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blooblooded · 1 year

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Tony Reunites with Cihad

After the first night of being back in Eden, Tony had already decided to find Cihad Tariq.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Casey asked him nervously, watching him get ready in the safehouse’s small bathroom that morning. It was early, 6:30 am. Early was good. Cihad woke up early to exercise and calm his mind. It would be best to catch him before he went to work and exhausted himself. “Dad says that most of the CCTVs are malfunctioning, but there’s still a chance you could be seen. And, uh, have you forgotten all about how that guy freaked out on you the day he came to take the Book back from Kassidy? Or how he tried to drag the truck back the day we left Eden? He was pissed. Beyond pissed.”

Over the last two years, Casey had grown into a natural leader. Of course she was worried about him. She didn’t understand Cihad like he did, she only saw him as a threat. There was no reason for her to see him as anything but a threat after everything they had witnessed, everything they had learned. Tony shook his head. He finished shaving, then splashed water on his face. He felt like he looked presentable, despite how fear and struggle had aged him. His long black hair hung down to his shoulders and he did not tie it back the way he used to. “Did your Dad bring us any aftershave when he picked up supplies?”

Casey’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, no. I don’t think he imagined you or Marty were gonna go try to get some dick. And you didn’t answer my question. Are you sure it’s a good idea to go see the man who brought the Book to Eden? I still think he’s working for it. Nothing we learned in the North proves otherwise.”

“He’s not working for it,” said Tony. “He’s a good man and he’s been raising my daughter. I have to talk to him before I try to come back into her life.”

Try to come back into her life a second time. Cynthia was 15 years old now. The first time he had abandoned her, out of paranoid delusions and a half-pickled brain, he didn’t see her again until she was 6. The 4 years he spent back in her life, together with Cathy and Cihad, had been the happiest he had ever been. Then Cathy had died and everything went wrong. For 2 years he hid in the sewers, out of his mind, living with rats. He never thought he would ever see her again.

He still might never see her again. Cihad might not let him. And even if he did, even if he did let him, Cynthia might not want him back in her life. He wouldn’t want that, if he was her.

That was out of his control. The first part of the Serenity Prayer was all about accepting the things he could not change. If reuniting with his family was not an option, he would just have to accept that, and focus on the things within his control.

Tony looked at himself in the mirror. He had chosen a green shirt because green was Cihad’s favorite color on him. Or, it had been once.

What was he doing? Cihad had probably moved on a long time ago. He was probably seeing someone else, someone better than him. Of course he hadn’t waited, and it wasn’t fair to expect him to have waited. It seemed almost pathetic for Tony to be preening like this, letting his hair down, thinking about aftershave. There were more important things to think about. Like the Book. Like where the essence of that demon had gone after leaving Kassidy’s body, and whether it would try to hunt him down again.

Well, Cihad deserved to know about that. Even if he never let him see Cynthia again, even if he had moved on. He deserved to know. He was involved. The strings of fate that connected the whole world, future and past, had bound them together.

“I just think that it’s a bad idea,” said Casey. She spoke quietly. Everyone else was still asleep. When Tony woke from where he slept on the couch in the living room, the smallest noises he made had alerted her. Ever since their time in the Northern Territories, she had been unable to sleep soundly. “I feel like he’s working for It. The Thing in the Book. He was the one who brought it here. If that thing is somewhere in Eden, who’s to say he doesn’t just hand your ass over to it.”

“He isn’t and he won’t.”

There was one thing that Tony was completely sure of: Cihad had once loved him. He had really loved him. No, it hadn’t started out that way. It had started as simple empathy, Cihad saw him as someone he could fix, he felt a sense of control when he was able to fix people. And Tony had liked the attention. Nobody had ever treated him with that kind of compassion, he had spent years as a homeless alcoholic. He was used to getting treated with disgust, or worse, not even seen as a person. Cihad never saw him that way. Cihad had only seen someone who needed his help. The compassion turned into lust, which turned into love.

Tony hadn’t meant to ruin it all after what happened with Cathy. He had just been so scared. Cihad had probably thought that he killed himself. The look he had got when he saw him again in the attic! That wild, frantic look! Tony felt bad. He had really hurt him but at the time, he hadn’t seen another option than run to the sewers. And then again, the second time, his only option had been to run from Eden.

Now he didn’t know what to expect. Cihad would probably be angry when he saw him again. Tony could deal with angry.

“I’ll come back,” said Tony, checking himself one more time in the mirror. He pushed some of his hair up so that it hung over his shoulders, then Looked at Casey.

She did not think he was coming back. One way or another, she believed that he was leaving. Running away again. Always running away. Tony cringed a little bit inside. He did not know how to make her believe otherwise.

He left anyway. He left, telling himself that he was coming back but not completely believing it himself.

Tony was careful as he made his way to the metro station. Logically he knew that he did not need to be so careful, he knew that he was seen as dead in the eyes of the state. There was nobody looking for him anymore or even anyone who cared. As far as he knew, the only danger he needed to worry about was not even in Eden anymore. It was probably still in the Lost Colony and would be trapped there until…until, well, he did not know.

Still, he was careful. He did not get a single look on the train. Everyone on it was just going about their lives, headed to their jobs that morning. Tony kept his eyes on his shoes.

He realized that he did not even know if Cihad still lived in the same 3 bedroom house in the Residential Mid Levels. Kassidy was the one who had given him the address, she was the only one who had actually been there. Stupid. If he showed up on some random family’s doorstep, he was going to feel like an idiot. But Cihad was a creature of habit, he was someone who needed to carefully control his environment. He would still be there. It was the place he had moved after Cathy had died. He had to still be there.

Tony got off the train. He took a deep breath of the oxygen rich air that they only seemed to pump in on the Mid and Upper Levels. The Co2 in the air where the Safehouse sat was stifling, choking, after breathing the fresh clean air outside of Eden for the last year and a half. It was funny. Tony had breathed thick, toxic air all his life. He had never felt like it was squeezing and choking him until he experienced what he was missing.

It was a short walk from the metro station to Cihad’s house but the whole time, Tony grew more and more anxious. The streets here were lined with vertical gardens to give residential homes more privacy. He looked up at the vine covered slabs of concrete, so beautiful and wrong at the same time. His heart hurt. He missed Cihad more than anything but seeing him face to face scared him more than anything too.

That wasn’t even taking into account Cynthia. Tony swallowed and almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk because he wasn’t paying attention. A mother pushing a baby in a stroller gave him a sideways look. He ducked his head and kept walking.

The house was the same as the majority of middle-class family homes in Eden. Two stories, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a little balcony off the back. It was built of concrete blocks in a utilitarian, brutalist fashion that didn’t lend very much to warmth. A chill went up Tony’s spine when he looked at it. He had never lived in this house. But two people he loved did. It was almost like he could feel them.

Tony’s stomach lurched like he was going to throw up. He checked the time on his phone. 7:00. Cynthia would already have left for school, since classes started at 8. There wasn’t a chance that he would run into her. That was good. He needed time to think about what he was going to say.

Was he stupid? Was he making a bad mistake? He kept telling himself that this was not only a personal visit. Cihad still had the Book and Tony needed to examine it while it was still uninhabited and powerless. If it was still uninhabited and powerless. The last time he had the Book in his hands, he had been frantic, trying to rip it to shreds himself. This time he knew better. This time he could be logical.

He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking. “Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” he told himself. “Serenity to accept the things I cannot change…”

No going back now. Tony walked up to the front door, stood there for a second, then rang the bell. The last time he showed up unexpectedly on Cihad’s doorstep, he had been wasted, dying, and had thrown up on Cihad’s shoes. This was a step up. There was no way he could embarrass himself as badly as he had back then.

He still felt like he was going to throw up though.

The door opened. And there he was. Cihad was dressed in blue scrubs and white sneakers. The scrubs didn’t fit his huge body correctly, he looked like he had been poured into them. His dark curly hair and beard were neatly groomed like they always were, not a touch of gray in that hair. The second he saw him, Cihad’s red eyes became huge in his face. His expression was more shocked than it was angry or horrified. He froze and dropped the mug of tea he was holding and it shattered on his doorstep.

Tony tried to smile. “Well, I’m back,” he said sheepishly. Nonchalant. Maybe cool, or at least trying to be cool. Idiot.

“Anthony.” Cihad’s voice came out as a strangled whisper. He did not move.

“You gonna let me in so we can talk?” Tony’s own boldness shocked him. “You know, since last time I saw you, you were screaming and dragging a truck back with your mind? We have some things to talk about.”

Cihad’s eyes looked shiny. That was weird. His stupid ham-like hands clenched and unclenched. Tony wondered if Casey had been right, that Cihad was still pissed at him and whether he needed to run. God, he was stupid! It was so easy to forget that Cihad was about 150 pounds heavier than him and was an avid user of blood magic on top of his neuroelectrical abilities. If he really wanted to hurt him, it would be easy.

Wait, what was he thinking. Cihad would never hurt him. He would die before he hurt him.

As if in a trance, Cihad extended his big arms and wrapped them around Tony’s body. He didn’t even have time to struggle, he just found himself being lifted off the ground and squeezed tightly. Hugged. He was being hugged. It had been so long since anyone had actually hugged him. Tony was able to free one arm and curled it around Cihad’s back, patting him awkwardly.

“I thought you were dead,” said Cihad. His voice cracked. His face was pressed into Tony’s neck, he could feel his warm breath and the prickle of his beard hair. “How did you– I thought you were dead. I thought I would never see you again! You were dead and I couldn’t even talk to anyone about it!”

“Yeah, well, I have this funny way of always surviving.” Tony’s ribs were hurting. He squirmed to escape from Cihad’s grasp. Part of him liked it. Even without Looking, he could tell that Cihad still desired him after all these years. It wasn’t exactly something he could hide. The other part of him, the rodenty prey animal part of him, felt afraid. Loving someone just meant that he could lose them. “Hey– quit squeezing the merchandise, get off, get off me.”

He let him go. Cihad pushed back his wavy hair. “I’m calling off work,” he said, and stepped back into the house. “Come inside. You can come inside.”

So he wasn’t seeing anyone else. Good. It sort of scared Tony that he had this much power over him. Within three minutes of seeing him, Cihad was already calling off of work. He wondered what else he could get–

No, what was wrong with him? Tony followed Cihad inside.

The house was furnished in a simple, homey way that made sense for a single father. Tony passed a picture of Cynthia on the wall and looked away quickly. The girl in the picture was a teenager and almost recognizable to him. She had bright blue eyes and a big smile. He couldn’t look at her, not yet. There was another picture of a child Tony did not recognize and he squinted at it for a moment. This kid was also Black, maybe the same age as Cynthia, with a bright and friendly face. Where had Cihad picked up another kid?

He looked around as Cihad led him into the kitchen. “Do you still keep that thing in here?” Tony asked cautiously. He had not forgotten the little slime creature Cihad kept as a pet. It had always disturbed him that it had learned how to speak; they weren’t supposed to do that. Ever since Marty had told him about the one that was trapped in the Void, Tony had thought about the ways he could keep this one away from his daughter. “You know, that alien thing that used to sleep in the drawers?”

Cihad glanced at him. He sat down at the kitchen table. “Billy’s at school.”

Great. The fool had named it. That wasn’t ominous at all. Tony felt a chill go up his spine. “We learned a lot about those things while we were gone.”

“Where was that, exactly?” His voice was clipped. Suspicious.

“North. The Northern Territories.” He watched Cihad’s expression tighten. “We went to this place— this state or territory, I guess —called the Strath. Cassiopeia Agapama’s father was doing business with the person in charge there. We talked to her on his behalf and tried to find answers about that Book you brought into Eden.”

Cihad didn’t say anything. He didn’t move. Was he scared? He had always been so secretive about his past. At this point, Tony knew more about it than he felt he would ever be told. Was that a betrayal? Was it like going through someone’s phone for proof of cheating? He knew that Cihad did not want him to know about where he came from. Well, that was too bad.

It wasn’t his fault, but every fucked up thing that had occurred because of the Book was because Cihad brought it to Eden when he was just a kid. There was nothing any of them could do to change that.

He continued. “There was this place up there. This burnt down town. Have you heard of a place called Blagodat?”

“Stop,” said Cihad.

“That’s where you’re from, isn’t it? That’s where the Book came from.” Tony sat down across from Cihad. There were three chairs at the kitchen table. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was sitting at Cynthia’s. “The people in the North said that they killed almost everyone who lived there over 20 years ago. Not you though. You survived. And you brought that Book to Eden.”

There was an almost unbearable minute of silence. Cihad’s face was like a cold mask, all of the warmth had drained away. He didn’t want to talk about this. Of course he didn’t want to talk about this. It would be easier for Tony to just See the truth of it all instead of prying out answers like he was prying teeth.

But he wanted to give this man he cared so much about a chance.

At length, Cihad only said, “God kept me safe.”

“You know that thing isn’t a god, right? It’s just some Thing that got trapped here like all of those monsters made of black slime. Only hungrier. It’s from some other place. We’ve been learning about that too.”

“Anthony, I just—“

“You were a kid and you didn’t know any better,” said Tony, and he knew he was about to twist the knife in but was unable to help himself. “But it killed Cathy because it was trying to take her body. And now it’s trying to take mine too.”

Surprisingly, the big nurse didn’t react. Had he already known? To be exposed to the Book for as long as he had, he must have known. That in itself was sickening but Tony could almost understand. Almost. Cihad had not wanted to let go of the one thing that tied him to his childhood. He did not have anything else. It had all been ripped away from him in one night of blood and fire.

“That means Kassidy Nguyen is dead,” he said at last, with a tone of regret. “I didn’t figure it out until I saw her so sick like that. I could have done something. She was just— she was so angry, she was falling apart. I’m sorry. Her mother and I have—“

“She’s not dead but she came close,” Tony interrupted. “It would take more than some stupid alien to kill her.”

Cihad’s shoulders sagged visibly in relief. How strange. It wasn’t like he had known Kassidy. It wasn’t like he had been anything other than her supervisor at the Hospital. Tony used the Sight to take a little peek and saw the swirling truth of why he was so worried about her. There was a common string linking them. A tired little woman. Cihad had been busy for the last year and a half. Cihad had been collaborating with Kassidy’s mother. Not just collaborating, he was her friend. He cared about her. He cared about her so much that he was scared she was going to kill herself if—

No. Stop looking. It wasn’t right. He was here to talk. He was here to talk to someone he cared about like a normal fucking human. Tony shook himself.

“She’s fine,” he said lamely. “Kassidy’s fine.”

What else was he supposed to say? What were they supposed to talk about? There was so much Tony wanted to know. How was Cynthia? How was he? What had happened while he was gone? What had happened before he had gone, during those years that he was hiding with rats and out of his mind? Since Cathy had died, he had seen Cihad twice, and both of those times he had been so…so angry at him! Or angry at the situation. Scared and angry. So scared and angry.

So what now? There was no way to just pick up where they had left off. The time for that had passed years ago. Here he was, grilling Cihad and asking questions about where he came from when he already knew the answers. There were other answers he wanted. How was Cynthia? How was he?

Stupid.

They sat in uncomfortable silence. Tony became acutely aware of how his hair tickled the back of his neck. Every breath seemed to take concentration. Where was he supposed to look? Not into Cihad’s eyes, never into Cihad’s red, red eyes. It was safer to just stare down at his hands in his own lap. Tony had never been good at talking.

“I just–”

“Are you–”

They started and stopped at the same time. Cihad made a little huff of frustration. Tony grimaced awkwardly and watched the man he had once loved stand up from his chair, turn to the counter, and put the kettle on. Pulled out two mugs. God, what was his problem? He was always trying to take care of other people, it never fucking stopped.

It didn’t take long to brew the tea. Cihad poured three scoops of sugar into one of the cups. Tony’s stomach flipped. He remembered how sweet he liked his tea. It had been years and he still remembered. But for the life of him, Tony could not remember the way Cihad took his. Back when they had lived together, he had never been the one to make it.

When Cihad handed him the mug, he sipped from it without waiting for it to cool down. The taste was so…artificial. In the Strath Tony had gotten used to real tea. The stuff that they sold in Eden was a thin copycat of that, something formed in labs like everything else in this anthill. What did Cihad think of it? He had grown up outside of Eden. Did he remember the taste of real tea? Or had it been too long. Maybe his memories of his old life had faded.

“Are you living in a shelter again?” Cihad asked him.

Tony choked on his mouthful of tea. Was that really what he thought? That he was homeless again? Well, OK, on a technical level he had never stopped being homeless. On a very shameful and technical level, he had been homeless ever since the day he abandoned Cathy. But he had thought that Cihad would have understood the gravity of his situation in this moment and how his life was in danger. “No, I’m–” Maybe he shouldn’t tell him where he and the girls were staying. Not that he didn’t trust him. Tony shook his head. “I’m staying somewhere safe. I probably shouldn’t be out here now. I just wanted to see you.”

“You’re staying somewhere with Kassidy Nguyen.”

“I never said that.” Tony put his mug down. “Look, she isn’t ready to–”

“I don’t need to know.”

Oh, but you wanted to know, you enormous nosy motherfucker. Tony rubbed his face. “Look, a lot has happened. I don’t know how to begin.”

“A lot has happened here too.” Cihad crossed his arms.

Now that he understood where Cihad’s accent came from, and had heard dozens of irritating people speaking with voices that sounded just like his, it sounded a lot less sexy. The soft T’s. The musical vowels. He was so full of himself. “Yeah, I’m sure it has. I’m sure it’s been fucked, I mean, it seems more fucked here than usual, but maybe that’s because I’ve been gone so long. Everything feels off, I feel like I’m on the verge of–”

“I missed you.”

Ugh. That was not what Tony came to talk to him about. Stay focused. Don’t get drawn in. He laughed nervously. Say it back. Say it back, you piece of shit. “I, uh– you too. My life has gone to hell since the day Cathy…” he trailed off, unable to say what had happened to Cathy.

“I’ve been raising two kids by myself for years now.” Cihad was staring right at him, red, red eyes boring holes into his head. His eyelashes were so thick that it was like he was wearing mascara or something. “It hasn’t been easy. Every night I think about how different things would be if you hadn’t run away.”

Where was he getting two kids from? As far as Tony knew, there was only Cynthia. But then, what did he know? He had run away. Time to diffuse the situation. “I’m sure you haven’t been lonely. Single dad with a tragic past? Guys have probably been lining up outside your door.”

“That’s not funny, Anthony.”

Oh god. Tony prepared to dive head first into uncomfortable sincerity. “I’ve missed you too, OK? I miss you and Cynthia. I did what I thought I had to do at the time. Your fucking Book? We had to run for our lives because of that Thing. You did that. You brought it here and I know, you were a scared little kid, but you still brought it here. I had to run over and over again because of you, I didn’t want to run away, I had to run away. And I still missed you. It’s just all–”

He Saw the guilt and self hatred radiating off of Cihad. Piece of shit. Tony looked away.

“I’m sorry.”

Self righteous asshole. Tony groaned. “It’s just all fucked. We’re fucked. You and me. I didn’t come back for you. I know, I’m self aware enough to– I came back for my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Cihad’s voice had a funny edge to it. Tony winced. “What do you mean by that? Do you think you can take her away? You don’t have custody. You never–”

“I don’t know what I mean. Goddamn!” Why was he being so defensive? Cihad had never been like that before. He knew that he could never take care of Cynthia. Not now. Not ever.

“You don’t have custody,” Cihad said again. Suddenly he was breathing hard. He seemed big and angry. “I’m her father. I’m the one who’s taken care of her. Alone. By myself. I’m tired of people telling me that they want her to take her away. I’ve got social services sticking their noses where they don’t belong, and all these threats from Si– and now you show up and you finally want her? I don’t think so.”

“Calm down.” Tony put his hands up. “What’s the matter with you? I just meant I want to make things right with her. I’m fucking homeless, man, you think I can take care of a kid?”

That took the air out of him. The silence grew between them.

This was fucked. Tony knew it. He should have waited longer to make it right. He should have prepared for what he wanted to say instead of just winging it. He was so stupid. He was stupid and he had been lonely for too long. There was a hole in his heart where his family had once been and over the years that hole had expanded.

And still, he wanted to know more. Why would social services be involved in Cihad’s life? They didn’t get involved with perfect people like him. CPS only went after families like– well, families like Tony’s. All it would take was a little peek. All it would take was the blink of an eye. But he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t right to do to someone he loved, he had to keep telling himself it wasn’t right.

Why couldn’t he just melt into the floor?

“Thanks for the tea,” he said lamely. Tony stood up. “I’ll go. I’ll just go. We can pick this up later when I’m not a fucking idiot.”

“Don’t go.”

“No, man.” He didn’t know where he was supposed to put his hands and just stood there awkwardly. “I wanted this to go well but I’m going to screw it all up again.”

“Please don’t go.”

Wasn’t that just a knife in the heart? Sweat beaded on his forehead. What was he supposed to say? Cihad was practically begging him to stay. Every instinct in Tony’s body was telling him to leave. Go home. Regroup. This was too hard. It was going to hurt too much. He wasn’t ready. He was so stupid. Everything he said was just going to piss Cihad off. There was no way to have a civilized conversation with someone like that! The more Cihad clung onto him, the more Tony wanted to push away. But he didn’t want to push away! He was just so– so!

There was a sound from the front hallway. The door opening? Tony frowned and shot a dirty look at Cihad. Fucking liar. Of course he had some kind of lover who had keys to his house. Cihad frowned back at him and mouthed something unintelligible. Tony shook his head. Cihad pointed at him. Tony made a throat slitting motion.

Hopefully it was burglars because if some little booty call walked into this kitchen, Tony was really going to lose it.

“--so annoying!” chattered a very young sounding voice. “You know she’s copying your look, right? She’s doing her eyeliner exactly like you now.”

“Yeah, well, it looks like shit,” replied an equally young girl’s voice. “It’s so childish. Bitch. I can’t stand her. Such a tryhard, she’s just, she’s like fucking jealous, you know? Yancey said people are just jealous of me.”

“Rachel’s covering for you in homeroom, right?”

“Rachel’s covering for us.”

Tony watched as Cihad’s face flushed and his eyes widened. Ah. So the delinquent apple did not fall far from the delinquent tree. He remembered this little game from his days in high school. Cynthia must be skipping class under the blissful belief that her overprotective father was safely at work and far away.

Ah.

Oh shit. He had to get out of there. Not now! Not like this! He hadn’t seen Cynthia since she was 9 years old and god knew what Cihad had told her about him! She probably thought that he was dead! The best case scenario was that she thought he was dead! What else would she think?!

There was nowhere for Tony to escape to. He was trapped in the kitchen and was totally unprepared. His body was frozen in horror.

No time. There was no time. He stood there like an idiot as he watched a girl who had grown into a person he did not recognize walk into the kitchen and freeze just like him.

So this was Cynthia at 15 years old. Her round, dark face and sturdy frame were so much like Cathy’s at that age that it was like he had gone back in time. Just like Cathy. And not at all like Cathy. This was a different girl. This girl did not wear glasses. This girl did not cover her hair. Cynthia wore jeans and a crop top, instead of the dresses her mother favored. She wore her braids tied up in pigtails that showed off her pierced ears. And her eyes– her eyes were as blue and vacant as the sky.

When she froze, she wasn’t even looking at him. She stared at Cihad like he had grown a second head.

“What are you doing here?” asked Cihad immediately. Oh, he was very angry. It was coming off him in waves.

“What are you doing here?” Cynthia shot back. She crossed her arms defensively. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at school? You’re skipping again? We talked about this– Cynthia– your teachers, they will call social services if you–”

“Oh my god, it’s not that big a deal! Calm down! I didn’t feel well and I didn’t want to call you!”

Another kid edged up behind Cynthia. The kid from the photograph. They looked to be the same age as Cynthia but taller and neater. There was something unsettling about their face but Tony didn’t linger on them too long. They put their hands with black painted fingernails over their mouth. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh?” Cihad was getting red in the face now. “Uh-oh sounds right– you’re going along with your sister on this one? After everything you told me about wanting to go to school like the other kids?”

The other kid cringed. “No, Dad, I just– I don’t know.”

“You two are grounded, you’re grounded, I’m taking your phones, I’m taking–”

And then Cynthia screamed. She had finally looked at Tony. The noise she made was horrible, a wail that was equal parts pitiful and excited, like a puppy that had been locked in a cage all day. It came from the deepest parts of her. She screamed and suddenly she was launching herself at him, throwing her arms around him as tightly as she could. Cynthia pressed her face into Tony’s chest. She was sobbing.

And Tony did not know what to do. He did what he had not been able to do for years. He hugged his daughter.

Piece of shit. This was his fault. He had done this to her. In keeping her safe, he had deprived her of a father.

Cynthia wailed and wailed and sobbed and sobbed. She would not let go of him. Tony awkwardly rubbed her back. There was a lump in his throat he could not swallow and his own eye prickled but he would not let himself cry. He was the reason she was crying. He had missed her so much for so long and now he did not know what to do. He did not know how to be. It hurt too bad.

“You’re dead!” Cynthia cried, like she was a little girl instead of a teenager. “Dad told me– me– me you were– were dead! You were dead!”

Oh Cihad. He had chosen the easiest, least hurtful route. It was what he would have told her too if their places had been reversed.

What was he supposed to even say? Tony was so bad at this. He had never had a good father to model himself after. He was out of practice. It had been too long. When he tried to speak, his voice cracked. “I– I’ve got you, baby.”

Cynthia started wailing again. Words weren’t coming out anymore, just long unintelligible whines that sounded like ‘daddy’.

Not like this. This had been stupid, impulsive. Tony had needed more time to think. He had needed time to think of how to apologize even if he couldn’t make it right. Maybe it would have been easier if she was angry at him. Now all he could do was hold his little girl for the first time in so many years.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you, baby.” It was all he could think to say.

The apologies would come later.

#writing

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the-uss-wossname · 2 years

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So I recently saw a post about discovery being the queerest star trek and I said I wasn’t going to write a speech about why it’s actually ds9, but i did it anyway.

So! Below the cut I’ve listed most of the queer moments and queercoding that I remember from my two watches of ds9. There are a lot of them! So even if you don’t read the whole thing I still urge you to watch ds9 if you’re a fan of trek and want to see queer trek!

Note: this post contains spoilers for ds9

In explicit canon:

-Jadzia Dax was the first canonically pansexual and transgender main character in Star Trek. No one ever makes a big deal of this. She is shown correcting people on her name and pronouns on screen and people just rolling with it!

-Rejoined: jadzia falls in love with a woman on screen, the entire cast supports her. They tell a queer story by including an in-universe taboo on reassociation, and beautifully pull off a queer story where women loving each other is seen as natural and normal, but also reflects on the taboos of gay relationships in present society!

-mirrorverse ezri and Kira’s lesbian kiss!!!! (the entirety of the mirror verse is so queer, actually)

-we hear about a man giving birth in casual conversation and this is treated as normal. He gets paternity leave! “You mean he’s pregnant?” “Yes!” “Oh I should send him something”

-a cross dressing ferengi woman is better at finances than quark and gives him gay panic when she starts hitting on him as a guy- by the end of the episode it’s implied that he did actually reciprocate. This was an Interesting one.

-that time quark had to dress up as a woman to further the woman’s rights movement : granted this was mostly played for laughs but the implication of quark getting mtf surgery in like an hour no questions asked sure is something, and most of the humor comes from the fact that it’s Quark.

-O’Brien saying he wishes his wife could be more like a man sometimes (this man is bisexual)

-Changelings don’t have gender. Odo doesn’t have a gender. He is literally gender fluid. I believe it was one of the comics where he pointed this out as an excuse to help Kira do a mother-daughter thing. But yeah he’s very explicitly chosen his human form and gender, which is pretty neat!

-so much sex positivity! They have so much sex on this show! We see odo lose his human and goo virginity! The amount of times quark gets oomox on screen! Sisko and kassidy waking up together! Worf and Dax! Quark and his Klingon wife! Bashir and leeta! Kira and her various lovers! Dax is talking about it constantly! Quarks mom fucked the Nagus and brunt was in his closet! Sex is treated both as a serious thing and as just a thing you do and the topic is explored in so many interesting ways!

-great takes on masculinity and parenting as well! Sisko is such a good dad! Rom’s entire arc touched on this as well! Miles who is just such a wife guy! All these men who love their children, aren’t afraid to be emotional and caring and kind, especially with the contrast of misogynistic, overbearing, “manly” characters like quark and dukat being shown as undesirable!

And of course, there are plenty of storylines that hit on queer themes like found family, coming out as “different”, the intersection of gender and cultural norms,

So much queercoding:

-garashir is so intentional that Andrew Robinson (garaks actor) has, on multiple occasions, expressed that it should have been canon, discusses how he set out to flirt, their entire first interaction is about the gayest thing I’ve seen, they have regular lunch dates, get very anxious when the other one is gone. The way they look at each other like they’re gonna eat each other. It’s more canon than some of the canon relationships to me and is the closest two trek actors have gotten to spirk since spirk

-garaks storyline and character on its own is very gay. Props to Andrew Robinson for making the “ziyal likes garak” storyline so uncomfortable and for acting garak so gay we love him for it. He has said before that garaks sexuality is inclusive and you can read more about that in the book he wrote if you want!

-Kira nerys is a lesbian. (“The stones are straight, it’s me who’s-”) She dresses and acts like a lesbian. She eats every woman she sees with her eyes. Every one of her relationships with men is with a man who has power (eg the lesbian “he must therefore be attractive, right?) and ends with them dying or leaving. (“The prophets said we weren’t right for each other” lmao ok). Her last relationship was with odo, the literal gender fluid. That man is goo, that man is the last man you date before you finally admit you’re a lesbian “just to see”. PLUS her lesbian kiss in the mirrorverse I rest my case.

-odo was played as asexual for the first few seasons and Rene has said at events that he has always thought of him that way. Do I wish they continued with this? Yes.

-quark and Odo’s weird little thing. They hate each other. They love each other. They’re obsessed with each other. It’s great. Its definitely unhealthy and also pretty queer. One time they kissed for comedic effect on screen and it was a little bit too convincing.

-the O’Brien polycule. This series of episodes was great because it showed surrogacy as a valid thing to happen, and also because of that whole thing between Kira miles and keiko. What happened there? Who’s to say

-Kira and Dax, especially in the early seasons. Kira was truly following her with her eyes in every scene together it was great. I personally don’t see it but many many people do

-ezri my beloved she is a lesbian as well. Look at her. I personally have always been of the opinion that she’s non-binary. But also look at her, short hair, tense relationship with her family, drive towards found family and a queer community, mirrorverse lesbian kiss, yk

-also Julian bashir is trans coded. I don’t know enough about this to tell you but my transmasc friend said so so it must be true. They changed a lot with the genetic engineering who’s to say. Also the name change is right there

Quite frankly, the only character that isn’t presented as some sort of queer at one point or another is captain sisko! You could make an argument for every single other cast member for some or another type of queercoding which is wonderful!

So, yes, in many cases they weren’t allowed to say it outright, and they of course weren’t advertising queerness as a positive in the 90’s- but ds9 is full of both canon and implied queerness and touches on so much about gender and sexuality which was really boldly going back then! That’s why it is and will always be one of my favorite shows and my favorite trek!

#star trek #ds9 #kira nerys #jadzia dax #ezri dax #julian bashir #miles o'brien #elim garak #quark #odo #truly it is the gayest trek #and it’s so great #trans representation #queer representation #eris tag

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waitimcomingtoo · 4 years

Text

In Case You Don’t Live Forever

~sixth chapter rewritten~

Pairing: Peter Parker x Venom!reader

Synopsis: you are Peters greatest love and Spider-Man’s greatest enemy

Series Masterlist

Two months later, you sat outside The Daily Bugle and impatiently bounced your leg. While waiting to see if your boss liked your first draft of the Cleatus Kassidy article, you reflected on your past two months in New York.

It was now June. You and Venom had fallen into a routine. You’d work on the Cletus article by day and go patrolling at night. Of course, being Venom wasn’t a nightly occurrence. You’d only go out eating once or twice a week. Still, you managed to have 11 run ins with Spider-Man.

You and Peter had become significantly closer in that past two months as well. You’d help him with his homework, though you secretly thought he was smarter than you, and he helped me with your story. Some nights, he’d visit you on your fire escape and watch the sun go down. You had no idea how he got there, but you didn’t care.

You’d send him science puns while he was at school and he’d bring you food and keep you company when You had writers block. Your favorite was the long talks on the roof. You would sit there for hours and tell each other everything. You knew all his secrets and he knew yours.

Well, not all.

But the best part of all was that every now and then, you’d catch the other staring. Then, the other would stare back until someone, usually Peter, started to lean in. Every time you thought you were finally going to take the next step, something would interrupt you. Whether it was May knocking or Ned barging in or Peters phone ringing. That was another thing about Peter. His damn phone was always ringing and then he’d have to dash off somewhere, leaving you with a random excuse or something about an internship. Sometimes, you’d wish he’d just throw his phone aside and kiss you already.

“Great work so far, L/n.” Your boss tore you away from your thoughts. “I knew you’d be right for the job.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jameson.” You stammered as you stood up. “I really appreciate you giving me this job. I was kinda blackballed back in San Francisco.”

“I know.” He shrugged. “But you ask the hard hitting questions that people want to hear. Once this article is out, I want you to write one on Venom.”

“Venom?” You gulped at her name.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “You know that scary black monster that’s been fighting Spiderman? I’m thinking an exposé on that menace webhead and his latest enemy, and I think you’d be perfect for the job.”

 “I would love to.” You said quickly. “I’ll start researching right away.”

With that, you turned on your heel and left the building before Venom caused a scene.

“Monster?” Venom roared once you got in your car. “Scary?”

“I know.” You whined. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was gonna call you that.”

“His whole job is reading about the most dangerous criminals in New York. If he thinks we’re scary, what’s Peter gonna think?” Venom asked. You laughed in dismissal until you thought about what he said.

What would Peter think? What if you told Peter who you really were and he ran away? He was sweet and understanding, but how understanding could he possibly be when you tell him you can turn into a flesh eating monster?

That’s when you realized you were scared. You were scared of letting Peter in and him letting himself right out. You were scared of repeating the mistakes you made with Andy. No, not scared.

Petrified.

What if Peter didn’t like what he saw? What if he realized you were too messy to be with? Or had too much baggage? Peter deserved a nice girl. One with a normal family and friends. One without depression. One without a flesh eating symbiote attached to their immune system.

“What’s wrong baby?” Venom asked with concern. She cuddled around your neck and nuzzled into your cheek.

“I can never be with Peter.” You whispered, mostly to yourself. Hot tears of frustration filled your eyes so you looked up to keep them from falling. Admitting it felt like a fatal blow to the stomach. Venom tied your hair up with one of her arms and wiped the tears from your face.

“Why do you say that?”

You thought about it for a moment before answering. You didn’t want to tell Venom that you were feeling insecure. She freaked out on you whenever you said something negative about yourself. You didn’t wanna another 100 slide PowerPoint titled “why Y/N L/N is the baddest bitch in the galaxy”. Especially since forty of those slides were just pictures of your butt. You appreciated Venom wanting to help but you were feeling the kind of insecure that a pep talk couldn’t fix. You needed to figure it out on your own. So instead, you told her a different fear you had.

“Because. Look at us. We’re the only thing keeping each other alive.” You reasoned. “What if we get separated and die? I can’t become one of those people in Peters life who loved him and then left him. His mom, his dad, his Uncle Ben. I don’t want to die and leave Peter behind. He’s been through enough. He’d be so much better off without me.”

“We’re not gonna die. You protect me and I protect you. Nothing will hurt us as long as we have each other.” Venom assured you.

“I can’t protect you like you protect me.” You said softly. “I’m just a human. What if something happens to me and you die because of it?”

“Nothing will happen to you, Y/N. I promise. I won’t let it.” Venom swore. You looked at her and gave her a sad smile.

“I won’t let anything happen to you either.” You said, but you didn’t promise it. You knew you couldn’t promise it.

“And you can be with Peter.” Venom insisted. “On Klyntar, we mate for life. And we think you’ve found your mate in Peter.”

“What does that mean?” You wondered.

“It means we’ve become attached to him and will never be happy with anyone else.” Venom said. You let out a shaky breath as that wasn’t what you wanted to hear. You needed a reason to shut your feelings for Peter down.

“Like soulmates?” You asked.

“Exactly like soulmates.” Venom answered.

“Well what happens on Klyntar if someone is your soulmate but you’re not theirs?”

“Then we go into a cave and mourn until we die alone of heartbreak.” Venom said simply.

“That sounds about right.” You laughed sadly as you took a second to think.

“I’m gonna call that guy back.” You said suddenly.

“What guy?” She asked.

“They guy who asked me out at the coffee shop this morning.” You reminded her.

“The one with the stupid hair? Why would you call him?” Venom asked angrily.

“What was wrong with his hair?” You laughed.

“It was blonde. We like brunette.” Venom said with a devilish grin.

“His hair was fine.” You rolled your eyes. “And I’m gonna call him to say yes to the date.”

“Why would we do that when we like Peter?” Venom whined.

“Because if Peter doesn’t like us, I don’t want to die of heartbreak alone in a cave.” You admitted.

“He does love you.” Venom protested.

“We don’t know that.” You shook your head. “It’s just one date. I need to get back out there anyway. I haven’t gone on a date Andy and I broke up.”

“Fine.” Venom grumbled. “But this is a terrible idea and I’m going to complain the whole time and sing the Les Mis soundtrack in your head.” This was one of those moments where she felt more like your toddler than your symbiote.

You gave the guy a call before driving back to your apartment. As fate would have it, you ran into Peter in the hallway on your way to your room.

“Hey Y/n!” Peter greeted you. “You want to come over later and help me with spanish? I’ll amo you mucho.”

You wanted so badly to say yes but you had to stick to the plan to squash your feelings for Peter.

“Aw, I’m sorry Pete. I wish I could but I have a date tonight.” You frowned, instantly regretting it when you saw the look on his face.

Peter’s heart sank to the floor as he emotions went from feeling devastated to feeling white hot anger in a matter of seconds

“A date?” He sputtered. “With who?”

“Some boy I met at the coffee shop.” You said weakly, knowing you were hurting him.

“Oh.” He said dully.

“Some boy.” He thought angrily. “Some freaking dirty ass sissy coffee boy asked my girl out.”

Peter felt like hunting the man down and smacking the shit out of him. Or at the very least, webbing him to a wall leaving him there until he missed the date.

“What’s his name?” Peter asked suddenly, wanting to put a name to his new mortal enemy.

“Matt.” You nodded slowly.

“Freaking Matt.” Peter thought. “Freaking dirty ass bitch ass Matt. Was Matt Spider-Man? No. Could Matt treat you as well as I could? Probably. But did he like you as much? No. Did he have inside jokes with you? No. Could he make you laugh your beautiful laugh just by doing a Captain America impression? No. He wasn’t good enough for you. He couldn’t do the things I could do. He was trash. He was a trashy dirty ass rat boy.”

“Interesting.” Peter said, keeping his thoughts to himself.

“I’ll text you when it’s over and maybe I can help you then.” You offered. That sound okay, guapo?”

Peter nodded sadly, not even acknowledging that you called him handsome. Actually, he probably had no idea that you did. He was smart, but only in English.

“That’s fine.” He nodded glumly. “I’ll see you later.”

You watched Peter trudge into his apartment and felt a pain in your heart. He seemed so upset all the sudden. It couldn’t be from your date, could it? It’s not like you told him you got engaged or something. It was one little date. And it’s not like Peter even made a move. He had no reason to be upset. You brushed it off and went into your apartment to get ready.

Just as Venom predicted, the date went horribly wrong. You drove back to the apartment in silence afterwards, leaving Matt to clean himself off back at the restaurant.

“Why did that happen?” You asked her after a long drive in silence. You were mortified from the events of the night but you needed to know why they happened.

“Because he wasn’t your soulmate.” Venom said simply.

“We defiled that boy.”

“It happens.” Venom stated.

“It shouldn’t.” You said, shocked at how nonchalantly she was being.

“But it does.”

You rode the rest of the way in silence, shooting Peter a text before asleep on your couch. You woke up a few hours later in a cold sweat and in tears. You didn’t know it, but Peter was listening to your breathing from his apartment. He had picked up the small cries of his name in your sleep with his superhearing and stayed up to see if you were okay.

You weren’t, by the way. You had had a nightmare that shook you deeply and left you shaking. It was about Peter, but not in a good way. In this dream, he laid injured on the ground after a fight. You were separated from Venom and bleeding out near Peter. You couldn’t do anything to save him. You couldn’t scream for help. And worse, you couldn’t protect him. It caused you great agony to not be able to reach him.

Without giving it another thought, you got off your couch and made your way to the door. You needed to see Peter and tell him how you felt.

You didn’t care about your insecurities anymore. You didn’t care about all the things keeping you apart. You only cared about him, and that was enough. He needed to know that and you couldn’t wait another second.

You swung open your front door, only to find Peter Parker outside it in pink Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and a tight white t-shirt. His hand was raised, like he was about to knock.

“Hey.” you breathed. His hair was tousled and sticking up in random places. He looked heavenly.

“Hi.” He said shyly.

“I was just about to go to your door. I had a bad dream.” You told him. You were anxious to skip the semantics and cut right to the chase.

The chase being, “I love you and I’m yours if you’ll have me.”

“Yeah, I heard. That’s why I’m here.” Peter explained. That’s not what he wanted to say. What he wanted to say was, “I’m always here if you need me. I’d go to the ends of the earth for you. I love you. It’ll be okay.”

Peter looked at you funny for a moment, like he was seeing something beneath the surface.

“She looks so beautiful.” He thought. Makeup free, hair a little messy, and nothing but an oversized sweatshirt to cover you. Peter recognized the sweatshirt as his own, one you had swiped from his laundry basket because you had been freezing while watching Alien in his room. He felt so honored to know that you slept in it. Peter wondered how many times he could fall in love with you in a short span of time. In the past few seconds, he’d fallen about 15 times. Once for every breath you took. And you were breathing quite heavily.

“You heard?” You asked, wondering how he

had possible heard from his apartment.

“My hearing is excellent.” He said quickly. “Are you alright?”

“Please be alright.” He thought. “I’d stop anything that tried to hurt you. I’ll protect you from the storm. Don’t shut me out. Don’t turn me away. Let me love you.”

“Um…” You trailed off and looked behind you at your empty apartment. The darkness looked anything but inviting. You couldn’t go back in there just yet.

“No?” It came out as more of a question.

“No? Do you want to talk about it-“ Peter was cut off when you rushed into his arm and hugged him tightly. He seemed taken aback, seeing as you nearly knocked the wind out of him. But as soon as he found his footing, he wrapped his strong arms around you and held you close. You relaxed in Peters embrace and let out a sigh.

“I had a nightmare.” You croaked. “You died and I couldn’t save you.”

“I know. It’s okay. You’re awake now. I’m here.” Peter said soothingly.

“I’ve been here the whole time.” He thought. “I will never abandon you. You are safe in my arms. Nothing can hurt you now. I won’t let it.”

You pulled away a little and looked at his face, seeing how tired it was.

“Would you stay with me?” You asked timidly. You didn’t want him to go. Not now, not ever.

“Always.” Peter answered with a smile. “As if I could ever leave you.”

Your lips lit up in a smile as your eyes fell to his lips. They lingered there for too long, or maybe just long enough. Peter took the hint and slipped his hand behind your neck and began to pull you closer. As your lips were about to touch, your door slammed, causing you to jump out of each other’s embrace.

“Shit balls.” You said immediately, letting out an annoyed sigh.

“What?” Peter asked, giggling a little at your choice of profanity.

“I just locked myself out.” You realized as you jiggled through door handle. Peter laughed louder this time and put a hand on your shoulder.

“Come on. You’re sleeping over.” He said, leading you back to his apartment with his hand on the small of his back.

You entered Peters room for the millionth time, but it felt the first time. Sure, you’d become good friends in the time you’ve lived in the building, but bedrooms were intimate places. The context of you being in Peters bedroom after going to him for comfort changes how you saw the place. After all, bedrooms were windows into the soul. Oh wait, that’s eyes. Still, the room was different. You didn’t feel like you were entering it. You felt like you were returning.

You looked around with a content smile on your face. He still had his academic decathlon posters on his wall, along with a few Avengers posters. Peter was pretty neat, but he was still a teenage boy. Socks and sweaters were strewn across the room. You saw him kicking a pair of boxers under his desk out of the corner of you eye. His room was so cute. It was so…Peter. You noticed a first aid kit on his desk next to his chemistry textbook and wondered what on earth he could be using it for.

“I’ve always liked your room.” You complimented as you touched a decathlon trophy on his dresser.

“Oh thank God.” Peter sighed in relief. “I thought you’d take one look at my nerdy ambiance and run.”

“Star Wars bedsheets?” You asked when you noticed the Death Star poking out under his duvet. You definitely hadn’t seen those before and found them endearing. Peters ears reddened and he fixed his duvet to cover them up.

“Those aren’t mine.” He said quickly.

“Are they Mays? As in May the force be with you?” You played along and he gave you a defeated smile.

“That was the worst thing anyone has ever said. Ever.” Peter joked. You laughed and he gave you a shy smile.

“Fine. They’re my bedsheets. Star Wars is cool, okay?” Peter defended. You took a seat on his bed and shrugged.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me Peter. I just didn’t know you were a loser, is all.”You said simply. Peter sat down on the bed next to you and rolled his eyes.

“Very funny. You’re the funniest person I know.” He said sarcastically. You nudged him with your elbow and he and hit you with a Yoda printed pillow.

“Mm. Good with the force you are.” You commented. Peter groaned loudly and told you to shut up.

“Enough playing around. How was your date?” Peter asked as he turned to face you. You could hear the pain in his voice and regretted ever telling him about the date.

“Oh, you know.” You shrugged. “Terrible.”

You weren’t going to let him off the hook that easy. If Peter really did like you and want to be with you, he needed to say it. He couldn’t just grumble and wallow in self pity when you were with another boy. You wanted to test him to see if he’d ever actually admit his feelings, but a part of you was still scared there were no feelings to admit to.

“Really?” He said excitedly. He cleared his throat to cover it up and grunted. “I mean, really?” He asked calmly.

“Yeah it was awful. I definitely won’t be seeing him again.” You sighed sadly, but you weren’t actually sad. You were just putting on a show for Peter. Peter bit the inside of his cheek to stop the smile from emerging.

“That’s terrible.” Peter lied. “What went wrong?”

His acting was equally as bad as your own. He had a shit eating grin on his face, pretending to be sad when he was clearly over the moon.

“It was going fine all night until the kiss.” You sighed dramatically, looking longingly out the window. You might as well have thrown yourself onto the balcony and cried out for Romeo. Peter, however, was buying every second of it.

“You guys kissed?” He asked, his voice heavy with disappointment. He looked miserable. All you wanted to do was throw your arms around his neck and tell him he was the only one for you. Instead, you kept your feelings to yourself and nodded slowly.

“Almost. He leaned in and…” instead of finishing your sentence, you just shrugged. You could tell Peter was on the edge of his seat so you dragged it as long as you could.

“And?” Peter practically begged. You let out another long, dramatic sigh as Peter took a slow sip of his water bottle.

“And I threw up on him.” You said simply. Peter spat out the water in his mouth and burst out laughing, doing his best to cover it up. You gave him a fake angry look but ended up laughing as well.

“What?” Peter laughed.

“He was such a tool.” You whined. “He talked down to me the entire night and then had the audacity to try and kiss me. I don’t know what happened but all the sudden he was leaning in and I was throwing up. He deserved it though. He treated me like was an idiot. I’m almost glad I threw up on him.”

Peters was overjoyed. He was about to say something when we heard a straggled cry of your name.

You and Peter rushed to his peephole and saw a familiar blonde haired boy standing in the hallway.

There he was, Matt, outside your apartment door with his phone on full volume playing “Hungry Eyes” from Dirty Dancing.

“What the actual hell?” You wondered out loud. “I better get rid of him.”

“Y/nnnnnn. I’m sorry I was a jerk.” Matt slurred. “Please talk to me. I told the doorman we were cousins. Then I told the elevator guy that I was your husband. You may need to move now. Y/nnnn.”

“You definitely can’t go out there.” Peter shook his head. “He could have a knife.”

“Or worse.” You whispered, making Peter looked at you fearfully. “He could have the same loser bedsheets you do.”

Peter scrunched his nose at you and picked up you swiftly to threw you onto the couch.

“Since when are you so strong?” You laughed in shock. Peter shrugged and held out a hand.

“Let’s go to bed.” He said. You raised an eyebrow and he quickly added, “In a non-sexual, platonic way.”

He was always so cautious of offending you or making you uncomfortable. You appreciated how much of a gentleman he was and knew Aunt May had implemented those qualities in him.

“You can take the bed.” He offered. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Let me know if you need anything.”

You nodded and climbed into his bed, patting the the space next to you.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” You told him. “Get in.”

Peter looked at you with wide eyes, looking very unsure of himself as he toyed with the hem of his shirt.

He was torn. He wanted to get into the bed, but he also knew you were vulnerable right now and he didn’t want to take advantage of you. He didn’t want to do anything you’d end up regretting in the morning.

“Get in, in a non-sexual, platonic way.” You added. Peter relaxed but stayed standing. You pretended to splash Peter and twirled your hand around the bedsheets as if they were water.

“Come on in Parker. The waters warm.” You said in a low voice.

“I am…repulsed.” Peter deadpanned. In reality, he was dying to get in the bed. He wasn’t gonna try anything, he just wanted to feel you close. He wanted to comfort you and take the pain of the night away. Finally, he got into the bed and pulled the covers up. He shut off his lamp and we fell into comfortable silence.

“Good night, Peter.” You whispered, turning your back to him and cuddling into his pillow.

“Night, Y/n.” He whispered back. You felt his eyes on the back of your neck still. He didn’t want to close them and fall asleep. He wanted to stay in this moment as long as he could.

You soon felt hesitant arms wrap around your waist. Peter was very unsure of himself and kept his hands loosely on your hips, barely touching. You turned your neck around and looked at him quizzically.

“What the hell are you doing?” You demanded. His hands flew off your waist and his eyes widened with fear. He looked so apologetic, you thought he might cry.

“Do you not know how to cuddle?” You asked before he could blurt out an apology. You grabbed his arms and pulled them tightly around your body. You held his hands in your own, flush against your chest. Peter felt really tense at first and a bit stiff, but he soon relaxed and nestled into your hair.

“You smell really good.” He muttered. You laughed softly against his body, prompting Peter to hold you even tighter.

“I’ve wanted this for so long, Y/N.” He whispered. He said it so quietly, you figured he thought you had fallen asleep. “Sweet dreams.”

You woke up the next morning in Peter Parker’s arms. Subsequently, you wanted to wake up every morning for the rest of your life in Peter Parker’s arms. You were a mess of tangled limbs and hair but you found yourself firmly in his embrace, inhaling his cologne.

Peters eyes fluttered open suddenly and you were nose to nose.

“Hi.” You said softly, a playful smile resting on your lips. He was so pretty in the morning. He didn’t even have to try.

“Hey.” He chuckled. “This is new.”

“It is new. Is it okay?” You asked him, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

“Is waking up next to the actual sun okay?” He teased. “Uh yea, Y/n. It’s okay. You can sleep over anytime you like if it means more mornings like this.”

Of course he said that. He held all your strings and knew just how to tug them.

“Did you really not enjoy that date?” He whispered, but in his head thought, “Do you want to be with anyone else?”

You didn’t know why he was whispering, but the look in his eyes told you he was dead serious.

“Not in the slightest.” You answered honestly. What you wanted to say was, “Because it wasn’t with you.”, but you didn’t.

“Would you…would you want to go out with me sometime?” He asked shyly. “I promise I won’t throw up on you.”

He said the second part as if it was the only way you’d say yes to the date, which made you laugh.

“Peter Parker, I have waited exactly 64 days for you to ask me that question and you just had to ruin it by promising you won’t throw up on me?” You playfully scolded as Peters eyes lit up.

“Is that a yes?” He asked excitedly.

“It’s a yes.” You nodded, holding his nearest hand. “It’s always been a yes.”

“Can I-“ He began.

“Don’t ask.” You whispered. “Just do it.”

Peter leaned in slowly and you did the same. His lips had just ghosted yours when Aunt May knocked on the door. He bolted out of bed as you sat up.

“Breakfast is ready. Did you clean your room?” Aunt May called from the other side of the door.

“Yes.” Peter called back. You looked around. No he didn’t

“No you didn’t.” She said knowingly. She didn’t even have to see his room to know it wasn’t clean.

“I’ll clean it after.” He groaned.

“I’m coming in.” She said suddenly, making you and Peter look at each other in fear.

“Don’t! I’m naked.” He screamed.

“Fine. But it better be clean after breakfast. And put some clothes on. You should not be naked at 7 am.” Aunt May said. You heard her footsteps walking away and knew it was safe to speak. You got out of Peters bed as he got up to lock the door, his back still to you as he did it.

“Alright.” He sighed. “That should buy us some ti-“

The second he turned around, he was met with your lips on his. You had your hands on the sides of his face and your head tilted to the left. You felt Peters eyes flutter shut as his eyelashes tickled your cheeks. He was frozen at first, but slowly wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer. You melted into him and he melted right back into you. The kiss was short and sweet, but absolutely perfect.

When you pulled away, Peter gave you the softest eyes ever. A grateful smile was on his lips.

“I am so over these interrupted moments.” You laughed softly as you shook your head. Peters eyes twinkled in agreement. The sun was coming through the window and made his brown eyes look like pots of honey. You could stare at them forever.

And then he kissed you again, with confidence this time. He wasn’t ready for the last one since you caught him off guard. You let your fingers tangle in the messy curls at the back of his neck, something you thought you’d only get to dream of doing. Peter groaned slightly into your mouth as you tugged on his hair, indicating that he liked it. He put his hand under your neck and slipped his toungue in your mouth. Who knew Peter Parker knew how to kiss? He tasted like morning breath, spearmint chapstick, and something you could only identify as being exclusively Peter. When you pulled apart, he looked up at the sky and sighed.

“If I wake up and this is all a dream I’m going to fight you.” He said menacingly.

“Did you just threaten God?” You laughed.

“For you? Anthing. I’ll fight anyone for your honor. Our Lord and Savior can catch these hands can square up.” He promised.

“You’ve gone to far.” You joked. “We need to break up.”

“Don’t even joke. I’ve waited too long for this.” Peter said as he wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m only teasing. I’ve waited my whole life for you Parker. I’m never letting you go.” You told him. He burst out in a smile and kissed you swiftly, then promptly got down on one knee.

“Will you please be mine, darling? Officially?” He pleaded softly. There was so much hope in his eyes so you pretended to think about it.

“Sorry.” You shrugged. “I’m pretty busy with Matt.”

Peter stood up and gripped your hips, pulling you closer while you let out a small gasp.

“I never want to hear his name again. He had the privilege of taking my girl on a date and treated her poorly?” He raised an eyebrow. “He’s a deadman if I ever see him around here. Now, I need you to tell me you’re my girlfriend before my heart explodes. Tell me you’re mine. I won’t believe it until you say it. ”

You nodded yes as you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed his lips.

“Peter Parker, I always have, and always will be, yours.”

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker imagine #peter parker x venom!reader #venom!reader #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #iron man #tom holland fluff #tom holland fanfiction

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canonicallysoulmates · 4 years

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🎃Halloween themed wincest fic rec🎃

This fic rec is, primarily, Halloween themed but you’ll also find some horror as well as just in general autumn themed fics all to, hopefully, get y’all in the spirit of the spooky season!

There’s all sorts of ratings, some weecest, a non-related Hocus Pocus AU, hopefully you’ll find something to your liking among all of these fics.

As always please head all warnings and tags as some of these fics do contain graphic and heavy topics.

Happy reading, and Happy Halloween my fellow wincest shippers! 🎃

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Halloween

Eight-Legged Freaks. by anniespinkhouse

Sam/Dean (Wincest) Outsider POV. Takes place early in season 8 but no particular spoilers except for Sam’s hair. Biddy owns a candy store. She also talks to spiders. When FBI agents Sam Smith and Dean Jones investigate a possible haunting, on Halloween evening, the consequence of Dean eating too much candy is disturbing. It’s a race against time for Sam to find a way to return Dean to normal.

The Rocky Horror Sam Show by RockSaltandCherryPie *

Sam goes to a Halloween party and dresses up like Frank N. Furter but ends up looking more like a girl than anything else.

the one that lives behind his heart by Addie_D_123 *

Dean is the spark, Sam is the fire.

The Witch's Dance by brimstonegold and virtualpersonal *

It's either coincidence, or irony, but Sam and Dean find themselves hunting for a witch at The Witch's Dance, a party being given at the local haunted mansion on Halloween. What they find is not the kind of dance they expected.

hell is empty; all the little brothers are here by bellaaanovak

Dean just wants to make the rundown house they’re squatting in look cool for Halloween, but Sam isn’t so excited about strangers in corny costumes knocking on the door for candy. Not when there’s a gang of ghouls wreaking havoc in the neighborhood, anyways.

Greaspaint and Fairy Dust by Syls Darkplace (sylsdarkplace)

It’s Halloween. Sam’s least favorite holiday, and what should be the investigation of a simple salt and burn goes awry when Dean gets caught with his hand in the candy cauldron.

Here is where you’ll stay by belyste

Sam, Dean, and haunted hayride. Halloween!fic.

A Winchester Halloween by ello_kitty *

A short story about how the brothers spend the holiday.

Triple XY Or The Hunter, His Bitch And Their Offspring by mpregloveranon

This is the answer to this Halloween!Prompt over at the spnkink_meme. Without reveal to much already I’ll just keep the summary really short. After being cursed Sam is knocked up by his brother. On Halloween he is heavily pregnant with triplets and completely miserable. Dean feels sorry for his baby brother, especially because he pissed the witch off who cursed Sam, and takes good care of him. Throw in raging hormones, some schmoop, some angst and cute little kids and you’ll get the idea what this fic is about. ;)

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) by Ignited *

It’s Halloween, and the locals aren’t clued in to the fact that those things going bump in the night are much more than fabric and latex. Sam and Dean learn this fact the hard way as the clock winds down and a town’s about to be overrun by monsters.

The Witches of Salem by Revenant

There's a legend in Salem, of three sisters accused and hung for the crime of witchcraft, but not before they had killed several of the local children and placed another under a terrible curse. It is said that on Hallowe'en night, when the moon is full, the witches will rise again when a virgin lights the Black Flame Candle.

A little over three hundred years later, Sam Winchester is passing through town trying out his newly awarded independence on what he suspects will be a simple salt-and-burn; why can’t things ever go like he plans?

Why not stay and be caught? by deirdre_c *

Sam wishes to go to The Palace.

Pretty Princess by orphan_account *

Sam is excited to go to a Halloween Party… And then his first heat hits.

Take a Good Look by BewareTheIdes15 *

Sam, Dean, and a haunted house with a mirror maze - sounds like pwp to me!

Kids These Days by Magz (sparklepocalypse) *

Halloween parties are never simple when there are Winchesters involved.

Thy Back to the Forest (and Thy Front to Us) by PetraPan *

For the last three years in Stillwater, Oklahoma, children have disappeared—always five young girls, always on consecutive days, and always during the week of Halloween. By the day the Winchester's pull into town, Sam is enrolled for school, he’s stuck once more on research duty, and Dean already has a date. Sam juggles his new schoolwork, the case, and the ever-growing bitterness at the desire he feels for Dean as best as he can, but at some point he can no longer manage all three. With their father constantly absent and a nasty time constraint, Sam and Dean struggle to figure out who—or what—is taking young girls, just as they struggle to find the balance between brothers and something more.

Sugar Sweet by fallingintodivinity

“What’s all this stuff?” Sam asks warily. He gingerly picks up a bottle of red fluid and squints at it.

“Fake blood!” Dean says cheerfully. “It’s cherry-flavored,” he adds helpfully.

“But why,” Sam says, bewildered.

“Dunno,” Dean says. “It was on sale. Tastes pretty good, actually. Here, lemme show you.”

Halloween by EasyTiga *

Sam and Dean go to a Halloween party for a case and at least one of them can't keep their mind on the mission because of the outfit choice.

Hush Little Baby by hellhoundsprey *

Together with his friends, Sam visits a haunted house. It's Halloween. (Sam is 16, Dean is 20.)

Halloween and High Schoolers by onesillygoose *

I'm realizing how bad my summaries are. Anyway... Sam gets invited to a Halloween party. Dean tags along. Things never go as they should for the Winchesters.

Pumpkin Patch by KissingWinchesters

It's Halloween and Dean decides to steal a giant pumpkin.

VII - One candy left by KissingWinchesters

There’s a piece of melting, sticky caramel pressed into the centre of Sam’s back.

Candy, Pumpkin Spice, And Orgasms by KissingWinchesters

Dean takes Sam to a quaint town on Halloween. Their relationship develops.

He Never Saw the Look by orphan_account

Sam's got a secret. He's in love with his big brother. Little does he know, Dean shares the same dirty little secret.

Pretty Little Thing by Miss_Lv *

Teenager Dean goes to a Halloween party for some fun, he spots a pretty little thing and chases her all evening, flirting, and eventually cornering her. Once his got his hands on her though he realizes she is actually a he, but he's fine with that. Sam snuck out after Dean just because he could, he picked a costume he knew Dean would never recognize him in. After spending the evening being chased by his brother Sam ends up in a semi public place with Dean all over him. Sam's stupid crush on his own brother is not helping matters either.

this way comes by estrella30 *

Written for spn_halloween based on prompt #127: Sam goes to a Halloween party his first year at Stanford and gets dragged off by a guy in a mask who makes out with him. He discovers it's Dean, and the making-out continues with a vengeance.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Horror

Diamond Dogs by kassidy *

Prompt: Supernatural, Sam/Dean, werewolfism - one turns and takes the other down (interpret as you will) for dark_fest LJ comm

A Silent, Creeping Killer by lily rose (annabeth) *

Not long after Dean picks Sam up from Stanford, Sam and Dean go undercover as an engaged couple to investigate the murder of a lesbian hockey player in small-town Connecticut. Along the way, they meet dedicated lovers, frightening ghosts, and the possibility that their ruse might be becoming all too real. How will they handle their changing feelings for each other? Who will protect the lovers and tenants of the Windsor boarding house? And what does all this have to do with the play 'Arsenic and Old Lace'?

darling by allwellandgood

Dean is dead. Sam has a theory that nothing will ever hurt again.

I Wonder as I Wander by dollylux

Bobby sends Sam and Dean to investigate a strange town.

Let Me Take You Far Away by orphan_account *

Season 10. It's exactly what they need. A vacation. That's how Dean can make everything else go away. Cas was right. That's all they need. A nice, little vacation.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Fall/Autumn themed

Death of the Petals by doctor__idiot

Dean has always thought that fall held some sort of magic.

Where You Are [Is Where I Belong] by non_tiembo_mala

Sam is stuck in class on a beautiful fall day. His mind wanders and it always ends up on Dean.

Hazy Hunter's Moon by GhostlyVoid *

Sam saves a hunter who got attacked by a werewolf, knowing exactly what trouble he's inviting into his home. The hunter, Dean, is predictably less than thrilled owing his life to a witch.

Delicious Autumn by sammichgirl

Dean just wants to give Sam a great day full of some favorite things.

Autumn Leaves by dragonspell *

In the weak light of early morning, the autumn leaves are starting to paint the woods in reds and golds and a burning orange. On some level or another, Dean knows that it’s beautiful; he does. He's just got to find Sam first.

#wincest #wincest fic rec #mine #this was supposed to be up on monday but life hapened #so...it's still halloween in places it's fine #this is probably the longest fic rec i've done

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agentmarymargaretskitz · 3 years

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Scandal and Gary prompt + whatever you want it to be!

(Here we go! Set in the Neron!Gary verse)

Gary weighed the keychain in hand for a moment before looking up at his door. Slipping the key into the lock, he turned it and twisted the handle to open up. He fully expected to be gagging at the smell. It had been well over a month since he had last come here. Unfortunately, he couldn't recall how full the trash had been when...it happened.

There was a smell, but it wasn't as bad as he had expected. All the furniture was covered in a layer of dust. His dishes he'd meant to do when he came home from work had a blue growth on them. The plants on the windowsill were dried husks. His apartment looked completely abandoned, which it had been.

He put the arm that wasn't in a sling on his hip. Those weeks being Neron's meat puppet had been the worst in his life. He had watched his hands hurt so many people through Neron's control. There were new scars all over his body from the times he tried to fight back or when Neron punished him. Some of the Legends and the Bureau agents still looked at him like he was about to start spewing hate and snapping necks again any second. McNeil's scream still haunted his dreams.

A dirty apartment was cake compared to all that.

Gary headed over to the window to prop it open and air out the place. Halfway across the floor, he stopped and looked at the floor. Ava had told him that some of the team had been in there two weeks ago to search for something to help pull Neron out. He could see some dusty footprints, but there were two clear footprints, rimmed with dust bunnies, from the window to the couch. Another few steps revealed a disruption in the dust on the window sill by the fire escape.

His heart started to beat faster when he heard someone step out of the bathroom. Then there was the sound of metal grated against metal. Gary's shoulders stiffened as he put the pieces together.

"Did you take out my garbage?" he asked calmly.

"It smelled pretty toxic," his half sister answered as he turned around.

"Nice of you to drop by, Scandal," Gary told her, wishing the apartment wasn't as gross as it was. "How long have you been here?"

"About an hour," Scandal sheathed her blades. "The trash was all I got rid of. Didn't touch the fridge."

Gary wrinkled his nose and moved past her to the freezer. He riffled past frozen vegetables and gyoza packets to pull out a pint of butter brickle ice cream. Finding a clean spoon in the drawer, he slid it over to her on the pint.

"So why are you here?" he asked, pulling out two bowls and another spoon for himself. "If it's about Neron, he's gone. Finally was killed after being pulled out of me."

Scandal raised an eyebrow as she pried the lid off. "Can't check up on my little brother?"

"The only time you reach out is if you're after something. Our family doesn't do reunions."

Scandal shrugged as she dished some ice cream for herself. "Worth a try."

He kept staring.

"Fine, it's about Neron."

"It's the Get Out of Hell Free card, isn't it?" Gary dug his own spoon into the ice cream. Doing it one handed wasn't easy, and Scandal offered no help. "You want to know about it, if it'll really bring your girlfriend back."

Her gaze sharpened as she crunched a piece of toffee.

"It's the real thing, not some golden apple trick," Gary said after savoring the bite of ice cream in his mouth. "I never knew how to reach out to you when it happened. I'm sorry about what happened."

"You weren't there."

"Government agent who deals with time travel," he emphasized with the pointing of his spoon. "Even better, one people don't pay attention to. I know where to find out about you and your crew."

Scandal didn't seem too fazed by that. "Why?"

"Because I care," Gary muttered. "I know you don't care about the family. And yes, Father can rot forever for everything he put us through. But I at least try to keep track of our siblings. Got some assassins going after Kassidy arrested last week actually. Sent a present for Angelo's birthday."

"What about-"

"Never," Gary shook his head. "If anyone was Dad's kid through and through, it's him. He'd sniff me out in a minute and be back in my life if I went looking. I don't want that."

Scandal scraped her spoon across her bowl and nodded in agreement. For a moment, the siblings sat across from each other. Gary wasn't sure what to say, but eventually got up and put the ice cream back. Scandal stood up and headed for the window.

"I have a door right over there."

"Less cameras this way," she smirked as she popped the latch. "Thanks for the ice cream."

"Sure."

He needed to hit the dishes first probably in the clean-up. The dishwasher could handle some of the stuff, but handwashing with one arm out of commission was going to be a real-

"Gary."

Scandal was half out of his apartment. He looked over at her, waiting.

"I almost came after you with the Six," she admitted. "And it wasn't because of the card."

Gary blinked. That was not typical Scandal.

"I'm glad you're okay. And that you didn't end up destroying humanity or whatever."

"Thanks," he said, and he meant it. "See you."

She slid out the window. By the time Gary walked over to shut it all the way, the fire escape outside was empty.

#somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds #ask box #legends of tomorrow #secret six #gary green #scandal savage

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piratejct · 4 years

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* 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐜𝐢𝐬-𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 + 𝐡𝐞 / 𝐡𝐢𝐦 | you know 𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐲 “𝐬𝐢𝐝” 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮, right? they’re 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 by 𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨 thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡, so they’re a 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧, which is unsurprising, all things considered.

NAME: kassidy averescu NICKNAME(S): sid. strictly sid D.O.B: january 16th, 1996 AGE: 25 BIRTH PLACE: irving, north carolina CURRENTLY RESIDING: irving, north carolina SEXUALITY: bi-curious, but we don’t talk about it OCCUPATION: entitled twat / pesky lil crook

tw: mentions of gangs, crime, drugs, weapons, attempted murder but not really.

BACKSTORY:

born and raised in irving, has lived in the same freakin’ mansion in aquila drive pretty much his whole life. serving you the full rich boy fantasy, except it’s all rotten. illegal as shit. his mother, who’s been pretty much an outlaw since she was in her early twenties, literally runs like a tiny little crime organization where she recruits family members and people she finds trustworthy enough to pull off heists and just... earn all that $$$ in ways that could get you seriously fucked if anyone ever found out. she’s quite powerful and.. frankly quite scary for a woman in her late fifties. truly knows how to get shit done. i mean.. she trained her kids to be semi successful young criminals, so.. that’s pretty badass of her.

to be fair, though, he still had a childhood. he wasn’t, like, laundering money at the age of six. growing up, he obviously wasn’t exposed to a lot of illegal stuff. would get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and didn’t even question it. thought for the longest time that his mother really was this successful business lady or whatever, and all the shady people in their living room past 10pm were just other company owners.

never met his dad. guy’s been out of the picture since before his mother even knew she was pregnant. has few half-siblings, though none of them probably has the same father as their mom was never one for commitment. sid fully leaves the half part out when talking about them, because.. well, they all pretty much grew up together, so that makes them 100% siblings.

he’s the only boyo in the family and uhh... sometimes it’s as if he believes he deserves special treatment because of it??? idk.

did well enough in high school, got accepted to college in charlotte on a swimming scholarship even though the fam had more than enough money to pay for the studies. but, he was a good swimmer and.. it was recognized. he used to compete a little and even won a couple of times, but.. he still wanted more. started getting greedy. grew up getting everything handed to him, was the best on the high school swimming team so when he went off to college and met another guy who was maybe even slightly better?? oh, hello, he was not gonna take it. i think that was like the first time he felt properly jealous. threatened to shit. at that point in his life, he was aware of the stuff his mother had been pulling, having been involved a couple of times before. so, he thought he could just take the matter into his own hands and once before a competition, he crushed up a bunch of sleeping pills and had someone slip them into the dude’s gatorade. guy literally passed out in the water and almost drowned. to nobody’s surprise, the competition was put on hold and sid literally had the audacity to be like ??? what !! but he passed out, so .. how does that not mean i win???

anyways, the accomplice felt so horrible about this, they told on him and sid was obviously kicked out of uni. in fact, the whole situation was serious enough for people to want to take it even further (aka to court) but that’s where sid’s mom stepped in and did some of her ~ magic ~ to get her shit child, as well as the overall family name, out of trouble. she was so, so disappointed, though. like, wow, she went in on him, and he cried like a little bitch on the ride home. hasn’t spoken of this incident since, but if you bring it up, he’ll stick to the story the guy just passed out. not his fault. don’t hold it against him. <3

has grown a lil since the incident. learned to be more careful when it comes to sabotage. now, he’ll smile to the opponents face, lose with grace, and afterwards get his revenge if he’s feeling petty enough. 80% of the time, he is.

currently lives with the fam and is very involved in the whole.. heisting. gets a massive kick out of it, tbh.

PERSONALITY:

um, first of all, he’s absolutely unhinged. quite unpredictable. like, he’s not necessarily always ready to stab someone, but there are moments where he just does something and you’re like ??? oh my fucking god, please stop. literally, whenever he’d get angry abt something he’d go a little off the rails and maybe shoot the radio or the tv and his mom wld jst be like ... it’s okay, baby. go at it. i’ll let you shoot one object a week. whatever makes you feel better <3 so yea, in a way she... encouraged a lot of this behavior?? idk, i don’t wanna point fingers, but if she had let him.. not be a brat for a second, he wld maybe be a different person today. rip.

restless. so fucking restless. and you know what does not help?! all the coke he does! and molly! and other shit that doesn’t do any good when your mind is already going hundred miles per minute. yum, yum.

absolutely thrillseeker. he just wants to feel stuff. adrenaline rush 24/7. can somewhat contain himself enough not to mess up when on a job, but in his free time?? he’ll literally get someone to ram his head into a wall and freakin’ laugh abt it. it’s a mess. a riot.

omg ... has the nasty tendency of handling weapons like they’re toys. will spontaneously do shit like a point a gun at you or put it in his mouth and be like ... yo yo yo. thinks it’s funny? i honestly don’t know what’s going thru his mind.

because his thoughts move at the speed of light, he also tends to speak super fast when he’s all riled up abt something. also knows a bit of asl n ... its actually quite scary how fast he can sign along.

doesn’t hold back. if he feels strongly abt something, he’ll prob voice his opinion. isn’t afraid to be like “i hate that guy and i don’t want him around” when the guy is literally stood there like ?? chill. i just came to get my copy of great gatsby ??

acts like he’s the shit. conceited prick. self-proclaimed big dick energy, but if u look closer, it reeks of insecurities. absolutely never point that out.

genuinely offended when he can’t be the best/most skillful person in the room, esp if it it’s something he considers himself good at. has bit of a hard time admitting defeat.

fr the most part, his bark seems bigger than his bite. has definitely tried resolving conflicts by going “mooooooom!!!!” at the age of twenty-fuckin’-five. manbaby realness.

guess he can be bit of a fuckboi?? sleeps with a bunch of ladies while looking at boys from afar and going ..... *heavy sigh*. has had a crush on.. quite a few, but he’d rather eat his own hair than ever publicly admit to it.

though, he’s by no means homophobic. jst ... a little unsure of his sexuality n it makes him a lil insecure. bt.. vulnerabilities and ... that sorta stuff?? pfft. not in his household.

also . don’t call him kassidy. he won’t respond. unless you’re his mom. and you’re angry. then he might weep.

WCS:

um. i’ll make a list at some point maybe bt until then.... come punch him in the gut? <3

#irvingintro #i typed this so fast #so fast #if there are any errors ??#no there arent <3 #kiss kiss

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sluttyfluffartist · 3 years

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Growth

Prepping himself for the swing Edmund tapped his bat on the ground in anticipation

“Hurry up ladies because by the time you’re done talking I would have won the game already”

“Yeah just a minute Ed let us create a game plan first”

“Yeah whatever you still won’t beat me” as the boys huddled closer in their circle, in hopes that one of them could come up with a plan that would make Edmund eat his words

“Maybe we should just accept defeat” Jeffery offered

“Yeah that’s a good idea Jeff and let Ed force us to do his work for 3 months again no way” Richard argued

“Look look listen Richard since your tall how about you go far out in the field just in case he hits it to far”

“Sure”

“And Jeffery since you’re pretty fast how about you get close to Ed in case he hits softly and you end catching up so then you can get him out”

“Alright”

“And I’ll throw him the ball.” As the teens disbanded their huddle and got in their positions the taunting from the other team began

“You know Ted no matter how witty and smart and charming you are you’re still no match for Big Ed, ain’t that right Eddy” Dennis teased

“Yep”

“Well boys you might have Big Ed on your team but he is no match for my fastball” throwing the ball Ted didn’t expect Ed to actually hit it, let alone shoot it out of the park

“What was that about it being no match” Gary taunted

“Fuck off” Ted said, hearing Jeff shout that he’ll get it Ted realized he had to go with him so he wouldn’t get lost

“Damn it” throwing his baseball cap in frustration Ted followed Jeffery in hot pursuit.

“So where do you think the ball could have landed” Jeffery asked

“Well based on the positioning of the park I would have assumed it landed in someone’s backyard”

“Great idea Ted now we just have to go door to door asking people if we could check their backyards for a baseball” groaning at his words Ted put his head in his hands and mumbled curses

“Don’t worry Ted if we work together we can find that ball in no time”

“It’s the working with you part that I’m cursing God for”

“Well that’s rude” as the two teens set off going house to house searching for the ball Ted and Jeff grew more and more frustrated as time passed, soon reaching the last house on the block

“Damn if we don’t find that ball I’m just going to assume that Ed hit it into another neighborhood” Ted mumbled, knocking on the door Ted was taken back on the appearance of the person who answered

“Hey boys”

“Oh hey Kassidy” Jeffery greeted.

“When did Kassidy have boobs” Ted thought “Shit when did she get hot for a matter of fact” Ted wasn’t prepared when it came to the new look from this used to be ugly duckling of a girl

“Well you’ve changed a lot” he said

“Thanks Ted I believe it has to do with me jogging and just eating healthier I guess”

“Yeah”

“Or maybe it’s puberty” she joked

“Maybe” he chuckled “definitely” he thought, noticing her once flat chest was now covered with two plump and big breast, her once skinny thighs were now thick, and her baby face had grown into a better looking mold made Ted’s face heat up a little

“What brings you boys to my humble doorstep” she teased while leaning on her doorway, giving Ted a better look of her body

“Shit did she always have an hourglass figure” “Was her ass always this perky” “Were her eyes always this alluring” as these questions swarmed Ted’s head he could feel his pants growing tighter.

“We’re looking for a baseball and we would like to know if we could check your backyard” Jeffery asked

“Why would it be in my backyard”

“Ed hit the ball” Ted said

“Oh” shrugging her shoulders the girl allowed the boys to walk in to her home, however not expecting a bunch of giggles to erupt the boys were surprised to see a group of teenage girls sitting in Kass’s living room

“Oh yeah I forgot to mention I’m having a sleepover, say hi girls”

“Hi boys” the girls said in unison

“I didn’t think you were the kind to host a sleepover especially with a bunch of girls” Ted teased

“Well my mom said that I needed to hangout with girls more often so I just invited some random girl’s from my class”

“Of course” Ted chuckled. As Ted and Kass waited for Jeffery to be finished searching Ted heard Kass mumble her throat was parch and so seeing her walk in the kitchen he followed her

“I see you’re still following me around Bundy”

“I just wanted to see if they had anything I like” as Ted closed the kitchen door Kassidy started to read out his options

“Well we have Water, Sprite, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi” making a disgusted face at the last option Ted raised his eyebrow in question

“My mom likes it” thinking about his options Ted chose Coca-Cola, but when he went to grab it Kass pulled it away from him

“What’s the magic word”

“Fucking stop being annoying”

“Definitely not that” attempting to grab it out of Kass’s hand she simply put it behind her back then leaned on the fridge door

“Oh Ted what’s the magic word” grumbling Ted eventually caved in and said please

“See now was that so hard” handing him the soda Kassidy didn’t expect Ted to move his face so close to hers, their lips almost touching, then say

“You may have physically gotten prettier but you’re still the annoying bitch I had to put up with in middle school.” Chuckling Kassidy got up on her tippy toes and whispered in Ted’s ear

“You think I’m pretty” reeling back at her words Ted stood there in confusion, asking himself how’d he let that word prettier slip out of his mouth

“No....I mean.....what I meant was” giggling at his flustered nature Kassidy placed a peck on his cheek to try and get him to shut up

“.......oh” Ted quipped, it had work

“You’re cute when your flustered but cuter when you’re quiet” nodding his head in thoughtless agreement Kass was delighted at his confused and lost stare. As the two teens stood silently Ted soon worked up the courage to ask for another kiss

“On the lips” she asked

“On the lips” he confirmed

“Well what if I don’t want to do that”

“Well then I’ll lead” putting the soda can in his pocket he pulled her in for a kiss, pressing his body up against hers to allow friction to happen

“Ted I find the ball” Jeffery shouted from outside

“Ted he found the ball” Kass mumbled in the kiss

“Ok”

“Ted gooo”

“In a minute” as the teenagers deepen the kiss, going from a small to kiss to making out, Ted allowed himself to get a little comfortable and by that I mean he had pressed his erection onto Kassidy’s womanhood. Not expecting another member to join, Kassidy roughly pushed Ted back

“What the fuck Kass”

“You’re the one pressing your dick onto me”

“Yeah by accident” he lied

“Jesus Christ....Just...get your fucking ball and leave” realizing he had scared her immensely Ted apologized for his crude action then left with Jeffery

“Bye Kassidy” Jeffery said

“See you later dudes” then in a quick hurry the door was closed

“Man Ted I was calling your name for a while where were you and why didn’t you help me search”

“Never mind all that man I just want to get back to the field”

“Alright cool.”

(Bonus)

“Hey Ted why are you walking funny”

“What do you mean”

“You’re walking like you’re trying to hide something”

“It’s just an itch it’ll eventually go away”

“Oh, alright” thinking about his fully erected dick Ted hoped that it would go away because if not he might just have to call a bathroom break.

#ted bundy #jeffery dahmer #oc #fanfiction #fanfic #dennis rader #edmund kemper #richard ramirez #gary ridgeway

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ivyprism · 3 years

Text

The Difference between Underfell and The Underfell Sister’s AU

Trigger Warnings: Implied Violence, implied murder, murder, genocide route, romance, alcohol abuse mentioned, violence, soft, a little angsty(?), and etc. Mentions of sexual contact and shameless flirting. Foul Language also used.

The premise of Underfell is similar to that of Undertale, but in this universe kind monsters were turned evil, and evil monsters turned good. Frisk's goal is to help these monsters find peace and finally stop being consumed by rage. (Although, I much prefer the SoulFell view on it.)

Similar to that of Horrortale and Undertale, there are also the Mixed and the Humans who live amongst them. In all three worlds, the Humans that live amongst the Monsters have weak SOULs that are unable to break the Barrier. The Skeleton Sister's AU has a similar premise but is starkly different. The sisters are shown to have a loving relationship. While other Monsters, Mixed, and Humans tend to become violent or cruel to their siblings to hide their "weaknesses", the sisters do not do so.

When asked why the sisters will simply state that they're both too strong and too smart to be used as leverage. Blaze will calmly state that the others "know the consequences" of even trying. Blaze, unlike Underfell Papyrus, is a lot nicer and kinder than him. She, like him, however, has a horrible temper that can get in the way of her forming relationships. She isn't scared when her sister is hurt because of their SOULbond items. Her sister, Cherry, isn't afraid of anything or anyone. She will sit on a random Human, Mixed, and Monster's lap if she feels like it. Monsters, Humans, and Mixed are too scared to put their hands on her because they don't want to anger the Captain of the Royal Guard.

She isn't afraid to shamelessly flirt and drink around the people of the Underground. She, however, also has her insecurities and she tends to "fuck away the pain". In the Pacifist route, she's pretty chill and even sparing if Sally fell and was there to be kind and spare the monsters. Despite not being entirely fond of the half-skeleton, she learns to like them.

When a Genocide route is in order, she tended to drink herself into a stupor. She, however, is a lot stronger and a lot angrier than Underfell Sans is when he fights Frisk. She is shown to be no-nonsense and even borderline cruel and unmerciful when Sally kills her sister. Unlike in normal Undertale, Horrortale, and Underfell, there are chances where Sally can kill Cherry first. This will cause a chain reaction where they would face Blaze at the end. Unlike Cherry, Blaze holds nothing back and kills them multiple times in more painful ways. Blaze will also draw out some of Sally's death to "satisfy her need" for revenge. If you spare both, they will tag team you in revenge for their Fallen Friends.

However, like Undertale (and Horrortale), Cherry or Blaze (or both depending on if you spared them both and they tag teamed you) will meet a child named Rosaline (in this AU, she is known as Rosa) after the Genocide Route. Rosaline, in this AU, is still as sweet as sugar and as her other selves. Unlike her other selves though, she doesn't seem to have a permanent stutter and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She also cries a bit too much around her family. She still has her father's familiar at her side guarding her. Bear, however, is much more violent and vicious towards any threat compared to his other versions. Dr. Verdana is shown to also be a lot more aggressive towards anyone but his family.

Kassidy (known as Kass instead of Kasie) is a lot nicer in this AU as well. She is shown to be a lot less abusive and even caring. She shown to have deep trust issues and even becomes standoffish with the people threatening her Sister. She is shown to deeply regret a lot of things during her time on the Surface. Kass often apologizes to Bear or Rosa whenever she accidentally hurts one of them. Unlike in her other variations who are cruel and unfeeling towards both.

Similar to that of Undertale, Sally is able to SAVE Daisy/Tiana and Minnie. Tiana is just as sweet as their flower form and Minnie is a shy baby who clings to Tiana. Tiana is shown to have great disapproval for the actions of their mothers. Minnie is shown to have a small crush on Kass when they meet. Minnie is also shown to be standoffish with the Skeleton Sisters.

In the Genocide Route, Minnie and Tiana will find a way to SAVE themselves (with the help of Dr. Verdana) to protect his two girls from Sally, who, knowing they haven't finished the job yet, goes to kill the living Skeleton Sister (or Sisters if you spared them and they tag teamed you). Rosa and Tiana would start to brainstorm a way to SAVE Sally from themself and SAVE the monsters killed. Kass and Minnie, however, will take it upon themselves to fight the rampaging Half-Skeleton if they wandered too close.

Additional Facts about this AU:

Kass's SOUL is no longer corrupted.

There is actually a healthy relationship between Kass and Rosa.

Kass opens up to one of the Skeleton Sisters about how abusive and toxic she once was.

Dr. Verdana is shown to give his oldest a hug after having no choice but to leave her to remind her that he still loves her.

Kass has self-esteem problems and hates herself.

Sally can be a sweet baby or an evil demon who doesn't care.

Dr. Verdana recreated the locket he was going to give Kass before her sister was born to fix their SOULbond.

Kass doesn't believe in SOULmates.

Minnie and Tiana are very focused on helping the leftover Mixed.

Minnie is shown to be very disappointed in Sally.

Minnie looks similar to Sans from Undertale.

Tiana is smaller and more fragile than Asriel.

When Rosa and Cherry inevitably form a familial bond of Mother and Daughter, Cherry calls Rosa "Baby girl".

Rosa calls Cherry "Mama Red". Although, she just uses Mama most of the time.

Kass, as well, develops a familiar body with Cherry. Cherry lovingly calls her "Sweetie".

Kass calls her Cherry the same thing as Rosa. '

Blaze actively tries to help Kass better herself if you choose to be a Pacifist and they inevitably meet the two sisters.

Blaze and Cherry are biological siblings.

SOUL bonds:

Similar to Undertale, a SOUL bond in Underfell is through a physical object. Blaze and Cherry were given matching bracelets. The bracelets were hand-made and the two would put their magic into the two bracelets and exchange them as siblings. Lovers exchange rings or necklaces. If it’s a Monster courting a Human, they will put a piece of their soul into the object and teach the Human how to do so as well. Like in the other universes, the feeling has to be mutual before the exchange since it counts as a marriage. Friendship can vary in the items, usually, it’s either the exchange of Lockets, Stuffed Toy, or Clothing. Similar to Horrortale, some people are scared to SOULbond because in their world it's "Kill or Be Killed". So the likelihood of their SOULbond dying is highly likely. In the Genocide route, however, the survivors are either traumatized, catatonic, or violent.

When Cherry or Blaze or both Sisters spent more and more time with Rosa and Kass a SOUL bond was formed without their knowledge. Eventually, it came to a point where they accidentally put their magic into four (or eight) objects and exchanged. They become like Mother and Daughters because of this SOUL bond.

The objects they exchanged were:

A custom Locket (made by Cherry for Rosa) and a custom scarf (made by Cherry for Kass).

A custom blanket (made by Blaze for Rosa) and a custom bracelet (made by Blaze for Kass).

A custom jacket (made by Rosa for Cherry) and a custom Locket (made by Kass for Cherry)

A personal diary (given to Blaze by Rosa) and a book (given to Blaze by Kass).

Their SOUL bond complete, they became an actual Mother and Daughter. Similar to that of Undertale, a SOUL bond between Family and Friendship does not exchange memories. Romantic partners and VERY CLOSE friends are the only one who gets memory exchange. Family depends on the situation. When Kass and Minnie inevitably admit their feelings for one another and date for a long long time. They'll get married and exchange a locket (imbued by Minnie's magic for Kass) and a ring (imbued by Kass's magic for Minnie).

If Rosa and Tiana (who is biologically male but a they-them, but has a feminine name) got together and married. Rosa would be given a silver locket by Tiana and Rosa would give Tiana a matching locket.

#Underfell #Soft #Angsty #Depression #A lot of objects made #Alt Timelines #Minnie and Kass may be a thing in this AU #Rosa and Tiana may be a thing in this AU #Tiana and Rosa don't have an official age #They just are treated as kids for the sake of the AU #Sally is a murderous freak sometimes #Trying to be sweet #failing #A lot of differences #Similarities to Undertale #A lot of Soulbond items listed #Murder #Kasie isn't abusive in this AU #Kass is a sweetie

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blooblooded · 1 year

Text

The girls vs death squad

The truck slowed to a stop. That was what it was supposed to do. Stop, wait for the gates to open, and keep driving. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this. Trucks came into and left Eden by the dozen each week, transporting manufactured goods to the neighboring Colonies of Green River and Serenity, then bringing raw materials back. There was nothing to worry about. Casey’s dad had assured them all that there was nothing to worry about, since he had paid off the Border Guards. No searches, no checks. Only one stop, lasting one minute of time. Nothing to worry about. All good.

One minute passed. Then two.

Kassidy chewed on her lower lip until she tasted blood. The cargo bay was nothing but a metal rectangle, claustrophobic and windowless. The only light shared between herself, Ayda, Esther, Rosie, and Tony came from their phone screens. They were all crammed in there together, alongside various boxes Mr. Agapama intended to send to the Northern Territories. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was inside of them: weapons and technology, the perfect tribute to an embargoed foreign nation on the brink of war.

“We should be moving,” Esther whispered. Her face was bloodless in the pale light. She clutched at the neck of her sweater with spider-like fingers. “It shouldn’t take this long. Something’s gone wrong.”

“Tabby has it handled,” said Rosaline. “Tabby said she drove for AGA 5 years ago, she knows how this goes. Everything’s OK.”

“Tabby’s a liar! All Tabby has ever done is lie! If she lets the Border Guards search the truck, it’s over for us! I can’t go to prison! Do you know what they do to Artificials in prison?!”

“Babes, you need to take some deep breaths right now.”

Their squabbling was familiar, something easy to tune out. Kassidy stood up. She wanted to pace but there was no space inside the cramped cargo bay. Something was wrong but she did not want to sit still. A frenetic energy had filled her body. Her heart pounded and she could hear every pulse of blood in her veins. Kassidy started to jiggle her legs to disperse the energy. So close, she thought. She was so close. She was so close, she could almost taste it.

Close to what? Kassidy had never left Eden. She had never wanted to leave Eden. It was her home. It was all she knew. But now what did it have left for her? Why should she stay? Her brother was dead. Her mother hated her. She had lost her job, she was losing her health, she was losing everything, so why should she stay? The whole world and all of its gleaming potential was in front of her. So close. They just had to make it through the gate. They just had to make it through the gate and keep driving, keep driving until they reached the ruins of Asilo and–

Wait. No. They weren’t going to the Lost Colony. They were going to the Northern Territories. In her excitement, she had mixed up the two. That was it. That was all that was.

Tony sat next to Ayda. His knees were drawn up to his chest with his eye squeezed shut. Every now and then he would shiver. Suddenly he looked very small and old. Kassidy stared at him. She still did not understand why he had agreed to come along. He had protested for months and still he had got on the truck with the rest of them like a cow walking down the chute of the slaughterhouse.

Sometimes Kassidy wished that she could grab him and shake him until they were on the same page.

As if he knew that she was thinking about him, Tony opened his one blue, blue eye and looked up at Kassidy. His mouth tightened, then he tapped his nose. Kassidy put a hand to her own nose and brought it back wet with black blood.

Fuck.

Outside, she could hear raised voices. One of them was distinctively male. Oh, their shit was absolutely cooked. They had been found out. The Border Guards were going to search the truck and haul them all off to jail. For what? For smuggling? Human trafficking? Who was to say. Kassidy wiped at her face, smearing the black blood even more. Ayda buried her face in her hands and started to snivel. The air in the cargo bay became heavier. “They got us,” she moaned. “We’re so busted. Oh my god, what are we going to do? This was so stupid. I’m so stupid. Dad’s going to be in so much trouble.”

"Shut up, Ayda,” snapped Marty, from Ayda’s phone. Up until that point he had been uncharacteristically silent. Kassidy imagined him sitting alone in his room. “Just shut up.”

“Tabby and Casey can talk their way out of anything, I’m sure this is just normal. They think we’re scheduled to go to Green River, there’s no way anyone wants to go through the hassle of a search this late at night.”

Rosaline’s pragmatism did nothing to calm Ayda down. She started to cry and Kassidy felt tears prick at the corners of her own eyes. She angrily rubbed them away.

Outside, she could hear Tabitha Delmont talking. She must have been very close, to have her voice carry through the metal cargo bay. “Look, look, wait, you can check my credentials, it’s all right here. Just check the manifest. It’s all good, everything’s good, I swear on my mother’s life.” Hearing that made Tony freeze up. “It’s all good, I swear.”

“Shut the fuck up!” A woman’s voice. More like a girl’s voice, stilted and mean sounding. “Yeah, she’s fucking lying, Boss. They’ve got five unregistered people back there, it’s all she’s thinking about.”

Shit. How could she know that?

“Unregistered? No. Everyone’s been registered. It’s just an honest mistake. You want me to call my supervisor? Look, I can call my supervisor right now if you want me to. We’re all from AGA. We’re all from AGA, there’s no reason to overreact.”

“She told you to shut the fuck up.” A man’s harsh voice, harsh and barking.The hairs on the back of Kassidy’s neck stood up when she heard it. Something about it made her feel sick. Border Guards didn’t talk like that. They were just cops, they never degraded citizens like that. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong and she was trapped in a metal box with nowhere to go.

“Hold on, I’ll just call my supervisor and he’ll–”

There was a hard smack and Tabby grunted in pain. Tony flinched. Somebody else outside the truck laughed.

“We’re done, we’re so done,” Ayda whimpered. “We’re done, this was stupid, we were stupid for doing this.” The air became heavier. Esther kicked her.

“Just be cool,” said Rosie, who was still frustratingly calm about what was happening. Or maybe she was just in denial like she always was. “So what? So we get arrested. Your dad will bail just us out and we’ll try something else. It’s not a big deal. I’ve been arrested before. Casey’s been arrested before.”

“I don’t want to get arrested, Rosaline!” hissed Esther. She was shaking so hard that her knees were knocking together. She looked around the dark little cargo bay wildly. “Oh my god, we have a bunch of fucking guns in here, they’re going to throw the book at us!”

Throw the book at us. That was a funny turn of phrase. Kassidy looked down at her hands, then turned them over palm-up. The cuts running up her arms from the last time she had used blood magic had not healed yet. It would be so easy to open them up again. All she’d have to do was pull up her sleeves, open up the crusting scabs. She sniffed and felt a thick glob of blood and mucus run down the back of her throat.

Why wasn’t she afraid? She already knew. Somehow, she already knew who had stopped the truck and she wasn’t afraid. There was only one option. That was just the natural progression of things, wasn’t it? Like poetry. The same group of people who had murdered her brother like he was an animal were now here to stop her. Not if she had anything to do with it. Not if she stopped them first.

Ever since she was 17 years old, Kassidy had been scared of them. Internal Operations. The secret police. Eden’s covert security forces, trained killers of the state. Well she wasn’t scared of them any more. She wasn’t scared at all. Not now. Not after what the Book had given her. It had given her strength. It had given her confidence, it had given her more potential than she was worth. How could she be scared when she had something like that? She wasn’t scared. She was invigorated.

And she wanted to hurt someone. Kassidy wanted someone to hurt in the same way she hurt. She wanted to hurt someone the same way they had hurt Kip. She wanted to create wounds that would never heal.

“OK,” she said under her breath, more to herself than to anyone else. She willed her heart to stop beating so fast. Opened and closed her hands. “OK. OK.”

“Everyone just stay calm,” whispered Rosaline, trying and failing to keep Esther calm by rubbing her back. “It’s not a big deal, this really isn’t a big deal, I’m sure it happens all the time. Casey’s out there talking to them too and–”

“--We should have never done this, we should have never even thought about this, I shouldn’t have–”

“Will you shut the fuck up, Ayda?!”

Tony said nothing. He sat perfectly still apart from the occasional shiver. His face was blank, almost glazed over, and his gaze met with Kassidy’s. That blankness took on a sheen of dread. What did he See when he looked at her? The crushing grief had changed to determination and hate. Was that so terrible to look at? She didn’t care if Tony thought that made her terrible. He was lower than even she was, a scared animal, and given half a chance, he would act like a scared animal again.

Kassidy was not a scared animal. She would never be small and scared again. The Book had changed her into something hungry and nobody could take that from her.

The cargo bay’s back doors swung open and outwards. The sudden noise and movement made Esther and Ayda scream, and Rosaline grabbed her girlfriend as she flinched. Tony made one last strangled sound of despair, deep down in his throat. Kassidy froze. The old terror pounded in her head and she struggled against it. Her whole body felt hot, she bit down on her tongue hard to find clarity.

There were two people standing outside the cargo bay. It was hard to see them in the dark; the overhead lights far above their heads were dimmed at night. But their uniforms were recognizable in an instant; they were the sleek, black, helmeted uniforms of Internal Operations. One of them was slender and had one circular bronze pip on their neckline, the other was plump and had a collar with two pips. Neither were tall. Both of their stances were forcefully composed, as if barely restraining violent urges.

Only one had a firearm and it was still holstered at their hip. Both had stun batons and tactical knives at their belts.

“Get the fuck out of there!” said the fat one with two pips and no gun, and Kassidy recognized the mean girlish voice of the one who had somehow known that they were all in the back of the truck. “You think you can hide from us back there? Get the fuck out before we drag you out!”

“All you smugglers are really stupid,” said the other one, who sounded male and had a lisp. His gloved hand lingered close to his firearm. “You know we always get you.”

“OK, OK,” said Rosaline. She slowly rose to her feet with her hands up. “Just be cool, we’re coming out.”

“Oh god,” Ayda sniveled, cringing next to Tony.

“You hear her telling us to be cool?” asked the smaller one with the lisp, cocking his blank and helmeted face towards the other. “Whaddya think about that, Nicky?”

“Pretty fucking stupid,” said Nicky. “Real stupid.”

Muffled words of static crackled through a receiver in one of their helmets. The one with the lisp laughed and the other one gave him a little shove.

Esther started to shake and hyperventilate. Kassidy swallowed hard, tasted the coppery blood in her mouth.

She was not going to die like her brother. She was not going to die like Kip had, murdered like an animal. Put down like a dog. There was something that she had to do. There was somewhere that she had to go and because of that, she knew that these people could not stop her no matter how hard they tried.

She had never felt so alive.

Rosie kept one of her hands up, but pulled Esther to her feet. They started to climb out of the cargo bay. Ayda followed suit, still sniffling, then Tony, moving like he was dead. Ayda was holding Tony’s hand.

“This big bitch is TP,” said Nicky. She grabbed Ayda’s arm. Ayda whined and tried to jerk away towards Tony, as if he would do something to protect her, but was held fast. “You feel that? Empath.”

“Can’t be a very good one if we didn’t know about it.”

“Mm.”

“You–you– don’t touch me like that!” Ayda cried. Her soft, pretty face was splotchy even in the dull light. Some of her hair had come out from under her scarf. “My father is a very–”

“Yeah, shut up, traitor.” The girl twisted Ayda’s arm behind her back easily and peeled Tony away from her. For his credit, he did try to hold on. “Get moving and don’t even think about trying something or I’ll jam myself into your brain.”

The word TP was meaningless to Kassidy but she knew that it meant something bad. It was a category to put people into. Oh categories. Categories were always bad. She was the last one to get out of the truck. Nobody was looking at her. Of course nobody was looking at her. She used her fingers to make sure that her sleeves were pulled down so that nobody could see the marks on her arms.

Something built up inside of her. Her heart beat fast.

The two Internal Operations agents led them around the edge of the truck. Tabby stood there with her arms up, with blood dripping down her face. Someone had hit her. Somebody had turned her pockets inside out and taken off her jacket. Casey was beside her, untouched but very wide-eyed and scared. She was not moving a muscle, probably because there was another masked person standing close to her, and a fourth with their arms crossed near the driver’s side door.

When Casey saw her sister being pushed with her arm twisted behind her back, her posture changed from acquiescing to stock-still. Every lean muscle in her body tensed. Her upper lip drew up to reveal the diamond in her left incisor.

“You were right, Boss, truck was full of smugglers,” said the one with the lisp. It reminded Kassidy of the way the really fucked up Artificials talked, the ones with nasty teeth like Rome Prospas. He sidled up to the one whose arms were crossed but stood just out of reach. “Bet they got weapons and shit back there too.”

“Don’t use an operative’s name in front of targets,” snapped Boss. His uniform was the same as the others’, except for three bronze pips at his collar. Probably the leader. He was the loud one with the barking voice. The hairs on the back of Kassidy’s neck stood up again. Something about hearing him made her feel sick, it made her skin crawl. It possessed the kind of meanness that she could imagine someone murdering her brother with. “I heard you break 1022B’s confidentiality, this isn’t a game. You want me to write you the fuck up? How many times do I gotta tell you?”

“Aw, Boss.”

“Don’t ‘aw Boss’ me, follow policy or I swear I’ll write you up.”

“Leave him alone,” said the one close to Casey. From her exaggerated form, it was easy to tell that she was a woman. Her uniform also had three pips at the collar. There was a hierarchy among them. More categories. 3 pips were at the top. “Be professional.”

Kassidy had never heard secret police talk this much. Their presence in her life had always been brief and silent. They walked onto trains to check people’s credentials. They stood voiceless on top of buildings, always watching. She had never thought about them as humans with feelings and weaknesses. Hearing them talk was so…so wrong.

She could sense the weakness all over them. If she had to, she would kill them all, starting with the one with the harsh voice that made her feel so uncomfortable.

“We haven’t done anything wrong,” said Rosaline, still with her hands up. Esther was clinging onto her. She was talking very slowly and clearly, the way that she would talk to doped up homeless people. “Check our credentials. If you check our credentials, you’ll see that we’re scheduled to drive to Green River tonight.”

Oh, she really was stupid if she thought that she could negotiate with these people. She didn’t understand what they were capable of like Kassidy did. She didn’t understand what they could do, how easily they could take a life. She knew, everyone knew, but they didn’t understand. Nothing had been taken from them like it had been taken from her.

All that Helen had taught her relied on instinct. There was life and there was death and there was the will to change it. Something hummed deep inside of her mind and it rattled her bones. Kassidy did not know the words. She did not know the symbols. Helen said that she hadn’t either. Helen said that there was something unnatural inside of every person that was just waiting to get out.

All that was required was that she direct her focus. The force of her life could affect the life of others. All that she needed to do was destroy part of herself.

“Credentials don’t matter no more,” said the big one with the barking voice. Boss. Out of the four of them, he was the greatest threat. He was so close to Casey. Close enough to lunge and grab her if he wanted. Close enough to hurt her if he wanted to. Kassidy couldn’t think about that. His posture was just relaxed enough to look underious. “You don’t watch the news much, huh?”

“We’re scheduled– we’re just driving to Green River to–”

“No more trucks in or out of Eden,” said Boss. He did not uncross his arms. “The new trade cargo or whatever it’s called. But AGA knows all about that. What, you’re trying to sneak more weapons out of here? The Central Committee’s putting an end to that now.”

“Trade embargo,” said the woman with the three pips on her collar. Her calm energy did not match the other three. She stood straight and still, her voice was serious. “It means a ban on commercial activity, Boss.” That seemed like a jab. Maybe she was the most dangerous one.

When she said that, Marty spluttered something furiously in his own musical language from the communication device on Ayda’s wrist. Nicky reacted immediately, she tore the device from Ayda and held it out. Seeing that made the corners of Casey’s mouth twitch and she cut her eyes towards Esther and Rosaline. Ayda cried harder, affecting everyone.

“Collaborator,” said Nicky. “But I don’t know–”

Boss snatched the device from her. He held it up before his black visor. “What is that?”

“Motherfuckers!” Marty swore. He was not helping the situation. “All you motherfuckers in Eden. Eh, maudits enfoires?! You think you can just close yourselves off and let people starve? To cut us off, la? To isolate us?! You think you get to make that choice?!”

“Marty, please,” begged Rosaline, who was starting to look scared, finally realizing how far she was out of her element. These were not people who could be de-escalated or reasoned with. “Don’t make this worse, please don’t make this worse.”

“Shut the fuck up, kid.” Tabby spat onto the pavement. “Don’t tell these jumped up little fascists nothing.”

“Yeah, Marty,” said Boss. He cocked his head as he gazed at the blue hologram. Marty, with his funny voice. Marty, with his funny clothes. “I like the way you talk. You wanna make it easy for us and give us your address now or do you wanna do this the fun way and let me chase you down?”

It was as good a distraction as any. Kassidy swallowed the blood in her own mouth. Kill. Kill them. Kill them all. It was the only thing that mattered. She didn’t know these people, they were strangers to her, and she wanted them to suffer like she had suffered. Destroying them would serve two purposes. It would allow her and her friends to leave Eden safely. And it would bring her some kind of fucking relief. Some kind of closure. There was nothing more she wanted to do than hurt them worse than they– they and all of Eden– had hurt her by taking Kip.

She was hot all over. Even the fillings in her teeth seemed to buzz with power. When the moment struck, she would tear them to shreds. Kassidy had never done it before but she knew that she could. Helen had told her that she could. All she needed to do was really want it. All she needed to do was hate herself so much that all her pain and rage was directed outwards.

“Putain de–”

“Sounds funny, Boss,” interjected the lispy one too eagerly. Thoundth funny, Bothh. He edged closer to the big man.

“Will you shut up when I’m talkin’?”

“I’m just saying. I’m just saying he sounds–”

“Shut the fuck up, Johnny!” snapped Nicky, who then cringed when the one in charge turned his faceless head towards her.

The serious woman who was the only one who had not had her name slip out looked up at the District ceiling as if she was frustrated.

These were just people. Just four stupid people that the government had given masks and weapons and too much power. Why had Kassidy been so scared of them for so long? This was too funny. People like this had murdered her brother? People like this had put out his spark? It was so stupid. A laugh started to build up inside of her. She felt out of control. Her body was shaking all over like an over-excited dog. It was hard to breathe.

She saw Casey’s black sparkling eyes had fixed themselves on her. They were so wide that the whites showed all around them. The corner of Casey’s mouth twitched again.

Kassidy twisted her own arms behind her back. One of the cuts had opened by itself and she could feel drips of hot blood, blood so hot that it nearly burned her. Everything smelled of iron. She wanted to laugh so badly.

“You motherfuckers,” Marty was saying furiously, no longer caring about the consequences. What consequences? He was safely hundreds of miles away, there were no consequences for his actions. “You fuckers. You’ve been doing this to us for 200 years and now you want to do the same to everyone else?! You people think you’re so smart, you think you’re so much better than us and–”

“I like the way you talk all crazy,” Boss said again, in a mockingly flirtatious tone. “1022B, get this guy’s location so we can nab him.”

“--you think you can just take and take–”

A quick sting of pain shot down the back of Kassidy’s spine. A little invasion, as intimate and unwanted as someone sticking their finger into her mouth. Something was taken from her. The shock of it almost distracted her. She flinched. Everyone flinched but Casey and Ayda.

“Look, he’s not– he isn’t–” Rosaline blinked fast, clinging onto Esther’s arm. Her eyes suddenly shone amber in the dim light.

“Shut up,” said the tall nameless woman, turning to look at her. The air felt hot.

Blood.

Nicky went still. The lights on her helmet’s black visor blinked. “Hey Boss,” she said, her mean, girlish voice suddenly contemplative. “That guy’s not in Eden. None of them have even seen him before.”

Things were about to get very bad.

“Whaddya mean none of them have seen him before?”

“--tout est vrai– you fuckers are just–”

“Look, he’s not fucking important!” Tabby put both her hands up and angled her body towards the girl who by this point Kassidy had decided was a psychic, a mind-reader or something. Standing in her way. What was she doing? Everything that the Delmont twins had told her about their Sight seemed so passive and unhelpful. She could see the sweat on Tabby’s lean and clever face. “Just listen to me, listen to me, we didn’t know about all this trade shit! Casey, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t know what the fuck an embargo is, I was just doing what I was told! Do you really wanna deal with this in the middle of the night? You wanna do all that paperwork? You wanna get stuck doing all that paperwork tonight?”

And Casey shifted as well. She bent her knees almost imperceptibly.

“We don’t even do paperwork,” said Johnny, the one with the lisp. His hands were nowhere near his firearm and he was the only one who carried one.

Kassidy already knew how this was going to end. Blood. She could hardly restrain herself. What did she look like to these people who had murdered her brother? Just a sick and trembling little woman. There was a terrible hunger inside of her. She wanted to see what was inside of them.

“Where’s this guy from?” asked Boss. That wasn’t his name though. That was just something they had let slip. His harsh voice still had a laugh in it and his posture was still loose. Not for long. He stared at Marty’s blue translucent face on the communication device. “Where do they talk like that, huh?” He shook the device as if that would shake Marty.

The fat little psychic was quiet. Everyone was quiet, except for Ayda who was still crying prettily.

Every beat of her heart made Kassidy dizzier. She could kill them. She could kill them and she wouldn’t even care. They were animals to her. They were lower than animals. Faceless nameless killers who had taken someone she loved. Even if these four weren’t responsible for what had happened to Kip all those years ago, they were still a part of it. They had still participated in it. They still deserved to die.

“What’s goin’ on here?”

“They’re all thinking about how they want to leave and go find that guy on coms.” Nicky slowly turned. She pressed a hand to the side of her helmet and it beeped. Configuring something. She shook her head. “No, he’s not from Eden. And he’s not from Green River either, they were never going to Green River. They were going up North.”

“There haven’t been people alive up North since the Lost Colony was destroyed,” said the tall nameless woman. “That’s wrong. A disease killed them all.”

Kassidy wanted to look at Tony. She wanted to know what he was Seeing. Not that it mattered anymore. There was only one way this could end.

“North,” said Boss. “Huh.”

“Stupid motherfuckers,” said Marty furiously. “You stupid motherfuckers, you wait, you wait until the Prime Minister sends–”

The big Internal Operations agent dropped Ayda’s communication device and crushed it beneath his boot. No more Marty. He barked his harsh laugh. Because he thought it was funny. He thought that it was funny to destroy something that wasn’t his. He thought it was funny to terrorize people who had nothing to do with him. Kassidy bit the insides of her cheeks hard. She burned as she looked at him, him with his awful voice and cruelty. She was going to kill him. She was going to kill all–

Nicky extended an arm and pointed a gloved finger directly at her. “And this one’s been using blood magic.”

Kassidy froze. So it was that easy.

“No shit.” Boss ground crushed metal and glass into the pavement with his boot. He didn’t even look up. That was how little any of this mattered to him. “I can smell her from here. They always smell like fucking death. We’ll take her to R&D. Rest of them go to the Prison District for processing. Put her down, I don’t wanna deal with one of these little freaks trying to rip my guts out twice in one month.”

“Oh god,” moaned Tony. His eye was closed tightly shut. His hands were covering his face and he was hunched.

“Wait,” Esther said, shrill and terrified. “Wait, wait wait– my mother, my mother is–”

It did not matter who her mother was. It did not matter who anyones’ parents were.

It only took a second. Another sharp jab of pain shot up the back of Kassidy’s spine. It was not bad enough for her to go limp, only enough to distract her. Nicky stepped close and grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm behind her back. It tore open the wounds that were already there and Kassidy inhaled sharply, which made Nicky laugh too. She yanked up on her arm to try and hurt her worse. Kassidy’s blood smeared her gloves.

And even though these people were probably going to kill her, even though they were probably taking her somewhere to kill her, all Kassidy could think of was her brother. Had they yanked on his arm too? Had they laughed when he was scared and in pain?

She wasn’t Kip and this wasn’t happening to her. She was more than her small, weak body. She wasn’t someone they could push around and laugh at! There was something she had to do! There was something she had to do and there was somewhere she had to go and these people could not stop her. Focus, she had to focus, all she had to do was direct her thoughts and tear them all apart.

And Kassidy couldn’t help herself. She started to laugh.

“You think this is fuckin’ funny?!” said Nicky, tightening her grip. “You think this is a joke? You know what we do to you people, you–”

Casey launched herself forward, fluid and beautiful. One fist caught Nicky in the throat and on instinct, Kassidy tucked herself down, jerked away as hard as she could. Nicky let go of her wrist, her own gloved hands coming up to protect her face. Casey had her on her back in an instant, raining blows down on her head and chest. The force of her movement knocked Kassidy down onto the pavement and took her breath away.

“Get them in the truck, Delmont!” Casey’s lips were peeled back from her teeth and her black eyes were no longer sparkling. She got her hands around Nicky’s throat and was ignoring the hands scrabbling at her face. No normal person could hope to overpower an Artificial like her, the advantage she had was too unfair. “Get them in the truck! Get them in the truck!”

Tabby broke away and wrenched the driver’s side door open. The lisping secret police agent, Johnny, moved faster than anyone Kassidy had ever seen in her life, faster than Casey. He caught Tabby by the back of her shirt, yanking her away from the truck. When Tabby whirled to throw a punch at him, he moved his head and dodged it completely. Then somebody else barrelled into him and shoved him away. Johnny made a noise of terror when he saw Rosaline bearing down on him, Rosaline who had turned horrible and monstrous in half a breath. There was nothing human left about her, she was all amber eyes and shreds of clothing and hairy, rippling flesh. She started grappling with him as Tabby hauled herself into the truck.

“What is that?!” The quiet, serious Internal Operations agent could hardly disguise her shock and disgust at the sight of Rosaline. Her hands rose to cover the part of her mask where her mask should be. “Smiles, I–”

“You two quit fucking around!” snapped Boss. He turned towards Casey, who was still choking the shit out of Nicky. “Goddamn it, what’s the matter with you, get into her brain and–” Green tongues of electricity shot from Esther’s mangled, outstretched hand and coursed through his body. He started twitching and fell to his hands and knees, the lights on his helmet shattered and went out. He grunted in pain, which sent tingles of blood-lust shooting up Kassidy’s spine.

Was this even possible? Was it this easy? Why had nobody fought back before? Why was everyone so scared? These were just people. These were just stupid people. Kassidy couldn’t stop laughing. Her stomach hurt and she couldn’t stand back up. She was vaguely aware of Tony grasping her beneath her arms and dragging her to her feet. Something deep inside of her urged her to grab him back but she was laughing too hard.

“Stupid cunt!” It looked like Casey was trying to choke the life out of the little psychic. “You keep your hands off her, you keep your–”

Nicky was able to bring up a knee and catch her hard in the stomach. The momentum knocked Casey off of her and she jumped up, turning a little knob on the side of her helmet. “It’s not working, it’s not working!” she panted. Casey circled her with a look of pure murder on her face. “Help me out here!”

The air seemed to smell like burnt ozone.

As Tony dragged her towards the truck, Kassidy saw the nameless secret police woman turn silently towards Casey. And then, unthinkably, her body became covered in terrible flame. The light was blinding and intense. The woman crackled but her uniform did not melt.

Fire.

The last time Kassidy had seen fire was– was when– the last time she had seen fire was when Kip had–

She couldn’t wrap her mind around how a human being had just combusted anymore than she could understand how Esther could generate electricity or how Ayda could make people feel like shit. All Kassidy knew was that she hated and was terrified of fire and that this person was going to hurt someone she cared about. Oh, she cared about Casey. They fought like animals but she still cared about her. A long time ago she might have said that she loved her, but she wasn’t capable of that anymore. Still, something like a thread snapped inside her heart.

Blood dripped from the wounds on her arms and gobs of it fell from her nose onto her shirt. The blood was black. Kassidy was still laughing but a rage overcame her. She struggled against Tony but was too weak to break away from him. Kill. Kill her. Put out the fire, put out the light.

The fiery woman advanced on Casey and the little psychic.

There was life and there was death and Kassidy’s mind thought only of the clarity of death. That clarity cut through the chaos around her; past the secret police agent grappling with Rosaline, past the man whose body was being electrocuted by Esther, past Ayda fucking all of them with her wailing. A word beyond her understanding slithered into her mind like a half remembered dream. Another word. A string of words. Words as blind and slimy as worms, more ancient than anything, older than life, older than memory itself.

She didn’t even need to move. Kassidy thought the words as blood, her lifeforce, dripped from her body. And the fire went out. And the woman who had been on fire started screaming, screaming like a hurt child. The screams turned into mindless, gurgling pain as the woman clutched her belly. She dropped to the pavement seizing and writhing and holding herself.

“No, no!” Tony kept dragging her towards the truck. Kassidy’s body was limp but her mind had never been so clear, other than the wet, unknowable words repeating themselves there. Pain erupted in her own body. Hurt her. Hurt the woman like Kip had been hurt. She felt herself being lifted up into the truck and Tony’s face was suddenly close to her own. His one blue eye burned hotter than the fire. “Kassidy. Kassidy! Hey, Kassidy!”

Tony.

The words stopped. Kassidy reached up to try and touch his cheek but he pulled away. The woman who had been on fire kept moaning and squirming on the ground. Whatever she had done to her was over.

“Stay.” Tony’s voice was broken and trembling, his face was wild and terrified. “Stay, stay there while I get Ayda.”

“Fucking bitch!” yelled Boss as he dragged himself up off his hands and feet. Esther lurched towards him with both her hands out. Another green wave of electricity crackled over him and he fell again. Smoke rose from his clothing. “Bitch! Bitch!”

“Get away from us!” The last time Kassidy had seen Esther look like that was when she had attacked Ben Prospas. Her face was contorted, white as a sheet, but she kept shocking him.

Rosaline threw punch after punch at Johnny but he kept dodging them. The Internal Operations agent was all lean, graceful muscle and he moved like a dancer. He would dart a few paces away, fumble at his gun, then dodge again when Rosaline caught up to him. She was half a beast now, her spine and limbs elongated, her face stretched into a long muzzle and sharp teeth. Sleek and deadly as a wolf. Johnny finally pulled his firearm but hesitated a moment too long and Rosaline crashed into him and got him onto his back. Her monstrous transformation made her three times his size.

The gun went off. The bullet ricocheted off the metal gate. If they did not get out of there soon, actual cops might show up. The thought of that made Kassidy want to vomit.

Tony returned and pushed Ayda up into the truck. She was trembling all over, stupid and useless, and she wrapped her arms tightly around Kassidy. Her emotions were overpowering, fear and fear and fear, and Kassidy struggled to hold onto her clarity. When Ayda embraced her, bones in her ribcage scraped against something raw. When had she broken them? Kassidy focused on the pain.

“Weil, weil, weil,” Ayda was sobbing, reciting her own ancient words of arcane geometry. Her fingers formed meaningless sacred shapes over and over again. “Oh god, oh god, oh god.”

“We gotta go!” yelled Tony, who was also shaking like a dog. His hair had come undone and hung over his face in greasy strands. That one blue eye was burning, burning. He slapped the bed of the cargo bay. “Tabby, we gotta go, we gotta go now!”

Her muffled reply was unintelligible but the engine revved. It didn’t matter though, did it? It didn’t matter unless Marty had gotten into the computer mechanisms that controlled the gate like he said he was able to do. Their survival hinged on the hacking abilities of someone who had grown up in a place that abhorred technology. Kassidy allowed Ayda to hold her. It hurt to be loved like that.

The woman who had been on fire wasn’t moving anymore and was curled in the fetal position. Kassidy began to cough uncontrollably, it felt like bits of her esophagus were coming up.

“Fucking Artificials,” said Nicky, slowly circling Casey as she was circled in turn. Casey moved like a prowling animal,all purpose now, her grace long gone. “They did something to you while you were cooking, huh? TP doesn’t work on you? I like working with my hands better anyway!”

For her part, Casey said nothing, every muscle in her body tensed and ready to pounce. The only thing that was missing was her knife.

Electricity poured from Esther’s fingertips. Boss was back on his hands and knees, suffering, in pain. Esther stepped closer to him.

With Johnny on his back, Rosaline was able to whale on him properly. She hit him over and over again, while he squealed and tried to push her away. There was no pushing away a beast of her size and Rosie had been fighting all her life. She had gone from their gentle, thoughtful friend to a brutal monster. In one swift movement, she seized both sides of his helmet and tore it away so that she could gaze upon his killing face. And Rosaline froze, pinning him there on the ground. The helmet dropped from her hands.

“Guys–” Rosie began, her voice unnatural and distorted from her slavering, lipless mouth. Then she screamed. Johnny had pulled a knife and drove it into her left side over and over again. When Rosie buckled to press her hands to the wound, the Internal Operations agent was able to get up to his feet. He was only a boy, with yellow eyes and a hateful smile.

There was no time to think about this. Esther had gotten too close to the leader, the one called Boss. She was less than two feet away from him and was driving electricity into his body mercilessly. No, no. Not thinking. Too close. Esther was not made like Casey. Esther was an ornament to be looked at, never touched, and she was too close, too close by far. Both hands outstretched. Boss’s black and faceless mask snapped up to look at her and–

And a translucent blue bubble of energy formed around Esther’s scarred arm.

Oh, that was just like–

The bubble shrank and crushed Esther’s arm inside of it. She didn’t even have time to scream. Her waves of electricity ceased in an instant.

“Playtime’s over!” said Boss. “Playtime’s over.”

#writing

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sasarahsunshine · 4 years

Text

The Brother I Always Needed

Pairing: (Not romance, just family fluff) Derek Morgan x Kassidy Hughes (my OC)

Type: Fluffy stuff, with some self-angst

Warnings: Self loathing, small angst, the f-bomb, anxiety, and someone gets punched.

Summary: I wanted to write a follow-up to The Sister I Always Wanted, but have it be about Morgan instead <3 I think I might end up doing a mini-series where Kassidy slowly finds her place in the BAU family. It’s fun <3

You can also read this on AO3!

It wasn’t professional to cry in the office bathroom. Yet, here she was, staring at her reddened eyes and puffy cheeks in the mirror, blinking the tears away. God, why was she such a crybaby? She splashed cold water on her face, her mind reeling from the event that happened maybe 30 minutes ago. Come on, Kassidy, It’s time to grow up and stop being so sensitive- that’s what she was trying so desperately to tell herself, though her thoughts were muddled with anxiety. She sniffled, rubbing her thumbs across her eyes, willing the tears away.

An hour ago, everything was fine; great, actually. Her day had been pretty decent and non-eventful. There haven’t been any new cases at all this week, so the whole team was getting caught up on past paperwork. She took on an extra load from Morgan after giving her his signature puppy-dog eyes, but she didn’t mind. She liked being helpful. She wanted to make her friends smile. She had brought everyone coffee that morning. They were all joking and talking and laughing and enjoying being able to stay home for longer than three days at a time.

And then, on her way to the break room, she accidentally bumped into a stranger, spilling his coffee down the front of his suit. He was furious with her- no, that was an understatement. He was seething. She tried to stammer out an apology, reaching out to try and maybe salvage the situation. His eyes darkened as he shoved her back, knocking her to the floor, “Watch where you’re going!” He had shouted and thrown his empty coffee cup to the ground by her feet, “Do you even know who I am? Do you know how expensive this suit was? It’s worth more than your life-!”

“Watch it, buddy!” Morgan had pushed his way between them, his brows furrowed, and his eyes were blazing, “How about you watch your mouth before you get punched!” He glanced back at her, eyes softening just a touch, “Are you okay, Kass?” He reached down and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. She nodded dumbly, “‘M fine,” she mumbled.

“You stupid agents have no idea who I am, do you? Idiots,” the man hissed, grabbing some papers from a nearby desk to dab at the coffee on his tie. Morgan glared at him, snatching the papers away (somehow without ripping them), “I don’t give a flying fuck who you are, you don’t have the right to shove anyone around. You aren’t above us, man. It was an accident,” his glare deepened slightly, “You should apologize.”

The man scoffed and turned away, leaving his mess behind, “She ran into me. Teach your bitch to watch where she’s going.”

Kassidy didn’t register what happened next, but then the man was on the floor, looking up at Morgan in shock, blood dripping from his nose. Morgan’s fists were shaking a little by his sides as he turned around, throwing a protective arm around Kassidy’s shoulders, “Come on, Sunshine. He isn’t worth your time. You sure you’re alright?” The dark anger that was in his eyes moments before was now nowhere to be seen, replaced with kindness and concern. Her hands were trembling a little, but she nodded, “Y-yeah Der, I’m fine. Did you really have to punch him? He sounded kind of important-”

“Sunshine,” Morgan interrupted, taking her chin in his grip and gently turning her face towards him, “Nobody, and I mean nobody is too important, or too high and mighty, to treat you with kindness,” he searched her eyes to make sure she got his message. She swallowed, blinking back the tears that were now threatening her. He smiled softly and leaned forward, planting a kiss on her forehead, “Now, go to the bathroom and wash up. You got some coffee on your shirt.”

Now she was staring at herself after crying for probably 20 minutes. Would Morgan get in trouble for that stunt? Most likely. God, she hoped he wasn’t going to get fired. What if that guy was one of Strauss’s bosses? Or someone super important- like the right-hand man to the President of the United States? She felt sick.

Taking some paper towels, she wiped the water from her face. Why did she have to be so damn clumsy? Ever since she was a child, she was bumping into people, things, even walls. She spilled her food and drinks more often than not, and she was always getting into trouble over it. Why couldn’t she just be normal?

She sniffled, wiping her hand over her nose. She looked like shit. With a deep, shaky breath, she wondered if she should go back to her desk. Or maybe she should go straight to Hotch and try to explain what happened to him? Perhaps she could save Derek from getting fired. She would blame herself forever if he got in trouble.

“Kass?”

She glanced towards the door, seeing Penelope standing there. The other woman approached her, heels clicking on the tile, and pulled her into a tight hug. It was so hard to not start crying again the second her friend’s arms were wrapped around her. I am such a crybaby.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Penelope cooed, “That guy was a dick. Turns out he’s not as important as he thought, and he’s going to be getting in trouble for shoving you, okay? I saw the footage and sent it to Hotch right away. You’re okay,” she started rubbing Kassidy’s back in a soothing pattern.

And like that, the floodgates opened once more. Kassidy hiccupped as she shoved her face in the crook of Penelope’s neck, clinging to her friend even tighter. She just shushed her quietly, continuing to hold her, “It’s okay,” she whispered, “I know you were worried about Derek, huh?”

Kassidy almost laughed, choking down a sob, “I thought I was the profiler,” she tried to joke, “not you.”

Penelope pulled away a little and used her thumb to wipe the tears from Kassidy’s cheeks, smiling at her, “Oh, sweet pea, this isn’t the first time he’s punched somebody for picking on his friends. That’s the protective big brother in him, you know? I watched him knock a guy out once for being mean to Reid.”

Kassidy could imagine that. The corners of her mouth turned up a little as she wiped at her face with her sleeve, “Is he in trouble?”

“My handsome chocolate éclair? No. Hotch had a word with him, but he didn’t get written up or anything if that’s what you’re worried about,” Penelope’s smile was sweet, her eyes shimmering. Kassidy’s smile grew, “Good. I’m, um, glad he’s not in trouble. I didn’t want him being sent to the principles office for me.”

Penelope giggled, “You know he’d do it again in a heartbeat. He cares a lot about you. You know that?”

Kassidy blinked, her smile fading into something more confused, “He does? Why?” She couldn’t imagine that anyone would care a lot about her. Care, yes, but a lot? She wasn’t used to having friends who wanted to protect her all the time like this.

Penelope outright laughed now, shaking her head and pulling Kassidy into a tighter hug, “Oh honey, you’re just so sweet. I’m still shocked to this day that you’re here, working for the BAU. You see worse stuff than I do, and yet you still get shaken up because your friend stood up for you? Everyone here loves you so much, okay?” She pulled back and poked Kassidy’s nose, “Don’t forget it. Now, I ordered some food that should be here soon. I thought you might like a chocolate muffin.”

Kassidy felt her cheeks grow warm as she smiled, nodding, “Thanks, Penny. A muffin sounds good.”

Leading her from the bathroom and back into the bullpen, Penelope had her arm wrapped around Kassidy’s middle, her hand resting on her opposite hip. In the beginning, Kassidy wasn’t used to the amount of touching Penelope liked to use when interacting with her. But now, it was more normal than breathing. They were always touching each other somehow, it seemed.

Morgan glanced up from his desk, standing to his feet the second he locked eyes with Kassidy (almost knocking his chair over with how quickly he stood), “Hey Sunshine, how are you?” He asked, taking two large steps to meet her. She smiled up at him, “I’m okay, Der, I told you. Are you?”

He chuckled, planting a kiss on the crown of her head as Penelope walked away, his hands resting on her shoulders, “I’m fine, Princess. Hotch wasn’t happy but eh, I’ll live. That guy got what was coming to him.”

She felt warmth in her heart and smiled, “Um, thank you for standing up for me, Derek. You didn’t have to.”

“Oh, but I did. Someone’s gotta take care of you around here, you know? Not just in the field, baby girl, but in everyday life too,” his smile softened a little as he scanned her face. She felt herself relaxing in his presence. He made her feel safe. As if he could read her mind, he pulled his hands away from her shoulders and spoke quietly, “Think of me like a big brother, okay? I’ll keep the bullies away and make sure you always feel safe when you’re around me.”

She was going to get emotional again. To stop the tears from making a grand reappearance, she got on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his forehead, “Thank you, Derek. I didn’t realize how much I needed a big brother until just now.”

He chuckled, his hands on her waist and lifting her into the air as if she weighed nothing- she yelped in surprise- “Alright, as per the unwritten agreement that all siblings understand, I will now tease and taunt the crap out of you every time I see you.”

“You already do that!” She shouted as he tossed her over his shoulder, adjusting her in his grip. Her eyes were wide, her hands gripping the back of his shirt, “Derek Morgan if you drop me I swear to god-”

“I would never drop you, Princess! Who do you think I am?” He spun around and started walking through the bullpen towards the conference room.

“Morgan? Morgan put me down!” Kassidy tried to kick her back legs, but his grip was too strong. She huffed, looking for Penelope to help her. Where did that colorful woman go? She just disappeared, it seemed.

Then she noticed JJ, who just walked in, a curious look in her eyes, “JJ! Jayje save me, please! Morgan’s kidnapping me!”

JJ pursed her lips in thought, “Morgan, you should probably put Hughes down before Hotch sees-” She interrupted herself, placing a hand over her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

Kassidy followed her eyes and spotted Hotch, standing right outside his door, that signature tight-lipped frown on his face. He had one eyebrow arched. Oh lord, if Morgan wasn’t in trouble before, he was now.

Derek faltered slightly, also noticing Hotch. He gathered himself rather quickly, pretending to drop Kassidy with a grin (much to her annoyance and yelping), “Hey, Hotch,” he greeted, “something wrong?”

“Morgan,” Hotch warned, “Put Hughes down. If you two want to play around you can do it off the clock.”

Kassidy felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment as her feet were firmly set back onto the ground. But, she did manage to pick up on the smallest twitch of Hotch’s mouth. He was trying not to smile.

“Sorry, boss,” she apologized, “It won’t happen again.” She shot Morgan a look. He shrugged his shoulders, crossing his finger over his heart, “Yeah boss, cross our hearts.”

Hotch rolled his eyes and went back into his office, closing the door.

At least they didn’t get written up for that, either. Maybe today was an okay day after all.

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