#i keep trying to do elizant and she is just not working with me

[abombihoney]

i am enjoying putting the bugs in space yes could u tell

[welldonebeca]

it's a Bad Idea, right? (8)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC!Betty WC: 1.2k words Warnings: Mafia AU. Secret identity au. Flirting. Fluff.

If you like my work, consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my Patreon. It’s just $2 a month and I promise you won’t regret it.

Masterlist

"Give it a spin," Wanda urged, her eyes dancing with excitement. "How come I've never seen you wearing this dress?"

Betty complied, twirling in her dress, a chuckle escaping her lips as she watched her friend's enthusiasm.

It was one of the pretty dresses she had made a while ago, nothing too fancy, but certainly something she had been saving for a nice time.

“Because it was pretty buried in my project chest,” she smirked, looking over her purse and shoes. “He’s coming to pick me up with his car.”

“Car?” Pietro echoed from outside, and Betty could just hear how he was right outside her door.

She rolled her eyes.

“Just walk in already, I’m dressed,” she called out. “Anyway, he’s going to drive us there, but I don’t know if I’ll want him to bring me back home, or if he’ll want to do that.”

Wanda scoffed, the disbelief obvious in her voice.

“He walked you home from the grocery store and walked us both home from work, why wouldn’t he bring you back?”

Betty shrugged.

Steffan seemed nice, but she’d only met him… thrice?

Phone talks aside, what if he was pretending to be nice?!

A lot of men do that!

“You never know how the after of a date might go,” she answered, at last. “I’ll keep money for the cab. And to pay for my part of dinner if he decides he doesn’t want to pay because of some arbitrary reason.”

He did say he wanted to pay for it, but, again, who knew.

"Bring some socks," Pietro suggested, taking a seat on her bed. "If you end up needing a cab and your feet start hurting in those heels, it's a handy backup."

Betty looked back at Wanda.

Well... it did make sense. She couldn’t bring a whole back with flats, but socks did fit into her purse.

“I’ll do that,” she agreed. “Thanks, Piet.”

He smiled, lying down on her bed and spreading himself.

“You look gorgeous,” he complimented her. “Where are you two going?”

She finished organising her purse, adding the pair of socks with her keys and a little pepper spray can.

“Juliette,” she told her. “We took your there for your birthday.”

Wanda looked very impressed as her eyes lit up with recognition.

"Ah, is little Miss Elize making a grand entrance?"

Betty rolled her eyes at the nickname,

‘Miss Elize’ was a title Wanda had given to her whenever anything French came up.

"Oh, hush," she chided playfully. "It's a cozy spot with familiar cuisine, perfect for a first date."

Steffan didn’t know she was French and she wasn’t eager to telling.

While with Poland, she could imply she was from the side occupied by Germany, mentioning France would be like painting a target on her back. She already had one target to deal with; she didn't need another.

Her phone vibrated, and Betty eagerly snatched it up, her heart racing. A text from Steffan flashed on the screen.

"He's here," she gasped with excitement.

Pietro chuckled.

“You really do like this guy,” he teased her, raising himself on his elbows with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Betty shot him an exasperated glare, her cheeks turning ten degrees hotter.

No, she didn’t! He was just nice.

And hot.

And charming.

And she really wanted to do unspeakable things to him.

"Shut up," she snapped in response, trying to hide her embarrassment as she walked away.

"Have fun," Wanda called out cheerfully. "And don't forget to send us your location."

Pietro couldn't resist adding his own quip, his protective instincts kicking in, though there was a touch of annoyance in his tone.

“I can pick you up if he gets handsy!”

She left with her phone still in hand, tucking her charger into her purse and quickly texting Wanda her real-time location for the next 24h, and rushed down the stairs with her high heels in hand, stopping by the mirror at the entrance and fixing her hair before putting her shoes on and walking out, proper and pretty.

Steffan was waiting right there, and oh, he looked very good. He was cleanly shaved like always, and was wearing a crisp white button-up short under a navy blazer that just made his muscles pop out. It matched his jeans, too, the whole assemble.

"Good evening," he greeted her with that signature charming smile. "You're positively stunning tonight."

Betty couldn’t help the big smile on her face.

"You clean up quite nicely yourself," she remarked, playfully pointing at him with her free hand.

Steffan responded by taking her hand gently, bringing it to his lips, and planting a delicate kiss on her knuckles. It was an old-world gesture but it sent a delightful shiver down her spine.

Oh, dear.

“Let’s head off, it’s almost time for our reservation,” he suggested;

Betty nodded, and followed him to his car. Not that she was good with them – she lived in New York, having a car wasn’t too useful around there – but it looked like a nice car. Not too shabby and not too expensive, and it was tidy. She had seen the model around quite a bit in other places, so it was easy to suppose Steffan wasn’t a car-guy – he probably just wanted something to get around, and she quite liked that.

Her mid twenties had showed her that convenience was much more important than appearances when one wanted a peaceful life.

He opened the door for her, and closed it too, and she had just buckled the seatbelt when he walked in too.

Her eyes widened for a moment at the sight of him fully sat, and, good grace, that man was big. It made her feel tiny, being in that little space with him.

It made her whole face feel hot. Steffan was making her feel like a teenager who had just figured out she liked boys!

Betty observed the city passing by through the car window as he drove, the journey brief but pleasant. Her face lit up with a smile every time Steffan glanced her way, his eyes making her heart flutter with each exchange – and they hadn’t even started their date officially!

When they arrived at the restaurant, he once again showed his gentlemanly manners by opening the car door for her and later the entrance to the restaurant itself. When they were shown to their table, he pulled out her chair and pushed it into place before taking his seat.

“Do you come here often?” he asked, unbuttoning his blazer.

"Only on special occasions," Betty replied, her fingers tracing the edge of the menu. Oh, it looked new. "The staff here is exceptional, and the food, well, it speaks for itself."

Steffan’s chuckle warmed her belly.

"If a waitress is giving praise to the staff, I'm all ears," he teased, offering a playful wink. "Should I follow your recommendations for our dinner?"

Betty squinted at him.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Steffan didn’t seem bothered.

“You are the one with experience,” he smiled charmingly, his eyes fixed on hers. “I trust your judgement.”

She couldn’t help biting her lower lip as she reached for the menu, her heart fluttering with excitement.

“If you say so...”

…

“it’s a Bad Idea, right?” was posted on my Patreon in September 2023 and is fully finished. To have early access to it (and lots of other stories), consider subscribing to my page! It’s just $2 a month, and I know you won’t regret it!

…

Forever Tags: @emoryhemsworth​ @amythyststorm33​​ @shaelyn102 @yknott81 ​​@maximofftrash​​ @kgbrenner​​ @thefridgeismybestie @magpiegirl80​ @mogaruke​ @shadowhunter7​​ @musicalcoffeebean @megasimpleplan4ever​​ @deemoriarty @05spn18​​ @malindacath @kdcollinsauthor @random-fandom-fangirl2112​​ @widowsfics @frozenhuntress67​​ @averyrogers83​​ @notyourtypicalrose @nerdypinupcrystal @giruvega

Marvel forever tags: @its-daydreamer23​ @random-fandom-fangirl2112 @tayrae515? @indecisiondecisions? @afanofmanystuffs @patzammit @thevanishedillusion @widowsfics? @alexisshoto​ @princess-evans-addict​​ @dreams-of-feysand​​ ​@dragonqueen0606 @izbelross @isabelle-faith

Bad Idea: @peaceloveancolor

[unreadpoppy]

song as old as rhyme - Epilogue

{Beauty and the Beast AU - Raphael x OC (Elize)}

chapter 21

Read on AO3

A/N: Here it is, the epilogue, at long last the story concludes. Thank you all who time to read it, who left comments or likes/kudos, you guys are the best 🩷

Taglist: @littlemoondarling

@desenhosdebolso

@shyminnie07

@lemonandhoneytea

Three years had passed since Elize decided to stay with Raphael, now free of any contract. The two of them had come a long way, with the occasional ups and downs, but now their relationship was stable. 

The two of them had gotten into a routine. They’d wake up and eat together, Raphael would go out to do his business, while Elize stayed in the House of Hope, reading or playing with Mol. Sometimes she would go visit her Father, but mostly, she preferred staying home, always finding some way to entertain herself. When he’d come back, they’d talk and eat. Some days, they’d retire to bed and sleep. On others, the nightly activities were more…exciting. 

Anyways, they were happy and Elize couldn’t ask for more. 

Which is why she found it quite strange that in the past few days, Raphael seemed to avoid her like the plague. 

He’d spend more and more time away, and when they met up, he wouldn’t talk much. Elize was starting to worry that something might have happened but she decided to keep quiet for now. She would try asking the others if they knew anything and then she’d speak to him .[

…

Meanwhile, Raphael was more stressed than he should be about this. 

Three lovely years had passed and he figured it was time to take the next logical step in their relationship. 

Marriage. 

Raphael was ready to officially make Elize the Lady of his house. He’d even gone as far as to pick out a ring, but for some reason, he could not work up the courage to ask her. 

Every time he’d go back home, ready to pop the question, all it took was for her to smile at him and suddenly, Raphael couldn’t do it. For a moment he even thought he was going sick again. 

Now, after telling all this to Haarlep, the incubus stared at him for a moment and then laughed. 

“Oh, hells, this is too good to be true.” They said, clutching their belly.

“Mind your manners, Haarlep, before I send you back to the hole you came out from.” Raphael warned, brows furrowed. 

“I apologize, master.” By the tone in their voice, it was clear they were not being genuine about it. “It’s just too much fun to hear the great Raphael nervous about asking for his woman’s hand in marriage.” 

Raphael sighed, putting a hand on his face. “I’m not nervous, I’m just…unsure.” He paced around the room. “I have never thought about this before, and much less about doing it with a human.” He paused. “I…I don’t know what to do.” He admitted. One of the biggest influences Elize had had on Raphael was that now, he was more open about his feelings. 

Haarlep suppressed a chuckle and said. “Maybe, you could ask for advice from her father. He could give you some insight.” 

“Hmm…you might have a point.” Raphael said. “Besides, humans do have that tradition of asking the father for the blessing.” Before he snapped away, Raphael looked at Haarlep, and with a pained face said. “Thank you, Haarlep.” 

…

Elize had thought to first ask either Haarlep or Korilla about what was going on with Raphael, but none of them were present at the moment, and so she decided to ask the only one left.

“Mol, have you seen Raphael as of late?” Elize asked. 

The tiefling shrugged. “Sure. Why?” 

“It’s just…I think he’s acting strange, but I don’t know why.” 

“Oh yeah, the boss’s very nervous, but that’s because he’s going to-” She stopped herself before finishing the sentence. 

Elize frowned. “What is he going to do? Why is he nervous?”

“Nothing, he’s not going to do anything, I was just..ah… thinking about Haarlep.” Although Mol was a good liar, she had misstepped, and Elize had caught on. 

“Mol…”

“Oh look, I swear I just heard Korilla calling me.” The tiefling turned around, pretending to have heard something. “I should better get going, bye.” 

“Mol!” The girl had run away, too late for Elize to try and catch up, but now she was curious. 

What was Raphael up to?

…

“What are you doing here?” Audifax asked, when he answered the door and Raphael was on the other side. 

“Will you not welcome me inside?” Raphael said, a smirk on his face. “After all, you own this lovely home to me.” After Elize had somewhat mended her relationship with Audifax, he decided to leave their village for good and go live in Baldur’s Gate. 

In his grand generosity, and after Elize asked for it, Raphael lended some money for the old man to buy himself a place to stay. 

Audifax sighed and let the devil in. “If you’re tying to get me into some trick again I should want you that-”

“I’m not here to do any of that, old man.” Raphael interrupted him.  “I’m here to ask for some…advice.” 

“What kind of advice?” He eyed the cambion suspiciously. 

Raphael sighed and reached into the pocket of his clothes, retrieving a ring, with a big ruby on it. “I have been meaning to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” He gave the man the ring. “But for some reason…I have been finding it difficult. I was told that maybe you could give me some help.” He sighed. “Besides, it would be good if you could give me your…blessing.”

Audifax inspected the ring and then looked back at Raphael. “Well, you have no objections from me. I know how good you do to Elize, and how…happy you make her.” Audifax let out the part that he also wouldn’t dream about defying a devil again. 

Raphael nodded. “Thank you.” 

“And if I can give you any advice, it would be to just do it. Rip it off like a bandage. The more you prolonge this, the more nervous you’ll get and it will start to affect her.” Audifax chuckled. “I think that’s why she was asking me about you the other day.” 

“What?” 

“She came here, asking if I knew anything, because you were acting strange and avoiding her.” Audifax confessed. “So go ask the damn question before Elize has enough of you.” He shooed the devil from out of his home, and sighed.

Audifax was once again reminded that his daughter was no longer a small girl, and instead, was a grown woman, who would soon be married. 

…

As soon as Raphael came back to the House of Hope, he strode the halls, searching for Elize. He went to her room first, but she wasn’t there, nor in the library. Thankfully, Mol told him she was in his chambers. 

He opened the door, and Elize was kneeling on the floor, looking beneath the bed.

“Love?” He called out and Elize stood up. “What are you doing?”

She passed her hands on her skirt, trying to clean it. “I was seeing if you were hiding something.”

“Hiding?” 

“Yes.” She crossed her arms. “I asked Mol what was the deal with you these past few days, and she told me you were nervous about something you were going to do.” 

“Oh.” He made a mental note to not tell Mol of the things he was doing in the future. “I assure you, dear, it is nothing to be scared of.”

“Then you are hiding something from me.” She said. “Raphael, please, if it’s something bad, just say it already.” 

He chuckled and walked closer to her, placing his hand on her shoulders. “It is true, I have been hiding something, but it’s not a bad thing.” Raphael took a deep breath. “These past few days, there had been a question plaguing my mind, and only now have I found the strength to ask it.” 

Before Elize could question, he got on one knee and took the ring out, holding it in one hand. “Elize, we have been together for three years. I believe it is about time you become the Lady of this house - my wife.” 

Elize’s mouth was open and her eyes were widened. Raphael kneeled there, waiting. Then, her voice finally came back to her. 

“Yes! Yes! I have been waiting for this for so long!” She said excitedly, kneeling in front of him, grabbing him by his jacket and kissing him on the mouth. After a moment, she let go. “You just made me the happiest woman in all Hells.” 

Raphael smiled and put the ring on her finger. “And you make me the happiest man.” They kissed again and he stood up, offering his hand. 

“Come, let’s tell the others the good news.” She took it, giggling and they left the room, now as fiancees.

[kresnikcest]

V pls tell me abt the crossdressing cd

SO THE CROSSDRESSING CD. (yes i'm a week late, school is exhausting)

Now. mind you. this is probably not canon. like 99% not canon. definitely not.

you can listen along here, which I highly recommend tbh. My recap is based on a now-deleted CN fansub by user shinro (I did try to check JP definitions in some places but definitely do not take me as a reasonable source and I did localise some things).

CW for the typical stuff you'd expect out of a forced crossdressing-and-getting-hit-on gag from a decade ago. also extremely one-sided parent/child flirting but neither party knows they're related.

okay so, the party (Ludger, Elle, Jude, Leia, Alvin, Rowen, Elize and Teepo) enter a new FD and find themselves in a locker room. They gradually deduce that they're in a women's locker room in Spirius, and are almost caught by two female employees, but Leia gets the guys to hide behind the door, and then lies to the employees that she's accompanying Elle and Elize for a Rieze Maxian goodwill visit, but they forgot Teepo and were coming back to grab him.

The employees fangirl a little over Teepo because Fractured Ludger in this dimension is a popular agent who wears a suit with a similar design to Teepo. Somehow, Fractured Ludger is still in debt in this world, so his nickname is "the Prince of debt". Prime Ludger is not happy about this.

Fractured Ludger normally doesn't visit the HQ, except for today. The employees start worrying about being able to meet him before the groupies get to him, and Elle leverages the party "knowing" Vera to keep them quiet about them being there. The employees leave them alone to go try and see Ludger.

Rowen figures that since Fractured Ludger is a celebrity here, Prime Ludger will naturally draw attention, and since they're in a women's locker room, which is conveniently empty bc all the female agents are off trying to meet with Ludger... obviously the only solution is to dress Ludger like a girl.

Jude and Alvin immediately abandon Ludger to his fate, while Leia and Elize are very happy to help Rowen.

leia: rowen, i finally found a makeup bag. rowen: thank you very much, leia. leia: i also found a wig and a sewing kit. rowen: that's perfect, place it here and we'll get started. ludger: can someone please stop rowen? elle! elle, you don't want to see me crossdress, right? elle: i... ludger: exactly, you don't want to see that happen! rowen, how about we find some other-- elle: i want pictures!

Short time skip, everyone is super impressed with Rowen and Leia and Elize's work. Ludger is too tired to argue.

(Ludger's outfit is described as a long pink dress and a white shawl, and a tied up wig. Elize also manicured his hands. You can see it in fan art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Yes I have these links saved.)

Anyway, Ludger now sufficiently disguised, the party leaves the locker room. Well not before Elle gets her pictures.

elle: let's take a picture! ludger, give me your ghs! ludger: you were serious?! elle: is that bad...? ludger: uh. ugh... fine. elle: yay! now to open the camera... *snap* elle: got it! and next... ludger: do you really need to keep taking pictures? elle: i want to make it your lockscreen! ludger: stop it! give it back! elle: no! if i give it back you're just going to delete it! until we get back to the prime dimension, i'll take care of your ghs! ludger: elle...

Ludger decides they need to get out of the Spirius building first to find the Catalyst.

elle: ludger! it's so rare to see you this pretty, you should sound the part too! alvin: she's right, you have to act like a proper lady. ludger: you should act like it's none of your business! elize: but, we put so much effort into our preparations... ludger: ugh. *falsetto* i understand. is that better? jude: ludger, look out! ludger: uh, i'm sorry-- niisa... julius: ah, pardon me. hm? you are... outside personnel, aren't you? this floor is forbidden to unauthorised staff. ludger: uh. that's right, my apologies, julius-san.

(obligatory fan art.)

Leia lies that they forgot something in the building. Julius says they should have asked the management for help, to which Rowen and Jude say someone did help them, but then they got lost after finding it.

julius: still, that's strange... and this young miss here seemed like she recognised me. ludger: but you're a famous agent! julius: famous? ludger: er... everyone says you're great! elize: and um, we really were only here to get my doll... teepo: there's nothing strange about that~ julius: that doll... but of course. whenever he comes to visit the company, there's always people trying to sneak in like this. ludger: um... julius: you must be fans of ludger, aren't you?

Elize denies it and Teepo says that Ludger is copying him, but Julius just tells them they don't need to deny it that strongly. Ludger begrudgingly agrees in his regular tone of voice, so Alvin covers up for him and pretends he said it 😂 Julius doesn't seem to believe him... but...

julius: never mind, after seeing the face of this beautiful young lady, i won't question you any further. ludger: what.

Actually, he'll take them all to the front door, and he'd like to talk to fem!Ludger specifically... Don't worry, he only wants to know fem!Ludger's feelings about his little brother, nothing else. It's an older brother thing.

While Ludger suffers in the background, Jude and Leia remark that Fractured Julius has the unexpected temperament of a sister-in-law. (And yes that gender is right, they say 小姑).

Alvin wonders if Julius has figured out this is Ludger crossdressing, but Julius casually talks about how he had told Fractured Ludger he could help with his debt, but that Fractured Ludger had insisted on taking care of it himself. Ludger continues suffering in the background.

Julius explains that the job Fractured Ludger got was testing out products in the Suprisingly-Super-Convenient-Goods room (it's a room in Spirius you can visit in-game). They have a tendency to explode.

Anyway, it turns out the reason why Fractured Ludger is super popular is because of one of the SSCG room's inventions, a suit that's meant to soothe people's nerves and let them do the best they can. Everyone who wears that suit, no matter the person, have become incredibly popular, Fractured Ludger included. Julius chalks up the party illegally trespassing in search of him to be the result of that suit.

So, he's kind of worried about the whole thing, since Fractured Ludger once ran away after getting his heart broken...

(Ludger is suffering in the foreground.)

They finally reach the ground floor, but Fractured Ludger's been grabbed by his fans and lost in the crowd. a young Spirius agent asks Julius for help. Julius explains the party are his guests and offers fem!Ludger the chance to meet Fractured Ludger. Prime Ludger understandably does not want to meet his own self he's supposedly crushing on, but Rowen and Leia cover for him by saying they just didn't know Ludger was that popular. Julius walks off to investigate the situation, leaving the young agent with the party.

julius: please, wait a moment here. i'll ask after checking out how things are going. employee: after? mr. julius, didn't you just agree to help-- and he's gone. elle: hey, oji-san! 20-something year old employee: "oji-san"... uh... what's up, kiddo? elle: are all the people here ludger's fans? employee: yep. elle: ludger's amazing...

The nameless not-ojisan agent dives into the crowd to help fish Fractured Ludger out, and immediately disappears into the crowd of fangirls.

The party catch sight of a purple aura in the crowd, and wonder at the sheer power of the Teepo-patterned suit... Then Jude asks if they're not just seeing the glow of a Divergence Catalyst?

ludger: the famous me is a divergence catalyst...  which means the future me could never be popular... elle: isn't this ludger only popular because of the suit? ludger: in other words, there's no way for me to be popular on my own merits.

Julius returns, and offers the back door of the building as a way for them to escape the crowd, and besides, fem!Ludger still wants to meet Fractured Ludger, right? Ludger says it feels different seeing how popular Fractured Ludger is, but Julius assures him it's just the effect of the suit, and it's a better effect than Ludger blowing up.

julius: ah, be careful not to walk into someone. ludger: what-- [ludger walks into someone] bisley: ah, pardon me. ludger: ah, no, i should be the one-- uh. jude: mr. bisley... julius: mr. president. what are you doing here?

It's Bisley, who's here to see the results of the SCCG's invention. Bisley asks who the party are, and Julius says they're his guests. Bisley wonders why it seems like they recognised him... Julius says it'd be odd if they didn't, considering he's the CEO. Bisley is still a bit suspicious... but...

bisley: never mind, after seeing the face of this beautiful young lady, i won't question you any further. jude: beautiful... alvin: ...young lady-- ludger: huh. you--you mean me? bisley: indeed. if you don't mind, allow me to guide you out of the building instead of julius. ludger: n... no, i wouldn't dare trouble the president of the company to act as a guide. bisley: don't be so courteous, i'd like to know more about you. ludger: *suffering* julius: please, stop it, you're confusing her. bisley: you truly are a most elegant young lady. ludger: no, i uh... actually i was interested in ludger...

(obligatory fanart)

The young not-ojisan agent from earlier finally retrieves Fractured Ludger from the crowd, and balks a little at the presence of the CEO. The party ascertains for sure that the suit is the Divergence Catalyst, so Rowen sets up a distraction by pretending to feel faint, and he and Jude and Alvin retreat to another room.

Fractured Ludger asks what the party were saying about his suit, and explains that he wants to change the design. Teepo objects that he can't change the pattern, so Fractured Ludger figures he'll just change the colour then, then asks what the party are there for. Leia says they're here to see the Prince.

fractured ludger: they call me the prince but it's "the prince of debt". it's not really a nice nickname to hear. and this beautiful young lady is...? ludger: huh. me? fractured ludger: have we met before? ludger: maybe... every day in front of the mirror. fractured ludger: hm? i'm sorry, i didn't hear what you just said. ludger: i was just saying you have the wrong impression, i'm from rieze maxia after all. bisley: rieze maxia, you say? then you must be a part of the goodwill delegation? ludger: y-yes! bisley: i had no idea, if i had known a lady like you would be attending the goodwill party, i would have certainly gone myself. ludger: mr. president, you flatter me-- bisley: it's no flattery ludger: *suffering* (how much longer do you guys need, save me already!)

The fire alarm goes off. They speculate something exploded in the SSCG room. Bisley takes Julius to meet with security (I think) to evacuate the crowd, and instructs Fractured Ludger to evacuate the employees. Prime Ludger offers to take the suit off of Fractured Ludger so its powers won't interfere with the evacuation. Fractured Ludger relents, and also says that fem!Ludger's safety is more important than some suit, and to get to safety first.

Rowen, Jude, and Alvin return, having created a smoking mist and then pulled the fire alarm. Spirius has already evacuated the room, leaving them all alone with the Divergence Catalyst.

Jude asks if Ludger isn't going to change clothes, since with the Key of Kresnik, he's going to return to the Prime Dimension still dressed the way he is. Ludger panics and demands his clothes back from Elle's bag. Rowen laments the self-consciousness of youth, and Ludger asks if Rowen would be comfortable if Gaius saw him crossdressing. Rowen replies that (I think) whatever shame he feels would be accompanied by the knowledge of his skills at disguise. Jude says (I think) that whatever anyone's preferences for crossdressing, it's still embarrassing to be seen by others.

Ludger changes back and destroys the Catalyst. They return to the Prime Dimension.

leia: but ludger, you were really so pretty! like a model! you were even popular with julius and bisley! teepo: and you were popular with Fractured Ludger too! ludger: i'm not happy being popular with guys. and it seems like nova still rejected me anyway... elle: but i used ludger's ghs to take some pictures! leia: that's right! we still have pictures! elle: ta-da! elize: ludger's so pretty~ teepo: he's like a supermodel! ludger: delete that already! elle: no way! it was so hard taking such pretty pictures, deleting them would be a waste! elize: ludger, could you send those pictures to my ghs? teepo: if you don't, we'll call you "the prince of debt"! ludger: spare me already...

Rowen says he needs them for future reference. Ludger is adamant nothing like this is happening again.

rowen: you never know what might happen. haven't you heard of the saying about "covering all your bases"? ludger: in that case, shouldn't everyone be prepared to crossdress? alvin: i can’t. rowen: i can’t either. ludger: how can you be so sure?! rowen: because i have a beard. alvin: because i grew a beard. ludger: a beard... jude: ludger... what are you looking at me for? ludger: nothing... maybe i'll just grow a beard too...

[crunchchute]

another day, another round of me wracking my brain trying to come up with a good fnaf timeline. this time i came to the conclusion that i should just make an au where i leave out a bunch of stuff at this point if i want to work with my own story 😭

ok this turned into a LONG rant id normally just put on my other blog but as i started here, im just gonna post it here. i also keep forgetting stuff and sometimes i come across a theory/fact that makes me go OOHH im so dumb i forgot. and it changes everything again and its probably happening again here

first, fnaf 2 is where i get stuck every single time. id love to just leave at least the toys out, sorry mangle. second, i just cant wrap my head around the whole "charlie was the first victim" idea because we get introduced to all this where we see the puppet in the toys location and the withereds.. it becomes too confusing for me. is it at the same location? was the puppet with the ogs and the toys were added later? i would say the toys are irrelevant and havent been added until the ogs were withered. anyway, i believe will could have stuffed the kids into the ogs prior to killing charlie, which would make more sense if the puppet was possessed later and then gave them life? whether the toys are or arent posessed is not important to me as much (just confuses me. like if they werent there would it change the story??), or rather it lacks some closure, like the ogs have eventually been destroyed and the spirits let free, but for the other kids (that people say are possessing the toys), we dont even know their names! or how they ended. i always think of the theories how will destroyed the ogs to take remnant from them to use in the funtimes, but nobody ever thinks of the fact that he just gets springlocked right after which would make No sense. the funtimes are an odd thing, i guess you could apply he actually took it from the toys, but why would he? is there proof? if theyre programmed to snatch kids directly, hed have enough remnant and not have to get it from previous animatronics. that said, i believe the SL location and funtimes were made early on, but had to have this kidnap/kill function only after charlies murder because if she was the first and the point of her being the first was that will found out about remnant and possession, he would want to start experimenting with it then. however, i do prefer charlies murder to be out of jealousy towards henry after losing elizabeth, which would mean the funtimes would be existing at this point (because of eliz death). or perhaps the funtimes have been a project of his (i have this little coffin theory. probably dumb, basically just each character is there to hold the body/spirit of each afton family member, baby and ballora are obvs, funfred would be cc with bonbon in the place of the walkie talkie plush to control him.. and foxy for mike, but this doesnt work unless william knows about the posession...) but baby killed elizabeth and he wanted to get her back... wouldnt then finding out about charlie and the puppet be like way too convenient? like hey, this is exactly what you need. ...and how long can a spirit persist within an object until possession using remnant? or this kind of "activation" like in give life.

now this brought me to thinking about springtrap and when exactly was he "revived". as well as other time things.. such as, i thought the spirit "degrades" over time, loses sense of self - but i guess that would apply more after the possession starts. hinted at with scrap baby, she has been baby for so long its no longer elizabeth. but springtrap, and then scraptrap, is william seemingly after decades unless his spirit possessed spring bonnie only around the time they found him? big think

and then back to the general timeline. i cant even pinpoint the very start which bugs me, so it always all starts in '83, (after fredbears existing for a bit) when i assume the bite triggered the nightmare experiments, also closing of fredbears. i think there was a freddys at that time already where the first mci would happen but as i said i like the idea of will stuffing the kids into the withereds. maybe not, maybe i gotta let that go but its just such a nice idea. theyre just there in the back, nobody cares about them, the perfect place. then he can be the one to fix them up into their fnaf 1 glory, but this applies to it even if they were stuffed there much earlier and the withering happened Because Of the decay (probably makes more sense too! so i will try to work with that instead) and you see! no puppet yet. but also no possession. hed fix them up after, put them in their own new location and go ham. as in, he also has the saferoom there with the spring bonnie suit to use. nobody suspects a thing. (i also think the golden freddy/fredbear suit could be there and thats how we got golden freddy) but you see, with this we could just throw fnaf 2 out entirely.. whether we had the withereds or not, it doesnt matter, toys dont bring much to the table other than the bite of 87, no? the puppet could work perfectly in fredbears or freddys, just waiting her turn

see what i have to live with. i already helped myself a ton by accepting that henry is just in jail after the first mci/post fredbears so i dont have to work with him too. he wasnt framed, only in charge as the owner.. and we got fazbear entertainment taking while william has afton robotics. as in, they split at some point (after the bite?) and then he works under fazent in various locations, many times under aliases. Oh which brings me to.

in this year of 2023, they finally made me care about fritz! only because its william. to me. i have no proof! other than the clickteam teaser saying "fritz", but showing dave. (if its not him im fucked.) plus, isnt all we know about him literally just an employee kicked out on the first day for tampering with the animatronics (and smelling bad)? wouldnt william do something like this? get inside, if he cant he will take another identity (a name of one of his victims even) to get in to fuck around with the animatronics. why not just go there as william?? he once owned this place..? WELL now comes another juicy part (oh god crunch is going insane) he got kicked out! he cannot be in the location. why do i think that? midnight motorist. yeah.. okay i now love the idea that rye put out there, in the house its mike and a babysitter or aunt (movie helping with the lore!!!) and the footsteps are golden freddy luring him out (movie again!! its only 2 footsteps because GF doesnt walk!! he floats!!) but that aside, im thinking of the JRs part. this doesnt matter other than a hint at other stuff, metaphors and parallels and such. JR could be fredbears previously, yeah i dont argue with any of that, but it also makes me think of it as a paralell to the toy location. a place he got kicked out of, maybe not just once, perhaps the night he killed charlie he had just been kicked out (for various reasons) which amplified his anger as we see in MM after being kicked out of JRs, ending with him killing charlie (which i think was a tiny tiny bit premeditated in the way he was jealous of henry and his happy little family, now getting this chance) much to think about

note: i dont take anything here too seriously. theorizing is always just fun so if the one person decides to read this and react in a highly negative way, just keep it to yourself. if you have strong arguments against something with proof, do bring them in, i genuinely forget about shit i read like, yesterday. i also cannot "factcheck" everything when after googling i get shit like people on quora telling me that... quote.. william was under the control of the glitchtrap virus since he was 8 years old... umm wrong!! he was forced to eat cement when he was 6!!

okay that was meant to be a closing sentence but i also thought of one more thing. and one more thing!! i was a firm and calm and collected believer of fnaf 1 taking place in '93. then came the movie, making it in the 2000s. and it changed me to the worse! i started reading up on it and found out that its all just a theory that majority latched onto and decided to take as fact. as well as the idea that springtrap was locked in for 30 years. wont factcheck rn but it was apparently 30 years from the first location being closed, not since the springlocking. which means theres no set time between that and fnaf 3. on top of that someone was saying it made more sense for fnaf 1 to take place 10 years after that, so around 2003 instead, and it made sense to me then, so yeahh...

it also ties better to help wanted onward (though fnaf3 happening later would make the previous events more mysterious, why wouldnt they look into the location sooner?) and SB not taking place in like 2050s but 2030s or so (if its true that SB is happening 10 years after the pizzaplex opening). holding onto the game!vanessa is an afton theory even stronger after the movie! i talked about it b4 but had no proof. and so we dont have any literal grandpas making babies, the sooner it goes on the better. if vanessa is ~23 during help wanted, this way shed be born sometime in the 90s or early 2000s (this kinda applies even if HW took place in 2023 right after fnaf3 but since i think it happened sooner then i would prefer to go with the 90s) and. and will could have gotten laid one last time :] and have vanessa. think about it. (yeah how old is he again... it works right? also having to put him into a straight relationship after all of this is criminal, i know. im sorry, i will do better. (lie))

in the next episode, i will go over why the mxes entity is william. good night

p.s if you read through all of this, write me an ask about whos your favorite animatronic

[invadsion]

who's the OC you just shared tell me about em >:3

THANK TOU. I LOVE YOU. ok ermfmmfv im very awkward about talking about my characters but uhhhhfnng.

So to help give a bit of background and context, the universe shes in is like a huge orb planet thing that i guess would play the role of the sun and coming out of it are a bunch of giant ribbons and on those ribbons are entire galaxies and planets and all that. The people who live on the orb in the center are considered the ones in charge of all the ribbons and everything on them, and its entire population is one family tree where the primary leadership is passed down generation to generation. When the previous leader retires, she gives her role as the primary leader of literally the entire universe to her eldest child. The eldest child being Elize, the character referred to in the ask. She does have the option to decline the role and give it to either a cousin or a younger sibling, but doing so is considered to be irresponsible and disgraceful to the family name, so she accepts her new role as leader of.. everything. Shes still fairly young, in earth years and maturity shes in her early 20s and quite frankly has no idea how to handle such a huge responsibility. Her strongest quality is her skill in battle, which i guess she just hoped that she could manage solely on those talents and it ended up screwing her over when she realized theres way more to being a leader than just war and fighting.. i wouldnt like to consider her as a bad person or anything, despite her actions and decisions seeming selfish and irresponsible. Shes very young and just bit off way more than she can chew, but she doesnt have any selfish or bad intentions. Shes a sweet person, but is angered really easily, so for her first few years of ruling shes constantly getting on her own nerves and frustrated with everything around her. In the story shes set in, she does eventually mellow out and accept that shes just not capable of ruling yet, so she passes the role down to her younger sibling and choses to separate herself from the whole "royalty" setting.

As far as character details go, elize is not human. On the drawing i have posted of her, theres a weird blob thing taking up a large portion of the page. That blob is her neutral appearance. I imagine it to sort of work like a ball of wax or maybe clay, melting down into whatever shape she needs to be while still keeping the same mass. Shes naturally really cold, but when shes changing shape she gets very warm to, again, melt into whatever shes trying to be. Her "shape shifting" isnt an endless void of possibilities though, it puts a lot of strain on her and she can only hold that shape for so long. Keeping the same mass can also be rather inconvenient, since her usual self is giant. In order to even that out into her human mimick, she ends up being freakishly tall (maybe 8-9 feet) and having room for like, 4 or 5 heads in her hair alone.

ok i think thats more than anyone would want to read so ill stop there. thank you oktorama i love infodumping

[bluntforcefem]

bug fables roleswap au!

hi thank you @cyanopicacyanus​ most beloved i would LOVE to! fair warning to anyone reading the text under the cut that this au explanation will have spoilers for the entirety of bug fables! so if you’re someone who wants to go in entirely blind and hasn’t watched/played bug fables yet- don’t click!

similarly, this covers similar things to the original bug fables stories, including the themes and plots of the requests. so watch out if any of those bug you! (Bug You haha)

the central focus of the au is the swap between the three main characters: leif takes vi’s place, vi takes kabbu’s place, and kabbu takes leif’s place. however, it gets a little more funky from there, in the nature of telling a fun and fresh story AND preserving major & important parts of their original personalities and backstories!

this explanation will go over the characters, and then specific moments & such that i think would change as well! ft. vi & leif getting to do crime, as they deserve

VI AS KABBU

vi, her sister jaune, and a currently unnamed friend of theirs are from a hive outside of bugaria, beyond the wild swamplands. they all decide to go to bugaria to explore - vi for money and exploration, jaune to see the art there. on the way there, in the same fashion as kabbu’s master and bit, vi and jaune’s friend dies to the beast to protect them while they run away.

vi and jaune, fueled by grief and anger at the loss, have a VERY LARGE blowout fight that ends in jaune leaving the swamplands for their home hive, and vi continuing on to go to bugaria! wooooo

what you get here is. vi largely keeps her desire to prove herself and get rewards from exploring, but there’s an added layer of: “if i can just prove myself as an explorer, i can kill the beast, and show jaune that she was wrong and trying to go to bugaria was worth it all along.” (even if vi doesn’t fully believe herself that the loss was worth it! character nuance my beloved)

KABBU AS LEIF

HERE’S WHERE THINGS START TO GET FUNKY! stick with me here folks, because ghosts are going to be real and in your home (and in bugaria.)

it all starts with a change with what the roaches in snakemouth labs are researching - instead of trying to achieve immortality with cordyceps (which is relegated to another lab, which is a special tool that’ll help us later), the roaches in snakemouth were attempting to achieve immortality by finding a way to bind spirits to exist after death, subsequently to re-enter their bodies. snakemouth was chosen for this for the high concentration of magic that allowed this to be possible - magic that permeated beyond just where the labs were. however, no corpse fit the conditions for spirits to re-enter them, leaving tens of spirits lonely and wandering. eventually, they all ganged up on the roaches who left them this way and killed them!

enter: kabbu, his master, and bit, who entered snakemouth den during the reign of elizant the first to find the artifact! the same beat as leif and his exploration team in canon. they get ambushed by a spider while investigating, and kabbu wakes up decades later when leif & vi rescue him!

what happened in snakemouth den was this: all three of the exploration team that entered perished, including kabbu. due to the experiments going on in snakemouth, and the roaches’ adjustment to the area and its energy, all three of their spirits sustained after death, and All Three Of Them Went Into Kabbu’s Body! kabbu is fully unaware of this until his request is done, in which the final battle of snakemouth labs is not a zommoth, but an amalgamation of lost ghosts that kabbu (and master and bit) refuse to acknowledge any similarity too.

instead of using the royal we and slipping into “i” during his request, kabbu uses “i” most of the time, and slips into using “we” when he sees the amalgamation and realizes the truth about what happened to him and his old family. i have given the kabbu ghosts both metaphorical AND literal this time!

tl;dr: the theme of snakemouth labs is ghosts instead of zombies, and kabbu is very, very haunted.

LEIF AS VI

remember when i said that the cordyceps being in another lab would be my special tool that would help us later? yeah! so. the most important part of this is that both leif & muse are still alive! it hasn’t been decades, for him - he’s been around during elizant ii’s reign.

leif and muse were an explorer (muse) and scientist (leif) duo exploration team that was sent by elizant ii to study the lost sands and find clues on the roaches and the everlasting sapling. they were pretty good at it! and one day, near the sand castle gate, leif finds a cordyceps colony that acts a little weird, has some sort of magical ability. so he takes it back to his lab for isolated study!

while he’s studying it, bandits from the lost sands attack while muse is gone, hoping to find research, etc. to hand over to the wasps. the cordyceps’ tube keeping it temperate and lively is shattered, leif is heavily injured, and it isn’t looking good for him or the cordyceps. so they reach out to each other, and fuse into each other, and the cordyceps “patches up” leif. both of them are still kicking around in there! it’s a very confusing case of identity for a while, but in a similar case to canon, the cordyceps Wants to care about muse and the people leif cares about. this time they’re just aware of what they are!

HOWEVER. muse comes back! and leif fills muse in on the situation, but neither him nor the cordyceps are particularly interested in studying himself or the effects it could have on his body, or any form of self-preservation related to it - they’re mostly just content to take their blessings as it is. This Does Not Sit Well With Muse! they argue about it for a while, it causes a rough patch, and they both agree that it would be better if they took a while to think about it by themselves. for context, this happens about six or seven months before the bug fables canon Starts.

leif is also SUPER banned from the explorer’s association & science groups for unethical science practices, particularly when the queen herself condemns his actions (mostly after he refuses to share the information he gained about what this could mean for the everlasting sapling. the cordyceps’ dislike of the roaches and what they did to it sustains post-fusion!)

leif’s request, then, centers around him coming to terms with the idea that he can be both kind to himself as he is (him and the cordyceps, him-and-the-cordyceps) AND make sure that this fusion is healthy for him AND continue his work in some form. it’s all about accepting that although his response was reasonable for when he had it and his experiences, muse was also very right about the fact that he needed to take care of himself after that! and it’s also about reconciling with muse herself. they do NOT get divorced i promise they’re happily married and have a kid

OTHER FUN THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

this is longer than i thought it would be! but hey, here’s my favorite part - getting into some of the major/minor plot changes that result from the changes in the roleswap!

all of the characters keep their attack types! for the reasons explained (gestures above) in their plot. however, kabbu gets a ghost-related TP skill after his request is completed!

leif & vi don’t have a legal explorer’s permit until AFTER snakemouth den. vi isn’t allowed to get one by herself, and when leif offers to be her partner, he’s reminded that he is SUPER BANNED from doing that! so they both sneak into snakemouth den illegally to find the artifact and prove that they can be an exploration team, and along the way find kabbu. inside your local fucked up cave you will find a free moral compass and friend

also: both kabbu and leif have a SUPER weird reaction to areas with heavy magic/the artifacts/roach technology! in this thread, they also have a super fun reaction to seeing each other for the first time, while vi is Literally Just Sitting There. sorry vi you’re on a team with not one but TWO fucked up guys (affectionate) on it

vi’s request is similar to kabbu’s with setting up the gravesite in the swamplands, but team snakemouth also helps her write a letter to jaune! i think in a post-canon world jaune eventually comes to bugaria to see vi and they (after a very long talk and bribery via vi getting jaune into this hive’s art gallery) reconcile too.

muse is HERE and i like her SO MUCH. this isn’t much of a plot thing but she’s alive in this au and everybody gets to see how like. Much she definitely made the first move, etc. i think her and elizant ii are friends they have tea on saturdays

if you made it this far - thanks for reading!! this is an au i love dearly and have put a LOT of thought into and i hope to write some fic for it sometime!!

[sadistgalore]

Chapter 14: The (Ex) Detective and The Secretary

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Taglist: @tropes-for-my-md-daydreams, @whumptakesthecake

Please let me know if you would like to be added/removed from the taglist.

Ok, this chapter is purely just to continue the story and lore purposes, and contains no whump at all, so feel free to skip it. I'm planning to post some Killian and Luther tomorrow to make up for it. If you're confused by this chapter at all, I would recommend reading these two first (x,y)

CW: pepper spray, mention of kidnapping, implied kidnapping, no whump found

“Motion 68B….Bill 72A….Motion 43….B? No, that’s not right. Damn it!” Elizabeth slammed her pen on her desk, throwing her head into her hands.

She had been here since seven in the morning, and Helene had made her stay late to make up for missed work. Missed work that happened because she was more concerned about looking for her roommate that disappeared.

“Okay, let’s just start from the beginning, Beth. Helene wants to pass-” She heard a clatter.

She sat up straight, everything had been quiet for the past four hours. She shook her head, figuring it was one of the security guards. Everything was quiet again for a moment, but then she heard footsteps that sounded like they were in a different room.

She was about to pass it off again, but security never made their way to the top floor where she was, due to Congresswoman McKinley’s strict orders. She heard another clatter once she got up, and knew immediately that it came from the documents room. That only she, the congresswoman, and a few others had access to- not including security.

So it can’t have been them, everyone else has gone home for the night, then who else could it be?

She got up from her desk and made her way towards the room, taking out her pepper spray from her handbag as a precaution. A gun would’ve been better, but Harper made sure she never used one, and always gave her a look when Beth would go snooping for the hidden one in their apartment.

The secretary made her way down the hall and into the document room, preparing herself for defense. Whoever was in the room broke in, and was searching through several classified files. It was Elizabeth’s job to stop them at all costs. She ran her keycard, and opened the door.

The figure rummaging through the files froze, turning just before a sharp and painful spray flew into his face. “AH! FUCKING HELL!” The intruder, who sounded like a man, writhed on the ground, clutching his eyes.

Beth stood above him, hand with the can pointed towards him. “What are you doing here? I swear to god I won’t hesitate to spray again!”

The man stopped, carefully moving his hands from his eyes. He knew that voice.

“E….E-Eliz-za-zabeth?”

Beth lowered her hand, brows furrowed in confusion. “How do you know my name?”

She was answered with a groan, and pulled out the flashlight on her phone. Beth gasped as she could clearly see the familiar brown skin and scruffy back hair of her friend, Harper’s detective partner, eyes red and running with tears.

“Oh my god! Nic! I’m so sorry!” She said as she rushed over to him.

“H-Hey...ah….’Lizbeth.”

“I could slap you right now if your eyes weren’t burning! Come on,” she grunted as she picked him up and put his weight around her arm. They walked back towards her office, where Beth threw Nic into her chair and rushed to the kitchen. There, she grabbed a small towel and soaked it in milk.

She got back to her desk, handing Nicholas the soaked towel. “Alright, just put this over your eyes and the pain should go away.” She took a moment to see that he was alright, tears no longer running down his face. Then she exploded. “What in the fuck were you thinking breaking into the congresswoman’s office?! How did you even-”Beth stopped in her sentence, remembering this morning and how she couldn’t find her keycard to the file room. “Nicholas! Helene almost killed me when I told her I lost my keycard and you stole it?!”

Nic sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, Beth, I really am. But I needed to get into the room, and you wouldn’t have given me the keycard.”

“You could’ve asked instead of breaking into a government building! Aren’t you a detective? You know you’re supposed to have a warrant, not scrummage for clues like Batman.”

Nic hesitantly pulled the milk rag away from his puffy eyes and blinked painfully. “About that...I kind of got fired.”

Beth blinked. “What?”

“Chief fired me. Said I was getting too involved in Harper’s disappearance.”

“She’s your partner.”

“I know,” Nic winced as he rolled his eyes which were slowly starting to burn less and their conversation went on. “What kind of boyfriend- partner would I be if I didn’t at least try?”

“Boyfriend?”

“No, it’s-“ Nic sighed. “We were never that serious, more of a partners with benefits situation, but I still cared about her. I’ve always have, lovers or not.”

There was a long silence, until the girl spoke up again. “What did you need from Helene’s office?”

“Evidence. About her affiliation with the Jaguars.”

Beth stared at the ex-detective in shock. “Nic, I've been her assistant for almost three years. I would know if she was dealing with a criminal organization.”

“Then you’re not a great assistant. She’s either funding them, covering their crimes up, or working alongside them.”

Beth stood up in mild defense. “Listen, Helene’s a bitch and a half but she’s not a monster.”

Nic's eyes were devoid of any humor. “I’m serious, Elizabeth. And it’s not just her, I have at least five other government officials who are in league with the Jaguars, and I believe that your boss might be one of them. Or, at the very least, married to one of them.”

“Married? That’s impossible, she’s been single as long as I’ve known her.”

“Not according to an anonymous call I got. Whoever they were, they knew I was looking for Harper and led me in the direction of investigating the Jaguars and Congresswoman McKinley’s affiliation with them. They told me that Helene McKinley and Edward Darmine were married.”

“Edward Darmine? As in-”

“Dark, leader of the Vault Dwellers, the biggest weapons dealers in the Northeast. The same man that killed Harper’s father and took her brother.”

Beth huffed, growing frustrated as all she heard were lies and false accusations. “Are you seriously telling me that the man that ruined Harper’s life is married to my boss and she is part of the most dangerous organization in the entire Northeast? And you’ve found all this out in what, a month? While me and Harper have been looking into them for years?!”

“Yes.”

Beth stared at the ex-detective for a moment, then pointed towards the door. “Out.”

Nic’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Beth-“

“No, Nic, I can’t deal with this right now. Just leave.”

Nic stayed for just a moment longer, then got up and left.

“Wait.”

He anxiously turned back around, hoping his friend had changed his mind.

“Leave the key. And be grateful that I’m not reporting this to security tomorrow morning.”

Nic nodded, and dropped the key in the ground. Right as he reached the door, he said one last thing. “I’m telling the truth, Beth. If you want to start believing me and find Harper, call me.”

Beth said nothing as the man walked out, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

---

Helene turned off her computer after reviewing the security tapes, sitting back in her chair.

“Ma’am? What do you suggest we do with them?” Said a man next to her.

“Give me a moment please.”

The man nodded and left her office, a different one than the one she shared with her secretary in DC. She pulled out her phone, and dialed a number in her contacts.

“Yes, darling?”

“Edward, we have a problem. The detective, Nicholas Malcolm, found out about me.”

“He knows you’re one of the Jaguars?”

“Not just that, he also knows we’re married.”

“How? No one outside our organization knows that we’re married.”

“He said he found out from an anonymous source. Who that is, I don’t know, but now he and my secretary know.”

“The Carrien girl.”

“Yes. I know the right option would be to kill them, but I want Elizabeth alive. I don’t care about the boy.”

“He could be useful. I’ll convince someone else to take him. What will you do with the girl?”

“I’ll keep her as my secretary, but she could always be made into something more in the future.”

“Take that up with the boss.”

“I’ll try. And if I’m going to do this, I’ll be gone for a few weeks to make sure she’s settled in and everything is covered up. I might have to train her at the Philadelphia base.”

“Do what you need to do. Just let me know, Helene.”

“I will. I love you, Edward.”

There was a sigh on the other end. “Love you too.”

Helene hung up and called the man back into her office. “By tomorrow’s sunrise, I want Elizabeth Carrien in Philadelphia and Nicholas Malcom in a holding cell. Burn both of their apartments down. I’ll deal with the rest, but I want them alive and unharmed.”

“Yes, Mrs. Darmine.”

Helene looked over to an old photograph on her desk, a picture of two young girls with blonde hair. “I do hope you can be useful to us, Elizabeth.”

[barbaracleboy]

Royal Kombat...Training

Another little Blurb, this one being more comedic again: not as silly as the Santa Claus one, but still.

One day, Queen Bianca invited Queen Elizant II to The Hive, but this time was somewhat unusual. While normally, Bianca’s messages would say things like “I would love for you to come so that we can chat personally!” or “You and I should go to the Golden Settlement together!”, this time the message simply said “Please come to The Hive at your earliest convenience, and be at your best status: I have a proposition to make.” Bianca did not request things from Elizant very often: she was typically more of a giver than a taker, so the message was slightly strange to Elizant. Elizant came anyway, having little reason not to trust Bianca. When she came to The Hive she was greeted by some guards and was led to Bianca’s throne room. There she saw the Bee Queen, who excitedly came over and gave her a big hug.

Bianca: Oh, Elizant, I am so glad you made it! Not that anything but your own will could stop you, of course! And as usual, you appear to be in tip-top shape!

Elizant: Yes, Bianca, I am glad to see you well also…

Bianca: So, would you like some tea? I made a special blend today: it’s lacking in the usual honey but it makes up for that in nutrition!

Elizant: That, er, could be nice...Bianca, what was your...proposition?

Bianca stopped for a moment before blushing, apparently having been caught a tad off-guard.

Bianca: Ha, I-I didn’t expect you to bring it up so quickly…

Elizant: It just wasn’t what I tend to hear from you.

Bianca: I suppose so...oh, now that the time has seemingly come I somewhat regret asking in the first place…

Elizant: We’re friends, Bianca, you can ask.

Bianca:...You promise it won’t be a bother?

Elizant: Well, I don’t quite know enough to promise much of anything.

Bianca:...Mm...you are a very strong woman, Elizant.

Elizant was a little flustered by the remark, and now she was the one blushing (though, luckily for her, her mask hid it).

Elizant: Err...thank you? What does that-

Bianca: You train your soldiers, do you not? At least some of them?

Elizant: Indeed I do: I have trained Zaryant and my Lieutenant, as well as a few other high-ranking warriors. I have even given some training to Team Maki.

Bianca: Excellent, you have experience with combat training! That was just what I was hoping for!

Elizant:...Bianca, you weren’t going to ask me for a hit on someone, were you?

Bianca: What-no! Of course not, I would never!

Elizant: Well, I would hope not...what did you want then?

Bianca looked to the ground for a moment, contemplating, before gathering her courage and turning back to her fellow royal.

Bianca: I...I wish for you to train me.

Elizant was completely surprised by the question, and for a brief moment she thought she had heard Bianca wrong.

Elizant: Train you? Like in combat?

Bianca: Yes!

Elizant: But aren’t you-

Bianca: A pacifist, yes. However, I admire your battle capabilities so much. I must admit that my physical state is a tad...lacking for physical confrontations, and this stinger is only so useful.

Elizant: Bianca, you needn’t feel bad for how you do in battle. Ants are naturally quite powerful.

Bianca: I know that, but even a fraction of that power would be more than satisfactory for me. Besides, if you train me, I can potentially train my daughters, and we will be much more capable of protecting ourselves and those we care about! Even if I don’t wish to harm anyone, it would be in my best interest to ensure that none could harm me or mine.

Elizant was not at all expecting this level of enthusiasm to fight from Bianca. She did care much for her hive, though, so it did make sense for her to want to protect it as best as she could.

Elizant: Hmm...you make some compelling arguments, Bianca. Very well, then! I shall train you to the best of my ability, and by the end of this I intend to give you might worthy of an Ant!!!

Bianca jumped for joy and clapped upon hearing this.

Bianca: Oohoohoo, thank you so much, Elizant! (To Some Guards) Brianne, Hannah, please bring the training dummies in here!

Brianne and Hannah: Yes, your highness!

As the two guards left to get the dummies, Bianca turned to her friend with a look of excitement.

Bianca: So, what will we work on first?

Elizant: Hmm...I feel that we should train your legs first: we will begin with some snap kicks. Watch me.

Elizant stood firmly before lifting up one of her legs, bending it so that her knee was almost level to her chest.

Elizant: Now, you do not need to keep your leg this high up: how high you bring your knee can assist with how high your kicks can go.

Bianca: I see. Hmm…

Bianca attempted to lift her leg in the same way Elizant did, but she was clearly struggling with it. Bianca was trembling before her knee was even up to her waist.

Elizant: A-again, Bianca, you do not need to keep your leg that high…

Bianca: I-I-I know, b-b-but I th-think it would help...with…

Bianca loses her balance and falls to the floor with a small yelp.

Elizant: You know, Bianca, balance is very important to good fighting form...have you considered using your wings to help?

Bianca: Ughhh...with all due respect, Elizant, I feel that I will be at my best if I avoid using any crutches, literal or otherwise.

Elizant: Suit yourself…

Elizant was starting to get concerned for Bianca's wellbeing, and as she helped her friend back up the guards had come back with a couple blocks of wood.

Elizant:...Are these your training dummies?

Hannah: Yes, Queen Elizant! They are excellent tools with which to improve our halberd proficiency.

Brianne: [Help with stress relief too…]

Elizant: Somewhat thick for use in hand-to-hand training, are they not?

Bianca: Oh, Elizant, don’t undersell yourself: I am entirely certain you can put those dummies to great use!

Elizant: Well, I-I was actually concerned more for-

Bianca: Why not test a snap kick of yours on one of them? Give me a frame of reference?

Elizant sighed before stepping in front of one of the dummies and unleashing a kick on it. This was not too strong a kick, but it was enough to knock the dummy high up, crashing it into the wall above the throne room doors. As it falls back to the ground, the Bees in the room show amazement at the Ant Queen’s strength.

Hannah and Brianne: WOAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

Bianca: Oh, that is so very impressive, Elizant! (To The Guards) Hannah, Brianne, please take no offense but may you two leave for a moment? Just so Elizant and I can focus on our training better?

Brianne: Are you certain, your majesty?

Elizant: Yes, a-are you?

Bianca: Of course, it’s just a little friendly sparring.

Elizant and The Guards: Sparring?

Bianca: Sparring, training; my point is that by the time we’re through I hope to be a much more powerful Queen. And besides, with Elizant here I doubt I would need to fear any threats.

Hannah: If you say so, Queen Bianca…

As the two guards leave the room, Elizant turns to Bianca again, concern hidden on her face but very much emanating from her person.

Elizant: B-Bianca...would...would you like to attempt kicking one of these dummies?

Bianca: Oh, of course!

Bianca turned to one of the dummies and gave it a sloppy attempt at a kick...the dummy barely reacts, but Bianca tears up a tad and clutches her foot in pain.

Elizant: L-look, Bianca, there other ways to fight in close quarters. Take one of my blades.

As Elizant pulls out her swords and hands one to her friend, Bianca takes a turn to give a concerned look to her.

Bianca: You don’t mind giving me one?

Elizant: I have spares.

Bianca: You are so generous!

Elizant responds with a simple “Mhm” as she brings the dummy she kicked moments ago back to where it was originally placed.

Elizant: Now, in good swordplay, form and steadiness are just as important, if not moreso, than the pure force of your swing. Observe.

Elizant takes her blade and, in the blink of an eye, slices her dummy clean in half, once more amazing Bianca.

Elizant: See that? A clean, straight slice. Not only should you swing hard and fast, but you should hold your sword tight and swing as straight as you can.

Bianca: Understood!

Bianca gives her dummy a fierce look before swinging her blade. Unfortunately, she does little more than nick a little of the dummy’s top.

Elizant: Tsk, see, your swing was a tad wavy there. Try again.

Bianca does, but this time she hardly even chips the dummy, dealing less damage than last time.

Elizant: There your swing was too slow: remember, swing steady but fast.

Bianca: Steady but fast...steady but fast…

Bianca tries one more time to cut the dummy...and gets her sword lodged into it. Elizant tries to stifle her laughter, but a little does escape. The Bee Queen doesn’t notice, though, too busy trying to get the sword out.

Bianca: I-it’s stuck!

Elizant: (Chuckles) Bianca, let me help you.

Bianca: I am so silly, how did it get stuck?!

Elizant: I-it’s fine, Bianca, this sort of thing happened to me plenty of times…[when I was a teenager].

Bianca: I need to get...it…

The sword is removed...and flung straight up into the air. The two Queens scramble for a moment, trying to determine where the sword will land. Bianca stops and nearly screams when it lands hilt-first into her fluff, the blade scarily close to her face. Elizant is most certainly done laughing now, and she comes over to get the sword back.

Elizant: Really, Bianca, you do not need to force yourself to be a fighter. You can-

Bianca: I do not wish to be a fighter, I wish to be capable of fighting...Aha! Fisticuffs!

Bianca puts up her dukes and gives Elizant a determined look. Under her mask, Elizant gives Bianca the most worried look she had given anyone in a long time.

Elizant:...Bianca, I do not want to hit you.

Bianca: Will you allow me to hit you?

Elizant: I-I mean, I...I’m certain I’LL be fine.

Bianca: Then it is only fair for you to hit me back: sparring does not go just one way.

Elizant: Ehhhhhh...should I teach you how to throw a punch?

Bianca: I feel that I have a decent idea, but thank you.

Elizant: Ummm…

Bianca: I will go now!

Bianca runs up to Elizant and unleashes a flurry (if you can call it that, it was rather slow) of punches onto her. After fifteen or so blows Bianca is tired and needs to catch her breath.

Bianca: *Huff*...*Puff*...How was that? Are you hurt?...Oh Gods, I am so sorry if I hurt you too hard.

Elizant was perfectly fine, Bianca’s punches being about as effective as a young ant...one that had no combat training.

Elizant: Err, I am...alright, Bianca. No need for concern.

Bianca: Phew, I am so relieved...alright, now attack me!

Elizant: B-B-Bianca, are you certain? Ants can carry ten times their own weight, I-I-

Bianca: Well, you needn’t give me a full-force uppercut, just a punch with about half-power!

Elizant:...Um, how about a quarter? Or a tenth, to level the playing field more>

Bianca: However you feel is necessary, just don’t hold back too much: after all, this will help me with my durability!

Elizant: I pray it does…

Elizant really does not want to harm Bianca, but she would also rather not disappoint her, so she knows she should use at least some force...With relent, and a little regret, Elizant winds back her fist before sending it, with about .9/10 of the force she would otherwise use in battle, straight into Bianca’s belly. Bianca immediately fell to the floor clutching herself, all breath knocked out of her.

Elizant:...OH GODS, BIANCA, I AM SO SORRY, PLEASE FORGIVE-

Bianca: R-really Elizant, I am fine. You don’t need to apologize.

Elizant: A-are you certain!? Entirely!?

Bianca was clearly in a lot of pain, and her normally sweet, soothing voice was now weak and raspy. Despite that, she still had a smile on her face.

Bianca: Yes, Elizant, I am…

Elizant kneeled down to lift up her friend, and gently walked her over to her throne.

Elizant: Look, Bianca, training is only part of getting stronger. You also need to focus...on...your diet!

Bianca: Mm, I understand that...far too much honey for me, I suppose, (weak giggle followed by a cough). I assume your diet is purely the most healthy of foods, yes?

Elizant:...Y-yes…

Elizant failed to mention the Plumpling Pie she partakes in every morning and night.

Elizant: Let’s start by setting up a list of good foods to eat, making sure your meals are nutritious and that you eat a reasonable amount of them.

Bianca: And soon we can train some more?

Elizant:...Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyes…

Bianca: Ohhhh, thank you, Elizant…

The two friends hugged again. Though Bianca was hurting, she looked forward to the future very much. Elizant, on the other hand, was very much worried for Bianca’s health (and worried as to what her guards would think that she sent their queen/mother to the floor with one punch), but at least Bianca was enthusiastic...

[elsapheonix]

Wolffe with a halo

“Hey Wolffe, look there's a letter here” Gregor called

“Alright” I called

“It’s for you can I read it?” Gregor asked

“For me? Uhh no I’ll be there in just a second” I said and I left the Bedroom and went the table where Gregor was. He handed me the Letter. My breath caught when I saw the handwriting on the envelope

Return Address:

Wild space Coordinates

G-9 76937-O-930

Commander Wolffe Koon

Seelos

AT-AT Imperial Walker

“Oh my….” I said trailing off and then I tore into the letter before my fear caused me to throw it away.

My Beloved Wolffe Koon,

Kah-ta-yar Wolffe, how are you after all these years? These year go by slow without you here by my side, it’s been so long. I still love you more than anything else. Especially more than my own life. I even discarded rules for you. The Jedi Code was probably the biggest one, but I didn't care and i still don't. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you, not a day goes by without me missing you, my Angel. It’s so hard being away from you day in and day out. It’s hard to do anything without you. You were, still are, and will always be my everything, my life, my world, my angel and my reason for living, for fighting, for existing. I believe it’s the will of the force that we meet and that I fell in love with you. Too me you are an Angel from the force. I could go on but then I’d need an entire notebook and it’s not easy to put a notebook in a envelope. You would know.

Do you ever think of the good times, Angel? About the Clone wars? I know I do. Almost everyday. The wolfpack was my family, My clan, My Aliit. Although they are not really my Brothers It sometimes felt as they were. Aliit ori'shya tal'din, Family is more than blood. I loved each and everyone of them, no man was just a clone. Losing then was the worst part of Order 66.

I miss everything of the clone wars, i guess when you grow up in a war zone you come too miss it when life changes. I miss taking down clankers, pranking shinnies with boost, leading assaults, hanging out with boost and sinker, destroying astromechs, fighting the sith, disobeying direct orders, Pissing off Rex, being able to use my lightsabers, spending countless hours with you doing ship duties, us breaking rules just so Master Plo would put us on deck duty while they all went down to battle, our countless arguments, even the ones over stupid things, scaring you with my piloting, you spending the night with me when I had the bad dreams, goofing off while doing paper work with you and the time we spent in the med after one of us had gotten hurt. I miss you're singing, and the silly little pet names you had for me. Most of all I miss Master Plo and you. I miss you more than him, Angel.

I had thought I had lost you forever after the purge, I wish I had not left you Angel, it has bothered me for longer than i can remember. I was a fool when I thought we were better a part, when in reality we are always better together. I had an harder time hiding from the empire on my own, I actually have been captured and escaped many times each time changing my name. I now go by Elisa Koon and have not been captured since Ahsoka and I started the rebels. I’ve made many reckless and stupid decisions. Some of them i’m sure would had been prevented had you been with me or had I stayed with you. I was a coward for leaving you and running like i did. I was afraid. I didn't even thank you for saving my life, Didn't even say goodbye. I abandoned you and I’m so so sorry.

I would like to see you again even if you don't look the same as you did before. It’s been so long and Rex says I need to stop pushing people away, I haven’t let anyone get close to me. He’s right I need to stop pushing people away and locking them out, Especially my Angelic Riduur. Speaking of Rex he couldn't figure out who I was and I eventually had to tell him who I was then he told me that you and gregor were camping out in an Imperial Walker on Seelos hunting Juppa's. That doesn't seem like a good way to spend the rest of your days.

Personally I think you’d be better off here with me Angel. I know you don't want too join our fight against the empire and you don't have to if you don't want too. I would never make you do anything. If you were to come I will protect you, I won't let anyone hurt you, never again. You remember that promise I made too you after Kholum right? Well, I’ll still stand too it. No one is ever going to hurt you again on my watch, not if I can help it, Angel.

I don't use my Lightsabers much anymore unless I have too, but I do keep them on me at all times, hidden of course. I mentioned I had to use a different name right? Elisa Koon, I have it as the shortened version of my real name Elizabeth Koon, Force how I hate that name. I’ve lost count of how many I have had. All have been shortened versions of my real one. I’ve used a different last name every time. I’ve been El Vizsla, Eliz Diana, Lily Uma, Lisa Tiana, Lisbeth Bonjo, Ela Vila, Izzy Tuttle, Libby Gulo, Beth Di Angelo, Bess Lupus, Bette Kyzie, Bessie Humble, and once I even used my full name Elizabeth Phoenix. Now I am Elisa Koon.

I decided it was time that I went back to my married name. I have even started to wear the diamond band you gave me again. If you do come I would like to redo our vows or even do a public wedding since the one we had was private. I’m sure you’d like that to.

We have found many of our Vods, Angel. Several of them, like yourself, don't want too fight so we provide them shelter and protection, I’m over that part of the rebellion. Some of them fight only as a last resort if we are really in a pickle, actually that's how all of them are. They like to help with planning and spare small jobs we have that need to be done, Comet, Sinker and Boost are some of the ones that are around.

The rebellion is lead by Ahsoka Tano, Separatist leader Commander Sato, Hera Syndulla and myself. We have been helping many systems who are in need because of the empire. Oh yeah, Senator bail Organa and princess Leia Organa secretly lead us in our fight while pretending to support the empire. I’ve edited my Armor, added extensions to it and made it bigger so it would fit me, I also changed it’s color from purple to grey. It’s markings match the ones on you're clone armor.

If you and Gregor do come I’ll find a cure for your fast aging. We’ve found cures for the ones that are here, aside from Rex, but it’s different for every clone, we have a serem but it has to be altered for every clone, we are currently altering it for Rex and I’m sure we could alter the serum for gregor. Not so sure about yourself since at one point you were a Werewolf. We may have to unblock the werewolf part of your blood, which would make you a wolf again.

I know you might not be too keen too that Idea but I highly doubt the serum could be altered for you seeing as you have wolfblood in you still. It wasn't actually removed like you thought I just used the force to contain it and make it inactive. We will try to do the serum but if we can't i’m going to free the wolf-blood. I don’t want you to die on me anytime soon. I don’t think I could live without you my beautiful Angel. It’s not fair that we are the same age yet you're near the end of your life.

It’s boring here, some of these guys have less personality than some of than some of the shinnes fresh off of Kamino did. And that’s saying something.

After battles were always fun with you and the wolfpack. Especially if Rex and the 501st were involved. Those boys were always having a party. I remember Rex’s favorite phrase at those times “It’s always a party in the 501st”

Master Skywalker is not Darth Vader like we thought he was. So the mystery of who Darth Vader is, is still open. Master Skywalker is currently being held at an imperial complex. Highest security one. I think the emperor is keeping him alive too use his force signature too give to whomever darth vader is too make it seem as if master Skywalker is Darth Vader.

I know for a fact he’s not I came across files, imperial files of where he is being kept and his cell number. That's not information I can put in this letter. I have a few guesses at who Vader is.

I think he is Master Jrul, Master Pong Krell, or Master Quinlan Vos. Though he could be another fallen Jedi I think these three are the most likely. This would be a conversation best for comms or better yet being face to face.

I really wish you were here with me Angel, I need someone who understands me. I need you more than I ever thought my Angel.

If you decide to come you can write and I’ll come pick you up or you can just call Rex, I’m not in the command center often so the chances of them getting a comm message to me is slim.

Hope too see you again Angel,

Love,

Elsa Phoenix-Koon

“I...She….” I stumbled over the words I wanted to say. Gregor took the letter from my hands, I was in complete shock and could feel my eyes starting to water. “She still loves me” I finally choke out

“Of course she does Wolffe, she’s your wife, she’ll love you no matter what” Gregor says

“She’d be safer finding someone else” I say

“You don’t really belive that do you?” Gregor says

“I miss her, but I don’t want to risk hurting her” I say

“I doubt you could ever hurt her, she’s a strong kid” Gregor says, “We should go, sounds too me that she really wants you there”

“But…”

“No buts” Gregor says “I’m comning Rex”

“Wonderful” I say when Gregor leaves the room.

[ruination-fangs]

Tales of Asteria, Chapter 4 Raven’s Scenario: Strands of the Truth Stages 1-3

I am still doing this. very very slowly

Stage 1: Dreams of Empty Space

Scene 1:

In a throne room, a nameless man pledges his sword to the king and the people. The man who appears to be the king recognizes him as a knight and protector of the throne.

Suddenly he finds himself on a battlefield, panting.

Nameless Man: Dammit... Why is this happening... And just when we were finally able to stand together...! We couldn't stop any of it..! Enemy soldiers: There's a survivor! Surround him and kill him! Nameless Man: ...Fine. I'll end it myself. This stupid war... all of it... in exchange for this life. *Shing* Nameless Man: ...Wait for me just a little longer. I'll be there soon. Haaaaaah....!

Raven: That was... ???: What's with you? What happened? You always look so sullen, Raven. Raven: You're...

Raven wakes up, and realizes it was a dream - an odd dream he keeps having lately. The person on the throne isn't Lazarus, but he doesn't know who it is. He's never seen a war like that, either, but it feels strangely real - especially the voice at the end. He can't recall where he's heard it before, or whether it was recently or a long time ago. Thinking about it makes him tired.

He notices that it's raining now. He has to go out to work on a case, but he doesn't want to end up with a cold. He wishes he could just quit, though he knows he can't.

There's a knock at the door. Assuming it’s a customer, he welcomes the guest in.

???: I'd say I'm sorry to intrude... but you sure don't look busy in here. Raven: My apologies, we... Oh, it's you. Claw: ...Yeah. Long time no see, Raven.

Scene 2:

Raven remarks that it's rare to see Claw there, to which Claw replies he has little reason to visit. Even so, he tells Raven not to look so sullen. It's the same words from Raven's dream, and Raven visibly reacts. When Claw notices, Raven says he's just disappointed because he thought he finally had a customer. Claw suggests he's more like a colleague, even though Raven describes himself as just as lousy old shopkeeper - ostensibly.

As expected, Claw came to ask about a fugitive. He wants to know if Raven has heard anything about a supposed accomplice of the person they're after. Raven guesses he means the "cool beauty" who disrupted the recent festival, and wonders why Claw is asking, because he heard that the White Lions were already on the trail. Claw explains that they lost the criminal when she fell off a cliff in the Gahram Mountains, and somehow there was no trace of her to be found at the bottom. It's no longer a straightforward case, and they're seeking information about the accomplice because they need a new clue.

Unfortunately, Raven has nothing to offer, though he's doing all he can to look into it. Claw gets snippy about how Raven isn't as good as he thought he was then, but Raven just remarks that it's rare to see him so tired. Claw points out that not only do they have someone on the run, the prime minister's sister was kidnapped, and apparently a new criminal showed up in the city yesterday. They can't search for all of them at the same time.

Raven wishes him good luck; that's the White Lions' jurisdiction, after all, not his. Exasperated, Claw requests that Raven let him know if he finds anything, and Raven agrees. He has a responsibility in this case too. Claw also offers a reward of a good meal for good info, which catches Raven's attention. He thanks Raven before he leaves.

Once he's gone, Raven thinks on the fact that he'd like to help the White Lions, but, things being what they are, it's out of the question right now. He apologizes to Claw and goes outside, where it's still raining. He'd rather stay inside, but he has to hurry and find the "target" before the White Lions' investigation drives them into hiding.

Stage 2: Frightened Girl in a Rainy City

Scene 1:

A young girl runs down a city street in the pouring rain. Her doll-like companion is worried she'll catch a cold, and when she pauses, a woman approaches, concerned. The woman insists the girl come to her house and dry off, but before they get there, they're stopped by a knight asking what's going on. Seeing that the knight is with the White Lions, the doll tells the girl to run. She apologizes and takes off.

Elsewhere, an information broker tells Raven about a girl wandering around in the rain, sticking to the back alleys. When a knight tried to speak to her, she got scared and ran away. Raven thanks the informant and leaves.

This is the only useful information he's gotten from asking around. Still, having met Velvet, he's pretty sure she wouldn't have left the chancellor's sister in the city. He doesn't know what Lady Lazarus is up to, but he's good at simply following along with whatever happens.

With no time to waste and no other leads, he decides to investigate the back alleys the informant mentioned.

When he gets there, he sees White Lions here and there, probably keeping an eye out for the escaped criminal. Suddenly the little girl appears, and Raven realizes she's the one the informant was talking about.

Scene 2:

Raven wants to talk to the girl, but she won't let him close to her. When Raven reassures her that she doesn't have to be scared - he's surprisingly gentlemanly for an old man - the floating doll tells him not to touch her. Raven is surprised, but he's not intending to follow them or anything. He just wants to talk. Still, the doll insists he stay away.

Suddenly the girl starts gasping for breath and staggering around. She says she's okay, but she immediately collapses and cries for help. Exasperated, Raven decides it'll cause problems if she dies, and picks her up. The doll stays quiet. Raven mutters that there certainly does seem to be something going on here, and it's turned into quite a mess.

Stage 3: The Pair at the Anything Agency

Scene 1:

Raven watches the girl sleep on the couch in his quarters. She's really out of it, but she doesn't seem to be hurt, just completely exhausted. Suddenly she starts groaning in her sleep as if she's having a bad dream.

???: Lady Lazarus... why... I didn't see... anything...

Her sleeptalking alarms Raven, but at that moment a voice screams "divine punishment!!" and a young woman bursts in.

???: Rayray! I thought you were better than this! Raven: Ow ow ow... What are you doing back so suddenly, little Norma? What did I do? Norma: What did you do!? How could you bring such an innocent girl back here!?

Raven insists she's misunderstood and he's just trying to help the girl. Norma is upset, both about their lack of work recently, and how Raven is always so cryptic. She believed better of him, and demands an explanation.

When Raven can finally get a word in, he tells her that he found the girl in the alleys. She seemed to be lost, and it was a sad sight, watching her running around in the pouring rain. So the gentlemanly old man who just so happened to be there brought her to shelter. Norma is skeptical, both of his story and his assertion that he would never lie to her.

While they're arguing, Teepo wakes up, and Norma freaks out about the talking doll. Raven says he was surprised too at first, though he tabled the issue because he had bigger problems to deal with. Elize is awake too now, and is alarmed when Norma and Raven notice her.

Scene 2:

Elize is silent. Raven is glad she's awake, but he would prefer she speak up. Norma tells him to be quiet and let her handle things.

Norma: Hello! I'm Norma Beatty. This guy with the messy hair is Raven. This is our agency, The Office of Beatty and Beatty. Raven: "The Office of Beatty and Beatty"? I don't remember agreeing to that. Seriously, Beatty and Beatty? Those are both your- Norma: So, what happened to you? Would you mind telling me? Raven: Wh- Don't ignore me!

The girl haltingly tells them that she’s a student, but she was running away because she got caught up in something scary. Raven mentions that while she was sleeping, she was very restless and muttered something about Lady Lazarus. He'd be willing to chalk it up to delirium, but she seemed terrified.

Elize doesn't respond. Norma chides Raven because whatever happened might be hard for her to talk about, and Raven shuts up again.

When Norma asks again, the girl says that since she couldn't go home, she stayed in the city. She remembers feeling overwhelmed, but nothing after that is clear. Raven informs her that she collapsed right in front of him. He uses her noncommittal affirmative as proof that what he told Norma was true, though Norma remains unconvinced. In any case, she doesn't think the girl is lying.

She then asks for the girl's name. She introduces herself as Elize Lutus, and her friend is Teepo. Norma immediately calls them Lil E and Teepon, and Raven explains that she gives nicknames to everyone she meets.

Raven asks Elize what she wants to do now, but Norma stops him and scolds him for letting Elize stay in her soaking wet clothes for so long. Even though he couldn’t change them himself, he could have called her for help. She decides they need to get Elize's clothes fixed up first, and they can talk after.

She shoos Raven out, and then suggests that he might as well go get them something to eat. Elize must be starving, and also, she is too. Raven suspects that's her real motivation, but he grudgingly goes. Watching them, Elize and Teepo comment that they seem like nice people.

Some time later, Norma gives Elize her dried out clothes back and asks how she's feeling. Elize says she’s much better, and she's sorry for making them feed her and everything. Norma doesn't want her to worry about it; of course she would help someone in need. (Even though Raven was the one who bought the food, he mutters.)

Norma then asks what she's going to do now. Elize wants to go back to her hometown, the city of Almeria. But that's pretty far away, and Raven has heard that recently monsters have been appearing on the roads between towns, so it’s too dangerous for Elize, even with Teepo. 

Nevertheless, Elize doesn't want to stay in the city. Raven then slyly suggests that it would be another story if she had an escort, and Norma praises him for having a good idea for once. This is exactly the kind of thing their business is for, after all.

They explain to a confused Elize that they'll go with her. They can't just kick her out and leave her by herself. When Elize confesses that she has no money to pay them, Norma just says they couldn't possibly take anything from her. (They can always bill the household instead! Raven tells her not to act like it's free, then.)

Norma wants to leave right away, until Teepo complains that she's being kind of pushy. She amends that they'll leave once Elize is ready. Elize says she's fine; she wants to hurry, if they can. With everything decided, they head out.

Raven lingers behind, wondering what they'll find.

[unreadpoppy]

song as old as rhyme - Beauty and the Beast!AU - BONUS CHAPTER

Raphael x Elize

A/N: I am in a generous mood today and so i wrote this one shot. This for all of y'all who asked for a sequel to song as hold as rhyme (@lemonandhoneytea and @lapinetroses looking at you). And also tagging @shyminnie07 cause you were on the OG taglist so it feels only fair.

Elize and Raphael had welcomed their first child two years after tying the knot. He was a tiefling and looked just like Raphael, except for his green eyes. The boy, Michael, was still a couple of months old, and he made his father feel completely helpless.

“I don’t think that is how you’re supposed to hold him.” Haarlep said. Elize had gone out with Korilla to buy some things, leaving Raphael in complete care over the baby. He had asked the incubus for help but they were just as bad as him.

Indeed, Raphael felt as if he was doing something wrong, but he refused to admit to Haarlep. Instead, he said. “Why don’t you try holding him, since you are so knowledgeable in the subject?” 

Before they could protest, Raphael had given the baby to Haarlep, who held him in an even more uncomfortable position. Soon, Michael began to cry. “Take this thing off of me!” Haarlep shouted, only aggravating the situation. 

“Careful what you call my son.” Raphael said, retrieving the child. The incubus huffed and left the room, leaving father and crying son alone. He tried shushing the boy, as he rocked him, but nothing seemed to work. 

The devil stopped, thinking about what could be the cause of this and then snapped his fingers. A glass baby bottle, filled with milk, materialized in his hands. Raphael sat on a rocking chair, holding Michael close to his warm chest, and fed him the bottle. 

In that moment of peacefulness, Raphael relaxed. He looked down at his son and smiled. He never thought he would be capable of caring for something so small and precious, but here he was, a changed man. 

Time passed and soon, the bottle was empty, and Michael eyelids were droopy. At the same time, Elize finally came back. 

She smiled, looking at the scene in front of her. “How is he?” 

“He just finished drinking.” Raphael replied. Elize walked towards him and took Michael, putting him next to her shoulder and started the process of getting him to burp. 

“How was your trip?” He asked. 

“Oh, it was good. It was nice to have some time for myself.” Elize said. “Although, what I really wanted was to spend some time with you.” She looked at her husband. Ever since Michael had been born, they hadn’t had much time alone. Before Raphael could reply, the baby let out a burp. 

“Good boy!” Elize exclaimed. Then, noticing how tired he looked, she put him down on the crib. Soon, Michael fell asleep. His mother sighed and bent down to place a kiss on his forehead. 

Raphael placed a hand on Elize’s waist. “I’ll tell Korilla to keep an eye on him.” He whispered in her ear. “Let us enjoy dinner.” 

Elize nodded and Raphael snapped both of them away. 

…

After they had eaten, Raphael snapped his finger, and the sound of a violin and a piano playing entered the room. He stood up, walking towards Elize and offered his hand. She raised an eyebrow before taking it. 

“What are you doing?” She asked him. 

“We haven’t danced in a long time.” He replied, putting a hand on her waist and holding her other hand. 

Elize smiled and placed her free hand and face to his chest . As they swayed along to the music, Raphael began to hum along to the music. 

“I missed this.” Elize said. “Just the two of us. But I also wouldn’t trade Michael for anything.”

“Yes. The boy is precious.” He agreed. 

Eliza had closed her eyes and hummed in agreement. “I think…I think I need to sleep.” 

Raphael chuckled, and took her in his arms. He walked towards their shared bed and gently laid Elize there. She quickly took off her shoes and slid under the covers, Raphael following after, embracing her from behind. 

Elize turned around in his grasp and kissed his cheek. “Sweet dreams, my love.” She whispered and closed her eyes. 

Raphael smiled, kissing her forehead, soon falling asleep as well. 

[casualcatte]

RP Journal: 08/18/2020

I went on the hunt with Loksia Grimheart this afternoon. I don’t know what it is about Kugane that I can’t seem to escape; every time I think I’ve left for the last time, something inevitably calls me back. Is Fate trying to tell me something? Is there something I yet need to do in the East? Maybe I’m just looking into things a bit too deeply. 

This crab hunt she’d picked out seemed like a fairly benign job, but I’ve been around the Hunt for long enough to know better. No hunt is ever tame. As we formulated our plan, we decided it would be best to play to our strengths: Loksia would keep the thing busy with sword and shield while I got up onto its back to collect our bounty. Simple enough, eh?

(courtesy cut for length)

Yeah… about that… I told Lorrendor that it’s rare to escape a hunt unscathed and this one was no exception.  I leapt onto the thing’s back, straddling one of the coral spines as Loksia harried it from the front. The damn thing was moving around so much, though, that it was hard to keep a grip. It was worse than a chocobo-breaking day in Tailfeather! I cut my hand on the coral trying to hang on, but the blasted thing threw me anyway. Good thing this catte always lands on her feet!

As I rebounded for a second try at gathering the coral, I saw the crab send Loksia bowling over sideways so I tried to hasten things along. Filling the sack she’d given me with coral, I leapt down and harried the crab so it would chase after me and not her.  Sure enough, it turned and gave chase, so I lured it onward enough that Loksia could escape.  Once I was certain she was clear, I ran to the edge of the coral shelf and leapt off it into the ocean!

It wasn’t a super-challenging hunt, but it was fun!  Lor will probably fuss that I cut my hand. Edgard will probably laugh and ask why I didn’t invite him. 

I didn’t remain in Kugane, instead taking an airship to Ishgard after leaving the vouchers for the inn rooms for Loksia at the Bokairo. I had much to do over the next few days, idling around in Kugane -- even if the hot springs were sorely tempting -- would get me no closer to the goals I was working on. After a brief stop in the Forgotten Knight to grab my coat, I decided to walk the city. I don’t appreciate Ishgard nearly as much as I probably should. For the longest time it was a place where nobles looked down their long noses at anyone not of the proper lineage. 

In my wanderings, I came across an elezen man in a handsome coat, standing in the center of the Hoplon. HIs face seemed serene, refined in a chiseled way as if crafted by an artisan from the finest alabaster. The snow was but a pale reflection of the frost-toned tresses that tousled gently in the wind. There was a regalness to him, a quiet beauty. For a moment, I was held transfixed in admiration.  I drew closer…

… to find Edgard Beaumont standing there. For a moment, I had no idea what to say. I was breathless.

Still, I finally intruded on his thoughts by complimenting how nice he looked in his splendid coat. I’d never seen him so well-dressed and, if I’m at all honest, it suited him. I asked him why he was brooding all the way up on the Hoplon in the snow or was he waiting for someone?  He countered that he was waiting for his date, but now that she’d arrived we could go. That made no sense at all, since I’d wandered the city at random. What if I hadn’t come this way?  Or come back to Ishgard at all?  Would he have stood in that spot all night?

He said perhaps. That he liked the silence the snow brought, that it helped him to think clearly when he’s the only soul for malms.  For a moment, I wondered if I’d done the right thing, intruding upon his peace here. He went on to compliment me on the new coat that Arcmantle had crafted for me. It isn’t often I get sincere compliments from Edgard, so when they happen they’re always delightfully surprising. He made the jest about preferring something more licentious, to which I told him that he had to be careful. I might keep this softer, more sincere Edgard and ship the devil-may-care ladies’ man back to Ul’dah. 

Godsdammit if he didn’t turn right around and bring up the hot springs and my damn ears again.  I swear, I’m going to start stuffing them in hats if he doesn’t stop reading them. In fact, I made it a point to cover my ears with my hands after that just so he couldn’t!

I told him it was kind of nice when Sincere Edgard showed up on occasion, that I might say I actually /miss/ that version of him.  Not that his flattery and flirtations are unwelcome or undeserved, but we both know they’re meaningless. He could be reciting rote poetry about the weather or the trees to the same effect.  No, there are these moments when Sincere Edgard shows up and there’s a brief glimpse of the man that hides behind the womanizing veneer.

I’d asked if this was a date, shouldn’t we be doing date-y things, but neither of us really had much idea what that entailed. Sure, there was dinner, but like Edgard said that was /boring./ I would’ve made some suggestions, but a commotion broke out behind us in the form of Edmond Beaumont, his identical twin. 

Edmond -- whom I had not seen since that day in Ul’dah when he said that he was leaving, never to return. The day I’d already been so angry with the callousness I’d been treated with when Edgard had said he was tired of me. The day I told him that I never wanted to see him or his brother again. The day I threw the flower he’d given me back in his face, because he dared to claim that no one cared for him, not me, not even his brother.  Go, then, I’d told him, if he believed no one cared.  He left without another word.

Gods, that world seems miles away by now. In the interim, it’s been Edgard who came across the sea to find me and it’s been Edgard at my side when I needed someone most. There was once that I would have expected it to be Edmond, maybe even wanted it to be. That seems so long ago, though it’s only been a moon?  Maybe a little more or maybe a little less.  Life had moved on apace, as it often does, those memories left behind and traded for better.  I found I wanted nothing to do with him, not out of spite or hate, but out of a simple desire to not be taken back to a world I’d left behind.

He had with him two young people (Emlyn Starweaver and Elize Aria), however, who were desperately wounded. I paid little heed to the healing, though no doubt Rae-Hann would admonish me for not watching as it went on, since I aimed to learn Astromancy. My attention was instead occupied with the miqo’te girl among the two. I felt an almost immediate kinship with her, a familiarity I couldn’t put my finger on. 

In her fevered dreams, she thought me her mother, so I let her live that pleasant fiction as Edmond carried her to the Athenaeum Astrologicum to be tended to by the Astrologians. I ignored all else but the girl’s plight, keeping her calm and soothed until she could be properly seen to. Eventually, Edmond sought to approach me, to apologize of all things in the midst of this travesty, knowing it was neither the time nor the place. I couldn’t have agreed with him more. I had no interest in hearing his plaintive apologies now, not when the children still needed tending. 

Edgard left not long after the children were delivered, healing was not his strong suit, nor was it mine.  I stayed for only a few moments to gather my equilibrium. I don’t know what it was about my time spent with Elize that felt emotionally draining, like being on the very edge of someone’s anger, feeling it washing over you, filling you with anxiety until it’s a nigh palpable thing. I don’t know, I’ve never felt anything like that before. I started to make my exit when Edmond said we needed to talk.

No, I told him.  We don’t.

Then it was my turn to leave.

Mentions @therpperson​ for Edgard Beaumont And a whole lot of other people I don’t know the Tumblrs for!

[larpwhump]

Saving Bambi

@highheelsinblood​ and I RP a couple of OCs... Here is some canon RP that happened in FB messenger. Its a little choppy to read because it was back and forth while we both worked our day-jobs. This is not a masterpiece written by a single writer. Its an Excerpt from a scene. This deserves a bunch of content warnings but its mostly psychological, emotional and physical abuse/torture.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She goes downstairs towards the kitchen, and James can hear soft, whimpering prayers in a woman's voice, begging for mercy. Lizzy walks in behind the cowering Rover. "Grab her, Noah,” she orders, still using his middle name as his first. He stands there, processing He had already eaten. She's so young and innocent. she’s not running or fighting. . .  just praying. Lizzy side eyes him, lets go of his hand, and leans over to whisper, "If you want that collar off in the next month, you'll grab her." James groans audibly and stiffens a moment in thought. "I’m sorry," he whispers to the young lady as he grabs her firmly by her forearms. He lifts her from her crouched position, holding her firm to try to keep her from struggling too much. She's only crying now, James catches the end of her prayer to the Lord Commander as she's pulled to her feet. Lizzy's got a knife out, and approaches them both. "Chin up, darling,” she coos to the freckled woman. “At least you're not being eaten alive. "Eliz. . . ELizabeth. . . ." he stammers as he catches the end of her prayer. “We . . . I. . .  She’s of my faith." He passes truly pathetic and concerned eyes back and forth between the women. Elizabeth just stares at him. "What do I care?" Her hand twitches, and her knife flies across the woman's throat. The brown-haired woman gasps, leans against James before collapsing to the floor, choking on her own blood for air. "NO!" James howls as he sees the blood. "Please! Elizabeth help her! Please! I’ll wear the collar! I'll bleed for her! Let me bleed for her Elizabeth, please!" He lays the girl down so he can apply pressure to her neck wound. He can first aid her with the collar on, but that is the extent of his capacity while this horrible “tourniquet” cuts him off from his divinity. "Please God. . .  I. . . " She's still alive, choking, blood is bubbling up from her wound, she's grabbing at Dire with tiny, desperate fingers, begging with her big doe eyes for help. She can't be older than Hope. "Would you have cared if she was Darwin? Seasons? Faithless?" Lizzy kicks James in the head, hard. James falls sideways with the hard kick, it knocks him into a slight daze, interrupting the aid he was trying to give the girl. However, he just scrambles back up to try and help her again, shaking. "No. I wouldn’t have. . .  I wouldn’t have cared. But I’m a priest, Elizabeth. And a Nation. She’s my responsibility!" "No, she's not." Lizzy grabs him by the edge of the collar and drags him back away from her, out of reach. She can feel the spikes inside the collar twisting inside the muscles of his neck as she pulls. He howls in emotional agony. He tries to claw back to the Rover. "Elizabeth! Please! I’ll bleed for her! Let me save her!” Lizzy pulls on his collar again, and forces him to look up at her, green eyes to empty ones. "You forget who you belong to, pet. Remind me." James scowls at her. His fear turning to anger. He was mad at her. "Does she DESERVE this, Gatekeeper?” "She might,” she says without flinching at his snarls. “You don't know. But she's a witness." He’s still pissed. "Fix. Her." She's grinning down at him as he tries to make demands of her, hovering within headbutt distance of his face. "Are you bartering?" "No. I’m not. Fix her! Now!" It's a flashback? He hasn’t been demanding in the 50 or so weeks he's been there. He's been so subservient, worried about his own hide and religious experience. Worried about Elizabeth and her well being. . .  but not now. He was obviously ready to be a shit. There’s a moment of silence as Bambi continues to struggle to hang onto her life. ". . .  You'll owe me. Are you ready to accept that?" He doesn’t hesitate. "Yes." Lizzy undoes the pin, and releases the collar off him without mercy for his wounds. "Fix her yourself," she says, letting the spiked collar swing in her red fingers. Removing of the collar used to put him under for minutes. But these days it’s turned more into a blinding head pain. His vision is flooded with white hot searing agony. He screams as he’s freed. Blood spurts in tiny streams down his neck chest and back.  He scrambles to the rover, crawling and nearly blinded in his pain. He had lost track of time. James wasn't sure if he had time for first aid. He needed to call her.  His vision and mind slowly returned. Blood dripped from him and onto the young Fallow. He had a feeling if he called, he may not be allowed to pray afterwards. He hoped it wasn't true. "If it is the Lord’s will, you shall be healed" A floodgate's worth of white static flows out of his hands, over her body, her neck. It stitches closed her skin, returns to the color it was. She starts to hyperventilate from the shock of it all, but she's alive. She clings onto his pant legs, crying, thanking God for him. He pulls her to him. Embracing her as she sobs. "I’m sorry, child. The Lord sees you. The Lord loves you." He only gets a moment before Lizzy speaks again. "Come here, child." Lizzy's voice is cold, even. James doesn't let go. He's scared. The Rover doesn't want to let go, but she does stand up, shaking more than a newborn fawn, holding onto James. "You realize how lucky you are?” Elizabeth coos at her as she shakes. “A Priest of your God was here. He's going to suffer greatly for what he did." The Rover hasn't stopped crying. "Now, go upstairs and clean up. If you run, you'll regret it. If you try to hurt me, you'll regret it. You'll have money each week for doing as I say, without question or comment. Understand, child?" ”. . .  Bambi. "Lizzy cocks her head to the side. "Is that your name? Bambi?" "Yes, mi-miss." "Fine. Bambi, go clean. Say goodbye to your Priest." James hugs the young Fallow almost immediately, trying to shield Bambi from Lizzy’s cold rage. "If you don't cause trouble, Bambi, everything will be okay.” She nods, trying to smile for him; there's still so much blood on her. "Move it," Lizzy snaps at James’ back. Bambi reluctantly leaves, going back upstairs, hugging her blood-soaked clothes. Lizzy watches her go, and then turns to look at James. "There's a bonesaw in this kitchen. Find it." He nods, his air of submission returning. He begins by scanning with his eyes. Making sure it's not just sitting out. Then he moves, opening drawers and cabinets. It's not hiding from him - it's tucked in with a bunch of other kitchen knives. It's seen better days, but the blade is still sharp. He imagined all the harm that could be done with a simple saw. He was tired but he feared he’d earned no rest. James grabs the bonesaw, turns, and returns to his captor. She takes it from him, pushing him back towards the table, where remnants of cake and ice cream still rest. Putting her hand on the back of his head, she smashes him into the wood, knocking the food off the table. "Errrhmgh." He moans as he leans to one side. His wings flap out as his knees threaten to give way. Wobbling from pain, his head felt like it was splitting. She pulls his head back, and clamps the collar back around his neck, forcefully. Spikes slide into the meat of his neck, two large ones pinching against his spine. "I don't want you to fix what I'm about to do to you." Lizzy hisses in his ear, and she slams his head on the table again. His eyes widen with fear and confusion as she locks it on again. The previous holes from the spikes still faintly trickling as the flesh is ripped again. He wails from the pain but only for a moment before his head is slammed a second time. James consciousness fluttered as his upper body rested against the table. His vision blurred and darkness crept in from the corners. Once he settles, Lizzy pulls out the bonesaw, and grabs his wing at the base, yanking on it hard, nails digging in. He moved with her force, clinging to the table edge. He lies tense, his forehead resting against the wood."Honestly, you don't really need these if you're going to act in your best interest over your Gatekeeper's." He speaks between sobs as he feels her manhandling his new appendage. "You, you think that’s what happened?" His head feels like it was crammed full of broken glass. It felt like splitting and cutting when he moved his eyes. His vision still wobbling, threatening to make him motion sick. He slams his eyes shut. Trying to ease his symptoms. "You have a different viewpoint?" She starts to saw into the fragile bones of his wings, feeling them crack and splinter under her fingers. His feet begin flail as gives her short yelps of pain and groaning between long bouts of held breath. He speaks but the tone sounds like begging. "You weren't sure if she deserved it! I wanted to protect us all. Please Elizabeth, I just didn’t want you to kill a Fallow! " More shock and pain floods his voice "You’re doing God’s work!" Elizabeth has nothing to say to James as he screams and hollers. Wings are delicate, and she finally starts to rips one away, pulling flesh and muscle with it as she tears the wing free. Long tendons pull free as she yanks on his wing. It feels like the tendril of white fiber was pulled from deep in his back muscles. Horrific pain had him arching and wincing, But she was only half done. The wing flops onto the floor, where Bambi's blood was starting to dry, and Lizzy leans over James to speak in his ear. James' eyes well. He doesn't know if the severing hurts more, or the intent. She was so upset with him. She thought him undeserving of his blessing. Perhaps he was. Mostly he credited this mess to his behavior in regard to Credence, Bambi’s previous employer. If he had just stopped. . .  there would be no crime. no witness. no corpse in the dining room upstairs. "Consider this the beginning of your penance to me," Elizabeth whispers, showing the bloody saw in her hand. His face crunches up in fear and pain as she comes close to his face, He leans his head away, trying not to sob at her. "I'm sorry I killed Creedence, Gatekeeper! I'm Sorry!" He blubbers "I shall repent. Take penance from my flesh!" His voice is hitched and wet. Elizabeth scoffs at him. "Credence was a dead man as soon as he pulled a gun on me. That's not your sin, James." The saw makes one long, agonizingly slow stroke across his other wing. "You're pathetic." The chatter of the saw's teeth against his hollow bone is so different than how it felt on his other bones. He could feel them splintering. When the blade makes a crack in the bone, he can feel the fracture spread up his wing like breaking glass.The crunching and cutting has him squirming. he can’t hold still for her, and James tries to plea instead. "I don't understand Gatekeeper! Please! She's of my faith, I can't abandon her! It's in my blood!” "Some stranger prays to your God and she's suddenly more important than me,” Elizabeth hisses. “I understand, Dire. I fucking understand." She saws again, and again, ripping serrated blade through flesh and bone, tearing it away from his body. His scream sound more like sobs as he curls up, his second wing ripping away slowly. He doesn't know what to do with his hands so he puts one gently against her without looking. Hes feeling her with tense fingers, occasionally griping at clothes, releasing and moving elsewhere to pat at her. "I'm sorry! I understand! I understand now, Gatekeeper!" His head still wanted to explode, the pain pressing hard inside his skull. His back was soaked in his own blood, warm and slippery. "Allow me to correct this!" He's desperate. He doesn't want to spend more days with her upset at him. It makes everything so hard. She had just stopped starving him, but he suspected she would go right back to it considering the events of the day. "I'll, I’ll kill her! I’ll do it for you!" "No you won't. She's gonna stay here now, and I'll work her, and use her as I see fit." Lizzy pauses her work - she's almost done - to grab James by the chin chains and tug. "She's going to see Hell itself and it'll be your fault." He manages to open his eyes and look at her as she yanked his scruffy beard and chin chains. Hes silent - listening. his brows just furrow pathetically. Once she lets go and moves again, he pipes up, "NO PLEASE! I made a mistake, I see now!" Lizzy isn't listening, but the saw goes through one last time, severing his wing completely. It bleeds profusely, and she tosses it away."How about you just lay there for a bit, pet." There's venom in her voice. James whimpers at her, his crimson painting the kitchen red. it pools and drips in long dark strings. Even with his eyes tightly closed, he can feel the room spinning. He didn’t have any strength to argue another word."Yes, Gatekeeper." He replies weakly, trying to relax his shuddering body. He wished for angels. He prayed, to the only entity with more power than the Gatekeeper, to give him mercy. . .  He knew God Wouldn’t. God was firmly in Elizabeth's camp. Lizzy lights a pair of candles, puts them aside, at the edge of James' vision. "You're not entirely grasping the situation here, are you?" James doesn't say anything. He slightly shakes his head. He never really did grasp anything. He couldn't imagine how she felt, he must be so infuriating. "You decided that your duty as a Priest was more important than my safety. That's the situation." She's holding a knife over the flame, letting James watch. He wanted to argue, to articulate his thoughts but he could feel himself giving up . . . what good was it really? He wanted to just lay there and take it, or die, or whatever he deserved. . .  but, If he did, she might think that's how he saw it. That he didn't care about her safety. It wasn't true and she needed to know it. "Elizabeth. that's not how I saw it. . . " he speaks in barely more than a whisper, "You're strong, and brave, this house has so many locks. I’m here. . .  I’m here to protect you if she had returned. . .  She wouldn’t return Elizabeth. She wasn't going to try to save me, she just wants to go hom--" "You don't know that!" Lizzy slams her fist into a puddle of blood on the table, screaming. "Dead people don't tell secrets, if she had gone home and told somebody, how many more do you think would have come back? How many people do you think want to stick a knife in me?!” "Elizabeth. . .  no one cares about us." He blinks at her with wet eyes. She slams her fist on the table again. And again. The knife is in her hands, and she's standing back over James, pushing his collar into his neck even further with her free hand. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" James feels the spikes digging deep as she pushes. Grinding the collar deep and pushing his head into the table. The knife stabs into his wing holes, hot and burning as she goes, screaming and making more holes in him. He tenses wildly as the knife finds him. over and over. Thoughts are melting away from him, stolen by pain and grief. He grips the edges of the table as she plunges the knife into him. The burning of the blade slows the pace of blood-loss, but the flesh is seared. He feels fluid forming in his left lung and he rattles a cough, letting the blood leak from his lips Lizzy screeches and flings the knife away, letting it bang on the wall of the kitchen, and she lets go of James. "Fuck you! You don't know anything!" "I. . . " He coughs again. It's painful in the collar. He buries his face between his own shoulder and the table, his grip still tight on the table. ". . . care, Elizabeth." He doesn't figure she could hear him, he's not even sure he said it out loud. He wept from pain and exhaustion into the table, traces of blood tasted like bitter copper. She doesn't seem to hear him at first, and slams her fist on the table again. "IF YOU CARED YOU WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT!" James flinches as she bangs around, he doesn't jerk much though, he just doesn't have it in him. He lifts his head a bit when she screams. His head wobbles as he tries to look back over his shoulder at her. "When?" He asks with empathy in his tone. Lizzy's grabbing her hair now, getting his blood on it, and curling up in the corner, sliding against the wall of the kitchen, screaming and sobbing. "You left you left you left!" James comes to a slow realization. He lowers his head back down. She had done this a few times before. He hated that when he bit back at her it sent her into these episodes. He didn't hate it for the reasons others might. . .  he hated it because he was suddenly the reason she suffered. She curls up and stays there on the floor, crying into her arm, holding her tattooed wrist so tight she was losing circulation in her hand. "Come back, come back. . .  please. . .  please, I'm sorry." James rests a moment, then slides off the table, looking more like jelly than a person. He can't quite stay standing so he slowly melts to the floor and crawls to her, his hands and knees slipping around in his own blood. Red palm prints mark his path to her. Once he gets there, he reaches out slowly. Trying to ease her to his touch, he goes lightly for her shoulder. She flinches, slaps his hand away in shock, yelling again. "Fuck off!" James flinches significantly as she swats him, but he doesn't run. "Elizabeth, Please. Let me console you." Even though his sense of self-preservation screamed at him to leave her be, he couldn't help it. The pain in him - the empathy- had him reaching out a second time. She didn't shove him off this time, just cried for Joseph over and over, cutting into her wrist with her nails. James takes the opportunity and slides on his butt next to her. He works hard to keep his back and stumps off the wall, they were burning him up. He half wraps himself around her, half pulls her to him. He’s being firm but not squeezing her. Raising his chin Dire prays to God on her behalf. Lizzy's curling up under his arms and crying, asking why Joseph left her, why she was alone, why she was damned. Her knuckles were bruising and bloody. James kisses the top of her head. Her hair always smelled good. Clean. like expensive soap. "As long as I live, Elizabeth. . .  you will never be alone," he whispers into her scalp as he rocks her slightly. "I'm sorry that Joseph is gone. . .  But I won't leave you." hes slow and patient  with her. He's not in a hurry for her to dry her eyes. James just holds her to him. Lizzy clings onto him, burying her head under his chin as she cries for her missing husband. “I'm a mess, I'm awful, I don't know how. . .  I miss him so much. . .  I just. . .  I can't. . . " He nods against her head. "I know. I know." he whispers, content to stay there as long as she needed.

[qualquercoisa945]

Faith Ain’t No Privilege

Title Inspiration: Next To Me by Imagine Dragons

AO3 Link

okay so this is all pure self indulgence for @kitty-howard's six spy au, apparently this is canon which is making me go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but yee enjoy!!

trigger warnings: mentions of a character being shot, sexual abuse and pedophilia. nothing is described, they're really only mentions, but i thought it best to still add it

For Anne and Kath to come home late was not uncommon in the slightest. A rarer, but still common enough occurrence that Anne could remember the last time it happened, was for Lizzie to still be up when they got home. Awake or not, and admittedly a little out of paranoia that something had happened to the girl, she made it a point to check in on her when they got home. Lizzie had a tendency to hurt herself, she knew better than to leave her to her own devices for long.

And also the fact that Henry and his men would make a target of her extremely quickly. That was definitely a contributing factor to her paranoia.

Which was why when, one night where they came home late once more, she opened the door to Lizzie’s room only to find it empty, her mind immediately went to the worst possible situation- worries that were only heightened when she noticed a note on top of the pillow- one that was definitely not in Lizzie’s handwriting, she also realized.

“Annie?” Anne glanced back behind her to look at Kath, who was standing in the hallway watching her awkwardly. “Is Lizzie alright?” She didn’t answer, instead turning back to the room and walking to the bed to grab the note, feeling her hands shake more as she got closer. She was vaguely aware of Kitty following her in, but didn’t pay her much attention.

As she got closer, she noticed the note wasn’t written on a regular piece of paper, but instead on the back of a photograph. She reached out to grab it, and she noticed Kath looking over her shoulder to read the note. Thanks for the hint, it said, which answered nothing. “What hint?” Kath asked, holding onto her arm lightly. Anne just shrugged in response, focused on the note. When she flipped it around to see the actual photograph, though, she nearly screamed.

It was the photo of Lizzie she typically carried with her, the one she’d lost just a few days ago. She’d assumed, or rather hoped, that she’d simply dropped it on the sidewalk and it had been swept away, but it seemed she hadn’t had no such luck. She felt Kitty cling onto her arm when she flipped the photo around. “They took her?” She murmured quietly.

Anne waited for a moment, then gripped onto the edge of the paper and shoved it in her pocket. “Yeah.” She growled. “And they’re gonna pay for it.

When she’d first moved in, Kath had been confused as to why Anne insisted on having so many security cameras, along with the alarms and, sometimes, even guards she’d spotted surrounding the house. After joining Six, those things that had previously been confusing became understandable and even reassuring- that in case anything happened, they had put measures in place to minimize the damage.

And now, said case had happened, with Lizzie being kidnapped. The cameras allowed them to figure out the guy’s license plate, which let them track him down, and that sent them down a long streak of tracking people down until finally, they cracked where Lizzie was being kept, within just a couple of days.

Problem was, during the last of these missions, Anne had gotten shot, meaning she wouldn’t be able to go on the actual rescue mission. Kath felt anxious about that- relaxed as she usually acted, Lizzie must be feeling terrified after this entire ordeal, and having a friendly, or at least familiar face there would help, even if only a little bit.

It was then that an idea began forming. It was a long shot, for sure, but not trying would make her feel awful about it, so she decided to shoot it. Thus, the night before the mission, she made her way to Aragon’s office.

The two rarely interacted- Aragon was very often on the field and Katherine had never even stepped foot on it, not to mention they were always busy with their separate projects, leaving them with very little time to actually talk. Still, she supposed there was a first time for everything.

“Catherine?” She asked as she quietly knocked on the doorway, seeing as the door was open. She waited for her to look up, then continued. “May I come in?” She got nothing apart from a nod in response, so she walked in and quietly closed the door behind her.

“I want to talk about tomorrow’s mis-” “Do you want to come?”

Kath stared at her in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Anne isn’t in good enough condition to go, nowhere near it.” Catherine began calmly. “You’d stay in the car with Grace, but I think Elizabeth would benefit from seeing a familiar face.” She stopped, staring at a photograph on her desk. Kath followed her gaze- it was of a teenage girl, she’d say around fifteen or sixteen. She looked an awful lot like Catherine, which caused her to assume that was Mary, her daughter.

“Either way,” Catherine spoke up, causing Kath to snap out of it, “you’re not forced to come. It’s an option, but I unders-” “No no, I was actually here to ask you if I could come.” She explained, a bit of a nervous giggle at the end of the phrase.

Kath could’ve sworn she’d noticed a ghost of a smile flicker on Catherine’s face, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. “Then it’s settled. I’ll warn Grace. You’re dismissed.”

Kath turned around to leave, then stopped as Catherine spoke up again. “Oh, Katherine?” She turned around to face her boss. “Tell Anne she can go home early. You go too, I’d rather make sure she doesn’t get herself hurt again. And don’t expect this to become the norm.”

Kath nodded, then turned back around and leaving, a small smile on her face and a slight skip to her step.

Being stuck in the car, Kath soon realized, was just as anxiety inducing, if not more, then being stuck in their head quarters. Grace tried to keep the mood light with calm conversation at first from the driver’s seat, which she’d appreciated, but both had silently agreed that it wasn’t working, so now they waited in silence.

She glanced upwards for what felt like the umpteenth time, but for the first time she actually noticed something worth seeing- Anna leaving the building, her arm wrapped around-

Lizzie. She was a mess, her hair thrown everywhere. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and- Was that a cut on her cheek? “Good thing Anne isn’t here…” She mumbled to herself, sitting up a bit straighter as Anna pulled the girl along towards the car.

She turned to watch as Anna opened the door to the back seat, where Kath was. “Here, come in sweetheart.” Her voice was a lot softer than usual, similar to the one she used when helping Kath treat hurt agents in the medical bay.

“Thank you, miss.” Lizzie’s voice was heard from outside, but she froze as she began climbing onto the car. “Kitty?” Kath smiled sheepishly as she heard her call her name.

“Hi Lizzie. Let’s just, get back and then we’ll explain everything, yeah?” Kath watched as Lizzie stared at her for roughly thirty seconds, then sighed and nodded.

“Fine. But this better be quick.”

Before she could answer, Anna spoke up. “I can’t promise that. I’m gonna go back in and make sure Catherine, Vicki and Courtney are alright. Will you three be okay on your own?”

“Don’t worry, Cleves, we’re gonna be fine.” Grace replied from the driver’s seat, turning around to face her with a slight smirk. “Go kick ass.”

“And don’t get hurt.” Kath added, to which Anna nodded.

“I’ll be fine. We’ll see about the others though.” She mumbled quietly, then sighed, closing the door quietly and running back inside.

Grace’s attention turned to Lizzie. “Hey Eliz-”

“Don’t.” Lizzie warned, cutting her off. “Lizzie or Liz. Only people allowed to call me by my full name are my mum and my teachers.” Kath smiled a little- despite everything, Lizzie still had the familiar snark to her. Still, her voice was much quieter, and gentler as well. She could tell something had happened.

“Right.” Grace replied with a nod and an amused smile. “Well then, it’s nice to meet you, Liz. Name’s Grace.” Lizzie nodded in response, keeping herself closer to Kath, who wrapped an arm around her.

“Nice to meet you too.” She replied eventually, and the three fell into somewhat tense silence. Meanwhile, Kath’s thoughts wandered back to Anne, and how she’d be fairing back at the HQ. Not well, she assumed, but she didn’t voice it out loud. No use in stressing everyone out even more.

Back in their head quarters, Catherine made her way to where Anne had been sitting all night. She made sure to knock on the door, not wanting to startle her, then came in. “How’re you holding up?”

Anne shrugged, giving her a bitter laugh. “How’s it look?” she replied, glaring at her injured shoulder before sighing. “Sorry, I’m just worried about Lizzie and Kitty.” She added soon after, something that made Catherine stop. Anne rarely apologized for her snarky remarks. She must be really bad, she guessed to herself, sitting down beside her.

“I’d be worried too. If something happened to Mae…” She trailed off, shaking her head as if physically trying to shake the thought off. She couldn’t bring herself to do it, to even consider the possibility.

“You love her a lot, don’t you?” Her train of thought was interrupted by Anne’s comment. “You get this look on your face when you talk about her, it’s like you just soften, even if just for a bit.” Parr stared at her as she spoke, a small smile spreading across her face.

“I could say the same about you, Anne.” She replied, her smile turning into a smirk at Anne’s surprise. “You turn into a completely different person when you talk about her. More relaxed, more calm.” She offered her a gentle smile. “More, open, I suppose you could say.”

Anne smiled, but before she could reply there was a knock on the door. Aragon was standing there, in her usual straight posture,

but there was a slight slump to it, a tiredness to the way she carried herself that didn’t go unnoticed to Parr. And when she spoke, her voice was unusually soft, which would be odd if the circumstances weren’t taken into consideration.

“Anne, your daughter’s in the medical bay.” Before Anne could panic, she continued. “She’ll be fine, don’t you worry. Just a cut. But we thought it best to make sure it wasn’t infected.” Catherine watched as Anne’s body relaxed ever so slightly. “If you plan on seeing her, I trust you don’t need me to show you the way.”

Anne chuckled, standing up and walking to the door. She stopped besides Aragon, looking back at them oddly calmly considering the situation. “Thanks, Catherine.” She murmured, and neither of the two could quite realize which of them it was for. Wouldn’t matter either way, as Anne was well on her way before they could reply to her.

Anne’s confident demeanor quickly diminished as she made her way towards the medical bay, hands on her pockets as she slipped her way in between coworkers. As she got near it, she saw both Cleves and Kath leaving the area, and quickly sprinted towards them. “How is-”

“She’s alright.” Kath guaranteed as she squeezed her hand. “A little shaken up, which is understandable, and a few cuts here and there. But otherwise she’s okay. She’ll be alright.” She promised, but Anne could tell there was something else in her mind.

“We haven’t told her about… What this whole thing is.” Cleves took over, making Anne shift her gaze to look up as she gestured towards their surroundings. “Figured you’d rather do it yourself.” Anne nodded stiffly, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you.” She murmured, and for once there was no humour in her voice. She watched as the pair gave their goodbyes, then headed down the hall, before turning back to face the door. She took a quick, deep breath, then reached forward and opened it.

Spotting Lizzie in the mostly white and blue space of the medical bay wasn’t hard. Looking at her, though? The girl was curled up in one of the beds, trembling like a leaf. She looked so small, and it broke Anne’s heart to see her like that.

She tried to walk over to her quietly, but the echo of her footsteps was enough to startle the girl, and she stopped as Lizzie sat up, immediately looking over to the source of the noise.

Actually seeing Lizzie’s face was what nearly made her break. It wasn’t the cut, no- she’d seen her daughter with injuries of that kind fairly often thanks to her restlessness. It was her eyes. They were red and puffy, and it was clear to Anne that she’d been crying.

“Oh, Liz…” She murmured, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. Near immediately, Lizzie clung onto her, a hug Anne quickly reciprocated as she gently pulled the girl onto her lap. Lizzie was quick to bury her face on her shoulder, and soon enough she felt tears wet her suit. “Hey, hey, I’m here.” She soothed softly, rocking the girl gently back and forth as she hummed a quiet melody- a French lullaby she’d learned during her time studying there.

The two stayed there for a while, Anne wasn’t sure how much, just her and Lizzie in the medical bay as she tried to soothe her daughter as best as she could. She held her close, but not tightly, giving her ample of space to pull away if she needed to.

Eventually, Lizzie sniffled, then pulled away ever so slightly to instead rest her head on Anne’s shoulder. “Mama…” She mumbled, pressing herself as close as possible.

Anne leaned forward to kiss her forehead, still keeping her close. “I’m here, mon princesse. I’m right here.” She promised softly, lightly squeezing her shoulder to reinforce the message. “I’m right here.” She repeated, brushing some stray hair back to no avail.

Lizzie seemed like she was considering telling her something, but Anne didn’t press her, simply waiting while holding her close.

“There was this man.” Anne perked up slightly as Lizzie started talking, voice barely a whisper. “He touched me. Never… did that, though.” She choked up on the last word, and Anne immediately shushed her, burying the anger burning in her chest down for later. Lizzie came first.

For now, she just pulled the girl closer, and Lizzie let herself be held, and silence fell on them again, even if just for a moment.

“Mum?”

“Hm?”

“What is this place?” Lizzie shifted to look at Anne, sniffling quietly as she wiped away tears. “What is this whole mess?”

Anne sighed, staring at the floor for a moment before looking up to face her. “I never wanted you to find out this way.” She began, voice oddly calm. “I’ve told you about your father, and how he wasn’t a good person. He’s… got a mafia, I suppose you could call it, but honestly it’s more of a network. ‘Bad person’ is honestly an understatement for him, he’s done a lot of bad stuff to get to where he is.”

“And, we’re Six. We’re an spy organization made by the government to take his mafia and any connections down. Aragon, you’ve met her, right?” Lizzie nodded, and Anne continued. “She’s the boss of this entire thing. She seems scary, but she cares a lot. Henry and her dated before this whole mess.” Anne chuckled lightly as Lizzie blinked in surprise. “Yeah, really.” She turned serious again. “Had a daughter and everything. She’s a couple years older than you. Really, I think she just wants to make sure her daughter stays safe and get revenge. Can’t blame her, that’s all I want too.” She sighed, kissing Lizzie’s forehead. “But I guess I kinda failed at that first bit, huh?”

“Is that why there’s so much security at home?” Anne nodded, and suddenly she felt Lizzie shift, leaning slightly up to kiss her forehead. “With all the measures you took, I’m honestly surprised they managed to do it. You did all you could. One mistake won’t mess everything up, remember.” Anne chuckled softly at Lizzie’s small, proud smirk while hearing her repeat what Anne herself had told her thousands of times.

“You’re very wise, sweetheart. I’m proud to be your mum.” She kissed the girl’s forehead, stopping for a moment. “Anything else you wanna ask about?”

“The other women that went to get me, why are they in this? And yes, that includes Kitty.”

“Well, Cleves is another one of his exes.” Lizzie raised an eyebrow, and Anne smirked a little. “He had six of them, and that’s only counting official relationships.” She nearly laughed as Lizzie’s eyes widened, but kept her composure. “She’s said before that she mostly wants to move on, but, and I quote,” she put on a terrible German accent, “‘I can’t just stand by while the asshole gets his way’. Kitty’s got the same motivation.”

“Wait wait wait, go back.” Lizzie interrupted, frowning. “Isn’t Kitty, like, nineteen? And isn’t Henry a fucking middle aged man?”

Anne hesitated, eventually sighing. “I’m not sure what the nature of their relationship is either, sweetheart. She never told me, and I didn’t want to press her. Even if she had, it’s not my place to tell you.” She explained, watching as Lizzie thought over these words, then nodded.

“And the other three, Grace, Courtney, and Vicki?”

“Extra agents. They’re the cream of the top, the ones we go to for the most important missions.” She noticed Lizzie raise an eyebrow, and nodded, waiting for her to speak.

“Why didn’t you come?”

Anne froze, hesitant to answer. “To figure out where you were, we had to track down quite a few people.” She explained, eyes trained on the floor. “I got reckless on the mission right before this one and, got hurt. Aragon didn’t let me go.” She paused for a moment, hesitant on adding more information. “Normally Kitty doesn’t go on the field, but Aragon figured it would be easier for you if there was a familiar face there.”

“Ah, so Aragon’s your classic ‘acts tough but is secretly soft’ kinda person?” Anne laughed as Lizzie’s comment, nodding.

“If she likes you, yeah. She has a soft spot for kids, I guess.” The two fell back into silence for a little, before Anne kissed the top of Lizzie’s head.

“Get some sleep, yeah? I’ll get you back home tomorrow. You’ve had a long day.” Lizzie nodded, and Anne stood up, still holding her, before setting her back on the bed. She watched as Lizzie curled the blanket up around her tightly, much like a cat, and chuckled softly before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

She sat back down on the edge of the bed, lightly carding her fingers through the girl’s hair as she quietly sung the same old french lullaby she’d been using with her her whole life. She watched as the girl’s breathing evened out, and lightly set her hand back on her lap, watching her for a moment.

She was disturbed by the door opening, quickly looking up to see Grace. “Your kid’s pretty tough, I’ll tell you that, Anne.” Grace began with a small smile, walking over. “Gets it from you.” Anne smiled at the (albeit indirect) compliment, but it quickly faded as Grace continued. “Aragon wants to talk to you. I’d hurry if I were you, she seemed a little antsy.”

Anne nodded, shooting one last look at Lizzie before standing up. “Thanks Grace. I’ll see you tomorrow, or something like that?”

“See you tomorrow, Anne.”

Anne shot her a quick smile and a goodbye, before leaving the medical bay and heading towards Aragon’s office.

Catherine sat at her desk, writing a report on the latest mission, when someone knocked on her door. She had a good guess as to who it was, so she set her pen down and looked up as to give them her full attention. “Come in.”

As expected, Anne Boleyn came in, and Catherine nodded as a greeting. “Sit down, this might take a while.” She raised an eyebrow when Boleyn chuckled, although she did follow her instructions.

“All business, as always, huh Aragon?” Catherine’s eyes narrowed, and for once Boleyn didn’t press any further, although taking into account the circumstances, she supposed that was to be expected. “Alright, fair enough. What did you want?”

“After, what happened to you and your daughter, I’ve been thinking.” Catherine began, keeping an eye on Boleyn to make sure she was paying attention. “What happened here was mostly a case of Elizabeth being on her own, correct?” Boleyn nodded, and Catherine continued.

“I believe it might be best if the six of us, and our children,” she paused, shifting her gaze towards the photo of Mary she kept in her desk for a moment, before shifting it back to Boleyn, “Moved into a joint house.”

Boleyn frowned at those words. “Aragon, I fail to understand how that would help us avoid further incidents like these. Wouldn’t that simply make it easier for Henry or his men to find us? And furthermore, you do realize that it takes quite a bit of negotiating and such to coexist in the same house. I’m just saying, with all due respect, this might not be the best idea.”

Catherine bit back a sigh- she’d expected this type of complaint. “I understand where you’re coming from, Boleyn. But a joint residence makes it easier for our organization to apply security measures, besides the ones the six of us might want to add ourselves.” She paused, hesitating on whether or not she should add this next part.

“And, I’d feel much more relaxed if I could keep a closer eye on all of you, and it’d also make contacting each other easier outside of a work setting.” She studied Boleyn as she thought over those words, but was surprised when she smirked, raising an eyebrow.

“So you do care about us!” Catherine glared at her, biting back a small smile of her own. She’s not wrong, she thought, but there’s no need to give her that satisfaction.

“Don’t push your luck, Boleyn. I’m still your boss.” She warned, although her tone was slightly softer than in previous occasions. “And to clarify, this is just a suggestion. I haven’t talked to the others about this just yet. So just, think it over, and keep your mind open to the possibility, yes?”

Boleyn nodded, and Catherine mimicked her. “Alright, is there anything you’d like to discuss?” She waited as Boleyn seemed to hesitate, before speaking.

“How did Kit- I mean, Katherine handle being on the field?” She asked, a uncommon nervousness to her tone as her fingers tapped on the desk restlessly. Catherine reached out, setting a hand on top of hers to stop her, before giving it a light squeeze and then pulling her hand back.

“She did fine. She stayed in the car throughout the mission, but as I’ve told you, I thought Elizabeth might like to have a familiar face there, and you were in no shape to be there so, that left her.” Boleyn nodded, pausing for a moment before speaking again.

“One more thing, and please be honest with me here, Catherine.” Catherine blinked at Boleyn’s sudden switch to her first name, leaning forward slightly. “Do you think Henry will be going after our children now?”

Catherine froze at that, hesitating as she thought over those words. “I can’t be sure, Anne.” She finally admitted, taking a quick breath. “You know how unpredictable he can be. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were to do so.” She sighed. “That’s another reason I’d rather we all stuck together. Keeping an eye on them would be easier like that.”

She noticed Boleyn looking away, tensing ever so slightly, and she reached out to take her hand. “If you’d like to stay here with Elizabeth, I understand.”

Boleyn nodded, slipping her hand out of Catherine’s hold. “Thank you, Catherine, I’ll- I’ll take you up on that offer.” She stood up, turning to leave. “And, I’ll think about it. The shared house thing, I mean.”

Catherine nodded, watching as Boleyn left, then sighed to herself as she shifted her gaze to the photo on her desk. She stared at it for a while, she wasn’t sure how long, before reaching into her pocket for her personal phone, calling Mary.

As the phone rang, she looked at the clock. It was well past midnight, nearly 1 AM, so she doubted Mary would be up, but it wa-

“Hello?” Well, never mind that.

“Hello mi princesita.” She smiled a little to herself at the nickname, and also at hearing her daughter’s voice. “You’re up awfully late, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Her voice sounded tired, and Catherine frowned at that. “I just couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go and catch up on some assignments. They’re not due in a while, but still. Why’d you call?”

Catherine hesitated at that, unsure of how to answer. “Just… something happened at work, and I decided to check on you.” She paused. “And also I missed you.” She added, slightly more quiet.

“Missed you too, mum.” She heard a yawn over the phone. “Are you coming home soon?”

“I’m not sure about soon, but tonight, yeah. Hopefully in…” She glanced at the paperwork she’d been working on, then at the clock, and then paused to consider her options. “Actually, I’m gonna start packing up now. I’ll be there in, thirty minutes or so.

“Sounds go-” She was cut off by a yawn. “Sounds good. So, see you then?”

“See you then, mi princesita. Te amo.”

“También te amo, mamá.” The two stayed in silence for a moment, and then there was a click, indicating the end of the call. Catherine sighed. She’d have to work twice as fast tomorrow if she wanted to finish everything on time, but she hadn’t seen Mary in nearly two days now. Common as it was, it didn’t make it any easier. Still, Catherine had to wonder if it was the right decision

Silently, she began packing her stuff up, listening as she heard other agents say their goodbyes. Once she was ready to go, she spared one more glance towards the photo, before heading out.

On her way out, however, she passed the medical bay. She stopped at the entrance, then quietly opened the door and peeked in. She was met with Anne, asleep on a chair next to one of the beds, the one where Elizabeth was laying, also sleeping. Catherine watched the scene for a moment, then smiled softly to herself and closed the door just as quietly as she had opened it, continuing to make her way out.

Yes, she thought as she left the building, I made the right decision.

[xxwritemeastoryxx]

Forgotten Alliance Ch. 13

Author: xxwritemeastoryxx

Pairings: Elijah Mikaelson x OC with other parings mentioned throughout.

Word Count: 3.7K

Warnings: Canon Typical things

Author’s Note: As a reminder, FA can be found on ffnet up to chapter 42. I am uploading chapters here on tumblr for convenience. I decided against tagging this until new chapters are posted. Of course there are a few that wished to be tagged and I will be tagging them in this. If you would like to be tagged please let me know! Chapters are queued and will be posted randomly.  Enjoy

The moment Elizabeth made it to her room, her phone had buzzed on the night stand. Picking it up there had been an incoming call from Marcel. With a raised eyebrow and answered the phone.

"Marcel." She said into the phone.

I need you at ST. James as quickly as you can. Marcel said from the other side of the line.

"What's wrong." She asked starting to make her way down stairs.

Complications. Believe me you are going to want to be here.

"I'll be there in a minute." Elizabeth said hanging up the phone and rushed over to St. James.

When she arrived, the music had filled her ears. There were several people enjoying themselves with the festival. Her eyes scanned the room for Marcel, but she had found Kol and Davina dancing first. She watched them for a moment. She could see how happy Davina was with Kol. It wasn't going to matter what Elizabeth said to her, Davina was going to see Kol. Elizabeth sighed and walked in further looking for Marcel.

Marcel ended up being on the other end of the room watching Davina and Kol. She walked up to him and looked between him and the couple on the dance floor.

"Please tell me you didn't call me just to watch them dance." She said to him.

He shook his head. "Vincent said to watch out for them." He said never taking his eyes of Davina and Kol. "Something is about to happen. He just doesn't know what exactly will be done."

"I'd like to meet these Ancestors that are deciding to take the side of a lunatic like Lucien." She said shaking her head. She still couldn't wrap her head around why the Ancestors were willing to put their faith in Lucien.

"It always revolves around the Mikaelsons." He said with a sigh. "Trouble is going to follow them wherever they go. The Ancestors are just deciding to fight back and are crazy enough to enlist Luc-" Marcel cut himself off and Elizabeth looked towards Kol and Davina.

Elizabeth shook her head when she saw Kol's fangs appeared. "We have to get these people out of here."

"Let's worry about getting him away from her first." He said before they both made their way over to Davina and Kol. Seeing the opportunity, Elizabeth walked right up behind Kol and snapped his neck. Davina had looked at her in shock.

"Sorry to interrupt date night." She said just as Marcel showed up next to her.

"What are you doing?" Davina asked both of them.

"Preventing a bloodbath in the middle of my city, and I'm freeing you up to help Vincent. He's in trouble at the cemetery." Marcel said looking at Davina.

"Go." Elizabeth said to her with a nod. "We'll clear this place out and watch over him." Davina nodded and made her way over to the exit and left. A sigh passed her lips as they both started on making up some excuse for everyone to leave. Right as they were clearing everyone out, there had been a slight pain on her chin. "Elijah." She said worried and was about to start making her way towards the exit when Marcel grabbed a hold of her.

"He'll be okay, Liz." Marcel said looking at her. "He's got Freya with him. They will be able to handle themselves."

Elizabeth glared at him for a moment. "If I feel anything else, I will leave to find him, Marcel." She received a nod from Marcel and they went back to work on making sure everyone cleared out. Once everyone was gone, they sat at a table away from Kol. They each had a drink in their hand.

"What's it like?" Marcel asked. It caused Elizabeth to raise her eyebrow.

"What is what like?" She asked before taking a drink.

"Having a soul mate." He said with a slight chuckle.

Elizabeth chuckled with him. "It is different. I can tell when he is happy. I can tell when he is in trouble. And I'm worried about that. Which I know he knows I'm worried..." Elizabeth stopped herself. "It probably sounds like a mess."

"When is love ever not a mess?" Marcel asked with a small nod.

"You have a point there." She said with a smile. "There are things that are going to be messy along the way. It just depends on who you are willing to clean up the mess with."

"You haven't change much. You still seem to be the woman that was hell bent on saving her best friend."

"Now I am just hell bent on making sure those I care about are safe from Lucien." She said with a small smirk.

"Seems like we have that in common." Marcel said before bringing his glass to his lips and taking a drink.

"You care for her like she is your own blood." Elizabeth said watching Marcel.

"Come on, Liz. You know her story and what she had been through." Marcel said placing the glass back on the table.

"I know you were the one that saved her." Elizabeth said with a nod. "And that you kept her safe. And while she did die under your care, you fought until she was back. And now look at her, strong as ever."

Marcel chuckled. "I get it, I got the award for worst pseudo-parent ever."

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. "I wouldn't exactly say that, Marcel. I'm just saying that when everyone else abandoned her, you were there. If I had known sooner about the whole harvest thing, I would have came to help keep her hidden."

"It wouldn't have made a difference, she would have died either way."

"True, but maybe she would have been able to enjoy that time instead of being locked away in an attic."

"Like I said, worst pseudo-parent ever." They both shook their heads and chuckled. Before their conversation could continue, they heard Kol beginning to wake up. Marcel stood up and grabbed a blood bag and walked over to Kol and tossed it onto the table. "That should help."

"I suggest you drink up before you do something you regret." Elizabeth said watching him as he drank the blood bag clean and she tossed him another. Even when that didn't seem to fill him, Elizabeth and Marcel looked towards each other with a worried expression. Marcel handed him a few more bags and hoped that would be enough.

They watched as Kol paced a small area as he drank blood bag after blood bad. When he finished the last one and slammed it onto the bar, Elizabeth had hoped that would be enough.

"Thanks for the appetizer." Kol said turning around to face them. "Now I best be on my way."

Elizabeth chuckled and blocked his path to the door. "We can't let you do that." She said crossing her arms over her chest.

"My family is under attack!" Kol yelled. "Davina might be in trouble."

"Your family, can handle themselves." Elizabeth said watching Marcel taking a few steps towards Kol. "While I would rather be there than here to help them out, I'm here because of Davina."

"We aren't letting you anywhere near her, all right?" Marcel said with a nod. "Not while you are like this." Before any other words could be said, Kol snapped Marcel's neck and grabbed Elizabeth in a choke hold. He pushed her against the bar and continued to tighten his hold on her neck.

"Alright, I know we hate each other," She said attempting to reason with him. "But this isn't you. You have to feel what they are doing to you." The only response she got was a growl and his other hand came to her neck and started tightening more. "You are slipping up and we both know how that ends for you one way or another. Fight the Ancestors' control over you." Elizabeth tried pulling his hands away from her neck. She knew Elijah was probably feeling this and she didn't need him to be worried about her now. "If you continue to let them do this to you, guess who you are gonna end up killing. Davina." She felt his hands tighten more as he growled out again. "You have to get out of the city, Kol. Its the only way she'll be safe."

Elizabeth wasn't sure how much she could continue to try to to reason with him. It seemed like he was determined to kill her and she knew it was because of the Ancestors. A second later, Kol let go of her and he stepped back horrified at what he had done. Elizabeth rubbed her neck slightly and tried catching her breath.

"You have to believe me, Lizzy." Kol said sounding devastated. "I would never hurt Davina."

Elizabeth sighed shaking her head at him. "It's not safe for her when you are here, Kol." She said softly. "I get that you have changed since you've been with her, but I cant have you around her."

"I can't just leave her!" Kol said almost yelling again.

"You will if you actually love her." Elizabeth said watching him. "If you care about her at all, you'll get out of town."

"Eliz-" Kol was going to try and plead with her again, but she cut him off.

"Do the right thing by her, Kol." She said nodding her head towards the door. "Go and don't come back. It's the only way to keep her safe."

Elizabeth watched as Kol thought about it for a moment before he took off. She sat down in a chair and pulled out her phone. She opened up her text messages and sent a message to Elijah.

I'm okay. I'll explain later.

Looking around St. James, she knew it was only a matter of time before Davina was going to be back looking for Kol. She just hoped that Davina would understand what she had done. Standing up, she went behind the bar and poured herself a glass. Just as she brought the glass up to her lips, she heard Marcel to groan. Elizabeth grabbed another glass and poured him one.

"I made him leave town." Elizabeth said as she watched Marcel get up and sit at the bar.

"How'd you manage that one?" He asked taking a drink from his glass.

"Simple, we both know how much he cares for her, so I told him if he didn't he'd hurt her." She shrugged slightly.

"It is what's best for her though." Marcel said with a nod.

"You'd think as one of her grandmothers I should be spoiling her, not taking things away from her." Elizabeth shook her head. "I just sent the love of her life out of town. She is going to be either pissed or upset."

Marcel laughed. "Now who has the award for horrible family member?"

Elizabeth just smiled. "We all have our reasons for having one of those awards, Marcel."

Elizabeth's phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. Seeing that she had a message from Elijah, it had brought a smile to her face. Opening the text it read:

Everyone is safe for now. Come home.

Elizabeth read come home several times with in a minute. Home. Elizabeth hadn't actually had a place to call her real home in such a long time. She looked towards Marcel and sighed. "Tell her I'm sorry for doing it, but it needed to be done."

"I would have done the same thing, Liz." Marcel said watching as she made her way around the bar and towards the exit.

"If she needs someone to hate, just put the blame all on me." She said before walking out of St James.

When Elizabeth arrived back at the compound, She found the Mikaelsons in the dinning room. They had been gathered around the items that Klaus had been bound to while at Lucien's penthouse. Elizabeth's eyebrow raised when she walked in and heard the conversation going on.

"Perhaps you could fasten something to his mouth." Elijah said with a small smirk as he looked at Freya.

"Maybe it is just me coming into the room at the wrong time," Elizabeth said making herself known. "or you Mikaelsons are into some very kinky things." It had earned a laugh from them. Elijah had moved from his spot and walked over to her. Once he was in front of her, he moved his hand up to her neck checking for any sign that she was still hurt. Elizabeth smiled up at him and placed her hand on top of his. "If I was human there would be bruising. I'm fine." She promised.

"What did you get yourself into?" Elijah asked curiously. He had no clue where she had been or who she had been with.

"Trying to help Marcel with your brother." She said with a nod. "The Ancestors have their hooks deep in him."

"That doesn't surprise me." Klaus said shaking his head.

"Maybe we can try to do something to help him." Freya suggested.

"No use." Elizabeth said looking at all of them. "I sent him out of the city."

"How was it that simple to persuade my brother to do so?" Klaus asked.

Elizabeth chuckled. "His love for Davina. We want her safe and the only way for him to do that was for him to leave. As long as he is out of New Orleans, the Ancestors cant reach him."

"Let's just hope that works." Freya said with a nod. Before anyone else could say anything else, Hayley walked in

"Aurora is still out cold." She said stopping in the middle of the dinning room. "What are the chances of keeping her that way?"

"Oh my spell will keep her down long enough to use the serum in her blood to figure out a way to kill both her and Lucien." Freya said with a smirk.

"I must say," Klaus said looking at everyone in the room. "I'm rather looking forward to it."

Freya chuckled. "You're welcome." She said giving him a smile before leaving the room. While Klaus turned to talk to Hayley, Elizabeth and Elijah had been having there own conversation.

"What happened with Lucien?" Elizabeth asked looking up at him.

"Nothing that will help us." Elijah said with a sigh. "Even with Freya's sigil he was able to get out of it with the Ancestors' help."

"We'll find a way to kill him." She said with a small nod. "The only thing we can do is take it a day at a time."

"And with each of those days, we'll grow more paranoid." He said shaking his head. "Or grow sleepless with trying to come up with some way to kill him."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. We'll find a way to keep our minds off of it for now."

"How do you suppose we do that?" Elijah asked curiously. He knew he would be sitting there trying to find a way to get his family out of the situation they found themselves in. To see Elizabeth always trying to find some ray of sunshine in a sky darkened by the storm had been refreshing.

Elizabeth actually stopped and thought for a moment. While she was sure the others could find a way to occupy themselves, she wasn't sure what they could do. A moment later and idea popped into her head and a smile slowly spread on her lips. "I have an idea."

Seeing the smile on her face and the look of excitement in her eyes, Elijah raised his eyebrow. "What is going through that head of yours?"

Elizabeth's smile widened and she stepped back and tilted her head towards the door and she turned and walked away. Elijah had watched as she began to walk away before he followed her out of the room. Klaus had watched as the two left and he shook his head slightly.

"That girl has always been trouble." He said with a smirk on his face.

"What do you mean?" Hayley asked concerned.

Klaus chuckled as he saw the concern written all over Hayley. "Even as a child she had him wrapped around her finger. " He looked towards the doorway and then back at Hayley. "While she has spoiled some of my plans when she was younger and I should have killed her, Elijah has always been there to protect her." He paused for a moment and sighed. "That bond may be the best thing that has happened to him." Hayley only rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. "Ah, someone is jealous." Klaus said crossing his arms.

"Whatever." Hayley said walking away from Klaus and out of the room. Klaus couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

Upstairs, Elizabeth had lead Elijah to a study. Once they were in the room, she practically ran to the balcony doors and opened them to allow the music from the street to flow into the room. Elijah leaned against the door frame as he watched her. She had seemed excited about what ever idea she had. The last time she had been this excited about anything, it had been a day or two before she gave birth to her daughter. Elijah had came for a visit and Elizabeth been running around her home trying to get everything ready for her child, even though she knew she was giving it up.

When Elizabeth turned around she had seen him watching her. Another smile formed on her lips. "What?" She asked watching him.

"You becoming a vampire hasn't changed you at all." He said walking over to her until he was standing right in front of her.

"I'd like to think I have a good grip on my humanity." She said looking up at him with a smile. "If I didn't I believe things would be different now."

"How so?" He asked curiously.

"I could be dead for being reckless, for one." She said with a smirk. It had caused Elijah to chuckle. "I would probably be off in some country on killing spree, while my best friend was still in box." She shook her head slightly. "There would be so many things that wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't be here with you distracting me from the great idea that I had."

Elijah smiled at her. "And what is this idea of yours?"

"When was the last time you actually had fun, Elijah?" She asked as she walked towards the couch and sat down. Elijah followed and sat next to her.

"It's been quite some time. I don't have the time for fun." He said wondering what it was that Elizabeth wanted to do.

"You are going to make time now." She said with a smile. "I know we cant leave the compound. So I figure we'd go inside someone's mind and have some fun. And if you aren't having any fun, we can leave and go back to being paranoid." Elijah laughed and shook his head. Elizabeth smiled at him. "Hey, that's what it will be like. Everyone with everyone wondering when Lucien will strike. I'd rather not be like that."

Elijah sighed and lifted her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it before placing it on the side of his head. Elizabeth smiled and watched him the whole time he did. Elijah was all aboard for her plan. He wanted to make her happy and at the same time he honestly wanted to spend time with her where ever it was she wished to. "Where to?" He asked giving her a smile. A grin formed on Elizabeth's lips before she concentrated on her destination. Elijah allowed her into his mind and he found himself for once actually having fun without having to worry about the world around them.