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silverpetrichor · 18 days

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My Love Is Mine All Mine

A/N: I know I’ve been MIA but the mania surrounding Gravity Falls right now has awoken me from my slumber. I’ve had a huge crush on Ford since I got into the series during the pandemic and I just had to write this.(I've also never written smut before so please forgive me if it's cringe.) I’ve never written him before, so forgive me if he’s a little (or a lot) OOC. As always constructive criticism is welcome and please enjoy!

Last Summer. . .

You were helping your brother cook dinner for his heavily pregnant wife and 2 kids. Laughing and joking as your younger brother arrived with his husband, wine and dessert. It was shaping up to be another ordinary evening hanging out with your family when you got the call.

Next thing you know you’re hugging your loved ones goodbye before opening a portal to the outskirts of Gravity Falls, Oregon. Staring up at the darkness enveloping the town that you’d only heard of in passing, watching on in horror before assisting the others in reinforcing the natural barriers around the town to keep it from spreading…

“—Y/n! Earth to Y/n! Are you okay?” Your coworker asked as you looked up from where you had zoned out while shelving the new books.

“Yeah? I um, I’m fine really. Just lost in thought for a second.” you respond.

“Oh, okay. Well, I was just trying to tell you that it’s lunch time,” Tracy said, smiling up at you.

You tilted your head to the side, brows furrowing “Geez, already?” you looked at your watch, and low and behold it was noon already.

You cast one more glance to the book still in your hand, a post apocalyptic romance who’s cover had evoked memories of the centralized apocalypse that had taken place last summer in the seemingly innocuous town. You recall arguing with the council about actually getting involved and helping the town instead of just doing damage control. You didn’t like the stances they often took, and were preparing to go in despite their decision when all of a sudden the oppressive feeling of Bill’s presence vanished and with it your need to be there, standing sentry.

Or, so you thought. Now, you have moved from the hustle and bustle of New York City to the quiet and peculiar little town of Gravity Falls. All because you dared to go against the council and nearly disobeyed them, you were now stuck as a librarian here indefinitely. Merely monitoring the situation and living in a cottage not too far from the Mystery Shack, hidden by magic and finally inhabited again after decades of going unused after the last council assigned witch moved.

You shook your head as if shaking off your thoughts, shelving the book in your hand and heading to the breakroom in the back where your homemade lunch sat in the fridge.

You ate your lunch with Tracy in relative silence letting her do most of the talking. She was a sweet woman who was a few years older than you, in her early forties married with three rambunctious kids. She was also very talkative, which you didn’t mind despite being more introverted yourself.

You never liked the quiet anyway, ironically enough even though you had moved out to a cottage in the woods, you always had music or something playing. You’d even gotten a fluffy pet cat a week before who moved out here who you dubbed Lady Arson the III.

You’d actually grown fond of this little town despite being a city girl, this town had its own unique charm. Even though you had to chase some gnomes out and renew the old wards on the old cottage. (Thank the stars you had a magical ingredients supplier for the unicorn hair you needed. Unicorns are such stuck up assholes and if you never had to interact with one again it’d be too soon) You had redecorated the cottage and made it your own. You also found a nearby lake to go swimming in relative peace during the spring and summer.

You talked for a while with Tracy as you found yourself having a bit of fun. While you missed the city there were plenty of things and people that made it worth it. Like your crush on your friend Ford Pines. . .

He came to the library every other day or so in the afternoon sitting in the back alcove reading and writing in a journal with weathered pages. You’d actually managed to strike up a rapport with the man instead of hopelessly pining after him in silence. (Which you still did but you felt less pathetic when your hands would wander late at night when you couldn’t sleep)

And, speaking of the devil, Ford was present with his teenage niece and nephew Mabel and Dipper. You found them in the back of the library searching the shelves for a book as you came around the corner to reshelve the last of the book on your cart.

“Good afternoon Y/n!” Mabel excitedly stated, having noticed you first as her brother and grunkle were absorbed in searching the shelves.

“Afternoon Pines family, what trouble have you gotten into today?” You greeted and asked, taking in their disheveled appearances as you raised a brow.

“We were exercising a category five ghost in the woods near Fiddleford’s mansion when we encountered a hostile gremloblin!” Mable replied as her and Dipper shuddered in unison.

You scanned them for injuries upon hearing this, before asking if they were okay. They nodded their assent before Mabel leaned in and whispered “But I’m pretty sure Grunkle Ford has a concussion or something.”

Your eyebrows raise as you release your hold on the cart you’d been pushing. You tap Ford’s shoulder and he turns around, rather quickly almost stumbling. As he does you notice the gash on his forehead covered in Hello Kitty bandaids, that are clearly Mable’s work. But despite that you still see some red on the gauze the two bandaids are holding down.

“Hello, beaut—I mean Y/n!” clears throat, while rubbing his head with his free hand, “How are you doing today?” Ford asks awkwardly, blushing.

“Certainly better than you, you’re bleeding! Come with me.” You say, grabbing Ford’s hand after seeing the slightly dazed and unfocused look in his eyes and the bloody gauze on his hand.

You pull him to the breakroom, the twins following. Ford huffing and blushing even harder at you holding his hand. You sit him at the table as the twins walk over to the vending machine drawn to the candy and chips in it respectively.

You wash your hands quickly before going to bend and look under the sink and after a minute or two of rummaging around, pull out the new first aid kit that you’d brought to replace the old barely full one. Ford’s head tilts and his eyebrows raise as he mentally thanks the infinite cosmos for pencil skirts and the fact that you seem to love to wear them.

When you stand straight he guiltily turns his head to the side, finding interest in the fake foliage and book themed posters hanging about. You raise a brow at his odd behavior, chalking it up to his concussion and head over after smoothing out your black pencil skirt. You walk over, heels clicking on the linoleum floor as you take off your colorful blazer before rolling up your white blouse sleeves.

You open up the first aid kit with practiced efficiency after laying out a piece of paper towel from the roll in the middle of the table. You sanitize your hands quickly with an alcohol wipe before you gently pull the Hello Kitty bandages and gauze off his forehead. Apologizing quietly as Ford winces still, you move to grab the alcohol. You end up muttering another apology as he winces whilst you dab at the slightly deep cut with a soaked cotton ball.

Ford’s face stays flushed as he realizes how close your chest is to his face. Trying his best to not make it obvious that he’s staring at you in that way. His eyes flicker to your face, focusing on how cute you look with your face scrunched up in concentration as you gently dab.

While Ford struggles to be covert about his feelings you seem to be fairing slightly better with a barely there flush to your face. You place butterfly bandages on his forehead after dropping the alcohol soaked cotton ball onto the paper towel.

You then gently grab his hand before unraveling the gauze, and dabbing at the cut with another alcohol soaked cotton ball.

Mabel looks over, noticing the look in each other's eyes and Ford’s blushing face. A smirk falling over her face as she realizes what is happening, nodding to herself.

“Matchmaking time!” she whispers under breath before choking on a gummy kola.

Dipper rolls his eyes as he slaps her back, the gummy kola flying out her mouth. Of which, she promptly picks up off the floor and eats much to Dipper's disgust.

“So…Y/n huh? Do you. . .like her?” Mabel asks Ford as they leave the library, raising her eyebrows and smirking.

Ford chuckles nervously, blushing furiously “What? I, I uh. . I have no idea what you’re talking about!!” He says, eyes shifting about nervously.

“ Oh my gosh! Yes you do!! You love her! Love, love, love her!!” Mabel yelled, jumping up and down around him as the trio walked back to the Mystery Shack.

“And I thought I sucked at hiding my feelings.” Dipper nudged Ford, laughing.

Ford sighed, scratching the back of his neck as he nodded in defeat before telling Mabel to quiet herself despite no one being near.

“Yes, I am very fond of Y/n. I find her to be endearing and enchanting in everything she does,” Ford muttered as he nervously laughed.

“Well then Grunkle Ford, you should ask her out!! All the other blind dates I've tried to set her up on went nowhere!!” Mabel said as she skipped backwards in front of him and Dipper.

“I don't know, I mean, aren't I too old for her? And I haven't really had any sort of relationship in a while.” Ford muttered as the Mystery Shack came into view.

“Trust me, Grunkle Ford! You got this! She's into nerd stuff like DD&MD! She's a librarian and she’s a historian!! And she likes listening to you rant about your research! Plus she's beautiful! It doesn't get any better than her!!” Mabel yelled as they sat on the couch outside the shack.

“Yeah, in fact I know just what I need to do!!” Ford declared as he grabbed a graph journal full of blueprints for inventions out of one of his trenchcoat inner pockets.

******

“This was a terrible idea,” Ford whispered as he hid from Flirt B0t 3000.

“Wow, really who would've thought a robot built for romance would've been a terrible idea? Let's see, uh everyone!” Dipper harshly whispered back.

“This is Giffany all over again,” Mabel sighs as she hands Ford her compact so he can check around the corner for Flirt B0t 3000.

As he did so, the robot's half melted face snapped in their direction, its intact eye rolling to look at him through the mirror.

“When I say run, you run as far and fast as your legs can take you and don’t look back,” Ford harshly whispers, tightening his grip on his gun.

“But Grunkle Ford!! We can help!” Dipper responds as he clutches a crossbow in his hand. After Weirdmageddon, he’d asked Wendy to teach him how to use one.

Before Ford could argue further, Stan came around the corner baseball bat in hand. “Take this you stupid robot!!” He screamed swinging his baseball bat, just as Flirt B0t 3000’s head turned to face him.

It’s head flies clear off, Dipper shooting it with his crossbow as it flies in front of him. Stan beat the headless body repeatedly until it stopped twitching and was nothing but a pile of mangled metal and wires.

“Grunkle Stan!! How’d you know we needed help?” Mabel asked as she ran up to him, hugging him.

Stan let out a small “oof” upon impact before explaining “Well, when Ford mentioned making a robot to practice asking out Y/n with and then none of you picked up the phone when I called, I figured it went horribly wrong. And would you look at that, I was right!” Stan kicked the robot's remains once more.

“Thank you Grunkle Stan!! But did you see that shot!?” Dipper asked, laughing.

“Sure did kid! Wendy's one hel-heck of a teacher ain't she?” He asked, giving Dipper a noogie.

“Yeah!” Dipper agreed, grunting as he tried to get out of his head lock.

Stan released him before walking over to Ford and popping him upside the head.

“What was that for Stanley?” Ford cried out rubbing the back of his head.

“You know for someone so smart you sure can be a real dumbass sometimes. I may not be the best at romance or reading signals but even I can tell that you and her like each other. So for God's sake just ask her out already!” Stan harshly whispered to Ford as he gave him a hug.

“Yeah, you're right. I mean the worst she can say is no right? Oh God what if she says no? I don't think I can do this!” Ford panicked, pacing.

“Look Poindexter! You got this, you're the total package, even with those sideburns! Just take a deep breath and go ask her out before you lose your nerve,” Stan said, nudging Ford.

Ford ran out of his laboratory in the basement and headed for the library.

“Ten bucks says he chickens out,” Stan says, waving at Ford's retreating figure.

The young twins sigh in unison, shaking their heads at Stan's antics.

******

Since Ford had awkwardly asked you out that first time a little over a month ago, you’d been spending almost all of your time together. Flowers from Ford littered your cottage and desk at work, and Ford would often have smudges of your dark red lipstick on his face. Even Lady Arson the III approved of him, and she never seemed to like any of your dates. You were both falling hard and fast for one another.

But you still hadn’t told him about the whole you being a witch thing. Afraid of losing him, even if he was a lover of the supernatural you didn’t know if he still would, once you tell him the truth. You haven’t felt this way about someone since college. But every time you thought about telling him, you chickened out.

Tonight though, you were going to have a picnic on the hill near your cottage and Ford was going to bring a telescope so you could stargaze. After mentioning to him how you loved astronomy but only ever got to see the stars in textbooks and online since you grew up in New York.

You hoped nothing paranormal would interrupt your date, seeing as you were planning on finally telling him about your powers maybe. But of course, you just had to say it out loud.

And well, now here you are in your cute floral sundress and cardigan fighting a very hostile spirit after it had attacked you and Ford while you were skipping stones at the nearby lake. Ford almost cracked his head on the rocks when he stumbled back in shock, at hearing the haunting childlike laughter reaching into his trench coat for holy water. The category four spirit took this as an opportunity to attack, its cute face morphing into that of horror as it rushed towards the two of you.

But then much to his surprise, you shoved him behind you before raising your hands and suddenly it slammed against a forcefield you had seemingly created if your glowing hands were any indication. Then a blast of blue light emanated from your open raised palms and the spirit froze before evaporating into thin air.

You sighed in relief before lowering your hands and wiping your brow. You then turned and began kissing Ford's face, pecking all about after you checked him over for injuries.You finally pull away when you feel satisfied with Ford’s blushing disposition.

“Thank the stars you're okay! I can't believe we stumbled upon a hostile spirit all the way out here. My wards and presence usually keep stuff like this from happening,” you said sighing deeply.

Ford stuttered his brain attempting to reboot after seeing you use your powers and you kissing his face so much,”Your wards, as in magic? Magic that I just saw you use. Why didn’t you tell me?” he questioned as she paced in front of him, running his fingers through his hair.

“Well, I—” you cut yourself off sighing deeply. “My being a witch isn’t exactly an ice breaker that I bring up on dates. You know how I haven’t had a serious relationship since college? It ended when she found out I was a witch and since then I just have gotten used to hiding that side of myself from anyone that didn’t already know. So yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I just didn’t want to scare you off because I’m falling for you and I think I might actually even be in love with yo—” Ford cuts you off, grabbing you by the back of your neck and kissing you passionately.

You stutter, before humming into the kiss. Cupping his face in your hands as one of his hands makes its way to your waist. You have matching goofy smiles as you pull away for breath resting your foreheads against one another.

“You could never scare me off because in case you couldn’t tell, I’m in love with you too, darling.” he whispered softly to you, staring into your eyes as you bit your lip bashfully.

You could feel the heat flushing your face as you felt him pull you closer. In the moonlight, you could see that he was blushing fiercely. You kiss him deeply, opening a portal behind you as you pull him backwards.

You trip and fall right onto your bed at the cottage, much to Ford’s shock as he pulls away from you. He looks around baffled.

“Fascinating! You can create portals? I knew that witches existed but I didn't know you could do that!! What else can you do?” Ford asked excitedly as he began to sit up reaching for his journal.

You followed, grabbing his trench coat lapels, kissing him and flipping him to his back. Ford’s hands went slack, his focus recentered on you as you pulled away with a self satisfied smirk.

“We can have a Q & A later, right now I’m more interested in other things,” Y/n breathed out before grinding on Ford's lap, feeling his hardness grow underneath you.

Ford blinked, swallowing as he let out a whine at your continued movement. You kissed his lips again before muttering a soft “Off,” lifting the hem of his turtleneck. He eagerly obliged–almost knocking you in the face if not for your quick reflexes–practically ripping off his trench coat and turtleneck and flinging them across the room. You pulled your cardigan off as you admired his slightly pudgy and hairy physique before running your hands up his hairy yet muscular arms.

He moaned as you ground down on him again, gripping the back of his neck as you clung to him. You giggled into his mouth, kissing him before standing to remove your sundress and flats. Ford followed suit, kicking off his combat boots and damn near ripping his pants and underwear as he pulled them off. Almost tumbling to the ground as he did so, causing you to both giggle. Until he looked up at you, breath catching at the sight of you still in your matching black lace bra and panty set.

He surges forward, kissing you like a man possessed and kneading your ass. You moan into his mouth, as you feel your panties dampen with your arousal. You feel his hard cock standing at attention, smearing precum onto your stomach.

Before you know it, Ford has you lying on the bed kissing a trail down to the apex of your thighs. He lingers at your chest, sucking at your nipples through the lace before removing the barrier entirely. You shudder at the attention he gives your nipples, sucking one and rolling the other in his hand.

You whine as he releases his grip on your chest and his mouth moves south. He teasingly kisses your aching clit and nips at your thighs before slowly pulling down your underwear.

You buck your hips slightly at the feeling of his breath on your now exposed cunt.

“Gorgeous,” you hear him whisper before diving in and eating you out like you were his last meal.

You mewl as he laps at your folds before latching onto your clit and sucking. You buck your hips and whimper as you attempt to shut your legs. Ford pins your right thigh with one hand before moving to open you up with his other.

You gasp and grasp at his hair roughly when you feel his index finger at your entrance before slowly sinking into you. You moan loudly, whining as he thrusts his finger in and out before adding another. Your eyes slam shut as your back arches at the feeling.

He scissors his fingers briefly before he makes a come hither motion with his fingers. You begin to shake, your heels digging into his back from where your legs have been perched over Ford's shoulders.

You whimper out a soft “oh fuck,” the only warning Ford receives before you're cumming all over his face. Whining and moaning as he fingers you and sucks at your clit through your high, moaning into your cunt. Which triggers another harsher orgasm as you sob out, pushing Ford's face away.

You look down at him between your thighs, his face flushed and glasses askew as he kisses your thighs. As if to apologize for the accidental overstimulation, your chest heaving and thighs twitching still as you smooth out his messy hair.

You sit up and pull Ford's mouth to yours by the nape of his neck. Kissing and licking into his mouth roughly, tasting yourself on his tongue. He moans into your mouth cupping your face gently.

You both pull away to breathe, foreheads pressed together. “Are you sure you're up for more?” Ford questions against your lips.

You smirk as you reach down to grab his cock, stroking its ruddy head. “Oh, I'm just getting started baby boy” you whisper in his ear as he whimpers in yours.

You flip your positions again, spreading your thighs over his as you position yourself over his cock. Grasping his cock and guiding it towards your entrance, your other hand gripping the sheets by Ford's head. You moan in unison as you sink down his thick cock, gasping when you're fully seated.

Ford whines as you begin to ride him, slowly at first before gaining a rough rhythm. You pin his hands above his head as he gasps at the sudden move. Moaning loudly as you nip and lick at his neck, his eyes rolling back.

You giggle sinfully in his ear, before moaning as he flips you onto your back. Ford grips your hips “My turn,” he growls out before beginning a punishing rhythm that has you crying out once more, tears streaming down your face.

Your hands grip the sheets before clawing at Ford's back, causing him to moan, and move a hand to grip at the bedspread.

“Fuck!! I'm close, are you there yet darling?” Ford pants out.

It takes you a minute to speak coherently, gasping out “Inside, cum inside me! I need it, please” you manage to babble out through your tears.

“Shit,” Ford hisses, moving to rub at your clit in rough circles.

You whine and cry out Ford’s name as you writhe, your grip on Ford adjusts as you pull him in for a rough kiss.

You both moan into the kiss as your walls flutter around his twitching cock. He groans at the feeling, breaking the kiss to press his forehead against yours. You pant into each other's mouths as he breathes out “Cum for me, darling.”

You let out a silent scream as you cum for a third time, Ford groans as he feels your wetness drench yours and his thighs as you squirt on his cock. His head drops to your neck as he bites your shoulder, shuddering as he thrusts deeply, his spend coating your walls as you pant and sigh.

You lock your feet together around his waist as he collapses onto you. You play with his hair as the smell of sex and sweat permeates the air in the afterglow.

You wince as you feel his softening cock slowly pull out. He groans at the sight of his cum dripping out of your wet cunt. You feel your combined cum drip down to the crack of your ass as you sit up.

“So, I'm a mess. Wanna help me clean up?” You smirk up at him, eyes glinting deviously.

He laughs before pulling you up, “I thought you'd never ask,” you both smile into the kiss you share as you grab his hand, kissing it and leading him to your bathroom.

You might just send the council a thank you basket for sending you to Gravity Falls after all. . .

******

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I had fun writing this!

#ford pines x reader #ford pines x black!reader #ford pines #standford pines #gravity falls #gravity falls stanford #silverpetrichorfics #stanford pines

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mistigrisunshine · 1 year

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spuffy fic rec

figured all the time i spend scouring EF and ao3 might be useful to someone!

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

Scooby Crew, Where Are You? by Twinkles [9k]

In a not comics-compliant post-series universe where spuffy have been reunited and everyone else is drifting apart, chaos drops by for a visit. Or a nefarious scheme. I guess we'll find out XD

To Apprehend Air by Quinara [19k]

Two days after LMPTM, Spike's soul is stolen. But that's OK; they can get it back, right? Simple. How hard is it to hop dimensions, anyway? Or storm a castle…

Wild and Wonderful by solstice [23k]

Dawn is nine and three quarters. She is resilient, strange and sharp as a tack. She's a credit to her big sis. But she's just been kidnapped by one of the most notorious vamps of all time - Drusilla. Things look bad. Enter Spike, her very unlikely hero. Spike's relationship with Drusilla has been on the rocks since the Acathala debacle and the morsel in the crate is her double-edged gift to him: a chance to make things right, and a chance to be really bad. Kill the girl and make it hurt. But for some reason he. just. can't. Instead, he tosses the niblet into the trunk of his Desoto and hits the road, leaving his one hundred year relationship in tatters, and grinding his reputation into the dust. Buckle your seat belts nice and tight. We're in for a bumpy ride.

World Enough, and Time by toooldforthis [23k]

“You came back wrong,” he told her, all those years ago. He was right, but it took them a very long time to realise exactly what that meant. It meant a hundred more apocalypses, a thousand battles. It meant a journey, a prophecy, a war. They’d lose one other, and find their way back, and choose, again and again. And all the while, the earth was failing. There are a lot more people than you think who are here for the long haul – like, the really long haul. This is a story about two of them.

Once You Eliminate the Impossible by yellowb [30k]

Icelandic noir. Inspector Summers of the Reykjavik police force has finally got her big chance: she’s in charge of a murder case.

sometimes enough by taxicab12 [35k]

“Tell me everything,” Willow said, not sounding particularly like she’d been asleep. “Are his friends cool?” Buffy blinked. “Some of them. There was this one British guy—” “Ooh, accents, hot.” “—who wouldn’t stop staring at my boobs,” she finished. “Ew, men, gross.” “Spike,” Buffy said with a scoff. “What kind of name is that?” Or, Buffy falls in love and in love and in love. For some reason, life keeps happening anyway

ever waiting airports (full of the love that you deserve) by womanaction [41k]

Buffy catches up with Riley's helicopter, solving one problem and introducing a host of others. How is she supposed to rebuild their crumbling relationship in the face of an angry hellgod out for blood, an emotional teenage sister who spent millennia as a glowing ball of energy, and a weirdly helpful vampire? Season 5 rewrite from "Into the Woods" on.

GTFO by Girlytek [54k]

Spike doesn’t take the extra hundred bucks to be the decoy. Ethan doesn’t hang around to gloat. With the Initiative on their tail (just a little one), and Ethan needing a good being killed, Spike and Fyarl-Giles get out of town. There’s nothing like a road trip to put your demons in perspective.

Care by Sigyn [72k]

While under her Will Be Done spell, Willow just happened to say “I don’t care about anything,” and as a result, wanders blithely off as a vengeance demon. Spike and Buffy are left to protect a threatened Xander and a blind Giles while under the effect of a powerful love charm. But all is not happy in paradise – they’re still constantly fighting, and Angel is determined to end the spell they’re under. In a desperate attempt to collect the tattered remains of all their lives, ex-watcher Wesley Windham-Pryce is called in to try and play marriage counselor between the vampire and the slayer.

The Soul Lies Down by the_moonmoth [73k]

"As a child, I used to dream of a man in black and white, spinning in the desert like a dervish, sword flashing in the moonlight as he danced with death." Dawn travels back in time to save the vampire who saved her life. It's not purely out of sentiment, though -- the fate of the world is at stake (again) and somehow Spike is at the center of events. If only he can stay on the right side of Buffy. A sequel to Angearia's "Fin Amour".

Summer’s Lease by Iamblichus [86k]

Buffy thought it would be just another night of slaying lame-ass campus vampires, but one green demon, some unexpected help from Spike, and a spurt of fluorescent blood later, she finds that her world has acquired a novel complication.

Indigo Overture by Rikki_oko [119k]

Spike's just a drummer, content to live in lead singer Angel's shadow. But when a certain blonde strolls in on Angel's arm, will Spike be content to take the backseat forever? Loosely based on the eighties song, Jesse's Girl.

#there’s a bit of everything in there #obviously catered to my taste but hopefully some people agree!#i’m gonna try and include more lesser known writers in the next one #spuffy #spike x buffy #buffy x spike #spuffy fic #spuffy fic rec #spuffy fic recs #spuffy ficrec #spuffy ficrecs #mine

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terriblegam2r · 8 months

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With the premiere of the first episode of The Ones Who Live fast approaching, I want to sneak in my final theory!:

In the picture posted above we see Rick wearing what appears to be a ball chain necklace. This is the first time we have seen Rick wear a necklace of any kind, so it must be really important for him to be wearing it, even when he’s relaxing in his bed (possibly waking up from sleep) in his little apartment at the CR.

The only two things I believe it can be are either 1) it’s a dog tag for the CRM, or 2) and the most likely option, it’s a necklace that’s holding something important to Rick. My guess is that it’s option 2 - it’s a ball chain necklace with something on it, and that something is the wedding ring to his relationship with Michonne (and possibly the same exact ring Michonne has been wearing ever since he got captured).

The only accessories Rick has worn has been his watch (which I guess can be important in the apocalypse to know roughly when the sun is going to set so it doesn’t matter that there was no explanation for that, or there was and I forgot), and his wedding ring to Lori (which he took off before he got into a relationship with Michonne). So again, for Andy (and Gimple and Danai) to have Rick wear a necklace in TOWL has to be very significant for the character, and that is exactly why I believe he has his wedding ring to Michonne on it.

The biggest reason I believe this is -

[Spoilers Ahead]

Rick gets his left hand cut off (most likely in his first few months of being at the CR). The left hand is of course the hand you wear your wedding ring on (after the first trailer dropped, it’s finally been made official that Rick and Michonne are indeed husband and wife, so it is only fitting that rings accompany the relationship don’t you think?), and since he can’t wear his wedding ring on his hand, putting it on a necklace makes perfect sense.

From leaked set pics we know Michonne eventually infiltrates and finds Rick at the CR and possibly stays in his apartment while they try to figure out how to escape. In the trailers we see Michonne wearing her necklace with the ring on it (that I now believe is the wedding ring to Rick and not Rick’s wedding ring to Lori, which I previously believed) with her armor before she gets into the CR, but in scenes where she’s ditched her armor and is in regular clothing we don’t see her wearing her necklace anymore, so there’s a chance she could have given the ring back to Rick and he wears it on the necklace since he can’t put it on his nonexistent hand. Michonne has worn his wedding ring around her neck for years, it would only be fitting (and poetic in a media sense) if Rick did the same after they reunited. I also have a feeling Michonne is with Rick in the top picture. It would explain why he looks so happy :’).

Of course it could be a dog tag, but I highly doubt it is because we haven’t see any CRM soldier wear one. Also, the last place Rick wants to be is at the CR and fighting in their wars and conflicts. Don’t you think he wouldn’t want to wear that thing all day if he didn’t have to and would want to take it off as soon as he gets in his apartment where he can finally be alone and have the freedom to take off all the things that remind him of his kidnappers and the reason why he can’t be with his family? He hates that place, why tf would he even want to wear their dog tag to bed? Highly unlikely if you know anything about Rick’s character.

#richonne #twd #the walking dead #the ones who live #towl #the walking dead: the ones who live #seriously though it makes the most sense #specifically if you know about spoilers

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victorluvsalice · 2 years

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AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark (the Blades In The Dark AU)

Yes, finally, actually doing a PROPER POST on this AU that I’ve mentioned in passing a couple of times! How it came about is like this:

1. I’m a fan of Outside XBox, Outside Xtra, and their DnD stuff, Oxventure

2. While perusing the Funny Moments section of Oxventure on TV Tropes one day last year, I found that they had a side series where they play “Blades In The Dark” (where you and your friends play a daring criminal gang in a world that used to be a fun fantasy setting, but then the apocalypse happened, the sun exploded, most of the continents got sunk/flooded, the seas are now like liquid space full of whale-demons, there are ghosts everywhere because something happened to the afterlife, and they hunt the whale demons because you can make electricity out of their blood).

3. Intrigued, I read the TV Tropes page on BitD, then went over to the official website, and eventually got so into it I ordered a PDF of the book so I could get to know the setting and the mechanics properly and do what I always do in these situations -- stat up Victor and Alice, and in this case Smiler (as I was getting into that around the same time as the Valicer stuff took off in my brain)!

And yeah, this has been a little side project I’ve poked at from time to time ever since! It’s a fun little AU, and I’ve been enjoying adapting the trio to the setting of the RPG. Here’s the basics of what I’ve come up with so far:

Alice was the daughter of Dean Arthur Liddell of the prestigious Doskvol Academy (located in Whitecrown, THE fancy bit of Duskwall, the central city of the setting -- the Lord Governor lives there, away from the riffraff) and his wife Lorina, and the younger sister of Lizzie. The family had a happy life living in Brightstone (the next-fanciest district) -- up until one Angus Bumby entered Doskvol Academy and became obsessed with Lizzie. When she rebuffed his advances, he broke into the house, had his way with her, and set the place on fire to both cover his crime and try to destroy the bodies so they couldn’t let out ghosts. Alice was the sole survivor, and after a year in hospital spent convalescing from her burns, got sent to Rutledge Asylum, here situated right next to Duskwall’s freaking PRISON. This Alice is probably the only one who had a WORSE time in there than in canon, as psychiatry is basically an unknown art in Duskwall, and I imagine a lot of lunatics are just locked up to rot or have their souls ripped out so they can become slave labor -- a fate Alice avoided solely due to being a minor. She still had her Wonderland in this world, though, and was able to use it to lever herself out of her catatonia and eventually deal with her grief enough to join the waking world. . .and promptly ended up sent to the Hounsditch Home in Charhollow (one of the “poor but honest” districts), where she was to help the owner, Dr. Bumby, as general dogsbody. As per A:MR, after about a year here, Wonderland kicked her in the pants and helped her realize Bumby was the one that killed her family -- but unlike canon, by the time of the main action of the AU, she has NOT pushed him onto any train tracks. Mostly because that would likely result in him leaving a ghost, and a spectral Bumby is the LAST thing she wants to deal with. Her playbook is the Cutter, the fighters and heavy hitters, and she starts with the Not To Be Trifled With special ability, which allows her to push herself to perform superhuman feats of strength and fighting prowess (including taking up to six people at once!).

Victor is the son of William and Nell Van Dort, fish merchants living in Nightmarket (one of the main shopping districts, and where the “new money” tends to live). William invented canned fish when Victor was young, which the public pounced on, and his canneries easily made the Van Dorts the wealthiest family in Nightmarket. Nell wanted to eventually make the transition to Brightstone, though, and thus when Victor came of age, she started trying to arrange a marriage with one of the noble families living there. She got lucky shortly before the beginning of the AU, as the Everglots (an old noble family whose fortunes were on the downswing -- noble families control the ships that hunt the whale-demon “leviathans” in this world, and their ship was coming back dry more often than not, meaning their power, prestige, and most importantly coin was running out) consented to let Victor marry their daughter Victoria in exchange for some of that sweet sweet Van Dort fortune. As per canon, Victor and Victoria met right before the wedding rehearsal, and while they liked each other, it wasn’t enough to calm Victor’s nerves. Three hours of failed practice, one dropped ring, and one burn on Maudeline Everglot’s dress from a forgotten candle later, and Victor was banished into the streets to learn his lines. He wandered around for a while, trying to get them straight in his head, and eventually got them right down an old forgotten alley. . .only for the wandering ghost of a bride, Emily, to hear them and think they were meant for her. Victor was promptly dragged into the “ghost field,” the spectral echo of the city where ghosts live, and held captive by Emily (whom he did feel sorry for, but ghosts are bad news in Duskwall -- they tend to lose their minds quickly due to not being able to pass on, and Emily was showing a few signs of “going feral,” as it were). The main AU is actually kicked off by him finally escaping her and finding his way back to the material plane by falling out of a wall in front of Alice and Smiler. . . His playbook is the Whisper, the arcane and magical ones, and he starts with the Ghost Sense special ability, which allows him to sense the presence of all supernatural things in his area and have an easier time getting information on them.

Smiler was the “son” of one Dr. Kellard Kelman, owner of The Sanctuary, a refuge for people who have “lost their smile” -- in actuality, a horrible hellhole of a “mental hospital” where Dr. Kelman conducted experiments on the patients and threw failures in the basement. Smiler and their father clashed about a lot of things (including Kelman’s brutal methods for ensuring “social compliance” and his refusal to accept Smiler as nonbinary), and eventually Smiler just ran away at about twelve years old, rather than be a part of Kelman’s nonsense any further. They ended up in Silkshore (the “red light” district), where they encountered Carol and Matthew Alton, members of the Advocates cult, who worship Mar-Mal, the Unending Smile. Matt and Carol took in the young Smiler and told them what the cult was all about (basically, maximizing happiness however possible, from genuine kind acts to straight-up selling drugs and hypnotizing people) -- Smiler thought it all sounded better than Kelman’s deal and joined up, changing their name from Marmaduke Kelman to Smiler Alton. They proved to be a very eager little cultist, developing a knack for hypnosis and -- as they got older -- a talent with chemical concoctions, eventually making a drug that induced a heavy state of bliss that they called Joy Serum. The invention of this drug caused Mar-Mal to mark them with its favor, turning their previously green eyes a glowing yellow (Matt and Carol were so proud!). At the start of the main AU, they spend most of their time brewing up and selling Joy Serum in Silkshore -- not far from The Mangled Mermaid where Alice’s old nanny now plies her trade as a prostitute, meaning Smiler and Alice are at least somewhat acquainted just from her visits to see Nan there. Their playbook is -- well, it’s mostly the Leech, the tinkerers and chemists, but they also share some stuff with the Slide playbook, the smooth-talkers and manipulators. They start with the Alchemist special ability, which gives them bonuses to any alchemical concoctions they craft and a free recipe (like their Joy Serum).

How they meet -- Well, as indicated, Smiler and Alice were already acquainted from Alice’s trips to see Nan in Silkshore, with Smiler being a friendly presence who’d helped Alice out a couple of times in the past (spotting her money for meals and suchlike). As a result, when Alice fled the Houndsditch Home looking for help with her Bumby problem (either a way to bring evidence to the Inspectors, the only members of the police force known to be incorruptible, or at least not subject to bribes, or a way to kill him and make sure he didn’t come back as a ghost), her first instinct was to go to Nanny, and along the way she encountered Smiler. Her attempt to tell them what was going on was interrupted by Victor’s attempted escape from Emily, however, and the two ended up helping him over to the Mangled Mermaid to just get some food and water in him and help him calm down after his experience. Unfortunately, Emily managed to follow them there and got rather annoyed at finding her husband in a brothel -- fortunately, before she could do any damage, Smiler managed to talk her down (mainly by reminding her that humans gotta eat). Victor took the opportunity to finally explain to her what he’d been doing and that he was already engaged --

But when he mentioned Victoria’s name, Nanny commented that she’d heard that she’d already gotten married that day, to someone named “Lord Barkis.” And Emily recognized the “Barkis” name, as that was the name of the man who killed her. She and Victor agreed they had to go see Victoria for her own good, just in case she’d gotten married to a murderer, and Smiler and Alice chose to come along as back-up. The three took a gondola over to Brightstone (as Duskwall is part Venice as well as being part Victorian London, and is cut all over the place by canals) and crashed the Everglot-Barkis wedding reception, where Emily did indeed identify Barkis as her murderer. Barkis attempted to take Victoria hostage as the guests fled, but the group was able to free her -- Victor sending her away to get help or at least find a safe place to hide -- and Emily ended up destroying herself to possess Barkis and kill him, thanking Victor for at least helping her get revenge on her killer. The local police, the Bluecoats, finally arrived once the deed was done, and searched the corpse while the trio tried to explain what happened --

And then one of the Bluecoats found a fancy brass mask on Barkis. Marking him as one of the Spirit Wardens, the group that goes around collecting corpses and burning them in electroplasm to make sure that the city isn’t entirely overrun by ghosts. A group of people bankrolled by the Immortal Emperor himself.

Yeah, that’s not good. The Bluecoats, already not really believing the gang’s story, decided they’d murdered Barkis (or, at least Alice and Smiler had -- Victor got added to the list when he refused to just run off back home or bribe them) and were prepared to take them in, but Alice managed to hold off the entire gang with a butcher’s knife just long enough for them to start running. Through various means (like Smiler just straight-up injecting a purser with joy serum and using a homemade flash bomb, and Victor managing to accidentally lead a couple more into a very angry, very electric ghost by using his new Ghost Sense to help his new friends avoid it), the trio was able to escape into Six Towers, a previously rich neighborhood fallen to ruin and squatters in recent years. They found shelter in an abandoned building, which proved to be the old home of one Elder Gutknecht, a former Whisper who had managed to keep his senses after death and become a genuinely friendly ghost. The three began wondering what to do next, and Alice finally told Victor and Smiler the full story about Bumby. . .

And either Victor or Smiler was like, “Well, we’re already accused of murder. . .”

And so the group became a crew, with their first scores being to take care of Bumby and to get Victor’s stuff back from his family house! I picture them as a group of Shadows, spies, thieves, and saboteurs, though there’s a bit of a Hawker element because Smiler is of course still selling Joy Serum (and is working on an inhaled drug called Giggler Gas). And even though they are criminals, they’re trying to help where they can -- Victor, after figuring out how to infuse insects with ghost stuff to make glowing moths and stuff to help plants grow, wants to make a community greenhouse for people; Alice still looks after the kids at Houndsditch as best she can from afar, and is only too happy to kill other people hurting children for free; and Smiler of course does want to spread happiness, even if it’s in a bit of a bizarre way sometimes. They’re my chaos crime morally gray group and I love them. :p Hopefully I’ll be able to flesh them out even more for you in the future!

#blades in the dark #valicer #valicer in the dark au #yeah this has been a thing in the background for me for a while #I just really like the setting of the RPG and how it works as a game #it seems really cool #and yes I did start watching Oxventure Presents Blades In The Dark #it's a hell of a lot of fun :)#Alice and Victor were really easy to make into a Cutter and a Whisper respectively #Smiler was a little more difficult #I wasn't sure whether they should be a Slide or a Leech for a while #and then I saw on the official forums that mixing and matching special abilities was totally acceptable #so yeah #I call them a Sleech because they're a mix of both #though I think they lean a little more toward Leech these days #I will probably do more detailed write-ups in the future on their 'playbooks'#I've spent a lot of time fleshing all this out #especially over the Covid Week #it kind of became my special project #twas fun though!#queued

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iamnotawomanimagod · 2 years

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2022 Year in Review

I'm so late, pretend I did this like five weeks ago.

I was tagged by the incomparable @lucerants for a 2022 Year in Review!! Here we go! I'm also gonna talk about 'em all so this is gonna get long!

Top 5 Movies you watched this year:

1 - The Medium (2021)

This is an excellent and disturbing Thai horror film about possession. The last thirty minutes are such pure insanity, all I could do was stare at the screen with my mouth gaping. Highly recommended if you love horror.

2 - Encanto (2022)

What a delightful and beautiful film! I loved the themes of family, being true to yourself, and the importance of acceptance. The music absolutely slaps - if "We Don't Talk About Bruno" didn't get stuck in your head this year, did you really live??

3 - The Fallout (2021)

This was one of the first Jenna Ortega films I saw, and I really enjoyed it. She and Maddie Ziegler had great chemistry and did a really good job of portraying their new-friends-but-also-maybe-more relationship. And it was a truly heartbreaking and very real depiction of what being a teenager in our mass shooting saturated society must feel like.

4 - Spiderman: No Way Home

I'm not really into Marvel, as a rule, but I had to check this movie out since they brought Tobey Maguire back. I was surprised at how emotional I got when story lines from over a decade ago got some closure, especially since that closure came with a lot of empathy for the villains. It was a really fun, meta, fan-servicey movie that made me smile, and even tear up a bit at the end.

5 - Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

Technically I watched this movie at the very beginning of 2023, but I'm going to add it here now because I think it's a movie that truly defined and reflected the feeling of being alive in the early 2020s so well. It was so brilliantly written and shot, just an absolute phantasmagorical roller-coaster of action, comedy, and incredibly heartfelt emotion. I had only heard good things going in, and this film absolutely lived up to my high expectations.

Top 5 TV shows you watched this year

1 - Station Eleven

This show changed me. It's truly one of the most beautiful, well-written, gentle, and human stories I've ever witnessed. It took a setting and premise I thought I was done with forever - post-apocalypse fiction - and made something profoundly impactful. Get the tissues. Prepare to feel everything.

2 - Interview with the Vampire

This was such a delightful adaptation, especially in the ways they changed it. Jacob Anderson as Louis captured the character in a way that brings incredible nuance, even more so in his position as a black gay man in the early 20th century. Sam Reid was an electric and terrifyingly appealing Lestat. And Bailey Bass brought Claudia to life and managed to perfectly portray her various life stages, even as she remains ageless. It's just a really, really good interpretation of a story that I already loved, so it was a joy to watch.

3 - House of the Dragon

I love messy blondes, I love tragic love stories, I love women and their complex and tender and vitriolic relationships. Also dragons. I'm interacting with the fandom via a ten-foot pole, and am very pleased that two of my most treasured mutuals (Luce, Rosy <3) were along for the ride with me for s1.

4 - The Wilds (s2)

I'll never forgive Amazon for giving this show the axe. I'll also never forgive the fandom for reacting to the boys so negatively. S3 would've been incredible. But! I'm glad that we got s2, and got to see more from the Unsinkable Eight. I'm glad we got to meet the boys and learn their stories. I'll always be impressed and grateful for the way this show handled a storyline about sexual assault between young men. And even though there are still so many unanswered questions and we needed an s3, I'm glad that pretty much all of the mysteries introduced in s1 were wrapped up by the end. Better to have loved those castaways and lost them than never loved them at all!

5 - Our Flag Means Death

This show was such a salve - a joyful little pirate sitcom that played on sitcom tropes in a way that made every episode a delight. It was funny, charming, and beautifully shot. I'm so excited for season two!

Top 5 DnD Campaigns you watched this year

The biggest shift in my life this year, especially in terms of media I consume, was my discovery of DnD actual play shows. If I wasn't actively watching a TV show this year, D20 was on in the background. I watched these campaigns multiple times each. I am obsessed.

1 - Critical Role's EXU: Calamity

One of the most heart-wrenching stories I've ever seen, beautifully told and acted by an incredible team of DnD players. The ending is so bittersweet and perfect. I caught the finale live and it wrecked me, I spent the last hour of it weeping. (It was also 1am and the end of a six-hour marathon.) What a masterpiece. The Bronze Ring endures.

2 - Dimension 20: Fantasy High Sophomore Year

This is my favorite campaign by the folks at Dimension 20. The fact that it's live, so delightfully chaotic, and has the lowest production value of any other season makes it so charming and comforting to me. Plus Kalina is easily a Top 3 D20 villain.

3 - D20: A Crown of Candy

Coming up at a close second, A Crown of Candy was the first D20 season I finished. I binged it in about two days (didn't watch the Adventuring Parties at first, though) and felt so thoroughly ripped from the world when it was over that I kinda mourned a family of candy people for like two days straight. It's such a fun, technicolor, sugary-sweet world - but the plot and characters are so complex, so dark, that I was completely swept away by their story. It's just a really well-built and clever world, and it features some of my favorite D20 characters ever (Amethar, Saccarhina, Lapin, and Calroy.)

4 - D20: The Seven

Since The Seven is set in the same world as Fantasy High, I went in with really steep expectations. I was definitely not disappointed. The vibes and relationships between all of the women at the table is so genuine and infectious. The story is touching, but there's so much chaos and so many shenanigans from the characters that there's also so much to laugh about. It's another comfort rewatch, for sure.

5 - D20: Misfits and Magic

Aabria as a GM is always a good time for me, and I really loved seeing this cast parody the Harry Potter universe (and associated "kids at magic boarding school" trope) with such affection, but also incisive criticism. It's funny, light-hearted, and also really fun to watch Brennan be a PC, and get to bounce off the other players as a single personality. (Evan + K = 4Ever)

Top 5 Songs of this year

(I'm not gonna take this from Spotify, although all of these songs were in my top 20)

1 - "It's Called: Freefall" by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

This song did it all for me in 2022. It was a comfort song, a pump-up song, a breakdown song, and a sing-a-long and dance song. I don't know why it struck such a chord with me - I'd enjoyed plenty of other RKS songs before, but never on this level. It just resonates. It was my top song of 2022 on Spotify, and given that the four next songs are all by Halsey, that's saying something.

2 - "Whispers" by Halsey

After seeing this song live, it swiftly reentered my top 5 from IICHLIWP. It's an intense experience even just as a studio track, but the way Halsey sang it in person elevated the song to something even more painfully relatable and real. It's a song that's followed me into 2023, that's for sure.

3 - "Bounce Man" by Twenty One Pilots

I didn't like most of Scaled and Icy, but this song was a huge exception. It was my go-to whenever I needed a pick-me-up. That addictively catchy chorus, the fun beat, the lyrics being hopeful in the face of a scary situation (classic TOP) - that's a combination that hits just right on a tough day.

4 - "Fucks Me Up" by Anthony Green

On the other side of the coin, this song will make you cry on that same tough day, but you'll feel better afterwards. My husband and I share a love for Saosin and Circa Survive, mostly because of Anthony Green's incredible vocals. This entire album is gorgeous, but this song (and the last verse in particular) - well, it fucks me up!

5 - "Tree House" by Alex G feat Emily Yacina

This one is sweet, fun, and calming, and is going to remain in my rotation for a long time to come. It reminds me of my best friend (she did show it to me, but it'd remind me of her even if she hadn't,) and makes me feel so cozy and safe. It's just nice. :)

Top 5 albums of this year

1 - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power by Halsey

For the second year in a row, this album owned my entire life. Most of my top ten on my Spotify Wrapped was devoted to this album. I still go buckwild when I heard "Easier than Lying" and it's my most played song on Spotify EVER, which includes like five years of music-listening. Getting to see most of these songs live (and then some, that 2hr set was crazy) made for one of the best nights of my entire life. It was an emotional experience bordering on spiritual, which is not a place I normally visit. It's Halsey's masterpiece, a perfect marriage of her abilities as a lyricist combined with some of the best production they've ever had. I just love it so goddamn much.

2 - Boom. Done. by Anthony Green

This album is a beautiful, heart-wrenching, honest reflection on addiction, recovery, and trauma. It's sonically very soothing, but lyrically absolutely crushing, which makes for a very tender experience. My husband and I spent most of the end of the year with these songs on rotation when were listened to music together, so this album is going to hold a special place in my heart for a long time.

3 - HOLY FVCK by Demi Lovato

I feel Demi has always been destined to make an album like this. Their voice is perfect for rock music, and the honesty in her lyrics (which reflect her very difficult life experiences) just work so much better with guitars and drums behind them than snyth beats. I didn't love every song on this album, but it's definitely my favorite work by Demi thus far.

4 & 5. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (Live at Webster Hall) and Badlands (Live at Webster Hall) by Halsey

Although these are two very different albums, I love them for the same reason, which is that they both are records of Halsey performing live. I truly think live performances are where they shine the brightest, and many of the live versions of these songs have completely replaced the studio versions for me.

Top 5 fictional characters of this year

1 - Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower (House of the Dragon)

As Luce said, you cannot separate them, it causes wars. I love them both so much. And I'm gonna love and hate watching them continue to tear each other apart.

2 - Louis de Pointe du Lac (Interview with the Vampire)

Jacob Anderson just killed the fuck out of this role, and made me appreciate Louis in a way I never have before.

3 - Adaine Abernant (Fantasy High)

I actually can't put into words how much I love Adaine, or why. If you know, you know.

4 - Kirsten Raymonde (Station Eleven)

I'm always a sucker for a fierce, protective woman with a metric fuckton of baggage, who still manages to maintain a heart of gold in the midst of a horrible situation. Kirsten is all of that, and so, so much more.

5 - Lizzie Saltzman (Legacies)

I just think she's a really fun extension on Caroline Forbes' character, as her heir apparent, and she was often the funniest and most emotionally engaging character on the show. Plus, y'know, Hizzie.

Top 5 games you played this year

The Quarry

The Mortuary Assistant

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The Long Dark

Martha is Dead

5 Positive Things that happened, no matter how small!

1 - I got to see Halsey in concert at my favorite venue!

2 - I moved to a bigger place!

3 - I went and visited my best friend in October!

4 - I got a new job!

5 - I spent a lot of really wonderful time on this website making dumb jokes, crying over shows, and chatting with all of you! <3

Since I'm so very, very late in posting this, I'm not gonna tag anyone, but if you wanna tell me about something you enjoyed last year, feel free!!

#I'm just gonna post this because if I don't do it now I never will #about me #year in review #2022 #year in review 2022 #rambling about my life

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the-letter-horror-lover · 2 years

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SMS (Sun, moon & stars)

Mistycallee

Summary:

You and your sister wonder the world. Looking for something fun to do.

Unfortunetely for you, a skeleton with an attitude problem got in the way of your perfect day.

It can only get better from there. Especially when you invite said skeleton to join you against your sister's wishes.

Uploads are gonna be frequent if possible.

If I haven't posted in more than 2 weeks spam my inbox.

Make sure to give lots of love (the right kind) to readsleepcoffee's fic Brace for it. As my work is inspired by hers.

Notes:

Inspired by Brace for it by readsleepcoffee.

Chapter 1: My sun, my moon and the stars

Chapter Text

It's always been her and you. at least for the past few years. Even before the apocalypse you took care of her. This whole living dead scenario made you even closer than before. You look up to her, because honestly your sister is so cool. She is organized and thoughtful. You call her the sun and she calls you the moon and stars.

The world could have gone to shit in so many ways. Bombs, wars and hell even just the pollution could have done it. It would have been enough to wipe out most of humanity. It did end up a regretful mix of Darwinism and bad luck. Theories amongst survivors are that someone ate a bad hot dog or a bad burger. Something about mad cow's desease. You don't know exactly, not that you care. Your sister loves to theorize on the diffenrent ways the world did end. You let her ramble and push a few ideas you've seen in movies.

"It could have also been the monsters fault. They brought so many technologies when they first arrived topside." She interjected saying." It could also be humans trying to compete with their technologies." You nodded. Her argument sounding better than your own. You'll probably never know. She turns to you and says. "Why would you even accuse monsters. I thought you liked them?" You nodded. "I do, that's why. They are smarter than us. If anyone made something like this, the credit is probably theirs." She snorts and continues. "You're such a nerd. Fan girling ever since they arrived topside. Too bad we never met one." You think that maybe one day you will. After all, they are known to be kind and loving. Exactly the kind of company you wouldn't mind having in the apocalypse.

You are currently walking along a road. How long has it been since our imminent doom?

You'd say about two years. You ask your sister who confirms that it's about two years. She'd have to get out the calendar for that. She scolds you when you ask saying it isn't time for that. You have been traveling this side of the globe for a few months now. Not wanting to reach out to possible survivors. You had enough on your hands anyway. Your sister who travels with you is always happy to follow you wherever you desire. Together you made rules to follow in this forsaken world. They keep the both of you safe so that's what matters. Following yesterday's events you are joyed to reach the town and look for its library.

You finally stumble upon it. deciding that since it's still early morning it's better to secure shelter now and than move on to other things. You push the doors open and start walking in.

Today was rule breaking day. A day that happens once in a while when you are both bored. It meant you chose a random rule and make a point to break it. The least fun one to break for you is probably #34 clean socks. It's one that forces you to wear whatever unwashed gross socks your sister finds. Hers is #1 cardio. Running is one of her best trait so not being able to run means you and her have to fight whatever you find without running from it. Rule breaking day is great to get out of boredom.

Usually you crash the night in a library so you can both keep up with whatever series you are reading at that point. You plopped your bag next to the library counter and rang the bell.

ding

Loud crashing and gurgling noise made their way fastly to you and your sibling. You placed your hand to your sides retrieving a small bundle of knives from your garter belt pouch. Three knives in your right hand and one in your left. "Okay Stitch let's see if I can beat your score today." You give her a small smile and move to the middle of the space. "Let's see you try." You prepared and made motions to get a better aim once the dead were in sight.

They came struggling around the corner and with one swift motion you took out the one at the front. He fell over pretty quickly. "Hey Stitch why don't you get out the dices and choose a rule for us today." She hummed at you and went to rummage in her pack.

Your attention quickly snapped towards another walking corpse running towards you. You took one of the knives from your right hand and placed it in your left. A quick movement from your arm and a second one was down. You think you can see them all by this point. You were right to take out four knives. The third one let's out a gruelingly painful screech while sprinting. You once again take a knife from your left and place it in your right hand. The motion going swiftly again and she is down. The last one fatter than the others stumbles towards you. You are preparing to throw you last knife this time with your right hand. You shift your weight balancing from left to right. You are aiming the dead as you hear. "YES!" Your sister said happily.

Your knife fumbles out of your hand and hits the zombie in the chest. Great ... Fucking great. "What is it?" She smiles and takes out her handbook. You place your hand behind your lower back and reach for your machete. You snap the button holding it in place. The weight of the weapon now solid in your hand. "Had to make me loose focus now did you?" She quirks a smile and answers. "Don't know what you mean?"

That sneaky competitive dork. You'll get her back. First is the dude trying to make you his breakfast. You step forward reaching out to him and kick him flat in the sternum, rule #11 (use your feet) . Unfortunately for you he is unmoved which means you have to take a step back from the giant blob. You take a jab at his head with your machete.The swing fluid has it is doesn't seem to fully penetrate. You try to take it out with a swift tug of your arm.

...

It got stuck.

Exactly what you wanted.

You internally rolled your eyes and made a run for it. You went to one of the knives stuck in an infected. You pulled it out and grunted at the effort it took. Mister pig still following you with a machete hanging from the side of his skull. "You made him a nice Halloween costume." "Oh shut up". You answered your sister. She laughed and rolled her sleeves up. Ready to take care of clean up. You didn't have time to make another quick snippy comment at her as your new 'friend' went to grab you. You dodged him to the left and stabbed him right in the eye. The poor dude fell over in a gruesome manner.

You motioned to your sister who quickly hands you a clean towel. You put it on your shoulder and go to take out all of your knives. They all come bloody and mucky which you wipe clean with your towel. You take out the machete last and wipe it before sheathing it back. You prop the knives back in their own space. You wipe your hands with the rest of the now soiled cloth.

Your sister is currently dragging out her first body. You place your towel on the ground and go to face her. "So..." You pause and wait for her to look up at you. " What did we get?" She continues pulling on the leg and you go infront of her to get the library door open. It's a cool summer day based on the breeze.

Emotions of the night before flooding through you. You barely got out from the last town and made your way here to stay the night at this library. A group of survivors had tried to force you to join them. You have nicknames for one another. Makes it a whole lot easier when meeting survivors. Rule #5 (No attachment). You also only rely on one another after all you fill rule #8 perfectly between the two of you. (Get a kick-ass partner). The sly way they said your nickname was unerving. You hated it. If they were nice you might have entertained the idea. They screamed bad intentions no matter how you looked at them. They kept pressuring the both of you. One of them actually grabbing your butt. That wouldn't faze you. What did push you over the edge was seeing one of them try to corner your sister. "Scew it!" You said. One of them tried to get handsy with your sister and you pushed him off. "Hands off! Or you'll loose more than a finger!" [Bravery] filled you once again. You went to punch him but your sister had other plans. She interjected and you had to stop yourself from punching her instead of him. She said you'd both think it over. Saying something about needing time to convince you.They called out to the both of you saying to take as little time as possible. You followed her. She had planned for such a thing. Stitch had made an escape route out of the building and you followed her. A few rules had saved you yesterday. Rule #22 (when in doubt know your way out), rule #20 (it's a marathon, not a sprint) and rule #1 (cardio) saved you. They fired shots in your direction missing you completely. They probably didn't plan for your sister's genius plan. The yells of these man and the gunshots fired in your direction still ringing in your ears.

You shook your head to chase away yesterday's 'fun'. Rule #13 (shake it off).

Fuck. You need this to be a good day.

Today was going to be a stress free day.(You hope.) Whatever rule Stitch got with the dice she seems to have a lot of fun playing with your patience. Once she came back through the door she smiled. You know that wicked smile. She must have pulled #34 oh god this is gonna suck. "Go check the handbook it's right on top the counter with the dice still on it." You walked back to the counter and your eyes land on the dice. it's a 21. You look and try to remember what rule #21 was. You looked at the page and see it. ... Oh this was a horrible idea.

"I can't believe I even agreed to it."

"Rule #21 Lilo. Avoid strip clubs. Or for today, go to the strip club."

The both of you were now standing infront of a strip club. You had both cleaned out the library and your sister made the decision for the both of you. "You know the rules Lilo. The one who is standing champion of knife throwing gets to decide-" You don't let her finish and fill in. " How the rule breaking is applied. Yeah yeah." You stepped forward and glanced back at her. "Better not be any corpse in there." You push the doors open. It's strangely quiet. Maybe too quiet. You gesture to your sister who takes a few steps inside. "HEY OH CAPTAIN JACK!" Your sister's loud singing fills the once quiet space. You think they should all be running now but there's nothing. "Finally I get a free turn." "NO. that doesn't count" you retort. She smiles and points towards the main stage. "Okay fine. IF it doesn't count. than you must go first on the pole."

You look at her.

Seriously? That was her plan? It doesn't bother you.

"Let's just make sure nothing can jump us before I do that okay?" You both scrutinized the floor and backstage. No face eating monsters in sight. You left out a small chuckle and started undoing your belt and clips. You lowered your weapons to the corner of the stage and took off your leather jacket.

Your sister hollering at you. "Show me how you made money before the apocalypse sis!" You rolled your eyes. There was one reason why you wanted to avoid strip clubs. You had bad memories around them. Your first years into adulthood had been working there.You didn't have a choice, your mother had kicked you out of the house. It was either that or the streets. You started of serving drinks but working the stage ended up bringing more money. Especially when you had to take your sister in after your mom kicked her out. Your sister pissed off your mom and she stopped paying your sister's tuition. You worked a lot more starting there to make sure the both of you were provided for.

So ofcourse you knew one day, you would have to break this rule.

You just didn't want it to be so soon.

...

Well it was gonna be some day. You climb the stage propping yourself up with your arms. Your sister is now behind the bars making cocktails for the both of you(you hope). "Take of your boots! Those aren't sexy!" Said your sister. You knew she was trying to lift the mood but yesterday's escape sure made you tense. You made a show of slowly taking of your boots and dropping them of the stage. You took your sweet time taking off your shirt and then taking off your pants, leaving you in shorts and a sports bra. Your sister laughing at the spectacle. "Stitch don't forget you're next." She took the shaker and effortlessly roughed it in her hands. You were not getting an answer out of her.

Now the stage was yours. You just had to take your first step. You grabbed the metal pole feeling how cold it was. You spun around it a few times before grabbing it with one leg and twirling on it. This is a whole lot better than you remembered. "Oula la!" Said your sister in a mocking tone. You turned around and said confidently. "If you think this is impressive, my next move will have your jaw dropping to the floor." Your soul fluttered as you made the next move filled with [Bravery]. Your head now hanging upside down as both your legs are hanging from the pole. You try to make it as elegant as possible but screw it. You haven't danced in years!

Suddenly the door swung open. You froze in shock at an unfamiliar face. While your sister took out her handgun and pointed it at the threat.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Second chapter a few hours later than I'd like. Sorry for the delay it was harder to edit.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

You could feel your soul overpowering your heart rate. The pulsing feeling had you on edge. With your body still hanging upside down on the pole left you in quite a vulnerable. Your sister's gun clicked and she was aiming the entrance. Once the door was opened to its full length you saw what appeared to be a monster. A skeleton monster.

WAIT IT'S NOT A ZOMBIE?!

You slowly took in his appearance. He wore a black jacket with a gold zipper and a fur trimmed hood. His open jacket let you see a red sweater underneath. Your eyes fell down to his pants. He wore a pair of black sports short with yellow lines on their side. Your eyes went down even further and you saw untied red snickers on his feet.

"Stitch stand down!" She didn't shoot him, yet. She must have heard you.

A few sharp bones floated around the monster. A small gleeful smile crossed the monster's skull, letting you see a sharp smile and a golden tooth.

You shivered as he spoke.

"i neva thought strippers still worked inth' 'pocalypse." He chuckled while taking in the view.

You gently lowered yourself back to the floor.

"We don't want no trouble." You raised both your hands up and tried to push your intent out.

"We are not looking for a fight." You glanced at your sister who gently took her gun and placed it back in its holster.

The monster seemed stunned by this act of mercy.

"Don't want any dust on my or her hands. We won't hurt you."

He started laughing at that.

"ya think jus' 'cause ya give me mercy i'll do da same?"

You walked forward unarmed. Your soul still not settled from all its thrumming. Your trait flaring up even harder the closer you got to the monster.

"That's exactly what I think. I'm putting my life on the line." He seemed taken aback by your actions.

Your odd were good if you had fought him. Two humans versus a monster, but every living thing deserves a chance. They all deserve mercy. The closer you got to him the more nervous he seemed. Something akin to sweat coating his skull. Once at arm's distance you extended your arm. All the bones now pointing at you.

"My name's Lilo. This back there is Stitch, my younger sister. So what's your name big guy?"

"stars doll ya killin' me. am the big bad monster and ya tryin' ta shake ma hand?"

He doubled over in laughter the bones dissipating from thin air.

"you suicidal or somethin'? i've neva seen a human so dumb."

You looked at him wide-eyed. Well while he insulted you at least he didn't try to kill you. You'd take it any day compared to yesterday's encounter.

"We don't have all day sis." Your sister called out.

The monster now eyeing you properly. Was he checking your stats?

"You won't find anything interesting while looking at me big guy."

He seemed startled at your observation. He looked up in your eyes and you answered his unasked question.

"I'm in tune with my soul I can feel you checking me. Not that I mind, but maybe ask permission next time."

He now was back on edge but no bones around. That's good.

"I took the special class about souls back before this shit show. They found I was a bravery. That's what you saw, right?"

He continued analyzing you. Was he looking for something specific?

"ma name's red." He finally took your hand and you got chocked.

A small Yelp escaping your mouth. Your sister quickly whipped out her pistol. Only to be startled when you started laughing. The monster also seemed quite startled more red drops of sweat coating his skull. It took you a few moments to stop and recover.

At that your sister quickly walked up to you grabbed your arm and nudged you outside. You left poor Red inside while you tried to understand what your sister wanted.

"Is there something wrong Stitch?" She mimicked your tone repeating what you said.

She then doubled her tone now almost shouting. "No nothing wrong. Just you making friend with a FUCKING monster is all. You don't know him. You don't know his intent. He could be evil for all we know." You crossed your arm in front of your chest.

"Seriously that's what your worried about? Stitch, we can deal with him. I was serious when I said I didn't want dust on my hands. Just make sure he doesn't get to ‘handsy’ and it will be fine."

She was about to retort but the door to the club opened.

"ya know i can hear it all. if i'd want ya dead, ya wouldn't be talkin' right now."

Your sister's cheeks flushed. You laughed at the display and Red eyed you like you were crazy. You took a deep breath speaking.

"Sorry Red, Stitch isn't used to people calling her out on her bullshit."

You brushed off your legs.

"Now. How about you join us for a drink Red?"

You grabbed your sister's arm before she could protest and pushed her inside.

"Play nice." You whispered in her ear. She huffed but walked in.

Red slowly shuffled behind you making his way next to the stage. He laid down in one of the plushy arm chairs. You slowly made your way to the corner of the stage. Taking your pants and slowly pulling them up. Red's perma-grin faltered a bit at that.

"this ain't a dinner an' a show?"

You continued putting on your shirt making sultry faces at Red.

"Sorry, change of plans."

He grumbled apparently unhappy you would put more clothes on. Tucking your pants inside your boots and slowly putting yourself back together.

"so where are ya goin'?"

"We are trying to reach Las Vegas." You interjected. "Or the Grand Canyon."

Red looked at Stitch with a dubious look.

"wanna try that again sweetheart? 'cause ya ain't close to da damn thin'."

She gave Red a glare and said. "I'm spitting in your drink."

Red had a sly smile on his face while answering her.

"do it. i’d love that."

She shuttered from the implication of what he had just said. I snapped my fingers in his face.

"Hey eyes up here, you want to be gross, you do it with me! She's off limits. Am I clear?"

He took in your appearance, now fully clothed.

"if ya want me ta play nice. ya have ta show me a good time."

You walked away to your drink and whisked the content out in your mouth. It pleasantly burned.

"You want me to play nice?" Your tone laced with lust.

You slowly walked back to him. "I'll show you a good time."

You sat on his lap slowly performing a lap dance. He looked stunned at the gesture. He tried to put his hands on your hips but you slapped them off.

"Be nice Red."

He mumbled something underneath his breath. You continued until you felt his magic pull in his shorts.

"And that's how you cockblock a skelle-dick."

You got off his lap and went back towards the bar and your sister. She was laughing hysterically and doubled over once you took the drink out of her hands.

"fucking cunt."

Said Red in such a low voice, you would have missed it if you were not looking for it. You took a sip out of the drink. She didn't end up spitting in it. She was smarter than that. You carefully made your way back to Red. Delicately holding the glass while he realized you had gotten so close.

"Here is mister Red's order."

He looked at it, questions in his eyes.

"am supposed ta drink that?"

You placed it in his hands.

"Unless you weren't looking I took a sip of it before giving it to you. It ain't poisoned."

He smelled it and emptied his glass.

"Where are you going Red?"

He gestured towards what you assumed was south.

"any desert honestly. but i guess, nevada and arizona are on da way to a desert."

He had a sly look on his glare and raised a brow bone.

"Are you trying to come with us Red?"

You heard a shattering sound making Red and yourself jump. Your sister looked at you now shaking her head. Red and you exchanged looks. He knew what this meant.

"sure doll. a desert is a desert. where ya stayin' at?"

Stitch voice rang in your ears. "You can't be serious?! Who said you could come with us ?"

You shot your sister a stare. "I did. Just now. Red do you want to come with us?"

He licked the glass empty, a red viscous tongue coming from in between his teeth.

"glad ya asked cheeks."

He threw the glass behind him and it shattered on the ground.

"Sweet! I think we had enough of the strip club for the day. Right Stitch?"

She mumbled something about fucking but the rest was incoherent and grabbed her bag. She waited by the door while you clipped your belt and garter back in their place. You took your backpack and motioned to Red.

"You need to get up."

He flipped you the bird and got up. "go get ya car and meet me back 'ere."

"What car?"

...

"ya know da one ya were takin' ta get to nevada."

"Like I said Red. What car?"

"ya kindin' me. ya gotta be."

"My sister isn't lying Red. We've walked all the way here and back. It's been months since we've last used a car."

He rolled his eyes and looked at you.

"that ain't it. am not going ta nevada on bare fucking foot."

You looked at your sister she seemed disinterested by what the skeleton had to say. Your sister looked at your pleading eyes. She knew what she had to say.

"Well Red, are you going to get us a car?"

He quirked a brow bone. "depends what's in it for me?"

She shook her head at you while you nodded. "I've got monster food in my bag!"

...

Well that could have went a lot worst. He argued that if you found him mustard he'd get you a car. You showed him the way to the library and he went into an alley. Something about knowing a shortcut. It didn’t bother you nor your sister. Now you need to go get some mustard for one sassy skeleton. You could go in someone’s house and take their mustard. Your sister said you could also go to the rich neighbourhood. You argued that rich people had rich people food and that Red probably wanted yellow mustard.

“Fine I guess I’ll go look for ‘rich’ food and you’ll go look for whatever you can scavenge.”

You huffed and took out your radio.

“Fine but keep yours on. You know in case of emergency.”

She plucked hers from the side of her bag and you both turned them on at the same time.

“Meet me at the library in an hour.”

You explored a few houses and ended up with a lot of canned goods. No mustard yet. You really want to prove your sister wrong, so against your better judgment you rushed into the next house. You slammed the door opened and shouted at the possible undead.

“Lunch is here!”

Silence.

Well you would take silence any day if it meant you could take over the kitchen. You made your way to the cupboard and opened them one after the other. Only a few dried goods and a can of anchovies. Luckily there was still the pantry. You went to turn the knob when you heard a few muffled steps behind you.

Shit ...

You turned around and grabbed your army knife in your pocket. Only when you had reach for it you were now face to skull with Red. He held your hands with one of his bony hands.

“Shit Red! I almost stabbed you!”

“almost.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“found a car in da garage. Was ‘bout ta take it back when i heard a dumbass screaming ta get killed.”

“And your genius brain thought it would be a good idea to scare the living shit out of me?”

He stared. You didn’t know if it was at your chest or your soul but by the feeling alone it wasn’t pleasant. You shook out of his grip. You placed a hand in front of your chest while the other still held the knife.

“Don’t do that again Red. If it was Stitch you’d be dead.”

“thought ya were da brave one.”

“Brave doesn’t mean stupid Red. Besides, you are on thin ice with Stitch. She would have killed you without a second thought.”

“isn’t it against ya soul trait? have da both of ya just switched soul at birth?”

“Soul isn’t everything Red. Now how about you show me that car?”

He reached behind, opened the pantry and glanced at your chest.

Okay this time it was sexual.

You followed after him. He held the bottle of mustard in one hand while his other was deep in his pocket.

“I Thought this was a lower neighbourhood?”

“it is.”

“Why is there a garage?”

“think a bit cheeks ya’ll find out why.”

You looked at the front of the home your eyes taking in the front lawn. There was a sign half covered in vines. You walked to it and cut the branches off with you army knife.

It read in bold letters. [Mark’s repair shop]

Well he wasn’t a genius, just observant.

Notes:

Make sure to get check me on Tumblr

Will try posting art or sketch of this fic in the next few days.

Chapter 3: First night

Summary:

Red and Lilo come back from their car searching venture to join Stitch to eat and go through their first night together.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

You look around. Red is nowhere to be found. A loud bang and clasp of metal are heard somewhere behind the house. You hurry towards the noise.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to be make us dinner?"

You look at the main entrance. An old sign above the door tells you it's the service entrance. Another set of loud noises come from within the big garage.

Your eyes dart to the garage doors, they are still closed. Clearly the noise are coming from inside but it doesn't look like anyone broke in. Especially someone like Red, you think to yourself.

You take a few tentative steps forward when you hear the scuffle of an infected behind you.

"Crap."

You take out your machete and head towards the infected. Rule# 11 (Use your feet). You kick him with your feet and he falls backwards. You don't hesitate to strike him across the skull while he is down. Rule #2 (Double tap). Another swing never hurt anybody. Well it would hurt him but it's not like he matters.

"There, done and done."

You look up from your 'fresh' kill only to spot more than a dozen of its companions coming towards you.

This day could have been so much better. So many things could have worked differently. No of course you had to meet a monster, be kind to him and worst of all like him.

You sprint towards the simple door. You twist the knob and give it a few tugs. It's not budging. How the hell is this thing not opening? Didn't Red enter through here?

He must have locked it behind himself.

You run straight to the garage doors and knock on them with both hands. Your machete clings to the metal door. The infected are slowly closing in on you and panic sets into your soul.

"Red it's locked open the fucking door! I'm about to die out here!"

" ya forgot ta say knock knock"

"I'm gonna knock knock your ass off if you don't let me in."

"close enough."

He opens the door and you hurry back inside of it. Slamming the door shut behind you and locking it. You didn't miss the playful smile and wink he sent you.

"ya forgot I don't got no butt ta kick."

"Your coccyx seems like a nice target Red."

"..."

"That's what I thought. Why did you lock the door anyway?"

"must have done it by mistake."

He shrugs and turns back towards the vehicles. You walk up to a mini van, the kind a suburban mom would have.

"We should take the mini van"

Red shoots you a dirty look.

"no"

"Why?"

"cause it's yellow"

"And?"

"it looks lika submarine."

"... Yeah okay good point. But we'd have more space."

"i ain't gettin'n that."

"Come on Red."

"nah, we takin' da hummer."

He points at a Red vehicle. It looks huge and like it burns through a lot of gas.

"That Red thing?"

"that thin' like ya said is my new baby. treat 'er wit' respect."

You roll your eyes and start looking around the shop. A few trinkets caught your attention. A playboy calendar, photos from before the end and keys with a shiny skull pendant. The keys seemed to match the big hummer's logo. One less thing to worry about you think to yourself.

"hey cheeks, needa lil' help with getting' this bae runnin'. can ya find me a boosta cable?"

You look around for a booster cable. You get to the wall of tools and see some hanging by their prongs. It's too high for you to reach on your own, so you climb the counter next to it.

Who puts things so high?

As you reach for them the counter-top breaks. You grab onto the closest hook barely hanging. The undead are starting to get agitated behind the door. Their groans and bangs on the doors making you shiver. You step down from the debris and reach once more for the prongs. This time nothing falls and they are safely in your hands. You go back to Red who has the hood of the hummer propped up and ready.

"took ya long 'nough."

You don't even respond and just hand him the tool. He seems to be adamant on working on his new "baby". You can occupy your time another way. You go to inspect the inside of the mini-van. The door easily slides open and you think it looks relatively normal. Maybe something hidden in between the seats? You reach towards them and feel a plastic wrapper. Sweet might be chocolate or a protein bar. You push it up and are less than happy to find a pack dried gummy worms. Those are ready to throw away.

You hear the sound of the motor humming. Red bellies a laugh and turns towards you. You don't have time to turn that his bony hand slaps your ass.

"let's go cheeks."

"The fuck Red?"

"what? ya said ya sista is off limits. ya ain't 'er and with an ass like that."

"Still, you ever heard of consent?"

"nah don't know 'er."

You roll your eyes again. He is an asshole for sure but he's getting you a car so that's not that bad. It's not like he's sneaky about it. This is better than any human you've encountered since the end of the world. He's true for now on not touching your sister so that's a plus in your book.

You both jump at the sudden slam of the undead against the door. It looks like it's on its last leg. There must be more than a few dozens of them out there now. No way to verify without running more risk than necessary.

How are you actually going to escape? Did Red think this through? Sure the car is running but that doesn't mean you are out of the woods yet. You could just ram the door with the vehicle but you risk breaking Said car. You feel the pressure rising. When suddenly you have an idea.

"Red I got a shit plan."

"whateva ya have, am ready ta take doll."

"Get in the car and have the passenger side window rolled down. I'll open the garage door and you make a run for it. I'll catch up and jump in."

You can feel the tension rising even more. How is that even possible? Is it the possibility of a grim future catching up to you? No you are confident in your ability. You know you can do it.

"doll that ain't gonna fly with ya sista. don't want 'er ta dust me."

You run towards the chains retaining the doors. You start yanking them and see the tip of some less than pristine shoes.

"Now Red!" You call out to him.

His sockets turn completely black. No trace of his eye light. He hurried inside the car and rolls down the windows. You continue to pull the chains your light weight and small hands making it harder to grab them properly.

You are filled with [Bravery].

You finally feel the chains sliding with ease and the infected start pouring through the door. The gap is more than enough to make it with the car. You run fast and call out to Red.

"Step on it!"

Red's eye light comes back and he floors it. You reach the window and grab onto the side of the hummer while Red plows through the infected. You 'gracefully' climb in your seat and take off your backpack.

"ya sista's not gonna be happy."

You shoot him a death stare.

"She's not going to know about it."

He looks ready to add to his statement but keeps his mouth shut. You welcome the new found silence and enjoy the ride all the way back to the library.

Outside with a small propane barbecue is your sister. She looks really happy with herself. She whistles when she looks at the car.

"Nice ride. Although I would have preferred something less flashy."

You turn to Red who is currently looming over the car with the hood open.

"I didn't get a say."

"ya opinion was trash anyway."

"Thanks Red."

You look at your sister who seems giddy with excitement. Something good must have happened while scavenging.

"So how did it go?"

"I found motherfucking KD!"

Oh god you were never going to hear the end of it.

"what's that?"

You'd have to explain for your sister who was to happy had the thought of junk food.

"It's what we call macaroni and cheese in Canada. It's basically the name of the brand."

You sister who usually wouldn't step close to anyone but you practically jumps in front of Red while she explains the different types of cheese and why it's yellow. You give him a bemused look. He smiles when he sees how you look at your sister.

"You never had some Red?"

"can't say I have."

"I guess I'll have to share some with you mongrel." She playfully rolled her eyes and giggled. You were scared that Red wouldn't take it well. Your sister's humour isn't always considered appropriate or fun by most. To your surprise Red's eye light gleam and his smile seems to widen a bit. You must have imagined it because the next second you look it's gone.

Dinner passes and you make small talk with Red and your sister occasionally adding to the discussion. The sun slowly sets and you spot the sky going darker. The air heavy in humidity and the wind becoming stronger.

Looks like it will rain tonight.

"why do ya chose libraries of all places ta have a base?"

You give a look to your sister who nods back at you.

"We find them practical. It's not like a lot of people would come here in the apocalypse. Plus we get all the free books we want."

"why do ya want books?"

"It's to pass time and keep our brains active I guess."

"what ya readin'?"

"I'm a bit of a star nerd so astronomy, sometimes science and if I'm feeling extra spicy some good adult novel."

"i wanna go back to da last one but ya tellin' me ya a' nerd? i don't believe it."

" I'm telling the truth Red. We won't have a great sky tonight, it's getting cloudy but I'm telling you. Next time it's peaceful we are going stargazing."

"sure."

You could see faintly a bit of red dust his cheekbones but you must have imagined it. It's dark you can't see clearly.

Your sister starts rubbing her eyes.

"Looks like I'm taking first shift."

"what do ya mean?"

You turn to Red.

"You don't do guard shift?"

"am alone cheeks."

"Right... Well Stitch and I usually sleep half of the night each. Taking turns watching the other's back."

"where do I fit in that?"

"Do you want to take last shift or middle one?"

"He is taking last I want to make sure we are ready before you wake up."

"sure whateva she says."

She yawns and stretches. You look at her with a big smile and say. "Guess I'm taking care of the dishes."

"Cry me a river Lilo.

You only have three dishes and a pot to clean."

You make an exasperated gasp at your sister and turn towards Red.

"Can you believe it? The audacity."

You dramatically place a hand on your chest and make a fanning motion. Your sister sighs and walks inside of the library. You start clearing the ground and plates. Red doesn't move from is position. He only stares at you. You try to start a conversation while you continue cleaning.

"Mind helping me big guy?"

"nah ya doin' a pretty good job by yaself."

"So what were you doing before this thing happened?"

You pointed in every direction. You hear a light chuckle from Red when he turns to look away from you.

"that's non of ya business." He snarls as he finishes saying that.

"That's okay. If you have any questions for me 'I' will answer them."

He stops and looks back at you. You are serious. He must see it in your eyes. While you go to get a clean rag from your bag you hear him behind you.

"why astronomy?"

"It's my escapism. Thinking I could have it better up there."

His eye light constrict, you don't have time to ask why that he pursues the conversation.

"which do ya like best?"

Your eyes start gleaming with joy as you whip around to look at Red. Your own soul turning a few times from the joy of speaking about the stars. Red looks lost in your eyes while you bombard him with information about them. You see him finally leaning on a wall of the library as you finish packing. He must have thought you were safe enough to lower his guard a bit. You smile at the notion you made him feel safe.

"It's time we head inside. I want to prepare my sleeping bag."

You go to the door and open it, bowing slightly at Red who just shuffles inside with both hands in his pockets. You close the door and set your bag down a few meters from the entrance. It rest against a wall. You wearily look at Red.

"Don't you have a cot or something?"

"nah unless ya invite me in yours."

You shake your head and begin poking around your bag. You get out a tooth brush, toothpaste and a canteen. You make it pass Red who looks at you with a raised brow bone. You make it to the bathroom and proceed to check the stalls. Rule#3 (Beware of bathrooms). You push open each stall and return to the sink. You brush your teeth and hear the door open. With a mouth full of toothpaste you articulate slowly.

"It's about time you came and brushed your teeth. Not like we can afford braces in the apocalypse."

You continue brushing but whoever just entered made no effort in answering you. Before you can turn around a big hand grabs you by the waist.

"didn't know ya cared this much 'bout me cheeks."

He nuzzles in the crook of your shoulder and you can feel the shivers running down your spine. This isn't the time. You nudge him with your elbow hard enough to separate the both of you.

"It's not the time Red."

"when's da time?"

"Between I feel safe and I know you o'clock"

"party pooper."

"Don't be childish Red. Now let me finish brushing my teeth. I don't want any cavities."

He groaned and mumbled something under his breath that you couldn't quite catch. You heard the door slam and finished your nightly ritual.

Once you left the stall you realized something seemed amiss. The rain was now pouring heavily outside but the door was open. You rushed to the door only to see Red fighting a few infected. He seemed to do well but you could see beads of sweat coating his skull.

You jumped into the action. Taking out two pocket knives and placing one in each hand. You took a stance and slowed your breathing. Aiming for the one creeping behind Red. You called out to him. He couldn't hear you or didn't care considering the threat in front of him. You threw your knife right on target, the undead crumbled to the ground. Red finally snapped his eye light in your direction.

"You are welcome."

His grin widened and he summoned a few bones in the air. You saw them impale the corps. As they went limp Red walked toward you. Raising one arm toward the sky while his pupil flashed with red. You panicked he was about to strike you, or so you thought. You closed your eyes and finally heard a gurgling noise and a body hitting the ground. You opened your eyes with Red easily towering over you at this point. He looked smug and said in a snarky tone.

"ya welcome."

You fought a few more infected like this and after a few minutes none were left. You retrieved your knives and cleaned them on the grass.

You were both soaked from the rain as you came back inside. Once again you closed the door. Red's hoodie was clinging to his bones which he didn't seem to mind. You on the other hand finally felt how cold and uncomfortable you were. You moved to your bag and took out a change of clothes and underwear.

"I'll go change before I catch a cold."

"i should go with ya ta catch your extra."

"Wouldn't recommend it Red. Unless you want to catch these hands."

You made vague motions at your fists and Red grinned at you.

You get in the stall and close it behind you. Changing into a more comfortable outfit. Your damp clothes clinging to your skin as you try to take them off. The offending piece slouching against your body. Once you took off your clothes you already felt much better. You could still feel how cold you were but your shivering was already better. Your night outfit was a simple pair of blue shorts with a black tank top. You first put on the fresh pair of underwear. You moved on to the change of socks. Rule #34 (Clean socks). It made you feel so much better. Those long thigh high socks were a god send.

You left the bathroom only to find Red frozen stiff. Was the cold finally getting to him?

"Red are you alright?"

His eye light was smaller than a pin prick. You placed your hand in front of him and motioned in front of you.

"Earth to Red. Can you hear me?"

You snapped your fingers which seem to finally make him come back to reality. His eye light darting everywhere but your body.

"ya can go rest. I'll take it from 'ere."

"Are you sure Red? There's still some time left to my shift and you have yours later on-"

He didn't let you finish.

"am sure don't need sleep. just go and rest. I'll take care of it."

You nodded and smiled gently. This time you plainly saw his skull light up a pretty crimson colour. You wouldn't comment on it but it was really pretty to look at. You felt him staring at you until you were fully immersed in your cot. His eye light darting to you once in a while but mostly to the outside door.

After a while you grew tired and sleep finally found you. You could only hope for the next day with your skeleton pal.

Notes:

Go check my Tumblr

I try to post weekly chapters of this fic.

If you want to add your grain of salt to my fic I highly encourage it. I have about ten to twelve chapters planned out but I'm always willing to take in new ideas. I will make polls when needed. Speaking of, a poll is planned in the next few chapters. ^ . ^

Every Wednesday. *cough cough*

(Yes it is Thursday! Yes I was up all night editing with my editor. No I'm fine.)

Thanks for your support in this small project of mine.

Chapter 4: The road we travel

Summary:

Your journey with Red and your sister finally starts.

You open up to the big bad monster and make light of your situation.

Red...

He tries his best.

Notes:

Content warnings

-Light mention of sexual trauma.

-Child neglect

-Trans issues

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The next morning you wake up to Stitch cooking breakfast outside. You look around but Red is nowhere to be found. You go grab an outfit from your bag and go to the bathroom. After you are finished with your business and changing into a more battle ready outfit. You make rounds in the library trying to find something new to read and find Red. He is looking at an encyclopedia which you have never seen before. You try to look closer but your footsteps startle Red, who jumps and closes the book. You wave at him.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you. Hope it's a good book."

You start to turn around but Red is now in front of you. It makes you jump and you let out a few choice swears.

"what's ya game?"

"Not dying."

"i mean why'd ya want to hang 'round a monster like me."

"Because it's safer."

You pass him and walk towards the exit.

"You seem like good company. Why not keep you around."

You make it to your sister who is done packing up. She throws you a water bottle which you miraculously catch.

"You didn't drink any yesterday. We don't have time for a headache."

You nod and take a quick sip. It does make you feel better. One less thing to worry about.

"Where's Red?"

"He's back inside. He should be out in a few minutes."

Your sister rolled her eyes.

"He better be. It's not like we have keys for the thing."

Well... She doesn't have to know that Red hot wired the car. He doesn't need to know that you still have the real keys on you. You reach for them in your coat pocket, they are there so you have a plan if Red doesn't trust you. While you ruminate on the possibilities You are both startled by a honk of a horn. You turn around to see Red hollering at you.

"got some space for a few chicks if ya pay da fee."

You fail to contain a laugh and your sister stares at you.

"Nope. Ain't paying him shit."

"Relax Stitch he's joking."

He wiggles his brow bone at you and pick up your equipment. Your sister follows behind you making sure to stay at a safe distance. Once you both reach the car you open the trunk and throw everything in there. Stitch carefully places her stuff and you wait for her to finish. She smiles and nods once she deems her stuff is secure enough. You reach for the rear door but your sister steps in once you open it. Not wanting to be rude you close it and decide to take the passenger side. After securing yourself Rule #4 Seat belts and making sure your sister is ready you turn to Red.

"Ready when you are."

Stitch leans forward and shouts.

"Step on it!"

Both Red and you turn to Lilo with bewilderment. You turn to look at each other your cheeks are red from containing your laughter. You push your hand against your mouth trying to muffle your noises.

"didn't know ya were inta that kinda thin'."

Your laughter was echoing in the car and Stitch looked like she wanted to sink in a hole. You made those kind of jokes with her all the time but having someone else say it. That will get a good reaction out of your sibling.

"what ya shy or somethin'?”

“Only with random skeletons Red.”

You sister sinks back in her seat and mumbles in her scarf something about showing him who's boss. It's all lost on you and Red as you both can't contain your laughter.

It slowly turns into your sister chatting about what you will do when you reach your destination, how good it feels to be in a car and how she can't wait to learn how to drive it. Red's telling her off for even thinking about driving his precious metal baby. The conversation slowly starts to fade when you sister yawns.

"You can rest Stitch. Red and I have got you covered."

She nods and buries herself in the leather of the seat. Soon enough you hear quiet snores and you know she fell asleep.

You try to make conversation with Red but he only answers in short sentences. Either that or he outright refuses to answer. Anything regarding the underground you can forget. He looks tense at the mention of Mount Ebott and the underground. You don't push it too much and focus on the road. You propose to Red a switch in drivers which he flat out refuses. He insist he's fine to drive a few more hours. You aren't tired enough to sleep. Your sister might need you. You smile and look back at her. Red clears his throat(?). He then points his bony thumb toward your sister.

"'as she 'lways been that fun?"

"At a party. Nah. Outside. Yeah."

"wait ya had ta brin' 'er ta parties?"

You quietly hum to his question.

"Well, kind of, sort of. I showed Stitch how to live a little. She was always forbidden from doing what she wanted."

You paused.

"That and being herself."

"wha's that 'sposed ta mean?"

You think back on this well kept secret. Should you hide things from Red? Would that do you any good? You turn around and look at Stitch fondly, a soft smile claiming your face.

"Stitch isn't your regular kind of person."

Red pushes for an answer.

"and that means?"

"Stitch is trans. She was born with a male body."

Red gave you a puzzled look.

"ya mean, she gotta dic' and stuff?"

You flail your arms firmly forming an X.

"No, no, no. I worked my ass off. It was all to make sure Stitch became who she wanted to be. Who she needed to be. Who she is."

You saw a mischievous grin forming on his skull.

"and that rac' of 'ers. that's real?"

"Oh yeah, she grew more than I thought she would with those hormones. That's good for her. She's proud of that."

"kinda nice. but what ya mean, ya had ta do that for 'er. dontcha have a parents?"

You hesitated. This part of your life was hard to tell people. It was your struggles with poverty and sex work. Monsters are known to be kind. It should be fine telling Red, you convince yourself.

"Humans as a general rule of thumb aren't always kind towards their kin when they come out."

He pressed again for more.

"that meant what?"

"That meant I was already helping Stitch before mom found out. Mom found out when Stitch was 16. She ---"

You gripped your jacket sleeve making the leather squeak lightly at your harsh grip.

"-she kicked her out. She left her to fend for herself. I did everything I could from then on out."

Your mind was drifting to those pass grief. How hard you worked, what you did to make sure Stitch was safe.

"ya 'ccepted her jus' like that? didn't mind not havin' a brother 'ny more?"

"I guess not. I'm not bothered easily. Besides Stitch was 'hella brave' to come out. With the kind of family we grew up with. She knew why I was kicked out. She knew I didn't have a good relationship with mom and took that as an indication I would take it well. Which I did take well or she wouldn't be who she is today."

"wait a sec' ya coulda lived it fairly easily but ya hadn't taken care of 'er. ya threw all that away ta take care of 'er?"

"I picked up where mom left. It wasn't wasted considering she's my only family."

You heard a light chuckle coming from Red.

"that's cute."

"Thanks. Don't be sappy with her. She isn't great with emotions. She'll give you great hugs but the emotions that come with them. That's not worth it."

"ya mean she gives bone crushing hugs."

You saw his brow wiggle. You stiffed your laugh and looked back at Red.

"She's great."

"ya have a great bond with 'er."

"I hope so. Always together since the start."

"ya didn't think of 'bandoning 'er at any point?"

"God no! What would I even do with her. It's been the most fun I've had in a while."

He gave you a worried look and tensed.

"wait ya think this 'hole 'pocalypse thin' is fun?"

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?"

You count on your fingers the number of reasons you like the world in it's current state.

"There's no more rules. I'm out with my sister. We are travelling, which we have never done before. Seeing the world is just so beautiful."

"ya were trapped your 'hole life."

He stated matter of fact. From the look on his face he was probably thinking of back in the underground. He must think your situations were similar.

"ya must have slept with alotta guys ta secure what ya both had."

"Kind of lost tract actually. My body count must have been higher than my zombie count actually."

"ya kiddin'."

You chuckled again.

"No I'm not. I'd like to be joking but we are getting close. Stitch likes to keep track of the 'body-buddy count'."

His voice starts growing higher in pitches as he speaks.

"and she knows how many guys ya slept with?"

"I won't comment on your voice if you don't comment on my number of partners."

You see a light red dust his cheek bones. You continue before he can look more like a tomato.

"Stitch knows that I did whatever I did for her. Considering strippers don't get health insurance. I had to make as much money as I could, sell myself however I could."

"thought ya said ya'ere a stripper. that's a hooker doll."

You shrugged your shoulders.

"A bit of both."

He gives you an exasperated sigh.

"now what?"

"We do what we got to. We developed skills based on now and the future."

"like what?"

"Basic medical stuff. Stitch takes care of the heavier things. I'm not good with biology."

"how'd she learn that?"

You smile and look towards the horizon.

"I was getting her through school to become a doctor."

"what? shut up! that gremlin was going ta be a doctor."

"Yeah, she wanted to help people like herself. Doctor Stitch."

"that's ridiculous. ya have ta be kiddin' me cheeks."

"Oh you'll laugh at what my call was."

You stopped. You hoped Red would drop it. You don't usually talk about what you planned on doing.

"I shouldn't have said that."

"ya can't leave me hanging cheeks."

He gestures with his right hand.

"go on, go on. i'll tell ya mine if ya tell me yours. i'll even go first."

"You promise?"

"wanted ta be a mathematician. somehin' nerdy like that."

"What you?"

"yea, was kinda already doin' it down unda'. the 'pocalypse kinda made it harder ta do."

"Yeah I guess you are right."

"don't change subjects. it's a trade remember? ya need ta tell me ya big project once ya left the big 'fuckin temple'."

"I'll take that as a compliment. My body is indeed a temple."

You hear behind you a shift and Stitch is leaning between the seats as she grins.

"It is a shitty temple if you ask me."

Oh no. She heard you. How long had she been listening.

"Stitch how long have you been awake?"

"Two minutes top. Now bring me up to date. What was that about mister skellington here wanting to be a mathematician and my dreams dusting."

"No, no. You both had great professions."

"ya sister won't tell me what she wanted ta do."

Damn you Red now Stitch was going to out your stupid dream. She leaned even closer almost to the point she could whisper in Red's ear. She gave you her signature 'evil' smile and faced Red.

"You won't believe what miss temple here wanted to be."

She paused dramatically. You could see Red at the edge of his seat.

"go on."

...

"A teacher!"

She whisper yells.

"a teacher?"

Red repeated.

#undertale

0 notes

wandabear · 2 years

Text

WHERE ARE YOU NOW? - WANDA MAXIMOFF X F!READER Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3

Request: Hello how are you? I'd like to ask for something like Y/n and Wanda in a zombie apocalypse. I'm not very good at summarizing but I hope you can write, thanks!

Warning: A bit of violence. Zombie style. A bit of fluff maybe.

ㅤㅤㅤCHAPTER 2

ㅤㅤㅤ

How many years? How long had it been since they saw each other? Wanda tried to remember the last time she heard Y/N's voice, the last time she could get lost in those deep eyes. The last time Ymade her cry with laughter with her funny, weird and cute humor. Sometimes a little dark, that she could only share with Yelena.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Every step she took gave her the opportunity to hug Y/N again, could feel her close, her scent and her warmth. Was it her? Was that really possible?

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N…” Wanda gasped, not knowing whether to smile or start crying inconsolably. Heart was beating wild, so hard, she could feel everything running through her veins.

Y/N was there, a few steps away from her. Not even the years away from each other had driven them as far apart as the seconds that now kept them apart. It felt like a painful eternity.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N, as beautiful as ever. So different from what she remembered. Her hair was a bit shorter, almost like a wild bob now. Wanda supposed it was easier, especially when you're in a post-apocalyptic world where you can hardly find a bottle of silky cream to show off your hair.

Her face, a bit dirty from the dust of course, but always so adorable.

But her gaze focused on scars she had never seen before. Those beautiful eyes, Wanda remained looking at her like the first day, although she could see the melancholy and pain in Y/N's eyes, Wanda couldn't even imagine everything that Y/N had gone through all those years.

ㅤㅤㅤ

That was when the memories came to her.

YEARS AGO...

ㅤㅤㅤ

“So… What did he say?” Natasha Romanoff asked, keeping her gaze on the road. Her hands clenched against the steering wheel as she drove through the streets of New York. She was thankful that they were almost leaving the city.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Vis said he understood, that he always knew I... I could never leave the past behind.” The sokovian redhead stared out the window, trying not to think about what she did. He was a nice man, but it wasn't for her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Look, Wands, best thing is that you both finally finished what you had. Lying to someone is easy, but lying to yourself...” Natasha watched in the rearview mirror as some cars seemed to try to move forward and honk, but she couldn't even move, ahead seemed to have a huge line of cars. “I mean, you didn't love Vision. Right? It's the best thing for him to move forward. And for you too.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I guess.” Wanda gasped.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda…” Natasha started knowing very well what she was going to say. Nat knew that her best friend, her sister, started a relationship with Vision long after she broke up with Y/N.

Y/N, who was the love of her life.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Every person who knew Wanda and Y/N, saw them together, knew that someday these two would end up married, with a cute family, living the most beautiful love story of all. But sadly it hadn't ended that way, that story ended with Wanda leaving a relationship that did nothing but harm her in the end.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Not now, okay? I don't want to talk about that again.” Wanda shook her head.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“It's been a while and you haven't stopped thinking about her. Why don't you call Y/N and stop this stupid thing...?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“That has been left behind.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Not so far behind if that's why your last relationship sank in the ocean because you can't get over your EX.” The Russian stopped when the traffic light in front of her turned red, she was finally able to tilt her head to see Wanda. “She couldn't either, Wanda. Yelena says that Y/N can't stop thinking about you and that she regrets…”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Natasha.” Wanda's voice sounded a little sharper. Nat could see out of the corner of her eye how Wanda swallowed before speaking. “Y/N and I broke up a long time ago and it was for the best, I must remind you that I was very hurt by that relationship... and although I loved her, I don't deny it, I loved her so much... the best thing is that we stay apart.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

She licked her lips, and the song on the radio didn’t help at all.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I know you want to do what's best for me. And if you want that, please, I don't want to talk about it again, okay?"

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha was going to say something else, but she decided to keep quiet, for the first time, just to accept her friend's request. After all, they were both going out of town to visit Yelena and Kate in Boston, to get some relief from that chaotic city.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You know what? You're right, this trip is to forget and clear everything in our minds… Also work is killing us, so…” Nat said as she moved forward in that line of cars. Everything was good, everything was fine until she suddenly hit the brakes.

ㅤㅤㅤ

In front of them, that awful and horrible image haunted their minds when a cargo truck collided and dragged the car in front of them, so strongly, that it dragged it down for almost two more blocks.

The driver, who seemed completely out of control, was locked inside the cabin moving in a very strange way. He was screaming and banging on the window so hard.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What the-?!” Natasha yelled, seeing so many of the cars on that street been hit by the truck, now laying upside down and burning. People screamed for help, people running for their lives.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Completely surprised, Wanda placed a hand on her chest, unable to believe what she was seeing.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh god, Natasha, this doesn't look good.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I know.” The russian redhead unbuckled her seatbelt, seeing that Wanda was doing the same, ready to go with her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“They need help, try to call 911.” The Sokovian said, Natasha nod her head as they got out of the car. Both walked towards the scene but stop when they noticed that the people around that truck started to run away from the scene, freaked out.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Hey! What the hell is going on here?” Natasha looked confused and a little scared, but she would never say it. Neither of them had any idea what was going on around them, but the answer came quickly when they finally saw how the driver of the truck took one of the boys -who was trying to help him get out- biting him with an enormous and sadistic violence.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The boy's cry of pain made their blood run cold.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha was the first to get out of shock, pulling Wanda back to the car quickly. “Wanda, we have to go, let's go now!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“No, they need our help!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda, look around! We must go!” And Natasha was right, now, the boy who had been bitten by that trucker started writhing on the ground, getting back up but in a very creepy way.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The Sokovian didn’t put up resistance to that, they both ran back to the car, although the chaos worsened. The sirens sounded insistently, multiplied in a matter of minutes.

Some cars derailed and ran over anyone who got in the way.

Natasha sped up so hard that she possibly left a huge mark on the sidewalk.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“This is crazy, could be an earthquake or something?” Wanda asked, completely shocked. She tried to turn on the radio to find what the hell was going on but only heard empty channels.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I don't know, I'm trying to call Yelena but she doesn't answer!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Pietro isn't answering my call either. He was going to watch game with Monica in the baseball stadium!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha didn't say anything, just kept her hands on the wheel and drove out of the city, taking one of the fast exits not knowing that minutes later, those streets would be completely bottled up.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I don’t know, just…” Natasha's voice was deep and she could barely hear herself. Even she couldn't understand, she was just glad to get out of town and onto one of the empty highways towards Clifton. She knew no one would take that old road.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I'm- I’m gonna pull over for a moment, okay? I need… I just-” The Russian swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. She parked the car on the side of the road and got out, inhaling deeply.

The cool breeze from the fields hit their faces, moving the strands of hair slowly. The fresh air and the cozy but eerie sunset helped keep them calm.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Everything seemed so unreal, the sounds of the disaster in the city could be heard in the distance. Screams and explosions, cars colliding and the smoke spreading in the sky, as if the black smoke ruined a beautiful oil painting.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You've seen the same thing I saw, right?” Natasha finally said, swallowing hard. She was still in complete shock, resting her hands on the hood of her car.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda was looking at the sunset, still unable to believe everything she saw. If it wasn't for Natasha, she would think she was going crazy. Natasha took out her phone, searching for signal.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“They were biting people, Natasha.” Wanda whispered. Her eyes widened even more, remembering how she saw someone running after others, jumping on them and starting to bite them. Completely enraged and desperate, a terrifying image that would haunt her forever. “We need to call 911!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda, those things were eating the people that YOU CALL 911!” Natasha exclaimed, running her hand over her face. “We need to think...”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Fine, fine. Wait, I need a moment. Just… Pietro is still not answering! Neither does Monica!” she said in defeat.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha agreed. “Do you have signal on your phone?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda came over to give it to her, but suddenly, the phone lost signal. The battery, luckily, was still at 90 percent.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“No, it says it's out of service now.” The Sokovian swallowed hard and closed her eyes, thinking what to do at a time like this.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You wake up and you’re in this big place, a big city. What’s the first thing you would do? Think about it, your life depends on it.”

“Maybe try to get away from the city?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

The redhead opened her eyes, Y/N's voice came to her mind like fresh balm, medicine she needed so bad. As if she were the one who took her hand, rescuing her from sinking dangerously to the bottom of the ocean.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“We need to get out of town, get as far away as possible, and get to Boston... but first we need to find Pietro and Yelena.” Wanda said seeing Natasha nod, looking now at her phone which began to ring.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The Russian exhaled, hearing her sister's raspy voice on the other side.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yelena!” Natasha said desperately, Wanda approached so she could listen. “Yelena, where are you?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

« Sestra…. We… everybody is… crazy… Hiding!»

ㅤㅤㅤ

Yelena's voice cracked, which made them both feel even more desperate.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yelena, I can’t hear you. I CAN’T hear you! Yelena! Where are you?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

«Signal… do you… hear me? Natasha! Be careful! New York is… not safe!» That last part seemed to be the only thing that could be heard clearly. « I love you, Sestra!»

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I LOVE YOU TOO! PLEASE TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!” The Russian gasped hearing a loud beep and after that, the signal was completely lost as well as the call.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yelena!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What's going on? What did she say?” Wanda asked completely worried and terrified.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“The call ended. Yelena doesn’t answer, there’s no signal again.” Natasha watched her best friend for a moment, not even knowing what to do. Just a few seconds to allow herself to think and then, the Russian took Wanda's hand and returned to the car so that together they could get out of that place. “We have to go to Boston, right now.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

NOW

ㅤㅤㅤ

But they never made it to Boston.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The loud sound of the fall made everyone jump.

Y/N, being the one who was closest to Jules, approached as fast as she could.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules. Jules!” She tried but the black-haired girl just stayed the same. Completely pale, cold hands.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N brought her hand up to her forehead, temperature made her hiss as Yelena and Kate came over to help. “She has fever, we need to bring it down as soon as possible.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You can take her to my room, over there.” Natasha interrupted the moment, inviting them to follow.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What do we need?” Yelena murmured as she helped, taking Jules up off the ground.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What's wrong with her?” Natasha asked, watching as Yelena and Y/N carried the girl.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“She has a fever, we need painkillers and something to lower the infection.” Y/N whispered, trying to keep the others from hearing her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Over here, while we'll find a way to help her.” Wanda took one of the flashlights and invited them to continue down one of the corridors of that huge library until they reached Natasha's room, in one of the corridors in the east wing. ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N tried not to think that in front of her was Wanda. Wanda Maximoff… as beautiful as ever. She was wearing slightly worn jeans but fit her hips perfectly.

ㅤㅤㅤ

They left Jules on the bed, noticing how she squirmed uncomfortably, began to sweat and little by little, began to open her sore eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N?” The girl said barely in a whisper, feeling a stab of pain due to the dryness of her lips. “Where we are?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N sat down next and grabbed one of the water bottles she carried in her backpack, helping Jules drink some.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“We found a place to stay tonight, rest for now, chicken.” Y/N took her friend's hand and squeezed it gently before getting out of bed, leaving her in the care of one of Natasha's 'friends'. A very beautiful woman named Monica.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha, who watched everything, walked over to talk to Y/N once she left the room. “Is she okay? How can we help you?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N was about to speak when one of the men around them spoke up. Brown eyes and a face you couldn't forget.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Is she bitten?” Asked that man, in a somewhat rude and direct way. Zemo. That's what Natasha called him. “If she is bitten she has no place here, we have to get her out as soon as possible."

ㅤㅤㅤ “We can put her down for you.” Added Rumlow. Oh, the was even worst.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What are you talking about?” Yelena began, shocked as was Kate. The archer landed in front of Yelena to prevent the blonde from killing the man.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Shut up, Rumlow. You have nothing good to say then shut up.” Natasha glared at him. They all started arguing, everyone's voices echoing in Y/N's ears.

ㅤㅤㅤ Those words.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Those damn words.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What did you say?” Y/N stared at him, cold as if she were a predator ready to capture her prey. She wasn't going to forget what he said, ever.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I said... if she's bitten...” Rumlow was about to continue when suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Y/N pushed him into the nearest wall, locking his neck with her arm.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“She's not bitten, dipshit.” Y/N hissed, tightening her hold as Rumlow tried to get rid of her, but it was impossible. The brunette gritted her teeth in a threatening manner. “And if I see you look at my friend that way again, or if you ever say something to her again, I'm going to kill you.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Get your dirty hands off-” ㅤㅤㅤ

“Look at me.” Y/N grunted. “I’m gonna kill you, it's not my first time nor the last.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Everyone seemed surprised by that sudden and cold attitude, but no one more than Wanda, who was open-mouthed seeing how the person she loved the most, whom she had searched for so long, acted in a way that she never expected.

She had never seen Y/N act so…aggressive, yet protective.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The Sokovian wasn't going to accept that she felt a sting of jealousy.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Some people aimed at the girls, trying to 'back up' Rumlow. Yelena took aim with her shotgun as Kate also took her bow, ready to fire.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Woah, let's stop for a moment.” Natasha intervened, placing herself between the two factions. The Russian placed one of her hands on Y/N's shoulder, trying to calm the situation and finally let Rumlow go.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N was quiet for a few seconds until her muscles began to loosen, releasing that man who quickly adjusted his coat, somewhat offended.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“They may be your friends, Natasha, but they still have answers to give.” Zemo said in a very low voice and glared at Natasha.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The slam of the front door of the library stole everyone's attention. The quick steps of two men, one of them was blond and blue-eyed, with a big physical complexion and quite strong.

While the other was had black hair and blue sky eyes, this one carried a light machine gun strong enough to take down a group of biters.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What's going on here?” Said Steve, the blond man. Apparently one of the group leaders, along with Natasha. “Put down your weapons, remember the rules. No shots fired inside this place.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Steve scolded one of the men, taking his gun away when he got a better look at the faces of the women they were aiming at.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yelena?” Steve walked over and then hugged her tightly, surprised and glad to see the girl. Steve was Natasha's best friend since they were teenagers, as Bucky was one of Y/N's friends too.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N?” Bucky was the one who smiled widely this time and walked quickly towards the brunette, hugging her with a strength that she swore could break her spine in two.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Buck! I missed you so much!” Y/N exclaimed, surprised and excited to see her friend again. She clung to the man for a few seconds before pulling away to get a better look.

ㅤㅤㅤ

He had some stubble and hair that was wild, kinda sexy and adorable enough.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Put your guns down. They’re our friends, we have been looking for them for a long time.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Rogers, they still don't explain...”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“She's not bitten, I swear. She only has an infection in her jaw, she hit herself really bad and broke a tooth a year ago.” Y/N explained somewhat worriedly, remembering Jules's state. “I'm a doctor, but I haven't been able to take it off because we haven't found medicine since we left Boston. Just some ibuprofen to ease her pain for the first few days, but nothing to fight the infection.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I swear, she's not infected by biters.” Yelena added. “That tooth is making her suffer but the infection is killing her. Sestra, please…”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Don’t worry, I understand.” Steve nodded his head, being as understanding as they remembered. “We don't have much but everything we have is at your disposal to help your friend. We have some medicine, although no one who can help us beyond First Aid.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I can do it.” Y/N volunteered without hesitation, receiving a smile from her old friends. Oh, how much she missed them.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“This should be voted on. We can't waste our medicine on strangers, we should count them and-” One of Rumlow's men began.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“We are not going to let that girl suffer knowing that we can help.” Steve was determined, none of the others dared to contradict him. “Nat, take the girls to get cleaned up and then we'll discuss all of this together over dinner. Wanda, please give Y/N everything she needs to help that girl."

ㅤㅤㅤ

They all nodded and started on their way to their respective places, finally leaving the girls alone. Those girls who had longed for and missed each other so much all these years, two girls who were now only a few steps apart.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Silence surrounded them for seconds that seemed eternal. They both looked at each other, a bit hesitant until Wanda didn't wait a second longer and she ran to hug Y/N so hard, that the brunette thought she would fall.

ㅤㅤㅤ But she didn't.

Y/N just held on to this lovely woman who haunted her thoughts and heart for so long. Closed her eyes, completely losing herself in Wanda’s scent, hiding her face in that soft neck. She couldn't find in her mind any memory of the last time she did that.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda buried her face in Y/N's chest, wishing never to be separated from that woman again. Especially when listening to how the brunette's heart was beating so fast.

Praying so hard that when she opened her eyes again, wishing to wake up from that long and terrifying nightmare and watch Y/N lying next to her again. The warmest smile before breakfast.

Y/N kept her eyes closed, holding on to that feeling. Tears begin to fall down her face and not only hers, but also Wanda’s.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I've thought about you so much.” Wanda whispered like prayer, pulling away so she could see her now. That lovely, adorable slightly flushed face, tears she didn't bother to dry.

ㅤㅤㅤ “I have missed you so much.” Y/N finally confessed, feeling her voice crack. She took Wanda's face in her hands, looking at those big, teary eyes. Oh, she looked more beautiful than ever.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Green eyes that remained as beautiful as ever. Although its green could make you lose yourself in the most beautiful paradise, without a doubt, they carried a suffocating melancholy. Her lips, her nose, those little birthmarks on her cheek.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The doctor allowed herself to finally smile, to smile in a sincere way this time. Their hearts beating again, together. After so long, after so many letters, so many cities… Wanda was there.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Wow...” Wanda whispered staring at her, smiling like a teenager. “I never thought I could see you again.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I thought the same thing. You look so...” Y/N swallowed hard, unable to snap out of the daydream as the presence of someone else interrupted this waiting moment. Again.

Kate came over with some boxes, some medicines that could help Jules. And some clothes.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Natasha said to come get you this, although no one wanted to and I kindly offered, thinking it would do something good, until now that I realize that no one wanted to interrupt this meeting… and neither did I… I'm sorry. ” Babbled the girl smiling so nervous, in an adorable dork way but definitely sorry to break the moment.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“It’s okay... We should help your friend.” Wanda mumbled blushing, starting to walk towards the room.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah, exactly, that was what I was thinking.” Y/N stammered, nodding, watching Wanda walk away from her until a nudge from Kate brought her back to reality.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The archer looked at her mischievously, moving her eyebrows in a playful way which made Y/N just shake her head and whisper: ‘scram!’ making Kate go, leaving them completely alone.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Well, not completely alone.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The tallest one took a deep breath before walking into the room, closing the door behind her.

A baby spoiler: the next one will be longer, and there will be more of Wanda/Reader and Natasha/you know who.

As you know, Jules is portrayed by the amazing Adelaide Kane. link

the cutest and lovely people tags ✨ : @wandsmxmff, @bluesimps-world, @oh-thats-cute, @sleepilysworld, @dudaaaluthor, @dajirana, @wackymcstupid, @dandelions4us, @spookymomfriendtm, @danicarpediem, @nikkinss, @panthastichumanbeing, @me-uglypretty 🐝✨ Thank you for reading me, bees.

If you want to be tagged, just ask! Thanks you so damn much to the people who leave a ❤️ , 🔁 and leave comments -even as an anon on my box of requests-, you make me keep writing. And you're making my life easier! 🐻ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ

#wanda maximoff x reader #Wanda maximoff x f!reader

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theteasetwrites · 3 years

Text

Just One Wish

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader ❧ Era: Greene farm ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: **major warning for attempted sexual assault** (I will indicate where the scene starts and ends if you want to skip it <3) ❧ Word Count: 5.5k

❧ Requested by @lacilulu77 (hope you like it, and thanks for all the support!)

❧ Summary: Young love doesn't come to fruition, and it takes several years for two friends to reunite, during an apocalypse, no less. A chance encounter rekindles an old flame that never got the chance to burn.

❧ A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one. I love doing pre-apocalypse Daryl so we get a little bit of that, and Season 2 era Daryl which is also a treat. Also, in regards to the scene of attempted SA, I hope I handled it in an appropriate way. I've written one other scene similar to that in my series, but it's always so hard to write. Completely understand if you'd rather skip that part. Truly a horrific thing to happen to anyone that I could unfortunately see being very common in the post-apocalyptic world. Lmk what y'all think.

“Make a wish,” you said, sitting with your knees tucked into your chest atop the roof of your childhood home, Daryl Dixon, your friend since middle school, sitting alongside you.

You closed your eyes and smiled as the shooting star beamed across the night sky. One perk to living in rural Georgia, several miles away from any big city, was that there was hardly any light pollution, and everything in the night sky was so clear.

“You’re not making a wish, are you?” you asked him as you opened one eye to spy on him. He scoffed and reached into his pocket to pull out his Marlboros.

“Come on, Daryl. We never see shooting stars. Can’t you just make one wish? Look, it’s still in the sky. Just one little wish.”

He turned to face you, his cigarette wagging from his mouth as he momentarily looked down again to light it with a zippo. “Fine,” he said.

“Close your eyes.”

With an exasperated sigh, he did as you said, closing his eyes as he blew out the first puff of smoke. You waited patiently, watching his relaxed face as he wished, but soon you realized he was probably just messing with you.

“You didn’t wish for anything, did you?” you asked.

He opened his eyes and looked at you with a small half-smile, the same one he always managed to muster up just for you and these nights on the rooftop. “Didn’t say that. Maybe I did wish for somethin’. You ain’t in my head.”

You shrugged. “No, but I know when you’re messin’ with me. You’re always messin’ with me.”

He nudged your shoulder, causing you to rock back and forth a little. “Even if I did wish, can’t tell ya, else it won’t come true.”

You nodded. “That is the rule. But you know what? My wish just came true, so I can tell you what it was.”

He raised an eyebrow at your curious statement. You were always saying such strange things, but it kept him on his toes.

“I wished that I could make you smile, and you did. So you see, wishes really do come true.” You nudged his shoulder back.

He laughed as he took another puff of his smoke. “Guess so. Dunno if mine could ever come true, though.”

“Well, of course it can. Whatever it is, if you believe in it enough, it’ll happen.”

There you were again, talking like a Disney princess. You had always been like that as long as he could remember—so excited for the future and so determined that you could do anything if you set your mind to it.

But Daryl knew his wish wouldn’t come true, because he wished you would stay.

“Ya got everythin’ ready for tomorrow?” he asked.

You sighed. “Yeah, pretty much. Dad’s making us get up early in the morning, says he wants to get there as soon and as quick as possible. I’m just worried I’m gonna get there and my roommate’s going to turn out to be a psycho, ya know? I’ve heard horror stories about it. My cousin, Marilou—she got poisoned by her roommate. Put it right in her glass of water while she was sleeping. Can you believe that?”

“This the same cousin who got ‘er teeth knocked out at the watering hole?”

“Yes,” you laughed. “That’s besides the point.”

He leaned back on his forearms against the worn shingled roof. “That’s not gonna happen to ya.”

At least, he hoped. He was already anxious enough about you leaving town without having to worry about something bad happening to you.

A few moments of silence passed, and were dissipated by the feeling of you resting your head on his shoulder and wrapping your arm around his. He swallowed hard, still not used to you giving him such attention despite how long you’d been friends.

“Will you come and visit me?” you asked.

He looked at you and the twinkling light in your eyes. “I’ll try,” he said. “Dunno how I’m gonna get there.”

“You could take your dad’s truck.”

“That thing ain’t got a mile left in it. Better off walkin’ there.”

“Well, maybe I’ll just come back home to visit then. For the holidays, and the summer. That’ll be fun, right? We can go camping again. It’ll be good,” you assured yourself with a nod. “Like nothing changed.”

Your fingers began running up and down his arm, bare and exposed to the cool autumn air. He always wore those sleeveless shirts, even though you bought him at least two jackets to wear over them for chilly nights like this.

“You’re gonna forget about me,” he said. “Make better friends, meet other guys…”

That last part just came out of nowhere, but he thought about it a lot, how you’d go off to a nicer part of Georgia and meet fraternity boys and southern gentlemen in the making, boys your parents would’ve liked more than him, boys you would’ve liked more than him.

You raised your head from his shoulder and looked at him seriously. Even in the moonlight could you see his downcast features. You never knew him to be this sad before.

“How could you say that?” you asked. “You’re one of my best friends. I’d never forget you. And maybe I’ll make new friends, but you’ll always be one, too. I love you, Daryl Dixon.”

You knew you loved him for a long time. In your eighteen-year-old brain, you weren’t entirely sure what kind of love it was, but you were sure that you did love him. He was always there for you, and you for him. There wasn’t anything you couldn’t tell each other, and you saw that as love.

For Daryl, the feeling was mutual, but, in his eighteen-year-old brain, he knew he loved you in a way that he couldn’t quite express to you. At least, certainly not when you were about to leave. He’d loved you for years now. At first, he didn’t know what it was—pubescent lust or immature infatuation—but in recent months he had come to believe that you were the only girl he’d ever truly love.

“Daryl?” you asked, waking him from his anxious thoughts. “Earth to Daryl?”

He snuffed out his ashen cigarette and shook his head until he could fully understand you again. “I, uh… I feel the same.”

You smiled. “So you won’t forget about me?”

“Nah,” he said. “You’re pretty unforgettable.”

The night ended much like any other night you spent on the roof, with you returning to your room and Daryl walking back home through the woods that separated your houses. This night, however, was a little different, as he carried the knowledge that you loved him.

He wasn’t totally naïve. He knew that you could’ve meant many different things when you said it, but to him, that was the confirmation he needed to tell you his true feelings.

That night, as he laid sleepless in his bed, he decided he would arrive early to your house that next morning and have one last talk with you, in which he’d admit to the love he felt for you. Even if it was misguided, or juvenile, or hopeless, or just plain ridiculous, he couldn’t deny his feelings anymore. He loved you, and he at least wanted you to know that before you left.

If nothing came of it, if you rejected him and went off to school in Atlanta and never spoke to him again, he’d at least have some kind of relief. He’d be heartbroken for a while, perhaps forever, but he’d have that inkling of satisfaction.

Or at least he hoped.

There wasn’t anyone home when he reached your house around 6am. Your father wasn’t kidding around: he wanted to hit the road early, and Daryl wasn’t early enough.

Staring blankly at the empty driveway, he felt a heart wrenching sorrow that he’d never quite felt before, like he’d missed the last bus home and was forced to wander the streets alone and shrouded in darkness. Perhaps he was being dramatic, but he didn’t care anymore. He dropped to his knees in hopelessness, and tears welled up in his eyes.

What he said to you last night wasn’t enough. He hadn’t given you a proper goodbye, he thought, and the length of time in which he wouldn’t see you again already seemed unbearable. What if you had a boyfriend by that time? You’d never had one before, but college was different. That’s what people did, as far as Daryl knew. He couldn’t tell you then. It’d be wrong.

It was all wrong. And his wish didn’t come true. You couldn’t stay, and you couldn’t come back.

Your family made a sudden move shortly after you left. Daryl had heard that they wanted to be closer to you in Atlanta, so that’s where they went.

You weren’t able to visit that holiday, or that summer, and when you tried to visit after, Daryl was gone. He didn’t answer his home phone, and he wasn’t around to get the letter you wrote him. He’d been drifting around Georgia with his brother, making end’s meet and getting into trouble, as he often did when you weren’t there to distract him from Merle and his antics.

In that time, you realized you loved him in a different way than what you meant that last night you saw him. You loved him in every possible way, and you tried to find him, to at least rekindle your friendship, but he seemed to practically disappear off the face of the earth with Merle.

He didn’t forget about you, though. He thought about you often, wondering what you were doing, your whereabouts, your life… Despite his deep regret that he never told you how he felt, he hoped you were happy, above all else.

Still, for the years after that, he found himself spending more time outside at night, watching the stars and hoping to see one falling. He’d close his eyes and make a wish, just like you told him, and he’d wish that your paths would cross again, and that he’d finally have the chance to express his love to you. Sometimes, if the star seemed particularly bright, he’d wish that you shared his love, too, and that you’d finally be able to be together.

That was almost twenty years ago.

Now, the world had much bigger problems than two lovelorn teenagers.

You had much bigger problems.

“Gotta be somethin’ ‘round here,” the first man said. “Badger, deer, hell, I’ll even settle for a squirrel.”

You hunched below the brush, watching the three men trudge through the woods in front of you.

They appeared suddenly and without warning, causing you to have to hide until they left. Despite having met friendly people, you were going to risk these men turning out to be assholes.

Aside from that, you were alone. The last of your group, as far as you knew. There were some who got separated when your camp got overrun, but a lot of them were feasted on by the dead.

That was three days ago, or something like that.

One of the other men approached a nearby tree and unbuckled his pants to relieve himself, chewing tobacco all the while.

Typical Georgia rednecks, you thought.

“What I wouldn’t give for some hush-puppies right about now, or a peach pie,” he said.

“Shut up, Tucker,” the third man barked. “No use in thinkin’ ‘bout that shit no more. Ain’t no more hush-puppies and certainly ain’t no more peach pie. Come on,” he whistled. “Let’s move on. Nothin’ here.”

He seemed to be the leader, that one. As you watched them readjust their packs, you wondered if maybe you should show yourself. After all, you were alone, and no one could make it out here alone.

Then, they were men, and that was discouraging you.

Maybe it was a stereotype, but they were also clearly hillbillies, the kind you grew up around, and you knew the type.

Still, it was worth a shot. If things went awry, you’d just have to try to defend yourself. Or, more likely, run as fast you could.

“Hey,” you called out to them, rising from the brush.

They turned swiftly and held their rifles high, pointed at you. You raised your hands and dropped your knife in the process.

“Don’t shoot,” you said frantically. “I’m… I’m alone. My group was attacked.”

They slowly lowered their weapons and exchanged a look with one another. The man with the chew, Tucker, you presumed, spit his tobacco and spoke to the leader.

“Jus’ another damn woman, Ford,” he said to him. “Leave ‘er. Ain’t worth the trouble.”

“N-no,” you stuttered. “I can help. I’m not terrible at hunting. Please, I don’t wanna be out here alone. No one can make it like this.”

The leader, Ford, scanned you up and down. “Nah,” he said. “You wanna join us, little lady?”

You didn’t, but you needed some other people to watch your back until you could get out of these woods. They were the only living ones you had come across in days, and even if they looked straight out of Deliverance, you were desperate.

“Yes,” you said. “I won’t be a burden.”

(TW: attempted sexual assault)

“Nah,” Ford said. “Ya won’t… ‘cause you’ll be of use to us.” He approached you slowly, with the other men exchanging a knowing look between them. He fiddled with the belt around his waist, and glowered his dark eyes at you.

Then, you regretted ever getting involved with these guys.

You backed up, looking behind Ford to Tucker and the other man. “What’s going on here?” you asked, looking frantically between the three of them. The other two started coming closer to you, backing you up against a tree.

“Hold ‘er down,” Ford said to Tucker. “Jed, get ‘er weapons.”

Tucker grabbed you and pulled you away from the tree. He was the biggest of the three and much stronger than you. He kept your arms pinned behind you as Jed tore your other knives and your slingshot from your belt.

You squirmed and yelled profusely, trying to lure any nearby walkers, who you’d rather be bitten by than to be violated by these men. Soon, Tucker covered your mouth until it was all a mumbled mess.

“Can’t I go first this time?” Jed asked as he helped lay you down, spreading your legs with some difficulty as Ford watched on.

“That ain’t the rules,” he said as he unbuckled his belt and began to unzip his jeans. Your eyes widened and you kicked Jed’s hands away from your ankles, causing him to growl. “I always go first. That’s just how it is. We gotta have rules.”

It sickened you, of course. The fact that men like that got away with these things, even more so than they used to. This clearly wasn’t the first time they’d done this, they had a system, and you were terrified to be the latest victim.

Perhaps they even killed the others, or left them to the walkers afterwards. You weren’t sure if you even wanted to get out of this alive, but all you could think about was how you were going to get out of this, how you were going to fight them off. It was going to be difficult, and you couldn’t make out any clear way of doing so.

“Jus’ hurry up,” Jed said. “She’s squirmin’.”

Ford laughed, kneeling down over you and about ready to pull down his pants. You cried sharply, hot tears flowing over your trembling cheeks. You shook your head rapidly, screaming into Tucker’s hand all the while. “No!” you mumbled. “No! No! No!”

“Shut—”

(End TW)

The vile man’s sentence was interrupted by an arrow through his forehead.

Your tear-stained eyes widened as his limp body fell to the side. With Tucker’s hand loose over your mouth now, you bit through his fingers so hard you drew blood.

“Shit!” he cried, then flopped backwards and received an arrow to his head, too.

You sat up in confusion to turn around and look at his lifeless body. The arrow came from the other direction, so you turned back and saw another arrow pierce through Jed’s skull as he went running off.

You looked around frantically, panting and crying as you tried to locate the source of the arrows, anticipating it to also be a threat.

Wiping your tears and your running nose, you crawled over to Tucker’s body and grabbed his rifle. You planted yourself against the stump of the nearest tree and pointed the gun towards the shadowy grove of trees where the shots had come from.

“Who’s there?!” you tearfully yelled into the air. “I’ll shoot you if I have to!”

“Ain’t lookin’ for trouble,” a man’s voice called out, still not showing himself.

Great, you thought. Another redneck.

Though you couldn’t see him, you squinted your eyes to pinpoint a crossbow peeking out from behind one of the trees. Whoever he was, he was hiding behind the tree, seemingly just as wary of you as you were of him.

“Then why are you hiding?” you asked.

“Can’t trust no one these days,” he said with a scoff.

It can’t be, you thought.

The voice was familiar, gruff and yet strangely soft and raspy. It was tinged with the average accent of a Georgia native, not unlike the one you had, although yours was softer, polished by twenty or so years away from your rural home.

Though you felt like you could remember it, it was still different, much coarser and deeper.

“You all right?” he asked.

He… he sounds like him.

You swallowed hard. “Not really, if I’m being honest,” you said tearfully, choking up as you thought of the narrow escape from the assault.

“You need help?” he asked softly. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

You shut your eyes and shook your head, terrified of letting another person in. Still, the sound of his voice comforted you, its inexplicable familiarity to one that you could never forget filling you with the warmth and comfort you so desperately wanted after such a harrowing encounter with the scum of the earth.

“I guess,” you said quietly, but just enough for him to hear you.

“All right,” he said. “I’m gonna come out real slow. Don’t shoot.”

You lowered your gun just a bit. “I won’t shoot unless I have to.”

“Don’t blame you.”

With that, you saw his face gradually peek out from behind the tree, then his body as he slowly moved forwards, the crossbow lowered and pointing at the moss-covered ground.

He was filthy, raggedy, and covered in blood. Not a good sign, you thought, but at least he had a soft, sympathetic look on his face.

Then you really noticed his face.

It was dark, painted with dirt that had turned darker with sweat. A pair of deep-set blue eyes, narrowed yet gentle, glimmered amidst the grimy skin. His body was recognizable, too, of strong build and with bare, brawny arms exposed by cut-off sleeves that solidified the familiarity of the man.

With widened eyes and lips agape, you lowered the gun completely from the sheer shock of the resemblance. He seemed taken aback, too. His features softened even more and his crossbow was now dangling by his feet.

You knew it was him, it had to have been. Maybe it was some kind of cruel hallucination, but it was certainly him. He was older, of course. You were, too. He was more hardened looking, more visibly worn from age and the life he’d lived, but he was your Daryl.

Sweet, smartass, selfless Daryl Dixon.

“Daryl?” you asked the man.

His lips parted upon hearing your lips match with your voice, the one he swore he recognized, but couldn’t have been you.

Of course, it was, and life seemed to be playing its strange little games once again.

He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, and even if he could, he wouldn’t have had any words. All he could do was let his body run towards you, dropping the crossbow as you dropped your gun and raised yourself from the ground to meet him.

“Oh, my god,” you said as you tearfully embraced him. If it’d been anyone else, you couldn’t even bear to touch them after what had happened to you, but it was Daryl, and you’d dreamt of this moment for years. The moment when you’d finally be able to reconnect with him. “You’re here… You’re alive.”

He buried his face in the crook of your neck, taking in your sweet smell. It hadn’t changed. You still had the fragrance of a fresh spring morning, but maybe that was just in his head. Still, it was the sweetest thing he’d ever known, aside from your arms around him, holding him against you.

“(Y/N),” he said. His cries became muffled as he nuzzled further into you. His arms snaked around your back tightly, almost suffocating you, but it was the best you could ever feel while losing your breath.

He let you pull away ever so slightly to look at his face. He felt your fingers delicately grazing over his cheek, but he could only see them out of the corner of his eye. He was too busy getting lost in your glassy, teary eyes.

Just then, it occurred to him that you were the one who was being tormented by those men. He was already infuriated and disgusted by what they were about to do, but knowing it was you made him froth at the mouth.

“They hurt you?” he asked. His eyes scanned your body for injuries.

“No,” you said with a sniffle. “You stopped them before they did anything. I thought… I was trying to find people. I’ve been alone.”

“You’re alone?” he asked, now with his own tears welling up as he took all of you in. “You been out here by yourself?”

You wiped your tears from your cheek and felt his hands rub your back tenderly. “Just a few days. I had a group for a while, but our camp was taken over. Everyone scrambled or died. I’ve been trying to get out of these woods.”

“I got a group,” he said as he wiped a stray hair from your face. He looked at you with so much bewilderment and awe, like he was seeing something far beyond his comprehension. In truth, he couldn’t comprehend it. The only explanation for it was fate, and he didn’t believe in that. At least, before this very moment.

“We have a camp,” he continued. “On this farm, ‘bout two miles east. Got food, shelter, everything.”

You smiled softly through your tears. “Is that an invitation or are you just rubbing it in my face?” you asked.

Of course, it was the former.

He brought you to the farm immediately after, and the people in his group seemed a little on the wary side, but Daryl explained to them that you were his friend from before, that you were all alone and needed a group.

That, and he absolutely refused to send you back out there, especially considering the kind of people were lurking in the woods.

When he butted heads with the man called Shane, who reprimanded him for bringing you there and “putting them all in danger,” he all but knocked the man over for insinuating that you would hurt anyone.

Luckily for you, the rest of the group seemed amicable enough. Still, they decided upon keeping your presence on the farmland a secret from the landowner, Hershel Green, until tensions in the camp were lower.

“I hope my being here isn’t an issue,” you said to Daryl, who wrapped you up in a blanket as you sat by the fire that night. He had his own little setup away from the others. It was typical Daryl, the perpetual introvert who ate lunch by himself back in high school. Though you always joined him when your other friends weren’t teasing you for hanging out with him.

He looked at you as he tossed a few more logs into the fire before sitting himself down next to you. “It ain’t,” he said. “They’ll get used to it. Ain’t havin’ ya out there on your own. Just got you back.”

You smiled sweetly at him, though he quickly turned to face the fire in embarrassment of his statement.

“It’s been so long. We have so much to talk about,” you said. “I’ve missed you.”

The corner of his lip quirked up just a little as he faced you again. “Missed you too,” he said. “Thought… thought I’d see you again, after the night you left.”

You thought back to the last night you saw Daryl, how you promised you’d see him again, and that you would never forget him. The latter was always true, and now the former seemed to be fulfilled after years of your paths never quite crossing.

“I tried to come home,” you said. “Then my parents moved, and I didn’t have a way to come see you. Then I tried calling you… I even wrote you a letter. I don’t think you ever got them.”

“I, uh… I left. Not too long after that first year. Me and Merle… we were up to no good. Probably wouldn’t have wanted to talk ta me back then anyway.”

You scoffed. “Same old Daryl, always selling yourself short. You know, I never did forget about you.” He hoped the orange reflection of the fire distracted from the hot pink blush on his cheeks. “I never met anyone like you since. I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone like you again.”

The heat of the fire was emanating a prickly warmth that ignited his skin, and that combined with your words, just as pure and sweet as those of the girl he once spent all of his time with, provided him with the fervor to tell you what he needed to tell you during all those years of not having you.

“(Y/N),” he said, being sure to pivot his body to face yours. He was going to do this right, earnestly and with the utmost clarity. No beating around the bush, no waiting for something to take you away again, especially not in the world where everything seemed to get taken away at some point. “Do you remember what you said to me that night on the roof?”

You studied his face as if the memory was displayed there as it would be on a projector. “I think so,” you said. “I told you I’d never forget about you, that you’d always be my friend… and… and that I loved you.”

Everything changed, and yet nothing had changed. You still meant every word. Maybe now you realized that the love you felt for him was much deeper and more intimate than what you thought you felt back then, but it was always there, and always would be.

“Well,” he said before clearing his throat, “I gotta tell you somethin’. I tried tellin’ you that next morning, but I was too late.” He looked down at his knees for a moment, contemplating if this was even the right time to tell you, but he couldn’t back down now, not after hyping himself up in his head. “You don’t gotta say anythin’, or feel the same way. I know you had a real, real bad day, and maybe you don’t want me sayin’ this, but I’m afraid… I’m afraid if I don’t somethin’ will happen and I’ll never get to say it.”

“Daryl,” you said, taking his hand in both of yours and resting it on your lap, “tell me. You could say anything right now and I’d be happy just hearing your voice again.”

Deep down, you had a feeling you knew what he was going to say. At least, you hoped he would say it.

“I love you.”

Your heart stopped for a split second, and you swore you could feel the hot blood pumping through your veins. When your heartbeat returned, it pounded in your chest like never before, like your heart had just regained its ability to function properly.

“I mean, more than anythin’,” he continued. “Always have. Just wanted ya to know that. You don’t have to say anything… or do anything.”

No matter how much he wanted you, how much he wanted to hold you and to know that there was no one else you could ever love, he wanted more to make sure you were comfortable, and that you didn’t feel forced to return the sentiment, especially after what you’d gone through.

“Daryl,” you said, squeezing his hand even tighter and scooting closer to him, “I love you too. Not just… not just how I made it seem that night I told you. I really love you. Really, really.”

You’d dated people before. You thought you’d loved people before, though it was never anything like what you felt for Daryl. It just pained you for so long that you couldn’t feel that love again, the love he so obviously had for you when you looked back on your adolescence. That was the only love you ever wanted, and he was the love you were constantly searching for but could never come close to finding. The way you were, it was real. It was always real with him, even if it was never romantic.

“So, now what?” he asked, genuinely not anticipating what he was going to do if you actually admitted to feeling the same way.

What he wanted was to embrace you like he never could before, to kiss you and touch you tenderly, the way he wanted to for so long. With age the urge had only gotten stronger and more intense. With the sudden presence of you back in his life, the beautiful glow of your face that was still so much like how you once were in your youth, but was more womanly and experienced, he just needed you even more in his arms and close to him.

“Kiss me,” you said bluntly.

He looked at you dumbfounded. He didn’t expect that, not at all. “Are ya sure?” he asked with concern in his voice. “I don’t wanna rush you. I know what happened today was… scary.”

You smiled sweetly, with a mist of tears forming above your waterline. He really was your friend, your Daryl, the boy who always put you before him, who wanted you to feel comfortable above all else. “It was,” you said. “But I know you’d never hurt me, or do anything like that. And… and I need your love.”

With a deep breath, you moved closer to him until your chests were touching. The warm, rapid reverberations of his heartbeat aligned perfectly with yours as you caressed his stubbly cheek, then traced your fingers up to his hair. You admired the light, ashy brown strands that seemed so much darker since last you saw him, when he was almost blonde. It must’ve darkened with age, and it suited him well.

“Is this what you want?” you asked him, trying to take into consideration his own desires.

How was he supposed to answer that? He wanted this for more than half of his life.

“Never stopped wanting this,” he said. “Wanting you.” He placed his hands on the sides of your waist to pull you in until your torsos touched in alignment with your chests.

He jutted his neck forward, and you followed suit until the gap between your lips was closed. The first feeling of your lips against his was that of pillowy silkiness, just like he’d imagined. He wasn’t terribly experienced with kissing, having only done it a few times, but your lips slotted so perfectly into his that it didn’t matter how stiff he was at first.

Soon, however, you moved your lips against his slowly and with great tenderness, allowing him to melt into the kiss. His lips softened and he relaxed a bit to let his mouth move naturally with yours. When you opened your lips ever so slightly, he took the opportunity to tongue at the entrance, wettening your lips even more.

Every nook and cranny of your mouth that he caressed with his tongue felt like it’d been touched by angel’s wings, and you nearly tangled your tongue in his when you returned to sentiment, letting your tongue swirl in languid movements around the inside of his mouth until you seemed to lose your breath.

Pulling away incredibly slowly, you continued kissing him, bestowing loving pecks upon his reddened lips. He looked so beautifully blissful when you pulled away enough to look at him, with his eyes still closed softly and his lips parted as if frozen in time, like he wanted to stay in that moment forever.

You lowered your hand from his cheek to his chin and closed his mouth, a movement that caused his hazy eyes to open and his lips to curve into a smile. This time, both corners of his lips rose and heightened those cheekbones you loved so much.

“My wish came true again,” you said. “I made you smile.”

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!

#daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon #twd #twd fanfic #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfic #norman reedus #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x you #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus fanfic #norman reedus x reader #the walking dead fanfiction #twd fanfiction

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spacedlexi · 2 years

Note

Do you have any Violentine headcanons? I have one incase you’re curious(you’re probably not);Violet and Clementine light their room with (dark) blue/purple lanterns because it reminds them of space.

aaw thats cute. i loved the purple lanterns so itd be nice to see those get used more. i also think vi has glow stars in her room (their room). there was concept art of the dorm with glow stars so i gave them to her cuz it looked really nice and also the stars are their Thing

someone asked me a while ago if i had any headcanons and i wrote a pretty detailed response here (i'll also put it under a read more here incase the link is weird). i dont think i have many more violentine specific headcanons cuz mostly i just think about how the school as a whole operates post s4

- love that thing mary kenny said about how violet likes to be the big spoon unless shes had a nightmare or has trouble sleeping. i bet clem being the little spoon makes her feel safe when she sleeps in a way she hasnt felt in nearly a decade of sleeping out on the road where she could die at any moment. i wonder if there was ever an incident tho where clem could feel vi against her back in her sleep and woke up ready to fight someone, cuz in the early days of living at the school im sure she’d still be getting over her immediate fight or flight reaction to everything

- related to the last one i think once aj gets old enough clem would move into violets room (and tenn would move into ajs room. every night is a sleepover (yes tenn is alive in my hcs 😔 and no one is maimed))

- i know clem is technically The Leader now, but vi was doing a good job before clem took over, and since her relationship with clem helped her get over herself a bit and now she outright cares for the school group (instead of caring but pretending she doesnt to avoid getting hurt from loss again 🥺), i think theyd definitely lead together. clem is still #1 but violet is like her right hand/second in command. if the group splits up for whatever reason (hunting/scouting/investigating passing groups) then they each take leadership of each group (unless they feel like going fishing together 🥺). they definitely makes plans together. up in the office. sometimes they share the chair (its a huge chair have you looked at that thing)

- again since tenn is alive in my hcs i love the idea of clem+aj/vi+tenn one little family within one big family. if tenn and aj are like playing or drawing vi and clem are watching like a couple of doting parents 🥺💕

- they stole that horse from the raiders so sometimes they go on little rides together around the school, checking defenses. but also just to get some time together alone

- vi gets help from the others to help jury-rig a pully system on the bell tower so clem can get up there again. they make so many intricate home alone style traps i think they could do it. i think clem would cry shdfks. and it would mean that much more to her that everyone helped make it

- violet became very confident in her relationship with clem throughout the last 2 eps so i think they wouldnt shy away from being cute in front of everyone lmao especially as the years go by

- after a number of years together i think theyd like to make things more “permanent”. the only signifier of their relationship is the pin vi gives to clem (which is so cute on its own god i love that pin (“so you never forget that night” “i never will” SHUT UP THEYRE SO CUTE)). i thought maybe violet would whittle like a pair of wooden rings but thinking about it more i think they would just make new pins for each other. the pins are kind of their thing. clem would still keep wearing the og star pin, but she’d also get a violet flower pin, and violet would get a clementine pin 🍊💜

- related to the last one, louis would catch violet making her pin for clem and turn it into a whole big thing. because its boring living in the apocalypse and he wants to make this fun. clem would be on board with it and violet would agree if thats what clem wants. so theyd have a little “wedding” with the school kids attending. tenn and aj collect flowers and you know omar would make some big, extra fancy meal.

- idk if this counts but do you ever think about how during the last ep violet gets forcibly split from clem+aj and has to go back to the school by herself, and hours go by and clem and aj havent made it back yet… and how violet probably went back out there to desperately look for them, thinking they were dead and blaming herself for just leaving them there… she mustve been so devastated and scared and angry. i bet she was the first to see aj pushing that wheelbarrow back to the school and just started crying and sobbing if she wasnt already. SORRY TO END THIS ON A SAD ONE but i think about this 😭 ………………..

- related to the last one i bet violet spent so much time next to clems bed just hoping and praying that she would wake up. her and aj were probably there as much as they could be. and maybe would even take turns watching over her before she finally woke up. i bet all the other kids would come in to check on her too. they all love clem so much 🥺 you love to see it. its what she deserves. i bet rosie would be under her bed too like she was when aj was putting up the collectibles at the end

#twdg #violentine #sorry i took a bit to respond to this one my arm can only handle so much typing in a day rn #ive been wanting to make a sketch page of some of the post s4 stuff ive been thinking about but my arm.........#hoping to do that once im healed #replies with lexi #incognito

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oklcmc · 2 years

Text

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀،̲،̲⠀𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐓 ❪chapter sies：high risks⸝ high rewards❫⸝ pt. 𝟏╱𝟐 [𝟏𝟖+]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀゛⠀Wasn’t in my plans⸝ neither was this gun up in my hands but you know how niggas get⸝ not knowing why⠀⠀⠀niggas wit’...⠀〟 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✱ Tory Lanez — G.A.N.G !@#$% ❪2013❫

ׂ ̣ ○ . ° ♰ 𓈒 ॱ 𓂂 word count⠀⦂⠀9⸝ 089

ׂ ̣ ○ . ° ♰ 𓈒 ॱ 𓂂 pairing⠀⦂⠀street fighter!black!male oc ❪keith powers❫ ✕ black!female oc ❪kelis rogers⸝ circa ‘99❫

ׂ ̣ ○ . ° ♰ 𓈒 ॱ 𓂂 forewarning⠀⦂⠀this chapter will contain use of strong language⸝ use of drugs or alcohol⸝ infidelity⸝ violence⸝ gore？and character death. read at your own discretion.

ׂ ̣ ○ . ° ♰ 𓈒 ॱ 𓂂 author’s note⠀⦂⠀⠀⠀‘’⠀⠀⠀This chapter has really given me such the difficult time this past year and coutin’ though strategically thought-out which is why it took me so long to finally dish it out to you guys. I’m happy to finally have completed it though. The second-half shouldn’t be as lengthy or take me nearly as long to write as this did⸝ but it will require your focus a bit more than this one being that I’ll be introducing a handful of supporting characters that will more than likely be apart of the storyline from then on out and I don’t wish to confuse you guys.

With that being said⸝ I seriously don’t know how I be going about writing these lengthy ass chapters⸝ y’all. I just be writing with no intentions of stopping when it comes to this series⸝ ‘cause I really do be havin’ the time of my life here. It would probably be best for y’all to read it at night in order to maintain focus and set the mood⸝ ‘cause as I’ve said before⸝ it’s an extremely long chapter⸝ but do whatever works best for you! ☺

As y’all should know by now⸝ this whole series is dedicated to my pops⸝ but this chapter in specific holds a special place in my heart because he wore that “BEST ON EARTH” track down when he was here⸝ okuuurt?! Happy readings⸝ Mermaids!⠀⠀⠀‘’

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〝⠀IT’S NOT EASY TO ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀MAKE THAT CHANGE ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀THE STREETS KEEP ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀CALLIN’ ME!⠀〞

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀-ˋˏ⠀VINEGAR HILL⸝ BROOKLYN ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀FRIDAY⸝ OCTOBER 𝟕ᵀᴴ⸝ 𝟖：𝟐𝟓 AM ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀TYREE’S PAD⠀ˎˊ˗ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀🐉系🍱🥢🥡💮𓈒𓄹

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐎𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓

ㅤㅤㅤ“𝕿HEY’RE COMING TO GET YOU, BARBARA.” The infamous, yet daunting line quoted by the character Johnny in the 1968 Cult Classic Horror film Night of the Living Dead resonated throughout the living room area from the surround sound system, drawing the uneven audience of young adults in for the early October morning.

There was Isaiah whom was casually lounging in his favorite seat in the apartment; Bianca whom was assisting Kei in the impulsive decision of dyeing her afro and thin eyebrows different concoctions other than pink and honey blonde then there was Kei herself, seated stiffly in a metal folding chair before Bianca with her rose gold Apple iPad Air 2, a half-filled cocktail flute of cranberry mimosa and a joint of the strain Sour Diesal burning between her fingertips as her dilated pupils bored into the 50″ screen to the front of them.

It was apparent in her body language that Kei had an severe case of paranoia in the Horror film genre since her youth, more specifically, Kinemortophobia since zombie pictures usually gave her nightmares post watching them, but it seemed misfortunate to ring in the month of October without one, so there she was, toughing it out for Isaiah and Bianca though it felt like she’d panic worse than the character Barbara at any given second.

On the other hand, her current predicament and the film itself resurfaced memories from home and the morning after her abduction. Horror films were always Antonio’s thing while the cool metal against her bottom gave her post-traumatic flashbacks of Raphael’s abuse.

“Ah!” Kei yelped and flinched in her seat when witnessing the flesheater jump out at Barbara unprovoked. “See, this is exactly why I don’t watch this stuff.”

“Ohh, would you stop being such a wuss, Kei? This movie isn’t even scary. If there was an actual apocalypse happening, you’d be the first to go.” Bianca taunted through her infectious giggling, Isaiah joining in on the fun through his cheerful expressions.

“Yeah, well I’ll be dragging y’all down with me since y’all want to laugh.” Kei fired back, going to adjust herself in her seat before taking a hit of her spliff to calm her nerves.

“Not if my sniper bullet catches you first!” Bianca mocked, causing their laughter to swell.

The sound of the locks being turned had actually came as some sort of relief for Kei since she couldn’t think of a better comeback for Bianca. In walked Tyree and Lamar with a few paper bags brimming with groceries and necessities in tow.

“Ahh, look what the cat done drug in.” Bianca smirked smugly once her and Isaiah’s laughter subsided.

“We could hear y’all cackling all the way from the elevator. What’s the big idea?” Tyree asked, him and Lamar proceeding into the kitchen to place the bags on the counter.

“Oh, nothing except the fact that your girlfriend is a pussy when it comes to Horror movies. Who would’ve thought?”

“Correction: It is not the Horror pictures that I am afraid of, but the zombie pictures.” Kei rectified in a matter-of-factly tone, holding her trigger finger up in defense before returning to her research on contemporary furniture pieces on Bianca’s tablet.

“Same difference.”

“Well good thing she ain’t gotta worry much about zombies when I’m around to ward ‘em off, ain’t that right, baby girl?” Tyree approached his girlfriend of two weeks with a welcoming peck on her lips and a Aftera emergency contraception pill box in hand.

“Yeah.” Kei felt her full cheeks become fervent and the pit of her stomach flutter at her pet name, her top alignment of teeth closing in over her bottom lip as vivid flashbacks of their consistent late night and early morning sessions came flooding her memory as it had been all that morning.

The intoxicating aroma of his signature Calvin Klein cologne invaded her senses, taking her to a state of euphoria, but the floral and musk notes of a woman’s perfume other than those of her own had constantly left her with suspicions. She’d constantly interrogate Bianca throughout the day about the matter, but she’d leave her with more questions than answers. Damn, was he good at covering his tracks because each time she’d decide to do some diggin’ of her own, she’d come up short. As bad as she wanted to confront him on her own, she knew he’d do nothing but shut down on her again and they had already made so much progress these past few weeks, she didn’t wish to setback the bond they shared with one another. She hadn’t wished to share this source of serotonin with any other woman, but especially not Brooklyn again!

“Mm,” Tyree emulated Kei’s then dazed facial expression. “I got your stuff.” He handed over the overfamiliar box of contraceptive to which she happily accepted.

“Thanks, daddy.” Kei grinned, pressing her full lips against his once more.

“I think I’m going to barf.” Lamar overdramatically stated from the kitchen area, rolling his eyes with envy.

“For Christ’s sake, read the room! There are children in here! That’s exactly how all those hickies ended up on her damn neck and why she keep poppin’ morning-after pills now!” Bianca exclaimed, gathering all the trash from Kei’s dye job together.

“Mind your own business, Bianca!” Tyree spat.

“If y’all wouldn’t put y’all’s out there so often then maybe we would!”

“That ammonia shit reeks,” Tyree kissed his teeth, his top lip curling. “Make sure you clean all that shit up.” He ordered, retreating back to the kitchen area to begin stashing the groceries away.

“Yes, massa. Will there be anything else that I can assist you with while I’m at it? How ‘bout pullin’ the stick out your ass to start? Jeez!” Bianca expressed, tossing the tint brush back inside it’s bowl with much attitude. “This was your girl’s idea to begin with.”

“It’s true, baby.” Kei shot him an innocent grin with her shoulders hunched to which he could only stare at her dumbfoundedly.

“Whatever.” He brushed the situation off, proceeding to stash goods away with his bodyguard.

“Why don’t you come get yours done while you’re doing all that bitchin’ and complaining?” Bianca suggested.

Kei perked up when hearing this.

“Ohh! That’s a great idea, baby! We’ll be twins!”

“The fuck I look like? Arthur Fleck?” Tyree scoffed.

“No, but you sure are actin’ like him.” Bianca remarked.

“Fuck you.”

“Isn’t that what Kei’s here for?”

“Please, baby?” Kei pleaded, drawing him in with her dough-like eyes.

“I... don’t know, baby girl,” Tyree sighed in defeat, tossing the bag of Harvest Cheddar flavored Sun Chips into the air. “I got a lot of shit on my plate right now.”

“Such as?”

“Such as gettin’ styled before this cage match tonight at Club Murder. Stakes are high. This match is going to determine who stays to control New York and who flees, so it’s important to Soldier and I want to look the part although he hasn’t made his decision on who’s going to be his leading man as of yet.”

“C’mon now, Tyree. I don’t even know why you’re stressin’ that shit. You know as well as I do that it’s always going to end up being you over everyone else on the roster.” Lamar stated the obvious.

“I won’t ask you for anything else.” Kei solemnly swore.

“Not even that Edra “Boa” sofa you’ve been beggin’ for me to purchase you these past two weeks?”

“No.” She lied.

“Aight, it’s a bet then. Set me up.”

Bronx⸝ New York City 12：39 PM

Nineteen-year-old captive, Kei Valentine stood hunched over in the full-length mirror of the curved fitting room in Syndicate Urban Streetwear otherwise known as S.U.S., an privately held apparel chain, specializing in authentic curated luxury pieces, owned by one of Soldier’s former henchman by the name of Sean “Snowman” Scott, donning an original 1998 Thierry Mugler Spring/Summer Haute Couture piece.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓⠀⦂⠀* THIERRY MUGLER ✯⠀╱⠀haute couture s╱s⸝ circa ‘98.

She’d continuously feel the need to nip and pick at her love handles or suck in the FUPA she assumed she had packed on over the past month through the high-quality iridescent mermaideesque sequin fabric with an exasperated sigh despite their being anything stored there contrary to her own insecurities. She didn’t deserve to wear this peace, at least not feeling like this she didn’t.

“Baby girl, you dressed yet?” The sound of Tyree’s voice and the hooks attached to the solid black curtain gliding against the rail when he decided to snatch it back had Kei straightening her posture and pretending to smooth out her dress on instant. That’d make one less thing for him to complain about though the answer to his question was evidently written all over her face. “You don’t like it?” Tyree sighed, somewhat disappointedly as he tucked his hands inside the front pockets of his dark wash straight-leg jeans before slowly beginning to gravitate towards her.

“No, I never said that,” Kei emulated the sigh he allowed to escape past his lips no less than a minute ago as she admired his new hairdo from afar. They were finally matching. “I love the dress. It’s just that... I feel... Fat in it?”

“Fat?! Baby, c’mon, this is like the fifth piece you’ve tried on today. We’ve spent more time trying on and purchasing shit than we have actually gettin’ ready. If this extra thickness is what you’re gettin’ so worked up about then put the blame on me. I’m the one that’s been giving you extra back shots lately.” His large hands gave her curvy backside a vigorous squeeze, causing her to fall into a fit of contagious giggles before his fingertips brushed against the unfinished ink of a floral design running up the left side of her back and gripping onto her waist, bringing her close to his groin.

“Baby, I’m serious.” She pouted at him through the full-length mirror they were standing in front of as he propped his chin upon her shoulder.

“I’m serious too. The dress looks fine, you look fine.”

“That’s the thing, I want to feel it. This is your big night, after all.”

“I can make that happen, easy.”

“Yeah? How so?”

“Let me show you.” Without a care in the world of the curtain remaining open to the rest of the department, Tyree brushed the curls of his girlfriend’s bleached afro aside before his wet lips revisited the same overfamiliar areas of her neck that he patiently learned would make her moan and bruise easily. It had all took her back to their first time.

With a wicked grin ghosting her parted lips, slit eyes, and her hands pressed flat against either side of the mirror, Kei submitted herself to him completely, knowing she anticipated this moment of passion just as bad as he did.

Fog clouded the mirror at the cadence of her breathing as he cautiously hiked the thin layer of clothing up around her waistline before impatiently yanking her G-String down to her knees with her assistance.

“Damn, baby, you givin’ all this good shit up to me in the fittin’ room?” His breath teasingly fanning over ear, his teeth sinking into her helix shortly after as their eyes enticingly locked within the reflection of the mirror.

“Yeah...” Kei concurred in an unsteady breath. She wasn’t at all embarrassed to admit to this newfound exhibitionism kink of hers.

“With the curtain wide open? You just tryna be seen, huh?”

“Yeah...” She repeated in a moan, hearing him finally undo the fly of his slim straight jeans.

“Bad girl.” He remarked, going to press his hand at the center of her back in order to get her to assume their favorite position, but not before she could catch a glimpse of something unexpected through the mirror.

Kei could’ve sworn her eyes were deceiving her when seeing Sean alongside Raphael, Tec and even Soldier himself observing her and Tyree’s actions from afar as if they were on display at a museum. She could’ve cared less about those who played part in their usual circle of allies, but she held herself up to a certain standard when being in the presence of Soldier and so did Tyree because he was the one who taught her to do so, even if he was too selfish to admit it.

“T-Tyree, the crew!” Kei stammered, her heart hammering against her ribcage in embarrassment as she attempted to sit upright.

“Fuck the crew right now. I’m tryna be balls deep in some pussy.” He stated with his hand and eyes still placed at her mid-back.

“No, baby. I mean that they’re standing right behind us!” She hissed in a pant.

“Oh, shit!” He expressed, glancing over his shoulder as he released her from his firm hold and immediately went to adjust his jeans back around his waistline before assisting her in doing the same with her G-String and dress.

With a sheepish grin stretching across both their beaming faces, The couple both would simultaneously turn to face their peers, hand in hand.

“Ahhh,” Raphael laughed out obnoxiously, one hand placed on his clenching abdomen as the other pointed out the obvious. “Tyree really out here tryna get some cutty in the dressin’ room—” Everyone excluding him had found this unamusing. It wasn’t until the back of Soldier’s heavy hand came swinging into his puny chest, nearly knocking the wind from him that he had actually piped down.

Soldier beckoned Tyree in the direction of the sitting area before walking away with Raphael and Tec in tow, leaving the couple to bid their farewells for the time being.

“We’ll pick up where we left off at when I get back, hm?” Tyree whispered into Kei’s citrus scented curls before pressing his lips into her temple and against those of her own.

“Take your time.” She simply nodded her head in agreement to this though fret was still evident in her expression as she smoothed her hand over the wrinkly white graphic T-shirt that he was then clad in before untwining their fingers. She had only hoped he would receive the answer that he were looking for on the fight that night as she sent him on his way.

She faced the full-length mirror once more, already feeling differently on the opulent fabric that adorned her physique when she spotted Sean rearranging some authentic NBA Jerseys on a display stand nearby. Then would’ve been the ideal timing to bombard him with a question that had been boggling her mind since she first stepped foot inside his establishment. Lamar was right, maybe asking questions she had no business to was her problem to begin with.

“Hey, Snow?” Kei called out to him by his nickname as she gradually approached the curtain of the dressing room while adjusting the abstract translucent bangles clamped to her right arm as well as the new one of one hundred and one authentic Jacob & Co. Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin wristwatches embezzled in “Rainbow” topaz, sapphires, tsavorites, rubies, amethysts and mother of pearl gemstones secured to her inked wrist by white crocodile straps “Mind if I ask you a question?”

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓⠀⦂⠀* JACOB ⅋ CO.⠀╱⠀astronomia “rainbow” wristwatch.

“Depends...” His voice trailed and not once had he ripped his eyes away from the task at hand.

“On?” Kei challenged the tradesman, hoisting herself up on the glass display side of the corner L-shaped service counter.

“If I like your question or not.”

“Fair enough. Where’d you get the vintage couture pieces from though? I mean, as a self-proclaimed fashion enthusiast even I know that these fabrics weren’t just shipped here in quantities on the back of some semitruck, that’s for damn sure, so what’s your secret?”

“I’d have to kill you if I were to tell you.”

“Eh,” She giggled, hunching her shoulders as she gripped the perimeter of the counter she was then seated upon before continuously going to swing her smooth legs. “If you only knew half the shit I’ve been through these past two months, you’d know that I’ve got nothing else to lose at this point.”

“Aight, so boom, ‘bout six years back these three prep school kids from the middle-class suburbs had decided to finally find their rebellious streak in hackin’, scamming and boostin’ high-end exhibitions. I mean, from Bob Mackie’s at the Phoenix Art Museum to whatever it is you have on out in Paris. Call themselves the Notorious 3. Anyway, when shit really started gettin’ hot for ‘em out there in the streets, I figured that I’d take it off their hands for ‘em in exchange for a few racks I had lying ‘round, sent ‘em on their way. We’ve been in cahoots ever since then. Don’t get it twisted though, these niggas might be crafty wit’ the work, but nevertheless, heavily armed,” An sibilated sigh escaped past his lips as he shook his head. “They’d have my head for even openly discussing this with you right now, but with you being a new edition to The Soldier family, I’ll make the exception. Consider this information and that dress ya housewarming gift from me to you. Now while I’m surprised you haven’t heard of ‘em yet, besides Bianca stoppin’ by for a few intricate pieces here and then, that shit just been collecting dust in the basement for real ‘til Tyree bought you along. I’m pretty sure you’ll put ‘em to good use with fashion “Expertise” and all that.”

While Kei begun to see the greater good in people again, Tyree had made his way over to the suede mustard yellow Verner Panton Cloverleaf Vis-ב-vis sectional sofa of the sitting area in which Soldier, Raphael and Tec were then situated in.

He snatched a champagne flute up from the serving tray resting out on the cocktail table before him before skillfully plopping down in the seat nearest and rear-facing to Soldier without any spills, thankfully, and that’s how it’d always been established.

“What’s the word on tonight, boss?” Tyree queried, taking a sip from the Luc Belaire Bleu brand champagne that sat within his flute.

“Bones has made it clear to me; Winner-take-all, loser skips to Jersey.” Soldier had always spoken upright although with his elbows propped up on the back of the sofa and his closed fists covering his mouth, it’d always give off the impression that he wanted to remain inconspicuous.

“The opponent?”

“He’s going with his best man... RetcH.” Soldier sighed out deeply, his chest rising and falling.

“And you?” Tyree glanced over at Soldier who continued to stare straight ahead.

“As for me...” His is hands fell into his lap. “Richie’s a coward, Raphael and Slim are too damn hot-headed, Tec fucked up his wrist in the latest squabble with Teddy and as for Bianca and Kei... Immediate disqualification. They’re women, so there ain’t no way in hell I’d be putting ‘em up against RetcH, so that leaves me with you, Devlin.”

“What?!” Raphael exclaimed, jumping up out his seat on the sofa. “Man, this is bullshit!” He kicked the cocktail table over, causing the glassware atop to shatter on impact and for Kei and Sean to glance over in his direction.

“Watch yourself.” Even in the condition of a fractured wrist, Tec had still managed to stand up from his place on the sofa, fully prepared to inflict pain on his own crewmate until it came to Soldier restraining him from doing so.

“Nah, nigga, you better watch yourself!” Raphael snarled, finally having the confidence to actually step to Tec after the fact. “Can’t you see he always puttin’ this wide neck ass nigga before us?! Thinkin’ that somehow, someway he’s gonna reincarnate Trent! Yeah, I said it! Fuck it!” Tyree hadn’t paid much mind to Raphael’s usual antics, but the mention of his deceased older brother had him balling up his fists.

“That’s not true!” Soldier retorted.

“The fuck it is! I can’t even recall the last time I’ve been tagged in. Man, I’m out this bitch, and Tec, if you knew any better, you’d be right behind me!”

“Fuckin’ envious ass niggas,” Tec snarled, watching Raphael to the the exit before going to sit the cocktail table up by use of his dominant hand. “It really be your own bloodline. Don’t even trip on that shit, T. There’s much bigger shit at stake here.”

“Tec’s right,” Soldier stated with yet another deep sigh. “I need you laser focused tonight, so be lenient on the booze... And the women. We dress the part, avenge Trent, collect the cash prize and get out, hear me? Look, I know that RetcH is a rather touchy subject for—”

“Soldier, don’t take this the wrong way, but when’s the last time I’ve ever disappointed you besides what went down in the Red Room awhile back, hm? I know what I’m doing. I don’t need anyone holding my hand the way there. You just give me a time and I’ll be there.”

“Yeah, well your brother said the same thing,” Soldier sighed at the distinct memory of Trent’s fate before standing up from the sofa and signaling for Tec to send for their chauffer outside which he obliged to do so. “I’m not saying all this to get you riled up, Devlin. I have more faith in you than you probably want to believe. I just want you to understand what we’re up against. You’ll be ridin’ wit’ me to the venue tonight, so I’ll have my chauffeur pick you and the girl up around nine o’clock tonight,” Tyree simply nodded his head in agreement as Soldier placed his hand upon the fighter’s broad shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “Best of luck, Champ.”

Washington Heights⸝ Manhattan 9：45 PM

The twenty-eight-minute duration of being chauffeured from Tyree’s pad in Vinegar Hill to Club Murder in Washington Heights in Soldier’s custom Cadillac Escalade ESV was radio silent.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐒⠀⦂⠀* SOLDIER’S⠀╱⠀custom cadillac escalade esv.

Between him, Tec, Kei and Tyree, they all were trying their very hardest to conceal their evident apprehension as far as the forthcoming street fight and all parties involved. The silence was probably most suitable to majority of them that weren’t directly involved in a situation such as this, but for someone of Tyree’s status, being too comfortable was never an option as it would somehow always lead to shit going left within his life.

Comfortability is what had gotten Trent hemmed up the same night he had met his own fate. Comfortability was what Tyree had felt that split second while lying in Bianca’s lap before death came calling shortly thereafter. Comfortability was what bind him to Kei and all the futile women that came before her; therefore, he had no intention on following the masses. This lifestyle of his required living on edge, so what was a man to do other than indulge in the fruits of his labor?

He sat slouched in one of two rear Italian-leather reclining seats aside from Kei, clad in a fitted solid white crew neck T-shirt, an solid white polyester Champion brand pullover hoodie and slim fit dark wash and distressed Diesel brand jeans which underlined the sky blue Moncler Idil quilted-shell down jacket that were responsible for color coordinating with the “Do the Right Thing” colorway of his Air Jordan 3 Retro LS’ as he carelessly faced his second bottle of Luc Belaire Bleu champagne.

The Cartier C-Decor sunglasses customized with diamond cut out lenses and rimmed with VVS diamonds seated upon the bridge of his broad nose, the Richard Mille RM 56-02 Tourbillon Sapphire wristwatch secured to his wrist, the white diamond sterling silver cross huggie earrings dangling from his earlobes, his 14K white gold diamond pinky ring, his signature Sacramento pendant draping from his neck and even the custom double white gold open face cap that spread from his left lateral incisor to his cuspid had all reflected under the SUV’s interior lights and tied the look together.

“Baby, take it easy.” As if on cue, Kei’s disparate tone came to Tyree’s distress before Soldier could, swiftly snatching the half-empty bottle of champagne from his possession in the nick of time before he could stain his attire as the SUV came to an abrupt stop in what seemed to be some sort of overcrowded back-alley.

She placed the cork back on the bottle the best way she knew how before safely placing it on the tray table before her and cupping his speckled face within her hands. The pad of her thumb swiped against the soul patch beneath his bottom lip in order to collect whatever bit of liquid that previously lied there as his hooded eyes zeroed in on her before he pressed his lips against hers.

“Don’t coddle the man. He hasn’t paid his dues just yet.” Soldier’s remarks caused the couple to drift to their sections of the vehicle as if they were two children being chastised by their father all the while his eyes remained focused outside the rear door’s window.

The 32″ LCD television installed behind the back of him and Tec’s heads displayed a default screen of The Big Apple and acted as a partition between the passengers and chauffer when it had began to descend. The chauffeur announced their arrival to the venue before going to step outside the vehicle in order to open the rear door for them.

“Ladies first.” Tec politely insisted, extending his dominant hand for the teen to grab in which she obliged to do so after nodding her head in agreement, a small smile gracing her lips at his chivalry. From there, her hand was lent over to the chauffeur who assisted her in stepping outside the idle vehicle.

Her eyes almost immediately ascended up the bustling factory building as she boldly went to step a few feet away from the vehicle with her clammy hands grasping onto the handle of her transparent glass devil-horned Coperni X Heven Swipe handbag which had only held a tube of Fenty Beauty Diamond Milk Glass Bomb Lip Luminizer and a sufficient amount of green apple flavored Jolly Ranchers.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓⠀⦂⠀* COPERNI ✕ HEVEN⠀╱⠀glass swipe bag.

The plant was overcome by it’s usual debris, graffiti art and bystanders which had been sectioned off by a chain-link fence. The grimy circle top muntin grid windows displayed a wavering reflection of warm lighting that she could’ve easily mistaken as burning flames upon first glance. The scenery seemingly danced in her pupils and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She didn’t have peel her eyes away from what looked to be purgatory to know that it was a sign.

She was merely seconds away from retreating to the vehicle until a familiar source of stability came snaking around her waist with a reassuring peck on the cheek. There was the man of the hour, Tyree with Soldier and Tec in pursuit, in that exact order.

Tyree glanced over to his right at Soldier who only simply nudged his head in the direction of the entrance where one of Bones’ brawny body men stood. He took Kei’s dainty hand in his before being the one to take on the responsibility of leading their way there.

There were no proper greeting exchanged between the quartet and body man, not even a query for entrance tickets, entrance fees nor wristbands, for one, as he broke his previous stance just to push and hold the vandalized industrial door open for them to enter. The venue had still not been fully accessed as there was a brief, yet corroded corridor for them to pass through as well as another industrial door being bogarted by yet another one of Bones’ brawny body men.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〝⠀Like the way she work⸝ ayy ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀She always puts me first⸝ ayy ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀And I know I’ve been around ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But I swear you got the best on Earth⸝ yeah⸝ yeah⸝ yeah⸝ yeah⸝⠀〞

The quartet moved in a phalanx of stealth in order to reach the final entrance of the venue, Russ’ “BEST ON EARTH” single as well as the various howls of excitement by partygoers were muddled while draining in through a closed door, amping their dramatic ass entrance more than ever before.

It was almost melodic to the half of them. For Kei, the feeling of insecurity had set in far before they reached the inside of the plant, maybe even before this newfound claim to fame of being Tyree’s eye candy. It couldn’t get any worse than that.

Though her resting bitch face was apparent, she could still distinguish the feeling of her heart palpitating with apprehension inside her ribcage with each leap she took towards the entrance in her transparent Season 7 Yeezy brand pumps.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐒𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓⠀⦂⠀* YEEZY⠀╱⠀season 7 pvc pumps.

The same warm lighting of the industrial caged fixtures mounted on either side of the narrow hallway which irradiated the rich rose gold Fenty Beauty Body Lava Body Luminizer that coated her fair skin, her habitual holographic beat, gemstone jewelry pieces, both old and new, and the iridescent fabric of her Thierry Mugler frock at the very same time felt blistering rather than majestic in her panicked state of mind. The forewarning of a restricted area sign pinned to the wall to their left raised her suspicions about what they had gotten themselves into even more. Very telling for a nightclub named “Club Murder.”

The industrial door was pushed open by Bones’ second body man upon their arrival, the loose curls of Kei’s high ponytail surging in the humid wind the nightclub bore. Ironically enough, all of the teenager’s previous subconscious protests leading into the makeshift Steel Cage Match venue had dissipated the very moment she was welcomed into it. The scene was becoming second nature to her.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐒⠀⦂⠀* CLUB⠀╱⠀murder ☠︎

Beams of light from the strobes suspended above the eight-foot wire cage in the center of the room danced upon the members of the secret society who surrounded it or hung out in the mezzanines on the outskirts of it, making bets or simply indulging in their preference of alcohol or marijuana.

Speaking of bets, Richie had nearly missed their arrival when jogging past them in his “Space Jam” colorway Air Jordan 9 Retro OG sneakers, a No. 2 pencil tucked aside his prescribed Cazal brand eyeglasses on his wide ears and a Casio brand printing calculator in hand just as “Flipside” by Freeway commenced throughout the scene, but not before Soldier pulled him back using the Puerto Rico flag bandana hanging from the back pocket of his dark ankle jeans.

There was absolutely no one that they could name who stood more proud in not only their line of work, but their ethnicity as well other than Richie. He was absolutely ecstatic to be back in his hood.

He swiftly dapped up his eses, planted an appropriate kiss on the cheek of his “Mamacita,” simply bid “Good luck,” to Tyree and he was on his merry way, and so were they.

The quartet remained phalanx as they moved towards the caged platform where Lamar, Bianca and Slim had been anticipating their arrival. They embraced each other, the women practically squealing to be in the presence of each other again since the early hours of the morning so that they could excessively compliment one another on their risquי evening attire.

Tyree came out his Moncler puffer and Champion pullover, handing the items over to Lamar just as the feedback of a microphone could be heard throughout the venue, causing the sidebar conversations of the crowd as well as the accompanying 2000′s music to slowly minimize.

Who would’ve thought that the 1967 Boogaloo single of Pete Rodriguez’s “I Like It Like That” would summon such an hyperactive spirit that would put the male as well as some of the female species in attendance in an uproar.

She playfully salsa danced her way to the middle of the caged ring where a suspended vintage microphone swayed, just a swinging her 30″ bone-straight frontal as well as the high-slit maxi skirt of her crystal-embellished canary yellow Moschino by Jeremy Scott set that meshed well with her Giuseppe Zanotti Harmony Sparkle sandals and Loree Rodkin jewelry pieces. Her signature stiletto shaped acrylics, white toes, toned stomach and bronzed skin is what had really set it off.

She didn’t have to try hard to garner anyone’s attention. It was as if she was born for this. An organic entertainer.

“What’s up?!” She greeted, peering out into the open crowd that fully welcomed her. “It’s hot than a motherfucker in here! Y’all ain’t hot?!” She asked to which the crowd verbally agreed. “Cue the fans, please! Let’s get my people’s some air!” She demanded, the industrial floor fans stationed around the venue powering on subsequently after. “There we go! That’s better! Anywho, how y’all doing out there tonight?!” She gripped the microphone, stalking the ring as she received mixed feedback from the crowd. “I heard that. If you ain’t catch on by now, I’m ya Master of Ceremonies for tonight, Celina Rodriguez, but ya nigga just might know me as Cece from Seventh Heaven Gentlemen’s Club back in my stripping days, haan!” She expressed with her tongue hanging from her mouth. “Ain’t no shame in my game, but we movin’ on to bigger and better things, jhu herd?! One of ‘em being that it feels so fuckin’ good to be back in my hood of The Heights, but it feels even better introducing tonight’s street fight between RetcH of The Stallions,” She extended her arm in the direction of RetcH whom was making his way to the platform, tugging at his joggers with a Backwood tucked snug between his lips. “And Tyree of The Soldiers!” Tyree pressed his lips against Kei’s before doing the same. “Price just went up! Yesterday’s price is definitely not today’s price, feel me?! So we got $17,000 on the line tonight which will be in safekeeping between my legs until the winner is announced,” She smirked, her face contorting in the most animated fashion yet, causing everyone including the fighters to break out into a fit of contagious laughter. “So I hope you can recognize the scent of good pussy once it reaches your possession, okuuurt?! I kid, but not really though. Fellas, please let it be known that there will be no crowd or weapon assistance during this quarrel, just y’all fine asses and this metal gate, so without further ado, let’s get duuurty!” She emphasized in her thick accent, Redman’s “Let’s Get Dirty (I Can’t Get in da Club)” cueing subsequently after, causing the crowd to go berserk. She made an exit from the ring and boldly approached the rest of Soldier’s crew.

“What’s up, girl?!” Celina exclaimed, tapping at the shoulder of none other than Bianca who had her back turned towards her at the time being as she sipped her Sugarfree Red Bull Energy Drink through a coffee stirrer, obviously attempting to sway the attention of someone other than.

“Hey, girl!” Bianca greeted once turning to face her and proceeding to pull the announcer into a tight hug. “Long time, no speak.”

“Yes, how long has it been now? What, six years?”

“Yup! I think the last time I seen you was when me, you, Star, Trent, Tec, Ra and Soldier were kickin’ it at Seventh Heaven in Chelsea.”

“That’s right! The good ol’ days. I kind of miss it sometimes, y’know? The underground was way different then,” Celina recollected, shaking her head as she glanced down at her crystal-embellished sandals. “I’m sorry to hear about Trent. I know he cost you guys a great deal.”

“He did,” Bianca nodded her head in agreement while playing with her stirrer, trying her very hardest not to reopen old wounds though the fight transpiring before them was already triggering enough. “But all that’s water under the bridge now. Uh, let me introduce you to Kei, Tyree’s girlfriend,” She switched the subject matter, swiftly grabbing a hold of Kei’s wrist and yanking her to the forefront. “She’s game now.”

“Hi.” Kei squeaked bashfully, extending a wave in Celina’s direction as she sucked on a Jolly Rancher from her handbag.

“Nice to meet you.” Celine winked, internally wishing to suckle on the newbie the same way she sucked on the hard candy.

“That’s his personal bodyguard, Lamar and close friend, Slim. Also apart of the family now,” Both, Lamar and Slim would exchange simple head nods with her. “I’m pretty sure you remember Tec and your ex-fiancי, Soldier.” Kei had nearly choked on her candy at the mention of Soldier and Celina’s failed engagement.

As much as he inserted himself in the affairs of his tribe, you’d think he’d barely have any of his own. This whole “Mixing business with pleasure,” myth had never stemmed from Bianca and Trent to begin with. It had all stemmed from him and Celina.

“Celina...” Soldier greeted bitterly, keeping his eyes forward on the fight.

“Safir...” She smirked while calling out her ex-fiancי’s government name, folding her arms across her full breasts, fully aware that her presence alone was getting beneath his skin. It would pain him to state his ex-fiancיe was doing well without him.

“It’s nice to see that Bones finally took a chance on pullin’ your ass out of Seventh Heaven and puttin’ you on an actual stage.” Soldier chuckled amongst himself and the men of his crew. This was the most Kei had heard him speak since meeting his acquaintance.

“Yeah, something that your broke, egotistical ass couldn’t do at the time!” She retorted, causing ‘Ooh’s’ to fall from the women’s lips almost immediately.

“Get lost, tramp.”

“Fuck I thought, sorry ass nigga,” She rolled her eyes, reshifting her focus on the women. “Anyway, I’ma go make my rounds around the club before I catch another case over this nigga. It was nice seeing y’all.”

“Bye!” Kei and Biance said in unison, watching her walk away before focusing in on the cage match as everyone else had been.

It was an active game of tug of way by this time within the brawl with who would ultimately win.

For a minute, it seemed as if RetcH wouldn’t give Tyree a break from his repetitive combination of restraining him before slamming him face down into the bloody vinyl tarp of the ring using all his body weight. He had given Tyree enough space to bring himself up to his feet this time, but maybe that wasn’t the brightest idea, seeing Tyree charge at him with a closed fist then another that was powerful enough to have RetcH’s blood splaying against his white T-Shirt merely seconds before falling face down on the vinyl tarp.

Picking RetcH up by the sides of his face, Tyree sent two straight blows to his nose before finishing the combination off with an effective dropkick. He maneuvered the ring enough to keep his adrenaline flowing until RetcH collected himself.

You would’ve assumed he regained the upper hand of the brawl when front kicking Tyree into either sides of the metal gate, causing him to enfold in pain before attempting to lock him in a weak grapple which Tyree broke with an upper cut punch straight to his chin, causing his head as well as his body to fly back against the gate.

“Doesn’t feel so good being defenseless, does it?!” Tyree skillfully spat blood onto the tarp, his right hand gripping the back of RetcH’s neck before repeatedly slamming his face into the gate until he was leaking profusely. He was sure to have some facial fractures after that.

RetcH laughed menacingly, his face almost unrecognizable as ichor fell from his split lips and nostrils simultaneously.

“Just like your bitch ass brother!”

This is for my brother, pussy!” One last powerful head thrust against the gate was enough to lay RetcH out for good.

“I believe we’ve got our winner,” Celina exclaimed, her voice vociferous enough to carry out throughout the arena without the use of an microphone as she entered the cage, waving a small kraft paper bag of the winner’s earnings. “Tyree of The Soldiers!” She announced, causing the arena to erupt in a wave of celebratory howls as she handed the money off to Tyree. “Congratulations, T!” She grinned, giving him a round of applause.

Fat Joe’s “Take a Look at My Life” blared throughout the scene as Tyree soaked it all in, pulling Celina into his chest while pumping his fist into the air.

The hype soon began to die down, causing everyone to begin to disperse. Instead of walking outside the cage as any ordinary person would do, Tyree jumped it, landing directly where his crew mates were then located at.

Kei was the first to approach the reigning champion, awarding him with a soft kiss on the corner of his lips as his arm snaked around her waist.

“Yeahhh,” Tec was next to approach Tyree, chuckling as he lifted his arm in victory. “I knew you could do it!”

“Send me a postcard from Jersey!” Soldier teased, watching Bones and those of his crew escort RetcH off the premises. “Time to celebrate!” He exclaimed, turning on the heels of his oxfords as he went to vacate the building with the vast majority of the attendees.

“Where we headed?” Kei asked, perking up.

“Sorry, ma. Grown folks business. Maybe next time.” Tec answered, making her feel less than as he went to follow behind Soldier.

“Sorry, baby. Lamar’s going to take really good care of you.” His statement had almost sounded promising as he went to remove his arm from around her waist, retrieve the rest of his personal belongings from his bodyguard and caught up with the rest of ‘em, but even she knew it was bullshit.

Another night of staying out late, rippin’ and runnin’ the streets for him and crippling anxiety for her.

When did the cycle end?

11：56 PM

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐓𝐘𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐋𝐈𝐍

The cork being popped on a cold bottle of Moכt & Chandon Imperial Brut by Soldier resonated throughout the rear end of his custom Cadillac Escalade ESV as we, as in me, him and Tec cruised down Lexington Ave.

I was elated to know my winning streak had yet faltered as everyone was probably expecting it to due to previous conflicts and now this war between The Soldiers and The Stallions had finally came to a standstill which meant RetcH was out the picture, yet something on my spirit still felt uneasy about this whole “Skipping town” ordeal. Bones or anyone on his crew, for that matter, had never took too kindly to coming in second place, even in our earlier fights. Though they were far too cowardly to admit to it.

I made a mental note to check in on Kei once we reached our destination just to put my racing mind at ease some. It’ll make me less anxious knowing that she at least successfully made it home in safekeeping with Lamar.

“You really proved yourself tonight, kid. You should be proud. We all are, and I know damn well Trent is,” Soldier gloated, reeling me back in. “The Soldiers obviously still have a lot of work to do. More training and I want to believe I spoke about expanding our operation, but before I get into depth about that, I think that you should have this.” He reached into the pocket of his seasonal Louis Vuitton brand pinstripe suit and pulled out a sentimental piece I felt I hadn’t seen in ages.

“Trent’s chain?” I was almost sure there was an whole assortment of emotions wavering my face as I outstretched my hand for it. It was simple, but it meant a lot to me. His initials encrusted on a small script pendant with a 14K yellow gold diamond tennis chain to match. “I’ve searched high and low for this. Where’d you get it?”

“Trent gave it to me your first night of witnessing his street fight. Said to keep it in safekeeping ‘til I felt you deserved it. It was almost as if he knew he would... As if he knew you would...” He cleared his throat. “You’re a man now, Tyree. No one can take that from you.” He nodded, a reserved smile ghosting across all of our lips as I clasped my brother’s chain around my neck with pride.

I was in the midst of admiring my new piece when we pulled up to a traffic light on the intersection of Lex & East 125th Street.

If someone would’ve forewarned me that the next chain of events to take place would change my life for the worse, I probably would’ve assumed that they were lying, but at least I could’ve braced myself and those around me.

It all happened so fast. The LCD used as a partition situated behind Soldier and Tec’s heads descended for the second time that night. An overfamiliar stenciled arm stretching right outside of it, a Glock 29 handgun clenched within their unsteady hand with the barrel pointed straight in my direction the very second multiple bullets began to propel from the chamber.

Fortunately enough, my reflexes had kicked in, causing me to lean over in my seat and the lead to hit the LCD behind me instead, blowing the fuse completely out of it. Yet a slug had still managed to penetrate my shoulder when the chauffeur went to wrestle the hitman for control of the firearm which fell into the rear seat once his wrist smacked against the perimeter of the partition.

“Get down!” Soldier shouted, yanking me down to the vehicle’s floor with him and Tec by my Champion pullover.

One situation was nearly under control and here went another when a year 1970 model Cadillac Coupe DeVille convertible pulled up to the left of us and began to riddle our vehicle in more hot projectiles, some shattering the rear windows, causing shards of glass and champagne to rain over our tense bodies as we took cover. It was mad wild to me how the ESV was custom made without a bulletproof feature.

I could distinguish the distinct smell of gunpowder and the rubber burning from the tires slipping as the chauffeur attempted to lead us to safety. We barely made it past the stop light when the vehicle began to swerve, making it even easier for the convertible to ram us from the side, sending both American owned vehicles crashing straight into a street light.

The realization of me catching another stray bullet hadn’t set in until my hand was clutching onto my side where the injury resided and the indistinguishable taste of metal was overfilling my mouth. I was sure I’d be reunited with my brother that night.

There wasn’t much time to spare on thinking a rational decision through, only acting on impulse when multiple footsteps could be heard shuffling towards the 125th Street Station entrance.

I reached across what looked to be Soldier and Tec’s unconscious bodies in order to retrieve the same loaded Glock 29 left lying in the seat, that was once used to take me out with before pulling the inner handle of the rear door to the right of us. A guttural groan escaped my larynx, fresh blood staining my fronts and veins protruding my temples as I went to pull myself up from underneath the two of them. I was almost positive that the chauffeur had died on impact by the way the imploded airbags upfront were then hissing.

“T, it ain’t worth it, man!” Tec shouted after me once stirring from his previous state, his dominant hand outstretching in my direction as if that were enough to stop my reigning terror.

I hadn’t exchanged a single word back to him, only a daring glance before sprinting towards the entrance off pure adrenaline. Someone had to pay for the damages caused.

A round of bullets from an submachine Uzi being handled by RetcH himself rang off just as I had reached the top of the mezzanine leading into the subway system, blowing out the fluorescent light fixture below the nomenclature, making it even more difficult for me to identify which direction he was heading in without my eyeglasses. I recoiled to refrain from being struck a third time that night.

The moment I heard him duck off like the little bitch that he was, was the moment I picked myself up the best way I knew how and boldly jogged down the staircase leading to the turnstiles in which I jumped with whatever strength I had left in me. My wounds carelessly leaving a vestige of my very existence not too far behind.

I jogged the second mezzanine leading to the empty platform of the train cars just in the nick of time to witness one depart the station with my cousin onboard, him gesturing finger guns to his temple. As I stood there applying pressure onto the wound on my left hip, I really couldn’t help but to think was he behind the whole operation and were RetcH onboard as well.

I guess I got the answer to at least one of my questions when a silhouette emerged in my peripheral. The clicks of an empty clip coming to his dismay.

As he went to discard his weapon onto the train tracks to our right, I cocked mine back, aiming straight for his left kneecap and pulling the trigger. My hit had obviously landed, hearing the way his below resonated throughout the station before he went to hurl himself against one of the vandalized tile columns of the platform. I did the same, unbeknownst of what he was capable of pulling next.

“RetcH, what’ll you say we put these guns down and settle this like real men?” I queried breathlessly, my head tilting back against the pillar and my heavy eyes squeezing shut the second I felt a spell of dizziness overcoming my body.

“Let me get this straight. Y’all niggas initiate the war between us and now you really expect for me to believe we’re both gon’ walk out this bitch alive, on some “Kumbaya” shit?!” RetcH chortled, groaning in pain and I’m sure, clutching his knee shortly after. “Nah, fuck that! Bones’ deed gets done tonight! With you and your brother out the picture, Soldier’ll have no choice but to leave the underground. I can reclaim the title of what’s rightfully mine, Bones takes back control of his clubs again and The Stallions live happily every after.”

“So that’s what you want to be remembered for?! Going out like a sucker?!”

“Well thank God you or Trent won’t be there to tell it.” This slick response came from the right side of my column.

All I could dwell on in the moment was how’d he make it to me so fast as my feeble body was slammed into a nearby metal column, my wounded shoulder catching majority of the impact.

“Aah!” I shouted out in pain, striking my elbow into the middle of his back continuously until he broke his restraint around me and went reaching for the gun secured in my hand instead.

Though severely injured, our bodies scuffled around the perimeter of the platform for possession of the firearm. My index finger impulsively pulled back the trigger, lodging two bullets directly into RetcH’s abdomen.

I had to admit that it was most exhilarating to finally witness the emotion of fear wash over my long-term rival’s face than anyone else’s in my past body count as he clutched onto my shoulder for stability, his body going rigid before me. The distinct traction of a nearby train car could be heard as well as felt beneath the soles of our name-brand sneakers.

I knew I was slightly immoral before that moment, but chuckling in a man’s face as he was losing his life just made me seem damn near demented. Gee, maybe I had lived up to those Arthur Fleck accusations after all.

“You shot me...” Retch heaved the inevitable, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth and instead staining my attire furthermore.

“You bought this on yourself,” I stated, peeling his hand away from my shoulder before carelessly shoving his declining body overboard onto the train tracks to finish off the job. “Payback’s a motherfucker, ain’t it? Ya drop-off’s here.”

I hadn’t once flinched when hearing the way the train car impacted his body as it passed through, instead I stashed the gat inside the waistband of my jeans, pulled on the hood of my pullover, turned on the heels of my Air Jordans and proceeded to limp my way back to Tec and Soldier’s aide this time around.

“Yo, he aight?” I had arrived on the scene just as Tec was pulling Soldier’s wounded body from the burning ESV, police sirens wailing in the near distance.

“He’ll survive, I’m sure. You on the other hand...” Tec grimaced, catching a glimpse of me hissing as I added pressure onto my side wound again by use of my hand.

“It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be aight.” I lied.

“Well don’t just stand there. We at least gotta get him to the other side of the street before the Jakes come.”

I went reaching for Soldier’s arm only for him to snatch it right back.

“You two get outta here!” Soldier sputtered on his own blood.

“No, no way! You’re coming with us!” I protested, attempting to grab for him again.

“I said, ‘Go!’” He bellowed. “They’ve been trying to pin me down for years now. There’s no sense in fighting it. Y’all have a better chance at escaping without a cripple at your sides.”

“Fuck that! You gon’ be alright. We gon’ get you the fuck up outta here, man. Bones gon’ get his!” Me and Tec grabbed at either of Soldier’s arms in attempts to get him across the street safely, but by then, cop cars had begun to swarm the area, making it less likely for us to make an escape with Soldier without the risk of being caught up.

“W-We gotta get the hell up outta here, man!” Tec stammered, tapping at my shoulder. “Let’s go!”

“Freeze!” The detective of an Italian descent shouted out as he barricaded himself behind the passenger side door of him and his partner’s assigned vehicle with a firearm aimed in our direction and a ginger beauty, clad in a lab coat, standing not too far behind him.

“He said, ‘Freeze,’ punks!” His partner of an African-American descent reiterated his command quite rudely, might I add, as he aimed his weapon in our direction as well.

Still, Tec and I boldly ducked off in the opposite direction with a plethora of unanswered questions on the momentous night we had. The main one being, how would the crew ever function properly without the dependence of Soldier?

It was all downhill from there.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀？ as 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐍 ゛⠀𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐌𝐀𝐍⠀〟𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐓

⤷ occupation：sole owner of syndicate urban streetwear ❪s.u.s.❫ clothing shop

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀belcalis ゛⠀cardi b⠀〟 marlenis almבnzar as 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐀 ゛⠀𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐄⠀〟𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐙

⤷ occupation：past exotic dancer for seventh heaven gentlemen’s nightclub⸝ soldier’s ex-fiancיe⸝ upcoming rapper⸝ actress and now master of ceremonies for club murder

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀erin kellyman as 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐙𝐄𝐑

⤷ occupation：forensic scientist

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀nashawn breedlove⸝ circa 2002 as 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐔𝐒 ゛⠀𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊⠀〟𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃

⤷ occupation：active detective on the ゛⠀bloody valentine⠀〟 investigation

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀michael imperioli⸝ circa 2004 as 𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐎 ゛⠀𝐒𝐀𝐋⠀〟 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈

⤷ occupation：detective reed’s partner

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀YOU’LL DISCOVER...

CHAPTER 𝐒𝐄𝐈𝐒⸝ PRT 𝟐╱𝟐⠀⦂⠀゛FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD.⠀〟

𝐓𝐀𝐆LISTS.

𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 BOARDS.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀HERE!

#keith powers #keith powers fic #keith powers fanfic #kelis #urban ff #urban fanfic #streetlit #contemporary lit #black authors #black writers #poc writers #poc authors #djffny #def jam fight for ny #def jam: fight for ny #cardi b #angst

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planet4546b · 2 years

Note

this is an extremely bizarre question i just thought of but. thoughts on the s/n cast being in a lighthearted (??) au a la hs/college/coffee shop au but still forced to meet (group project members, reluctant coworkers, etc.). i have no idea if this makes sense fksjks

ohohoho this is very fun. time to normalify my favorite weirdos!!!!

lighthearted au of choice is 'everyone works in the same shitty mall' because its the one i can make make sense in my head the best. dont ask why jdhslkag

sam is the long suffering assistant manager for a best buy. eric is the actual manager and the rest of the spire network folks are the other employees here. darcy has stolen at least 2 entire xboxes. indrani, grace, and sam walk to the food court together every day to have lunch together and shittalk everyone else.

sam has a ham radio hobby and uses her store discount to buy parts (i havent been to a best buy in forever idk if they have those. bear with me here). she is a radio nerd in every universe and i love her <3

mel works in the new escape room (cy also works here) and is weirdly serious about it?? emily works in a trader joes. jackie is in the weird little board game store you know the kind.

jackie steals pokemon cards from behind the counter for mel. mvp

i could literally just have said they know each other from working in the same store but instead im about to build the weirdest relationship map ever because #ilovecomplexity. ok here we go

mel, em, and sam have lived in this town and known each other since they were kids. mel and sam were closer in high school, but then mel left town to go to college for a few years (before dropping out), and sam and em started hanging out a lot more. jackie just recently moved to town to go to the state school nearby (fun fact: in a previous version of this story it took place in suburban illinois, and emily went to university of illinois urbana-champaign so lets say its there for funsies). emily is also taking classes there so she and jackie ended up in a class together (em is a math major and jackie is the worlds most pathetic physics major so they probably took like calc 3 together or something) and thats how jackie got dragged into the group!!!

sam has the worst little awful apartment youve ever seen (its literally the r/malelivingspaces i dont deserve a bedframe post) and jackie is somehow always hanging out there (jackie lives with 3 roommates and is always in a fight with one of them). sam frankly does not mind. the two of them get a long a LOT better without an impending apocalypse. physics student jackie + radio enthusiast sam spend a lot of time discussing like, the electromagnetic spectrum and also jackie is making sam watch breaking bad and sometimes they play minecraft.

emily: im gonna ask sam to have dinner at the california pizza kitchen with me

mel: what the fuck. thats a terrible idea. why would you take her to the fucking california pizza kitchen in the mall we literally work at. what??

emily: ...... should i do the cheesecake factory??

jackie is the ultimate 'lie to your boss. leave work for no reason. just walk out. fuck it ✌️' guy and is constantly trying to get the other three to spend work hours just sort of fucking around and hanging out with them. like theyll tell their manager theyre taking a bathroom break and then walk down to the escape room and talk to mel for 30 minutes. mel, who takes her work in this universe as seriously as in canon, absolutely HATES this and is like no im not skipping work with you. stop it. but caves eventually and spends a lot of time just sort of wandering through the weird field behind the mall with jackie and getting high. its great

chaos and absolute tragedy when the sbarros in the food court is replaced by a fancy health food place and its the only topic of discusion for months. no survivors

emily and mel are on a much better path towards actually mending their relationships in this world. i think they both still live at home, and having their other siblings leo and addie around (as well as their mom and grandma) makes them WAYYYY less likely to want to tear out each others throats. sam loves going to dinner at em and mels because it reminds her a lot of her own family (and because shes known them so long shes been going over there forever. helped addie with her math homework when addie was in hs kinda vibe. its nice)

also while sam is still estranged from her family in this version, the paternal relationship between her and eric is also much more clear, which is also nice. sam PEOPLE LOVE YOU.

luna this is bad. im actually kind of very invested in this au now. im kind of going to keep thinking about it all week. uh oh. anyways this is very scattered but thank you for the very fun question MUAH

#asks #cherrytries #i legit am KIND OF REALLY INVESTED IN THIS NOW. jhkldshakjg #the ultimate joy of making aus for your own ocs. truly one of lifes pleasures!!!!#also its so fun that like. sometimes i realize just how well i know these characters bc this took very little effort #to actually come up with. i was just like. yeah i know them. i know what they would do. very fun!!!#signal to noise #oh also fun fact about me. i. dont know how coffeeshop aus work??? i dont understand them??#is it everyone working at the same coffeeshop?? is it one person is the coffeeshop employee and the other the customer they always see????#like i genuinely have no idea. regardless fkjdsagkas

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aliyah-the-creator · 3 years

Text

This is my very first post, so I hope I do good! Please give me some feedback, I would love to hear it.

The Umbrella Academy Life Swap:

The Hargreaves switch lives instead of powers.

• Ben ran away at the age of 13 and got lost in the dimension inside his stomach, the Handler eventually finds him and recruits him to the Commission. He works as a super powered agent that saves his victims from his sadistic partners, Hazel and Cha-Cha. Ben doesn’t come back in a 13 year old body like Five, he’s the same age as his siblings, and Ben does know about the apocalypse and has the eye. And unlike Five, Ben actually tells his siblings about the apocalypse and how he was a super powered assassin that acted as the kidnapper and lookout. When the Hargreaves were 13, Ben had tried to talk to Five out of time traveling because logically, he may not know where he would end up, but Five wouldn’t listen to him and started arguing with him. The fighting got so loud that Vanya and Klaus eventually got pulled into the argument as well and it turned into a fistfight with all 4 of them. All of them ended up with scratches and bruises on their faces, a few chunks of their hair missing, and cleaning the mansion floors and ceilings from top to bottom and every single room without using their powers as a punishment for fighting by Reginald. At 2 am, Ben woke up after a nightmare and felt bad about getting Vanya and Klaus into trouble when they didn’t even started the fight in the first place and tried to go to their rooms to apologize, but he never did because the Horror became restless and angry that it didn’t get anything to eat and wanted to make Ben feel how trapped they felt when Reginald always had them kill people, so Ben’s tentacles grabbed him and opened the portal to their world, which was the apocalypse, and trapped him there for 10 years until the Handler came and recruited him and was never seen after that day again. Because of Ben’s disappearance, Vanya and Klaus blamed Five and his ambition for time travel since it was him who argued with Ben in the first place and Five had never forgotten it. Ben hopes that Klaus and Vanya would forgive Five in time. Ben read Klaus’s book about what happened to his family when he disappeared, he read about Luther running away to Dallas to forget about the Umbrella Academy, about Diego staying at the Academy to keep fighting crime, about Allison’s death and how she’s now mute, how Klaus is trying to get sober and stabling himself, how Five became a professor at a prestigious university and a vigilante, and how Vanya took a dark path into alcoholism.

• Five became a lowly-paid physics professor at community college after he was fired for punching a colleague at prestigious university and he’s also a vigilante, but his fiancé Delores doesn’t like it though. Five met Delores at a professor’s conference in Canada where she was presenting her findings on the science of gems and geodes since she’s a mineralogy professor (someone who teaches the study of rocks and crystals) and where he was discussing the possibility of time travel. Those two immediately hit it off and are now engaged, Five proposed to her by using different types of gems to spell it out. Five uses his powers of teleportation to be a mysterious assassin and hero.

• Klaus is a dancer at a local theater and he has somewhat control over his powers, but if the ghosts get too loud, he smokes cigarettes instead of weed so he wouldn’t be high at a recital. He became friends with Leonard Peabody aka Harold Jenkins when Klaus was 23 after his family abandoned him for writing an auto-biography about him having a power that traumatizes him and what the Umbrella Academy was really like behind the scenes, it’s called “The Ghosts Inside the Umbrella Academy: the life of Klaus Hargreaves”. Harold makes him more isolated by threatening to kill himself and haunting Klaus for the rest of his life if Klaus tries to leave him. Since Klaus never had someone ,besides Ben, care for him and give him a home and food since he was living at a homeless shelter when he met Leonard, Klaus thinks that this type of friendship is normal and doesn’t think twice about it. In his book, Klaus portrays his remaining siblings as people who knew about his drug abuse, but didn’t do anything about it; he portrayed Luther as a hotheaded daddy’s boy who was treated like the Golden child, Diego as a momma’s boy with daddy issues always trying to compete with Luther for everything, Allison as his favorite sister who was taken too soon, who’s death was the final straw that tore apart their family, and who acts as a silent ghost mother since she’s mute (no one believes him that he can see her though), he portrays Five as the cause of Ben’s disappearance and as a heartless gremlin who doesn’t care about his siblings enough to see that his siblings are hurting and have real problems of their own, he portrays Ben as his kind-hearted and favorite brother who was the glue that hold their family together and who’s disappearance drove a wedge between the family, and he portrays Vanya as his ordinary violin playing sister that desperately wanted to belong with their family in any way she could, but turned to alcohol when she learned that her dream of being in the Umbrella Academy was crushed by Reginald and who had the easy life of not being exploited by their father for her powers like he was. Vanya actually confronted him about her portrayal in the book and they said some things that they shouldn’t have, but they eventually forgave each other and Vanya moved in with him and Leonard a month later. Klaus didn’t mind that Vanya and Leonard were dating, but saw a striking difference between Vanya and Leonard’s relationship and Vanya and Sissy’s relationship when Vanya came back from the 60s. With Leonard, Vanya was walking on eggshells and isolated from her brothers and couldn’t be herself around him, but with Sissy, Klaus saw that Vanya was happier and could be herself around Sissy and loves Harlan like her own son. Klaus was the one to kill Leonard with his powers by having Allison choke him to death when he badly hurt Harlan with a gun and tried to drown Sissy.

• Allison dies at the age of 17 when her throat was slit by a serial killer on a mission and now acts like Klaus’s mother by always keeping him sober enough to conjure her and giving him healthy advice, but ultimately going along with almost every crazy idea Klaus has. Since she has a slit throat she can’t talk, but she does sign language instead and like Ben, she ages like Klaus, but still wears the same outfit she was buried in: a yellow and green striped dress with a blue flora printed jacket with red heels and a pair of black leggings. She HATES Leonard Peabody because he’s manipulating Klaus into isolation from their family and she tries to get Klaus out of their toxic friendship, but Klaus always denies Leonard’s abuse. She misses her siblings so much that she’s deeply hurt that she had ignored their problems for so long.

• Diego stayed at the Umbrella Academy because he didn’t know how to be anything else but a hero, he also didn’t want to Mom behind, so he began reading and writing code to free Grace from her restrictive rules that Reginald put on her, but after his accident that had him have scars all over his body and face to the point where he lost his left eye and his face is almost beyond recognition, Diego left the Academy when he realized that there was no point in staying and became a recluse in his good friend, Eudora’s house. Unlike Luther, Diego doesn’t have the monkey body because I just couldn’t see that type of body build on David Castaneda. Diego met Eudora at a local boxing gym, Eudora was impressed Diego’s fight skilled and was shocked to know that he was Diego “The Kraken” Hargreaves because Reginald told the whole world including their city and Luther, Klaus, Five, and Vanya that Diego died in an explosion a year ago when he had his accident. Diego ,of course, was pissed that his own father told everyone and his siblings that he was dead instead of saying that he survived the mission and was just scarred for the rest of his life, but he wasn’t surprised that Reginald did that to keep up his reputation. Him and Eudora immediately became fast friends and roommates at her house since Diego had nowhere to go when he left the Academy 6 months ago and was living at an run-down and moldy apartment. They actually tried dating at one point, but because of their conflicted personalities, they decided to just stay friends and roommates.

• 3 months after Allison’s funeral, Luther ran away to escape his father’s tight gripped and cold stare and the house that reminded him of his lovely yet dead Allison when he was 18 years old. He ended up in Dallas, Texas where he became a famous boxer named King Kong since he’s so huge and muscular, met and married a successful TV salesman named Elliott Gussman, and they adopted an African American baby girl who they named Claire Allison Gussman. Luther decided to take Elliott’s last name ,even though it was Luther who proposed to him, to cut his ties off from the Umbrella Academy and the man who turned 6 children into soldiers and who blamed the death of an innocent 17 year old girl that happened to be his adopted daughter on his 4 sons and 1 daughter instead of the person who killed her in the first place. Luther and Elliott had a happy marriage for 3 years until Klaus’s book came out that exposed the secrets of Luther’s past and made him into a hotheaded bully with daddy issues who followed Reginald around like a eager puppy trying to get a reward and a coward ran away from his problems instead of facing them. Elliott was furious at Luther because when Luther came to Dallas he lied about being from a mob family that did all types of shady businesses and that he ran away because his “family” couldn’t understand and accept him being bisexual instead of telling him truth about his abusive father who raised them to be child soldiers, how his brother Diego would always tried to be better than him to their father’s approval, how his brother Five was too smart for his own good, how he loved his sister Allison more than he should, how he tried to forget about Ben’s disappearance, how he ignored Klaus’s drug abuse, and how he denied Vanya’s problem with alcohol for so long. When Elliott read Klaus’s book about what Luther did and who he was, Elliott immediately started arguing with him about his true identity. Luther tried to deny it, but couldn’t because he loves Elliott too much to even hurt him in a way. Elliott actually threatened to separate from Luther when their arguments gotten too much, but he didn’t and instead drove Luther and him to see a marriage counselor so that they could actually talk to each other instead of just arguing. Luther and Elliott eventually made up, but because of the book, Luther is the one that’s more pissed about it and at Klaus for almost making Elliott lose his marriage to him. Btw, Claire is 6 years old in 2019 and was adopted as a baby in 2013 by the Gussman family when Luther was 24 and Elliott was 30, a year after Klaus’s book was published.

• Vanya was introduced to alcohol at 13 years old when Five and Klaus were drinking 2 cases of beer that Five stole, Klaus persuaded her to take a sip of his beer and she hasn’t stop drinking since. Besides the violin and her pills, alcohol was the thing that defined Vanya and her personality. Vanya thought that no one would care about what happened to her since she was so ordinary and isolated that she dumped all of her pills in the garbage disposal and drinks her problems away. With her new coping mechanism, Vanya’s personality changed from quiet and meek to sarcastic and drunk. Five and Vanya left the Academy for college together, but ended up separated by the time they were 20 because Vanya kept drinking her tutition away. By the age of 22, Vanya ended up being homeless because she got kicked out of her apartment for not paying her rent with the money she used to buy alcohol. She still plays her violin, but only for cash instead of at The Icarus Theatre. She also read Klaus’s book and was upset about her portrayal as his alcoholic sister who had an easy life of being ordinary and never going on missions because she doesn’t have a power that can’t be turned off willingly or that can kill somebody; she cried and drank her misery away for 3 weeks until she confronted Klaus about the book, they both admittedly said things that they regretted, but ended up apologizing to each other in the end. She also meets and dates Leonard like in the show and instead of Allison finding the truth about Leonard, it’s Five and Delores who both tried to convince Klaus and Vanya that Leonard is a snake, but they both denied it. Vanya ends up living with Klaus and Leonard when her and Klaus made up when she’s 23. In my first draft I made it Five and Delores that Vanya ended up rooming with, but I wanted to make Vanya and Klaus isolated further by Leonard manipulating both of them. When the house is attacked by Hazel and Cha-Cha, Vanya is the one that’s kidnapped and tortured by them for 2 days and is rescued by Eudora who arrives with back up this time, but is injured in the spine by Cha-Cha. Vanya takes the briefcase and time travels to October 12, 1963 where she ends up falling in love with a woman named Sissy Cooper, a widowed housewife who accidentally ran Vanya over with her car, and becoming a nanny/second mother to Sissy’s 5 year old autistic son named Harlan. Vanya stayed with them until 1966 when a neighbor reported their “unholy” relationship to the police, so to keep them safe Vanya used the briefcase to go back to 2019 with Sissy and Harlan.

—When Vanya gets back to 2019 with Sissy and Harlan, no one believes her story except for Klaus, who promises to her relationship with Sissy a secret from Leonard, and Ben, who was the only one that was worried about her whereabouts in the first place besides Klaus. Vanya tries to become sober for the sake of Harlan not being afraid of her when she gets drunk and for Sissy and her’s relationship since her late husband was an abusive alcoholic, instead of conjuring the one she loves’s ghost like Klaus did in the show. When Vanya was dating Leonard, he would constantly have her and Klaus practice their music and dance at 12am-6am to train them more and if one of them mess up, he’ll have them locked up in a dark and tiny closet with only one dimly lit lightbulb and they would have to balance on a stool on one leg for the duration of their training. Leonard would also take his anger out on Klaus and Vanya if he had a bad day at his shop, which would leave Klaus with bruises on his arms and a black eye and Vanya with scratches on her back and bruises on her neck. (Trigger Warning for those who can’t handle stories with domestic violence) When the 3 of them were 27, Leonard gotten pissed at how independent and successful Klaus and Vanya were getting in their lives by Klaus getting paid more from his dance recitals and Vanya going to AA meetings more to the point of being sober for 3 weeks that he took his frustrations about losing his control out on them by punching and slapping Klaus and choking and scratching Vanya, but thankfully a neighbor called the police after hearing their screams and Klaus and Vanya were taken to the hospital and Leonard was arrested, but unfortunately Klaus and Vanya bailed Leonard out due to dropping charges against him as an apologize.

Here are the things that I changed

• Klaus and Vanya both cause the apocalypse by combining their powers at Klaus’s dance recital with Vanya’s violin because Leonard isolated them from everyone, manipulated them to the point of denying the abuse he put them through, and because of him trying to kill Sissy and Harlan for taking Vanya away from him.

• Five and Delores tries to explain to Vanya and Klaus that Leonard only liked them to get revenge on the Umbrella Academy and it was him that kidnapped Sissy and Harlan to get them to come back to him, but Five gets stabbed in the stomach by Klaus’s new found telekinesis and Vanya makes Five and Delores’s apartment collapsed after knocking Delores out. When the apartment collapses, Allison , who’s coperal at the moment, immediately grabs both a bleeding Five and an unconscious Delores and saves them from death and takes them to the Academy to be treated by Grace. Delores unfortunately loses her right arm to a huge piece of shrapnel lodged into it that’s cutting the circulation.

• When Ben goes to the apocalypse for the first time, he finds Luther with the eye clutched in his hand, Diego wrapped in black bandages holding a woman with a long black ponytail (Eudora), Five in an Armani suit with his eyes opened, and a red headed woman in a polka dotted blouse and a black skirt holding one of Five’s hand (Delores). All of them are dead and Ben finds out that they’re his brothers by the faded black umbrella tattoo on Luther’s wrist when Ben was inspecting the bodies. The bodies that Ben couldn’t find were Allison, Vanya, and Klaus’s, but after learning about Allison’s death from Klaus’s book, Ben kept looking for Vanya and Klaus.

• Vanya gets her burst of powers when Harlan almost drown in the summer of ‘64 in the lake 10 miles away from the farm. Harlan was playing with a beach ball when it got away from him and he tried to get it while Vanya and Sissy were cuddling in the sand and a wave pulled him under the water. Sissy started crying and panicking when Vanya couldn’t get Harlan to the surface, but after a minute of silence she was shocked and relieved to see Vanya holding Harlan in her arms while she’s floating in the lake with glowing white eyes. As soon as they get to shore, Vanya gives Harlan cpr which transfers her newly found powers to him like in the canon.

• Diego doesn’t show himself to his siblings until episode 3 when Hazel and Cha-Cha attack the house because everyone thinks he’s dead and he’s a recluse. He finds out about the attack from Grace (mom) when she calls him from her bedroom phone since they talk every day so that he can know what’s going on and because of these calls, Diego knows about Ben being back, how the funeral went, and how much each of his siblings changed over the years.

• In episode 1, since the siblings’ lives are switched around, the way they found out that Reginald died is slightly different from canon. Luther finds out from the press badgering him after he won a fight, Diego finds out from Eudora when she comes home after work and turns on the Tv in a flash, Klaus finds out during rehearsal on the radio that him and his group are listening to to practice the recital while Allison is dancing in the shadows behind him when the news suddenly comes on, Five finds out from his phone on social media when one of his students sent him the news link after Five teleports to his apartment after saving a 12 year old boy from being abducted by a creep and almost killing said creep by beating him senseless, and Vanya finds out from a bar Tv when she and Leonard are on a date. She immediately calls Klaus who was immediately going to call her to tell her the same thing when he was done rehearsals.

• Just to clarify, since Vanya spent 3 years with Sissy and Harlan in Dallas from 1963-1966, she is 33 years old and Harlan is 8 years old because he was 5 when he and his mom met Vanya. Even though Vanya spent 3 years in the ‘60s, she was only gone for 2 days with Klaus, Five, Delores, Ben, and Leonard searching for her.

• When the Hargreeves all come back for the funeral, the introduction of them to each other are very different. Diego doesn’t show up to the funeral to keep up the reputation of him being dead. Vanya and Klaus show up together, but immediately split up when Vanya goes straight to the bar making drinks for her and her brothers (mostly for her though) and Klaus goes to his old room to reminisce about his past. Five checks their father’s room and office for evidence of something other than a heart attack, he is the one that thinks that Reginald was murdered by someone, and he also greets Vanya and Klaus with Delores who went with him to meet his family. Luther is trying to get through the funeral as possible by almost avoiding his siblings, but that backfires when Five calls a family meeting to talk about their father’s death and Luther sees a tipsy Vanya holding a mix of vodka and rum, Klaus talking to Delores who is laughing at a funny story Klaus is telling, and Five lecturing the remaining siblings on how their father might’ve been murdered.

• Eudora is more present in the show since she survives the gunshot wound in her spine by Cha-Cha, but she ends up being paralyzed from the waist down in a wheelchair. She helps Five with discovering how Reginald actually died and Diego with stepping out into the world and seeing his family for the first time in years. Like in canon, she is the first one to find Vanya at the motel after finding the message that Hazel and Cha-Cha left on the van when they burned down the prosthetic factory after they got drunk off of Vanya’s “special lemonade” which is just lemonade mixed with wine and vodka. Unlike in the show, Delores and Ben go with Eudora as back up in case something goes wrong and it does end up going wrong with Cha-Cha and Eudora having a shoot out with each other in the parking lot that ultimately ends up Eudora becoming paralyzed by Cha-Cha’s bullet ricocheting off a lamppost and lodging into Eudora’s spine with her laser gunand Ben wrestling with his former partner Hazel in the motel room while Vanya is escaping through the vent with the briefcase in her arms and Delores in tow.

Ben breaks Hazel’s wrist and almost beats him to a bloody pulp for kidnapping Vanya, but he stops when he hears Eudora’s screams from outside and sees her on the ground behind her car and he immediately drives her to the hospital while Hazel and Cha-Cha get away before the police show up. Delores and Vanya get on a nearby bus to escape the chaos and they talk about what’s going on in their lives and Delores talks about how Leonard treats Klaus when they’re alone, but Vanya denies any abuse and opens the briefcase. The last thing Vanya hears is Delores screaming.

• The episode “The Day that Wasn’t” doesn’t exist in my AU and is instead replaced with an episode called “Welcome to the 60’s” where Five interrogates Sissy and Harlan about the past while working on the beat up briefcase to learn more about how to time travel. Eudora and Diego talk about how their long time friendship has become into a sibling relationship and about how Diego can reconnect with his siblings again. Luther and Delores discuss how they both want a normal and ordinary life with their husband and fiancé respectively, but fail to see that things can never go back to way they were. Ben goes off on his own to find the truth about Leonard Peabody, but finds himself at Griddy’s where he sees Hazel kissing Agnes and talks to them about his problems. Agnes gives Ben advice about how he can reconcile with his family by actually giving them time to process him being a time traveling assassin and him telling Five to not feel guilty about causing a rift between him and Vanya and Klaus because it wasn’t Five’s fault that Ben “ran away”.

I’ll continue the rest of the story when I have the time. Right now I just want to post this.

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