Tears welled in my eyes.  "Em-"

"I want to do this right.  Please, y/n/n," she pleaded.  I nodded at her to continue.

"Angel...I never thought I deserved love until I met you.  Sometimes I still feel like I don't deserve your love.  You are everything to me," she gasped out, overcome with emotion herself.  "I can't imagine a life without you.  And I'm hoping I don't have to.  I want to spend every day for the rest of our lives together.  So marry me, y/n y/l/n," she asked again, opening the small box to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.

A tear drop diamond sat on a gold band surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds.  I don't know how she chose such a perfect ring when we hadn't talked about it before.  A tear slipped down my face as I nodded furiously.  I thought I would vibrate out of my skin if she didn't put the ring on quicker.  I was bursting with excitement.  She finally slid the ring on my finger and stood back up to kiss me.

I was so beyond restraint; I launched myself into her, forcing her to stumble back to remain upright.  I kissed her furiously, so overwhelmed with love and gratitude.  "Fuck me right now, Emily," I begged.  "I mean it.  Fuck me while I wear nothing but your ring."

She laughed lightly and pulled back from my lips.  "Since when do you call the shots?"  But her actions betrayed her words.  She pushed me back on the couch, stripping me as fast as possible.  Her lips frantically fell on each inch of newly exposed skin.  She kissed me until I was aching for her to make me cum.

"Em," I gasped when she nipped sharply at my thigh.  She trailed her tongue from the middle of my thigh over to my clit and sucked hard.  "Ah!" I cried out.  Usually she teased me more.  I couldn't help but moan noisily.  I rocked my hips into her mouth, and just as her head was buried between my thighs, my hand buried itself into her hair to keep her from moving away.  I couldn't stop staring at my hand, now adorned with a ring signifying our commitment.  The diamond glistened in the light as her head bobbed between my thighs.

______________________________

July 2027

Penelope said she left a packet of papers for me to look at on the kitchen island, so I was looking over the wedding planner's final touches when I felt Emily kiss the back of my neck and pull me into her chest.  She buried her nose in my hair and sighed.  I knew the sound of that sigh; it wasn't one of contentment.

"What's wrong, babe?" I asked gently.

"My mother will be here soon."  I bit back a smile and choked down a chuckle because I could tell she was genuinely upset.  I thought it'd be a bit rude to laugh when she was actually distressed.

"It's going to be just fine, Em.  I promise.  It's our wedding weekend; she'll be perfectly pleasant," I tried to reassure her.

She sighed again.  "I just can't help but feel she isn't here for my wedding..."

I turned around in her arms.  "What do you mean?  She's coming for our wedding...she's arriving within the hour."

"She's coming for political capital - to meet the President."  I bit my lip.  She had a point.  Though I hadn't met her mother yet, the stories Emily told indicated this was more likely than her making the time to be here for a momentous occasion in Emily's life.  "I mean," she continued, "Would she even have bothered to leave Italy if I were marrying anyone else?"

Her tone, though angry, was clearly masking her hurt.  I rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her, but I didn't know what to say.  I couldn't imagine not having supportive parents.  She leaned down to nuzzle her head into my neck but let out a frustrated grunt at having to stoop so low.  "Can I just-"  She grabbed me by the hips and started to lift; I hopped to help her lift me up on the counter.  After pushing my legs open to make room for her between them, she placed her head on my shoulder and snuggled into me.

I placed a kiss on her forehead and smoothed her hair down.  I scratched my nails lightly into her scalp just how she liked it.  "Uggghhh!" she complained.

"It's going to be fine, Em.  The residence is big-"

"Not big enough," she scoffed into my neck.

"And we're leaving for our honeymoon the day after tomorrow," I continued.  "We'll be so busy you won't even notice her."

"Okay, first: this is NOT our honeymoon.  Going to Colorado is not a honeymoon.  I want to take you somewhere special when your term's up."

This time, I interrupted.  "That could be in six years!  Going home is a vacation because we won't be here.  And it most certainly will be a honeymoon," I assured her, lifting her chin up to place a soft kiss on her lips.

"Anyway," she said pulling back, "This place is not big enough.  Does she have to stay here?"  She squeezed my thighs and slid her hands up them.  And though we were having a serious discussion - it was so rare for Emily to actually express her feelings - I couldn't help it when my breath hitched.  She pulled back and quirked an eyebrow at me.

I tried desperately to ignore the heat spreading in my abdomen.  She looked so sexy when she lifted her brow like that.  "Yes, your mother is staying here.  Don't be ridiculous, Emily."  She rolled her eyes at me and caressed my thighs again, this time pushing her fingers just underneath the hem of my dress.  She placed a sloppy, wet kiss on my neck.

"I don't want to talk about my mother right now."  Her voice dropped enticingly; her mouth continued its assault on my neck.  I couldn't help it.  My head tipped to the side to encourage her lips.  I wrapped my legs around her back, moaning softly as she continued to kiss my neck.

My mind and libido warred with each other.  It had been so long since we had been together like this.  I had been incredibly busy running the country and planning the wedding at the same time.  "Em-" I gasped, halfheartedly objecting to this turn of events.  "Your mom is going to be here any minute."

"Y/n/n, I love you, but please stop talking about my mother when I'm trying to fuck you."  Her fingers whispered over my skin, and she sucked my ear into her hot mouth.  My breathing turned ragged, chest heaving.  I pulled her face up to mine and lost myself in her kiss.  She was being so demanding, so insistent.  I needed more.  I pulled her as close as I could, tightening my legs around her like a python.

"Em-" I gasped.  "Slow down, please."  This was my last ounce of resolve.  She felt too good to stop.

"Why?" she demanded between pants.  "And don't you dare say my-"

"OH!" a new voice exclaimed in shock.  Ah hell.

Emily and I whipped our heads to the entrance of the kitchen, my stomach plummeting at the sight of Emily's mother standing there with her jaw dropped.  The agent normally posted at my door was standing awkwardly behind Elizabeth Prentiss, shuffling his feet, her bag in hand.

"Mother," Emily greeted dryly.  I tried to pull my dress down my thighs since it had ridden up inappropriately high.  But I tugged on it to no avail because Emily was still standing between my thighs.

"Em, please," I whispered trying to nudge her away.  She, thankfully, took a step back and helped me down from the counter.  Mortified, I smoothed my dress down.  This was not how I wanted to meet my fiancée's mother.  Her daughter and I sucking face with my legs wrapped around her.

"Madam President," Elizabeth said, "It is an honor to meet you."  But I couldn't feel like the President of the United States right now.  I felt like a high schooler caught necking in the backseat.

I cleared my throat.  "Please, Elizabeth - call me y/n," I said nervously.  We briefly shook hands while she turned her attention to Emily.

"This is quite a surprise I must say, Emily.  Honestly, I didn't even know you were seeing someone.  And then to find out you're getting married in a news article no less!"  Emily sighed.  I couldn't blame Emily for being put out.  It was a bit aggressive for her mother to come into her home and chastise her within the first two minutes.  After a brief awkward silence, she asked, "So what's the plan for this weekend?"

I looked to Emily, but it was obvious she wasn't going to answer.

"Rehearsal dinner is tonight; the ceremony is tomorrow evening.  I think we'll do pictures before, but that's really up to JJ.  And then the following morning, we fly to Colorado for our honeymoon.  You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."  Emily grumbled under her breath. 

"You won't even be here, Em," I whispered quickly.  "Be nice."

"The First Wedding!" Elizabeth said, breaking the awkward tension.  "How exciting.  And Emily, to think!  You'll be the First Lady."

"Oh really, mom?  I hadn't thought about it," she said sarcastically.

"Em, please," I begged her to be pleasant.  It was going to be a long weekend if Emily was going to act like a petulant teenager the whole time.

______________________________

Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I waited at the end of the aisle to take Emily as my wife.  I looked around the White House gardens in wonder.  The enchanting cottage core aesthetic was exactly what I had envisioned.  The string quartet just adding to the ambiance.  JJ insisted we have a huge wedding, one "worthy" of being the First Wedding.  But I overruled her.  I just wanted it to be Em and I in the gardens.  We compromised by allowing a few family members and friends, and a press photographer.  I drew the line at allowing video; I did not want my private moment televised for the nation.

The music changed, signaling me to start my journey down the aisle.  When I saw her waiting for me, I couldn't breathe.  Emotion constricted my throat seeing her waiting for me.  Her suit made her legs look impossibly long, and her vest cut her curves just right.  She was my every dream - everything I could ever ask for and everything I didn't know to ask for.  I had no idea love could feel like this.

"You look beautiful, love," she whispered when I made it to the end of the aisle.  It was surreal standing before her, hand-in-hand.  I was overwhelmed with love, willingly pledging myself to her forever.  I couldn't believe that we made it here - standing together before a minister. 

As we recited vows, all I could think was how lucky I was.  Lucky for her, this, us.  We traded casual, secret touches and heated stares in the West Wing for intimate embraces and scorching love in our shared bed.  We traded agonized longing for deep, committed love.  And when the officiant finally said, "You may now kiss the bride," and I felt Emily's lips on mine, I was awed by the fact that my once-secret paramour was now my wife.

______________________________

A/n: This is the epilogue, and the last update of the story. I want to sincerely thank all my dedicated readers. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you fell in love with these characters as much as I did.  I'm sad to end this story.  Emily and President Reader will always have a special place in my heart, but it's time to say goodbye.  Please leave me a comment to let me know how you liked it.  And check out my other works here.

Thanks again, 

Katie

[wordsablaze]

Trust Fall

day four, where damian’s improvised escape route is creative but also a literal nightmare for dick...

A/N: some day i’ll write about my faves without hurting them. but not today. whumptober prompts: “do you trust me?” / pushed

-

It’s not that Dick is scared of falling. 

Of course he’s not, he grew up in a circus and spent his days soaring through the air as he flung himself from one pair of hands to another so he’s more than accustomed to dropping and catching himself. 

But it’s different when they’re on patrol.

He hates watching his siblings throw themselves across buildings just as much as doing so fills him with pride. They’re good at it, they’ve all been trained well and it’s satisfying watching them land their jumps perfectly, but there’s still a part of Dick’s heart that will never get over the fear watching his family fall, the fear of watching someone else he loves plummet to their death.

He’d just never expected to experience the reverse. 

And it’s almost poetic how it’s Damian sharing that experience with him, the one person he’s scared for the most. Because Damian is small and he is far from fragile but he is a child and Dick is constantly terrified that his line will snap or his foot will slip or his hands will fumble and he’ll end up falling. 

But no. 

It’s Dick who ends up falling. 

The case they were solving had led them to a series of weapon shipments and opened up a trail of weakly hidden smugglers. It hadn’t initially taken long to figure out who was organising everything but the masterminds were a lot smarter than the men they’d hired to carry out their dirty work and it’s several weeks before Nightwing and Robin manage to intercept an incriminating meeting. 

Of course, the meeting is on a rooftop.

And a particularly tall rooftop at that. From a business viewpoint, it’s ideal: it’s away from prying eyes and means that whatever they discuss is less likely to be accidentally discovered by a guard or a resident or a rival spy. But from a vigilante viewpoint, it’s a pain: it’s difficult to access, staying out of sight is far harder than usual, and there’s almost nowhere to go if things turn sour. 

Almost nowhere to go, because vigilantes are nothing if not creative. So when their hiding spot is unfortunately discovered - not because they’d been unprofessional but because a stray cat decides to have some sort of crisis right next to them - there’s no choice but to be creative about their escape.

“Do you trust me?” Damian quietly asks as they back away from the men glaring at them, so quietly that it takes Dick a moment to realise the question had been asked at all. 

“With my life,” Dick replies honestly. 

He thinks he sees Damian smile one of his extremely rare and shockingly genuine smiles but he doesn’t get any time to appreciate how precious it is because his feet are suddenly separated from the ground and his field of vision shifts from the city skyline to the faint line of stars in the sky. 

“No!” he shouts, but it’s too late. 

Before he can even think of grabbing onto the edge of the roof or anything in the vicinity, gravity has done its job and yanked his head backwards, downwards. He can feel his body flipping over itself, catching sight of the cars parked below him before he rights himself in the air and scrambles to find his grapple gun. 

The wind screams past his ears as he falls but he can’t hear it over the taste of his heartbeat anyway. He should be compartmentalising because come on, he’s a professional and he’s trained for this his whole life, but he can’t think and he can’t find his grapple and he’s falling and falling and falling and he wonders if this what his parents had felt like, if they too had wished they could just stretch a little further, if they’d watched the boy they love stand tall above them as they fell and fell and fell and-

There.

He almost sobs as his fingers latch onto the right part of his belt and aims almost blindly at where he thinks is up. The grappling hook latches onto something but his appreciation is once again cut short as he finds himself being pulled sideways and slammed into a building, the unrelenting brick knocking all the air from his lungs in a way that will surely leave an impressive set of bruises later. 

It takes him far longer than it should to realise that he can’t stay dangling on a building all night. Eventually, when he can hear car horns and distant shouting instead of just his own frantic heartbeat and muddled echoes of memories, he lets his head fall against the brick and lifts a hand to activate his comms. “Robin?”

Mercifully, Damian replies almost immediately. “I’m waiting at the back entrance.”

There are a hundred things Dick could say to that but in the end, he just sighs. “On my way.”

He scales down the building on autopilot, nothing mattering until he sees Damian leaning against a door, looking almost bored with the whole situation. If it weren’t for the way he all but launches himself at Dick as soon as he’s in sight, it might have seemed like pushing his brother off a roof hadn’t affected him at all. 

“Are you okay?” Dick asks, looking over Damian for any injuries even as he nods. “Are you sure? How did you get down? Did any of them hurt you?”

Damian pulls back only enough to meet Dick’s worried gaze, his arms still firmly looped around Dick’s stomach. “There was a small vent in the east corner, I escaped through it easily but you would have been too tall.”

Oh.

Dick smiles, ruffling Damian’s hair. “You did the right thing, Robin. That was smart, and impressively quick thinking.” He waits until Damian’s shoulders relax and the guilty frown fades from his face before adding: “I totally understand why you did what you did today but please, please never do that again.”

He doesn’t think Damian knows how his parents died and it’s unlikely that he’s aware how the fear of falling still haunts his nightmares so many years later but there must be something telling in his expression because Damian nods quickly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers solemnly.

Again, Dick smiles as warmly as he can. “It’s okay, Robin, I love you.”

They use the fact that the men who’d spotted them on the roof are probably on their way down after them as an excuse to move on and head back to the cave for their reports, but Dick would be lying if he said he doesn’t pointedly avoid taller buildings for the next couple of weeks.

-

dick please admit that you have trauma so your siblings don't accidentally make it worse--

-

thanks for reading !! masterlist | dc sideblog: @batfamvibes

[cdfreak]

hi soda!! idk who ms darling is, please tell me abt her! also ignore that i just unfollowed u by accident while trying to hit the ask button ahaha

omg i do that all the time <33

ok ok ms darling (full name gemini rosemary darling) is my new fallout oc :3 shes a prewar ghoul (was about 35 when the bombs fell) who just recently moved to diamond city!! she is originally from southeastern california, emerging partially ghoulified from a small family bunker under her house about 5 years after the bombs fell. she eventually made her way to the hub, where she settled down and started scavving for materials to make clothes and armor - utilizing her knowledge of different textile, fur, and leather products from before the war when she worked as a tailor to craft armor and outfits for people. she definitely struggled, however, as her ghoulification progressed more and more and people started to avoid her and her shop more often. in late 2189 the caravans taking her customers, increasing ncr presence, anti-ghoul sentiments, and a desire for a fresh start all drove ms darling to close up shop and travel east. she spent a while traveling, staying in towns for a few weeks at most and wandering all around looking for a place to make home. she also took this time to transition, having wanted to live as a girl for years but always being too scared to make that change in a place where people had known her before. she didn't settle down again for quite a while, since she was adamant about avoiding another ncr-allied area. in 2190 she wound up in the mojave desert, and settled down in primm - once again starting up a clothing business. she stayed there for a while, enjoying the independency, low damage from the war, and new unique materials to work with, until 2274 when the ncr's army arrived in the mojave and signed a treaty with mr. house. at first she didnt want to let the ncr push her out of another home, but when the legion began arriving in the area she packed up and left. she traveled north at first, wanting to head east without passing through too much legion territory, and after about 9 months wound up in DC. although previously disliking the brotherhood, she sort of approved of the DC chapter since they seemed more concerned with protecting people than hoarding technology. she wound up in the underworld, liking the idea of an all-ghoul settlement, and began working with tulip at underworld outfitters. she became friends with carol and greta as well, and enjoyed her life there. she got #depressed after a while, though, hating hiding away in such a small little area instead of being able to live outside and actually interact with the world. so in 2287 she said goodbye to her friends and made her way up to the commonwealth, initially settling in goodneighbor -although that was short-lived, since she disliked the crime and general dark cramped feeling of the place. she moved up to the slog (in maras canon she put work into turning it into a small trading center so its not really just a small farm anymore) and had a nice time there learning farming skills and setting up another clothing shop. about two years later word came up from diamond city that the ghoul ban had been lifted by the city council, and her and a small group of other slog ghouls made their way there. gemini becomes fast friends with becky fallon, being hired by her to help make/fix clothing for fallon's basement - as well as teach her a few pre-war tricks to the trade. ms darling also befriends mara, a frequent customer of fallon's basement, and through her meets the rest of the gang (including nick who she eventually starts dating) and i would love to go into more detail but ive literally been spending hours writing this and i have to leave for my friends jazz band concert thing in like 10 minutes so i should cut it short here sorry lol if u have more questions please feel free to ask!!

[supraveng]

Moving On - part 4

Summary: You are moving on from your past and starting a new life with your future as a Winchester

Characters: Reader x Sam Winchester, Dean x Cas, John x Mary, Joy Winchester

Warnings: fluffy Winchesters, swearing

Moving On part 3

@iamwarrenspeace @mythandmagik    @lieswithoutfairytales   @bbmommy0902  @hailmary-yramliah  @jessyballet @paryl @tcc-gizmachine @vicmc624

The next two weeks in DC were a blur of meetings and packing up the personal belongings you had accumulated over the past 4 years, most belonging to Joy. By the time you were heading to the airport and saying goodbye to your life, you were feeling a bit overwhelmed. It reminded you of your escape from NY but this time with a bit more excitement of the unknown.

Settling in on the plane heading for your new home, you had brought everything you could think of to keep Joy occupied on the 3 hour flight. By the time you touched down and made your way through the airport to baggage claim, your daughter had become a deadweight that you were now carrying along with your other items, you couldn’t imagine never having the support you currently have from Sam.

Then you thought about trying to make this same trek with her if you were further along in your pregnancy and knew you couldn’t do this alone, you consider yourself a strong independent woman, but not nearly strong enough to be a single mother, those women were warriors that you could only aspire to.

Baggage claim was a madhouse and just as you are about to reach out and grab Joy’s car seat, someone moves around you and grabs it right out in front of you. You were too tired for this, and you looked up to yell at the culprit only to see the beautiful hazel eyes of the man you love.

“I thought I told you that you didn’t need to pick us up” you whispered, hoping to not wake your daughter.

He leaned in for a quick kiss, “I know, but I’ve missed my girls, and this way I get an hour just the two of us before getting to my parents house for dinner.”

“Well, I could definitely eat, but I thought you would be in court all day, so I really am surprised to see you” you snuggled into him as best you could before he started to take bags off your shoulders.

“Let me get this stuff, and you hold on to the precious cargo” he smiled down at Joy, rubbing her back and placing a kiss on her forehead before leading you out of the airport.

By the time all your things were loaded in the car, your daughter was waking up and squealing when she saw Sam. He listened and responded to her the entire way down the highway and only stopped when we reached the Winchester home.

"Babe, I thought we'd be going to your apartment, I could use a shower and nap before dinner with your family" you tell him as you lean over and pull him into a kiss. Whenever you two were apart for any length of time you were always very touchy feely that first day, but even more so when it's been weeks apart.

"Didn't I tell you, I didn't renew my lease, I've been staying here for the time being until we get our own place" he mentions as he exits the car.

"I vaguely remember you mentioned your lease but I thought we had a few more months'' you try your best to smile. You were really hoping for a quiet night in with Sam, but it looks like that's going to be postponed for who knows how long.

Before you even made it to the door, Mary was coming out with a huge smile on her face and pulling you into a hug, “we’ve missed you around here, well I probably missed you the most, there are too many men around here” she whispered before releasing you.

“Nana!” was heard from inside the car as you saw your daughter try to unbuckle and reach her grandmother as soon as possible. You were about to go to her when Mary stepped up, “please let me, I need snuggles with my Joy”.

“By all means, but she slept most of the flight, so she’s going to be full of energy” hoping to warn Mary but by the look on her face, she doesn’t mind at all. The two are running toward the house as you help Sam with your bags from the trunk.

You always loved the Winchester home, large but still inviting, spacious but still cozy, and the fact that every member of the family; immediate and extended; welcomed you with open arms from the beginning was the best feeling.

Growing up in foster care, you never had a home, not for more than a month or two at a time. Then being on your own since you were 15, you never expected to be here now, but it was as if all the years of struggling and trying to find yourself had been worth it to get here.

Becoming a Winchester was something you never knew you always wanted and desperately needed. You can hear Mary and Joy chatting in the kitchen as you make your way upstairs hoping for a bit of relaxation before you become completely exhausted. Sam pulls you into a warm hug before you’re even completely in the room.

Calming any nerves with a kiss to your forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the apartment, I’ve been working so much trying to catch up so that we could have a nice weekend together as a family now that you are officially moved to Kansas that it completely slipped my mind. What can I do to make it up to you?” looking up at him you could see a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“There’s nothing to make up for, but if you were offering a back rub before my nap, I would greatly accept.” as you reach up and kiss me softly before making your way to the bed to remove your shoes.

“Well, if you insist, but I’m almost certain my world famous backrubs is what got you pregnant the first time” he chuckles as turns towards you.

“Good thing we don’t have that to worry about” and you kiss him again. Snuggling as close as you could to Sam, you fell asleep almost instantly, his arms being your safe place, your home.

Waking up with a chill, you realized you were now alone and the absence of Sam made the room feel like a freezer. Quickly getting up and showered, you made your way downstairs to find your family.

You smiled watching Joy, curled up in Dean’s lap watching Scooby Doo, both laughing at the same spots, those two had such a great bond.

"There she is, how was your nap?" Mary asked as she entered the living room from the kitchen with Sam following behind.

"Wonderful, thank you. I promise to not disappear on you again" you told her as she pulled you into another hug.

"No need to apologize for allowing me more time with my granddaughter" as she moved towards the sofa and handed Joy a drink.

"Dinner will be ready as soon as John gets home, so I didn't think she needed a snack right now"

"thank you, but I was planning on cooking for y'all tonight" you told her as you and Sam joined them, while Joy and Dean shushed us for interrupting their show.

"Don't worry about that sweety, John is picking up dinner on the way here, we're just happy to have you two back in town"

The Winchesters were always so inviting, you had dreamed of a family like this when you were growing up and now you finally had it.

By the time John had come in with dinner, the tv had been turned off and you were helping your daughter clean up as Castiel came in and greeted you both.

"Unca Cas! I sit wit you" Joy squealed as she ran and hugged his legs.

"I've missed you too, and as long as it's ok with your mom" He crouched down to her eye level before she was throwing her arms around his neck.

"Don't you want to sit with your favorite uncle?" Dean asked as he patted the seat beside him. Joy laughed as she climbed into the seat between them "luv yu unca bean" and blew him a kiss.

"So, Y/N, we are so glad you two are back for a visit, how long do we get to keep you this time?" John asked as you all started eating.

"Well, about this visit, its um" looking at Sam for some help as he just shrugged with that cute smirk on his face. "Sorry, I'm not sure how to say this and I didn't really have a plan but, this isn't a visit" you looked around and everyone seemed a little confused. "We have officially become Kansas residents as of today"

"Oh, that's fantastic!" Mary told you as everyone seemed a bit shocked.

"Were you able to transfer to a local office?" John asked.

"No, actually, I resigned but they call it retiring so they have the option to hire you back when they need the help, but I don't think that will be a concern for many years if ever" you state trying to reassure Sam that this is it for you, for your family to be together.

"I'm happy for you, sweetheart, but that seems a bit sudden. Is something going on?" Dean seemed to be concerned by your sudden change.

Finally Sam spoke up, "yes Dean, something is going on" he smiled down at you. "Y/N wants to move the wedding up and become a Winchester as soon as possible."

You smirk at him and look back at the family, they seem happy but a bit confused. "Sam and I have a little surprise" you tell them as he squeezes your hand "we are expecting"

There was a unified gasp from the table before everyone was congratulating you.

Once the celebration was over it was time to put your daughter to bed, but with a house full of her favorite people you figured you wouldn't be able to do it tonight even if you wanted to. While Mary opted for handling bath time, the rest of you settled down on the patio, the men opting for whiskey to end the night while you stuck with a cup of tea.

"Might I suggest the name Dean, if it's a boy?" Dean told you with a smirk on his face.

"Really?" you asked "you don't want to use the name for your own kids?" Dean looked a little shocked but shook his head almost defeated.

"Come on Dean, you and Cas would make amazing parents, you never thought about it?" you questioned.

"We discussed it but I'm not sure kids are a realistic idea with as much as we work and travel all the time" he shrugged looking defeated.

Noticing Dean give Sam a pointed look, you realize you may have overstepped and decided to drop the subject. “Well, as your sister-in-law, I support any decision you make for your family. You need to do what's right for you"

The morning was a whirlwind of finding what you needed amongst the bags you had packed and boxes you shipped, but ultimately you were able to get yourself and Joy looking presentable for breakfast with the family. By the time you make it downstairs, John is kissing Mary goodbye and heading towards the door. “Papa wait!” Joy runs full speed and hugs John's legs. “Oh sweetie, I’ll be home tomorrow and we can have a whole day together, how does that sound?” he asks as he leans down to give her a goodbye hug. “Yay, I wan pancakes” as she runs to the kitchen to find her Nana.

“You are working on Saturday? That’s awful” you tell him as he pulls you in for a hug also. “Small little hiccup, I’m hoping to make it back tonight but just in case, I will see you all tomorrow” he waves and is out the door. “So mom, do you think you can keep an eye on your granddaughter for a few hours? I have something I want to show Y/N, and maybe grab lunch in town”

Within the hour the two of you are driving through Lawrence and he’s pointing out all his favorite places growing up before he stops in front of a beautiful two story house on the north end of town.

“So what do you think?” he asks as he opens the car door for you

“It’s beautiful, but what are we doing here?” you ask.

“Well, I was looking around and found this place, and thought we could have the wedding in the backyard” he tells you with a small grin.

“This is perfect, I wanted something small and intimate, but this is just someone’s house. Why would they rent it to us for our wedding?” you question as you walk around the house to the backyard.

“Well, that was the catch, we can’t rent it, so I bought it” he responds with a look between hope and apprehension.

“You bought a house?” you were shocked to say the least. You weren’t sure if you should be upset that he made such a big decision, but Sam was always one to surprise you.

“Yes, for us, technically it’s not ours until we sign the final closing paperwork on Monday but we need a place of our own and what better way to start our family than in our own home” he pulls you into a hug and you can only respond with a huge smile

[flying-nightwing]

Double Cross (Jason Todd)

Hi people! So this is my little project I was talking about. A sudden blurb of inspiration led me to this and uh. Here it is! Once again, this is super experimental so yeah idk about its potential. You’ll be the judge of that I guess

This time I worked on time jumps back and forth and perspectives, so let me know how it turned out!

Masterlist in bio/pinned!

Pairing: Jason Todd x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 6937

Warnings: swearing, uhhh idk it’s dc so you know what you’re into 

-- 36 hours ago --

Your heart was beating hard against your ribcage as you flew down Washington DC's streets. Your motorcycle was burning under you, and you had a feeling you were on the clock to get off of this ticking time bomb before it exploded and brought you down with it. The bullet holes broke the black paint, decorating your bike in a way that flagged unwanted attention. About six blocks ago, unmarked cars had joined your fast paced parade across the city.

A terrible mistake, all of this was. That was certain. 

You took a sharp right, your knee scraping on the asphalt on the way. An infernal noise came out of your bike, but you still willed it to accelerate on the straight alley. You shot back on the main roads like a bullet, swerving around the black police car that had tried to cut you off. But soon enough, you saw the blockade on the street in front of you. You could never jump it with your bike so in disarray, and there were no viable alleys to sneak into. You shut your eyes tight for a moment, then exhaled.

"I'm sorry Jason" You muttered to yourself. "But you left me no choice"

With a firm grip, you pressed the brakes and came to a stop a fair distance from the blockade. You turned off your bike and kicked the foot to hold it up, slowly getting off and pulling your hands up. Shouts erupted around you as the police mobilised themselves in tight formations, guns up and ready to shoot. With one hand up, you undid your tinted black helmet and let it fall to the ground. 

"On your knees!" An officer shouted as he approached. "Keep your hands where I can see them"

You complied.

-- Now --

The white of the neons glaring down on you made your already tired eyes hurt, saturating your vision with a harsh and constant flash of light. You were left alone with a room temperature glass of water on your left and your own reflection on your right. You couldn’t hear them, but you knew they were there, observing you. Instead, all you could see was the dark bags under your eyes and your messy greasy hair. 

You perked up when two men in suits came in by the door in front of you, thin files in their hands and calculating glances. They were nicely dressed, one with a gray suit and the other, black. Both suits were obviously tailored to them. They sat down in front of you and observed you before the one in the gray suit spoke. Dark hair, blue eyes, taller than the other, maybe around six feet.

“Good morning, Agent”

You only nodded, looking down to the table. 

“My name is Agent Baker,” He said. “My colleague here is Agent Tanev. We will proceed to your debriefing”

“Sure” You nodded again.

Agent Baker set a recording device on the desk and turned it on. “Please tell us again why you are here today”

“I am--” You paused, clearing your throat. “I am here today to deliver crucial information on a wanted criminal in exchange for a pardon” 

“Which wanted criminal should that be?”

“The Red Hood” You said, meeting his eyes. “I have names of associates, safe houses locations, frequent territories of operation as well as his specific m.o.”

“How come you know all of this?” He asked, his voice neutral. “No seasoned agent has ever managed to get this close to him, let alone a rookie. We want to know how you gained his trust, start from the beginning, spare no details. Leave nothing out”

“I met the Red Hood during operation 7381 in northern Lithuania” You began as Agent Tanev started to take notes. “I was in the back up team for the extraction of General Kradiev from a local opposant group. I wasn’t supposed to even see action, as it should have been simple enough against an untrained mob, but when is it ever…”

They had known you were coming. A whole grab and go operation had been compromised by the feeling of invincibility of the CIA, that looked down so much on whoever they went against that they never stopped to think that maybe--maybe--they were prepared.

So when the Alpha team stormed the country house where the General was supposed to be kept and found it empty, all action plans were thrown out the window. The Beta team was mobilised to close off all the roads surrounding the area and to search for the hostage. You were ordered to search a single decaying house in between two pine trees because the structure was so old, so  nobody could have ever been hiding in its debris. However, as you were leaving, you heard whimpers coming from the cellar a few feet away from the foundations. Carefully, you made your way to the wooden doors on the ground, and after making sure your magazine was full and the safe of your semi automatic off, you kicked the doors open and raced down the stairs.

“Don’t move or I’ll blow your head off” You yelled, pointing your gun at the first person you saw. It was clearly a man, wearing a bright red helmet that shone under the single lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling. He slowly held up his hands, but he didn’t seem so bothered. Your eyes found another man next, tied to a chair and wearing a bag on his head. The military uniform was a dead giveaway of his identity, so you returned your full attention to the red helmet guy. “You’re going to back up and face the wall now”

“Or what?” He challenged. “You’ll ‘blow my head off’?”

“Shut up!” You barked, taking a step forward. Your firearm was ready to shoot. “Do as I fucking say”

“You’re CIA uh?” He changed the subject, looking down at your marked bulletproof vest and not listening to you. In fact, he didn’t seem worried at all by the situation he was in. “Should have known. You guys have never cared who lived or died. What fucking difference does it make, as long as they’re good pals with the good ol’ US of A right?”

“God would you just fucking shut up and back up” You were getting impatient, but also nervous. You were alone without backup, with a guy in a red helmet who was clearly taunting you, and you had never shot anyone before. It was your first oversea mission, and already it was fucking catastrophic.

“See, that’s the thing” He held a finger up. “You’re pointing a gun at me like I’m the bad guy, while you are trying to rescue the scum of humanity. You’re going to extract him, give him a nice long life on Florida’s golf courses with the taxpayers' money and wipe out from History the mass graves in the woods two miles away”

You remained silent.

“Oh, did you not know about the mass graves?” He asked rhetorically in a mocking tone. “Your friend here decided he wanted to test the new shipment of automatic weapons, because their bullets per minute capacity had been expanded. And what better targets than the group of students that opposed the american military presence in the country? The youngest was 16 and her name was Vera Beliskava. Isn’t that right, Kradiev?”

He pulled the hood from the general to reveal his bloodied and bruised face. He had been gagged and beaten, that was obvious. He looked at you, pleading. 

“You’re the only one who saw” The man in red said, softer this time. “You don’t have to save that piece of trash. Just say your search came up empty and I’ll make him disappear from the Earth's face permanently without leaving so much as a trace. Nobody else will know, and you will go to sleep knowing you made the world a better place”

You took a breath, a million thoughts running into your head. Who was that guy? Why was he here? Why did he not attack you, while he clearly had a handgun strapped on his thigh? Could he be right about Kradiev? You knew he didn’t have the cleanest record concerning human rights, but mass graves? 

“Beta team, report”

You both froze as your comm broke the silence. He gave you a challenging look as you were still debating. You wanted to do good, that’s why you went into the secret services. Being complicit in mass murder wasn’t something you signed up on. 

“Nothing to report on the north road”

“Clear in the valley”

“Farmer’s house empty”

“No traffic on the south road”

You knew it was your turn now. Slowly, you reached for your comm, not breaking eye contact.

“Pinetree house’s clear” You spoke in a flat line, decided and direct as you lowered your gun. You shut down your comm and glanced at Kradiev, whose relief morphed into fear once again as your decision registered. You averted your eyes. 

“You made the right choice”

“I hope so, or I’m dead” You mumbled. “I’m going back now. Don’t make me regret my decision”

“You won’t”

“So just to be clear,” Agent Baker frowned. “You just… Believed him? And you let General Kradiev in his hands?”

“When I left, I went to check, and the graves were there. Kradiev was guilty”

“That was not your decision to make” He pointed out.

“I know” You sighed. “That was my first mistake. I-- I lost it for a moment. He mentioned the graves and the victims and there were so many people the same age as them I could think about and I decided with my feelings rather than my judgement. And I’m paying the price today”

“Alright” He mumbled, passing a hand on his face like he was already done with this debriefing. “When did you cross paths with him again?”

“We were back in America” You continued. “By that time, I was no longer on training wheels. It was a little more than a year later, in Newport Oregon during operation 9004. We were busting a trans pacific drug dealer on the docks when we got unexpected company…”

You were running as well as you could through the maze of freight containers on the docks, trying to push back the pain of the bullet in your leg. You had drawn the fire of the hired gang so your colleagues could proceed, but things went down the drain when you were met with heavier fire than the briefing stated. Outnumbered and outran, you stopped in your tracks and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t go out as a coward, that was certain. If you went down, you’d take as many of them as you could with you. 

You reopened your eyes and checked the magazine of your gun, letting it drop on the ground and pushing a full one in. You loaded and clicked the safe off, flexing your fingers on the handle as footsteps surrounded you. You spun around and pulled the trigger, but before the bullet even reached your target, two men dropped on his side. 

You weren’t the only shooter. 

Thinking it was backup from your team, you allowed yourself to back up against a container, trying to stop the bleeding. You were starting to feel light headed, but you still had a bit more fight in you. Soon enough, all hostiles were down, and you were in for a surprise. Instead of the black uniform of your colleagues, you looked up to a red bat, a leather jacket and a familiar red helmet. You squinted your eyes and let out a chuckle of disbelief.

“Do I even wanna know?” You asked.

“I owed you one” He shrugged. “You okay?”

You looked down to your leg, your pants soaked in blood that was already cooling, then back up again. “Peachy” You gave him a thumbs up. “You were right about Kradiev. He was a fucking trash bag”

“It’s often the case” He said as he rested his hands on his hips. 

“You here for Hiko?”

“Yep” He nodded, then snorted derisively. “Any tips?”

Ever since Kradiev, you have developed a habit of researching your target better. Most of the time, it was a capture or an execution on site, so it didn’t matter the extent of their crimes. But there were moments when you were extracting the package without knowing what came next, and those times usually meant they’ll make them disappear under a new identity, without giving them any repercussion for their actions. This one, Hiko, was the later case, without any plan revealed for when you get him back. He was a known drug trafficker, but he was also rumored to smuggle people back and forth between Asia and North America through the docks he owned. The Red Hood’s appearance was well timed, to say the least. 

“Sneak past the squad through the east” You panted. “If you can move on top of the containers without being seen or heard, you’ll cut them off with about two minutes to spare. Make sure you’re gone with Hiko when they bust through the door, or neither of us will ever find him again”

He paused, studying you. “Thanks…” He trailed off. “Why are you telling me this again?”

“Well, you said it yourself” You managed to smirk. “If I can go to sleep knowing I made the world a better place”

He didn’t answer with anything else but a quick nod before he climbed the containers and disappeared from your field of vision. You sighed, then reached for your comm. “Alpha 003 to central, I’m down and need medical attention, Northwest entry of the docks”

“So if I understand correctly, not only you let him go again,” Baker exhaled, looking bewildered. “But you told him how to get there first? You realize those are becoming serious crimes right?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t” You snapped, before recomposing yourself. Both agents had backed away just a little at your outburst. You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Sorry. I’m just tired, it’s been a crazy last two days” 

“Did he offer you any medical help then?” Baker returned on topic. 

“No, I called the medics and I was extracted with the chopper” You replied. “I knew he was there for Hiko, not for me. It was a coincidence we crossed paths, and at that point I thought it was the last time I’d see him. I mean, what are the chances, right? But you see, that here was my second mistake”

“How so?”

“The CIA goes after threats to national security, but so does he, in his own way” You said, locking eyes with Baker. “The guy’s everywhere, even where we don’t go. And he’s at least three steps ahead of us at any turn. He has good funds, good intel and exceptional skills. You don’t find him, he finds you. And that’s what he did”

“He contacted you after the affair on the docks?” He raised an eyebrow.

“We could say that...”

You finished washing your tea cup when you heard a thud coming in from your living room. Slowly, you grabbed the gun hidden in your cupboard and held it up, quietly making your way to the next room. You rounded the corner and pointed your gun to the man standing with his back to you, registering his identity as he turned around. You must have been a sight in your baby pink pajama shorts and mismatching turquoise tank top, pointing your handgun to a man in a shiny red helmet. 

You scoffed and lowered your gun, clicking the safe back on and putting the firearm on the lamp table. “Breaking and entering, really?”

“Wouldn’t be the worst crime I’ve committed” He shrugged, and you could just imagine him rolling his eyes, whoever he was under that helmet. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, crossing your arms against your chest. “How did you find me?”

“Like I find anyone” He answered like it was the simplest of evidence. You waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have no intention to reveal his methods. This time, you rolled your eyes. “And I’m here because I wanted to check on your leg”

“No you’re not” You snorted. He would have come months ago if it was about that, and even then, the little you knew about him told you he was not the kind to just check upon people who didn’t mean anything to him. “But I’m doing fine, thanks”

“You’re welcome” He nodded. “And you’re right. I need something from you”

“Well, go ahead, since you’re already in” You gestured at him to go on.

“Wait wait wait” Baker held his hand up. “He broke into your house and you just let him? You put your gun down and didn’t call anyone?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said” You replied slowly. 

“And it never occured to you that he was dangerous?”

You paused, thinking your answer over. “No, it didn’t. I mean, if he wanted to get rid of me, he would have done it on the docks where I was an easy target”

“Fair point” Tanev muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from Baker. 

“Now do you want to know what happened or not?” You said, annoyed at the interruption.

“Please, go ahead”

He reached inside his jacket and handed you a file. You took it and opened it, staring at the picture and the description beside it. “This is Ian Markstrom, he has been suspected to kidnap young women, mostly tourists, to sell them on the sex trafficking market” He began. “Not only is he friends with your big bosses, but those who were brave enough to try and get him locked up never got anything to stick, and that was the best case scenario. The others either disappeared or ended up dead, so I’m assuming someone in this government does not want Markstrom to stop”

You nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s a secret auction strictly reserved for the elite, Markstrom will sell his best teenagers there” He explained, a hint of disgust in his voice. “The CIA chief of operation received an invitation. I want to know what it says on the card”

“I’m not sure I’m good enough to reach anywhere near it” You mumbled. “But sure, I’ll try”

“No, I believe in you” He said, and he seemed pretty sure of himself. You raised an eyebrow to hide your surprise at his compliment. “What I’m wondering though, is why you’re not asking questions”

“Well, you are two in two so far about targeting the bad guy” You said after a moment. “You seem qualified to spot ‘em, and you’d be real twisted to to make up that scenario for a petty revenge, so I’m guessing you’re on the mark again”

“Huh. You might just be the only smart CIA agent I’ve ever met”

You snorted. “Well, the more it goes the more I’m questioning the integrity of my employer”

“You keep impressing me” 

“With what I saw, I believe the bar was pretty low to start with”

“Keep talking like this and I might need a cold shower”

“You’re an ass, you know that?” 

He let out a short bark of laughter. “If only you knew”

“I’ll do my best for the invitation” You brought him back on topic, closing the file and putting it beside your handgun. “How can I contact you if I get it?”

He paused, then took a step forward and grabbed your wrist. He fetched a pen from his jacket and wrote a number. “This is a burner phone, which I will destroy after this whole deal. Don’t try and trace me with that, it won’t end well for you”

“Yeah yeah” You rolled your eyes, pulling back your arm when he was done. You cleared your throat, trying to ignore his overwhelming proximity. “I gave you two fast passes just to trick you into seeking my help to finally bag you, I’m busted”

“Hey, listen” He backed up, holding his hand in surrender. “I make that threat to everyone. It’s only a disclosure thing, I didn’t doubt your motivation”

“To each their own I guess” You shrugged. “Alright. If this is all, please get out of my apartment”

“Oop, sure”

Baker blinked slowly. “And did you? Communicate him the details?”

“Yeah” You nodded. “I managed to get into the chief of operation’s office, break into his safe, memorize the date, time and place of the auction and communicate it to Red”

“Red?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Short for Red Hood” Tanev clarified, and judging by yet another glare from Baker, he wouldn’t speak anytime soon.  

“He kept it on the quiet, but after that the chief of operation did seem a changed man” You smirked, before dropping it instantly. “And I didn’t hear anything from Markstrom, it was like he disappeared for good, which he most likely did. So I guess the Red Hood succeeded in taking him down”

“Jesus Christ” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Why do I have the feeling it wasn’t the last law you broke?”

“Because it wasn’t”

“Are you going to make a habit out of dropping out of nowhere to ask me for favors?”

This time, you knew who had broken into your property without even looking. You put the keys into your car and turned the engine on, trying to warm yourself. The Red Hood pulled himself upright from your backseat, shaking his head.

“Your car is very comfortable,” He declared. “You have good taste”

“So that means yes”

“Back at it again with your superior deduction skills” 

“What do you want?” You went straight to the point, but you were just a little amused. You could have a worst stalker. 

“I’ve been thinking this through,” He began, moved his legs so he was properly seated on the backseat. “You are skilled and you’ve got balls of steel. I could use your help more often. A partnership, if you might”

“Why do I have the feeling it took a lot to admit that and reach out?” 

“Because I don’t just trust people” He said plainly. “They disappoint me, among other things”

“So why me?”

“Like I said, skills and balls of steel” He repeated. “You went against the fucking CIA not once, not twice but thrice to do the right thing. That’s enough of a test of will for me. And besides, your job would be an advantage that is hard to turn away”

“Makes sense” You mumbled as you put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. He buckled his belt like it was a reflex. “Will this partnership imply me shooting bad guys?”

“If that’s what you wish for” He shrugged, leaning forward in the space between the two front seats. “I won’t be the one to limit you”

“Okay, yeah” You nodded. “Where do we start?”

Baker was looking into nothing, processing your words. He shook his head slowly in disbelief before he met your glance. “I shouldn’t be surprised” He spoke after a moment. “But this is Everest high levels of stupid”

“At that time it did seem like a good idea” 

“Yeah, might as well jump off of a bridge…” He trailed off, eying you suspiciously. “Did you do that too?”

“Well, if we consider the time when--”

“You know what, don’t tell me” He cut you off. “Please go on”

“Alright” You held your hands up in surrender. “So, where was I?”

You and the Red Hood operated on the field like a well oiled machine. Your expertise and contacts with the CIA helped him get into places way more easily than alone, and your somewhat reckless ways were compatible with his mode of operation. You knew who he was as well, you found out after he nonchalantly took off his helmet after a stakeout. You had not been prepared for what you saw then, when you were faced with what you could qualify with the most beautiful man you had ever seen. 

“Hey, you okay?” He waved a hand in your face, making you snap out your daze. You blinked a few times, shaking it off.

“Yeah” You replied. “I just wasn’t expecting this”

“Expecting what?”

“I mean, the helmet did give disfiguration vibes… Obviously I was wrong” 

“So you think I’m hot then?” He snorted derisively.

“I do” 

His head did a whiplash. “Huh?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” You backed away. “Sometimes my filter doesn’t work”

“No it’s--” He tried to find his words, then sighed. “I’m just not used to that, I guess”

“What’s the point of this?” Baker groaned, his head in his hands. 

“It’s a turning point that brought me here today” You explained, turning your palm up briefly. “You asked for details, I’m giving you details”

“I kinda wanna know what went down, to be honest” Tanev added sheepishly.

“Tanev, I’m going to drive you through the mirror if you do not shut up”

“Jeez sorry” He mumbled.

“As I was saying”

That day was the moment things changed in your relationship. There was this tension that hadn’t been there before, the little brushes of hands when you were side by side, the staring at the other while they weren’t looking, the unspoken invitations to stay a moment longer after a mission for a cigarette and a good conversation. He was one of a kind, you had to give that to him. He was passionate, driven, smart in a way that told you he never really had it easy but always made it work somehow; the way he always thought of the less obvious way to do things, how even his messes seemed calculated. 

It was raining in Chicago and the air was crisp. Your muscles ached from the fight in that warehouse against drug lords that enrolled kids in their schemes, that and from the unforgiving cold of January. You had one too many whiskeys back in that little studio flat he rented under a false name, and it led you straight to his bed. Trying to find warmth, trying to find a connection, it didn’t matter why, as long as you were as close as humanly possible to him. 

And it didn’t stop there. The night after, and the night after that, always in his company past the business hours. Your chemistry translated way beyond the field, for you found him in a partner in more ways than one. You grew quickly to feel love for him, more than you had ever felt for anyone. The number of times you woke up naked and tangled with him--

“Okay I don’t need to know this-- I do NOT need to know this” Baker yelled. If he could have flipped shit from the table, you’re sure he would have. 

“You told me to spare no details!” You argued. “This is a detail. I’m being as thorough as I can”

“You know what-- Forget it” He brushed his hand in the air aggressively. “Just get to the part we have interest in, for God’s sake please just skip to that”

“Okay, okay” You muttered, rolled your eyes. “It went well for the first months or so, it was great. Nothing to say on that front, I was happy and fulfilled in this new englobing partnership we had going on. That was my third mistake, to get into that kind of involvement with him. Because then, like all good things must come to an end, mine slowly began crumbling down in my hands”

“Okay” He sighed, half in relief. “Tell me more about that”

“Well, he started to show his true colors” You admitted, pulling your hands under the table. “Sometimes, he became something else. Something dark. And sometimes became most of the time, but I was too in love to see it. He became manipulative, controlling. He was everywhere, in everything I did. It’s like I didn’t even have control on my life anymore…”

“Where do you wanna eat?”

You looked away from the car window, your feet comfortably up on the dash. You took a deep breath and shrugged. “Dunno, where do you wanna eat?”

“Don’t really care” He shrugged too. “You decide”

“What about chipotle?”

“Sure” He nodded. “Chipotle sounds good”

Tanev shook his head sympathetically. “He wouldn’t even let you choose a restaurant?”

“Never” You looked down, sadness weighing your voice. 

“I’m so sorry you had to live through that”

“Thank you” 

“Alright, moving on” Baker broke the moment. “What happened next?”

“Next? Next came what comes every time in screwed up relationships” You answered, returning your hands on the table and crossing your fingers. “We burned like a meteorite as it tears through the atmosphere, falling to our demise to high velocity and taking everything in our wake”

“That was poetic” He pointed out sarcastically. “What the fuck does it mean?”

You raised an eyebrow. “We got dangerous for real, Agent Baker” You paused to take a reserved sip of the water. “If you thought I was reckless before, you’ll need to reevaluate your scale. I was in for real. I was his battle horse, his wildcard, his whatever that he needed to succeed. And I was good at it. The worst was, I didn’t even realize he used me as a smoke screen. He put me more and more often in fucked up situations that were way more dangerous for me than him, and I was naive enough to think it was love”

“No. This is not up for discussion”

You stared at him in disbelief. “You said you would let me choose--”

“I said I would let you choose, not let yourself get killed” He interrupted, slightly raising his voice. “This plan of yours is stupid dangerous. If it backfires, you are almost guaranteed of not making it out free, or alive for that matter. I’m not allowing you to take that risk. Not for me.”

“Again, ‘if’ being the keyword” You insisted, following him as he stomped out of the storage room. “I am capable of executing it flawlessly. I know I am, you’ve always told me I am”

He halted his steps, hesitantly turning to face you. His eyes softened as he sighed, taking your hand. “I know you can, it’s not about that” His voice was back down, even lower than his usual volume. “I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you for something I dragged you into in the first place, I would never forgive myself”

You closed your eyes and rested your forehead on his. “Okay” You finally said, nodding lightly. “We’ll find another way. Another plan. But we’re hitting that ball out of the park either way, I won’t let Preston get away with it”

He smiled. “Oh no, we won't indeed” He kissed the top of your head. “We’ll get him one way or another, I promise”

“I almost feel sorry for you now, Agent” Baker gulped. “I cannot begin to imagine what terrible things the Red Hood forced you to do under his manipulation. We however must continue this debriefing”

“Of course” You nodded quickly, breathing deeply. “So we planned our next move, but he wouldn’t tell me the final target. I found it weird, he always told me the targets. I don’t know, maybe he sensed I was trying to find a way out”

“And that plan was…”

“Yes” You didn’t have to let him finish his trailing thoughts, you knew what he was getting at. “So this brings us to 36 hours ago”

“Be as thorough as you can” 

“So the Red Hood gave me those instructions to follow” You began. “I was to draw the attention of the authorities to me in a city wide chase. Now, I am rather good with a bike, that I won’t hide, but outrunning police and secret services? That was impossible. I still don’t know how they got there, but it saved me. He would have never dared to come into the melee to get me back, and risk getting caught”

“Was he not afraid you’d talk to us?” Baker asked. “That was a pretty big gamble”

“He thought I wouldn’t talk I guess, probably for the same reasons I stayed with him for all this time” You said, biting the inside of your cheek until it bled. You hated to think about these words. “Because I believed I loved him”

“I guess that wouldn’t be too far fetched” He hummed. “Wouldn’t be the first time we saw it happen”

You nodded, remaining silent. Baker made eye contact with Tanev, then looked into the reflecting glass. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to you. 

“We are going to get you back to the holding cell while we process this information” He said. “But once we do that, you’ll be free, and with a new identity if you wish, as your agreement states”

“Thank you” 

“Just one more thing before we wrap this debriefing” He leaned forward. “You must know his name"

“Of course” 

“Then what is it?” He asked. “What is the Red Hood’s name?”

You looked down, taking a deep breath, then back again, locking eyes with Baker. Then, you spoke. 

-- 36 hours later --

The sunset over the valley was gorgeous. The mixes of pink and orange on the yellowed sky was straight out of a fantasy world, and Jason couldn’t help but appreciate the scenery. It was soothing, like it could swallow up his anxiety at least for a minute or two. He leaned on the wooden ramp, the sightseeing roadside station seeming not so cheesy at the moment.

He only tore his eyes from the burning sun when he heard a motorcycle approach from behind. He pushed himself off the ramp and faced the sleek black bike--the lack of use on it showing him it was brand new--then, the driver with a black tinted visor. 

You took off your helmet and smiled at Jason’s stern expression, whose eyes showed relief anyway. You turned off your bike and parked it, then got off and walked to him. 

“What the hell were you thinking?” 

You walked past him and leaned on the ramp he had been on moments ago, and he joined you. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered you one. He lit up both with his lighter, and you took a long draft before speaking. 

“A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice” You smirked, bumping your shoulder to his. “I did save your sweet ass, after all”

“I thought we agreed not to do that” He glanced at you sideways. His annoyance was also mixed with playful disbelief, like he both wanted to throw you off the cliff you were admiring the view from and do celebratory shots with you. 

“We did” You nodded, chuckling. “But circumstances changed. You weren’t out by the time I reached the monument, so I had to draw them away from you, or we would not be having this conversation. ”

“Still” He tilted his head to the side, before his head snapped in your direction. “Wait, did you call the secret services after yourself?”

You shrugged half heartedly. “Mayhaps” Your lips curved upward, while he shook his head. “I mean, it kinda was my fault too. I misplaced the bomb and it barely detonated. I had to flip to plan B, then they shot my bike. They had me surrounded, and my it was running low on life, so I skipped directly to plan fuck this”

“So you gave yourself up”

"Played the victim, pretended I wanted to exchange information on you for my freedom” You sighed, taking a drag of your cigarette. “None of which was relevant enough for them to even get close to you, worry not”

“They must have asked for a name” He hummed, now turning his full body toward you. “What did you tell them?”

“My grandpa’s name” You snorted. “He died two decades ago. Let me tell you, when they found out the last update on him was in the necrology of the 2001 Sunday paper, they were not happy campers”

“Then how did you get out?” He squinted his eyes.

“Oh, do not underestimate me, sweetheart” You grinned. “I’ve spent my whole career getting to know the buildings and the procedures for people like me. It was a piece of cake”

You were escorted out the interrogation room and into the small, yet cozy holding cell. You were on the clock, because the lies you’ve slipped into your story would unravel pretty quickly once they discovered that the name you gave them was a farce. Then, you wouldn’t be put in a minimal security room, but probably somewhere way less fun. 

“Hey wait” You called after the guard before he could close the cell door behind you. He paused his actions, waiting for you to speak up. “This wasn’t there last time”

He frowned and took a few steps into the cell, trying to spot over your shoulder whatever you were talking about. When he didn’t see it, he got closer and closer until he was all the way into the cell. “What wasn’t there before?” He asked, annoyed. 

You smiled. “You” 

With a quick jab of your elbow behind his head, he fell down unconscious on the floor. You grabbed his keycard and exited the cell, locking the guard in. You winked at the camera on the upper left corner of the hallway and made your way down to the garages as the alarms blared through the whole building. That meant it entered lockdown, closing all the escape routes. But you had your own fool proof plan.

Agent Baker began swearing when the hallway was plunged into the red glow of the lockdown alert. It hadn’t taken long for him to figure out you had led them in circles, and he had appeared a fool in front of his colleagues when he proudly revealed the name of a long deceased old man instead of anything tangible. He had been on his way to your cell when he realized the depth of this foolery, understanding you had been stalling them for this opportunity. 

“Sir, we are reporting engine noises in the garages”

“Fuck” Baker shouted, pushing the other man aside. Tanev was a step behind, his weapon drawn. They had stored your bike there, you must have gone back for it. “All units report to the garage, we’re having a break out. I repeat, all units to the garages”

They all flocked to the lower levels, ready to enforce the barrages at the doors and trap you with no exit. It was an excellent execution of emergency measures, but they definitely weren’t prepared for what came next. As they kicked the storage unit of your motorcycle, they came face to face with the bullet ridden bike with no driver in sight. Baker lowered his gun, squinting his eyes. Then, they widened comically as the dark smoke coming out of it and the strong smell of gasoline registered in his brain.

“Motherfucker” He spat. “Everybody out!” 

Seconds later, it exploded.

“You’re unbelievable” Jason scoffed, shaking his head. However, he now had a full blown grin to match yours. “I gotta give it to you though, blowing up your bike as a distraction was smart. Balls of fucking steel”

“Of course it was!” You replied, then reached in your pocket for your phone. “And it’s not even the best part, look”

You unlocked your phone and passed it to him, showing him your most recent picture of the CIA’s chief of operation dead with a letter opener through his neck. His eyes widened. “You got Preston?”

You turned around from your position, now leaning back on the ramp with your elbows resting on it. “The bike opened a window big enough for me to get the target” You said, finishing your cigarette and disposing of it in the ash bin on your right. “And with all those idiots guarding an empty garage, t’was easy enough”

“After all this time, you’re still impressing me” He nodded, holding up his fist. “Good fucking job”

You bumped your fist sideway with his, laughing at his baffled expression. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute, but the air was still warm. You could hear the crickets in the high grass, and the silence was a peaceful one. You could admit that you had cut it close this time, that this gamble could have very well turned to shit, so you just took a moment to let the pressure slip away from your muscles, at least for now. You had the time to smoke another cigarette before you spoke.

“So now what?” You hummed, looking up to the bright stars above your head. “Markstrom’s ring is no more, and I’m pretty sure I not only lost my job by pulling that stunt, but also bought myself a ticket on at least three intelligence services’ most wanted list”

“Well, that’s nothing a good ol’ fake death can’t fix” He shrugged. “But until we find the right moment for your tragic public demise, I’m sure we can manage to find on our own some domestic assholes to beat up. What do you say?”

You met eyes with him, then raised your eyebrows. “I say let’s get to it”