#just roll wit it riptide

[helpimtrappedinthetextbox]

Clap

Well boys, time for a new Theory after episode 115 dropped

This one is gonna focus on Chip and a bit of the original version of the Prophecy

Warning of spoilers and unhinged thought process, read at your own risk

For this post imma be focusing on a line from the Prophecy. Which would be:

"The seal remains locked by a Key of Divinity"

So I ask you:

How does Chip know Celestial?

Why was he Welcomed Home in that place?

What is the secret of himself that not even he knows?

He is the key. It's why in the one shot, Chip being grabbed was specifically mentioned. Why Niklaus felt the need to make a deal with Chip that would land him directly in the Hole in the Sea.

Now, fair warning, I do believe that Niklous would be fully aware of such a moment and set the board for this eventually. The why is the only thing I am uncertain about, I have my thoughts but that's a theory for another time.

He was Welcomed Home because that was where he would always end up, it was the place he would always find his way to. You could even say, it was the place he was Destined to be.

Now, here is where it all gets a bit more nuanced...

I believe there to always have been someone who was a Key of Divinity. When the last dies, a new one is born. (Basically an Avatar situation)

However the reason it is only just now happening is because it's only now that the stars have aligned to allow whatever has been locked away to be unleashed.

The key has always been born on a different plane, whatever was locked away was not strong enough in it's prison to reach out for the key, and it hadn't been arms reach.

Until Chip.

Chip has been the first to meet all the qualifications. And Niklous nudged Captain Rose to head that way for their last Journey, for Chip to get grabbed. However there was unexpected interruptions, in the form of Arlin, Drey, and Finn.

So Niklous would have to rearrange the board to get Chip once again where he needed to be.

And now he is.

And it may be too late.

[s0up1ta]

and then they blew all their money

[razberrypuck]

MY GOD THE REASON PRYCE WAS THE BIG EVIL BAD GUY IN GILLION'S NIGHTMARE DESPITE GILL NEVER MEETING HIM IS BC OF THE BRACELETS. CHIP WEARING ONE OF THEM EFFECTED THE DREAM SOMEHOW BC I'M FAIRLY CERTAIN CHIP NEVER TOLD GILL OR JAY ABOUT THE MAGIC EYE OR USING IT TO PARALYZE PRYCE

[ghost-bard]

Finn/Drey/Earl is endgame change my mind

[kidcore-mason]

[To the tune of "Josh is White" from Close Enough]

Gilllion is from the Undersea

Chip's got some melanin so he's gotta be from somewhere

And... Jay is White

[karniss-bg3]

Gods and Goddesses usually have some type of portfolios attached to them. I love the idea that last anon had with your femme!Tav helping out Kar'niss molting... What about any events after that moment? What kind of Goddess do you think he would see Tav as? It's interesting too how every deity he has worshipped has also been feminine coded---if Lolth demanded cyclical strife and the Absolute demanded utter subjugation to feel her embrace...

What would he see that good-aligned Tav as? A goddess of mercy? A martyr? A saviour?

OoOOoo y'all out here feeding me filet mignon. *rubs hands together*

A good-aligned female Tav would be a radiant force, a beacon of brilliant light shining across a dark and stormy sea. Kar’niss is trapped in a violent monsoon, assaulted by ferocious gales and unforgiving rains, scarcely treading the water that holds him hostage. Kar'niss has no shortage of dark clouds brewing above, a swirling miasma of trauma and abuse that follow him around anywhere he goes. At first she would struggle, running into invisible walls at every turn. She may even witness Kar'niss being swept away by the tides of his own self-loathing, bashed against the jagged rocks of the shoreline, so close to salvation yet always just out of reach.

She would be the only one who could provide a lifeline to prevent him from being swept out to sea by the torrential waves slated to drown him at a moments notice. Little by little she would pull him closer to safety until the line inevitably comes under pressure and snaps, yanking Kar'niss away mere inches from grabbing her outstretched hand. This push and pull would be a constant point of contention between the pair. It would become easier to find compromise as Kar'niss learned to trust her incandescence to be a good thing rather than another woman poised to strap a yoke around his neck.

Until one day after months of strife and struggle, Kar'niss breaks free from the cyclone of doubt and conjures every ounce of strength he has left to reach for that hand of mercy. His palm claps into her own to hold on for dear life, the sea threatening to take him back at every turn. She yanks him away from the whirlpool he'd been trapped in for so long, dragging him to sandy shores where he might know true respite. The thunderous clouds that had suffocated his vision for eons finally part and reveal a beautiful landscape once obscured from his sights. Rolling hills of green, lush fields of wildflowers, towering oak trees thick with supple leaves, things that had been there all along but he could never see. Exhausted, worn down yet relieved, he finds the courage to look up at his savior, the one who never gave up on him even when all hope seemed lost.

From his lowered position on the sand he sees her. She is not shrouded by the crimson tendrils of Lolth, nor is she consumed by the dark violet fog of the Absolute. Rather, she is bathed in golden light, aided by the rising sun over the horizon. Her expression is warm and inviting, her touch is delicate and gentle, her honeyed voice akin to an angelic choir, unworthy for the ears of mortal men. She is salvation incarnate, mercy untold, love everlasting. Her very aura radiates warmth and security, hypnotizing him, drawing him to her like a moth to the flame. Her glowing silhouette burns into his retinas to cement her as his new Goddess, his only path to ascension and acceptance.

She has done the one thing neither Lolth nor the Absolute dared to—love him. She loved him without strings, she loved him without the demand for subservience, she loved him regardless of his misshapen form, she loved him through his trauma, and she loved him when the storm was at it’s worst. Her beacon never flickered, never waned, never threatened to extinguish even through the heaviest downpour. Her strength motivated Kar’niss to find his own, to pull himself from the riptide that thrashed him around his entire life. Kar’niss would follow her to the ends of the earth and back again. His sweet nightingale of benevolence and truth.

His Majesty.

[olivay-official]

Okay so the trailer looks great and all but one thing is bugging me...

The implication that percy uses riptide in his fight against the minotaur. Maybe thats just how the trailer made it seem and thats not how its gonna go but I did not like that. The best part about that scene is that percy fights the minotaur with just his hands and his wits. And thats what makes his defeat of the creature so amazing and shocking to everyone around not only did he defeat the minotaur but he did it with NO weapons! He killed the thing with its own horn! He didnt have a sword to go to battle with, he was just a scared kid and he won! I feel like that detail plays such a big roll in showing how resourceful and smart Percy is even when he didnt know what was going on. I really don’t want that moment to be changed.

[doevademe]

Now I just gotta ask (and I bet you saw it coming) a drabble of Percy's proposal to Nico ✨️🙏please?

Everything was going according to plan.

Things were going great, perfect, even. He knew better than to hide the ring inside food or do something Nico would hate like pop the question in public. It was just going to be a nice walk in the park under the moonlight, and then proposing by Orpheus's entrance to the Underworld.

(It was romantic, okay? It was a place that they visited together, and the entrance itself only existed because of Orpheus being too in love with his wife to let her go.)

The only thing Percy failed to take into account, was the demigod factor.

Also known as the 'neither the gods nor monsters will ever let you be' factor.

"I don't remember anything about Orthrus being this resistant," Nico panted as he evaded another swipe of the two-head dog's gigantic paws. "Did we do something to it?"

"I mean, we technically killed its master," Percy said, remembering Geryon.

"That was almost twelve years ago!" Nico protested. "Where was it when you pierced his three hearts with an arrow?"

Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, as the dog snarled and used its whole body to pin Nico to the ground. His boyfriend squirmed to get away from the two maws trying to bite his face off.

"Get off him, you two-headed freak!" Percy yelled, stabbing him with Riptide. The dog yowled and swiped at him, giving Nico enough room to roll away.

"Percy!" Nico gasped at the new wound on his arm. He turned to glare at Orthrus. "That's enough!"

He raised his arm and started chanting, opening the earth for skeleton hands to hold the monster down.

However, Orthrus was smarter than either of them thought, as he used his second head to bite Nico's outstretched hand, making Nico scream.

"Nico!" He said, but before he could say or do anything more, a large shadow jumped over him.

Percy barely had time to raise his sword up as the shadow went past him and attacked Orthrus.

Snarling dangerously as she attached herself to the monster's neck, Mrs. O'Leary bit and thrashed violently, while Orthrus could do nothing with the skeletal hands holding him down.

"Good girl," both of them said at the same time. Nico smiled at him, but it came more as a wince as he struggled to keep the skeletons on Orthrus.

"I'll finish this," Percy said, approaching and whistling for Mrs. O'Leary to retreat. Orthrus had only half a second of respite before Percy plunged Riptide right on his wound, driving the sword up and taking off both heads at once.

The body thrashed as the skeletons kept dragging it down as it slowly turned to dust.

"Maybe when it reforms Eurytion can train him better," Percy commented, only to drop the sword at Nico hissing in pain. "You okay?"

Nico's hand was all bloody, with prominent bite marks on his wrist. Percy looked at it in worry.

"Nothing some ambrosia can't fix," Nico said, chuckling weakly. "Sorry I ruined the night."

"Don't say that," Percy said as he helped him up. It would take them a while to reach their apartment in Queens, where they kept their stash of ambrosia, unless... "Hey girl, think you can give us a lift?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and knelt down.

"Sorry," Nico repeated. "You even said tonight was special and all, and I wasn't careful enough."

"I just wanted you to dress nice," Percy said gently, helping him up their dog's back. "It's more important that you are okay. Let's go home," he said both to him and to Mrs. O'Leary, whose ears turned back as she ran into a tree's shadow.

They appeared in the alleyway neir their building. Percy petted behind the dog's ears and promised her the biggest steak he could buy soon, making her slobber all over them.

"Even if it's not my fault, I'm still sorry your plan didn't pan out," Nico said, looking at his hand and frowning.

"Nico, nothing is ruined," Percy said. He looked around, was he really going to do this on a dingy alleyway by their building, with their giant hellhound as their witness and covered in dog slobber? "In fact, if tonight reminded me of something, is that we can't take each day for granted."

Yes, he was.

He knelt down and gave his best smile. Nico's eyes widened.

"Nico di Angelo, you are the most amazing person I have ever met," Percy said trying to remember the speech he had prepared. Most of it had references to Orpheus and Eurydice, though, so that was out. "I don't ever want to lose you like... like it could have happened today."

"Y-you're freaking out over me getting injured," Nico reasoned. "You don't even have—"

Percy pulled out the ring box, his smile turning sheepish.

"That's why tonight was special," he said. "So, what do you say? Will you marry me?"

Nico frowned and looked down to his side. Percy felt a slight surge of panic.

"My hand is fucked up right now," he muttered. Percy frowned, not understanding where Nico was going. "You can't put the ring on."

Percy's eyes widened before laughing. Leave it to Nico to worry over such a thing.

"Is that a yes?"

"Did you ever believe I would say no?" Nico asked back. "I have loved you ever since I met you."

"Nico..."

His fiance sighed.

"Yes, Percy Jackson, I will marry you," he said. He used his healthy hand to scrub at his face before any tears could spill. "Keep the ring until after I have this healed, though. I want you to put it on me."

"So traditional," Percy teased. Mrs. O'Leary barked happily.

"And that's why you're marrying me," Nico shot back.

"That, and a million other reasons."

[thecouncilwill-seeyounuminous]

↳ ☆ “ will the next witness come to the stand ? „˗̖́

> witness info !

art by shanuraru on twitter

name: gillion tidestrider

emoji/proxy: 🐟gillion

pronouns: he/sog/it/ey/ze/lun/sol

orientation: masc (fish) + ace/bi

age: 22

role: cohost / protector / trauma holder

source: just roll with it: riptide

[gods-fear-what-cant-be-controled]

I posted 1,321 times in 2022

That's 1,221 more posts than 2021!

38 posts created (3%)

1,283 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fishiest-fish

@m1dnight--sun

@wiresandwifi

@penofcows

@enby-ralsei

I tagged 20 of my posts in 2022

#jrwi - 6 posts

#jrwi podcast - 5 posts

#jrwi riptide - 5 posts

#jrwi show - 5 posts

#gillion tidestrider - 2 posts

#i was somehow both - 1 post

#either what could be better by the happy fits or tears for fears everybody wants to rule the world - 1 post

#but as a kid these would invoke such a deep primal feeling of rage - 1 post

#its lessend as ive gotten older - 1 post

#god i have such a deep thing hatred for these things - 1 post

Longest Tag: 126 characters

#i wanted to be able to be out. why cant i be interactive i wont bite you i promise let me out let me out of thr cage let me ou

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I love my friends so much they're so cool and I love them so much and they mean so much to me and they say funky things that make my brain happy sometimes they have so many little Character Details that make them cool and sweet and funny like cats but better because they talk to me and say words and I want to hug them I want to hug my friends I am going to cry I love my friends so much they are so many and they are so great and I love them and I love them so muchand I want to pat them on their heads I want to hold their hands I love them so much I love my friends so much. I am going to cry from how much. They are so cool I am hugging them right now there are tears in my eyes please understand how cool all of my friends are

8 notes - Posted March 18, 2022

#4

My friends are so cool what the fuck. Like those are people out there who are so talented interesting and full of good things AND they willingly hang out with me? Like. They are amazing people and they. They actually care about me back. Like holy shit!!!! I care about these people so much!!!!!!! I think I would commit atrocities for them <3 I would list them but I don't think they'd like that but their names are so cool and fun to say. God I love my friends

11 notes - Posted May 2, 2022

#3

She roll on my dick til I with it

12 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

#2

Immediately followed by!

"I wonder who Earl would be in the lorax"

"It depends on if you see the relationship between the oncler and the lorax as romantic or not"

I just wanted the public to know. To see this. I can't be the soul witness to this.

24 notes - Posted March 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Chip not knowing what the tax fish was implies the black rose pirates paid their taxes

42 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

She just roll on my dick till I with it

[chironshorseass]

“Just like in Star Wars?” for percabeth? interested to see what you do with that one!

I can’t seem to stop writing pre tlo percabeth. hmm maybe i just have A Thing for the pining.

read on ao3

Annabeth had always liked the arena.

She likes how it’s a place where she can be ruthless with no judgment. She likes the familiar feeling of sand crunching against sneakers, only to find it later on her socks, leaving an orange stain. Likes how the smell of sweat was one of hard work and perseverance. Where she can always let go, not worrying about camp problems or of the world dying, for just a moment.

Only her body and her knife. Skin glistening, straw flying from dummies.

Moving swiftly. Freely.

Sometimes, the arena truly does catch up with her. Like right now.

“Nice one, ‘Beth,” a deep voice calls, clapping one, two, three times.

Percy. Of course.

She didn’t notice that he’d been standing right behind her all this time. Panting hard, she turns to the sound of his voice.

He raises his eyebrows, eyeing the straw littered across the amber sand. “I think the dummies have a true fear for you.”

“I don’t think so. They’re dead by now.”

This is his way of asking for a truce, she knows.

It had been so long since she’d last seen him, until yesterday that is. His death is imminent, his friends count on him, her nightmares are breathed to life by the war...and all he’s done is leave the penalties aside to relax in New York City.

Just yesterday morning, they’d fought about it, like they always do nowadays. It’s only now that he’s trying to make amends, to lay a bandaid against the gaping wound of a prophecy bigger than both of them.

“I mean,” he says, scratching his curls. “They were already dead in the first place, so…”

“Are you challenging me to a duel?”

“When did I say that?”

“Well”—she spreads her arms, showcasing her destruction—“You’re criticizing my work, as though you could do better.”

He snorts, switching Riptide—in pen form—from his left hand to his right. A nervous habit of his. “So what if I am?”

“You’re kinda rusty now,” she says nonchalantly, taking satisfaction in the way his eyes darken like they always do whenever she challenges him. “You know...with all that time spent outside of camp.”

Percy sighs, shoulders slumped. The sight of him like this makes her feel a twinge of sympathy, but only a twinge.

“Look. I already said I’m sorry. I didn’t come here for you to tell me again—”

“It’s fine, Perce. I’m not that mad at you, anymore.”

“‘That mad?’” he repeats, an eyebrow raised. “Really?”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, really. I let it all out with the straw dummies, see?”

“And who says that you won’t keep letting it out on me if we—hypothetically—spar?”

“Hmm. No promises.”

“‘Kay.” He shrugs. “I’m used to that, anyway.”

Annabeth could sense it now, his sarcastic wit. Sometimes, it was endearing, but other times...he could damn well use it against her. Like when they fought. Two magnets, polar opposites.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared, Seaweed Brain.”

His green eyes twinkle, the same way the sea reflects the morning rays of the sun. “Why should I be scared? We’re good at fighting.”

Silence.

Good at fighting about what? Good at fighting each other in every possible way.

His expression turns into a wince. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Whatever. Are you going to uncap Riptide or what?”

“Just like in Star Wars?” he asks, that cheeky grin spreading across his face again. “With the lightsaber thing or whatever?”

“Oh my gods, Percy, you’ve done this before—”

“But I always wanted to say that!”

“You’re so gonna lose.”

“In your dreams, Wise Girl.”

She wants to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. By kissing him or beating him, or maybe both.

And that’s when their dangerous dance begins.

Annabeth is the first to strike, followed by Percy blocking her knife, quicker than a hunting cheetah. Maybe he isn’t as rusty as she thought.

This changes nothing.

There’s a fire burning in his eyes, like lightning flashing by the sea. It’s too distracting, too hypnotizing, but she shakes it off and slashes, again and again. Mercilessly. Violently.

He returns the favor, and it's maddening how easily he can move with his sword, as though it were an extension to his arm, while simultaneously making her heart pound like a giant drum. And not just because of their fast-paced sparring.

“Glad to see,” she pants, “that you’ve been training.”

His sword glints in the fevered sun, and he has the nerve to laugh. “Chiron’s been keeping me busy around here.”

“No matter,” she says, blocking one especially rattling strike that she feels all the way to her bones. She closes the distance between them, partly because of her much smaller blade, and partly because she wants him to meet her eyes. “I’ll kick your ass, anyway.”

“Nice to know...” Another blow. “That you just wanted...to kick my ass.”

She comes at him again. “I’ve been wanting to kick your ass all week.”

They stay that way, fighting, long enough for some stragglers to keep watch. She hears the hum of demigods talking, probably about them, but she pays it no mind. It’s only her and Percy, celestial bronze clashing. Dust moves along with their feet, twirling around them in clouds.

Annabeth nearly misses his downward strike, too wrapped up in the way his shirt begins to cling to his skin, in the way his muscles flex and unflex to the rhythm of their fight.

She jumps back before she’s cleaved in two.

They're separated enough for her to catch her breath, but she doesn’t miss the smug look on Percy’s face. Even though he too, is huffing and puffing.

She glances up, noticing for the first time that they have an audience. Across the arena, Silena throws her a thumbs up while Clarisse shakes her head.

“Don’t be such a pussy!” she hollers to Annabeth. “Go get him!”

It’s enough to rile her up again. She turns to face Percy. He just grins.

“Getting tired?”

She exhales, blowing away a curl that had stuck to her forehead. “You wish.”

-

Her strike is the one that finally trips him up. Or maybe it’s her leg. But it’s no matter. Because Annabeth manages to disarm Percy, leaving him on his knees.

His face reflects light, like a shimmering pool, beautiful and mesmerizing. But she can’t think of that now. She presses her knife against his neck.

“Guess you beat me after all.”

“Yield,” is all she says.

She shifts her knife, lifting his chin up. The movement is sharp and quick, but there’s something powerful about it, the moment painted before her in a frozen orb. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down. Up and down.

She can’t look away, feeling everything and nothing at once.

His green green eyes are ablaze, locked with hers. He’s glowing, she’s sure of it. Her hands shake as she watches a bead of sweat settle across his collarbones, but she steadies her knife before it’s too late.

Strong and powerful. That’s what the campers have to say about him. And she doesn’t disagree with them. But then again...he’d surrendered to her. He’s beautiful this way, she decides.

I just want to be on good terms with you, he seems to say.

But the moment is gone as quickly as it began.

She finally hears the wolf whistling, the catcalls. Sighing, Annabeth lowers her knife and extends a hand. He accepts it, standing up way too close for her liking. From here, she can make out the smell of sweat coming off of him.

“Well played, Percy.”

He nods, that troublemaker smile tugging at his lips. Her stomach tumbles, not knowing what to make of it after what had happened.

His expression transforms into something else, though. It becomes one of those easy smiles that he shares with few people, where you get to glimpse a piece of his heart, just for a few seconds.

“Uh...it was nice doing this with you,” he says.

“You mean nearly killing each other?”

“You could say that. Or…” he looks down, then glances at her briefly, nervously. “Or just doing things with you. You make sparring all the more interesting.”

She shoves his shoulder lightly, and he laughs, breaking the tension.

“I’m glad I can be interesting to you.”

His eyes soften. “You’re more than that.”

She nods. Some things never change,

“Well, then...maybe think about training with me instead of Chiron. You know, since we’re so good at fighting.”

“Will do.”

“...See you tomorrow, then,” she says.

And before she can glimpse the look on his face, she vanishes into the crowd of onlookers.

[helpimtrappedinthetextbox]

Jrwi Riptide 114 Spoilers

And my own theory about some underlying implications

SO

Gilly had a silly moment while he was also GillyGone™

Jay developing trust issues from Grandma

Chip rollin with the punches as always

NOW onto why I'm here.

Now, I noticed smth rather interesting during the Grandma Recording

She mentioned her son. And him being Stable.

Now. One could assume she was talking about Drey being in the Block trapped and not going anywhere his location "Stabilized".

However, I don't think that's right. I think she was talking about Jayson.

I think, we haven't once seen the REAL Jayson Ferin. That in his grief for his daughter Ava, he had been in a vulnerable state, thrown himself into his work, didn't really question orders.

Now, in comes his Mother, someone he knows and trusts. She tells him about this new device the Navy has created. How it could help him better serve the Navy, better protect his family.

She used the brainwasher on him, not to a significant degree, not to get rid of his base personality. But enough for him to never question orders, always bring in a pirate (regardless of who it might be), to be a good soldier, and a father that can protect his daughter. Being more a puppet than a dutiful Father and Soldier

I believe there was a point where Drey mentioned that Jayson changed. That he went from being more neutral, to more antagonistic towards Drey and pirates in general. Odd how that was called out...

He may have been stoic before, but he got aggressive and cold at some point.

But of course, we have no real way of knowing until Grizzly clues us in more.

I cannot wait to see how the implications of brainwashed soldiers changes the course of what we know of the world of Mana

[pinkhairedlily]

Chapter 9 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Sasuke wondered for the umpteenth time since three in the morning why he agreed to go with the baseball team for their summer camp and wondered more why the student council had to do its orientation and team building event at the same time. He supposed it was to cut down on expenses, but both trips could have gone on without his presence.

Well, it turned out his shoulders were needed as pseudo pillows for the sleepyheads duo. On one side, he can feel the wetness of Naruto’s drool dripping every minute onto his linen shirt, and on the other, Sakura’s vanilla shampoo was arresting his senses. Five hours after a rough roadtrip, the two awake beside a very grumpy Uchiha.

“I demand a barbecue treat from both of you,” he huffed as they disembarked in front of the groups’ joint headquarters.

His mood soured when Kakashi emerged from the next bus, serving as one of the stand-in guardians for the activities, followed by Hyuuga Hinata. She gave Sasuke a stern nod when their eyes met, and he briefly recounted their interaction while waiting for the rest of the participants.

“Good morning, Ms. Hyuuga,” Kakashi greeted. He waved for her to come closer, and he introduced her to the students. “If you’re not aware, the Sports Council has rolled out funding to under-resourced teams across the state to be particularly used for summer trainings. We’re lucky we’re one of those teams. Joining us as an observer is Mr. Hiashi’s daughter herself, Ms. Hinata, who also happens to study in the same district.”

She generously bowed to everyone with a tight-lipped smile. Later, she assumed a position beside Sasuke.

“If it makes you feel better, I did not orchestrate this,” Hinata said. “And if there’s anything you should now, both sides of that relationship have been hurt, with reasons far from what you’re thinking.” She stopped for a whole minute and breathed in, struggling to keep the tears at bay. “So please, leave me alone.”

Yeah, he was a bit of a jerk to her, Sasuke knew that. But he also knew that Hinata had already developed an affection for the blonde idiot, regardless of her denial. As much as he wouldn’t want to complicate things, he thought it best for now to allow the situation to play out. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t here to entangle himself in someone else’s business.

They settled in the mess hall cum dining area for a quick breakfast and breakdown of house rules. He still needed to get used to the fact that this was Sakura’s last time to be a head organizer for a school activity. She will pass on her reins to the incumbent secretary by the start of the next term. Both him and Naruto knew the extent of her sadness in letting this position go, and even more so the need to look out for her the instance she does her confession.

Yet she hasn’t. So they became unwilling witnesses to this awkward tiptoeing with awareness literally skewed to only one side of the party, and Kakashi showering in ignorance bliss.

They went about their room assignments, and Sasuke, with all his luck in the universe, was stuck with Kakashi and Naruto.

“I won’t ask if it’s possible to trade rooms, but would you care to explain why you don’t have a solo room of your own?” he annoyingly asked the silver-haired man who was nose deep at the moment in a coverless book.

“I’m your guardian, Uchiha,” Kakashi replied while yawning. “I’m gonna go sleep so why don’t you frolick in the ocean with your friends while it’s still your free time?”

Unwilling to spend his time with a man who annoyed him so much for no reason at all, Sasuke trudged off his designated room and followed the many footsteps on the sand. The untrimmed hedges eventually give way to the expanse of the gray ocean, its waves roaring from afar, building up like shifting towers, cresting, and breaking into foam by the time they reach the shore.

Naruto was already neck deep in the waters with the rest of his team, the new captain certainly setting a good camaraderie example. Sakura caught his entrance and waved him over despite the new council members intensely blushing at the sight of him.

“Sasuke!” He heard her call.

But every step he took on the soft sand was like a laboring walk on a cesspool of blood, his parents’ blood.

“The turtle is faster than you, you slowpoke!” Sakura continued her incessant teasing.

Trust me, I’m trying to get to you, he thought. Screams broke out just then.

And he felt like he was being whirled away into the barrel of his repressed memories. He started seeing everything in slow motion.

Naruto shouting cramp cramp cramp, an idiot move that got seawater into his nose, and ultimately made him lose his balance. Quick on her feet, Sakura swam into his vicinity with sure, measured strokes of an experienced swimmer. He heard her scream calm down you blonde idiot! and his teammates were able to usher him out of her hold and onto dry land.

But she didn’t manage to follow safely. She was swimming, but her direction kept on going farther away from the shore. She was caught in a riptide. The screams changed from Naruto’s name to her, the intensity and volume of voices getting stronger with every second.

“Sakura!”

“Miss Pres! Someone! Help!”

“Help please!”

Save her, a voice said in his head. “I can’t.”

Her pink hair looked like a blob riding untethered on the arms of the waves. Yet he was rooted to his spot, his memory spilling over like blank ink. Suddenly he can smell the gasoline in the air and the waves lose their sound, replaced by the gasps and shaky breaths of his parents, and the ticking time bomb of an explosion.

He started to hyperventilate as his sight closed in on him. “Sakura, I’m sorry.”

Fast and light footfalls passed by his side, breaking him out of his reverie, and Sasuke’s eyes opened to a coverless book on the sand, its pages fluttering in the wind.

A silver-haired man dove into the surface with no hesitation, briefly disappearing, and emerging again in a few seconds with an unconscious Sakura safe in his arms. Only then did Sasuke run in haste.

“Give us space!” Kakashi yelled with a sliver of anger and panic in his normally laidback voice.

Sasuke would have to content himself seeing the next events play out in between warm bodies, his heart drowning the waves when he realized she wasn’t breathing and Kakashi had to start chest compressions.

Seconds worth of chances and he stood there waiting again.

She still wasn’t responding.

“Come on, Sakura, breathe,” Kakashi pleaded through gritted teeth. When he counted down to thirty, he leaned down and gave her two rescue breaths.

Still no response.

“Dammit Sakura. Don’t die now.”

Another set of thirty compressions. By the fifteenth try, some council members have broken down and started crying.

“Fuck.” Kakashi did another pair of rescue breaths. Then she vomited water.

“Clear the way!”

A group of paramedics came thanks to Hinata’s calm thinking and took the disoriented pinkette from Kakashi’s hold. Sasuke’s eyes trailed after them, her long pink locks swaying in the wind, and landing on Hinata’s fixated gaze on him, like she knew something he didn’t. Or since then has denied.

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

Sakura refused Kakashi’s instruction to go home. It was a close call, but she needed to see through a good transition in the student council, and a productive summer training camp for the baseball team.

“I’ll inform your parents then,” Kakashi said with a steely anger in his voice she was unfamiliar with. At whom it was directed she’ll never know.

“Ah, no need, I already called them,” she lied through gritted teeth. He responded with a brow raise but let it go for now.

“Get some rest, Ms. Pres.”

She did just that, holed up in a room for two days with minimal interaction save for her roommate Hinata who basically sidestepped around her in silence.

“How’s everyone?” Sakura asked her on the third day when she was about to scamper off to her observation duty.

“Your boys wanted to see you,” Hinata said. Sakura wondered if there was a tinge of jealousy in that but she saw the Hyuuga daughter as someone who already has all the good things in life. “But I refused entry since Naruto can be quite noisy and Sasuke is easily riled up nowadays.” Including sensitivity for others.

Hinata continued after giving her a plate of peaches and cranberry juice. “Your student council is still devastated, but they changed up their agenda to include a quick first aid training from a virtual trainer. Baseball team is doing quite well, far better than what I first expected….notwithstanding Haru’s absence.”

She noticed the visible change in Hinata’s expression after she uttered his name. “And how are you?”

The beautiful raven-haired looked at her with eyes brimming in tears. Poor girl never had someone to unload her broken heart to.

“I miss him Sakura.”

Sakura bites down on a slice of peach and taps her finger on one of Hinata’s clutched fist. “Do you still talk?”

Hinata shook her head, her fists clutching then unclasping each other in between pauses. “He was the one who ended the whole thing. Called me up for a date and we went to my favorite café, ordered me my favorite drink, and broke the news that he wanted to break up. He wasn’t angry when he said it, he was weary of everything, and I was hurt more by that fact. After I came home, I learned that he blocked me in all his social media accounts.” She took one slice of peach and stuffed it in her mouth, regardless of the tears that streaked her unmarred face. “I wanted to introduce him to Father, you know. Just until after I graduated so I could at least move away first. If he felt so suffocated by my family, how much more it was for me?”

Sakura puckered her lips with a tint of cranberry juice. “I think you’re both cowards.”

Hinata, who probably expected an empathetic response from Sakura, moved her hand away from Sakura and covered her mouth in surprise.

“It’s true,” the pinkette reasoned out. “Haru is a jerk for leaving all the work to you. He knows of your family so he should have stood up for you if he loved you. But you’re at fault too, Hina, because you know you could have introduced him earlier and faced your father’s wrath together. This gives me Romeo and Juliet vibes.”

“They both die in that story, Sakura.”

“Then West Side Story?” Sakura retrieved Hinata’s hand and put her hand over it. “I’m just saying I hope you find someone willing to take on that risk for you but also allowing you to have your agency to choose and act.”

Hinata doesn’t back away from Sakura’s touch. “You’ve always known what to say since we were in junior high.”

“Well of course! It’s because you and Haru are my friends!” She elbowed Hinata jokingly. “So Naruto?”

Blush bloomed on Hinata’s cheeks with a color far too intense to cover up. “Naruto? What about him?”

“It’s because of his strong people charm, isn’t it?” Sakura smiled, no longer looking at Hinata. “And if Haru had that personality, maybe it wouldn’t be difficult for your father to accept him.”

She was greeted with silence which told her that this was the truth, this was the reason why Hinata craved for his sunshine energy, and the reason why she had always wanted to orbit around him.

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

Despite the life-threatening incident that marked the beginning of their excursion, the remaining days have fallen into some sort of normalcy and mundanity. Sasuke, more than he would like to admit, found himself spending more time with the mathematics teacher who was on his second coverless book.

“What’s your bet?” Kakashi asked out of the blue. Prior to this, they shared the silence punctuated with cicadas and the occasional crackling of wood in the campfire.

“Erotica,” Sasuke replied nonchalantly, seated across him on a foldable steel chair.

The teacher almost choked on his water. “What if I tell you it’s a classic lit?”

“A classic erotica literature,” Sasuke insisted. “Because if it is as safe as you said it, you’d leave the cover on because bookworms are snobbish like that.”

Kakashi chuckled. “What a brat. It’s a good thing I’m not a snitch for the school board.”

“You’re just implying they don’t pay you enough.���

“You’re really a brat.”

Again, the silence engulfed them, not much different from the night that lulled everyone to sleep. Sasuke kept his hands inside the pockets of his thin jacket, moving away from Kakashi to return to their room. He debated about this with himself for the last two days, wondering if it would be worth it. “You seem like a good guy despite your reading preferences.”

“Excuse me?” Kakashi’s voice was laced with offence.

“Thanks for saving Sakura.” He realized he was too young, too unreliable, like the kid he was once before. It was just he never grew up.

And the week was done, and time was in constant shift. The reshuffling in classes left him alone, but never that much, not when two extroverts came checking on him at every break. The spot behind the library was still their hidden spot, the dragonboat team was still their background music, and the countless scenes on the side of the lake were still their guilty pleasures of what-ifs.

Maybe every last year of every phase in life ended up going so fast. Like how the baseball team sped through the preliminaries to the nationals in one relentless drive. And yet again, he found himself going back to the same café with his favorite cashier who colored her hair pink.

“You like my new hair?” Sakura teased. “Okay hit me, I’m on a 15-minute break.”

“Stop eating my tomato basil salad first.” Sasuke flicked off her encroaching fingers on his bowl. “The team needs funds. In the board’s defense, they prepared for jersey uniforms, travel assistance, and board and lodging.”

“Up until the semis,” Sakura clarified.

“Unfortunately. What’s the council gonna do?”

“I’m not the president anymore, remember?”

Sasuke sipped his cold americano, looking pointedly at Sakura, who deflected his gaze. He tapped the surface of the table, knowing all too well that she will spill something any second now.

“The council is gonna do a fundraising event,” she finally relented.

“Please don’t tell me it’s another pass-the-hat.”

She shook her head, but if she was at all excited, she didn’t show it. “They’re gonna invite student musicians and do a showcase in the mall park.” She shrugged. “Not my idea and not my place to meddle.”

“You know it’ll be a failure, right?” Sasuke asked. “The crowd and the weekend traffic won’t be worth the effort.”

She sighed in agreement. “Well, Kakashi-sensei greenlighted it. They must have a trump card.”

Sasuke was right for the most part. No one paid them attention, not the crying kids, not the parents rushing for the flash market sales, not the aunties catching up with the newest town gossip. The music club was already halfway down to the set, and Sakura was keeping her head low and hidden in her beret in secondhand embarrassment.

“Please tell me it gets better,” Sasuke almost pleaded

She eyed him from head to toe with a smirk. “We could auction you if you want. Girlies at nine o’clock want your number.”

He rolled his onyx orbs but flushed at her insinuation that he was worth looking at today. It wasn’t his expertise to dress up nor did it come to him to actually buy new clothes in the last three years. He just put on an oversized graphic t-shirt over a pair of jeans and called it a day, and Sakura stood there beside him in her 90s fashion silk blouse tucked into black pants with a leather belt, very much unaware of how she stole attention.

“Let’s leave?” he suggested.

Sasuke lost sight of the crowd when she looped her arm in his as they walked away to the first notes of Flightless Bird, American Mouth. It was sudden, probably on impulse, and not much to Sakura’s thoughts, and maybe those were the reasons why he didn’t pull away from the electricity of her touch.

And maybe he should have walked quicker so she wouldn’t have looked back and seen Kakashi on the piano chair, stroking the keys like that of a lover, and his voice crooning everyone to join his atmosphere.

So while she stood there beside him, all dolled up and beautiful from head to toe, with her arm linked with his in the middle of a gathering crowd, she wasn’t entirely his, her heart not swaying in time with his pulse, but beating instead to the pluck of his chords.

Ah so I really was in love with her. A realization too late and another missed chance to offer her his saving grace.

Two songs later and a beaming Kakashi taking pictures with the audience, Sakura finally unlinked her arm from Sasuke’s, and they walked out of the mall under the threat of impending downpour. With hurried steps and foregone conversations, they managed to reach the shelter of a small shed along the bridge connecting the mall to the train station just before the rain ensued.

“Ah I forgot to bring an umbrella. Funny since it was scorching hot earlier.” She put out her fingers outside the cover of the shed, making contact with the drops. “Like it was sudden and inevitable.”

Sasuke kept mum about the umbrella inside his crossbody bag, wanting instead to drown in the rain with her.

“I wish it was that sudden and inevitable too – falling out of love,” she said as she took her wet hand inside for cover. “Because I’m running out of excuses to not fall further more.”

“You haven’t confessed yet,” Sasuke reminded her. “And we all know how that ends in this setup. You can never be together Sakura.”

“I know.” He heard her choke back a sob.

“I wish I could, Sasuke. But my eyes see him and then my mind plays back a dozen frames of him every second. I really wish I could do just that – fall out of love.”

She gave in to her emotions and cried with abandoned resentment and yet he saw her with rose tinted lenses – still beautiful in the woes of a first love heartbreak. His body started to move on its own, his arms hovering around her, an unspoken question of permission to touch her safe space, and she leaned into his embrace, an equally unspoken consent to envelop her in comfort.

They must have been lovers in the eyes of those under the passing umbrellas. His hug tightened at best, absorbing every convulsion in her small frame like it was his sole function.

“Would you like to use me, Sakura?” he whispered like a prayer he uttered under his breath for the rain to continue and give him a little more seconds, a bit more minutes, an illusion of stranded time with her in his arms.

Pools of emerald looked back at him stricken with fear. “It’s not fair. To you. To me.”

His ember irises held steady. “I don’t mind.”

“I do mind.” She cupped his face, soft yet calloused palms that tether him to this reality. “I do mind so I will not let my broken heart steal your chance at first love.”

But the rain has stopped as sudden as it started and she was out of his hold, running for her dear life out of the cover of the shed, through the bridge and into a train line he couldn’t follow.

But you’re my first love.

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 10

[unsteals-archived]

he cared for her in his own right, in a way that made him feel more seen than ever before. as if he’d sometimes wavered between reality and immaterial, between sleep and dreaming. and she was the shock that brought him fully to life. maybe he’d have loved her if he’d had more time or if marc hadn’t still loved her so much. fingers slip through hers, emotions a lump in his throat. lips brush her forehead. another kiss to the top of her curls. barely above a whisper as he draws back, ‘ laters gators — ‘        ♡        @stevenwifav​.

         they were supposed to have more time.  layla and steven, brought together by an affinity to marc and bound together by a shared passion - their story wasn’t meant to end like this. putting aside her feelings about his counterpart, or maybe even including them, she could have  loved  this man. the point is that she should have had the time to figure that out. in the space between two gunshots she thought of every moment she’d had with marc, and every moment she’d had with steven. it might have taken seconds or it might have taken years. and shortly after he had splashed into that water  ( with the image of steven staring at her in a way she had longed for her own husband to for the length of their marriage burning in her mind )  she had forced herself to run. she doesn’t have the ushabti, she doesn’t have a partner, and she doesn’t have a plan. all she has is a riptide of grief dangerously close to ripping her out of logical thought. she needs to focus if she’s going to get out of here, and away from the tomb entirely, before harrow re-emerges with his  crocodilian mistress.  layla’s breathing has been coming in shaking, heaving gasps for the last fifteen minutes and then suddenly... sunlight. bright, unbearable sunlight, pouring its brilliance over the sand dunes and reflecting back up at her. it hurts to look at, in a similar way to how it hurts just to breathe. but fuck, there’s just no time. she keeps her legs moving though it feels like trying to walk through thigh high mud, until they finally give out and send her rolling down a dune and out of sight, finally stopping in the  shadowed recesses  of a stony overhang. 

         it’s in this place that layla el-faouly finally fucking loses it. there’s no one here to witness it. there’s no one to hear the way her sobbing reverberates off the walls of this tiny alcove. it’s a sanctuary; it’s a temporary shrine to her grief for the men she had, and the things she never got to have with them. or at least... she thinks she’s alone, she thinks there’s no one, until...  she knows whose fingers those are.  she doesn’t need to blink the tears out of her eyes to check. she doesn’t even need him to speak. the tremor in his hand comes too easily, too unrestrained, to be marc. she inhales, she struggles to just find the words, and she hesitates to speak them. then comes the brush of his lips, soft and  downright ghostly  on her skin; gentle pressure to the top of her head. she presses her lips into a thin line vaguely resembling the very saddest of smiles. how can he be here right now? it doesn’t matter. he is here. that’s all that... what? a stab of panic, like a horrifying flash of lightning, brings a clarity equally as brilliant as that first burst of sunlight after escaping ammit’s tomb. he can’t be here.  he’s dead.  he only came to say goodbye. layla’s hand shoots out, grabbing desperately for any part of him she can reach, only she can’t reach any of him. he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone, they’re gone. her hand falls and all it catches is sand.   ❝ ... goodbye. ❞

[victoria-daydreams]

Of Vices and Virtues

Chapter Twenty: The Cuban Missile Crisis

AN: Late chapter posting because I completely forgot to do it earlier.

Word Count: 2.1k

Trigger Warnings: none

Taglist: @azayamari

Chapter Twenty-One: Whose Side Are You On?

We watched as the missiles were inching closer and closer...

But then my senses came back to me, being the only telekinetics present Erik and I raised our hands simultaneously and stopped them, the only difference being that mine exploded making several nearby follow suit. I looked at Erik who sent me a glare, but behind it was an apology. I had a feeling before he would not be coming back with us, and it made me incredibly sad. Erik had stopped the missiles from hitting the beach. They hovered in the air and stayed that way for a moment. Slowly, Erik turned his hand and they all flipped around to fly right back at the ships. My eyes widen as I realized that Erik was going to destroy the ships and kill all the men on them.

"Erik, you said so yourself, we're the better men, this is the time to prove it," Charles began, trying to talk him out of it, but it was hopeless. The missiles were now locked and loaded for their new destination. "There are thousands of men on those ships. Good, honest, innocent men! They're just following orders!" he pleaded.

Those words caught Erik's attention and he froze. I could feel how Charles' words affected Erik, as the emotions that seemed to define Erik for all his life rose within me. Grief, pain, and anger all mixed into one. Charles had chosen the wrong words to say to Erik.

"I've been at the mercy of men just following orders," Erik responded softly, he paused before looking directly at Charles. "Never again," he declared, and with a flick of his hand, he shot the missiles towards the ships ready to take the lives of all those men.

The amount of fear coming from all the men there was giving me a headache. I didn't agree with them trying to kill us because they are afraid, but I couldn't stand here and see Erik kill them all either.

"Erik, release them!" Charles ordered, Erik ignored his command.

Momentarily, I watched them fly, amazed at what I was witnessing, but I quickly remembered what I had to do. I suddenly sprung into action and stuck my hands out. I used my telekinesis to halt the missiles, delaying Erik's attack. All eyes went to me, but I remained strong and determined. I focused on making a few missiles detonate, while other missiles started falling into the water one by one, or crashing them together doing whatever I could at this distance to make them explode in the air.

I only managed to take down a limited number of missiles before I felt myself fly back and hit one of the engines that were lodged in the ground. I gave a pained scream as the wind was knocked out of me. Black dots began to dance at the corner of my eyes, but I could still see what was transpiring through my blurred vision.

"No!" Charles yelled, before tackling Erik to the ground.

The missiles stalled for a few seconds, a few even blowing up. Charles attempted to take the metal helmet off Erik, but then Erik hit him in the face with his elbow.

"Don't want to...hurt...you!" Erik grunted, pushing Charles off him. "Don't make me!" Erik warned, now on top of him.

Charles reached up to try to remove Erik's helmet, but Erik hit him once again and raised his hand once more, the missiles flying towards the American and Soviet boats.

"Erik...stop!" Charles yelled, his hand reaching out once again.

Erik punched Charles in the face, losing his concentration on the missiles and they began falling, some blowing up in the process. He stood up and raised his hand, stopping the missiles from falling. They flew towards the boats once more. They flew faster, almost reaching the hundreds of boats. My vision was speckled and I was having a hard time breathing, but I couldn't give up.

There were people out there just like Charles said, people about to be killed by the remaining missiles Erik kept a hold on. I couldn't let that happen. I pushed myself up from the sand and capitalized off the opportunity to try to blow up more of the missiles up. I was succeeding again so far, but soon Erik realized what was happening as Alex, Sean, and Hank were walking towards the two fighting men.

"Stay back!" Erik growled, shoving a hand out pushing them away with the metal from their belts. They flew backwards falling onto the ground. Erik then saw what I was doing again.

"Claudia!" he growled again, his eyes narrowing at me.

Suddenly I felt a force on my chest and I, too soon flew back about twenty feet onto the sand with Alex, Hank, and Sean, courtesy of Erik. Groaning, I rolled over onto my stomach as the three of them began to stand, I lifted my head in time to see Erik standing and the missiles were racing towards the ships again.

Suddenly, a gun was being fired.

I snapped my head to look. It was Moira, and she was aiming at Erik. She pulled the trigger, once more shooting at Erik but he easily moved it to the side with a slight movement with his hand. She walked closer to him, shooting some more at him as he easily deflected it.

Then in that one moment...it was all in slow motion. I watched as one bullet deflected by Erik, headed towards Charles as he slowly stood up. Then I heard it, that god awful sound, I would never forget. Charles' let an ear-piercing cry of pain the bullet hit his lower back, causing him to fall back to the the ground as he hit the sand just below him. Erik rushed to Charles and pulled the bullet out. The missiles forgotten, they exploded.

None of the fleets were harmed.

"Charles! No!" I cried, pushing myself up and running towards him.

"Charles I'm so sorry," Erik told him. Charles gave a groan, Erik and I glanced at each other before I returned my gaze to Charles. "I said back off!" He yelled at the others, as they tried to get closer to Charles. Erik looked at Moira. He was livid. He wanted to kill her. "You. You did this!" He looked at Moria, her dog tags sprang around her throat, choking her.

I grabbed his arm and tried to push it down to make him stop, "Stop it, Erik! Let her go!" I yelled.

"Erik. Please," the faint voice of Charles could be hardly heard. "She didn't do this, Erik. You did," Erik looked down to his friend, letting go of Moira as I let go of his arm. She fell on her knees, struggling to breathe.

"Us turning against each other, it's what they want," Erik reasoned said in a solemn tone. "I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other. We want the same thing,"

Charles gave a sad laugh, "My friend. I'm sorry, but we do not," he disagreed, shaking his head.

Erik looked at Charles and then he turned to look at me, placing Charles in my arms, it was silent. I wasn't sure how long, but it felt like an eternity, the three of us realizing that we couldn't work together. Looking up at Moira he motioned her forward and she rushed around.

"Charles, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Charles," she apologized profusely as she took Erik's place.

"It's alright," he relented with a groan as Erik moved away from us and, towards the two groups that stood by and watched everything unfold.

"This society won't accept us," he pointed towards Moira. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand, now we get ready to play ours. Who's with me?" He held out a hand to Raven. "No more hiding," he added gently.

Slowly she moved forward, looking down to Charles and then back at Erik. I could feel her conflict rise within. She wanted to join Erik, but she was worried for Charles. Raven rushed to him and crouched down beside her brother, brushing back his hair.

Charles looked up at her, "You should go with him. It's what you want," he said, and I know it pained him to say it.

It sounded like Raven was holding back tears, "You promised me you would never read my mind," she sniffled.

"I know. I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry," he kissed the back of Raven's hand and she kissed the top of his head, before looking up to me.

"Take care of him," Raven told me, before looking back down at Charles. "You're good for him, Claudia," she admitted, and for the first time in awhile a genuine smile appeared on her face.

Erik pulled Raven up by her hand. Riptide, Azazel, and Angel walked over to him, talking his hand as well. It was only then that Erik looked towards me. He held out a hand to me, separating his hand from Raven's.

"Claudia," his voice pleaded with me. "Come with me. Join me," he held his hand out to me.

My breath got caught in my throat at the gesture, my heart pounding in my chest as I looked down to the man lying on the ground below me. Charles' hand found mine and he interlocked our fingers together, taking a deep breath.

"Claudia, you of all people deserve happiness after all you've been through," Charles whispered, slipping into the soft and calm voice he uses when he's around me. "You know that I love you Claudia, I will always love. Remember what I said this morning? I will wait for you, even if that means you choose to walk a different path than mine," he heaved, as I softly pushed his some of his hair back.

I briefly closed my eyes, sighing heavily before I slipped my hand out from Charles' and stood up, walking over to Erik.

"Erik, you're unlike anyone I've ever met before," I looked at my friend with a kind smile, yet my eyes held a sad look in them. "You understand me better than anybody, we both know loss, pain that never seems to go away, and the suffocating need for revenge..." I trailed off, taking his hand and Erik's face lit up. "And that's why I can't go with you," I finished, closing his hand into a fist.

"Claudia, I need you," Erik begged, looking at me desperately.

I reached out and gently cupped his cheek, "I'm sorry, Erik. I can't," I whispered, shaking my head. "We're too much alike in some aspects...and well, too different in others. Our views on humans being one of them," I explained, in a soft a tone. Gently, I used my thumb to brush Erik's cheek. "May we meet again, Erik," I smiled sadly, leaning forward I pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek before stepping away from him and kneeling down next to Charles again, gripping his hand.

Erik took Raven's hand again, "And Beast," Raven called out to Hank, who looked up to her. "Never forget! Mutant and proud!" Raven called out, Hank looked away and gave a growl of disgust at Raven's betrayal, but really his heart dropped.

His heart was breaking.

Erik and I glanced at each other one last time, the expression that was etched onto his face was one of disappointment. And hurt.

Erik nodded to Azazel and there was a poof! The new team of mutants disappeared into a cloud of red smoke. He was gone. As soon as they vanished, Hank, Alex, and Sean rushed over to us.

"Help me out! Come on," Moira called to them, she looked back down at Charles. Hank got to us first, taking hold of Charles. "I'm gonna get you to a hospital," Moria began to adjust Charles so that Hank could lift him. Reaching up Charles tried to get up before letting out a loud shout of pain.

"Wait," Hank held out a hand to stop Moria. Charles tried to say something, his breathing heavy. "Charles, don't move, okay?" he cautioned him with worry.

"Charles?" I called, squeezing his hand.

He settled back, "I won't. Actually..." Charles stammered. "I can't feel my legs,"

Moira was disbelieving, "What?"

"I-I-I can't—" Charles was having trouble coming up with the words. "I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs, Claudia. I can't feel my legs," he repeated, tears falling quietly down his cheeks and I looked down at him with a pained look and clutched his hand tighter. I was at a loss for words. "I can't feel my legs," a helpless look in his blue eyes.

Moira looked around in disbelief before following after and leaving only Charles with his look of rising panic.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Someone to Watch Over Me

[stxrrywildflower]

hypothermia

pairing - spencer reid x reader

summary - you and derek go to extreme lengths to save a victim

warnings - injury, mentions of case, cursing

word count - ?

cold.

all you felt was cold.

you could barely remember where you were or what had happened.

your senses felt frozen.

all you could manage to do was shut your eyes.

___

the team arrived in portland, oregon a few days prior.

it was march, meaning the temperatures barely passed the the mid-fifties at the high, and dropped extremely low during the night. even snow fell on the ground as you landed, resulting in everyone on the team adding an extra layer or two.

the unsub was killing women and disposing of their bodies on the streets lining the beaches. it was becoming extremely difficult to narrow the suspect pool down, due to the large population.

hotch ordered you and spencer to go to the morgue and look at the previous victims to find out what you could.

“he must have some sort of emotional tie to to the ocean. it would explain why the unsub chooses that location,” spencer spoke from the passenger seat.

you nodded, “possible grew up on the coast or maybe even lost someone to drowning.”

upon arrival at the morgue, the two of you made your way inside. you both greeted the coroner before grabbing gloves. as you moved around the victims bodies, spencer talked to the man about what he could figure out.

“they’re not drowned. there’s a puncture wound in her foot, probobly died from a heart attack,” you concluded.

with that, you and spencer returned to the police station to alert your team about what you had discovered. while walking towards the doors, the wind picked up causing you to hug your jacket a little tighter. spencer pulled you closer to him to keep you warm.

the next four days were agonizingly slow. another body had been found, but it had the exact same marks as the others with nothing different. if anything, it slowed your investigation down rather than help you.

the team worked long hours, desperate to find a lead. and finally, after those four days, they found one.

hotch sent you and morgan to investigate the suspects house that night. it was dark and very cold. upon arrival, you found it was empty. but with further investigation, you two concluded that this defiantly was your guy.

pictures and articles on these women were pinned on the walls as well as an article about a little boy drowning in a riptide a month or so ago.

“stresser,” you informed morgan.

as you two were walking out of the house, a red car sped out of the garage of the house and down the road. you managed to catch a glimpse of the driver and passenger; it was the unsub and his current victim. thankfully, she was alive.

morgan jumped into the drivers seat as you got into the passengers seat. he sped off, following the car the best he could. at one point, due to the darkness and wind, you lost the car.

however, a few moments later, after driving around, you saw the red care carelessly parked on the side of the road. the unsub was dragging the girl, who was gagged and tied at her wrists and ankles, towards the end of the pier.

“unsub located, he has a girl with him. location is the pier just off of south street,” you spoke into your communication system.

you and morgan slowly stepped out of the car and took a step towards the unsub who had a sly grin on his face. he held an automatic rifle which was pointed at the girls head.

“morgan she has weights on her,” you informed your fellow agent.

“you don’t have to do this man!” morgan shouted, “just let the girl go. we can tell the judge you cooperated. let her go.”

the next moments happened all so quickly. the unsub pushed the girl off of the pier into the water. due to the weights attached, she slowly began to sink to the bottom. the man then pointed his gun at morgan. you fired a shot, killing him instantly. you and derek shared a quick look before taking off sprinting off of the pier and diving into the water.

the team arrived just in time to see you and morgan go under. rossi and emily went over to the unsub, checking his pulse before concluding him to be dead. the rest of the team stayed on the beach, narrowing their eyes at the water, no sign of you or morgan anywhere.

after hitting the water, your entire body tensed up. the water couldn’t have been more than 35-40 degrees. you managed to pry your eyes open, just enough to see the light from derek’s flashlight.

the water was pitch black and you needed to find the girl. you were both loosing oxygen quickly and no doubt the victim was too.

after then more seconds of desperately searching, you saw the woman floating towards the bottom of the water. as quickly as you could, you grabbed your pocket knife and sliced the ropes. the process was painfully slow, and with each moment, you felt yourself in more and more pain.

finally, the ropes fell and you took one arm while derek took the other. after pushing off the ocean floor, you made it to the surface, gasping for air. you used your spare hand to push back your hair as you frantically looked around.

in the distance, you could make out your team as well as the police standing on the beach. your whole body was shaking as you couldn’t believe how far out you were. slowly but surely, you began to swim towards the mainland.

in your mind, the process seemed to take forever. your boots finally made contact with the sand, allowing for you to stand up. you and morgan hauled the victim onto the sand where the emt’s were waiting.

you and derek, however, seemed locked in place, still standing waist deep in painfully cold water. spencer was helping the emt’s after orders from hotch but looked over when he heard a large splash. his head turned just in time to witness morgan collapsing, just after you went down. thankfully, emily and hotch were there to catch you both.

“w-who are you. where a-am i,” you spoke shakily, mind incredibly fuzzy.

the pain began to increase throughout your body, but it seemed to attack your head the most. after your legs went out, your arms were next. they were holding emily’s arms but then dropped. your head rolled to the side. upon looking at hotch, derek was having the same results.

“medics!” hotch shouted.

“hey y/n, i need you to stay awake. keep those eyes open. come on y/n, please,” the woman who you couldn’t quite remember in front of you pleaded. the next few moments were a blur as you couldn’t follow her demands and instead shut your eyes.

once the second wave of emt’s arrived, you and morgan were quickly loaded onto stretcher’s and rushed to the hospital. the team stood on the beach, still processing what happened. hotch and emily were starting to feel a little sick from entering the water to help their team.

“i know we all want to get to the hospital but it’s already late. everyone go back to the hotel and get changed and we can go to the hospital afterwards,” hotch spoke to his team.

as everyone began to walk back to to the car, spencer stopped, tapping his hands against his leg as he looked at the ocean. j.j. noticed this and made her way over, placing her hand softly on his shoulder.

“talk to me,” j.j. spoke with a calm tone.

“hypothermia is one of the most dangerous medical conditions out there. your body literally shuts down after being in the water for only a few minutes. but y/n and morgan were in the water for a long time. i’m just so worried,” spencer struggled to get out.

for a genius who knew so much, he had run out of things to say.

“spence, the doctors are going to do everything in their power to help them. you have every right to be worried. derek is your best friend, besides me of course,” j.j. joked, causing spence to smile slightly, “and to state the obvious, you’re so in love with y/n. you two have known each other for practically forever and she’s your girlfriend, of course you’re going to be worried. but for now, all we can do is go back to the hotel and then the hospital.”

he nodded slightly before allowing j.j. to lead him to the car and to the hotel.

spencer changed into a comfortable button up with a sweater overtop before meeting the team back in the lobby. everyone made sure to bundle up, especially after the situation with you and morgan, before they made their way to the hospital.

after using his status as an fbi agent for a little leverage, hotch managed to get the nurse to give them some information. you and morgan were currently in the icu but that’s all they received. the nurse permitted two members of the team to stay overnight while everyone could return the following morning. at that point, full medical information could be released.

spencer was as easy first choice. j.j. was nominated to be second. she was the closest with spencer and would be the best moral support. the team echoed their goodbyes to the two before promising to be there tomorrow morning right when opening hours started.

the two were led to an area where they could sit and rest for the night. it wasn’t outside of yours our derek’s room which wasn’t ideal, but spencer and j.j. accepted it. the two collapsed into the chairs, each pulling a blanket over themselves before slowly drifting to sleep.

the following morning, the team re-grouped in the waiting room of the hospital. surprisingly, spencer and j.j. had managed to get an actual good night of sleep.

“i can take you to agent y/n and morgan’s took where a doctor while then brief you,” the nurse told the group.

they were lead to a different floor and down the hallway. the nurse motioned for chairs to sit in while she went to go get the doctor later. a moment later, another women appeared in front of them, introducing herself.

“first of all, agent y/n and morgan will be okay,” the doctor spoke causing a relived sigh to echo through the hallway, “but, both have sustained serious injuries. hypothermia is the obvious one. y/n and derek were in the freezing water for an extremely long time causing their bodies to almost shut down completely. i’ve never seen two patients cases mirror each other but y/n and derek’s do. y/n’s heart stopped for a quick few seconds but quickly started beating again. moments later, derek’s stopped also. thankfully, both are hooked up to iv’s and are recovering nicely. the only problem is, it may take awhile for the two to wake up. they really should have died, and i am unsure how they’re still okay. without their selfless efforts, the woman who is now in recovery would be dead. so i wanted to thank your team for their actions.”

the team processed the doctors words. “can we see them?” emily asked. “yes of course, we put them both in one of the larger rooms. it’s room number 503, three doors down on the left,” with one more smile, the doctor then left.

entering the hospital room, the team paused. you both had thick blankets covering your bodies, a slight buzz sounding from the electric heater inside. spencer looked at you first. your lips were still a slight shade of blue and your fingertips had a few black marks on them. derek was the exact same.

spencer teared up at the sight of the two of you. he collapsed in a chair by your bedside first. he pressed his lips together and rubbed his temple. all the team could do was wait for you two to wake up.

a week later, at around 10pm, derek woke up. the room was dark and the hallway lights were dim, as it was past visiting hours. he went to sit up but his muscles were weak. it took a large effort to move his hand to the ‘call nurse’ button. after pressing it, he moved his head to the side where you were still laying. a few moments later, a nurse entered the room. “good to see you awake agent morgan, how are you feeling?”

“not great. what happened?” derek asked.

“you and agent y/n went into the freezing ocean to save one of the victims. luckily, she has since been released. for the two of you, your hearts both stopped momentarily as a side effect of the hypothermia. but, with lots of rest and recovery, you two should be fine.”

derek nodded to the nurses words before leanining back into the hospital bed.

at close to 4am, you woke up. you felt the same way as derek did but managed to move your head to the side. derek was sitting up, looking at some magazine the nurse must have given him.

“hey kid,” derek spoke softly.

you moved your hand up to your head. “remind me to not go swimming ever again during the winter,” you first spoke resulting in derek to laugh. soon after, a nurse came in, checking over you first before changing the iv’s. “your team should be here in a few hours, they’ve visited everyday,” the nurse told you with a smile.

true to her word, once visiting hours, you heard talking from outside of your room. the doors opened seconds later. spencer immediately rushed to your bedside, hugging you softly as you did your best to return it.

“you’re amazing,” spencer spoke before cupping your cheeks and kissing you softly.

the two of you stopped when morgan called over, “hey lover boy, no hello to me?” loud laughs echoed through the hospital room as relief washed over the team that you two were okay.