#id like it if recovery girl had interns

[jaded-ghoster]

i think we all focus too much on the fighting aspects of the quirks, what about first aid? Kaminari is basically an invaluable defibrillator

[avis-and-panda]

To Be or Not to Be-Chapter two

Chapter two 

The Calm After the Storm… Kinda 

Sunday, July 2nd. 

During the drive to the hospital, Aizawa called Recovery Girl; for good reason seeing as he needed to keep three kids from dying before they got there. 

The brunette’s face was flushed and whined at every loud noise. Considering the bloody wound on the back of his head, he definitely had a concussion. The red-head, who fell unconscious at some point, had a knife lodged in his side. Although they were able to stop the bleeding, that knife was a huge problem if it wasn’t taken care of soon, especially if it hit any organs. The girl was in the most danger. Although all the bleeding from her wounds had stopped, she was frightfully pale. She must have lost a lot of blood beforehand. Aizawa periodically checked her pulse. 

When Aizawa and Yamada arrived at the hospital with the injured kids, Recovery Girl was already there. All three children were sent to the ER, the old woman following close behind. Aizawa left the hospital while Yamada stayed behind to meet up with Detective Tsukauchi at the police station. 

  

- 

  

Monday, July 3rd. 

“They’re names are Elena Bell, Arlo Keen, and Nikolaus Brandt.” Aizawa looked through the evidence as Tsukauchi relayed out loud what he found out, “They go to Kuran Private High School. They’re in their second year and attend the same class.” 

“That’s all you’ve found out? Just information from their school ID?” Aizawa asked. 

“That, and information such as their birthday and blood type from their regular ID’s. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much else.” 

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, “And why not?” 

Tsukauchi sighed, “Well, first, I tried going through their emergency contacts, thinking I might reach their parents. Instead, I got this.” 

Tsukauchi placed a phone before Aizawa, set to call one of the kids’ mother. Tsukauchi pressed “call” and folded his hands back in his lap. After three rings, someone picked up, but instead of hearing them on the other side, a high-pitched ringing sound came from the phone, causing Aizawa to flinch. The screen started glitching and the ringing got more and more high-pitched until Tsukauchi ended the call. 

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. 

“…That is certainly weird.” Aizawa said, still trying to figure out why it happened, “Are you sure it isn’t broken?” 

“I already called tech support; the phones are perfectly fine.” 

“Have you tried the other two?” 

“Yes. Same thing happened.” 

Aizawa bustled in thought, “Have you tried looking up the school and getting their phone number?” 

“That’s another thing.” Tsukauchi sighed tiredly and ran a hand down his face, “It doesn’t exist.” 

Aizawa blinked at him. 

“What?” He asked incredulously. 

“Well, as far as I know. There is no record of there being or ever being a Kuran Private High School in Japan. We haven’t done an international search yet, but it doesn’t even come up with a simple online search.” 

Aizawa narrowed his eyes again, “Are you suggesting that these heavily injured kids are fake students at a fake school wearing fake uniforms and carrying fake IDs?” 

Tsukauchi sighed, “It’s too early to make any conclusions right now, but I’ve also found that none of them are registered citizens in Japan. That, and the souvenirs from Kyoto that I found in their bags make it seem like they’re from a foreign school and came to Japan on a school trip or something.” 

“So, they’re either students from an overseas school and were attacked right in Japan for some reason or they’re part of some elaborate lie?” 

“With the information we have right now, those are the most valid conclusions, yes.” 

“And what about their attackers?” 

Tsukauchi pulled a knife in an evidence bag from the evidence pile on his desk. 

“This is the knife that was lodged in Brandt’s right flank. Luckily it wasn’t a fatal wound. The only fingerprints on it are his own, meaning the attacker was wearing gloves. We were also able to discern that it was the same knife used to injure Bell.” 

“I see. Anything else?” 

“Both Brandt and Keen had head injuries, however, Brandt looked more like he was hit by a blunt object while Keen looked like he was thrown back into a wall. His spine was cracked, and his head injury was in the back of his head while Brandt’s was on his right temple.” Tsukauchi paused and frowned. 

“This is another weird thing. Keen’s concussion was severe. If he was thrown back so hard, he should have more than just a slightly fractured spine.” 

“Maybe one of them has a healing quirk.” Aizawa suggested. 

“Possible but improbable. Healing quirks are quite rare...” 

He was right. Recovery Girl’s quirk is so rare she travels from hospital to hospital to help, despite her primary vocation being UA’s school nurse. 

Aizawa’s phone suddenly rang. “Aizawa Shouta.” 

“YO!! Eraserhead!!” Aizawa abruptly moved the phone away from him, checking the caller ID this time. And, assuredly, there said “Yamada” in all its glory. Aizawa groaned. 

“Mic, what have I said about shouting into the phone? You’re going to burst someone’s eardrums.” 

“Sorry, Eraserhead!” Yamada responded loudly. Aizawa made an annoyed noise and shook his head in disapproval. 

“Why are you calling?” 

“Recovery Girl wants to talk to you. One of the kids woke up!” 

Aizawa met eyes with Tsukauchi, whom he’s sure heard everything. The detective nodded resolutely. 

“Let’s get the police chief.” 

- 

By the time Aizawa and Tsukauchi arrived at Arlo Keen’s hospital room, with Tsuragamae Kenji, the chief of police, it was already evening. Recovery Girl was waiting for them outside of Arlo’s room. 

“How is he?” Tsuragamae asked. 

“Better than he could have been. He suffered a lot of head trauma, but it seemed like his injuries were already partially healed before I got to him.” Recovery Girl responded. 

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, “Someone got to him before you?” 

Recovery Girl shook her head, “None of the other doctors tending to him had a healing quirk. However, it does seem like someone healed him beforehand.” 

“Is he awake right now?” Tsukauchi asked. 

“Yes, he’s been awake for several hours. He’s been given some ibuprofen, so he should be okay for questioning.” 

Tsukauchi gave her an appreciative smile and nodded. The four of them move to enter the room. 

“Where’s Mic?” Aizawa asked, suddenly realizing the sound hero was notably absent based on the lack of noise. 

“I kicked him out. The poor boy kept covering his ears and even asked for a pair of muffs the last time that man talked to him.” 

Aizawa smirked under his scarf. Of course. Yamada couldn’t shut up to save his life. 

Recovery Girl frowned as she reached to open Arlo’s room, “The child has sensitive hearing, and I highly doubt his concussion is helping.” she warned, “If he weren’t tended to as soon as he was, he would have been in critical condition.” 

The other three adults nodded as she opened the door. They were greeted by Arlo Keen turning his head, which had bandages wrapped around it, to see the adults entering the room. He smiled brightly and looked like he was going to say something when his eyes landed on the police chief and he froze. 

The adults looked at him questioningly as Arlo’s eyes roamed over Tsuragamae’s dog-like form, seemingly in shock. 

“Good evening! I am Tsuragamae Kenji, the chief of police! Ruff!” Greeted Tsuragamae brightly. Arlo startled, smile slowly dropping, before taking a deep breath. 

“I’m dreaming.” 

The adults blinked in surprise. Tsukauchi stepped forward in a placating manner, “I can assure you, you’re not dre—” Tsukauchi was cut off by Arlo pinching his cheek, followed by a loud “OW!” 

“Are you trying to cause more problems for yourself? Stop that!” Recovery Girl pointed her cane at him in warning. 

Arlo winced and turned to her with an apologetic expression, “Sorry! I was just testing something.” He sharply turned his head back to Tsuragamae. The adults watched him curiously. 

“So… I’m not dreaming.” 

“I’m afraid not, young man. Why would you assume so, ruff?” Tsuragamae asked. 

“Well…” Arlo scratched the back of his head as he tried to find the right words, “Um, t-this is gonna sound… obscenely rude but… A-are you a dog?” 

“That is correct. My appearance is part of a mutation quirk.”  Tsuragamae replied. 

“A… a ‘mutation quirk’?” Arlo’s brow furrowed in confusion. 

Tsukauchi frowned, concerned. Aizawa watched in interest as the former stepped forward and offered a kind smile. 

“Hi, I’m detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. We’re going to be asking you some questions regarding yesterday afternoon, is that alright?” 

Arlo blinked and turned to Tsukauchi, seemingly snapped out of his confusion for the moment, “Yeah, I don’t mind. I don’t know how much I can tell you though. I blacked out at some point.” He furrowed his brow, in thought this time, “I honestly don’t know how I got here.” 

“Where do you think ‘here’ is?” 

“Kyoto?” 

“I’m afraid not.” Tsukauchi gave him a kind smile, “You’re currently in Musutafu, Japan. You arrived here in some sort of portal yesterday.” 

“A por— Wait, where did you say I am?” 

“Musutafu, a major city in Japan. You’re currently in the Musutafu hospital.” 

Arlo brought his hand to his chin in a thinking manner and tilted his head, “Musutafu? That’s—Hmm… I don’t recall there being such a city in Japan.” 

“Really?” All four adults reared back in surprise. Musutafu was a large city, plus the home of UA, one of the best hero schools around. Every kid his age, even foreigners, would know where the home of UA is.  

Aizawa narrowed his eyes in thought. This kid had been acting quite strange. First, he acted as if he’d never seen a mutation quirk before, which was impossible considering one sees them left and right, and then he’s never heard about a primary Japanese city? He’d understand the latter to a degree if the kid was from another country, which was likely considering he wasn’t a registered citizen, but the first one just didn’t make any sense. It was almost as if...  

Aizawa's eyes widened and stepped directly in front of Arlo. 

“I have a very important question that I need you to answer honestly for me, okay?” 

Arlo nodded meekly, anxious at the sudden change of mood, “O-okay.” 

“Do you know what a quirk is?” 

“Uh…” Arlo’s eyes darted between the adults nervously, landing on Tsuragamae before returning to Aizawa’s piercing stare. 

“Well, I know the definition of the word ‘quirk’, but in this uh—” he gestured to Tsuragamae, “—context, I don’t believe I’m familiar with the term?” 

Arlo averted his eyes, nervously rubbing his neck as the adults stared at him in disbelief. Tsukauchi was the first to break the silence. 

“…He’s not lying.” 

This kid genuinely didn’t know what a quirk is. 

- 

Arlo thought about it. 

And thought about it. 

And yet none of it made sense. 

Sure, it was ‘possible’ to change a person’s anatomy with magic and make them look like animals. The thing was, it was not only super illegal, but it was also super dangerous. 

So, he had stared, unabashedly, trying to figure out why a dog that looked like a cop was standing before him. 

And then the dog introduced himself as the chief of police, which just complicated things more, because why would the chief of police be part of a practice of illegal magic? Unless it was forced upon him which was entirely possible considering what Frederick’s experienced and—Did he just say “ruff”? 

…Okay. He was definitely dreaming. 

Because if he wasn’t then either this person, Tsuragamae, was super into his role as a dog or he was fused with a dog. And if changing a living thing’s anatomy was super dangerous and illegal, then fusing two living things was straight up inhumane and a warrant for life in prison. That was how werewolves were made. 

The only logical explanation was that he was dreaming. 

Except he wasn’t if the hard pinch he gave himself was anything to go from. 

When Tsuragamae explained that his appearance was part of his quirk, it only confused Arlo further. 

Sure, he may have not been all that well versed in Japan’s laws so it’s possible that they had released a new law recently legalizing the practice of magic fusing, even though he thinks he would have heard of it anyways ‘cause that’s a big thing to just legalize, but he’d never heard anyone use the term “quirk” in this context. 

And then they told him he was in Musutafu, a city in Japan that he had also never heard of. 

As he expressed his confusion, the adults started to get confused as well. That’s when the weirdly dressed man asked him in a low, almost bored, but serious voice, “Do you know what a quirk is?” 

Arlo answered honestly. 

But he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, because then all the adults were staring at him openly, clearly shocked, until the detective said in disbelief, “He’s not lying.” 

Arlo looked away, a little embarrassed from all the staring. He peeked at the black-haired man from under his bangs. The man wore black, baggy clothes, his hair was long and unruly, and he wore some type of white cloth around his neck. He’d say it was a scarf, but it was the beginning of July, and it was way too thin to bring any warmth. But then again, his clothes looked warm too, and he seemed to have an abundance of the cloth, so maybe he was wrong. He also had an eyepatch, one that reminded him of the one Youko made for Nikolaus. 

All in all, the man didn’t look like a cop. Arlo was about to ask who he was when a voice interrupted him. 

“Well, isn’t this an interesting development? A child without knowledge of quirks, in this day and age!” 

Arlo faced the adults fully again trying to place where the voice came from. It sounded like it came from the man, but it was way too high pitched. 

“Wha—” He was about to ask, when a small creature popped out of the man’s scarf. 

“Good evening! I am principal Nedzu of—" 

“HAHHH?!” 

Arlo jumped back, almost falling over the edge of the bed, which he would have if it wasn’t for the white cloth that suddenly wrapped around him. He stared in slight shock as the man maneuvered the cloth with expert ability, his hair then blown from his face, giving Arlo a clear view of his scars, and his one eye glowing red. 

“Aizawa!” Oh, so that’s his name, “Be careful with the patient. He’s still injured! And you—” 

Recovery Girl pointed her cane at Arlo, “—What did I say about injuring yourself?” 

Arlo waved his hands placatingly as he situated himself back on the bed, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to this time! And…” he rubbed his neck, embarrassed, “I’m sorry for screaming too. I was just… surprised.” 

Understatement of the year. 

“No, no, it’s my fault for frightening you.” Nedzu jumped off Aizawa’s shoulder and landed on a chair beside Arlo’s bed, “Let’s start over! I am the Principal Nedzu of UA high school!” 

Arlo reached over and hesitantly shook Nedzu’s paw, “Arlo Keen.” He tilted his head in confusion, “Why is the principal of a high school here?” 

“You and your friends fell in UA’s dorm building. It’s only natural that we’d come and take the case!” 

Take the case? What kind of school took an official police case? 

“We?” Arlo said instead, turning his head to look at Aizawa. 

“That’s right! This is Aizawa Shouta, pro hero, and homeroom teacher at UA high school.” Nedzu relayed cheerfully. 

Arlo’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Pro hero? What’s that?” 

The adults shared glances among each other, “Professional hero. As in, I was professionally trained and hired to be a hero,” answered Aizawa. 

Arlo tilted his head thoughtfully, “Hero? As in, the police?” 

“Not quite.” Tsuragamae answered this time, “On the field, the police force is not allowed to use their quirks before, during, or after fighting a villain, or criminals in general, unless explicitly ordered to. Heroes, or other individuals such as Recovery Girl, are permitted to use their quirks as a part of their job. Heroes specifically, are permitted to use their quirks to fight villains or rescue civilians.” 

“I see…” Arlo placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully, “And, this is little late but, what exactly are quirks?” 

Tsuragamae shared a look with Tsukauchi before stepping back. In turn, Tsukauchi stepped forward, apparently taking the reins. 

“Before that, I need to ask you some more questions, okay?” 

“Oh, okay.” Arlo straightened, a little disappointed he wasn’t being given answers at that moment, but he didn’t complain and prepared himself to answer any questions. 

“Based on your accent and appearance, I can assume you’re not from Japan?” 

“Yeah! I’m from the UK. My class went to Kyoto for a school trip, which is where I’m supposed to be.” 

“Do you remember the events that led to you blacking out?” 

“Uh… Yeah, but it’s a little fuzzy.” 

Tsukauchi nodded in understanding and gave him a kind smile, “Can you relay them for us?” 

Arlo returned his smile, “I’ll try my best.” 

If Arlo was being honest, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to recall the events all that well. The hit he took was hard, but he said he’d try, so try he would. 

They had just arrived in Kyoto the day earlier. Everyone woke up early so they could frolic and look around as much as they could without falling behind schedule. The teachers took them to the National Museum of Modern Art and he remembered being amazed by the paintings. Early on, Arlo and his group, Elena and Nikolaus, broke off from the rest of the class to do some of their own exploring. At some point, they realized it was around the time the teachers made the class agree to meet back up for lunch, so they hurried to the meeting point. 

They didn’t see how empty the museum had gotten. 

They didn’t see the attack coming. 

Not until Nikolaus had blood pouring from his head, knees buckled and leaning on the wall for support. 

Two figures emerged from hiding then, both wearing a black hoodie, pants, a mask, and sunglasses. One was holding a knife while the other appeared unarmed. The one with the knife, a girl based on her voice, said their names as if asking if they had the right people. Elena responded aggressively, asking why they attacked if they weren’t even sure they had the right people. 

The girl lunged for Elena without answering while the other lunged for Arlo and Nikolaus. While the latter straightened himself out, Arlo blocked the punch the person sent him and punched their stomach in a counterattack. The person stumbled back, clutching his gut before lifting his head and abruptly brought his arms out in front of him, moving his hands in such a way that made it seem like he was manipulating something invisible. 

Arlo was confused before realizing he was being lifted off the ground. 

Nikolaus tried to grab at him but was too slow and Arlo was slammed against the ceiling before he was dropped back to the floor, effectively knocking him out. 

[somethingwritey]

How is the Rangshi long fic coming? Id love an update on ittttt!

Hello! I'm so glad you're still thinking about my Rangshi fic! It's currently around 20k at the moment—definitely getting a bit carried away!

Because you asked, here's another little out-of-context snippet ;)

-----

“Do you think the spirits would mind if I assassinated a world leader?”

Jinpa jerked his head up at the question, risking a glance behind him at her. Kyoshi knew she must be a sight to behold, laying out across the wide saddle and staring up at the darkening clouds. In her hands, she opened and closed a fan in time to her pounding pulse.

“I don’t think that’s listed as an Avatar duty,” Jinpa stammered, thoroughly taken aback by her proposal.

“Bummer.”

Jinpa was quiet for a few moments, no doubt trying to edge around the subject towards her reasoning. “I take it that meeting with the Fire Lord went… poorly?”

Kyoshi propped herself up on her elbows to stare him in the face. She hoped he could read how absolutely stupid that question had been. She’d emerged from the Fire Lord’s palace by stomping, causing tiny earthquakes as she marched over to the stables. That should’ve been indication enough.

“He’s out of control.” Kyoshi shivered—Rangi’s absence making itself very apparent just then; she could always be counted on for a little extra warmth while traveling.

Kyoshi went back to staring at the sky.

Zoryu’s words about the Firebender still echoed in her ears, doing more to chill her than the night air ever could. She wished she could put more distance between Rangi and the Fire Lord, despite being hidden away in Yokoya.

For a terrifying moment, she wondered if Zoryu somehow knew. If he could see the girl in her cotton shift, laid out on the infirmary bed with her hands knotted in the sheets. If he had discovered a way to look at the bruises on her face and the way her breath still rattled slightly whenever she breathed. Maybe this whole meeting had been a distraction, a diversion to take Kyoshi away from the infirmary and Rangi. Maybe, it was too late.

“Jinpa!” Kyoshi felt her heart pounding in her ears. “Fly faster!”

She worked herself up as they flew, imagining horrific scenes of injury and destruction—rivaling the iceberg or North Chung-Ling - only this time, it would absolutely be her fault. If anything happened to Rangi, the Flying Opera Company, even Hei-Ran and Atuat, she would be to blame.

Kyoshi gripped the edge of the saddle, her knuckles turning white from the effort. She watched the ground grow closer and closer as Yingyong spiralled into a descent. Her chest tightened with every drop in altitude, and once, she almost slipped over the edge and plummeted the last several feet to the ground.

“Quiet evening.” Jinpa seemed on the whole unaware of her own personal panic. He landed Yingyong with ease and dismounted, walking around the side of the bison to assist Kyoshi like he always did.

She didn’t wait for the monk to make it over to her. She tumbled from the saddle, falling hard onto the ground and scrambling back up to her feet.

“Kyoshi!” he yelled after her in disbelief.

She didn’t turn around, stumbling towards the infirmary to what she knew would be waiting for her. Blindly, she pushed open the door and tripped over the doorway, panting and gasping for air, to find -

No evidence of violence. No ransom note or bodies or trails of blood. Just Hei-Ran and Atuat sitting in a few chairs with bowls of noodles, with the rest of the Flying Opera Company still bedridden, but looking more vibrant than before. Even Rangi looked, on the whole, unchanged, propped up in bed. Someone had even taken the time to put her hair back up in its usual topknot.

“Well,” Hei-Ran said dryly, taking in Kyoshi’s haggard appearance. “Are you being pursued by wolfbats? Lion vultures? Spider snakes, perhaps?”

Kyoshi’s face flushed red, and she tried hard to catch her breath - smoothing down her skirts to remove the ruffles.

“Did the monk get eaten?” Atuat asked calmly, taking another bite of her noodles. Clearly, the two women were enjoying the joke at Kyoshi’s expense.

Rangi covered her mouth, looking as though she was trying to keep a straight face for Kyoshi’s sake and failing at it. Kyoshi glared at her.

“Not you, too.”

A little snort escaped Rangi’s fingers, and her eyes went wide.

“Some bison ride you must’ve had,” Kirmia ventured, surveying Kyoshi’s windswept state. “What did happen to that Airbender of yours?”

Kyoshi gestured out the door. “Probably unsaddling Yingyong,” she told them all, still somewhat out of breath. “I, uh, just needed to check something.”

“The Fire Lord put you on edge?” Hei-Ran put down her bowl of noodles, staring hard at Kyoshi.

She forced herself to look back calmly. The last thing she wanted was to let everyone know that she’d gotten worked up over some unfulfilled threats. And now that she was here, even Kyoshi could tell how stupid she’d been. The infirmary was the safest place for Rangi right now, surrounded as she was by Hei-Ran and Atuat and unable to make any wrong move the Fire Lord could use to justify an attack.

Kyoshi forced a smile, relaxing her shoulders the best she could. “Nothing of the sort.” She tucked her fans back into her belt. “The meeting was simply to confirm what he already knew. Pretty big waste of time, actually.”

Hei-Ran was still studying her skeptically, probably trying to pinpoint the reason for Kyoshi’s sudden change in demeanor. Kyoshi dared to look over at Rangi again.

Her expression mirrored her mother’s, lips slightly pursed and head tilted to the side. If Kyoshi didn’t want Hei-Ran to discover the true nature of her meeting with Zoryu, she definitely didn’t want Rangi figuring it out.

Rangi’s station meant everything to her, and she took her job very seriously. If she knew that her own Fire Lord was pondering possible ways to strip the girl of her life - or worse, her honor - she would lose it.

Kyoshi had already seen how Fire Nation citizens treated their disgraced ranking officials. Hei-Ran had been pitied, patronized, pet like an animal. If anyone were to take that tone with Rangi, well, Kyoshi couldn’t promise that she would be able to keep her Avatar State in check.

“Care for some noodles?” Atuat gestured to her own bowl, holding it up for Kyoshi to see.

There was no way Kyoshi could turn down food. She hadn’t eaten since… well, Kyoshi couldn’t quite remember the last time she’d eaten, and she could feel Rangi staring daggers at her.

“Yeah,” she smiled at Atuat. “Noodles would be great.”

////

It was three days before Rangi was able to stand.

Atuat worked on her the best she could, trying to heal the internal damage caused by Yun. She told Kyoshi that bits of his earth dagger had broken off inside her wound, causing irritation and leaving a large possibility for infection. It didn’t help that Rangi was a terrible patient.

“I can get up,” she kept insisting. “I’m fine!”

When Atuat finally let her try, Rangi leapt at the opportunity, getting to her feet much too quickly and nearly doubling over from lingering stiffness and pain.

“Careful!” Kyoshi cried, hovering nearby. The outburst earned her stares from both Rangi and Atuat.

When Rangi straightened up again—slower this time—Kyoshi could see the imprint of the bandages under her shift - wrapped generously around her torso like battle armor.

“Are you sure she should be doing this?” Kyoshi asked Atuat, probably only fueling Rangi’s determination. “She’s still got bandages on! What if she starts bleeding again? We can try again tomorrow! Or next week!”

“Kyoshi, what’s your problem?” Rangi narrowed her eyes.

She was being far too overprotective, Kyoshi knew. She should back off. Let Rangi manage her own recovery. But even though it was inviting Rangi’s wrath, Kyoshi didn’t want her Firebender’s stubbornness to impede her healing process.

Rangi needed to take it slow. Make sure she didn’t make things worse with her rush to get better. As much as Kyoshi wanted to see her girl back on her feet, she knew it wouldn’t benefit either of them if it happened too quickly.

That’s what Kyoshi told herself as she watched Atuat support Rangi and instruct her to gently raise and lower her arms - stretching out her muscles. Kyoshi just didn’t want Rangi to overextend herself. To tear open her wound. To hurry an infection along. Her concern was born from love and care, not selfishness.

Or cowardice.

As if to poke holes in her reasoning, Hei-Ran entered the tent, arms crossed. “Jinpa told me your meeting with the Fire Lord ended… abruptly.” She glanced over at Atuat and Rangi for the briefest of moments. “Rangi, straighten your shoulders. Injuries don’t excuse bad posture.”

Rangi huffed, but obediently did as she was told. She respected her mother’s authority, whether she liked it or not.

Kyoshi picked her next words carefully. Lying to Hei-Ran was never a good idea, but neither was letting on just how badly the meeting had actually gone. “I think… the messages of both parties had ample time for sinking in.”

The words could’ve come straight from Yun’s mouth—vague with just the right amount of high-brow language. Maybe she wasn’t a hopeless cause after all.

Hei-Ran seemed surprised by the response as well. “I see. And what message did the Fire Lord impart on you?”

Shit.

Kyoshi tried to think on her feet. “Politics,” she said at last. “The importance of… political relations.”

“Sounds like the stuff Jianzhu used to preach,” Rangi offered, crinkling up her nose at the mention of the departed sage.

Hei-Ran sniffed dismissively at the mention of the man who’d nearly poisoned her to death. Kyoshi wondered inwardly if the woman ever mourned Jianzhu, despite everything. He had once been her close companion, after all.

Every one of Hei-Ran’s old friends were gone, she suddenly realized - swallowing hard. Kuruk. Kelsang. Jianzhu. The once-inseparable gang hadn’t stayed that way for very long. Hei-Ran was the sole survivor.

Killed after hunting dark spirits.

Murdered by Jianzhu.

Murdered by Yun. And me.

What terrible fates had been waiting for the previous Avatar team, often at the hands of each other. Was that what waited for her? For Rangi? For Wong and Kirimia? Was every Avatar doomed to bring failure and annihilation to the people who loved them most?

“Atuat,” she said sharply, turning to look at Rangi who’d made good progress accompanied by the Waterbender. “That’s enough for today.”

“Yes, Avatar.”

As Atuat moved to help Rangi back to bed, Rangi protested - an angry haze settling over her face as she watched Kyoshi move towards the door.

“What?” Rangi twisted in Atuat’s grip, trying to break free, to run after her. “Who let her call the shots around here? Kyoshi, don’t you dare walk away from me! I’m not through talking about this!”

Kyoshi didn’t turn around. She couldn’t.

“Fine! Go clear your head! See if I care!”

And then Kyoshi made it out of earshot.

She would delay Rangi’s recovery as long as she possibly could, drag it out until the spirits themselves were begging the Firebender to get back on her feet. Because at least here in the infirmary, tucked away in Yokoya, she had people to keep her safe. She couldn’t get herself thrown into another life-threatening situation while she was still recuperating from the last one.

Kyoshi wouldn’t be the reason for Rangi’s obliteration.

And neither would Zoryu.

---

more coming soon! my commissions are open (and so is my ask box!)

[apoguecalledjj]

Fixation ( Chapter 9)

Sorry for my absence! I just started my first year of uni. But anyways, here it is, the last chapter of Fixation! (Theres an epilogue coming!) Definitely shorter than I originally planned, but I’m proud of it and I’m just happy to get it published. Hope you loved this series as much as I loved writing it!

Series summary: Eleanor is new to the outer banks, and the pogues are quick to take her in. But so are the kooks, and as she grows closer with Rafe, trouble emerges. Trying to balance her relationship with the pogues and the kooks, as well as dealing with her own personal problems, Eleanor falls into a hole she may not be able to dig herself out of.

Chapter Word Count: 2111

Chapter Warnings: None

Previous Parts: Ch. 1 Series masterlist

Taglist: @prejudic3 @maragritatimebaybee @drewxxrudy @outerbankslove @bricksatanakinswindow @alexa-playafricabytoto @gigi-june

JJ hardly left Ellie’s side. For the entirety of the two weeks, she was in the hospital, he was there, sat by her bed. He left to shower and sleep, and that was only because the nurses told him he had to. Of course, Ellie’s family and the pogues visited quite often as well, and Topper and Kelce. But the dedication JJ showed to Ellie melted her heart, and every day, thoughts of Rafe drifted away and were replaced with more and more of the beautiful blond-haired boy next to her. He stayed even when withdrawal and recovery got bad, held her hand through every needle and test she had done, and told her stories from his life when she got bored. John B and Pope teased him, wondering what had happened to the JJ they knew, but it was obvious to everyone what had happened: He had fallen in love. Now, just a few days after Ellie’s discharge from the hospital, the pair sat in her bed, the door opened just a crack from the rules her uncle laid, her head resting gently on his chest as he scrolled through her Netflix looking for a movie. Travis had grown to like JJ, something that shocked everyone. Even if Travis didn’t already have a bias against pogues, JJ had a reputation that everyone on the island knew about, and adults didn’t usually take kindly to him. But Travis couldn’t help but notice the way JJ changed around his niece, how he was much more gentle and quiet, and Travis respected that. “JJ, just turn on friends or something. I think I wanna have a nap,” Ellie muttered, snuggling in further onto JJ’s chest. The two weren’t official yet, Ellie still wanted to take things slow and they hadn’t gone any further than kissing, but everyone still considered her JJ’s girl. “El, you slept for 12 hours last night, and 13 the night before! How do you sleep so much?” “I got up to pee a couple of times,” Ellie muttered in defense, and JJ chuckled. “And it’s not my fault you’re so comfy. You make it so easy to fall asleep.” JJ didn’t respond, instead, he just switched-on friends and rested his head lightly against Ellie’s. He reached down, grabbing her hand in his, and she slowly rubbed her fingers over his calloused palms. He too found himself growing tired, the tiny action relaxing him as he focused on the feeling of her small hands against his. Ellie was barely drifting off when her phone rang, waking her. She groaned, barely opening her eyes to glance up at JJ. “Can you grab that?” JJ leaned over, reaching across her body to pick up her phone which was sitting on the nightstand. “Uh, Ellie,” He exclaimed as he turned it over, looking at the caller ID. “It’s your mom.” Ellie shot up, all traces of tiredness lost from her body. She had been here for a couple of months already, and her mother hadn’t reached out to her once. So why now? JJ stayed quiet as she answered the phone, not really knowing what to do. He had heard lots about Ellie’s mom, but he wasn’t sure if her calling was a good or bad thing. “What do you want?” Ellie snapped into the phone. It was definitely a bad thing. Ellie couldn’t help but roll her eyes as her mother’s voice echoed through the phone, slurred, just like always. “Eleanor. Travis told me what happened and I just wanted to check on my baby girl.” “Please don’t call me your baby girl.” The words stung Ellie. She understood addiction, especially after having gone through it, but that didn’t make the neglect from her mom hurt any less. “I love you, Eleanor. I’m sober now. I’m trying to get better, just for you. I’ve been going to meetings and-” Ellie cut her mom off. “You’re slurring. God only knows what you’re high on right now.” JJ shifted over, moving closer to Ellie so he could wrap his arms around her gently. Her eyes were filled with tears, threatening to overflow. Hearing from her mom unexpectedly shook her to her core, and a knot had worked its way into her stomach and showed no sign of leaving. “Don’t reach out to me until you’re sober, mom.” Ellie hung up the phone, not bothering to listen to anything else the woman had to say. She was tired, her whole life she had been dealing with her mother's addiction all while learning to take care of herself and her sister, and it seemed to be following her no matter where she went. “You okay?” JJ asked quietly, brushing away a stray tear that had leaked from her eye. He tugged on her body lightly, laying her down on the bed next to him and pulling her closer to his chest. The question seemed to ake things worst though, and JJ internally swore as Ellie began to shake and sob. He knew what it was like to have a shitty parent, but seeing someone else go through the pain was so heartbreaking, especially when it was someone he loved so much. He wanted more than anything to take all the pain away from her, but that was something he couldn’t do, so instead, he held her close and prayed that one day she could be fully happy. --- It was Ellie’s first time back at the chateau since she had been discharged from the hospital. Even though it had already been a couple of weeks, the pogues had all been quite busy and there wasn’t a great time for them all to get together. Today though, everyone was free, so they planned a little celebration for Ellie. Even with just the six of them, a few balloons and a small store-bought cake, the ‘party’ still bought a huge smile to Ellie’s face that stuck around even after the cake had been devoured and the balloons had been popped (The first was an accident by John B, the rest by JJ after he saw how much the loud pop scared everyone else). It was beginning to get dark out, and they had made their way from John B’s tiny, and now messy, kitchen out to the small firepit he had outside. It took a while to light the fire, but once it was ablaze the laughter and chats continued. Ellie couldn’t help but notice that for the entire day, not a drop of alcohol was involved. Even though alcohol wasn’t involved in her recent addiction and overdose, the pogues were still cautious with her recovery and she appreciated that. As the air began to get chilly, Ellie leaned into JJ’s side, and he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her even closer. Sarah smirked, there had been no talks of a relationship between the two since Ellie had been released from the hospital but everyone could tell something was going on. Sarah opened her mouth, ready to question the pair cuddled up together, but footsteps approaching from the driveway interrupted her. John B and Kiara heard it too, their faces contorted in confusion as they weren’t expecting anyone else to show up. “What the fuck are you doing here?” John B noticed who it was first, and he stood up hastily, clearly trying to block Ellie’s view of who it was. But as soon as John B spoke, Ellie pulled away from the warmth of the boy beside her, standing up so she could see over John B’s shoulder. She moved forward quickly, ready to jump in to help the pogues with their unwanted guest, but quickly froze as she made eye contact with Rafe Cameron. JJ was beside her in an instant, his hand lightly resting on her lower back. She could hear him breathing heavily, could feel the anger radiating from him. “You got a lot of nerve showing up here,” He sneered, ready to jump into a fight. “I just want to see Ellie,” Rafe said defensively, his hands raised in the air. “I have no interest in seeing you.” Ellie found her voice, the words coming out way harsher than intended, not that she minded. “Ellie, I-” Rafe started to speak, moving to get closer to her, but he was blocked as John B quickly stepped to the side. “Could you shut the fuck up?” It was clear how angry Ellie was, all the fear and uneasiness she had displaced just minutes ago nowhere to be seen. She pulled away from JJ and brushed past John B so that she was stood directly in front of her ex. “Ellie, wha-” JJ questioned her but was cut off by a wave of her hand, and all the pogues were quiet. None of them doubted Ellie, she could handle this herself and they all knew it. “Why are you being so fucking rude?” The softness that had coated Rafe’s face when he first arrived was gone, replaced with fury and hatred. Ellie rolled her eyes. “You almost killed me, Rafe. You left me to die from an overdose on a drug that I never even would have taken if it wasn’t for you. Not to mention, the entirety of our relationship, you were a complete ass. So yes, I’m being rude. I have no idea why you would even think it would be okay to come here to see me.” “Whatever. You’re a massive fucking bitch anyways,” Rafe muttered. At this, JJ’s hand balled into a fist, enraged that the kook had the audacity to talk about Ellie that way. He wanted to rush forward, to pound his fist into his face. But he didn’t need to, because as Rafe turned to leave, Ellie reached out and grabbed his hand, turning him back towards her. Hope flashed in his eyes, Rafe’s immediate thought being that she changed her mind and was going to ask him not to leave. That thought was short-lived though because Ellie proceeded to smack him across the face. John B gasped, shocked at the sudden physical outburst from Ellie he hadn’t seen before. Sarah snorted, glad to see her brother finally getting what he deserved. Pope blinked slowly, trying to figure out what had happened to the sweet Ellie he had got to know, not that he blamed her for hitting Rafe. JJ stared in awe, amazed at the girl he loved standing up for herself. Rafe opened his mouth to speak, his eyes narrow as he glared at Ellie. “Don’t,” She said, shaking her head. “I think it’s time for you to leave.” Luckily, Rafe turned to leave, no longer interested in putting up a fight. Ellie stuck up her middle finger to him as he left, and even though his back was to her and he couldn’t see it, the gesture still made her feel good. “Woah, Ellie!” John B shouted once Rafe’s truck had sped off. “Didn’t know you had it in you!” “That’s my girl!” JJ whooped, rushing forward and wrapping his arms around her. He lifted her in the air, spinning her around with excitement, but quickly noticed how stiff she was, her arms didn’t reciprocate the hug, her smile didn’t match his, instead, she nibbled at her lip nervously, her eyes wide. JJ quickly backtracked and realized the mistake he made. “Oh, shit, El,” He muttered, putting her down and stepping back to look at her better. “I’m sorry, that just slipped out.” Ellie blinked a couple of times, gathering her thoughts together before slowly smiling. “No, I- I liked the sound of it. I think I’d like to be your girl.” JJ could hear his friends cheering around them, but at that moment, all he could focus on was her. The words took him by surprise, she had been so set on taking things slow, he didn’t expect it. Ellie could tell he was flustered, the slight pink tinge to his cheeks giving him away. She stepped forward with a smirk, grabbing his hand to pull him closer as well. They were basically touching, she glanced up at him innocently and JJ swore he fell in love even more. “You gonna kiss your girl?” Ellie whispered. JJ bent his head down slightly so his lips could meet hers, and even though they had kissed before, this felt different. She was finally his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer, both of them forgetting about everyone around them. JJ was absolutely and utterly in love with her, and he didn’t know it, but she was in love with him too.

[dispatchesfrom2020]

2020

What stories was I sleeping on?

So, what stories did I definitely miss before this project? Well, Atlantic Hurricanes and the Belarussian protests, for sure. Here are some of the other news I skipped out on during the year - or my recaps.

Ben Curtis/AP

1. Locusts Swarm 

An unusually wet 2019 led to swampy conditions across the Horn of Africa and western Asia - giving rise to a nearly biblical swarm of locusts. There are photographs where they literally seem to black-out the sun. The culprit? Climate change. The warming waters of the Indian ocean led to stormier weather - essentially more and bigger cyclones. It’s the worst outbreak of the crop-devouring pests in a quarter-century and it threatens food security across the region. The pandemic grinds international trade to a stop - obstructing many countries efforts to buy pesticides, equipment or bring in expert help to curb the infestation. Throughout the year, these swarms ballooned in size, stretching deep into Asia and across the Pacific ocean to Argentina and Brazil. An estimated 20 million people could face hunger and starvation and the UN’s World Food Program estimates that recovery could cost upwards of $9b USD in Africa alone.

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

2. The Tigray War

For three decades the Tigray people held the balance of political and economic power in the country, tightly controlled through the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), a Tigray nationalist party. In 2018 the Ethiopian election People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, led by Oromo Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, won control of the country’s government.

Animosities boiled over when the Tigray province persisted with the 2020 election, despite government orders to postpone voting until 2021 due to the coronavirus. Prime Minister Abiy cut off funding to Tigray, incising local leadership. In November 2020, youth militias affiliated with the TPLF killed six hundred villagers in the border town of Mai Kadra - and allegedly attacked Ethiopian military bases. 

The government responded by shelling the Tigray capital of Mekelle. Ethiopia’s armed forces quickly took control of the city and surrounding towns, with the militias retreating into the mountains where skirmishes have continued. 

With Tigrayan people facing violent retaliation - they have faced furloughs from jobs, had bank accounts suspended, faced arbitrary raids on their homes, and been refused permission to board airplanes or travel overseas. Many have faced direct violence, especially from non-Tigray militias.

The conflict has seen incursions from Eritrean forces. Abiy was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his work mending the relationship with Ethiopia’s former colony-turned-neighbour. They share a common enemy now - Tigray. Eritrean forces slaughtered church-goers at a religious festival in early December, killing children and elders indiscriminately. These shadow forces of Fano militias and Eritrean soldiers have committed war crimes - including extrajudicial killings and rape. They even looted the church that allegedly houses the Ark of the Covenant.

The Tigrayan refugees have only one option: Sudan. One journalist writes: “Several [Tigrayan refugees] told me that they saw dozens of bodies along the route as they fled their shops, homes and farms and took to the long road to the border... in stifling heat.”

The New York Times series on Tigray was helpful in understanding more about the conflict and its historical and ethnic contexts. But I have to say - I feel unclear about what comes next. Will guerilla warfare between the Tigray militias and Eritrean-Ethiopian forces continue? Will the country face international consequences for their move towards genocide? I guess 2021 will decide.

A SolarWinds banner hangs outside the New York Stock Exchange on the company’s IPO day in 2018 - Brendan McDermid/Reuters

3. The SolarWinds hack

I chose to write about icebergs rather than this story for a reason. I wholly do NOT understand cyber security. Like, at all. My eyes glaze over when somebody tries to explain Wikileaks to me. I tried. I really did - I read like three articles trying to parse the details and make sense of anything and here’s what I got:

Hackers - almost certainly Russian - got into the US government secure networks. For a lot of departments. For months. It’s really, really bad. The government has a pretty blasé response to the disaster. Trump blames China. Agencies are turning directly to Microsoft for answers rather than their own cyber security people. It’s a blazing hot mess.

I’m going to continue to not understand this one, sorry.

Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters

4. Civil Rights in 2020

The expansion of civil rights in Central/South America, with the legalization of abortion in Argentina in December and the introduction of gay marriage in Costa Rica in May, gave us something to celebrate in 2020. These new rights are the result of years - and decades - of organizing by activists in these two countries. 

Costa Rica is the sixth Latin-American country to legalize gay marriage. Argentina joins a short list of places in Latin America where abortion is fully legal - just Cuba, Guyana, Uruguay, and two Mexican states.

Some couples rushed to wed on the stroke of midnight - magistrates stayed up late into the night to marry couples. Marcos Castillo (L) and Rodrigo Campos (R) waited until the following morning - and celebrated with a masked kiss after their ceremony. 

Other notable moments in civil rights? New Zealand officially revoked their antiquated anti-abortion laws (which they’d been effectively ignoring for years anyway), Bhutan decriminalized homosexuality, Switzerland passed legislation that will allow people to change the gender on their government IDs, and Croatia struck down laws forbidding gay couples from fostering children. Albania banned gay conversion therapy - as did the Yukon, actually - and Barbados made discrimination on the basis of sexuality illegal.

Nicky Kuautonga/The Guardian

5. Oceania crushed the pandemic

Virtually all of the countries reported to be COVID-free during 2020 were Oceanic nations and island territories. Turkmenistan says they didn’t have any cases but they’re lyin’. -Tuvalu Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Palau all ended the year with no cases, while Samoa and the Solomon Islands reported a few isolated cases in quarantine facilities as they re-opened the border to repatriate their citizens abroad. 

Some combination of strict travel restrictions, new hygiene rules, curfews, and early lockdowns kept most of these countries relatively untouched. While New Zealand and Australia experienced several flare-ups throughout the year, their targeted lockdowns helped eradicate community spread quickly each time, returning them to schools, workplaces and boozy brunches quickly.

Honourable mentions to Vietnam and Thailand - with 100 million and 70 million citizens apiece both have charted under 100 deaths to COVID - and Taiwan with only nine casualties.

Gulalay Amiri, a pomegranate farmer, surveys his slim haul. Fighting as worsened in many parts of Afghanistan after the United States announced they would withdraw from the country in 2021 - Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

6. War in Afghanistan

In March the United States signed a peace-deal with the Taliban, promising to withdraw troops by May of 2021. The War in Afghanistan has lasted 19 years - the longest war in American history and the majority of my lifetime.

I don’t know how to feel about it.

During peace talks the Taliban refused to commit to recognizing the country’s elected government, disavowing Al-Qaeda or protecting women’s rights. They support limited education for girls - only up to the sixth grade.

I listened to a few podcasts by the Daily on the ground in Afghanistan with the current government’s security forces. Many of the young soldiers they interviewed were so young they’d never lived in a country governed by the Taliban - and they fiercely oppose the idea. It also appears that the Afghan government were often excluded from peace talks, finding out details of the American meetings with the Taliban through international news reports and Taliban statements on social media. 

Since the Taliban’s deal with the United States, Taliban bombings and attacks have continued, targeting both security forces and civilians. The Afghan government has pointed the finger at the Taliban for mass shooting at a maternity ward in Kabul that killed 24 women and infants. “They came for the mothers”, said horrified eyewitnesses.

For almost two decades, the western world has supported the ‘new’ Afghanistan - but it feels very fragile. Will a withdrawal lead those people that assisted coalition forces vulnerable to retaliation? It feels likely. The fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan government has been fierce - and come with high civilian casualties. The year is punctuated, nearly monthly, with news of new attacks in Afghanistan.

It reminds me of the end of the Vietnam war. America withdrew and two years later the south was retaken by the North. In the final days of the Vietnam war the United States evacuated around 150,000 civilians who had worked with American on the ground. Nearly a million others left the country by boat, seeking asylum at refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people who had collaborated with the US-backed South were sent to re-education camps where they were sometimes tortured or starved. Is this what Afghanistan will look like? 

There’s no 'good’ solution - and for now the future of the war in Afgahnistan feels very opaque. I think I under-reported stories in the region as a result - it feels too complex to boil down into daily recaps.

Bobi Wine, 38, was detained by police for allegedly breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning in Uganda’s upcoming presidential election - Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters

8. Ugandan election protests

Western media doesn’t seem to place a lot of importance on reporting in Africa - but what little attention they had for the continent focused on the anti-SARS protests in Nigeria throughout the fall. The attention on police violence in America raised the profile of these demonstrations - and the brutality of the government’s response, shooting at dozens of peaceful marchers gathered at the Lekki toll bridge.

But they were far from the only protests in Africa.

As Uganda prepared for an election early in 2021, the government forcefully cracked down on youthful dissidents - like presidential hopefuls Bobi Wine and Patrick Amuriat who were detained by police during the final campaign pushes in November. 

Wine, a young musician, has been arrested numerous times since he announced his candidacy. One occasion police beat Wine so badly he temporarily lost his vision - they also killed his driver. They raided his offices, confiscating election materials, and arrested supporters. His bodyguard will later be killed after being struck by a military truck while helping an injured reporter escape tear-gas during December protests.

Police record 56 casualties as they violently put down the large-scale protests - though human rights group have suggested the real number could be dramatically higher. 

Ariana Quesada holds a photo of her father, Benito. He died after an outbreak at the Cargill meat-packing plant where he worked. She filed a complaint with the RCMP, asking them to investigate conditions at the plant - Justin Pennell/CBC

9. Meat packing plants become coronavirus hotspots

Meat processing plants become super-spreaders - these often rurally-located factories see massive outbreaks across the United States and Canada. Their floors are crowded with employees working elbow-to-elbow, forced to shout over the loud din of machinery. The refrigeration - necessary for keeping the meat unspoiled - may allow the virus to live longer in the air.

By September of 2020, nearly 500 meat-processing plants had reported at least one case of COVID in the United States. And 203 had died. 

At a Tyson Foods factory in Waterloo, Iowa, staff allege that management placed bets on how many workers would become sick - and die. Supervisors began avoiding the floor, relegating their responsibilities to untrained workers. 

The plant reluctantly closed - by the time they re-opened two weeks later over a third of their 2,800 workforce had tested positive. Five workers died - including Isidro Fernandez, whose family is leading a lawsuit against the company.

In Canada, Cargill faces a similar lawsuit after an enormous outbreak in their High River facility that resulted in three deaths - two employees and one staffer’s 71-year-old father. They were: Hiep Bui, Armando Sallegue, and Benito Quesada. The company offered a $500 “responsibility” bonus for workers who didn’t miss any shifts - and discouraged employees from reporting any flu-like symptoms. Many of the factory’s workers are temporary foreign workers or new Canadians. 

10. The Nazca Lines

I forgot about this and am shoehorning it in now, but Peruvian archaeologists discovered another ancient line drawing in the desert outside of Lima - this time in the shape of a kitty cat.

Of all the archaeology finds this year - remains at Pompeii, a mammoth graveyard in Mexico, and a wealth of sarcophagi in Egypt - this is my favourite.

[battlestar-royco]

Elide is only 18 and suffered a lot of trauma but sjm doesn't know how make an interesting arc with this. She was like "this girl suffered a lot... Anyway she met this hot man Lorc*n and it's time to more cishet romance!"

Lmao, I feel like that’s almost all internal conflicts and arcs for SJ/M’s characters. She conflates self care and emotional recovery with falling in love with a guy—the 90% same alpha male dude as the one she wrote in her last book. El/orcan seems especially pointless to me, out of all the T0G romances. Like, even though R0walien is dumb and terrible, at least they had a history and spent time together. El/orcan was just a rehash of R0walien. It had no foreshadowing, it derailed the plot, and I honestly couldn’t even name two things El/ide and L/orcan have in common. At least D0rian and Celery both liked music and flirting. Inej and Kaz have similar trauma and are great partners in their gang, Katniss and Peeta’s skills complement each other as they combat other tributes in the Games, etc. El/ide and L/orcan are just traveling together so OF COURSE in SJ/M’s mind that means they have to get together, in a book that has three other concurrent straight romances. Boring, pointless, annoying.

[voidselfshipp]

Depth strider

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Confusing seas

/~~~~~\

Its been about two weeks since the team has been staying at snipers house.

Jerico has been trying to call in owed favours over the years so they can move out but nothing seems to work.

Shes sitting on the Grass munching on a granola bar as the sun sets.

Her black cat purrs snuggling into her side and then sitting on her lap, jer pets them and smiles,giving them a bite of their snack.

--I cant Belive I cant find a house for them, everyone I call suddenly knows no one that can help out with this.., I can tell sniper is at his limit

The cat purrs swallowing the previous snack--Well then, I think its time for me to step In--the cat said in a british accent.

Void jumps into the Grass,stretching, their Bones pop--Man been a while since I did this bloody thing

The cat lets out a loud screech as their form transforms into a human, the long cape falls to the ground, they take off their plague doctor mask, and ties It to their belt.

They extend their gloved hand at jerico, who takes it and hugs them tightly.

--I know ya missed me you emotional twat

--Yeah I did

Both walk into the house arms interlocked.

--Who are they--spy asks as soon as both enter the kitchen.

--Ya seriously dont recognize me you poor excuse of a drama queen?

Jer hits their sides with her elbow.

The frenchman scowls.

--ouch!Fine, im jericos cat , void

Everyone looks at eachother and then back at void.

--Sure thing-- sniper said rather sarcastically.

--I dont have time for this shite-- void launches at the counter transforming into their cat form and jumping back , Landing on the floor in ther human form--Whateva, me and jerico Will go out looking for a damn house so you all twats can stop annoying eachother

--are you sure thats your cat?--scout inquiers.

Jer rolls her eyes grabbing her jacket from the coat hanger--Sometimes I doubt it

Both walk two steps out of the door when void stops.

--Wheres icaro?--They ask

--they are probably cuddling with medic somewhere dont worry

The void demon anxiously taps their feet.

--Ya know I cant go without them

Suddenly a white cat jumps to voids arms.

Void hugs then smiling.

--There ya are

Jer cant help but chuckle at the sudden change of demeanor.

--Alright you lovebirds come on

They start to walk through the big farm into the city, nothing like a good old walk.

--Jerico-- void says-- how long Will you Keep this up?

--Keep what up?

--dont play dumb with me girl, I know you since you were a teen,I can tell when youre in love

--Im not in love--

--Jerico

The woman sighs hiding her hands in her pocket--Then what am I supposed to do about it huh?

--Confess?

--Confess when?!

--Well you cant Keep it a secret for that long!

The white cat and jerico growl at void.

--who took literally thousands of years to ask their current partner out?

--kay ya got me there,but seriously luv, trust me on this one

Jer looks up at the Sky and sighs--im not really looking forward to it

They come back from the city in the afternoon,empty handed.

Jer leaves void to be the bearer of bad news.

She lays on the ground , eyes closed.

--Whats the matter?- its icaros voice.

They sit besides her, in their human form, running their fingers through her hair.

--I just feel bad you know, we have been looking everywhere, not a single appartment in sight...

The void demon keeps in silence for a bit, then suddenly stand up with a jump.

--Dear when was the last time you visited chronos?

--right before we left home, why?

--Maybe she can help

--Theres no altar here to pray to, theres no place for an offering, as much as id like to we cant

--Thats a load of bollocks--Void says helping jerico stand up --I convinced one of your pretendants to give you an old clock he had laying around, we'll get it fixed and then offer that

Jeri sighs--You guys dont know when to drop the towel huh?

--Hey now,we are family, we stick togheter

Jer chuckles and hugs both of them--Thanks guys

The woman leaves her familiars to fix the old clock, as she goes upstairs to lay down to bed for a bit.

Shes about to fall asleep when suddenly someone nudges her.

Scout pokes her with the end of his bat, until she grabs it and takes it off his hands.

--Hm?

The Man startled jumps back.

--o oh hi--he says sheepishly.

Jerico sits on the bed, inviting scout to do the same, wich he obliges.

-- can I ask ya somethin?

--yeah sure whats up?

--see--he hunches holding his side,looking away--back at greymans island I got beat up by a couple of robots, medic patched me up but the injury wont let me run , most of us are on recovery And I cant really stand looking at it

--Do you want me to heal it?

--Ye, but its more than that I,--he scratches the back of his neck-- its just been so rough lately I guess I just want--

Jer smiles softly giving him a huge bear hug.

Jeremy melts instantly hugging her tightly, softly sobbing.

She pats his back kissing his cheek.

--Let it out Jeremy

She cups his cheeks, wiping away his tears with small kisses.

Scout Snickers wiping away his own tears smiling--youre truly a godsend jerico

He then stops to process what he says-- I I guess you literally are---

Jer smashes her lips against his, sitting on his lap.

Scout is taken back but kisses back, as his own hands hug her waist.

--Shut up you dork

Both hug,laughing softly.

She then heals his injury.

--aight,sniper needs me in the kitchen, ill see you around sweetcheeks.

He presses a kiss to her cheek and runs off.

She hears the screams of medic telling him to not run because of his previous injury.

She chuckles.

--Youre a good influence to him

Jer turns around to be met with spy.

She crosses her arms and raises a brow--hmm how long have you been here?

--Just a couple of seconds I did not want to see you make out with my son

She walks some step closer to the Man with a sudden surge of confidence.

They both stare at eachothers faces, trailing every feature of the other. then their eyes meet.

--what?--the frenchman asks.

--Oh dont play dumb with me spy boy, ive seen you staring at me these past few days

--well, ive seen you doing zhe same to me

--Yes true,but I just cant help it

She leans in with a huge grin on her face.

Spy thanks the gods for his balaklava,his cheeks were Burning red.

--youre too handsome

Jeri yanks Him from his tie kissing him.

His arms go around her waist pressing her to his chest.

She hugs his neck,smiling in the kiss.

They part lips some seconds later.

Spy is about to say something when void calls jerico.

--Ive got to go, ill see you around spy boy

She winks at him as she exits the room.

Spy is left there, speechless and with an endless internal screaming.

Jerico is outside with the old clock up and running.

--Okay....here we go....

[artemismoon12writes]

Title: Gotta Get ‘Em While They’re Down

Daltonfic Big Bang 2020: Week 3, Day 3, Wevid 

Based off @hufflebecks‘s Motorbike Bros concept & the Weebly Fact: “Wes got into a motorcycle accident once- it was an attempted hit and run.” 

David spent most nights studying these days. Between checking in on Katherine’s recovery, beating Siegerson’s GPA, and his extra-curriculars, he couldn’t really participate in Windsor shenanigans anymore. It made him sad to see his housemates off having fun, but it was Senior Year, he couldn’t mess around.

What hurt him the most was that even in his studying blitzes before, he had Wes by his side as a good natured distraction. They’d bounce ideas off each other, throw trivia, and toss ideas for editing notes. Now? Wes had early acceptance to ASA College, and David was still trying to get Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to respond to his letters. But that’s what David got for shooting high he guessed.

Now, whenever he saw Wes, his best friend would wave in passing before heading out with his motorbike club. Yeah, they hung out on weekends, but it still felt like he was being replaced. Why did Wes even own a motorbike? Yeah his dad had taught him to ride a vespa on family trips to Naples, but they lived in Ohio right now- it wasn’t exactly cosmopolitan.

David sighed, he shouldn’t be so harsh. Maybe it was good they spend time apart; after all, they wouldn’t be going to the same college, let along even in the same part of the country. It stung though. He missed his friend. If only he wasn’t so busy.

Buzz buzz. David’s cellphone went off from its spot on the shelf. He’d put it away to limit distractions. Why wasn’t it off? Oh, wait, all calls except his parents, Katherine, and Wes were sent to voicemail.

He stood up, reaching and unplugging his phone. The caller ID said Wes.

“Hello?” David asked. He checked the time. It was 10pm, why was Wes calling him now? He was supposed to stay at the Blakes after their day of riding. Maybe he needed a ride back? Typical of the Day Students to just assume boarders could sleep wherever because they typically had two homes.

“David? It’s David right?” A girl answered.

“Who is this?” Was this a new girlfriend? Had Wes not told him? He felt his heart sink. Wouldn’t have Wes told him.

“Jackie Blake. We’re at the hospital with Wes.”

No.

“What!” He didn’t even ask, just exclaimed; jumping up out of his seat and looking for his car keys. “Is he hurt? Which hospital? How far is it from Dalton?”

She sounded relieved. “We’re at Mansfield Hospital, it’s an hour north from where you are. I’m glad you picked up. Todd said you’re the only one who’d have his parent’s numbers.”

“Is he okay?” David repeated, throwing his coat on as he struggled to keep his phone to his ear.

“Yes and no.” Jackie’s tone was more cautious this time. “We were on our way back from the ride when a pickup truck decided they’d cut our lead on the pack; Wes’d decided to set the pace, and I guess? They just didn’t like motorbikes?”

David swallowed. A third time: “Is he…?”

“We need his parent’s permission to get him into surgery. They think a rib punctured his lung when he was knocked off the road.” Jackie’s voice stuttered. “They just kept going. Like they hadn’t throw him across the freeway.”

“Surgery?” David swore to himself. He knew the motorcycle club was a bad idea. Shit. Wes’ parents would die of heartbreak if this was how their boy went out. “I’ll text you their numbers. But, introduce yourself first. They need to know who’s telling them Wes is hurt.”

“Okay…” Jackie said slowly. There was a ping from her end of the phone as David sent it. He was at his car now, ready to hang up and put in the directions to Mansfield.

She spoke again, quieter. “I’m sorry we didn’t get the licence plate. Colby stopped us all and had us put out flares so we could get him off the road. Dustin wanted to chase after them but-”

“Don’t worry.” David said, “just tell his parents. It will all be okay.”

“Okay.” She said quietly.

“I’m getting in the car now. I’ll talk to you soon.” David said, hanging up before she could say something else that would make him madder at the situation.

It wasn’t Jackie Blake’s fault. It wasn’t her brother Colby’s fault. Most of the Motorcycle Bros (as they called themselves) were fairly good people from what Wes described to him. It didn’t mean he couldn’t feel guilty he let Wes go out there. He’d already seen Katherine in the hospital because of one foolish driver; to see Wes? A target of a hit and run because of some stupidity about bikers? No. He didn’t want to accept it.

The road opened up before him, darkening fast in the early evening sunset. The lights were coming on one by one, making the road feel quieter than it was. He didn’t want to play the radio in case he got a call from Wes’ phone again, or from the Hughes, or anyone. He had to stay alert in case speakerphone went on.

It didn’t though. He made it to the hospital, probably passing the place the driver ran Wes off the road. He didn’t want to think about it, but he was.

David found the front desk, trying to look presentable, and not like he’d just sped an hour up the I-71. He approached the desk, ready to ask about a Hughes, Wes please- but a familiar face caught him by the arm.

“Hey, David. Are you alright?” Todd asked, still wearing the ridiculous jacket Wes commissioned for their little club. It was scuffed, covered in mud, but the smear of brown against Todd’s gloves made David swallow any jealousy he felt.

“I’m fine.” Of course he was. He wasn’t the one in hospital.

“He’s still in surgery, but the hospital isn’t busy tonight so they let us into the cafeteria even though its closed. We’re waiting for someone from the Hughes to show up; they said it will still eb a couple hours, but I guess,” Todd paused. He was leaning David off the entrance, presumably towards the sitting area. “None of us could just go home. Not, well… his motorcycle is still in the ditch and, it wouldn’t feel right riding without him.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t gone out with you guys.” David found himself saying bitterly.

Todd eyed him. He didn’t say anything for a moment; their footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. “I’m sorry you feel this way. But statistically, you know without us this just would have happened sooner.”

“You guys make it easy with your little bike gang.” David said, fiddling with the keys in his pocket. Wes was in surgery, and he was out here, chatting. It didn’t feel right. There had to be something he could do.

“Wes can have more than two groups of friends.” Todd said quietly, checking the door before opening it. “But now is not the time to fight. Sadie and Colby know more about the medical situation because they had to relay information to the doctors and the Hughes. We all care about Wes, but think about it- only you have his parent’s number. Don’t be mean because he’s not devoting his life to you.”

David kept quiet, the door opened to the large hospital cafeteria. The whole group was there, sans Wes. Some still had their jackets on; others like honorary member Casey Lambert, had taken it off in a haze of frantic pacing. Colby, Dustin, and Jackie were whispering between each other, while Sadie comforted a crying Allison.

“It’s okay, he’ll be fine.” Sadie said, loud enough for David to hear as they came in. She was holding Allison against her chest. David had seen Allison enough in passing while visiting Katherine at Royal to know she was a loud, confident girl. She didn’t seem like the type who cried much.

“I- I was supposed to ride with him. This is my fault.” Allison cried, sniffing between words into Sadie’s t-shirt. “Maybe he wouldn’t have been hit if I was on the back of his b-b-bike.”

Sadie petted her hair, “Allie, honey, you know he would have just sped faster. You two are speed demons. Shh, shh, this is no one’s fault except that evil truck who hit him.”

“I should have go-gotten the plate, or I could have-”

“Allie, honey don’t do that. No, no. Come on sweetie.” Sadie said, holding her tighter. “We’ll be back on the road soon, don’t worry. He’ll get out of surgery and everything will be fine.”

Sadie looked up, meeting David’s eyes. She pressed her mouth together and averted her gaze. Colby noticed the company Todd brought and got up quickly. He dodged around the table to hold his hand out to David, an awkward greeting.

“Hey, I’m sorry we gotta meet all proper like this- but, uh, I’m Colby from Lancaster?”

“I know who you are.” David said quickly. “Todd said you know what’s going on with Wes?”

Colby scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Yeah, uh. Shit. I. Okay. So his parents okayed the surgery, after that I was cut out of the conversation because of confidentiality; but before that I saw the whole thing. Fucking car comes out of the left lane, clips Wes’ wheel and sends him into the ditch. It was mostly a skid, but he flipped once so between the road burn and the fall I think he’s got a broken leg, a couple ribs, and like… there was a lot of blood along his whole? Side? I guess?”

Todd nodded, “Yeah his side. We’re usually in full protective gear, so if anything his face is the one thing that’s fine. The chin strap didn’t budge thank any gods who were listening. But, well, padding only does so much against gravel.”

“The doctors say he should be fine. But its his lung they’re worried about. He’s got two, but like? Internal bleeding… fuck.” Colby didn’t seem to know how to order his thoughts. “It was deliberate. And, his parents said something weird, like, ‘we’ll take care of it’, like they would just be able to pick out of hundreds of fucking pickup trucks which one got Wes on a random road in Ohio. They must know some cops or something….”

“Or something.” David said solemnly. So they didn’t know; or they didn’t know David knew, so they were pretending. Colby seemed like he couldn’t keep a secret though; so, maybe Wes didn’t trust them with that kind of information.

“Is he going to be out soon?” David asked.

“Not sure.” Colby said. “Sit down, its going to be a while.”

---

It was a while. Four hours in fact. One to take him apart, and three to put him back together. The group was told they wouldn’t be able to stay at the hospital overnight, but Victoria Hughes arrived banked by two large, bulked up men, all except David were told to leave.

He was grateful, he was. He promised to keep the Motorcycle Bros in the loop, but right now Wes was his priority. Answering confirmation texts from Casey Lambert were not going to be on his to-do list.

Wes didn’t wake up that night. Or the next morning. Victoria left for a few hours, switching off with David at his bedside. The large men by his doorway stood silent watch. It was a long time before David felt safe enough to let himself sleep.

He was shaken awake sometime in the evening; a fragile grip tugging at his pant leg. “Davey?”

“Wessy.” David smiled sleepily before he even opened his eyes.

Wes groaned. David couldn’t help but laugh. “You called me Davey, fair is fair,”

“I’m high on painkillers, let me live.”

David opened his eyes to his best friend, tired and exhausted, but alive. Thank you, God; he was alive. He resisted the urge to hug him, conscious that underneath the hospital gown was probably a whole mummy’s worth of bandages. Instead, he gripped the hand on his trousers tightly. He wasn’t going to let go until Wes asked.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” David said, weight behind his words.

“Yeah, bit gnarly.” Wes smiled.

“You’re a dork.”

“Yeah, and?” Wes rolled his head against the pillow, scraped scabs visible under his neckline. “How long have you been here?”

“Last night. Victoria is here too. She brought the goons.”

“Probably Alejandro and Pino; they’re nice guys.” Wes said, stifling a yawn. “Sorry to keep you up, it wasn’t even the fun kind.”

“I don’t mind, you’d do the same for me.” David squeezed his hand. Wes squeezed back.

“You know it.” Wes said, tiredness seeping into his voice.

David couldn’t help it though, his next words just came out. “What were you thinking? Going out riding? Leading the pack? They’re…”

“They’re the only reason I’m alive.” Wes corrected. “If I’d been alone? Shit.”

“I know, but you’re on the road with-”

“David not every traffic accident is Katherine!” Wes said, sitting up and wincing. “God. You remember when I skidded off the road in sophomore year; that was my own stupidity. This time? I could have just stayed in that ditch for a week and no one would have found me. It’s the side of the I-71 on a weekday, no one cares. Besides, its not like you’d come out riding with me.”

“Its dangerous Wes.” David insisted.

“God, David; is this about me spending time with them and not you?” Wes asked, nailing the issue on its head.

“It’s not.” David lied.

“I’m not stupid. I know you.”

He did.

“I just-”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been spending time with you; but have you considered you haven’t made it easy?”

“I-“

“I know, you want to get into a good school. I don’t care because I’m running the family business no matter what my grades are.” Wes sighed, “David. Has it occurred to you I miss you too?”

“But you spend all your time with-”

“Only when you blow me off to study!”

“We used to study together.”

“We used to have all our classes together.” Wes pointed out. “I’m going business, you’re going medical. Why would I still be in Biology or Physics? Why would you be in Accounting?”

David said nothing.

“For someone so smart you can be a real idiot.” Wes said, pulling David’s hand closer. “But okay, if you promise to stop being just a territorial idiot, I’ll make a special David Only Day- not just movie nights, but just us.”

David snorted, “You’re just saying that cause you’ll be on bedrest until you’re better.”

“You saw through my evil plan! Oh no!” Wes said dramatically, raiding his hand as many degrees it could go until it hurt.

They would be fine. But it would take work. Luckily, both of them knew how to make the impossible out of probabilities.

David then realized, “Hey wait are you dating-”

“They’re all taken and it’s unfair.” Wes said. “I know!”

“Oh that’s rough man.”

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 46: Doctor’s Orders

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Kimiko Ojiro put a hand on the boy’s arm and concentrated, drawing upon her Quirk.  She had to keep this controlled, confined to just one area. As she did, the layers of skin, muscle, and other bodily gunk seemed to just vanish, eliciting a gasp from the boy. It was, even she’d admit, kind of gross. Especially the part where she could see all the muscles and stuff.  On the other hand, it was the perfect way to see the bones beneath.

“Okay, I’ve only been doing this a little while,” she said, “but that is definitely broken.  I’m ninety-nine percent certain you shouldn’t have a gap there.”

Hisashi Horikoshi, a General Studies student with a drawing-related Quirk, winced.  “Any chance you can turn that off?  I really don’t like looking at it.”

At that, Doctor Izumi chuckled.  “It is a bit strange, isn’t it?” she asked.  “But Ojiro here has already saved us a quite a lot on running the X-Ray machine. And it’s easier on you too if there’s no radiation.”

And good for Kimiko too, she had to admit.  Doctor Izumi had arranged for a small stipend for her for whenever she’d needed Kimiko’s services as an X-Ray machine.  It wasn’t a lot, but it put a few extra dollars in her pocket, and she got some additional experience.  

Being Doctor Izumi’s Intern wasn’t too different from what she’d been doing before.  Ever since the doctor had gotten her interested in becoming a Medical Hero, Kimiko had spent what time she could studying medical texts, preparing to earn a paramedic’s license, and assisting Doctor Izumi with minor injuries on the U.A. campus.  Between that, Hero training, her regular classes, and working on her webshow with Takuma and Kenta, she had a very full schedule.

The studying was going to be the death of her, she just knew it.  She was probably somewhere around the middle of the pack in grades, but she needed to do better.  Especially if she wanted to be a Medical Hero.  There were accelerated programs for Heroes who wanted medical training, she knew, after she graduated, but she had also been warned that they were very demanding.   Doctor Kimiko Ojiro had a pretty nice ring to it though, so she was going to give it her best.

Plus, it made her feel like she was really doing something with her Quirk.  Something more than just sneaking around.  She was proud of the work her mom did, but she didn’t want to be completely defined by being invisible.

“It’s a clean break, fortunately,” Doctor Izumi told Horikoshi.  “How did this happen again?”

“Gym class,” he said, looking a bit ashamed.  “Fell off the climbing rope and landed on it.  Not, ah, real good at climbing.”

“Oh, that’s not so bad!” Kimiko said.  She’d been doing it for years.  Sure, she didn’t have quite the upper body strength her dad did for it, but she was more than athletic enough to do it without even needing to get her feet involved.

“For you, maybe,” he said. “Those of us not in the Hero course have to make do.”

Kimiko opted not to point out that her new friend Kocho wasn’t in the Hero Course yet but had done good enough to take Third Place in the Sport’s Festival.   Horikoshi had actually made it past the first round as well, she recalled, but had gotten taken out very early into Quirkball.

Doctor Izumi examined the break again, then nodded.  “You’ll feel a slight tingle here,” she said, laying a hand on Horikoshi’s arm, right above the break.  “Can you keep holding on, Ojiro?  It’ll be even easier on me if you do.”

“Sure thing,” Kimiko said, not even bothering to nod.  It would have been a useless gesture anyway.  

“Thank you,” Doctor Izumi said.  “Hmm. Probably about fifteen minutes…”   A soft glow began to spread from her hand and it was all Kimiko could do not to grasp in shock as the glow spread to Horikoshi and the bones in his arm began knitting themselves back together, as though the damage was going in reverse. Kimiko had a pretty good eye for detail—a necessity when you couldn’t see yourself—and it was so much more than that. She could see little signs of the rest of him rewinding as well.  Not a lot, but the smudge on his face, the disheveled state of his hair, all these things rewound too. In mere moments, it looked as though his arm had never been broken at all.  Doctor Izumi let out a breath and released him.

“Perfect,” she told Kimiko.   Kimiko likewise let out a breath. Doctor Izumi’s Quirk was impressive, to say the least.  It was little wonder that in addition to working at U.A., she kept herself on call for multiple Hero Agencies and several local hospitals.  She’d even occasionally been raced across the country for special cases.

Which was not to say all her talents lived in her Quirk.  Kimiko had already seen that her medical knowledge was very real.  Most diseases couldn’t be so easily rewound and there were limits to the damage she could repair.  

“Thank goodness,” Horikoshi said.  “That was my drawing arm.  Don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”

Doctor Izumi smiled. “Glad to hear it.  Go get a pass from Recovery Girl, and get back to class.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Horikoshi said, hopping down off the bed.

Kimiko watched him go. Recovery Girl was nearby, sleeping at her desk.  “You’re pure evil,” she said in her sleep.  “Just like newspaper comics…”

Horikoshi hesitated, then gently touched her.  Her hand instantly shot out, grapping his arm.  “Ah ha!  Thought you could sneak up on me, eh?  But I’ve got you now, Dirty Dairu! Ha ha ha!”

“Recovery Girl,” Doctor Izumi said, firmly, “he’s a student.  Could you let him go?”

Reality seemed to return to Recovery Girl.  “Oh, of course, dearie.”  She patted Horikoshi’s arm.  “Don’t worry about it, sonny, takes me a minute to remember where I am sometimes.”

Once Horikoshi was gone and Recovery Girl had returned to her nap, Kimiko gave Doctor Izumi a curious look.  She tried to telegraph that with her crossed arms and other body language.  “Ah,” she began, “maybe this is rude of me… but should she really… be around students like that?”

Doctor Izumi closed her eyes and shook her head.  “Recovery Girl outlived her family.  Deku and a lot of other alumni have all offered to pay for a place in a top tier retirement home for her, but she won’t have it.  U.A. is all she has.  At least here, she has people who will watch out for her.  And even with her diminishing faculties, she has her lucid moments still.”

Oh.  Well.  That was… pretty sad, actually.  

***

Medical scissors, gauze, medical tape, pen light, mouth-to-mouth shield, rescue blanket, ballpoint pen, syringes, waterproof bandages, tunicates, stethoscope…  Each of these and more had a place in the bag before her, had to be loaded in a specific order, each had to be placed in a specific spot.  

And in an emergency, each was something that had to be retrieved quickly.  You had to know exactly where each and every item in the EMT kit was.  Time was people’s lives.

And for the first time, Kimiko had been able to retrieve each item Doctor Izumi had called for without looking!

“I did it!” she squealed, clapping her hands together.  

“You did,” Doctor Izumi agreed.  “What changed?  You were really struggling with it before.”

“Studying,” Kimiko groaned. “And practicing.  So much studying.  I even made flashcards.”   She let out a puff of breath.  “I don’t know how you do it, Doc.  I start doing all this studying and I feel like my brain’s going to ooze out of my ears.”

It wasn’t like Kimiko was stupid.  Well, her grades weren’t the best.  She was in the back part of the class, though she was ahead of Takuma and Kaminari. It’s just that her areas of knowledge were very specialized.  For example, she knew just about who everybody in the first year was dating and probably at least half of the second and third years.  Plus there was all the celebrity gossip she had floating around in her head.   And she was great at getting that out to the people.

But ask her to remember facts and figures or solve equations?  That was a lot harder.  

She needed to get better, she knew.  Hard to be an EMT or a doctor if you couldn’t tell the difference between a tibia and a femur.   Wait. Was that actual medical terminology? Maybe she was getting better at this!

Doctor Izumi gave her a small smile.  “You do realize I didn’t learn all of this in a few weeks, right?  You’ve been working with me off and off since the second week of school, but that’s still only been a couple of months.  It may have been an accelerated program, but I did go to med school.”

Kimiko made a face and was instantly grateful her expressions weren’t visible.  “And how long did that take?”

“Three years at U.A.,” Doctor Izumi said, counting off on her fingers, “the whole time of which I was interning under Recovery Girl. Then two years pre-med, and three years of medical school.  All the while balancing Hero work and assisting here.  Which is ridiculously short.  Aoyama’s husband gives me hell about it all the time.  Mostly teasing, but still.”

Doctor Izumi’s cellphone rang.  “A phone call is here!” the phone proudly declared, in a voice Kimiko recognized as Deku’s.  She looked at the caller id and let out a small gasp.

“Excuse me,” she said to Kimiko, putting the phone to her ear.  “This is Doctor Izumi.”  

She listened for a moment, something Kimiko couldn’t hear, then spoke again.  “That’s… that’s wonderful!  Yes, absolutely.  My husband and I can be there.  Next Tuesday. Thank you, thank you…”

When she turned the phone off, Kimiko realized that Doctor Izumi was crying happy tears.  “Good news?” she asked.

Doctor Izumi dabbed at her eyes.  “The best, actually.  Kota and I, we’ve been trying to adopt for a while now.  We’re both orphans, so this is our way of giving something back, now that we’re both successful Heroes and teachers.”

She flipped the phone around, showing Kikimo a picture of an adorable little girl with pale purple skin, darker purple hair, and pointed ears, probably no more than three or four. “Her name’s Himari,” Doctor Izumi said. “She lost her parents in a villain attack about a year ago.  Kota and I finally got approved to adopt her.   We’re bringing her home next Tuesday.”

Kimiko clapped her hands and let out another squeal of delight.  “Omigosh!  She’s so adorable!  I know you’re going to make a great mom!”  A thought popped into her head.  “Wait!  That means Mister Aizawa is going to be a grandpa!”

The doctor smiled again. “He is.  But don’t tell him, or anyone else for that matter.  We want it to be a surprise.”

That got a gasp out of Kimiko.  “Sitting on juicy gossip like that?  Ooooh that’s so unfair…”  She flailed her arms and stomped her feet.  Doctor Izumi just stared at her, so she quickly stopped.  “Okay!”

***

One advantage to interning with Doctor Izumi was that, since she didn’t have an actual Agency, Kimiko was just able to stay in her dorm room, rather than bunking in some Agency with a bunch of sidekicks or whatever.  Of course, with everyone else gone, it was oddly empty, but Doctor Izumi kept her working long hours (helping with students during the day, quizzing her over medical knowledge, helping her with paperwork and study aides the rest of the time) so that she didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

Still, she missed the others.  Especially Takuma and Kenta.  They really were her best friends in all the world.  Takuma, at least, was uploading content about his Internship.  Kenta had done one brief video at the start and then they’d just texted sporadically.

The school had also had people in doing construction on the third floor, where Kaminari, Tokoyami, Mineta, and Koda lived.   As it had turned out, there were actually more than four rooms on each floor.  It explained how they were so far apart, actually. The other rooms were just hidden away behind wall panels.  They’d unlocked one of those and brought in furniture for Koharu Kocho, the moth-winged girl she’d met during the Sports Festival.  Apparently, she’d be transferring to the Hero Course starting with the second semester!

Good for her!  Even though Kocho’d beaten her, Kimiko still liked her a lot.  Plus, it’d be pretty nice to have the girls outnumber the boys around here.  Not that their boys were too bad, but more girl power was always going to be appreciated.

Logically, she knew she should get some rest.  Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.  But the siren song of Hero gossip was calling her.  Maybe just a little look wouldn’t hurt.   Kimiko opened up her laptop and clicked over to one of the gossip feeds she followed.  Which also reminded her she really needed to follow up on whether or not Haimawari was dating Tetsutetsu from 1-B and what was going on with Mineta and that large boy in the Shiketsu uniform…

Some things, she could disregard immediately as clickbait, like the rumors of Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods splitting up.  The chances of that happening were almost nil.  Others were potentially more accurate, like the possibility that Wing Saber and Stardust were dating.  Which was actually pretty gross, since Stardust was his Sidekick.   Definitely improper.

“Oh!”  Kimiko let out a gasp at the next item in the feed.  Sequoia Rose, the daughter of Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, was spotted with a movie starlet she’d rescued from kidnappers last month.   A grin crossed her lips.  “A rescue romance?  Just like Tensei and Takuma!”

But what she saw next made her laugh out loud for a good five minutes before she was composed enough to even think straight.

Fighting back giggles, she looked over a picture of Suneater and Nejire-chan, along with Kenta. Suneater was looking at something off camera she couldn’t see, while Nejire-chan was standing very close to Kenta, grinning wildly.  Probably asking him a million questions, she guessed. Kenta was looking slightly uncomfortable at the attention.

But it was the headline that had made her laugh.  Is Nejire-chan Scoping Out a Younger Model to Replace Suneater?  She knew it was a total fabrication, but some nebulous feeling stirred in her. She pushed it down.

She took a screenshot and sent it to Kenta and Takuma’s phones.   Moments later, hers buzzed.

Kenta: Just kill me now.

Takuma: You lady killer you!  (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me about this, Kenta!  How rude!

You know I’m supposed to get first dibs on all gossip!

Kenta: Kimi, you know that headline’s nonsense!

Takuma: Just what someone trying to throw us off the scent would say!

Definitely got to share this with the world!

Kenta: I know you’re both kidding, but I am this close to just taking a bite out of my phone.

Kimiko just laughed. Those boys of hers…

***

It was raining and Kimiko was getting soaked and cold.  All the more reason to be glad she could just make her brightly colored pink and neon green costume invisible along with the rest of her, rather than having to strip like the way Mom did.  It was plastering her short hair to her head and outlining her features in random blotches.

Doctor Izumi, it turned out, was in incredibly high demand.  Trauma centers and ER’s across the country vied for her time and she gave them what she could.  Rescue services and Rescue Agencies also frequently called upon her and her skills. Such as they had now, responding to an earthquake in the coastal city of Takodana.  It was almost weird to think that nature alone could do such damage, compared to the kind of damage a runaway villain could do.  

She’d been making herself as useful as she could, performing field x-rays on civilians, making doors and other things invisible so that other rescue workers could see inside, and sometimes just helping people get to triage where more experienced medical workers could treat them.  

“X-Ray,” Doctor Izumi said, pointing to where a pile of rubble blocked the entrance to a small shop. “Can you give us a visual?”

Kimiko nodded, her silver goggles fulfilling their secondary purpose of marking where her head was.  “On it,” she said.  Carefully, she placed a hot-pink glove on the on rubble and pushed her Quirk outward.  Slowly, the rubble became indistinct and then completely invisible.  The invisibility spread to each piece touching the one she was, then onto the outer wall of the building itself.  It was a lot to make invisible at once and she felt a pressure growing in her skull, but she could hold it for a moment.

Inside, they could see two women, one pinned under a fallen metal shelf, the other holding her hand. A store clerk appeared to be trying to lift it, but to no avail.

“Good job,” Doctor Izumi said.   She tapped the communicator in her ear.  “This is Doc Clock.  We’ve got one confirmed wounded, possibly two additional wounded.  Requesting someone with a Quirk than can shift rubble to my location.”

Gritting her teeth, Kimiko released her invisibility field.  Her head ached from the strain.  She’d never tried to extend her invisibility around that much mass before. It had left her feeling… stretched out.

“Are you all right?” Doctor Izumi asked.

“Fine,” Kimiko said, quickly.  No time to be showing weakness now.  

“You’re not,” Doctor Izumi said.  “You’re showing signs of Quirk Exhaustion.  You can only push yourself so far.”   She gently touched Kimiko’s shoulder.  “May I?”

Kimiko nodded and she felt a strange warmth flowing through her and the headache dissipated just as quickly as it had arrived.  Some of the tiredness she’d been feeling was gone too.

“Only about ten minutes,” Doctor Izumi assured her.  “Just to get you over the hump.”  

“Sorry,” Kimiko said, shaking her head.

“Don’t be,” Doctor Izumi said.  “You’re doing great.  But you’ve got limits, just like everyone else.  A Hero gives their all, but if you sacrifice yourself, you’re just one more body to be rescued.”

Kimiko nodded.  “Okay.”

***

Back at U.A. the next day, Doctor Izumi dropped a large stack of paperwork down in front of Kimiko. “What’s this?”

“After action report,” Doctor Izumi said.  “I know you’ve seen those in class before.”

“This looks a lot more complicated,” she said.  “I definitely don’t remember the ones Mister Aizawa had us fill out having this many lines on it.  Or that many little boxes.”

“They’re different for Medical Heroes.  Any time Quirks are used in medical treatment, there’s more paperwork involved. Before, we were under the auspices of the school’s consent to treat, but out in the field, it’s different.  More liabilities involved and more to be accounted for.”

Kimiko’s head fell on the table.   Great. Just great.  More paperwork.  “How much more complicated are we talking about?”

“They’re generally about twice as long as a regular after action report.  More so if things get complicated.  I’ve got a lot of my own to fill out, but I’ll help you get started on some, since it’s your first time.”

She carefully put a hand on the stack of paperwork when Doctor Izumi wasn’t looking and applied her Quirk to it.  “Started on what?” Kimiko asked.

At that, Doctor Izumi laughed.  “Nice try, kid,” she said, pulling up a chair next to Kimiko.  “But it’s not that easy.”

Kimiko let out a pitiful whine, but took her hand off the paperwork, releasing her Quirk.  “Oh, all right…”

Truthfully, the paperwork wasn’t that big of a nightmare.  Though she was definitely beginning to understand why bigger Agencies just had people to handle this kind of thing.  But at the same time, each one was a reminder of the good they’d done last night.  Maybe her part hadn’t been the biggest, but she actually felt like she’d done important things.

“Um, Doctor Izumi?” Kimiko asked.

“Yes?” she replied.

“I just wanted to say thank you.  For giving me this chance.  And for believing in me.  I know I’m kind of an, ah, airhead sometimes but…  Thanks.”  Kimiko paused.  “I’m smiling, by the way.  I know you can’t see it.”

Doctor Izumi smiled.  “You’re a good kid, Ojiro.   And you’ve got a good eye and a bigger heart.  You’re going to do great.  And trust me, I know all about the power of someone believing in you.”

In her pocket, Kimiko’s phone dinged with the alert notification from one of her gossip sites. She didn’t bother to check it.

Right now, some things were more important than gossip.

[crazedlunatic]

“Are you Cody?”

Mainly just because I like the Cody and Kurt dynamic and exploring different ways they could have met. No matter what idea I have... Kurt’s always apprehensive but it always ends the same.

“Are you Cody?”

A young guy that was laying pamphlets on a table in the waiting room looked up, confused. “No.”

“Oh.” Kurt said, feeling a twinge of disappointment.

Was Kurt supposed to be here?

Yes, because he and Blaine were meeting with Nick’s therapist today without him. Something they did once every couple of months—to touch base with the therapist about how he seemed to be doing to ‘the outside world.’

Should Kurt have been trying to actively seek out the person he knew Nick was getting ‘close’ to? Absolutely not but it was kind of hard not to.

After all, Nick had started talking to this Cody and the more time that passed, the more of the older Nick they got back.

Not that Kurt wasn’t helping Nick by any means. He knew that— after all, he was Nick’s ‘recovery partner.’ He’d gone to the outpatient treatment center, he’d stayed up with Nick on the nights he was sick when complications came up—because they still id, although not as often as they did when he’d first come home from LA.

Still, though.

Someone else was making a difference—a huge difference— in Nick’s treatment and life. It was only natural to want to know what he looked like, to hear his voice, to talk to him.

“He usually comes in around now, though… Wait, where’s your kid?”

“My kid?” Kurt looked confused.

“Well, I mean… he usually only helps with the difficult kids.” The guy shrugged. “He doesn’t do appointments, you know?”

“I…” Kurt trailed off when a younger guy with blond hair walked into the waiting room. He held the door open for someone behind him, who happened to be Blaine.

“That’s him.” The guy said before excusing himself.

“Oh my God. You’re on time. Are we in a parallel universe?” The receptionist gasped loudly enough for them to hear.

“Nope.” The blond guy said as he went through a door— he definitely had a southern accent. “It’s called spring break.”

“That’s him. That’s Cody.” Kurt whispered when Blaine sat next to him.

“Huh?” Blaine looked confused.

“The boy that held open the door for you. It’s Nick’s Cody. The intern told me.”

“Kurt, did you ask?” Blaine’s eyes widened.

“I just… want to talk to him.” Kurt bit his lip.

“You know, most kids party and get drunk on spring break?”

Spring Break.

Meaning he was a student.

Kurt instantly felt a bit better.

I mean, sure, Nick had told them he wasn’t a doctor or anything and just worked there.

And Kurt trusted Nick but he was also still grappling with the fact that Nick had ended up in this position in the first place and he was on hyper alert when it came to his oldest child.

“Most kids don’t work at a office with a girl who raises hell if anyone else tries to take her back.” They heard Cody respond.

As if one cue, the door opened and a child began shrieking.

“I DON’T WANT TO GO! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GO!”

Within two seconds the young blond guy had pretty much jumped the counter and was at the girl. She instantly quit screaming and reached for him.

“You know this isn’t how this is supposed to work.” They heard Cody telling her as he carried her through the door, the girls’ parents following them.

“I know!” The girl chirped. “But you’re my favorite.”

The receptionist who was still behind the desk made a weird face and mouthed something to someone that was next to her.

Kurt looked at Blaine.

“Kurt, you can’t say anything to him. I mean, look, now we know it’s true. They really did meet her and he really does work here. We can trust Nick.” Blaine whispered.

“It’s not that I don’t trust Nick…. It’s that I don’t…”

“Trust Nick.” Blaine finished. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“You’ll tell me either way.” Kurt sighed a bit.

“I think that we’re over the halfway mark, things are mostly going up from here, and I think you’re having a hard time with that. The doctor said it’s good for him to branch out. He’s talking to Zach again, he’s been spending time with the baby, he’s playing with Kris again, bickering with Soph… and I know he’s not talking to a lot of his older friends but that’s okay. He’ll get there but the fact that he’s made a new friend after all of this mess is really good. I think at least. I don’t know.” Blaine sighed.

“Every time he goes to meet with Ryan, I’m afraid they’ll get in another fight.”

“That fight needed to happen no matter how upset Nick got. He needed to hear it and none of the rest of us were going to say it. They’re best friends, okay? Ryan is as close to him as Zach is. It’s not like someone else from Riverdale…” Blaine said. “And I think the most important thing from that was that they’re friends again now. Ryan told him what was what and Nick listened. Before he would have locked himself in his room for days and we would have  been worried he wasn’t eating like he should or that he’d been throwing up when we weren’t upstairs too.”

Kurt nodded.

“We’re getting closer to the end of this and Nick’s smart. Honestly he’s probably smarter than either of us and we both know it. I’m not saying we need to let go. I’m saying we need to take a couple more steps back and let Nick… try to get closer to where he was.” Blaine finished.

“I know. It’s hard.”

“Yeah and that’s why we’re meeting with her once a month.” Blaine nodded. “So we can all three talk it out and see what she thinks and what advice she has. We’ll talk to her… and we’ll bring up Cody.”

“What if we get him in trouble?” Kurt asked.

“I mean, he’s an intern. I don’t think he could get into trouble unless he was actually practicing… if he even could then. It’d depend on their policy, I guess.” Blaine looked thoughtful. “We could bring up a hypothetical and…”

“Yeah.” Kurt nodded. “Okay, let’s do that.”

…

“How has it been going since last month when we talked?” Nick’s therapist/counselor, Dr. Hughes, smiled at them.

“He, uhm… he seems really good for the most part. I think he’s had two slip ups but he’s really good about telling us and then we’ll go and get something to eat together and try to talk it out.” Kurt said.

“He has been getting very upset over menus now, though… the calories. I know he’s not supposed to even pay attention to them but I think it’s hard for him.” Blaine added.

“We’ve definitely talked about that. He’s been looking up menus online lately because not as many sites list the calories next to the prices.” She nodded and smiled. “What else?”

“He’s doing a lot better with opening up when he’s stressed out about stuff that isn’t really food or weight related.” Blaine looked thoughtful.

“And he’s been a lot better with Zach… I mean, he’s been quieter with Sophie than before but for some reason it’s harder with Zach.” Kurt said, looking stressed out. “But they’ve talked a few times and it seems like it’s doing good.”

“I know they’re twins and I think that’s where the tension is coming from. We’ve actually talked about that a lot.” Dr. Hughes nodded. “I think he feels worse because when everything was going on he avoided most of you but he regularly talked to Zach… he just lied about how things were going. Zach is actually going to come up in a few days and we’re all three going to talk together.”

Blaine’s eyes widened.

“He’s trying hard. He knows he’s hurt everyone but some twins can feel this expectation they should be in the same place and comparing their lives to each other… He’s very close to Zach so that’s why he kept in touch with him… but he also didn’t want Zach to know he was struggling once things started going south… He feels like he let Zach down, lying to him and especially missing his nieces birth. It sounds like Zach is very understanding, though, and I’m very confident that their relationship will keep getting better.”

Kurt let out a sigh of relief.

“What about the grandparents? Both sets are in New York, right?”

“My parents are kind of back and forth because my great grandparents are in Ohio. I think he talks to them once a week, though. My dad pretty much calls until Nick answers honestly… because he knows Nick.” Kurt nodded.

“And mine are down the street. He’s always run down there when he’s stressed or angry, even when he was a toddler. Once he got back from the treatment center he went back to that.” Blaine nodded. “Well, I think it took a couple of weeks… Bob had to seek him out a couple of times and then he just kind of… started doing it again.”

Dr. Hughes nodded.

“Any other concerns?”

Blaine glanced at Kurt who opened his mouth and closed it.

“How healthy is it to… make ‘friends’ early in recovery?”

“Specifically our intern Cody Parker?” She asked.

“Kurt’s pretty worried.” Blaine said. “I mean, I’m nervous but Kurt is… worried.”

“I’m worried because it seems like he met Cody before he started doing better.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Dr. Hughes said. “From what I saw, Nick was doing better for about a month before they met… and when they met, I do not believe Cody knew Nick was a patient and I know that Nick did not know Cody worked here. Cody tripped and spilled an icee on Nick outside the building. Nick came on a day that Cody actually never works but he was covering for another intern.”

Kurt nodded.

“Of course two weeks later Nick switched up his schedule to see Cody more.” Dr. Hughes laughed.

“Is that healthy?” Kurt asked.

“They aren’t in a relationship.” Dr. Hughes responded.

Kurt let out a relieved sigh.

“They are very close, though. They also don’t have very much in common at all and I think that makes it easier to talk to Cody. Cody also has taken classes on dealing with… sensitive issues because he’s in school to be a children’s art therapist… which means he’s more equipped than most when it comes to depression and anxiety. They like spending time together but when Nick’s having a really bad day, they’ll get lunch and by the time they part, Nick is usually doing three times better than before he and Cody went to get lunch.” Dr. Hughes said.

“Is he gay? He is, isn’t he?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here. They really care about each other and Cody and I have had more than one serious talk about how this could negatively effect Nick… and ideally, we would discourage an intern from seeing a patient. However, Cody never sees patients. We have some kids that feel more comfortable with him in the room.” The doctor said.

“But he is.”

“Yes and in the event that Cody chooses to stay with us once he finished graduate school—which he hope he does— then Cody will not be allowed here when Nick is present should he still need counseling. Cody does not look at Nick’s files. If anything, he checks him in and out for his appointments but that’s it. Their contact inside this office is bare minimum. As far as I see it, there is no conflict of interest unless Cody is seeing Nick as his patient or listening in on his sessions. That does not mean, however, that Cody and I have not talked about this… he really cares about your son and he’s a great kid. He was supposed to be here for six months and we haven’t let him leave yet and we don’t plan to. He’s got a big heart and he cares about people.”

Kurt nodded, swallowing.

“I have spoken to both of them together outside of work. I’ve encouraged if they become a couple, they wait until Nick has been out of his out-patient treatment center for a year. It is my understanding that they will probably become a couple in two months when that year has passed.”

Kurt took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“Nick’s doing a lot better. He’s talking about wanting to go back to school part time next year or at least looking into it. He’s talking with his best friend again regularly… I think we still need to keep an eye on him because he’s very emotional. I think he still needs to stay off social media and he needs to keep on actively avoiding anything soccer related. Did you all go with him to his last big checkup?”

“No.” Blaine shook his head. “His godfather is his doctor.”

“Ask him about it. Nick, not his godfather.” She said.

“Is he okay?”

“I think he’ll be fine but you should ask him about it. I know he’s doing better but try to not put him in the position to keep stuff from you. He won’t lie but there’s a lot of stuff I’ve found out by asking questions that he wouldn’t have told me otherwise.”

“Oh God.” Kurt took in another deep breath.

“He’s a perfectionist. He wants to keep stuff in and private and, as I’ve told him several times, he doesn’t have that luxury right now. If you know he’s had an appointment, ask about it. Don’t ask to go with him, though. He’ll tell you the truth… you might just need to prod a little bit.”

Blaine nodded.

“Any other concerns?” she asked.

“Is he going to go back to how he was?” Blaine asked. “I mean, that might be a stupid question…”

“It’s not a stupid question.” Dr. Hughes shook her head. “Listen, he’s not going to go back to where he was. When he left, he was eighteen but still a kid… and he’s still a kid now but his whole world was pulled out from underneath him. His dream was to go to UCLA, play soccer, and go professional. He was one of the most popular people in school, had all of these friends, was a straight A student and he barely had to try to get those grades. He went to pursue his dream and got into a mentally abusive relationship, he was so stressed out that he could barely eat, when he could it got to the point that he’d throw it up, his grades started to fall, and eventually we… got here. Him in the hospital nearly suffering a heart attack with signs of multi organ failure. The truth is he’s never going to be his eighteen year old self again. But he’s building himself back up. He’ll still be kind, smart, funny, and loving. I think in a few years he’ll be athletic again too because he really misses that part of his life but his body isn’t strong enough yet. He’s lost a lot but he’s gained a lot back. He has one of the best support systems I’ve seen one of my patients have and I know he’s going to get through this. He may stumble a few times but Nick’s strong and he’s working his butt off to get himself to where he needs to be.”

“What else should we be doing?”

“Keep asking questions even if he seems so much better than before. It holds him accountable. He won’t lie and if he needs help, talking it out with someone makes it easier for him.” She suggested. “Usually he’ll do 80% of the talking in our appointments… especially if he’s in a mood. If you can tell he’s struggling, don’t just leave him be. Try to figure out what’s going on. I know he likes to be independent but sometimes that’s the opposite of what he needs. Anything else?”

“You think he’s doing good?”

“Yes. He’s further along that I thought he would be the first time I met him. He’s made leaps and bounds… he’s still got a while to go, but he’s getting there.” She nodded. “I think you two and your family are doing just what he needs. He feels supported and it makes all of the difference in the world.”

Blaine nodded and took a deep breath.

“I don’t think I have any questions.” Kurt said, his voice soft. “But thank you so much for all you’ve done for him. We really appreciate it.”

“Oh, he’s a great kid. I love getting to know him.” She smiled and shook her head. “He’s hilarious… sometimes even when he’s not trying to be. No thank you is necessary. I’m just glad he’s making such good progress.”

Kurt smiled—a genuine one. “Everyone loves him. He’s just a good person and he used to light up the room.”

“Oh, he lights up every room he’s in when he’s here. The admins, receptions, and interns love him. He’s always making people laugh and smile.” She reassured him, squeezing his arm. “You two have my number and email. Please feel free to contact me over anything. I’m here for his family too. It takes a village.”

“Thank you.” Blaine shook her hand and headed out with Kurt.

They went to the check out desk.

“Did that go bad?” Kurt asked, seeing nobody sitting in the chair.

Blaine leaned against the wall, waiting. “No. I don’t think so. She said he’s doing good and she gave us some advice. It’s no different than any other time. Why are you so anxious?”

“It feels like midterms or something.” Kurt admitted, hearing someone announcing that there were guests at the check out desk.

Seconds later, the blond guy before that had helped with the child sat down at the desk and cheerfully said, “Hi, how are you?”

“Fine.” Blaine said, smiling.

The boy looked at them, saw Kurt, and immediately began to cough.

“Are you okay?” Blaine looked alarmed.

“He was serious? I thought he was—and you’re— Oh my God.” Cody’s blue eyes were wide. “He wasn’t joking.”

Blaine looked at Kurt, clearly amused.

“Can, uhm… you’re Cody, right?” Kurt asked, voice soft.

“You know my name. He told you my name?” Cody’s eyes widened again—because he had just calmed down from his coughing fit.

Yet Kurt Anderson-Hummel, who he may or may not have looked up to since the age of eleven, knew his name.

“Can we take you to lunch? Or talk?” Kurt asked.

“Nick is going to kill us.” Blaine hissed.

“You’ve done so much.” Kurt’s voice was still soft. “And he…  you two… I just want to get to know you. Do I sound crazy?”

Cody’s facial expression softened and he looked behind him.

Because it wasn’t just Kurt Anderson-Hummel.

It was also Nick’s dad.

“Use the break room.” Dr. Hughes said, coming up behind Kurt and Blaine. “I’ll get Andy to come up and watch the desk until she’s off lunch.”

“Uhm…” Cody looked between Kurt, Blaine, and Dr. Hughes. “Can we just… leave and I come back after…? I’ll make the time up later?”

She nodded.

“Great. Let’s go and get coffee or something.” Kurt chirped, waiting until Cody had left the admin section and was in the hallway they were at.

“I’m really sorry but I watched you on Project Runway every single time you were a guest judge. The one whole season you were on there was my freshman year of college and it was the best three months of my life.” Cody rambled as they left the building. “I really need to quit talking now.”

Blaine gave Kurt a look.

“I’m actually shy and never talk. What’s wrong with me?” Cody asked, more to himself.

“You’re nervous because you’re in love with my son and have never met us before?” Kurt’s voice was soft again.

Cody stopped in his tracks, hand gripping his messenger bag tightly.

“We know. He’s in love with you too.” Kurt lowered his voice as they made it into a restaurant and sat down at a table. “His eyes light up when he talks about you.”

“Oh.” Cody said, definitely not rambling anymore.

“Kurt, Nick is going to kill you.” Blaine sighed. “We shouldn’t be doing this right now.”

“I, uhm… do, though. Love him…” Cody bit his lip and looked Blaine in the eyes. “I didn’t know he was a patient and I told him we shouldn’t see each other after finding out that he was but he, uhm… basically made me.”

Blaine let out a loud laugh, knowing it was probably true.

Nick was nothing if not relentless.

“And we aren’t seeing each other.” Cody’s voice was soft. “He wants to but I told him we had to wait the year like Jane—sorry, Dr. Hughes— said. But I do love him very much. I’ve never met anyone like him and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. I’ll wait as long as we need to… and I promise I’m not manipulating him because of who you are. Honestly when I signed him out the one day at the office, his last name just showed up as Anderson. By the time I figured out we already…”

“Were in love.” Kurt finished.

“Yes.” Cody nodded, looking uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. He means a lot to me. We, uhm.. haven’t even kissed.”

Blaine gave Kurt a look.

“But I’m not going to hurt him. I just want you to know that… and we don’t do anything inappropriate. We just talk even if he’s at my apartment. I wouldn’t do that.” Cody continued. “It’s on him to make a move but not until after the year is up.”

“What do you do?” Kurt asked, meeting Cody’s eyes with his own.

“I’m in school for art therapy. I’m in my last year getting two degrees—one in Art and Public Police at the Tisch School of Art in NYU.”

“So you’re an artist?”

“I mean, I like to draw. Calling myself an artist might be presumptuous because I’m nowhere near as good as most of my classmates but it’s stress relief and I like to do it… plus, I draw good animals and that’s all it takes for a kid to like you.” Cody said sheepishly. “Next year I’m going to Pratt for a Creative Arts Therapy graduate degree.”

“See, Kurt? I told you we could trust Nick’s judgement.” Blaine looked at Kurt.

“I won’t tell him about this.” Cody sat up straight. “But I don’t think you need to worry. He’s in a good place and always talks about how supportive you two are and how he feels comfortable coming to you with things… and he talks about how thankful he is to have you two as parents.”

Kurt’s eyes teared up.

“I just never thought he was actually your son. He told me. He even showed me a picture but he’s goofy so I figured he just photo-shopped it to make it seem like he really was.” Cody admitted, smiling a bit.

“You take care of him, right? He eats with you? He always says he’s getting dinner with you.” Kurt asked.

“We do get dinner pretty often.” Cody nodded. “And if he’s not feeling up to eating, I try to make sure he eats something before I take him back home. I know he shouldn’t be driving yet so I’ll follow him until he gets back to the neighborhood.”

Blaine gave Kurt an I told you look.

“I won’t hurt him. I want to be there for him. He’s really special.” Cody bit his lip and looked between the two of them.

Kurt smiled at him and nodded as Blaine squeezed his thigh.

“I’m sorry but I should go… A boy is coming in for an appointment in about twenty minutes and if I’m not outside the door waiting for him, he goes a little crazy.” Cody looked apologetic as he stood, pulling out his wallet and then some money from it.

“No. We’ve got it.” Blaine smiled and stood to shake his hand. “Thank you, Cody.”

“Are you sure?” Cody asked.

“Yes.” Kurt stood and pulled him into a big hug.

Cody’s eyes widened in shock when Kurt pulled away because, yes, Kurt Anderson-Hummel had just hugged him.

“I… oh wow. Wow.” Cody rambled, grabbing his back. “Uh… have a good day.”

“You too, sweetie.” Kurt said—thinking to himself that maybe he’d spent too much time with Carole here lately.

Cody waved and walked out.

“You just stole our son’s future husband. Good job, Kurt.” Blaine joked.

“I know that was literally ten minutes… but I kind of love him.” Kurt said, looking at the door Cody had left through. “He was so sweet and… I mean, when he talked about Nick it was the way you looked at me when we were their age.”

“Yeah. I was thinking that too.” Blaine said sincerely.

“And that accent. Oh my God.” Kurt gasped.

“I know. I could have listened to him talk all day.” Blaine nodded. “We better get home, though. Nick was pretty tired and I don’t want him to have to be alone with Kris too long.”

Kurt nodded, taking his hand.

…

Kurt went into the kitchen late that night, surprised to see Nick in their eating a roll.

“Hey, honey.” Kurt ruffled his hair.

“Hey. I’m texting Zach.” Nick looked up.

Kurt leaned down, wrapping his arms around Nick from behind. “Just know that I love you very much, that I’m proud of everything you’ve accomplished, and that I’ve very lucky to call you my son.”

“Keep the compliments coming.” Nick grinned—and it almost met his eyes.

Kurt kissed the top of his head. “I’m happy for you, Nicky.”

“What’d I do?” Nick looked confused.

“Nothing. I’m just really happy for you.” Kurt squeezed his shoulder.  “Don’t stay up too late.”

“I won’t.” Nick promised as Kurt left the room with a glass of water.

He typed out a text to Cody, a suspicious look on his face.

Did you happen to see my dads today when they were at the office?

He saw Cody typing back instantly.

Totally did. Your *celebrity* parents took me out to coffee, I got a hug, and everything. Best day of my life.

Okay. Sure.

I miss you.

Miss you too… but I might miss your dad more.

We’re done. Bye. 

[shih-coulda-had-it]

pacers (2/?)

Summary: Nana inherits One for All. Sorahiko learns what he can.

1 - 2 - ?

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Sorahiko gets a call in the middle of patrol, and even though it’s protocol not to, he sees the caller ID and immediately picks up. Nana times her calls so she can wish him luck before patrol, or so she can pester him for a pick-me-up breakfast after. She’s never had cause to call him during. And it’s his private cell.

“Nana?” he murmurs.

“Sorahiko,” she sobs, and he almost falls from the ledge. “Rokudo-san, he just—oh, god—” He hears her retch.

“Where are you?” he demands, already jetting back to his district precinct to call off his patrol. Someone else can cover the area. Kingfisher. He can tell the officers to call in the snobby son of a bitch; asshole needs the hours anyways. “Nana, are you at my place? Yours?”

“Your apartment,” she gasps, voice hoarse. “Sorry, I couldn’t—I couldn’t go back to mine, I let myself in with the key under your dumb plant, sorry, I’m sorry—”

“No, listen, Nana, you’re okay,” he hurries to reassure her. “I’ll be back there soon, alright?” He stops at the precipice of the second to last building. She’s having a panic attack in his ear. His heart’s in his fucking throat. “Nana, breathe for me.”

She does. She does again.

“Tell me something about my apartment.”

“It’s shit,” she sniffles. He rolls his eyes. “Your kitchen—it’s too small.”

“Tell me something nice.”

A pause. “You’re… you’re my best friend,” she says haltingly, and Sorahiko’s abruptly so done with his job.

“You too,” he says gently. “Give me a little bit to shake off the officers. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay.”

“Take a shower.”

She manages a scoff. It’s still shaky, but it sounds like she’s pulling it together. “Yeah, yeah.”

He makes it back to his apartment in record time, and when he slips in, cautiously calling out while tugging off his boots, “I’m home,” he hears Nana softly respond, “Welcome back,” from his bedroom.

She’s already under the covers, wet hair soaking his pillows. He can see she’s wearing his clothes. Quietly, he picks up a clean pair of underwear and old t-shirt. When he passes by to head for the bathroom, he briefly presses a hand to her shoulder, waits for her to clutch it back before releasing him.

Her gear is neatly folded on the sink’s counter. The tiles are a little cold. He takes the swiftest shower in his life, dries his hair, pulls on his clothes and piles his own gear into a bundle, and then exits the bathroom.

He climbs in next to her. Nana throws an arm around his waist and scoots in close. It reminds him of that one sleepover a long time ago, and the multiple sleepovers when they were in high school. Since they both started renting their own apartments and trying to survive the slog of hours that is hero-work, sleepovers had fallen to the wayside.

“Hey,” he greets, quietly.

“Hey,” she responds. “Sorry for invading your place.”

“I’m not stopping you.” He closes his eyes. “What happened?”

She shudders, and doesn’t say anything for more than a couple beats of silence. He’s ready to let it go, to discuss it in the morning, but then she rallies together. She’s always rallying it together. “Rokudo-san had two Quirks,” she begins, unsteadily. “Black Whip… and something called One for All.”

Nana tells him what she can. That One for All has been passed through from user to user, that she’s the seventh to inherit it. That meeting Rokudo—Shadow Net, an underground hero—those weeks ago had been a coincidence, but the meetings since had not. That the conspiracy theories he’d told her about had a grain of truth. That right before he passed from grievous injuries, he’d forced a bloody hand to Nana’s face and ordered her to ingest his blood, quickly, before all was lost.

Sorahiko trembles with an impotent kind of rage. How dare Rokudo force that legacy onto Nana, barely two years into her hero career?

“Why did he choose you?”

She forces a laugh. “Oh, you know. I’ve got a drive for justice.”

//

Nana has always been the better fighter between them. So his pride isn’t hurting too much when with One for All churning in her veins, she’s literally kicking Sorahiko’s ass as they try to navigate her newly-obtained Quirk. If she’s using accidental excessive force in a spar, then she’ll accidentally use it during a villain apprehension, and then she’ll get into trouble for killing a perp. He's here to be the guinea pig as she learns to regulate her power. He’s never hated Rokudo more in his whole life, for just forcing his burden on Nana at the brink of his death, dying before he can tell her anything substantial.

“Ow,” he groans, struggling to extricate himself from the wall she’s roundhouse-kicked him into. He’s never been so grateful for drywall and plaster in his whole life. U.A. thinks ahead for everything.

She frets by the opening, hands hovering, ready to catch him. “Is anything broken?” she checks, anxious.

“My fucking reflexes?” Sorahiko falls against her, face-first into her shoulder, and she just barely manages to catch him before he slips to the floor. Her hands skate by the bruises he’s sure he’ll find in the morning. “Okay, we need—you need—a new strategy.”

“How do you mean?”

For the past couple of days, they’ve been sparring every morning. She’s trying to operate it intuitively, because that’s how she’s trained—that’s how they’ve all trained—their Quirks since they were four years old. They need to approach this at a new angle.

Nana carefully loops one arm around his waist, hooks his closest arm over her shoulders, and does her best not to jostle him on their limping way out of the gym. They’ve walked into Chiyo’s office like this too many times for Sorahiko to be embarrassed. 

“How are you using it?” There’s always a manual function with Quirks, even the ones that seem subconsciously used. Otherwise, a good deal of the global population would be dead. Visualize a switch, Sorahiko’s Quirk counselor had advised, when Sorahiko used to cry and lose control, legs shooting out from under him as oxygen diverted from his lungs to the propulsion jets at his calves.

“Like I use Fade Out,” she answers him, a little frustrated. “I just—access it, I don’t know.” They pass by a gawking group of first-years, and Sorahiko snarls to frighten them away. “It’s like… It’s like I’m standing next to a bonfire.”

“Okay, and?” he encourages, stifling a moan of pain as she squeezes him closer, because the staircases are a bit narrow, and they still have to maneuver around departing students.

“And when I say I access it,” she says, “I mean that I’m swiping my hands through the flames, and venting that heat when I move. You’ve seen the smoke.” She hip-checks their way into the nurse’s office. “Chiyo-chan!” she calls out.

“Again?” demands Recovery Girl, scooting into view on her rolling chair. Sorahiko flinches away from the outrage, tucks his chin into his cape like he can avoid her wrath that way. “What the hell happened now?”

Nana helps him onto a cot, and collapses into a chair next to him. “Training?”

“Training,” he gruffly confirms, and he really does groan aloud when Chiyo rolls him over, plucks his cape off, and starts prodding at his muscles and spine through the jumpsuit. He shifts his head so it’s not face flat on the mattress; instead, now he can give Chiyo the beady eye and make sure Nana’s not looking too guilty. “Can you—ghh—pretend like you’ve—agh, ow—got some kind of bedside manner?”

“No,” says Chiyo perfunctorily. “This is the fourth time in as many days that you’ve landed yourself here, Falco-san. So either tell me what the hell you two are doing, or find yourself a new clinic. Or a relationship counselor.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Nana protests, simultaneously as Sorahiko says the same thing. She adds, “That’s also really mean of you to imply, Chiyo-chan. You think I’d be so rough?”

Chiyo sniffs. But, Sorahiko notes incredulously, the woman’s also flushing pink.

“Who knows,” the nurse mutters under her breath, just loud enough that Sorahiko can hear it. His mouth parts, but nothing comes out, because he has no idea how to refute Nana’s apparent reputation as a, a—

“We’re just training,” he tells her instead. “Nana’s cut down her recovery period, and extended her flicker duration. I’m not used to it yet.”

“Tch.” Chiyo leans back. “Nothing broken,” she tells Nana. “Obviously, he has surface-level bruising and scrapes from whatever wall he’s blasted himself into now.” Nana guiltily exchanges a look with him. Chiyo must catch it, because her voice hardens. “Some bruised ribs too, so far as I can tell. He’s lucky to not have internal bleeding.”

Nana’s relieved exhale probably shouldn’t do so much to alleviate Sorahiko’s own worries. “Thank goodness,” she murmurs, slouching further back in her chair.

“The question now is,” the nurse says, steel determination in her voice and tension returns to Nana’s spine, to Sorahiko’s hands which curl into useless fists, “do I heal him now or let him heal naturally?”

“Now,” he growls.

She glowers at him. “Don’t think you scare me, Falco-san. I’m perfectly fine letting you learn from this lesson on your own. Unless,” and she swings her intense stare at Nana, who is looking helplessly between the two, “you tell me what you’re doing.”

Nana has never liked to see him in pain.

“I have a new Quirk,” she blurts out, and Sorahiko closes his eyes as the bits and pieces of the whole sorry story come spilling out. “Other people—other people can’t know that I have it, but I need Sorahiko to help me adjust…”

In the end, Chiyo does heal the bruised ribs, but she bandages everything else because Sorahiko’s on the verge of passing out. Fourth time this week he’s been here. The first morning had been the worst—when Sorahiko had raised his arms in a cross, his usual defense from Nana’s kicks, Nana’s leg had snapped the bones. Nana had panicked, and practically flown him to Chiyo.

Since then, it’s been a gradual improvement. An absolute toll on his stamina, and he’s certainly wasting any goodwill he ever had with Chiyo, but Nana has a rough handle on the power output now.

“I don’t like it,” she tells them frankly. “This apparent inheritance of a Quirk and that you’re training it after you’ve been certified. But I can read between the lines that this has to happen.”

“Thanks, Chiyo-chan,” sighs Nana. Just as Sorahiko passes out, he sees Nana shift in her seat, and hears the flirty tone of her voice as she starts, “So...”

.

.

./cont?

[irnwoman]

AVENGERS ENDGAME  ---  DUAL TIMELINE*

Under the cut contains my two diverging timelines for Post Endgame, beware that there are spoilers below for Avengers Endgame, so please read at your own risk if you haven’t seen it yet and wish to remain surprised. These are my default timelines; and as always, points are flexible for specific plots and preferences.

DO NOT REBLOG / PERSONALS DO NOT INTERACT !

This section is divided into two categories; Tony Lives and Tony Dies. My default will vary depending on the muse, but I might typically lean more into Tony Living since that seems to be the general consensus I’ve seen on the dash. There will be parts that carry over into both, those details will be highlighted.

BEFORE DIVERGENCE

I’ve covered Pepper during the time span of Infinity War to the final battle here;  so please refer here for more information prior to this split. 

Tony didn’t know yet, Pepper had only found out moments prior and had zero time to fully process it. FRIDAY scanning all ID’d inhabitants of their home the moment an emergency protocol kicked in --- a moment Pepper learned later to be the Second Snap. FRIDAY quickly scanned her, Morgan, and Happy --- detecting that she was indeed a a couple weeks pregnant and that signs of this were set to start showing soon.

Of course, she had hardly a moment to even begin comprehending this before a Priority Alert came through. Everyone who had vanished was back; devastation at Avengers Compound. Ally ID signatures all diverging to the point. 

That was when it was fully activated; Morgan ran into the room showing her that “Mommy’s suit turned on”. She’d never worn the Rescue armor; but she had played around in Tony’s suits. FRIDAY gave her the rundown on it’s hyper intuitive design. Meant for a beginner, but as strong as any of the others. Calls began flooding the systems; fragments of what was happening --- what was going on. Pepper felt overwhelmed.

Until she looks at the suit in her five year old’s hands --- this is it. She can tell; she can feel it in her very being. This is the final fight and it’s not just for the day --- it’s for everything, and Tony is out there facing it. Fighting for them along side the Avengers and they’re gonna need as much help as they can get. 

Pepper suits up and joins the battle, Happy keeps Morgan safe and locked in the house while she does. 

TONY LIVES

Pepper stays by Tony’s side as he recovers; she momentarily forgets her own ‘delicate’ condition until she starts feeling morning sickness. 

While Tony is in recovery, she and Morgan stay somewhere near the hospital until he’s ready to come back home again. 

Pepper is forced to prepare her daughter for the very real possibility that Tony might not make it; and it’s one of the hardest moments in her life.

Of course she tells Tony eventually that she’s pregnant again --- after the three months mark / when he’s stable enough to be in a less drugged state and can properly understand her ( whichever happens first ). 

Pepper doesn’t know how long Tony will be in hospital, so she has a contingency plan. She has a labour plan for wherever they are staying; plans for Morgan to start school once they are up and running. This is the kind of stuff she’s good at. It’s what she spent a good portion of her life doing before any of this superhero stuff began.

Pepper officially steps down as CEO once businesses like Stark International are running again. She spearheads a lot of charity work; serves on a few boards of organizations that she believes in. She speaks at universities, and earns a recurring column in both Vogue and Teen Vogue for a period of time before fully settling down completely.

The Rescue Armor comes out on occasion; in emergency circumstances but she by no means takes on a superhero mantle. That part of their life is over --- her, Tony and their family deserve a soft epilogue and that’s what they get 

TONY DIES

Tony never got to know about their second child; she couldn’t do that to him. Pepper couldn’t make him feel bad about leaving in his last moments. For him, she is brave. For him she holds it together --- eases him gently into his death as much as possible. It’s only after Tony is gone that she allows herself to cry.

Telling Morgan, who is so young and doesn’t truly understand, is one of the hardest things she’s ever done. For days --- weeks, Morgan keeps asking when Tony is coming home and she has to try to explain it all over again. She spends many nights curled up in her bed in attempts to help her sleep. 

Pepper’s feelings towards everyone involved are confused; she can’t help but feel anywhere from pettiness to outright anger at times that those who lived survived and that her husband --- someone they knew they needed had to go. It’s not always rational, but she can’t help it. She had spent years watching Tony almost die, sacrifice himself for everyone --- it feels unfair and sometimes she just lets calls go to voicemail; or pretends not to be home. Not always, but sometimes.

Pepper’s pregnancy feels harder than the last time. This time, she’s on her own. Truly on her own. Her emotional state doesn’t make things any easier. Her brother, Sean, takes Pepper and Morgan in once she’s put on early bedrest. Her brother and sister-in-law helping her as much as possible.

Once again, Pepper falls into Postpartum. She tries to hide it for Morgan’s sake; the girl has already dealt with so much. This time, Pepper takes her longest standing advice for Tony, and concedes into Therapy.  Pepper misses the farm, but it’s so big and secluded. She’s afraid to go back there for a time --- not doing so until around the time her second child is five years old.

She’s been off work, but not fully retired as CEO this whole time. Someone at the company whom she trusts and keeps her up to date has been Acting CEO while she takes this time. Pepper is more reluctant to let go, feeling as if letting go will let Tony down. He entrusted it to her. 

Ultimately, she stays with the Company for a few more years --- but makes sure that she’s able to be a mom too. She’s very much a public figure head and holds power, but she doesn’t manage the day to day things anymore. Slowly phasing out until Pepper officially steps down from Stark Industries. 

She always misses and loves Tony, but slowly she learns to move on. Not necessarily in a romantic sense, but she lives her life again. 

The Rescue Armour remains locked away, saved only for when the protocols initiate it functions by default once more.

Pepper eventually occupies her time with charity work; things that matter to her but also things she knew mattered to Tony.She begins advocating for more supports for single mothers and expectant mothers; more supports for families and individuals suffering from ptsd and loss. She begins working to achieve goals that will spare others from the hardships she and Tony both had to endure.

She doesn’t hold resentments forever, it’s too toxic to herself and she recognises how unfair she’s being. It’s not easy at times, but she lets herself move on and save friendships and form new ones.

SHARED DETAILS IN BOTH

Pepper lives until her late-nineties --- they cannot prove it, but she suspects her longer and healthier life than average is a lingering side effect of Extremis. She spends a few years enjoying herself in the social circles of Manhattan for company after her children have grown and husband has passed --- before eventually retiring by the sea along the West Coast shoreline that had always felt more like home where she passes away peacefully

Pepper and her brother Sean reform their super close relationship; Morgan gets to meet her cousins and they have a happy dynamic together

Pepper and Gina find a type of peace; they only really see each other on occasion --- but she’s learned that resentment is corrosive and she deserves better. 

Pepper eventually pens both a trio of children’s picture books lightly inspired by some of the crazy things ( and people ) in her life as well as a autobiographical bestseller.

She has at least one more child, but she doesn’t carry this one herself; after her second child is born --- she gets her tubes tied to prevent any further health risks.

Pepper remembers Natasha; she makes sure that her contributions were known. She makes sure she is as memorialised as Tony is. Natasha was her friend, she works with Clint to ensure whatever is done is as Natasha would have wanted it.

[winchesters-favorite-girl]

Flatline- Part Two

A/N: Jensen and his sixteen year old daughter get into an argument before she goes out for a night with some friends. A few hours later, Jensen gets a call that is going to change his family’s life forever.

Word Count: 1,635

Warnings: Angst, car accident

Pairings: Jensen x Daughter!Reader

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Jensen burst through the ER doors and instantly began to frantically look around for you. His manic attention gained the attention of a nurse who quickly walked over to him.

“Can I help you sir?” She asked in a gentle tone.

“My daughter.” Jensen stated as he continued to glance around the room, “Dr. Paddok called me and said she was in an accident. Dr. Paddok, I need to talk to her.”

“Okay, why don’t you have a seat while I track Dr. Paddok down.” The nurse suggested but Jensen wasn’t listening, he was too frazzled.

“No,” He replied, shaking his head, “I need to find my daughter, her name is Y/N Ackles, she’s sixteen, about this tall.” Jensen motioned his arms to match your height on him, “I need to see her now, please.”

The nurse nodded her head as she realized that nothing she said was registering to the desperate father that stood in front of her.

“Jensen?” A voice called from the other side of the emergency department.

“Bill?” Jensen questioned as he locked eyes and approached his daughter’s best friend’s father, “What are you doing here? Have you seen Y/N?”

Bill walked towards Jensen and embraced him, which confused Jensen, “I haven’t, they’d already taken her up by the time I got here.”

“Taken her where?” Jensen asked in a panicked voice, he just wanted answers but instead was thinking of more questions.

Bill shook his head, “I’m not sure, they’d already admitted her and taken her to surgery or something by the time I got here.”

Jensen ran his hands through his hair, a sign of his anxiety building, “Bill, what the hell happened?”

“Some drunk asshole ran through a red light and hit the girls when Y/N was driving Callie home; both of ‘em were knocked out when they got here. The knuckleheads must have left their bags at Janie’s house cause neither had ID on them. It wasn’t until Callie woke up that the hospital figured out who they were and called me; their phones were destroyed and it wasn’t until I got here that they got your phone number” Bill explained.

“Son of a bitch.” Jensen whispered to himself, closing his eyes while he processed everything that happened. “How’s Callie? She okay?”

Bill nodded his head, “A few cuts and a broken leg, other then that she’s fine. “ He responded, “Jensen, I’m so sorry. Y/N shouldn’t have even been there; Callie’s car broke down and I was stuck working on a business deal so I couldn’t come get her-“

“Stop.” Jensen said in a serious voice, “This isn’t your fault, even if you had been able to come get her Y/N woulda wanted to bring Callie home anyways, don’t go down that road.”

“I know but-“ Bill began but was interrupted by the nurse who had reappeared, when did she leave? Jensen wondered to himself.

“Excuse me, Mr. Ackles? I found Dr. Paddok, she wants me to take you upstairs to the ICU so if you’ll come with me. I’ll take you there.” She told your father.

Jensen quickly nodded his head and motioned for her to lead the way, “Tell me how she is!” Bill called out to Jensen as he walked away.

Jensen blindly followed the nurse throughout the hospital, every minute hoping he’d be taken through a door and met with the sight of his beautiful daughter sitting there waiting for him to pick her up, only he knew this wasn’t going to be the case as his mind flashed back to the phone call he received only thirty minutes ago.

I’m a doctor at Cornerstone Hospital of Austin, I’m afraid I have some bad news to deliver regarding Y/N.”

“What happened?” Jensen quickly asked as he stood up from the couch.

“There was a car accident and your daughter has been critically injured. We were unable to identity her or obtain legal guardian information until a few moments ago. She’s been admitted and I believe it is best if you get here as soon as you can.” Dr. Paddok told him.

“Is my daughter going to be okay?” Jensen questioned.

“She’s currently in surgery in order to stop some of the bleeding, but it’s best if you were here to tell you the details sir.” The doctor said.

“Is she dying?” He asked in a worried tone.

“I-I can’t-“ Dr. Paddok tried to say but was interrupted.

“Is my daughter going to survive?” Jensen practically shouted into the phone.

“I’m not sure Mr. Ackles, her injuries are quite severe so it’s best if you prepare yourself for what you might be walking into.” She told him in a quieter tone.

Jensen stood there in the living room for a moment in silence as he let the news wash over him, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” Jensen stated before hanging up the phone and bolting for the stairs. He flung his bedroom door open, causing Danneel to jump awake from her deep sleep.

“Jensen?” She questioned in a groggy voice, “What’s wrong?”

“Y/N was in an accident. She’s in surgery and I need to be at the hospital-now.” Jensen told her as he grabbed his shoe’s from the closet.

“What?” Danneel asked, now wide awake.

“A car accident, she’s at Cornerstone, Dee they said she might not-“ Jensen’s voice began to waiver and he stopped himself from continuing.

“Oh my God.” Danneel breathed out.

Jensen nodded his head, “I’m going, call-someone to watch the kids then meet me there.” He ordered before walking out of the room and jogging down the stairs; the faster he moved the faster he could get to his daughter.

The doors to the elevator opened and a doctor walked up to Jensen and reached her hand out. “Mr. Ackles, my name is Dr. Paddok, I’m who you spoke to on the phone.”

Jensen grabbed her hand, “Where’s my daughter?” He immediately asked.

Releasing her  hand Dr. Paddok looked at the nurse, “Thanks Rose, I’ll take it from here. Mr. Ackles if you follow me Dr. Simms and I can answer all of your questions.”

Nodding his head Jensen again motioned his head indicating he would follow. He was led into a small room that held a table; it appeared to be a meeting room of some sort. Inside a woman in her fifties stood from where she was sitting and reached her hand out to shake Jensen’s.

“Mr. Ackles, my name is Dr. Simms, I’m one of the Attendings here at Cornerstone. Please have a seat.” She introduced herself. Everyone took a seat, the two doctors across from Jensen who looked at them impatiently, “First I’d like to apologize for the verbiage Dr. Paddok used on the phone. She’s just now beginning to notify families and the information she told you must have caused you to be very distressed and for that I apologize.”

Jensen nodded his head, confused, were you not as injured as he had been led to believe.

“The information she told you was of the nature that we don’t like to notify next of kin via the phone, we prefer to do it in person so that everything is clear and you can ask questions. So, now Dr. Paddok is going to tell you the extent of Y/N’s injuries and where we are at right now with her care.” Dr. Simms looked over to the younger doctor, silently giving her the okay to speak now.

“Mr. Ackles-“ She began.

“Jensen.” He stated, “Call me Jensen.”

Dr. Paddok nodded her head, “Jensen, Y/N was admitted to the ED in critical condition. The vehicle impacted directly on the driver’s side door, effectively crushing it and trapping her inside of the vehicle. It took the fire department around thirty minutes to evacuate her where she was immediately placed into an ambulance and brought here. She was taken to CT where we discovered massive internal damage, including internal bleeding, a subdural hematoma, and multiple fractures.” Jensen let out a breath of air as he listened to your injuries. Tears flooded his eyes as he tried his hardest to keep it together as he tried to focus on what he was being told.

“Her brain began to swell so she was immediately taken to an OR so neurology could try to relieve some of the pressure on her brain. While in surgery the internal bleeding became too extensive and now a general surgeon is also operating, trying to control some of the bleeding.” Dr. Paddok explained, “We are doing everything possible right now to save Y/N but we want you to understand the severity of her injuries so that you can be prepared for whatever the outcome is.”

Tears were now running down Jensen’s face but he didn’t care.

“Do you understand everything Dr. Paddok has told you Jensen?” Dr. Simms asked gently. He silently nodded his head as he glanced back and forth between the doctors in front of him. “Do you have any questions we can answer for you right now?”

“Is my daughter going to survive?” Jensen questioned.

Dr. Simms gave Jensen a sad smile, “Right now we just don’t know.” She told him, causing Jensen to close his eyes which forced more tears out, “With the severity of her injuries we are doing everything possible to save her life and if she does make it through surgery it will be a long recovery with multiple surgeries to fix her body-it’s, her body is very broken Mr. Ackles, bones are shattered, it will be a long battle ahead of her but we will do everything in our power to help her through it.”

Opening his eyes he let out a shaky breath, “Now what do I do?”

Dr. Paddok answered with an apologetic look, “You wait.”

Next

[thelittledekuwhocould]

TLDWC - Ch92: This is the Our Starting Line! (Unsettling Teacher Remix) Part 1

This chapter can be found on AO3 Here

Summary: There is something terribly wrong with Aizawa Shōta.

Companion to The One Where... Well... The teacher of Class 1-A is... Unsettling... 

This is the Our Starting Line! (Unsettling Teacher Remix)

Toshinori looks through the glass down to the operating theatre were Recovery Girl and Mind Meld are working on the boy, putting his body back together, and also, his shattered mind. He looks away, and his eyes fall on the Student ID and Provisional Hero License they’d taken off the boy when they had found him, and Toshinori’s heart clenches.

Yuuei First Year Student: Midoriya Izuku.

Homeroom Teacher: Aizawa Shōta (Eraserhead).

Heroics Mentor: Toshinori Yagi (All Might).

Field Work Experience Internships: Formerly under Gran Torino; Currently Interning in NightEye Offices.

Three names that told Toshinori exactly who this boy would most likely be to him: his successor. Deku, Age 15, First Year in Yuuei, Quirk: Strength Augmentation.

His license has a watermark that tells every hero and law enforcement officer looking at it that this boy’s time line is not set; that his time loop is not stable yet.

What sort of useless mentor was he that his student, his protégé and successor would so easily come into this state? What sort of failure is he that it is his student that would have taken such grievous wounds instead of himself? Just where had he been when the boy was fighting? Why hadn’t he protected his successor?

“None of that now,” Nedzu said as he drank some more tea, “You should be thinking of more constructive things.”

“Like where I was when the boy was fighting for his life?”

“No,” the Heroics Instructor peered at him from behind the cup, “You should be wondering why the boy’s homeroom instructor has the exact same watermark on his name.”

Toshinori paused. The watermarks for Time Travelers tended to have the same foundation, but the identifiers were always different per person. There was only one reason why two separate people would have the same watermark…

Nedzu nodded, “We don’t know what his fundamental personality is like, and considering the state of him and the timing, his entire personality may well be altered for this experience.”

Toshinori closed his eyes. It was hard to imagine it. He had absolutely no idea what sort of person the boy was, but the thought that he would emerge from this as a fundamentally different person was a hard pill to swallow. Hadn’t he entered heroics so such things wouldn’t happen? And yet…

And Yet…

Here he was. And there was the boy too. He was a terrible mentor, it seemed. If this was how the boy turned out when Toshinori was there, perhaps he would be better off if Toshinori were not there to impede his development. It was a terrible idea, he knew. But if the boy would turn out better off, Toshinori would implement all the terrible ideas. It was his duty as mentor and guardian to ensure his charge’s well-being after all.

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Mind Meld pieces together the boy’s mind, bit by bit, little by little over the space of two months. There is simply too much trauma in the boy’s mind, and secrets that absolutely must not get out. Fortunately, Mind Meld was one of the few of Toshinori’s peers who had been friendly and protective of the Quirkless Gen Ed student Toshinori had been before awakening his quirk (Not awakening, inheriting, because it explained so much about how late in life Toshinori’s quirk had developed) and that trust and friendship had only expanded and strengthened in the years out of Yuuei. Mind Meld does his best for his old friend’s future protégé, but in the end, the boy emerges fundamentally changed because Mind Meld does not know where some of the pieces go, and certainly there are gaps and deep fissures and broken edges that even he cannot mend. Worse yet was the necessity of sealing certain memories away, so that until his mind was whole again, that the boy would never remember fully what brought him to this point. There is a twisted knot of darkness in the boy, one that had been, with the shattering of his mind, set loose. Mind Meld had done his best, but the darker aspects of the boy’s personality will be much more prominent now.

“He’ll never smile like he used to,” Mind Meld said sadly, “But Toshinori, I’m sure you will be a more than adequate guardian to him.” He grinned mischievously, “From what I saw in his memories, you certainly favored him enough to coddle him quite a bit, not to mention how fatherly much of your behavior toward him is.”

The blonde’s spluttering was a delight to see.

It had been too long since he was last able to tease his underclassman, though Toshinori wasn’t cute anymore, not by a long shot. After all, Toshinori hadn’t been cute in years, not since he reached his full growth.

Mind Meld wanted to see Toshinori smile. Because if he knew what had happened to the quirk he’d given the boy, that the quirk Toshinori had given the boy, which the boy had in turn, cherished, was broken beyond repair now, it would surely break his heart.

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

Yamada Hizashi thinks his new classmate is…. Unsettling…

His eyes seem to stare past you, if he’s looking at you at all. And it’s clear that he’s been through shit, because of the way he moves. Any student from a Legacy Family can pick out a person who has seen action at a glance, and Aizawa Shōta walks like someone who has been in the thick of it.

That wasn’t the problem. Villain attacks were common, and Aizawa may well be a Legacy since he was recommended into the Heroics Department by Mind Meld. Some Legacies saw action, was in the thick of it, before they arrived in Yuuei. Legacies had a habit of being targeted, their children kidnapped. No, it wasn’t because he’d seen shit.

It was his eyes. And to a greater extent, his quirk.

Quirks don’t work quite right on him.

Well, not quite true, quirks don’t work at all when he’s looking at you. It’s as if… As if they’ve been erased. The quirks come right back when he looks away though, so no one makes much noise about it. It’s not like they could in good conscience ask the guy to wander around blindfolded. That was just asking for trouble, even more so if he needed to navigate up or down stairs. They’d all just have to learn to work around Aizawa’s quirk.

Aizawa is a quiet person, he absolutely abhors noise. He’s a loner by nature, Yamada realizes within a few days of meeting him.

But at the same time… Yamada thinks that Aizawa might be lonely.

So he presses in. He talks. And when Aizawa gets lost in his own head, he grasps his arm, his shoulder, the back of his neck, presses up close, and pulls him back to the present. And at the end of the day, he is rewarded with a small smile, a small snack in his desk, a trinket, but Yamada treasures the small smiles more, because they are beautiful.

He learns that Aizawa lives alone, that his guardian is a Pro-Hero who believes himself to be an inadequate guardian to Aizawa, but will drop everything for him if asked. Yamada had seen it happen the one time Aizawa was kidnapped, and the dark haired boy had thrown his cell phone at him telling him to call Yagi. Yagi turns out to be a lean, blonde man with piercing blue eyes, who works in a Hero office, the secretary of the hero who was Aizawa’s guardian. (Years later Yamada will look at the emaciated form of All Might’s true form and recall the tall, slim yet sturdy figure of Yagi, and Aizawa will erase his quirk and throw him out the window when he shrieks in realization of just who had been his best friend’s guardian all this time.) But for now, all he knows is that although Mind Meld recommended Aizawa to the Heroics Course, he was not his friend’s guardian even if he took care of most of the tasks associated with guardianship.

“OI!!! AIZAWA!!! GOOD MORNING!!!!”

“Shōta.”

“WHAT?!!”

“My name is Shōta.”

“Shōta. …Er… Why don’t you call me Hizashi then?”

“…..Hizashi.”

Shota spun toward the blonde, eyes wide as the other boy made a low keening sound and what sounded like a series of chokes.

“Are you alright?!”

“I’M FINE SHŌTA!!!”

“Mind your volume!”

“Erk. Sorry.”

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

Nedzu watches the boy grow up. Toshinori is never really present when it comes to his Protégé from the future, but it’s clear within a few days of Mind Meld leaving him that there is something terribly wrong with him. And the boy’s quirk is broken. There are deep cracks and fissures in the boy’s mind, openings into the abyss that Mind Meld cannot possibly heal.

They set the boy up with a new identity after finding out that Midoriya Inko has given birth to her son, Midoriya Izuku. There has to be separation, it’s crucial, because already, there is bleed over from the newborn to the boy. Nedzu makes the intuitive leap, and so Aizawa Shōta is born.

Toshinori is as far from the loving mentor Mind Meld had described seeing in the boy’s memories as one can imagine, in fact, he avoids him as much as possible. He doesn’t altogether abandon the boy, but although checks arrive for the boy’s upkeep, regular as clockwork; and Toshinori distances himself from his protégé. In return, Nedzu and Mind Meld do their best to be there for the boy, and as time passes, he attaches himself to Mind Meld. Nedzu does not need psychic powers to guess that the boy would follow Mind Meld Underground in the future.

To Toshinori’s credit though, he tells the boy right out that if he needs him, he will come as fast as he can to see the issue resolved, and the few times Aizawa Shōta asks for help, Toshinori drops everything and comes running. The man becomes more absent uncle than father figure, but the relationship is acceptable to both. Honestly, it all Nedzu can ask for with the man’s tendency toward self-flagellation.

Nedzu can’t help but wonder how things will turn out when Shōta is faced with his younger self. Mind Meld had sealed the memories, but there was bleed through. It would be dangerous for past and present to be in such close proximity to each other, but it seemed everything would work toward a stable time loop. For now, they would work through Shōta’s occasional fits of irrational violence, the manifestation of deep seated insecurities never properly dealt with, and years of suppressed anger and self-loathing.

Oh. And the quirk. When One for All shattered, it caused the gene that prevented the manifestation of quirks to mutate. Shōta now had a quirk fundamentally different from what he had known, and the subconscious impact of the shattered quirk showed. Shōta felt as if there was a part of him missing, as if there had been something put inside him that did not belong. They’d barely stopped him from plucking out his eyes when Shōta had pinpointed the source of the feeling of oddness. Nedzu and Mind Meld had been forced to explain the reason for it, that his quirk was broken, and that the feeling of something not being there was the broken quirk and the sensation of something foreign in his body was his latent quirk having activated.

In Shōta’s lucid moments, which lasted longer and longer, the young man displayed a keen intellect, analyzing his quirk, developing hypothesis after hypothesis about the phenomena. In his less lucid moments, they have to physically stop him from harming himself. Toshinori stays far, far away during those times, the one time he was present for it, Shōta had lunged at him, an angry feral creature, determined to deal as much damage as he could. And quite a lot of damage he did too, though mostly superficial in nature. In contrast, during his more emotional moments, were Toshinori present, Shōta would attach himself to the man and not let go. It has led to several heartwarming moments where the Symbol of Peace could be seen carrying around a dark haired teenager with weary, tearful eyes, and thin arms wrapped around his neck. For all his faults, Toshinori was very good at soothing Shōta from his emotional moments, barring his fits. Nedzu thinks it a terrible shame, because Toshinori is honestly very fond of his broken little successor and Shōta thinks the world of his mentor, even if he doesn’t know that Toshinori is his mentor.

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

Shōta is the envy of his classmates, having received an internship offer from the Mighty Agency, All Might’s Agency. Hizashi is happy, almost gleeful. All Might had taken an interest in his friend! But then Shōta does what their classmates consider the unthinkable, he turns it down. Instead, he chooses Tenth Flame to intern with.

“Shōta! Why Tenth Flame?!” Hizashi asked at lunch.

Shōta carefully lifted the cover off his bento, meticulous as ever before he answered, “I want to be able to make my way without Yagi-san’s influence.”

“But if you have the influence, why not use it?!”

“I already have.” Shōta clapped his hands together, “Ittadakimasu.”

Hizashi slammed his hands on the desk and leaned forward so his face was only a foot away from Shōta’s and said, “Getting in on recommendation isn’t really that big a deal! You could be interning with All Might! You could get all sorts of exposure as a hero like that!”

“I don’t need any exposure.”

“Shōtaaaughph!” Hizashi chewed rapidly on the fried shrimp Shōta had stuffed in his mouth and swallowed. “That was mean, Shoooumgh!” Shōta stuffed another fried shrimp into the blonde’s mouth.

“Shut up and eat. Your voice is giving me a headache.”

“Alright, alright, sorry,” Hizashi sits back and opens his own bento. He looks up in time to catch the slight softening in the line of Shōta’s lips and the loosening of tension in his shoulders. He feels badly when he realizes that the dark circles under his friend’s eyes are more prominent than ever, clearly Shōta’s decision had not been made lightly and had affected his mental balance some.

He’s been friends with Shōta long enough to recognize the signs; push any further and Shōta will become unbalanced enough to fall into one of his fits. For Shōta to become mentally unbalanced even a little bit means his quirks would go haywire, best case, he breaks himself, worst case, someone gets hurt. Hizashi has learned to grab onto Shōta, to squeeze just hard enough to ground him, to remind him of where he is so he can cleave through the sounds and visions that his mind has bombarded him with, and stand more or less in the here and now. He’s learned which frequency he should talk in, to remind Shōta of where he is, to cut the cacophony of sounds and thoughts not his own, to bring Shōta back to himself before he goes too far, falls too deep. Hizashi hates it, because it’s clear to him that Shōta is the result of a Quirk marriage, and his parents got more than they had bargained for in this boy with too many quirks to control and a mind that is barely clinging onto sanity as a result. (He is wrong, but won’t know it for decades yet.)

Hizashi will never regret being friends with Shōta, no matter how much baggage the other boy brings with him. He’s happy to be a bright light in a sea of darkness, a beacon to bring his friend home. Because Shōta needs him, and Hizashi is happy to drive away the loneliness. It also helped that on his good days, Shōta was a goddamn enabler, the little sneak.

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

TBC

[bucketofchum]

Red Rivers (Part 2)

After the massacre at the carnival, Atumu and Cathryn recoop in his home.

Words: 1976

Read Previous: Carnival (Part 1) (All Previous)

Atumu threw himself in front of Cathryn just as she was pouncing onto her next victim. She collided violently against his body, and the contact seemed to shake her feral trance. Atumu gripped her by the shoulders and gave a solid shake. “Stop this!”

Cathryn’s senses were once again overwhelmed by the sickly sweet stench of the malnourished vampire, but this time, the scent acted as a sort of smelling salt, jerking her back into reality. Her head throbbed as she tried to gather sense of the situation. She manage to mutter “I need.. to get out of here.”

Atumu wasted no time in removing her from the situation. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, his body seemed to have made a sudden and full recovery from the trauma it had sustained not long ago, and it was no challenge at all for him to tuck the girl under his arm and flee the scene. The pitch black sky did not impede Atumu from making his way back to the safety of his home. He could find his way home from anywhere.

Cathryn felt like vomiting as she limply bounced under Atumu’s arm with every impact of his feet on the concrete sidewalk. Fortunately, his long strides in his sprint minimised the nausea and agony. The rhythmic thudding of Atumu’s sprint as well as the warmth of his body as he clutched her close to him eventually lulled Cathryn out of her nauseating consciousness.

-

She opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar setting. A soft bed underneath her, that familiar sickly sweet stench surrounding her... It was fainter now, or was she just getting used to it? She still felt numb and hollow.

Atumu walked into the room, quietly remarking - mostly to himself - that she had awoken. In his hand was a juicebox, straw already inserted, which he handed to her. His clothes were stained with blood, just starting to dry from a rich red to a putrid brown. Seeing his clothes reminded her to look at her own; her plain white t-shirt was completely saturated in blood. She felt sticky and disgusting, a feeling that originated not just from the drying blood.

She absent-mindedly brought the straw to her lips and took a pull -- gagging and coughing as soon as the liquid entered her mouth. “What the fuck is this shit?!” she choked.

Atumu jerked back in surprise at her reaction, and then his expression softened. “It’s coconut water. It’s what I drink,” he offered.

“I can’t believe you drink this shit - how do you survive?”

The corner of Atumu’s mouth curled into a half smile, his expression still gentle, as he chuckled softly. Her insults and attitude seemed to be a good indication that she was okay - a question he hesitated to ask in the first place, given how obvious the answer was in the negative.

“Hey, what happened back there?”

That question seemed to trigger a sort of response in Cathryn, as she stiffened and blanched. An expression of horror slowly fell across her face as her mind quickly replayed flashing images of the carnal slaughter. No no no no no no no! She felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to run away, curl up, leap into a volcano that would incinerate her body - anything but needing to face what just happened.

Atumu caught the look of her thoughts spiraling in her head through the tremor of her eyes before she turned her face away from him in a huff. He dropped the topic quickly. “Do you want to.. change out of those...?” He gestured towards her bloody clothes. “I’ve got a shower here you can use.”

Cathryn’s stomach churned again when she looked down at herself - her clothes, her arms, her hands...

Atumu continued, but his voice started to trail. “I can get you a change of clothes. I mean, it’s not gonna fit but --” Cathryn interrupted his mumbling by catapulting off the bed straight for the bathroom, retching horribly into the toilet. Atumu, alarmed, raced after her.

The flushing of the toilet masked her heavy breathing for the first few seconds, but as the rest of the water in the bowl drained, the sounds of her hyperventilation accompanying her heaving chest were all too apparent. She sat there on the floor, hands still gripping the edge of the toilet bowl initially, before they dropped to her sides. She stared emptily forward.

Atumu was at a loss. It would be a waste of breath to ask is she was alright, and he did not have the.. interpersonal skills to ascertain if it was acceptable to place a hand on her shoulder as a sign of comfort.

Just then, a vibrating tune from Cathryn’s shorts broke the silence. She made no movement to respond, so Atumu pulled the phone out from her pocket and checked the caller ID. “It’s... Alicia...”

He held the phone out for her, but she shook her head: “No... no...” He promptly swiped to decline the call, sending it straight to voicemail, then knelt by her side at the toilet.

-

She didn’t pick up. Something was up. Alicia had just heard about the massacre at the carnival, and she had a sinking feeling that it had to do with that neophyte vampire Atumu. Did she make the wrong move in letting Cathryn chase after him? What had he gotten her into? They were wrong to let him loose. Fuck.

She had some calls to make.

-

Kneeling by her side, Atumu spoke softly to Cathryn, “Hey.. Do you want to change out of those clothes and take a shower?”

She nodded unsteadily, gaze still unfocused. Catatonic.

She’s not going to move from that spot, is she? Recognising that he couldn’t leave her alone like this, he wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her to her feet. They staggered together towards the shower and he turned the knob to start the water. He hoisted her closer to him when he realised she was slipping and tested the water. Warm now.

In we go. Atumu walked Cathryn into the shower, and finally allowed her to sit back down. The hot water running over them, the blood started seeping out of their soaked clothes, feeding red rivers that emptied into the drain.

They sat there in silence, letting the warmth of the shower and the pressure of the water gently pelt them and release the tension in their muscles. Atumu picked up a soapy sponge to scrub off the dried blood encrusted on her arms. “Is this okay?” She wordlessly nodded.

The next several minutes were spent in this way, Atumu washing Cathryn’s arms, hands, and neck. Her hair, still matted and caked with blood, continued to contribute to the red rivers. He squeezed some shampoo in his hands and tentatively touched her hair to test whether or not she would allow him to do this. She tilted her head into his hands, indicating her consent.

As he massaged the warm shampoo into her scalp, letting the suds carry away the remainder of the blood that painted her blonde hair red, she tugged loosely at her shirt. Her arms still felt too heavy to pull the cotton t-shirt over her head. Noticing Cathryn fidgeting at her shirt, Atumu placed his hands over hers at the base of the t-shirt and asked if she wanted it off. She nodded and mouthed an inaudible “yes”. She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes that spilled over onto her cheeks when Atumu helped lift the shirt over her head. Cathryn was regaining feeling, but she really didn’t want to. The stream of tears running down her face were fortunately masked by the water from the shower, and Atumu made no comment as he scrubbed the crusted blood from her back and shoulders.

-

It wasn’t difficult to locate the house. Immediately after receiving the call from Alicia, Cathryn’s parents took the necessary steps to find out what happened and where she might be. In the event that Cathryn might have completely lost control, they couldn’t risk allowing Alicia to come along. This was a family matter, and they were going to resolve it internally. Cat’s sister managed to convince their parents that if Cathryn was really upset, she would act as a mediator.

It was a humble small town that would otherwise have not made a blip on any of their radars, and it was hard to imagine any vampire could survive out here. What was there to eat? With a population this small, a single death or missing person would be sure to draw the whole town’s attention. The suggestion that a vampire had survived out here by himself for ...years? would have been a laughable one and difficult to believe, if they did not catch a strange smell in the wind. The scent was easy to follow, and it became stronger as they approached a rather large dilapidated house. They knocked.

-

Atumu sat up instantly. Not many people came to visit, and certainly not in the middle of the night. He realised he was still fully clothed and soaked in his blood stained outfit, having neglected to clean himself off while occupied with Cathryn. Placing the sponge in Cathryn’s hands, he muttered, “I’m.. I’ll get that. Are you going to be okay in here?”

Cathryn squeezed the sponge hesitantly, nodding and clearing her throat. “Yeah. Sure.”

Atumu propped himself up to his feet, resting a hand temporarily on Cat’s shoulder. He stepped out of the shower, his clothes messily dripping onto the rug. He grabbed the towel instinctively and realised that would leave Cat with no towel, nothing to change into. Hm.

Atumu peeled his damp stained clothes off of his body and changed into his standard work clothes. He didn’t know who might be at the door, but it would serve him well to look presentable. He grabbed an extra shirt, a pair of pants, and a towel for Cathryn. They wouldn’t fit, but they would do for the time being. He knocked on the bathroom door to make his presence known and creaked the door open just enough to slip his offering through. “I’m just going to leave you some clothes and a towel here for when you get out.”

-

The knocks are answered after some time by a tall, brown-skinned gentleman with damp hair, but it is his scent that meets Cathryn’s family before his visage. There was no doubt that this man, whose intoxicating scent reeked of malnourishment, was harbouring their daughter.

“Can I help you?”

Cathryn’s mother, whose phenotype was very obviously reflected in her daughter, stepped forward and spoke first. “We are looking for our daughter, and we know she is here. Can we come in?”

Though slightly taken aback, Atumu had to admit there was no mistaking her identity. “Of course.” He opened the door wider to allow the three blonde vampires to walk through. “She’s upstairs.” Closing the door behind them, he offered to lead them upstairs.

The family glanced around, taking in their surroundings. The house, though sizeable, left much to be wanted. The unpolished floorboards creaked under their feet, and, though the house was dimly lit (pitch black, rather - which Atumu failed to notice as his night vision supplanted his need for artificial lighting), they could still see the peeling paint on the off-white walls. It was a little off putting to say the least, but, given what they had heard of this strange vampire, they were not too surprised.

Atumu walked up the stairs, allowing them to follow. “She was using the shower - it’s in this room,” he said softly, motioning to his bedroom and knocking to make their presence known. His stiff movements belied his calm voice, and the family eyed him.

The bedroom door creaked open.

[thisisheffner]

The light has gone out – it’s time we stopped giving Morrissey attention

On a shelve at the back of my wardrobe rests an early, askew Shirts that hasn’& rsquo; t been worn in years. It births black-and-white photos of Oscar Wilde, Shelagh Delaney as well as James Dean, with The Smiths emblazoned all over the top. It’& rsquo; s not the best elegant of band Shirts, but thirty years ago it was all I might find in non-urban Devon to promote my loyalty to a band that implied every little thing to me. I have actually never been able to throw it out.

The tracks of The Smiths still pump by means of my veins, an effective pointer of the agonies of my formative years and also the capacity of popular music to unlock unfamiliar brand-new emotions and switch your world completely. Yet listening closely to them right now makes me believe sad with hoping at what they were actually, and distress at what their performer has actually ended up being. Morrissey’& rsquo; s succinct turns of phrase as well as his parochial obsessions have previously seen him matched up to Alan Bennett, at whose front door he the moment appeared in Greater london gripping publications of poems. However while the second is a national treasure, the previous has actually become a national embarrassment.

It may be actually tough to make even the writer of such sweetly genuine verses as “& ldquo;’Hand in “Handwear cover & rdquo; & rsquo; s & ldquo; It & rsquo; s not like any sort of other passion/’This” one & rsquo; s various given that it & rsquo; s us & rdquo; with the harsh and also wilfully nearsighted 60-year-old roaring regarding just how he has actually been reviled, or the songwriter who when aspired to the eloquence of Oscar Wilde along with the guy who, final week, seemed at the Hollywood Dish putting on a vest on which the terms “& ldquo; F *** The Guardian” & rdquo

; were actually composed. Our experts & rsquo; ll inform you what & rsquo

; s real. You can develop your personal perspective. From 15p & €euro; 0.18$0.18 USD 0.27 a time, more exclusives, analysis as well as extras.< svg height=" 18px"variation ="1.1"viewbox

="0 0 19 15 "distance="24px"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"xmlns: xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> Developed along with Map out.

“ Morrissey's most disputable quotes< div lesson= "gallery-count"on ="tap: gallery-lightbox-3739531" function ="button" tabindex ="" > Show all 29 Created along with Lay out. < g id=" title "enhance=" equate (19.000000, 21.000000)" >< road d="M9,9 C9,8.448 9.448,8 10.001,8 C10.554,8 11,8.448 11,9 C11,9.552 10.554,10 10.001,10 C9.448,10 9,9.552 9,9 Z M15.2,9 L13.5,11.6 L12.2,10 L9,14 L19,14 L15.2,9 Z M24,4 L24,18 L4,18 L4,15 L0,15 L0,0 L21,0 L21,4 L24,4 Z M4,13 L4,4 L19,4 L19,2 L2,2 L2,13 L4,13 Z M22,6 L6,6 L6,16 L22,16 L22,6 Z" i.d.="Shape"> Morrissey's most questionable quotes 1/29 On bigotry & ldquo; If you get in touch with somebody racialist in

modern Britain you are actually telling them

that you have actually operated out of words. You are closing the dispute down and managing off. The phrase is actually” pointless currently. Everybody inevitably prefers their very own race & hellip; does this make every person racist? & rdquo; NBCU/Getty 2/29 On Female Gaga In a meeting with Billboard, Morrissey refers to as Lady Gaga & ldquo; nothing at all

brand-new & rdquo; and also states her

style is actually & ldquo; deceitful, and the

"precise contrary of sexual. & rdquo; He additionally pertains to Madonna as & ldquo; McDonna & rdquo

; and also states Michael Bublé is & ldquo; well-known and also useless & rdquo;. Getty Images 3/29

"On dancing popular music:"It is actually the haven for the mentally deficient. It is actually made by dull people for — plain individuals."Getty Images 4/29 On London mayor Sadiq Khan "London is devalued. The Mayor of Greater london tells our team regarding' Area policin'

“-- what is' policin & rsquo;? He tells our company Greater london is an'amazin' metropolitan area. What is 'amazin '? This is the Mayor of Greater london! And he can not talk properly

!"& ldquo; Madonna enhances every little thing unreasonable and also

objectionable. Determined womanhood

". Madonna is actually nearer towards organised prostitution than anything else. & rdquo; Photograph through Michael Campanella/Getty Images 6/29 On Beyonce:"The rhinocerous is actually now basically extinct

, and also it's certainly not due to global warming orshrinking habitations. It's due to Beyoncé's bags"Buda Mendes/Getty Images 7/29 On animal rudeness in China & ldquo; You can & rsquo;

t aid but experience that

the Mandarin folks are a subspecies

". & rdquo; Getty Images 8/29 On royal loved ones:"The arrogance of the English royals"

is astonishing, definitely startling

"9/29 On creative thinking: “On being artistic: & ldquo; I would certainly rather create craft than end up being craft. & rdquo; Getty Images

10/29 On Prince Charles:

"" I wish that Prince Charles had been actually fired. I believe it will possess created the world a more intriguing place."

"11/29 On sexuality:

""However, I am certainly not homosexual ... In technological simple fact, I am actually humasexual. I am attracted to people. Of course, certainly not a lot of."

" 12/29 On Bob Geldof:

""Bob Geldof is actually an abominable character. Quick fix was one of the most sanctimonious system ever before in the past history of music."

"13/29 On increasing old:

“& ldquo; Era shouldn & rsquo; t affect you’. You & rsquo; re either wonderful or even you & rsquo

; re boring, irrespective

of your age. & rdquo; Getty Images 14/29 On being actually alcoholic: & ldquo; Life would be therefore brilliantly colored so I had a cocktail complication.”

& rdquo; GETTY

IMAGES 15/29 On being attractive:

“& ldquo; I assume I have to be, completely, a total sexual activity item. In every feeling of the”

word. & rdquo; 16/29 On music sector:

“& ldquo; I lost on my own to popular music at a really early age, as well as I stayed certainly there. & rdquo; 17/29

On Taylor Swift:

The max edgings [at the Brits] divert your attention coming from the reality that Taylor Swift possesses absolutely nothing to carry out with Coventry or even Wrexham. To manage rank fraudulence in tellyland is not a tough endeavor, especially if you possess the whole entire populace of Peru dancing around you as you ape your track."

"Offered by Coast Fire Media

18/29 On grooming:

"" I do keep that if your hair is actually wrong, your whole lifestyle is wrong.”

& rdquo; Rex Includes

19/29 On Elton John:

“& ldquo; He is actually pushing his face with all the amount of time and also informing us regarding his personal life. No person's fascinated."

He ought to just disappear."AFP/Getty Images 20/29 On charisma:

“& ldquo; I am actually certainly not excellent at being actually dull."21/29 On musicians: & ldquo; Performers aren't actually folks. I'm in fact 40 every

“cent papier mache. & rdquo; Getty Images 22/29 On affection: On romance: & ldquo; I

do believe it's achievable

to go by means of lifestyle as well as certainly never drop

in love, or discover an individual that likes you. & rdquo; 23/29 On neglected killing attempt on Head of state Margaret Thatcher:"The sorrow of the

IRA Brighton battle is that Thatcher left in one piece."Getty Images 24/29 On the popular music dependency

": & ldquo; Songs is like a drug, but there are no recovery facilities."

& rdquo; 25/29

On narcissism:

“On narcissism: & ldquo; Well, I am a remarkably attractive individual.”

& rdquo; Rex Includes 26/29

On fatality: “"I possess an unswayable fixation along with death. If there was

an enchanting supplement

that people can take that would resign you from the globe, I would take it."27/29 On Kate Middleton Morrissey connects the suicide of a Greater london nurse to the Duchess Kate Middleton. & ldquo; There & rsquo; s no blame put at Kate Middleton, who resided in the healthcare facility for, as much as I can easily view, definitely

no cause ... She feels no pity concerning the fatality of this woman. The arrogance of the English royals is actually incredible, absolutely paralyzing. & rdquo; 28/29 On his heritage: & ldquo; When they hide me in a church as well as chuck earth on my tomb, I & rsquo;d like the words & lsquo; Well, at the very least he attempted & rsquo; engraved on my tombstone. & rdquo; 29/29 & ldquo;

If you call someone racialist in

“modern-day Britain you are actually telling them that you have lacked expressions. You are shutting the controversy ‘down and bolting. Words is worthless now.”

Everyone inevitably

“prefers their very own nationality & hellip; performs this make everyone racialist? & rdquo; NBCU/Getty 2/29 On Lady Gaga In a job interview with Signboard, Morrissey names Girl Gaga & ldquo; nothing new & rdquo; and also mentions her type is & ldquo; deceptive, and the particular contrast of sensual. & rdquo; He also describes Madonna”

as & ldquo; McDonna

& rdquo; and also claims Michael Bublé is & ldquo; popular and also worthless & rdquo;. Getty Images 3/29 On dance music:"It is actually the sanctuary for the mentally deficient. It is actually created through ordinary individuals “for boring folks." Getty Images 4/29 On London mayor Sadiq Khan "Greater london is actually devalued. The Mayor of “Greater london informs us regarding 'Area policin'-- what is “'policin & rsquo;?

He informs our company London is an 'amazin'city. What is actually'amazin '? This is actually the Mayor of London! And he may not talk adequately!"& ldquo; Madonna bolsters every little thing absurd and outrageous. Determined femininity."

Madonna is deeper to set up hooking than just about anything else. & rdquo; Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images 6/29 On Beyonce:""The rhino is now essentially vanished, and it's certainly not due to international warming — or even diminishing habitats. It is actually due to the fact that of Beyoncé's bags "Buda Mendes/Getty Images 7/29 On animal cruelty in China & ldquo; You can & rsquo

“; t help yet really feel that the Chinese individuals are actually a subspecies. & rdquo; Getty Images 8/29 On royal family members:"The arrogance of the English royals is spectacular, positively

startling"9/29 On ingenuity: On being innovative: & ldquo; I'd somewhat produce craft than come to be

"fine art. & rdquo; Getty Images 10/29 On Prince Charles: "I want that Prince Charles had been fired. I assume it would possess created the realm an extra interesting location."

11/29 On sexuality: "Unfortunately

, I am actually certainly not gay ... In specialized fact

“, I am actually humasexual. I am drawn in to humans. However, of program, certainly not many.”

" 12/29 On Bob Geldof:

"Bob Geldof is actually an abominable

"personality. Band Help was the absolute most self-righteous platform ever in the past history of preferredsongs."13/29 On aging:

& ldquo; Age shouldn & rsquo; t impact you. You & rsquo; re either extraordinary

or you & rsquo

; re boring, no matter your grow older.

"& rdquo; Getty Images 14/29 On being actually alcoholic: & ldquo; Lifestyle would certainly be actually therefore brilliantly colored if simply I possessed an alcoholic beverage trouble."

& rdquo; GETTY IMAGES 15/29 On

"being seductive: & ldquo; I assume I need to be actually, positively, a total sex object. In every sense of words."

& rdquo; & ldquo; I lost on my own to music

"at a really early grow older, and I continued to be there certainly. & rdquo; 17/29 On Taylor Swift: The max edgings [

at the Brits]

“. divert your’attention coming from the fact that Taylor Swift’has nothing at all to perform with Coventry or even Wrexham. To carry out

overgrown fraudulence in tellyland

is certainly not a difficult

“venture, specifically if you possess the whole populace”

of Peru hemming and haw

you as you ape your track."Given through Shore Fire Media 18/29 On cleaning:"I carry out preserve that if your hair is inappropriate, your entire lifestyle is actually inappropriate.”

“& rdquo; Rex Includes 19/29 On Elton John: & ldquo; He is driving his skin in”

continuously as well as informing our team about his exclusive lifestyle. No person's intrigued. He ought to only disappear. "AFP/Getty Images 20/29 On charisma: & ldquo; I am actually not excellent at being actually plain."21/29 On musicians: & ldquo; Artists may not be truly people. I'm actually 40 per-cent papier mache. & rdquo; Getty Images 22/29 On love: On passion: & ldquo; I perform believe it is actually achievable to experience life and never drop in affection, or even locate someone that likes you. &

rdquo; 23/29 On fallen short assassination efforton Head Of State Margaret Thatcher

": "The distress of the IRA Brighton bombing is actually that Thatcher ran away untouched.”

"Getty Images

24/29 On the popular music dependency

“: & ldquo; Popular music resembles a drug, however there are no rehab centers. & rdquo; 25/29 On narcissism: On narcissism: & ldquo

; Well, I am actually an exceptionally

lovely person. & rdquo; Rex Includes 26/29 On death:"I have an unswayable obsession with fatality. If there

was a wonderful supplement that one might

“take that will resign you from the globe, I would certainly take it."27/29 On Kate Middleton Morrissey

links the suicide of

a London registered nurse

to the Lady Kate Middleton. & ldquo; There & rsquo; s no blame placed at Kate Middleton, who remained in the medical facility for, regarding I can observe, positivelyno main reason ... She experiences no shame about the death of this particular girl. The pompousness of the English royals

"is actually spectacular, completely surprising. & rdquo; 28/29 On his legacy: & ldquo

; When they hide me in

a religion as well as chuck earth on my grave

“, I & rsquo;d like the words & lsquo; Well, a minimum of he attempted”

& rsquo; inscribed on my marker

. & rdquo; 29/29 It has actually become a dispiriting routine on social media sites that, every few months, Morrissey & rsquo; s name starts to style, causing swathes of music supporters

"to sigh wearily and also ponder what the crazy jerk has stated or done now. Current triggers have actually included his functionality on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he"

showed off a For Britain badge in assistance

of a political group that leans up until now to the right that also Nigel Farage “has outdoed themself coming from all of them. through which, explaining accusations of sex-related abuse associated with Kevin Spacey as well as Harvey Weinstein, Morrissey said there were actually opportunities & ldquo; when the individual who is gotten in touch with the prey is actually merely let down & rdquo;.”

There was actually in 2014 & rsquo; s comically mad meeting on his personal site where he buffooned shade house assistant, Diane Abbott, as well as mayor of Greater london Sadiq Khan, and declared Hitler was leftist. Morrissey carries out song while

using For Britain

gathering symbol Complaints of racial discrimination have shadowed Morrissey for many years, of training course, from his toyings with fascist visuals in the Nineties(he once sang & ldquo; National Front Nightclub & rdquo; at a Finsbury Park festival while draped in a Union Port banner), to his severe pronouncements on music through black artists-- consisting of thereport in a Melody Producer interview that & ldquo; a black stand out conspiracy & rdquo; was protecting against The Smiths from meeting their possibility. As the years have actually passed, he has actually come to be ever before even more brazen in his anti-immigration position, telling NME in 2007 that England had been & ldquo; gotten rid of “& rdquo;, that & ldquo; the entrances were flooded & rdquo; as well as complaining that in Greater london & rsquo; s Knightsbridge & ldquo; you & rsquo; ll hear every accent under the sunshine in addition to the British accent & rdquo;.(Morrissey later on filed a claim against the journal and gained an apology after he professed the short article charged him of racial discrimination.)This, it should be actually taken note

, from a male that is actually the child of Irish migrants and a deportee that has actually variously taken up property in Italy and also the United States. Morrissey & rsquo; s support observing each craze usually hinges on his misrepresentation by an aggressive push, however one more symptom” of the oppression facility that has actually been actually a feature of his lifestyle and also occupation. A lot of Morrissey & rsquo; s reputation as an artist has rested on his outsider standing, which harmonized adolescent enthusiasts who felt likewise dislocated and alone. It & rsquo; s this, combined with the stylish appeal of The Smiths & rsquo; popular music( which could be credited to Morrissey & rsquo; s bandmate, the guitar player Johnny Marr), that led several-- myself included-- to give him the perk of “the doubt. Remembering, nonetheless, the evidence indicating” a pop star who was a terrible human being with objectionable perspectives on ethnicity as well as migration is actually undeniable. Yet still the faithful group. Morrissey keeps a big target market in The United States, a hardcore of supporters who are either uninformed or unfazed by his dreadful bigotry. The English press, at the same time, stays fascinated along with this once-revered number, consistently disclosing his every articulation no issue how barmy. Yes, I am adding more pillar ins through agonizing over my fallen idolizer, yet possibly it & rsquo; s time our team ceased providing him our opportunity and attention. The Smiths were actually wonderful however the Morrissey our team once draped along with passion and also blooms is actually no extra.

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