#i blinked and my whole afternoon was gone and she was sitting there finished. Ok

[skepsys]

hey girl

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Outsiders Prompt fic 1- Aren't you tired of this?

This for @battleslippers who requested prompt #6 and Tim Shepard

******************

“Heyyy Tim,” Curly was sprawled out on the sofa for the third time this week, glassy eyed and sloppy. Ma was beside him, eyes the sort of bright Tim knew could go from nice to nasty in an instant and for a second he thought he might cry.

He didn’t- of course he didn’t- but he could’ve. Shit, Curly was takin’ this whole situation real hard. He’d always liked his booze a bit too much but Tim figured that was just part of their DNA. This was something else though. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his kid brother truly sober.

“Timmy,” Ma smiled and Tim felt his shoulders tense. There was no good ending to his mother’s brief moments of excitement. He’d survived enough of her tantrums and rages to know it, “come sit with us! Have a drink.”

She’d always liked him the best.

“No,” he tugged the bottle of tequila out of Curly’s hand, “I think you’ve both had enough.”

Ma’s face darkened, “I am your mother. Don’t think you can tell me when I have and haven’t had enough.”

His mother. Right. Maria Shepard wasn’t his mother. She was a child without a childhood. A baby who’d had babies. A monster of her own making.

“Fine,” he knew better than to argue. They wouldn’t make it through the afternoon without her screaming, but if he played his cards right they might get a few more hours of peace, “but Curly’s done.”

She didn’t fight him. She never did when it came to the twins, never had, never once even wanted to. 

“Aw that ain’t fair,” Curly protested, but his voice was slurred and he was too drunk to stand on his own let alone fight him on it. Tim passed the liquor over to Ma, who immediately took a swig. “I wasn’t- wasn’t finished.”

“Oh you’re finished all right,” moving to the side of the couch, he wrapped one arm around Curly's thin shoulders- christ the kid needed to eat more- and hauled him to his feet, half carrying, half dragging him down the hall to his room. 

He dumped him onto the mattress on his side of the room. Angela had propped hers up on milk crates years ago but Curly had always left his on the ground, always slept curled up in the far corner, even when he was a baby, like if only when was small enough and far enough beneath notice he could ever have a chance at resting.

“Aren’t you tired of this?” Tim asked, “The boozin’ and the drugs- don’t say you ain’t tried anything, why else would you be a mama’s boy all of a sudden? Seriously kid, you’re killin’ me here.”

“Nah,” cloudy blue eyes blinked at him, “I’m killin’ myself.”

A shock of panic shot through him like lightning.

“Shut up!” He shook his kid brother’s shoulders half desperately, “You ain’t! Shut up!”

The faintest hint of that troublemaker grin showed on his face, “you can’t stop me.”

“Watch me.”

Curly’s eyes filled with tears. Tim couldn’t say he didn’t expect it. Drunk folk were awful predictable, even though Curly was- per usual- trying to give him a heart attack.

“He’s gone, Tim,” Curly’s voice broke, the drunken grin and sardonic comments replaced with such genuine misery Tim can feel it stinging even him, “they- the socs- the socs killed him. Drowned him in a fountain like-like he wasn’t nice and smart and good-”

“-I know,” Tim doesn’t really do affection and Curly doesn’t usually like it but shit the kid needs something, and per usual Tim is all he’s got, so he pulls him into a hug tight enough to bruise even though its clunky and awkward not a Shepard type thing to do. Those damn socs had already taken one east side kid this month. He’d be damned if he let them take another- even indirectly. He’d be damned if they took Curly. “Shit kid, I know.”

“He was my friend.” Tim knew that wasn’t strictly true. Ponyboy Curtis had always meant more to Curly than a simple friend.

“I know.”

 Curly swallowed convulsively before starting to sob in earnest, tears soaking into Tim’s sweatshirt. 

“It’s ok,” Tim said, knowing it wasn't any sort of ok, “it’ll be alright.”

They stayed like that until Curly finally fell asleep.

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

Art credit goes to @stormcallart

By Drazzilder

You're an escaped test subject from a United States testing facility. You have been on the run for years when one day you meet the man that can change everything.

Chapter 1: Regret

The soft sounds on the morning are suddenly interrupted by the harsh noise from the alarm clock. A large hand tiredly aims for the off button which is found after a few attempts. The man attached to that hand wakes up begrudgingly with some groans and cracking joints. He slowly gets up to get ready for the day, heading toward the bathroom. As he enters, he sees his reflection, but he doesn’t hold on it long. He can’t stand the sight of himself. The man in the mirror may be Endeavor, but Enji doesn’t like what he sees. He should be happy on his 40th birthday but he can’t stop his mind from racing. He hurt his family; his first son died from his own power, his youngest was scarred by his mother, and the rest of his children where mentally neglected and abused by Enji himself. Enji’s wife, Rei, couldn’t handle the stress and guilt from everything and ended up in a mental institution soon after hurting Shoto, but by then it was so bad that she took her own life two years ago.

Enji sees all of this when he looks at himself in the mirror. It affects him so much that looking makes him sick to his stomach. He quickly looks away and gets ready for the day.

Coming into the kitchen, Enji sees Shoto, getting ready for school with the help of the nanny Hina. Fuyumi and Natsuo already left for school. Hina is the fourth nanny they have had in 2 years. She has been there the longest because she knows no one else will stand the family and someone needs to be there for the children. Plus, she is the only one who can actually stand up to Endeavor and is not afraid of him. She knows he would never hurt her.  When Hina looked at Enji, the look on his face made her stop what she was doing.

“Everything ok Mr. Todoroki?”

“I’m fine…” he answered in a gruff tone, letting her know that he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Im off to school dad, are we still training this afternoon?”

“Good, and yes we always train on Wednesdays!” Sounding more annoyed than anything.

They finish up breakfast and getting their things ready for the day. They soon left the house and went to their final destinations. Enji made it to his agency and meet his secretary.

“Sanji, after I’m done with today’s paperwork, where is my patrol going to be today?”

“Sir, you will be taking the northern end of Tokyo”

“Very well. Thank you Sanji”

“Sir?”

“Hmm?”

“Happy Birthday.”

Sanji is the only one to acknowledge the day let alone tell you happy birthday. She has been working for you for years and knows almost everything that has happened. Enji knows he can trust her with anything so of course she would be the only one to wish him a happy birthday. Enji quickly finished up his paperwork, at least quickly as he could. He squinted and moved the papers so he could read everything clearly. “I’m going to need glasses soon” the man thinks to himself but is to stubborn to actually go get them. After this. is done, he takes a quick lunch and heads out for his afternoon patrol of the city. He does a few heroic acts here and there, but overall the day seems to be quite boring. He is kinda glad because all he wants to do is go home and sulk. That is, until Sanji called.

“Sir, there is a bomb threat at Shibuya crossing!”

“Why are you calling me? Just send some of the sidekicks to handle the bomb.”

“Sir, he is asking for you and the whole crossing is being held hostage. The man has a dirty bomb, please!”

“Alright, I’m on my way!” He says as he rushes off a full speed.

As Endeavor arrives, he assesses the situation, and it’s not ideal. There are hundreds of people on the ground face down, the other hero’s and police and in a standoff with the lone assailant in the center. The man is dressed in tailored suit. Everything is fitted perfectly, not even a single strand of hair is out of place. How he managed to hold everyone hostage quickly becomes clear as he is voicing his demands.

“Ah! Endeavor, I was wondering when the number 2 hero would show up. Be careful what you do, as you can see, I am wearing this fetching bomb vest with matching dead man switch! See how it brings out the green in my eyes. Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of my ensemble is filled with anthrax, one of a kind thread thread makes this silky smooth lining. Plus, shoulder pads are coming back into to style this season, so why not make them special! As you can see, if anyone makes any wrong moves, all of these people will suffer because of you!” The man finishes his speech with an evil laugh. Endeavor knows that he can’t do anything which is just making him hotter as his flames grow brighter around his face. The villain takes one quick look at Endeavor. “Better watch your temper” he quips, “we wouldn’t want to get all hot under the col…..” The villain stops.

Everyone looks almost in shock as the villain has stopped completely. He can still move his eyes and blink but he is completely immobile. No one moves because they are afraid what ever is happening will end just as suddenly as it started. That is until one person gets up and starts walking toward the villain.

You are frail looking, very thin, eyes sunken in, bags under your eyes. Wearing tattered clothes with matching long shaggy hair, representing the years you have been on the street. Your eyes are the most startling part of you as your left eye is completely white with no sign of a pupil and the other is black with red glowing iris. You look at Endeavor and just say “Stand back” in a weak voice. You are so tired but you can’t just sit back and let people get hurt. As you walk closer to the villain, his eyes show more and more fear. He now knows it is you holding him still. Once your next to him, you place a hand on the bomb vest and give it all your attention. As this is happening, the other heroes are yelling their concerns for your safety. “Sir, it’s not safe” “You need to step back” “Sir are you alright?!” All of these go over your head as you are concentrating on the task at hand: saving these people.

Suddenly, the bomb vest starts to glow a little, just enough for Endeavor and the other heroes to notice. A flash of light and then darkness again as everyone notices the bomb is gone. Just as fast as the bomb disappeared, a large explosion happened overhead. “Was that the bomb?” “Did he teleport it away?” “What happened?” Hero’s rush to the villain and detain him. Endeavor approaches you because in his gut he knows something is wrong.

“How can this man have a teleportation and a body controlling quirk?” He thought as he gets next to you. Suddenly, you cough up some blood and collapse from the effort you put out. Everything was too much for you in the state you were in. Your body could not give anything more. Endeavor catches you and he looks right at you as you try to reach his face while barely being able to say “Help me…” as you pass out completely.

Next Chapter

[roberttchase]

Manner minded or double trouble? Both SO matty? Maybe Christie looking after him?

double trouble: [character] is sick and injured.

I will be writing the manner minded one separately :) I hope you enjoy this (somewhat more detailed than I'd originally planned) ficlet.

Send prompts to my inbox.

+ + +

If you were to ask Matt Casey if he thought he was lucky, for the most part he would answer with 'no'. Yes, he's lucky enough to have Sylvie Brett as a girlfriend, lucky to have gone to the fire academy, lucky to have been promoted to a lieutenant and then captain. But he also had an emotionally abusive father as a teenager, a murderer for a mother, his girlfriend of eight years was killed, his wife left him. For every good thing, it feels like there are three bad things in his life.

So he can't even really say it's a surprise when, while on scene helping squad rescue two victims in a car that's balancing precariously close to the frozen Chicago River, Matt loses his balance, slips from the hood of the car, and falls almost twelve feet onto the ice that then suddenly cracks underneath him, submerging him in below forty degree water. Nothing in his life is ever easy. Intense pain radiates from his chest, his body feels like it's on fire, and then nothing.

From there, the scene is absolute chaos. Sylvie and Violet are both off shift, spending the entire week in Joliet helping teach at a conference. The two paramedics that are on scene are instantly calling for backup, while both Severide and Tony frantically suit up in scuba gear for precaution. Boden's yelling orders, but the three other members of truck are all frozen, staring at the large hole in the ice, from which their Captain is currently very much not getting out of.

+ + +

"Christie, you really don't have to do this, Severi-"

"I know what Severide said, but I'd feel more comfortable if you stayed with me." Christie Casey frowns, looking at her younger brother. He's at least four shades paler than he should be, cheeks flushed and eyes dull. Stubble consumes the lower half of his face, and the firefighter looks exhausted. She can't say that she blames him, not with the hell that he's gone through the past thirty six hours.

She'd gotten the call from Stella Kidd yesterday, a kind but shaky voice telling her that Casey, Matt, had fallen into an icy river, and was at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center being treated for two broken ribs and mild hypothermia. Arriving half an hour later, she'd been taken into Matt's room, where they had him on enough pain medication he was basically incoherent. One of the doctors had explained to her that the next few hours were important for any person who'd almost drowned- inhalation of the river water had occurred, and aspiration pneumonia was a large possibility. For a naive moment, Christie was certain that Matt would be fine.

Matt's never that lucky.

It's how she finds herself now, half glaring at her brother, who's been given instructions to stay with someone for the next forty eight hours, while his body wars with itself. The red haired doctor had explained that unless the mans fever reaches over 102, or his breathing deteriorates, he's allowed to stay out of the hospital. Severide's offered to let him stay at the loft, to take next shift off and watch over his best friend, but she tells her brothers best friend no. She needs to be able to watch over her little brother, if his paramedic girlfriend can't.

She's already talked to Sylvie, had called her only an hour after getting the call herself. They'd come to the conclusion that as long as someone was there to watch Matt, she needed to finish up the week for the CFD and CEMS.

"You ready to leave? I'm bringing you back to my place. Violet's got the guest room all ready for you."

Matt blinks and then nods, shoulders curved in slightly, one arm wrapped around his side. He looks a little woozy, though that could be from the pain pills being pumped through his body. That, or the fever he's sporting. April wheels him to the front of the hospital while Christie grabs her car and pulls it up to the curb.

Half an hour later, Matt's being helped into the guest room, where, sure enough, the bed has fresh sheets and a few extra pillows have been added for the man who isn't supposed to lay flat on his back. She gets him under the covers, thankful he's cooperating, and by the time she's back with the meds in a little plastic cup, as well as a glass of water, Matt's asleep.

"Matt, hey, you have to wake up and take your medicine, then you can go back to sleep, okay?" She shakes him as gently as possible, not wanting to hurt his ribs any more than they already are. She must knock something loose though, because not a second later he starts coughing, low and harsh, and his eyes flutter open. Gasping for air, they wait for his chest to stop spasming. His arm is cradling his side and she feels terrible, wishing she could help.

"I just need you to take this medicine, then you can sleep again," she promises, holding the cup out for him. When he nods, the woman lets the small pills tumble onto his open palm, and soon he's swallowing them tiredly.

"C-Can you stay?" The words are quiet and hang in the air as she turns to leave. Pausing, Christie turns back and is struck by just how young Matt looks, laying there with fever flushed cheeks and sallow skin.

Moving slowly, the woman gets into the other side of the bed, carefully shifting to get comfortable.

"Just like old times huh?"

She knows he's referring to their childhood. Christie can't help but smirk a little at the memories.

"Are you talking about when you would come crying to me because you were afraid of the dark?" Her tone is teasing, and instinctively she lets her fingers find his hair, running them through it just like she did when they were young teens and their father had been yelling at them.

A laugh bubbles out of Matt's throat, but it quickly changes to coughing, and it takes a moment for Matt to calm down, sipping water before replying.

"I was actually talking about when I was eight and caught whatever that punk across the street had after he coughed on me. I remember I was out of school for a week, and you stayed with me as much as you could."

She remembers it well.

+ + +

Matt never gets sick, not when he was a baby, and not now. She's always been the one to come down with colds or strep throat, and Matt always manages to avoid germs. He had been sick once when he was a toddler, once, but other than that, she can't remember him ever even getting a runny nose. And then Michael Jeffries goes and coughs all over him on the bus when she's in fifth grade and he's in third, and Matt's record of not getting sick goes down the drain.

It had been on a Monday. That following Thursday afternoon, Christie's waiting for Matt to get on the bus when their bus driver tells her that her brother has apparently gone home early. The whole ride home, the eleven year old is upset, not for her brother, but at the fact she wasn't taken out early either. Why did Matt get to go home and play when she didn't? By the time she's walking into their small home, the blonde is stomping her feet and slamming the door behind her, ready to ask why her stupid brother gets such special treatment.

Instantly though, she realizes something is wrong. Mommy isn't downstairs like she normally is, but instead of being worried, the girl let sher anger build. Running up the stairs, her ponytail swaying behind her, Christie's ready to yell and throw a tantrum, but she freezes when she sees her mom sitting on Matt's small twin bed. She's holding their big blue bowl that she always gets out when Christie's stomach is sick, and Matt is throwing up, coughing and spluttering after, while she rubs his back. Cautiously, Christie walks into the doorway.

"Mommy...what wrong with Matt?"

Nancy and Matt look up, the older woman rubbing her sons back.

"Matt's just not feeling well honey, he'll be alright."

Christie frowns and looks at her brother, whose cheeks are a startling bright pink, his skin pale.

"He looks really sick..." Suddenly she's not mad at all anymore, instead she's worried, no, scared. Matt doesn't get sick. That's his superpower, just like hers is liking vegetables.

Before any more words are spoken, Matt coughs and lets out a strangled little whine. "M-Mommy..."

Christie turns her face away as Matt gets sick this time, not wanting to watch anyone throw up. Instead, she goes and busies herself with finding paper and her crayons. Sitting down on her bedroom floor, the eleven year old goes to town with making her brother a get well soon card, the only thing she knows she can do in this moment.

That night, while she and mommy eat downstairs, Christie can hear Matt crying with Daddy. The second she finishes her food and washes her plate off, the blonde runs upstairs, wanting to make sure the younger boy is okay. She stops in front of his room, but no one's there, the twin sized bed with dark green sheets is empty, even his beloved stuffed bear is gone. Walking further down the hall, she sees the two she's been looking for in her parents king sized bed.

Matt's laying against Daddy, Bear clutched in his hand, his ear against the boys lip. Daddy smiles at her and puts a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Nodding, Christie tiptoes in and peers at them both, before climbing in putting a delicate hand on Matt's shoulder, hoping he'll be ok.

+ + +

Brought back to the present, Christie feels Matt's forehead and sighs. "just try and sleep okay? I'll be here if you need me, okay? I won't let anything bad happen to you Matt."

It's as if it's all he's been waiting to hear. It takes him all of two minutes to fall back asleep, head resting against his sisters shoulder. She supposes that this can be the start of all the years she'd missed taking care of him after she'd left for college. He deserves it.

[albino-whumpee]

Blank Space

An idea came to mind so here. Just gonna say I made a playlist for Albus and Sann on spotify. Here. You can go listen to it here.

Taglist! Hope you liked it! Thank you for reading and sticking by for so long! :D

@castielamigos-whump-side-blog @giggly-evil-puppy @cowboysrappin @haro-whumps @burtlederp @neuro-whump @comfortforthepain @whumps-the-word @whole-and-apart-and-between @broken-horn @ashintheairlikesnow @rosesareviolentlyread @crowned-avery @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @as-a-matter-of-whump  @whumpasaurus101 @grizzlie70​ @twistedcaretaker

CW// child abuse and domestic violence, children going missing, child neglect, starvation, and useless child services.

“…ller…Mu…”

Someone was calling for him. But there was a ringing on his ears and his head hurt. The cap on his head with the chipped borders, protected him from the annoying white light of the school´s infirmary. He had been sent there during E.P. After he had refused to continue doing sit-ups because of the pain. In the distance, he heard a sigh.

“Serra”

“Don´t call me that” the boy´s lips moved instantly.

The guy with the white lab coat let out a sigh.

“Sorry, Muller. But I can´t do anything if you don´t show me what´s wrong” the boy exhaled, trying to dissimulate how much it pained him to do even that.

“Can´t you feel it above the clothes or something?” the boy tried to negotiate. The shame swallowing whole. The man gave him an exasperated frown as reply. Muller sighed, wetting his lips before putting his hands on the dirty gym shirt. The last tower standing between him and the reality the doctor shouldn´t see. Shouldn´t know. “Please?”

“Muller…” that tone was the signal to drop it. So he braced and lifted it up to the man, straying his eyes to a corner. The man´s eyes turned into brown plates, mouth hanging disgusted at the way his bones looked like they were trying to pop out the thin layer of bruised skin. 

“Oh my god…” he exhaled just before he saw the shirt fall. The man opened his mouth a few times. Like a fish trying to breath out of the water. Gasping for just a bit of precious oxygen. But he was just a man who rubbed the side of his head and leaned on to him with those eyes full of pity he didn´t want. “I know you´re no fighter, Muller. You´re the quiet kid with regular notes. Can you tell me where did you really get those?”

He stayed quiet. Locking his jaw as he breathed in.

If he said the truth it would be worse. It would hurt and not only for him. It would be bad and even worse for Annie. Who was in class. Surely talking with her friends and bragging about the cake he had bought for her birthday. Smiling despite the bandages on her wrist.

He had tried before. To tell someone with authority about his father. He had been hopeful. They had patched him up and let him bath and eat a normal meal. But what happened then was that he was sat in a cold room with a chair in the middle. Talked with a woman that simply took notes, before giving him back to the man they had told him he wouldn´t see again. Just to go straight back home and resume what had made him call child services in the first place.

“I got into a fight” He said.

“Tell me the truth”

“I got into a fight”

“We both know-”

“It won´t change anything if I say the truth or not” Muller said with red eyes lit up in rage.

“Serra…”

“Don´t call me that. I got into a fight and lost. That´s the truth” The ringing on his ears went up. “Just…Just do your damn job and give me something for the pain, doc” the boy said scrunching his eyes, passing a hand over them roughly, in hopes it would end the headache. His dad had grabbed the broom on his hands while he cleaned the living room´s floor of the carpet of beer cans. Said the sound woke him up. So he shoved him to the floor and let it rain down until it broke. Then he had lost interest and gone back to sleep. That´s when he could scramble outside. Forgetting his backpack on the way.

The doctor let out a long, long breath that just made Muller grit his teeth. He finally rolled down to a cabinet. Unlocked it and let his fingers navigate the few pill cases there were. Nothing strong. Nothing that would stop the fear and the pain forever. Just a pill of ibuprofen.

Muller wasn´t amused in the slightest, but it would help. That and a bit of ice on his eye. The doctor put a bag of it on his lap. Taking off the cap, he let his head hang. Letting the cool sensation of the ice wash the pain away.

“Lay down and don´t take the pill just yet, ok? Do you like sandwiches, Muller?” He asked digging on his backpack next to the desk. Taking out his wallet.The boy snapped his healthy eye open going red of embarrassment. Of course, you need to eat something before taking pills and that had happened yesterday afternoon. Around seventeen hours ago.

It vaguely reminded him of Don, the doctor’s clinic where appointments were profusely refused to be paid and the man even gave them his own children’s old clothes. The boy had tried to keep the smell when he did laundry, but it inevitably started to smell like his father at some point.

“Y-yes, Thank you…” he muttered before the man turned to the door. Or tried to, before the albino grabbed his wrist. “Doc, please, don´t tell anybody about this” the man gave him a pained look as the ice bag slipped off his face. “I…Albinos bruise easily…it was just a fight I lost. Please…” Muller hoped it was enough. He was aware he was known among his classmates as a troublemaker. Coming with bruises and scratches almost every day kept people at an arm length. He would use that. He could use it and keep people away from the truth. That he didn´t search for trouble because going back home was enough.

Just so she wouldn´t need to do the same.

The man slowly put away the boy´s hand. “It´s absolutely impossible to call someone, Muller? Child services?” he knelt next to him. Taking the ice pack that had slid to his lap and putting it against his swollen eye. “You don´t have anyone you could stay with? Just for a while?”

The boy´s face went dark. Even as it formed an ironic smile.

“Why would I be here if I had a place like that, Doc?”

—-

When he went back to class, patched up and cradling his ribs, changed into his normal wear from the secret backpack on his locker, to enter art class. He saw a few people muttering something when he came inside the classroom before pulling his cap down. Looking at his red sneakers as he navigated to his seat at the front. Then tried to blink into focus the words on the board.

“Free assignment. High contrast. Acrylics. Due next Wednesday. Be sure to return the materials clean and dry. Be creative!”

Muller sighed slowly. They weren’t sure if they really had a teacher or if they were being given classes by a ghost, as they would have the instructions written on the board and had to leave them on the desk that day or the date written. Receiving their scores through email he had to check on the library.

It was odd, but it was also easier to not be disrupted on the only place he could take his cheap mp3, put the earphones to silence the room and just paint. His moment of full relaxation of the week.

After putting the earphones, he had no idea what to paint, however. He stared at it with a pencil on his hand for a long time, drumming it into his jeans, until an idea came to his head, making him smile. He rolled up the sleeves of his oversized sweater and dipped into sketching light lines over the smooth surface. Halfway through an upbeat song, he felt eyes on him. Brown eyes staring into the purple of his forearm. Not shiny from the cream the doctor had rubbed on it to numb out the pain anymore.

Muller rolled back down the sleeve, pulling his eyes away, before he stood up to grab the paint tubes in the other side of the room. A few girls scooting away as they spotted him. Always looking down, averting his sight from other’s curious eyes.

Two hours of work later, the black paint had reigned over the canvas. He had had to squint harder to get the tiniest little details of it right. Using negative space to frame the silhouette of fruit plate, a candlestick with hanging jewels and a chalice. Leaving them completely white.

A blank space in the immense blackness.

Happy with the result and having played the list four times, he accidentally put the brush with black paint over his cheek. Rubbing it away just smudging it. Letting out a groan, he noticed nobody was there anymore. Had left their half assed paintings on the desk or simply left.

He began to pick up the dirty brushes left from his classmates and went to the sink to clean them thoroughly like always. He didn’t need thanks, but it would be easier if they didn’t try to put out the desperation of the exam periods on the poor brush by smashing them open. There always was one that couldn’t be saved. He was about to throw it out, right when he saw the bruise on his forearms. Going darker in long stripes.

He pressed his lips together as he dipped the brush into the white paint and stroked his arm with it. The cool sensation of the sticky material covering his bruised skin, almost melting into his natural color made him do the same to his other arm.

When he finished it was almost as if he hadn’t fled his house after being hit with a broom that morning. It had been so easy to cover them as it was easy to wipe it off in a rush for the next class. Half finishing up and putting the painting on the desk. Trying to run as fast as he could, when he heard someone coming closer.

The woman saw him scramble outside the classroom as she went in through the other door. She just came in to take the paintings to her car to evaluate, but that time she found herself absorbed on the painting. Taking it into her hands, shocked. Noticing to a smile the same little “A. M.” Painted on the far corner, always there on her favorites of the class. She turned to the door, light brown wavy hair jumping swiftly at the motion.

She put the painting on top of the others as she marched back to the parking spot her old Tsuru was on. She would make sure to arrive early next time and offer him that little place on the students exhibition.

She did wake up early, to most of her disgrace and her co worker’s surprise. She did arrive to class with the announcement of the school’s artistic exhibition, spooking her students and earning groans, but she didn’t see a kid with a white ponytail in oversized clothes. Not the next week, or the one after that.

His painting hanged on large boards among other student’s works, regardless. But he never came back to see it

[residentanchor-writes]

Downside Ch. 2

Summary: Clyde tries his hand at ‘robbing’ a bank. << Chapter 1 Watch the animatic here. Check out the Downside au @robinsdownside! TW: Cursing, mental manipulation

Clyde was anxiously sitting in his trashy car in front of the bank. He wasn't too sure of the thing he was about to do. But he needed the money and he couldn’t crash at Remy’s place forever.

Checking his face in the rearview mirror again, he gladly noted that the makeup still hid his scales that seemed to like to appear more often on his face than anywhere else now. He also let his hair grow out quite a bit to hide them a little behind bangs that fell over the left side of his face. By now he nearly looked like an emo. Working with that style, he wore a gray scarf that hid the scales that had appeared on his neck as well.

Looking down on himself he wondered if his yellow shirt and black leather jacket were casual enough.

Yeah, probably. He was thinking too hard about this. Or not hard enough.

Breathing in through his nose and letting the air slowly out through slightly parted lips, he got out of his car. He could see his breath in the air in front of him. It has gotten pretty cold since he left his parents with the most valued things he had, including his pet snake, a few weeks ago.

With a faked confident walk as he squared his shoulders, he got closer to the glass door and stepped into the building.

He was extremely lucky, there were only three other people inside. Two women who worked there as the tellers and one man who was talking to the woman on the left, so Clyde went to the other teller on the right.

“Hello, sir. What can I help you with, today?” the brunette in the white blouse asked with a sweet smile.

Clyde put on as much charm as he could muster as he smiled back. “Hello there, I hope you're having a lovely day. I'm here to make a withdrawal.”

He was good at pretending to be a more likable person than he actually was. He always wanted to be an actor, but never went to any auditions for school plays because of his social status as one of the “cool kids” that smoked and drank alcohol behind the school. The entire thing was an act in his school days, but he was good at adapting to change.

“Very well, your name sir?”

“Oh, no.” He chuckled “I was under the impression that you just wanted to give it to me,” his smile widened a little.

The woman gave him an amused sound, taking it as a joke. Out of the corner of his eye, Clyde could see the other man leaving the bank. It was just him and the two tellers alone, now.

“Good one, sir, but this would be easier with a name,” The woman spoke with a chuckle. The other teller woman went into a back door and slipped away for the moment. Perfect.

“Well if you want to call me something, I think you could just go with Deceit,” He spoke with a calmness he wouldn’t have thought he could muster at this moment. He felt his hands shaking and start to sweat as he held down his nervousness.

The woman’s smile faltered a little. “Excuse me?”

Clyde looked back over her shoulder to make sure the other girl was really gone. Then, he looked back into the sweet face in front of him which got more confused by the second.

The perfect opportunity.

He looked in her deep blue eyes.

“You wanted to give me $50,000, right? That’s why I’m here.”

His left eye shimmered and glowed with a light yellow and he noticed the familiar sensation of an itch on his left forearm.

He still looked at the woman who stared back with a face he couldn’t quite put into place. It was nearly blank but still a little puzzled at his words.

That happened every time but he always felt the nervousness at that moment again and again. A million thoughts rushed into his head, like what if it didn’t work (again) or what if he phrased it wrong? Happens to the best, and this scenario was new to him.

This was the first time he did something really bad. Usually, he used his powers to get out of trouble for smaller things or to get free booze, but stealing $50,000 directly out of a bank, in bright daylight? That was insanity!

He had felt a weird sensation in his gut since he began ‘planning’ this. Honestly, this whole ‘rob a bank’ thing was an idea he and Remy had the night before while they were balls drunk in the basement of Rem’s parents. His parents that had no clue Clyde was even hiding there.

Rem was two years younger than him but was a pretty chill dude he had hung out with in school. He was the only one he could count on that wouldn’t snitch him out to anyone about his powers and where he was, because, well, he had powers too. Powers Remy’s parents weren’t very fond of, so they generally stayed away from the cellar.

The woman blinked as she awoke from a daze. The moment surely wasn’t longer than a second, but to Clyde, it felt like years.

The brunette locked eyes with him again and put her smile from the beginning back on.

“Of course, I remember now. It will only be a second, Mr. Deceit.”

--------

“Fuck! I did it!”

Clyde opened the basement door so fast he nearly broke it out of the old, rusty hinges. A very startled Remy, who looked like he had just been woken up, fought his way out of the blanket that had been lying on him.

He had been sleeping on his disgusting makeshift bed, which was made of just two stacked mattresses on top of the cold concrete ground. The basement looked like it should have been finished years ago but no one ever bothered to finish the job. At night, they took one of the mattresses off and slid it onto the floor next to the other so that Clyde didn’t have to sleep out on the bean bag. They had tried that the first night, but it resulted in a stiff back and a very grumpy Clyde in the morning.

Clyde-- er, Deceit moved a few steps forward, to click on the floor lamp that only had an old light bulb screwed on top and no lamp shade. The lightbulb was a normal, fluorescent bulb which somehow exclusively produced greenish light. Clyde had asked about that the second day he had stayed here but Remy too didn’t exactly know why either, not that he cared.

With the light, the messy room had become a little more visible. It was even dirtier than Clyde's old room had been, especially since he had moved in. They both didn’t really care enough to clean all the filthy clothes of the ground except when they ran out of fresh clothes, in which case Remy had to go upstairs with a decent sized pile that was unsuspicious to his parents since they didn’t have to know about Clyde’s existence in Remy’s room.

If they found out about the other kid with powers in their basement? That would mean massive trouble for both of them.

Remy’s guardians were already not on best terms with their son since he had intruded their dreams by accident on more than one occasion. They didn’t hate him but Remy had sometimes messed up their sleep so much that they were first confused what was happening, then they screamed at him to stop and at last, they started to get him out of the way.

He was ok with that. He was just in his basement room, enjoying his life without the worry that his parents would storm in.

But if they knew that he invited someone else to live at their house without their knowledge, they would be very mad. They would probably scream at him again and would call Clyde’s parents, even though he was actually old enough to live on his own, as a 19-year-old. Clyde just didn’t have the money to live on his own. He had been fired a few months ago from his job at the pet shop.

He had to leave his home weeks ago in order to hide his powers from his family as the scales became more and more obvious, so he came to the only one he knew that would at least understand.

It wasn’t much fun sleeping next to someone who had the ability to go into your dreams whenever both of them slept at the same time. Rem didn’t do it on purpose of course, the closer you sleep next to him the more likely it is that he just stumbles into your dream by accident. That's why he had to sleep in the basement, while his parents slept on the third floor. They simply wanted him as far away at night as possible.

What the two did all day now was lying around in the dirty cellar on the green bean bag and the mattresses and talked about everything and nothing. Somedays they played games on the old arcade machine Remy had or they had matches on his kicker, all while smoking pot or drinking beer Clyde brought back every time he went out.

But not this time. This time he brought something better. Money. And lots of it.

Remy tried focusing on the guy with the weird scales in front of him as he blinked the sleep from his eyes, “Wha-?”

Deceit ripped away the blanket and threw a full plastic bag him. It hit him in the chest, where you could read ‘Never SLEEP again’ on a gray shirt, and caused him to lay down again with the bag sitting on top of him.

“I said I did it! I actually did it, I stole the money!” Deceit stood proudly next to the ‘bed’, hands on his hips, with the broadest smile Remy had ever seen on the guy. It kinda creeped him out, to be honest.

Then the bank robber turned around into the direction of the old foosball table and lifted his arm triumphantly into the air and tilted his head back so he looked at the ceiling.

“Oh my god! I feel great! This was way better than drugs!” he screamed in euphoria.

Remy leaned up on his elbow and let the bag fall next to him on the bed.

“Flippin’ shut up, man! You're gonna wake the whole street shoutin’ like that.”

Deceit turned his head back to his friend, puzzled.

“It's 5 in the afternoon?”

“Oh really? I'm up early,” the sleepy head grinned.

Deceit made a face at him that could only have meant ‘you fu**king serious?’

Rem's eyes fell on the plastic bag next to him. With one hand he lifted a handle and looked inside. His eyes widened, only now had he realized what Deceit had actually done. He shot up straight on the mattress and put the bag on the ground so he could take a bundle of hundred dollar notes out. He ran a finger across the stop slowly as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

“Jesus Christ, you actually did it?!” he looked up shocked at the criminal who now faced him again. With the head movement, the green shade sunglasses that had apparently been lying on his purple dyed and messy hair the whole time he slept, fell onto his nose.

“Hell yeah, I did! And it was so easy too! Like stealing a lolly from a baby.”

The seventeen-year-old sitting on the mattresses gathered himself enough to get a little of his sass back.

“Cliché.” He looked back down to the pile of money. “Jeez, how much even is this?”

“50,000 bugs,” Dee’s eyes sparkled saying that.

“Holy shit. Holy shit, I can't believe it! I thought we were just joking around yesterday! We were drunk for fucks sake!”

Remy would have never thought that Clyde would actually do something this incredibly stupid. They just talked like idiots about how they could have anything they wanted if they used their powers more, not that he ever actually considered doing so.

“Come on, just imagine what we can do with that much money!” Deceit stepped closer to him, gesturing with his hands.

“With the stolen money.”

“No one knows that!”

“Babe, don't you think 50k will be missed? Where did you even get that from? The bank like we said?” he took his shades with his forefinger and thumb on the rim of the glasses and slid them down a bit so he could look into Deceit's eyes.

“Yeah and no, no one knows I took the money. I made sure the woman was the only one there and I just made her give it to me.”

“50k in cash. Someone will miss that! They’re going to notice that much missing! Did you think of the cameras?” Rem’s eyebrows furrowed as he put his shades back on properly.

“I do not like to repeat myself. She just handed it to me! It looks completely innocent on camera. And as far as she knows, that money belongs to me.”

Deceit got frustrated with his friend. Just the night before he also loved the idea and now he was lecturing him?!

“You can't keep the money here, babe. I'm not ok with that much stolen cash under my roof!”

“It will be gone soon anyway.” He tried again to reason. This was a good thing, why couldn’t he see it?

“You need to leave,” The voice sounded monotone.

Deceit’s shoulders fell. “What?”

“Clyde, sweetie, don’t get me wrong. I'm totally up for all kinds of stupid shit but that's a bit too far man and I really don't want to get in trouble because of you.”

“So, you're throwing me out?”

“You have enough money to rent a hotel room,” he said gesturing to the bag at his feet.

Deceit looked with disbelief into the green-tinted sunglasses that hid Remy’s emotions pretty well.

How could he just throw him out? He thought the other would be happy about the money. He would have even shared it with him for letting him stay here, but now…

He growled “Fine. I'll leave. I don't need you anymore anyway. I can do whatever I want without you. Just don't come crawling back to me when I'm ruling the city.”

“Sure thing rip-off Disney villain.��

“You've seen the last of me.”

With that Deceit took his luggage, bound the bag of money to it and lifted a small terrarium with Terrence in it under his arm and left the basement.

Remy let out a shaky breath into the stifling air of his room.

For a second there, he had been afraid that Clyde- no, Deceit would use his powers on him.

---- Chapter 3>>

[likeahorribledream]

The One That Got Away

Chapter 3: One True Love

Summary: Bucky and Charlie bond over their mutual love for litterature, opening a little bit more of themselves to the other.

Word Count: 5.7k

TW: Fluff, so much fluff.

Summary | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Bucky and Charlie could have stayed on the phone for hours without getting bored or tired but Charlie’s mom needed to use the phone and made her hang-up after an hour of them talking.

Bucky seemed better than when she left him that afternoon but she was still worried about him. She wondered if he had told Steve yet, or if he was waiting until it was official. He clearly wasn’t taking the news very well and Steve would only be excited, hoping he would get drafted too when the moment came.

Charlie spent the rest of her night thinking about Bucky and what she could do to help him. From what the soldiers had said, they still had two months before they would start drafting men and she was determined to make the most of it.

She woke up the next day feeling a little bit anxious and nervous for her friend. Charlie had a habit of taking on other people’s problems and making them her own. Friends and family had told her on multiple occasions to be careful, that it wasn’t her responsibility to help the whole world but that was who Charlie was, at least she was trying to do something to help.

It was Thursday, and on Thursdays Charlie would be in the back office working on updating all the patients’ files that hadn’t been updated throughout the week for a lack of time. She was thankful for that, her thoughts being anywhere but at work. She had asked the woman who took her place at the front desk to let her know if Steve came in at some point during the day.

She spent the whole morning listening to music on the radio while slowly working her way through the files that had piled up during the week. Most people hated updating the files but Charlie loved it. It allowed her to catch up on the patients, sometimes wondering what had happened to them and it was a lot more relaxing than being with the patients. As much as she loved being with them, she needed some time alone from time to time. A small break from all the action.

When noon came around, Charlie had just finished updating a file and thought it was the perfect time for a break. She took the time to clean up her desk, knowing that if she didn’t do it now she would put it off until the end of the day and then curse herself for it. After making sure that everything that was done was put away, she walked out of the small office and closed the door behind her, locking it.

She went to the break room to get her lunch, walking in she saw that most nurses and doctors were sitting down at the large table and there weren’t any seat left for her. She grabbed her brown paper bag containing her lunch and decided to go eat outside, it was a nice sunny day might as well enjoy it, she thought.

When she walked outside, it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to how bright the sun was shining. The office where she had been all morning didn’t have any windows and she had gotten used to the darkness. After blinking a few times to get her eyes into focus, she noticed a familiar face waiting for her in front of the clinic.

Bucky.

She panicked. Was something wrong? Did she forget that they had made plans?

Bucky, seeing her confusion, smiled and approached her.

‘’I hope you don’t mind. I thought we could eat together again today.’’ He smiled, shyly.

Charlie felt relief wash over her and allowed herself to smile back.

‘’I would love to.’’ She grinned.

She took a moment to look him over. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday, his eyes had that spark she loved so much again.

‘’D’you want to go back to the diner?’’ He asked, no specific plans in mind.

Charlie looked at the diner across the street and then looked down to the sad little paper bag she was holding, a soggy sandwich waiting for her at the bottom of it.

‘’Sounds a lot better than the lunch I was about to have. Just give me a minute, I’ll go put it back.’’ She raised her hand that was holding the bag and gave it a sad look.

Bucky laughed and nodded, letting her know he would be waiting right here.

Charlie made her way inside, all the way to the back to the break room and put her lunch back. She’ll just save it for tomorrow. She quickly made her way back outside, this time her eyes getting used to the light a lot quicker and she smiled at Bucky.

‘’Let’s go.’’ She said, walking towards Bucky.

She had almost reached the street to cross, no cars in sight when she felt a hand grab her wrist and slowly pull her back. She turned her head to look at the hand holding her and stepped back. She was confused as to why Bucky had held her back, it had been safe to cross the street.

‘’Is everything ok?’’ She looked at him, concerned. He was frowning and looked nervous.

He was biting his lower lip, just like Charlie did when she was nervous. He pulled gently on her arm, bringing her closer to him while walking towards her, closing the distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged tightly, just like he had done yesterday.

It only took a second before Charlie realized what was happening, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him right back. Bucky was taller than her and she loved the height difference when they hugged.

She let her head rest on his chest, waiting until he let go before stepping back and looking at him.

‘’Feeling better?’’ A small smile forming on her lips, seeing the red flush his cheeks.

Bucky hadn’t planned on hugging her. Being close to her reminded him of the hug they had shared yesterday before she had to go back to work and how calming it had been. He wanted, and needed, to feel the calm again. Without even thinking about it he had grabbed her and before he knew it she was snuggled tightly in his arms.

He felt a lot more calm but he was also embarrassed by what he had just done. He wasn’t really the hugging type, especially not with people he barely knew but there was something about Charlie that made him want to be vulnerable. Like he could bare his soul to her and she would heal every little piece that needed healing.

He looked at her for a few seconds, still not over what he had just done and blushed. She looked at him with such warmth and concern that his embarrassment quickly dissipated.

‘’A lot better.’’

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together, they crossed the street to their new favourite spot.

The next day, exactly at noon, Bucky was waiting for her again. This time he had brought his own little paper bag and together they sad on the grass under a tree to hide in the shade.

They spent the entire lunch time talking, sharing some of their lunch with the other.

After the whole Wednesday incident, they had gotten closer. The only person he trusted when he felt vulnerable was Steve and now Charlie had seen him in a very vulnerable moment and the way she reacted to it just made him trust her more.

Charlie quickly learned that once Bucky liked you, he really liked to touch. He was hugging her a lot more often, when they were walking he had one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders, whenever she had to walk in front of him he often had his hand on the small of her back, letting her know he was still there.

At first, it made her blush a lot. She wasn’t used to that kind of attention from men. She quickly learned to love it, looking forward to his hugs. She found herself leaning into him automatically when they were walking, almost he sync with the movement of his arm being wrapped around her.

It was crazy to think that in as little as 48 hours they had gotten so close. It was just so easy for them to be comfortable with one another.

They had finished their lunch, Charlie was picking up their leftovers to throw them in the garbage can out front. She walked back to Bucky and sat next to him.

‘’You should come over tonight.’’ She said, turning her heard to look at him. ‘’I want to show you my book collection.’’

Bucky nodded.

‘’Books, uh? Count me in.’’ He grinned. ‘’What time is your shift over? Should I just meet you back here and then we can walk together?’’

‘’That’s perfect. I’m usually done around 4. If I’m not outside you can come in, it shouldn’t go past that. That’s when the night shift starts.’’

Bucky stood up, holding out both his hands in front of her. She put her hands in his and let him help her get up. She used her hands to straighten up her dress, sitting on the grass with it hadn’t been a really good idea.

‘’I’ll be here at 4, then.’’

It was time for her to go back to work, Bucky walked to her and hugged her, once again. He was still a little bit hesitant, so far it hadn’t looked like it was bothering her but he promised himself that if there was any sign from her that he was making her uncomfortable, he would stop immediately. Little did he know that he didn’t have to worry, Charlie loved his hugs as much as he loved hers.

‘’I’ll see you later, James.’’

‘’See you later, Lily.’’ He watched her walk back inside and made his way home.

After her lunch break, Charlie made her way to the back office and finished the work she had started the day before. It was a slow day and there were enough girls to cover the front, nurse Jones suggesting to Charlie that she could continue updating the files if she wanted. An offer that she gladly accepted, needing the calm. Plus it was Friday and she loved Fridays because it meant that she would leave work earlier than the rest of the week. It was shaping up to be a good day.

The last 3 hours of her shift went by painfully slow. She kept looking at the clock on the wall in front of her, every time she thought 10 minutes had gone by she would look up to realize that it had barely been 2 minutes since the last time she looked. She was excited to show Bucky all of her books and spend time with him which made working feel like a nuisance.

Looking up only to notice it had barely been 5 minutes since the last time she checked, she let a groan escaped her lips and she fell back into her chair. She covered her face with both her hands and sighed. She usually didn’t mind being at work, but today was not the case. She got up and walked over to the wall, bringing her chair with her. She climbed on it and grabbed the clock that had been driving her crazy. Stepping back, she placed the clocked face down on the ground and walked to her desk with her chair, moving it to its original place and sitting down.

‘’Okay Charlie. You need to focus now.’’ She told herself, out lout, as if it would help.

It strangely did. The rest of the afternoon went by a lot faster. The first few minutes after taking down the clock, she had the urge to walk over to it and look at the time but fought against it and finally won. She focused on her work, never bothering to look up again, until she heard a small knock on her door. Taking her attention away from her files and to the door, she told them to come in.

She was surprised to see the man in charge of the night shift looking back at her once the door had opened.

‘’Miss Mathews, your shift ended 10 minutes ago. What are you still doing here?’’ He looked amused.

Charlie jumped up from her chair, panicked.

‘’Is it really 4:10 already?’’

The man only nodded as an answer and couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing Charlie trying to rush and clean up the desk. Being called by one of the night nurses, he wished her a good weekend and left.

Charlie had never cleared up her desk as quickly as she did that afternoon. She grabbed her bag and her jacket and rushed to the front of the clinic, hoping Bucky would be late and that she hadn’t made him wait. Unfortunately for her, Bucky had been on time. Even a little bit early. He patiently waited for her, sitting on a chair in the waiting area and reading whatever book they had left out on the small table for patients while they waited.

When she noticed him sitting patiently, engrossed in what he was reading, she softly cursed under her breath and rushed to him.

‘’James! I’m so sorry, I lost track of time. Which is ironic because after coming back from our lunch I thought the afternoon would never end, I even took down the clock from the wall because I felt like it kept nagging me on how slowly time passed and then suddenly it was 10 past 4 and I am late I am so, so, sorry.’’ She rambled on, not even taking a second to breathe in between sentences.

Bucky looked up at her and put down the book he had been holding. He stood up, listening to Charlie, a small smile on his lips. He chuckled and grabbed her by the shoulders to break her from her trance.

‘’Charlie..’’ He tried to cut her off, but she kept going. ‘’Lily!!!’’ He said a little bit louder.

Her eyes found his quickly at her nickname, finally making her stop apologizing. When she finally looked at him he smiled at her.

‘’Hi.’’ He said. She smiled at him. ‘’It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s Friday, we have all the time in the world.’’

She felt a wave of embarrassment rushing through her, finally realizing at how insane she must have sounded. She blushed and looked down.

‘’Sorry.’’ She whispered.

Bucky started laughing. ‘’Please, stop apologizing, it’s okay.’’

Still holding her by the shoulders, he slowly pulled her towards him and hugged her. He felt her relax against him and then felt her arms wrapping around him, hugging him back. Always waiting for Bucky to be the first to let go, she stepped back when she felt him loosen his hold on her.

‘’Let’s go.’’ She turned around to walk out.

She waved goodbye to her coworkers, wishing them a great weekend and smiling at everyone. Bucky walked in front of her to open the door and held it open for her, following behind once she was outside. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and they started making their way to her house. They walked in a comfortable silence, enjoying the sun and watching kids running around the streets, coming back from school.

With her house in sight, Bucky turned his head towards Charlie and looked down at her.

‘’Won’t your parents mind me coming over?’’ His question made Charlie look up at him.

She shrugged. ‘’They aren’t going to be home for a few more hours.’’

Getting closer to her front door, Charlie started going through her purse, looking for her keys. After a few seconds of fumbling around, she finally felt them under her fingers and grabbed them, bringing them to the locks. Opening the door she walked inside, stepping aside to let Bucky walk in and then closed the door behind him.

Bucky had seen her house, at least the outside, on multiple occasions when he walked her home with Steve. It was a gorgeous house, clearly her parents had money and lots of it. But now, being inside, he felt so out of place.

His family wasn’t what you would call poor but they were far from being rich. They would have enough money for necessities but not a cent left for ‘’extras’’ as his mom called luxuries. Bucky found a few odd jobs, working here and there to make money. He gave most of his paychecks to his mom, keeping just a little bit aside for when he wanted to go out or buy presents for his family members.

Standing in Charlie’s house, Bucky felt like he didn’t belong in here. The house was even more beautiful inside and it looked even bigger, somehow, than when he was standing outside. He looked around, looking almost nervous. As if someone would know he wasn’t supposed to be there and come kick him out.

Charlie took off her shoes, Bucky doing the same thing shortly after.

‘’Welcome to my home.’’ She said with a warm smile.

He finally turned his attention back to her, her smile making him feel better. There was something about her that made him feel... special. The way she would look at him, smile at him or cheer him on whenever he was doing something he didn’t think he could. Charlie made him feel like he was worthy of anything, even a house like this. Clearly, she had the means to be looking down on him and his entire family. Like every other rich families did with people like him, but she never did. She was kind to everybody, never looking down on anyone. She always made everybody feel like they were important and worthy of her time. He thought she had one of the most beautiful hearts he had seen, even better than Steve’s and he didn’t think such a thing was possible.

Charlie gave Bucky a quick tour, walking around, pointing at rooms. After finishing their ‘’tour’’, Charlie guided them upstairs to her room. When she opened the door to let him in, Bucky was surprised to see what was in front of him.

Her room was big, huge compared to his that he had to share with one of his siblings, and it was extremely neat. Her bed was made, not a single wrinkle could be seen on her covers. An entire wall was covered in book shelves, but clearly they weren’t enough because there were small piles of books on the floor and even those piles were neatly stacked near the shelves.

‘’I knew you liked to read but this...’’ He waved his hand around, gesturing towards her book collection ‘’This is insane.’’ Charlie laughed.

‘’I know, I know. It’s a problem’’ She laughed once more. ‘’I just...’’ She paused, thinking for a few seconds and blushed. ‘’I just love to escape reality sometimes.’’

He nodded, agreeing with her. He must admit, if he had the kind of money her parents did, his room would probably look very similar to hers. He looked around a little, curious. He walked over to her desk, the one she used to get ready every morning. Her hairbrush, hair ties, hair pins were all placed neatly in front of the mirror along with her makeup. What surprised him was the amount of jewellery she owned, especially necklaces. There must have been 10 different ones placed on small hooks, and yet ever since he had met her he always saw her with the same one.

He turned towards her, pointing at all the necklaces and raising an eyebrow, curiously.

‘’You have all these necklaces, but you always wear the same one.’’ He then pointed at the necklace she was wearing. She nodded and he let his hand fall back next to his body. ‘’Why?’’ He asked.

Charlie chewed on her bottom lip and her hand reached up to touch her necklace, she looked nervous.

‘’If I tell you, promise you won’t laugh at me.’’ She says while sitting down on the edge of her bed.

‘’I would never laugh at you. I promise.’’ He was even more curious.

He grabbed the chair from her desk and brought it closer to her bed, sitting in front of her.

‘’My grandmother gave me this necklace when I was 10 years old.’’ She started.

Her necklace was made of silver, a thin chain was holding a small heart locket. The locket lying between both her collarbones. She raised a hand to it and smiled.

‘’She had one very similar that I had always loved, ever since I was a little girl. She said that my grandfather gave it to her when they started dating. I think it was on their second date. He said that the moment he had laid eyes on her he knew she was going to be his wife. When he gave it to her, he opened the locket and inside one of the halves was a picture of him and the other half was empty. He told her that she was meant to put her picture on the other side and this way they would always be together, near her heart, even when they weren’t.’’

‘’They were so in love.’’ She continued, not really looking at Bucky. Just remembering the moment her grandmother had given her the necklace, a sad smile formed on her lips. Charlie opened her own locket.

One half was empty and the other one had a picture of herself.

‘’She gave this one to me, saying that when I meet the man I was going to marry, the love of my life, I’ll be able to put his picture in it with mine, that way he’ll always be close to my heart like the love of her life was close to hers.’’ She took a small pause, snapping the heart shut. ‘’My grandfather died the next year and she followed soon after. Broken heart syndrome the doctor told us. She literally couldn’t live without him.’’

She was smiling but a few tears fell down her cheeks. It had been almost 15 years but she still missed them every single day. Bucky quickly reached up and wiped away her tears.

‘’My parents got married because it was a good business move for both their families. They get along fine but they aren’t in love. Not the way my grandparents were and I don’t want that. I want to marry someone because we love each other and can’t live without one another, not because it’s the ‘’right’’ thing to do. I wear the necklace every day to remind myself, but mostly remind my parents, that I won’t settle for less. They have been pushing me for years to marry any guy that can ‘’provide’’ for me so I can be a dutiful housewife.’’

Bucky chuckled, knowing full well that wasn’t going to happen. She was too independent and she loved her job too much to give it all up for some guy and spend all her days at home, by herself, cleaning and cooking.

‘’Like that’s ever gonna happen.’’ Charlie snorted, as if she could read his mind.

‘’That’s a beautiful story.’’ He smiled at her. ‘’Whoever ends up in the other half is going to be a very lucky man, and he better treat you right because it’ll be my pleasure to hurt him if he doesn’t.’’

She laughed at the threat.

‘’What? It’s true.’’

‘’Oh, I know. That’s why I laughed. Because I know you will be more than happy to remind him about that.’’

‘’Damn right.’’ Bucky smiled and winked.

Charlie shook her head, rolling her eyes as if she was annoyed but the big smile on her face proved differently.

They looked at each other, smiling for what felt like hours but in reality was just a minute. Both subconsciously hoping that Bucky would be her other half but never willingly admitting it to themselves.

They finally broke eye contact and Bucky got up, walking over to her book shelves. He looked the books over, glancing at them. He turned around to look at Charlie who had gotten up short after and was now standing behind him, raising an eyebrow and smirking at her.

‘’Are they in alphabetical order?’’ He teased.

Charlie nodded and chewed on her bottom lip a few seconds before adding ‘’And sorted by genre.’’

‘’Amazing.’’ Bucky said, turning back to the books and starting at the far left to make his way through the alphabets and genres.

After a few minute he gasped.

‘’Is that a first edition of The Hobbit?’’ He looked at her with wild eyes.

‘’Yes!’’ She said, excitedly.

‘’It’s such a good book, isn’t it? I used to have a first edition copy, too. I brought it with me everywhere I went and I ended up losing it.’’ He pouted at the memory of the heartbreak he felt when he realized he had lost one of his favourite books.

Charlie mimicked his pout, sympathizing with him. ‘’I’m sorry James.’’

She reached out and squeezed his shoulder in her hand, trying to comfort him.

‘’It’s okay.’’ Bucky said dramatically ‘’I’ve grieved. I still miss it, but I try to not think about it. It hurts too much, you know?’’ Wiping a tear that isn’t there.

‘’I understand.’’ She nodded, being just as dramatic as he was being.

They looked at each other, completely serious before starting to laugh like they had just told the most hilarious joke of all times.

‘’Dork.’’ She said, sticking out her tongue at him once they had calmed down.

‘’Takes one to know one, sweetheart.’’ He smirked and looked at the books again, missing the way Charlie blushed at the new nickname.

‘’You’re welcome to borrow whichever ones you like.’’ Noticing how Bucky was eyeing some of them. ‘’I haven’t read them all yet, but I really don’t mind if you want to bring some home with you. As long as you don’t keep them from me forever.’’ She laughed.

He smiled and pointed at a book. ‘’Could I borrow this one? I’ve been wanting to read it forever but never found it anywhere.’’

‘’I know! The reviews were so good, everyone jumped on it. I went to every book store I could think of to find it. There were only a few copies left and I never saw it for sell again. I haven’t read it yet, it was the next one on my list but you can definitely borrow it. I’ll just read it after you bring it back.’’ She smiled, not even hesitating to let him be the one to read it first.

He felt bad to be taking it from her, even if it was just for a couple of weeks. He shook his head, a shy smile on his face.

‘’No, no. It’s okay. You should be the one to read it first. I’ll look for something else.’’

‘’Nonsense. Take it. I have plenty more to keep me busy.’’

He almost melted right where he stood. The way she was looking at him, as if just the thought of making him happy by borrowing the book was more than enough to make her happy made his heart flutter. Hesitating for a few seconds, he grabbed the book in question and turned around to completely face her.

‘’Actually, I have a better idea.’’

She looked at him surprised and curious, following him with her eyes. He walked over to her bed and sat down, his back against her headboard, rearranging all her pillows and decorative cushions in a way that almost made it look like he had just made himself a cocoon made out of her pillows.

‘’What are you doing?’’ She laughed.

He grinned at her and patted the spot next to him.

‘’Come over here. We’ll read it together.’’

Charlie swore that in that moment her heart skipped a few beats and she tried to not think about what that meant. Without hesitating she made her way to her bed and sat down next to Bucky.

‘’How are we doing this?’’ She asked.

‘’Maybe I can read it to you? That way we’ll be following at the same time.’’

Again, her heart skipped a few more beats and with how close they were sitting and she sincerely hoped Bucky hadn’t noticed. Not trusting her voice in this moment, she simply nodded.

Bucky couldn’t have noticed, he was too busy focusing on the way his heartbeat had sped up when she agreed to sit next to him and let him read to her. He acted before thinking, mad at himself for doing so. Something he found himself doing a lot when he was around Charlie. He didn’t know what took over him but the idea popped into his mind and before he could stop himself, it was too late and he was already on her bed. He couldn’t understand why he was acting this way with her, he just hoped she wouldn’t think he was being too weird and that it wouldn’t make her want to stop hanging out with him. He feared that some day he’d cross the line between friendly and cute to clingy and annoying, scaring her away in the process.

He reached his arm around her, bringing her closer to him so he could hold the book for the both of them.

When she felt how close he was, she felt heat creep up on her cheeks and she was thankful that he was too busy getting comfortable to notice it.

Charlie sat down a little lower on her bed so that Bucky didn’t have to hold up the arm that was around her. Soon enough, he started reading to her and after a few pages Charlie thought that his voice was the best sound she had ever heard and that she would never get tired of hearing it.

By the end of chapter 2, Charlie had readjusted herself, feeling how Bucky’s body was already tiring from their position. She had gotten impossibly closer to him, the back of her head was now resting under his collarbone. His arm that had previously been around her shoulder was now around her middle, resting on her stomach. Her arm was resting on top his, playing with the hem of his sleeve.

Too engrossed in the story, and each other, neither Charlie or Bucky heard the front door open and close downstairs.

Her parents were home and were surprised to find a pair of shoes that clearly weren’t Charlie’s next to the front door. They stopped moving, listening to see if they could figure out where she was. The only sound in the house was coming from her room. A man’s voice. A voice they soon recognized to be Bucky’s. They listened for a few more minutes, trying to figure out what was being said and finally understanding that he was reading something to her.

They moved to the living room and slowly closed the door behind them, trying not to make a sound. Charlie’s mom looked panicked while her dad looked angry.

‘’That’s the boy she’s been spending all of her time with?’’ He hissed. ‘’I thought she was with the Rogers boy!’’

Her mom glared at her dad.

‘’Lower your voice before they hear you.’’ She hissed back. ‘’I thought it was the Rogers boy, this is news to me, too.’’

Charlie’s dad started pacing, shaking his head.

‘’This.’’ He waved in the general direction of Charlie’s room. ‘’Cannot happen. Steve Rogers wasn’t a threat but Barnes has a reputation. He can get any single girl he wants, not one of them being able to resist him. Every single person in this town knows how he is.’’ He was so angry, his skin looked almost purple.

Her mom wasn’t in a better shape.

It would have been easy to mistake their anger for concern, anyone who could have been listening in could have sympathized with her parents. They were concerned that their daughter could possibly get her heartbroken. Then, her dad spoke again.

‘’My daughter isn’t going to fall in love with some...’’ He trailed off, looking for the perfect word to describe Bucky. ‘’low-class bastard.’’ He added with disgust.

And there it was. Her parents weren’t concern with her well-being, they weren’t worried about her possibly getting hurt or having her heart broken. No. They were concerned that their daughter might be falling in love with a man they didn’t approve of. A man that couldn’t provide for her, that couldn’t bring anything to their family. Marriage had nothing to do with love, marriage was a business transaction. They needed to gain something out of it and love wasn’t something they were interested in.

They had noticed how their daughter seemed happier, chipper even. She was barely even home and she was always in a good mood. They thought it was because she had found a new friend in Steve but now they understood what it really was. James Buchanan Barnes was corrupting their daughter, ruining any chance for them to make her marry a man of their choice.

They stared at each other in silence, the faint sound of Bucky’s voice reaching the living room then the sound of laughter filled the house. Charlie’s laugh. It made her parents cringe.

‘’We need to put a stop to this.’’ Her mom whispered angrily.

‘’We are going to do everything we can, darling.’’ Her dad got even more angry when Charlie laughed again. ‘’There is no way in hell I’m letting Barnes anywhere near our daughter. I don’t give a damn about how she feels.’’

Her dad stopped for a minute, thinking.

‘’I’ll make it so that she won’t have a choice but to listen to what we want.’’ He smirked. ‘’It’s going to be us or him.’’

An ultimatum. Her family or her best friend. Either way, Charlie’s heart was about to be broken and her parents couldn’t wait to see it all happen.

[rpf-bat]

We Float Among The Wreckage

Pairing: Mikey Way x Reader

Genre: Drama, Romance

Summary: Written for Gothtober 2020, Day 10.  Prompt: “Sirena”. 

Mikey makes big plans to take his girlfriend on a cruise vacation...but, she breaks up with him, the day before the ship is supposed to set sail. Heartbroken, he asks you, if you would like to accompany him, instead. 

You woke up, feeling excited. Today was the day, that your best friend, would finally return from a months-long tour with his band. You’d missed Mikey so much. You couldn’t wait to see him again. 

You dressed quickly, humming one of their songs to yourself, as you wondered, if you should call him, and ask what time he wanted to meet up. You’d bought so many comic books while he was away, that you wanted to loan him, to read. You were looking forward to hearing stories about his travels, too. 

You had just finished brewing a pot of coffee, when you heard a knock at the door. You answered - and found just the face, that you were hoping for. 

“Mikey!” you grinned, pulling your friend into a hug immediately. “Welcome back!” 

“Hey, Y/N,” Mikey smiled weakly. “It’s great to be back in New Jersey. How have you been?” 

“I’ve been great!” you replied brightly, releasing him. The excitement in your eyes began to fade, when you realized that Mikey was frowning at you. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked, realizing something was up. “You look really sad…” 

“I stopped by my girlfriend’s house, before I came here,” Mikey explained. 

“Oh, yeah?” you replied, raising an eyebrow. “How’s she doing? I bet she was even more excited to see you again, than I was.” 

“...Not really,” Mikey sighed deeply. 

“Huh?” you blinked. 

“I don’t want to have this conversation in your doorway,” Mikey said sullenly. “Can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” you nodded. “You want a cup of coffee?” 

“Oh, yes, please,” Mikey said gratefully. He sat down at your kitchen table, and you poured him a steaming mug.

“You like it with two sugars, right?” you asked, handing him the packets. 

“Yeah! Good memory,” Mikey nodded. 

Of course I remember what he likes, you thought to yourself. He’s one of the most special people in the world to me. 

You sat down, across from him, and watched him pour the sugar into the mug, and stir the coffee around with his spoon. Satisfied, he took a sip. 

“So,” you asked softly, “are you going to tell me what happened?” 

“I went over there, thinking she’d be happy to see me, after three months, right?” Mikey groaned. “Instead...she told me, that she thinks we should see other people.” 

“She broke up with you?!” you gasped. 

“Yeah,” Mikey said, burying his head in his hands. “I…I can’t believe it.” 

“Mikey, I’m so sorry,” you said sympathetically. 

“I’m like, in shock,” he confessed. “She said that I’m never home, because of the band, and that she doesn’t want to be in a long-distance relationship.” 

“I’m really shocked, too,” you admitted. Sure, it hurt a little, having Mikey gone so often. But, that just made the days when he was home, even more special. 

“The worst part,” Mikey revealed, “is that I had just bought tickets, for a cruise, to surprise her.” 

“Really?” you gaped. 

“Yeah,” Mikey said sadly. “I was going to make it up to her, for my long absence, by taking her on a four-night cruise to Bermuda. It’s a really cool ship, called the SS Sirena. They’re supposed to set sail, from New York Harbor, tomorrow afternoon.” 

“Oh, no,” you grimaced. “Is it too late, to get your money back?” 

“Yeah, I already called the cruise line,” Mikey confirmed. “They said that the tickets are non-refundable.” 

“Fuck,” you swore. “What are you going to do with them, then? There’s not enough time, to try and sell them.” 

“Exactly,” Mikey nodded, seemingly at a loss. “I mean, I guess I could take the one ticket, and go to Bermuda by myself. But that sounds….really depressing.” 

He was right - no matter how sunny the beach might be, traveling alone, would probably suck. 

“Well,” you offered, “what if I went with you?” 

“Are you serious?” Mikey asked, eyes widening. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I mean, Bermuda sounds really nice, this time of year. We could just have fun, hanging out as friends. Hopefully, it will take your mind off her.”  

“That actually sounds really nice,” Mikey agreed. “Will your boss let you take off, though, on such short notice?” 

“Yeah, I have a bunch of unused vacation days, so it should be fine,” you assured him. “I’ll start packing tonight.” 

“Thank you, Y/N,” Mikey smiled softly. “I was really bummed out when I got here. But, the idea of taking a trip with my best pal, makes me feel a bit better.” 

“No, thank you!” you chuckled. “I’m really looking forward to it!” 

You only hoped, that the vacation, would be able to help him get over his heartbreak. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

He picked you up the next day, and quietly helped you load your luggage, into the trunk of his car. You could tell, by the absence of his usual chatter, that he was still feeling down. 

“What time does the Sirena leave port?” you asked, trying to distract him, from his thoughts of her. 

“Three o’clock,” Mikey replied listlessly, getting in, and buckling his seat belt. “But, they start boarding people, at one.” 

“Ok, it’s noon now,” you calculated, checking your watch, as you climbed into the passenger seat. “It only takes about half an hour, to get from here, to the Port of New York. But, there might be some traffic, when we go through the Turnpike. So, it’s probably smart, to go ahead and leave now.” 

“....Yeah,” Mikey said. His eyes, seemed a thousand miles away. 

“Mikey,” you said seriously, putting a hand on his shoulder, “listen...are you sure you want to do this?” 

“What do you mean?” Mikey asked, looking over at you. 

“I know I invited myself along,” you frowned, “but, if you’re really not feeling up to this, and you want to just stay home, I get it. It’s not too late to call the whole trip off.” 

“No, I don’t want to do that,” Mikey insisted. “If I go home now, I’ll just sit around my house, and cry about her. Besides, it’d be a waste of nine hundred dollars.” 

“That’s how much you spent on her?” you gaped. “And she just ditched you, like yesterday’s trash…”

“Her loss,” Mikey said defiantly. “Screw her….let’s go have a good time.” 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You arrived at the port, with time to spare, and completed the check-in process, without any issues. Now, you were officially on the ship. 

You looked down at the card in your hand, that the cruise liner staff had given you. 

“That’s your room key,” Mikey explained, “and also, like, a credit card, that you can use to pay for food and drinks.” 

“Oh, okay,” you nodded. You had never been on a cruise before, so this was all new to you. 

“We’re gonna be on the lower decks,” Mikey added, directing you towards the elevator. You followed him quickly. 

The elevator took you one floor down, and Mikey led you to a door, at the end of the hall. 

“This should be it,” he decided, using his card, to unlock the door. 

You entered the room, apprehensively. It wasn’t much different, you found, from a hotel room on land. But, you noticed one glaring problem, immediately. 

“Mikey,” you pointed out, reddening, “there’s only one bed.” 

“....Oh,” Mikey blushed. “Fuck, Y/N, I didn’t even think about it.” 

He originally booked this room, for him, and his girlfriend, you realized. So, of course he planned on them sleeping in the same bed. 

Bringing you instead, had been a last minute decision. So, even if it had occurred to him, he probably wouldn’t have been able, to swap the one-bed cabin, for a two-bed one.

He’s already having a really rough time, you considered, so I’m not going to pitch a fit about it. 

“There’s no couch, or anything,” Mikey noticed, looking around the room. 

“It’s fine,” you decided. “You paid for this whole trip, so, you take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.” 

“What?” Mikey protested. “No way - my grandma raised me to be a gentleman. If I told her I made a girl sleep on the floor for four days, she’d never forgive me! You can have the bed.” 

“I don’t want to make you sleep on a cold, hard floor for four days, either,” you argued. 

“Well, what other choice do we have?” Mikey shrugged. 

“Look,” you sighed, “how about we just decide this later? I’m hungry. I think we should go have lunch.”

“Alright, fine,” Mikey acquiesced. “I heard that the ship restaurant is actually pretty good. Let’s go.”

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as the hostess seated you at your table, Mikey started looking over the drinks menu. 

“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” you frowned. 

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Mikey shrugged. “We’re going somewhere tropical, so why not order one of those fruity little tiki drinks, with the paper umbrella and stuff?” 

“Yeah, why not, I guess,” you agreed. You had a feeling, that he was still depressed about his ex. But, who were you, to tell him he wasn’t allowed to drown his sorrows? 

“What can I get for you guys?” asked a smiling server. 

“Two Bahama Mamas, please,” Mikey said quickly. 

“....And we’ll try the coconut shrimp, too,” you added. You didn’t want him drinking on an empty stomach. 

“No problem,” the waitress smiled. “Coming right up! By the way, Karaoke Hour starts at four o’clock!” 

“Good to know,” Mikey said absently. 

After the woman walked away, you turned to him. 

“Would you want to try the karaoke thing?” you asked. “It sounds like it could be kind of fun.” 

“I don’t know,” Mikey hesitated. “I’ve been playing music every day, for the last few months in a row.” 

“Yeah, you’ve been playing bass,” you reminded him. “Not singing.” 

“Bass is what I’m, like, actually good at,” Mikey said nervously. “All the singing talent in the family went to Gerard.” 

“Nobody’s expecting you to be perfect at it,” you pointed out. “It’s just for fun. But, if it would make you feel better, I could do it with you.”

“Like, a duet?” Mikey asked, seemingly comforted by the idea. 

“Yeah!”, you grinned. “I think it would be fun!”

“I need a couple more drinks in me, before I get up on that stage, even if you’re gonna go with me,” Mikey insisted, reddening. 

“Alright,” you laughed. “Let’s make this night interesting.” 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

After the Bahama Mama, Mikey downed a pina colada, and a Blue Hawaiian. He became more chatty, and less sad-looking, as the empty cups piled up beside him. 

“Alright, what song do you wanna do, Y/N?” Mikey grinned, flipping through the karaoke booklet, that the waitress had given to him. “We need somethin’, with a guy part, and a girl part…” 

“What about ‘Interlude’?”, you suggested. 

“You mean, the song that Morissey did with Siouxsie Sioux, back in ‘94?” Mikey guessed. 

“Yeah! That one!”

You knew that Morissey was one of Mikey’s all-time favorite musicians, so, you were hoping, that singing one of his songs, would cheer him up. 

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Mikey agreed. He swayed slightly, as he stood up, to walk over, to the karaoke stage. You took his hand, to keep him from stumbling. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” you asked, biting your lip. 

“I’m awesome,” Mikey slurred, swinging his hand in yours. “C’mon….please sing with me, Y/N?” 

You found that you couldn’t resist, his puppy dog eyes. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You stood on the stage, clutching your mic nervously. There were a few curious people, milling about, watching you. It wasn’t a huge crowd - then again, the trip had just started. 

“You ready?” you asked, looking over at Mikey. 

“Born ready,” he said, with liquid confidence. “Let’s go.” 

The staff member, who was running the event, queued up the music for you. You began to sing Siouxsie’s part: 

Time is like a dream

And now for a time you are mine

Let's hold fast to the dream

That tastes and sparkles like wine

Mikey stepped closer to you, as his voice joined yours, singing Morisssey’s verse:

Who knows if it's real

Or just something we're both dreaming of

What seems like an interlude now

Could be the beginning of love….

Something about the way he looked at you, when he sang the last line, made your heart race. You wondered what the hell you were thinking. He had, after all, just gotten out of a two year relationship yesterday. 

You told yourself to focus on the song. Your voice harmonized with Mikey’s, as the chorus kicked in:

Loving you is a world that's strange

So much more than my heart can hold

Loving you makes the whole world change

Loving you I could not grow old

You chanced a look at Mikey again. You realized, with a start, that something in his expression, seemed off. Was he….crying? 

“N-no,” Mikey stammered, choking up, as he sang the next line, “Nobody knows, when love will end….” 

He stopped suddenly. The background instrumentals went on without him, as he failed to sing the next lyric. 

“....Shit,” Mikey swore loudly. The onlookers all stared at up at him, confused. “Shit, I’m sorry….I can’t do this….”

He dropped the mic, and suddenly ran off the stage. 

“Whoa, Mikey!” you gasped. “Where are you going?!”

You motioned for the staff member, to kill the audio track.

“....Uh, sorry, everybody,” you said awkwardly, into the microphone. “I think this performance is over….”

Without further adieu, you took off running, after your friend. 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You found him in the cabin, sitting on the bed, sobbing. 

“Mikey, what happened back there?” you demanded. 

“I didn’t know that my love was gonna end, so suddenly,” Mikey said, sniffling. 

“Oh,” you realized, feeling guilty. “The song just made you start thinking about her again, didn’t it?” 

“I...I don’t wanna think about her,” Mikey slurred. “But, I can’t stop, Y/N. It hurts.” 

“Hey,” you said gently, sitting down on the bed beside him. “It’s gonna be okay.” 

“No, it’s not,” Mikey sobbed. He dove into your arms, and pressed his face, into your shoulder. His frames poked against your collarbone. 

“Sssh,” you soothed him, stroking his hair. “Mikey, c’mon, you’re gonna bend your glasses up.”

He picked his head up, for a moment. You gently pulled the glasses off his face, and set them on the bedside table. 

“Now, you can put your head back down, if you want,” you told him softly. 

“O-Okay,” he stammered, and lay his head against you again. With the barrier of the glasses removed, you could feel his tears, wet against your collar. 

“....Why doesn’t she love me anymore, Y/N?” Mikey asked, his voice muffled, by your shirt. 

“I don’t know,” you confessed, stroking the back of his head again. “I think you’re a really lovable person.” 

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Mikey wept. 

“I’m not,” you insisted. 

“How am I lovable to you?!” Mikey demanded, picking his head up. “I made you babysit me all night….I got drunk, and emotional, and I ruined your karaoke song. Everybody was staring at us, when I just took off like that. I know they were…” 

“I don’t care what they think,” you shook your head. “I care much more about you, Mikey. I just want you to be okay. I thought taking this cruise would make you feel better. But, it doesn’t seem, to be helping you at all.” 

“Nothing’s gonna help me,” Mikey said dejectedly, flopping backwards onto the pillows. “I’m hopeless, now. Nobody is ever gonna love me, ever again.” 

“That’s not true!”, you told him. “I know you loved your ex, but she’s not the only girl in the world!” 

“There’s no girl on Earth,” Mikey said, staring up at the ceiling miserably, “who would want to date a guy, who is on the road, all the time. How do you love somebody, that you never even see?” 

“I love you, Mikey,” you said emotionally. ”I’ll take whatever time I can get with you. Even if it’s short, it’s special to me.” 

“You love me, as a friend,” Mikey spat. “That’s not the same.”

“No,” you shook your head. “Mikey...I’m being serious. I love you, in the same way, that you loved her. I have, for a long time.” 

“....What?” Mikey gasped, picking his head up, and staring at you in open shock. “Y/N, what are you saying?!”

“You were with her,” you confessed, surprised to find yourself, speaking these feelings aloud. “You were taken, so I kept my feelings quiet. But….the truth is, I always wanted you for myself. I don’t care, that you tour a lot. Four days with you, is better to me, than four months, with anyone else!” 

“You...really mean that?” Mikey asked, eyes wide.  

“....From the bottom of my heart,” you vowed. 

Suddenly, Mikey grabbed your hand, pulling you forward, on top of him. 

“Wh-What are you doing?” you breathed. 

He cupped your cheek with his hand. 

“Kiss me,” he breathed. 

“I shouldn’t,” you hesitated. “You’re drunk, and you’re emotionally vulnerable, and…”

“And I want you,” Mikey insisted. “Y/N, I should have chosen you from the beginning. I’m sorry, that I never realized how you felt about me. You’re more loyal to me, than she ever was.” 

He raised his lips, to meet yours. He tasted like rum and coconut, and maybe it was wrong, but you kissed him back, savoring his sweetness. 

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tighter against him, and kissed you again, with greater ferocity. Your hands roamed each other as the kiss deepened. How far was this going to go?

“....There’s nowhere else, for you to sleep tonight,” Mikey panted, “so, please, please, Y/N, stay with me all night.” 

You pressed him down harder, into the bed, that you no longer had any problem sharing. 

“There’s nowhere else, that I’d rather be.” 

[btsslowburnfic]

BTBY Chapter 13

Series Summary: For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.

Chapter Summary: Where the fuck is Ben?

Previous Chapter here 

Namjoon wakes up with a start as he feels something kicking his foot. He looks up to see Xavier holding a tray of coffee. He rubs his face with his palm and shakes his head. “Hey.”

“Sorry, I tried just saying your name but it wasn’t working. Coffee?” He asks and holds out one of the cups.

“Yes, thanks.” He takes the cup and looks over to see you’re still sleeping.

“Any updates?” Xavier asks as he sits two coffee cups on the side table. 

“No. They brought a doctor in to show her the skull xrays and then she passed out. Anything on your end?”

Xavier takes a deep breathe in, sitting on the window ledge. “Yeah, I went to their apartment. I have a key because you know, best friend,” he gestures to himself. He pauses and looks over at your sleeping form to make sure that you are really out of it before he proceeds. He lowers his volume slightly and looks over ta Namjoon. “And Ben is nowhere to be found. The shower was wet though so he definitely went home and showered. Their car is gone and he’s ghosting me, Gina, and Joe.” 

“Wow. What a dick.”

“Yeah, well Ben and I aren’t on the best of terms anyway so yes, I agree with you a million percent. I just don’t know what I’m going to say to [y/n] when she wakes up asking about it.” He sips his coffee and then gets his phone out.

Namjoon takes out his phone to check any messages he may have gotten in his sleep. He has several from the other members and their manager. 

[Tae]: ok. I’ll fly out tonight. Are you feeling better now that she’s awake?

[Manager Sejin]: That’s fine. We understand.  Just lay low and we’ll sort it. I booked the hotel for the rest of the week. Lmk if you need longer.

[Jin]: Im gOiNg To GeT My SOulMarK rEmOvEd -_- 

[JHOOOOOOPE]: Are you feeling better now? Tae says you are staying there for a while. BE NICE.

[JIMINISSI]: We miss you. Take care.

Namjoon sends replies to everyone except Jin. And then scrolls through social media.  

“I’m ordering non-hospital food. Do you want anything?” Xavier asks, breaking the silence.

“No. I’m fine. Thanks. I think I’ll head over to the hotel and nap if you’re going to stay here?” He says getting up out of the chair.

“Yeah. I’ll be here until around 2 and then Rafael is going to stop by. Just wait a minute, I’m going to ask the nurse if [y/n] can eat food from out or not.” Xavier says not waiting for an answer as he exits the room.

Namjoon walks over to your bed and covers your foot that you’ve kicked out from under the sheet. The pressure cuffs are still on your legs, preventing blood clots. He feels guilty once again that he had been so selfish when you were lying here with so many tubes and devices stuck to you. He decided last night he will make it up to you. Somehow. As much as he can in the next few days.

He walks over to the hospital table and takes out the small memo pad and writes down his phone number with a note.  “I’ll be back this afternoon. If you need something before then: xxxxxxxxxx” He puts it on your bedside table underneath the coffee cup.

Xavier walks back in. “Two breakfast burritos on their way. Yesss.” He says, satisfied with his breakfast order. “Did anyone say how long she might have to stay here?” 

“No. I think she’s getting her legs evaluated today.” Namjoon responds as he packs up hs phone charger and puts his trash into the small bin.

“Thanks for coming RM. And more importantly for staying. I know you didn’t really want any of this,” Xavier gestures to the whole area. 

“Call me Namjoon. And how long have you known about…” he pauses not sure how to word it. “Me and [y/n] being soulmates?”

Xavier laughs, “Uh since day one. Best friend, remember?” he says dryly. He looks towards the door, making sure the three of you are the only ones in the room. “I also know about your extracurricular activities.”

Namjoon feels his face grow a little red. 

“Your secret is safe with me.” Xavier pauses for a moment. “So. When are you flying out?”

“I think I’ll stay for the rest of the week. I’m still not really up to performing yet, and also I want to stay and make sure she gets better.” 

Xavier raises his eyebrows at this but doesn’t say anything. “Ok. Well then I guess I’ll see you around then?”

“Yeah, see you,” Namjoon responds as he leaves the room to go see Tae before the younger man flies out.

------------

You wake up to sunlight streaming into your room. Fuck your head still hurt. But your arms feel much less stiff today, you noticed as you slowly started to wake up more. You blink the sleep out of your eyes and smelled coffee. YEsssss you thought. It had been forever. Well maybe a week. And you were unconscious for a lot of it, but you were still excited. You wiggle your body into a more seated position and use the bed remote to raise you. You saw the coffee cup next to your bed and reached for it, and also saw a note with a coffee ring. You pick it up and read it. Namjoon’s number? Wow, you think as you took out your phone and added the contact. 

“Hey babe,” you hear Xavier’s voice and look over towards the doorway. He’s holding a bag of food and is once again your favorite person in the world.

“Hey. Sorry for yelling at you yesterday.” You say. You felt super embarrassed as you remember all the yelling and crying you did yesterday.

“No worries. You got hit by a car. I freak out when they get my coffee order wrong,” Xavier commiserates as he walks closer. “The nurse said you can have real food. Do you want some?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” you respond immediately, your stomach growling and aching. You had eaten a few crackers yesterday but didn’t want to push your luck. Today though, you were ravenous. Xavier walks closer and tosses a burrito onto your lap. HE is dreading the question he  knows you are going to ask him so he stalls.

“I talked to Namjoon a bit this morning. He seems a lot nicer.”

You are chewing your burrito as you nod your head, “Yeah. I guess so. He was nicer to me yesterday too. Weird. And, he gave me his number.” You hold up the piece of paper.

“Honey that’s nothing, I’ve been texting him for days.” Xavier teases you as he bites his burrito.

You laugh, covering your mouth full of food. “Such a brat. Thanks for the food.”

“Of course,” he responds.

You check your phone to see if you have any messages from Ben. Nothing.

[Y/N]: Are you ok? I’m worried about you.

You send the message off. “Have you heard from Ben?” You ask Xavier. You can tell by his shift in body posture that he hasn’t.

“No.”

There’s more to it….”Did you go to the apartment?”

“I did. He had been there and showered, but he was gone by the time got there.”

You feel knots in your stomach. “What if he’s been in an accident or something?”

Xavier can’t help but feel annoyed. If Ben would just answer his fucking phone you two wouldn’t be here worrying about his stupid ass. 

“He probably just needed to clear his head or something. If we haven’t heard from him in a while we can call jails and hospitals.” Xavier says nonchalantly.

You felt nauseous at the thought of your fiance being in either one of those places. You put your burrito down, suddenly unable to finish it. 

“You gotta eat [y/n] even when your boyfriend sucks.” Xavier says flippantly.

You pout. “Fiance. And he could be in trouble Even if he’s busy sorting shit out in his head, it’s a lot to take in that your partner has a soulmate and didn't tell you.”

Xavier rolls his eyes, “ Yeah. Except he should be here with you, talking it through. And supporting you, you just got out of a fucking coma.”

You sigh. You and Ben’s relationship had become a point of contention between you and Xavier over the past few months. Ben had been distant while you were on your summer tour, rarely responding to your texts and almost never facetime-ing you. When you complained about it, he had called you clingy. Xavier sent you a million memes on gaslighting and toxic behavior until you got annoyed with him and told him to stop. You lowered your expectations of Ben. After all, you were the one who had decided to spend your summer traveling around the country. You were lucky to be with someone so understanding of your schedule. At least that’s what you tell yourself.

And then he didn’t pick you guys up at the airport. He forgot. Even though you reminded him several times and forwarded him the flight confirmation. The two of you waited at the airport for two hours just in case he remembered before Xavier angrily called Joe who arrived after 20 minutes. 

“See [y/n]? This is what a good boyfriend looks like.” He snidely commented to you as he walked around and hugged and kissed Joe.

“You can’t control what anyone else does babe. You can only control your reaction to it. You eating that burrito or not isn’t going to make Ben appear, but it will help you feel better.”

“Yeah,” you say and pick it back up, taking small bites to make Xavier happy. 

The rest of the morning passes quickly after that, with various doctors and nurses coming in and out, checking the screens, reading off blood counts, cognitive checks, and examining your legs. You tell Xavier to get his butt back to work, promising him that you will take care of yourself.

A cheerful woman pops in with a walker. “Hello! I’m Mandy and I’m one of the physical therapists here. We’re going to see how your legs are doing. Is that alright?” 

You nod your head. “Yeah. I’ll be glad to get these things off,” you gesture to the cuffs.

“Yes, hopefully you’ll be able to bear weight and we can work on lessening the cuff time.” She walks over and gently removes the pressure cuffs off your legs. “Now it’s been a week since you’ve usd your legs so we’re going to take it nice and slow. We don’t want you falling.”

“Ok,” you say and swing your legs over the side of the bed and gently slide down, allowing your feet to touch the hospital floor. You can tell they don’t quite feel normal, like they belong to someone else.

“Let’s just start with this. You’re going to use this and stand. Ok?” She places the aluminum walker in front of you. You nod your head and grip both sides of the frame. Holy shit she wasn’t kidding. Just standing there your body feels so heavy and foreign to you. 

“Good. Good. Just stand there for a few more seconds and then we’ll have you sit down and do that a few more times.” She makes a few notes on her tablet. 

You stand there for a few more seconds and then you see Namjoon in the doorway. “Hey,” you greet him as you take a seat on the bed.

Mandy turns and casually looks over at the doorway. And then looks again, clearly missing how hot he was the first time. You notice her eyes widen a bit as she makes eye contact with her tablet. You get second hand embarrassment and blush as well. 

“Can I come in or is this a bad time?” he asks.

Mandy clears her throat, ���It’s fine with me, it’s up to you.” She says to you. “Stand up again please.”

“Sure, come in. But no making fun of me.” You say as you stand up again. You feel your joints starting to loosen up a bit this time.

“I don’t know if I can comply with those terms.” He says from the doorway. You admire how his solid frame takes up so much of the space there. 

“Yeah, well just remember if I fall it hurts you, so encouragement is encouraged.”

He laughs, “Encouragement is encouraged? Wow. And English is your first language.”

You smirk. “Go sit down and read a book or something.” 

You continue with your standing exercises for a few more minutes.

“Ok that’s all for right now, we don’t want to wear you out. Keep doing that a few times every hour and we can keep the cuffs off during the day.” She smiles at you reassuringly. “I’ll be back at 4 and we are going to do work with therabands. I’ll see you then.” 

“Great, thank you.” you respond as she leaves the walker and exits the room. “Ughhh that was so tiring.” You complain as you swing your legs back into bed and place them under the covers.

“Hey, it’s way better than yesterday.” Namjoon says from his chair by the window. 

“True. How are you feeling today?” 

“A lot better. I grabbed a nap and shower at the hotel and talked to the team.”

“When do you fly out?” 

“Trying to get rid of me so quickly?” He asks, feigning insult.

You roll your eyes, “I feel like you have a very important day job that you should get back to.”

Namjoon smiles, “I’ll leave in a week. I guess less if you kick me out.”

“No, I like having you here. You know other than the constant insults, your eye candy factor helps balance it out” You tease him and he laughs You hear a noise from the doorway. You recognize it instantly. It’s Ben clearing his throat.

“Sorry. Am I interrupting something?” NEXT CHAPTER

Tags:  @calling-dips-on-j-hope​ @ghostkat23​ @cuteipat​  @marianeamine​     @thisisval​         @almonte12​    @themisunderstoodblackswan​ 

[vinatintasupernovita]

2 or 27 for Famine/Frannie for the kiss prompt thing?

Absolutely! I’m gonna go with 27: Kisses exchanged while one person sits on the other’s lap.

———

The rhythmic sounds of tapping away on keyboards and shuffling through paperwork complimented one another when done in tandem. It was a Saturday staple by then, for Famine and Frannie to get together at Frannie’s uptown apartment and finish up any lingering work from the week prior before having a date the same day. That particular day in question, they had been given more work to finish than usual- someone from investing and marketing had completely botched up their projected numbers for the next quarter after not realizing they had been using the wrong data- so it was up to the heads of the company to fix it.

Frannie and Famine sat together on the new suede couch in the living room, with Frannie leaning her head back on the arm rest while she laid her legs across Famine’s lap, her laptop perched on her thighs as she tapped away on it.

“If this happens again they’re so getting fired.” She grumbled. “You got one job, do it right.”

“Relax,” Famine said as he flicked through the paperwork, running over each line with the back of his pen and crossing out or correcting anything that he saw fit. “It’s not a lot to fix, plus we caught it in time, at least. Imagine if it had gone out to the rest of the sales team.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Frannie sighed. “That would’ve been a nightmare.”

“The worst. But, you’re smart- unlike some people.”

“It said we were making a 4000% increase within the next two weeks! Like, unless the Olympic-fucking-Village was buying us out to serve their athletes breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it didn’t make sense that we’d see that.”

“I know, Frannie.” He said, patting her knee supportively. “Remind me Monday that we need to get into contact with them, by the way. We can release a whole line of Olympian MEALS.”

“Can’t be any worse than the stuff they eat regularly.”

And so they continued working like that for an hour or so, but numbers got boring quickly. By noon, Famine was barely paying attention to the stack of papers sitting on the low-rise coffee table and more to the fact that Frannie had shifted her seating to be less ‘laying back sprawled over him’ to ‘sitting practically in his lap’. She was seemingly oblivious to this fact, however, as she just kept working. Famine on the other hand decided that was enough work for now.

When he placed a kiss to her temple, it took a second to register- only for Frannie’s face to go red once it did. Famine smiled as she blinked and then quickly turned to him.

“What was that for?” She asked.

“What was what for?” He said, acting as if he did nothing all while placing a hand to her cheek and pulling her in to kiss her forehead.

“That!” She said, a laugh forming in the back of her throat. “Thought we agreed we’d save the mushy stuff for after work?”

“Well, work can wait a little, can’t it?” He said. “Besides, you’re the one sitting in my lap.”

“It’s nice.”

“So’s this.” He went to kiss her again. She snorted as he placed that one to her cheek. His facial hair always tickled a little.

“Ok, ok, two can play at that, nerd.” She quickly places her laptop on the coffee table before pouncing and peppering kisses on him.

“Fran!” He chuckled, unable and unwilling to stop her as she continued to press kiss after kiss to his face and jawline and really in any appropriate place.

“You started this, Rave.” She said as she repositioned herself to turn towards him, sit up on his lap with her knees on either side of him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Don’t start things you can’t finish.”

“Who said I can’t?” He challenged, hooking his hands around the small of her back as a wicked smirk grew on his face, only for his lips to meet Frannie’s. Now, out of all of their competitive kisses that afternoon, that one seemed to be the best.

They’d finish their work later, they had much more pressing matters to attend to.

[itsjustmyfantasyroom]

Sweetheart 2

This was co written with my amazing @thatesqcrush​​ !! Thank you for helping me out with this my lovely your a gem xx

Warning: This talks of readers assault and very slight name shaming

Enjoy xx  

You felt bad about how Rafael had reacted when he seen everything. You liked him a lot, from the moment you met him actually. There was just something about him. You knew how the case was going to end and you knew he wasn’t going to be happy.

You and Amanda had done some more digging the next day and found some other women that he had spoken too, one of them being underage. It was Sonny’s day off, Nick and Fin were sent to question the underage girl and Amanda was out chasing another lead, while you did more internet searches, when your laptop pinged with a new email from Liv.

You opened it and almost fell off your chair when you read it. It was information that Liv had signed you all up to for a Sex Crimes Seminars in New York next weekend, involving all SVU’s around the country. You scanned down the list and Atlanta was on it as attending. It shook you to your core just thinking about it, knowing you had to face everyone again.

Liv snapped you out of your daydreaming when she walked out of her office.

“Y/N, can you run this information to Barba for me? I have to finish our enrolment for the seminar. He has to come too, I need him to sign off on it for me.”

“Yeah sure Liv.” you gave her a small smile.

You decided to make the short walk to Rafael’s office to clear your head, you had managed to lock everything away deep down and kept it out of the way from your everyday life and no one else had a clue. You stopped on your way over to get Rafael a coffee in hopes he still wouldn’t be mad about the on line conversation with his friend.

You walked into the office area saying hello to Camera, when a tall Latina woman walked out with a gold dress. She walked straight passed you, like you were invisible.

“You can go in now Y/N” Carmen said.

You knocked on the door frame and walked in.

“What now?” Rafael snapped. He was standing looking out the window.

“It’s me.” He spun around with a frown on his face “Liv needs you to sign off for this seminar and I brought you coffee” You held up the cup with a smile on your face.  “And I want to say Sorry about the other night, I was just trying to do my job”

A small smile appeared on Rafael’s face and made his way over to the couch to sit down.

“Close the door and sit Y/N.”

You did as he asked, handing him his coffee and the file as you sat down.

“Was that Alex’s wife?” you hadn’t meant to blurt it out but you didn’t think before speaking.

“Yes.” he answered you as he signed the papers handing you back the file, picking up the coffee and sitting back on the couch.  

“I didn’t mean for it to come across like I was taking it out on you. I just….I didn’t know what to think.”

“That’s OK. I understand.”

“And I was a little jealous.” His cheeks slightly reddened.

“What! Why?” you were shocked at his confession.

“That you sent that photo to him.”

“Like I said I was just doing my job.”

“Alex can be very charming. He always gets what he wants.” he sighed rolling his eyes.

“Rafael, I may be young, but I wasn’t born yesterday. He isn’t my type anyway.” You laughed at him and a smirk came to his face.

“What’s your type then Detective?” Rafael smiled at you.

“Green eyes and suspenders.”

Just then your phone rang before he could answer you back, it was Liv.

“Hello”

“Y/N you still with Barba?”

“Yeah, I’ll put you on speaker…….What’s up Liv?”

“We have arrested Alex. The 15 year old sent him photos and he sent photo’s back. I told the DA, he has sent another ADA to handle the case. I'am sorry Barba. Y/N you need to come back, it’s going to a long afternoon” And she hung up.

Rafael hung his head down in frustration using his thumb and pointer finger to squeeze the bridge of his nose letting out another sigh. You put your hand on his knee and gave it a light squeeze.

“I’ am sorry you’re going through this.”

He looked up at you with a smile, placing his hand on top of yours that was still on his knee giving it a light squeeze back.

****

The week had gone by in a blink of an eye. The Alex case went to trail and he was found guilty. You hadn’t seen Rafael the whole week, he seemed to be laying low. The seminar was on that weekend, and the only thing you were looking forward to about that was the fact that he was going to be there.

That Friday night, Nick, Sonny and Amanda were coming over for dinner and drinks. Your guys usual Friday night if you weren’t working. Sonny was going to cook and you brought one too many bottles of wine.  You really didn’t know how you were going to face your old Captain or any other of the squad that would be there. The only person that knew everything that happened to you was Amanda.

“You should have invited Barba tonight.” Nick laughed taking a sip of wine

“Because he would want to hang around you.” You looked over at him putting a fork full of pasta in your mouth.

“Well no, but I bet he would want to hang out with you” They all laughed at you as you went bright red.

After dinner, you and Amanda were washing and drying up on your fourth bottle of wine.

“I bet you guys are excited to catch up with your old squad tomorrow.” Sonny said cheerfully

Amanda felt you tense next to her and your whole attitude changed.

“Yeah it will be good to catch up with them, right Y/N?””

“Yeah” you didn’t even look up from the bench trying to hold back tears. Nick and Sonny noticed your response and looked at each other.

“You OK Y/N? What’s going on?” Nick asked

“Yeah Y/N, you we…” Sonny was cut off by Amanda

“We don’t need to talk about it.” Amanda looked at them both.

“Well clearly we do if you're both acting like this” Nick spat back at her. The tears you had been holding back came spilling out uncontrollably.

“Amanda stop being so strong about it.” You sobbed at her.

Sonny rushed over wrapping his arms around you, you hiding your face in his chest. Nick walked over to Amanda and handed her a dish cloth to dry her hands.

“Sonny sit her down, Amanda go sit, I’ll make coffee”

Sonny guided you over and sat you down next to him, still keeping his arm around you while you cried. Amanda sat across from you stoned faced. Nick made you all a coffee and sat down next to Amanda.

“Now, are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Nick looked between you both.

Amanda told her story first, both Nick and Sonny were shocked at what she had to say. Nick had his hand over his mouth and Sonny had his mouth slightly open hearing the details.

“But Y/N had it worse. That’s why I had to get her out of there.” Amanda looked over at you.

“Why didn’t you leave before?” Nick asked you.

“My transfers were always blocked by the Captain and I had bills to pay, I couldn’t not have a job” you wiped a tear falling down your cheek.

“How long had it gone on for?” Nick looked between you both, his face filled with rage.

“Not long after I started. Stopped a month before I left” Amanda answered them back

“Y/N?” Sonny asked softly.

You stood up from your chair and walked to your kitchen bench opening the last draw and pulling out a folder walking back and putting it on the table between Sonny and Nick. Nick grabbed it first and opened it looking through the contents passing them to Sonny when he finished looking at them.

“He done this to you?” Nick said through gritted teeth frowning at the pictures he was looking at. Sonny had tears in his eyes after he read the medical report and saw the first photo. He couldn’t look at anymore. He reached over and took you into his arms squeezing you tight.

The 4 of you had become best of friends pretty quickly after you started, and the fact that someone had done this to their best friends, they were equally both mad and sad. There wasn’t any romantic feelings between any of you, you guys were just extremely close.

“Yeah. It was the worst attack of them all, he was mad I went over his head to transfer and it was approved by Liv before he could block it. It was my punishment for leaving, and he wanted to leave marks so I would remember him. It was the week I told him I was leaving. Once Amanda left, I always made sure I was never in the bullpen by myself. I was finishing off some paperwork one afternoon and didn’t even realise everyone had left, he called me to his office, I stood in the door frame, but he pulled me in and…..” You trailed off and started to cry. “I went to the hospital straight after. My last two weeks I used my sick days and never went back. When Amanda was there it happened maybe once a month if that, mostly touching, she never left me alone. Once he caught on that we were working together, he would put Amanda on cases with someone else, so she would have to go out, leaving me alone. The boys club knew what was going on, but they never did anything to stop it. But after she left the touching started up again more regularly and it escalated. He recorded that attack and told me that if I told anyone he would show the rest of the squad and send it to my new Lieutenant to show her what a slut I was.”  

“You need to tell Barba, he can put him away.” Sonny said into your ear.

“What no way. No one can ever know, you two have to promise me, promise us not to say a word. I don’t want that tape to see the light of day.”

“Amanda did he record you?” Nick looked over at her.

“Not that I know of, but only he would know”

[heresathreebee]

Garrote part 12

[Starz Power Diego Jimenez X Jazmine Mann (Black!OC)]

Summary: Healy and the Jimenez’ are gearing up for war. Jazmine’s getting antsy waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Previous Masterlist Next

Rating/Warning(s): Mature (+18 or I call the police). post-coitus fluff, swearing, anxiety, time skip, canon typical violence (I think...?), all plot, gringo using google translate Spanish and half remembered high school classes (sorry in advance), mentions of grooming/pedophilia (don’t worry, Porsche’s OK)

Word count: 2.2k words

Author’s Note(s): yeah so I wrote this back in December and just didn’t have the heart to put it out. I wanted to try and finish the other chapters (thinking I’m gonna wrap up at seventeen chapters) and I couldn’t. I have a problem with finishing anything I start, it never feels strong enough. I’m gonna try not to let that stop me though, promise. 

Waking up in Diego’s arms, Jazmine never expected to feel so calm. Truth be told she didn't really wake up, but drifted in and out of sweet harmonious consciousness to find Diego, whether he was cradling her or sitting up or rubbing her back. She finally managed to convince herself to get out of bed and by then it was already 2 in the afternoon. Diego had his pants and shoes back on but nothing else, so she relaxed a little. 

"You need to eat," he whispered, "come on, get dressed." 

Jazmine blinked slowly. "I need a shower. Maybe a wheelchair, too." 

She didn't miss the proud smirk that suddenly graced his handsome features. As he put on his shirt, Jazmine glanced past him at the open door of the closet. It was empty inside save for a few hangers, but it left a bad taste in her mouth and a lump in her throat. Diego followed her line of sight and said nothing. He let her shower, never more than five feet away (which is exactly how far the shower curtain is to the bathroom door). They ate somewhere family friendly, a pancake house she barely remembered the name of. Her legs still suffered from tremors and her pelvic region ached, but they were good feelings and she tried to make them last as they put a smile on her face. 

~

It's been about a week and Jazmine has seen neither hide nor hair of Haagen and it's starting to worry her. 

The only relief she had been able to accrue these past few days had been Healy's announcement that they had made a huge connection and were in the process of setting up task forces to take Haagen down. Alicia was confident that Haagen knew nothing and was continuing on with business as usual (or so she heard through the grapevine), and even Diego seemed to be relaxed about it. 

That was another thing that bothered her. Diego, relaxed. Diego doing more hands on business and clubbing at all hours of the night. He'd barely said two words to her after coming to the rescue and fucking her silly in front of Haagen. 

Sitting alone in the penthouse, Jazmine scratched at every itch and tugged on every baby hair like her skin was diseased. She didn't want to go outside, she was too afraid of Haagen's next move. She had been texting her mother regularly again just so she wouldn't call and have to explain why she sounded so nervous. It would have taken LaShawn all of ten seconds to realize something was wrong: so why couldn't anybody else see it? 

Maybe she was overreacting. Jazmine drew a hot bath in the jacuzzi sized tub and turned the jets on, finding bubble bath solution and a pink rubber ducky to cradle. The bathroom had a dimmer switch she turned down to near zero and let silky smooth R&B from the 90's wash her worries away. Her fingers worked to squeeze the ducky like a stress ball, and a traitorous part of her brain whispered longing thoughts. 

I wish Diego was here to massage my back.

She shushed her thoughts: at least the bath is perfectly hot. 

She washed her body and spent the better part of the day deep conditioning her hair and shaving her legs just for the hell of it. The music never stopped, it simply rolled from R&B to classic rock and then back again. Miguel checked in only to make sure she ate, and Jazmine managed to convince him to eat with her and play a co-op mobile game for a few hours. She plucked at the listening device in her ear for the thousandth time and decided to just call Healy. 

"Hey can't talk right now," were all the words she got out of him on the second call and then an immediate hang up. 

Jazmine growled and crossed her arms, suddenly reminded she was still wearing nothing but a bathrobe. She slipped into a pair of jeans and a tank top, and feeling bold, she marched up to Diego’s room and swiped a black button down that smelled like him. She tucked it unbuttoned into her pants and swanned up to the penthouse roof with a bottle of wine and one glass. 

She knew she would miss this level of extravagance. Never worrying about paying for rent or for food or selling her time and labor for someone else and next to nothing pay. Jazmine wondered what Diego would say to becoming her sugar daddy after this whole human trafficking business was over, but shook her head and topped her drink off. 

Probably overstayed my welcome, she thinks, that’s why Diego’s been distant lately. 

~

Jazmine was unnaturally quiet on her end, though Healy recognized the tinkling sound of bottle to glass. Probably on her fourth drink if he was counting correctly. No matter– she was safe for now at Diego’s penthouse suite and there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Brasa was leaning over each and every agent sat in the boardroom as if to intimidate them into obeying her every command. She was a good detective, really she was, she just needed to work on trusting the people who trusted her. Her partner Holbrooke was no help at all– selective mutism was a nasty habit to overcome. Brasa had not breathed a word of thanks in Healy’s direction, but he had expected that. This wasn’t about the praise– it was about justice. 

When he could finally break away for coffee and a piss, he sent a text to Alicia. No doubt los hermanos Jimenez would be thrilled with the intel– but what would happen next? 

The safest place for Jazmine right now is Diego’s place, he thought, but for how much longer?

~

An address and a transcribed photograph of the documents they came from. Healy had told them that the most likely scenario for Porsche’s whereabouts was ‘adoption’ by people who did not want any adoption documents to surface later on. The family probably has prestige, they may have lost a child recently and are looking to replace it like a goldfish and hope no one notices. 

It didn’t stop Diego’s trigger finger from inching closer and closer to his gun at every small pump of the breaks. 

“Tranquil, hermano,” Alicia soothed. “We’re almost there. We can kill them after we get la pequena back.” 

Diego sniffed and hopped out of the car as soon as it finally parked. Alicia was right behind him, checking her peripherals on the well lit streets of this upscale neighborhood. It was them two and one guard each, a second car bearing two underlings coming in from the back door and four cars with heavily armed back up around the corner in case things went south. Brother and sister climbed the porch steps idly, slipping their guns back into their hidey spots before knocking on the front door…

~

“Fuck.” 

Jazmine’s phone battery flashed at 3%. She didn’t remember finishing the bottle, but she did really have to pee so she stood up from the pool’s edge to relieve herself. Miguel was asleep on the white leather couches in the living room, mouth open and drooling with his gun on the table. The woman’s steps were a little unsteady and her vision came in waves, but she felt that fuzzy warm buzz and decided she had better not drive. 

She shook the young man awake with a sigh. “Hey, I left something at my apartment. Can you drive me?” 

Miguel pursed his lips. “I don’t think jefe would want–” 

“Please,” she said, “it’s important.” 

Miguel relented, swiping the keys to a Ferrari from the rack by the elevator and handed Jazmine her coat. Just a few more items she couldn't live without. The way Miguel drove meant they were there in no time at all, and every light they passed by in the dark somehow made Jazmine feel lighter, less jittery and anxious. She had Miguel drop her off by the backside of the apartment and climbed the steps alone after insisting she would only be a minute. All of her doors and windows were locked, the place looked exactly as she had left it. 

“Thank god.” 

She had to search for her charger, a sparkly teal thing with a cat and an alligator charm on it. She found it hiding under her bed, then found her way into the bathroom to check on her face in the mirror. Jazmine fingered the black hickeys on her neck, smiling to herself. She caught sight of something white hanging out of the trash and dug it out: her Chicago shirt. Stuffing it into her back pocket next to her phone charger, Jazmine took one last look at her apartment and blew a kiss to it. 

“Bye,” she whispered, peaking into the dark and lingering on the memories she was about to leave behind forever until finally the lock clicked into place. Oh shit, this was the wrong door. Miguel was waiting out back– 

Pop-pop-pop

Gunshots rang out from behind the building, the returning fire was short and stilted, overwhelmed by the repetition of an automatic. Jazmine took to the stairs at the far side of the building and ran down them wishing she was in something other than slippers. Her heart began to pound in her chest and her breath billowed in heavy clouds before disappearing. The second she stepped off of the last stair, she tripped. Her flimsy footwear slid on the thin layer of ice and she fell, her eyes and ears following the clink clink plop noise of her phone literally going down a storm drain. 

She barely had time to scramble back to her feet before she heard tires come screeching around the corner down the street and she stumbled into a run. 

Jazmine wasn’t sure how far she’d gone, and she can’t recall how many streets she turned on, or even if she was being chased at all. Every sound made her jump, and every car coming her way made her anxious. Her lungs burned for air as she finally collapsed against the window of a minimart. There were tears streaming down her cheeks as she pushed the door open to hide among the tiny rows of snacks and gum and cigarettes and refrigerated beverages. The store owner was wearing headphones and didn't bother looking up. Deep breath in. Exhausted, shaking breath out. Jazmine curled tightly around herself to try and calm down before her heart exploded in her chest. 

~

Alicia and Diego have the father on his knees and bloodied. His wife and children are being held upstairs in one of the bedrooms, terrified. Diego wipes at a small spot of blood from his sister's face. 

"Donde esta el bebe?," Diego said, grasping the man's ear and dragging his head back to look at him. "I won't ask you again." 

"What baby?" The man coughed dryly, his eyes nearly swollen shut but still glimmering in fear. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

Alicia kneeled down in her white pantsuit. "The baby you bought from Jeremy Haagen, Mr. Fletcher. A beautiful little girl with dusky hair and big brown eyes. A baby that belongs to us." 

Fletcher squirms under the murderous gaze of los hermanos Jimenez but doesn’t break. 

“You know, Diego,” Alicia said leaning on her brother’s shoulder, “I didn’t see a fourth bedroom.” 

Diego pursed his lips. “So?” 

“So the contract specified a room for our mariposa, and he already has two children. Where’s the other room?” Alicia’s heels clicked as the gear turned in Diego’s head. “I bet la senorita Fletcher might know.” 

“No, please,” he begged, “leave my wife out of this– she’s got nothing to do with this!” 

“So you do know what we’re talking about,” Diego’s aha motion garnered a vague threat with the point of his gun– gold plated, of course. Emeralds in the hilt this time. 

“Secretly adopting a baby girl,” Alicia tsked, kneeling before Fletcher and brandishing a knife, “when you have two perfectly healthy girls of your own? Ay dios mio, what’s the matter? Three’s your lucky number, but your wife doesn’t put out anymore?” 

Fletcher stumbled hard over his words and made next to no sense. One thing that did make it clear through the haze of nonsense struck a nerve with the Jimenezes: “I didn’t know she’d be that young!” 

Alicia exchanged a queasy look with her brother. She had heard of it before: grooming. Usually starts when a girl is anywhere between nine and eighteen. Fletcher continued to ramble, about hiring a nanny and raising the baby anyway since Haagen didn’t do resales. He was probably just trying to get the baby off his hands…

Before Diego could pull the trigger, his phone rang. So did Alicia’s, both projecting the same number from a burner phone and three emojis to designate the caller: Healy. Alicia answered for Diego, jerking her head towards the door and mouthing, ‘I’ll take care of it from here.’ Diego reluctantly slipped outside, glaring at the nosy neighbors in the window who disappeared in a flash. He put the phone to his ear just in time to hear:

“– I need you to get to Nassau now: Jazmine’s in trouble.”

@mental-bycatch @kid-from-new-zealand @1zashreena1 @girlpornparadise @nicke0115 let me know if I missed anybody, I’m sorry it’s been so long

[one-leaf-grimoire]

"illusion"

Chapter 17

this is the SFW version! Find the NSFW version here

Ao3 link to the full SFW work

"There it is... home sweet home."

I blink my eyes as I relax, still holding tightly on to Julius's arm and shirt. Sure enough, he's just whisked us right back to the Grey Deer base in his normally-instant fashion. Everything is quiet and the wind around us dies down; it's still early in the morning, and I'm sure mostly everyone is still asleep. The two of us don't move for a moment, getting our bearings once again. Finally, I release my grip and start to step away, but Julius's hand instinctively slides down my arm to link fingers with mine. I glance up at him, a little surprised. "Sorry..."

He reluctantly lets go and clears his throat. "So... tell me again. How much are we showing to the others right now?"

I take a deep breath and shrug. "None... none for now. Even though Lawrence and I aren't together any more, I don't want to make him even angrier. If he somehow finds out about us, he's going to put two and two together and realize that I was cheating on him."

"Okay, that's fair." Julius cuts me off before I can finish. "I'm sorry... this might seem selfish, but I wish I could tell everyone right away."

"I know." I smile up at him comfortingly, reaching out to take his hand one last time. "It won't be long, though... I want everyone to know you're mine, after all."

"Mine?" Julius cocks a brow playfully, squeezing my hand before releasing it. "I like the sound of that."

I shoot him a wink before walking towards the base again, before he calls out my name to stop me again. "by the way... before I forget." I look back at him and he gulps nervously. "There's something I need to talk to you about tonight... I don't want to discuss it until then though. I might have a lead on who's after you."

After the battle, breakup, and everything in between, I nearly forgot about the ongoing conspiracy. I feel the color drain from my face a little. "A-A lead?"

"Yeah. But don't worry, you should be safer going forward," Julius assures me with a smile. "Senior knights get their own room in the base, and before I left I told Hervey he should move your things into the empty room next to mine."

My eyes widen a bit at this information, but my surprise is quickly overtaken by relief. "Oh! You really did that?"

"Of course!" Julius smiles proudly to himself. "I want to make sure you're safe, so this is a convenient turn of events."

I smack his arm playfully as he chuckles, not able to disguise the newfound heat in my face. "W-whatever... We still need to be careful, though, even if I have my own room."

"If you say so~"

I can't object any more, since we finally reach the entrance of the base. It's just as quiet on the inside. "Hmm. I'll go see if anyone's in the kitchen," Julius says, squeezing my shoulder once before walking off and leaving me alone. Not sure what to do, I just turn and make my way towards my old room. Now that Julius is gone, a thick feeling of apprehension starts to build in my stomach. I should probably organize some of Alice's things... I'm sure they'll send it back to her parents soon. My heart clenches at the thought. Alice... I'll stay strong for you, I promise. I reach up and wipe away the moisture in my eyes before it can get too bad, and try to distract myself with what Julius just said.

What does he want to talk about? Come to think of it, since he arrived yesterday, something about him seemed... off. As if he, too, was apprehensive about something.

But, I'll find out about that tonight, so there's no use in worrying about it now. I finally reach my old room, my hand hesitating for just a moment before turning the knob and opening the door.

"...huh?"

I first notice that the room is a lot cleaner than I left it, only one person's belongings in it. Both twin beds are gone and are replaced with one full-sized bed. However, all of Alice's belongings are gone, leaving only my own. I thought I was moving? Julius said I would be in the room next to his-

"How's it looking?"

I draw in a sharp gasp before whipping around, surprised by the voice right behind me. I freeze as I realize that it's Captain Hervey, who stands silently in my doorway, trapping me inside.

After a moment, my panic subsides, and I manage to get words out. "I-it's nice... lots of room, at least." I turn back away from him, confusion spiraling in my brain.

I should ask... why I wasn't moved... but then-

"I didn't feel like moving you upstairs," Hervey reads my mind, almost making me jump again. His whole presence, right here, right now... it's making me deeply uncomfortable. "Plus, Elia and Cecelia are right next door if you need anything." I hear the floorboards creak, and my heart jumps into my throat. iNo, don't come in here, not any closer-

"Here-"

I look back to see Hervey holding out a list. I blink slowly, my senses still completely on guard.

"take it-'' Hervey shoves it in my face impatiently. With a soft squeak, I quickly take it from him. "I don't want you out on missions for a few days, since you're still recovering, so you're on chore duty today," my captain grunts before turning away without another glance. "Don't tire yourself out too much."

And with that, he disappears, my door creaking as it swings back closed behind him.

I draw in a shaky breath, my hands starting to tremble.

... what was that about... and even worse... I look down at the list, which is shaking like a leaf.

... I'm still so on edge... because... no matter what, I'm not safe. Not until we catch whoever is behind this conspiracy.

The safety I felt with Julius, the confidence I felt in returning... it was all just an illusion.

But I won't give up.

I clench my fist a little, crumping up the corner of my list.

I'll get through this. For Alice, for my parents, for Julius... and for myself!!!

The day goes by about as normally as I could have wanted. Most of the squad disperses after breakfast, many of them coming over to express how happy they were to see me back on my feet again.

Some of those smiles are a lie.

Julius pulls me aside at some point to apologize for his mistake. "I don't know why Hervey didn't listen to me. But at least you're still by yourself."

I promised to meet up with him after dinner tonight, and he was off to work elsewhere for the day. Now, there's nothing left for me to do but work through my chores.

1. sweep hallways

2. scrub bathroom

3. prepare dinner

4. organize basement.

The last entry on the list sends a chill up my spine so I decide to skip it for now. The first three entries provide more than enough work to fill up my day after all. The solitude is kind of nice as I make may way through every hallway, sweeping up dust and grime that's accumulated there over the past month or so. No one on the squad likes to clean; well, everyone but Alice. Alice's air magic made it easy to blow out every corner and get the job done in mere moments.

But of course, Alice isn't here to help me.

Sweep. Sweep. Sweep.

The fibers of the broom on the wooden floor are the only things making sound within the hallway. The afternoon light filters lazily in through the windows.

I should take a long nap after this... it's been a long day of work-

I freeze as I hear something from the room next to me. Huh? Is that... someone crying?

The room just happens to be the one next to my room; The room that Cecelia and Elia share. The door is open a crack, and I can't resist. I step closer, holding my breath.

Sure enough... someone in there is crying.

Clutching my broom with both hands, I finally lean forward, pushing the door slightly with my shoulder. Indeed, there's someone curled up on their bed, shaking slightly as they cry into their pillow. My eyes widen when i realize who it is, and I immediately push the door open further and stick my head in.

"C-Cecelia?"

The girl immediately sits up and looks over at me, almost fearfully. Her eyes are full of tears, and her mouth opens in surprise as she sees me.

"W-What are you doing?"

Her voice is quiet yet clearly strained, completely drained of all energy. I frown a little, but in my heart I already know what this is about. "..."

However, there's nothing I can do.

The words catch in my throat.

Cecelia... it isn't fair. I don't remember what it was like when I was your age, but I can't even imagine...

"...do you need anything?"

She shakes her head, her gaze refusing to meet mine.

"...ok. Let me know if you do." I start to turn and close the door, but then I hear her voice call out one last time.

"...I'm sorry..."

I pause and look back to see that there are tears streaking freely down her cheeks again. Her hands ball up the sheets under her, and she swallows thickly. It's a sight that would break anyone's heart, and mine is already as fragile as can be.

"Cecelia, there's nothing-"

"There is!" Her voice breaks at the outburst. "A-Alice said- she said she was going to protect me, and I p-p-promised that I would protect her- and still-"

I don't really know how to comfort her or what I'm supposed to do. But as Cecelia finally breaks under more pressure than a 15-year-old should ever carry, the only thing I can do is drop my broom and move to her side. I wrap my arms around her, and she buries her face in my shoulder.

"Cecelia... it's alright..."

I blink my eyes, tears starting to form there as well.

She shakes her head, not returning my hug.

"N-no... it's all my fault... all my fault..."

She repeats those same words over and over, and there's nothing I can do but rub her back and listen, my heart pounding as tears streak silently down my own cheeks.

It isn't fair...

I killed people in this battle. And even now, I can't look at myself in the mirror. But Cecelia, a child, saw death for the first time.

It isn't fair. Not for any of us. It's always too soon to see death.

"How was your day?"

I shrug, not really sure I want to talk about it. Julius's gaze lingers on my face for a moment before looking forward again. "I see... not so good huh."

"I'll tell you more later." I nervously look up ahead at the person leading us away from the base and into the dark woods. "Julius-" I lower my voice a little and he leans down to hear me. "You didn't mention he would be here, too..."

Despite me whispering, the man turns around to scowl at me.

Yes... for some odd reason, Julius and I are not meeting to discuss his lead alone. No, he's invited his only close friend on the squad, the eccentric Elger. I don't dislike the man, and I didn't really consider him to be overtly suspicious or anything, but I have no idea why Julius made him come with us.

"I know this is unexpected... I couldn't tell you the details of this meeting earlier, I was afraid someone would overhear." He gulps nervously. "But Elger's transcription magic is going to be crucial for determining if we have a lead or not."

I raise an eyebrow at the admission. "Wait, so you don't even know if it's an actual lead or not?"

"That's why we need Elger." Julius looks back ahead at his friend. We're quite far from the base now, and I suspect it's because he wants to leave the barrier around it. "I told him everything while we were out on a mission today."

"Yeah. It's... a lot to take in." Elger glances back at me again, his gaze a bit softer now. "I'm sorry about everything..."

I give him a little smile, not sure how to respond. Luckily I don't have to, because Elger suddenly stops in his tracks. "We're out," he says, swiftly turning. His usual staff is in hand, which he uses with his transcription magic. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but according to Julius, he's going to be a big help.

"Good. Alright..." Julius turns to look down at me, his face shadowed slightly in the moonlight. "I guess I have some explaining to do-"

"Yeah. To me, too."

We both turn, surprised when Elger speaks up again. The man narrows his eyes, his grip tightening on his staff as he glances between the two of us. "Julius... you two... you're not just helping her, are you?"

Uh oh... I gulp nervously, knowing exactly where this is going. I glance up at Julius, who has gone pale as well. He didn't tell Elger everything did he? But it seems like Elger was able to figure it out on his own.

"...I mean-"

"Whatever." Elger rolls his eyes as Julius opens his mouth to try and cover it up. "But if you wanted to be less obvious you wouldn't have told me you spent the night at the hospital last night."

Julius clears his throat, chuckling nervously. "Right... anyway-" He claps his hands together before turning back to me. "Here's the deal... yesterday, before I came to visit you, I stopped by Alice's room." My eyes widen a bit at this new information. "Listen... something about her situation didn't sit right with me. During the battle, the General that Hervey ad I were fighting managed to escape. Hervey followed him, and I stayed behind to make sure he wasn't pursued by other soldiers. Then, but the time I caught up-"

"Hervey killed the general, and the general attacked Alice," I finished, having heard this story from Hervey himself. "What didn't sit right with you?"

"... I wasn't sure. But my doubts grew over time. The battle was over in seconds. Yet the general had time to fatally injure Alice before Hervey dispatched him."

Each word sows a new seed of doubt in my own mind. "So... what does that have to do with Alice? Why did you visit her?"

"To get this."

Julius pulls something out of his pocket. It's a tiny vial, filled with a silvery-white substance. It glitters and swirls, and lights up our faces as we stare down at it. My eyes widen. "What... what is that?"

"It's mana. Elger lent me a magical item that allowed me to extract it from Alice's frozen brain." Julius grimly holds it up, then hands it to Elger. "With just this little bit... Elger should be able to replicate the original user's spells with his transcription magic."

I watch, still not quite understanding, as Elger opens up the vial.

The battle was over in seconds... does Julius think that Alice wasn't attacked by the General?

The mana is immediately absorbed by the tip of his staff, which begins to glow.

Then... then who...

My eyes widen as the magic is amplified, bathing the entire area in its power. It's cold, and sharp, a feeling that all ice mages carry with them. The General was an ice mage, though, so this should add up-

"...I thought so. I hoped I wasn't right."

I look up at the sound of Julius's voice, and almost get scared by the look on his face. For a brief second, I almost feel like he's mad at me, and seeing the same expression on Elger's face only further solidifies that belief. I gulp nervously, clenching my fists so they don't start shaking from fear and the cold. "G-Guys, what are you-"

"Ice magic:" Elger cuts me off as he raises his staff up. "Ice Domain."

...

Ice Domain?

But... that's-

Thin, flaky ice suddenly appears in the air around us, descending upon us in a dome. A moment later, it dissolves away, but I can still feel its presence in the air. It's a feeling I know well, even if I don't realize it all the time. For years and years, I woke up, worked, laughed, fought, and trained beneath that dome.

"N-No way..."

"Julius, you were right," Elger says softly. He lowers his staff, and the spell dissipates, but my fear is only strengthening. Julius reaches out, his hand landing on my shoulder. I hardly feel it, because my skin is completely numb.

It can't be... why...

Finally, Julius speaks.

"The spell that attacked Alice didn't come from the General. It came from Captain Hervey."

[cloverhighfivewritestoo]

Quarantine Roomies

👉 Read it on Ao3

This is @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover​’s fault. She wrote Be Mine, this Quarantine (1.6k) and I continued it (hence the part 2). So if you want context, go read the other fic where Dean tries to sum up the courage to ask Cas to quarantine together. (also, I continued the fic, so there’s details from her fic that went into mine too)

But if you just want to start where Dean gets to Cas’ place, here we go.

college!AU, buddies to not-buddies, fluff, 2k

And so Dean had moved in with Cas for the quarantine. Cas had a second room with a futon, which he had made into a bed for Dean. “So here’s the room I have for you,” said Cas. “It’s not much, but…” Dean was just trying to breathe. He was here. In Cas’ apartment. He was going to sleep in the room right next to Cas’. “Do you think it’ll do?”, asked Cas. The bed could have been nailed to the wall vertically, Dean wouldn’t have cared. “It’s perfect, Cas. Thanks.” “OK then. Um, I cleared two drawers in the chest of drawers there – don’t try to open the other drawers, they’re gonna explode – and, um, the closet is pretty empty except some boxes.” “OK. Cool.” Dean and Cas looked at the room in silence. “Oh,” said Cas, “do you think you need a nightstand?” “What?” Cas didn’t wait for Dean to actually answer. He rummaged in the closet and produced a box that was high enough and big enough to serve as a nightstand. He turned to Dean and smiled. “All set!” Fuck. That smile. Dean was fucked. Cas shuffled on his feet, inching towards the door. “So, um, I’ll let you unpack your stuff.” “Oh, you can stay.” Cas sat on the futon with a smile. “Did you bring a lot?” Dean just wanted to sit next to Cas and hug him and kiss him, but he had to keep face. “Just what I need. You have a washing machine?” “In the basement.” “Alright.” Dean unpacked his bags and felt Cas’ eyes on him the whole time. Cas would even comment on the shirts Dean brought, pointing out that this or that shirt was a favourite of Dean’s or himself. For some reason, it made Dean happy. And Cas seemed happy too. It was a bit weird how he felt happy just unpacking and talking. Dean tried not to read too much into it.

After, they’d gone grocery shopping, because Cas said Dean was the better cook so he should be there to choose what to buy. Cas declared he had quite the sweet tooth, and Dean promptly added a few cake box mixes to the cart. “That’s gonna be a lot of cakes though, Dean.” Dean winked. “Did you know you can make cookies out of cake mixes?” Cas’ eyes widened. “Funfetti cookies?” Dean smirked. “Any mix.” Dean smiled fondly as he watched Cas carefully choose three more boxes, two of which were funfetti. Dean added some multicolor nonpareils to the cart. “More fun for the funfetti.” Cas smiled wide. Dean wondered if he was completely red now. Dinner was frozen pizza, since Dean declared that coming back from groceries nobody wants to cook. But he baked a batch of funfetti cookies nonetheless, which they ate on the couch, watching a Mission: Impossible movie. Actually, Dean had two cookies, and Cas just kept on eating them slowly. At one point, Dean had to tell Cas to slow down. “Come on, buddy. You’ll be sick.” Cas had looked sadly at the cookies plate. “They’re just so good.” He’d taken another cookie very slowly, his eyes on Dean, as if he was worried he’d stop him. Dean just shook his head. “Hey, don’t come crying to me when you get a tummy ache.” “OK,” Cas said, shoving the cookie in his mouth. Fuck. Dean was so fucked. How will he last a whole quarantine with this adorable fucker without completely losing his mind? Cas got up. “I’m getting milk. Want milk?” “Nah I’m good.” He watched Cas go to the kitchen – hgnnn that ass – and then heard him shout back “Hey I’m not sleepy at all.” Dean shouted, “No shit.” “We could watch another movie.” “Alright.” Cas came back, took a big gulp standing in front of the couch, licked his lips – yeah, Dean was soooo fucked – set his glass on the coffee table, and flopped down next to Dean. And, Dean noticed, he was… quite closer this time. But Cas looked like nothing special was going on. So Dean started another movie. When the movie was done, Dean looked at Cas. “You still seem wide awake. That was a lot of cookies.” “No, it’s just my weird sleeping schedule.” “If you say so. I think I’m gonna head to bed though.” “Yeah me too. I’m gonna read a bit.” Dean knew he couldn’t sleep though. He was thinking about the afternoon, unpacking his things with Cas sitting on the bed and chatting him up, and going grocery shopping, how fun it was – how can it be fun? But it was. And then talking about their teachers over dinner, and then Cas’ face lighting up when the cookies were done and how he almost burnt his mouth trying to eat one right away… His head was dizzy with Cas smiling, and all the faces he made, and how painfully adorable he always was, on top of being goddamn hot, on top of being so easy to be with. Dean had left his door slightly open, closed enough so it looks like he has his privacy, but open enough so he can see if Cas walks around in the night, hopefully in his underwear. OH GOD. Why had Dean have to think about that? And so Dean was fixating a bit too much on the soft light reflecting in the hallway from Cas’ room – who, it seems, had left his door slightly open too – and his ears were picking up the sound of ruffling sheets as Cas changed positions to read, the page sliding against the other page as he turned it, the occasional hm or sigh in reaction to what he was reading. Dean felt a bit of air blow on his nose. It took him a few moments to realize it was morning and that he had dozed off to sleep – at what hour he had no idea, but he hadn’t seen Cas’ light turned off.  He felt a bit of cool air again. He took a deep breath. He heard purr. Dean’s eyes shot open. The cat! He’d forgotten the cat! The cat was purring louder. “Hey buddy,” Dean whispered. The cat yawned and blinked. It purred some more. Dean realized his nose wasn’t itching. His eyes weren’t on fire. What? He was allergic to cats, he’d even brought medicine for an army – and forgotten to take any. “How come I’m not allergic to you?” Purr, purr. Dean took his time to wake up, even petted the cat on his head, which granted him more purring, which almost put Dean back to sleep. Eventually, he got up and just pulled on a pair of jeans, walking in the kitchen barefoot, no shirt on. He started to prepare some coffee. Dean heard Cas in his room make waking grunts as he stretched. He heard Cas say “Hey Jack, you sleep well?” Damn, Dean could hear the cat purr from the kitchen. He heard Cas again, “Come on, let’s see if Dean is up.” Suddenly, Dean regretted not putting on a shirt. He felt very self-conscious. He didn’t have time to dwell on that for long: there was a loud clang behind him and a “OUCH SHIT”. He turned to see Cas wincing, holding a foot. A chair was on the floor. “You alright?” Cas breathed in sharply. “Yeah, yeah. Just banged into the chair.” “How did you do that?”, Dean said, and he saw Cas’ eyes glance over his chest and look away. “I dunno, clumsy I guess,” Cas said, as he picked up the chair and sat on it, rubbing his shin and his foot, looking pointedly down. Dean was in shock. Did Cas just check him out? He suddenly felt very naked. But going to put a shirt on now would seem too weird. Better play it cool. “I got coffee going.” “Thanks.” Dean walked around the table to Cas. “You’ll be alright?” Cas showed his leg. “Yeah. My ego’s probably more bruised.” “Alright.” Dean sat on the chair on the side, turning it slightly to face Cas. They both looked at Cas’ leg, while Cas was moving his foot to check what hurt and what was OK. The coffee was dripping in the background. “Cas, by the way… and this is weird… I think I’m not allergic to your cat.” “Jack? He’s hypoallergenic.” “But he’s got hair. He’s even quite fluffy.” “Still hypoallergenic.” “Uh. Nice. I don’t have to take meds then. Cool. Talk about a coincidence, you having an allergy-free cat.” Cas seemed to think about something. “I knew you were allergic.” “What?” Cas looked down. “When I got Jack. I knew. That’s why I went for this type of cat.” “What? Wait. You already had a cat when I met you. You got a new cat?” “No, it's the same cat.” Cas bit on his lip. “Actually, I got him two weeks after I saw you.” Dean’s heart was racing, but mostly he was confused. What was Cas saying? “I don’t follow. This cat is clearly older than we’ve been friends.” Cas looked at his hands. “I saw you before you saw me.” “What? When?” “Last year. You were arguing with someone about their cat. And I’d just moved in, and I wanted a cat. I thought if one day I’m lucky, maybe this guy will come to my place, you know, be my friend, and I don’t want to kill him, so, I got a hypoallergenic cat.” “Last year.” “Yeah.” Dean thought he was dreaming or something. Did Cas just tell him he had a crush on him since last year? No. He said ‘friend’. He couldn’t help but repeat what Cas had said. “You got that cat because of me, last year.” “Yeah.” Dean was stunned. He didn’t know what to say. Could it be… ? No. But… ? Cas glanced at Dean, who wasn’t moving, or, seemingly, even breathing. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.” Cas got up and went to his room. He closed the door. Dean listened to the coffee as it finished dripping, his gaze focused on Cas’ bedroom door. He tried to wrap his head around… all of it. The cat. The easy friendship. Cas texting him good morning every day. Him sending Cas stupid pics of his breakfast like it’s important. The long nights chatting. Cas asking him to come spend quarantine with him. And Cas so happy every time he got to stick around with him. Oh. Dean got up. He knocked lightly on Cas’ door. “Cas.” Cas’ voice came muffled. “No Dean it’s fine. I’m sorry I brought it up.” Dean insisted. “Cas, can I come in? Come on.” It took a moment before he heard a feeble “OK”. Dean opened the door. Cas was sitting on his bed, his arms around his legs, his head between his knees. Dean sat by Cas on the side of the bed. “Hey. I’m glad you told me.” Cas didn’t move. “Why? It’s all gonna be awkward, now.” Dean sat closer. “Cas, look at me.” Cas lifted his head. There were tears on his cheeks. Dean felt his heart sink and his breath catch in his throat. “Cas, oh my god, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Cas’ big, blue eyes were perplex. “Why?” “Because I’m stupid.” And as he said that, Dean took Cas’ face gently in his hands, and kissed him softly. Cas said, “Are you sure?” “Yes,” Dean said, as he kissed him again. Cas let go of his legs and passed his arms around Dean. The feel of Cas’ hands on his bare skin sent electricity through Dean. He kissed Cas harder, who kissed him back with impatience. Moments later, they came for air. Dean started laughing, Cas started laughing too. Dean said, “I’m glad we cleared that up on the first day. This is gonna make the quarantine so much better.” Cas looked at Dean with the biggest smile and kissed him. “So much.” In Stanford, Sam almost walked into a pole when he got a pic from his brother: Dean was all smiles, an arm around Cas, who was laughing, nudged in Dean’s neck. Of course, there was no text.

     I’d love to hear from you!

     Back to the Masterlist

[i-am-hagatana]

Ladies and gents, it's time!

Here is my story...

Welcome to the Pack

(Hope you like this! @markiplier @crankgameplays)

Chapter 1 (Mistakes were Made)

          The morning sun shines through and between the silky curtains, lighting up a small bedroom with little furniture present. Ethan, lying in a bed under the covers, takes a deep breath and slowly opens his eyes. He slowly rolls from his side onto his back and brushes his blue hair off of his face while staring at the blurry ceiling. He blinks a few times to force the sleepiness away and make the ceiling look clearer. He turns his head to his left to find his glasses resting on a small bedside table. He pulls his left arm out from under the covers, revealing a slightly blood-stained bandage wrapped around his forearm, and grabs his glasses. Ethan sits up in bed and puts them on. Wait… That’s weird.

          Ethan squints in confusion and takes the glasses back off. Everything around him in the room looks as clear as day. He can see the individual strokes of paint on the door. He can see the bumpy texture on the walls around him. He can even see the smudges and dust particles on the lenses of his glasses. He places the glasses back on, everything becomes blurred. He takes them off once more and stares down at them with bewilderment. He shifts to the side of the bed, drops his feet to the wood floor, and places his glasses in his shorts pocket.

          Ethan’s attention then moves to his left arm, more specifically, the bandage with a bloodstain in the shape of the letter u. He studies it for a moment, then his heart begins to race, and his lips form a slight frown as the memories of the previous night suddenly begin to return. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his thighs.

A flashback appears in his mind, he remembers himself laughing his head off. Around him were his new friends, the whole gang was there. Amy, Kathryn, Tyler, Sean, Bob, Wade, and… Mark. They all hung out in the living room, drinking beverages and enjoying some snacks, telling multiple stories and jokes, doing their hardest not to choke from laughter. They all celebrated their new memories and videos made together, and their newest member in the group, Ethan, who had been working for Mark for almost a month now. Ethan was then standing beside Mark, thanking him for everything, and emphasizing the joy he felt working with the group.

          Mark gave him a big smile, then quickly looked to the right to see Amy look over at him. They exchanged nods, then looked around and did the same with the rest of the group, causing Ethan to raise an eyebrow. Everyone quieted down.

          “Ethan,” Mark spoke. Ethan turned his attention back to Mark and answered, “Yeah?” Mark gave a small grin and lifted his arm to pat Ethan’s back.

          Ethan suddenly shakes his head, snapping back to reality and the bedroom he was sitting in. He looks at his bandaged arm once more with a frightened gasp, his expression now filled to the brim with worry. His breathing gradually slows down. He drops his arms to his side with a sigh and forces himself out of bed, not wanting to remember the rest of the night…

-----

          Ethan exits the bedroom and stares down the empty hallway. He walks across to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He flicks the light switch on and pulls his phone out of his other pocket. He presses the home button and the screen displays the time, 8:45 a.m. Underneath were a few notifications, but he lets his screen go dark as turns his attention to the mirror in front of him. Ethan notices his face and immediately freezes. His phone drops out of his hand, landing on the counter with a thud. One hand shoots to his face, feeling that his skin was smooth… he couldn’t believe it, his acne was gone!

          “What the…” Ethan mutters to himself. How on Earth? No person’s face could just do that overnight… Not wanting to stress himself, Ethan shakes his head with a sigh, leaves the bathroom, and quietly heads down the stairs, praying he could head out the door and away from this craziness without seeing Mark again…

          Ethan enters the kitchen and turns toward the living room to see Amy and Chica chilling together on the couch and watching TV. Amy turns her head to him and sits forward.

          “Hey!” Amy gets up from the couch and walks over to Ethan, who could not make himself at least grin, and he was trying. “I was just wondering if I should go check on you, how are you feeling?”

          “Uh… I’m ok…” Ethan absentmindedly looks at the floor as his right hand lightly grips the edge of his bandage by his wrist. Amy looks down at his forearm, her smile begins to fade, but she forces it to stay for his sake. She gently grabs his bandaged arm, causing him to slightly jump and look at her with slight surprise.

          “You know,” Amy tells him, “you don’t need this anymore.” Ethan raises an eyebrow. Amy begins to unravel the bandage. “If you've ever seen any werewolf movies, you might remember that most of them could heal fast. In the real world, though, that’s the case for all of them.” Within a few seconds, the bandage is peeled off, revealing a wound free arm, causing Ethan’s jaw to drop. He pulls his arm back to study it, his right hand feeling all around his forearm. Not a single touch or squeeze causes any pain, his arm doesn’t even feel sore. It was as if he was never wounded, he wishes that was the case...

          Ethan’s heart rate picks up, the word “werewolf” becomes trapped in his head... yet he also feels a bit confused why she sounds so calm explaining this to him? He sighs, “This.. is really happening?... And Mark is actually…?” Amy sighs but looks him in the eyes with a reassuring smile.

          “I know exactly how you’re feeling, I know what’s going through your mind. This is all really strange, and somewhat scary at first. But trust me when I say you don’t have to feel scared, you can trust us.” Meanwhile, Chica jumps down from the couch and walks over to them with a wagging tail. Amy sees her and greets her with a grin. Ethan looks at her as well, but doing so causes her to freeze and stop wagging her tail. He holds his hand out to her, giving her permission to come closer for some head scratches. However, Chica’s eyes stare at him with fear and sadness, and a small whimper escapes through her mouth. Chica backs away a few steps with a few more audible whimpers and goes to lay against the side of the couch, out of Ethan and Amy’s sight. Amy looks back at Ethan with pity, seeing him look down and pull back his now slightly shaking hand.

          “You hungry?” she asks to temporarily take his mind off the situation. Ethan picks his head up to look at her.

          “Well.. yeah, but-”

          “Then come sit, I’ll make breakfast,” Amy cuts him off and leads him to the dining room table. Ethan tries to turn around and stop her.

          “No, you really don’t have to.” Amy continues to nudge him towards a seat and urges “It’s alright, I insist. You’re gonna need food anyway.” Amy smiles at him, causing him to give in and sit in a chair at the table.

          “Thanks, Amy…”

          “Don’t worry about it.

-----

          The kitchen and the rooms surrounding it are filled with a constant sizzling. The aroma of eggs and sausages fill the air, some slices of bread are cooking in the toaster as well. Amy works her way around the kitchen, grabbing plates and cups from the cabinets, using a spatula to scramble the eggs and flip the sausages. Every batch in the frying pans and toaster are transferred to three large plates that are piled high with breakfast food and resting at the center of the dining room table. Ethan is sitting at the end of the table, enjoying his fairly large plate of food. Amy quickly walks through the door closer to Ethan with a frying pan filled with eggs and empties it onto the egg platter. Suddenly, in the other doorway that leads to the kitchen, Sean enters and greets the two with a big grin.

          “Hey guys!” he says with some cheer and walks over to them. The two return his greeting with smiles, then Amy returns to the kitchen and Ethan returns to his meal. Sean takes a seat in the chair beside Ethan, sits back, and rests an arm on the back of the seat.

          “How’s it goin’, Ethan?” Ethan looks up from his plate and swallows the food sitting in his mouth.

          “I’m as good as I can be, I guess..” Ethan looks back down at his plate with a sad look and pushes his food around with his fork. Sean stares at him for a moment, he can see and sense Ethan wasn’t doing very well mentally… Amy quickly comes back into the dining room and hands Sean a plate, utensils, and a glass of water, then heads back to the kitchen.

          “Hey, Ethan.” Sean stares at Ethan with a smile forming on his face.

          “Hm?” Ethan responds and looks up at him while taking a sip out of his cup. Sean quickly snickers to himself, then looks up and leans in a bit closer to Ethan.

          “Wanna hear a story?” Sean asks. Ethan places his cup down, places his arms crisscrossed on the table, and leans in to listen closely. Through many occasional chuckles, Sean tells the story.

          “This one time when I was at Mark’s, he took a nap in the afternoon. I decided to pull a prank on him, and boy was it pretty good. And you’d think that since he was in his wolf form, he would be able to sense me comin’. But luckily, the night before, Mark stayed up ‘til around 5 in the mornin’ to finish editing a video. I warned him not to ‘cause he had been workin’ all day, but he didn’t listen. Then at around 7 AM, he went outside in his wolf form for a bit of exercise, hoping it would give him energy for the day. When he returned, he just frickin’ plopped on the couch and was out cold quick. So I snuck to the kitchen and filled a bowl with cold water. Then I snuck up behind the couch, yelled as loud as I could to make him jump, which worked by the way, and then I dumped the whole bowl all over him. He stood there hunched over shivering a bit from the surprise and the cold water. I was already laughing hard, but then when he tried to run at me, he slipped on the water on the floor and landed on his face. It reminded me of a frickin’ cartoon, then I told him ‘that’s what you get for not listening to me, ya clumsy doofus!’”

          Ethan politely lets out a few fake giggles, the story was funny, but the image of werewolf Mark was still terrifying... Ethan’s fake laughter quickly ceases as the thought continues to haunt him. He sighs and looks back down at the bit of food remaining on his plate. After Sean fills his plate with some breakfast, he places his fork next to his plate and looks at Ethan.

          “You wanna know somethin’ else?” Ethan looks back up at him and slightly tilts his head.

          “I have a little secret too, but don’t go runnin’ off after I show ya,” Sean demands. Ethan lets out a quiet sigh and gives him a nod. Sean grins at him, then turns his head to the kitchen and notices salt and pepper shakers sitting on the counter. Sean lifts his left hand in the air. Suddenly, a glowing green energy surrounds them, lifting them off of the counter and into mid-air. Sean moves his raised hand slightly closer to himself, causing the shakers to float towards him and land on the table next to his plate. The green glow disappears, Sean grabs the salt and sprinkles a bit on his food. With a small grin, he looks over at Ethan, who’s eyes are nearly bulging out of his head, and the fork in his hand falls and lands on the table with a clatter.

          “Magic exists too?!” Ethan shouts with surprise.

          “Yup. When I was young, my father taught me and my siblings magic he learned from his father. He told us that his side of the family possesses power, and he could sense a bit of it inside of all five of us.” With that last sentence, Amy enters the room with her own tableware and sits at the table across from Sean. She serves herself some food while Sean digs into his plate.

          “Wish I knew some magic,” Amy comments, “it would make cleaning up the kitchen much easier.” Sean giggles in response.

          Ethan, however, sits back in his chair with shock in his eyes, his mind flooding with questions that cause his head to ache. Was there anything else he didn’t know about the world? Is anyone else close keeping secrets from him? What’s going to happen now that he wasn’t human anymore?...

          In the same door Sean walked through, Bob and Wade come into the dining room with upset looks on their faces.

          “Hey guys…” Bob says, obtaining the attention of Sean and Amy.

          “Any luck talking to Mark?” Amy asks with slight anxiety.

          “He wouldn’t talk to us, and he wouldn’t let us into his room.”

          “He’s not taking this situation very well, but I guess we can’t blame him…” Wade adds with a sigh.

          Meanwhile, Ethan continues sitting there, lost in his thoughts and feeling overwhelmed with worry and terror. He unintentionally thinks back to last night once again. He sees himself surrounded by the others, they were all silent as they watched him and Mark.

          “Ethan,” Mark announced, “we’re all grateful to have you with us, we’re really glad you’re enjoying time with all of us, and we really enjoy our time with you. I’m glad we became friends and that we’re able to make videos together.” Ethan showed him a big smile. Mark took a few steps away from Ethan, but still faced him. “We really appreciate what you add to our group, and we trust you a lot. And because we do… There’s something I want to show you, that way we can all know if you have the same level of trust towards us.” Mark took a few deep breaths.

          “Mark, what is it?” Ethan watched him with a raised eyebrow.

          “Look, this is gonna be weird at first,” Mark responds while he pulls off his shoes, “but just try not to freak out or anything.”

          “I don’t understand...” Ethan looked around at the others, hoping someone would explain or at least give clues. 

          “You will.” Tyler stared at Ethan with his arms crossed and a calm, yet serious expression.

          “Just trust us,” Amy added. Ethan’s attention returned to Mark when he took one last deep breath and closed his eyes.

          “Ethan!” Sean exclaims, causing Ethan to snap out of it and look up at everyone in the dining room with a gasp. Ethan catches his breath and sits up.

          “Yeah?” Ethan’s voice cracks.

          “You okay?” Bob asks with concern. Ethan clears his throat and stands up, grabbing his tableware.

          “Yeah, yeah, I’m just gonna.. go put my other clothes back on.”

          “Hold on,” Amy tells him while getting out of her seat, “your other shirt got a bit of blood on it, I’ll lend you one of Mark’s.”

          “..Ok, thanks...” Ethan walks into the kitchen, Amy follows behind him. The other three stay in the dining room and look at each other. Sean sighs, “Ethan isn’t doing very good either.. What’s Tyler and Kathryn up to?” Bob and Wade sit at the table.

          “They wanted to try and talk to Mark too, not sure if it’ll work though..” Bob answers. The three sigh and look down at the table. Sean then suddenly looks up.

          “I think Ethan needs somethin’ to temporarily take his mind off of this while the rest of us help Mark, and then figure out what to do, and quick. Tyler said the next full moon’s tomorrow.” Their faces become filled with concern, they occasionally tap their fingers on the table, trying to make themselves think.

          “What if we take him out for a walk?” Sean and Bob look at Wade. “Maybe fresh air is what he needs, and maybe me and Bob can talk to him to help him feel better about this situation.”

          “Alright,” Sean responds, “just be careful not to say anything that’ll freak him out more.”

-----

          “What’re we doing?” Ethan asks in confusion as Bob and Wade lead him to the front door.

          “We’re taking you out for a little walk,” Bob answers, “we thought it would be good for you since you’re feeling.. You know.”

          “Just don’t go running off on us,” Wade comments as he opens the door. Ethan looks at them both, then heads out the door with a sigh of defeat. Bob and Wade quickly turn back to give Sean , who was watching from the kitchen, two thumbs up. Sean responds with a nod and a smile, then the two head out the door and close it behind them.

-----

          “Mark’s still in there?” Amy asks when she comes across Kathryn and Tyler in the upstairs hallway.

          “He’s really hard to talk to when he’s this upset…” Kathryn sighs and frowns.

          “I don’t think we can convince him right now, it’s probably best to give him a little more time. Sorry, Amy..” Tyler tells her and walks past her with Kathryn. The two head downstairs, but Amy heads for the bedroom with hope. She stops at the bedroom door and leans against it. She lifts her hand with hesitation and lightly knocks.

          “Mark?...” On the other side of the door, Mark, who is sitting hunched forward on the side of his bed facing away from the door, slightly picks his head up to the side and remains silent.

          “Come on, Mark. I know this situation’s scary and stressful, but you need to talk to someone. Maybe let that someone be me?” A shaky sigh escapes Mark’s mouth as he turns his head back. He places his elbows on his legs and rests his chin in his hands, pressing his hands against his mouth as he struggles to hold back tears and avoid a mental breakdown.

-----

          “So uh, you heard about the new game coming out next year?” Bob asks out loud. Wade furrows his eyebrows and looks at him. “I dunno, which one?” Ethan is walking in front of them, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets and his eyes fixed on the ground. The three are walking down the sidewalk, and Bob begins to talk with his hands towards Wade.

          “It’s the one where a group of alien warriors saved you from the planet that went up in flames, they take you to their world and raise you to become a hero.” Ethan’s ears slowly tune their conversation out as he focuses on his thoughts and surroundings. He lifts his head up and watches a flock of small birds fly by. He looks at the trees along the sidewalk swaying in the breeze. Suddenly, a dog’s bark steals his attention, he snaps his head to the left to see a woman walking a black german shepherd up the sidewalk on the opposite sidewalk. The dog stares at Ethan and lets out a few more barks before the dog and its owner are far behind them. That dog.. looked awfully familiar... Ethan looks back at the ground in front of him, his heart rate and breathing pick up as the memory plays in his mind once again.

          He sees Mark closing his eyes as he takes one last deep breath. Ethan watched him with confusion, but suddenly… it started. Ethan looked at Mark’s hands in shock when he saw his fingers sort of stiffen as his nails lengthen and sharpen. He looked up at Mark’s face to see his face slightly scrunch with discomfort and his teeth lightly grit, only he saw fangs in place of his canines. The stuble on the sides of his face thickened into sideburns as his ears grew pointy. Hair began to sprout on the backs of his arms and along the back of his neck. His muscles gradually grew larger as the hair continued to spread and slowly thicken into fur. There were audible cracks as his height began to gradually increase by a foot. His limbs lengthened as well. Soon his claws thickened and blackened as his fingertips and palms began to bulge into pads. As the fur covered his entire body, his clothes tore in several spots and a fluffy tail ripped through his pants underneath the waistband. His feet lengthened into wolf-like hindlegs as his jaw lengthened into a muzzle and his long ears moved to the top of his head. A relieved huff escaped his mouth, signifying the transformation was over. His eyes opened to reveal a pair of glowing ambers irises that see Ethan standing frozen in shock with his eyes bulging.

          Mark’s tail swished as he nervously stared at Ethan.

          “So yeah,” Mark spoke while taking a step forward, “this is it.” Ethan instinctively took a few steps back.

          “Ethan?” Mark raised an eyebrow and walked a little closer. Ethan’s breathing picked up as he backed away faster. The others called out to him too, but he quickly spun around and took off away from them, heading for the front door. Mark ran after him, still calling out his name and begging him to stop. Before Ethan could reach the door, Mark suddenly tripped on a stray dog toy, lost his footing, and fell towards Ethan, who managed to spin around in time to see him falling. Ethan quickly held his arms up in front of his face in defense and Mark slammed into him, knocking him to the floor. Almost immediately, Ethan screamed out in pain and the others stared in shock. Mark noticed the taste of blood in his mouth, and he opened his eyes to see he had Ethan’s left forearm caught between his teeth. Ethan opened his eyes to see it too. Mark instantly dropped his arm, picked himself off of Ethan, and crouched a few feet away from him with ears lowered, allowing Ethan to sit up. Mark and the others were so quiet, you could only hear some breathing and Ethan’s loud pained huffing. Ethan grasped his wound, blood dripped between his fingers and splattered on the floor. His eyes grew red as tears welled up from the agonizing throbbing in his forearm. His stare went from his injury to Mark’s traumatized face. Ethan’s breathing endlessly quickened, but his vision began to blur. The pain consumed his mind, making him more and more lightheaded until... everything went black.

          Ethan’s attention returns to Bob and Wade crouching in front of him and staring with worry. Ethan’s back is leaning against a tree, with his body extremely tense, his breathing accelerated, and his butt resting on the sidewalk.

          “Ethan, take it easy!” Bob spoke in an attempt to calm his hyperventilating. Ethan presses the edges of his palms into his temples and grasps his hair between his fingers.

          “Just breathe!” Wade slightly shouts, causing Ethan to jump. Ethan forces himself to take a deep breath, followed by a set of deeper breaths that eventually slow his heart rate and allow his body to relax. Ethan slowly releases his hair and rests his forearms on his knees.

          “There you go..” Ethan looks at the two, then lowers his head into his arms with a shaky breath.

          “Ethan,” Wade says and places his hand on Ethan’s arm, “talk to us.” Ethan slowly lifts his head, his eyes growing red. His expression becomes greatly saddened as a few tears escape his eyes

          “...I don’t think I can handle this.” Ethan’s voice cracks with panic as he pulls his legs into a tight embrace. “I don’t understand what the heck is going on, and why to me... Did Mark plan to do this?...” Bob and Wade look at each other with some surprise for a moment, then back at Ethan’s sorrowful expression.

          “Ethan.. Mark never planned to bite you, he just wanted to see if you’d accept what he really is. But…”

          “But he didn’t think you’d freak out like you did.” Wade cuts in, his comment earning him an elbow in the arm from Bob. Ethan watches the two, questioning whether to believe them as he still questioned what else is being kept from him.

          “Trust us Ethan, we’ve been there. When Mark was still new to this, we were very skeptical when he tried telling us about it. But then the stress of college got to him one day and we witnessed him sort of freak out. Luckily, none of us got hurt, and no one else was around, but I admit it was really scary. But we knew Mark well, we knew if he were to ever hurt us, it wasn’t intentional.” Ethan stares up at Bob’s reassuring smile.

          “The best thing you can do now is to try clearing the air, work things out with Mark ‘cause you’re gonna need him soon.” Bob stands up, holding out his hand to Ethan. He helps Ethan up after eventually he decided to grab his hand. As Ethan stands up, they’re given weird looks from a jogger than runs by.

          “Let’s just enjoy outside for a bit longer.” Bob grins at Ethan, who responds with a nod and fake grin. The three once again head down the sidewalk, though the two are unaware of the emotional pain still plaguing Ethan’s mind...

-----

          “Amy… please, I don’t wanna talk right now…” Mark hugs himself as he shivers from stress, unable to escape the thought of the pain he caused, and the pain he knows Ethan will go through soon...

          “There’s no denying that mistakes were made, but we can’t change what happened. I’m not saying that what you did was ok, but I’m also not saying you should beat yourself up for it. Just.. just open up to me, please.” Mark stays sitting for another moment, then gets up and slowly walks to the door. His hand reaches for the doorknob, hesitates for a second, but then opens the door with a sigh and steps back, allowing Amy to enter. She looks at his hurt expression, his frown filled with pain, his eyes filled with sorrow and bright red from the tears now building up. With a shaky sigh, his eyes shut, allowing his tears to stream down his face as he lowers his head.

          “I don’t know what to do...” he says with a sniffle, “This is the worst I’ve ever messed up, I hurt him and I deserve to feel hurt for it… I never imagined this would happen, now it did and… he never deserved anything like this, he never deserved to have me in his life…”

           Amy frowns and pulls him into a hug, resting a hand on the back of his head to pull it into her shoulder and gently rub his hair.

          “No one deserves to go through this, but you both deserved to meet each other. You’re both good guys, you’ve always deserved the best, no matter how many mistakes you’ve made. You’re his idle, and I don’t think anything in the world could change that. I know this is a very tough situation, but you can’t seclude yourself and drown yourself in this emotional stress for the rest of your life. He needs your help to get him through this, and you need him to show that you can be forgiven.” Amy releases Mark and he looks down.

          “But, he must hate me right now… He’s probably terrified just thinking of me…”

          “Sure, maybe he is, but that isn’t going to last forever. Maybe soon he’ll realize he’ll need to forgive you, and that you’re not so scary after all. You just gotta take a chance and confront him.”

          “I don’t.. I don’t know if I can talk to him…”

          “Yes you can, because you’ll have all of us there to help you both get through this, no matter what happens.” Mark looks into her eyes with a grateful expression.

          “You’re all too good for me…” Amy gently puts a hand on Mark’s cheek and wipes away the line of tears.

          “Everyone deserves good in their lives, Mark. Especially you.” She quickly leans in and lands a heartfelt kiss on his cheek.

          “Now come on, let’s get you some breakfast.” Mark and Amy exit the bedroom together, lovingly holding hands.

          “You sure you’re doing ok for now, Mark?” Amy stands beside him, lightly hugging his arm, causing him to smile and truly feel at peace.

          “I mean, yeah. You guys cheered me up a bit, and I’m sure Ethan is doing better too. All that’s left to worry about is tomorrow.” The gang’s conversation is interrupted when the front door opens, in walks Bob, Wade, and Ethan. Bob and Wade smile and laugh while Ethan only shows a slight grin. Ethan spots Mark hanging out with the others in the living room, his eyes widen, fear consumes his mind. Silence fills the room as the others turn to the door, Mark’s smile slightly fades at the sight of a still scared Ethan. Despite the advice and reassurance from most of the group, Ethan still finds it hard to see Mark as the same guy. The kind legend he looked up to, the man he backflipped for despite the crowd watching. His mind still greets him with terrifying images of werewolf Mark knocking him to the floor, his open maw with large fangs growing closer with every second. Mark opens his mouth to speak, but stays silent, not able to find any words. Even he still fears and finds trouble confronting his new friend. Not knowing what to do and not having enough courage, Ethan rushes through the living room and up the stairs, avoiding looking at anyone’s face.

          Mark’s face drops and his heart suddenly aches in a familiar way, something he has felt in the past. For a moment, Mark is also taken back to the night before. He remembers the fear he saw in Ethan’s eyes, a fear that he caused and caused him to feel like a beast. The coldness in his heart knowing that moment changed Ethan, and no amount of wishing or regret could take that moment away... Mark lets out a shaky breath and walks away from the group, heading towards the dining room.

          “I need a moment…” he tells the others. Amy reaches a hand out to grab Mark’s arm, but finds herself freeze, not knowing what words would fix this. Chica, who’s laying against the wall by the stairs, watches Mark walk and lets out a small whimper.

          “So much for tomorrow being the only thing to worry about…” Sean comments while crossing his arms. A few others sigh, but Bob and Wade walk over to them.

          “Alright guys, yes, it’s gonna be really difficult getting those two to talk to each other, but we probably can’t do much more to convince them. I think right now we should start planning what we need to do tomorrow.”

          “Yeah, I’ve already got some ideas. Once the six of us come up with a solid plan, I’ll talk to Mark about it. Ok?” Everyone responds to Tyler’s announcement with nods.

          “I think we can all agree step one is hoping this all goes right…” Wade sighs.

Chapter 2 (Everything Changes)

@paperbaghero @sandinthetardis

(This is here to tell you the story isn't fully posted yet, when this is gone, the story is done!)

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Forever: Stendhal Syndrome

Part 1- Brat

Intro: It’s Rori’s fifth birthday party, and there’s someone there who Katie doesn’t really appreciate hanging round her man.

And Steve doesn’t really appreciate Katie’s attitude either.

Uh Oh….

Warnings: Bad language.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: This was a one shot. I got carried away and wrote 24 pages. So now you have a duo shot thanks to that photo sending me to a dirty place. No smut in this one…but it’s on its way in the next part! Also apologies for the lack of formatting on here…my laptop is screwy….

SSF Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

May 2029

“Katie…” Steve called up the stairs. He waited for a moment. There was no response. “Honey?”

Still nothing.

He bounded up the steps, taking them two at a time and headed over the landing and into their room. He paused in the doorway, smiling gently as he saw his wife curled upon the bed, Harry snuggled into her, his head tucked under her chin as they both slept. He wasn’t surprised they were both flat out. They’d had a rough time with the tot the previous night. He had woken up at about 2 am crying and Steve had gone into find both he and his bed full of vomit. After they’d cleaned him up he’d continued to be sick, grumpy and teary, and hadn’t settled even when they’d brought him into bed with them. Eventually Katie had given up and taken him downstairs. Steve had initially gotten up with them but Katie had sent him back to bed pointing out that one of them needed to be with it enough to look after the others the day after. It was also an unspoken fact that they both knew Harry wouldn’t settle for his dad when he was like this. Steve thought Jamie was a momma’s boy but that was nothing compared to their youngest.

He gently closed the door and headed back downstairs and into the den where Jamie was sat cross legged on the rug faffing with some Lego and Rori was perched watching The Wizard of Oz.

“Guys, what do you fancy for lunch?”

“Are you making it?” Jamie looked up at him. Steve snorted.

“Fraid so pal. Momma’s asleep with Harry.”

“Is Harry still sick?” Rori looked around, her eyes wide.

“He’s ok sweetie.” Steve assured her “He just has a tummy bug.”

“Or he ate your cooking.” Emmy said from behind Steve as she passed him heading into the kitchen.

“Enough cheek thank you.” Steve said, raising an eyebrow at her back. He heard her chuckle as she opened the fridge.

“Jamie its ok…” she called “There’s left over lasagne.”

“Yesss.” Jamie said, jumping up off the rug. “Mom’s lasagne is the best.”

“Daddy?” Rori spoke again, her round green eyes looking at Steve.

“Yes baby?”

“Will Harry be ok for my birthday party?”

Steve noticed her biting her lip, the same expression Katie wore when she was worried. With a soft chuckle he crossed the room and knelt down in front of her. “Of course he will, it’s not for another week yet.”

She considered his answer and nodded. Steve reached out and gently tucked her dark hair behind her ears. It was then he noticed her lip wobbling.

“Hey…” he said, frowning, as he stood up to sit besides her. She crawled onto his lap and tucked her face into his shirt “What’s wrong?” She sniffled slightly and pressed her face further into his chest. Steve gently rubbed her back and stayed still waiting for her to speak.

“Jemima at school…” she sniffled, and Steve took a deep breath. He knew where this was going. “Her brother got sick and he dieded.” “Ok…” he said gently, “Jemima’s brother was very poorly. Harry just has a tummy bug. I promise you Rori, he’s not going to die.” She sniffed again and looked up at him “Pinkie promise?”

He smiled and held up his hand, little finger extended “pinkie promise.” She mimicked him and intertwined her small finger with his before she reached up and wrapped her arms round his neck, nuzzling her head into the space against his cheek.

“Why is your face always scratchy?” she asked and Steve gave a laugh.

“Blame your Momma, she won’t let me shave.” he said and Rori pulled back, her little hands raking into his beard. He playfully snapped at her fingers with his teeth, a loud clicking noise sounding as he bit onto thin air and she giggled.

“You gonna come get some lunch?” he looked at her. She nodded and he stood up with her in his arms, carrying her through to the kitchen where Emmy was already halfway through making a salad to go with the leftovers which were heating in the microwave.

“Thanks Em.” Steve said, dropping Rori onto a chair by the table before he moved over to grab some plates.

“Think we should save mom some?”

“No it’s ok.” Steve shook his head “if she’s hungry when she wakes I’ll make her a sandwich.”

Emmy nodded. “Oh, I thought Peter and Brooke could come over later, if that’s ok? I mean, if Harry’s not still sick.” “They can come over anyway, it’s fine.” Steve said, “Harry will most likely be upstairs anyway.”

“We were just gonna hang out by the pool for the evening…” “Em.” Steve chuckled “It’s fine…” and then he paused and smirked slightly as he looked at her “You want the beer don’t you?”

She wrinkled her nose and nodded.

“There’s plenty in the bar…just don’t get that drunk one of you drowns.” he said after a pause. “Explaining that to Peter’s Aunt or Jennifer would be a bit awkward.”

“Thanks dad.” she smiled at him.

They ate their lunch, the 4 of them chatting away, Steve pleased to see Rori was settled now, her earlier upset forgotten. Once they were finished Emmy took Rori and Jamie out into the garden to play on the jungle gym whilst Steve cleared the dishes. Every so often he glanced out of the window to see the kids playing a soft smile on his face. He enjoyed days like this, weekends or during the holidays when they were all together. It was just a shame their brother was too poorly to join in. He called out of the open door to tell Emmy he was nipping upstairs before he repeated the journey he had taken a little over and hour ago, checking his watch.

Katie glanced up as he opened the door, her finger on her lips.

“Hey…” he whispered.

She smiled and gave a soft yawn “How long have I been asleep?”

“Not sure sweetheart.” he said, “I came up about an hour or so ago and you were flat out.”

She gave another yawn and Harry stirred gently, his hand rubbing at his eyes before he settled back down. Katie gently felt his head.

“He’s not as warm as he was.” she said as Steve gently perched on the bed, smoothing back his son’s dark blonde hair.

“Rori got really upset.” he said, smiling softly “She mentioned Jemima’s brother.”

Katie sighed and frowned “Yeah. It was hard trying to explain that when we heard the news. Is she ok?”

“She’s fine.” he assured her “Gave her a pinkie promise Harry only had a tummy bug so.”

“Daddy’s girl.” she smiled and Steve gave a gentle chuckle.

“Peter and Brooke are coming over later.” he said “Emmy wants to hang out in the pool house with a few beers.” Katie smirked “You’re definitely going soft in your old age.”

“Well Emmy is 21 now so I can’t stop her and as for Pete and Brooke, well, sooner they do it here than in a bar.” he shrugged. “You want some lunch?”

Katie shook her head “I’ll eat later.”

Harry stirred again, only this time he grumbled slightly and blinked, opening his eyes sleepily. He looked at his momma before he nuzzled into her closer, his hand winding into her hair as he started to grizzle slightly.

“Hey baby…” she said, kissing his head.

He mumbled something again, his noises not quite forming into words yet, still being half asleep, and then he turned his head to peek up at his dad.

“You ok Pal?”

Harry eyed him for a moment before he moved and held out his arms in Steve’s direction. Slightly surprised Steve moved to take him in an embrace as the little boy snuggled into his chest and Steve kissed his head. Katie smiled, the sight of Steve with his kids was something she would never get tired of. Being a father brought out all his best qualities, just like the serum had amplified them, having kids had too.  He was loving, patient, gentle yet strong, stern and happy to deal out the discipline when appropriate.

She sat up, pecking him on the cheek at the point where his beard met smooth skin. “You know you might not have the shield anymore but you’ll always be their superhero.”

********

Much to Rori’s relief (and everyone else in the Rogers household for that matter) Harry’s illness only lasted 24 hours and he was back to his cheeky, happy little self the next morning. Arrangements pressed ahead for the party, it wasn’t a huge gathering-namely Rori’s closest friends from school and family- which was to take place the weekend before her birthday.  As she shared her day of birth with her late uncle, Katie always found the day a little bittersweet but she tried to keep any of her sadness and nostalgia at bay for the sake of her little girl and focus on the celebration instead.

By 2pm in the afternoon their garden was packed with 7 other 5 year olds, a couple of parents and the usual additional suspects, namely Morgan and Pepper, Jennifer and Brooke along with Bucky and Sam. Rori had stipulated that she didn’t want any games or anything, just to play in the garden on a bouncy castle with some “Princess Punch” which was basically pink lemonade full of chopped up strawberries and raspberries, something her dad had made her one day and she insisted that no one else could make it the same. So, that’s what she had gotten.

“So who’s the blonde Katie’s throwing shade at?” Sam asked as Steve handed him a beer. Steve groaned. Rori’s best friend, a girl called Aurelia was obviously at the party. And so was her mother. A certain Dani-with-an-I, the real-estator who had shown them around the first house they had looked at in Brooklyn all those years ago But, as Steve knew only too well, his wife held a grudge better than anyone he had ever met in his life.

Ever.

Sam gave a loud snort of laughter as Steve explained about the whole incident when they'd been looking round the house and Dani flirting with him whilst Bucky took another Asgardian beer from the stack Steve had placed in a specific chiller in the garage and popped the top off effortlessly with his metal hand. The three men emerged out of the side door back onto the garden, taking up their spot by the side of the garden overseeing the proceedings whilst the women were perched on the decking which ran flush along the back of the house. Katie was milling around the garden somewhere, making sure everyone was ok.

“Bet that makes for interesting conversations when Aurelia comes for sleepovers…” Bucky mused.

“Katie’s not callous enough to have issues with a child simply because she doesn’t like her mother.” Steve shook his head, immediately defending his wife. “In fact she’s nothing but welcoming to her, she’s Rori’s friend after all. She just keeps any exchanges between her and Dani to a minimum.”

“Well, you best watch your back…” Sam said “Because it looks like she’s heading over.”

Steve sighed and spun round to face Dani as she approached him.

“Hi Steve…”

“Hey Dani.” he said “Everything ok.”

“I don’t want to cause a fuss but, well Jamie and Morgan are causing a bit of an issue.”

“Issue?” Steve frowned. At that point Rori came running over to him, tears flooding from her face. “Princess…” he crouched down. “What’s wrong?”

“Jamie and Morgan are throwing those little ball thingies that bang at everyone!” Rori said, stamping her feet. Steve glared up at Bucky.

“I told you not to give him those!” “I aint given him any for weeks!” Bucky held his hands up. “He’s clearly stashed them…I’m sorry Rori…”

“What have you done now?” Bucky turned to see Katie stood there, her eyebrows raised, sunglasses perched on her head as they acted like a headband, keeping her long hair off her face.

“Given Jamie contraband.” Sam said.

“Those damned firecrackers?”

Bucky shrugged.

“You’re an ass.” she said to him as she crouched down to look at Rori. “You ok sweetie?”

“He keeps throwing them at me!” she yelled.

“Ok…” Katie soothed her, and Steve took the opportunity to glance at his wife. She still knocked him off his feet after all these years. Her make-up was light, leaving those freckles he adored on show, and the pale yellow and blue maxi dress she was wearing complimented her amazing figure and curves to perfection, leaving her shoulders bare bar the thin spaghetti straps which crossed at the back. And it was low cut enough that Steve could see a fair bit of sideboob as well. Which he would never complain about. She turned to Steve, raised her eyebrow as his gaze lifted from her chest to her eyes. “Did you hear a word of that?”

“No.” he said honestly. She snorted.

“I just said that you’d go and speak to Jamie and Morgan.” she said, nodding to Rori.

“I’ll deal with your brother, I promise…” Steve confirmed “Go and play and don’t worry about it…”

He wiped her tears away with his hands, gave her a kiss and stood up

“Where are they?”

“By the side of the pool house.” Katie responded at the same time Dani said the same thing.

“We got it, thanks…” Katie looked at the woman. She nodded and sidled off, Steve ignored the look of utter glee that Sam and Bucky shared at the fact Katie was getting all “Starky Snarky” as Sam called it. Katie watched her leave before she turned back to Steve, ignoring the look he was giving her. “Spotted the little shits before.” she continued “They’re trying to hide behind the stack of sun-loungers”

He nodded, dropped a kiss to Katie’s lips and headed off to find the trouble makers. He took the long way, striding round the edge of the pool so they wouldn’t see him coming. He stood simply watching them for a moment. Jamie and Morgan were thick as thieves. With little over a year between them, they’d practically grown up as brother and sister, which Steve and Katie loved, but they were a recipe for trouble. With Morgan’s cleverness and Jamie’s penchant for mischief they made a right pair. Jamie said something to Morgan and she sniggered and they both stood up which was when Steve made his move. He gently grabbed Jamie’s collar and the back of Morgan’s top, pulling them back, ignoring their yells of protest as he bent over.

“If you two don’t stop right now, you’re gonna be in big trouble.” his voice was low and steely as he spoke and the pair of them stiffened slightly. He let go and stood up, hands on his hips.

“Dad, we were only-“

“Son…” Steve cut him off, holding his hand up in an instruction to stay quiet “Just don’t.” He held his palm out in front of him “Hand em over…”

With a sigh and a scowl Jamie emptied his pockets, Morgan following suit and they both passed Steve the small boxes of the little white firecrackers.

“I mean it you two. One more toe out of line…”

“Sorry Uncle Spangles.” Morgan bowed her head.

“It isn’t me you should be apologising to” he said, looking at the 10 year old. She was getting more and more like Tony with each day that passed. He felt a little pang for his brother-in-law as he looked into her brown eyes and took a deep breath, his voice softer when he spoke again “Go and say sorry to Rori, both of you.”

********

“What’s Morgan done?” Pepper asked as Katie headed up to the decking.

Katie snorted “Her and Jamie have been throwing firecrackers.”

Pepper groaned “I’ll have a word…”

“It’s ok… Steve’s sorting it.” Katie shrugged “No biggie, just being kids…”

“I don’t understand how she can be so like Tony when he’s not around.” Pepper said gently.

“Stark DNA.” Katie grinned, “it’s strong.”

Pepper snorted. “Yeah, it must be.”

The two women watched as Steve spoke to the kids, taking the boxes off them before dismissing them. He strode across the lawn, looked up at Katie and gave her a smile before he made his way into the garage to dispose of the offensive ‘weapons’.

“Where did they even get them from?” Pepper asked.

“Bucky” answered Jennifer and Katie the same time. Katie glanced back over the garden, everything seemed to be back to normal. Her eyes fell on Dani who was now stood with one of the other mums that Katie had been speaking to earlier.

“Who’s that?” Jennifer asked.

“Some tramp.” Katie shrugged.

“Her name is Dani.” Pepper snorted “With an I…”

“Was she the last Trashbag you had to take out one morning?” Katie asked. “She mentioned something about that last time I met her and she does look a familiar.”

Pepper snorted. “No…she never got there. Not for the lack of trying. But you’re right, she does look a little like Christine Everhart.”

“Of course…” Katie snorted, “Christine…”

Katie wandered through from the kitchen in her cami and short pyjama set, clutching a bowl of cereal, groaning at the raging headache she was sporting. She was visiting home for a week or so to attend the Apogee Award ceremony in Vegas, which was honouring her brother. Pity he hadn’t actually cared enough to attend himself, instead living it up in the Casino. Obediah had accepted the award for him and then she’d continued drinking with the rest of the party that had turned up…and continued the drinking on the private jet home.  As she shuffled into the living area, she stopped dead looking at the blonde woman, dressed in nothing but one of Tony’s shirts as she sloped around their living area. Another one of Tony’s bimbos that he picked up in Vegas and flown home with them. Said bimbo made her way over to the pad that led to the workshop and pressed a few buttons.

“Hey, Tony?”

“You are not authorized to access this area.” Jarvis said, making her scream and jump. Katie sniggered.

“Jesus.” the woman said.

“No, JARVIS…” Katie spoke loudly and the woman span around. “He runs the house.”

“You must be Katie…”

“And you must be Miss Saturday.” Katie shrugged, sitting on the sofa “Well, for this week anyway…”

“Christine…” she said. “We met last night…”

“Yeah I don’t bother learning names.” Katie shrugged. “They never last long enough for me to give a shit.”

At that point Pepper walked into the room holding up a clothes carrier.

“I’ve got your clothes here. They’ve been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there’s a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you’d like to go.” She said, smiling at the woman.

“You must be the famous Pepper Potts.”

“Indeed I am.” Pepper smiled.

“After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning.” she commented sarcastically.

“Bitch.” Katie said loudly. Christine looked at her but Pepper simply remained still and smiled, her tone pleasant and even.

“I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires, including, occasionally, taking out the trash.”

At that Katie choked slightly on her cereal and looked up as the smug bint’s smirk slid off her face.

“Will that be all?” Pepper asked.

Christine took the hangar and sidled off.

“Taking out the trash…” Katie grinned “Pepper that was fucking genius!”

Pepper arched an eyebrow.

“Where is my dickhead brother?”

“Where do you think?” Pepper asked.

Katie hummed and put down her empty cereal bowl before she made her way through the door Christine had been trying to unlock and down to Tony’s workshop.

“JARVIS, lower that racket…” she muttered.

“Certainly Miss Stark…” 

The noise dimmed and Tony wheeled round “Please don’t turn down my music” “Good morning to you too.” Katie rolled her eyes “Last night’s conquest has left. Pepper just threw her out.”

“Speaking of which, you are supposed to be halfway around the world right now.” Pepper appeared but Tony wasn’t listening.

“How’d she take it?” He looked at Katie. 

“Like a champ.” she shrugged.

Tony grinned and then turned to Pepper “Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?”

“Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago.”

“That’s funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there.” Tony quipped sarcastically.

“Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door”

“Doesn’t it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?” Tony continue and then Pepper’s voice rose.

At that point Katie groaned and decided she needed to go to bed before she split for her own flight home and left them to it. 24 hours later she was back in London, getting the notice from Rhodey that Tony was missing…

Laughter dragged Katie back out of her memory and she wiped her eyes slightly, memories of her brother still hit her hard. She turned to catch the last of Pepper’s explanation about Dani’s ‘antics’ at a Stark Party once to which Jennifer, Emmy and Brooke were all laughing along with as Pepper glanced at Katie.

“What is she doing here anyway?”

“Well, her daughter happens to be Rori’s bestest friend in the whole world.” Katie said, repeating the words Rori used to describe Aurelia her “And of course when I asked a few parents on the invites to join, she jumped at the chance.”

There was a pause as they all continued to watch the woman as she tilted her head back and laughed at something that one of the other mom’s had said.

“Is her hair even real?” Emmy asked suddenly.

“Nope. And neither are her tits…” Jennifer mumbled. “Aint no way she’s had a kid and they’re still…” she grabbed her own breasts and hoisted them up, causing all the women to snigger into their drinks.

“Momma?” Katie spun to look at Rori who was grinning up at her mum.

“Hey sweetie” Katie smiled, crouching down “You ok now?”

Rori nodded “Please can I get a drink?”

“Course you can baby…” Katie smiled “Why don’t you go ask daddy to grab you some of the Princess Punch?”

She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before she skipped off down the lawn to where Steve was stood with Bucky and Sam. Katie watched as he immediately looked down when Rori tugged at his black jeans. With a huge, genuine smile he swept her up, her legs causing Steve’s sweater to ride up and at the flash of his toned stomach Katie bit her lip.

“Down girl..” Jennifer mumbled and Katie snorted.

“That obvious?”

“You’re not exactly subtle…” Pepper smirked “That’s the Stark in you.”

Behind her she heard Emmy groan before Brooke quipped “Em, not being funny, but your dad is hot.”

“Fuck off.” Emmy shot back as Brooke cackled “That’s disgusting.”

“His best friend ain’t bad either…” Jenifer mused, cocking her head to one side as Bucky reached up to gently ruffle Rori’s hair, and then tilting his head towards her as she reached to do the same to him, a huge smile spreading across his face.

“Eww.” Brooke groaned, and this time it was Emmy’s turn to laugh.

“Speaking of which, where’s Peter?” Katie turned to Emmy.

“He’s dropping May and Happy at the airport and coming down later…” she said, a faint pink tinge on her cheeks. Katie looked at Pepper, the pair of them smiling to one another. Emmy and Peter had been pretty on and off over the last 5 years but seemed to have been going pretty steady over the last 12 months.

“Which reminds me, can you tell Dad and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee to behave?” Emmy looked at her mum “They’re always teasing Pete…” “That is a right of passage.” Pepper said wisely “Tony was a shit to Steve when he started dating Katie.” “Tony was a shit to Steve way before that.” Katie grinned “But I gotta admit, he was never that pleased about how he found out.” “Which was?” Jennifer looked her.

“He walked in and found us in the kitchen half dressed…” Katie shrugged “Was his own fault, he should have knocked instead of swanning into my apartment like he owned it.” “Yeah, I don’t…” Emmy started before she shook her head “Shut up!”

“Erm, where are you two off to?” Katie heard Pepper say and she looked up to see Morgan and Jamie half in, half out of the kitchen door.

“The den Auntie Pep.” Jamie answered. “Gonna go watch a film.”

“Least you can’t cause any trouble in there…yes, I heard.” Pepper said sternly “Another toe out of line Morgan H Stark and I’ll take you home.”

“Sorry Mom…” she said, and Pepper dismissed her.

Katie smiled again and her attention turned back to the party. She glanced over the garden and was just about to head down to mingle again, not wanting to leave the rest of the parents feeling awkward when a certain blonde haired tramp caught her attention. She watched her for a moment as she walked over to Steve and then stiffened slightly as she touched his arm, but then she stepped way over the line.

“Oh hell no bitch…” Katie’s eyes narrowed as she saw Dani kiss Steve’s cheek.

“Kick her ass mom…” Emmy mumbled.

“Hold my beer…” Katie said, before she paused “Actually, on second thoughts… I’ll take the beer with me…”

“$50 dollars says Trashbag is leaving here in a box…” Brooke quipped. Pepper, Jennifer and Emmy all sniggered.

********

After getting Rori a glass of punch and retrieving another 3 beers for him, Sam and Bucky, Steve headed back across the lawn, Rori still following him.

“Daddy…” she spoke again.

“Yeah?” he looked at her.

“What are tits?”

Steve choked on his beer and heard Sam’s guffawing laughter from the side of him, punctuated by Bucky’s snorts.

“Ermmm…” Steve wiped at his sweater where his beer had slopped down the front and racked his brains “They’re a type of bird…” The laugher and snorts grew even louder. Steve looked at Rori who was frowning before she shook her head “Why would Aurelia’s mommy have fake birds?”

At that Sam began to cough, and Steve looked at him. He was doubled over, slapping his knees. Bucky was wiping his eyes and gave Steve a thumbs up. “Fake birds, I can’t…”  Bucky’s hand fell to Sam’s back as the pair of them continued to laugh.

“I don’t know…” Steve looked at Rori. “Who said that anyway?”

“Jennifer.” she said, and Steve rolled his eyes and glanced over at his wife who was stood, looking out over the garden. “Well Jennifer is just being silly.” Steve looked back at Rori “Don’t worry about it.”

Rori accepted his answer and ran off.

“You can stop laughing now.” he turned to his friends.

“Man, I love your kids.” Bucky said as Sam straightened up, wiping his eyes.

“Yeah well right now they’re behaving better than their mother.” Steve frowned.

“I dare you to say that to her face.” Bucky smirked “And whilst you’re at it, you can tell Jennifer you think she’s silly…”

Steve shook his head “I’m quite attached to my balls thanks, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Good luck with that…” Sam said, “Blonde haired real estator at 12 o’clock.”

Steve let out a silent groan, he really didn’t need this.

“Steve…” he felt an hand on his arm.

“Yeah?” he turned to face Dani, polite as always.

“I’m sorry about before,I didn’t want to get the kids into trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Steve shrugged “Jamie and Morgan are a handful together.”

Dani laughed, and then stood on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. Steve hadn’t seen that coming. He stepped away slightly and gave her a smile as she looked at him.

“Well, Aurelia was really upset so thank you for sorting it out…”

“Wife…6 o’clock…” Bucky mumbled. But he needn’t have bothered, Steve knew his wife was behind him even before she slipped her arms round his waist, the hand that wasn’t clutching the beer bottle gently slipping under his black sweater, rubbing his stomach softly. He smiled to himself, knowing full well she was here to make a point, and gently placed his large hand over hers.

“Hey beautiful.” he said softly and Katie felt that fire in her belly light even more at his soft words.

“Hey…” she mumbled, pressing her face into his back, gently kissing between his shoulder blades through his sweater before she moved and slid into the space under his arm, placing herself between him and Dani. Steve rolled his eyes at his wife’s passive aggressive display of possessiveness and glanced at Sam who was grinning ear to ear, watching the exchange.

“You know, Mrs Rogers…” Dani smiled at Katie, ”I was just wondering if we were past the formalities of using our surnames now seeing as our daughters are inseparable? ”

She started to laugh and Katie continued to smile before she replied “Nope, I’m good with Mrs Rogers thanks.

Sam started to cough, which was clearly to cover up a laugh. Steve looked at him to see him smirking ear to ear.

“How’s your husband?” Katie looked Dani. “I don’t see him…”

“We’re not together anymore.” Dani said, her smile faltering slightly

“Oh, sorry to her that.” Katie replied, although her tone said otherwise “Guess he wasn’t a fan of you touching what doesn’t belong to you either.”

Dani’s face slipped, but luckily for her one of the other mom’s called her name and she excused herself. Katie watched her go before she felt Steve move his arm from her shoulders.

“That was mean.” he looked at Katie, his brow furrowed.

“I don’t like people touching my stuff…” Katie shrugged.

“You’re a fucking brat.” Steve said sternly, his face displaying no humour. Katie was completely unabashed by his tone and shrugged again

“I warned her last time I’d snap her hand off. She got off lightly.”

With that she turned and walked back towards Pepper and Jennifer. Steve watched her go, his face flushed with anger at her childish display.

“Damned…” Bucky whistled out. “I know you said she could be vicious, Steve, but wow…”

“I think that’s called marking your territory.” Sam quipped as Steve shook his head, the nerve in his jaw twitching.

“It’s called being rude.” He said, before he drained his beer and tossed the empty into one of the recycling tubs by the table “Scuse me fellas, I need to go have a word with my wife…” Bucky and Sam watched as he strode across the lawn, hand pushing his hair back off his face. He reached Katie, acknowledge the women before he gently wrapped his hand around her arm and bent to speak into her ear. She looked at him, frowned, and then allowed him to lead her inside.

“So now they’re gonna have a row and then angry sex, right?” Bucky looked at Sam. Sam nodded.

“Totally…shall we join the ladies?”

“Good idea.” Bucky agreed.

*******

“Uh oh Dad’s approaching…” Emmy said to her mum.

“Is he pissed?” Katie asked, grimacing slightly. As soon as he’d chastised her before she knew he wouldn’t leave it there and she was going to get a lecture about her attitude.

“He’s wearing his Captain’s face…” Emmy wrinkled her nose.

“Shit…”

“A word, inside now…” Steve’s voice was quiet, calm and level as he gently gripped Katie’s arm, but she recognised the icy tone it carried. Frowning slightly, she let him take her hand as he led her inside and through to the lounge. Steve shut the door behind him and Katie watched him, cocking her head to the side.

“Was there any need for that?” he said looking at her.

“For what?”

“You know damned well what.” he said, his voice still low as he raised an eyebrow “What you said to Dani, it was rude.”

“Whatever.” Katie rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me…”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m one of the kids…” she shot back, her voice slightly louder.

“Well stop acting like one of them.” Steve’s hands dropped to his hips. “The dig about her husband was awful, you do realise he cheated on her right?”

Katie’s face slipped a little “No, I didn’t…but, hang on, how do you know that?”

“She told me, the other week when I dropped Aurelia off home.”

“Oh so you’re like friends now, she confiding in you?”  Katie’s tone was steely.

“No, she just mentioned that she was grateful for us having Aurelia because she’d had an appointment with the solicitor. So maybe, just maybe you should think about apologising.”

“Piss off…” Katie laughed in disbelief. “She kissed you on the cheek…”

“And?” Steve frowned “You forget that plenty of guys do that to you…”

“My or our friends, yeah. She is NOT my friend Steve…”

“Do you seriously feel that threatened by her you have to be so downright nasty?”

“I’m not threatened…look, like I said before, I told her last time she touched my stuff again and I’d snap her wrist. She got off lightly.”

Steve shook his head at his wife, he loved the bones of this woman but sometimes her behaviour drove him up the wall. She could be so petty and obtuse it was ridiculous.

Rogers by name, Stark by nature.

There was a tense silence which Katie broke.

“Are we arguing still?”

Steve sighed “I’m not arguing with you, I’m just pointing out I think you were out of line. If you don’t think you were then that’s your prerogative.” Katie hummed, before she grinned and looked at him “Wanna go fuck in the Camero like last time?”

Steve shook his head, she was unbelievable.

“No.” he said simply, turning to open the door. But Katie wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Shame, because I’m not wearing any panties.”

Ok so that got Steve’s attention. He let out an inward groan as frankly, that sex they’d had in the garage after the previous Dani incident had been hot as fuck but no, he wasn’t giving in here. What was it she always told the kids? “Actions have consequences”

Damned right they do sweetheart.

He turned back to face her, his back pressing to the door as he glanced down at his hands, the sleeves on his sweater were rolled up slightly exposing his forearms. He raised his gaze to meet that of his wife’s and damned, he nearly caved, because she really did turn him on more than she would ever know. But right now, he wasn’t giving her what she wanted.

He sighed and repeated his earlier statement to her “Such a fucking brat.” before he turned and walked out of the room.

Katie remained where she was, stunned. For the first time ever, in their 16 years of being together she had failed to seduce her man.

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