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lis-likes-fics · 3 months

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Haunted Eyes

Pairings: Eddie Munson x gf!Reader Word Count: 2.5k words Warnings: Mentions of murder, mutilation, lots of crying honestly, hurt/comfort fic, swearing... A/N: This was supposed to be a drabble... Like 1k max. But I uhhh... I got a little carried away. I was rewatching Stranger Things and this scene hurt more than usual so, of course, I wrote about what I wanted to do. This was entirely impromptu. Not an ounce of planning went into this and I think it makes it more ridiculous that I wrote two point five thousand fucking words. Anyway, enjoy.

You made them bring you. Which wasn’t really a hard thing to do.

It was early in the morning at the beginning of the break when you called the trailer. When you got no answer the first time, you called again to meet the same response: none. So you kept calling. Something was wrong. Eddie or Wayne always answered you, and there was no reason someone shouldn’t have been home.

When the phone finally picked up, it wasn’t the response you were expecting.

Your relief was instantly squashed. “This is Officer Callahan with Hawkins Police, who is this?” His irritation was clear.

Your mouth was dry when you answered, your voice hesitant and slow. You gave your name, wrapping the phone cord around your hand in circles on circles on circles, unwrapping only to begin the cycle again. “I’m Eddie’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, good,” he said slowly. “We actually needed to talk to you. Could you come down to the station today?” There’s a pause. “Or you might as well just come down here.”

You swallowed thickly, clearing your throat when you remembered to answer. “Um, w-why? Where– Where is Eddie?”

“Just come down.” He hung up the phone.

You listened to the drone of the line for a long time before you hung it back up. With fear and anxiety curling in your belly, you had no other line of action other than to do as you were told.

When you got to the trailer park, it was a hassle even getting through the entrance. There’s police everywhere, and plenty of bystanders to boot. You feel naked when you step out of your car and make yourself walk the rest of the way to Eddie’s place. The self-consciousness dissipates when you get closer and closer to the familiar home and are met with more police and people, caution tape and red and blue lights everywhere you turn. You practically sprint toward the scene.

“What’s happening?” you ask frantically, easily noticing the glances and glares from the crowd. You’re used to them, being Eddie’s girl and all. You speak quickly, ignoring them all for the sake of finding an answer. “What’s going on? Can you let me through? I’m his girlfriend, Callahan told me to come down here. Hey!”

A couple of officers finally let you pass, but they didn’t let you anywhere near the actual trailer. Officer Callahan and Sheriff Powell pulled you aside, sitting you at a picnic table away from the scene. Glancing over your shoulder, you could see Wayne. He was watching you, an unreadable expression on his face only broken when he turned away to rub at his face.

They sat you down, seeming very intimidating with the way they watched you. What you noticed first was the suspicion, the awaiting accusations you were preparing to fight.

“What’s going on?”

“Before we answer any of your questions,” Sheriff Powell begins, “we’re gonna need you to answer some of ours.”

Their questions were absurd. Where were you last night? Were you with Eddie? Do you know where Eddie was? Were you involved in Eddie’s “business”? Do you know Chrissy Cunningham? Were you friends? They never stopped, and you failed to see how it was relevant until you knew what was going on.

And then they dropped a fucking bomb on you.

“We just saw Chrissy Cunningham dead—mutilated—in the Munson trailer. Your boyfriend is our top suspect. Do you need to be added as an accessory?”

You hated to admit that you started crying. As soon as you got past the shocked face and the gasp, you began to cry. And it wasn’t a cute little cry made of delicately wiped tears and tiny sniffles, it was a fully bent over sob that shook through your body and ached all the bad feelings in your gut with no chance of relief.

They looked uncomfortable.

“Do you think Eddie Munson would be capable of something like this?” they tried asking through your tears.

You stood up immediately, ignoring the sobs like they weren’t there so you could speak, and make sure they heard you.

“If you really think you can look me in the eyes and seriously ask me if Eddie Munson is capable of cold blooded murder, then you’re a goddamn idiot, and you’re a bigger one than I ever thought you’d be, at that.” You wiped angrily at your tears, keeping your distance but ensuring every word counted. “Eddie is the best person I’ve ever known, and he could never do something like this. Ever.”

Callahan, entirely unconvinced, spoke up. “Do you even know where your boyfriend is right now? He certainly hasn’t come forward.”

You rolled your eyes, turning on him. “If you were the number one town pariah, and something like this happened in your home, would you want to come forward knowing that you would be the only person anyone ever believes is responsible?” Again, you wiped your face to be rid of the extra tears. A heavy sigh ripped from your chest as you struggled to breathe. “You seem to have it all figured out. If you know Eddie so well, why don’t you go fucking find him yourself? Are we done?”

When they finally released you, you stormed to your car and all the way down the road. But it was hard to see past the tears. You pulled off to the shoulder and into the trees surrounding the place. You sat there for a long time, and you sobbed.

You got a call almost as soon as you got home. It scared the living shit out of you, but you answered it with as much annoyance as you could muster. “Hello?”

The voice that said your name was so full of relief, and it honestly offered some for you, too. “It’s Dustin, I’m at the Family Video with Max. We need you immediately?”

“Why?” you asked quickly. “Wait, is this about Eddie? Do you know where he is?”

“Just come down immediately!” He hung up the phone as soon as his last word was finished, and you were just as quick to grab your stuff and go.

What Max had told you was utter insanity, but you had no other choice than to believe her because everyone seemed just as serious as her when she said it. It only worsened your anxiety. You didn’t know how you were supposed to live like that.

As though the cop’s questioning before wasn’t frustrating enough, they asked you a million more just to figure out if you knew where Eddie was. But you didn’t. He left you no clues. He just disappeared, and that made you more nervous than anything. Eddie tells you everything. The idea of being so in the dark makes you want to cry again, but you can’t. If you want to find him, you have to stay focused.

All the phone calls were the grueling part of the search, but when you finally arrived at Reefer Rick’s place, you were a buzzing ball of worry.

The good thing was that you felt like you were getting closer to finding Eddie.

The shed was really fucking dark. It’s darker than you last remember it being, but to be fair, the last time you were here, it wasn’t pitched black and you weren’t worried your boyfriend was dead.

“Hello?” Robin’s voice was quiet when she walked into the room. You were almost too scared to talk as you shone your flashlight at everything that looked like a shadowy beast in the darkened room.

Your attention was drawn quickly to Steve when he jabbed a wooden oar at a tarp covering contents in a tiny boat. “What are you doing?” Dustin gawked, his question more demanding the second time.

Steve shrugged, still bracing the oar. “He might be in there.”

“So take the tarp off.”

Your voice was a harsh whisper, still afraid of the things hiding in the dark, when you spoke. “I swear to God, if you’re beating him up right now…”

He ignored you, still jabbing. You huffed and rolled your eyes, watching closely for any kind of movement.

Max’s gentle voice rose around the corner where Robin stood next to her. “Someone’s been here.”

“Maybe he heard us,” Robin suggested. “Got spooked and ran.”

“Don’t worry,” Dustin smiled cheekily. “Steve will get him with his oar.”

“I know you think you’re being funny, Henderson, but considering the fact that almost everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slightest–”

Everyone was shouting when someone jumped out of the boat and forced Steve against the wall, a glass bottle to his throat. You recognized him immediately, and the relief that flushed through your system was almost thrilling, like breathing for the first time in days—if you hadn’t been so fucking terrified, it would have been sweeter.

The commotion was loud. Everyone’s hands were raised in peace and surrender. Dustin takes the lead, his voice overcoming everyone’s until he’s the only one speaking.

“It’s me. It’s Dustin.” He gestured toward Steve, where his heavy breath was heard over the sound of Dustin’s voice. “This is Steve. He’s not gonna hurt you. Right, Steve?”

Steve’s movements were stiff as he agreed. “Right. Yeah.”

You held your hands to your face, worried about the glass shards to Steve’s neck. If Eddie gets scared enough, that murder charge might actually come true…

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?”

Steve reached his arm out, holding out the oar on its end and letting go. As it clattered to the floor, Eddie’s grip on the bottle tightened, spooked by the sound. Everyone reacted. The fear was palpable.

“He’s cool!” Dustin shouted. “He’s cool!”

“I’m cool,” Steve whispered.

When you heard Eddie’s voice, it came with a strange type of consolation. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re looking for you.”

Robin nods quickly, “We’re here to help.”

Your voice is soft when you speak up, like a bid goodnight. “Eddie, honey…” you give what little smile you can, taking the tiniest step forward.

Eddie’s gaze snapped to you just then. You noticed this is the first moment he actually realized you were there. At the sight of you, the slightest tension in his grip eased, though not enough to allow anyone else that kind of ease. The wild fear in his eyes, masked by scared rage, was finally offered an ounce of reprieve.

“Eddie, these are my friends,” Dustin continued. “You know Robin, from band.” She holds up her hands, imitating a trumpet.

“This is my friend, Max. The one who never wants to play DND?” Max gave a little wave.

Dustin gestured toward you, especially insistence with his words. “And your girlfriend? You definitely know her.”

You raised your hand to wave at him, a slow and gentle movement. “Hey, honey…” The hesitant smile you gave offers comfort. His eyes stayed glued to you until Dustin’s voice cut in again.

“Eddie,” he said gently. “We’re on your side.” When he didn’t let up, Dustin became more urgent. “I swear on my mother!” Eddie looked away. “Right, guys?”

A round of agreements filled the room, consisting of mumbles of “yes, yes” and “Dustin’s mother”.

Eddie’s hard gaze bore into Steve, debating in his mind his options. You all held your breaths, anticipating his next move and hoping it was good.

You just wanted to hold him.

Eddie let go of Steve, who let out a heavy sigh as he caught his breath, calming his heavy heart. You were the first one to break from the group, walking slowly toward Eddie with silent feet. You held your hands up for him to see as he backed against the wall, slowly sliding down with his arms wrapped around himself.

The sight of it hurt you, your heart beating heavily in your chest. He looked so…disturbed, so truly horrified by the thoughts in his head. The look on his face was blank as he stared off into space.

“Eddie?” you mumbled, lowering in front of him so you were propped on your knees. His eyes slowly, with a plenty of struggle, lifted up to see you. You held out your arms.

Eddie launched himself into your embrace, and you were just as eager to wrap him in it. He squeezed you tight, you squeezed him tighter, so afraid that if you let go of one another, that someone would disappear.

“Ohmygod,” you muttered breathlessly into his unruly hair, pulling him in close as scared and relieved tears fell from your eyes. “I was so fucking worried about you, baby. You just disappeared, I thought you were hurt. Please don’t scare me like that again.”

You pulled him back only far enough to cradle his face in your hands, screwed up in strained pain as he held back his tears, still holding you so tight. You kissed all over his face—his nose, his cheeks, his forehead, his eyelids, his lips three times. Without the groundedness he needs, he just basked in your comfort, and you didn’t fault him for a moment in failing to give it back. He was here and he was alive, that’s all you needed.

You pressed your forehead against his. “I love you, honey,” you promised breathlessly.

He nodded, his hands flexing at your side. You pulled him into you again, your bodies flush against one another as you hold on for dear life. His response was strained but you knew it was the truth. “I love you, too.” You felt him actively melt against you, his body molding with yours as some of the tension is traded for your pure comfort. His next words are an even quieter, more broken whisper. “Fuck, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” you murmured. “S’okay. You’re okay.”

When you were forced to pull back, you sat at his side with your arms still around him, his hands all over you for the sake of keeping his feet on the ground. The way he needed you next to him was such a raw feeling, one of the things that sat at the base of your being, a core instinct.

Dustin and Robin knelt before him, and you, just as calm and gentle as before.

“Eddie,” Dustin said softly. “We just…want…to talk.”

Robin offered a little smile. “We wanna know what happened.”

He tensed against you. You placed a hand on his cheek, pulling his face over to kiss his cheek. His hand flexed at your back. He turned to you, his brown eyes so dark with whatever was haunting him, but still that liquid chocolate you knew and loved. He grabbed your hand on his cheek, turning back to them as he stroked his thumb over the back of your palm.

His voice was broken and defeated when he spoke, still sniffling as he struggled to hold back tears. “You won’t believe me.”

Gripping her flashlight, Max shrugged lightly. “Try us.”

His brows furrowed a bit. He looked to you for support, and you pressed your lips to his shoulder. “S’okay,” you whispered again. He swallowed thickly, nodding in miniscule little movements. His gaze found your hands when you grabbed his and intertwined his fingers with your own and squeezed them. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. He squeezed back.

Stranger Things taglist: @activebliss @queermaxwooo @life-on-needs @killerqueen-ofwillowgreen @emmalee-01 @sw34ter-w34ther @gublur @allofmaris @redwineandnicotine @the-cryptid @katsukis1wife @chaoticcancer @papichulo120627 @emistrash @jjmaybankswifes-blog @thegr8estpuff @lover-of-books-and-tea @xxhanililoxx

Eddie the Banished taglist: @eddiiiieeee @hb8301 @queermaxwooo @lovemegood @munsaniac @digital-charlie @eiriancrow @littleblondesoprano @alexxavicry @samz31 @sparkletash @fandomgirl17 @marjoriea13 @akiratoro420 @mewchiili @mischieftom

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vamp-stamp-fics · 2 years

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Night walk

Tags: monster/monster hunter au, steddie + ronanace, Vampire! Eddie, werewolf! Robin, monster hunter! Nancy + Steve , Demogorgons & vecna still exist In this au just supernatural monsters are now added to the mix lol, fluff ig

Summary: while Eddie & Robin go on a walk in the woods, Nancy warns them about staying out at night

A/n: this fic's based off a Twitter post I saw lol. also most of my future monster hunter au fics are probably not gonna be connected and be standalones. Yes they're probably gonna have Steddie + Ronance centered around most of (if not all!) The fics. The most I might have them connected is if I make a pt 2 to one of them.

It was quiet night in the woods. Around 3:00 am. Witching hour is what some would call it, but for Robin and Eddie it was the perfect time to walk in the woods.

Robin stretched as she looked over to Eddie "so how's it going with Steve?" He shrugged "well there's some slight progress. One time I called him "big boy" and man you should've seen his face, all flustered. Took him a back I say. How's things going with Nance? You made a first move yet?" Robin sighed. "Not really. I mean Christ sake Eds I have a crush on THE monster hunter"

"how'd the hell that happen?"

"well it's kind of a long story. Me and Vickie were at band practice and our teacher needed to get something from somewhere so he asked me to do it so I went to where I was supposed to and then bam! The most prettiest girl I'd ever seen right there in the newspaper room. Who so happens to be the person trying to find me"

"wow" Eddie scoffed. "You are fucked"

"Exactly! If she knew I was the thing she was hunting I'd be dead fucking meat"

Nancy had been hunting a certain werewolf for months now. She had been called in for a complaint of a wolf like creature terrorizing Hawkins. When in reality Robin just accidentally slammed into someone's car while it was a full moon. She didn't know how it happened.

Maybe she tripped on her tail, she was prone to doing that. Though maybe it was because she was more clumsy on a full moon in general. She didn't really know, half the time she couldn't remember what the hell happened when she turned.

"So how's it with Jason? Has he found out you're the big mean scary serial killing vampire that's terrorizing Hawkins? Because y'know playing a board game with a bunch of high schoolers is just what's gonna kill us all" Eddie snorted "okay smart ass look who's talking, Hawkins thinks a giant dog is what's terrorizing it's citizens. But other than his usual name calling I don't think he suspects anything"

"he's stupid for that one. Calls you a freak but doesn't suspect a thing"

"Exactly, and I'M supposedly the dumbass"

"I mean c'mon Eds what it's your 2nd? 3rd? Year at Hawkins?"

"listen, geometry is really fucking hard. I hope whoever invented it is burning in the 7th ring of hell as we speak" Robin hummed in agreement.

People and monster hunters alike stereotyped Eddie and Robin to be sworn enemies due to the myth of vampires and werewolves constantly at each others throats. It was called a myth for reason. Robin didn't know what it be like without Eddie. Just like she didn't know where she'd be without Steve.

Steve

It'd been a while since Robin had told him she was a lesbian and he immediately accepted her. She wondered what he'd do if he knew she was...her. if he found out that she was the supposed creature of the night destroying Hawkins and hurting innocent people. That's what the paper said at least. She'd barely hurt a fly. Ok well that was a lie Robin hated bugs but it's a metaphor alright?

Would he treat her the same way he'd treated her when she first came out to him? She doubted it. Being a lesbian and being a werewolf were two completely different things. She could already imagine him with shock and fear in his eyes, grabbing some kind of weapon to defend himself, Screaming at her to get away from him-

Robin closed her eyes. Trying to shake the horrifying vision of the possible truth if Steve found out. "You okay?" Eddie questioned. She shook her head "yeah, yeah everything. Everything's fine" he knew she was lying and probably worried about something. But he didn't push it, not wanting to upset her more than she already seemed to be.

Snap!

Eddie and Robin became alert at the sound of a twig snapping in half. "Did you here that?" Robin asked. "Uh yeah I heard it. Maybe it's max-"

"max wouldn't be out here this late at night. She's usually at home by 10 at least" Robin said, petrified at what was out there. Another snap. Robin turned her heel, ready to run when the barrel of rifle was in her face. She fell as she screamed "PLEASE DON'T KILL US WE WERE JUST GOING ON A WALK-

"a walk? Why the hell are you two going on a walk this late?" Robin recognized the voice immediately. It was Nancy Wheeler. Hawkins most famous monster hunter. "Shit Nance you nearly scared us half to death, thought you were A monster or something" Eddie exclaimed. Nancy threw her rifle on her shoulder and lended her hand to Robin, who quickly grabbed it as she scrambled to her feet. She dusted herself off "yeah Nancy, thought you were that werewolf Hawkins complaining about"

"real smooth" Eddie mumbled. Robin elbowed him. He grunted in response. "No it was just my turn to look over this area of the woods tonight. Now can you tell me why exactly you two are out here?"

"Well like Robin said we're out here for a walk" Eddie said.

"this late at night?"

Robin looked to Eddie then back to Nancy "what Eddie is trying to say is that me and him were pulling an all nighter and I kinda started getting a migraine because y'know geometry is just so hard-"

"really hard" Eddie added

"Extremely hard! So I suggested hey why don't we go out for a walk?"

"at 3 in morning. While its dark outside?" Nancy questioned, starting to get suspicious. "We both wanted to get fresh air. Y'know where Eddie lives it's extremely dusty, and I have really bad allergies" Robin said hoping it make an convincing case.

It did (somehow) because Nancy sighed in relief. "Alright, well I'm glad you're both okay. Been having more reports of monster sightings around in these woods. Anyways you two stay safe out here. Maybe go back inside, can't be too sure what's out here" Robin nodded to her as she waved as Nancy left. Once she was out of sight both of them sighed in relief, Robin leaning on the tree "holy shit I can't believe that actually worked"

"yeah I thought it wasn't considering you were talking a little too much"

"what does that mean?"

"it means if someone questions you, you keep it short as you can" Robin scoffed "you're one to talk. Kept interrupting me. She was starting to think something was up"

"yeah well good thing miss monster hunter didn't right?" Eddie smiled in a smug manner. Robin rolled her eyes. "Whatever suckhead"

"rude"

"she was right though, We should probably get back. Don't know until another monster hunter comes along and isn't convinced by our terrible lying"

Eddie pointed at Robin "I'm not a terrible liar. If anything you're the shitty liar" saying as he walked off. Robin quickly slugged him in the shoulder as she followed him back to the trailer park.

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justsmilestuffhappens · 3 years

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I just thought about Mama Athena knowing her boy loves to play detective so she organises for him to go on a ride-along like Sue did for Maddie, and Buck has the Best Day Ever in the squad car, decked out in an LAPD hoodie and shades.

And technically+legally ride-alongs aren't supposed to get involved with any actual investigations, chases or arrests, but Athena lets him read out the miranda rights and press the button for the lights and sirens.

She's working a full shift so it's late when it's time to leave, but she's not letting him go home hungry so he stays with her as she goes home, where Bobby is waiting for them both with one of Buck's favourite meals. Bobby listens to all of Buck's enthusiastic accounting of the day and even brings out dessert.

And maybe he falls asleep on their couch, still bundled up in his hoodie, occasionally mumbling "...right to remain silent..." while Bobby and Athena do the dishes, before they tuck a pillow under his head and a blanket over his shoulders and wish their oldest child sweet dreams.

Or maybe he stays awake - barely - and Athena drops him off home, his real home, where Eddie opens the door with a fond smile and open arms, cooing lovingly when Buck starts sleepily babbling about having the greatest day and how amazing Athena is and how Bobby made trifle.

(Buck gets her a mug for her birthday that says LAPD's Finest.)

Okay umm. My lip trembled.

😎 😎

This is so freaking cute and soft. I think we really needed this right now. Especially with the incoming episode that's going to wreck us.

Buck would freaking love to go on a ride along. Why hasn't he yet? It would be a change of pace from before taken in the back of the squad car when he gets in trouble even if he doesn't get arrested.

🤔

'Oh so this is what it feels like to sit in the front seat of these for once'

Athena second guesses her idea for a second right there though. At least she didn't pick both him and Eddie if that were even possible.

Oh. Maybe they're at a scene and she chasing a perp telling Buck he can't help her don't touch anything while she goes to grab the perp. Only Buck's on the radio because he knows the area or building. Being a fire marshal taught him so he knows the layout of the business and there's a short cut or that ways a dead end you got 'em. The back alley was blocked by a delivery truck every Tuesday, I had to give them a violation before, he can only head to the East street.

🧐

Buck saying the Miranda rights without needing the paper either both because he's been told a few times and or because that's his favorite part because it's important Eddie they have to say it and it reminds the suspect, it's the law for a reason and needed dude.

Him telling Eddie all about it lively the next day as Bobby relays his face to Athena yeah it was a good idea for cheering Buck up but he won't stop trying to solve mysteries any time soon though.

🥰

Buck in an LAPD hoodie gimme! Just imagine the others teasing him are they gonna lose him only he's like no you can't get rid of me and they wouldn't have it any other way buckaroo you better not.

🤯

Them coming home to Bobby's cooking. Literally chef's kiss. Yes. Buck insists on helping serve at least or clean dishes, the rules of the firehouse even if he's a guest but he's not really he can help.

😛

Buck telling Bobby about their day and how badass Athena was she used the voice Bobby like she does at scenes it was so cool 😎 only Bobby knows yes his wife is amazing that's not new buddy.

Oh God him falling asleep saying the Miranda rights is top tier wow so cute and I could totes see it.

😴

"Lord we've created a monster'

Athena shaking her head with a fond smile at her giant pseudo son as Bobby kisses her cheek.

'He's our monster, he's real good'

*BRB I'd die because Buck wouldn't hear this he's asleep! I

😵 💀

Ironically I prefer that over the buddie one him falling asleep on the couch but throw in Eddie coming over to pick him up with Chris in the morning or him driving over after passing out because it was hella late and Athena took his keys, texting Eddie he'd stay there with them, the boy was tired and he'd get his boyfriend back

'Please don't kidnap him Athena'

Eddie teases back with a 😟

'You'll get him back in one piece'

it's like nearing midnight then.

Buck telling Chris he got to turn on the siren and the lights getting a gasp as eddie looks on at his boys teases the fire truck has sirens too but they're not the same Eddie, yeah daddy Buck has a point. Betrayed by my own son again. Eddie clutches his chest like the giant dramatic dork that he is.

😉

Buck giving people little meaningful gifts always gets me like I want it so bad after the coffeemaker prank yes please let him do that for the others too especially like this how sweet cute

😍 🎁

It's a wonderful memory he'll cherish compared to the take your kid to work day when his parents had him sit in the office corner and be quiet as his they worked I'm so sorry umm let's not end it there

😢

Maybe the next time something goes down he's like hey Athena look see I didn't touch anything this time and I called the cops no b break in the chain of evidence and all that and she tells him yes that's better but he's still on thin ice she doesn't want him in danger and he gets teary at that because she drops she doesn't want to see him get hurt but knows he'll jump to help people first think later and can't blame him it saves lives

🤕 🥺

Let's end it there thank you so much I've gotta get back to writing but this is the good stuff 👌 I love this it's so delicious amazing! 😀

Athena: You never give up. That's what being Buck means to me.

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thisissirius · 3 years

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so apparently my brain needed to write this before it could write anything else. it’s not the kind of fic i want to attach to a prompt so i’m posting it as is.

some things to note; this is extremely personal to my situation right now. i write to deal with my feelings and that’s what this is. i’m okay, i promise. or at least i’m getting close to okay. but i’m working on it!

i will not be offended if you don’t want to read :)

it’s an open ending because i don’t know the ending to my own story but in my head, he beats it <3

(i researched this because obvs i am female and eddie is not)

be my help eddie/buck, cancer

“I think you might have an infection.” Buck’s nose wrinkles as he frowns and Eddie traces the lines of it. He doesn’t want to look at the wound, at what it represents. Buck’s fingers are light as he puts on the new bandage. “Though the inflammation is here,” he continues, thumb grazing the skin around Eddie’s nipple. “It feels warm. Does it hurt?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Not really. There’s been blood a couple of times but I assumed it was from the wound.”

With another nod, Buck finishes dressing the wound. There’s a tightness to his mouth that spells a research binge—and possibly a call to the doctor—but Eddie’s content to let him handle it. “All done.”

“Thanks,” Eddie says, curling his fingers around Buck’s wrist. He runs a thumb over Buck’s pulse point. “For everything.”

Buck’s cheeks tinge pink, but he looks pleased. “You’re welcome. Come on, Chris’ll be home soon and there’s still dinner to do.”

Eddie can’t forget about the inflammation;

Buck’s frown gets progressively more pronounced with every passing day, and Eddie’s starting to feel it. His skin is warm, there’s been spotty blood on his shirts, and it looks puffy and inflamed. It’s not until Eddie takes off his shirt one night to get ready for bed and sees just how swollen it is, that he ends up calling for Buck.

It’s been a few days since Buck’s stayed over; he’s taking extra shifts because Eddie’s struggling with finances—and if Eddie thinks about that too much, he’ll feel sick with guilt—and he looks tired when he stands in the doorway. When his eyes rise to Eddie’s nipple, his face shifts into shock and a touch of horror. “Fuck.”

“It’s only been like this yesterday and today,” Eddie says, because he doesn’t want Buck to think he missed it. “I don’t think it’s an infection.”

Buck hums and steps forward. “It could be,” but he doesn’t sound certain. “We should take you to the emergency room.”

Eddie doesn’t really want to. “Buck—”

“Eddie,” Buck says. There’s something in his voice, his face, that makes Eddie take notice. “Trust me, I think we need to get a doctor’s opinion.”

“Chris,” Eddie says, searching for something to keep them here, safe in his home.

Buck doesn’t look happy when he says, “We’ll take him with us.” Eddie opens his mouth to answer, to say something else, but he stops short at the tremble in Buck’s tone. “Please, Eddie. I think this is something we need to get checked out.”

Eddie sits. And sits. And sits.

Chris is asleep on Buck’s lap. He’s tucked under Buck’s chin, breath even, and Eddie can’t help but rest a hand on his leg. Buck’s talking in a low voice, information Eddie’s not really taking in, but it’s soothing. The emergency room is always horrible, no less when it’s personal instead of work related, and he leans more heavily into Buck.

“Alright?” Buck asks, trailing off. “I’m sure it won’t be much longer.”

Three has given way to five, and Eddie’s got no doubt they’ll still be sitting here at seven in the morning. He’s glad neither of them are working, but Buck’s gotta be dead tired. “You should go home.”

Buck’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline and Eddie only realises what that implies when the words are out. “Eddie—”

“No,” Eddie says, shaking his head. “I meant you don’t have to be here, now, when you could be sleeping.”

Expression softening, Buck’s lips quirk into a tired smile. “I wouldn’t be able to settle. I’d be worried about you.”

Eddie’s chest goes tight with emotion and he smiles back. Something feels different between them since the shooting, but he can’t pinpoint what it is. Maybe it’s the loss of Ana from his life; Eddie knows Buck wasn’t happy for whatever reason. Breaking up with her had been easy after that because Buck’s happiness means everything.

“Edmundo Diaz?”

“Come on,” Buck says gently, readjusting Chris, who makes a soft noise. “Let’s get you checked out.”

“Breast cancer,” Eddie repeats. “I thought—”

Silence.

“I thought it was women,” he admits. “I didn’t think it could happen to men.”

To me is what he means.

Buck’s hand is the only thing tethering him to the moment, fingers tight in Eddie’s. He looks calm, calmer than Eddie thinks he should. “What stage?”

Eddie swallows. “You knew?”

“Suspected,” Buck says, looking guilty. Eddie squeezes his hand. He’s not really sure what his emotions are doing, but he needs to make sure Buck’s okay. One of them needs to be. “I went online and I know I shouldn’t look,” he says, more to the doctor than to Eddie, “but it seemed too far from the wound to be related.”

“Perhaps not unrelated,” the doctor says. His voice is calm, almost soothing, and Eddie hates it, though he can’t pinpoint why. Maybe he’s trying not to wake Chris, but Eddie suspects it’s more that he doesn’t want to spook Eddie. Fuck. “It’s true that we don’t always know what causes cancer—”

“I don’t care,” Eddie says. His voice sounds far away. “Can it—like Buck said, what stage?”

The doctor looks at him and is silent for long enough that Eddie can feel whatever stability he’s got left spiralling away. “If it is cancer, which we’re not completely sure of, it will be stage three or four; advanced because of the symptoms, but still treatable.”

Eddie drops Buck’s hand to press the palms of his hands to his eyes. There’s a burn in his eyes, something heavy settling in his stomach. He can hear Buck talking, feel the hand on the back of his neck, but it’s almost as if he’s not in the room. “I want to go home.”

“I know,” Buck says softly, stroking a hand down Eddie’s back. To the doctor he says, “thanks. You’ll let us know about the appointments?”

The moments slip away from him; he doesn’t remember leaving the office, or getting into the car. Doesn’t know how he and Chris both end up strapped in and moving; he can feel the gear shifts, the radio playing softly. Chris is snorting in the back seat, and Buck’s breathing seems oddly loud in the truck; maybe it’s Eddie—he doesn’t feel as if he’s there.

“What am I gonna do,” he says, breathless.

Buck reaches over, hand on Eddie’s thigh. “You can fight this.”

Eddie’s eyes burn again and he turns away, glances in the rearview mirror. “What am I supposed to tell Chris?”

A pause. Buck’s fingers squeeze. “We’ll figure it out together, okay?”

“Buck,” Eddie says, and even to his own voice he sounds wrecked. “I can’t—”

Buck pulls over, shifts into park and leans over, hand to Eddie’s face. “Listen to me,” he says, foreheads touching. Eddie closes his eyes and hangs on. “I’ll be here every second, okay? I promise, Eddie, whatever happens, we’ll get through it.”

The fatalistic part of Eddie thinks it can’t be that easy but the rest of him wants to lean on Buck, to take the comfort he’s offering. “If it’s cancer—”

“Then you’ll look over treatment, figure out what you want, and we’ll tackle it like we do everything else.” Buck’s thumb runs over Eddie’s cheek. “I’ve got your back, Eddie.”

Eddie lets out a shaky breath, leans into Buck. He can still hear Chris in the back seat. He knows there’s so much left unknown, but he’s got Buck, right here, and together they’ll protect Chris. He knows even if he does—if they can’t—if anything happens, Buck’s got Chris.

“Stop it,” Buck says, running his thumbs under Eddie’s eyes. He’s wiping away tears and Eddie blinks, surprised; he’s not sure when they started. “You can fight this.”

“Okay,” Eddie whispers, because he desperately wants to believe he can. His mouth forms the words before his brain can catch up and stop them, “I’m scared.”

Something in Buck’s expression breaks, but he presses forward, touching their foreheads together. “I know, Eds. It’s okay to be, but I promise, no matter what, I’m gonna be here.”

Eddie swallows around the lump in his throat, leans into Buck’s touch on his cheek, the fingers curling around the back of his neck. “Promise?”

“Yeah,” Buck says without hesitation, his voice low and husky. “I promise.”

Kissing the corner of Buck’s mouth is easy. Turning his face into Buck’s neck is even easier. Listening to the thump of Buck’s heartbeat, the words of comfort and promise Buck whispers in his ear makes even the darkest thoughts in his head quieten down.

“I’ve got you,” Buck promises.

“I know,” Eddie says, and he means it.

#buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie fic #911 fic #fic by me #cancer tw

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 3 years

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I think the assumption that Ryan would be against Buddie is mostly racism. People assume that he's homophobic because he's latinx.

Hi, Nonnie! Tbf, I have no idea why some people continue to keep suggesting that he's against it. You could very well be right. It might have something to do with that. It could also have to do with that whole incident that happened last year where he made the mistake of saying what he did. I cannot tell you how many comments I've seen here and on other sites talking about how much they despise him because to them he's just automatically a racist and then some even go further and try to say that he's not truly Latinx or should be considered POC because he has too light-colored skin or because his mother isn't Latinx. I mean, it's absolutely abhorrent and disgusting, Nonnie. I think I even came across a link for a petition that had been started last year when this whole thing happened (I only found it like a month ago, I wasn't in the fandom then so I had no idea this all occurred until looking up the show on this site after watching it and seeing all the Ryan hate) for Eddie Diaz to be recast (which imho would have been the absolute worst move to make so I'm glad Fox seems to have agreed with me) because Ryan was a racist and his co-stars like Oliver, Rockmond, and Angela shouldn't have to work with him. I don't think it hit its target for signatures but still.

Like I get why people were angry but I didn't see the context in which these comments were made mentioned anywhere these hateful posts were. The fact that his wife was receiving death threats and hate which of course ramps up emotions (which tbf if it were my wife and the mother of my children, my family, I'd react without thinking most likely as well) which doesn't lead to thinking before you speak in certain situations. I'm not saying what he said was right (at all) but I think there are true racists out there and then there are people who make mistakes and say one stupid thing in a heated moment that they wouldn't have said otherwise. And if we look at Rockmond's and Oliver's reactions to that incident, Ryan was definitely called out on it and told just how wrong he was. I'm sure there was a conversation between him and the network as well as the show following that incident. And he seems to have listened and then apologized for his comments. I don't know him personally, obviously, but the man is human and I feel like we as a society are so quick to jump and cry foul and destroy, asking questions later. Some occurrences call for it, some don't. And I personally felt in this instance, it fell to the latter group. Now if Ryan had said "hey screw you" and kept going with this behavior even after being spoken to about it and being educated as to why we don't say these things, then that's a completely different story.

For example, there are certain celebrities who shall remain nameless who continue to do certain horrible types of behaviors over and over again but continue to get away with it for some strange reason, even when PR steps in to cover his ass. (yes, the example I'm thinking of is a white male so that may have something to do with it, tho tbf I'm not entirely sure but that's what I suspect) He may not have said what Ryan said but that doesn't mean his behaviors should be allowed to continue to such as they are. Anything that hurts someone else, whether physically, or even financially (meaning risking their jobs and right to privacy) should never be allowed. So going back to what you mentioned about Ryan, especially when compared to what I mentioned about this celebrity above, you could very well be right. I think the hatred is strong when it comes to Ryan due mostly to that incident but also partially due to him being Latinx.

So I think some people take that hatred and apply it in the Buddie arena. Because before today, I had no idea that March 2020 interview existed until a previous nonnie mentioned it. I have not seen a (recent) post on this site talking about how supportive (or neutral) Ryan is of the ship. A lot of people praise him for his acting and for continuing their love of Eddie Diaz, sure. But I never see posts in the tag that are positive in nature towards Ryan and what he's said previously about the ship or how he feels about it. It could be that some, like me, had no idea it was even out there and so it's not discussed. But I do remember seeing that negativity in the tags and just being so frustrated with it that I went on this whole rant in a post but decided at the last moment not to publish it.

And it could very well be that people assume that he's homophobic due to him being Latinx but tbh I don't feel educated enough to delve into that part of the topic. But you very well could be right.

So, to answer your ask, Nonnie, yes I do think there is a good possibility that Ryan gets dragged, in regards to Buddie and non-Buddie things, due to him being Latinx and also due to the incident of last year. Hopefully, since this looks to be Eddie's season, the conversation will change into a more positive one and he will be lauded for his talent and for his support and embracing of Eddie. It's time for that conversation to turn around.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend, Nonnie!!! <3

#ask #ryan guzman #ask answered #911 cast ask

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detectivecarlosreyes · 4 years

Text

In Case of Emergency (Ch 9/10)

Ao3 | 2.9/18.5k | Buddie | Status: Incomplete

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 9: It’s about time In which Buck and Eddie try to disclose their relationship; if only calls didn’t keep getting in the way. Set in mid-3x18: What’s next.

Things were going well between them. After recovering mentally and physically from Eddie’s ordeal, they were closer than ever, with Buck spending most nights in the Diaz household than he ever was before. He was there for Chris’s first sleepover party, being an incredibly helpful chaperone to a bunch of hyperactive 9-year-olds. He was as much a parent as he was both a form of entertainment for the kids and was a welcome relief to the stresses of parenting such an event.

It was good, practically perfect really, having him home all the time, helping, basically being an integral part of the family. He was rarely in his own apartment anymore, only returning to collect his mail and restock on clothes really.

Buck was effectively living with them full time, his wardrobe slowly but surely integrating into his own and their relationship had progressed to the point that it was near almost impossible for them to keep it to themselves anymore, considering how intertwined their lives had become. So now, in their downtime between calls, nearly every recount of what they did on their time off involved the presence of the other.

They were pretty sure the others were finally catching on. It was hard to miss the side-eyed glances when he mentioned something involving Buck and Chris or when Buck did the same mentioning him and Chris. They were also noticing long considering looks coming from Bobby, especially when they were doing something together alone when at the station, but it was hard to say whether he knew but was waiting for them to come to him or if he just suspected something was going on.

In any case, they knew it was long overdue for them to officially be seen as a couple in the eyes of the team and the universe, except the problem was, anytime they tried to get Bobby alone for a chat or tried to bring it up when there was a dip in conversation, something else became more important.

Their most recent attempt was the closest they had ever gotten, having managed to catch Bobby alone in his office looking at them expectantly behind his desk.

Buck had just managed to utter, “Bobby, there’s something that Eddie and I have been wanting to tell you. We’re in a--”

He was cut off before he could finish the sentence, the call alarm blaring for their attention and distracting them all from the conversation at hand. It resulted in a rushed promise from Bobby that they would finish the chat when they returned after the call.

The call being the train derailment; bringing Eddie face to face with a person that he has only ever heard of.

Abby.

Buck’s ex-girlfriend.

As soon as Buck appeared by his side and said her name Eddie knew exactly who she was. How could he not? Buck had been living in her apartment in the first half of the year of him knowing the man and he remembered how long Buck carried a torch for her. How long he desperately held on to the idea that she was still his girlfriend until he finally let go and moved out of her apartment.

And now here she was, just showing up after all this time; no text, no call, no warning at all that she was coming back into town. Returning with a fiancé no less. He saw the way Buck reacted, how that revelation affected him. And then Buck, his kind-hearted, selfless boyfriend goes and promises her that he’d bring back her fiancé with the heavy implication that he would make sure they brought Sam back alive.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand why Buck would make that promise, she had ghosted him for months before he had finally given up on the hope that she’d return. It made him nervous because he knew exactly how far Buck would be willing to go for a promise, and that terrified him.

And he was right. Buck wouldn’t listen to reason, so focused on being able to deliver on his promise that he seemed willing to ignore rational thought. He was so hell-bent on trying to save Sam even though there was no feasible way of rescuing him and the girl, that he was willing to put his life on the line. It was maddening and enough to make him snap out of fear and frustration in a last-ditch attempt to make Buck see reason.

“Buck, stop! Alright, I know you made a promise.”

And then for him to see Buck to back-track and fail to divulge pertinent information to Cap as to why he was acting the way he was, well, it set his teeth on edge and it had him spitting out, “Abby! His fiancé is Abby.”

Unable to look at Buck as he continued to blatantly disregard his own safety for a promise he shouldn’t have made, he left Bobby to deal with him, hoping that maybe the Captain would have more sway in talking Buck down from his dangerous plan. But it seemed not even Bobby could talk Buck down, especially when, much to his chagrin, he was offering admittedly sound reasoning.

That didn’t stop him from worrying about the man the whole time he was out there, hanging off the side of this awfully unstable car. It was one thing to be on the inside if it destabilised and falls, it was another thing entirely to be attached to it on the outside with no way to protect one’s self from the fall.

Thankfully, it was a situation that didn’t eventuate, and for that Eddie was enormously relieved because he wasn’t sure his heart could take it if it did. In the end, he was left with Buck watching as the ambulance drove away and could only imagine how Buck was hurting from seeing Abby and Sam together. It was enough to dispel any residual feelings of frustration and anger that he might have felt about the situation.

In fact, the whole situation was enough to put things in perspective for Eddie. Reminding him of how far he and Buck’s relationship has progressed and how much he wanted it to keep progressing and take the next logical step. But first, they were going to have to deal with Bobby who seemed to have remembered their previous meeting, despite the exhausting call, as he muttered to the two of them to join him in his office once they returned back to the station and restocked the trucks.

“Now what was it that the two of you wanted to talk to me about? Don’t tell me it has something to do with the way you were both acting today in that train car,” Opened Bobby when they finally joined him, looking up from his paperwork with a tired sigh.

“Well, it does, and it doesn’t,” Eddie answered vaguely, causing Buck to shoot him a look as he closed the door and took a seat beside him.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Eddie?” asked Buck in a hushed tone, half-turning in his chair.

“Nothing. We can talk about it later,” he muttered back, not wanting to talk about it right this second.

“If this is about Abby, you know I had no idea that she was coming back.” Pressed Buck.

Before he had a chance to respond to Buck and say that yes it was about Abby but not it the way that he thinks, Bobby was clearing his throat, reminding them that he was in the room and waiting for an answer to his initial question.

“Right, sorry Cap. What Buck and I have been wanting to tell you is that we’re in a relationship.”

Bobby looked between them as if he were trying to gauge whether or not he was joking and must have come to a conclusion because his next question was simply, “How long has this been going on for?”

“Over eight months.” Buck jumped in, answering resolutely, “We wanted to be sure before we told anyone.”

“Well, that clears up a few things.” They heard him mutter under his breath as he pulled out a manila folder from his top desk drawer before addressing them again, “I had a feeling this might come up at some point, I’ve been waiting with the paperwork for the last couple of weeks.”

“You knew?”

“Well,” Bobby drew out as he slid across the relationship disclosure form, “I didn’t know for certain, but I have been suspecting that something was going on, so have Hen and Chim, just didn’t realise exactly how long it’s been going on for.”

He waited patiently after handing a pen to them to fill out the form and sign it before sliding it back to him.

“As your friend, I am happy for the two of you but as your boss let me make one thing clear. If your personal relationship starts to affect your work on the job, I won’t hesitate to transfer one of you to one of the other teams in the station. Understood.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We promise to be 100 percent professional at work just like we have been when you didn’t know about us-”

Bobby raises an eyebrow at that, giving them a pointed look.

“- but we will try to do better at controlling our emotions if and when one of us is in a dangerous situation?” Buck tacked on questioningly, assuming that was Bobby’s look was alluding to.

Bobby nodded in approval before adding in good humour, “I should hope so, however, I have a feeling we might have to revisit this conversation sometime in the future.”

Eddie chuckled as he stood up, “That is entirely possible, but we will do our best to avoid it.”

“Good.” Bobby said with a grin as he offered his hand to both of them, grasping each of their arms warmly with his free hand, “I really am happy for you both. Now go, tell the others.”

With a sigh of relief, they left the office feeling somewhat liberated over finally disclosing their relationship. Admittedly, one of the reasons for their hesitation was that they weren’t sure they would be allowed to continue working in the same team and they wanted to prolong the moment for as long as they could, not wanting to be separated. But it seemed they were worried for nothing and now they could bring Hen and Chim into the loop.

Funnily enough, they didn’t have to look far for their friends, finding them not so subtly loitering nearby. Feeling Buck’s fingers thread between his own as they move to greet the other two, Eddie found himself unable to keep the smile from his face, knowing that this was something they could now do freely in front of their friends.

They barely had to say anything, with Hen immediately zeroing in on their joined hands and crowed in delight over their announcement before a group hug was instigated by Chim, celebrating their news, and declaring how overjoyed they were.

“Can I just say you two are adorable,” Hen remarked when they relocated to the couches, causing him to blush over the comment, knowing that he and Buck had left little room between each other on the couch and had yet to relinquish the other’s hand. “And it’s nice to see that you guys are so comfortable about it after only a couple of months, I honestly thought you’d be more awkward about it.”

“Well,” Buck drew out in a contradictory higher register, “I’d say that’s because it’s been a bit longer than a couple of months.”

“Uhh, how long is ‘a bit longer’?” chimed in Chim, parroting the short phrase back at them.

Eddie looked at Buck who in turn looked at him, and they had a momentary silent conversation based on eyebrow movements and head tilts over who got to break the news. It ended with him sighing and turning back to the waiting pair, knowing what their reaction would be, “Some time since before Halloween last year.”

Their collective response to the admittance had him both wincing and trying to suppress the laughter that was bubbling in his chest over Chim and Hen’s affronted exclamations that they had waited so long to tell them.

“In our defence, we stopped actively trying to keep it a secret at the beginning of the year, we thought you’d figure it out sooner.”

“So, at all the gatherings this year, when you just happened to be dressed similarly and always also came in the same car together with Christopher and seemed to spend your days off together more often than not, that was you being a couple?”

“Yep!” Buck confirmed, popping the p as he relaxed further into the couch cushion and pressed himself more heavily into Eddie’s side.

“Oh my god, that makes so much sense. I can’t believe we didn’t see it.”

They watched as Hen and Chim withdrew into themselves re-evaluating all the moments together and realising what was so blatantly there. It was after a few more drawn-out minutes that Chim startled and stared Buck down.

“Wait, does Maddie know?”

Naturally just as Buck is about to respond, the call alarm sounded sending them all into a flurry to head down to the trucks. Chim however stopped at the bottom of the stairs and repeated his question more loudly. “Buck! Does Maddie know?”

Eddie watched out of the corner of his eye as Buck stopped mid-step and turned back to Chim gesturing for him to hurry up as he does so, “Yes Chim, Maddie was the first to know, now come on, we’ve got to go!”

This jump-started Chim back into action, “Right, yes, of course.” But that didn’t stop him from muttering that he couldn’t believe she didn’t tell him sooner.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

It’s not until they make it back home, do they revisit the aborted conversation that started in Bobby’s office.

“So Eds,” Buck opened with from the bathroom doorway having just finished brushing his teeth, “it’s later. Want to tell me what you meant in Bobby’s office.”

He sighed, realising that he might have been a bit dramatic about the whole situation as he shucked on his bed shirt, “I didn’t really mean anything by it, honestly.”

“I feel like that sigh said otherwise,” Buck observed as he turned off the bathroom light and flipped back the covers, and slid into bed.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Buck! In that train car, I was just so worried about how far you’d go for that stupid promise. That’s all,” he ended up saying in hushed exasperation, turning on the bedside lamp and moved around the room to turn off the bedroom light before moving to climb into his side of the bed.

Buck wrapped an arm around his shoulder when he did and he let Buck pull him into his side, “I only said that because I was thrown. I haven’t seen or spoken to her in almost 2 years and she came back with a fiancé.”

He huffed at that and pushed his mild annoyance aside, relaxing into Buck’s embrace instead, “Okay, so maybe I was being a bit irrational too. But so were you promising to save him, you know that we’re not supposed to do that.”

“I know. And as much as I know I shouldn’t after the way things ended between us, I do still care about her, I didn’t want to be the reason she didn’t get to be happy.”

He repositioned his head to settle it more closely to Buck’s heart speaking softly, “I get it,” and then after a period of quiet as they listened to each other breathe he suggested, “You should go see her.”

The was a beat of hesitation from Buck, “…you sure?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean, I may resent her as your friend and boyfriend for what she did, but this is about you. You deserve to get the closure she owes you.”

There’s a long considering pause as Buck thought it over, long enough that Eddie actually thought he might have fallen asleep, so he shifted across Buck’s warm chest to turn off the lamp and resettle back onto his pillow.

“Eddie?” is spoken softly into the darkness, the sound of a head turning on a pillow.

Rolling back onto his side to face Buck even in the darkness, he places a hand on Buck’s bare chest, “Yeah Buck?”

“I just want you to know how much I love being part of your life. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I promise to do everything in my power to keep it that way for as long as you’ll have me.”

Smiling softly at the heartfelt declaration, he uttered immediately in response, “I love being part of your life too Buck and I know how seriously you take your promises." He pressed a kiss to the tip of Buck’s shoulder, "Don't worry, I don’t intend on letting you go anytime soon.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” He felt as Buck adjusted his position slightly to drop a kiss to the crown of his head with a contented sigh.

The conversation trailed off after that and he could feel Buck slowly drifting off beneath him. He wasn’t lying, after everything the day had brought and the months leading up to it, Eddie knew one thing for certain; he wanted to take the next natural progression in their relationship and have Buck move in properly, officially. Now he just needed the assistance of one Christopher Diaz to make it happen.

#jess writes #my fic #911 fic #buddie fic #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 on fox #buddie #911 fox #userkourt #userkimmy #userpauline #userjillian #eddiesdiaz #gracieli #useraninha #javachik #tuserjamie #buddie4ever20

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wrestlingisfake · 3 years

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Slammiversary preview

This is Impact's 19th anniversary show, although they didn't start using this name until the 3rd anniversary, and now they always hold it a month after the actual anniversary date. For the first time since March 2020, Impact will have fans at the show, but on a limited basis. So I would expect maybe 50-100 people spaced pretty far apart.

The show airs live tonight on Fite.tv. The pre-show is free and begins at 7pm EDT; the main show is $39.99 and starts at 8pm EDT.

Kenny Omega vs. Sami Callihan - Callihan is challenging for the Impact men's world title, which is represented by two of the four belts that Omega currently holds. The other two, the AEW and AAA men's world titles, are not at stake. This is billed as "no DQ match" which ought to mean that the winner gets to go to Dairy Queen but probably means can't be disqualified.

Omega and his henchmen interfered in a Callihan vs. Moose match on June 3, causing Callihan to win by disqualification. Since Moose was the #1 contender at the time, officials considered adding Sami to the Omega vs. Moose match on June 12, but ultimately they decided to book the winner to face Callihan here. The storyline is that Omega's manager Don Callis keeps arguing that Callihan is too reckless and unprofessional to be in a world title match, but we all know he's really just worried that Sami could hurt Omega real bad and win the title.

If it was me, I'd have done Omega-Callihan last month to set up Omega-Moose here. (Moose's contract negotiations may have made that impractical.) I don't buy Sami as the big destination for one of the biggest Impact shows of the year. I want to be interested in Omega trying to figure out how to deal with a misfit deathmatch guy. But Sami comes across more like a guy playing a misfit deathmatch guy. I mean, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, but I'd rather do that than listen to his corny supervillain speeches or look at his Roman Reigns cosplay.

At this point I'm seriously wondering where they're going with Omega invading Impact, so I'm willing to believe they could wrap it up any day now and get the title off of him. Omega has to drop the belt to somebody, and I can see Impact picking Callihan, even if I'd pick somebody else. Even so, I still want to think there's a long-term plan in place, and that the blowoff won't come until at least the October pay-per-view. So I'm expecting this match will just come down to another wave of run-ins and shenanigans so Omega can retain.

Ultimate X match - This is a six-way match for Josh Alexander's Impact X division championship. The ring will be set up with four columns at each corner, which support either cables or scaffolding that cross overhead like a giant "X." The title belt will be hung from the center, and the first participant to pull it down will be the winner and champion. So it's like a ladder match, but there are no ladders.

Impact introduced this as one of their signature match types back in 2003, and they've always been rather proud of it. Personally I have trouble getting into it, since all the spots revolve around falling off of things, and all the "near-falls" involve slowly inching across a high-wire or a scaffold.

The six participants are: Josh Alexander, Petey Williams, Trey Miguel, Ace Austin, Rohit Raju, and Chris Bey. The storyline is that Austin and Raju have formed an alliance, and since no one can be disqualified they plan to gang up on the competition with their respective henchmen (Madman Fulton and Shera). Alexander, Williams, and Miguel are trying to stick together to oppose this, and Bey has reluctantly sided with them.

Alexander recently won a sixty-minute iron man match to add to his credentials as a dominant champion, so in theory this match is meant to secure his legacy as an all-time great in the division. Problem is, if he wins he's effectively cleaned out the division, and if he loses it's yet another situation where the champion didn't get pinned to lose the X title, setting up yet another multi-man X title match. Nevertheless, I'd much, much rather keep the belt on Alexander and have him move on to new business (maybe against a recent WWE castoff), so I guess I'm rooting for him to win.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. ? - Purrazzo is scheduled to defend the women's title against a mystery opponent who won't be revealed until right before the match starts. The storyline is that Purrazzo has cleaned out the division (a trope that's getting worn very thin in pro wrestling these days), so she's gotten overconfident, and Gail Kim set this up to truly put her to the test. They haven't said the opponent can't be Kim herself, although Kim strongly suggested that it won't be.

WWE has released a number of women over the past few months, and any of them could potentially be the challenger. Impact is probably counting on fans to jump to that conclusion. By not naming the challenger, Impact encourages fans to infer that she's currently under a WWE non-compete clause that won't expire until right before the show. Of course, none of us can be certain about those non-compete clauses, or which wrestlers have negotiated to waive them. We also can't be assured that the mystery opponent must be a WWE name; it could easily just be someone like ODB coming in for a cup of coffee.

Matches like this tend to be trouble for long-running champions. The most famous example would be when the Ultimate Warrior shocked the Honky Tonk Man in 1989. It won't help Purrazzo that she's cut ties with her cronies, Kimber Lee and Susan, so she won't have them ready to interfere if she gets in trouble. However, Purrazzo is already booked to defend the title in a champion vs. champion match on August 14, so it's hard to believe she'll drop the belt ahead of that.

Four-way tag team match - This is for the Impact men's tag team title, currently held by Violent By Design. Typically in a match like this, members of two teams start in the ring, while everyone else stands in their assigned corner. The legal wrestlers in the ring can tag in anyone in any corner, whether it's their own partner or an opponent. The first wrestler to score a fall on any opponent wins the match and the championship for his team.

The championship is currently held by Violent By Design: Rhino, Joe Doering, Deaner, and Eric Young. In the tradition of the "Freebird Rule," you get booked to wrestle the team, not any specific individuals, so then the team gets to choose which members will actually be in the match. Young has been sidelined with a knee injury so I'm pretty sure VBD's options are limited to Rhino, Doering, and Deaner. But they could always bring in a new member.

There will be three other teams in the match, but only two have been confirmed: Rich Swann & Willie Mack and Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson. When the match was first announced, the team of TJP & Fallah Baah was supposed to be in it. However, we found out yesterday that TJP is unable to do the match for some reason. Impact said the match will still involve four teams, but didn't say that Baah will get another partner. So it's possible Baah has also been pulled from the match, and both guys in the fourth team could be a surprise.

The build for this match felt like a clusterfuck. VBD and Gallows/Anderson are the top teams, but they're all heels, so some babyface teams had to get thrown together, and then all of it is dumped into one match until an actual story direction emerges. The only cool outcome I see is if Fallah Baah really does step aside and a whole new team debuts. But they could just as easily stick Johnny Swinger and Hernandez in there, so I shouldn't get my hopes up. The safe bet is the champs retain.

Moose vs. Chris Sabin - Moose has been a top heel for a while, but he kind of went babyface a little in his program with Kenny Omega. With that out of the way, he threw a tantrum about losing to Omega to remind us he's still a heel, until Sabin chased him off. Without Alex Shelley or James Storm to team with, Sabin hasn't had much to do, so now he's in a match that could re-establish him as a singles guy.

I assume the winner of this match get into the hunt for the world title, perhaps at whatever big show they do in August. That sort of favors Sabin, although I can't totally count out Moose. Moose feels like he's headed for bigger things in Impact, and a convincing win over a former Impact world champion here would get him off to a good start. I guess I've talked myself into picking Moose to win.

Eddie Edwards vs. W. Morrissey - Morrissey (formerly Big Cass in WWE) is on a roll as the latest Mean Guy to beat everybody up in Impact. Edwards, a former world champion in Impact and ROH, is his toughest competition since he got here. I don't see Edwards winning unless they have big plans for him. And I suppose they might have big plans for Eddie, but big plans are clearly in progress for Morrissey. I'm certain this is just a glorified squash match to put Morrissey over.

Matt Cardona & ? vs. Tenille Dashwood & Brian Myers - Cardona and Myers were the team of Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins in WWE, but they've been feuding since they got to Impact. I'd actually forgotten that Dashwood and Cardona were dating about five or six years ago, which would maybe explain why she helped Myers beat down Cardona recently. So now we've got this mixed tag team match. Cardona has to find a woman to be his partner, but we don't know who it will be.

The minute they announced this match, they started teasing the mystery woman would be Cardona's fiancée, Chelsea Green. I suspect that tease was taped before Green showed up at the ROH pay-per-view saying she wasn't medically cleared in Maryland and that she would wrestle for ROH this summer. Of course, none of that necessarily means she can't wrestle for Impact with a wrist injury in Tennessee. But I think the tease is a deliberate misdirection. Dashwood has been trying to drive a wedge between Rachael Ellering and Jordynne Grace, so either of them might make sense in this spot.

If the mystery partner is any good, I think she has to get the win here. But even if Impact has picked up some hot free agents, I don't expect many of them to actually wrestle on this show. So it could be a deal where they reveal Green is in the company, Green swerves us by introducing (for example) Alisha Edwards as the partner, and the babyfaces just lose.

Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary & Havok - This is booked for the pre-show. Fire 'N' Flava (Hogan & Steelz) are defending the Impact women's tag team championship. As I recall, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie feuded with Havok and Neveah a few months back over some spooky shit involving Rosemary and Havok. Anyway, Valkyrie and Neveah left the company, so I guess the spooky sides of those teams have put aside their differences. You could do some fun things with Rosemary and Havok as champs, but I don't know why you'd book the title change on a pre-show. So I think Hogan and Steelz retain, and this storyline will continue for a while longer.

#impact wrestling #slammiversary #kenny omega #sami callihan

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chiefnooniensingh · 4 years

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Take me instead - a buddie fic

Summary: “You take me instead, do you hear me? Give her him back and take me instead.”

Starter from a random prompt list. Eddie and Buck find themselves in a dangerous situation and one is stupider than the other. Bisexual disasters, the pair of them. It leads to a long-awaited confession.

also on: ao3

It started out as a regular call; a grocery store got held up, someone tried to play hero and somehow the perp shot himself in the leg. Apparently it was a whole mess, so the 118 suited up and went out to respond.

The grocery store was, indeed, a mess when they arrived. People were gathered in the parking lot, looking startled and slightly excited. Athena was already on the scene, keeping everyone at a distance and side-eyeing the store at every turn. “Perp is still holed up there with the cashier, he’s not letting anyone but a paramedic in there. This man is a real idiot, I don’t know how the hell he shot himself in the leg.” She rolled her eyes at Bobby, who nodded and turned to his team.

“Alright, listen up. Eddie, Buck, the three of us are heading in there. Eddie, if you see a chance, cuff his ass.” Athene tossed Eddie some handcuffs, which he hid in his pack. “Hen, Chimney, stay alert. Be ready to assist whenever.”

“Sure thing, Cap,” Chimney said, already tossing the necessities from the ambulance to Hen, who caught them deftly.

“Let’s go.” Bobby led Buck and Eddie inside, making sure to be the first through the door. Buck would’ve loved to be first, if only to protect his team, but he knew better than to argue with cap right now. He was in full Captain mode, completely focussed. “LAFD, I’ve got the paramedics here, we are unarmed!”

“Over here!”

The cashier was standing against the register, frozen in fear, staring down at the man on the floor, who was holding his gun to the cashier shakily, whilst his leg was bleeding profusely. Buck did a quick risk assessment. Taking the gun away now would most likely result in someone getting shot. They’d have to play along for now. “Sir, can you lower the gun? We would love to help you.”

“No!” the man said roughly, the gun shaking harder, his finger slipping on the trigger, causing the three of them to freeze for a second. “Just…fix my leg and then we all walk away!”

A muscle pulled in Bobby’s cheek, but he nodded. “Alright, sir, now what’s your name?”

“Patrick.”

“Alright, Patrick, we’ll fix your leg. Eddie, start checking the wound. Buck, run a line.”

Buck and Eddie got to work, getting down on their knees next to the man and exchanging silent looks across his shaking figure. Their job was to help this man, and they would. But they’d need to get that gun away from him soon.

They worked in silence, only communicating when they had to, the perp holding the gun way too tightly for their comfort.

“Cap, I’m about to finish up over here,” Eddie said, and Buck heard the concern in his voice. Their window of opportunity was closing.

“Alright. Sir, I need your promise that you will not harm my people or anyone else. I will allow you to walk away if you promise that.” The man looked wildly up to Bobby as he got to his feet, his gun trained at Bobby. Before anything else could happen, Buck saw Eddie make a decision. In one swift motion, he ducked underneath the man’s outstretched arm and grabbed the hand holding the gun.

“Eddie!” Buck bellowed, when the thief yanked his arm back, accidentally discharged the weapon and Eddie lost his balance. Both Bobby and Buck ducked out of the way when the bullet came ricocheting from the ceiling. When Buck got back to his feet, his blood ran cold.

The thief was holding the gun again and had one arm around Eddie’s neck. The gun was trained directly at Eddie’s temple. Eddie had suffered a blow to the head, a deep cut above his eyebrow was bleeding profusely. He looked absolutely pissed, though Buck suspected that was more at himself than anything else.

“Don’t do something stupid here, Patrick!” Bobby yelled.

“Your boy was the one who did something stupid! I told you I would walk away!”

“Drop your gun, Patrick, you haven’t seriously harmed anyone yet, you can still walk away from this! If you pull that trigger you will bring down the entire might of the LAPD and LAFD down upon you and your life will be over!” Underneath the stern and in control Captain-voice, Buck could hear a very real hint of fear, that Buck felt as well. They did not have control of the situation. The perp was feeling cornered and scared and was holding a gun. They had to act quickly if Eddie was going to walk away from this.

“Hey, Patrick!” Buck said impulsively, drawing the perp’s attention away from Bobby. “Listen, I know you’re feeling scared, it’s understandable. But Cap’s right, the only way you walk away is if you don’t hurt anyone. But people will hurt you the moment you walk out of this building, and the only way that’s not happening if you have a hostage.”

“Buck!” Bobby said, stern, but Buck had barely enough restraint to not jump the man and needed all his attention.

“So you take me. We walk out of here together. I’ll guarantee you get out of here, but only if you take me, you let him go.” The perp was staring at him, near breathless. “You take me instead, do you hear me? You give him back and take me instead.”

“Buck, no!” Eddie exclaimed and tried to move, but the perp was still holding the gun and Eddie flinched when the arm around his neck tightened.

“Shut up, Eddie,” Buck hissed, keeping his eyes on the perp. “Let him go, Patrick. I’ll get you out of here…”

The two of them stared at each other for a while and Buck thought he saw a spark of a decision in the man’s eyes, but before they could find out, they heard a hard thud and the perp collapsed in a miserable heap on the floor. Eddie immediately fell away, stumbling and creating some distance between himself and the perp. “You’re not going anywhere,” Lieutenant Athena Grant spat as she took out her handcuffs.

“Athena!” Bobby said, relief flooding Buck at the same time as he saw the perp being cuffed in his unconscious state.

“We heard the gunshot. I thought I’d see what was going on.” Her eyes flicked to Buck. “Did someone play hero again?”

“That was me,” Eddie said, pressing a tissue to the bleeding cut. “Tried something. Failed. Buck here tried to sacrifice himself instead.” Buck frowned at the anger Eddie was clearly trying and failing to hide. He wasn’t sure what he did, but Eddie was angry with him. Pissed, by the looks of those dark eyes glinting as they looked at each other.

Athena rolled her eyes, scoffing. “Men,” she said.

Bobby chuckled, giving his wife a quick kiss. “Yes, we’re the worst. Move out, guys.” Athena and a uniformed officer picked up the perp and carried him out, leaving Buck and Eddie alone in the shop, looking awkward. Eddie began picking up his bag in icy silence, and Buck kneeled down to help.

“You okay, Eddie?”

“Why did you do that, man?” Eddie said almost instantly. Buck blinked at him in surprise. “Why’d you offer to take my place? I could’ve handled him.”

“I – ” Buck started, but Eddie cut across him.

“That was so stupid, I could’ve taken him down and he would’ve just as soon shot you as well! You never think before you act, and you nearly got us both killed!”

Buck stared, open-mouthed at Eddie, who very violently threw the last of his gear in his bag and got to his feet. “Eddie, it worked out just fine, I just thought – ”

“Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it! The only reason it worked out fine is because Athena came to the rescue!” Then he stalked off, leaving Buck behind, flabbergasted. When they got back to the station, their shift was over, and Eddie was gone before Buck could find him.

Confused and slightly hurt, Buck went home.

----

After having made dinner for himself and cleaning up, Buck sat down on his couch with a sigh. He felt terrible about what had happened, and the worst thing was that he didn’t know what exactly had gone wrong. He’d never seen Eddie that pissed off, not even during the whole lawsuit-debacle. And the worst thing was, both he and Eddie had a few days off, which meant he couldn’t talk to Eddie about it. He didn’t want to call him, even if to check on Christopher; he didn’t know how Eddie would respond.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair and reached for the TV remote.

A hurried knock at the door stilled his movements.

Frowning, Buck threw a glance at the clock, wondering who on earth would be at his door at 10PM. The knocking came again, more insistent. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming already.” He yanked open his door, and his irritated ‘what’ died on his tongue when he saw Eddie Diaz standing in the hallway. “Eddie.” Eddie barged into the apartment without invitation, barely even taking the time to say hi. “Why don’t you come in?” Buck said sarcastically.

“Yeah, thanks,” Eddie said, sounding for all the world like he was barely registering Buck at all. Eddie paced up and down the kitchen in silence for a few moments, and Buck stared at him.

When Eddie still didn’t seem inclined to start talking, Buck assumed he was the one who had to hold up the olive branch first. “Look, Eddie, I’m sorry for whatever – ”

“Shut up,” Eddie snapped, irritated, and Buck lapsed into a hurt silence. He was completely confused. Eddie still seemed angry, but then why the hell had he come? Why wouldn’t he let him apologize. “Look, Buck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. What I said was mean and undeserving, and I’m sorry.”

Buck stared at him for several seconds, too astonished to speak. “That’s…okay.” Eddie resumed his pacing. “Eddie, what – ?”

“You were willing to sacrifice your life to safe mine! Do you know how incredibly stupid and noble and stupid that is?!” Eddie exploded, halting in front of Buck and finally looking right at him.

“That’s what you’re angry about?”

“Yes!” Eddie exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Why would you do that? There was no reason…”

Buck let out a laugh. “No reason? Eddie, you have a kid at home, a whole family to care for! I couldn’t let Christopher grow up without a father!”

Eddie stared at Buck for a full half minute before his mouth seemed to work again. “You did this for Christopher?”

“Yes!” Buck said. “And…well…” He took a deep breath and just fucking went for it. “When I saw you with that gun to your head, the only thing I could really think about was how I would not be able to bear losing you.”

A shocked silence fell. They stared at each other as each processed what was just said between them. Suddenly, Eddie started pacing again. “Buck, the reason I got so irrationally angry, was because I couldn’t bear losing you!” He put his hands to his head for a second, grabbing his own hair and pulling in frustration. “You are so god damn impulsive and noble and stupid, Buck!”

And then Eddie took the two steps necessary to close the distance between them, reached out to grab Buck’s head between his hands, and crashed their lips together.

As first kisses went, it wasn’t terrible. Buck had definitely had worse. It was still sloppy and awkward, made even more so by the fact that Buck was absolutely blindsided. His brain short-circuited, went into overdrive and managed to get himself into half a panic attack within the few seconds it lasted. Then Eddie stepped backwards, his face flushed and his eyes wide.

“Buck, I am so sorry, I thought – oh my God, I’m so stupid, I should’ve asked…I’m so sorry, let’s just forget this ever happened…”

“Could you…shut up…for a moment?” Buck said, his breathing fast as his brain rebooted and he processed what had just happened. Eddie had kissed him. Eddie had kissed him. Eddie had kissed him. Eddie had kissed him. No matter how he phrased it, it sounded like something from an unrealistic dream. Eddie had kissed him? “Did you just…kiss me?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, Buck.”

“I – why?”

Eddie let out a breathless laugh. “Usually when a person kisses another person, it means they kinda like the other person. Like, like like.” From anyone else, what Eddie just said would’ve sounded patronizing and insulting. Eddie was merely straddling the line between amused and worried, therefore explaining it as clearly as he could so Buck could catch up.

“You like me?”

“Buck, what the – yeah, you asshole.”

Buck let out a startled laugh. “I didn’t know you were – ”

“Bisexual? Yeah, I’ve been discovering some things about myself since joining the 118.” A silence fell between them, as Buck tried to force his brain to focus, but his thoughts were going a mile a minute. “I’m sorry, Buck, I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“No, no, please,” Buck said quickly, his brain jolted by the retreating movement Eddie was making. “Eddie, I’ve been out since I was 15. I don’t even think about it anymore. I…don’t think I’ve ever told you, now that I think about it.”

Eddie gaped at him. “You’re…”

“Bisexual, too? Yeah, disastrously so. I’m the chaotic bi stereotype to a T.”

Eddie burst out laughing and Buck joined in, and for a moment, the awkwardness vanished. Then Eddie’s smile vanished again. “Still. I know that doesn’t mean that you…you know…like me back.”

Buck let out another laugh, startling Eddie. “Eddie…Jesus Christ. You must be the dumb bi stereotype.” With that, having rediscovered his swagger and flirt, he took a step towards Eddie, slid a hand in the man’s neck, pulling him in slowly, sensually, and capturing Eddie’s lips with his.

This time was only a little less awkward, mainly because Buck was quite comfortable kissing guys, and Eddie was very clearly not. His hands flailed around for a while, trying to find a spot to put them, until Buck broke the kiss with a laugh. “Eddie, stop thinking!”

“Sorry!” Eddie said, with an adorable flush and a sheepish grin. “It’s just…very new. Imagining it and actually doing it…” Then his eyes widened. “Wait, you kissed me!”

Buck burst out laughing. “Okay, this could go on for a while. Want a beer?”

Eddie nodded, dazed and took a seat at Buck’s kitchen island. Buck joined him a few seconds later, sitting quite a bit closer than he normally would have. They drank in comfortable silence as both of them processed what had happened. They shot each other furtive glances, breaking out in grins every time their eyes met. Buck leaned his leg against Eddie’s, who did not pull away. When Buck took his last swig of beer, Eddie put down his bottle, too. Their eyes met. With that inexplicable silent communication of theirs, they looked at each other and then moved simultaneously.

Their lips met halfway through and this kiss was decidedly not awkward. Eddie had Buck backed against the counter, one of his hands in Buck’s neck, his other arm braced on the counter. Buck had his arms wrapped tightly around Eddie, holding the man close, as if hoping to fully merge with him.

Between kisses, Eddie tried to talk, “Is – ” kiss – “ – this – ” kiss – “a dumb – ” kiss – “idea?”

“Maybe,” Buck said, breathlessly. “But I’m not fussed – ” kiss - “about it – ” kiss – “at the moment.”

“Mmm,” Eddie murmured, before they lapsed back into silence and went back to exploring each other as thoroughly as possible. Buck quickly discovered that Eddie absolutely went crazy when Buck sucked on a spot just below his jaw. Eddie wasted no time in finding Buck’s weak spot, located behind his ear. When Buck pressed his thumbs ever so lightly into Eddie’s hipbone, the man absolutely became putty in his hands. Eddie retaliated by slipping his hands into Buck’s jeans and grabbing hold of his ass. Buck groaned, breaking their kiss and closing his eyes for a second to gather some semblance of self-control. Eddie immediately dived for Buck’s collar bone.

“For someone who was very flustered just ten minutes ago, you’ve certainly got no restraints now,” Buck remarked. Eddie straightened up and grinned, his face flushed, his pupils dilated.

“You make me feel very comfortable about all this.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Buck said with a grin.

Eddie pressed closer to him and they both groaned as this move created friction in some very sensitive places. “You should,” he muttered, before capturing Buck’s mouth again and they got lost in each other once more.

---BE---

Kissing turned to talking, and by the time the sun rose, Buck and Eddie were huddled together on the couch, watching One Day at a Time and pretending not to cry as Penelope has her depressive episode.

As the sun slowly creeps into the apartment, Buck looks down at Eddie, who is lying against his chest with a contented smile. The first rays of morning sun hit his face, and to Buck, he looks absolutely radiant at that moment. The most beautiful man Buck has ever laid eyes on, and he can’t believe this man wants to be with him like this. Impulsively, Buck leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Eddie’s forehead. Eddie glanced up from the TV, smiling broadly as their eyes met. Now the sun is out fully, and Buck is nearly blinded by it. Eddie’s eyes widen.

“Crap! I promised Carla to pick up Christopher before school today!” He scrambled up and tried then and there to straighten his hair and shirt, but Buck, having none of it, grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, causing Eddie to stumble and fall right into Buck’s chest. Both groaned from the impact, but Buck wrapped his arms around Eddie and kissed him soundly. “Stay,” he whispered, “it’s only seven.”

“I know, and I promised to pick him up at seven thirty,” Eddie said, his voice just a little unsteady. He leant down and kissed Buck in turn, and then groaned. “Buck, let me go, come on.” He laughed as he tried to get up, but Buck’s arms wouldn’t budge. One con of letting this man explore and find his weaknesses last night? Eddie now knew exactly how to get him. With one finger he prodded firmly into Buck’s side, causing Buck to cry out in giggles and his body to reflexively pull away. “Ha!” Eddie said, victorious as he sprang up and out of Buck’s reach.

“Not fair!” Buck exclaimed, laughing just as hard as Eddie was.

“Come on, Buck, if you get ready now, you can come along and bring Christopher to school.”

Within ten minutes, the two of them looked only slightly like they hadn’t slept all night, Eddie wearing one of Buck’s shirts, and they went out to pick up Christopher.

“Buckaroo!” Carla exclaimed as she opened the door, but had no time to hug Buck, as a smaller figure bowled into his legs. Carla and Eddie laughed as Buck pretended to lose his footing and pick up Chris to swing him around.

“Hey Chris, how ya doing, buddy!”

“I’m good, Buck! Are you going to bring me to school today?”

“Yeah, buddy!”

“Cool!”

“Good morning, Christopher, nice to see you, too,” Eddie said, looking amused as the two boys only seemed to have eyes for each other.

“Morning, daddy,” Christopher said, with that mischievous grin on his face.

“Thanks for watching him, Carla.”

“Mm-mm,” she said, her eyes flicking between the two of them suspiciously. “Buckaroo, is there a reason Edmundo here is wearing your best shirt?” The two boys’ eyes widened, and they shot furtive glances at Christopher, but he was none the wiser, already making his way to the car on his own. Carla laughed in her very Carla-like way. “I see. Well, you two behave around that kid, and don’t try to get caught at work.”

“I – we – ” Eddie stammered, as Buck’s mouth merely opened and closed without producing any sound.

“Have a nice day, boys!” Carla merely said and shut the door in their faces.

Buck and Eddie shared a look and Buck let out a high giggle, which made Eddie snort in surprise. Before long, the two were full on laughing, only halted when Christopher called their names impatiently. Buck buckled Chris into his seat and got into the car next to Eddie. Buck tried very hard to act normal, but he had no idea what normal was anymore.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, Christopher,” Eddie said, glancing in the rear-view mirror at his son.

“Why are you wearing Buck’s best shirt?”

#buddie fic #buddie ff #buddie #911 fox #911 fic #Evan Buckley #Eddie Diaz #my fanfics #my buddie fics #i loVE THEM

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eddiesasspbrak · 5 years

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Carnival Games

Eddie sneaks out to attend the annual carnival with his friends and meets someone he hadn't been expecting.

A request from @caleigh-rayne hope this is what you were looking for!

Requests currently open for most IT ships

Read on AO3

4k+ words

Throughout Eddie’s life, he’d been denied the enjoyment of many things. He’d never been to a classmate’s birthday party. He’d ridden a bike once and when he fell off one time his mom sold it. He’d never been roller skating, skateboarding, ice skating or climbed a tree. He’d had chances to do many things in secret, but his mother’s warnings were drilled so far into his brain that her voice would come out every time he even thought about it. One thing he was definitely not allowed to do, was attend the annual fair.

He’d always wanted to go. They’d drive by it every year and he’d see the rides, the games and the food that smelled sinfully delicious when he’d roll his window down just a bit. He’d see the other kids running around, playing and lining up with their friends, excitement on their faces and practically vibrating off of them. Every year he asked his mom to let him go, and every year it was, “no son of mine will associate with carnies.” Or, “those rides are dangerous and the people who run them don’t care if they’re up to safety regulations.” Or his personal favorite, “they skewer dead rats on a stick, dunk them in batter and then deep fry them and sell them as food. Is that what you want Eddie? To eat a rat?”

Eddie knew it was all bullshit. His friends went every year, and nothing ever happened to them. Other than a stomachache from eating too much or Ben puking after riding a roller coaster. Eddie would love to experience it all - the good and the bad. Bev would always bring back a stuffed toy she’d won for him and Mike would sneak him a soft pretzel when they’d stop by afterward to check on him.

The summer of their seventeenth year, when the heat was at its peak and the haze of summer was setting in, the fair came the town once more. Eddie sat on his porch with his three friends, watching families with young children go by headed to the fair when it was more child friendly. All the kids he saw were excited, bouncing along holding their parents’ hands and smiling brighter than the sun. It just made Eddie sad.

“Come on, Eddie. Sneak out and come with this year.” Bev was saying in a hushed voice in case his mother was close by. The windows that lined the front porch sat open to let any gentle breeze pass through the sweltering house.

“I can’t. If she finds my bed empty, she’ll call the police. She’s done it before, and I was just in the bathroom.”

“Slip her a sleeping pill.”

“I’m not going to drug my mother so I can go to a fair.”

Bev shrugged and instinctively reached for her pocket, stopping herself when she remembered where she was and wiping her hand down over her denim jeans instead. All of her friends knew she smoked, but if Sonia got even a whiff of smoke, she’d ban Eddie from seeing his friends ever again and would search every inch of his room for cigarettes. The one time Bev had shown up smelling of smoke she’d had to quickly come up with a lie about a group of unruly teens that she’d had to walk by. Sonia hated them all and looked for any excuse to banish them, but she’d bought it anyway.

“Can’t you say your staying at my place tonight?” Ben asked, his eyes leaving Bev for the first time in ten minutes.

“She’ll suspect something. She knows the fair is in town.” Eddie sighed.

“What about mine? The farm is far enough away from the fair that it should be ok, right?” Mike asked.

“Nah, she’ll just come up with a reason to keep me away from farm animals. It’s useless guys. One more year until I’m free and then I can go to as many fairs as I want.”

All of his friends could practically see into the future, his rebellious phase an inevitable as soon as he was out from under Sonia’s constant supervision. They often wondered if Eddie would continue to talk to his mother at all when he was eighteen and away from home. He’d learned long ago that she didn’t have his best interest at heart. She just wanted to control him, keep him from enjoying life and getting a taste of what life could be without her. It was going to happen, and that day was approaching fast, so her hold got even tighter.

Eddie’s friends left when Sonia called him inside to help with dinner. He waved goodbye and watched them head down the street. They’d go to Ben’s and wait for it to get dark before heading to the fair. He wished with all of his being to go with them. Inside, his mother was in the kitchen, listening to the radio and cutting up vegetables for a stir-fry. Eddie joined her, stirring the bit of chicken in the pan on the stove. The rice cooker sat on the countertop, steam coming from the lid and making the air just a little bit hotter.

As soon as the food was done, Sonia made her way to the living room with her plate, where she liked to eat in front of the TV. Sometimes Eddie joined her, but he didn’t much want to be in her presence at the moment. If it weren’t for her, he’d be going to have fun with his friends. The sun was just barely beginning to dip in the sky, casting purple across the clouds. They wouldn’t have left yet.

“Eddiebear, will you fetch me a scoop of ice cream?” Sonia called from the living room when she’d finished her meal.

Reluctantly, Eddie mumbled back a “sure” and dumped his plate in the sink on his way to the freezer. The blast of cold from inside was enough to cool Eddie down for a second. He reached up into a cabinet to grab a bowl and his eyes fell to the cabinet door beside him. The cabinet that held all of their combined medication, fake and real. “Slip her a sleeping pill.” Bev’s voice echoed in his head.

It wouldn’t be so bad, right? She took sleeping pills all the time. Just one wouldn’t hurt her. Peeking over his shoulder, into the living room, he could see her slipper covered feet dangling off the recliner but knew she couldn’t see him. Slowly as he could, careful to not make any sound, he opened the cabinet and pulled down the little orange bottle. He shook out one, putting the bottle back in its place exactly as he’d found it. He went about scooping the ice cream like normal, topping it with the sprinkles she liked to mask any grittiness. Using the back of the spoon, he pressed on the pill until it broke in half. The sound of the TV masked the little click it made as it broke. From there he kept pressing it with the spoon into smaller and smaller pieces.

When it resembled a powder, Eddie scrapped it off the counter and into the spoon, sprinkling it on top and then mixing it and the sprinkles into the cold dessert. For a final touch, he added whipped cream and a single maraschino cherry. He quickly cleaned the counter, wiping away any evidence, and put everything back where it belonged.

She smiled at him as he carried the bowl in. “Oh, Eddiebear you spoil me!” She gushed.

He forced a smile and made up an excuse about it being too hot and wanting to go to bed early. He said goodnight and ran to his room, shutting the door behind him. He changed his clothes into something more fair appropriate. Denim shorts that went halfway down his thigh, a t-shirt with blue and white stripes and a small breast pocket, a pair of tennis shoes and a sweatshirt tied around his waist incase it got cold. He waited anxiously for forty minutes. Enough time for her to finish her dessert and the pills to make her tired.

As quietly as he possibly could, he snuck down the stairs and peeked into the living room. Sonia was still in her chair, the TV playing but she was fast asleep. He knew they worked quick on her, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. But the sun was rapidly setting, and his friends would head out soon. Making sure he had his keys and wallet he locked the door behind him and dashed down the street. The air was hot, but the wind going past his face as he ran felt like freedom. He wasn’t supposed to run because of his supposed asthma, but he could run fast and for long distances and never have a problem. Besides, he was breaking the rules tonight.

When he arrived at Ben’s house, he could see the retreating shapes of his friends just a little ways away. Smile on his face, he called out to them, earning a startled reaction.

“Eddie, what the hell are you doing here?” Mike asked.

“I’m going to the fair with you guys.” He said between heavy breathing, catching his breath from the run.

“No fucking way!” Bev beamed. “We finally get to pop your carnival cherry. How did you get your mom to agree?”

“She didn’t…exactly…”

“Oh Eddie, you didn’t.” Ben frowned.

“I wasn’t thinking and before I knew it, she was eating ice cream with a sleeping pill in it.” He confessed.

“Ignore him. I’m proud of you.” Bev said, nudging Bens’ side with her elbow.

“She’ll be ok, right?” Eddie asked nervously.

“How many did you give her?”

“One. The dosage on the prescription she has is one and she hadn’t taken any before that.”

“Then she’ll be fine.” Bev reassured, grabbing his hand and then Ben’s. “Come on, let’s go.”

Being dragged along, Eddie reached out and grabbed hold of Mike’s hand as well, grounding himself to reality, his friends like a tether tied to his wrists. Everything would be ok. He just had to keep walking. Tonight, he was free.

It wasn’t a long walk to the fairgrounds given how small the town was. By the time they got there, the sun was all but gone beyond the horizon, orange and yellow painting the sky at the edges. Soon it would be dark. They passed by the fence around the edge of the grounds and immediately they were engulfed in the festivities.

Eddie felt a bit overwhelmed by the lights, sounds and smells but the excitement was buzzing off of him in waves. Bev’s hand is his seemed to keep him calm as she dragged him through the crowd and toward the ticket booth. Every year they saved up for months so they could go on the rides as often as they wanted, eat as much fried food as their stomachs could fit and play enough games to go home with at least one cheap, useless bobble.

With enough tickets to satisfy their adrenaline cravings, they set off to a slow ride to ease Eddie into it. He’d never been on a Ferris wheel and it was the slowest ride they offered, aside from the rides meant for small children. The line was short and mostly full of couples. Eddie offered to ride alone with Mike so Beverly and Ben could ride together, but they insisted they wanted to be there for his first ride. When it was their turn, all four crammed into the seat, the bar coming down over their laps. Eddie sat in the middle with Bev, Mike on his other side. Mike mentioned to the operator that it was his first ride and the guy winked at him. Eddie looked at Mike, wondering what kind of exchange he’d just witnessed.

As the ride started up, Eddie’s stomach did a little flip. He wouldn’t get sick. He wouldn’t freak out or be afraid. He was going to enjoy this if it was the last thing he did. Taking a deep breath, he pushed his mother’s voice from his head and looked out at the world in front of him as they began to rise into the air. Beverly reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing his fingers.

Eddie’s eyes were fixed on the view in front of him. Everything looked so small below him and he could see all the way to the edge of the town, or at least close to it. When they reached the top, the ride came to a stop, their seat rocking back and forth. His friends all looked at his face, smiling expectantly.

“What do you think?” Ben asked, looking across Bev to see him.

“The town looks so small from up here.” He said.

“The town is small.” Bev reminded him.

“Yea but I mean…even smaller than that. It’s pretty though. All the lights.”

“This is just the beginning.” Mike grinned, putting an arm around Eddie’s shoulders and squeezing.

After the Ferris wheel, they took him on the bumper cars and then the spinning apples. Every ride getting faster and preparing him for the rollercoaster. He was nervous in line, staring up at the little cars speeding over the tracks, but as soon as they were seated and things started moving, he was all excitement. Cheering and whooping loudly, laughing and throwing his hands in the air alongside Bev. All these years, this is what he’d been missing. He really did feel free.

After a few more rides, they took a break for food. Fried Oreos were disgusting and amazing at the same time. Eddie had never had a hotdog that tasted so good, covered in ketchup, mustard and onions. The elephant ear was sweet enough to rot his teeth and he loved it. He never knew before that cotton candy actually melted on your tongue. Full of food and needing a break before tackling anymore rides, they dragged him to the games. Balloon pop, basketball, shooting cans with a toy rifle, spraying water into a plastic clown’s mouth to fill the balloon on top of its head. Eddie was terrible at all of them, but he was having fun trying. Bev told him they were rigged anyway, making them hard to win.

Mike and Ben had separated to find a bathroom, leaving Bev and Eddie to walk arm in arm around the fairgrounds that used to be a church parking lot. They avoided classmates they recognized, watched others play the games and talked about the potential danger he was in for drugging his mom. As long as she didn’t realize he’d done it and gone to the fair, it would be ok. Bev was preparing to break him out if he was caught and locked in his room indefinitely.

They were joking about hiding him in the clubhouse Ben built when they were younger, when a ruckus over by one of the games caught their attention. A boy who they both recognized from school was sat up on the seat above the water in swim trunks and shirtless. A boy they knew from the soccer team, Chet, was lined up in front of the target, a baseball in his hand. He seemed to be concentrating and wound up to throw only for the boy above the tank to call you “Oh yea, look at that form!” When the ball left his fingers, he flinched, missing the target entirely.

“Better luck next time Chet, my boy! I guess this is why you’re on the soccer team and not the baseball team!” He yelled as Chet angrily walked away, flipping him off.

Bev and Eddie would know that smart mouth anywhere. Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier was known in the school for his fantastic academics but his horrible ability to keep his mouth shut. He’d gotten in trouble for talking in class and making jokes more than anyone else in the history of the school. They didn’t know him personally, but it was hard not to know who he was.

The next guy stepped up, Nicholas Monroe, most popular boy in school and number one Richie Tozier anti-fan. His girlfriend, Missy Jones, was on his arm and both were smiling and looking confident. Everyone watching could tell that he was determined to sink Richie. To sink the Trashmouth and use it as material to make fun of him for weeks, maybe months.

“If it isn’t Nick.” Richie grinned. “Come to show off your skills at handling balls?”

“Shut the fuck up Tozier.” He said, winding up with the first ball and throwing it as hard as he could. It smacked the tarp hanging behind it, missing the target by a few inches.

“Oh, nice try Nicky but you need to hit that big red circle over there.”

“I said shut up, Trashmouth!” He angrily threw the second, missing again.

“Getting a little feisty there aren’t we. Bet that’s why you like him, huh Missy?”

She giggled, her cheeks coloring pink, but stopped as soon as Nick looked at her angrily, a shy smile still lingering. With the last ball he’d paid for in hand, he gripped it tight and squinted his eyes as if trying to focus his sight only on the target. Once more, he threw the ball, this one coming the closest but still hitting above the target instead of on it. He cursed, balling his hands into fists.

“Sorry Nick, you can’t make me wet. You’re just not my type.” Richie winked.

“I’m gonna kick your ass the next time I see you, Trashmouth.” Nick put his arm around Missy and dragged her away, though she looked over his shoulder at Richie as they left.

Eddie and Bev were laughing, enjoying the way Richie made these boys feel stupid with just a few words. Of course, he was likely to pay for it later. He wasn’t a stranger to being beat up for saying the wrong things. He still had the remnants of a healing black eye behind his glasses. It didn’t help that every girl in school seemed to be attracted to him, taken or not. Except maybe Bev who only had eyes for Ben.

Eddie could understand why. He’d had his sexual awakening years ago and Richie was definitely a part of realizing his sexuality. He’d always been too afraid to talk to him. Bev kind of knew him because he was a smoker as well and hung around the bleachers by the field between classes. He’d wanted to ask Bev to take him with her on a smoke break so he could at least stare at him for a bit, but he never did.

With the line momentarily empty, Richie looked around at the crowd, hoping to goad someone else into trying to sink him. His eyes landed on Bev and Eddie, whispering to one another and laughing and his face lit up with a smile.

“Well, well, Ms. Marsh I see you’ve dumped Benny boy for a new piece of arm candy. This one isn’t as buff but definitely cuter.” Richie called out to them.

Eddie felt warmth wash over him but wasn’t sure if it was from the hot summer air or Richie’s words. With their arms still linked, Bev dragged Eddie close to the dunk tank so she could talk to Richie.

“Hey there, Trashmouth. Didn’t know you were working here.” Bev greeted him, leaning against the top of the tank.

“Picking up some extra summer cash. It’s an easy gig and only a few people actually manage to hit the target. I’m starting to wish they would. It's hot as hell out here.”

“Seems you're enjoying yourself. We’ve been watching for a while. Aren’t you worried you’ll get your ass kicked?”

Richie shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” He looked from Bev to Eddie, who had been looking up at him since they walked over. “Gonna introduce me to your friend?”

Bev pulled her arm from Eddie’s and placed her hand on top of his head. “This cutie pie is Eddie Kaspbrak. Eddie, Richie.” She introduced them.

“Hey Eddie. Wanna take a chance at getting me wet?” Richie asked, tilting his chin up.

If Eddie wasn’t already blushing, he was now. “I don’t think I’ll be any good.” He said in a small voice, hoping Richie could still hear him.

“You sure? You’re small but I bet you’ve got power in those arms.”

“I...I don’t know.”

“Come on, Eddie. Give it a go.” Bev nudged him. “It’s only a dollar a ball.”

Eddie chewed his bottom lip. He wanted to try but he also didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Richie. Leaning down, Richie put his elbow on his knee and lowered his voice.

“Tell you what, we’ll make it interesting. If you win, I’ll do one thing just for you. Anything you want.”

“And if I lose?”

“You have to give me your number.”

“What? W-why would you want my number?” Eddie stuttered, his heart pounding in his chest.

“I’ll tell you if you win.” He winked.

Feeling like his skin was abuzz, Eddie paid the three dollars and took the baseballs from the attendant. He could feel Richie’s eyes burning into him as he stepped up to the line. His hands were sweating, and he tried not to drop the ball before even throwing it. His first throw missed, hitting too low.

“Oh, so close Eds. Two more to go!” Richie called.

Eddie’s breath hitched at the nickname, making him throw the second ball too far to the right. Bev patted him on the shoulder, giving him some encouragement. Taking a deep breath, he rolled the last ball between his hands. He kept his eyes on the target as he threw it, hitting the target right in the center. The seat beneath Richie collapsed, dropping him into the cold water below. Water splashed out over the edge and Bev whooped and hollered, wrapping her arms around Eddie’s shoulders. The attendant handed him a small purple bunny.

Turning back to the tank, they saw Richie coming up from under the water at the edge closest to them, his glasses in his hand. He ran his other hand over his face to remove the water, before pushing his hair back out of his face. Eddie thought his heart might burst out of his chest at the sight of his long, curly tendrils hanging in his face and dripping water down his neck. His mouth was suddenly full of saliva and he swallowed it down, hoping no one else noticed.

“Guess you win.” Richie said, putting his arms over the edge of the tank, letting water drip from his fingers. “That means I’ve got to grant you one wish.”

Eddie stared up at him, his mouth now going bone dry. He’d agreed to the terms but didn’t actually expect to win. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask of him. Before he got the chance to properly think it over, Mike and Ben were calling out to them, Stan and Bill in tow.

“Hey, look who we found!” Mike said, his arm around Stan’s shoulders.

Stan’s face was flushed, a happy little smile on his lips.

“Bill wants to ride the roller coaster. You guys up for another go?” Ben asked.

“Hell yea.” Bev grinned, grabbing Eddie’s hand and pulling him to follow the others.

Eddie looked back over his shoulder at Richie in time to see him waving goodbye. More rides on the rollercoaster, a few rides on the tilt-a-whirl, and another round of bumper cars with all six of them and they were beat. Bev wanted to get another snack before the fair closed down for the night and Mike wanted to play a few games with Bill and Stan. Eddie stuck with them while B3 went to satisfy Bev’s cravings.

He watched Stan and Mike at the basketball hoops, each attempting to outdo the other. It was obvious to everyone except Mike that Stan was crazy about him and would do anything to get his attention. Eddie couldn’t help laughing at their back and forth, neither one making a single basket. He and his friends were known for being the most athletic. Except perhaps Ben.

When a hand gentle came to rest on his shoulder, Eddie just about jumped out of his skin. His first thought was Beverly, Ben or Bill coming to join them, but when he turned, he found Richie standing there. He was smiling, apologetic for startling him.

“Hey, it’s Eddie, right?” Richie asked.

Eddie nodded his head, suddenly feeling nervous because wow he was ever cuter up close. He was fully clothed now in long cargo shorts, a graphic t-shirt covered by a hideous short sleeve button up and sneakers. His hair was still wet, slicked back and out of his face. Eddie felt a shiver go through him despite the heat.

“Glad I found you. I still owe you one wish for winning earlier.”

Eddie help up the little purple rabbit for him to see. “I already won this from it.”

“Yes, but the rabbit wasn’t a part of the deal. I said I’d do anything you want. So, name your price. Can’t have unfulfilled debts lingering over me now, can I?” His smile was crooked and so charming it made Eddie want to melt.

He searched his brain for anything he could make Richie do. Maybe buy him a soda or a pretzel. But his mind was sinful and suddenly he knew what he wanted; he just couldn’t ask for it. More than anything, he wanted to be kissed by a beautiful boy and Richie was ideal. He’d been kissed before during games of truth or dare and by Jenna Newman in the 6th grade. But he’d never been kissed and at that moment, that was precisely what he wanted.

Feeling brave, the rush of adrenaline that had been pumping through him all night taking over he muttered a “follow me” and took off. Mike and Stan didn’t notice the two boys leaving them, headed toward the edge of the fairgrounds where things were beginning to shut down for the night. It was nearly deserted, only a few people walking by on their way to leave or get one last ride in. Eddie lead Richie behind a stand that had already closed down, leaving the area around it dark.

Cast in shadow, Richie looked down at Eddie curiously, the smile never fully leaving his face.

“What are we doing back here?” He asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Instead of answering with words, Eddie took a step closer, placing his hands on Richie’s chest and looking up at him with half lidded eyes. Richie breathed out a single “Oh” before Eddie was standing on his toes and pressing his lips to Richie’s. Leaning down to meet him halfway, Richie pulled his hands back out from his pocket and cradled the back of Eddie’s head with one, the other trailing down the bac of his neck to his back. Eddie shivered, tilting his head back for a better angle and parting his lips. He didn’t fully know what he was doing, but he knew what he wanted when he licked at Richie’s bottom lip.

Richie opened his mouth slightly, sucking Eddie’s bottom lip between his teeth before diving his tongue into the wet heat of his mouth. Eddie’s head was spinning, the feel of Richie’s tongue, teeth and hands sending him out of his body. He was vaguely aware of the little moans coming from deep in his throat, but he was too far gone to be embarrassed. If he’d known just kissing someone, he was attracted to felt this good, he would have done it a long time ago. Did every kiss feel this good, or was it because it was Richie?

When Richie pulled away, sliding his hand to gently cup Eddie’s cheek, his eyes were shining behind his thick glasses. For the first time, Eddie wondered if maybe he did have asthma as he struggled to catch his breath. Deep down, he somehow knew it was because of Richie.

“I wasn’t expecting that, but I think we both won.” Richie said in a low voice.

“Still want my number?” Eddie asked.

When Eddie and Richie rejoined his friends, who had been looking for him, he apologized for disappearing. He made up a lie about going to get a soda with Richie and sitting to chat for a bit. All six left the fair together, walking home and splitting off one by one. Mike was staying at Stan’s, too tired to drive back to the farm. Richie walked Eddie all the way to his doorstep and said goodnight with a chaste kiss and ruffle of his hair. Eddie watched him leave, leaning against the door and feeling dreamy.

When he snuck back in, his mom was still fast asleep in her chair. Eddie tiptoed up the stairs and kicked off his shoes before collapsing on his best, hugging the little purple bunny close to his chest. He’d gone out wanting freedom and found so much more on the tongue of a Trashmouth.

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #It (2017)#it (2019)#Ro writes #requests #caleigh-rayne

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garbage-tozier · 5 years

Text

stay - e.k. (part two)

part one

prompt number: eight - “can you stay?”

fandom: it (eddie kaspbrak x reader)

rating: e for everyone

warnings: nothing, i think

word count: 2k

(don’t roast me on how late this is, guys, i’ve been trying to catch up on fictober, and i’m sort of close!)

@edsloveshisrichie @softieyoonji @ciniluv @seasidecrowbar @cocastyle i hope you all enjoy this💕

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

you started towards your car, everything up in the air. you had no plan- you'd admittedly left in a bit of a rush. you had nowhere to go, barely any money, and no food. all you could do was hope for the best.

just after you'd closed the door, you heard it open back up again behind you. you fought the urge to look back; you knew it was eddie before he even said anything. "y/n! wait!" he pleaded. you refused to let yourself turn around- you knew that if, even for a second, you looked into his eyes, all hope of resistance would be instantly lost.

you were crying now, but you weren't going to give in. you kept walking, ignoring his shouts, staring at your car. all you had to do was leave. get in, drive away, forget everything. and it wasn't like you didn't want to! on the contrary- that was all you wanted right now. to use your brain. to not listen to your heart for once in your life. to be strong enough to squander the voice in your head reminding you of the love you nurtured for the man who was currently behind you, yelling your name. even so, something was still there, keeping you from walking faster, holding you back.

your feet felt weighted as you marched on, begging yourself not to let go and run into eddie's arms. "y/n, please! i can't lose you again!" you could hear him shout. you would not let him win this.

"no matter what," you instructed yourself firmly, "do not let that man convince you to turn around. under no circumstances will you stop walking- and god forbid you look him in the eyes,"

"y/n!" just as you'd reached your car, you felt a hand on your shoulder, spinning you around. despite you knowing you should have, you didn't walk away. you stood there- half of you begging eddie to come up with a good reason for you to stay, and the other half begging you to grow a pair and leave.

the battle inside you continued as you directed your stare towards the concrete of the sidewalk, praying that you wouldn't screw up and let your eyes stumble upon eddie's. if they did? absolute chaos would ensue.

"eddie, i'm not just gonna-"

"y/n, please, just listen for a second." you stopped, accidentally looking up. the first thing you saw, just as your luck would have it, was a pair of gleaming chocolate-brown eyes. eddie was crying. wait- what? eddie... eddie was crying for you?

mentally screaming at yourself, you tore your gaze away as quickly as you could, and directed it towards myra. she was standing in the open doorway of the house, watching the two of you. you looked back at eddie, nodding for him to continue.

"when you left, i was honestly miserable. i had no idea what to do with myself. when i wasn't working myself to the bone, i was staring at pictures of us together and... and crying. i was so depressed- i couldn't do anything. i stopped showering, i stopped talking to people. and then myra came in and... i'm not gonna lie, even though i hate to say it... she reminded me of my mom,"

you glanced away from his face towards myra, who, you could see, was positively fuming. her skin was radiating an astonishingly vibrant shade of crimson- she was practically glowing with anger.

"since you weren't there anymore, i went back to the only other thing i knew- abuse. and... i became dependent on her. i told myself i loved her. she gave me pills, and i told myself she cared about me. and i'm sorry, myra," he added, turning to face her now. "because maybe you thought you were helping. maybe you really did have good intentions. maybe you didn't realize what you were doing to me... but those pills made my life hell, just like they did when i was thirteen,"

as eddie spoke, you just stared at him, dumbfounded. you couldn't believe what you were hearing. you hadn't the slightest idea what was going on.

he looked back at you, a smile threatening the corners of his mouth. "the truth is, y/n... as much as i tried to push it away... i love you. it's been you since we were ten years old back in derry. it was you when you punched that damn clown in the face for me. it was you the day we bought this house, when we walked through that front door together for the first time. and, even after all these years, it's still you, y/n. it's always gonna be you,"

you were letting out full blown sobs, doing everything in your power to keep from collapsing in eddie's arms. through your blurred vision, you could see myra crying in the doorway of the house too.

"eddie-"

now, had myra not opened her mouth, that sentence might have gone, as planned, a little something like this:

"eddie, blah blah i love you too, i love you so much, blah blah myra had you first, blah blah i can't do this to her, yadda yadda,"

however, in an unfortunate turn of events for the woman herself, myra did end up feeling the need to insert herself into this narrative, leading to an entirely different string of events than what probably would've happened if she would've just sat herself down and been quiet for once in her goddamned life.

"eddie-bear, don't let her brainwash you! you loved me just fine right up until she came back! and those pills are for your own good! you don't need her, eddie-bear, i keep you safe! i love you eddie, you can't do this to me!"

forget tears- you were now blinded by the absolute and unadulterated rage pulsing through your veins. just a few seconds before, you had been hellbent on keeping the kaspbrak marriage alive, but now you could see it. now, you understood everything eddie had said about her. she was psychotic! she didn't deserve even a fraction of love from the kind of person eddie was.

"fuck you!" you and eddie both yelled at the same time. for added pleasure, you stuck out your middle finger. the two of you watched myra's face twist with confusion and horror. both you and eddie looked back at each other, giggling.

it felt so good- finally letting go, finally knowing you weren't hurting anyone (who didn't deserve it) by unabashedly loving eddie. you could've screamed with joy- you would finally get to be happy, with someone who truly loved you for you. and, best of all, that someone was none other than edward kaspbrak.

"you're making a huge mistake, eddie!" myra screamed. "she's going to leave you as soon as she gets the chance! i'm the only one who's ever going to really love you!"

by now, you and eddie had figured ignoring her would be the best way to go about things. it was actually substantially entertaining to watch her get worked up.

"so?" he asked you over myra's protest, still smiling. his eyes searched your face; you suspected he knew what you were going to say, even as he asked his question. you grinned, wiping the tears from your cheek. you took his hand in yours. "can you stay?" he mumbled.

"she doesn't love you!" myra continued, trying anything she could think of to stop what was happening. you snorted. you loved eddie more than anything in the world. "she's a whore, eddie!"

you outright laughed at this, throwing a skeptical glance at eddie, who snickered as well. "let's get lost together, eddie kaspbrak," you beamed, leaning in and wrapping your arms around eddie's neck. you leaned out to the side, making direct eye contact with myra, who had yet to leave her post in the doorway. "watch this you frumpy bitch!" you screamed before smashing your lips onto eddie's.

the kiss had started out a bit too rough and wildly awkward, due to the unusual direction you took while initiating it- but, as the kiss went on, it evolved to be less of a face plant, and developed into something that was more of a warm embrace.

you thought you could hear a disgruntled cry from myra's position in the doorway, but you were way too into the kiss to take even the slightest bit of pleasure from it- honestly, you barely noticed. you had been waiting for this beautiful kiss to happen for about thirty-something years- while myra's continued shrieks and tantrums were entertaining, they were the least of your concerns at the moment.

both you and eddie were done with your toxic, soon-to-be-ex-spouses- no turning back. everything was going to be the way it was always meant to be- you and eddie against the world. the way it had been before you'd been tragically separated by people who had never had either of your best interests at heart.

after what felt like the loveliest millennia in earth's history, the kiss ended. the two of you continued to stand there, your foreheads pressed together, the both of you breathing quite heavily. the kiss had lasted at least a few minutes, and apparently you weren't the only one who had forgotten to breathe.

you laughed, lifting your head slightly to look at eddie. you moved your hands to cup his cheeks, tilting his head upright so that you were staring directly into his eyes. "i love you, eddie kaspbrak," you whispered quietly. your eyes were moving rapidly across his face, taking in every freckle and feature that you'd failed to notice before.

eddie grinned, drawing you in closer. "and i love you, y/n l/n," he smiled softly, brushing a bit of hair out of your eyes. "so much more that i could tell you."

“eddie, we’re over!” shrieked myra. it took everything in you to hold in your laughter. you looked away from eddie to raise your eyebrow at the woman.

“i think he knows, myra,” you flashed eddie a grin. “you just really have to have a say in everything, don’t you?”

at this, myra finally retreated back into the house, as if she had been waiting for you to make such a rude remark the entire time- or perhaps she’d just needed to be pushed over the edge. nevertheless, you and eddie were, at long last, left alone together.

“everything is gonna be different now, eds,” you breathed, leaning away from him for the first time since the kiss.

“is it though?” he smiled. you raised your eyebrow at him. “i mean, come on, y/n, think about it! it’ll be just like old times!”

“old- old times? eddie, we just confessed our undying love for each other! this is like… world changing! how, pray tell, is it going to be anything like old times?”

“y/n. come on. let’s be real, here. we’ve acted like a couple for a long, long time,” you gave a skeptical look. “okay, you don’t believe me? here- when we were thirteen we used to share a bike, even though we both had our own. the first night we moved here, we slept in the same bed because you didn’t want to be alone! do i even need to go on?”

“fine, fine, i get the point eds,” you rolled your eyes, chuckling. “we were meant for each other. two star-crossed lovers, just waiting to finally realize their feelings for each other, and make out in the pale moonlight!”

“i mean… if it weren’t ten in the morning, that would be pretty spot on,” the two of you made eye contact and immediately busted into a fit of laughter.

once everything settled down, you leaned back on your car. you felt truly happy for the first time since you’d left eddie- twenty year’s time.

“eddie…” you took his hand in yours. “it really is true. i’ve always loved you.”

“i fucking told you!” he squealed in triumph. you giggled as he pumped his fist.

“you did, you did,” you smiled as you watched him. there was no doubt- you were entirely smitten with this man. “but this time, eds? i’m never letting go,”

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rosethornewrites · 4 years

Text

fic: remember the moments when we were together

Relationships: Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Additional Tags: Grief/Mourning, Memories, Depression, Implied/Referenced Suicide, wwx needs a hug, Regret, Self-Esteem Issues, Loneliness, Crying, Hugs, Truth, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Father-Son Relationship, Angst and Hurt/Comfort

AO3 link

Part of the try to praise the mutilated world series

Spectre | leaves eddied over the earth’s scars

Notes: The title is again from the poem "Try to Praise the Mutilated World." I wanted to explore how this would impact SiZhui, who is only just starting to reconnect with his first adopted dad.

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

SiZhui feels awkward, standing with trays of food under the magnolia tree behind the jingshi. His father had asked him—almost begged, actually—to have lunch with Senior Wei today. The man wasn’t eating or sleeping well.

‘Grief,’ is all Hanguang-Jun said in explanation.

SiZhui understands grief. He watched his father grieve for 16 years and was blessed to see it end. He himself grieved that same length of time for memories lost to fever and trauma.

It turned out they had been grieving the same person, mostly. Like father, like son.

But now, as he watches Senior Wei sedately pet a rabbit on the porch of the jingshi, his normally sharp eyes distant and red-rimmed, his face pale… SiZhui remembers he’d seen this grief at the Burial Mounds so long ago, as the man had given up his entire world to protect him and the other Wen remnants.

He’s so distracted as to not notice SiZhui’s presence, not even when he calls out.

“Senior Wei?”

SiZhui knows he’s been sitting there, unmoving, for probably the entire morning since Hanguang-Jun left to finish preparations for their journey to Yunmeng. Magnolia petals lay against his robes, contrasting starkly with the black fabric. Enough to account for hours.

He moves closer, repeating the greeting, to no avail.

Surprising Senior Wei is never an excellent idea, would likely result in lunch being all over them. The man has spent too much time despised and fighting to survive, to fail to react if his attention isn’t drawn before SiZhui approaches. Enough of the juniors (including Jin Ling) have learned this by experience. And though the man only moves to defend, never to harm, SiZhui intends for this meal to wind up in their bellies.

“Xian-gege?” he tries, but again meets no response.

SiZhui sighs, not sure how to handle this. He went to Caiyi town for the food, ordering Senior Wei’s favorites, and though the talisman he’s attached will keep it warm, he knows it will taste better fresh. He’s even brewed his favorite spiced tea, the one with cardamom, fennel, ginger, cinnamon, and anise—what most in Gusu and especially Cloud Recesses consider far too piquant. SiZhui himself enjoys it with a little milk.

He takes one step closer, and notices something he didn’t before—Senior Wei has tear tracks on his face.

For a moment he’s seven years old again, peeking from the door of his room in the jingshi late at night, listening to his father play what he would later learn was Inquiry, watching him cry silently.

“A-Die!” wrenches from him before SiZhui can get ahold of himself.

He’s not sure whether the words or the tone do the trick, but Senior Wei jerks and turns to him with wide eyes.

“A-Yuan?”

After a moment, he attempts a smile, but it’s a ghost of what SiZhui knows his smile to be, a mask like the one he wore all those months upon his return, something he hides behind.

SiZhui places his trays on the porch, abandoning them in favor of wrapping his arms securely around the man who started his upbringing.

“I thought I’d have to call you a-Niang to get your attention,” he jokes.

The Yiling marketplace story represents the one time his fathers were together with him as a child, and he hopes to startle a laugh from Senior Wei.

He is disappointed. The smile becomes a shade less forced, but only briefly.

“Sorry, a-Yuan. How long were you calling for me?”

SiZhui reaches up to dab at his cheeks with a sleeve. He wants so badly to address Senior Wei’s behavior, but he doubts he’ll get him to eat if he does.

“Only a couple minutes. I came to eat lunch with you. I even went to Caiyi town for your favorites and brewed your favorite tea.”

He’s unspeakably relieved when he gets a genuine smile from that, even if that smile is still tinged with sorrow.

“Ah, my handsome son is spoiling me so,” Senior Wei teases.

SiZhui laughs and repositions the trays. He pours the tea, then serves him first, then himself, covering the dishes to keep them hot after. Senior Wei’s food is a vibrant red, just the way he likes it, while his own is much blander though still spicier than what is usually preferred in Cloud Recesses.

The movement of chopsticks from plate to mouth is a win, and he doesn’t mind when Senior Wei leans against him slightly, as though taking comfort in his presence. If SiZhui can offer that comfort, he will.

Sitting on the wooden patio, eating in comfortable silence with the man he considers his first father, the man who had been lost to them all for sixteen years, is a comfort to him as well.

SiZhui isn’t quite sure how long he takes to realize the only noise is his own chopsticks against porcelain, but when he realizes he turns to find Senior Wei staring into the distance, a morsel of food suspended between chopsticks halfway to his mouth. His bowl is more than half full still.

“Senior Wei?”

Senior Wei startles, the food slipping through his chopsticks and landing on his robe. He tries to smile again, but SiZhui sees the effort it takes.

“You don’t have to call me so formally,” he finally murmurs, the effort sliding away.

“So I can call you a-Die? Even in front of the other juniors?”

The ghost-smile flits across his face again, and SiZhui wonders if that’s the most he can hope for right now.

“Anytime you like. You can even call me a-Niang if you want.” Senior Wei sighs softly, setting his bowl back on the tray. “I’m sorry you went to such trouble for me, but I’m not very hungry.”

SiZhui has a memory of making a specific face at him as a toddler to get his way. Perhaps it’s Senior Wei’s influence at such a young age, but he’s just shameless enough to school his face into a worried pout.

“I’m worried about you, a-Die.”

He’s horrified when it backfires, and Senior Wei sobs. Where before his tears had been almost disturbingly silent, the raw emotion now is heart-rending.

Immediately he abandons his bowl, not even checking to make sure it stays upright, and pulls him into a hug. Senior Wei doesn’t fight it, just buries his face against SiZhui’s shoulder, shaking.

“I’m here, a-Die. I’m here.”

Senior Wei is murmuring apologies almost immediately, but SiZhui doesn’t dare let him go.

“It’s okay to cry, a-Die. You can cry as much as you need to.”

It was something Father had told him once upon finding him hiding to cry, letting him know that tears were not shameful, and the rule ‘Do not grieve in excess’ did not mean one couldn’t grieve at all. In those days, SiZhui didn’t know what he grieved, but Father had cried with him. It had helped.

“I don’t want to burden you,” Senior Wei whispers.

“You’re not a burden! Not ever. Father and I missed you so much all those years.”

SiZhui is almost afraid to hug him more tightly, he seems so fragile.

“Father played Inquiry all the time,” he tells him, rubbing his back in slow circles. “He never stopped searching for you, even though you didn’t respond.”

From the way Senior Wei stiffens, he wonders if Father never told him that. SiZhui hopes he hasn’t overstepped.

“He never told me that. I never heard it,” Senior Wei finally whispers. “I don’t think I was in any condition to hear it.”

SiZhui feels frozen; there aren’t many reasons a spirit would not hear Inquiry, and one of those is moving on. The others are too horrible to think about. But this is a-Die.

“A-Die… Tell me? Please?”

He almost doesn’t want to know, but he can’t try to help if he doesn’t. He will not let ignorance be an excuse, not with a-Die suffering.

Senior Wei is quiet for several minutes before he finally speaks. “A-Yuan, do you know how I died?”

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he answers immediately.

It was taught to all disciples, something he finds horrible now, that duty calls to kill a brother if he turns to evil. Knowing the truth of everything and regaining his memories, SiZhui wanted to be angry at Jiang WanYin. Only the man looked at his once-brother with complicated emotions that included longing. He knows it is not his place to judge.

But Senior Wei shakes his head.

“After shijie… watching the whole cultivation world fight over the pieces of the seal, greedy for power… Everyone was dead, and I thought you were too, and I just didn’t want to exist in this world anymore.”

Senior Wei shudders, seemingly lost in memory.

“A-Yuan, I was a suicide. I threw myself off a cliff at Nightless City.”

SiZhui can’t stifle a gasp. He feels like the earth has opened up under him.

“Lan Zhan tried to stop me, tried to save me, but I didn’t let him. It’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever done to him.”

His voice hitches.

“I don’t remember the sixteen years I was dead, but I suspect my soul shattered at my death, so I doubt there’s anything to remember. If Mo XuanYu hadn’t forced my soul back together through the ritual, the pieces likely would have eventually just faded away.”

SiZhui hears a sob, and it takes him a moment to realize it’s come from himself. It was too horrible, that a-Die could have gone forever, that Father would forever be without him even in future lifetimes, and that the cost to prevent that was Mo XuanYu’s soul. The grief he carries is so much more understandable now.

“A-Die, please don’t leave us again,” he whispers.

Senior Wei wipes at SiZhui’s cheeks gently with his sleeve, looking at him with regret. “I didn’t want to come back, at first. But I don’t want to leave now.”

He blurts, “Why wouldn’t you want to come back?” before he can stop himself.

A-Die’s tears overflow again. “My shijie was dead, my nephew orphaned, my fault. My shidi hated me. I failed the Wens. The sects wanted my head on a platter. I thought Lan Zhan despised me, too. I was alone, and the world sucked, and I’d just cause trouble again. Why come back?”

“Father never hated you,” is all SiZhui can think to say in response.

He wants to say more, that a-Die doesn’t cause trouble, that he wasn’t responsible for Jiang YanLi’s death or even Jin ZiXuan’s. There’s so much he wants to say, but words escape him. He knows a-Die still blames himself, and there’s nothing SiZhui can say to change that.

“Ah, a-Yuan. I know that now, but I’m, well, an idiot, so that took a while. But that’s why I ran away from Mo manor, and why I wore that mask. I thought nothing good would come from being recognized.”

SiZhui returns a-Die’s earlier gesture, wiping tears from his cheeks.

“But things are better now, right? Why are you so sad?”

A-Die sighs softly. “Shijie is still gone. Jiang Cheng still hates me. It was so long ago for everyone else, but not for me. For me, it will be her first birthday since her death.”

That a-Die missed sixteen years is an ever-present facet of SiZhui’s life, an absence that spanned most of his life, but sometimes it’s easy to forget the impact on a-Die; he’s only been alive again for less than a year, and much of that time was taken uncovering Jin GuangYao’s crimes and then travelling for a few months alone.

“That’s why you’re going to Lotus Pier,” SiZhui murmurs, realizing. “I’ll come with, a-Die. So you’ll have both Father and me with you.”

He knows a-Die hasn’t visited his home but once since he came back, that there are painful memories he must deal with. He doesn’t want him to face them, not alone. And while he’ll be with Father, SiZhui knows it can help to have more people, especially since a-Die feels Sect Leader Jiang hates him.

“You’re not alone, a-Die. You’re not.”

A-Die gifts him with a smile, a genuine one, and SiZhui lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“A-Yuan, you’re such a good boy.”

They stay like that, a-Die draped across his lap, and SiZhui remembers once, long ago, Aunt Qing telling him Xian-gege missed his sister. He remembers lotus seeds and blossoms, and a-Die barefoot with a smile. The memory is vague, pieced together flashes, but it’s there.

Lotuses had grown in Burial Mounds. Surely they could grow in Cloud Recesses, perhaps in one of the grassy areas behind the jingshi, somewhere a-Die could look and be reminded of his sister, even though she’s gone. While at Lotus Pier, he’ll learn how to grow lotuses. He’ll find out what kind a-Die would like best, even if it means talking to Sect Leader Jiang about it.

SiZhui glances down and finds that a-Die has fallen asleep against him, the dark circles under his eyes more pronounced than usual, and he resolves to stay still until Father comes, to let him sleep.

Maybe later, together as a family, they can get a-Die to eat more, help him through his grief, remind him he’s truly not alone.

He won’t ever be alone again.

#the untamed #untamed fanfiction #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan yuan #lan sizhui #lan zhan #lan wangji #cql #mdzs #my fanfiction

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saiilorstars · 4 years

Text

It Had To Be You

Ch.22: The Queen Bee // Story Masterlist

Fandom: The Flash

Pairings: Barry Allen x Female OC

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Barry struggles keeping his suspicions about Wells a secret and Belén conducts her own investigation against Noah. Along the way they discover killer bees and one Queen Bee trying to enact a revenge plan.

"So I just heard something interesting," Belén walked into Barry's lab yesterday in the afternoon.

Barry sat at his desk, working on a current case, when he looked up to see her already standing beside him. Her face spelled a mixture of annoyance and confusion. He leaned away from his work to properly give her his attention.

Belén cleared her throat before beginning. "I talked to Iris, and, uh, she told me something...interesting."

"Interesting?" repeated Barry, still not getting the jist of the problem. But he was sure this was going to end with him being in trouble. "What kind of thing?"

"The kind where Eddie has told her not to worry about Mason because he's in Brazil hitchhiking with some girl," Belén now crossed her arms and settled quite the sharp look on Barry.

Yup, he was going to get into trouble. Barry immediately shifted in his chair despite silently telling himself not to blow it. He, Joe and Eddie had all come up with that plan and all promised not to say anything. Somehow, he saw it wasn't going to work for him. "Th-that's...that's weird…"

"Yeah I thought so too," Belén agreed with a small nod. "Because…" she started to walk behind Barry's chair, her nails lightly dragging over the tip of it. Barry felt he was in one of the interrogation rooms and this cop was not going to let him go until she learned the truth. Belén leaned down beside him. "Mason would never go to Brazil. He hates it. He once went there to cover some story and he came back complaining about some stupid bugs. He vowed to never return. And I doubt he would go back for a woman."

Barry met her challenging eyes. She was no cop but the reporter side of her was intense enough to be a cop. "W-well...people change their minds…"

Belén tilted her head in a 'really?' manner. She straightened up and moved to lean against his desk, just beside his chair. "I've known Mason for three years. He doesn't change his mind. He still hasn't changed his opinion on my talent as a reporter. Wanna tell me what's going on before this ends up with me smacking you?"

"Um…"

"I assure you it's your best option."

Barry gave up with a long sigh. "It's a long story…"

"I've got time," she promised him. "I wanna know why Eddie lies to Iris that way and more importantly, why you would belittle not only Iris' intelligence but mine as well thinking you could fool both of us with that lie."

"First of all," Barry pushed himself out of his chair, "I did not mean to belittle anyone's intelligence. I was doing this to keep you safe-"

"Safe?" Belén frowned. "Safe from what?"

Barry took a moment for himself, considering the two pathways before him. If he kept everything from her, they would definitely get into an argument. They hadn't been going out for very long and he was not interested in creating their first big fight.

So, he spoke.

He told her everything he and Joe - featuring Eddie - suspected from Dr. Wells and how Iris' life had been put at risk from their search for the truth. They had no option but to give Iris a false story just so that she would stop digging into Mason's disappearance. Barry never intended on feeding Belén the same lie.

"So you're saying…" Belén now freely walked about in the lab, thinking, "...that Dr. Wells is this...Reverse-Flash?"

"Shh!" Barry rushed up to her and gently covered her mouth. "We can't discuss it here, it's dangerous."

"Sorry," she lowered his hand. "But, okay, just for clarification, why do you believe this again?"

"When Wells was talking me through phasing so I could get the Trickster's bomb off my wrist, the way that he described my being The Flash, running, feeling the wind and the power, it's like he was talking from experience. I know it's him." Barry knew what he said sounded completely ridiculous, but he knew in his gut that it was true.

Belén thought it was ridiculous - the idea that Dr. Wells was actually an evil man who murdered Barry's mother? It was ridiculous; it was a fact. But Belén also knew that Barry wouldn't just throw this accusation at the man he basically idolized for God knew how long. He wouldn't come up with all this if he wasn't 100% sure of it. She could see even now, when he explained, that it pained him to admit that he'd been working with the man who murdered his mother, who destroyed his family...who murdered her father.

"So...how do we get him?" she asked in a determined stance.

Belén spent countless nights thinking about that conversation with Barry. He disclosed everything he, Joe and Eddie had in their case against Wells. It made her sick that she'd felt support and affection for the man who murdered her father - the murder Wells had expressed condolences for. She made fistful grabs of her blanket as she turned to the side and looked at the bed stand where her family portrait stood. Her family was no more, and Dr. Wells took a big responsibility in that with his Particle Accelerator.

She forced her eyes shut and prayed that she could get some sleep. She already had an idea of what she would be doing the next morning.

~ 0 ~

Noah had seen better days. Granted his double life was difficult sometimes to maintain, but at least he could freely go to one place and the next. Now his days were pretty predictable living in a squared prison beneath the frikin ground. So when he felt his entire compartment begin moving forwards, he quickly got up and moved towards the wall where he could see light getting closer. He took quite the surprise when he spotted Belén waiting with crossed arms and a grim face.

"Well…" he had only managed to say when Belén cut him off, her voice unusually cold.

"Let's cut the crap and go straight to the point," she stepped forwards, glancing back to see if anyone was passing by the pipeline. "You and your crew have hated STAR Labs and everyone in it. Why?"

"We told you why. The Particle Accelerator ruined each of our lives. I lost my mother in the chaos, Plasticine lost her partner, Pixel lost her sister...and do I even have to say what your brother lost?"

"Who are they?" Belén's question came in fast and demanding, not sounding like a question really. It was more like a command and it made Noah smirk. "Who's Plasticine? Pixel? Say something!"

Noah brought a finger to his lips, still wearing that annoying smirk. "I'd rather wait till you find out on your own. I just wish I could see your face when you do."

Everything that Barry had told her about Wells was coming back to her and it just made her even angrier. People truly loved to mess with her and her friends. Did they have a sign on their faces saying 'come and mess with us, please' or what?

"There's something else," Noah tilted his head. He was studying Belén while the woman was in her pensive state. He'd worked with her long enough to know that she was harboring something else. "I make you mad but there's something else that's making you even more mad...what is it?"

"You, my brother and your stupid team is enough to make me angry for ages," Belén meant every word. "Every day I have to live with the fact my brother is off committing crimes for fun. You think that's easy?"

Noah gave a carefree shrug. "Eh, if you knew these days he's not really doing much." Belén raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what he meant. "Those powers of his are messing with his head."

"What do you mean?"

Noah sensed the interest and immediately shut down the topic. If he was going to remain in prison, then would at least keep something over her. "Nothing."

Belén scowled. "What's wrong with my brother!?"

Noah's snort irked her even more. She never realized how annoying he was. "Now you want to know about your brother? He's been wanting you to join him and you've dissed him at every opportunity you got. And for what? Speedy in red?" Belén's scowl grew and deepened, but it just made Noah smirk. "You think I didn't notice? I wonder how your CSI boyfriend would react if he knew his girlfriend had a thing for another guy?"

Belén pursed her lips, forcing herself not to laugh at him right there. It was better if Noah hadn't made the connection Barry was the Flash, but it didn't stop being funny. "Listen Noah, with you here I know the others are going to come after my team and I. So, I'm going to make sure they all end up here to keep you company...in different pods, of course."

"That include your brother?"

"I told you I'd lock him if I have to and with what you told me, it sounds like Rayan really needs to be at STAR Labs for his own health." Belén didn't want to hear more from him so she shut the pipeline down.

She watched him disappear into the pipeline and couldn't help feel prickly tears fill her eyes. The feeling of betrayal wasn't a new feeling for her, but it didn't mean it hurt less. This had been her co-worker, and granted they've had their differences...but she never would've guessed he would turn out to be one of her enemies. It just seemed like everyone was betraying them.

~ 0 ~

CCPD was brought upon a curious murder case in a University parking lot. Barry had finished taking what he needed to come up with a reason for death when Joe came by. The corpse of the woman had been placed into a gurney with only her face visible - full of purple, sizable bumps - as the rest of her body had been placed into a proper bag.

"Victim's name is Lindsay Kang, engineering professor at Hudson University. Just got tenure," Joe explained what he had learned from the witnesses.

"Her whole body's covered in these puncture wounds you see on her face," Barry gestured to the woman's face. "Bite marks maybe. Whatever it was, she must have gone into anaphylaxis."

Joe leaned forwards to get a closer look and immediately went wide-eyed. "Daaaamn."

Yeah. The blood sample should tell us everything we need to know. I'll run tests back at my lab."

"They can do it faster at STAR Labs," Joe gave him a pointed look for his odd behavior.

Barry shifted in his spot, thinking it was obvious why he would be reluctant to take everything to that place now. "Well, yeah, but, I mean, it's just…it's kind of weird being there right now."

"Barry, you know we have to play it cool with Wells. If he finds out we suspect him…"

"I know. I get it," Barry assured, but sighed. "I just think that we should tell Cisco and Caitlin. They could help us."

Joe shook his head in disapproval of this idea. "The more people who know, the more chance Wells is gonna find out we're on to him. Don't think I'm too happy you told Belén about this. I mean, what if one of slips up? Or panics? Or what if…"

"What?" Barry arched an eyebrow.

"What if they're not on our side?"

"Wait," Barry stepped back. "You want me to consider the idea that my friends - that my girlfriend - are involved in whatever he's planning?" he honestly couldn't think of a more ridiculous idea than this one.

"I mean, Wells is Caitlin's and Cisco's boss, their mentor. They've been with him for a long time. I've seen plenty of people make the wrong choice for loyalty. Please do not include them until we can be sure."

Barry hated when Joe made sense like this. But still, he refused to believe it all. "Belén met everyone after me. She came in afterwards. It's impossible for Wells to even consider she would have more loyalty to him than me."

"Okay," Joe relinquished that idea after deeming it logical, "And Cisco? Caitlin?"

Once again, Barry despised this logical side. "Fine," he mumbled and walked away.

~ 0 ~

Belén was pouring herself some coffee from the refreshment table at work when Iris approached her.

"Hey Bells," she greeted and received a very quiet 'hello' back. Considering she herself was having problems, it wasn't very difficult to figure out Belén had some of her own. Iris leaned forwards to catch Belén's falling gaze on the table. "Hey? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Belén snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her friend, plastering on a smile for the sake of no more questions. "But um, what's wrong with you? I, uh...I hear there's some...things happening between you and Eddie?"

Iris made a small noise that basically told Belén the rumors were true. She reached for a styrofoam cup on the table and poured herself some coffee. "Hmph, lately Eddie's been very distant with me. I get the feeling he's hiding something. I mean, I try to get him to talk to me but he keeps giving me these lame excuses. Sometimes-" she paused just as she was about to pour sugar into her cup, "-he doesn't even give me an excuse. He just goes 'uuuh' and leaves." She rolled her eyes and dumped more sugar than was needed into her cup. "Can you believe that?"

"I mean, cops…" Belén bit her lip nervously, "...they're so...complex...and weird. That entire business is skewed."

"It isn't," Iris disagreed with a shake of her head. "Does Barry tell you things? Like...what he's feeling?"

"Um…" Belén tried finding a honest answer that wouldn't release anything that shouldn't be, "...sometimes I have to ask him...over and over...at times, I have to interrogate him. See? They're just like that. There really is nothing to worry about." And at this moment Belén hated herself for lying straight to her friend's face, the friend who had helped her through so much. Feeling overwhelmingly guilty, Belén gave a widened smile and hastily walked away.

On her way to her desk, she happened to pass by Noah's...and her feet seemed to stop automatically. The days were passing and people were beginning to notice Noah's absence at work, but thankfully no one had gotten through to anyone of Noah's family. It made Belén conclude that he truly didn't have anyone. It also made her realize that his place had to be empty too...and with no one there to guard his things…

She plopped down on Noah's desk before she knew it. Knowing where most of his things were, she went directly for the last drawer on the bottom of the desk, hoping to find a clue of where he lived. She couldn't believe that in all this time she hadn't bothered asking him where he lived in the city. It proved she really didn't know him.

How could she have been so ignorant?

~ 0 ~

Going against his primary instincts, Barry had brought the case to STAR Labs for the others to look at it and offer up different opinions. They had pulled up the profile of Professor Kang on one of the computers on the wall.

"Death by apitoxin," Caitlin said, sounding a bit bemused. "Honeybee venom."

Unlike her, Cisco was almost glued to the spot he stood as he stared at the profile. "Bees," he pretended to shiver. "Why did it have to be bees? Y'all, I don't do bees. Ain't nobody got time for bees."

"But when a honeybee stings, the stingers are literally torn from their abdomen, and they die," Caitlin said as she took a look at the tablet she held which contained the apparent evidence of murder of the woman. "But there were no stingers in the body and no dead bees in the car. A honeybee can only deposit .1 milligrams of apitoxin when it releases its stinger."

"And yet, Ms. Kang was found with enough venom in her system to kill a herd of elephants," Wells recalled the information. "It appears not only is a meta-human controlling these bees but also increasing their toxicity."

"Bees communicate by releasing pheromones. Maybe this meta's controlling them through secretion?" elaborated Barry.

"Anyone want to join me in getting a beekeeper suit?" Cisco said, eyes still glued to the screen.

"I'm pretty sure I can outrun a bee," Barry smirked.

"Just don't run into a lake," said a very familiar voice from the entrance. Everyone turned to find Felicity Smoak standing there with one of her quirky smiles. "Bees will wait for you to come up for air and then they'll sting you. Discovery Channel. Turns out there's a lot to discover."

While everyone was pleased to see the blonde techy, Barry couldn't feel this was the worst time possible for her to make a visit. "Felicity, what are you doing here?"

Felicity thought her answer would be better suited outside. "Can you guys come outside for a sec?"

Five minutes later, everyone stood outside the building waiting for whatever it was Felicity was going to show them. But then passed on more minutes and nothing happened except Felicity staring into the sky.

"What exactly are we waiting for, Ms. Smoak?" asked Wells after a decent moment passed by.

Felicity beamed at the sight of a figure in the sky. "Up there!"

Caitlin squinted her eyes trying to get a clearer look. "Is that a bird?"

"It's a plane," Cisco said, making a face as the figure grew closer.

A man in a metal red and gray suit came to a rather wobbling landing on the ground, actually making several cracks from the force.

"It's my boyfriend," Felicity anxiously announced, gesturing as the man removed his helmet.

"Hi," he beamed a flashy smile. "I'm Ray."

~ 0 ~

Meeting Ray Palmer turned out to be quite an interesting sight. As soon as he got his suit off Caitlin took him in for a check up while Cisco and Dr. Wells began examining his suit.

"So...he seems a little tall for you," Barry remarked as he and Felicity watched Caitlin and Ray behind the glass wall of the side room.

Felicity faked a small gasp. "Barry Allen, are you jealous?"

"He better not be," Belén surprised them both with her presence. She'd come in taking quite a surprise at their new visitors.

"I'm not!" Barry exclaimed defensively, raising both his hands.

"That's what I like to hear," she came by his side and pressed a kiss on his cheek. Then she turned to Felicity wearing her first expression after hearing of the blonde's arrival. "Felicity, what are you doing here!?"

Felicity chuckled and gave Belén a hug. "My boyfriend-" Felicity jerked a thumb towards the room Ray was in, "-needed some help with his suit." She then gestured to the ATOM suit on the metal table.

Belén looked into the wall for a better glance at Ray Palmer and was deeply impressed. "He's your boyfriend?" Felicity nodded her head. "Wooooow."

"Ahem?" Barry coughed, making a face at her dazzled face.

"Hi," Belén smiled at him, in the dark of his brief moment of jealousy. "Now shh. He's cute...what is he exactly?" she asked Felicity.

"Businessman - really rich businessman."

"Daaaamn," Belén looked to the side as if she were it considering this for herself.

Barry could not believe her and waved one hand in front of her face. "Hello!?"

Belén looked up in confusion. "Barry, I already greeted you."

Ray and Caitlin emerged from the room after a nice check up that bore no consequences as far as Caitlin saw.

"Ah, well, my ears popped, so that's something," Ray cheerfully said.

"You're lucky you didn't break your neck," Caitlin felt the need to point out. "What is it with billionaires being superheroes?"

"I think they get bored," Belén said in thought then looked at Ray. "Did you get bored? I'm Belén, by the way."

Ray laughed but shook his head to answer her. "Ray," he shook hands with her.

"So have you... picked a name yet?" Cisco inquired afterwards.

Ray nodded excitedly. "I'm kind of partial to The Atom."

Cisco squinted his eyes at the name, not quite feeling it. "Sooo, you married to that, or...?"

Wells turned away from the wall computer after a thorough examination of the suit's compartments. "Your ATOM suit... it's quite the technological achievement, Mr. Palmer. I'm impressed."

"And he is never impressed," Caitlin added afterwards with a tiny smile.

"Well, thank you, but I can't quite seem to keep it up," Ray had innocently said, prompting Felicity to run for him to clarify.

"He means the suit!"

Ray quickly went to clarify as well. "Yeah, I mean the suit."

Barry's eyes widened in horror as the two continued trying to clarify what they'd been referring to. Belén giggled and buried her head in his chest, hoping to god they would just stop talking.

But they didn't. It seemed like they were incapable of it.

"I can attest that everything else works just fine. There's nothing we need to fix in…" Felicity clicked her tongue, "...that area."

"No, no, no. The sex is great," Ray sounded like he was letting his words tumble out before he thought of them completely.

"My God, there's two of them," Caitlin whispered to Cisco but she was heard by everyone else.

Ray shook his head, paused for a moment to recollect his thoughts, and explained himself completely. "I know from Felicity that you have been very helpful with Barry and the Flash suit, and I was hoping to get another set of eyes on my...problem…"

"Please don't continue elaborating," Belén pleaded when she saw Ray opening his mouth again. "We really do understand what you're trying to say."

Wells jumped in as well before anything else was said. "Any friend of the Arrow's is a friend…"

"Hell, yes!" Cisco interrupted excitedly.

"Uh, guys. We kind of have a lot going on already," Barry made the unusual call for everyone to slow down. "There's the meta-human killer that can control a whole swarm of bees?"

"Cool," Felicity blinked.

"There's a what now?" Belén looked up at him like he was crazy.

"You missed news," he explained distractedly to her and consequently missed her frown.

"I'm sure Caitlin and I will provide ample support, Barry," Wells assured, not that it mattered to Barry. His words meant nothing now.

"And I will be happy to sit this one out," Cisco raised a finger.

Seeing Barry was overly disappointed - because he was beginning to see what Joe was talking about in regards to loyalty - Belén stepped up for the job. "I can help," she volunteered cheerily.

"Thanks Bells," he smiled softly at her. He gave a kiss to her hair and looked at the others, meeting Felicity's eyes. The blonde was even more wide-eyed at them now.

"Ray, why don't you stay here and work on your suit while Barry, Bells, and I run to Jitters for some java?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ray shrugged, glancing at Cisco to see if it was alright with him. Cisco gave a thumbs up and turned for the suit to continue the examination period.

"I, uh….can't," Belén said once they began heading out of the cortex. "I've got, um...a work thing…"

"Oh, you can't go later?" Felicity made a small pout with her lips. She really wanted to know how Belén had advanced in her powers dilemma, plus she wanted to know when the hell she and Barry ended up together.

There was a nervous flicker in Belén's eyes that neither Felicity nor Barry noticed. Belén shook her head, gripping the strap of her bag as she picked up her pace. "I really have to do this today - but I'll catch you guys later okay? We can work on that bee problem."

Being who he was, Barry watched her leave making a mental note to discuss this with her later...because he was sure there was something she wasn't telling him. Felicity didn't give him a chance to think more about the subject as she practically dragged him to Jitters for that pending conversation.

When they received their orders from the counter, Felicity got straight to business. "You know I left Starling City to get away from the mood and brood, but it looks like it followed me here." She sipped her cup while narrowing her eyes Barry, prompting him to speak now.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's like I said before, now is not the best time," Barry was running out of ways to structure that sentence. He didn't want to tell Felicity anything that might put her danger.

Felicity sat down at an empty table and watched him take a seat across her. "Barry, I have been through enough with you to know when you're holding something back. Is this because I told Ray your secret? Because he is trustworthy, Barry. He wants to help people, just like you."

"I know, that's not what I'm worried about. It's... I really don't want to put anyone else in danger."

Felicity scowled and put her cup down. "In danger of what?"

Eddie chose this moment to approach their table, but in his defence he had quite the problem himself. "Barry, hey."

"Eddie, hey. You remember Felicity," Barry gestured to the blonde who gave a small wave and took to her coffee.

But the more she looked at Eddie, she realized - and was not remotely surprised - to see the similar expression on his face as Barry's. "What is wrong with you? Is everyone in Central City in a bad mood? I thought Central City was supposed to be the fun one."

Eddie gave a tilt of his head, muttering, "It's, um... It's not…"

"Felicity knows," Barry said once he realized Eddie was trying to be incompsicious.

"Wow," Eddie glanced at the blonde. "So everyone but Iris?"

"It feels that way…"

Eddie sighed and turned to Felicity for some honest answers. "How do you lie to everyone you care about?"

Felicity made a humming sound as she thought. "For starters, don't think of it as lying. Think of it as protecting her from getting hurt... with a fib."

"But Iris can tell I'm hiding something, and it's putting this distance between us!"

"I have an idea. Why don't we all go to dinner tonight?" Felicity suggested, glancing at Barry. "We can get Belén to come too. A little wine and dine is sure to bridge the gap. Come on, we all had fun last time."

"Suuure," Barry mumbled under his breath, thinking this dinner would be full of awkwardness and deceits.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Felicity said to both men when she saw their grim faces for her idea.

~ 0 ~

"He's not going to answer, darling," an elderly woman with short, white hair said after hearing the first knock on her neighbor's door. "Hasn't been back for days now. Probably out doing God knows what. Youngsters," she chuckled and went inside her own apartment.

As soon as the woman had locked her door, Belén stepped impossibly close to Noah's apartment door. She placed her hand on the doorknob and put all her focus on getting one of her vines - an extremely small one - to go through the locks. Having no key was a pickle, she admitted to herself, but not impossible for the Azalea. The moment she got the lock picked she stepped right inside and shut it as quietly as possible, locking it too.

She turned around to face quite an unusually clean apartment. Her bag was left to drop right on the carpet floor as she stepped further inside. Her eyes passed over the dull, gray walls that held several family portraits she assumed had been Noah's family. Getting a closer look at them, she saw an older blonde woman she suspected was Noah's deceased mother.

"If she could see you now, Noah," Belén whispered and turned away from it. She stopped by the coffee table that held several papers, some of them - she realized - were newspaper clippings.

She sat down on the couch for a moment as she stifled through them. Very quickly she discovered they were news about the particle accelerator before it had been activated, then its aftermath including cases of missing people. She paused at some of the obituaries.

"Lucianna," she read aloud the name of Noah's mother. She'd died in an accident caused by the particle accelerator. Belén sighed and lowered the clipping to her lap to think.

Noah's mother had died because of the accelerator and somehow, he too had gathered powers. What she wanted to know was how the hell Noah came in contact with Rayan. If she got lucky, she could even discover who Plasticine and Pixel were. She kept the clipping on her lap but continued to go through some more. Seconds later she began to see trends: most, if not all, were about the Flash and Dr. Wells. There was nothing about her and Belén wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. She remembered something about being 'off limits' apparently thanks to her brother.

~ 0 ~

Barry had just finished his coffee when he felt his phone vibrate in his jacket's pocket. He took it out and saw Cisco's text. "Another bee attack. Folston Tech."

Eddie nodded his head, making a move to leave. "I'll see where Joe is!"

"I'm gonna call Bells," Barry said as he too got up to leave. He dialed her number when Felicity gave a very poor call.

"Bee careful!"

Barry turned around with a face. "For real?"

Felicity winced. "Bad pun. Sorry. Just don't die. Same for Bells."

Barry shook his head and went off, still trying to reach Belén on the phone.

~ 0 ~

Inside her bag - still on the floor - vibrated Belén's cellphone. The woman in question however, was moving through the clippings that now had a lot of Plasticine's latest crimes of that week.

"What was your obsession with her…?" she couldn't understand as she flipped through them. There was plenty of Plasticine's odd robberies that included milk and other various snacks. She remembered her previous investigation and how stumped she was when she saw the things that Plasticine would steal. She gathered the clippings into one neat pile and left it on the couch where she would come back for them after finishing the rest of her search.

Her phone continued to vibrate as she walked into the hallway. This time the call rang from Cisco.

Belén walked into Noah's bedroom that had been left unmade. She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

She extended several vines from her palms that did most of the job for her. Drawers were opened and ransacked, closets were opened and clothes were sifted through - everything was going to be searched through.

~ 0 ~

Barry had arrived at the building in trouble where people were already running out in terror. He'd come straight to the office of the man but found he was too late as the man's corpse was languidly lying on his chair.

"I'm too late," he spoke into the suit's comm.

"Where are the bees?" asked Cisco who thought it should be a number one priority.

"I don't know. There's no sign of them," Barry said after a quick look around. But then he began hearing a small buzzing noise he configured to be of a bee's. He leaned forwards after seeing something poking out from the man's mouth. One bee came out...and then a swarm did. Barry stumbled back. "Found them."

Not a minute was wasted in him getting away. However, the swarm of bees chased after him.

"Uh - how do I get out of here?" he called for his friends' help.

"Take the northeast crossway. It's the quickest way out of the building," replied Cisco not a moment after.

Barry followed the instructions but came to a glass wall where more of the swarm was already waiting for him. "Guys, they're everywhere. I'm surrounded!"

He looked around and saw many more bees coming for him. Seeing no other way out he decided to go through them, despite it costing him parts of his skin. He felt many of the pricks on his face and parts of his suit, but he managed to find another exit through the back, downstairs.

As soon as he made it out, he collapsed on the ground. Thankfully, Joe had made it to the site in time to see him get out. He got out of the car and ran for Barry. He could tell he was unconscious and when he checked for a pulse he was terrified to find there was none. He pulled out his phone and dialed for Cisco's number then placed it on the ground beside Barry.

"Barry, stay with me!" he began performing the first aid rituals in which both hands pushed on Barry's chest. As soon as the call was picked on, he shouted. "Cisco! Barry doesn't have a pulse."

"Step away from him!" Cisco exclaimed, running for the desk.

"What!? Why!"

"We need to jumpstart his heart. There's a defibrillator in the suit," he quicky set up the program on the computer and let Wells take over.

Caitlin stepped behind him and gave the command. "Charge it to 360 joules."

"Charging in three, two, one!"

Back in the field, Barry's body did a jolt as a the surge of electricity went through. Still, he remained unconscious.

Knowing it didn't work, Caitlin gave a second command. "Hit him again. 400 joules."

"Charging in three, two, one!"

The second jolt of power did it for Barry. He awoke with a deep gasp and began coughing. He didn't really remember quite what happened but he was sure it would come back to him eventually.

As soon as he made it back to STAR Labs, Caitlin took him straight to one of the exmination side rooms. He had come in with sizeable bumps on his face - one that had made Cisco declared to stay far away from him for the time being - and Caitlin wanted to make sure he was alright.

Afterwards, Cisco had taken a look at the suit and was forced to come to the conclusion that it no longer worked. "That is it for the defibrillator. It is completely fried."

"You're lucky to be alive, Mr. Allen," Wells shook his head.

Felicity was giving Barry a very serious look as she reminded him, "I was very specific that you not die."

"Yeah, that's a pretty big thing for her," Ray mumbled.

"Cisco, what happened out there?" Barry glanced at his friend, completely puzzled. "I followed your directions exactly."

"I'm sorry. I led you the wrong way. The schematics that we had, they... they weren't up to date."

Barry frowned. "What, they weren't up to date? What do you mean? That's never happened before."

"What, you think Cisco was trying to get you killed?" Felicity meant as a joke but chose the absolute worst time to use it.

"No. Why would he do that? That doesn't make any sense," Barry frantically looked around, unable to keep hearing Joe's words run through his mind.

"I know. That's why I was joking," Felicity tilted her head at him.

"Barry, it's our job to protect you, and today, we failed, but that'll just serve as a warning for all of us to be more vigilant in the future," Wells managed to continue being calm despite the awkard silence that had followed.

"Good news... the apitoxin is out of your body," Caitlin declared as she studied the results of his check up on her tablet. "Your levels are back to normal."

"Terrific," Barry sped out of the place and returned a second later wearing a gray suit with a white, buttoned up shirt. "Ray, Felicity, Bells and I will you for dinner-" he paused and looked around, "Where the hell is she actually?"

"I don't know man, we called like crazy for her to come help you but she never answered," Cisco shrugged his shoulders, giving off his light worriment over the woman.

"We tried calling her home too but no one answered either," Caitlin felt the need to add.

"I'll find her," Barry nodded, determined to figure this little issue out as soon as possible.

"You know Barry, we could just cancel-" Felicity began to say when Barry immediately shut her down.

"I'm fine. Alive. Hungry. All right?" he shrugged. "We'll see you there. I've gotta find my missing girlfriend." And with that, he sped out of the place, leaving everyone with no choice but to continue with their pre-made plans.

~ 0 ~

Belén had everything she had taken from Noah's place spread around her bed. She had her bedroom door locked in case Maritza - or even Axel - decided to barge in. Clippings where everywhere along with other papers and...even a laptop. Yes, she had even brought Noah's laptop with her. It would've been grand...if she could figure out the password on it.

"C'mon!" she growled and banged on the side of the computer after another failed attempt of logging in. "How can I figure out what you're up to when I can't even get into the frikin computer!?"

The tapping on her balcony door made her jump in her spot, gasping loudly. On instinct she shut the laptop's lid and looked up to find Barry making a gesture to let him in.

"Uuh…" she slowly got out of her bed and looked down at her mess. If Barry saw any of it she would be in a full-on interrogation session. She grabbed a blanket set against the wall and dumped it over everything.

Afterwards, she rushed to go open the balcony door.

"Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere," Barry said as soon as he got inside. "I went to the park, to your work, made a fool out of myself in front of Linda Park-"

"Not a surprise," Belén couldn't help flash a little smile at him. Linda had taken to making fun of Barry after discovering he got flustered really easily.

Barry rolled his eyes. "And then I went to your old college just in case, followed by your community theater meeting - which I have to say I don't quite like-"

"Wha - now wait a minute," Belén crossed her arms. "I love that place."

"I don't like those guys that stare at the girls-"

Belén laughed. "I can assure you it's all platonic. We're a team - well, I'm kind of a special team member but-"

"Bells," Barry cut her off laying a hand on her arm, "Where the hell have you been? Everyone tried calling you earlier and you didn't answer. There was another attack today and a man died. I almost died."

Belén gasped. "Oh my god, are you okay!?" she quickly looked him over for any signs of physical injuries.

"I'm fine now," Barry took hold of her arms and captured her attention, "But I'd like to know if you are."

"M-me?"

"I know you're doing something behind my back - behind everyone's back. You weren't doing a work thing, I know because I asked Linda."

"I...I was…" Belén pulled away from his hold and walked a couple steps away. "It doesn't matter," she shook her head. "What are you doing wearing a suit?"

"We have a dinner date with Felicity, Ray, Iris and Eddie tonight," Barry responded and went after her, gently grabbing her by the arm and turning her back to him. "But you still haven't answered my question. "What have you been up to, Ms. Palayta?" He tried being fun with her but she couldn't find it in her to follow his game.

"Like you have your secrets, I'd like to have mine," she came out with instead. Barry was taken aback by her so blunt response. "At least for the moment," she added with a quiet sigh.

"You...you're realize what you're asking me right?" he scratched his head. "You're…"

"It's just for the moment, trust me," she gave him a warm hearted smile he simply could not return.

It was that word that plagued him with terrible turmoil. He didn't realize it would be a problem between him and Belén, until now. Joe's words followed him once more, and for a split second, he had to wonder if he could truly trust Belén at a time like this.

"Just for a bit, I promise," Belén reiterated and gave him a short, sweet kiss. "So, we're having dinner then?" It took a long moment for Barry to force himself to just go with her plan for the moment. He gave a small nod and watched her backtrack towards her closet. "Fancy restauraunt I imagine if Ray's inviting…" she hummed to herself as she began searching through her closet.

Meanwhile, Barry continued to stare at her, feeling enormously guilty for beginning to consider if he could trust her like she had asked him to. Could he?

~ 0 ~

It wasn't long before everyone met up at the restaurant Ray had chosen for them. Iris and Eddie had been waiting for the two couples at the entrance bar, and it appeared they were having a small disagreement.

"Wow Iris, check you out," Felicity praised the tight, white dress Iris had chosen for the night.

Iris chuckled and looked at Felictiy's bright red dress. The woman had abandoned her usual glasses and curled her hair. "I think we're all looking pretty good," Iris declared, then glancing at Belén. She'd worn a baby-blue, laced at the top, dress and mildly curled her hair for the occasion.

"Guys, this is Ray Palmer," Felicity introduced the man to Iris and Eddie formally now.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Ray shook Iris' hand first then Eddie's.

The lead waiter came in from the grand room inside. "Bienvenue chez Massimo Restaurant. maitre d': Mr. Palmer, your table is ready."

"Great. Shall we?" Ray looked at the rest of the group who nodded, for the most part eagerly.

"Hey, how did he get a reservation here?" Iris whispered to Barry as they walked in. "We've been trying for months."

"I don't know," Barry admitted with a light chuckle.

"Could be the rich part," Belén added from his side with a chuckle of her own.

The waiter led them into an entirely empty restaurant save for one decorated table designated for them. "Here's your table, sir."

"I thought it'd be nice if it was quiet, so I bought out the entire restaurant," Ray cheerfully said to the group was looking far too surprised for his taste. "Too much?"

"Just a tad, sweetie," Felicity patted his arm, looking very unsurprised for this event.

And so everyone took their appropriate seats. After ordering their respective meals, they conversed to pass the time.

"You know, I'm a little surprised that I never got a phone call from you Belén..." Felicity swayed her head in Belén's direction. The woman in question blinked in confusion so Felicity just said it. "I didn't know you and Barry just magically started dating!"

"Oh," Belén laughed shortly and glanced at Barry. The speedster was more strained in his expressions but he did smile at her. "Sorry, I guess we never remembered...?"

"Yeah," Barry agreed. It truly had slipped his mind but in his defense there was a lot going on in his life.

"They were so slow, it was agonizing," Iris' remark made the two metahumans blush.

Felicity kept her laugh to a minimum seeing the red-faced metahumans. "Well, I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you," both Belén and Barry simultaneously said.

"So how did you two meet?" Eddie inquired from Ray and Felicity.

"Work," both scientists answered him.

"Well, actually," Ray cut in to explain, "I bought the company where Felicity was employed, and so she was forced to join me at Palmer Tech."

Felicity made a face and quickly clarified. "It's not as creepy as it sounds."

"Leave it to you two to make it awkward," chuckled Belén who took a sip of her drink.

Iris, on the other hand, seemed far less cheery than normal. "So you two work closely together?"

Felicity nodded her head. "Mm-hmm."

"Interesting," Iris said innocently, although her gaze was leaning now towards Eddie. "I guess you guys share all of your thoughts and feelings and…"

"Yeah...I share everything with Felicity," Ray said, beginning to get confused.

"It's nice that you guys have that level of communication."

It was then that Ray noticed the tension between Iris and Eddie and ventured to at least try to help Eddie. "Oh, well, no, not every-everything. I mean, sometimes it's good to just shut up."

"I get that," Eddie laughed with him. "Some things are better left unspoken."

Iris frowned at him, almost taking offence to that. "Really?"

Eddie didn't know what to say anymore. Barry spotted the waiters coming by with their food and mumbled, "Oh, thank God. It's the food." He cleared his throat and spoke to the others. "Food's here."

"Our first course on the tasting menu is a quail egg frittata. Bon appetit," the lead waiter placed a plate in front of Ray while the rest attended to the others.

"Barry, I got to admit, I envy you spending so much time at STAR Labs," Ray chuckled as he admitted. "Harrison Wells is, like, a personal hero of mine. I mean, it's amazing just to actually be in the same room with him." Barry nodded very slightly, but his insides were screaming for him to tell Ray how wrong he was. In fact, the more Ray went on, the more sick Barry felt...that and frantic. It felt like a ticking time bomb had been placed and Barry wasn't sure when he would explode.

He got up fast from his chair, like an instinct. "I'll be right back. Just excuse me." His break away from the room didn't go unnoticed.

Belén cleared her throat and put her fork down, giving a small smile to the rest as she stood from her chair. "I...have to go to the restroom," she weakly made the excuse and rushed off in the direction Barry had gone into.

By the time she caught up with him in a winery room, Barry had been pacing back and forth letting his mind fill him with different thoughts.

"Okay, what the hell was that back there?" she tried not to sound angry seeing he was clearly upset himself. He wasn't one to act this way, and she had a pretty good hunch why it was happening now.

"I can't - I can't take it anymore, Bells," he frantically gestured to himself. "Can I - can I trust you? Can I trust him? Can I trust Caitlin? Cisco? I don't...I don't know!"

Belén's neat eyebrows rose simultaneously. "You think you can't trust me?" it appeared she had been wounded.

Barry felt worse, but he couldn't keep quiet anymore. "What weren't you telling me today? Why didn't you answer your phone when we needed you? What were you doing?"

"I didn't know this was going to be an interrogation," Belén frowned, crossing her arms and pursing her lips together. "At least when I did it, I knew you, Eddie and Joe had lied to Iris but you have no basis on accusing me of anything."

Barry stormed up to her with a ferocity Belén had never seen before. "Just tell me what you were doing so that I can trust you!"

There was flicker of pain that crossed through Belén's eyes, along with the inevitable disbelief. "I'm going to do something," she spoke quietly, swallowing hard, "I'm going to leave, and I'm going to hope that you come to your senses and see how ridiculous you're acting." She shook her head and turned to leave.

The feeling of desperation had never been so high for Barry. He watched her go feeling like the worst boyfriend yet still, on the other side, feeling justified in asking for her explanation. He balled his fists and growled turning away just as she opened the door and left.

On her way out, Belén almost bumped into Felicity. "Woah," Belén shook her head.

"Oh my God thank God you're back - Iris and Eddie are having a bit of a problem," Felicity quietly, and quickly, said to Belén. She nodded back to the table where indeed Iris was once again hassling Eddie for the truth she knew he wasn't telling her.

Belén sighed. "Men are idiots but I'm pretty sure metahuman men are morons. I want nothing to do with them tonight."

"What?" Felicity frowned as Belén went past her. She grabbed onto the ombre-blonde's arm and stopped her. "What happened?"

"Iris, please," they heard Eddie pleading, clearly their argument getting no better. Belén turned around in time to see Iris frustrated dropped her napkin and fork.

"Okay, so it's my fault that we're not having a nice evening? I am your girlfriend. Who you live with. I shouldn't have to beg you to talk to me."

"If I could talk to you about this, I would, believe me. But I can't," Eddie was also growing impatient with her.

Iris' eyes filled with tears. "You know what? I am not hungry anymore," she got up from her chair and grabbed her plate. "You know what? When you are ready to act like we are two people who love each other, call me. I'll be at my dad's."

"Iris," Belén hurried towards her friend, grabbing her bag in a hurry, "Wait up. I wanna go home too." Iris seemed surprised of this request, able to realize she'd also had some sort of argument with Barry. Well, Iris wasn't going to judge. She nodded her head, with that look of 'solidarity and understanding', and the two walked out of the place.

Awkwardly, Eddie excused himself as well, calling it a night. Felicity made a gesture with her arms at the disaster this date had turned into. As she turned to Ray, the winery door opened and out came Barry. While surprised to find the table empty, it didn't confuse him as to what must have happened.

"Iris and Eddie had a fight," Ray explained thinking he hadn't yet connected the dots.

"And apparently so did you and Belén," Felicity crossed her arms. "Care to explain?"

"Felicity," Ray gave her a meaningful look. However, Felicity was done asking questions. She wanted answers and she was gonna get them.

"Barry? Explain. Now."

Barry looked between the two and figured what more could go wrong after tonight. With a deep breath, he began his story. "Okay. Joe and I found out that Wells isn't who he says he is. He...he is the man that killed my mother."

Felicity's eyes widened, her arms dropping to her sides. "Oh, my God. But he's been helping you. Get faster, stronger."

"I know."

"Why would he do that?" frowned Ray.

"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore, especially who I can and can't trust!"

Felicity raised an eyebrow then. "What? So you think Belén, Cisco and Caitlin are helping him? Barry, that's impossible."

"I keep telling myself that too but then...then I start to doubt-"

"-then stop doubting!" Felicity exclaimed.

"I thought that Wells was a great man, and I was so wrong about him. What if I'm wrong about everything else too?"

Felicity shook her head, the idea far too crazy to even entertain. "Look, I may not know Caitlin and Cisco as well as you do, but I do trust them. And what's more, I do know Belén, and I can assure you - swear my life on it even - that she's not in league with Wells. She's always been with you."

Barry sighed, of course he knew that. But it was that little paranoia bug inside his mind that didn't allow him to see it completely. Hearing his phone, he cut short the conversation. "Uh, emergency at STAR Labs."

Felicity looked nowhere near done, but for the sake of the others she let him go. "Go!"

~0~

At STAR Labs, there sure was an emergency - a bee emergency. Caitlin and Cisco stood back to back, Caitlin holding a fire extinguisher and Cisco a small gray device.

Containment breach. Foreign object detected.

Caitlin thought she saw said bee and activated the extinguisher. But, at the same time, Cisco thought he saw it and fired with his device at the desk. A good chunk of the desk vanished into melting metal.

"Did I get it?" Cisco quickly asked and looked around. "I think I got it."

Caitlin wasn't too sure and just held the fire extinguisher for protective measures. "Where is he?"

Wells had come out of the side room, completely calm until he saw the bee heading his way. Well, he wasn't going to allow himself to be killed by an idiotic bee. He'd rather get up. And he was going to do that when Barry sped in and captured the bee in a tiny jar.

"Thank you," he smiled at the metahuman.

Cisco took the jar with the tips of his fingers. "Let's see what makes this bee so poisonous."

"You saved my life," Wells once again thanked Barry, but only god a small nod in response.

Cisco had gotten the 'bee' under a microscope in the side room again. Caitlin leaned beside him and squinted her eyes at the motionless bee.

"That is one odd-looking bee," she mused at the sight.

Cisco soon realized there was more to it. "That's because it isn't a bee at all. It's a robot."

"No way," Caitlin took a turn on the microscope to see for herself. "Unbelievable."

"This bot's got a 360-degree vision system," Cisco began to explain as Barry and Wells entered the room. "I mean, we're talking multiple micro-cameras all coming from various angles at the same time. Which means…"

"It can see all around the room at once," Wells concluded. "That is…"

"Amazing," went both.

"Disturbing," Caitlin sharply corrected them.

"It's also next-gen hardware that's nowhere near the market," Cisco added as they began filing out of the room.

"So we're not dealing with a meta-human?" Barry asked, just to be sure.

"It's just a mad scientist."

"Robot bees?" Belén's voice called their attention to the entrance where she, Felicity and Ray had just come through.

"Can you believe that?" Cisco didn't know whether or not to be impressed or even more terrified of those bees now.

Belén thought about it for a moment then quickly nodded her head. "Actually, I can." She walked further inside, heading for one of the desks where she took up a computer. "Because I know someone who once had a maniacal experiment with robot bees."

"You do?" went the entire room, much to her amusement.

She rolled her eyes and continued to type. Eventually, she pulled up a profile of a young blonde woman with thick-rimmed, black glasses. She looked up just as everyone else noticed the profile. "Her name was Brie Larva," she stood up from her chair, casting narrowed eyes on the stranger's picture.

"And how do you know this woman?" Cisco made a funny face for her.

Chuckling, she crossed her arms and replied. "She used to work at Mercury Labs. I sometimes saw her when I visited. She was like...ridiculous smart status."

"What happened?" Wells inquired.

Belén shrugged. "My dad never told me the full story. He just said that Brie had different ideas than the ones Mercury Labs had and she had to be let go. But I saw her once, with her mechanical bees, and she looked creepy. She yelled at me to leave, though. Apparently, I wasn't going to understand the purpose of her oh-so-grand experiment."

Taking all this into consideration, Wells called for Cisco to perform a task for them.

"Cisco, you said the second victim, Bill Carlisle, was a robotics engineer. Let's cross-reference his previous employers with those of Lindsay Kang."

Felicity practically broke into a desperate run for the nearest computer. "Allow me. Mama's been away from a keyboard for far too long." In no time she had pulled up the two profiles needed and sure enough they had a similar employer: Mercury Labs.

"They both worked at Mercury Labs," Wells mused, unsurprised.

"I don't know who they are," Belén said after a well thought examination of the two victims' pictures. "But if you ask me, Brie is probably coming for some revenge."

"Which means Dr. McGee might be in trouble," Caitlin looked at the rest in alarm.

"I think it's time we paid a visit to an old friend," Wells resolved quick.

Belén gave them an approving nod. "From my part, that's all." And for that, she looked directly at Barry. "I only came because Felicity told me the problem."

"Actually, we could use your help," Dr. Wells said, surprising her. "Dr. McGee might not be so welcoming towards us anymore considering what happened the last time we visited."

"I-I mean...is that really necessary?"

Wells nodded. "Absolutely. Unless…" he began to look between her and Barry, "...there is a problem we don't know about…?"

Barry cleared his throat, eyes on Belén. "Not really," he spoke quietly. "Bells?" immediately after saying that he knew Belén was eager to tell him he wasn't at liberty to use her nickname at the moment.

But, for the sake of time, and lives, Belén swallowed down that urge and agreed. "Course. After you guys," she languidly gestured the way out with one arm.

Yes, everyone could see the tension then.

~0~

After talking to Joe, it was agreed the best they could do was warn McGee of the possible attack and also to verify with her if they were truly talking about Brie Larvan. Using their strongest weapon - who was still in fancy gear - Belén walked into the office of the woman first.

"Evening, Dr. McGee," Belén greeted politely as she walked towards the desk.

"Belén, how nice to see you," McGee reached over her desk to shake Belén's hand. "How are you?"

Belén recognized the meaningful look on the older woman's face. It had been long since she entered the lab building, and to be honest McGee thought it would never happen again. "I'm doing better now," Belén replied with a slight nod.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well...see," Belén nervously smiled, "I don't know if you've heard about some recent killings in the city with potential evidence of it being animal vs human sort of thing."

"I haven't," McGee shook her head, momentarily stumped on where Belén was going with this.

"Um, well, see I have friends in the police force and they told me something interesting about the culprit. She's killing them with robotic bees."

The moment the words left Belén's mouth McGee was on board. "Brie Larvan," she automatically said. She remembered the young scientist quite well.

"You think it's her too, then?"

"Has got to be."

"Good, so then, uh…" Belén cleared her throat and looked back at the open door, "...you guys can come in. It's her."

Before McGee could question who Belén was talking to, she saw the familiar faces of Wells, Barry and Joe coming through her door. "I didn't know these were your friends, Belén."

"Conditional," Belén clarified, shooting a warning look to Barry.

McGee was frowning at the three now. "Twice in one year, Harrison. You really are vying for comeback scientist of the year."

"Always a pleasure, Christina," Wells gave a widened, fake smile.

Mcgee sighed and looked at Belén in question. Belén quickly jumped in To clarify their purpose. "They're just here to clarify and to give you protection."

"Protection?" McGee nearly laughed.

"Brie Larvan, remember?"

McGee sighed. "Brie was a brilliant roboticist who went down the wrong path. But I assure you she can do me no harm. I can tak care of myself."

"But Dr. McGee-"

"Good day, Belén," McGee gave her that look that said it was over.

Belén sighed and looked at the others to see what they could do. Unfortunately, McGee made herself very clear again and the group had no choice but to leave the building. And even though Belén tried once again to leave, it was made impossible with the reminder Brie Larvan was still out and probably scheming her final blow.

"So is this Queen Bee going down soon?" Felicity asked after Belén and Barry returned to the cortex. Dr. Wells had stayed back to speak with Joe in the hallways.

"She'll show up, eventually," Belén shrugged carelessly and walked up to a screen where Caitlin was currently watching. Felicity arched an eyebrow at Barry, gesturing what the hell were they still doing angry with each other. "What are they doing?" Belén questioned Caitlin once she saw Cisco and Ray working over Ray's suit.

"They're working on the suit in hopes of getting it done," Caitlin mused, crossing her arms. "It is so fun to watch grown men play with their toys."

Belén snickered. "Rayan used to play with these little metal things for hours in his room. I used to make fun of him for that." Caitlin looked at her from the corner of her eyes, apparently disagreeing with Belén's actions. "What? He made fun of me for aerial dancing. It was only fair I get him back where it hurt."

In this meantime, Felicity had been expectantly looking from Belén to Barry as if one of them would come up and say they needed to discuss their previous argument. But, seeing this wasn't going to happen on its own, she jumped in. "Belén?"

"Hm?" the ombre-blonde glanced back.

"Can we talk?" Felicity pointed at the threshold and before Belén could give her answer, she pointed another finger at Barry. "You too - let's go!" And she began a hasty walk towards the threshold.

"What?" went both metahumans, exchanging a quick look between each other before turning.

Felicity merely stopped underneath the doorway and nodded her head to the corridor. "Let's go."

Caitlin giggled as she made way for a side room, of course not before teasing, "You guys are in trouble."

"What is she doing?" Belén broke in a stalk after Felicity, Barry doing the same beside her.

"I - I don't know!" he answered truthfully, although looking more mortified than anything.

"This isn't getting you out of anything, mister-"

"I don't intend it to-"

"Good," Belén shot him a look.

Barry sighed. "But it wouldn't be bad if maybe we talked…"

"Oh, what for? To accuse me of leading a metahuman riot against you now? What other false accusations are you gonna give me?"

"Look, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said what I said-"

"But you meant it," Belén stopped abruptly to face him, her eyes soon to tear up. "And that's what hurts."

Another sigh escaped from Barry. He happened to see Felicity standing across them, now smiling warmly at them. Giving her a small nod, she slipped away into a nearby room to give them some privacy.

Belén was still waiting for him to make a response, while simultaneously doing her best not shout again.

"I shouldn't have said that," Barry began after taking in a small breath. "Not because it was wrong, but because...you could never do that to me."

"Is that what Felicity told you? Or is it because you believe it?" Belén crossed her arms and waited for his answer.

"It's what I believe. I promise."

Belén kept her eyes locked on her boyfriend whom she knew was possibly going through the most horrible time of his life. With a sigh, she placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped closer to him. "You can trust me, okay?" she whispered, "With anything and everything." Barry nodded, although couldn't help let his head hang a little in shame. "Listen," Belén began after a moment's pause, lowering her voice to a faint whisper so that only he was able to hear her, "I do have something that you don't know about. It has nothing to do...with him. I need your help, Barry. Again."

Barry raised his head to see her concerned eyes, and instinctively matched his own with hers. "Wh-what do you need?" Belén bit her lip nervously, eyes roaming the hallway as she considered if this was the best place to reveal. "Belén?"

The woman snapped her attention back in front of her. "Maybe you can...come to my room tonight?"

"O-okay," Barry agreed to her terms without a single word of argument. Although he was a bit curious why he needed to visit her at a late hour just to hear this secret.

"Guys!" they heard Caitlin's call from the cortex. Almost immediately, they ran back to their friend thinking they were in danger again. A couple seconds later, Felicity joined them as well.

Caitlin was frantically watching Brie's lonesome bee buzzing underneath the computer it had been placed at. "It must have re-activated."

Felicity smirked. "And if it's being controlled wirelessly, I can trace its signal and figure out where it's trying to go!"

"I'm going to get Dr. Wells and the others," Caitlin moved towards the desk to get the comm. And missed the looks of the other three.

"Oh, no. Oh, boy," Felicity gaped as she pulled up street security feed for them to see. A swarm of bees was heading its way down to Mercury Labs.

"Dr. McGee is in trouble," Belén gasped. "How do we stop them?"

Wells, Cisco and Ray entered the cortex with anguished expressions as they figured what was going on.

"She's got to be remotely piloting those bees from somewhere," Felicity was in the middle of explaining.

"We need to stop this bug-eyed glasses woman," Cisco shook his head.

"And her mini bandits," added Ray.

Something clicked in their minds and they quickly looked at each other as both said, "Bug-Eyed Bandit. Bug-Eyed Bandit."

"Not one of your best ones," Belén side-commented, earning herself annoyed looks from the both of them.

"Got her. She's in an abandoned greenhouse," Felicity glanced back at the others with a widened smirk.

"You have to take out Brie," Wells said to Barry and Belén. "It's the only way to stop these nanodrones."

"I'd love to get a piece of Brie Larvan," Belén smirked at the idea, surprising Barry with the comment. "What? Did I forget to mention that besides being stupid smart she was ridiculously a bitch?" Now Barry tilted his head at her, eyes slightly widened as he rarely heard her curse. "I don't like her!"

"We can tell," he couldn't help chuckle.

Belén smiled, now giddy, but glanced back at the screen where they could see the bees on their way. "But what about Dr. McGee?"

"The defibrillator in Barry's suit is broken and I am not letting you go anywhere near bees," Cisco warned her with a pointed finger her way, making her chuckle. However, Barry had a different look set on both of them. There was that little feeling again, the very one Iris advised him not too long ago to get rid of.

"Bees can't penetrate my suit. I'll go," Ray volunteered, holding a hand up.

"Whoa. We haven't tested out the new power system yet," Cisco reminded him, now turning to him in concern as well. Did no one understand how dangerous bees were? Even more so that they were talking about robot bees!?

"We'll do it now," Ray assured, waving them to get going.

"I'm following you," Cisco said as a warning.

Caitlin nodded and made to leave as well. "I'm driving."

Felicity got up from her chair and rushed up to Ray. "And I'm kissing you!" she cupped his face and planted a kiss on him.

"You don't get a kiss yet," Belén warned Barry in case he got any ideas. "That's your punishment."

Barry swayed his head, letting it hang back in the end. "I deserve it."

"Yeah, you do," she patted his arm and turned for her suit.

~0~

Ray soared through the city night to find the robotic swarm of bees. With the sight so illuminated it wasn't as difficult. "Found her. Felicity, can you jam their frequency?"

Felicity had remained back on the computers to hopefully help them. "I already tried, but I might be able to redirect them onto a new target. Ray, get ready for incoming."

Ray smirked just a little, and Felicity knew that. "We have the technology."

~ 0 ~

Brie Larvan sat on a raised platform, inside what looked like a makeshift hive where all her computers and equipment were set up. She was busy overseeing her bees through one screen when she heard a...rubbery noise? Least that's what it sounded.

But then Barry came in, and remained a bit behind. "It's over, Brie. I know you're trying to kill Dr. McGee. You think that she betrayed you. I can imagine how that feels."

Brie turned on her chair, her delicate eyebrows furrowing together as she took a look at the speedster. "You think you understand the sting of betrayal? I'll show you what it means to be stung."

On command, a new swarm of bees flew up from behind her desk and went straight for Barry. He had no choice but to speed away for the moment.

Just when Brie thought she'd have some quiet again, something cold latched onto her arm. "Eugh!" It turned out to be a green vine, and it swung her chair over to face in the direction Barry had been seconds before.

"Hello, Brie," Belén stood straightened and did her best to hide that ill feeling she still got when using her powers. While it wasn't the same fear she had weeks ago, she still felt like at any moment her other side would try to come out. "We gotta talk about your stupid bees."

Brie made a quick move back to her desk to activate more bees when Belén used two more vines to turn her back around.

"I wouldn't do that, I can use poison too you know," Belén gave a half smirk as she released a tint of pink poison through her lips. "And I assure you mine is deadly too."

Brie struggled to move with the vines around her arms. "You can't stop my bees from hurting your friends anyways," she said as a last resort.

But then Felicity made the announcement she had managed to get control of the bees.

Belén smirked at Brie then. "Look at that - you're out of a hive."

Although that struck a chord inside, Brie maintained a glowering look on the metahuman, reminding them, "I still have a swarm outside - good luck getting them."

Perhaps it was just all of Belén's pent up frustration or maybe she really did just hate Brie, but she snapped and used a vine to punch Brie across the face. The blonde scientist was out cold before she hit the ground. Barry was able to return after the swarm of bees after him literally dropped dead. He blinked at the unconscious scientist then gazed over to Belén. All she had was a smirk on her face and no regrets.

It felt really good.

~ 0 ~

Ray had managed to stop the remaining bee swarm by leading them into the city ocean. Now as Cisco gave a little lookover on Ray's partially wet suit, Ray and Caitlin had stepped from the van to take a little break.

"Ah. Some kind of team you have here," Ray remarked, feeling quite euphoric after that triumphant battle. His suit was a little ruined but he was confident it wasn't something permanent.

"Helps to have friends in your corner," Caitlin gave a small smile.

Just as Cisco was coming to them, he heard a buzzing noise behind and turned to find one remaining bee making way for them. He didn't think properly but automatically blocked the way to Ray and Caitlin, allowing himself to be stung. Hearing him drop to the ground, both Ray and Caitlin turned around.

"Cisco!" Caitlin ran for her friend who was already going unconscious. She pulled out her phone and dialed for STAR Labs, immediately shouting, "Cisco's been stung!" the moment the line was answered.

"He's going into shock!" added Ray loudly for the phone.

~0 ~

"Go," Belén told Barry in a hurry. "Brie and I will wait for the cops."

Barry nodded and hurried for Cisco and the others. He found Ray trying to do cpr on Cisco to a failed attempt.

"Hold on. Back up. I'm gonna try something." Barry began vibrating his hands until they managed to conjur up electricity. Like a machine would, he pressed his hands on Cisco's chest and watched his friend jolt. He waited another couple seconds and thankfull Cisco came to life again.

Cisco coughed violently but was otherwise alright. "Either my fear of bees is over or it just got a lot worse."

Caitlin laughed happily and hugged him. "Thank God you're okay!"

~ 0 ~

The moment she was back at STAR Labs, Belén went to see how Cisco was. Needless to say she had him hugging for a good, straight five minutes.

"Bells, I'm really okay," Cisco couldn't help release a couple laughs here and there, patting her back.

"Why the hell would you purposely let yourself be stung by a robotic bee!?" she pulled away and smacked his arm.

"Ow!" Cisco clapped a hand to his beaten arm, taking a good step back. "What happened to you being worried?"

"You know how crazy Brie is," Belén sighed, shaking her head. She walked back to the desk where Caitlin and Felicity sat.

"Hey, you know what I just realized," Cisco began pointing at Belén, the widening smile telling her this wouldn't be good, "We finally figured out a person that did hate Bells."

Barry chuckled as he saw Belén gape at the statement. She seemed in disbelief, which only made it funnier.

"I don't get it," Ray spoke up after pausing his suit examination from the other side of the room.

"See-" Cisco turned around fast to explain, "-Barry, Caitlin and I are all self-proclaimed nerds who got bullied at school but Bells over here-" he gestured with both arms towards the ombre-blonde who was now crossed-armed and glaring his way, "-apparently had no bullies whatsoever."

"I didn't," she assured.

"Until today," Cisco pointed at her. "Brie Larvan!"

"She wasn't at my schools!"

"But she still hated you."

The face on Belén spelled utter doom. "I punched her and I sent her to jail, so I win."

It was then that Barry decided to cut in before he saw his friend murdered. "I think we should call it a night," he walked towards Belén who still had a glare glued on Cisco. "Coffee?" he tried to get her attention but she wouldn't budge. With a sheepish smile at the others, he tugged Belén out of the room.

"Everyone likes me," she huffed as they left.

Barry chuckled at her seriousness. "Of course they do." He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the head. "But no one more than me."

"Cheesy," she playfully rolled her eyes.

While he did enjoy their quality happy moments, Barry did have a high curiosity about her apparent secret he'd been sort of right about. He stopped them down the middle of the hallway and turned to face her.

"Wanna talk?" he asked cautiously.

Belén took a quick scan of their area before she answered. "My room?"

Barry nodded and in less than a minute he had taken her to the balcony of her bedroom.

"One of these days someone is going to see you," she couldn't help but joke as used his vibrating powers to get himself through the door and thus open it from the inside. As soon as she walked in she made a beeline for her bed. "Now, I really didn't want to cause any problems between us-"

"I know, I really do," Barry nodded quickly, "It's just with everything that's going on with Wells-"

"I get it too," Belén promised him. She bent down beside her bed and reached for something underneath. "And I should have known better than to ask you to trust me on a secret. It was my problem, not yours."

"So what is it, then?" Barry curiously asked, taking a step forwards once she had pulled out a bag from underneath the bed.

Belén sighed as she stood up again. "I thought that maybe for once I could solve things on my own instead of getting you and the others to help. But, as usual, I am horrible with technology." She sighed deeper and handed him the bag so he could see for himself.

He dug a hand inside and felt the curious feeling of papers inside along with a couple of other objects he couldn't quite make out there. "What is this?" he took out a file and let the bag fall to the floor as he began going through.

To say he was surprised to find a file about his girlfriend's family was far from what he felt. He was utterly lost.

Belén waited until he looked up at her again. "Weird, huh? Imagine what I felt when I found that in Noah's bedroom."

And perhaps she could have worded that sentence a bit better, for now Barry was close to losing it. "You were where now!? In his bedroom!?" for a moment he forgot that Maritza Palayta could be in the next room.

Thankfully, Belén knew her sister was out with some friends. "Barry, calm down, it's not what you think."

"You said you got this from his bedroom so you were-"

"Ransacking his place this afternoon," she finished for him with an amused smile. "I snuck in and took what I found." She then turned to her bed and pulled down the covers to reveal Noah's laptop underneath. "I also took his laptop which I can't seem to get into."

"Bells you're going to have to help me here," Barry shook his head and let the file fall flat on her bed.

"I wanted to know what Noah and my brother were up to, maybe even learn who Plasticine and Pixel were. So, I went into Noah's apartment and I got all this stuff."

Even with his speed it took Barry a couple minutes to understand it all. "Belén, you broke into an apartment?"

"I locked the door on my way out," Belén said as if that made it all better. "I was just so mad that I've had an enemy so close to me - working with me - and all this time he's been laughing at me."

"Yeah, I get that..." Barry gave a small nod of his head. "People you thought you trusted...turn out to be completely the opposite…"

"I just can't believe it. And it makes me even more angry when I remembered how hard he fought just to make you look bad in my eyes as the Flash. It makes sense now. My brother wanted Noah to convince me to come work with him so what's a way to do that? Make me see that my partner is not what he says he is."

"Oh, now I'm mad," Barry turned to the laptop beside him and reached for it. "Trying to make me look bad in front of my girlfriend - I don't think so!" Belén giggled and inched closer as he opened the laptop. "So what do we have here, then?"

"I wish I knew," she sighed, getting a look from him in return. "I haven't been able to get through the password. I was kind of hoping my super-duper intelligent boyfriend could help me with that?"

"Oh, you got it," he smiled. Belén looked up at him with a smile of her own.

"Thank you," she said quietly, curling one hand around his. "And I'm really sorry for keeping all this from you. I just thought I could do it on my own."

"You don't need to do it on your own anymore, Bells. We're a team," Barry leaned down a bit kiss her cheek but at the last moment surprised her with a kiss. "I'm sorry I forgot about that for a moment."

Belén took a leaf out of his book and stole a kiss from him. "I forgot too, but the important thing is we're together again. We won't forget ever again."

"We won't," Barry agreed.

"And you know...maybe it's time we're all together. As in...Caitlin and Cisco? I don't think they could ever be with Dr. Wells in all this. No matter how much loyalty they have for that man, neither of them would ever condone murder. They're first and foremost, you friends, Barry. Our friends."

Barry decided to gamble on that. There were too many things coming at them and it would make things easier if they were together when the storm hit.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~0 ~ 0 ~0 ~

Author's Note:

I loved this episode simply because it guest starred the wonderful Emily Kinney (Brie). Spoiler alert I love her and her music. I was so sad they only had her for one episode and that she wasn't a metahuman .

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #the flash #barry allen #the flash fics #barry allen fics #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #fic: it had to be you

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brittle-bone-gabe · 5 years

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The Forgotten: Chapter Three: Repeat Cut

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen, Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Epilogue

Summary: Barry Berkman couldn’t remember much of his childhood; he knew he used to live in Derry, Maine, but that was about it, besides being taken by his “Uncle Fuches” at age 16 to move to Cleveland, Ohio. Eddie Kaspbrak moved from Derry, Maine to LA, becoming a police officer, surprisingly enough. Normally things were quiet for the most part, besides the occasional drug busts, but it’s when someone named Barry Block enters his line of sight as a possible suspect for the recent string of murders he has to push the feeling of remembrance to investigate. Pairing: Adult Reddie (Richie x Eddie) Or, technically, Barry x Eddie Read on Ao3: Here Word Count: 4282

The instant that Eddie was out of the hospital and had a days worth of rest at his apartment he decided that it was time to go back to work. The Chief of Police, Detective Mae, and everyone working at the precinct had urged him to stay home, take a week off of work that he would get paid for to get some rest, but of course he refused to take up on it. Eddie was pissed, no, in fact, he was beyond pissed off right now. He got injured on the job, the bastard who did it got away, and now people at work were trying to get him to stay home while the killer was still running around out there probably killing more and more people. Now there was no way he could rest. What if he would come after Eddie knowing that he was still alive? Well… thinking back on that, even though the memory was somewhat hazy, it didn’t seem like the killer wanted to hurt him at all, otherwise he would have shot him in the chest or the head… not in the goddamn foot. What was it he said? Put some ice on it and you’ll be fine...? This was all so fucked up.

Eddie did call the responding officers who almost ditched him for the goddamn reptile show. Who knows what would’ve happened if they did that. Maybe he would’ve lost his foot. Honestly? Eddie was outraged about the entire situation. He was mad at himself for being so careless, he was mad at the guy for shooting him, he was mad about the responding officers who were just goofing around instead of helping him on the call.

Well… what's done is done… the only thing he could do now was to move forward with the case he would most likely be taking on on his own. Which, if he had to then that was fine. Janice was working this same case basically on her own anyways; if she could attempt to do it then he would attempt to do the same. Not like how Janice ended up was good, but Eddie was going to attempt to be three steps ahead of whatever was going on here.

Eddie limped through the precinct, his hand on his left leg as he was making his way to his cubicle. He couldn’t wait to get his desk, even though it was a short walk from the employee parking lot to getting his desk, this was the furthest that Eddie had to walk in days. He was taken out to Detective Mae’s car via a wheelchair when was getting discharged from the hospital, and his apartment was small so he didn’t have to walk far for anything. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, trying to ignore them as he wobbled into his seat at his desk, thankfully the cubicle walls were blocking everyone else out. Letting out a sigh, Eddie pulled out the orange RX bottle out of his pocket, downing two painkillers to help the aches and pain running up his leg.

Within the span of five minutes a couple of officers passed by Eddie’s cubicle, stopping to ask how he was doing. Every time he was asked, Eddie just gave a generic: “oh, I’m doing fine. Thanks.” Then he’ll turn back to whatever he was looking at at his desk. Which, right now, was nothing. He was staring at a blank piece of paper on his desk, trying to block out the pain in his foot and leg. Bouncing his leg, Eddie was hoping that would help, but nope, that was a stupid mistake and made the pain worse.

Letting out a sigh, Eddie raised his head, propping his elbow up on the desk, leaning his head against the palm of his hand. He glanced around, noticing the disc in a plastic sheet propped up on his computer. Oh right! That was from the security camera tapes at the house Eddie had been investigating. Thankfully someone recovered this for him so he could watch.

Eddie pulled out the tangled up earbuds from his front pocket, untangling them as he took the disc out of the plastic, putting it in the optical drive. It was taking forever for the computer to read it, as it was an old Dell running Windows XP, that’s been outdated for years, but for some reason they won’t upgrade to Windows 10. That would probably take care of a lot of issues around here if they did, but whatever, right? The computer was making strange noises, trying to load it up, but it was obvious it was struggling.

“C’mon, you piece of shit,” Eddie mumbled, bouncing his right leg from suddenly becoming extremely anxious. He could not wait to see what was on this tape, hopefully the guys face. Just… something to move this case forward.

Finally the disc started to play, it had the date in the bottom right hand corner, two separate cameras were on the screen, the top screen was the backyard camera, the bottom screen was the front door camera. There had to be something up with the guy who had gotten murdered for having these cameras placed where they were. ...or maybe he was just worried about something else. The neighborhood that he lived in wasn’t a bad one, never, not once, had Eddie or any other officer been called in to check on something. Extremely quiet.

Eddie’s eyes drifted to the front yard camera, a man, the same man that he met in the house was walking up to the front door. A hood over his head, lowered as he readied the pistol with a suppressor in his hands. He looked so close at the computer screen, trying to see the man's face but the camera angle wouldn’t change, no matter how Eddie would try to look at it. He watched as he tried the door handle first, black gloves covering his hands, but the door appeared to be locked. The man looked around away from the camera, assuming to make sure nobody was around to watch him when he began to kick the door in. He held the gun up in front of him as he entered the house, not once was his face shown.

Eddie started tapping his fingers impatiently, watching both screens like a hawk waiting for something to change. He was itching for something else to happen, he thought about fast forwarding the footage, but he couldn’t risk missing anything. The whole ordeal must’ve lasted five minutes, as the backyard footage showed the man, with the hood still pulled up over his head, exiting the house via the sliding glass door. Still no clear shot of his face. Eddie cursed under his breath when he realized that. He had his back to the camera the whole time, peeking around the corner of the house, the front door camera showed that Eddie’s police cruiser was pulling into view. The man threw a ski mask on over his head, dropping his hood as he turned back around, looking up at the camera as he finally noticed it. He shot it down, a No Service message in white letters over a black screen popped up where the footage used to be..

From the front door camera, Eddie saw himself entering the house with his gun drawn. That’s all he had at the moment, as there was nothing else to see but the unmoving scene of the porch. Another five minutes passed and the man was leaving the house, he pulled off the ski mask as he did, blood was obviously on the front of his hoodie. Eddie paused the footage quickly, rapidly tapping the spacebar so it would play and pause. The man had turned his head slightly so the camera caught a brief side of his face and his hair; it was brown, short, and somewhat messy.

Fuck. This wasn’t enough for Eddie to go off of, but he would make do. It would be a start in this case, right? He couldn’t help but rewind the footage from when the backyard camera was still intact, pulling out Janice’s picture. Eddie moved it so the footage was showing the man standing up, gun pointed at the camera then paused it. Yeah, comparing the still and the picture it was obviously the same man. It just had to be.

Eddie stood up as quickly as he could, despite his foot screaming out in pain as he did with the unexpected weight being put on it. His face scrunched up in pain as he had to use his desk as support, holding the picture in his hand. When he opened his eyes again Detective Mae was standing there, watching him and was about to move in to help him stand up since it looked like he could’ve used it. He jumped again, she always made it a habit to walk up to him when he totally wasn’t expecting it, scaring him.

“You okay, Kaspbrak?” Detective Mae asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah, yeah…” he grunted as he put more weight on it to turn around to face her, “I’m fine. Hey, listen, maybe you could help me out with something.”

Detective Mae’s eyes lit up, a smile on her face. “Of course! What do you need?”

“So… do we still have Janice’s notes from this?” He held out the picture to Mae.

“Yeah… yeah I think so, in her old desk. Why? What’s up?”

“I’m not letting this go, Mae,” Eddie said, putting all his weight on his right side, leaning against his cubicle wall, “I just know the guy who killed Janice shot me. I know it.”

“C’mon, Kaspbrak… we closed the case.”

“I know, I know… but now I have another reason to open it back up!”

Detective Mae shook her head slowly. “Don’t over work yourself, Kaspbrak. Especially now that you’re hurt.”

“I won’t, I won’t, I promise,” he said quickly.

She sighed, thinking about it. The case was over and knew she shouldn’t give in to Officer Kaspbrak’s request, he would just work himself into the ground, knowing him. On the other hand… they were all still torn up about Janice’s disappearance/murder, and if he thought the same guy was involved in shooting him then… why should she stand in the way of that?

“Okay… c’mon.” She motioned Eddie to follow him, which he did but was having issues keeping up with Mae, who, when she realized, slowed down so they could walk together.

They made their way over to Janice’s desk which was kept untouched… until now. Eddie noticed the picture she had tucked in between her computer screen and the casing around the monitor. It was a selfie of her and some older man that Eddie somewhat recognized, but couldn’t place from where.

“What’s this picture?” Eddie asked, pointing at it.

Mae looked up at the picture as she was crouched, going through her drawer. “Oh, that’s her and her boyfriend. Gene.”

“Gene who?”

“Co… Cos… no. Gene Cousineau,” she finally managed to remember, standing up with a handful of pictures. “In fact, this is the acting class she was looking into about the case. Gene Cousineau teaches it.” She held out the pictures to him, which he took. Eddie opened his mouth to ask a question, but Mae knew exactly what he was going to say. “No, he’s innocent. He’s the one who called in and was pretty torn up about it.”

“I mean…” Eddie started, going through all the pictures of the people in the acting class, “that doesn’t exactly mean he’s innocent,” he pointed out.

“He’s innocent, Kaspbrak. Trust us.” He nodded. “Just be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

She moved to go about her business, leaving Eddie shuffling through the pictures. He stopped when he landed on Barry’s picture. Everyone else’s picture looked like they were posing for a headshot, while the guy named Barry looked confused and awkward. Did Eddie know him from somewhere? There was something about how he looked, well, his features anyway… The blue eyes- Wait… the blue eyes. They looked rather similar to the guy who shot him the other night.

Eddie moved to the conference room that nobody was currently using, he could feel everyone's eyes on him again. He moved the whiteboard on wheels out next to the conference desk, pinning up the photos. The scene looked all too familiar to the other officers, as they all remembered Janice doing the same thing the first time around. Eddie could hear some groans from behind him as he pinned Barry’s photo in the middle of it all.

“What’s the problem?” Eddie asked the officers who had been groaning at this.

“We thought the case was closed,” one of them said before taking a sip of his coffee.

Eddie shook his head. “No, I’m opening it back up.”

-----

It was that time of the week again where Barry could finally escape his problems, getting into a zone with people he enjoyed and doing something he loved. His acting class. He’d been thinking about it for the past two days, he needed a distraction from the job the other night. For some reason Barry’s thoughts kept going back to Officer Eddie Kaspbrak, worried about him; his well being and worried about being found out for what he did. In fact, Barry was so worried about it that he hasn’t left the hotel for a whole day, paying Fuches to bring him some food, even though the older man told him to do it himself, so Barry had to add more money so he could buy himself something.

Barry pulled into the parking lot of the theater in his old, crappy, beat up car. He couldn’t help but check all his car mirrors to make sure he hadn’t been followed. That was the last thing he wanted; to be arrested in the middle of his class, in the middle of Mr. Cousineau and in front of Sally. Yeah… Barry did feel like he was being followed at the moment, maybe it was just his paranoia. Had to be, right? Nobody would’ve been able to.

He was pulling his thoughts together, trying to calm himself down. Nobody is following you, Barry told himself, pressing his head back to the headrest, letting out a deep sigh, closing his eyes. Nobody knows what you did besides Fuches. Fuches wouldn’t tell anyone… right?

All the anxiety was leaving Barry’s chest, so he opened his eyes and looked out his windshield. Yeah… he was going to be oka- There was a sharp, loud couple of taps on his drivers side window. Barry’s eyes went wide as he turned to look, all the anxiety times five came storming back to him. Standing out there was Sally, who gave him a small wave. Barry let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her, her smile caused him to smile as he rolled down his window.

“Everything okay, Barry?” She asked him, worried about him.

He swallowed hard, nodding. “Oh, yeah…” he started, scratching the back of his head, “just a little anxious, that’s all.”

Sally reached in the car, squeezing Barry’s arm that was resting in his lap. “Everything’s okay, Barry,” she said with another smile on her face, giving him some sense of comfort. “I’ll see you inside.”

“You too,” he said quickly just as she turned around to head inside the theater.

Barry craned his neck to look through the rearview mirror one more time before getting out of the car. His heart sank when he saw an unknown, black car turn onto the street, parking itself next to the theater. They turned their headlights off, nobody was getting out of the car. Yeah, that made Barry paranoid, why would someone just park there and not get out? Well… he had an idea, as it was something he’d do when he was out the lookout for a target. Barry waited a moment before getting out of his car, locking it quickly before making his way inside, making sure the person from the car couldn’t see his face as he shoved his hands in his old, dark brown hoodie pockets, his head down.

The entire way inside and to his usual seat alone, Barry had bad vibes. The feelings of being followed were overwhelming him greatly that he couldn’t focus at all. He didn’t even notice that his classmate was trying to strike up a conversation with him until it was too late and they turned their attention away from him. You’re just paranoid, that’s it, Berkman. You need to get yourself together. Calm the fuck down, he thought to himself, letting out a long sigh, gripping his backpack straps that was sitting on the floor in front of him, trying to ground himself.

Gene walked onto the stage, everyone giving him a round of applause as they did every class. Barry was so out of it that he didn’t even notice until everyone was finishing up. He cursed himself for zoning out, his head in his hand as he was trying to push everything out of his mind so he could focus on whatever it was Mr. Cousineau was talking about. When he looked up, he could see his mouth moving but couldn’t hear any of the words coming out; the only thing he could hear was loud, constant buzzing, indicating that his anxiety was getting out of hand. The more he tried focusing the more he kept zoning out.

“Did you hear me, Barry?” Mr. Cousineau asked, hearing his name snapped Barry out of his mini anxiety attack.

He looked up, noticing that everyone was staring at him. Hopefully he wasn’t mumbling anything while he was out of it.

“Oh, um…” Barry stuttered, picking aggressively at the skin on his hands, “n...no. I’m sorry.”

Mr. Cousineau let out an annoyed sigh, and Barry could understand his frustration and felt bad that he had to repeat himself because of him.

“I said we’ll be starting a small play; I’ll be giving out roles and scripts today. Did you hear it that time, Barry?”

“Yes, Mr. Cousineau,” he mumbled, picking at his hands again until there was blood underneath his fingernails.

Mr. Cousineau called everyone up one-by-one to come up to get their copy of the script with their roles highlighted. Barry had no idea what role Sally got, but she was going on how excited she was about it to their classmates, so it must’ve been a good one. When Barry was called up, he moved sluggishly, looking tired as he grabbed for the script that Mr. Cousineau didn’t let go of right away.

“Get it together, Barry,” he whispered in his students ear before letting go of the stack of papers. Barry nodded, heading back to his seat as he was lifelessly flipping through the pages. He didn’t read anything besides the fact the name Robert was the lines that were highlighted. “I’ll give you all a loose ten to get into character, look through the parts,” he explained, stepping off the stage, “I’m excited to see how this goes.”

Everyone grouped up, going through their scripts, asking everyone for their opinion on what mood their character should be in. Everyone except Barry, who stayed in his spot, skimming through the lines, not grasping what was in front of him. The point of being here tonight was to forget everything that happened in the past few days, right? Then why wasn’t it working like he had hoped? He rolled up his script, discreetly hitting it against his head, trying to get himself to focus, to be in the moment like he was trained to do.

“Alright, are we ready?” Mr. Cousineau stood back on the stage, asking everyone.

Oh, shit. Had it been ten minutes already? Everyone was agreeing that they were ready, but Barry was not. He thought he could pull himself out of this before time was up. Fuck, something else he failed at.

Barry was still sitting while everyone was making their way up to the small stage. Sally was motioning him to come up. He let out a sigh, standing up, wiping the blood he could feel from the back of his hand on his dark pants. When would he kick this habit?

Thankfully Barry’s character didn’t show up until a little bit later in the scene, which gave him some time to put himself in the zone. He tried focusing on his breathing, trying to focus on what was going on on the stage as he was standing off to the side, his eyes following what was being said on the script. Since he assumed he had disappointed Mr. Cousineau enough tonight and wanted to make him proud of him. Barry rubbed his face, trying to psych himself up, trying not to pick at his hands.

The moment Barry heard his characters name being introduced, he stepped on stage, being blinded by the lights that were shining down on them. He held the script tightly in his hands as he awkwardly stood in place, facing Sally, whose character was going to be talking to him.

“‘Robert’s coming, aren’t you, Rob?’” Sally said in character, looking at Barry with a smile on her face. Nodding slightly to tell him to go on.

Barry opened his mouth, looking out at the empty seats, only seeing Mr. Cousineau sitting there, watching intensely in his usual seat in the center row. Suddenly he froze, he had no idea why or what was going on. He thought he heard police sirens from outside, so his heart began pounding against his chest. Oh, shit. Oh God. They’re coming for me, aren’t they? Barry thought, clutching his script so tight that it began unreadable.

Sally cleared her throat, gaining Barry’s attention once again as he looked back at her.

“Rob, you’re gonna come to the party, right?” She edged on so Barry would start speaking.

Barry nodded, looking down at his crumpled up script. “Oh… yeah, I’ll… I’ll be there. For sure,” Barry said lifelessly, not 100% there.

Sally itched the side of her head, tilting it to the side, trying to go off from that, but it was hard. “‘I mean, Jon’s gonna be there, that’s not going to be a problem, is it?’”

“N…not at all.”

“Cut!” Gene said loudly, standing up from his seat, walking up to the stage. He pressed his palms on the stage floor, glaring up at Barry who looked around awkwardly. “What the hell are you doing, Barry?” He asked him, sounding somewhat concerned, but slightly frustrated at the same time.

“I’m-I’m-I’m reading-”

“You sound dead inside!”

“I’m… not really feeling all here today,” Barry admitted, dropping his arms to his sides.

“You need to suck it up and get it together!” He snapped, before going back to his seat. Barry knew he didn’t mean it, it was his twisted way of getting someone in the mood of the play, to force them into the mindset that they were practicing the play. While everyone did sound a little uptight since they were reading a new script, none of them sounded as bad as Barry did at the moment, so he was trying hard to pull himself together.

-----

At the end of the night, everyone left before Barry could get the chance to get his stuff. Once he did, he threw his backpack over his shoulder, tucking his hands in his pocket as he walked out of the theater. All he wanted to do was get to his car, get to the hotel and forget this embarrassing night. The moment he stepped outside, Sally was waiting for him, ready to walk him to his car.

“Barry, you bombed. What’s wrong?” She asked him, playfully bumping into him. She stopped in front of him so he had no choice but to talk to her.

He opened his mouth to speak, but that’s when he saw the same car from earlier, but this time the car had moved up closer to the theater. The guy in the car, that Barry couldn’t make out, was watching everyone who was leaving the building.

Barry was silent, turning away from Sally to go back to his car. He didn’t say a word to her, which made her even more worried about him. She was calling after him, but he had no idea what she was saying to him, he just needed to get out of here.

“Barry? Barry!” She called after him some more, but he still didn’t say anything.

He just got in his car, starting it before quickly backing out of his parking spot. Barry didn’t even look both ways on the side road before pulling out, driving quickly, leaving the theater and the car behind. His heart was pounding against his chest to the point Barry thought he was either going to pass out or his heart was going to rip through. The car didn’t appear to be following him, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

He jerked his steering wheel to the left, turning onto a random neighborhood. The second house down Barry had decided that that driveway would be good enough as he pulled up into it, turning off his headlights. He was watching the road he had just pulled off from. It wasn’t long until the same car that had been parked outside the theater the whole night slowly drove by, causing Barry to swallow hard. Fuck. Someone was looking for him.

Great.

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