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praisethegabs · 6 months

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HATE THAT I LOVE YOU

leon kennedy x f!reader

synopsis: Leon can't stand seeing you around him. You know how much he hates you and you like having fun with it. Things get worse when the two of you get lost during one mission, with no comms to call for help. Leon blames you for everything, until he revels something he shouldn't.

warnings: ENEMIES TO LOVERS. descriptions of injuries, reader taking care of leon, comfort, fake marriage, descriptions of nudity, leon drunk and and reader teasing him. small reference to call of duty characters as part of reader backstory.

word count: 10k +

a/n: heavily inspired by "death of me" by wizthemc. cover from laughingwallaby on x/twitter. it isn't necessary to listen to the song, but I highly recommend it.

"he’d set fire to the world around him but never let a flame touch her" senlinyu

Leon Kennedy hates you more than anything else in this world.

He hated the fact he was obligated to be your partner, hated the reckless way you always managed to finish a mission practically intact, and hated the way you always succeeded in something, no matter what it was. He hates you entirely, even your perfume is enough to get him on his nerves.

He hates you ten times more because he knows you know he hates you, and you seem like you don't care about it at all.

It all started three years ago, when he discovered he would be your new partner. Your name was pretty famous, and so were you. Not that he envies your success, but he never thought he would be under the shadow of someone like you. At first, Leon was very impressed with your skills and the way you work, but two weeks later, he started to despise you, and this feeling turned into hatred.

You ain’t stupid, you can even feel all the hate he has towards you, and things get better because you have this masochist side of yours that makes you feel happy seeing how angry he can be at you.

Although you don’t care about the reasons he hates you, the thing is, you can’t deny how attractive Leon can be, and having him as your partner makes every other agent jealous of how lucky you are. It’s Agent Kennedy, the one and only. The guy who rescued the president's daughter and basically did other significant things for the government.

But, despite the Leon you know at work, his entire life is a blank page. You know absolutely nothing about him, and he doesn’t care about sharing his personal life details with someone he hates. You noticed a while ago that you are the only person Leon ignores and despises completely, and he avoids talking to you as much as he can, only when it is necessary. And when he opens that pretty mouth of his, it usually contains hateful words.

At this point, you just do your job the way you see fit and come back home safely, not caring about Leon’s arrogant ass.

“You could have killed us!” Leon snaps at you, his entire demeanor showing stress. He can’t avoid grabbing you by your arm and squeezing it tightly, which makes you groan.

“Well, golden boy, at least your ass is intact and here. I’d like to hear a nice ‘thank you’, how about it?” You smirk and tilt your head, and in response, his entire face turns red with anger.

“You’re so fucking immature. Do you think you’ll be lucky for the rest of your life?” He raised his voice, his hand on your arm getting tighter by the second. The expression on your lips didn’t make things easier. “One day, you won’t be that lucky, and you’ll probably drop dead somewhere. I won’t be there to pick up your pieces. Do you want to risk your life? Go ahead, I don’t fucking care, but don’t drag me into your bullshit again. I’m your partner, not your babysitter”

“I’m really surprised you consider me your partner, Kennedy,” you smirk again, and that smirk was enough to infuriate Leon more than he already was.

Leon was on the verge of yelling at you, but the cold expression that quickly went up on his face was enough to make your smirk disappear. You have never seen him like that, it was weird.

“Maybe I should change that,” he hissed with cold and dead eyes, finally letting go of your arm.

“Good luck with that, Kennedy,” you coo, crossing your arms over your chest as you speak.

After saying that, the smile you gave him was enough to make Leon livid. He wanted so badly to take that ironic smile off of your lips, he wished that right now you were a man, so he could definitely teach you a lesson you wouldn’t forget so soon. However, you are the same annoying opposite gender that he hates so much. So, instead of beating the living shit out of you, he just watched you leave, turning in the opposite direction to calm himself down before he did something stupid.

The last mission was very simple: locate and terminate a bioweapon. As you two went there to find the said bioweapon, the entire area was drowning in chaos. The area was isolated to prevent the bioweapon from running away, and alongside you and Leon, there was the entire squad ready to follow your lead.

It should be simple, right? Here's the part where Leon thinks you're completely reckless. Instead of following the standard protocol, you thought it would be best to use yourself as bait and literally explode the entire block. Your stupid plan really worked, and the bioweapon died in the explosion; luckily, you were left with a few scratches and a bleeding ear — which the doctor said wasn't something serious, although you would be “deaf” for a few days from your right side.

So, when you got home, the first thing you actually did was take a nap, which turned out to be deeper than you expected. You slept for twelve hours with your phone in airplane mode so that no one could disturb your sleep. The only thing you weren't counting on was waking up to the distant sounds of someone practically wanting to take your door down. Wearing your cat pajamas, your hair a complete mess, and your face swollen after so many hours sleeping, the last person you thought you would see was Leon.

And he was right there.

“Do you know I’m out of the clock at the moment, right?” you asked him, with a big yawn seconds later. His face wasn't one of the most friendly you've seen.

“Yeah? Do you think I’m here because I want it?” Leon rolls his eyes, sounding annoyed and bored.

“Well, golden boy, if you’re here to yell at me about what happened earlier, I suggest you wait until tomorrow. I’m definitely not in the mood for you,” you said, already closing the door, when Leon suddenly stopped you. “I always thought you were a weirdo, now I’m sure of it. What do you want?”

“Get ready for our new assignment. And try to dress in something more... elegant.” Leon gave you the file from the next mission. Surprised, you started to read the file, and out of nowhere, you started to laugh in disbelief.

“Recently married couple on their honeymoon? Is this some kind of sick joke?” You glanced at him, still laughing nervously at your new disguise with him.

“Trust me, I asked the same question, and unfortunately, that's our new disguise. So, get your ass ready. We’ll be leaving in three hours, Ms. Kennedy,” he said with his Stoic and cold expression as always, giving you a ring made of white gold, which made you think how expensive it was.

“I’m pretty sure our agency wouldn’t give us this type of accessory,” you said to him, taking a good look at the ring he gave you. White gold, with a beautiful sapphire and diamonds carved around the blue stone.

“Don’t be late,” Leon said, ignoring your last commentary. “I’ll be waiting at the airport”

Leon left without looking at your confused expression. You had to read the file at least three times until you finally understood the mission. Leon and you were going to pose as a recently married couple enjoying their honeymoon as you two investigate a famous billionaire that made its own wealth by selling bioweapons in the market. You sighed with the sudden stress, walking towards your room to prepare your bag. After finishing your bag, you caught yourself glancing again at the ring. You were sure the agency wouldn’t give this ring to Leon for a fake marriage. It was something else, but what?

So, one hour later, you drove to the airport. At least this time, you weren’t late, and Leon wouldn’t be making a scene over it. You found him distracted, wearing sunglasses with his leather jacket, his hair shining in the sunlight. Leon seemed very focused on the book he was reading, and it was a big surprise to see him like that, especially because you knew nothing about him.

“So, dear husband, are you ready to go?” you ask, seeing him put his book aside. He looked very beautiful with those sunglasses.

“Yeah, sure.” He nodded, his voice sounding calm instead of the coldness you were used to. You noticed he was wearing his own wedding ring.

“Will you tell me where these came from?” You started to walk next to him, referring yourself to the ring he gave you, hoping it would be a real answer.

“Why do you care? It’s just a ring,” Leon replied, avoiding the subject as much as he could.

“I don’t think it’s just a ring. It has some marks on it, like it was used before.” The egocentric smile on your lips made Leon take a deep breath.

“It was from my mother, okay? It’s the last thing I had from her and my dad before they died. Satisfied?” Leon harshly replied to you, and you knew you had screwed up. You didn’t know about his family, and the way he replied made you realize it was a hard subject.

“I’m sorry, Leon. I didn’t know,” you hissed, feeling your entire face burn with shame.

“Like you care,” he replied in a cold tone, walking away from you towards the airport.

The rest of the flight was absolute silence. Leon didn’t speak with you and had no intention to do so. You felt terrible, but you decided not to show him any feelings; the guy literally hated you, and showing how you felt was the last thing he would believe. So, thinking about all the years of free hate, you decided it was for the best to pretend you didn’t care.

Naturally, pretending that everything was fine was one of your best qualities. You were so good at hiding your own feelings that no one could read you or decipher your emotions.

At the hotel, hours later, you were ready to follow Leon and finish the job. Deep down, you were expecting his coldness and his famous Stoic expression, along with his grumpy humor. However, you were caught off guard when he suddenly took your bags and smiled at you. He was, indeed, a full mystery.

“C’mon, darling. I’ll take your bags for you.” When he said that, you noticed the “recently married couple” game was on. You glance at him and smile broadly, then kiss his cheek.

“Oh, babe, you’re so sweet to me. Thank you,” you said, giving him your bag and walking in front of him like you were some kind of model. Two people could play this game, right?

After the check-in, you two walked between fake laughs until you reached the master bedroom. Leon could pay, and so could you, but you decided to let him play along since it was his mission, and you were just his annoying partner.

“Such a cliché… having one bed,” you sighed at the sight of the master bed in the center of the room.

“We’re married, it should look like that.” Leon rolled his eyes, leaving your bag close to the bed as he analyzed the entire room.

“No, we’re not married. We’re pretending to be,” you said, sitting on the edge of the bed and smirking ironically at him. “And besides, why me? You said you wanted to leave. You could have asked for any other agent”

“Who said I didn't ask?” Leon replied with the same ironic smirk on his lips, sitting on the armchair in front of you.

“And what did they say?” Suddenly, you sounded more upset than your usual sarcastic demeanor. You hope Leon didn’t notice.

“Unfortunately, they can’t give me another partner. Guess I’m stuck with you for God knows how long” He sounded annoyed for a moment, but you chose to ignore it completely.

You decided you needed a bath. You took a few clothes from your bag and decided to “play” with him. Not only that, but you removed your clothes in front of him, sensually, trying to get some reaction from him. When you glanced at Leon, he was hard.

“What are you doing?” he asked, and you noticed he was breathing heavily. Now he was nervous, and it wasn't anger.

“We are married. I guess this is what wives do in front of their husbands.” You wink at him, making your way to the bathroom wearing nothing but your lingerie.

Leon was completely speechless. You could see him swallowing harder, his Adam’s apple going up and down faster. The devilish smile on your lips didn’t make things easier for him, either. It took a lot of strength from him to look anywhere else but you. Leon was clearly uncomfortable and nervous.

“You know, if you want this mission to succeed, you must pretend you don’t hate me. And for that, you need to trust me, Kennedy. I know you despise my methods, and I know you’re anxious to get rid of me, and honestly, I don’t really give a shit about your teenage behavior,” you said from the bathroom, wrapping your now naked body around a white towel and opening the door again so you could see him. “So, I promise I’ll try my best to not screw everything up. Just try not to act like the asshole you are usually whenever you’re with me”

“Oh, I’m the asshole now.” Leon finally seemed to wake up from his own trance, and his expression suddenly changed from Stoic to aggressive. "You've acted like a complete jerk since the first day we started to work together, and according to you, I’m the asshole here? You should look at yourself in the mirror, sweetheart”

“Then why did you stay here with me this entire time? You could have split a long time ago, golden boy,” you say, crossing your arms in your chest, not intimidated by his behavior.

“I told you. They won’t put me with another agent. I’m stuck with you, and trust me, I wish I could have left a very long time ago,” Leon replied coldly, his blue eyes almost icy with the way he was staring at you.

But instead of your silence, you caught him off guard.

“I know you’re lying. If you snap your fingers, they will do everything you want. You just have to ask, since you’re their golden boy. They freaking love you, Kennedy, and there’s nothing they wouldn't do to please you. Don’t bullshit me,” you said, walking slowly towards him and hissing, your eyes shining with sarcasm.

But Leon didn’t give you an answer. Instead, he took his leather jacket and left the room without saying something. You decided to calm yourself down and go straight for a bath, enjoying the candles and their arousal. After what seemed to be a long time in the tub, you left the tub and wrapped the towel around your body; the room was still empty, and you couldn't care less about Leon. If he wanted to act like a pampered kid, that was his problem, not yours.

You enjoyed the time alone to do your skin care routine, and decided to take care of your own body as well. It was almost eight when the phone inside your room started to ring.

“Ms. Kennedy, I’m sorry to interrupt, but your husband seems to be causing quite a scene in the hotel bar. I might have to ask you to pick him up; otherwise, I’ll have to ask security to take care of him,” the person on the other side says to you, and immediately, you sighed.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, I’ll go get him right now. Thank you,” you said, forcing the most sweet tone of voice you could at the moment.

You left the room thinking about ending Leon. He could definitely jeopardize the entire mission with his behavior, and this was unacceptable. When you found him in the bar, he was, indeed, causing a big scene. Leon was screaming and scaring the rest of the guests, and there were at least three security guards next to him.

“Leon, darling, come on. You've had enough,” you said, approaching him and touching his shoulder softly.

“Are you his wife?” one of the security guards asks you with a serious expression. You couldn’t blame the man, he was only doing his job.

“Yes, and I am really sorry for my husband. I guess he’s just too carried away…” you said with the calmest tone of voice you could, trying your best to hold him tight.

“Ma’am, you need to control him. He made a lot of mess in the bar.” The other looked severely at you, with an angry expression.

“I’m here, aren’t I? Don’t worry about the trouble, we can pay for the inconvenience,” you replied in a harsh tone. Suddenly, Leon threw up, and his vomit fell on the floor. “And we can pay for that too”

“Suck on that, fuckers!” Leon smiled before you dragged him back to your room.

In the silence of the hallway, Leon had a lot of difficulty walking properly. He was stumbling on his feet and saying incoherent things in your ear. You never saw him like that, and it was pretty weird being his babysitter. You wanted to kill him, but he couldn’t even stand, and possibly wouldn’t remember a thing the next day.

“I hate you,” you muttered, dragging him across the hallway towards your room.

“Why do you hate me?” Leon asks, his mouth smelling of alcohol and his words confused. “Am I not good enough?”

“Where is this coming from?” You raised both of your eyebrows in visible confusion. Finally, you reached the room and unlocked the door, dragging Leon into the bathroom.

“I tried… to be enough… I know I’m an asshole, but… I’m scared of being hurt again, and… I push people away from me… but you’re so different…” he says between drunken hiccups, which is almost funny, but completely unexpected. “I've liked you since the first time I saw you, and… and…” Leon throws up again in the toilet, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, before looking at you again. You were completely speechless.

“I think you need a bath,” you muttered, still shocked by his words. Your hands were shaking, and for a moment, you had no idea what you should do.

“No… I… I need to finish this because I don’t know when I’ll have the balls to do so again…” Leon grabs you tightly, not wanting to let go of you. Biting your lower lip, you nodded. “I know I said I hate you, but… but that’s not true. I only did that because… because I was scared and thought you would reject me… so I started to act like an asshole… I’m so sorry”

“It’s okay… I should be sorry too, I didn’t make things easier for you since day one” you said to him, sounding more kind than you usually are. He won’t remember this conversation, you are sure of it.

“I feel complete trash… I should’ve just… asked you instead of acting like an asshole…” Leon said this between other rounds of drunken hiccups. He’s pretty wasted.

And before this conversation could end in another way, you decided to give him a cold bath. You didn’t remove his clothes, and he complained a lot when he felt the cold water on him. After that, you had to change his clothes, and when Leon saw you touching him, he turned hard again, although he was too drunk to even be ashamed. You had trouble laying him on the bed, but he didn’t struggle against you.

“I love you,” he whispers before falling asleep.

The next morning, you decided to leave Leon alone for a while. You couldn’t explain to him what happened the night before because you were too shocked to say something. “I love you,” he said, and his words made a home in your head. How was that even possible?

Leon Kennedy, the guy who hated you with his entire being, said he loved you. He was drunk, and he probably didn’t mean any of those words. Maybe he was just playing a game with you, maybe that wasn’t true. However… drunk people tend to say things they usually wouldn’t say. So, there was a remote possibility that he was, indeed, telling the truth. How could you believe him?

“Fuck… what happened?” Leon asks you when he woke up, squeezing his eyes. He had a terrible headache.

“You got drunk last night and caused a lot of trouble in the bar,” you said, throwing at him a small, transparent bag with painkillers.

“Shit, I can’t remember anything. My head hurts like crazy.” Leon looks at you, and you can see the effects of the hangover on his face.

“Glad one of us has commitment to the job,” you said, sounding harsher than you wanted to be. Leon looks at you again, but completely confused this time.

“What did I say?” he asks, and then, as you can notice, he sounds more desperate. If it were at another time, you would definitely take advantage of it, but his words echoed in your head again.

“Nothing important. Just regular drunk stuff,” you say, shaking your shoulders, avoiding the subject that was hammering your head.

"Fine.” He nods his head and stands up, walking to the bathroom.

His words were floating in your head, and it was hard not to think about what happened the other night. At this point, you had no idea how you would finish the mission. Not with his words hammering in your head, penetrating your chest, and making you feel things you really don’t want to.

You hate Leon Kennedy and everything he made you feel.

He comes out of the bathroom, and he has a towel wrapped around his waist. The sight you had of him, all muscular, his body sculpted by the gods, walking like that in his own glory. It made your stomach twitch. You felt your face burning, and right now, you wanted to dissipate from the earth.

“We have a meeting in one hour.” You had to find a lot of strength inside you to not stare at his chest when you spoke to him.

“Can you go alone? I’m not really in perfect condition.” Leon sits on the bed, looking at you. He seems to not realize what’s happening. You, in response, shake your head.

“No, I can’t. Since we’re married, you need to come with me. It sucks, huh?” you replied with a cold smile, looking at him with dead eyes.

“Jesus, you’re really a pain in the ass,” he says in a deep breath, reaching for the painkillers.

You decided to ignore his commentary and get ready for the day. According to your new schedule, the man you two went to investigate would be in a meeting and then head to the restaurant. It was the perfect opportunity. You decided to wear a short black dress, making your thighs visible, and a V-neckline, showing a little of your breasts.

"Fuck” Leon mutters when he sees you, and you can notice he’s a little nervous. Maybe he’s starting to remember what he did last night.

“What?” you ask him, raising both of your eyebrows.

“I can’t find my phone,” he replies angrily, looking the entire room over to find his phone.

“It’s in the drawer.” You rolled your eyes, finishing with the makeup and your hair. Leon sighed in relief when he finally found his phone. “You’re welcome”

He took a few minutes until he finished getting ready. Leon was wearing a navy blue shirt, black shorts, and sunglasses, the same ones he was using at the airport. He was looking very beautiful, but you decided to keep your thoughts to yourself.

“Ready?” he finally asks you, looking at you with some curiosity. You nodded, grabbing your purse and walking next to him outside the room.

The hotel’s restaurant was filled with the clinking of cutlery and the low murmur of conversations. Leon and you decided to sit across from each other at a small, intimate table, your gazes scanning the room for any sign of your target.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the soft jazz playing in the background provided a calming facade to the tension that lingered between them. Leon, with disheveled hair and a pair of sunglasses that only partially hid the evidence of a rough night, rubbed his temples and winced.

"Ugh, I think I might die. I can't believe you dragged me into this after last night. I swear, my head is splitting." he muttered, pretending to be reading the menu.

"This is a mission, Leon, not a vacation. You knew what you signed up for when you took that last shot. Now, pull yourself together. We need to find our guy, and your hangover isn't helping." you shot him a withering look, your eyes sharp beneath a cascade of your hair

"I just don't get why we couldn't have rescheduled this. I mean, who plans a stakeout the morning after an undercover party? It's like the universe is against me." Leon leaned back in his chair, wincing at the light filtering through the bistro's window.

"We don't have the luxury of rescheduling. This is our best chance to catch him off guard, and we can't afford any mistakes. Your lack of professionalism could jeopardize the entire mission. So, get over yourself and focus." You clenched your jaw, your frustration evident.

Leon sighed, realizing he had hit a nerve. He straightened up and took off his sunglasses, revealing bloodshot eyes.

"Fine, fine. I get it. No more complaints. Let's just eat and keep an eye out for our guy. Maybe the food will cure this hangover from hell." he said, waving his hand at the waitress.

"Good. We need to stay sharp. Our target is slippery, and we can't afford to miss any signs. Just remember, we're a married couple on a lunch date. Act natural." you nodded, your stern expression softening slightly.

As the minutes went by, the restaurant was an oasis of calm, its subdued lighting and plush furnishings a stark contrast to the pounding headache Leon was nursing.

Besides his mood and his complaints about the headache, you were the one who maintained a professional demeanor. However, your patience was wearing thin. The clinking of silverware and muted conversations formed a backdrop to your undercover mission.

"Can we make this quick? My head feels like it's about to split open." Leon winced, massaging his temples after minutes in silence.

"You brought this upon yourself, Leon. You can't let your personal life interfere with the mission. We have a job to do." You shot him a disapproving glance.

"I didn't expect last night to turn into a frat party. It was supposed to be a simple gathering." Leon sighed, regret etched on his face.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you started to behave like a pampered kid. But guess what, Kennedy? We can't change that now. We're on a timeline, and we can't afford mistakes. So, suck it up and focus." your eyes narrowed, your tone of voice sounding angry. I love you, his words, still echoing in the back of your head,

As he perused the menu, Leon's eyes flickered across the room, and he stiffened.

"There he is," he muttered, nodding discreetly toward your target who had just entered the restaurant.

"Perfect timing, Leon. Just what we needed." your gaze followed Leon's, and you cursed under your breath.

You two ordered quickly, your argument temporarily set aside as you two maintained the appearance of a normal, albeit slightly disgruntled, married couple. The target settled at a nearby table, engaged in conversation with an associate. As your food arrived, Leon's hangover-induced irritability resurfaced.

"Can we at least eat in peace before we tail him? I'm not in the mood for this undercover drama." he complains again.

"Your mood doesn't matter. We need to catch this guy. Finish your food quickly, and we'll tail him discreetly." you shot him a stern look.

Leon grumbled but complied, glancing over his shoulder at the target. The argument simmered beneath the surface, waiting for the opportune moment to erupt. As the two of you left the restaurant, the hangover weighed heavily on Leon, intensifying his annoyance. You kept your voice low as you two trailed the target through the hotel's corridors.

"Leon, I don't care about your hangover. We can argue later. Right now, we need to focus on the mission." you sharply told him in annoyance.

Leon shot back, his tone sharp, "Well, maybe if you were a bit more understanding, we wouldn't have to argue at all. This headache is killing me."

You shot him a pointed look but decided to let it go for the moment as you two approached the front desk to inquire about your room. The target was believed to be staying on one of the upper floors, and obviously, you two needed to gather information without raising suspicion. As you stepped into the elevator, Leon swayed slightly, earning a disapproving glance from you. The elevator doors closed, and Leon muttered:

"I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

The doors opened to a corridor adorned with plush carpeting and dimmed lights. You and Leon maintained their cover, acting the part of the honeymooning couple as you two made your way down the hall. Just as the both of you reached the door to the suspected target's room, a sudden chill crept up Leon's spine.

A group of imposing figures, undoubtedly the target's security detail, emerged from the elevator behind you. Your eyes widened as you discreetly tugged on Leon's arm, directing his attention to the unexpected threat.

"Leon, we've got company," you whispered urgently.

“Well, sweetheart, you won’t like this” Leon said, turning himself to you.

“What-”

Before you could even speak, you felt his lips crushing against yours. Something about his kiss made you feel something inside your chest. The taste of alcohol mixed with mint, the way his tongue danced inside your mouth, it was something you never felt and tasted before.

Leon tilted your chin upward, creating the perfect illusion of a stolen moment between two infatuated lovers. The security guards, momentarily thrown off by the unexpected display, hesitated in their approach. You felt him break the kiss, your eyes meeting with a shared understanding.

“That was close” he whispers, holding your hand as you two walk together in the corridor.

But you were left without any words. His kiss caught you completely off guard and for some stupid reason, you felt your legs were failing you. Something about the way Leon's lips pressed against yours sparked an internal conflict. His kiss was not one of disdain; it was fervent, almost desperate. In that moment, the line between pretense and reality blurred, and you found yourself torn between the mission and your own conflicting emotions.

As you walked in silence next to him, the tension between you two became palpable. Leon, ever the professional, maintained his stoic expression, his eyes scanning the horizon for any potential threats, even with the hangover state. You, on the other hand, couldn't shake off the unease that accompanied you every step. You stole a glance at Leon, his features carved in light of the hallway.

Suddenly, the tranquility of the night shattered as a series of sharp cracks pierced the air. Bullets whizzed past you two, sparking against the cobblestone streets. You and Leon instinctively dove behind the cover of a wall as the realization hit — you two were the targets now.

"Move!" Leon shouted over the chaos, grabbing your arm and propelling you forward.

The rhythmic staccato of gunfire followed you two, echoing through the maze of narrow alleys. The assailants were relentless, shadows in pursuit, fueled by an unseen vendetta. You two sprinted through the labyrinthine corridors, your breaths mingling with the desperate echoes of your footfalls. Leon's mind raced, analyzing escape routes and potential hiding spots. You, feeling your heart pounding, cast glances over your shoulder, your instincts sharp as you matched Leon's every move.

The honeymoon facade shattered as the two agents sprinted down the corridor, bullets whizzing past the two of you. Panic and urgency replaced the hangover-induced haze in Leon's mind. You two reached a stairwell, taking it two steps at a time, the footsteps drowned out by the chaos unfolding behind you.

As you two burst onto a lower floor, you spotted an emergency exit. Without hesitation, you burst through the door, finding yourselves in a garden. The adrenaline-fueled escape continued through the green labyrinthine surrounding the hotel, leaving the luxurious facade behind as you and Leon navigated the maze, chased by both the consequences of the cover being blown and the remnants of the security detail.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

Apparently, the said billionaire found out about the two of you, and now, Leon and you had to run somewhere else safe, leaving all your belongings in the hotel. There were gunshots everywhere, and you had to fight for your dear life, protecting you and Leon with a marble statue as a form of barricade to prevent being shot.

“This isn’t how I expected my honeymoon to be,” Leon muttered, shooting one of the security guards.

“This isn’t a honeymoon either,” you replied, firing your gun at the guard, killing him with a perfect headshot. “We are not even married”

“Well, this isn’t how I imagined it, anyway. We need to get out, Ms. Kennedy,” Leon said, offering his hand to you, which you took without thinking twice. You started to run, with Leon covering your back.

You could hear the security guards running after you, two more gunshots. Likewise, you ran for your life, not daring to look behind you, knowing Leon was right behind you, making sure you were protected, which was very odd, considering the history between the two of you.

At the moment, it's the last thing you're worried about. After a few minutes of running, you managed to escape the guards and find a place to hide. You were breathing heavily, and shaking.

“Are you okay?” Leon asks you, looking at the direction you two came from.

“Why do you care?” you simply replied, coughing a little as you tried to catch your breath.

“Do you think I don’t remember what I said last night? C’mon, I might be a drunk asshole, but I don’t forget things easily.” Leon glanced at you, which was more sympathetic than usual.

“This isn’t fair. You can’t say things like that after treating me like garbage for years,” you snapped at him, finally letting your feelings go without any shame. “You can’t say you love me, and the next day you can’t barely look at my face. You can’t say you love me when the only thing that comes from your mouth is hate and disgust. This isn’t fair, and you can’t play like that with me”

After saying that, you decided to walk yourself out and leave Leon alone. Who the hell did he think he was? He had no right to play with your feelings like that. You were so angry at him for throwing that on your shoulders with no responsibility.

Besides, you had important things to deal with, not his bullshit. Your hands were shaking like crazy, and you realized that you had no control over your feelings, and this was very dangerous, especially in your line of work. You needed to calm yourself down, and you needed to do it fast.

Hours later, everything was quiet. Leon was nowhere to be seen, because you didn’t notice when he went missing in the first place, and you couldn't care less about him. It was obviously a stupid idea to try to get back to the hotel, knowing it would be heavily secured after what happened earlier. But, somehow, you felt something very wrong.

The gunshot noises out there were exactly what you didn’t want to hear. You heard screams and loud voices, and immediately, your hand fell to your gun. You heard footsteps, and by the sound, you knew this person was supporting his body weight on his left leg, and was limping heavily. When you were about to attack, it was him.

“What the hell?” you gasped in shock, seeing him limping and, of course, injured.

“I tried to get our comms back” he whimpered almost quietly, as you helped him sit down. He was breathing heavily, his hand pressing tightly on his ribs. “But, as you can see, it didn’t go well.”

“And you say I'm reckless, right?” you muttered, trying to see the size of the damage on him, although he whined again. “You could've died in there, asshole”

“Now I understand why you do things this way,” Leon chuckles, but then he groans in pain, his grip on his ribs getting tight. “It’s way more fun”

“Fun? Are you out of your mind, Kennedy?” you snapped at him. If Leon wasn’t injured at the moment, you would definitely beat the living shit out of him. “I don’t do things like that for fun!”

“Keep your voice down, sweetheart. I don’t want to get back home inside a coffin,” Leon said, as he pressed his hand on your mouth to keep you quiet. In the sudden silence, you were able to hear more footsteps, and Leon kept pressing his hand on your mouth. A few minutes later, everything went silent again.

“I’m not… okay” he mutters, and his eyes meet yours. Blue like the ocean. And then, you finally see the blood spot on his shirt — the same spot he was trying to hide from you. “I’m sorry”

“I swear to God, if you dare to die on me, I’ll personally kill you, Kennedy,” you replied, and then you started to press his wound to prevent him from bleeding to a certain death.

But he smiled. It was a faint smile, but he was really smiling at you. You saw him raise his hand, and he touched your hair, moving the strands that fell on your face. The way he was looking at you, so sad and weak, it was like he was saying goodbye.

“You look so... beautiful.” His voice seems weak, and his breath starts to become more shallow. “I guess… this is what angels look like”

“C’mon, Leon, don’t you dare die on me,” you said as you noticed yourself getting more anxious by the second.

He smiled again and kept looking at you with those beautiful blue eyes. Slowly, he started to close his eyes, and his breath got more shallow, indicating he was losing consciousness. The more you tried to keep him awake, the more he seemed lost. You were slowly losing him.

“Condor One! Condor Two,” someone called you two. It was your squad.

“We’re here” you shouted at them, your hands filled with Leon’s blood as you waved at your squad. “He’s injured and losing a lot of blood”

“Don’t worry, we’re taking you two,” the leader said as the team approached you with medical equipment.

You couldn’t describe the stress you felt with everything that happened in the meantime. Did you two succeed in the mission? Was it over? You couldn’t know. Not until you were sure Leon was safe and sound.

From the helicopter, you could see the sirens, the local police, and the agents from the government. It was almost unbelievable, but it was true. The operation was a success, after all. You glanced at Leon. He was sleeping, or at least he seemed to be.

You tried to rest, but it seemed unreachable. Your body was electric, filled with constant energy that prevented you from closing your eyes. You wanted to sleep badly, but your concern about him was enough to keep you awake. When the helicopter finally landed at the hospital heliport, Leon was immediately taken into surgery. As for you, you had no other option but to wait.

Hours later, you had no news about him, and the anxiety was eating you alive from the inside. At this point, your body was less tense than before, and the first signs of stress and tiredness were finally showing up. You were sitting in a chair, in an empty white hallway, waiting. The hours seemed to slip through your fingers, slowly.

You sighted a kid playing with a purple teddy bear, and for a moment, you started to wonder about the life you led. The choices you made and how you ended up in your job. It was weird to think that while other people had normal lives, you had to risk yours every day, to make sure they would live in a safe world.

It sounded selfish to think like that, but you had every reason to do so since you couldn’t have a normal life. That word didn’t exist in your dictionary. Nor in your days.

Then, you see yourself playing with Leon’s mother's ring on your finger. For a brief moment, you imagined how your life would be if you were married and raising kids. Then, you push away these thoughts; motherhood isn’t your style, not even a married life.

“Ms. Kennedy?” you hear the doctor call you, and the sound of Leon’s surname addressed to you like you were his real wife makes your heart ache.

“Is he okay?” Your voice sounded more hoarse than you thought it would, a small consequence of being silent for so long. The look on the doctor’s face said there wasn’t good news.

“Your husband has lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stop the bleeding, and the surgery went well. Our main concern is with his brain injury…” The doctor pauses for a brief moment, wondering how to tell you the next news. “But, unfortunately, he’s in a coma.”

The news came at you like a violent wave. Suddenly, the world around you stopped, and you couldn't hear anything else. Your eyes were wide open, your chest was burning and aching, and for some stupid reason, you didn’t want to believe those words. How could Leon be in a coma? It was your thing to play reckless, he had no right to leave you like this.

You saw the doctor talking to you, but you couldn’t hear anything; everything around you was running slowly. What the hell was he saying? His lips moved slowly, just like the rest of the entire world, but you managed to understand: he was asking you if you were okay or if you needed something.

You felt like you were drowning, unable to reach the surface, surrounded by darkness. You wanted to scream and cry, but you couldn’t. You felt trapped by an invisible force, holding you tight and keeping you shut.

It was the sight of Chris that made you turn back to reality, and finally, the scream that was trapped in your throat came out from the core of your lungs.

“It’s okay, I got you,” Redfield said quickly as he held you before you fell to the ground. Your legs were shaking just like the rest of your body. “It’s okay”

“It was my fault, Chris.” Your voice was muffled by desperate chokes and sobs. “He’s in a coma, and it’s my fault”

“It’s not your fault, okay? It could’ve happened to you or him. Leon knows what he does, and I’m sure he did that to protect you" Chris tries his best to comfort you, although it seems impossible at the moment. He still holds you tight, for which you are very grateful, because you know you’ll fall if he lets you go.

Leon had no one in his life. You knew that the moment he told you about the ring. The “family” he had consisted of Chris and Claire, Jill, and Rebecca. You had no room for this. Leon made that pretty clear years ago, but now everything is different. You had to tell everyone what went wrong, how he got injured, and why it ended like that. You had to describe the entire mission, you had to remember everything. Now you were sitting again, with Claire holding your hand, while Jill and Chris were talking with Rebecca. Your eyes were locked on your hands, still stained with his blood. You were completely shocked, with no reaction or words.

“He’ll wake up, I know he will,” Claire whispers as a way to comfort you and give you kind words.

“He said he loves me,” you managed to say, although you doubted Claire would hear it. You wanted to hold onto something real, that would help you deal with what was happening.

“He always did, I’m glad he finally told you that,” Claire said, and you were a little surprised she heard you. More surprised to hear something you thought would never exist.

“But I don’t think that’s true. He always hated me.” You finally look at her, your eyes seeing something different from the dried blood in your hands.

“Do you think Leon is capable of hating you? He’s so in love with you, he can’t even hide it,” Claire said, and then she smiled largely while holding your hands.

But you find it hard to believe those words. Your mind was conflicted between what Claire was saying and what Leon said before he fainted. You wanted desperately to believe it, but deep down, you weren't sure. You finally received authorization to see him, with the benefit of being his “wife” and a government agent, but when you stepped inside his room, seeing all those loud machines around his body and a giant bandage on his ribs, his clothes were perfectly folded in the chair. His skin was pale and cold to the touch. He was almost lifeless, and seeing him like that made you sob again.

“I’m sorry… I never wanted to see you hurt,” you muttered, hoping he would hear it. You held his hand, praying he would wake up. “If you can hear me, then come back to us... I miss you fighting with me”

But there was nothing — not even a small squeeze on your hand. You were trying to convince yourself that he heard you and that he was coming back to you, and that was the lie you were desperately trying to believe. How silly you were. How desperate and pathetic you felt. It could be days, weeks, months, or years, how could you possibly predict when he would wake up? It was up to him.

“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Kennedy,” you said last, as a single tear fell from your eye. You wanted to be brave for him.

And as an answer, he squeezed your hand weakly.

Three months later.

“Goddammit, this hurts!” Leon groaned angrily at you when you tried to remove the bandage from his ribs to clean it.

“Stop moving, asshole,” you said back, glancing at him and then rolling your eyes. “Then it won’t hurt”

“You’re so fucking gentle,” he muttered, taking a deep breath. You waited until he stopped moving so you could change the bandage.

“Hey, I’m not the one with open wounds,” you teased him, then finished removing the bandage, being extra careful with the stitches on his skin.

“How does it look?” Leon asks with a soft voice. You noticed that he never actually looked at the wound.

“Terrible, but healing,” you smiled kindly at him, cleaning around the wound with the antiseptic and the wet cotton. You saw his skin chilling, and soft groans coming from his mouth.

Leon hated seeing his scars. He hated having them; he hated knowing what caused them, which was why he barely sees himself in the mirror; he avoids his own image. One month ago, Leon woke up from his coma, and although he was very confused, at first, due to his brain injury, he had no memories of the mission or what happened before he got hurt. Chris had to explain everything to him like he was a toddler learning how to communicate.

“So… that was it,” Chris tells him, after explaining why he was in a hospital bed with a huge wound on his ribs.

“Shit… I’m tired,” Leon muttered, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to relax his beaten-up body on the bed. “Two months?”

“Yep. You slept like a baby,” Chris chuckled, making fun of the situation to lighten up his mood.

“Where is…” Leon started, as it seems pretty obvious that you weren’t there with Chris.

“Oh…” The smile on Chris’s lips disappeared slowly, and he became more serious, sitting more appropriately on the chair. “Well, um…”

For some unknown reason, Leon was anxious. He didn’t know why, but he felt eager to know why you weren’t there with him; he was sure he heard you say you missed him fighting with you, but at this point, he wasn’t sure if it was a dream or reality. And the way Chris kept looking at him made his heart beat ten thousand times faster. When Chris was about to tell Leon about you, someone knocked on the door, and when the person came inside, Leon felt disappointed to see it was a nurse with his medication.

“Mr. Redfield, you’ll have to leave now. The visiting hour ended a few minutes ago, and the patient needs to rest,” the nurse says, leaving the tray with Leon’s medication on his bedside table. Leon sighed, glancing at the window, while he laid his head on his pillow to rest.

“Before I go… I want you to have this,” Chris said, getting closer to his bed with something in his hand. Leon glanced back, curious. When Chris opened his hand, Leon saw his mother’s ring, and he felt sad. “You know, she was here with you the entire time”

“Then why is she not here now?” Leon asks, holding the ring in his hand and avoiding Chris’s gaze.

“Give time to time,” Redfield said before leaving his room.

Leon hated being in the hospital with different wires connected to his body. Nurses checked on him constantly, asking a lot of questions, taking him through thousands of exams to see if he was doing better or worse, and doing physiotherapy. They said the brain injury had damaged his body, and, besides the wound on his ribs, Leon had broken his arm and would have a disability in walking and doing normal things. Of course, with the proper therapy, he would walk again and have a normal life, but he needed to cooperate.

Leon had already convinced himself you didn’t care, but on the third week after he woke up, he was taken into another exam. One hour later, when he came back to his room, he found you asleep on the chair, wrapped around your jumper, seeming tired to the bones. The nurse helped him lay back on his bed, and he remained silent, just watching you sleep. He wanted to keep every detail about you, even the small ones. Suddenly, you moved on the chair and woke up, yawning. Nothing he had rehearsed in his head prepared him for this moment.

He had given up on hope, he thought you would never see him again. Maybe you had found another partner, or maybe you had moved on with your life. Perhaps you just didn’t care about him. Maybe and more maybe…

"Hey,” you said, noticing he was too shocked to even pronounce a word. “How are you?”

“Fine, I guess,” he managed to say, and he wanted to punch himself because he sounded very rude. “That’s not what I meant…”

But, to his surprise, you just smiled. Chris told you about his amnesia, he told you that Leon wouldn’t be able to walk for a long time because of the damage to his brain from the injury. You were hoping he didn’t remember what happened before he fainted that day. It would be easier for both of you.

“I came here because Chris told me you woke up, I wasn’t in the country, so…” you said, feeling your cheeks blush a little. He nodded quietly, and the expression on his face told you he was sad. “I had to finish our last mission. Do you remember anything?”

“Not so much, everything is a little messed up, and every time I try to remember something, my head hurts,” he says, taking a deep breath and laying his head on the pillow again. “I remember me in front of your apartment telling you about our mission; I remember giving you my mother’s ring; and the fight we had at the airport… I remember a few things from the hotel we were at, but nothing more… Sometimes I have a few flashbacks. I remember getting hurt trying to get our comms back, breaking my arm, but..."

“It’s okay, don’t force yourself. You know you’ll remember eventually,” you said to him, trying to give some comfort. “You’re alive and recovering, that’s all that matters now, Leon”

“It sucks being here… I want to go home, but people keep telling me I’m better here and that medical bullshit,” he sighs, then he looks outside his window again.

“About that… I’m here to offer something,” you said to him, already thinking it would be a terrible idea.

“What would that be?” he asks you, raising both of his eyebrows in a slightly curious tone.

“Come live with me…” you simply said, shaking both of your shoulders like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Until you recover, of course”

At first, having him live with you proved to be a difficult task, mostly because Leon thought he was a burden and strongly avoided his appointments. In his head, he could treat himself alone, he could take care of his wounds and do the chores in the house. However, he could barely leave the bed, and he complained every time you tried to convince him to attend his appointments. Even Chris tried to coax him into getting out of the house, but Leon refused like a pampered kid. It was very difficult.

“You know I can’t do everything on my own, right?” you asked him after finishing changing and cleaning the wound on his rib.

“I know, but… I’m sorry,” he says with a deep sigh, looking at you with guilt. “I know I’m making this more difficult than it should be…”

“It’s not your fault, but I really need you to understand that sometimes even the toughest agent needs help. You can’t avoid medical care forever, Leon,” you said, looking straight into his eyes.

“I’m an asshole, right?” He managed to smile a little, then he looked at you. “I never thanked you for taking care of me”

“What can I say? You didn’t make things easier, either.” You smiled at him, looking into his blue eyes.

“I have something I need to tell you,” Leon whispers, then bites his lower lip and avoids your eyes.

“Shoot me”

“I… remember what happened… before the coma. I remember the mission,” he says, finally taking the courage to look into your eyes. You decided to stay calm, but not cold. “I was scared, I never thought I would almost die… but then you were there with me, and I felt at peace”

“Why did you give me your mother’s ring?” you decided to ask. You needed to understand.

“Because it was personal, I wanted you to have something personal from me… I knew one day I would come close to death trying to get your ass out of danger, and I thought you would feel better having something mine,” he explained, and then, everything made sense. He truly cared about you.

“You’re such a fucking idiot, Kennedy.” You smiled at him, then you laughed.

“Hey… what’s wrong? Are you okay?” you asked after knocking on his door. He glanced at you, his eyes swollen after crying for God knows how long.

This entire month that you took care of him was enough to learn how to read him. Before, he was pure mystery — the person who hated you the most. Now you know when he’s happy, angry, or uncomfortable. You know how to decipher him, read his face, and understand how he feels.

Leon still sleeps in the guest’s room, but sometimes you can hear him wince and cry, and sometimes you can hear him sobbing. You woke up to the sound of him crying and decided to finally ask. You had been wondering for weeks, thinking he wouldn’t talk about this subject. But you needed to try it, anyway.

“I… it’s nothing, I’m okay,” he said, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes.

“C’mon, you can talk to me. We’re friends now,” you say again, sitting on the edge of his bed and smiling.

“It’s just a silly nightmare…” Leon whispers softly, looking at his arm plaster. You had signed your name on it, followed by Chris, Claire, Jill, and Rebecca. “It’s Raccoon City. The same night over and over again”

“You were there? I’m surprised,” you said to him, and he smirked slightly.

“I was a rookie cop, late as hell on my first day. I had recently graduated from the Police Academy,” Leon explains, gazing at the ceiling, then at you again. “I survived that night, met Claire, saved Sherry… then, they forced me to work for them, and here I am”

“Forced? What do you mean?” You raised your eyebrows, confused.

“It was a deal I made to keep Sherry safe… I never told this to anyone,” Leon whispers, and you imagine how cruel it was for him to be forced to work all those years for the government. “How about you? How did you end up being an agent?”

“Before the government, I was in the army. Special Forces. I worked with Task 141 across the earth, until I decided to leave before things went to shit” you tell Leon, which makes him glance at you completely surprised. “I miss my buddies Price, Roach, Soap, and Ghost”

“It’s so weird to think how our lives were different… I was forced to join the government, you decided to do it for yourself…” Leon whispers, analyzing his own choices in life. “Now I can truly understand why you work the way you do…”

“I made a lot of bad choices, I’ll admit that. But after everything I did in the past… you actually get used to your own method of working,” you say to him, hugging your legs. “Maybe that’s why I do things the way I do. I like the adrenaline and danger that come with it”

“I’m sorry for calling you reckless,” Leon said after a brief moment of silence.

“That’s okay, trust me. I've heard worse things before,” you chuckled.

Leon seemed more calm, although his eyes were still red and swollen. You heard the first drops of rain hitting his window, and the noise of the lightning outside announced the rain. For a moment, there was only silence between the two of you.

“I hate this stupid arm plaster,” Leon suddenly says, and then you laugh.

“But there are our names signed on it. And I made a drawing when you were asleep” You showed him the drawing you made. It was a cat and a few flowers.

“Flowers? Really?” Leon frowned, glancing at you.

His last appointment provided good news. His ribs seemed to be healing, and soon he would be able to remove the arm plaster. After the appointment, you drove Leon to his physiotherapy session, and for the first time after he woke up from the coma, he finally decided to cooperate with himself. For some unknown reason, he wasn’t grumpy today.

“What? They’re cute!” you protested while laughing at his reaction. “But I’m serious, you need to sleep now. Tomorrow you have that physiotherapy session and an appointment”

“Well, if you keep doing home exercises, soon you’ll be fully recovered,” the doctor tells him, sitting in front of you two.

“Home exercises?” Leon asks, looking briefly at you, knowing you would definitely force him to do his exercises.

“Yes. It’ll help ease the pain and help with your mobility.” She nods, noting something on the paper. “And, most important, you can’t avoid your appointments, Mr. Kennedy”

“Yeah… I’ll keep coming,” he said, his entire face red as a tomato.

When you drove him back home, he certainly wasn’t expecting a surprise from your little family. Claire, Rebecca and Jill decorated your entire apartment, while Chris went to buy food and drinks. Because of the thousands of pills he was taking, Leon wasn’t allowed to drink any alcohol, which you gladly thanked him for. He was better sober than drunk.

The smile on his lips and the way his eyes were shining were more than he could put into words. You noticed that Claire even bought party letter decorations that were hanging from your ceiling, with the sentence ‘Happy Birthday, Leon’ in blue and yellow.

“Come on, you guys gotta be kidding me” he laughs with happiness, hugging everyone carefully.

“What? You really thought we would forget your birthday, golden boy?” you tease him, drinking soda and giving him one cup.

“This is… amazing” Leon seemed lost in his own words. “I don’t deserve you guys”

After singing him the birthday song, you guys celebrated his birthday with those blue birthday hats and a special cake the girls baked for him. Chris was talking to him, while you and Rebecca were chatting about types of coffee. Jill and Claire seemed to be very focused on their own conversation about TerraSave.

“Guys… I wanted to thank everyone. I know sometimes I’m a pain in the ass, but after everything that happened to me in the past three months, I have a lot to thank for… especially you.” Leon glances at you with shyness. “You took me into your home, took care of me, and had to hear every stupid joke I made, even my grumpy humor”

“That was the hard part, believe me,” you say, winking at him, which makes everyone laugh.

“I know. I was a jerk, and we had a lot of arguments with each other, but recently I found out that…” he paused for a moment, certainly thinking about what to say. “Life can be shitty sometimes, and bad things can happen to us… and this last mission made me see things I thought would never happen to me. I nearly died, but I got a second chance, and I don’t intend to waste it”

You knew exactly what he was talking about. Living with him for the past three months proved to be an interesting task. You knew him, and that was enough. Hours later, it was only you and him, sitting on your couch as the rain struck against the window. The fireplace gives off a warm temperature inside the living room, and, despite the silence, you two are more connected than before.

“I must say, there’s one thing I’m sure won't change,” Leon laughs, looking at his hands, after a long time of silence. “Being almost killed truly made me see things…”

“Such as?” You lifted your head to look at him.

“First, I actually never asked to be reassigned to another partner. I only told you that because I wanted to see how you would react” he said, looking at you. “And…”

“What's the second?” You laugh at his confession, mostly because you knew that a long time ago.

“The second is… I really hate the way that I love you”

926 notes · View notes

arlana-likes-to-write · 5 months

Text

Not Like I'm in Love with You

Summary: For the longest time, it was you and Maria. A package duo. A dynamic team. Agent Hill and Gaia. But you were always just friends, nothing more. Until a mission goes wrong forces Maria to admit her feelings for you.

Warnings: jealously, angst with a happy ending, surgery, medically induced coma, bomb, eco terrorist?, reader is enhanced, mention of drinking and sexual activity, love confession

Word Count: 5.2k

“My savior,” Natasha groaned as you handed the redhead a coffee and a breakfast sandwich. She moaned, taking a sip of the coffee. “I could marry you right now.” You shook her head at her antics and passed the rest of the goodies to the team. Clint had his feet on the table and head thrown back, and a pair of sunglasses covered his eyes. He grunted out a thanks when he set his order down. The rest of the team was in different states of hungover, barely muttering a greeting. You chuckled.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gone out on a school night,” you teased, sitting down at your desk so you could eat your own. Clint groaned.

“You aren’t my mom,” You felt like it.

“Where’s the boss?” You questioned.

“Probably untangling herself from the blonde she went home with,” May mumbled, holding a cold towel to her forehead. Why did your stomach drop when she said that? The team had the right to party after a job well done. The case had a breakthrough, and they wanted to go out. Like always, you refused, you weren’t much of a drinker, and you didn’t trust yourself drunk with your abilities. You were an Eco-empathy, allowing you to connect deeply with the environment and sense, understand, and manipulate the natural world. SHIELD nicknamed you Gaia, and your fellow agents called you various Earth-related names. You and Maria were just friends, right? When Fury picked her as Deputy Director, she prompted you alongside her. You were her second in command; while she went out in the field, you stayed behind to run point. It was how you two operated a well-oiled machine. Co-workers. Best friends at most. Like you’ve been, right? Natasha raised an eyebrow at you.

The door opened, and Maria walked in. “Ah, she emerges from her walk of shame,” Natasha teased. Maria flipped her off and thanked you with a smile for her breakfast.

“Ain’t nothing shameful what I did last night,” Natasha cringed. Thankfully, Maria’s back was to you, so she missed the frown on your face. The redhead saw it. “Alright,” she said. “What’s the plan?”

“You missed a hell of a party,” Maria said as you handed your mock battle plan for the upcoming mission. It would go through her than Fury before it was green lite; the more eyes, the better when it came to people’s lives.

“All these years you’ve known me, you know clubs aren’t my scene,” you sat on the edge of her desk. There was a picture of you and her during your SHIELD graduation. “Besides, how long were you there until an innocent woman fell under your spell?” You teased, but it didn’t feel enjoyable in your mouth.

“She wasn’t so innocent when I had my way with her,” you faked a gag. It was typical behavior between you two to talk about the woman you brought home; more times than not, Maria had the stories. But why did you feel like you could throw up right now?

“I can tell by that hickey on your neck,” you pushed the bruise, and she squatted your hand away. She was your ride-or-die. So you weren’t jealous.

“What is your schedule like today?” You sighed, looking at your nails on your left hand.

“Leading a training with May, a meeting with Phil, and I think Clint wants to go over some new trick arrows,” you rattled off. It was a typical busy day for you. Maria nodded.

“Do you want to go get lunch? We could go to that Mexican place you like.” That sounded nice, and you liked the burritos and mock tails they had. You sighed.

“How about a ring check? Nat asked if I could get lunch with her today,” Maria liked to joke that you made her soft. She rarely held up the mask to hide her emotions around you. There was no need. Now you saw the mask slowly creep up to hide her true feelings.

“Yeah, of course, she forced a smile. “Now get out of here before I write you up,” she teased. Rolling your eyes, you jumped off her desk.

“See you later, Ria.”

“Stay safe out there, Willow.” You rolled your eyes at the nickname but her office to start your day.

“You love her,” Natasha said as you took a bite of your sandwich. You choked on it, and the Black Widow smirked at your misfortune. You rubbed your chest to help the food pass and took a sip of water.

“I have no idea what the hell you are talking about,” she took a fry from your plate and popped it in her mouth.

“Please, Cherry, you’ve been in love with Maria since I’ve known you, and according to Phil, it’s been since the academy,” you gasped.

“Why is this office gossip?” You asked.

“We have to talk about something,” she shrugged. SHIELD agents were moths to a flame when it came to gossip. “Don’t worry, we won’t discuss it with Maria.” That was not reassuring.

“Look, Maria and I are friends. We have been forever; the way I feel is black and white.” You were curious to know if Natasha believed you. Hell, you barely believed yourself. It wasn’t like you stayed up at night overthinking the possibility of you and Maria has a couple. Nah, that would be dumb.

“Are you sure?” Yeah, it was fine. It was cool. It wasn’t like every time she talked about having sex with some random hookup at a bar, it made your stomach burn with jealousy because you wanted her body all to yourself. You wanted her more than anyone else. It’s not like you were in love with her.

“Shit,” you mumbled, slumping back into her hair. Natasha smiled, sipping on her chocolate milkshake.

“Glad you admitted it,” you hadn’t admitted anything. What was she talking about? “So, are you going to tell her?”

“No!” You shrieked, and you drew the attention of the other patrons. You felt your body warm up due to the extra eyes. Natasha chuckled. “God, no. I can’t. It will ruin everything. Besides, I doubt she feels the same.”

“She does.” The Black Widow glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Shit, we have to get back.” It was supposed to be a quick lunch because Fury called for an emergency meeting. You nodded, throwing your half-eaten food in the bag to take with you. “You know,” Natasha held open the door for you as you walked onto the busy DC sidewalks. “You should tell her. You both could be happy.” She said it as if it was easy and not scary. It’s not like you were losing your mind thinking about her in your bed. It started slow, but like dominoes, you started free-falling with no control. You were doing a shit job at hiding it if your friends knew the truth. It’s not like you were in love with her.

“I’m going on this mission,” you said, a little surprised.

“Yes,” Fury said, his arms behind his back and one good eye trained on you. “Your skill set is what this mission needs. Is that a problem?”

“No sir,” you said without hesitation. You kept up to date on your physical and firearm certification, and you met with SHIELD’s psychologist. You were always mission-ready when the time called for it, but it never did. You glanced at Maria, who was oddly quiet. Her face was in a permanent frown. But you couldn’t worry about her now; you had a mission to lead.

Maria found you in the locker room, tackle suit around your waist, and you were holding your dad’s dog tags in your hand. It was your good luck charm. “Want me to put it on you?” She asked. You nodded, handing her the necklace. Carefully, she placed the chain around your neck and locked it. The cold metal caused goosebumps to cover your shin. “I don’t like you going on this mission without me.” She admitted and sat down next to you on the bench. You chuckled.

“You’ll be watching my back,” you looked over your shoulder. “No, you’ll know how I feel every time you run off into danger.” You tried to make light of the situation, but there was a frown on your face. “Here,” you removed the necklace and placed it around her.

“What are you doing?” She asked. “You never go anywhere without it.”

“I don’t need it,” you said. “I got you watching my back. That’s all the luck I need.” Maria was quiet. It was unsettling for her to be quiet. “Ria, we got this. I get this. I’ve learned from the best, so I’ll be the best.” She laughed, and you were glad you could pull a sound out of her.

“Just-”

“Clover,” May walked in and cut Maria off. “We are all set, just waiting for you.” You told me you’d be there in 5 and turned your attention back to Maria.

“Just stay safe out there, Willow.” You wondered what she was going to say if she wasn’t interrupted.

“I’ll see you later, Ria,” you smiled. “Promise.”

You learned to listen to your gut instinct. It was your most valued tool as an agent. Even when you ran point back at headquarters, you listened to it when your stomach tightened with anxiety as you sat in the wooded area that surrounded the factory. This factory was responsible for releasing toxins into the air. Usually, this type of case wouldn’t gather attention from SHIELD, but the damage they were doing to the environment was affecting the locals: memory loss, muscle spasms, and strange hallucinations. The problem was that it was impossible to locate the idiots responsible for the mess. You could feel the environment dying in this area. May place a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Are you okay? She asked. You nodded, unable to open your mouth. You let out a few shaky breaths, trying to loosen the anxiety knot in your stomach, and tapped on the com in your ear.

“How are we looking?” You asked.

“They are about to make the guard change,” hearing Maria’s voice helped calm you down. “Are you doing okay, Willow? Your heart monitor is spiking.” You rolled your eyes and bit back a huff of annoyance. It was Phil’s idea to add pulse and heart detectors into the suit.

“Yeah, they’ve caused a lot of damage to this area. It’s making me all jittery,” you admitted.

“We’ll stop them,” this time it was Natasha’s voice through the coms. The Black Widow was recovering from a shoulder injury that left her benched until it was healed. You lead the team with Clint, May, and a handful of qualified agents.

“Shift change is in 3,” you put on your gas mask. “2 and 1. Stay safe, agents.” That feeling remained in the pit of your stomach. Anxiety, dread. You needed to figure out why. You moved through the building with ease and worked towards the control room. It was your, May’s, and two other agents’ job to turn off the factory while Clint protected the outside in case the alarm was tripped.

“We made it to the control room,” May said.

“Perfect, insert the flash drive. It should take 5 minutes to shut down the factory and copy the information they have on it.” Maria explained. May pushed the rolling chair out of the way.

“Go stand guard,” you ordered the other two agents. They obeyed and went into the hallway. The mission was almost over, so why were you so anxious? When May inserted the flash drive, an alarm went off, and metal walls trapped May and you inside the room.

“Houston,” your friend said. “We have a problem.” The room began to shake as a trap door opened, and a bomb rose from the floor. The red numbers clicked down from 10 minutes.

“Houston,” you repeated, and you took off the gas mask. “We have a bigger problem.”

“Turn on your cameras,” you turned on your body camera and heard the sharp intake of Maria’s breath.

“Guys, we have multiple heat signatures heading towards the factory,” Phil said. You walked over to the bomb, staring at the mysterious liquid.

“Barton, pull back. Gather all agents to the secondary position,” you pulled your hand back, clutching your hand against your chest—a fertilizer bomb.

“Willow, what is it?” Maria asked. You glanced at May; you knew she saw the panic in your eyes.

“It’s a fertilizer bomb,” you admitted. “Big enough to take out the factory and the surrounding bomb.”

“Fucking hell,” you heard Natasha mumble.

“May-”

“Already on it,” she cut off Maria as she rapidly typed at the control panel, trying to disarm the bomb.

“All agents have made it to the secondary location. Just need you two.” Yeah, that was going to be a problem. The sound of your team frantically discussing how to disarm the bomb became white noise. You walked the room length, gliding your hand over the metal wall. To your surprise, you felt pieces of earth within the metal sheets. Of course! All you had to do was focus on the impurities within the metal. You let out a shaky breath and concentrated. The metal moved underneath your palm.

“I have an idea,” you said suddenly.

“Am I going to like this idea?” Maria questioned. Probably not. You took your normal stance, feet shoulder length apart and knees bent slightly. You put your hands together, and then your palms faced the metal walls. Slowly, you began miming as if trying to rip something apart. At first, nothing happened. Beads of sweat trickled down your neck. Finally, the metal started to crumble and pull apart. A small doorway appeared. You fell to one knee, chest heaving. May ran to your side.

“That was wild,” she said. “I don’t know you could do that.” You chuckled as she helped you to your feet.

“Neither did I.”

“Nice work. No, get out of there,” Maria said. You quickly turned off your body camera and your and May’s com.

“You’re staying, aren’t you?” She asked.

“I think I can contain the blast.”

“You think?” It wasn’t an exact science, and you weren’t sure if you were strong enough to contain it.

“Go,” you told her. You had to try. If not, so many people would die, including your team. Your friend hesitated but took off towards the exit. You faced the bomb and turned on your com again. There were four and a half minutes left.

“Why aren’t you leaving with May?” Maria questioned. You took a shaky breath and retook your stance. “Willow, it’s just me and you. What are you doing?”

“I gotta try, Ria,” your voice strained with exhaustion, arms shook at each metal wall you bent around the bomb. “If I don’t, hundreds if not thousands of people are gonna die.” You said. It was your responsibility to get your team home and protect the innocents in the area. Maria whispered your name. It was so rare that someone said your real name it took you by surprise. The bomb was fully wrapped in metal, but you were exhausted already. “You got my lucky charm, right?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I got it.”

“Good, good,” you mumbled, digging your feet into the metal floor. “I’ll see you later, Ria. I promised, didn’t I?” There was so much more you wanted to say. A three-word sentence danced on your lips, but you held it back. It wasn’t fair to her to say it now. Each nerve in your body was vibrating. Every breath you took burned. You sent a silent prayer to your father as the explosion rocked your body. You held the metal to contain it. A scream left your lips as it became too much, and your world went black.

Maria knew she had this aura that surrounded her. An aura that screamed authority. It told newer agents not to fuck with her. She knew she was good at what she did and wanted everyone to know that. As she walked to the med bay with Natasha close by, she was murderous. Rationally, she knew it was no one’s fault. It was par for the course when it came to this line of work, but she needed someone to blame and push guilt onto someone. May was resting in a chair with an ice pack on her head. She looked up when she heard the approaching footsteps. “She’s still in surgery,” she mumbled, and Natasha sat beside her. “Doctors are worried about the amount of blood she lost and the toxins that entered her lungs.” A heat of anger washed over Maria, but she tried to push it down.

“May, go shower and eat,” Maria ordered. Her voice strained. She saw the protest form in the agent’s eyes. “That’s an order.” You risked your life to save her and the rest of your team. It would do no one good if May stopped taking care of herself. “That’s an order.” May sighed.

“Yes, Hill.” She stood up and left. Maria took a seat in her spot, elbows resting on her knees.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Natasha asked. Maria refused to look away from the wall she was staring at.

“I need her to be okay,” Maria admitted.

“Is this why you wrote her out of every mission?” The Black Widow questioned. Maria slowly leaned back and looked at the redhead. “Come on, Hill, it was obvious. With her on the field, missions would be over in half the time, but you didn’t want to risk her getting hurt.” Maria remained silent. “Now, why would you do that?” Her eyes locked onto Natasha’s green ones; there was no judgment like she had expected to see. “We do crazy things for the people we love.”

“I-” Maria let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know, Nat.” She whispered. “I just need her to be okay.”

“She will be,” the Black Widow smiled. “She’s strong.” Of course, Maria knew you were strong. She’s seen you at your lowest point when your father passed away, but you pulled yourself out of it. Your screams right before you collapsed were repeating inside her head. It was like a bad song stuck in there. The only thing that gave her hope was the steady beat of your heart monitors within your suit. You were alive, barely but alive.

“Deputy Director Hill,” her name said, but the approaching doctor caused her to stand up.

“How she is?” She asked.

“Stable,” the doctor said. “The next 24 hours are critical. I must admit she has a few guardian angels looking out for her. There was a major piece of metal in her stomach and left thigh. She also had small pieces in her arm. We think she hit her head due to a cut on the back of her head.”

“May said you were worried about her lungs,” Natasha said. The doctor nodded.

“She inhaled a great deal of the fertilizer before she was found, so we are worried about the lasting effects.” She explained.

“Can-can I see her?” Maria asked.

“Of course, we’ve placed her in a medically induced coma to allow her body to heal.” She faintly heard Natasha say she would inform Clint and the others of your condition. Maria wasn’t sure if the doctor was talking about your prognosis, but soon she was alone.

The only noise in the room was the steady sound of the machines connected to you. It seemed unreal that you were hurt. For the longest time, you seemed untouchable. Now, you were bedridden and too pale for Maria’s liking. She took your father’s dog tags off her neck and opened your hand to put the chain in it. “Lucky charm is back where it belongs.” She formed your hands into a tight fist and placed it on your heart. “Come back to me,” she whispered, kissing your forehead. “Please.”

There was a heaviness that surrounded you. It started at your chest and then moved to your limbs. The pressure was suffocating. Catastrophic. Slowly, you opened your eyes to the bright light of med bay. You felt metal in your hand and opened your palm to see the dog tags you gave Maria. “You’re awake,” you turned to see Natasha. A deck of cards in your hands and glanced down at your chest. You interrupted a game of war.

“Why are you using me as a table?” You deadpanned. Natasha shrugged.

“Had to kill time as we waited for your dumbass to wake up,” you rolled your eyes. “How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a semi-truck,” you groaned and sat up slowly. The door opened to the bathroom, and Clint walked out.

“Shit,” you said. “You’re alive.” You scuffed, rubbing the bandages on your chest.

“I’m glad you had so much confidence in me, bird man,” Clint took a seat across from Natasha. “The team is okay, right? They all made it out.”

“Yeah, you saved their lives,” Natasha said. “Maria is pissed at you.” You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“I’ll deal with her later.” You closed your eyes. Now that you were a little more awake, you could take a better inventory of your body. Every small breath you took caused your chest to burn; it felt like a fire was starting. You sighed, wincing slightly, and turned to look at Natasha. “How bad?” The Black Widow sighed.

“There is potential damage to your lungs due to the fertilizer, and you had a metal that they had to remove from your stomach and thigh.” Cool, you thought, real cool.

“Just think,” Clint started. “At least you are off breakfast duty for a while.” You laughed at his poor attempt to lighten the mood but hissed. “Shit, sorry. No laughing. Got it.” You waved him off that you were okay.

“I’ll go get the doctor. Don’t move.” Natasha said, standing up. You scuffed. Yeah, you would make a grand escape with a hole in your stomach.

“You had everyone worried,” Clint said once Natasha was gone. You remained quiet, lost in your thoughts. It wasn’t your intention to scare everyone. It was your job to protect your team and bring them home. So, you completed that part of the mission. It so happened you were hurt in the process.

It was night when you woke up again, and Maria was in Natasha’s seat. Her eyes were closed, but you knew she wasn’t asleep. Even in the dim light of the room, she looked exhausted. Bags were under her eyes, and her face looked pale. Natasha told you that you were in a medically induced coma for five days. Maria barely slept, had to be forced to eat, and left her office. “I know you aren’t asleep, Ria,” you whispered. Her eyes shot open. “You look like shit.”

“Says the girl with the hole in her stomach.” You smiled.

“They stitched it up all good. Besides, I had my lucky charm,” you picked up the dog tag around your neck. To your surprise, Maria took your hand in hers. Your body felt warm at the simple act. It wasn’t like you hadn’t held her hand before this moment felt more intimate. “Ria,” you whispered. “Are you okay?”

“I thought I lost you,” she admitted. “God, Willow, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Didn’t mean to,” you said. “I needed to save the team.” She shook her head.

“It was the right call to make, but,” Maria sighed, and you felt her take her hand away, but you held her tight, not wanting to let her go. “Just don’t do it again.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” you promised.

With the surgery and injuries, your movement was limited. The most straightforward actions were impossible for you to do without pain shooting through your chest. It was deemed you would move in with someone until you fully recovered. Natasha was the first to offer but was quickly overruled by Maria. So you moved in with the Deputy Director, and it was strange. You needed help washing your hair, changing, and undressing yourself. You couldn’t understand the look in Maria’s eyes for every action you required assistance with. It wasn’t the first time you shared a living space with Maria, but now you walked on eggshells around each other. A part of you wanted to go back before the mission before everything felt complicated between you and your best friend.

The physical limitations weren’t the worst part of your recovery. It was the mental scars. Nightmares plagued your mind almost every night of that mission. It would change constantly. Sometimes, your team would die, or you would fail to save Maria. It was exhausting, waking up in a pool of sweat, your heart racing, and your lungs unable to get air into them. You wanted all to stop.

Maria was sitting at her dining room table, a bottle of whiskey opened, and she needed to work on a few case files. Her mind was a million miles away and not on her duties as Deputy Director. It wasn’t entirely her fault; a lot had happened over the past two weeks. Her best friend was almost killed; Natasha forced her to admit she was in love with said best friend, and she had to watch you piece yourself back together. It was exhausting, but she knew you would do it for her. This was how it had always been. You and Maria. Agent Hill and Gaia. A package duo that never crossed the line as friends. So Maria filled the void that was missing with one-night stands and drunken sex that meant nothing to her. All she wanted, needed, and craved was you. She could not risk the friendship; it was the most important thing in her life.

Small whimpers from your room pulled her out of her thoughts. Standing quickly, she made her way to the guest room. She carefully opened the door. You lay on the bed, mumbling something Maria couldn’t quite understand. On socked feet, she walked over to the bed and sat at the foot. “No,” you mumbled. “Take me. Not her. Please.” Maria’s heart broke.

“Sweetheart,” Maria whispered. “Wake up. Come on.”

“Maria,” you mumbled, thrashing slightly. “Maria, please, I’m sorry.”

“It’s just a nightmare. Wake up. Wake up.” You woke with a start, chest heaving and eyes frantically looking around.

“Ria,” you forced out. There was a thin layer of sweat on your body.

“It’s okay—you’re safe. I’m safe. Breath,” she gently touched the back of your neck and brought your forehead against hers. Your eyes closed as you took a few deep breaths in and out. Finally, you pulled away, and Maria hated to admit she missed you being close. You slumped back on the bed, arm across your face.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked. She was curious to know if you heard her. With your other hand, you grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“I’m scared,” you said. Your voice shook at every spoken word. “I feel broken and weak and-” You aggressively rubbed your eyes as tears filled them.

“You are not broken,” Maria said. “You are healing. In time, you will return to your old self that I-” Maria cut herself off. You removed your hand from your face and slowly sat up.

“You what?” You asked, crossed your legs, and tried to cover the grimace of pain that crossed your face, but you moved closer to her. “Come on, Ria, tell me,” she was looking at every decoration in the room so she wouldn’t have to look at you. Finally, you used your index finger to tilt her chin to look back at you. “Finish your sentence,” you wore a smile on your face. It was a smile that Maria learned to look for in a crowd, in a meeting, or on a video call while on a mission. Your smile filled her with a sense of peace. It warmed her body and made her feel at home.

“That I fell in love with,” Maria softly spoke as she finished her sentence. You made a surprise sound that originated in the back of your throat, but you recovered quickly.

“You love me, Maria Hill?” the agent huffed a laugh, shaking her head.

“Shut up,” she mumbled. “If you are going to make fun of me, get it over with.”

“I’d never make fun of you, not about this, at least.” You added with a smirk because you have made fun of her about other things. “Can I kiss you?” You asked, inching closer until Maria felt your breath mingling with hers.

“Please,” you connected your lips with hers. Maria hated how often she thought about this moment. She would go to her grave before admitting out loud how many times she had to bite her lip during sex to stop herself from moaning your name. Fair too soon for her liking, you pulled away and rested your head on her shoulder.

“Why have we waited so long to do that?” Maria chuckled. “Will you stay?”

“Always,” the open bottle of whiskey and mission reports could wait another day.

When you woke up the following day, you are disappointed to find an empty bed. Maria’s side was cold, but you heard a commotion in the kitchen. Carefully, you stood up. The mornings were always rough due to being in the same position for so long. You slowly made your way out of the room and into the kitchen. Maria was at the stove, her back to you, and you walked over to her. Your arms wrapped around her waist, and you buried her head in her shoulder. Her body tensed up but soon relaxed in your arms. “Morning,” you mumbled.

“Morning. Breakfast is almost done. Why don’t you go sit down?” You shook your head.

“Your arm,” you said, kissing the skin you could reach. You were happy with the goosebumps that formed on her skin. Her body shook with laughter.

“Go sit. I’ll get your medicine, too.” You pouted, walked over to the couch, and pulled a blanket over your lap. It wasn’t long before Maria joined on the sofa with two plates of food.

“I can help you know,” she said with a smile. She brought back two mugs of coffee and water with your medication. You kissed her cheek as your thanks and took the three white pills with water.

“I should probably say this,” you bite into the eggs. “I love you too,” she smirked.

“I would hope so, or this entire thing would be incredibly awkward,” she teased. You rolled your eyes and pumped your shoulder against hers.

“You are a dork,” you smiled.

“I’m your dork,” that was also true. Oh, how you liked that sound.

“Mine,” you mumbled, kissing her. “And I’m yours.”

#maria hill x reader #maria hill x you #maria hill

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scremogirl · 8 months

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☾✧꥟ 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 ✧✰☀︎︎

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐧

Yandere! Serial Killer x Reader

Mentions of blood! Mentions of Death! Mentions of mutilation! Mentions of Murder, GN! Reader, NReader/Diolouge uses a lot of black colloquialisms/AAVE *slightlyyyy black coded but only for the speaking bits. NO APPERANCE MENTIONED!* READ THE NOTE AT THE END PLZ! (●’◡’●)ﾉ Part 2 here Part 3 here

Halloween.

The day where people grasp the fact that the summer's over and the seasons have finally changed. Corny decorations on front porches, masks in windows to scare unaware customers, and people dressed as slutty cartoon characters.

You loved the last one. You’ve always worked hard on your costumes; from a small cameo in the school yearbook to entering contests and pageants. You loved fashion, everything about it. The different fabrics, colors, patterns; you cherished it all. So, it’s no wonder that’s what you’ve chosen as your destined career path. You somehow managed to get into the third most prestigious fashion school. I say third because the first one you applied for, was full of egotistical French exchange students who do nothing but compare their lives at home to their lives in America. The second… well, you don’t want to talk about it. Regardless, you’re so grateful your talents have been recognized.

That leads us to now. At the biggest fright fest of the year. Your professor decided that if everyone got at least a 95% or above on the unit test, he’d take the whole class on a field trip to the annual Freak do Shek Carnival. A free trip and creating a new costume? You’ve never studied harder in your life. You spent days working on your costume; hoping to win the annual costume contest.

“Breaking news! The killer know as the “Mask Maker” is still on the loose and is currently suspected to be in the Witchwood area. It is recommended for all residents to stay indoors travel in groups-,”

Your heart sinks.

No, no, no! Why does it have to be now? Why here? The area you lived in was one of the safest in the city! Police patrolled regularly, security systems were available to all, and most people have been traveling in groups these days. So, why? You look at your friend, Malika, who no doubt received the same alert as you did, judging by her face.

“Well what the hell are we supposed to do now!?” She yells in frustration. You all have arrived at the festival and the bus has already taken its leave. Unless you call an Uber, there’s no way out; but then again, with a killer on the loose, no person would be dumb enough to let any stranger in their car. You tell your teacher your concerns, but does he listen? No.

“We’ll be fine,” , “just travel in groups,” , and “make sure you check in with everyone at least every 15 minutes,” is all he says to shake your worries. Great job by the way. With that, he goes ahead with another one of the chaperones, probably on their way to get drunk on cheap beer and look at young girls. Pig.

“I know I ain’t stayin for damn sure,” you chuckle at Malikas abrasiveness and nod your head in agreement.

“Who’s gonna pick us up though? We all came here on a bus and no Lift driver is stupid enough to let strangers in at this time,” you both sigh and end up agreeing that she’d call her boyfriend to come get you. The only downside is he lives in the next county. That means 3 whole hours plus some that you two have to try and rid your paranoia.

“How ‘bout we go check out the costume display for the upcoming show? Maybe scope out some the competition?”

“You know what Malika, that sounds like a great idea,” she holds out her arm and you take it , laughing your way down the hay covered dirt path wearily dodging scare actors. Unbeknownst to you the glowing eyes of one of the masks are filled with anything but fake intent.

“Hey, Mal? Is he on the way yet?” You two have already viewed the display, concrete knowing you’re gonna knock everyone at the park. So you decided that maybe a little sightseeing wouldn’t be that bad.

“Ugh! He said he’s on his way but knowing him, that means he just got in the shower,” with a deep sigh she puts her phone back in her pocket.

“Look,” she continues

“ How about we go get something to eat and enjoy what we can. I mean, we did wait all year for this,” you’re a little hesitant but you end up caving; fried oreos do sound good right now.

The walk to the concession stands is filled with jump scares from actors, Jack, o lanterns illuminating your path and the laughter of children and adults a like. The environment reminds you of why you came here in the first place, maybe there is nothing to be worried about.

Oof!

“Oh I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” to wrapped up in the scenery and nostalgia, you failed to notice one of the actors scrambling by. You hear the muffled laughter of Malika and try your best not to strangle her to cover up your embarrassment. Fortunately , it was just the water that spilled on them; Unfortunately, your oreos lay spread eagle on the ground. However, even with a soaked costume and powdered sugar all over their boots, they remain in character. Only giving you a tilt of the head, a grunt, and tightening their grip on their axe. The eyes that lay behind the papier-mâché mask boar deep into your soul, the white contacts holding something deep and dark. The feeling of guilt is slowly washed away and replaced with anxiousness. Man, they're getting employee of the month. Still, you feel bad so you grab the napkins from your back pocket and gently wipe their mask, some of the fake blood coming off along with the water. Hmm, these effects are off the chain too.

As you clean them up you can’t help but to think that they’ll join the costume contest, definitely giving you a run for your money. You're snapped out of your thoughts when Malika pulls you along the road, whining about how upset she is because she didn’t get to snag one of your Oreos. Making your leave, you look over your shoulder one last time, only to find those same white eyes trailing your figure.

My god, you're even more beautiful up close.

“Personally, if that happened to me I’d kill myself,” once again, your friends laughter snapped you outta your own mind. You just giggle and brush it off.

“Shut up! It’s not like I did it on purpose! Besides he was kinda fine not gon’ hold you,”

“I know right! the way he titled his, had a tear running down my leg not gon’ lie,”

“Girl… don’t you gotta man? Like… on his way here?”

“Shhhh don’t ruin the fantasy,”

Two hours have officially passed, the same old texts between Malika and her boyfriend, this time however he was actually in the car. She had pressed him to turn on his location for safety, you could never be too sure now can you? He should’ve been here by now but with how crowded the festival is getting, you can’t blame him. Thankfully, the contest is just about to start! Going against your better judgment, you and Malika thought that being apart for about 15-20 mins wouldn’t hurt. She’ll be waiting in the audience while you go change anyways.

Rushing to the changing rooms you fail to notice another contestant coming towards you just as fast. For the second time this night you managed to bump into someone.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean I-,”

“Watch where you’re going bitch! Y’know how long it took me to make this thing?” You look to the left and then to the right trying to figure out who the fuck they think they’re talking too.

“Look I didn’t mean it, I’m sorr-,”

“Yea yea whatever, just stay outta my way next time. Besides, it’s not like you're gonna win this thing anyways,” just before you were about to give them a piece of your mind, the manager stepped in and separated you two. Jeez now this is gonna take even longer than you expected. You thought it was only fair to let Malika know shoot her a quick text. “No worries, babe! Gill's location says he’s here already so Imma grab us a quick bite to eat before I look for him and we head to you. See ya soonnn❤︎︎!!!”

Good; that buys you just enough time. After getting changed and checking your reflection for the hundredth time, you step out feeling as confident as ever. Just as you exit the stall, you hear the worst blood curdling scream of your entire life. You look over to your right and see that asshole from early and that guy with the really nice axe murder costume. Your eyes have to be deceiving you! One of their legs is completely severed, blood dripping from the stub left behind. Slash marks, deep and crooked, adorn their arms and remaining leg. They Look as if their limbs could snap off at the slightest breeze. They cry and groan as they reach out to you. Following their eyes the crazed murder shifts his eyes to you. Their weapon of choice freezing in their hands mid swing. Their victim continues to moan in pain and crawl away, begging and pleading for someone to save them. But…you just laugh.

“I see what you're trynna do here, and it ain’t workin’. Your costume is good but it isn’t better than mine. Assholes,” the last part is mumbled under your breath as you walk away. Even though you presented yourself in this prideful manner, you can’t help the feeling of disappointment that bubbles inside you. You tried really hard this year, let’s just hope that everyone else thinks you did too.

CHOP

Finally. Holding up the severed head he smiles, crooked and eerie. The bitch wouldn’t stop screaming, but at least he gets to see the look of fear in their face forever.

“Hey! What the hell’re you doing!?” hm? Turning around he sees the manager from earlier, standing before him with wide eyes filled with shock and anger. He can’t have his plans be ruined by a little slip up! He didn’t mean to act so impulsive but he couldn’t help. Nobody talks to you like that; not if he had something to do about it. Swinging his weapon of choice up on his shoulder, he’s about to take a step before he’s interrupted.

“Didn't I tell you guys to keep all spare props in bags because of the fake blood?! It gets everywhere and I’m the one who has to clean it up!” They shoved him to the side before grabbing a large trash bag from the cart they lugged behind them; simultaneously grabbing a mop and bucket. Continue to grumble about how “they don’t get paid enough for this” and “all the newbies are irresponsible”. But hey, free disposal.

“Sh, sh it’s okay; it was never your fault,” you tried comforting her but to no luck. All she can see is red as the burning hot tears streaming from her eyes ruin the makeup she spent so long on

“Okay?! It’s not okay (Y/N)! He said he was stuck in traffic all the while he was toungin’ down some bitch in a slutty cat costume. Very unoriginal btw!” You try to keep your giggle in for her sake. You kept trying to tell her this idiot wasn’t any good for years but nooo “the dick was too good to let go,” and apparently, someone else thought so too. Her weeping continues before she builds up the courage to speak again.

“All I wanna do is go home; fuck this competition,” you smile seeing her personality shine through her sadness just a little.

“Yea, fuck this competition,”sure you’re sad about to being able to participate this year, but with your best friend in distress and a serial killer on the loose, you can’t help but to think that maybe you could wait until next year. Ordering the Uber, you suggest that before it gets here, you should check in with your teacher first. Of course you don’t have his number and you're sure your other classmates are not worried about their phones unless they’re snapping pics and recording for their stories . You send them a quick text to your classes group chat and look for the exit.

“He really is a dick, you don’t need him,”

“Yea, I know. Besides, maybe that axe guy will take care of him for me,” she giggles but you don’t find it funny at all.

“What?”

“Yea, I saw him outta the corner of my eye when I walked in on he who shall not be named about to fuck that other girl,” she rolls her eyes and continues walking but you remain stationary.

“You gotta be joking,“ she turns around and gives you a quizzical look so you continue further.

“He and another dickhead I bumped into put on this whole show to get me to drop outta the contest. Lost limbs, fake blood and everything. I don’t know what his problem is, but he needs to leave me the fuck alone before I get the manager, on some Karen shit”

“Now that I think about it, he has been high-tailing us ever since we’ve got here,” she freezes before looking at you dead on. She wipes away the tear stains and brushes her nose against her sleeve before scanning the area.

“You don’t think it’s Kee-,”

“No! Don’t. It’s not him. It couldn’t be,” she holds up her hands in defense before pulling you along to get the hell up outta here. It goes dead silent, tension filling the air. It couldn't be him! It’s just some rando whos jealous of your skill! But…your mind was just playing tricks on you. That feeling of paranoia started to rise again and the flashbacks felt like they were hitting you in waves. She saw this and decided to speak up before it got worse.

“Hey, I’m sorry for bringing it up. I really didn’t mean to-,” this time it’s your turn to cut her off. You offer her a light smile and hold her hand in yours before squeezing.

“It’s alright. Besides, who needs men anyways. You’re all I need,” she gives you an even brighter one, her usual self returning, before squeezing just as hard, laying her head on your shoulder while you walk.

“Yea, fuck men,” you two laugh in sync before changing the conversation to what you’ll do when you get home; maybe a Horror movie marathon and some junk food will cheer you up. Who cares, the night has just begun for you and there’s no way anything was gonna ruin it.

Watching you walk away a gloved hand slams into a tree. Dammit! You won’t get away so easily. You’re his. Nobody else’s. He’ll make sure of it. Starting with her.

Hello everyone!!!! Hope you enjoyed the first part of my Halloween special. I’m breaking this down into 3 parts because I’m afraid people will think it’s too long if I put the whole thing on tumblr. I will be making an Ao3 and the whole fic will be posted without any split up. When it’s created and up I’ll let you know. Hope you enjoyed Loves!!! ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎.

-Love, Sosa❤️

#Yandere! serial killer #yandere x y/n #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere #✧✩🜚𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐂 🜸𖤐✰

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starcrossedxwriter · 8 months

Text

Wicked Fantasies Part 7 (MBJ x OC)

Warnings: harassment, public sex, the usual BDSM warnings apply heavilyyyy lol

A/N: Umm this is a fun one! Mostly fluff with a little drama lol We're getting into the holiday spirit with a couple time jumps so enjoyyy!

***

“I have a surprise for you,” Michael whispered, chuckling as Raven tucked herself deeper into the covers.

They had been out at a party until late and then Michael proceeded to have his way with her at his condo until the wee hours of the morning. Her body still ached from the suspension ropes he hung her from for over an hour. It was her first introduction into true restraints and bondage and she enjoyed it far more than she thought she would. And now, all she and her limbs wanted to do was burrow in her covers and sleep all day.

“Is the surprise a hot bath?” she called, her words still muffled by the heavy duvet cover.

“Nah.”

“Ok well then I hate surprises,” she mumbled, causing Michael to laugh.

“Come on, this is a fun one. I promise!”

She groaned and dramatically flopped the covers from over her face and pouted. “I was a really good girl last night and this is my reward? Being woken up at ungodly hours?”

Michael raised an eyebrow and glanced down at his Apple Watch. “It’s 10 am, baby.”

Her heart fluttered at the word baby, her eyes casting downward as she tried to limit the smile that wanted to bloom on her lips. She still was not used to it yet. To the world and everyone around them, nothing had changed. But for them, everything had changed. They were a real couple, bonafide and no longer faking or pretending. There was a new intimacy to it that she had not expected. And freedom. It was so clear to her now how much both of them had been holding back, how muted what they felt for each other truly was before. Because now, they could both experience the full breadth of their love for each other, could express it and receive it. And it made both of them wonder if they had ever experienced true romantic love before each other. Because this was everything and so much more.

Everything felt lighter and easier. And yet, Raven could not help but feel like there was a dark cloud looming over them, a deep-seeded fear that everything she felt would be taken away. Perhaps she was just worried that, even if they were telling the truth about their romance now, they had started off as a lie. It did not seem like the steadiest of foundations. However, she chose to brush those fears aside. They were just her doubts and insecurities talking. She had never felt for a man like she felt for Michael, never felt so loved by someone. It felt good and she realized she never knew true happiness until now. Sure, there had been times when she was happy. But pure uninhibited bliss? That was only a state Michael could bring out in her.

“So what’s this big surprise?” She asked as she stretched her body long in the bed before sliding out.

Her slippers shuffled against the floor as she made her way to his bathroom to get ready for the day.

“Wouldn’t be a big surprise if I told you now, would it?”

“I hate you,” she grumbled, though the smile on her face let him know that was a complete and utter lie.

“You weren’t sayin’ that last night… in fact, I distinctly remember making you scream the exact opposite,” he mused as his fingers played with the delicate thin strap of her night gown as he moved it to the side to press delicate kisses against her warm skin. “Over and over and over again. Maybe I need to give you a refresher.”

She smirked and decided to play the brat, excited for where the experience could take her. “Seems like the first lesson didn’t stick… not a very effective teacher it seems, Mr. Jordan.”

Michael chuckled. “You’re gon’ regret that shit. But lucky for you, we gotta get to the house soon so I ain’t got time to put you in your place. But tonight, that ass is mine.”

Raven clenched her thighs together and grinned. Of course, he was not too foolish to not realize that was the exact outcome she wanted.

The pair listened to music as they got dressed in comfortable clothes and drove over to Michael’s family’s house. Everyone was there, hot chocolate and breakfast waiting. The entire entry way was filled with bins and boxes of ornaments, decorations, and trees.

“What’s all this?”

Michael smiled. “Well ma don't let December 1 pass without ensuring the house is decorated so figured you could help us out this year. I remember you tellin’ me your grandma would let you decorate her tree and thought you might like it.”

Raven felt everything inside her melt and her eyes well up with tears. He seemed to remember literally everything she told him.

“Y-Yea I would like that,” she offered, her throat tight as she tried not to cry.

“Don’t cry, Rae,” he laughed, pulling her into a hug. “It was supposed to make you happy.”

“I am happy,” she whispered pitifully as her tears stained his sweater.

“My cute crybaby,” he kissed her on the top of her head. “Ok, no tears on decorating day or moms’ll never let you live it down. Come on.”

Raven laughed and wiped them away before following him into the kitchen. Everyone greeted her with hugs and smiles. All of them joked around and talked as they ate the delicious breakfast Michael’s mom prepared. Raven felt as if she had gained 10 pounds since spending more time at Michael’s house.

“Ok baby girl,” Michael gestured toward the many decorations in his foyer. “You get to be creative director. We got four trees.”

Raven’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Four trees??”

“One in here, one in the living room, one upstairs and then one in the basement.”

Raven let out a breathy chuckle as she took in his matter of fact tone, as if to say everyone had enough space for four trees.

She studied the available decorations before pulling all of them out and sectioning them off. And before she knew it, Christmas music blared on the speakers and the troops went to work, decorating all four trees. Michael and Raven were in charge of the second largest one in his family room, Raven needing a ladder to decorate the full thing.

The pair had a ball decorating, Michael thoroughly amused at Raven’s strong opinions on how to fluff out a fake tree. She had a professional eye for detail that he had not expected as she worked. But there was a playfulness to all of it, a joy that made him thankful he went this route instead of his usual. She sang loudly with the music playing, knowing every word to every song that came on. And her entire body practically bounced around as they finished their tree and she went to go help with the others.

By the time they finished dinner and stowed away all the extra decorations and cleaned up, they were exhausted. Everyone else had gone to bed, leaving Michael and Raven on his couch with cups of hot chocolate, spiked to Michael’s preference, and a movie playing in the background.

Raven could barely look at the movie though as her eyes kept traveling to the two trees that were within eyesight and all the random Christmas decorations they had spread across his house. She felt as if she had stepped into a winter wonderland.

“You did a great job as creative director,” he whispered as he watched her eyes study the tree Raven was in charge of. “Still mad at this surprise?”

It was beautiful, decorated in soft colors of white, rose, and gold with small white lights. It was not the pristine and perfectly symmetrical tree he usually had in his living room, towering and professionally decorated to the point that it could have been in a magazine. No, every aspect of the 11 ft tree was done painstakingly, in Michael’s opinion, by hand. But something about it was more beautiful than any other Christmas tree he had ever had as an adult. It was crafted with love and attention and care, it was homey and perfect.

She smiled. “No, you were right… It was a fun one. But I know you usually hire someone to do it.”

“Who told you that?”

“Your dad accidentally let it slip,” she chuckled. “It’s not as good as a real decorator could do. Not as… refined or perfect,” she scoffed, bowing her head, her own insecurities seeping in. That was her too… not refined enough or good enough to be on the arm of someone like him, to be in his life in this way. He could call her his girlfriend but her doubt about whether she deserved the designation still lingered like weeds.

His finger lifted her eyes back to his. “It’s perfect… exactly what the house needed but didn’t realize.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think we’re talkin’ about trees anymore.”

“Don’t think we ever were,” he winked at her.

Silence fell over them as they cuddled on the couch. Michael stared down at her, wondering if this was finally his chance. There was so much he still wanted to know about her, so much she revealed but still kept from him. He understood it but he wanted to consume every little thing there was to know about her, even the things that were hard to share. He wanted to help her carry her baggage or help her unpack it and set it down where she could.

And there was one thing, one story, that she kept from him as much as she could. The one major thing about her life he still did not have the answer to but desperately wanted it.

“You ever gon’ tell me?” He asked quietly as Raven shifted so she was leaning her back against his chest.

“Tell you what?” She threw him a confused glance. He knew everything worth knowing about her.

“Why you stopped writing? You said you’d tell me one day.”

Her face fell. She was not sure where she thought the conversation was going to go but it was not there. She supposed she was not going to be able to keep it a secret forever, particularly not when she revealed it to the whole dinner table at Thanksgiving by accident.

“Not that interesting of a story, I’m afraid.” She tried to downplay it as she shifted uncomfortably. And it wasn’t, half the women she knew had a story like hers, varying degrees of awfulness but the story was unfortunately common.

“Then tell me.” At her silence, he amended. “You don’t have to tell me anything, Rae. I just… want to know everything about you and if you’re up for sharing, I wanna hear it.”

She sat up and turned to face him, her nails tapping against the ceramic mug as she brought her legs beneath her.

“Just your typical ‘men ain’t shit’ story.” At his confused glance, she elaborated. “The first editor I had at my publisher was a woman and she was amazing. Worked with her on my first book and it was great. By the time it came out, we were starting to edit and refine the second and I had signed my contract for it. And… she had a baby and decided to be a stay at home mom. My new editor, this guy… he was good, great at his job. Nice enough to be unsuspecting and unassuming. But I could tell… well, I could tell he was attracted to me? Or liked me, you know? But I ignored it, figured as long as he didn’t try anything, it wouldn’t be a problem. One night, we were working late on his edits for the book and he… made a pass at me.”

Michael’s eyes immediately darkened as if he knew exactly where the story was headed. She could immediately feel a shift in his whole demeanor, his outrage wafted off of him. And something about it was incredibly sexy… that he was so angry for her.

She smiled. “Relax… you can put Killmonger back in his cage,” she teased with a soft smile. “He didn’t do that. I said no a-and he pushed, but I held firm. I’m not above using my body to get what I want… that much is obvious but I like for it to be my choice, not some asshole taking it away from me. Anyway, finally, he accepted that no meant no so we called it a night and I went home. All he had done was make me uncomfortable, he hadn’t hurt me or anything, so I figured he would just apologize and we’d both move on. A week later, my agent called and said that they weren’t gonna move forward with my book. I was no longer a fit for their publishing house.”

Michael could still hear the pain and frustration that had been caused in her voice, despite her best efforts to keep the tone light.

“The contract I signed after I submitted the draft gave them distribution rights for three years so I got a year and some change to go. I tried to think of new ideas, you know, write other stuff in the meantime but he blacklisted me from damn near every publishing house worth anything. So my agent dropped me. And then I was… just too tired to write anything after that. Like he had just taken all of life for it out of me?” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I was hoping to use the time to save up to eventually self publish the second one when I can but my family’s made that difficult,” she chuckled. “So yea… doing my 3 year bid and then I’ll be free. It won’t make me the same amount of money, but there’s freedom in self-publishing I guess. Being your own boss.”

“I’m sorry. No one deserves that.” He figured it was something along those lines but it did not make it any easier to hear.

She shrugged. “No, they don’t. But what can I say? I’m a magnet for shitty people.” Her tone attempted to lighten the mood but it fell flat. “Or… I dunno… too trusting of people who haven’t earned it,” she mused. “But if I wasn’t so trusting, I wouldn’t be here… with you. And I would’ve hated to miss out on this.”

“I’d like to believe God would’ve helped us find our way to each other without you having to go through trauma and concussions,” he pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Yea maybe. But without all that, I wouldn’t be the woman you love.”

“How do you do that?” Michael asked quietly.

“What?”

“Find the silver lining in everything? One bad breakup had me showin’ my entire ass for years and you… you’ve seen the worst people have to offer. How do you even trust people after all this?”

Raven smiled and shifted so she could straddle his hips and sit in his lap. “It’s not easy… and some days, it feels like it’s not worth it. But… you remember Monique, that dancer I told you about? Well, my first night at the club was a fuckin’ disaster. I was 18, hella green and hella naive. I made like nothing in tips cause I sucked.” Michael loved how she laughed with her whole body as she reminisced on her memories. “And this drunk asshole tried to follow me out to my car and tried to get me to go home with him. Monique rolled up like a knight in shining armor and punched him square in the face. She gave me half her tips for the night and the next day, offered to teach me some moves and some fighting moves in case that ever happened again. The point is… For every terrible person I’ve come across that wanted to do me harm, I’ve run into someone who reminded that there’s more good out there than I know… as fuckin’ cliche as that sounds. So I just hold onto that. Just don’t… don’t ever want to be jaded? Let someone have the power to steal the inherent qualities that make me… me? No one should have that much power, you know?”

“One of the many things I love about you,” he whispered, tugging on her arm so she was in his lap.

Hearing the word love on his lips made her heart flutter every single time. Deep down in her soul she felt it in every way.

She rested her hands on his chest. “One of the ways? I’m that amazing??” She joked, causing him to shake his head.

“Yea. You are that amazing. How about we take our drinks upstairs and I can tell you all the ways?” He leaned in and nipped at her earlobe with his teeth causing an ache between her legs to grow.

“I’d rather you show me.”

“That’s a given, baby.”

***

Michael spied behind a bookshelf as Raven interacted with the young students filling the plush seating of the library’s gathering space. His heart wanted to burst as she talked to the students. He knew she only fell into this job as a result of a shitty situation but she was making the best of it. And he could not help but think that perhaps this was truly her calling in addition to writing. The kids seemed to love her and she seemed to love them back, all of their faces in bright smiles.

And for the first time, he found himself wondering what she would be like as a mom. And what their kids would be like. Michael always wanted kids but he figured it would not be in the cards for him any time soon. However, Raven made him want to think about that, and want to think about a future. And now, he saw those additional grandkids his mom wanted so badly as clear as day.

He counted, the club had almost 50 kids in it. They all looked like they ranged in age from middle school aged to seniors in high school.

“I got something for y’all,” she reached behind her and pulled out a couple of boxes of neatly wrapped gift bags. “It isn’t much but… what’s our last book club meeting before the holidays without a gift??”

The kids cheered as they all leapt out of their seats. Even he was curious as to what the gift could be. She had not even mentioned it to him.

He could tell they were personalized in some way as she handed them out one by one, checking each gift tag to make sure each kid got the right gift. She instructed the kids to wait to rip into them. Though it was clear that was a chore for most of them. Once the last kid, who Michael recognized as Jamal who he had met once before, had his in hand, stuffing paper started to fly.

Each kid pulled out a glittering sliver book embosser, a different book, and a handwritten card from Raven.

“What is it?” One of the girls in the class asked as she pushed her wide framed glasses up higher on her nose.

“You know those stickers that go on Oprah’s book club books?” All the kids nodded. “It’s like that but with your names and a bit more fun. It’s like a stamp you can put in the first page of your books. Y’all are all starting your own library collections, should have something that makes them a bit more unique. And the books are ones I think each of you would like. And the card is just a note from me ahead of the new year.”

“It’s kinda old school but cool. Like something vintage,” another girl offered as she tested out the embosser.

“Yea it’s like a typewriter or some shit. That’s dope, that’s dope,” Jamal remarked as he tested his out on the book in front of him.

Michael had to stifle his own laughter so as not to give himself away as Raven facepalmed herself and laughed.

“Like a typewriter. Wow. How old do y’all think I am??”

“You really want us to answer that?”

She shook her head immediately. “You know what… Point taken. Well I hope y’all like them and they aren’t too too old-school,” she offered with a smile as the group started to mutter excitedly to themselves as they tested out their new gadgets on their books.

“It isn’t much but just wanted to do something small to say Merry Christmas.” She glanced at the clock. “Oh I didn’t even see the time. Aight, we gotta wrap up, I’m sure some of your parents’ve been waiting outside for a while.” At their groans, she merely shook her head. “We are well past our hour and y’all aren’t gonna get me in trouble with your parents.”

She ushered the younger kids and some siblings to the door, each of their parents greeting her and chatting for a few moments before they walked their kids out to their cards or toward the street.

At that point, only a small group of older kids remained. “Alright, you know the drill - text me when you get home and stay in your groups, please.”

“We ain’t babies.”

“Yea and we all live like 5 minutes from here,” the girl with glasses remarked.

“I know y’all are basically grown. But humor me please. If one of you got hurt or lost, it’d take literal years off my life. You’re really doing it for my sanity over anything else,” she reasoned.

Raven got along with the kids so well because she was an adult they could relate to and trust but even she had to put on the hat of responsible adult occasionally, much to their collective chagrin. And that meant ensuring every kid made it the few blocks, bus ride, or into the car to get home.

“Yes, Ms. T.” All of their disgruntled murmurs filled the library as they headed out the door in small groups depending on where they lived. Thankfully, they were all friends so she knew they’d look out for each other.

“You can come outta hiding now,” she called, seemingly to no one in particular.

“Busted?” Michael asked as he emerged from the shelves to stare at her, an amused expression painted on her face.

“Yep… caught a glimpse of you scurrying behind that bookshelf. Better be glad the kids didn’t see you. You’re more than one of their celebrity crushes. They would’ve been all over you for a picture or a story or a reel or whatever they do on social these days.”

Michael let out a barking laugh. “You sound like an old lady.”

“I am an old lady… proudly,” she laughed. “And they know it too.”

“Those were sweet gifts you got them.”

She smiled. “Thanks. Despite well… everything, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Everyone’s so caught up in the spirit and giving. It wasn’t much but I hoped it would put a smile on one of two of their faces. Did you hear them call me old school?? Super offensive,” she chuckled.

“Hella offensive.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Language, Mr. Jordan,” she winked at him playfully.

“You gonna discipline me, Ms. Turner?” He asked, closing the space between them, his breath tickling the skin on her neck as he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

Raven felt her whole body flush with heat. Fuck. For some foolish reason, she had worried the spark between them would fade once they settled into the normalcy and mundaneness of a real relationship. However, it had been the exact opposite. Somehow, everything he did only heightened her emotions and desire for him. She thought it was overwhelming before? Well, now it was all consuming and blinding.

“Maybe you should take me home and find out?” She whispered.

“What if I want to find out here?”

“Then I’d have to remind you that this is a public library… with cameras everywhere.”

He glanced around. “Come on, I bet you know one spot that ain’t got cameras, baby girl. I vaguely remember you saying you wanted to live out some fantasies. You gonna tell me sex in public ain’t one of them?”

Her eyes darkened with lust. She knew he knew that he had her. It was most certainly one, one of the more sinful ones she would admit. But it lacked practicality.

“This isn’t just in public, babe. This is my job,” she reminded him, her resolve growing weaker with every word. And he knew it.

“That makes it even more fun. Come on, baby. You know you want me to fuck you senseless in one of these shelves, want me to make you beg to come right here.”

Fucking hate him, she thought to herself. Her panties were soaked.

She grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to the second floor, to a small far corner that she knew had no cameras in the vicinity. It also was ominously dark as some of the overhead lights had gone out earlier that week. She knew the library was utterly deserted and there was absolutely no chance of them getting caught, but still it made her nervous. But she supposed that was the entire point.

“Can’t believe we’re doing this…” she mumbled, more to herself than Michael. Not that having sex at work or in public had not been on her list of things to one day do. She did not think it would be this particular job.

“Relax and enjoy it,” he whispered in her ear before he pushed her forward, forcing her upper body against the cold wooden table in the corner.

She hissed slightly as the cold material touched her bare arms. She could already tell what this was going to be: quick and dirty… and her favorite: rough. His touch always had a gentleness to it, which she appreciated. However, she loved it when he was rough, when he left a mark to remind her whose exactly she was.

“You gon’ be quiet for me?”

“Yes.”

She yelped as a hard smack fell across her ass as he pushed her skirt up to her waist.

“Yes what?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good girl. But if that was any indication, don’t think you’re gonna keep quiet so…”

Before Raven could even react, Michael ripped her panties clean from her body and stuffed them into her mouth as a makeshift gag. The quickness of it, the bite of the material against her skin, and the mere act of being forced to taste herself made her moan. But it worked, the sound was muffled.

“That’s much better. And don’t let them fall out or I’ll light that ass up, understand?”

She nodded fervently. Her body shuddered as he wiped a finger over her clit.

“So wet for me.” He sucked her juices off his finger and moaned lightly. “You taste so good, baby girl.”

She wanted to say thank you or beg but she couldn’t, not with her panties muffling her voice.

She let out a guttural moan as he filled her in one stroke, the angle of the low table allowing him to get deep. One hand pushed her back deeper into the table as she squirmed. His strokes were deep and guttural, each one ending with jolt to her g spot.

He was not making love to her, he was not gentle. This was pure fucking, fast and furious and uninhibited and she loved it. Everything in her wanted to scream but she could not. But her muffled low moans filled the small space as he settled into a rhythm.

“You gon’ cum on this dick, you disgusting slut??”

She could only force her head up enough to nod slightly before falling back against the table. She did not even feel the pain of her thighs banging into the table with every thrust because she was so focused on him. The power of his thighs slamming against hers, the pressure of one had at the base of her neck while the other bit into the meat of her hip.

Where they were became irrelevant, the nervousness she felt about that fell away as every sense in her body focused on him and only him and the pleasure he so graciously provided her.

Her eyes screwed shut as waves of pleasure hit her with the force of a train. Usually she had time to warm up and prepare herself but not today. Today, she was merely a vessel for him to get off and she loved every second of it.

“Fuck… that’s it baby. Cum on this dick.” Michael was in heaven as her pussy clenched around him. He usually could last far longer than this but his body seemed to understand the point of a quickie. And so it did not take long for him to feel himself reaching the peak.

He groaned and held onto her tightly as he filled her with his cum, part of him wanting to collapse next to her. He leaned over her for a few moments to catch his breath before staggering back from her as he pulled his briefs and pants back up and righted himself.

Raven propped herself up on her elbows after letting her panties fall from her mouth. She glanced back at him with an incredulous look on her face as if she was still shocked that they just did that. Which made them both burst out into laughter.

“Well that was… definitely one for the books,” she remarked as she sat up and turned around. She leaned against the table, her panties bunched up in her hand, she gestured toward them. “That was a nice addition, Mr. Jordan. Seems like you punished me more than I did you though.”

“Eh you can punish me later, how about that?” He kissed her on the forehead before fishing her panties out of her hand and pushing them into his pocket with a wink. “Think I’ll keep those for the rest of the night. You can’t put ‘em back on.”

“Whose there??” An older man’s voice rang out causing both of them to scurry to fully right their clothing.

Raven cleared her throat as Michael helped her adjust her top and she emerged from the bookshelves.

“I-It’s just me, Mr. Robinson!”

She waved at the elderly black man who was clearly maintenance staff.

“Ms. Turner! Figured it was you. Whatchu doin’ here so late? Book club ended a while ago?”

Raven smiled and nodded. She grabbed Michael and pulled him out of the shelves. “My boyfriend came to pick me up and got distracted giving him a tour. This is Michael,” she gestured at the star, the older man’s eyes growing big. “This is Mr. Robinson.”

“How you doin’ man? I’m a big fan!” He offered, shaking Michael’s hand. “Cynthia called earlier and said some lights up here were out so I just came to fix ‘em before tomorrow.”

“Thank you, we really appreciate that. Well, it’s all yours. We were just looking at books and joking around, we’ll get out of your way.” She jerked her head toward the door, gesturing for Michael to follow her. However, when she reached the steps, she turned back. “Oh and Mr. Robinson?”

The man seemed to have a knowing look on his face. “Didn’t see anyone here when I came through, you were just finishin’ up as I was comin’ in.” He winked at her before waving them on their way.

They made quick work of grabbing Raven’s bag and materials before scurrying out the door, the pair both busting out into laughter as they climbed into Michael’s SUV.

“That was a close one,” she remarked. “Ok that was fun but definitely no more job sex.”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t enjoy it,” he teased.

She gently shoved him back into his seat as she chuckled. “Shut upppppp. Whew I’m exhausted, can’t wait to knock out.”

Michael patted his thigh, Raven laying down across the seat so she could sleep. It was a bit of a trek to his house from her neighborhood so Raven closed her eyes and enjoyed the soft music that played as Allen drove them home.

“Do you miss it?”

“Hm?” Raven asked, needing further clarification of what he was asking.

“Do you miss writing? Or does this… the kids fill that void?”

Raven thought about it for a moment, realizing she had never really let herself think too much about it or miss it that much. “Umm… yea, I try not to… try not to think about it. But I miss it a lot. It was my dream and I love these kids… don’t get me wrong. They are amazing and I have so much fun with them. But it doesn’t fill the void? Just makes the void a bit more bearable.”

His hand ran through her blow out for a few moments before nodding and allowing silence to fall over them. Soon her gentle snores filled the car as Michael thought long and hard about what she said. He reached into his pocket, careful not to jolt the sleeping woman beneath him and opened his text thread with Alex.

Michael: hey, need two favors

Alex: Don’t you always?

Michael: ha ha. Need you to find me a contact at Hatchett & Perkins Publishing house? Like in legal or licensing or somethin

Alex: Let me guess… this favor is not so you can write a memoir?

Michael: of course not.

Alex: Give me till tomorrow and I’ll send you a name & email. Favor #2?

Michael: You got any friends that rep authors?

Alex: Yep.

Michael: Find me one that reps fantasy. Preferably black women if you know them

Alex: Done.

Michael let his phone fall onto his other thigh before he leaned back and smiled to himself. He was about to give her the Christmas of a lifetime.

***

Christmas Day

Raven stretched lazily, the smell of cinnamon rolls wafting up to Michael’s bedroom through the cracked bedroom door. She lazily rolled over, surprised to find his spot empty. She groped in the bed for her phone, squinting to read the time. 8 am.

Too early, she huffed as she threw the covers back over her head. They had been up past midnight partaking in the Jordans’ Christmas Eve traditions. They drank, watched a Christmas movie - this year was Michael’s turn to choose and he chose Jim Carey’s the Grinch much to Raven’s excitement - and opened one present each.

There was a mountain of them under the tree. She had spent days helping Michael wrap them all. He had intended to have them sent out to be professionally wrapped but Raven put a stop to that nearly immediately. Similar to tree decorating, she thought there was something impersonal about having a professional do it. So she spent an entire Saturday wrapping all of his presents for his family, he hid hers from her much to her chagrin, and she had a ball doing it. His dining table looked like a disaster when she was done but each one looked perfect, his girl using different color wrapping paper for each member of the family.

Raven had truly improved the whole Christmas holiday for the entire household, reminding him that just because money could buy some conveniences did not mean it should. He also just loved her childlike excitement and joy around the season that seemed endless. She was constantly humming a Christmas song under her breath, her singing voice was not half bad though she did not agree.

She never much cared for Christmas herself. She loved the spirit and energy it brought for others but there was nothing special about it for her. No traditions or joyous memories to hold on to. But Michael went out of his way to help her create some with his family and she loved him dearly for it.

She had dozed off again when a familiar voice woke her up.

“Come on sleepyhead. It’s present time,” she heard a singsongy voice call out that made her groan. “Five seconds or I’ll tackle you.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” She called out, her voice muffled under the thick comforter.

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three…”

“Two…”

Raven let out a shriek as she felt Michael’s heavy body land on her. His fingers attempted to tickle her sides, forcing laughter and her face to emerge from the covers.

“Fine, fine. I yield! I yield! I yield!” She cried out.

At her words, he gripped her hips and flipped them over so she was straddling his waist. He grabbed a Santa hat he discarded on the bed and plopped into her head. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” she leaned down and kissed him on the lips.

“Get dressed, we’re opening presents at 9.”

She nodded. “Alrighty. I’ll just start breakfast while y’all do that.”

“You’re opening presents too.”

“You gave me mine last night?” And it was gorgeous, a set of diamond earrings that she was honestly afraid to ever wear.

“You thought I only got you one present??”

She laughed, not understanding. “Well, I only got you one present!”

“That’s fine. Hell, you could just put a bow on yourself and I would be happy. I got everything I could ever need or want. But you have presents under the tree from everyone and everyone has a present from you and us. Get dressed.”

At her shocked expression, Michael figured that she was not used to getting many, if any gifts. However, he decided to keep the mood light and playful.

“You surprised? You been naughty this year or somethin’? Expectin’ a lump of coal?”

She offered him a sly grin. “Oh I’ve been real naughty. But somethin’ tells me that being naughty got me more presents from Santa than being nice would’ve.”

“You damn right, girl.”

She let out a cackle and rolled her eyes before sliding out of bed to get dressed. Before she knew it, the entire family was surrounded by an explosion of wrapping paper and stacks of gifts.

Raven loved all of her gifts from Michael’s family. They gave her a lot of books and gadgets for writers and readers but she loved all of them. She imagined that was all they really knew about her but she appreciated that they put effort and thought into it.

“Ok, baby girl. Last one from me,” Michael handed her a box with a neat bow around it. The rest of the family had dispersed to get dressed for the day and for brunch, leaving the couple in the living room surrounded by everyone’s presents.

“Baby…” she let out a playful whine. Most of her gifts had come for Michael and while they were all sweet and thoughtful, she knew they had cost him an arm and a leg. Another first edition book, a gorgeous Chloe tote bag for her to take to work, and more jewelry than she knew what to do with. It made her gift feel measly in comparison but she had done her best. “You already got me so much. Don’t need anything else.”

He shook his head. “Well, this is the gift that matters.”

She paused. “Well I have yours upstairs… I just wanted to give it to you when we were alone. Wanna go up there and exchange?”

He nodded, both of them heading up to his room with bright grins on their faces. She sat her gift down on the bed while she went into her stuff and pulled out a small book.

She held it close to her chest, taking a deep breath. “It’s not much… I d-didn’t know what to get a man who has well… everything a person could want. But I thought, well, maybe you’d like this. O-or at least you’d give me an A for effort,” she chuckled. “But if you hate it, I totally understand. You don’t gotta pretend if you don’t like it.”

Michael raised an eyebrow and laughed, closing the space between them. “Why don’t you let me see it before you decide that I don’t like it? Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

She nodded and held out the small book to him. It looked like a professionally printed book, with a beautiful but simple black and gold cover.

The title read: The Fall by Raven Turner

Michael opened the first page, which read:

It’s not much but you were the first person in a long time to make me want to pick up my figurative pen again. And this was the result: a story dedicated to every moment of the greatest fall of my life. I love you.

Raven

“You wrote me a book?” He asked quietly as he examined it in his hands.

She nodded. “Y-You like it?”

He rushed forward and pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply. “I more than like it. This is the best gift anyone’s ever gotten me!”

He peppered her face with kisses that made her giggle. “You sure? My other option was like a watch or something…”

He laughed. “Total waste of money. This is more valuable to me than 100 Rolexes. Thank you. I’ll read it tonight.”

Nothing would have taken the smile off her face.

“Now it’s your turn,” he urged as he sat his gift on his bedside table.

Raven sat on his bed as she gently ripped the bow off and opened the box to find an envelope inside. It was odd, Raven could not possibly understand what the gift could be.

She ripped open the envelope to reveal a plane ticket and hotel reservation to a resort in Thailand.

“Y-You’re serious?? Thailand??”

“Wanted to ring in our first New Years together somewhere special.”

“Babe… this is…”

“Exactly what you deserve. I have a feeling next year is gonna be your best year yet and I think we should usher it in with some style.” He had more than just a feeling, as long as his real surprise was wrapped up by their trip, it would surely be her best year yet.

She laughed, wiping her tears away. “This is most certainly style. Thank you. I love it.”

“I’m glad you do cause we leave tomorrow night.”

Her mouth dropped open. “W-what?? Babe I gotta get my hair done… a wax, my nails! These aren’t vacation nails…” she glanced down at her beautiful but very Christmas themed nail set.

“You think I’d book you a trip to Thailand and not take care of everything?” His face scrunched up in a faux annoyance that made her chuckle. “You’re in for a day of pampering tomorrow while Jason picks out pieces and has his team pack for you. I plan on having you naked for most of the next two weeks so you ain’t gonna need much clothes.”

“And work?”

“You’d be surprised what a handsome face and nice smile will get you,” he remarked with a shrug.

She stood and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You’re you. That’s all it takes.”

She smiled and kissed him again. She glanced at the bed, lust curling in her belly.

“How long before your family comes looking for us?”

She shrieked and laughed as he gently pushed her down on his bed.

“Long enough for me to make you cum at least twice.”

***

Raven was thankful their bungalow at this resort was fairly distant from the others as Michael seemed committed to making her scream over and over and over again for the last five days. She had seen very little of the resort aside from when they emerged for dinner. They had a private pool and private access to the beach.

Michael had not been lying when he said he planned to have her naked for most of the trip. All she could do was laugh when she realized the only panties packed for her had been part of very sexy and elaborate lingerie sets that would not count as clothes for anyone with eyes. When she was not in a bathing suit or an outfit for dinner, she was in lingerie that did not stay on her body for long.

Michael quite literally ravished her from sun up to sun down on every surface in their suite, in and by the pool, underneath the waterfall shower in their giant bathroom, and in the sand on their private beach. Though, neither of them did that one again due to the uncontrollable and annoying nature of sand.

But every moment of it was pure bliss. She loved how he switched, often at a moment’s notice, from treating her like a grand prize he won to a convenient hole for him to fuck. It was not uncommon for him, while they were mid conversation about something utterly random by the pool or over lunch, to bend her over the nearest surface and fuck her senseless simply because he felt like it. Their games did not diminish but seemed to amplify the more their relationship blossomed.

Today, their game was orgasm denial. It was New Year’s Eve and Michael practically ignored her most of the day. After several days of being woken up with his head between her legs bringing her to orgasm, she was almost saddened to be woken up with a mere call for breakfast.

The only time he touched her was during breakfast, as he - without a single word - slid his favorite vibrating toy into her pussy. She expected him to turn it on and bring her to orgasm right there, but he did no such thing. Instead, he told her of the tour of the nearby islands they were going to go on after breakfast.

From that moment forward, all of his touches were chaste at best and decidedly frustrating to his girlfriend, much to his satisfaction. He could feel her eyes boring into the side of his face as if willing him to turn on the remote in his pocket as their tour guide jetted them around on a boat ride along the gorgeous blue water.

It was difficult to ignore her for him too but he loved how eager she was, how the more he pretended he had not put the vibrator in her, the more aware she was of its presence. He watched her intently, how she tried to pay attention to the tour guide as she droned on and on about history, how her body squirmed in her seat with every platonic touch he offered, how her shoulders fell in disappointment every time those platonic touches did not turn into more.

The boat ride was three hours of pure torture and he knew if he touched her, she would be dripping wet underneath her very revealing bathing suit and cover up.

As they returned to their resort and stood up to get off the boat, Michael turned the vibrator on its full setting, Raven letting out a groan and her knees buckling beneath her.

She almost fell completely to the floor of the boat but Michael skillfully caught her and feigned concern for her.

“You ok, baby?” He glanced back at the tour guide before discreetly cutting the vibrator off. “Think the heat just got to her. Let me get you inside, love.”

Raven was so consumed with the short-lived but amazing pleasure that all she could do was nod. She wanted to curse at him, scream at him.

He held onto her tightly, keeping her flush to his side, as if he was helping a sick person until they made it back to their secluded bungalow. And by that time, Raven was fuming.

“What the fuck, Bakari! In front of that lady as I was getting off the boat?? After you ignored me all morning??” She was not actually angry at him, she was just so fucking horny that she was angry.

Michael grabbed her by the arm and put his hand around the base of her neck as he held her in a rough grip that made her thighs clench together.

“If you want to cum at all again before 2023, I’d shut the fuck up. Understand?” he warned, his voice so strong and dominant that her mouth immediately shut.

Fuck. Admittedly, 2023 was only 12 more hours away, at least in Thailand. But she did not think she could wait 12 more hours. She was most certainly not God’s strongest soldier.

“Y-Yes sir.”

He grabbed her hand and led her outside to their private pool. “Sit,” he gestured toward one lounge chair that faced the pool.

She sat down immediately, surprised when he disappeared back into their room, returning with several ropes.

Fuck, she thought to herself again. Whatever he was about to do, she knew it would be extremely fun for him and a sort of delicious torturous fun for her.

“Lay back.”

She laid down against the warm fabric of the chair. He adjusted it so she was leaning back. He grabbed both of her hands and raised them above her head, tying them to the top of the lounge chair. Instinctively, she tried to move them but his knots were tight.

Then she watched as he did the same with each ankle, tying them to either side of the lounge chair so her legs were spread open.

And then much to her surprise, he shed his clothes and slid in the pool. Her eyes filled with pure lust as she took in the droplets of water cascading down his perfect chiseled chest. She’d never get used to him.

“Seems like you keep forgettin’ whose runnin’ this shit. So maybe this’ll teach you.”

She did not fully understand what he meant until she felt the vibrator turn on, this time at its lowest setting. Her hips rolled as much as she could with her body restrained. She bit her lip to stop the moans from escaping, part of her not wanting to give him the satisfaction as she knew he was going to drag this out as long as possible.

“You can try to keep quiet if you want to, baby. Honestly that’ll just make the show more entertaining for me.”

And a show it was. Raven could only imagine how she looked to him as he leaned against the opposite edge of the pool and controlled her pleasure from afar. He talked, telling her about his upcoming projects for 2023, how he was so excited for his directorial debut of Creed 3. At first, with the toy on its lowest setting, she found it easier to ignore and engage in a conversation with him.

However, as he steadily increased the intensity, her questions and responses were more broken by moans and groans that she could not hide.

“How many books are in that series of yours?”

“Supposed to b- SHIT!” She cried out as he increased it to the highest setting. “Fuckkkkk,” she moaned as her hips started humping the air to increase the pleasure as she came close to her first orgasm of the day. However, as soon as she got to the edge, he cut it off, robbing her of it.

“Michael!” She called out in frustration.

“10.”

“10 what??”

“Spankings. 5 for not answering my question and 5 for not addressing me properly.”

She desperately wanted to roll her eyes. This nigga.

“Three… the series is three books.”

“Good girl.”

The cycle and their conversation continued. Michael asked her more random questions about writing and her writing process and expected full answers as he brought her to the edge of an orgasm but took them away five more times. He gave her ample time to calm down in between each one but each time made the climb more intense and made the lack of an orgasm more painful.

And all the while, he sat unmoving like a statue across from her, watching as she moaned, begged, pleaded, and writhed around against her restraints.

“You wanna cum, don’t you, baby?” He asked, moving for the first time to wade over to her.

She was in tears as she nodded. “P-Please, d-daddy. I n-need to cum. I c-can’t take… much more. Please.”

He lifted himself out of the water, Raven’s eyes studying how his biceps flexed at the swift motion.

He grabbed her chin to force her to look at him. “You’ll take as much as I tell you. Besides, do you deserve pleasure before you’ve been punished?”

She groaned. She hated him so much but she loved him so much that she would indeed take as much as he told her to.

“N-no, no I don’t.”

“That’s right. Only good girls get to orgasm. Are you gonna take your punishment like a good girl?”

She nodded desperately. “Y-yes, I promise.”

With that, he untied her and helped her up. He made her crawl behind him to their bedroom. He helped her onto the bed.

“You know what to do.”

Indeed, she did. Raven quickly discarded her bathing suit and climbed onto the bed and assumed his favorite position for both pleasure and punishment. Her face pressed against their comforter as she placed the deepest arch she could in her back.

“Good girl, you want my hand or the belt?”

That was an easy choice in her mind but she appreciated him letting her choose. “Your hand, please,” she asked innocently.

She knew it was both of their preference. Something about feeling the extent of his strength with every lash, seeing the red marks on her ass in the shape of his palm, made every punishment well worth it. She also knew Michael preferred it too.

“Count ‘em out or I start over.”

She groaned. This was the hardest part, focusing on each one enough to remember the number.

She shrieked as he hit her the first time. She was not gonna be able to sit comfortably for the rest of their vacation.

“One.”

By the time she hit 15, she was in tears but she would have begged him not to stop.

“Ten more, baby. And you’re doing so good…” he grabbed the remote he had discarded next to them and turn it on to its highest setting. “You can cum whenever you want.”

Raven felt like her whole body was in flames as he rained down the last ten blows while the vibrator did the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost against her g-spot. She tried to grab a pillow to bury her face in as her screams reached a fever pitch that she imagined could be heard across their resort but Michael grabbed a fist of her braids and forced her head up.

“Nah I wanna hear you.”

She could not even register the last two spankings as she blissfully felt every part of her body, down to the cellular level, become overwhelmed with mind-numbing, life altering pleasure. Her entire body collapsed forward onto the bed, her legs unable to hold her lower body up.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she mumbled as she felt the vibrator turn off and started to come down.

Michael smiled as he took in her form, he had utterly depleted her as she laid there, her entire body covered in a thin layer of sweat.

He climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly as she laid there, her brain not fully functioning or cognizant of his presence.

Raven used the little bit of energy she had to settle into his arms, burying her head into his neck. She appreciated his commitment to aftercare, particularly when their sessions were super intense. Oftentimes, they were just so intense, they rubbed Raven raw emotionally and left her feeling vulnerable. And when they were merely fake dating, she had to often ignore those needs because she was afraid to ask him for more. He always checked in and ran her a bath or gave her a massage, often brought her food to ensure she was ok before he went to his guest room to sleep.

But now, she could snuggle up against him and feel close to him, feel his love and receive his praise while she recovered. And she had not realized just how much she was missing.

“You ok?” He asked. “That was intense.”

“I’m excellent. And still horny but I don’t think my legs work to move,” she moaned.

“Well, rest. I’ll wake up when it’s time to get ready for dinner.”

He watched her for a while before he set an alarm and dozed off himself.

***

“Figured we could go watch the fireworks on the beach. They told me the good ones start around 11:30… so in a bit.”

Raven smiled as she continued eating. They had slept most of the day away after their session and she was starving. Michael had a private dinner scheduled for them in their suite, which she appreciated. She still got dolled up in a flowery two piece crop top and skirt but it was nice to have dinner in their own space.

“So my mom asks this every New Years Eve… what do you want out of 2023?”

Raven’s fork paused in mid air as she thought on the question. What did she want out of the new year? She had no idea.

“Umm… whew, I dunno. I’ve just been counting down the last couple years truth be told. Kinda felt lost and all over the place without my career? Didn’t really think I had much to look forward to? But…”

“But…”

“But now I feel like I don’t want everything to just pass me by? Like even if I’m not free to do what I love just yet, I wanna feel… happy? I wanna feel good and enjoy life.” She shrugged. “It’s kinda stupid.”

He held his hand out for her to take it and squeezed, his thumb rubbing her hand. “That’s far from stupid. I have a surprise for you.”

He took a deep breath and reached under the table to grab a box.

She smiled and shook her head. “This trip wasn’t a surprise enough??”

“Nah. And this is really just a late Christmas gift. Legal shit delayed it a couple days… but it seems fitting. Here’s to a 2023 of happiness and freedom.”

He held the box out to her, it exactly resembled the one he had given her with their surprise trip to Thailand inside only this one had a large stack of paperwork in it.

“What’s this??” She pulled the heavy stack, her eyes growing wide as she thumbed through them, skimming them quickly. “I-Is this what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s the rights to your book, which are now yours to do with whatever you want, then yes. If you were thinkin’ it was somethin’ else…”

Her mouth dropped open. Her breath came out more as a strangled sob than anything else as she continued reading.

“This is…” she laughed nervously. “This is a joke right? Y-you didn’t… I know this had to have cost like… someone’s yearly salary money.” She stood and shook her head. “Y-You have to let me pay you back for that. It’ll take me like a fuckin’ decade,” she admitted. “But you can’t…”

Michael gestured for him to come to her. He kept her flush to his lap as her entire body trembled from the pure shock. He had expected this reaction and was prepared. But he had not done what he did and paid what he did lightly. It was worth every single frustrating conversation and dollar spent.

“Yes I can… and I did. Getting rid of the last piece of dead weight you were dragging around was worth every dime. You deserve to tell your stories and they took that from you. So I took it back and am giving it to you. One signature,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and held it to her. “And they are all yours.”

A tear fell on the papers before Raven tossed them down to the ground and threw herself into Michael’s arms as she sobbed into his neck. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he held her.

“I love you… so much.” She whispered through her sobs. “T-this is the greatest thing anyone’s ever done for m-me.”

His palm wiped away the tears streaming down her face as he kissed her.

“It’s nothing.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s literally everything… I don’t deserve you,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“Yea you do. And all the other good things in this world. I’ll spend every day making sure you know it.”

They finished their dessert with Raven still on his lap, the young woman too shocked to really speak or offer much to the conversation. She could not believe it, could not believe him. She knew it would still be a long road to self-publish and figure all of that out but now? Now she had options, she could figure it out without waiting for the timer to hit zero.

And he had done that for her.

“Come on, fireworks are about to start.”

Raven nodded and smiled. “Give me 5 minutes? Gonna put these somewhere safe,” she grabbed the scattered papers off the floor. “And fix my makeup. Can’t have you kissing me at midnight with eyeliner running down my face. That’d be a tragic start to the year.”

“I’ll be by the pool. Don’t take too long.”

He watched her walk away and smiled before walking outside to the balcony. The fireworks were already in full swing and he could hear music and laughter from the main beach of the resort.

It was the perfect end to a perfect night. Well, almost. A buzzing in his pocket redirected his attention. Tasha’s name scrolled across his phone.

“This girl,” he mumbled. He knew her well enough to know if he did not answer she would simply call back.

Michael glanced over his shoulder and sighed as he swiped across his phone.

“Hey,” he offered coldly. The truth was he had forgotten everything about Tasha, had not thought about her once since her name graced his screen on Raven’s birthday.

He did not hate her or offer her ill will, he just had no interest in seeing or speaking to her again.

“Hey baby. Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.” Michael’s tone was short and clipped, praying he could get her off the phone before Raven came back from the bathroom to find him.

“Wanted to see if the New Year was gonna bring my favorite customer back to me?”

“Look Tash…”

“It’s been a few months, Mike. You promised.”

Michael rolled his eyes. He had let her get far too comfortable, so comfortable that she thought he’d always be there. Which seemed like a base level foolish assumption given her line of work. But either way, he had moved on. Raven was his present and his future. He had no interest in anyone else. But this was the weight he was dragging around behind him, he quickly realized. And every day that he did not tell Tasha that truth and let her believe there was something there for them, was a disservice to her, Raven, and himself.

“I know what I said but shit changed. I love her, Tash.”

A wave of anger hit him as he heard the woman scoff, which was filled with disbelief.

“Her?? You love her??”

“Yes, her. I love her and even though it started off as somethin’ not real, it’s real to us both now and she’s everything I want.” He sighed. “Look, you are a great girl, I enjoyed our time together but I can’t see you anymore. Ever.”

“You serious right now??” He could feel her rage through the phone but that did not deter him. Raven was everything for him and nothing Tasha could say would change that.

“Dead serious. I know this ain’t what you wanted to hear but it’s over between us. I’m sorry.”

She was seething. “Fuck you, Michael! You can’t just drop me outta fuckin’ no where! What am I supposed to fuckin’ do??”

He bowed his head. Her reaction was not out of the realm of possibility, he just had not considered it at all, had not considered that he would have to “break up” with her officially. But he did not regret nor was he phased by her anger. That part of his life - whoring and using any and every woman who would let him - was over and in the past.

“Find another client to replace me. I can’t be the first client to move on.”

There was a long pause. “Nah you ain’t the first. But you’re the first to fall in love with a fuckin’ hooker and try to pass it off as a real relationship. Imagine the money TMZ would give me for that story.”

Michael’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding right?”

“I ain’t’ fuckin’ laughin. You can leave me for that country ass fake bumpkin, you can put her in designer clothes and call her your girlfriend but unfortunately for you, I know what she really is. A whore. And while you might think you can wave a wand and make her a housewife, everyone else? They’ll fuckin’ tear her apart. You really want that?”

Michael couldn’t believe this shit. In all his years of being famous and having money, he had never had someone try to blackmail him. Michael clenched his eyes shut. “How much?”

“There we go. Glad we could come to an agreement. $10k for now. I expect it as soon as you get back to LA. And then we can figure out an arrangement that works for both of us. Happy New Year, baby.”

And with that, the phone went dead. Michael clenched it in his hand in frustration as he turned and shook his head. He quickly deleted the call from his call log to ensure Raven did not accidentally see it and sent Alex a text.

Mike: We have a BIG problem

“Wow, those are gorgeous!”

Michael slid his phone in his pocket as Raven emerged and stood next to him, her make up pristine and her body now clad in a very sexy ocean blue lingerie set. Michael forced a smile onto his face as he grabbed her ass and squeezed.

“Not as gorgeous as you.”

“We got five minutes till midnight and then I figured we could create some fireworks of our own?”

“I like the sound of that…” Michael mused.

He knew he needed to tell Raven about Tasha but he did not have the heart to do it right then. She was so happy, so happy that her whole body seemed to radiate with it. He refused to let anything diminish or take that feeling away. And he refused to let another selfish person steal her joy and relaxation while they were on vacation. He had a week to figure out a plan and get Tasha out of his life once and for all. And he had every intention of doing so and telling Raven once it was all said and done. She was finally happy and she deserved to stay that way. This was exclusively his mess, he would get himself out of it.

“Oh you never told me,” Raven said as they sat down and stuck their feet in the water while the fireworks continued to boom loudly around them, painting the sky in bright colors.

“What?”

“What you want out of 2023?”

Michael glanced down at her and the bright smile on her face. “I think I got everything I want for 2023. I got you, about to finish the biggest run of my career. I guess I just… want to make sure I don’t lose it all?”

She gently shoved him with her shoulder and chuckled. “Well, you aren’t gonna lose me.”

“That a promise?”

“Yes it is.”

Off in the distance, they could hear the faint countdown from the giant crowd at the beach.

Five… four… three… two…

“Happy New Year, Rae.”

“Happy New Year, baby.”

They shared a deep kiss under the fireworks before Michael swooped her up into his arms and carried her to bed, their room becoming a fireworks show for two.

Tag List: @readinghere2023 @blackerthings @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @physicxal @purplehairgawdess @miyuhpapayuh @rueruesclues @geemamii @certifiedlesbianbaddie @pipsqueak-98 @nyifly22 @destinio1 @twocentaur @gopaperless @musicisme333 @roguekiki @majesticbrownjawn @taurusqueen83 @mysteryuz @miamormilan @itsknor-thedeep @naj-ay444 @mads-grace4 @nayaesworld @kholdkill @msniaimani @nccu-rnc @apenasumlug4r

***

A/N: the babies are in relationship blisssssss. And how perfect is Michael? Getting her book back for her. Also I tried to do some research on how all that works and it is really confusing so any real authors reading - don't hate me if I got it wrong LOL it's fiction! Well, as we all knew it would, Tasha has come back to claim her man again... what do we think? Should he have told Raven? Or should he wait till they get home? Or should he just deal with Tasha on his own? Anndddd this is the last update for this story for like a month - so so sorry to leave it like that LOL love yall though! Hope you enjoyed it!

#black writers #michael b jordan #michael b jordan x oc #mbjordanedit #michael b jordan x reader #black panther #michael b jordan fanfic #creed 3 #adonis creed

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justtwotired · 7 months

Text

Whispers of the night - Lloyd Garmadon x F!reader

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Your POV

“Y/n L/n!” I looked back when I heard a familiar voice yell out my name. I stood at my locker, leaving my books behind at school.

Luna was leaning against the locker next to mine and Flora and Amelia where a few lockers down, noses in their own.

Well not anymore, since James yelled my name rather loudly. He was followed by the twins and Charlie who all looked stern.

“What’s with you four?” I asked and James sighed. “You challenged Brown for a fight? Are you insane?” He asked and I rolled my eyes.

“Please, Jamie, I can easily win this!” I reassured him and he sighed. “I know you can, that’s not the point. The point is that you are going to get yourself expelled and if you fail the year, we can’t got to college together!” He complained and I sighed.

“It’s going to be fine, I promise, I’ll make the year, I mean, I’m doing pretty well, I’ll promise I’ll make it trough the year so the two of us can get into college together.” I said and he narrowed his eyes at me.

“You better, because I ain’t going alone!” I laughed and shut my locker. “Let’s go, I’ve got a guy to beat up.” I grinned and they followed me outside.

“If he hurts her I’m killing him,” I heard Arthur whisper to Anthony who gave a nod in agreement. “I heard that!” I said and they looked at me, scarily in sink.

“N/n, I mean it, if he actually hurts you I will snap his neck.” Arthur said and I smiled a bit at him. I looked over at Charlie and Flora, she was revising the story to him about how I had stood up against Brown.

He gave me a thankful look and I gave him a warm smile back. These people are my family, I’ll protect them at all cost.

We walked out of the building and I was surprised to see he actually showed up. A crowd had already formed, as the news spread really fast, I just hoped a teacher wouldn’t show up.

“Millie, hold my earrings,” I said as I took them out and laid them in her hands before quickly putting my hair into a bun.

“Awe, she showed up,” he gave me a fake pouty face and I narrowed my eyes. “I will give you one last chance to fuck off and leave my friends alone, otherwise I will make you regret it,” I said and he chuckled.

“And what are you going to do? Make me-” I didn’t let him finish his sentence and punched him in the nose.

The fight had begun and he swung at me, I easily dodged him and let him trip over air as he was cluelessly attacking me.

After ten minutes, he laid panting on the ground, he’d gotten my nose aswel, though not that hard so it was only slightly bleeding.

He on the other hand had a blue eye slowly forming, blood was gushing from his nose and he had a busted lip.

I raised my foot to see if he was ready to continue but he just raised his hands to cover his face, making me out the foot down and take a step forward.

“If I ever see you bothering my friends again, you won’t get away with it as easy as this,” I threatened before walking towards my cheering friends and we left the school grounds.

Lloyd POV:

“Lloyd!” I turned to Nya who entered the training room and I stopped attacking the dummy in front of me.

“What’s up?” I walked over me and she pushed her phone in my hands. “Watch!” She said and I looked at the screen.

I was surprised to see that the argument I had broken up earlier weren’t just empty threats and they actually fought.

Y/n was winning form the beginning and I was surprised to see she didn’t even seem to break a sweat.

“If I ever see you bothering my friends again, you won’t get away with it as easy as this,” my eyes winded slightly at her words as she turned around and walked towards her friends who where cheering her on.

The crowd had also quickly picked her side and clapped as she left campus, the video stopped when a voice of a teacher was heard.

“Holy shit,” I said and looked at Nya who had stars in her eyes. “Please let me meet her!” She said and I chuckled.

“We’ll see, I think she’ll like you, though,” I guaranteed and Nya squealed, “I’m going to show the others!” She then ran off and I shook my head in disbelief.

Your POV:

Alright, I was grounded for two weeks, but it was definitely worth it. I was sat in my room, reading a book when my phone buzzed.

Blondie

Just saw the video, you actually fought him? It thought you where bluffing

I chuckled and started to answer.

You

What can I say, I am one badass😎.

No, kidding, he was just an asshole that needed a lesson which I thought him.

Blondie

You where pretty good, I think my basic self defence lesson was useless for you.

You

Pretty much, but good lesson though, can’t you just teach all the time?

Blondie

Afraid Kai will be taking over again ):

But I understand you’d want me to teach, I am pretty attractive while teaching

You

Keep telling yourself that, lmao

Blondie

I didn’t have too

Your eyes did it for me during the lesson (;

You

That’s my que to go offline

Blondie

Noooo :(

You

Night blondie

My two weeks of being grounded consisted out of not allowed to see my friends, only going out when going to school and lots of training with my father.

Oh, and work, but that was only Tuesday and Thursday.

I blocked my fathers punch and was about to punch back when he kicked out my feet from under me.

I reacted by doing the same from of the ground and quickly got up, pointing my sword at his throat.

“Be nice to your old man,” he said and I pulled the tip of my sword away from his neck and helped him up.

Without a warning he stole the sword, floored me and threw the sword away. I quickly wanted to get up but he stopped me by putting his foot against my throat and I scrunched my nose.

“Dad! Gross!” I said and he laughed before sitting down next to me.

“You’re off today, normally you’d see that one coming from a mile away.” He looked at me and I sighed.

“I miss my friends, I only see them at school and they are having fun at the skatepark right now while I’m here.” I said and he let out a deep chuckle.

“Should’ve thought about that before beating up that kid,” he said and I grinned. “He deserved it though,” I said and he pushed my shoulder slightly.

“You have five days to go, it’ll be fine, kid, we’ll make training fun, and you have work tomorrow, you like work right?” He said and I shrugged.

“I guess you’re right,” I smiled and he put an arm around me. “How about some illusions?” He asked and I smirked up at him.

The next day, I hummed along to the radio while making cookies at work, as we where almost out of the cookies we sold.

Someone entered the shop and I turned around and a genuine smile came onto my face when I saw Lloyd.

“Blondie, such a pleasant surprise,” I said and he chuckled.

“Still grounded?” He asked and I sighed and nodded. “Yup, and I am afraid my mom is contemplating to take my phone away for the weekend just to ‘teach me a lesson’ or something,” I complained and he chuckled.

“Shouldn’t have beaten up that kid,” he said and I rolled my eyes while grabbing the flower. “You sound like my dad,” I said and he let out a breathy laugh.

“You’re not busy, are you?” He asked and I gave him a look. “Lloyd, look around, does it look busy to you?” I asked and he looked at the empty tables, only one containing some empty mugs I hadn’t grabbed yet.

“Seems rather lonely,” he said, “I shall be nice and stay here for company,” he winked and I rolled my eyes and shook my head with a smile.

“Yeah, I work alone Thursdays, so some company would be nice,” I said as I mixed my patch of dough.

“Do you want a coffee?” I asked and he contemplated it for a moment. “Uh, yeah sure, why not.” He smiled and I abandoned my patch of dough.

“What do you like, then?” I asked. “A cappuccino would do,” he said and I gave him a look. “Basic,” I said jokingly and he let out an offended noice. “Mean,” he said and I stuck my tongue out.

I made the cappuccino and asked if he wanted anything with that. “Uh yeah, three sugars,” he said and my eyebrows raised. “Three?” I asked, grabbing them anyway.

“What can I say, I have one heck of a sweet tooth,” he said and I chuckled lightly. “Well here you go, sir,” I said and he took the coffee and looked at me with a smile.

“Thanks, miss,” he said and I chuckled softly before continuing to make my batch of cookies. “I suppose Kai will be teaching my self defence class again tomorrow?” I asked and he nodded.

“Correct, but I thought you weren’t allowed in self defence class anymore?” He asked confused.

He was right, after the fight I had gotten two days suspension and they said I couldn’t attend self defence class anymore because of my ‘aggressive behaviour’.

“Yes, but they thought about it and decided that they’d rather have me in class then roaming around the school,” I shrugged as I added the chocolate chips.

“How fun, now you may deal with Kai every week,” Lloyd sarcastically and I sent him a small smile as I started to roll the dough to small balls.

“You make it sound like it’s a horrible thing,” I said grinning and he just chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. “That’s because it is.” He told me.

“I’ll remember to tell him tomorrow,” I said and Lloyds eyebrows rose. “You’d betray me like that?” He acted fake hurt and I playfully rolled my eyes.

He stayed around for quite a while before he got a call and had to leave in a hurry, which I found rather strange, but I didn’t question it further.

When the cookies where done, I put most of display and held a few back, Ace loves these cookies and he let slip to me that his nanny loves them too, even though he had promised not to tell anyone.

His nanny was about my age, she was a nice girl and we got along great, though I didn’t see her that much.

Trough the day I got some customers, one of my favourite, Mr. Walters, who always stopped by for a caramel latte for his elderly wife who was battling cancer in the hospital. We always added a red velvet cupcake because it was her favourite, it was basically company policy.

“How has Lorrain been doing?” I asked as I poured the steamed milk in the large paper take away cup.

“Better actually, the dokters say there is a big chance she will manage to beat it this year,” he said and I could see tears of happiness in his eyes.

“That’s amazing! I really hope that will come true!” I said as I put the lid on the cup and handed that, plus a small paper bag containing the cupcake to the man, having paid before hand.

“Thank you, dear, I will see you next week,” he said taking the goods and walking out of the shop.

At the end of the day, I closed down, sweeping the floor and the tables, doing some last dishes and putting the remaining goods swatch putting some in a bag to take home.

I left a small not down good luck to my coworkers who started early the next day and then locked the door, to get home.

Kai POV:

I walked into the gym to teach my class when I noticed that Y/n was in my class. I huffed slightly, there was not much wrong about her, I just felt something off about her because of her stealing and getting herself into trouble.

I couldn’t help but listen in on her conversation she was having with her friend, who I know was named Luna as I had her last week aswel.

“Lu, you won’t believe this!” She said excitedly and I couldn’t help but break a small smile at her cheery behaviour. “What? What is it?” Luna asked her.

“So, Mr. Walters came into work yesterday, as always, you know what he told me?” She continued and Luna gave her an exasperated look. “Come onnn! Tell me!” She pushed.

“There is a big chance Lorrain will beat cancer before end of the year!” She jumped up and down and both girls cheered.

It kind of broke the ice to see her like that. Lloyd had told me about her work, and I thought it was nice she was so excited about what seemed to be a customer.

I shook my head slightly and started the class, deciding that maybe Y/n wasn’t so bad after all.

Yeah, she and her friends beat me in a chase after stealing from a store, but she was still nice- of course the reason I was wary of her wasn’t because she beat me in a chase…

Alright, it kind of was, but come on! I have years of training, and they have what? Skateboard stamina? If that’s even a thing.

Your POV:

I had been right, my mom did take away my phone for the weekend, which left me to sit in my room and mope all day.

I couldn’t talk to my friends, I wasn’t allowed to go out, I couldn’t text Lloyd, I wasn’t allowed to watch tv, dad was gone and forgot to leave me the key to the training room, so my day basically sucked.

At the moment, I was trying to create a partronus, like you see in Harry Potter, but then it was an illusion.

I could see my own illusions if I wanted to, thank the first spinjitzu master, but sometimes they where actually quite hard for me to do.

I had already managed to make a fox and was now trying a snake, when there was a knock on my door.

“Come in!” I called and the door opened, I was met with one of our staff members.

“Miss Y/n, dinners ready, your mother waits for you in the dining hall.” She said and I got of the bed. “Thank you, Nora.” I smiled and she gave me a kind smile back before leaving to get my brother while I went downstairs.

There, in the dining room, my mother sat, aswel as my younger sister.

I guess my mother read my facial features and sighed. “Don’t mope, Y/n, you know I had a good reason to ground you,” she said and I nodded.

“Yeah, I know,” this was gonna be a fun dinner… not.

It was spent with my mother slightly lecturing me about not causing trouble in school (again) and Ace was snickering the whole time, making her round on him.

Sure, my mother was strict, but she could be really sweet and caring when she wasn’t mad at anyone.

After dinner I excused myself and sat in my room, deciding to read a book instead of moping around.

Suddenly, while reading, there where taps on my window. I thought nothing of it and continued reading, but when it happened again I looked up.

I yelled when I saw someone sitting at the window and my hand quickly inched towards the knife laying on my bedside table, until I saw who it was.

I walked over and opened my window with an angry frown.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper shouted. The green ninja climbed trough my window and looked around.

“Your room is huge!” He said and I shushed him immediately. “It took a long while to find you, your house is way to big,” he said and I clenched my fists.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again and he looked at me for a moment. “Oh, yeah I didn’t see you in a while and started to worry, so I thought I’d visit you.” He shrugged and I smacked his shoulder.

“Are you mental?” I asked and he chuckled. “Only a bit,” he said and I groaned. “You can’t just show up at my house! What if my parents see you? What if one of the guards see you?” I hissed and he shrugged.

“I’m the green ninja, I’ll talk my way out,” he winked and I shook my head in disbelief. “You can’t just break into my house!” I said and he I could see by his eyes that he smirked.

“Technically,” he started, “I didn’t break in, you let me in,” he pointed out and I gave him an unamused look.

“Besides, don’t act like you aren’t happy to see me, sweetheart,” he said and I let out a small huff. “Who says I’m happy to see you?” I asked and he took a step closer.

“Your heartbeat does,” he said and I felt my face flush and my knees grew slightly weak. “There it goes again,” he teased and I pursed my lips.

“You can hear my heartbeat?” I asked and he nodded with a small smirk. “Yeah, super senses, it’s a family thing,” he shrugged.

“Yours is going rather fast,” he said tauntingly and I gulped slightly, trying my best to slow down my heartbeat.

“But enough about me, tell me about you,” he turned away from me and sat himself down in one of the chairs in my room. “Where have you been? Why haven’t I seen you around?” He asked me interested and I couldn’t help but grin.

“What? Have you missed me?” I asked and he let out a low chuckle. “Of course, why do you think I’m here?” He said, gesturing around the room.

I shook my head, slightly rolling my eyes and sat down in front of him on another chair.

“I’m grounded,” I revealed and I noticed by his eyes that his eyebrows rose. “Damn, Princess, what did you do? Got caught sneaking out?” He said and I shook my head no.

“I go into a fight at school,” I explained and he seemed a bit surprised, but something inside of me felt like his surprise was fake, as if he already knew.

“Tell me more,” he said, leaning forwards a bit and I narrowed my eyes a bit. “I don’t think I have to,” I said and he seemed actually surprised by that one. “I think you already know,” I said and he let out a deep chuckle.

“Aren’t you a sharp one?” He grinned. “Yeah, alright, you caught me. I already know, but I thought I’d hear from you what happened,” he said and I raised a brow.

“Why is that? Are you interrogating me and arresting me afterwards?” I asked, even though it was obviously a joke.

He just shook his head and kept eye contact with me, making me shift in my seat. “No, I just think you are really interesting, Y/n L/n,” he said making my heartbeat raise and he gave me a smug look as he knew, he heard.

“Why are you here? The actual reason this time,” I said narrowing my eyes at him and he shrugged. “Like I said, your interesting, there’s just something about you-” he got cut off as we both heard footsteps on the stairs

I held my breath, hoping they weren’t going for my room.

“Y/n, Honey!” Damn it!

I shot up and quickly dragged the green ninja by the arm, taking him to my walk in closet and pushing him inside.

“Stay here, don’t you make a peep,” I whispered and shut the door, just as my room door opened.

“Mum, hi!” I said with a bright smile and she narrowed her eyes slightly. “Hi,” she said and looked around the room as I walked over to my bed and sat down.

“What is it?” I asked and she looked at the window curiously. “Why is your window open?” She asked and I swallowed.

“I uh, I felt hot, I thought I’d open the window to let some cool air in,” I lied, why hadn’t I just shut the goddamn window?

“Are you sick?” My mum walked over already reaching out to put her hand on my forehead. “Mum- I’m fine, really,” I promised and she sighed as I dodged her hand.

“Alright, but if you get more symptoms I’m taking you to a doctor. I just sighed and nodded. Even with just the flue, mum just wanted me to a dokter, as always.

“Fine, why did you even come here?” I asked a bit annoyed and she crossed her arms. “Don’t get that tone with me, young lady,” she scolded. “I just came to tell you that we have a dinner party at the Chapman’s tomorrow.” She said and I couldn’t help but smirk.

That meant I got to see James! I hadn’t seen him since Thursday and it was killing me, as he is my best friend.

“Yeah, sounds good,” I said and crossed my legs on my bed. “Alright hunny, now get some sleep, you seem tired and I don’t want you to get sick.” She kissed the top of my head and left the room.

When I heard her footsteps reach the ground floor, I shot up and opened my closet door.

“Alright, you have to go,” I said and he gave me sad puppy dog eyes making me glare back. “Don’t you try that with me, I am still kicking you out,” I said and he just laughed and walked out of the closet and back towards the window while I followed him.

“Alright, but I’ll be seeing you again, Princess,” he said, before winking and jumping out of the window.

#ninjago lloyd x reader #lloyd garmadon x reader #ninjago lloyd #lloyd garmadon #ninjago x reader #ninjago city #kai smith x reader #kai smith #nya smith #ninjago zane #zane julien #cole brookstone x reader #cole x reader #cole brookstone #jay walker x reader #jay walker

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lunar-years · 3 months

Note

How’s the arm?

Tentative footsteps patter over the hardwood floor, inching closer; but it’s Jamie’s voice that reaches him first: “How’s the arm?”

Roy immediately bristles, unable to stop his voice from rising several decibels as he snaps, “I’ve already told you half a fucking dozen times in the past hour, Jamie, it’s the exact fucking same as it was twenty minutes ago, and yes I’m fucking fine, and I’ll kindly remind you again that you fucking promised me you’d stop fucking asking—” he stops mid-sentence, registering what exactly Jamie said at the same time the man crosses into his line of vision, letting Roy spot the shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He blinks, momentarily thrown. Arm?

Jamie shrugs, and even that small motion is somehow made exuberant under his determinedly bright demeanor. His face breaks into a gleeful smile, ear-to-ear, right pleased with himself.

Fucking hell. Roy has no idea how the prick has managed to stay this damn cheerful all day, considering he’s spent the whole of it waiting on his temporarily useless, opposite-of-cheerful boyfriend hand and foot. Keeping him confined to the miserable prison of his living room sofa, flipping through the sport channels with a commendable level of steady enthusiasm—even though the best they’ve had on offer were the bloody table tennis Olympic trials that ended an hour again—and fretting, every single second of every blasted minute, over Roy and his knee. Whether the pillow under Roy’s knee is fluffed enough, and whether Roy's morning brew has gone cold and could do for urgent replacement, and whether Roy needs help getting to the toilet before he pisses down his own leg. Jamie’s there all right, for all of it, and he’s bloody relentless.

Roy appreciates it. Truly, he does. It’s also driving him completely up the fucking wall, just a little. Two things can be true.

Jamie keeps right on smiling. “What?” he says innocently, sitting down next to Roy and handing over his latest freshly-warmed mug of tea, “I’m not having you on, it was a real question. Since you’re going to be a bit out of commission on the really agile shit for a while and all,” here he nods sympathetically in the direction of Roy’s mangled up, patchworked knee, the frankensteinish surgery scar thankfully covered up by fresh dressings (also courtesy of Jamie) and tucked atop Keeley’s fluffiest pillow. “Sorry,” he continues in a stage-whisper, hands going up like Roy's a feral cat he's trying not to set off, “know you want me to pretend like this ain’t happening, and I’m trying, swear down! But, well. Me point is, so long as your arm’s still in working form...we can at least exchange handies!” He beams at him again with great pride, like mutual handjobs are the certifiable cure to Roy’s every ailment, and Jamie’s the dutiful nurse who gets to present the good news and administer the necessary dosage.

(And well, a wank’s a wank, so. Roy’s willing to give it a shot.)

Instead of saying that, he chucks the pillow behind his back at his boyfriend's head and rolls his eyes in Jamie's direction, faking a pout. “All you care about is my cock,” he accuses half-heartedly.

“Yes, poor, hard-done Roy, with a dead sexy boyfriend who wants him for his body as much as his mind,” Jamie grins, leaning in to give him a kiss. With lips practically still brushing Roy’s own, he adds, gentler, “I also thought, um. It might help, you know? With what you were saying earlier. I’m really sorry I made you feel like that.”

Roy brow furrows. He wades back amongst all the day's many horrors to figure out which one in particular Jamie could be referring to. It must’ve been the last time, when he was snapping at the pair of them to stop bloody asking about his knee all the time. You’re both making me feel like a fucking pensioner. Then, to Jamie specifically, I’m not actually your fucking grandad, you know. You don’t have to treat me like I’m two steps from the care home. It was around that time Keeley excused herself for a drive to the pharmacy, bristling at him with intense displeasure and that familiar get yourself together look in her eyes on her way out. Soon after, after an comfortable stretch of moody silence, Jamie muttered something about more tea, and disappeared into the kitchen for far longer than it took to whip up a new brew.

So yeah, he owes them both an apology, clearly. Again.

He looks at his boyfriend, now aching with guilt on top of everything else, most pressingly the persistent sting that seems to extend his whole leg, making it very hard to focus on anything good, even his very good boyfriend. His very good boyfriend who’s only trying to help him. Fuck.

Jamie’s still got his eyes locked on his, searching his face for reassurance. Hesitant, like he’s half expecting Roy to get angry and snap at him again for bringing it up. It’s so sincere it slices Roy smoothly in half.

“I,” he starts. Shuts his mouth. Starts again, “I’m sorry for that, babe. Look, I won't pretend I didn't mean some of it. I do feel…I dunno. Not even old, just…useless? I guess. But you’re not the one making me feel like that, it’s my own shit. I never should have said that to you, or to Keeley. I likehow you take care of me.” He threads his fingers through Jamie’s and gives them a squeeze. “It’s just…hard for me to let you.” He chokes over the last part a bit, from the clumsy embarrassment of his own feelings. Immediately redirects his gaze onto their locked palms.

But Jamie responds without hesitation, his shoulders already relaxing as he says briskly, “You’re forgiven.” Like it’s simple. Like Roy’s someone easy to forgive. Fuck, he still doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve this. Jamie leans back, smile softer now, more natural. It takes on a cheeky edge as he adds, “And I know a way you can make it up to me, yeah?” with a wink and a crude hand gesture. Right back around to where they started.

Roy rolls his eyes again, filled with adoration for this ridiculous man. “We can’t fix everything with sex.”

“We can make a brave go of trying, though," he offers solemnly, lips quirked.

Roy laughs despite himself, but it’s cut off by a sharp sting to his knee, making him wince before he can help it. His boyfriend’s face droops immediately. This time though, Jamie keeps his hands forcibly pinned to his sides, trying so hard not to hover, not to be too much. It makes Roy crack open even further. He really fucked this up.

“Can we wait for Keeley to get back first?” he suggests carefully, eyes meeting Jamie’s as his fingers brush circles on the back of his hand. “Ought to apologize to her, too.”

“Definitely. Also, she’ll definitely enjoy this. Vulnerability really does it for her.” Jamie waggles his eyebrows playfully, seemingly resigned to brushing over the moment of tension, but Roy doesn’t miss the way his eyes linger for a second too long over Roy’s features, as if trying to catch the slightest grimace that could help him suss out Roy's pain level. Jamie needs him to be honest here; Roy forces himself to let him in.

“I think I need my meds, first,” he admits. “Knee really fucking hurts. Got worse just now. And maybe, um…you could, with the pillow?”

Jamie, perfect as he is, needs no further instruction. His hands fly towards the cushion, readjusting it carefully into a more supportive position. “Anything else, babe?” he asks as he fluffs, focus entirely on the pillow.

“Jay.”

His boyfriend’s head snaps up again, and Roy gestures him to slow down, and sit back. As soon as Jamie’s back’s against the sofa cushion again, Roy tosses his arm around him and tugs him in as close as possible. “I just want you,” he whispers. Then he lets himself shut his eyes and sink into the calm, knowing Jamie's got him.

#royjamie #royjamiekeeley #roy kent #jamie tartt #ted lasso #my writing #my fics #hurt/comfort #ship post #writing games #prompt meme

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skymoral · 5 months

Text

🩵UNFORESEEN🩵

- Prologue -

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Category: F/M

Fandom: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)

Relationship: Bi-Han | Sub-Zero/You

Characters:

Liu KangJohnny CageTakahashi KenshiRaiden (Mortal Kombat)Kung LaoReaderOriginal Female Character(s)Original Male Character(s)Kitana (Mortal Kombat)Mileena (Mortal Kombat)Harumi ShiraiGeras (Mortal Kombat)Tanya (Mortal Kombat)Original Female Character(s) of ColorOriginal Male Character(s) of Color

Additional Tags:

Black Character(s)Family FluffFamily FeelsChildhood FriendsFriendshipAngst and Hurt/ComfortBetrayalBroken FamiliesTournamentsFalling In LoveFirst LoveNear DeathRedemptionPeople Change PeopleLin Kuei Clan (Mortal Kombat)Game 12: Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) .·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

“OMFG Y/N turn off the damn ALARM ALREADY!” Someone said covering there head with a pillow.

”Ughhh”

you get up with the little energy you have to turn the alarm off the phone. You squint looking at the time on the phone, it shows that it’s 9:20 a.m

You quickly shot up, “FUCK! We’re going to be late for our first lecture. GET YO ASS UP RHONDA!” You quickly got out of bed. Snatching Rhonda’s leg that was exposed from under the cover. Dragging her in the bathroom, which Rhonda left alone being to lazy to fight against it.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You both rushed out of your dorm room, running through the college to reach to there history class.

They peeked to see if there professor was facing the class, which luckily they weren’t. There back was turned, so you and Rhonda tipped toed inside and quickly head to both your seats, without being detected.

”Nice of ladies to join us today, I hope this doesn’t become a habit.” The professor announced as he was writing on the board.

”Yes Professor Major.” You and Rhonda said in unison.

about 30 min in the class he started going over Egyptian culture and it’s origin. Rhonda was sleep, and you had your headphones in listening to Nicki Minaj's new Pink Friday album. While scrolling through Instagram.

As you were looking at different posts, you had got a text from one of your other friends Tonya

•••

Tonya: “Hey Juicy Fruit, what you doing? :)”

“Nothing on the phone listening to music, and sitting in a boring ass class, PLEASE save a sister 😩😩”

Tonya: “Oof, damn that’s tough… Welp, I’m glad I ain’t you. Bitches like me need freedom 🤪”

”That’s because niggas like you don’t know how to act right. Probably would’ve not lasted either 😂😂”

Tonya: ”Bitch you ain’t funny 😒”

”I am, anyways will Jamika be at the shop today? I wanted to get some box braids done, I already bought some extensions.”

Tonya: “I do know she works today, I ain’t seen her yet. The shop open tho, and we don’t close until 8pm”

”Okay that’s fine, I’m a head straight there with Rhonda. After our classes, thanks boo😘”

Tonya: ”You welcome Juicy, make sure you study hard now. Don’t want my baby to flunk lol.”

”Girl Bye”

Tonya: “😂😂😂”

•••

You put your phone down, as you continue to listen to your music and take notes down from the board for you and of course Rhonda.

Knowing she’s going to ask you to do it anyway. The lecture was finally over and you slapped Rhonda awake.

“Damn you almost knocked my weave off.” Rhonda told you as she was straightening her hair, putting it back in place. You chucked a little as ya’ll head to your next class.

”Then you need a new hairstylist, as in go to a professional and not do it yo damn self.”

”Nah bitch, just keep them motherfuckin hands to YO SELF.”

”Don’t fall asleep and I will.”

”Whatever, uh oh Ex alert.” Rhonda informed you. You looked up from your phone and noticed your ex-boyfriend Oscar.

”Well what a pleasant surprise, you look stunning as always Y/N.”

”Oscar haven’t you heard a song called, to the left to the left.” Rhonda did a little dance and hand gesture to the left, for him to leave.

Oscar rolled his eyes irritated but went back to his fake smile, “Oh Rhonda I didn’t see you down there. The adults are having a conversation.”

Rhonda wanted to back hand him, but you held her hand back. “What do you want Oscar? We’re trying to get to class.”

”I just wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend. I thought you two might get along, Jovanni!” He shouted behind him, she quickly came towards the group. Hugging him then giving him a kiss.

”Jovanni this is Y/N, Y/N this is Jovanni Simpson, Babe you remember when I told you about her.”

You looked at Jovanni, and you had to admit she was a beauty. Gorgeous milk chocolate skin, with a beautiful smile. Tall with an hour glass figure, long black hair and just everything about her was gorgeous.

”Damn girl, yo baby hair is on TEN! WHO does your ha-OW!” You nudged Rhonda’s side.

”I do my own hair I’m a Hairstylist and cosmetologist on the side and studying to be a nurse. I’ll be interning to the university hospital in Miami, this year. One of the biggest hospitals in our state!” Jovanni told them, with a huge grin.

You know she wasn’t trying to piss you off or try to come off that she’s better than you, but you still take it as such.

”W-Well, my girl Y/N is… you know… AN ACTRESS!”

Everyone looked at Rhonda confused, you gave her the angry smile.

“Really!?” Oscar and Jovanni questioned looking at you. You just smiled at them nervously and embarrassed.

”Yep and she knows JOHNNY CAGE!”

”The JOHNNY CAGE! OMG! I LOVE HIM!” Jovanni bounced.

”Babe she fuckin wit u, she ain’t no actress nor does she know Johnny Cage.”

”Ha! How would you know? Its okay to admit, that I’ve accomplished more than you."

”Stop cappin! Just admit that you ain’t got shit goin for yo ass. I bet you ain’t got no proof.”

”Oh really!? I’ll show yo ass proof!” You snapped back.

”Yeah she gonna be in Johnny’s Cage upcoming, movie the movie he announced he's producing and directing called, ‘Mortal Kombat’. And you both are invited to the premiere when it comes out.”

“Rhonda hun.” You whispered to her, nervously.

”We’ll even take pictures while we’re on set and post it on all her socials.” Rhonda told the two who looked at Oscar irritated and Jovanni excited and shocked.

”Wow! Damn look at the time, we better getting going to class.” You said quickly dragging Rhonda to ya’ll class. You both quickly settled down, you slammed your head on the desk arms folded.

”Ughhhhh… Why can I never have a good morningggg… WHY DID YOU TELL THEM THAT RHONDA! I don’t know that nigga nor am I gonna be in any movie. I’m already irritated he has a hot successful girlfriend in the making… When I have no evidence, I’m a just be embarrassing my black ass for no reason…. I wanna go home…”

”Listen don’t let that clown and his thot get you down. I know what will cheer you up babe.” Rhonda pulled out her phone and put on BTS “Butter”

”Smooth like butter, like a criminal under cover.” Rhonda began singing to your favorite song and moving to the beat in her seat as they wait for the professor. You looked up smirking shaking your head as you knew she wanted you to sing along to the beat. "Gon pop like trouble breaking into your heart like that." You continued, She got up and pulled you up with her. ya'll started dancing, everyone staring at you both, you both sang " Ooh when I look in the mirror I melt your heart into two I got that superstar glow, so Ooh(do the boogie, like)."

As you both were singing and dancing, there professor came in behind them looking at them. There professor started dancing behind them badly, the whole class started laughing. You and Rhonda danced turning around and completely stopped when you saw the professor. Rhonda turned the music off laughing at the professor, he stopped looking at the girls smiling. "I've been an ARMY sense 2013." You were definitely shocked by that news, "Well I guess were both apart of the ARMY." you laughed, you did feel a bit better, he had everyone settle down for the class to begin.

It was now 12:00pm ya'll only had two classes for that day, and luckily you didn't have to work at the movie store in the mall today. Like you said earlier to Tonya, ya'll was headed to the shop to get your hair done. You were thinking you and Rhonda could go out for some drinks.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Ya'll made it to the shop and you greeted the ladies, "HEYYYYYYY!" The four of ya'll say in unison. You were friends with the girls at the salon for a month, but it's like ya'll knew each other forever. You meet them at a club Rhonda took you to, after Oscar cheated on you and you were balling your eyes out to her. So she wanted to do something to get your mind off it, so dressed up really cute but still depressed.

Jamika had complemented you on your outfit when you were at the bar, she came in with Tonya and another girl named Ashanti. You started crying again after saying thank you, and they wanted to know what was wrong. Rhonda gave them the rundown and Ashanti related with your pain, they tried comforting you and everything went well from there and ya'll became friends.

"So how long are we talking babe?" Jamika took you to her chair.

"45 inch and can it be curly at the ends, you know wavy and shit. You know what I mean, I already know it's going to be cute." You sat down giving her the hair. You already took out the old hair with Rhonda's hair.

"I got you babe." Jamika replied, getting ready to feel with what she's working with.

Rhonda sat in one of the open chairs next to you, "Ya'll ain't gonna believe what just happened on campus, I wanted to beat that boys ass so badly!"

Rhonda was telling everyone what happened, which you felt slightly embarrassed, because you didn't want everyone in your business. She even told them about the part of knowing Johnny and now she has to show proof and stuff, "I dug a hole for myself with that one." You said as Jamika was washing your hair. Jamika and the other workers looking at each other, "Is something wrong?" You questioned.

"No it's just that, We a-"

Jamika was cut off as Ashanti entered, "OMG! I'm so sorry I'm late. There was traffic and shit happened at the apartment, al-"

"Mhmm, set up please." Jamika chuckled, she put you under the hair dryer after adding conditioner.

"Hey Ashanti I think ya girl Y/N need to talk to you about something." Tonya shouted to her. "Sure! Wassup girly?"

Tonya pulled her to her whispering in her ears, Ashanti nodding understanding. Ashanti came and sat next to you after setting up her spot, waiting on a client. "So I heard the run down from Tonya, I can help you meet Johnny." She smiled, you looked her confused, "How? You know Johnny?"

As you were getting your hair done, Ashanti told you of how she met Johnny and how they became friends, as well as a date she had a couple weeks ago with one of Johnny's friends. You were so amazed and shocked that you knew them for a month and they never told you this. They didn't think it was there place to say anything and didn't know if they should, plus you were busy with school. You couldn't believe that Mortal Kombat mumbo jumbo was real.

"Johnny told me there having a big get together in a place called outworld next weekend. He invited me, I can ask to see if I can bring any plus ones." Ashanti smiled at you, you wanted to spring into a hug so badly. But remembered who chair you were in, you gave many thank you's.

"I'm up for meeting some cute sexy men." Rhonda said laughing with Tonya.

"You got a cute sexy nigga right in front of you baby." Malcolm blew a kiss and winked at Rhonda. Who only rolled her eyes laughing at him

"So my cousin told me about this bomb ass club down in chinatown. She said is fire, so are you ladies up for a little fun in China tonight after we get off! Malcolm you closing today." Jamika told the girls, Malcolm nodded.

"Girls Night! It's been a minute sense we last had some good fun... Now the question stands... Who paying?"

"NOT IT!" Jamika, Rhonda, Ashanti, and You said in unison quickly. Leaving Tonya to take the bill.

Tonya shaking her head working on a clients hair, "You hoes get on my nerves."

"Tonya make sure to bring me something back, when ya'll done, you know what I like." Fredrick asked her, she nodded.

"I gotchu big poppa."

You were excited, I think you need to let loose again and have some fun with the squad. You definitely gonna snatch a few eyes in the club.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You wore a cute short black dress, stopping at you're thighs. Strapless just enough to show off your ladies, making them more define. Makeup on hair in a up due and 6 in heels.

Rhonda looked just as cute with her tight leggings and tight crop tight with big poofy sleeves. She had a green and gold look going, You were black and gold of course. The classic style, you were very simple but cute.

Jamika volunteered to drive all of you to the place, she picked you and Rhonda up at 8:30. She was supposed to be there around 8 but Tonya wasn't ready and still getting dressed. "Ya'll already know black people don't never know how to be on time for shit." Jamika said taking a smoke from her blunt before driving off. If ya'll wanted to have fun, ya'll first was going to get high for it.

Ya'll made it to the place, and you had to admit it was poppin. The music was on point and everyone seem to be having fun. You just hope the drinks ain't shit that is your best friend in any place, and you headed straight there. There girls followed you and everyone grabbed a shot of vodka.

"TO GIRLS NIGHT!" Jamika shouted, you and the ladies toasted to that. The burning feeling in your throat felt amazing, you're hoping to find someone nice while here if possible. Some of you took more shots, you having the most. Ashanti already told you and the ladies she'll try to be the most sober one, so everyone else can have fun and be white girl wasted.

Your song came on and you and the girls was dancing to the music, you were having fun as you were lost in the music. Then you accidentally bumped into someone, "Ooh sorry, got to into the music." you apologized, your were a bit tipsy and high but you could've sworn they said something in a different language.

He turned back to you as he was done saying something to his friends, "It's alright, I hope you are enjoying your time um..."

"Y/N! The name's Y/N." You said that louder than you wanted to as the music calmed down, he had an Asian accent and the cutest smile when you told him your name.

"I was going to get some fresh air from the crowd, would you like to accompany me?" He gave you another sweet smile, all you did was nodded slowly. The liquor kicking in stronger, he held out his hand for you to grab and you took it without hesitation.

You don't know why you weren't more caution about following a stranger, but he didn't seem like a bad guy to you and maybe it could lead to something fun.

As you made it outside, the cool breeze felt nice. He took you to the side of the building, he pulled you close to him. Kissing you hard, your eyes bulged out as you tried to push him off you but then you felt something go in the side of your neck. He finally pulled away, you were becoming dizzy. Before completely blacking out, you should've known better than to go with some weird ass man.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

You were slowly regaining consciousness, you had a massive headache. Hangovers are not your thing, as you moved you felt that you were tied up. You moved harder and when your vision cleared you see a bunch of other girls tied up.

You sat up looking around, you were in a car. Your mind immediately ran 80 miles per minute, you didn't know what was going. "W-W-Where am I? W-What's happening." You asked one of the women in the cart with you.

"We're being sold to the Red Dragon Clan, to be a concubine to the head of the Red Dragon." One woman answered you.

You were in the midst of human trafficking and being sold to see random bastard as his personal whore. FUCK THAT!

”We need to get out of here!” You slowly stood up, not trying to make your headache worse.

”And do what, there is no way for us to get out. The door is locked, nothing is in here and they have the keys. So you might as well make yourself comfortable little girl.” One woman looked at you irritated, you can tell she was was trying to make the situation worse.

”I’m sorry, If I don’t want to be sold to someone that wants to SCREW ME TILL I PASS THE FUCK OUT! LIKE A DAMN RAGDOLL! If you aren’t going to give any ideas then please SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

All the girls in there looked at you with wide eyes, not saying anything behind that.

You had to calm down now, you looked around. You could tell the cart is wobbly, one thing she was right. There isn’t anything they can use to get out, except maybe… You looked towards the door, it looked weak and worn out. There was 10 girls in here including you. Only 4 big women, so only one option. You’re praying it works but it’s the only option, and you need to be quick.

”Okay! If you want to get out of here, you have to help me. This cart is not stable and the door looks worn out, if we all slam our weight on that door. Maybe… Just maybe it’ll break and we can get out of here.”

”While there in the middle of the road?” One girl said.

”It‘ll draw more attention if it’s in open place. They wouldn’t be able to risk being in the public eye.” You answered the quiet talking girl.

”And if it fails?” The agitated woman from before asked you.

You sighed, “Then we can have fun getting fucked to death. But if you’re only going to say negative shit, stay your ass over there. Those that want to at least try, stand up.”

They all looked at each other, you were happy to see all of them stand up. You had the biggest and thickest ones up front. Everyone in formation, “Ready… 1… 2… 3!” You yelled.

All the girls slammed on the door having there arms tied they slammed and put all there weight on the one side. Which made a loud sound, and the cart slightly leaned. The door bent a little.

The ladies could hear them talking, so you all didn’t waste no time doing it again. As it was working, and you all did it one last time. The door finally breaking open and all the girls rolled out, cart swinger hard to the right. Making the car lean with it and flip on its side.

You looked around, and noticed you were definitely far from home. You don’t know how long you were knocked out, but you prayed your friends knew you were missing and called for help. If help knew where this was. It didn’t seem like a place with not really anyone around to help you out here.

The men were getting up trying to get out the car. “RUN AND SCATTER!” You yelled to all the girls. You didn’t have to tell them twice.

You ran kicking off your heels, you dipped out as fast as your little feet could run. You heard the men not far from you, you continued to find somewhere to hide, as you were yelling for help. You don’t know why you’re not running towards a city but a forest. You looked behind you as you couldn’t see or hear the men following you.

You slowed down to catch your breath, as you doubled checked behind you. You bumped into someone, quickly turning around and gripped your throat. He looked as though he was dressed in Ninja attire Red and Black.

You were trying to break free as you were losing oxygen. “You’re the reason our pets got away. The master will not be pleased.”

”P-P-Plea… P-Please…” You tried to speak will trying to catch your breath. Tears coming out of your eyes, as your grip became weak.

”As punishment you will die.” He told you, and you couldn’t believe it was going to end like this… You wondered why this was happening to you. You didn’t believe you were a horrible person, but horrible things usually happens.

”I don’t want to die.” You squeaked out what you believed your last words would be.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·..·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

A/N: Sorry Bi-Han isn’t in the Prologue :) but he may show up in the next

I hope you ladies like it, I worked a hot minute on it and will be combining the other stories and adding ya’ll friends from the other stories💅🏾

A03: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/53070346">Unforeseen</a> (3533 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoralSky">MoralSky</a> Chapters: 1/? Fandom: <a href="

#mortal kombat #bi han sub zero #reader insert #bi han mortal kombat #fem reader #fanfic #bi han mk #black reader #bi han x reader #bi han fanfic #original characters #bi han x black reader #black fanfic writer

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mephinomaly · 7 months

Text

[TL] PYSCHOBREAK/Chapter 3

[ This post uses Ois~su ♪ ]

Rei: Umu. I did some research regarding it, and I found that no one in RhythmLink requested that we take part in the experiment.

Koga: Huh? W-whaddya mean!?

Rei: I asked and it seems that it was a machine we spoke with. No real person knows about the experiment— that is the story they are sticking with.

It is unusual for myself to put on a serious face, but this time I feigned total ignorance…

It was rather bold of me, to tell a lie.

Kaoru: Yup. The higher ups thought we were behaving recklessly and were all up in arms about it.

Adonis: Umu. We were flooded with messages asking what HELLSING was.

Koga: I-I’m startin’ to feel kinda scared…

Guess I’m speakin’ with hindsight but we was probably too hasty ‘bout gettin’ involved with a questionable experiment.

Rei: So it seems… We realised we were losing popularity and tried to regain as much control as we could as quickly as we could.

And it all snowballed from there. In reality, I am as much of a fool as I thought I was— I must reflect on this.

Kaoru: You can reflect later, but first we need to focus on the problem at hand.

Rei 2: Eh? Where’s the problem?

Ain’t this turnin’ into a good thing for you guys?

Kaoru: Okay? Fake Rei-kun, can you shut it? We’re having an important conversation right now, alright?

Rei 2: Haha, someone’s in a bad mood~! If your lack of sleep is gettin’ to ya, why dontcha sleep with me, Kaoru-cha~n ♪

Kaoru: Wa, nononono….You’re just being creepy and gross now. Adonis-kun, you deal with him.

Adonis: I’d rather not either. Please don’t pass him to me.

…Despite his appearance, the fake Sakuma-senpai is nothing like him.

As things are now, fake me probably has a different personality too.

Adonis 2: ...

Rei 2: Our recall ain’t perfect yet, ‘n we still got a long way t’go. But hey, we’re still collectin’ data from you as we speak—

Sooner or later, we’re gonna be so similar to you that even your parents won’t be able t’tell the difference.

Adonis: Is that your purpose?

Rei 2: You oughta be usin’ keigo, kohai. Even though we’re brand new, you still gotta pay respect to us.

Rei: I actually feel rather lonely when someone speaks to me in keigo. It's distant.

Rei 2: You’ve gotten soft, real me.

Well whatever. Becomin’ ‘real’ is instinct, but not our purpose.

We don’t have a sense of purpose.

Like I said earlier, we’re machines, wooden dolls, puppets. We ain’t got a heart, jus’ programmin’.

To feel, to think, to desire—

And dreamin’ too, is an annoyin’ flaw unique to you humans.

Rei: I believe that is what makes humans so fantastic.

We should move on. Questioning these fakes is not worth our time. Let us leave these machines behind and begin exploring the inside of the facilities.

Though it seems they have already disposed of any evidence, perhaps we can locate some documents here and there. Then we can discover why this has taken place.

And before you ask, I have already reported what we know so far to ES and the RhythmLink higher ups, and have been given permission to search the facilities.

Adonis: As always, Sakuma-senpai is fast at covering all his bases.

Rei: That’s one of my strong points. Of course, we are far from experts, and I don’t expect to find much–

But what else can we do in this moment?

Rei 2: Whilst you’re doin’ that, we’ll carry on with idol activities in your place.

Koga: Haa? Get over yourselves, you ain’t real.

The fans are confused ‘cos of you. They don’t wanna see fakes that only look like us from the outside, you bastards.

Rei 2: Confused? But from what I saw, there were a lot of really happy fans?

It’s pretty funny once you realise but–

When fans saw what HELLSING was up to, they was so happy, cryin’ too, goin’ “The real UNDEAD are back!”

Can you guys even afford a detour by checkin’ out the facility?

Whilst you’re worryin’ ‘bout things that don’t matter, we’re replacin’ you ♪

Koga: ...

[ ☆ ]

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

#ensemble stars #enstars #translation #undead climax #rei sakuma #adonis otogari #kaoru hakaze #koga oogami

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rescuehumans-runtotherescue · 10 months

Note

Not a hc relationship for a Burns kid with a reader (my brain can't accept that ¨reader¨ is supposed to be me 😕)

But what do you think of hc for Charlie x Carin??? Why not have some old people love fluff?? How would the rest of the Burns kids react knowing that their dad is ¨back in action 🤭😉?

I wanted to send you ideas/hc's for a future au with some of my crack ships, but I think that you won't like them

Charlie x Carin Headcanons

🚨Given the fact that they’re in their middle age, most dates are probably quiet ones, when rescue work doesn’t get in the way. Their relationship gives me big “quality time as a love language” vibes.

🚨They still like to hike together! They get to appreciate nature and the quiet time away from responsibilities for a short while and just enjoy each other’s presence. Sometimes their hikes turn into picnics.

🚨They also do lunch when they can, cafe dates where Charlie pulls out her chair for her and they playfully fight over who will cover the check. Chivalry ain’t dead~

🚨They talk policing, getting to know about what each other has done and heard about working on the police force. Carin likes to get Charlie all flushed and bashful when she goes on and on about how famous he is in the mainland rescue community.

🚨They do talk about family as well. They both have plenty of stories of Jerry to laugh about, and of course there is always a lot to say about the Burns’ kids.

🚨But Charlie? Well Charlie mainly just wants to hear about her.

🚨He loves his kids and is proud of them but he hears plenty of people praising the rescue team all the time. He wants to know about her. Why she became police dispatch, why she moved to the island, if she had a spouse…

🚨And if she did, they speak of their passed loved ones fondly together, which only strengthens their bond and makes Charlie feel less guilty about pursuing love again.

🚨Sometimes they do drives around town (or Carin joins Charlie for parol) courtesy of Chase, who is painfully oblivious to these two flirting and how much of a third wheel he is.

How The Kids Would React

The Burns’ kids would definitely notice when their dad starts hanging out with a woman his age. At first they would stay out of it for sake of pretending it’s not happening and not wanting to make assumptions, but when casual meetups turn into obvious dates, they have a talk about it. And when I say ‘they’ have a talk about it, I mean just the kids.

They know their dad still loves their mom and that their dad has gone through so much that he deserves to be happy. If that’s with Carin, they’re… okay with it. Kade is surprisingly the most accepting of it.

It can’t not be awkward when your parent starts dating again. The Burns’ kids and Carin have a lot of strained awkward conversations before they get used to her being around.

They do like Carin but this doesn’t stop them from making faces and fake gagging behind her back if they catch the two getting affectionate, no matter how innocent it is.

“Oh gross, they’re kissing!”

It’s likely the most awkward for poor Cody, who is probably a teenager at the time this is happening. Not to mention the fact that he and Carin’s nephew (Jerry’s son) are likely being made to hang out more because of it. Not that Cody doesn’t like him but I’m sure he gets plenty of “Ew Aunt Carin and your dad are dating! That’s so gross!” Or they just avoid talking about it at all which makes for a lot of awkward silence.

🚨Charlie never hides his newfound relationship from his kids, but he is hesitant to talk about it.

1, because he’s not sure how they’ll react to him moving on from their mom

2, he knows it’s ‘cringy’ when a parent gets mushy with someone

And 3, he knows that they’ll tease him about it

Kade: Hey, uh, Dad! Is that a new shirt? Don’t think I’ve seen it before! Going somewhere… special?

Charlie [parent warning voice]: Kade…

Dani: Oh hush, Kade. Let him have some fun, he deserves it!

Graham: Oh, uh, but not too much fun!

Cody: Guys, ew!

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talltoontales · 24 days

Text

High Rolling Spider-Man: HEATED

Prompt: Just wanted to write for my Spidersona (Spider-Man OC)

Prompt By: Me (ToonMan)

Started Writing: 05/21/2024

|| || || || || || || || || ||

It’s a clear day in New Las Vegas as Spider-Man swings above the mid-day traffic, landing on the side of a building. He pulls his sleeve back to look at his watch.

“Huh?” says Spider-Man, “It’s been thirty minutes and no accidents. Must be a slow day.” Spider-Man jerks his head to the side, narrowly dodging a half-empty beer can. As it bounces off the wall, Spider-Man grabs it out of the air with his web. He looks down and sees a man giving him a double dose of the middle finger.

“Yeah! I ain’t scared of you, freak!” yells the man. Spider-Man flings the soda can toward the angry civilian. The man dives to the side, only for the soda to fly right into a garbage can.

“Swish!” says Spider-Man. The man jumps back up to his feet.

“You think you’re funny, bug boy!?” yells the man.

“I mean, I have my moments,” says Spider-Man. The man pulls out his phone and starts dialing.

“Well, I hope you like laughing behind bars,” says the man. Spider-Man leaps down from the wall, passing by civilians stop in their tracks as they watch Spider-Man walk up to the man, close enough to hear 911 over the man’s phone.

“Go ahead,” says Spider-Man. “I got nowhere better to be.” The color drains from the man as his face and hands become so drenched in sweat that his phone starts to slide out. The quickly growing crowd starts recording the situation. Spider-Man’s eyes squint as he leans in closer to the side of the man’s head. “What’s wrong? Scared of itsy bitsy ole’ me?”

Spider-Man feels something soft bounce off the side of his head. It then hits the ground with a soft squeak. He looks at the ground to see a worn-down teddy bear at his feet.

Looking up, he sees a young boy clinging to his mother and staring tear-covered daggers at Spider-Man. The wallcrawler sighs as he leans away from the man. Spider-Man snatches the phone away from the man.

“Hello, 911,” says Spider-Man in a fake voice, “I think I see that web man bothering some drunk guy at the corner of Flint and Chimenea. Oh, wait. I think he sees me!” Spider-Man hangs up the phone and slaps it back onto the man’s chest.

“Anything else bothering you?” The man shakes his head wildly. “Thought so. Have a nice day.” Spider-Man runs away from the man, leaping over the crowd and swinging into an alleyway.

The boy who threw his toy earlier runs as fast as he can to pick up his bear. The man collapses onto his butt as he gasps for air. The boy walks over and grabs the man’s arm with both hands. The mother follows shortly after to help the man back onto his feet. Spider-Man watches all of this from a nearby rooftop.

Good job, Pete, reeeeally helping out your reputation with that one.

Spider-Man leaps from the rooftop and starts swinging through the city again.

God, I can see the headlines now: “Spider-Man attacks citizen with his own drink!” “Spider-Man prank calls 911 call!” “Brave child wards off Spider-Menace!” All because I couldn’t keep my head on straight for five seconds and ignore some rando.

But I mean, who goes up to a wanted super criminal looking to pick a fight? Guy’s lucky all I did was scare the crap outta him. Gah! No! Stop! Don’t think like that!

Spider-Man lands on the railing of a billboard, looking over the busy street below.

It’s not their fault. They don’t know what I know. As far as they’re concerned, Spider-Man tried to kill the mayor who saved Las Vegas from joining California at the bottom of the Pacific. Heck, I’d hate me too!

Spider-Man looks across from him at a video billboard playing an advertisement for the Hexi Guard. Images of Gold Griffin, Mysterio, Mach One, Stampede, and Hydro-Man, all doing generic heroic deeds, play on a loop.

“Can’t even let me sulk in peace, huh?” says Spider-Man. “One of these days, the whole world will see you for the frauds you are. Can’t even live up to your team’s name. Last time I checked Hexi means—"

A massive explosion shakes the entire city. Spider-Man leaps on top of the billboard, looking around until he sees the middle of the Empire Hotel engulfed in flames. Spider-Man quickly slingshots himself at the burning hotel.

// // // // // // // // // //

Spider-Man lands on a roof overlooking the hotel’s entrance. Security guards try to organize fleeing guests with little success. A few police cars come to a screeching halt, but the officers struggle to get through the horde of people.

Spider-Man looks at one of the windows in time to see a chair fly through it. A woman uses a lamp to break the remaining glass in her way as she screams for help.

Spider-Man leaps into action, swinging toward the base of the hotel. He runs up the side of the building, dodging exploding windows and falling glass. A blast of fire launches the woman out the window. Spider-Man quickly jumps off the side of the building and catches the woman in midair.

“Going down?” asks Spider-Man as he uses his webs to safely swing to the ground. Before they even touch gravel, the woman practically jumps from Spider-Man’s, running away as fast as she can. “I guess a tip would be asking too much.”

Spider-Man makes his way to one of the windows on the floor below the fire. He tries to look inside, but the tinted glass makes it difficult. “If anyone’s inside, stand back!”

Spider-Man launches himself through the glass into an unused, smoke-filled room. He runs through the front door into a hallway filled with the burning debris of the next floor. Spider-Man finds a hole and jumps up to the next floor, calling out to see if anyone needs help.

A man calls out behind a door blocked by more debris. Spider-Man throws it away and opens the door. Before the young man could even think, "Thank you,” he immediately takes a step back once he sees Spider-Man.

“Please, I-I have a kid,” begs the young man.

“Then why are you still standing here!” yells Spider-Man. “Stairs are down the hall! Go!” Spider-Man continues down the hall, going door by door, floor by floor, as the fire increases.

On one of the upper floors, Spider-Man sees an elderly woman using a fire extinguisher to try and break down a door. “Seriously!? Hey lady! You’re using that wrong!” The elderly woman sees Spider-Man and holds a fire extinguisher like a bat, swinging at Spider-Man.

“Not a step {cough} a step further!” yells the elderly woman. “I {cough} {cough} {cough} I won’t let you take me or my family.”

-above-

Debris falls above the elderly woman’s head. Spider-Man tries to web it away, but the elderly woman hits his hand away with the fire extinguisher. Some of the debris hits the woman’s head, knocking her out, while Spider-Man webs the rest.

“Crap,” says Spider-Man. He throws the elderly woman over his shoulder before breaking the hotel room door down. Inside, an elderly man holds a young girl wrapped in a blanket. The girl screams once she sees Spider-Man.

“Lynet?” asks the old man. As Spider-Man walks towards the pair, the old man grabs his cane and swings it at him. “S-stay away {cough} {cough}!” Spider-Man grabs the cane and holds it in place.

“Can you walk?” asks Spider-Man. The old man just stares at Spider-Man, putting himself further between the webhead and his granddaughter. “I’ll take that as a maybe. Do you know how to work a fire extinguisher?” The old man continues to stare down Spider-Man. The young girl pushes herself out from behind her grandfather.

“I do!” says the girl.

“Awesome,” says Spider-Man, using his webs to pull the fire extinguisher to him. “Here.” Spider-Man tries to hand the fire extinguisher to the girl, but the grandfather blocks him. “Look you—” Spider-Man glances at the girl.

“Look, this place is coming apart, and I’ve been here too long to swing you out that window. So, you can either help me help you outta here, or I can carry you outta here kicking and screaming in front of the kid?”

The old man continues to stare Spider-Man down, the sound of his granddaughter coughing behind him, until he takes the fire extinguisher himself, stands up, and takes his granddaughter by the hand.

The trio races down the hall, the old man putting out fires, the girl helping to keep her grandfather on his feet, and Spider-Man webbing any debris. They turn a corner to find the path to the stars blocked by a wall of fire a rubble.

The old man blasts the fire, but the extinguisher runs out. Spider-Man lays the grandmother on the ground and tries to web the debris, but his webbing quickly disintegrates in the heat.

“We {cough} {cough} we have to {cough},” the grandfather erupts into a coughing fit as he falls to his knees. The girl tries to keep him on his feet but can’t lift him as she also begins to cough. With tears in her eyes, the girl begs her grandfather to get up, shaking his body.

-fire-

Spider-Man focuses back on the wall of fire, confused.

-Danger-Fire-

The fire in the hallway begins to burn brighter, going from orange to yellow.

- DANGER -

Spider-Man’s eyes widen. He quickly picks the grandparents up. “We need to move now!” orders Spider-Man. The girl runs ahead as he directs her from behind. The two stop in front of an elevator.

Spider-Man puts the grandparents on the ground before grabbing the elevator doors. The hated metal burns right through his suit, causing him to real back. He tries again, pushing and screaming through the pain as he begins to make progress, but the pain is too much. He lets go, and the doors slam closed.

- DANGER-ESCAPE-FIRE -

Spider-Man looks at where they came from as the brighter flames begin to spread down the hallway. He then looks back at the girl as she tries not to cry while also trying to wake her grandparents.

For a second, Spider-Man sees himself as Pete kneeling down next to a homeless man, desperately trying to wake him as well.

“Please!” begs Pete, “Please, don’t leave me alone! I’m sorry! Please...”

- DANGERESCAPEFIREESCAPEDANGERFIRE -

A man with glowing golden skin, red eyes, flowing copper hair, and wearing a matching metallic sleeveless jumpsuit walks into the hallway in front of Spider-Man.

\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\

Spider-Man and the glowing man look at each other. The glowing man tightens his fist, and the fire in the hallway burns brighter. Spider-Man gets into a fighting stance. The young girl coughing grabs the glowing man's attention as he looks around Spider-Man at the girl and her grandparents.

“Hey! Eyes on me, golden boy!” yells Spider-Man, leaping at the golden man but quickly feels the air start to cook him as the two get closer.

- GET-BACK -

Spider-Man pulls himself back with his webs, putting him closer to the family and father away the glowing man. “Whatever’s going on here’s got nothing to do with them!”

The glowing man puts his hands out in front of him. Spider-Man quickly tries to web the glowing man’s hands, but his webs disintegrate before even getting close. The man closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as the fire shifts around them.

Spider-Man tries to web the ceiling above the glowing man, but it still turns to ash. Spider-Man falls to one knee as the heat takes its tool. He turns around to see the girl passed out on top of her grandparents.

Suddenly, a cool breeze brushes up behind him. Spider-Man turns around and watches as the glowing man absorbs the heat from the fire, snuffing it out until all that remains is smoke and a charred hallway.

The glowing man opens his eyes, aims a clenched fist at Spider-Man, and fires an energy blast. Spider-Man braces for impact, only for nothing to happen. He looks around to see a massive hole in the wall behind him, pulling out all the smoke. The glowing man places a set of fingers to his ear.

“This is Hot Shot,” says the glowing man, “I got two elderly and one child on the twenty-seventh floor that need immediate medical attention, over.” There’s a pause as someone talks on the other end. “No, I don’t have a visual on Spider-Man. He must’ve escaped.” Spider-Man looks at Hot Shot, surprised.

“See you on the ground, chief.” Hot Shot walks past Spider-Man, the glowing metal on his arms fading into dark tan skin as he picks up the grandparents and the child under his arms.

“Hey,” says Spider-Man as he picks himself back up. “Thanks for the, um, assist.”

“Don’t mention it, seriously,” says Hot Shot. “How are you holding up?”

“A little parched, but I should be good in a minute,” says Spider-Man. “it’ll take more than a little heat to put me down for good.”

“That’s good to know,” says Hot Shot as he throws the trio out of the hole he made.

“NO!” yells Spider-Man.

- brace -

He tries to run after them but gets blasted in the chest by Hot Shot, knocking him to the ground. Hotshot’s legs erupt into flames launching him out of the hotel. He dives toward the ground grabbing the grandparents with his hands.

Then levels out to let the young girl safely land on his back as he lands on the ground. First responders take the family, allowing Hot Shot to land. Hot Shot slicks his hair back, looks to the crowd with a golden smile, and talks in his earpiece.

“All clear!” yells Hot Shot as the crowd erupts into cheers. Back inside the hotel, Spider-Man feels his chest. It stings to the touch, but he’s still in one piece.

Really should have seen that coming.

- collapse -

Suddenly, the entire building shakes and shifts. Spider-Man is sent a foot into the air as the floor drops from under him. “You've gotta be kidding me!” groans Spider-Man.

He forces himself to his feet as he sprints through the collapsing hotel, bobbing and weaving through what remains of the fire. Eventually, he’s forced to dive through a window to escape the hotel, only to crash through another window into someone’s home office.

“…ow…” After dragging himself to his feet, he watches the rest of the Empire Hotel’s collapse. From the massive cloud of smoke, he notices a large, hunched figure with glowing blue eyes stomp away from the scene. “Stampede, which means the Hexi Guard, which also means—”

// // // // // // // // // //

“People of New Las Vegas,” Mayor Harry Osborn stands at the top of the steps of City Hall overlooking a massive crowd. His assistant, Octavious Jr., to his right, and Hexi Guard's second-in-command, Mysterio, to his left.

“As you all very well know, almost seven years ago, Dr. Edward Lansky, otherwise known as Lightmaster, was a proud member of the Hexi Guard, saving not only Las Vegas but the entire East Coast. And even while on death’s door, he still dedicated himself to the recovery and rejuvenation of this fair city.”

The crowd goes silent as people bow their heads in respect. “While a man such as him is irreplaceable due to the rising superhuman threat, The Hexi Guard, the brilliant minds at Oztavious Industries, and myself have come to a decision. Mysterio, if you would.”

Harry steps back as Mysterio takes over at the podium. Her hands radiate a green mist-like energy as large circular screens appear in the air. Each shows athletic men and women doing tests and exercises.

“Let me be clear,” says Mysterio, “to become a member of the Hexi Guard, one must have more than just power. They must have skill, wisdom, tact, and, above all, the true spirit of a hero. And while no one can shine as bright as Light…as bright as Edward, this young man has the potential to shine even brighter in his own, unique way.”

Mysterio claps her hands, and the screens collapse, launch into the air, and explode like fireworks. The crowd looks up to see a figure standing on the roof of City Hall.

“So, if you would kindly give a rousing round of applause for the newest member of the Hexi Guard, Hot Shot, the molten man!” Hot Shot jumps from the roof of the building, and a glowing golden liquid spawning from his chest quickly covers his entire body.

Before crashing into the ground, Hot Shot lets off a quick blast of fire to cushion his landing. Hot Shot whips his hair back as he stands up. Now, with a copper domino mask and a charming grin, the crowd erupts into applause.

\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\

Pete sits with a bucket of chocolate ice cream resting on his chest while watching Hot Shot’s inauguration on TV. Finishing the ice cream, Pete throws the bucket behind him as he slumps in his chair. On the TV, Hot Shot shows off his firepower with short bursts of flight and blasting targets out of the sky above the crowd.

“Welp, needed a new suit anyway,” says Pete.

. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story! If you have any comments, critiques, or criticisms, please don't be afraid to let me hear 'em (as long as they're constructive (or comical)). Also, if you have some spare time, check out my blog for more stories like the one above. Stay safe, drink plenty of water, and be kind to yourself and others. ToonMan, AWAY!

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twig-gy · 7 months

Text

so the thing with the fic is it’s like. the only longfic i have left

the first one i tried to write was the cold you feel inside your lungs and you see. i had no plan. i had no idea what i was doing the whole entire time. so later i came back and morphed it into two. first there’s the one which kept orig title. this one is basically mind is alone but there’s no weird spiral thing he just goes through the normal grieving process and has to figure out how to live w/o heart and soul. and i kinda got stuck there bc grief is hard to write when you’re lucky enough to not have felt it. i might come back to it actually

the other half i split it into is what i call the social edition. so in this version mind has to live as whole and figure out how to society. i let him loose omg what will he do. the thing with that, though, is idk how to write social interaction. and also don’t know what he would be doing if i wanted to make the fic actually long. maybe i could try to make a oneshot out of it?

the next longfic is basically heart apathy and he is Really Trying to not feel anything or exist because of defense mechanism. i got stuck at a part and didn’t know how to continue though. that was more of a ventfic thing iirc

so the one i’m actually working on is the one that has the least of a title. basically mind finds heart doing [DATA EXPUNGED] and has to figure out like. how to exist with this new information/how to adjust their dynamic. (aka this incident [if you will] gives mind a more accurate view of heart, causes them to fix their relationship. in the long run ofc) so i’ve written a few parts with that and am tentatively optimistic about it not dying like every other project i’ve created in life. because i actually have a slight idea where i’m going? emphasis on slight. but yeah

so i finished the first part of that/probably the prologue which is mind sees the thing, and realizes that heart might not actually be gaslight/gatekeep/girlbossing his way through life. for more context, in this fic at least, heart doesn’t manipulate anyone. not really. it’s kinda a more heart-leaning thing because Heart Isn’t Faking His Emotions He’s Just Fucking Depressed Mind. i generally try to make it so they both have equal fault in the thing but in this one i could understand how mind seems like. more wrong. they still hate each other, they’re still argumentative, ofc heart is, it’s just mind has more misconceptions. well heart does too

heart thinks that mind is being logical to cover up that he’s just as fucked up as the rest of them. he pretends and pretends he’s better but he’s just the same. however, he sits on his throne, acting like he’s completely unbiased, even though he ain’t. that’s the main thing that heart’s angry about and he tries to ‘show mind the truth that he’s just as weak’.

Anyway the main thing about the fic will be them you know. trying to concord. trying to extend grace to each other. i am going to make them argue So So much like. they will slip up and it will take a lot for them to believe the other isn’t actually a malicious lil bastard. even when they’re trying this whole “”””try to think good of people”””” thing they’ll still have hiccups where they forget or are horribly quick to assume the worst.

but they will get better! because they are trying your honor. and mind will start it after some part of the truth is revealed and he concludes that maybe, Just maybe, heart is actually fucking depressed and not just trying to manipulate him. damn bitch this ain’t about you.

and then after soul notices the two of them are Not Fighting he’ll be very suspicious of them (ofc ofc) but tentatively try to interact with them a lil more. maybe they aren’t lost causes actually! maybe he can put some trust in them! maybe he can leave them alone for 5 seconds without them being at their throats! so with them concording he’ll talk to them more and more and actually try to be friends instead of…… whatever the fuck they have going on in cacophony.

fic is set just after shot/juno incident

hello i hope someone actually read that :) i have hope in this. i actually do. fr fr. so we’ll see ig

#i rant. a lot #:)#hopefully this doesn’t sound too trite or too much like canon #i mean no one’s really done an indepth how tf do they become not-enemies fic iirc

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celestiall0tus · 9 months

Text

Miraculous Separate Worlds - Chapter 2 - Here and Now

Beginning || Previous || Next

Marinette and Alya worked in the Dupain-Cheng bakery kitchen to prepare snacks for their girl’s night at Juleka’s place. Their kwamis, the ladybug, Tikki, and the mouse, Mullo, sat on a nearby shelf and ate a loaf of banana nut bread. Marinette slid by Tikki, giving her a little scratch on the head. Alya did the same and paused when Mullo’s ear twitched.

“I hear a bike,” Mullo said.

“She’s here,” Marinette and Alya said.

Alya moved out of the kitchen as Alix burst through the door. Marinette poked her head out as Alix headed for them. She stepped back into the kitchen with them and de-transformed. Her biker outfit reverted to a strappy black crop tank, ripped skinny jeans, and combat boots. An owl kwami hovered beside her, then joined the other two kwamis.

“Did you find anything?” Alya asked.

“Sure did. Take a look.”

Alix slammed a magazine on the prep table.

Alya picked it up and flipped through it while Marinette stole glances at it. Alya flipped through until she found a page with rock legend, Jagged Stone. She placed it on the prep table and turned the pages. She skimmed the contents of the trashy gossip then paused at the next page. They all stared at the page.

A young man was displayed on the entire page. He was dressed in rugged, worn leather rocker clothes. His shirt torn to tease a six pack for the camera. His long hair fluffed up and spiked with dark blue dyed tips, mirroring Jagged Stone’s purple. He stared ahead with cold, harsh golden amber eyes with indifference in his face.

“Is this really Luka?” Marinette asked.

“It has to be. His name is listed in the article here. Well, he’s called Jagged Jr., so I would assume it’s him. Not to mention the bits of Anarka I see in him. Granted I definitely see more Jagged in him than Anarka. Oh, and don’t forget Juleka’s piercing golden eyes,” Alya pointed out.

“Really? This is him? He looks like a bitch,” Alix remarked.

“Alix,” Marinette hissed.

“What? He looks like a little wanna-be bitch boy. If he ever showed his face around me and my old crew, we’d kick his ass for being a little poser. Plus, that little six pack tease is all fake. Man doesn’t lift at all,” Alix added.

“I’ll agree with the last sentiment. The make-up and effects did a decent job trying to make it real, but you can see the flaws,” Alya agreed.

“Really? It would’ve fooled me,” Marinette admitted.

“It’s supposed to. You know, just a little eye candy even if it isn’t real,” Alya remarked.

Alix snorted. “Pretty little wrapper, horrible cheap ass candy. Bitch probably ain’t worth shit.”

“Alix, we can’t judge a book by its cover. Especially an artificial one,” Marinette pointed out.

“Whatever. What good is any of this anyway?” Alix demanded.

“Curiosity, I guess. I was worried about Juleka when she said Anarka had a breakdown. I had a feeling she saw something about Luka. After all, you know her reaction to Jagged,” Marinette said.

“I… alright, I see now. But what could we even do with this? If we could have figured what the issue was before, then why bother?”

“Because there’s something here,” Alya pointed out.

“What?” Alix and Marinette asked.

“Rumors and mere gossip, but a possibility. Here, in this section, states how the rockstar father-son duo may be starting their new tour in Paris.”

Alix’s jaw dropped. She snatched the magazine from Alya and read over it.

“But Jagged hasn’t stopped in Paris in years. What would change now?” Marinette asked.

“I’m not sure but take it with a grain of salt for the time. It’s just words from a gossip magazine. For all we know, it could truly just be rumor,” Alya said.

“I think we should keep an eye on this still,” Alix declared.

“Are you sure?” Marinette asked.

“Well, if it is true, it could prove interesting. Helpful almost,” Alya remarked.

“Just keep your eyes and ears open, ladies. If bitch boy does find his way to Paris, we ought to welcome him, no?”

Alya and Marinette smiled. “Agreed.”

“Excellent! Now, this girl’s night, who are we expecting?” Alix asked.

“Us three, Juleka and her dragon, Anarka, and the Agreste twins,” Marinette answered.

Alix grinned from ear to ear. “The Agreste twins, you say. Interesting. Very interesting.”

“I don’t like that smile,” Marinette said.

“Good, cause I’m making plans. And, yes, you should be very afraid.”

Marinette deadpanned. “Lovely.”

“Alright! I have what I need. Min, open my eyes!”

Min vanished into Alix’s bracelet. Her clothes transformed into her white long biker coat that feathered out at the bottom. Black markings decorated the feathers and sleeves of it like a snow owl. On the back was her biker name “Snow Owl” with a snow owl. Paired with the coat was a set of fingerless black gloves and white boots with black platforms.

“I’ll catch you ladies soon.”

Alix summoned her weapon, a book, and ran out. She tossed the book onto the street near the sidewalk. The book glowed and shifted into a motorcycle. The pedestrians shrieked and jumped back when Alix jumped onto it and peeled out.

“She enjoys that way too much,” Alya said.

“I mean, we all do.”

“Yeah, you right. C’mon, let’s get back to work.”

“Bob, what is this?” Jagged Stone demanded. He slammed a gossip magazine on the table.

“Looks like a trashy tabloid, Jagged,” Bob remarked.

“No, this!” Jagged turned to the page with the declaration that he and Luka would be starting their next tour in Paris.

“What about it?” Bob asked.

“Is it true?”

“For once, yes. I’ve decided it’s time to return to Paris.”

“What? We can’t. Please, just another year.”

“No, Jagged. I’ve indulged your trivial fears for fourteen years now. I’m not about to make it fifteen.”

“But, but if we go to Paris, Anarka will find me. Do you have any idea what she’ll do to me?”

Jagged feigned fainting as he fell on top of Bob’s desk. Bob rolled his eyes and shoved Jagged off.

“Jagged, I don’t have time to indulge your frivolous nonsense. If it’ll help, I can hire extra security.”

“What about Luka?”

“What about him?”

“What’ll she do to my sweet, little boy? Can you even imagine?”

Bob rubbed his forehead. “Jagged, that ‘boy’ is a twenty-year-old man. He’ll be fine. Now, have you decided where you’re going for your downtime?”

“Oh, yes. I thought Luka and I-,” Jagged started.

“Luka isn’t going with you,” Bob interrupted.

“I… what? What do you mean?”

“Luka has decided to go to Paris.��

Jagged’s jaw dropped. He ran out of Bob’s office and to the tour bus. He started on it when he saw a teal snake sitting at the entrance. It looked up at him and flicked its tongue. He screeched and fell back.

“Really, Jagged?” Luka’s harsh voice growled.

Jagged looked up at Luka, who stood over him with the snake now on his shoulders. Jagged got to his feet and dusted himself off.

“It just… caught me by surprise. Now, with the tour done, I was thinking we could go to-.”

“I’m not going with you,” Luka cut in.

“Of course, you are. It’ll be another fun father-son outing. You always loved them, didn’t you? Just you and me.”

“And your fuck girl assistant,” Luka added.

Jagged chuckled nervously. “N-now, Luka, Penny is a sweet woman, a hard worker, and-.”

“Shackled to someone like you. Just like me.”

Jagged pursed his lips. “Right. Uh, anyway, why don’t we discuss our trip more.”

“You can with your skank, Jagged. I’m going to Paris.”

“Luka, please, you can’t. Anarka will-!”

Luka laughed. “Anarka will what? What fucking makes you think she or Juleka even recognize me. It’s been fourteen years after all.”

Jagged furrowed his brow. “Who’s Juleka? Is she your girlfriend? When were you going to tell me about her?”

Luka seethed as molten rage coursed through him. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Juleka! My sister, my fucking twin! How many fucking times do I have to tell you this, old man?”

Jagged put his hands up as he cowered before Luka’s wrath. His eyes darted around to the staff that stole glances their way and whispered.

“R-right, Juleka! How could I forget? You know my memory isn’t quite what it was.”

Luka’s lips curled back in a sneer. He advanced on Jagged, then stopped at the sound of a whistle. Everyone stopped and looked towards Bob. Silence covered the area as he approached the pair.

“I think that’s enough of a display right now. Luka, there’s a car waiting for you. Go work off some of that anger before you depart,” Bob instructed.

Luka grumbled but complied. He headed off, leaving Bob with Jagged.

“You need to accept something, Jagged. That ‘boy’ isn’t who he once was. He’s now a man and you can’t keep coddling him. The tighter you squeeze, the more he’ll bite back. And I’d rather not see a physical altercation occur. Especially with so much riding on him. Do you understand?”

Jagged opened his mouth but was cut off by Penny.

“He understands. Crystal clear,” Penny assured.

“Make sure of it, Penny. I won’t have any foul-ups.”

Penny gave a thumbs up. Bob hummed and left.

“I had that, Penny,” Jagged hissed.

“No, you didn’t! Jagged, leave Luka alone.”

“He’s my son, not yours or anyone else’s. I know what’s best for him, not any of you.”

“I am well aware, but you need to be careful. Your ‘baby boy’ is a ticking time bomb. Unless you want to be caught in the explosion, then leave him alone.”

“You’re ridiculous. He’s perfectly fine.”

Penny’s eye twitched. “Fine. Now, why don’t we discuss where you’ll be going for holiday.”

Jagged folded his arms. “Not until Luka comes back.”

Penny forced a smile. “Fine. Go wait on the bus for him.”

Jagged huffed and headed onto the bus. Penny waited before she headed up to Bob’s office. She burst into the room and headed right to the desk.

“For the love of… what now?” Bob demanded.

“Please tell me Luka leaves today,” Penny begged.

“He does. His flight leaves in six hours.”

“Then shouldn’t he be on the way to the airport?”

“Do you want to spend several hours cooped up with an angry man child?”

Penny considered. “Point. Is all his stuff at least packed?”

“Yes. In the car that took him to the gym. I’m going to give him an hour before I send him off. Is Jagged occupied?”

“He’s in the tour bus.”

“Good. Keep him busy.”

Penny nodded and left.

Bob sighed and took a seat. He worked on papers while he watched time crawl on a silver pocket watch. He checked the minutes until the hour was nearly up. He finished his work, grabbed the watch, and headed to meet with Luka. He headed into the lobby and saw Luka sitting hunched over. The snake still on Luka’s shoulders.

“Feel better?”

Luka grunted.

“Good. Let’s go.”

Bob headed to the car with Luka trailing behind him. He stopped with his hand on the back passenger handle.

“The summer is yours, Luka. Enjoy it, but don’t forget.”

Bob reached into his suit and pulled out the silver pocket watch and an envelope. He placed them in Luka’s hand.

“Impress me or you’ll be nothing more than Jagged Jr.”

Anger flared in Luka hearing the nickname. He met Bob’s gaze and glared at him.

“I will be better than him. Just you wait.”

“I’ve been waiting for years. Let’s see it now.”

Bob opened the car door. Luka took a breath and stepped in.

“Don’t disappoint, Jagged Jr.”

Bob slammed the door before Luka could respond. He tapped the roof of the car and it roared to life. He watched it leave, then smiled.

“See you soon, Nevermore.”

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btsnvra · 9 months

Text

𓂃 ៸៸ new romantics. ❝ cause baby i could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me and every day is like a battle but every night with us is like a dream ❞

⠀ ★ ៹ YOUTUBE ﹐ UPDATE ✦ . . . !

2023 © btsnvra

ⓘ : english ╱ korean

𖥔 𖥦 TITLE — new romantics

𖥔 𖥦 SUMMARY — in which nara happens to be in la, and so is hyerim, and coincidentally so is taylor swift! so nara decides to take her best friend to a taylor swift concert for her birthday.

𖥔 𖥦 CHARACTERS — jung nara and lee hyerim ❪ her best friend ❫

𖥔 𖥦 WARNINGS — nothing really, just crying tears of joy 😻🤞🏽

𖥔 𖥦 WORD COUNT — 0.627k

𖥔 𖥦 AUTHOR’S NOTE — since I’m not in the mood to continue chasing pavements as of rn why not start a new drabble 🤭🤭

𖥔 𖥦 MINI PLAYLIST

𓂅 ✿ … New Romantics by Taylor Swift

𓂅 ✿ … You Get Me So High by The Neighborhood

𓂅 ✿ … Viva La Vida by ColdPlay

“Hi everyone! Welcome back to my channel! If you don’t know who I am, my name is Hyerim Lee and we have fun over here” Hyerim smiles.

“As you can tell by the title it is my birthday today— yay!!” Hyerim says as she starts to get her makeup bags and tools ready for the look she was going for today.

“I think I’m just going to have some lunch with friends today and then truly celebrate when my family flies from Korea to L.A” she continues, Hyerim then heard her doorbell ring. “Oh I didn’t expect any visitors..?” She says confused and gets up from her setup at her vanity mirror.

“NO WAY” “YES WAY!” Was the only thing the views could hear, they couldn’t see anything other than Hyerim’s filming room as she left the camera there.

“Okay guys.., I’m back and with a special guest! Please welcome worldwide sensation the it girl, Nara Jung” Hyerim said as she edited “Megatron” by Nicki Minaj when she walked in. “Wait.. fit check! Do we like it?” Nara spoke and stood infront of the camera. “It’s a bit basic I ain’t gonna lie to you Na.” Hyerim told her, Nara side eyed her and said “well of course! That’s because I am not ready yet and that’s mainly because I have a surprise for you my dear best friend”

“What is it? It better not be like last year when you pied my face in..” she spoke suspiciously. “No of course not! I would never do the same prank twice I thought you were my bestie” she says fake crying and wiping a “tear” causing Hyerim to roll her eyes.

“Anyways! Who is your favorite artist like ever Hye?” “Beyoncè.” “After Queen Bey.” Nara asked “ummm Taylor Swift” said Hyerim. “What if I told you that I may or may not have tickets to Taylor Swift’s concert here in L.A just for your birthday.” She smiled at her best friend.

“NO WAY! YOU’RE LYING” Hyerim said covering her mouth, almost falling to her knees. Nara went close to her ear and whispered “take this as a birthday gift from JK and I because he got these for me to give to you so that we both can go because he knows how much we love Taylor.” “Tell him I will never sneak diss him when he makes you mad ever again please” she whispered back, laughing.

“You guys.. I am about to cry she for real got me Taylor Swift concert tickets I feel like I can kiss her right now.” Hyerim said tearing up a little.

Cut Scene to the girls getting ready and driving to the concert! She wasn’t able to film absolutely everything when they arrived but she did record them singing august and all too well. Even though Nara was herself a huge artist she was met with huge FOMO because she has been a fan of taylor swift since she was 13, looking up the female artist and almost squealed when she and the boys met her in 2018. She even almost fainted when Taylor followed her back on Instagram.

To Hyerim, this was one of the best birthday’s ever for her, she remembers having karaoke nights with Nara on their sleepovers and each other houses and singing Taylor’s album up until 2019, when she moved to L.A but when Hyerim visits her hometown when on vacation they try to have as much sleepovers as possible.

The two girls posts clips and pictures of them at the concert on their Instagram stories, immediately having accounts like PopBase post that they were at the star’s concert. They knew this night would go down as one of the best memories they have with each other.

#✭ bts nara #kpop added member #deluxeocnet #kpop addition #aesocnet #bts 8th member #◟ ⋆ 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐀𝐍 › jung nara !#bts female addition #bts female oc #◟ ⋆ 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐀𝐍 › misc !#◟ ⋆ 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐀𝐍 › writings !

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thebibliomancer · 1 year

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Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #29: Dead Run!

February, 1988

MOON KNIGHT fights alone!

Dammit, Moon Knight! You forgot the buddy system! Your designated buddy is Tigra! Where is Tigra, Moon Knight!

I have to give him this though. He caught up to Taurus pretty quickly.

This is a pretty cool cover, I have to say. Very dynamic. A cover is supposed to make you want to buy the issue and a crashing plane makes the kids at the newsstand sit up and go ‘hah, he’s horny.’

Anyway.

Last time on West Coast Avengers on the West Coast: the crime organization Zodiac was destroyed by a group of robots called Zodiac, led by Nick Fury’s robot brother. Taurus of the first group of Zodiac went to get the Avengers’ help in destroying the second group of Zodiac. Using his astrology knowledge. Because the robots’ entire personalities were just based on astrology.

Moon Knight accepted Taurus’ aid but if and only if Taurus agreed to go straight and give up crime. Taurus agreed but escaped Avengers custody as soon as they and robot Zodiac were teleported to another dimension.

Moon Knight is feeling pretty betrayed that the guy did not honor a promise so in the name of the moon, he’s going to punish him.

Taurus actually goes to sometimes Avengers ally the Shroud (who pretends to be a criminal in order to secretly undermine crime) and tries to get him to sign on to be the new Pisces in the new Zodiac he’s building.

For all of Taurus’ astrological knowledge, this feels pretty arbitrary. Maybe Shroud was born between February 19 and March 20th. But he’s got shadow powers and is not really very fishy.

Shroud turns Taurus down because Pisces is a dumb name although its more that joining the Zodiac cartel would complicate his own mission to undermine the underworld.

And for another thing, if Taurus is claiming the Avengers are dead, then why is Moon Knight standing right behind him?

Taurus yells at Moon Knight, telling him he was dumb to believe an oath to the Moon but mostly just reacting to Moon Knight just standing silently and staring at him.

Just. Standing. And staring.

Moon Knight is no Batman except in all the ways he is and one of the ways is striking fear by just standing and staring.

Also, I have to laugh. As part of a monologue about how Taurus doesn’t know what he’s fucking with, Moon Knight thinks “He thinks I’m just a costumed hero! He doesn’t know I serve a god of Ancient Egypt...” which has the same energy as that meme with that guy wallflowering at a party.

Anyway, Taurus also decides that Shroud and him together can beat up Moon Knight.

Womp womp.

Yeah, Shroud is obviously going to take the first excuse to bow out of this situation.

I’m glad Shroud doesn’t have himself so tangled in lies that he would have to fight Moon Knight to maintain his cover. He can just be like hey I’m a criminal but this ain’t my problem, byeeeee.

Taurus gets pissed and whips out his Star-Blazer. Which I guess is a star-themed laser gun.

He also pulls it out of his collar and his costume is pretty skintight looking so I dunno how he hid it. Then again, out of costume Cornelius van Lunt isn’t so beefy so the costume probably fakes a physique. Plenty of room to hid a gun if so.

Glad I figured it out.

Taurus fires the Star-Blazer at Moon Knight who dodges behind a pile of boxes. Taurus blasts the boxes but Moon Knight has already, somehow, relocated to the opposite side of the room.

Where Shroud gives him an inspirational thumbs up.

He believes in him!

With the support of some random guy, Moon Knight tackles Taurus from behind and grabs the bull-man by the horns.

But, suddenly hearing

Khonshu: “I have complete faith in you, Marc Spector!”

in his head distracts Moon Knight and Taurus bucks him off and beats him up a little.

Taurus: “I didn’t create and rule the most successful crime cartel in the history of the world by being inept! When I say you die, you die!”

Marc isn’t really paying much attention to being told to die. He’s still waiting for Khonshu to say something else.

Marc’s other selves Steven Grant and Jake Lockley try to chime in but Marc pushes them back down.

And kicks the crap out of Taurus.

Taurus suddenly realizes, ‘actually, fuck this!’

Taurus: “Blast it! My goal’s recreating the Zodiac, not trading punches with an Avenger!”

Discretion, better part of valor, et cetera.

Taurus bolts out of the warehouse and absconds like a champ.

Moon Knight has a very dark reputation. He’s absolutely believed to have killed some dudes when he was a solo hero but Taurus is pretty sure he won’t kill now that he’s an Avenger.

Pretty sure. Not absolutely sure.

Taurus runs down an ally and climbs a ladder but

Moon Knight is waiting for him at the top.

Taurus: “How did he DO that? HOW?!!”

The astrology-themed crime boss yeets himself off the ladder and runs into the street to jack a car from some poor couple.

Taurus ditches his mask so the cops don’t pull him over for being a bull man driving a car and turns onto the Santa Monica Freeway to lose Moon Knight.

Then the cops try to pull him over anyway because his car is missing a door. Because he ripped the door off to steal it.

Taruus ain’t gonna get pinched for grand theft auto though so he dodges the cops by weaving through traffic.

But just as he escapes the cops, a shadow crosses over him.

ITS MOON KNIGHT!

The sky-cycle does explain how he off-panel teleported to that rooftop honestly.

Taurus panics and drives through the barricade separating lanes. Weaving around oncoming traffic, he takes an entrance ramp, knocks a dude off his motorcycle, and hits a traffic light because he’s swerving around so much.

Taurus: “Holy jumpin’ Joe!!”

Moon Knight keeps up his internal monologue during this chase, narrating to Khonshu.

Except Khonshu responds back.

Moon Knight: “I heard you! I know I heard --”

Khonshu: “Of course you did!”

Moon Knight: “But I don’t want voices in my head! You’ve never talked to me before! I’ve felt your presence, known your will, but the doctors say I’m Marc Spector -- no one else!”

Khonshu: “You need be no one else! You are strongest when well and truly concentrated, to strike well and truly as my fist!”

Except while Moon Knight is talking to his god in his head, Taurus pulls out the star-blazer and star-blasts Moon Knight’s sky-cycle.

It spirals out of control, hits the ground, and explodes.

Taurus is elated.

Taurus: “Ha! He follows like a vengeful ghost, but he’s not a ghost! He’s a man like anybody else, flying a real machine -- and they can be hit!”

Taurus is sure that nobody could survive that crash but when he goes to check, there’s no body.

(I mean, there’s also no seat-belt. Realistically, Moon Knight could have been thrown loose at any part of the crash.)

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH

Haha, just kidding. But it is back at the Rancho Palos Verdes, where the West Coast Avengers Compound is.

Shroud calls the West Coast Avengers under the assumption that Moon Knight was working on an Avengers mission to hound Taurus.

But Hawkeye is baffled to hear about it. The West Coast Avengers are trying to track down van Lunt but Moon Knight went off on his own.

Tigra speculates that Moon Knight’s god wouldn’t be happy that Taurus broke a promise on the Moon.

Hawkeye is just generally annoyed that he has to find out what his teammates are doing from an outsider instead of directly. He also proclaims “This is the Avengers, not the God Squad!”

Fun fact: God Squad does later become the name of a Marvel superhero team. Galactus was on it.

So the West Coast Avengers decide to find Moon Knight, Dr Pym tracking down the sky-cycle he took.

Taurus’ run through the woods takes him to an air field, with a plane revving up to go.

So obviously, he’s going to hijack that plane.

Just makes sense.

Moon Knight doesn’t his sky-cycle anymore so Taurus will escape by aiiiiir!

The pilot in the plane isn’t too intimidated by the guy waving around a toy-looking gun but he concedes once Taurus uses the Star-Blazer to blow a hole in a hangar roof.

Taurus refuses to give the guy a destination OR to listen when the pilot tries to tell him how much fuel the plane has. So the guy takes off. Taurus scans the airfield and the sky out the window as the plane takes off.

Taurus: “No sign of him on the ground -- ! Nothing in the sky, either, this time! And I’d see it, if there were! His stupid Moon works against him now, making everything as bright as day -- ! But I want every instrument you’ve got looking for anything approaching us! You hear me?”

But when he turns to look at the pilot for confirmation...

HI MOON KNIGHT!

Hey. So. I know Batman is the night. And also vengeance. And the symbol of fear that puts a frighten in superstitious and cowardly criminals.

But Moon Knight is putting in so much effort fucking with Taurus in this issue.

He’s off-panel teleporting just ahead of him. He’s doing the ‘there was no body’ when he seems to have been killed. AND HE DRESSED UP AS A PILOT just to lure Taurus into a plane and fuck with him more.

No doubt Batman is good at Batmanning. That’s why he’s called Batman.

But Moon Knight is doing the same thing dressed in all white.

Anyway.

After Moon Knight points out that firing the Star-Blazer inside a flying plane is a good way for the plane not to fly anymore, Taurus just throws it at the hero and then tackles him.

Moon Knight does a good job kicking the crap out of Taurus but all the roughhousing is making the plane tumble this way and that and Moon Knight winds up falling on his ass. Taurus takes full advantage.

Taurus: “You’re not a ghost! You fall just like I do! You’ll fall ALL THE WAY!”

And then he shoves him out the door.

But after closing the door behind Moon Knight, the plane starts banking. Taurus looks out the window and finds some THING on the WING!

Not a gremlin though, Moon Knight. He’s hanging on and his weight on the wing is causing the plane to turn. That’s how planes work.

Taurus declares that Moon Knight is a sitting duck and opens the door back up to take a shot at him with the Star-Blazer.

Taurus: “You’ve done your best, Avenger! You’ve done everything you could to get at me -- and you’ve made your point! I’m human! I’ve got my limits! But I’m also Taurus! The leader of the Zodiac! I built an empire once, and I will again! And you’re just a memory -- as of now!”

But Moon Knight lets go of the wing before Taurus can fire.

And the sudden shift in weight causes Taurus to lose balance and accidentally discharge the Star-Blazer through the roof of the plane. The sudden hole causes the plane to start crashing.

This is why it’s important to put a safety on your fantastical star-powered laser gun.

Taurus grabs for the controls but in his busy crime life, he never learned to fly a plane.

And as the plane starts spinning, he spots Moon Knight out the window. Gliding through the air.

Taurus: “NO!! Oh my god -- NOOOOOO”

Bye Taurus.

Hopefully no more Zodiac for a while.

As Moon Knight glides and watches the plane crash, he reflects. On whether this outcome was what Khonshu wanted, whether that makes van Lunt’s blood on Khonshu’s hands or on Moon Knight’s. And most importantly on what now.

Moon Knight’s cloak is only intended for short distance parachuting.

Moon Knight: “I did what was necessary to act as your fist -- but now I need your hand!”

But it’s Iron Man who swoops in and saves Moon Knight.

Iron Man brings Moon Knight into the Quinjet where Hawkeye has some words for him.

Hawkeye: “You’re on probationary status with us, Moon Knight! If ya work out, you’ll be an Avenger -- but workin’ out means workin’ as part of the team! You wanna chase your private enemies in your private career, fine -- but van Lunt was a team enemy, an’ ya don’t run him down without tellin’ us!”

Moon Knight apologizes if he stepped on toes by taking unilateral action on the van Lunt thing. But explains that while he wants to be an Avenger (and feels destined to be one), he is also “the Moon’s Knight of Vengeance” and he cannot change his methods.

Hawkeye objects on the grounds that Moon Knight’s spooky routine and van Lunt’s death will make the Avengers look bad, like Moon Knight intentionally hounded a criminal to death.

Hawkeye: “Just remember -- Avengers not only don’t kill, they can’t even look like they might!”

But Mockingbird chimes in here with some dissent.

She suggests that what with the West Coast Avengers being a new team in new circumstances, maybe they should be more flexible!

(Mockingbird: ‘Hey, crazy notion, maybe sometimes murder is good actually?’)

Tigra agrees. She attributes it maybe to the cat part of her soul, but also that the world is a darker, crueler world than it once was. Oh boy, just wait until you get to the 90s.

Iron Man objects that as a founding Avenger, he won’t let the ideals of the Avengers be tarnished. And Hank Pym, also founding Avenger, backs him up.

Wonder Man makes no statements at this time, just looks thoughtful. He’s probably wondering how doing a murder would affect his public image.

AND IN FAIRNESS, that is part of the discussion! Not Wonder Man’s image specifically. But the Avengers, West Coast or not, enjoy a level of public support and sometimes governmental support, due to their image. And part of that is the part where they do not do murders.

Moot point in current times, I guess. A lot of superheroes happily kill. Sometimes its because its aliens. Carol Danvers watched a Skrull slowly asphyxiate with a goddamn smile on her face. Geez. This is the same Carol Danvers who once demanded that she be court martialed to see whether her murder of the Master of the World was justified or not.

You think the late 80s are a crueler world, Tigra? It’ll get worse.

ANYWAY.

Hawkeye... well, he doesn’t concede the point. He just says he didn’t realize there was a split in opinion.

Hawkeye: “Well, we’ll talk about this, but I don’t think we’ll ever sanction killing -- !”

Moon Knight wonders to himself (and Khonshu) why Mockingbird stood up for him.

And down on the ground watching the Quinjet fly off, stands Phantom Rider. The ghost, maybe, of the man Mockingbird secretly did a manslaughter to.

A portent that Mockingbird’s secret will out sooner or later.

Oh, Mockingbird, if only you’d hadn’t solely confessed to a robot duplicate of your husband!

Just Comic Problems.

Follow @essential-avengers because the Great Lakes Avengers will eventually come out of this drama. Yes, the Great Lakes Avengers. I swear. They’re tied into the Mockingbird killed a cowboy in the past and then lied about it subplot. Ain’t it wild how things are connected sometimes? Anyway, like and reblog please.

#avengers #west coast avengers #Taurus #Moon Knight #everyone else really only guest stars but I'll tag them anyway #Shroud #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Iron Man #hank pym #Dr Pym #Wonder Man #Tigra #special cameo on the last panel #Moon Knight spooks a man by off screen teleporting to his location and staring at him #essential avengers

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