#especially since in such a bright realm it's so rare to actually see them clearly at night

[ilivelikeimtrying]

Ambrosius likes astronomy.

[dontmindmyshadowhunting]

Welcome to Faerieland - Fan Fic (last chapters)

Here we go! Last chapters of Welcome to Faerieland.

Link to full story on AO3 here.

*****

Dru and Ash landed a mile or so away from their destination, in order to avoid drawing attention to the location. As soon as their feet touched the ground, the two rocs turned around and disappeared above the treetops.

“I can walk,” Dru said and Ash offered his arm to steady her while she limped toward the general direction of the cottage. She knew it pretty well, it had sort of become a Blackthorns’ country home.

“So how do you know this place?”

“My eldest brother is dating the King of the Unseelie Court, and that’s where they meet sometimes.”

Ash whistled.

“One of your brothers is King Kieran’s lover? I think I heard about him.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty serious, although they won’t ever be able to be official about it. I guess you know what the rules are about faerie royalty’s consorts?”

“I do,” he averted his gaze and brushed a hand through his hair, in what seemed to be a nervous gesture. Dru realized it was the first time Ash had looked uncomfortable about a subject.

“A lot of rules need to be changed,” he said abruptly. “Don’t you agree?” His green eyes bore into her as he said it, as if he was desperate for her approval.

“Well, King Kieran has already been carrying out a lot of changes since he came to power. It’s just that… sometimes, it takes time. You can’t change the world overnight.”

Ash kicked a pebble. “You could, if you didn’t insist on everything being consensual. Maybe King Kieran cares too much about what people think of him... or, you know, in general.” He shrugged but there was a predatory glint in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before, and it almost made her cringe.

“You know, Ash, if what you are looking for in a sovereign is arbitrary decisions and a bitchy attitude, we have the Seelie Queen for that.”

She had expected Ash to laugh, his free, careless laugh - God, she loved it when he did that - but he seemed lost in thought.

She had to admit she had been a bit harsh. She knew the Seelie and Unseelie Courts were in much better terms now that King Arawn was dead. The Queen had appointed the Unseelie Prince Adaon as her most trusted advisor and the two of them and King Kieran met regularly to reinforce the bonds and cooperation between both realms.

Dru started humming a song and Ash paused, his green eyes widening. “Are you singing… Royals ?”

“Yeah, I love that song. Do you know it?”

“I do,” he answered, suppressing a smile.

As they walked, she sang louder - she knew the lyrics by heart - and he watched her with glittering eyes, clearly entertained.

“And we'll never be royals It don't run in our blood That kind of luxe just ain't for us We crave a different kind of buzz Let me be your ruler You can call me queen bee”

“Maybe I will,” he whispered in her ear as he tickled her, and she elbowed him playfully.

He sang along with her then - he had a beautiful tenor voice - both of them throwing their heads back at the same time to howl at the sky “And baby, I'll rule - I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule” , like a pair of wolves. They roared with laughter, Dru holding her ribs and leaning against Ash for support. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she marvelled at the fact that she had found a new friend in such a short time.

At the Academy, people either feared her because she was a Blackthorn or wanted to be friends with her simply for that same reason. Or both. She was almost a celebrity, despite herself. Only because of her last name and her eldest brothers’ hand in ending the Cold Peace in the most spectacular way. And of course, there were always the loud-mouthed bigots and moralists who were baffled by the Blackthorns’ ties with the Fair Folk and their so-called “sexual and moral depravity”. The Rosales, of course, suffered the same criticism, and Jaime had always been a comforting shoulder and reliable friend to Dru in those moments where she felt she had had too much to deal with.

She didn’t want to worry Julian, Emma, Mark or even Helen with her troubles making friends at the Academy.

She couldn’t confide in Ty, because he didn’t care at all what people thought, and was content with sticking to his close friends, Livvy and Anush. His teachers, especially Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss were absolute fans - even if Fell would never admit it - and everyone at the Scholomance was too impressed by his obvious academic superiority - and maybe, the Carpathian lynx tailing him - to dare bother him anyway.

Ash seemed to be far away from all of this, as if he had been living as a hermit in a remote tower, which was probably close to the truth.

He was the only one outside her siblings, with the exception of Jaime of course, to treat her like an ordinary girl.

And maybe, maybe someday Ash could become more than a friend. He was nice, definitely fun, absolutely gorgeous and he had kissed her after all, even though she knew it could be meaningless where faeries were concerned. She had been waiting for Jaime to figure things out for so long, and Ash had appeared out of nowhere and had shown interest without a moment’s hesitation.

She was interrupted in her thoughts as a broad-shouldered silhouette falling from the sky dropped on the ground before them. Dru released Ash’s arm to clap both her hands on her mouth, relief washing over her. Kit, looking as angelic as ever with his bright blue eyes and tousled blond hair, fluttered his white wings tipped with gold as he advanced gleefully to greet Dru.

The reunion was cut short as he was suddenly thrown back by a figure shooting straight into him like a cannonball and from one moment to the next, Kit disappeared into a ball of black and white feathers, rolling on the grass.

It took Dru a moment to realize that Ash had disappeared from her side and that he was actually the one who had attacked Kit. She ran to separate them but soon they were shooting up, caught in a wrestling match a few feet above ground, moving so swiftly they were a blur.

Dru let out a heavy sigh before she put two fingers between her lips and whistled as loud as she could. The two figures froze - they were still grappling each other - and looked down.

“ASH! KIT! Both of you. Get down here! NOW.”

They both looked at each other.

“ASH! What the hell is wrong with you, this is my brother’s boyfriend !” Dru continued, gesturing frantically toward Kit.

Ash released Kit first, grudgingly, and they both landed softly on the floor. There was a long gash across Ash’s cheek but he was grinning like the Cheshire cat, his eyes glittering in excitement. He winked at Dru as he wiped blood from his mouth. Kit was rearranging his hair, looking pissed, and Dru realized that his knuckles were bloody and that there was a small cut on his eyebrow. Both of them seemed otherwise unharmed.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Batman ?” Kit said, glaring at Ash.

“Sorry,” Ash replied, wiping dirt from his shirt. “I took you for a psychopathic jerk who nearly killed me a few years ago. He literally kicked me and my uncle out of the place we used to live in. You look exactly like him.”

“Well, it can’t have been me since last night was the first time I ever saw you,” Kit replied sharply, wiping his bloody knuckles over his shirt.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I figured that out pretty fast. You fight like a pussy compared to him.”

“Want to say that again?” Kit lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Boys, could you please stop comparing the sizes of your dicks, so we can move on?”

Ash and Kit complied, arguing over which Batman movie was best the entire way, until the cottage came into view, a few feet away. The door opened and Jaime came out of it, running toward them.

“Dru,” he cried out. He caught up to her, and threw his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. She lost herself in his familiar and comforting scent and pressed her cheek against his torso. “Mi corazón,” he whispered softly. "We were worried sick. Cómo estás?”

Jaime brushed his hands through Dru’s hair and planted a kiss on her forehead.

She swiftly pulled back, her eyes darting to where Ash was leaning against a tree, talking to Kit, his arms crossed. He was smiling indulgently at her, as if he didn’t mind.

“I am fine, thanks to Ash,” she said, and pulled Jaime over to where Ash and Kit were standing. “Jaime, this is Ash. Ash, this is Jaime,” she introduced, waving her hand awkwardly between the two of them.

“Thank you for taking care of our precious Dru,” Jaime said, extending his hand. “We owe you one.”

“No hay de qué!” Ash replied, shaking his hand.

“Hablas español?” Jaime asked, looking pleasantly surprised.

“Solo a hombres con un excelente gusto en mujeres.” He gave Jaime a wicked grin and looked pointedly at Dru. Jaime’s face fell.

A high-pitched shriek had them whip their heads up in time to see a majestic roc land on the ground, a few feet away. Ty hopped gracefully from the giant bird and walked immediately to Dru. He was pale - even more so than usual - with deep dark circles under his gray eyes, and Dru marvelled at how gorgeous her brother was anyway, whatever state he was in. She sometimes wished she had inherited the same stunningly sharp features. Without a word, Ty knelt in front of Dru and started inspecting her wound.

“Ash, this is my brother Ty,” Dru announced proudly.

Ash started to extend his hand but Dru shook her head at him. He let it fall by his side.

“Ty, this is Ash.”

Tiberius nodded without lifting his gaze.

“Who tended to the wound?”

“I did,” Ash answered.

Ty finally stood - and Dru realized Ash was almost as tall as Ty, which was saying something, since Ty was very tall - and glanced at Ash for the first time, his gray eyes looking down under his long eyelashes and not lifting up from a spot on Ash’s shoulder. “Thanks,” he said curtly.

Hesitantly, Ty put his arms around Dru in one of the rare hugs he had ever granted her. It was awkward and short, but Dru knew it meant Ty had been truly terrified of losing her.

After they released each other, Ty whirled and started walking toward the cottage. He paused after a few steps and glanced over his shoulder. The four of them had just been standing there, staring at him. “Are you coming?”

They all hurried after Ty, Dru having one arm around Ash’s, and the other around Jaime’s.

“So, tell me. Are all your brothers this handsome?” Ash asked her, as he looked Ty up and down appreciatively.

“EXCUSE ME? “ Kit interjected. His whole face had gone bright red in an instant and he started cracking his bloody knuckles. He looked poised for a second round.

“What? Did I say something wrong?” Ash did not seem in the least bit concerned by Kit’s reaction.

“It’s my boyfriend you are talking about.”

“And I just said I found him attractive. Is that in any way offensive?”

Dru laughed. “No,” she said. “I am sure you were simply stating your opinion and not trying to steal Kit’s boyfriend.”

“I am not trying to steal anyone’s lover,” Ash concurred, gazing wistfully at Dru. ”I just admire beauty when I see it”.

“But he would definitely be up for sex if Ty wanted to,” Jaime muttered sarcastically under his breath.

Ash shot him a puzzled look. “Of course, I would. Why not? Kit would be welcome as well, the more the merrier.”

Kit opened his mouth but seemed too much in a shock for a witty comeback. That was a first.

Oddly enough, Dru realized she didn’t feel jealous or baffled by Ash’s statement. He was like an untamed bird breaking out of a cage, unwilling to bend to any rules of propriety. She guessed part of it was due to his fey heritage.

“Mark is the Unseelie King’s lover, the Seelie Queen keeps trying to get into Julian’s pants and now you two,” Jaime said eventually, looking over at Ty and Dru. “What is it with the Blackthorns and the Fair Folk anyway?”

“Probably the exact same thing there is with Blackthorns and any other species,” Ash said evenly.

Everyone turned a questioning look at him.

“They are hot,” he said simply, and shrugged.

Everyone laughed at that.

*****

They were all starving so they decided to have breakfast in the cottage before heading back home.

Kit, wearing an apron that had "Doughnut sandwiches are a proper meal” printed on it (and that probably belonged to Mark Blackthorn), was in the kitchen, scrambling a huge portion of eggs in a large pan with a wooden spoon. He somehow managed to make it look totally hot.

“Eggs?” Ty asked Kit as he came to stand next to him and put a hand on the small of Kit’s back.

“Yeah, I would have cooked pancakes, but we are missing a few ingredients to do that. So it will be eggs. Eggs and fruits. God knows there are plenty of fruits here.”

“You know how to cook pancakes?” Ty asked, his gray eyes widening in surprise.

Kit shot him a shy glance.

“Yeah, I… I asked Julian for his recipe. You know, in case one day I needed to cook for you…r family.”

Kit and Ty both exchanged a look that was so intimate, Jaime had to glance away. He found Ash leaning casually against the fridge, his arms crossed, and gazing at him with a smirk on his face. He looked like he owned the place and hadn’t just popped uninvited into the home of strangers. When Jaime raised a questioning eyebrow at him, Ash unfolded his arms to draw the shape of a heart in the air in front of him. Jaime rolled his eyes. He definitely didn’t like this guy.

They set the table, while Dru was in the bedroom looking for clothes.

Kit and Ty sat next to each other, their fingers intertwined under the table and their backs to the kitchen counter, which left Ash to sit across from Ty and Jaime to sit across from Kit. They had left a spot at the head of the table for Drusilla, who would have Ash on her left and Ty on her right when she came back.

Ty only had fruits on his plate, and he was eyeing Kit gulping his eggs down, as if he was reconsidering having some himself.

“Want to try?” Ash brought his fork to Ty, who flinched as if he had been stabbed.

Kit grabbed Ash’s wrist and pushed the fork away from Ty.

“Ty can use my fork if he wants to try it. He is my boyfriend, after all.”

Ash shrugged. “Yeah, no worries, I think I got that. You can tattoo it on your forehead, it will spare you from having to repeat it to every living soul you encounter on Earth.”

Ash glanced at Jaime, and said in a lower voice, directed only at him. “And it will keep other people from pining for someone they can’t have.”

“Excuse me?” Jaime turned to whisper in Ash’s ear. “What does it have to do with Dru and me?”

“I was not talking about Dru,” Ash whispered back.

They both jerked their heads up, as Dru swooped in from the bedroom then, wearing a beautiful red dress that Jaime remembered having seen on Cristina. It was much tighter on Dru, clinging to her curves and emphasizing her cleavage. Jaime swallowed. He couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on in his head.

Ash immediately stood to draw Dru’s chair and she nodded by way of thanking him. She sat on it as if it was a throne, her chin up.

Jaime glanced over at Ash, who seemed so free about his sexuality, and felt a pang of envy.

“So, what’s your deal, Ash?” Jaime blurted. Ash raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “Are you…” Jaime cleared his throat. “Bixesual?”

A slow grin spread across Ash’s face. “We’ve just met and you’re already trying to fill your fact sheet about me and tick one of your little boxes?”

“I didn’t mean to be rude,” Jaime said, feeling uncomfortable.

“I know you didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am not offended by your question,” Ash continued in a gentler voice. “It’s just that… not everyone can fit into little boxes.” He swiftly glanced at Ty when he said it. It was a flicker movement, but lynx-eyed Ty caught it immediately.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tiberius said. “I am definitely gay.” He slipped half a banana inside his mouth then, totally oblivious of the gesture. Kit and Ash weren’t though. Kit made a noise between a snort and a chuckle and spilled the water he was drinking through his nose and all over his shirt, while Ash almost fell off his chair roaring with laughter. Dru looked at the boys with motherly affection.

Jaime stood and hurried to the kitchen to get a towel to clean the mess. When he turned, Kit was already there, leaning against the kitchen counter, extending his hand and looking at Jaime with a genuine smile that lit up his gorgeous face.

“Thanks, Jaime,” he said, as he grabbed the towel and started padding his shirt with it. The planes of his muscles stood out and could be seen right through the wet fabric.

“No problem,” Jaime mumbled, feeling his heartbeat increasing inside his chest.

He averted his gaze, past Kit, to the table, where Ty and Dru had their heads bent together, caught in a deep conversation.

Ash was peering around Ty, watching Jaime with amusement. When he caught Jaime gazing back, he stuck his tongue inside his cheek, and started moving his fist back and forth in front of his mouth, miming a blowjob.

Jaime resisted the urge to flip him the finger.

****

When breakfast was over, Dru lay sprawled on a sofa, her leg propped on Jaime’s lap, and Ash was examining the sound system, so he could put music on.

Kit and Ty had disappeared. God only knew where.

“So, what was that demon attack in the middle of Faerie about?” Jaime asked.

“Ty has a theory. And you won’t like it,” Dru replied. “He believes the Unseelie prince who held us hostage has made an alliance with a Greater Demon… probably a Prince of Hell.”

Jaime tensed. If Ty believed this, it was very bad news indeed. “So why send an army of demons to attack an ally?”

Dru twirled a lock of her dark brown hair as she replied. “Two options. Either the Prince of Hell discovered that his ally had been exposed and wanted to silence him. Or… or we will soon be caught in the middle of an internal war between the Princes of Hell.”

“You mean… there might be more than one involved?”

“To quote Ty, evidence makes it more likely than not,” Dru replied, imitating her brother’s voice. Jaime felt dread wash over him.

He gently put Dru’s leg on an armrest and excused himself.

Sometimes, he felt so anxious it was all he could do not to curl up in a corner and wait for his chest pain and dizziness to fade. The mission he had carried out a few years back, where he had to stay hidden all the time, never staying in one place, had made him jumpy, poised for any threat. He didn’t want Dru to see that side of him. For her, he could only be the calm and reliable friend she was used to.

He decided to scout the rest of the cottage for an empty room. There was a corridor - leading to a bathroom? more bedrooms maybe? - on the left side of the main suite’s door.

He went through and just as he turned around a corner... stopped short.

Halfway down the corridor, Ty was leaning with his back against the wall and Kit had his hands propped on either side of him, trapping Ty in a cage of his arms… and they were kissing.

Jaime had never seen two men kissing before and he was surprised to see how tender and sweet it looked. Ty was running his long pale fingers in Kit’s blond hair while the other hand rested on the small of Kit’s back, half of it concealed under Kit’s waistband.

Kit was naked from the waist up and Jaime could see all the tanned muscles in his back contract as he deepened the kiss, eliciting soft moans from the Blackthorn boy.

They were beautiful together, two opposites inevitably drawn to each other, their bodies fitting perfectly like yin and yang.

Jaime felt his whole body react, with a familiar flutter around his stomach and heat rushing up his cheeks. He knew he should not be watching, but he couldn’t get himself to tear his gaze away.

Kit broke the kiss to trace the dark Marks swirling up Ty’s neck with the tip of his tongue. Ty’s gray eyes fluttered open and he caught sight of Jaime. His intense gaze didn’t waver. He didn’t even seem surprised or angry. He simply raised an eyebrow at Jaime as if to say Can I help you with something ?

Jaime hastily retreated to the living room.

He found Ash’s lean figure perched on the wide low table at the center of the room, dancing to the blasting sound of Beyoncé’s Single Ladies and singing along. “If you like it, you should have put a ring on it,” actually sounded very good in his velvety voice. He was twisting, hands on his hips, and throwing his legs up like a professional, while making dramatic faces at Dru, who was sprawled on the sofa, howling with laughter. As he brushed his lips with his finger, licking it and started caressing his torso while throwing his head back, shaking his beautiful silvery hair, he managed to make it look erotic and not ridiculous at all. Jaime had to admit… His moves were perfect, fluid, coordinated and he totally… pulled it off. Annoying jerk.

“Having fun without me?” Kit burst into the room - he was, fortunately, wearing a shirt this time - and immediately hopped on the table to join Ash and one could not imagine they had been wrestling less than an hour before.

When Dru caught Jaime watching them, she patted the spot on the sofa next to her and he moved to drop beside her, throwing his arm around her shoulders.

The music had changed to Rihanna’s S&M and Ash and Kit were dancing together as if they had rehearsed for hours, their dance steps coordinated and smooth. They looked like two lifelong best buddies who could guess each other’s moves. They were pulsing with energy, although obviously neither of them had slept the previous night. Ash made a show of licking Kit’s cheek, and Kit pushed him away, grimacing. When Ash arched his back to rub his buttocks against Kit’s crotch and Kit spanked him, Dru wiped tears from her eyes. Jaime imagined what it would be like to go to a nightclub with the both of them. They would most likely steal the show.

As if on cue, the next song was… Stole the show, by Kygo. As they danced close together in perfect synchrony, Jaime noticed for the first time the similarities between Ash and Kit. Though Ash was all pale, white blond hair and alabaster skin, and Kit was all golden hair and tanned muscles, there was something about their facial features, the planes of their cheeks, the lines of their jaws… They did not look like brothers, but they could easily pass for cousins.

Jaime grabbed a Hot Shadowhunters calendar that had been left on the side table and started flipping through the pages. Looking at the January page featuring Jace Herondale, he wondered why everyone said Kit was like a mini Jace when Jaime could clearly see there was a difference, now that Kit had grown into more adult features. At least to Jaime, Kit’s fey heritage was plain.

When the music changed to Charlie Puth’s Marvin Gaye, Jaime turned his head to find Ty leaning against the kitchen counter and watching the two dancers with a bemused expression, his arms crossed over his chest.

He eventually caught Kit’s eye, lifted a questioning eyebrow, and jerked his head toward the bedroom door. Kit stumbled from the table in his hurry to join Ty and followed him out of the living room and through the main bedroom door, which shut behind them.

*****

Kit jumped on the huge threesome bed as soon as they were inside the bedroom. He felt exhilarated, full of adrenaline and restless energy, and he wanted Ty so much that he was certain he would spontaneously combust if they didn’t share their bodies within the next minute.

He shot Ty a smoldering look as he lounged on the thick mattress, twisting his shoulders seductively while singing along to Charlie Puth’s Marvin Gaye, which was blasting through the thin walls.

“We got this king-size to ourselves Don't have to share with no one else Don't keep your secrets to yourself It's Kama Sutra show and tell, yeah”

Ty had folded his arms against his chest and was shaking his head, as if he didn’t know what to make of this misbehaving boy.

“Kit, you interrupted me earlier when I was trying to have a serious conversation. Will you please let me finish this time?”

"I'm in trouble." Kit continued, clapping a hand over his mouth in a dramatic oops gesture. "But I'd love to be in trouble with you."

Ty rolled his eyes. He didn’t seem ready to play along with Kit, so Kit finally stood and grabbed Ty's upper arms, forcing him to back up until he had him pinned against the wall. He started wiggling his hips, rubbing against Ty, his body swaying to the music.

“You've got to give it up to me I'm screaming, "Mercy, mercy, please!" Just like they say it in the song Until the dawn, let's Marvin Gaye and get it on.”

Kit slipped a hand under Ty’s waistband, straight into his boxer shorts, and whispered “Hello there” as he brushed his lips against Ty’s ear.

“Kit…” Ty said sharply, as a warning, though Kit could hear his breathing was uneven.

“Ty,” Kit replied with all the seriousness he could muster. “When I saw you riding that Shinigami demon carrying a crossbow, I was so turned on it was all I could do not to jump your bones there and then.”

Ty laughed softly. “It appears you have a kink involving me wielding dangerous weapons. Maybe I should bring a claymore to bed next time and threaten you with it.”

“Honey, you know that, as far as I am concerned, you carry the deadliest weapon around with you at all times,” Kit started stroking Ty’s length as if to illustrate his point. It hardened under his touch. Good, we’re heading somewhere. "I was talking about your brain of course," Kit added.

“Kit, listen to me.” Ty grabbed Kit’s wrist and pulled it out of his pants. Kit groaned. “Haven’t you noticed anything strange about Ash?”

That caught Kit’s attention. He had not expected Ash to be the subject of their conversation. He had actually hoped to avoid any kind of conversation altogether. For a little while at least.

“Well, I noticed he is an amazing fighter and dancer. I am totally up for challenging him again, either in a training room or on a dancefloor.” There was something about Ash and him fighting and dancing together, a raw yet steady energy, not like the restlessness and all consuming love he felt around Ty, but something grounding him, making him even more focused. As if he had found a kindred warrior spirit.

“He probably has no effect on you, but… I think spells have been worked on him to render him… likeable. People are inevitably drawn to him, want to protect and follow him.”

Kit swallowed, suddenly deadly serious. “Does this… work on you?”

“No. And I have several theories about that. First… Well, I am a bit different. My brain doesn’t work the same way others’ do. Second, the Blackthorns have a bit of Greater Demon blood, even if it is quite diluted. I do believe Dru genuinely likes him.”

“You mean from your ancestor Lucie Herondale?”

Ty nodded. “And the third and most important explanation is… you. You have my full loyalty.” He rested his forehead against Kit’s. “There is no way in hell I am following him, when I could follow you. ”

Kit brushed his lips over Ty’s.

“What about Jaime? He seems to dislike Ash.”

“I am still trying to figure this out. But it may be one of the reasons I am immune to it, myself.”

“What? You think the Rosales have Greater Demon blood as well?”

“Maybe. But that’s not what I was referring to.”

They were both interrupted when they heard voices raising in the living room. Jaime’s voice was the loudest. And he sounded totally pissed.

Ty hurried toward the door, and Kit followed.

****

As soon as Kit and Ty had disappeared behind the bedroom door, Ash jumped over Dru and Jaime’s heads to land behind the sofa and stole the Hot Shadowhunters calendar from Jaime’s hands. “Hey!” Jaime cried out.

Ash circled back and dropped himself next to Dru, which left her crammed between him and Jaime. As he flipped to the first page, the January page, Ash froze. He was gaping at the picture of Jace Herondale, as if he could not quite believe his eyes.

Falling for Jace Herondale, already? What a surprise.

But oddly, Ash didn’t smile or make a sarcastic comment, as Jaime would have expected. He had a sorrowful expression and a faraway look.

“This is Jace Herondale,” Dru said softly. “Surely, even you have heard of him ?”

Ash swallowed. “Yeah,” he said absently. “Yeah, I have. He looks… happy.”

“Well, of course, he is happy. He has it all, hasn’t he?” Jaime said. “War hero. Married to the love of his life. The Consul as faithful parabatai.” Ash flinched, as if each word was a needle to his skin.

“Ash, is everything okay?”

Ash shook his head as if to clear it.

“Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking about… the butterfly effect. How a single human being’s existence… or absence, can change the course of things… can change the whole world.”

Where the hell did that come from? Jaime wondered.

Ash lifted his gaze to stare at the door where Kit and Ty had disappeared. “Take Kit for instance. Who knew it would only take a hot boyfriend to turn a ruthless, bloodthirsty ruler into a harmless kitten.”

“Er- Ash, I am not sure I am following you,” Dru said gently. “What do you mean?”

Ash let out a heavy sigh and slumped back, crossing his long arms behind his head, the Hot Shadowhunters calendar left at the January page on his lap.

“Nothing, I am rambling.” It looked like he was lost in his thoughts again.

Jaime seized the opportunity to whisper in Dru’s ear. “Dru, can we find some place private to… talk?”

Dru gazed at him with a puzzled look on her face. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

Jaime didn’t get a chance to answer as the entrance door rattled at that moment and they both whipped their heads in the direction of the noise.

The door opened and Mark Blackthorn, all tousled blond hair, pointy ears and flushed cheeks, erupted inside the cottage, wearing ragged jeans and a white shirt with a message that stated, “All good things come in threes”. He paused, as if he didn’t really expect to see so many people in his living room.

Jaime immediately withdrew his arm from Dru’s shoulders and stood, but soon registered that Mark was not looking at him… He was staring at Ash who had, from one moment to the next, leapt on the table in front of them and was crouched on top of it, ready to pounce, a dangerous glint in his ice green eyes. He had moved to protect Dru from a potential threat, Jaime realized. And there was no trace of the Ash that had been goofing around with Kit a moment before. The feeling that he had been played like a fool until then hit Jaime like a freight train. They had all fallen for Ash’s laid-back, good guy act. In one instant, Ash had revealed his true, predatory nature…

“Mark!” Dru waved from the sofa, unfazed. “You already know Jaime of course and this is Ash,” she introduced. “Ash… this is my brother Mark.”

Ash relaxed from his stance and leapt off the table, flashing a bright smile and wearing his cool guy mask back on. As if he hadn’t been ready to rip Mark’s throat a second before. The abrupt change in Ash's behaviour almost gave Jaime a whiplash.

“Have we… met before?” Mark asked, looking at Ash with his brows furrowed as he closed the door.

“In any event, I wish to be properly introduced,” Ash said, evading the question. “I am Dru’s boyfriend.”

“Excuse me?” Dru interjected at the same time Jaime exclaimed “WHAT?”

Ash shrugged. “I thought our make out session had settled it.”

Jaime felt heat rush up his face. He whirled on Dru. “We’ve known each other for three years and you’ve known this guy for what? Less than twelve hours? And you’ve already kissed him?”

“To be fair, I am the one who kissed her ,” Ash said in a calm voice. “She didn’t tell me to stop, though.” He paused, his long fingers stroking his delicate chin as he pondered. “Then again, how could she have, what with my tongue being down her throat and all?”

“Ash, don’t intervene,” Dru said, her already white complexion growing paler by the second. “This is not between us.”

“Really?” Ash answered in a fake shocked expression. “I could have sworn it was my tongue down your throat.”

“What’s going on here?” Ty asked as he came out of the bedroom, followed by Kit.

“GREAT!” Jaime said. “That’s just my luck! We’re just missing Julian and…”

“And?” Julian asked, his tall broad-shouldered figure appearing in the entrance. He froze in the doorway, hand on the doorknob, his face a mask of shock as his blue-green eyes swept across the room.

“... And all my worst nightmares are reunited in the same room. OK, let’s be done with it.”

Jaime took a deep breath and caught each of the Blackthorn brothers’ gaze, one after the other.

“I. FANCY. DRU. OKAY? I like her. I know she’s sixteen, but we are good together and I want her to be my girlfriend.”

*Cough* “ Too late.” *Cough* That was Ash. Dru turned to glare at him.

“Well, that’s not even relevant anymore, is it? Since apparently… She prefers Legolas, here.” Jaime continued, waving his hand toward Ash.

“Why does everyone keep saying that? I don’t even look like him.”

“Lego-who?” Ty asked, puzzled.

“He’s talking about Ash. Don’t worry honey, I’ll explain,” Kit said, speaking for the first time.

“And what the hell are you doing here?” Julian asked, turning toward Kit, a flicker of panic crossing his features.

“He just came out of the bedroom with Ty,” Mark said.

Kit lifted both his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t having sex with him,” he blurted. “I mean… not this time.” His face went red. “I mean- I am out of here. If anyone’s looking for me, I’m in the bedroom.” He whirled and paused in front of the bedroom door, his hand on the knob. “Not having sex with anyone...” he specified before he disappeared behind it.

Julian heaved a sigh and turned his gaze back to Ash.

Ash gulped. He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, his green eyes wide.

“This is not the end of it. But first things first. Can anyone tell me what the hell Ash Morgenstern is doing here?”

They had barely registered the question, when a sharp cry from behind Julian had them all jump. A slender figure peered around him, red hair like flames flowing over a green velvet dress embroidered with gold. Jaime had seen enough drawings and pictures of her to recognize her instantly. The Seelie Queen.

She pushed Julian aside and ran to Ash, throwing her thin pale arms around him and burying her face in his chest, the golden circlet around her head tipping to the side as she did. “Where were you last night? I came to the house, and it was empty . I have been looking for you everywhere since!”

Dru was staring at Ash open-mouthed. He shot her an apologetic look.

“Mom, let me introduce you to Dru. Dru…” Ash cleared his throat. “Meet my mom.”

*****

Tagging @gabtapia ❤️ Hope you'll enjoy it and, of course, don't hesitate to correct my spanish ;)

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 12- Whatever It Takes

Summary: This is it, you’re finally going to help save the world and if all goes to plan, bring Bucky back in the process.

Warning: bit o angst

Masterlist

It’s been a solid month since Tony and Rocket have been crafting tirelessly on the construction of the giant time portal machine type deal, or whatever he’s calling it nowadays. And to your great surprise, as well as everyone else’s, the first test run with Clint was an undeniable success.

Compared to the first one with Scott, things have come a long way.

Clint was able to wander around in that alternate universe for a couple minutes without returning with so much as a single scratch. Thus boosting the teams confidence and excitement for the inevitable time heist that’s in the works. So as of now, everyone’s currently brainstorming as to how this will go about for the most successful mission possible.

“Okay, so the how works.” Begins Steve as everyone sits around the large meeting room, glass screens projecting info about the stones displayed in the background, “Now, we gotta figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones...”

Tony cuts in with his spout of knowledge, “Or substitute the word “encounter” for “damn near been killed” by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Damn straight, your ass got launched into a Wakandian tree last you saw those goddamn stones.

“Well I haven’t..” Interjects Scott with a puzzled look, confusion clear in his voice, “..but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.” Oh right, he missed out on all the fun while he was fucking around in the quantum realm.

Sitting on the table you shrug, “Be glad you’ve never seen them, those fucking space rocks will kick your ass if used less then kindly, but it doesn’t matter now. From my understanding we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each.” You explain as they all listen intently, “And clearly these fucking stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

Tony nods, “Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

“Which means we have to pick out targets.” Adds Clint as Tony points in his direction, “Correct.”

Steve soon gains everyone’s attention once again, “So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Asks the blonde, all eyes turn towards the back corner of the room to find Thor slouched in an armchair, beer can in hand while the other one keeps partially hidden in his pajama pants.

A dark pair of sunglasses conceals whether he’s currently awake or not. “Is he asleep?” Wonders Natasha as Rodney humorously adds, “No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

A few soft chuckles are heard as you listen intently to the god of thunder, “He’s alive, and most definitely sleeping off that last beer.” You muse as they all give a collective curious brow while you simply shrug, “I can hear his heartbeat, and it’s low enough to tell me he’s not dead.....Well, at least not yet.” You mutter, eyeing up the sleeping giant as an idea sparks into your head.

A second later you pick up a discarded empty beer can sitting right next to you on the table before throwing it at the snoozing god, the thin metal smacks against his forehead with that familiar pop of the can sound, falling to the ground with a crackly ting as Thor jolts awake. And back to the land of the living.

“Nordic Santa you’re up.” His head snaps in your direction as he gives a semi-awkward half grin. 

“Ah right, right, thank you angry one.” Points Thor with a genuine smile now as he quickly gets up before walking over to the screen depicting the red swirly like stone substance. Although soon he delves into the finding of the red mass, what it did to his former flame, that he took her to Asgard seeking help for her sickness, how he showed Jane to his mother, and then he immediately got sad and lost all motivation and train of thought on anything related to that stone.

Ah yes, personal trauma. It’ll do that to you.

Later that day when everyone was feasting on some Chinese takeout, Rocket began an in-depth explanation into where the Power Stone was found; by some guy named Quill who stole it from a planet called Morag. After some time later, Nebula revealed that the Soul Stone was retrieved from Vormir, the place where Thanos murdered her sister Gamora.

It’s been an interesting day to day the least.

Now here you are, slouched comfortably in a lounge chair you stole from the other room, flipping around a pocketknife as Natasha and Tony lay on the nearby table with Bruce sprawled out on the floor in all his Banner-Hulkness. Books scattered everywhere as the two Avengers keep comfortable on some decorative couch pillows as you listen to them brainstorm about the stones whereabouts.

Flipping the knife skillfully between your fingers an idea suddenly pops into your head, “Hey what about that time stone guy you were talking about earlier.”

Banner hums, “Doctor Strange.”

“Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?” Wonders Natasha as you mentally question the same proposition when Tony gives his quick witted answer. “Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat.”

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Adds Bruce, Tony agreeing in an instant. “Yeah, on Sullivan Street?”

“Mmm....Bleecker Street.” Mutters Banner as Natasha interrupts, face shifting to realization. “Wait, he lived in New York?”

“No, he lived in Toronto.” Sasses Tony as Banner reveals the truth. “Uh, yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.”

Tony coming back with more playful sarcasm, “Have you been listening to anything?”

Suddenly it feels like a lights been switched on in your brain, “Guys.” You quickly implore as they keep silent to listen, “If you pick the right year, wouldn’t there be three stones in New York?” Their faces all collectively shift to astonished realization when Bruce quickly sits up to look at you. “Shut the front door.”

“Well at least someone is paying attention.” Quips Tony as Natasha smacks him with a book.

——

“All right.” Begins Steve as the whole team gathers in the meeting room, “We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot.”

You nod, smirking with excitement, “Let’s get these fuckers and maybe end up saving the world while we’re at it.” He sends you a proud grin and within the next half an hour are the eleven of you suited up and standing in a large circle atop the glass of the giant time portal.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us....we lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes....no do-overs.”

“Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives...and we’re gonna win.” Affirms Steve with a mutual nod, “Whatever it takes.” He gives one last look around the circle of familiar faces before nodding, “Good luck.”

Nudging the muscular blonde, he shares a small smile with you as you quickly return it, “You practice that last night?” Steve chuckles at your amusing comment while Rocket and Scott gush over his admittedly incredible motivational speech skills.

“Just thought the team could use the confidence boost.” Admits Steve as Bruce flicks the motherboards switches to get the time portal up and running. The machine whirs to life while everyone begins putting on their helmets.

Your slightly apprehensive gaze trails to your left where Natasha is standing, she gives a playful smirk as you force a true smile, “See you in a minute.” Chides the red head as you break out into a smirk.

“будь осторожен там Romanoff.” You add, shifting into your natural dialect that she’s all to familiar with, your actual words translating to “be careful out there” as you give her one last flash of a grin.

A hot second later, your body shrinks to the size of an atom as you feel like you’re entire body is free falling out of an airplane in some strange rainbow colored portal that shifts to shimmering diamonds and then finally a blue coral type texture as you find your teams designed route down some swirling tube of blues and bright white lights until at last you land in...

“Holy shit look at this place.” You mutter in absolute awe at the large golden pillars of Asgard, there was no fucking way you were missing out on traveling to this realm. And anyways, Steve kinda made it your task to keep the potbellied god of thunder in check as yourself and Rocket attempt to locate the Reality Stone with Lebowski as your generous tour guide.

Thor smiles fondly, proudly beaming at you with a rare form of happiness as he points towards the large cavernous halls of the royal palace, “Oh this? Yeah, it’s neat isn’t it, I grew up here....played games down this very hallway actually. Me and some friends used to spar one another as children down here with wooden sticks that looked like swor...”

“Thor.” Interrupts Rocket with an annoyed huff, “Remember why we’re actually here.”

You nod in agreement, quickly remembering the current mission, “He’s right. No time to dwell on fond memories, we need to find that stone before anyone sees us. And going by the logic of literally every time traveling movie I’ve ever seen, which admittedly isn’t a lot, but it’s enough that I know no one can see us. Especially you Thor, that would be a big problem for this timeline, so lead the way.”

“Yes, right on that, good point Y/N....okay um...” He looks around for a moment before pointing in the direction of choice, which is down a long spacious hallway, “This way, no ones gonna see us if we go by the dungeons.” Explains Thor as he quickly leads the way down the obnoxiously long hallway that thankfully is decently vacant.

After about five minutes of trekking around the castles interior, Thor guides you and Rocket down a long stairwell of dark grey stone until you reach the bottom floor. There are large basins of fire lighting the way down the lengthy hallway pass, he jogs past a couple golden tinged cells holding a few odd looking prisoners on your way out.

No doubt these fuckers look like they deserve it.

You pay them no mind as Thor hustles silently across the flooring to a door on the far end, though as you’re shuffling past another cell, your eyes land on the green and black clad slender body of a dark haired man laying atop his bed. Face focused towards the white ceiling as he tosses a cylindrical piece of metal in a repeated rhythm only done by that of an incredibly bored individual.

That must be his brother Loki, you draw into conclusion while racing out of sight of the trickster god while Rocket makes haste by your side. Kind of handsome, you think as an unknowing smile finds itself onto your face. God Y/N you truly are a desperate woman. No, just no.

Eventually, Thor leads your little team of three upstairs to some large balcony type area with a grand view of Asgard, the three of you keeping hidden behind one of the multitude of intricately decorated pillars as he eyes up a woman halfway out of a giant door while she accepts some clothing from a maid.

His bearded face lights up in joy as he points a finger towards the brunette woman, “Oh, there’s Jane.” Whispers Thor as she closes the door, the Asgardian maiden leaving and walking elsewhere down another yawning chamber.

“All right.” Starts Rocket as he stands on some ancient rock covered in unknown hieroglyphics before jumping down to face the two of you once the coast is clear, “Here’s the deal tubby. You’re gonna charm her, Y/N’s gonna keep watch, and I’m gonna poke her with this thing..” He shows some strange metal device with three silver prongs sticking out of it, “...and extract the Reality Stone, and get gone lickety-split.”

The optimism off of this creature never fails to astound you.

“Yeah, what he said.” You add with a shrug in Rocket’s direction as Thor sniffs before raising up a finger. “I’ll be right back, okay? The wine cellar is just down here...” Interjects Thor as he slowly begins walking away, clearly ready to abandon his part in the mission, “My father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I’ll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups.”

“Hey. Hey!” You whisper yell, causing him to stop for the moment, “Aren’t you drunk enough already? Fuck that fancy wine we got better things to do.” You urgently vouch just as some doors loudly open nearby, immediately the three of you hide behind the stone of hieroglyphics and watch as a long haired woman leads the way, a multitude of servants in her wake as she says something about giving books to Loki from the library.

“Who’s the fancy broad?” Wonders Rocket as you raise an intrigued brow at Thor, his eyes never once leave the woman’s as he takes a steady breath, “That’s my mother.” Reveals the disheartened god, a sudden sadness lacing his very words that does not go unnoticed by you, “She dies today.”

Your breath catches in your throat at this sudden tragic news of great loss, you remember when you lost your own mother by the filthy hands of Hydra and how they helped you quickly forget about her. You didn’t have anytime to grieve or even question her sudden disappearance for that matter, “Oh, shit...that’s today.”

You share a nervous look with Rocket as Thor begins taking some deep almost panicked breaths, his emotions all rising together like a swelling storm as his face shifts to an afflicted pain, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this....” Rambles Thor with a shake of his blonde mane, eyes displaying panic, “..I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. It’s a bad idea!” Whisper yells Thor as he anxiously shifts from one foot to the other.

“Come here.” Beacons Rocket from his perch on the rock.

“No, no, no...” Deviates Thor as he waves his hands nervously in the air like he’s trying to flick some mud off of them, “I think I’m having a panic attack.” Worries the flushed faced god. 

“Come here. Right here.” Says Rocket as he points to the rock, an increase in irritation shifting the tone of his voice while Thor breaths heavily, clearly not on board with whatever Rocket’s going to tell him.

“No, no, no, guys I can’t...I can’t do this, I’m sorry but I’m not ready, I can’t...” Thwack, Thor yelps in surprise at your intentionally weak assault on his large bicep, “Y/N what was that for?” He half-offendedly demands, brows furrowed in confusion at the flash of anger racing across your sour glare.

“You think you’re the only one who lost people?” You snap as he lowers his head like a beaten dog, “What the fuck do you think we’re doing here? I lost the only person I ever loved, Rocket lost his whole family, gone, just like that.” You affirm with a snap of your fingers.

His face grows conflicted as you suddenly lose your heated aurora, face falling into a frown as you place a comforting hand upon his shoulder, “Thor, I know it hurts that you lost your mom...believe me I get it, but she’s gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone, and you can help them.”

Thor nods apprehensively as you share a small smile with him, “So if it’s not too much to ask, can you get your shit together for the next however long this is going to take so we can save the world?” 

Rocket chuckles before gaining the both of yours attentions. “Agreed. Now all you gotta do is make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants and when she’s not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help us get our family back. Aight?”

Thor nods once more, face twisting into a saddened pain a he looks down to the floor, “Okay.” Mumbles the god of thunder weakly, face reddening as his eyes get glossy. You let him take a breath as he avoids your gaze at all costs, eyes beginning to water while he tries to play it off.

Giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze, your brows furrow in puzzlement, “Are you crying?”

He shakes his head, some tears slipping despite his verbal protest, “No.” Mutters Thor weakly as his tearful gaze finally picks up to meet you, “Yes..” Squeaks out the teary eyed god while his eyes flicker from the far wall to your face once more, “...Y/N, I feel like I’m losing it. I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing...I just feel so...shit I don’t know anymore.” Admits the fearful Asgardian as he avoids your softening yet slightly annoyed gaze.

oh, Thor you sad motherfucker. I’ve been there.

Rolling your eyes you gently shake his shoulder for emphasis, “Listen to me you big lion, get your shit together! You can do this. You’re the god of thunder for fucks sake, you can do this Thor.” His face turns into a surprisingly more confident expression as he huffs with a self-assured nod. “I can do this.”

“Yeah...I can do this.” Repeats the Asgardian with a sniffle.

Smirking, you give his arm a friendly smack, “Good. Now let’s do this and get the fuck out of here.” You add before swiftly turning on your heel as you and Rocket lead the way to the door, reaching it, the talking raccoon tugs on your leg before you get a chance to open it. “What is it now?”

“Y/N, we lost him.”

“What?!” Realizing Thor has indeed slipped away and out of sight, you clench your fists in irritation, “Goddammit.” You seethe before looking down at Rocket, “Whatever, we’ll find marshmallow fluff later, let’s just get this stupid rock.”

——

Racing down the palaces golden hallways, your boots thud against the stony ground as Rocket runs on all fours right behind you, “I almost hope they catch you!” You shout in between the yelling of the royal guards as they hastily pursue the two of you down the hallway.

“We got the stone didn’t we!” Snaps Rocket as you pick up your pace. 

“We gotta make it back first you dumbfuck!”

He grumbles something unintelligible before you follow the beer tinged scent of Thor into another room, he’s speaking with his mother when they quickly turn around, “Oh, uh, hello...uh, queen something.” You mutter before Rocket practically smacks into the back of your legs. “I got the thing. Come on. We gotta move.”

Thor nods, speaking some last final heartfelt goodbyes to his mother before abruptly stopping the countdown to three just so he can summon his hammer. After a couple lengthy seconds, Mjolnir falls right into his strong grasp causing Thor to laugh and smile in excitement. “I’m still worthy! I’m still worthy.”

Rocket shares a look with you, “Oh, boy.” Mumbles the raccoon as you simply roll your eyes at the bearded Asgardian prince. A moment later the three of you are sucked into the time portal once again before landing on the glass of the time portal machine.

“Did we get them all?” You hear Steve ask in wonder as you hold your stomach from the jostling ride back.

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” You mutter as Rodney smiles in excitement at everyone around him and the stones in their proximity. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

Taking a deep breath to steady your turning stomach, all eyes turn to Clint as he suddenly falls to his knees, face a mask of saddened grief that sparks panic in your heart. “Clint, where’s Nat?” Questions Bruce as your face falls.

Not her, not Natasha too.

Standing solemnly on the Facility’s large dock with the teams main Avengers in various places close by, you lean against one of the thin steel beams, a deep frown on your lips while your fingers anxiously play with Bucky’s dog tags around your neck.

“Do we know if she had family?” Questions Tony to no on in particular.

Steve swallows thickly, a couple free tear stains falling down the side of his cheeks, “Yeah. Us.” Mutters the blonde gloomily as you bite your bottom lip to keep from crying again.

“What?” Wonders Thor almost in disbelief as Tony gives him a quizzical look, “Yeah, no, you guys are acting like she’s dead. Why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones Cap, we can bring her back. Isn’t that right?” Adds Thor, glancing between all of you before facing Tony again, “So, stop this shit. We’re the Avengers. Get it together...”

“Can’t get her back.” Interrupts Clint dismally, eyes still set on the open water beyond the compound.

Thor’s brows furrow in befuddlement, “Wh-what...”

“It can’t be undone. It can’t.” Insists Clint, voice slightly wavering in despair; Thor then starts chuckling at the absurdity of the whole shitty situation before rambling about space magic and that there must be another way. Clint on the other hand quickly gets heated about this and promptly snaps at Thor about some red floaty guy he met who revealed once the Soul Stone is taken, the one sacrificed can never come back. Ever.

Soon things calmed down again, though still a rather gloomy atmosphere still lingers like a persistent hazy fog even after they all left, leaving no one but yourself and Steve on the dock. He keeps a steady gaze on the rippling water as he lets his sadness take its course, this is indeed a heavy blow to bear.

Letting out a shaky breath, you move from the leaning against the beam to instead find a spot next to him on the wooden bench. Dog tags still clutched in your fist as you steal a glance at the tearful man. You’ve admittedly never seen him so upset, well, you both may have shared a good cry when Bucky was whipped from existence five years ago. That was the first time you ever truly bonded with anyone from the team, the first time Steve and Natasha showed you their vulnerability. 

And for that, you’ve formed a stronger bond with them that you’d never thought possible. They welcomed you into the compound like an old friend, always treated you with respect and gave you room when you needed it. And even when you didn’t want to be around anyone, they still forced you into playing cards with them anyways, among other dumb games. Which annoyingly so, is what your sad little self needed back then.

 But without Natasha, without her beaming heart and fierce attitude to keep fighting through the unknown and murky waters, you’re not even sure if this would all still be conceivable. Or if you’d even still be here with all of them for that matter, you might have gone on an angry warpath just as Clint did when everyone he ever loved was snatched from him forever. 

So why, after all this time and pain, is she the one who had to go? It’s not fare. And your heart feels broken all over again; sniffling, you swallow thickly before turning your head a little in Steve’s direction, “I didn’t know her for as long as you guys did.....but she was, really the best of us..” You laugh dismally.

 Voice shaky as you hold Bucky’s tags close to your chest, “..If not better. She was the first Avenger I ever met you know, the only piece of my past that didn’t try to murder me on sight, actually. I liked her. She was who I needed to get me through my grief, among other things huh...and uh...I will miss her.....a lot.”

Nothing is heard except for the low rustling of the nearby trees as a soft wind blows into your faces, Steve clasps his hands together, turning to you, “Funnily enough, it took me some time to completely trust her, but now....there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” Mutters Steve with the flash of a genuine smile as he thinks fondly on Natasha, who you wish more then anything could still be here to celebrate the hard work of finding those goddamn stones.

It’s not fucking fare.

Swallowing thickly, you nod in agreement as more hot tears trail down your somber face, “The world will owe her their lives and never even know it.....but I will, we all will. Her memory will live on if I can help it, we owe her that much.”

Steve slowly nods, thumbs fiddling together anxiously as he mutters a raspy, “Yeah.”

You rest a comforting hand atop his broad shoulder as he shares a mutually dismal look with you, “We’ve already lost so much already and she fought for this like no once else did, we will avenge her Steve. I don’t doubt she knows it.”

-

Tagged: @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @bizarrebibitch @atomicpersonacheesecake @jmstz @staygoldsquatchling02 @marvelbros-oneshots @shawnartmendes @mischiefmanaged71 @jckie94  @iamasimpingh0e @mjaudrey  @thescarlettvvitch

[maximumsnow]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Therapy with Dr. Albert Krueger (Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Albert Kreuger & Taylor Lee Characters: Albert Kreuger, Taylor Lee Additional Tags: Emphasis on the platonic for that relationship tag btw, Second person POV, Viewpoint character is Albert, Probably an AU since I don't think Taylor specified having a bad relationship with their parents, Actually definitely an AU anyway since it involves messing with what Albert is, Random idea that hit me in the wee hours of the morning have fun

Summary: Taylor's friendship has been an anchor in your life, so when they go missing, you're determined to figure out what happened.

When you couldn’t find their dream, you weren’t worried. Sometimes they wanted privacy, and even though you could barge in, you didn’t want to wear out your welcome or betray their trust.

However, when this continued for over a week, you were… concerned. They usually let you know if they needed an extended break from your visits.

Usually, they enjoyed the talks, and even though you no longer had to pretend to be a therapist, they still liked talking out their issues with you. A lot of them menial, and they only wanted an ear to commiserate with.

It was nice. Having a full conversation with another person, and helping a young person work through their issues with college reminded you of better times. You could speak from experience, and they often appreciated the advice.

It wasn’t all serious either, they would often get you going on topics involving marine life, and even though their expression rarely changed, they never told you to stop. Sometimes they would tell you stories about what their classmates would get up to when the professor wasn’t looking, and you would counter with your own adventures.

They hadn’t said anything in the last visit or in any other method of communication, and after two weeks of no contact, you finally decided to go to their residence. You had the address, but given the convenience of the dream visits, it wasn’t something you used often.

Of course you knocked politely and waited at first.

You waited until one of their neighbors told you the news.

They left with their parents and some other people, and no one had seen them since.

Your heart dropped. One topic you had bonded over was that you both didn’t have the highest of opinions on your respective parents.

They had given you a key. “Just in case I lock mine in.” And hoping that maybe they left a note or something, you used it.

The apartment was a total wreck. Even more than clutter or messiness that comes with a lived in space. It looked like someone had torn the place apart.

There wasn’t a need to keep up the aloof smile, and it had faded the moment you walked in.

You still didn’t want to dig through their belongings like a nosy parent, but the horror of the situation was gripping your chest.

You didn’t find a note from them. But you did find the pamphlet.

NO.

If it wasn’t for the fact that this was their home, you would have let your powers explode. White hot anger wanted to make itself known, and the vague dislike you once held for their parents blossomed into full blown hatred.

After carefully re-locking the door and ensuring the windows were secured, you slipped into the world of dreams. With a better idea of where to look, you wrangled a few of the dream eaters into helping.

They had grown fond of them as well, and the missing presence had given everyone no small amount of worry.

However, despite your lead, they were nowhere to be found.

What you did find disgusted and horrified you even through the veil of dreams and nightmares.

You denied being a demon back when they first asked you, but if they were to ask you now, you weren’t sure how true that was anymore.

The only survivors were others who had been dragged there like you assumed Taylor had been.

But they weren’t there. From the others, you finally managed to get that someone had escaped a few days ago. The name given was not theirs, but the vague physical description sounded about right. Given the nature of the “camp,” you had a feeling that the name had been forced on them.

Hunting a human through the woods would normally be impossible, but you had the benefit of sensing the dreams of those who could possess them. The trail was old, but at least it was still there.

You followed it for a long while. You were impressed by their sheer tenacity before, but seeing it in action was something else entirely.

It didn’t curb your fears, though. They were just one person, and it was very easy for people to die when this far from civilization. Especially since they never mentioned much about enjoying hiking or camping before.

You felt their presence long before you actually found them. They must have fallen asleep.

While you were relieved that they must be alive, there wasn’t any indication of their current condition, and it could go wrong so very fast. Some people never woke up, after all.

You tried to slip into their dream, but you were quickly and violently rebuffed.

What did they do to them? You couldn’t help but wonder. They never reacted this strongly to your presence.

Did they even know it was you?

Deciding that you didn’t want to scare them any more than they probably were, you stopped the attempt and slipped into the material realm again.

They had to be close.

The way you found them was the quiet breathing of a dreamer. You had to admit that the way they were hidden was incredibly clever, and if you weren’t so attuned to dreams, you might not have found them.

You weren’t sure how to wake them. Touching them right now might end poorly, and they clearly didn’t want anyone else in their dreams.

Well, they did say that your voice was calming.

You called their name a few times. Thankfully, no one else was around to hear how desperate you sounded after a few repeats.

After a groan, they opened their eyes, and nearly shot back into the hole they had hidden themselves in. Their eyes were wide with terror as they told you to stay away.

Carefully, like trying to coax a cat, you settled down on the ground and spoke to them quietly. Gently.

After a few seconds of this, they finally woke up enough to recognize you. You certainly stuck out with the bright pink clothing, and the workers at that horrible place didn’t wear anything quite so vibrant.

They called your name instead of the nickname they had settled into.

You didn’t expect them to lunge at you and nearly knock you over.  Normally, they weren’t prone to emotional outbursts. But they were clearly overwhelmed with everything, and a friendly face set them over the edge.

You promised that they were safe, and after a few seconds, you returned the embrace. They needed the comfort of another person, even if they normally kept to themself.

It was amazing how much they reminded you of your old friend, but they were so very, very different on this front.

You promised yourself to not let them suffer alone.

[snowbellewells]

“A Long Forgotten Song”

(A CS family fluff fic for @whimsicallyenchantedrose‘s belated birthday gift!)

by: @snowbellewells

This little fic was meant to be for Jennifer (@whimsicallyenchantedrose‘s) birthday, but that was more than a week ago now.  I’m hoping this bit of fluff and CS family feels will still be an enjoyable gift for her in appreciation for her friendship, writing encouragement, and just being a helpful, amazing, gifted and kind member of the fandom.  This isn’t necessarily divergent from canon, but it’s certainly future headcanon, in which Hope is five or six and I have imagined Killian and Emma might have adopted a child as well.  (That doesn’t really come into the fic, I just think they would adopt with their histories, and Killian is mentioned as being a father of three at one point. )  

Before it gets any more belated….

“A Long Forgotten Song”

It had been a rather long day at the station - somewhat tedious and dreary - and so Killian Jones had been more than happy to volunteer for picking up their daughter from her voice lessons at five-thirty and escaping the mundane parade of dwarves accusing one another of some brazen act of malfeasance, complaints about leaky cellars and roofs due to the recent spate of rainy days, and the pleas to go out on search patrol for missing house pets possibly lost in the downpour. Certainly he would take these common small town grievances over dangerous new villains swooping in and raining down chaos of which his Sheriff wife and fellow deputy father-in-law would heedlessly throw themselves in the way, regardless of the risk to their own lives and limbs. Still, one could only try to decipher Dopey’s flying hand gestures accusing Leroy of once again stealing the extra bacon slice Granny fondly slipped onto his breakfast plate at the diner so many times before having to get out of the office for a breather.

The sky was still a heavy grey full of low-hanging clouds that threatened even more rain as he parked the cruiser at the curb of the pretty blue house with a wide front porch, just down the street from the convent where the nuns - well, the fairies, technically - made their home in Storybrooke. He could already hear Hope’s high, chattering voice as soon as he opened the door, and he shook his head in amusement as her light words prattled along, hardly pausing for breath, added to only occasionally by a calmer, more sedate, adult chuckle at the proper moments in his little girl’s story.

Glancing up the walk, Killian could see his daughter and her music teacher both seated on the woman’s large, cushioned front porch swing, Hope’s tiny powder-keg of a form bouncing in excitement as she continued her narrative, and her ever-patient instructor nodding along with fittingly wide eyes as if she had never heard a more gripping tale in her life. Of course, once he had stepped out of the car, the sound of its door closing caused Hope’s head of riotously curling dark hair to whip around at the noise and a squeal to leave her upon catching sight of him.

“Papa!” she called, leaping to her feet and up from the swing as if she thought she could fly - startling both his and her teacher’s hearts into their throats until she landed safely on the porch floorboards. Running down the steps to grip him around the knees, Hope then took his hook in both of her little hands and tugged him back the way she had come, still exclaiming, “Wait until you hear what I learned today! It’s so pretty!!  And Ms. D. says a pirate lady might have sung it on her ship during watch late at night.”

Killian Jones couldn’t help the raised, curious eyebrow and smirk he shot toward the other adult on the porch at her proclamation, anymore than he could staunch the swell of emotion that nearly overcame him every single time his daughter grasped his metal appendage as easily and as simply as if it were a hand of flesh and bone, not troubled in the least by its presence, or the surge of pride he somehow felt - as retired as he might be - at Hope’s constant interest in pirates and the sea. To his chagrin, and Emma’s perpetual amusement, Hope was more than a bit piratical in her bearing and the mischief she could concoct as well, so the very suggestion that the song she had learned in her day’s lesson might have been sung at sea had surely made her a quite willing pupil. “Is that so, Love?” he asked mildly, holding back his mirth in the hope of avoiding the sort of stubborn temper one could flare in her if not careful.

“Sorry if I’m a bit late,” he added for her teacher’s benefit. Jennifer was her name, though Killian did not feel quite familiar enough to address her that informally, though he knew Emma often did. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

He rarely used most of his former flirtatious feminine nicknames with women about town either, not once he and Emma had been married and since he had become a father of three. Not that he felt there had been anything wrong with such playful appellations, and he still pulled out the fanciful “Milady Snow” for Emma’s mother and occasionally flushed Granny’s cheeks with a pleased blush upon calling her “Lass” as if she were twenty years old once more.  But it had only taken catching the tense, worried look of fear on Emma’s face (which she tried to deny when he asked) one time to make plying his charms with anyone other than his wife lose all appeal. It had appeared as if she still thought someone could actually beguile him or lure him away from her, and he could only shake his head in stunned disbelief at the very idea. So when Aurora smiled at him thankfully as he caught her runaway second son at the T-ball diamond, or when Tink giggled merrily and laid her hand on his forearm while  he joked with her at the market, Killian was friendly and kind, but also quick to gently disentangle himself as clearly as possible without any of his old quips to play up the moment.

Jennifer smiled back at him, her expression open and genuine, with an indulgent sparkle in her eyes as they flicked back to Hope beside him. “Of course not. It just seemed like such a lovely evening. Hope and I thought we’d come outside to wait until you arrived.”

Killian figured that was quite probably mostly Hope’s idea. His little buccaneer would never willingly stay indoors if given the choice, and her teacher was plainly just one more friend and neighbor who could not withstand her natural charm.

“Papa, come on!” Hope urged impatiently, practically wriggling at his side. “Don’t you want to hear the song we learned? It’s a sea shanty.”

“Aye, little love, of course I do,” he nodded, ceasing his conversation and wandering thought and turning full attention back to her.

Nodding sagely, as if she would have expected nothing else from her doting papa, Hope’s tiny fingers, still wrapped around his shining metal appendage pulled him behind her as Ms. D. led them back into her foyer and through to the sunroom where she kept her piano. Hope proudly led him to the settee on one wall, under a large window, urging him to sit where he could enjoy her performance; her teacher all the while merely watching with a gentle smile on her face.  

When Jennifer saw that the Captain was settled and ready for them to begin, she seated herself at the piano, much as she had been during Hope’s vocal lesson earlier, and the child came to stand practically at her elbow, beaming and nodding that she was indeed ready when asked.  Her teacher held in a chuckle at her pupil’s enthusiasm, the Jones’ daughter puffing her little chest out with pride at having something new to show her father, and her bright green eyes sparkling with joy and excitement.  Turning to place her hands on the keys, she gave Hope a count to prepare her, and then launched into the first notes of the piece they had been practicing that afternoon.

As often happened, especially when she had a willing compatriot to get swept along with her, Jennifer lost herself in the words and the notes, letting the tune she had found for Hope’s newest song carry her along on its soothing melody. So carried away they both were in fact, that she didn’t really come back to herself until she played the last note, Hope stopped singing, and they both looked over to find their former pirate audience with misty eyes, shaking himself as if from a dream, before quickly straightening up and slapping his hand on his thigh in applauding approval.  “That was beautiful, ladies!  Truly quite magnificent!” Killian Jones praised sincerely.

She wasn’t going to call him on the fact that his voice sounded hoarse with some unspoken and hastily covered emotion. His daughter, however, showed no such restraint.  Rushing forward, Hope threw herself into his lap, her arms wrapping around her father’s neck and squeezing until he unwound them slightly to breathe properly again. “Oh no, Papa, what’s wrong?  Didn’t you like it?  Ms. D. looked up a special song just for me.  We thought it was really pretty.”

Killian Jones seemed to master himself, and whatever melancholy had gripped him momentarily was gone from his face as he shook his head, quickly moving to reassure his child. He also seemed to be shooting an apologetic look Jennifer’s way over Hope’s curls, though she was hardly offended (if admittedly a bit curious). “No, no, I liked it very much….it’s...nothing like that.”  His voice trailed off for a moment as he gathered Hope more securely on his knee.  “I just… that melody...I hadn’t heard it for many years. It seemed to be coming out of a dream when you started it.  My mother used to sing that to me…. A long time ago….”

Now, Jennifer knew enough of the reformed Captain Hook’s story to know just how long ago that truly might have been, but she wasn’t going to pry, and she wasn’t going to confuse a six-year-old if all of that realm-hopping, time-stands-still in Neverland confusion hadn’t been explained to Hope. She knew for herself the power of a song to take a person back to another place in time. While that power was a gift, it could bring bittersweet memories as well as purely happy ones.

Gentleman to the core though, Killian Jones seemed determined to see that they both knew he found their performance lovely.  “Thank you, both of you.  I would not have thought to ever hear that chorus again.  It was captivating.”

Jennifer merely nodded, letting him know he was more than welcome.  Hope, looking relieved, merely hugged her papa tightly, then slid down to the floor, her fleeting attention no longer content to be still.  “Yes, thank you Ms. D! See you next week!” And then she was skipping back out of the room to the door.

Captain Jones remained just a moment longer, his voice quiet, still a bit awesd and touched as he added, “Thank you, Milady...truly. It was wonderful to hear my mother’s lullaby again.”  With a little bow to her, he followed his daughter down the porch steps and back to the car, leaving Jennifer infinitely glad she she had picked that particular song of the many that she had uncovered in her research.  She would have never expected Hope’s father to listen to it as if they had been giving him the best treasure ever unearthed in his long and storied career.

~ Notes: I was going to include lyrics to a sea shanty (I looked up several) for Hope to be singing, but I decided to leave that open to interpretation. The one I was leaning toward, with lyrics like: “Yo! Ho, how we go!

Oh how the winds blow!

White Wings, they never grow weary

Night comes I long for my dearie

I’ll spread out my white wings

And sail home to thee…” ended up being too fast paced to sound like a lullaby once I looked up a recording of it.  I considered some others, “Endearing Young Charms”, “Cliffs of Doneen”, and others (Including “She Moved Through the Fair”), but in the end I liked them all and couldn’t really settle on one for sure.  If you know of an Irish sea shanty you particularly like, just pretend it’s that one Hope’s singing! :)

[asterythm]

A is for Amour || Human Error (2)

Pairings: Eventual Logicality, eventual Prinxiety Word Count: 2.5k Chapter Summary: Though rigid schedules may have worked in his favour when it came to essays and science fairs, Logan's plans are ill-equipped to handle a living, breathing human. He finds this out the hard way. Chapter Warnings: “Implied gore mention” is all I can think of for this one. Let me know if I’ve forgotten anything, though! General Warnings: Toxic romantic relationship, abusive Deceit, low self-esteem/self-deprecation, negative thinking

<< First Chapter || Read this chapter on AO3

Logan Berry was just about ready to eat his tie.

Not in the literal sense, of course; Logan was very well aware that cloths and fabrics did not have much nutritional value to them. They’d be difficult to digest, for one, and he didn’t imagine the taste could be too appetizing either. The young man had merely been using figurative language to express irritation.

A little clarity never hurt anybody.

Perhaps it would be simpler to forget about the textile consumption and just put it this way: suffice it to say, anyone looking at Logan now would never be able to guess how excited the boy had been only thirty minutes ago.

Which was a shame, really, considering how rare it was for Logan to get excited about anything nowadays.

It was true, though — Logan had been walking on sunshine for weeks in anticipation of this moment. How could he not? Today was the day of his first-ever session in his new tutoring job; a day he’d spent long days and longer nights preparing for. Logan had even gone so far as to create and rehearse a script that contained everything he intended to say, word-for-word. Every detail he could think of, he had planned, all the way down to the exact outfit he’d wear — a freshly-ironed black polo paired with his best blue necktie was the perfect way to passively say, this young man means business. Knowing how crucial a good first impression would be to their overall success, Logan had done everything in his power to ensure that today’s session would run perfectly. It had taken every second that he could spare (and quite a few that he couldn’t), but he didn’t mind. After all, Logan had been completely convinced that all his efforts were bound to pay off in the end.

Oh, what a fool he’d been.

You see, it was only once Logan was watching this unsettlingly energetic thing come careening around the corner did he realise that in all of his careful planning, he’d forgotten to factor in one major variable: the student himself. And a single glance was all it took for Logan to realise that his mistake would cost him dearly.

Not only is he late, he’s completely out of breath. And he’s not even bothering to hide it… just look at that gaping mouth, Logan’s narrowed eyes had immediately observed. Smudged glasses, uncombed hair, grass-stained sneakers — one of which is untied, mind you — oh, and now he’s gone and sent books flying everywhere.

So much for first impressions, I suppose.

With the introduction of this new limiting factor, the future wasn’t looking too bright, to say the least. But if there was one thing that Logan’s extensive collection of award-winning science fair projects had taught him, it was to never waste time trying to control the uncontrollable. So, notebook clutched in one hand and tenaciously holding back doubts with the other, Logan had launched with great determination into the script that he’d practiced so many times before.

It took all of five minutes to grind that determination into the dust. Every single time he paused for breath, the freckled boy seated crookedly in front of him would take it as an invitation to start chattering away at a speed that would give even the most accomplished of auctioneers a run for their money. Poor Logan could hardly keep up with his student, let alone settle him down long enough to get through even the first paragraph.

Finally, he had been forced to abandon his perfectly-crafted script in favour of a much less elegant approach: a simple and to-the-point list of questions. Though it physically pained Logan to abandon the result of so many tears shed and sleepless nights passed, he’d rather finish things the “alkali way” (or, as the cool kids preferred, the “basic way”) than never finish them at all. And if he’s going to talk anyway, Logan reasoned, I might as well give him something productive to talk about. Surely then we’ll be able to stay on-topic.

No such luck. Logan’s first question got no more than a noncommittal shrug before Parker — or was it Patrick? No, he was quite certain that the boy’s name was Parker — was off again, running his mouth a mile a minute, dropping awful puns and grammatically incorrect sentences all over the previously pristine carpet. The poor librarians would have some cleaning up to do later.

Okay, so plan B didn’t work either. Nothing to worry about, though, Logan pretended to believe. I’ve still got twenty-four letters to get through.

To be fair, Plan C was really more of a coping mechanism than an actual step-by-step plan. A surprisingly effective way of releasing pent-up stress and frustration, this longtime favourite involved imagining, in vivid detail, the source of that frustration being slowly and painfully fed into a running wood chipper.

What?

Some might think this cruel. Logan preferred to call it merciful; after all, at least he was limiting his vengeance to the hypothetical realm. An added bonus was that, in the interest of ensuring the utmost accuracy, it had compelled him to familiarize himself with the inner workings of wood chippers. So really, Plan C was a win-win for all parties involved.

As you might have guessed by now, dealing with annoying people never really had been Logan’s strong suit.

Actually, make that dealing with people in general. In hindsight, signing up to work with Sandford Secondary’s peer-to-peer tutoring program had definitely not been the best idea he’d ever had, in that case. Not because he wasn’t qualified — complex formulas and sentence structure he could handle in his sleep. But teaching those same concepts to a student who apparently had no intention of listening, he most certainly could not.

Really, Logan should have known better than to believe that he could ever be successful in any job that depended so much on one’s ability to work with others. Why couldn’t he have chosen something with more facts and numbers?

Facts and numbers were predictable. They always fit neatly into categories of right or wrong, true or false, black or white. Social interaction was so much messier. With no structure, no set of rules, and no procedure to follow, the whole thing was really nothing more than haphazard guesswork, a real-life game of hangman where every wrong word brings you one pen-stroke closer to game over. Bearing all that in mind, Logan had never understood how some people could so easily waltz up to strangers and just begin “bonding” like it was nothing.

And frankly, he didn’t particularly want to understand. Why would anyone choose to while away their life building those fragile houses of cards; vocabulary cards filled with only empty words? Did no one realise that a single misplaced breath is all would take to knock everything down in an instant? Why waste time trying desperately to convince your peers that you’re worth their love, when you could instead be hard at work earning their respect? In Logan’s experience, relationships of any kind — romantic, platonic, even familial — were always sloppy at best when built on love. Respect, on the other hand… respect was real.

This attitude, by the way, was an entirely objective worldview that had nothing to do with the fact that Logan didn’t exactly have many romantic or platonic relationships to choose from. Correlation, not causation.

Besides. Not that he cared.

Taking a deep breath, Logan forced himself to focus back on the session. (That makes one of us, he couldn’t help thinking.) Speaking of empty words… Parker, or Patrick, or whatever-his-name-was, had somehow been ceaselessly talking about corn for —  Logan checked his watch — over seven minutes now. They were getting nowhere, fast.

If Logan allowed the boy to keep this up, the two of them would end up leaving the library having accomplished absolutely nothing at all. That simply would not do. His student’s attitude may not be ideal, but he’d be damned if he let his own standards slip because of it.

After taking a brief pause to collect himself and his thoughts, Logan stood abruptly, causing the freckled boy to cut himself off mid-sentence.

Slowly, deliberately, he moved to stare out the large windows framing the section of the library where the two of them were seated, so that his back was turned and his face was hidden from the other boy.

Then, voice dripping with contempt, he spoke.

“Let me make one thing clear. I am not here to make friends, and neither should you be. I am here to teach, and as of yesterday, I was under the impression that you are here to learn. However, your behaviour so far has led me to believe that perhaps I was mistaken. For once in my life, I find myself praying that I will be proven wrong.

“Now, I don’t know what kind of merry tomfoolery you were expecting from our session today, but I do know exactly what I was expecting, and exactly what I have prepared for you. And since you clearly do not seem interested in steering this session anywhere productive, I suggest that you hand the reins to me and do exactly as I instruct from here on out. I have prepared a rigid agenda for how we will be spending this time together, and I intend to follow it. I expect you to do the same. Be aware that this agenda includes absolutely no icebreakers; we can’t afford to waste any more of our valuable lesson time, especially not on childish games.

“Starting right now, you will answer my questions so I can develop a plan for what we need to accomplish, and you will answer them without distraction. When you are not answering questions, you will hold your tongue like your entire future depends on it. Because it very well might. Is that understood —” just in time, he suddenly remembered the boy’s name — “is that understood, Patton?”

The following moment of quiet, the first one since Patton had stepped foot in the library, was answer enough for Logan.

“Good. I trust this will not be a discussion that we will need to have again, then.”

With that, Logan returned to his seat, carefully scrutinizing Patton once more to see if he could spot any differences. He didn’t need to try too hard. Patton’s transformation was so drastic, it was almost…  

Unnerving. The vigor from earlier had all but disappeared — thank goodness — but with its departure came a distinct dullness to the eyes framed in those round-rimmed glasses. And where Patton had previously been nearly falling out of his seat with barely contained energy, he now slumped inwards as if the words that Logan had spoken were actually physically crushing him.

At the sight, Logan couldn’t help but feel the tiniest glimmer of guilt. Perhaps he hadn’t needed to lay the scolding on quite so heavily. What if I overdid it?

A second later, Logan remembered he didn’t care.

Excellent. This shall be ideal. The brief moment of weakness over, Logan settled back down into the library’s comfortable couch. “What are your academic strengths?” he read off his notebook.

“Uhh, I’m… nice, sometimes. I guess.”  

Logan let out a deep sigh. A wood-chipper-shaped silhouette flickered in the back of his mind.

Most likely seeing his teacher’s disapproval of the vague answer, Patton hurried to add, “I mean, I can be pretty patient when it comes to worksheets. It always takes a really long time for me to finish my homework, so I… kind of have to be, you know?”

“Hm. Is that it?”

“That’s all I can come up with right now. Um, sorry.”

“I see.” Pencil scratched across paper as Logan scribbled down (a paraphrased version of) Patton’s response. In the otherwise unbroken silence, the sound grated loudly against Logan’s ears. He hurried to finish so he could move on to the next question. “Academic weaknesses?”

This time, Patton’s answered without even a moment’s hesitation. “Focus. Organization. Time management. Anything related to math or numbers, really. I’m not good at taking risks. My work is always sloppy and hard to read. It takes me a long time to wrap my head around new concepts.” He rattled off one item after another, a strange mix of confidence and detachment, almost as if reading off an invisible script that he’d already recited — or heard recited to him — many times before.

Logan wasn’t sure what to say to that. Here was another reason he hated socialising; people always had this odd tendency to hyper-fixate on what needed to be fixed rather than what they already had going for them, a tendency that Logan couldn’t imagine was healthy or even at all helpful. There’s so much beauty mixed in with the bad, and yet you choose to ignore it all? Worst of all, these senseless “social blinkers” meant that Logan had no chance of getting an accurate idea of Patton’s actual strengths and weaknesses. There was no way that every item on that list of shortcomings that Patton had just blazed through could actually apply, right?

Logan decided not to push the question, though; experience had taught him that calling others out on their poor logic didn’t often end well. I’ll just have to figure that part out myself, I suppose. Instead, he adjusted his thick glasses, wrote down one or two items from Patton’s list of weaknesses, and read aloud the next question.

And the next, and the next. They were really tearing through the conversation now; Patton’s answers seemed to get shorter and more succinct with every second that passed. Not that Logan was complaining. In fact, he was nothing but grateful for Patton’s newfound intense focus. It seemed his brief speech had done the trick.

Sooner than expected, a quiet trill interrupted the two of them. He checked his phone to see that his alarm had gone off. The session was over.

Had it really been two hours already? It had felt like so much less than that.

Shutting off the alarm, Logan turned to face his student. “Well, that marks the end of our session. I… appreciated your cooperation, Patton. We may have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but your focus in the second half of the session was sufficient to convince me that we won’t have too many problems from here on out.”

This time, Patton said nothing at all, settling instead for a wordless nod.

“Next week, I will have worksheets prepared for you. In the meantime, your homework is to write me a page, single-spaced, telling me a little bit more about short-and long-term educational goals. Full sentences only, please.” Logan flipped his notebook shut. “I look forward to reading your writing for the first time,” he lied.

In response, Patton picked up his backpack and started to walk away. He only made it about three steps, though, before turning back and opening his mouth. Logan waited.

The words never came. After the briefest of pauses, Patton’s mouth closed, lips pressed firmly together, perhaps to suppress whatever he’d been wanting to say.

As watched the child disappear around the corner, a thought arose unbidden:

For some reason, Patton seemed so much smaller leaving the library than he had looked when he was entering.

***

[next chapter]

A/N: Okay. Even though it's only chapter two, I have a LOT to say. Most of this is about the fic in general rather than the chapter, so... it's LONG. I'm sorry. In the interest of not putting you to sleep, let's speed-round this.

The first chapter of AAmour was the very first thing I ever wrote for the Sanders Sides fandom. I based that chapter almost ENTIRELY on a oneshot comic by @the-pastel-peach.

Two months later, I was planning for NaNoWriMo 2018 (a challenge where authors write 50k in 30 days). Long story short, I decided that I'd like to try finishing AAmour.

I didn't.

I did hit 50k, but I only made it to chapter ten. I still want to finish this thing though, so I've decided to edit and post what I already wrote, one chapter a month, and then write the second half of AAmour during NaNoWriMo 2019.

I'm already late with this first chapter because my dumb brain decided I needed to do a complete rewrite a week before posting, but in the future I'd like to post a chapter on the first day of every month.

Almost everything after chapter one is my own work. I say "almost" because I picked @residentanchor's brain a lot during the planning phase.

So yes, I may still be writing a high school AU, but this is no longer @the-pastel-peach​'s high school AU. Besides Logan's last name (I couldn’t resist -- the pun game was too strong) and the first chapter, any similarities to their version of the AU are completely coincidental; in fact, I've barely looked at theirs because I didn't want to risk any subconscious copying.

Also heeeeyyyyyy this is my 200th post that’s pretty nifty--

I think that about covers it. Thank you so, so much for reading -- both the chapter and my ridiculously long author’s note!! See you soon, lovelies. Take care <3

General tag list: @surleytemple @starryfirefliesbloggo @icecoldparadise @lyditist @fandom-random2405 @beach-fan @ihateitwhenyourejustvague @starryeyedhomicide

AAmour tag list: @romanticsanders @thatrandomautist @thelowlysatsuma @mirror2thespirit @pokii-jonas

Let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from either tag list!

[tomeandflickcorner]

Jericho, Mad Beauty, and Thor for the ask

Whoa, I almost forgot about this!

Jericho-

Favorite character: Tie between Jake and Gail

Least Favorite character: Um...hard to say.  There weren’t any characters that made me groan whenever they popped up.  Though Gray Anderson came close, so I guess I’ll go with him

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Jake/Emily, Johnston/Gail, Robert/Darcy, Stanley/Mimi and Heather/Beck

Character I find most attractive: Hard to say.  Though I can see why people might find Jake and Emily attractive

Character I would marry: LOL.  Well, all the ‘eligible’ men on the show seemed to be taken, don’t they?  So there’s not much to chose from

Character I would be best friends with: I wanna say Heather.  She was pretty cool

a random thought: I think, at one point, it was mentioned that one of the deputy’s kids was sick with something.  I remember thinking if that was going to be relevant, but it was never brought up again

An unpopular opinion: I don’t think the show did a proper job at explaining why Johnston and Eric held such a negative opinion of Jake at the start of the show.  I got that Jake was basically the town’s ‘bad boy’ back in the day, but... they way they acted towards him when he came back into town seemed a bit mean spirited to me  

My Canon OTP: Jake and Emily

My Non-canon OTP: IDK.  Maybe April and Russel?

Most Badass Character: Gotta go with Robert.  No offence to Jake, of course.  But between the two of them, Robert is the one I’d actively avoid trying to tick off

Most Epic Villain: John Gotez

Pairing I am not a fan of: Maybe Eric and Mary.  While I didn’t actively hate it, I was mostly indifferent to them and pretty much fell asleep during their scenes

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): April. hands down

Favorite Friendship: Jake and Robert.

Character I most identify with: Not sure.

Character I wish I could be: I’m drawing a blank, I’m afraid

Mad Beauty-

When I started shipping them: Hard to pinpoint the exact date.  It started off when I saw a post mentioning the pairing, and I was intrigued by the concept.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I liked it.  Before I knew it, I was Mad Beauty trash

My thoughts: I just think they make the most sense.  All things considered, Jefferson and Belle probably suffered the most during the course of the Dark Curse that created Storybrooke.  Jefferson was forced to spend nearly three decades watching his beloved daughter from afar, knowing he couldn’t approach her because she didn’t remember him.  Not to mention how he was the only one in town who remembered the truth but knew he couldn’t tell anyone on account of how nobody would believe him.  As for Belle, she spent all that time confined in her cell in the psychiatric ward, where her only human contact were the orderlies who brought her food and whatnot.  She never received any visitors during that time and I doubt the orderlies bothered striking up a conversation with her.  To top it off, if her behavior when she was forced over the town line were any indication, she probably had absolutely no memories, either real or faked, to revisit while in confinement.  While the show never addressed it, I firmly believe that Belle was probably in serious need of therapy when the curse broke.  Apart from that, there’s the fact that Belle was a young woman who clearly craved adventure and wanted to see the world.  Jefferson, who had spent quite a few years as a portal jumper with the use of his magic hat, has most likely visited more realms in the multiverse than anyone else in the show.  So he’d be perfectly suited to be Belle’s personal guide to each and every one of those realms, giving her the world tour she’d always yearned for.  And then there’s Grace.  I think we all can agree that Grace is Jefferson’s top priority.  Can you imagine how much Jefferson would love to see Belle and Grace interact and bond?  Because it’s obvious they would.  Especially since they both know what it’s like to lose their mother through tragic circumstances.  Plus, both Jefferson and Belle are characters with a strong association with tea.  I cannot erase the mental image of all three of them sitting down to a tea party.

What makes me happy about them: That I can write about them.  Writing for this paring is almost as fun as writing about Captain Swan, my top OTP

What makes me sad about them: That this particular ship is so uncommon.  It’s rare to find another Mad Beauty shipper.  That and the fact that it will never be canon

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Well, there are very few Mad Beauty fics out there, so I suppose the lack of them counts as an annoyance.  Especially since most of the available ones seem more about Rumbelle, based on the fic summaries

Things I look for in fanfic: For it to actually exist (lol)

My wishlist: Don’t think I have one

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Not sure with Jefferson, since we hardly saw him interacting with anyone in canon, but Belle is my multi-ship.  I’d be happy to see her with anyone who deserves her, really  (Including Gold, as long as he actually got his act together first and quit being such a manipulative a-hole)

My happily ever after for them: Ah, but that would be a major spoiler for the fifth and final installment of my canon divergence series, wouldn’t it?

Thor-

How I feel about this character: Overall, I like him.  While I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite character, I’ve always enjoyed his presence.  He just strikes me as someone who’d be a lot of fun to be around

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Jane Foster.  And maybe Lady Sif as a ‘we dated as kids/teenagers but then broke up amicably’ kind of deal

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Loki and/or Valkyrie 

My unpopular opinion about this character: His intelligence seemed to be a bit inconsistent at times.  (Really, he knows about emails, but doesn’t know you need a computer to access them?)  It’s a bit frustrating, because he is clearly an intelligent man

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That he hadn’t broken up with Jane.  Whose bright idea was that?

Favorite friendship for this character: It’s a toss-up between Steve and Darcy Lewis

My crossover ship: Does paring him with Ororo Munro/Storm count as a crossover?  I mean, they’ve both technically Marvel characters, but so far, the X-Men aren’t a thing in the MCU

Send me a Number

[edmund-valks]

Ilandreline - Fun in the Sun

(( The Call - A Compound Beginning - Just One Cookie - Soul Food ))

Her limbs felt too heavy, her tongue too large for her mouth.  There was a mild sensation of having been sunburnt over her entire body -- kind of weird, that, given how she never went outside remotely close to naked -- but it probably wasn't life-threatening.  She was very, very thirsty, though.  "Water?"  Even croaking a single word was painful.  Hopefully there was someone around to hear.

For the moment, the only sounds Ila experienced were the dull roar of nothing, like the aftermath of being too close to an explosion.  Again, probably not life-threatening; she knew that sort of thing happened when you were certain kinds of unhealthy.  There was no doubt in her mind that she was in a state of dubious health after her long trip.  She was still piecing memories back together, but the muscle aches suggested she'd been overworking herself for days, possibly weeks.  "Fuhhnnng taimlayshn."  The words weren't quite as intended.  Close enough.

Something was in her mouth then.  Maybe a finger?  Hopefully not a dirty one.  Then a little liquid happened instead.  Water?  Water!  Or near-water; whatever it was felt like a cool drink but also burned all the way down.  Not like alcohol, either, like… cinnamon syrup?  Was that a thing?  She flinched as she swallowed, but the expression was hidden behind her goggles.

"-s that?"  Sound returned suddenly, crystallizing from the static.  "Are you still with us, mortal?  Can you hear me?"

Ilandreline forced her eyes open to slits.  The sky was overhead, viciously bright.  "Fuhhh," she growled, more by reflex than intention.  Her throat hurt, but speech was easier.  Whatever they'd given her was apparently helping.  "I… hear you.  Not dead.  Yet."  Was that a sigh of relief?  And was that some kind of whistling hoot?  Maybe her hearing wasn't totally back.

"Very good.  You did not arrive as expected.  We were very worried, especially as the darkness you emerged from continues to cling to your soul in… unusual ways."  The speaker had a lovely voice, rich and resonant and crystal-delicate.  "You were very lucky to arrive here at all.  How you even survived your journey… that is a tale I would be most interested to hear."

While her eyes slowly adjusted to the constant pain of ambient light, Ila made them focus on the speaker.  They -- she? -- was surprisingly blue, though otherwise humanoid if one ignored the bird wings.  She was wearing white and gold, both too bright to look directly at, in what appeared to be something she'd once heard described as a chiton.  Maybe.  Her knowledge of history was very good for a Glimmerbow child, but they were on the whole not great with the subject since most of their books were centuries out of date or first translations from other tongues.

"Luck," she forced out as her answer.  It wasn't even a lie.  "Nearly… didn't."  Something about all this brilliance made her suspect she shouldn't mention how much blood had been involved.  Or how much hadn't been her own.

She could see the drink now, tilted her head a bit to make it easier on her caretaker.  Whatever it was smelled… antiseptic.  Like viciously unforgiving essence of pine shoved into pure ethanol.  That explained the burning, at least.  Didn't clarify how or why she might actually feel better for having consumed it, but she'd settle for any answers.

After choking down the molten-gold elixir and weathering the unpleasantness of its effects, Ilandreline exhaled slowly.  Time to ask questions.  Almost time, rather; first she had to sit up.  Spots flared through her vision as she raised her head, even more when she propped herself up on her forearms.

"Don't-!"

She ignored the alarm, forcing her body increasingly upright until she was more or less sitting.  It still took both arms to stay there, but she could feel sensation returning to her fingertips.  Good enough.  "Thank you for… helping me."  That was a polite way to start, wasn't it?  "Would you mind telling me where I am, though?"

Shock registered on the azure face.  "You… you're in Bastion.  Home of the sworn and dedicated.  Realm of the Kyrian."  Something about Ila's expression must have shown her lack of understanding, because the winged woman rushed on.  "This is where souls go who will defend the Way and the Purpose, and shepherd others along their path to ascension."

"Uh.  Okay then."  Whatever that meant, it sounded very important to this blue person.  It also sounded like the opposite of a fun way to spend an afterlife.  "What if I don't know what any of that means?  Is that going to be a problem with my… being here?"

"Of course not."  She passed Ilandreline a fist-sized orange-skinned fruit.  "Here, if you can sit, you can eat.  Purian will restore what ambroria dew does not."

The spheroid looked good, but it tickled her nostrils with the faint scents of something left too long.  Slightly rotten, perhaps.  It wouldn't do to offend her host, though, especially when she'd arrived unannounced and mostly dead.  "Maybe… tell me about you and this, uh, Bastion stuff while I eat?"

"Oh, of course.  I am Trenasophe, a forgelite of the Kyrian."  She paused.  "Right, you don't know what that means.  I forget what it was like to be newly arrived here, for I've spent so long emptying myself of all that kept me bound.  Please, though, help yourself to food and drink while I explain."

Ilandreline has little interest in the goods on offer, though she forced herself to consume them.  Starving to death was not going to help anyone, even if having her insides lightly seared and filled with rotten fruit wasn't very fun.  Hopefully there were other dishes somewhere.  Meat would be good, even better if it wasn’t spoiled.

“The Kyrian are souls who serve the order of the Shadowlands and preserve it against those that would disrupt it.  This realm, Bastion, is where we live.  It is here we guide new aspirants on their journey to become what they were meant to be.  The way is rarely easy or swift, but little of value ever is.

“As a forgelite, my purpose is to build and maintain.  The things that surround, shelter, and guard us are not eternal, but with our efforts they will appear so for eternity.  We create and preserve, and what has been broken we seek to repair.  All things have their place in the Purpose, and it is the forgelites who guide them into shape.”

In an effort to ignore the protestations of her stomach, the elf gave these philosophical ramblings more attention than she normally would.  It didn’t make sense in the slightest, but again -- she was a guest.  Saying the whole system sounded like a load of post-processing guano would be the pinnacle of rudeness; she restrained herself to merely thinking it very loudly.  Perhaps the subject could be changed to something more interesting?  “I know some things about building, too.  What kind of stuff do you make?  Any fun machines?”

If she’d been worried there was no emotion among these creatures, that question put her concerns to rest.  Trenasophe’s lips turned up, parting into a grin.   The brightness of her teeth was only matched by the gleam in her eyes.  “I make everything,” she said with a breathlessness Ila could appreciate.  “I have learned what I did not already know and shed the bad habits learned in life.  From the most massive work of stone to clockwork so delicate I cannot hold the components in my own hands, I do it all.  Which is not to say that I have mastered them yet -- there is none among us who can match the Forgelite Prime -- but perhaps someday I will, if that is how I am allowed to serve.  Is that then why you are here?  You have come to trade your knowledge for ours?”

It was a very convenient answer.  She probably should have gone for it.  “Actually, no, I’m here because this is where the road I was on threw me out.  But that sure sounds like fun.  Maybe you can teach me anyway?”

“You… did not know where you would arrive?”

Ila laughed, immediately regretting it as the rawness of her throat flared up.  “I didn’t even know if I would arrive, much less where.  All I knew was I had a pretty good idea I could get to the Shadowlands if I traveled a certain way.  Pretty glad it worked, honestly, because otherwise I’d probably be dead.”

The Kyrian blinked twice.  “If you did not know that you would make it, nor did you know your likely destination, why did you come at all?  How does this fit in with your… purpose?”

“Oh, you know, normal mortal reasons.  My grandmother was concerned about the hole in the sky on our home plane, wanted to make sure the multiverse wasn’t unraveling.  She can’t really travel these days, so she sent me.”  She smugly bit into a new purian without thinking.  Not shrieking as she swallowed took all the effort she could muster.  Doing her best to ignore the sandpaper in her throat, Ilandreline forced a smile.  “We knew there was a thinness in one of the near-planes that had contact with the Shadowlands, so it was just a matter of getting to the right part and, you know, poking a little hole through.”

Trenasophe’s brow furrowed.  “You arrived through the remnants of a planar tear from one of the most devastating assaults Bastion has ever witnessed.  Some of our greatest still bear scars from that time.  How did you survive passing through such a place?”

Shit.  Okay, time to… not lie without being too honest, right?  “It… was pretty much empty when I went through.  Didn’t see a single living thing other than myself the whole time, unless you count the blood-plants.”

“Blood-plants?”

“Yeah, red spiky things, like an aloe, but they’re full of some kind of blood jelly.  They’re not good for much except hurting yourself.”

“I… see.”  She clearly did not, and Ila had no interest in pressing her about the fib.  “How long did your journey take?  You seemed close to death when you emerged.”

She shrugged.  “No idea.  Time doesn’t work right in that place.  I thought I had enough food and water for, like, a week?  Ran out of food real fast, then water a little later, and am not exactly sure I slept other than that one time with the cookie.”

Again the Kyrian made a noise of acknowledgement without understanding.  Ilandreline hurried on before too much thinking happened.  “Anyway, thanks for helping me out.  Really appreciate it, you know, and I’d love to talk about building things just as soon as I pass out for, I don’t know, a month.”

That much Trenasophe did understand.  She smiled, rested a large hand on the elf’s shoulder.  “Yes, rest seems quite reasonable, even if your estimate of the duration is clear hyperbole.  My steward and I shall watch over you, ensure your needs are met.  All I ask in return at this moment is a name to call you by.”

“Vondariel,” she said with a smile.  Nobody outside her family knew her sister’s name -- well, maybe Miss Winford did, but good luck getting anything from her -- so it seemed a safe one to steal.  “But you can call me Von if that’s easier.”

A nod.  “Very well, Von.  Sleep in peace, knowing you are safe at last.  I look forward to helping you achieve your purpose.”

Nothing ominous about that…  Ilandreline’s eyes closed against the awful brilliance, her recuperating body descending into unconsciousness as soon as it was horizontal.

[endless-vall]

A long forgotten proposal - Kenna & Raydan fanfic

Summary: After years of being married, Raydan and Kenna think back at a night that happened a long time ago. Raydan reveals something that Kenna has long forgotten had happened. Author’s note: This is set, in my headcanon, after Kenna and Raydan have 3 kids, and the memory is set back in the start/middle of book three, just right after the gang saves Dom and Anton from Hex’s imprisonment. @coffeandcheese replied to my last fanfic, and mentioned ‘what if Raydan proposed to Kenna?’ And while we know that Raydan won’t dare propose to a queen, that’s why I’ve chosen this specific setting for the story. Also, I can’t recall who pointed out to me a while ago, that in book three, Raydan and Kenna barely/don’t flirt - especially in the beginning to middle of it, so I’ve decided this will be the perfect opportunity to change that.

“Do you remember?” Raydan had questioned, a peacefully lying Kenna. Kenna laid in bed, her head on his chest, rising and falling with each breath he took. They both were naked, body and soul. “Remember?” She asked, confused. “That night at the tavern.” He told her, shutting his eyes close. Not because he was going to sleep, but because he could clearly imagine that time when he closed his eyes. “Which night…?” Kenna was still clueless, but her voice was soft and alluring. Raydan opened his eyes, looking back at her. “When I proposed.”

A late night at a tavern, the gang had found it during their journeys. The dangers of Iron Empire still floating around them. Kenna, Val, Jackson, Annelyse, Dom, Sei, Anton and Raydan, all marched into the bar, and bought some drinks. It was a rare occasion, where Raydan, too, had a drink. Or rather, let himself actually get drunk. He still was sober enough to observe any potential enemies, but – admittedly, he might’ve not been able to stop them in time. Good thing Jackson had only had a few drinks, and stayed on guard. “Raydan, tell me…” Kenna leaned on his shoulder, her weight defiantly shifted all over to him, making him realize just how drunk she was. Obviously, it wasn’t the same deal as him - Kenna was wasted. “Anything, my queen…” He answered, when he noticed she waited for his response to continue. No one at the tavern seemed to recognize them, and that was a good thing. They didn’t dress up as the knights, royals, and warriors that they usually were, but just as regular, ‘peasants’ would. “If I wasn’t queen, and you weren’t my spymaster, what would we do?” She looked deeply into his eyes. She looked hazy, but her big, innocent eyes were eager to hear his honest answer. “That’s…” Her question had caught him off guard. It’s not that he had never thought of that. About how their lives would be different if they were just simple, ordinary people. But he never let himself dwell on that. They could never have that… He could never have that – her. “Not that simple, I know… But tell me.” She said, in a tone that was half commanding, half begging him. “I’d swift you away – from all of this. I’d take you on my arms and we’d elope.” The answer was so simple, and yet so difficult all at the same time. They weren’t those kind of people, to see distress and look the other way. Even if they were simple people, they’d probably get involved. They’d save who they can, and die protecting those they can’t. But this fantasy… it was nice. Comforting. “Elope?” Kenna asked, blinking at him. “Tell me more.” Something in her tone told him she thought exactly the same like him. A faint smile on her lips, but the realization reality will always stand in their way. “We’d get married, of course.” Raydan dared to flash a smile. “We’d live in a village in the far side of the kingdom, and raise our four kids in peace and quiet. Not even death would tear us apart…” He trailed off, drawing circles with his fingers on her skin, barely touching. “Married, huh?” Kenna teased, but she was smiling at him with big, bright eyes, and clutching to his shoulder, like she’d never let go. “If you’d like, that is.” Raydan bit his lip. “Why? Are you proposing?” She asked, again with that teasing tone, batting an eyebrow at him. “Kenna…” It started to sound real. Too real. And Raydan knew he could never have that. “Raydan…” She held his gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes for long moment, before Raydan downed another drink. Gathering up his courage, he figured something out. While he could never dream to have her, any other day… Today, was different. Today, he could. Just for this moment, she was his. “Kenna,” He took her hands in his, giving them a brief kiss - a light touch of his lips. Kenna beamed at him. It’s a good thing they were sitting slightly afar from the gang, out of their hearing range, that’s for sure, since they’d probably not approve of what Raydan was about to do. Especially not Jackson, at the least. “Will you marry me?” It was harder to get those words out than Raydan thought it would,  but that’s just because it was everything Raydan had ever wanted, and couldn’t have. But looking back at Kenna, at how happy it made her feel, a sense of pure happiness and proudness surrounded Raydan’s heart. It was worth it. “Yes.” Her answer was clear. “A million times yes.” She repeated, and they met halfway in a passionate kiss.

Kenna blinked at him, listening carefully to his story. “I…” She considered. “I remember that night… But just parts of it… We got so drunk.” Kenna bit her bottom lip. “That’s okay.” Raydan assured her. It was better this way. Not to mention how their lives had changed since then. They were now actually married, with three wonderful kids. There was peace between the kingdoms of the realm and they couldn’t be happier. “I…” Kenna looked like she was searching in the back of her mind. “I think I remember…” Kenna looked back at him. “How happy you made me feel that night. While I don’t remember your words, they make sense.” Kenna tells him, blushing slightly. “They do?” He asks, quite surprised. “I felt a lot more confident, stronger, and hopeful after that night at the tavern. Like I could do anything. Like I had to do everything… So one day…” She explained, placing her hand over his heart. “Our silly fantasy would become reality?” Raydan asked, completing her sentence. Kenna nodded. “Something like that.” She tells him. She didn’t even knew, but still… had felt it. Raydan steps off the bed, leaving Kenna puzzled for a moment. He pulls up his trousers and turns to his nightstand.  “I couldn’t have given you a ring back then…” He tells her. “Rayadn, you don’t have to-“ She started assuring him just as he got a box out of his nightstand drawer. “This belonged to my mother,” He told her, making her stop in her tracks. She sat on the edge of their bed, their silk blanket wrapped around her body gracefully, as he opened the beautiful box – that featured an even more beautiful ring inside of her. A ring that looked old, but not stale. Made of gold, with four ruby stones, that formed the petals of a plant, and glistened in the the dim moonlight that entered their bed chambers. “Raydan, it’s beautiful…” Kenna commented, not believing her eyes. She was in awe. “After Anthos was born, me and Adder finally talked about our mother…” Kenna knew this, he had told her. “Apparently she knew where it was all this time. She said it wasn’t easy retrieving this, but you deserve everything. Kenna… I want you to have this ring, the ring I couldn’t give you back then. Will you accept it?” His eyes sparkled, as he looked at her. “A million times yes.” She made her point clear, smiling from ear to ear. A sigh of relief escaped Raydan’s mouth, as he slid the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. Like it was always meant to be. Kenna stood up, greeting him with another, passionate, continual kiss. He couldn’t help but oblige, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her upwards. She wrapped her hands around his neck, feeling content. “What is it?” He asked, when she started giggling into the kiss. “You said something about four wonderful kids… We only have three.” Kenna noted. “Maybe it’s time we started working on the fourth one, then,” He charged into her, making both fall into the bed. Raydan started trailing kisses down alongside her neck, as Kenna giggled in complete bliss.

[proudtoehaver]

Ancient Mysteries

Summary: Finn Stormbreaker, apprentice to the Arch Mage Luke Skywalker, is presented with a mystery by his master.

A/N: Just a short fantasy AU that popped into my head today. Probably won't be any longer than this. Or maybe it will

Can be read on AO3.

Finn raises his hand and knocks on the heavy, wooden door to master Skywalker's study feeling that mix of excitement and trepidation he always did when entering his master's study.  

It doesn't matter that he has been his apprentice for the better part of a decade now, that feeling has never changed and Finn doubts it ever will. There is always an ambience of barely tamed power around the man that is unsettling to most and Finn knows that even if the other masters in Mage Hold respects and revers their leader, they also deep-down fear him and what he might do should the full extent of the man's power one day be unleashed.

And Finn? He better than any in the Hold knows the strength that lies tamed by a gentle heart, has seen it up close, but the trepidation he always feels has little to do with Skywalker's strength. No, it is rooted in the kinship he feels with the man, a kinship that he knows his master returns. He too carries more strength than any other apprentice of his age, a fact that causes unease among his peers and wariness among the other masters. Had Skywalker not decide to take him on as his personal apprentice, Finn isn't sure what his life in the Hold would have been like.

He sighs and pushes the thought away; such speculations are pointless and will lead him nowhere.

Raising his fist, he knocks again, louder this time.

"Enter." Skywalker's voice is vague and muffled, clearly the man is not in the parlor just beyond.

Opening the door Finn steps into the sparsely decorated room.

"You wanted to see me master?" he calls out.

"Yes, come on in here." Skywalker's voice come from his small, private library.

Where the parlor's furniture is sparse, the room almost barren in appearance, the library is overflowing. Every shelf is stuffed with books and scrolls, the long table along the outer wall, just beneath the tall windows, is filled with parchments and contraptions. At one end stands his master, bend over something lying on a piece of velvet.

The man looks as he always does. Long blond hair and beard gone grey early and the parts that had been grey when Finn first met him are now white. He's dressed in simple dark grey tunic and trousers, rather than the elaborate robes many of the other masters affect, a mode of dress Finn has adopted as well, and his metal hand – a construct of magic and ore – is ungloved as it always is when they're in private.

"Come here young Stormbreaker and tell me what you think of this?"

Finn gives a bemused smile at the epithet, as well earned as that name is it is also another reminder of how different he is. No other apprentice carries one and its origin a story that is told among the other apprentices, a story Finn wishes would die down.

If Skywalker notices the smile he gives no indication, but waves the young man over.

Finn studies the object that lies on top the green cloth closely. It's a piece of flat, blank, reflective material, jagged breaks on one side, the other one curved and with an inch-wide edge of silver running along it. The silver is bright and untarnished, but the patterns edged into the surface looks worn away as if with great age. But above all else Finn can feel the lingering power from the object, though broken and useless now it once held great magic.

He briefly glances away from it to Skywalker.

"A magical mirror? Or, the corner piece of one?"

"Most likely. What else can you tell me?"

Finn returns his attention to the broken mirror, bending over it and squinting at the edgings in the silver's surface. Careful not to touch it, lest his touch trigger the lingering magic, he traces the curves of the delicate scripts, their form shaping themselves into something familiar to him.

"Is that... Mindae?" he asks.

"Perhaps, you tell me. You can read it after all."

"It, looks like it, but then again not quite. Can I borrow..." His voice trails off as he reaches for a coal stencil and notebook. Slow and methodical he tries to recreate the edgings on the page of the notebook.

"No, it's not. It's Sh'mra. But that tongue died out over two millennia" Finn looks slowly from his notes to Skywalker. "Where did you get this?"

"My niece. Rey knows I'm interested anything from Caarian era, especially from the western realms. She send me this a couple of weeks ago, so far I've been able to make little of it. I was hoping your expertise with ancient tongues could help."

"I'm afraid I can't help much. The writing is too faded to make out what most of it is supposed to say and what I can read makes little sense. I can make out the phrase for mountains and two words usually connected to words for seeing or discerning, but I can find no terms for that which are legible. Or hinted at in the illegible parts."

Finn makes a face.

"Sorry," he says. "Have you tested what powers it may have held?"

"Yes, but I'm not adverse to a second opinion. But I advise caution, I had quite a surprise when I tried. It might sting."

Skywalker steps back and gestures towards the broken mirror.

Putting down book and stencil Finn takes a deep breath and focuses his mind. Holding out one hand over the mirror fragment he probes gently at the lingering magic, heeding Skywalker's warning. He has barely brushed against its surface when he feels a sharp sting, like the jab of several blades.

Even prepared Finn recoils with a sharp gasp and almost retreats, but stubborn curiosity wins out. It is rare to find magic this old, even in this broken form and he wants as closer look if at all possible. Direct study is obviously out of the question, but maybe he can edge his way in.

Most likely the mirror surface itself had been the main part of this object's magic, so if he focuses on the silver edge.

There are traces there, of something airy and light, the hallmark of scrying magic, but also the smell of snow and frost. Strange, scrying spells almost never carries scents with them but rather focuses on sight and sometimes sounds. The only thing that would was-

He opens his eyes and looks directly at Skywalker.

"It was a portal."

"You're certain?" the older man asks, though Finn can see in his eyes that Skywalker had reached the same conclusion.

"Certain, no. But it all makes sense. Something relating to distance and scrying, but that isn't actually scrying. I was a portal." He looks at the mirror piece again. "But it must have been tiny. Nothing larger than a house cat would have been able to fit through it unless it had some very strange proportions. Who would expend the energy and effort, to make a permanent portal that small?"

"My thoughts exactly and a very good question."

"So what do we do next?"

"A journey I think."

"A journey?"

"Yes, we can learn nothing more from the object itself at the moment, so I suggest we find out more about its origin instead. And for that we'd need to go to Silverbridge and talk to Rey and the libraries there hold more on the ancient realm this undoubtedly came from than any of ours would."

"The capital? We?" Finn asks perplexed.

Ever since he became apprenticed to Mage Hold a decade ago, he had never been more than a few day's journey from it, excluding his visits to his family. And before that he had only seen the vicinity of his family's small town further north. Silverbridge, the capital of Levaron, was several weeks travel on horseback, further than he'd ever been.

"Yes. It's time you start interacting with the wider realm as a mage, learn what that entails."

"I'm not a mage yet," Finn reminds him.

"You soon will be. The time of your testing draws near." Skywalker sighs. "Perhaps I should have done this sooner, but I didn't want to interrupt your studies too much and you seemed to be content in the hold. But it is far past time you get to know the wider realm. You'll be using your powers to protect Levaron soon, you'll need to know what it is you're protecting. And what you're protecting it from."

The last sentence sounds ominous in Finn's ears but before he can ask his master what he means by it, Skywalker claps one hand on his shoulder.

"Go pack, Finn. We'll be leaving at midday."

"Yes, master Skywalker," Finn says as he bows crisply.

"Meet me at the stables when you're done packing," Skywalker calls after him as he leaves.

Finn calls back an affirmative as he exits his master's rooms.  

His head is filled with thoughts as he heads back to his quarters to pack. Most of them are practical, related to what he needs to bring for such a long journey, but beneath it all hums a fanciful song.  

Silverbridge, capital of the realm of Levaron, a crossroad for trade and a center of learning. And once also a focal point for sorcerers, before the Mage Hold was moved to the eastern mountains.

The knowledge that he's finally going to see the city with his own eyes, walk its streets, makes Finn grin widely as he walks. He even forgets the mystery of the ancient mirror for the time being, his head instead filled with thoughts of a walled city and its mystical silver bridge.

[yuniesan]

Heroes of Tomorrow, Heroes of Today (STONY/RUCAS AU) - Chapter Four

Heroes of Tomorrow, Heroes of Today

Synopsis: Riley is the daughter of Tony Stark, but no one knows who she is. Her life has been a lie for her own protection, so when she strikes a deal with her father in six months the world would know. How hard can that be? Well when you’re going to a school where your teachers had once betrayed him, and the one guy you might like hates your father, well everything just becomes a complicated mess.

Or How I mixed two of my favorite universes and made Tony Stark a better father than his own father ever was.

[Previous Chapters]

A/N: Back to writing, this fic is going to be a long one, I swear it’s so slow build, and for some reason I’m contemplating things on the relationships between some of these characters..... Mainly a specific pair... no Spoilers I swear. If you’re desperate to know who send me a message.

Chapter Four – Small Steps are better than none taken

 Steve is a light sleeper, the smallest of movements would wake him up. He blamed the seventy-year nap for this because he was always afraid of sleeping for too long. The serum made sure that he needed as little sleep as possible but it didn’t stop him from being afraid of closing his eyes. During the time he had been on the run from the government and the Accords he barely slept, the fear of being caught rained down on his thoughts. There was also the occasional nightmare that had plagued him since his fight with Tony. He hadn’t thought about it when they were fighting because he wanted to stop Bucky from being hurt but in the end after he had left the other man in a Siberian facility it plagued him. The thought that he could have killed Tony, and he had been worried for days until the man had shown up on television.

The letter the stupid letter, was more for him to ease his guilt than for Tony himself, he knew it was a shoddy attempt at an apology, and they never used the phone until it had been absolutely necessary but in the end the guilt had stayed with him. He watched the news constantly looking for signs of Iron Man, or of Tony. The guilt kept building as he realized that the Avengers had followed him, Thor had his own battle in New York, but that was the extent of what he had seen of the man until they were battling Thanos and his armies, him and Banner had been in another realm while Steve had fought in the Civil War as it had been dubbed.

No one had stayed with Tony, except for Spiderman, and Colonel Rhodes who had been battling his own injuries from the fight at the airport. Steve’s beard itched, but he didn’t shave, he was no longer the clean cut Captain America, time had changed that. He knew he had an early morning class but sleep alluded him that night. How can someone possibly lead a group of kids into the Avengers, or SHIELD if he still didn’t have his confidence back. When he finally fell asleep it was close to two in the morning and he had just passed out from exhaustion.

The bed jostled as someone dropped themselves on it making Steve jump and grab the person thinking they were trying to attack him only to find his face full of hair and a metal arm prying him away. Natasha sat at the edge of the bed he hair tied back as she drank a bottle of water.

“You know if you don’t wake up for your early morning run people worry,” she said smiling. “Tough night?”

“Just the same old dreams, sorry I didn’t meet up with you guys,” he said looking at the clock as it signaled the time. It was six in the morning he had only gotten four hours of sleep.

“It rare for you not to be up at the crack of dawn annoying us into keeping up with you,” Bucky said next to him. “Although if you were going to attack me just because I jumped on the bed I would have tried something different.”

“I told you not to jump on the bed but you wouldn’t listen to me,” Natasha said smiling at him. “Anyway, we were talk to Stark last night.”

Steve’s eyes jumped between the two of them trying to figure out what they could have talked with Tony. He couldn’t formulate the words that were running through his head, he thought they had resolved everything with their earlier talk but he thought about his conversation afterwards with Bucky and Sam and he knew there was so much more they needed to talk about.

“Steve, he’s moving forward with all of this, and as much as I love you guys, I think he’s right. Families fight, that’s what he said, and we’re all a big albeit slightly dysfunctional family, and so we fought now it’s time to move forward,” she said looking at him with sadness in her eyes.

“I just want to go back and change everything that happened, but it’s not possible,” he said trying to keep himself from looking down. He could face a million bullies and try to save everyone but when it came to his feelings and his mistakes he felt as if he were incompetent.

“Stevie, you can’t bring the past back, but you can try and change the present,” Bucky said to him. “Talk to him, actually talk to the man because next time you try to drag everyone into a war for the sake of saving someone I’m going to kick you in the balls as Nat watches.”

“That was very graphic,” he said smiling at his friend. “Come on let’s get ready to teach the future of our world.”

“I still can’t believe you volunteered us for this,” Bucky said as he jumped off the bed. “I never saw myself as a teacher.”

“You are more of a people person than most so it could be good for you,” Natasha said smiling as she rubbed Bucky’s back.

Steve knew it was sweet for the two of them, he knew they’ve had something for one another for a while but he didn’t pry, it was time to let Bucky live his life and for Steve to stop interfering. It was also time for him to forgive himself and maybe try to get his life in order especially when it came to Tony.

“When you get the chance you should probably also thank whoever it was that convinced Stark to move forward instead of dwelling on the past,” Bucky said as he was walking out of the room.

Steve looked at him confused for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“He means that there’s someone in Tony’s life that’s making him see clearly, and pushing him to realize that families no matter how much they fight, will always come back together,” Natasha said smiling. “That’s how we found out that he was truly forgiving us, there’s someone in his life that’s changing him or maybe they had always been there and we never noticed.”

For some reason the thought that someone else was around Tony to the point that they could truly change him, made Steve feel like he had lost something. What could he lose with a person he had fought with?

“Don’t over think it,” Bucky said. “For all you know it could be one of those kids that’s always hanging around him. He has somehow created a family for himself, even Vision protects him now, so in the end they’re all changing him.”

“That could be it,” Steve said thinking about his own fractured relationship with the genius inventor. “I have misjudged him a lot over the years, maybe it’s time that I start over with him.”

“That would be a good idea,” Bucky said before he dragged Natasha out of the room.

Starting over, was a great idea, he just needed to figure out how to start.

Waking up before seven in the morning was something Lucas wasn’t very fond of, mainly because his friends were night owls and usually worked until late at night. He was usually up with them helping with whatever project they needed to do. The three of them hadn’t foreseen the fact that their first class was at nine in the morning, and breakfast would only be served to the students from seven until eight. The first class was a training course, and it was a mandatory class, but they also wanted to make sure that none of them puked their guts out.

“Why is the sun so bright,” Farkle said as they walked towards the dining hall.

“Shhh, don’t talk too much,” Isadora said to them.

Lucas couldn’t help but laugh, he didn’t care if he was tired because of who was teaching their first class. The excitement could keep him going until he passed out. He steered his friends towards the doors and pushed them towards the line for food. The two geniuses groaning as they moved along. As they set their trays down on their table he went off to look for some drinks only to bump into someone who easily towered over him. When Lucas looked up he came face to face with his hero not realizing that he was now covered in hot coffee. It took Lucas a whole minute to react to the burning sensation on his chest.

“Sorry kid, are you alright?” Captain America asked and all Lucas could do was nod at the man. “Make sure you get cleaned up before class, and check for burns.”

Lucas still couldn’t say a word and he started to realize that this was not how he imagined their first meeting to go. Even at Aunt Peggy’s funeral he hadn’t really had the chance to talk to the man, but now as he faced him he realized that he was losing momentum.

“Lucas are you alright?” a familiar voice said as his cousin walked up to him. “Steve I’m so sorry about this, Lucas is normally very well he’s talkative but you’re his idol so he’s probably just star struck.”

“Thanks a lot Sharon,” Lucas mumbled as he turned around and grabbed a napkin from his plate.

“Ah he speaks,” she said smiling. “Anyway, Steve this is my cousin Lucas Friar, Lucas meet Steve Rogers.”

“It’s nice to meet you sir,” he said sticking his hand out. “I’ve heard so much about you from Sharon and Aunt Peggy, so this is… well it’s really a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Lucas,” Captain America said, making Lucas want to jump for joy because his idol said his name. “I have to go prep the training area so I’ll see you both later.”

As soon as the man walked away Sharon slapped Lucas on the shoulder. “Very smooth there cuz, you meet your idol and you freeze up.”

“Yeah well no one can be entirely perfect,” he said smiling. “But it’s something great.”

“Yeah except the people in our family don’t get star struck, we are people of action, and Aunt Peggy would be mortified if she saw what you did.”

“No she won’t, she told me about the day he became Captain America, the woman touched his chest the minute he came out of that machine.”

The two of them started laughing the moment the words were out of his mouth, when it came to Captain America there were no bigger fans than the Carter Family, and Lucas would never count Stark in that, no matter what people said.

He went back to the table with drinks for him and his friends as he saw the two of them sleeping on their trays. They hadn’t seen what had happened but he knew that the moment they heard about it they would laugh in his face because he was supposed to be a cool and calm one and the first thing he did was freeze up and stutter.

“Wake up sleepyheads,” he said shaking them awake. “I brought coffee, and we have to eat and get changed for class, and I know how much you two like to learn.”

Farkle grumbled as he lifted his head. “It’s not learning, we’re training, as in sports and I’m terrible at sports.”

Isadora only took the cup of coffee before inhaling it in one go, if there was anything that his friends needed in the morning was a decent size cup of coffee and a math book to argue over.

It took another two cups of coffee before they were fully awake and then they all dug into their food before heading back to their dorms to change into their training clothes. All of their school outfits were issued by SHEILD, outside of school hours they were allowed to wear their regular clothes but once on campus they needed to be in their gear. When Isadora and Farkle heard about it they tested the material to see why only to find out that there was a thin layer of bullet proof material, and the fabric was fireproof. They liked that the gear was meant to protect them, but in the end their training clothes weren’t as sturdy.

On the way to the training hall Lucas saw the girl again, she was surrounded by three guys and smiling at them. One of them looked like he wanted to run the other way, while the other three were dragging him along laughing. Lucas couldn’t understand why he couldn’t talk to this girl and apologize, he couldn’t understand why it got under his skin that he had messed up and couldn’t fix it at all. Since they were all going to the same place maybe he’d get the chance to fix their relationship, or at least get a second chance at a first meeting.

Early mornings weren’t her thing, but since her father had to be up this early she wasn’t going to complain, so after two very strong cups of coffee, and some mini cinnamon rolls that Vision made for them Riley and Peter were off to school. They make their way through the woods, Riley on her bike and Peter using his web shooters, every once and in a while he made his way back to Riley to keep her company.

“This is so cool,” he said although they were dressed in their normal SHIELD issued gear, both of them were trying really hard not to tear them.

She knew her father had designed the suits, he wanted nothing but the best protection for his kid, as well as the kids at the school. The fabric was breathable, and light. He had told her that it was what he had used on the Avengers when they were a team. So much work he had put into his team for it to blow up in his face later on, but Riley knew that trying to piece back together his Avenger’s family would make him happy. She didn’t like the hurt looks on her father’s face, because it hurt her as well.

“Peter be careful not to hit a tree,” she yelled out after him.

“Oh please, I can do this in my…” he stopped as he actually hit a tree and a bird’s nest landed on his head.

“Told you, they’re a lot closer back here,” she said trying not to laugh but failing.

“Gross, I have bird feathers in my mouth, this would never have happened if I was allowed to wear my Spiderman suit to school.”

“Yeah well dad said no one is allowed to know you’re Spiderman yet,” she said as they made it pass the small hill behind the school. She slid to a stop in front of the bike rack as Peter pulled feathers out of his hair.

Riley pulled out a bottle of mouthwash she carried around, normally for after lunch because braces when she was in middle school made her a stickler for fresh breath and not having food stuck to her teeth. She handed it to him and chained up her bike.

“Thanks,” he said as he handed the bottle back to her.

“Keep it, I’ll get another one, plus I don’t want you to give me the bird flu from you rinsing your mouth out with my mouthwash.”

Before Peter could make a remark Zay and Ned stepped out of a car driven by her Uncle Rhodey, she smiled and waved at the man.

“Be good in school kids, I’ll see you guys later,” he said before driving off.

“He has to be in Washington today,” Zay said as he pulled the collar of his uniform. “He also came home last night laughing about someone freaking out about his daughter being alone in a room with boys.”

Riley could feel her face burn, “We were just in the workshop, geez my dad is going to freak out about everything.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that all of your closest friends are guys,” Ned said laughing with Zay.

“Maybe you should find some girls to be friends with to keep him from freaking out?” Zay said once the laughter died down.

Riley sighed knowing that maybe she needed that but since no one knew who she really was, it was difficult to make friends and bring them over.

“Come on boys’ time for training,” she said as they started walking towards the building. Ned groaned and she knew it was because he was the least athletic one. Zay ran track when he was at their prep school, she had boxing training with Happy over the years, and well Peter was Spiderman.

“Don’t worry you’ll be fine,” Peter said as the dragged Ned along. “Nothing will go wrong, and maybe you could build up enough muscle that you could become like the Hulk.”

“Ned Hulk is brave,” Zay said in a Hulk voice.

“Ned Hulk is strong,” Peter joined.

All Riley could do was smiled and drag Ned along towards the building. The boys started laughing after a while which only made her laugh as well.

The training hall was huge, so when they walked in the group separated and Riley went into the girl’s locker room to change into her training gear. The class was made up of guys and girls but in the end there were more guys in the class, so the girl’s locker room had only fourteen girls changing. She knew her father wanted to keep it even but it was rare for parents to be alright with their daughters joining a super-secret organization.

Riley’s locker was next to another brunette girl’s who looked like she needed another cup of caffeine to function.

“Hi,” Riley said as she stored her stuff inside and began changing.

“Don’t tell me you’re a morning person?” the girl said squinting before she put on a pair of glasses.

“Not really but my dad buys really good coffee so I had several cups this morning,” Riley said smiling.

“I need more coffee.”

Riley pulled out a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans she got from Vision as a thank you not too long ago. He had wanted advice on where to travel and she told him where he should go, especially since Riley knew that it involved a certain girl. He maybe an android but he was learning about all kinds of things including human relationships.

“Here,” she said handing the girl a handful of beans. “Their chocolate covered coffee beans, and the chocolate is laced with coffee. I got it from a friend who had traveled to Europe, and I don’t mind sharing.”

The girl looked at her for a moment before taking the candy and shoving it in her mouth, chewing blissfully as the chocolate melted in her mouth. Riley ate some before storing the rest of the bag.

“You’re a goddess I swear,” the girl said before sticking out her hand. “I’m Isadora Smackle.”

“Riley Matthews,” she answered with a smile. Saying the last name hurt sometimes but she was happy to have made a friend so easily. “So what brings you to this school?”

“I have these two guy friends, one is super athletic, and the other is a science nerd, I’m more of a computer nerd, but it doesn’t matter because we’re going to rule the world. How about you?”

“Well, I blew up a science lab, and one of my dad’s friends recommended this place, plus my guy friends are here too,” she smiled.

“You blew up a science lab,” Isadora said in awe. “Wait I heard about this but I thought it was a myth. It makes sense now, and we’re both surrounded by guys, so I guess this means we were meant to be friends to balance that part of our lives out.”

Riley couldn’t help but laugh, she had become a legend in other schools for trying to figure out a formula, but the story everyone else said had turned out differently, to everyone else they thought that she did it to get out of class. Which was a lie, especially since she had finished all of her school work up until senior year when she was in middle school. Her father wanted her to have a normal life so he didn’t pressure her to go to college early, even though she did have a Bachelor’s already through correspondence, well actually it’s three Bachelor’s degrees, but what could you expect from Tony Stark’s kid.

Their teammate assignments were on the door by the entrance to the training hall, and the two girls saw that they had been paired together. They had laughed it off as they walked into the hall and lined up. That’s where she saw him, the kid that she had almost hit with her bike, she didn’t know how to feel about him since he had yelled at her on the first day, but instead she decided to take her own advice and let go. If her father had to do it she would do it as well.

“Good morning,” a loud booming voice said. Riley turned to see who her instructors would be, her father had said that the class would be led by Captain America and some of the Avengers.

It was a way for the team to bond with the new students. Now she saw Agent 13, Sharon Carter, standing next to Sam Wilson, the Falcon. Steve Rogers at the center, with Natasha Romanov also known as Black Widow and James Barnes, The Winter Soldier on his other side. The metal arm on the Barnes fascinated her, mainly because her father had designed it as a peace offering, she remembered him agonizing over it for months, mainly because this was also the man who had killed her grandmother. Suddenly forgiveness had become her mantra, he hadn’t known who he was, it was Hydra that had made him do it.

“As you know, this class is set up to test your physical capabilities, but also to increase your stamina,” Rogers said as Riley attempted to reconcile the fact that her two worlds were colliding in front of her without anyone but Peter, Zay and Ned knowing.

“You have all been paired off, and each pair has been assigned to a team, one team is going to be led by Natasha Romanov along with James Barnes, the other with Sharon Carter and Sam Wilson. Your team assignments were listen with the numbers one or two on the roster that was inside of the locker rooms. Team one will go with Romanov and Barnes, Team two will go with Carter and Wilson.”

Riley felt like her heart had stopped for a moment before Isadora was pulling her towards team one. She was lucky because her friends were all standing there waiting for her, but the worried look on their faces meant that they understood her hesitation. She now had to learn to work with the man who had killed her grandparents, and although she wanted to exercise forgiveness she was also afraid that the two assassins would be able to uncover who she really was. Peter squeezed her shoulder as they walked forward. It was his way of saying that everything was going to be fine, of course it was she had Spiderman on her team, and friends who would do anything for her.

“Alright for the next few minutes get to know your team, they’re vital into how you survive the training, they will become your family, your leaders are like your parents,” Rogers continued.

Everyone nodded as the teams were lead to different sides of the training hall, they had been given the time to talk to one another. Riley jumped when someone touched her shoulder only to turn around and come face to face with the boy from the first day of school. Isadora stood at his side and a blonde boy on the other.

“Hi I’m Lucas,” he said smiling slightly at her. “I wanted to say sorry for what happened yesterday, I didn’t know you were a student here.”

Riley sighed for a moment before looking up at him. “I’m Riley, and sorry for almost running you over with my bike.”

The two of them laughed for a moment, their friends looking at them confused before they went on to explain what happened. Riley learned that the other boy was the one that Isadora was talking about, a science nerd.

“I’m Farkle,” he said introducing himself. “Isadora says you’re the legend that blew up the science lab at that prep school.”

“Guilty,” she said smiling.  

The group shook hands with one another as they all introduced themselves, no one but Riley, Ned and Zay knew that Peter was Spiderman, his identity was a secret as much as Riley’s was. Once they were done with introductions the group started running laps, Riley started feeling lighter for a moment. The Winter Soldier wasn’t the same person who had killed her grandparents, she needed to let go of that part of her father’s misery. He was her instructor, and a part of the family she was trying to piece back together for her father.

Family that needed to take small steps in order to become whole once again.

It was almost one in the afternoon when Tony realized he hadn’t eaten anything except cinnamon rolls, Vision was working along with him on the paperwork for various missions that needed to happen in the upcoming weeks. The android was good at keeping up with the sheer amount of things that Tony could easily miss, especially since he hated paperwork. But Vision was also helping him keep the secret of his daughter’s identity while also keeping a close watch on Riley. Every once and a while he would leave and check up on the training session that had started early in the day. They were training the kids on everything from boosting stamina to being spies, he knew it was strange but for some reason it felt like home to be surrounded by all of this cloak and dagger stuff.

The students had regular classes in the afternoon, some were allowed to go to the previous schools if they didn’t want to take the classes on campus. Peter was alternating between the two along with Ned, with special permission. Zay and Riley were both going to be full time students, he had wanted his daughter to have a normal childhood and somehow got her invited into a spy school.

“How about some lunch?” Vision asked looking at him closely. “It seems as though your levels are dropping.”

“Let’s go eat with the kids,” he said smiling. He knew he couldn’t really have lunch with his daughter but being close to her would be alright. She was his anchor through all of the madness in his life so of course he needed to lean on her even now. When they reached the dining hall he looked around and saw the students all talking about their first day, it was nice to see something so normal after a morning of paperwork. He grabbed a cup of coffee and walked around for a moment listening to them and introducing himself to the tables of students.

Spotting Riley at a far table with Ned, Zay and Peter he made his way over to say hello like he had to all of the other tables. He didn’t want it to seem suspicious if he had only gone to see her and no one else. When he walked over he smiled at the group as they stopped talking.

“How was your first training session?” he asked them, it felt normal to ask.

“Good Mr. Stark,” Peter answered smiling while Ned groaned into the table.

“That’s good,” he said smiling at Riley who smiled back. As he introduced himself to the table one of the guys looked at him and glared which only made him skeptical about being so close to the teenagers he already knew. “Well I’ll let you all get back to your lunch, it was nice meeting you.”

He walked off wondering why the green eyed teen glared at him, and he knew he would have to ask Riley about it later. He made his way to a table as Vision set down a tray for him, he sat down and sighed.

“You should probably eat that,” Steve said as he sat down in front of Tony.

“Well we wouldn’t want to disappoint Vision since he wanted to make sure I ate something,” he said smiling.

“Listen Tony,” Steve said looking directly at him. Tony couldn’t figure out where to look, the man’s eyes were as blue as the ocean and sometimes he swore that he could drown from looking at them. They mesmerized him in some way but he couldn’t figure out why. “I talked to Nat and Buck and they told me about the conversation you had last night. I know it’s hard to let go, but… well thanks for trying.”

Tony shook his head to bring himself back to the present. “Don’t worry about it, I know I had to learn to let go, and it took one very headstrong person to force me into it, even though I was being stubborn about it.”

“Hearing you say that reminds me of Peggy in a way,” Steve said smiling. “I would like to meet this person one day.”

At the mention of Peggy, Tony couldn’t help but think just how much of his Aunt and Godmother had transferred over to how he had raised his daughter. Pepper was the same in some ways, but no one could hold a candle to his godmother. He realized that he had never told Steve about the connection, no one outside of Fury, and his parents knew about it either. It was something he pushed back when the dementia had started taking over the woman’s life, and it also reminded him of the first time she had met Riley. Peggy had been so proud of him, but that memory had faded like so many others, and after a while he couldn’t bear to visit her, especially when a certain super soldier returned.

“You will one day,” was all he said as he pushed back the memories of the woman who had helped raise him on stories of Captain America, when his own father ignored him. “So how was the first day?”

“Interesting, some of these kids can fight, other’s need a little help, but I’m guessing their more interested in the tech and science part of this academy. Buck and Nat have an interesting group on their hands,” Steve said pointing out the group in the back. “Those kids over there are in their group.”

The moment Tony saw that it was Riley’s table he feared something would happen, it was the Winter Soldier, the image of his hand over Tony’s mother’s throat. All of a sudden he felt the walls closing in on him, he couldn’t breathe, there was an ache in his chest as if the shrapnel was clawing its way to his heart. He couldn’t breathe… he couldn’t breathe….

He heard Steve saying his name but all Tony could do was move out of the dining hall and all but crawl down the corridor, he needed air. He passed out as he made it down towards the double doors leading to the lawn.

[skyheaven1231]

As fate would have it - Chapter 37

Chapter 37 - Caught

(possible manga spoilers up until chapter 54)

Words: 2431

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Hiyori and her brother were standing in the hallway of the hospital. Her parents had spent the day with Tsuki since she had been working all day and didn't want to leave her all alone at home since Yato and Yukine still hadn't returned from the colloquy. When she got the text message from Yato three days ago, she started to have a strange feeling. Everything happened so suddenly, she couldn't even ask why they had to leave so sudden. She did send a response, asking what the hell was going on but there hadn't been an answer yet. She had been staring at her phone sighing ever since. Tsuki tried to cheer her up a little saying that Yato and Yukine would return soon and everything would be okay again. For her daughter's sake she tried to keep up a strong face but what she couldn't hide from anyone was the concern in her expression.

Even her brother noticed it at work that day.

“Alright, blurt it out. What is going on?”, he finally asked.

“W-What? Sorry did you say something? I was spacing out a little”, she answered, making her brother worry even more.

“You are my sister! I know all too well when you've got something on your mind! You are looking at your damn phone whenever you have a chance and mum and dad are watching after Tsuki today? What happened? Are you and Yato in a fight or somethin' ?”

“N-No of course not! We aren't in a fight, jeez! Now you are acting exactly like Tsuki and Yukine a few days ago! He is gone for a colloquy in the heavens at the moment. It was so unexpected and I couldn't even say goodbye properly. I haven't heard from him in three days. It hasn't been like that ever since he is back. I know it's dumb, but I feel really uneasy when he isn't around”, the half Ayakashi explained.

“I see. You miss him a lot huh?”, Masaomi said, a little grin on his face. “Y-Yeah. The flat is so empty without the two boys.”

She let her head fall down and rested it against her brother's shoulders.

He petted her hair as a comforting gesture and said: “There there. It'll be alright. I'm sure he'll be back in no time.”

Hiyori remained in her position and let out a sad sigh once again.

“You really like him a lot don't you?”

“I love him!”, she blurted out immediately only to start blushing right away, “I-I mean … um … I ...”

Masaomi started laughing. He enjoyed to see his sister acting like that. Like this, he could tell that she truly was happy with Yato.

After a short break, the usually joking tone in his voice got a little more serious.

“Don't you think it's time that you introduce him to mom and dad?”, he asked, putting his hand on both of Hiyori's shoulders.

“What?”, she asked surprised.

“Don't you think they deserve to know? Not only those two, Ami and Yama as well. We've all been there for you all those years and they never asked about the father, because we noticed how much you were hurting. It wasn't an easy time for neither of us. Having a child at such a young age is a scandal itself and then you never said a word about the father. Don't get me wrong sis, I'm not blaming you for anything. The thing is, I know. I know about Yato but the others don't. I assume that you want to stay with him for a long while and I think you should finally tell everyone about the truth. They deserve it.”

Her brother's words shook Hiyori. Not because she was hurt but rather because she hadn't even thought about introducing Yato to her family or her friends. She always wanted to do it, especially during the time when they first started dating. The only thing that prevented her from actually doing so was the fact that Yato is a god. She was afraid no one would even remember him. During his life, Yato had been forgotten over and over, even by Hiyori herself and she didn't want for him to feel hurt because of it.  

A life in which she had to introduce her boyfriend again and again would be so tiring and discouraging that Hiyori thought she wouldn't be able to deal with it.

“I know Masaomi!”, she said after a short moment of silence, “I know that they deserve to know after all you've done for me! I'm so thankful to all of you. B-But … Yato is a god. He is not a human being and remaining in peoples memories is not really, well, his 'strength'. I'm sure even if I did introduce him to mum and dad or Ami and Yama, they would forget.”

Before Masaomi could even answer, Hiyori heard her daughter's voice screaming her brother's name happily. As soon as she turned around, Tsuki was already running into his direction and he took her sides and held her up in the air.

Just a few meters behind their granddaughter, Hiyori and Masaomi's parents were walking into their direction. “Masaomi dear! Good to see you!”, Mrs. Iki greeted her son, “Where is Hiyori? We wanted to bring Tsuki back.”

“Um … mum, I'm right here”, Hiyori said, waving her hand.

“Oh I'm so sorry my dear! I didn't see you standing there! I can't believe I didn't notice”, the woman apologized eagerly.

“It's okay mum don't worry about it! I hope Tsuki didn't cause you any problems today.”

“Oh no honey, not at all! It was nice to spent time with her again. We haven't seen her in a while. Are you working less shifts than before or how comes you don't need our help that much anymore?”

“N-No. I work the same amount of time”, Hiyori stuttered, getting a significant look from her brother telling her that this was a good time to finally tell them about Yato.

“Oh I see”, Mrs. Iki answered, “Is Tsuki spending more time with her little friend Rei then? You two are pretty close aren't you?”

Tsuki's face turned into a painful expression immediately. Her grandmother had addressed a subject that the blue eyed girl didn't want to talk about at all.

“Did I say something wrong?”, Hiyori's mother asked as soon as she noticed Tsuki's sudden change of mood.

“Let's just say Rei isn't a good subject for us at the moment”, Hiyori explained and took her daughter's shoulders, “We've had some issues with him and … how do I put it …”

“We're no friends anymore!”, Tsuki explained plainly.

“I'm sorry to hear that. Losing a friend isn't a nice thing but maybe you are going to make up again.”

“No. We won't”, Tsuki answered, facing the ground.

“What about you then Hiyori? Did you finally meet a nice man?”, Mrs. Iki said after she petted Tsuki over her head in order to cheer her up.

“MOM!”, Hiyori answered.

“Come on dear, that's our daughter's business. We shouldn't stick our noses in it”, Hiyori's father interfered.

“I just want to make sure our daughter is in good hands! She deserves to have a suitable husband by her side! Well anyway, I think I've met someone you could be really interested in. He is a lawyer and -”

“Mom please stop already! I don't want to meet anyone!”, Hiyori countered, getting an even more significant look from her brother, “A-Actually, I … I n-need to tell you something.”

Her parents looked at her curiously but Hiyori was interrupted by her mobile ringing inside her locker.

“Sorry, please excuse me for a second!”, she apologized and rushed to pick up.

“Hello?”, she said.

“Hiyori? Where are you? I'm at the flat and no one is around”, the voice she heard was way too familiar.

She felt incredibly relieved the moment she heard Yukine's voice.

“Yukine! Finally! What took you so long? What was the colloquy about?”, she couldn't stop herself from asking everything that had been lasting on her mind the last days.

“I have no idea what it is about. The meeting isn't over yet but they insisted on sending the guideposts back home. Yato is still there. No one knows why they called all the gods so suddenly. Even Kazuma said that this is pretty rare”, the young boy explained.

“He is still gone?”, all the relief she had felt just a second ago suddenly disappeared again.

Yato was still gone. And they had no information about the subject the gods were discussing.

It had to be a pretty big thing when all the gods of the country gathered and slowly, Hiyori could even make out that something strange was going on.

Without the gods, it seemed like more Ayakashi were walking around. Especially in a place like the hospital, she could make this fact out easily. Not only that, she could even feel the emptiness whenever she passed a shrine.

“Hiyori? You still there?”, Yukine asked after Hiyori didn't answer for a while.

“S-Sorry. Yeah I'm still here. I'm at the hospital right now but my shift is over, Tsuki and I will be right back.”

“Alright then. See you soon!”

“See you. Bye!”

“I welcome you all!”, a deep voice said, greeting the gods that had gathered inside the conference room.

Just before the voice started ringing in everyone's ears, there had been a riot with gods frantically whispering about their anger.

“Why did you call us here in a rush? I was in the middle of work!”, another voice, a way higher one, complained.

“Yes! We have a  right to know why we've been called here!”, one more god joined and caused others to say the same.

“I know that this meeting has been rather sudden. But we have a matter that can't wait to be discussed any longer. Let me explain my fellow gods!”, and with that, everyone was silent.

Whoever it was who was explaining the situation, it seemed to be a major god if he was able to silence the whole room.

“I've had my Shinki explore the lower realms in order to patrol the city, when one of them reported to have seen strange occurrences.”

Before he continued to talk, one of the silhouettes made a quick movement with its arm and a bright light appeared that devoured everything.

When the light disappeared, Yato, Bishamon, Kofuku and Tenjin were caught in a space in the middle of the room, clearly revealed for everyone to see.

“Hey! What the ...”, Yato started.

“Why are we being revealed like that? We are guaranteed anonymity in this room!”, Bishamon joined him.

Kofuku had put on a rather scared expression. She knew that if they had been put in the open like that, not able to leave, they would be lucky if they got out of there alive.

“My Shinki discovered something that the four of you are all involved in! Especially the most unknown of them all seems to be a troublemaker”, the deep voice explained, starting another riot.

“What are you even talking about? We didn't do anything wrong!”, Yato shouted.

“Yatty, please … don't make them angry”, Kofuku begged, her voice trembling.

It was a shock for Yato to see her in this state. He knew Kofuku as a strong woman that couldn't be shook that easily but slowly he started to understand why the pink haired goddess was frightened.

If the four of them had been called out it could only mean one thing.

The god with the deep voice explained how one of his Shinki happened to see Tsuki, Yato and Yukine that one day on the rooftop when they discovered the blue eyed girl's strange gift. A girl that was able to control Ayakashi sure posed a new threat to the heavens that they wanted to explore further. And get rid of it.

Ever since that day, at least one Shinki was following the group around what explained Yato's weird feeling all the time. He hadn't been overreacting after all.

They'd been watched each and every day when they were out to train with Tsuki. After a while of observation, they figured that Tsuki was the daughter of Yato and the human girl with short brown hair that was with them every now and then and that they got her in order to tame Ayakashi. After they had executed Ebisu's previous incarnation, they thought the circumstances with the conjurer were over but seeing Tsuki proved them wrong. Every day they tried to find out where Yato and the others were currently living but every time they'd been noticed by the blue eyed god and had to retreat so they wouldn't be warned. Since that happened every time, they decided to gather all the gods and catch them here. Everyone they had seen to be in contact with Yato and his family had now been judged with high treason and were in for a lot of trouble.

With enough 'convincing' they were sure Yato would open his mouth about the location of his daughter.

“That's total bullshit!”, Yato defended himself, “What he says isn't true!”

In order to protect Tsuki, it was for the best if Yato denied having a daughter at all and being interacting with a human. He was scared beyond words and he couldn't do a thing, hoping that Hiyori and Tsuki would stay safe.

“It appears that you don't want to cooperate”, the deep voice said, “Well then, imprison them! All of them! Let's see how much they can take until their tongues will loosen up.”

Before they knew it, the four of them were forced into a cell-like room, Yato being separated  from the others and fighting like crazy, without any use. He wanted to get away. Get away and make sure his family was safe but he was held by a group of gods that had their head covered in white cloths.

While the other gods were busy thinking about a strategy to go to the lower realm and find the girl that was able to tame Ayakashi, no one noticed that one little god was slowly sneaking away.

Ebisu.

Next Chapter: Ups