#i think i was so focused on my oldest brother & dad's friend that everything else seemed not worth mentioning or nowhere near as bad

[milkyspine]

[wingedjellyfishflight]

Hunting Trip

"Have you even ever been hunting?" Ghost opens his mouth. "Animals, not people." His jaw snaps shut. "Yes, you can come with, but it's not like a mission. And you have to be nice. My dad and my brothers will be with us all week."

"I will play nice with your family, promise," he says, smirking down at you.

"I don't believe you when you say it like that, but I know it's the best I will get. You should be excited, though. I pulled really good tags. Moose, elk, and a black bear. I was not expecting the moose, or else I wouldn't have gone for the other two, but I can't turn down moose." He happily listens to you chatter away about the upcoming trip, your eagerness palpable.

"What will you do with the meat? And furs?" He doesn't really care, but he wants to listen to you talk.

"Oh, we have a guy that cuts it all up, and I'm old friends with a taxidermist. If I had more time, I would cut it up myself, but Captain said he can only give me one week, so butcher it is."

"Wait, wait, wait! You know how to cut up an animal? Why are you so bad at using knives in the field?"

"I hate using it against people. It's... too similar," you say with a small shudder before focusing back on the mission.

You catch a military flight back home three weeks later. You spend the trip curled up in the webbing and trying your best to nap after the week you had. Barely had time to clean up from the mission before you ran to the tarmac. Somehow, Ghost made it there long before you. Must be excited, you think, smiling up at the big guy.

Wrapping your arms around your dad and your big brothers doesn't feel like home, you realize with a pang. Not now that you are across the pond with the team. Price's gruff hug after a mission feels more comforting. Of course, part of it may be the glares they are shooting the "strange man" who walked in the door with you.

Introducing him isn't a disaster, per say, but for some reason, they had assumed you were bringing a woman when you told them a friend was tagging along. Luckily, tags haven't sold out since they assumed a woman friend wouldn't actually want to hunt, and you are able to get an elk tag for Ghost.

Your brothers mock him for living in a country without guns. The ribbing ends when he takes the rifle he is given apart for a thorough cleaning before putting it back together in record time. You know he is showing off and you also know that you won't have to clean the guns by yourself this year, which is a relief as your brothers and dad never seem to remember to clean them.

Your oldest brother talks about the moose he is going to get and the recipes he is going to make with it. You congratulate him on drawing a moose tag, too. He stares at you for a long moment before saying that he will be filling your tag and keeping the meat since you won't be able to take it all back.

"News to me. I got special permission and certification to bring back everything. I will be filling my tags and keeping what I get." Your brother looks like he's been slapped and opens his mouth to argue, but your dad steps in.

"Enough. You were supposed to ask, not make assumptions. She will be keeping what she kills, just as we have always done in this house."

The next morning, you wake up to see Ghost sitting and waiting in the chair next to your bed in the dark. The two of you sharing a bed had been an argument and a half the night before. It had only ended when you threatened to leave and stay at a hotel. You're more than capable of platonic sleeping, and you are old enough not to need to put up with their shit. It's still another two hours before the rest of the house will wake and three before you leave for hunting camp.

"Run?" You ask Ghost sweetly.

"Run," his deep voice responds. You manage good time, clocking in several miles before heading home, showering, and making breakfast. The bacon is finishing just as your dad ambles into the kitchen, dressed to go and yawning, but a smile on his face when he sees you cooking in the kitchen.

"You're up early, dear. Didn't need you to make breakfast for everyone," he says, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

"Oh, I didn't. Bruvs are on their own. Asshats kept opening my door to look in last night. They're gonna oversleep, I'm sure," you say with a frustrated smile. Your dad chuckles and claps a hand on Ghost's shoulder in good spirits.

"Ready to put in some miles, son? Could be a long day."

"Lamb warned me. We did a short run so we wouldn't be too worn out be day's end," Ghost says politely. You shoot him a glare at the use of your nickname.

"Yeah, so we-" you try to interject.

"Lamb? Like what? Lamb to slaughter? That doesn't sound..." Your dad flounders on what to say.

Before you can salvage it, Ghost jokes, "More like a lamb sending men to slaughter. Your daughter can hold her own in the field." Your elbow to his side doesn't even slow him down.

"Field? You are consulting in the field now? It's too dangerous to be around all those amped up men, sweetie," your dad admonishes you gently as the three of you sit to eat a quick breakfast.

"Just sometimes. You know how much I love my desk, dad. If I didn't work out with Ghost, I'd get fat," you joke. You know your dad is skeptical, but he worries enough without knowing the true nature of your work. You miss the glance the two men exchange. Breakfast finished, you rope Ghost into loading the last of the gear with you, trying to keep him away from your dad.

It's only minutes before time to leave when you see your brothers stumbling out of the house to the truck. You make sure to sit between your middle sibling and Ghost. Annoyingly, your brother manspreads, squishing your legs over despite your protests. Ghost is nice enough to let you rest your legs against his, giving you a little more room. At least it's only a few hours to hunting camp. You made sure to bring your own tent and gear, so you and Ghost will be cozy the entire trip. You knew from the start that you didn't want your family to see your newly acquired scars, especially the burns on your back from last year's incident. Roasted pork had been permanently removed from your menu after that one.

"So, you two fuckin or what?" Your middle brother asks out of the blue about an hour into the trip.

"Or what," is your flat answer. No matter which is true, you're not one to kiss and tell.

"You ever hunted an elk before, boy?" You grimace at your brother's terrible mouth filter.

"Not elk, no," comes the answer from your other side.

"Oh, sheep? Antelope?" You try to intervene, but you're not fast or loud enough to drown out Ghost's answer.

"People." The rest of the ride is mercifully silent with your brothers seemingly absorbed in staring out the windows.

Reaching camp, you and Ghost work as a well-oiled machine. After so many months and especially after the time spent together in the last month in the field, you work silently and smoothly. You help your dad set up their tent, your brothers gearing up already to hunt instead. Between the three of you, camp is set in record time. Your dad begs off hunting, claiming he is going to take a nap after the early morning and long drive there.

Having pre-selected your hunting areas as a safety measure, the two of you set off into your designated zone. You let your brothers pick what they considered the prime area, hoping they would bag out early and give you time to fill your own tags. Luck is in the chilly air, though, as you see sign of a black bear not far from the trailhead. Stalking it, you realize it is stalking a herd of elk itself.

Setting up a shot can be difficult. It's even more so when you are hunting a predator. When you shoot your bear, Ghost takes down a big bull elk, too. You send him back to camp to grab your dad and get the animals ready to move. Your dad switches off with both of you to help pull the game back. You load them in the back of the truck and hug both of them excitedly, happy with the quick start to the trip. Two tags done and two to go. Your brothers have no such luck, and they are less than thrilled with your first day success.

You almost laugh when your brothers corner you later, demanding answers. "How could you bring someone like him?!" Your oldest brother is indignant.

"It's not like I work with fucking girl scouts. What did you think spec ops guys do?"

"You never said-" your brother starts.

"I said he was a coworker. The fuck do you think that means, idiot."

"All you do is push papers, course we assumed he did the same," your younger brother interjects.

"Whatever. He's here now. Deal with it and stop being rude to him," you growl out.

The next morning, you get up early and drive into the local butcher to drop off the elk and bear. You come back and set off on an all-day scout to find a moose. You find mostly older evidence of them around, but also spot another elk herd and sign of deer. Your brothers get one deer between them, and they celebrate as if it was a world record animal.

The third day, you roll out of bed antsy. "Run?" Ghost asks with a grin. "Run," you answer easily. This time, you push nearly ten miles before calling it quits. Coming back, sweaty, and flushed gets your brothers riled up. Your response is simple. "Keep your hair on, lads. We just went for walkies. Haven't been getting enough exercise in and eating too well with dad feeding us."

They both bristle at your casual use of British slang and storm off to hunt again, unwilling to even talk to you. Your dad shakes his head. "They'll never see anything crashing around like that."

"Nope. Dad, you take our section today. We are going to push further up and try to glass a moose, and we saw some good elk out our way." By the end of the day, you're tired, but you did find fresh sign, which is encouraging. Just as your dad had predicted, your brothers didn't see anything all day. Your dad, on the other hand, had opted to be picky and didn't take any shots, but saw many animals.

Day four, you decide not to go for a run. It could be a tiring day if you get a moose and have to haul it down. With that in mind, you stage extra gear partway up to be able to move a moose back to camp more easily. You finally glass the moose you've been tracking near mid-day, getting eyes on it for the first time. It's a huge bull, well over the minimum horn size. Your hands shaking slightly, you take the shot. The bull goes down after just a few steps. Processing it takes longer than any other game you've done, but with Ghost helping, you get back to camp not long after dark. Your brothers managed to shoot an elk today, and you celebrate with them, happy that they are happy.

That night, you wake up to a hand pressed to your mouth and a gentle voice shushing you in your ear. Another nightmare, you realize. Your whimpers had woken Ghost, and he covered your mouth before the screams started that would have woken up the entire camp. You thank him with a shaky voice, and he moves his sleeping bag next to yours, wrapping around you. It's what the team has done for months when in the field as a warm body next to yours staves off the screaming and whimpering. Though it doesn't help with the nightmares themselves.

You get up extra early and drop the game off at the processor before heading back to camp. Today is your last chance to fill tags if you want to bring the meat back, so you move fast tracking an elk herd. It takes most of the morning, but you manage to find them and drop a good-looking bull. Hauling it back, you are elated to have filled all of your tags in time.

When you reach camp, you see that your dad has finally gotten his deer, but your brothers were empty-handed again. They complain about not seeing anything. Unable to help yourself, you say, "Maybe if you didn't sound like a pair of trucks crashing through the woods, you'd see something." This sets them off. They think you are making shit up, again, and talking down to them.

You decide they are a lost cause at this point, but Ghost offers to show them a few tricks on moving silently through the forest. He jokes that he isn't as good as you, but he's good enough.

"That's just because she doesn't move. She just sits there waiting for someone else to do the work." Ghost just shakes his head, knowing he can't tell them any stories. Your dad watches you closely, realizing that there is something more going on here, but unable to pinpoint exactly what that something is.

The next morning, Ghost goes with your eldest brother, and you take your middle sibling into your section. You hope that separating them will help increase their chances of filling tags. Your brother pays closer attention than you'd thought he would, and his walking quiets tenfold. He keeps trying to talk to you until finally you snap at him.

"Please shut up. You can talk after you shoot something." Mercifully, he is quiet. You spot the elk herd you've been tracking and move him to set up the shot. He tries to silently argue about where to move to, but you glare until he follows your directions. He settles in and nearly spooks the herd, stepping on a stick as he shifts his body around. Thinking quickly, you almost perfectly imitate a young bull's call, which settles the cows and brings the bull closer to where the two of you are standing, looking for the challenging bull. Your brother successfully takes the shot. And he is ecstatic, whooping and hollering as the cows all take off into the surrounding forest, leaving you far behind.

You help your brother break the bull down for packing out. He looks a lot nervous at the size of one of the packs, clearly not looking forward to carrying it out, until you shoulder it easily. His surprise doesn't surprise you, though. Your brothers hadn't paid much attention to you after they moved out, and basically, none once you enlisted in the military. Upon reaching camp, you find that you are the first ones back. You help him load the elk into the back of the truck and make lunch silently. He looks like he wants to say something, but he never gets it out of his mouth. He spends the time simply standing around, thinking hard and barely interacting with you, though he is watching you closely.

When you hear heavy footsteps coming through the woods, you hurry to meet your dad, helping him drag his big elk back to camp. "Surprised you hauled it back yourself, old man," you tease.

"I've been dragging elk out of the woods for twice as long as you've been alive, girlie." The grin on his face couldn't be matched though when you load it up by yourself, waving him off. The last to return were not successful. It seems your older brother decided that he would show Ghost a thing or two and refused any advice or tips. Thus, he didn't see anything all day. You shoot a look of sympathy at Ghost. That couldn't have been easy to handle silently. He just rolls his eyes back at you, tapping his fingers on his thigh. You tap your fingers back at him and go back and forth in Morse Code. He tells you about how many deer your brother missed seeing sign of or scared off because he wouldn't shut up.

You share how your other brother did, and he smiles at the success you had with him. He tells you that you should take your older brother for one last morning hunt on the sixth day. Maybe you can make him shut the hell up.

Sighing out loud, you say, "Bro, I'll take you out tomorrow morning instead of Ghost. We will get your tag filled." Your brother agrees and mentions that he will show you how it is done, which makes everyone laugh at him.

"Bruv, we are filling your tag. I filled all of mine already. Seems I need to show you how it's done."

He sputters, and your younger brother adds, "It took us just two hours to find a herd of elk. She knows what she's doing, bro. Better hunter than me, for sure." This makes your oldest brother glower, but he finally shuts up.

In the morning, he tries to tell you what to do, and you finally tell him to knock it off after about twenty minutes. He growls, "I'm the oldest. I'm in charge."

You laugh quietly and respond, "Whatever, if you think age is all that matters, you're an idiot. Let's go, and if you want that deer, you'll listen to me. Ghost told me how many you missed or scared off by being too loud and cocky yesterday."

"He what?! Why didn't he tell me? We could have filled my tag yesterday!"

"Probably because you're being such an asshole to him." You shrug like it's the clearest thing in the world because to you it is. Grumbling, your brother follows you. Gradually, he picks up on your mannerisms and his walking quiets, but it still sounds like a moose shoving through a bush most of the time. You stop suddenly, and he nearly runs into you, not paying attention. Grabbing a bit of hair from a bush, you show him silently before walking on quieter than before. Slowly, sign becomes more frequent, and finally, you spot the deer herd. Your brother gets his deer, a big buck, and you help him break it down and load it into the packs. You add both hindquarters to one pack, and he complains that you're trying to load him too heavy. When you shoulder the heavier pack, he then jokes meanly that you're just showing off.

"Just give me that one. I don't want to have to switch off partway down because you're tired," he crows. You ignore him and set off down the trail, too annoyed to even respond to his rudeness. A grunt follows you as he shoulders his pack. At the halfway point, he is nearly wheezing with the added weight of the head on his pack.

"I need... to... stop..." he huffs. "This pack... is too... heavy..."

You wave at him to stop, and when he does, you walk around him and unhook the head from the top of his pack. Hefting it over your shoulders, you use the antlers to keep it in place at the top of your pack. "Let's go. We don't have all day," you call back to him. You can feel his stare as you hump down the mountain, moving faster now that he isn't slowing you down as much. Luckily, it's only a few miles to camp because you're exhausted after hauling so much on your back. Your dad scolds you that you should have sent someone back to get the rest of them to help, and you shrug it off.

"No sense in wasting time, dad. We got it down just fine." Happily, the three of them already have camp broken down except for the makeshift shower area. You've mostly avoided using it, just wiping down with a washcloth, but the deer head bled on your neck and down your back the whole way. "Ghost, can you help check me for ticks," you ask quietly as you strip off your gear before walking to the shower. Your brothers grumble about the two of you showering together, but you don't care as Ghost is the only one you trust to do it and the only one that knows why you won't wear tank tops very often anymore.

When you're nearly finished, Ghost convinces you to put lotion over your burn scars as they are flaring up from the lack of it in the last few days. He walks out in just a pair of shorts and shoes to dig through your pack, ignoring the suspicious stares of your brothers and their stares at his scarred torso. You manage to bite back the moan when Ghost swipes over the first scar, but not the whimper of pain when he brushes the second, which is severely inflamed. He whispers an apology and continues, knowing that you hate pausing part way when treating them, even if it hurts badly.

When you walk out fully dressed and he is still in just shorts, your brothers shoot him similar dirty looks. "Couldn't keep it in your pants a minute longer, eh?" says your younger brother angrily.

"You're disgusting! Havin sex with my sister feet away from her family," adds your older brother.

"Shut up, idiots. He was rubbing lotion on my s-back. I needed it done, and I can't reach the dry skin there easily," you growl at them.

"We know you're lying. You're disgusting. Can't believe you, seriously."

Your dad sees the stubborn set of your eyes and the hurt beneath. His sons have gone too far, he knows. "Knock it off, boys. You've been nothing but rude this entire trip, and I'm sick of it."

"But dad...!"

"Sugar, just tell them. You've been stepping around questions and hiding yourself long enough," Ghost's voice cuts through the air.

"You gay or somethin? Would make sense, but you know we don't care," your oldest brother says as he just can't help himself. It makes you mad enough to about face away from them and rip your shirt off angrily, showing them your back.

"No, bruv. He means I should show you why I couldn't make it on the trip last year. The things I hide by telling you that I consult for the Task Force rather than telling you that I am a member of the task force. I... I haven't wanted to worry you, dad." You nearly whisper the last in the complete silence that follows. Ghost rests a hand on your shoulder, watching their reactions carefully. Their eyes trace up and down the burns that mar the middle of your back and dipping down below the waist of your pants.

"You called from the hospital," your dad says finally. The pieces are clicking into place for him. "I remember hearing the beeping in the background, and you sounded... stressed."

"It was a long recovery. They had to harvest donor skin, but luckily, I got to be a guinea pig on a new treatment that sped things up," you say quietly.

"How did this happen? Why weren't we notified? You didn't let us visit or anything?!" You're surprised to hear your middle brother sounding upset. You take the time to fix your shirt, thinking about what to say.

"I was on a mission. There was a complication, and it bollocksed up the whole thing." You pause as you think back to it. "Anyway, I got caught under some burning shit and yea, this happened."

The glare Ghost gives you has you rolling your eyes at the intimidating man. "You forgot the part where you held a burning timber up to save someone and crawled out on your own, refusing to medivac until the mission objective was completed. I think that adds a few important details to the whole thing."

"And...what were you doing when this happened," your oldest brother demands.

"He was shooting anyone who tried to come near us. Saved my life, he did," you say with a grateful smile up at Ghost.

"So, you've been lying to us about your job and getting hurt, and what else? How do we know what to believe now? You only make it back here once a year, after all." Your oldest brother sounds betrayed, his tone accusing.

You just shrug and shake your head, ignoring his questions and accusations. "You gonna shower before we go, or can we break camp and head home?"

"Let's go. I want away from you as fast as possible," he sneers, turning away from you angrily.

"Fine with me," you say in a flat voice. You take down the last few tarps and drain the water with Ghost's help. The trip to the processor and back home is silent in the car, your dad and brothers thinking heavily on what they learned today while you and Ghost simply enjoy the peace and quiet. As soon as you get home, your oldest brother leaves, tires squealing as he takes off in his truck. You just shake your head, disappointed that he's still got his head so far up his ass after all this time.

You pack the meat from the butcher into coolers for the trip home to London. "You should probably call Captain and tell him to pick up another freezer or two," Ghost jokes as more and more coolers are filled and packed into the back of the truck you rented.

"I had three delivered while we were gone," you grin up at him. "Good thing I got my permission ahead of time. Captain is dying to try this stuff."

"You think they'll let you on with it all? It's more than I expected, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect," he says, a little worried.

"Oh, I grabbed bribe jerky from the butcher. They'll be excited enough not to care once I pass it around," you say with a knowing smile.

"You know the way to a man's heart, luv."

"Yes, ordnance and explosives," you quip with a loud laugh, making him grin down at you.

Telling your middle brother and dad goodbye the next morning is hard. They both hold tightly to you, and you nearly have to pry your dad off when you go to leave, his worries making him want to hold you tight and keep you safe.

"I'll be back next year, I promise. We probably will need to hunt extra, knowing how much the team will love this meat," you assure him with a smile, pressing a kiss to his cheek. You drive back to the air strip, happy to have ended things on a better note.

"So, yer dad is the dog's bollocks. Brothers are shite though," Ghost says as you drive away. You laugh. It's all you can do. When you show up with a pallet of coolers, the flight crew is ready to deny you until you hand over your certificates and small box of jerky to share between them. They eagerly call over the forklift to load the pallet, and you spend the whole trip listening to hunting stories from their childhood and telling your own with Ghost listening quietly at your side.

Captain Price is there waiting on the tarmac when you land. His eyes bulge when he sees how many coolers you brought back. "I take it the hunt was successful then," he teases.

"Yeah, just a bit. Bet you thought the freezers were overkill, eh?"

He laughs, "You know I did. Set them up anyway. Welcome home, kids," he says, ruffling your hair as he wraps you in a hug and gripping Ghost's arm in a friendly squeeze. You smile up at him, happy to be home with your team.

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 79. brb x oc

i will beat the shit out of you how dare you

a/n: OHHH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD okay, OKAY OKAY WHEW I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE LIKING THE CHAPTERS SO FAR BECAUSE I AM BECAUSE I KNOW WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN AND AAAAAAAA

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: Michael and Bea have a talk, Bea has to heal from some shit and Rooster has an idea uwu

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 @lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads

-

“You know I’m not going to stop you from living your adult life, I just would've liked to have known about it.” Michael says while twirling the thick boba straw in his cup, slurping it loudly as the two are seated on the outside tables that overlook the busy streets on that Monday afternoon.

“We just wanted to resolve everything before we told anyone.” Beatrice answers, drinking her own boba tea with her brow furrowed just enough, “It wouldn’t make sense to say we were moving in together without a house.”

Michael hums in reply, popping the tapioca bubbles as he does so, with his sunglasses low on the bridge of his nose, “I guess it makes sense.” he mutters, crossing one leg over the other, bouncing the one supporting it quickly, “Did you tell mom and dad yet?” Beatrice shakes her head, holding the plastic cup with both hands on top of her lap, focusing her eyes somewhere else.

‘I will tell them,Mike. I’ll also…have to tell them something else.” her older brother’s inquisitive ‘oh?’ made her grimace, “I did a photoshoot…last week.”

“A photoshoot?”

‘Yeah, um, a friend of Evelyn’s who is a fashion designer asked me to be his model and I accepted because…it was really good money and I needed to save some for the car and…well the pictures were nice, they were just…swimwear.”

A tapioca bubble almost entered his lung when she said it, which in turn makes the fourth oldest Schiavoni cough up like a miner who spent forty years underground inhaling coal fumes. He hits his chest with his fist, clears his throat, then turns his eyes to his sister, who looked as guilty as before, “No, no,” he coughs again,” Don’t feel bad,I’m just surprised. You are a grown woman and you-” another one “You can make your own choices. So you had a swimwear photoshoot, so what? Good for you.”

“Really?”

“You don’t need our permission.” Michael explains once he finally gets his breathing pattern back, “You stopped needing it the moment you turned eighteen but some people in our family don’t think that way.” she knew he meant their parents and Guillermo, even if he didn’t say it outloud, “So listen, if it was fun and you got paid then what the hell do I care? It’s not like you were killing anyone.”

Beatrice’s lips curved in a thankful smile, looking down at the bright pink cover on the boba tea cup as she took in his words. He was right, she didn’t have to elaborate why she chose to do certain things anymore. She wasn’t a child. “Thank you,Mikey.” she says, her brother just waves his hand as if to say it was nothing for her to worry about, “And thanks for joining me on getting a new car.”

She did get the red Jeep wrangler she wanted, but she wouldn't be able to take it home until the end of the week,which was when all the paperwork and insurance would be resolved. But she was more than happy. Thankfully Michael was with her at the time, because he would casually lean over a Jeep, make a face and then turn to another one. Not to mention he knew more than the guy selling the actual cars, which made it easier for the transaction to happen.

“Do you think dad will be mad at me though, because of the pictures?”

“What is he going to do? Kick you out of your own house?” Michael scoffs with a smirk, gesturing to the air with his tea, “Bea, you’ll be thirty this saturday. You no longer need mom and dad’s permission for anything, if they get mad, well, that sucks because they don’t pay your bills or anything like that anymore.” he had a very good point, he always did, especially when it came to their parents.

Michael was the second middle child, making him the fourth Schiavoni sibling. He always said it was the ‘middle child curse’ that made him so opinionated and rebelled when it came to their family. Michael was never really afraid of their parents, he did respect them but he also called them on their bullshit often that he had to move to NYC with Guillermo when time came. 

Beatrice never told him, but she admired his no nonsense attitude a whole lot. He was the wild child, the rebel one that got tattoos at seventeen by lying his age, who would do the craziest shit without thinking if he’d get hurt or not. Having his support meant a lot to her, because she knew if anything bad happens because of this, he’d have her back. Well,Leo and Marina too when she tells them, “But I have a question.” he begins, making his sister look towards him with her eyebrows furrowed in question, “When is the,” he taps his ring finger with his thumb, “Going to happen?”

It takes Bea a few seconds to understand, but when she does her face flames up “W-We aren’t thinking about that yet.” she lies, knowing very well that she was thinking about that a whole lot and way more often than she’d like ever since she saw the bridal shop, “We are just moving in together, Mikey.”

“And what’s the very next step people take? Marriage!” she blushes so much more when he says the word, sipping her mango tea loudly to keep her mind anywhere else, “Plus, you two look married already, it’s just about popping the question.”

They never talked about it, she knew she wanted to but she didn’t want to pressure Rooster into something like that. Especially with them already taking such a big step now with the new house and such, “I…I don’t know,Mikey. I-I’ll have to…check everything.” she murmurs, trying to remove the thoughts of her wearing a wedding gown, “Plus w-wouldn’t you think it’s too soon?” says the woman who voiced her love for him after two months. Oh the irony.

Michael arches one of his thick eyebrows, the one with the scar on it and makes a face, “People get married in Vegas after four hours of knowing one another.”

“That's a terrible example.”

“Okay, let me make it simpler for you, sis.” he wets his throat with tea before continuing, “Do you love Brad, don’t even answer me I know you do. And he loves you, because the dopey, love dovey look he gives you every time is enough reason for me to believe that. So what are you two waiting for?”

Beatrice frowns, biting her lower lip, “I…I don’t know? We never talked about it Mike,” she repeats, emphasizing on the words “And…w-what if he’s not ready? What if I push him to go through it and he just notices it’s nor worth it and–” Beatrice continued her rambling with her older brother just staring, his face unimpressed but yat amused, leaning back on his chair to slurp the last tapioca balls since he was pretty much done.

He leans on an open hand, watching his sister use her fingers to number the reasons why it’d be a bad idea to do it right now, which to Michael made no sense…but he also knew her. She was very anxious, of course she’s gotten better now, but it’s about her own thoughts running wild that he worries. If she wants to take a while to talk to Bradley about it, she would, if she wanted to make sure he wouldn’t force her either, “Alright, alright, fine, I get it. You want to wait a while, that’s fine.”

Beatrice lowers her hands to her lap, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles with a small frown, “It was just an innocent comment, Little Bitty. I’m just asking because, well, everyone really likes Bradley…even Guillermo.” he pauses, “...It is very weird to think about it, but he does seem less constipated when he sees Brad so I take that as a win.”

She laughs softly, giving her brother a smile and a gentle squeeze of the hand, “Thanks Mikey. I’ll…I’ll work on it, okay?” if her mind lets her do it, that is. She didn’t want it to get too nervous thinking about it either, so it was time to change the subject. So she did, she ended up asking Michael about his new place, that was apparently just a few streets down her soon to be old house and his new job.

He was going to be a boxing trainer at his friend’s gym, which was understandable considering how long Michael was a boxer alongside Guillermo - except Guillermo chose another career path as an engineer since it’d be a more stable job for him. “I’m happy you are back.” she says with a smile, seeing his own lips quirk in a grin, “I missed you.”

Michael pouts his lower lip, slapping a hand over his chest, ‘Oh, my heart– but I missed you too. I know adult life makes you go distances you’d never plan to but I really missed Cali, I really missed…not having to wear clothes heavier than myself during winter.” he murmurs, earning a soft laugh from his sister, “Plus,I’ll be an uncle again so, guess who is going on a shopping spree buying every size of ‘my uncle is the best uncle’ onesie? Me.”

“Leo’s baby will have another uncle though, Mike.”

“I’ll print huge a huge Michael on it, then we’ll know.” he laughs, looking down at his watch to check the time, “What do you say we just walk around, like the old times- is Mr.Scoops still open?” Beatrice nods, making her brother groan in anoyance, slapping his forehead, “Why didn’t we just go there? Do they still have the Freeze Burn milkshakes?”

“I think so–”

“We are getting those then,” he says, already standing to his feet and tossing the empty plastic cup to the trash bin, Beatrice blinking her wide eyes and trying to keep up with his long strides to the car.

“But, we just had something sweet!”

“There’s never enough sweet stuff!” he adjusts the sunglasses over his eyes, “Come on! Live a little! Have a sugar rush before you turn thirty!” Beatrice noises out a complaint, but sighs and nods, following him into the car since she had no other choice. As soon as she enters the car, her eyes suddenly lift to a vehicle, a vehicle that she hasn’t seen in ages.

A blue Corvette, one of many that Eric owned. Now the person inside the car was too distant for her to identify clearly, but she kept her eyes on it until it disappeared by a roundabout, narrowing her gaze when Michael turned on the car, driving the opposite direction and furthermore making her lose the blue car from view. It’d be insane if it was Eric, she knew Shells said something about seeing him somewhere when she was with Bob but…no, it was just a coincidence.

That’s all it was, nothing more nothing less.

She just leaned back on the car seat, sighing through her nose and watching the buildings go by as Michael drove them away.

When they get to Mr.Scoops she refuses to get anything besides water, trying to hide her disgusted face when Michael grabbed the sweetest and artificially colored milkshake they had there, already slurping it soundly as they walk by the park close by. Beatrice just sips her water, feeling her own stomach turn just by watching him by the corner of her eye, “You don’t know what you are missing.” he says with the straw in his mouth.

“A violent stomach ache, that’s what.” she replies in a muttered tone, walking alongside her older brother down the stone path. She couldn’t help but remember how her first date with Bradley ended up there, on a bench not too far from them, making out and completely forgetting about their ice creams. Seems like it's been more than seven months now, “I don’t know how you do it.”

“It’s easy, it’s all about self control.”

“Which you don’t have.” Michael’s only response was a bored ‘eh’ and a shrug, continuing to sip his milkshake like a little boy who just got his favorite treat.

“You know, when I found out about you and Brad,I’ll be honest, I got a bit confused.” he says suddenly, making Beatrice turn to face him with her brows low, “Not because I didn’t think you’d be able to get someone like Brad, but because he’s a military man and such. I just thought that you know, with him traveling so much you wouldn’t get used to it.”

“He got deployed a few months back,” she explains, closing her water bottle, “I was okay during it.” she wasn’t okay, she was able to manage it.

“How long.”

“Two months.”

Michael nods, “I mean I know some people spend years away, two months is child’s play isn’t it?” Bea frowns at his words, she knew he wasn’t trying to be mean or pessimistic about it, but she couldn’t help how her frown deepened, “I mean how the hell are you going to give me nieces or nephews with him gone?”

Ah.

Of course.

“Michael!!” she scolds, eyes wide and face a violent red, slapping his shoulder with more force than necessary “Michael what the hell!” her brother hisses in pain, pressing the cold plastic cup against his red biceps to cool it down.

“That’s the very next step after the next step!” he defends, shrugging his shoulders, “What? He likes kids! You like kids! Make the kids to I can be the cool uncle again!” of course his reasoning would be that, “The more the merrier.”

Beatrice groaned, looking away from him to glare at a group of trees not far from where they walked, crossing her arms below her bust, “You are worst than mom, I swear…God and when she finds out about us moving in together, I’ll never get any sort of silence because of that.” the amount of teas, herbs and random gifts her mother would give because she wanted another grandchild would be astronomical, “Didn’t I say how we didn’t even talk about the ‘m’ word? WHy do you think I talked about the ‘c’ word?”

“What’s this? Middle school? You can say those words outloud, the fuck.” Michael murmurs, chewing the end of his straw to chew the flavored ice stuck in the plastic recyclable tube, “I’m just saying, that when it happens, you already know who will be the baby’s favorite uncle. Maybe I’ll even buy more onesies and keep them saved for you.”

Beatrice narrows her eyes in his direction then shakes her head thinking how her brother was just relentless and would never stop doing that. But…he wasn’t wrong, ever since she accidentally bought that duck onesie she couldn’t help but think about it. She had seen pictures of Bradley when he was younger, when he was a little baby with a scrunched up face and light blonde hair, he was an adorable child. Would it be wrong, or weird to think about it without talking to him?

Yes it would so she should just stop thinking about it right now.

“You are just awful.” Beatrice mutters bringing the water bottle to her lips, feeling the cold liquid travel down her throat and hit her stomach, the siblings kept on walking on the park until they reached a bench where Michael sat down without telling her, Beatrice just turned her head when she could no longer hear his footsteps only to see him with his legs crossed in front of him, sipping the rest of his milkshake.

“I’m not awful,” he says when she sits down next to him, “I’m just saying that hey, it’d be cool if you got married and gave me nephews and or nieces, I don’t mind either.” he chuckles, enjoying how his sister’s face warmed up and how her eyes rolled so hard she was sure she could see her brain. But she leaned back on the stone bench, watching the few people walking by that afternoon alongside Michael.

“You know what this reminds me of?” she hums in question, waiting for him to continue, “When nonna used to take us bike riding. You were still really young then but, man, she’d just get us after school and she’d even ride a bike herself.” he chuckles, shaking his head, “...crazy lady. Hard to believe it’s been seventeen years since she was gone.”

Beatrice frowns, biting her lower lip, “Yeah.” furrowing her eyebrows “It’s hard to believe.”

“She used to keep those soft candies in her music box, do you remember? I don’t know how she did it, but you knew every time the tinkling music showed up you’d get a caramel or something of the sort.” Michael chuckles softly, his own eyelids lowering at the memory, “I haven’t heard it in years. The music box.”

“Dad keeps it at home.” she says,”In his room.”

‘Hm…you know she left it for you right?” he says and she nods, still looking away, “Why don’t you take it with you when you move in with Brad? I think nonna would like to know you have it.”

But the brunette just chewed the corner of her mouth, crossing her arms tighter over her chest, “I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I haven’t touched it since–well, it’s been seventeen years since I touched it.” and she wasn’t sure if she’d be ready to get it again, to see it once more would probably bring back the tears she held for so long. It seemed selfish but she didn’t want to have that as a memory, she knew she’d remember a lot of things the second she held it in her hands.

“...did you allow yourself to grieve?” Michael’s sudden serious voice startles her, his eyes looking ahead, “Or did you cry for a little bit, got sad and moved on?”

“Of course I did!” she almost sounds offended when he says, “Why wouldn’t I?”

Michael’s green eyes turned to her light toned ones, licking his lips before he spoke again, “I just think it’d be good. You have avoided it for seventeen years, I don’t think you fully allowed yourself to cry and be sad about it.” 

“Michael–”

“Beatrice–”

She frowns when he cuts her off, glaring at the ground below her feet with her teeth clenched, “Michael I just…why would that–I mean…”

“Because,” he begins, using his half empty milk shake to gesture his words, “Nonna wouldn’t want you to hold onto that, especially when you are going to get with someone you love.”

Michael had a point. He always had a point. Okay, maybe she didn’t allow herself to feel sad, to cry and let go but it was because…knowing her nonna wasn’t there to see her live with someone she loved, to find the love she always wanted was…very disappointing. She wanted her to know Bradley, she wanted her to be there when she eventually got married, she wanted her to be there at the special moments.

But she wasn’t. And she didn’t know how to deal with it now. “...okay.” she says, quietly, knowing there was no way to win this argument. “Okay.”

“Good!We’re going to get it when I’m finished here.”

“What? But–”

“Ooh!I’m finished look!” he tosses the empty plastic cup into the trash can, “Time to get it!”

-

Bradley opens Beatrice’s front door with the extra key she gave him, blinking when he saw that her living room was quiet and empty, not even Jolene was there, “Baby?” he calls, not expecting to hear her voice coming from the bedroom in the loft area, it was too early for her to go to bed. He steps over to the staircase, seeing Jolene’s head pop over the last step with her body shaking excitedly upon seeing him coming up.

He pets the pittie gently, but his eyebrows furrow when he sees Beatrice sitting cross legged in the middle of her bed, supporting her face on one hand with a small box in front of her, “Hi.” her voice sounded quieter than normal, almost cracked and upon close inspection once he approached the bed, he could see the tear tracks on her cheeks.

‘Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He wastes no time in kicking off his shoes so he could climb on the bed with her, wrapping her in his arms so her head touched his shoulder, “What’s the matter?”

Bea sniffles, dropping her hand to her lap as if it was dead weight,”Do you remember how I said I never opened my nonna’s music box?” she asks quietly, his brain wracks for the memory and he nods, “This is it. I got it today from my parents’ house.”

Bradley’s eyes drop from Beatrice’s head to the vintage looking music box with floral patterns on the lid, the latch bronze in color and the wood a reddish brown, “Michael suggested it.” she explains after a few seconds of silence, “He was right, I didn’t…I didn’t grieve a lot and I guess…I guess I needed this.”

“Okay.” he murmurs, kissing the side of her head, “Did you open it?” she doesn’t move for a few minutes, but then he feels her arm reach from under his and unclasp the lid, slowly opening the small box. A tinkling music surrounds them, a tiny ballerina spins in a circular platform in the middle of the music box, where there were two compartments on the sides with a few pieces of jewelry in them.

Beatrice picks a specific one, “This was her engagement ring.” she whispered, holding it up for him to see, sniffling quietly, “She wore it until the last years of her life, then she kept it here in fear she’d lose it while washing dishes and whatnot…I thought she’d want to be buried with it.” It was a beautiful ring with a small diamond in the middle and two gems on the sides. He couldn't figure out what it was.

Beatrice was so focused on explaining what it was she didn’t see Bradley’s eyes intently staring at the ring. Earlier that day he ended up visiting a bridal website - for curiosity of course- hoping to find a ring that’d scream Beatrice’s name…but everything was too big, too fancy, nothing that would remind him of her. But this one. This one was a lot more of what he had in mind for her, small yet beautiful. “It’s really pretty.” he says after he noticed he got too quiet, but Beatrice didn’t seem to notice.

She holds it above her finger, “She had long fingers,” but she doesn’t try it on, “You know? She was…yeah…” she smiles sadly still holding it, “She was something else.”

“Are you okay?”

Beatrice’s response was a weak laugh, but she nodded, “I am.” she inhales deeply, still pressing her temple to his shoulder, “It’s just…strange I guess, to see everything again after so long…but Michael was right, my nonna would want me to do this.”

He didn’t know what sort of conversation she and Michael had, but she seemed a lot lighter than she usually was, like a weight dropped from her shoulders. “I’m going to take this to the house when we move in, I think it’d be like…a blessing of some sort you know?” she smiles, “She’d like to be there.”

“...Yeah I get what you mean.” the box of memories his mother kept would also go, he had decided a few days back that he’d probably get some things off the box to decorate the halls of their new home, maybe not everything, but some of the things would be good to look at whenever he walked around the place. “You think your nonna would like to know we are living together?”

“Well she was old school, Brad.” she murmurs, gently placing the engagement ring back inside and pushing the lid closed with a soft ‘click’ “She wouldn’t know how this works.” she chuckles, “To her it’d be strange that we uh…live together before anything.”

Marriage.

She didn’t say outloud, but he knew what it meant, “...would she be upset about it?”

“No, not upset.” she says a bit too quickly, her face reddening, “Just…confused I guess. But she’d like you so that’s always a bonus.” she smiles, picking the music box gingerly with both hands before she kisses his cheek, “I’m going to put this away.”

Bradley nods with a little grin, but his eyes drop to the side in thought when she walks away. He wondered if…no, he wasn’t wondering, he was going to do something about it after her birthday. He had to, he had to prepare. While they never talked about it, it was there, in the air, like a waft of something that never left: she’d want that, she would. Just by the way she spoke about it or the way she held her nonna’s engagement ring was enough of an answer for him.

While he was excited about the birthday party for Bea, he was even more excited for what would come after. And he just had to do some things first and foremost.

[djarrex]

Pretty please can we have something where Echo and TBB find out Rex and reader are expecting? Bonus points for Omega's reaction cause I wonder sometimes whether she knows much about the natural way babies are made? I figure she wouldn't have need of that information in the Kaminoans' eyes.

I wanna preface this by expressing the joy I feel and the appreciation I have when you guys come into my inbox asking or wanting to talk about Post-Order 66 Rex and fam. I love it SO MUCH you have no idea :’)

So, if you remember, Hunter was briefly in Insatiable and has a couple lines of dialogue - he even congratulates them on the pregnancy and wishes them well in case he doesn’t see them soon - which is shown during Rex + reader + Hunter’s short interaction. The squad is told the happy news before the events of that particular installment, and I’m thinking that it happens when Rex contacts them to ask if they would be able meet him on [planet] for a little help with [mission].

Find the rest of the series and related works in the Post-Order 66 Rex ML

Let’s go back in time when Rex makes contact with TBB, which preludes the events of Insatiable: (pregnant!reader, TBB + Omega finds out, about 1.6k words)

<<<>>>

"We’re being hailed.” 

All members on board the Marauder drop what they’re doing and turn their attention to Echo, who had just called out and is signaling for everyone to congregate in the cockpit. Hunter sheathes the knife he’d been twirling in his fingers and nods before stepping towards the rear of the ship and calling for Omega, while Wrecker sets down Gonky and waves her over. Tech and Echo are already sat in the cockpit, getting the signal steady for the incoming transmission to come through.

"What is it?" Omega jumps down from the gunner's nest - now her room thanks to Wrecker's kind heart and creativity - and joins her brothers in the cockpit. The pilot seats are swiveled around and facing the small space in the center of all of them - the bust of a familiar captain popping into view. "Oh, it's Rex! Hi Rex!" She waves at his translucent blue form with a giddy smile plastered on her face. “Where is-”

"Hello Omega," you chime in with a smile as your head pops into the perimeter of the holo. Her sweet face lights up even more, and her eyes move back and forth between you both, unsure of whom to focus on. From the room you’re still staying at in a high-rise located in Yerbana City, the two of you exchange quick greetings with the five who are currently traveling through hyperspace.

“What’s goin’ on, Rex?” The gentle giant asks with a grin and hands placed on his hips. The captain straightens his stance and crosses his armored arms across his chest plate, and instead of directing his impending response to Wrecker, Rex’s attention turns to Hunter, who’s leaned against the frame at the threshold of the cockpit. A moment passes as the two share a nonverbal understanding before Rex opens his mouth - the focusing pairs of eyes on one another.

“I wanted to see if your squad would be available to help me out.” You quietly observe each individual who are all appearing on your end as full-body projections, landing on Omega to where she’s sitting on top of their Gonk droid - her hands folded neatly in her lap, legs swinging.

“Name it.” Echo is quick to respond with a affirmative nod as he meets the eyes of each member - cutting off Hunter before the sergeant can get a word in. Rex’s oldest friend found himself caught at the receiving end of a very slight glare coming from directly across from him, and begins to backtrack. “I-”

“What is it, Captain?” Hunter interjects.

You sort of tune out the rest, having already been given the spiel by Rex long before you’d suggested for him to contact Hunter for some much-needed assistance. It’s a simple mission: scouting out an abandoned base in hopes to obtain supposedly valuable information from the obsolete Republic database and perhaps to also restock on munitions if there’s anything left there. Normally this would be something Rex could manage on his own, though his thoughts have been a little busy since the start of your extended stay in Yerbana. The two of you ended up taking a little much-needed ‘vacation’ in the repopulating capitol city after receiving the incredible news, and you’re just now getting back into the swing of things. Well, for the most part. Rex doesn’t quite trust his focus as of late with far too many other important things swarming around in his mind, and is worried that he'd make a mistake doing the mission solo, no matter how simple the objective appears to be.

Hunter accepts without resistance, and confirms that they'll meet the two of you just outside the abandoned base immediately after they’ve finished their current objective for Cid, which will probably be in another eighteen hours or so. Rex transmits the coordinates, and it falls silent; the awkward clearing of the throat coming from Rex crackles through the air on their end.

“Somethin’ else, Rex?”

“Actually, yeah. We have some news.” Rex grins and rubs at his nape, and you can't help but to smile wide at him from your position at his side. The squad members all share a glance - a mixture of raised, inquisitive brows and narrowed, concerned eyes. Hunter steps closer to the projection, caution engrained within the features of his half-inked face as he crosses his arms.

“Tell them, love,” your sweet voice of reassurance crackles with the brief wavering signal - your hand laying to rest on his pauldron. Rex chuckles down at his feet and grabs your hand to bring it up to his chest, squeezing gently as he begins to acknowledge the others.

“Everything okay, you two?”

“Based on their lifted expressions and display of affection towards one another, it appears that this ‘news’ is of a positive, exuberant nature.”

You can’t help but laugh at Tech being Tech, which results in mixed reactions at the other end of the call. Rex inhales deep - the air quietly seeping through his nostrils on the exhale. “We’re, uh- we’re gonna have a baby.” His lit up eyes drop to his boots and he’s smirking at his feet as soon as the words leave his lips. You watch as the multiple pair of eyes widen with smiles creeping their way onto each member of the squad’s faces, but the first person to audibly respond is Tech - his focus not lifting from the device held in his hands.

“Are you certain?” All heads snap in Tech’s direction to where he’s leaned forward in the pilot’s seat, elbows resting on his thighs, continuing to tap away at the datapad. Smacking his bother’s knee, Echo squints at Tech and shakes his head.

“Yes, Tech,” you giggle as your hand releases from Rex’s and moves to rest against the beginnings of your baby bump, though you’re unsure if they are able to see either one of you from the chest down. “The bun has been confirmed as baking in the oven. We risked a brief visit to the local med center here, so, we’re certain.”

“Well then.” Tech’s brows lift above the rim of his goggles as he readjusts the spectacles with a finger pushing between them. “Felicitations to you both. That is quite extraordinary news. It seems that I was correct in-”

“That’s so wonderful!” Omega exclaims with the largest grin - hopping off the GNK and clapping her hands excitedly as she approaches you. “When are you getting the baby? Are we going to see the baby when we meet them at the rendezvous, Hunter?”

“Of course you're going to see the baby, Omega,” you answer softly for Hunter, giving him a quick smile and nod, saving him from having to explain. “It won’t be for quite a few months, though. Not until after the baby is born.” Omega’s brows pinch together in confusion, and you cautiously elaborate, unsure of what she already knows as far as what the natural-born process entails. “The baby has to grow inside of me first, and that takes a little while.”

"Inside of you?" Her curiosity is absolutely adorable. She turns to her brothers - soft eyes flickering to each one of them.

"You see, Omega, when-"

"Uh, Tech?" Rex clears his throat, and the intelligent trooper is quick to get the hint - closing his mouth and resuming to silently tap at the datapad. Echo is next to chime in, and he’s smiling like a fool, eyes wide.

“You’re gonna be a dad, eh? Wow... that’s- that’s just incredible, brother.”

“I’m gonna be an uncle!” Wrecker very loudly exclaims, and Omega and you share giggles at his enthusiasm.

“Technically, Wrecker, we are all going to be ‘uncles’ since Rex is our brother, genetically speaking. Therefore, any offspring he may produce would be considered as our nieces and nephews. That is how the nat-borns conduct their family trees.” Tech punctuates his statement with a sure nod - speaking with his finger raised in the air so as to draw attention to his point.

You’re so lost in the way Rex’s eyes continue to positively sparkle with pride and adoration as his brothers and Omega shower the two of you with congratulatory praises that you’re forgetting to respond to all of them.

“We appreciate it, everyone,” you say with an ear-to-ear grin - beaming at Rex. 

“We’ll see you all soon,” Rex concludes, “Stay safe out there.” 

The holo vanishes as the transmission disconnects, leaving the squad on board the Marauder to go over some more details of their next objective as well as to process the news.

“So...” Wrecker turns around and leads Gonky back to where he was benching the power droid before the call. “What do ya think Rex is gonna do?”

Hunter raises the brow bordered with dark ink. “What do you mean?”

“Are they going to keep this up, now that they’re going to have a kid? You know, the missions and stuff?”

“We have Omega,” Tech inputs matter-of-factly as he prepares the ship for exit from hyperspace. “And we are managing just fine, barring our dwindling ration supply.” Omega smiles sheepishly, but nods with confidence.

“Rex is a good man.” Echo swivels his seat around and sits up straight, meeting the four pair of eyes now gazing back at him. “Always tried to do what was best for his men, his brothers, and still does, even if it's beyond his control or out of his hands. Now that Rex is... free,” Echo puts the most stress into that word as it’s spoken - glancing down at his feet and chewing the inside of his cheek before continuing, “He’s in control of his life, and is able to choose his own path. And that path will lead to what’s best for his family.”

<<<>>> 

everyone tags:

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clones only tags:

@sergeant-hunter @kriffclone @saberdeity @echofoxfives @alucas528 @captainrexscyarika @kirinpl @lastphoenixfalling @bambiswriting

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here!

A/N: I think The next post will be the last one for this series!

“Did you...have fun tonight?” The way Dick haltingly asks causes laughter to bubble out of your mouth

“I can say that was nothing like any family dinner I’ve ever seen-“

And if that isn’t the truth, for one - even though you’ve heard of all of Bruce Wayne’s adopted children, you didn’t think there would be so many.

Dick’s the oldest, well officially anyway. Barbara Gordon, as in Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, was at dinner too. Apparently she and Dick had a brief stint where they dated. You’re guessing it was before Dick realized he likes boys - or maybe he likes both? You’ve never expressly asked him about using sexuality.

He’s got three little brothers, the youngest and the second oldest seem to have the highest predisposition towards violence, mostly to each other. And then the second youngest, Tim, he seems to be barely held together, mostly through caffeine and anxiety.

Cassandra from class was there too, as well as Stephanie, which was nice to see. They ducked out halfway through, which should have been your queue to duck out too.

Unfortunately you didn’t, which resulted in a rather poorly placed tomato soup stain at the edge of your dress’s hem.

“I like your brothers though” you say with a smile. You did like his brothers. The youngest, Damian, stared at you for seven very long minutes, before saying-

“How do you feel about animals?” When you told him you loved them he seemed pleased. Also, as a college student, you vibe with Tim. Though you do think someone should cut him off and have him switch to herbal tea. Jason seems cool enough, he just looked at you for a second before giving Dick a wolffish grin.

“Alfred was nice too, and it was fun seeing your- uh...Bruce again” You almost called Bruce his Dad. Bruce is nice, but he’s still a bigot. It was nice meeting Alfred, who showed you many pictures of a nine year old Dick Grayson, most of which were him doing acrobatics around the house. Honestly you thought it was adorable, but you put an end to it since Dick was blushing so fiercely that you thought he might combust.

It really was a lot of fun.

You shiver, the cold night air brushing against your bare arms. You’re standing in front of your building, saying your final goodbyes until you scamper off to your apartment, getting ready for another week of classes.

“Here, take my jacket-“ He’s already tugging it off. Before you can protest, it’s settled over your shoulders. The effect is almost instant, tendrils of warmth seeping into your shoulders and upper body.

It smells like him, you think.

Like- like his expensive cologne, with notes of amber and moss- but also like soap, like clean laundry, and something else, something sweet.

“Cotton Candy” You murmur to yourself. He probably eats it by the gallon sized bag , you think with a giggle.

“T-thank you-“ your eyes trail from the sleeve of his suit jacket to Dick, who’s got a pink tint fanning across his face, blue eyes flicking from the ground to your eyes.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight, and being so kind and considerate and lovely” and then Dick does something completely unexpected, he leans in closer and presses a kiss to your forehead. Your heart leaps in your chest, his sickly sweet Cotten candy scent floods your senses.

You would just have to tilt you head up slightly to catch his lips in yours. He smells so sweet, it almost makes you dizzy. It’s like being drunk, you think.

You want to smell him more.

“Thank you for being so accepting.” His words are like a bucket of cold water being dumped over your head. You feel like you’ve sobered right up.

“Of course, we’re friends aren’t we?” You offer Dick a smile, but you know it’s probably strained. You were so caught up in the moment, you forget he’s already in love with someone.

All of his feelings, all of his kisses, they’re reserved for Nightwing.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow” You call out, before walking into your building, feeling Dick’s lingering

So you like Dick.

F*ck.

You’re on the balcony of your apartment, nursing a glass of hot tea in the late night- or would it be early hours of the morning? You can make out the sky beginning to lighten into a lighter blue. Great so you stayed up all night thinking about your feelings.

Your body is going to love you for this.

How did this even happen? Were you just so focused on not getting a crush on either of his sisters that you didn’t see this coming. Ugh why dick of all people? Yeah, sure he’s got those sparkly eyes, and that permanent rosy blush, not to mention that lopsided grin-

Okay so you know why you’re falling in love with him. But there’s no point in nursing these blooming feelings not when-

“Hey do you have any sugar?” The masked crusader asks from beside you. That dazzling smile that makes people everywhere swoon aimed at you.

No point in nursing feelings for Dick, when the object of his affections is standing next to you, drinking earl grey out of your pink “Namaste in bed” mug.

“Or not- no big deal, I love my hot leaf juice with or without sugar.” He adds hastily, taking a loud sip as if to show you how much he’s enjoying your hospitality. You must have let your annoyance get to your face. You sigh, it’s not his fault that Dick loves him.

You’re the outsider here.

“So what are you doing out so late?” You ask, just wanting to make some small talk. But Nightwing lights up like you just offered him a million dollars. He’s so friendly it’s almost annoying, not unlike another certain dark haired golden boy you know.

“I’m always up, fighting crime, patrolling the streets-“ you never realized but being a vigilante is kind of a lot of work huh? You wonder if Nightwing has a day job, he looks so young though- maybe he’s still in school.

“The real questions is why are you still up?” His question is punctuated with a slurp of his tea.

“Just thinking I guess” you shrug, taking a sip of your own tea. You’re not about to tell Nightwing you realized you have feelings for his boyfriend.

“Thinking about the person you love?” It feels like you were just struck by an arrow. Nightwing’s mouth stretches. “No way, I was right?” You can almost picture the sparkle in his eyes behind his domino mask. You wonder what color eyes Nightwing has.

Probably a boring brown.

“Well who’s the lucky individual?” Noting your hesitance, Dick starts to get a little nervous. It hurts a little to think you don’t return his feelings. But there’s something about the shy look on your face, the way your eyes avert to your cup of tea, that’s just hopelessly adorable. What he wouldn’t give to have you look at him that way.

And then, a terrifying thought occurs to Dick.

“Don’t tell me you’re in love with Bruce Wayne?” He’s got absolutely no chance if you’re into older men. No unless you’re willing to wait ten years or so.

Then the most amazing thing happens- your mouth opens and laughter spills out. He’s heard you laugh, but never like this. So loud, and almost desperate.

And then, you do something else he’s never seen before. Somewhere along the way those loud laughs transformed into equally loud sobs. Your mouth pinched tight as tears spill from the corners of your eyes.

A hand curls over your eyes in an attempt to cover your face. This is mortifying, you’re basically crying in front of your romantic rival, completely vulnerable.

You’re about to mutter out an excuse, how you’re not usually like this, that you must be close to your period or something. When you feel a pair of arms wrap around your shoulder, your face pressed against Nightwing’s chest.

“It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay” he murmurs reassuringly, his glove covered hand rubbing soothing circles into your back. And even though you were on the edge of recompsure, you’re thrust back into despair. Your sobs leaving you almost breathless as Nightwing continues to hold you.

“Tell me what’s wrong, so I can help” Dick whispers. Whatever it is, it must be serious. He’s never seen you cry, not when you were a hostage in that bank robbery, or held at gun point at that restaurant, not even when Damian was basically integrating you all night.

“I love someone, who’s never going to love me back” you manage between sobs, and Nightwing only shushes you. His hand traveling to your hair. Cradling your head against his chest.

He smells so good, like amber and moss, and something sickeningly sweet- like cotton candy.

He smells like Dick.

And that seems to soothe you a bit, along with Nightwing’s gentle warmth.

“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine, I promise”

“Man, and I thought things were going really well between you guys” Stephanie says, her hand threading through her golden curls, head tilting back so it rests against the back of his couch.

“Yeah, me too” Dick admits with a sigh, he’s sitting with his knees propped up on the floor, his back against the wall.

Cassandra doesn’t say anything, her eyes are trained on the coffee table, their masks collectively strewn across it.

“So what are you going to do?” Stephanie asks, and Dick sighs again.

“What can I do honestly, they love someone else” he shrugs, he plays it off like it’s not a big deal. But the thought of your with someone else... it makes his stomach hurt.

“Just because she loves someone else right now...doesn’t mean she will forever” Those are the first words Cass has uttered all night, and Dick and Stephanie are both looking at her with wide eyes.

Stephanie’s already hyping him up, saying there’s no way their Dick’s going to lose to some no-face-extra, like your love is some sort of competition to be won.

And Cassandra’s only encouraging her, with energetic nods and the occasional ‘exactly’

But all Dick can think about is the way you felt in his arms, and how small you seemed as sobs wracked through your entire body. How deep your sadness felt, like he might be sucked in any moment too, tears falling from beneath his domino mask.

He hates whoever it is that made you feel that way. If it was him- if you loved him instead, he’d make sure you were never sad, he’d give you everything he was and everything he had if it meant you might smile for him.

He doesn’t want to change your mind, your feelings don’t work like that. All he knows is that he loves you- and what you need right now, is a friend. Someone who-

“Just wants to see them happy” Dick mumbles.

Taglist: @adenspolaroids @libraryoffandomsuniverse @jeneeangella @chyume @masked-mushroom

[omnivorousshipper]

De aged Deckard: You’re gonna go far, kid - Part 16

Summary: When the Shaw siblings try to break into an Eteon facility, they’re met with some unexpected consequences. Now, it’s up to Owen and Hattie to be the older siblings Deckard never had. Even if they have no idea what they’re doing

Part 15

           Setting down a bowl of freshly cut watermelon, Dom looked around his backyard and nodded in satisfaction. Everything looked perfect to welcome the Shaws into the crew and hopefully be the best afternoon any kid could ask for. They had plenty of food already set up, several games around the yard, along with a sprinkler, and he could already hear all the other children clamoring in the kitchen as they all begged Mia for a piece of cake. When he had explained that they would be getting new playmate that afternoon, he had nearly laughed at the look of pure excitement and mischief in all their eyes. Especially Sam when Luke had dropped her off so he could go pick the Shaws up.

           When Luke had called him up and explained the situation, Dom had been half convinced he had been still asleep and coming up with a pretty odd dream. But, no. Deckard really had been turned into a child and his siblings were bringing him to LA for help to take care of him. Which, Dom was surprised to hear that. He would have thought the Shaws would be too proud to ask anyone to help with their family, but here they were asking if they could look after one of their own. Dom only hoped Deckard wasn’t a menace like Dom suspected Owen was when he was a kid.

           Thinking about the Shaws must make them appear, because in the next minute, Dom could hear a car pulling up and saw Luke’s jeep pulling up. Half smiling, Dom started to walk towards them, and before he could even say anything, he could already hear Owen.

           “Does he have to show off that bloody thing?” The man complained as he hopped out of the jeep, eyeing Dom’s Charger.

           “Only when you show up!” Dom called out and smirked at the glare Owen sent him. Ignoring the man’s pissy attitude, Dom instead focused on the little boy Luke was lifting out of the car. He raised an eyebrow at the dress, but didn’t question it was the boy looked around at everything was curiosity. “Not exactly how I thought we’d be meeting again.”

           Deckard’s head snapped over to him and Dom’s smile dropped a bit when he saw the little boy hide behind Luke and stare at him with uncertainty.

           “I’m sure that makes all of us, Toretto.” Luke chuckled. “Come here, Deck. I want to introduce you to one of our friends, Dom.”

           Dom crouched down in front of Deckard when Luke brought him closer, even if Deckard still hid behind the man’s legs. The boy was truly adorable and Dom couldn’t quite put the image of the cold blooded look he saw in Deckard’s eyes as an adult to the innocent wariness this child was sending him. How did this small kid turn into a hardened man? What happened to him?

           “It’s nice to meet you, Deck.” Dom smiled and was rewarded with a small wave. “Are you ready to meet some more new friends?”

           The little boy looked up at Luke for what he should say.

           “You know my daughter Sam I was talking about?” Deckard gave a small nod. “She’s inside with the other kids and they all can’t wait to meet you.”

           Dom frowned at the almost flash of panic that crossed Deckard’s young face. Did he not want to meet more kids?

           “Dad!”

           Before Dom could even stop a single kid, four little bodies were rushing past his legs and straight for Luke instead. Sam immediately started to climb her dad as if he was a jungle gym while Jack jumped onto one of Luke’s arms and swung on it as if it was a monkey bar. Meanwhile, both Baby Brian and May were clinging to Luke’s legs. All the kids were talking a mile a minute as they excitedly begged Luke to play with them.

           Chuckling, Dom shook his head at the kids’ antics. But, as he did so, he looked down and saw Deckard had abandoned his position behind Luke and had instead run for his brother and sister. Owen was holding him protectively and whispering something to him as the boy hid his face in his neck. As for their sister, she was standing in front of her brothers, almost as if she intended to fight off the kids if they dared come too close.

           “Alright! Alright! That’s enough!” Luke laughed, carefully setting Jack and Sam back on their feet. “Calm down guys, I want to introduce you to someone. Now, where’d he go?”

           “He’s here.” Owen stepped past his sister and brought Deckard closer to the kids. The little boy poked his face out just enough to see the other kids. Dom watched as Deckard’s eyes scanned over the other kids and he had to wonder why the boy was so scared. Was it the height difference?

           Luke had said Deckard was roughly ten years old, meaning he was the oldest of the children, but he was still so small, Sam was several inches taller than him with Jack being the same height as him at seven years old. Dom had to wonder if maybe Deckard had been bullied while growing up and that was why he was so wary of other children. Or maybe he didn’t have much experience around other children, but that sounded wrong since he knew Deckard had a hand helping raise his siblings. So, what was it?

           “Hi! Are you Deck? My dad’s talked a lot about you!” Sam piped up, excitedly stretching up onto her toes to get a better look at Deckard’s face. “I’m Sam! And this is Jack, Baby Brian, and May!”

           “Hi.” Deckard’s voice was so soft, Dom wasn’t sure if he actually heard the boy or not.

           “You’re going to be staying with us for a while, right?” Sam smiled brightly. “We’re going to have so much fun! Do you wanna play with us? I got a new soccer ball and I’m showing Baby Brian how to play.”

           “Soccer?” Deckard looked at Owen for clarification.

           “Football.” Owen chuckled.

           “No!” Jack shouted. “It’s not football! It’s soccer!”

           “Where Deck’s from, soccer is called football.” Dom explained and could see the four American children wrinkle their noses at the explanations of the British calling their game something else.

           “Do you want to play with them, Deck?” Owen asked gently. All the adults held their breaths as they watched the little boy’s face grow thoughtful as he carefully weighed his answer. Finally, he gave a solemn nod. Without any fanfare, Owen carefully lowered Deckard to the ground and looked like he immediately regretted his choice, however, he had no time to voice that as Sam ran up to him.

           “Come on!” She nearly shouted in his face and grabbed his hand. She practically dragged Deckard away with the other children following after them, throwing all sorts of questions at Deckard.

           “We should keep an eye on them.” Hattie spoke up suddenly.

           “They’ll be fine.” Luke told her. “Sam knows to treat Deck gently and will tell the others to do the same.”

           “But Deck doesn’t know when to tell people to stop.” Owen told them, face blank as he watched Sam proudly showing Deckard her soccer ball. “Especially younger kids.”

           “We’ll take turns checking in on them.” Dom told them, a note of seriousness in his voice as he met Owen and Hattie’s gazes. He wasn’t surprised in the least that they were so concerned and overprotective of Deckard. The boy wasn’t supposed to be a boy after all, and the change had to be just as bad for them as it was Deckard. “If he wants to take a step away from them, then he can. Mia will probably want to give him a haircut when she sees him, anyway.”

           “As long as she doesn’t make it worse.” Owen smirked faintly.

           “Only if you actually go apologize to her.” Dom couldn’t quite keep the growl out of his voice as he met the man’s eyes. He might be willing to invite Owen around, but the man still needed to do quite a bit to make up for their first meeting. He could only hope Owen was willing to make those amends, even if it was more for Deckard’s benefit than his own want to.

           “As long as she doesn’t stab me.” Owen shrugged nonchalantly. “Too many people here have already done that.”

           Dom blinked at the man.

           “That was one time!” Hattie hissed and elbowed Owen sharply in the ribs.

           “I still have the scar!”

           “It was a butterknife!”

           “I needed six stitches!”

           Glancing over at Deckard and the kids, Dom carefully filed away not to give any of the Shaws any real silverware or anything remotely sharp. However, as he watched Deckard cheer Baby Brian on as the three year old kicked the ball, he had a feeling he would only need to implement that rule for two Shaws. Especially as he turned back and saw Luke pulling the Owen and Hattie off of each other. How were the children acting better than those two?

[gloriafc]

Fire brings death

Station 19 x criminal minds crossover

You're the oldest daughter to Pruitt Herrera. You were once a firefighter, going to school as you worked. You graduated just as you became a lieutenant. After a few more years you joined the BAU.

The team became your family, just like the fire station once was, still is. Derek became your brother figure. He knew Spencer had a crush on you and continuously pushed him to ask you out.

Eventually Spencer did. It started off as grabbing coffee before work, then grabbing dinner after work. The dates became you both spending time together on your days off, even Hotch was betting on when you'd get together. Rossi won the bet.

Eventually you and Spencer did get together. Your father was happy you found someone. He liked Spencer, the random facts kept him on his toes. After a few years you moved in together. You were happy, extremely happy. The two of you got married, and your dad walked you down the aisle. Your sister managed to hold her happy tears in but your dad was a sobbing mess.

You knew about your father's cancer, he called you personally, you kept pushing him to tell Andy about it, to tell her about how much time he had left.

When Andy gets married you head to Seattle to be there for her, and to convince your dad to go. You stay for a week to spend time with your dad, sister, and your new brother-in-law. The day before you leave Hotch calls you and tells you theres a case that's taking them to Seattle.

You're talking to an officer when your team arrives. "Ryan would've loved working alongside you Herrera." You can just smile not yet seeing your team, and honestly Spencer is kind of jealous, "Its kind of weird to be here without Ryan making some smart ass comment."

When everyone gets a break you take Spencer to one of your favorite coffee shops for lunch. As you're waiting Spencer asks, "Who's Ryan?" "What?" "When we got to the station you and the officer were talking about a Ryan." You look at his face before understanding what's happening. You start chuckling, "Spence are you jealous?" He starts stuttering and you explain, "Ryan was a family friend. We were neighbors our whole lives basically. He had a giant crush on my sister." Spencer looks down slightly embarrassed and you softly grab his face, "He died not too long ago. He always made smart remarks about me being a firefighter turned fed." When he stays quiet you give him a quick kiss before grabbing your order and teasing him, "Jealousy is kind of cute on you Mr Reid." He mumbles making you laugh harder, "I'll show you adorable Mrs Reid."

When the case was finished your dad invited everyone to a dinner, happy to have both of his daughters free, even if it was for the night. Your dad had to personally go to your hotel to invite your team. The evening was filled with laughter as your team and the fire station have a wonderful evening filled with laughter.

The next day you and your team are at the police station to finish off some left over paperwork when you get a call. You're happy to hear one of your dads friends voice but quickly grow confused when he tells you to grab a radio and what station to turn it to. Keeping the phone on your ear you look for a police radio and change the station hearing the chatter from, doctors, police and firefighters. You hang up when you hear Mayas voice. "What's going on?" You can only shake your head at Hotchs question as your eyes stay focused on the radio, "I dont. I dont know." You're running for the door when you hear the words leave Mayas mouth, "Captain Herrera is on the roof."

Morgan is faster than you and grabs the keys out of your hand. When you get to the scene you can see your dad hacking away at the roof. You immediately push through everyone to get to Maya. "Maya!" She can only look at you and shake her head, silently telling you she tried. With a quick second Morgan and Spencer are pulling you off of the side of the truck, "Y/N no!" "Someone has to get him down! He won't listen to anyone else." No one says anything when your voice cracks, everyone understanding what's about to happen.

Spencer traps you in his arms. The only thing anyone can do is watch. When the roof caves in, the only thing you can do is put your face into your husband's neck and grip his sweater as tears pour down your face. Spencer looks at the team to see them staring at the two of you with sadness for you on their faces. This being one of the few times anyone's seen you unhappy.

You mumble into Spencer's chest, but he can hear you clearly, "I never got to tell him." He can only rub your back in comfort. When the firefighters come out Andy stops seeing you and is about to ask what you're doing there but stops, staring at something behind you. You look and see your dads hat sitting on the truck, you look at her and only nod. A second goes by before shes running out of Sullivan's arms and into yours.

Everything stays quiet, as a sign of respect for your father. When your father's body is brought out on a gurney, your sisters still in your arms, your husbands behind you, and everyone including your team surrounding the gurney at a respectful distance. Mayas the only one who can bring herself to say something. "We should. We should say some words... Out of respect." It stays quiet until Sullivan speaks up, "He was a respected man. An amazing captain, an amazing man. He sacrificed his life so we could live, so we could continue sacrificing ours to save lives. He was a legacy, that we can only live up to." You can feel eyes on you and your sister as it gets quiet. You speak up as your head rests on top of Andy's, "He was stubborn. I can hear him now saying he was going to die anyways. He did something not many people would've. He wasn't just our dad, he was everyone's, if someone got in trouble we all did. That's who he was. He was never going to let cancer take him out. He went out on his own terms, doing something he loved. And I'm sure he appreciated the time he spent with everyone here even if most of it was him yelling at us."

That night Spencer watches as you sit on one of the chairs in your hotel room, the rest of your team had to go back home but you and Spencer were given the clear to stay for a couple days. Spencer's on the phone with Penelope, "How's she doing?" "Shes. Uh. She. She misses her dad." "Give her our love and support, we'll see you guys when you get back."

Spencer makes his way to you crouching in front of you and taking your hands in his, "You should get some sleep." You can only look at him with tears in your eyes, you look exactly like your dads favorite picture of you. A picture Spencer memorized the first time he saw it. A baggy hoodie and some leggings, and your wavy hair brushed but in a mess. "I never got to tell him." Spencer can only sigh and run his thumb along your cheek as the tears start falling again, "There was three things he wanted out of life. To be a firefighter, and he was an amazing one. He wanted to walk his daughters down the aisle and he did. But he never got to have grandchildren. And now. He's gonna miss it. I never even got the chance to tell him." "He'll be there in spirit. In stories. In your memories. He'll always be there." Your crying gets harder and you have to talk in between breaths, "I know we have friends. But who am I going to call. When the baby wont go to sleep in the middle of the night. Or when it wont eat. Hes not going to be there when I'm in labor and scared out of my mind. He wont be able to buy. One of those grandpa favorites onesies or spoil it rotten. Theres so many things that's not gonna happen. And now. Now it just feels like I can't breathe. And I don't know what to do."

Spencer stands up and pulls you with him, pulling you into his chest. He rubs your back as he speaks into your hair, "Just breathe baby. It's hard right now. I know. But with time everything will be fine. You'll learn to live with just his memory, and you'll tell this baby memories as you show them pictures as they grow up. Your father won't be forgotten."

In the morning Sullivan calls you, telling you your sister wont sleep. That's shes just staring at the wall. Spencer takes you over, the two men sitting in the kitchen drinking tea as you head up to the room. Andy looks at you for a second before her eyes are back on the wall, you sigh and say, "Its really weird that I'm about to climb into the bed you do the deed in." When she cracks a small smile you climb in next to her, a pillow separating the two of you. It takes a second, but she rolls over to face you. "It doesn't feel real." "I know. The only way I can think about it is that he went out on his own terms and not because of the cancer in his balls." She let's out a small laugh, "Did you have to say it like that?" "It got a laugh out of you didnt it?" When she stays quiet you sigh and push the hair out of her face, "Its gonna be weird for a while." "How long?" "Everyone heals different. We might be okay tomorrow. Or it could take us years."

You spend a couple minutes chuckling about small random things your dad did, things he did while you two were growing up. Then the conversation shifts to things you'll miss, things hes going to miss. "I always thought he'd live to see grandchildren." You grab her hand, "How do you think he would've reacted once he found out he'd only have to wait like six more months, if he had the chance?" Andy stops and looks at you, "Are you and Spencer?" You nod with a tearful smile. "I was going to tell him the night of the dinner, but everyone was a little too drunk. I should've. But I didn't want to have to retell him in the morning." Before you know it your sisters arms are wrapped around your neck in a hug.

An hour goes by and your husbands decide to check on the two of you. You're both fast asleep wrapped in each others arms, like you used to do as kids when Andy had a bad dream and didn't want to wake up your dad. "They'll be okay. They have each other." "They have a whole village behind them. They'll still hurt, but they have the support they need to move on and heal."

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

Hello! I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfy but I was wondering if I could get a bit of advice? From your recent posts, you said you left your home from toxicity and just bad things in general.

I’m in a similar situation, but my dad will be taking me away from my mom. And I just know it’ll be a shit show. And I’m absolutely terrified when we tell her and what the backlash will be afterwards towards my brothers and me and dad in general

How did you do it? How did you take the leap? Do you possibly have any advice on how to deal ?

Hello, friend!! ☀️

Thank you so much for reaching out, it means a lot that you value my advice <3

Hmm, okay from what I can tell of your situation, that is indeed a tricky one, but nothing can’t be overcome!

It’s important to remember, though, I was 19 when I left (now 20), so the way I handled things is going to be a lot different than how a minor can handle things (legally at least, feel free to replicate my insane stunts lmao)

Advice below the cut! (family violence trigger warning, I suppose?)

My entire family was and is extremely volatile, and I don’t speak to any of them anymore except for my older brother, but I’ll be cutting him off in 3 weeks too when I move.

Fortunately, my dad and brother were both kicked out of the house years ago due to violence, which left me with my mother, who’s quite insidious herself (just watch any Conjuring movie and that’ll give a good idea of what it was like living in that house lol)

I get the same feeling watching this scene as when I was around her in that house. Granted she didn’t try to change my gender, but the hatred for my father getting taken out on me is pretty accurate lol, paired with the immediate “motherly love” afterwards (she never hit me though, pleased to say — she wasn’t physically violent, just emotionally, financially, mentally and verbally. She did try to run my dad over once though, so, there’s that too)

Yikes…yeahh the same eerie feeling for sure, still makes all my hairs stand upright in memory.

(For further context this clip reminds me of my father and this one of my brother)

In the clip about my father, he definitely reminds me of Frank Gallagher, except he despises my mother instead of revering her. He’s a workaholic instead of a drug addict, too. But the mannerisms are the same. I always handled him in the way Fiona does.

Regarding my brother, I think everything about our family hit him the hardest, despite being the oldest. He developed a very violent streak, and has very poor impulse control. I love him dearly but he’s a snake in the grass, and has thrown me under the bus multiple times to get ahead in life. I mostly just pity him, since I know what our life was like growing up. But still, I can’t defend him forever, especially not at the cost of myself. Literally yesterday I woke up to a text from him asking me to come pick him up because he got arrested for starting a fight at a bar and smashing their windows.

When things started getting pretty bad with my mother earlier this year, I started to realise in my heart that there was no way I could go forth in life with her in it. I focused on the future relationships I would have one day when far away from this town — romantic partner, children, friends etc

I sort of realised one day I’d care about them a lot more than I care about my mother, because those future people would care about me. That in turn got me realising that I do deserve love, despite how my mother made me feel, and that I don’t want her to deprive another second of that in my life.

Something very unique that triggered this too was going to go visit an old family psychic, who’s basically just the Gandalf to my Frodo (ily, Chris <3). He very accurately predicted my birth years ago after my mother was told she was infertile — he got the date, year and time right three years in advance, and even knew ahead of time what my personality would be like, which he was spot-on about.

Well, I went and visited him a few months ago because I was lost with my direction, and he ended up pausing and had a sudden feeling, which led to him telling me that he’d just found out I would be having twin boys one day.

Normally I don’t buy into that stuff, but this Gandalf dude…well I knew he was right.

Knowing I’d have sons of my own one day took me from a scared daughter mindset and into a maternal mother bear in an instant, and I knew I didn’t want any children of mine around my mother or the rest of my family, for their safety alone, which made me realise, “Well, if I wouldn’t allow my own children near them, why do I allow myself?”

I started grey-rocking her in the lead-up to me leaving, which of course frustrated her (she’s a malignant narcissist), but it was a necessary step to start emotionally detaching myself from her.

It all bottled over one night after a pretty distressing argument (I had locked myself in my room to avoid it, but she was still at my door carrying on).

My cat, who’s been my best friend for years, was sitting on the floor next to me, and sort of looked up and I swear he spoke with his eyes, saying, “You know we can’t keep doing this, right? You know this abuse has an expiry date?”

I agreed with my cat and knew right then and there that I’d be leaving that night after my mother fell asleep.

Well, when she was finally done (with threats that there’d be more in stock in the morning, mind you) I went to bed early and set my alarm to 3am (was a little inside joke with myself, since that’s biblically the “witching devil hour”)

I started quietly packing my quilt and cat up (I’d already been secretly packing the boot of my car up with all sentimental and important items weeks in advance, except she caught on and took all my baby albums and more to her boyfriend’s house, so I don’t have any baby photos or information on me when I was a baby anymore, like first words, size and just general things I’d have liked to compare to my own kids one day, rip)

Once that was all in my car, I quietly said goodbye to the old family dog and cat (they weren’t mine to take, not that I could’ve anyways, since it was troubling enough taking Buddy, who’s actually my pet and not the family one). That was pretty heartbreaking, as I knew that’d be the last time I’d see them (I grew up with them and was the only one who took care of them — mother neglects kids and pets alike lmao).

Once that was over, I looked around my house with my hand on the front door and was very melancholy, but knew Buddy was right: it had all reached its expiry date.

I left very quietly and drove to McDonalds for a coffee, as I had a long drive ahead (I had organised to be a nanny in this rich family’s house far away in the city — two hours drive). Luckily they were away on their country farm 4 hours away, so I had time to sneak Buddy in.

The nanny thing recently backfired horribly because they discovered Buddy, which led to more AM escapes with my car, but I’m staying with my older brother and his gf for 3 more weeks only. Something I’ve been working towards for months now is moving to a wilderness island to live in my country’s equivalent of Bag End — a beautiful country cottage, amazing job and fantastic study opportunities.

Best feature yet: it’s 60 hours away from my hometown by car, and then you’d have to take a boat for 10 more hours!! They shall never find me hahaha

One of my friends has also told me recently that my mother has started spreading horrible, defamatory rumours about me around town, but I don’t care anymore because I’m almost out.

So, although I can’t offer any practical advice (idk if you’re a minor or not, but regardless it’s great your dad is helping you!) this is the best advice I can offer:

Find a dream and hold onto it, one that doesn’t involve your immediate family. For me it’s moving to that island and enjoying all the fresh air. It’ll push you forwards and remind you of what you’re fighting for when at your lowest.

Remind yourself there will be other people in your life, whether a spouse, friends, children or even a dog! (I’m getting a golden retriever next year 🐾) And then remember that you deserve all of them and the unconditional love they offer you.

Remember that if you don’t want your mother/family screwing those people over by proxy of her/their relationship to you, then there’s no way in hell you alone should put up with it either, as I guarantee those future people only want good things for you ☀️

There is a good life after abuse, I’ve seen it, and I know you can achieve it, too!

Be prepared for tons of backlash and bullshit — it’s inescapable when dealing with people like this, but I recommend educating yourself on narcissistic parents and tactics to deal with them.

Finding a good therapist who deals in PTSD regarding childhood abuse is important, too. I found an amazing one in the town I’m moving to, who had nearly the same upbringing as me!

So while I’m still struggling with a lot of fear (scared my mother will find where I’m working and living one day) and guilt (I feel horrible about leaving the family dog and cat behind, especially when they need veterinary help, only to then go and get myself another puppy) I understand I’ve done the best I can in a very abnormal situation, and that I can only do better from here.

Also, this song has been a saving grace when going all angsty over wanting to leave your current situation:

It’s from my favourite Broadway Musical, “Newsies”, and lemme tell you — discovering this as a 17-year-old when I was just starting to realise the severity of my situation was pure divinity.

Jeremy Jordan, my beloved Broadway Bard <3

When I finally get my cottage, I’m getting a wooden plaque with the name “Santa Fe” engraved on it, and am hanging it on my front door.

I wish you much luck and love, my little anonymous friend! And please know my inbox is open any time you need anything — vent, advice, a laugh or something else, ANYTHING, it feels good to know my past can maybe help someone else’s present ☀️

Please update me, too! I’m following your story along ardently now! (Also, be sure to take your sentimental items and store them somewhere safe away from your mother — ie baby albums, birth certificates, other paraphernalia/memorabilia etc).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must hit the road. DESTINY AWAITS!

[bqstqnbruin]

You and Brady being friends makes Matty so jealous so one night while visiting his fam he makes sure Brady knows who you belong to 😏

This turned out a little long whoops did I get carried away?

Let’s talk about ratty matty please 😈

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

“What are you giggling at?” he asks you in a sing-songy voice while you’re glued to your phone.

“Oh, Brady just sent me this hilarious video,” you say, not looking up from your screen. You keep laughing, message after message being sent between you and Matthew’s younger brother.

“I didn’t know you guys text?” he says, sitting down next to you, trying to see what his brother was sending you.

“Um, yeah, Matthew. Brady and I text each other.”

“So, you’re like friends?” his voice shaking, running his hand through his hair while he tried not to overreact.

“Yeah. Why? Is that not allowed?” you tease him, not looking up from your phone as you try to poke your finger into his side, making him squirm.

“No, it’s allowed,” he huffs, trying to grab your hand. He brings you in for a kiss, finally pulling your gaze away from your conversation with his brother. “We have to finish packing before we leave tomorrow.”

You pull him up off the couch, trying not to lose the connection between yours and his lips. “I think we can do something else before we finish packing?” you suggest. The devilish grin on his face grew, sweeping you off your feet and carrying you bridal style to the bedroom.

--------

“Matthew, what day do you go home?” Keith says to his oldest son as soon as the two of ou cross the threshold of their house.

“Hi to you, too, Dad,” he says, pulling him in for a hug. 

Brady comes running up to you, screaming your name and lifting you off the ground in a hug to greet you before even looking at his brother. He puts you down, his hands still lingering on his waist as his brother sends daggers in his direction. If looks could kill, Brady would be dead on the ground before he even put you down.

“Hey, Brads,” Matthew says, pulling him off you. “Glad you like my girlfriend almost as much as I do,” he nearly spits, clearly jealous over his brother's platonic affection of you. 

“Oh, calm down,” Brady says, trying to poke his brother like you did the night before, “Why can’t I be friends with Y/N?” 

“You can,” Matthew says, pulling you close to him, “Just know I’m her favorite Tkachuk.”

“No, that’s Taryn,” you say, earning scoffs from both brothers. 

Chantal comes and sweeps you away to the kitchen to help her finish the dinner that was almost ready, leaving the boys alone with each other.

“There’s no way you could think I’m trying to move in on your girlfriend, dude,” Brady tells Matthew. “We’re friends.”

“And that’s all you’ll ever be,” Matthew responds, clearly jealous.

---------

You and Matthew were lying on his bed watching something on his TV. You weren’t paying attention, focusing all your attention on playing with his hands. “You’re not even watching,” he whines, trying to pry his hands from you and put them somewhere, anywhere else on your body. 

“You’re just too distracting,” you flirt, causing him to bite his lip, practically lunging at you with a kiss, hands running up and every part of you. “Matthew,” you whisper as he works his way down your neck, neither of you hesitating to tug at the other’s clothes as a signal to pull them off. “Matthew!” 

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

“Morning,” you say to Brady when you and Matthew go to the kitchen, the three of you alone.

“Hey,” he says, not making eye contact with either of you, focusing in the bowl of cereal instead.

“Is everything alright?” you ask him, trying to get his attention. You feel Matthew's hands snake around your waist pulling you close to him and kissing your cheek.

“Matthew, did you forget my room is right next to yours?”

“No.” 

“You’re an asshole.”

Making the connection between the events of last night and what Brady was talking about, you feel the heat rush to your cheeks as Matthew holds you tighter. “How much did you hear?” you let out.

“All of it.”

“Hey, man,” Matthew starts, “You knew she was my girlfriend, what else did you expect?” 

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 8 (for real this time)

Okay. So, Bicho is Spanish for male bug while Principito is Spanish for Little Prince.

Enjoy!

With Lila’s blood-curdling scream, however, came Signal, or as Gotham had taken to calling the yellow clad boy, the Daytime Bat. Signal appeared a few minutes after Lila pretended to faint, tucking his grappling hook and batarang back into his utility belt upon seeing both Dick and Jason before he looked at where everyone else was looking, and seeing who he could only assume was the girl most of the Rouge gallery called “Hatter’s Girl”. He frowned, although no one could see it, as he suddenly realized how young the girl looked. He had always assumed (read: Bruce had lead him to believe) that “Hatter’s Girl” was what the Rogue gallery called Hatter’s squeeze, but from the way Scarecrow and The Riddler were allowing the girl to cling to them he could only assume it was more a note of paternal obligation than damnation of the girl.

Duke made eye contact with Jason, or as close to eye contact as he could make while wearing his helmet. Jason’s face was soft, his disbelief evident for everyone to see.

Duke was confused, he had never seen Jason look like this before and Dick seemed to be just as lost as he was. He glanced at the oldest Wayne child and saw his confusion was plain to see. “Is everything alright here?”

Alya turned to look at the yellow clad meta vigilante with a scandalized expression. “That girl is conspiring with villains!”

Duke frowned. “Ma’am, I mean no disrespect but what evidence do you have?”

-*-*-*

Stompp, Sass, Trixx, Wayzz, Tikki, and Plagg were all hiding in Chloé’s purse, knowing they couldn’t be with their chosen had most of them upset.

Plagg, who has nearly always been separated from his holders in the past, seemed to be dealing with it the best while Tikki, whose holders have always been permitted to keep her close, however, wasn’t faring very well. Stompp, whose holders were almost never permanent, was simply lounging against Plagg while Trixx relaxed into the side of the purse closest to Chloé. Sass and Wayzz were attempting to placate Tikki while sharing looks filled with disbelief.

“Tikki. Your kid is a Guardian. You’re not being renounced. He just can’t keep you on him right now.” Sass began. “Trixx’s kit would never take you away from your bug, Plagg’s kitten wouldn’t take you away from your bug.”

“Tikki, take deep breaths. Remember why we’re all in Trixx’s kit’s purse?”

“...to keep warm?”

“Why do we need to keep warm?” Wayzz prodded.

“...because Gotham is unusually cold.” Tikki continued.

“Do you want to be alone in your bug’s fanny pack right now?”

Tikki looked down. “No.”

“Okay. Now go cuddle with Plagg or Trixx to keep warm.” Wayzz sighed as the older being slunk away to curl into her other half’s side. They turned to look at Sass and the two beings shrugged at the way their friend was reacting. “She’s going to be a handful, isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid so my friend, I’m afraid so.”

-*-*-*

Thana turned her head to look at the meta vigilante, recognizing the vigilante as Signal. She looked him over, realizing that the hero in front of her had to be one of Batman’s newest additions, she knew he wasn’t Damian or Jason because Jason was still in the group behind her and Signal appeared to be much too old to be Damian. She decided, based on how his eyes kept flicking from her to the duo hugging her and back before his eyes sought out their tour guide and bodyguard. Nodding to herself, deciding the civilian identity for Signal had to be Duke Thomas, she turned in her uncles’ grasp to face the vigilante and waited for his attention to return to her.

She offered the hero a smile when his attention was back on her. “Excuse me Mr. Signal?” She glanced at her Uncle Ed to confirm that was the hero’s name, before looking at the vigilante clad in bright yellow. “I didn’t realize hugging your uncles you hadn’t seen in person in years was illegal.” She dropped the Parisian accent while talking to the vigilante, letting her Crime Alley accent wrap around the words. “I was stolen off the streets by the GCPD when I was nine and this is the first time I’ve seen them in person since then.”

Signal seemed to nod understandingly while Alya seethed on his other side.

“Yeah right. Those two are probably your suga-” Alya was suddenly cut off by Nino’s glare. Nino could only take so much of his one-time crush’s whining before he got tired of hearing her voice.

“This is my Uncle Ed and my Uncle Jon, Césaire. They have been huge parts of my life since I was forced from my home after my mother died.” Thana’s voice grew hard and her Parisian friends knew that she hated having to speak about her past.

Alya’s face paled slightly, not having known the girl had been left without a mother.

Thana focused only on the vigilante, knowing if she looked to her friends she would lose her nerve. “I am sorry to interrupt your patrol, I know how you Bats love your city.”

Signal nodded and turned back to the French group. “There’s nothing wrong here. Continue on with your tour.” He nodded and pulled out his grappling hook. He shot the hook in the other direction and was essentially just a yellow blur on the horizon.

Thana returned to her uncles’ embrace.

---

Ed and Jon decided that they were going to tag along with the tour, one on each side of Thana because her dad was still out there and they didn’t currently have eyes on him.

Their tour guide seemed to just roll with it, allowing the two to join them as they continued to walk around Gotham proper.

Alya was stuck carrying Lila around for a while, grumbling under her breath about how “it wasn’t fair that Marinette got to stay attached to her dumb sugar daddies”.

A majority of the class walked closer to their tour guide, noticing the worried looks the Gothamites kept shooting their group as they walked with Ed and Jon, because those are the names they were introduced with and they just didn’t know if they would trust these men. On the other hand, Thana’s friends, who had all at least talked to the duo before, seemed to orbit around Thana and her two uncles. Jason, who continued to stick to the back of the group, couldn’t help but overhear the conversation that was going on between the group right in front of him.

“So, you’re the hooligans who’ve been keeping our niece out of trouble.” Ed began, glancing at Jon over Thana’s head to shoot his lover a smile.

“How have you been keeping our niece out of trouble?” Jon continued, his voice seeming to soothe Thana in ways Thana’s friends had never been able to.

“Mèo con? It’s just a matter of us not giving her any time to get in trouble.” Kim smiled and reached over to ruffle Thana’s hair.

Nino smiled, watching as two of his three childhood friends interacted. “Chloé and I keep those two out of trouble.” He shrugged and linked his arm with Chloé’s. “It’s nice to properly meet two of Alqamar’s uncles.”

“Do you think we could slip use our free time for a real tour? An in depth tour?” Thana glanced at her friends, a worried smile on her face. “I mean, only if you all want to.”

Thana’s friends shared a look, Chloé shooting Alix a subtle glare when it looked like the pinkette was going to be unkind, before all five of them turned back to Thana. “Sure. As long as your uncles accompany us.”

Thana brightened, her blue grey eyes seeming to come alive with every moment. “Okay.” She nodded and threw her arms around her friends before pulling away and rejoining her uncles.

---

Mlle. Bustier sighed, the class all seemed to be impatiently waiting for her to release them to go about their free time. She nodded and waved towards the door. “Just go.”

Thana grabbed Kim’s hand, not looking as he grabbed Nino’s, Nino grabbed Chloé’s, Chloé grabbed Adrien’s and Adrien grabbed Alix’s, before pulling her friends out of the hotel, glancing up at the side of the hotel before freezing. She finally took in the bullets on the side of the building, her eyes landing on the pair of bullets, a little J hidden in the corner of one with the other having a little T hidden in its corner. She reached her hand up to them before shaking her head and focusing back on her mission.

She led her friends down alleyways and across streets, steering clear of anywhere she knew her father was ought to frequent, before she pulled them to a stop in front of the Iceberg Lounge.

“Okay. So, technically, none of us are old enough to go in but Uncle Ozzy won’t care as long as we’re wearing red sleeves.” She turned to her friends, who all seemed skeptical.

“Are you sure this is a good idea Chatte?” Adrien asked, his tone gentle as though he was afraid she’d react badly.

“I promise Bicho.” Thana smiled reassuringly at her friends before she turned and pushed open the door. “Uncle Ozzy! I’m home!”

-*-*-*

Jason looked at the newest bat, knowing he hadn’t been at the press conference because he’d be patrolling so he didn’t know about Bruce’s proclamation. Jason glanced at his older brother, who shrugged at him when blue met blue-green, before turning back to the scene in front of him. He watched as his little sister when did she stop being so little handled the situation with a grace that he’d remembered from their time together on the streets.

He’d have to clue the newest bat into Bruce’s proclamation. He’d get his number from Dick after they dropped the class off back at the hotel.

---

Jason watched the class out of the corner of his eye (and the window into the lobby) as he and Dick walked back to his apartment. “Hey Dickiebird? Do you have Duke’s phone number?”

Dick pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts before landing on the right one. “Yeah. You want it or do you want me to arrange a meeting?”

“I doubt he’ll come if a strange number requests it. Could you?”

“He gets done patrolling in an hour or two. I’ll send him your address and tell him to drop by after patrol.” Dick shot Duke a text and smiled before bumping shoulders with Jason. “She was like a mini female you. A spit fire with a heart of gold.”

Jason shrugged. “Let’s just hurry. Kutlat Saghira gets irritable when we’re apart for too long.”

---

Jason sat on the couch in his living room, Damian firmly seated on his lap and refusing to move, waiting for Duke to knock on his door. Tim, Steph and Cass were standing in his kitchen recreating a Vine on Tim’s Tik Tok account. Dick and Wally sat on the loveseat, Mar’i, Iris and Jai sat on the floor colouring in a colouring book on the coffee table.

A knock sounded on the door, causing Dick to stand to get it because Damian refused to let Jason up.

Dick opened the door, a gentle smile on his face. “Hey Duke.”

“Hey, uh, Dick. What’s up?” Duke nervously rubbed the back of his neck, his smile seeming just a little forced until he looked into the kitchen and saw the three recreating a Vine. “So this is where you all have been hiding.”

“Not, not exactly.” Dick responded, moving out of the way to allow the younger man entry. “So, do you remember Bruce saying he was putting together a press conference?”

“Vaguely.” Duke walked into the apartment, noticing the collection of shoes to the left of the door and toeing off his shoes without much thought to it, before noticing all of the people in the living room. “Hello?”

“Hi.” Jason called, his voice even tempo’d so as to continue to soothe the boy in his lap. “I’m Jason, I was the second Robin.”

Duke startled at seeing the man, looking at the other man in the room as he casually referred to himself as “the second Robin”. With wide eyes he looked at Jason and mouthed “does he know”.

“That’s Wally West. Formally Kid Flash, part time Flash.” Jason smiled, a slow lazy smile that only being surrounded by his family brought out in him. Tim, followed by Steph and Cass, vaulted over the back of the couch and settled around Jason, with Cass ending up sprawled across Tim and Steph’s laps. “He knows.”

Duke nodded, drifting to the chair sat across from the couch. “Of course.” He paused a moment, taking in how everyone was sitting. Dick, at some point, had reclaimed his spot beside Wally. Mar’i settled on the arm of the loveseat beside her father, her hands clinging to both her father and her Aunt Cass (who had held her hand out to her niece upon noticing her intended location), while Iris sat between Dick and Wally and Jai sat on Wally’s lap. “So, what’s up?”

Steph looked at her little brother, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Bruce said some things after the press conference. About how ‘no child of his would associate with a child of a rogue’ because Jace’s little sister is the daughter of the Mad Hatter-”

Duke lit up, his warm brown eyes locked on Jason’s face. “That was your sister?” He let out a silent laugh. “Oh my Amazon. She was so cool.”

Jason nodded, taking in the way Duke seemed to be admiring his sister. “She was always diplomatic when we ran into anyone on the streets. It’s part of the reason why any kid wearing red sleeves is allowed into the Iceberg Lounge and inside Robinson Park’s limits.”

“Oh. Okay. I think I remember seeing her on the streets a couple times when we were younger.”

Jason just shrugged. “Probably.�� He looked down after Damian poked him, only to find a pair of green eyes locked on his face with a barely there “hm” the only indication that Damian wants introduced. “This rascal here is Damian al Ghul-Todd. Around here he gets called Kutlat Saghira, Little Nuget or Principito.”

“Hello Damian. I’m Duke, I’m,” Duke looked at the gathered Waynes, looking for visual cues, before looking back at Damian, “your uncle.”

---

Jason was startled awake by a loud knock on his living room window. He glanced down at the bed, seeing all of his younger siblings as well as his son were in the bed, before slowly and gently moving Damian into Cass’s grasp. He slowly slid out of the bed, shoving his feet into a pair of newly acquired slippers, before padding into the living room and moving the curtain to reveal that Batman was knocking on his window. He propped open the window with a curt call of “what do you want Bruce?”

“It wasn’t enough to steal all of my other children, you had to steal Duke too?”

“It is not my fault he was operating under the assumption that you would be there for him through anything. We simply told him the truth.” Jason crossed his arms over his chest, his blue-green eyes looking more and more green as the older man continued to piss him off. “Duke deserved the truth. Besides, I’m pretty much sure I told you to forget my address after you passed it on to Alfred.”

“That is beside the point.” Bruce looked as though he was going to continue before the tip of a Wakizachi was pointed at his jugular notch.

“You are angering my Baba. Leave.” Damian, who even in his half asleep state was protective of those he called his, stared up at the man who fathered him.

Bruce fled with his figurative tail between his legs, deciding he would have to reclaim his children in another manner.

Taglist:

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @sauseyyy @susiej1118  @bluesimani @thatonecroc

[farfromharry]

always (part eight) | harry holland series

summary: after birthday shopping for the twins goes wrong, you and harry finally admit your true feelings for one another

word count - 2.1k

warnings - langauge? i think

“Tom, what am I going to do for the twins' birthday, I have no idea what to get for them.” You complained down the phone, collapsing on your bed. Tom sighed on the other end of the phone, running his hand over his face, exasperated.

“I’m having the same problem.” He huffed sadly.

“We don’t have long either.” You reasoned, glancing at the date on your calendar, which read the 10th.

“Do you want to go out at some point, look for some presents together?” He asked. You sat up, eyes widening.

“Yeah, I think that’d be a perfect idea.” You said excitedly.

“We’ll need to talk about the party too, mum’s been shouting at me to plan something as soon as possible.” You giggled.

“Yeah, we can do that.”

You and Tom planned when and where you were going to go, the male telling you how excited he was to see Lily again, especially after not seeing her for the past few days because of how busy he’s been with work.

“Are you more excited to see Lily than me?” You asked, feigning offense.

“You have an adorable baby, can you really blame me?” You rolled your eyes.

“No not really.” You laughed.

“So, i’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked, checking with you.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Just like he promised, Tom was knocking on your door the next day, announcing he was ready to take you and Lily out shopping. You kissed Lily’s head, walking to the door and opening it for your friend, welcoming him in. He was quick to take the angel out of your arms, giving her sweet kisses all over her face while you zipped up her tiny coat. The girl babbled happily, making you smile as you got her stuff together.

“You ready to go?” He asked. You nodded, letting him be the one to lay Lily down in her pram.

The two of you had agreed on walking to your destination. The walk was pleasant, the two of you having the chance to catch up on everything you’ve missed, and for Tom to catch up on everything he’d missed with your little bub.

You wrapped the tiny coat and blanket tighter around Lily in her pram, trying to shield her from the cold February air. Tom smiled at the bubbly baby, wrapping his own coat around himself tighter.

“She looks so cute.” He pointed out, poking her chubby cheeks gently. You giggled, nodding your head. She basically only looked like a little chubby head under all the layers.

“Now, let’s go.” You announced, dragging Tom towards the shops where you were going to find your presents for the Holland boys. He led you straight to a jewellery shop, wanting to look at the expensive watches they had to offer.

“Tom, you can’t be serious.” You said, watching him gawk at the very pricey rolex.

“Why not?” He asked teasingly. You shook your head at him, deciding to look around. You noticed Lily was staring at the way the jewels and sparkles would shine when they caught the light, the baby completely entranced. You carefully picked her up, keeping the blanket wrapped around her so she didn’t get cold. You pointed out the shiny metals, talking to her quietly as she stared amazed.

“I think she’s enjoying herself.” Tom mumbled coming up behind you, getting a nod in response.

“Did you buy the watch?” You asked. Tom lifted the bag, an eye roll coming from you.

“Gonna split it with my mum and dad, promise.”

“Now you have to help me.”

You and Tom forgot to anticipate that paps would take any opportunity to catch you two together, to use pictures for false, shocking headlines.

The two of you didn’t even realise, too focused on finding the perfect birthday presents for the twins. You had enjoyed the majority of your day, forgetting how fun it was to spend time with him.

It was only when you got multiple messages from Harry, sending you screenshots of the headline that stated:

‘Tom Holland’s secret family spotted out in London together.”

The picture was of you and Tom laughing, the male pushing Lily’s pram, beaming down at her.

You were completely over it. You barely even wanted to show Tom. He was finally getting a break, showing Lily all the cute teddy bears. He loved hearing the girl laugh from the second she learned how to.

“Tom?” You called, watching his head turn around to look at you, a large smile on his face and the almost 2 month old babbling happily in his arms. You handed him your phone, seeing his face drop and him sigh angrily.

“Just ignore it, I’ll get someone on it later.” You nodded, wrapping your arms around his waist and squeezing him. You laid your head on his shoulder, welcoming the friendly kiss he placed on your head.

“Now, let me buy my adorable niece a teddy bear and we can actually get what we came for.” You giggled, rolling your eyes at the idea of more stuffed toys coming into your flat. After Tom bought her the bear, she wouldn’t let it go, her tiny hands clinging on to it as Tom carried her throughout the next shop you visited.

You thankfully did end up finding a present for both Harry and Sam. Your gift to Sam was rather simple, just some things he could use for cooking. However, your gift to Harry was a lot more meaningful. Every time you’d been out together over the last few months, Harry had eyed the same new camera in a shop window. You knew how badly he wanted it, but he was so attached to his current camera that he would never buy it for himself. So, you decided to give him a little push, buying it for him to surprise him on his birthday.

Nothing much else really happened with the whole press situation, until you got home that was, finding Harry waiting by your flat door.

“Oh hi, I didn’t know you were coming over.” He helped you get the pram through the door, waiting awkwardly while you put Lily down for her nap, even if she slept a lot while you were out.

“So, to what do I owe the honour?” You asked light heartedly. You were in a rather good mood after spending a fun day with one of your oldest friends. You grabbed a bottle of water and turned to face Harry with a smile.

“Why were you with Tom?” He asked, rather viciously too. Your smile dropped, tilting your head in confusion.

“What?”

“Well you’re part of his secret family now so-“ You sighed.

“Can we please not talk about this?” He reluctantly nodded, the two of you standing in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Harry broke the silence again, something he was always good at doing.

“Why were you out with Tom, doing- whatever that headline said.” You rolled your eyes, annoyed that you were talking about this again.

“Are you in love with him or something!” It physically hurt Harry to even ask, the idea that the girl of his dreams was in love with his brother instead of him.

“Harry, you’re being ridiculous.” You muttered. He huffed angrily.

“I’m being ridiculous, really?” His voice was slowly growing louder.

“It’s ridiculous that we’re still talking about this.” You complained.

“Why won’t you tell me what was going on?” He asked.

“Harry, please quieten down, I don't want Lily to wake up.” You begged. He ran his hands over his face, breathing deeply.

“Stop ignoring the question, are you in love with Tom, yes or no?” You heard a loud wail, your heart dropping as you started to make your way towards the nursery.

“Y/n!” You turned around and glared at him.

“Harry, I’m in love with you, you idiot, not Tom.” Harry gasped, through your anger you hadn’t even realised your slip up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a crying baby to go and help.” Harry stared at you in shock as you walked away.

He was frozen in his spot, processing the last few minutes over again in his head. He cursed himself, walking in a haste over to the nursery.

He knocked on the open door, watching you cradle a crying Lily before entering.

You didn’t acknowledge him, but he knew he could talk and you would hopefully listen.

“I’m sorry for waking her.” Harry watched as you bounced the girl in your arms, holding her to your chest.

“S’okay.” You whispered.

“So, we need to talk about what you said.” You sighed, tears springing to your eyes at the memory of your accidental confession, fear filling your body.

“Let me just put her down, then we can.” He nodded, leaving you to go and take a seat in the living room. Once Lily was calm and sleeping again, you laid her down in her crib, taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself.

“I can do this.” You hyped yourself up. You entered your living room and found Harry sitting there, nervously wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans.

“Hi.” You mumbled quietly, secretly hoping he wouldn’t hear you. Harry’s head whipped in your direction, so fast you were surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash. He gave you a tight lipped smile, motioning for you to take a seat beside him.

“Look I-“

“I shouldn’t have-“ You both began speaking at the same time, laughing quietly.

“You go first.” You said, not really wanting to talk about your feelings straight away, especially with it still being a mystery about how Harry feels.

“You know I’ve always been intimidated by Tom and you know, you’re my best friend not his.” He whined, sounding quite like a child, “I’m sorry for snapping.” You nodded understandingly, taking his hand into yours. Your fingers laced together like it was completely natural.

“We were just shopping for birthday presents for you and Sam.” You whispered, seeing the frown take over his face.

“I’m so sorry.” He apologised. You were quick to forgive him, just like you always were. You found it impossible to be mad at him when he was just so adorable.

“So, what did you need to tell me?” He said, filling you with dread.

“Please don’t make me repeat it, i’m already nervous.” You huffed, looking at him for any sign of mercy. He grinned.

“I’m in love with you too.” He ran his fingers through your hair gently, tucking it behind your ear.

“Why are we like this?” He asked.

“We’ve just been completely oblivious.” You said, turning to watch him. He shuffled closer, thighs touching in a comforting way.

You rested your foreheads together, laughing quietly as you looked at eachother. The heat of the moment suddenly took over and you were both leaning in, your lips connecting in a sweet first kiss, one that had been building up for the last 11 years. Your lips molded together, your hands coming up to tug at Harry’s curls. One of his hands cupped your jaw, trying to pull you impossibly closer to him.

“Harry-“ You mumbled, trying to pull away. He whined, shaking his head and pushing on the back of your neck to connect your lips again.

You hummed, tugging on his hair a little too tightly to pull his head back.

“What was that for?” He pouted, chasing your lips to try and pull you back into another kiss. Your heart fluttered.

“Why did we wait so long to do this?” You asked, running your fingertips over the short curls on the back of his head, trying to soothe the sore spot you’d tugged on.

“Cause we're idiots.” He muttered with a cheeky smile, shrugging his shoulders simply. You giggled, nodding your head.

“I know things aren’t as easy as it’d normally be, you know with Lily but-“

“Harry, you’re basically her dad at this point.” You stated. Realising what you said might freak him out, you felt the need to elaborate. “I-i mean, you spend so much time with her, she loves you.” He smiled, a soft blush coating his cheeks.

“Really?” You nodded. He grinned uncontrollably, lifting his hand to stroke your cheek with his thumb.

“Do you maybe, want to give us a go?” He asked.

“Not if that’s how you’re going to ask.” You sassed, jokingly of course. His face fell, shaking his head.

“Right, uh.” He lifted his head, looking directly into your eyes. “Y/n Y/l/n, will you be my girlfriend?”

Your heart fluttered, hearing the words you’d wanted to hear for so long.

“Harry Holland,” You said, cupping his cheek with your hand, stroking your thumb along his cheekbone. “I would like nothing more.”

always taglist - @hopelessly-harry @iwearheadphones @thevelvetseries @minejungwoo @siriuslyslyslytherin @givebuckyhisplumsnow @itstaskeen @icyhollands @starkweasley

[yodamn]

Comfort

This is something I just thought up, enjoy!

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

Thank God for your parents. Them having other children after you gave you the perfect amount of experience to handle the situation you were in. Your younger brothers, specifically, have helped you unknowingly.

There in front of you stands a Clone. But not just any clone. Marshal. Commander. Cody. THE Marshal Commander Cody. You aren't one of his brothers, you're just an officer delegated to Communications and occasionally getting one very finicky control console to work who, despite not being sentient, only works for you. Thanks Dad for teaching me some of your Mechanical Know-How. But anyway...

Marshal Commander Cody. SIC to General Master Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. A highly skilled man. Trained to be able to take droids, or people, down extremely easily. Even though some people look down on clones not ONE person can say something bad about Cody in front of his face. Hes intimidating. He commands respect from COUNTLESS clones and he.

Hes got the same look your little brother gets after a really bad day at school.

Eyes glazed with just enough water to seem wet but not to the point of tears, blank stare through time and space. His posture isnt different but he probably is used to having to hide in his helmet. The ever so slight quiver of his bottom lip, most people wouldnt even notice. But you do. You always do. Its the exact same expression. And you can read it like a book. That faces says that he really just wants to be hugged tight and told its gonna be okay and go to sleep but hes not gonna ask for it. Hes hiding it well but youre used to seeing the signs. Sometimes your little brother, Gil, doesnt know how to ask when he needs help. He pushes people away. And your parents do their best, but they've got four other kids and their jobs, they don't catch everything. So then it becomes big sister to the rescue. Who had the time, patience, and energy to help.

And it seems like noone else notices whats happening to the Marshal Commander. You pay attention to the briefing of course but also keeping an eye on Cody. After the briefing youre just close enough to hear Cody dismiss himself as well, saying that he needed to get some work done. At that the plan is set into action. First stop? The Officer Lounge. You grab a cup of caf and put a lid on it. You stop by the officer barracks and grab the nice blanket your mom sent in a care package and swiftly continue towards the Clone Barracks.

There are horror stories told about the Clone Barracks by officers. That they'll eat you alive. That once a new recruit wandered in and was never seen again. Stupid things. But that doesnt mean walking into a hallway of barracks where you really stick out isnt scary. Their gazes are burning into you at all angles, curiosity, confusion, the occasional glare. You finally found the Commanders door. Looking both way you knock first. No answer. You know hes in there because the light of the pad beside you is on. Indicating someone is inside. You knock twice more with the same result. A sigh leaves your lips and you weigh your options.

Open the door yourself and possibly get yelled at. Potentially invade his privacy. Or leave and forget any of this happened. The second option seems more appealing. But then you remember why you came. Seeing his face in your memory. The look of pain in his eyes. Seeing your little brother in him, despite the commander being three times his size and much more intimidating than your dorky little brother. Taking a deep breath to steele yourself you gently and slowly open the door. Hes sitting on his bed. Head in his hands. In the dark. Just like Gil. And a gruff voice calls out.

"What do you want"

"Commander Cody?"

Apparently not the voice he was expecting because his head shot up.

"Can I help you? Is there something you need? I'm sure that-" you cut him off with a wave of your hand.

"No! No I dont need anything, its just," you sighed, no going back, "At the briefing today you seemed a little off, I thought you might need a little pick me up?" You offered with the still hot caf held out to him.

"I brought you some caf, and my extra blanket, its weighted and it always helps me so if you wanna borrow it..." You trailed looking away and then back to see him still staring at you.

"But! Thats-thats only if you want to, you dont have to I just, it helps me and I wanted to..." you stuttered and rambled while flailing your own free hand around.

"Thank you"

You stopped and stared at the man. The look was back. And oh how it hurt.

"I-Thank you, that's very thoughtful" Cody furrowed his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head. You extended the caf to him again, he took it and just held it in his hands.

"How-how did you know? How could you tell?" He asked, oh so softly. Running a hand down your cheek you gesture to the bed next to him and he nods and scoots over.

"Uh, well" you start and sit on the cot, you place the blanket down next to him and think back to Gil, "I'm the oldest of 5 kids in my family, and my parents try their best. But they dont always catch everything, what with having five kids and my mom and dad own a business and other family issues" you explain.

"Sometimes I step in to help, I dont have to. But I care, and they are important to me", you smile thinking about your younger siblings. Your parents were always so adamant about you not having to help. But at one point your grandfather got sick, had to come live with you. You wanted to step in to alleviate the stress. You lean back against the metal walls and looked at Cody.

"And you, sir", knocking your hand against the plastoid of his armored arm you shift to fully face him, "You had the same face that my little brother makes when hes had a really tough day and just wants to talk about it"

Cody chuckled taking a sip from the caf.

"Sorry if its not all that good, its just the caf they supply officers and I also dont know how you like your caf so..."

"No, no its fine, thank you" he whispers, he's so tired. You can see it in the way his eyelids flutter. "I can't really talk about what I do, it's confidential" hes slouching where he sits, soon you can see his head slightly bopping up and down. Resisting the pull of sleep.

"That's fine, you dont have to" you reassure patting him on the arm, you lightly rub your thumb in the crease between the armor and his blacks.

"Can you tell me about yourself then? Whats your favorite caf? Do you like bolo-ball?" You ask quietly, you move to sit in front of him on the floor. By slowly lowering your voice you should be able to get Cody to relax and fall asleep, it works for your. The big commander humms and slowly explains that he likes his caf with sugar but never can find any so he drinks it black mostly. He, like most of the clones, are loyal to the Corosaunt team. His voice getting softer and softer with yours as he went on. You hummed sweetly and looked at his armor. That can't be comfortable to sleep in.

Tapping your finger on his knee plate, and unfortunately reeling him back out of the sweet embrace of sleep. You ask if you can remove his armor, following that you didn't have to if he didn't want you to . Cody nods drowsily and croaks a yes out. You perch on your knees and begin to fumble with his leg armor.

"Please Cody, tell me more about Waxer and Boil" you prod gently while slipping your fingers into the magnetic locks. You had a nurse friend who had often had to remove armor from the clones due to them being unconscious. He had complained about how sometimes the locks would stick and explained how to get them unstuck. Not that you needed to know at the time, but it was useful right now.

Cody rambled on about Waxer and Boil and how sometimes Obi Wan would loose his lightsaber in battle.

He pouted, "Its rich because he always, always says 'The lightsaber is your life' to Skywalker..."

You giggle and stand up, he sighs and goes to lay back on the bed. Drunk in exhaustion. You had removed most of his armor, him removing things you couldn't.

He inhales and looks back at you, having sat back down next to the head of the bed. Cody lets out a sigh and continues to ramble, at this point his words are getting mixed up and jumbled. He had begun to explain how he got upset at all the paperwork he had to do and battle plans to make and military personnel to kiss up to, but you stopped him.

"Thats confidential remember?" You whispered, brushing a stray hair away.

"Thas right, you" he clumsily pointed up to you, "youre a good person"

Smiling you grab his hand and bring it to lay on his chest, "Thank you Cody, so are you" you softly pet his hand.

He turns onto his side and ever so slowly you see him slip into a peaceful sleep. You stand and lightly laid your blanket over him. It was muscle memory. Remembering all the times your parents had to work late or were focused on helping a sibling or relative that was sick and you had to put the others to bed. You tucked Cody in and gingerly lifting his head to move his pillow under him. After making sure he was covered you laid a kiss on his temple. Youre eyes snapped open and you tensed your back.

Why did I do that? You looked down at the man and he was still peacefully sleeping. Shaking your head you sighed, stupid muscle memory. You moved the cup of cold caf further on the nightstand next to his bed just incase her flailed an arm and he knocked it over. You brushed hair from his eyes once more before moving towards the door. Opening the door just enough for you to slip thru you turn down the lights and leave, shutting the door on your way out. Turning you bump into Obi Wan.

"Oh! Im so sorry General" You quietly stutter before moving past him.

"Oh please, I shouldnt have snuck up on you" he assures, "I must say thank you though, I noticed what you did"

Flushing you nod and continue out of the barracks.

The next day you wake up and go through all your duties. You had to make the control console work three times because it decided today wasnt a good day. Some shiny bumped into you in the mess, spilling all your food over you. You had assured him it was fine. All of your clothes were dirty so you had to continue the day with slightly gravy soaked clothes. Over all the day wasnt very good, and you just wanted to go to sleep.

You walk into the Officer barracks stripping down your uniform and tossing it. You washed all of the sticky feeling off of you, changed, and went to just pass out. Once you reached your bunk you see a piping hot caf on the nightstand and her blanket folded on her bed. Laying neatly on the blanket was a card. Opening it showed a simple message.

'Thank you, if you ever need anything dont hesitate to let me know

- Marshall Commander Cody'

You smile and curl up on your bed with the caf and your blanket. You can tell this is the begining of a beautiful friendship.

[veliseraptor]

Hey Lise, I was wondering if you could maybe just give me a quick and dirty synopsis of The Untamed characters? I really like your fics and wanna read them, but I have NO idea who anyone is hahaha

I was gonna like. Link to someone else’s rundown of this, but then I decided it might be fun to write my own, which was a mistake. But I make all kinds of mistakes! So unsurprising.

This is going to, by virtue of being a character overview, contain spoilers, so if you think you’re gonna want to watch and want to avoid spoilers then watch out for that. This is also broken down by sect because that makes it easier.

The degree to which I explain the plot here varies wildly and I’m not actually sure how coherent it is. If you want a more detailed rundown that has pictures and shit and also other information, see here; also some of these characters have more than one name, which I’ve noted where the usage of multiple names is likely to pop up in fic.

This is very much QUICK and DIRTY and NOT COMPREHENSIVE, just to underline that a few times. It’s also show focused rather than novel focused, because that’s most of the canon I’m working with. I have also not translated titles here (Hanguang-jun, Zewu-jun etc.) because they just sound better untranslated.

THE JIANG SECT

Wei Wuxian: Also known as Wei Ying or (if you’re nasty) the Yiling Patriarch. One of the two main characters of the show. He died (killed himself) in disgrace, universally reviled as evil, but it’s okay, he got better. Or rather, his soul got swapped into the body of a man named Mo Xuanyu, whose life really sucked and who almost never gets acknowledged by the narrative. Sunshine boy on the outside, but it’s complicated. 

Sort of invented necromancy, or at least perfected it. Will kill you with his magic ghost flute, but mostly only if you deserve it. Mostly. Self-sacrificing to a fault due to basement level self-worth and a tendency to believe that he can handle things other people can’t. Swapped out his ability to do magic to keep his brother alive via nonconsensual surgery. This had a lot of somewhat unexpected consequences, it turns out. Got thrown into a very bad place called the Burial Mounds and came out with new powers and a whole new pile of trauma.

Rescues the Wen remnants from being killed in a prison camp after the war against the Wen Sect; this is not a popular move. Founds a commune with them in the aforementioned Burial Grounds. Also raises Wen Ning from the not-dead. 

Adopted older brother (ish) to Jiang Cheng and younger brother to Jiang Yanli, adopted father to Lan Sizhui, eventual husband to Lan Wangji (at least according to novel canon and many, many post-canon fics).

Jiang Cheng: Also known as Jiang Wanyin, but only if he’s being a little bitch. He technically has a title (Sandu Shengshou) but I don’t remember if it’s ever actually used in the show. The youngest of the triad of Yunmeng Siblings (Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli), and possibly the most dysfunctional. Expresses all his feelings as anger, and he has a lot of feelings. Abandonment issues and inferiority complex the size of the lake that he grew up on. His entire family died and it fucked him up pretty bad, along with all the other terrible shit that happened. 100% Slytherin especially in terms of “protect my own people first and probably nobody else second.” 

Adopted younger brother to Wei Wuxian, biological younger brother to Jiang Yanli. Uncle to Jin Ling (see below). 

Jiang Yanli: I’ll take “oldest daughter who doubled as parent figure” for 500, Alex. Jiang Yanli is relatively quiet and mild-mannered but she loves her brothers very much and will throw down for them in a pinch. Tends to wilt in the face of people treating her poorly; not very good at standing up for herself. A professional at taking care of other people and not herself (Wei Wuxian and she have this in common!). She dies and it really does a number on her siblings.

Oldest sister of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, wife of Jin Zixuan, mother of Jin Ling.

Jiang Fengmian & Yu Ziyuan: Parents of Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng and source of the above’s dysfunction, in a lot of ways. Jiang Fengmian plays favorites (with his adopted son Wei Wuxian) and takes out his feelings about his wife (complicated) by ignoring Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli. Madame Yu is straight up abusive; physically of Wei Wuxian, emotionally of everyone else. In her first appearance she walks into dinner and specifically targets everyone’s weak spots, demolishing three children emotionally in about two minutes, then leaves.

This family! It’s a disaster.

THE LAN SECT

Lan Wangji: Also known as Lan Zhan or Hanguang-jun. The other main character. Has a reputation for being very upright and righteous and rule-abiding; is that, sort of, but also kind of a socially awkward, deeply lonely boy who is trying to be a good person and thinks he can get there by following the right rules. Eventually figures out that’s not how it works. Doesn’t make friends easily but when he loves someone it is with all 500% of his heart. 

His circle of people is very small, though. It’s kind of just two: his brother and Wei Wuxian. That’s all! Lan Wangji could use some friends, maybe.

He’s good! Also learns to rebel when appropriate, and “appropriate” especially involves things having to do with Wei Wuxian, for whom he will do just about anything, at least after he comes back from the dead. Before that it’s a little harder. 

Younger brother of Lan Xichen, nephew of Lan Qiren, adopted father of Lan Sizhui, eventual husband to Wei Wuxian (see above).

Lan Xichen: Also known as Zewu-jun. He does have a birth name (everyone does!) but it doesn’t get used in canon. Also parented his younger brother (there’s a lot of sibling parents in this show!). Is the peacemaker, does not like conflict, diplomatic to a fault. Noticed how everyone else is very quick to jump to conclusions and decided he has to take all of the giving of the benefit of the doubt and good faith and “let’s wait and see and not jump to murder” because no one else is going to.

People in fandom give him a lot of shit for being stupid but he is not! He is just conflict-averse and cautious and inclined to reserve judgment on people. It just turns out that he happens to place his faith in the wrong person, which is to say Jin Guangyao. It does not work out. He ends up getting tricked/manipulated into killing Jin Guangyao by Nie Huaisang, and is about to stay and die with him when Jin Guangyao surprise pushes him away and thus saves his life. 

At least one of the Lan brothers gets a happy ending!

Older brother of Lan Wangji, nephew of Lan Qiren, sworn brother/boyfriend of Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue.

Lan Qiren: Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen’s uncle who essentially raised them due to family dysfunction involving a mother who was basically on house arrest (because she killed someone??? not sure what happened there, information minimal) and their father seems to have been absent, and both died before series start. Rigid and hidebound, very much not a Wei Wuxian fan, very strict with both the Lan brothers and sometimes that involves corporal punishment and yelling.

There are no good parents or parent figures in this series.

Uncle to Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen.

Lan Sizhui: Also known as A-Yuan / Wen Yuan. Originally a Wen kid, first adopted by Wei Wuxian when he founded the commune with the Wen remnants, then adopted by Lan Wangji when everyone in his family was killed and also Wei Wuxian. Grew up a Lan with no memory of his past. Lan Sizhui has two dads.

Cousin/brother (??) to Wen Ning and Wen Qing, adopted son of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

Lan Jingyi: Sassmaster extraordinaire; the Lan kid who gets to say everything the rest of the Lans are holding back. Of the younger generation quartet formed by him, Lan Sizhui, Ouyang Zizhen, and Jin Ling. If a Lan kid in a scene is sassing someone, it’s Jingyi.

THE NIE SECT

Nie Mingjue: Also known as Chifeng-zun. Very strong opinions about right and wrong with not a whole lot of room for nuance. Formidable warrior. Anger issues, also daddy issues but we don’t get into those as much. Not exactly the friendliest of fellows but it’s not completely his fault, he’s being gradually poisoned by the malevolence of his own weapon. It’s a thing. Dies as a result of being poisoned by evil music courtesy of Jin Guangyao.

Sworn brother/boyfriend to Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao. Older brother of Nie Huaisang.

Nie Huaisang: Mastermind (sort of) of questionable morality, sometimes in order to get revenge for the murder of your older brother you have to wait ten years while building up a reputation as someone utterly useless, then get your old best friend resurrected as part of a series of dominoes meant to demolish your brother’s murderer’s entire life and reputation. Loves art and fans, not a fan of losing his mind to violent sabers as is traditional for the Nie Sect. Smarter than he wants you to think he is, and also just really good at winging it.

Younger brother of Nie Mingjue.

THE JIN SECT

Jin Guangshan: The actual worst. Sect Leader for the first half of the show. Should’ve been kicked down several sets of stairs; the world would’ve been a better place.

Father of Jin Zixuan, Jin Guangyao, Mo Xuanyu, and too many other bastards to list. Possibly Jin Zixun? I’m not clear on that.

Jin Zixuan: Disaster Straight. He comes off as aloof and arrogant but partly this is because he’s just really bad at interacting with people and incredibly awkward. Eventually marries Jiang Yanli after failing to express his feelings for 26 episodes. Shortly thereafter ends up dying when he’s fisted by Wen Ning (through the chest, you filthy animal). 

Husband of Jiang Yanli, father of Jin Ling.

Jin Zixun: The other actual worst. When Jin Zixun is having fun no one else is, and when Jin Zixun is not having fun no one else is either. Just generally a tool. As far as I can tell has no redeeming qualities. His ambush of Wei Wuxian provokes the rolling disaster that results ultimately in the deaths of (in order) Jin Zixuan, Wen Qing, Jiang Yanli, and Wei Wuxian. 

Cousin of Jin Zixuan.

Jin Guangyao: Also known as Meng Yao and Lianfang-zun, the former before he gets promoted by his absolute bastard of a dad. He’s complicated! A good boy, also responsible for a lot of the bad things that happen, with varying degrees of culpability depending on who you ask. Son of a (in everyone’s words, ever) prostitute, and he’s really got a problem with it. Made some valid points but also got possibly too much revenge on people who hurt him, including some preemptive revenge on people who might have. Does a lot of murder but mostly via other people or evil music. Gets kicked down the stairs twice, which if you ask me is a pretty good reason to be kinda worked up about things.

His hat is very silly and I will not pretend otherwise.

Dies at the end and it’s real sad, if you ask me. Incredibly gay for Lan Xichen, and who can blame him? 

Son of Jin Guangshan, half brother of Jin Zixuan, sworn brother/boyfriend of Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue. 

Jin Ling: Part of the quartet of juniors including Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, and Ouyang Zizhen. A mess of a child. (Half)-raised by Jiang Cheng and it shows. Spoiled brat but also just like. Brimming with loneliness and desperation for someone’s approval. 

Son of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, grandson of Jin Guangshan, nephew of Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao (and Wei Wuxian, and Mo Xuanyu, and too many other bastards to name, he’s got a lot of uncles). 

Mianmian / Luo Qingyang: Mostly known as Mianmian, which is her nickname. She’s technically a servant but Jin Zixuan is her best friend. Ditches the Jin Sect when they start being jackasses about Wei Wuxian in a seriously epic mic drop moment. Actually lives to the end of the show which makes one female character!

THE WEN SECT

Wen Ruohan: The first Big Bad of the show. Pursuing world domination by the power of the Yin Iron, aka evil metal that lets you control corpses. It doesn’t go well for him. 

Dies at the hands of Jin Guangyao - going, at the time, by Meng Yao.

Father of Wen Xu and Wen Chao.

Wen Xu: The oldest son of Wen Ruohan; he barely appears but he does exist. Or did, he doesn’t make it very long.

Wen Chao: Absolute worm of a human being. Like Draco Malfoy in early Harry Potter, but with more killing people. Dies an absolutely horrifying death courtesy of Wei Wuxian, but he did throw Wei Wuxian into a place he was supposed to horribly die in, so I don’t feel that bad for him. 

Younger son of Wen Ruohan.

Wen Qing: Incredibly gifted physician, can probably fix anything, including transferring a golden core from one person to another which no one has ever done before. (That’s how Wei Wuxian’s ended up in Jiang Cheng.) Starts out as determinedly loyal to Wen Ruohan basically to protect Wen Ning and keep him safe, but keeps ending up helping our protagonists basically against her better judgment. This does not earn her any points with the Wens, and being a Wen does not earn her any points with anyone else. 

Ends up getting swept up by Wei Wuxian when he finds her destitute in the street and they charge off to save her brother together. Subsequently lives in the Burial Mounds commune up until things go to shit and she goes to give herself up with Wen Ning in the hopes of mitigating damage after Jin Zixuan dies. She is executed.

Has a non-thing with Jiang Cheng because they’re very alike in ways that mean that, under the circumstances, they keep missing each other.

Older sister of Wen Ning, sister/cousin (??) of Lan Sizhui, adopted older sister of Wei Wuxian, sort of.

Wen Ning: Also known as Wen Qionglin, but like, once in canon. So you probably won’t see it much. Neither he nor his sister are actually related to Wen Ruohan - they’re from a branch of the family but serve him. Wen Ning doesn’t get to have a lot of nice things. He saves Wei Wuxian’s life (after Wei Wuxian saves his), and (along with Wen Qing) helps get Jiang Cheng out when he was captured by the Wens and protects Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli after their family and sect are killed. 

After the Sunshot Campaign he is killed by Jin cultivators (or almost, it’s complicated) but brought back to unlife by Wei Wuxian. Unfortunately this makes him vulnerable to control to make him do things like, say, kill Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun. He and Wen Qing go to be presumably executed in an attempt to mitigate the damage to Wei Wuxian/maybe?? save his life; Wen Ning gets kept in a dungeon for sixteen years and comes back when Wei Wuxian does. 

Younger brother of Wen Qing. brother/cousin (??) of Lan Sizhui, adopted younger brother of Wei Wuxian, sort of.

Wen Zhuliu: Mysterious assassin/bodyguard of the Wens, we know almost nothing about his backstory save that he owes them some kind of debt and he and Yu Ziyuan seem to have some kind of history. The main thing is that he’s capable of destroying the golden core of cultivators, aka rendering them an ordinary person devoid of special powers, forever. Gets killed by Jiang Cheng, whose golden core he destroyed. 

Various Wen Remnants: You don’t get a lot of individual characterization from these folks - basically they are the remains of the Wen Sect after the Wen Sect is defeated in the war (called the Sunshot Campaign) that forms the arc of the first part of the show. Pretty much everyone wants them dead. Wei Wuxian rescues them and takes them off to the Burial Mounds, where no one else wants to go, and builds a commune with them, which works for a while until it doesn’t anymore.

They all die. It’s bad.

YI CITY CREW

These got long because I felt like I had to explain more about plot stuff.

Xue Yang: The gremlin! Will cheerfully murder just about anyone at the drop of a hat, he doesn’t really need a reason. Driven initially by a revenge quest for the guy who crushed his finger when he was seven; he kills his whole family, which is a reasonable response when you think of your own life as worth significantly more than anyone else’s. Subsequently and also during fixated on Xiao Xingchen. Kind of a genius?? but he’s pretty low key about it.

Really involved with the plot in a lot of weird ways. Introduced Wen Ruohan to the Yin Iron and taught him how it functioned-ish, worked with Jin Guangyao for a while on necromancy stuff, after the inevitable betrayal ended up getting picked up by a now blind Xiao Xingchen (more on that later) and a-Qing, and lived with them in domestic semi-bliss for three years while also tricking Xiao Xingchen into murdering a lot of people, up to and including his sort-of-ex-boyfriend Song Lan. Turned Song Lan into a zombie, sort of. Fell apart when Xiao Xingchen died (killed himself, on account of Xue Yang demolishing his entire life, whoops) and spent the next decade or so trying to bring him back from the dead.

Dies messily, as you might guess, and I’m still sad about it.

Xiao Xingchen: Grew up on a secret mountain isolated from the rest of society, came down from the secret mountain to help make the world a better place, it really does not work out for him. Travels around for a while being best friends/boyfriends with Song Lan, getting poetry written about him; unfortunately then he and Xue Yang run into each other which is widely regarded as a bad move. Things get messy, Xiao Xingchen ends up with his eyes in Song Lan’s head and blind, he adopts a teenage con artist (see below) and rescues Xue Yang (who he doesn’t know is Xue Yang). 

Three years of domestic bliss (sort of) ensue, with the wrinkle that while Xiao Xingchen’s sword Shuanghua can sense corpses so he can still hunt things, it has a glitch where sometimes the corpses it senses are in fact living people that Xue Yang has poisoned and cut out their tongues. Whoops. 

After he kills Song Lan (whoops), Xiao Xingchen finds out from a-Qing who he’s been living with and, uh, is upset about it. Xue Yang drops the bomb of “oh yeah so you’ve been killing people this whole time and also! yeah! killed Song Lan too! eyyyy” upon which Xiao Xingchen, his entire world wrecked, kills himself and shatters his soul.

He ends the series basically fragments of soul in a little pouch being carried around by Song Lan. When I put it that way it sounds kinda funny but it’s really not.

A-Qing: Teenage con-artist who pretends to be blind and adopts Xiao Xingchen after stealing his money (he notices, but he also just gives it to her). Knew Xue Yang was bad news but didn’t know how bad. Smart cookie. Xue Yang blinds her and cuts out her tongue (he just loves doing that) after she tells on him to Xiao Xingchen; she gets her revenge by leading Wei Wuxian & co. to figuring out what’s going on, and ultimately enabling the first mortal-wounding of Xue Yang. 

Unfortunately, also dies.

Song Lan: Also known as Song Zichen, rarely. A Daoist priest (I think that’s right?) and “rogue cultivator” (in the sense that he’s not affiliated with any sect). He is definitely affiliated with Xiao Xingchen. “Affiliated with.”

Ends up getting caught in the vortex of Xue Yang when his entire temple-family is killed and he’s blinded; says some harsh things and a guilty Xiao Xingchen trades out his eyes to pay him back for being the cause of Xue Yang targeting his temple, then vanishes. Song Lan spends the next long time trying to track him down, eventually finds him in mid-domestic bliss (sort of) with Xue Yang (yikes), promptly attempts to kill Xue Yang, ends up getting his tongue cut out and himself corpse-poisoned and killed by Xiao Xingchen, who thinks he is a random evil corpse instead of his best friend/ex-boyfriend. Xue Yang turns him into a zombie controlled by him. He gets better (from the control, he’s still a zombie).

Literally the only one of the Yi City Crew to make it out alive and he’s not technically alive.

MISCELLANEOUS OTHERS

Ouyang Zizhen: Part of the juniors quartet with Jin Ling, Lan Sizhui, and Lan Jingyi. A budding romantic. Very good, has the misfortune of having Sect Leader Ouyang as a dad, but at least it’s not Sect Leader Yao (see below).

Su She: Due to a confluence of factors having to do with jealousy but also class/rigid hierarchy issues, ends up as Jin Guangyao’s right hand henchman. He’s very loyal when you’re actually nice to him. Really doesn’t like Lan Wangji. 

Sect Leader Yao: Mostly just there to have really bad opinions all of the time.

[starbuckie]

𝐢𝐟 𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

words: 2,393(with song lyrics), 2,300(without song lyrics)

warnings: LaNgUaGe, a little baby bit of angst, fluff, and soft!bucky

summary: y/n tried to move in after the events of infinity war.

a/n: i bring you my first bucky oneshot! dear evan hansen is one of my favorite musicals in the entire world,  and “if i could tell her” is the sweetest song. i thought it would fit well with this plot i came up with and i really enjoyed writing this, so if y’all wanna read more musical inspired fics just let me know (even though i’ll probably still do it anyway). anywaaaaays, enjoy as always, and i hope you guys have a great day <3

main masterlist || sebastian stan characters masterlist

He thought you were awesome

He thought I was awesome? My brother?

Definitely!

You sat in the compound with Nat in silence. Grieving over Chinese food together had become a norm over the past five years. Ever since the snap, losing your teammates and half of the universe had taken a toll on your friendship. You two worked in tandem together still, but there was always that tension in the air, the elephant in the room. Neither of you addressed the “blip” unless you were on a call with the remaining heroes. Five years later, and you two still have trouble speaking about it. 

Quiet footsteps approached letting you know that Steve had arrived. You looked up, and there was your blue-eyed friend, leaning against the doorway, lips turned up in a small smile.

“Chinese food again?” He walked over and sat next to Natasha to grab a plate. “Everytime I come over here you two are sitting at the table eating Chinese takeout without speaking to each other. Natasha, get your feet off the table.” 

Both of you smiled at this. “Okay, dad.” She snarkily responded. Those were the first words she had said all day. Of course Steve could get her to talk. Whenever he came to visit, he was always the one to break the quiet. To get you to smile. Three of you sat and chatted a bit about your days, until there was nothing left to say. Silence heavy in the air, Natasha set her plate down on the table. “I’m going to my room to work on some stuff. I’ll be gone for a bit.” She put her hand on your shoulder and left.

“We’re both aware that that’s code for her going to track Barton down, right?” You sighed heavily and nodded. He knew that she was spending any free time she had trying to find her best friend, but whenever she did find him, she would look at what he’d done and decided to leave it. Clint was grieving too. Natasha had been very reserved, and though the two of you were still close, the distance between her and everyone else seemed farther than ever.

You respected Natasha’s privacy and solitude, but sometimes you really need to talk to her. Much like Natasha, the Avengers were the only family you had, and you had lost them. You had survived and they hadn’t. Feelings were always bubbling in the pit of your stomach, but you had no way to express them. Exhaustion had kept you from your tears, but now that Steve was here, you broke down.

“She needs to grieve.” You took a long breath. “And so do I, frankly. Because everyone’s gone now Steve. There’s nothing left to fucking do. We have no leads about where they may have gone, or what the hell happened! Nothing is in our control anymore. There’s nothing left for us.” After your small outburst, the two of you sat in silence, hot tears trailing down your face.

“He loved you too, you know.” You looked up, red rimmed eyes, staring at him imploringly. “Bucky.”

Bucky. The one person that you had felt strongly towards. God, you wished you had just told him when you had the chance. But you let him walk off into battle before you could say anything. 

You remembered the first time you saw the blue-eyed man. Clint had rushed you and Wanda out of the compound, exclaiming that Steve needed your help. Your friend had literally just thrown her boyfriend(?) through the ground, and everything about it seemed very illegal. Tony had told the two of you to stay inside the compound, but if Cap needed you, you went. After a fun journey to San Francisco to pick up Scott, the four of you found yourselves in a white van, traveling to an airport in Germany.

The first time you laid eyes on him, you could have sworn you were in heaven. Steve’s description of him did Bucky no justice. Long brown hair that fell right above his chin, and pink pouty lips. He had an angled jaw, that at the time you swore could get you pregnant it was so hot, and stubble that covered most of it. He had broad shoulders and you had to stop yourself from ogling his thighs. But what really caught your attention were his eyes. Bright and vibrant, yet tired and dull at the same time. In that moment, you had fallen in love. 

However, your time with him wasn’t very long, as you soon after had to go and fight your old team. Once Steve and Bucky had gotten into the quinjet, you thought that was the last time you would see the pretty, blue-eyed boy. Months later though, after Steve came back to free you, Sam, Clint, Wanda, and Scott, he offered to take you to Wakanda. He knew you were tired, not looking to fight anymore, and T’Challa had offered asylum. Eagerly you had agreed, and flew to Wakanda, where you truly fell in love with James Buchanan Barnes.

Though Bucky was brought out of his cryostasis chamber three months after you had gotten there, the two of you had bonded fairly quickly. It did take him a while to open up to you, considering you had only a brief interaction, but after that, the two of you were inseparable. You would spend mornings watching the beautiful sunrise outside his hut and playing with the goats, afternoons working in the fields, and nights wrapped around each other with blankets, talking about nothing and everything all at once. Over the months, you found yourself falling farther and farther in love with Bucky, but you didn’t know what the two of you were. He always called you “doll”, “honey”, and “sweetheart”, and gave you forehead kisses. He came to you at night when he had nightmares and let you hold him until he fell asleep. But was that love? Did he feel anything for you? You hoped he did. But you let him get away, and now there was nothing left to say.

How?

Well, he said

There's nothing like your smile

Sort of subtle and perfect and real

He said

You never knew how wonderful

That smile could make someone feel

Snapping out of your reverie, you focused back on Steve. “H-he loved me?” Steve chuckled softly and leaned over the table slightly, taking your hand in his. 

“More than anything.” Nodding at him to keep going, he continued. “He told me right before we went to fight. Horrible timing, but that’s how it always is, huh. So goddamn cliche.”

Steve thought back to the conversation he had had with his oldest friend, and recounted it for you.

“What’s going on with you and Y/N, pal?” Steve smiled brightly at his best friend, even though they weren’t in the best circumstances for a catch-up, he was dying to know what was going on between two of his closest friends. Bucky bashfully grinned and dipped his head down in hopes that his best friend wouldn’t see his blush, but to no avail. “Aw, you’re sweet on her, aren’t you?”

“Steve, I’m not sweet on her.” Steve’s smile fell, but Bucky’s only grew. “I think I love her. No, I know I love her.” He smiled fondly into the distance, watching where you were exchanging greetings with Sam and Natasha near Shuri’s lab tables. You were laughing, head thrown back and teeth sparkling in the light. You had a tactical suit on, hair tied up in a sleek ponytail, a rifle in hand, and Bucky thought you never had looked prettier.

Steve had never seen Bucky like this. Calm, peaceful, in love. Granted, they hadn’t exactly been spending lots of time together in the past seventy years, but it made him happy to know that Bucky was happy. “In love? What about her?”

Bucky chuckled and looked back to his friend. “Where do you want me to start?” Bucky sighed before beginning his speech. “She is the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. And from what I can remember, I knew a lot of girls back then. I know that waking up and getting to be around her everyday is a blessing, and makes me forget everything. She’s all sunshine and pure happiness, Steve.”

“What else, Buck?” 

“She has the sweetest laugh in the world, and God, her smile is enough to make my entire day. It’s so real, just perfect. I only want to see that for the rest of my life. And she’s always there for me. Y/N is the most open-hearted person I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. She’s strong, hot-headed, kind, beautiful, funny, patient, and just so goddamn beautiful, inside and out. I would spend every single day with her by my side if that were possible.” Bucky then sighed, and his heart ached. Because though she was this wonderful human, how could she want him? His old, broken, damaged, quiet self? She deserved much better.

Steve grinned, completely missing Bucky’s face filled with self-doubt. “I think you’ve got it bad, Bucky. You should tell her.” The brunette simply shook his head.

“Maybe someday.”

But he kept it all inside his head

What he saw he left unsaid

And though he wanted to

He couldn't talk to you

He couldn't find the way

But he would always say

Your eyes started spilling more tears with Steve’s words. Bucky loved you. Bucky loved you. That information should have made you happy, but it just filled you with more grief. Silent sobs were felt through your whole body. “Oh sweet girl, what’s wrong?” Steve immediately got up to hug you, pulling your form into his body.

“We could've had a chance.” You managed to croak out. “We loved each other. We could’ve been happy together. It's strange really. We missed our opportunity.” Steve looked down at you and prodded you to continue your thoughts. “Stevie, I had so many reasons listed out in my head as to why I shouldn’t have told him. Maybe he thought of me as a sister, or wasn’t ready for a relationship. But to find out that we could’ve been happy together… it hurts worse than any of those options. We never told each other, and kept it inside of our heads. And now he’s gone.”

Steve continued to hold you throughout your breakdown. Your tears soaked his tee shirt, but he didn’t mind. And it was on that day in March of 2023, that the two of you mourned James Buchanan Barnes.

But we're a million worlds apart

And I don't know how I would even start

If I could tell her

If I could tell her

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

If someone had told Bucky that he would pass out in one battle and wake up to yet another one five years in the future, he probably would’ve hurt them. However, the only people he thought of hurting right now were Thanos and his stupid goonies. Blasting another creature to the ground, he grunted and pulled a hair tie off his wrist. Thank God Shuri forced him to carry them with him all the time, because his hair really was unmanageable. Tying half of his hair up in a small bun at the back of his head, he wondered what the hell was happening. No one had told him anything before they came onto this destructive wasteland. T’Challa just gave him a hand to help him off the ground, and told him that Steve needed his help.

Suddenly, a flash of navy blue sailed past him and it was like he was seeing you for the first time again. He stared at you, dumbfounded. Though he had only been gone for a few hours(in his point of view), you looked older, more mature, and a lot more tired. Your hair had been cut shorter, but you were still as beautiful as ever. 

You brushed off some dust and looked around. The rest of your team had come back. Though you were in the middle of a battle, you couldn’t stop smiling. Tears were blocking your vision, but your emotions were on a rollercoaster right now, and you wanted all of it to be over. You saw Doctor Strange lifting up a storm along with many other wizards. Actually, were they wizards? You had no clue. Tony and Pepper fought side by side in the skies, and even Peter was holding the gauntlet as he rode on a pegasus’ back. But what caught most of your attention was the tall brunette, blue-eyed man staring right back at you. 

“Bucky?” Tears found a path down your face, but you really didn’t care anymore. You ran towards him, aliens be damned. They could wait. After all, you had to wait five years. 

Bucky saw you run towards him and he sprinted towards you with the same fervor, hot, salty tears falling from his eyes. His heart was filled with relief as he took you in.

And how do you say

I love you

I love you

I love you

I love you

Finally meeting each other in the middle, you grasped his face and brought your lips to his. He immediately gripped your waist and tugged you as close as he could to your body. This kiss was needy and heated, filled with hurry and passion. His tongue ran along your bottom lip, and you opened yourself up to him. When you finally pulled back for air, your heart was beating, fast.

“I love you, Bucky. So goddamn much.” Tears continued to flow down your cheeks, but you laughed, because after all these years, he was real, alive, and right in front of you.

“I love you too, Y/N. More than I can say.” He took his vibranium hand to wipe tears off your cheek, and pulled you back in for another kiss. This one, unlike the first one, was full of pure emotion, and the two of you put much more love into it. You smiled against his lips, and soon enough he did too. Because right now, in the middle of a battle, you found each other, and for now that was enough. No thoughts about the future, or the past. Just raw, pure, real love.

[rons-hermiones]

Come Find Me

Come Find Me

by rons-hermiones

Summary: Unplanned, Hermione is forced to spend Christmas at the Burrow due to her grandmother falling very ill. After being ignored by Hermione for weeks, Ron is determined to show her how much she means to him. Just before he gets the chance to tell her, Bellatrix Lestrange shows up with other plans for Hermione. Can Ron get to her before it's too late? (Ron/Hermione Half-Blood Prince AU)

Rating: M for language & dark themes in later chapters.

Chapter Twenty 

Ron had side alonged tons of times with both his Dad, Mum, Bill, and Charlie. Sure the first time he got sick all over his fathers shoes, but by the second time he was just violently dizzy. Now it’s like nothing, uncomfortable in the moment, but not long lasting. So why did he feel so sick all of the sudden? 

A pit of dread was building in his stomach. He physically keeled over, clutching at his knees and heaving a little onto the grass, hoping to hack something up. 

A hand found his back and rubbed it for a moment, the touch startled him until he met Bill’s blue eyes. “What’s wrong Ronnie? You haven’t had that sort of reaction to apparition in years.” His oldest brother pointed out. 

Ron ignores his words, not able to find a viable excuse at the moment. Harry however, seems to catch on from his place on Bill’s left. 

“I don’t think it’s because of the apparition.” The chosen one frowned at his best friend's brother. 

Bill gulped, suddenly feeling a little guilty for not realizing sooner, but supplied a soft nod. 

“Ron if you don’t think you can do this I’d understand. No ones gonna hold it against you.” His brother whispered, bending down to meet his hunched over form. 

Soon, the ginger recovers as he shakes his head viciously and stands tall. “I have to do this. Not even just for myself but you know...” the words ‘for her’ are unspoken. 

“Okay, let’s all just take a minute.” Bill suggests noticing Harry’s pale face. 

They all stand for a little bit. Bill’s eyes seemingly searching for any threats, Harry toeing some leaves, and Ron closing his eyes to focus his breathing. 

“I’ve never been here before.” Harry comments quietly, causing Ron to open his blue eyes and meet his green ones. “I mean...” he starts. 

“Neither have I.” His friends soon clarifies, “it’s never been me who came out, always Dad, Bill, Lupin.” He lists, “feels wrong.” 

The dark haired boy nods slowly, “yeah it does.” He agrees, scratching his head awkwardly. 

Bill felt like an intruder on a private moment between the pair, but didn’t have anywhere else to go. Instead, he stood silently, not wanting to rush them. 

“I reckon we can’t stand out here forever.” Ron breaks tensely after another minute of staring at the brick house. 

“Come on.” Bill led them down the path first. 

When the trio reached the door, it was the oldest Weasley who had the courage to finally knock. 

After a small scuffle heard behind the door, Hugo Granger threw it open with. His face went from that of confusion to a beaming smile. 

It made Ron’s stomach clench. 

“Bill! What a pleasure! Oh Harry and Ron, nice to see you!” He says happily. 

Ron had met Mister Granger on a few occasions at Kings Cross and in Diagon Alley. He was always kind to Ron and his family, more than happy to entertain his father on all things Muggles.

“Is my little girl here? Jean and I told her to stay put.” He frowned a little. 

Ron really felt ill now. 

“We’re really sorry to disturb you,” Bill began cryptically, “may we come inside?” 

Hugo eyed him skeptically, it wasn’t that he wasn’t comfortable with Bill in his home, but this visit was puzzling. 

“Of course.” He opened the door to them, “Jean!” He called out as they stepped in. 

“Who was it at the door?” The woman’s voice came as she walked into the foyer, smiling at the sight of the boys. “Oh! This is so unexpected. It’s lovely to see you all! Come in, come in.” Jean ushered them over to the sitting room. 

“Wait here while I get some tea, I have some made.” She tells, scurrying to the kitchen, causing Bill’s protest to die on his lips. 

Soon his older brother and Hermione’s father fell into small talk. Harry supplying a few nods here and there in acknowledgement. 

Ron however, was too busy surveying the house. 

Everything was clean and white. The dark wood floors seemed freshly polished and the pillows looked recently fluffed. On the mantle were photos of Hermione. Unmoving, but just as sentimental. 

Ones of her swaddled in a towel, her as a small baby, her in France with bushy brown hair, and many more. The one that caught his eye was her at King’s Cross from her first year, smiling widely as she sat on her new trunk. 

He had to look away. The memories of happier times becoming too painful as of late. The whole thought of her now miserable made it too much. 

Missus Granger soon returned with a tray of tea and biscuits, but no one made a move to grab anything. Not even Ron, which shocked Harry and Bill alike. 

He noticed now Hermione’s mother nervously wringing her hands together. “This is about Hermione isn’t it? I knew she’d take my mother’s death badly, but I didn’t think it would warrant a home visit. I’d assume she’d dive into her work. It’s not exactly a healthy alternative but she’s-“ the woman ranted. 

“She doesn’t know.” Ron interrupted huskily before he could help himself. 

“She doesn’t?” Hugo asked, shocked, “well we sent an owl. The white one, I think she’s yours Harry.” He pointed out. 

The chosen one nodded slowly, “we got the owl but Hermione she,” he cleared his throat, “she never saw your letter.” 

The couple eyed each other for a moment before Hugo spoke, “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.” 

Bill glanced at his brother and his best friend, both were averting their eyes from the adults in front of them. 

“Hermione, she’s gone.” He says sadly, not even having a moment to elaborate before the Granger’s jumped in. 

“Oh Hugo! I knew this would happen! We told her not to come home.” She said painfully clutching her husband's hand. 

He grabbed it and gave it a squeeze before turning back to Bill, “do you know where she is? How long ago did she leave?” He asked quickly. 

Bill shook his head again, surprised to find tears stinging the backs of his eyes. Ron’s head soon found its place between his hands as Harry plucked his hoodie's zipper. 

“She didn’t leave,” he gulped, “she was taken.” The eldest Weasley said shakily. 

“Taken!” Jean exclaimed aghast. 

“I don’t understand.” Hugo said, voice quivering as silent tears began to stream his wife’s face. 

“I knew we shouldn’t have sent her off to that school. I knew it.” Her mother cried. 

This seemed to peeve Ron off, Harry too. 

“It’s not because of Hogwarts, it's because of me.” Harry informed quickly and sadly. 

“You?” Jean spat rather angrily. 

“Not Harry, me.” Ron corrected, sure of it. 

“You?” Her voice had leveled out to confusion rather than anger. 

As Ron nodded, Harry shook his head. 

“Well what is it? What’s happened?” Hugo asked anxiously, trying to keep his calm whilst his wife fell into his arms. 

Harry took a staggering breath, “my godfather, he,” he sighed sadly, “last year he was killed.” 

“Killed?” Jean squeaked nervously, worried for Hermione’s fate. 

“Yeah, you see-” The chosen one started. 

“Harry, third year, start there. Pettigrew.” Ron moaned the name painfully. He knew Hermione had stopped being honest with her parents around then. After being petrified. 

“Right...”

And so it began. The Granger’s barely had time to shed tears over Hermione, as they’d been too focused on the stories being told. Those of that night in the Shrieking Shack, of Barty Crouch Junior, Cedric Diggory, and Dolores Umbridge. Even the events of the Department of Mysteries (Missus Granger let out a terrible cry at learning Hermione had been cursed) and presently their Christmas holiday. 

“It was just over a week ago when it all happened.” Harry started nervously, palms running roughly over his denim clad legs. 

“Bellatrix Lestrange,” he began before Hugo interrupted. 

“The woman at the Ministry? The one who killed your godfather?” He asked voice so soft it made Harry’s heart break. Here these people were not knowing if their daughter was alright, yet felt for him after losing Sirius. 

Harry nodded, “yeah, her, well she arrived at the Burrow with Fenrir Greyback.” 

“The man who hurt you Bill.” Jean said to herself, mentally keeping tabs of all the players     

A little awkwardly, the oldest of the three nodded. 

“She came. Said some nasty things then went to leave. I-“ he began shamefully, “I followed her.”

“So did Hermione. So did I.” Ron was quick to defend. 

“You only followed because I ran in first. If I hadn’t-“ he began frustrated, hot angry tears forming in his eyes. 

“If there’s one thing I know about my daughter, it’s that she would do anything to protect you two boys. Please don’t blame yourself Harry.” Jean said with wet eyes, placing a soft hand on Harry’s clenched fist. 

“If I just-“ he started again. 

“If you had known this would happen to Hermione would you still have ran after her?” The woman asked, voice riddled with sadness. 

“No, of course not!” He cried out indignantly. 

“Exactly.” She soothed, retracting her hand to find her husband again, “continue.” Jean requested. 

Though painful, Ron knew this was his part to tell, “Bellatrix, she said she wanted to kill me.” He decided to leave out the part of Hermione in the witch's clutches, wanting to spare some pain. 

“Why?” Hugo gasped. 

Bill noticed Ron begin to tremble and he could at least fill this part in. “Us Weasley’s were dubbed as ‘blood-traitors’, purebloods who support Muggles and Muggle borns alike. We’re also not few and far between. To someone like Bellatrix Lestrange, if she kills one of us there’s still over half a dozen more.” 

Hesitantly, Hugo nodded in acknowledgment and understanding, but not agreement. 

“She didn’t want to kill Hermione.” Ron’s voice broke suddenly hoarse, “or Harry.” 

“But isn’t him, uh, You-Know-Who, isn’t he after you Harry?” Jean questioned. 

“Yeah, he is, it’s peculiar they didn’t try it with me.” 

“And Hermione? Why her?” 

Again, Ron and Harry squirmed uncomfortably, “your daughter is one of the brightest witches Hogwarts has ever seen. You-Know-Who, well, we reckon he needed her brilliant mind. That she may know something that could hurt him.” Bill advised regretfully. 

For now, questions from the Granger’s halted, it all was too much to take in. 

“So Hermione, she-she saved herself for me,” Ron choked, “she hid me to keep me safe and gave herself up so they wouldn’t kill me and they took her. And I couldn’t do anything. Not a thing.” Ron broke down becoming hysterical. 

Tears filled the room. Missus Granger’s sobs rivaled Ron’s as Mister Granger held her, silent tears of his own streaming his reddened cheeks. Harry had slumped over, breathing heavily, while Bill placed a soft hand on his shoulder. 

Ron stood suddenly, halting all the tears for a moment, “Loo. I need the loo.” He said, sounding almost panicked. 

“Ron, maybe you should just-“ Bill began to suggest. 

“Upstairs, second door on your right.” Hugo said with a groggy voice. 

The ginger nodded and took off, not noticing Jean throw her husband a funny look at the instructions. Instead, he just heard Bill’s soft voice floating through the room as he told the Granger’s of the measures the order had been taking. 

Ron climbed the steps two at time before being met by a long hallway with identical white doors. Spotting the second door to his right, he frantically pushed it open, ready to collapse atop the toilet lid. 

But instead he was met by a different sight. 

Blue walls. A large bookshelf tucked in the corner. Parchment stacked neatly atop a desk. Next to it was a Muggle chessboard. Pictures stuffed and tacked onto a board. And the smell. 

Roses. Lemon. Ink. 

The same thing he smelt in the Amortentia earlier in the year. 

It was all so Hermione. It was consuming his senses too much, too fast. And without even realizing what he was doing, he doubled onto her bed, silently crying. 

“I thought you might need this more than the loo.” A voice sounded from the door. 

Immediately Ron jumped to his feet, feeling like he'd done something wrong. 

“Relax Ron, I sent you here for a reason.” Mister Granger eased, moving to sit in the chair at Hermione’s desk, motioning for the boy to sit back down. 

“I’m so sorry Mister Granger, this is all my fault,” he started shaking his head. 

“I don’t believe that Ron.” He said strongly. 

The ginger shook his head fiercely, “you should. You don’t understand how much I’ve hurt her,” too many things come to mind. Lavender. The Yule Ball. Crookshanks. Scabbers. Trolls. “I could’ve done better.” He wiped at his eyes with the backs of his wrists. 

“You think I don’t blame myself for this too?” He asked a little harshly, “I get it,” he began softer, “you loved my daughter didn’t you?” He asks knowingly. 

“No.” Ron’s voice was so strong, it even startled him. “I love her.” He clarified, “Don’t talk about her like she’s gone. Like she’ll never know.” 

Hugo nodded slowly, but said nothing for a few minutes, letting Ron take in Hermione’s room with blurry eyes instead. 

“I want to understand Ron.” His voice broke the air, “I wish my daughter hadn’t lied to me. Jean and I suspected something but didn’t push it. But I need to know if there’s even something that can help. Please Ron.” He begged. 

Ron, Harry, and Bill had skimmed the surface of the chaos that has been their last six years at Hogwarts. And Ron knew more details on Hermione specifically then the other two, Mister Granger sensed as much. 

And Ron sensed the desperation in his eyes, the same look he’s been wearing for weeks. Even before Hermione was gone. When his biggest problem was chucking Lavender Brown cause he had missed her so much. 

Thoughtfully, his blue eyes found the untouched chess set. He pushed down the warmth in his chest at the thought of Hermione practicing just so she could match him. He didn’t have time to harp on it. 

“Mister Granger, have you ever played chess?” He asked, a brilliant idea forming in his head.

...

Hugo Granger pondered over the chess board carefully, studying the pieces as he placed them on the respective squares. 

“So my daughter is your queen?” He asked as Ron used tape to secure the parchment onto the white queen. 

Ron momentarily stopped what he was doing and opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for air, “Er, what? I don’t know.” He fumbled. 

“The chess piece Ron, Hermione she’s the queen, is she not?” He asked, a little amused. 

“Oh,” he said, relieved , then suddenly realized he didn’t answer the question, “oh yeah, well I reckon it fits.” He says a little nervously. 

Ron was playing white and Mister Granger was black. 

You-Know-Who and Harry were the kings respectively. Hermione was the queen, while Bellatrix Lestrange was on her side. Ron made himself the knight, the protector, he felt a bit awkward about it, but he figured it would be worse if he had just written himself off. Then Hermione’s dad was sure to think he’s useless. In turn, Greyback was the knight, he debated over Malfoy, but settled on making him bishop. 

He also debated putting Draco’s name down as well, but settled for just the last name representing him and his father. Draco wasn’t guilty of anything but being a poncy pureblood prat. Well for now. 

Dumbledore was the other bishop, both ready to take over if their kings fell. The rook’s were just labeled ‘Death Eaters’ and ‘The Order’, being both were to represent the Kingdoms walls per say. 

As for the pawns it included those who either lost their lives or were simple puppets. Sirius, Cedric, Quirinius Quirrell, Peter Pettigrew, Mad Eye, even Ginny due to second year. 

Anyone else important would just have to be mentioned along the way. 

“And this woman,” Hugo began lifting up his black queen, “she’s the one who took Hermione?” 

Ron simply gulped and supplied a weak nod. Like the younger man, talks of Hermione’s captor seemed to evoke pure sadness from Hugo Granger. 

Suddenly, guilt bubbled within Ron yet again, “we don’t have to do this.” He vaguely gestured to the chess board. 

“I want to,” he insisted, “but if it’s too much for you...”

The ginger repressed the urge to groan. This man really should not be giving him the benefit of the doubt. Not after all he’s done to his daughter. Even before this. 

“Look there’s something you should know.” Ron’s eyes quickly averted her fathers. 

Hugo’s eyes pierced his, silently encouraging him to continue. 

“Before Hermione,” he choked a little, “before she was taken, her and I, we weren’t speaking.” He admitted in a whisper, ashamed. 

“Why?” He asked. 

“Well, I think,” he didn’t know how to phrase it, he didn’t want to, “I know I hurt her. My sister says I broke her heart.” He trailed quietly. 

And then for the first time since he arrived here, Mister Granger’s face was painted with red hot fury. Fists clenched so hard they turned white. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He told the man quickly. 

“Did my Hermione know that? That you’re sorry?” Hugo all but grunted. 

“No, I never got the chance to tell her.” It took almost everything out of Weasley not to cry. 

A few moments passed, but to Ron it felt like a lifetime. Eventually, Mister Granger seemed to lessen his rage and took a deep breath. 

“I don’t blame you Ron.” He began honestly, “I don’t blame you that those people took Hermione. I may not have known everything about my daughter, but I do know her and I know how much she cares about you.” Hermione’s father pauses, “and I know you know as much too, so I just want to ask you why?” 

And Ron knew what the ‘why?’ was for. Why would he hurt her knowing how much she cared. And for that, he doesn’t really have an answer, not a good one anyway. Nothing he can even justify to himself. 

The only thing that resonates is something he told Harry before all this, before Hermione was gone. 

“How can you love someone so much and hurt them so bad?” 

And he doesn’t know. Now more than ever. His mind is just constantly consumed with guilt, sadness, and anger. All directed at him or occasionally, Bellatrix and the rest of You-Know-Who’s followers. 

“I can’t answer that.” Ron tells him, “there’s no reason that could make it right. If I had known what would-“ a bile rose in his throat. 

“I know that Ron.” The man says softly, “I know that she knew too.” 

“Knows.” He blurted out before he could help it. 

Awkwardly, Hugo clears his throat, choosing not to acknowledge the outburst, “of course she knows.” He subtly corrects, “and I want to hear about what happened this year, but maybe we should start from the beginning?” He suggested pointing weakly to the board. 

Nodding slowly, Ron cleared his throat and thought for a moment before picking up the piece representing Harry. 

“I reckon a lot of this starts around Halloween first year. Do you know anything about Mountain Trolls...”

[lassieposting]

What do you think it says that in S1 Lucifer didn’t really have an emotional reaction to Amenadiel wanting/trying to kill him? Manipulating, yes. But not killing? Seems like killing would be the worse of the two, overall.

OK SO

it depends on when in s1 you mean, because his reaction evolves over the season. so let’s start with very, very early on in s1 lucifer. 

this is a man who’s spent the vast majority of his life in hell, in a culture built on violence and power plays. this is a man who’s been on earth for five years and only really formed surface relationships with the people around him - he clearly cares about delilah in his stilted, emotionally backwards way, but they aren’t close the way that he’s close with linda and ella and even dan, and it’s implied he hasn’t really seen her since she stopped working for him. 

this lucifer is deeply traumatised, terrified of rejection, burying himself in sex and drugs to try and cope, and has an entire lifetime of being told how awful and worthless he is keeping him from really connecting with anyone. 

(my personal headcanon is that baby demons will actually attack and kill their weaker siblings in the nest, eliminating the competition for food, so actually, fratricide would not be as unthinkable to lucifer as it is to us. more kind of...vaguely distasteful.)

pretty much every relationship in hell is skewed towards the dark and aggressive. look at maze, lucifer’s oldest and closest friend - their fights are vicious, they don’t communicate well at all, they resolve conflicts mostly by beating the shit out of each other...my point is that this lucifer not only expects the people around him to hurt him, he accepts it as normal. 

(it’s also worth noting that amenadiel’s hatred for lucifer is obvious whenever they interact - he’s treating luci the way he does deliberately, because at this point he sees lucifer as The Reason Everything Went Wrong. lucifer, on the other hand, swings between deadly serious ( “don’t threaten me, amenadiel. you don’t want to start a war.” ) and being almost playful ( “and you, my friend, can go to hell.” 

sometimes it’s a genuinely hate-filled exchange. sometimes lucifer is just being an annoying little shit of a baby brother, hell-style. which, to amenadiel, comes across as open hostility, and deepens the dislike between them.)

it’s important to understand, i think, that lucifer at this point is? basically shut down. he’s closed off all the parts of him that are gentle and loving and good, because those parts of him will either get him killed or pull him apart in hell. he’s running survival.exe, and everything else is closed. he doesn’t trust anyone, keeps his friends close and his enemies closer, and believes everyone is out to get him because for most of his life they were. it’s been five years since he left hell, but he hasn’t moved on from the trauma at all. he’s stagnant.

so at this point in his life? he sees his relationship with amenadiel as normal sibling behaviour. so yeah, no reaction to amenadiel trying to kill him. just sort of, sigh, brothers, amiright? he can’t afford to care, can’t afford not to expect that from amenadiel anyway. he doesn’t know how to stop living in the past. 

and then he meets linda. 

and suddenly we have a lucifer who is starting to get to grips with his own emotions, starting to get some much-needed perspective on what is and isn’t normal. i don’t think he actually realised just how abusive his family - not just dad, but his siblings too - were until he let linda in. 

he bonds with chloe, and for the first time he’s got someone in his life who chooses to support him, who doesn’t take his shit but doesn’t go for his throat either, and now he’s starting to learn the give-and-take nature of a normal, healthy relationship. he watches her with trixie, with dan, and starts to understand what family ought to look like. he’s soaking shit up like a sponge at this point and he’s realising that his family isn’t normal. 

he puts his fist through linda’s wall, the only way he knows how to express how angry and hurt he is by what she’s saying to him, and she keeps seeing him anyway, and he starts to realise that he’s never had that kind of support from his own family, and he should have, and it hurts.

and we start to see him react to amenadiel differently. he goes to amenadiel to ask for help retrieving his wings. that’s the first time we’ve seen lucifer treat amenadiel like a big brother. and amenadiel flings it back in his face ( “clean up your own mess, for once.” ). lucifer wants the sort of relationship he knows he should have with his brother - the human idea of a good sibling relationship - but amenadiel has also been his primary abuser for eons. the trust isn’t there, they don’t know how to care about each other, they’re both dealing with trauma and grief over lucifer’s fall, there’s so much going on there. 

(and amenadiel is beginning to change too, though much slower than lucifer. they banter a little in this episode. he’s very much the exasperated older brother at a few points, but without the loathing from episode 1. linda is already affecting him, too, in very subtle ways; she’s showing him it’s possible to care about lucifer.)

and by the time we have malcolm telling luci that amenadiel sent him to shoot him, he definitely has an emotional reaction ( “so my holier-than-thou brother sent someone to kill me! well, this really is opposite day.” ). 

by now, we have a lucifer with a support system. we have a lucifer who’s been sat on linda’s couch for months(?) having his pain and his fears and his trauma validated, and learning how to deal with the fallout. we have a lucifer who knows what family should look like, who knows his brother is treating him badly, and that it’s not normal, and that it’s not okay. and he’s hurt. he’s frustrated. he’s angry. 

(he’s also putting on a front, because he thinks he’s mortal and someone is pointing a gun at him. and when lucifer is threatened, he makes himself as big and intimidating as possible and bluffs. he doesn’t have time to really sort through his feelings about amenadiel, because he’s focusing on trying to scare malcolm off with his devil face)

i think this - the end of s1 - is really where their relationship began the long slow process of healing. lucifer wants to get in a fight with his brother against campolongo’s men. amenadiel takes the olive branch and there’s even a semi-affectionate moment when it’s all over ( “and to think we spent all those millennia fighting each other.” ). lucifer stops chasing malcolm to try and save amenadiel’s life. amenadiel realises he’s responsible for his own actions and tries to right his wrongs. and lucifer admits fear in front of his brother and shares the burden of their mom having escaped. 

(and can i just scream for a second about how good lucifer is? he’s been rejected and reviled and treated so badly so many times and yet he still keeps reaching out, keeps trying to help his brother, and it hurts my heart so much)

(also i love the progression of this relationship so much, how you can see the tiny little steps they’re taking towards a human-standards Good Relationship. amenadiel's realization that he’s been a terrible big brother and his awkward attempts at being a better one, offering lucifer advice and reassurance. lucifer - trust issues personified - in turn tentatively starting to ask for amenadiel’s input and beginning to trust him more ( “am i boyfriend material?” )

the backslide when amenadiel tells lucifer he loves and supports him and lucifer panics and lashes out hard, because receiving unconditional love from a family member is so alien that the alarms in his head, honed in hell, are screaming wrong wrong wrong wrong and amenadiel’s sad but accepting reiteration that he understands what lucifer is doing and loves him anyway. these two??? kill me)

SO ANYWAY TL;DR: he didn’t react because he was shut down and his Normal Meter was 50 shades of broken. also i have a lot of feelings about amenadiel and lucifer and i love them so much so this got kinda off track sorry