#he also rolls boulders like it's nothing he's insanely strong

[powdermelonkeg]

You ever think about how wild it is that Link's so strong that he throws swords hard enough to shatter on impact

Or how he can carry a half-meter cube of ice over his head

Because I do

[yuzukult]

bittersweet. (m) || kmg & reader

title: bittersweet. pairing: kim mingyu x reader genre: angst, fluff, smut, established relationship!au word count: 3.1k warnings: dirty deed is done (aka explicit sex if you didn't catch that). profanity. prompt: you're always fighting. he doesn't get you. so why are you even still together? a/n: before any of my friends make fun of me, shaddup. anyways, this is for @/ficscafe dialogue prompt event! i'll be using #14: you make me weak.

He’s so adamant.

The crinkle in between his brows, the scrunch of his nose, and his incessant blinking from all the nerves, despite it all, he still stands firm on his beliefs.

But you’re fighting. Always fighting.

He doesn’t get you—he spends most of the time he's with you arguing about how insensitive you are as a person, how nonchalant you can be when you should be reacting with some type of emotion, and how he wished you’d been more affectionate with him.

But he doesn’t understand you. He thinks you’re selfish (sure, he didn’t outright state this, but you can sense him feeling this way.)

Albeit you’re unsure how you got yourself in this position—back flat against the wall, his hands on your wrists with his crotch pinning yours as your legs wrap around him securely to meet his gaze from the height difference.

“I need you to talk to me,” he rasps, anger filled in his voice. “I’m so tired of making this into some guessing game. Why can’t you just tell me how you feel?”

Although he’s got you cornered, rutting his hips into you once again, it's not persuasive enough. “Talk to me.”

“If you can’t figure me out, maybe we should just break up. I didn’t want to date in the first place.”

Jaw clenched, his eyes continue to melt into yours. He’s looking for anything—a sign, a glimpse, a crack in your exterior to see whatever it is you’re truly feeling inside. “Why do you always use that as a solution? Instead of just communicating?”

“Because—“ you halt, breath hitching when he shifts, the head of his cock rubbing against your bud through your thin material shorts. “—Because it’s an easier solution. What do you expect from me?”

“To tell me and show me if you like me or not. You’re like a fucking boulder. I can’t move you.”

You quirk a brow. “Your fucking holding me down right now. You’ve evidently proved you can move me elsewhere.”

“Emotionally,” he says, exasperated. “The most I can get you to feel something is when we’re fucking. I’m surprised we’re even fucking in the first place. You barely let me hold your hand!”

Rolling your eyes, you pull your arms from his hold and he lets go easily. It’s the type of person Mingyu is—he’s gentle, the complete opposite of you, with a heart of gold that everyone loves and appreciates. He’s lovable, known to many, and desired by them all, and somehow, you got him in your grasp and truthfully… you’re not sure what to do.

He’s fragile, but you have rough hands with toughened skin from years of experience and encounters. There’s this fear that you’ll drop him, shatter him into pieces as brittle as chinaware. So you hold the front, keep yourself strong with a facade tougher than concrete, because you’re afraid if you hold on too tight, he might break. And at the same time, he might break you too.

“You wanna know why?” You finally blurt, words firm and sharp. “Because you make me weak. And I don’t like being weak. I don’t like being known as weak. And you—you do that to me. I hate it.”

He furrows his brows. “I make you weak? The one girl I know to be the most resilient?” Mingyu has to scoff in disbelief because it’s the first time he’s hearing this. “You realize how insane you sound? It’s okay to have feelings for me. It’s why we’re together.”

Nose twitching, you suck in your cheeks. “I hate it. I hate this. I hate that when you turn to look at me in the morning, you give me that fucking… smile. Like I’m your whole world. Like you’re head over heels for me and I’m all that you see.”

“And why do you hate that?”

“Because, some part of me, deep down into the abyss, wants to look at you like that too.”

His jaw loosens, just like the restraints he had over his heart in the past hour of arguing, hands now finding purchase on your thighs to pull you back up closer. “Baby…” he calls out for you softly, the term of endearment nearly bursting your heart, but you keep yourself calm and collected as you normally do. “Then do it. Why are you so scared?”

“I told you.”

“That’s not a good enough reason.”

“Well, it’s good enough for me.”

He heaves a heavy breath. “Baby, I can’t keep doing this. I feel like I’m chasing you but I’m getting nothing out of it.”

Then, you reiterate the same words you’ve said multiple times, but there’s never any genuinity in it because you never actually… meant it. “Then let’s break up.”

“We’re not breaking up.”

“Then what do you want to do? Tell me. If breaking up isn’t the option, then tell me instead of having me up the wall if we’re not gonna fuck.”

“Fucking only happens when you’re pissed or when you’re making up.”

“So, what now?”

It’s Mingyu’s turn to roll his eyes. “We make up. I need you to talk to me. I can barely read you—the only thing I know for sure is that you don’t want this to end because you just admitted to me that you wanna look at me the same way I look at you.”

Frustrated, you let your head drop onto the wall behind you. “This is annoying. I don’t like expressing stuff. You just take what you get or leave. If you can’t figure out what’s going through my mind, what’s the point? Why put in the effort?” Eyes fluttering shut, you feel yourself wanting to crawl into a ball and just… hide. Despite being fully clothed, you feel naked when Mingyu asks for more. And what he’s asking for isn’t even unreasonable—you’re just horrible at telling people what you’re feeling. “I just… why can’t I just let you lay your head on my lap when you get home from work? Or… cook dinner with you. Even have it ready when you have long nights at work. Maybe even fold your laundry—I don’t know. I don’t like PDA but if you asked me, I’d hold your hand under the table. Or… hold it in your pocket on cold days.”

Then, Mingyu stays silent (for the first time).

It finally hits.

You’re not outspoken when it comes to soft things. You’re loving but not in the same way he is. You’re also honest and straightforward about everything except when it comes to admitting feelings for him.

And for once, when you say those words, he… he feels loved by you.

He remembers those days—after spending hours at the gym despite having a long work day, he’d come home and you’re there waiting for him on the couch so you could shower together. You’d help scrub his limp body, even though he moans and groans about how sore he is, but you do it nonetheless because you like him. Or when you stopped by at his apartment, one he shares with all his friends, because he was stuck with helping one of them build their beds and you brought them all, including himself, lunch. And that wasn’t to mention you were already working twelve hour days.

“Can you answer one question for me, then? I won’t force you to tell me again. I just need to hear it once.”

Your eyes open, and it feels like a mistake because your heart drops into your stomach. His gaze is hypnotizing, like he’s got you in a trance, and you respond with a ‘yes’ without much thought because of him.

Mingyu swallows all his anxiety before asking that million dollar question.

“Do you love me?”

Although you feel small being put on the spot like that, the one thing you’ll admit is that you’ve already predetermined the answer to this. And just as much courage as Mingyu puts into asking, you’ll reciprocate and do the same in answering because he’s admirable for even trying.

“Yes.”

Without much thought, he presses his lips against yours. You love him, although you rarely if not never say it, but you finally said those words and all he needs is to hear it just once for assurance. To know that there’s something he’s chasing for, that he’s not running in place like on a treadmill.

Arms snaking around his neck, you keep your hold there as his hands reach to your jaw, leveraging the kiss in an angle he’d prefer. When you kiss, he feels complete. He’s never felt like this with another girl before, this feeling of home, the feeling of comfort. You’re colder than brisk winters, but something about having you in his arms makes him warm.

Your fingers comb through his locks, and although it’s doused in gel and spent hours on doing this morning, he doesn’t mind because he knows he’s yours. When you kiss him back, he’s as anxious as he was when he had to go on stage and perform in front of people for the first time.

Gently pulling away, both your lips are pink and swollen with a string of saliva connecting between. Pants brushing against each other’s face, a soft smile tugs on the edges of your lips as you feel heat creeping up your neck.

“I love you too,” he says, as low as a whisper. “And… I’m okay if you don’t say it again. You know how I show you that I love you… and I should’ve been better at learning what you’re comfortable with in showing how you love. But I still need you to help, too, to make this… better. I need you to talk to me, when you need me. When I need you. I need you to be here for me too.”

“Okay,” you respond, volume matching his. “If that’s the case, I love you. Just… as another reminder since I only said yes the first time.”

He lets out a chuckle, vibrating from his chest and everything about him makes your heart race. “Good. Can I show you how much I love you?”

“No,” you retort quickly and bashfully. But he knows you’re playing because you nod afterwards, allowing him to carry you to the couch. “Maybe.”

“I need a yes, love,” Mingyu says cheekily, face nuzzled into the crook of your neck. “You know I’m not going to go any further until I hear it.”

“Yes,” you reply embitterly, but Mingyu knows better now. He knows what you want, because all he needed was assurance. “Please show me how much you love me.”

And fuck, because he never knew how much he needed to hear those words all his life.

You’re so pretty when he has you stripped down to nothing, laid out on the leather couch of your living room; hair messy, mouth gaped open from all his teasing, and with an arm covering your face because it’s all too much for you. Mingyu is a passionate lover, you’ve come to recognize, and although it’s all an unfamiliar territory, you love him and you’re willing to step into the unknown.

“How am I doing?” He asks, as if he doesn’t have his head in between your legs and a grip on the meat of your thighs. He loves the taste of you, he reminds you plenty of times, but dirty talk coming from such an innocent face makes you slightly embarrassed. “Feels good?”

“Shut up,” you hiss, avoiding his infatuated stare. “Just… just fucking do it, you asshole.”

“What? Show you how much I love you?”

There’s a tornado in the pit of your stomach. He keeps saying things that make you awkward because you’ve never been loved like how Mingyu loves.

You don’t react, and this displeases him. Laying his tongue flat out against your cunt, he gives you another lick that lets a whimper escape from your lips. “Tell me, baby. Am I doing a good job?”

“Yes,” you croak, only because you feel like he’s got you in this position for so long. You’re so exposed, and he at least has his boxers to protect him like a shield, but you’re all out in the open. (Not to mention his fucking built body. He makes you feel so insecure about yours—how is this puppy looking boy so… wide? What the fuck?) “Can you… can you take that off?”

He leans up, tilting his head in confusion and now you can see how hard he is in his undergarments. “My… my boxers?”

“Yeah. I feel like… I’m the only one exposed here.”

He laughs. “Baby, we’ll get to that.”

“Now.”

Mingyu snorts. “Anything my baby wants.” He bumps foreheads with you gingerly, something he's always done playfully, and tugs off his boxers swiftly as requested. “Let me make you cum first and—“

“No,” you interject, eyes closed and biting down on your bottom lip. It's the only way to remain bold—to not look him in the eye because he’ll melt you like a stick of butter left on the kitchen counter. “Show me how you love me.”

Mingyu doesn’t hesitate to shuffle quickly through the little stash hidden on the first shelf underneath your coffee table (he likes to be prepared in every situation even though this is your apartment) and finally spots the condom he hid a week ago. Tearing it open rapidly, he gives himself a couple pumps that have beads of precum building at the top and slips the rubber on with ease. “Ready?”

“For you?” Mingyu gulps, because before today, you’ve rarely said anything that made his heart stutter. “Anything.”

With a push of the head of his cock into your heat, a quiet wince escapes from your lips and his chocolate orbs are saturated in apologies. He doesn’t want you to feel pain, especially not you, but even his efforts to loosen you up beforehand, you still manage to be so tight around him every time. It feels good to have you around him snugly, yet he knows the consequence of the beginning is the ache in between your legs from the first intrusion.

“I’m sorry, bub,” Mingyu presses a tender kiss on your forehead. “Bear with me, yeah?”

“Mm,” you hum dismissively, warming up when he finally slides himself all the way in. He stills, in fear that you’re hurt, but instead, you’re surprisely impatient as you cross your legs behind him and pull him close. Bringing your lips close to his ears, you breathe, “fuck me, baby.”

Mingyu laughs brightly, and your jaw clenches. “What?”

“After today, I’m not going to fuck you.” You quirk a brow. “I’m gonna make love to you.”

“Don’t make me throw up. You’re ruining the moment.”

He grins mischievously before pulling out and shoving himself back in swiftly that earns a groan from you. “Oh? Am I?”

“Stop playing, Mingyu,” you state sternly, but Mingyu is enjoying himself too much. “Or else you're not getting any for the month.”

Well, that does the trick.

He has his hands on your hips, pushed down against the seat cushions of your loveseat couch, hips once flushed against yours now thrusting into your throbbing pussy. God, you’re fucking done for, honestly, because he’s a pro with his hips when he angles it just right that he’s brushing against your swollen clit, hitting so deep into you.

“Fuck—“

“You curse too much, baby,” Mingyu puffs, pecking the side of your lips sloppily. “Everyone thinks I’m such a nice guy and when they meet my—fuck—g-girlfriend and find out how much of a dirty mouth she has, they’re always struck.”

“Too fucking bad,” you spit, fingers digging into the skin of his shoulders. He’s so big, stretching you with each shove, but you’d never tell him that or his ego would inflate. “Stop talking and fuck me harder.”

Mingyu loves. He loves and loves, and although you won’t pretend that he comes to your home often with crumpled pieces of papers with girls’ names and numbers on them that fall into the catch-all bowl by the door with his keys, you don’t forget that besotted daze he falls into the moment he sees you. So when you ask for something, he delivers without fail.

Abiding by your urge, his hips move briskly, pistoning into you as fast as he can. Biceps tense, you can’t help but let your hands slip there, gripping onto the muscle and has you wondering fuck, how did you get so lucky? He’s hot, cute, sweet, loving and geez, he could fuck. He’s so clumsy, so dumb sometimes, but he’s so freaking lovable it makes you sick. Lovesick.

His pretty eyes shut close, you notice, because those two cups of hot chocolate are gone and he’s chewing on his bottom lip as he groans, ends of his hair that brush over his eyes now drenched in sweat. His skin glistens underneath the dim lights, and he reminds you of the stars in the night sky—so gorgeous, so special. Always a sight to see.

“Fuck,” the not-so-innocent boy curses (even though he just said you curse too much) “Baby, you just got so tight. Are you about to cum?”

“Possibly,” you manage to say, still attempting to play games even though Mingyu could very so threaten to steal your orgasm away from the tip of your fingers. But when he slightly shifts in the midst of his pounding, you let out a raspy, “Almost,” because he’s rubbing against your nub incessantly that you’re losing all your focus.

When you finally see those stars, you let go.

Mingyu feels this, grunting when you convulse around his dick, head dropping to watch you tug and tug around him, begging for him to cum. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long because after a couple thrusts, he stills, spilling ropes of cum into the condom and dropping the entirety of his weight onto you, face snug into the crook of your neck once again.

“I—“

“You’re heavy.”

“Fuck, baby, we just had sex and that’s the first thing you say?”

He can’t see you, but there’s a smile on your face. “Yeah. And you got my couch all sticky from your sweat. Not to mention the cum. Are you gonna clean it after?”

Mingyu doesn’t care. He’s blissful. He’s happy. He knows you’re going to toss a damp rag at him later, despite his dick out and still drenched in your arousal, and tell him to ‘wipe down the fucking couch because that’s gross.’

All because he knows that you love him.

[bastillewolf]

Certified Illusionist (Shigaraki Tomura) - Oneshot

Pairing: Shigaraki Tomura/Reader

Summary: Shigaraki doesn't trust many, except those closest to him. It just so happens to be that he finds himself sleeping next to you every night, his certified illusionist.

Warnings: Swearing, NSFW content (after the second half, first half is fluff and can be read as a oneshot)

Notes: I used to dislike this crusty ass man, but he warmed up to me and now here I am, writing fucking fanfic about him after a one year break. I wonder what this says about me. Also, I'm not very good at writing smut. But it is what it is. I finished writing this at 5 AM, so sorry if it's a bit ooc sometimes. Do let me know what you think!

I don't take requests.

Dabi met your eyes, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his lids droopy. To any other person, his aquamarine blue eyes would have given noting away. You knew better, which is why Shigaraki quickly told everyone do disperse with a snap of his fingers.

Dabi was exhausted. You all were, but when he started subconsciously communicating it, you knew you were in real deep shit. That man never admitted to exhaustion, to defeat. Neither would Shigaraki, but because of his role as leader, he had to find excuses in the rest of you to rest.

Twice reversed his quirk, and a sickening feeling settled in your stomach as your doppelganger turned into a puddle of gunk before Gigantomachia could do it himself. Your eyes opened and you were back at the edge of the forest, where an impatient Toga was awaiting you with shining eyes.

"You look so cute when you're all beat up," she said, holding her reddened cheeks in her hands.

"Thanks, Toga," you replied sweetly. You weren't sure if she had a crush on you, but you knew what she was like and that it was better to let her be. Who were you to judge her of all people anyway?

"Did it work? You're a bunch of losers!" Twice exclaimed, quickly jogging up to you.

You shook your head. "If anything, we've made him even more upset."

"Upset? You say it as if it's a child," Dabi commented, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe it is. You've seen the way he responded to One For All's voice. It's like a child seeking out their father."

He remained silent at that.

To your left, Shigaraki emerged from behind the trees. "I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't that." His crimson eyes gave you a once-over. "Do you think you could try it again next time?"

"Perhaps. But I think he's smart enough to understand that All For One isn't here and that you being his successor can only mean one thing. His master isn't going to show up, maybe ever again. It's why his reaction was so dramatic. He doesn't think you're strong enough. It's like your dad went to go get a carton of milk and never came back, leaving you with the shitty babysitter while your mom's off to work two jobs. I wouldn't be too happy about that either."

Shigaraki's eyes narrowed, holding no amusement.

"Nothing personal," you added. "But we have to face the facts, we can't beat him."

He merely nodded. Stepping away from the group, he leaned against one of the big boulders, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

Toga's curious gaze crept back to you. She pushed the fingertips of her hands together. "So, what happened, exactly? Tell me all the juicy details!"

And so you did. While Dabi and Shigaraki both had offensive quirks, yours wasn't much for fighting purposes. So, while their first copies (brought to you by Twice) got smashed into the ground, you tried to bring the giant's attention elsewhere, somewhere in his own head.

Because that's what you did. You could make people see things, make their brain go all fuzzy and manipulate it in a way that could cause them to go insane.

Unfortunately, this guy wasn't simply a dimwit. You assumed that just because he has a physically bigger brain, that wouldn't make him smarter. But he was quite intelligent in a different way, almost instinctively. He knew exactly what you were trying to do, so he saw right through the facade you created of All For One in his head, trying to sell him comforting words and soothing promises.

You shivered, never wanting to experience your body being smashed into jelly again.

"What do we do now, boss?" Toga quipped.

He turned back to glance over everyone, his steady gaze hesitating over you.

"We're done for today. We'll camp here for tonight."

"And just assume that giant isn't going to come barging through here?" Dabi asked.

Twice waved his hand in the air excitedly. "Ooh, I'll keep first watch! Watch the sheep until I'm asleep." His head drooped down, comically appearing as if he'd started napping on the spot.

Spinner sighed, "I'll take watch. You're all too exhausted."

"I can take over if you get tired," Toga said sweetly.

"I'd rather not have you breathing down my neck while I'm asleep."

"I wouldn't be breathing down your neck. You're not my type." She stuck her tongue out.

"All right, then it's settled. Make yourselves comfortable, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

---

Unraveling your sleeping bag tied to your backpack, you glanced across the small clearing. Spinner had taken his place on the big boulder, a blanket draped over his shoulders. Everyone else was trying to find a good spot to sleep, which most found around the small fire Dabi had created. You weren't much for sleeping in groups, so you picked a quiet spot near the treeline. From the corner of your eye you swore you saw Toga pout, and noticed Dabi had the same reclusive idea on the other side of the clearing.

Making yourself as comfortable as you could on solid ground, your gaze turned up to the night sky. It was a clear night and an incredible amount of stars glittered brightly against the black void.

Your eyes were about to drift shut when you heard a pair of shuffling footsteps to your right. Your shoulders immediately tensing up, you turned your head to the source of the noise, only to find a sleeping bag falling to the floor next to you with a dull thud. Your eyes trailed up along dark pants and a long trench coat until they finally met his crimson orbs. They weren't asking.

You relaxed. It wasn't the first time you'd slept so close to each other. Sometimes, the temporary hideouts you stayed in didn't have room for an entire group of people to sleep in, so while Dabi sneaked out to find a less confining place to sleep in, you usually stuck close to your leader. Whereas everyone else tried to steer clear of him, you'd always found it rather useful that he had lots of empty space around him to fill. To say he was uncomfortable the first time you invaded his personal space was an understatement, but a quick series of raised brows and communicative glances had made the situation easier.

Though it was always you who approached him first.

As he slipped into the sleeping bag, his gaze didn't leave yours. His hair strewn across his face and body covered by the thick blanket, he looked almost relaxed. But those eyes were wide.

"Could you... Show me again?" he whispered.

You blinked, and nodded silently. Shuffling a bit closer to him, burrito-style, you could feel the warmth radiating off his face.

You activated your quirk and watched as his eyes glossed over. It was in these rare moments, that Tomura smiled.

He didn't ask you to do this often. You knew he didn't because he thought you would think he was weak, or soft. But you never thought any of those things about him. He had accepted you for who you were, after all, and you would always be grateful for that.

His lips trembled a bit, but you knew he was still very much in your illusion. His mind was strong enough to fight it, you'd known that since the moment you met, but he asked for this, and even though he knew it wasn't real, he still sought comfort in what you showed him.

You had asked him once, during long and sleepless nights, what his favorite thing was, like how the famous heroes always have a common thing they like. You expected it to be something like cats, or coffee jelly, and you almost got worried you'd offended him when he walked off after your question. But he came back holding a picture, and that was the first time he'd asked you to replicate it.

"Mon," he muttered.

He always wanted to play with that corgi. Never with his mother, his father, his sister or his grandparents. He'd told you briefly about who they were, but never the full extent of what had become of them after he was taken in by All For One. You could guess, though.

He had lots of empty space around him, after all.

"Thank you," he said, snapping you out of your thoughts. You sent him a small smile, to which the side of his lip quirked up.

You wanted to keep looking into those eyes of his, keep looking at how they boldly took your breath away and made you feel so at ease at the same time. But the day had been long and the extensive overuse of your quirk had made you exhausted.

You blinked once. Then again, heavily. It was becoming a burden to keep your eyelids open and your eyes from rolling back. Tomura huffed in amusement, his hand appearing from the sleeping bag to brush against your cheek. "Sleep," he whispered.

You were met with darkness not a second after.

---

That was a while ago. You no longer had to worry about ants potentially crawling into your bedroll, or getting stung by nettles and pricked by bushes. Now, you had a luxurious bed to sleep in, with the finest silk sheets, a lock on your door and most importantly: personal space.

Where people used to avoid even looking your way in the streets as you had a naturally threatening aura hanging over you, people now bowed their heads to you in respect and went out of their way to do your bidding, even if it was just to get you tea.

All because of your new position and your leader's rise to power.

Shigaraki wasn't the same man as the one who asked you to make him hallucinate about his deceased dog. No, the man who currently sat upon the throne was a much calmer, more confident version of himself. A true leader to the Paranormal Liberation Front.

If only he wasn't so busy all the time, you would see more of him around. Of course, you wouldn't actually ask about him. That would insinuate something and you could not afford to show any weakness in front of your lackeys right now. They may respect you on a superficial notice, but you knew the only people you could trust were the ones you would always end back up with after a long day.

Which is where you were now, seated on a comfortable couch in the secluded lounge reserved for the leader and his squadron. Nursing a steaming cup of tea in your hands, you watched with amusement as Twice lifted the bottom of his mask to shove as much sushi into it as he could before he had to quickly lower it again to keep himself from going insane. Toga giggled, and though you knew it wasn't usually a laughing matter, this time it seemed rather endearing. Plus, you knew Twice didn't mind joking about it himself. It was just the fact that you were all so casually seated in warmth, comfort, eating expensive sushi with a roof above your head, when just a few months ago you had been scrambling together money to get anything of sustenance, let alone a bed to sleep in.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Spinner asked Dabi, pointing his chopsticks at some maguro nigiri.

The dark-haired man shook his head, before waving his hand towards the sushi in disgust. "Go ahead. I don't like fish."

"Are you sure you're Japanese?" you asked in amusement. "Actually, I've never heard your backstory before. Want to enlighten us during this excellent meal?"

"Don't bother asking, every time we bring up the subject he leaves to go recruit people," Toga huffs.

Twice peaked up. "Ha! But his lackeys do that now, he just sits on his ass all day! Don't hit me! We should be nicer to our friends- But I'm curious! This bitch doesn't tell us anything!" He yelped when he caught onto Dabi's glare.

A knock resonated through the room.

"Enter," Dabi called out.

Skeptic stepped into the room; a tall, lanky man that served Re-Destro and kind of acted as a computer nerd. He also made everyone's smiles turn into a frown, as if you'd caught a whiff of something really smelly, only it was his entire being that unsettled you. None of you had forgiven him for what he did to Twice and as he was still set out to make Toga pay for killing Curious, you knew you would never be able to trust him, even if he was a fellow lieutenant.

He turned to you, though never addressing you by your name. "Shigaraki Tomura has asked to speak with you. Make sure he finds someone else to play carrier pigeon the next time." He slammed the door closed behind him when he left.

Twice threw his hands in the air. "What an ass! I should ask him what hair products he uses."

"I wouldn't keep him waiting, sweetheart," Dabi muttered to you, his blue eyes flickering darkly.

"Tsk, like Shigaraki cares if she's late. We all know he favors her," Toga quipped, though a sliver of annoyance poked through her tone.

"I don't think that's true," you mumble, your cheeks warming up in embarrassment.

Dabi shrugged. "With the way you were cuddling up each night, we all just assumed you two were a thing. Until we got here and you had gotten separate rooms."

"I- That's not..."

"Don't worry, baby!" Toga grabbed hold of your red cheeks, squishing your face together a bit too harshly. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. No hard feelings, you'll always be my bestie."

"I thought I was your bestie?!" Twice cried.

---

You found him in the large hallway that housed the doors to your rooms. He was looking out the window, watching people stream in and out of the great estate. His white hair, still incredibly dried and damaged from the sudden drain of color, draped along his pale face. He looked a bit better than before, having had time to recover from the battle, thankfully. His bones were no longer broken and he was gaining his muscle and appetite back. You went to stand next to him silently.

There was a moment of comfortable silence.

"How are you?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the vast expanse of grass.

You smirked at him. "Taking care of me now, are you?"

"I take care of all of my lieutenants."

"But you asked for me specifically."

That made a smile creep up on his face. "A special case, I suppose."

"I hope the good kind."

"Did Re-Destro speak with you?" he asked.

"Hm, he did."

He looked down at you from the corner of his eye.

You tilted your head. "Why?"

"I don't like the way he looks at you," Shigaraki growled. His hand moved with ease towards the loop of your jeans, pulling you into his side. You huffed as your chest collided with muscle, his body heat instantly creeping into your clothes. His arm wrapping around you, he tilted his head to bury his nose in your hair.

"Shigaraki..." You placed your hand on his chest to push yourself back enough to look at him.

"Tomura," he corrected. "Call me Tomura when you're alone with me. On other occasions, Leader or Shigaraki will do."

"Don't get cocky. Just because you destroyed a city doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to be your bitch."

He smirked, a devious glint flashing through the crimson.

He felt nice. He was a bit taller than you and unlike before he now stood proudly in his height. Your body was perfectly molten into his side, your hand slightly brushing over his chest in anticipation. But all he did was just look at you.

Standing up on your toes, you pressed a swift kiss against the corner of his mouth.

His smirk only widened at that, but he didn't reciprocate anything. "So shy," he murmured smugly, his hand tightening around your form.

"Wouldn't have to be if you weren't being an ass about it."

He huffed, but his gaze turned serious. He seemed to be thinking something over in his head before he spoke, "I'm gonna be indisposed for a while. I want you to look after everything while I'm gone."

You didn't miss the significance of those words. What they meant to him, personally. How much it took for him to put his trust in someone and that someone being you. "What do you mean, indisposed?"

"I'm getting an upgrade."

"Again?!" You shook your head. "Shi- Tomura, you can't just constantly put your life in the hands of that doctor. You're strong enough now, you've proven that to everyone."

"Do you see this?" He held up his scarred hand, which was partially covered with a glove that only wrapped around his thumb, pointer and middle finger. "This is proof of how frail my body still is. I can destroy a city, but it harms me, and we might have won our first battle, but they will keep coming and their numbers will keep growing. I will never underestimate heroes again."

You sighed. "How long?"

"Four months."

"Starting?"

"Tomorrow."

Your mouth fell wide open. How could he only tell you this now? Had he even told any of the others? Did Re-Destro know? How were you supposed to take over everything for four months?

"You look pretty with your mouth wide open," he said with a deep chuckle.

"Don't avoid the subject! You can't just throw this on me and expect me to take care of everything!"

His lids drooped lazily. "I know, but you're the only one I knew who could handle it and who I could trust."

"Well-" You stopped. What the hell were you supposed to say to that? Why can't this man cut you some slack?

His unscathed hand reached up to touch your cheek, his thumb brushing over your lower lip. "I have another request."

What else? What now? What other bomb was he going to drop on you?

"I want you to come to my room tonight."

Oh.

"Do you want me to show you Mon-"

"No, I want you in my bed."

Oh.

Your eyebrows raised in surprise, but the innocent part of your mind still didn't seem to quite give into the innuendo. "Are you... having nightmares?"

The corner of his lip quirked up, his eyes flickering in amusement. "No, I want you in my bed because I want to fuck you."

Oh.

"Oh," you repeated the word that had been circling your now muddled brain.

"I won't force you to do anything, your position won't change no matter what happens," he clarified. Then, he leaned into your ear. "But know that I would make you my queen. Mine, for the world to see."

He knew you didn't care about any of that, but a selfish part of him wanted to make sure you knew your potential if you were by his side. Just like you didn't care about the power, but only about the goals you shared with him, he didn't look at you or your quirk as something he could use, he wanted it to be his, something that he knew he could rely on when everything and everyone around him seemed to be unreliable. You could have had any quirk and he would have still seen you as valuable. But, he supposed, your quirk had always been something that had drawn him to you.

"I'll wait up for you," was all he left you with.

---

Were you supposed to feel this nervous? After all your experiences, your traumas, your scars, you were still feeling anxious about something like this?

You were hovering in front of his door, the hour already struck passed twelve, leaving the hallway bare and quiet, save for the occasional loud snore coming from Twice's room. It felt like you were sneaking out of your parents house to do something irresponsible, though your knew you had long crossed the lines of what was considered responsible. So, what made this so unnervingly important?

You tapped his door softly, a part of you scared that someone else would become curious and see what you were doing knocking on the leader's door- even if it was apparently public knowledge that you were a thing.

The door cracked open a notch, revealing a crimson orb in the darkness that seemed to inspect you from head to toe, before moving to let you in.

His room was a bit bigger than yours, which was expected, but the furniture mostly seemed all the same. He didn't have many personal items like the rest of you, so it could have passed as a luxurious hotel room. The only thing that could be linked to him was the large blue quilt that was strewn over his sheets, one you used to bundle up in together when it got really cold in the winter months.

You turned to face his shirtless, toned chest and an immediate blush spread across your cheeks. All he was wearing was a pair of sweatpants that hugged around his hips loosely.

"I didn't think you'd show up," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head. It made you smile. Small things like that reminded you that he was still the Shigaraki you'd always known, the one that got annoyed and sometimes shy when you cuddled with him at night.

"I still had some business to take care of. Unfortunately my boss is suddenly going to be indisposed for four months, so I had to take some necessary precautions to deal with his absence."

He smirked. "Sound like an asshole."

"Oh, he is."

He stepped towards you, wrapping his arms around your waist. His mouth touched the corner of yours swiftly, very much like you'd done a few hours earlier.

"But he can be sweet when he wants to be," you added.

His hands reached up to slide along the smooth skin of your neck, tracing over a scar there as his eyes met yours. "I don't think I'll be able to hold myself back. I'll be rough." His hands dug into your sides, pulling you against his chest.

"O-Okay."

He shifted, his hot breath crawling all the way up your neck, until his tongue licked across your bottom lip. He licked into your mouth languidly, exploring the roof and your tongue with a burning need that made you shiver in his arms. You moaned and reached up to run your fingers through his hair. Tugging slightly, you broke the kiss, sending him a small smirk when faced with those hooded, intense eyes.

His fingers clenched around your collar, and in an instant the entire fabric of your shirt turned into a heap of dust on the floor. You gasped, but before you could say any more he'd already done the same to your pants.

He reached for your bra, but you quickly stopped him. "Bras are expensive!"

He gave you a bored look, before his hand groped the fabric and disintegrated it, the heap of dust falling down your stomach with the rest of your former outfit. Cupping your breast, he forced his lips back against yours, murmuring, "I'll buy you as many as you like."

His finger started rubbing smooth circles over your nipple, his other pulling your hips forward to grind his hips against yours. His tongue swirled in your mouth synchronously with the way he twisted and teased the sensitive bud on your chest, making you sigh into his mouth. His hands started roaming your body, slipping along every soft crevice and curve like you were made of smooth marble. His hand found the dip between your thighs.

You stopped him.

"Let me take care of you," you whispered against his lips. You weren't sure what got into you, a sudden boldness took over your body and moved on its own accord somehow, but he didn't seem to mind.

You moved to sit on your knees and pulled his sweatpants down without hesitation, knowing that your hands would tremble in anticipation if you stopped moving. His breathing was already heavy and all he could do was look down at you with hooded eyes and reach down to run his hand through your hair.

Bracing your hands on his thighs, you moved to hover your face in front of his boxers, huffing out a warm breath that made him inhale. His member was bulging through the fabric. Twitching when you pressed your mouth against him and breathed out another huff of hot air. His grip in your hair tightened, a cue for you to stop teasing him. You tried to hide your amusement.

You reached your hand into his briefs and took his member out, which poked up to meet your face after being freed from its breeches. It was veiny and throbbing, a sliver of wetness trailing along the tip. You moved your thumb over the slit, smearing the wetness over him as your tongue traveled in a line from base to tip. He groaned, the grip on your hair encouraging you to continue.

Your lips sucked and kissed all over him, leaving a trail of saliva along his shaft, until you reached the tip and took him into your mouth as far as you could. His hips bucked forward instantly, his hold on your hair pushing you forward until he was hitting the back of your throat. You gagged once, but managed to hollow your cheeks.

"You look pretty with my cock in your mouth," he growled lowly, a smirk plastered on his pale lips.

If it had been any other situation, you would have probably rolled your eyes, but for now all you could do was swallow him down and move your tongue along his warm shaft.

He moved your head back and forth slowly, as if to preserve what little patience he had left, until his thighs started to tremble. He had to refrain himself from spilling his load down your throat.

He forced you back by grabbing hold of your hair roughly. A stream of saliva dripped down your chin, which he swiped away with his thumb. "Come here," he muttered, reaching down and grabbing your thighs to lift you into his arms. You wrapped your shaky legs around him, your fingers threading to his locks as you kissed him again, the strokes of your tongue languid and almost lazy against his.

He sat on top of the sheets, slipped his briefs off entirely and moved you so you were sitting on his lap. His hands cupped your ass and moved you forward.

"Tomura," you gasped, feeling the tip of his cock pressing against your soaking entrance.

He groaned with content, looking down at his member slowly slipping between your folds. "So wet for me when I barely even touched you." His head poked inside, causing an unpleasant stretch that burned. He didn't stop, bucking his hips up even when he felt your walls clench harshly at the intrusion.

You dug your fingers into his back, your mouth pressed against his shoulder to stop the pained mewl from escaping your lips. He hushes you, "Now, come on, I know you can handle it. You're taking me so well, baby." You shook your head. It was too much. "No?" His hand slipped in between your bodies, his deft fingers gliding through the droopy wet mess you'd made where his cock filled your hole. When his wet thumb brushed over your clit, you shivered, and your body started instantly moving into his hand, anything to rid of the pain. In doing so, his cock rubbed pleasantly against your gummy walls, stretching you out further and making him throw his head back. With his white hair falling away from his face, his red orbs burned into you through narrowed lids. "See? I knew you could be a little slut for me. After all that teasing-" He slammed his hips up until he was finally fully sheathed inside of you and you moaned, feeling the pleasure through the stinging.

He started lifting you up and down his member, his hips snapping up to meet yours in an unrelenting pace. Obscene sopping noises and skin hitting skin filled the room, along with your soft sobs and his ragged breaths. The stretch slowly became bearable, turning into a dull ache. You started to feel the intensity of him filling you up, his body molding into you in a carnal arch

"You know how many times I've gotten a hard on while you were laying so close to me?" He growled.

You couldn't answer him, he felt so good. He started bucking his hips in a forward angle, rubbing against a spot that made your mouth fall open and your tongue slick with saliva.

"And then you'd roll over, rub your ass against me. I should've fucked you into the ground the first time I had the chance."

"Shi-Shigaraki," the words dying on your tongue as your back arched in pure pleasure, your chest rubbing against him with every thrust, both slick with sweat from the heat and delicious friction. Your mind was clouded over, all you could feel was him pounding into you, his hot breaths against your throat, his hands gripping your ass so roughly you were sure he was going to leave bruises. Shoving himself deeper inside of you, filling you with his throbbing, pulsing member.

He roughly flipped you over onto your stomach and you mewled sadly at the loss of contact when his cock slipped out, before feeling him prop a pillow underneath your waist and shoving inside of your stretched hole again. You moaned loudly, your mouth no longer able to keep the crude noises you were making inside while he was fucking you into the mattress.

He let out a groan when you purposefully clenched around him and smacked your ass with a flat hand, making you yelp. He kneaded the stinging flesh, not once relenting in his furious pace. "Mine," he growled. Placing his hands on the mattress on either side of you, his body pushed down onto you as his lips hovered next to your ear. The deep pulsing, along with the friction from the pillow, was making your vision blurry. "I want you to remember," he huffed lowly, his hand wrapping around your throat and squeezing. "You're mine. And when I get back, when I'm stronger, I'm going to make sure people are reminded of it. I'll keep shoving my cock into you until you can no longer walk because you're mine." He lifted your legs up, the force of his thrusts angling upwards again.

"Pl-Please," you moan.

"Please?" You can't see his face, or anything at all for that matter, but you can hear his vicious grin.

"Please- Please let me come- Please," you cry out.

Feeling his cock throb at your words, your walls clenching tighter every so often, he groans loudly.

"Come for me, baby."

You lose it, your face pressing into the mattress as your thighs shake and your walls clench around him completely. He pushes you through your orgasm with a few more deep, unruly thrusts before releasing hot spurts inside of you. His hands dig into your sides and he lets out a final, strangled moan, before collapsing on top of you.

You're both panting and though you can barely catch your breath with his full weight on top of you, it's in a way a comforting way to know he's still there. He kisses the back of your neck before laying down next to you on his side and grabbing your still shivering body to hold you against him.

"Tomura?" you say softly.

"Hm?" He murmurs, his hand threading through your disheveled hair with a gentleness you didn't expected.

"Promise me you'll come back. I don't care what you do, just promise me you won't leave me."

"I promise. You are mine, and I am yours."

You smiled in content, turning your face to kiss him softly.

His red irises narrowed a sliver when he started to feel you move. "You weren't just grinding your ass against me in your sleep, were you?"

"Perhaps," you replied cheekily.

---

A/N: I finished this at 5 AM and didn't read it over again so I might rewrite parts of it sometime soon. Thanks for reading!

[mrsalwayswrite]

Sunlight (Bucky Barnes x OFC)

I wrote this for @geekandbooknerd​ birthday challenge! Yay! I know its a bit early but happy birthday! 

My prompt was “If there is anything, there is us. You and me. No one else.”- Jennifer L. Armentrout, Onyx. 

It kind of turned into a Avengers/X-Men crossover. So some mentions of X-Men characters but mostly about Bucky & OFC. 

Warnings: slight angst, brief mention of torture, all the fluff! 

Words: 3400

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Bucky stormed up to his best friend, leaving terrified SHIELD agents in his wake. He did not care about the scene he was making in the hallway of the Avengers Compound. His fear and fury overrode his concern to stay calm.

 "She ran off. Soon as we touched down, I tri…."

 Bucky turned on his heels, ready to sprint. He had to find her. He could listen to excuses and rational later. His mind and body drove him towards only one thing- to seek her out and offer comfort...until a hand clasped his shoulder, keeping him still. 

 "I'm sorry, Buck. We thought...I thought…" Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. He still wore his dirty uniform, not even having had a chance to clean up from the mission yet. "Things didn't go as planned. She did well. She...she was a help to have on the mission. Please let her know that."

 The brunet could only nod, every cell in his being screaming at him to go find his girl. Soon as Steve removed his hand, Bucky took off. 

 People practically leapt out of his way...which was smart on their account. He was not above running people over right now. He was used to his friends teasing him about his murder strut- their term, not his- about how it made people either run in fear of their lives or hyperventilate with lust. He tried to not think about it too much. Although it did have its uses on occasion. 

 Bursting out the nearest outside door, he ran using all his super soldier speed. He knew where she would be. More than one time she had called it a safe place, especially when it was sunny out. The buildings for the Avengers Compound flew by him. He vaguely thought he heard someone call his name but it did not matter. He had to get to his girl. 

 The first hints of autumn could be seen in the trees surrounding the Compound. Most were still green but swatches of color peeked through with their yellows and oranges. The underbrush made each step he took in his combat boots sound like a herd of elephants walked by but now he did not have to focus on moving silently. He wore tactical pants and a black t-shirt, having been working on extra security measures for the Avengers building when Steve called him. Immediately he dropped the StarkPad and ran, ignoring those he had been working with. 

 He passed the giant elm tree that always seemed otherworldly to him...then he could see her. He always wondered what made this spot special. There was nothing unique about it in the forest surrounding the Compound...except for a giant ass boulder. Deciduous trees surrounded the spot, creating an almost nature-made barricade around the small open area with the boulder in the middle. Sunlight shown directly on it, uninterrupted by branches or leaves. It almost looked like the eye of a hurricane, and maybe that was why she always came to this spot. It was peaceful. 

 And there she sat looking like a fairy from a children's story, minus the wings. Her Nordic blonde hair danced about her in the slight breeze, the long stands almost hypnotic in their movements. Her face was turned upward, facing the afternoon sun, like a flower seeking its warmth. Her slender arms were wrapped around her legs, her alabaster skin on full display with her bare feet, black leggings and navy tank top. She must have ditched the outer part of her uniform and ran, not even bothering to go back to her room to change first. 

 Standing just on the edge of the tree line, he could only stare, taken back by her beauty once again. He wished he was artistic like Steve to paint or sketch her. That he could somehow show her how gorgeous she was to him, to erase all those self-doubts she harbored still. Instead he strove to remind her every day in whatever way he could. 

 "Leyna!" He called out, having moved out of the trees into the open area surrounding the boulder. 

 She turned her head briefly to meet his eyes then turned her face back upward, soaking in the sunlight. 

 That quick look had been enough for him to see the dried tear streaks on her cheeks. He clambered up the rock, continuously amazed at how she was able to navigate the damn thing when she was so small. He was almost a foot taller than her and the stupid rock was tricky for him between the lack of handholds, lichen and moss that covered it. It was at least twice as tall as him, and three times as wide in some strange skinny oval shape. It vaguely reminded him of the kind of stones that were good for skipping rocks on top of water, but on a giant scale. 

 Once up, he walked towards where she sat in the middle, feeling the heat of the sun hitting him anew. Without a word, he sat behind her, placing himself so her back was to his chest, his legs outstretched and his flesh arm wrapped around her waist. Silently she leaned back into him, still facing the sun, eyes closed. He laid his cheek against the top of her head, his metal arm outstretched to stabilize them. 

 The only sounds were those of the birds singing around them, the occasional shout coming from the direction of the Compound and their own breathing. It was peaceful. Something both of them craved instinctively. 

 He waited for her, knowing this was more than just a quiet place to be. There was her place to "recharge", as she liked to call it, both physically and mentally. After several minutes, a faint golden shimmer surrounded her hands. Slowly she held out one of her hands and moved her fingers as if in a dance. 

 Watching her use her powers was one of his favorite things to do. She tried to explain it to him once, how her powers worked. Something how she could manipulate light photons and atoms to change their structure to become whatever she wished, either a solid creation or an illusion. It was about three PhD degrees above his head but he got the gist. He smiled remembering when she first met Bruce Banner and how the man almost wet himself, he was so excited to run experiments and lab tests on her and her powers. Bucky had never seen the man so thrilled. Then the time she met Loki and he learned she could do illusions also. He had jumped at the chance of a competition between them that left the Compound in a strange golden, greenish haze for two days because of the amount of magic used and atoms/photons messed with for the insane amount of illusions created. 

 Using both hands, she twirled and manipulated them in front of her, using the direct sunlight to create something. Sunlight was her life source. Yes, she needed to eat and drink like anyone else but she always joked she was like a solar-powered being. Without sunlight her powers faded to nothing and she would wither away. 

 His eyes remained glued to her hands as she worked, curious as to what she was making now. With a final flourish, a long dagger lay across her palms, dwarfing her hands. The handle was the deepest black while the blade itself had a slight curve and shone a brilliant silver in the sunlight. It had a slight etching on the silver that looked like artistic flames running along the outside. 

 "That one might be my new favorite." He nuzzled her neck, thoroughly enjoying the way she squirmed and giggled. He loved when she made him shiny, sharp things. 

 "Maybe I'll make you a matching set."

 He took the dagger from her, eyeing it hungrily before slipping it into his boot. Good thing the training room was open at all hours. He planned on experimenting with it later. 

 They sat in silence for a few more minutes before she spoke, drawing lazy circles on his arm still around her waist. 

 "Steve call you?"

 "He was worried." He kissed her hair lightly. "Wanna talk about it?"

 He could feel her hesitation then the story was whispered into the wind, her voice shaky. "There was a cell...I got separated from the others...Some...um, a few HYDRA soldiers managed to taze me, get me down...they covered my eyes...and got a chain on my wrist…" She took a deep breath, he squeezed her, knowing how hard this was for her. "Steve found me at that point, he took them out and helped me get away."

 "Oh baby, I'm so sorry." It was only after she mentioned her wrist, he peeked over her shoulder to see her right wrist that looked raw and red. Seeing her injury, he clenched his metal fist. Fury rolled through him like a steam train, anger at both HYDRA for trying to take her from him and himself for not being there to protect her. He pulled her closer to him with both arms, needing the reassurance she was still here, with him. 

 "I don't think I can do this anymore, Bucky." She suddenly choked out, tears falling afresh. "I don't...I can't go through that again. I'm not strong enough."

 "Leyna…we all have our triggers that remind us of our pasts. No one blames you."

 "I put the mission in danger."

 "Steve said you did well and that you were a help."

 She shook her head. "I don't think I can keep doing this."

 They sat in silence. He understood what was going through her mind. Hell, he dealt with it himself on a regular basis. The question of how much of one's past could still haunt their future. 

 Leyna had been found by the X-Men when they took down a cult who were kidnapping mutants. She had been chained to a wall in complete darkness, refused any source of sunlight or artificial light for months on end until she either gave them the information they wanted or she died. The X-Men had brought her back to the mutant school where she stayed to recover, since when they found her, she was barely conscious. When Charles examined her mind, he discovered she was not a mutant but an enhanced like Wanda Maximoff, though where she got her powers was unknown. Just over two years after being rescued and residing at the mutant school, Charles thought sending her to the Avengers would be the best for her and to begin creating a working relationship between the Avengers and the X-Men. Leyna was to be a sort of liaison between the two groups constantly saving the world. 

 It had been a year since she joined the Avengers and everyone acknowledged how quickly she fit it. Almost like she had been a missing puzzle piece that they had not realized was missing. 

 "Do...do you think they'll send me back? To Charles? He sent me here to help but…" Her voice dropped off, fear and uncertainty evident. 

 "I am sure the Professor would understand. And there are more ways than one to help. You don't have to be out in the field to be useful. I know I prefer when you don't go on missions. Sam had to sit on me this time so I wouldn't stow away on the ship and come with you."

 She giggled, her head resting on his shoulder. "I feel the same way when you leave for a mission. Wanda and I used to get drunk but after the...electrical incident, we're not allowed to anymore."

 He chuckled, "so that's what happened, huh? You guys said you tried to combine your powers or something."

 "Remember, we were drunk and apparently decided we wanted to have a dance party. So, I tried to create a disco ball and stroke lights while she was trying to do something with the music...but it all backfired."

 He openly laughed at that. "Doll, the two of you managed to blow out all the electricity in the Compound and even put FRIDAY offline for a bit. Tony was furious. Hell, I heard Wanda's room had to be completely renovated because of the power surge that went through it. Thankfully it had reinforced, special walls or whatever Tony calls them."

 "Why do you think she's been sleeping in Vision's room?"

 "That was...what, three months ago? And it's still not fixed?"

 She shrugged. "She doesn't feel rushed to return to her own room. "

 They lapsed back into silence, his arms still around her. Her face was still upturned, soaking in the afternoon sun. He watched her profile, in awe that someone as pure, selfless and fun would ever look at him twice. As he stared, he could see her lips pursing slightly while her brow furrowed. It broke his heart that she still struggled with such self-doubt. 

 "Leyna, turn around." At her hesitation, he ran his lips softly over the corner of her jaw. "Please."

 Slowly, she did. Turning around to straddle his waist, she wrapped her arms around his neck while his own hands gripped her hips to hold her. 

 "Look at me."

 It was only after his quiet command that she finally lifted her gaze from his chest. Her violet eyes always enthralled him, calling to some deep primitive part that wanted to bask in her light for the rest of his life. 

 "We're not gonna kick you out if you come off the field. Hell, you are one of our best at recon and observation. If that's all you want to do, the others will understand. Natasha will probably buy you a bottle of that Russian vodka that she loves cause she won't be the only one sent on those kinds of missions anymore. And even if that is too much, you have a great mind for tactics and seeing things others don't. You would be a benefit for working in the control room while we're on a mission. You'd have our backs still and could keep an eye out for things we might miss."

 "Charles sent me to help…" She hedged but he was having none of that. He gripped her chin, holding her gaze, hoping she would believe him and stay. Not just for the Avengers...but for him. 

 "And you would be. You've always been a huge help… Or would you prefer to go back to the School? Is that what you would prefer? I'm sure Logan would prefer that. He still hasn't forgiven me for having you be my girl."

 "He hasn't tried to kill you though."

 "What do you call what happened last time he came to check on you?" He demanded, eyeing her smirk. "Just a misunderstanding?"

 She laughed, massaging the back of his neck. "He only destroyed the couch. It could have been far worse."

 "Yeah, and I had been sitting on that couch! His claws were inches from my head!" 

 "Mmm...good thing you have such great reflexes." She leaned forward and pressed a teasing kiss to his lips. 

 His hands tightened on her hips. "Babydoll, you do that again and I'll show you what other great reflexes I have."

 "Outside?"

 "What? Ain't nobody around?"

 She swatted his chest, laughing before laying her head on his shoulder. "And if I just wanted to be with you? Not do anything...just be here with you?"

 "If there is anything, there is us. You and me. No one else." He lifted her chin to gaze into her eyes, the sunlight making them glow. "We can do whatever we want. Go wherever we want. Just us."

 "Mmm...and Steve." She hummed, tracing a finger lazily on his chest. 

 "What?"

 "You and me...and Steve. There is no way Steve would let us go off alone. He would miss his best friend too much and is too stubborn to let you go. He'd leave the Avengers first. Then Sam would be all offended and come along too since he and Steve are also best friends and I think secretly you and Sam are best friends but neither wants to acknowledge it. Natasha would hunt us down next. You know Peter would send us more of those little videos but they would be all sad and puppy eyes since wherever we are, I'm sure his Aunt May would not let him come. Plus, he's like the little brother I've always wanted… If Natasha finds us, Clint will show up eventually. Then Scott would too since Steve is with us. I swear I've never seen a bigger fangirl than Scott. Tony would crash at some point because well, it's Tony…"

 He cut her off, chuckling because however much he wanted to deny it. It was true. "Ok ok, I get the picture. Christ. I think we need some new friends."

 "Like Logan?"

 "I still can't believe you dated the Wolverine. I feel I should question your taste in men."

 "Hey! It was short lived and we both realized we were better as friends. Sides, if we're worried about my taste in men, what does that say about you?" She teased, a smile on her lips. 

 "You go for the tall, dark and handsome." 

 "That applies to Logan too...mmm...maybe I just prefer old guys?"

 "Alright, that's it!" He stood up, throwing her over his shoulder. "I come out here to take care of my best girl and what do I get...insults!" Carefully he jumped down to the ground, making sure not to jostle her too much with the impact. He started back towards the Compound, trying to control the smile on his face while listening to Leyna laughing over his shoulder. "See if I share my ice cream with you tonight."

 "Bucky…" she whined, wiggling against him, "that's mean."

 "Old guys...you've been spending too much time with Sam. Really need to get some new friends." He muttered mostly to himself. 

 "Put me down, Bucky."

 He set her on a nearby stump so she was actually eye level to him. Carefully he ran a hand through her blonde hair, loving that she let him play with it. "You know I meant it, what I said earlier."

 "I know, love." She cupped his face and pressed a kiss to his lips. 

 He eagerly kissed her back, diving into her affections without hesitation. He loved the way she fit in his arms, the way her lips glided against his, how his heart threatened to explode with joy with just the mere thought of her. Although they had not yet said those three little words to one another, he knew it was true for him. She was perfect for him, and although she had her quirks that annoyed him and her own haunted past that gave her nightmares, he would not change anything about her.

 Finally, they broke apart, both breathing a little more heavily and dopey smiles on both their faces. He would love to stay here with her, just the two of them and kiss her senseless or until he removed any self-doubt she still struggled with. The Avengers' part of his mind reminded him that she had run out to the forest before the debrief which would be a headache in itself if they did not return soon. He sighed, lamenting that this moment had to end. "Come on, doll. Let's get you back. Steve will want to check in with you."

 "Ok…"

 He stepped away for her to jump down but she did not move. 

 "Doll…" That grin on her face spelled trouble, he just knew it. 

 "I'm tired...can you give me a piggyback ride?"

 He raised an eyebrow at her. 

 She smiled sweetly, hands clasped in front of her and swaying slightly. Between the delicate features, small stature and purple eyes, she really did look like a damn fairy. 

 "Fine…"

 She squealed as she climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Just as he thought about protesting loudly, she smacked a loud kiss on his cheek then giggled. Who was he kidding, he would do anything for her. 

 If he had to give a few death glares and mild threats in the future to suppress jokes about the Winter Soldier giving piggyback rides…that was not his fault. 

[grim-faux]

8 - Twisted Warren

Too much had happened in this place, between the time Murkoff had lost control, and the MHS failed to regain control.  The patients had gotten free and had ample time on their hands to undertake all manner of hobbies.

I wasn’t certain what to make of the large hole chiseled through three feet of solid cement, and rebar.  Given there’s not a lot to do around this place but come up with creative ways to get around, I gave this one a seven out of ten.  I doubted that big ugly fucker would have been amused by a commission for big fuckin holes, he seemed dedicated to his current task of decapitating the former law.  I couldn’t envision the inmates having the tools for this sort of work, and then using them correctly to remove the cement, but they were just insane, not stupid.  There was a difference.

The problem was they were not stupid.

  To satisfy my lethal curiosity, I did return to the other side of where I had dropped down, to see if the egress guy was still lurking.  I didn’t want someone following me, I’d rather know at this point and try to lose them than get a nasty surprise in a dark cramped hole.

There was only a small room, and a door.  I tried the handle confirming it was locked, but perhaps earlier it was open and the patient decided to lock it.  Didn’t matter, my path was charted out.  It must’ve led into a lavatory, or female wash room, there were hand dryers on the wall, a mattress flung on its side, and the more important detail.  Sinks.

I tried the dial on one and received a fresh flow of water, its color I couldn’t tell due to the night vision but it looked clean and free of sediment.  After giving my perimeter a quick look I leaned under the tap and tasted it, first rinsing my mouth out of the reek and copper.  The water had a strong metallic quality, I wasn’t sure if I should drink it, much as I was advised not to drink the water when visiting another country, but I was dehydrated.  I reasoned with myself the lines couldn’t all be compromised, and drank just enough to quench my thirst.

There was also the issue of my bloody camera, and my backside, but I felt my jacket was a lost cause and it was cold.  In the dark I flushed water on my sleeve and used it to carefully dab the side of the camera until it felt like much of the stickiness was removed.  I didn’t expect to do a perfect job in the solid black.  I also took the time to rinse the blood from my scalp and the back of my leg, then flushed my tender brow.

I felt renewed, not meeting ready but stable enough on my feet to carry me onward.  I returned to the other side, squelching over the sticky puddle of blood back to the warrens entrance.

Below looked like an access space, for repairs or maintenance on broken pipes that might be reached through the basement.  It might’ve been installed in the past century if this place was as old as I suspected.

The hole wasn’t deep, but there was a passage dug out in the softer earth beneath the crawl space.  A small draft crept over my ankles, warmer air spilling into the cool shower.  The thick reek of natural gas coupled with moist earth reached my nose as I crouched down and used the night vision to navigate, I really didn’t need to get lost under this place. 

Though the path seemed straightforward, I was fully aware of how easy it was to get turned around in a short section of black crawlspace.  A few of the Outdoor Adventurer columns warned of how inexperienced cavers could get lost in less than twenty feet of cave.  One story mentioned a specific case in which a cavern had only a few extending tunnels, but the individuals involved thought only to bring one light source plus their cell phones.  As with any adventure destined to fail, the torch had a mishap and the cavers with their cell phones couldn’t distinguish between the details of the cave through the poor light source, nor could they call for help.  Many would scratch their heads or joke towards their expense, how can you get lost in such a small cave?  Few have ever experienced the total silence, the oppressive dark, and the disorientation that comes with confusion, then panic.  How easy doubt sets in and turns your instincts against you.

This is why they, like many, didn’t live to learn from their error.

Even a few feet into this passage, I could no longer see the light.  Not at all.  Thick pipes ran in orderly groups into the dark depths, railways of electrical input.  My path was carved around a cement pillar, going deeper.  My heart thudded harder against my ribs filling my head with a dull pulse of pain.  How deep did this go?  Would I be able to turn back if I lost my way?  I paused to listen in the crushing black, the total silence but for the thunder of my heart and my heavy breath.  I had my reservations for traveling deeper, I was terribly fucking lost running everywhere through the Asylums endless maze of halls, but this was fifteen times worse.  This was my grave.

I pressed on with no where else to look back on, I fortified my resolve to keep calm and find a way out.  There was nothing that could hurt me here, I could hear nothing, no shrieking, no pleas for mercy.  Dead silence.

The warmer air would’ve been a nice change of pace compared to the chilly asylum, but the reek of sludge and compost did not set me to ease.  Blood was, as always, my guide through this twisting nightmare.  Across the upper portion of the tunnel was a set of pipes, I had to stretch out and slip under them to get through.  It opened up a bit and I could stand, more pipes, for gas or water.

As I moved forward it looked like my path came to an end, but the earth shifted under my feet.  Looking down, I found a deep hole which I had nearly stumbled into.  I dropped down, making sure to evade the bricks on the one side.  The stench and heat was in full force at this point and I turned, locating where the bricks had been torn out of a wall.

The sewers beneath the asylum were huge, possibly to redirect the flow of water and alleviate erosion.  It wasn’t called Mount Massive for the jollies of it.  I glanced beyond the ruptured wall, crinkling my nose at the odor.  To my right was a light source, but my left was difficult to make out even with the NV.  Moisture in the air interfered with the feed.

Satisfied that the path was free of wavering figures, I sloshed into the filthy water of the drainage flow trying not to think about what might be floating in it.  The dark tunnel twisted around and after a few feet I could make out the collection of fallen boulders and earth.  A cave in, a weakness of some sort in the foundation.  This made me uneasy, the tunnels could be subjected to collapse while I was down here, especially with the heavy rainstorm currently hammering the mountain.  I didn’t bother to get closer should there be an opening I could squeeze through, it wasn’t worth it.

The lit tunnel offered two paths, I proceeded through the light, and presumably the path the patients had taken when they came down here.  At least I knew there must be a way out, unless they came down here and backtracked out.  I doubted that.  This was where the blood led me.

No matter how many times I repeated that phrase in my head, it always sounded wrong and insane.

A barricade for flotsam shed some perception on the water levels of these tunnels, if there was a good flood it could reach my hip.  I imagined the water was lower but even now the flow rolled over my ankles, I could only be thankful the water temper was tolerable or I’d succumb to hypothermia.  The barrier offered little trouble, but a sharp pain in my side.  Nice thing, I was growing accustomed to the jolts of pain.  Just had to avoid getting thrown out of windows, or kicked in the chest.

An intersecting tunnel came into view, but it was easy to decide which way from here with no detours.  My right was completely packed by another cave in, giving me some mild grief if that was my way out.  The ruble didn’t look fresh but I was no expert on collapses.

The right looked like another dead end from a distance, but as I moved closer I could see the small drainage tunnel in the shallow ditch was open.  A strong source of light soaked through a large grate overhead, offered by the upper floors perhaps, I couldn’t tell.  I stood off to the side of the gaping drain to look up, but the light from above was too bright to view past and make out its origins.  I thought I heard someone screaming, it could’ve been my imagination.  The echoing chatter of water spilled along the cobblestone bricks into the ditch below at a high frequency.

As I looked down, I thought I saw a body slumped by a grated drain.  It was a body, I crept in close to examine him through the NV feed.  He didn’t look like one of the patients that had come down earlier, a small relief.  He had been dead for some time, his pants and the lower area of his body had absorbed so much water he almost looked fluffy, but it was only skin dissolved and flaking away.  I didn’t need that thought on my mind, though I had already presumed I would find more bodies in the sewer, I didn’t need to see them immediately.  What a naïve hope that was.

Returning to my task at hand, I grimaced as I couched low and scooted along the water into the small tunnel.  The humid stench was overpowering and the cramped space of the drain had me nearly knelt in the foul water, but I managed to only submerge one knee as I felt along.  I tried to bury my face in my collar and hold the camera up so I could see where I was going and not put my knee into something unpleasant.  Blood was one thing, it was tolerable.

I tried to keep my hand along the ‘dryer’ side of the wall, where the tunnel sloped down but wasn’t in the water.  The cuts along the back of my leg stung like hell and I tried not to envision what sort of bacterial infections I’d come away with.  A piece of paper from something got caught on my foot, but I wouldn’t mess with that until I could stand.  The tunnel ended and I assured myself there was nothing here with me poised just beside the opening to lop my head off, before I shuffled out and stood.

Much of the same met me, no light and pipes suspended along the roof of the tunnel.  As I stared through the quivering visor I realized for the first time, I was shaken all over.  Not just mild tremors, I could literally not hold myself still as I inspected the open channel over.  I wasn’t cold, in fact a thin layer of sweat had spread under my coat causing it to stick against my shirt.

I was terrified.

Despite my small reprieve of isolation I was frightened, my nerves frayed.  Where was I going?  How did I get out of here?  What if there was no way out?  What if this was where I was meant to die?

Get ahold of yourself.  I stepped back and leaned beside the wall and touched the cool brick, feeling the vibrations of the Asylum against my palm.  Not gonna die here.  I would get out.  I would get out with the evidence and reveal this heinous mess to everyone.

I took a small breath through my mouth and stared at the long corridor ahead.  I wanted to believe that.  I wanted to make that the truth so bad.

The water sloshed over my shoes, and I flipped off the remains of that sheet of paper–

Something flittered into sight ahead.  I barely turned my camera up, night vision and everything I could see perfectly, and something glided by in the intersecting tunnel.  Looked black, like a shadow, but it was in direct light.  Was something there?

I took a few steps back to the tunnel and perched down, checking on my camera.  Features, playback, last five minutes.  I realized in reviewing the footage that I was breathing hard, I still was.  Didn’t care.

I paused the feed and stared at what was caught, it wasn’t very clear.  Just a black shape, it had passed in barely a second and looked almost transparent.  It wasn’t in the light as I had imagined, the NV had caught it in the dark of the intersecting tunnel.  Maybe it was a residual image, the camera had color mishaps since I flew out that window.  But…it looked suspended, a good six feet above the ground.

I took a deep breath through my mouth and exhaled.  Later I would review the evidence with better equipment, image quality enhancements.  And I’d make copies of everything.

First, I had to get out of here.  And the only route open to me was ahead, where that shadow was.

I exercised extreme caution as I proceeded forward, listening every few steps for sounds or stopping when I thought I heard something.  Carefully I picked my way along the tunnel with my eyes fixed ahead, the camera never picked up another image.

To my right where it must have gone, was a barricade or gap for high water levels.  I decided to avoid that path and check elsewhere, give whatever was there now a chance to clear out.

The left side extended a distance, all manner of trash was down here from dissolving files to cardboard boxes.  The path took a right path followed brick and on the left a drainage tunnel, grated up.  The path took a right and around the corner a light source, and possibly a way out.

I was disappointed to discover it wasn’t to be.  This was an exit, perhaps some time before, but the ladder set here was completely destroyed.  On the floor beneath lay the remains of a human, entrails, rotted limbs, and the ladder.  I attempted to lift it up but it was too short.  Even pushing some cardboard boxes over helped in no way, they were too soggy from sitting in the wet air.  The upper one cracked and folders scattered, patient letters.  I’m guessing Murkoff never sent these to the families, and probably forged return notes.  A few were stuffed into a file, which I took interest in

“"(Found scrawled in pencil on the back of an admittance form. Handwritting matches samples from patient “Father” MARTIN ARCHIMBAUD.)

This God is real. What we’ve mistaken so long for ghosts, spirits, madness. We were only willfully ignorant. The scales on Saul’s eyes were fear, and when you see beyond it, you truly see. This is the gift of the Walrider. The Gospel of Sand. The greatest sin in the world is willful ignorance of God. To receive a revelation and not spread it to the waiting flock. This place… To stand in the way of salvation is a sin for which there is no punishment too great’.”

For some reason this note caused goosebumps to crawl up my skin.  My mind brought back images of the MHS team, throttled and dragged away.  What had I seen?  What did Father Martin ask?  “Will you see?  Can you?”  I still didn’t understand, but I felt closer to understanding these mysteries through these sloppy scribbles.  Something about these words felt more than deranged delusions.  There was a truth.

I left the file and moved around the opposite side of the tunnel, lowering the camera where the lamps overhead still functioned casting deep yellow globs of light to spread over the moist stone.  Save batteries, live longer.

A soft tinkling…turned into an aggressive rattle as I passed under a large pipe.  I tried to find the source, but it sounded as though it were coming from within the pipe itself.  I raised my camera though there was nothing to record, but that sound was eerie, I could see nothing to generate that sort of sound.  Like pouring pellets into a bebe rifle.

I left that place and quickly returned to what must have been my route, where the shape had gone?  I don’t know at this point.  Peering through the tight gap I could make note of nothing threatening or otherwise, despite the distance I could tell there were areas where danger could lurk.  My progress so far had been quiet.

The barricade was tight, difficult even for me to get through.  I grunted as it rubbed on my bad side but I made it.  I’m sure there were hundreds of those down here.

The sewer opened up into another tunnel, a huge drainage gutter sat a few feet ahead with a grate over it.  To the right was a ladder swallowed up in a flood of murky water with a plaque reading Lower Junction

Fuck that.  I’m trying to get out of this place. 

A large pipe directed down into the lower area was clearly labeled ‘Female ward,’ and across from it an identical pipe with the faded words ‘Prison ward.’  More the reason not to go THAT way.  I continued to where some crates had been abandoned, probably filled with replacement parts or materials for the plumbing.  The asylum was nearly a city all in itself and required routine maintenance.

This made sense, they had a lot of people here on residence doing the experiments.  Probably the higher security clearance guys never went out on a sunny day, couldn’t risk them getting hurt or lost.

A loud thud echoed through the tunnel, I stopped near the crates and watched as a shape dropped down at the other end.  I stepped back and knelt behind them as he marched forward, struggling to breathe as he always did after the heavy exercise of killing.

The big ugly fucker just wouldn’t give it a rest!  What was his obsession?  Did he just follow me wherever he thought I was, or was it just chance?  Maybe he was following the patients, and somehow I was shepherd in with the flock.  Didn’t change matters, he was here now for whatever reason.  Damnit.

He moved towards the middle of the corridor and paused, glanced around as his breathing calmed.  Now that I saw him clearly in the light, I could make out details I hadn’t been able to pick out on when he threw me out a window.

No.  I will never let that go.

His face was indeed mutilated, by himself reports said.  I doubt he had sharp items while institutionalized.  Was it from the treatment he became so large?  Or just bad cardio, the guy ran like a horse.  The report also stated he had modified restraints to conform his massive size, and by modified they meant huge chains which he dragged around on his legs and arms.  The ones wrapped about his wrists appeared to have restricted his blood flow, I couldn’t tell from the distance if his hands still worked, they looked pale and skeletal.

Chris turned and began down a path on my right.  I listened to the sound of his chains as they grew soft and distant, with his heavy huffing.  At this point I wasn’t sure where to go, if I used my camera and zoomed, I could see to the end where he plopped down was grated.  One of the tunnels might lead somewhere, someplace where I could climb out of this sewer.  This option was more favorably than sitting here waiting for him to find me while I was indecisive about where to go.

I took hesitant steps forward, listening.  The sounds bounced around the walls, but I only heard the soft swish of water around my shoes.  He entered a tunnel further away on the left, as I moved it I could make out a dark entrance not far from my position on the right.

The tunnel was well lit, it set my nerves to ease but a coil of anxiousness knotted in my throat as I felt exposed.  I gave a small whimper unintentionally as I sprang over a flotsam guard when I twisted the wrong way, and I stopped to listen for a few seconds to assure the bug fucker hadn’t heard that.  As I resumed, the tunnel took a right into shadows and a cool draft, at the end I found a few planks of plywood and another grate drain.  And an open door brimming with light.

The room had little to offer.  Some shelves stacked with paints and boxes, a few batteries that I could use, lockers, and a large pipe with a valve labeled Prison drain

Apparently I was going into the Lower Junction. 

I shut the door behind me and griped the valve tightly and turned.  Or tried.  My arm ached and my ribs just couldn’t take it, a hot streak of pain pulsed in my side.  I stepped back and frowned at the valve.  Maybe I could trick Chris into turning it, or rig him up to it in some elaborate way.

Or I could stop being a pussy and turn that valve?

I took a few shallow breaths and steeled myself.  I was not halfway done with this place, and it wasn’t done with me.  If I was going to survive this, I would endure a lot more than some cheap shots and…

Crashing out a few windows.

I gripped the valve and braced myself, ignoring the throbbing or the red in my vision.  It would turn or so help me.

The valve gave in and wrenched.  I turned until it was all the way open, or what I presumed to be open.  I panted a bit as I turned and left the room.

Nothing.  That was nothing.  I could turn valves all day.  The pain would subside soon, and I could forget it in favor of more compelling matters.

In the dark tunnel I heard chains drag, and a voice mutter.  Two ways to spell dead.  Without a thought I pivoted and returned to the room, shutting the door behind me.  I stood waiting for a short while before I saw the knob twist.  My immediate instinct told me hide in the lockers, but the door was already opening and I was too far to get one open and stuff myself within.  I had already moved to the other side, where there was a large space behind the shelves where the light fell short.  I squatted in the furthest corner and watched as Chris entered.

He pushed the door open fully and stepped inside checking on the lockers.  Yes, they were very lovely.  He must not have known I was here, he didn’t bother opening a one.  Then, he turned looking at the shelves where I was hiding.  I held my breath and stared at him, directly at him.  I thought we made eye contact and my heart stopped, but the big fucker turned smoothly and left the room.

Even when I was certain he was well gone, I couldn’t move.  It felt like my body was frozen.  It took some effort but I managed to adjust my grip on the camera, then raise my arms and took a breath, then another.  I felt my mind begin to clear and the images replayed in my mind, Chris turning and his murky eyes dead on me.  In reflex I shut my own eyes and listened to the sounds of the sewer, soft hissing in pipes, water trickling down ancient mortar.  The tremors were back in full force, but I doubt they ever truly left me.  I only forgot they were there.

In some time I had coaxed myself enough to stand and move towards the open door, I wobbled on my feet and caught the frame before I could go charging out to make a thunderous descent on the slick plywood.

The dark was my only ally. 

I pushed myself off the doorframe and ventured into the tunnel, jumping at every little sound.  The drip of water was incessant, nerve wrecking.  I couldn’t see where he had gone from the opening of the tunnel, I stood waiting for some sign.  The idea that he might’ve left this area by some way was on my thoughts, but I knew better.  If he found a way out, I’d have a way out.  But he would exhaust his search first and that could take hours.

There were two large pipes leading into the lower junction, I already drained one.  The female drain was located on the left side of the tunnel, the pipe must’ve run that way.

While the coast was clear, I went ahead to the backside of the tunnel where the big fucker had initially entered from.  Maybe there was a way out I missed, a break in the grate.

Another dead end.  A dead guard, crumpled and broken, it looked like his legs had been twisted off and the only thing keeping them attached were his blood drenched pants.  I spun about when I picked up on the big fuckers approach, and ducked down behind the crates pressing myself into the edge where they met with the curved wall of the tunnel.  He was getting closer.

For a tense moment it sounded like he was right on the other side of the crate.  My only option was to hold still and pretend I wasn’t there.  The chains clinked as he moved and sniffed the air, I imagine this smell didn’t faze him a whole lot.  I was focused on the sleeve over my arm as I held perfectly still, studying the different colors and stains it had acquired.

“Scout the perimeter, then isolate the target.”

Eventually he continued on his way, his footfalls and muttering getting faint.  I waited a moment certain he took the left tunnel, towards the prison ward.  Of any tunnel, I just wanted to relocate and find a better vantage point.  Slowly I stood up, and there he was no more than fifteen feet away.

Chris bellowed something unintelligible and charged, sounded like “There you argh!”  I bolted, hitting the edge of the wall with my arm and skimmed off heading to the other side of the tunnel.  Had to find a place to hide, needed somewhere I can duck into.  He was screaming something after me, it was hard to tell between the splashing water and his dragging chains.

I vaulted over a drain guard and took a sharp left, into the dark.  No place to duck into, only a few alcoves that heightened my hopes only to crush them.  I slowed to toggle the NV and not drop the camera, he was nearly at my back when I picked up pace.  I nearly missed the sharp turn to the right, I stumbled when I stepped on a greasy cardboard box but managed to stay upright.  Ahead was light, revealing another cave in, but it looked like there was an opening I could squeeze through.  I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but standing around debating wouldn’t improve my health either.

The boulders and brick felt sturdy enough as I crammed myself between them, had to get deeper or the big fucker would drag me out.  Or rip my arm off in the process.

“Get out ‘ere!”  Chris was trying to dig me out as I crammed my body deeper.  He could topple the mound onto himself for all I cared.

As it was, I was nearly trapped in this alcove.  But with a firm shove I dislodged some rock at my feet and was able to slip down and crawl out.  It looked like the tunnel did continue down this way, but the cave in extended to that area and effectively blocked this path.

A bent door was lodged in the brick wall a few feet ahead, ripped off the lock by a force of science I didn’t wish to meet.  The plaque beside it read ‘Female drain.’  I pushed the door in and peered inside.  There wasn’t much to note, the room was small and there was no place to hide.  A shelf held a few of the paints, and a few boxes had been abandoned here.

I stepped across to the valve and braced myself before attempting to turn it.  I coughed a bit as my side tingled, but managed to get the handle to turn on my first try.  Small achievements were possible, now if I was able to get out of here.

I couldn’t hear him working to dig me out from the other side, or his heavy breathing.  He knew I was here and had no place else to go, it was likely he was camped on the other side waiting for me to emerge.  He was former military, he could afford to wait hours if necessary without losing focus.  If it came down to it, I could dodge him.  Or try, it worked but I had a sick feeling he’d remember that trick.

The rocks hadn’t shifted at all, I was able to get through with little effort.  I listened when nearly clear but picked up on nothing, only the constant drum of water running from the upper grates, and my own breathing.  The tunnel was large enough I could get around him if I timed it just right, but I didn’t care to test my reflexes against the big fuckers.  He was capable of nasty surprises, and the drain gutter was slick and unreliable.

I moved from the narrow space and took in a deep breath, then began to walk along the side of the drainage gutter where the water rolled down.  It was impossible to eliminate my movement completely, but I would hear him before he heard me.  I raised the camera for the night vision, but the power was getting low.  I paused on the corner checking for the clear before I pulled out the dead battery and put in a fresh one.

The sound of churning water caught up to me.  I didn’t pause as I quickly felt for the slot, and put in the battery before I turned to make a slow retreat.  There wouldn’t be time to crawl in the gap, especially once I hit the light.  I’d need to fake him out.  For a moment I thought I had gained some distance, the sound of his steps quieted.

Then I heard the rapid approach of chains.  “Little pig….”

I sprint the last stretch to my safety, but never made it.  A strangled yelp slipped from me as the back of my collar was snared, I clutched the camera to my stomach as he lifted me off my feet and flung me to the side of the channels drain. 

“Just lay there.”  He stepped over me as I was trying to recover.  Had to keep the camera out of the water, without it I was as good as dead!  I kicked at the slick bricks, I was dead anyway if he got his hands around my throat.  When I twisted my head to see where I was going, I spotted a missed tunnel that had a shattered grate.  A space Chris couldn’t fit.

I kicked at his ankles, throwing myself through the open passage.  Chris was still struggling to grip my shoes as I clambered inside thrashing in the shallow water until I was nearly soaked, but always making sure I was holding the camera away from the water.  I didn’t stop there, I flipped over and kept going when I saw that the other side was open as well.

With a roar of outrage, Chris stalked off, to head me off.  He had speed, I was severely limited as I struggled to move without knocking myself unconscious.

I cleared the other side and lunged to my feet, as I heard the water torn apart by his strides not far from my right.  I hurtled over the dam and ran, relying completely on the effectiveness of the pipes and the factor that they had finished draining.

“Outer perimeter breached!”  A crate flew by my head and shattered on the wall, I didn’t hesitate in my race.  Couldn’t dwell on the effectiveness of his aim either, I just needed to reach that ladder.  I shoved the camera into its hoister and practically dove down the ladder as the big fucker caught up to me.  “Don’t you hear it?”

I glanced up at his fuck grated face, in time to cringe against the ladder when he dropped a crate.  It crashed against the sides splinting in two, a piece hitting my shoulder but I barely felt it.  I continued down the ladder two and three steps, until I hit the bottom and stumbled away blindly in the dark.

Another crate fell smashing against the floor, the reverberation so close and sudden I felt my head spin.  I couldn’t see it until I had the NV active and took the time to give the soggy corridor a quick glance.  From the ladder I could still hear Chris, snarling at my escape.  I’m not sure why he didn’t pursue me, it didn’t seem impossible.  I gave up and accept these matters, and struggled to understand where I was now.

I took a few breathes, wincing at the stale sewage and raw metallic scent.  Not far from where I stood was another body of a patient, grotesquely bloated from being in the water for so long.  My stomach turned at the soured reek disturbed by the drainage.  This place just got better and better.

The heavy sounds of fresh drainage and falling water was tripled here.  In the pipes hung algae or liquefied rubbish, I couldn’t discern.  I only avoided it as I renewed my search, though it didn’t matter at this point, I was thoroughly soaked from my fall.  I suppose the red stains in my coat had either diluted or washed out completely, and yet I was more of a mess than before.  No surprise.

My path was literally straight forward, but I took it slow.  I could easily get turned around or something might’ve crawled down here.  I doubted it, as everything in here seemed to be in the advance stages of rot from the recent flood, but this place was full of unpleasant surprises that made you regret letting your guard down.

Much of them didn’t make any sense either.  I mulled over the thought of what this place might’ve been like if they didn’t use an asylum and crazy people for the experiments.

I took note of a thick pipe overhead which followed the same route open to me.  It didn’t have access through walls that had the small grated tunnels, but it gave me a direction.  I followed it around a sharp corner, and above was another bloated body, the skin around his bare arms slipping off his skeleton, without the water to cushion the buoyancy.  I made sure not to step directly under him, as I continued through the sewer.  A few crates bobbed in the water as I moved by, a few were marked with Murkoff’s faded logo.

More left over plywood, maybe used to board up areas down here where the scientist made their last stand.  Maybe a few of them came down here to shelter from the patients, but as of yet I had seen no evidence of this.  The wood gave me little trouble, stiff but soggy from its prolonged aquatic existence.  Above the pipe made a sharp turn and ended its path at a connecting pipe parallel with the wall.  I retreated as a sharp blast of hot steam shot out.  Damn pipes were now against me.

I skipped over another broken barrier of wood and boxes scattered in the drainage gutter, before finally coming to a ladder, and my escape.  Given, the big fucker hadn’t beaten me here somehow and was waiting above for me to poke my head out of the warren.  At least there was light above.

As I made my gradual progress up the tall ladder, I occasionally glanced up to my destination.  I tried to keep my steps soft, but someone had heard me.  They popped their head over the opening from above, curious to who was coming up.

I stopped debating what that might’ve been.  Too normal to be Chris Walker, but all patients were insane murders at this point.  A little slower I renewed my climb, unable to hear what the variant above might be planning.  It was likely he couldn’t see anyone down in the dark depths, but he did hear me.  He knew someone was coming.

I tightened my grip on the bars when I peered just over the edge, checking around as much as I could for the person.  I was relieved to find myself alone, but I thought I heard voices echoing in the distance.  Set to ease but still wary I climbed up onto the grate and kept low, I was certain they coming from somewhere….

“No.  I can hear it!”  There was a large grate in a tunnel to my left, that the voices echoed down.  Did they mean me? 

“Somebody—” 

“The Walrider!”  Guess not.  I pulled myself up a little more as shrieks splint the calm, I hung back as a sound came to me similar to crashing water, and a low rumbling.  Not rumbling, was it trickling?  Or a hissing, as something caught in the air and lashed out.  I winced as the howls began.

The voices intensified, as people somewhere shrieked with wild release.  I couldn’t place what I was hearing, a lifting swell of agony and terror as the multitude came to a crescendo, cracks and tears of bone and flesh and crushed windpipes catching voices midway through their final throes.  Somewhere, not far from where I was, people were slaughtered by something they had warned me about.

It couldn’t be.  The Walrider was a myth, it couldn’t exist.

Eventually the anguished cries fell silent, as did the sounds of what had enacted its punishment.

[aemilythings-blog1]

Like most rock climbers, we all love our climbing gear. Often, we can’t get enough of it! So what exactly do you get someone if they love climbing? If we don’t do the activity ourselves or know the latest trends and gadgets, it can be a bit overwhelming on what to get.

It doesn’t have to be like that though! I have put together a list of some of the best gifts you can get your climbing friend/partner/family member.

They will love any of these!

And for the ultimate gift, check right at the bottom to see what will truly impress them!

Read More:

How Much Cost to Start Rock Climbing?

7 Tips to Take Your Gym Climbing Outdoors

Please note: The post below contains affiliate links.

GIFTS FOR ROCK CLIMBERS FOR UNDER $25

1 ► Reel Rock Films

Reel rock is the absolute best series for climbing films! Each year, a new Reel rock goes on tour and showcases some brilliant films. Here’s the trailer for one of my favourite ones: Reel Rock 11 https://youtu.be/Ju3cJbQHgEs

2 ► Friction Labs Gorilla Grip Climbing Chalk

No climber has ever said no to extra chalk. Friction Labs makes some great chalk and it’s a easy gift for any climber.

3 ► Metolius Finger Tape

Whether trad or sport climbing, climbing tape is a must have! Many climbers even have a roll permanently clipped to their harness!

4 ► ClimbSkin Hand Cream

Once the holds start getting smaller, the wear and tear on the fingers increases. Looking after your hands, especially with the drying effect of climbing chalk, is a good way to keep skin injuries at bay. Hand cream can be applied after a days session and reinvigorates the skin. You’ll notice the difference!

5 ► Nalgene Water bottle

I have bought many cheap water bottles and all have broken- except my Nalgene water bottle. BPA free (naturally) and durable, I have dropped this from 30 meters while rock climbing and it survived, though I don’t recommend testing it this way! The wide mouth makes refilling from creeks easier as well. Also, you can never have enough water bottles!

6 ► ClimbSkin Hand File

For those who are meticulous about looking after their hands, the ClimbSkin hand file is there to keep the skin smooth and take away burrs that happen from slipping off holds.

7 ► Sublime Climbing Brush

Any boulderer will love a new brush, and just like chalk, you can never have enough!

8 ► Alone on the Wall

A great read delving into the mind of Alex Honald who is undoubtedly the most well known rock climber now. Known for his free solo attempts and here it also goes right into his mind with some key insights to his way of thinking.

9 ► Psychovertical

This is one of my favourite books written by a climber not many have heard of. Andy Kirkpatrick certainly doesn’t look like your typical climber but he has some incredible mental perseverance and some insane stories to tell. A must read!

GIFTS FOR ROCK CLIMBERS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO LOVE!

10 ► Petzl Spatha Knife

A knife is handy to have no matter what outdoor activity you do. It’s very lightweight, easy to open and is a perfect size. I keep it clipped on my harness all the time.

11 ► Metolius Grip Saver Plus

After climbing for a while, you’ll come to realize how important it is to train all your opposing muscles. As climbers, we tend to be unbalanced, so sorting out your fingers with this training tool from Metolius is a great way to balance them again.

12 ► Metolius 3D Rock Rings

These mini hangboards are a great way to travel and train. Or they can just be hung in the house or off a tree in the backyard. Either way, these are a great way to train for climbing!

13 ► Beal Rope Brush

Keeping your rope clean is a must do, and the rope brush from Beal is excellent at giving the rope a solid clean. Also great for just brushing dirt off the rope while at the crag.

14 ► Trango Beta Stick

A beta stick, or stick clip as I call them, is a awesome way to start climbing harder routes as the first clip (the first bolt) can often be intimidating. It can also protect some first clips that may be dangerous, like some local crags that had 3 or 4 meter high first bolts!

15 ► Y&Y Belay Glasses

A life saver for the neck when spending all day belaying! These glasses use mirrors to allow you to see the climber while you can look straight ahead! It takes a few moments when you first try it to get orientated but you’ll soon get the hang of it.

16 ► Psychi Rope Bag

No climber will say no to a new rope bag. We all love them and keeping our ropes out of the dirt is a big priority.

17 ► Outdoor Research Crack climbing gloves

When I started crack climbing I used tape gloves. They took time to make, and although reusable, they weren’t as convenient as these things! I love these for alpine climbs were terrain changes and you want to change your style constantly. I highly recommend these gloves for any trad climbing aficionado.

18 ► ZenMonkey Slackline Kit

On those rest days slacklining is an awesome way to stay active and fit, and most importantly, get that great balance climbers require. My old local crag used to have a guy who set these up for everyone to use, and it was great to see the people walking past have a go and get into it!

19 ► Gopro Hero 7 Black

I love the Gopros for their ease of use and ton of attachments. I generally take my Gopro on most trips now as they are small and light enough to not be noticed. New versions like the GoPro 7 also take great photos and that wide angle can be great for the scenery we see on climbs. Ill post some of my videos here soon as examples!

GIFTS FOR ROCK CLIMBERS (THAT THEY OFTEN FORGET)

20 ► RescueME PLB

A PLB is one of the best gifts for any outdoorsy person. A life saver in critical emergencies, its peace of mind knowing you have a way to call for help- anywhere on the planet. And for climbers, when we need help, time is critical!

21 ► Garmin InReach Mini

While the PLB is great for its SOS function, the Garmin InReach Mini perfectly compliments a PLB with 2 way communication. Running late from a climbing trip? No worries! The InReach is exactly what you need to let your trusted contact know you are OK but just running late.

22 ► First Aid Kit

No trip into the wilderness should be done without a basic first aid kit like this one. I always like to add some extras like water purification tablets, a firelighter, and strong pain relief.

23 ► SOL Emergency Bivvy

My survival bivvy travels with me on any full day trip into the outdoors. Used as an emergency shelter which will help conserve warmth, it’s small and light and should be in every climbers bag when venturing into adventurous terrain.

THE ULTIMATE GIFTS FOR ROCK CLIMBERS

► Guidebooks

I love nothing better than getting a new guidebook for an area I haven’t climbed in. It’s a gateway for new adventures with easy to access information on the routes, access and important information. A guidebook will make every climber happy!

► Go Climbing!

Of course after all the physical gifts you can get a climber, we often love nothing more than to just go climbing! Go out for a day, shout them some lunch or dinner, and it’s just a good a gift as any on the list!

Hopefully this list will get you started in finding the perfect gift for a family member, friend or partner (or maybe even yourself)! Getting gear to adventure more is always better than just getting more random junk to fill the house. Gear gets you places in comfort and safety.

Have fun out there!

Got any climbing gifts you’ve received (or really want) that you love? Let me know in the comments below!

The post, The Best Gift Ideas for Rock Climbers, first appeared on The Vertical Adventurer.

[spectrumscribe]

Okay so you mentioned a while back that in your Gem au the first to fuse are mikey and leo during a battle situation. Can we hear about how it happens? Their reactions? The rest of the teams reactions? Love your work!!

(They’re still using their gem names at this point, so I’llgive a quick refresher: Jasper=Mikey, Iolite=Leo, Pyrope=Raph, Pearl=Donnie.)

(also thank you for asking about the gem au, i love talking about it lmao.)

—-

Jasper hears the rumbling sound before Pearl can shout awarning, and he knows it for what it is before the name reaches his ears. He’sheard the sound many times in his old home, his first home, the holes in theground that were always empty and put into cliffs that were slowly crumbling-it’s the sound of an-

“Avalanche!”  Pearl shouts, spurring them all into action.

Except, Jasper knowsthat they won’t be able to outrun it, not at this range. This whole mission hadbeen a mistake; the four of them messing with integrated mining technology whenthey shouldn’t have. Trying to remove them from the surface of the mountain hadcaused this, and now they were paying for it.

The boulders tumble down the mountain side at them, andJasper sees that there’s no escape route to find. Maybe he and Pyrope willsurvive the rockslide, but Pearl and Iolite stand a good chance of beingcracked- or worse- shattered by thewave of earth headed for them.

Iolite is the closest to the oncoming threat, and he meetsJasper’s eyes as a boulder bears down on him. He’s actually scared, utterlyterrified of this force he can’t reason with or even hope to fight-

-and Jasper is sprinting back towards him, ignoring thecalls following his frantic scrambling.

Maybe if he puts himself to Iolite’s back- maybe his bodywon’t give way and Iolite’s gem won’t be damaged- maybe Jasper can keep himsafe and Pyrope can keep Pearl safe-

-maybe they’ll all make it out of this-

-Jasper doesn’t want to be alone anymore-

-so he grabs Iolite’s waist as the rocks close in on thegem, and hugs him tight as he can.

And-

-something happens.

Jasper- Iolite- disappear.

Someone new opens his eyes, and finds himself strong enoughto kick the rocks out of the way.

Surprised laughter bursts out of him- he’d never been able to do that before- never so strong- and hebounds down the mountain towards the concerns that’re still pulling on him.

Pyrope is shielding Pearl with his body, though Pearl is fightinghim, saying they have to keep running, go back for the others-

-and a boulder bigger than them all is tumbling downstraight towards them-

-and Hiddenite catches it like nothing.

Wow, even Pearl seemstiny now, he laughs to himself. What a change! Pearl’s always been thetallest of them, and now he’s smaller than Hiddenite by at least two heads. Histwo sets of eyes crinkle as he smiles at his two friends, trying to bereassuring even though a large part of him just wants to run around and smashmore boulders. 

“Don’t worry, guys!” Hiddenite says brightly. “I’ve- we’ve- I’ve got this!”

Pearl and Pyrope gape at him, and Hiddenite just laughs.

—-

Pyrope can’t stop staring at the fusion sitting in front ofthem; trying to wrap his head around seeing another cross-gem fusion.

He distantly wonders how Jade would have felt about it.

“So… you hugged, and it just… happened?” Pearl asks, eyeingHiddenite’s considerable size and double eye sets.

“Yeah, basically,” Hiddenite says with a careless shrug. Heflips the long hair he has on one side of his head, the mottled white and bluestrands cascading down his right side. The whole of Hiddenite is a mash ofblues and yellows, mixing into green where they overlap. The two sets of eyesare a little unnerving, since the directions they’re looking don’t always syncup, but otherwise… it’s a stable fusion. Hiddenite stands up off the boulderthey put him on, rolling his shoulders and grinning with hints of oddly sharpcanines. “This is kinda weird, I’m admitting that, but also pretty neat? I’m sobig, ha ha.”

“You’re not… upset?” Pyrope asks cautiously.

“Why would I be?” Hiddenite asks back, cocking his head tothe side. “Being me saved everyone, so it’s all good. Plus, I smashed like ten boulders, and carried everyonearound like nothing. This is officiallyone the best things I’ve ever gotten to do.”

“Cross-gem fusion is forbidden,” Pearl says quietly, stillnervously eyeing Hiddenite. “I’ve heard terrible stories of gems going insanewhen they fuse with gems outside their category types.” Pyrope averts his eyesfrom Pearl, hearing that statement. “Are you sure you feel fine?”

“I feel like I could fight a whole mountain! Again!”Hiddenite boasts with a laugh. Then he sobers, looking at his hands and pursinghis lips. “But. Uh. I’m not really sure how to go backwards? Its all- fuzzy and stuff. I mean, this is pretty nice,but I also wanna know how to be- me? Again? The other me’s. Not this me.”

Pearl glances at Pyrope, still looking uncomfortable withthe whole thing. Pyrope schools his expression into something neutral and stepstowards Hiddenite. The fusion between Iolite and Jasper have made them a lottaller, and he has to look upwards to meet their eyes.

“You just have to reach back into your memories, and findwho you were before,” He says slowly. “Or you can fall out of alignment byletting go of each other. You said Jasper grabbed Iolite when the rocks werecoming down, right? Well, mentally let go of each other. The danger’s over now.”

Hiddenite looks thoughtful, humming to himself and pacing inplace a bit. Pyrope ignores Pearl’s looks at him and the fusion, and waits forthe newborn Hiddenite to figure things out.

Hiddenite closes his multiple eyes, and takes a comicallybig breath. There’s a beat where nothing happens, then a flash of brilliantlight- and Iolite and Jasper are falling to the ground without grace. They landon their backs, and Jasper and Iolite stare at the sky in a dazed manner. Atleast until Jasper starts laughing wildly.

“Oh- oh my gods,” Jaspersays, smiling wide and excited. “That was so cool!!”

“I just fused with another gem,” Iolite says in a confusedvoice. “I- that’s really, really illegal. Oh my gods.”

“And it was the coolestthing ever! Can we do it again? I wanna smash all the boulders!”

“I- I’d have to arrest myself. Submit myself for trial and-oh gods, shattering.”

“Yeah but now you don’t have to, so let’s do it again!!”

“Oh my gods.”

Pyrope sighs, and figures this is something neither gems aregoing to let go for a good while.

“How did you know how to unfuse them?” Pearl whispers, closeto Pyrope’s side. “You- did you ever-?”

“A long time ago,” Pyrope says, old grief coming to himagain as Iolite and Jasper re-familiarize themselves with being separate beings,and with each other.

Pearl narrows his eyes, not hostilely, but in the way healways does when he’s curious about something. “And you weren’t shattered forit?”

“Not me,” Pyrope says. “But she was.”

Pearl pauses, and then puts a hand on Pyrope’s shoulder. “I’msorry for your loss,” He says softly, and with more sympathy than any other gembefore him. Which is- none.

No one cared if one gem was shattered, not with the crimethey’d committed together. They’d only cared that Pyrope hadn’t been shatteredalong with her.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Pyrope says, brushing memoriesoff as well as Pearl’s hand. “We need to corral Jasper before he tries to forceanother fusion.”

Pearl hums in a way that means he’ll definitely be askingabout this later, but lets the subject drop in favor of going to help Ioliteshake off his daze, and helping Pyrope catch Jasper before the gem flingshimself at his fusion partner a second time.