#maddox carries a knife

[galaxysharks]

it's my hc that the fanny packs we see maddox constantly wear throughout s3 (and a little of s4 if i'm not mistaken) are like. she just has everything and anything on hand in there

Absolutely, speaking from experience, if you're generally a good kid, you can have anything anywhere.

I got away with so much shit in highschool.... Ok that's a lie I didn't do much, but I know I definitely could have.

But if she's like me then she has EVERYTHING in that little back.

Hard candies

Trail mix

Calculator

Pens

Pencils

Loose paper

Scissors

A pocket knife

Keys

Note cards

Wallet

Phone

Fidgeting toys

Some rocks

Medication

Several small tools

You need it? She's got it.

Mr Mazzara gave her a detention when he found the pocket knife......and another one when she failed to understand what the big deal was.

[divinemare]

✧*̥₊˚‧☆ﾐ 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖙𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖘!¡ •ଓ.°

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ azrielxfem!oc

part eleven

TW: smut

𓆝 𓆜 ––––———–––––———–┊⁀➷

Kallistrade looked out over the horizon, once a battlefield, now the memory of a victory.

But her heart did not feel victorious, did not feel the glory that her crew mates and fellow pirates celebrated. Instead she waited, and waited, and waited.

She stretched her departure until only the Night Court remained, the others retreating to their respective territories, stretched her departure until Rhysand came to say goodbye, until Feyre wrapped her in an embrace, and told her she would always have a place on their table, until Cassian and Mor shedded a tear or two as they said goodbye, until Amren gave her a knowing look, until Nesta Archeron came forward to say that it had been a pleasure to meet her, and that she hoped this wasn't the last time they would see each other, until Elain Archeron told her that she couldn't wait to hear more stories of mermaids and sea monsters, and until Azriel showed no sign at all, not a whisper of a shadow, nothing.

“Captain, are we waiting for something?” Maddox asked behind her.

Pirates were already growing tired of being here, and she knew she couldn’t stretch her departure any longer.

“No. Nothing. Set the sails, we are going home.”

𓆉｡˚ ✧

She was heartbroken, to say the least. Had she had a moment to cry, she would’ve done so until she felt her insides dry, but the left overs of the war left her so busy day and night that she had no time to show an ounce of the pain that awoke everyday within her.

But maybe she deserved that pain, maybe she deserved everything that had happened, the fact that her mate had fallen for someone so opposite of her, so far from what she was. She deserved all of it, after all, she left him first, she ran away and didn’t look back, she hurt him first, she left his heart broken first.

Still, it hurt like a mother damn bitch.

Kallistrade spent her days doing accounts, repairing expenses, paying tribute to the fallen, conducting funerals and reassembling her city. She had not had a single moment to sit and think, and when night came, she was so tired that sometimes she did not even make it to her bed, but fell asleep at her desk or wherever she was. Elijah had been carrying her to her bed every time that happened, which saved her from waking up with pains in her neck and back.

Now, in her messy and disastrous office, Kallistrade was having a deep discussion with one of her reconstruction managers about the name of the tavern that had been destroyed by Hybern in their attack. For the fifth time that week.

“For the last time, Salomon, the tavern is not going to be called ‘Didy Big Tiddies’, if you want to change the name, go speak with the fucking owner, not me. Now get out of my office before I carve those lyrics into your flesh with my knife,” she said with a sigh, with her face in her hands trying to scrub away the sleepiness.

She heard the door close, and let out another loud, tired sigh, throwing her head on the table on her arms. A few papers, from the ton sitting in her desk, fell to the floor, and Kallistrade groaned at the thought of having to get up to pick them.

She had a meeting in half an hour with the other Lords, and she hadn't finished half her work yet.

Cauldron fucking boil me, she cursed in her head.

“Didy Big Tiddies? Sounds rather inviting.”

From all her tiredness she had almost fallen asleep right there, and did not feel the presence in her office until it spoke in a dark, amused voice.

A voice Kallistrade knew, a voice that made her lift her head from the table like a spring, that dispelled her sleep and replaced it with surprise and uncertainty. A voice that belonged to...

“Azriel,” she was out of breath, out of coherent words, she didn't even know if what she was seeing was real, or a product of her tiredness coming to the point of hallucinations.

But her heart...no, her heart was beating too fast, too hard for this to be a hallucination.

He stepped out of the shadows, his muscular arms crossed over his equally muscular chest, a sly grin in his devilishly beautiful lips, his honey kissed eyes flaring with amusement and something else. “Before you ask how I got here-“

“You’re very good at your job. Yeah, I know,” Kallistrade stood up from her desk, her mouth suddenly too dry and her eyes twinkling with uncertainty, still not 100% sure that Azriel was there, in front of her.

Azriel, reading her thoughts precisely, sent shadows to her side, to touch her skin delicately, to caress her hands, to confirm that it was him, there, in her office. The realization of that moment hit her like a stream of cold water, waking her up completely.

“Is everything ok? Did something happened? I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to check any letters, it must have gotten lost in these terrible sack of papers, I really ought to-” she started to panic, thinking that perhaps, her family was still in trouble.

“Lis,” Azriel tried to interrupt her, getting a step closer, but the sudden rush of energy made her go into a frenzy.

“I cant even find my own knifes in these place, is seriously out of-”

“Kallistrade,” he gave two steps closer this time, raising his voice just a tiny bit, not angry, but amused, and finally make her stop talking and look him in the eye.

“Everything is ok in Prythian, you haven’t missed any letters begging for aid, don’t worry.”

Confusion took over her features, and her lips moved momentarily and slightly to the right, Azriel recognised the movement immediately, and had to take a deep breath. She had always done that little thing whenever she was confused or overwhelmed. There weren’t any soft features in her face now, but, still, it was the same grimace he had always considered endearing, even with its wickedness now.

“Oh, then, what are you doing here?” She asked trying not to sound too shaky, crossing her arms over her chest.

Azriel gave another step closer and raised an eyebrow, amused, what the hell was amusing him so much?

“Can’t I come visit a friend? I always wondered how the famous pirate citadel was, I’ve heard so many dreadful stories, I’m actually surprised to say it’s a decent place.”

“Yes, well, I might be a pirate, but I still like clean streets and pretty cities, these place was a hideous mess before I became High Pirate Lady, my first action as it was to renew the whole damn island. Poor rats were giving to the sharks but, we have had less sickness since,” Kallistrade lifted a shoulder and shifted her weight in one leg.

Azriel looked her over, as if assessing all and each of her little movements, peeling off her layers one by one and getting to the bottom of her real uncertainty.

Fucking spymaster abilities.

“What would the pirates have done without you,” he smirked, and she, letting go off a little bit of her tension, smirked back.

“Die of terrible infections, I’m sure,” silence followed, and Kallistrade took a deep breath, straightening her back to its full length, and looking Azriel over, assessing him too. She wasn’t a spymaster, but she had learned a thing or two of him in the past, and she was done with the bullshit now. “What are you doing here, Azriel, really. I…I’m really busy, these place needs a lot of fixing after Hybern tried to wipe us out, and I have to take care of the damages of the war-”

“Kallistrade, stop, will you? Just…shut up,” he gave a final step closer, now so close she could feel the cold rush of his shadows against her skin, and admire the specs of gold in his hazel eyes. Her breath got caught up in her throat, and she cursed herself internally.

“I can’t do this, Azriel, you should go back to Velaris, with Elain, and…and I…just please, go back to her,” she tried to back away, to get far enough away from him so that she no longer had to smell his fresh scent so close to her, altering her senses and making her stupid heart race with every breath.

“No,” he said simply, face grim with utter seriousness.

“Azriel, I’m am busy, I- ”she tried to protest again, but his shadows rush to her to shut her up. Literally shut her up. She fell silent, and looked at him with disbelief.

“You owe me this, Kallistrade, so just let me say what I came here to say. You. Owe. Me. This,” he was so serious, that even his shadows stiffen. She swallowed, and nodded with an awaiting, and a little annoyed look.

“Yes. Elain is very beautiful. Yes she’s sweet. Yes she’s loving. And yes she’s perfect.”

Kallistrade rolled her eyes, backing away from the shadows enough for her to be able to speak, and crossed her arms with a disbelief eyebrow raised.

“Wow, was that supposed to make me feel better or to make me feel more miserable? Because if you were aiming for the second option, congratulations, you did it spectacularly, but you should have saved all that trouble traveling and simply write it in a letter,” he shot her an exasperated look, and rubbed his scarred hands through his face. Kallistrade’s challenging expression did not falter.

“Will. You. Shut. Up? Just for one second, stop talking, please. Don’t say another word for one. Fucking. Second.”

“Blimey, ok, I guess you cannot make me feel worse,” she rolled her eyes again, but waited for him to continue.

“As I was saying, she is perfect and I did liked her a lot.”

“Oop, I was wrong, there it is, would you like a knife to finish me off? I have plenty lost on my desk,” this time, he didn’t bother giving her dirty look, he straight up sent his shadows to shut her up again, and she huffed a breath that almost, almost made him smile.

“I did liked her. But I liked her because she reminded me of you,” at her very deep frown, he sighed, trying to look for the right words, he wasn’t a male good with words, and Kallistrade was making it damn hard, she always did. “The old you, I mean, the one I first fell in love with. I hadn’t realized it before, until the battle, when you left, but I was…I was projecting you in her, that’s why I found it so easy to like her, to think that, perhaps, I could fall in love with her,” at her expression, he knew she was about to interrupt him even as his shadows were covering her mouth, and gritted his teeth in response, raising an eyebrow. “Do not. Interrupt me,” she rolled her eyes, and Azriel could read her response clearly in her eyes.

“Blimey, relax a bit,” he tried not to smile again, her pirate phrases, now those were catching up on him. He forced himself to continue, then, before she got the urge to interrupt him again.

“That’s the most fucked up part of it all, that I could have never have fallen in love with her. Because yes, she reminded me too much about the first version of you I fell in love with, but that’s the thing, you made me fall in love then, and you made me fall in love again now. You are the only damn person who could make me learn to love again, to make me fall in love again with you once and twice and thrice and Mother knows how many times could I fall in love with you, every version of you.”

Kallistrade was speechless, unable to think coherently or speak coherently. When Azriel noticed her stunned look, he removed the shadows from her mouth, which was open and completely dry.

Her heart gave an exalted leap and she had to blink several times to convince her brain, and her heart itself, that Azriel had said those words, and she wasn't imagining any of it.

“I don’t want perfect, Kallistrade, you were never perfect, and the Mother knows I’m far away from perfect. But I can’t imagine someone I would rather fall in love with a million more times other than you.”

There was silence for a long moment. A moment where Kallistrade considered all his words, all the weight of his words. She searched for hints of falsehood, but found only truth in his beautiful hazel eyes.

Azriel watched her expectantly, waiting for a response, and it took Kallistrade a couple of minutes longer than she was proud to admit to remember how to speak correctly.

“Oh, something tells me that you are really going to regret those words, because you’ll need more than a million times,” she raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to retract. But he didn’t, instead smirking and lifting a hand to her face, cupping it and brushing a thumb in the space between her jaw and her cheek.

“Then it’s good I have an immortal life to fall all the way back in love with you. As many times as needed.”

Finally, she smiled, a little wickedly, a litter softly, letting the tension slip away from her shoulders and leaning in his touch.

Oh Mother, how she had missed his touch.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my irresistible charms,” she joked in a low, playful tone, and Azriel’s deep, horse laugh reverberated in her, causing an electric tension to go up her body.

A dark, lust and hungry look settled on Azriel’s eyes that made her entire body shiver in need of more his touch.

“Oh, I’ll enjoy ripping every inch of confidence in your pretty twisted eyes until you can only but scream my name.”

Kallistrade huffed a moan when his mouth hit hers in desperate hunger. There was nothing tender in the way they started kissing, only pure, wild need that had been accumulating for five centuries led their mouths into a frenzy. Kallistrade’s back hit her desk, and Azriel groaned, still in her mouth, throwing everything on top of the desk to the ground with a swift movement of his shadows.

Kallistrade laughed, and parted momentarily to look at him with an amused raised eyebrow.

“You’ll definitely have to clean that up later, it cost me a shit ton of work to get through that paperwork,” as if she cared of paperwork right now, but it was fun to mess with him, especially when his eyes darkened in a hunger beyond reason.

“Shut up,” he laughed slightly, attacking her mouth with the hunger of a starving male again.

Azriel forced her legs open with one movement of his own, positioning himself between her legs and kissing her so eagerly that soon they were both panting.

Kallistrade quickly shed her boot, the pair of shoes causing a clatter as they fell to the ground, and with extremely skilled hands, Azriel untied the wine-red band tied around her waist, her belt, where the daggers and weapons strapped to it fell to the ground causing a greater clatter than that of her boots, metal on metal clanking as they fell to the ground. Her trousers soon disappeared as well, giving the male full access to her entrance. Only her laced underwear was in the way of her extremely wet cunt.

Kallistrade gasped as Azriel lowered his kisses from her mouth to her jaw, then to her neck, while his hands caressed her legs, fiddling with her senses before touching her wet underwear.

“Fuck, Lis, already? You’re dripping wet,” his voice was a huff of ragged breath, so dark, so deep, it made her insides curl with desire.

“Don’t act like you’re not all hard already, I can practically feel it pushing in your pants, you’re as desperate as I am, so shut up and fuck me now, would you?”

A deep laugh had her moaning while feeling his hands rub her cunt through the fabric of her underwear.

“Your wish is my command, Captain,” he smiled devilishly against her ear, kissing her love with such sweetness it made her melt into his touch.

Then a gasp, followed by a moan, erupted from her mouth as Azriel slipped his hand into her underwear and pressed his fingers against her clit.

"I remember how loud you used to be, Lis, now I'm going to make your throat hurt from screaming,” and not falling short of his promise, Azriel inserted a long finger into her entrance first.

Kallistrade clung tightly to his shoulders as he inserted the second, moaning in his ear as he began to pull them in and out at a painfully slow pace.

Desperately, she tried to move her hips closer to him, but the male laughed, and stopped his finger movements, making her protest in despair.

"How desperate. You're going to have to put up with it, because I've waited 500 years for this, and I'm going to enjoy every second you spend begging me for more.”

“Fuck you,” she breathed, unable to process thoughts coherently.

“I’m gonna let you do that, better.”

In response, Kallistrade ripped the top of his Illyrian leathers open, pulling it off with his help, and admiring the utterly god-like figure the male in front of her had.

Fucking Mother above, this male was gorgeous beyond logic.

His scars, his bronze skin, his muscular shape…Kallistrade could very well come by merely looking at it.

She smiled devilishly, and ran her hands all over his chest, stopping at his shoulders and looking into those hungry eyes, his fingers still inside her, before gently moving her hands to his wings, where she remembered, they were most sensitive.

Azriel's surprised moan was like music to her ears, her cunt dripped wet only at the sound.

“Two can play this game, and I’m all in for making you scream my name, too.”

At that, Azriel plunged his fingers even deeper into her, making her moan again, and while Kallistrade caressed his wings, he shamelessly thrust his fingers in and out, and when he strayed rubbing his thumb against her clit too, she could not stand it any longer, moan after moan after moan, putting her hands at her back in the desk so she could angle herself further into him, and let him finger-fuck her until the release inevitably came like a storm of mind-blowing pleasure. Her loud moan became a ragged breath when he took his fingers out of her, and kissed her mouth deeply, his tongue brushing against her lips and eating up her shaky breaths entirely.

“That was one, love.”

Fucking Mother above, one of…Kallistrade didn’t even wanted to think how many orgasms Azriel was aiming for.

He moved to try and take her top of, but the laced corset was making it difficult. He muttered a curse, and grabbed her ass to haul her off the desk. He carried her while kissing her deep into the nearest wall where she crashed her back. A moan escaping her at the hard contact. He left her on the floor again, and with a swift move of his hands, he had her back pressed against his front, her ass caressing his hard dick.

Kallistrade bit her lip at the contact, and could only imagine how it would feel back inside of her after all those centuries. Fucking magnificent, for sure.

He unfastened the corset so quickly and skillfully that the black piece of clothing fell to the floor in seconds. Without turning it over, Azriel unbuttoned her white long-sleeved shirt, which ended up next to her corset moments later. With her back still to him, he cupped her breasts in his two hands and squeezed until she groaned in pleasure. Her nipples were hard as fuck, and he took every advantage of them while he played them in his fingers. Kallistrade was a hot mess of groans, that only intensified whenever he would shift slightly and his cock will brush harder against her ass. Then a hand left one of her breasts, and returned to her cunt again. A low moan escaped her, and Azriel groaned against her air.

“Fuck, I love how you sound with my hands all over you.”

“I…” she breathed, but with his fingers making circles in her clit, it was almost impossible to think. “I want…” she tried again, but failed, instead moaning when he hit a sensitive spot.

“You want what? Say it,” his dark, husky voice against her ears made the pleasure travel farther in her body.

“I want…to feel you…inside of me…” she pleaded, her eyes closed with burning pleasure.

“Oh, you do? How badly?” She moaned in response, forgetting how to talk and answer back. But he took the hand that had been attending her nipple to her throat, and made her head fall back into his shoulder. “How. Bad. Kallistrade. Say it.”

“Fucking…bad…Fuck…” she moaned again. “I want you…very…fucking…b-bad.”

Azriel smiled darkly, and slowly bit and licked her neck while he worked his trousers off. Kallistrade heard them fall into the ground, then, with no anticipation, as she was still with her back pressed to him, he turned them both around, the desk now in front of her, and bent her over, making her have to grip the edge of the desk.

Then, with no warning, he was pushing deep into her. A loud, erupting moan came out of her, tears of pleasure streamed down her face ones. And they both waited a moment until she adjusted to the great length until he became thrusting in and out with a carnal rhythm.

Fuck, that wingspan thing was not wrong. He was fucking huge.

He gripped her waist hard, a bruise would definitely be there tomorrow, but the only thing Kallistrade could feel as he went in and out, in and out, was mind-blowing pleasure making her moan lauder and lauder.

She hadn’t realized how much she had missed his touch, his length inside of her, filling her with it, until that very moment. But fuck had she never felt this way with any past lover, no matter how many of them there had been.

No one could fuck her like Azriel, no one could make her feel like Azriel. The realization scared her, but filled her with deeper, more grateful pleasure as well.

“Fuck, Az,” she moaned, her second release so close she couldn’t contain her sounds anymore.

He knew it too, and used his fingers to rub her clit and drive her closer and closer to the edge. Until she finally erupted again, her whole body shuddered with the force of the orgasm and she bit back a scream of pleasure when it came. He followed through seconds later.

“Two, love,” he breathed shakily in her ear.

That was two, and her legs were already shaking.

He let her catch her breath, before pulling out and turning her around to face him. He ran a hand delicately over her face, brushing aside a lock of hair and admiring her for a moment, his eyes shining with feelings Kallistrade could not name, only feel in her own chest. He smiled tenderly, and lifted her by her legs with a gentleness he had not used until now, to carry her to the untidy bed on the other side, passing her office chamber, into her personal chamber, and placing her on the mattress with extreme gentleness, laying on top of her with his elbows supporting his weight.

Kallistrade marveled in his presence for a moment, running a hand on his cheek, admiring his mesmerizing eyes, the ruffle of his messy black hair, and simply absorbed the moment, carving it into her memory for eternity.

Everything that had happened until now, everything they had endured, together and apart, every heartbreak and goodbye, it all had been worth it for that very moment. They kissed, softly and lovingly and with no rush at all, savoring in each other with utmost detail.

Before, of course, Azriel went back to breaking her in every position he found. They went for two more orgasms, and once Kallistrade was done, there was no force on earth that could take this moment away from her, even if her legs shook with intensity and her heart hammered against her chest, promising a difficult time standing up tomorrow.

𓆉｡˚ ✧

Kallistrade had already missed her meeting, that was for sure, but with all the noise she made…well, she was sure they already knew why.

After all that, they laid down in her bed, tangled up in an embrace, while catching their breaths.

“Finally Cassian will not be drunkly crying on Starfall telling me he don’t want me to die without finding my mate, or a lover.”

Kallistrade’s eyes, formerly closed, snapped opened while she untangled herself from Azriel’s arms and pushed up in her elbow to look him in the eyes.

“Wait, you-“

“Of course I knew it, I’m a spymaster, love,” he laughed, glee flashing in his eyes, Kallistrade couldn’t help but roll hers and tighten a sly smile.

“Ok, now who’s the egocentric one?”

“Will you shut up now and let me kiss you?” He didn’t wait for a response, he prompted in one elbow as well and kissed her deeply again.

The kiss lasted as long as their lungs could hold out, but as they broke apart, when Azriel wanted to go for more, Kallistrade pulled away slightly, making him frown. They both sat down better, and Kallistrade fought the urge to swallow hard and show any nerves.

“So…does this mean that…do you…” She cleared her throat, annoyed at not finding the correct words.

“Do I what,” Azriel raised an amused eyebrow, and Kallistrade resisted the urge to hit that brow back down.

“You know,” she insisted, exasperated.

“Say it,” Azriel cupped her face in one hand and murmured in her lips.

“Do you accept the…” she licked her lips, and took a deep breath before putting her shit together. “The mating bond?”

“Oh, Mother,” he put his head in the space between her neck and her shoulder, an sighed, staying there.

“What?” She asked, a little nervous that he had maybe changed his mind.

“Nothing, I just waited so many centuries to hear that, I need a minute to convince myself you truly said it.”

Kallistrade let the tension in her shoulders loose, and laughed slightly, rubbing a hand through Azriel’s silky hair.

“Will it help if I say it again?” She asked with a smile still on her lips. He only nodded, not raising his head from her shoulder yet. “Do you accept the mating bong?”

“Say that again, please,” he murmured, his hot breath caressing her skin, as did his shadows with a tenderness it made her heart feel full.

So she smiled, and soften her fingers in his hair even more, whispering in a loving way against him, a sly smile still in her mouth.

“Would you, Azriel Shadowsinger, Spymaster of the Night Court, oh brave and mighty Illyrian warrior, accept the mating bond with me, Kallistrade Lanrcha, Mistress of the Sea, High Pirate Lady, oh mighty and dreaded Captain Devilsbane?” Azriel raised his head from her shoulder, and smiled while shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“You are awfully dramatic.”

“Well do you or do you not!” She pressed, suppressing a laugh.

“Of course I do,” but she raised an eyebrow, and he sighed. “Of course I do, Kallistrade Lanrcha, oh mighty and dreaded Captain Devilsbane, High Pirate Lady and Mistress of the Sea,” Kallistrade smiled, please.

“Perfect! Now…I have nothing I could offer you to eat, I have barely eaten in two days myself, so…could I offer you some rum? Or bourbon, I reckon you like more fancy things, does liquor even count, tho?” She eyed her space, finding nothing useful for the moment, except the bottles at one little table at the corner of her room.1

“You haven’t eaten in two days?” He looked at her accusingly, raising an eyebrow in reprimand.

“Well, I’ve been terribly busy! If I hadn’t moaned so hard I’m pretty sure there would have been at least three people banging on that door right now,” Azriel looked extremely flustered, and to think he had been the one telling her he was going to make her scream, and staying true to his promise. “What? Is a small island,” she said nonchalantly, raising a shoulder.

“I-” he sighed, and shook his head with a smile. “Yes, bourbon would be just fine.”

“Fancy, then,” Kallistrade smiled and nodded.

She got up the bed and went over to the little table of liquors, pouring a glass of bourbon and drinking a bit right from the bottle, she heard Azriel’s laugh behind her, and she didn’t had to look to know he was shaking his head.

Before Kallistrade shut the bottle close again, she eyed the leftovers of a cookie she hadn’t finished eating. Cookies were the only thing she had eaten at all, since Zena was having way too much fun at the kitchen since they got back. Kallistrade didn’t complain, tho, she made delicious pastries, and the sugar and alcohol was the only things keeping her energy alive this days.

“Uh, look what I found! A cookie!” She turned around with the half cookie in one hand and the glass of bourbon in the other, Azriel raised an eyebrow, and eyed the pastry with uncertainty.

“Are you sure that’s edible?” She rolled her eyes, and approached the bed again to sit beside him, extending the cookie towards him.

“Yes, Azriel, don’t be such a-”

“Don’t. Finish that sentence,” he snatched the cookie off her hands and held an eyebrow high in defiance towards what he already knew she was about to call him.

Somewhere between the lines of “picky fancy ass”, for sure.

He sighed, surveying the cookie in his hands, unsure if he was going to end up dead or really intoxicated. But…one look at Kallistrade, and seeing her expectant, excited gaze, waiting for him to accept her “mating bond acceptance offering”, that he sighed again, and took a bite.

“So…how is it?” Kallistrade raised both her eyebrows.

It had tasted great when Zena brought them, but considering she had left it there for a couple of hours…she just hoped Azriel wouldn’t be sick after it.

“It’s horrible, I’ll stay with the bourbon, thank you,” he took the glass from her quickly, and drank the content in one shot, surely to wash away the previous taste.

He made such a face that made Kallistrade inevitably laughed, and his eyes shifted from a frown of disgust, to a lighten, soft gaze.

“I think we might have done it backwards, first food, then sex,” she raised a playful eyebrow at him, and Azriel drank the last of his bourbon before putting the glass in the nightstand besides the bed, without taking his eyes off hers, his eyes darkening with lust again.

“Well, we haven’t done much very organized ever, have we,” his low voice made a shiver ran down her spine, and, like a force of nature that pulled her towards him, she leaned in his hot touch.

“You have a fair point.”

“Does that mean I get a fifth round?” She laughed lowly, and he pushed a strand of her that was falling in her face out of it with his hand, before cupping one side of her face with it, circling hot, loving caresses on her skin.

Kallistrade eyed her mate’s beautiful, rough face and smiled. Her mate. Mate. Azriel was her mate, officially now so. She didn’t had to live with that knowledge buried in her heart anymore.

“I mean…isn’t that what we should do? I’m pretty sure the mating Gods demand a closure to the acceptance,” she nodded with the utmost seriousness, as if very committed to appease ‘the mating gods’.

Azriel laughed, and again, shook his head with amusement. “Just come here, you crazy pirate.”

[spacesuitsforemergency]

Okay but I just love the image of Olive showing up to any city that isn’t Coast City and both the heroes and villains shake from fear-

[traqedy]

                . . .

[redrockcanyons]

🪤 and 🔪 for Maddox please 😌😌

thanks for the ask i’m having an absolute blast spamming y’all’s dashes with these! one maddox coming right up! 🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

The thing with Maddox is that the promise of danger alone will lure him in. Pair that with an unhealthy sense of endless curiosity and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. He hears a rumor and he has to check it out. A note on a computer terminal mentions something nearby? People died trying to get to it? Well, boy howdy, count him in. Someone tells him that bottle cap on his bracelet is one of many that make up a treasure hunt and others have been point blank shot in the face for owning said bottle caps? Better follow that up! But outside of that, he’s put himself in serious danger trying (and succeeding!) to avenge a person who was kind to him, keeping a promise he made to Faiza (aka shooting his way through the NCRCF to rescue the sheriff), and hauling his ass (and contracting lung damage while he’s at it) through the Sierra Madre for a treasure which he didn’t intend to keep for himself AND that he couldn’t carry on his own because he’s too scrawny. He has a huge tendency to put himself in danger to protect others, especially if they’ve been kind to him, and honestly... sometimes it’s a drawback.

🔪 KNIFE - how do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? do they put themselves at blame? Maddox is the type of guy to go to great lengths to take care of his loved ones. From going on extra scavenging hunts for medicine, to cross country travels to find the right kind of doctor, to skipping weeks of work and income to stay around and nursing them back to health, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to help them out. He doesn’t always put himself at blame, but he definitely beats himself up over things he could’ve done different or better to prevent misfortune from happening, and he often gets caught up on it, too. Unfortunately he tends to put other people’s needs over his, especially when situations get dire. Thankfully his parents and sister re-enter his life after Hoover Dam, so the worst of that is usually kept in check once they check in on him.

[mason-knight-retired]

this is so self-indulgent I want to crawl out of my own skin with second hand embarassment rn (happy father’s day, mase)

+++

It’s only by virtue of his phoenix reflexes that Mason manages to snatch the potato flying at his head out of the air a split second before it connects with this face.

He stares down at it in his hand in the middle of the Morrisini villa’s sprawling kitchen. “What the hell do you want me to do with this, Zeus?”

Nico shoves a small contraption at him, as well as a large bowl and a bulging hessian bag. “Peel it.”

“Peel…? What?”

“Peel it,” Nico repeats. He gestures to the bag. “And all those too.”

“Uh, no. These hands were not made for manual labour.”

“Mase,” Marie huffs, her hands on hips on the other side of the sprawling island bench. “I expect that from Sinclair, but not from you.”

“He’s become too accustomed to the good life. Too pampered,” Maddox says from his perch on a stool nearby. He pops something into his mouth and crunches loudly as he smirks in Mason’s direction.

Mason snorts. “Like you can talk, Ajax.”

Outside, the sun shines across the villa’s grounds and the wind carries in the excited squeals of the children as they race over the lawn and splash in the villa’s pool. It was another one of Nico’s family gatherings, one of the many he insisted on each year and that everyone knew better than to argue about. One year, before they had the twins, Mason and Ethan had been off world and the earful they’d copped had them immediately hightailing it back to Earth from Citadel space to make it in the nick of time.

They all know better than to argue when Nico puts the call out now.

Mason peers through the large windows overlooking the vineyards. It was beautiful here, he couldn’t deny it, and the twins loved catching up with the Morrisini brood but being put to work by Nico in the kitchen was more than what Mason was prepared to take.

“Actually, you know what, I’m just going to go see if Ethan needs any help with the ki-“

“Sit your ass down and start peeling, Huntsman.”

“Better do as he says,” Archer says. He rests on a stool, one leg out in front of him and a lethal looking blade in one hand. There are slabs of red meat on the chopping board in front of him. “Or you might end up having to do something worse.” “Is that what you’re doing?”

“Just putting some long dormant skills to good use.”

“Well, we didn’t all marry celebrity chefs in our youth, Rose,” Mason chuckles just as Luca comes tumbling through the doorway.

“Nic! Marie! I need potassium hydroxide and ethanoic acid and um, like a really big stick.”

Marie frowns. “Well, I can give you two out of those things but what do you need them for?”

“No time to explain, have you got it- never mind, this will do!” he’s gone again in a flurry of wild curls.

Silence drags around the room and there’s a distant squeal and a pop that has them all tensing suddenly. Mason waits with bated breath for inevitable wail of tears that will send them all rushing outside but it doesn’t eventuate.

“What is he doing out there?”

Marie takes a calming breath and pinches her nose. “I… I don’t want to know.”

Nico slides his arm around her and kisses her temple, whispering something into her ear Mason can’t (and probably doesn’t want) to hear. She seems more tired than usual and it’s not lost on Mason that her glass is only sparkling water and not wine. He wonders if baby number five might be on their way for them.

Five. Mason shudders inwardly at the thought. The twins were a handful on their own and that was with help. There had been a long, long period there that Mason wondered if his and Ethan’s sex life would ever recover.

“You’re still not peeling, Huntsman,” Nico warns, turning his attention back to him.

“Make Rose do it,” Mason grumbles, only for Archer to swirl that lethal looking knife over the chopping board in front of him.

“He’s already put me to work, as you can see.”

“Seriously, Mase,” Marie huffs as she busies herself with slicing up the fresh bread. The spread of food was insane, much of it grown on the villa grounds, more of it transported from Cerillo’s farm on Nova Terra. “Who does the cooking in your household if you won’t even peel a potato then?”

“The... Ah… Help…”

Marie’s knife pauses as she looks up at him suspiciously. Maddox goes to swipe an olive from the tray but she swats him away without taking her eyes off him. “How many do you have now?”

Mason doesn’t like where this is going. “Three?”

“Three?!” Marie splutters but he’s pretty sure that might be jealousy in her eyes. He shrugs, nonchalant. “Oh my god, well, aren’t you living the good life.”

“What do you expect? Pampered wardog over here,” Maddox comments, pilfering another olive. Nico snatches his wrist.

“Next time you go for another one, I’m gonna stab you.”

Maddox growls. “Fine. Hurry up already then. I’m going to go check on Mini in the nursery then check on the kids. Who knows what Sinclair has got them up to.”

He exchanges a filthy kiss with Archer before he leaves that has Mason rolling his eyes.

“It’s not Ethan you should be worried about,” he mutters as Archer snorts.

“Huntsman!” Nico barks. “Potatoes!”

--

The evening is balmy with summer and it’s well into the twilight by the time they all come to eat at the long trestle table piled high with food under the trees of the Morrisni villa. Fairy lights drape overhead, shedding a sparkle over glasses and kids squeal and thread among the adults as they enjoy the meal.

Mason does his best to balance Max on his knee they eat and the entire affair is noisy and chaotic, full of laughter and warmth and old friendships forged in blood and fire. Nico reigns supreme at the head of the table like some kind of benevolent god and he might as well be. It’s Nico that has been the one to draw them all together, year after year, no matter how far they spread across the galaxy. Familiar faces they’ve fought alongside of, faces they love now gone their separate ways now that the war was over. Their time on the Berlin felt like another life, a long ago memory that might have happened to someone else.

Mason never thought he’d miss it, but it’s long been regulated to a portion of his past alongside his early childhood in Sydney and Phoenix One.

He juggles his wine glass over Max’s head and listens in to the conversation around him. He presses his leg against Ethan’s under the table, needing the contact suddenly. Ethan catches his eye and wordless smile graces his lips as he leans in to brush a kiss to Mason’s cheek and lightly ruffles Max’s hair.

“Want me to take him for a bit?”

“No, he’s fine, as long as he stops squirm-“ Mason rescues his wine glass just before it goes flying. Max was almost getting too big for this, but Mason didn’t like to think about that. “Whoa, easy there.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“You’re okay, mate. Where’s your sister anyway?”

Max shrugs, leaning back against Mason and chewing on a piece of bread but Ethan motions with his head to look down the table. He spies Ben at the other end with Lexi’s arms tight around his neck and she’s giggling as Luca attempts to juggle spoons beside them. Mason smiles then stabs the gnocchi on his plate and lifts it up to show his husband proudly.

“Hey so while you were outside with the kids, I made these.”

Marie pauses her conversation with Isaac and Archer on the other side of the table to laugh. “Mase, you peeled one potato.”

He waves his fork dismissively. “Still counts.”

They all chuckle, Archer’s more muted on account of the small bundle on his chest. It doesn’t feel that long ago that Lexi and Max were that tiny and Mason is about to mention as much to Archer before their conversation is interrupted by Ciara crashing into her mother’s side. Her gold eyes wide as she gushes excitedly about fireflies.

Mason glances back at his own daughter. She’s on Ben’s lap now, trying to feel him with all the grace of a five year old’s giggling and over exuberant enthusiasm. “Does Lex need anything?” he says to his husband.

Ethan smirks as they watch on. Ben has a smear of sauce down one side of his mouth and across his chin. “It looks like Uncle Scoots has it covered.”

Max scrambles off Mason’s lap and latches himself straight to Ciara’s side. Mason protests softly. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Ci says she knows where the fireflies are!”

“Oh, no you don’t. Finish eating first. Then fireflies.”

“Aw, dad!” Max’s whine is joined by Marcello and Enzo’s as they materialize out of the dark and they all groan dramatically. “But fireflies!”

“You’re not allowed to go running around in the dark by yourselves. Someone might get hurt.”

There are more protests before Eva climbs to her feet. “I can take them, if you like?”

Mason looks up at the Fury. If they’re safe with anyone, they’ll be safe with her but he slides a questioning glance at Ethan anyway. “Are you sure?”

Eva shrugs, a small smile on her lips. “Sure. Luca and Ben will want to come too.”

“We’ll all go,” Marie announces. She stands up and motions for everyone else to as well. “It’s about time for the bonfire anyway.”

“Bonfire?!” The kids squeal and take off running into the darkness.

“Wait, kids-“

There’s a wink of blue in the distance when Eva appears in front of them, sending the kids all shrieking in excitement. Mason downs the rest of his wine for fortitude then pulls his husband in for a kiss in case he can’t steal any later.

“Come on, Sabre, let’s go.”

--

If they find fireflies, Mason doesn’t see them.

The excitement of time spent with their adoptive family and the bonfire have both kids melting down from too much over stimulation and it’s touch and go for a while until they both crash in his arms. Mason watches the flames dance and listens to Luca’s voice as he strums his guitar, Lexi’s head tucked under his chin while Ethan sits beside him with Max asleep against his chest.

They should probably get the kids back to the villa, tuck them into their beds, but he’s reluctant to move and spoil the moment.

Luca sings, his voice carrying clearly over the crackle of the fire, first upbeat songs with words half substituted thanks to the buzz of Nico’s homemade grappa he insisted they all sample. Ciara twirls barefoot, hair streaming out behind her as Maddox takes her on a makeshift waltz around the bonfire and Nico hands out mugs of mulled wine as Isaac and Eva sit with heads bent together roasting marshmallows in the flames. On their other side, Marie is flanked by each one of her sons, both slumped against her, not quite asleep but dangerously close. And Archer, cane discarded by his chair and a baby on his chest, sits quietly beside Ben, staring thoughtfully into the fire.

“You know, if anyone had told me on P1 this is how our life would end up, I’m pretty sure I would have laughed myself out an airlock,” Mason says to Ethan. “Sometimes I can’t believe it.”

“We’re the lucky ones,” Ethan agrees quietly. The firelight catches the line of his jaw and sends his hair shining gold. He’s still the most beautiful man Mason has ever met and he’s all Mason’s.

After ten years, it still hasn’t got old.

“Any regrets?”

Ethan turns to him and leans in. Mason meets him halfway, pressing a kiss to his mouth, mindful of the dual weights on their chests and careful not to wake them. Then Ethan draws back. “Not a single one.”

“Me neither,” Mason murmurs but then the moment is interrupted when Nico shows up. 

“Here,” he grunts, handing them each a metallic mug. Something spicy Mason doesn’t recognize wafts up.

Mason takes the mug hesitantly and looks up at Nico with a silent lift of his eyebrow. “Am I going to have to peel anymore potatoes if I take this?”

“No,” Nico rumbles. “Tomorrow we’re going to slaughter a pig and make sausages.”

“We’re gonna what?”

“You heard me. And you can do the honors. Time to earn your keep, Huntsman.”

Nico moves away and Mason stares into his mug. “This is payback, isn’t it?” he says miserably to Ethan. “For giving him all those shitty ops back in the day?”

Ethan’s lips twitch. Mason thinks he might be laughing. “It might be, babe.”

“Well, Fu… Fudge.. me,” he slumps against Ethan’s shoulder as Luca plays his songs and the stars continue to wheel overhead.

[semusepsu]

Xavnamnihitc-Woman

Story originally narrated by Phoebe Maddox a.k.a. Imkanvan, a Karok woman, originally published in “Karuk Indian Myths” by John Harrington (1932), under the title “How the Girl Got Even With The Man Who Made Fun Of Her Packing Fire”. Republished in The Way We Lived: California Indian Reminiscences, Stories and Songs by Malcom Margolin (1981) under the title “How The Woman Got Even”, with contextual notes before and after.

from Margolin’s pre-text notes: “For the Karok, as for the Hupa, marriage was basically a financial transaction rather than a romantic fulfillment. The woman who the Karok held out as an ideal was the one who got—not the man she loved—but rather the highest possible bride price.”

A woman was walking upslope to Ipputtatc; she was going for wood, and she was packing along a fire at the same time. Then all at once she saw somebody downriver coming in the upslope direction. he stopped; he looked. He was carrying his quiver, holding it high up. He said, “What are you packing fire for?”

She answered, “I am cold.”

“What, a quail is already hollering, and nobody is carrying fire; nobody will feel cold,” he said, laughing. “I am going to Amekyaram. They are catching salmon already at Amekyaram.” 

He was laughing; he was making fun of her packing fire. Then he went on upriver. The woman too went upslope. She was going to get wood. After walking a little way, she looked up at the air. 

“Behold it is going to rain. It is all clouded over.” Then she thought, “oh, how I wish it would rain. Oh, how I wish it would snow.”

Then she prepared the wood, chipping off dry fir bark with a wedge. After a while it was snowing, dry snow, it was snowing a big fall of dry snow. The girl made a big fire there, where she was getting the wood ready. Then she thought, “Just a little later now and I will go downslope.”

All she could think about was that man. She was mad at him because, “why did he laugh at me? That fellow said, ‘I will be passing back through here on my way back this evening, at sundown’.” 

She thought, “I guess he is coming back.” Then she put the load on her back. The snow was up to her ankles. She was walking along. She carried the fire back again as she went downslope; she was carrying it in her bowl basket, and she had the wood, too, on her back.

Then all at once there was a noise behind her. It was the man who hollered: “Stop, I want to talk with you.” She stopped.

He said, “do something for me, make a fire for me. I am cold.”

The woman laughed. Then she said, “The quail is hollering, nobody ever feels cold. Nobody feels cold. You are not cold, I think you are telling a story.”

“Make a fire for me. I am carrying here in my hand a head-cut of salmon. Make me a fire for that. I am carrying here in my hand a head-cut of salmon.”

“No!”

“I have here a pair of hair club bands with woodpecker scalps on them.”

Then she said, “No!”

“Well then, I will give you my quiver, and all that is inside of it; all that I will give you.”

“No!”

“I will give you my fishery, Ickecatcip.”

“No!”

“I am carrying inside here a flint knife.”

“No!”

“Well, then, my armor; I will give you my armor.”

“No!”

“Well then, let me marry you then; you can make a slave out of me.”

“Well then, I will make a fire.”

So she made a fire, a fire. The man warmed himself. Then he was alright; he warmed himself thoroughly.

Then they went home, to Xavnamnihitc, to the woman’s house. She had him for her slave, and they were going to live at her house [not the man’s house, the more usual marital arrangement]. She was happy, she was laughing all the time. That is what Xavnamnihitc-woman did.

from Margolin’s post text notes: “Thus Xavnamnihitc-woman got a fine bride-price—not only treasure, but ownership of the man himself. No wonder she was laughing! She was the idealized Karok heroine: calculating, firmly insistent that her rights be respected, quick to take advantage of a situation, and always attentive to wealth and material possessions.”

[rebelwrites]

Chapter Four: Red Put The Knife Down - Lola

As this is an original fic it is hard to tag, so I’d really appreciate it is you reblogged and shared with your friends and followers 🖤

Join The Group Chat Here - If You Want Tagging Manually Let Me Know 🖤

Falling For Red Masterlist

This Months Writing

“Maddox I swear on everything that is holy” I shouted “if you don’t get your fat ass off me I will shove the controller where the sun doesn’t shine and it won’t be pleasant”

“I don’t know Red, he might enjoy it” Nix smirked.

“Still not moving, she’s in my spot and she knows it” Maddox huffed. “It’s the best spot in the house”

“I don’t care, I'm not moving. I’m comfy now piss off” I smirked digging my elbow into his back making him growl.

My mood instantly dropped as Jacob strolled into the living room. The moment I saw his face I wanted to punch him, shoot him, stab him. He got under my skin and he fucking knew it. I think that’s why he was around so much because he was sick and twisted and more than likely got off to seeing me suffer.

“Blade what the fuck is your brother doing here?” I snapped, trying so hard not to reach for one of the many guns or knives hidden in this house.

“He is staying with us tonight” he said walking out the room.

“Did he just say what I think he said?” I asked, not to anyone in particular.

“I think he did Princess” Axel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew things would end in blood. It always did.

“Maddox get off me” I snapped, shoving him off me, causing him to land on the floor with a thud. He knew what was good for him so he stayed silent.

“Why do you do this to me Blade?” I growled following him into the kitchen. Yes take him to the places with all the knives

“You know I don’t like him” I spat trying to remain calm.

“You used to be nicer Lola” Jacob sighed.

The boys could hear everything from the living room. But they were talking so loud I could hear them.

“Please tell me I just didn’t hear him call her Lola?” Maddox said, his eyes were proballybudging out of his head right now and Axel and Phoenix were already on their feet. Either way this was the distraction I needed to grab a large and extremely sharp butchers knife from the block.

“She is so gonna kill him” Axel sighed as they ran into the kitchen.

“Red put the knife down” Phoenix roared. “I don’t wanna have to clean blood out of the grout again”

I didn’t say anything, I just smirked just taking a step forward, twirling the knife in my hand.

“Fuck it” Axel mumbled as his body slammed me into the ground. “Princess, give me the knife god damn it”

“No” I snapped “why should I?” Just let me stab him!

“Because you are gonna stab him” Axel snapped.

Well duh!

“Damn right I am” I snarled, thrashing about under his body weight, but he was twice my weight so it was a struggle, however I didn’t stop, I knew I could overthrow his power, especially when I was this angry.

“Guys, a bit of help here” Axel shouted over his shoulder.

I knew Axel was strong but when I was enraged this much it alway took at least three of them to restrain me.

Within minutes I was being pinned down, by Axel, Nix and Maddox as they prised the knife out of my grip.

“Now Princess if we get off you, you promise not to do anything stupid” Axel whispered brushing his knuckles across my cheek, trying to calm me down. Normally it would work but not today.

“Define stupid?”

“Nix grab her” Maddox nodded as he got off me.

The moment I wasn’t being pinned down, Nix threw me over his shoulder.

“Put me down asshole” I screamed as he carried me through the house and to my room. I didn’t stop thumping his back, and I knew I would be leaving bruises, not that you would ever see it through the amount of ink he had. It wasn’t until I was thrown onto her bed Istopped screaming.

“Right get changed” Nix growled, throwing some clothes at me.

“Why?”

“Just do as I say and I won’t punch you” he said biting his tongue. “Please” he whispered.

“Fine where are we going?” I asked quickly, changing into the clothes he tossed in my face.

“To blow off some steam in a way other than sex” Nix said more calmly tossing my running trainers at my face.

“So a run then” I said, shoving my feet into the shoes without untying the laces.

“Yuup” Nix nodded “don’t worry I won’t get you up at five am tomorrow”

Without saying a word I stormed out of the room, and stomped downstairs, growling with each step I took, they all needed to know how pissed off I was.

“He best not fucking be here when I get back” I shouted pulling the front door open “if he is you will have a body to dispose of”

The front door slammed behind me, leaving the house in a deathly silence.

As soon as I got home, I stormed downstairs to the basement. I was still extremely pissed off and needed to punch someone or something. So I did the next best thing and was going to beat the shit out of a punch bag.

“Fucking piece of shit”

“No one calls me Lola”

“Lola was weak”

“Lola was pathetic”

“Lola is fucking dead”

“Princess” Axel whispered standing behind me.

“What” I growled, spinning around, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Brought you a drink” Axel smiled holding the bottle of water in the air.

“Thanks babe” I nodded, taking the bottle from him.

Axel didn’t say anything as he wrapped his arms around me placing a tender kiss on the top of my head.

“Stop it” he whispered “stop thinking of the past. It’s just gonna make you angrier”

“I can’t Ax” I mumbled resting her head against his shoulder. “It just reminds that I can’t run from the feeling of being weak and pathetic”

“We shall have less of that thank you” Axel said lifting my chin so he was looking into my green eyes. “You are far from weak and definitely not pathetic. Princess you are one of the best agents in this house and you give us all a run for our money”

“But-“

“Nope, not listening” he smirked “now come on come back upstairs, you know it’s movie night”

“Is he still here?” I asked.

“No, he and Blade have gone out” Axel smiled.

“I don’t want to, I want to stay down here,” I nodded. I knew I was acting like a child that had just been told no, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to leave the home gym. At least I could punch things down here.

“Not even if I’ve told you I’ve ordered a Chinese?” He smirked, raising his brow at me knowing full well I would never turn down a Chinese.

“Did you order that crispy shredded chicken I like?” I asked, dropping my guard, reconsidering my options.

“I ordered three boxes of it” he smirked. “So are you coming back upstairs?”

“Do I get cuddles?” I pouted making him laugh.

“Yes Princess you get cuddles” Axel smiled.

“Deal”

Axel couldn’t help but smirk as he threw his arm around my shoulder as they headed back upstairs.

Yes I am a trained killer, I was deadly and a complete badass. But I also lived for cuddles off my boys and only they got to see the softer side of their Red.

@chibsytelford @everyhowlmarksthedead @talicat713 @little-diable @band--psycho @mrsmarvelous1995

[doubleattitude]

JUMP Dance Convention, Baltimore, MD: RESULTS

High Scores by Age:

JUMPstart Solo:

1st: Natalie McCue-’In Your Head’

2nd: Ja’Khari May-’Kiss Kiss’

3rd: Parker Zaicko-’Dreams to Dream’

3rd: Sadie Cuiksa-’Pony Tail’

4th: Vivien Wease-’Here Comes The Sun’

5th: Harlin Davis-’Working Day and Night’

6th: Hadley Everson-’Confident’

7th: Zooey DeYoe-’Whip It’

8th: Isabelle Glanville-’Her Dream’

Mini Solo

1st: Ellie Melchior-’Function’

1st: Kya Massimino-’I Go Crazy’

1st: Barrett Robison-’Ping’

2nd: Camryn Studebaker-’When Everything Fades’

3rd: Katherine Khait-’Aura’

3rd: Lily Planck-’She’s A Lady’

4th: Arabella Keller-’Marathon’

4th: Mya Fernandez-’What A Wonderful World’

5th: Santiago Sosa-’Becoming’

6th: Melania Khait-’I Dreamed A Dream’

7th: Kendal Llaneza-’Come and Get Your Love’

8th: Parker Adair-’New Attitude’

8th: Farrah Long-’Say Something’

9th: Marina Snyder-’Big Time’

10th: Alex Wisniewski-’Carry You’

10th: Addison Bleicher-’Growing Pains’

10th: Lyla Norby-’Little Bird’

10th: Charlotte Hale-’The Little Ballerina’

Junior Solo

1st: Ava D’Ambrosio-’Remembrance’

1st: Cameron Voorhees-’Unplug’

2nd: Emmeline Gerardi-’In The Middle of This Nowhere’

3rd: Kate Riordan-’Absence’

3rd: Xyla Maddox-’Ain’t No Sunshine’

3rd: Ava Buckhalt-’Time After Time’

4th: Mariah Barbee-’Creation’

5th: Nadia Wilde-’Goodmorning Midnight’

5th: Nadia Gift-’Hound Dog’

5th: Francesa O’Brien-’The Stars’

6th: Scarlet Sperry-’In Roses’

6th: Addison Cullather-’Tangent’

7th: Lexi Pawelchak-’Red Violin’

7th: Natalie Hoffman-’She Remembers’

7th: Ava Leahey-’The White Light’

8th: Gabrielle Schetelich-’I Am Your Shadow’

8th: Daniella Sanchez-’Pulse’

8th: Lyla Ferguson-’Sincerely Jane’

8th: Bella Rose Penrose-’Spine’

9th: Luna Powell-’1977′

9th: Braelyn Ramseyer-’Clumsy’

9th: Evie Parish-’Fireflies’

9th: Chloe Hyatt-’Smokey Taboo’

10th: Camdyn Fry-’Arch Angel’

10th: Meriko King-’Dirty Diana’

10th: Madeline Anderson-’Eternally Yours’

10th: Sadie Ruane-’I Feel For You’

10th: Brooke Marshall-’Maybe We’ll See’

Teen Solo

1st: Ellen Grace Olansen-’Ghost’

2nd: Hannah Sullivan-’Exhale’

2nd: Ava Wease-’My Future’

2nd: Natalia Wazio-’The Gift’

3rd: Makenzie Hill-’Gimme All Your Love’

4th: Maddy Collins-’Distortion’

4th: Kennedi Washington-’Epilogue’

5th: Ava Carroll-’Are You Sure’

5th: Ayla Flowers-’The Waiting Room’

6th: Madison Marshall-’Icon’

6th: Elyse Wingertsahn-’Love Me Tender’

6th: Gillian Gordon-’Ungathered’

7th: Toryn Hester-’Freak On’

7th: Ava Paliotta-’I Would Give My Breath Away’

7th: Taylor Fry-’Moonlight’

7th: Logan Speer-’Tripped Out Slim’

8th: Victoria Reith-’Departures’

8th: Madelyn Beckman-’Vow’

8th: Nyah Lastrapes-’We Never Saw It Coming’

8th: Ava Raucci-’When Things Fall Apart’

9th: Shay Kaminski-’Love and Respect’

9th: Kate Petrilli-’Neglected Space’

10th: Lily Shirley-’Aloha Friday’

10th: Olivia Schetelich-’Elegy’

10th: Renee Bergeron-’Inside’

10th: Julissa Ortiz-’Never Knock’

10th: Olivia Bowman-’Valis’

Senior Solo

1st: Caden Hunter-’Bionic’

1st: Kayla Mak-’Tuesday’

2nd: Gionna D’Alessandro-’Wish You Were Here’

3rd: Emma Cook-’Unputdownable’

4th: Kylie Chamberlain-’For All We Know’

4th: Angelina Velardi-’Mercy’

4th: Paloma Santos-’My Baby Shot Me Down’

5th: Savannah Quiner-’Escape’

5th: Carly Futrick-’Seduces Me’

5th: Annalise Hofman-’She Comes and Goes’

5th: John Chappell-’Shell’

6th: Cassidy Reigel-’16 Tons’

6th: Raegan Himmelwright-’At Your Doorstep’

6th: Wesley Cloud-’Don’t Leave Me Now’

6th: Emma Simons-’Lilac Wine’

6th: Melina Dalton-’Mangos’

6th: Bayler Glenn-’Undertow’

6th: Brianna Brickerd-’We Were Sparkling’

7th: Sophie Verrecchia-’Passing Memory’

7th: Bethany Grzymala-’Wrong Direction’

8th: Yana Sologub-’A New Day’

8th: Cailey Solano-’Before My Time’

8th: Rayna Tyler-’Embraceable You’

8th: Annie Adams-’Lady’

8th: Lauren Mendes-’Machina’

9th: Breanna Ottinger-’Par Amour’

9th: Samantha Zgombic-’Woah’

10th: Taylor Mitcham-’Faith’

10th: Brooke Manchester-’Go’

JUMPstart Duo/Trio

1st: Valley Dance Theatre-’Together’

Mini Duo/Trio

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Rich Girls’

2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Rainbow’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’Knock On Wood’

Junior Duo/Trio

1st: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Moonlight’

2nd: SI Dance LLC-’Small Leaf’

3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Nightmare’

Teen Duo/Trio

1st: RPM Dance-’I Wish’

2nd: RPM Dance-’Friends’

3rd: Valley Dance Theatre-’MAY’

Senior Duo/Trio

1st: Prestige Academy of Dance-’New York is A Desert’

2nd: Savage Dance Company-’Fade Into You’

3rd: PowerUp Dance Center-’The Wisp Sings’

JUMPstart Group

1st: ZD Dance Academy-’Tutti Frutti’

2nd: ZD Dance Academy-’Who Let The Frogs Out’

Mini Group

1st: Encore Studio-’Uptown Girl’

2nd: Encore Studio-’Windowdipper’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’On Fire’

Junior Group

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Bugaboo’

2nd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Song For A Friend’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’Funkytown’

Teen Group

1st: Encore Studio-’Kinjabang’

2nd: Valley Dance Theatre-’Arms Outstretched’

3rd: PowerUp Dance Center-’Cessation’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’Ladies’

Senior Group

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Fade’

2nd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’I Feel Pretty Perplexed’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’At 17, 20 & 27′

JUMPstart Line

1st: Encore Studio-’Conga’

Mini Line

1st: Encore Studio-’Truth’

2nd: Valley Dance Theatre-’Ease On Down’

Junior Line

1st: Encore Studio-’Turn to Stone’

2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Seasons’

3rd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’We Get’s Up’

Teen Line

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Mack the Knife’

2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Gimmie Dat’

3rd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’House of Sails’

Senior Line

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’After Dark’

2nd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Maybe It’s Just Me’

JUMPstart Extended Line

1st: ZD Dance Academy-’At The Playground’

Mini Extended Line

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’I Just Wanna Be Happy’

2nd: Encore Studio-’Vibeology’

Junior Extended Line

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’My Dearest Friend’

2nd: Encore Studio-’Ice Me Out’

Teen Extended Line

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Love Shack’

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Vibeology’

2nd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Still’

3rd: C-Unit Studio-’Wanted’

Teen Production

1st: Encore Studio-’Cardi’

2nd: RPM Dance-’Once On This Island’

High Scores by Performance Division:

JUMPstart Jazz

1st: Encore Studio-’Conga’

JUMPstart Hip-Hop

1st: ZD Dance Academy-’At The Playground’

JUMPstart Tap

1st: ZD Dance Academy-’Tutti Frutti’

JUMPstart Acro

1st: ZD Dance Academy-’Who Let The Frogs Out’

Mini Jazz

1st: Encore Studio-’Uptown Girl’ 2nd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’I Just Wanna Be Happy’ 3rd: Encore Studio-’Vibeology’

Mini Hip-Hop

1st: C-Unit Studio-’On Fire’ 2nd: RPM Dance-’Unity’

Mini Tap

1st: RPM Dance-’Sunday Best’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Happy’

Mini Contemporary

1st: Encore Studio-’Windowdipper’ 2nd: Encore Studio-’Truth’

Mini Musical Theatre

1st: Valley Dance Theatre-’Ease on Down’

Junior Jazz

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Funkytown’ 2nd: Encore Studio-’It’s About That Walk’ 3rd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’We Get’s Up’

Junior Ballet

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Springtime Waltz’ 2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Andante Affetuoso’

Junior Hip-Hop

1st: Encore Studio-’Ice Me Out’ 1st: C-Unit Studio-’Bugaboo’ 2nd: DanceWorx Dance Company-’Flawless’

Junior Tap

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’My Dearest Friend’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Love’

Junior Contemporary

1st: Encore Studio-’Turn to Stone’ 2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Hound Dog’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Rowboats’ 3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Summer’

Junior Lyrical

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Song For A Friend’ 2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Seasons’ 3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’I Will Always Love You’

Teen Jazz

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Vibeology’ 1st: C-Unit Studio-’Love Shack’ 2nd: Encore Studio-’Just Say’ 3rd: Encore Studio-’Shake and Pop’ 3rd: C-Unit Studio-’Ladies’

Teen Ballet

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Apres Minuit’

Teen Hip-Hop

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Gimmie Dat’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Wanted’ 3rd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Tell ‘Em’ 3rd: Encore Studio-’Yikes’

Teen Tap

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’House of Sails’ 2nd: Encore Studio-’Cardi’ 3rd: RPM Dance-’Only A Fool’

Teen Contemporary

1st: Encore Studio-’Kinjabang’ 2nd: Valley Dance Theatre-’Arms Outstretched’ 2nd: Encore Studio-’Sadness’ 3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Eleanor Rigby’ 3rd: Encore Studio-’Awake’ 3rd: PowerUp Dance Center-’Cessation’

Teen Lyrical

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Still’ 2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Vienna’ 3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Jolene’

Teen Musical Theatre

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Mack the Knife’ 2nd: RPM Dance-’Hamilton’ 3rd: RPM Dance-’Once On This Island’

Teen Specialty

1st: C-Unit Studio-’Rhapsody In Black and White’ 2nd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’My Way’ 3rd: Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Ghostbusters’

Senior Jazz

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Fade’ 1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Maybe It’s Just Me’ 2nd: RPM Dance-’Trust’ 3rd: Show Tyme Academy-’What Kind of Man’

Senior Tap

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’I Feel Pretty Perplexed’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’Don’t Stop Me Now’ 3rd: Ovations Studios-’Lean On’

Senior Contemporary

1st: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’After Dark’ 2nd: C-Unit Studio-’At 17, 20 & 27′ 3rd: Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’All Those Things You Told Me To Wait For’

Senior Specialty

1st: Show Tyme Academy-’Only An Expert’ 2nd: DanceWorx Dance Company-’Dream State’

Best of JUMP:

JUMPstart

ZD Dance Academy-’At The Playground’

Encore Studio-’Conga’

Mini

C-Unit Studio-’On Fire’

Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’I Just Wanna Be Happy’

Encore Studio-’Uptown Girl’

Junior

C-Unit Studio-’Bugaboo’

Encore Studio-’Ice Me Out’

Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’My Dearest Friend’

Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Seasons’

Teen

Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’Mack the Knife’

Encore Studio-’Kinjabang’

Valley Dance Theatre-’Arms Outstretched’

PowerUp Dance Center-’Cessation’

RPM Dance-’Hamilton’

Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Eleanor Rigby’

C-Unit Studio-’Gimmie Dat’

Senior

C-Unit Studio-’At 17, 20 & 27′

Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’After Dark’

Best In Studio:

Turning Pointe Dance Academy-’Eleanor Rigby’

C-Unit Studio-’Gimmie Dat’

DanceWorx Dance Company-’Dear Anxiety’

Denise Wall’s Dance Energy-’After Dark’

Encore Studio-’Uptown Girl’

RPM Dance-’Hamilton’

Show Tyme Academy-’What Kind of Man’

[kazbrkker]

Chapter 9: A Witness and Witless

Chapter summary: A realisation for Alexis, kindly dished by Captain Price. Meanwhile, danger is the gift that keeps on giving. (3284 words).

Warnings: N/A. 

29 October 2019, 0500 "Alexis" and "Alex" | Codename Aces CIA with SAS and Urzik militia Sakhra, Urzikstan

   Having her forehead split open had its benefit. Okay, maybe that was arguable, but Alexis was mildly grateful that the unbearable stings stirred her awake. It saved from her reliving a gauche situation: sleeping limbs entangled with her best friend, who she almost kissed, again.

They were practically squashed together, her head pillowed against his firm chest. Seeing how paranoid and sharp to his surroundings Alex was, his iron grips were challenging to snake out of it, good thing she had practice.

Here, at 5 am, while others were desperately chasing some sleep, Alexis was too engrossed in her own thoughts. The past 24 hours happened like a flash, and the Wolf was her highlight, making her fidget uncomfortably just at the thought.

You should have fought harder, been stronger, not falter at his baseless threats. Alexis had no one but herself to blame for allowing the Wolf to escape. The guilt her mistake carried fuelled the fire inside her, with revenge as additional gasoline to the mix.

The Chinese had a saying: "for what you do upon me, I'd unleash it ten times worse." Omar Sulaman would regret ever threatening her.

Seeking refuge under a dying tree at the residence's courtyard, she brooded in reflection. At least she figured out an end goal for the Wolf, but the friendship between Alex and her was shaky, at best. Alexis released an exhale of pent-up frustration, fingers weaving her chocolate locks into a braid. So immersed with overthinking, she almost failed to catch Price's approaching footsteps.

"No rest for the wicked, eh?" He arched a concerned brow at her stitches.

Alexis cracked a smile, "'Course." Patting beside her, she gestured for Price to take a seat with her on the patch of dried grass. "Please, don't be a nanny. Just sit down."

"Fantastic. I'm in no mood for that either," Price replied. His face briefly caught silvers of golden rays, accentuating the eye bags and fine lines that revealed just how much Price had aged since their last encounter. Even without the combat vest, his broad shoulders remained permanently slouched.

Alexis smelled smoke before the wisps floated past her. Witnessing how it relaxed Price, she shuts her mouth. "Something wrong?" she guessed, feeling the passing smoke layer her tongue with a woody fragrance, suddenly feeling the need to spit.

"The Butcher... Bastard didn't even spare a kid." Price took another deep inhale.

Alexis sighed, "We'll make him pay."

"Damn right." The price of war was a hefty one. And Alexis idolised John Price for his unwavering tenacity. By far, he was the most unbreakable person she'd ever met.

"So..." Alexis steered the topic, "What cover story did you tell Maddox and Forbes this time?"

Price scoffed lightly, a light-hearted undertone in his words, "Ah, I didn't bother. Bloody bitch about it, is all they do." Though Price, Maddox and Forbes all knew each other, Alexis always questioned what kind of Doomsday loomed over the world for a SAS Captain, Task Force Black's commander and a CIA handler to cross paths. Candidly, it made her excited to know why.

"Something going on between you and Alex?" Price questioned abruptly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She confidently lied, ignoring the tingling sensation on her lips.

"For your sake, I hope you lie better when you're on the job," he mocked. Did she develop a tell? How did Price always know?

"Ah, it's just a bunch of gossips, don't feed into it."

"It's a reliable source," that piqued her curiosity.

"Kyle," she deadpanned, twisting her body towards Price. "Call MacTavish, I'm gonna skin Kyle alive."

Price hummed, giving her an amused look, "That'd be a waste of talent. So it's true, you two dating?"

She didn't even know the answer herself, so she replied with something safe, "We're friends, always have been." Her gaze averted to the small wildflowers blossoming under the base of the tree she leaned on. Chrysanthemums, its deep red petals swaying gently against the wind currents, almost like a greeting wave. Alexis scratched her head at the timely symbolism.

"Don't get stupid, you know better than most that nothing lasts forever," Price chided with a distant look in his eyes. "That boy looks at you like there isn't a war waging on."

Alexis sighed, twirling the stalks of red chrysanthemum hesitantly, "That's the problem. Wars are happening, it's selfish."

The Captain huffed almost disappointedly, "There's always a war. You see something you want, you best hold onto it before something blows it up."

"Shouldn't you advise me against fraternisation, Captain?" She smiled.

Staggered smokes escaped when Price let out a short laugh, "Whoever tries to boss you around is an idiot. Do I look like one?"

"No, no you're not," she chuckled, always finding wisdom in Price's words. So when he told her the way Alex looked at her wasn't platonic, she believed him. Not like it was unbelievable or anything. The way he tirelessly searched for her in a crowd every few moments—then smile when their gaze meets. With ample practices over the years, she'd successfully ignored how much he burned her insides with a simple look.

Now, maybe she didn't need to.

Alexis was always more of a spy than a soldier—at least, that was what Maddox always said about her. A natural God instinct to read the room, practically able to smell the changes like a bloodhound. Yet she was slow to pick up on the change in their friendship.

Slow, and a little reluctant. Now that she opened the floodgates that she guarded for so long, every possible feeling punched their way to her heart.

She was still in love with Alex. A chilling sensation ran over her spine when she inwardly admitted that. It puzzled her if it was relief or nerves? Either way, it jolted a new kind of excitement in her. Every exhale felt lighter.

"And what about you and Laswell?" Alexis retorted smugly, enjoying the rare stunned expression that slipped onto her mentor's face. "C'mon, give me some credit. The most impressive agent you've ever come across, right? I read your debrief about me from the Caucasus mission."

At his threatening frown, she held up surrendering hands, "Alright, alright! I'm done here."

Price ignored her teases, stubbing out his cigar at the base of the tree. "The Caucasus... That's what, 7 years ago? You just made JSOC back then."

Alexis cackled at the memory, "Back then you didn't have this glorious moustache. Remember when I pulled a knife on Mactavish?"

"Scared the lad shitless. Didn't show it, but sure as well saw it," Price continued, a smirk present on his face.

"I sure as hell felt it. Mactavish's pulse was jumping." Then she paused, realising Price purposely dodged her questions. So she tried again, "Don't avoid my questions, I'm a great matchmaker!"

He shot her a look, "Says the oblivious fool."

"Touche. But still-"

Luckily, Hadir spotted them, sliding open the residence's glass door and jogged up to them. "Oh, Hadir! Thank goodness you're here, Price was about to murder me."

Hadir squinted in confusion. "Ignore her," Price got to his feet and dusted the grass off his camo pants, sending the gleeful agent a hard glare. "Lass hit her head too hard, she's spewing rubbish. Careful, Hadir." He patted Hadir's back and started to head back to the house.

"C'mon mate!" Alexis yelled after him with a butchered English accent. "I said I'm sorry!" She laughed at Price's slightly gapped mouth.

"Did I mention?" His hands steadied against the sliding door, "You're benched!"

With that, Price slid the glass door closed, wearing an amused expression as she yelled pleads after him with no avail. "Petty old fellow."

Hadir sat on Price's previous spot, gracing her with a chocolate bar. Unlike commercial ones, military chocolate hardly tasted edible—for somebody who hated chocolates, it was a torture to sink her teeth into the hard cocoa blocks. "Hadir, you couldn't find anything else?"

"It's chocolate!"

"You think."

His enthusiasm didn't die down as he chowed down his own energy bar, but after a few chews, Hadir promptly stuck out his tongue in disgust, earning a burst of hearty laughter from Alexis, "People eat this?"

"Dumb soldiers do. But the smart ones..." Alexis pulled out a packet of biscuits from the side pocket of her pants, wiggling in front of Hadir. She snatched the cup of hot water from him and dunked the biscuits in, much to his protests. Seconds later, the biscuit softened to a texture that resembled a sponge cake. Alexis urged the wide-eyed Hadir to take a bite.

Hadir was sceptical until he tried it, pleasantly surprised. He praised, "Finally, some food fit for humans!"

"Genius, right?" He nodded in agreement, passing her the cup to share. "And I can see that look in your eyes that you want to ask if I'm okay, so answer your question: I'm fine, although I'm sick of people asking me that. Thinking about tattooing the answer across my forehead, wanna help?"

"Horrible idea... Count me in. But no, not your injuries, here," he pointed at his heart. "You feel bad for letting the Wolf go, I know. It's not your fault, Alena– Alexis," he corrected. "Your names are confusing."

The smirk on her face faltered slightly. Though it quickly returned, Hadir already saw the cracks in her smile. Then she decided not to bother with the facade. "I should have fought harder. I imagine there are people who should be alive right now if not for me."

"Like I said, not your fault. In all my years, you got my sister and me closer than we've ever been to end this war... We've lost many brothers and sisters to get to this point. Between Barkov and the Wolf, I'm not sure which of these dogs are worse." His words had a certain edge in them, reminding her how much this war changed Hadir. "But they are not careless men. Why did the Wolf keep you alive?"

"Said he wanted to watch me suffer," Alexis answered honestly, hesitantly taking another bite of her dessert. "Jokes on him. I'm gonna crush him. We're gonna fucking crush them."

Hadir pulled his legs closer to his chest, returning a small smile when she rested a comforting hand on his knees, "With a big enough stone, right?"

"Damn right."

━━━━━━

Even with the miraculous arrival of a second chance, it doesn't mean Alexis made it easy. Now was the perfect example for his argument.

"Maybe you did hit your head too hard—look in the mirror and tell me if you see a large cut across your forehead, because I might be seeing things." He pinched his nose bridge in distress. Price had tasked the very injured Alexis to sweep houses with Bravo Team, take it easy and all.

Alexis wore a polite smile and calmly said, "Fuck you."

"How eager," he retorted, knowing just the way to irk her.

She threw up her trusty middle finger, "Hard pass."

Really? She thought, playing hard to get is so 2002, Alexis.

"Really?" He moved closer, and except for a hardened face, Alexis did nothing to stop him. Trapped between Alex and a table, she breathily observed the blue flecks in his irises, avoiding his alluring pink lips that was definitely calling to her. "Trouble breathing?"

Alexis swallowed her nerves, "The only trouble I'm having is my lack of personal space."

"Ouch..." His head fell defeatedly on her shoulder, chuckling. "Lexi, honey..." he gilded, eyes boring into her own. She kept still and bit her tongue at the pet name, watching his gaze travel down her face, maybe her lips.

Alex pressed more of his weight against her, "Be a good girl for me. Consider I said please."

Her heart quickened, sparing a quick glance at the wide-open door full of Marines who stood oblivious to their actions, but if they continued standing in this position, it was just a matter of time. "You're adding to the rumours..."

"So everybody thinks we're dating, big deal." He slammed the door shut to prove a point.

Are we? What is this between us?

She tasted the words on the tip of her tongue. Alex's flirting had become painfully obvious that she wasn't the sole player of this game anymore. And instead of addressing it, her wickedness took over—lightly chewing down her lips just to confirm her suspicions again.

A knowing smile slowly builds when he took the bait.

Alex blinked rapidly, retreating instantly. His attempt to clear his throat was pathetic, voice throaty as he said, "You're going with Bravo, no arguments."

"Like hell. The medic cleared me!"

Alex paused thoughtfully, rolling up his sleeves up his forearm. If this was his sly attempt to distract her, it worked. Reasons beyond her, his tattooed arms were incredibly attractive. "Was that before or after you threaten him?"

He didn't... Alexis recalled the easily convinced medic. Sue her for having a way with words. She smiled sweetly, refocusing on packing her combat bag, "You have no proof."

"Tell that to your face," he rolled his eyes. "Babe, come on, there's not enough time for me to tie you to a bed."

She'd admit to almost choking at his unexpected comment. Like a good spy, she hung a scowl at his charming smirk—refusing to play into his trap. Then, she internalised his appearance, styled hair, in the middle of a war. Still so vain. Probably trying to impress her, cute.

"Number one, you're god damn shameless–"

"I call it honesty," he shrugged.

"Outrageous, not to mention scandalous-" she corrected.

Alex huffed, throwing his head back briefly.

"Number two, I'm pretty sure Wade outside there, who was shot in the thigh is still on the mission. Talk about a double standard."

Usually, this danger zone was when Alex would back off. But today, she was convinced he had an intensified case of a stick up his ass. Still, he brazenly took the loaded magazines off her hands. "I'm trying to not treat you any differently from the boys, if that's what you're implying. I just don't want anything else to happen to you, Alexis."

"But I am different, Alex! I'm not the boys," the menace in her voice was hard to miss, a stark juxtaposition to the playfulness, "I don't want to be one of the boys. Read my damn resume, you really think this injury will be the one to do me in?" Her neck craned upwards to meet him, "I'm still standing. I can do this."

Alex finally uncrossed his arms and nodded, "Okay."

She cast a suspicious sideways glance, "That's it?"

Alex hummed– actually hummed this time. Her eyebrows shot heavenward, which amused him. "You expected a few more rounds, didn't you?" At her nod, "I trust you, that's all."

"Huh... Usually, you'd try harder. Say something melodramatic like: No, Alexis! You'll quite possibly die, bleed out to death–"

"Defamatory, I do not sound like that," he insisted upon her dramatic pause and casual dismissal of hands.

Alexis poked accusingly into his chest, "Something's wrong with you." He smirked like he knew something she didn't, and ironically, she did. You're not that slick, Romeo. Two can play this game.

"Funny. Here I thought a master profiler like yourself had better skills."

Part of her questioned if it was a double meaning, but shook it off. Grabbing her stolen magazines from his grasp, "Come on, we have a war to fight."

She wondered if Alex's blood had always run so hot when she reached over to grab his arm, surely she wasn't the only one who felt that. But Alex remained silent and allowed her to push him towards the door. They were about to step out until her satellite phone sounded. The two shared looks of caution at the odd notion, her phone hardly rang. Alex was the designated communication channel, and with Price's arrival, he carried that responsibility.

Unless it was an emergency... She quickly accepted the call. "This is a secured line, identify yourself and how you got this number."

"I have my ways. Good to hear you're still breathing."

Her shoulders relaxed, "Ruddiger. Why wouldn't I– Did something happen?"

"Saint, listen carefully, I don't have much time."  She mumbled a quick apology before kicking him out the room.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"After you left, we got a tip about Valhalla's safe house. It was a scam to draw our attention away from Boucher." Her stomach clenched at the ominous feeling. "He's dead. Someone got to him."

"In the Hostel? That's not possible." The whole point of a Blacksite was that it didn't exist.

"It's true, Saint. I saw his body with my own eyes. We found a tracker—plastic polymer, explains why it didn't show up when we wanded him." He continued when Alexis didn't reply, "This shit gets worse. They got a list... Of everybody who's on the op."

Her heart stopped right then, "No fucking way. Where are you now? And wait, this is high-level intel, how do you-"

"I'm officially CIA, thanks to your glowing recommendation. So technically, I'm also here to say I owe you one. The welcoming committee sucks, they're putting us in safe houses. All except you."

Then Alex burst through the doors, signalling it was time to move, but paused at her ghastly face. She held up a shaky hand, "Well, fuck, mon sauveur, huh? Thanks for the intel, but you do know you just broke protocol?"

From the anxious rubs on her face, Alex knew something was really wrong.

Ruddiger laughed on the other line, "Consider it my gratitude for your olive branch. I gotta go. Stay safe, Saint. You'll never know how far Valhalla can reach."

"I'm in the middle of a war. He'll never find me here," she braved through the unsteadiness in her voice. When the call ended, she remained on the chair, still profoundly dumbstruck. She didn't know which was worse: that someone managed to infiltrate a Level 10 CIA blacksite, spooking Valhalla, or that her name was sitting somewhere on a hit list.

Another question bagged her, was it her real name? A thousand worries crashed down onto her. Why haven't Forbes or Maddox called?

"Hey," Alexis jumped at the touch, instilling more fret in Alex, who kneeled before her chair. "You're shaking. You okay?"

Alexis knew Alex wouldn't stop until he got an answer. Yet she couldn't give it to him, she'd put him in danger.

"Always," she mustered the biggest smile she could. And because of that, Alex saw right through her. But there wasn't time to dig further, they had a war to fight. Besides, for all she knew, she was safe, for now.

If Forbes or Maddox haven't called, it meant she was still safe. She'd focus on that.

When she wordlessly slung her rifle and holstered her guns, there was a heavier feeling bubbling inside her. Alexis didn't have a good omen, but she couldn't pinpoint if her gut was referring to today's war, or the brewing one.

Ah fuck, is there a difference? War is war.

War is war, was her final thought as she got ready to start a day full of tragedies.

Alexis should have listened to her gut.

‧͙⁺˚*·༓

a/n: taking a minute to say thank you to all of you!! i never thought Killer Instinct would receive so much love, but here we are, thank you lovers!!

taglist: @flyboidameron @wanderlustgiant @captain-pikas-world​ (wanna be tagged? lmk!)

[reignregine]

⌠ BRIANNE TJU, 22, FEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, REGINE REN! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in ADVANCED ENCRYPTION + KNIFE FIGHTING SKILLS, SWORD TRAINING, PRECISION SHOOTING, FIREARMS & SWAT TRAINING; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (the smell of burning sage, nearly perfect posture, the twirling of a cerulean colored butterfly knife). when it’s the (capricorn)’s birthday on 1/15/98, they always request their BLACK SESAME ICE CREAM from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ chels, 23, she/her, EST ⍀  

@gallagherintro​ 

[OOC: Hello! I’m Chels! I did a small questionnaire and a bio/wanted connections for Rei. I am known to my RP friends as the angst queen but I am trying to do better LOL. If you want to plot or anything or even say hi totally feel free to do that, we’re all just here vibing. Okay bye! (: ]

General

Full Name: Régine Andromeda Ren Nickname(s): Rei Age: 22 Date of Birth: Jan 15, 1998 Hometown: Shanghi, China till the age of 10, Family lives in Washington D.C. Ethnicity: of Chinese and Indonesian decent  Romantic Orientation: Biromantic Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Language(s) Spoken: Mandarin, English, French Room:  Park Floor 207 - Louis Redgrave, Maddox Discanio, Marisol Guinto, Regine Ren.

Biography

Regine was born to Bowen and Meilin Ren, the youngest and only daughter of three children. She grew up in China until the age of 10 before moving to Washington D.C. where she went to an elite and selective spy prep school.

She comes from a legacy of spies within the industry. Her father’s family line are the owners of Reign Technologies (some of their products are known as RTech), one of the leading corporations handling the design and creation of spy hacking and tech equipment. They also handle the coding and system security for the databases of thousands of spy corporations around the world. They exist to the general public as a security & tech company. The company is based primarily in China, with bases in Washington D.C, Spain, France, and Japan.

With two busy parents, Regine grew up under the care of hired workers and trainers, starting her spy training from a young age. She lived in a house too big for the amount of people while also being over saturated in home security. She participated in competitive archery tournaments before finding her love of butterfly knives and starting her collection. She is constantly working to prove herself to her father, and prove her worth in potentially taking over or working for her father’s company. One of her brothers is heavily involved in the spy world as well.

As the youngest, and an accidental pregnancy at older ages for her parents, Regine feels like she has to work extra to gain her parents attention and approval. Though she considers herself very tech savvy, nothing beats the thrill of hand-to-hand combat and target practice / weaponry. She is someone who needs a little physical activity every day. You can often find her training.

Regine really loves art, and she tends to carry around a sketch book where she draws weapon designs/ideas and blueprints, along with the occasional sketching. 

Overall Rei is really down to earth and loves to vibe and poke fun/tease people playfully, but she can get competitive and distant if she exerts herself too much. 

GONNA FLESH THE REST OUT AS I GO

Physical Appearance

Face Claim: Brianne Tju Height: 5 ft 3 in Style/Aesthetic: Ripped jeans at the knees, septum ring + nose ring, barely if any makeup, heavy metal music in the car at night, always has her butterfly knife on her, only takes her coffee black, early riser, drawing under a tree on a sunny day

Personality

Positive Traits: loyal, perseverance, focus, righteous, confident, industrious Negative Traits: stubborn, methodical, controlling, overworking  Goals/Desires: To Succeed, To Prove Herself To Her Parents, To Feel Valuable Fears: Failure, Betrayal, Fear of Worthlessness Hobbies: Rei is super passionate about her butterfly knife collection. She is highly trained and considers her aim to be nearly perfect. She also practiced archery from a young age. Rei loves hacking and technology. Habits: Regine is either the mom friend or the friend that doesn’t text back for two weeks. 

Family

Parents: Bowen Ren (father) & Meilin Ren (mother) Sibling(s): Adrien Ren & Elio Ren (older brothers) Pet(s): N/A Family’s Financial Status: Upper Class

Extra

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn MBTI: N/A Enneagram: Achiever/Performer Type 7 Temperament: Choleric Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral  Primary Vice: Pride Primary Virtue: Diligence 

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

A best friend - Regine can be really social, but she keeps her immediate circle tight, and probably has one or two really close friends. Willing to let this develop naturally.

Past Hook ups - Regine is too busy trying to be the best at what she does that she doesn’t really have time for relationships, but I’m sure she’s hooked up with people in the past obvi. 

Enemy/Frenemy - Regine’s ideal enemy is someone who can beat her at her own game, who challengers her and makes her want to work harder, with a little banter along the way.

Roomies - If you’re in room 207 hit me up I’d LOVE to discuss roomie dynamics! 

LITERALLY ANY PLOTS!!! I WANT IT ALL!!! Regine is a mix between pop punk music and Prince Zuko every time he says “honor” in A:TLA. Reply to this if you want to plot and I’ll try to reach out! 

[saxonspud]

Masterlist - Updated

Outlaw - Born and Bred - [Complete] - Wattpad - A03

Casie Mallard is 12 years old. She’s only ever know the life of an Outlaw with her Father. When her Father is Hung by the Sheriff in Valentine who holds a grudge. She has to try and make it on her own. Her first mistake is to try and rob the Van Der Linde Gang.

Beware of the big bad wolf - A03

Kidnapped by the O'Driscolls after a Robbery gone wrong, She is rescued by members of the Van Der Linde Gang, only to go out of the frying pan and into the fire…

Annabelle’s Revenge - A03

When the Van Der Linde Gang attack Colm O'Driscolls camp in the Grizzlies, to retrieve the plans for robbing the train. The lone rider that Arthur Morgan goes after and captures, is not a young boy, but none other than Colm O'Driscolls niece. The Daughter of his brother, who was killed by Dutch Van Der Linde. The problem is, she looks nothing like an O'Driscoll.

Every Last One - A03 - Wattpad

A dying woman, a desperate child. But the Doctor in Valentine, doesn’t give credit. Especially when he stands little or no chance of getting paid. Leopald Strauss on the other hand, does. He preys on the desperate, and then sends Arthur Morgan to collect, in whatever way he can.

Innocence Lost - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

Whilst in the Grizzlies, Dutch Van Der Linde comes across a young girl half beaten to death by the O'Driscoll gang. Can he save her and make her his own by any means possible, and will he be able to untangle the secret of how she ended up there.

Just in Time - A03 - Wattpad

A freak accident with Francis Sinclair’s time travelling device,  causes Dutch Van Der Linde, Arthur Morgan and Micah Bell to be catapulted in time to 2019. How will the three 19th century cowboys cope with life in the 21st Century. Will they be able to return the their proper timeline. Everything becomes more complicated, when Dutch is convinced that he has found his beloved Annabelle.

Reckless Hearts - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

Dutch Van Der Linde finds Kara Finlay in a saloon in Blackwater. She is young and pretty. A talented poker player, and pickpocket. After recruiting her to the gang, he finds she is also talented with a gun, if not a little reckless. An Ideal addition to the gang or is she a disaster waiting to happen.

The Fire Inside - [Complete] - A03 - Wattpad

When Dutch sends Arthur and Charles to buy Jake Adler they find a young woman trying to defend the property. Blair Adler is the daughter of Jake Adler, however Sadie is not her mother. The two women have an intense Hatred of each other. How will having these two women in the gang affect it. Will they side with one woman or the other, or spend most of the time trying to stop them from killing each other

Trust is a Dangerous Game - A03 - Wattpad

Amy Macintosh was raised by her mother. She never knew her father. Her mother just said he was a good man. On her fourteenth birthday, Amy and her mother are surprised when her father turns up out of the blue. Her mother reveals in that he never wanted either of them. Amy’s life is suddenly torn apart, who should she believe her mother, or her father who now wants to be a part of her life.

Bulletproof - A03 - Wattpad

Jesse Maddox lives with her daddy, looking after him and trying to keep him off the bottle since her mama died. Her daddy doesn’t do much apart from sit around the house and drink since his wife died. Bringing the money in is left to Jesse. She has a little scam going with the saloon owner in Valentine. She robs the strangers passing through, and he turns a blind eye, for a cut of the take. One night she robs a group of strangers, only to find out later that the man she robs is Dutch Van Der Linde. He doesn’t take kindly to being robbed, he will stop at nothing to get his valuables back.

Remember Me - A03 - Wattpad

Stumbling into a home robbery gone wrong, Arthur Dutch and Hosea find a mother and baby. The mother is dead, the baby is just a few days old, and very much alive. But there is something different about this baby…

Bloody Outlaws - A03 - Wattpad

Everyone heard the rumours of the vampire of St. Denis. The citizens never went out at night, safe in there homes. But that was St. Denis. Not Valentine. Why would the citizens of Valentine worry about vampires. They were more concerned about Outlaws. Outlaws that despite having a huge bounty, were never caught.

I know why they're never caught. Because they're too fast, too strong, unkillable.

Be afraid citizens of Valentine, because the Outlaws that walk among you. They're not human. They're vampires!

Outcast -  A03 - Wattpad - Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 -  8 - 9 -  10  - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 -17 -18

This is the story of Nizhoni, a native american who has been abandoned by her tribe. The Van Der Linde gang find her at Colter, where she is taking shelter from the storm. Will they accept her, or will she cause a storm in the gang.

PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY INCLUDES PERIOD TYPICAL RACISM

IF IT OFFENDS YOU - DONT READ IT!

Kidnapped - A03 - Wattpad - Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12

Emmeline McKenzie lives with her parents in a large house in the outskirts of St. Denis. Her father is a rich businessman. She lives a life of luxury, until one night several men break into the house. The men lead by none other that Dutch Van Der Linde, kidnap her. Her father has only three days to pay the ransom. What will happen once the three days are up?

The Outlaw and the Treasure Hunter [Complete] -  A03 - Wattpad

Tumblr Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 -26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 -33 - 34 - 35 & Epilogue

Arthur Morgan is an Outlaw, rugged, handsome and vicious. He is prepared to do anything to bring in the money. He'll even resort to murder, kidnapping, and extortion, in order to get what he wants. Especially if it involves a pretty, young treasure hunter. Even the leader of his gang, wouldn't stoop that low. But he enjoys the money that Arthur brings in. But will Arthur's behaviour, be a step too far, Even for the notorious Dutch Van Der Linde. He will have to decide, which is more important, Money, or Morals.

Scars - A03 - Wattpad

Tumbler Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Some scars are visible, others aren't. You carry a lot of scars. You also have a secret. If any of the O'Driscolls discover what it is, you're as good as dead. Living on a knife edge, everything changes when you're is captured in the Grizzlies by the Van Der Linde Gang.  you expect the same treatment from Dutch Van Der Linde as you would get from Colm O'Driscoll once they discover who you are. But Dutch Van Der Linde isn't Colm O'Driscoll. It might just be possible that the Van Der Linde gang can help heal those scars.

[lyrasilverspring]

Valkyrie’s Evaluation

Valkyrie was frustrated. She held herself perfectly still, waiting for Lanthan to finish whilst also trying to keep all thoughts of the boy out of her mind. Just before he left, he’d leaned in closer to her face, a challenging smirk on his. ‘Knock em dead Maddox, you know I will,’ he’d grinned, letting his lips brush the side of her face as he whispered it into her ear. He’d always been a creep, but things had only gotten worse since the games, and the kiss she’d blown upon arrival hadn’t helped anything. Luckily he was used to her avoiding him, and his deluded confidence made him almost enjoy her resistance. It was sick.

She fought down the embarrassment at having the other tributes around to see it. She hadn’t even flinched after all, and Aphrodite was undoubtedly distracted by Fenn, or maybe even Cosima despite the distance between them. That was a line of thought she quickly turned herself from. It was not her business to care who Aphrodite distracted herself with. Her business was doing well in this evaluation so she could carry out her task in the arena. That meant keeping her distance and keeping her focus.

The fifteen minutes were done and Valkyrie was called into the room and told to begin. She’d already planned out what she was going to do, and quickly activated the simulator setting she’d programmed in training the day before. Fifteen minutes, top level attackers, one by one, varied weaponry on attackers, varied weaponry available to tribute.

Immediately, an arrow came at her head and she ducked to the side, tucking down into a roll to come back to her feet and look at her opponent. An archer, at the other side of the room. She grabbed a throwing axe off the wall and took a second to dodge the next arrow coming at her. As it drew its next arrow she let the axe fly and hit the shoulder joint, causing it to fall to the simulation’s side unnaturally. However, unlike in her training sessions, this simulation was not designed to stop at incapacitation. She grabbed another axe and thew it hard enough to embed the simulation’s neck into the wall for the few seconds before it shattered.

As it did, she heard the sound of a sword leaving a scabbard behind her and whirled around to see an approaching simulation with a katana in hand. Valkyrie grabbed a bostaff off the wall and brought it round just in time to block the simulation’s first swing. They continued like that for a few more minutes, until she was in position to sweep its feet out from under it, knocking it flat onto its back. Once it was on the ground she brought the bostaff up, and then down, straight through the eye, the simulation shattering as her staff hit the floor.

She looked up as it disintegrated to see a large, unarmed opponent on the other side of the room. She took a run at it, feinting at the last minute so it would stumble forwards. They exchanged a few more blows before she dropped to the floor under a swing and tripped it. Once they were both on the ground, she grappled it into submission face down and rained down full force punches into the base of its neck, hammering repeatedly until it gave and the simulation under her shattered.

This time she was alerted to her next opponent by the sudden swing of an axe out of the corner of her eye. She rolled to the side and got her feet under her quickly, ducking again under another swing. She backed up to the table, felt behind her for two long knives and brought them up into the side of the advancing simulation as she slipped under its raised arms. She let the blades run through it as she moved, leaving two deep wounds in its chest. Whilst it was still facing away from her, she plastered herself against its back, slightly crouched so she was out of reach of its weapon. Before it could adjust to the position she had one knife sliding through its neck, and as it began to double over she viciously drove the other down into the windpipe, careful to stop the blade so it didn’t hit her as the simulation disintegrated.

She let the knives fall onto the table behind her as she turned to spot a simulation sporting a long bullwhip. She sprinted to the wall to her left, grabbing the long chain coiled at the floor. As she ducked down to pick it up, she had to rear backwards as the tail of the whip impacted the spot where her head had been. She got up to her feet as she used her left hand to pull the chain through her right, tightening it once she had a manageable length at her disposal. As she backed away she began slowly moving it into a tight circle of eight around her. Once the table was between the two, the whip came towards her and she let the chain fly as she ducked to the side, striking the simulation in the face. Instead of pulling it back she lifted her left arm, chain still in hand, to catch the next strike of the whip, swallowing down the shriek of pain as she quickly wound her arm around the whip before yanking it out of the simulation’s hands. She let it drop to her side and jumped up onto the table, pulling her chain back up into a defensive figure of eight. Once she’d picked up speed, she carefully timed a jump with its path so that she spun midair, driving the chain into the skull of her opponent. She finished the rotation just in time to watch the skull cave in for the few seconds before it disintegrated.

As it did, a klaxon went off, and so signalled the end of Valkyrie’s evaluation. It was then that she let herself realise how physically challenging the encounter had been. It was as if all the adrenaline in her body had suddenly left, but she forced herself to stay upright. She slowly nodded to the watching gamemakers before calmly leaving the room. Lanthan was waiting for her with a dark smile on his face. ‘I bet you looked so fucking good killing those simulations,’ he chuckled, ‘Nothing hotter than a girl who can kill. And you, Maddox, are a fucking killer.’

Valkyrie just rolled her eyes and made her way to her room, his laughter ringing behind her.

[smoulderingsilver]

PROFILE ; MADDOX H. RIESMAN

GENERAL.

full name.  Maddox Henry Riesman pronunciation.  Mad-ox Hen-ree  Reez-mun nicknames.  Mado, Maddy (he’ll smile at you with nothing but malice if you call him this), Silver Tongue height. 179 cm / 5’10” age.  33 years old zodiac. Scorpio languages. English (fluent), Korean & Chinese (semi-fluent), Spanish (conversational); learning Russian.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  Ash blonde with a natural crescent-shape streak of black eye colour.  Light brown skin tone.  Pale, rosy. body type.  Athletic mesomorph – broad shoulders and firm wide chest, slightly slender overall build with long-ish legs and moderately toned musculature accent.  Hints of a Korean accent due to being raised in South Korea for part of his life, but it’s mellowed out as he’s aged; general American accent when speaking other languages except Korean dominant hand.  Right hand posture.  Seemingly “at ease”, but keeps shoulders straight and body language closed off scars.  Highly noticeable scars all along his knuckles from self defense and numerous fights he got into as a teenager (and sometimes when he’s a bit unlucky, still gets into when out working in the field). A long, jagged scar running down from his left shoulder blade to the left side of his rib cage. A thin scar running from just above the bridge of his nose to his cheek just beneath his right eye tattoos.  None, supposedly (a brand mark right beneath left pectoral, with jagged edges and a few burn scars around it that imply he did not get branded willingly) most noticeable features.  Bright brown eyes, the natural black crescent in his hair, scarred knuckles, rectangular jaw, stature

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth.  Changwon, South Korea hometown.   Seattle, Washington (verse dependent/non-canon) birth weight / height.  – manner of birth.  C-section first words.  Aside from “mom/eomma” (엄마) and “dad/appa” (아빠); “sun/taeyang” (태양) and “cat/goyang-i” (고양이). siblings.  Estranged older sister, Leslie Riesman parents.  Aaron Riesman (father), Jieun Riesman (mother) parental involvement.  He keeps in regular touch with his mother and father, though talks more regularly to his mother. He holds no grudges or qualms with them, though as a former politician, his father doesn’t quite agree with Maddox’s line of work as an investigative journalist. They don’t argue over it, though. His mother shows more interest in her son’s life than his father, and though she doesn’t dote on him or make excuses for him, tends to show softer mannerisms with him. It’s uncertain if she knows of his other line of work, but if she does, she keeps mum about it

ADULT LIFE

occupation.  Investigative journalist; a “handyman” willing to be commissioned for most any type of dirty work current residence.  Seattle, Washington ( close friends.  Cyril A. Whittaker and Jamali Bernard partners:  In terms of a significant other, none; has one night stands here and there and open to having friends with benefits relationship status.  Single financial status.  Middle class, supposedly; could be considered “wealthy”, but said wealth comes from dirty money that he has no intention of flaunting or using on frivolous things driver’s license.  Yes criminal record.  One charge of disturbing the peace as a minor; aside from that, “clean”. However, he’s committed arson, destroyed/fabricated evidence, forged documents, fabricated alibis, perjury, murder, leaking classified documents, accomplice to murder, selling illegal firearms... the list goes on.

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation.  Bisexual romantic orientation.  Biromantic preferred emotional role.  Submissive | Dominant | Switch |  Unsure preferred sexual role.  Submissive  |  Dominant  |  Switch |  Sex repulsed libido. “Medium”/ somewhat high, but he doesn’t pay it much attention turn on’s.  Choking, biting, scratching/cutting, restraints/handcuffing, rough sex,  knife play, blood play, dom/sub, crying/generally any emotional outburst (what can I say, he’s awful), orgasm control/denial, sensory deprivation, dirty talk, marking, semi-public, and if he knew monsters existed he’d without a DOUBT be a tetraphiliac. turn off’s.  Generally any kind of jealousy if you’re not in a closed relationship with him (then it’s a turn-on), age play of any kind, role playing (you gotta be special for him to even try it), anything soft or emotionally vulnerable UNLESS he has romantic interest in you. love language.  Relatively unknown since he’s not very in touch with the softer side of himself, but definitely more open communication, prolonged physical contact, acts of service, and overall a bit of a softer attitude. If he loves you, you’ll see it in the body language first and foremost. relationship tendencies.  Never has time for them, she claims. In fact, she doesn’t. She isn’t averse to entering a relationship, but she doesn’t have the time nor the patience to carry the emotional and mental burden it’d require at the moment.

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song(s). Only A Lad -- Oingo Boingo / 100 Years a Rockstar -- Akiakane / Reaper Man -- Mother Mother hobbies to pass the time. Hiking/backpacking, reading horror and crime fiction, writing short stories here and there, studying Russian & practicing his Chinese and Korean to maintain it, watching cultural documentaries, occasionally playing a video game or two (though he’s not particularly fun of them), barhopping, catching up with old friends, “going off the grid” every once in a while, keeping “study journals”. mental illnesses. Some would speculate he may be have narcissistic personality disorder or even a sociopath, but all mental health screening and clinical visits show no signs of either disorder. However, he does show mild signs of suffering from auditory hallucinations and a few confabulated memories here and there physical illnesses.  Suffers from migraines from time to time left or right brained.  Right brained fears.  He’ll lie and tell you he doesn’t particularly like heights or sudden loud noises, but his actual “fear” is never facing real consequences for his actions self confidence level.  A bit above average, though his self-control and cool, collected confidence easily give the sense that he’s a bit too self-involved vulnerabilities. Emotional “literacy” when it comes to his own emotional well-being, the sudden panic attacks he occasionally deals with (in all verses), being too self-assured in his anonymity (even though he DOES want someone to eventually make sure karma comes for him).

Tagged by: stole it from @conoscenze with my sticky little gremlin hands Tagging: @aemiliiu @nacoilltean @victeux @hhemeraa @archivierten @hyacinthsgirl @rogue-valor @illdivine @gnasccr @absolutelaw @shadyinfo @aestuavis

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

Elizabeth Mikaelson - What If? Chapter 6

"Both of you ladies have good fashion sense but seriously who is this guy? Safari Sam?" Niklaus says holding up two shirts. 

"Okay, bad or badder?" Niklaus adds, I stood next to the tied up Katherine smiling at her predicament. She pointed to the darker colored shirt. 

"The darker colors suit you better." Katherine says, Niklaus looks at me. 

"You look like a tit anyway so what should my opinion matter." I tease. 

Niklaus rolls his eyes and goes with the shirt Katherine had picked out. 

"Oh, thank you, honey. Okay, pop quiz. The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatores' possession, correct?" Niklaus questions her. 

"The dagger was used to kill Elijah. You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore house." She continues. The sound of Elijah's name made me go tense. 

"Okay, that dagger needs to stay exactly where it is. The last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. Oh, that guy is a buzzkill." Niklaus says. 

I just stand there and look at him. "Excuse me brother, but we are going over there to free Elijah, you might not care about your own happiness but I certainly do about mine!" I snap. 

"Elizabeth love, Elijah stays put but your going to help me today." Niklaus says to me while walking towards me. 

"Like hell I am, whatever happened to a family bond? We was all happy at one point but your crusade has torn us apart!" I shouted again and I turn on my heel to leave. Niklaus grabs me and pulls me to his chest. "You are going to do everything I say. 

“Your going to help me finish this, with no remorse." He compels. 

"I'll do everything you say and I'm going to help you, I'll so no mercy to my enemy." I reply in a monotone voice, I close my eyes and they flutter back open. 

"Don't forget you're on the outs with your girlfriend Jenna." Katherine says to interrupt. I walk over and stand next to Niklaus. 

"Right. Elena's aunt. For all the lies about Isobel. What else?" He asks her. 

"That's pretty much it." I say to him. Niklaus walks over to her and touches Katherine's face she instantly flinches and tries to move her head away from him. 

"Oh, so jumpy." Niklaus says with a smile. 

"Please, just...kill me. I've told you everything that I know." She says frightened.

"I would be happy to assist you with that." I say happily. Niklaus puts both of his hands on either side of the chair that Katherine was tied too. 

"You see, I believe that you believe that, but what would you not know? What could they be keeping from you? Hmm? Anything? Tell me." Niklaus compels Katherine. 

"They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger." 

 "Bonnie the best friend? I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."

"She doesn't or didn't. I don't know. You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kinda out of the loop."

"Well, we'll have to get to the bottom of that."

"Please, just kill me, Klaus, and be done with it."

"And show you kindness? I've searched for you for over five hundred years. Your death is going to last at least half that long."

Niklaus pulls out a pocket knife and flicks out the blade. 

"Lizzie love come here and pass me your arm." He asks and I complied and walked over and give him my arm. I rolled my sleeve on my jacket so he could see my fair colored skin. He runs the blade over making a cut he watches the blood drip from the wound and then heal. 

"I want you to take this knife...And stab yourself." He tells Katerina, and just like she was told she takes hold of the knife and plunges it into her thigh, she hisses out in pain. 

"Now take it out." She takes the knife out of her leg, it heals and looks up at my brother in law. 

"Now while we're gone, I want you to do that over and over and over again and if you get bored, switch legs." He announces. 

"Where are you going?" She asks him. 

"I'm gonna go lay eyes on my precious doppelganger." He replies. 

He bends down and kisses her forehead. "Oh, don't look so glum, Katerina. The fun is just beginning. Again." He says as he walks away, he offers me an arm and we leave her. 

"Come Elizabeth we have teenagers to teach." He says as we leave the apartment.  

"Your a history teacher you know? Do you even have the slightest idea what your doing?" I ask him. 

"Love we are the definition of history we've experienced it first hand." Niklaus says to me. 

"But it's also why I've brought you along with me, you and my brother share a deeper knowledge and interest in the subject you can be my assistant today." He replies. 

"I see, try not to blow your cover." I tease. 

"I would like to point out however your attitude hasn't changed over the years." He replies sternly. 

"Oh I found it has, I've just grown wittier over the centuries." I tell him raising my eyebrows and smiling. 

We walked into Mystic Falls High School. "Now where is my classroom." Niklaus hums to himself. 

"Your the teacher I would of thought you would have had this all planned out."

 Niklaus pins me up against the lockers. 

"Play nice now brother." I smile at him and kiss his cheek as I push him off me. 

"If I have to compel you to behave I will." He says in a threatening tone. 

After quickly searching the hallways we found the classroom everyone has taken there seats, 'Alaric' walks in first, followed by myself and stand near the door. I glance to see Elena, Stefan and Bonnie all look at me in shock. 

"Hello, class. I would like to introduce my colleague Elizabeth Mikealson she will be observing. So what are we learning today?" He says as he gestures to me, I smile at the class of mainly humans except for the doppelganger, vampire and witch. 

"It's a pleasure I look forward to seeing what Mr Saltzman has to offer." I tell the class. 

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week." A girl says. 

"Right.The sixties." 

The disguised Original spots Elena and takes a moment and then turns his back on the class and starts to write on the chalk board. 

"The, uh, ahem...The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but...Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the...we walked on the moon. There was Watergate." He started. 

I try to not snicker out loud but I couldn't help myself, I let out a small cough and recomposed myself. 

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric. I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman." Elena tells him, looking embarrassed when she used his first name. 

"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena." My brother in law thanks her. Niklaus was failing badly. 

"Excuse me Mr Saltzman? My I have a moment outside?" I asked. 

"Of course" Niklaus replied as we headed outside. 

"Are you out of your mind!?" I whisper shouted at him so the vampire in the other room couldn't hear us. 

"What?" He asked. 

"For gods sake, let me teach the class since you seem to lack the ability to do so. While it looks like you floated your way through over the years not taking any notice, I however did. Now get back in there and explain that I'll be teaching today's class." I continued in a hushed voice. 

"Nobody speaks to me like that!" Niklaus threatens. 

"Well maybe someone should." I replied glaring at him. I gesture for him to walk back into the classroom but he grabs me again. 

"You should show me some respect dear sister."  

I stand there and just blink at him.

We walked back into the classroom. 

"Change of plans, Elizabeth will be taking over for today. Seems she has caught the teaching bug." He says. 

"Thank you Mr Saltzman." I reply and rub what was already on the board. 

"So does anyone know anything about the sixties? Other then the gorgeous fashion?" I say with a smile. 

"Anyone? No, well then lets see then. We have the assassination of JKF, The Vietnam War, the fight for civil rights and the equal pay act." I say as I write the topics on the board. 

"Anything stand out that you guys wish to cover? What about you, at the back Bonnie? is it?" I say pointing her out. 

"How about the erm... JFK assassination?" She stutters. 

"Alright then, so lets see. So born in 1917 he would later become the 35th president of the United States but before got into politics he wanted to be a journalist. He announced his candidacy for president on January 2nd, 1960. But in the main election he was going to face a difficult battle against the 2-time vice president. But he won his election by a narrow victory of roughly about 34,000,000 votes in his favor. His presidency was a short run and was killed in 1963 as I'm sure your aware off." I explain. 

"Thank you, Elizabeth I think that will round the lesson off nicely, since its the decade dance tonight go on enjoy yourselves, class dismissed." My brother in law tell the teenagers and with that they all got up and left. 

Leaving myself and Niklaus alone.

"What I don't get is why you want or need my help, your capable to carrying out your grand master schemes by yourself." I say to him. 

"I know you can't interfere with Elijah he needs to stay where he is, but also its a way to get Elena and her friends to trust you. They see you as no threat they let their guard down. Now be a love and go back and check on Katerina." He says to me. 

I go to turn away but I pause I shake my head and carry on walking, I leave the school and back to the teachers home. 

"Oh Katerina, I trust your still stabbing yourself." I sang as I walked through the door. 

"Great your here." She says rolling her eyes. 

"How are you getting on?" I ask as I bend down to inspect the wound she had made the knife still in her leg, using my fingers I spread apart the ends of the wound further away making her cry out in pain. 

"Hurts doesn't it?"  

The sound of Niklaus coming through the door diverts my attention and I stand up from Katerina and start being nosy around the apartment. 

"Ah, you're right. This witch is all juiced up and aiming to kill." He says to us. 

"We're gonna have to kill her, Maddox." 

The male witch was rummaging trough the kitchen cupboards. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" Nik asks him. 

I opened a drawer and noticed that there are shirts in it I start taking them out to find a range of anti-vampire weapons. I called Nik over.��

"Crossbows, wooden bullets and automatics? Who is this guy, again?" He asks. 

"Well he is the local vampire hunter." I tell him. 

"Ahh. Well, that explains the clothing." He says with a chuckle. 

Maddox comes into the main sitting room and hands Nik a glass of whiskey. I shoot him a look and he hands me the bottle, I roll my eyes at the male witch and I hand Nik the bottle and I take his glass sipping it. 

"All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon." Maddox says. 

Nik takes a swig from the bottle. "I knew there was something about him I liked. There's a high school dance and I'm gonna need you to take out witch bitch." He says to the Maddox. 

"If she has that much power, she can sense me coming from a mile away. I won't be able to get near her. You have to do it." He tells him, I down my glass and swipe the bottle from Nik to refill it, once I had he takes it from me and sends me a glare. 

"In this body? I'm a haggard history teacher. She can easily hurt me. I mean, not me, Klaus me, but you know what I mean." He says. I down my second glass 

"Well when I took her to the house where all the spirits were I could feel the power that was there, and I'm guessing with her lack of skills she wouldn't be able to cope channeling that much power. To be honest I don't think any witch could. It'll probably kill her so make her use it." I say to the two males. 

"I'm sorry you did what?" Nik interrupts. 

"I took the Bennett witch, baby Gilbert and Damon to the house that had all of the dead witch spirits. I gave them my word I would help them." I reply. 

"Just like my brother." Niklaus says thinking out loud. 

"Not to worry, so your insinuating that we provoke her death?" He asks. 

"I'm guessing they would have plans to kill you the moment they find you. So just keep attacking her." I reply to him shrugging my shoulders. 

"She's on the right track here, Alaric's body will last longer then hers." Maddox continues. 

"How? Hes human." Nik questions. 

"I can help in that department. I can do a spell to protect you." He says.

We arrived at the decades dance however I stayed in the car, it wasn't my time to make an appearance just yet. I hadn't bother to dress up because there was no need. I understood my instructions and I repeated them in my head over and over. About forty minutes had passed when my phone had gone off.

Niklaus: NOW

I made my way through the corridors of the high school and then my ears picked up a conversation, as I rounded the corner almost ready to make my appearance. 

"Alaric. Are you on vervain?" Elena asks. 

"Now why would you ask a question like that?" I say as I came into view. 

"He's being compelled." Elena says to her friend. I walk over to my brother in law and lean on his shoulder. 

"Nope. Try again." Nik says. 

The doppelganger and the witch look stunned. "Whats going on?" She asked. 

"Okay, I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric." Nik says. 

"Klaus!" Elena shouts. 

Both Nik and I smile at the pair. "Surprise!" We say in unison. 

"Oh, no. No, it's not possible." Elena says as she starts to panic. 

"Elena relax, Niklaus isn't here to hurt you tonight he has other plans." I start. 

"But you on the other hand." Niklaus points to Bonnie and rushes over to attack her, she uses her powers and throws him into some of the lockers. I take a step back seeing in person how dangerous she was. 

"Now, did I mention that I knew a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that." He mocks her. 

Niklaus picks himself up from the floor and charges at Bonnie once again to which using her powers launches him into the display case at the end of the hallway glass shattered everywhere. Bonnie stumbles after the last attack. 

"Oh fire away darling, I mean if you kill this body all Niklaus has to do is simply jump into another. Maybe next time though it will be Jeremy." I chuckle. 

"Elizabeth? Why are you helping him?" Elena asks me. 

"Because she has no choice love. I've compelled her, this is the true Elizabeth your seeing, the monster behind her husband. We were so alike back in the day but ultimately she chose Elijah. And he tamed her." Niklaus announces smiling profoundly. 

"Go! Run! Go!" Bonnie shouts to her friend. 

"I love playing chase, I'll give you a head start." I say to Elena. 

"NO!" Bonnie screams and her magic shoves me into my brother in law. We collide with a thud. 

"Time to play?" I ask. Nik nods his head. 

"Indeed it is sister." He responds and we fled leaving Bonnie alone in the hallway. We stopped in the schools cafeteria. 

"I should really get you out to play more often love. Elijah has no idea what he's missing." Nik says with a large grin on his face. I walked over and sat on one of the tables checking my nails. Nik grins and picks up two knives that were laying around, he throws one towards me which I catch. 

"You should know Elijah trained me to fight, I could probably snap your neck whilst filing my nails. Anyway you have company." I say my voice dripping with sarcasm. 

"Good Evening Bonnie." I say to her as she stormed into the cafeteria. 

"What took you so long? Now, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Nik continues moving the knife as he speaks. 

Bonnie uses her magic and snaps his wrist and he drops the knife. With his free hand he grabs it and bends it back into place. Niklaus gets back up to his feet, I hear the large sound of a snap, the witch had broken his shoulder he groans in pain. 

"What? You'd kill your favorite history teacher?" He mocked. 

"It's what Alaric would want. And he'd want you to suffer first." She shouts. 

I suddenly get the scent of blood drift into my nose and I catch a glance to see that Bonnie's nose is bleeding. "Guess what I see? I see blood! Seems little witch here can't handle the pressure." I sang. " Bonnie wipes her nose and continues to use her magic. 

"Your going to thank me for doing this." And with that she uses her magic to snap my neck. 

[cdrmiller]

This comes from the sudden realization I never really thought about all the distrust and prejudice Cerberus defectors would have to deal with once joining up with the Alliance. Then Claire said to me “can you imagine all the shit Marie would have to deal with being an Alliance officer yet so deeply connected to the Phoenix guys?” and then Marie started yelling at me and welp, word vomit inc

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

This was all wrong. These were her people. They should not be standing firmly on the wrong side of a metaphorical line drawn in the sand before her, a line they drew. Marie was supposed to be meeting Maddox for a drink here, at her favorite bar, on a rare day off. She wasn’t supposed to find some of her closest friends and colleagues boisterous and laughing clustered around a table celebrating something once again with out her, only for a hush to fall on their lips, sobering looks wiping away the smiles on their faces when she walked up. Thirty minutes later she found herself more alone than she had felt in a long time, entrenched in a full out argument with her people. 

Her throat burned with emotion, color flushing her cheeks. She realized now, at this moment, that she had seen the signs but hadn’t paid attention. Finding new love, her job in a military force charged with saving the world, and all the drama these phoenix stirred up would keep anyone busy. Hindsight is always 20/20, as missed birthdays, work parties, movie nights, cold shoulders flashed before her. At least it was always a different, good excuse, she had to give them that. Lost invitations. Miscommunication. Eyes that couldn’t meet hers. We thought you would be working. One of her most loyal officers even balked against her orders on a mission last week. She had chalked it all up to stress. The end of the world will do that to you. She had even gone to her superiors to make sure her people were getting the right support outside of work to cope with the horrors they all had to face on a daily basis. Then, slowly , she started to hear the whispers. Until the day she realized with a start, the coping they were having to do was based around her. Or rather, who she was surrounded by.

So finally, she confronted them. The discussion was hurtful, but tame, at first. Marie could deal with that. She had seen plenty of prejudice against anything ex-cerberus and knew it would be hard when they first showed up. She had struggled with it herself when the first ship arrived carrying defectors. She could understand questioning, wariness. Trust had to be earned. Especially coming from an organization who’s life mission was against everything that the Alliance stood for. It only became heated when her honor came into question. The one thing she spent her life working towards, the thing she protected like a precious oddity. The one thing she never thought she would ever have to defend to anyone.

She could almost feel the knife sliding into her back, wedging right between her shoulder blades and twisting itself with every word Simmons was saying. After a while they all started running together. She couldn’t think with all the noise in her head, like too many of those old world records scratching on their needles. The same needles that were pricking her too-hot skin. This is all wrong. These were supposed to be her friends, her most trusted colleagues. Now they were just lips moving too tightly and eyes that couldn’t quite meet hers.

“I’ve literally taken a bullet for you, Simmons.” Marie interrupted his rant, finally having reached her limit. She took a step towards him, the movement accentuating her rising voice. She wanted to be sure he heard every syllable above the clinking glasses and loud music of the establishment. “I threw myself in front of you and spent weeks in the hospital for it, do you remember that? Do you remember the time we were stranded for days on some backwater planet and the only way we made it out of there alive was because of each other? And now you’re questioning my loyalty? Because of my… relationships?” She took a deep breath, desperately trying to keep her voice from shaking. 

“You don’t think we would be the least bit hesitant? Them being what they are and you being so close to them?”

“I think, that my actions should be enough. All that we have all been through and the fact that you all know me and you know the Alliance is my life should be enough. So no, it sounds more like stupidity.”

They all jumped as a freckled hand slammed itself on the table and a tall red- headed man stood, stalking over to her and stopping much too close. She looked up, tracing the scar cutting across his cheek with her eyes and didn’t dare back down as he spat words at her. “It’s not stupidity, It’s the fact that for some fucking unknown reason our superiors are letting terrorists into our home, Miller. You made your bed by letting them into it.” 

Reitzkoff. He always was a prick. His multiple suspensions and a low regard for any authority had assured she always made sure he was far away from her command.

“You do know they are on our side right, Reitzkoff? Do you even know how many times they have already saved one of us on the battlefield or how many times a mission would have failed with out them?” She meant for the words to leave her lips even and calm, but he had gone too far and she was too far gone. 

“They are master manipulators. Everyone knows that, and it looks like they’ve done a good job pulling one over on you”. He lowered his head until their eyes were level. “We can’t trust them, so how do we trust you when you’re fucking one of them.”

Her hand found the closest drink and over the thundering of her heart and the sound of chairs scraping the floor, Marie could only focus on how the green liquid matched the green of his eyes as Reitzkoff growled and furiously wiped the alcohol from his face. 

“You’re a piece of shit Reitzkoff.”

“Go back to your Cerberus scum.” He spat the words, his fingers curling into the front of her shirt. She didn’t even have time to break his hold before his hands were gone, and so was Reitzkoff.   

“Maddy,” Marie muttered his name under her breath, straightening her shirt and commanding her legs to carry her over to the wall a foot behind them where Reitzkoff was now hanging from a hand pinning him against the dark surface. 

“Don’t you know to never lay your hands on a woman.” Maddox ground out the words through clenched teeth, towering over the man.

“That’s enough, come on.” She curled a hand around his bicep, squeezing sharply and tugging on what could have been a brick wall, her voice intensifying to her best command tone. “Maddox.”

“You’re right you know, we are master manipulators.” The adept smiled, the expression a stark contrast to the ferocity of the words now whispered into the ear of the man in his grip. “And I will manipulate my hand right through your chest and rip your heart out if you touch her again.”

“You know what? I have way more important things to do than this,” Marie turned, pointedly ignoring the terrified gaze of the body pinned to the wall and the shocked faces of her people. Were her people, she reminded herself, swallowing down the emotion that thought threatened to bring to the surface. “You know,” she said to no one in particular as she pushed scattered chairs out of her way. “..things like saving the human race from extermination, that sort of thing. No big deal. If you all want to keep being petty, that’s fine. Follow my orders on the battlefield and we’ll leave it at that.”

She didn’t stop, heels clicking on the tiled floor as she made her way out of the bar as fast as possible towards the elevators, even when she heard him call her name. 

“Ems.”

Her entire skin was itching, suddenly all she wanted was to be in her uniform and the quiet of her office. Throwing herself into her work was what she always did when there was a problem she couldn’t fix. It was what held her together.

"Marie.”  

He would catch her any second anyway, but her body had already gone through the process of fight and now she couldn’t stop the flight.

“Hey.” His hand caught her arm, ever so gently pulling her slower until she came to a sudden halt, not bothering to turn and her eyelids briefly fluttered shut over pools of caramel as the breath she had been holding escaped her lips in a huff. 

“Ems, talk to me, what was all that about?”

“I don’t want to talk. I’ve done enough talking, you see how far that got me.”

“I was just trying to help.” 

"Well you didn’t.” Marie spun to face her best friend, poking a finger into his broad chest.“In fact you probably made it worse. And I wonder why I can never convince people you all are not animals.” 

“Whoa.” He flung up his hands in front of him as if throwing out an invisible barrier, the loud thumping in her chest blinding her to the hurt darkening his blue eyes. “Don’t take this out on me, just because that shithead-”

“I don’t need anyone taking up for me Maddox. I don’t. Past boyfriends, friends, even family, It all comes and goes. The only constant was my training, and my job. That was my purpose, that’s all I needed and I lost sight of that. Maybe this is all just a reminder of what is really at stake. So it’s fine. I don’t care what people say about me. It won’t matter if we lose this war anyway.”

“You know what they said is all bullshit.”  She knew then that his enhanced hearing had caught more than she thought he had. “Those people in there are a small percentage of feeling towards you. People trust you. They love you.” The adept shoved his hands into his pockets and dropped his eyes. “We love you.”

Her laugh was clipped, brittle. She was suddenly so very tired, the fire of emotion that had burned through her body leaving suffocating smoke in its wake. “This we you speak of? I’ll always be on the outside of that too. The secret meetings, the codes, the special language, the past I am never allowed access to…you’re a family I’ll never be completely a part of. The alliance was always my family, and now that’s slipping away too.”

“Ems you know that’s not tr-”

Marie managed to hold up a hand to silence him, calculating just how far it was from here to her office and just how much energy she will have to tap into to make it that far. “Just, do me one favor, okay? Don’t mention any of this to Nic. Last thing I need is for him to make himself crazy trying to fix something that can’t be fixed.”

She turned before he could reply and only let her head drop into her hands after the elevator doors closed on his defeated sigh.