#made the mistake of taking my meds with a caffeinated drink & it gave me a severe anxiety attack 😭 (crying emoji)

[cripplecore]

am i shaking because i'm having an anxiety attack or because i haven't eaten in a while: a book by me (spoiler: the answer is probably both)

[sgtbradfords]

If you’re still taking prompts for Chenford I’d love “I really need you.” or « I don’t love you »💔

Ok anon, I hope you’re ready cause this is a DOOSY. I would call this an AU that takes place after 3x01.

WARNING: possible alcohol abuse, possible drug abuse, and possible suicidal tendencies. There is fluff but due to these warnings I am inserting a Read More link in case this is not someone’s cup of tea. 

Lucy Chen had gotten good at hiding it until one day she didn’t. She could flawlessly cake on the concealer to hide the dark bags under her eyes and make it look natural, she could survive off a can of Bang or the strongest, darkest cup of coffee you could put in her hand. The only thing she couldn’t do? Was hide from her demons, because they will always catch up to her no matter how fast she runs.

She told him she was fine when they went to the Prison to visit with Rosalind Dryer, that she could handle it, that if she ‘could not handle dealing with Rosalind in the cage she shouldn’t be a cop’. She told him she was fine when they got back into the shop, that what that monster said didn’t affect her. She told him she was fine when they got off shift, that she was going to go home and have a large glass of wine. She told him, but she was everything but fine.

Tim Bradford had just fallen asleep, staying up later than usual knowing he didn’t have to work the next day. He got home as the sun set, letting Kojo out to run the backyard as he made chicken carbonara for dinner. He ate in-front of the TV, watching as the LA Kings pulled off a big overtime win to give them three points versus the Anaheim Ducks, pushing them closer to a chance to secure a spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He during intermissions he worked on cleaning his house, threw a tennis ball around for Kojo and got ready for bed. His brain had finally relented from his thoughts, allowing him peace as he dozed off, only to be woken by the sound of his charging phone buzzing on the nightstand.  He ignored it as it stopped vibrating, only to begin again.

He sighed “Bradford.”

“It’s West, I need you to come to the apartment.”

“Everything ok?” he asked as the threw the covers off, stepping into the sweat pants next to the bed, grabbing and slipping on the pullover hanging on the back of the door.

“It’s Lucy.”

“On my way.” He told the other officer before hanging up, his thoughts berating himself. Not that he was frustrated at his rookie but more at himself, he knew that after what she did today, she had lied about being fine. He had noticed the copious amounts of sugar and caffeine that seemed to be a constant in her hand the past few weeks. But he had held out hope that she would talk to him, tell him what was going on in that beautiful brain of hers, tell him the things she needed to get off her chest.

Tim grabbed his gun from the nightstand, slipping it into the waistband before he threw an old pair of tennis shoes on, moving to the foyer to grab his keys from the basket, glancing at the dog who was snoring away in his crate as he locked up the house and got into his truck. The drive was quiet and smooth for 11:30 of a night, the amount of traffic miniscule as he pulled up in-front of her building.

He locked the truck, punching in the code for the door before making his way to the elevators. He sent a text to Jackson, telling him he was here as he stepped on the car. The car slowed to a stop on the sixth floor, the doors opening to show Jackson standing in the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” Tim asked as he approached.

Jackson rubbed a hand down his face “She was fine when I left a few hours ago, and well I came back to this..” he said as he opened the door.

Tim stepped in, immediately noticing the almost empty bottle of tequila tipped over on the counter and the pills with no bottle that were scattered across the rock. His stomach plummeted as he began to think the worst.

“Did she take any?”

“I’m not sure, she won’t talk to me.” Jackson said as he pointed to the girl sitting on the floor with her back against the wall.

“Chen.” Tim said as he moved closer, crouching down in-front of her. She was staring ahead, tear tracks and a blank expression on her face. “Lucy.” He said softly, grabbing her chin in his hand. “Do you have your pen light?”

Jackson moved to his duffle bag next to the door, grabbing the small pen before walking back, handing the device over. Tim turned it on, shining it into her eyes when Lucy began to speak. “I didn’t take any.”

“Let me check.” Tim said as he looked into her eyes. “You know the drill.”

Lucy’s eyes followed the light as Tim moved it. He conducted his test, determining she was telling the truth, her eyes glossed from the alcohol. “I told you.” She told him as he handed the pen back to Jackson.

“I know, but I needed to know if I needed to call for an ambulance or not.” He said, his tone angry as he stood, walking over to the sink, taking a deep breath as Jackson joined him.

“What happened today?” Jackson asked quietly.

Tim grabbed a glass from the dish drainer, filling it with water. “We went to see Rosalind and she knew things she shouldn’t.”

Jackson nodded in understanding, “Listen, she’s talking to you and not me so I’m going to head to my room. Yell if you- yell if you need anything.” Jackson told the superior as he turned and walked away, glancing worriedly at his friend that rested her head on her knees sitting on the floor.

Tim grabbed the full glass, walking back over to Lucy, handing the water to her. “Drink, boot.”

Lucy drank the glass of tap water, handing it back to Tim as he walked to refill it again. “I didn’t-“ she stumbled over her words. “I didn’t try to-“

“I know.” He said softly, his fingers grasping the countertop, his knuckles turning white. “I know you didn’t.”

A tear made its way down Lucy’s face as she swiped it away. “I just want it to stop.”

Tim sat the glass on the coffee table, sitting down next to Lucy, kicking off his shoes. “Talk to me.”

Lucy stared down at the legs beside hers, “You know, I knew you were tall but your legs are like really long.”

“Chen.” He softly reprimanded as her head fell into his shoulder.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Never- never apologize. What he- what they did-“

Silence overtook them as his words drifted off. The glow from the LA nightlife filtered into the living room through the window pane, casting a soft light in the room. Tim had assumed that Lucy had fallen asleep, her arm tangled with his as her hand rested on his thigh. He thought back to things she had told him, her telling him that her comfort, her safety came from a forty-year-old chunk of metal. Him having to hear Rosalind sing the song that gave her hope, that kept her alive. The panic and distress of almost loosing her, neither of them knew it but he needed her too.

“I thought- I thought I was doing better. I stopped seeing my therapist, eased back on my meds. I can see now that was a mistake.” She whispered into the night. “But the nightmares started again and I just- I don’t want to close my eyes because every time, every time I do I see-“

Tim waited for her to finish. “You see what Chen?”

“It varies,” she told him as she wiped away the new tears, sniffling. “sometimes it’s Caleb, sometimes it’s Rosalind, sometimes it’s you.”

Tim startled, “Me?”

Lucy nodded, “Yeah. Most of the time, I can’t- I can’t find you, I hear your voice, but I can never catch up.”

“Lucy that’ll never-“

“Happen?” she finished for him. “Other times it’s a repeat of our first day together.”

Tim snorted. “You never expected to deal with a GSW on your first day did you?”

“No!” Lucy laughed as she turned to him. “Though with you I should know to expect the unexpected.”

Tim looked at her before whispering “Expect the unexpected huh? That’s what I always expect with you.”

Lucy tilted her head back as she glanced at his lips before focusing back to his eyes. Tim leaned in closer, his own eyes looking at her cherry red lips. Their lips a hair breadth away, so close their breaths were intertwining.

“We can’t.” Tim whispered against her lips.

Lucy stayed still, “I know.”

“We shouldn’t.”

“I know.”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“I know. But, I need-“ Lucy said swallowing her words before gaining courage. “I need you. I just need you. You don’t- we don’t-. Can you please just hold me?” She asked pulling back, unshed tears glistening her eyes. “Please.”

Tim Bradford could count on both hands the moments he could feel his heart break. This, his rookie, someone he shouldn’t be this close to, begging him for comfort was one of those moments, the pain in his chest growing heavier as the knife plunged deeper.

“Ok.” He whispered, moving to stand. Once he was steady on his feet he bent over, putting one arm behind her, the other going under her knees.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

“I can walk.”

“Not alone.” He told her as he carried her to her room, putting her in the middle of the mattress before he slid in beside her. Lucy grabbed her weighted blanket from the end of the bed, tossing it over her body before stretching her hand out, reaching for his. She knew it was inappropriate, what ever it was that was happening, that if word escaped the four walls of this apartment there would be ramifications but she trusted and knew with everything in her that the other two people in the apartment would never speak a word.

“Thank you.” She whispered, her eyes becoming heavy as her breath began to even out.

“Never say I don’t love you Luce.” He whispered into the night to no one 

That night Lucy was able to finally sleep, her monsters locked away and buried in a hole, unable to escape their confinements for however long that may be. And Tim Bradford, never telling a soul, choosing to keep the secret to himself as he stayed up, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of Lucy’s hand in comfort, his own emotions fighting to the surface. His monsters and demons clawing their way out of their prison, getting the better of him in the quiet space before he could stop them. He stared at the darkness around him, save for the nightlight glowing from an outlet across the room. Lucy sighed in her sleep, her body moving closer into Tim’s side, one of her legs escaping its confinement as she threw it over one of his as her other hand landed on his chest. One moment he was staring at the woman curled into his side, the next he was fast asleep where he shouldn’t be, his thoughts relenting, allowing him the same peace that he was giving. 

[koala-smiles]

Liquid Courage

My friends found my AO3 account and started reading my fics. Here’s a request of theirs.

Shirbert College AU

Read On AO3 When Gilbert’s professor had assigned everyone study groups, he didn’t think he could possibly be lucky enough to be in the same group as the cute redhead who sat in front of him every day. It completely surprised him when he was put in a group with her. The english class wasn’t part of his major, but he figured it was important for doctors to know how to write well, so he signed up anyways. He was glad he did, because even on the off chance that he didn’t learn anything, he got to meet the cute girl in front of him.

He had tried to make a good first impression with her on the first day, he really had. But, looking back, he supposed that calling her “Carrots” to try to get her attention probably wasn’t the best idea. After smacking him over the head with her textbook, she had stormed out of the classroom, and he could only think that it was lucky he had waited until the lecture was over to try to talk to her, or else she might have gotten points off for her absence. 

--------

The first time they met up as a study group, he was running late. He tried his hardest to be on time, but there was a big group in front of the library that he couldn’t, for the life of him, get through. When he finally got through and got to the table, he was out of breath. The three girls in the group didn’t seem to mind, though, as they were deep in discussion about some advanced literary topic that he didn’t understand. 

“Are you all in the same major then? You seem to get along well. I’m Gilbert, by the way.”

The girls looked over at him. The brunette, who’s name he remembered was Diana, smiled along with the blonde, Ruby. The cute redhead, he noted, was not.

“I’m Diana, this is Ruby, and that’s Anne. And yes, we are all English majors, but we’ve been friends for years.”

Anne met his eyes, tilted her head. “You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together.”

Lost in her gaze, he could hardly think as he finished it for her. “Until the cat comes.”

Her eyes got as fiery as her hair. “Excuse me?”

“You know, the full phrase? ‘Birds of a feather flock together until the cat comes’? It’s a warning about fair weather friends.”

“Are you saying that my friends are going to abandon me?”

He took a step back in surprise. “No, not at all, I wasn’t thinking, I’m so sorry. I had assumed that, as English majors, you guys would know the full phrase. I’m really sorry.”

This seemed to only make her angrier. “Oh, so you think that you’re smarter than us, mister high-and-mighty pre-med? You think you know more than me?”

“No, I just read it somewhere, I know I’m definitely not better than you guys at English. This whole study group will probably be you guys getting into higher stuff while I’m stuck on the most basic concepts. Again, I’m really sorry, I wasn’t thinking when I said that.” He was stumbling with his words, trying his best to smooth over his stupid mistake. Diana and Ruby just looked amused at this.

 Anne closed her eyes, seemed to calm herself, and sat back down. “Alright then, let’s get started actually studying.”

Gilbert couldn’t say he learned very much, as he spent much of his time stealing glances at the cute girl in front of him.

So her name was Anne.

He couldn’t get it out of his head.

-------

Anne loved studying in the library. She wouldn’t say she romanticizes life so much as that she enjoys the little things in life. And to study as people go about their lives around her? She couldn’t help loving it. It made her feel like the protagonist of a novel. 

What she could not say she loved, was her friends bailing on her study group for it’s fourth meeting. 

She couldn’t truthfully say she was still upset with Gilbert. They seemed to get along just fine when they weren’t arguing, which seemed to be happening less and less. At the last study group, they actually got into a really long conversation about coffee beans. She couldn’t pinpoint when it started, or why it lasted for an hour, but she really enjoyed it. 

She sat down at their usual table with her coffee, wondering how she’s going to explain to Gilbert that Diana and Ruby decided that they were going to a party at Charlie Sloane’s rather than come to the study group. She didn’t even realize it when Gilbert sat down.

“Small crowd today, huh?”

Her head jerked up and she almost spilled her coffee. “Gilbert! I’m so sorry, Diana and Ruby wanted to go to a party and I told them that they should come to the study group because it’s really important that we learn this week’s lesson but they absolutely refused and—”

“Hey, no worries, I was actually going to go to my friend's party after this. I completely understand.”

She smiled. He had a way of putting her at ease. They dove into their notes, determined to understand the really hard lesson.

Thirty minutes into studying, they were already off the topic of English. 

“I don’t understand how you’ve never had a latte!”

Gilbert shrugged at this. “I’ve never really thought about trying one. I always drink my coffee black, so I never have much of a reason to go to the fancier coffee shops.”

She shook her head in amazement. “Come on. We’re going right now. I know for a fact that the Starbucks down the street is still open. We’re going.”

“But the lesson—”

“It’s not like we were studying anyways. Besides, this is a more important lesson. The lesson of good coffee.”

As they walked down the street, his hand brushed hers. She pulled hers back and fought down a blush. There’s no way she liked Gilbert Blythe, right?

---------

As Gilbert sipped his overpriced coffee, he had to admit that Anne had a point. It was just sweet enough that it tasted nice without hiding the flavor of the coffee. He was sitting across from her, trying to think about anything other than how pretty she looked. Then he noticed the clock over her shoulder.

“Shit!”

This made Anne jump. “What’s up?”

“I promised Charlie that I would be at his party half an hour ago. I’m so sorry, do you mind if I go?”

“Charlie? Charlie Sloane?”

“Yep, that’s the guy. Do you know him?”

“No, but that’s the party that my friends are at. Do you mind if I come with you? If you can stand anymore of my presence that is.” She smiled during the last part and bumped his arm to let him know she was joking. 

“Of course! It’s not far from here, if you don’t mind walking.” His heart actually skipped a beat just thinking about spending more time with her.

As they set off toward Charlie’s, he noticed that her hand was brushing against his more and more. He smiled and looked over at her.

“What?”

“Oh! Nothing. Sorry.”

She shook her head and smiled. 

He made himself look straight ahead. 

Of course she doesn’t like you, you idiot. Stop fooling yourself.

He could dream. At least she seems to like spending time with him. He could be happy as friends, if that’s all she wanted. He focused on the road again, leading her to his friend’s house. He’s probably just jittery from the caffeine. Yeah, that’s gotta be it. 

When he opened the front door, Anne looked surprised by the number of people that fit in the house. 

“Charlie is known for his big parties. It gets a bit loud.”

She nodded, and made her way inside through the moving bodies. They found a quiet corner, as much as the corner at a party could be quiet.

“Can I get you something to drink? There’s usually a full bar, but there’s always non-alcoholic drinks if you’d prefer.”

She shook her head, “Get me something to take this edge off.”

He nodded and made his way to the bar. 

By the time he got back with their drinks, Diana and Ruby were talking with Anne.

“I see that you guys found each other!”

Ruby, clearly drunk, just giggled when he walked over. Diana took her by the arm, gave Anne a look that clearly meant something, and dragged Ruby back to the living room, where people were dancing.

Gilbert and Anne were just talking and drinking for a while, when suddenly Anne perked up. “I love this song! Come on.”

He let her lead him to the dance floor, and loosely danced as she let herself spin, wild and free, usually braided hair flowing behind her. He was captivated. After a couple spins, she seemed to get dizzy, and he thought it might be best to get her sitting down. He brought her to a bench behind the house to get her away from the noise, and was surprised when she leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“I see why they call alcohol liquid courage. I would never dance like that in front of anyone otherwise.”

He smiled at this. “Well I think it was beautiful. You looked free. And you should really let your hair down more often.” He twirled a piece of her hair around one of his fingers. “It looks as fiery as your personality, and as beautiful as your heart.”

She was silent for a moment, before asking a small “Really?”

“You look gorgeous either way, but you truly look like yourself when you let it down.” He dropped the strand he had. “Taking that elective class was the best decision I’ve ever made, just because it let me meet you.”

She pulled her head off his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m being too forwa—”

He was cut off when she pulled him in to kiss him. He was surprised, but quickly met her passion with his own.

When she pulled away, seconds or eons later, he let out a quiet “Wow”.

She smiled, put her head back on his shoulder, took his hand in her own, and looked up at the stars.

[askdurianrider]

Tori says she was manipulated by you...

I did manipulate her. Sigh. It is true. :(

I manipulated her current bike and helmet sponsor to hook her up with free frames and wheels that she uses every day.

I manipulated her to get off the toxic meds the quacks gave her that have horrendous side effects.I manipulated her to wear as little make up as possible so she could get confident just being herself vs trying to look like a HBB as society expects.

I manipulated Tori to stop her anorexia and eat a wider variety of foods. I remember one time at Maya mall when she left a chunk of tofu on a plate but wouldnt eat it that I wasnt going to leave until she did eat it. About 30 mins later she ate the chunk and we left.

I manipulated Tori one time in december 2017 where she was drinking a powerade zero sugar drink and laying on the cement with massive fatigue to drink a fruit juice with sugar in it. I used NLP methods so she would drink it and when she did she came alive again.I manipulated her to quit the job she constantly complained about and to take up a career on youtube and to sell an ebook.I manipulated her to show fit body thumbnails that got her millions of views, heaps of cash and almost 50k subscribers.I manipulated her to come travel with me to Thailand and explore epic mountains and fruits and to live a simple life based around health and fitness.I even manipulated the gearing she had on her bike so her back that was injured from rowing could heal up faster.

I manipulated what footwear she could wear so her clicking ankle didnt get worse.

I manipulated her so she was the most sober she had ever been so her brain could mature properly because I dont think young people should use caffeine or booze in amounts that society says they should.I manipulated her early in our relo by getting her straight onto a lightweight climbing bike in the first week with a power meter and onto strava and making every ride fun, simple, encouraging and engaging so she would get the cycling addiction and learn from the get go all the right tips.I manipulated her into wearing bright colors so she was safer in traffic and stay cooler in the heat.I manipulated her to get on strava and keep her profile public so other female cyclists could be inspired.I manipulated her to take a rest instead of smash caffeine.I manipulated her every single day so her fitness could rise faster in 7 months from total noob to 1min peak power that Ive only ever seen one other female ever do. (Alana Burns)

I manipulated her in so many ways. So much manipulation that even her mother messaged me and said ‘I don’t know how you did it but I’m grateful because I have a happy daughter again’.

I’m a monster! xD

PS: Tori rides with a 30 something woman who looks like Gary Vee after a big night out. This individual is as toxic as it gets and was cyberbullying the fuck out of Tori these last few years but now wants to be her BFF lol!. She is so obsessed with us she literally moved into an apartment about 200m from my place and then later moved to a house at the base of the climb I do most….She is constantly in her ear to make content against me. Tori is too easily influenced by toxic jealous drama queens like that. The Gary Vee doppleganger is someone who would sell meth to people if they could profit and get away with it. Tori on the other hand is a kind person yet basic in that she is easily influenced by toxic manipulators.Tori is still very young life experience wise BUT picks up pragmatic concepts very fast even if she doesn’t always do them in public because of fear of ridicule from the pretentious Gary Vee dyke on a bike lookalikes. I wouldn’t have the conviction and experience I have if I never experimented or made epic mistakes. That is just life and part of the journey. :)

[durianriderofficial]

tori says you manipulated her.... is she joining the norwegian hate train?

You are just trolling to try and create a war between us but the manipulation part is true.

I did manipulate her. Sigh. It is true. :(

I manipulated her current bike and helmet sponsor to hook her up with free frames and wheels.

I manipulated her to get off the toxic meds the quacks gave her.I manipulated her to wear as little make up as possible so she could get confident just being herself vs trying to look like a HBB as society expects.

I manipulated Tori to stop her anorexia and eat a wider variety of foods. I remember one time at Maya mall when she left a chunk of tofu on a plate but wouldnt eat it that I wasnt going to leave until she did eat it. About 30 mins later she ate the chunk and we left.

I manipulated Tori one time in december 2017 where she was drinking a powerade zero sugar drink and laying on the cement with massive fatigue to drink a fruit juice with sugar in it. I used NLP methods so she would drink it and when she did she came alive again.I manipulated her to quit the job she constantly complained about and to take up a career on youtube and to sell an ebook.I manipulated her to show fit body thumbnails that got her millions of views, heaps of cash and almost 50k subscribers.I manipulated her to come travel with me to Thailand and explore epic mountains and fruits and to live a simple life based around health and fitness.I even manipulated the gearing she had on her bike so her back that was injured from rowing could heal up faster.

I manipulated what footwear she could wear so her clicking ankle didnt get worse.

I manipulated her so she was the most sober she had ever been so her brain could mature properly because I dont think young people should use caffeine or booze in amounts that society says they should.I manipulated her early in our relo by getting her straight onto a lightweight climbing bike in the first week with a power meter and onto strava and making every ride fun, simple, encouraging and engaging so she would get the cycling addiction and learn from the get go all the right tips.I manipulated her into wearing bright colors so she was safer in traffic and stay cooler in the heat.I manipulated her to get on strava and keep her profile public so other female cyclists could be inspired.I manipulated her to take a rest instead of smash caffeine.I manipulated her every single day so her fitness could rise faster in 7 months from total noob to 1min peak power that Ive only ever seen one other female ever do. (Alana Burns)

I manipulated her in so many ways. So much manipulation that even her mother messaged me and said ‘I don’t know how you did it but I’m grateful because I have a happy daughter again’.

I’m a monster! xD

PS: Tori rides with a 30 something woman who looks like Gary Vee after a big night out. This individual is as toxic as it gets and was cyberbullying the fuck out of Tori these last few years but now wants to be her BFF lol!. She is so obsessed with us she literally moved into an apartment about 200m from my place and then later moved to a house at the base of the climb I do most....She is constantly in her ear to make content against me. Tori is too easily influenced by toxic jealous drama queens like that. The Gary Vee doppleganger is someone who would sell meth to people if they could profit and get away with it. Tori on the other hand is a very kind yet basic person who is easily influenced by toxic manipulators but has a good heart. Tori is still very young life experience wise BUT picks up pragmatic concepts very fast even if she doesn’t always do them in public because of fear of ridicule from the pretentious Gary Vee dyke on a bike lookalikes.I wouldn’t have the conviction and experience I have if I never experimented or made epic mistakes. That is just life and part of the journey. :)

[rain0205-blog]

Terminal State

Summary:  She tried leaving, submerging herself in work to escape the horrors she had seen. The horrors she kept seeing. She never wanted to go back to that life. But when the Empire takes her home, she’s forced to face her past. Can she move on? Can she cope? Or will she require a bit of help? still bad at summaries, still working on it. ever so slightly more than slight AU gadioxoc

Internal Mechanics

...

Gladiolus and Athenacia were of no assistance to Ignis whatsoever. While she was still wearing her crimson face at being caught in that compromising position, her lips were blue as the chill of the water had finally completely settled in. Gladio built up the fire while the Adviser draped a large warm blanket over her shoulders. She smiled briefly in thanks as she sat close to the warm flames and shivered as she hugged herself, only her head sticking out. Athenacia couldn't face him and it was only worse when Gladiolus had joined her on the hard ground and wrapped her up in his massive arms. Her face was warm since it was all kinds of red in embarrassment, however, he was rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm her quicker.

The physician could feel the chilly stare that Ignis was giving them but she kept her gaze on the flames as the light above them grew brighter. It had been a long time since she felt like a child in trouble for enjoying herself. Even Cor never gave her that kind of look before. Athenacia had stopped shivering and that's when the large man left her side. Still, she kept her eyes on the fire before her, hearing the sounds of Ignis beginning to prepare breakfast for them, while Gladiolus initiated his work out - his way of getting warm. Her eyes drifted toward him, watching as he moved but she would tear her gaze away the second he looked at her. The girl shoved her blanket up under her nose to hide the smile that formed the last time he caught her looking.

The morning grew later and with it the appearance of Iris and Prompto. The gunman chose not to question why Athenacia was sitting on the ground wrapped up in a blanket with wet hair. The air around her seemed quite tense and he didn't want to get a scolding from Gladiolus for bothering his girlfriend. Instead, he directed his attention elsewhere. Iris, however, was completely oblivious as to how uncomfortable the young doctor was and didn't fear her brother much at all. She looked at the doctor with a confused frown.

"Did you fall in the river?" asked Iris suddenly.

The crimson shade returned to Athenacia's face at the question and she shook her head vehemently from side to side, keeping her eyes on the flames before her. Meeting the gaze of the young Amicitia would betray the information she was trying to keep secret.

"Why is your hair wet?" asked Iris, a little confused.

This was not helping Athenacia calm her embarrassment, in fact, the further the girl probed into it the more she was likely to just drown herself in the river. Seemed a lot better than having to deal with this right now.

"Took a tumble," interjected Ignis, walking over the woman with a mug and handed it to her.

Athenacia looked up at him helplessly, only able to accept his offering. The liquid inside was warm and she knew that he had made it in order to help raise her body temperature. Again she gave a small smile in thanks as she let the hot fluid rush down her throat. It had a sort of minty taste, which wasn't altogether bad and she was sure there was some sort of caffeine in it.

"The fault is my own, I hadn't been aware of my surroundings and managed to collide with her," Ignis lied for her.

"You weren't paying attention?" questioned Prompto in disbelief.

"Dr. Virum is quite capable of moving about without a sound. Hard to notice and I was just waking up."

Prompto laughed, "I can't wait to tell Noct that you made a mistake."

Ignis sighed, walking away from her and back toward his cooking station while Athenacia found the amused look of Gladiolus. He only winked at her, which caused her to again turn that dark shade of red. The girl pointedly looked back into the fire, continuing to sip at the drink provided to her by Ignis. What was she thinking anyway? Obviously, she wasn't or she wouldn't have allowed her to get herself into that sort of position in the first place. Taking him away from his job was mistake number one, she'd have to keep her distance from him until they were outside of this place and safe in Caem.

Thankfully the morning progressed without any more inquiries about to her well being. Athenacia remained under that blanket until her clothes were dry and she was no longer cold. Breakfast was enjoyed close to the fire for her, no extra seats anyway with the Prince awake and she didn't mind being on the ground anyway. Once she was finished, Iris took her plate from her and helped Prompto do the dishes. Athenacia took that opportunity to go fix herself up a bit, walking into the tent and looking quickly for her pile of things that were off in one corner. Opening up her med bag, she replaced the two syringes into her pocket that she had shed for the night before putting her hair back up into a bun at the back of her head. It was still somewhat damp but at least she wasn't cold anymore. Once that was settled she put her bands back on, the ones on her upper arms and thigh and secured the gauntlet on her left hand as well as the leather fingerless glove on the right. Sighing, she stretched a bit of the kinks out from last nights slumber after her boots were laced up, closing up her bag and grabbed her weapon before vacating the tent. There was nothing else she needed to do in there.

Athenacia went to sit near the edge of the haven, crossing her legs under her and placed her med bag down beside her with her gladius on her lap. Carefully, she pulled it out of its sheath and inspected it in as much of the sunlight she could see. Running her thumb along the edge, she looked for any nicks she might have to repair before dipping the blade into the water, letting it wash over it. She took out her cloth and wiped it clean, finally satisfied with it.

"That is mean looking," remarked Noctis.

She looked up at him, hating that she hadn't even sensed his presence, "I guess," she shrugged.

"Why does it have that hook on the end?"

She smiled, "Have you ever been stabbed?"

He looked thoughtful, "Can't say I really have."

"Well, getting stabbed isn't much of an issue. It's when the blade comes out that you have all sorts of problems. Leaving it in is the best thing you can do until you get medical attention. This hook makes taking it out a lot more painful than leaving it in."

"Whoa."

"The further it goes in the more the hook catches. I stick this in your stomach, your intestines come out with it."

The Prince nearly blanched at what she was saying and Athenacia only smiled, his weak stomach unable to comprehend the idea. His blue orbs were on the blade in near wonder, however, following it as she put it back in its sheath.

"Why?" he asked finally.

Athenacia rose from her seat, leaving her things out of the way, "I'm a doctor, the internal mechanics of people fascinate me," she shrugged. She smiled at the look he was giving her, "While I was in the war I was still studying anatomy. I helped develop weapons that tore apart the insides of things: humans, beasts, daemons, MT's. This was one of my creations. I found it was easier to kill something when it was dying from the inside out."

"That's... morbid."

Her smile turned sad as her eyes hardened, "It's war. We did what we had to, whether we were proud of it or not..."

Noctis had nothing as she left him there. He wasn't even sure how to respond to that anyway.

The girl walked toward Iris, pulling out the ball of those grey and black striped fingerless gloves she had mended overnight. The girl looked at her curiously as the doctor approached. Athenacia placed them in her hands, waiting for her to put them on. Iris did, noticing the difference right away. Grabbing the young girl's hands, the physician tested the firmness of her work by pressing her thumbs along the knuckles with a thoughtful frown.

"I hate setting broken bones without a proper scan. This should help," said Athenacia.

Iris nodded as she felt for herself the cushions that were rubbing against her knuckles, "Thank you."

...

It took a little bit to break up the campsite but no one was really complaining. Athenacia had long since abandoned her earlier embarrassments and pointedly stayed away from Gladiolus. When they were finally ready she strapped her weapon across her back and put her med bag on top of it. No one had any complaints thus far so they plunged into the chilly river, going forward. Athenacia fell in step with Iris once more, feeling the chill on her feet through her boots as she was stuck walking against the current and uphill. Once they had reached some flat surface there was a swarm of enemies near them. A few wasps, mandrakes and one shieldshear. This was going to be quite a morning work out it seemed. Unsheathing her weapon, she attached the band to her wrist, getting a firm grip on it. She assessed her exits, her advantages and what sort of remedies she might need. First, she would have to wait until she saw how they would all spread out before she knew what move she needed to solve this issue. It did look as if it could get a bit overwhelming.

They plunged into battle. Athenacia slowly stalked along the edge, keeping her eyes peeled for her way in. Iris assisted with her potions where needed but she wasn't just a healer, with those gloves she had an easier time landing her punches and not recoiling as badly as yesterday. She was also more confident in herself. Gladiolus grabbed her hands effortlessly lifting her into the air so she could strike with her feet. Impressive, they worked together well. Now it was just the young doctor's turn to figure out what she was going to do. The biggest variable was Prompto's gun. When Athenacia found her opening it was near Ignis. That man was never too far from Noctis and neither was Gladio, however, this time he was more so on the edge than before. The doctor slashed at a wasp that found its way toward her and used that momentum to deter a mandrake that was making its way to the young man's back. Ignis caught her movements briefly, keeping at the work he was doing. Once he ducked down she used that opportunity to lay her back against his, flipping herself from one side to the other and stopping the injured wasp from getting to him. Athenacia had studied most of his moves and was easily able to help him without being in his way, noting how they had similarities to her own. Deflecting the mandrake with her gauntlet, she then hacked once more at the wasp while he finished them both off, coming in from the sky it seemed.

The former Glaive moved on from the scene, seeing the swarm among Gladiolus, Prompto and Noctis. Slashing at a mandrake and using it to launch herself into the air, she twisted and flipped until her feet landed on the ground to stop the shieldshear from hitting the Prince's back. Gladio used his massive greatsword to free it off her wrist and she ducked out of the way as he swung again. Her sights were focused on the air where the poisonous wasps resided and she twisted out of the way of one that came at her. Athenacia did a back handspring with her free left hand and then launched her gladius towards it, flicking her wrist to the right. Her body lifted off the ground, going up far above the wasp. When she was ready she shot herself spiralling down to hit it, causing it to lose some consciousness. Keeping her arms around herself, she quickly jerked not only her arms but her legs as well, head down and eyes closed as chains from her bands on arms and thighs began to whip around in the circular pattern she had started herself into. The girl was still coming down swiftly but the spikes on the lengths of her chains were greatly injuring everything on the way.

"Down!" she heard Ignis command.

Athenacia kept spinning, only gaining momentum as she plunged her way down with the wasp beneath her. All the blows delivered were finally felt when she was low enough to hit mandrakes. They screamed in protest but she kept going until she was finally on the ground, jerking her limps the opposite way so the spikes began to lay flat against the chains as they fell lifeless to the ground. When she retracted the one for her gladius it thoroughly killed the wasp she had used as a platform to get to where she was. The girl looked around her, happy she hadn't injured anyone along the way. There was only the shieldshear left and the men took it on by themselves while she carefully stepped out of the way. Athenacia began to retract the chains for her bands, watching to make sure they wouldn't hit anyone. Once she had them all back securely in place she let her gladius wash off in the water at her feet. The shieldshear was defeated, the boys very pleased with themselves.

"That was so cool!" said Prompto, looking at her.

"Where do you even hide those things?" asked Noctis, grabbing onto the band on her right arm.

She only laughed, "A woman needs her secrets," was all she offered.

The two boys were very sullen about that answer but it didn't take long before they were on their way forward. Athenacia again fell in beside Iris as they walked up the slope beside the waterfall. The scenery was nice, too bad it was infested with monsters around it. As they ascended the higher the sun began to shine brighter and she let out a deep breath, out of shape after all the uphill she had been doing. Iris was still beside her, the young girl probably handling this a lot better. One thing was for certain, Athenacia was getting older every day. Once they had reached the top it was much easier to see the sun. Danger was all around her as they stepped out of the thicket and into a clearing. The doctor stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes came to rest on the Bandersnatch that was patrolling the area, looking in awe as she had never seen one in real life before. It hadn't noticed them yet and she suddenly felt very nervous for the upcoming battle, shedding her med bag and leaving it safely out of the way.

"Not surprised," scoffed Noctis.

"It's what we came for," stated Gladiolus.

"Let's have it," declared Ignis fiercely.

Athenacia held her weapon tightly as she waited. Noctis began the battle, warping to make the first hit and they all burst into life. Gladiolus ran up to his charge with Ignis not too far away. Iris took her position on the sidelines, keeping watch for when her assistance was needed. Prompto slid - literally - into the action. Athenacia was quick to join them after a quick scan of her surroundings and wished to stay near the rear end, hacking at the poorly defended hindquarters. The issue, of course, was the massive tail that seemed to be armoured on its own. When it would come toward her she ducked out of the way, using her gauntlet as a shield when needed. They were all focused on different spots but she knew that the biggest weakness would be to hit an artery. The massive blood loss would slow it down considerably, so she kept her focus on that while dodging attacks. The tail grazed her leg, making her grunt, however, was coming back around at an alarming rate. Gladiolus was there with his massive greatsword, blocking it and allowing her to quickly scurried out of the way. The large man rolled away as well, getting to his feet instantly. Athenacia slashed again at the back legs before being forced to move out of harm's way once more. This time she opted to go underneath, hitting the soft underbelly with her blade along her path.

The Bandersnatch was incredibly quick despite its size. The physician was going to have to do some major triage after this fight, that was for sure. Currently she couldn't feel any of her injuries but she knew where they were, blood trickling down the right side of her face. From the steady stream, she deduced it was only a minor laceration, nothing a quick fix wouldn't solve and went back to observing the movements of her enemy while acting accordingly. Athenacia would have to slow it down a different way and there was only one she could think of. Raw strength was out of the question - but with enough speed, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Setting her jaw, she jumped out of the way again, landing on her feet before launching her gladius once more, allowing the chain to extend from her wrist. The blade struck right near the left shoulder blade, stuck in there firmly. It was a good spot to start from, utilizing the shock on the beast to begin her run and sliding under to wrap the chain around the leg. Noctis deflected the other claw from getting to her and she used his back to push herself up and bring the chain around the neck of the beast. Athenacia kept up her momentum and slid underneath the abdomen. Ignis offered her a hand as she came back and she again was in the air and on the other side of the monster. Sliding once more, she was at the back of the leg and Gladiolus ducked down allowing her to use his leverage to wrap herself around the other leg firmly.

The doctor was on her feet and quickly flicked her wrist to the left. The spikes came out in their full force, the scream of the beast filling their ears. However, it was still much bigger than her, no way for her to hold it in place and the shock of what she had just done caused the animal to not only shriek, but try to run away from the source of the pain. Athenacia was jerked violently off of her feet as it began its trek. The call of her name followed her in the distance as she was dragged on the ground by her right wrist. Quickly she began to busy herself to detach the armband, proving difficult with objects on the ground hitting her with every step the creature took. Finally, she was successful and unarmed when she got to her feet - so there was no way to defend herself from the tail that came around and hit her square in the sternum and pushed her quickly into a nearby tree.

Athenacia grunted in pain at the impact, sliding down until she was flat in the grass. Gasping, she was desperately trying to will air into her lungs despite the pain she felt all over her body. Her eyes began to flicker between red and normal. No, no this couldn't happen. Not now. She could feel a rushing in her ears, the sounds of fighting distant. Her eyes were still flashing red. This was not good, she had to stop this before it started. If she didn't get this under control she would kill them all and she'd never be able to live with herself. Reaching into her pocket, she managed to pull out one of the syringes. The physician tried to calm herself as she fumbled around to get the cap off of the needle. Once it was free she jammed it into her leg, throwing it as far away from herself as possible when it was empty and rolling so that no one would see it. Her world grew black instantly and she lost consciousness with one last flicker of red.

...

The physician took in a sharp breath as she opened her eyes. It was hard to intake the air but a necessary requirement. If she had the dosage right then she was out for no more than three minutes in order to recollect herself. After the last time she had to do this she found that she was out far longer than was safe while wandering around alone. Now she had it so that she was gone long enough to reset herself before being able to wake up normal again, however, given how injured she was it was best to avoid as many blows as she could. Athenacia wasn't exactly sure it would work a second time and so soon, never really had the luxury of testing it, nor would she start now with all these people that could potentially die in her wake.

It took her a moment to figure out where she was but was quick on her feet once she had. The Bandersnatch was still active though on its last legs, her last attack doing some real damage. Still a bit light-headed from the medication, Iris was there with a potion, bless her. The young girl looked genuinely worried and Athenacia had a look back at the tree she had hit, understanding why. There was quite a bit of damage to the bark, she hit it quite hard. No wonder she was having trouble breathing, she would have to check for a concussion later, perhaps a cracked rib. But now wasn't the time, quickly assessing the situation before her. Athenacia saw the shine of her own weapon sticking out of the shoulder of the enemy. The spikes were still dug into the flesh, which was severely hindering its moves. Noctis, Ignis and Gladiolus were hacking away. The Prince warped where he needed to while the other two kept up their assault. Something seemed to be missing from this picture, about to go and join them when Iris held onto her arm firmly. That seemed very unnecessary but she complied with the young girl's wishes, knowing that rushing back into battle unarmed was not a good idea. It was just such a natural instinct, muscle memory from her time in the war. Now the magic was no longer with her, it was unlikely she'd be of any help to them anyway.

Finally, after all the hacking, whacking and slashing, the beast was slain. Athenacia felt the ground beneath her shake as the large carcass fell, breathing a sigh of relief before walked toward it. Shimmers of blue in her peripherals meant that their weapons were dismissed, But hers was still sticking out of the Bandersnatch and she was lucky it didn't fall on the side she had struck it. There was no way she could move it around to free it, grabbing onto the small handle and pulling hard until it was finally free. It came with some entrails as well, courtesy of the hook. Her chain was still attached to the body, wrapped up. That was not going to be fun to detach.

"You okay?" asked Gladiolus as he came to stand next to her.

"I'll live," she answered lightly.

Athenacia began to pull on the chain but to no avail. She would have to find the end first and dismiss her spikes before she had a chance of getting it back. It would be somewhere near the back legs on the ground so that's where she went first, having to leave behind the gladius. Finally spotting it, she placed it back on her wrist and flicking it left. The spikes went to lay flat again against the metal and she then flicked her wrist to the right, commanding it to retract. Removing the band, she groaned when it got stuck, taking a step forward to assist it back to its proper place. That was, until it was pulled through. Frowning, she looked over at her weapon and saw Gladiolus holding it with one finger, giving her a smug look. Athenacia watched as the armband came once again to sit against the hilt, smiling in thanks at him as he walked towards her. It was so small that only two of his fingers could fit around the handle, but it wasn't made for him so that didn't really matter at all. Graciously she took it from him, knowing she would have to clean it off before sheathing it. She was about to pull out her cloth when a very abrupt scream stopped her in her tracks.

"Prompto!"

Iris cried out as she encountered the gunman. That's what was missing. Athenacia snapped her head toward the source quickly, running before she could even think and reacting the way she was trained to do. Swiftly she made it to her med bag and then came to where Iris and Noctis were bent over. Athenacia slid onto her knees, coming up beside the young man and quickly assessed what was going on around her. Internally she gasped at the sight. Prompto was on his back like a starfish, severely injured and didn't look much like he was breathing. The doctor just hoped that she had the tools to fix him because she could not handle a fatality.

[thatbluegibson]

CH 100

Liz felt the rush of consciousness in her brain and groaned. She was having a dream, something about the ocean, maybe she was surfing, she couldn't remember now that her head was pounding. The next wave of sensation happened to be nausea and Liz forced her eyes open to assess her surroundings. The room was dark, but bright beams of morning light broke through the edges of the heavy curtains around the bedroom windows, giving at least a dim light to the room. She felt a weight on her stomach and wondered if it was one of those new hangover symptoms that came with drinking too much in your thirties, but the weight shifted on its own and Liz realized it was Dave's head.

"Liz," he sounded like he had swallowed a fist full of gravel. She didn't answer, just sucked in a deep breath and threw her hands over her face to ward off the nausea. "Baby, I need you to kill me."

She laughed a little and immediately regretted it, shoving his head away from her belly and rolling off the tangled bed before sprinting into the bathroom and leaning against the counter, sighing in relief when the nausea once again subsided. The cool granite beneath her hands felt like a gift from the Vegas hangover gods and she carefully lowered her upper body onto the counter, resting her forehead against the backsplash.

"You okay?" she heard him call from the bedroom.

The fear of another nausea wave kept her from answering and instead slid her arms up the granite and covered her eyes with her hand. The bed squeaked as Dave moved around and a memory flooded into her brain.

*

Liz waved to Brody over Dave's shoulder while he carried her down the hallway to their room, giggling when Josh snuck up behind his wife and threw his arms around her. Dave managed to unlock their room with Liz still in his arms but ran her head into the door frame in his hurry to get inside.

"Shit! Sorry, babe," he hissed, but Liz just laughed. She knew that should have hurt, the door jamb landed right where her skull had busted only months prior, but the bourbon and Brennevin in her system had numbed her to the point of not caring. She also knew she was about to dearly pay for her sins within the next couple hours.

He carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom, then tossed her onto the bed that squeaked loudly in protest. She giggled and watched him sway as he pulled off his tie, thinking the last two shots of jaeger were a mistake. And maybe the last four whiskeys and three beers... those he could probably have gone without, not that she was faring any better.

"Elizabeth..."

"David," she grinned as he leaned onto the bed towards her.

"Liz."

"Dave," she laughed as he crawled up her body, kissing the spots where her dress exposed her skin and paused to whisper just below her ear.

"Wife."

*

Liz's eyes sprung open and were met with the simple silver band on her left ring finger.

Shit. Oh no. Oh my god, no.

Another wave of nausea crashed into her and she braced her hands on either side of the sink to focus on her breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. No, wait... that's definitely not helping. Reverse that. In through the mouth, out through the nose. She shut her eyes and repeated her mantra, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe-

"Liz?"

"Mmhmm?" she pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes tightly, focused completely on not puking in earshot of Dave.

"You need anything?"

She managed to shake her head even though he couldn't see her. There were about a million things she needed at that point. She needed Travis to give her an IV, maybe some oxygen, definitely some anti-nausea meds. Oh, how about an annulment? That would be splendid. But, shit, Travis was 300 miles away. Where the hell was her phone?

She hurried out of the bathroom, ripping a discarded sheet off the bedroom floor and ran out into the sitting room where she found her blue clutch next to the upstairs bar. She fumbled with the clasp for a moment, the smell of an open Jaeger bottle making her gag and finally retrieved her phone. As she waited for Travis to answer, she tied the sheet around her in a makeshift dress and peeked around the fogged glass door to look at Dave as he lay face down in the bed with a pillow over his face. A flimsy white sheet barely covered him, her eyes lingering on his bicep tattoos and his back just long enough that she started thinking maybe this whole situation wasn't exactly terrible when Travis answered.

"Liz?" he sounded even worse than Dave.

"Yeah, hey. Hi," she whispered, jumping out of sight when Dave threw the pillow off of his face.

"What's up?" he sounded alert now, recognizing the twinge of panic in her voice.

"I drank too much," she said simply. And, whoops! Silly me, I got married.

"Okay...," he sounded confused, uncomfortable, awkward. Oh shit, did he know? "I can order you one of those hangover medics if you want, I just didn't want to interrupt..."

"What-," Liz spotted her white dress tossed carelessly in a heap on the floor and cringed, "Uh... what would you be interrupting?"

Travis paused for a long moment, "You okay, Liz?"

"Mmmhmm!" she lied, her hum several octaves higher than normal.

"Elizabeth," he said sternly, making her gulp. "What. Happened."

*

Dave felt Liz shift underneath him, waking him from what he assumed was as close to death as he would get without actually meeting his maker. The headache hit him like a brick wall, so hard that he actually gasped in pain.

"Liz," his throat felt raw, somewhat like the time he blew out his voice playing seven shows back to back and felt his head raise when Liz took a deep breath. "Baby, I need you to kill me." Please Elizabeth, take me out to the pool, hold me under and end my suffering.

She laughed and then suddenly he was on his front, listening to her feet against the tile floor of the bathroom. "You okay?" he called after her but didn't move. The cool sheets felt amazing against his hot skin and he could feel his pulse in every part of his body, though it was most pronounced in his head where a surge of pain accompanied each influx of blood. The bed squeaked when he reached for a pillow to cover his eyes, reminding him of his dream from the night before.

*

Taylor was whispering to Allison on the steps behind Dave, something about the legal process or contracts or something official, he wasn't really paying attention. He stared at the French doors on the other side of the room, well aware that he was grinning like an idiot when one side of the doors opened with a loud squeak and Brody slipped through, tiptoeing up to Ally with an excited smile. JB nudged Dave with his elbow just as Josh appeared beyond the doors in the lobby where he was busy elbowing a man in a terrible Elvis wig and jumpsuit out of the way.

"Jesus fucking christ what a shit show," Taylor muttered under his breath and closed the plastic binder he was holding, earning a harsh shush from his wife.

Dave was about to deck to Taylor when he heard Liz's laugh. His heart began to pound as Josh threw open the other squeaky door and held out his arm, then she stepped into view and he felt like he couldn't breathe. She had somehow found a short, white dress, some flowers, and a veil, but was wearing her Vans and leather jacket, looking exactly like he had imagined she would. She slipped her arm through Josh's and Dave felt Taylor's hand on his shoulder as the soft background music gave way to what sounded like a cello and classical guitar playing And I Love Her.

*

His smile squished into the pillow began to fade as the realization that he wasn't dreaming gradually made its way through his hangover and into his consciousness. No, that's... that's not something he would ever do. It's definitely not something Liz would do. They were going to get married someday if she would have him, but they sure as hell weren't going to do it on a drunken whim in Vegas.

He reached up and pressed his hand into his forehead to relieve the pain, opening his eyes at the distantly familiar metallic chill against his brow. Squinting at the silver band enveloping his ring finger, he turned his hand and was met with a fresh tattoo of a tiny Union Jack. Oh... fuck.

*

"Is she done yet?" Dave asked, trying to keep his hand still while craning his neck to see Liz in the next room.

Josh shook his head from his spot against the door frame that separated the two rooms."Nope. Quit moving, motherfucker!" he yelled.

Dave felt the needles sink into the thin skin on his ring finger again and he looked down to check the progress the tattoo artist was making. He had moved on to the blue, having already finished the red and white along with the black outlines. Almost done. He had debated asking him to add the letters ENG under it but decided that it probably broke Liz's rule about no names. They were her new initials, after all, which made the Union Jack an even more perfect choice. Elizabeth Nicole Grohl had been rolling through his head for a while, ever since her dad had given him the ring and even long before that, back in England when the thought of losing her seemed unbearable.

*

Liz stared down at the coffee maker as it churned hot water into black caffeine and chewed on her lip. She couldn't bring herself to look at the ring on her finger, but she also couldn't bring herself to take it off, so she was torn. You are such a fucking idiot, she told herself. You got out of control and now you're going to lose it all. Your management company and therefore your job, not to mention Dave and all the amazing friends you've made since you've met him. Nice going, dumbass. She sighed, braced her hands on the countertop and hung her head in defeat, finally spying the fresh tattoo on her right foot, just below her toes.

*

Dave picked two shot glasses off the bar top and handed one to Liz.

"What is this?" she didn't wait for an answer before throwing it back and the burn hit the back of her throat like a blowtorch. Dave immediately handed her a glass of water which she gratefully snatched, sucking down half the glass before she felt like she wasn't going to die.

"Brennivin," he laughed. "You have to take it slow with this, babe."

"You keep saying that," she slurred, leaning her side into the bar as she turned to face him. "Maybe I don't wanna take things slow."

"Fine," Dave picked up the second round of Icelandic liquor and handed it to her. "Marry me."

Her shot only slowed a tiny bit on the way to her lips and she kept her eyes locked onto his as she drank it down. "Fine."

He just stared at her, silently watching her ask the bartender for the entire bottle of Brennivin, and waiting until the bottle was in her hand before he lunged at her, scooping her into his arms and heading for the dance floor.

*

Dave heard Liz speaking to someone just outside the bedroom and grabbed the sheet from the bed, tying it around his waist before carefully opening the door. He wasn't exactly sure what he would be faced with, but she appeared impassive, lazily dropping her free hand from her face to look up at him while his eyes adjusted to the bright light of the sitting room and quickly told Travis she'd call him back. His own phone began to ring from in the bedroom, but he ignored it, much more concerned with what was in front of him.

"Coffee," she nodded to the cup on the table in front of her and moved her gaze out the window, apparently unable to look at him.

"Thanks" he muttered, leaning forward to pick it up before collapsing onto the couch beside her. "You wanna talk about it now or after we recover?"

"I think this little toga party is an appropriate time and place, don't you?" she gestured to the sheets they were wearing.

Fuck, she's pissed. "You sound just as surprised as I am," he tried.

"That's a diplomatic way of putting things."

Okay... Really pissed. "Fuck, Liz..."

"How's your finger?" she interrupted, her eyes snapping back to his.

Dave held up his hand, his fresh tattoo and ring glistening in the sunlight.

"Christ," she cringed and looked away again.

"How's your foot?"

Pulling the sheet away from her leg and lifting her foot towards him, he gently held her ankle and smiled at the little Gibson guitar just below her toes. It was a bit red around the perfect lake blue edges but healing fine.

"I like it," he said softly.

She ignored his comment and pulled her foot back to rest on the table. "Travis says we can get an annulment as soon as tomorrow morning. The county clerk's office is just a couple blocks off the strip and they're open Sundays."

What? Dave felt his heart leap into his throat and then apparently burst into flames because the pain made him whimper. He tried to cover it with a cough as Liz shoved off the couch and went to stand by the windows, keeping her back to him as much as possible.

He could understand why she was pissed, but he wasn't expecting her to want an annulment. "Okay," he whispered and quickly stood up. If he pretended like he was looking for his phone in the bedroom, she wouldn't catch on that he was about to lose it. It might not have been the most conventional way to go about getting married, but he meant everything he had said to her, high blood alcohol level or not and he thought she did too.

*

"Hawkins! Round everyone up! We're leaving!"

Taylor shook his head, too busy grinding on his wife on the dance floor to pay any attention to Dave with Liz in his arms clutching a bottle of booze.

"Fine!" Dave shouted over the music. "We'll be at the chapel by the Bellagio if you change your mind!"

There was a pause before Taylor suddenly pulled away from Allison, sending both of them crashing to the floor. "You're what?!"

"We're leaving!" Dave repeated, kicking his drummer's leg. "Hurry up!"

Liz held on for dear life to both Dave and the bottle of Brennivin as he ran through the crowded dance floor and out into the hotel where a long line of people still waiting to get in snaked around the hallway. They were noticed almost instantly, which wasn't at all surprising with the way they burst out of the bar in their costumes, and a large group of men clearly celebrating a bachelor party yelled out to them.

"Grohl! Come take a picture with us!"

"I can't, man!" he yelled over his shoulder with an elated laugh, "I'm getting married!"

Liz looked back as the crowd of people screamed in excitement and briefly wondered if maybe she should at least call her parents to warn them. She was trying to calculate how much time it would take for the news to hit TMZ as he ran them through the lobby and out onto the busy sidewalk of the Strip. Finally setting her down on her own feet, Dave held her shoulders as she swayed a bit, trying to keep her balance with a bottle in her hands.

"I'm serious about this, Liz."

"I know," she smiled and twisted the cap off the bottle to take a drink. "Me too."

The bottle had barely left her lips before he was on her, kissing the taste of unsweetened schnapps off of her.

"Disco!"

Dave ignored Taylor's yell and kissed her harder, telling himself he should have just kept running until they were in front of an ordained Elvis, but Liz pulled away just as Taylor and Ally skidded to a stop in front of them. She laughed a little at their concerned faces and handed the bottle to Dave when Josh, Brody, JB and Gass stumbled out of the casino behind them.

"Are you two sure about this?" Ally asked anxiously.

"I'm sure," Liz insisted, trying to sound as sober as possible and looked up at Dave. "Are you sure?"

"Yup. Very sure."

"Well, I'm sold," Taylor said sarcastically and threw his hands up as he turned away in frustration.

"Liz, honey...," Allison started, trying to come up with a good reason why this was a stupid idea. "You can't... You can't get married in a Halloween costume. Let's at least find you something-"

"Al, she's fine," Dave insisted, worried that if Liz left his side for even a moment she would change her mind.

"No," Liz said thoughtfully. "She's right. You and the guys go find a place and then text us the address. We'll be right behind you."

*

Dave found his phone on the nightstand and flipped through the missed calls and texts, mostly from Taylor but a few from Josh as well. Liz walked in as he was reading through them holding a large white gift bag tied with a dark purple ribbon and tossed it on the bed.

"We have our first gift," she muttered bitterly, making him feel even worse.

"They're at the pool," Dave replied, trying to change the subject to cheer her up even just a little. "They want us down there as soon as we... stop...," he trailed off unable to read Taylor's crude text out loud to Liz.

"Gross," she finally laughed a little and began pulling items from the bag. A white bikini, a bottle of champagne, a headband with a veil and black shorts which she threw at Dave's chest. "Let's get this over with."

Back out in the upstairs living room, he went through as many bottles of water as he could while he waited for Liz to change. He was just beginning to feel a bit less like death when the bedroom door opened and she walked out in the simple white bikini while adjusting the veil in her hair.

"You look..."

She laughed a bit and turned around, shaking her hips so the sunlight sparkled off the rhinestones spelling out Mrs. Grohl on her ass. "Like every other drunk girl that got married on a Friday night in Vegas? I know, but when in Rome, right?" she raised an eyebrow at his black shorts that had 'Mr. Colbert' written in silver script down the leg, "Those are fucking terrible."

"I thought we were getting this over with," he grumbled. All he wanted to do was get in the pool, get rid of his hangover and figure out how to get her in a better mood.

Liz snapped her sunglasses down to cover her eyes and forced a smile, "After you, honey."

*

"Who gives this complete fox of a biker babe to be wed to the most kickass drummer and front man the world has ever seen? .... Sorry, Hawkins."

Taylor just shook his head and grinned at Jack. "No, man. I totally agree."

Josh cleared his throat and gently laid his hand over Liz's as they stood in front of Jack with Dave and Taylor to their right and Ally and Brody to their left. "My wife and I do, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor Hawkins, and I'm assuming you and Mr. Kyle Gass over there."

Liz finally looked away from Dave and glanced over at Kyle as he sat in the front pew clutching a tissue and waving at her. She stifled a giggle and looked back to Dave to find he was doing the same.

"Great," Jack nodded and waved them up onto the stage while reaching for the binder Taylor was holding behind his back. "Let's do this!"  

Josh led Liz onto the same step as Dave and gave first her and then Dave a tight hug before retreating to Brody's side.

"Hey," Dave whispered once her hands were in his. "You're beautiful."

She beamed up at him, happy tears threatening to flood her eyes. "You found another suit!" she whispered back, trying to keep from ruining her makeup.

"Yeah, I figured if I'm stuck with an Oscar winner I might as well have a backup."

"Good call, babe," she giggled, then snapped to attention when Jack loudly closed the rings in the binder. She shot Dave a little smile then turned to face Jack, slipping her arm around her groom's waist as his arm found it's place his bride's shoulders.

"All right! Let's get this party started!" Jack announced and began flipping through the laminated sheets in his hands. "Either of you Lutheran?"

Dave and Liz both shook their heads and he continued flipping pages.

"Irish?"

"Only in their bloodstreams," Josh muttered, complete with an 'oof' when Brody elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh! Here!" Jack carelessly tossed the discarded papers over his shoulder and held the chosen one out dramatically, "It's written for two dudes, but we'll make it work. Elizabeth, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to David in marriage?"

"Absolutely."

“David, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Elizabeth in marriage?”

"Hell yeah, I do."

[shadowsfiguresfigments-blog]

A good place to die Chapter 20 (light fluff)

Warning: harsh language, violence

I had just arrived at the hospital when my phone rang. I turned it off without looking, being in a hospital, and all, which was a very stupid mistake. I visited Bee and sat with her for an hour, talking about this and that, and left her in a much better state than she had been in yesterday. There had been no news from the police (and I very much doubted they’d be actually able to catch the culprits), but she didn’t seem to care too much.

“It’s not the first time I start over, you know”, she had said, and given me one of her mischievous smiles.  But she still got drowsy pretty quickly from the meds, so I didn’t have a guilty consciousness when I left her that early.

When I started my phone I saw I had about 35 missed calls from Penny. I phoned him back, but apparently he didn’t have a signal. He had just written me a message that he was in the cistern. I headed there as fast as I could, and arrived at the place where it all started covered in dirt (because of course I had to slip a couple of times), with gashes all over my arms and faces (hugged some trees too) and completely out of breath.

As soon as I could I screamed for him, increasingly worried something might have happened to him. My voice echoed through the large cistern, jumping between the piles of junk, and mingled with the clouds of white breath as I kept on huffing. I didn’t see him, but once the echo died out I heard noises behind the huge pile in the middle of the cistern. Relieved, I started to make my way over the discarded items, shifting them around to avoid tripping once more. But, once I got to the other side, there was no one there.

“Pennywise?”, I shouted again. Still, there was no answer, but the noises grew louder. I turned toward the garbage mountain, and briefly noticed a large wooden screen. It bore fading letters and a portrait, but before I could read them it fell forwards, revealing a stage with some fiery backgrounds. Merry organ music started to play and fireworks went off, adding their own rhythm to the creepy melody. And then he jumped on the stage, dancing around while his eyes looked crazier than I ever had seen them before. He cackled and giggled, shaking his head, waving at me, and performed some sort of jig. Faster and faster did the music play, faster and faster he went.

Then he lunged at me.

“Penny, are you okay?”, I managed to gasp as he picked me up and started  swinging us around in a tempo that could rival any roller coaster.

He laughed in my ear. “Don’t you know I’m the dancing clown?”

“Well, that’s how you introduced yourself to me…”

He only stopped briefly to gently place me on my old favorite spot, before he took up jumping around like crazy. Of course he splashed me from head to toe. By now he was going so fast he almost seemed to blur.

“What’s the matter with you? Are you sure you are okay?” I mean, he was laughing and all, but there definitely was something else going on.

“I am lightning, I am speed. I am everything you need”, he sang with a cracking, high-pitched voice, once more increasing his pace. “Try to catch me; no, you won’t. Now you see me, now you…”

All of a sudden he was gone.

“Don’t!”

Before I could react his arms wrapped around me, squeezing me so hard I could no longer breathe, and hurled me around once more. If he kept on going I’d throw up for sure.

“Pennywise! I’m worrying here.”

“My little human pet is worrying, how cuuuuuu~te!”

“Was it that meat I gave you? Are you having some sort of allergic reaction to it?”

“Oh, it was boooooring. But eadible. But booooooring!”

“Okay, well, please let me down then, I’m gonna…”

Too late.

But it made him stop, and he steadied me while I was retching.

“My poor baby’s sick”, he crooned, “Pennywise was bad, Pennywise must be punished.”

I would have loved to tell him to stop that nonsense, but my mouth was still busy with other things. I couldn’t even shake my head. He kept on blaming himself, and the minute I was done he started running around again, rambling about proper punishments.

“There’s no need for any of that”, I assured him. “Just tell me why you are so jittery. I’m worried it might from some stuff in the meat (it’s not exactly high quality). Have you ever had problems with junkies?” He technically hadn’t confirmed that he actually ATE humans, but I was 99.9 percent sure he did, so there was no point sugarcoating it.

He shook his head so quickly I could see nothing but a red streak.

“Nonono, never had a problem. I’m fast. I’m superfast. I’msofastmygirldoen’tevenunderstandhaha…” He spoke so fast his words slurred together until his speech resembled a monotone hum.

“Well, did you like it, then? Are you less hungry?”, I interrupted.

“Hunger never goes away, little one.” His eyes flashed yellow as he stared at me.

“Well, what else could it be?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m just reallyfastreallyreallyfast…”

Here we go again. By now he was shifting forms again, and it was fascinating to watch. Tentacles blossomed on his face, which in turn grew thorns as they slithered all around him. Fins in all colors popped up.  His hands changed to furry claws, only to be replaced by pinchers in the next second. He grew extra legs that suddenly became skinny wings. It was absolutely mesmerizing and distracted me for several minutes.

But when he trampled over the empty white boxes, I was reminded of the problem at hand. An idea crossed my mind.

“Penny, could it be… that the mocca was too strong for you?”

He stopped dead, the horns slowly retracting into his forehead again.

“Nononono. Impossible. It was delicious.”

“You just had one, though, right? I mean, caffeine shouldn’t have so much impact on you…”

My voice trailed away as I stared at Penny. He had cast down his eyes and a little wrinkle had formed between the two indentions that replaced his eyebrows. He definitely looked guilty.

I mustered all my strength, straightened my back and asked him with the severest voice I could muster: “Pennywise? What did you do while I was at the hospital?”

He mumbled something.

“A little louder, please.”

“I went back to that room…”

“And?”

“Had more?”

I stared at him. He had actually gone back to the coffee shop? What had he done to the employees? And how did he pay? In response a hundred-dollar-bill appeared in his hands.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

He held out the bill to me, and I took it. It looked, felt and smelled like real money to me. The cistern started spinning around me.

Penny was able to produce money.

What. The. Heck.

Something like a whimper escaped his mouth. He very much reminded me of a puppy that had been caught doing something forbidden.

“I had another 40”, he finally admitted.

I had to clutch at the junk next to me to keep myself steady.

“YOU DRANK 40 CUPS OF MOCCHA!?”

He just nodded, quick enough to once more blur into a red streak.

“Jeez, you do realize that you would be in hospital now if you were human, do you?”

I pressed my hands into my temples. Apparently immortals do not differ that much from us after all. Pennywise just had a real bad caffeine high.

“Okay, listen, that’s the caffeine from the coffee. That’s why we drink it in the first place – it gives you energy and wakes you up. That’s why you feel so… fast, do you understand?” I sighed. “There’ll be no other choice then to wait till the effects wear off.”

He nodded, looking slightly relieved I was no longer yelling at him.

So I spent the next two hours in the cistern with a Pennywise on speed (well, not exactly). He continued jumping around, dancing and singing. (Something about blood on the streets, and yummy kids, and about coming to get me – I didn’t listen to intently.) At least he didn’t spin me around again, but he came up to cuddle for several seconds before running off to use his extra energy. He rearranged some piles of the junk (meaning he turned into different creatures and wrecking through them), tried playing one of the games on my phone, asked me to read to him, and then, when I finally found a book amongst the trash, he was running around again.

It was exhausting, and not really in a good way either.

When he finally seemed to calm down for a bit, I invited him over to my house. Auntie wouldn’t come home till midnight, so there was no worrying about a second take on the embarrassing morning  meeting. Penny was really eager to hang out in my room again, and so we were on our way.

By the time we reached our little house ( he had assumed his human form again, though very grudgily), the last effects wore off. He collapsed on my bed, not exactly changing form, more like slowly melting out of it, and sighed.

“I think I’m dying, little one.”

“No, you’re not. That’s just the caffeine going away. You’re probably very tired now”, I chided gently. He looked at me sadly, entirely unconvinced this wouldn’t be the end of his existence. I cuddled up next him and started stroking his cheek.

“But that’s a good way to die”, he purred and leaned into my hand.

“You’re not dying, silly, You can’t, right? You are a part of Derry.”

I wasn’t exactly sure where that came from, but it just felt true. Penny closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around me. In the warmth of his embrace I drifted away into comforting darkness.

The next chapter will be a long one, I promise!