#don’t worry if you’re looking for Tobias

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: EXTREME DIFFICULTY 🙀

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 52]

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Nia and Tobias have their mission. It's time to plan their next move, and get some training in while they're at the Lexym Guild.

-

Telling Maggie about their trip to Asra and Shivergleam is a tense affair. The meganium stays quiet for most of it, but Nia can see her honey-gold eyes darken after each brush with danger that they skim over, clumsily trying to fill in the gaps left in their story.

Finally, what feels like hours later, they're finished. Quiet falls over the three of them.

With a forced sort of calm, Maggie asks, “Is that everything?”

“It’s all we know so far,” Tobias hedges. “Our plan right now is just to find Xerneas. Hopefully she can prevent any of this from happening. Or at least fix the dimensional border if it does break.”

If she doesn't, the world falls apart, Nia silently adds, knowing she doesn’t need to say it for it to be in the forefront of all their minds. Both the Pokemon world and the human world would be destroyed.

Nia fiddles with the soft fur of her tail, too nervous to look up at Maggie. The silence while the grass type digests everything is heavy.

Finally, Maggie sighs. Nia jumps.

“I’m going to need a hug after all of that,” Maggie says.

Nia finally looks up, relieved, and willingly scoots closer for the meganium to pull her into a hug with her vine. Nia leans against her petals, soft but firm, and breathes in her fresh floral scent. She sees Tobias getting the same treatment on Maggie’s other side.

Immediately, Nia feels a little better. Everything feels less dire when she's tucked against Maggie like this. It's still quiet, but a comforting sort of quiet. It’s only the three of them in the herbalist quarters at the moment, Sage having been politely shooed out of the room to grab some berries for breakfast once Maggie realized that neither Nia nor Tobias felt comfortable explaining their trip with the ivysaur present. Sage had taken the obvious excuse with grace, thankfully, and is taking his time in returning.

“Thank you for telling me.” Maggie says. She takes a deep breath, Nia lifting with the exhale. “I just wish you two weren’t thrown right in the middle of all this mess. You’re so young.”

“We’re not little kids,” Tobias mutters.

“Oh, don’t pout.”

“I'm not pouting!” Tobias says, absolutely pouting.

Nia turns her face into Maggie’s petals to stifle a laugh.

“When were you planning on talking to August about all of this?” Maggie asks.

Nia pulls away to look at Tobias. He seems as unsure as she feels.

“Should we tell him?” Tobias asks, crossing his arms. “We’re getting intel from a banished legendary, if he even believes we're telling the truth. And we don’t know that he’ll actually do anything even if he does believe us. He said he’d look into the fire that happened in Ghatha but nothing ever came from that.”

Nia has to admit that he has a point.

Maggie sighs. “Even if it’s not obvious, I’m sure August is doing all he can to help. And if this is something jeopardizing not only our guild but the entire Pokemon world, I promise you he would want to know about it.”

Nia and Tobias exchange a doubtful look.

Maybe sensing that they’re reluctant to talk to August and worried that they’ll try to put it off completely, Maggie only allows a quick breakfast of the berries Sage brings back before marching the two of them straight to August’s office herself. The rillaboom looks pleased to see them, a soft sort of relief on his face when he catches sight of Nia and Tobias safely back from their travels. His warm smile fades as he locks eyes with Maggie, though, his more casual posture straightening up. He waves them in without a word.

Verene seems to be out, so they’re the only ones present in the spacious office. The leaves weaving in and out of the wooden walls are a lovely gradient of warm autumnal tones.

August takes a seat behind his desk, chair creaking. “Welcome back, Team Scarlet. It’s good to see you both safe. I heard from the crew of the Aqua Jet and that little sableye that you both showed impressive prowess as Seekers yesterday.”

Nia murmurs a thank you. Tobias nods.

“However, gauging by your expressions, I must assume that’s not why you came to see me today,” August says. “A shame. I could do with some good news, for once. What can I help you with?”

Nia looks to Tobias, so he starts them off. Retells the story once more with Nia stepping in on occasion, trading the explanation back and forth.

They mention Asra, first, to explain everything that comes after. Giratina. The protective shell of this world weakening from a preemptive crack in the very fabric of the dimension. Nia and Tobias being assigned to find Xerneas in a desperate bid for hope.

August’s brow knits and falls lower and lower as he listens, chin resting on bridged fingers. By time they’re finally finished, Nia’s throat is dry. The same oppressive silence from before falls over the room, and it feels thick enough to choke on.

August’s amber eyes settle on Nia. “How sure are you that Giratina was telling the truth?”

Nia tries not to let her own doubt show on her face. “W-Well…I guess I don’t have any proof that he was? But he felt…honest. And it makes sense. Or at least more sense than anything else people have guessed for why the world is breaking down, right? Could anything else cause natural disasters and make evolution stop? Or force legendaries to go dormant?”

“You think Giratina would have something to gain from us seeking out Xerneas?” Tobias asks, eyes narrowing.

August sighs, raking his fingers back through his leafy mane. “That’s difficult to say. I’m no expert on either legendary.”

“But surely there’s enough here to merit a deeper look,” Maggie pipes up. “If Giratina is being honest, then…”

August lets a rush of air out through his nose. “It would be disastrous for us to ignore him, yes.”

The quiet returns like an itchy, ill-fitting sweater.

“I’ll ask Alistair and Tawny to look into it immediately,” August finally says. “If they feel that searching for Xerneas is likely to be of help and not just playing into Giratina’s schemes, then I’ll reach out to the other Guildmasters so we can plan from there.”

Nia lets out a breath. Knowing that they aren’t solely responsible for saving the whole world feels like the weight of the Lexym Tree itself being lifted off her shoulders. She kind of wants to cry. “Thank you.”

August nods. “Of course. I’m here for anyone in the guild, but a matter pertaining to the safety of the entire world? That is not to be treated lightly.”

“Speaking of safety,” Tobias says, in a tone that would be casual if it didn’t sound like it was barbed with thorns. “You said you were going to send someone to look into the fire at Ghatha, right? And other human discrimination. Anything ever come of that?”

August gives Tobias a dry look. “Put away your fangs, Tobias. I did indeed look into the matter.”

“And?”

“The investigation into the Ghatha fire has unfortunately gone cold. While they can assume it was a fire type at the convention who started it, Rai’s guild hasn’t been able to determine who was the culprit. They’ve marked it closed for now unless new information arises.”

"Yeah, and I'm sure that decision has nothing to do with the guy not liking humans," Tobias mutters.

August's eyes narrow. "Where did you hear that?"

Nia blinks, surprised, and exchanges a look with Tobias. August doesn't know? "Keegan mentioned it, back when we were in Ghatha."

"The guild's second-in-command," Tobias clarifies. "A ninetales."

"Hm." August looks past them for a moment, locking eyes with Maggie. Before Nia can figure out what the two older Pokemon are thinking, he speaks again. "That's not something I was aware of. What are your thoughts on Keegan? I haven't had the chance to speak with him myself."

"He was nice!" Nia says.

"A little too nice," Tobias scoffs.

August hums. "...Noted. Regardless, for now the investigation remains at a stand-still."

Tobias’ muzzle crinkles, mirroring Nia’s own displeasure. While this news isn’t entirely unexpected, it is unnerving, not knowing the Pokemon who made a very intentional effort on all of the human lives at the convention in Ghatha. What if they try something else in the future? The thought makes Nia feel…uneasy. Unsafe.

“My scouts did also confirm your claims regarding the general perception of humans in Ghatha. It seems the aggression towards them is increasing. Considering you saw the same in Asra, I can only assume the trend continues elsewhere as well.”

“But why?" Nia protests, voice cracking. "We aren't doing anything wrong!"

“I know,” August says, rubbing at his face. “We know you have nothing to do with what’s happening to our world, Nia. None of the humans do. But unfortunately, the natural disasters and mystery dungeons are only becoming more and more common. Pokemon are injured and frightened, and humans are a handy group to shoulder the blame.”

“It’s escalating, isn’t it?” Maggie cuts in, voice soft. “Not just the aggression. The natural disasters. The spread of mystery dungeons. The Haven hasn’t been hit too hard yet, but…”

August hesitates with a glance at Nia and Tobias. “Yes. Which would line up with what Giratina is claiming. The closer we get to the moment when the barrier of our dimension breaks, the more and more dangerous our world gets. And the more that tensions run high, the more rumors spread about whose fault it could be.”

Another silence. Nia can hear the walls of the Lexym Tree creak around them in the wind.

“What about Will?” Tobias asks. Nia looks at him, surprised that he’s even willing to bring up the yamask he dislikes so much.

“Ah, yes. You mentioned wanting to visit him to see if he has any leads in finding Xerneas. My scouts didn’t hear much about his group while in Ghatha, but they also couldn’t find many humans at all, seeing as they’re keeping a low profile.”

“I sent him a letter before we left for Asra,” Nia speaks up. “Telling him about Giratina trying to pull me into the distortion realm through the stream. A-And about me recovering some of my memories. If he’s written back by now, he probably left a way to find him, right?”

“Should we even bother seeing if he has information, though?” Tobias asks, face twisting. “If we know that we’re looking for Xerneas, what are the chances he knows something Alistair and Tawny and the other guilds don’t?”

“Can we risk not checking?” Nia murmurs.

Tobias doesn’t have an argument for that. “I guess just flying straight to see him ourselves would be faster than waiting for mail.”

August's hand strokes at his chin. “I believe Nia is right. We can’t risk missing a potential lead from a network of information outside of our own. If you are willing to track him down, then I approve your travel to seek him out in a few days’ time. I will have the guild cover your flight costs across the sea.”

“Why’re we waiting?” Tobias asks, frowning. “Shouldn’t we leave right away?”

August shakes his head. “I want to first discuss with Alistair and Tawny. If they believe seeking out Xerneas could be as beneficial as Giratina suspects, I’ll have them spread word to the other guilds to start an official search. If they believe we could be playing into a plot, then we’ll put a hold on seeking out any information.”

Nia and Tobias trade an uncertain look, but eventually agree.

The three of them depart the office shortly after, August giving them a distracted goodbye as he turns to some papers on his desk.

“So we have a few days until we can leave,” Tobias says, jumping right into it. “What’s our plan until then?”

“We should probably go to our quarters first, right?” Nia says. “To see if Will even wrote back?”

Tobias frowns, but nods.

They reach the medical floor, and Maggie stops, reminding Nia and Tobias that the meganium has a job to do elsewhere.

“Oh, don’t give me those yamper eyes,” Maggie laughs. She nuzzles the top of Nia’s head, then Tobias’. “I have a job to do as well! And I’ll still be right here if you want to stop in again later tonight.”

Tobias visibly relaxes at the reminder, and Nia thanks the meganium for her help. For listening.

“Of course! Someone has to look after you two, always running off into trouble,” Maggie says with a wink.

Nia turns to head down the stairs, but pauses when Tobias doesn’t follow. The charmander is hesitating, staring at Maggie with a conflicted expression. Then he darts forward to squeeze Maggie’s leg in a hug. The meganium seems as surprised as Nia is by the unusually open affection, but after a beat her expression softens. She lowers her head to return the hug with her long neck and a vine, squeezing him tight.

Ah, right. Tobias had told Maggie about finding the home of the crobat outlaw, too. About finding the crobat's grave, and the loving family he’d left behind. Maggie had smothered him in a hug then, too, but it makes sense that he’s still feeling a bit emotional about it all.

Tobias only tolerates the affection for a few seconds before ducking free and slipping past Nia, calling for her to hurry up over his shoulder. Nia smiles as she waves to Maggie and hurries after her partner.

The two of them head to the Seekers’ quarters a few floors down. Most of the doors are closed since Pokemon are out and about doing missions in the middle of the day, but there are a few lattice windows in the halls that let in glimpses of bright sunshine and whistling gusts of air.

Their own room is just as they left it, save a thin layer of dust over everything. The wall is lined by a few wooden cabinets, along with a bookcase and chest to keep their belongings in. A large window sits on the far wall, its lattice-like roots currently opened wide. A leaf-woven curtain is pulled down over it to keep out the wind, and the sun shines through it beautifully, casting a dim golden-green hue over everything. In the center of the room lies their plush scarlet red rug, and away from the window sits their nests, resting side-by-side.

Tobias dumps their satchel next to the chest. Nia goes to the mailbox set into the wall by the door. She’s excited to find three pieces of mail inside—two letters and one thin slip of paper. She pulls them out and looks at the smallest one first. It reads 20% Off at the Kecleon Brothers Shop! with a cute little drawing of a pair of…chameleons?

“They have coupons in this world?” Nia asks, strangely amused by the thought.

Tobias’ warmth appears at her side as he peers over her shoulder. He snorts. “The kecleon merchants are really well-known. Good quality wares, but make sure you stay on their good side.”

“Um, okay. Why?”

Tobias flops down in his nest. “The last ‘mon that tried to steal from ‘em left with less limbs than they started with.”

“But they’re so cute!” Nia says, aghast, as she looks again at the little drawing.

“So are fairy types, and they’re terrifying."

Nia sinks into her own nest, gently setting the coupon aside. She’s not sure she wants to deal with the shop at all if that’s the reputation they keep. She lights up when she sees the second letter, though—it’s a cute little thing, blue, with Nia’s name written in delicate, loopy cursive.

Tobias rolls over to squint at the envelope. “Who wrote us a letter in gibberish?”

Nia blinks. “You can’t read this?”

“You can?”

Nia takes another look at the letter. At first she thinks the problem is that the writing is cursive, but then she realizes that it’s probably because it's English. Not the native Pokemon language.

“Oh,” Nia laughs, feeling a strange pang of homesickness. “It’s in English. A, uh. Human language.”

She opens the envelope with care, pulling out the stationery and smiling at the letter, which is also written in looping cursive. Tobias doesn’t say anything else, but she can feel his eyes on her so she translates as she skims.

“It’s from Hazel. She says that she can make me a human bed! Oh man, you are going to love it. You’ll never be able to go back to a normal nest. And she’ll even give me the family discount! Aww!”

“She should give you more than that after we saved her mate’s tail,” Tobias says.

“We hadn’t even met Beck yet when I sent the request! Let’s see here…she also says—”

Nia bursts into laughter.

“What?”

“She also says that she’s glad you’re nicer to me now, but that she’s willing to knock some sense into you any time if that changes.”

Tobias straightens up, flushing. “She did not say that.” Nia cackles, turning the page over to his grabby hands. “She did! C’mon, she’s the reason I confronted you in Afon’s Cap at all!”

Tobias makes a face, but he’s still bright red. Nia isn’t sure if it’s because he’s embarrassed to be called out, or because of his behavior during their early partnership in the first place. Either way, he folds the letter back up and frisbees it at her, huffing.

Nia laughs again and tucks the letter off to the side with the coupon. She’ll have to write the old raichu back later. Nia’s amusement dies down as she picks up the third letter.

Tobias sits up as he sees her expression. “…Will?”

Nia nods. Hesitantly, she opens the yamask’s letter.

Nia,

While I’m pleased to hear from you, I wish it was under better circumstances! I’m relieved that you escaped from Giratina unharmed, but concerned that you had such a close call at all. If you do feel unsafe where you are, please don’t hesitate to come join the community of humans we have amassed thus far—we’re growing by the day! We're just south of Ghatha, past Stonebrook and closer to Kaleido Bay. If you can find Stonebrook, they can direct you from there.

“Stonebrook,” Nia murmurs, tilting her head. “Why does that sound familiar?”

Tobias, who had scooched closer to read, frowns as he tries to recall as well. Then he groans and plants his face in his hands.

“What?”

“It’s where your stupid rookidee friend lives,” Tobias says, words muffled.

Nia gasps. “Junie! Oh my gosh, you’re right! We could stop by and see her! She could—”

“We are not inviting her to join us.”

“Aw, why not? I miss her!”

“You miss her because she doesn’t pick fights with you constantly!”

Nia looks at him for a moment. “I thought you kind of enjoyed it. It's like how you squabble with Andyn."

Tobias stumbles over a retort—outright stammers—his face growing red again, and Nia bursts into laughter.

“Oh my God, I knew it! You do like bickering with them! Why do you act like you hate them so much?”

“I do hate them!”

“Mhm.”

“They’re annoying and loud and—”

“They’re your frieeends,” Nia coos, poking him in the cheek.

“They are not,” Tobias hisses, swatting her hand away. “Shut up!”

Nia can feel him heating up with embarrassment so she knows he’s lying, but she takes mercy and backs off, still grinning.

“This is exactly why you don’t need to be spending more time with either of them,” Tobias grumbles, rubbing at his cheek. “They’re rubbing off on you.”

Nia finally tames her delight down to a manageable level and goes back to Will’s letter.

I am thrilled, however, to hear about your returned memories, even if you had to endure a terrifying illness to find them. After speaking with more of the humans under my care who have recovered their own memories, I have to wonder if there is a correlation between severe injury or illness and the recovery of one's memories. Perhaps brushing by Death’s doorstep unlocks a part of the brain once buried?

Huh. Nia has to take a moment to think after reading that. The handful of memories she recovered did only return to her when she was gravely ill, but she didn’t think it was a direct correlation. But Will seems to be implying that nearly dying could be a trigger for that process. If Giratina is correct, maybe it has to do with them getting close to…leaving their new vessels? So the memories that Mew sealed away kind of…loosen?

Nia shakes her head, unnerved by the reminder that she nearly died, and reads on.

I would love to discuss with you further if you do feel like visiting. Know that you’re always welcome. We have exciting developments in the works! Until then, I hope you and your partner are well.

Will

Nia sits back. “Well, he’s open to a visit, and we have directions…”

“Guess it’s settled then,” Tobias sighs. “I’ll let August know tomorrow.”

“August said to give him a few days to run everything by Tawny and Alistair, right? So…what should we do in the meantime?”

Tobias makes a thoughtful sound in his throat, eyes trailing over the faint pattern of leaves forming the window curtain. “We don’t want to wear ourselves out completely before traveling, but we should definitely do some training or missions or something. We need to keep getting stronger, and we need to keep rising higher in the ranks so Pokemon take us seriously.”

“That would give us more funds, too,” Nia agrees. “So I guess for now we just work on recuperating and take a few missions?"

“Then when we’re cleared for travel we go to the flying outpost.” Tobias finishes, a smirk growing on his face. “You excited to get back in the air?”

Nia groans, falling back into her nest. The soft scent of straw and moss wafts up around her. “Not even a little.”

Tobias snorts a laugh. “You’ll survive.”

There’s a moment of quiet where Nia lies starfished in her nest, listening to the wind blow against their curtain. The midday sun has warmed their little room enough for it to feel nice and cozy.

“It’s too late in the day to start a mission,” Tobias says, snagging her attention again. “But I’m going to go see if Azami or Val are around to spar with.”

While he isn’t outright asking Nia to join, the way he pauses to look at her makes the implied question clear. Nia perks up. “Oh! I’ll come with! I’ve been wanting to chat with Val about how my aura’s shaping up anyways.”

Tobias grins, pushing himself to his feet and offering a hand to help her up. The two of them leave the cozy atmosphere of their room to wind their way down the Lexym Tree.

At the doorway leading into the training floor, Nia nearly bumps into a taller Pokemon. She hops back with an apology, craning her head up to meet their eyes. They look interesting—an olive green and tan Pokemon with a mushroom cap and a long, almost kangaroo-like tail. In their bright red claws, tucked close to their body, they hold something like a clipboard.

The mushroom Pokemon starts a polite apology, but cuts himself off as he catches sight of Tobias standing behind Nia. Nia’s own apology trails off as she looks between Tobias and the new ‘mon. Tobias is clearly uncomfortable, an echo of his old, closed-off demeanor resurfacing as he crosses his arms and scowls up at the taller grass type.

“Try to keep everything in one piece,” The new Pokemon finally says, tone clipped, as he slips around them and walks off.

Nia turns to Tobias with a concerned frown. “Who was that?”

“Archer,” He grumbles, good mood clearly soured. “He keeps track of inventory.”

“Oh. Um. Why was he..?”

“I used to be more…destructive, with some of the dummies. They’re flammable.”

“Oh.” Nia stares at him, trying to parse that information. With how often they travel nowadays and how much Tobias has softened up around her, Nia always forgets that there are Pokemon in the guild who aren’t fond of Tobias for one reason or another. This reason doesn’t seem like a very fair one, though. “Aren’t training dummies meant to be attacked?”

“Not when you’re using fire, apparently,” Tobias snaps, moving past her and into the training area with his shoulders tense.

Nia hurries after her partner, relieved when she sees that not only are their mentors present, but that Val is working with Xander’s team. The medicham is listening to something the luxio is explaining, the rest of his teammates gathered around to listen as well.

Azami is nearby, manning a different fighting area. The tsareena is watching a treecko as they attack a dummy, but she beams behind her tall collar when she catches sight of Nia and Tobias. “Spitfire! And little Riolu. Good to see you!”

Tobias ducks his chin into his scarf, but Nia thinks he’s secretly pleased to have such a warm reception after bumping into Archer. Val, Xander and the rest of Team Shellshock turn at the loud greeting as well.

Avery smiles with a delicate wave.

Felix grins, fluffy ears perking. “Nia!”

“Good to see you," Xander says. "When did you two get back?”

“Last night! Sorry, are we interrupting?” Nia says, approaching the group.

“We were actually just saying we need to branch out a bit with our sparring partners,” Xander says, giving Nia a friendly flick of his star-tipped tail. His gold eyes move to Tobias. “Either of you interested in joining us for combat training?"

“Yeah! I’ve been dying to see how you squirts do in a fight,” Kry says. The fraxure cracks her knuckles to punctuate her words, as if her looming presence isn't intimidating enough.

Tobias, however, flexes his claws and steps forward to meet her. “You’re on.”

"Ohoho! Bring it, little 'mon!"

“Oh, this oughta be good,” Felix says, turning to lead everyone to the sidelines.  “C’mon, we’d better clear the field for these two.”

“They’re going to battle right now?” Nia asks, giving Val a wide-eyed look even as she follows. They just got here! Shouldn’t they warm up or something?

The medicham shrugs. “Charmander stepped forward.”

Well, she can’t argue with that. Still, as Nia sits to watch, she can't help feeling nervous as Tobias crouches into a battle stance across from Kry. The fraxure lashes her tail and lowers her head with a sharp grin. Nia doesn’t think the brash Pokemon would actually hurt Tobias, but…

“Battle!” Val calls.

Both lizard Pokemon lunge, Tobias ducking under a slash and spinning to trip up Kry’s footing with his tail. The fraxure recovers with surprising grace and goes on the offensive again. Tobias is forced to backstep, shooting off small bursts of fire to try and gain some distance. Kry leaps right through one of Tobias’ flames as if it were nothing more than smoke.

“Whoa,” Nia murmurs.

“How was your trip?” Xander asks, leaning over to whisper.

“We had an, uh…eventful week,” Nia chuckles. “Solved a mysterious earthquake problem, fought some outlaws, got caught in a mystery dungeon on the river, so fun times all around.”

They also found the grave of a long-hunted outlaw and met with Giratina of all Pokemon, who told them the world was ending, but Nia feels reluctant to drop all of that onto Xander so suddenly.

Felix whistles. The wartortle’s gaze is on the fight, but his fluffy ears are angled her way. “Busy, busy! No wonder Tobias is holding his own pretty well. You two just don’t stop, huh?”

Nia smiles and straightens up, proudly watching her partner continue to dance around Kry. His fighting style is still more offensive than defensive, but he’s playing it smart, relying on his smaller size and speed to keep the fraxure from landing a spar-stopping blow.

“You willing to try a round next?” Xander asks, giving Nia a friendly nudge with his elbow that nearly knocks her over.

Nia laughs, a little nervous. “Sure? But, uh, I’m not as good at fighting as Tobias.”

“Somehow I doubt that’s true,” Avery speaks up from Xander's other side. The kirlia gives her a warm half-smile. “You tend to underestimate yourself.”

Nia flushes under her fur and looks back to the fight, wincing as Kry nearly lands a devastating punch on Tobias. Instead, her fist slams into the wooden floor with enough force to crack it. The fraxure seems to be getting frustrated, but Tobias is starting to slow too, panting hard. He hasn’t used his smokescreen yet, though Nia isn’t sure if that’s a matter of pride or if Kry’s vision would be sharp enough to see through it.

The fight continues for another minute, Tobias landing a few brushes of flames and claws on Kry’s tough hide, but the fraxure is the one who ends it. She clips the charmander with a left hook, and as he stumbles, she slams him hard in the gut with her heavy tail. Tobias staggers, and Kry takes the opportunity to pin him to the ground with her greater weight.

After a few moments of Tobias struggling to free himself—that tail whip must've knocked the breath out of him if he isn't using his fire—Val calls the match. Kry releases him, stepping back, and Tobias sits up slowly, wincing and rubbing at his stomach. Felix calls out a jovial “Good match!” while Val moves to Tobias’ side. At first, the charmander seems reluctant to listen to her, but after a few quiet words he looks at her fully, scowl lessening as he nods. She must be giving him advice.

Kry makes her way over and grins down at Nia, breathing somehow unlabored. “You next, scrap?”

Felix pouts. “You already got your turn, Kry.”

“And I asked first,” Xander says smoothly, standing and moving to where Kry stood before. He doesn’t sound bossy, but somehow even Nia can hear the quiet authority in his voice. While Nia and Tobias don’t really have a “leader” of their team, it’s clear that Xander holds the title for Team Shellshock.

“You up for it, Nia?” The luxio asks, confident expression softening.

Nia feels her heart flutter with anxiety, but Avery gives her an encouraging nod. She pads over to where Tobias is finally getting to his feet.

“Good fight,” Nia whispers to him as she passes.

“Kick his tail,” Tobias says in return, though it sounds less heated than the scathing comments he used to make towards Xander.

Nia nods and gets in position, lifting her hands and crouching just a bit, feet spread wide and stable. She still doesn’t particularly like fighting, even for fun, but she just tries to think of it more like…a friendly sporting match.

Xander spreads his paws wide as his tail flicks. Sparks come to life and crackle across his black fur, like stars in a night sky. Nia shifts, suddenly registering the fact that Xander is nearly twice her size. Usually the thought is comforting more than anything, but facing him as an opponent…

“Show ‘em what you did to that steelix!” Tobias shouts.

There’s a lull in the group's conversation that makes Nia’s ears flatten, embarrassed by the attention. However, the comment does lessen her nerves a bit. Hard to be intimidated by a luxio when she’s faced down a metal serpent the size of a semi-truck. And she did just learn work up in the last mystery dungeon, which should make her more powerful, but that might up her attack too much—she doesn't want to actually hurt Xander, after all.

Nia can hear Felix asking Tobias about the steelix comment, but Val starts off their spar with a loud, “Battle!”

In complete contrast to Tobias and Kry’s fight, Nia and Xander stay frozen in place, sizing each other up. The sparks crackling across the luxio’s fur make her wary to get in close like she usually does—he can probably cause paralysis, right? He is an electric type. But if she doesn’t get in close, then her only option is to—

Xander makes the first move, lighting up with a flash of electricity and sending a test bolt her way. Nia rolls out of the way on instinct, but she can feel the charge in the air prickling at her fur.

Xander’s eyes narrow. He darts forward to attack.

Nia yelps and creates a staff of aura, taking a swing to make him leap back. He does so, but shoots off another electric attack. Nia barely manages to scramble out of the way, rolling and leaping from bolt after bolt. She doesn’t realize Xander is herding her closer and closer to himself until he’s suddenly slamming into her side.

The electricity in his fur stings, and the blow sends her tumbling across the floor as her staff vanishes. Xander hesitates. Nia takes the opportunity as soon as she lands on her knees to charge up a messy ball of aura in her paws and launch it at the luxio. Xander’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting that, before he gets hit head-on in a flash of blue.

Nia winces. Yeah, she really doesn’t like fighting her friends.

“Oh, you learned aura sphere while you were gone?” Nia hears Avery say, excited.

Nia blinks, looking over at the kirlia. “I did?”

Tobias is also staring at Avery. “She did?”

Nia sees Avery’s eyes widen a split-second before Xander bowls into her again. As she rolls to a stop, she notices the tingly current racing through her body, making her limbs feel numb and locked into place. She struggles to sit up but can’t move. Xander takes his opportunity to pin her down, paws heavy on her arms.

He smiles. “My win.”

Nia accepts defeat with a sigh, letting her head drop back. “I got distracted.”

Xander laughs. For a moment his claws flex, and then Nia feels the electricity in her body…recede, as Xander’s own sparks increase. He steps back, and Nia can move again. She blinks as she sits up, rubbing the remaining tingles out of her arms. Did he…take back the paralysis? Like a lightning rod?

“Good fight, Nia!” Felix, ever the optimist, cheers.

“It really wasn’t,” Nia says. “At least not on my end.”

“That aura sphere caught me off-guard,” Xander encourages. “And I have a feeling you were holding back on me.”

“Not on purpose,” Nia assures, even as she keeps her mouth shut about how Xander hesitated too. He reminds her of her brother in the human world, Clay, so of course she doesn’t want to hurt him. She imagines he sees some of his younger siblings in her as well.

As they rejoin the rest of the group, Kry and Felix pass them to spar next. Val gestures Nia to sit at her side, between her and Avery.

“Sorry, I promise I’ve been keeping up with my training. I can fight better than that,” Nia says, shying away from her mentor’s inscrutable gaze.

“So we heard!” Avery says, ruby eyes shining. “You fought a steelix on your own?”

Nia shrugs, ears pinning to her head. “Tobias and Samir weakened him first.”

“It is still impressive, Riolu,” Val finally says. “Do not downplay your achievements. You fight hardest when there is a true threat. That is admirable in its own way.”

Nia relaxes, giving Val a thankful smile. “I just worry about hurting my friends when we spar.”

“Xander can take it,” Avery giggles. “But forget about that—what other aura techniques did you learn while you were gone?”

Nia perks up as she describes her improved control over her aura. She can form a pretty reliable staff of aura now, officially replacing her trusty branch as her main weapon, and apparently even throw something like an aura sphere at a short distance, at least according to Avery. Plus, there’s the way she used her aura to find Tobias in the mines under Asra—like a pulse. A radar.

At that revelation, Avery interrupts. “That could be a really useful skill to master.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely! Other than being able to find Pokemon buried beneath rocks or snow, you could even use it in battle or in the dark if your vision is impaired.”

Nia looks down at her hands, flexing them. She supposes she did kind of “see” Tobias’ aura to find him in the rubble. And she remembers when she was first learning to use her aura that Val’s energy formed a sort of…silhouette of color. Nia hadn’t thought of practicing her aura as a form of vision, but Avery does have a point about it being useful in certain situations.

“Want to try it?” Xander asks, dropping into the conversation from Avery's other side.

“Now?” Nia asks.

“Why not?”

Nia looks between everyone, but they all seem open to the idea. Tobias, sitting on Xander’s other side, looks a bit uneasy as usual at the mention of aura, but he doesn’t protest. Maybe since Nia has already seen his aura once, albeit on a very surface level, some of his reluctance has melted away.

“You…don’t mind if I look at your aura to practice?”

Everyone shakes their head, save for Tobias. He just shrugs, looking down to fiddle with his scarf. That's as close to a yes as she's probably getting.

Well, they’re all waiting for her. With a hesitant nod, Nia closes her eyes, trying to remember what she did down in the mines. At the time she was fueled by desperation, so it feels strange to try and replicate the move in a more relaxed environment. She thinks she just kind of…pushed out a thin pulse of aura? Like a wave.

She tries it once, gently. Her aura barely even leaves her body, brushing against Val’s orange energy and flashing in her mind’s eye before petering out. Frowning, Nia turns up the power a few notches. Not so strong as to hurt, but not so weak that it dissipates immediately.

On her second try, the aura washes over all of them in a single pulse. Colors light up in her mind’s eye, resembling their vague silhouettes. Val’s bright, strong orange. Avery’s calming indigo. Xander’s eye-catching red. Tobias’ deeper scarlet. For an instant, for a moment, she sees them all, before it goes dark again.

“That felt…interesting,” Xander says, making Nia open her eyes. He’s rubbing a paw over his chest.

Nia blinks. “You felt that?”

Avery nods. “Yes! It’s so hard to describe. It almost feels like you…brushed your paw over my arm to get my attention. But…against my mind instead? My emotions, maybe?”

Nia cringes, immediately glancing at Tobias. He was the touchiest about her aura being invasive.

He does look a bit wary. “How does it feel for you? When you do that.”

Nia looks down at her hand, curling it. “I…don’t think I focused on anyone long enough to get a read on anything? But I’m familiar enough with all of you that it was easy to tell who was who. I could still…feel your personalities? But not any specific emotions.”

“If you were to focus your aura more steadily, in a direct connection rather than a radius, I wonder how well you could track an opponent, even with your eyes closed,” Val says, hand at her chin.

“Could you attach your aura in some way?” Avery adds. “Tag someone, so you would have a constant link?”

Nia sits back. Huh. She certainly hadn’t thought of that. She’s glad these two are here to help. “I…don’t know? I’ve never tried.”

“Would you want to?” Avery asks, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of experimenting. They clearly wouldn’t mind being a guinea pig.

“Sure? If you don’t, uh. Mind. Any suggestions for how to do this? Since you’re a psychic type?”

“Well, you should probably start out by touching them, right?” Xander says, tilting his head. He glances Kry and Felix’s way when a small explosion goes off from their sparring. Felix is cackling as Kry shouts something at him.

“That would likely be a good place to start, yes,” Val says.

Avery holds out a hand, smiling. Nia hesitates, then takes it, closing her eyes and reaching out with her aura.

Avery’s purple-blue aura, as curious and deep as the night sky, flares to life behind Nia’s eyelids, making up the kirlia’s silhouette. Nia’s own bright blue aura is a strong contrast to it, the two colors a beautiful mix where they overlap at their hands. But when Nia pulls back her paw, Avery’s aura vanishes. She frowns, and touches the kirlia again so the indigo flares back to life. So she does need to…attach her aura to them, somehow. Anchor herself?

Nia can’t think of how to do such a thing, so she tries to let her instincts take over instead. Aura is all about emotion, after all. About her life energy, what she wills into being. So what if she just…wills her aura to connect? Wills her bond with the kirlia to become something…tangible. Something physical. Something more than the surface-level observations of aura that she's done so far, something deeper.

She thinks about Avery’s soft voice and bright eyes and the delicate way they move. How they’re always happy to help Nia think through a problem and how their very presence soothes something anxious in Nia. Warm affection wells up in her heart.

Nia’s aura moves to follow that pull, that connection, latching onto Avery’s instead of just brushing against it. She feels a rush of emotion, of thought, that isn’t hers.

fascinating eager friend proud curious

It’s less a voice, and more a…feeling of each word. Not too different from what Nia has felt in the past, but somehow more intense. Clearer. Nia yanks her hand away, startled, but between them a string of bright blue aura remains, tying her to Avery’s indigo aura and keeping their form visible behind her eyelids. If Nia focuses on it, she can still feels Avery’s emotions, distant. Like a voice from the next room over or a palm radiating warmth through a heavy sweater.

Worry friend okay?

Nia’s eyes snap open, and she feels the connection cut out, leaving her feeling almost…lonely. She’s panting like she hasn’t since the early days of her aura training. Avery, Xander, and Tobias are watching her with mirrored expressions of concerned curiosity.

“I-I think it worked?” Nia says.

Avery lights up, leaning forward. “Tell me everything.”

Nia tries her best to describe the experience as Felix and Kry return to the group, Kry pouting at her loss and Felix ribbing the dragon type with an elbow to her side. As soon as they’re caught up on what’s happening, Felix eagerly volunteers to be Nia’s next test subject.

Nia has a slightly harder time connecting to Felix’s leafy green aura, and frowns as she tries and fails to find a foothold.

“Maybe your aura is too depleted?” Avery suggests.

Nia considers that, but shakes her head. No, her aura isn’t anywhere near gone. It’s just like…trying to stick one piece of cotton to another, with no adhesive to hold it in place. With Avery, it was like there’d been a piece of Velcro to snag onto.

Val, arms crossed and head tilted, flicks her gaze to Tobias. “Charmander.”

Tobias, who had been watching the whole process with an unreadable expression, frowns. “Yeah?”

“You next.”

Nia and Tobias shake their heads at the same time.

“No.”

“H-He doesn’t have to, really!”

“He is your partner,” Val cuts in. “He of all Pokemon should be the one you are most familiar with. If you two are separated, I want to know you have a chance to use this skill to your advantage.”

That is…unfortunately a good point. Except Tobias has been so private with his aura, from the very beginning. Not that Nia can blame him! It’s a really personal thing. But…she also doesn’t want to disappoint Val, and—

“Fine,” Tobias grumbles, scooting over to sit in front of Nia and jabbing his hand forward. “Get it over with.”

Nia blinks at him, surprised. Just like that?

Tobias flushes. “She has a good point. C’mon.”

Nia still hesitates, but after glancing at his face one more time she closes her eyes and reaches out a hand.

Before even brushing against him, her aura leaps from her body to his, latching on like a magnet. Tobias’ emotions filter through the string, somehow…louder than Avery's. Clearer, like the reception is better.

hide hide hide calm down Nia won’t hate calm down will she get it over with already—

Nia cuts the connection herself, recoiling with wide eyes. Tobias glares back at her, none of the turmoil she just felt showing on his face.

“Riolu?” Val prompts.

“You didn’t even touch me,” Tobias grumbles. “Why do you look so freaked out?”

“I-I didn’t need to?” Nia says, more a question than a statement. “I…my aura connected on its own?”

“Without contact?” Avery asks.

Surprised, Nia nods. Her attention is admittedly torn, though, caught on the thoughts and emotions Nia felt when she connected to her partner. He’s…so scared of her looking at his aura. And not because of privacy reasons, like she’d previously thought.

He’s…scared Nia will hate what she sees?

“Hm.” Val looks like she expected this turn of events. “I suspect the depth of your bond with someone influences how easily you can connect to them.”

“Or maybe Nia is just getting better as she goes?” Felix suggests.

Nia can’t give the speculation her full attention like she usually would. She’s too busy trying to tear her thoughts away from Tobias’ suddenly worrying self-esteem, or lack thereof. She…doesn’t think she can really bring it up directly, since they were kind of his private thoughts? But she’s more than a little concerned. She’s confident that the two of them are friends at this point, but he’s still so scared that she’s suddenly going to…what? Turn on him? Just because she gets a better understanding of who he is?

“Try again on Wartortle,” Val says.

Nia manages to focus back on the conversation, at least a little. Distracted, almost without thinking, she reaches out and tries to make her aura connect to Felix again, this time without touching. Her aura strains and reaches an inch or two past her body before snapping back. Completely different than it was with Tobias, where it leaped for him like a long-lost friend.

“No,” Nia murmurs. “I think Val is right. It’s…it feels completely different.”

Felix looks unusually put out by Nia struggling to connect with his aura. Val, Avery and Xander, however, just seem thoughtful. Kry is busy picking at her teeth.

Tobias is staunchly looking everywhere but Nia, face redder than usual and fingers rubbing at his scarf. Embarrassed. Nia supposes she understands how he feels, even in her distracted state. It’s one thing to feel close to him, but another thing entirely to have tangible proof of their friendship. Then again, apparently he needs proof, if his inner thoughts are anything to gauge by.

“If only we could speak with one of the lucario tribes,” Avery sighs. “They must know so much more about aura and what it can do. Psychic energy can be used for telepathy and more physical techniques like telekinesis, but aura is an entirely different matter since it deals directly with life energy and emotions. I’ve heard you can even influence a target's emotional state and manipulate their aura like you would your own!”

Nia leans back, something in her gut turning over as she snaps back to the conversation at hand. Influencing others’ emotions? Manipulating their aura, their life energy?

"That…uh, sounds a little scary, Avery."

Avery seems surprised, but then laughs. “Apologies. I suppose it does. I just thought it was fascinating! And I know you would never misuse your aura, so I don’t fear that kind of power in your paws.”

Nia’s unease fades a bit as she gives them a smile. It’s nice to know Avery has so much faith in her.

“For now, continue to explore this technique, Riolu,” Val says. She tilts her head towards the battlefield. “Avery. Luxio. You are next.”

Avery looks reluctant to leave the discussion, but sighs and stands with an unreasonable amount of grace. They give Xander a teasing smile. “Think you can win this time?”

Xander laughs, lighting up in the way he only seems to around the kirlia. It’s kind of adorable. He nudges his teammate as they walk onto the battlefield together. “I’ll certainly try my best.”

Val hums, gaze lingering on the two of them as they start sparring without her call. “Charmander, you will battle Wartortle next.”

Nia frowns. Felix just battled a bit ago. “Shouldn’t I..?”

“You can fight if you would prefer to, but I can see you are reluctant. I believe you are making fine enough combat progress to focus on your aura today.”

Oh. Nia would prefer that over sparring, if Val thinks she’s doing all right. “O-Okay! So should I just..?”

“Practice with my aura while I monitor the sparring,” Val says, still watching the battle. “Connect to me, then try stepping away to see how far you can go before you lose the connection. Take a break between each attempt.”

There’s no hesitation in the medicham’s words, so after a moment Nia nods and closes her eyes to connect to Val’s orange energy. It’s not nearly as easy as Tobias or even Avery, but not any more difficult than Felix. A gentle tap to the fighting type’s arm, and the connection, though weak, is made. Val’s thoughts and emotions, calm as a still lake, leak through.

Luxio spark more aggressive Avery work on physical strength Riolu take breaks cannot forget exhaust herself—

Nia tries to channel out the medicham's thoughts, feeling a bit like she’s intruding. The thoughts are still there, but like someone murmuring nearby. She can kind of tune them out, and instead focuses on getting to her feet.

Whoa. She feels a bit woozy, as she usually does when stretching her aura in new ways. After a moment she manages to back away, one step at a time. The string between them stretches longer and longer. All Nia sees is her own aura and Val’s, the orange silhouette of her a bright beacon amidst the sea of black behind her eyelids.

Nia makes it ten steps away before she feels the string…strain, for lack of a better word. A tug on her soul. Then, one more step and it snaps. Nia gasps and stumbles, barely managing to catch herself before she can fall.

“Nia?” Tobias calls, apparently watching. His brow is furrowed.

“I’m fine!” She pants. That feeling just…surprised her. It was as if something she was leaning her weight on suddenly vanished.

“Take a break,” Val calls.

Nia does so, staggering back to Val’s side to sit and watch Xander and Avery exchange blows.

That’s how the training session continues, the others taking turns sparring, Tobias included, while Nia trains this new facet of her aura.

Avery, of course, gently interrogates Nia every time they are on the sidelines, watching Nia’s progress with fascination. The two of them hold a conversation as Nia treads back and forth, getting familiar with seeing the others through her aura. Avery is as curious about Nia and Tobias’ travels to Asra and Shivergleam as they are about everything else.

When Nia brings up how protect and misty terrain stopped the effects of the forming mystery dungeon on their way back from Shivergleam, Avery falls silent. When Nia finishes that round of connection training and opens her eyes, Avery is staring at her in much the same way they did when Nia made the connection between aura and type energy. Like their world has just shifted on its axis a bit.

“Avery?”

“…It’s almost a shame you became a Seeker, Nia. The research community would be lucky to have you.”

“Has no one ever tried to use a move like that in a mystery dungeon?” Nia asks, frowning. It feels kind of…obvious?

Avery hums. “I’m sure someone has, but it’s certainly not a well-documented strategy. The number of Pokemon who know such moves is already small, and the number of those Pokemon who just happen to get caught in a mystery dungeon forming are even smaller. To then also have a calm enough head to try defending rather than running? Even less so.”

“Oh.” Nia suddenly feels very, very glad that her instinct seems to be to freeze and defend, rather than to fight or flee. In this case, it worked in her favor.

“Mystery dungeons are a fairly recent phenomenon, in the grand scheme of things,” Avery continues. “Less than half a century old. And considering how dangerous they are to study as well as how randomly and rarely they appear—at least until recently—many basic facts about how they function are still unknown."

Huh. Nia guesses that makes sense.

"So this is an incredible discovery!" Avery says, excited. "I’ll need to share with Father later and ask him to connect with the researchers and archivists at the other guilds. I wonder why those moves can interact directly with a mystery dungeon? Is the environment itself using an attack somehow?”

Avery’s voice trails off to a mutter, and Nia has to stop herself from responding. Because she knows the answer to that, thanks to Giratina. Knows that the weakening border around the Pokemon world is the cause of the mystery dungeons, and that it’s made of life energy, of aura, just like any Pokemon. It makes sense that moves, which also use aura as their base power, can interact with it.

But sharing that knowledge would mean admitting to her run-in with Giratina. It would mean sharing the news of the world ending, the news that their hopes currently hinge on finding a long-lost dormant legendary. And August is going to talk to Alistair and Tawny anyways, right? Nia doesn’t want to put that burden on Avery’s shoulders. Not when there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re having a good time, training together! There’s no reason for Nia to bother Avery with terrible news. Not yet.

Nia takes a break shortly after that conversation, starting to feel truly worn down. Tobias sits down beside her after his latest spar, panting hard after facing off against Xander. Felix and Avery battle in front of them, while Xander and Kry talk strategy and Val observes.

“Hey, you crazy kids!”

Nia and Tobias tilt their heads back to see Azami hanging over them. She must be done training her own students. The tsareena’s mouth is hidden behind her high collar, but her eyes are crinkled with a smile. “Good to see you back at the Tree in one piece.”

Tobias scoffs, but Nia feels the way he relaxes at her side. “What, you think we were going to lose an arm or something out there?”

Azami laughs. “I never know with you, Spitfire!”

The tsareena takes a seat on Val’s other side to watch the spar now that she’s done mentoring her own students. After a moment, she decides to cheer on Avery. Felix sends her a betrayed look in the midst of battle that results in him getting blasted by a fairy move. Val gets up a moment later to move to where Felix is groaning on the floor, a quiet lecture about getting distracted in battle likely on her tongue.

On Nia's other side, Tobias is now arguing with Kry and Xander about offensive versus defensive strategies. Tobias insists that offensive is best, of course, while Xander leans more towards defensive strategies. Kry seems to be arguing that going on the offensive is not aggressive enough, somehow.

Nia, left to drift in the middle, sits in contented silence, letting her fatigued aura rest. She watches Val talk to Avery next. The medicham’s stoic expression is softened ever so slightly as she directs the kirlia on how they could’ve better dodged a tricky aqua tail attack earlier in the battle.

Azami leans over to whisper to Nia, “You’re one of her favorites, y’know.”

“W-What?”

“Val,” Azami says. She straightens up, but keeps her voice low. “She didn’t have the greatest mentor growing up, so she tends to keep her students at arm’s length. But she always perks up when you and Spitfire are back in town.”

“Oh,” Nia says, unsure what else to respond with. Her ears feel warm.

She…wasn’t expecting that. Val doesn’t seem to hate being around Nia and teaching her, but Nia has a hard time believing that Val holds any particular fondness for her, either. Especially considering Nia’s inexperience with pretty much, well…everything. If anything, she’d thought Val might find her kind of exhausting to deal with. Not that the medicham ever let that slip, but she doesn’t let much of anything slip.

“Trust me,” Azami laughs. “Other than Alistair, I’m the best Val translator in the guild. We’re close.”

Her voice is sly, and Nia glances at the tall grass type.

Azami winks.

Oh, Nia thinks as her brows shoot up. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but Azami isn’t exactly subtle. Does that mean her and Val..?

Val finishes offering advice and returns to sit between Nia and Azami, stopping Nia’s moment of revelation. Still, she can’t help peeking over at the two Pokemon afterwards, trying to figure out if Azami was just teasing her or not. Azami does lean awfully close to Val when they talk, and the medicham doesn’t seem to mind at all. Then again, cool and collected is kind of her default state.

For a moment, Nia thinks, I could connect to Val’s aura to find out.

Then she registers that thought and tears her gaze away to watch the next spar, stomach turning uncomfortably. She’s going to need to be careful with how she practices this new technique. Every time she thinks she’s getting a grasp on her aura, getting comfortable with it, something new pops up to throw a curveball and make her feel like she’s handling a live bomb. It’s just…scary. To know she holds so much power.

Val calls it quits on everyone’s training soon after. Tobias and Xander’s team are radiating exhaustion, and they eagerly agree to break for a late lunch. While Nia isn’t physically tired, her aura is worn down to a fraction of its usual amount and that leaves her ready for a rest and a good meal, too.

“Wanna come with us to the dining hall?” Felix invites, smile broad as he stands and stretches.

Nia glances at her partner. Tobias seems uncertain, but doesn’t disagree immediately, so he’s probably just feeling shy about how to say yes without a fuss. Nia accepts for them both, and the group packs up to head down the Lexym Tree to the cafeteria floor.

As they leave, calling thanks to Val and Azami, Nia spots the tsareena slinging an arm around Val’s shoulders, laughing about something. Val’s mouth twitches into a small smile.

Nia bites back a smile of her own and hurries after her friends.

[beautifulbrainrot]

spencer reid x reader

cw angst, spencer’s addiction, drug mention, gn!reader, s2!spence

Something wasn’t right.

Something wasn’t right, with Spencer.

You had been noticing this change since his kidnapping and torture at the hands of Tobias Hankel. Or really his Father. Despite watching the live stream, you didn’t truly know the extent of what happened in that cabin. Only two people knew. One of those people was dead, and the other was… You weren’t quite sure.

Spencer wasn’t acting like Spencer. He no longer rambled facts and statistics during cases, he came in late, he slept on the plane. He snapped at people, Morgan, Emily, You.

He didn’t look right either. The bags under his eyes were darker and more prominent, he was pale and he looked thinner. You were beginning to seriously worry about him.

What really confused you was everyone else’s obliviousness to the changes in Spencer. Sure Hotch and Gideon shared a few looks, and there was no doubt that Morgan and Prentiss had seen it too, but they had done nothing. You didn’t understand.

After watching Spencer snap at the team all day, including you, which hurt you more than you were willing to admit, you decided to confront him in his hotel room that night.

Sucking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, you firmly knocked on Spencer’s hotel room door.

“Spencer. It’s me. Open up, please.” You spoke, your tone firm.

A few clatters came from Spencer’s room, before he swung open the door.

“What.” He said coldly. You were taken slightly aback by his cool tone, but you ignored it and pushed past him into the room quickly.

“Yeah, come on in.” He deadpanned, closing the door firmly behind you.

You walked into the room, stopping as you noticed it’s dissary. This wasn’t right.

“Spencer, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, his tone still cold and condescending.

“You know what I mean Spencer, you’ve been acting.. off since- .. since Tobias.” You stumbled over the last part, almost unable to bring yourself to say his name.

He raised his eyebrows.

“Oh- Well I'm sorry I haven't been quite as joyful since I got kidnapped and tortured. So sorry about that.” He shot back, his words dripping with sarcasm.

“Spencer- I-“ You started, shaking your head. He had never been like this before with you. “Spencer it’s more than that. Somethings wrong, I can tell.”

“You can tell? Since when did you know me so well?”

“Spencer, I do know you. You’re my friend.” You said, furrowing your brows. This was all wrong. This wasn’t the Spencer you knew.

This wasn’t the Spencer you loved.

He scoffed at you, rolling his eyes.

That’s when you noticed it.

The subtle scratching he was doing of his inner arm as he crossed them over his chest.

Then it all made sense.

The kidnapping, the torture. Tobias, his father. The lateness, the aggravation, the lack of sleep.

And his pupils. Constricted. Narcotics.

Fuck. Spencer was on drugs.

“Where are they.”

Spencer paused, staring at you.

“What?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly, his arms tightening across his chest, as if he was guarding himself.

“Spencer, you’re high.”

It felt like the world paused. Someone knew. You knew.

“What?- I-“

“Spencer. Don’t try and deny. I’m a profiler for fucks sake, did you really think you could hide this? Where are they.”

Spencer heart rate picked up. He couldn’t help his eyes darting over to his bag where the small vials and needles were hidden.

You saw his eyes move, and before he could stop you, you sped over to the bag, picking it up and rifling through it.

“Please- No!” Spenxer begged, but you could barely hear him. Blood was pumping in your ears as you sifted through the bag. Your heart stopped when you saw them. The vials and needles, stashed under all of his clothes in the bottom of his bag.

“Spencer..” Your voice broke, tears pricking in your eyes and in his as you pulled the drugs out of his bag and turned to him.

“Spencer… Why?” Your heart broke as you looked at him. He was seemingly curling in on himself, his arms wrapped around his skinny frame tightly, holding himself. A small sobbed ripped out of his mouth and you couldn’t hold back anymore.

Tears dripped down your cheeks as you threw the vials onto the bed and pulled Spencer into your arms, holding him close as sobs racked through his weak body.

“I’m sorry.. I just- I couldn’t-“ He cried softly into you. You held him closer, your own heart breaking with every word. He had been suffering in silence and no one was helping him.

You pulled away slightly to look him in the eye, stocking his hair with your hand.

“I’m going to help you get clean Spencer.”

He bit his lip and looked down.

You sighed.

“I can only help if you want to get clean Spencer. Do you want to get clean.”

He looked up, determination on his face.

“I do. I’m just- … I’m scared.”

“I know, I know you’re scared, but you’re strong Spencer. You can do this. I will help however I can.” You promised.

He smiled softly at you, and pulled you in for a hug again.

[spencer-reids-adventures]

for @tobias-hankel!

cw: drug addiction

---

He doesn’t think anyone knows.

Last time, of course, they knew. They knew he’d just suffered a major trauma. They knew he kept arriving late to work and snapping at the team. They knew something was very, very wrong. And they never said anything to him about it, not really. Some vague words from Gideon. A few suspicious looks from Morgan. Utter befuddlement from poor Emily. But no one ever said a word, and so, neither did Spencer.

This time, he’s more careful. 

Once again, it’s not his fault, not really. Or at least, that’s what he tells himself. It’s not his fault he wasn’t coherent enough after being shot to tell the EMTs not to give him narcotics. It’s not his fault he was unconscious when the rest of the decisions about his knee surgery were made. It’s not his fault he limped out of the hospital on crutches with a bottle of Percocet, and it’s not his fault he took it, or that he took it upon himself to increase the dose. Small increments, a few days at a time. He’s a doctor. It’s fine.

It’s not his fault his team was too busy focusing on Hotch to notice any of it.

It’s not his fault that when the Percocet runs out, he manages to make his way to a crummy neighborhood in the middle of the night to pay an embarrassing amount of money for a moderate quantity of Dilaudid, and it’s definitely not his fault that the relief is so powerful, it actually makes him cry.

No, it’s not his fault, he assures himself. But it’s still a problem. It’s still a secret. It’s still scary and shameful, and Spencer is weak and broken, and he can’t let any of his teammates find out what’s happening.

He tries to be careful. It’s easy at first, because he’s on leave from work. Once he gets back, he does his best to look normal, to arrive on time, to be kind to his coworkers. He tries his best, and it’s so hard, and he truly doesn’t know if he’s succeeding. He’s not sure of much, at this point. He’s just trying to get through each day the best he can, to manage the pain in a way that’s familiar for him. 

Hotch returns to work not long after Spencer, and from the look on his face, he can tell something is wrong. He doesn’t say anything, though. He never says anything. Spencer tries to brush it off, pretends it doesn’t bother him, pretends he’s not desperate to just talk about it with someone. 

He tries, and he tries, and he tries.

And then one evening, the phone rings.

The call shows up as Unknown Caller, but Spencer answers it anyway, expecting someone trying to scam him or sell him something.

“Just listen,” the voice says on the other end. “You don’t have to say anything right now.”

And Spencer couldn’t say anything even if he wanted to, because it’s Gideon’s voice on the other end of the line, a voice he hasn’t heard in years, though he hears it in his memories and his dreams more often than he’d like to admit. 

He waits, speechless, for Gideon to continue.

“Hotch called me. We talk sometimes, you know. He keeps me up to date on what’s going on. And he told me that something’s going on with you. He’s really worried about you.”

Spencer swallows. Why would Hotch reach out to Gideon instead of just talking to Spencer himself?

What would Spencer have even said if Hotch had tried to talk to him?

“I’m assuming it’s the same problem you had last time, when you missed that plane, though Hotch couldn’t confirm anything. Maybe it’s not that. Maybe you’re just struggling emotionally, or maybe it’s something else I don’t even know about. No matter what it is, Reid, I want to help you. I want to be here for you in a way that I haven’t before.”

Spencer rubs his face with his hand. It doesn’t make sense, none of this makes sense. Gideon left. He left, and he’s gone, and Spencer made peace with that a long time ago. And now—now he doesn’t know what to do at all. Now, nothing makes sense. Nothing at all.

“Can you tell me what you’re thinking, Spencer?”

Spencer sighs. Pulls at his hair. Wrings his hands out a few times, and switches his phone from one ear to the other. 

“I messed up,” he finally whispers. “I missed another plane.”

“We can fix this,” Gideon says immediately. “Are you home? Are you safe? Can I come to you?”

“C-come to me?” Spencer repeats incredulously. 

“We obviously don’t want you detoxing on your own,” Gideon says matter-of-factly. “I’ll come help you.”

“Detoxing…”

“You know you can’t keep going like this. Something needs to change. I’m not going to let you kill yourself with this stuff.”

Spencer is quiet for a long time.

“I’m… at home,” he finally whispers.

“Stay there,” says Gideon. “I’m coming to you, okay? It’s going to take me a little while, but just—don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t,” Spencer promises. 

When Gideon shows up 30 minutes later, a needle and a vial are sitting on the coffee table, but Spencer hasn’t moved.

[redmambajatiri]

Hey can u write a four/Tobias x fem reader smut? Where Eric is being all touchy with the reader all of a sudden despite him hating her and four gets jealous and they fuck it out. You can make up the ending :)

Jealous Sex

A few things:

1. I haven’t wrote for divergent in like 4 months so this might not be what you wanted

2. Sorry for the ending it’s kind of ass

3. But nevertheless I hope you and anyone who comes across this enjoys

🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮

Jealous!Tobias x fem reader, Touchy!Eric x reader

🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮

It was a regular everyday Dauntless party, music, drinking, dancing. As Y/n was dancing to the music red solo cup above her, not paying attention to anyone in the room with her,until she feels hands on her waist. Turning she saw Eric, the one guy in Dauntless who didn’t take a liking to her, until this very moment.

“Eric what do you think you're doing?” Y/n asked

“Dancing with you” Eric whispered in her ear

“Well stop it”

“And why would I do that”

“Well one because I’m dating Four and two because you don’t like me”

“ Well Y/N your little boyfriend doesn’t have to worry”

Y/N then looks to her left, seeing her boyfriend Tobias staring at her while taking a sip from his cup, never taking his eyes off of her.

“Eric he’s staring directly at us” Y/N says while trying to move from Eric

“So we’re not hurting anyone” He says while turning Y/N to face him

As the night went on Y/N and Eric danced. Until Tobias came and took Y/N back to his apartment.

“Tobias I swear there was nothing going on with me and Eric” Y/N said while closing the door

“Well it didn’t seem like nothing”

“Tobias, are you seriously jealous right now?”

“No, but he shouldn’t have been all over you when he doesn’t even like you”

Y/N walking up to her boyfriend, puts her hand on his cheek stroking it with her thumb before kissing him. Tobias pulls Y/N closer in turn deepening the kiss before laying her down on the couch. Kissing and biting her neck.

“May I?” Tobias ask referring to her shirt

“Yes you may”

Tobias then pulls your shift over your head. Before he does anything else his hands roam your body.

Tobias kisses you from your collarbone down to your lower abdomen. Before removing your black pants and underwear. Kissing, biting and sucking on your inner thighs.

“Mhmm stopppp” you whine as Tobias knows what he’s doing

“Stop what beautiful” He says while smirking at you

“Teasing if you wanna have sex than lets doing it or I can just go to Eric-“

Before you could finish the rest of your sentence Tobias started sucking on your cunt, earning him a moan.

“T-Tobias mmhm fuck”

“Mhmm your so wet baby” he says while sticking a finger in you

You let out a gasp “Shit, t-to much” you say while trying to push his head and hand away

“Move your hands Y/N”

“Mhmmm, it’s to muchhh” you say while squirming

“It wasn’t to much when I was fucking you all over the apartment last night, you were taking me so well, lasting multiple rounds”

Tobias says while adding another finger speeding up his pace keeping eye contact with you.

“Is my beautiful girl overstimulated?”

“Y-yes”

Tobias let out a chuckle before flipping you over on your stomach and undoing his pants and pulling his boxers. He slowly rubs his mushroom shaped tip on your cunt before sliding in. He leans down to your ear nipping it before saying

“Could Eric fuck you like this,mhm?”

“N-no”

“You don’t sound to confident in that statement baby”

As you’re about to respond Tobias pulls out before ramming back into you causing you to yelp.

“Tobias”

As the night turned into day, Tobias looked at your sleeping figure wrapped in his bed sheets, smiling at you.

[jerzwriter]

Casey is having a rough day that keeps getting rougher. When home is not providing her with the solace and reassurance she needs, Tobias comes to the rescue and gets a big surprise.

Book: Open Heart (Post Series) Pairing: Tobias Carrick x F!MC (Casey Carrick) Others: Samantha & Brooke Carrick (children) Words: 1,700 Rating: Teen A/N: Thank you to @rafasgirl23415 for this prompt from this list. A kiss as a promise.

Casey sat on the edge of the bathtub. Hunched over with her head resting wearily on her hand, she was the very picture of defeat. While the bathroom door was ajar, her bedroom door was shut, providing a small barrier to the chaos that had been reigning downstairs.

She hadn’t felt well for days, perhaps even longer. The vision of a peaceful night at home was all that had gotten her through the day. But it took just one step into her foyer to realize her wish would not come true. Small puddles of water were scattered on the polished floor, and the sounds of Samantha and Brooke bickering echoed down the hall. The theatrics were high despite Tobias’s valiant attempts to quell them.

She walked in gingerly, careful to avoid the small ponds that had no business being inside her home, and tossed her purse on a table at the base of the stairs. Her head was already pounding, and whatever happened here was not going to make it better. No one knew she was home yet, and she could have made a run for it, but that didn’t feel right.

It took five more minutes before Tobias noticed his wife was home, and by then, the sounds of tears weren’t limited to the two guilty little girls; they now belonged to Casey, too.

He first saw her as he paraded down the hallway with a mop and paper towels in hand and their two little urchins trailing behind. He was immediately concerned. Sure, no one liked coming home to learn their kids decided to create a waterpark inside their home, but he and Casey were seasoned parents of six years now, parents of two for four. She was practically a veteran of the chaos and typically handled it with a sense of humor and the laid-back attitude they both tended to share.

“Baby,” he said, rushing to her side. “Are you OK?”

“No,” she sniffled as Samantha and Brooke looked on with tears in their eyes.

“Hon, it’s all right,” Tobias soothed. “The girls and I are going to clean this up; you don’t have to do a thing.”

“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Brooke cried.

“Me, too,” Samantha added. “Even though it was Brooke’s idea.”

“IT WAS NOT!” Brooke yelled.

Samantha began to retort, but one stern look from their father and both girls hushed at once.

“You two,” he said, handing them each a roll of paper towels. “Get cleaning. Once this mess is taken care of, we need to have a talk.”

He turned back to his wife, who was struggling to keep her own tears at bay.

“Babe, what’s going on? With the gruesome twosome in there, minor catastrophes can come on any day that ends with y.”

“I just don’t feel good,” she wept. “I have a pounding headache and haven’t felt right for days. I just really, really needed a peaceful night at home.”

Tobias placed his hand on her forehead, a worried look on his face. “No fever,” he said. “But if the headaches have been going on for days, you should have that checked out.”

“I will,” she smiled, placing her head on his chest. Being in his arms already made her feel slightly better.

“I can’t fix your headache, but I can give you a night of peace. Go upstairs and take a nice hot bath; lay down in our room when you’re done. I’ll take care of the gremlins. You’re officially off duty.”

“Tobias, you don’t have to, I can....”

“You can go rest! I’ll be up to check on you shortly.”

That was an hour ago, and while the warm bath had done wonders, Casey still didn’t feel right. She entered her bedroom to retrieve a bag surreptitiously hidden inside her purse. She insisted it wasn’t necessary when Sienna made the suggestion, but deep down, she knew that was just wishful thinking. Without telling a soul, she stopped into Walgreens on the way home. It only took a return to their bathroom and five minutes for her to get her answer... and that’s how she ended up numb, slouched on the edge of the tub without a clue about what she should do next, and that’s precisely how Tobias found her.

His brow furrowed, and he lovingly ran a hand through her still-damp hair. “Baby, I thought you were lying down. Come on, let’s get you to bed.” But his heart almost stopped when he saw the pink and white stick clenched inside Casey’s blanched fist.

“Oh, shit...” he muttered as his wife wearily gazed his way with a sigh. She handed him the stick without ceremony.

“Two lines,” she mumbled. “That explains why I haven’t been feeling well. That’s why I've been an emotional wreck today... two lines.”

As the shock wore off, conflicting emotions warred inside Tobias. It was no secret that he would have loved more children, but Casey made it clear that she was more than done after Brooke’s birth. He placed the test on the counter with a quiver.

“I’m in the fucking doghouse, aren’t I?”

Casey ran her hands through her hair and sighed. “You could be... but lucky for you, I'm a doctor. So, I know we both played a part in this.”

Tobias winced as guilt coursed through him. “But I was supposed to get a vasectomy. In fairness, I had legitimate reasons every time I had to cancel. The first time, I got the flu... the second time, you and the girls had the flu, and the third time, I got called to that conference in....”

Casey reached up and grasped his hand, an uncertain smile on her lips. “Tobias,” she whispered. “I know. I’m not mad at you."

“OK,” his voice trembled. “Should... should you test again? Just to be sure?”

Casey reached into the pocket of her robe and produced two more tests... both of them positive.

“I’m sure,” she confirmed.

“All right... this is a little odd,” he admitted. “Normally, this is news that would be met with excitement, but... I know you didn’t want to go through this again. I... I guess we should talk after I put the girls to bed. You know, we’re lucky enough to live in an area where you still have options.”  

“I know,” Casey nodded, pulling him to sit beside her on the tub’s edge. “And I’m so grateful for that, and damn glad those options exist... but there's no option for me... for us. We’re having baby number three, T.”

Tobias tried to keep his demeanor neutral, but he couldn't help but smile. Pulling Casey close, he placed a lingering kiss atop her head as she clutched onto him.

“Are you... OK... with this?” He asked.

“It's still settling in... I didn't expect this, and it certainly wasn’t planned... but neither was Sammy, and despite her aquatic adventures in our foyer today, she’s one of the best things to ever happen to us.”

“She sure is,” Tobias concurred, rubbing soothing circles on Casey’s back. “And I have a feeling this little one will be, too.”

“So do I,” she smiled nervously. “But Tobias, our lives are crazy as it is. We have two demanding jobs... two adorable but wild little girls... I didn't want any more children because being pregnant absolutely sucks, but I also, thought we had all we could handle. How are we going to cope with this?”

“Hey, we can handle this!” He insisted. “Trust me. We’re blessed, baby. We have my mother nearby... you know she’ll be over the moon that there's a new baby on the way and she'll help as much as possible.”

“Probably more than we want her to,” Casey chuckled.

“Exactly! And we’re lucky enough to have the resources to hire help.”

“But I don’t want a nanny raising our kids.”

“Neither do I, but I don't mind someone helping with the cooking, the cleaning, and all the other work around here. Look at me,” he said, holding her face in his hands. “We’ll have a ton of support, and you... you have me. I will do everything I can to get you through this. You have my word."

“Will you go through labor and delivery for me?”  

“If I could... I would.”

She playfully slapped his arm, though it did pack a bit of a punch. “You only say that because you know that you can’t.”

“If I could... I would,” he repeated. “Come on, you know I’d do anything for you, baby, and while I can’t do that... I'll do whatever you need. I mean it.”

Casey looked up at him, her face more relaxed than he had seen it all day; there was even the slightest hint of a smile in her eyes.

“You promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

He lifted her chin and brought his lips to hers, gently offering a sign of affirmation. As their embrace tightened, the kiss turned more passionate, and Tobias placed a bevy of little pecks on her lips before pulling away.

“There,” he smiled. “That seals the deal. You've got me... whatever you need."

“Tobias?” Casey grinned.

“Yes?”

She reached over to grab the three sticks off of the counter and eagerly handed them to him; this time, her eyes were bright, and her face was lit with glee.

“We’re having another baby!”

With eyes glistening, his smile spread from ear to ear. He jumped to his feet, lifting his wife in his arms, and spun her around the bathroom, planting several more kisses all over her beaming face.

“I love you, Casey. And I'm so happy,” he whispered. He looked into her eyes and placed a hand on her lower stomach. “This little one is going to complete our family.”

“She will,” Casey beamed. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Tobias took a step back, his eyes wide. “She? I’m the one who always said I only make girls... and you spent your first two pregnancies telling me I was crazy. Have you finally accepted the truth?”

“Well, thus far, your track record speaks for itself,” she laughed. “I love you, Tobias.”

“I love you, too.”

They were awash in the ethereal bliss of the tender moment, but that came screeching to a sudden halt.

“MOOOMMM! DAAAADDDD!”

“I didn’t do it! I swear, she did!”

Tobias's head dropped onto Casey's shoulder with a thud, as she laughed gently beneath him.

“Well, I don’t smell smoke," he noted. "That’s good, at least.”

Taking Casey’s hand, he led her to their bedroom and tucked her under a blanket on their bed. “You rest. I’ll handle the two of them. And when they get to sleep, we can celebrate some more.”

“T... are you sure we can handle three of them? We're going to be outnumbered."

“Oh, I'm 100% sure!” He grinned. “We're the dream team... together, you and I can handle anything.”

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[lambtotheslaughterr]

Rise : Chapter Six

A Rafe Cameron Series

WC: 3.4k

Dividers provided by @firefly-graphics

CHAPTER FIVE | MASTERLIST | CHAPTER SEVEN

note*: user pr300877 you have been removed from taglist because your account keeps getting deactiviated & idk what that's about. contact me to be readded once you have a stable account & are following. thank you.

note*: i tried posting this earlier so if there is a second post, someone please let me know so i can take one down. thank you!

            Rafe stomped into the room, dropping a bag onto the table. The barrels of a few guns sticking out, ammo spilling onto the table.

            “Is this really necessary?” Millie questioned as the men in the group began loading & double checking the cleanliness of the guns.

            Sayyed, surprisingly, tucked a gun into the backside of his pants before loading another one & holding it tight in his hand.

            “Would you rather they run up on us first?” Rafe asked in turn.

            “Look, I’m all for going over there & checking it out.” Millie began, trying to reason with the boys as they loaded themselves with defense weapons, “But it’s the middle of the night! Use your brains!”

            “That’s exactly what we’re doing, babe.” Micah told her, smirking happily as he aimed a gun into the distance, checking the scope of it.

            “Alright.” You butt in, “What Mills is trying to say is we haven’t thought this through all the way, right? You guys are panicking, rushing into a gunfight. For all we know it’s a family out there trying to survive just like us.”

            “Then it’s better to talk to them & let them know to stay on that side of the lake.” Micah argued.

            You groaned in frustration, both you & Millie trading annoyed looks.

            “Sayyed.” You placed a hand on the backpack he was ready to swing over his shoulder, “C’mon. You know you don’t have to go out there guns ablaze. It could be nothing.”

            Sayyed’s eyes shifted between your own & the others. He eventually took you by the arm, leading you away from the others, “I agree, but…” He sighed, looking at the others over his shoulder as they argued amongst themselves, “For once, I’m in agreement with Rafe. It’s works in our favor if we establish ourselves first.”

            “Like alphas?” You rolled your eyes. “Can’t you guys wait till morning?”

            “I know that seems better but it’s not. Because for all we know, they could know we’re here too & might be planning on coming over.”

            “And what if it is just a family? With kids?” You stared at him wide-eyed.

            Sayyed cupped your cheek, “Then we’ll have nothing to worry about. All we’re doing is scoping it out. If necessary, we make ourselves known. If not, we’ll be back before you know it.”

            He then went to return to the group, but you stopped him once more, “Look, you’re clearly not going to listen to me, Rafe sure won’t, but just please, please be safe.”

            “You know I will.” Sayyed smiled, leaning down to kiss you once.

            After he walked away, your eyes met Rafe’s from across the room. His expression was unreadable, but you felt uncomfortable. Shaking it off though, you joined the others at the table.

            “Alright, Adrianna, you stay here somewhere outside between the house & them.” Rafe pointed out the door, “If you guys hear gunshots, take the truck.” Rafe put his keys on the table, “Get down the road & wait, we’ll find you.”

            “Why do I feel like you’re itching for a fight?” Adrianna admonished.

            Rafe only gave her a twinkling smile in return.

            Bear, Micah, Rafe, Kai, & Sayyed finished suiting up. They each wore bulletproof vests & carried one to two guns on their person, major thanks to Tobias. It wasn’t until they were about to leave that you looked back & realized all the women we’re waiting in the house.

            “I know this is a fucked up place now,” Millie began, sidling up next to you as you two stood by the sliding glass doors, watching the boys disappear in the darkness, “But is it just me or did some old-world misogyny bullshit just happen?”

            You chuckled but nodded, “You’re not wrong but let’s be honest.” You gestured to Nuha who sat the table looking fearful, “We’re not nearly as threatening as five men showing up with guns in the middle of the night. Besides,” You pointed out Adrianna who was perched on the deck outside, a binocular in her hands & a strapped to her back, “We have Adrianna, the only one actually trained in gun use, so.”

            Millie rolled her eyes but smiled, “True, true.”

            Silence fell between you two, the tension growing thick with fear & worry.

            “I just have a bad feeling.” Millie said quietly, “I’m worried about Micah.”

            “Same here, girlfriend. Knowing Sayyed is out there in the dark with a gun & no rules to this world makes me sick to my stomach.”

            Millie knocked her shoulder into yours, “Our boyfriends aren’t exactly intimidating.”

            “I don’t know.” You smirked, “Micah sure can be an asshole.”

            Millie gasped at that, playfully smacking your arm, “He’d kick your ass if he heard you say that.”

            Rafe would murder him if he tried. The intrusive thought surprised you.

            “C’mon.” You pulled her away from the door, “There’s nothing we can do. They’ll be back before we know it.”

            Millie stared out the doors a moment longer before giving a small smile, her arms crossed over her chest, “I hope you’re right.”

            Time seemed to drag on, & without being able to watch Netflix or dreadfully studying for an exam, it really wore you down. Nuha had fallen asleep on the couch, snuggled up in a thick blanket. Millie paced between the kitchen & living room. The more she moved the more your anxiety spiked.

            They would be okay, they had to be. You told yourself that over & over again. But after Luka, you too sat in fear that they would return with one less friend. But you couldn’t let yourself think like that. Sayyed said it’d be okay. So it would be okay.

            “Mills.” You spoke softly so as not to disturb Nuha. Millie stopped her pacing, looking at you concerned.

            “Come sit down, play goldfish with me.” You patted the spot next to you on the loveseat, “I’m bored. We need to distract ourselves.”

            Millie exhaled, shaking her head, “Sorry, _____.” She joined you, crisscrossing her legs.

            “It’s okay.” You smiled, dealing out the cards between you two.

            The two of you got through three rounds before the sliding door got thrusted open. The both of you, Nuha even, were shocked by the sudden entrance. Adrianna raced in. You were about to ask what was wrong when one by one the boys started filing in behind her. But someone was missing…

            “Where’s Micah?!” Millie shot forward, heading for the door. Bear through out an arm to stop her.

            Your heart lurched as you took in the boys. A few of them had definitely been in a fight, Rafe being the most obvious one. He had a laceration on his cheek, a busted lip that was bleeding, & the knees of his jeans had holes in them.

   ��        “What the fuck?” You breathed out, approaching Sayyed who only sported a black eye, not yet swelled. “Where’s Micah?”

            “He’s fine.” Bear shared but neither you or Millie was convinced.

            “Barely.” Rafe spit, going over to the kitchen sink where a bucket of water sat. He rinsed his face.

            “Sayyed.” You said his name firmly, gripping his arm. Was Micah dead? Where was he?!

            “They have him.” Sayyed stared hard eyed at the ground, his head shaking.

            Rafe slammed a drawer shut, bringing a rag to his face, “I told you to fucking listen to me. But no, you wanted to be diplomatic.”

            Sayyed tossed him a heated glare but ignored him. Rafe then turned his eyes on you, “Your boyfriend is a fucking idiot.” He seethed.

            “Hey!” You yelled after him, but Sayyed stopped you, “Don’t. He’s right.”

            You frowned, feeling your body shake, “What happened?”

            “We thought they were harmless.” Bear interjected, but was looking at Micah. “We were gonna talk to them, just pretend we were passing through. Kai & Micah were hiding in the woods as back-up. It was three guys. But—”

            “But they saw how loaded we were & wanted our shit!” Rafe hollered from across the kitchen, rage rolling off him in waves.

            “I wanted to confront them with guns in their faces.” Rafe spit, “But no, Sayyed wanted to play fucking nice. Now they have Micah & they’re gonna roast him for dinner if we don’t come back before morning with a fuck ton of goods.”

            “Jesus Christ.” Adrianna muttered.

            Sayyed had his head hung low but raised it when Rafe squeezed between you two to get in his face, “No one made you fucking leader, but you seem to be calling the shots & people keep getting hurt.”

            Though Rafe wasn’t far from the truth, you knew Sayyed already felt guilty over Luka, & now Micah was taken. You weren’t going to sit by & let him drag your boyfriend down further. Gripping the back of Rafe’s shirt, you yanked him backwards, “Back off, Rafe!”

            Rafe stumbled back, still glaring at Sayyed before he flashed his angry eyes to you, “You know I’m fucking right.”

            With that, he exited the kitchen, a door slamming in the distance.

            Millie was pacing, “Well let’s fucking go, I don’t care what they want, we need to get Micah.”

            “It’s not that simple, Mills.” Sayyed said lowly, tiredly.

            “This is your fault!” Millie screeched.

            “Millie, please.” You put up a hand, “I know you’re angry & scared, we all are. But we can’t go rushing into it.”

            Millie scoffed, angry tears skipping down her cheeks.

            “What’re we gonna do, _____? Huh?” Adrianna griped, “We have plenty of shit, we can give stuff to them, make the trade. Easy, done.”

            You groaned in frustration, “Guys, I don’t know but if they’re willing to kill Micah for just food then whose to say they’ll stop there? I mean, seriously. We bring them food & weapons, great, then they ask for more. Then they never stop asking, demanding, threatening to kill for it.”

            Everyone stared at you, considering your words.

            “It’s a new world, new rules.” Adrianna added, “We have to adapt faster than our potential enemies.”

            You pointed at Adrianna, what she said.

            “So, what’s the plan?” Bear questioned, running a hang through his long locks.

            You swallowed a dry lump in your throat, your eyes dancing around the room as everyone appeared to look at you for the answers. You opened your mouth, ready to suggest something deadly, but couldn’t find it in yourself to say it.

            “We kill them.” Everyone turned to see Rafe had rejoined the discussion. The dimly lit lamp in the corner highlighted the lethal fire in his eyes. The two of you traded knowing looks. It was obvious that Sayyed wanted to debate the plan, but he said nothing, just pressed his lips tightly together.

            You nodded, & no one argued the case.

            It was survival of the fittest, you wouldn’t lose another friend.

            It was a moonless night, making the woods that much harder to navigate. The four of you stuck together, sparing no more than a foot from the other. It was you, Adrianna, Millie, & Rafe. The plan was a good one.

            Rafe would approach the men with bags of goods, he carried a handgun in the waist of his pants but would not draw it unless necessary. Adrianna would hide somewhere among the trees, her rifle perched to kill. You were added to seem less threatening, & Millie insisted on coming along, that no one would be stopping her from saving Micah herself. What the men who held Micah didn’t know is that you & Millie had now had gun training & knew when & how to fire. Rafe confirmed that they didn’t have guns, just hunting knives. In a way, you had the upper hand, but things could always take a turn for the worse. And if things did take a turn for the worse, the men back at the house were ready to defend their lives.

            Rafe led the four of you through the trees & Adrianna covered the rear. It wasn’t long before you spotted the fire amongst the trees where the volatile men waited. Rafe stopped everyone in their tracks. He looked back at Adrianna, pointing out a fallen tree trunk a few yards away that had a perfect line of vision to the clearing. She nodded, carefully stepping over to avoid detection. Once she was perfectly positioned, Rafe turned to you & Millie.

            “Follow my lead, stay behind me. Remember the plan.” You both nodded in unison.

            Rafe grew slowly closer to the campsite, you & Millie right behind him. Just before he entered the clearing, he whistled, announcing his arrival.

            Stepping into the clearing behind Rafe, you quickly counted three men. They were older, mid-to-late thirties. Clearly they hadn’t had a shower in weeks. But they smiled lewdly as Rafe appeared with you two in tow.

"What the fuck is she doing here, Rafe?!" Micah yelled when he spotted Millie.

            One of the men—the tallest of the three—sat up, a prideful smirk on his face, “We only asked for food & guns, but we’ll accept some pussy. That’s hardest to come by.”

            Millie scowled, her eyes flashing to Micah who sat by the fire, the final two men on either side of him.

            Rafe chuckled humorlessly, “They aren’t up for grabs.”

            “Sure about that?” One of the other men asked, this one with a potbelly.

            “Positive I’m the one with a gun. Wanna touch em & find out?”

            “Hand over the ones you brought us & it’ll be a quick fight, kiddo.” The tall one replied smugly.

            Your eyes fell to Micah then, gesturing for him to move to the side as subtly as possible, but it was difficult when the youngest of the three wouldn’t take his eyes off you, undressing you in his mind.

            Rafe dropped two bags to the ground, “One’s food, the other weapons. That’s the trade. We’ll take Micah & you guys leave in the morning.”

            “Oh ho ho.” The tall one laughed half-heartedly, “Think you’re the boss, huh?”

            “I think I stay true to my word.” Rafe stared unblinkingly, “Like a man. That’s what we are, right? Men?”

            The three of them traded contemplating looks, none of which settled your nerves.

            “Pat, check the goods.” The youngest of the three stepped away from Micah, unzipping the first bag which had food in it. Then as he moved over to the second bag, you subconsciously felt your fingers ghost over the handle of the gun in the backside of your pants. If these men were as predictable as Rafe believed them to be then the plan would go accordingly.

            Pat unzipped the bag filled with guns. There was only five in them. You all didn’t want them to know that there was a major stash back at the house. Pat raised a gun to the tallest, & another to the potbelly behind Micah.

            “Good man.” The tallest said, moving the gun between his hands.

            “Like I said.” Rafe quipped.

            You felt Millie shift behind you, likely prepping her own gun behind her back.

            You watched with bated breath as the tallest nodded to potbelly, “Guess a deal’s a deal.”

            Then, before anyone could stop him, the tallest pointed his gun at Rafe & pulled the trigger.

            The woods became a tense silence.

            Rafe smirked, “Not stupid enough to give you loaded guns, dumbass. Adrianna, now!”

            The three of you ducked, falling to your knees as a shot rang through the trees. You could hear as the bullet whipped through foliage before impacting. The sound of a body falling met your ears.

            Everything happened quickly. The two remaining men scrambled, the potbelly yanking Micah to his front as protection. Pat rushed towards Rafe, prepared to tackle him but Rafe brought the butt of his gun down on his upper back, knocking him down. Then he fired two shots at him as he fell to the ground. Pat didn’t move.

            At this point, you & Millie had both drawn your guns, aiming them at the potbelly who then had a knife held to Micah’s throat.

            “Fuck you, man.” Micah spit, his eyes meeting Mills, “Shoot, babe, you can do it.”

            But it was Rafe who knocked Millie out of the way, pointing his weapon at the shitstain, “Let him go. I’ll waste you like the others.”

            “Then do it.” Just as the man pressed the knife into Micah’s skin, Rafe pulled the trigger. The bullet hit potbelly in the shoulder, knocking him backwards from Micah. Micah immediately rushed forward, knocking into you, making you drop your gun.

            You stayed close to Rafe once Micah & Millie were in each other’s arm, the gun forgotten. Micah was only nicked, barely a scratch on him. Rafe stepped over potbelly, kicking the knife out of his hand.

            “Thought you were a man of your word.” Potbelly said hoarsely, holding his shoulder as he glared up at Rafe.

            “I’m a liar, too.” Then Rafe emptied his gun into the man. You forced yourself to turn away when you saw blood spray.

            The firing of a gun stopped & all you could hear was muffled voices & the sound of your blood rushing in your ears. A pair of hands grabbed you by the shoulders, the sound of your name growing closer as your breathing stabilized.

            “_____.” It was Rafe, pulling you from your dissociative state. “Hey, look at me.”

            You did. There was blood on his face. Not a lot, but enough to make him look dangerous in the night, “You’re okay.”

            You released a breath you hadn’t realized you’d be holding, allowing air to flood your lungs.

            “You did good.” He smiled proudly, running his hands through your hair & down the sides of your face, “We’re okay.”

            Over his shoulder, you saw as Micah was holding Millie the same way. She was crying happy tears as she kissed his face. Rafe then brought you into his chest, hugging you, comforting you. Adrianna had yet to appear, but you knew she was waiting for you on the edge of the clearing. Everyone was okay. The plan worked.

            “Let’s get the fuck outta here.” Micah roared, but he looked elated.

            Rafe let you go so he & Micah could regather the empty guns, putting them back in the bags before zipping them up. You approached Millie, hugging her.

            “We did it.” She smiled through her tears, “We saved Micah.”

            “Yeah.” You were relieved but couldn’t share her smile. You’d be happy once all of you were back safe & sound at the house. “Let’s go to Adrianna.”

            The two of you turned your backs, ready to leave the clearing when someone yelled out.

            “No!” It was Micah. You glanced over your shoulder, wondering what the commotion was about, but before you could another shot rang out.

            You fell to the ground, covering your ears. Just ahead of you, Micah was on top of Pat who was still on the ground. Rafe joined Micah, pressing the muzzle of a gun to Pat’s head before firing. Blood & brain matter spilled onto the forest floor.

            “What the fuck?” You rushed out, your body shaking from the ups & downs of adrenaline.

            “Millie!” Micah launched forward towards you.

            It was then that you looked to your left. Millie was lying on her front, unmoving.

            “Mills, baby, c’mon!” A hole was at the center of her back, smoke spilling from it. Her eyes were open, pupils dilated.

            Micah turned her over in his arms, shaking her & slapping her face, “Millie!”

            Bile rose in your throat. “Millie.” You whispered, crawling over to them.

            Micah was sobbing, bringing her lifeless form to his chest, holding her tightly, “No, baby, baby.”

            “Rafe.” Your voice sounded far away.

            Rafe kneeled between the three of you, his face expressionless as he stared at Millie in Micah’s lap.

            No. No, no.

            “Millie!” You broke, grabbing her hand, rubbing her skin. Your vision blurred as your tears fell onto Millie’s arm.

            Adrianna spilled out from the trees, the rifle hanging loosely from her hands as she took in the scene. She brought a hand to her mouth.

            The trees wailed with you as a sudden wind picked up, the smell of iron thick in the air.

            You rolled to your side, vomiting.

            Luka’s face flashed through your mind. Millie’s smile. Micah’s sobs.

            A hand was on your back as you emptied the contents of your stomach, your throat burning. Once you finished hurling, you stayed on your knees, burying your face into the earth.

A scream ripped from your throat.

Millie Zimmerman

2001-2023

a shorter chapter but a lot happens so that makes up for it. as always, please drop a comment, reblog with reviews, or talk to me via ask. being able to hear what you guys think keeps me motivated so help me help you lmao.

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[sneverussape]

many the miles, 1/2

evans!severus au

the one where 13yo severus sneaks off to cokeworth and unwittingly gets caught by his older sister, and they both end up on a train to the midlands OR a long meandering sibling-focused two-shot that i've been dying to write because these two wouldn't stop arguing in my head and it was driving me NUTS

wc: 6866 (more or less)

cw: mentions of epilepsy, growing up in the 90s/2000s, discmans, Fruit Polos (rip), being yelled at by older siblings in public places, 2000s eyebrows, swearing, whatever else

for @greens-your-color :)

--

“Severus!”

Severus froze mid-step at the sound of his name being called among the crowded orange halls of St. Pancras. It had been faint, as though coming from a distance or a fading dream, and his first thought was to consider whether his new potions regimen included late-onset hallucinations.

Fantastic, he thought grimly, but proceeded to steel himself to accept the possibility with reluctant grace. When his name was called out loud again, however, and this time with a hard edge, he frowned and quickly reconsidered the odds, deciding that hallucinations didn’t normally grow louder or fiercer as time went on. Besides…hallucinations didn’t tend to make Mercutio react, and as it was, he had already turned to face the opposite way, his massive tail thumping hard against Severus’ leg.

“Severus!”

There was something in the way his name was said that instinctively made him spin on his heel so fast that he nearly got whiplash. At first there wasn’t anything worth noting, but soon enough his eyes focussed beyond the crowd and he was met with the sight of a rather familiar blur of wild blonde hair and clenched teeth running towards him with all the speed and rage of a charging Erumpet…if said Erumpet was just over five feet and wore paint-stained overalls with their mother’s soiled red wellies (exactly the ones she usually wore when mucking about the garden and which he knew a fox had pissed on just days before).

His jaw seemed to unhinge, and he felt himself gaping in disbelief. Alarm flared hot and heavy in the pits of his stomach.

“Petunia…?!” Severus said with no small amount of trepidation. Between the possibility of being subjected to medication-induced hallucinations or his indignant older sister, he much preferred the former than the latter. Hell, death would be the preferred option to Petunia in a massive strop. His instincts screamed at him to run and find a dark corner to hide, but his trainers stayed firmly glued to the spot as he watched the figure approach.

Please don’t be her…please don’t be her, he found himself wishing, though he knew it was futile. The figure had already stopped in front of him, red-faced and breathless from the run, with the look of a creature possessed. Their chest heaved and their eyes flashed, and within the stuttering silence, there was a brief moment when Severus still held out the hope that this could all be a dream—

“You little…shit.”

A manicured nail poked him in the chest. Hard. Severus winced. Definitely (and unfortunately) not a hallucination then. Mercutio yipped again, happily. The traitor.

Severus held up his hands as though he was under arrest. Well, he technically was.

“Hang on—ow! Hang on, I can explain…” Raw fear made his words skitter and stumble past his teeth. His tongue had gone dry and suddenly wanted to make a home for itself on the roof of his mouth. “Listen, Toons, it’s not what you think—”

“No, no, no, you listen! Just what do you think you’re doing, Severus Tobias Evans?!”  As though on cue, Petunia exploded, and Severus was suddenly awash in a tirade that rang and echoed across the station’s stone walls in a manner that would rival any well-placed Sonorous. “Do you know how worried I was?! I took my eyes off you for one hour and I came back to find your room empty with nothing but a cryptic note on your desk and the last redialed number on the phone one to a cab company leading here! It cost me sixty quid to get here, mind! Sixty! I’ve not washed my hair and I’m supposed to be revising for my exam! I only agreed to watch you for Mum and Dad since they said you were ill and not having lessons today. You’ve no business to be here. WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

Severus grimaced as Petunia shouted the final question, his ears burning something fierce. He hadn’t seen or heard her that furious in ages. The last time he could remember that she had exploded the same way was when he and Lily had been experimenting with their magic a year or so before they got their Hogwarts letters: they had ended up lopping the tip of Lily’s finger clean off and had attempted, quite unsuccessfully, to fix it themselves. Petunia had reached a similar volume then (possibly due to the amount of blood on the kitchen floor), but that one at least hadn’t been a public bollocking – she had calmed down enough by the time they had run over to Andi and Ted to ask for help, and had subsequently handed the reins off to the Tonkses for a second dressing-down; the memory of a particularly potent stinging hex against his palm wasn’t something Severus would soon forget.

This time it was different. They were out in the open and Lily wasn’t available for him to tag team with. If Lily had been there, she’d have likely covered for him so this entire situation wouldn’t even be happening. But as it stood, he now had to deal with an irate Petunia all on his own where strangers could ogle at them, and wasn’t that a treat?

“It isn’t what you think it is.” Severus forced himself to speak, although his voice was higher than he’d like. “It really isn’t.”

“Oh it isn’t? Because what I think is that you’re in heaps of trouble and that’s not even the whole of it.” Petunia spoke in a tone that eerily sounded like their mother’s and it made Severus’ skin crawl.“This really has to be the most idiotic thing you’ve done, Severus. Congratulations, you’ve exceeded expectations entirely with this act. What on earth could possibly justify your being here—”

She stopped mid-rant and Severus saw as she focused on the rucksack he was carrying, her eyes wide as they traveled up to his face. “Hang on, what is that?”  She gasped, looking genuinely aghast. “Severus, are you running away?”

Severus groaned, resisting the urge to slap his forehead with his palm. Of course his sister would jump to that conclusion. “I just told you it isn’t what you think it is! I’m not running away.”

“Well, I don’t know what you want me to think given that we’re in a bloody train station and you’ve a bag with you! It’s not like I’ve caught you lollygagging at the corner store!”

“Toons, just—” He was getting equally frustrated and had to resist with his entire being from telling Petunia to just shut up for a bloody minute to make his ears stop ringing and from bringing them further embarrassment. God, he hoped none of the people around them knew who they were. “It really is going to be fine, just let me…” His words were starting to fail him again, and Severus clenched his fists at his sides. “Look. It’s only a daytrip, I promise. I’ll be back even before Mum and Dad get home, but you have to let me do this, Toons. Trust me.”

The shade of red Petunia’s face turned into wasn’t one he had ever seen on any living person before.

“Trust you—?! Severus, you’re thirteen! I can’t even trust you with a pocketbook of matches! And a daytrip? Are you mad?! Are you playing hookey just to go on holiday? Are you…” And this time, Petunia was mindful enough to look round and lower her voice before speaking the next sentence: “Are you going to Hogwarts, because I swear if you are—”

“What? No!” Severus frowned. “Why would I go to Hogwarts?” The first term for that year had barely started, and besides, he had already gotten approval to have several Advanced lessons that wouldn’t be taught to Lily and the rest of their class until later in the year. Apart from wanting to visit his sister, Hogwarts held very little appeal for him.

“How am I supposed to know what goes on in your head?” Petunia fumed. “Mum and Dad gave me specific instructions to keep an eye on you today because they said you were ill.” She peered closer at his face. “But you’re not, are you? You’re sneaking off to God knows where while they’re away!”

Severus felt himself flush. He hadn’t needed any of Lily’s Fever Fudge to fool his parents earlier that morning before they had left for their outing, but being called out on it now made him feel several levels of shame that he didn’t think he was capable of feeling. Petunia hadn’t even tried to see if he had a temperature; she had already cottoned on.

“Technically,” he muttered, “I am ill…with a chronic condition…”

“Oh, Severus!” Petunia exclaimed, and she really did sound like their Mum when she was at the end of her tether. It was freakishly uncanny. “How could you lie to them about this? Do you know how worried they constantly are about you? How I—” She stopped herself mid-sentence before consciously attempting to regain her composure. After a few uneven breaths, she leveled a glare at him.

“Right, you are going to explain now,” she ordered, her voice now deadly calm. “Or I’m phoning Mum and Dad, and you will be in so much trouble I doubt you’ll even be let out until you’re eighty.”

“You wouldn’t! That’s not fair!” Severus gasped. The worst possibility he’d considered in his plan was having his parents overly worry, causing them to stay behind. Careless as he was with many others’ feelings (his sisters sometimes included), his parents were the utmost exception and he took great care of theirs above all else, since he often despised how much they had to pause their own lives for his sake. The thought of his plan unraveling in such a way that it would make them cancel their holiday altogether made him sick to his stomach. Mum had even bought an entirely new wardrobe for it even though they were only going to be gone for the day. “They’ve been looking forward to this outing for months!”

“Well bully for you, I guess you should have stayed home like you were supposed to, then.” Petunia crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head. “Talk,” she commanded.

Oh, Petunia was a tough nut to crack. If it came down to it, he knew she’d force the answers out of him somehow. Sometimes, Severus was glad his older sister wasn’t magical at all; he was sure she’d end up an Unspeakable, and the thought itself was enough to make him shudder.

“I really am not running away...” Severus said, and it took all his willpower to not allow his voice to tremble. He wasn't afraid, how could he be? Petunia was the height of a Christmas elf. But his knees felt weak all the same. And did his voice just break? Merlin. “Everything was all planned out. I put out a note just in case, but I wasn’t really expecting you or anyone else to find it.” He felt very much like a child as Petunia raised a razor-thin eyebrow at him (it looked so awful, why was this a fad? But both his sisters would kill him if he ever so much as breathed his opinion about them), but somehow managed to ramble on. “Anyway, I was going to go and be back before anyone could find out.”

“How could you think I wouldn’t check on you at any point?” Petunia looked deeply unimpressed which, honestly, was her default expression, but this time it seemed more pointed. “I would have had to make sure you hadn’t died before Mum and Dad came home…” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Severus, did you ward your room?”

Bleeding buggering hell, his sister should have really just joined the police force. An economics degree or whatever it was she was in uni for would be far too dull for her. Having Petunia as a copper would lower the crime rate in Britain to single digits, he reckoned. Between him and Lily, she had already garnered enough practice.

As in that moment, when the stilted silence between them already gave her the confirmation she needed.

“Severus Tobias Evans!” Petunia thundered, anger flooding her features once more. “How could you do such a reckless thing! You know Mum and Dad specifically told you to not put any kind of ward or charm on your room…it’s not safe!”

This time it was Severus’ turn to glare. Although he knew his family’s rules and their protectiveness always meant well, he couldn’t help but feel suffocated when they insisted on his safety as though he was made of spun glass.

“It was just the one time and you broke through well enough!” He said hotly. “That shouldn’t have even been possible with the Notice-Me-Not up!”

He was equally annoyed and perplexed at having been caught, especially knowing that it was due to Petunia being unaffected by the charm enough to enter his room. His sister was notoriously averse to magic, and simple charms usually worked on her effortlessly. To his surprise, Petunia scoffed at his statement. She raised her wrist and showed the bright green bracelet clasped around it. The same bracelets their parents wore, all of which were in the same fluorescent color as Mercutio’s enchanted emergency collar. Severus groaned, recognizing it right away.

“You’re bloody joking! How do you have one?” Part of him wanted to throw a tantrum, as pointless as it was. The bracelet would make Petunia the third person to have the ability to know of his general well-being whether he wanted them to or not. The very thought made him want to snap it off and chuck it into the Thames. “St. Mungo’s said it was only for parents and guardians!”

“I asked, and they gave me one when I came of age,” Petunia said snootily. “Your little tricks don’t work when your safety is concerned. The bracelet started growing warm all of a sudden this morning and I knew you were up to something. Now here I am, and my toast has been abandoned and is growing cold in the kitchen as we speak.”

“You were supposed to be revising for exams. I checked your timetable and everything and Mum had left me sandwiches in my room so you wouldn’t need to bother.” Severus was fuming. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Don’t even think of giving me lip,” Petunia snapped at him with a warning tone that instantly made him internally recoil, although he continued to glare at her. “And of course you went through my things even though I’ve told you a million times not to! And…hang on…if you bunked off your tutors today then even Andi doesn’t know your little scheme, whatever it is. She wouldn’t have expected you at her house today for lessons.”

It was more a statement than a question and Severus flinched. He had been avoiding trying to think of what Andi would do to him once – if – she found out.

“It would have been fine…” he said as he unconsciously rubbed his palm where Andi’s stinging hex had last been cast.

“Oh fine, he says!” Petunia’s sudden outburst earned them a few startled glances. “This is not fine, Severus, if you still haven’t noticed. You’ve told no one? Are you daft? If anything happened to you whilst you were out…we wouldn’t even know where to start!”

“I was only going to be gone for a couple of hours.” Severus couldn’t understand what she was so worked up about. In his mind, his plan made perfect sense. “I’ve been gone for longer to the library.”

“You’re comparing this to a trip the library, really? Have you utterly lost all sense? Do you truly not understand the danger…?!” At Severus’ defiant expression, Petunia groaned. “Seriously, I am going to end up tearing my hair out…what if you had gotten kidnapped? Mugged? What if you had become seriously ill at any point?”

Her eyes flashed at the words, although he needed no cues, verbal or otherwise, to understand what it was she was referring to. He crossed his own arms, mirroring his sister’s defensive pose.

“I wouldn’t have,” he said with full confidence. “But even if I had a fit, it would be fine. I’ve been taking my po—medicines, and Mercutio’s here—”

“Mercutio wouldn’t have been able to protect the people with you, you absolute numpty!” This time, Petunia didn’t look angry but terrified. “Did you not consider that in your grand plan? Mercutio could get you to hospital but someone apart from you could get seriously hurt with your…abilities…and then where will we all be? I don’t fancy being in prison—in either world! Mum and Dad either, mind!”

Severus felt the blood drain from his face at her words. The image of a train suddenly exploding mid-track and people losing assorted limbs due to his accidental magic ran unbidden through his mind’s eye and made him wince. It was true that he had only considered what would happen to him if he had gotten a fit at any point during the trip; he had forgotten about its effects on other people entirely. His family and the Tonkses and his tutors always seemed to know what to do…but he hadn’t planned on them being with him, had he?

Suddenly, Petunia being so spitting angry no longer seemed as ridiculous given that perspective.

Merlin’s bloody bollocks, he was a knob.

“I…” he licked his lips. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean…Look. Toons.” He attempted to placate his sister by being entirely upfront. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“That much is obvious.” Petunia snapped, before releasing what sounded like a pent-up sigh. She took a long pause before she reached for his hand. Her fingers were cold as she squeezed his. 

“Listen, Severus, you honestly frightened me to death. Now…I won’t tell Mum and Dad, but let’s just go home, all right? Let this be the end of the adventure. We’ll forget about this and maybe I won’t use it as leverage against you in the future. All right? Let's just go.”

She tugged him in the direction of the exits, but he resolutely stayed put. Grateful as he was for his sister’s reprieve (a rare treat as far as he was concerned), he knew he couldn’t go. This had taken months of planning and he had already come so far.

“No,” he shook off Petunia’s hold. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t. I have to go today. It’s my only chance.”

“To do what?” Petunia, bless her, looked as though he’d hit her with an extremely powerful Confundus but was expending all her energy to fight it off. She pressed her palms against her eyes. “Go where? Severus, are you actually delirious? I don’t understand—”

“Cokeworth.”

“WHAT?” Petunia dropped her hands to gawk at him, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head. Her lips moved almost involuntarily although no further sounds came out. When her vocal chords seemed to have caught up with her, it was for high-pitched hissing and sputtering, making her sound rather like an anaphylactic snake, or an irate tea kettle.

“I’m sorry, you were planning to go where? The Midlands? NOW?”

“Yes.” Severus fished around in his pocket and produced the tickets he’d already bought. He’d saved his pocket money for weeks for this trip, and he’d even had to do some odd jobs around the house and for some of the neighbours. “The train is leaving in half an hour. You can go home and wait for me there, or just wait for me to come back here. But either way…I’m going.” He licked his lips nervously. He’d never stood up to Petunia this determinedly before and he was terrified of the possible consequences (Petunia could be quite vengeful, even for the pettiest things) but he didn’t want to mull over it now. Thankfully she seemed too distracted by the current circumstances to even ponder on future punishments.

“Are you even allowed to go?! As a child?? With a dog?? The police are going to be notified!”

It was a valid concern, but one that Severus had already covered. “I’m thirteen, it’s allowed, I checked,” he said, by means of explanation. He pulled Mercutio closer to him, who happily nuzzled his face into his hip. “Mercutio too. We’re not going to make trouble so there won’t be any reason for the police to come.”

This time, Petunia really did look as though she was about to murder him, and Severus was glad they were surrounded by people on all sides. She threw him a pointed glare before shifting her attentions to the clock on the wall, then the signboard, then her (well, their mother’s) shoes in movements so rapid Severus was wondering how it didn’t hurt her neck. It was a long minute before she started muttering a string of curse words that he was sure would have earned her a mouthful of soap if Mum had heard her.

“Bloody hell, I’m not even wearing socks.” Petunia whined as she tugged at the ends of her hair. “And…what am I wearing…fuck fuck fuck. I look properly mad.”

“Just stay here then…do a bit of shopping,” Severus offered, hoping his sister would take the bait. Petunia was as vain as the day was long, and he was sure the prospect of her getting a new wardrobe in case she met any of her many exes on the street was more enticing than tagging along with him to their old hometown while wearing mismatched clothing. “I’ll keep mum about the bills to Mum and Dad. And there’s…ah…a makeup store down the street, I think. I won’t be gone long—"

He made to already turn and walk away but was held fast by a tight grip on his collar. He yelped and when he looked up and there was only familiar determination in Petunia’s eyes, one he would normally associate with tyrannical despots or Andromeda Tonks whenever she requested audience with Headmaster Dumbledore for his ever-changing homeschooling curriculum.

“Right, you little miscreant. Listen here and listen well.” Petunia held him in place with an iron grip to his shoulder, bending a little so she could hiss straight at his face. All previous traces of amicability had been wiped away from her features. “Since you obviously won’t be dissuaded from your insane plan, I have no other choice but to fall in line with it. But let it not be said that I agreed with this! No, not at all! Because the second, and I swear, the second anything goes wrong, Severus Evans, I am taking you back home, kicking, crying and/or screaming, and Mum and Dad are going to hear all of it, you understand?”

“Hang on, you mean you’re coming?” It was Severus’ turn to sputter in shock. He had not, in the thousands of possibilities considered in his plan, anticipated either of his sisters coming with him. Lily had of course been removed from the equation at the onset, but Petunia, of all people?! No amount of Divination could have predicted this sorry lot. Forget the exploding train, there was going to be blood on their seats before they could even leave Kings Cross.

“But…your exam!” He finished lamely, his brain unable to think of any other valid excuse that could keep his sister in London.

“Sod the exam. I’m not going to fail that class. But Mum and Dad will have my head if I let you go off alone and something happens to you.” Petunia had a dangerous gleam in her eye. “You will owe me for a thousand years for this, whether or not we get out of this unscathed. Now come on. Let’s get this over and done with. I need to buy a ticket.”

Dumbfounded, Severus followed his sister as she stalked towards the ticketing booth, wild hair, dirty wellies, and all.

Merlin’s pants, what had he gotten himself into? 

--

The train that would be taking them back to the Midlands (back home, a voice in his head said experimentally, but his stomach clenched painfully at the words) was nothing like the Hogwarts train. The Midland Mainline train was long and boxy, painted a dull green all throughout and covered liberally in a speckled coating of soot. Severus caught Petunia’s sneer when she first laid eyes on it, and she had automatically held out a hand as though to keep him back. Severus rolled his eyes before grasping her wrist and pulling her forward, ignoring the squeak that left his sister’s mouth as soon as they crossed from the platform to enter the compartment. He led them both to their seats, Mercutio at a leisurely pace beside them. It wasn’t a peak hour, thank Merlin, so locating their spot was simple enough, and he and Petunia both settled in rather quickly.

“How long was it again?” Petunia had chosen the seat adjacent from his, so he had full view of her sour expression.

“Two hours.”

A groan then a loud thump as she leaned hard against the window. “Bloody hell.”

“Shouldn’t you remember?” Severus barely remembered his life in Cokeworth but had counted that more as a boon than anything. He realized that although he had asked his parents more than once about their previous lives there, he had never thought to ask his sister. Trying to remember himself was a bit like wading through scenes being played on moth-eaten video tapes. “You were old enough when we moved, weren’t you?”

Petunia threw him a withering look. “We had a car, Severus, if you don’t remember being squished to within an inch of our lives at the back. We never took the—what the hell are you doing?”

Severus looked up from the small mountain of items that he had dumped from his rucksack onto the foldaway vinyl table that sat between them.

“Precautions,” he said, waving his sunglasses at her before putting them on. Even from behind the dark lenses, he saw as Petunia considerably paled at his response.

“You said you had taken your…your medicine.” Petunia’s wariness about magic extended to even their terms, and referring to his medication as potions was not something she could do even on a good day. At the moment, she looked as though she completely regretted being in an enclosed space with him; she looked fit to bolt. “Do you feel a fit coming on now? And don’t even think about lying!”

“Oh, will you relax,” Severus chided her as he untangled his headphones before putting them on his head. “I told you; I took my medicine already. This is just to…not tempt fate so to speak.” Pet Shop Boys on low was somehow effective at keeping fits at bay, and he had bought several CD sleeves with him in case.

“Severus…see here.” Petunia rapped at the tabletop, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her. “Swear to me.”

“What?”

“Swear to me that the second you start to feel something off, you’re telling me and we’re getting off this train. I don’t know how exactly, but we’re getting off.”

Severus rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time. “Toons, we’ve barely made it out of London…”

“I don’t care. Swear it, Severus!”

“Fine, yes, I promise to tell you,” Severus grumbled.

“Also I’m calling the shots. When I tell you we’re going, we’re going. There will be no ifs and buts, I am responsible for you during this trip and so help me, if you fight me, you are going to sorely regret it.”

Her directives made him clench his teeth, but there really was little he could do. Petunia’s presence already granted her default authority, and though Severus was loathe to do so, he knew agreeing to the path of least resistance was the most efficient way of getting through the trip with his sanity intact at the end. He could plot his revenge later.

“Fine,” he fought the urge to stick out his tongue, “but I don’t have to like it.”

“Good.” Petunia sat back in her seat, looking just a smidge bit relieved. “All we have to do is ride this out and hope your brain is calm enough the entire time.”

“I’ve told you though, the potions—” Severus stopped when Petunia hissed loudly, and begrudgingly corrected himself, “I mean, the medicine…it’s working this time around, believe it or not.”

“Working in what sense?” Petunia’s lips pursed. “It never does, or else Mum and Dad would have been crying in relief.”

“This batch works well enough. No fits so far while I’ve been on it, and it’s already been a fortnight.”

Petunia frowned skeptically. “But…? There’s always a ‘but’.”

Severus sighed. They had been battling his condition collectively for so long that none of them ever accepted any easy answers; doubt and anxiety always shadowed any sort of hope.

“There are some side effects. I didn’t really lie about being ill. The medicine makes me ill, but it’s just…fevers and headaches. Usually late in the afternoon then it lasts until early morning the next day.”

Petunia groaned. “You sod. And this is part of your plan too, I suppose? You’d taken into account that you’d be gallivanting off in the morning to the Midlands and coming back into London later in the day with a raging fever, is that it?”

“It’s hardly raging; it’s more annoying than anything.”He had debated not telling Petunia about the symptoms but had already learned from experience that it wasn’t wise. Besides, she already had the medi-bracelet from St. Mungo’s; she would know at any rate. “And a fever is child’s play. I’d take that over having a fit any day.”

“It’s hardly healthy to be getting those every day, Severus.”

Severus shrugged as he sucked on a Fruit Polo. The train was wobbling a bit even at the speed it was going, and it was already giving him a bit of a headache. “Well, if you’ve noticed, I’m not exactly the poster boy of health anyway.” He would have scrapped the entire plan if the new potions mix had had a worse effect, but since it hadn’t, the point was moot. He just had to do his utmost best to not be triggered into a fit which was, quite honestly, easier said than done, but Dad always quoted about boats being in harbors and their not being made for that, so Severus figured this was something along those lines. “I can take it. I know my limits.”

“Oh, please.” Petunia scoffed, but said nothing more on the matter. She glared stormily out the window as the train sped past Greater London, as if the view was a personal affront. “This is insanity,” he heard her mutter to herself.

Her eyes flitted across the aisle to the other seats of the train, and Severus knew she was imagining the worst-case scenario and figuring out an exit strategy (or several). Petunia had always been a bundle of nerves and paranoia, and it had only seemed to grow worse as they got older. He watched as her fingers knotted and unknotted themselves on the table before they were clasped against the sides of her head.

“Ugh, I can’t believe we’re doing this. Mum and Dad are going to kill me.” She groaned into the tabletop, and Severus wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I am going to kill you.”

Severus scoffed. “I’m sure if you wait long enough, the epilepsy will do it for you. That way, you don’t have to get your hands dirty—what?” He was startled as Petunia gasped, lifting her head so suddenly that it nearly sent her toppling backwards into her seat. “What?”

“That isn’t funny! Severus, you mustn’t say things like that!” She had paled so much her freckles stood out in contrast. “Take that back!”

“Oh, so you can threaten me but I can’t say the truth? It is funny. Dad calls it gallows humour.” He left out the bit where Dad didn’t like him making jokes about his illness either, but he didn’t often tell Severus off for it. “You just said it yourself: it’s hardly healthy to be ill this much. And at some point you’re going to have to accept—”

“Oh, just shut it,” Petunia snapped, and this time, there was real heat in her words. “Shut up right now. We’re not discussing this, not now, not ever.”

“What? You were the one who started—”

“Shut it, Severus!”

Severus bristled at being scolded and dismissed. It had been a while since he’d been alone with Petunia in such close quarters, and he’d forgotten how maddening it could be. While both his sisters had the habit of yo-yoing through emotional extremes, Petunia’s mood swings carried with her the weight of her authority as oldest and made it near impossible to defy her lest she follow through on any hidden or implied threats. Plus she could be downright nasty without trying.

“I didn’t ask you to come along,” Severus said. He felt so cross with his sister at that moment that felt compelled to goad her into an argument, consequences be damned. “You decided that all on your own, so don’t take it out on me. I didn’t want you here.”

“Well that makes two of us,” Petunia glared at him. “This isn’t exactly how I pictured my free day would be.”

“You can leave anytime, you know. The next station is in twenty minutes.”

“And that’s how we solve this, you reckon? I don’t have a choice, Severus!”

“Yes, you do because I don’t want you here! Look, I’ll pay you to go back.”

“Are you being serious right now? You realise I can put a stop to this merry jaunt of ours in a snap if you push me to it?”

“Do it then,” Severus was tired of her holding her authority over him. This trip shouldn’t have been that difficult but with Petunia there it was starting to feel like pulling teeth. “Do it already. You keep threatening to so just do it. I don’t care. I don’t.”

Somehow, he was close to tears although he couldn’t understand why. His head felt hot and heavy and his eyes stung. Petunia looked at him incredulously.

“The only reason I’m here,” she said slowly, “is I know…I can see how much this means to you. I wouldn’t have agreed otherwise. But even without your condition, you’re still only thirteen. I don’t care how grown-up or invincible you think you are. You aren’t going across the country alone with only your service dog for company.”

Severus’ face burned. “You think I’m too weak.”

“I think you’re a child.” Petunia said exasperatedly. “A rather reckless and stupid one, I might add.”

“You realize you being here with me makes you rather reckless and stupid too? You’re in as much danger being here with me than if you’d just stayed behind.”

“Yes, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take! That’s my business, not yours. Besides, there’s no way I could have made any other decision.”

“Why? You clearly have more important things to do and I’m always bothering you and everyone else. I would’ve thought you’d have liked a day off to yourself without being shackled into taking care of someone else—”

“You’re not ‘someone else’, you’re my brother, you idiot, and I’m not leaving you alone!”

The statement halted their argument in its tracks. Severus had already been close to being properly angry but found that he couldn’t think of a rebuttal to Petunia’s claim. He shut his mouth with a snap of his teeth and glared at his sister instead. Their small corner was quickly plunged into a filled silence and for a moment, they stared at each other, unyielding, but then Petunia’s gaze softened, and she sighed.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you an idiot. But you are a child, literally, and that’s not something you can use as a defensive argument. You are also being an utter pain in the arse right now but that’s also because you’re my little brother and that’s part of your job description. Now, look…I really don’t want to argue on a train of all places. Let’s just agree that this entire situation is mad and be done with it. We’ve already paid for the bloody tickets so we should at least see it through.”

Severus glowered, not wanting her to get the last word in. “You’re being a right tit too and I hadn’t even wanted you here.”

Petunia nodded sagely. “Touche.”

She held out her hand for a Fruit Polo and Severus grudgingly gave her one. It was as good a peace offering as any. They sat and sucked on their sweets in silence for a long while, listening to the clacking and rumbling of the train on the tracks and each other’s slowing breathing. It was just calm enough to lull him into a stupor, which felt rather nice, given that his headache had persisted throughout their fight and had steadily grown to a dull throb.

“Why are you doing this anyway?” Petunia’s voice floated over to him in the haze. “Why go back to Cokeworth at all? Didn’t we already do well leaving all that behind?”

Severus opened his eyes, not even realizing he had closed them. He frowned at being caught off-guard. “I’m not playing Twenty Questions.”

“It’s a simple enough question seeing as we’ve already had a hundred arguments and I’ve already lost at least a hundred quid to this madness.” Petunia’s words were harsh, but her tone was mild. She wasn’t picking a fight; she was genuinely curious. “We’ve not even been back in Cokeworth since we left and now, all of a sudden, you skip your beloved lessons and lie to our parents in a fit of inspiration? The least you can do is tell me why.”

Severus bit his lip, unsure of his desire to share any more than he had to. His chest felt tight around the memory of the day he saw Tobias, larger than life but washed out and faded, standing on the street where they lived. It was his closest-guarded secret and one he hadn’t even breathed a mention of to anyone, not even to Lily. The conversation he’d had with him hadn’t even lasted five minutes, but Severus recounted it almost obsessively, picking through his father’s words and expressions, the small movements of his hands and the slump of his shoulders. He’d known then that he had to go back to Cokeworth, but the exact reasons were lost even to him.

“Ghosts,” he said simply, and Petunia frowned.

“Ghosts,” she repeated. She studied his face, worry pinching her features. “Severus…” and now her voice was gentle, “…did something happen?”

“No.” Severus said, the lie rolling easily from his tongue.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.” Severus breathed. “I just need to see it again, I think.”

Petunia’s face took on a strange expression. “Listen, I know we hardly talk about it but you have to know that it may not be what you expect or remember. I just want you to realise that. You were very young…and things…things were very very different.”

“I know,” Severus had already considered the possibility that what his glitchy memories could recall was far from reality, and the few photos they had at home didn’t really do it justice, “but it’s still worth seeing for myself.”

Petunia looked unconvinced, in fact she looked ready to put a stop to the trip once and for all, but she didn’t. She crossed her arms again unhappily but leaned further back in her seat as though in resignation.

“We’ll stay an hour and a half at the most. And we’re getting lunch first. You’ve gone all pale so I don’t care what you say, you’re drinking your second set of medicines where I can see you. Any arguments and I’m taking all of us back. I don’t care if we would have to get a cab all the way back to London. Clear?”

Severus gave her a grateful nod, glad to obey her orders for once. Bossy as she was, having Petunia there meant that he wasn’t required to think of the menial things, which was nice. He also realised that as badly as he had wanted to go back to Cokeworth, he also didn’t want to dwell too much on the matter. The memory of town itself felt like an old wound that still ached when touched or jostled, and he didn’t really want to figure out why that was until he had to, until he was there. If he had been alone, he wouldn’t have been able to help himself from picking at it his thoughts until they rattled about his head, unanswered. It would have eventually driven him mad. Arguing with Petunia and generally having her there had quieted them down somewhat, and for that he was relieved.

“Right, I’m just going to ignore you for the next hour then. I’m knackered and I don’t want another fight. Count sheep in the meadow and don’t bother me unless it’s an emergency.”

Not that he would have ever told her though.

“Crystal,” Severus said, before rolling over in his seat and shutting his eyes, soothed by the rhythmic clacking that surrounded them and warm in the knowledge that he wasn’t alone.

tbc

the story about tobias' unexpected visit to severus is here.

[lightandheatao3]

The Bunker - Criminal Minds

Chapter 7: The Dream

Summary: Spencer Reid wakes up in a locked bunker to find half the current BAU and two of its departed members unconscious on the floor. The old team is back together but the reunion is not what any of them would have wished for. An Unsub from their past has decided it's time they all stop keeping secrets, even if it means exposing them by force.

Hotch and Derek have been pulled back into a world they tried to escape. Emily, Rossi, and JJ are doing their best to keep it together. Spencer is falling apart.

AKA a found family is reunited and forced to go through the most nightmarish version of family therapy imaginable.

Set months after the end of Criminal Minds: Evolution. Evolution referenced, but not necessary to understand the story.

Chapter Summary: Spencer sleeps, then wakes.

Read chapter 7 on AO3 or under the cut. All comments and reblogs are extremely appreciated <3 I would love to know what you like about the story :)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6

“Why me?”

Spencer blinked.

His head was spinning. He could have sworn he heard a voice.

“You're still worried about hearing voices?” the voice answered. “Seriously, man, why did you come to me? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to help. Just would’ve figured you’ve got better people to do this with.”

He looked up. A familiar face hovered above him, dancing in and out of his vision.

“What are you doing here?” asked Spencer.

He tried to sit up but his body was glued to the surface beneath him. He jerked forward but he couldn't pull himself free.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” said Ethan with a raised eyebrow.

He was on the shabby couch in Ethan’s small New Orleans apartment. He finally managed to pry himself loose and drag himself into a sitting position. The air was wet cement. The walls of the apartment expanded and contracted like lungs.

“I have nowhere else to go,” Spencer explained.

“Bullshit,” said Ethan. “You’ve got a whole team of people who care about you and plenty of savings to pay your way through a private rehab facility, and instead you’re sweating it out on the couch of some guy you’ve talked to all of once in the last half-decade.”

“Fine. If you don’t want me here, I’ll leave,” spat Spencer. "I wouldn't want to drag you down with my problems."

He tried to stand, but his wrists were tied with rough rope. The smell of rotting fish was thick in the air.

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” said Ethan affectionately. “It’s good to see you, though I wish for your sake it was under better circumstances. Besides," he pointed out, "you couldn’t get further than the front door without puking up half your body weight right now.”

Spencer pulled at his bound wrists. “Untie me!” he demanded. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I'm not doing anything, Spencer. You’ve done this to yourself.”

“It’s not my fault!” he yelled, the smell of the rot turning his stomach. “I didn’t have a choice. I said no, I tried to stop it, I did everything I was supposed to do.”

The bindings wrapped tighter, snaking around his abdomen and up to his neck. They constricted around his throat painfully.

“How long before you can’t use that excuse anymore?” asked Ethan snidely, a tone that Spencer had rarely heard from him. “How many months after you killed Tobias before you finally admitted it wasn't him that kept sticking those needles in your arm? Fuck, man, 16 years later and you're more of a junkie than you've ever been. Whose making you do it this time?"

“Fuck you,” he growled. “You abandoned me! You left your whole future behind to go be a drunk in New Orleans. You have no right to judge me."

“You never asked me to stay.”

“You never cared what I wanted!”

“What? You wanted me to stay in the Academy? Join the BAU with you? Have a magical life getting kidnapped and tortured and hooked on drugs together? Spend romantic evenings in hotel rooms looking at photos of mutilated bodies?"

Spencer pulled against the restraints again, and again they resisted. "I never said that. I never wanted that. You were my only real friend and I was worried you were throwing your life away," he explained. "That's all."

Suddenly, Ethan was knelt beside him. He was laying down on the couch again. The ropes that had entangled him melted away. He was shaking, sweating, the cushions were a bed of nails beneath him. Ethan shushed him gently, wiping a cool cloth over his forehead. “You’re gonna be alright. I’m glad you came to me.”

Spencer blinked hard.

He stared into Ethan’s gentle eyes. “I don’t think I’m getting out of this alive,” he admitted in a whisper. “I need my friends to be safe. They have to make it out, no matter what happens to me.”

“Do you think we could have had something?” asked Ethan as if he hadn’t heard Spencer talk. “If the world wasn't such a fucked up place for anyone a little too different, do you think we would’ve had a chance at something real?”

Spencer swallowed down a painful lump in his throat. “I don’t know.”

“We could try now,” said Ethan, putting a hand on his cheek. “Maybe this is our chance.”

“That’s not what you said,” Spencer breathed. “I remember. This isn’t how it happened. You helped me, then we said goodbye, and we never talked about any of this.”

“But it’s what you wanted me to say.”

“No.” Spencer rolled over on the thin mattress. Ethan knelt beside him in the brightly lit bunker. “That's not what I wanted.”

“Then why are you here?” asked Ethan. Spencer didn’t look at him. “You spent so long scared of losing your mind, you didn't even realize you never had it to begin with.”

Ethan’s hand enveloped Spencer’s. Their fingers intertwined.

When Ethan’s hand pulled away, there was a cool, smooth object left behind.

“I know what you want,” said Ethan.

Spencer looked down at his hand.

A loaded syringe rested on his palm.

He stared up at Ethan, who had drifted to the back of the cavernous, concrete room. The buzz of the fluorescent lights echoed, and the blinking red camera sat at the periphery of his vision no matter which direction he looked.

“I don’t want it,” said Spencer desperately, holding the syringe of swirling gas aloft.

“You've never wanted anything more than this.”

When he looked again, Ethan was gone.

He looked down at his arm. It was unmarked, smooth and fresh without even the faintest hint of old, scarred over track marks. It hadn’t looked like that since Georgia. There was a tourniquet tied around his upper arm.

The needle was pressed against the crook of his elbow.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief. Every muscle in his body relaxed. The world was about to be right again.

He placed his thumb on the plunger, depressing it slowly like he had a thousand times before.

The gas traveled up through the veins in his arm, making its way closer and closer to his heart.

Something was wrong. He coughed. He felt the gas spreading inside him, burning everything it touched.

His throat was raw and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch his breath. He gasped for air, but got none.

What had he done? What had he done to himself? He was never going to breath again and it was all his fault!

Then: Awake.

His eyes burned as he pried them slowly open. He flinched back against the light, blinking slowly in an attempt to adjust.

“Spence, it’s okay, we’re here,” came a soft voice from somewhere beside him.

A hand rubbed gentle circles on his back.

He finally managed to adjust to the horrible fluorescent light. JJ was leaning over him, staring at him with wide, worried eyes.

“You’ve been out for hours,” said Emily from somewhere nearby. “We’ve been checking your vitals and keeping an eye on you, but we didn’t want to force you awake.”

He looked up and saw the rest of them lingering behind JJ.

He could have cried from relief, and very nearly did.

“You’re all okay,” he said, closing his eyes tightly to stave off the tears.

Derek huffed a laugh. “You’re worried about us? Man, I was scared you were never going to wake up,” he said with a watery smile.

Spencer cringed. All at once, his senses lit up. The others leaned in with concern as his hand flew up to his throat, feeling for injury. He swallowed and tried to clear his throat, triggering a rough cough. After a second of coughing he had to fight back an immense wave of nausea.

“What’s wrong?” asked Hotch. “Are you injured?”

He shook his head helplessly. He rubbed at his throat and couldn’t feel any external signs of injury, but he felt as if he’d swallowed glass. “I don’t know.”

“Let me take a look,” he said, leaning past JJ and kneeling beside him.

Spencer pushed himself up into a sitting position on the hard concrete floor. Hotch reached out and touched his throat, looking at it intently and feeling for any signs of damage. He was gentle in a way that made Spencer think back to Jack’s seventh birthday party. He had fallen and grazed his knee and the only thing in the world that could have consoled him in that moment was his dad.

“I can’t see any signs of damage,” said Hotch, pulling his hands away. “It could be a side effect from the gas. You were out a lot longer than the rest of us. It’s possible you had a bad reaction.”

He could feel the tremor in his hands, the sweat beading on his brow. The swirling nausea. If felt like one of his worse comedowns, or like the tail end of detox. Except, that didn’t explain the pain in his throat.

“Not to mention, we don’t know how long we were all unconscious or what happened during that time,” said Derek, arms folded tightly across his chest, expression carefully controlled.

For the first time, Spencer noticed their clothes.

None of them were in the same clothes they’d been in when they first arrived. He looked down at himself. Light blue scrubs, like the kind you would see in a hospital. Crisp and clean.

His stomach dropped.

He was clean. His clothes had been changed. The Unsub had cleaned him. He touched his face, feeling the smooth skin along his jaw. She had even shaved him.

Another look at Derek and his stomach dropped even further. As freaked out as he was, he could only imagine what kind of feelings this was triggering for his friend.

Derek seemed to piece together what he was thinking. “I’m good,” he said firmly. “Don’t worry about me.”

That last part sounded less like a reassurance and more like a command.

Spencer let it drop. He was hardly in a position to judge anyone else for not sharing. It’s not as if this was a safe space for any of them to unpack their trauma.

He turned his attention to the rest of the bunker. The others backed up, giving him room to see.

Not that there was much to look at.

The mattresses were gone. Their little luxuries and amenities were gone. The entire bunker smelled strongly of disinfectant. He hated how much of a relief that was to him after the smell of mold.

Oh god. He groaned audibly when his eyes hit the empty doorway where the bathroom door had once been.

“Yep,” said Emily mournfully. “Still trying to process that loss.”

“Of all the experiences in prison I had hoped to never repeat again, this was pretty high on the list,” he said, voice raspy and raw but thankfully getting through the sentence without coughing. He looked to the rest of them. “Do any of you remember anything at all?”

All eyes flicked over to JJ. They had already had this discussion amongst themselves, it seemed.

“It’s difficult to say for sure,” she said cautiously. “I was pretty out of it, but I think I came to at one point. Wherever I was, it wasn’t here. And… I think I heard two voices. One feminine, one masculine.” Spencer nodded. They had speculated that their Unsub had an accomplice. She was likely the dominant one in the pair with a male companion who did her bidding. “They must have dosed me right afterwards, though. I don’t remember anything else,” she finished.

“We all have marks,” said Rossi. “Same as the ones we came in with. The gas would have knocked us out temporarily, but they must have used injections to maintain it. She doesn’t like to deviate her methods, it seems. Not surprising.”

Spencer felt the spot just behind his ear. It was easy to miss, but there was a tiny bump that was just a bit swollen.

“Do you think it’s the same formula as last time?” asked Derek with a raised eyebrow.

He mulled it over, a little irritated that he was becoming something of a human narcotic testing strip for them. Never mind that he had a PhD in chemistry. It was his expertise in being a junkie that gave them such faith in his ability to identify whatever drug cocktails they had all been injected with.

“I don’t know. If I’ve been unconscious as long as you say, then whatever was in my system is likely cleared out. All I know for sure is that I feel terrible.” He sighed. “It's likely. It would explain why-” he stopped to cough, trying to clear his throat, “- why I’m experiencing more acute withdrawal symptoms again.”

Though he would never admit it out loud to anyone, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being disappointed that he hadn’t been conscious to experience getting shot up. He was saddled with all of the horrible side effects, and he didn’t even get to experience the high. It felt unfair, and he knew exactly how pathetic it was that he felt that way.

Hotch put a hand on his shoulder, which surprised him. “You’ll be alright. It will pass faster this time,” he assured him.

Derek also gave him a sympathetic smile, though how sincere that sympathy was, Spencer wasn’t sure. He’d stopped commenting on it while they had all been stewing in filth together, but he knew he was still upset with him.

“Any speculation on the compound we were gassed with?” Derek asked. “I’ve never encountered a gas that can induce unconsciousness in a whole room full of people like that.”

Spencer perked up. This was a subject that was actually of some interest to him. “Contrary to what movies portray, incapacitating agents that can reliably induce non-lethal unconsciousness in an uncontrolled setting don’t exist. In the case of-” he coughed, struggling to speak through the pain, “-the Moscow theater siege in 2002, the Russian authorities rendered a theater of 800 people unconscious in order to stop a terrorist attack, using a Fentanyl derivative. It was extremely effective, yet 15% of the hostages died as a result of the gas. In our case, my guess would be that they used a compound with a substance similar to Halothane as the primary component.”

He took a break from speaking to double over and have a coughing fit in earnest, searing pain on the inside of his throat leaving him gasping for air. The others rushed to him, helping him as he curled up on the floor, struggling to breath.

Once he finally caught his breath, he looked back up at Hotch. He cleared his throat a couple of times, keeping his voice low and soft when he spoke.

“I think you were right about me having a bad reaction. Controlling the dose of an aerosolized anesthesia in a large space is nearly impossible. I was the last to get my mask on. I must have inhaled too much,” he ground out, stopping to suppress another coughing fit. “I think I was intubated.”

They all looked at him with wide eyes. It made sense. It would explain the pain in his throat. He must have gotten a big enough dose to cause toxicity and require temporary intubation. It would also explain why he was so much more affected than the others. Why he took so long to wake up.

It was difficult to read all of their expressions. He thought they looked upset. Horrified? Concerned? Afraid?

“This tells us something we didn’t know before,” said Emily, squaring her shoulders, refusing to dwell too long in a nightmare that none of them could even remember. “Access to that much Halothane, or any other powerful anesthetic, combined with the knowledge and skill to perform an intubation, means-”

“At least one of our Unsubs works in the medical field,” finished JJ.

“This is good,” said Rossi. “We did all of this to learn more, and it worked.”

Spencer looked around at the empty, cold concrete. He had the same thought that he was sure they all had.

Sure, it worked. But at what cost?

[blueshistorysims]

September 1920, Harlem, Manhattan, New York, New York

“Byron?” Stella asked one morning in her bed, laying on his bare chest.

“Yes?”

“Have you ever thought about being married?”

“Truthfully, I’ve never had a girl long enough to even consider it. You’re the first woman I’ve been with that’s lasted this long.” 

“Hmm. Are you against it?”

“No. It has its economic and social advantages. Not just for love. Any good marriage I think should be built on friendship, not romance. Those tend to be happier.”

“Would you want to get married?”

He sat up, perplexed. “Are you proposing to me?”

She shrugged. “Why not?”

“Why not? Your father would murder me. And I thought interracial marriage was illegal in America.”

“Not in New York. It’s just severely frowned upon. There’s no laws against it. What about your England?”

“The same,” he mumbled, still stunned by her question. “Why should we be married?”

“Why not? Like you said, economic reasons. And truthfully, I like a good scandal.”

“You’re playing with fire, Stella.”

“We’re friends. We already practically live together with all the sex we have. And Toussant likes you. He likes no one.”

“I don’t love you. Well, not in the way I should.”

“We could learn to.” She smiled. “What? You’re not interested?”

“I didn’t say that.” He sighed. “Let me put clothes on first.”

Byron sighed. “You really want to get married?”

“I’m feeling spontaneous. You’re graduating from Columbia in the spring regardless. I’d like you to have a reason to stay.” 

“When would you want to do this?”

“This Saturday.”

“We would need a marriage license. No judge in their right mind would give it to us.”

She chuckled. “Byron, darling. There is this amazing method called bribery. Works like charm involving anything government-related.”

He sighed. “If we are to be married. I want to make a personal contract. Between ourselves. Not anything legal. More like a promise. Or a vow.”

“What are your demands?”

“This would be monogamous. You’re not only the only person I see, but if we marry, then I’d stop that.”

“Like that?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I agree. You’re not my only lover either.”

“And I’d like to help with paying rent. I won’t freeload.”

“You can’t afford to pay half of my monthly rent.”

“I can pay a quarter.”

“Can you?”

“...a fifth then.” He swallowed. “And what are we to wear?”

She smirked. “Leave that to me.”

“You’re really eloping with Stella?”

“It seems so,” Byron muttered. “She’s a hard woman to say no to.”

“I suppose that’s the end of our fling.”

“Yeah.” He frowned. “I’ll miss it. But we’ll always be friends?”

“Of course.”

He swallowed. “Did you tell her that you sleep with men too?”

Byron shook his head. “No. I’m afraid that I’ll reveal you if I do. Besides, I don’t need to worry about that if we were to be married.

Samson looked wary. “I don’t think that’s something to keep secret, Byron.”

“It’ll be fine,” he insisted, though he was trying to convince himself more than his friend.

The other man clearly didn’t believe him. 

“You would like a marriage license?” The judge asked, glancing at the pair. “For this Saturday?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you making this marriage to get a hold into the United States, young man?”

“No, not at all. I’m dearly in love with my girl, and we see no reason to wait,” he lied, giving the judge an innocent smile.

He turned to Samson. “And what’s your business in all this?”

“I’ll be one of the witnesses. He’s marrying my cousin.”

The judge began to laugh. “...You’re serious?”

“Extremely.”

“And what makes you think I’ll give you a license?”

Byron slid over the fifty dollars Stella had given him. “Another fifty once you marry us. My girl father’s is Jedidiah Gardenhouse. This here is Samson Gardenhouse, son of Tobias Gardenhouse.”

He stared at the two young men before pocketing the cash. “...Saturday morning. Nine o’clock. No later, no sooner. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Saturday

Thaddeus walked his sister down the aisle as Campbell and Samson stood as witnesses. Campbell didn’t look too happy about the wedding, but he said nothing. Thaddeus didn’t like the idea, but it didn’t surprise him. Stella liked making statements. And what better than to marry a white middle-class Englishman?

[multifandomlover01]

How Far Have I Fallen? How High Shall I Soar?

Spencer Reid x GN!BAU!Reader (Fem coded bc apparently I can't help myself)

Warnings: canon typical violence and abuse such as beating, man being very much not nice to person (also mentions of stalking and killing), some description of it afterwards (nothing too graphic), traumatic experience in general, description of kissing/french kissing, slightly sub!Spencer bc it’s based on early seasons Reid and I have a thing about it

WC: ~4.6k

Summary: reader gets kidnapped (there's the exclusive camera video feed to team; two different locations), and the kidnapper tries to force them to choose a team member to die and Reid freaks out and realizes just how deep his feelings for them are. Fluffy care afterwards ensues.

Disclaimer: posting bc general idea is done but there are time skips/gaps in the story… but don’t worry about them, just go with it

Inspired by 2x14 and 2x15 (similar situation but it’s not Tobias, it’s a different person but I guess timeline/placement could be the same)

gif credit: idiotlovers

You sit in a chair with your wrists and ankles bound with rope. Your clothes are dirty and torn and you have bruises on your arms and face.

Your captor plops tripod with a camera attached to it down in front of you and turns it on. He walks back over to you. He stands behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders, making you cringe. He wore a mask so the BAU couldn’t identify him. He'd been smart about setting up a location that the BAU could track and get to but not be able to link to him specifically. They had no idea who he was. And he planned to keep it that way.

“Your team has seven members on it. Pick one to die. The others can live.” He says calmly, and his tone is a stark contrast to the words he is speaking.

“No.” you shake your head, horrified at the notion. You try to lift your head to turn to face him but you are too weak and tired. Instead your head just kinda hangs a bit.

“Do it. Or I’ll pick one for you. Or…maybe I’ll just kill them all.” He leans down to whisper in your ear.

“Kill me.”

“You said you weren’t one of them. Why sacrifice yourself for them? I asked you if you were like those other scum sucking feds and you said no.” (lol no real explanation given for this line’s inclusion here, it’s taken from the source material/episode; could have it be that he'd stalked you. He hates feds but you don't seem all that much like a fed so you intrigued him and so he became obsessed with you, hence why he stalked and kidnapped you. He thinks you're on his side against your team because you'd told him that but that's just what you thought he wanted to hear at the time and you were going along with him so as not to upset him but now that he'd threatening to kill your teammates, your family, you have to protect them)

“I lied. Kill me. I’d die for them, any one of them, all of them. I’ll sacrifice myself before I let you kill any one of them.”

“There must be one of them you’d be willing to let go of. Come on. Not a one?” He teases lightly as he circles around to face you, but at an angle so the camera's view of you is not obscured.

“Not. One.” You grind out as you look up at him.

“Not even your boss? You don’t hate your boss?”

“Enough to pick him for you to kill?! No!”

“Come on! Just pick one or I kill all of them!” He said as if he hadn't planned on killing all of them eventually one by one anyway.

“I can’t! Please don’t make me!” You plead with him. But it’s a futile effort. He’s adamant.

“Choose one! If not your boss, perhaps the genius chatterbox, then?” He smirks.

Your blood runs cold as he says this. “Don’t you dare touch him!” You snap. Had he been stalking all of you? The entire team?

“Oh? Or what?” He scoffs as he grabs your chin, making you look at him. “You’re restrained here, sweetheart. What will you do to me if I kill your precious little boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You murmur.

“And now he never will be because I’m going to kill him.”

“No! Please!” You sob. “Don’t hurt him!”

He turns your head, making you look at the camera.

"Say goodbye." He whispered in your ear. His hot breath against your skin made you cringe.

You whimper softly.

"Do it. Say goodbye. Tell him you love him. You won't get another chance." He is taunting you now.

Tears fell from your eyes. You shook your head.

“Do it!” His grip on your chin tightened.

You took a shaky breath.

“I-I love you, Spencer.” You spoke and looked directly into the camera.

He lets go of your chin and goes over to cut the camera off.

He goes over to a chest and opens it.

"Wh-what're you doing?" You ask, tears falling from your eyes.

"Preparing." He grunts and you hear him clinking around in the chest.

"Please...just kill me...don't...don't hurt anybody else. You have me. Do whatever you want with or to me but please leave my team alone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. My mission is to wipe out the scourge upon our country that is the federal agent. I had hoped that you'd be on my side...but if you're not...so be it. I'll do it without you. I'll do it without your approval."

"Why are you so obsessed with me and what I think? What's so special about me?"

"You were different!" He stalks over to you, standing in front of you.

"How? Because I'm not some trigger happy jackass? Is that all you think feds are? We are a very diverse group of people."

He strikes you hard across the face, causing you to gasp.

"Don't talk back to me. You feds are all more alike than you think. You're a drone. Just like the rest of them, not capable of independent thought. You're a puppet on some strings, being manipulated by your masters."

If you didn't already think this guy was seriously disturbed, you certainly did now. You knew not what masters he was referring to but figured it could be some kind of conspiracy he believed in.

"I don't...have any masters...unless you mean the government itself but...I'm just trying to help people. I save people."

"You're so brainwashed that you're blind to your true purpose." He crouches down to get in your face.

"My true purpose is to help people."

"That's just what they want you to think you're doing."

"So what am I really doing, then?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You're too far gone."

"Try me."

"You're being manipulated and you don't even realize it."

"Manipulated by what? The government that I work for?"

"That which controls the government that you represent, yes."

"And what...controls the government?" You ask reluctantly, sure that the next thing out of his mouth was going to be something batshit crazy.

"A black cabal."

Aaaand there it was. You actually chuckle a bit, which earns you another hard slap across the face.

"There is no...black cabal. I don't know what drugs you're on, buddy. But that's just not true."

"It is true! I know it is! You...you're just too blind to see it." He huffs as he pushes himself off of the chair and away from you. "You'll see! After I eliminate its agents, it won't have a leg to stand on!"

He continues preparing before he leaves the building.

"No! Wait!" You try to stop him but it is useless. He's disregarded you now. You're nothing but a useless drone to him now. After he killed your entire team, he'd probably kill you too.

You try desperately to free yourself from the ropes that bind you but it is no use. They are very tight around your wrists. You are just left there, bound, ruminating on what could possibly be happening right now. Is your captor going to succeed in harming your team members, your family? Are they safe?

-

The video feed cuts off on the monitor in front of the team. A subconscious and collectively held breath is released.

“Reid, we need to get you to a secure location and put a guard on you. Just as a precaution. We know good and well what he’s capable of.” Hotch says, already pulling his phone out to make some calls to ensure Reid was safe.

“N-no, I need to help find Y/N!” Spencer protested, still reeling from the confession he just heard. He was shaking and he didn’t even realize it. Seeing the person he loved bruised and beaten and being held captive by a perverted madman broke his heart and made his blood boil.

“We need to make sure you’re safe.” Hotch told him, trying to be proactive about the situation but also upon seeing Spencer’s reaction, trying to be sensitive to him and his obvious feelings.

“I need to make sure Y/N is safe!” You were the only thing on his mind. Your safety came before his in his books. If the unsub wanted to come after him, let him come, Reid thought. He’d be in for quite the surprise. Reid was smart and he was pissed, a dangerous combination.

Hotch sighed. He could see how distressed Spencer was. He never knew Reid felt the way he did about Y/N. Spencer himself didn’t truly know how deep his feelings ran.

“They’ll be fine. We’ll continue working on it. Garcia will continue trying to locate them. We’ll find them.” Hotch tries to reassure Spencer but knows there’s a slight possibility that they might not and that he’ll lose a valuable member of his team.

“Please…we have to find them.”

“We will, Reid. We will. I promise. But we need to get you to a safe house right now, ok?"

Spencer reluctantly agrees to be taken to a safe house. He is loaded up into an SUV and taken there by Derek. He is silent nearly the whole ride there, which takes about an hour. Derek glances at him every so often, a look of concern on his face.

"You ok, Reid?" Derek takes a chance to ask.

Spencer looks over at Derek with a solemn expression.

"No. I'm not. Y/N's been kidnapped, beaten. And instead of working on saving them, what am I doing? Hiding? It doesn't feel right."

"You really care for them, don't you?"

"More than I think I realized." Spencer whispers as he and Derek share a look before he goes back to looking out the window.

"We'll save them, ok? I promise."

"We'd better. I don't know if I could live with myself if anything happened to them."

Eventually, they get to the safehouse. Derek helps Spencer unload his bags. The safehouse is a depressing sight. It is a ramshackle building in the middle of nowhere. It looks like no one has used it for quite some time. Who knows if the government pays people to take care of these places. They need to be looked after, though.

Spencer collapsed into a chair while Derek checked out the place, making sure everything was locked up tightly. The electricity worked. The water worked. There was apocalypse prepper type food that was still safe to eat. It seemed like they were set.

-

You collapsed on the ground, dropping the shovel.

“Dig.” The man orders you.

“I…I can’t.” You murmur weakly.

“You’re weak. Pathetic.” He growls as he kicks you in the stomach. You groan. You then hear footsteps. You quickly grab the discarded gun that was on the ground, you aim and shoot him.

Despite your weakened state, you were still an expert marks(person?) and you were indeed able to effectively kill him with that one bullet.

“One bullet left, you son of a bitch.” (He'd made a comment or taunted about there not being even one bullet left to shoot him or yourself with. You insisted there was exactly one left and that you’d kill him with it...Clue vibes?)

“Y/N!” Spencer shouts, his tone is frantic after hearing the gunshot.

“Over…here!” You shout back weakly.

He rushes toward you.

“Y/N! Oh, thank God you’re ok.”

He engulfs you immediately in a hug as you stand up and stagger towards him.

“Thought you didn’t believe in God. Thought my own wit and merit got me out alive.”

“So you both can get credit, then. Now…just…shush and let me hold you.” He murmurs as he buried his face in your neck as he has his arms wrapped around you tightly.

“Thought you hated physical contact.” You whisper softly.

“Never when it comes to you and certainly not right this moment. I thought I told you to shush.” His tone is light and teasing.

“You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my father.” You chuckle weakly.

“You’re right. I’m not…but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you.”

“You care about me?”

“Always have. I’ve been foolish for not demonstrating it more to you.”

“Oh, I think you demonstrate it enough.”

“No. I don’t. What I feel for you is…indescribable. It simply isn’t possible to convey to you in words or actions just how deeply I’ve…fallen in love you with.”

You pull away from the hug, looking up at him in disbelief.

“You’ve…fallen in love with me?” You had to make sure this wasn’t all a big joke being played on you.

“Wholly and utterly.” He looks down at you with a soft gaze in his eyes. He holds your hands in his, being careful of the rope burn. He brings your hands up to his lips and kisses your wrists.

“Y-you mean that?” You asked hopefully, your heart soaring at how tender he is being right now.

“Absolutely. Did you mean it when you said it or…did you only say it because you were forced to?”

“I meant it.” You say sincerely.

“Really? You did?” Spencer could see and hear the sincerity on your face and in your voice but he needed you to confirm it verbally for him. “You…you love me?”

“Completely and absolutely.” You mirror his response.

“I really want to kiss you right now. Can I please kiss you? I know you’ve just been through a trauma so the timing isn’t great so feel free to-“

“Spencer.” You cut him off.

“Y-yes?” He normally felt very sad and disheartened when people cut him off but he knew that you weren't doing it to be rude. He was doing more than rambling right now, he was spiraling.

“You can kiss me.” You smile up at him.

He brought his hands up and cupped your face. His hands were big on your face, making you feel smaller than you already were.

“I love you.” He whispers, looking into your soul as he looks into your eyes.

“I love you, too.”

He leans down and you lean up. Your lips meet his. They were very soft. The kiss is tentative at first but then he presses more firmly into it. You press back. He presses even harder into it. He’s kissing you like he’d die if he didn’t. He’s kissing you like it’s his sole purpose on this Earth. He kisses you for as long as his breathing capacity allows him to, pushing it to its limits, making his lungs burn almost before he pulls away, panting heavily.

“Let me…um…t-take you back to the hotel?”

“Or you could kiss me like that again.”

“Y-yeah…or I could…do that. That…that’s a good…idea…” he inches closer and your lips connect again. It feels like heaven for both of you. You wrap your arms around his neck.

“You know…you’ve been through…a trauma. Maybe…we shouldn’t…be doing…this…” he says in between kisses.

“I love you but please shut up and keep kissing me, pretty boy. I need to feel you. I need to make sure you’re alive and that I’m alive.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Your lips reconnected. Your tongue runs along the seam of his lips and he eagerly parts his lips to allow you to slip your tongue in. Your tongue caressed his tongue. He had to suppress a moan at how good you felt against him like this. He might've guessed he'd be such a whore for you but it still shocked him how he felt like he absolutely wanted to melt into you right now.

He felt no shame in allowing you to take your frustrations out on him through the kiss. You'd been through a trauma. He knew you needed it. It helped that he was naturally submissive and that he had been head over heels in love with you almost since the day he'd met you. Whether or not he knew if you were more dominant or submissive, he certainly knew what you were capable of now. You seemed to be desperately trying to keep him as close to you as possible as you tried to feel as much as him as you possibly could. Spencer wondered if this feeling was as addictive to you as it was to him. He craved more of you.

The two of you soon just became a cacophony of little moans and whimpers as you lost yourselves in each other. You two couldn't seem to get enough of each other. You seemed to be feeding off of the other's energy, letting it fuel your own.

"We...really...should...get back to...the hotel..." Spencer murmurs in between kisses.

You whimper. You felt like you needed him near you like you needed air to breathe. You'd simply die if he wasn't near.

"Shh, shh. It's ok, it's ok. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere." He whispers as he caresses your face.

"Don't leave me, please. I need you." You cling to him.

"I won't leave you. I'm right here, ok?"

“You promise?” You murmur into his chest as you rest your head upon it.

“I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Don’t say that.” You nudge him.

“Well it’s true.”

“But I don’t want you to die.”

“Guess I’ll just have to keep my promise, then, and stay right here with you. I won’t go anywhere. You can come and stay in my room for tonight, yeah? I can stay right by your side…all night long. How’s that sound?”

“Ok…”

He led you to an SUV after you'd been checked out and cleared by a medical person and opened the passenger side door for you, helping you in and even buckling you into your seat before going over to the driver’s side. He didn't often drive but he was able to, he had a license. But for you he'd do anything. And you certainly were in no condition to be driving right now. He glanced at you periodically as he drove to make sure you were doing alright.

"We'll get you to the hotel. We'll get you tucked into bed and then you can rest, ok?"

"Ok," You smiled as you curled up in the seat to rest. Spencer was going to lecture you about the proper way to be seated in a car but decided against it. He drove ever so carefully as there was precious cargo on board, a baby on board, if you will. He wonders if Hotch still has his sticker from when Jack was born and if he'd let him have it...as a joke, of course.

He drives very cautiously to the hotel and parks the SUV. He looks over at you to see you have fallen asleep. He smiles softly at the sight before unbuckling his and your seatbelts before getting out of the car. He goes around to the passenger's side and opens the door. He nudges you lightly.

"Y/N...we're at the hotel." He whispers softly so as not to startle you.

You stir. "Hmm?"

"Hey." He says softly. "We're at the hotel. Do you need help getting out or walking?"

"I'm not a baby, Spencer." You chuckle lightly, joking somewhat.

"Right...right...of course you're not. I know that. I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were."

"It's ok. It's sweet that you care, I guess." You smile as you start to get out of the car and he helps you.

You walk hand-in-hand into the hotel lobby and head for the elevator. Spencer flashes his FBI badge at the receptionist who gives you both a quizzical look. Spencer looks over at you as you stand in front of the elevator to make sure that you're doing alright. You are. You look tired but you're alive and doing ok and soon you will be sleeping.

You enter the elevator when the doors open and Spencer presses the correct floor button. The elevator ascends. When the doors open, he leads you towards his room.

"Is there anything I can get you from your room?" He asks as he gets his room key out and opens the door.

"Um...maybe some melatonin. Oh, but I don't have my room key on me. That'd be back at the precinct in my bag that I carry." You think as you enter his room

"You certainly could use it. and that's ok. I'll just go down to reception and ask for an extra or a master key. Anything else? Clothes? A stuffed animal perhaps."

He had said it so non-judgmentally but your eyes snapped to him.

"Wh-what?" You asked, slightly panicked.

"You do pack at least one stuffed animal for cases, don't you?"

"How...did you know that?" You asked, suspicious of him.

"I'm an expert profiler." He shrugs as he smiles

You narrow your eyes at him, not quite believing that that is the reason.

He chuckled. "Ok, fine. I may have saw one one time when I was putting your bags away on the jet and one wasn't zipped properly and I went to zip it and...I felt something soft and then investigated. I know I shouldn't have. That's your personal property. But It's ok. I'm not judging you."

"Really? You're not?" You ask hopefully. You were always so afraid of being judged.

"Not at all. Stuffed animals can actually provide a great sense of comfort, especially during times of stress. It may be just the thing you need right now."

"Yeah, ok. I um...I keep them in my blue suitcase. It's by the closet. Clothes should be in the closet itself. A t-shirt and a pair of shorts should be fine."

"Got it. Anything else I can get you?"

"No. I think that's it."

"Alright. Why don't you strip out of those dirty clothes and hop in the shower. I can bring you your toiletries bag too, if you'd like."

"I'd like that, thank you."

"Alright. I'll be right back, then, ok? I have to go get an extra key for you room from reception downstairs. But then I'll just be right across the hall for a minute, ok?"

"Ok."

He left the room. You stepped into the bathroom. You slowly stripped out of your torn and dirty clothes, leaving them on the floor. You look at yourself in the mirror. You have bruises on your face. You face is pale. There were bags under your eyes. You looked like hell. You wondered why on Earth Spencer would have kissed you as much as he did with you looking like this.

You shake that thought from your mind and replace it with another. Spencer cares about you. That much was obvious. You start the water in the shower. You wait for it to warm up and while it is warming up, you hear Spencer come back into the room.

"Y/N? I have your clothes. I can just crack the door open and slide them in on the floor."

"Alright."

He cracks the door open and slides the clean clothes into the room. He then slides you toiletries bag in.

"I will put your melatonin and your stuffed animal on your bed, ok?"

"Ok."

He closes the door and you grab your shampoo, loofah, and soap from your bag before you step into the shower. It feels good to get all of the caked blood and dirt off of your body. You allow the warm water to seep into your skin. You grab your shampoo bottle and squirt some into your hands before carding your fingers through your hair and massaging your scalp. An image of your captor grabbing your hair and pulling you by it flashes through your mind. You soothe your head subconsciously even though you had not just been caused physical pain. As you continue to massage the shampoo into your scalp, running your fingers along it and scraping your nails against it, you inadvertently grasp your hair after you've scratched too hard at your scalp as the image and feeling of you being dragged by your hair plagued. You winced once you felt the pain and let go. You drop your hands from your head and stand still for a second. You cannot resist the urge to bring a hand back up to your head to rub at it. You do this at an increasing pace and then suddenly stop.

Your hair is shampooed so you slowly reach for your soap and loofah. You lather the loofah up with the soap bar. As you clean your body, you make sure to clean the last bit of dirt and grime from it. You wish to fully cleanse yourself from the awful trauma you'd just endured. You hand skims over the bruise on your calf from where your captor had kicked you harshly from behind because you weren't walking fast enough in the cemetery.

Once fully cleaned and showered, you turn the water off and exit the shower. You dry your hair off before wrapping the towel around your body. You dry your body off completely before putting the clean clothes on.

You exit the bathroom. Spencer looks up from his book at you as you do.

“Hey.” He says softly. “Feeling better? You’re looking better.”

You smile and nod as you approach your bed. You take the melatonin gummy and grab your stuffed animal before climbing into bed with him.

“Oh um I uh I thought maybe you’d want to uh sleep in a separate bed…you know…for comfort.”

“I’m comfortable right here.” You whisper as you snuggle up to him. “This ok with you?”

He looks down at you as you rest your head on his shoulder. His cheeks tinge pink.

“Y-yeah…more than ok. I just wanna make sure that you’re comfortable.”

“Well I assure you that I am.”

“Good. Would you like me to read to you? Might help lull you to sleep. It helps Morgan.” He chuckles.

You chuckle too. “Yeah. You can read to me. I like hearing you talk.”

“R-Really? You do? You mean that?” He was surprised. No one liked to hear him talk. People often cut him off or simply walked away from him when they got bored of his talking.

“Mhm. I do. I like your voice.”

He smiled at your compliments before he began to read aloud. Granted it wasn’t light reading. It was a book on Quantum Physics but you didn’t seem to mind. You found his voice to be very calming. You didn’t mind what he was saying and you certainly weren’t going to stop him.

As he lay there with you in his arms while he caressed your arm, he couldn’t help but think that this felt incredibly right. Like this was where he was meant to be and this is where you were meant to be. You were meant to be in each other’s arms. He looked down upon you as you rested your head against his chest. He admired your facial features. You looked so peaceful. He was glad you were able to rest comfortably in his arms after what you’d been through.

As you laid there resting peacefully in his arms, he couldn’t help but think how incredibly hard he’d fallen for you. It astonished him. He loved no one more than he loved you (with the exception of perhaps his mother). You were everything to him. And now that he knew that you loved him back, he couldn’t help but think how high he could soar, how much better his life could be now with you in it in a much more intimate fashion. Why, he’d be unstoppable loving you with you loving him.

[smilingformoney]

Abbie

Abbie calls Severus 'Dad' for the first time.

Dad Snape & Daughter!OC

Read on Ao3 or under the cut:

August 1994

Severus was reeling, Abbie’s words echoing in his mind.

Thanks, Dad.

Dad. She’d called him Dad. Was it accidental? Was she embarrassed? He’d slipped out of the room so quickly he had no time to gauge her reaction. He stood in the kitchen now, staring at the washing up he should be doing but instead trying to preserve the memory in his mind in case it was an accident and she’d be calling him Professor again shortly.

For some time now, he’d been resisting calling her Abbie. He felt it presumptuous to do so, to decide that their relationship had become so familiar. How could he, her teacher and estranged father, be so bold as to call her by a nickname?

And yet… she had called him Dad. Not Father as Draco called Lucius, but Dad, an affectionate name in itself. It supposed not just the biological fact of fatherhood, but an intimate relationship between parent and child.

He had come to terms some time ago with the fact of being her father… but being her dad was another realm entirely. It was something he knew nothing of. How could he, when he had no dad of his own? He had a father, yes, but Tobias Snape had never been a dad.

He wondered if she had been thinking of him as ‘Dad’ for a while, but never daring to call him such, just as he was concerned with calling her Abbie. He hadn’t done enough to deserve the honour of being ‘Dad’, he was sure of it. Yes, he’d saved her from an overdose, but he’d have done the same for any student. And yes, he was looking after her this summer - but only by the vaguest description of the word. She was independent enough to look after herself, and if anything, she was doing more cooking than he was. And true, he had looked after her today when her first period came, but what sort of father would he be if he was unable to care for his teenage daughter through such a time in her life?

He wanted to ask her. Did you mean to call me Dad? Do you think of me as Dad? Are you sure you want me as Dad?

He would test the waters, he decided. Observe if she was embarrassed with him, and if not, perhaps he would even dare to test the waters himself and watch her reaction if he called her Abbie…

—

It took him a few days to muster up the courage. It was a stupid thing to be worried about, really. He had faced countless horrors in his life, and yet here he was, anxious about showing his daughter affection.

He almost did it the first day. He gave her space for a few hours, then called her into the kitchen for dinner. He watched her carefully, but she didn’t seem to show any indication that she was embarrassed about her earlier slip. Nor did she call him Dad again, but she didn’t use any other form of address either. So he decided to wait a little longer. If she called him Dad again, he decided, then he would try calling her Abbie.

It happened on the second day. As was now a habitual occurrence, when she realised he had again skipped breakfast, she brought a plate into his study.

“Dad, you really need to eat more,” she said as she entered the room, one hand pushing the door closed and the other balancing a plate of bacon and eggs on toast.

His stomach leapt when he heard it, but he kept a cool expression. He had fooled the Dark Lord for over a year; he could fool a teenager.

“I eat as much as I need,” he replied curtly. “I seem to have survived so far.”

“Oh, so you won’t be needing this, then.” Abbie turned back to take the plate away.

“Don’t you dare.”

Abbie smirked triumphantly - which made her look frustratingly like her mother - and placed the plate on his desk.

“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” she remarked. She hesitated, as if waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t speak, pretending instead to be interested in his work, she turned and left.

When the door closed behind her, Severus let out a sigh. He should have echoed her words. Thank you, Abbie. I’m glad you’re here, Abbie. Will you stay every summer, Abbie, and bring your mother too?

On the third day, Severus was determined to do it. What was the worst that could happen, that she would ask him to call her Abigail? That she would reject his attempt to connect, insisting on a barrier remaining in place between them?

Well, perhaps that would be the worst for him. For her, it would be the best scenario, to keep her distance.

He was in the garden that morning when he heard her banging pots and pans around in the kitchen as she began to cook. He had only a small patch of garden behind his house, but he utilised the space the best he could to nurture ingredients that bloomed their best in the summer.

He hadn’t realised she had poked her head out of the back door until he heard her voice.

“Do you want breakfast?”

He stood and turned, surprised. She had never asked before; she had simply presented it to him when she realised he never ate it for himself. But he had always accepted it, and he always cleared his plate.

“I wouldn’t turn it down,” he said.

“But do you want it?”

He realised then what she was asking. She wanted to know if he really did appreciate it when she cooked, or was he eating it merely out of politeness?

“Yes,” Severus said sincerely. “I do. If… it’s offered.” I will never ask. What sort of father asks his daughter to feed him?

“Good, because I already made it. Come on.”

Inside, Severus noticed that the table was set not with her usual fry-up, but a stack of pancakes on each of two plates.

“Eat the butcher out of bacon, did you?” he remarked.

“I thought I’d try something different. Do you have any jam, by the way? I couldn’t - oh!” She gasped in surprise as a jar of jam came flying from a cupboard and set itself down on the table between them. Severus put his wand back into his pocket, smirking.

“The Ministry wouldn’t notice if you performed underage magic, you know. They’d simply believe it was I casting the spell.”

“Are you suggesting I break the rules, Professor Snape?” Abbie gasped in mock horror.

“Never, Miss Payne. An observation, that’s all.”

They both sat down to eat, and Severus scoffed as he watched Abbie unload jam onto her pancakes.

“Restrain yourself, Abbie. You’ll drown them with that much jam.”

They both froze then. He hadn’t even said it consciously. It was so natural, so normal, and he was so comfortable that it just slipped out.

“You just called me Abbie.”

Severus raised an eyebrow. “Yes, and I believe you’ve called me Dad twice now.”

“We’re there now, are we?”

“I don’t know. Are we?”

There was a long pause. Then, Abbie glanced down at Severus’ plate, which contained a single pancake.

“If you’re going to eat it so plain, at least eat more than one.”

Two of the pancakes lifted themselves from the stack and joined the first on his plate.

“Was that underage magic I just saw?”

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” Abbie replied nonchalantly as she added sugar to her jam with pancakes. “Maybe the pancakes just really wanna be eaten.”

“So you’re not holding your wand under the table?”

A clattering sound came from under the table, sounding suspiciously like the sound of a wand hitting the floor.

“No.”

Severus shook his head, choosing not to pursue this battle.

“Just so you know, I’m tallying up points to take from Gryffindor when term starts. You’ll be in negative numbers by the 2nd of September.”

Abbie grinned cheekily. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, Dad.”

Yes, was the message. We are there now.

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 57]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

-

Tobias, Nia, and Junie travel south to find Will and the human settlement.

-

“You’ve got food and water for the road, and the map I gave you.”

“Yup and yup!”

“And you know what to do if anyone gives you trouble.”

“Bo, c’mon! Nia and Toby are stronger than they look. They’ll keep me safe.”

“Answer the question, Junebug.”

“Fine, fine. If anyone gives me trouble, I peck out their eyes.”

“Good egg.”

Tobias snorts. He and Nia, well-rested after an admittedly cozy night in Junie and Bolat’s home, lean against one of the tall pines to the side of the flying types’ home as they wait for them to finish saying their goodbyes. Junie seems ready to head out, at least, bouncing in place with the aforementioned map pinned under one of her tiny feet.

Now they just need Bolat to stop being an overbearing blissey.

Tobias looks up at slivers of blue sky as the wind rustles through the pines. It’s not as early as he usually likes to get going, mid-morning rather than dawn, but Junie and Bolat alike had refused to get up sooner. Outvoted three to one once Nia realized she had sleep-in backup, Tobias had settled for resting a bit longer, eventually flipping through Nia’s book about abilities out of boredom.

He’s glad they’re finally getting moving. The day looks nice, only a bit chilled by autumn winds, but he’s feeling restless. Ready to talk to Will and find out if the yamask has any answers. If not, then he’s ready to head back to the guild where they can see if August and the others came up with anything instead.

“Bo, we’ll be fine! Seriously!” Junie complains after another round of questions. “You worry too much.”

The skarmory gives Junie a playful nip with his wickedly sharp beak. “I don’t think you worry enough, for such a tiny thing. I’d prefer to escort you all there myself, but I can’t get someone to fill in for my mail route on such short notice.”

Nia cringes. “Sorry. I debated sending a letter ahead of time, but I thought it’d be a nice surprise for Junie.”

“It was!” Junie assures.

“We’ll be fine,” Tobias says, stepping forward and plucking the map out from under Junie’s foot before she loses it. He ignores her squawk of protest. “Luckily for these two, I can actually read a map.”

Bolat laughs as Junie pecks at Tobias’ leg and gets a light kick in return. “Good to hear. ‘Mon are fairly kind around this area, so just stop someone if you do get off the path and they should be able to guide you back.”

Nia and Tobias nod, and it falls quiet as Junie and Bolat both seem to realize there’s nothing else to be said.

“Bye, Bo,” Junie whispers, hopping forward to rub the top of her head against his metallic leg. “Sorry for ditching so suddenly. I’ll be back soon.”

Bo bends to rest his giant beak on Junie’s body. “Just come back safe, all right? We both know you have a penchant for trouble.”

Junie laughs, hopping back. “But I always find my way out of it!”

“Rarely on your own,” Tobias says. Nia elbows him.

“Oh, just wait and see if I save your butt next time you’re in trouble! You two have no room to talk!” Junie sticks her tongue out at him.

Tobias can’t resist doing the same.

“And on that note,” Nia says, laughter in her voice. “We’d better get going. Thanks again for letting us stay the night, Bo. And for the food! We’ll see you on our way back through, okay?”

“Safe travels, you three. Bring this little troublemaker back in one piece, all right? Too quiet around this place without her.”

Nia assures him that they will. Junie hops onto her shoulder, and the three of them start on the forested path back to Stonebrook, Nia and Junie waving until Bolat is completely out of sight.

Junie is directing Nia where to go, so Tobias lets himself fall back to pull out the map Bolat had lent them.

While the skarmory had pointed out their destination once already, the map is still more detailed than Tobias expects, spanning half the continent and even including some simple drawings to illustrate. He finds Stonebrook in the middle of the forest, then traces the path leading to the main road. From there, he moves south until the road leaves the forest entirely and enters the plains to the south. Eventually, the path hits the ocean at Kaleido Bay.

According to the skarmory, the human settlement is halfway between where the forest ends and the ocean begins, built into the side of a mesa off the main road. If they follow the trail south and stick to it, the mesa should be easy to spot. Bolat guessed that they could even make it there by nightfall, if they kept up a good pace.

Tobias looks up as they break from the pines and into the bright sunlight bathing Stonebrook in warmth. He would love to take a rest on one of the smooth, heated boulders strewn about the little village, but they have places to be. He folds up the map and tucks it into their satchel, then speeds up to match Nia’s stride.

“Marie makes the bestpastries ever,” Junie is saying, swooping around Nia as she points out different areas of the village. “Especially her pies. Ooh, we could stop and get one to eat on the way!”

“We can’t stop every time you get distracted,” Tobias says. “If we want to make it to Will’s by nightfall, we need to keep up a good pace.”

Junie pouts at him. “Spoilsport.”

“We do need to talk to Will as soon as possible,” Nia says, even as she lifts her nose into the air to sniff for pastries. “Maybe when we come back through?”

“Fiiine!”

Tobias takes the lead as they reach the path leading out of town. Junie doesn’t argue, instead diving into a conversation with Nia about what she’s been learning during her mail ‘mon training.

“So even though I’m tiny I could still carry letters and smaller packages. And if I did ever evolve—oh! Nia, have you seen a picture of what my evolution would be?!”

“I don’t think so?”

“I would be huge!” Junie says, swooping past Tobias to splay her wings wide. “Like, bigger than Bo!”

“Really?” Nia asks, eyes wide.

“Guess that’s one upside to the world ending,” Tobias says. “I don’t trust you with the power of a corviknight.”

Junie lands on the satchel looped around Tobias’ shoulder. “Aw, you scared?”

“No. You’d be a steel type. I’d scorch your feathers right off.”

“You wish!”

“You’d be a steel type?” Nia asks, curious.

“Yeah! Like Bo! Isn’t that neat?! Toby, you’re just jealous of how cool I’d be. I’d scare the pants off everyone!”

“Oh, please. I’d be a charizard. You’d be no match.”

“I still don’t think I’ve seen what a charizard actually looks like,” Nia says thoughtfully, head tilted. “You said you’d be big enough to carry me, right?”

“Easily. Charizard are strong flyers.”

“We could be flying buddies!” Junie chirps.

“Not a chance.”

“Flying,” Nia says, voice weak. “Great. How about land buddies instead?”

Tobias snorts, resigning himself to a day of lively conversation.

Their walk to the main road is uneventful. When they arrive, Tobias is a little surprised to see that the new path doesn’t look that different from the little trail to Stonebrook. It’s still a dirt road, just much wider and flattened from countless footsteps, the tall trees on either side a little more open to let in patches of sunlight.

The biggest change is how much busier this road is; they end up passing quite a few Pokemon on their way south. Mostly carts carrying goods between towns, some travelers on foot, and even another Seeker team or two, who give them cordial nods of acknowledgement as they pass.

Maybe an hour in, Nia and Junie take to guessing the names of each unknown species they see, making a game out of it with Tobias as the referee. After a bulky pignite passes by, the two wait until he’s out of sight before conspiring.

“Okay, what do we think?” Junie asks, perched on Nia’s shoulder. “Definitely something with ‘pig,’ right?”

“Hm…could be ‘boar’ instead,” Nia points out. “He had little tusks, right?”

“True. Okay, so ‘pig’ or ‘boar,’ and a fighting type.”

Nia frowns. “I was thinking fire, actually. He was a really bright orange.”

“Yeah, but did you see how jacked he was?! Plus, his fur kinda looked like was wearing a leotard or something. Definitely a fighting type.”

Nia hums doubtfully. “Okay, so fire or fighting? What does that give us?”

“Fire, fire, fire…cinder, maybe? Flame?” “Flame,” Nia murmurs. “Flame, flame…flambé?”

“Nia!” Junie gasps, sounding delighted. “Pork is not a thing here! You cannibal!”

“I-I wasn’t—they have a Pokemon called fidough, Junie! As in D-O-U-G-H! It’s a fair guess!”

Tobias barks a laugh, then quickly schools his expression when Nia and Junie look his way.

“Okay, okay!” Junie says, relenting. “Flambé’s on the table. So what’re our options? Flampig? Flamboar?”

“Flamboar’s not terrible,” Nia says. Then she gasps, paws clapping together. “I’ve got it! Flambabe!”

Tobias and Junie shoot Nia a puzzled look.

Nia shrinks back. “L-Like Babe the pig? From the book..?”

“Nerd,” Tobias and Junie say, in sync.

Junie gives Tobias a thrilled look. He gives her a horrified one in return. It’s not a good sign when they’re on the same wavelength.

“O-Okay, so it’s probably not flambabe!” Nia says, looking embarrassed. “Tobias, what’re they actually called?”

“It’s probably not even a pun this time,” Junie sighs.

“You sure you want to know?”

“Yeah!”

Tobias smirks. “…Pignite.”

A pause. Then Nia and Junie groan, defeated once more by the wordplay of the Ordirune language.

“But he was a fighting type, right?” Junie asks.

“I still think he looked a little fiery.”

Expectant, both of them look to Tobias once again.

“Pignite are fire types.”

“Yes!” Nia fist pumps.

“…And fighting types.”

“Yes!” Junie shouts.

“Wait,” Nia says. “So is that another tie?”

Their fourth tie in a row. Nia and Junie look at each other, then groan again, loud enough to startle a laugh out of Tobias.

______________________________________________________________

It’s early afternoon when they finally reach the edge of the forest, the trees thinning out into wide, flat fields of dry grasses. In the distance sits the faint, blocky shape of the mesa they’re looking for, tall amongst the flat landscape. Bolat wasn’t wrong—it’s certainly easy to spot.

They decide to stop there in the shade for lunch, pulling out the food Bolat had packed for them: mostly leftover berries and nuts from yesterday, as well as some bread that melts deliciously in Tobias mouth.

Maybe they do need to stop by that bakery on the way back.

They’re finishing up their meal food, looking out at the mesa, when conversation turns to Nia’s developing aura abilities.

“You can read minds now?!” Junie asks, beak dropping open to reveal a mouth full of mushed-up bread.

Tobias wrinkles his muzzle and reaches over to snap her beak closed.

Nia laughs, bashful. “Not exactly? It’s still mostly just emotions and, um…vague ideas of what they’re thinking? But they do get easier to understand if I’m really close to whoever I’m reading.”

The riolu glances at Tobias before looking away again. Tobias takes another bite of food and refuses to look at either of his companions, face burning hot.

Junie, unfortunately, catches the brief exchange. “Oh? And how did you find this out?”

“W-Well, I tested it out with some of my—some of ourfriends during training, and on my instructor.”

“And Toby joined in on the fun?”

Tobias glares at the little bird. “Val made me.”

Junie tweets a laugh. “Okay, okay, jeez. If looks could kill. So it doesn’t work if you aren’t really close to someone?”

“Well…” Nia tilts her head, lowering the bread she’d been nibbling on. “No. I can still latch on to their aura and get a vague idea of what they’re feeling. Like I always could. But with Tobias, it was almost like he was talking. It was more…specific.”

Tobias crunches into a chestnut to crack it open with his teeth. He still isn’t fond of that whole deal. Sure, if someone has to be peeking into his head, he’ll take Nia over almost anyone else, but those are his private thoughts and feelings. He doesn’t want someone poking around and judging him for what they find. He’s not a great Pokemon, but no one else needs to know that.

“So you took a little tour inside Toby’s head? Pretty nasty place, I bet,” Junie says.

Case in point.

Tobias reaches over and steals the rookidee’s last bluk berry, popping it into his mouth just to spite her.

“Hey!”

“You deserved it.”

“You kind of did,” Nia says, smiling sympathetically.

Junie huffs, but doesn’t argue. Then she perks up again, and Tobias knows what she’s going to say before the words even leave her mouth. “You should try it again on me! I wanna know if I can feel you rummaging around in my head.”

Nia doesn’t seem all that surprised by the request, either. Still, she looks cautious. “You sure? It’s kind of, uh. Private.”

“You said the same thing the first time you looked at my aura! C’mon, let’s try it!”

Nia laughs. “Okay, okay. I’ll, um, try it from a distance first, then use contact if that doesn’t work.”

Junie doesn’t argue, settling down a foot or so from Nia.

Nia closes her eyes, concentrating. Her paws remain in her lap.

Tobias watches, curious despite himself. Just because he doesn’t want to be the test subject doesn’t mean Nia’s powers aren’t interesting.

“Oh!” Nia’s eyes remain closed, but her brows shoot up. “I got it! And I didn’t even have to make contact first.”

“Does that mean you’re getting better at using your aura?” Junie asks. “Or that we’re besties?”

Nia makes a so-so gesture with her paw. “Probably a bit of column A, bit of column B? Stay there—I want to see how far I can get.”

Nia stands up, eyes still closed, and starts backing up across the grass.

“Rock,” Tobias calls, just in time for Nia to stumble and nearly fall on her tail. She shoots him a grin and a thumbs-up, eyes still closed, before continue to step back, slower this time.

Finally, Nia stops a few yards away from Junie. She’s frowning and tilting her head as if to hear better.

“I think this is my limit right now,” Nia says.

“That’s farther than it was at the guild,” Tobias points out.

“Can you tell what I’m thinking?!” Junie calls.

A moment of quiet. Then, Nia laughs. “Not exactly, but I can tell you’re trying to think of the weirdest things possible to catch me off-guard. You feel…playful?”

Junie laughs. “I’ll show you playful! Here, see if you can feel what flying is like!”

With that, Junie launches herself into the air.

“Oh, this should be good,” Tobias mutters, watching Junie flap higher above their heads. She catches a breeze, then falls backwards and does a loop-de-loop with more agility than Tobias expects. Huh. Maybe her training with the skarmory is helping after all.

Nia groans, sinking to her knees and looking sick. Her eyes crack open. “Ugh. Yup, I felt that.”

“You did?!” Junie calls, stopping to flap in place.

“Unfortunately. I swear I could feel my stomach flip.”

“Yeah, isn’t it awesome?”

Tobias snorts, watching as Junie does more loops and spins overhead, a dark blur against the bright blue of the sky. Her shadow passes over them.

Nia trudges back to Tobias’ side and plops down, still looking vaguely nauseous. “I don’t think I was built for the air.”

Tobias laughs. “You literally weren’t.”

Nia whines, tucking her head into her knees.

Tobias gives her another patronizing pat on the back before tilting his head back to watch Junie again. The little flying type is whooping with joy as she shows off, and Tobias is torn between envy and a weird sense of peace.

Tobias doesn’t hate having the rookidee around. He likes how happy she makes Nia, for one. And with such a heavy atmosphere hanging over them lately—what with the world ending and all—even Tobias can appreciate a bit of levity.

In some ways, Junie actually reminds him of his sister. Much more annoying, of course, much pushier, but she has a similar kind of wit and playfulness to her as Vivi did. At first the similarity rubbed him the wrong way, but it’s starting to feel familiar now. More entertaining than upsetting.

“Toby! Toby, watch this!”

She even uses the same stupid nickname.

Tobias rolls his eyes. “I’m watching!”

Junie tucks her wings and drops like a stone. Beside him, Nia yelps, tensing as if to jump up. But Junie snaps open her wings just in time and swoops low across the ground to flutter to a stop at their feet.

“Wasn’t that sick?!”

“It looked dangerous!” Nia frets.

“Nah, Bo showed me how to do it safely.”

“Bolat showed you how to do that?!” Nia asks, scandalized.

“Uh, yeah? I told you he has fun uncle energy. He’s not my dad.”

“Still!”

Tobias shakes his head, biting back a smile as he starts cleaning up the remains of their meal. It’s time to get moving again.

_____________________________________________________________

By time they find the fork in the road leading to Will’s settlement, it’s sunset and even Junie has quieted down, fatigued after a long afternoon of travelling the road through open fields under the hot sun. The mesa looms over them, still in the distance but close enough that they can pick out some of the finer details of its stone face and scraggly trees.

Noticing the branching path, Junie perks up from where she’s nestled into Nia’s neck fluff.

“Finally! I feel like we’ve been looking at that stupid rock forever. How much longer do you think we have?”

Tobias doesn’t answer, stepping onto the smaller trail leading in the direction of the mesa. Unlike the main road, this path is made for only one or two ‘mon at a time, dirt trail nearly swallowed by the long, dry grasses swaying gently around them.

“Maybe an hour or two, if I had to guess?” Nia says, squinting.

Junie whines, burying her face into Nia’s fur.

“You aren’t even the one walking,” Tobias grumbles, hopping down a shallow shelf of rock in the path.

“At least we can see where we’re heading,” Nia says, ever the optimist. “And it’s late enough that it’s going to start cooling down soon.”

“I guess.”

With that, they fall silent again. Slowly, the sky bleeds to a lavender gray, only their breaths and the whistle of the wind through rustling grass to keep them company. It’s nearly dusk by time they reach the foot of the mesa, its presence overwhelmingly tall above them. It brings to mind half-remembered sensations from Tobias’ childhood in the mountains.

The trail they’d been following starts to wind its way up a steep, mountainous incline. It’s almost serpentine, snaking through the environment, cobbled with rough stones underfoot and walled in by cliff faces, wiry trees, and foliage. Tobias, already tired from the journey here, is breathing hard within minutes. Junie takes mercy on Nia and hops down to trail along behind them.

Tobias isn’t sure how long they follow the trail, relying more and more on Tobias’ tail flame to light the way as the sky darkens. Nia and Tobias both trip more than once on the rough terrain, and take to skating their hands along the rocks and branches crowding on either side of the path to keep their balance. Junie at least doesn’t have to worry about going slipping into a ravine or sliding off the mountainside.

Tobias is getting close to calling that they stop to rest for the night, the conditions too dangerous to traverse with such low light, when they round a bend and see…lights.

“Oh, look,” Nia says, stopping.

Tobias and Junie stop too, staring across the small canyon they’ve been ascending.

On the other side, tucked under the shelf-like lip of the top of the mesa, sprawls a surprisingly sizeable town, seemingly carved into the side of the cliff itself. The buildings are angular structures made of stone, and there is enough golden light spilling from windows and open doors to illuminate them, an oasis of warmth in the sprawling darkness of night.

“It’s beautiful,” Nia murmurs.

“It almost looks like a human city!” Junie says.

It’s…fine. Tobias doesn’t understand why they’re fussing so much.

“C’mon,” Tobias says, moving forward again. “Almost there.”

Luckily for their sore, tired feet, they wind their way around the canyon and to the entrance of the village relatively quickly.

There, a hulking mass of purple armor and pointed barbs is stationed. A nidoking. Tobias remembers seeing him at the human convention, but he still stops in his tracks as the poison type’s beady eyes lock onto them.

Before anyone can say anything, a high voice speaks up.

“Oh, hey! It’s you three!”

Tobias blinks. Then, movement catches his eye. It’s a tiny yellow blur, hopping down from the nidoking’s shoulder and skittering across the rocky dirt to stop before the trio. A young joltik, his fluffy yellow fur bright against the darkness. He’s barely the size of Tobias’ hand.

Tobias’ brow furrows at the familiar greeting. He glances up at the nidoking to make sure this isn’t some sort of trap, then back at Nia and Junie. They seem just as lost as he is.

“I’m sorry,” Nia says, stepping forward and crouching down. “Um. Have we met?”

The joltik cocks his head, but then looks down at himself and chirps, “Oh, right!”

The little bug type leaps up, tucks into a roll, and in a flash of cool blue light, grows over five times as big before landing on four paws. His coat is orange with black stripes and accented with fluffy cream fur.

“I’m Asher!” The growlithe pup yips, tail wagging proudly. “I ran into you at the convention, remember?”

Tobias stares, still more caught off guard by the haunting coat pattern than anything.

“Whoa!” Junie shoves forward. “How’d you do that?!”

Asher snickers, leaps up again, and in another icy blue flash lands on more delicate paws. They’re a deep red against his dark gray coat, matching the tuft of red fur sitting atop his head beween pointed ears. His golden eyes are bright as sparks.

Tobias breathes again.

“I’m a zorua, duh!”

“Don’t duh me! I’m human. How was I supposed to know that?”

“Humans don’t seem to know a lot of things.”

“Hey!”

While Junie and Asher squabble, Tobias takes another breath to calm himself. It’s better with the growlithe visage gone. Zorua are tricksters, but he can handle a trickster better than a growlithe.

“Can zorua turn into…anything?” Nia whispers to Tobias, eyes wide and ears perked. Tobias can practically see the questions building on her tongue.

“Any Pokemon, yeah.”

He snorts despite himself as Asher morphs into a rookidee, Junie’s mirror image. The real Junie squawks, outraged, and bats at him with a wing. Asher laughs, and for a brief moment Tobias sees a flicker of gray fur and red paws before he perfects the illusion once more.

“They’re more like…illusions, though, rather than actual transformations.”

That doesn’t deter Nia’s obvious fascination. She asks Asher if he can turn into her as well, and the zorua does so in a heartbeat, grinning at Nia’s awestruck expression.

“As fun as this is,” Tobias interrupts, still eyeing the silent mass of nidoking nearby. “Can we go inside?”

“Oh!” Asher morphs again in a flash, changing into another charmander, just without Tobias’ scarf. “Sure! C’mon! I can show you around. I know everything about this place.”

Asher skips towards the nidoking and the light of the town behind him. Junie giggles at the sight while Nia bites back a smile. Tobias huffs, following the cheeky kid with a lash of his tail.

The nidoking is even more intimidating up close. Over four times their height and just as wide, with a variety of scars. Tobias can feel the nidoking’s weight and strength as he shifts, looking over each of them.

“Hi, Slate!” Asher chirps.

The massive nidoking grunts in return. “You know them?”

“Sorta! They were at the human convention in Ghatha.”

Slate nods, stepping aside and shifting his heavy tail out of the way.

“Thanks, Slate! I’ll bring you more gummies tomorrow.”

Slate doesn’t answer, but Asher isn’t fazed. He shifts into a meowth and trots by the nidoking with his tail held high. “You haven’t been here before, right?”

“No,” Tobias answers, looking around as they enter town.

A path leads around the outside of the village, a sturdy wall of stones to their right to prevent anyone from tumbling off the cliff. Periodically, torches are perched atop the stone to provide light. To their left, they pass tall buildings constructed of rocks and mortar, where golden light and laughter spill from open windows into the cooling night air.

“So what do you wanna see first? We’ve got all kinds of cool human stuff here! Like…clothes! You guys like clothes, right? We have someone who makes those!”

“You do?” Nia asks, tail wagging in excitement. She picks up her pace to match Asher. Junie hops onto her shoulder to listen as well. Tobias trails behind.

“Yeah! But they aren’t working right now, since it’s late. Oh! Do you want a bath? We have a soapmaker here, too. All the humans go crazy for soap.”

“You have soap?!” Nia asks, voice cracking. She sound like she’s about to cry.

Asher laughs. “Yeah! I don’t really like it. Too strong for me. But we can get you some to use! I know they’ve been working on new, uh…flavors? Scents!”

“What else do you have?” Junie asks, sounding just as excited as Nia.

“Lotsa stuff! Oh! We have someone who makes games and toys, too! You definitely have to visit him. He’s the best.”

Tobias falls farther back, continuing to look around as the three babble on. Most of the inhabitants seem to be inside as night settles in, but the group passes one or two ‘mon out and about. They’re wearing more cloth than Tobias is used to seeing outside of cold weather. A flaaffy has a billowy transparent shawl around their shoulders and another tied around their hips, and a strangely familiar-looking elekid and sandile wearing lightweight scarves scamper by right after.

One building’s door is propped open, and Tobias glances in as they pass by. While the group of Pokemon inside don’t seem to be related biologically, all different species and types, they laugh comfortably with one another as they play games and chat. They’re sitting around a small firepit in the center space of the home. Tobias catches sight of large alcoves set into the rounded walls behind them, with blankets spilling out. Nests?

There are large jars bordering the empty wall off to the side of the group, likely for water. Plus a table with some chairs, books in a small bookcase, floors covered in rugs, and even a few pieces of art hung on the walls.

It's…cozy-looking, admittedly. Spacious enough, but warm. Lived-in.

“Is that a band?!” Junie asks from up ahead, just a smidge too loud.

Her question snags Tobias’ attention, and he jogs to catch up with the three of them. Nia and Junie are looking expectantly at a small outdoor area, with a little fire pit lit in its belly. A small crowd of Pokemon—of humans—are gathered around its edges, reclined and chatting across tiers of stone steps.

In the center, near the fire, a trio of Pokemon do appear to be preparing for a song. A clobbopus hovers their broad tentacles over a pair of drums. A loudred is holding a delicate wooden flute to his lips with giant hands. The last Pokemon, a brionne, appears to be a singer. She has a flipper held to her throat, her eyes closed as she hums to herself.

Nia, Junie, and even Asher gravitate towards the performers with shining eyes. Tobias sighs, resigning himself to listening too, and stands next to his partner.

The drummer start first, jumping right into a tempo so quick that their tentacles are a blur of movement. The crowd’s chatter slows and quiets. After a moment, the flutist joins in with surprising grace, their sharp notes somehow weaving perfectly around the drumbeats. Finally, a few beats later, the vocalist starts up, raising her chin and closing her eyes to release a high, haunting note.

Tobias feels a chill roll over the skin on his arms, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it. He was hoping these three would be terrible. Instead, as the brionne sings a few more wordless notes, her voice lilting high and low in tandem with the flute, Tobias has to admit they’re…good. Really good. His fingers twitch towards the satchel at his hip, wanting to pull out his guitar and join in.

He chances a glance at Nia and Junie. Both of them are enraptured, and Nia even looks a little emotional. Tobias wonders if she knows the song, or if it’s just his partner being her usual sensitive self.

Tobias huffs and closes his eyes, letting the stupidly beautiful music wash over him. The night breeze drifts by, cool, but it carries some of the warmth and scent of the bonfire with it, too. He should probably be enjoying this.

Eventually, minutes later, the song dies away with a warbling high note. The crowd breaks into applause, whistling and cheering.

“Wasn’t that great?” Nia leans over to whisper, eyes shining. Apparently she remembers that he exists again.

“It was fine,” he grumbles.

Nia gives him a more focused look, smile faltering. “Are you okay?”

“Asher!” A voice calls from behind them, cutting Tobias off before he can respond.

Asher jumps and squeaks at the voice, meowth tail bottlebrushing as he spins around. “H-Hey Dad!”

Tobias turns around to see a jolteon moving towards them at a brisk pace. Tobias can’t tell if his fur is the normal level of spiked for a jolteon, or if it’s pricklier than usual from the worried annoyance Tobias can read on the Pokemon’s face.

The jolteon seems surprised when he notices Tobias, Nia, and Junie, though, slowing to a stop. “Oh! Hello there. I…wasn’t aware we had newcomers.”

“We’re not,” Tobias says.

“We just got in tonight. We were hoping to talk to Will about something,” Nia says. “A-And maybe stay for a night or two to rest afterwards? We ran into Asher at the convention in Ghatha, so he was showing us around.”

“He’s supposed to be cleaning his room,” the jolteon says, giving Asher a dry look.

“Can’t it wait until after I show them around?” Asher whines. “Cerise is singing tonight!”

The jolteon’s stern expression doesn’t falter, but he does sigh. “You can come with me as I show them around, but after that you’re cleaning up your toys.”

“Fiiine,” Asher groans. He transforms back into a zorua and moves to the jolteon’s side, tail held low. “I wasn’t doing anything bad.”

“He’s been really helpful, actually!” Nia assures.

The jolteon’s spines relax a bit more. “Well, that’s good to hear, at least. Did you three want to keep watching the show? I’d imagine you’re likely half-asleep if you traveled here by foot, but Cerise is quite the treasure.”

“Well…” Nia glances longingly over her shoulder at the band as they start up their next song, and then at Tobias.

There’s a sudden loud gurgle, and all of their heads snap down to look at Junie.

For once, the rookidee almost seems embarrassed. Still, she laughs. “Uh. You got any food?”

The jolteon chuckles. “I think that can be arranged. Come with me. We can always show you around more tomorrow.”

The jolteon trots down the path, deeper into town. The rest of them follow as the band’s next song drifts into the air. Their group passes by a few other Pokemon, but Tobias doesn’t pay them any mind until he sees Nia do a double-take, slowing to a stop.

“What?” Tobias asks.

“That Pokemon looked like Seiji. The scientist who helped me with my aura at the convention?”

Tobias turns to look at the group again. Sure enough, there’s a little blue disk of a bronzor bobbing along with the others.

“Oh, have you met before?” The jolteon asks, doubling back.

“Briefly,” Nia answers. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting to see him here.”

“Ah. Well, we had a large surge in numbers after the fire. Lots of humans didn’t feel safe after that, unfortunately.”

Tobias suddenly realizes why that elekid and sandile they’d passed by earlier looked familiar. They’d seen the electric-type at the convention, having trouble containing his electricity, and Tobias had pulled that very sandile out of the building’s rubble himself.

“Is everyone here because of stuff like that?” Junie asks, hopping onto a nearby stone to be closer to eye-level.

“Not everyone, but the majority. With the way the world is breaking down, animosity towards humans has only gotten worse. They come here for sanctuary. For likeminded folks who they can connect to and feel safe with.”

Tobias frowns. On one hand, he gets that—he feels an automatic kinship with other Seekers, after all, and fire types. But something about all of the humans hiding out here still feels…wrong. Nia’s happy at the guild, right? She always gets so excited about meeting new Pokemon and learning new things. Do these humans really want to trade all of that away? Is the world really so scary to them that they have to hide from it entirely?

Tobias glances at Nia and Junie.

Nia’s brow is furrowed, but Tobias isn’t sure exactly what she’s thinking.

Junie tilts her head at the jolteon. “That makes sense, but how did you get here?”

“Pardon?” The jolteon asks, looking surprised.

“Well, you’re the kid’s dad, right?” Junie asks, glancing at Asher. The zorua has transformed into a vulpix and is absentmindedly chasing his own tails. “He told us he wasn’t a human at the convention, so…”

“Junie!” Nia admonishes, looking embarrassed.

“What?! It’s a valid question!”

It is, actually. Tobias had forgotten about that. He narrows his eyes at the jolteon.

…Who he hasn’t gotten the name of yet.

The jolteon doesn’t look cornered by the question. He simply laughs. “Ah, right. Well, I’m close with Will, so I just wanted to help him out. I’m not the only non-human here.”

“Really?” Nia asks.

“Of course.” The jolteon sits back, looking at ease. “We couldn’t have built up this village with just the humans, especially at the beginning.”

“Slate’s not human!” Asher muffled voice chimes in. His fluffy tails are caught in his jaws, and he’s still spinning in a circle. “He helped us build a lot since he’s so strong!”

“Why?” Tobias asks. The humans he gets—they feel safer here, and they’re hoping Will is their ticking to returning home. But natural-born Pokemon?

“Most of them were hired during the building process and just decided to stick around,” the jolteon says, shrugging his shoulders. “Some of them want to go to the human world, too.”

Junie frowns. “How would that work if they don’t have a human body to go back to?”

“Will’s been looking into that. The research team figures that if humans were given a body to fit into this world, then the same should happen for Pokemon going the opposite direction. If not, then they’ll likely just keep their Pokemon forms.”

Tobias exchanges a doubtful look with Nia. They both know the truth, after all, that Nia and Junie were only given their Pokemon forms because Mew created them. Although yamask are formed without any interference, so…

The jolteon catches their look. “You said you wanted to talk to Will, right? Is it about getting back to the human world?”

“To…an extent,” Nia answers. “It’s related, but it’s actually more to do with the natural disasters. We were hoping he could help us with a lead.”

The jolteon hums, glancing down at Asher as his son rolls over with a flash and turns into an eevee, weaving between his legs. “I’m sure he’d be willing to talk, but he’s likely retired for the night. Can it wait until morning?”

Tobias opens his mouth to say no, but Nia beats him to it.

“Sure!” At Tobias’ glare, she adds. “W-We need to rest anyways. One night shouldn’t hurt, right?”

Tobias doesn’t argue, much as he wants to. He is exhausted. And he wants to be in top form when they talk to Will.

“I vote food and sleep!” Junie chirps.

The jolteon smiles. “We can manage that. Come on. Not much farther now.”

The jolteon turns to go, but Tobias steps forward first. “Wait. First—what’s your name?”

Both Nia and Junie look startled, first by the sudden question and then by the realization that they’d made it this far into the conversation without such a basic exchange.

The jolteon looks at them for a moment, then laughs. Tobias doesn’t like it. “Right, my apologies. I forget sometimes, with newcomers. Here. You’re probably more familiar with this face.”

The jolteon doesn’t need to leap up, and simply flashes a bright purple before he transforms into a psychic type ponyta, with a fluffy mane and a small black horn.

Junie gasps and points a wing. “The My Little Pony!”

Nia yelps, “Fidel?!”

Fidel smiles, sidestepping Asher as the kid tries to tackle his legs. “We didn’t get to talk much at the Ghatha convention, with everything that happened. But I remember you three. Nia and Junie, wasn’t it? And…”

“Tobias!” Junie offers up.

Tobias flicks her with his tail, nearly knocking her over.

“Are you a zorua too?” Nia asks. She looks a little embarrassed about the bluntness of her question, but it’s clear she’s been thrown for a loop by this revelation.

“Not quite.” In another quick purple flash, Fidel transforms again. Then he’s twice his previous size, towering over the rest of them. Lanky, powerful arms are covered in deep gray fur and tipped with long red claws. Longer red fur flows from atop his head and around his neck like a mane. Sharp face, sharp ears, sharp smile.

“Dad’s a zoroark!” Asher says proudly, transforming back into a zorua and craning back to look up at Fidel. “If I do stay a Pokemon when we go to the human world, I’m hoping I’ll be able to evolve there! Then I can make illusions for all the big Pokemon that Dad can. Right?”

Fidel leans down to nose his son’s head with a tight smile. “Right.”

Tobias frowns. So Fidel is planning on going to the human world with his son? That feels…off. Even if Fidel and Will are friends. Even taking the natural disasters and mystery dungeons into account. Would that really be enough for Fidel to take his son away from the only world they know?

“Are there other zoroark around?” Junie asks, clearly from a place of curiosity and not the suspicion Tobias is feeling.

“Oh! Right!” Nia says, tail wagging excitedly. “You’re a canine—do zorua and zoroark travel in packs like riolu and lucario do?”

Fidel gives Nia an amused look. “I don’t see much of a pack with you right now.”

“That’s ‘cause she’s got us!” Junie says, hopping up to perch on Nia’s shoulder. “Much more versatile.”

Fidel looks endeared by the idea. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Me and Dad are the only zors around here,” Asher adds. He scrambles up his dad’s back to burrow into the zoroark’s fluffy mane. A moment later, his little face pokes out to look at them. “Sometimes I wish there were more, but it is fun playing pranks since no one here is good at seeing illusions.”

“Which is a habit we’ve been trying to break.”

Asher snickers and burrows back into Fidel’s mane.

Fidel sighs, but the sound is fond. He looks down at the three of them. “How about I finally get you all to the inn?”

Tobias doesn’t argue, trailing behind Nia and Junie as they chat with the zoroark. The dark type leads them to one of the larger structures, near the edge of the settlement. It’s a tall, tan building made of stacked stones and mortar, golden light spilling from its windows.

The door is cracked open, so Fidel nudges his way inside. They follow, finding themselves in a spacious room taking up the entirety of the first floor. A brightly patterned rug circles the floor, a  fire pit at its center, providing light and warmth. An assortment of alcoves line the rounded walls. Some are large enough to hold entire Pokemon and have blankets folded up inside, ready to be used as nests. Another section of the wall has much smaller nooks dug into the stone. For storage, likely, considering the wrapped goods and jars Tobias spots there.

There’s a torracat lying in one of the sleeping shelves, a blanket draped over her. She’s using a claw to carefully carve into a chunk of wood, the little alcove lit by the glowing bell at her throat. Her ear twitches, and she glances up at the newcomers.

“We’ve got a few late-night visitors, Clara. Think you can get them settled in with some food and a bed for the night?”

The torracat sighs, setting down her carving and slipping to the ground to stretch. Her black and red striped pelt ripples. “Only for you, Del.”

“Thank you.” Fidel smiles. “I have to get Asher to clean up his room and—”

The zoroark cuts himself off, blinking. He pats at his mane, then looks down around his legs. Asher is gone. They all give the room a quick glance, but the zorua is nowhere to be seen.

Fidel’s expression falls flat. “No desserts for him for a week. You’ve got this, Clara?”

Clara looks amused, whiskers twitching. She gestures him out with a paw. “I can handle ‘em. Go catch your kid.”

“Thank you.” Fidel gives them all a tired smile and a nod. “I’ll come get you tomorrow morning when Will is free. Rest well.”

With that, Fidel slips back out the door.

Clara yawns, showing off sharp teeth. “Well. Let’s get you settled, I guess. You could’ve came a bit earlier, y’know. I was in the middle of something.”

“Sorry,” Nia says, sheepish. “We, uh, came a long way.”

“Isn’t this your job?” Junie asks, much less apologetic.

“Eh, kinda.” The torracat slinks to the side of the room where the smaller alcoves sit in the wall, full of goods. She flicks her tail for them to take a seat on the ground by the fire. “As much of a job as you need here, at least.”

“Which means..?”

“Will takes care of us whether we work or not,” Clara says, pulling down wooden plates and some wrapped goods to throw together a late-night meal. “I just like having a bit of pocket money.”

“That’s kind of him,” Nia says.

“Yeah,” Tobias says, doubtful. “How did he hire the ‘mon to build this place if he’s throwing money around like that?”

“Maybe he found a good job?” Nia suggests.

“Or he found hidden treasure!” Junie chirps.

“Mm. Dunno, don’t care.” Clara unwraps the packages to reveal breads, cheeses, berries, and nuts. Tobias’ stomach growls. “It’s chill here, and that’s all I care about.”

Nia and Junie continue the conversation as Clara puts together a little snack plate for each of them. Tobias crosses his arms and leans back against the wall, unsatisfied. Maybe he is being overly cautious, but he’d argue he’s just compensating for Nia and Junie’s lack of caution. Someone’s gotta make sure they don’t end up dead from trusting the wrong ‘mon.

But at least for tonight, he’ll rest. Tomorrow they can see what Will has to say.

[coffeeheartaddict2]

Your mission, if you choose to accept it! :)

I'm sending a GIF to everyone who has participated in Tobias Carrick Appreciation Week this year. Can you create a ficlet (or anything you desire) based on this by Sunday? If so, you'll get one extra chance at the prize to be selected on Monday! :)

Here is your GIF:

Ooohhh my brain went to pre engagement vibes….

You got this buddy

Book: Open Heart (book 3 in Tashland)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x Tobias Carrick (platonic) mentions of Ethan Ramsey x F!MC Casey Valentine

Warnings: language

Summary: It is the end of Casey’s final year of residency, Ethan is back at work but he is nervous about asking Casey to marry him and Tobias gives Ethan a pep talk.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry.

🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Ethan was glad to be back at work. It had been a harrowing few weeks with the malpractice trial and supporting Casey whilst she embarked on doing her board exams. He was pleased with how well the team had done under Tobias but he was glad to be back in the saddle. The end of the residency year was fast approaching. He had just received an intriguing offer to be Chief of Medicine in a hybrid role that he was intrigued by. He knew he needed to discuss it with Casey, as Caroline’s vision for a the hospital also excited him but he needed to discuss with Casey. He did that later that night and she encouraged him to take it. Like him, she too was also excited about the hospital under Caroline.

Knowing where they were going to be was a relief to him but he was still nervous. He had never considered himself married, let alone in a de facto situation but here he was, ring tucked away in his office safe, contemplating asking a very important question of Casey. He knew she saw a future with him in it romantically but that was a pre board setting when she was focussed on getting through that then all the legal drama that followed. As such he had not had a follow up discussion about it and now he was starting to worry that she would say No.

Tobias had an arduous shift in the ER. Warmer weather always ensured a busier time however when he stumbled across his buddy looking somewhat at a loss he went over.

“What’s up buddy?” Asked Tobias, looking very concerned.

“Will Casey say yes!”

Tobias was confused.

“What? Of course she will say yes. The only way she will not say yes is if you royally fuck your relationship up. Do not mess this up.” Says Tobias.

“I think I have messed up enough prior and we are still together.”

“This is true” said Tobias. “You have had a tough year and you have not looked like running. You got this buddy.”

Ethan breathes a sigh of relief. “You’re right Tobias, now head home, you look like you need the rest.”

“Thanks buddy, have a good day and don’t over think the proposal, you got this.” He walks away, to the office to collect his things and when Ethan is out of ear shot, “that betting pool is mine.”

Ethan is relieved and then starts to thinking of moving the proposal up one week to when the board results are released, as he could not think of a better way to celebrate Casey passing.

————-

Hope you liked the little ficlet Elsa.

This has been a fun event.

And yes there was a betting pool, Naveen was annoyed that he was a long way off-

@jerzwriter @storyofmychoices @alj4890

[r-kaye]

Tobias Rieper, PI

Los Angeles may be called the city of angels, but Tobias was certain that there were no angels left hanging around. Everywhere he looked there was misery and tragedy; people losing their jobs, spouses cheating on their partners, mafiosi making people disappear. Any God that had been in LA seemed to have damned them long ago, taking off with the angels, likely.

That Thursday night was no different. He had walked down the street, watching children beg and men back from the war fight as he tried to find the address Olivia had scrawled on the corner of his newspaper that morning. He was supposed to meet a man named Smith about a problem he was having, which Tobias hoped was just another cheating wife. Those types of cases were a pain in his ass, but money was tight. A few pictures may well keep Olivia and him at least sheltered for another week. The back rent on the office was getting awful high, and he just couldn’t let the damn thing go.

So Tobias stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept walking, skipping around the cracks and debris on the sidewalk as he scanned the house numbers in the low light of the few street lamps that were actually lit. He was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, and he was sure that he had already made several wrong turns. Before long, he was wandering aimlessly down a poorly lit alley, checking each doorway as he somehow made his way closer to the address Mister Smith had left for him. 

The meeting spot turned out to be a vacant lot at the very end of the street, butted up against a derelict factory that dead ended the road. Tobias’ skin prickled despite the relatively warm September evening, his gun hanging heavily in its holster against his chest; he’d have reversed his stride and skipped back across town to the office if “Mister Smith” hadn’t been standing at the curb lighting a cigarette. He and Mister Smith were well acquainted, if one would consider them such, enough so that a cigarette case was tossed Tobias’s way.

“Viktor, I told you I don’t want to do that kind of work for you,” he said, accepting the cigarette being offered to him. He pulled his own lighter out to light the cigarette, exhaling the smoke with a sigh as he tossed the case back to its owner.

Viktor Novikov smiled widely at him in the flickering streetlight. He shrugged and pocketed his cigarette case.

“Can’t blame a man for trying. What if you’d changed your mind?” he drawled, inhaling and exhaling a drag of his cigarette before gesturing wildly with his smoking hand. “It seems like you may be in a position to accept my offer. My condolences, by the way. It must be very difficult, losing your partner.”

Tobias bristled at the comment, the urge to do something incredibly rash rising higher and higher in his stomach. Viktor rolled his eyes, raising both hands in a pseudo-apology. 

“I’m sorry; that was incredibly rude of me. I know Grey meant a great deal to you, saving you in the war. And now the possibility of losing the business you built together… I am in need of a service, and I am more than willing to pay you more than enough to keep yourself and… what is her name… Miss Hall, that’s it… comfortable and taken care of. What do you say?”

Tobias didn’t care for his cavalier tone of voice, nor the fact that he had brought Lucas and Olivia into the conversation. He took one more drag from the cigarette, relishing the taste one last time (cigarettes hadn’t made the budget this week) as he regrettably flicked the half burned paper down.

“I say that I told you I’m not a bodyguard. I’m not sneaking and following your wife around because you pissed off some politician or don or another.” He stepped on the cigarette and kicked it off the curb into the street, watching Viktor’s smile fade into a deep frown. “If you’re worried about her safety, hire an actual bodyguard. I’m a detective.”

Tobias turned on his heel, resting his hand on his gun as he began his retreat. Viktor scoffed as he walked away, calling after him, “Everything will catch up to you eventually, Rieper. It has already caught up to Grey.”

Before he could turn around to rebut, Viktor disappeared into the shadows, leaving Tobias alone on the sidewalk pondering his parting words.

He didn’t have long to ponder before a shadow stepped from the alley and connected a fist to his jaw. He reeled back, nearly falling into the street as his feet stumbled to steady himself on the edge of the curb.

[ozimagines]

Chris Keller, Tobias Beecher, and Y/N in: Paternity Test part 2/?

“Tobias merely sent me a message that my presence would be appreciated tonight.”

“Hmm.” Keller hummed under his breath. He’d tried not to be too much of a dick with the minister. He’d always been there for Beecher and Holly.

Still, that holier than thou attitude really put a sour taste in his mouth.

“Can I call you Chris?”

“If I can call you mom.” Chris responded sarcastically. Said rolled his eyes.

“Fine then. Keller. Whatever your feelings on whether or not you should have had a kid, you have one now. You owe it to Y/N.”

“Kid’s done just fine without me.”

“But as a familial unit-“

“Said, respectfully, blow it out your ass.” Keller’s seething from his chair. “I find out I’ve got a long lost kid and had to listen to your bullshit in the same day. I’m basically battin zero today.”

“You already have a kid, if I’m not mistaken.” Kareem said, still sipping on ice tea. “A wonderful daughter.”

Keller shrugged, not really wanting to talk but not wanting to let all of these thoughts die in his head. Maybe make Said realize what this meant.

“She’s my daughter, but she’s all Beecher inside.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

Said reminded him of Holly before Chris was her dad and Holly after. She was more outgoing, less apologetic. She even talked like Keller sometimes, and he referred the man to a time where she was talking about some “rat” classmate she’d have to “talk to” if they “knew what she meant.” They were all a little concerned.

Plus the countless Father-Daughter adventures he’d take Holly on. One ended with them watching a soccer match in a small Greek restaurant. He’d really come to love that kid.

“Don’t think I worry about that every goddamn day? Holly turning out like me?”

Tobias entered the room not a moment too soon.

“Kids are down.” He looks between the two of them. “Another pleasant exchange?”

“Seems so.” Kareem responded.

“We have Y/N to worry about now.”

“Why?” Keller interjected, rubbing his neck. “Y/N already has a family. She/he/they don’t need us.”

“But he/she/they want to know us.” Beecher insisted, sitting down next to his boyfriend. “We are Y/N’s family now.”

“Everyone deserves a family.” Kareem says, catching an annoyed look from Keller.

“Fine.” He grumbles.

The next morning, too come down to Toby and Chris in the kitchen. You watch from the doorway for a second.

Keller’s got his crotch pressed against Beecher’s backside, kind of swaying together. He kisses Toby’s neck.

“Only thing more delicious than this breakfast is you, babe.”

Beecher was making pancakes. And waffles. And French toast. He didn’t know which you liked.

“Chris, I’m gonna burn myself.” Toby’s admonishing him but smiling all the way. He kisses Chris’s nose.

They seem happy. Really happy. You feel guilty for showing up after all this time.

You knock on the doorframe and both men turn around, one with a smile and one without.

“Y/N!” Beecher shows you his massive breakfast he prepared for you, apologizing if you don’t like any of it. As it turns out you like it all.

Beecher leaves to go wake Holly up, and pats Chris on the back reassuringly before he does.

You and Keller are alone together now.

He’s staring at his shoes, stacking pancakes and preparing toppings for everything.

“W-which are your favorite?” You ask shyly. He thinks for a second.

“Waffles normally but I like Toby’s French toast. It’s never too eggy.”

You nod your head and remark you like waffles too. He knows it’s a general statement, but it gives him the creeps.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Hasn’t stopped you yet.” Chris said. You’re standing behind him with the plate Toby handed to you. Suddenly, Chris takes the plate from your hand, and it seems like you’ve crossed a line.

But he’s just getting you a few waffles and slices of French toast.❤️

He hands the full plate back, gesturing to the syrup on the counter.

“Well? Go on.” Keller prodded.

“Why don’t you seem to like me?”

He was a little startled but thought on it for a second.

“Are there any leading theories right now?” He asked back.

“I think you have a wonderful life and family. And I think I messed it up by being here somehow. I understand why you hate me.”

Chris’s heart ached. It was a dull, painful feeling. Something in him just wanted to comfort you. Something primal. Instinctive.

“Look, I don’t hate you. I don’t even dislike you. I don’t know you.” He shrugged, putting some food on a plate for Holly the way she liked it.

“You can’t always feel about yourself the way you think others feel about you. It’ll tear you up inside. You gotta have a thick skin, or this world… it’ll chew you up and spit you out. Hear me?”

“Yes, Mr. Keller.”

*sigh* “you can call me Chris.”

“Can we compromise at Mr. Chris?”

He smirked and chuckled a little. You were very mature.

“Sure, kid.”

When Beecher enters, you and Chris are in a death match debate on whether or not Batman is a superhero.

“What’s his power then? Hm? Money? He’s just a rich bitch in tights.” Chris checkmates, with a big grin on his face as you laugh.

“Language, Chris.” Toby said, but he’s smiling. Holly gives Chris a hug and sits down next to him, her plate already being made by him.

Toby’s too. Chris considers it a point of pride that he can make anyone in the family a plate and they’ll love it. Shows how he knows them.

You’re all sitting and talking and laughing like a family.

“Is there anyone else I should meet? Like Miss Bonnie and Uncle Kareem?”

Keller bristles at his kid calling Said “uncle” but he says nothing

Holly takes over

“There’s uncle Ryan, and uncle Cyril.” She leans in a whispers. “He’s the best.”

You ask and they explain Cyril’s condition.

“He’s really nice.” She continues. “And he always asks Ryan to buy him candy and always gives me the yellow ones because he doesn’t like that flavor and they’re my favorite.”

Beecher and Keller exchange knowing looks. Cyril LOVED being Holly’s uncle. And even though they were worried about him being violent at first, Cyril just took on a protecting role. In fact even that had become sort of a problem when Cyril yelled at another child for being mean to Holly. (They had to explain the optics of a fully grown man yelling at a kid to him.)

Since then, Holly and Cyril were inseparable when they hung out.

“You can meet them today if you want to, Y/N.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

Beecher sets up the meeting. It’s at a park. Holly and Cyril’s favorite because there’s a playground and a duck pond.

“Hey, Ryan.” Beecher called, and Ryan’s head turned to greet him. There was a tall kind blonde haired man standing next to him. They both looked a little scary at first, if you were honest.

“Hey, kid.” Ryan greeted, and you assume Beecher explained ahead of time. You would be mistaken however. Beecher wasn’t sure how to explain over the phone.

“This is Y/N.” He introduces you and Ryan and you shake his hand. You go to shake the other man’s hand and he just looks at his brother. He leans down and whispers something to Holly. You’re suddenly very self conscious. Holly smiled.

“No, Y/N is really nice. He/she/they’re pop’s kid.”

Cyril’s eyes got really wide, and when he spoke, you smiled.

“You two had another baby?”🥹

Beecher chuckled and told Cyril that’s now how that works until Ryan waves for him to not bother explaining.

“So… I’m an uncle again?”

“Seems so.” Ryan said, sliding a taunting glance at Keller, who rolled his eyes and scratched his nose with his middle finger.

Beecher tells you and Holly and Cyril to go play but not to go too far.

As soon as you’re out of earshot, Ryan turns mockingly to Keller.

“Condom’s a lot less expensive than child support, my friend.”

“Little late on the advice there, O’Reily.” Keller snapped, eyes flitting to you from time to time to make sure you’re okay.

“Will you two stop.” Toby chided. “Y/N’s here. Now. The woulda coulda shoulda’s are out the window. We have a child we need to support.”

“We? Unless my biology teacher lied to me, Beecher, I’m not sure that’s possible.” He smirked and checked on Cyril in the same breath. He waved when Cyril looked back at him. It wasn’t that he disliked Holly. In fact, her blunt honesty was growing on him. He just had his hands full as a single dad raising Cyril.

“Holly’s not Chris’ biological daughter, but she’s his daughter. Y/N’s not biologically mine but that doesn’t matter. Keller’s mine so Y/N’s mine.”

O’Reily sighed and backed off. He dropped the facade.

“How ya handling it?” He asked Keller.

“Really shitty. Why?”

“If it helps, you’re already as unfun and lame as any dad I know.”

*sigh* “Thanks, O’Reily.”

“I’ll pretend I’m not also insulted.” Beecher continued. “Anyway, I wanted to introduce Y/N to the family. And you guys are sorta family.”

Ryan relented on that front. They’d watched Cyril for him on several occasions. He and Holly would stay up watching movies all night, and Beecher made sure he ate and brushed his teeth and all that. Keller had even softened up to him after taking on Holly.

“What d’you think they’re talking about?” -Ryan

Meanwhile, when you walked over with Cyril and Holly, they were chatting like old pals and you were just trying to keep up.

“…and then Miss Ramos shared her banana bread with me.”

Cyril asked Holly about school often. He really wanted to go to school but Ryan said no. So Holly would call him after school and tell him everything she learned and when the teachers were nice.

“I’ve never had banana bread. Ryan says it’s icky.”

“Uncle Ryan doesn’t know anything then because this was really good. I tried to save you a piece but dad said it wouldn’t last. So I ate it.”

You giggle softly at their conversation; you realize why Cyril gravitated towards Holly. She spoke to him like an equal. You sit by the duck pond and Holly takes a bag of peas out of her pocket.

“Its for the ducks.” She narrates unnecessarily, and you pretend not to have known ducks can’t eat bread just so she could excitedly tell you she learned it in school.

Cyril quietly says your name, a little timid as he is with all strangers.

“Do you like ducks?”

“I do.”

He grins really wide and sits next to you, Holly on your other side, as he tells you how to feed them.

“You think it’s gonna hurt when they eat from your hand but it doesn’t. But don’t try to pet them. They don’t like that.”

You’re feeding the ducks together, chatting and laughing happily. 🦆 ♥️

Later, you’re at the playground and Cyril is pushing you and Holly on the swings.

“Uncle Cyril pushes swings the best. Better than Dad, even. He pushes really hard and you swing so high! I said my uncle pushes the highest and Samantha H. was like ‘no my uncle does’ and I said ‘no he doesn’t because my uncle Cyril is the strongest guy ever’.”

You swear to take her advice and Cyril starts to push. He goes slow at first but then he does one that sends you and Holly into the stratosphere.😂

“Whoa!” You found yourself saying, as you rocked back and forth at insane speeds.

Cyril beams with pride while Holly talks about him. He likes being the cool uncle.

“Who else should I know?” You ask earnestly between giggles and pushes from Cyril.

“You’ve pretty much met the core group. We sometimes go to like plays at the theater to support someone else my dad knows from prison. Mr. Miguel. He’s the stage manager which means he gets to be bossy to like everyone.”

You make a mental note of the name.

“Has Y/N met Mr. Said?” Cyril asks.

“Yes, last night.”

“I asked him if I could call him Uncle like Holly does but Ryan said not to.” Cyril explains.

“Oh, then there’s the bad guys. Like really bad guys that my dad met in there. The guys that took me.”

You’re surprised she can talk about it so openly.

“I’ve been seeing a therapist since I was seven. It’s been almost five whole years of talking about it. I have trouble remembering Gary sometimes. And then sometimes I remember him so much it hurts.”

She looks sad for a second but her eyes light up.

“But my therapist is really nice. Her name is Sister Peter Marie but if you’re really good she lets you call her Sister Pete. She always gives me a lollipop after my seasons.” She’s grinning again a to the thought of it. She points at Cyril. “She’s uncle Cyril’s therapist too!”

“She’s really sweet unless you make her angry like by not giving her Jericho if she asks.”

Holly explains Jericho as a puppet that Cyril does. No one, I repeat, no one likes Jericho except for Holly.

Cyril was having a bad day and wouldn’t give up Jericho before The Keller-Beecher’s arrived for dinner. Beecher was about to take Holly home when she walked straight up to Cyril -she was maybe ten at the time- and placed one of the flowers she brought on the puppet’s head. He said thank you in the Jericho voice, and Holly flinched until she said…

“Whoa. Cool! Do it again!”

“Who are the bad men?”

“This guy named Schillinger and then this other guy named Robson.” Cyril answers and looks at the ground. “They hurt me but I’m not supposed to say how in front of Holly.”

Your eyes dart to Holly who shakes her head.

“He didn’t tell me but I know. It’s the same thing that happened to my dad. And yours.”

You ask what and she explains the situation to you; she knows what happened to them in prison. One of her classmates was bullying her about having two dads AND two dads in prison. Said she didn’t understand the word he used at first, but she looked it up after school. She said she didn’t tell them she knew, because they didn’t tell her, so it must not be appropriate for her to know.

“They’ll tell me when they’re ready. Like they told me about loving each other when they were ready.”

“…Jesus.” Was all you could think to say. Your head was spinning you were a little older and had definitely heard and understood at least some of the implications of that word. It made you sad, as you looked back at Cyril first, then Tobias, then Chris. Three vastly different men who all suffered in the same way at one point. And now they had all this. A family. You were suddenly very proud to be related to such strong people.

“Are… are you okay?” You ask Cyril, who still looks upset. 🥺

“Sometimes I’m sad. But now I have my best friend and Ryan so I’m really happy sometimes too.” He explains. You ask who his friend is.

“Me, of course.” Holly says, showing you their matching best friends forever bracelets. Holly explains with pride that she made them.

“The same men that hurt them are the ones that took you?”

“Kinda. It was his son. But they’re all bad. But his grandkid goes to my old elementary school and the middle school is right next to it so sometimes they see each other. They’re also doing ‘interactions’ but I don’t think they’re helping.”

“Can’t imagine they would at this point.” You admit, understanding the gravity of the situation.

“Want a hug?” Holly offered. You smile and nod. She hugs you and then Cyril bear hugs around both of you.

The guys see it.

Keller can’t lie to himself, it made him happy to see you happy. To see you with his daughter.

“That’ll melt ya, huh?” O’Reily mused.

“So, I the reason I asked for you to meet Y/N…” Beecher was treading carefully. Ryan could be slippery. “…you remember our deal years ago when we got out? About Holly and Cyril.”

“Yeah. I protect Holly, you guys protect Cyril.”

“Since the verdicts of so many inmates are being overturned because of Kibbler… so many of the people we knew… the people we pissed off, are out now. We gotta be careful-“

“What’re you getting at, Beecher?”

“Y/N’s a part of the deal now too.”

“It was one for one, man.” O’Reily stated coldly, “We each picked one person to save. Above all else. That was the alliance.”

“Alliance? What’re we, back in Oz?”

“You’re a college boy, right, Beecher? Use that university head of yours. We. Are. NEVER. Getting. Out. Oz is till you die.”

“So’s family, O’Reily.” Keller said suddenly, pulling his boyfriend away and getting nose to nose with Ryan. “You oughta know.”

“Feeling especially paternal there, K-boy?”

Keller’s eyes went cold and Killer Keller stepped into the ring. His voice lowered, and O’Reily sensed the shift.

“Y/N’s a part of the deal. Now and forever.” 💀

O’Reily survived as long as he did because he could sense danger, and there was danger in his voice. He nodded, and said nothing else.

The dependents ran up to their respective caregivers. Beecher immediately started smiling like nothing was wrong. Keller and O’Reily snarled at each other for a second but sensed it wasn’t the time.

“Have fun, kids?” Beecher asked, getting down on his knee for Holly. She responded in the affirmative. They started walking back to their vehicles.

Beecher saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked at Keller in alarm. One look was all it took for Keller to put an arm on both you and Holly and push you towards the car.

“Heads down.”

To be continued…