#i finally got myself a scanner :d

[clairethecutepup]

Ed Edd n Eddy (Assassin AU): The Newest Addition (Scrapped Writing)

No, I don't mean "scrapped" as in I'm no longer making a fan series of C2ndy2C1d's AU, this is just the original version of it and back when I decided on pure literature than comics. I just figured, may as well share it here, not just on Wattpad, for those who might've been interested in what the official "pilot" and original version would've been like. Y'know, back when I decided on the concept of "werebeasts" being included and all that, rather than save the living "assassin tools" for an ENTIRELY original series instead. There'll still be original characters involved, but as apprentices and new partners to SOME of the now-assassin cast: Nazz (Yami), the Eds (Cio), and Sarah and Jimmy (Claire).

If you want to read the two chapters, click "read more."

Chapter 1: Greater Team Quantity, Greater Team Quality?

I end the call with our higher ups and proceed into the "living room," if you will, of our hideout. I spot Ed and Eddy on the couch, the former playing his handheld console and the latter indifferently watching our TV set.

"Attention, please," I announce.

"In a minute, Sockhead," Eddy doesn't bother glancing my way, "it's gettin' to the good part."

"Sorry, Double D," Ed fiercely taps the gaming device's buttons, but with a thrilled smile, "I must save my fellow astronaut and wife-to-be, before all her bones are eaten by the evil marrow-sucker of Nebulon 5!"

Oh, for Heaven's sake... At the very least, they could simply feign an interest in what I have to say. Although, I've never understood why Eddy still calls me by that old nickname, given a fedora is less sock-like than the cap I'd wear in my youth. Old habits must truly die hard.

"Perhaps," I try again, "I should specify that I'm relaying a message from the organization itself? They wouldn't be quite happy if we chose to ignore them."

"Oh great..." Eddy turns off the television with the appropriate remote, "What do they want now?"

"It appears our scientists have completed a new invention of sorts," I explain, "which could result in easier job completions."

Eddy suddenly perks up with greater interest.

"'Easier job completions'?" He grins, "Like, 'easier cash'?!"

"Possibly..." I slightly shrug with a hand, before lowering it, "But whatever it may be and whatever it may accomplish, we're to head over and collect it."

"Then what're we waiting for?! Ed! Put your stupid game down already, Monobrow!" Eddy yanks Ed from the upholstery, "We've got an easy money-maker to get a hold of!"

Eddy drags Ed away.

"Can we stop for ice cream on the way?" Ed asks, never looking away from his device.

"Eddy, wait!" I chase after him, "It's about 'field testing,' more than anything...!"

Eddy can be quite difficult to follow when he runs at this eager speed, but I somehow manage. We head into the appropriate wooded area, where the large log sits beside its equally-sized rocks. Eddy zips inside, still dragging Ed behind himself, and I follow them into the faux tree remains. Eddy knocks on the fake moss patch within, and the panel underneath it moves downward and reveals the chip scanner. Eddy holds the back of his hand against the red sphere, before moving Ed's and mine there-- despite my protests of easily being able to do so myself. Now, I'm also being literally dragged along, by the wrist...

After our descent down the staircase, made visible with the opening of the log's bottom hatch, we arrive in our (literal) base of operations: the "Killer's Quarters," we dub it. Of course, this isn't the only hidden location for our assassins and other members to function within, it's merely the closest base to where we were... "stationed," if you will. Eddy finally stops in the lobby leading to the laboratory, and releases both Ed and myself. He repeatedly slams a fist onto the large, steel square that serves as the blocking entrance door to the lab's interior.

"Have you forgotten about the intercom?!" A female voice hisses from the small speaker.

I recognize the faint German accent and annoyed venom in that voice, and I fear we're already trying Sherubi's patience. Eddy presses the black button under the rectangular device.

"Yeah, yeah," he responds, "just give us this thing that's gonna make our jobs easier already!"

"Who exactly might this be, first?" Sherubi's voice shows signs of possible eye-rolling, "As if the unpleasant, loud shrieks of a familiar Dummkopf doesn't give me an idea already..."

"'Triple E,'" Eddy's eye-rolling is more obvious to me, "made up of Ed, Edd, n' Eddy...?" he furrows his brow, "And you're one to talk about 'unpleasantries' and junk! Unless, it's a 'takes one to know one' situation we're talking about here."

"Of course, I knew that had to be you just now... Miserable Backpfeifengesicht."

"Hey, you're the 'miserable back-pie-fee-'... Look, just quit your whining and get that new tool, or whatever it is, out here already! Boss' orders, y'know."

"Keep in mind, they made no additional 'orders' that prohibited your face from earning any actual assault on my part."

"Ooo, I'm so scared, someone get my mommy to save me from the big, bad Sherubi."

"Sorry, Eddy," Ed frowns, "no idea where she is."

Eddy and I stare at him for a moment. Bless dear Ed, he certainly tries his best. Eddy simply turns toward the intercom again.

"Look, I ain't asking again!" he demands.

"Fine, but you'd better be hiding behind your companions by the time I finally come out..." Sherubi hisses.

A few moments pass, and the door opens upward. Sherubi steps out with two things in hand: a scalpel in her right hand, and... Some type of small, humanistic being in her left arm?

Eddy furrows his brow, "You think I'm scared of that stupid little--"

Sherubi's thrown scalpel perfectly strikes his nose. Oh dear, now I'll need to heal his damaged part later... Yet, there's clearly something of greater interest here: I've never before seen a combination of, what I can only describe as, human and animal. It resembles an older child, possibly "tween-like" in that regard, but it's obviously no human offspring: I suppose Ed describes it best when excitedly proclaiming it a "little werewolf," despite the lack of coating fur or it having a human's face in place of a wolf's.

"No, she's not a 'werewolf,'" Sherubi corrects Ed, "but you are half right: we call them, 'werebeasts,' despite the lack of transformation capabilities. This particular one has been nicknamed, 'Claire,' but you're free to change the name if you'd prefer."

"A 'werebeast'?" I curiously repeat.

"Indeed," Sherubi explains, "they're living weapons that utilize human intelligence and ability, combined with the lethality and heightened senses you'd expect from the carnivorous predators of the wild. An assassin's perfect tool, and Claire here will be yours to use however fit."

Eddy finally pulls the scalpel from his nose.

"'Predator,' my foot!" he throws the tool onto the ground, "That twerp doesn't look like she could take out a mouse, so how's she gonna take out an actual target?!"

I'm afraid I feel skeptical, myself... I see there are capable nails on those paw-like hands and I'd imagine sharp teeth are hidden from view, but there's not much visible strength and promise to be seen.

"Hmph, I wouldn't be surprised if the concept of 'prototypes' escaped someone of your feeble mind," Sherubi frowns and glares at Eddy, "I'm certain they'd have told you these are a recent breakthrough, so of course they won't be at their prime just yet."

"But there's still gotta be some better ones in there," Eddy points to the lab, "right? So, how's about grabbing us a new one?" he lowers his hand and grins, "I'm thinking something bigger, with--"

"--Can't we keep her, Eddy, pretty please?!" Ed walks over on his knees, clasping his hands tightly in plea, "She is such a cute little werewolf! I promise to love her, and feed her, and take her for walks; oh, and I also promise to make sure she does not bite anyone and turn them into werewolves, to--"

Eddy smacks him aside, causing Ed to tumble away.

"Hey, 'cute' doesn't get cash!" Eddy crosses his arms, "Skill does, and nothing about that twerp screams it..."

"Well, tough luck then," Sherubi smirks, walking over to Ed, "because she's the one you three are getting, like it or not."

"Oh, boy!" Ed excitedly retrieves Claire from Sherubi, "Our very own werewolf!"

He crushes the poor thing in a tight hug that audibly cracks her bones. Claire's eyes widen and her tail's fur sticks on end, while her cheeks puff out and her face turns a slight blue.

"Ed, be careful!" I plead, "You're suffocating the poor thing!"

"Oh, don't worry," Sherubi smiles at me, "werebeasts were built to withstand this level of assault," she then frowns at Ed, "Although, you may want to ease up a little... I strongly advise against making your werebeast hate you."

Her words help Ed realize he's doing more harm than intended and he loosens his embrace. Claire immediately begins squirming in a desperate attempt to flee; but Ed's immense strength prevents that, despite how violently she causes his arms to shake. Oh, poor Ed... He seems so remorseful and saddened by the rejection. I also don't want Claire to be fearful toward any of us, if we'll be working together. Perhaps I could find some way to help? I whisper some useful tips, on how to come across less strongly, into Ed's ear. He smiles more hopefully and looks down at Claire.

"Aww, I am sorry," he says gently and soothingly, "Ed did not mean to hurt you, little one," he pats her head, ceasing her resistance and gaining her full attention, "he is only happy to meet you. I hope you can be happy to meet me, too..." he lifts her high enough to lie his head on hers.

Claire still seems a tad uneasy, but she's less eager to break free from Ed. I'm relieved I could patch the rocky start to their relationship, somewhat, but it'll be Ed's responsibility to leave a better impression on our new assistant. Personally, I don't like the thought of referring to something alive as a mere "tool" instead, given it undermines the idea of them being a living creature with their own brand of thoughts and feelings to consider.

"Well, I ain't happy about this!" Eddy snarls, before storming over to Sherubi, "Come on, there's gotta be a better 'werebeast,' or whatever, you can give us..."

"Like we'd give you three one of our better prototypes," Sherubi glowers at him, "considering how 'well' you've been doing your job, as of late. Don't worry, though," Sherubi pats Claire's head, "despite being the literal runt of the litter, she should be more than enough help for a trio that couldn't possibly do worse."

"But if you guys all want us to do better, why not give us one of those 'better prototypes,' right?" Eddy shrugs, "I mean, 'better means better,' don't it?"

"We'd prefer avoiding any losses of more decent 'blueprints' to build off of," Sherubi explains, "so we'll let the better assassins have the better prototypes," she smirks, "After all, 'better should mean better,' ja?"

"Yeah, and a smart mouth should mean a toothless one..." Eddy shakes a fist.

"I can stab you with worse than a scalpel, you know..." Sherubi pulls a throwing knife from her lab coat.

Oh dear, I best prevent worse injury to Eddy... I quickly hurry to Eddy and firmly, yet politely, pull him away.

"Well, we certainly appreciate the privilege of being considered," I nervously grin, "so thank you very much in that regard."

"Get off me, Sockhead!" Eddy shoves me off.

"Anyway," Sherubi puts her knife away, "here are some notes on werebeasts, before I get back to previous affairs."

I retrieve the stapled set of papers from her extended hand, giving them a quick glance-over. I hope she won't take offense, if I decide to take a few notes of my own. After all, personal examination proves the best learning method one can use.

"Well, love," Sherubi places a hand against Claire's face, "you're finally ready to go out there and see the world. Take care and make everyone back here proud."

When Sherubi turns to leave, Claire grabs her arm. She looks over her shoulder, frowning at the upset werebeast.

"SSS'errr'iii..." Claire winces as if speaking pains her.

"Now, now," Sherubi firmly, yet gently, removes her hand, "you're of more use to everyone outside the lab than in it. You need to go with them..."

Claire sorrowfully watches Sherubi depart back into the lab, the wolf ears on her head hanging limply and her eyes tearing up. Ed turns her around, before holding her up to his kindly smiling face.

"Aw, do not worry, little werewolf," he assures, "Ed will take good care of you."

"What's she so miserable for?" Eddy motions a thumb to Claire, "I'd be glad to finally get away from Ms. Hyde back there."

"Not everyone shares your sentiments about specific individuals, Eddy," I remind him.

We take our leave, with Ed consoling our newest addition about her newfound separation. Hopefully, this proves to be a change for the better, indeed. Not just for our own sake, but Claire's as well.

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

Chapter 2: Familiarity Breeds Boredom (and Annoyance)

That lousy Sherubi... "We decided," my foot, you mean you decided! I bet Ms. Hyde just wanted to increase my chances of finally getting bumped off, by sticking me with the weakest "werebeast," or whatever, they had... Guess she's fine with Sockhead and Monobrow here also buying the farm, as long as I go down. Jerk... Well, if we already have the kid, might as well put her to work.

I head over to the "Bounty Board": it's where they hang up all the ugly mugs that we can hunt for a buck-- but keep your mitts off those higher bounties, I saw 'em first! I find a good one that's at least eight figures, so all I gotta do is tell the boys we're going hunting again. Or, we would, if Sockhead didn't decide to make a big deal out of it!

"What D'ya mean: 'later'?!" I point at the paper I'm holding, "It probably won't be here 'later'!"

"Eddy, we've just now received Claire," Double D tries explaining, "We don't know how well-prepared she is to handle a mission, just yet-- especially one of a higher reward. You know higher bounties mean higher difficulty..."

"So?" I ask, "She was literally built for this stuff!"

"Even machines need test runs, before they're ready for any matter of job, Eddy," Double D keeps at it, "It's all about ensuring there are no kinks nor other issues that could lead to trouble."

"Oh, come on," I shrug, "if it's 'test running' or practice, or whatever she needs, there ain't nothing like the real deal!"

"Eddy..." Double D holds onto his hips.

Great, I hate when Sockhead gets like this... Why can't he just go along with whatever I say, like Ed does? I'm supposed to be the leader here, for crying out loud! Well, looks like I've got two choices: either I just go ahead with what he wants already, or wait until I can't stand him whining anymore and just go along with it to finally shut him up. What I'm saying is, there's no winning with this guy... I guess I also wouldn't want to give Ms. Hyde the satisfaction of finally killing me off, so it'd help to make sure the kid can actually fight and stuff.

"Fine..." I roll my eyes, "We can wait until the kid's ready, or whatever..."

"And with an easier starting target..." Double D crosses his arms.

I wince, while putting the poster back. Goodbye, cash mountain... I swear, this twerp better be worth giving that kinda moolah up for now.

"You better help us get, like, three times this much when we're done!" I warn her.

She winces and shrinks in Ed's arms, looking like I hit her instead.

"Eddy!" Double D moves me away. He turns to the kid and pats her head, "Never you mind him, I'm sure we'll all learn to get along just fine."

"Yeah, and it starts by making up for that lost cash," I remind 'em.

What's with that harsh look from Sockhead? It's his own fault I'm not exactly happy right now... So, we leave the KQ and head back to our place. I'm sitting on the front steps, with my nose finally patched up, and watching Ed do whatever with the kid: right now, he's making her do tricks-- and doing them with her. He's standing on his hands and knees, and the kid's standing on all fours like an actual animal: on her feet and those paws she's got for hands.

"Roll over, like this!" Ed tells her.

He laughs to himself and rolls away, before he stops and lies on the ground. The kid copies him and stops in front of him.

"Good werewolf!" Ed pats her head and gets a tail wag out of her, "Okay, now sit!"

Lumpy sits up like a dog, even with his hands raised up on either side of him. The kid copies that, too.

"Good job!" Ed grins, while he pulls out some buttered toast from his shirt pocket, "Here, a treat for obeying."

After he throws it, the kid catches it in her paws and sniffs it. I wouldn't eat it, 'cause who knows how long Lumpy's had it in there? If it ain't mold to be worried about, it's the fact there's gotta be at least three diseases sitting inside that thing. Forget washing his clothes, Ed barely even washes himself... Well, looks like werebeasts don't get poisoned easily, since that kid's eating the toast just fine. She doesn't even gag, even though that butter has to be all spoiled by now.

"Do you like buttered toast, too, little one?" Ed asks.

The kid nods, but still keeps that nonchalant look on her face. Jeez, it's almost like she can't feel anything beyond: "crybaby sadness" and "big baby terror"...

"Come on," Ed turns away, "let's go have some more fun!"

The kid follows Ed, while they both stay on all fours. Come to think of it, what's Double D even need those notes for? Monobrow here's even more of an animal than the kid-- especially when he smells worse --so we've basically been trained to take care of werebeasts our whole lives! Of course, I can count on Sockhead to whine and moan about still needing to "properly research," or whatever... It's bad enough I had to wait till he finished reading those scientists' notes on werebeasts, but he's really gotta make his own, too?

"Very interesting..." Double D writes on his notepad, while he watches Ed and the kid howl together, "It appears the animalistic side goes beyond simple anatomical modifications to the human body," he chuckles, "It's like a child adorably at play," he frowns, "save for actually being able to tear one's throat out..."

"So, you're basically saying the kid that's part animal acts like an animal?" I ask, "Gee, I never would've guessed!"

"I know it sounds obvious, Eddy," Double D sighs and looks at me, "but you mustn't assume someone's entire nature by appearance alone. We should learn how closely she actually behaves to an animal, in order to avoid insulting her intelligence or simply being... creepy, to put it mildly."

"I say, just treat her like we do Ed, just with a few more newspaper smacks," I motion a thumb to them, "I mean, can you really tell 'em apart?"

"Dig a hole," Ed does, "dig a hole, dig a hole!"

The kid's helping him on his right, while they're sending dirt flying everywhere behind them. Well, looks like getting rid of bodies might be a whole lot easier now, if they can make a hole that big and that fast. Hey wait, they're messing up our base!

"Hey, you idiots," I yell, "cut it out! You two better fill that up, 'cause if I end up falling down that thing...!"

Ed stops and looks at me, while the kid hides under him like a scared cat.

"Listen to Eddy, please!" Double D adds, "Let's not engage in destruction of our own property, nor do anything that involves coating ourselves in needless filth. Why, just imagine the mess awaiting our base's interior, if you two decide to track all of that dirt and mud inside."

"Oh no, not dirt and mud..." I roll my eyes, "That's worse than the blood and other things we sometimes bring back here..."

"There's nothing wrong with avoiding messes when possible, Eddy," Double D frowns at me.

"Anyway," I say, "when can we start getting to work? I agreed to let ya train that kid first, but all we've been doing is screwing around, 'taking notes' and stuff..."

"Eddy, you need to understand how something works, before you can use it," Double D sighs, "Or, train, in this case."

"Well, hurry up already!" I glare at him, "While we're sitting around here, everyone's taking all the good bounties back at the KQ!"

"Alright," Double D sighs and stands up, "I think we've learned enough to avoid any issues." He walks over to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, "Ed, Let's begin preparing her, shall we? First, we should practice combat in closer proximity," he pulls the kid and makes her stand up, before holding one of her paws, "It does seem like the fighting method you'd excel most at, given the sharpness of those teeth and nails, so it may prove the easiest starting point."

Later, I'm still sitting on the steps and watching my pals train that kid: Ed's all dressed up in one of those tough suits police use to train dogs, while Double D's telling the kid to show off what she can do. This oughta be good...

"Alright, Claire," Double D holds the kid's shoulders from behind, "sometimes a target will be wearing a matter of armor, such as bulletproof vests," he points at Ed, before lowering his finger, "When that's the situation at hand, it's important to find some manner of bypassing it, and you'll be assisting us in rendering them more vulnerable," he lightly pushes her forward, "Now, try to get through Ed's padding, but be careful not to actually harm him. Consider it an additional test of restraint."

"Wooooo," Ed towers over the kid and wiggles his fingers, "I am a big, scary target! You will never defeat me, puny assassins of no hope!" he leans down to the kid and whispers, "Do not worry, little one, it is only me," he stands up again, "Come forth and do your worst, plus infinity and one!"

The kid just frowns at him all sad-like, while those ears on her head flop down. Then, she looks back at Sockhead to protest with those eyes of hers. Great, nice "tools" you guys made, Sherubi: when they're not too scared to fight, they probably wouldn't end up doing much damage anyway. At least the kid probably wouldn't, when she looks like she came from some middle school classroom than a secret organization's lab...

"It's okay," Double D smiles at her, "precautions have been taken to ensure no one's actually harmed, and Ed understands there's no ill intention on your part."

"Do not worry, little werewolf," Ed grins, "Eddy likes to beat me a lot, but it does not mean that I do not like him."

"Only when you're being an idiot, Lumpy..." I groan.

The kid looks like she's psyching herself up: she's breathing in and closing her eyes. After she opens 'em, she growls and pounces. She actually manages to knock Monobrow onto the ground and slide them both across it. Huh, maybe she's not so weak after all. She digs and tears into the padding, sending shreds everywhere.

"O-Oh dear," Double D runs to them, "Claire, that's enough...!"

"Get her off, get her off!" Ed waves his arms and legs around.

Eh, I ain't too worried about Lumpy, he's been through way worse than that. I'm just glad the kid might not be so useless after all. Say, if she can make quick work of someone like that, maybe she doesn't need all this training! ... Hey, wait a minute, that means I gave up that giant bounty for nothing!!! That's it, if we do more training in the future, Sockhead's gonna be the one used for target practice...

"Okay, that's enough!" I call over to them.

They all look at me from where they are: Ed's still on the ground, Double D's standing over him, and the kid's held in Double D's arms.

"Look," I go on, "it's clear that kid's gonna do fine on the field, so let's go grab ourselves a target!"

"But Eddy," Double D argues, "we've only practiced close combat, thus far-- and even then, it's only slightly better than a trained attack dog."

"Seems like she'll do fine to me!" I tell him, "Now, quit whining and let's get back to the Bounty Board!" I point to where the KQ is up ahead.

After we enter the log and all that, we make our way back to that wonderful wall of cash opportunities. Of course, the target I wanted is gone-- thanks a lot, Sockhead --but you never make it anywhere by whining all day, so it's time to find ourselves a new cash cow to bring to the slaughter.

"Alright, kid, listen up..." I look at her.

She's riding on Lumpy's back, by hanging from his shoulders and looking over them. She returns the gaze with that usual nonchalant face.

"Now, ya see this?" I grab her chin, and point both her face and my finger at the board, "This's our secret to getting rich: the higher the number after that dollar sign, the higher the cash stacks we'll get from the 'Golden Goose' over there," I turn us toward that glorious, golden and bird-shaped stand behind us, "Our goal's to get as much of those fat stacks as possible," I let go of her, "so make that a reality and we'll get along just fine," I realize something and frown, "... Hey, you can read, right?"

She nods. I smile again and tell her to scan the board, while the rest of us do the same.

"Whoa, what the heck are you?!"

Hey, wait a minute... I know that voice! Sure enough, we see Jonny 2x4 standing there, with that annoying splinter in my side: Plank. Of course, that idiot just had to go and freak the kid out! While watching 2x4 finish his outburst, she jumps off Ed, probably to get away from that bald pain, and crashes right into me! Jeez, if she wasn't such a literal lightweight, that fall to the floor might've killed me by cracking my skull open! Lucky me, I just get stuck with a concussion instead... I'm real ticked off about it, so I grab that twerp, chuck her into Ed's arms and storm over to the jerk that caused this to happen.

"What D'ya want, Jonny?!" I glare at him, "Don't you have better things to do than be a real pain in the--?!"

"--Hey, if those parts are real," Jonny pulls on the kid's right ear and tail, making her wince, "then what kind of animal are you supposed to be? How'd you become like that, anyway?"

"Jonny, please..." Double D pulls his hands off the kid and stands in between them, "Can't you see you're frightening and hurting the poor thing? Let's not forget potentially causing yourself to be harmed via provocation. You really must learn to be more mindful toward others..."

The kid's now hiding her face in Ed's chest, like the big baby she is. For crying out loud, what the heck happens when she has to deal with a real injury during a job, like being stabbed or shot? That should be fun...

"There, there, little one," Ed pats her head, "It is only Jonny."

"Or, 'Dynamino,' if you prefer code names!" Jonny holds his hand out, "Nice to meetcha!" He points his other one at the wooden board on his chest, "And this here is, 'Plank'! What's that, buddy...?" Jonny frowns at him for a second, before smiling at the kid again, "He says: just make sure you don't give him any fleas, 'cause he already has termites to worry about."

The kid doesn't turn away from Ed, just turning her head slightly to look back at Jonny. He grins wider, and opens and closes his offered hand a few times.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging here!" He tells her.

For crying out loud, it's a handshake, 2x4... The kid slowly reaches her own hand out and finally holds onto Jonny's. He shakes her hand and arm at a fast pace, before he stops and starts squeezing her hand, like a stress ball. Surprisingly, the kid's cool with it and decides to finally chill out.

"Wow, you've got squishy paws, too?" Jonny smiles down at the one he's holding, before looking back up at her, "No really, what are ya?"

"Well," Double D tells him, "Claire is something known as a 'werebeast': they assist assassins through a combined effort of humanistic and animalistic abilities."

"And they are so cute and cuddly," Ed hugs the kid, "See, little one? Ed knows not to hold too tight now."

"Say, I heard they were making a new thing to help us," Jonny finally takes his hand back, "is that what they were talking about?"

"Sure is," I step in front of him, "So, how about you let her do that job of 'helping assassins,' by buzzing off?" I wave him off, before lowering my hand, "I'm sure there's some building or something waiting to be blown up..."

"What's that, buddy...?" Jonny listens to Plank, before looking up at me, "Plank says: 'Maybe we should use you to take people and things out instead, Eddy, since you're easier to set off than our explosives. Excuse us for existing and acting curious over something that's so common, like animal people.'"

"Don't get smart with me, Termite Chow," I lean into that board's face and press a finger against him, "I got a headache, in both senses of the word, 'cause of you two just now!"

"Plank says," Jonny keeps sharing that jerk's thoughts, "'Always happy to give you worse than that, Eddy. Too bad we can't be annoying enough, so you'd get just half the taste of what dealing with some no-neck, short-stacked chump is like. Maybe then, you'd learn to stop giving everyone such a hard time.'"

I'm going to turn this hunk of wood into mulch, and then I'm turning that mulch into sawdust. I don't know what I'll do with that stupid sawdust, but I'll think of something even worse to put him through after it!

"Hey, Jonny," I grit my teeth and clench my fists, while I stare Plank down, "maybe you can go ask the scientists for your own werebeast? I'm thinking a nice beaver one!"

"Err, Eddy...!" Double D suddenly holds a poster in front of my face, "I-I think I've found a suitable target for us...!"

I snatch it from him and look it over: it's got the face of some lady and a pretty good amount under it. Besides, I don't feel like staying here to be annoyed by 2x4 and his lousy partner in crime, or doing any arguing with Sockhead over other targets being "too difficult" for a first timer.

"Alright," I look up from the poster, "Come on, boys, we're heading out," I lead them away from the board and those two pains, before I look toward the kid, "Time to show us what you can do, Shortstuff..."

I swear, kid, you better be worth getting stuck with...

[pitchscribbles]

In case you didn’t know, I’m a sucker for colour symbolism and a sucker for the fact that Wash’s armour remains blue under that spray paint

[red-of-hells-kitchen]

Finally some good fucking food

a/n: this title was mostly a joke because i'm writing this for @tobyisbeloved based off their vampire!captain AU. have fun you mack simps.

wc: 1591

Being a vampire in space is... hard, to say the least about it. The Captain knew this problem way too well. They had a supply of blood bags they'd been able to get on the ship, but keeping this a secret was hard.

Today was a struggle. Why? Someone got a cut. The Captain was halfway across the ship when they smelled the blood, their eyes widening. Y/n closed their eyes and leaned on the closest wall, clenching their jaw tightly to try and avoid their fangs from coming out. They could feel how hard they were gripping their thigh through their suit.

"Uhh, Captain? You alright?"

Oh fuck. Y/n forgot they weren't alone in the room. Mack was in here. Of course he was, he was fixing a part of the ship that he and Y/n had noticed to be faulty.

Y/n shook their head, gripping the wall and stumbling to the side. They just had to get to their room on the ship, open a blood bag, and satiate this hunger.

They heard footsteps coming closer to them, and hands grabbed their shoulders.

"Whoa, you almost fell there. You need help?"

"Mack d-" Y/n stuttered, groaning inwardly. They had to control their urges, right now. The cut on the other side of the ship had been covered, but Y/n still needed to satisfy their hunger. They took a deep breath. "Don't touch me."

Mack let out a condescending laugh. "What?" He asked, not removing his hands from Y/n. "Captain, are you alright? Do you need to get to the med bay?"

"No, I think I just need to lie down," Y/n managed to speak. Their speech was slurred and quick.

"Fine, let's get you to your room, then," Mack said with a sigh.

"I can get there myself," The Captain said between their gritted teeth, attempting to get away from Mack.

Mack didn't let up, only trying to help more. "I'm not too sure about that, Cap'n."

Y/n decided to let Mack help, groaning quietly to themself as they stumbled along with Mack bringing them down the halls. They kept their face away from Mack, trying to not look at him. They knew they wouldn't be able to control themself if they saw a human right now.

Once they finally made it to the Captain's quarters, Y/n leaned against the wall and put their hand against the scanner. Their breathing was heavy, knowing they were closer to getting the blood bags.

"Are you going to need my help getting in?" Mack asked from behind.

Y/n shook their head frantically. "Just go," they said quickly. The door finally opened and they stumbled in, rushing to their bed. They stumbled more, getting to their knees to pull the hidden cooler out from behind a desk. They opened the cooler and hurriedly grabbed a bag, ripping open a corner. Blood spattered out of the bag from the force, but Y/n didn't care, starting to gulp down the bag as fast as they could.

Finishing the bag, they dropped it and panted loudly, leaning against their bed. They lifted their hand and opened their eyes, going to lick some of the spilt blood off of it. They froze, looking up to see Mack in the doorway staring at them. Y/n's jaw dropped, realizing what had happened. They glanced at themselves, blood spattered on their hands, suit, and floor beneath them.

"C-Cap...tain?" Mack looked nervous, which was unusual.

The Captain got up quickly, almost falling as they did so. "Listen, I-." They paused, thinking for a moment. "Come in here."

"What?" Mack's voice was small; he was trying to back away.

"Come in here, now. I don't want anyone else seeing this," Y/n ordered.

Mack almost tripped over his own feet as he got into the room, closing the door behind him. He backed against it after it closed.

"So, is there any other explanation for that other than the one I'm thinking?" Mack asked.

The Captain just sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose. "No, there's not. Yes, I'm a vampire." They noticed the blood still on their arm and licked it off, not wanting it to go to waste. "And before you ask, no, none of those blood bags are any of the crew's. This is all from Earth from what I'd had already."

Mack looked down into the cooler. "There's not that many bags left," he remarked.

The Captain nodded slowly. "I've been trying to ration them out, make them all last longer. But someone got a cut in Cryo and I could smell it. I just went haywire, I couldn't do anything but get one of these bags." They looked around at the floor and their now definitely stained suit. "A little annoying that this happened, but I guess I'll have to deal. These fuckin' bags aren't gonna last me very long." They added the last part quietly, more to themself.

"You could-" Mack started, pausing for a second. "You could use... me," he offered.

Y/n looked at him, raising a brow in confusion. They let out a disbelieving scoff. "You're joking." They noticed Mack's cheeks and ears reddening. "Oh my god you're serious." They stepped a little closer to Mack. "You've had your blood taken before for tests, right?" Mack nodded. "So you know how it feels when you have less blood in your system than you're supposed to."

"Yes, but you're our Captain," Mack pointed out. "You need to survive somehow."

Y/n laughed slightly. "Don't you want to be Captain, anyway?" they asked.

Mack stammered for a second, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "Not really, I just know how to run the ship very well," he said. "Plus, the crew seems to really like you, and it'd be a shame if they... lost you."

Y/n caught on to what he was saying and smiled, one lip quirked up a bit more. "You like me," they said.

"No!" Mack quickly denied. "I mean, as a person, you're fine," he defended.

"You like me," the Captain repeated, stepping closer to Mack. The latter started backing away again.

"N-not in that way!" Mack stuttered, nervously chuckling. "I think you're a really good person and all, b-" He stopped talking as his back hit the wall. Y/n had him cornered, reaching forward.

The Captain put one finger under Mack's chin and tilted his head to look up at them. They slowly moved their hand to the side of his neck, finger gently running up and down Mack's neck. His breath stuttered out, his body relaxing slightly.

"May I?" The Captain asked, lowering their voice.

Mack nodded a bit, slightly moving his head to the side.

The Captain grinned excitedly, their fangs coming out. Their eyes slowly turned a dark red, and their pupils thinned to a small slit. Y/n moved quickly, one hand holding Mack's shoulder to keep him in place. The other holding his face and head up as they bit into Mack's neck with their fangs.

Mack made an unexpected sound, almost a whimper, as the sharp teeth pierced his skin. The Captain's fangs retracted to allow them to suck the blood through the holes, tasting the blood.

The engineer's blood was much sweeter than they'd expected it to be. The taste was delightful, rich in texture and exactly how they'd liked it. Once they'd decided they were done, they pulled away with one last lick against Mack's neck. They pressed their hand against the wound on Mack's neck and looked at him to see how he was doing.

To the Captain's surprise, Mack seemed fine. Happy, even. They thought it was from the blood loss, his brain not processing it correctly. Until Mack decided to speak.

"Holy shit, that was the hottest thing I've ever seen," Mack said quietly. After speaking, he looked surprised to have actually said it.

The Captain smiled slightly before grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. Mack melted into the touch; though, again, Y/n couldn't tell if it was from blood loss or actual bliss. After they pulled back, Mack's lips were slightly stained with his own blood.

Mack was panting, his eyes closed. The Captain grabbed his shoulder to keep him upright. They chuckled softly.

"The blood loss is getting to you," they said. Mack nodded sluggishly, leaning into Y/n's touch. "Alright, I got you," they said. They moved positions and put Mack's arm around their shoulder, wrapping theirs around his waist to carry him over to the bed.

They laid Mack down on their bed, the engineer not objecting due to his lightheadedness. While Mack recovered, Y/n started cleaning up the spilled blood from earlier. They also put a patch on Mack's neck to stop the bleeding but not before getting one last taste of his blood.

After a while, Mack finally recovered enough to be able to sit up. "I don't know if it's because of all the- the blood loss, but that was..."

"Hot?" Y/n finished his sentence for him. "You said it before, I don't know if you even realized that." They walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, looking at him. "So I'm guessing you're fine with me feeding off of you to save my other rations?"

Mack gave the Captain a smile that said he'd be willing to do that, and more.

[sirowsky]

The Lost Island

Chapter 19 - Once Again

Summary: Everything seems upside down now. Life keeps trying to go on, but Marcus is stuck. And you're not exactly helping.

Author’s Note: Popping back in from my hiatus to post this severely delayed update. It's been almost two months since the last chapter and I apologize. If you're still with me - you're awesome and I love you!

Rating: Mature 18+ONLY Warnings: Cursing, angst, grief, longing, comfort. Word Count: 6983 Masterlist (this story) Author’s Masterlist

   Marcus sat in the scanner, trying to follow the threads of information that he already had, but he was so tired now that his own thoughts were getting criss-crossed.      Him, you, the tree. A triangle of powers that had somehow come together and landed him here, three years in the past, with no way of getting back.

   You’d left shortly after delivering him to R&D, trusting that no one would let a cuffed man wander about unsupervised until you got back, since you had too much on your plate to baby-sit him, and it was already 4pm.    He was quite relieved about that. It was easier when you weren’t there. Less painful.

   “Interesting.” Ricky mused to himself, while he watched something on his monitor.

   “Why? What are you seeing?” Marcus asked.

   “Well, there are clear markers of time-travel in your cells, the gaps I talked about before, which corroborate your story. Especially since I’m getting almost exactly the same data from you that we got from the alien tree.    Are you sure you can’t remember anything else about how this happened?”

   He hadn’t told Ricky any details about his powers or your sacrifice or the island or any of it. Only that he was displaced and that it had happened largely out of his control.    But perhaps it was time to have a little more faith in his old friend. He’d known Ricky since he was a teenager, after all.

   “Actually, I remember everything about it, I just can’t make any sense of it.” he tried, and the man abandoned the screens to come into the chamber and talk to him, face to face.

   “Hey, I’m the scientist, remember? I’m the one that makes sense of stuff. So, just tell me however much you can, and don’t worry about it being cohesive, I just need the pieces of the puzzle, I’ll fit them together myself.”

   Two hours later, Marcus had told him absolutely everything. The plane crash, the island, the Ozsha, the tribe, the portal, Eqlo’e, the spores and the confusing mess of time-jumps that had eventually led to your sacrifice and later his arrival here.    Ricky listened patiently, taking notes and asking the occasional question, and then he just sat there. Staring at his own pen and notepad, going over things in his own head, twisting and testing the pieces until he was satisfied that he grasped the overall chain of events.

   “It seems to me,” he finally started, after Marcus had let him ponder undisturbed for almost twenty minutes, “that this is indeed a permanent shift. A total reset of your own timeline. I don’t think you could go back anymore because the three years that you lived, can no longer come to pass.”

   Meaning this was it. He’d have to live here now, with this version of you that didn’t know him and for all he knew, would never want to.    And what about Missy? He hadn’t met her yet, but would she notice that he was different? Every version of her that he’d thus met had seemed unbothered by the idea that he wasn’t exactly the same, so there was reason to hope that this one would react similarly.    After all, it wasn’t like she had seemed any different to him, regardless of timeline.

   “I’m quite fascinated by these new powers of yours. Would you mind demonstrating for me?” Ricky continued, bringing him out of his own head and back to the room.

   “Sure.”

   He started with just the threads, showing off their versatile use as either individual strings, or a network of them, either to create one or several shields, or to connect to many things at once.    Then he took it further, displaying the dark powers and how they evolved from one thing to the next, until lightning bolts were shooting through the room, which prompted Ricky to ask him to stop and then return to his screens.

   “My god, Marcus… I have never seen power-readings this high. No wonder you could manipulate Earth’s electromagnetism before, you’ve had an effect on it all your life, without even knowing it.”

   “It’s really that strong?” Marcus questioned, not really wanting to believe it.

   “Oh, easily. Looking at these readings I have no trouble at all believing that you can tear a rift through spacetime. Especially if you already have access to a conduit.”

   “But the portal jumps as it pleases, it already has the ability, I just tapped into it, I didn’t create the rift myself.”

   “Sure. But how did you draw it to you? How did you reach it from another point in space and time?” Ricky asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

   “…Shit.” Marcus started, and then a question plopped into his head. “Does that mean that I was the one that sent myself here? No, that doesn’t make any sense, I wasn’t even trying to open a portal…”

   “No, no, I don’t think you did this. You said that the tree called to you that night, almost compelled you to come to it? Well, I believe that that was indeed your Ace’s soul, and I don’t think she would’ve done that unless she knew that she could help you.”

   “But how has this helped me, Rick?”

   His old friend looked at him with a crooked little smile, and simply said:

   “She’s alive here. You get to see her again, talk to her, start over. Even if it never becomes the same as what you had before, it’ll still be her. The same person you fell in love with.    I know a lot of people who would give anything to get to have that.”

   You walked in only moments later, looking a little worse for wear, your hair tousled and your clothes dirty, as if you’d been wrestling someone, and Marcus was instantly worried, which was of course, only annoying to you.

   “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, pretty much reflexively.

   “The answers to both those questions are entirely not your concern.” you bit back, turning to Ricky next. “What have you found?”

   “Corroboration of his story. He is Marcus Moreno, and in all likelihood exactly from when and where he says he is. His powers are off the charts and there are no inconsistencies that I can find between what he’s told me and what my data is telling me.”

   “Okay, but then… what happened to this Moreno? Our Moreno, from this time?” you pressed, trying to wrap your head around it.

   “Well, they’re the same person, and the same matter can’t occupy the same space, so this is that Moreno. They’ve merged, for lack of a better term. Which is why he can still remember the other timeline even though it’s been erased.” Ricky explained.

   “And the tree?” you continued, seeming to get increasingly frustrated with this whole situation.

   “I believe that the tree is responsible for sending him here, by utilising the power it gained from the version of you which was absorbed into it. That Ace must’ve been so devastated to feel his grief, that she manipulated him into letting his powers rage unfiltered, creating a rift in spacetime. And using whatever strength she had left, to direct that rift here, and push him through. Actually changing time, rather than just visiting another timeline.    I think she had to take herself along with him, as he needed to be tethered to the massive energy-reserve of the tree in order to keep the rift open and bring him safely through.    And I think that she burned the last remnants of her soul out of existence by doing this, which is why you don’t remember anything about her.”

   “Because otherwise our souls would’ve merged too…” you completed the thought, and Ricky nodded.

   You took a few deep breaths, settling your hands on your own hips while you paced on the spot for a few beats.

   “Right. So, if he’s just the same old Marcus anyway, then there’s no need for any security measures. Just an ordinary debrief, more or less.” you finally decided, but you still looked at Ricky for confirmation.

   “Yeah. Pretty much.” he answered, and you nodded before coming into the chamber to uncuff Marcus. They were the sort of cuffs that kept the hands a full 10 inches away from one another, and restricted movement of the wrists, so you could reach the thumb-pad that released both sides, positioned at the centre, without coming into contact with him.

   “Great, that means you’re no longer my problem. Report to Ms. Granada for your debrief first thing in the morning.” you said, and then left.

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

   He felt like he was a record, with the needle stuck on the same point of his life, as he once again explained everything, was met by the same questions that you and Ricky had asked, which he answered the same way, only to then be surprised by Ms. Granada’s final statement.

   “Well, I think it’ll be best if we don’t advertise any of this. It’ll just cause unnecessary concern from the public, since they will inevitably learn about it, not to mention your teammates.    They’re hard enough to corral as it is, and you’re one of the few people they all listen to, so if they should decide that something’s changed or that they can’t trust you anymore… honestly, that’s just a scenario I really don’t wanna think about.”

   “You don’t think they deserve to know?” he countered, but she shook her head.

   “It’s not about what they deserve or not, it’s about whether it would be of any benefit for them to know. And I can’t see that it would help either them or you in any way.”

   “No, I guess it wouldn’t. It just seems like I’d be deceiving them.” he confessed.

   “You’re not. You’re the same person, they still know you, you just know a few things that they don’t.    Obviously, I’m not gonna tell you not to tell your family, that’s up to you. And Ricky will be available to help you if there’s anything you need.”

   And that was that. Back to work as usual.    On his way out to the car, he wondered if it would ever stop feeling so… odd. It was only his first day here, but so much had happened. His head was pounding when he stepped in through his front door and was met by the smell of his mother’s cooking and his daughter’s usual “Hey, dad”.    He stepped out of his shoes and slowly walked into the kitchen, watching his family with a melancholy sort of pain in his heart. Because even though nothing had really changed, everything had, and it could never be the same again.

   To his own surprise, he chose not to tell them. For the same reason that Granada had given – it wouldn’t help or make any difference. And they didn’t seem to notice any change in him, which made it easier to just fall back into his life as if those three years had just been a dream.

   It was so much harder at work, though. And that was all because of you.    Sure, it was true that he was grateful to get to have you around him again, alive and feisty and unyielding, but it also hurt so badly to know that he wasn’t invited. That he couldn’t ask you for a hug or even to run his fingers over your cheek.    He tried to think that it was still better than lying on the floor, wishing that he’d never existed, but it didn’t really help.    A couple of weeks later, though, he got a welcome distraction, when Tech came to give him an update on something that Marcus had tasked him to do.

   “Hey, man. Got a minute?” Tech asked, poking his head through the open door and waiting for a nod before he stepped in, taking a seat opposite Marcus’ desk.

   “I’m all ears, T.” he said, clasping his hands together and leaning back in his chair.

   “Okay, I’ll admit that when you asked me to look for a hidden island in the middle of the South Pacific, I was slightly concerned that you’d lost a few marbles. So, imagine my surprise when I found the damned thing, right smack in the middle of the area you’d suggested I should focus on.”

   Marcus suddenly sat up straight.

   “You found it? How?” he demanded.

   “Oh, it wasn’t easy. None of the usual filters or light-spectrums revealed anything, so I tried something different. Using one of our satellites, I bounced a laser against the water-surface of millions of different points all over the search area, and then compared depths between them.” he explained, while opening his laptop to show Marcus the rendered image that all those points created together. “And voila! Your island appears. Or, an anomaly, at least.”

   Looking at the image sent shivers down his spine, even though it was just a dome, because he knew what was inside of it. There was no doubt that this was the correct place, and there was no reason for anything else out there to be cloaked or shielded.

   “How’d you know it was there at all, Mo?”

   He’d prepared for these types of questions, and had a few answers lined up.

   “I wasn’t sure that it was real myself, that’s why I asked you to look for it in your downtime. It’s just something I thought I saw once, and wanted to confirm.”

   “Well, it looks like it’s being cloaked. So, what’s next? Take the team, check it out?” Tech asked, but that wasn’t an option.

   “No, I need to bring this to Granada first. Let her know we found something, then we’ll see. I’ll let you know what she says.” he promised, and Tech closed his computer and got up.

   “Alright, you’re the boss. I sent you the file, if you wanna show her.”

   “Thank you, T. This is great work.” Marcus called after him as he left, feeling a sting of regret as he immediately set to work, with no intention of including anyone from the team at all.

   Granada had already given him clearance to work on and investigate all things concerning the island at his own discretion, the only condition being that he was indeed extremely discreet about it.    She trusted him to bring anything potentially dangerous or damaging to her attention as soon as he found it, and he had every intention of following those orders. If the island was still alive, then it was still a serious threat to the entire planet, and that wasn’t something he felt particularly eager to take on alone.

   Getting to the helipad, he made a beeline for a chopper, but found it locked, which they never were while there were pilots in the building. He didn’t even know where they kept the keys to them.    But then, there was a distinctive rattle just a few feet to his side and he turned towards it.

   “Looking for these?” you asked, holding the keys up in front of your face and dangling them back and forth. “Do you even know how to fly that thing?”

   Shit. Well, at least he didn’t need to lie to you.

   “I know enough to get me there. Please, give them to me. I have to go, it’s important, I have a lead on the hidden island.”

   “The one you were stranded on?” you pressed, and he said yes. That made your face go blank for a second, and then it turned to steel. “I’m coming with you.”

   “Absolutely not!” he all but screamed at you, making you flinch, which then made you angry.

   “It wasn’t a question. And don’t you dare yell at me again.” you were impressively composed, despite your anger, so he tried to calm himself.

   “I’m sorry. But this really doesn’t concern you.”

   “The hell it doesn’t!” you were the one almost screaming now, but you quickly reeled yourself in. Something he’d never seen you do back before the island. Not where he was concerned, at least. “Look, according to you, I’m part of how we stop this place from destroying the planet, right? So, how do you know that I don’t need to be there?”

   “Because none of that happens yet. Not for two whole years.” he tried, but you weren’t giving up.

   “Except that timeline is gone, so we don’t know anything. For fuck’s sake, Marcus, you’re really gonna go to a place you know is a death-trap, without any back-up?”

   “I don’t need back-up!” he shot back, and you scoffed humourlessly.

   “Right, because Marcus Moreno is the most powerful human being in the world, the rest of us are just useless.”

   That stung somewhere, because he’d always considered you his equal, even back when you’d been enemies. And after the island, and all the times you’d bested him, even when he’d hurt and frightened you, he’d learned that he could never measure up to you.    But this wasn’t about whether he wanted or needed back-up, it was about his fear that history was about to repeat itself.    Him, you, an aircraft and a hidden island. It was too familiar, turning his blood to ice and his mind to dark places.

   “You’re not coming. I can pry the lock open without the keys. Go back to work.” he finally spat between clenched teeth, turning back to the machine and heading for the pilot’s door.

   “Leave me here, and I’ll go straight down to the team to let them know exactly what you’re doing.” you threatened, and he stopped moving with a heavy sigh. “They’ll all come after you. You know that. They’re way too curious and meddlesome to leave a dangerous secret island alone.”

   You were nothing if not cunning.

   “Fuck! …Alright, come on.” he finally caved, letting you unlock the helicopter and then you both climbed up, strapped in and you prepared to take off.

   “Don’t you dare crash.” he added, just before you eased the machine off the roof.

   “Don’t piss me off and we should be fine.” you countered, and he kinda had to give you that, since he’d been the one that had gotten angry and caused the plane crash.

<><><><><> 

   He didn’t say much more for the duration of the flight, which was several hours long, but that was fine by you. You couldn’t fathom how any version of you had fallen for this arrogant ass.    Okay, maybe he wasn’t arrogant. But something about him just annoyed you, and it took most of the flight before you’d figured out what it was. The knowledge that you were apparently capable of developing deep feelings for him, made you reflexively need to keep him at a distance, because you were not a person that let people come that close to you.    And you weren’t gonna let this guy change that. You didn’t even know him.

   “Slow down, we’re close.” he announced eventually, and you obliged.

   “How do you know? I can’t see anything.” you said.

   “Now that I know what I’m looking for, I can feel its energy. It’s generating a cloaking bubble around the whole thing, even underwater.”

   “Then how are we supposed to land?”

   He answered you by opening the door on his side, and letting three threads flow from his fingers, down into the open air underneath you, and you stopped the helicopter, hovering while you waited to see what he’d do.    The threads did indeed reach a barrier some hundred yards below you, something only visible as long as he disturbed its surface. But after just a moment, he sent something from his hand, down one of the threads. A deep purple sparkling something, and when it reached the barrier, it kind of exploded, branching out into hundreds of threads that had spread unseen from the first three.    They encircled the entire bubble, and as the continuous explosion travelled along all those lines, they cracked the barrier until it finally disappeared completely, revealing a whole world hidden underneath.

   “Now you can land. But not on the beach, use the ledge over there on the mountainside.” he pointed to a spot at the base of the volcanic rise, and you set down without any trouble.

   “It’s like something out of a dream…” you said, mostly to yourself, but loud enough that he heard it.

   “More like a nightmare.” his voice was grim, full of bad memories, and you wondered just how much had happened to him here.

   But you weren’t talking about the scenery.

   “I meant that I feel like I’ve been here before. Like déjà vu.” you explained, and he looked at you with a strange expression, and then turned away just as something that looked a lot like fear, crept into his eyes.

   “For your sake, I hope that’s all it is.” he whispered as he began to walk down from the hillside, and you refrained from asking what he meant by that, because you honestly didn’t wanna know.

   “You’ll warn me about anything deadly among these plants, right?” you asked as the two of you made your way through the thicker vegetation, following a narrow-trampled path towards the center of the island.

   “The only one you really need to worry about is the vampire tree, and we’re not gonna go near that.”

   “The what?!” you exclaimed, and he chuckled, just a little.

   “Remember I told you that this place is one giant organism? Well, the vampire tree paralyzes you and drinks your blood over the course of several days, until you die, to feed the island. Its own ‘blood’ gets too acidic without the occasional dilution, and for whatever reason, human blood does the trick.” he explained, and you took a deep breath.

   “Let’s just find this tribe and get them the hell outta here, so we can bomb this fucking place.”

   “We can’t bomb it. That wouldn’t ensure that all the spores died. But the matriarch should offer a solution. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

   “Fine. But the plan is still to evacuate the tribe, right?” you asked, trying to keep your mind off fucking man-eating trees…

   “If they want to, yeah. How many can the chopper take?”

   “Uh, with the amount of fuel we have left, I’d say thirty, including you and me. You said there’s about fifty of them?” you calculated.

   “Thereabouts. So that’s two trips.”

   “Or we call in another chopper.” you suggested, but he shook his head.

   “They won’t get through the barrier. It closed over us about a minute after we landed. I can break it again, obviously, but it also cuts off all communication to the outside world, and I can’t keep it down permanently.    It’ll be easier for me to only have to keep track of one transport.”

   “Right. Okay.” you agreed, and then realized that you’d suddenly stopped being angry or annoyed with him. When had that happened?

   You both grew quiet then, as he led you deeper and deeper into the heart of the island. You were behind him on the trail, his broad shoulders keeping you effectively blind to whatever was in front of him, so when he eventually stopped, you had to step around to his side to see why.    A beautiful little village spread out before you, filled with happy people going about their day. Children playing tag and tic-tac-toe or clapping games, while their mothers and some fathers cooked and sang together, others were building something, a few elderly people were working with dried leaves and herbs, or making clothes out of vegetation.    Just a normal, functioning community, out here in the middle of nowhere.

   Then someone spotted you both, and called out a warning, but Marcus just put his hands up and calmly walked into the village, so you followed suit.    An older man with a weathered look about him came towards the two of you, and something about him calmed you.    Glancing to your side, you could see Marcus swallow hard against strong emotions, and even though you knew nothing about this tribe, you knew that this man had mattered a lot to the Heroic beside you.    The older man stopped three feet away and inclined his head to you both.

   “Welcome, travellers. How have you come to be here, in this lost place?” he asked, and his voice seemed to dig into your brain, as though there was something in there he was trying to pull out.

   “Chief…” Marcus whispered, and the man locked eyes with him, studying him closely for a good thirty seconds.

   “We’ve met before… haven’t we, young man?”

   “In a different time, yes.” Marcus replied, failing to keep a slight tremble out of his voice.

   “Yes. I named you…” the old man started, then paused for a moment, before adding, “Kahele. Your name is Kahele.”

   Moreno nodded, unable to keep the tears back anymore, and the man hugged him tightly, as though they were suddenly old friends reunited, even though they just met.    Then the man let go of him and turned to you.

   “And you, miss. I gave you a very special name. Do you know what it is?” he asked, stepping closer, but keeping his eyes on yours.

   And there was that feeling again, like his voice was somehow inside your head, rather than in front of you.

   “Mana…” you said, having no idea how you knew that, but you just did.

   “Indeed. And what does that mean?” he prodded, and you were now getting a headache.

   “Spiritual power.”

   “Good, you remember.” he smiled at you, and you felt your frustration build.

   “No, that’s… I’ve never met you before, how could I remember anyth-…” you cut yourself off as the pain in your head turned sharp.

   “But you have, dear girl. Every version of you has met me, because one version of you did. You’re all one person, one spirit, and yours is remarkably strong,” he said, putting his hands on either side of your head and then leaning in to kiss your forehead. “Stop fighting her, and the pain will end. Don’t be afraid. She is you, Mana.”

   His voice finally reached that thing in your brain that it was digging for, and you felt something stir.    A chill went through you, from your toes to your scalp, and then pain followed, first in your feet and legs, and then your abdomen, chest and arms.    Confused, you pulled your sleeves up, looking for the damage that must’ve caused it, but there was nothing there, and after a few seconds, it faded again. Something lingered in your shoulder, though. A deeper, burning pain that wouldn’t quite settle. Old bruises long since healed, but still remembered.    And then you knew.

   “Akela. That’s your name.” you whispered, scarcely believing your own words. “You saved me.”

   “We saved each other; I believe.” he said, letting go of your head to pull you into a hug too.

   It was odd, because you didn’t actively remember anything, you just kinda knew things. Like you could feel her life rather than see it, but once you came across something that had significance to her, you just knew what that was.    And my goodness, did the tribe matter to her. Suddenly you knew their names, songs they’d taught you, recipes you’d tried to master and… loss. You remembered grieving for these people.    But they didn’t remember you the same way. The Chief was the only one that did, perhaps because of his powers, which you knew to be similar to yours.

   “Chief, we need to talk. There are things we know that might change your circumstances.” Marcus said, and Akela gestured to the central firepit and meeting-place, and the entire tribe made their way there with you.

   You left it to Moreno to explain everything, and he didn’t spare any details this time, except maybe concerning you, you weren’t sure. But then they started deliberating in Hawaiian, so you both pulled back, stepping out of the crowd and finding some porch-steps to rest on.

   “Hey, Marcus, did she… I ever hurt my shoulder?” you asked, still struggling to accept that this could really have happened to you.

   “Uhm… one of the Ozsha threw a really nasty dagger at you. It took a long time to heal.” he said, and you felt like there was something he was avoiding. Something more that happened concerning that incident, perhaps.

   As it were, he apparently felt guilty enough about it to elaborate without your asking.

   “I could’ve prevented that. I could’ve helped you, but I was… they did something to my mind… I wasn’t… it was like I couldn’t see what I was doing. How wrong it was. They had me do terrible things for them, and I never understood.”

   “I’m sorry, that sounds terrifying. What made you realize it, in the end?”

   He sighed and shook his head, looking out over the tribe for a beat, looking for strength maybe, before he turned his head to meet your eyes.

   “I never did. You forced them out of my head.”

   That sent a lot of emotions through you. Hope, fear, determination and love were all associated with that memory, and something dug its way to the forefront of your thoughts.

   “You’re stronger than this.” The words just fell out, and he froze, still staring at you while something big and significant passed through him. Much bigger than just the meaning of those words.

   For a fraction of a second, he leaned towards you. But then he blinked, changed his mind and all but leapt to his feet, walked ten steps away and then started to pace back and forth.

   “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I don’t know how to not touch you! Not love y-… fuck.” he rambled, throwing his arms around in pure frustration, while his voice brimmed over with pain, breaking into sobs before he cut himself off, and just buried his head in his hands.

   He looked like he was breaking, and you waited for some memory to come to the surface, to help you understand what you’d felt for him, because surely, this man had to have meant more to you than the tribe.    But all you felt was what you’d thus far always felt around him. Except there was pity in there now too.    You wanted to comfort him, but only so that you wouldn’t have to see this anymore.    He made it easier for you, though, by leaving before you could make some half-ass attempt at caring.    And of course, it was only minutes later that Akela came strolling over, the town meeting over.

   “Where did he go?” he asked, and you shrugged.

   “That direction,” you pointed to the west, “that’s as much as I know.”

   “You should follow him.” he suggested, only it sounded more like an order.

   “I can’t give him what he wants. So, I think it’s better if I don’t.” you tried, but you felt guilty saying that, for some reason.

   “You still don’t remember him?” he pondered, and you shook your head, which made his eyebrows travel up. “You remember me, but not the man you love more than life itself? Hmm… I think, my dear, you’ve misunderstood yourself here.”

   “Yeah, how so?” you played along, although you weren’t really in the mood for a lesson in love, which this seemed to be building towards.

   Akela smiled and then sat down next to you, resting his elbows against his knees and looking out over the village, the picture of ease.

   “It’s not that you don’t remember, I promise that you do. The problem is that feelings of such magnitude and significance are extremely hard to grasp the scope of. And whenever our hearts or minds are too confused to know how to respond to something, they choose to push it away instead.    That’s precisely why so many people suffer with their own minds, because they don’t know how to process what they experience.”

   “But how am I supposed to process something that didn’t even happen to me?” you threw at him, a little harsher than necessary. “I don’t understand how that would work.”

   “That’s the thing – you don’t need to understand. Has anyone, from any era in time, from poets, to singers, to dreamers, ever understood love?” he suggested, and you had to agree, but that still didn’t seem to apply here.

   “No, but I didn’t fall in love with him… I don’t feel love for him.”

   The Chief turned his head then, to look into your eyes, and something very sad settled into the lines around his.

   “Then perhaps… your soul has been broken. Perhaps you’re no longer capable of love. That’s the only thing I can imagine that could keep such a beautiful thing away from you.”

   Once again, his words seemed to be probing the insides of your brain, looking for whatever answers you couldn’t find yourself, maybe. But then he looked away, and it stopped.

   “We’ve been trapped here for so long that we no longer remember what the outside world looks like. And I’m sure it’s moved on since we left it. But this place has always been a prison, and while we’ve learned to live with it, we won’t pass up the chance to be free again.    We’ll come with you. And it is our hope that we’ll get to return to our mother islands.” he declared, bringing your focus back to the here and now.

   “I’m sure that won’t be a problem. I expect you’ll need to stay quarantined for a week or two at first, just to make sure that you haven’t become immune to any pathogens that other people could get sick from. Or that you’re carrying any of the deadly pollen with you, inert or otherwise.    But once that’s done, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t get to go home.” you reassured him, and he nodded softly.

   “Give us a moment to decide who leaves on the first transport. We’ll let you know when we’re ready.” he finished, before getting up and joining his people again.

   You didn’t think that they’d need very long to make those decisions, so you went to look for Marcus, to let him know you were getting close to departure.    He hadn’t gone far, though. You found him sitting on an overgrown tree-stump that was covered in moss, just outside the village, and he looked like he’d calmed down at least.

   “Hey. They’re coming with us. They’re just organizing now, so we’ll be leaving in a bit.” you said, approaching him from the side to keep from startling him, but he didn’t react to your appearance beyond letting his head dip forwards slightly.

   “Moreno? You okay?” you tried, but at first he didn’t respond, so you stepped closer, intending to shake his shoulder a bit.

   But then he started talking, and you stopped.

   “It’s not fair to you. Either of us, I guess. I can’t turn my feelings off, and you can’t just switch them on,” he said, the emotional tremble still very present in every syllable he uttered. “You… she… was the love of my life, and you look, sound, act, move, react exactly like her. You say everything I expect you to say. You are her.”

   He paused, turning his head to look at you, and you wanted to run away, because you’d never seen pain like that in a human being before.

   “I see her. And as long as I do, I can’t be around you.    So, when we get back, I’m gonna go. I’m gonna take Missy and leave. Start over.”

   He sounded like he was dying just uttering those words, and it tore at you. You hated that your mere existence was causing such hurt, and that there was nothing you could do about it. But this still felt wrong.

   “No, Marcus, don’t do that. If this is that painful to you, I’ll go. The Heroics need you; I can find work anywhere, I’ll be fine.” you pleaded.

   He stood up, looking like he was trying to lift half the jungle with him, and slowly walked past you.

   “Missy’s the only one that needs me. They’ll be fine.”

   There was a tight and uncomfortable knot in your stomach for the duration of the time it took to make the two trips to L.A with the tribe. He was right there next to you for all of it, and on the last leg, the second return trip, you spent a good hour searching yourself, looking for any hint of all that love that Akela had been sure you had for this man.    But nothing made itself known.

   Once everyone had been quarantined, Ricky looked the two of you over thoroughly, and upon finding nothing alien either in or on you, he released you back into the world, and you saw Marcus head straight for Granada’s office.    It might just be to get her up to speed, and make sure she knew what story the two of you had cooked up to explain to the team why you’d gone out there when he’d promised Tech to keep them in the loop. Or it might be… the other thing.    Why did it feel so wrong? If he wanted to leave, if that was what he needed to do to feel better, then he should do that. So, why did the thought make you feel increasingly unwell?    You tried to shed the feeling, making your way back to your office to catch up on the in-house work you’d missed today, trying not to think about what Moreno was doing.    Was he packing already? Would he bother to clear out his office, or was he just gonna pack some clothes, put Missy in the car and go? Leave everything behind…

   An hour later you still hadn’t gotten anything done, so you took a brisk walk over to his office, just to calm yourself.    Which backfired spectacularly when you got there and found a cleaning crew packing everything up and clearing it out.    He really was leaving. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.    No, this was wrong. This was just so terribly wrong, you had to stop him.    Rush hour traffic would’ve moved way too slowly at this time in the afternoon, so you never even contemplated your car, running back up to the helipad instead.    The aircrafts were strictly forbidden from being used for personal business, but you were trying to keep a member of the Heroic family from running off, so screw the rules.    You did pick a much smaller craft this time, so it would be possible to land in a residential area.

   Thankfully, he lived in a villa that stood on its own at the end of the street, with a big lawn out back, past the pool.    Missy was the first to come out and investigate why a chopper was landing on their backyard, so you waved to her and got out, just as Marcus slowly walked out of the house behind her, and you were unreasonably relieved to see that he was still there.    He sent his daughter inside before you’d gotten to them, clearly expecting this to be unadvisable for her to hear, and then just stood there, staring at you with an expression somewhere between pain and despair.

   “Don’t go.” you pleaded, and he closed his eyes, dipped his head and drew his arms up to hold himself.

   “How dare you ask me that…” his head snapped back up, but there was still no anger in his eyes. “I can’t do this… You’re killing me, Pita.”

   Pita. That name mattered. Holy fuck, did it matter. The sound of it from his lips sent an overpowering mass of emotions through you, from the most spiteful anger to the sweetest tenderness, and you doubled over as your head was suddenly burning as badly as your chest.    A part of you knew this, all of it. Had lived through it and learned from it, and that part also knew what it meant. Akela’s words about the brain failing to grasp emotions that were too colossal, now made complete sense.    You felt like you might split down the middle as you clumsily made your way towards him, stumbling on a water-hose left lying on the patio, and tumbling forwards.    Strong hands caught you and pulled you back up, and just like the last time you’d touched, there was a jolt, but neither of you pulled away this time.    And in that contact, in the real and prolonged exposure to his skin, you found it.    You knew this touch, craved it, cherished it. You knew how those fingers felt on your body, how his lips tasted, how they moved with yours. You knew what his desire felt like, his passion, his needs, his devotion… all of it.

   All at once, you could breathe again.

   “I know…” was all you managed to say, even though there was so much more rumbling around in your head.

   Too much to be able to explain right then, so you just grabbed his neck and kissed him, and somehow everything fell into place.    You no longer felt like you were being torn in half, and instead as though you’d been broken all your life and had finally been made whole. And when he realized that it was really you, that you felt right to him too, that this wasn’t some misguided attempt to ease his pain, his hands turned greedy on your skin, needing more contact, more reassurance that you were his, and you didn’t even try and stop him.    If you ended up on a sunbed or the lawn or the hard stone of the patio, you had no idea. All you knew was that when he drove into you, it felt like you both came home.

—————

Link to Chapter 20

Thank you for reading, and I’d love to know what you thought :) Have a wonderful day/night!

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[imaginewarehouse]

Marcus White x Jonah’sSister!Reader || Oneshot

Plot: 

You find out that you are pregnant... with Marcus' miracle baby.

Warnings: Pregnancy, panic attack

🔆  🔆  🔆

Carefully, I pick out one of the pregnancy tests from the shelf. Then grab another... 2 more... and another. Just to be sure.

As I go up to the pharmacy desk, I thank god that Tate isn't working here anymore; I never would've gotten away with this. He would've snitched to Jonah or something, for his own sociopathic enjoyment. Instead, the new guy thankfully rings up and bags my items casually, not really caring what he flings into the white plastic bag- then hands it to me with a soulless customer service smile. If I had to describe it, I'd say its if the man had been working here for years before finally letting the job kill him on the inside- just in time for the wind to change and stick his face like that. Honestly, I never see the guy without this smile. Not even in the breakroom. Its unnerving.

Still, I take the bag and smile back even though I know he for sure doesn't really mean it and turn around so I can walk (The long way around the store, so I don't pass the doors to the warehouse) towards the employee bathrooms... but stop short, jolting into panic mode immediately. Freeze, freeze, freeze!

There's Isaac, standing as tall as a bear in my path behind the aisles, with a scanner in his hand and a surprised look on his face. Or at least as surprised as he would ever convey.

Clearly, though, he saw the tests. And I'm screwed. He is absolutely the well, second last person I wanted to catch me doing this; Buying these.

A nervous smile flickers onto my face and I walk the short ways over to him, hugging the bag to my front. He's still just staring; Mouth half open and eyes a little less dead, then usual. "Oh, hey Isaac! How's is going? You got sent to pharmacy today? That s-sucks... " Honestly I didn't think he was allowed to be assigned pharmacy...

Completely by-passing the option to forget what he just saw and exchange polite chit-chat with me, he instead closes his mouth and his eyes, shakes his head and then opens his eyes again. Then inhales. "Are those what I think those are?"

"Wh-what?"

"Pregnancy tes-"

Shit- Giving him a desperate expression, revealing my true feelings today - being complete and utter panic, - I cut him off. "SHHH! Isaac! No- uh. Yes. Um... Would you believe these aren't for me?"

"Mmm... " His face twists slightly into one of thought, tightening his lips together and sizing me up. "No, I don't think so."

"Well!- " I'm totally ready to make up an excuse... but peter out as soon I try. I could do it. I could string together some kind of half-believable bullshit like 'They're for Amy', but he would still go and tell Marcus and he would find me and... I would still have to have the conversation earlier then I want to. So instead I drop the façade, and my shoulders, and show just how tired I am. "I want to find out myself before breaking the news to Marcus. Okay? He might be unhappy about the idea and then we do the test and it turns out I'm not pregnant and then I just stressed us both out, for no reason! And, on the other hand, what if he wants it and it turns out I'm wrong about this? Please, Isaac, just don't tell him yet. Please, please." I feel like no matter how many pleases I use they may still not change anything. But I'm desperate.

He stands still for a few minutes... so long in fact I think he may be in shock himself, or having some kind of drug induced anxiety attack, and am about to wave my hand up in his face or say his name again, when he finally breathes a little more obviously and I relax back down to earth. "... Well, lets go find out then, right?"

"What- You- you want to come?" Something in me relaxes at the thought- I don't really want to do this alone. I want someone there, like in the movies, to hold the box and just read me the instructions. But I imagined it would be someone I'm actually close friends with, who can hold my hand and wouldn't care that it recently touched a pee-stick. I did not expect that person to be Isaac - Isaac, who likes to watch homeless people kill each other with shopping trollies and sticks and trash can shields like in a horrible, pitiful, modern-day coliseum, - in a million years.

But he nods.

"Yeah, sure." He puts his scanner on the shelf, and we set off the way I was going. He seems to silently understand why we have to go the long way around- to avoid passing the doors to the warehouse. Or he just doesn't care. Either way, I'm thankful he doesn't try to re-rout my course. Or even mention it. "Good excuse to slack off work... besides I should probably get out of this section, anyway. Hey, it is Marcus- right?"

I sigh- I suppose the companionable silence was too much to ask for. "Yes Isaac. If its a thing, in the first place."

"Yeah, right."

___TIME SKIP___

"You're having a miracle baby, you know? He's not supposed to be able to do that- isn't that kinda... good?"

I only whimper in response from |my new home| the cubicle I've been taking the tests in, holding my head. How am I going to do this? I have college, I have this job, I have my studio apartment to continue paying rent for! Marcus and I don't even... there isn't even... we haven't labelled it yet, and... Oh god, I'm shaking.

Isaac heaves a sigh outside, his chair creaking as he shifts. "Well, that's... three positives, so far." Isaac's memorable, slow drawl seeps through the cracks in my cubicle and takes away my thoughts for a moment. And my breath.

3 positives.

3 positives.

Not one, not two... three.

... Then he goes on, a whiny tone in his voice. "Do we really need to do another one?"

I breathe in deep. I don't know what else to do. The next logical step would be telling Marcus or Jonah, but I'm ready for neither of those. So procrastination through pregnancy test, it has to be. "Uh, yes. We do. Um... can you, please?- "

"Ughhh. Yeah, yeah. I'll get you more water. Stay here." Then Isaac, who has surprisingly been very helpful, even getting me tape so I can stick the finished tests up to the door in front of me so that I can compare them easier, disappears out of the women's bathroom, leaving me with my thoughts.

I peak back up at the tests, feeling panic fill up my chest cavity like its anxiety gas and my rib cage is the gas chamber- and my heart's the poor organ at deaths row. I'm... pregnant.

Oh my god. I'm pregnant. There is a human being growing inside me, right now. A human being who will require time that I definitely don't have, money that its parents certainly could not scavenge if we scavenged for used soda cans like Myrtle and sold them in our spare time, effort that I'm terrified might not even be in me at this point... A baby that needs some semblance of a comfortable, stable home, which I do not have for it.

I'm just burrowing my face into my arms and knees atop the toilet seat when the bathroom door opens again. Looking up, I immediately ask for Isaac- because that was really freaken quick, for him.

And get a familiar, confused sounding voice call back "... No, its Amy... Sorry, I just need to pee. Are you going to be long?".

"Oh!" Oops. Immediately, head going empty with panic, I unlock the door and and jump out to let her in. "No! I just finished. Um- go ahead. I'll just wash- wash my hands."

Now seeing each other, I see Amy's forehead crease and her eyebrows furrow in confusion and concern at my pink cheeked/pale faced appearance and the panicky way I'm talking. She reaches out toward me. "... Y/N, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I laugh, the most nervous sounding laugh ever. "Don't worry."

Amy's nose screws up. "... why were you waiting for Isaac?"

"We-we're just having an affair."

... what??

Her eyebrows furrow even deeper. "Okay... I'm just gonna go... pee... now... " She says slowly, gradually disappearing into the cubicle; Not quite sure what to say back to that.

I sigh in relief when her eyes aren't on me anymore and the door locks, thinking flushing some water onto my face might calm me down, when a loud GASP comes from Amy and I i m m e d i a t e l y remember the tests stuck to the wall. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!

Amy comes right out of there, looking at me with completely new eyes now- understanding truly why I'm pale, I'm sure, and definitely why I was acting the way I was. "Y/N! You're... pregnant??!" I open my mouth to respond. Maybe say 'yes' seeing as that's the truth and the only proper answer, but I choke on my words and instead say, "Isaacs getting more water so I can take another test."

"I think 3 is a pretty conclusive number!"

"I-" She is not wrong, but I don't want to do anything else but take another easy test, and get defensive instead. "I bought four, I'm doing four!"

"Wh- Is Isaac the father!?"

"God, no." Isaac and I both spit back in offense.

I whip my head around when i realise he wasn't supposed to be there yet at all, and- there he is in the doorway.

... Jonah right behind him looking sicker then me. My jaw drops. "You brought Jonah??!"

"Uh, no, I was just waiting outside for, um," He gestures to Amy and my stomach drops. So he heard the whole thing. Could this get any worse??! Well I mean of course it could, Marcus could be here. Stupid question. Don't ask questions like that; It always summons the worst, in movies. "You're pregnant!? Who- you know what, unimportant right now. Do you wanna sit down??"

I shake my head, taking a deep breath and holding my hand out to Isaac. "No, I'm fine. I have a test to do. Water, Isaac?"

"Here." He hands me the bottle, and I go to disappear back into the cubicle before jumping back away again, remembering that Amy still needs to go and gesturing for her to go, ridiculously enough. She shakes her head and gestures back, like I'm crazy, to take it instead.

I do so and lock myself in, starting to chug the whole bottle.

A blessed silent moment passes... before Jonah speaks. "Is the 4th test really necessary?- "

"For the love of god- Let me take the fourth goddamn test for fucks sake!"

___TIME SKIP___

"... so what is it?" Amy asks 10 minutes later, breaking the deafening silence, as I sit back down on the toilet seat and hold my face in my hands again.

"... Positive... "

Isaac sighs. "Who would have guessed, really?"

No one tells him to shut up. He's right. But also no one agrees, because I'm a fucking 23 year old pregnant girl and I will kill them.

"So... what now?" Amy asks, speaking to the room, but expecting me to answer.

"Well, I'd like less people to be here, honestly." I pipe up, removing my hands from my mouth to speak clearer.

"Done. Isaac, Jonah, get out."

"What? I was here before you... lady." Isaac exclaims, offended, but a moment later I hear the door close, anyway. I assume it had something to do with Amy's signature resting bitch face- cranked up to eleven. "We'll just wait out here, then! Yell if you need us."

"Yep... " Amy responds to him, sounding exhausted and I can totally imagine her rolling her eyes right now. She takes a deep breath, and sighs it out. I hear her rest carefully down into the chair Isaac vacated. For a moment she thankfully says nothing, and I do wonder whether I should... but I don't know what to so say. So I just stay hidden in the cubicle, silent until Amy takes another deep breath and asks the question. "Who is it?"

I take a deep breath, knowing that once I say it I cant take it back, while on the other hand... its done, anyway. He's already the father and I cant change that (Would I if I could, though?) but telling Amy may either make or break my confidence in having him as the dad of my kid. Not that I have a choice... I just know that Amy's going to be worried about it and I don't know if I can handle the criticism right this moment.

Finally I spit it out though. Marcus.

...

"Oh- wow."

Uncomfortable, I shift on the closed toilet seat. "Yeah."

Her voice gets higher, clearly fake and trying to sound like this is better then she really feels it is. My heart plummets into my stomach like a terrible roller coaster. "Well, that's... " She pauses, searching for a safe word to use, assumedly. "Great!"

"... 'great?" For some reason that word, and Amy's tone... hits something wrong, in me. Panic flickers deep in my chest and my stare on the wall gets colder, harder. "... you think this is 'great'? Really? You? No, you don't. Do you hear yourself? 'Great'. Puh! This is Marcus. 'Been to jail' Marcus. 'Ex Con' Marcus. 'Creator and CEO of BOOB CHEESE', Marcus. Marcus who shits in the shower and thinks breastfeeding is akin to whipping your dick out in public, Marcus who has a tattoo of his mother on his back for Valentines day- "

Okay so maybe I'm just picking on him because I'm inadequate, because I don't have the time for a baby, because if I'm trusted with this perfect thing then I will ruin it... I'll pick work, instead of love, and they'll grow up with less of it then they should have and I'll be to blame...

But I don't want to address that yet. I cant.

"Y/N."

"Neither of us even have the money for this." I'm panicking again. "He lives with his mother! And- what if he gets mad... " I suddenly get worried, my eyes go round and I cover my mouth. "I really like him Amy. I cant have him mad at me. Not for this. Not him. Please don't let him hate m- "

"Y/N! Calm the fuck down, okay, right now. Don't speak. Just... take some deep breathes okay? First of all, Marcus is not going to be 'mad' at you. He's sure as hell is not going to hate you. You're spiralling, just take some long breaths." Amy makes it sound like a ridiculous idea with her tone, that he might be mad or he might hate me. I do as she says as she talks; take deeeeeep breaths. Slowly, I start to clam down. "He might be shocked, yeah, but he's- he's not like that. He's an idiot, not a total asshole. Take it from me, I know what I'm talking about here. I promise you. Whether he'll be good at being a parent, is... debatable." Everything she says makes sense. And she would know- you've met Adam. "But he'll be there, at the very least.

And... and you'll be a great mum, anyway."

I feel my heartbeat start to slow down again as I breath. I close my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest and rest back against the wall, carefully.

I really hope she's right on that second part.

"... thank you."

___OUTSIDE THE BATHROOM___

Jonah rubs his neck in nervousness at his sister in the bathroom dealing with something like this, pacing around the small hallway area before turning to Isaac. He raises his dark eyebrows. "So, do you know... wh-who?? I mean... the guy, that- I mean, does he work here, or... ???"

"Its Marcus." Isaac pulls out a bag of trail mix from his vest pocket and starts picking through, standing by the bathroom calmly. The brother to whom he just broke such detrimental news - that his sister, has Marcus White of BOOB CHEESEs baby inside her, - widens his eyes until they're more like dinner plates. "Yeah, they've been talking for a while, man. You didn't know?"

"I- I just thought she wasn't interested in... guys... " All her time must be busy with balancing both school and work, plus her friends... how can she possible have had time to... But on the other hand, he realises that its a bit naïve to think that his younger sister still isn't interested in 'boys'. Part of it might have been wishful thinking.

Isaac barks out a laugh. Its a stale, dry sound that makes Jonah really uncomfortable. "She also went out with Tate. Had a bit of a thing for Sayid for a while, too... "

"What!?- "

"Jonah!" At Amy's exit from the bathroom, he calms down immediately and straightens up. She raises her brows at him. She nods into the bathroom. "She wants you."

Yep- it takes him about 2 seconds to fly into the bathroom... to find his sister still hidden in the cubicle. He sighs, pressing his hand against the door. "Y/N? Amy said you wanted me. Do you want me to get you something to eat? Its just, I'm the only one who knows your snack preferences... and maybe we shouldn't eat in here, cuz its kinda gross... but if you want to, that's cool too!"

She doesn't respond for a minute, silent apart from the careful peeling of tape from the cubicle door.

Then the peeling sounds stop. A moment later her voice, sounding small and tentative as if just saying this would open Pandora's box, slips out. "... how're mum and dad gonna react?"

Its a rhetorical question. They both know it'll be bad - and they'll like Marcus even less, - , but its said so he knows what she's worried about. He sighs and leans back on the door. "Well very, very badly. But that doesn't matter right now. I'll take care of them."

"How valiant." Her voice is still small, quiet. But she sounds less scared; She always believes her big brother. Even when she knows logically that he cant protect her from them. Not their parents.

"Well, I try."

"... hm."

___TIME SKIP, BACK OUTSIDE OF THE BATHROOM___

"She is not leaving that bathroom," Isaac shakes his head. Its been an hour, and they've all been in there with her a couple times but she has not left the cubicle. Not even peaked her head out. She hasn't even e a t e n anything while she's been in there. Its starting to worry them. "Maybe we should go get Marcus."

Immediately Jonah looks up from his phone - having been reading up on pregnancy. What is going to start happening to his sister, now?? - and shakes his head, firmly. "No, she'll tell him when she feels comfortable with it. We aren't doing that."

"Yeah, it isn't up to us." Amy agrees, while still looking like on a deep, unsympathetic level that is tired of standing here... she definitely wants to drag Marcus here. But she also knows that Jonah is, unfortunately, a n n o y i n g l y, right.

Isaac heaves a deep, frustrated huff and gets comfortable on the floor.

___TIME SKIP: 3 HOURS LATER___

Finally, Jonah breathes in a deep, exhausted breath and puts his phone away. That's enough of that. He's sufficiently disgusted. He looks down the hallway, out to the store. Then to Amy playing solitaire on her phone and Isaac drawing slowly on the ground. "... Well, I mean, it's Marcus's baby too, right? He should know... right?"

"Mhm,"

"Yep, that's right."

"And... besides, Y/N might need him, right? Maybe he could get her out."

"You make some good points."

"I just wish they weren't points we already mentioned." Amy looks up from her phone and turns it off, flashing an sarcastic, displeased kind of smile. "Earlier."

"Yeah well... " He rolls his shoulders, looking away from Amy's piercing gaze- god, her face is like a loaded gun with no safety. And he's totally into it. He coughs, then whispers. "So, who wants to go get him??"

"Not it."

"I would, but ah... nah. I'm down for the count, down here."

"So... me."

Amy nods, making a 'shoo'-ing gesture with her hand. "Yep, you, Jiminy Cricket. You made us stay here for hours- you go get Marcus."

Looking to Isaac for help, Jonah is just met with the deadest eye's he has ever come upon, so he eventually sighs deeply, wiping sweaty hands on his jeans. "Fff-fine. Wait here."

___IN THE WAREHOUSE___

"Uh, hello? Hi- have you seen Marcus anywhere? Wh- No? Well if you see him can you tell him I'm looking for him? Its about Y/N."

The warehouse worker with the nametag reading 'Nigel' that Jonah's never spoken to before in his life and who prior to his words, had the new deadest eyes that Jonah has ever seen, suddenly beams- a twinkle of evil mischief in his eyes. "Oooooh, cats outta the bag, huh?"

Jonah blinks. "What?"

"You found out about Marcus and your sister, and now you're gonna beat him up? I was waiting for this moment." Nigel clarifies, actively looking around the room for Marcus now as Jonah rushes to explain that no, that is not what he's here for. Please don't say that so loudly- "HEY RICO! You seen Marcus around?? Y/N's brother's here to deliver an ass beating." Half a second passes while Jonah's ears ring from Nigel's screeching before something new apparently occurs to the warehouse worker as his eyes widen and he turns again to who must be Rico. "And you owe me 20 bucks!! Told ya he'd come!"

How often is Y/N in this place? Just seems weird, these guy's saying her name so casually... Jonah's forehead crinkles in thought as Rico rolls his eyes and groans, walking off to assumedly find Marcus. I'm learning a lot about my sister, today... Not sure how I feel about it...

Jesus Christ, has she eaten the cheese, too??!

Jonah doesn't get a moment to panic about that particular bit of nightmare material before he realises Nigel is still standing, awkwardly now, arms straight at his sides and eyebrows raised expectantly, right by him. Watching him, instead of returning to his job. Jonah raises his own eyebrows back; Shrugging. Like, what?? What do you want?

Nigel just just shrugs and shakes his head back passive aggressively, crossing his arms. Like, he doesn't know. Fine, we'll just stand in silence, then...

"Jonah! What's up, buddy? Visiting me in the warehouse- this is so nice! Want me to take my break now, cuz we totally can. Just let me wrap one last thing up and then we'll be back in my car, together. Listening to tunes; Ya know. Guy buddy stuff." T h a n k f u l l y, Marcus seems to rush from wherever he was in the depths of shelf-land when Rico apparently found him and cuts off the awkward stand off between the two men, dropping a hand on Jonah's shoulder and beaming. "What up, man?"

Quick to turn away from Nigel and get to what his mission really is at the moment, Jonah graciously ignores the touchy greeting... despite the awkwardness on his end and the fact that Nigel is still there, watching.  "Actually, I wanted to talk about, uh, Y/N."

Marcus' eyes immediately widen and his eyebrows raise, taking his hand off Jonah in favour of ringing his hands and stepping back nervously himself. "Oh, man... you found out, didn't you? Did she tell you? Cuz like, I know the bro code says its not cool to bone your friend's sister but- "

"Ah, ah, ah!" No, no, no, Jonah does not want to hear those words. No. "No, um. That's fine, whatever. Y/N's sexuality is her own. But- "

"Its a ruse, Marcus. He's here to kick your ass." Nigel insists, still very much there despite everything about this situation having nothing to do with him and instead just freaks Marcus out more as the warehouse head's eyes go even wider and he takes another step back- raising his hands in surrender.

"No, no! Nigel!- That's... no. I'm not here to kick anyone's ass! The asses here are all perfectly safe, I promise. Okay?" When Nigel's expression doesn't change a lick, Jonah gives up and just gestures off in a random direction. "Nigel, could you give us a minute, here?"

"What, so you can jump my boy here alone?"

"Alone?? Who's alone?" Jonah is getting increasingly irritated. "We're literally surrounded by other warehouse workers!! Ones who are actually doing their jobs, by the way. Maybe you should- "

Marcus finally intercepts and pats Nigel's shoulder, getting his attention from looking confrontationally at Jonah and smiles relatively softly at him. "Its okay, Nigel. If Jonah wants to kick me in my junk once- he's kinda entitled to it. Bro code and everything. Why don't you get back to work? I got this. Thanks, though." Nigel leaves, with that, but certainly not without giving Jonah one last greasy look over his shoulder and an 'Okay, Marcus. But call me, if... you know... '. Along with an extra evil squinty look at Jonah. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks bud. I know I can count on you." When Nigel is finally out of the picture, Jonah feels fatigued and just wants to get back to Y/N. At least its just him and Marcus now, though, so they should be doing that very soon. "So! What'd you want? If you really do wanna hurt me, then, can we go outside? By my car ideally, so I can drive the emergency room right after? Or you, cuz I mean... you're small, man. And I'll have to defend myself. Even if its fair. Its instinct, you know? You get it."

"I'm not gonna hurt you?? Why does everyone think- " What is wrong with people here? Do I give off a confrontational aura right now, or something??? "Ugh, whatever. Y/N needs you- she's been in the bathroom for 4 hours. We did try to get her out ourselves, but our attempts have been... l-lacklustre." Lacklustre? Okay, even he is surprised to hear that one come out of him.

"She needs... me? Like, she said that?" All of a sudden Marcus' expression changes. Worry wells in his eyes and his forehead creases, and he glances at the door out to the floor before returning to Jonah, looking restless now as his body fights with him to go, immediately. "Oh, what's wrong with her? Is she sick??"

"Uhh... in a manner of speaking... Look, I just think she needs to see you right now."

That makes the taller man move towards the door, clipboard dropped on a box on his way. "Of course; Right away man. Come on, lets go see her. So you really don't know what's wrong?? Should we pick up some root beer on the way?" Jonah follows behind, hand on his chin as he answers Marcus' questions. Wow... He did not expect such a response from him... He... kinda respects it, in a way. Its a pleasant surprise, at least.

___BACK TO YOU AND YOUR POV. God I hate third person. Its so hard, I want to cry___

"Y/N? You in here??" As soon as that voice registers in my mind, my heart beat skips in the worst way and I almost start to full on panic all over again, but thankfully instead just freeze and only widen my eyes. What the hell? The door to the employee bathroom closes as Marcus shuts himself in and you watch his boots appear under the door to your stall. "What's going on? Jonah couldn't tell me what's wrong with you," Jonah. I glare at the stall door. I'm going to kill him. "But I brought you some root beer for you- a total cure all. I promise. And some (Enter your favourite snack) cuz I know you like them. Here," He stretches up and holds the items over the stall door, and, feeling genuinely touched that Marcus was sweet enough to bring these, I get up off the toilet seat and accept them from him.

"Thank you, that's really nice. I'm... not sure, that the root beer will fix this, though." I speak carefully, sitting down and holding the items in my lap close to my stomach.  

"Course it will! I poured some in Mateo's ear once when he had an infection... I think it worked?"

Probably not. "This is a lot bigger then an ear infection... Kinda permanent, too?"

"Oh god, is it cancer?" He pauses for a moment but before I can put that particular worry at rest... or remind him that cancer is not always permanent... he makes it worse, and I fight not to facepalm. "The plague??! Its still a thing, you know. Jesus, its not that is it? Please tell me its not that! That would be the worst!" I mean... yeah, it would.

"Oh- no no! No, nothing like that!! I'm just pregnant!"

... wait.

Immediately I want to take back my words and say them differently- because is that really the way I just broke it to him?? Oh my god. My hand slaps over my mouth- then pulls back an inch to speak again, but is definitely on guard to slap again and prohibit anymore stupid to come out. "I mean! ... N-no big deal?" My voice gets tiny. "At least its not the plague, right?" I'm just making this worse, so I cover my mouth again.

Marcus does not respond, and I can imagine his face crystal clear, without having to look. He would have his mouth hanging open like a cartoon character, his shoulders have dropped, eyes are blank, and he's pale as hell. Oh god... oh god oh go oh god... I cover my whole face now and just try to breath evenly, and not talk anymore. I was right! He's not going to even like me anymore, this is going to ruin how he looks at me- I cant have Marcus look at me coldly. I really cant.

Finally, a few minutes later the door to the bathroom creaks open again and I know it's not Marcus escaping because I can still see his boots under the door and they haven't shifted in a while. Amy's voice rings out, too loudly in the stock silent bathroom. "... everything okay in here? We haven't heard anything in a while- Marcus?"

He doesn't respond.

I hear Amy walk in now, her heels click-click-clicking on the tiled floor. "Marcus? Marcus, are you okay?" She snaps her fingers, assumedly near his unresponsive face. I slip my fingers down to just cover my mouth, straining my ears to hear any movement from him. "Wake up!" Another snap. "Marcus wake up."

All of a sudden I hear shifting and his boots shift slightly and I squeeze my eyes slowly shut- now he speaks. Now's the part where he speaks. Now's the worst part! He either leaves, or stays. "Uhh... I'm awake, okay?"

...

Amy and I are both startled by the seriousness in Marcus' voice- Amy evidently in the way she responds, backing out of the room. "... Okay! Um, well talk. To Y/N. I'm... just gonna... wait outside... "

Marcus just grunts in response, turning back to my stall door. Then he wraps his knuckles against the surface and I flinch- unsure whether to unlock it and be a grown up or stay hidden away like I really, really want to. Its not like I'm afraid he'll hurt me or anything, not at all! Its just... I don't like to disappoint people and I'm terrified at seeing his face. "Y/N? Can you come out, now?"

"Ummm... no... " I wince, keeping my eyes closed to the world. As if that'll hide me from it.

"No???" He asks, bewildered.

"No... "

Marcus' voice isn't at all as cold-serious as it was when he spoke to Amy, but still. There is still definitely an unfamiliar focused quality about it, and its making me nervous. "What? Come on. What do you think's gonna happen? I'll yell at you? Come on, that's not gonna happen; Come out. "

"I'd really rather stay in here... " I fire back.

"Don't be scared of me." He really does sound trustworthy... but that fear, man; She's one unrelenting bitch.

My voice goes high pitched when I answer, too vehement to be the truth. "I-I'm not! Silly! Why would I be scared of you??" My eyes open up again and I just wince. Such a liar.

"Aghh... " I just listen to him shifting around out there looking for something for a bit, or thinking of what to say next, while I myself sit and think comfortable that there is nothing that will make this worse, seeing as I'm safe and sound in this toilet stall... before his boots disappear from my vision under the door and I hear him disappear out of the bathroom then return again almost immediately, going into the stall beside me and putting something down on the toilet seat in there.

Oh my god- he wouldn't dare! He would not-

Then all of a sudden he's climbing over the wall and I have to jump off the toilet seat and press closely to the stall door, root beer and snack still hugged in my arms like teddy bears. Marcus eases himself over the wall and onto the toilet seat before my eyes, then jumps off it to the tiles again in front of me, while I gape wide at him. "I- what- Marcus!"

"Well you weren't coming out! It was my only option!" He exclaims, and now that I see him I do relax a bit. There's no coldness in his face now, and there is certainly no unfamiliar, unfriendly seriousness, either, seeing as the man just climbed into a toilet stall to get to me. Very Marcus-y. I slowly let out a relieved breath, which is still also a 'calm down' breath as the pressure is certainly still on. I can see him, but he can also see me.

Eager to avoid the issue at hand, I snap. "You might've kicked me!"

"No, I wouldn't have." He makes a defensive 'pshhh' sound immaturely, waving me off with a hand before resting them both on his hips and looking right at me. I give him my own dubious look right back- What makes him so sure??? He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, anyway." Suddenly, a beautiful big smile spreads across his face; the kind that still makes me a little bit weak and almost forces me to smile back. Even now, in this situation. "This is great."

And then I'm speechless, mouth closed and eyebrows furrowed together. ... Great? What? Quickly he moves to clarify, before grinning that goofy grin of his. "The pregnancy! Man, I've seen enough girlfriends get pregnant over the years... its nice to see one having my baby." A moment passes and my system is just registering this reaction - not even relieved, yet. Just in shock and a little less anxiety, - before he drops his smile, raises an eyebrow, and adds: "It is mine, right?"

Still shocked, I answer as if the question was more on the lines of 'That was my cupcake that I just ate, right?'. Meaning, probably too casually. "Oh- oh, yeah! Abs- absolutely." He doesn't seem to mind.

He beams again. "Great! We'll be awesome parents- that is assuming you wanna keep the baby, right?"

"Uh... " All I want to say is yes, right now. Even as the complications of raising a baby right now linger in the forefront of my mind. But at the same time I'm looking at Marcus and I just want to. I want to have the baby, and I want to do it with him... in the moment, he's the absolute perfect person to do it with. I choke out, "Yeah."

He fist pumps the air at that response, and finally the relief starts to settle in my stomach and my heart... a smile grows on my own face. My eyes even get a little watery with the powerful relief. "YES! That's right, I'm gonna be a Dad. Whoo! We gotta tell everyone. But how, do you think? Should we get a cake or something that says it in icing?? Or should we just go out there and announce it over the speakers? Or should we just not tell anyone? Cuz on the one hand, I wanna tell everyone- but on the other... I don't really want Carol to know you're pregnant. That could be bad."

"Um... " I don't even know what to say. I just want to hug him, so I do. I step forward and wrap my arms around his middle, burying my face in his coveralls and the body I've become so familiar with over the past months that smells so uniquely - and not always so pleasantly, but definitely comforting,  - like Marcus and squeeze tight, closing my eyes. He smells like that 'new furniture' smell that's really just 'warehouse', and an unfamiliar home, and a little bit of B.O.

Thank god.

Amy was right. Of course she was. Even when I was stressing, I knew the image I had of Marcus getting mad about this didn't feel quite right, but... you have to prepare yourself for the worst, you know? I'm just so glad he's the way he is though, as he wraps his arms around my shoulders in return and bends his neck to press his cheek to my head. "I'm really happy about this. And I know we haven't figure anything out. With us, with money, with anything actually, but... we will, okay? I'll do my best, I promise."

"... Thank fuck." I chuckle, although its muffled and get a similar sound from him in return. "I'm really happy, too." He rubs my back in that rough, comforting way that guys do and I might as well melt; He's too wonderful. I bite my bottom lip, thinking my next move through before taking a deep breath and deciding to take the plunge and ask. "... hey... um... b-boyfriend?"

Marcus immediately pulls me back and holds me at arms length, a crazy-big grin splitting his face. "Oh, yes! This day just keeps getting better and better; Come on, we definitely have to tell everyone this, lets go." Excitedly, he slips past me and unlocks the stall door finally, but pauses and turns back to me before its pushed open at all. I tilt my head in curiosity- what's up? "Unless... congrats sex?"

...

Oh my god- a snort, transforming into a laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. I pull him closer by the front of his coveralls, grinning at both the idea and how silly he is and gently tug him down closer to my level. I close my lips and knit my eyebrows together understandingly. "... How about you come over after work? First we should probably deal with the others? You know, the ones hanging outside right now?"

"Oh, yeah, probably. Oh man- I'll be basically related to Jonah now!" Oh- well- not exactly but... okay fine. If it makes the guy happy. "Ha ha, look forward to seeing this face every Christmas, bro." Oh boy.

I just grin at that - Goodluck Jonah, - before leaning up the rest of the way and pressing a careful kiss to Marcus' lips which he immediately returns with enthusiasm, hands abandoning the stall lock and collecting my waist instead.

This is going to be okay.

It will work out. I hope.

BONUS:

Later in the breakroom while Marcus is busy with talking to some of the other Cloud 9 employees about the news, Jonah takes the seat next to me and I raise my eyebrows at him- he's obviously dying to say something. I know my brother at least that much. He sighs.

"So... you... haven't eaten the cheese, right? I mean, I have but I'm hoping you haven't been put through such, uh, cruel and unusual torture... "

"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I managed to convince him it was cannibalism for women." I grin, returning immediately to my Cloud 9 Caesar salad as Jonah sighs long and hard in relief, relaxing back into his chair.

[pastelwitchling]

“Please stop pacing,” Alex sighed, his arm over his eyes. “It’s making me dizzy.”

“Where the hell is Valenti?” Michael muttered. “He’s been gone forever.”

“He’s been gone five minutes, and – hey,” he grabbed Michael’s sleeve, stilling him. “Seriously, knock it off.”

Michael swallowed, staring at Alex as he brought his hand down to his stomach, his left leg swinging idly off the edge of the bed. He was trying not to look like he was in pain, but Michael could see his chest rising and falling a little too quickly, like he was trying not to breathe too deeply. Acid burned at the back of Michael’s throat.

“I didn’t mean to, Alex,” he said, the desperate plea in his voice to know, to understand, evident to his own ears. “I – I didn’t think – I didn’t see you – if I had –”

“Shh,” Alex took Michael’s hand, silencing him. His brows were furrowed like he had a headache and his lips pinched at the corner. “I’m fine,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Michael’s lower lip trembled. He’d just been frustrated, throwing things around his bunker. His star projections hadn’t been aligning right and his calculations hadn’t been adding up and the memory of Alex and Forrest together at the Crashdown that morning haunted every corner of his mind and pissed him off more. In all the commotion, he hadn’t heard Alex climb down the ladder, hadn’t heard him calling his name, hadn’t realized it was his hand on his shoulder until he’d lashed out and his powers had gotten away from him. Until he’d heard Alex’s wince of pain as his back hit the wall, hard, and Michael had seen him fall.

Everything had turned silent then. Michael could say nothing but Alex’s name on his lips, shocked and horrified by what he’d done. Alex had tried to stand, to insist he was fine, but his voice had been hoarse and his breathing ragged. Michael had right then called Kyle and told him he was bringing Alex to him, his hands trembling.

“Stop, Guerin,” Alex had tried. “I’m fine –”

“Get in the truck, Private!” Michael had snapped. He had hurt Alex. He had hurt Alex. He hadn’t been breathing right since.

Michael knelt by Alex’s bed now, and gently pushed his bangs back from his eyes after a moment’s hesitance. His heart swelled when Alex’s eyes fluttered and he turned into the touch, like these hands hadn’t been the same ones that had put him here.

Michael cupped Alex’s jaw, his thumb brushing his cheek, shivering at the soft and cool skin. Alex had always been colder than him, but Michael always found it an unspeakable comfort, something so inherently Alex that no one else ever compared. No one else could be Alex for him. He’d learned that the hard way.

Alex covered Michael’s hand with his own, sighing deeply into his palm. The only deep breath he’d taken since Michael had thrown him into the wall. He winced as the mental image flashed in his mind.

“Why were you wrecking your bunker anyway?” Alex asked, his eyes still closed.

Michael clenched his jaw. He considered lying only for a second before he realized it was the last thing he wanted to do. Not now.

“I saw you and Forrest together at the Crashdown,” he croaked. “I – I got angry.”

Alex opened his eyes, his brows furrowed. “You were jealous?”

“But I didn’t want to hurt you,” Michael said immediately. “I didn’t even hear you come in, I – I hate myself for what I did to you, Alex, I swear –”

“Stop it,” Alex shook his head. “D-Don’t talk like that.”

Michael’s other hand on Alex’s jacket sleeve tightened. “I hurt you –”

“It was an accident,” Alex defended, like he couldn’t stand the thought of even Michael talking bad about his favorite cowboy.

Michael sighed shakily, his eyes burning. “I love you,” he whispered. “I’m so in love with you, Alex, I think it’ll kill me.”

Alex shook his head, and for a terrifying second, Michael worried he’d gone too far. But then a smile tugged at his airman’s lips.

“I love you, too,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Which is what I told Forrest before he went back to New York this morning.”

Michael froze. “What?”

Alex kissed Michael’s palm wearily. “Forrest went back to New York. We broke up last week. We were just . . . saying goodbye.”

Michael started to stand. “R-Really?”

“And you would’ve known that,” Alex chuckled, nuzzling Michael’s hand, “if you’d just asked me. Now you have to replace everything in your bunker. All that work – gone. You’re usually smart, how’d you let that happen?”

But Michael didn’t hear that light jab, didn’t care about his things in the bunker, his research. None of it mattered because . . .

“You love me?”

Alex smiled fondly, and not without some exasperation at Michael, like he wasn’t even surprised that Michael had taken away only one line of their conversation.

“C’mere,” he murmured, putting his other hand in Michael’s curls, bringing his head in.

Michael’s mouth hung open in anticipation, his eyes already fluttering shut, but just as his lips brushed Alex’s, he remembered why they were in the hospital in the first place and all but leaped back.

“No,” he breathed, shaking his head. “No, I’ll – I’ll hurt you again.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Guerin –”

“Hey, back away,” were Kyle’s first words as he came in, glaring at Michael. “It’s your fault he’s even in that bed.”

Michael clenched his jaw, pulling his hands away and curling them to fists in his pockets before he could do something he would regret.

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kyle, I already told you, this was an accident.”

“Hey,” Kyle tossed Alex’s file on the end of his bed, “you might be willing to shrug this off, but I’m not.” He turned his dark eyes on Michael. “And after all that crap you gave me about hurting him when we were kids –"

“I would never hurt Alex,” Michael growled.

Kyle scoffed, clicking a button on a screen, revealing the x-ray of Alex’s chest that he’d taken. Michael flinched. “Sorry, what? I can’t hear you over the scanner.”

“Okay,” Alex tried, “can we just . . . not right now, please?”

Kyle heaved a sigh and sat on the edge of Alex’s bed, pulling his stethoscope from around his neck. Michael wanted to be angry at him, but Kyle’s eyes softened as they fell on Alex again and he helped him sit up. This was Michael’s fault. Whether he’d meant to do it or not, it was all his fault. What if Kyle was right? What if Alex was just too forgiving of him to be as angry as he should be?

“Breathe in,” Kyle said gently. “Breathe out. Again.”

This went on for another few minutes, and Michael knew Kyle wanted to be thorough, but he was losing his mind waiting for some results. Finally, Kyle sat back.

“The good news is you’ve only got a chest bruise,” he said. “You were hit pretty hard –”

“I didn’t hit him!”

“Then the wall did!” he snapped. “With the force you threw him, you could’ve punctured his lung, Guerin!”

“Guys –”

“If I’d known it was Alex, I –”

“You what?” Kyle demanded. “Maybe if you tried to think with your head instead of your ass –”

“Please –”

“Were you thinking with your head when you made his life a living hell in high school?” Michael tried, but the bite was weak even to him.

Kyle’s barked a laugh. “Yeah, tell me all about that before I take Alex’s file to the nurse.”

“Stop it!” Alex snapped, and collapsed into a fit of coughs. Michael and Kyle fell silent at once, Kyle rubbing soothing circles on Alex’s back as Alex held a hand to his chest.

“Okay, Alex,” Michael managed, his heart breaking with every cough, every wince, every ragged breath. “Okay, baby, I’m sorry. We won’t fight, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” Kyle murmured, still rubbing his back. “It’s okay, just breathe. You’re okay.”

Soon, Alex was leaning against Kyle, his eyes closed, his brows pinched as he took shallow breaths.

“M’okay,” he croaked, and Michael turned away before Alex could see him cry. “M’fine.”

“I know,” Kyle said quietly. “I know you are. You should get some sleep though, stay here tonight.”

Michael turned, wide-eyed. “H-He really needs that?”

Some of the venom in Kyle’s gaze seemed to have gone. “Just for observation. He doesn’t really need it, but it’d make me feel better.” A moment of silence and Michael took note of Kyle still rubbing soothing circles into Alex’s back.

“Here,” Kyle said after a while, and Michael blinked. It took him a second to realize that Kyle wanted him to rub Alex’s back. “It helps.”

Michael swallowed, expecting Alex to insist he didn’t need it, but Alex seemed half-asleep already, the pain in his leg and chest and back, and the countless hours waiting weighing heavily on him now. Not wanting Kyle to change his mind, Michael sat down on the bed, on Alex’s other side, and wrapped an arm around his airman’s waist, pulling him in against him.

“Right around here,” Kyle showed a spot down near Alex’s spine, where he’d been hurt the worst, and Michael held his breath as he pressed his fingers to the area. Alex whimpered slightly against Michael’s neck, but his expression soon relaxed as Michael rubbed.

Before he knew it, Kyle was gone, but he didn’t care. Alex was in his arms, sleeping against his chest like he’d always belonged there. Michael thought he always had.

Alex stirred after half an hour. He turned his face into Michael’s shoulder, gripping his jacket. He started to lie down, and Michael was helpless but to follow. In the end, they ended up with Alex curled around Michael’s chest, his breathing gradually turning slower and deeper.

Michael hesitated before he dared press a kiss to Alex’s forehead. “I love you,” he whispered into his hair. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

Alex murmured an incoherent response, snuggling deeper against Michael’s neck, inhaling his scent, his lips brushing the sensitive skin there. And still Michael rubbed his back, holding him tightly, promising him that he wouldn’t let him down again.

***

I just wanted some angst and fluff.

[tsarisfanfiction]

Care taking ideas:

Person A steadying Person B as they try to stand/walk

A: Alan B: Scott.

Tumble

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Gen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: Alan, Scott

I feel like I’ve written a lot of Scott&Alan recently, but any excuse to have a little brother looking after Scott is a good one in my books :D

Fluffy Prompt Generator

Alan was the youngest.  He hated it when it was pointed out, because normally when his age came into things it was accompanied by the words ‘too young’.  He hated it because it meant his brothers tried to sugar-coat anything they could get away with, so he could keep his ‘childhood’ just a little while longer.

He wasn’t so young anymore that he didn’t realise certain older brothers had lost their childhood way younger than the age he was now.  (He was still too young to realise that was why they were so insistent on his).

Smother hens masquerading as older brothers, a grand total of up to four, depending on how much of a Responsible Big Brother Gordon felt like being, as opposed to the Fun Big Brother Alan much preferred him as, meant that he was quite successfully shielded from a lot of things.  Not so much that he wasn’t vaguely aware of them, but there were sights he didn’t see.

Being the only brother on the island when Scott tripped and fell down the stairs from the den to the kitchen in hunt of something edible while Thunderbird One refuelled between busy missions (which Alan was not involved in, because none of them needed Thunderbird Three and once again his eldest brothers were brandishing his slipping homework in front of him and ordering him to pick up the slack or be grounded until the summer holidays), Alan found himself witness to one such occasion he was normally kept far away from.

The fact that Scott didn’t immediately pick himself up and keep going had Alan ignoring the homework - and the alarm John had tagged on him for leaving the table without authorisation, because yes they had decided to be that strict about it today - and running for the unmoving form of his biggest brother.

“Scott?”

The groan he got promised consciousness, at least, even if that made it even more worrying that Scott wasn’t moving.

“Scott!”  He leaned over him, tapping his cheek and watching in relief as blue eyes blinked open.

“Urgh,” his brother mumbled, clearly taking a moment to register where he was and what had happened.  “Alan?”

“Where are you hurt?”  He had to be, if he wasn’t already up and pretending it hadn’t happened.  Scott blinked at him.

“I’m not hurt,” he said.  Denied.  Alan might not be an adult, but he knew Scott well enough to know there was no way he’d still be lying on the floor if he wasn’t hurt.  He sent his best disbelieving glare at his brother.

“Sure you’re not,” he retorted when Scott didn’t fess up.  “Tell me or I’m calling John.”

John, who was no doubt gearing up to berate him for abandoning his homework the moment he got a moment to spare.  It wouldn’t be long before his second eldest brother piped up anyway.

“Alan-” Scott started, finally starting to shift and getting his hands beneath him in a way that had Alan’s eyes narrowing.  Scott didn’t normally need to push himself up with his hands; none of them did.  They were all too in-shape for that.

He tapped at his wrist.  “Last chance, Scott.”  Grandma was also in the house, and as soon as he called John, he’d be calling for her, too.

Scott stopped his denial, eyes honing in on the comm as though it was a threat.  Well, that wasn’t wrong.  Another moment of silence was all it took for Alan to bring up the link to Thunderbird Five and-

“My ankle,” Scott admitted.  First aid training kicked in and Alan instantly moved to assess it.  His brother hadn’t specified which one, but now he knew what he was looking for he could see in Scott’s movements that the left was being favoured.

“Let me see,” he insisted, batting Scott’s hands away as his brother resignedly stayed sat down.  A gentle probe had Scott obviously fighting to recoil, and Alan rolled his eyes.  “I don’t think you’re going back out on that rescue, bro,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Scott told him.  “Some ice and it’ll be good as new.”

Who he thought he was fooling with that, Alan had no idea.  It certainly wasn’t him.

“I’m getting a scanner and we’ll see,” he said.  “But I’m not leaving you at the bottom of the stairs for Grandma to trip over.  Come on.”

That time, Scott did recoil, some stupid big brother pride rebelling against the idea of being helped to stand by his youngest brother, but he was cornered against the stairs and with an eyeroll, Alan caught his arms.

“Up you get,” he said, shifting until he had Scott’s left arm across his shoulders and his own arm around his back.

“I can stand by myself,” his brother grumbled, but it seemed that Alan having hold of him was enough to stop him trying to get away.  Either that, or his ankle was a lot more painful than he was letting on.

It wouldn’t surprise Alan if that was the case.

“Nope.”  It took some effort, especially with the height difference, but he managed to get his brother to his feet.  Now, where to take him?  The breakfast stools dotted around were perfectly shaped for Scott to simply slip off the moment his back was turned, so they were out, but the kitchen wasn’t particularly conducive for lounging around-

Lounging.

He eyed the loungers by the pool.  Thunderbird One wasn’t going to be launching any time soon - Alan was under no illusions about being allowed to take Scott’s place - and if Scott was laying down... It might just take him an extra few seconds to get up.

Plus, it would elevate the ankle a little.

“This way,” he coaxed, bracing himself as Scott stumbled, clearly caught out at the change of direction.

“Where are we going?” his brother asked, confusion lacing his voice as Alan led him towards the pool.

“Mind the step,” Alan answered, helping him down to the patio.  “You need to put that ankle up.”

He saw the moment clarity struck.  Scott attempting to dig his heels in had something to do with that, but with one ankle out of action and Alan still directing forwards motion, he had little choice but to follow.

Sometimes, Alan appreciated John’s love of simple physics.

“Sit,” he ordered, nudging him down onto the nearest lounger and scooping his brother’s legs up to make sure he settled on it properly.  “And stay, or I’ll get Grandma.”

That close to the kitchen, it was a threat.

Whether it was enough of a threat to get Scott to obey, however, remained to be seen.

The answer was apparently yes, as Alan returned from his dash to the infirmary - pausing to update John out of Scott’s earshot, who rolled his eyes and obligingly turned off the ‘Alan do your homework’ alarm at his valid reason for not doing it right then - to find Scott was still there.

Scott was also, somehow, asleep, as though the act of laying down on a lounger was the last push he’d needed to get some rest.  Alan wondered if he’d have fallen down the stairs if he’d slept a little earlier.

Probably not.

Careful not to disturb him, he ran the scan.

Just a sprain.  To be safe, he scanned his head, too - all clear; no concussion, just plain exhaustion.  He could let Scott sleep a while longer before summoning Grandma to deal with the ankle.

Satisfied, he retreated long enough to snatch his homework before relocating next to his brother to get on with it.  And if his new location meant he got to enjoy some peaceful time in the sun with a sleeping brother, well, that was just a bonus.

[meltwonu]

| caffeine |     [chapter 1]

pairing; fratboy!wonwoo x female!reader

this chapter’s notes;  some smut, mild degradation. (some art history bs cuz I, in actuality, am a nerd) can I get a yeehaw! we’re finally kickin’ this off~ this is mostly just the lead up with some mild touchin’ but you know how it is~ thank you all for being so patient! can't wait to get the next chapter out 💕 

chapters; 1 - x - x - x - x

It’s 10:48am when Mingyu all but begs you to return his art history books on Dadaism back to the campus library. You give him 4 sentences to explain why you should be the one to do it; the tall male whining that he’s already late for his exam on Baroque art.

“Can you not be a bitch for 4 seconds, please? I’m literally begging you and I know for a fact you need to get books on that fuckin’ art and gender course so don’t play me like you’re not heading there anyway!” Mingyu shoves his books into your arms, adjusting the messenger bag on his shoulder.

“I swear after the rager on friday, I’ll take you out to get those mochi donuts on saturday, okay? I gotta go!”

He gives you no time to respond, jetting off to his already-late exam. You roll your eyes, adjusting the books in your arms as you begin the trek to the library. Mingyu was a friend that you’d met in your Intro to Photography class with Minghao, another mutual friend of yours. Both of them were no-doubt handsome and insanely educated when it came to art and art history but both of them were also part of the SVT House; one of the most notorious frat houses on Greek Row. They threw parties every other week, inviting the entire campus to show up if the cops didn’t show up first. Mingyu had invited you to a few in the past but you’d always decline; citing that you rather not be around when the cops showed up. You always wondered how Minghao dealt with being in a frat house knowing he typically hated loud parties and huge crowds of strangers.

When you finally get to the library, you struggle with the door, the damned books making it difficult for you to pull the handle open. A kind soul helps you out, a small ‘thank you’ leaving your lips before you make a beeline for the receptionist desk to return Mingyu’s books. Noticing a different male there than the usual librarian, you quirk a brow.

“Um, hello?” He spares you a glance, closing a few windows on the computer he was working on before he walks over to your side of the table. You take in his features; sharp eyes, silvery blue hair, wire frame glasses, pressed white shirt under an argyle printed sweater vest tucked into beige pressed chinos. He looked like a stereotypical version of what most people would think a librarian looked like but also had the features of a high class model. You were sure you’d seen him around, probably when you’d run into Mingyu or Minghao between classes.

“Yes, can I help you?” Fuck, you think, his voice is hot too. You can feel your body heating up just from his voice alone and you take a second to recover, stuttering as you set the books down on the counter.

“Y-yeah, um, I--uh, just wanted to return these books? That’s all.”

Cursing under your breath for stuttering, you miss the way his lips quirk up into a small smile.

“Sure, let me just scan these in.” You opt to just nod, saving yourself from any further fuck ups with talking as you watch him grab the scanner.

“Hmm, it says Mingyu borrowed these books. Can I ask why you’re returning these and not himself?”

“O-oh, we’re friends. He was late to his art exam and I needed to do some work here so… figured I’d just return them for him since he’s already suffering.” He laughs, sliding the books off the counter and placing them on the return cart for later.

“I don’t see why he didn’t just give them to me this morning but I guess the beer pong from last night must’ve been the reason for him being late.” You sigh, “I knew there’d be a stupid reason he’d be late for his exam. Anyway, thanks for helping me…?” You leave the question open ended, wanting to get his name before you disappeared to one of the empty study rooms. He smiles at you again, dusting off his hands on his neatly pressed pants.

“Hi, my name’s Wonwoo. I volunteer here at the campus library every day from 10am to about 2pm. If you need anything, just let me know!” He shakes your hand, eyes twinkling as he gives you a quick up and down from behind the receptionist desk. You give him your name; watching him as he whispers it under his breath, lips tilting up into a warm and inviting smile.

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope we’ll get along well.”

You hate the way the image of Wonwoo smiling at you is embedding into your eyelids while you try to work; the stupid essay sitting in front of you still blank even when you get up to look for materials on the course an hour and a half later. Checking the kiosk to find out where the said art and gender books were, you make your way through the bookshelves, not finding any of the books you were looking for. You contemplate for a second, wondering if you really want to go visit Wonwoo at the receptionist desk. Fuck it, you think, I’ll get my books and I swear I’ll finish this damn essay before I leave, it’s not just eye candy.

“Hey, Wonwoo?” He turns away from the return cart, adjusting his glasses as he walks over to you at the counter. “Yes, what can I do for you?”

“Um, I… it said the art and gender books were on the shelves but they weren’t, uh, there? Can you… check for me please?” He nods, sitting down at the computer while you recite the necessary info to him. Wonwoo jots down a few notes on a notepad, getting up and gesturing for you to follow him as he tears the sheet off.

“Sorry, I’m new here so we might get lost but I think they might’ve accidentally been shelved in the wrong section of the library.” He threads through different bookshelves, taking you deeper and deeper into the library until there’s hardly anyone around.

When he finally stops, you’re in a section of the library you don’t recognize, the emptiness mildly eerie as Wonwoo searches for the said books.

“Wanna give me a little snippet of what these books are about while we’re here?” He didn’t strike you as a small talk kind of person but you shrug behind him; you were already there, might as well.

“Um, it’s just, kind of how different genders consume and interpret the human form in art. Lots of it is old and outdated but it’s for an art course I’m taking right now. Y’kno, things like the ‘male gaze’ and stuff. I’m sure it’d bore you to death.” Wonwoo hums in acknowledgement, turning to face you as he slowly backs you up against the bookshelf. It takes you off guard as you hold your breath, eyes boring into the argyle print on his sweater vest.

“Interesting course you’re taking. I don’t think it’d bore me though, I’m quite enamoured with the female form.” You’re convinced if you breathed wrong, he’d feel it with how close he was. But he whispers a small ‘ah-hah’, his hand resting on the shelf next to your head as he pulls out a singular book. Wonwoo steps back, placing the book in your trembling hands.

“That’s one book, 3 more to find.”

He continues like that, his body in close proximity to yours the entire time you stand there, unsure of what to do. Wonwoo finds two more of your books, setting them on an empty shelf nearby as he checks his note for the last one. You mentally curse yourself for wearing a sundress to the library because you can feel the back of his hand grazing your thigh when he kneels on the floor next to you, hand placed on the shelf and eyes scanning for the damned book you don’t even care about anymore.

“Hmm, I can’t seem to find this last one. Weird. Maybe someone checked it out already and it got misscanned.”

“Oh, um, that’s fine, this should be g-good. I can check the shelf myself or something!”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping you out back here. I wouldn’t want you to do it alone, you know. Joshua should have already come in for his shift already anyway.” Wonwoo stands back up, his face close to your body as he towers above you. “Don’t you want my help? I don’t really offer it very often.” The suggestive tone in his voice has you clenching around nothing, already embarrassingly wet. You hope to a higher power that he can’t tell but something inside of you already knows that he’s aware of his affect on you.

“O-okay, please… please help me.”

You swear you’ll finish your essay.

Right after Wonwoo finishes getting you off.

He touches you underneath your dress, fingers pressed firmly against the wet patch on your panties as you bite your lip to keep in your moans.

“You’ve only met me today and you’re already this wet for me? You’re such an easy little thing. Do you get this turned on just for anyone or am I doing that much damage to you?” It’s a rhetorical question, but Wonwoo waits patiently; wanting to hear your reply anyway. Under any other circumstances, you’d probably punch a guy that called you easy, but for some reason the way Wonwoo says it has you getting even wetter.

“I, mmh, don’t normally… d-do this I swear.” He has you pressed against the bookshelf, a leg slotted in between yours as he braces his other hand next to your head. Wonwoo’s thumb presses hard against your clit, the fabric of your panties adding extra friction as you grind down onto his hand. “Oh? So I am just that special, huh? Lucky me, I’ve got such a cute girl cumming in the palm of my hand.” He chuckles at his own joke, glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose ever so slightly.

Your hands dig into the fabric of his sweater vest, wanting nothing more than to just cum so you can go back to working on your essay and simultaneously dying of embarrassment that you got that turned on from a guy you’d just met a couple hours ago and he made you cum in some back part of the library.

“Wonwoo, can you… touch me harder, I’m really close...” You whisper. He hums, his fingertips grazing the hem of your panties.

“Harder? Or would you want my fingers instead? I wonder how many of them you could take before you’re begging me to just fuck you?” The juxtaposition of his words and his gentle touch is enough to send you over the edge, biting your lip to keep in any sounds that threaten to escape. He lets you ride out your orgasm before his hand is slipping from underneath your dress and he’s pulling away. Your dress slides back down into place, not a hair on your head looking disheveled other than the fact your face is redder than a tomato.

Wonwoo adjusts his glasses, hands immediately smoothing down any wrinkles on his clothes after.

“My shift is almost up here and I need to get to my archeology class afterwards but if you’re ever curious about the male form, I’m a willing subject.” 

[gumnut-logic]

Daily Dose of Thunderbirds

I absolutely adore this moment where John pulls up the EMP and zaps the Zero XL (Eos will probably never let him forget it - hence why he wasn’t immediately in the cockpit in the scene afterwards - he was checking on Eos). ::wonders if it might be lying around somewhere as a gif that could be gazed at extensively :D ::

But this moment, Virgil and John together like we’ve never seen before (though I have to say that John obviously knows Two well...what don’t we get to see????) Both professional, smart and powerful. It is just great to see them together.

Also headcanon - the EMP was installed after the episode ‘Chaos’ where it was obviously a gap in their toolkit. Brains would have been very annoyed and patched that gap asap.

Aaaah, what am I doing? I’ve written this all in a fic. Have a excerpt of Thunderbird XL (it’s unfinished, but still has a few interesting bits in it).

-o-o-o-

Two was so familiar it hurt.

One was his daydream, but Two was his reassurance.

Virgil didn’t say anything as he helped him through the corridors. A mop of black hair was his only sight as he looked down at the big man under his arm.

The shoulders supporting him were far broader than he remembered. It slowly began to sink in exactly how much he didn’t know. The uniform was familiar. The green baldric and kit. The tools were new and Jeff frowned at them as if to accuse them of betraying his faith in his knowledge. Why Virgil felt he had to carry a screwdriver around with him everywhere, he had no doubt his son could tell him if he asked.

But he didn’t.

They arrived at the room he expected and it was with some relief that it was what he expected.

It wasn’t until Virgil velcroed him to the bed that he saw the dent in the ceiling. “How did that happen?” It was out before he could think twice.

Virgil looked up from the tray of supplies that were not designed for an antigravity environment and frowned at the bulkhead above them.

“Oh, the exo-suit.”

“What was the exo-suit doing in here?”

Virgil pulled out a palm scanner and began a methodical examination. “Got myself trapped in it. Tried to get myself out. Didn’t go well.”

Jeff stared at the side of his son’s head, but didn’t ask the obvious question as Virgil stared at the hologram of a very battered old body above the bed.

Virgil’s hitched breath was the only sound in the room.

“I-I need to give you some supplements. A painkiller would probably be a good idea.”

“No, son. I can last a little longer. Need a clear head.”

Brown eyes caught his for just a moment before looking away. “There isn’t much else I can do until we get you to a hospital.” Virgil turned away, once again fiddling with equipment, unwrapping a hypodermic needle and fussing with a small bottle of liquid. “This is a basic dose of necessary vitamins and minerals.”

Virgil’s eyes were on anything but his father and the hologram above him.

Jeff reached over to one of the many patches on his suit and unwrapped the seal on his arm. “You’ll need to secure it again.”

His son blinked but said nothing, administering the dose to his father and rebinding his suit with tape. “We need to get you a new uniform.”

“It is enough for the moment, Virgil. We need to get back up top and get out of here.”

He saw the hesitation flicker across that longed-for face. “You’re lying down on one of the medbeds in the cockpit. You’re going to let the medscan finish so when we reach home, we have enough data to know what we have to do.”

Jeff eyed him. The changes were subtle. The confidence level was much stronger, more assured, despite the situation.

“Virgil, we need you up here.”

John’s voice would forever be music to his ears.

“FAB.” A swallow, and Jeff could see his son visibly gather himself. “C’mon, Dad. We have a rescue to complete.”

Detaching him from the bed, Virgil again wrapped his arm around his father and helped him through the great green ship.

Both Gordon and John were in the cockpit. The medbed had already been deployed and was ready waiting.

It very quickly became clear that he had no say in whether he was going to lie on it or not.

Virgil’s directions stood for no argument and to be honest, Jeff didn’t really want to put up a fight, but there was so much to see! After so long alone with only rock and the same broken ship to stare at, everything was so rich in colour.

And his sons. His beloved sons.

He watched their every move, part of him still unable to believe that they were really there.

Virgil fussed, obviously fighting his own demons. Gordon chattered incessantly, but Jeff was so happy to hear and see him, he had no protest.

And John, his saviour…Jeff had never been one for the musical arts, that was always Lucy’s department, but to hear his boy’s voice free of static and interruption…

Reality threatened to fracture.

So, he obeyed his worrying sons and lay down on the medbed. Gravity, wasn’t a factor at the moment, but when they reached Earth it was going to be a definite problem.

Reached Earth?

He swallowed a lump in his throat as Virgil was finally urged to the pilot’s seat and the great ‘bird around them came to life.

He had to see this, so he sat up on the bed and watched.

John contacted the Zero XL. The name of the ship that had brought his boys here felt wrong, as if he had been aboard the Titanic and was now being saved by the Titanic II, but the moment the ship answered…

Brains.

The joy in the man’s stuttering voice had Jeff’s heart stuttering along with it. Not only had his boys come all this way, but Brains as well?

The Brains he knew wasn’t a physically active man. His specialities were academic. He had never been comfortable in space or even aboard the Thunderbirds he had designed, yet here he was, out here where literally only one man had gone before.

Jeff’s heart swelled almost to breaking.

John cut off the connection and that voice was gone. Only to be replaced by those of his sons as they coordinated the return trip.

Scott was clearly in command, but Virgil had his own responses and John was sharp and sure. Gordon sat back quietly, his stream of excited words apparently spent, but his posture was active, as if he was ready to move at a moment’s notice. He turned, looked at Jeff and smiled, his eyes glittering in the overhead lighting.

It became apparent very quickly that his boys’ skillsets had advanced considerably while he was gone.

Which really? Was to be expected, but time and memory were two different things.

The red of Thunderbird Three coasted effortlessly between spinning and colliding rocks, One and Two following best they could.

“Who taught Alan to fly like that?”

Gordon snorted. “He’s pretty much a natural.”

“Dad, you need to lie down flat and let the medscan finish.” Virgil threw it over his shoulder and Jeff got the impression that if the man didn’t have to fly his ‘bird, he would still be fussing.

“You sound like your Grandma.”

His mom.

Mom.

Virgil’s tone lightened and his voice was grinning. “Yeah. Who is always right.”

Hmmm. Perhaps some things hadn’t changed.

-o-o-o-

He did lie down eventually, if only to stop his second eldest from fretting. Gordon turned around at one point and whispered that if he didn’t do what Virgil said, things could get scary. Apparently, he was speaking from experience.

So, the medscan was completed and the nagging stopped.

But then they arrived at the Zero XL and Brains refused to respond. It appeared that his Titanic analogy may be far too possible.

Was fate really going to do this to him? Dangle rescue and then snatch it away?

And leave his boys stranded with him?

Then International Rescue responded.

Situation called, examined, orders issued, resolution found and executed.

A moment of panic to a moment of shocked stillness. The Zero XL floated silent in space, the emptiness eating it with its lack of light.

For all its nomenclature, the ship looked nothing like its predecessor.

Was that Thunderbird Five on its bow?

“Thunderbird Two, I need options. How do we get onboard?” His eldest’s son’s voice was a balm against the emptiness. “The docking ports are still closed.”

“I’m working on it, Thunderbird One.” John’s voice was ever so calm. The communications expert flicked a switch on the dash. “Eos, do you read?”

“I’m here, John. Though I would appreciate you never doing that again.”

His son sighed. “You were safe, Eos. We’ve gone over this before.”

The female voice was strident. “That is all very well for you to say, you weren’t the one being shot at.”

Jeff frowned. Who else was aboard the Zero XL? The voice was unfamiliar and sounded very young.

“We have a time limit, Eos. Do you still have access to the Zero XL’s systems?”

“Some. You did do damage with that little trick.”

“We need to dock, Eos.”

“Do you have the password?”

“Eos!”

“You did say I should work on my humour.”

Despite the playful tone, it appeared that Eos knew what she was doing as the Xero XL at least partially came to life, sections opening. He watched as Alan slid Three into a port at the rear. One settled into something similar, and then Two slipped under the ship’s belly and docked with a soft thud.

Virgil spoke briefly with Alan and his ‘bird was secured.

The moment Virgil was out of his pilot’s seat, he was beside Jeff, unstrapping him.

“Gordon, meet with Scott and secure the ship.”

“FAB.” The aquanaut’s eyes sparkled at Jeff again as Gordon briefly touched his shoulder before turning sharply and leaving through the rear door.

John was still sitting in his chair, speaking to the woman who continued to be both efficient and difficult.

“Who is she?” He said the words quietly, but Virgil heard him, his head coming up with a small smile.

“She’s Eos. John can fill you in.”

“Okay.” There was obviously a story there. “So, what’s with the EMP weaponry?” He arched an eyebrow.

Virgil’s smile vanished to be replaced with a frown and he looked down. “Brains designed it after the incident with the GDF’s rescue robots.” He cleared his throat. “A lot has happened.”

Quiet. “I’m sure it has.”

His son’s frown was targeted at the bed’s readout before Virgil reached over and lifted Jeff gently off the mattress and set him floating vertical again. “How does that feel?”

Jeff smiled just a little. “It does the job.”

Regardless, Virgil slipped his arm around his waist again and led him out of Thunderbird Two.

The difference between the interior of Two and the Zero XL was vast. He went from reassuringly familiar to alien in moments.

He missed the green immediately.

“Who built it?”

“Mostly Brains.”

“Mostly?”

Virgil didn’t answer and Alan joined them, again reaching out to hug Jeff, chattering just as happily, if not more than Gordon earlier. Virgil didn’t join in, but neither did he let go.

And then they were at the bridge of the ship. Virgil let him go and Brains was smiling up at him. It was so good to see him.

“It’s good to see you, Jeff.”

His own name forced his heart into his stomach. The man was an older version of his business partner, but his expression, his complete lack of stutter…it had been eight years, but Jeff Tracy had worked so many hours alongside this man, he knew him.

And it wasn’t him.

There was only one person it could be and for a split second, part of him wailed at the injustice that Gaat had followed his sons out here to corrupt these moments as he had corrupted everything else ever since he had met the man.

“It’s good to see you, too.” And he offered his hand.

As Gaat reached to shake, Jeff could see fear in his eyes. Perhaps that was what kept the bastard going all these years. A need to prove that he wasn’t afraid, that he wouldn’t run again when faced with the one man who had managed to prevent him from succeeding all those years ago.

The grip of his limp hand closed the deal.

Jeff spun the man around, wrenched his arm up his back and shoved him face first into the bulkhead.

-o-o-o-

Thunderbird X & Thunderbird XL

[the-terminal-archive]

"Ah, Seraph. Thank you for coming all the way here from your humble abode." Tsavorite turned to the gem that presented himself to them, a soft smile on their face. "Are you doing well? Does the plating suit you comfortably?" "I'm doing very well! It all looks so nice, I can't thank you enough…!" "Hah… I try to do my best. Anything to make you the most comfortable that you can be." The compliments made them a little smitten… this frail one always knew a means to make the garnet proud of themself. "So… Topaz has requested your presence within Shining Signal's deepest caves. He wishes for you to see its most wonderful depths." "Topaz…? But with where he lives… Wouldn’t I die before reaching that place?" "That is why Ametrine and myself will accompany you there. Should any danger arise, we will be there to help you with such." "But you have nothing to defend yourself with…" "Oh, but I do. I've developed weapons with the most pristine minerals I could manage. Trust me, you will be safe. None of us will get so much as a scratch." "Oh...that's comforting to hear! I'm happy I mean that much to you both." "It's nothing, really." They cupped one of the shorter gem's cheeks, and he would hold it there. It was warm… "What Topaz will do is quick, we’ll be out of there before we know it, if you're worried."

Seraphinite was about to respond, but was interrupted by a series of beeping noises. "...one moment, please. ...Ametrine? Why are they calling so soon after leaving…?" the mumbling continued as they pressed a button on their scouter. Perhaps it also had an earpiece…? "Hello?" Their voice suddenly switched to its usual confidence thereafter. "Yes, what is it? … … You...found something?" Their eyes narrowed a little in thought, glancing down as a hand went to their chin. "Describe what you have uncovered." The scientist moved over to a desk nearby, writing down the little notes that the quartz told them, stopping when the name was finally given to them. "...Repeat the name…?" They had to be sure. On this last chance, they… they finally found the one they were looking for? Tsavorite's eyes lit up when such was confirmed. "How long will it be before you get here? …An hour, right… you're going to keep losing yourself in these new mines if you keep thinking like that." There was a pause, then a laugh drawn from them. "I can't believe you've found Phantom at a time like this. I don't recall the last instance I gazed at them in complete clarity. Would you mind giving them a dose of that sedative I gave you all the time ago in case you sighted them? ...Yes, yes. The vial. It will simply relax them, nothing more. I wouldn't wish for them to be startled upon waking up. ...Thank you so, so much for finding them. I have something for you when you get back home, I promise you'll like it. ...Pff… Don't go overexerting yourself trying to get back here, silly. Alright… I'll see you then. Take care."

Click. "What’s happening…?" "Well, a specimen has simply been discovered for a little project I'm working on." "What are they like?" "We'll know when they arrive, won't we? It's been far too long since I've seen them… I wonder how those growths have been fairing for them." "Growths?" "They have a small cluster of crystals on one side of their face. It's been decades since then, so it's probably adapted to its host by now. I'm curious about adding other inclusions into them, since they always rambled on and on about how being a quartz wasn’t enough to stop foul beasts...tch. As if they could be stopped to begin with." "They...can't be stopped?" "Once the diamonds start forming? Certainly not. I cannot make that Phantom into diamond, definitely not, but this experiment will leave them satisfied nonetheless." "...I see." Seraphinite nodded, understanding almost none of that. "Can I say hello to them?" "You can, but they'll be asleep." "Oh. ...how long will your experiment last?" "A long while, to say the least. It might also fail, so at worst, they may have a lot of themself eaten away at. It’s nothing that further inclusions and plating can't fix." "Hm… I suppose we'll be going out sooner, thanks to such a sudden finding?" "Of course. Give them a short while, and they'll be here before you even realize."

~

"Okaaay, back in the mines. Mm, I dunno where the entrance is, buuut! Maybe I can find that one point I found a while ago…" Pulling up a few scanners on their visor, they hummed as they glanced at each of them...oh! The radiation one...that's the stuff that caused all those Larimar to bluescreen, right? Yeah, probably.

Why do you keep forgetting things? That isn't like me at all!

They moved about the mines, retracing their steps every so often. Right- no- left? South- no, they've been there before! However, the more they wandered, the more they began to recall the path they took, eventually finding the hand sticking out of the wall- well- hands? Did gems always form this way? They could've sworn that one of them twitched as they passed by. Tsavorite wasn't far, were they…? Hm...oh! No, they weren't! They were actually soooooo close!

Walking into the lab of the scientist, there was a wide grin on their face. "I'm hooome~!" "Ametrine! It's good to see you back! I surely wished you could have stayed longer, but alas, you discovered Phantom. Was there any….activity there?" "Uh, there were two really creepy monsters there, and there are more to come, I think!!" "...I see. So, the outlook is grim." "Huh?" "Nothing." Tsavorite sighed, turning their attention to Phantom Quartz. "So, they've even put inclusions of their own into themself following… hm. Interesting. I'm so glad I'm able to see them once more. Will you allow me a moment with them?" "Mhm!" They handed the knocked out thief over, which Tsavorite seemed to carry with ease deeper into the labs.

In a dimly lit room, they would enter, closing and locking the door behind them. It's been a long time since they've been here, and this surely would be the last. Open notebooks littered the place, the center of it all having a large tube by which the Phantom was loaded into. Once wires were hooked into them, fluid mixed with their yellow and blue blood as it sealed them in. "I don't know why you ran before, but… it matters not. You will become the pest control you craved to be, down to a science." They put their hand up to the glass, a smile on their face leaving as soon as it took to form as they gazed at the other’s eye. "... I apologize, however. I wish I could have salvaged your sight in that incident, but… one cannot have the world, it seems. It’s not as if you can hear me, with the state of comatose the vial put you in, however...these are secrets I will carry to my grave." Upon those several notebooks, they all spoke about several things, failed attempts using other gems, but upon realizing the adaptability of Quartz…

One of the notebooks read differently, detailing oddities related to artificially embedding gems into others. Those inclusions? Ah, those were something Tsavorite figured would happen. And now that their beliefs were confirmed… they knew this had to work. No cost was too great for someone that could salvage them all.

~

Ametrine watched the scientist leave as quickly as they came, pouting and putting their hands on their hips. "Hm! I thought they'd spend more time out here… dummy!" "Oh, they're not all that dumb." "W-Well, yeah, but-!!! Seraph??? It's been so long since I've seen you!!" There was an excited giggle as they ran up to the green gem, hugging him. "It's been a while, hasn't it- ah!! D-Don't hug me too tight, please!" "Oh- Right, sorry." the hold of the quartz softened, doing a quick once-over to make sure nothing was chipped. “What did Savvy want you here for?” “Oh, just the usual, more plating, preparing for whatever extravagant event they’ve had Topaz plan for us.” “Oh, that’s right! Tsavorite told me to give you something before we go, since we seem to be leaving a little later… uh...this!!!” It was a crystalline gun, its source material unknown. “They said they would protect me as would you, so-” The sentence couldn’t even be finished, as the weapon was taken right from the hold of the other. “Ooooh, it looks so fancy, like Phantom’s little stabbie-stabbies!” They were in awe, at least! “I’m gonna show those monsters how to stay dead and stop hurting people!! Maybe I’ll be seen by them??” likely in reference to Phantom quartz- “Maybe they’ll want me to come back to the mines!!! Oh, this is great!!!” “...What’s all this ruckus about?” The voice...Oh! Was that garnet back from whatever they were doing? Cool! Now they all could-

… “Savvy, your hair looks weird.” “This is how I woke up.” “Woke up?” Seraphinite approached the other, squinting a little. “Uh...Tsavorite, you haven’t slept…” “...Are you referring to me?” “Yes, why?” “I don’t know who that is.” “Huuuuh?” Ametrine got closer as well- ehm- maybe a little too close, peering at the other. But… they looked exactly the same... “Then...who- or what- are you?” “You’re asking for a name? If I remember correctly, I am to be called Demantoid.”

[capricornus-rex]

Someone Left to Save (15)

Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by Anon

Summary: The Mantis crew arrives to the capital of Ulfin, in the planet of Pevera, under siege. They meet the local rebel cell spearheaded by the former Republic admiral, Jax Beneb, who seeks to destroy the Empire’s occupation that was aggressively imposed upon while exploiting the planet of its natural resources. A plan is devised to destroy the Imperial’s main base of operations—as well as their influence—in the planet; however, it was a do-or-die mission that you and Cal had gotten yourselves caught in.

A/N: I’m almost done!! :D This was really a trip both in the story itself and getting the chapters published. Thank you to everyone who kept staying tuned to the story even if my predicament forced me to slow down my upload frequency. If you guys enjoyed most of the story, then all the trouble I went through was worth it! :3

Tags: Force-Sensitive! Reader, Inquisitor! Reader, Jedi! Reader, Fake Death, Jedi turned Inquisitor, Seduction to the Dark Side, Turn to the Dark Side, The Dark Side of the Force, Aftermath of Torture, Torture, Psychological Torture, Redemption Arc! Reader, Possible Redemption, Premonitions

Also in AO3

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 | Previous: Part 14 | Next: Part 16 | Masterlist

15 of ?

The plan's going swimmingly. Cal hasn't been caught yet.

He had sensed that Cere prayed he needn't to use his saber prior to his inevitable stand-off with you. So far, he's keeping true to that prayer. He carves a path to the nearest entrance he can find, from there, he discovers the southern exit; taking the posted Stormtroopers by surprise, he incapacitated them quickly befire they even realize what's standing in front of them.

"Cere, I'm in the building—I went through the southern entrance," Cal softly spoke through his comm.

"Copy, I found my way in the eastern wing," Cere explains that she managed to get her hands on one of the computers, splice it and fish out a lot of info. "I'm patching in the map to you, BD should've picked up the file by now."

Instinctively, BD-1 flashes the holomap in the air as soon as he received the data; it shows the locations of Cere, Cal, and their two respective destinations—the medical bay where the child is kept and the hangar where the presumed transport ship should be parked. There's a large, empty gap between where Cal stood and the hangar itself.

"I'm looking at the map now. There's a bit of distance to the hangar, it's on the upper levels too," he softly trailed off at the last word.

Cere noted the fading out of his voice, afraid that she's lost contact, "Cal?"

The boy blinked several times to return to reality. He stutters in his apology for spacing out.

"What's wrong?"

Finally, he opens up about his theory about the transport ship, he adds the lone TIE Fighter he spotted earlier and the underlying possibility that the pilot is you—not knowing that you really are. Cere considers the theory but preferred to go with the original plan; if the transport is truly a decoy, then they'll have to move fast in catching up to you before you even hop into the TIE Fighter with the child—assuming that your TIE Fighter is in a completely different hangar.

The silence of their conversation's conclusion was followed by the gloomy, ominous humming of the corridor that laid in front of Cal's eyes. The stale air that entered his lungs put a tugging weight on him, this place carries a certain degree of corruption that it's simply foreboding to anybody—most especially the Jedi. The sole thought of rescuing you is what kept Cal going; he stalked through the corridor, feeling for any activity in the intersections before going around the next corner.

Eventually, he's halfway into his destination but it seems Cere still hasn't put her diversion in motion. 

Cal peeks over the corner to find a cluster of Stormtroopers—a mix of regulars and scouts—in his path. Two scouts block the path midway while the rest of them stay by the door at the end. He hugs the wall, tugs the saber off of his belt, he stares at the weapons around his clammy fingers; after one deep breath, he bolted out of nowhere and rammed his way through, the dazed troopers barely made a proper aim—some cut close to Cal, others he banked right away. 

"It's a Jedi!" One trooper yelped the obvious.

The redheaded Jedi spotted one of the troopers making a run for a button on the wall. Outstretching his arm with his open palm, he hauled that particular trooper away from the button and then towards him, within a saber's reach he was cut down.

"I can't do this by myself!" The surviving scout trooper whimpered out loud, the warble in his voice huffing through his helmet.

The poor scout braved in charging towards Cal, charging up the electric current on his baton, but was denied a shot by a single, successful parry and then the Jedi followed up with an attack—cutting the enemy down instantly. He now stands before a large, sealed door, he checks the map once more and sees the distance between him and the hangar has shrunken. In the next second, a blaring alarm howling across the complex startled him.

"That ought to be Cere, I hope she has the kid."

Upon opening the door, Cal discovers the elevator lobby—which also serves as a control room. Two troopers had their backs turned to him, manning the computers, while a single KX security droid paces back and forth but its scanners immediately detect Cal's presence—causing its head to jerk to the boy's direction, while its emotionless eyes lit up the moment it saw Cal, the troopers felt the abrupt rise of tension and were alerted by the sight of a Jedi in the room.

"Inferior Jedi!" The KX droid monotonously groaned as it raises a pair of fists, ready to swing it down and bash the Jedi's skull.

Fortunately, Cal evaded the clobber and singes the droid's leg joints, literally bringing it to its knees. Shielding itself with its arms proved useless as the Jedi slices the torso in half, leaving only himself and the troopers. The skirmish was done in five minutes, the boy scrambles to the elevator and slams the button of the hangar's floor number. As the turbolift ascends, Cal takes the time to check on Cere, he kept calling, but there was no answer and he gives up when the elevator gradually slowed down.

The rumble signaled that he's reached his destination, the narrow door retracted into the frame, revealing Cal the vast space of the hangar—each wall was lined with light to medium ships, sitting at the center of the hangar is a transport ship, his ears prick up at the faint wailing of a child.

"Oh no…" he thought. "Cere's too late!"

He ran to the ship, the wailing got louder, then his eyes widened at the discovery: a comlink lies on the floor of the entry ramp, a prerecorded soundbite of the cry plays on loop.

It's a trap!

Behind his head, the baritone humming of a spinning saber flings itself towards him, he spun and deflected it at the nick of time—returning it to the sender: you, perched atop the hangar platform, waiting for your prey to take the bait and then strike. You catch your saber in mid-air while descending from the upper platform with a feathery grace. Striding closer to him, he sees you completely without the helmet for the first time: hair fashioned into an elaborate braid, the tail rests on one shoulder, and loose, wispy fringes frame your face.

"I see you've set off my trap," you pointed out, holding the saber close to your face.

"I knew you'd pull a stunt like that!"

Your eyes lit up, impressed with Cal, "Well, you've become quite smarter than I expected!"

Both Inquisitor and Jedi circled slowly against one another, not knowing who's chasing whom, gentle threats exchange with pleas of coming home only to be received with a hard "no," the tension grows in this wide, open space. Cal decides it's now or never, he attempts to talk it out of you.

"[Y/N], let's come home,"

"This is my home."

He hints at the somber tone of your sentence, almost as if you don't mean it at all, and he believed the insincerity of those words. You mask the denial by making the first move in the fight. The swirl of blades caught Cal off-guard, resulting to a flimsy block on his end; he moved away from the ship, luring you into the wider space for a better fight,  not that it changes much on each other's chances of winning this skirmish.

You barely paused from moving—a tireless lightning rod in human form—the swordfight pressed on in the hangar. For each time Cal struggled to put some distance between you so he can take a second to breathe, you always caught up to him—your frenzied eyes were always the first thing he notices the moment you start to dart towards him, with your arm prepped for an overhead strike and ready to attack. The strike lands, you withdrew and quickly follow up with another—thrusting your saber, he parried it with a subpar flourish and you staggered him with a strong Force push.

The boy flies to the farther side of the room, in your peripheral vision his lightsaber clatters away from him, his hand desperately pats the floor in search of the weapon while he had his eyes glued to you—closing the space at a fast rate. Still lying on his back, he affords a split second to catch a glimpse of his saber and pull it towards him; his own blade hovers mere inches above his neck when your strike landed as you crouch on top of him, bearing your weight on him while you've got him pinned down.

"I almost kind of like this position!" You crowed mischievously.

"[Y/N], please!" He pleaded again.

Without your helmet, Cal saw the life in your eyes better—if he saw wrath the first time, now he sees the misplaced anger and sorrow, the exact same feeling he found during his meditation. He even spots a hint of pink swelling beneath the rims of your eyes.

Has she been… crying? He pondered in that small window of time.

"You don't have to do this—your pain isn't strength!"

Your eyes flared again, but with denial you bellowed, "You don't understand the power that the Dark Side has given me!"

Generously, you withdrew, flipping away from him and landing in the same cat-like grace, giving him a chance to scramble back up on his feet. There was a time for a breather, enough for both. Again, the two of you slowly circle one another while a hostile air hangs over your heads, you point your saber at him.

"I didn't want to be as weak as I was before," you gesture your arms wide open. "And here I am."

"The [Y/N] I know was never weak to begin with,"

You paused in your tracks, slowly angled your head to face Cal, absorbing the empathetic gentleness in his voice. He could make his way through your heart faster than you could build a wall between the two of you. Unconsciously, the atmosphere seems to turn docile.

"I hate it when you patronize me!"

As quick as lightning, you attempt to execute a dashed strike but this time, Cal was prepared for it and he had been anticipating such an attack—he's been reading your every move up until you paused to banter with him. You strike again.

One.

Two.

Slash.

And another.

You jab, but he blocks. Another, and he prevails.

Eventually, he gathered enough strength and momentum, and became at par with the pace and dexterity of your technique. The clashing of sabers became more violent and heavier as the moves from both Jedi and Inquisitor became more pronounced—a contest of brute force. This sudden burst of strength wasn't much of a surprise, you keep up the assault and Cal surely isn't backing down—nor does he plan to.

A single beep of his comlink rings, "Cal, the child is secure! I'm coming for you!"

Cal saw your wide, aghast eyes glimmering with fear and panic, and perhaps a desperation that translates to "I need that child back!" which he felt all at once in that piercing glare when you shot him a look—with your bared teeth and furrowed eyebrows. Heeding to your lessons you, weaponized your emotions against the Jedi, you became a dagger in the wind—amplifying the heaviness of your strikes when it lands and the litheness of your body when eluding his saber.

Cere comes rushing into the hangar, saber and blaster in each hand, reassuring Cal in mere seconds that the child has been brought home.

"The Mantis should be on its way here by now," Cere whispered, her voice shuddered at the words.

She glanced to her side and then fixated her eyes to you—dressed in Inquisitor's garments from the neck down. In your periphery, you saw her blaster hand tremble with fearful disbelief; a secretive smirk played on the corner of your lip, as if to ridicule her shock, her first-time reaction amused you.

"Long time, no see, Cere." You crooned.

"[Y/N], good gods…"

"Oh come now, don't act so surprised. This is your second time anyway!"

A second Jedi wasn't any difficult, thought it's a fresh challenge instead of the typical one-on-one.

"Amazing, I get the privilege of seeing a cut-off Jedi fight firsthand!"

During Cere's attack that you held in a block, you examined Trilla's hilt up close—she had likened it with her old hilt by covering the sleeve with leather wrappings—you glanced at yours in its original form: blood red beams gleaming menacingly on either end, mingling with the purified, ice white blades.

You had to give Cere some credit, even after all these years of being voluntarily cut off from the Force, her muscle memory of combat is intact, incorporating her rugged style with a blaster.

"Impressive," you hummed after a parrying strike, and then another. She quickly switched to her blaster and shot twice, much to her dismay you've banked them seamlessly. "Most impressive."

Cere comes charging at you, ready for a jab, and you'd parry; just when Cal thought you have your attention to her, he attacks—more or less, attempt to—from behind but you duck and twirl, evading his lightsaber and planting a kick on his shin. This dynamic of alternating between the two Jedis lasted for more than a minute, a medley of attack patterns used against you—a handful of which have dealt damage on you, some missed you, but you enjoyed this death-defying thrill, it livened you up in this dull hangar.

Your mischievous, insidious grin stretched across your face melted when the entire hangar rumbled under your boots, explosions roared behind your ears; while holding your ground, you turned to find the source of the sound and found portions of the building are being reduced to shrapnel and inferno. Cere steals your smile and paints it with triumph on; you're not even that mad, you shoot her with a snarl of your lip, catching on with her little game, all the while impressed.

"Oh joy, you'll experience how I actually nearly died!"

You pulled away violently from the tangle of blades, pommeled Cere across the jaw with your own hilt, and pushed her at a certain distance.

"[Y/N]!!"

As the ceiling above your heads crumbled and rained dust, your lightning-fast flurry of the lightsaber did not waive; the boy didn't want to be outmatched—he cannot afford to, now that they're all standing inside a building on the verge of collapse—his dexterity and nimbleness spiked, adapting to your own caliber. Cal wanted to finish this as soon as possible, and he had to think fast; in his peripheral vision, he sees Cere bringing herself back up on her feet, dazed from your hit across her face, and then understood the gravity of her damage.

The garrison begins to collapse, any moment the entire roof will fall over your heads if neither Jedi nor Inquisitor shall stand victorious in this duel. In a final, colossal clash of lightsabers, both youngsters were encased in the sheen of their luminous weapons.

“[Y/N], come on, let’s go home,” Cal pleads once more.

“I can’t—” you choked, tears didn’t hide themselves from Cal, they streamed down your cheek as the stability of your grip fluctuated—influenced by the medley of emotions storming every fiber of your being. “I don’t belong there anymore!”

Despite the sheer intensity, Cal’s voice remained soft and gentle to you, as it always has. In a last-minute resort, he encourages, “You always have belonged with us, and we’re waiting for you to come home.”

Another tear streaks your face, your eyelids drooped, and then spoke in the most defeated, somber tone.

“It’s too late for me now, Cal.”

The crumbling ceiling groans, your eyes roll up and saw the reinforcement beam give way to two colossal chunks of debris plummet in a 50-foot drop from the ceiling straight down to a docked TIE Fighter.

“CAL, LOOK OUT!”

He didn’t fully see your reaction at the last minute; you pull him in and then push him away, but in turn,you got yourself closer to the blast radius. The hot wind picked you up into the air and flung your to the floor like a ragdoll, hitting your head upon landing, rendering you unconscious.

“[Y/N], NO!”

A sharp, piercing noise shrilled in Cal’s ears—all the other noises and voices are reduced to echoing gibberish, even Cere’s calling of your names—straight ahead, he saw you lying unconscious on the floor, covered in debris. He desperately crawled towards you, blatantly ignoring the hollow calls ringing behind his ears; he cradled you in his arms, ignoring the crackling heat flaring near his cheeks.

“[Y/N], come on…” he stuttered. “[Y/N], stay with me… I’m not leaving you a second time!”

He shakes you to coax you into waking up, he could’ve sworn he felt your body shuffle in reaction, he placed his forefinger and middle finger on your neck and found a pulse. He snaps his fingers and BD pops out a stim, he injects it straight into the flesh of your upper arm—you jolted and sucked in a lot of air at the same time, as if emerging into the surface from underwater.

Indeed, you were alive, but relatively weakened by the blast. Your voice saying Cal’s name was drowned out by the roaring flames and the thundering collapse of the garrison.

“Cal, we have to go now!”

Bursting with adrenaline, he scoops you up into his arms and followed Cere to the escape route; evading all the explosions as much as possible and keeping the enemy encounters to a minimum. Although, the evacuees are confused whether to engage the intruders—and presumably, in their heads, rescue the Inquisitor from the Jedi, but they’re felled by either the blasts or Cere’s blaster.

Speeding through the corridors, Cere led Cal to an open docking platform. The Mantis waits at the edge of the catwalk in a fly-by, lightly swerving to dodge blaster fire from the ground, and the entry ramp hangs open.

“Come on, you guys!” shrieked Greez.

Merrin waited by the frame of the entry ramp, the strong wind of the ship and the environment whip her fringes as she feels for balance while getting farther out. On the other hand, Cere and Cal—with you still in his arms—are almost to the edge of the catwalk.

“Come on, you have to jump!” cried out Merrin from the ramp.

Cal assessed the gap between the platform and the ship, it was a risky jump—one miscalculated step equaled to a hundred-foot doom.

“They’re gaining on us!” Cal screeched.

“You go on ahead, I’ll cover you and catch up!”

The boy paced back for momentum, buckled his knees when he slightly crouched, he fixed his grip tighter on you, and trusted his heels as he propelled the balls of his feet off the floor. The Mantis hovers at a considerable height by the edge of the catwalk that won’t send anyone hanging onto the edge of the ramp for dear life.

The soles of his boots planted flat on the metal floor and briskly trotted inside, settling you down gently on the couch, and then he joins Merrin by the ramp, watching Cere blast at the incoming Stormtroopers.

“Cere, let’s go!”

The woman produced a detonator out of her belt pouch and set it off. As a finisher, she gathered all the strength in her throwing arm, the bomb rolled towards the Stormtroopers’ feet and encased them in a cloud of fire and smoke. She quickly turned tail and made the jump, she scrambled on fours to get inside the ship and Cal slams the door button once she’s in.

“Punch it, Greez!”

Greez cranked the hyperdrive lever and sent the Mantis flying out of Jeddah, leaving the garrison crumbling to its destruction in their wake.

[rixxy8173571m3w1p3]

The Truths Found On Petram Viridios IV (5/5)

A/N: The last chapter to this fic. It's a long one and I gotta say that I've had a lot of fun with this one. After I post this chapter, I'll be sure to post the masterpost for this fic. And of course it'll be available on ao3 soon enough.

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

__________

Chapter 5: Adore You

If you had to draw a map to find the way home once you were captivated by the gaze of those trustworthy, soft eyes of his, you would surely run out of ink; pools of blue, unwavering in their affection, drew you in, and you were willing to drown in them. There were facets about them that fascinated you as much as the scales of a butterfly did; they did not shimmer, but they gleamed and sparkled; it's what made you pause and search for a wisp of an acquaintance that very first time you saw him; finding a familiarity that threatened to sweep you away. Why you even found fire in those eyes; it was there in his moments of determination and passion. Oh, how their color shifted with his moods was a type of magic you wanted to spend the rest of your life being mesmerized by. To be sure he wasn't mistaken, he dare not blink; exhibiting the full spectrum of what Billie Eilish described as ocean eyes; he had to be sure. "Y-you do?"

"Yes," you giggled. "I do."

It wouldn't occur to you till later, that he had given you a choice. For instead of the typical proposal question, where it was more asserted, Rick asked in a manner in which there was equal footing; it spoke volumes of the respect he had for you. With shaky hands, he slipped a ring whose stone was as clear and blue as his eyes and cut perfectly like a rose, the band covered in gold vines and silver leaves which weaved together; he made it himself, and if you thought back far enough, you could remember when he was ambiguous about his plans to create a new type of stone. Honestly, you didn't realize it would be for this.

"Gosh," he sniffled. "I-I promised myself that I w-wouldn't cry."

But cry he would; fat, sloppy tears that blinded one's vision. He wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater, and fought to regain composure, but lost to the new wave which followed. You gently pried his hands away from his face, softening at his tear-stained cheeks. "It's okay, you can cry if you want to. I already know how tender you are."

Goodness, how long had he wanted to do this? For while it had almost been two years in which he had last attempted to, it might've been on his mind for much longer than that; eating away at his clarity; at the self-confidence that was torn down and repaired daily. You were grateful and proud that this man wanted you; that he finally gathered the courage to ask and do as he intended and wanted. You….you had wanted this to happen, but did he know that? Your ocean of inquisitions thought otherwise.

However, it was time to quiet and quell his despondent thoughts. Your fingers dug into the collar of his sweater; the tang of nervous sweat and something so him which wafted off him made you yearn to bring him closer. The puffiness about his eyes didn't discourage you from pressing a kiss at the corner of them and from his throat came a choked sob and you were surrounded by the sounds of his disbelief; this cacophony was breaking your heart. There had to be something you could do to ease him. "Ricardo," you started, "considering the suddenness of the occasion, should we, in like fashion…my dear honey man, would you like to get married today?"

This new tidbit caught him off guard; so much so that he stopped crying; good. Now, he was the one who was unsure of whether this was real life or a simulation. He ran his fingers through his hair, double-checked his equipment, sprayed himself with water, and completed equations that had taken this earth dimension's leading mathematicians decades to understand. What you thought was odd was when he caught a pigeon, scanned its anatomy, and found it was sound; you were going to have to ask him about it later. "Rick, did you hear me?"

"Y-yes," he focused, "but what d-do you mean today? How?"

You figured he would have easily come to a conclusion, but then again, what do spacemen have to do with the price of bread?

"I mean that we don't have to wait if you don't want to." You slid your palm over his tattoo, memorizing with your fingertips where his skin was slightly raised. "We can just go down to the justice of the peace if you'd like."

"And y-you would be my wife today?"

"Yes," you giggled. "I think that's how it works."

"But what about a-a…"

"A wedding ceremony?" you interrupted. "Well, we can have one later. We can plan it however you want, and invite all our friends. There can be so much celebration that we'll be knocked out for a week. Until then, I just want to make you happy, and I believe the sooner the better. Okay? So, if we're going to do this, just tell me now and I'll go get the proper paperwork."

It never ceased to amaze you how easily he flitted through emotions as though it were the weather, and with vigor, he lifted you up and vibrated with joy. "Boy, golly gee…this really - this really razzes my b-berries! This is…wow, I-I can't believe it."

You couldn't believe his word choice either. "Oh, you better believe it, because now you're stuck with me and I have you all to myself. However, you're going to have to put me down now because the office closes at five. There are a few things I need to do before then."

Letting you down, he happily waved goodbye despite the fact that it wouldn't take long to get what you needed for this impromptu occasion. Though, when you entered your house, you took a moment to think about your father. There were things you still didn't understand, like why he never told you about his friendship with Rick, or why you two never really discussed what he'd do if you got married; if he had been here, maybe you two would have talked about which flowers would look best as centerpieces; like whether roses or mums were cheerful enough or if this really was a good idea; if such an age gap was surmountable. Yet, in a way you felt as though you were honoring him; for your father and your mother had been unconventional and had gotten married without all the showy displays then road tripped a bit before settling here; you were simply following tradition.

Maybe, you didn't have to know about the why's and what-ifs, but focusing on what you could do seemed a whole lot easier to do. You kicked off your sneakers and dashed upstairs. You knew where your important documents were, but you thought that choosing a cute outfit would take a little longer. You wanted a certain vibe, one that would make things easier on him and then it came to you; why not revisit an old favorite; one that reminded you of his eyes; always, forever blue.

When you returned, you found him pacing around. He was deep in thought, and it took a moment for him to notice that you had returned. Almost comically, his eyes widened as he took in your appearance, and he started to cry again. "That's th-the dress. From that one time."

"It sure is."

With a twirl, you flaunted the blue chiffon dress, and felt like a dream; his visible adoration was not lost on you. It was a relief that this time you hadn't taken an hour to fuss or worry that you weren't dressed for the part, and you weren't wearing shoes which would kill your feet, but instead rocked some converse. "These shoes are made for walking and that's just what I'll do."

Unlike you, Zeta-7 wanted to fuss and choose something dressier, but you somehow managed to convince him that his blue button-up would be fine, and no tie was necessary; hidden ray guns were allowed just in case this happened to be the day that the Gromflomites attacked; not even Earth-based military scanners would be able to detect them. Though, you did allow him to fix up his hair, because one, you thought he was quite handsome with it combed back, and two, it's what he felt he needed to do to look the part. "How do I-I look?"

"Like the man I'm going to marry. Are you ready handsome?"

With a nod, he grabbed the folder with all the documents he needed. "Y-you bet."

______________

At the courthouse, the entire security staff grouped together and teased you about your keys; you should've known that you'd face trouble once you went through the metal detector; you had a lot of keychains; they were from the days when you and your father would go shopping together. Like Rick, he liked yard sales and thrift stores; sometimes he'd get grab bags and there would be vintage keychains, and he'd give them to you knowing you'd like them. You were told by one of the older guards that it wasn't natural for a grown woman to have a set of keys that weighed five pounds. Zeta-7 began to worry, but you told him you could handle it, and you figured the guards were bored and had nothing else to do. What you didn't tell them was that the main reason your keys were heavy was that you were carrying two sets; yours and your father's old keys; Rick knew, but he respected your wishes to leave it be.

Despite this, you two made your way to the right office; it only took fifteen minutes of going to lobby after lobby, free coffee, and endless rugs in all this indoor nothingness. And nobody knew better than Rick when it came to how much you hated paperwork, but nonetheless, you went through the painstaking process of signing this and that, wondering why they didn't make it easier for people by asking yes or no questions; this better not become someone's confetti. Rick breezed through it all, and you were slightly jealous that he knew what he was doing, but it was due to the fact that citadel paperwork was a lot more frustrating and difficult; he had to go through stacks of it weekly; poor man. While he sat quietly, you were in-between forms that had to be signed in triplicate and heard the gossip coming from the people who were working in the back of the office. What they didn't know was that their ignorance made you more determined; you'd fought your own expectations, that of others, as well as what seemed right to do long enough and no one, not even death itself was going to stop you from doing this; it was the best thing you could ever do for yourself and for him as well. You breathed a sigh of relief when you and Rick finally signed the marriage certificate; finally, it was done, and he watched rapturously as you set down the pen so that he could kiss you without refrain.

If you hadn't known better, you'd say the world shied away; dissolving into a plane of nothingness as he enveloped you with a strength that was deceptive for a man of his years; he had become a little more confident; it might've taken a few years, but all you knew was that it suited him. Being nurtured and cared for, as well as loved in the right sort of environment did wonders on Zeta-7; so much so, that he could hold the world in the palm of his hand and still manage not to damage it. It wasn't shocking that some found this outward display sweet, and you almost had hope for humankind, but then there was a laugh or two from the back; you made a mental note to consider moving off Earth. No one was going to ruin this moment for him, and relishing the moment, you chased his mouth for a second kiss; you know, to prove your point.

And if you hadn't already been proud of him, what made you even prouder was what he said on the way out. "Please stop laughing at m-my wife. Th-that's very rude."

His wife? Yes, you were his wife now. It's strange how you could wake up and wonder what you should have for breakfast and be here where you were now; in a whole new chapter of your life; wondering what will come next. Confusing yes, but not something to be afraid of; you welcomed this happy transition.

Back at the car, you were still recovering from his earlier outburst; the like which was almost out of character. "Did you see the look on her face? I thought it was going to fall off with how far her jaw dropped. Wasn't it a sight?"

Though, he was busy staring at the ring on his own hand which you had picked out when you two made a stop at a consignment shop earlier. It wasn't that complex like yours, but he loved it. "All I could see was - was you."

"You flirt."

You gave his shoulder a playful shove, and in turn, he laughed a full-on belly laugh; this happy noise was music to your ears. "Gosh, I-I mean it. Y-you, look so pretty today." A bit shyly, he commented. "Blue looks very good on you."

"Thank you. So, how should we celebrate? A trip to the moon perhaps? Going across the universe? Maybe a kaiju fight with Matango? Or watching Spiderman 2? Honestly, I'm game for anything."

You had decent shoes on and didn't care what he wanted to do because you were happy if he was happy. And as though it were just another afternoon, he glowed with happiness when he asked. "Mrs. Sanchez, do you - do you want to go get some ice cream?"

Some things will never change and you didn't mind that. "I'd love to. As the author, L.M. Montgomery once said, 'I guess ice cream is one of those things that are beyond imagination.' And, you know, it's so true. I intend to go all out with the toppings today. It's certainly that kind of occasion."

______

He couldn't seem to want to let go of your hand; as though the world would fall away if he didn't and that this would turn out to be a cruel dream. Still, you humored and spoiled him. As intended, you got all the toppings; Rick thought it was a kids dream come true with the amount of candy you had in your waffle bowl. And since you had enough to share, you took the liberty to feed him. He chatted on; offering charming stories from his band days; unlike other Ricks who were in a rock band called Flesh Curtains, his band had been a jazz and bossa nova trio; the band name had been comprised of a numerical equation; if you had named them you would've called them the Zeta Bytes.

Now, Rick wasn't a messy eater, but during one of his more excitable stories, he spilled a bit on the corner of his mouth. Ready with a napkin, you wiped it away, and couldn't help but laugh at how boyish it was. Giving your hand a squeeze, he absentmindedly brushed his thumb on the back of your hand; adoration coloring his voice. “You're t-t-too good to me.”

"There's no such thing. If anything, I gotta spoil you rotten."

You found no hindrance in his mood and this time he didn't think twice about kissing you then and there as he liked while you were still holding the napkin; fear and shame of public displays of affection being one less thing to worry about now. Who cared if your ice cream was melting, because your heart was melting; his mouth tasted of chocolate and promises. A soft chuckle escaped him as he pulled away; his promise whispered against your lips. "I-I promise I'll be good t-t-to you."

Being loved suited him; it really, really did wonders on his countenance and it made you wonder what else he could now do.

_________

By now you were a little tired, but Ricks contagious energy invigorated your spirits; you bet he could've come up with an invention and completed it today if he stayed this hyped up. Instead, he used that energy to make fresh rolls to go with the leftover acorn squash soup; you hadn't been that hungry, but you enjoyed it nonetheless. And when dinner had been eaten, you helped him with the dishes; nothing you hadn't done before, but his spirit was lighter and more at ease; he even bumped your hip with his as a gesture of playfulness. After cleaning up the kitchen, he decided that he'd like to take a shower and refresh himself and in the meantime, you stepped out into the backyard to enjoy the beauty of the night. In this part of town, despite the light pollution, you could see a fair amount of stars.

You had never studied astronomy, but Rick had shown you in diagrams and in textbooks of their names and explained how they were formed; to him, their complexity was like poetry, and it made them beautiful. You couldn't recite it by memory, but you had a feeling that beyond your current comprehension perhaps there was life amongst those heavenly bodies, despite the heat or deadly gases; if you had learned anything about space, it was that worlds were more along the lines of art and beauty than fields of science which were easily explained. Yet, in the air, where there was a sweet perfume, thick, but intoxicating, only where you were currently mattered; you saw that in the leftmost part of the yard there was jasmine which was currently in bloom; its blanket of flowers reminding you of snow. Hadn't you read of this somewhere before? Maybe.

In the grass near your feet, grasshoppers leaped away, and crickets chirped their songs. And you relished the strong breezes and the song of the night which may consume a melancholic heart if it were searching for tragedies instead of sweet dreams. And it had only been a few hours ago when you had thought that all of which transpired might've been a dream. Though, whatever truths that had come to light in the hours after the simulation, you were glad of them.

In the dark, sights and sounds were heightened and mesmerizing, albeit curious in its own right; if it hadn't been for the sound barrier Rick had on his property, you would've heard the obnoxious sound of the next-door neighbor's TV as they watched infomercials. Still, it was a beautiful night. Sitting on the bench which overlooked the whole yard, you thought of what wonderful things you'd like to share with Rick, and then he found you. For his part, he had changed into something more relaxed; into a light blue button-down that was similar to the one he was wearing earlier, but this one was softer, and it was paired with navy pants; it reminded you of blue pants Rick with his attire, but it was cute and suited him. With him, he had brought over a tray of goodies and you two ate cookies and cakes and drank earl grey under the moonlit night.

The pause in conversation gave allowances for observations. For example, you took a good long look at him as he sipped his tea; admiring how casual he appeared tonight. Without his labcoat or sweater, his identity seemed separate from that of his dimension jumping, scientist self; making way for the person deep inside; the friendly neighbor who won your heart without even trying. He noticed eventually that you had been staring at him, and he broke the silence with his inquiry. "What are y-you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about you cutie. You um….you look really good in those blue pants of yours. Thinking of taking up modeling anytime soon?"

"N-no," he answered with an air of obliviousness that you found endearing. "not unless my next work assignment requires it. Gee, why do you ask?"

"Hmm, it's because you wear your clothes well. I always thought you did, but I don't believe I ever mentioned it."

He ruminated on what you said for a few minutes, before setting down his cup. "Did you - did you always find me attractive?"

"No," you confessed. "but you're the only person I've ever really been attracted to. I…..I always liked the fact that our relationship was built on something more substantial. You see, the more I got to know you, the more irresistible I found you. Though," you winked. "those teeth of yours were always too cute to resist."

This truth of yours made him comfortable enough to relinquish one of his own. "C-can I tell you a secret?"

"It's not much of a secret if you tell me dear, but you can tell me anyway."

Wringing his hands together, he confessed solemnly. "That day y-you tripped on the sidewalk nearby my house, I-I almost decided not to cross the road."

Not cross the road? Hmm, it had been an option. In your mind's eye, you could imagine it; the tall, lanky figure of a man debating against his better judgment on what he ought to do; so close but so far; knowing that he was altering the course of his future and putting yours at risk. Poor man, having to wallow over a moral dilemma like that. "Why is that?"

"Gosh, y-you….I didn't want to take advantage of the situation."

It could've been taken that way, but you never thought so. "So what changed your mind?"

"I thought you were going to cry, and I-I didn't… I didn't want you to suffer anymore. I thought t-to myself, that if I got t-t-to know you, then you wouldn't have to be lonely anymore."

When he said this, you nearly couldn't look at him; not because he knew more than he let on, but because who knows what paths you two would've taken if he hadn't shown up that day. Tears bit at the back of your eyes, and your nails bit into your palms. "Dear, love isn't always a cure for heartache," He tensed up at this, but you knew you had to tell him. You weren't upset because you had guessed as much, but being assured of it cemented the fact. "but I'm sure that without you, without your friendship, I might not be here right now. I think I was depressed, and from time to time I still feel that way. I…I have thought of ways to make my troubles end, ways you might not have been proud of, but you've shown me a better way to live. I think…no, I know that by expanding my horizons, I understand now that there's so much to look forward to, and not to take life for granted. Why," you paused, fighting the tears which threatened to fall. "you reminded me that I gotta make the most of this crazy, unpredictable life, and I'm happy that I'll get to do that with you."

He understood and accepted this answer and gave you a look of adoration and pride; the like that you hoped you'd always remember. And when you two were done with tea, you both took a walk about the garden. The sweet perfume of jasmine intermingled with that of the scent of his soap, and combined with the candor of his speech made this place feel like a well of comfort. He followed behind you as you two spoke, and you were conscious of the fact that with his freshly washed hair brushed back, it made him more appealing. His hands were in want of yours as he matched your pace, and you felt slightly mischievous as you'd skip or teased him to catch you; it wasn't long until he gathered you in his arms and laughed, and you asked without much seriousness for him to let you go, but while he loosened his grip, he didn't let go entirely. "Gosh, y-you make me feel so young. It - it feels so good to have you in my arms."

"Oh, really?" you giggled. "That's great to hear."

Pressing a kiss to your temple, he sighed. "It's unfortunate that I'm so old."

"That's okay. I like you as you are. It goes well with your personality."

"Thank you mi corazón. It feels good to hear that. However, can I-I ask you something?"

"Mhm."

"¿Si hubiera s-sido más joven, habría marcado la diferencia?"

"If you had been younger? I don't know. Possibly," you admitted. "I might've been less reluctant about my feelings at the beginning, but I truly don't know. I'd like to think that I'd still would've fallen for you anyway. You're a wonderful man Ricardo, you don't have to doubt that, anyone can see that. It doesn't matter how old you are, but it's who you are."

"Y-you're right." With reluctance, he allowed his arms to drop to his sides, and he wondered. "It um - it's getting late. Should I-I walk you home?"

Was he forgetting that he didn't have to? Maybe not. Perhaps he needed a sign; one that said that any suggestion of further intimacy was alright. "I thought I was home." you answered, "Don't you want me to stay?"

Scratching the back of his neck, he nodded. "Yes, I-I-I-I do."

"Then it's settled. We'll have a big sleepover," you brightened. "and it'll never have to end. I'll borrow a pair of your pj's and hog all the blankets because I'll get cold."

"And in - in the morning," he added warmly, "w-we can have pancakes."

"Yeah, and watch enough interdimensional cable to make us go blind."

"But I-I might have to work tomorrow."

"Oh. Well, then I guess I'll just have to eat all your snacks until you come back. We might have to take a trip to Costco at some point because they sell these mushroom crisps that are to die for."

Standing under the persimmon tree, he stepped forward and gave your shoulder a squeeze. "Y-you can have whatever you want," With a strong arm slipping around your waist, you felt almost shy at the way he smiled protectingly down at you. His warm breath ghosted about your ear, and his voice was above a whisper as he confessed. “because I-I-I finally got you princess and I'm not - I'm not going t-to let you go.”

At the sound of this pet name, you felt a slight warmth rush to your cheeks, but you didn't laugh it off as you had once but agreed with warmth. “You may do as you please, Mr. Sanchez.”

And so he did. Without hesitation, he lifted your chin and brushed your lips with his thumb. His eyes sparkling with humor, promise, and a confidence that was somehow so very appropriate on his face. "I love you. I-I-I always have. From the time I first held your hand, I knew it had to be you. I would've been a fool if I - if I hadn't tried. Even now, it's hard to believe, but it's starting to sink in."

"Me too. It's unbelievable, but it's true and we have the paperwork to prove it."

Leaning down, he pressed a sweet kiss onto your lips. It was so gentle, it was as though you might break if he tried otherwise. Kissing you again, he sighed against your lips. "It's beautiful out t-tonight."

"It is."

Pressing a hand to his cheek, you softened. "But I think I'm ready to call it a night. Why don't we go in?"

Weaving his fingers with yours, he softened. "Okay."

You used to think to yourself and wonder if his house would ever be ready to receive you, but what you now realized was that it had always been ready, and only you had been waiting for it all to catch up; for him to know what he wanted and to be courageous and say; for you to know what you needed, and to accept that being yourself didn't make you any less attractive or unique and that you weren't alone; you had never been alone, for he had always been waiting. His home, why it was always home, but it was always home because he was what grounded you and you were what grounded him. And you felt so married to him then, and everything felt as it should. Nothing had really changed, except for a title, and a promise; for you two were friends as you had always been; him the happy go lucky old man, and you the silly neighbor who met him by accident, but you couldn't deny that you loved him with your entire being and so did he. As promised, he intended to do everything in his power to protect you, even as you two were getting ready for bed. His body seemed to curl around you as to shield you from whatever monsters could be hiding in the dark.

So, when it happened that you rested your head upon his chest and felt the temptation of sleep washing over you, you pressed a light kiss to his cheek and confessed softly. "I can't wait to wake up next to you."

Fin

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The Corner Store Boy (Hybrid!Felix x Reader)

Summary: As you visit the corner store on an evening you notice a new employee behind the counter that instantly catches your eye. You just can’t get the bunny hybrid out of your mind.

Contains: pure fluff

Warnings: none

Wordcount: 3,3 K

A/N: I am absolutely in love with Lee Felix. You can’t tell me that he isn’t the cutest bean on earth. I just had to write something about him. And since I’m carrying a self-made polaroid of him with the caption “My Little Bunny” I just had to write this story. I had no other choice ;D

Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

It was already late as I left the house. I needed to shop for groceries and since I didn’t have time all day because of work this was the only time I had left before I’d have to starve until tomorrow. The little store at the corner of my street would still be open at this time. I walked towards it already thinking of what things I needed to get from there. As I walked into the little supermarket, I already noticed a new face standing at the counter. Other than usually a bunny hybrid was standing behind the counter and was focused on the phone in his hands while customers were roaming the store. I had never seen him here before. He had beautiful dark eyes and his blond hair looked absolutely gorgeous. His white ears were lazily hanging on his head. I had to stop staring at him or he would have noticed it any time. I started my shopping and walked through the different aisles occasionally sneaking another glimpse at the pretty bunny hybrid at the counter. He was currently helping an old lady pack her groceries into her bag. A smile crept onto my face and I noticed my heart warm at the sight in front of me. I finished my shopping as fast as I could and then walked up to the counter. As the bunny noticed my presence he lifted his head from his phone and almost dropped it as he looked at me. I giggled at his clumsiness and handed him the things I wanted to get. He scanned the codes occasionally looking like he was distracted by something. As he made another mistake he began to speak.

“I’m sorry for taking this long. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today”

His deep voice made me freeze into a stone. How could a bunny boy that looked as cute as him have such a deep voice? I noticed goosebumps building all over my body. He tilted his head as he noticed that I wasn’t really listening to him.

“Hello? Are you ok?”, he asked and waved his hand in front of my face.

“Yes. I was just a bit surprised.”, I said and he shyly smiled before he handed me a bag.

“I hear that often”, he said quieter than before almost as if he had bad memories about it.

I paid and he helped me pack my groceries into the bag before handing me the receipt.

“Have a nice day”, he said as I was about to leave the store.

“You too”, I said back and then left.

I could still hear his voice in my head as I arrived back at home. I unpacked the groceries and couldn’t stop thinking about this gorgeous bunny at the store. To ease my mind a bit I started making myself some grilled cheese sandwiches. I needed to get my mind away from that cute guy. After eating what felt like a meal for 5 people I went to bed. Before I could get some good shuteye, my mind had already drifted back to the store. I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. His beautiful dark eyes that almost looked a bit demon like since they were so dark you couldn’t really see his pupils. His pink lips that occasionally curved into a smile whenever he was helping another customer or how he was kind of distracted as he was scanning the groceries. I couldn’t help but smile at the thoughts that ran through my mind. I definitely needed to see that boy again.

After having a great night of sleep with dreams filled with the presence of the beautiful bunny, I woke up ready with a plan for today. Since I still had to work until 6 pm I couldn’t go visit the store during the daytime. I’d have to go there after work. Working today was especially hard since I was kind of excited to see the cute bunny again. I didn’t even get his name last time. The only thing that was still stuck in my mind was his beautiful deep voice that had fascinated me from the moment I heard it. Coming home after work felt like a relieve. I needed to shower quickly and then put on some clothes that I wouldn’t normally wear just to go shopping but I thought I needed it for my confidence boost. As I left the house I already had sweaty hands. I wanted to talk to him but I didn’t know how or about what I could talk. Or maybe he would think I’d be a creep when I suddenly just talked to him. As I arrived at the supermarket I could already see his beautiful face through the window without taking a step inside. He was focused on his phone again just like yesterday. His ears were lazily hanging on his head and he had a lollypop in his mouth. He looked just adorable like that. I walked in and just now noticed that it would definitely be weird if I’d just go up to him without buying anything. I didn’t really need anything so I just mindlessly grabbed some snacks and walked over to the counter. As he looked up from his phone his ears perked up and a smile appeared on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back at the cute guy in front of me.

“Just those snacks today?”, he asked as he took them from me to scan them.

“Yes. But I’d like to have something too that only you can give me”, I said internally screaming about what words just left my mouth and feeling how my courage slowly left me as he began to giggle and slightly blushed.

“And what would that be?”, he asked, tilting his head and wiggling with his ears which was the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

“Your name”

His face was priceless as he processed my words and stared at the scanner in his hand as if he was waiting for it to speak to him. The heat that had risen to my cheeks was about to burn me as he looked at me with those beautiful dark eyes of his and shyly mumbled.

“Felix”, he said, his smile radiating happiness throughout the whole store.

“I like your name. It suits you”, I complimented him and watched him get all shy and giggly.

He gave me a paper bag and put the snacks in it. He handed it to me and shoved back my hand with money as I wanted to place it on the counter.

“That’s on me”, he said and winked before he got all shy again.

“I can’t accept that. Take it”

I placed the money in his hand and closed it hoping he wouldn’t refuse it again. He put it into the register and handed me a piece of paper.

“Maybe next time”

His hand accidently brushed mine as I took the receipt from him and heat instantly shot into my cheeks.

“Yeah. Maybe”, I mumbled before I took the bag and walked away from the counter.

Just before I left the store, I turned around again. Felix was looking after me and his ears were hanging again. He looked like he was disappointed. I send him a smile before I spoke again.

“I’ll see you again. Felix”

His face instantly turned from looking sad to happy in less than a second before he waved at me as I walked out the door. I turned around again as I was outside just to look at him one last time. I couldn’t help but giggle at his behavior. His ears that had been hanging down sadly were now standing back up and he jumped around like an excited teenager before his first date. It was just too cute. He must have noticed my staring since he suddenly turned to look out the window. As Felix noticed that I was standing there looking at him he awkwardly waved at me. He must have been dying inside right now of embarrassment. I laughed, waved back and then turned to go home.

It’s been a few days since I last saw him. I didn’t really have a lot time these days since there was a huge project at my workplace that was due and that would guarantee our future if it was a success. It needed to be perfect. I walked back home from work after a long day of sitting in meetings, discussing the subject and giving the project it’s final touch. I just wanted to fall onto my bed and sleep for at least 2 days straight. As I walked past the supermarket I noticed Felix sitting behind the counter looking pretty gloomy. Even though I was really tired I had the urge to talk to him. Especially after seeing him look so down. I walked to the store entrance and walked in. The little bell rang and Felix looked up. As he noticed me his ears began to wiggle excitedly and a huge smile grew on his face.

“Why did you look so gloomy, Felix?”, I asked a bit concerned about the boy in front of me.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine”, he answered with maybe a bit too much excitement in his voice.

My lips curled into a smile. His behavior was typical for a bunny hybrid but it was just too cute for my heart to handle. I really wanted to run my hands through his hair seeing how it bounced with every of his movements and how fluffy it looked. I was too concentrated on practically daydreaming about him that I didn’t even notice that he was talking to me.

“Are you even listening?”

“Sorry, what did you say?”, I asked slightly blushing.

I was embarrassed that I was that deep in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear his words. He giggled before he repeated what he had said just a moment ago.

“I asked if you have any plans for tonight”

My mouth fell open at his words. Was that an attempt at asking me out or was he just curious? I didn’t know but my mind was already going crazy just thinking about Felix asking me out.

“Uhm…no I actually just wanted to go to bed. I had a long day”, I answered, already regretting my answer as I saw his frown.

“Oh. I understand”, he mumbled lowering his head including his ears.

“But if you’d like to do something together I could make time for that”, I mumbled stepping from one foot onto the other nervous.

He looked back at me now with a hopeful look on his face.

“My shift ends in an hour…so if you’d like to join me for dinner that would be nice”, he said and send me the brightest smile I’ve ever seen.

“It would be an honor. I’ll be back when your shift ends”, I said before I turned to go home to quickly shower and change.

“Wait”, he shouted after me.

As I turned around he was already standing in front of me with his phone in his hand.

“Could you give me your number so I can text you when I’m done?”, he asked already handing me his phone.

“Sure”

I grabbed it from his hands, quickly typed in my name and number and then gave it back to him. He looked at his phone and smiled.

“See you later, Y/N”, he said and I almost fainted as I heard my name coming out of his mouth with that deep voice.

“See you, Felix”

I never got back home that quickly. I practically ran home so I would have enough time to shower and put on something pretty before returning to the shop. I was glad that I had already done laundry or I would have gone out with him in a pair of jogging pants and a big sweater. After showering I stood in front of my closet not knowing what to wear. Should it be something fancy or just something simple? I haven’t gone on a date in some time so I didn’t know if this was the occasion for something fancy or something simple. Since I didn’t want to go overboard I just chose a pair of jeans and a pretty blouse before I grabbed my bag and walked to the front door. As I was about to lock the door my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the display. There was a message from an unknown number.

I’m ready I’ll wait for you at the entrance Felix

I smiled at my phone as I saved his number and quickly wrote back that I was on my way. I locked the door to the house and then walked to the supermarket. I could already see him from far away. He was looking around nervously as if he was fearing that I wouldn’t show up. As he noticed my silhouette his aura already started to glow and I was almost blended by his beauty. The closer I came the louder my heartbeat got. As I stood in front of him I feared he could hear it hammer against my chest.

“So where are we going?”, I asked looking at the excited bunny in front of me.

“I know a nice place”, he said and offered me his arms to hook mine with.

I gladly took his offer and we walk into the night together. We quickly arrived at a popular restaurant in town that was mostly visited by younger people just like us. We walked in and sat down on a table for two. Felix was now sitting right on front of me. I was slowly getting more nervous. He must have noticed that since he playfully poked my nose and giggled as he saw my cheeks turn red from embarrassment.

“Relax”, he said and smiled at me.

I just nodded and tried to take a deep breath. Why was I suddenly so nervous? The waitress came with two menus and we looked through what we could get. The waitress came back after giving us some time to choose.

“What would you two like to eat?”, she asked holding a little notebook and pen in her hands ready to take our order.

It was just then when we both looked up from the menu to say the exact same thing.

“I’m gonna take the pizza”, we both said in unison and then began to laugh.

“Two Pizzas then”, the waitress repeated smiling and then walked away.

Felix and I were still laughing about each other. I almost started crying from laughing. I took a sip from my water and then took a deep breath. Felix had gained his self-control again, too. We sat in silence which was a bit awkward until our food came. Felix had ordered a glass of wine for the both of us. Probably to try and make it easier for us to let loose and talk with a bit of encouraging alcohol. After drinking a bit and eating the very delicious pizza it got a lot easier for us to talk. We were talking about whatever came to our minds. We were joking and laughing together. It was a really fun time. Felix insisted on being a gentleman and paid for our meal. He then offered to walk me home. How could I say no to that? On the way home Felix was really quiet. He had been talking nonstop as we ate but now there was no word coming from his mouth. Maybe he was just enjoying the fresh and cool night air. We arrived at the doorstep to my house and I rummaged through my bag to find my keys.

“Well, I guess this means goodbye”, Felix said sounding overdramatic.

“But just for now”, I said and winked at him.

“I guess I better go now. It’s getting pretty late”

“Text me when you get home, ok?”, I asked and he nodded.

He was about to go when I called out for him.

“Wait”

“Yes?”, he asked as he turned back around to face me.

“I really enjoyed this evening”, I mumbled and stepped closer to him.

“Me too. I’m glad I got to spend time with you”

Looking at hiss beautiful face right in front of me made my blood boil and my heart crave for him even more. I needed to do this now before it was too late, and the effects of the alcohol subsided. I took another step towards Felix and noticed that he knew what I was planning to do. He grabbed both of my hands and held them in his. I looked at his beautiful eyes and almost lost myself in them. I leaned forwards and softly pressed a kiss to his lips. Felix lips were cold from the night air but as soft as you can never imagine. I didn’t want this kiss to end anytime soon. Felix snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me a bit closer to intensify the kiss. As our lips parted I noticed a slight pink shimmer on his cheeks. Mine probably looked the same.

“Good night, Felix”, I whispered and stepped back towards the door.

“Good night, Y/N”, he whispered back in the deepest voice I’ve ever heard from him.

Before he left, he leaned in for another quick kiss. I was glad that he pulled away or I would have probably taken him into the house with me and we all know were that would have ended. I watched him leave until I couldn’t see him anymore before I walked into the house. I still could feel his lips on mine and taste him on the tip of my tongue. His kiss was intoxicating and I knew that I would crave these kisses everyday from now on. I was so proud of myself that I took the first step that day and talked to that cute bunny behind the counter. I got ready for bed and waited for Felix message. I was about to fall asleep when my phone rang. It was a call from Felix.

“Hey. I just wanted to quickly call you so you know I got home safe…and I wanted to hear your voice so I know that this is real”, he said and my heart almost jumped out of my chest at his words.

“It is real. Thank you for the date. I’d love to do that again”

“No need to thank me. Now go to sleep. You should get some rest or you won’t be able to handle me tomorrow”, he giggled.

“Tomorrow?”, I asked confused if I had forgotten something.

“It’s a surprise”, he said and I could hear the smile on his face.

“I can’t wait. I’ll see you tomorrow, Felix”

“See you then. Bye bye, Y/N”

We ended the call and I was about to put my phone down when I received a message from him.

Sleep tight, princess <3

I couldn’t handle him. My heart was about to burst and my cheeks were burning. I send him one last message before going to sleep.

You too, my little bunny <3

[bebraveridethedragon]

I’ve Got No Fucking Clue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Warnings: There are no warnings for this chapter.

Chapter 3

All of the Avengers, plus Thor although he might be considered an Avenger now, were standing in a room with a monitor in it. They watched as Fury threatened Loki.

“In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass.” Fury pressed a button that opened up the space beneath Loki’s glass cage.

“Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!” Fury asked. “Ant,” Fury points at Loki, “boot.” He points at the button.

“It’s an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.” Loki smirks.

“Built for things a lot stronger than you.” Fury says.

“Oh trust me I know.” Loki’s smirk turns towards the camera. In the observation room Douxie and Bruce tense up. Archie starts growling at the screen, at Loki or Fury, Douxie doesn’t know.

“The mindless beast and the last master wizard on Midgard. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost beasts to defend you?” Loki asks, no longer looking at the camera.

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill ‘cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.” Fury responds.

“Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is. You would’ve come closer to power if you had used the wizard, his magic is extremely powerful.” Loki taunts.

“We thought about it once, I’m glad we didn’t, he’s a good kid. Let me know if Real Power wants a magazine.” With that Fury walks out of the room.

“Not a kid.” Douxie mumbles as the screen turns black.

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce asked sarcastically.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Archie answers with even more sarcasm.

“Shit! I forgot you could talk.” Tony startles.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?” Steve asked.

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.” Thor uncrosses his arms.

“An army? From outer space?” Steve looks incredulous.

“Wouldn’t be the first one I’ve seen, although the last one was fighting for us not against us.” Douxie says.

“Ignoring what Douxie said for a minute, this means Loki’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.” Bruce says.

“Selvig?” Thor asks.

“He’s an astrophysicist.” Bruce answers.

“He’s a friend.” And oh, Thor must’ve met him when he came to Earth a few years ago.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Nat says, she gets a regretful look on her face. The only ones who notices are Douxie and Archie.

“I want to know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.” Steve says.

“I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.” Bruce says.

“Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother.” Thor says.

“He’s killed eighty people in two days.” Nat points out.

“He’s adopted.” Thor defends. Douxie gives out a little snort that cause Nat to look at him. She gives him a soft smile before looking away again.

“Iridium, what did they need the iridium for?” Bruce asks.

“It’s a stabilizing agent,” Tony says walking in, he turns to Coulson, “I’ll fly you there. Keep the love alive.” He turns back to everyone else, “Means the portal won’t collapse in on itself like it did at SHIELD.”

Tony turns to Thor, “No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.”

Tony turns to the crew on the Helicarrier before speaking again, “Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did.” Tony put a hand around one of his eyes and looks around.

“How does Fury do this?” Tony questions.

“He turns.” Maria Hill says causing Douxie to snort.

“Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.” Tony waves his hands around.

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria asked.

“Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?” Tony asked.

“I read them, I understood most of it but some things were confusing.” Douxie said. Tony looked at him with approval.

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked.

“He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce answered.

“Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Tony contradicts.

“Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Douxie says.

Tony smirks, “Finally! People who speak English.”

“Is that what just happened?” Steve asks.

“Yes, although you probably don’t understand it because your old.” Tony says.

“I don’t think age has anything to do with it, I think it has to do with the fact that he was trapped in ice for 70 years.” Douxie says.

“You think an old man could keep up with what we just talked about?” Tony asks.

“I mean I did, and I’m the second oldest person in this room.”

“Your like 19, that’s not old.”

“I’ve been 19 for 900 years.”

“What?!” Multiple people shouted.

“Wizards can choose to stop aging at any time.” Everybody but Nat and Thor looked surprised at this.

“Holy shit that’s so cool.” Nat rolled her eyes at Tony’s antics, even if it was a bit cool.

“Can we get back on topic? We can question the wizard later.” Bruce says.

“Right, it’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.” Tony shakes Bruce’s hand.

Bruce looks uncomfortable while he mutters a thanks.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him.” Fury says walking in.

“Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” Steve says.

“I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys. That’ll be Hisirdoux’s job though.

Douxie nods, ignoring Tony’s snort of amusement when he heard his full name.

“Monkeys? I do not understand.” Thor says.

“I do! I understood that reference.” Steve exclaims. Tony rolls his eyes while Douxie claps his hands sarcastically.

“Shall we play doctor? Harry Potter your coming with us too.” Tony says before he grabs Douxie’s bicep and drags him out with Bruce following.

“Let’s play some.” Bruce says as they walk out.

“I can walk myself thank you.” Douxie says while taking his bicep out of Tony’s grip.

“I know, but we wouldn’t want the old man to throw out his hip while walking.” Tony smirks at him.

“I’m technically still 19, I’ve just stayed 19 for 900 years.” Douxie glared.

“Wait, so you’re physically 19 but mentally you’re 919?” Bruce asks.

“No, he’s physically and mentally 19. Even if he has acquired a lot of knowledge over the past 900 years he still has the maturity of a 19 year old.” Archie says.

“Excuse you, I am very mature.” Douxie tried to defend himself.

“Just last week you were arguing with Seamus and Claire about who had the coolest special magic.” Archie deadpanned.

“I was born with the ability to control fire and to see the future, that’s one more than either of them have by themselves.” Tony and Bruce looked confused as the wizard and familiar argued.

“Who’s Claire and Seamus?” This was Tony that asked.

“And what is special magic?” That was Bruce that asked.

“Claire and Seamus are my apprentices, they’re also like my little siblings. And special magic is magic that you have to be born with. Every wizard is born with regular magic, but there’s also certain magic that you have to be born with to do.

“There’s shadow magic, necromancy, elemental magic, healing magic, and future seeing magic. I was born with the ability to control fire and see the future. Claire can control shadows and even create portals with them. Seamus was born with healing magic.” Douxie said. They had arrived at the lab and were sitting down now.

“Wow, that’s kinda cool.” Tony says. He and Bruce start working on finding the Tesseract. Douxie walks over to the staff and holds his hands above it.

“This is weird.” Douxie states.

“What is?” Bruce asks.

“It doesn’t feel like magic, it feels more like raw energy.” Douxie looks confused. Bruce walks over with a scanner thing in his hands. He holds it out over the staff and moves it around. Tony hasn’t moved from where he’s solving equations.

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process.” Bruce says.

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Tony says.

“All I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce states. Tony smiles at Bruce and Douxie.

“You two should come by Stark Tower some time. Top 10 floors, all R&D. You’d love it, and we could use magic to make the best inventions ever.” Tony says.

“If I come, I’m bringing a friend. He’s only 16 but he’s a genius when it comes to technology.” Douxie says.

“What’s his name?” Tony asks.

“Krel Tarron.” Douxie tells him.

“Hmm, I’ll have to look him up.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not? Has he done something terrible.”

“He’s not from around here.”

“Is he an immigrant?”

“Kind of.”

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea for me to go, the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem.” Bruce says, ending their conversation.

“Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises.” Tony says right before he pokes Bruce with a mini electrical rod. Right then, Steve walked in, looking pissed.

Bruce yelps in shock when Tony zaps him. Tony looks at him closely.

“Nothing?” Tony asks.

“Hey! Are you nuts?” Steve exclaims.

“You’ve really got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?” Tony continued to question.

“Is everything a joke to you.” Steve asks Tony.

“Funny things are.” Tony deadpanned.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor.” Steve says.

“No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.” Bruce says.

“You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.” Tony tells Bruce.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve says annoyed.

“You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables.” Tony says.

“You think Fury’s hiding something.”

“He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging them too, isn't it?” Tony points at Douxie and Bruce.

“Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and...” Stammers Bruce.

“Doctor? Douxie?” Steve asks.

“I’m kinda with Tony on this one, sorry Spangles. He knows everything about me but all I know about him is his name.” Douxie shrugs his shoulders. Steve looks disappointed.

“A warm light for all mankind, Loki's jab at Fury about the cube.” Bruce begins.

“I heard it.” Steve cuts him off.

Bruce points at Tony, “Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower? That big ugly,” Tony gives Steve a look, “...building in New York?”

“It’s powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?” Bruce turns towards Tony.

“That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now.” Tony says with pride.

“So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Douxie asks, catching onto the point Bruce was trying to make.

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files.” Tony says to himself.

“I'm sorry, did you say...?” Steve asks.

“Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?” Tony holds out the bag towards Douxie and Bruce. Both of them take a couple and Douxie hands some to Archie.

“Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?” Steve says.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible.” Tony retorts.

“I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.” Steve, the good soldier he is, says.

“Following is not really my style.” Tony says.

“Not really mine either.” Douxie states.

“And you're all about style, aren't you?” Steve smiles condescendingly at Tony, completely ignoring Douxie.

“Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?” Tony asks annoyed.

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Steve looks hesitant at Bruce’s question, but quickly shakes it off.

“Just find the cube.” Steve says before leaving.

“Well that was fun.” Douxie says sarcastically.

“That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice.” Tony says.

“The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us.” Bruce points out.

“What he’s got us an ACME dynamite kit. It’s gonna blow up in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.” Tony says.

“And I’ll read all about it.” Bruce says back.

“Uh-huh. Or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.” Tony tells Bruce. Douxie’s starting to get bored of this conversation so he starts picking at his chipped nail polish.

“Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare.” Bruce mutters.

“You know, as awesome as this conversation is, I’m getting bored. So I’m going to go repaint my nails and call Claire.” Douxie sticks his tongue out and flashes devils horns before leaving. They wave at him as he leaves before starting their conversation again.

Douxie walks to Nat’s room. She’s just getting ready to leave when he walks in.

“Can I borrow your nail polish, I left mine at home.” Douxie asks. She nods and hands it to him before they both exit the room.

“Where’re you going?” Archie asks.

“To talk to Loki, see if I can get information out of him.” Nat replies. Douxie and Archie nod before they split paths with her.

Walking to his current room, Douxie sits down in the desk chair. He unscrews the bottle and starts to paint his nails. He also gets his phone out and calls Claire before putting it on speaker.

“Douxie! Finally, it’s been two days since you left. What happened to calling?” Claire asks as soon as she picks up.

“Sorry C-Bomb, it’s been a busy few days. We’ve captured the guy that stole the Tesseract but we still don’t know where it is.”

“Who stole it anyways?” Claire asked.

“Loki, Norse god of mischief. He plans to use it to make a portal and summon an army to take over Earth.” Douxie didn’t think he should be telling her this but he didn’t care.

“Shit, your not hurt are you?”

“No Claire, I’m fine. Although this team does not get along very well.”

“I’m fine too, thanks for asking.” Archie says.

“Oh! Sorry Archie I wasn’t aware I was on speaker.” Claire apologizes. Archie just chuckled.

“What are you doing right now?” Claire asks.

“I’m painting my nails, Archie’s trying to take a nap on my pillow I think. What are you doing.” Archie purred in response.

“Homework. Me, Jim, Krel, Seamus, Steve, and Toby are having a study session because we have a test tomorrow. They all say hi by the way.”

“Tell them I say hi too.”

“I did, Toby also needs an answer for his history homework and he can’t find it in his book.”

“What’s the question?”

“Hey Douxie!” Toby says over the phone.

“Hi Tobes, what’s you’re question?” Douxie smiles.

“How did the Black Death start? I can’t remember and I can’t find it in the book.”

“Have you tried googling it?”

“Yes! All it tells me is the number of deaths it caused.”

“Well, people think it was transmitted from rodents to humans by the bite of infected fleas.”

“Oh thanks! Your a life saver.”

“No problem Toby.” Douxie finished painting his last nail before using magic to dry them. He goes into the bathroom, taking his eyeliner pencil with him. He continues to talk to Claire for a few more minutes before they ended the call.

He looked into the mirror and sees bags under his eyes. He sighs before leaning forward and applying the eyeliner.

“How did you forget nail polish but remember eyeliner?” Nat asked. Douxie jumped, luckily not poking his eye or messing up his eyeliner.

“I’ve got no clue.” Douxie says before going back to his eyeliner.

“Hurry up we have a situation.” Nat says.

“What’s going on?” Douxie asks.

“Loki plans to unleash the hulk.”

“Fuzz buckets.” Douxie mutters. He quickly finishes his eyeliner before putting his pencil down and picking Archie up.

Archie yawns before going back to sleep in Douxie’s arms. Nat and Douxie walk out of his room and make their way to the lab.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

This fic is also on AO3 if you want to read it there.

I do not own anything other then the parts you don’t recognize.

[x-avavarts-x]

A final fantasy fanfiction for my oc and her family.

Characters: Cor Leonis, Laura lucis caelum (my oc), Dariolus Amicitia(my oc)

Warning!!

 My national language is not English. I apologize for the spelling and grammar mistakes.

I can't find a good name for my story and probably changed its name.

Summary:

When your flesh and blood are mixed with pain and you are nurtured with it, you dedicate your whole being to those who were trying to improve your suffering by touching their love. What's wrong with you? It does hurt to lose these loved ones, even thinking about it bothers you. At that time .. you grab everything to stop the destiny .. like a bird stuck in a cage and trying for freedom, you knock yourself on the door and the wall to find a way ... and if you find it. Nothing can stop you, even if it is a God!

Part 1:

The city was drained of fire and blood. All the people were fleeing under the brutal barrage of gray soldiers of smoke and fog, but many were in pain and death. The magical wall that had settled a hundred years of peace in itself was gone. The beautiful city of Insomnia was rapidly decaying, and the gorgeous crystal trapped in its white heart with the chains hanging between the earth and sky. Eventually, Alderkapt got his dirty wish. An army of glaives .. a traitor who gazed at this destruction with a smile !! The sun was moving rapidly to the horizon to not see this bloodshed. I was dragged here and there in the midst of this devastating storm. I have asked Dario many times to let me go. My dad needed me, but he said I wasted my time. I knew ... I was touching my father's death, Dario was trying to figure it out in a closed and I wasn't so dumb as to not understand it. Everywhere in the palace was taken the MTs and the soldiers. I was sure I could handle kill them. But Dario thought it was just a show to figure out where we were! However, this was not the whole story. We have been identified. By some MTs that have thermal visibility, probably! Because they were attacking us precisely, even though we were behind the wall. As soon as they attacked, Dariolus shielded himself and sent me back. He didn't have the strength and the empty hand tried to get those MTs out of the way! Like many other glaives, he had magic attached to my father ... and his lack of magic was a strong sign of the king's death. I don't mean to be so stupid that I wouldn't cry over knowing my dad's death. no !! That was not true. My discomfort was severe, but it was never free of emotions! I showed my sword and run to Dariolus:

"Get down !!"

Dario's quick reaction to my side made it easier and faster to separate those two MTs from their heads! I seized my sword and got worried about Dariolus' arm:

" Are you injured?"

He wrapped his arms around me to better protect me:

" It was on time! So don't worry, let's go!"

As he held me in his arms, he began to run, and so did I. The majestic palaces of the citadel were filled with blood and corpse. And it was nothing but torment for the soul! The sound of a rocket colliding with a building nearby prompted me to listen and sit with Dario for a moment. Because of the ultrasonic wave of the explosion, the windows of the corridors break down and throw at us. Dario's hands could not fully protect me and broken pieces of glass injured my body and Dario's hand. I had it, but I took it in my mouth. Dario quickly pulled those glasses out of his arm and knelt down on me, his worried look on the jars dying my blood, his anxious eyes staring directly at me:

"It's Nothing. Take a deep breath, okay?"

My eyes went to the blood coming from his arm. This guy was completely sacrificing himself for protected me!! How could I weep and cry for these efforts like a spoiled baby girl? I looked at him again. I smiled at him, a smile that was unending pain:

"Get it out, boy! Don't you guys say I'm scared !!"

Holding my hand with his hand to release those jars freely, pressing his hand to ease my pain! I was determined not to get it, but when he pulled out the first glass, I was overwhelmed by the intensity of pain. And so he pulled out the rest. I felt like my flesh was cut with those pieces of glass. And again it was Dario's hands that surrounded me. I got up in my place fast, but my body was cold because of the pain and stress I had. Dario clearly felt this as he took off his leather jacket and dropped it on my shoulders. I turned my head towards him and tried to oppose him, but I felt no time to shout! I was so slowed down by the weakness that Dario ran and slapped me behind him. Sometimes he would have to find a safer route for me to leave, but no way was safe. Suddenly he opened the first room we were near and he sent me in first and then he himself! I was staring at him. We remained silent for a while. He stood behind the door to see if the corridor was open. But it didn't take long for me to come:

"That's useless. We must go the secret way !!"

I turned my head around the room with my eyes! I went to the walls of the room to find out exactly where the secret was !! I held my hand close to the wall and hoped. But there was nothing !! I desperately turned to Dariolus:

"This room has no path!"

he pressed his lips and look at me. He was worried and this was clearly visible on his face. You weren't scared. Maybe you were scared. He was afraid that he couldn't defend me or something happened to me !! I wanted to calm his down, but again the sound of the explosion forced us to sit on the floor! I turned my head to the broken window. We had to get out of the building, otherwise, it wouldn't be clear! It seems as if he is thinking like me as he rushes to grab my arm and hand:

"Come, Laura !!"

I got up in pain and ran after him. He stepped up and kicked the window so hard it fell in place and fell into the balcony! He went out first to make sure there was no danger and pulled me out! He went to the fences and stared at the balcony of the armchair!

" We have to go that way."

Before he could finish his spoke, I hugged his back and knocked Pointe Warp down, both landing on the balcony. I leaned on my hand until I got up. The pain was much worse and my resistance was useless. I left myself on the floor and wrapped myself in:

"damn it!!"

"Wait for us to leave here, okay? stand up!"

Underneath my arm, he grabbed me for a millennium and lifted me up. I didn't disagree and stood. My gaze stared at insomnia that burning in the fire. The attack on the monster and the cannon fighters had the same thing on the ground. Dario was looking for a way to go down, and I was staring at a city that my father had for himself for years to protect it, but now he was gone and his city was burning and burning! I turned my head to Dario and went to him"

"Let me jump, Dario, I can get you off the ground !!"

He looked at me a little. He wanted me to confirm my word. But I don't know why he attacked me. My arm tightened and threw me to the side. I slipped on the rocks on the balcony floor and quickly turned around to figure out the reason for it, but ... My eyes were wide open in amazement. I was shocked to see his face. Blood was coming from his corner and he was smiling !! I was so shocked that I couldn't get up. A piece of iron was torn off his back and struck out of his chest. Dario's red blood slipped from that iron and slipped into the ground slowly. My face shriveled with anxiety and shouted with all my might:

"Dario!!"

But he didn't answer me. His eyes were closed and he was left behind. Its release was equal to its fall from the ruined balcony !! I ran to him with heavy sadness and boundless panic and jumped from the balcony. I took the tension with a single point warp and landed on the ground again with another point warp. He was on my huge but his eyelids were closed. I couldn't control my emotions, my voice was shaking but there was no crying yet ... I shook his head to open his eyes:

"D-Dariolus ..!"

The pale smile opened his bloody lips. His breaths were hard to release but he barely spoke:

"Protect you ...was the biggest .. h-honor ..for me! Get out.. from ... the city ...!"

His head dropped on my hand. My gaze was still staring at his face, I hesitated to catch his pulse. He was gone, just against my eyes. Hearing the loud roar of the invading monsters I jumped into myself. I left Dario on the floor. By the way .. that iron was in his chest and I couldn't pull it out! I got up from my place and ran with all my might. I knew so much that my lungs were short of breath. My dad died.. and a close friend of thirty years had injected into my heart so much that I didn't feel any pain in my body. I reached the parking lot at the palace. My eyes wouldn't calm down, but it wasn't time. However, I had no control over this negative and painful feeling. I grabbed my car's cover and pulled it over to the other cars and sat inside. By touching the car scanner, I turned it on and left the palace as fast as it could. I left, I abandoned everything .. my father .. Dariolus. I took a deep breath and raised the recording. Until I hear the sound of these explosions. Dragging the car left and right, I was trying to save myself from the crumbs. Nobody knew where I was or no one was following me !! my gaze stared at the road, After all ... after many years of tears, I let myself go out. My face was cold and soulless, and my father's voice, as well as Dario's, rang in my ears. Unlike the past ... I had enough power to turn my sadness into hatred and a motive for revenge !! I took a deep breath and swallowed my cry. I needed both senses and speed to get out of Insomnia. Crying would not make anyone alive for me !!

I kept the car next to the fuel station. I took my hat off the chair and put it on my head. I brushed my hair through the hole in his back to keep it fixed. I didn't want my face to be known ... it was easier that way! I turned off the car and went downstairs, handed over the burning to the person in charge of the station, took my passer-by bag from my pocket, and went to the small market in the station, got a can of ice cream, a packet of biscuits and then got back in the car. As soon as I sat down and closed the door, my cellphone was connected. I looked at the monitor and saw its number! It was Cor. slowly started the car and threw it on the road. As soon as I left, I replied:

"Yes, dear?!"

"Where are you? are you okay?"

I paused and replied:

"Yes. I'm coming to you."

"Your sound is vibrations!"

I paused again, and my voice's trembling was due to my weakness:

" Where are you?"

"In the camp"

"Before dawn..."

Before I could finish my speech, the road and the car both turned around my head. I closed my eyelids and squeezed:

" I'll get it myself!"

"Stay where you are, Laura! Characteristic that the situation is not good!"

"There is only half an hour left!"

" The situation may get worse, you may have an accident! Dariolus isn't ahead!?"

Dario .. I took a deep breath and drank some coffee, pressed my foot on the accelerator pedal, and increased my speed to complete the half-hour route in a quarter:

" No, he.."

Not continuing my sentence, Cor understands what I wanted to say. He answered in a low voice:

"I'm sorry."

And answered shorter than he:

" I'll see you soon!"

I didn't wait for his answer because I knew that Goodbye don't memorize and this tradition is not in his culture at all. I drank coffee again so I could control my dizziness. There was a long way to go, 12 hours of driving with bleeding .. How was I alive? !! I laughed a little and wiped the cold sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. Even Dario's coat couldn't take the cold off my body anymore. I turned on the car's heating system so that I could keep my eyelids open by warming my body. I was numb from the pain and my body was completely numb. For the first time, I held the pheromone of the car with both hands so that I could maintain the balance of the car at that high speed. And finally, that damn road and that long journey came to an end. I turned the car on the dirt road and made my way to the camp, parked the car behind the tents and turned it off, got out of it, and leaned on it. The first person who came to me was Monica. Apparently, she was able to escape from Insomnia. She stood in front of me and said something I didn't understand at all. My ear was whistling and it was as if a song had been sung in my head. I just smiled, but that smile soon faded. I could no longer control my body, felt the ground collapse under my feet and I fell to the ground with my eyes closed involuntarily!

Monica's gaze was on the colorless face of her princess:

"My Lady??"

She wondered why The princess didn't answer. Seeing her sudden fall to the ground, anxiety and horror settled in Monica's eyes. She reacted quickly and grabbed Laura's head and held it before hitting the ground. She sat down next to her and hugged her. By slowly, slapped one side of her face:

" Majesty??"

But Laura's lack of response to Monica's requests was nothing short of disgusting! She put her hand on Laura's side so that she could lift it more easily, which noticed the warmth and wetness of her clothes. She slowly brought her hand out and stared at it. Her princess was bleeding, she turned her head to the few Glaives that was watching them, she almost raised her voice:

" Don't stop there, let's take princess inside the tent !!"

He came out of his tent because of the noise in the camp, He couldn't focus on his work., he was also worried about why Laura wouldn't arrive, he knew her well !! Laura is driving so fast and professional that according to her calculations, she should be here now! He turned his head slowly to where the glaives were going. Very seriously and keeping his style, he turned his head to see what had happened. Laura's car was there !! And that was the only thing that was recognizable to Cor! His usual frown grew thicker and he walked towards the group that had gathered. Probably a factor as to why they're doing so poorly. Slowly, he pulled the glaives aside and stood in front of Laura! Seeing her unconscious face, his anxiety was hidden in his frown! He sat down next to Monica and caressed Laura with his hands and got up. As the marshal got up, the glaives opened the way for him to pass sooner! Monica got up at the foot of the marshal and followed him to receive the orders given! Cor started at Laura's face again for a moment. She was so pale that even a child could tell how bad she was. Invisibly, he pressed Laura to his huge and placed her hanging head-on his shoulder slowly:

"Potion, first aid, potion! Soon Monica"!

"Yes, sir!"

It was Monica who answered firmly and explicitly. She distanced herself from Cor in order to provide these devices sooner! From there, Cor had taken Laura to his tent. Her cold body lay on the bed and stretched her legs, pulled Dariolus' jacket out of tension and threw it down on the bed, put his chair next to the bed, and sat down. He raised his hand and gently caressed Laura's hair, which was irregularly spread on her face:

"Laura? do you hear me?"

He called out to her in the hope that if she woke up, her place would be safe and well. But Laura was completely in Report. She had no consciousness, not even a small amount! It didn't take long for Monica to enter The marshal tent. She had a box in her hand and had the help and first aid, stood next to The marshal in a military-style:

"Sir!"

Cor paying attention to Monica at that moment, he took one of the potions. he put his hand on Laura's abdomen slowly and turned it slightly towards himself. He used one potion, but he was not satisfied with one and knocked on the second potion on her. The same whimper caused both Cor and Monica to calm down. Laura lay down on the bed again:

"Go make something strong for her, Monica!"

"Yes, sir! Should i have soup?"

"It does not count!"

" Obedience."

She left the tent with military respect. She was wondering what kind of soup to make, which is suitable for the princess! Cor's gaze was still on Laura's face. Monica was told what had happened. He knew he had lost his friends... and he was sad that he couldn't be there to serve! At least Laura's life was news to alleviate some of his pain. He took a deep breath and slowly got up! He wanted to go to the maps to give the new orders to the soldiers and their hunters, but he stopped again with a slow moan of Laura. He turned and stared at her again. It was as if she was regaining consciousness! He came back next to her until she felt better:

"Come on .. You ar safe now!"

[lazella]

Papa Tony

Been really looking forward to finishing and posting this. We all know that Tony adopts pretty much anyone so let the dad instincts commence!

Tony read over the scans on his monitor. He had hooked up Yugi to every medical scanner he had as soon as he found out that the Soul Stone seemed to have fused with his body. The Soul Stone was the most mysterious of all the stones so who knew what the effects on Yugi were.

“Is all this necessary?” Yugi asked from where he laid on the table.

“You’ve got a rock that contains cosmic power potentially in your brain so yes…” Tony said as he switched to viewing brain scans, “I’m pretty sure you want it out.”

Yugi just let a hum and just relaxed as Tony continued his examination. He was about to switch screens when he noticed something. One of Yugi’s brainwaves was very active, the one that indicated speaking. But Yugi was silent. Tony was about to chuck it up to internal thought only for a second wave to show up. The two waves took turns being active, as if in conversation.

“Yugi?”

“Yes?”

“Are you talking to someone right now?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because according to what I see, you are talking to someone right now. So depending on your answer I should consider this normal or I will get very concerned.”

“Oh…” Yugi looked a little comfortable and fell silent. The scans indicated that he was back in his internal conversation before he spoke out loud again, “Do you believe in magic Tony-san?”

“I have a few wizards on speed dial and friends with a god so yes…I do believe in magic.”

“Okay…” This seemed like a relief to Yugi, “I’ve got another me who shares my body.”

“Another personality?”

“Not quite like that…he’s got not memory of his past or his name, so he shares mine. The only clue we have was that he was in Egyptian Pharaoh in life.”

“So you’ve got a dead guy in your head? How did he get there?!”

“It happened when I completed this Puzzle,” Yugi sat up and held up his large gold pendant for Tony to see. He had wondered why Yugi wore something that was so bulky.

“So magical artifact had a guy sealed in it…no other curses or anything?” Tony asked.

“None that I know of.”

“So I’m going to file this under normal for you…” Tony said as he closed down the screens.

“It’s normal as Yugi and I can get.”

Tony had to do a double take. Yugi’s voice changed only slightly. His posture was slightly different and there was something off about his eyes.

“Apologies I figured that I introduce myself since you are now aware of me.”

“Nearly gave me a heart attack that’s what…” Tony sighed, “You neglected to mention that you can switch out like that.”

“Most people don’t notice…Then again they don’t know what to look for.” The not-Yugi said.

“Just as long as you two get along Your Majesty I don’t think any of us will take issue…”

The not-Yugi arched an eyebrow, “Your Majesty?”

“Yugi said you were a Pharaoh and I’m not going to call you ‘Yugi’…that will just get confusing…” Tony said, “Now then…I’m sure there are few people I can call to see if we can resolve this memory loss problem.”

This seemed to surprise the not-Yugi, “You’ll do that?”

“Kid…there’s no way in good conscious let you walk around with no identity. I’m sure it has caused a few problems.”

“It has…a few life or death situations actually.”

The coffee cup Tony was holding shattered on the floor, “HOW?!”

“A few people have taken issue that I’m…still here.” Not-Yugi admitted.

“No…no no…no no NO!” Tony grabbed Not-Yugi’s arm and started drag him off, “Come on!”

“Where are we going.”

“We are going to see someone about your memory issue then getting you equipment so that people don’t stick you two into life or death situations!”

“I usually win though…”

“THAT IS NOT THE POINT!”

…………………………………..

Tony munched on popcorn has he watched Natasha and Judai spar. Curiosity was sparking in his head as he wondered how a seventeen-year-old boy was keeping up with a trained assassin but Judai seemed to dodge any sort of inquiry. So for now, it was observation time.

Judai dodged another punch from Natasha and went to kick her legs out from under her. She saw this coming and stepped back far enough to through him off balance. Natasha then grabbed Judai’s wrist and twisted it behind his head.

Judai had a quite a visible wince on his face trying to get out of Natasha’s grip as she got his other hand. Tony reached for his other bag of popcorn getting a feeling that things were about to get interesting.

Something snapped in Judai, his eyes flashing orange and green and claws growing sharp. Natasha was shocked at the change causing her to lose her grip a bit. Judai took his chance and flipped Natasha over his head and pinned her down with a foot on her chest.

“Nice one kid!” Tony clapped, “Never seen anyone throw Natasha like that and…” He trailed off, noticing the look on Judai’s face. It like he was frozen in a moment of panic eyes still glowing green and orange.

“Judai….hey Judai! Snap out of it!”

Judai blinked back to alertness, eyes returning to their normal brown, “Ah! Sorry! So sorry about that!” He got off Natasha and offered a hand, “Instincts took over…”

“It’s fine…” Natasha said as she accepted the help up. “I’ve been through worse.”

“But this was supposed to be a friendly spar…” Judai said, “And I…” He trailed off.

“And I what?” Natasha prodded.

“I…I…” Judai looked at the ground in shame, “I acted like it was the real deal…”

“So.” Was the causal response from Natasha.

This caught Judai off guard, “I could have killed you! My instincts just takes over and then…”

“Kid we nearly kill each other every day.” Tony shrugged munching on more popcorn, “Just ask Bruce how many times he threw us through walls when he had gone Hulk.”

“B-but…” Judai stuttered in shock, “You all…”

“We just learn each other’s quirks and adapt.” Tony said, “Some of our allies were people who tried to kill us so it’s really not a detracting factor. In fact, crazy dark backstories just makes you fit in even more.”

Judai blink, frowned, then laughed a bit, “I never…though of it like that.”

“Welcome to the world of superheroes…” Tony laughed, “Now that I think about it, you should already know about that since I do know that deck of your IS superhero themed.”

Now Judai was laughing even harder, “Your right! I should know that!”

“Atta boy…now let’s see what you can really do against Natasha.” Tony said as he sat back down with his popcorn.

“Are you sure…I mean…” Judai was still somewhat unsure.

“Would you rather go against Hulk?” Natasha proposed.

“This is fine…”

……………………………………

“I have to admit Mr. Stark, the technology and construction you’ve done in your suits is amazing.”

Tony sure liked Yusei. The kid was brilliant. Any sort of engineering or physics problem was second nature to the kid. Finally he had someone who could keep up with his nerd talk.

“You still owe me an explanation about your motorcycle.” Tony said, “You did say you built it yourself from scrap.”

Yusei chuckled a bit, “I sure did…” He turned to the bike that was parked in the corner of the lab. “I’ve replaced parts of the engine with better quality materials over the years but the frame is the same.”

“Quite the impressive work…I can’t believe your self taught,” Tony said as he tapped the metal casing of the D-Wheel. “Mind if I take a peek?”

“Go right ahead,” Yusei opened the engine compartment.

Tony whistled. When Yusei said that his bike didn’t run on gasoline he just had to figure out what the alternative fuel that he used. The circuitry was like artwork linking all the parts together. The main engine hub was impressive. It seemed to be spinning round and round and…

Why did Tony feel like he had read theories about this before?

“Yusei…am I looking at a perpetual energy machine?”

“Not quite…This a smaller version of the main Momentum reactor that acts as our main power source,” Yusei explained, “After many years of operation we found a flaw that caused it to build up too much power internally which has a risk of causing a catastrophic explosion. I helped develop a counter generator called Fortune to absorb the excess energy and feed it back into the system.”

Tony now had a notepad in his hand making calculations, “So a perpetual energy machine in two parts…now how to combine them into one…”

Yusei raised an eyebrow, “Mr. Stark…what are you doing?”

“Making improvements…you wouldn’t happen to have blueprints of those two reactors on you?”

“I…do actually….” Yusei ejected a flash drive from his bike, “My father was the one who developed the original Momentum.”

Tony could recognize the expression on Yusei’s face, it was one he had quite often.

“He died when you were young…didn’t he?”

“I was just a baby…” Yusei sighed, “His work was sabotaged, and his last act was to get me to safety.”

“Sounds like he was a good man…” Tony patted Yusei on the back, “Now let’s review those blueprints and see what we can do…”

……………………….

New York Central park was a popular destination for both locals and tourists to visit. Many fun sights to see and take photos off. Though those who were celebrity followers were surprised to find millionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark sitting on a park bench with ice cream in his hand sitting next to a boy with duel colored hair, also with ice cream in hand.

Tony paid no mind to the gawkers. “So Yuma…thoughts on the ice cream?”

“It’s good but…” Yuma frowned, “Still confused as to why you suddenly dragged me out of the tower just for ice cream? We passed at least four other places on the way here.”

“Because I can tell you were going nuts being cooped up inside all day.” Tony pointed out, “Making a fortress out of cardboard and bits of my suits then trying to jump over it in one go was the tipping point.”

Yuma blushed in embarrassment.

“And there’s the fact you’re talking to yourself…”

“That part is not true.” Yuma pouted, “I told you several times about Astral.”

“So invisible friend?”

“He’s not invisible…just visible to some people.” Yuma pointed out.

“That still counts as invisible.” Tony responded.

Yuma stuck his tongue out, “Thor can see him.”

“Well lucky him…he get’s all the cool stuff.” Tony took another lick of ice cream, “I have to build my cool stuff.”

“Then why don’t you invent something so that you can see Astral?”

Tony paused, Yuma had a very good point. He was a genius after all. He wasn’t going to let something like being chosen with magical powers stop from doing anything.

“Fair point…I concede victory to you Yuma.” Tony said, “I need you to hang around to give good ideas more often.”

Yuma smiled, “Thanks for the ice cream by the way.”

“Anytime kid.” Tony smiled back, “Just say the word and we’ll do it again.”

……………………..

“You got me a what?”

“She’s called a therapist Yuya. She won’t bite you, her job is to talk to you and figure out your own head.”

“Um…no offence Tony…” Yuya scratched the back of his head, “I don’t think she’s going to believe what I have to say.”

“She’s the Avenger’s personal therapist. She’s heard everything past the sun. A patient with four people in his head will not be a new thing for her.”

Yuya was still unconvinced, “I don’t know about the others though…especially Yuri.”

“Which is more of a reason to start now. Listen kid…” Tony started rustling Yuya’s hair, “I can tell you’ve been bottling up a lot of things which is not healthy for a kid…or kids…that are only fourteen years old. You haven’t slipped much but it doesn’t take much to figure out that you still need help.”

“I DON’T NEED HELP!!!” Yuya suddenly shouted then shrunk back on himself, “….sorry.”

“I guess that was Yuri.”

“Yeah…he doesn’t talk to any of us about his past….I mean he talks about current stuff but the moment we start sharing childhood stories he clams up. What makes you think he’s going to open up to a complete stranger?”

“You never know until you try…” Tony admitted, “Just ask Pepper how many times she had to drag my butt to a therapist, she didn’t give up on me for sure. How about you just try once and see how you feel?”

“Okay…” Yuya slowly nodded, “What if I don’t like it?”

“Then we’ll try something else.”

That seemed to be the reassurance Yuya needed to enter the room out of his own free will. Out of courtesy and patient confidentiality, Tony waited outside. A good hour later, Yuya came out though based on the way he was walking it wasn’t Yuya in control.

“So…which one….” Tony said trying to figure out which one he was talking too.

“Yugo sir…the others are in a deep conversation. I didn’t have as much to get off my chest so I took the reins.”

“So I take it that the therapist help?”

“I don’t know why Yuya didn’t go to one sooner…then again I don’t know if we even have them back home.”

“Sounds like that’s a problem we need to fix.” Tony muttered, “So…while the other three are in their talk…what to come to my lab and tinker with a few things?”

“Do I?!” Yugo was bouncing on his feet.

“Then lets go!” With a cackle they ran down to the lab.

………………………………..

Tony was fiddling with his latest project with Bruce in his lab. Yusaku was quietly working on a nearby computer giving a death glare to anyone who came close. Tony just left him be. Programing seemed to be more of Yusaku’s forte rather than engineering. He just needed to focus on this new reactor to see if he can give it more juice.

“You sure it’s okay to work on this with the kid in the lab?” Bruce asked.

“We have enough safety precautions in place and he’s far away enough.” Tony reassured him, “Now pass me that soldering iron and let’s hook this baby up.”

Bruce complied and took a few steps back. Tony a look in his eye that spelt trouble, trouble Bruce really didn’t want to be in, but a responsible adult had to be in the room. Tony finished the connection and removed his googles, “Time to light this baby up!” Like a giddy child, he started the power core. The reactor light up as expected but then started sparking.

“Tony…” Bruce began warning him.

“It should die down…” Tony was about to explain himself only for the reactor to start sparking more.

“Turn it off!!!” Bruce yelled.

“Trying!” Tony yelled back as he hurried to cut the power taking a quick glance at Yusaku. The boy was fully aware of what was going on but had not left his corner.

“Kid run!!!” Tony yelled at Yusaku which seemed to snap the boy to attention. He began to creep his way around the edge of the lab being very cautious of the flying sparks.  Electric sparks continued to fly turning into streams as the reactor started to critical. Tony was fumbling at this point trying to find the wires and disconnect them as the switch was now effectively dead. Feeling the plug in his hand he yelled out…

“Hit the deck!!!”

He broke the connection. The reactor let out one last flash of sparks then fell silent. With the danger passed, Tony and Bruce shakily got up from the floor.

“Well there goes today’s work…” Tony muttered.

Bruce didn’t comment instead looked around the room, “Where did the kid go?”

Tony looked around as well, there was no sign of Yusaku. “Hey kid? You okay? Where’d you go?”

“TONY!!!”

Tony ran around the table to where Bruce was crouched down. Yusaku was on the floor twitching. Tony started cursing under his breath. Did Yusaku get struck by the electricity?

“Hey!” Tony lightly shook Yusaku’s shoulder, “Speak to me.”

Yusaku didn’t answer but was mumbling. Tony only caught bits that sounded like ‘sorry’ and ‘I’ll keep trying’.

“Aw man don’t do this now!!!”

Tony and Bruce looked at Yusaku’s wrist device where the AI was poking out of.

“Snap out of it already!”

“What’s going on?” Tony asked.

“He’s stuck in another episode…” The AI said, “The electricity must have triggered him.”

Tony felt his heart drop, was Yusaku suffering from a PTSD episode? With great care, he rolled Yusaku over and tried to stabilize his trembles.

“Hey Yusaku…look at me.”

Yusaku blinked a few times but he seemed to be focusing on Tony now.

“Can you tell me where you are?”

“I-I’m….” Yusaku stuttered a bit, “In a lab…”

“Who’s lab?”

“Y-yours…”

“That’s right…come on…” Tony helped the shaking boy up, “Fresh air will do us all good.”

Bruce helped Tony walk Yusaku out of the lab and towards one of the sitting areas by a balcony. Easing Yusaku into a chair, Tony took the seat next to him while Bruce went to get drinks.

“So…feeling better?” Tony asked.

“I’m better….” Yusaku sighed, “I apologize…I haven’t had an episode like that in a while.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“No…it was years ago anyway and I’ve got closure…” Yusaku said.

“If you say so…” Tony said as he downed the scotch that Bruce brought back, “Sorry about the scare though.”

“Perhaps I should not work while you are playing with dangerous equipment.” Yusaku said as he took some lemonade.

“How about I set you up with your own laptop?” Tony proposed, “That way you can work wherever you want.”

Yusaku actually smiled, “I would like that.”