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falcor-thee-luck-dragon · 3 years

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Let Chaos Reign

Chapter 4- People Of Earth

Summary: On the run from the Avengers in your search for a way off Earth, you meet some mortal annoyances along the way until a certain blue eyed human is able to find you wandering in the forest. But can he convince you to come back to the Avenger’s base with him?

Warning: action, blood, fighting, Bucky doing his best, slight fluff

Masterlist - Chapter 3

So Bucky had been thinking.

If finding Y/N was only as easy as looking at her red dot on the tracker, then damn, he could just teleport to her no problem. Unfortunately the worlds technology hasn't yet reached Star Trek technological advancements, nor can he teleport. It's been a long hectic couple days trying to find her which is starting to drive Bucky up a wall, how is she so sneaky? He can literally see her location at all times but yet she's evaded him at all costs without even trying, she doesn't even know a tracker is attached to the inside of her jacket.

And the team, they haven't been much help at all. They've decided to listen to Fury's orders and stay clear of Bucky's mission when it comes to finding the escaped demigod and bringing her back to the Avenger's base. A lot of help they are. At least Steve checks in for updates when he's not getting pulled into a training session by any particular person of the hour. Maybe the tracker doesn't even work. Maybe?

No, it's Stark made. It has to work, this problem is simply Y/N.

Bucky pulls off to the side of the road near a little park in some rural town way outside of New York City where he knows Y/N went through not even twenty-three hours ago. He opens his door, slamming it shut in frustration before taking in a big breath of fresh air. The day is slightly overcast yet he doesn't appear to mind it at all, having the hot sun blaring down upon him never feels very pleasant. Then again, maybe he's just more familiar with colder temperatures.

A crow flies down across the vacant road from him, it ignores Bucky as it jumps onto the road in order to pick at some road kill of a dead flattened squirrel. Bucky reverts his gaze when his eyes soon land upon a bent wooden telephone line further up the road where it looks like a car ran right into it. Wanting to stretch his legs for a bit and feed into his curiosity, Bucky jogs across the street and over to the area of flattened grass and wood splinters.

He observes the wreckage. Its just as he saw from farther away, a splintered post with pieces of wood spread across the grass from the impact. A couple glass chunks shimmer in the few rays of sunlight peeking out from behind the clouds. There are tire marks imprinted into the mudded ground leading up to the post, he crouches down to get a better look at the source of impact.

A dog barks in the background, its legs getting closer and closer to Bucky until a wet slobbery nose finds its way onto Bucky's right arm. The face of a golden retriever greets him as a young man races to the spot looking very embarrassed.

"Trout! Get away from the man, be nice! Be nice! He might not want your kisses!" He shouts desperately, "Trout!"

Bucky pets the friendly dog while his owner runs to their spot before standing to greet him, "He's fine, don't worry about it."

The red faced man smiles shyly, "I'm so sorry. He gets so excited whenever there's a stranger around I just don't understand it."

Bucky shakes his head, "It's fine, really. I like dogs."

The dog sniffs around Bucky's boots before sniffing the skid marks, "Oh I'm Gio by the way, sorry about my boy Trout. I love him but he can be a lot."

"Hi." Mutters Bucky, "I'm James."

"Nice to meet you..oh..Trout drop that piece of wood you nucklehead it's sharp!" The dog stops before dropping the wood, it starts sniffing around the grounds again. Gio looks at Bucky, "It's too bad what happened here, just last night too. Thank God nobody died! It's just unfortunate."

"What happened?"

Gio nods towards the splintered pole, "Some nutcase ran out in front of the guy driving and then bam, he just swerved to miss 'em and ended up totaling his car and getting a bruised collar bone. He's my neighbor. Poor guy, never got a proper look at the idiot who did it either so there's no one to blame."

Bucky's brows furrow, "No one saw who ran in front of your friend?"

Gio stops a second to think harder on the matter, "Hmm...okay wait a second Nick did say this person moved like faster then a frickin' deer. They were here one second and gone the next, right into the woods."

"Where is Nick now? Is he okay?"

"Oh yeah he's fine, just chillin' in his hospital bed for another day until his headache goes away. Guess he also got a concussion or something, some shit luck I tell you."

"Thank you, I gotta go." Says Bucky quickly before turning on his heels and jogging across the street. Leaving a very confused Gio to go run after his dog again.

There's a hefty possibility that Y/N had absolutely nothing to do with anything surrounding that crash, however, Bucky has to know. He pulls into the Westonville Hospital before Winter Soldier sneaking his way inside and now here he stands on the other side of the door to Nick's room, 213. He knocks, a man answers and says to come in, Bucky does. Shutting the door right after.

The man lays upright in bed, sipping on a juice box as he quickly locks eyes with Bucky. "Hello." Says the twenty-something year old, "You a nurse?"

Bucky could have laughed, "No. Just here to ask you a couple questions."

"Listen man, the police already got my statement. I wasn't drunk...nor on anything at the time. I don't do that shit while driving, I wanna stay alive okay?"

"Right." Mutters Bucky, "I just want to know if you saw this person who caused you to wreck."

He eyes Bucky suspiciously, "Dude are you with the FBI or something? Cause the police think I just saw a deer but I'm telling you it wasn't a deer okay?"

"What was it then?"

The man looks from the door then back to Bucky, he makes a waving motion for him to walk closer, "Dude, this was some lady. She was so fast I never even saw her till she was almost road kill...then....and you're not gonna believe me....then I swear to God, she pushed my car." Whispers Nick before nodding, "Dude that's how I went into the pole, she pushed me and I lost control and BAM! Right into a pole. Asshole, my damn car is fucked."

"Do you know what she looked like?" Nick then proceeds to give an accurate description of you and all your beautiful chaotic-ness, who's apparently still not very fond of human transportation vehicles.

Bucky then glances from Nick still rambling about you and what a dickhead you must be, to the window showing the woods and half a parking lot. He can't let you escape him again, you might end up killing someone next time and that absolutely cannot happen.

——

Stupid men! Stupid humans getting in your way! These people are irritating and bothersome, all you wanted was to search for the Ancient One in peace. All you want is to find her and get the fuck off this planet so you can confront your brother and...

"Miss are you okay?" A scratchy voice speaks to you from the car to your left, you turn your head to meet the face of a young woman looking at you with kind eyes, "You need a ride?"

"No."

She gives you a look, your appearance is admittedly more roughed up then you would like, but it's been a rough couple days since your last shower and you're technically on the run from Earth's Avengers. "You sure? I got room in here, and a nice place to stay with food and a shower too. Just tryna be nice to someone who looks like they could use a hand." You look like you could use a hand to the face.

Your brows furrow, she reeks of too much perfume and something else, "What kind of food?" You technically do need a ride and this may be your only chance to get one somewhere away from this place in the middle of nowhere. Also a place to stay for the night would be admittedly very nice considering you've been sleeping in trees and behind people's sheds.

Her eyes light up in surprise, "Anything you want. Just tell me and I got you."

"Good."

She unlocks the door, "Come on in. I'm Ava by the way. Nice to meet you, now I hope you don't mind but back at my place I got a couple roommates. But don't worry they come and go, they won't bother you I promise." You don't believe her, but hop in next to her anyways. She looks like she could use a better friend then whoever she stays with. You can smell at least one of them on her.

She gives you a strange faltering smile when you take notice of a nose piercing; she wears a jacket and jeans, although an odd tattoo showing off some line of numbers keeps itself on her right wrist hidden by some colorful bracelets. All in all she is an attractive woman. But her car is no better then her person, the scent is vulgar and repulsive but you're admittedly too hungry to care. Too much perfume.

The ride to her apartment complex takes about twenty minutes, in this time Ava has explained to you how her favorite food, chicken alfredo, is made. She also won't stop looking at the long mirror above your heads, it's like something keeps drawing her attention but there's nothing behind the car of any important significance. Maybe that's just a human thing?

Eventually she takes a couple turns that passes more street stores, houses, and apartments until she drives near a gas station and takes a left for an apartment building of reddish brick that looks like a shitty castle.

It's nestled within the town, with its rear to a small park, oddly enough she claims you can see the city from the roof. Getting out, you watch as she shuts her door before jogging to the back and pulling out a couple groceries. "Oh hey there, can you get the waters, there's like three packs here but we can come back for them later."

You quickly walk to the back of her trunk and lean down to pick up all three waters with ease, her eyes go big, "Oh wow..okay yeah, that'll work." She shuts the back, you begin following her across the parking lot. Stomach growling.

Her wary eyes fall onto you, "So uh, you lift?"

"No."

She nods, "Cool cool, uh you from around here?"

"No."

"Okay cool, I am, well not originally...I was actually from Arizona but then I ran away when I was thirteen because my home life was pretty shit and then I met my boyfriend Jed and he took me here and..." Her face shifts into a frown before it regains it's half smile once more, "Doesn't matter now I guess, it's not fantastic here...with him. But I got a place to stay and a roof over my head and he gets me anything I want really. So it's not so bad."

You can't help but feel somethings not right with her, and this bothers you deeply, "So uh, how's your lover? Jed."

She frowns, "Oh he's nice....I wouldn't say lover I guess....and he's kinda older then me but it's fine really. You might see him, he comes and goes yunno?"

She opens the glass doors for you to walk inside, the area smells of stale air and smoke, "How old?"

She purses her lips together, "Not that much older, I'm seventeen he's just a little above that. But it works for us, he's got me a nice place and he loves me so that's nice." Her smile falters, you can tell something isn't right here but can't quite place your finger on it.

Ava keeps silent for the rest of the trek upstairs until she leads you down a long hallway to a tall white door reading A8 on the front, a small glass porthole in the center. She gets her keys out, "Try not to touch anything, he doesn't like messes okay? Just uh, follow me okay, he might have a friend here."

"Alright then. Proceed." She gives a little nod before unlocking the door and opening it up to reveal a large apartment as clean as a button, with the exception of a few tall thin glass bottles empty of all liquid laying on the short glass table in the lounging area. A large screen is on showcasing something of little importance to you.

Ava sets the groceries on the kitchen counter before racing over to the short table, "Oh sorry about the mess, please just set the waters down by the trash can. Give me a moment." You look down to find a tall thin metal can, doesn't look like a trash can but you set the three cases of water down anyways.

Standing in the middle of her kitchen she hastily rushes in to drop the bottles in the trash can, "I'll put the stuff away, do you-do you want anything?"

"Whatever gives me enough strength to continue on my journey."

"Right. Yeah okay uh we got," She opens up the fridge, "we got some burritos from last night. And fruit....a lot of beer....you don't want that. Here, I'll heat this up for you okay." She shuts the fridge and takes the assumed burrito to another square object hanging from the wall. She pops open the door before placing the food inside and shutting it.

She turns it on. "What is that device?" You ask a sit makes a strange vacuum sound.

She raises a brow, "A microwave." Voice on the tinge of humor, the microwave beeps and she soon opens it back up. "Here ya go! It's a day old so don't worry, still fresh."

She hands it to you, you look down at the warm thing wrapped in a brown paper, "Appreciated."

Your meal is well received and admittedly pretty delicious, once finished do you walk over to the giant glass window to have a look outside, you can see the tops of many trees and farther away across the greenery lays a city just as Ava had spoken of.

Maybe the Ancient One resides somewhere in there, hidden, but within the ginormous labyrinth of steel, cement, and glass. Farther down the hallway a door swings open and the pattering of bare feet is heard walking down the tiled floors of shiny white. This place really is clean, like a small palace for the mortals.

The man stops at the end of the halls archway though you don't care to look at him, "Ava who's the bitch over there? I thought Jed wasn't buying anymore for a few weeks." Whispers the man to the kind woman, Ava, who stands frozen in the kitchen.

You immediately don't like him, but stay your ground to listen, she whispers back, "She's a friend. Needed somewhere to stay for a day or so."

He walks over to her, "He's gonna be pissed when he sees your new friend here. If she's not here to sell, get her the fuck out before your man comes home tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah tonight. His trip to Vegas ended yesterday, he's on his way. Don't you know how time works?"

She shakes her head, "Guess I just forgot is all. I'll make sure she's gone."

He looks over to give you a proper once over, you can hear his heartbeat quicken, "Not too bad either. Nice ass, she looks good..real good, it's a damn shame she's not here to stay for the fun. I wouldn't mind a couple of rounds with her myself."

Your fists clench, you've had enough of this jabbering animal, "Oh really?" You turn around to watch as his eyes go wide when they take notice of the golden color of your irises, "What filth you spill off of that thing you call a mouth is repulsive and disgusting. Who are you may I ask?"

He quickly retains his swagger once again, he takes a step forward, "I'm Jed's right hand man, Antonio, I run this bitch when he's away and I don't like how you're talking to me."

"I'm not entirely fond of your existence. Leave us, I want to speak with Ava alone."

Antonio's face shows bewildered rejection, "Excuse me?"

You take a threatening step forward, "I don't believe my tongue slipped. You heard me correctly. Leave." He keeps still as a statue, mind still processing your words. Clearly no on had ever bothered to talk to him like this before.

He blinks and points a hand up for emphasis, "No whore tells me what I can and can't do in my own goddamn house!" He immediately rushes past Ava to grab something under the kitchen bar.

She gasps in surprise, "Tony no! Don't do this! Put it away she didn't mean it, she doesn't I swear! I swear!"

He walks back around to shove her into the couch, "Shut up." He throws up his arm to reveal a black hand held object that could be nothing else but a small gun, you stare at it in curiosity, expression interested and unfazed.

He doesn't like that, he tilts the gun at you angrily, "What's up now huh! You ain't telling me to do nothin' I run this fucker up in here! So you're gonna fuckin' listen to me you whore! I'll fu.." Antonio's body stiffens, his eyes go wide as saucers when he realizes he's not able to move, not able to speak.

Hands kept to your sides, you curl the fingers of your right hand to bloodbend this imbecile. Moving this hand to the right, Antonio's grasp is forced open and the gun clatters to the floor. "What are you doing!?" Shouts Ava fearfully.

"Teaching a dog a lesson."

Curling the fingers of your other hand, Antonio is forced to walk in staggered painful steps across the carpet at your will, Ava gasps in fright as she watches your little horror show. "Men don't treat their people like animals, you want to act like a beast. Then you'll be one."

His throat makes a dry crackly sound as he tries to scream when you move your hands to orchestrate a new action, Antonio is forced to his knees where he crawls like a dog across the clean carpet. A frightened man he becomes, his movements choppy and forced, body awkward and stiff as he moves on all fours. Proud of your work, you walk over to the man and crouch down to reach his level, "You see, the universe has created us all for a reason. Whether we are powerful or not, that control we have can be taken as it can be given."

He mumbles a reply that cannot be heard properly even by your hears.

"You know of your power?" He shakes his head as you smirk, "Your strength is built from fear and hatred. That is no way to find your place in the world, that is how tyrants lead."

Drool runs down the side of his mouth as his eyes look up to you pleadingly. "Stop it! You're hurting him!" Shouts Ava.

You give Antonio a pitiful look, "I know. And this creature deserves more then I'm willing him to do, but because you've gained my respect. I will release him." Standing, you flick your hands and Antonio is released from your trance. He coughs and sputters in a curled up heap on the floor like a beaten old dog.

"Pathetic." You mutter dryly as Ava breaths heavily from the couch.

"Wh-what are you?" She whispers, "Are you a witch?"

"No. But I am someone who is done with this place." You give her a respectful tilt of your head, "Ava, I thank you for your hospitality, but I must leave." She watches as you take one last look around the room before walking towards the closed door. Turning the handle you're prepared to exit when she screams. "Antonio no!"

Boom!

The bullet stops three inches from the back of your head, whipping around to face your assailant, he fires two more rounds as you halt the bullets in their tracks. He registers what's happening and quickly chooses to pull the trigger again. As a plethora of steel flies your way, you raise an open palm that causes them all to freeze in place.

The room goes deathly silent before Antonio takes a single step and you've sent all five bullets straight through his vulnerable flesh. Blood flies across the walls as he slumps to the ground while Ava gasps in terror, too afraid to make a sound.

You frown, gaze set on Ava, "I'm sorry I had to do this in front of you. He gave me no choice, but I think this loss will not be mourned over." Your golden eyes flicker back down at the bullet ridden body, "A quick death is more then he deserved. So long Ava, be brave."

The door opens.

"What the fuck happened here?!" Speaks a man most certainly in his late thirties as he sets something on the ground, "Who's this bitch?"

Ava's expression shifts to fear as you let out a tired sigh, eyes set to the man you know as Jed, "An old friend." ——

Crouched down by a river, you rub off flecks of blood that dissipate into the murky water like forgotten memories. You just wanted to eat and rest a while as you gathered your thoughts. But here you are, you've killed two humans and have damaged a couple busses in the process of it all. Not to mention that one car the other night...at least that man kept his life.

This realm is complicated and busy, there's not enough wilderness to hide in and there are certainly too many prying eyes that can catch you with their small square devices easier then you'd like. Thankfully Ava had not seen your rampage on the internet so she wasn't able to instantly recognize you. Then again you weren't wearing your armor.

However your eye color certainly doesn't aid you in finding a way into the city close by, that's still too far for your liking, people will undoubtedly stare. At this point you don't trust a single soul, and anyone close enough to see your face would most likely report you to the authorities in an instant.

Your goal has been thwarted one too many times and that shit does not fly with you one bit. Find the Ancient One, have her open a portal to your realm, and from there kick your brothers ass. It's all very simple, well at least it should be. Stupid Midgardians.

Hrrrrr Hrrrrrrrr! A loud horn blares from within the woods to your back right, twisting around and standing at attention, your fists emit flame when a huge lumbering mass of metal rolls through the trees practically making the ground shake.

It sounds like a tiny thunderstorm, you've never seen anything like it except for when you where in Norway but that vehicle was significantly smaller and less loud. "God this place is insufferable." You mutter, annoyed by the less then peaceful atmosphere of Midgard.

So far you've evaded the watchful eyes of the Avengers for the past three days and have gotten nowhere on your quest for vengeance. And now this thing just adds to your stirred up pot of frustration.

Taking a breath, you decide to wander through the trees until you've found the tracks where that metal vessel was drawing its power from, oddly enough the steel bars attached to plates of wood does not give off energy. Strange.

Figuring it must be the vehicle itself, you sway your mind from pondering the idea as your thoughts drift to that of home and the necklace hidden around your neck. This valued object was your dying mother's, a heirloom of your linage, and a damn powerful piece of jewelry.

But your brother and his wicked ideas, he wanted to use it for his grant thoughts of tyranny and power over the nine realms. A fool, no one could ever claim such a feat, no place needs rules like such from one being calling all the shots. It's madness.

It's insane.

Shaking your head, you keep following down the tracks as you listen to the sounds of cars in the far off distance. Birds chirp and flutter by while minding their business in the forest, although you could have sworn you heard a soft thud in the dirt behind you. A shuffle of stones maybe?

A deer perhaps? No, this is no deer; halting your trek to the city, you place your hands upon your hips before slowly turning around, "I'd expected as much. You are a clever man after all....Bucky."

The dark haired man greets you with a shy grin as he stands there off to the side of the tracks, dressed in casual attire like that when you saw him in Norway. He seems genuinely happy to see you, "I wish I could stay away." Replies Bucky in a playful tone, "But you've killed two human traffickers and I gotta make sure you don't hurt anyone else. Even if they deserve it."

You scoff, "I could end your life right now if I wanted to, kill all your friends next and then burn this world to ash and dust trying to get what I want. No matter the cowards I've killed."

He shrugs, "That sounds harsh. I'd rather you didn't actually, kinda like being alive." He's such a smartass in the best way, yet you hold back a smile to keep your noble aurora about you.

"Fair point I suppose. This Earth may be greatly flawed, but I have no qualms with the people here but that of my own business."

"Right. Your own business, finding the Ancient One and dealing with your brother and all that stuff." Nods Bucky, "Y/N, you know we could help you..."

"I don't need it! I'll find my way through this planet myself. Alone!" You shout, causing the trees to creak and moan from a surplus of wind that blows Bucky's hair about. He knows what you're capable of, but he has to try and persuade you anyways.

He looks almost apprehensive to approach you, "Y/N please. I know we all got off on the wrong foot, probably by a lot. But my friends are good people, we want to help you find what you're looking for. I promise you that." Says Bucky with a pleading look, "No lies. I promise."

You give him a conflicted glare as you think of your options; he found you somehow, he legitimately wants to help, and you desperately need a way off this damn planet. Maybe they do know a way, maybe they'll actually be able to help you, maybe Bucky is truthful?

He goes to take a step forward when you throw a hand out, "Stop." He keeps still as you take a breath, "Bucky, you give me your word?"

"I do."

"Promise!"

Raising his hands up, he gives you a sincere look, "I promise Y/N."

Taking a long moment to think over his words, you finally nod, "Good." He watches as you walk across the tracks until you're within a couple feet of him, he swallows, unsure if you might have just lied and are about to set him on fire. Instead he's relieved when you gift him a tight lipped grin, "Fine then, let us leave this place."

"Awesome.....yeah, okay good...well I'm parked back that way. We can just walk on the tracks instead of through the woods. Easier that way." He takes a couple steps back the way you came, when you don't move does Bucky stop and reach a hand out for you to take, "I'm not going to hurt you Y/N, I promised I'd help you remember?"

"I haven't forgotten." You quickly answer him.

"Good because I intend to keep it." He smiles softly, beautiful stormy blues focused all on you with a gloved hand ready for you to take.

You shake your head before walking past him, "Fine but I'm not shaking your hand."

Bucky chuckles to himself as he watches you practically swagger down the side of the tracks away from him. Quickly does he break from his staring trance to jog over to your side. The two of you walk for a little ways in complete silence until you glance over at him when your curiosity gets the better of you. There's just one tiny question you still need answered, "Well, how'd you find me?"

Bucky holds back a grin, "Your pocket." He points down towards your jackets pocket. Giving him a look of confusion, you reach down and feel inside for whatever he's on about, suddenly your fingers touch something round and metal attached to the inside wall.

Taking a hold of this odd device, you tug it loose before bringing your hand into the open, "What the hell is this?" You ask.

Bucky reaches out to take the object from you, he holds it up, "This. Is a tracker."

"That thing? It's like a thick coin, how does it manage to do such a feat?"

"Technology, radio waves. It's not my design, but with it I was able to follow where you went. Granted you're more elusive with your traveling then I'd first realized, but it did it's job...and now I'm here."

"Yes, now you're here. Maybe you really are braver then I first thought, or just a plain fool. I could have stuck to my word and killed you." You snap your fingers, "Just like that."

He chuckles, "I had a feeling you wouldn't."

"Oh really? What made you assume I would be merciful?"

"When we met for the first time in Norway, and later at the base. You didn't hurt me, well I guess I should say you didn't try and squeeze the life out of me. Or set me on fire.."

"I set your jacket on fire." You point out as he smiles.

"You did. I liked that jacket too." Muses Bucky, "Still, you let me live both times. Even let my friends live too, Y/N, I don't think you're so bad at all."

You hum in thought, "Your words are kind and humbling. But I do not feel worthy of such claims." He has no idea who you are, what you've done. So much he doesn't know.

Bucky frowns, "Why not?"

"I have done nothing but add more chaos to this realm with my existence here, I have been betrayed and for that I was filled with rage taken out on innocent people living their lives. I want to be worthy of what you say I am, but I am not." His heart hurts at your valiantly honest words, if only he could understand completely.

"Believe me Y/N, you aren't nearly as bad as you think you are. There's been way worse people throughout history here before you ever showed up."

"I believe your words though my personal occurrence's chance to lessen these people compared to what I have done centuries ago. Do not misinterpret all of what I speak, I understand there are always beings harming others for their own sick pleasure, however I did not frighten for enjoyment. Quite the opposite."

He could just about give up his metal arm forever just to know what the hell you're talking about. What kind of life did you live before all of this? Bucky soon takes out a small square device with his one gloved hand, "I trust your word on that. And hopefully we're able to help you...I just gotta get us a ride out of here first." He turns on a black screen and slides his finger across to unlock, "I have where I parked pin pointed via another tracker."

"You don't recall where you've come from?"

"Yeah, I mean no..no, I do remember the direction I came in, it's just I was running so fast to find you I forget exactly where my car is. Don't worry this will only take a moment."

Holding back a grin at the way he muddles around on that screen of his, you divert your gaze elsewhere to look around at the trees and other various greenery spread about as usual on a planet such as this one. It's fascinating, almost like that of your home world in Vanaheim. How you miss that place. The vast mountains spread throughout the landscape, huge lumbering trees taller then the cellphone towers you've passed, and great skies of blue where dragons fly at will.

Suddenly a stick cracks in the trees to your right, you turn while Bucky pays little attention, a crow flies out and into the blue sky it goes. Easy now, just a bird, nothing more. The wind picks up for a second and you can almost catch the scent of sulfur when a ball of fire erupts from the trees ready to kill.

The spherical flame screams towards you and Bucky, who's by now dropped his phone onto the tracks, "Y/N watch out!" He shouts fearfully, hand gripping onto your shoulder as you keep a strong fearless stance to the approaching flame.

Throwing a hand out, you divert the ball into the gravel where it bursts like a small firework, rocks flying everywhere as you stand at the ready for whatever happens next. "Y/N! What the hell was that!" Shouts Bucky.

"A scout. I think one of my brother's loyalists found me."

"A scou..." Another ball of flame soars towards the two of you and then another right behind it as you maneuver your body to deflect each of them in quick succession when out of the scorched trees does a smirking woman reveal herself. Her smile is proud and wicked, taller then Bucky she stands and impeccably strong she appears.

She wears armor closely resembling your own, but instead of blues, silver, and white. Her armor is black and red, silver replaced with shimmering obsidian as she walks into the evening light. Her eyes flicker gold like your own, she tilts her head at you, "Princess Y/N of Vanaheim. An honor to meet you, truly." She bows with mockery, you immediately despise her.

"What dog is this who speaks to me?"

She grimaces, "Aüla, master of flame, Phoenix of Vanaheim, I am here to bring what stolen jewelry lays upon your neck. What belongs to King Leyondros." She points a sharp nailed finger to your neck, "That, is a house Lavpranthus family heirloom."

"You think I was born yesterday? That incompetent tyrant who dare claim himself as king does not deserve what treasure I possess. He is barely a brother to me now, and you, what business do you serve?"

She smirks, gifting Bucky with a wink as she wiggles her fingers with flame, "He's sent his best out to find your whereabouts since he's exiled you. I just happened to be lucky enough to land on Midgard where wouldn't you know it, here keeps the banished Princess herself. I couldn't be more fortunate." She opens up her palm like a needy child, "Now Y/N, the object I so desire."

"You will die trying."

She holds up a threatening fist of hot flame, "I will be bathed in riches! I will be loved! King Leyondros will welcome his champion with open arms as I present him with the necklace stolen by his traitor sister! With grand tidings of her annihilation!"

You share a dark look with Aüle as you step in front of Bucky, "I do not care to know what bargaining from the beasts of this realm you made to find me. And I certainly do not care for the false promises my brother has warped into your mind, you cannot take my life and you cannot have this necklace."

She calls flame into both hands, "Then I'll take it off your burnt corpse!" She thrusts her hands forward causing a burst of hot orange flames to shoot like dragon fire straight for yourself and Bucky.

Anticipating this action, you create a wall of your own fire that shatters her advances, you turn to the wide eyed brunette, "Bucky forgive me for not handling this sooner. I hadn't realized she was here."

"It's fine." Mumbles Bucky, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths as he stares fearfully at the angry woman spewing fire at you still.

Focused back on Aüla, she suddenly begins creating whips of flame that crack and slash at the air. She throws a whip towards Bucky but you're able to deflect it easily, in retaliation of her advances, you thrust a burst of dusty wind knocking her backwards.

She tumbles across the gravel like a discarded sack of potatoes, jumping gracefully down from the high point of the tracks, you land nearby this hellfire spawn who staggers to her feet. Rubbing the dust from out of her eyes, she coughs, "Foul play Princess, I should have guessed you'd cheap shot."

"You still believe you're leaving here with my necklace?"

Leaving her charcoal stained eyes be, she opens her palms to flame, "Well I certainly don't intend on perishing at your hand. I will get what I came for."

You throw a quizzical look, is she insane? Not wanting to ponder her mental stability, you use the gravel to crawl it up to her knees where it fuses and roots itself into the ground, she flails her arms trying to regain balance. Angered by this, Aüla clenches her fists, tightly hugging them to her chest as she concentrates.

A small orange glow emits from the center of her chest before she screams while opening her arms to the sky and with that her whole body erupts with flame like that of a Phoenix reborn. Tree branches and leaves alike are burnt and singed nearby while her anchor is melted. Aüla levitates freely now, body a mass of hot flames as she stares furiously down at you with eyes of black charcoal.

"Behold the Phoenix! Now you will obey by law of the one true king!" Fire is thrown like thin arrows towards your face, again, easily deflected into the gravel below.

She chuckles darkly, thrusting a hand of intense flame that causes you to fall backwards across the ground. Pushing yourself up by the pads of your hands, she takes this vulnerable moment to race after Bucky with wings of fire.

Face contorted like a melted candle, her arms open wide as she prepares to embrace Bucky to the flames. Jumping up, you bend your arms, moving them in opposite directions on a linear path to conjure some type of protection. Aüla slams into an enchanted force field of dark blues that sends her flailing backwards like a bursting firework.

Regaining her balance, she levitates, scowling in disgust, "You? Would protect this mortal man?"

Your gaze falls onto Bucky, he's standing there, expression fearful and wide as he looks at you desperately. You take a step forward, "I will."

"But why? He is nothing compared to you, to us, he's simply an insect on a leaf."

"He is someone who has showed me more kindness in the last couple days then some of my own people have in the past hundred years!" You shout furiously before using your magic to paralyze her like you did with Wanda and Vision.

She struggles to move but all efforts are unfruitful, "Do not! Don't. You. Dare!" She screams as you take another fearless step towards her, raising your hands in a beautiful fluid motion, her obsidian irises flash with terror.

"Aüla, Phoenix of Vanaheim, I admire your efforts and valor. But I am not so merciful when my life as been threatened, as someone of these nine realms with some type of authority still. I, Y/N Lavpranthus of Vanaheim, condemn you to die." Your golden eyes flash with a noble flair of judgment while your hands sway like subtle waves on a beach.

"No. No. Nooo..." Her screams are eradicated when a burst of water consumes her entire vessel, she sizzles and smokes as you draw the river water away to reveal nothing but discarded broken armor. She never even noticed you were doing this.

As a plethora of water dissipates into steam from where she once stood, more liquid fills through the cracks in the gravel while you slowly wander over to the dark spot stained onto the center tracks. Kneeling down, you pick up an obsidian gauntlet cracked down the middle curve. "Who was that?" Asks Bucky from behind you.

"One of my brothers scouts. His best fire-bender.." You study the intricate markings that dance like vines around the metalwork, "..a phoenix in human form."

There is a long pause before he asks, "Why are you being hunted Y/N?"

You sigh, head bowed to the earth, "It's a long story."

Bucky frowns down at you, he's not sure what to do, but he knows you're deeply troubled by whatever events have led you to this point. A comforting hand rests upon your shoulder, "You don't have to tell me now. But I think we should go."

Dropping the broken gauntlet onto the dark stained wood, you stand, "Perhaps you're right. Who knows what else lurks in the shadows waiting to pounce. I'd rather not have you injured on my behalf."

Bucky shares a lopsided grin, "Appreciated. Now come on, I know the way home." Directs Bucky as the two of you begin walking down the tracks for wherever he speaks of.

Maybe these people aren't as bad as you'd first thought, unfortunately there are still evils that are desperate to find you. Until that time comes again.

Tagged: @buckylokisimp @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @bizarrebibitch @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @jmstz @thehornytitties @staygoldsquatchling02 @cleverzonkwombatsludge @mischiefmanaged71 @noragracebrewer @atomicpersonacheesecake @thescarlettvvitch @shawnartmendes

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #the winter soldier #the winter soldier x you #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #series #bucky barnes series #my work

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sunnysidekit · 3 years

Text

Summary: The road to loving Frankie Morales is tough, but you’d do it all again if you had to. And again, and again, and again…

Pairing: Frankie ‘Catfish’ Morales x F!Reader (no y/n)

Warnings: Language, major character death but not the permanent kind, (this is literally just a series of au’s in which the reader becomes kind of self-aware), nondescriptive smut (minors, please skip this one!).

Word count: 2.6k

A/N at the end

My masterlist

“Hey,” Frankie shouts, his voice only just carrying over the heavy rain. “Hey, wait up!”

You glance back at him over your shoulder, but you don’t stop running. You can’t stop running. Not after what just happened. Why did you decide to tell him how you felt about him, again? Worst decision of your life.

“Hey!” Frankie shouts again, even louder this time. He’s quickly gaining on you; blame that on his Delta training. You keep running, looking left and right for a spot between the old buildings to shelter from the rain. Something just big enough for one person to hide from their best friend would be great, but you doubt you’ll find a spot like that.

Just when you spot an alcove the size of a small closet you step into a puddle that’s way deeper than it looks, and you smack against the pavement.

You hear Frankie curse from behind you, the splashing of his boots in the puddles getting louder and louder until he stops right next to you and crouches down to help you up. You let out a painful groan when he lifts you off the ground, your arms flailing around unwittingly until you manage to grasp onto his soaked flannel.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not, Frankie,” you say with a sniffle. “Look, I know that just because I feel a certain way, you don’t have to… Why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” Frankie grins. “But you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear those words! I’d given up all hope you’d ever say them, so,” he shifts to hold you closer to his chest, “I was a bit shocked, is all.”

You blink up at him dumbfounded as lightning flashes behind him, bathing the two of you in a heavenly light for just a moment. Before you realize what you’re doing, you grab his face and crash your lips into his with a passion you never knew you were capable of. He hums against your lips and you smile; this kiss is better than whatever you imagined it could be.

The rain washes over you and makes goosebumps pop up all over your skin, though that could also be from the intensity with which Frankie kisses you. His nose bumps against yours as he deepens it and something starts to blossom up in your belly, a tingling spreading from your sides all the way to your fingertips. After what feels like an eternity, he lets you go, the both of you breathing hard and haggard.

“Holy shit,” Frankie chuckles. “We’re both incredibly stupid, aren’t we?”

“Speak for yourself. I’d do it all again if this is what I get for it.”

Frankie laughs breathlessly and you can’t help but join him. All the anxiety in your body has transformed into exhilaration; you throw your head back and let the raindrops splatter onto your face freely when suddenly another flash of lightning strikes, this time so close you can almost feel it burn your skin. Hey, wait… why doesn’t it stop?

The burning sensation digs deeper into your skin and you snap your head back to look at Frankie, but he’s still laughing. You try to reach out and grab his shoulder, but something’s wrong with your hand. It’s- it’s shredding, your fingers flaking off and burning up in the air as you yell out, horrified at the sight.

Frankie doesn’t notice it when you feel yourself losing weight and floating upward, memories flurrying around you in the ash you’re slowly becoming. He doesn’t notice it when you get sucked higher and higher into the air, screaming his name and pleading him to help you. He doesn’t even notice it when you gasp in one last breath before the stinging headache you’ve developed in the last few seconds overwhelms you completely and you feel your consciousness slipping away.

You jerk awake. Holy stars, that wasn’t a normal nightmare. Where in Newton’s name did that even come from? Rain? It never rains here on the SS Endeavour, you’re in space. All the rain you’ve ever seen has all been via holovids. It did feel oddly realistic, though. Kind of like déjà vu. You stretch out your arms above your head and yawn; maybe you did drink a bit too much last night.

But that kiss… why would you ever kiss officer Morales? Sure, you’re friends. You’re his copilot, for Newton’s sake. But he’s far too mission oriented to even consider romantic relationships. At least, that’s what he says. You’d agree with him, if only he wasn’t obviously lying.

“Stars, would you hurry up already?”

You jump out of your bunk at the sound of Ava’s voice and start changing into your overalls, but it’s no use-- she’s already seen you.

“I don’t want to have to skip breakfast again because you can’t be bothered to get up when the alarm goes off.”

“Oh, stop worrying about your breakfast. I’m sure you still have some extra bread rolls in your secret hiding spot.”

“I will neither confirm nor deny that claim,” Ava says, but she’s got a twinkle in her eye. She’s such a bad lair. You step into your shoes, the soft hiss of the self-tying mechanism a nice reassurance of the fact that you’re not dreaming anymore.

“When commander Penn finds out you’ve been using his second wall safe to hide food, you’re getting an instant demotion,” you say. “You do know that, right?”

“It’s so sweet you still think that’s where I hide my stuff. Anyway, I really hope you’ve already picked up your new badge.”

You look up at her from where you’re sitting on the bottom bunk. “…Oh, shit.”

“Really? What kind of gas giant-”

“Don’t start calling me names you’ll regret, Ava,” you grumble as you scramble up and run out of the sleeping pod. This day really is off to an amazing start.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Fish greets you when you climb into the cockpit of your jet with a scowl. “We’ve got zone E today.”

You fasten your seatbelt and heave a sigh. “Yay for us.”

“I thought you liked the asteroid belt.”

“I do, I just…” You chew on your lip as you busy yourself with the control panel. “I had a weird dream, is all. Let’s get going, Fish.”

Because nothing kills a conversation quicker than telling someone about the strange dream you had last night. Now that you think about it, there was something else wrong with it: the stars. They were all in different places, made different constellations…

Usually something like that doesn’t dance around in your head for very long after you wake up, but this somehow keeps popping up whenever you try to navigate manually. It’s like your memories have been copied, but the copy has a whole lot of mistakes. Like there’s been a very, very bad data overhaul.

And then there’s Fish. Despite his casual, relaxed attitude he’s tapping his fingertips against the controls at a rapid pace. It’s a small detail, one you’ve noticed a hundred times before, but it’s taking on a different meaning in your head. You remember him doing it in the dream, too, right after you told him you loved him. Could that maybe-

“Hey!” Fish snaps his fingers in front of you, and everything around you comes back into focus. You’re floating in zone E, engine off, and there’s a bright red jet peeking out from behind a particularly large asteroid.

“Shit,” you mutter under your breath. “What’re they doing here? This isn’t Galactican territory.”

“Ambush, maybe?”

“I doubt it. If they were planning an ambush, they wouldn’t pick a fucking asteroid belt. Lord knows those new engines of theirs are about as stable as a peach in a blender.”

“Whatever they’re doing here, I don’t trust it,” Fish says with a frown. You sigh.

“Maybe they haven’t seen us yet. D’you think we can we get out of here in time?”

He shakes his head. “Can’t risk leading them right back to the Endeavour.”

“You… you haven’t radioed this in yet, right?”

“No.”

You lean forward to get a better look of your surroundings - seems you’ve been daydreaming for quite some time - only to see a whole lot of asteroids. “Well, it is just one of them, and it doesn’t look like the engine’s on.”

“It’s not broken,” Fish mutters. “At least, I don’t think.”

“Then what do you suggest we do? If we radio this in and someone’s in there, they can easily trace any signals the Endeavour sends out. If we open fire, we’ll have started a war-- and we really don’t need another one of those.”

“It’s taking too long.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not you,” he says absentmindedly, pointing at the blue spacecraft. “That. It’s moving too slow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the brakes are on.”

You grab the lens from the wall beside you and take another look. Fish’s right: if the engine’s off, it should be floating around freely, not hanging still. As you stare at it, though, it does seem to move a little bit. No, it glitches. Your breath hitches in your throat. “Holy fuck.”

“Hm?” Fish hums, turning to you. You push the lens in front of his face, and he looks through it as well. No five seconds later, he’s grabbed the controls and started the engine. “We need to get out of here, right now.”

You grab the radio, but Fish snatches it from your hands and throws it across the cockpit. “We’re not gonna radio this in.”

“Are you insane?”

“What do you think base is going to do when they hear tell of a glitching Galactica spacecraft in the last productive tantalum mining fields?”

“Are you seriously suggesting not letting millions of people prepare for-” You’re cut off by the sudden appearance of a dozen more spacecraft, all of their noses pointed in your direction as you and Fish zoom past way faster than you should. “No, no, no!”

“Sunshine, listen to me,” Fish says as he puts his hand over yours. It grounds you, and you’re grateful for it, even if you don’t understand what he’s doing. “If they know we’ve been patrolling the fields, I’m guessing their main plan is to follow us back to the Endeavour.”

“…Which means they don’t know where it’s anchored,” you add, your anxious expression slowly turning into a smirk.

“Now you’re getting it,” he chuckles. “Let’s go take some advantage of that, hm?”

You nod and grab the controls in front of you to start plotting a route that’s just erratic enough not to draw suspicion to the fact that you’re leading the following spacecraft away from the Endeavour. Fish navigates the jet precisely along your route, narrowly avoiding the asteroids while turning a few degrees to the left every few seconds until you’re coasting out of the mining fields and into empty space. It works; behind you, the stream of spacecraft grows steadily, and with it, so does the size of the individual ships.

“They’re still following us,” Fish says after a while. He sounds a lot less sure of his case than he did ten minutes ago. “Hey, we have enough power left for a jump?”

“Depends on where you want to go,” you say, checking the fuel systems. “I reckon we can jump a total of about a thousand light years.”

“The center of the galaxy’s a little less than eight hundred light years away, correct?”

“Yes, but what…” you trail off as realization hits you like a nuclear bomb. “No, don’t even think about it.”

“They’re not backing off, Sunshine.” Fish turns to look you in the eyes, a small, watery smile on his lips. “I don’t think we have a-”

“Of course we have a choice,” you say with as much severity as you can muster, which, to be frank, isn’t a lot right now. “There’s always a choice.”

“Would you rather wipe out their fleet or our own?”

“I don’t-”

“Do it, Sunshine,” he says sternly. “Make the jump.”

You hesitate, your hand hovering over the lever. “Is… is there really no one on the Endeavour you’d turn back for?”

Fish’s smile grows a bit; you can see it’s genuine. “…I’m here with you, aren’t I? That’s enough for me.”

It catches you off guard, the way he says it. Deep down, you already knew what his answer would be. You dreamt about it, after all. Without another word, you push the lever forward, and the jet glides across space-time until it slows down again, finally coming to a halt near the event horizon of the massive black hole at the center of the galaxy.

“Did it work? Are they coming?” Fish almost jumps out of his chair to look outside, while you decide to look at the little radar on the control board. One by one the tiny, blinking dots come streaming in; your evidence of a job well done.

“Fish?” you ask, your voice wavering. There’s something more important than saving the universe on your mind right now. “Am I really enough for you?”

“Oh, stars,” he says, his own happy mood turning into something else as well. He sinks to his knees in front of your chair and looks up at you. “You are more than enough. You’re all I ever think about, you’re the only one that-”

Before he can finish his sentence, you’ve already grabbed his face and crashed your lips into his. You’re about to be swallowed up by a black hole, explanations can wait. The kiss grows more and more fervent as Fish’s hands travel up your thighs to hold your waist, a tingling feeling taking up refuge in your belly. After Newton knows how long, the two of you reluctantly break away from each other to breathe.

Stars, Fish, you whisper, but he shakes his head. Call me Frankie, he says. Please, call me Frankie. You tilt your head and press your lips against his scruff. Frankie, you whisper, please don’t stop. And he doesn’t. He closes his eyes and kisses you, over and over and over until your lips are swollen and all thoughts have left your head.

He zips open your overalls slowly, kissing every inch of newly uncovered skin he can find. His kisses burn lower and lower across your skin, past your clavicles, your chest, your belly, and before you, thousands of stars slowly implode. You don’t know if you’ve ever felt like this before; it’s all so incredibly bittersweet. You get to spend the longest night of your life with the man you love, but it’ll also be the last night you’ll ever experience.

One by one little pinpricks of light fade out in the darkness outside, while others explode in brightly colored clouds-- the same thing happens to your nerves whenever Frankie moves even the slightest bit. It’s a good thing sound doesn’t carry in space, or else you wouldn’t be able to hear the beautiful noises he makes when he closes his eyes in pleasure.

The two of you tumble around in what little space you have, the light of a billion dying stars illuminating every single part of your joint bodies as you splay your hands across his chest. The darkness is taking over more quickly now, enveloping your jet into nothingness, drawing you into the vast emptiness of its core.

We must have done something right, Frankie whispers as you lay, sweaty and tired, awaiting your bittersweet ending, to deserve such an incredible encore.

You close your eyes and curl up into his chest as you whisper back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You open your eyes again and smile when you look at Mr. Morales. He’s so gentle like this, with his fingers flying across the piano, not at all the stoic soldier he usually is. It’s nice, even if the others think it’s boring.

He finishes the piece with a shuddering creshendo, and you bite back a smile when he looks at you with those gorgeos eyes of his.

“Why’d you stop singing, my lady?”

“I apologize, sir,” you say as you flip over the music sheet on the little ledge of the piano. “But I simply can’t help it; you play so wonderfully, and I never truly learnt to sing very well. It seems a shame to pollute such beautiful tones with my own.”

“Nonsense,” Mr. Morales says with a kind smile. “Your voice only ever makes me want to play better.”

Your cheeks heat up at that, but the moment is quickly disrupted.

“Encore, encore!” a voice behind you yells; it’s Mr. Garcia, who’s been sitting in his usual post on the third floor. “We’re gonna need more than just the one piece if we’re to have any luck in catching more than a score of those bastards tonight.”

“Why don’t you come down and try singing for a bit, it might help,” Mr. Morales chuckles beside you. When he notices you staring at him, he leans in a little closer and adds, “Are you all right, miss? You seem distracted.”

“I’m perfectly good, sir.” You swallow hard and let out a weary breath. “Your music always seems to carry me away further than I expect.”

And for a moment there, you think to yourself, I thought I saw the stars up close.

A/N: I really threw all my knowledge of space and science out the window for this one and replaced it with nonsense and movie-science. Also, I’ve watched Interstellar, Free Guy, and Groundhog Day way too much for my own good.

The title of this chapter comes from an instrumental by the Grandbrothers which I listened to while writing, so if you want the full experience you can look that up.

If I'm missing any content warnings, do let me know! I'd hate to hurt someone with my writing, but I don't really know how to work those out yet.

PS: If you've got a favorite AU and/or dynamic, I'd love to hear about it! This series is going to explore a bunch of different ones, but I think my own imagination will only get me so far :)

As always, feedback is appreciated and my inbox is open! Have a great day!

#frankie morales x you #frankie morales x y/n #frankie morales x reader #francisco catfish morales #triple frontier #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal fanfic #tw: major character death #cw: death #my writing

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puckbuddies · 3 years

Text

The bucket list (part 1)

Tyson Jost x reader

6454 words

Thanks to @justjosty for helping me figure out the idea and to @canadianheaters for being my biggest fan always ❤

AN: so back in the day when I was still in the Avengers fandom, I read this fic about doing a bucket list and my fic is inspired by that one. I tried really hard to find it but I think the account deactivated :(. Anyway enjoy

This was it. The start of the most boring summer vacation of your life. And all thanks to your dear best friend who had decided that staying in Calgary for an internship was more important than coming home with you. This was the first year ever you would have to spend the summer without Ava and you really weren’t looking forward to it. Ever since five years old you guys had been inseparable. Living in the same street, taking up hobbies together, going to the same school and eventually the same university and yet, this was the end.

You were just being dramatic, it was most definitely not the end. Still, standing in Kelowna International Airport by yourself, it kind of felt like it was.

It was just a month until you would see Ava again but that was the longest you’d ever been apart and you hoped it wouldn’t put a strain on your friendship. To be quite honest, you already missed her.

You were happy to see your parents of course and wrapping them up in a hug in the middle of the airport made you forget about Ava for a second. You hadn’t seen them since the middle of march and you knew that being home would help you relax regardless of your company.

Ava didn’t leave your mind for long though, just like she didn’t pretty much the whole flight home and you knew exactly why she didn’t. You could still recall the conversation you both had about a week before.

~~ “But it’s going to be so boring without you.” you whined while dramatically flopping down onto the sofa.

“Find someone to make it fun then. You know, this is the perfect opportunity for a steamy holiday romance.”

“Who wants a holiday romance when you could have New girl marathons in your comfiest pajamas?”

“Y/n, I’m sorry. You know I want to go home too but this is really important for my future.”

“I get that and I fully support you. I just wish it didn’t mean I had to spend a month inside my room.”

“Stop being dramatic. You can still do fun things, you don’t need me for that. Maybe you’ll do cool stuff this summer without me holding you back.”

“Yeah like learning to paddle board.”

It was kind of an inside joke between you two. You loved the water while Ava was not that big of a fan. Whenever you had an argument on holiday, you joked that you would leave her to go paddle board and the discussion would be forgotten after the laughter it pulled out of you both.

“Oh my god you totally should! See there’s lots of things to do.”

You were quiet after that. It was actually not a bad idea. This summer would be the perfect time to do all the water related things that Ava didn’t want to do. But then again, you didn’t know how fun it would be to do it by yourself.

A gasp pulled you out of your thoughts and it startled you so much that you almost fell of the sofa you were lying on.

“I just had the literal best idea ever! You should make a bucket list with all the cool things you’re going to do this summer. That way you won’t have any time to miss me.”

You thought about it. And then you quickly decided to disagree with her proposal.

“No thank you.”

“I could help you make it.” ~~

And by that she meant I could make it for you and you have no say in it whatsoever. After a lot of disagreeing and a quick argument, you figured you had to go along with it. You’d known Ava long enough to know that she wasn’t going to change her mind on this.

And so on that faithful Wednesday afternoon, Y/n’s summer bucket list was created.

Number 1. Go to the annual blacklight party

Number 2. Learn how to paddle board

Number 3. Wear the dress (you know the one)

Number 4. Karaoke in public

Number 5. Eat five different kinds of fish

Number 6. Go cliff jumping

Number 7. Volunteer somewhere

Number 8. Climb a tree

Number 9. Spend at least 100 dollars while shopping (treat yourself)

Number 10. Relearn how to play guitar

Number 11. Adopt a dog

Number 12. Find best friend the best souvenir ever ;)

Number 13. Lay in a flower field for one hour (to feel like the main character)

There was a lot that was wrong with the list. You had absolutely no desire to sing karaoke in public and adopting a dog seemed pretty unrealistic in such a short time frame. There was no way you could take it back to Calgary with you after summer and leaving it with your parents was no option.

To say the list was in the back of your mind was an understatement. It was the main focus of your thoughts the majority of the time. While it was meant to make your summer more fun, the stress that you were getting out of it was not worth it in the slightest.

The first week, you ignored the list completely. You still had a whole month to complete it and your main priority was family. Your parents had thrown you a welcome home party with all of your family that had left you in a state of happiness for a couple of days after and you had no desire to dull that feeling. Still, you couldn’t quite forget about it for some reason.

When you opened the document for the first time the beginning of the second week, you were still as unsure about it as you had been in the beginning. There were some things you were willing to start on but the majority of the items would still be left unticked.

You started practicing guitar that week, having found your old one in the garage. Slowly but surely you were getting the hang of it again and you were quite enjoying it even if it meant that you had to keep your nails short. What you didn’t miss was the way your fingers hurt every time you touched something after having played for a while. All in all, not as hard as you had imagined it to be and you were happy that you did it.

Number 10. Relearn how to play guitar ✓

The end of the second week of summer vacation came with the faithful blacklight party. The Kelowna annual blacklight party was probably the main event of the summer for anyone ages 17 to 27. It was an event you usually went to with Ava. You always had the most fun getting ready together. This year however, that was not in the cards and you had to get ready by yourself.

You had texted a couple of your high school friends to see if they wanted to meet you there. Some of them agreed and you set up a time and place to meet up. The fact that you wouldn’t be arriving solo calmed your nerves a little bit, but you hadn’t seen these people in three years and you had no idea how the vibes were going to be. Deciding that a little alcohol wouldn’t hurt you, you poured yourself a shot right before you had to leave.

You had to admit, you looked good. Not that you were trying to pull tonight but with the way you looked, you felt like you could.

Checking one last time to see if you had everything you need, you made your way to where you had agreed to meet up. While you walked, you took the time to breathe in the fresh air. Walking at night was not something you enjoyed doing in Calgary for obvious reasons. Here, you could see more of the stars and you were reminded of how much you liked just being under the night sky.

You arrived at your destination a couple of minutes later and were warmly greeted. Seeing these people again felt weird but also strangely familiar. You spend a big part of your life seeing them every day so you assumed it was only normal to feel like that.

You did one more shot before you made your way to the party. Excitement was creeping up through your nerves as you remembered how much you loved the annual blacklight party. It had always been the figurative start of the summer for you as the actual start of summer was spend at your desk dying from studying too much and sleeping too little.

You made a silent promise to yourself that you were going to enjoy yourself. Even if the company wasn’t necessarily who you’d prefer to have by your side, you were going to have fun dammit.

Arriving at the place, there was a lot more people than the year before. You almost immediately noticed how much more crowded it was.

Your friends didn’t seem to mind this as they promptly dragged you to the bar, not that you were complaining. After that you made your way to the pool to catch up. There were some people splashing around and a couple heavily making out but other than that, it was the least populated area. It gave you an opportunity to talk a little bit about what everyone had been up to since graduating.

You had to admit your attention wasn’t completely there -you blamed the shots- but you were genuinely interested in what they had to say. It was kind of sad that you’d been home for two weeks without texting them. Sure, there were some people from high school that you never wanted to see again but most of them were alright. Most of them were studying too and shared your pain there. You made a promise to at least hang out one other time while you were all still here for the summer.

After a while, your group started to disperse. Some people had disappeared some time ago to get more drinks but had never returned, others were planning on beer pong somewhere in the yard.

But you didn’t want to go play drinking games, you wanted to dance. So far, you had stayed outside and you felt like you had put on your favorite white dress for nothing. there were so many people inside that no one would notice you were alone and you wanted to take advantage of that. And so you said goodbye to your friends before you made your way to the dancefloor.

The air was noticeably thinner inside, most likely as a result of the young adults all dancing in an area way too small for comfort. Before actually joining them, you made a quick detour too the bar to get what you told yourself was your last drink of the night but even you weren’t sure if you actually believed that.

It was more difficult than you anticipated to get in between everyone. You could feel beer being spilled down your back and you cringed at the feeling of it running down. You make a mental note to put your shirt in the wash before you laid on your bed when you got home.

Once you got to an open spot – open was relative, you were still touching at least two other people – you started regretting your decision to go dancing alone. It seemed like everyone had someone else but you.

But it was too late now. You had fought hard for this spot and you weren’t giving it up. Dancing felt kind of uneasy at first but that soon got better as you noticed no one was paying attention to you.

You felt great. There was nothing in your mind apart from the lyrics to the song that was playing and you felt yourself relax. This was exactly what you needed to destress yourself.

Your arms were swaying all around you as you got lost in the music. When you opened your eyes again, you made eye contact with a guy a few feet away from you. Giving him a quick once-over, you concluded that he was pretty attractive. You gave him a look that invited him over to dance with you and waited for him to come over.

You didn’t need to wait long as the guy was enthusiastically making his way to you. Up close, you got to see more of his features but the one thing that stood out was his incredibly curly hair. it was bouncing along to every movement he made.

He introduced himself as Tyson and followed it up with an incredibly cheesy pick up line that you could only laugh at. He was very cute but you had no intention of this going somewhere. all you wanted at this moment was to dance.

Dancing with Tyson was fun because you invited him to dance with you. What you didn’t enjoy was the looks people were giving you as you were swaying your hips to the music. Especially this one guy that was not even trying to disguise the fact that he was looking at your ass.

Your body felt sticky and it got too hot all of a sudden. It seemed like Tyson could feel the shift in your mood. He observed you for a second only to conclude that you not having a good time anymore.

“Do you want to go outside for a second?”

You nodded in response. Making your way outside was a lot easier when you had Tyson pulling you behind him. He was taller and bigger than you and had no problem bumping into people to find a path. You kept your head down as to not attract anymore attention from creeps.

Once outside, you wasted no time taking a deep breath of fresh air. You didn’t notice it then, but there was barely any oxygen inside and it made you dizzy when you were walking out. It could’ve been the alcohol as well. Deciding to not take any chances, you plopped yourself down on the ground so you could lean your head against the wall.

You didn’t notice Tyson had left until he held a fresh bottle of water in front of your face. You thanked him quickly before taking the biggest sip of your life.

It was quiet for a while. Tyson had taken a seat next to you and you were currently trying to clean up your shoes to the best of your ability even though you knew that getting them clean again was impossible.

“So why are you at this party all by yourself?” Tyson spoke into the silence.

“Blame Ava, she left me here alone for a whole month. And then she’s forcing me to go to this party even though I really don’t like being on my own and she knows that. I have other friends but I lost them some time ago.” You were rambling. In a different circumstance, you would’ve held yourself back but you were tipsy and really needed to let your frustrations out. Complaining to a stranger at a party seemed a great idea for the time being.

“How is she forcing you if she’s not even here?”

“Because I promised her I’d do this stupid bucket list we made and I can’t break a promise. Even if she did leave me here.”

You leaned your head back against the wall in frustration. Why you had ever agreed to this, you had no idea. It seemed like fun at first but the reality of it soon caught up to you. You weren’t spontaneous or adventurous and you really fucking hated fish.

“What kind of bucket list?”

“How many kinds of bucket lists do you know?”

“A sex bucket list?”

“No!” Your answer came fast and a bit louder than you expected. Fortunately for you, the people around you were too caught up in drinking and dancing to pay attention to you.

“It’s more like a summer bucket list. I have a month to complete it. Well, technically 2 weeks now because I put it off too long.”

“Can I see the list?”

He looked at you with genuine curiosity. Deciding that you didn’t really have anything to lose, you reached for your phone in your back pocket and pulled up the list.

Tyson looked at it for a few minutes while you stared straight ahead. You could just say fuck it and not do it. But then Ava would be really disappointed in you. You knew she didn’t make it to annoy you, but more so to bring you out of your shell.

“Why is climbing a tree on here?”

“There’s this tree behind my house that I’ve always been too scared to climb because I fell out of it.”

“So you’ve not climbed a tree since that moment?” he said with a teasing smirk.

“It’s a childhood trauma leave me alone.”

Your tone was slightly snappy which caused Tyson to erupt into laughter. You knew it wasn’t serious but you still didn’t appreciate the fact that he was laughing at you. At nine years old, almost breaking your arm was a big deal and you felt justified in staying away from trees since that day.

“Have you ever been skinny dipping?”

“No?”

“I think you should put skinny dipping on the list. Ooh and quad bike driving, that’s always fun.”

“Excuse me who’s list is this?”

“It’s ours now, I’m helping you remember?”

“When have you ever said that?”

“It seems like fun. Besides you can’t go singing karaoke on your own, that’s just sad.”

As much as you tried to refuse his help, Tyson didn’t give up. For some reason unbeknownst to you, he really wanted in on the list. You could keep arguing with him or you could just agree. So that’s what you did. But only because you were 90% sure that Tyson would not remember your conversation in the morning.

After giving him your number you decided that you had enough of this party. While it had been fun, you drank a little too much and the only things that were going to make you feel better tomorrow were water and your bed.

Saying goodbye to Tyson was not as easy as you thought it would be. He only let you go after reminding you four times that he was going to call you the next day. Each time you just rolled your eyes and affirmed his statement, knowing full well that he wouldn’t. It would surprise you if he was out of bed by noon by the amount of drinks he had consumed.

Eventually, you did make it home and nothing could separate you from your bed. Even if your social battery had run out a couple hours ago, you were kind of glad you went to the party. The last thing you did before tapping out, was send Ava some pictures of your night as proof that you actually went.

Number 1. Go to the annual blacklight party ✓

The next morning, you were woken up by your phone going off. You groaned at the noise and the headache it brought with it. You were angry with yourself for setting up an alarm after a night out when you had nothing planned. Until you saw that it was not an alarm.

An unknown number was calling you and you groaned even harder at this. Why would someone, someone you didn’t know at that, ever call you. You barely ever used your phone, it’s primary use being social media. Anyone you spend any amount of time with would be able to tell you were the worst text responder ever.

Deciding you were not in the mood for talking, you hung up. The person would have to wait until after you found painkillers and some coffee.

Only you weren’t so lucky. Almost immediately after you hung up, your phone went off again. You got a bit worried when you saw it was the same number calling you. What if it was an emergency. You has no idea why anyone would put you as an emergency contact but you still picked up just in case.

“Hello?” was all you said. Your tone was laced with worry that you could hear even over the hoarseness. You should’ve went to look for water first.

“Oh you picked up, I almost thought you were ignoring me.”

It took you a minute to recognize the voice and when you did, you closed your eyes in annoyance. How the hell did Tyson sound so chipper when you felt like your throat was a desert. He’d had way more drinks than you had.

The groan you let out caused Tyson to start laughing just like he did last night. Somehow the sound of his laugh made your conversation come back to your mind.

“Tyson” you all but whined, “Can we just forget about it please? I’m really not in the mood for it today.”

“Will you be in the mood tomorrow?”

“I’ll be in the mood never.”

“Oh come on, it’s not even that bad. There’s no time like the present!”

The fact that he was so happy about this was a mystery to you. But then again, this would sound like a fun idea if half of the things on the list weren’t designed specifically to taunt you.

It wasn’t all bad. You’d been wanting to volunteer somewhere for the longest time, you just hadn’t found the time for it and you would love to adopt a dog. You could still remember you begging your parents for a dog every single day when you were young. They kept insisting that a pet didn’t fit in the family and thus you had abandoned that idea a long time ago. There was no way they were going to let you adopt one even now.

“Just let me make myself at least a little presentable and then I’ll be ready to go.”

All you got in return was a cheer too loud for your hungover self and it made you throw the phone on your bed. The last thing you heard before you hung up was Tyson asking you to text him your address.

You were going to do that. After you had your coffee. Pulling yourself out of bed was way harder than it should have been. Normally you were pretty good with your alcohol but you assumed the month of sobriety while you were studying for your exams had something to do with it.

After thanking the heavens your parents weren’t home to witness you in this state, finding the nearest painkillers and quickly taking a shower, you were finally ready to face Tyson. You had a passing moment of stress while you thought about the fact you were going to send him your address. He was still a stranger after all. still, somehow you felt like you could trust him.

So you sent him your address accompanied by an invitation to your house in thirty minutes. If you thought you were lucky for your parents not being home to see your hangover, you just got a whole lot luckier now. If they saw you with a boy in the house, they were never going to let you hear the end of it.

True to his promise, Tyson arrived at your house exactly thirty minutes after you send him the text. You didn’t know if it was planned or if it was just a coincidence, but you were impressed.

“So where do you want to start?” he asked almost immediately when you arrived in the kitchen. You knew there was no need for small talk but you didn’t expect him to just go for it straight away.

“I was thinking we could do something easy first. You know, to get into it.”

“So tree then?”

“I told you that’s not easy.” You said it with a laugh and Tyson giggled right with you.

“You’re going to have to do it someday and we’re already at your house. I’m curious about this enormous tree that you have in your backyard.”

“The only reason I told you that story is because I was convinced you were too drunk to remember it in the morning. The fact that you do still remember is killing my vibe right now.”

You were surprised at how easy it was to go along with his teasing. From the first moment, you could already tell that Tyson was a very friendly person and it was plain to see that he could get anyone to talk to him. Still, you were known to be a little cold when you first met new people so the fact that you felt comfortable around him meant something.

“Nah I wasn’t drunk. I can handle my alcohol. Unlike you apparently.”

Your expression turned into one of fake offense at his words. He was right of course, but he didn’t need to say it.

“I let you into my house for what? To get bullied? You should know that I’m in reach of the cookbooks and I will not hesitate to hit you.”

“Okay Okay I’m sorry please don’t hit me.” He knew you weren’t being serious, the smile on his face was a good indication of that.

“Do you really want to do the tree today? I need to work up to that one.”

“So what do you suggest?”

You stayed quiet.

“Tree it is then.” he said, the smirk on his face noticeable even if you weren’t looking at him. You could tell by his voice that he was really enjoying this situation.

Without saying much else, you went to put on your shoes and moved in the direction of your backyard. The tree in question was situated in a field behind your house. Looking at it now, you wouldn’t say it was a particularly large tree, but there were still nerves bubbling inside of you.

Sighing loudly and a bit too dramatically to show Tyson that you really weren’t happy, you took a while to study the tree. There were a few low hanging branches that you could use to push yourself up on. The leaves at the top constructed your view.

“I just go for it?”

You were nervous. And your voice showed that. It was at that moment that Tyson realized you were legitimately scared.

“Do you want me to do it first? To test if the branches are safe?”

“No I think I want to do it now. I don’t need to know exactly how high this tree is.”

“Well good luck.”

And with that you were off. After giving your phone to Tyson to take a picture of you in the tree, you took your first cautious steps forward. Figuring the best way to do it was to not think about it too much, you placed your left foot on the lowest branch you could find.

Before long, you were already a third of the way to the top and it was alright. You felt your nerves turning into excitement. Wondering why you had been afraid all those years, you let your confidence take over and looked down at Tyson.

“Long how high I am.”

“Yes you are. Can you go a little farther so I can take a picture?”

Your newfound confidence allowed you to go even faster than before and you got to the top in record time. If people saw you right now, they’d believe you did this for a hobby.

When you got to the top, you quickly posed for a picture. Ava would not believe the smile on your face.

But then came the hard part. Getting down. It’s not that you were scared of heights, but you didn’t need to be reminded that there was about 4 meters of nothing between you and the ground. The confidence you had climbing up, dwindled slightly.

While you made your way back to the ground, albeit a lot slower, Tyson shouted words of encouragement at you. You could faintly hear them in the background but were to focused to make out any specific words.

You swore the moment your feet made contact with the ground was the best moment of your life and you let out a little shout of excitement to go along with your thoughts. That was your fault for putting this off for literal years.

“You did it!”

“I did it! Oh my god that’s crazy. I’m so proud of myself.”

Without thinking about it, you pulled Tyson into a hug. It didn’t last long as you separated from him to continue jumping around for a little bit. In the corner of your eye, you could see Tyson laughing at you but you didn’t have it in you to care.

“Look at all the energy you have, we could go cliff jumping right now.”

“Yeah no, I’ll need at least a day to calm down my heart rate enough to do anything else.”

You were ready to go inside again and take a nap. You felt like you had just ran a marathon and you didn’t know if it was because of the adrenaline or your hangover.

As you got inside the first thing you did was text Ava the picture Tyson had taken. Turns out, he took a whole collection of photos. There were at least 20 pictures all taken at different times and you got higher in the tree as the pictures progressed. At the end of the series, there was a video. You were slightly scared to open it as you had no idea what to expect.

The image was the same as the picture. It was just you climbing the tree. Only it was accompanied by Tyson speaking over it like he was presenting a nature documentary. The video was really blurry as he was all the way zoomed in on you and it ended with a shot of his own face filling up the camera.

You burst out laughing at this. Tyson didn’t even need to see your phone to know what had caused your laughter and a smile took over his face.

“What is this Tyson.” Your words were barely intelligible as that were spoken in between breaths.

Tyson just shrugged in response. You decided to sent both a picture and the video to Ava. She wanted you to have fun and this video was proof that you had.

You waited for a little bit to see if she would respond and when she didn’t, you opened up the list again to see if there was anything else you could do.

Most of the items took a bit of planning to pull off and you were not in the mood to actually go out. This left number 13 as your only option.

“Are you allergic to grass Tyson?” you asked seemingly out of the blue.

Tyson was looking at his own phone and didn’t immediately register what you had asked him. He thought about it for a while and eventually shook his head no.

“Then how would you feel about lying in a field for an hour?”

“I’d rather go quad driving but I mean yeah let’s do it.”

You rolled your eyes at this. There was no way you were going to break your arms on a quad bike. Still Tyson didn’t let go of the idea. The whole way to the field was spend bickering about if you would of would not go quad driving and skinny dipping. His argument was that as it was now a joined list, he should have some say in the activities. You just questioned why he wanted to go skinny dipping so bad.

After a short walk, you did arrive at the field in question. You picked this one because if was filled with pretty flowers in seemingly every colour and would make for the best picture. A picture that you would be taking this time, not Tyson. You couldn’t say you enjoyed his photography skills as much as you enjoyed his company.

“Are you ready?” you asked Tyson.

Instead of answering you, he walked a little further into the field and lay down on his back. You decided to do the same thing only a little more graceful. While Tyson basically threw himself on the ground, you sat down first. Before you put your head down, you set your alarm to go off in exactly one hour.

After about 3 minutes of laying in the field in dead silence, you still didn’t really feel like a main character. You let out a deep sigh at alert Tyson that you were bored.

“Are we allowed to talk?”

You turned to face him.

“I think so yes.”

“Okay good because I don’t think I could lay here bored for an hour.”

“Same.”

And after that it was quiet again. It occurred to you that you hadn’t really talked to Tyson. You had no idea how to strike up a conversation. Every time you guys had talked, there had always been a reason, but now laying in the field you would have to fill the silence with small talk and that was not your forte.

Instead you busied yourself with watching Tyson. He was more attractive now then he was under the lights at the party but he still had his curly hair.

“Are you going to cut your hair?” it was the only thing you could come up with that wasn’t hey how has your summer been so far?

“Are you saying I should?”

He said it in a teasing way and you were glad he didn’t take it the wrong way. Looking back, it definitely couldn’t been taken as an insult.

“No. I like it. it’s just something.”

“Wow that doesn’t sound good at all.”

“No stop I didn’t mean it like that, I actually like it.”

But it was too late. Tyson was already laughing too hard to hear what you just said. You wanted to reach out and run your fingers through his curls but decided that that would be really weird so you kept your hands to your sides and just laughed along with him.

When you’d both calmed down, silence overcame you again. This time though, it wasn’t uncomfortable. You didn’t feel the pressure of trying to fill a void like you did the fist time.

“We should talk about our schedule for the list.”

It was a good idea. You had another 12 days to complete all of it and that didn’t leave you much room to rest. Tyson told you he had to go to the gym basically every morning and laughed once again at your shocked expression. I’ll show you my muscles when we go swimming don’t worry. Though it was clearly meant as a joke, his statement still made you blush.

You decided that you would take the next day off to just relax and would move on from there. You also agreed to volunteer at the local animal adoption centre where you would take a look at the dogs. Even if actually adopting one would most likely out of the question.

After that, the conversation moved beyond the list. You learned that Tyson lived in Denver and was just here for a couple of weeks with his friends. Friends who apparently were very excited to meet you after learning that you met at the party.

You didn’t know if you were flattered or scared that they already knew who you were but you didn’t give it much thought figuring that you would meet them eventually.

You were just about to ask another question when Tyson gasped beside you. thinking there was a bug or something you whipped your head to the side only to find Tyson looking at the sky in wonder.

“You scared me.”

“Dude look! It’s a bird.”

“Birds fly in the sky?”

“No dummy, it a cloud in the shape of a bird.”

You whispered a rude under your breath before turning to look in the direction he was pointing. Right above you was indeed a fluffy bird cloud.

“There’s a heart next to it.”

“Oh, I didn’t see that before. That’s cute.”

You went back and forth like that for a while. The shapes were slowly becoming less and less recognizable. As time went on Tyson was just shouting every word that came into his head while you were dying laughing next to him.

You were laughing so hard that you almost didn’t hear your alarm going off. But you did. And it brought you back to reality.

“That was an hour?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah it seemed way less.”

“Well I don’t know about you but I definitely feel like a main character.”

“You already were a main character you dork, you play sports professionally.”

“I thank you.”

He held out his hands for you to take and pulled you up without much effort. Walking back to your house was filled with more jokes and Tyson acting ridiculous. You kind of wished you picked a spot further from your house so you could spend more time with him but you knew that you still had two weeks with him.

As you approached your house you didn’t really know what to say anymore. You had no idea how you should go about saying goodbye, not knowing if he was a hugger or not.

It seemed like Tyson had the same problem. You were just standing across each other in your driveway without saying anything. Figuring you needed to at least say something before you let him walk away, you took a breath and began.

“Tyson?”

He lifted up his head to look up at you with questioning eyes, not saying anything to give you the room to speak.

“Um thank you, for helping me. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed spending time in a field by myself so thanks.”

“It’s no problem really, I enjoyed today.”

The way he said it, you could tell that he really meant it and it made you happy. Even though he invited himself into your little adventure, you still wanted him to have a good time.

As you said goodbye to Tyson one last time and went back inside, the ping of your phone caught your attention. Your screen lit up with a text from Ava.

Getting a hot boyfriend was not on the bucket list ma’am ;)

Number 8. Climb a tree ✓

Number 13. Lay in a flower field for one hour (to feel like the main character) ✓

#Tyson jost #Tyson #Tyson jost imagine #Nhl imagine #Things I write #Tyson jost x reader #Colorado avalanche imagine

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michellejackson · 3 years

Link

woops my hand slipped

Fandom: Druck

Pairing: Fatou Jallow/Kieu My Vu

Wordcount: 1067

Zoe calls Kieu My out after she dismisses Fatou's apology

“Fatou, stay away from me”

The words were out before she could rethink them. She wanted out of this conversation before she could take any of it back, so she turned her back on Fatou and simply walked away. Probably for the last time. She didn’t bother to look if either Zoe or Fatou were following her. She knew Fatou wouldn’t follow her, not this time, which is exactly what she wanted. She had to remind herself of that though.

This is what she wanted. There’s no place for regret.

Zoe quickly caught up with her, and stopped to talk to Ava who appeared, but Kieu My wasn’t in the mood to participate in the conversation so she didn’t and before she knew it, Ava walked away too. She was about to walk on, pretending nothing had happened, hoping Zoe wouldn’t comment on it. She was in no such luck.

“Q, what the fuck was that?”

She continued walking, planning on ignoring her friend, but she didn’t come far before her hand was caught which forced her to stop. She turned to Zoe then, but wouldn’t look at her. She was scared to.

“Kieu My, stop! What the hell? That was horrible! Since when do you act like that? Just the other day you texted me talking about how you couldn’t stop thinking about her, and when she finally reached out and apologized you treat her like that? You mock her like that? After she opened up to you? Which by the way, was the ONE thing you continuously complained about? What’s going on with you?”

Zoe was close to shouting, and also practically hissing at her. She cringed, but couldn’t say that she blamed her, but she was in no mood for this today. She just wanted to be left alone. She looked around to see if Zoe had caught anyone’s attention, but the yard was emptying.

“Well, I’m over it now, okay? What’s it to you anyways? I’M your friend, you’re supposed to be on MY side!”

She kept a much more civil tone than Zoe, but still Kieu My struggled to get the words out perfectly. She was trembling and doing a poor job of hiding it. Her eyes were wet, but tears wouldn’t fall, she wouldn’t let them. She needed to be alone, now. She tried to talk away, but Zoe just kept on talking.

“Yes! I AM your friend, and that is exactly why I’m not gonna let you get away with this! I don’t like this version you pretend to be whenever you’re hurt, you need to stop closing off, Kieu My!”

It went silent then. She could see Zoe was waiting for her to talk, but she had nothing to say, so Zoe went on,

“do you know what I think? I think that you’re scared of getting hurt again, because after the party you were a wreck. You were happy with Fatou, you always talked about her, remember? But now you’re cold to her and pretending that nothing ever happened. Why? You won’t even talk about it! To anyone! I’m your best friend, Kieu My, and I just want what’s best for you! I’m not telling you to lay your heart bare and reveal all your secrets, but just talk to me! I want to help! Please, don’t act like this, do not end up like Constantine.”

Kieu My looked at Zoe now, her eyes were glazed, and it looked like she was holding back tears. Kieu My stood up straighter. She didn’t want to see Zoe like this, she looked hurt because of her and she couldn’t stand it. She didn’t want to end up hurting two people she cares about today.

“I’m nothing like Constantin.”

That was all she got out. Everything Zoe ha said was true, she didn’t even bother to deny it. Since the incident at the party, Kieu My had spent hours just looking through her camera roll, at photos and videos she’d taken with and of Fatou. She’d spent hours stalking her Instagram just to see a glimpse of what she was doing, how she was doing. She’d waited for Fatou to reach out, hoping. She’d spent hours crying. She didn’t want to feel like that again. She had then proceeded to delete all evidence of Fatou, only keeping one picture, a picture they took together on the roof the day Kieu My had told her she wanted to be with her. She had been so happily in love that day. She couldn’t bring herself to delete it.

Zoe imitated the way Kieu My had dismissed Fatou, and she cringed, knowing she had base to go on for her allegation. Zoe was right, and she knew it. In that moment she had acted like Constantin, and the thought of it made her want to hurl. The thing is, she didn’t want Fatou back.

Or she did, but she didn’t.

It was doomed from the start. It would never work out, and she would just end up crying her heart out all over again. She didn’t want that. Trying to calm herself, Kieu My took a huge breath.

“I just... I don’t want to be hurt again, Zoe. I don’t want to give her that chance. I don’t want to give myself the chance to fuck it up.”

She was shaking now, the thought of hurting Fatou was getting too much to bear. In the moment she knew what she was saying and how she was saying it, she’d tried to make it hurt. She’d purposefully hurt Fatou in order to avoid being hurt herself, but in the process, she’d forgotten how much it hurt to see Fatou hurt. Thinking of her hurting was killing her, knowing it was because of her made it even worse.

“You can’t truly be happy without some pain.”

Kieu My laughed then, and Zoe reached up to cup her face, wiping away tears that dared to fall despite her willing not to.

“Who are you?” she sniffled, and Zoe smiled up at her.

“Do you want to be with her, Kieu My?”

Of course she wanted to be with her, these days it felt like it was all she wanted. She looked around the empty yard, avoiding the question, but Zoe turned her face back to hers.

“Do you?”

She sighed.

And then she nodded.

“Then fucking apologize”

#druck #druck fic #kieutou fic #kieutou #fatou x kieu my #fanfic

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allie1804-fan · 3 years

Text

Malaise (Chapter 1 - Calling Tara)

Warnings: Mentions of escort services and sexual acts

Notes - I wanted to try and write something that I imagine might be a bit closer to the real experience of Keanu than my stories with romance and babies etc. Not completely sure where it’s going just yet but thought I would put out my first 2 chapters and see what people think.

Keanu stared at the phone in his hand again, thumb poised over the green phone symbol. He didn’t quite know why he was hesitating. He had found himself unable to make even the simplest of decisions with any speed lately. His hand drifted down to his groin where he rubbed himself absent-mindedly. He took a deep breath and tapped “call”.

“Codename please” the robot voice said

“KCR”

“please type in your pin”

He punched in 090264 wondering once again if he should really try to cover his tracks with things like this but nothing had leaked in the 10 years+ of using the agency . They were discrete and the system was designed to shield the calls by using the pin system and he was careful with his phone, never giving details to strangers. Heaven forbid if his number got out to hackers and they figured out that he made fairly regular calls to an elite escort agency!

Once through to a human being at their end, he asked for Tara who was his regular. He needed sex and as soon as she was available. He specified “the usual” and put the phone down, going out to sit by the pool and have a smoke as distraction from his horniness.

He’d tried a couple of his “friends with benefits” before calling the agency but they were out of town and he didn’t want to call Autumn, she was too needy for how he was feeling right now. There was history there of an on and off relationship in the early 90s that had been one of the ones that proved to him that he wasn’t cut out for commitment. She couldn’t deal with his regular absences to shoot films and he couldn’t stay faithful for that long either. Still, even now, they’d end up in bed together sometimes, but he knew she still wanted more, more than he could give so it wasn’t fair to her. Back in the day she’d been more wild and bohemian, more aligned with his view that sex was just sex and you could enjoy it with or without the emotional baggage. And she’d been willing to let him try things in his younger days like anal sex and a bit of BDSM - she liked to be dominated. Neither of those things were really his bag now but he’d been on a journey of sexual discovery back when they started adding sex into the mix and she’d been a willing traveller.

He’d been in London a couple of weeks back and met up for dinner with an actor /writer friend Doraly – she wasn’t seeing anyone just now either and they both needed release so they’d gone back to her flat afterwards and fucked. That had been the last time and now he was antsy.

He got a text from the agency about 15 minutes after placing the call. Tara could come tomorrow. With Tara, part of the deal was to share some conversation and food first, basically a bit of a fake date night. The irony wasn’t lost on him that he wanted to have the trappings of a date as part of the sex he was buying! He dropped her a text to ask what she fancied - she chose dim sum and wan tons - she knew him well enough to choose something he liked too.

Later when he went to bed, he jerked off not wanting to come too quickly the next day. He thought about Tara as he pulled on his cock, imagining her fragrant thighs astride his head. That was always the first part of ‘the usual’ - she had the most delicious pussy and he would always feast on that first before straight sex of some kind. He wasn’t required to specify positions for that, only if there was anything they classified as kinky or out of the ordinary.

The next day, he went for a long ride up PCH to clear his head and kill some time. Tara was due to his house at 6.30 and the dim sum at 7. He’d got a fine bottle of Chablis, her favourite white and he was looking forward to catching up with her. She was always interested in his work and she enjoyed theatre, movies and books so there was always something interesting to talk about. Best of all, there were no demands. He only had to give what he was willing to and mostly that was wanting to be sure she had at least one orgasm – he derived at least some of his satisfaction from that as well as the obvious appreciation she had for his body. There was no need to keep her at an emotional distance because she didn’t ask for emotional closeness from him, not beyond the session that is. She was good at the whole date night scenario as long as it lasted though and that’s what he wanted tonight.

With the other women in his life, barriers were put up. Sometimes that was in quite a formal way so if he was with someone new, he’d make clear he wasn’t able to commit to a long term or monogamous relationship. He’d usually blame this on work and of course that was a major practical factor, but a voice inside told him there were probably other things in his personality or life experience that prevented him from wanting a long term relationship. He valued his time alone as well – not just the time to pursue his career and help run the Arch business. He wanted to be able to spend a day reading or playing chess against the computer or simply taking off on his bike or to the beach without anyone being pissed off about it.

The other barriers to closeness he put up were more subtle. He was always very guarded about sharing personal information beyond what he liked in the arts and what food he liked, he would avoid introducing women to other friends or family and would rarely go out with them in public, ostensibly to protect them from publicity.

In his younger days, he simply had not been ready to commit to one person and the practical issue of going away so often for filming or publicity had made that impossible too in combination with his healthy appetite for sex - he wasn’t able to go without for that long. Then as he’d got older and more famous, meeting someone who was really interested in him as a person, not as a meal ticket or a connection to exploit, became increasingly difficult and led him to put up barriers. And then there had been Jen and Ava, a terrible situation filled with loss and angst that had finally closed the door, he was pretty sure, for good. In truth, he hadn’t gone into that relationship with monogamy or kids in mind either, it had been thrust upon him but he had loved her and the loss of both the baby and then her left him feeling like him being in a relationship was a curse that he should not inflict on anyone.

He thought about all this on the ride. He knew his physical needs could not be met without ‘work’ (at maintaining a relationship or multiple ‘special’ friendships) or resorting to calling on Tara or one of the other escorts when she wasn’t free. That need for sex was one of the reasons he had 2 or 3 friends with benefits on a kind of rotation and why he sometimes, against his better judgement usually, embarked on a fling with a fellow cast member, or occasionally there would be a random meeting in everyday life like Anita who had worked as a PA to his mother for a while. Those flings could sometimes be quite passionate for a month or so, sometimes longer and he knew his instincts for generosity and chivalry could sometimes war against those proclamations of not wanting commitment. That had caused some fiery endings such as with Lynne Collins. He’d even been quite public with her, eating out, shopping, flying up to New York to see her in “As you Like it” and attend the after party as her date – all signals, along with the good loving he always tried to give his ladies, that suggested he hadn’t really meant it about not committing – but he had and she sure did not like it, dropping him like a hot potato when he made that abundantly clear. That wasn’t an unusual pattern in terms of how women eventually responded to his lack of commitment. He was always clear about his position up front, but it didn’t always put off the women who did want something longer term. They probably thought they could change him and those behavioural mixed signals no doubt kept them thinking they would be the one to break him! Eventually though, they would lose interest and the cycle would start again.

He loved sex and exploring women’s bodies, getting to know them – that’s one reason he kept going back to the same friends and escorts. The flings came in for the thrill of the new he guessed, it wasn’t that he was looking for ‘the one’, at least he didn’t think so. With a few women in the past there had been a real connection and intimacy that had been monogamous for a time but that was a long ago now.

He returned from his ride at around 4 giving him time for a shower, a nap and putting fresh sheets on the bed before Tara arrived in her cab. He hadn’t seen her for a few months having been away on a shoot - as she stepped out of the car and came up the drive, he saw she was as slender, beautiful and well turned out as ever. She was tall with long, wavy chestnut hair and in keeping with his taste, quite large breasts – all natural too, another preference. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and invited her in.

@penwieldingdreamer @fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithkeanu @ladyreapermc @witty-wallflower @gatsbynouvel @bitchyslut99 @keanureevesisbae @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @kindainlovewithkeanu @paperplanesandwallflowers

#keanu #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves fanfiction #keanu reeves ofc #keanu reeves

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cloveroctobers · 3 years

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ELLADINE SARABI

IG info/bio: @/ellasardineabi | 18.5k followers | Artist | i was born with glass bones and paper skin♡

25 years old

Born & raised in Cardiff, Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Father was in the n*vy and moved his family around a few times until he and his wife came to a agreement that it would be best for the family to grow up in one solid place

whereas he would leave for months at a time living elsewhere

Which was hard on the family at times since he is viewed as the rock of the family

He eventually left the n*vy after serving 20 years & was so thankful to, he hated it and how it messed with him mentally

He’s also of Iranian heritage

Her mother is of German heritage

Has her own restaurant that serves authentic German food

Both of her parents instilled hard work, discipline, generosity, and how to be practical in their children

Elladine is the middle child

Has a brother that is ten years older than her and then a younger sister who is seven years behind her

Canon: there is currently a discussion going on if they are going to bring their (maternal) nan/mam-gu home since the nursing home isn’t providing the proper care their nan needs

Her mother has a rocky relationship with her mother that she doesn’t like to discuss with her children but her husband knows all about it

Her nan has Alzheimer's and is becoming violent

it has become difficult seeing her most days

Elladine came into glassblowing after being involved in many classes in secondary such as workshop class

which became her fav since she was able to manipulate many materials such as metal, wood, and glass

She also took a auto body class which was interesting but she wasn’t too thrilled about it. Got away with a B- but knew she could do better if she really wanted to but she didn’t need the class to graduate so allow it

Currently works in a glass studio where her work is displayed/sold and she’s one of the main ones that makes great profit

has bought her own space for her own studio and is slowly making it to her liking with her assistant, yes she’s got one!

Hopes to be in that space within the next 6 months...it would have been a little sooner if we weren’t dealing with a global p*ndemic!!! but ya know life f*cking sucks sometimes!!!1!!:) especially if people don’t gaf

Moved back in with her parents so that she could not only help with her nan but get her studio ready, her parents approved since she was working towards something and realized her talent

I definitely see elladine going through a grunge phase and it probably still slips out every now and then lol

Her childhood room is still in shades of raspberry, gray, and a deep purple

always been plus-sized/fuller than the rest but it’s literally hereditary since her mom is built the same way who got it from her dad

Her family never made her feel ashamed as they shouldn’t and none of her true friends made her feel different since they were all of different sizes!!! besides who’s really friends with someone because of their bodies? Ur really ugly if that’s how u roll js

Always a respectful student and not too afraid to spark up a convo with you but can be a little nervous if the person is more of a “I have to warm up to you first” since she’ll feel like she’s annoying you if she carries the convo at first

Takes her time in relationships because she’s scared of getting hurt, cause breakups are not fun! Especially if theyre your friend on top of that

Although Friendship breakups are much worse let’s be honest here!!!

Has noticed that a few of her exes like to bring up that she’s controlling or too bossy in relationships and that makes her a little insecure since she doesn’t view it that way??

She knows what she wants and likes things a certain way, and she can see how it can kinda come off that way based on how she approaches/says things and tries to be better at toning it down and not being offensive to her significant others

Always has a plan and likes to follow it, she definitely keeps to-do lists on a daily

Takes trips to see Nicky often and vice-versa, every moment they spend together feels like it’s meant to be, even when it’s them just simply chilling in each other’s spaces, he’s truly one of her best friends and he feels like the missing part of her life

He offered for her to move in with him but elladine didn’t accept it since she wanted to be there to help with her nan and in fact—she wanted to be the one to ask HIM to move in with her

but if they make it long enough, they’ll go house hunting together...maybe

I get Shawn/Angela relationship vibes from them (boy meets world for those who aren’t aware of this couple and I’m not just saying this because they’re interracial as well lol) did I say this already about someone else? Brain fart lol

everyone relationship has their flaws so when they hit a bump in the road...elladine immediately wants to fix it but it comes off as more critiquing, moodiness/blaming the other

while Nicky can be defensive/argumentive/a little condescending on his end

To get through it, they normally go on a walk together in complete silence until they’re ready to speak again or they take a break from each other

I think words of affirmation is her love language

Taurus sun + Virgo moon + Capricorn rising?

“The girl on the motorcycle” is one of her fav films — no this is not metaphoric to her love life

Loves watching things with captions on since she always finds herself doing something else while watching anything (which irks Nicky a little bit but that’s just the way elladine is and he loves her so he deals with it)

Will rewind something if she missed it too

Canon: never had morning sex before

but can now say she has ;) & understands the pros people say about it and it outweighs the cons in her book

Will start the whole song over too if she missed her fav part in it

She also enjoys billiards since her brother used to work in a pool hall and when he had to watch her because she was “too young” in her words to stay home by herself he would take her there even tho technically she wasn’t supposed to be there but he was screwing his boss’s daughter so it was quite fine

her sister has a crush on Gary & ships elladine with him, which they joke about every now and then + he doesn’t follow her back, which is okay! Not a big deal but her sister keeps sliding in his dms (he’s now single)

She NEVER thought she would be on THE love island and wasn’t that confident that she’d find a real love that carried on outside of the show but Nicky has proven her wrong 🥲

She’s 5’5–5’6

Probably shops at Zara & top shop and has no issue picking pieces that flatter her “pear” figure, she loves all that is of her body: the pudge, love handles, cellulite and all (she’s very confident and won’t let anyone see her moments of doubt when it comes to her frame)

Loves mythology but will tell bill stfu if he comes near her trying to argue about anything in that subject

Very competitive and will rush through certain things, leaving one to think that she’ll fail somewhere but rarely does

If she’s not near or away from the mountains or the sea for long period of time she gets very moody!!! Guess that’s the Welsh in her huh?

Loves fireplaces, they’re super cozy and very romantic if you catch ella’s drift 😏

Probably smells like jasmine & pink pepper idk

Wants to travel to Iceland one day

Knows her way around a car but dreads having to get it fixed or fixing it herself?

Loves driving until her road rage kicks in? Oh you’re gonna go around her to get in front of her? Never that. She’ll always be in front of you and will break check you if you try her “Drewgi” she mutters

Early riser and goes to bed early too lol

She’s the crying drunk lmao

Automatically vieve has become one of her best friends from the villa but it deff didn’t feel forced like it normally would have just because their bfs have a podcast together, they talk about everything together. EVERYTHING! It feels like she’s the big sister she never had, yet they’re only a year apart lol

They have ft sleepovers and man is it fun!

Forgave lily but at the same time can’t fully see herself being friends with her like vieve tried to encourage before they went on the yacht...sorry everything can’t be Kumbaya over here sis

It sucks to say but it was easier? She doesn’t know if that’s the right term or not... for her to forgive rafi than it was lily and it’s fucked up but that’s the way it is. It’s not like she contacts him on seperate messages or anything like that! She’ll talk to him via group chat and that’s pretty much it. She knows it was all part of the show and production’s bs for ratings but that doesn’t mean it still didn’t hurt

Wishes him success on his shows/movies but doesn’t engage/watch them

What does she post? I feel like she posts maybe three times a month and a lot are outfit pics but tends to go live more so to chat with the people! She’ll also show all what glassblowing entails while chatting away! She loves that part and is pretty open about things but knows how to keep some things private

Personally wasn’t the biggest fan of season 1 but admits she wishes she had mc’s balls in terms of what she would have done if she was in elladine’s place when lily picked Nicky, “ugh! I wish I had her strength rising through my veins in that moment. Absolute riot. Adore her.”

‘“Licky” is a ugly ass ship name anyways so who’s really winning here?!’

Celeb crushes? Iwan Rheon, Henry Zaga, Anthony Welsh, jason derulo, & LaRoyce Hawkins

Listens to: soleima, Marisa Maino, Ava Max, poppy, Caroline polachek, Donny Hathaway, Phil Good, & SAINt JHN

Anthem — M.I.A. “Bad Girls”

#litg #litg3 #litg s3 #litg elladine #litg Nicky #litg genevieve #litg oc #litg mc #litg headcanon #litg headcanons #litg rafi #litg boat party #litg lily #litg moodboard #I like elladine and I’m in love with her design #wish they did more with her and many of the other characters too!#I hope this was sorta satisfactory lol!#can you tell I’m running out of artists and celebs/well known ppl lol!

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goldeneyedgirl · 4 years

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jaliceweek20 day 1: human/vampire

Title: Against A Wall (Part 1)

Prompt 1: Human/Vampire

Word Count: 3,851

Note: I’m going into hospital tomorrow, and I’ve run out of time to get this finished (so, so close but I need sleep). So I cut it in half in the most logical place.

As long as the JaliceWeek Mods don’t have an issue, I’ll finish off Part 2 and upload the whole fic to the AO3 collection around Tuesday when I’m feeling human and have a decent Wifi connection.

Fifteen.

He crouches behind Dewey’s Bar, spitting blood onto the pavement, and trying to pretend that whatever is seeping into his jeans is just water, and not runoff from the reeking dumpster beside him.

It’s Tuesday night, and Tuesdays are always the worst. Tuesdays are his mom’s night shifts at the VA hospital. Tuesdays are pay-day. Tuesdays are the only day his father doesn’t pull his punches.

His left cheek and eye are swollen and split, like overripe fruit. He can’t see real well, and the taste of aluminium foil in the back of his mouth makes him suspect another fracture around his eye.

But was it really a Tuesday night if cerebral fluid wasn’t leaking into his mouth?

He feels bad that his mother is going to walk in at five the next morning, exhausted, to find… well, to find Hettie and Flo asleep in Ava’s bed, as Ava studies and worries. To find Jasper’s bed empty, and Lydia’s too. To find the study door locked, no matter how long she knocks.

In fact, the only thing that Louise Whitlock won’t find when she gets home from work is the god-damned strength of will to leave her fucking husband.

Last time he said that to her face, she started to cry, and that made things worse.

It’s still early, which sucks. There are hours to go until it is safe to move, to drag himself to school, to shower in the locker rooms and get some food out of the vending machine and savour the fact that another Tuesday is behind him. Sheldon isn’t big enough for the other students and the teachers not to notice the bruises on his face, but it is small enough that everyone knows Jeremiah Whitlock, and no one is going to say anything to get him in trouble.

He could go find Lydia, hide in the tree-house, tell someone who wasn’t family or a local. But he always ends up behind Dewey’s. When he was a kid, it hadn’t just been a bar; it had been been Dewey’s Bar and Grill, and his grandfather used to take him there for fried chicken and ice cream. Dewey had been his Grandpa Jed’s best friend, but even in those halcyon days it hadn’t exactly been family-friendly.

It had become a dive bar sometime around the time Jasper finished middle-school, but it didn’t matter - by then, Dewey and Grandpa were dead, and he was too busy trying to protect himself and his sisters to eat ice cream.

He spits blood again, and rests back against the brickwork. Nothing for it; Tuesdays were always hell.

—

He tries to sleep, amongst the noise of passersby, and remain unnoticed - Jasper’s learnt the hard way that his uncles still frequent Dewey’s, and they will march him straight back home for round two, no matter what he says. Even when he came up with the strength to tell them, about Lydia and Jerry and Tuesday nights, his uncles just tell him to shut up, man up, and maybe Jerry wouldn’t have to whoop his ass.

He thinks of Lydia and hopes she’s somewhere warm and clean tonight. Lydia’s smart enough to stay away on Tuesday nights. Home is never Lydia’s first port of call any night of the week, but never, ever on Tuesdays.

He remembers the last Tuesday night she was home, two summers ago, when Lydia stormed upstairs, a twelve-year-old hurricane with fire in her eyes, and called their father a coward for beating the shit out of Jasper.

Jeremiah Whitlock hadn’t liked being called a coward. Not at all.

Now she is transient, a ghost sister who vanishes at day break; one who bunks down on couches and in treehouses before coming back to her own bed. Their mom and Ava worry about where Lydia gets her money, cigar-sized rolls of dollar bills that she keeps in a tampon box, but he knows.

He knows that his sharp and pointy little sister never let anything stop her, least of all hard work, and that a lot of people in town know that Jerry Whitlock has a lot of anger and a lot of disappointment that he tries to drown in cheap beer and cheaper whiskey. It just makes him angrier. If the only thing they can do is give Lydia Whitlock some work, well, that kid’ll cut the grass, paint the garage, and walk the dog for a few bucks and a drink from a spigot.

It’s easy to say that Lydia is the best of them, making it clear that she doesn’t need their shitty father or their tired mother, but they are all strong in different ways. Ava, who smiles and simpers at their father, waiting for that day when she can buckle Hettie and Flo into her car and take them with her to college in Houston with a middle finger raised in the air. Flo stays quiet, stays alert, darting and hiding when the moment comes, but whose slight of hand belongs to a survivalist magician. And sweet little Hettie, who never lived on the ranch and knew their parents when they were happy, is sunshine and laughter and innocence. The one that reminds them why they stick together.

He’s the boy, so his role is obvious and unquestioned: he takes the punches and slaps and kicks that were meant for their mom, for Lydia, for Flo. He mutters things under his breath so that Jerry doesn’t hear what his sisters are saying, forgets that Hettie is sniffling or that Lydia hasn’t been home in ten days or that their mother has burnt dinner.

He knows his place.

—-

If you asked anyone with the surname ‘Whitlock’, they’d tell you that the family was cursed.

Had been since the Civil War; the youngest son had run off and joined up. Tried to desert two months in, crying for his momma, and ran afoul of someone - or something. He was dead a month later, but no one was exactly sure if he’d been executed for desertion, or if he’d just got in the way of a Yankee bullet. Either way, his last letter was rambling and terrified of something he never named, and his cowardice was rewarded with his bloodline’s constant suffering.

Within the Whitlock family lore, the curse was held accountable for numerous failings - from great-great grandmother Edith running off with one of the Wilkerson boys, to little Brian dropping dead as a doornail one summer day after seven years of perfect health. It was the Whitlock Curse to blame the day the bank took the ranch away from Jasper’s own father.

It was the curse that had four and a half strapping brothers (Uncle Wyatt only counted as half since he went to the war in the Middle East and got himself blown up before he was even old enough to drink, and left behind a high school sweetheart with a bouncing baby girl they all called ‘Puddin’) father fifteen girls, and only one lousy boy.

Make no mistake about it, Jasper was a lousy heir to the Whitlock name. All three of his uncles reminded him of this every holiday season. Whitlock men were supposed to live and breathe the ranch, were supposed to be football players and champions. They were meant to knock up the head cheerleader and serve eight years in the army, like their brothers, fathers, uncles, and grandfathers before them.

Not snivelling little momma’s boys, who cried themselves to sleep when Sirius Black died, and could charm the birds from the trees. Not boys who helped their sisters catch rabbits, and keep them as secret pets, or name the house cat Socrates. Not boys who sat up all night when their horse had colic, and sit in the stable with her, begging and praying for her to be okay.

He tried, goddamnit. So hard. He was the best shot in the family (something that Uncle Bo had nearly hit him over, that one Thanksgiving. But everyone knew that Bo had the worst temper in the family.) Before things went to shit, he’d been a good student. He’d been able to convince the animals on the ranch to do anything. He was popular, without having any particular friends or putting much effort into it. He took care of his sisters.

But none of it was ever good enough.

Nothing ever was.

—

It’s Roy Lester that chases him off, before six the next morning. Roy runs the grocer next to Dewey’s, and went to school with his father and uncles - still had beers with them ever so often. The way he threatened Jasper and chased him off home whenever he caught him in the alley made Jasper think that they talked about him, and none of it flattering.

So he has to slink home because he stinks and he’s starving. The security at school won’t let anyone in before seven; he’s tried before; it’s not like he has much choice.

In a town like Sheldon, everyone knew everyone. You started kindergarten with maybe twenty other five year olds - most you probably already knew - and spent the next thirteen years with those same kids. You watched Maude Montgomery transform from the aesthetic-equivalent of Danny Devito to Jennifer Lawrence in a single summer, thanks to a late brush with puberty; you were right there when Casey Atkinson was put in a wheelchair and spent seventh grade learning to walk again. You knew that Ariel Turner was diabetic, Marley Harris was asthmatic, and you’d seen thirteen years of peanut-free lunches and birthday parties because Joey Thompson was highly allergic.

The joy of small towns.

Everyone knew that Jerry Whitlock hit his kids and his wife, but no one talked about it - not to their faces, at least. The adults tended to march Jasper home, to face his father’s wrath. The kids tended to get uncomfortable, and look through him. The few people who tried to reach out were from out of town, and were usually passing through - the odd teacher, a new neighbour, a concerned face on the bus.

Better to go home until school opened up.

Louise is in the kitchen, her face pinched and pale, clutching a cup of coffee. She looks hopeful when he walks in, but seems to crumple in on herself when she sees his bloody, swollen face. She looks old as she puts down her mug, and moves to pull him into a hug. He pretends not to notice her shuddering, as she cries onto his shoulder, before pulling away.

“I’ll make breakfast,” she manages, sniffling. “Okay? You must be hungry.”

He grunts and nods, as he heads upstairs. As if scrambled eggs and burnt toast can fix another Tuesday night.

But Wednesdays are good - the longest possible time until another Tuesday night.

He just has to keep telling himself that.

—

Seventeen.

Another Tuesday behind Dewey’s, but this time he’s puking up the few mouthfuls of food he managed before his father hauled him out the back - only because it was his mom’s week off and they were having a big family dinner. Louise resented those mid-week dinners; after a long day at work, having to make dinner for twenty-three people, and somehow find enough plates and chairs was the last thing she wanted to do. It was the only time Lydia would cross their father’s sight line, skinny and defiant.

If it had been a normal dinner, Jerry wouldn’t have dragged him out of the house. He would have beat him in the kitchen, yelling over Hettie’s sobs and Flo’s screams, and Louise’s pleading. He’s had a serving platter smashed over his head before, as well as a beer bottle, and a ceramic pitcher - one that had been made by Grandma Lillian, and Louise had sobbed over those broken shards.

His head is spinning, and he can’t remember exactly what he said to incite his father’s rage, though he remembers Uncle Bo’s jeers when he tried to stand up. The previous week’s wounds have reopened, and are bleeding onto his last decent t shirt. There’s vomit and alley-juice all over his jeans, and he wonders if he should drag himself to the hospital because his world is still spinning.

He wonders what will happen if he dies tonight; if Roy Lester finds him here in the morning, cold and dead. Most of the cops in town are from old families, and they’ve taken Lydia and Jasper back home enough times to know what goes on. It’s easier to picture the cover-up, that they’ll blame him and a make-believe schoolyard fight. Just a tragic accident.

Maybe then someone will help Lydia, help all of his sisters. Maybe it’ll be the thing that makes his mom leave.

He falls asleep facedown in the alley, and wants to cry when he wakes up the next morning to the bellow of school kids heading to the bus stop.

He was so goddamned close to it all being over.

So close.

—

“Do you need some help?”

It’s another Tuesday night, one that has come with busted ribs and possibly a dislocated shoulder. He missed lunch because of an English project, and his father had been drinking early, so he hasn’t eaten since breakfast. It’s making him feel sick, and wondering if anyone will notice if he sneaks in the back door of Dewey’s and grab some food.

And then someone is there and talking to him.

Her voice is high and sweet, and he expects a high school girl, maybe a sorority sister.

She is neither.

She’s only as tall as Flo, with uneven black hair curling around her cheeks. She’s one of the prettiest girls he has ever seen, with huge amber-coloured eyes that remind him of Hettie’s dolls and Lydia’s manga. She’s wearing a ragged button-up over a ruffled mini-skirt and leggings, with boots that look a size too big, a heavy man’s watch that hangs from her tiny wrist, and an ancient looking cadet’s cap - the entire effect makes him think of Oliver Twist as a female circus performer.

She walks over to him, and crouches in front of him, her head cocked to the side like a bird’s. He can only stare; other than the dark smudges under her eyes that speak of many sleepless nights, she is beautiful.

“Are you okay?” she asks, looking worried.

“Yeah,” he croaks, and winches as he jars his ribs. He doubles over, and cries out. She reaches out towards him but backs off just as suddenly.

“You’re hurt,” she says, looking bewildered and frightened. “Where?”

“I-It’s okay,” he manages, trying to reclaim his dignity in front of the prettiest girl. “I’ll be fine.”

The girl huffs. “Ugh, boys,” she mutters. “Hold on a second.” She gets up and slips out of the alley before he can beg her not to get help. In reality, going to the hospital is the last thing he should do - they can’t afford the bill, and they’ll call home and… no. Just no.

His head is spinning, so he finds it hard to tell how much time has passed, but eventually she returns. She’s clutching two bags, and marches right up to him and crouches back down.

“This will help,” she says, holding out painkillers and a bottle of water. He fumbles with the lids of both, but eventually swallows the pillows down. She watches him carefully. “Don’t drink too fast,” she advises. “Now, I can put your shoulder back in now, or we can wait. It’s up to you.”

He blinks at her slowly. “Now,” he decides.

“Okay,” she looks nervous, but moves forward. It’s all blurry in his mind, but there is something cold, then hot, angry pain, and then he’s blinking up at her again. “Sorry. But trust me, the worst is over now. At least I didn’t break it worse. Hungry?”

He blinks as she reaches for the other bag - a bag of Skittles, a packaged sandwich, two oranges, and a bag of potato chips. He’s not sure if he has a concussion or it’s an odd selection, but he’s also hungry enough that he doesn’t care.

“I nearly had to call Bella, to ask what to get - Edward never let me buy her food after the chicken incident - which was entirely Emmett’s fault - but I think I figured it out okay,” the girl jabbers, taking a seat beside him, and smiles at him. “Better no one knows where I am, anyway.”

“I… thanks,” he croaked, as he reached for the sandwich. She beams at him again, and then frowns.

“Eat, then we’ll finish patching you up. I’ve come too far to watch you die in this disgusting place,” she stretches her legs out in front of her.

The sandwich is dry, but he wolfs it down - an orange too, before he takes a breath - that hurts - and takes another look at the tiny girl beside him.

“Who are you?” he finally asks, and she looks up from her watch.

“Oh! I’m Alice,” she says. “Sorry, I forgot you didn’t know. Do you want your ribs taped now, or are you going to open those?” She points to the Skittles.

“Um, I…” he looks at the bag of candy. “Do you want some?” This feels like a fever dream; maybe he’s passed out and this is just what his banged-up brain has provided him with.

“No,” she shakes her head, and the cadet’s cap tilts a little on her head. “I can’t. They just looked nice. Happy.”

“Happy,” he echoes, looking at the red package.

“I hear that sometimes little things can help,” Alice says. “Come on, cowboy, take that shirt off and let me see those ribs.”

His side is mottled black and blue and purple, and moving in basically any direction is a new adventure in pain. Alice gasps at the sight, and then coos at him in a way that is oddly comforting as her fingers trace his ribs - the coldness of her fingers is actually wonderful against the pain. Then comes the painful stage - as she, not entirely gently enough, begins layering tape over the pain, his head is spinning.

“All done,” Alice says, and her voice is soft, and when he slumps against her shoulder, she doesn’t move away. She smells like old fashioned things, like roses and linen. It reminds him of the old family homestead. He finds his eyes closing, and his side aches in time with his heart, and then Alice’s gentle fingers are running through his hair.

“Sleep, Jasper,” she murmurs, “I’ll keep watch.”

He’s asleep before he realises he never told her his name.

—

She’s gone when he wakes up, and the Skittles are in his pocket - along with the painkillers. Happy.

It’s Wednesday morning, and it’s not exactly ‘happy’ he’s feeling, but he’s got candy in his pocket and time to go home for a shower and more food, so Alice was right - the little things do help.

—

She never turns up two Tuesdays in a row, but he does see her again. She’s always more prepared than the first time, with a bag that always seems to contain exactly what they need - in his less lucid states, he is reminded of Mary Poppins’ magic carpet bag as she produces snacks and first aid kits, and even clothing.

Her attempts at first aid are, at best, rough and she accidentally breaks two of his fingers and nearly ends up in tears when he yells in pain, and hugs him so tight, weeping into his neck, that he ends up trying to comfort her.

Sometimes he sleeps. She’s so thin and tiny that her shoulder isn’t a good pillow, and he feels like a shit man, letting such a tiny girl keep watch behind a bar. It wouldn’t take much to break her, and he can’t defend anyone in this state.

But some Tuesdays, he falls asleep anyway, breathing in that scent of fresh roses and linen, and listening to her chatter away about people he doesn’t know, about places he’s never visited, about books he’s never read.

Alice sounds like she’s living a really nice life. One week, she quizzes him on his Spanish before his examine the next day, and her accent is flawless. When her phone buzzes and buzzes and buzzes, and she ignores it, she usually swears - he doesn’t know in what language, one of the Eastern Asian ones he thinks - but it’s definitely a swear.

He wishes he could see her, talk to her, out in the real world and prove to her that he’s not just a beat-up kid. But she’s always gone on Wednesday mornings, and he doesn’t even know how to contact her anyway.

All in all, he met Alice in the reeking alley behind Dewey’s with a concussion, broken ribs, and a dislocated shoulder, and now she’s the best friend he’s ever had in the world.

He’s getting closer to that ‘happy’ concept that she mentioned the first time they met.

—

The last time he sees her, he’s bleeding and he’s pretty sure his eye socket is fractured. He’s pissed with himself because he wasn’t fast enough, smart enough, to stop his father from going after Flo. So he’d thrown a punch at his old man for the first time because Flo is his baby sister and all haunted eyes and he’ll never forget the sounds of her wailing after the belt struck her, but hitting the bastard back just fuelled him and … fuck.

Then Alice is there, in jeans with stars on the knees and a billowy purple top that is just opaque enough to obscure the skin underneath. She looks angry and frustrated, and doesn’t just sit next to him and open her bag like she usually does.

“It’s a stupid fucking decision you’re about to make,” she stamps her foot, “and I am so mad at you right now, but Carlisle and Edward have made me promise not to interfere. Carlisle says that everything I’m doing now is enough. And I’m already in enough trouble, honestly.”

He can taste foil again - definitely a fractured eye socket.

“What?” he manages, snappish and tired. He doesn’t need this. He wants sweet Alice, who helps him patch himself back together, and gets him food, and talks him to sleep. The one who makes him laugh, even when it hurts, and seems to be light-years ahead of him but that’s okay because she’s always so happy about whatever she’s telling him.

“I’m going to say this once,” she enunciates carefully, still glaring. “I will be here every Tuesday. Don’t make a dumb decision. There is always another choice.”

“You’re making less sense than normal,” he retorts. “Either help me, or go away - I’m not in the mood.”

“Happy freakin’ birthday,” she snaps, unbuckling her giant watch, and throws it at him before she storms back the way she came, leaving him behind.

#jaliceweek20 #alice cullen #jasper hale #jasper whitlock #vampire alice human jasper #my fic: against a wall #my writing: against a wall #alice is so unhelpfully helpful

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saiilorstars · 3 years

Text

Falling in Temptation

Previous chapters • Sequel to Stars Dance • Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Ch. 19: The Heist

Fandom: Doctor Who // Pairing: 11th Doctor x Female OC

Chapter summary: When Avalon is well done with her lockdown in the TARDIS, she manages to rope in the traveling gang for an old fashion heist!

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel [If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

"NO! I SAID NO! STOP IT!"

The Doctor burst into Avalon's room just as she woke up from her nightmare. Avalon sat upright with a jolt and cried without actual tears. It was more fear than actual tears she felt.

The Doctor rushed forwards and climbed on the bed. "Ava! You're awake now! It's okay!" Her breathing was jagged but once she saw him she realized he was right. She was in her room. She was safe in her room and not with Kovarian.

"There we are..." the Doctor gently pushed some hair out of her face. Her hair was a bit damp from the sweat that'd collected during her nightmare. "Safe and sound, okay?"

Once Avalon was fully awake she let out a frustrated groan and angrily kicked the sheets off her. "Not again! Dammit!"

The Doctor would've liked to stop her but why bother? There wasn't a lot to do to release that frustration so if she wanted to throw off the covers, she could. He only helped take the covers off in the when she started to tear up because they got tangled around her left ankle.

"I can't do anything right!" She buried her face into her hands.

"Ava, c'mon," the Doctor gently pried her hands off her skin and kept them both in his own hands. "What was it this time?"

Avalon groaned. "Kovarian had me again. But like... I think this was a new room. I can't really remember it that well. It was like a...a library of some sort? She was there...and the Silence...and more people but I can't remember them. I just know that I was pretty scared and sad."

"It's okay," the Doctor scooted closer to hug her. "If the memories come back then okay but we don't have to force them either."

Avalon remembered only fragments of her time with Kovarian and they mostly showed up in nightmares, like tonight. The Doctor made himself readily available when it so happened that Avalon chose to sleep. Every once in a while she would wake up screaming because she thought she was back with Kovarian. The sight of her in that state broke the Doctor's hearts. How he wished he could take it all away but it was clear that even a memory wipe wasn't enough to make the horrible memories disappear. Kovarian no doubt made it a thorough memory wipe but even then Avalon's unique brain didn't take it.

"Can you stay with me please?" Avalon whispered the question so frailly that the Doctor almost missed it.

"Of course," the Doctor smiled against her hair. It wouldn't be the first time he stayed with her after a nightmare until she fell asleep again.

"But like...like stay with me?" She raised her head off his chest and showed him her best sad eyes. "Until I wake up?"

"Oh I know it must be boring but...you're the one who saves me in my dreams. I'd feel a lot better if you were right next to me in real life too."

"I can't argue with your logic," the Doctor said. Avalon rolled her eyes at his smugness. "For my Ava, I'll do anything to make her feel better."

"Never has there been a truer statement said," Avalon sighed contently. "You do everything you can for me."

"I don't know about that..." the Doctor mumbled. He did try but it didn't mean he was successful at it.

"I do," Avalon watched him kick his shoes off. She had a strict rule about her perfectly white sparkly duvet covers not being soiled with dirt. It took only one lecture for that lesson to stick. "You're my Fairy Tale Man. You always save me."

"I try-"

"You do," she insisted. She reached to undo his bowtie, thinking it'd be too uncomfortable to lie down with.

The Doctor watched her easily maneuver the strings. She'd taken custom of undoing his bowtie every once in a while and he learned fast that he loved the feeling of her soft fingers touching his skin. Sometimes it wasn't even the bowtie she was aiming for, she just liked touching him. It was something intimate but not sexual, more gentle and...loving?

"There we are," Avalon handed him the the bowtie. "Wanna keep that in your pockets, right? Bigger on the inside?" God forbid one of those ever got lost. He'd go crazy for sure.

"You should sleep, c'mon," the Doctor scooted slightly so they could both lay down.

Avalon immediately scooted her body the amount the Doctor had pulled away. "I'm not sure I can sleep now."

"You're making me stay still, you're going to sleep."

Avalon laughed. "Fair enough." She snuggled up to him and practically pulled his arm over her waist. "That's better. Now I know for sure that I won't have another nightmare, not when my Fairy Tale Man is holding me."

"The trust you have in me is beyond me," the Doctor admitted with genuine guilt lacing his words.

"Oh shush. You have got to stop blaming yourself for everything bad that happens to people around you. That's what gives Kovarian fuel to her cause."

"How do you mean?"

Avalon sighed and tilted her head up at him. She'd been wondering when it would be the right time to tell him the fact that she knew about his previous companions and all the battles he'd been a part of; that Kovarian had forced her to learn everything. Maybe now is as good a time as ever...

The Doctor could see the struggle in her eyes and assumed it was yet another thing Kovarian caused. "Ava? You can tell me."

"...I'm afraid of how you'll react."

A ripple of anger flourished through the Doctor's body as he thought of what Kovarian told Avalon to make her fear telling him something. Despite his moral code, he was sure that if he ever saw that woman again...he'd kill her. And yet, as he passed a hand over Avalon's hair he did it so gently that Avalon could never guess the dark thoughts that were running through his mind right now. "You can tell me anything, Ava. You can always tell me anything." Avalon closed her eyes when she felt his lips press against her temple.

"I...I know about things...from your past..." she had spoken so quietly she wondered if he managed to hear her words. When he didn't respond, she tilted her head up again. He was still but there was a clear fear etched across his face. Now he was afraid.

"What-what kind of things?" his voice had fallen to a similar volume as Avalon's whisper.

"Kovarian made me learn about some of your previous, most recent, battles from your past. She thought that it would help brainwash me if she taught me the 'truth' about you."

"Oh..." the Doctor couldn't find a place to glue to his gaze to. His hearts were beginning to hammer under his chest just thinking what Avalon knew. This wouldn't be happening if you'd had the courage to tell her yourself, he snapped at himself.

He'd been focused on the happy, kissing times and actively ignoring the darkness that followed him. He was foolish to think that he could keep the blissful bubble around them forever. Sooner or later, Avalon would learn his past.

Avalon's hand slid from his chest up to his cheek. She could only guess what was going on in that big head of his. That's what Kovarian wanted. She wanted him to be guilty and ashamed because when he did feel those things, he would either let himself be killed or do the job for them.

"I understand it wasn't your fault," she assured him.

"What do you know?" the Doctor found his courage but he wasn't sure if he could hold onto it as she answered.

"I know about the Reality Bomb the Daleks built and how the walls of the universe were breaking down. One of your old companions, Rose Tyler, inadvertently helped break the walls when she was trying to get back to you. I know that the Daleks made you see how changed your companions were because of you." Avalon watched his face sink as she told him everything about the Crucible. She hated the way he couldn't look at her out of shame.

"I had to do it..." he weakly argued when Avalon reached to the point of Donna Noble's memory wipe. He swallowed hard just remembering the way Donna had cried and begged him not to take her memories. "I ruined her life...like I ruined everyone else's."

"You didn't ruin them, you changed their lives," Avalon flinched at his hard scoff. He pulled his arms from her body and moved away from her. She immediately missed his warmth but even as she tried to reach for his arm, he made himself scoot to the edge of the bed.

"Tell me what else you know," he instructed her, his voice cool yet she didn't miss the sharpness in it. There was no choice of keeping everything back.

With a sigh, Avalon went back to talk about the year that never was. As soon as she mentioned the Master, the Doctor's entire body flinched. His horrified expression told her she should've never learned about him. It made it all the more difficult to keep going. "I know about the...the Toclafane? I think that's what they were called. A lot of people died but I also know that it never happened. No one died." She then switched gears to the Battle of Canary Wharf. "I-I remember that the Cybermen...the robots...they were everywhere. And the Daleks. Kovarian showed me the pictures of the aftermath. That's how I remembered it better. So many people died..."

"And I was at the middle of it," the Doctor muttered. "I was the reason. I couldn't save everyone. Kovarian was right. I got up and left afterwards."

Avalon pursed her lips together. "You didn't do it on purpose. It's what happened when you crashed into Amy's garden."

"Avalon I know who I am. I know that I do change people. I mean, I changed Rose so much that she accidentally helped Daleks because she wanted to cross worlds. I did that on accident. Imagine the times where I've legitimately manipulated people to change."

Avalon lowered her gaze. She couldn't take his eyes the way they were, all dark and full of hatred for himself. "This is what Kovarian wants, you know. She wants you to hate yourself-"

"Oh she's a bit late at that, love. I hated myself long before she came about. Is this what she showed you, then? She wanted you to hate me as much as I hate myself."

"But I don't hate you," Avalon once again tried touching him but he got up from the bed altogether.

"Avalon, I would appreciate if you were honest here."

"I am being honest-"

"Avalon!" he snapped, startling her. Her blue eyes widened and blinked fast. "Sorry," he apologized. The last thing she deserved was to be yelled at. She should be yelling at him. "It's important to me, okay? Did learning these things make you think differently about me?"

Avalon swallowed hard. "If you want the truth? Yes...I was a little scared." She felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach when she saw the look of horror on the Doctor's face. "But you know that I'm not afraid of you. Would I be here if I was afraid? No. Right? It was a natural response given everything Kovarian showed me. I saw people dead but I never once blamed you. I am simply aware of the reality that you unfortunately have been in. I am so sorry you've endured all that. Nobody should ever have to."

"Kovarian showed you all that - a minuscule part of my horrors by the way - so you would join them, because she knows how dangerous I am. But that's not everything, why talk about my friends from the past? No," the Doctor almost stormed to Avalon's side. "Why? What could she want from that?"

"Oh Doctor, it's not relevant." Avalon turned her head away too fast for him to believe that was true.

"You look like it bothered you, or scared you. " He brought her gaze back with a finger under her chin. "What else happened, Avalon?"

The Doctor's eyes begged her to answer, for him. He needed to know how much they told her about him, how badly she would be scared of him. Avalon couldn't take it.

"She said you would leave me behind like you did with the others," she whispered. "You would change me, like you changed the others, and that you would leave me, Amy and Rory behind. We'd become more names to your list."

"Oh Ava..." the Doctor's eyes softened, his hands cupping her face, "I wouldn't...I couldn't! Not you!"

Avalon leaned into his touch. "She was so hellbent on making me change my mind about you, but I can't. I know what surrounds you, I know that sometimes people do change around you but they change because of everything they've seen. How could I not change when you've shown me different worlds? How could I not change after everything?"

"You shouldn't have to change, that was Kovarian's point," the Doctor moved to sit on the edge of the bed with Avalon. "Nobody should have to die because of me. If I wasn't around, how many people would be alive right now?"

Avalon held onto one of his hands before he could pull them both away from her face. "How many people would be dead if you hadn't helped them? Or...how many people wouldn't exist because of you?"

The Doctor couldn't help smile at that last bit. "Well...maybe it's not all that bad. I got you after everything. I got my Ava."

"And I want to be here for a very long time," she promised him. "I know the truth, Doctor, but it's not the distorted one you and Kovarian have. Believe me." She moved herself so she could hug him.

I wish I could, the Doctor silently thought. He held Avalon for as long as she wanted, but there was still a part of him that wondered if she wasn't just a little bit afraid of him after seeing the mass chaos he'd caused in the past.

~0~

"I'm bored! I am so bored!" Avalon dramatically walked around the console room, stopping between Amy and Rory. "Please, can we go out?" She threw her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "Please?"

The couple shared the same irritated faces and even answered at the same time, "No!"

Avalon groaned and walked away from them. "But I'm bored! It's been weeks without going out! I'ts not fair! I got dressed and everything!" And she was pretty sure that she looked damn good for a day out. She'd rummaged through her closet and found a white wrap top with three-quarter puffy sleeves that she adored. She paired with light blue jeans and a pair of brown ankle-length boots.

"Jeez, you're worse than the Sapling and he's a child," Amy made sure to remind loud and clear so that Avalon would drop her games.

"Oh c'mon!" Avalon stomped her foot, making it clear that she would not be desisting anytime soon. "It's been months since I got back and I'm pretty sure my health is back to normal!"

"It'll never be normal again," Rory frowned but Avalon shushed him.

"If you're not on my side, don't help! C'mon guys!"

"Why are you even bothering us about this?" Amy threw her hands in the air and turned away. She loved Avalon, she did, but sometimes she got on her nerves. Right now was one of those times. "We're not the ones in charge of the TARDIS!"

"Course not, I am," the Doctor came in with the Sapling. "Why are we discussing who's in charge?"

"Doctor, I'm bored!" Avalon exclaimed. "Can we please go out?"

"Oh, I'd love to go out," the Sapling closed the book he was holding and excitedly turned to the Doctor. "Can we?"

"Avalon, why do you do that?" the Doctor sighed with annoyance. "You know hearing you say that makes him want to go out too."

"Really? Didn't know that..." Avalon failed to hide her knowing smile. This wasn't the first time she was asking to go out so she'd began to think of some tricks. "C'mon, it's been weeks since we went to Leadworth. I'm okay now!"

"Because you've been under constant watch," the Doctor reminded her. He was truthfully afraid of taking her out somewhere not sterilized. She was correct about her health - she'd been okay lately and her health was almost that of a regular human's - but it still didn't make the Doctor any less nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea." Needless to say, Avalon wasn't happy with his words. A deep scowl marked her face while he played casual and took the Sapling's book. "Here, why don't you read it? Seems like your kind of thing anyways." He held the book at her for a second before she snatched it from his hands.

"History of Jewels?" she read the title with an unimpressed look. "Seriously? You want me to read this?"

"I learned a lot from it!" the Sapling exclaimed happily. "I like the Fire stone best! What was its proper name, Father?"

"The Ignis Jewel," the Doctor tapped the top of the Sapling's head, making the tree child giggle. "It's actually quite impressive! You should read about it!" He told Avalon who responded with a groan.

"You're bored too," she watched him carefully avoid looking at her when he crossed the room to come up to the console. Ever since she told him that she knew about some of his past, he'd been so weird with her. She should've seen it coming though. As if the Doctor could ever let it all just go. The only thing Avalon hadn't worked out yet was how to get him to move on from it. And he certainly wasn't helping when he kept pissing her off.

"Doesn't matter what I think," the Doctor said from his newest spot away from her.

"Aha!" Avalon whirled around with a finger pointed at the Doctor. "So you are bored!"

"He just said it doesn't matter, Avalon," Rory said before the Doctor could answer. He moved around the ginger and tapped the cover of the book she was holding. "Why don't you go read instead? You love doing it anyways."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "You guys are so mean!" She stomped her way out of the room, leaving the group to hear her stomps getting father and farther.

"Sapling, why don't you go make sure she reads the book?" the Doctor asked, thinking that if the Sapling was around Avalon she would hopefully simmer down.

"Okay!" the Sapling turned and ran after his Mother.

"She is so bored," Amy shook her head.

"I hadn't noticed," the Doctor sarcastically said.

"Would it be so bad if we just went out for a little bit?" As soon as Amy asked the question, she had her husband on her.

"It's too dangerous! She's not ready for that!" Rory was almost shouting so Amy planted a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want Avalon to come back!?"

Rory pushed her hand off his mouth and continued on but with a much quieter voice. "She's not ready to go out."

"Yeah, but she makes a point. How do we know when she's ready if we never let her go out?" Amy folded her arms and waited for somebody to give her the answer. She smirked at the silence that followed. "Exactly. Doctor, she did stay in Leadworth for a few days and nothing happened. How come we can't try something else just for a little bit?"

"Because what if it goes wrong?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. Unfortunately, he forgot he was dealing with Amy Pond.

"What if nothing happens?" she counted and walked up to him. "Look Doctor, I get that we're all worried about Avalon's new health situation but we can't actually keep her locked away forever. She likes Rapunzel but she will hurt us all if she stays here another day!" Amy looked between the Doctor and Rory while she waited for either of them to make a comeback. Of course, none of them did. "So, where should we go?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was quietly reading through the History of Jewels with the Sapling next to her. Since he had already read the book with the Doctor, he was giving Avalon the most important pages he thought she would like. The Doctor had been right: the Sapling's presence did semi-simmer Avalon's anger.

Neither of them noticed the others walking into the media room until the Doctor cleared his throat. He was leading Amy and Rory in and came to a stop beside Avalon's side of the couch. "Ava...?"

"Hmm," she hummed and pretended to keep reading.

"Right, well, we've been talking about it and...maybe you're right. You should have the opportunity to start travelling again." The Doctor didn't want to say that he was expecting Avalon to jump from the couch with excitement but...he did expect it. So when Avalon merely turned the page of her book, he became worried that her anger had worsened.

"Avalon, didn't you hear?" Rory called. "We're going to take you out like you wanted."

Avalon exchanged a secret glance with the Sapling. Both of them smirked.

"Avalon?" Amy asked.

"I have to thank you, Doctor, for making me read this thing," Avalon began to turn the pages of her book. "And the Sapling showed me his favorite jewel, the Ignis Jewel?" She got up from the couch and held the open book for them all to see. "Interesting thing about it is how it was stolen from a civilization and then placed in some elegant museum for other aliens to see."

"Yeah, so?" the Doctor tried taking the book from her but she slammed it shut, nearly getting his fingers had he not flinched away in time. Soon as he saw her mischievous grin, he dreaded what was to come.

"I know what I want to do today! I want to heist!"

"You want to what!?" Both Amy and Rory simultaneously yelled.

Avalon laughed and turned away, swaying with her book to her chest. "Doesn't it sound like fun!? A heist!"

"Yes! Yes!" the Sapling clapped on the couch. "I want to heist too!"

"No, no, there will be no heisting of any kind!" the Doctor wagged a finger at her that she did not see. "Why would you get an idea like that!?"

"Because of your stupid lockdown!" Avalon turned around, her grin momentarily replaced with an angry scowl. "Do you know how many TV series I've binge-watched in these past months?"

"Well..."

"FIFTY!"

"Okay, fifty..." the Doctor made a face and mouthed the number at Amy and Rory. They both nodded their heads in confirmation, making him do another face. Alright, that could drive him crazy too. It would, the voice in his head declared.

"The TARDIS was kind enough to give me series that haven't come out yet on Earth and it showed me one called Brooklyn-99! And guess what they do every year?" Avalon didn't wait for any of them to guess, she blurted the answer out in pure excitement. "They heist! They literally heist and that's what we're going to do today!"

"Avalon Harmony Reynolds you cannot be serious," Amy sternly looked at her granddaughter, wanting both to laugh and shake the girl.

But Avalon was so excited that she didn't even bat an eye at the fact Amy used her middle name that she hated. "I am so serious! Here!" she chucked the book at the trio, making them all scramble to catch it before it hit them. "Check it out!" she told them once Rory held the book between Amy and the Doctor. "It says the Ignis Jewel was stolen from a primitive civilization that would use the jewel to start fires. The jewel ensures fire. If it stays on the ground longer than a minute, it'll start a fire."

"Isn't it cool!?" the Sapling got on his knees on the couch, scooting himself to the armrest next to Avalon.

"Yes, but what's not cool is how these museum chains took it just so other people can come and look at it! It's literally sitting on a pedestal under glass!"

"Okay, okay, I get that it's been stolen but us stealing it back doesn't make us any better," the Doctor said, though there was a glint in his eyes that Avalon saw. He was so interested, he wouldn't be able to deny it for much longer.

"Except when we take it back, we can return it to its proper place!" Avalon grinned. "We'd be like Robin Hood! And we can make a wager if that'll make things more interesting."

"We're not doing this," Rory closed the book but he was mighty surprised when he heard Amy go "Weeeelll..." His head snapped in her direction. "Amy!"

"I don't know, knowing that it's already been stolen and we'd just be taking it back..." Amy shrugged her shoulders and mumbled, very lowly, her next words, "...sounds kinda fun..."

"Amy!"

"Yay!" Avalon clapped her hands. "Amy's on my team!"

"What - no! There'll be no teams because there'll be no heist! Doctor!" Rory whacked the Time Lord's arm to get his support. "Tell her!" Silence. Rory blinked and turned to the Doctor. "Doctor? Tell her!"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, one eye squeezing shut. "I'm thinking..."

"What!? There's no thinking!"

"I'm looking at the possible consequences-"

"DOCTOR!"

"He's in!" Avalon waved the two men off and high-fived with the Sapling. "I told you we could do it!"

Rory slapped a hand over his face. "I can't believe this is seriously happening."

"Better believe it Rory Williams!" Avalon laughed so joyfully that for a moment, the trio forgot about their concerns for this crazy idea. Avalon hopped on the couch with the Sapling and together they clapped. "We are heisting!"

"Stomp jumping on the couch," Amy scolded them before they fell. The pair immediately let themselves fall on the couch into a sitting position.

Avalon flipped her head in their direction, her smirk back on her face. "So then, let's get the teams together."

~ 0 ~

"Knock-knock!" Avalon tapped a knuckle against River's cell, startling the brunette for a second. "Hi River!"

"What are you doing here?" River got up from her bed and hurried up to the gate. "You're not sneaking out again are you?"

"Oh great so the last version I met isn't that far from this you?"

"Somewhat, that was a month ago for me. Where are you right now?"

"Um, well, sort of getting back on my feet. Oh! I did have my first reading in Leadworth - have you gone to that?"

"No..." River eyed her strangely which only confirmed her answer.

"Oh, well, you're invited to my first public reading in Leadworth, October 21st, 2011 at 11:00 AM."

"Duly noted," River hurried back to her bed to jot the date down in her journal. She wouldn't miss that for anything! Her daughter's first public reading? Her heart swelled with pride just thinking about it. "So, what are you doing right now then?"

"Welll..." Avalon swayed her head, missing the way River smirked at her.

"What are you up to, young lady?" These were rare moments where River could sneak in a little bit of motherhood on Avalon without her suspecting.

"We are heisting today!"

Bemused, River stopped writing in her journal. "You're what?"

"We're heisting! And I want you to be on my team!"

River had to laugh. She finished writing the date down in her journal then came back to the cell bars. "Avalon Harmony Reynolds, what are you doing?"

"There's this thing called the Ignis Jewel that's been stolen and placed in a museum so I thought we should pull a heist and steal it back! We'll give it back to its rightful owners!"

"Why on Earth would you want to do something like that?"

"...because I'm bored," Avalon answered with a straight face, only making River laugh again. "I've been locked away for months now with only Leadworth. I was promised stars and planets and I am ready to come back!"

"And the Doctor actually agreed to this?" River asked fully knowing that the man would agree to anything that Avalon asked to.

"Course he did," Avalon shrugged. "He's bored too. So what do you say? Want help me steal something and make sure the Doctor loses?"

The same smirk that'd been on Avalon's face earlier was now on River's. "Always."

~ 0 ~

"Alright," the Doctor announced as he unrolled the schematics of the museum they would shortly arrive at. He pressed the paper against a large table in the TARDIS library for them all to see. "So the Bijou Museum is three-story building with roughly about 10 rooms on each floor. What we're looking for is on the third floor right there!" His finger tapped the small square nearing the middle from their right side. "Each room has their own security feed but, as per rules, I will disable them upon our arrival. Can't have us getting caught before we even steal the damn thing."

"Right, because that would be wrong," Rory said with a sigh of irritation. No one had listened to him about how ridiculous this whole thing was. He should've known that his daughter would of course agree with the entire stunt. River was just as excited as Avalon! Shocker.

"Oh shush," Amy bumped his shoulder with more or less the same excitement as River and Avalon. "It might be fun. I've never stolen anything."

"To be clear," the Doctor cleared his throat and raised a finger in the air. "We are not stealing this, we are retrieving it for a civilization who deserves to get it back." As he finished his clarification, his eyes landed on the Sapling. He didn't want his tree child to get the wrong idea that stealing was okay if you were bored. "We are not stealing."

"Right, we're heisting," Avalon moved around the table so she was across from the Doctor. "Totally different."

"It's really not," Rory mumbled but yelped when Amy jabbed her elbow into his side.

"We're doing something good," the Sapling chimed in to help his parents. They were so excited and he was too!

"Oh father," River shook her head. "Lighten up. It'll be fun. So, the cameras will be off?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. I'll just make it so the screens show the same thing on a loop."

"And nobody will notice that it's a loop?"

Avalon snorted. "Please. They're probably bored to death up in that security room. I bet they're so good at solitaire."

"These are alien security guards, Ava," Rory pointed out. "They don't even know solitaire."

"Actually," River swayed her head. "That's what most of the boys play at home."

"Please, don't help."

River smirked.

"Right then!" the Doctor said to keep things moving. "So we'll have about two hours to pull the heist before the cameras start showing the live feed again. In two hours, we all need to be back in the TARDIS no matter what." His eyes reluctantly found Avalon's. For the life of him he just couldn't face her. Each time he did, he remembered that she knew more about him than he ever wanted her to. The shame and guilt were just inevitable. "Whether or not we have the Ignis Jewel, we all need to come back."

Avalon gave a firm nod. "I understand. Thanks for doing this though." This time the Doctor nodded slightly and quickly looked at someone else. The action hurt Avalon more than she would've thought.

River didn't miss it. She made a mental note to look into that later.

"Anything is fair game except for the TARDIS," the Doctor went on as he pulled up a second copy of the schematics from his inside pocket.

"And your sonic," Amy gave him a pointed look. She held her hand out for the infamous sonic. The Doctor reached into his jacket's pocket and pulled out his beloved sonic. "Thank you!" Amy placed it on the table where the TARDIS would take care it until they got back.

"Alright," Avalon clapped her hands together. "Final thing: the wager." Her eyebrows quirked with a smirk on her face. "If my team wins-"

"Which we will," River muttered to Amy who agreed with a hum.

"-then you have to let me and Amy choose where we will go for the next month. And we pick River up each time. No buts about it."

"Fine, but if you lose - which you will - then you have to stay inside the TARDIS for another month." The Doctor planted his hands on the table and leaned forwards, smirking so smugly like he already knew what the outcome of the heist would be. "No buts about it," he mimicked her tone.

Avalon's tongue pressed against her teeth before she finally clicked it. "Fine." She did the same as him and leaned forwards on the table. "But you can't use any sonic of any type! Not even a little sonic pen!"

"Don't have one..." the Doctor faltered for a moment as he realized he'd never actually made one, "Why haven't I thought about that yet? Never mind! No sonic, no TARDIS. However, I'm also going to need River to promise not to use any of her little weapons she has stored."

River opened her mouth to argue but promptly shut it and shrugged. "Yeah, alright. They're all in my cell anyways."

"How do you even get that past the guards?" Avalon genuinely asked with curiosity.

"I'll tell you later," River smirked until she noticed Amy's disapproving look. Her smirk fell and she cleared her throat. "Or maybe not. Probably not."

"So," the Doctor called, "Two hours. No sonics, no weapons, no TARDIS, and no hurting anyone! Me, Rory and the Sapling against Avalon, Amy and River. Any other question?"

"Yes," Avalon leaned just a bit closer over the table, leaving a questionable distance between her face and the Doctor's. "Are you ready to cater to my every desire after you lose?"

The Doctor would've liked to have answered with "I always strive to" when he remembered there were other people in the room. He might have thought of kissing her too - her smirking lips were begging to be kissed - but other people and his own thoughts were forcing him back. Instead, he chose not to answer directly. He reeled away from the table - putting some distance would help him control himself - and turned to the others. "Let's head out, team!"

"Yes! Good luck Mother!" the Sapling scurried around the table to hug Avalon. The ginger, however, was a bit distracted with the Doctor's rash departure from the room but the Sapling tugged on her sleeve to claim her attention in the end. "Mother, good luck!"

Avalon smiled lightly at him. "Don't go getting yourself into trouble."

The Sapling giggled and rushed out of the room with Rory.

Avalon looked at her own team, choosing to focus on the task they had. "Well then ladies, let the heist begin."

~ 0 ~

Avalon, River and Amy decided to scope out the precise room where the Ignius Jewel was on display. The museum was functioning as it normally would, meaning the room was pretty crowded.

Amy noticed that the other displays of gemstones and the artworks against the walls each had their personal crowd of people. "I'm beginning to think that Rory has a point here."

"What do you mean?" Avalon distractedly asked while she and River studied the Ignius' display. It was a normal golden pedestal with a glass box over it. The jewel was tucked on a navy blue pillow. It was fairly easy...or so it appeared.

"There's loads of people!"

"Shhh, Mother," River put a finger over her lips, but Amy rolled her eyes. "Don't go all nervous on us."

"How are we supposed to get this out without getting caught?" Amy folded her arms and gave a nod towards the jewel.

"Well I have a few ideas," Avalon announced, earning two different reactions from the other two. Amy looked rather concerned that she'd already come up with a way to steal something in a crowded room but River seemed intrigued and perhaps a tad impressed that it only took her a few minutes to get ideas.

"Let's hear it," River gave Avalon the floor but made a gesture for the ginger to keep it down.

"Well," Avalon clasped her hands behind her back as she moved to the left side of the pedestal. "First option would be to lift it out of the glass assuming we could disable the alarm system."

"We'd need to get into the security room," River pointed out, not intending on shooting the idea down but only reminding Avalon they'd need to do that step first.

"What?" hissed Amy but neither her daughter nor her granddaughter paid her attention.

"Right. Shouldn't be that hard though, not if we use the right mode of entry," Avalon agreed with River and slowly moved to the other side of the pedestal. "If we're feeling adventurous-"

"Always," River nodded and shared a smirk with Avalon.

"-we could get some rope and climb down from up there," Avalon raised her head at the ceiling. The spot directly above the pedestal was an air vent. "We'd only need to clear out the room-"

"How would we do that!?" Amy once again hissed.

Avalon and River fixed the same stare on Amy. "Wait for lunch hour, duh."

If she could, Amy would have really liked to scold both of them for being so...alike. Without even trying, Avalon and River were too alike in situations like these and that honestly worried Amy for the future. What kind of trouble could these two get into when nobody was around?

"I checked the schedule," Avalon continued with River. "Lunch is in two hours which is just the time limit we have anyways. It'll be our last resort."

"I say we start the easiest way possible," River declared and before either woman could ask her what that way was, she reached inside her jacket's pocket to pull out a familiar tube of red lipstick.

"Oh I bloody love you!" Avalon laughed a bit too loud and got some looks from the other guests.

River's smirk widened. "Let's go ladies!"

~ 0 ~

"Excuse me?" the Doctor had come up to the reception desk on the first floor of the museum. A young brunette woman was working the desk when he arrived. "I was wondering what times are your scheduled tours for the, uh, third floor?"

"Well, you just missed one," the woman said as she stood up from her seat. "But you can catch the next one in twenty minutes. There's actually a pamphlet, hold on…"

"Take your time, take all the time you need…" the Doctor murmured as he watched Rory and the Sapling creep up to the opposite side of the desk.

"Here we are!" the woman exclaimed, raising her head up just as Rory was about to slip into her part of the desk.

"Oh! Why don't you show it to me!?" the Doctor quickly moved the woman to the very edge of the desk. He decided to pull her out of the desk so that they were standing on his side, hunched over the pamphlets. "I have a son, you see, and he's so adamant that we go through the best tours. Care to pinpoint those?"

Once the woman was thoroughly focused on the pamphlet, Rory tried slipping into the desk again. The Sapling remained just at the edge in case anybody happened to stop by, but he had to physically stop himself from giggling at the funny squatted-walking Rory was doing. He couldn't stand up to search the desk so he had to naturally walk with his legs squatting.

He was loving Heists!

Rory was quick to search for what they came for. His hands raked through the drawers until he reached the last one. It would be in that one that he found a ring of keys. He was careful to take them without jingling them and then bolted from the desk altogether. His hearts hammered until he reached the safety of a hallway.

A few minutes later, the Doctor and the Sapling joined him.

"I hate this!" Rory declared as he handed the ring of keys to the Doctor. "I just stole security keys! Don't-" he pointed a warning finger at the Sapling, "-you ever do that, Sapling! Got it!? Don't do what I'm doing! What any of us are doing!"

The Sapling brought his hands to his mouth as he laughed. "I know, grandfather."

"Oh..." Rory nearly lost his balance when he realized just how truly bad this whole thing was. In the Sapling's mind, his mother, his father, his grandmother and his great grandparents were all teaching him how to pull a heist. "Oh, my stomach hurts. My stomach really hurts." Rory pressed a hand against the wall to lean against while his arm wrapped around his stomach.

"Loosen up, Rory!" the Doctor exclaimed as he scanned the hallway for any suspicious actions. So far, no one had seen a thing. "Now then, these keys will let us walk into any room we want."

"But the damn jewel isn't even in a room with a door! Why did we get the keys at all?" Rory asked once he felt air begin to come back to him.

"Because if we have them, then the girls don't! Do keep up, Rory!"

"Yeah!" the Sapling mimicked his Father's tone. "The girls won't be able to lock or open any rooms!"

Rory's face went flat as his eyes flickered between the Sapling and the Doctor. "Oh, you two are so-"

"That is beyond petty," River's voice pulled the trio's attention to the end of the hallway. "I'm impressed, Doctor." The Doctor quickly stuffed the ring of keys into his inside pocket. Avalon and Amy had come up on either side of River. "But it won't be enough to win this."

"I'm going back to the petty part - that was really petty!" Avalon scrunched her face at the Doctor. "Fairy Tale Man, what the hell?"

The Doctor only slightly looked at her before turning away with Rory and the Sapling. "Off we go!" he ushered them off and ran behind them.

Avalon's face went grim for a moment, and even though it was just for one moment River still noticed it, then turned to the women. "So, lipstick, who are we using it on?"

"I was going to use it on whoever was in charge of those keys. I thought the same as the Doctor," River admitted with a sheepish smile. "I know, don't tell me." Avalon chuckled.

"But he got the keys so now what?" asked Amy.

"We move onto the next phase of our plan of course!" River took the lead down the hallway. It was fairly easy maneuvering their way through without being suspected. Nobody suspected three simple women wanting to find the best art piece on that floor.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a less crowded hallway. They would be going into the security room to de-activate the alarms.

"Amy, ready?" River asked.

Amy fervently nodded. "Keep an eye out. Easy-peasy."

River then looked at Avalon. "Ready?" Avalon was more than excited to finally start. River almost laughed and blew their cover. "Right. One, two, three!" She flung the door open and immediately went up to the first of two men.

"Hey! What are you-"

River grabbed the man's collars and yanked him forwards for a kiss. Avalon went straight for the second man and punched him across the face. She quickly swiped the small stun gun from the man's waist.

"Oh, you know you can't keep that," River warned when Avalon turned around. "Part of the rules, remember?"

"This is to stun," Avalon said, chucking it to River. "And you can keep it for now. Is he going to be okay?"

River looked back at the man she'd 'kissed' and nodded her head. "Yeah. He thinks he's dreaming that he's tied up. Hilarious really. And this one," she moved past Avalon to the man she'd knocked out. She smudged her lipstick across the unconscious man's lips. "Should be doing the same when he comes to. Blimey what a hand you've got."

Avalon proudly smiled behind her. "Now we can get the alarms!"

"Yes! They should be pretty visible!"

Avalon turned to the control panel. Her eyes flickered to the dozens of screens playing the loop that the Doctor had preset before arriving. Everything was completely normal to these people. She and River focused on the mess of buttons and and wires sticking out.

"So while we're here, you want to tell me what's going on with you and the Doctor?" River worked swiftly to find the head of the alarms on the screens. So far, she only had the alarms for the first floor.

Avalon had paused working for a moment to throw River a look. "What? How do you know-" She didn't get to finish asking on account of River scoffing loudly. "It is so weird how you do that!"

River laughed. She'd succeeded getting through the alarms for the second floor and now she just needed the third floor. "I always know about you, sweetie."

"Still," Avalon folded her arms over her chest. "So...so you know that he and I...?"

"Are in a relationship?" River only stopped to nod at her then went right back to work. "Of course I do. Can't hide that from me even if you tried."

"And...and you don't...you're okay with that?"

A flicker of confusion crossed River's face at the question. She stopped working again and turned her head in Avalon's way. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know cos...cos you're from the future. I mean, one time Amy even said if you were the Doctor's wife in the future."

"Hasn't said it to this me yet," River said, prompting Avalon to realize the Byzantium hadn't yet happened to this River yet. "And I really hope she never says it to me. That's...that's just..." She shuddered a breath and made Avalon smile out of relief. "Besides, we've talked about this, remember? The reason I know things about him is because I've seen future versions of him, and you! All your future is my past! We're going in the wrong order, sweetie, so of course to you it would look like I just know everything. But the truth is, I don't know everything. You tell me a lot of it, about you and the Doctor. Your future together." River loved watching her daughter's face light up with delight.

"You mean that?" Avalon clearly tried to dial down her happiness and relief but it was a hard thing to do.

"Of course I do! I honestly don't know how you stand that man for more than a few hours! I salute you Avalon, because it can't be easy!"

Avalon laughed for a short moment before a lamenting sigh came through. "Too bad right now we're in a funk. He's upset because I told him that I know about his past, you know the darker parts? He doesn't know how to be around me and...I don't like it. I wish I could sit him down and make him talk to me again but knowing him all I'm gonna get is his silent brooding face."

"You'll have to give him some time, Avalon. Just like you got your space after Berlin. Give him sometime to really think about it and then he'll come to you. Trust me."

For some reason, Avalon could trust River. It wasn't even because River was from the future, something about her always had Avalon more inclined in her favor. Even when the Doctor was completely against River, Avalon always tried defending her and seeing the helpful sides River often brought to their group. Things had always been like that.

~ 0 ~

With the alarms off, the jewel would be easier to take once they came up with the right plan. However, Amy raised the question of how they would make a clear getaway if somebody would immediately notice the jewel was missing.

"We get a decoy," River's tone was blatantly telling her mother this was yet another obvious thing.

"Really?" Amy jutted her hip. "And do you know where we could get a perfect decoy Ignis jewel?"

"Oh!" Avalon gasped when the answer hit her. "The little shop! There's always little gift shops in these places! I bet they sell all sorta of toy versions of the pieces here."

River pointed at Avalon with a proud smirk. "See that, Mother? Avalon's thinking!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Good job Avalon!"

"Thanks. The Doctor always tells me about the stupid gift shops he's spent hours at..." Avalon's smile lessened when she thought about him. She bet that right now, the Doctor wouldn't tell her anything about what he liked.

"Let's go to the gift shop then, see what happens," Amy sighed and rushed off first.

"We need to head to the third floor," River instructed as she and Avalon followed. "Each gift shop probably sells what's on that floor."

They got to elevator quickly and pressed the 3rd floor button. Once they arrived they made a quick down the hallway. Spotting someone familiar, Avalon skidded to a stop near the entrance of the Ignis jewel's room.

"Doctor!" she clung to his arm before he would run off on her.

"What!? Let go!" he frantically exclaimed, assuming this was one of her heist tricks.

"No, listen to me!" Avalon let go only so that he would calm down. "We, uh, we...we took down the alarms."

That sure made him freeze. "What?"

"Just for the 2 hours. They're down."

"Why would you tell me this?"

Because I really like you and I'll basically tell you anything you want. That would've been nice to say out loud. It would've pulled a smug smile from him. Avalon would pretend to hate it when in reality those smiles made her melt for him. "I just wanted to even the playing field. Wouldn't be very fair, right?"

"Right..." the Doctor gave a slow nod. He made to turn back for the room when he realized he hadn't even made sure Avalon's body wasn't reacting to the new environment. With all the heisting and his own issues, he'd forgotten. He could never let that happen. "How are you feeling?"

The corner of Avalon's lips twitched, warning to turn into a smile. He still wants to make sure I'm okay. Of course he would. He hasn't broken up with you and he hasn't stopped being kind. "I'm okay. I'm having a lot of fun so...thanks for doing this."

"Avalon!" River hissed from the other end of the hallway, making Avalon jump in her spot. "Stop cohorting with the enemy!"

"Gotta go!" Avalon quickly said and kissed the Doctor's cheek before running off.

The Doctor stayed put in his spot for a few seconds. Whether he wanted to or not, he smiled after her. He was aware of his rude behavior towards her and yet instead of yelling at him, Avalon did that instead. He just didn't know what to do now that she knew more about his dark past.

"Father, I'm in!" the Sapling's voice rang through an comm. piece in the Doctor's ear.

The Doctor shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on their task. "Right. Be careful Sapling!"

"I know!"

"Oh, and the alarms are off. I repeat: the alarms are off." The Doctor turned back for the room and strode in like any other visitor. He scanned the room and saw Rory pretending to study an art portrait hanging next to the Ignis Jewel.

Check.

He then spotted the current tour guide leading a group of guests around the room.

Check.

"And if you look very closely, you can see that each figure is actually made of dots..." the male tour guide was gesturing to the huge portrait hanging in the opposite side of the room. "It was inspired by the human painter-"

"Georges Seurat," the Doctor cut in, nearly sliding in beside the tour guide. "Marvelous French painter if you asked me. Least that's what I used to tell him."

"You've met a human?" One of the guests in the crowd asked, making it seem novelty despite being humanoid themself.

"Of course. Do some travelling, you see..." the Doctor prepared his longest rambling story that he would tell with extra pauses.

Rory glanced over his shoulder to make sure the crowd was deep into the Doctor's riveting story. They were. Rory turned away from the painting and quietly used his own comm. piece. "Sapling, now."

"Yay!" the Sapling exclaimed. He was up in the air vent waiting for his signal and now that it was, he peered over the vent. It was perfectly above the Ignis' display. He placed a hand over the vent and let his fingers extend into branches.

Rory nervously watched the branches stick against the wall and slowly creep its way down. From his spot, the Doctor made sure the Sapling was heading his branch in the right direction.

"Little bit to the right," he mumbled under his breath and continued with his story for the guests.

"Sorry!" the Sapling tried moving his body around so he could see the display and the wall but the slits of the vent were too narrow.

"You've got it now," Rory assured him. The branches were reaching the top of the display. Despite the Doctor telling them that the alarms were off, the Sapling still hesitated to actually touch the glass display. "C'mon Sapling!"

The branches slipped between the wall and the glass case but now the Sapling would have to sneak under the case for the jewel.

"A little to the right now," Rory instructed while not making it blatantly obvious he was staring at the branches on the wall. "No, no, my right not yours!"

"Sorry!" the Sapling shifted the branch to the right side and started to feel the tip of the cushion. "I feel it! Now I just gotta-"

"Aaaah! What is that!?" A screaming woman had froze the trio in their respective stops.

Rory scrunched his face when he realized a woman had stopped by to see the jewel.

"Thanks Rory," the Doctor groaned lightly before rushing towards them. The crowd was right behind him.

"What is that!?" the woman kept crying and pointing at the branch stuck on the wall.

"It's an infestation!" the Doctor quickly supplied the excuse as quickly as it came to him.

"Sapling, get out of there," Rory hurriedly left the crowd to speak to the child.

"I know! I know!" the Sapling wiggled his arm which in turn made the branch on the wall wiggle as well. He winced when he heard the same woman's scream again.

"Nothing to worry about folks, just a petty infestation," the Doctor said only a few seconds before the Sapling disconnected the piece of branch from his body. He beamed at his regular hand and quickly crawled back through the vents.

Down below, the branch crumbled into pieces...and the same woman still screamed.

~ 0 ~

"Right this way folks," Amy the newest museum tour guide led a group down the hallway, going past the Ignis' room.

"Wait, we're not going into this room?" an elderly humanoid man asked and pointed to the room on their way.

"Not right now. It's at the end of the tour, c'mon," Amy motioned the group to walk faster with her.

Inside the room, River and Avalon were making rounds looking at different artworks separately. There were hardly any people in the room since Amy had taken away the current tour group. Avalon waited near the entrance and as soon as a roaming guard walked in, she loudly coughed. River turned right away from an art piece and made a casual walk in the guard's direction. She purposely went around another jewel pedestal and dropped a red jewel that looked exactly the same as the real Ignis.

Avalon waited for River to be a safe distance away from the guard before gasping loudly. "Oh my goodness! Is that the Ignis jewel!?" At her question, the guard spun around to where she was pointing.

"I think it is!" River agreed and motioned the others in the room come see it.

"But that's impossible!" the guard rushed towards the sight, though because people were spread around the jewel, it was difficult getting through.

Avalon took her opportunity to dash up to the Ignis' display.

"Move! Let me see!" the guard shoved an old woman out of the way, earning himself a colorful response from her. "Sorry, ma'am!"

River poked her head around the crowd to see Avalon lifting the glass display, though it seemed pretty heavy judging by the struggle she was in. Avalon had her entire arms wrapped around the glass case and she lifted with all her might. She was halfway there when they got a lovely call...

"Mother! Hi!" the Sapling's sudden call made Avalon drop the case back in its place. At his call, the group turned away from the jewel and allowed the guard to finally pick it up.

"This is just a gift shop souvenir!" he groaned. "Seriously people?"

River scrunched her face but Avalon stalked her way out of the room, intending on shouting at the Doctor and Rory for sabotaging them. However, only the Sapling was in the hallway.

"Where's your father? Why are you alone!?"

The Sapling chuckled. "Father said he wanted to go to the gift shop and I snuck out. I don't think he's noticed yet-"

"Sapling!" they suddenly heard the Doctor's voice from the end of the hallway. He came zooming out of the store and sticking his head into each room for the Sapling. "Sapl-"

"I'm here, Father!" the Sapling waved his hand.

"Yeah, nice going! And sabotaging by the way!" Avalon shook her head and ushered the Sapling to the Doctor.

"Really?" the Doctor smiled proudly at the Sapling for a moment. "Good job, Sapling."

"I didn't mean to but okay!"

"GO!" Avalon yelled through her gritted teeth and was quite satisfied to see both of them rushing away from her.

~ 0 ~

The trip to the gift shop spawned a device for a purpose that Rory couldn't understand yet. The Doctor tinkered with the makeshift device on their way down the hallway. "Right then, with this we'll be able to grasp the frequency of the glass display. According to the Sapling, Avalon struggled to lift it which means that it has to be pretty strong."

"What - so you were sabotaging them?" Rory threw him and the Sapling a disapproving look.

"No, of course not, but the Sapling had perfect timing!"

The Sapling agreed in a hum. "Mother was trying her best to lift the case but she couldn't. I thought I might help her but then I remembered we were on different teams. Maybe next time I can be on her team!"

Rory's eyes widened. "The next...? No! There won't be anymore heists after this! Doctor, whatever you're thinking, please tell me it'll work so we can finally leave this place?"

"With luck, it will," the Doctor tapped a knuckle against the small beeping device in his hands. He'd found some petty tech souvenirs in the gift shop that he'd torn apart to reconstruct for his needs. It resembled his sonic but it was not his sonic. There were no sonics allowed after all. "And I added a touch of a laser in case it doesn't."

"Why would we need a laser?" Rory dreaded to ask and felt even worse when the Doctor smirked.

A short moment later they were back in the Ignis' room. The Doctor moved to the Ignis' display and discreetly took the scan of the glass. The results concluded that they would need to come up with another way to take the glass off because lifting it would require at least two of them and the Sapling couldn't risk using his branch-like abilities in public.

"Gentlemen, listen very closely..." the Doctor started to whisper their next moves and in the next few minutes, they enacted it.

The Sapling was hopping around the room, taking Rory from one art piece to a pedestal. He excitedly touched one pedestal, immediately instigating the scold of the guard.

"Sorry, he's just so excited," Rory apologized but by then the Sapling had gone to touch an art portrait.

"Hey!" the guard went after him and thus Rory too.

The Doctor pointed his makeshift device at the Ignis' display and shot a thin laser at it. He leaned closer to it, making it seem like he was just getting a better look at it while his hand slowly went in a circular shape. Just one small circle and he could pull it off. But midway through, something in the next room exploded and rocked everyone on their feet.

"What!?" the Doctor spun around, his first thought going to the Sapling and Rory, but they were just as confused as everyone else.

"Avalon?" River came running into the room with Amy at her side.

Avalon! The Doctor dropped his device to the floor and bolted for the women. "Where's my Ava?" He searched around them but, like everyone else, they didn't know what was going on. The Doctor could actually feel the way his hearts started picking up their beats. "Where is she!?"

"I-I don't know! She was supposed to be cutting through the wall-" River tried gesturing to the wall directly behind the Ignis' jewel but she was just as concerned as the Doctor.

"Everybody stay put!" the guard in the room started heading for the entrance. "Nobody move-" But the Doctor was already way ahead of him, literally. "Sir!" the guard called but the Time Lord was out of the room in two seconds. "Sir!"

"What do you think happened?" Amy quietly pulled River to the side while the rest of the guests were ushered together.

"My guess?" River gave Amy a look asking her if she truly wanted to know. Of course Amy did. "My daughter got carried away with her new toy. Now c'mon, we'll have to be in front of the pedestal in a bit and then we'll have to get Rory and the Sapling. We'll need to do a lot of running!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was crouched in front of a wall, humming the tune of Once Upon a Dream tune to herself as she finished cutting a circle into the wall with a new gun. She had no idea that guards' guns were this powerful. She'd made an explosion a few minutes ago just because she'd accidentally fired it at one of the metal shelves. The shelf had fallen against the wall and pretty much destroyed everything that'd been on it, but everything else in the storage room was fine.

"River and Amy: I hope you're ready," Avalon said once she successfully cut the hole in the wall. It was a small hold that wouldn't be give her away but would still be visible on the other side. She put the gun down on the floor then pulled out another Ignis decoy jewel from her jean's pocket. Her hand squeezed through the hole and was relieved to feel the velvet of the cushion the Ignis jewel was on.

On the other side, River and Amy were standing directly in front of the pedestal. Amy looked over her shoulder and saw Avalon's fingers searching for the jewel.

"She's in," she whispered to River who was keeping her eyes on the guests. The guard had positioned himself at the entrance, not letting anyone come in or go out until the museum figured out what had caused the explosion.

"Good, because we'll be running in five minutes."

"Why five?"

"Because that's when they'll be figuring out we took down the alarms."

"Ah." Amy's eyes found Rory and the Sapling across from them and willed her husband to meet her gaze. She mouthed 'Five minutes and run' to him, hoping it'd be enough to get the point across.

Thankfully, he had.

River discreetly glanced behind them and saw Avalon was puling her hand back through the wall with the Ignis Jewel in hand. "That's my girl," she whispered proudly and continued to look ahead.

Back in the storage room, Avalon had cheered when she pulled her hand out and saw the bright red jewel in her palm. "Avalon Reynolds, you are a genius!" She had just stuck her hand back into the hole when the Doctor burst into the room.

"There you are! Are you okay!?" His sudden entrance and yell had startled Avalon into smacking her head against the wall.

"Doctor, you idiot!" She rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"What are you doing!?" the Doctor made sure to close the door behind him. The guards were going back and forth trying to discover the origin point of the explosion. It was then that he noticed the fallen shelf in the corner of the room. "And what did you do to that!?"

"Had an accident with that," Avalon nodded her head to the gun sitting beside her. "It's all good, though." She struggled to yank her hand out of the hole again but once she did she cheered. "It's all very good!" She jumped on her feet and turned around with the Ignis Jewel in her hand. "Because I just won this heist!"

"I thought you were hurt," the Doctor sighed but she scoffed at his concern.

"Please!"

"What!?"

"Oh you know what it means! You've barely looked at me ever since I told you what I learned with Kovarian! So don't come running here, telling me that you were concerned! Just acknowledge that you've lost!" She waved the jewel in the air and strode for the door, only for the Doctor to grab her arm and turn her back.

"I always care, Ava! I've just been having trouble accepting that you have a better idea of what I am!"

Avalon shoved his hand off her arm and scowled. "For the last time, I know who you are! You're my Fairy Tale Man and I hate seeing you doubt yourself! I know who I'm dating, alright?" Her anger faded to be replaced with a soft sigh. Her lips curved into a near pout. "And I really miss his hugs and his kisses..."

The Doctor's shoulders slumped as his head seemed to lower. "I'm sorry Ava. I'm afraid that this whole blissful bubble is reaching its end and that you're going to be afraid of me. Lots of people are afraid of me...but I don't know what I'd do if you were afraid of me."

"That's never going to happen," Avalon felt like this would have to be something she would be repeating for a while. That was okay. She knew that a few months ago she was in constant need of reassurance. It was her turn to be there for the Doctor and she would be. "I need my Fairy Tale Man right next to me..." She took the needed steps to leave them face-to-face. "And if he needs me to tell him every morning, every afternoon, every night I'll do it." Her free hand came to stroke his cheek. "I'll be there."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "Even if he's an idiot?"

"Yeah, I think it's a cute look on him..." Avalon smirked at his reddened face. She laughed and kissed him, muffling her own laugh.

It was true what Avalon had said. The Doctor had only just now realized it'd been too long without a kiss between them and now that he had her with him, he would be making up for lost time. He passed a hand under her chin, lifting her head up slightly more. It gave a much better angle for a rougher, faster kiss. Avalon brought her arms over his shoulders, never realizing that she'd let go of the Ignis jewel. Neither heard it clink against the floor and roll a few feet away from them.

Avalon forgot the Heist altogether when the Doctor hoisted her up. He hadn't yet done that and she wasn't complaining one bit. She wrapped her legs around his waist and met his lips again for a continuation. The Doctor's hand gone up to the back of her neck and firmly pressed her against his body. He couldn't get enough of her right now. Her sweet lavender scent, on a normal day, was simply wonderful but right now it was intoxicating. He left her lips - something Avalon deeply groaned for - but she got over it when she felt his hot kisses on the side of her neck.

She moaned and tilted her head in the opposite direction, giving him an easier access to her sweet skin. He had only started a few seconds ago and he was already settling in the crook of her neck, a spot he'd come to learn was one of the spots for Avalon. He gently bit down and smirked when she automatically gasped. He felt her fingers grasp the back of his hair, an extra treat for him for being oh-so-kind to her.

"More, more," she patted the nape of his neck, letting her eyes fall shut.

"More?" he taunted with a soft kiss on the same spot.

She groaned at it, making him laugh. "Not funny! Don't start what you're not going to finish you tease!"

The Doctor bit the same spot again, harder than the previous time, and heard her moan for him. He continued his series of kisses afterwards, bouncing her bit to keep her steady between his arms.

Avalon laughed when his lips once again attached themselves to her neck. Seems like he found his favorite spot, she realized and once he started leaving new hot kisses on her clavicle then nearer to her throat and finally lower...she realized it was her favorite spot too. He was outlining the v-neck of her blouse but had distinctly heard her moans louder when he went straight down her throat. She was right, he was a tease and he was enjoying every minute of it. She eventually got frustrated that he'd forgotten about her lips for a while so she raised his head. "I'm up here my love." She dove down for a kiss, quickening it within seconds.

Neither of them noticed the steam that was beginning to rise from the Ignis jewel on the floor...but they flinched when the sprinklers went off. All the rooms had suddenly fired its sprinklers on.

Their lips reluctantly, and slowly, disconnected as they both turned their heads up to the sprinklers.

"I thought we disabled the alarms...?" Avalon made a face at them, though she had to look down from to avoid the pelting of cold water in her eyes.

"Fire system is a different system," the Doctor said distractedly.

"But why would they go off...?"

Their eyes simultaneously widened at each other when they remembered. "The Ignis Jewel!"

The Doctor let Avalon down and both turned their attention to the steaming jewel on the floor. "It wants to burst into fire but the sprinklers are disabling it. We gotta get it out of here." The Doctor ran towards it only for Avalon to scream "NO!" and jumped on his back. "AVA!" The Doctor shouted at her.

"It's mine! I had it first!" She exclaimed, keeping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Avalon, get the hell off of me! I'm trying to bring it back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor tried prying her hands off him but she was strongly holding them together.

"Yeah, and bring it into the TARDIS first! I know that you're trying to trick me! You bring it in and you win the heist!"

Maybe I am, he silently thought. She was just too smart. "Fine! But it's fair game!"

"IT'S MINE!"

The Doctor spun around twice before finally pushing Avalon off his back. He winced when he heard her hit the ground with a loud thud. "Ava!" He turned around just as she groaned.

"Ow..." She scrunched her face in pain.

"Avalon, I am so sorry!" the Doctor reached to help her stand up. She took his hand but the moment she had a tight grip on him, she yanked him down to the ground beside her. "Uff!" the Doctor felt his back connect with the floor in two seconds flat. He heard Avalon's teasing giggle beside him and turned his head to see her looking at him with the biggest smile on her face. She was looking incredibly beautiful right now despite the water soaking them wet. Her ginger curls were sticking to her face, but her blue eyes were shining with mirth. It was as if somebody had pressed the rewind button and they were back to a time before the Silence and Kovarian had struck. They were traveling together while Amy and Rory were honeymooning. It was just him and Avalon, exploring and pulling shenanigans like this. The Doctor admitted to himself that he could see a life like this with Avalon, only with Avalon because he lo...

Oh God. I love her. The Doctor felt his hearts stop while he caught up to his own thoughts. He loved her. He loved Avalon. He loved the wild, unpredictable, passionate writer that was Avalon Reynolds. He loved her sweet self, her kind eyes and warm heart...he loved her temper and her challenging personality.

"Gotcha!" Avalon giggled again as she bopped his nose.

The Doctor grabbed her hand before it could leave his face and kept their fingers intertwined. This is my girl, he realized with his swelling hearts. He couldn't imagine himself being with anyone else but her. Only Avalon would pull this kind of stuff on him, and truth be told it was the same stuff he'd do too. One moment they were passionately snogging and the next...she was jumping on his back and he was spinning around to get her off.

He brought their interlocked hands and kissed Avalon's hand softly. "You got me alright."

Avalon blushed and sat upright. "Yeah?" He nodded and smiled when she leaned down to kiss him again. "You got me too," she whispered and pressed another kiss to his lips. "And I'm...going to get myself first place for this Heist!" She jumped from her spot and swiped the Ignis' jewel off the ground.

"Avalon!" the Doctor cried but a part of him was already laughing by the time he got up.

The ginger ran right past him. "Can't catch me!" she taunted on her way out.

The Doctor smirked after her. "I do love me a good chase!"

Avalon's laugh echoed down the hallways they ran through. And because somebody knew her laughter so well, River was able to catch it from the next room.

"Now Amy!"

"RORY!" Amy yelled before she made a dash with River.

"Sapling!" Rory grabbed the Sapling's hand and ran after the women.

"You can't leave this room!" the guard at the entrance barked but River neatly punched him across the face.

Amy's mouth fell open but River yanked her out of the room. "You just punched that guy!"

"Yes, I did! You're welcome!"

"River!" Rory called once he and the Sapling were behind them in the hallway. "You just punched a guy!"

"You're welcome!" River groaned and picked up her pace. They needed to get out of here fast or else she'd have another charge against her.

The group ran past guards and lingering guests until they reached the first floor. Elevators were down so they had to take the stairs, but with their adrenaline they crossed them in no time. Finally, they saw the TARDIS standing in the basement just like they'd left her earlier.

"I see Mother and Father!" the Sapling exclaimed just as the pair had disappeared into the TARDIS.

"I WIN! I WIN! I WIN!" Avalon was cheering around the console when the group ran inside. "I win the heist!"

"Oh shut up!" the Doctor went after her in a sulk. Soon as he saw the others coming in, he took the TARDIS off. Safe and sound they were, but nobody was safe from Avalon's relentless yelling.

Avalon was dancing around the console, waving the jewel in her hand. "I win the heist! And my dear Doctor lost! I win!"

River laughed and high-fived her daughter. "Good job!"

"Yeah!" Avalon high-fived Amy next. "We won, ladies!" She turned around to the Doctor and smirked. "Did I mention I won?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," the Doctor muttered.

"Thank God this is over," Rory exhaled and finally felt his stomach rid itself of those knots. "What was that explosion anyways?"

"That was me! I accidentally fired a shelf," Avalon dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand.

"WHAT-"

"But I won! I won the first heist!"

"First and last," Rory cut in with a stern finger pointed at his granddaughter. "We are never doing this again!"

Avalon's smirk promised something else, though.

"Mother, I'm so happy you won," the Sapling rushed to Avalon's side and hugged her. "But maybe next time I can win!"

Rory groaned, throwing his hands in the air as he turned away. Amy moved over to console her husband.

"Alright, this is truly been a pleasure," River started making her way around the console, switching buttons here and there to set course for Stormcage. "I must get going though."

"No, not yet. You should dry up and get changed," Avalon gestured to River's wet appearance. They were all soaked from the sprinkles. "Can't have you going back all wet and stuff."

"Right," River agreed with a nod. "Give me a second then." She hurried off for the corridors and since the water had been truly cold, Amy and Rory followed seconds later.

"Sapling, you may be made out of bark but please go get dried up too," the Doctor nodded the child towards the hallway.

"Okay! But what are we going to do with the jewel now?"

"Well, we're giving it back to its rightful owners," the Doctor glanced at Avalon to see her agreeing with a nod.

"Yes! And listen Sapling," Avalon stepped up to the Sapling, crouching in front of him. "Uncle Rory was right when he said that we don't steal. What we did today was different, alright? It was fun, but we weren't trying to hurt anyone. I really hope you understand this..."

The Sapling laughed carelessly. "Of course I do! Mother and Father don't hurt people! Heisting was just different but I know that it's not okay to steal."

"That's my boy," Avalon chuckled and kissed the Sapling's cheek. "Now go get dried up!"

"Okay!" the Sapling ran off to find his bedroom.

"He knows, Ava," the Doctor said once they were alone.

"I just don't want him growing up with my irresponsible behavior in him," she sighed. "God knows I was a handful."

"Was?" the Doctor innocently asked and received quite a hard mock glare in return. "You should've seen me back in my day."

"I'd like to learn about it one day," Avalon's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What was my Fairy Tale Man like when he was a child?"

"Oh, dangerous question..."

"Even then?"

"Yes."

"Oh my..." Avalon laughed shortly then came up to him, a soft smile gracing her soaking face. "Well, when you're ready, I'd love to get to know about those parts of your life. Nine hundred years has to have some nice parts right?"

"...yes," the Doctor nodded slowly. There were plenty of moments he would always cherish from his past. Funny how easily he could forget them when somebody dangled his darker moments in front of him.

Avalon reached around his neck to undo his bowtie, reminding him of the gentle moments he'd missed between them as well. "You should go change too." She picked his left palm up and let his bowtie fall into it. "I'll meet you here in 20 minutes. Maybe 30. This-" she gestured to her wet curls, "-might take a bit more time to tame."

"You still look beautiful as ever," the Doctor passed his hand through her curls. Avalon closed her eyes for a minute and let herself enjoy the touch of his fingers playing with her hair. The Doctor would've loved to play with her hair for hours, but he needed to he responsible. "Go on, love. I don't want you getting a cold. Lower immunity system means you're a lot more susceptible to common illnesses like a cold."

"Right," Avalon sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. She turned to leave but stopped at the stairs. "Oh," she turned back, "And don't worry. I'll be sure to wear this blouse more often."

The Doctor's face went red in an instant, especially when Avalon pushed her hair to one side so he could see the reddened spots on her neck and, shamefully, near her cleavage. He coughed in embarrassment while Avalon laughed.

"I'm a biter too so...expect that the next time," she blew him a kiss and ran off.

My girl alright, the Doctor smiled to himself once he was alone.

Author's Note:

Listen I just KNOW that if Avalon was real she would totally vibe with Brooklyn 99. I even know for a fact that she would love Rosa Diaz. I just do okay? And you just know that it would only be Avalon and the Doctor who would pull heists. It's just so them. But yayayay the Doctor knows that he loves her, when do you think Avalon will realize she loves him too? I loved writing that moment too.

#ocappreciation #doctor who #11th doctor #doctor who fics #11th doctor fics #11th doctor imagines #doctor who imagines #dw imagine #dw imagines #11th doctor imagine #doctor who imagine #oc: Avalon Reynolds #fic: falling in temptation

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crockettmarcel · 3 years

Text

day 21 - birth

The first contraction came during a meeting, exactly three weeks before Sarah’s due date. Ava was the only one to notice the way her breath hitched, and how she gripped the arm of her chair so hard that her knuckles turned white, and she knew straight away what was happening. It only lasted a few seconds, but Ava abruptly ended the meeting, telling the two advisors as they left the room that they’d conclude this at a later date.

She waited until she was sure they’d gone to ask Sarah if she was okay and to help her out of her seat, not wanting to alarm anyone or send rumours flying around the palace. If this was really happening, they wanted to keep it to themselves for as long as possible. So much of the pregnancy had been publicised, despite their best efforts, and even though they knew all of their staff, there were some things that didn’t need to be revealed right away.

Sarah had simply nodded, and allowed Ava to walk her back to their bedchamber. It wasn’t far, but Sarah held Ava’s hand the whole time, squeezing it as tight as she could when the next contraction hit.

“You’re doing really well, my love,” Ava told her, and she just smiled in response. The pain was manageable at this point, and the contractions were far enough apart that by the time next one came around, she’d recovered from the one before it. This she could cope with, but everything only got worse from here, and she could already feel the anxiety building in her chest.

It wasn’t long before Dr Asher appeared in the doorway of their room, and they gladly welcomed her in. With Ava’s help, Sarah had changed out of her dress, which was uncomfortable even on the best of days, and into an old t-shirt and leggings that her mom would have had a fit over. They weren’t suitable for any royal, much less the queen, but Sarah was sure that all rules about royal etiquette were going to be thrown out the window over the next few hours.

The examination was quick, and Sarah’s head was reeling by the time Dr Asher left, having confirmed that their daughter would soon be making her entrance into the world.

This was it - the moment they’d been waiting for for years.

They were going to have a baby.

After everything that had happened with her previous pregnancies, and the complications during this one, Sarah didn’t want to take any risks, so she’d arranged straight away to have the baby in the hospital in the city. There was a private suite, and she knew the doctors there were some of the best in the whole kingdom; she couldn’t see herself anywhere else.

She sat and watched Ava check and re-check their hospital bags, making sure nothing was missing, then once she was finally satisfied, the couple made their way downstairs to one of the side entrances. Crockett was standing next to a waiting car, the concern already written all over his face, and Sarah simply waved him away.

“I’m fine. Dr Asher said everything looked okay, and-” she paused, taking a moment to breathe through another contraction, Ava’s hand low on her back, then looked up at Crockett. “That wasn’t as bad as it seemed.”

He frowned, but didn’t say anything, instead taking the bags off Ava and putting them in the trunk of the car, before opening one of the doors for the two queens. Sarah got herself as comfortable as she could, then stared expectantly at Crockett, who was still standing by the open door.

“Ma’am?”

“Aren’t you getting in?”

“Oh. You- you want me there with you?”

Sarah smiled. “Of course. I’ve already arranged for someone to cover for you.”

This was a complete surprise to him - although he and Sarah had always been close, he hadn’t expected her to want him there for the birth of her first child - but he complied anyway, and sat down on Sarah’s right, trying not to invade her personal space too much.

It was less than half an hour to the hospital, and Sarah spent most of the drive with her head on Ava’s shoulder, and both hands resting protectively on her bump. As they got closer, the panic started to build in her chest, and once they arrived, she had to take a few minutes to compose herself until she was calm enough to go inside.

Ava held her the whole time, taking deep breaths in the hope that Sarah would too, and she did eventually. This was a big day for both of them, and after everything they’d been through over the last couple of years, Ava couldn’t blame her for being scared. God knows she would be.

A nurse met them at the door with a wheelchair - presumably Dr Asher had called ahead - and Sarah slowly lowered herself into it, grateful that she wouldn’t have to walk anywhere. Her contractions were still quite far apart, and she probably could have walked, but she didn’t want to expend any energy if she didn’t have to.

Almost as soon as they were settled in the room, there was a near-constant stream of nurses and midwives coming in and out, checking her vitals and the baby’s, and offering her water or food or anything else she could possibly need or want. Everyone was polite and said all the right things (Sarah suspected they’d been drilled on how to talk to the queen), but it all felt too formal for what she was about to go through. The thought of a nurse with her hand inside Sarah continuing to call her “ma’am” seemed almost laughable, so within half an hour, Ava had told everyone that “Sarah” would do perfectly.

They’d been at the hospital for two hours, with Sarah’s contractions getting steadily closer together, when Crockett approached the bed with his phone out.

“It appears the news has just broken.”

Sarah took the phone and skimmed through the article on the screen. Her Majesty was seen arriving at the hospital just after midday today… It is still unknown whether the country will be welcoming a prince or princess… Many pubs are hosting bets on what the baby will be called…

“I think everyone’s going to be losing some money today.”

“Pardon?”

“The most popular name for a daughter is Elizabeth? Do people really think I’d name her after my mother?”

She shook her head and smiled, then handed the phone back to Crockett. “Keep me updated. I want to see what people are saying.”

From then on, he made a point of every hour, on the hour, showing Sarah what the polls were saying - whether she was having a boy or a girl, and if she’d be using a traditional family name such as her mother’s, or going for something more contemporary.

It was a good distraction, at least while she could still cope with the pain, and Ava loved how invested Sarah was getting in people’s opinions. Her favourite name so far was Charlotte, despite having ruled it out months ago, and the pair ended up having a momentary crisis about the name they’d chosen instead. It resolved quickly though, and soon Sarah was back to pacing up and down the room, as she’d taken to doing just over half an hour previously.

She hadn’t realised how much waiting was involved in a birth - waiting for her waters to break, waiting to be fully dilated, waiting for someone to bring her more ice while she moaned in pain - and she almost cried with relief when, sixteen hours after arriving at the hospital, the midwife told her she could start pushing. She was in the birthing pool by then, with Crockett and Ava holding one hand each, and somewhere beneath all the pain, Sarah was sure she was hurting them with her grip.

If she was, they were doing a good job of hiding it. Ava was whispering reassuring words to her, telling her how proud she was, and every so often Crockett would brush a stray curl away from her damp forehead. They had her completely, and somehow that knowledge helped.

Time seemed to slip away from her, and she wasn’t sure if it had been fifteen minutes or two hours before someone around her announced that they could see her daughter’s head. All she could do at this point was cry and hold desperately onto the two people that meant the most to her as she tried to find the energy to finish what they’d started all those months ago.

After somewhere between twenty minutes and an hour, if Sarah had to guess, she was suddenly a mother. Her daughter - the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen - had been placed on her chest by the midwife, her big brown eyes staring up at the new world around her. She didn’t cry once, and instead just rested against Sarah’s skin, comforted by the familiar sound of her mom’s heartbeat.

Ava cried, Crockett too, but Sarah was too in awe of the tiny person in her arms to do anything but watch her. Her movements were jerky, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do with her limbs now that she had all this space around her, but it soon became obvious what she wanted.

The nurses helped Sarah get settled back in the bed, Ava squeezed in next to her, and as they showed her how to feed the little princess, Crockett left the room to call the Lord Chamberlain. Within the hour, there’d be a sign up just inside the palace gates announcing the birth, and Crockett reckoned it wouldn’t be more than a few minutes after that before it was all over every radio station and news channel in the country.

Her Majesty was safely delivered of a daughter at 0423am today. Her Majesty and her child are both doing well.

#chicago med #royalty!au #sarah reese #ava bekker #crockett marcel #nosdecember #userglow #writing #mine #pregnancy tw #birth tw #idk how i feel about this lmaooo #novwrites

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afy2018 · 3 years

Text

The Legends Awaken

Ava bowed and nodded, waiting for the guards to unlock her necklace and handcuffs before turning around and hugging Sara. She collapsed against her girlfriend, placing many pecks against her cheek and forehead before finally landing one on her lips. Sara stutter-stepped back for a moment, laughing as Ava clung onto her.

“Thank you.” Ava sighed, holding her tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much,” she gasped out, holding back joyous tears.

“I will do anything to protect you, Ava, I love you. To be honest, I don’t know what I would do without you.” Sara confessed against her ear. She sighed and stepped back away from her, “Now, we still have a job to do. You ready for my drama?”

“How bad can it be?”

“Oh, you’ll be surprised.”

Ava rolled her eyes and wrapped Sara’s arm around her hip, tugging her close, as they made their way to the Waverider. She had only spent a small amount of time away from her but had almost forgotten how Sara made her feel. The way she made her laugh and smile and even when they fought, they still reconciled and loved and trusted one another. She felt like a stronger and better person. When they trained or meditated, she could feel their souls entwine and enhance one another. It felt like a dance; an intense tango that always ended with them both prepared for a fight.

Sara strapped herself into the pilot’s seat, waiting for Ava to lock herself in the chair adjacent to her and took off for her home planet. They blasted off into hyper speed, stars zipping past them in a glittering and strobe tube of lights. In a moment, they stopped and jutted forward.

Ava gazed upon this solar system. She had surprisingly never been to Mandalore- because she was never allowed- and had been amazed by the beauty of this tan and olive planet. She could see the green cracks and lines of rivers that scratched across the surface of Mandalore; the way they spread out and littered it like a heat cracked window. It was a cloudy day across the lower left corner of the olive planet and there was a flash of light over the clouds.

She glanced at Sara, unsure why she was flying through a thunderstorm. Sara twisted the Waverider through the clouds, passing by bright objects that seemed to tangle themselves in the clouds. Ava glanced back at Sara, watching as a small smile appeared on her face. She cocked her head and smiled as well.

“What’s the smile about?” She asked.

Sara shrugged as they lowered into their spot. “It’s just that I forgot that the Festival is this week.”

“Festival?”

“There’s this festival they have every year that celebrates the Civil War”

“Oh, I heard about that. When I was learning to be a sentinel, we had to learn about some of the biggest wars. It was our job to stop them, be peacekeepers.” Sara almost rolled her eyes, simply turning her head away and unbuckling her seat belt. “What, what is it?”

She sighed, sucking her teeth before curtly responding, “Nothing.”

“Oh, my god, Sara, what is it?”

“We’ll talk about it later, babe.” Ava quickly followed her out of the ship and onto the war-torn planet. Sara turned back to her, shocking Sharpe with her sudden stop. “Just don’t mention anything about being a Jedi. Mandalorians hate them.”

“Oookay, why?” Ava asked as she walked around Sara.

“Oh, you’ll probably see when we go out to the main square.” Sara cryptically noted. “We just have bad blood with you guys.”

“Is that why your people sided with the Sith?”

“Mm, uh,” Sara stuttered, thinking for a moment, “That’s why our leaders sided with the Sith.”

“Wait, why are we recruiting them then?”

“Because from what I heard, a lot of young Mandalorians are neutral with our cause, they just don’t like the Jedi. Look,” Sara pivoted, following the old path to her family’s plot, “I can explain why we’re not big fans of you guys later, I should first clear some stuff up with my family.” she explained, waving her hands in a nervous manner.

Ava had to admit that seeing this side of Sara was very interesting. She watched her body position change as they walked closer and closer to her house. They must have been on her street because she was almost hiding her face behind Ava while they briskly walked down the crosswalk. Ava slipped her hand into Sara’s, stroking the back of her hand with her thumb.

“It’s gonna be alright,” Ava comforted.

“God I hope you’re right. If you’re not then I blame you,” she nervously joked.

Ava gave her girlfriend a quick squeeze before Sara turned off to one of the largest lots in the area. She gazed at the house that rested in the middle of the metal fenced off area, following Sara up the cobblestone road to the front door. Ava’s eyes followed the curve of the dome roof as it covered a circular house.

“Well, while we’re taking our sweet time, why don’t you tell me about this place?” Ava offered.

“Oh… well, it’s just… an old piece of land my dad inherited from… I honestly don’t know how many generations have owned this, but it was first bought about… 4000 years ago to train the Mandalorian Knights.”

“Who were they?”

Sara stopped in front of the front door and took a deep breath before knocking. “They were Mandalorian Jedi.”

“I thought you said-”

Suddenly the door opened. An older looking man stood in the doorway, his tall frame taking up the entire entrance. His face was scarred and wrinkled. His hair was shorn short enough to reveal his scalp below. Ava looked at his dark eyes that just darted up and down Sara’s body and face. His eyes began to water and his face broke into a warm smile as he lunged out from his spot to embrace Sara. He lifted her up off of the ground, holding her tight.

“Oh my god, you’re still alive,” he whispered.

“I learned to survive from the best.” Sara smiled as he let her down again. “This is my dad, Quentin,” she introduced.

“Hi, Mr. Lance,” Ava nervously greeted, reaching over to shake his hand.

“You gotta name, youngin?”

“Oh, yeah, Ava… Sharpe.”

Quentin nodded shortly and stepped out of the way. “It’s just me here, which is probably for the better. Why don’t we talk in the kitchen, I’ll grab a few drinks.”

“Thanks, daddy.” Sara smiled, following him into the old home.

Ava watched him limp through the house and behind a wall into what must have been the kitchen area. She tightened the buckle on her black jacket as she followed them in, a nervous rush flashing through her veins. This was something that she had never done before, she wondered if Sara could tell if Mr. Lance could tell. They turned the opposite corner to the kitchen and into the dining area. Sara sat down in one of the chairs, pulling out another one adjacent to her for Ava to have. She turned to watch her father’s actions, smiling at the old memories she still had.

“So,” Quentin asked, “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Neither do I.”

“I guess… how’s Ben been?”

“When I last saw him, he was an old and still sassy man.”

“Hmm,” he chuckled handing them the opened bottles, “He’s always been like that, a stubborn old man who only wanted things his way. What else… what did you do after your training?”

“I lived on Tatooine doing what we do best.”

“Stealing?”

“Becoming a bounty hunter,” she proudly nodded, taking a long drink from her beer.

“So, I take it your her partner?” He asked Ava.

“Yeah, but not in bounty hunting.” She noted.

“Just in life then? Good for you two.” Quentin smiled.

“A bit more, dad.” Sara nervously began. “We’re actually here for the Alliance to Restore the Republic.”

“What are you talking about… I guess that explains why you’re back.” He thoughtfully admitted with furrowed brows. “It’s not safe for you here, both of you, but especially you, Sara. I’m guessing you know?”

“She’s actually a former Jedi.”

“Oh, then you’re even more at risk.”

“Why isn’t it safe?” Ava asked.

“Well, Mandalore has aligned with the Empire.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, so we’re getting ready to move more Empire soldiers here in two months.”

“What happened?”

“We had to protect our planet.”

“What’s happened since I left.”

“You’ve been gone for almost twenty years, a lot’s happened. Things haven’t been going to well and when the Empire came to take over Mandalore, we decided to help them instead. Our mercs are getting ready to ship off soon. I don’t know where, though.”

“We have to tell the Alliance,” Ava told Sara.

“Yeah, umm… we should,” Sara nodded.

“Sara, why don’t you stay a little longer. Diana and Laurel are coming by soon, and we’d like to know how it’s been.”

Sara nodded, looking over at Ava before giving him a small shrug, “I used to work for Jabba.”

“He still has a place on Tatooine?”

“Yeah,” she smirked.

“What happened after you left?”

“Well, four years ago, I joined the Alliance. I now have a ship, a crew, and a rank.”

“Your own ship?”

“Yup, the Waverider. She’s old but reliable.” She joked.

“I wish I was still young enough to do that stuff,” he reminiscently smiled.

“What did you used to do?” Ava asked.

“After Kryze started her reconstruction, I served as one of her guards until this one was born,” She smiled gesturing to Sara. “After she was born, General Kenobi of the Jedi Order came to Mandalore. He saw my daughter and told me that I needed to protect her. I honestly didn’t understand until Order 66 happened. I knew I had to protect you, so I sent you with him.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Wait,” Ava interrupted, “You never told me it was General Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thought he was dead.”

“Never.” Quentin smiled, taking another long drink from his bottle. “Now, how did you survive the Purge?”

“I abandoned my post.”

“When?”

“Six years ago, but now I help the Jedi with Sara. It’s a more important cause than pretending to have power while not protecting their own people.”

Sara glanced between Quentin and Ava, watching as the tension slowly faded and he backed down, “At least you two are doing something. I still don’t really understand, but you’re doing something.”

“The Empire is trying to kill off any opposing power and trying to keep the power with the old Senator Palpatine. They are against people like us, people who want a fair democracy or republic. They’re already running their current land as Tyrannies and Oligarchies.”

“That’s not good.”

“Exactly,” Sara nodded.

Quentin nodded and shrugged. “What can I do, sweetie?”

“Inform us on whatever you know so we can give all planets a choice.”

“Hey, Dad, I brought some kri’gee and an orange tart.” A voice called through the quiet home.

“Is that-” Sara asked.

“Yeah,” He began in a hushed tone before calling, “Great, we’re in the kitchen.”

“We,” Laurel laughed, setting the food on the counter. She looked up, spotting Sara’s reflection in the mirror. Her face stuck in a single confused glazed look. She opened her mouth but then closed it as she looked at her. “I thought you were-”

“Dead, surprise.” she tried to joke.

“I…”

Sara stood up and turned to her sister, taking a few tentative steps towards her. Quentin finished off his beer before taking the kri’gee his daughter brought and cracked it open.

“She’s been in hiding,” he explained, pouring out four glasses, “Now she’s back on a mission.”

“I can’t even… I don’t even know what to say.”

“Then don’t just listen.”

“Okay,” Laurel nodded, taking a glass out off of the counter and instantly taking a few swigs of the harshly tart liquor. Her face twisted for a second and then relaxed.

“This is gonna knock you off your ass,” Sara nodded as she moved the glass from Ava’s reach.

“What mission?”

“To fight the Empire.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes,” She firmly told Laurel.

“Dad?”

“I agreed to help,” he nodded.

“Good, because I’ve actually been working on a case against them.”

“A case? This is an empire, not a court, Laurel.” Sara scoffed.

“I know, but this helps recruit people to my cause.”

“Your cause?”

“Well, I’m a part of the Alliance,” Laurel confessed.

“You, too?”

“Me, too? What do you mean?” Sara pulled out a badge from her back pocket and showed her sister. “Oh, you, too. When?”

“Four years ago, you?”

Laurel pulled out an old rusted badge from the inside of her jacket, “When they initially went around the galaxy five years ago.”

“How have you been able to live, dad said that it’s too dangerous for rebels?”

“Just a sec,” Laurel nodded, walking past Sara and to their other guest, “Hey, Laurel Lance, and you are?”

“Ava Sharpe.”

“Ex-Jedi,” Quentin explained, almost finished with his glass.

“Ex? What do you do now?”

“Recruit with Sara.”

“Hm, okay, good. We need more people. Did you two hear what happened with Alderaan?”

“No, what happened?” Ava asked.

“It was destroyed.”

“When?”

“Four days ago.”

“Oh my god,” Sara muttered.

“What?”

“We were going to go there last week and still would have been there now,” Ava explained, wrapping an arm around Sara’s shoulders.

“How did it happen?” Sara asked.

“The Empire’s Death Star destroyed it.” her sister told them.

“What’s going to happen next?”

“I don’t know. The Rebels have gone quiet. I’m trusting that they have a plan, so I’m still giving them what they need.”

“Me, too.” Sara agreed.

“Death Star?” Quentin asked.

“A large ship that can destroy anything.”

“So you’re recruiting,” he said pointing to Sara, “and you’re gathering secrets, what if you guys had a secret base here?”

“You mean turning this place into a Rebel’s base? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“Well, yeah, but no. When this place was rebuilt, my dad made sure it could still train and contain soldiers in secret just like Old Dorjander did.”

“Dorjander?”

“He was a Mandalorian Knight,” Sara explained.

“He was the Mandalorian Knight.” her father corrected with pride. “He’s why you have your lightsaber.”

“The orange one,” Sara told Ava.

“One of a kind.”

“We should probably go update our commander before he gets worried.”

“You’re already leaving?” Laurel asked, hugging her.

“A Rebel never rests.”

“Please stay in contact,” Quentin asked, embracing his daughters.

“Okay, before I cry, I should go.” Sara joked, pulling out of her family’s grasp.

Sara backed away, looking over her shoulder as they walked out of the old house. She glanced back forward to Ava, reaching for her hand and catching up with her. Sara had to admit that while she was nine when she left Mandalore, she still missed playing and fighting with Laurel, watching her father work, and listening to her mother’s stories. Leaving that house again, felt like too much. For the first time in her life, she just didn’t want to be a part of the Rebel Alliance. She just wanted to stay here and live a normal life. Listen to her sister’s life and help her parents, but as she looked up at Ava, she realized that this was their destiny. Fight until they die, recruit until they drop. Sara rested her head against Ava’s shoulder and kissed the back of her hand.

Ava slowed down and turned back to face Sara, “Do you want to go back?”

“I shouldn’t or else I won’t want to leave.”

“Sara?”

“Yeah?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to let you know I love you.”

“Aww, I love you too.” Sara nodded, knowing there was still something on Ava’s mind.

As they finally got onto Waverider, Sara went to her study, pulling out a small green velvet box from a locked drawer. She sat down in her chair, flipping the box opened and closed. A soft knock on the sliding door broke her thought. Sara quickly shoved the box back into the drawer and locked it again, turning around in her chair.

“Come in.”

The door slid open and Ava walked into the room, resting against the brown oak desk, “Hey.”

“Hi,” Sara smirked, raising a brow. “What’s on your mind, babe?”

“I thought about it for a moment, and while we’re airing our dirty laundry, I should at least be honest with you.” Sara nodded and pulled Ava onto her lap. Ava rolled her eyes and just lifted herself onto the table, letting her legs dangle off the edge. “I’m actually not completely human. I’m a clone. I’ll just let that sink in for a moment.”

“A clone? How are you force sensitive?”

“Sensitivity is a bit random in genetics and rarely occurs in clones.”

“How’d they know?”

“I was originally trained to be a clone trooper, but when I was 13, a very attentive commander pulled me out and sent me to train as a youngling. After that, the only place I knew was the Imperial Palace.”

“I thought the Jedi no longer trusted Clones?”

“They trusted me because I wasn’t one of the clone troopers, I was a clone Jedi.”

“Did they ever try to kill you?”

“That was one of the other reasons why I left the Jedi. I couldn’t be trusted, so why fear for my life every day? You don’t have a problem with me not being human?”

“You are still human, there may be others that look like you,” Sara began, emphasizing her words carefully, “but they are definitely not my Ava.” she smiled, pecking the back of her hand. “Now, I have something for you,” she nodded, pulling herself between Ava’s legs.

“What, a quickie?”

“No, well if you want, but you might like this more.” Sara pushed Ava’s legs out of the way to the locked drawer and pulled out the green box, handing it to Ava. “Open it.” she offered.

“Sara.” Ava smiled, her eyes getting teary.

Sara chuckled to herself and wiped away the small tears, “I don’t know what you think it is but-”

“Shut up.” she retorted, opening the box.

She took out the silver ring embellished with yellow red and orange jewels. In the center was a fiery stone that reflected the colors of a flame, glittering and flowing. She looked at the small yellow stones that encircled one of the double bands, and the orange jewels that covered the other ones. Ava smiled and pulled Sara in closer, leaning down to kiss her. Sara chuckled and took the ring out of its box, holding it out for Ava.

“Oh, my god,” Ava tearily laughed.

“Oh my god yes or oh my god no?” Sara asked.

“Yes.”

Sara smiled as Ava cupped her jaw up and kissed her cheek, then her nose, and finally her lips. She slipped the ring onto Ava’s right ring finger, enjoying the color it added to her hands. Her hands slipped around her new fiance’s hips and pulled the chair until it clicked against her desk.

“Wait, let me put this thing into auto-pilot to Dantooine,” Sara muttered against Ava’s lips.

She stood up and programmed the coordinates into her ship’s navigation before going back to her current task. Sara stood up, wrapping Ava’s legs around her hips, leaning against her until she rested on her elbows, one hand up to hold her chin.

~~~~~~~~~~

A loud beeping broke Sara slumber. She glanced around, pushing up onto her elbows to turn off the alert. After a glance at the notification, Sara pressed the red button labeled, “Stop”. The room fell silent before Ava began to stir awake. She tugged Sara back down, placing a few kisses on her bare breast.

“My lips are up here, you know?” Sara joked, watching as Ava’s tongue glanced over her nipple. “Not that I’m complaining. We landed, so we should leave soon.”

“God, I just want to stay in bed with you,” she softly whined, placing a few more pecks against her chest and shoulders.

“Me, too, but we need to get going, baby-girl.” Sara slid out of Ava’s grasp, pulling on her uniform and locking her belt in place. “Something to get rid of your lady boner, I was gonna propose to you on Alderaan.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“You’re right, it did kill my boner,” She sighed, pulling the sheets off and walking to their wardrobe.

“Ms. Lance, Ms. Sharpe?” They heard Cracken call out.

“Who’s gonna take who’s name?” Ava asked.

“Ava Lance?” Sara offered.

“Sara Sharpe, though.”

“I don’t know. Not big on alliterative names.” Sara shrugged.

“Sara?” He called again.

“Indecent!” She answered.

“Oh, when you’re dressed, I’ll be in the meeting room.”

“Thank you,” Ava called through the door.

Sara buttoned up her blouse and pecked Ava, quickly fixing her tucked shirt before escaping to the office. She jogged down the hallways, hearing Cracken’s footsteps through the corridors.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I’ll wait until Ava joins us.”

“She’ll be out in a minute.”

“How were your planets?”

“Mandalore isn’t safe anymore, but I have some plants who can help with spying.”

“Good. The others?”

“Neutral or on our side.”

Ava joined them on the bridge, resting against the map in the center of the room, cheeks slightly flush from trying to catch up.

“Everyone on Scarif died.”

“Was that you suicide mission?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“We’re still counting.” He sighed, pulling out a drive. “We did get something out of it though, a flaw in the Death Star.”

“What?”

“A flaw in the Death Star. Here, take it. Your next mission is going to be taking down the Death Star.”

“Now that is a suicide mission.” Ava laughed in disbelief. “You’re joking right?”

“No. We lost too many people for me to joke around anymore.”

“Are we having any help?” Sara asked.

“Our squads have been training for this mission the past few days. This is our last shot, ladies, we need you. The galaxy needs you.”

“You and your fucking speeches,” Sara hissed, grabbing her jacket and swinging it over her shoulder. “Let’s get started.”

#Avalance #avalance fanfic #ava sharpe #sara lance #LoT #legends of tomorrow #legends of tomorrow fanfic #fanfic #sfw fanfic #jedi #grey jedi #gray jedi #lgbt #femslash #wlw #star wars #star wars fanfic #starwars

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lucidpantone · 3 years

Note

I know this is a controversial question so i would totally understand if you choose not want to answer, but im curious enough to ask anyway. Can you rank your fav remakes in order? Maybe add a comment about what you most appreciate about each remake (to soften the blow of any sensitive readers). Ofc if you couldnt connect with a remake you might wanna totally leave it out of the ranking...

Disclaimer this is gonna be long asf. So I like all the remakes so this is gonna be hard because of that. I don’t like one remake in its entirety I can find one season in each remake I wasn’t super stoked about and if you’re skamfr I can find 3 seasons hahah. So I am actually gonna do this by fav original 1-4 seasons and original seasons (OG excluded).

Season 1: Eva Skam Espana (Isa SkamNL is a super close 2nd)

I am gonna be frank my least fav season is Eva’s season in the original seasons. I don't dislike the plot its more like I just find the other plots of the other seasons way more interesting. However if I am gonna pick my fav adaptation its gonna be Eva from Espana. Mainly because some remakes take their jonas to far and they don’t know how to balance being inexperienced and immature with just being a plain dick (am looking at you wtfock and Austin). I hate when remakes take it to far and make the couple completely irredeemable. Also Jorge is just the best man. He tries so hard for Eva he tries to make things right and its just timing, immaturity on both parts. Also I love that above all Eva and Jorge are friends. Alongside with Lucas they are just like family and they can push aside their personal issues to be their for one another and I just think thats such a beautiful quality in Jorge and Eva.They both have good souls and I am happy they ended up together but I also feel like if they didn't they would be genuinely be happy for the other if they found someone else and fell in love and thats why I love them so much.

Season 2: Zoe Wtfock (but Nora Skam Espana is a close 2nd)

Here is what I love about Zoe’s season is that we see the pov of not just how Zoe was changing because she was opening herself to love but also how much Senne was changing as well and trying to address some issues he had been ignoring because he wanted to be a better man for Zoenne. For me Zoenne and Norandro are so amazing for this reason. We not only saw the girl processing how love was effecting her development but we got to experience Senne and Alejandro trying to become better men and really transitioning from boyhood to manhood via this self assessment period of themselves. I adore these two couples for this because I am so heavily invested in both the outcome of the girl and the guy. I guess with love stories there is that saying there is two sides to a story and then there is the truth and I feel like the noorhelm storyline has always been about hard truths. About young women challenging their perspectives on feminism, about young women acknowledging when they have been a victim of a crime/emotional abuse and not blaming themselves for it but knowing that they did nothing wrong and were undeserving of the act that took place. Also s2 plays on the concepts of manhood too. How approaching situations through the lens of rage and violence can develop into harmful and even predatory tendencies. Overall these two remakes stand out to me because they really speak to the lesson of how does one define themself in the whirlwind of love and what boundaries do you need to set so you don’t lose yourself in the process. Season 3: IT’S SO HARD PICKING JUST ONE!! (Am going to base this selection entirely off my fav Isak and their narrative arc versus the evak pairing because ultimately this season is about the Isak character not Isak & Even) Matteo Druck

Let me tell you no other Skam character has haunted me as much as Matteo. I think with Matteo his story was just so raw and unfiltered. Here was this boy he was so lonely, isolated, lost and really just didn’t think he was worthy of much. Matteo was approaching life expecting the bare minimum because he in many ways didn’t think he was deserving of much more. Matteo hid himself so deeply in what I refer to as the wall paper of life. Trying to blend in and stay invisible even tho this way of thinking was seriously effecting his mental health. I don't think he realized how far from shore he was before David slammed into his life and drag him out of the grip of the ocean’s current. Matteo was on the verge of drowning he just didn’t know it. And then came David and he just loved Matteo as is and I think a big reason for that is because no one had ever told either boy that they were perfect just as they were until they said it to one another. Both boys were going through life just accepting the bare minimum one because of societal barricades around gender and the other societal stigma concerning asking for help when suffering from mental health issues. In the end they found one another and said fuck it and fuck society as long as we have one another then we’re gonna get through this. However... having said that davenzi is not my fav evak pairing but Matteo is my fav standalone Isak. The prize for fav evak tho would go to Sobbe because I literally can’t picture two more in love people. Man the day Sobbe met I feel like inertia collapsed in on itself in their respective worlds. It really was the case that time stopped and that they were destined to find one another. They are so in love it just radiates off them. Also random note my fav Even is Joana. Hence why choosing an s3 is so hard because I like different components of s3 seasons.

Season 4: Sana Skam Italia

(this is a copy/paste my original why I love Italia s4 rant)

Say what you want about the casting(this is a fair argument) but I am really happy that SKAMIT gave us a love story centered around two muslim individuals and their differing approaches and interpretations of Islam. I think for me its that we are always trying to dilute Sana’s season with this western need to educate non-muslims and though I appreciate that I also want to see a love story that’s purely about the journey of young muslims and the issues they experience themselves and not via a western glazing. The thing that stood out for me in SKAMIT is how many different perspective of how Islam is practiced came to the forefront. Sana’s journey to understand and come to defend queerness. Muslim men (Sana’s brother) being offended because she assumed he was homophobic. Laui being in a healthy relationship as a muslim queer man. Malik openly talking about Islam and his separation from it but still a believer in a greater power(and not because he wants to drink and party). For me this was what the Sana season was suppose to be about putting the muslim experience front and center and unapologetically so.

Original Season: Nora Druck

I mean what a fantastic take on building new and improved squads with more diversity in race, sexual preferences and perspectives. I will say that I also do like the new squad from Skamfr. Its nice to see newgens that am truly excited about getting to know. Like I need to know everything about Ava pronto she is bae. I do have one random surprise about my next fav original season which for me would be Arthur for Skamfr. Honestly if we would have gutted the cheating plot we would have had a really interesting season about a young adult’s life being rocked by disability and trying to find themselves in this new landscape. Similar to Nora in Druck with MI and also the long term effects of experiencing violence in the household in Skamfr but yea so far Druck has been the only one to get a sound original season out and they should be commended for that.

#lucidpantone anons

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geekgemsspooksandtoons · 3 years

Text

The Journals Of Derek Grady Part 1

This is a story set within my Bioshock Rebirth AU. A reimaging/reboot of the Bioshock franchise. https://geekgemsspookyblog.tumblr.com/post/626141727587270656/bioshock-rebirth-timeline-this-is-a-timeline-of-an Just as a heads up if anyone is wondering about the context. I’ve had some stories in my drafts for a long time now and I’m finally publicly sharing them.

I made a post talking about this. There is this character named Derek that was in one of my pilot stories for this AU. But I felt strangely ashamed of how I wrote him. But I’d feel it’s best to use him in better context. In something very intriguing. Mainly the point of view of the Rapture Civil War from someone who fought in it.

There is this silly theme of certain characters being named Derek in some AU’s of mine. Usual they are men that seem well intentioned, but their mind isn’t always in the best place. I’m just gonna make this because this is something I wanna make.

This was first started/made on December 23rd 2020. I’m not gonna have this beta read. It’s time I just upload this shit. I got the two tags done with. But I would like to mention I was heavily or so inspired by the Star Wars Battlefront 2 Classic story. Especially with the first journal from this character being inspired by the, “Knightfall” level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lgG2ENW5Ac Spoilers ahead.

12/31/2001. The attack on the Kashmir restuarant.

I was a young kid when I first arrived in Rapture. I was naïve like many others. Many of used to believe in Andrew Ryan’s so called, “Great Chain”, until things started to fall apart. Especially after the death of scumbag Frank Fontaine. I find it funny he tried to put on a nice guy act whenever he met someone new or when he was in public, but I’ve heard the stories. The stories of the type of man he was.

But after Ryan nationalized Fontaine Futuristics in January 1999, a lot of people weren’t happy. It was surprising how long it took something to happen. So much dividing of social classes, so much shit that had happened during those years. What was gonna happen tonight would change everything forever...

I’ve been on Atlas’s crew of bandits since July. I felt joining Atlas was the best decision I made in my entire life. Because I felt I fighting for the right thing, a good cause. But what Atlas had planned sounded to me almost like terrorism.

Yet when I thought about it, I really thought hard to myself. After everything we’ve suffered, how Ryan started to push everyone away, how he tried keep himself in power. Even though Rapture was supposed to be the perfect paradise...Andrew Ryan, Brigid Tenenbaum, Augustus Sinclair, Sander Cohen, Yi Suchong, Sofia Lamb, and so many others...how they treated us.

First it was just riots, but now it was time for Ryan and everyone who supported him knew what we were. What we stood for. They were gonna find out we weren’t some bandits who kidnapped some rich assholes to get payback or robin hood archetypes helping poor folks.

There was no more talk for peace. Because Ryan never gave a damn...he never did.

1/31/2002. The Civil War starting. Apollo Square. Atlas and crew.

It’s been a month since we launched an attack on Kashmir. Things started to really change because the war for this city finally had truly begun. I have never been in war, but with the skills I’ve learned from Atlas and Daisy. I’d felt I was ready, because I needed to be. Not many of us were actual soldiers. But that didn’t matter to us. We knew what had to be done.

But we didn’t knew that Ryan would try to make Apollo Square a prison camp. Yet that didn’t matter, when those so called security officers first started to set people ablaze when they tried escaping. We shot any who would tried to do such things again. When they were hanging people, we fought back because we got tired of their bullshit. We didn’t fuck around. I felt proud when I shot one of those damn officers in the head.

Apollo Square was practically our paradise. Sure Ryan’s army kept trying to get in, yet we always defended it. Yet even without Ryan, we still had others to worry about.

I feel pretty damn grateful a lot of our weapons were smuggled from the surface. We kept some of the weapons Ryan’s men had as well.

But I think what I felt more grateful was our leaders. Daisy Fitzroy was practically Atlas’s 2nd in command. She was a tough woman, she didn’t take shit. Considering she worked for that weird kinky lady known as Ava Tate, I can’t blame her becoming that. She’s one of the bravest and smartest women I’ve fought with. I’m surprised she didn’t form our rebellion first.

Bill was lucky enough to be convinced by Atlas to join us after he resigned from the council. But Bill was like us. Even though he believed in Rapture, he was just an old man who wanted the best for people. I found that admirable of him. I also think he’s grateful we hid his ass after he left Ryan. Considering how Ryan gets upset with whoever betrays him, he’d rather want them dead...yet that might of been different considering he was best friends with Ryan himself.

Diane was new, she was a hostage once with Julie Langford. But when Ryan never paid her ransom and practically didn’t care for her. But I do think she noticed those Jasmine Jolene posters throughout the city, making Ryan’s betrayal seemingly more worse. She originally came to Apollo Square to yell at us of how we possibly ruined her life. But when she saw the shit we were going through, she soon understood even more of the situation. Especially when we heard it wasn’t made better when hearing Ryan’s thoughts on people like us.

She joined us rather quickly, she was like Bill in a way. Diane was honestly a kind woman, it always felt nice to have more supporters. I do find it surprising from what I’ve seen that her and Daisy seemed to have developed a thing. Yet I found it surprisingly adorable...mainly because it was so strange to see Daisy seem soft to another person. But I think it gave the ladies more of a reason to keep fighting on.

But Atlas...he was something else. There was a reason people followed him. I followed him for plenty of good reasons. He seemed like a action hero you see out of those films from Hollywood. But I have never met a man so kind, yet so humble. He was the best of us...or that’s what I thought. You can have a good laugh with him too while having a drink. The man had a family, but he didn’t spoke of them much to keep them safe. I also remember hearing he was a captain in the Irish army. Which gave us an advantage in some ways over Ryan’s men.

He was the perfect anti-thesis to Andrew Ryan. Atlas was someone many genuinely respected and loved. Men wanted to be him, women loved him. To me and others. He wasn’t just a friend. Atlas was sometimes like a brother, or even a father.

Sure he wasn’t perfect and did some questionable things. But we knew it was for the best. Atlas is our best shot at winning this war. And I’m proud to fighting side by side with him, no matter what.

2/1/2002. Johnny Topside.

I never met the man, but Atlas knew him only for a year. The way he talked about Johnny. I’ve heard stories of him, well that’s because Atlas didn’t want his memory to die. Atlas said Johnny Topside was a diver who had discovered Rapture years ago and for sometime was forced to live in Rapture until he finally had enough.

Johnny Topside was the start of our rebellion. He was the one that planted the seeds. Johnny was the first to stand up to Ryan, but it resulted in tragedy. No one knows fully what happened to him. But Atlas said Ryan had tried to erase Johnny’s memory from history, and that it was very likely he may of been turned into...a Big Daddy...the idea of that horrifies me.

When Atlas spoke of him, he spoke of him so highly. Saying that Johnny was like a younger brother to him. You could of even seen at times Atlas nearly choked up when talking about him. I can’t blame him, losing someone that was like a brother to him. I’ve would of been nearly tearing up.

The story of Johnny Topside was something that kept us going, it inspired us. Hell, it even inspired me. Atlas didn’t want his memory to die, because what he was doing wasn’t just for everyone. But it was also justice for Johnny...justice for everyone that had enough of Ryan.

My only disappointment is that I never got to meet Johnny...because when Atlas says he’d would rather had him lead us...that says a helluva lot about Topside.

2/3/2002. Booker Dewitt and Ryan’s personal guard.

I’ve heard the stories of Dewitt...he merely sounded like a ghost. But he wasn’t. This was the man that shot down Fontaine, and most likely helped captured Johnny Topside.

Captain Dewitt was known to the citizens as, “The Grim Reaper Of Rapture” and he damn well earned it. But he was also Ryan’s new best friend after Bill left. Dewitt kept Ryan’s enemies in check. Whether by killing them when no one was looking, or capturing them.

Security was fine, but Ryan’s personal guard and when Dewitt was leading them...that was scary. I think what scared us rebels was whenever he showed up. He always wore that mask...which gave him more of a reason to call him a grim reaper...because he damn sure was.

Ryan’s personal guard weren’t just police officers enforcing Ryan’s rule, they were literal soldiers. They were formed when Johnny Topside had discovered Rapture. The guard was basically a better version of security.

They were made up of men who either genuinely believed in the, “Great Chain” or just were looking to be paid by Ryan. Some of them were ex soldiers, mercenaries, and they were all just horrible people.

The guard weren’t pushovers, they had years of experience or training by Dewitt. They were merciless, brutal, and effective. The fact Ryan had now decided to use them even more now showcased he truly wasn’t fucking around anymore. He wanted to win this war. But we weren’t gonna let that happen.

I think we were just thankful they didn’t really use Plasmids...if they did...then I felt this war may be over already. But it also gives us a easier chance to kill them all.

2/15/2002. Splicers.

Over the years since ADAM was discovered. Splicers became thing. Poor folks who used too spliced too much...they were once people...but they were sadly monsters now. I think what surprised us is how some of them were on our side...but not many. Unless they controlled themselves.

The Splicers of many types were a pain in the ass for Ryan and Atlas. Killing the rebels or Ryan’s personal guard. They had no allegiance...all they wanted was ADAM...they were basically drug addicts. I remember seeing one time a woman shanking a man for his ADAM, we had to put her down.

I didn’t really use Plasmids much, or some of the others like Atlas, Daisy, Diane, and Bill. It seemed good for Atlas that some of the rebels didn’t try to splice up. Which meant we can deal with less people turning into those...things.

There was one time I had to put down one of them. The man was just 21, but he had spliced up so much that he had gone insane. He tried attacking Daisy and Diane, but me and Daisy took him down shot him in the chest. But he was still breathing.

...I shot him in the head...I hesitated at first for about five seconds...he was younger than me. I wanted to make his death as quick and painless...it gave me a haunting reminder of why we were still fighting. All this pain and suffering...it started with the discover of that damn thing called ADAM...

I’m surprised I haven’t spoken about Tenenbaum yet...I feel like she was 2nd in place for me to kill after Ryan.

3/15/2002. Big Daddies, Little Sisters, and Brigid Tenenbaum.

I think the other thing that haunts me a lot and so many others is these two...I’ve seen them countless times and I have fought them when I joined Atlas.

Big Daddies are practically these...monsters that used to be people...slaves to protect what were once literal children...

These monsters looked like literal giant diving suits at times...some had drills, some had guns. They were tough sons of bitches. These things could kill a man easily, or even a group of a men if you weren’t careful.

But it’s the Little Sisters that horrify me and other rebels...not because they are dangerous or that they are killers. It’s the fact of what they are. They were children...or possibly still are...forced to collect ADAM because they were implanted with some...damn sea slug Tenenbaum discovered...

There is no known cure for them. I think many of us want a cure. But the only way to help these girls is something horrific...harvesting them. Atlas said it was to put them out of their misery. They had ADAM in them.

From what I’ve seen, some rebels harvested them, some didn’t. Daisy didn’t do it. Neither did Diane or Bill. I remember seeing Atlas making the most sickened face after harvesting one, he didn’t enjoy it at all.

I think it may of bothered Atlas some didn’t harvest them...but it’s understandable why some wouldn’t. Because I remember seeing one 37 year old man, after he had harvested just one Little Sister. The man about 5 minutes later literally put a pistol under his jaw and killed himself.

We all understood why he even did that. Because after you witness a child being horrified by you about to harvest them...it’s a sight you’re never going to forget.

I can still hear those girls screaming. Daisy and Diane do too...it’s in our nightmares. For some reason...the harvesting of a Little Sister scars me than seeing a Splicer or whatever else...I don’t know why...I think it’s because all that innocence was lost...or actually taken. Because there was no other way to help them.

It was all because of one woman, Brigid Tenenbaum. I heard she worked with Frank Fontaine to help make those girls into what they are. I’ve heard she’s had a hard life, but that doesn’t excuse what I find one of the most horrific crimes I’ve ever seen. She’s been in hiding for 4 years after being exposed for what she did.

If we ever find Tenenbaum...I want to put my foot on her throat...whatever what we want to do to her. To be honest, I think I want to kill her more than Ryan...because I don’t know how you can be forgiven for doing that to a child.

God forgives, and whenever I have to put down a fellow rebel because they spliced up too much, I make it quick and painless as possible...but Tenenbaum...quick and painless is not gonna mean anything if we ever find her.

6/3/2002. SOS and Archie Wynand.

After six months of war with Ryan’s personal guard and the Splicers. Whether some were controlled or not...things were going south for us. We fought hard, we planned as best as we could. But nothing was working, because Ryan was nearly winning.

There was panic among us, we were fearing that all of this could be for nothing. But Atlas revealed something, which he said was a risk in case. He somehow gave an SOS message to the surface to whoever would get it. Because he knew we weren’t gonna win this on our own anymore. We needed help, we needed the surface to discover Rapture. But also, we needed someone to help us take down Ryan. It was on Sunday Atlas gave out the message for help. We prayed someone would answer it. Luckily for us, someone did answer it.

Despite his aircraft was shot down by Ryan, and being the only survivor of his squad. Someone had arrived. That someone was a young man named Sergeant Archie Wynand. An Army Ranger sent by the US Government to discover where the SOS came from.

To be honest, I was worried by the fact only one man had survived. I’d feared we still didn’t stand a chance. But after I saw that man enter combat and killed so many Splicers, I have never seen a man fought hard like that. He was still young like me, but he was like a commando in his way. It was as if someone like Atlas again had come to save us.

Me and him never really talked, but from what I’ve seen. That man is the bravest soul I’ve ever seen. He’s loyal to a fault and unbreakable, it was like seeing a warrior unlike any other. I will admit, I felt a bit jealous when Atlas has giving him a lot more attention than me.

But Archie was important. Atlas sent him commands and he followed through. But I think what confused me the most was something Atlas had revealed earlier. Which resulted in ordering Archie to go to a certain building, a tower in the middle of Rapture.

6/4/2002. Elizabeth.

A day before Archie had arrived. There was this strange new information Atlas had discovered. That there was some girl in this tower in Rapture. Her name was Elizabeth. Atlas had discovered it when raiding a building near that tower.

We were so confused on why Ryan had a girl in this tower. In fact? Why was she there? Who was she really? Even Atlas was confused, but she seemed important.

But I feel our questions were answered when Archie saved her. I didn’t get to talk to her personally, but I have seen her in action with my own eyes. Along with some footage.

Somehow, this young girl had some powers of an unknown source. She was able to summon old sentries, and other things. It felt unnatural. Sure the Plasmids and other discoveries in Rapture were very special...but what this girl could do...it made us question even more who the hell she was and why Ryan had her locked away.

Gonna admit though, she was honestly adorable.

6/5/2002. Elizabeth’s purpose, and what the Hell is Archie? What the Hell is going on?

I think it horrified me and the rebels of what Elizabeth was supposed to be. Why she was kept secret from Rapture. What Atlas had discovered more is that she was secretly a weapon Ryan would use in case against someone like us. A sleeper agent that would of slipped through our ranks or anyone else...almost like a female fatale Ryan wanted to make personally...it confused me because from what I’ve seen, she’s nothing like that.

But I think we surprised us more is that she had been in Rapture since 1983. For about 19 years, Ryan had her in there, with hardly anyone knowing. I think it sickened me a bit more hearing Ryan was gonna use a young woman as a secret weapon in case someone like Atlas came along. It was almost like what happened with the Little Sisters.

Yet the other thing that’s been on my mind is Archie. I’ve talked about how much of a warrior he was. Ever since he rescued Elizabeth, she’s been by his side ever since. I haven’t seen such a effective team. It was like they were perfect for each other.

But again, it’s Archie that has me thinking. Sure he’s a soldier...but compared to any of us...and even compared to Ryan’s personal guard. I have never seen a man be so efficient in what he does. This was a young man, yet he fought like he was like some sort of super soldier. Hell, I don’t even think Atlas and Daisy are that efficient. He’s fast and strong.

He was also using so many Plasmids without mutating. I couldn’t get it? He wasn’t becoming spliced up. I couldn’t believe it? I had lost count of how many times he injected a Eve Hypo into his wrists.

I think the scary part is how many Big Daddies he’s killed...how can one man kill so many. I didn’t understand it? But from what I’ve seen from footage is...him curing the Little Sisters...I couldn’t believe it.

Where were he and Elizabeth staying at? I heard Atlas yesterday say they were at Tenenbaum’s...I couldn’t understand...I’m confused...

6/5/2002 A bigger Big Daddy.

I didn’t understand nor could I comprehend what I had witnessed. Ever since Archie arrived...things were changing. What made me think this way was when I saw...something I didn’t think was possible.

Out of all the Big Daddies we’ve killed. I had never seen one so big. He was about 12 feet tell...he looked older than any of the Big Daddies. He looked similar to the Alpha series Big Daddies...I couldn’t understand. I was lucky to have lived, but I witness it killed so many rebels, Splicers, and Ryan’s army. This Big Daddy was vicious. It seemed like he was on a mission. As if he was tracking down Elizabeth.

I’m just in disbelief...I don’t understand.

I was a witness also to see Elizabeth teleport it somewhere...I think it’s dead...I’m not sure.

6/6/2002. The war soon coming to an end.

To be honest, I was fearing we may never win. But somehow we made it. Captain Dewitt was beaten yesterday, and now Ryan is soon to be dealt with.

I’ve learned from Atlas that Tenenbaum had created a cure for the Little Sisters...I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. I asked him again if he was telling the truth, and he was. That’s why Archie and Elizabeth were staying with Tenenbaum somewhere.

It still sounded so crazy. But the next piece of news is that these three would be coming to Atlas’s headquarters, our base of operations. I couldn’t believe I was seeing Tenenbaum...I had...weird feelings.

The plans were while Archie and others went to Ryan’s office to finally take him down. There was hardly anyone left to defend him. While Elizabeth and Dr. Tenenbaum stayed at Atlas’s headquarters. It...an experience meeting this young girl...even after everything she’d been through, but so kind.

But I wasn’t gonna be staying for long either like Archie. Atlas sent me and some men to take over Fort Folic considering Archie and Elizabeth’s recent visit there. As if the freak that was Sander Cohen had finally left somewhere. It was no longer locked up.

I felt genuine hope for the first time. As if this whole nightmare will finally end. But I will admit, I wanted to kill Ryan as much as anybody else. I had my orders, and I listened. Besides, taking back Fort Folic was a huge win

I do recall Ryan playing golf at times. Hopefully when Archie gets to his office, he’ll beat the Walt Disney lookalike of a fuckhead with his own golf club. It’s what Ryan deserved...it’s what many of us wanted.

6/7/2002. Atlas...and the end...

...I don’t even know what to say...the war is over...it’s actually over...

But it didn’t end with Ryan dying or getting captured...

Atlas...our leader...my hero...my best friend...the anti-thesis to Ryan...was Frank Fontaine.

He’s dead...he was brutally hung...by Archie...his corpse is hanging for everyone to see...he...looks like half of a monster.

Everything we’ve done...everything we stood for...I feel betrayed, but I feel relived. I think others are feeling a similar way...I need no I want answers...

6/8/2002. The birth of the Vox Populi. Tenenbaum discovering these journals.

I think what happened on Thursday and Friday...changed so many of us...even myself...I thank Daisy and Diane for explaining it to me.

There was a huge meeting with the remaining rebels. Archie, Elizabeth, and Dr. Tenenbaum joined in as well. So many discussions were had. Rapture was finally ours...

While Splicers were still a thing, and some rich assholes were still around. Considering half of the city was still going, but we came together to formulate a plan.

There won’t be another Andrew Ryan, or even another Frank Fontaine. The end of the Rapture Civil War was only the beginning of something much better.

We weren’t just called rebels anymore, we were officially given a name now. The Vox Populi. It was Daisy’s idea for the name. We were basically the reformed version of Atlas’s rebellion. But now, we had genuine people who actually gave a damn. Who wouldn’t use us as puppets. That we will strive for a better tomorrow.

For peace, a better community. So we can help out every Little Sister we can find out there, and help whoever else is in Rapture. We’re gonna make this shithole of a city a better living place. No more tyrants, no more conmen, no more rulers, just people wanting to make this place a better place for everyone.

Justice, peace, and all that...I think many of us are still getting over what happened with Atlas...I’m still getting used to it...I’m just grateful it’s over.

But before this the huge meeting, Dr. Tenenbaum discovered my journals...she read what I wrote about her...our struggles. I apologized to her, but she said it’s okay. She said she doesn’t blame me for being angry. I think what surprised me more was the one person that her the most was herself...

For some odd reason, I forgave her...she just stared at me with surprise. She gave me a small smile...and then I said I think I could forgive her after everything she’s tried doing to fix her mistakes. Because I told her trying to fix your mistakes is better than doing nothing.

#bioshock rebirth #derek grady

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