#more than a collective 10 hours a week in a doctors office. it is almost my fucking birthday and I have tried my best to not think about it

[godblooded]

super great when you learn you’ve been trying your best and it just isn’t even remotely good enough.

[auburnaudry]

Fractured Family - Matthew Tkachuk

Chapter 1:

A/N: So this is the first time I have ever written literally anything. If you have any suggestions or feedback just let me know! I kinda want to make this a series, so if you are interested or have any suggestion on where to take this story I’m all ears!

Next Chapter —>

Summary: You and Matthew had a long history, dating for two years, until you guys “mutually” decided to split. It was civil and seemed liked the best option at the time. But shortly after splitting, you found out you were pregnant with Reign and everything in your life, including your relationship with Matt, became more complicated. (Flashbacks are in italics.)

Word count: 3293 words

It was really late at night and you just wanted to get your son to sleep. Him being only 3 months old, it was hard to get a consistent sleep schedule going, especially when you were sharing custody with someone who lives a completely different lifestyle than you.

After spending two nights with his father, your sons usual 10 minute bedtime routine turned into a long, drawn out, difficult ordeal, that you would be trying to correct for the next week. And once he was finally adjusted back to your routine, he was off to stay with his father again to continue the never ending cycle.

You rocked Reign in his chair for almost 40 minutes and finally settled him down enough to lay him back in his crib. You reached over to the changing table and turned the sound machine on, hoping that it would put him to sleep for even just a little while. You needed a break from the loud crying.

Walking over to the dresser sitting by the door, you grab the baby monitor and walked out towards the kitchen.

You mindlessly stared at your phone as you made your way down the hall. Distracted by your new notifications, you hadn’t noticed the handsome young man still sitting at your island waiting for you to return.

“Y/n/n”

“Oh my god, Matthew you scared me” you shouted, dropping your phone as your body jumped slightly from the shock of seeing someone unexpected in your apartment.

“I thought you left already, what are you still doing here” you continued as you picked your phone up off the ground, checking to make sure the screen wasn’t cracked.

You were caught off guard and slightly confused because Matt always left right after dropping your son off. You two had an arrangement that worked, minimal interaction that only revolved around your son. So when Matt was still lingering around your apartment almost and hour after dropping your son off, you couldn’t help but let your mind travel to the worst case scenario.

“Did something happen today with Reign?” You asked before he had a chance to respond to your first question.

You and Matt had a long history, dating for two years, until you guys “mutually” decided to split. It was civil-ish and seemed liked the best option at the time. But shortly after splitting, you found out you were pregnant with Reign and everything in your life, including your relationship with Matt, became more complicated.

“You should have been honest with me from the start then” you screamed at your boyfriend. You had been arguing for what felt like forever with no end in sight.

“I didn’t know what I wanted at the time y/n” he calmly responded “Fuck, I still don’t even know what I want, but I know its not fair to you, to keep going the way we are”. You two had been talking about where you see your relationship going in the future and this was the first time Matthew was really opening up to you.

As much as you begged Matt to express his emotions more over the course of your relationship, this time you wished he had kept them to himself.

“Y/n, you want to take the next step in this relationship and I’m not ready. I don’t know why I’m not ready but you are and I can’t hold you back.” Matthew sounded so sincere that you almost believed this was what you wanted too. “You need someone who is gonna take that step with you” key word was almost.

The past couple of weeks you had been hinting that you wanted to move in with Matt. You loved him and were sure you wanted to start the next chapter of your life with him. You never thought in a million years this would be his reaction but maybe you pushed him too much? Or maybe this was inevitable and he wasn’t looking at you as a long term investment. Whatever the reason, you now regretted even bringing it up.

“Okay, so two years down the drain I guess” you said as you rolled your tear filled eyes. His face fell at your words, he truly did love you and just wanted you to be happy. You were looking for forever and he admitted to not being ready for that kind of commitment. Instead of continuing a relationship that seemed to be at a stand still, the only option at this point was to end it. You weren’t going to sit there and beg him, you had too much pride to do that.

“I’ll just pack my shit and go” you walked past him to his bedroom to collect all the things that no longer belonged in his space. You almost expected him to follow after you, to fight for your relationship, but he didn’t, which hurt your heart even more. So you continued to pack up the things that had migrated from your apartment to his over the two years of being together. Your thoughts were now consumed with figuring out how you were going to move on and find someone to spend the rest of your life with, while he continued to live the bachelor lifestyle he was all so famous for.

Even though you rarely voiced it in your two years of being together, you were madly in love with him and broken hearted that he wasn’t willing to put in the effort to make your relationship work. You left his bedroom and made your way down the hallway, past the living room where Matthew was still sat, and out the front door with your bags in tow. You didn’t bother glancing back at him, out of fear you might do or say something you would regret.

2 weeks later…

You woke up and still hadn’t gotten your period. Your period had never been even a day late since you got it back in the 7th grade, so waking up for a 4th day in a row with no period, was worrisome. You didn’t think there was even a chance you were pregnant since you were on birth control, so you made an appointment with your gyno to ensure everything was okay. You were convinced it was just the stress of your recent breakup that was causing this irregularity in your cycle, but you couldn’t be sure without getting checked out first.

...

You pulled up to your doctors office for your appointment feeling extremely anxious. You just wanted to get it over with so you could stop stressing and go back to feeling sorry for yourself for getting broken up with.

You sat in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity. You scrolled through Instagram and somehow found yourself on Matthew’s page. It was definitely an unhealthy habit you had picked up since splitting. You couldn’t help it though, he was following new ig models everyday and in a sick way, you liked to compare yourself to them. It was a reminder that you weren’t what Matt wanted and Matt couldn’t be what you wanted anymore.

“y/n y/l/n” you looked up from your phone as your name was called “We’re ready for you”

You followed the nurse back to a bathroom located right next door to the exam room you usually got checked out in. The nurse handed you a cup to pee in, as you usually did at these types of appointments, and instructed you to change into a gown in exam room #2 once you finished up in the bathroom.

After you changed into the gown, the nurse came back to collect your sample and left you sitting on the exam table as you scrolled on your phone again, waiting for Dr. Cooper to come in.

“Y/n, congratulation you’re pregnant” Dr. Cooper walked in holding your charts. You had been going to Dr. Cooper since you were 16 and you had built a nice relationship through the years, talking about your personal lives and future plans during appointments. He was aware of your long term relationship with Matthew and by his enthusiastic tone and happy energy, it was clear that he was unaware of your recent breakup. You obviously didn’t expect him to know, the breakup was new and you only see him a couple times out of the year.

You couldn’t even process the news or anything else Dr. C had to say after that. Everything went fuzzy and it felt like you were in some crazy nightmare that you couldn’t wake up from. The only thing you did hear him say was that he expected you to be 8 weeks along from the information you told him and the ultrasound he performed.

You were a traditional person and always imagined you would be married or at least in a committed relationship before getting pregnant, so this entire situation had you in shock.

You were so numb from the news that you continued on throughout your day as normal, unsure of what else to do. But as you pulled into the parking lot of your apartment building, you rushed to get inside so you could finally breakdown and feel everything you had pushed aside for the past few hours.

You were silently praying your roommate wasn’t home when you walked through the door of your shared apartment so you didn’t have to face anyone. To your dismay, she was sitting in the living room calling for you when you walked through the door.

You hadn’t told her that you and Matthew broke up because you were so ashamed that the man you thought you’d spend the rest of you life with , didn’t feel the same way for you. The past 3 weeks you had been pretending Matt was away on a road trip or too busy with hockey to hang out whenever she asked about him. At this point you needed to get this off you chest so you walked right into the living room, sat down next to her, and unloaded the entire story before she even had the chance to say hello. As you spoke, her face turned from confusion to concern.

“Kay idk what to do, I don’t even want to tell him because I don’t need his help, but i feel icky when I think about having his baby and keeping it a secret.” You guys were talking through what you were gonna do about the situation.

Kaylee was the perfect person to ask because she also knew Matthew really well! Kaylee was the one who introduced you to Matt in the first place almost 3 years ago. They continually ran into each other while out at bars and talked so often they eventually became good friends. Being Kaylees best friend, you were later introduced to Matthew at a bar and you guys hit it off right away. You became really close friends and later started dating after a typical drunk love confession.

“And you’re definitely sure it’s Matt’s? Like there’s no chance it’s someone else’s right?”

“Yes of course I haven’t talk to anyone since the breakup, let alone slept with anyone!”

“I just want to make sure cause you didn’t even tell me you guys broke up, I wasn’t sure if I was missing any other important parts of the story” she paused for a second giving you a sympathetic look. The father was indisputable since you had only been with one man in the last two years.

“he’s a good guy y/n/n, I think he will be really understanding and a good father, it’s important you tell him, him and his family would want to know” She was right, she always is.

Before your talk with Kaylee, you fully prepared yourself to raise the baby on your own and expected nothing from Matthew. But when you thought about his family, a family that you had become a part of in the two years you were together, you couldn’t help but think of how disappointed they would be if they ever found out that you kept a part of them a secret. You had become extremely close with Brady and Taryn and their parents treated you like one of their own. They loved you and would unconditionally love your child, it wasn’t fair to them and more importantly, it wasn’t fair to your baby to keep them apart.

...

After a week of thoroughly thinking through all your options, you finally took Kaylees advice and reached out to Matt. You almost hoped he wouldn’t see your message or he would see it and just ignore it since you two hadn’t communicated since the breakup.

Y/n:

Hey Matty, it’s y/n, I’m not sure if you have free time in the near future but I kinda need to talk to you!

To your surprised he responded within minutes of your text.

Matty:

I’m happy you reached out, lets meet up! Can you do lunch tomorrow? Our usual lunch spot?

This all seemed too familiar, why was he texting you like you had never broken up and why did he respond at all? He could have easily said he was busy or trying to move on and didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t.

Y/n:

I was actually thinking we could do takeout or something and eat at my apartment?

You figure a private setting would be better for the news you were about to spring on him since you weren’t sure of the reaction you were going to get.

Matty:

Anything works babe

He had practice the next morning and a free afternoon so it was the perfect opportunity to tell him, giving him time to process since he had nothing going on for the rest of the day.

Matthew walked up to your apartment door the next day giving it his signature knock. You slowly walked to the door, opening it to find him standing there, carrying the to-go bags, filled with your favorite meal and wearing his perfect smile that almost made you forget why you called him over in the first place.

As you went to greet him, you caught a slight whiff of the food and the nausea that washed over you was so sudden and instantaneous, you almost didn’t make it to the bathroom.

On your run to the bathroom, you heard Matt’s footsteps following closely behind, but luckily you had enough time to lock the bathroom door before emptying the contents of you stomach in the toilet.

Matthew sat outside the bathroom knocking lightly “y/n are you okay” he waited patiently for your response.

When you felt the wave of nausea had completely passed, you stood up, flushing the toilet and making your way to the sink to rid your mouth of the taste that plagued it.

As you opened the door to the bathroom you were met with Matt’s concern filled face. If throughout your lunch date you wanted to change your mind about telling him, that option was completely off the table now. You had no choice but to explain what was going on and you just wanted to get it over with.

Matthew stood there staring, waiting for a response. “I’m pregnant” was all you could come up with.

He stared at you in complete disbelief but then realization washed over his face. “Who’s the father” was all he could manage, as if you would invite him over to tell him you were pregnant with someone else’s kid.

You wanted to roll your eye but they were so full of tears, you were scared that if you moved them, the tears would start running and you would fall apart in front of him.

“Yours” you whispered with a cold tone trying your best to keep your emotions at bay.

Matthew had alway wanted to be a dad and was great with his teammates kids, so you weren’t entirely surprised when he told you he wanted to be a part of your kids life.

You two spent countless hours and had countless lunch dates over the course of your pregnancy, talking about how you were going to co-parent and make everything work. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t secretly wish that you and Matt would end up back together, raising the family you always dream of having, but it seemed that ship had sailed for Matthew. His only concern was making sure his kid lived a happy and healthy life.

You were now waiting for a response from your ex on why he was still sitting in your kitchen so late at night.

“No no, Reign is fine everything is fine, I just need to talk to you about something” he said, not making eye contact with you. You were even more nervous now because you had no guess as to what he could possibly want to talk about.

“I’m talking to this girl” your entire world stopped spinning and your ears started to ring a little. You still weren’t use to Matthew talking to other women, you probably wouldn’t be for a long time, and now he wanted to talk to you about one of his hoes?

“Ummm okay” you said, unsure how you were even suppose to respond. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Things between us are getting a little more serious” you could literally feel you heart aching in your chest, but you continued to act unfazed by Matt’s admission. “I was just wondering what the appropriate time would be to introduce her to Reign”

You were almost stunned that he was even asking you such a stupid question. If it were up to you, Reign was never going to meet some trashy whore his father would bang every once in a while. Your son was only 3 months old, so to think that introducing him to a random, clout chaser was even an option for Matthew, made you extremely angry. Or maybe you were just jealous he had been seeing someone and it had gotten so serious that he was willing to introduce her to his newborn son.

You can’t even describe the feeling of the love of your life breaking up with you because ‘he wasn’t ready for commitment’, and then not even a year later he is in a serious relationship again but with someone else. You couldn’t help but think everything Matthew had told you was a lie, that he wasn’t afraid of committing, he was just afraid of committing to you.

“Y/n/n, did you hear my question?”

“Obviously” you spat “I just have to think, I wasn’t exactly prepared for this kind of question tonight or honestly at any point in the near future so I need time to think about it” you were bitter but you tried your hardest to not make it seem that way as you spoke.

“Take all the time you need, no rush, we’re obviously new to this whole parenting and co-parenting thing so we don’t have all the answers yet, but I don’t want to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” He finally made eye contact with you for the first time all night. You forgot how pretty his eyes were.

“Thanks for checking in with me, ill let you know when I figure it out” and with that he got up and made his way out of your apartment.

“Goodnight y/n” he said as he opened the front door and pulled his car keys out of his pocket.

“Night” you responded as you close the door behind him. Just as the door closed, Reign’s screams came over the baby monitor, distracting you before you had too much time to think about how alone you actually were.

[ssa-sugar-tits]

Ten Years (ch. 3)

Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Content warnings: hospital, cursing, angst

a/n: i feel like this chapter's a little long, sorry!

Despite the multiple half-assed orders from Hotch and Rossi, the sincere begging from JJ and Penelope, and the concerned pushes from Emily and Derek, you refuse to leave the hospital until Spencer wakes up. You can't bring yourself to eat or sleep or even stop to breathe knowing something's so terribly wrong with him. For fuck's sake, all he did was hit his head. There is no plausible reason you can think of that he wouldn't have woken up yet. Drenched in your own exhausted tears and practically shaking with worry, there's a harrowing pit in your stomach. You've been waiting 42 hours and counting with no sign of improvement. He has a mild concussion and will need a few stitches where he bled but he "should be fine." They told you over and over again. And Hotch was forced to step in when you had enough of the empty bullshit in the atmosphere.

"If he's fine, why the hell hasn't he woken up? A mild concussion doesn't fucking do this to someone!" It's simple. The doctors don't know. They don't know how to help your husband. All they can do is spew false reassuring lies at you while they do absolutely nothing. More lengthy hours pass and an MRI is ordered. The same unsurprising thing: nothing's wrong with him. But what are they going to do? Send him away unconscious? No, they're just going to stand around pretending they know what they're fucking doing. You jump at the feeling of a cold hand tapping on your shoulder.

"Hey, it's just me." You look up to see Derek with a dreadfully morbid look on his face, one with tones of anger. "Mind if I sit with you?" Nowhere near able to speak, you try to give him an inviting smile but all you do is lift the corner of your quivering lips slightly. He gets the hint, which he probably would have missed had he not known you so well, and sits down beside you. Staring over at your husband, you hear Derek's head thump against the wall. The feelings you both have are of utter uselessness. Sure, there have been worse situations but... there's nothing either of you can do at all. There's no reasoning here. Well, to your knowledge. Spencer is the only one that knows what's going on. And it's ripping him apart. To not know what happened to his beloved mentor or remember any of the precious moments he's had with Y/N. He hasn't been able to watch the team he remains loyal to change and grow. He just woke up one day and was hurled into this shitty situation. He laughs out of despair at his own shortcomings and lack of comprehending what's been done to him. Y/N and Derek's heads both snap up at the unexpected sound, hopeful and desperate for a sign that Spencer's back. No such luck at first but Derek goes to get the nurse while you navigate your way to your husband's side.

"Love, it's me. I don't know if you can hear me. But whatever this is, whatever's stressed you out so much that you're... literally blocking out the entire fucking world... it'll be okay. I love you Spencer and I promise I always will. Please be okay for me." A disappointed sigh leaves you. Honestly, what did you expect? For him to wake up because you said you love him? This isn't a fucking fairytale Y/N. Derek returns with a nurse who confirms it must have been an unconscious movement so no hope there. Propping your head up with your arm, you try to get some rest for the first time since you arrived. After two more sickening hours pass, you're shaken awake by a nurse.

"Yeah?" you yawn before remembering where you are. Blinking rapidly, you open your eyes fully and look up at the nurse.

"Miss, your husband is awake." He directs a smile at you before exiting the room, leaving you to rush over to Spencer who's already sitting up and muttering to himself.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Tears threaten to fill your eyes when you place a hand on his shoulder and he turns away from your touch.

"I'm fine, th-thank you. Excuse me, doctor?" He waves over the doctor and asks her, "Can I leave now?" She looks a bit startled as if she didn't expect him to want to leave.

"Mr. Reid--"

"Doctor," you correct.

"Ahem, Doctor Reid, our tests have come back fine and healthy but to be frank... We aren't entirely sure why you were unconscious for so long. If you'd like to stay and rest, we'd welcome-- no we strongly suggest that's what you do." You open your mouth to say something but Spencer answers her.

"If I can go then I'd like to now, thanks." It's difficult to process when he's discharged and barely even greets his team that was worried sick. Asking you silently with their sweet glances if he's okay, you can't respond. All you manage to do is bite your lip and shrug before driving him home. Spencer doesn't say a word and the silence is deafening. Incomprehensible even because since when is he this fucking quiet?

"Spence?" You say, not taking your eyes off the road. "Don't you think we should talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"What do you fucking think? So much for genius." An exasperated sigh escapes you before you realize you're being harsh. "I'm sorry I don't mean to snap at you. I was just..."

"Stressed?" He offers, sounding awfully sad.

"Yeah. Stressed," you sigh once more. Your worry slips away for a moment and he presses a kiss to your cheek. His lips brush against your face and you swear he lingers as if wanting to say something but he goes back to staring out the window. Once in the apartment, you expect him to want to rest or at least, spend time with his wife who's been going fucking insane the past couple of days but he locks himself in his office. Giving up, you walk to the bedroom and leave him be.

Spencer speedily walks around the room collecting books, paper, a pen, and even a laptop. It's time to figure out what's going on. First, he reads about the BAU. He learns a lot about Emily Prentiss and how Elle and Gideon left the bureau. Another piece of information he finds is that David Rossi has been apart of the team for 8 years. Hotch's wife is dead and Jack-- the baby he met once briefly is now 10 years old, living alone with Hotch. Going through photo albums and keepsakes he discovers, he finds that his relationships really have grown over the years and so have yours. Who would've thought that the emotionless, serious Aaron Hotcher would walk his wife down the aisle? Agent Prentiss, he saw, was your maid of honor and Morgan was his best man. A small child held JJ's hand and with context, he came to the conclusion that she had a child now. And his eyes land on you. He traces a hand over the photo, cherishing a memory he doesn't have. You look perfect in that wedding dress. The viel falls on your head gracefully. Your smile radiates off the page and he can't help not feeling a sense of loss. You two are happy together and he doesn't remember a second of it. Ironic, isn't it? He thinks. Moving on to the why this is happening, he reads heaps of material for hours straight, faster than someone else would be able to, but still feels like he's getting nowhere. All he has to go off of is the date and theories he's found on forums and in old books. Suddenly its too much and he throws a book across the room, wincing at the sharp thud when it hits the wall. Spencer buries his frustrated face in his hands and lets out a long, deep breath. Y/N. Guilt washes over him as he realizes, this isn't any easier for you. You've spent the past 10 years forming a relationship with your Spencer and you woke up to a distant stranger. If he's going to figure this out, he needs to adjust. Adjust to being with you, the team, this new life of his. Just until he figures things out, right? Settling on going to lay with you-- his wife, he reminds himself-- he hears what sounds like muffled sobs. He opens the bathroom door cautiously and his heart drops to his feet at the sight in front of him. You're sitting in the bathtub, half-dressed crying quietly into your knees and running your hands through your hair. Spencer kneels down beside you and wraps him arms around you tightly. You gasp softly and almost pull away but accept the embrace.

"I'm so sorry," he says sincerely against your hair. Your words come out strung together and your tongue twists while you try to explain how you've been feeling this week.

"N-No I just... I'm just worried about you Spence I'm s-so," you bite down on your quivering lip harshly to avoid choking on a sob and continue. "Everything's different a-and it's like it changed overnight. I don't know what the hell I did to fuck things up. Whatever I did, I'm so sorry." You bury your head deeper into your knees, smearing mascara into streamed lines down your cheeks. The guilt he feels smashes his heart into pieces and throws it to his feet. He said he has to adjust, didn't he? He'll start with you. Spencer already loved you, the only different thing now is that you love him too. His voice softens and he whispers into your ear, stroking your hair and intertwining his fingers with locks of it.

"You've done nothing wrong sweetheart," he assures you, surprising himself with a nickname. "I'll call Hotch and we'll take tomorrow off, just the two of us. We'll go on a date like we used to a-and we can do whatever you'd like. Anything, Y/N just let me take care of you. The way you deserve."

When he's finished, your eyes meet his and you hesitate before nodding. No words leave your mouth but it's as if you don't need them to speak. He helps you up and you make your way to the bed you share.

Falling asleep quickly, you melt into dreams of spending time together and starting to get back to normal. Spencer, on the other hand, is overcome with an intimidating shit load of anxiety. This isn't, in a million years, how he thought his first fucking date with Y/N Y/L/N would be. Then again, this type of... situation never even crossed his wildest dreams. Make the best of it, right? Yeah that's it. He'll do his best.

For you.

[sherrybaby14]

Blue Spiders

A/N:  This is chapter one in a series!  I think it is going to be 3 parts, but if more is requested I do have an outline where I could take it to 10.  (Updates on Thursdays)

Pairing: AU Psychiatrist Steve Rogers x Female Reader

Words:  3700

Summary:  An interview with a charming doctor leads to more

Warnings:  This chapter, mentions of violence and murder, alcohol.  I HAVE NOT WARNED FOR EVERYTHING POSSIBLE.  PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.  

   Smoothing out your blazer and squaring your shoulders you rose your fist and knocked on the door.  

   It swung open, taking your breath away at the swiftness of the response.  Your jaw dropped for a moment, but you shook the nerves away, always the professional.  He was more gorgeous in person with blond hair and blue eyes.  The All-American man.

   “Dr. Rogers?”  You asked.  

   “So I’ve been called.”  He stepped to the side.  “Please come in.”

   Your eyes went up at the expanse of his office.  It had a balcony going around the entire space, floor to ceiling in books.  The main floor was open with a huge mahogany desk behind bright windows.  There was a sitting area with two chairs, a couch, and a coffee table.  On the wall hung a giant painting.

   “Is that a Jackson Pollock?”  You were surprised to see such a chaotic artist hung in a therapist’s office.  

   “I know it’s not the traditional calming image you would expect a doctor to hang, but I find it opens people up on the subconscious and allows my patients to see the beauty in madness.”   His voice made the hairs on your body rise, so calm and collected.  

   “Are most of your patients mad?”  You looked over your shoulder to see icy blue eyes taking in your face.  

   “We’re not here to discuss my patients Miss, that is private information.”  He wagged a finger in your face before moving toward the sitting area. “I was very clear when I agreed to the interview.”  

   “Of course, Dr. Rogers.”  You followed and sat down opposite him.  “I am sure my editor went over the basics with you, but this is for a feature we do monthly on interesting people in the area.  There is nothing to worry about, it is not investigative journalism, only a puff piece for our readers looking for human interest stories.”  

   “Yes, I am still uncertain why I was selected.”  The man adjusted his tie that was tucked into a vest.  He wore those clothes well.  “I fear I am not that interesting.”

   “You were instrumental in the capture of the Canary Killer.”  You were shocked by his modesty.  “The FBI has praised your work and referred to you as an essential asset even though you are not an agent.  That alone makes you very fascinating.”

   “The Canary Killer.”  Dr. Rogers rolled his eyes.  “I am not a fan of those nicknames.  They devalue the lives of the victims, and criminals are not my expertise.”  

   “Do you mind?”  You reached into your bag and pulled out a tape recorder.  “I did not expect to start this soon.”

   “Please.”  He crossed his legs and his lips turned into a small smirk.  “And tell me, why would your readers care about a murderer in Iowa?  I am sure they are locally based.”  

   “Yes.  We are out of Washington D.C., readership largely in Maryland and Virginia.  The surrounding areas, but a killer like this facinates anyone regardless of region.”  As his smile dropped you worried you were coming off too forward.  “And, the focus of the piece is on you, not the killings.  We want to know your background, your story.  I am sure it is more exciting than you give yourself credit for.”  

   “Your dialect is strange.”  He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.  “I can’t quite place where you are from.”  

   “I moved around a lot as a child.”  You looked away from his deep stare.  “Is linguistics one of your hobbies? Would you like to expand on that?”  

   “It is fascinating. Almost as if you have no accent at all.  Very unheard of.  Tell me, are you trying to disguise your voice?”  His teeth ran over his lip, sending a tremble down your spine.  

   “Doctor, I appreciate the question, but I don’t think I could afford your hourly rate.”  You weren’t used to your subjects asking you many questions.  “How about you?  Where were you born? What drew you to therapy?”  

   “Right.”  His smirk returned.  “I was born abroad.  My parents passed when I was twelve, I became responsible for my younger sister and believe it or not we snuck in illegally.”  

   The doctor’s comment on your accent threw you off, especially when he himself was born abroad but had no trace of one.  He continued on with his life story and you barely had to ask a question.  Everything about the man was fascinating.  

   “After my years in general surgery I discovered that most of my patients were more concerned with the mental effects and less with the recovery.  I enjoyed helping them with any resulting depression or anxiety and realized my love for the blade was second to my love of the mind.”  Dr. Rogers glanced toward the window.  “People are fascinating and I want to help in any way I can.”  

   “That is very noble of you.”  The jitters you had about his attractiveness were now dwarfed compared to the intensity of his wisdom and compassion.  “I know we are running low on time.  Is there any personal anecdote you want to include?  Wife or kids?  Dog?”  

   His smile brightened the room as he let out a laugh.

   “Unfortunately my dedication to my work has left no time for any personal life.”  He rose from his seat.  “Though since this is a human interest piece, I would say my main hobbies are music and cooking.”  

   “Wow. Even your hobbies are impressive.”  You followed his lead, grabbing your recorder and hitting stop.  “You don’t have any unproductive time.  Never lose yourself in a television show? Read a pulp novel?”  

   “I do not enjoy fiction much.”  He shrugged.  “What is the point when the real world is so interesting?”  

   “I never thought about it that way.”  You smiled.  “Thank you for your time.  As a courtesy I will send over the article before it is published, not for your approval of course, but your awareness.”  

   “I am sure it will be as dull as me talking about myself has been.”  He held a hand toward the door.  

   “That is a way to put it, especially since hearing you talk about yourself was the opposite of dull.”  You couldn’t find the right words to say, but that did not stop you from speaking.  “You see the world through a unique lens and have had very unique experiences.  Almost as if, as a species, we are lucky to have you.”  

   You felt like you should cringe or apologize, but something about the man made you speak your mind.  

   “And you must be very good at your job, because I felt comfortable saying that to you and I am not even a patient.”  You stopped at the door to his office.  

   The two of you faced each other, his hand went for the knob, but he paused.  

   “You are not my patient.”  Dr. Roger’s eyes glanced over your face, then stopped at your own.  The two of you stared at each other and you did not look away as a chill went down your spine, the intensity of the man.  

   He was about to speak again when a boom landed on the door.  You jumped and put your hand to your heart, your adrenaline flaring.  

   “I’m sorry Dr. Rogers.”  The door swung open and a familiar face walked in.  “But I need to see you right away.”  

   The new guest’s voice trailed off as he spotted you.  His face scrunched and a look of disgust came over.

   “What are you doing here?”  Blue eyes glared into your soul.  

   A smirk crossed your face as you folded your arms.  

   “Hello Agent Barnes, always a pleasure.”  You should have figured he was a patient.  “I am writing a human interest piece on Dr. Rogers.”  

   “You talked to her?”  James looked to the doctor.  “About me?”  

   “I didn’t mean to create more problems for you to discuss.”  You bit back the urge to fire a crack about his narcissism.  “Thank you again Doctor.  I will send you the piece in the next week or so.”  

   You held out your hand and watched as the blonde man shook it with hesitation.  

   That deep intense stare was gone.  Your heart deflated as you left the office, trying to hold your head high and shoulders square.  It felt like he was going to ask you out on a date for a moment, one you would have gladly expected.  

   The cringe you were fighting came forward as you left the swanky office building.  Agent Barnes interference or not it was a stupid fantasy.  This man was too good for you.

~~

   Steve considered his ability to read people top notch.  Even though he was the one speaking he spent the past hour studying the journalist and to say she was intriguing was an understatement.  

   In fact, he was interested enough he was on the verge of asking the woman to dinner.  

   Bucky’s apparent hatred toward the woman was not expected and Steve found himself mentally recapping the interview to see if he missed something.  

   Before he could assess the situation she stormed off.  Her quip about Bucky being a patient was ruder than he found acceptable.  

   “You gave an interview to Miranda Balfour?”  Bucky gripped his long dark hair as he walked into the office.  “What were you thinking?”

   “What?”  Steve shut the door.  “That was not her name.”

   “Of course she gave you a fake name.”  Bucky scoffed.  “I hope you are prepared to have your reputation trashed.  Did you think to, google whatever name she gave you?”  

   “I did and she checked out.”  Steve's intrigue for the woman was turning to anger.  “Now who are you claiming she is?”  

   “She is Miranda Balfour.  She runs a murder blog, always posting sensational stories.  She gave extensive coverage to the Canary Killer.”  Bucky ran his hands over his face. “Nothing better than a gossip rag.  I’m surprised you haven’t noticed her.  She’s always lurking around any local crime scene.  Trying to get pictures and interviews like she is a legitimate source.  It is disgraceful.”  

   Steve could feel his body temperature start to rise.  He thought about walking over to his desk and sweeping everything off, then taking an axe to the thing.  He imagined the wood slowly turning into the face of Miranda Balfour as she took a whack to the head, splintering as easy as a tree stump.  

   “Well if I have been duped, it is nobody’s fault but my own.”  Steve shut the door to his office.  “What brings you by so urgently Buck?”

   “The New England Butcher.”  Bucky shook his head.  “I stayed up late last night, going over every murder in the area that even remotely fit his MO.”  

   “There is one issue off the bat.”  Steve took a seat in the chair, knowing Bucky preferred to pace while he spoke.  “Lack of sleep.”

   “Six murders in three years.  Each gruesome in their own way.  The randomness of the kills, the victims.  It is like we were only able to string them together because he wanted us to.”  Bucky stopped.  “And that is what caught my attention.  What about the ones he doesn’t want us to?”

   Bucky sat down and dropped a file on the table.  Steve was annoyed at the waste of paper when an email would have sufficed, but he indulged Bucky and picked up the file.  

   The first photo was of a dismembered man found in a ditch.  Steve knew the date off the top of his head, July 2nd 2013.  Blake Corenzo.  He was a pig of a man.

   “That is a murder from 2013.  Blake Corenzo.  He was stabbed and chopped post mortem.”  James glared as Steve looked up, waiting for his punchline.  “I think he was the Butcher’s first victim.”

Steve bit back a laugh with expertise.  

“The brutality matches.  But what was missing?”  Steve was curious if the Agent was going to connect the dots.  

“Nothing.”  He sighed and pressed his hand to his forehead.  “Or something we missed.  But I have seven more bodies I believe are connected.  We know that as killers go on they get lazier, think they are unwatchable, but the Butcher, he is different.  We are not going to catch him on a technicality or sloppiness.  He is too good.”  

Steve did enjoy the flattery.  

“We have to find his first kill.  It always starts with someone they know.  Always.”  Bucky had a desperation to his voice.

“So you believe that this Blake Corenzo knew the Butcher?”  Steve watched Bucky struggle to connect the dots, not realizing he was the fish on the hook in this game he was not even aware he was playing.  “Have you told Anthony Stark?”  

“Yes.” The air deflated out of Bucky as he fell back into the couch.  “He told me mandatory session with you before I am cleared to return to work.”  

“If I check my e-mail will there be one from him?  Is that what it will say?”  Steve appreciated the protectiveness Tony had for Bucky. In a way it was as if Stark saw Barnes’ brain as a fragile asset.  One he was constantly concerned was about to break.  

“It will say I can’t go back until you clear me.”  Bucky tried to hide the humiliation.

A man in his 30s being controlled by his boss and therapist as if he were a child.  Steve recognized something in Bucky, an equality almost.  Because Tony Stark’s concern were not without merit.  James Buchanan Barnes did have a brain that could operate like no other and if anyone were to catch the Butcher Steve was certain it was the Agent in front of him.  

“You are obsessing again.”  Steve crossed his legs.  “It is not healthy.  You are getting too involved.  The Butcher hasn’t struck in three months and twice already this year.  It’s likely he will not attack for some time.  You are trying to create leads.”  

“You sound like Tony.”  Bucky scoffed and looked away.  “When I sleep,  I see their faces.”

“Whose faces?”  Steve leaned in, unsure what Bucky was going to say next.  

“The ones, the ones I didn’t save.” Tears glossed over Bucky’s eyes.  “Not the ones who have already died.  The ones who will if I don’t stop him.  Their faces are blurry but they’re pleading with me.”  

“People die every day.  You cannot carry that guilt.  It will destroy you.”  Steve reached for his rx pad.  

“I can’t help the people who die every day, but I can help these people.  If I can stop the Butcher.”  Bucky’s jaw tightened.  

“You keep saying ‘I’ when it is a team effort.  You are not a superhero.  You cannot do this alone.”  Steve wrote out a medication.  

“I have to since none of you will listen to me.  Not Tony, not you.”  Bucky rolled his eyes.  “Even Natasha told me to give it a rest.”  

“Maybe that says something.”  Steve handed Bucky the prescription.  “That will stop the dreams.  Take one before bed and get some sleep.”  

“And then what?”  Bucky looked up, lips parted.  

“And then come and see me in the morning.  Once you are rested we will have a conversation about Blake Corenzo and I will talk to Mr. Stark.”  Steve watched as relief flooded Bucky’s face.  

“Thanks.”  He looked at the prescription before shoving it in his pocket and letting out a yawn.  “And sorry, for what I said earlier about Miranda.  She won’t be able to tarnish your reputation.”  

“I am aware. The most salacious detail I gave her is already public knowledge.”  Steve rose.  “I only regret my own error in judgment.  Now get some sleep.”  

Bucky nodded as they walked to the door.  Steve kept his calm as he let the FBI Agent out.  

Then he walked back to the table and picked up the file.  He set out the photos of the four crime scenes Bucky wanted to tie to the Butcher.  

“Very clever Agent Barnes.”  All of them were done by Steve.  In a way seeing the photos was like revisiting an old friend.  

Corenzo was far from Steve’s first kill though.  He had watched the man use a racial slur and a racist imitation at a dry cleaner.  Another rude person the world did not need.  

Steve flashed back to Miranda’s comment about the human race being lucky to have him.  She was right of course, on more levels than she realized.  He was purging the world of the disgusting people who did not belong.  

After Agent Barnes’ proclamation Miranda Balfour’s name had landed on that list.

~~

Steve was a patient man.  He sometimes marked his victims for years before they met their demise.  

When he got home, to what his visitor’s refered to as architectural magic, he went straight for the kitchen.  It was on the level of any executive chef’s dream.  

He would cook tonight.  Channel his anger over the reporter, but not before adding her name to his list.

He went to the recipe drawer.  It looked more like a filing cabinet, filled with Rolodexes of index cards with carefully printed ingredients and instructions.  He had order them online since the entire world had gone digital.

On the rare occasion he had a guest they poked at his old fashioned nature.  He remembered the first time he had Bucky over for dinner.

“You live in such a modern house, and appear a very modern man, but that recipe system reminds me of my grandmother.”  Bucky laughed as he sipped his wine.

“And I bet your grandmother’s cooking was far superior to your own.”  Steve raised as eyebrow as Bucky frowned.

The memory vanished as Steve pulled out the Rolodex he wanted.  This one did not have recipes, it was for its original purpose, filled with business card collected over the years.  

He grabbed one at random.  Donna Chung.  He closed his eyes and remembered her behavior,  the way she was screaming at her child in the grocery store.  The child could have been no more than three and was crying over not being able to drop a quarter in a donation box.  

“You get nothing from that.  Here I’ll buy you a candy bar instead.”  

Steve followed her home that night.  Googled the address and the next day walked into her real estate office.  He picked up a business card and dropped her in his Rolodex.  That was almost eighteen months ago.  

She was not a candidate for a butcher murder.  Besides, the day left Steve uninspired.  But still he set her card to the side.  

He picked up an empty one and wrote the name Miranda Balfour, along with the phony one she had given him and the contact e-mail.  Then he closed up the Rolodex and put it back in its place.  

Steve poured a glass of wine and walked over to his computer.  He fired up the laptop.  

Grabbing a remote he turned on the fireplace and some music as he sat on his overly plush blue sofa.  Calm colors was what his interior designer recommended.   He was grateful for that advice.  She was someone who brought beauty to the world.  

As soon as Steve typed Miranda Balfour into the search her blog popped up first thing.  The title was “Miranda’s Macabre Museum”.  

Steve rolled his eyes as he went to the first post.  It was from two days ago.  

Murder

Victim:  Lawrence Engle

Death:  Stab wounds

Date:  April 12th, 1985

Location:  Mobile, Alabama

What followed was a summary of the facts.  Steve was expecting more of a tattle-tale type scenario.  But he did not see anything salacious.  If anything it was very matter-of-fact with little insight.  

At the end there were links to photos with appropriate warnings and links to sources.

Then there was a section titled editorial.  

“Here we go.”  Steve readied to read the sordid opinion.

The motive in this murder was money.  While the law, for the most part, disregards the motive as important to the trial my long time readers know I disagree.  Until we change as a society and value human life over finances we will be doomed to see unnecessary killings as this continue to happen.  That does not mean the killer should be pardoned for his crime because society as a whole is at fault.  On the contrary.  He is part of the problem and should be punished.  

Sentence:  Death by lethal injection.

“Interesting.”  Steve found his mind going back to his initial opinion of Miranda or whatever her name was.

He noticed a search option on her blog and typed in his name.  Several posts on Canary victims came up, but he found he was only mentioned in the source articles or the summary.  

He did the same for Agent Barnes and saw the results light up.  He scrolled the posts for the highlighted name and came across a murder from three years ago.  

Editorial:   The lead Agent on this case has shown textbook narcissism.  His attempt to relate to the killer to solve the crime failed here, because the murder was not about him, but he found a way to make it so.  The last victim’s death would have been preventable if Agent Barnes listened to anyone but himself.

“That explains Bucky’s dislike.”  Steve shut the laptop and pinched his eyes shut.

When he googled the first name, multiple stories came up that were as she said human interest pieces.  Did she lie just to get the interview?  Pose as the other woman?  

Lie.  What difference did it make?  She was a liar and had earned a spot in his Rolodex.  

This one felt personal though.  In a way Steve did not enjoy.  She made him feel...comfortable.  Or made him feel something.  The way her eyes were so inquisitive and she seemed to hang on every work with genuine interest.  When in fact he was intentionally trying to bore her.  

That would not stand.  This woman would not sit in the Rolodex for years.  Her time would be shorter.  Steve stood up from the couch and went back to the kitchen.  He picked up Donna Chung’s card and returned it with the other, instead setting the card he’d just drafted on the counter.  

He would start tomorrow.

~~

A/N:  Thank you so much for reading!  I really appreciate every like/comment/reblog!  I haven’t done a series in a long time so I am excited!  And if you didn’t figure it out this is....

Hannibal AU :). 

[likeahorribledream]

The One That Got Away

Chapter 3: One True Love

Summary: Bucky and Charlie bond over their mutual love for litterature, opening a little bit more of themselves to the other.

Word Count: 5.7k

TW: Fluff, so much fluff.

Summary | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Bucky and Charlie could have stayed on the phone for hours without getting bored or tired but Charlie’s mom needed to use the phone and made her hang-up after an hour of them talking.

Bucky seemed better than when she left him that afternoon but she was still worried about him. She wondered if he had told Steve yet, or if he was waiting until it was official. He clearly wasn’t taking the news very well and Steve would only be excited, hoping he would get drafted too when the moment came.

Charlie spent the rest of her night thinking about Bucky and what she could do to help him. From what the soldiers had said, they still had two months before they would start drafting men and she was determined to make the most of it.

She woke up the next day feeling a little bit anxious and nervous for her friend. Charlie had a habit of taking on other people’s problems and making them her own. Friends and family had told her on multiple occasions to be careful, that it wasn’t her responsibility to help the whole world but that was who Charlie was, at least she was trying to do something to help.

It was Thursday, and on Thursdays Charlie would be in the back office working on updating all the patients’ files that hadn’t been updated throughout the week for a lack of time. She was thankful for that, her thoughts being anywhere but at work. She had asked the woman who took her place at the front desk to let her know if Steve came in at some point during the day.

She spent the whole morning listening to music on the radio while slowly working her way through the files that had piled up during the week. Most people hated updating the files but Charlie loved it. It allowed her to catch up on the patients, sometimes wondering what had happened to them and it was a lot more relaxing than being with the patients. As much as she loved being with them, she needed some time alone from time to time. A small break from all the action.

When noon came around, Charlie had just finished updating a file and thought it was the perfect time for a break. She took the time to clean up her desk, knowing that if she didn’t do it now she would put it off until the end of the day and then curse herself for it. After making sure that everything that was done was put away, she walked out of the small office and closed the door behind her, locking it.

She went to the break room to get her lunch, walking in she saw that most nurses and doctors were sitting down at the large table and there weren’t any seat left for her. She grabbed her brown paper bag containing her lunch and decided to go eat outside, it was a nice sunny day might as well enjoy it, she thought.

When she walked outside, it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to how bright the sun was shining. The office where she had been all morning didn’t have any windows and she had gotten used to the darkness. After blinking a few times to get her eyes into focus, she noticed a familiar face waiting for her in front of the clinic.

Bucky.

She panicked. Was something wrong? Did she forget that they had made plans?

Bucky, seeing her confusion, smiled and approached her.

‘’I hope you don’t mind. I thought we could eat together again today.’’ He smiled, shyly.

Charlie felt relief wash over her and allowed herself to smile back.

‘’I would love to.’’ She grinned.

She took a moment to look him over. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday, his eyes had that spark she loved so much again.

‘’D’you want to go back to the diner?’’ He asked, no specific plans in mind.

Charlie looked at the diner across the street and then looked down to the sad little paper bag she was holding, a soggy sandwich waiting for her at the bottom of it.

‘’Sounds a lot better than the lunch I was about to have. Just give me a minute, I’ll go put it back.’’ She raised her hand that was holding the bag and gave it a sad look.

Bucky laughed and nodded, letting her know he would be waiting right here.

Charlie made her way inside, all the way to the back to the break room and put her lunch back. She’ll just save it for tomorrow. She quickly made her way back outside, this time her eyes getting used to the light a lot quicker and she smiled at Bucky.

‘’Let’s go.’’ She said, walking towards Bucky.

She had almost reached the street to cross, no cars in sight when she felt a hand grab her wrist and slowly pull her back. She turned her head to look at the hand holding her and stepped back. She was confused as to why Bucky had held her back, it had been safe to cross the street.

‘’Is everything ok?’’ She looked at him, concerned. He was frowning and looked nervous.

He was biting his lower lip, just like Charlie did when she was nervous. He pulled gently on her arm, bringing her closer to him while walking towards her, closing the distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged tightly, just like he had done yesterday.

It only took a second before Charlie realized what was happening, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him right back. Bucky was taller than her and she loved the height difference when they hugged.

She let her head rest on his chest, waiting until he let go before stepping back and looking at him.

‘’Feeling better?’’ A small smile forming on her lips, seeing the red flush his cheeks.

Bucky hadn’t planned on hugging her. Being close to her reminded him of the hug they had shared yesterday before she had to go back to work and how calming it had been. He wanted, and needed, to feel the calm again. Without even thinking about it he had grabbed her and before he knew it she was snuggled tightly in his arms.

He felt a lot more calm but he was also embarrassed by what he had just done. He wasn’t really the hugging type, especially not with people he barely knew but there was something about Charlie that made him want to be vulnerable. Like he could bare his soul to her and she would heal every little piece that needed healing.

He looked at her for a few seconds, still not over what he had just done and blushed. She looked at him with such warmth and concern that his embarrassment quickly dissipated.

‘’A lot better.’’

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together, they crossed the street to their new favourite spot.

The next day, exactly at noon, Bucky was waiting for her again. This time he had brought his own little paper bag and together they sad on the grass under a tree to hide in the shade.

They spent the entire lunch time talking, sharing some of their lunch with the other.

After the whole Wednesday incident, they had gotten closer. The only person he trusted when he felt vulnerable was Steve and now Charlie had seen him in a very vulnerable moment and the way she reacted to it just made him trust her more.

Charlie quickly learned that once Bucky liked you, he really liked to touch. He was hugging her a lot more often, when they were walking he had one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders, whenever she had to walk in front of him he often had his hand on the small of her back, letting her know he was still there.

At first, it made her blush a lot. She wasn’t used to that kind of attention from men. She quickly learned to love it, looking forward to his hugs. She found herself leaning into him automatically when they were walking, almost he sync with the movement of his arm being wrapped around her.

It was crazy to think that in as little as 48 hours they had gotten so close. It was just so easy for them to be comfortable with one another.

They had finished their lunch, Charlie was picking up their leftovers to throw them in the garbage can out front. She walked back to Bucky and sat next to him.

‘’You should come over tonight.’’ She said, turning her heard to look at him. ‘’I want to show you my book collection.’’

Bucky nodded.

‘’Books, uh? Count me in.’’ He grinned. ‘’What time is your shift over? Should I just meet you back here and then we can walk together?’’

‘’That’s perfect. I’m usually done around 4. If I’m not outside you can come in, it shouldn’t go past that. That’s when the night shift starts.’’

Bucky stood up, holding out both his hands in front of her. She put her hands in his and let him help her get up. She used her hands to straighten up her dress, sitting on the grass with it hadn’t been a really good idea.

‘’I’ll be here at 4, then.’’

It was time for her to go back to work, Bucky walked to her and hugged her, once again. He was still a little bit hesitant, so far it hadn’t looked like it was bothering her but he promised himself that if there was any sign from her that he was making her uncomfortable, he would stop immediately. Little did he know that he didn’t have to worry, Charlie loved his hugs as much as he loved hers.

‘’I’ll see you later, James.’’

‘’See you later, Lily.’’ He watched her walk back inside and made his way home.

After her lunch break, Charlie made her way to the back office and finished the work she had started the day before. It was a slow day and there were enough girls to cover the front, nurse Jones suggesting to Charlie that she could continue updating the files if she wanted. An offer that she gladly accepted, needing the calm. Plus it was Friday and she loved Fridays because it meant that she would leave work earlier than the rest of the week. It was shaping up to be a good day.

The last 3 hours of her shift went by painfully slow. She kept looking at the clock on the wall in front of her, every time she thought 10 minutes had gone by she would look up to realize that it had barely been 2 minutes since the last time she looked. She was excited to show Bucky all of her books and spend time with him which made working feel like a nuisance.

Looking up only to notice it had barely been 5 minutes since the last time she checked, she let a groan escaped her lips and she fell back into her chair. She covered her face with both her hands and sighed. She usually didn’t mind being at work, but today was not the case. She got up and walked over to the wall, bringing her chair with her. She climbed on it and grabbed the clock that had been driving her crazy. Stepping back, she placed the clocked face down on the ground and walked to her desk with her chair, moving it to its original place and sitting down.

‘’Okay Charlie. You need to focus now.’’ She told herself, out lout, as if it would help.

It strangely did. The rest of the afternoon went by a lot faster. The first few minutes after taking down the clock, she had the urge to walk over to it and look at the time but fought against it and finally won. She focused on her work, never bothering to look up again, until she heard a small knock on her door. Taking her attention away from her files and to the door, she told them to come in.

She was surprised to see the man in charge of the night shift looking back at her once the door had opened.

‘’Miss Mathews, your shift ended 10 minutes ago. What are you still doing here?’’ He looked amused.

Charlie jumped up from her chair, panicked.

‘’Is it really 4:10 already?’’

The man only nodded as an answer and couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing Charlie trying to rush and clean up the desk. Being called by one of the night nurses, he wished her a good weekend and left.

Charlie had never cleared up her desk as quickly as she did that afternoon. She grabbed her bag and her jacket and rushed to the front of the clinic, hoping Bucky would be late and that she hadn’t made him wait. Unfortunately for her, Bucky had been on time. Even a little bit early. He patiently waited for her, sitting on a chair in the waiting area and reading whatever book they had left out on the small table for patients while they waited.

When she noticed him sitting patiently, engrossed in what he was reading, she softly cursed under her breath and rushed to him.

‘’James! I’m so sorry, I lost track of time. Which is ironic because after coming back from our lunch I thought the afternoon would never end, I even took down the clock from the wall because I felt like it kept nagging me on how slowly time passed and then suddenly it was 10 past 4 and I am late I am so, so, sorry.’’ She rambled on, not even taking a second to breathe in between sentences.

Bucky looked up at her and put down the book he had been holding. He stood up, listening to Charlie, a small smile on his lips. He chuckled and grabbed her by the shoulders to break her from her trance.

‘’Charlie..’’ He tried to cut her off, but she kept going. ‘’Lily!!!’’ He said a little bit louder.

Her eyes found his quickly at her nickname, finally making her stop apologizing. When she finally looked at him he smiled at her.

‘’Hi.’’ He said. She smiled at him. ‘’It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It’s Friday, we have all the time in the world.’’

She felt a wave of embarrassment rushing through her, finally realizing at how insane she must have sounded. She blushed and looked down.

‘’Sorry.’’ She whispered.

Bucky started laughing. ‘’Please, stop apologizing, it’s okay.’’

Still holding her by the shoulders, he slowly pulled her towards him and hugged her. He felt her relax against him and then felt her arms wrapping around him, hugging him back. Always waiting for Bucky to be the first to let go, she stepped back when she felt him loosen his hold on her.

‘’Let’s go.’’ She turned around to walk out.

She waved goodbye to her coworkers, wishing them a great weekend and smiling at everyone. Bucky walked in front of her to open the door and held it open for her, following behind once she was outside. He wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and they started making their way to her house. They walked in a comfortable silence, enjoying the sun and watching kids running around the streets, coming back from school.

With her house in sight, Bucky turned his head towards Charlie and looked down at her.

‘’Won’t your parents mind me coming over?’’ His question made Charlie look up at him.

She shrugged. ‘’They aren’t going to be home for a few more hours.’’

Getting closer to her front door, Charlie started going through her purse, looking for her keys. After a few seconds of fumbling around, she finally felt them under her fingers and grabbed them, bringing them to the locks. Opening the door she walked inside, stepping aside to let Bucky walk in and then closed the door behind him.

Bucky had seen her house, at least the outside, on multiple occasions when he walked her home with Steve. It was a gorgeous house, clearly her parents had money and lots of it. But now, being inside, he felt so out of place.

His family wasn’t what you would call poor but they were far from being rich. They would have enough money for necessities but not a cent left for ‘’extras’’ as his mom called luxuries. Bucky found a few odd jobs, working here and there to make money. He gave most of his paychecks to his mom, keeping just a little bit aside for when he wanted to go out or buy presents for his family members.

Standing in Charlie’s house, Bucky felt like he didn’t belong in here. The house was even more beautiful inside and it looked even bigger, somehow, than when he was standing outside. He looked around, looking almost nervous. As if someone would know he wasn’t supposed to be there and come kick him out.

Charlie took off her shoes, Bucky doing the same thing shortly after.

‘’Welcome to my home.’’ She said with a warm smile.

He finally turned his attention back to her, her smile making him feel better. There was something about her that made him feel... special. The way she would look at him, smile at him or cheer him on whenever he was doing something he didn’t think he could. Charlie made him feel like he was worthy of anything, even a house like this. Clearly, she had the means to be looking down on him and his entire family. Like every other rich families did with people like him, but she never did. She was kind to everybody, never looking down on anyone. She always made everybody feel like they were important and worthy of her time. He thought she had one of the most beautiful hearts he had seen, even better than Steve’s and he didn’t think such a thing was possible.

Charlie gave Bucky a quick tour, walking around, pointing at rooms. After finishing their ‘’tour’’, Charlie guided them upstairs to her room. When she opened the door to let him in, Bucky was surprised to see what was in front of him.

Her room was big, huge compared to his that he had to share with one of his siblings, and it was extremely neat. Her bed was made, not a single wrinkle could be seen on her covers. An entire wall was covered in book shelves, but clearly they weren’t enough because there were small piles of books on the floor and even those piles were neatly stacked near the shelves.

‘’I knew you liked to read but this...’’ He waved his hand around, gesturing towards her book collection ‘’This is insane.’’ Charlie laughed.

‘’I know, I know. It’s a problem’’ She laughed once more. ‘’I just...’’ She paused, thinking for a few seconds and blushed. ‘’I just love to escape reality sometimes.’’

He nodded, agreeing with her. He must admit, if he had the kind of money her parents did, his room would probably look very similar to hers. He looked around a little, curious. He walked over to her desk, the one she used to get ready every morning. Her hairbrush, hair ties, hair pins were all placed neatly in front of the mirror along with her makeup. What surprised him was the amount of jewellery she owned, especially necklaces. There must have been 10 different ones placed on small hooks, and yet ever since he had met her he always saw her with the same one.

He turned towards her, pointing at all the necklaces and raising an eyebrow, curiously.

‘’You have all these necklaces, but you always wear the same one.’’ He then pointed at the necklace she was wearing. She nodded and he let his hand fall back next to his body. ‘’Why?’’ He asked.

Charlie chewed on her bottom lip and her hand reached up to touch her necklace, she looked nervous.

‘’If I tell you, promise you won’t laugh at me.’’ She says while sitting down on the edge of her bed.

‘’I would never laugh at you. I promise.’’ He was even more curious.

He grabbed the chair from her desk and brought it closer to her bed, sitting in front of her.

‘’My grandmother gave me this necklace when I was 10 years old.’’ She started.

Her necklace was made of silver, a thin chain was holding a small heart locket. The locket lying between both her collarbones. She raised a hand to it and smiled.

‘’She had one very similar that I had always loved, ever since I was a little girl. She said that my grandfather gave it to her when they started dating. I think it was on their second date. He said that the moment he had laid eyes on her he knew she was going to be his wife. When he gave it to her, he opened the locket and inside one of the halves was a picture of him and the other half was empty. He told her that she was meant to put her picture on the other side and this way they would always be together, near her heart, even when they weren’t.’’

‘’They were so in love.’’ She continued, not really looking at Bucky. Just remembering the moment her grandmother had given her the necklace, a sad smile formed on her lips. Charlie opened her own locket.

One half was empty and the other one had a picture of herself.

‘’She gave this one to me, saying that when I meet the man I was going to marry, the love of my life, I’ll be able to put his picture in it with mine, that way he’ll always be close to my heart like the love of her life was close to hers.’’ She took a small pause, snapping the heart shut. ‘’My grandfather died the next year and she followed soon after. Broken heart syndrome the doctor told us. She literally couldn’t live without him.’’

She was smiling but a few tears fell down her cheeks. It had been almost 15 years but she still missed them every single day. Bucky quickly reached up and wiped away her tears.

‘’My parents got married because it was a good business move for both their families. They get along fine but they aren’t in love. Not the way my grandparents were and I don’t want that. I want to marry someone because we love each other and can’t live without one another, not because it’s the ‘’right’’ thing to do. I wear the necklace every day to remind myself, but mostly remind my parents, that I won’t settle for less. They have been pushing me for years to marry any guy that can ‘’provide’’ for me so I can be a dutiful housewife.’’

Bucky chuckled, knowing full well that wasn’t going to happen. She was too independent and she loved her job too much to give it all up for some guy and spend all her days at home, by herself, cleaning and cooking.

‘’Like that’s ever gonna happen.’’ Charlie snorted, as if she could read his mind.

‘’That’s a beautiful story.’’ He smiled at her. ‘’Whoever ends up in the other half is going to be a very lucky man, and he better treat you right because it’ll be my pleasure to hurt him if he doesn’t.’’

She laughed at the threat.

‘’What? It’s true.’’

‘’Oh, I know. That’s why I laughed. Because I know you will be more than happy to remind him about that.’’

‘’Damn right.’’ Bucky smiled and winked.

Charlie shook her head, rolling her eyes as if she was annoyed but the big smile on her face proved differently.

They looked at each other, smiling for what felt like hours but in reality was just a minute. Both subconsciously hoping that Bucky would be her other half but never willingly admitting it to themselves.

They finally broke eye contact and Bucky got up, walking over to her book shelves. He looked the books over, glancing at them. He turned around to look at Charlie who had gotten up short after and was now standing behind him, raising an eyebrow and smirking at her.

‘’Are they in alphabetical order?’’ He teased.

Charlie nodded and chewed on her bottom lip a few seconds before adding ‘’And sorted by genre.’’

‘’Amazing.’’ Bucky said, turning back to the books and starting at the far left to make his way through the alphabets and genres.

After a few minute he gasped.

‘’Is that a first edition of The Hobbit?’’ He looked at her with wild eyes.

‘’Yes!’’ She said, excitedly.

‘’It’s such a good book, isn’t it? I used to have a first edition copy, too. I brought it with me everywhere I went and I ended up losing it.’’ He pouted at the memory of the heartbreak he felt when he realized he had lost one of his favourite books.

Charlie mimicked his pout, sympathizing with him. ‘’I’m sorry James.’’

She reached out and squeezed his shoulder in her hand, trying to comfort him.

‘’It’s okay.’’ Bucky said dramatically ‘’I’ve grieved. I still miss it, but I try to not think about it. It hurts too much, you know?’’ Wiping a tear that isn’t there.

‘’I understand.’’ She nodded, being just as dramatic as he was being.

They looked at each other, completely serious before starting to laugh like they had just told the most hilarious joke of all times.

‘’Dork.’’ She said, sticking out her tongue at him once they had calmed down.

‘’Takes one to know one, sweetheart.’’ He smirked and looked at the books again, missing the way Charlie blushed at the new nickname.

‘’You’re welcome to borrow whichever ones you like.’’ Noticing how Bucky was eyeing some of them. ‘’I haven’t read them all yet, but I really don’t mind if you want to bring some home with you. As long as you don’t keep them from me forever.’’ She laughed.

He smiled and pointed at a book. ‘’Could I borrow this one? I’ve been wanting to read it forever but never found it anywhere.’’

‘’I know! The reviews were so good, everyone jumped on it. I went to every book store I could think of to find it. There were only a few copies left and I never saw it for sell again. I haven’t read it yet, it was the next one on my list but you can definitely borrow it. I’ll just read it after you bring it back.’’ She smiled, not even hesitating to let him be the one to read it first.

He felt bad to be taking it from her, even if it was just for a couple of weeks. He shook his head, a shy smile on his face.

‘’No, no. It’s okay. You should be the one to read it first. I’ll look for something else.’’

‘’Nonsense. Take it. I have plenty more to keep me busy.’’

He almost melted right where he stood. The way she was looking at him, as if just the thought of making him happy by borrowing the book was more than enough to make her happy made his heart flutter. Hesitating for a few seconds, he grabbed the book in question and turned around to completely face her.

‘’Actually, I have a better idea.’’

She looked at him surprised and curious, following him with her eyes. He walked over to her bed and sat down, his back against her headboard, rearranging all her pillows and decorative cushions in a way that almost made it look like he had just made himself a cocoon made out of her pillows.

‘’What are you doing?’’ She laughed.

He grinned at her and patted the spot next to him.

‘’Come over here. We’ll read it together.’’

Charlie swore that in that moment her heart skipped a few beats and she tried to not think about what that meant. Without hesitating she made her way to her bed and sat down next to Bucky.

‘’How are we doing this?’’ She asked.

‘’Maybe I can read it to you? That way we’ll be following at the same time.’’

Again, her heart skipped a few more beats and with how close they were sitting and she sincerely hoped Bucky hadn’t noticed. Not trusting her voice in this moment, she simply nodded.

Bucky couldn’t have noticed, he was too busy focusing on the way his heartbeat had sped up when she agreed to sit next to him and let him read to her. He acted before thinking, mad at himself for doing so. Something he found himself doing a lot when he was around Charlie. He didn’t know what took over him but the idea popped into his mind and before he could stop himself, it was too late and he was already on her bed. He couldn’t understand why he was acting this way with her, he just hoped she wouldn’t think he was being too weird and that it wouldn’t make her want to stop hanging out with him. He feared that some day he’d cross the line between friendly and cute to clingy and annoying, scaring her away in the process.

He reached his arm around her, bringing her closer to him so he could hold the book for the both of them.

When she felt how close he was, she felt heat creep up on her cheeks and she was thankful that he was too busy getting comfortable to notice it.

Charlie sat down a little lower on her bed so that Bucky didn’t have to hold up the arm that was around her. Soon enough, he started reading to her and after a few pages Charlie thought that his voice was the best sound she had ever heard and that she would never get tired of hearing it.

By the end of chapter 2, Charlie had readjusted herself, feeling how Bucky’s body was already tiring from their position. She had gotten impossibly closer to him, the back of her head was now resting under his collarbone. His arm that had previously been around her shoulder was now around her middle, resting on her stomach. Her arm was resting on top his, playing with the hem of his sleeve.

Too engrossed in the story, and each other, neither Charlie or Bucky heard the front door open and close downstairs.

Her parents were home and were surprised to find a pair of shoes that clearly weren’t Charlie’s next to the front door. They stopped moving, listening to see if they could figure out where she was. The only sound in the house was coming from her room. A man’s voice. A voice they soon recognized to be Bucky’s. They listened for a few more minutes, trying to figure out what was being said and finally understanding that he was reading something to her.

They moved to the living room and slowly closed the door behind them, trying not to make a sound. Charlie’s mom looked panicked while her dad looked angry.

‘’That’s the boy she’s been spending all of her time with?’’ He hissed. ‘’I thought she was with the Rogers boy!’’

Her mom glared at her dad.

‘’Lower your voice before they hear you.’’ She hissed back. ‘’I thought it was the Rogers boy, this is news to me, too.’’

Charlie’s dad started pacing, shaking his head.

‘’This.’’ He waved in the general direction of Charlie’s room. ‘’Cannot happen. Steve Rogers wasn’t a threat but Barnes has a reputation. He can get any single girl he wants, not one of them being able to resist him. Every single person in this town knows how he is.’’ He was so angry, his skin looked almost purple.

Her mom wasn’t in a better shape.

It would have been easy to mistake their anger for concern, anyone who could have been listening in could have sympathized with her parents. They were concerned that their daughter could possibly get her heartbroken. Then, her dad spoke again.

‘’My daughter isn’t going to fall in love with some...’’ He trailed off, looking for the perfect word to describe Bucky. ‘’low-class bastard.’’ He added with disgust.

And there it was. Her parents weren’t concern with her well-being, they weren’t worried about her possibly getting hurt or having her heart broken. No. They were concerned that their daughter might be falling in love with a man they didn’t approve of. A man that couldn’t provide for her, that couldn’t bring anything to their family. Marriage had nothing to do with love, marriage was a business transaction. They needed to gain something out of it and love wasn’t something they were interested in.

They had noticed how their daughter seemed happier, chipper even. She was barely even home and she was always in a good mood. They thought it was because she had found a new friend in Steve but now they understood what it really was. James Buchanan Barnes was corrupting their daughter, ruining any chance for them to make her marry a man of their choice.

They stared at each other in silence, the faint sound of Bucky’s voice reaching the living room then the sound of laughter filled the house. Charlie’s laugh. It made her parents cringe.

‘’We need to put a stop to this.’’ Her mom whispered angrily.

‘’We are going to do everything we can, darling.’’ Her dad got even more angry when Charlie laughed again. ‘’There is no way in hell I’m letting Barnes anywhere near our daughter. I don’t give a damn about how she feels.’’

Her dad stopped for a minute, thinking.

‘’I’ll make it so that she won’t have a choice but to listen to what we want.’’ He smirked. ‘’It’s going to be us or him.’’

An ultimatum. Her family or her best friend. Either way, Charlie’s heart was about to be broken and her parents couldn’t wait to see it all happen.

[dorevenge]

where ignorance is bliss - chapter 10: snow will follow

SUMMARY: Maria is expecting, and the pregnancy is rough on her and Howard. [AO3 LINK]

CHAPTERS: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [10] 11 12 13 14 15 ☆

May 22, 1970 – Manhattan, New York, Stark Manor

“Howard!” I scream, halfway down the staircase to the first floor, hands clenching to the railing. “It’s happening!” I’m nine months pregnant, and it feels like a pit has opened up behind my stomach, squeezing the life out of me at the same time, my knuckles going white from the pressure.

Howard runs over to me, one of the quickest 53-year-olds I’ve met, pushing up his sleeve to count the seconds on his wrist, whispering the time to himself. He guides me down the stairs, arm around my waist and shoulder supporting my armpit.

“Have Edwin bring the car around,” I saw. Tears stream from my eyes, my knees wobble from the pain, and Howard says the same thing he always does.

“They’re just Braxton Hicks, doll. The contractions aren’t close enough together.” He sets me down on the couch and wipes my face dry.

“They feel real,” I snap at him without meaning to.

“I know, I’m sorry. Let’s get you something to drink, settle your stomach.”

Edwin runs off to the kitchen, “I’ll put the kettle on.”

“You have to stay hydrated, and lay on your left side,” Howard continues. He brushes my hair out of the way and guides me to a horizontal position.

“I don’t want to lay on my left side, I want my body back,” I whine, adjusting the pillows underneath me to support the bowling ball sticking out of me. The pain behind my abdomen rages on like a wildfire. “Can you put the movie on?”

“Are we feeling West Side Story or Singing in the Rain today?” Howard prides himself on our home video library, collecting almost every film we would go out to see at the cinema. Our home theatre was impressive, given he had tried to make his own film production company at one point. It was his only unsuccessful venture, so we don’t talk about that aspect of it very often, but he keeps up with the technology and is obsessed with recreating the feeling of going to see a talkie at home.

“West Side Story.”

He puts the tape in, and the familiar opening plays out. Watching it reminds me of the first Academy Awards Show I accompanied Howard to, where we watched West Side Story sweep the competition, when Rita Moreno won in that stunning dress. It was only eight years ago, but it feels like a lifetime now, like many lifetimes have passed during Howard’s and my relationship. And now I’m cramping and swollen and bloated, as far as I can be from walking down a red carpet.

I’m asleep before “Something’s Coming” plays.

“Can you chew any louder?”

“Maria, we’re having soup. There’s no chewing involved.”

“It’s making me sick,” I say.

“I’ll go in the pantry,” Howard offers without complaint, used to this by now, kissing the top of my head and taking his bowl of soup with him into the pantry, shutting the door behind him.

Edwin and Ana look up cautiously from their bowls. “Shall we leave you as well, Mrs. Stark?” Ana asks.

“Why would you? You’re completely fine.”

I wake from a dead sleep at two in the morning, after a long day of getting mad at Howard for things that he couldn’t help, and I know I’m going into labor. This time, it isn’t Braxton Hicks, I know it. I rustle Howard’s shoulder. Then I shake it harder. “Howard, wake up,” I whisper harshly. He slowly blinks his eyes open. “We need to go to the hospital.”

“Let me get my watch,” he reaches over to flick on his bedside lamp.

“It’s for real this time.” I know it. I don’t want him to question it, I can feel it in my gut; today is the day we meet our child for the first time.

“If we go in again for more practice contractions, I don’t think the hospital will let ever let us come back.”

I pause before replying.

“My water broke.”

I’ve never seen Howard get out of bed and get dressed so quickly before. He throws my already packed bag at Edwin to have him bring the car around, asks Ana to change the bedsheets, and helps me dress myself, ushering me out the door. For the first time in the last nine months, I’m the calmest person in the Stark household, focusing on my breathing and answering the nurses’ questions as Howard stammers, trying to take care of everything at once. They confirm I am indeed in labor, run their preliminary tests, and show us to the suite we had reserved.

I didn’t realize the suite would be so luxurious; it was nicer than some hotels I’ve stayed at. A jacuzzi and a pool table are tucked away in the corner, along with a full-sized refrigerator and a private bathroom. We’re given a run-down of the amenities, including an on-call masseuse and chef, but as we settle in, I just want Edwin’s cooking and fanciful retellings of his days spent running around Los Angeles with the SSR. The way he tells it, he makes Peggy sound more heroic than Captain America.

“Don’t get mad at me, but you’re as beautiful now as you were the day I met you back in Monaco.” Howard dabs my forehead with a cool cloth.

“I have half a child sticking out of me!” I yell from gritted teeth between contractions. “And you’re flirting with me right now?” Rivets of sweat trickle down my brow between my breasts, chest heaving with effort. The pain from the contractions pulses through me. We’re almost 14 hours into the labor now, and I’ve never been more tired in my life. I want to sleep, but every fiber of every muscle in my body is engaged and trying to get through this.

“Jesus, doll, I said don’t get mad at me.” I take his hand and squeeze it hard enough he winces, like I’m siphoning the pain out of me and into him. He whispers words of encouragement into my ear, watering me and obeying every order from the doctor, not straying from my side - until we hear the peal of cries and the magical words –

“It’s a boy.”

Anthony Howard Stark was born May 29, 1970, a healthy 6 pounds and 10 ounces, with ten fingers, ten toes, and two powerful lungs that never stopped crying. And I do mean never. Baby Tony had no respect for what time of day it was, who was visiting, or how tired his parents were. Although we hadn’t discussed names at all before that day, it came together perfectly; a beautiful name for our beautiful boy.

Howard returned to work within the week Tony was born, taking Edwin with him every day to try to make up for the lost time at S.H.I.E.LD. base at Camp Lehigh. At dinner after his first day back, Howard had nothing about complaints about the way things had been run in his absence. “One of the security guards said the Tesseract went missing for five minutes and showed right back up in its containment unit. I think we have a breach, but everyone swears they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” he says over a plate of chicken and asparagus.

“When was this?”

“Back in April. We need to up our security.”

When I announce I am ready to retire and go to bed, everyone at the table stands to help. While I appreciate the attention and assistance, I’m looking forward to being able to get up on my own. The delivery has had an immense toll on my body, wiping me out completely with the emergency Cesarian. I can’t stand on my own for more than thirty seconds at a time, and Ana has been instrumental in my recovery. She takes care of Tony when I can’t, and when Howard is kept late at the office. She changes every diaper, cleans every dish, and I cannot thank her enough times. I think she took to the role quite well, and I don’t look forward to the day it’s taken from her again.

“Master Tony, you are quite the tornado,” I hear Edwin say down the hall as I fold laundry in the living room. Tony has just turned two, and his favorite word currently is “no.” Edwin does his best to toe the line between butler and substitute father-figure, but Tony needs a firm hand – the opposite of what he gets from Howard when he’s either stuck in the lab or nursing a gin and tonic.

“Tony Tornado! Tony Tornado!” Tony sprints down the hall, giggling, spilling his cup of Cheerios and leaving a trail behind him.

“Master Tony!” Edwin takes off after him. He is almost 60 by now, and, somehow, he still keeps up with the toddler. The two of them were practically inseparable. We lost Ana last year to a long battle with cancer, and it’s almost like Tony made it his personal mission to keep Edwin entertained and distracted enough to forget about the tragedy. I often find them playing make-believe with flying robots or watching cartoons on Saturday mornings, cross-legged on the carpet in the den.

I spend my first two years of motherhood caressing egos, trying to be the entertainer and people-pleaser, but I find myself just wanting all four of us to be together at home, instead of stuck late in offices or meetings or dinner parties that no one wants to attend in the first place. I miss my husband because even when he’s at home, he’s really back at the Stark Industries headquarters, still thinking about that damn arc reactor.

[captainkirkk]

The Magnus Archives Fic Recs

In no particular order, a list of my favourite fics I’ve found since getting into TMA. 

(Contains spoilers)

ceylon, assam, and darjeeling by Sciosa

People do not bring Jonathon Sims tea. Martin Blackwood, newly-minted archival assistant, has apparently not received this memo.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

patchwork by Jothowrote

Part 1 of Anthill verse

It was happy hour at the Anthill, and it was busy. Jon got there late, held back at the institute by an irritated Elias. Elias knew exactly what Jon did with his Friday nights, and he hated it.

In fact, one of the main reasons Jon went each week was because of Elias’ distaste for the place. Jon himself wasn’t overly keen of the dusty, faded décor, grimy floor, or limited selection of IPAs, but he didn’t go to the Anthill for the place, as Elias well knew. He went for the people.

An AU in which all the various Avatars hang out at a bar.

Martin: A Model Assistant by idareu2bme, kristsune

Tim finds Martin's old photoshoot, and makes everyone appreciates model!Martin the way he should be.

doctor, don't look me in the (eye)s by blacksatinpointeshoes (Note: Crossover with the Bright Sessions!)

Part 1 of jon sims v the nhs (+ podfic)

Joan Bright has a new patient. He's carrying an old tape recorder and is covered head to toe in scars. Jonathan Sims looks dangerous, but Dr Bright has dealt with all sorts of atypical individuals. She has no reason to be nervous.

Right?

avatar groupchat by gayprophets

10:12 PM Jared Boneturner: the arm bone was a femuur :) i looked it up Elias: Humerus. Jared Boneturner: yeah it was pretty funny :)

tell me again about how it hurts by Wildehack (tyleet)

After Ny-Ålesund, Jon goes to the prison and compels his way as far as Elias’s cell block before a guard stops him. There’s a bright streak of blood dripping unchecked from the guard’s nose, and his eyes are vacant. He says calmly: “There are twenty people between us, and I’m prepared to sacrifice them all if you keep walking.”

deep within, just beneath the skin by cacowhistle

A collection of drabbles that explore the things that may come with becoming the Archivist.

(A collection of drabbles that focus on the more eldritch monster parts of Jonathan Sims. Some good, some bad.)

Come Change Your Ring With Me by j quadrifrons (Jenavira)

The Lukases demand the Archivist marry into the family, and the Institute relies on them too much to say no. Peter is smug. Elias is fuming. Martin is suffering. Jon thinks this might be tolerable if only Peter would hurry up and leave him alone already.

OR, the soap opera we call an Archives revolves around Peter Lukas this time.

Canary by brinnanza (+ podfic)

There is a door in Jon’s office that is not supposed to be there.

AKA: Helen comes bearing gifts.

Hey Martin, I Like Your Shirt! by idareu2bme

Tim has started shamelessly flirting with Martin around the office. Martin can tell it's an act, but what he doesn't understand is why Tim's doing it in the first place.

the umbrella by Wildehack (tyleet)

"And to think—all of Jonah Magnus’ carefully laid plans, the centuries of scheming, the murders, the sacrifices, all of that work could have been completely undone if Martin Blackwood had gone back for an umbrella.”

Clothes Have No Gender by kristsune 

Jon wears a skirt to the Institute for the first time, and gets reactions he hadn't expected.

these halls ain't empty with you by hulklinging

Jon doesn't meet someone like him until he's almost twelve years old.

Once he does, though, he'll do anything to not let go.

(The Magnus Institute's human experiments are not alright. But at least they're not alone.)

It Serenely Disdains to Destroy Us by trill_gutterbug (+ podfic)

Martin gnaws his lower lip. “Do you think he’ll - I mean, do you think it’ll be…”

Melanie's smile becomes a little less of a grimace. She claps his shoulder, not ungently. “Martin. It’ll be fine. It’s only temporary. He’s not moving in.”

Martin chuckles. “Yes. Of course.”-

Jon's flat is being fumigated. He is not impressed. Martin offers his spare bedroom.

Martin Blackwood Tries to Save the World (and Drags Jon with Him) by TheRealAndian

It's the end of the world, and Jon and Martin have no idea how to fix it. That is, until a suspicious door lands them unsuspectingly in the past, long before the apocalypse. Now they have to work together with their former coworkers and their younger selves to stop the Watcher's Crown from being completed, and maybe even admit their feelings for one another.

Hybrid Signal by Mad_Maudlin

To be a monster is to be a hybrid signal, a lighthouse: both shelter and warning at once.

Martin receives a message from an unknown individual, and discovers there's more to his role at the Magnus Institute than he previously realized.

a gift; a promise by holdingbee

jon requests an assistant. or a few, if elias can spare them. elias certainly can.

a self-indulgent one-shot where martin and jon meet a little differently.

Like Real People Do by HistoriaGloria

'Martin Blackwood had been an archival assistant for over 2 years when he found the first tape.'

Martin finds a tape which reveals some uncomfortable truths about his boss and sets him searching for the monster that Elias refers to only as 'Archivist'. But for all of Martin's work and research at the Magnus Institute, he is not prepared for what he might find down this path.

[cultureisdarkbeer]

Book 1 of the Rooted in Friendship series

The Beginning

 In the Beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters.  Then God said: Let there be light and there was light.  God saw that the light was good.  God then separated the light from the darkness. God instructed Chris Carter to call the light “Scully” and the darkness “Mulder”. Wait.....What?

*

Mulder woke to a sharp pain in his shoulder.  He lifted his head and a newspaper clipping stuck to his face.  He had drifted to sleep while reading some literature on Mariette Field Air Force base.  He looked at his watch which read 10:23 P.M. and rubbed his eyes.  It wasn’t unusual for him to sleep in the office, in a way he preferred it.  The unusual part is any sleep he was able to get at all.  He glanced over at the television set that was causing his morning wood to twitch from the sounds emanating from it.  There were two doctors.  One receiving oral pleasure and the other giving to a voluptuous naked woman with an alien mask over her head. He smiled knowingly and got up to turn it off and head to the bathroom.

*

Mulder slid onto the barstool of the dimly lit tavern and tapped on the cherry wood of the bar.  “Hey Fox, the usual?” asked the bartender.

 “Sounds good Joe.” Being the only bar he frequented, although not often, him and the bartender had become buddies.  He liked it because it was dark, walking distance from his apartment, and no one from the FBI ever came in.  Mulder was not the social butterfly. He looked around to make sure his suspicions were true; that he knew no one.  He was now considered a comedy routine.  A freak show the other agents pointed and laughed at.  If they only knew.  A short-haired brunette sat down on the bar stool next to him. She was thin, with legs up to her neck.  

He took a deep breath and tried conversation.  “How do you like this weather we’re having?”

She seemed slightly startled but then gave him a smile once her eyes took in everything there was to behold.

“Unseasonably hot wouldn’t you say?” Mulder continued.

“I’ll say,” she returned fake fanning herself.  “What brings you here?”

“I live up the street.  Just got out of work.”

“What line of work lets you out at this hour?” Her tone was very seductive.

“FBI Agent.” That line always helped reel them in, he thought.  That’s right honey, tall dark and mysterious.

“Interesting.  Do you ever go undercover?  Expose the deep seeded underbelly?”

Mulder chuckled.  “Sometimes.  Most of my cases have to do with the logically unsolvable and unexplained.”

“Oh, like what?” He seemed to have sparked her attention. That is until he gave her his standard line.  The one that caused him to sleep alone at night.

“Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?” he asked in his best spooky version of himself.

“Um. You have a badge right?”  The expression on her face suddenly changed and she looked at him like he just stepped out of the UFO.

“Yeah I have a badge.”

“If you excuse me, I have to use the restroom, but it’s been really nice talking to you.”  Hurriedly and with a nervous smile, she collected her purse, placed some money on the bar and left.

*

“Hey Missy, how’s it going?” Scully said into the bedroom phone out of Ethan’s earshot.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you.  Mom said you had a new assignment.  I want to hear all about it.  What’s it like having a partner?”

“First day so he’s still up for interpretation.  It looks like they sent me there more as a spy and a validator.  I think they may be looking to close the department. I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts.”

“And your new partner?”

“His name is Fox Mulder.  He’s very intelligent and he is definitely not into traditional theory.  I think you would like him.”

“Uh huh.  You didn’t say anything about the way he looks.  He must be nice on the eyes.”

“Missy!  Really?  He’s my partner.  I’m not starting that.  I’ve had enough with dating the people I work with.  I’m trying to start a career.”

“Uh huh.  Wow.  He must be really good-looking.”

“What do you want me to say?  He’s cute.  I’m not getting involved, so it’s irrelevant.”

“Do you know his birth date?  I could run an astrology report on him.”

“No, not yet.  We are flying to Oregon tomorrow, so I’ll let you know when I get back.”

“Okay, well I’m happy your first day was a good one and I’m happy the guy you’re partnered with is hot,” Melissa said, continuing to tease her.  Scully could almost hear her smiling through the phone.

“I have a boyfriend that I am currently living with you know. That usually indicates a serious relationship.”

“I told you, the numbers don’t lie, you are not compatible with him.”

Her sister was exhausting. Since the day she started seeing Ethan her sister never cared for him. “Okay Miss.  I’ll talk to you when I get back.  Love you.  Bye.”

[Post the Pilot]

Scully was facing away from Ethan, laying on her bed, staring out into space.  Her mind was a million miles away. The past week was nothing she ever expected. Brought in to debunk a man’s work.  A man that was clearly brilliant, although somewhat odd in his line of thinking. It was clear that the men that brought her in were hiding something. Something that Mulder was on the verge of discovering.  Maybe there was something slightly shady or maybe it was normal procedures for top secret information.  Whatever the case, she wondered who that creepy man was that was always skulking in the corner of the deputy director’s office smoking a cigarette.

She shifted in bed nervously.  No matter what, she would continue to do her assignment as it was described to her to the best of her ability.  What about her new partner?  She felt comfortable with him.  Like they knew each other for ages, yet they just met.  They were communicating with just a look.  It was something she had never done with anyone before, not to that extent. She was able to read him like a book and she couldn’t understand how. Their banter free flowing and natural. In that instance, in the rain, those split seconds she let go and believed because he wanted her to and made the connections.  Around him she had courage. The connection she felt to him, a stranger, was strong. Then she flashed on a thought right from the book of Melissa - Maybe they were meant to be partners. Just as the thought crossed her mind the telephone rang giving her a slight startle.  It was her new partner.  Pumped as ever.  Not able to sleep, certain there was a conspiracy.  She wasn’t thrilled that he was calling her so late, he was obviously oblivious to proper etiquette, but part of her liked the fact that he was so accepting and trusting of her as his partner.

*

Mulder hung up the phone.  He didn’t like her shooting down his impulsiveness.  She was going to have to get used to secretive meetings in the middle of the night if she was to be his partner. He liked her though, and trusted her much sooner than he anticipated. There was something about her.  He thought she reminded him a little of his sister. Not the look, but her personality. She challenged him and wasn’t afraid to push him to make him better.  She was very factual, but stiff.  Stiff, but warm at the same time. Inviting.  Now that he met her he was glad she was assigned to him and for the first time since Diana left he was looking forward to working with someone.  She obviously felt comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to strip for him. That made him smile. She looked so much better out of those stuffy suits. Oddly enough, there was no romantic attraction, which he felt was a good thing.  At least that was what he told himself. He did feel a closeness to her. One that he had never felt with anyone before. Friends at first sight.  He liked that too.  Mulder sighed and rubbed his face. His brain was in a million different directions again and he couldn’t sit still. Pumped with adrenaline, he decided to go for a run.

Continue reading

@ms31x129 @babygirlmulder1018 @season4mulder @muldermakesmehorny

[thebloodychampion]

Clavius Tarxis / Irelius Draxas Past

Trigger warning later on:

2135: Clavius Tarxis is born as Irelius Draxas on the Turian colony of Aephus. He is the son of Cyrna Draxas and Vyrnus Draxas. He is by that point an only child. Irelius is very prone to injuries but never makes a sound which concerns his mother since normally babies, especially turian babies are rather vocal if something hurts. They didn’t even notice a stomach infection since Irelius doesn’t cry like a normal baby.

2136 - Age 1: After extensive routines and visits to the doctor, they find out he has CIPA - Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis - meaning he doesn’t feel any nerve related pain. So he never felt the pain from the stomach infection or his teeth growing or his plates forming. He is taken under medical care, which prevents more injuries. Making him a rather lonely turian since he couldn’t play outside of the risk of getting injured more. Up until this point, which is only a year, he already tore the insides of his mouth, ripped his talons almost out and almost scratched out his eyeballs. His mother is rather careful about him, filing down his talons and teeth so he wouldn’t be able to hurt himself.

2144 - Age 9: Irelius is now nine years old and his parents have another baby, his little sister Querina Draxas. He immediately takes care of her and likes her very much. He takes her around under supervision of course and just genuinely happy to have someone his age around. Well not his age but not an adult. Irelius also got better in checking for injuries and he only got at this point four broken bones, a shattered jawbone and a few dislocated shoulders. Which sounds awful but considering he never feels it, it is more like an annoyance for him.

2145 - Age 10: Irelius youngest sibling, his brother Tayus is born. He does like him as well but not as much as he did with Querina. However Querina and Tayus really bond well together since they are both in the same age group. THey never really exclude Irelius in anything, they just played together more while Irelius was in a turian style school at the time. In the same year Irelius’ parents discovered that he has biotics. A rather awful thing, considering his injury rate. They even try to negotiate that Irelius would just never get an implant and never use it, since he is so prone to injuries. However the turian high command doesn’t really see it that way. So Irelius gets an implant and doesn’t even notice the headaches he would get from said implant.

2152 - Age 17: Up until this point Irelius was in the turian mandatory bootcamp, he never really talks about it but he didn’t hate it or anything. He was still considered weird and being a biotic didn’t really help his case either. He gets sent to the Cabals after that. He suffers more injuriest there than ever before and doesn’t get treated correctly. He has several broken ribs, a broken carapace, a rip of plating on his head and several injuries that were mostly internal. Irelius gets laughed at when he has accidents, has several bleedings due to him not realising when the headaches start. He over uses his biotics a lot and is overall miserable there.

2153 - Age 18: A year into the cabals and things don’t get better. He gets even more injured to the point of almost dying. Which added even more anxiety to him and he was so close to begging his parents to get him out of there, to do anything. He just felt miserable, until one day. An instructor who he was not in a good relationship with, wanted Irelius to show him what he had learned. Irelius had been training a lot and since they wanted to use him in a vanguard unit, he had to see how good he was. Prior to this point Irelius had suffered from severe memory loss, having blackouts and sleepwalking around. The taunting of the instructor as Irelius pleaded with him not to have him in the vanguard unit, it triggered something inside of Irelius and that was the first switch he had. Irelius - now Invictus - charges the instructor and effectively kills him with just one charge. However the alternate personality quickly receides and Irelius is faced with the assault of the biotics instructor. In a panic he just grabs what he can from his belongings and escapes the cabals.

A few weeks later he arrives on Omega, severely starved and suffering from hypothermia, he meets an asari named Lisell. Before they met, Irelius got injured as well, but he didn’t notice it until he was at her place. It took Irelius some time to trust her but he actually sees her as his mum. Irelius is not a very confident person after his time in the cabals. Which was only for a year, but even a year can fuck someone up completely. 

2160 - Age 25: Irelius is now 25 years old, up until now he had lived with his foster mother Lisell on Omega. He rarely goes out but recently he got more confident and this is due to another personality switch. These switches don’t happen overnight for him, they go along with memory losses, sleepwalking and blackouts. They were not as severe as the first time but still something that concerned Irelius. Considering he was still searched for, since nobody really got away from the Cabals. On a trip around Omega, he gets harassed by a few asari mercs who just think it was funny to make fun of him. They get ripped apart by his first personality switch - Invictus - but he vanishes again rather quickly. A few months later his second personality - Clavius - comes to the surface for the first time. In the same year he joined the Blue Suns. As Clavius, he is far more confident and beats people up who look at him in a funny way. Claivus is considered a rather resourceful turian who even has a following behind him. Most of the following merc groups do not know about his condition or the fact that he is a biotic. Clavius never uses his biotics in a fight and keeps them at bay. Due to them not knowing that he doesn’t feel pain, most of the Blue Suns enemies at the time just think he is a straight up killing machine that doesn’t die. Of course he can die, he just now not as stupid as he was in the past. Or not as naive.

2176 - Age 41: Clavius meets Camilea a fellow Blue Suns Mercenary, she is only 16 when they met, during a drunken night out, they sleep with each other. Which migth sound weird since Clavius is intenfying himself as homosexual. However Camilea really has something, she gets pregnant during that encounter. Clavius is one thing however, not an asshole and he promises to take care of the baby or give it a better home. They both know they cannot really care for the baby, Camilea because of her age and low income and Clavius due to his condition. 

2177 - Age 42: Clavius quits the Blue Suns after they slowly go more and more into slave trade and hiring more and more batarians. He has done everything for them, extortion, kidnapping, beat downs and even straight up killing people. But he would never go so far as to take away a person's right for freedom. Although some would argue that kidnapping is the same, most of the time the targets would be set free the moment the money came in. One particular mission made Clavius see that the Blue Suns turned into something nasty when they started a deal with the collectors. The turian moves away from Omega taking his daughter with him, his destination was at this point actually nothing. He just ended up on the Citadel out of coincidence. Up until this point, his original personality has never come out once.

Clavius is applying for the first job he could find and gets hired as Irius bodyguard despite people’s concerns for his mercenary background. Irius chose Clavius since he was reliable, he didn’t get in the way and he kept his distance. He never said a word during reports, he kept an eye on Irius without being too provocative about it. He was by far the best bodyguard someone could have. The time in the Blue Suns really did pay off.

TW: Warning:

Irius had at one point six other bodyguards, they were not meant to guard him all the time but to go in rotation, since sometimes a guard would have to be there for over 15 hours and that could exhaust people. So they would go in rotation and would guard him whenever Irius requested it. The new councilor had his position now for five years. Five years of them planning something horrible and nasty. The six remaining bodyguards knew that they could  never get Clavius onto this. They knew he would never agree to this. So they waited until he had done his round with the councilor. Before they broke into the Councilor’s office, locked the door and proceeded to assault him. Irius does to this day not know why they did that. Either they wanted to punish him, have fun with him or just felt entitled to do so since Irius is a rather young Councilor. They tore open his private plates which is one the most painful things a turian can feel, apart from the forming of his carapace. Since this was not in anyway arousing, Irius didn’t produce the natural lube that even male turians can create to make sex more pleasant. Irius is held down by two of them and forced to have sex with three of them. The last one didn’t really do anything other than record the whole ordeal. What these turians didn’t know was that Clavius had access to the codes for the door. Irius trusted Clavius a bit more with these things. 

When Clavius entered the room, the bodyguards had almost no time to get away, either because Clavius stood in the door and he isn’t a small turian with 7’2”. Or they were already torn apart by biotics, something Clavius had not used in over 20 years by this point. The scariest part was probably that Clavius wasn’t angry, he wasn’t shouting, he just lifted them up and ripped them apart. He grabbed the last guy who had recorded it all and shoved his omnitool away from his arm and literally shoved it into his mouth and made him eat it. Not caring if that would kill him, he wanted them all dead. 

After a few moments to collect himself, he finally looks at Irius and sees the younger turian totally paralyzed and frozen in fear. He checks for other injuries for any injections since he knows sometimes monsters like this would do this. But he finds nothing and takes Irius to Huerta. Not caring that the bedroom just looked like a fucking battlefield. Clavius took Irius to the hospital and explained to the doctor in a private moment what happened, the case is classified and only Irius, Clavius, the doctor and a therapist know what happend. It was to first protect the councilor and also to protect Irius as a living being.

2178 - Age 43: Clavius becomes the sole bodyguard for Irius and is even better working alone than having to deal with idiots. Due to the incident, he never leaves Irius' side, he sleeps in the office with him, on a couch and keeps an eye on him. He wants to make sure that Irius is safe and nobody would ever harm him. Some people would think there is something with him and the councilor, but for Clavius this is strictly business. The Councilor is even more than a simple lover could be, he is his charge and reason to live. 

2183 - 2186: 

Mass Effect Timeline of the Reaper War. 

[mss4msu]

Call Me Doctor. (Chapter 19)

Summary: Fresh out of graduate school, you had somehow landed a spot in the faculty of a prestigious university. The small anthropology department has too many faculty and too few offices; sharing an office does not go as you expected.

Pairing: Professor!Steve x Professor!Reader 

Words: 1659

Warnings: Language, a cliffhanger ending

A/N: As a birthday gift from me to all of us, here (FINALLY) is a new chapter of Call Me Doctor.!!!!

Catch Up on the Story Here

You had never felt such adrenaline in your life as the final pieces came together before the museum opening. From overseeing the movement of priceless artifacts to sneaking kisses with Steve behind closed doors, your heart rate raced at a consistently high pace all week. Friday came faster than you anticipated. After you had all finished teaching for the day, you and Steve made last minute tweaks to how objects were arranged while James and Natasha frantically weaved around you hanging decorations. 

“When is the next vote for a new Chair of the Department?” James asked with annoyance in his voice as the “Grand Opening” sign he had been trying to hang for the past 10 minutes slipped out of his hands yet again.  

“Not soon enough,” Natasha growled, blowing her hair out of her face as she wrestled with tying a balloon closed. 

Steve gave them both a smug look as he went to pick up the sign and hand it back to James so he didn’t have to descend from the ladder he was on. 

“Wipe that look off your face, Rogers, or I swear to God I’ll….”

“You’ll what?” Steve cut his friend off. 

“I’ll get everyone to vote you in as the new Chair when the time comes,” James gave him a smirk.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Steve’s eyes narrowed. 

“Bitch, I might,” James met Steve’s glare before cracking a smile and letting out a loud laugh. 

“What time is it?” you called out to them as you very slowly adjusted a cat mummy. 

“5:30,” Natasha answered you before letting out a long sigh, “Fuck it, it looks fine in here. Let’s go eat or drink or at least get out of this God-forsaken place.”

“Damn, Nat,” James said, slowly climbing down from his ladder, “Let’s get you some food before you become unbearably hangry.”

“Shut up, Jim,” Natasha playfully hit James on the shoulder as she walked to the door and held it open, “But seriously, let’s gtfo.” 

You set down the mummy and backed away slowly, “Alright. This is looking as good...or at least as good as it’s going to.” 

“It looks great,” Steve said as you walked past him, rubbing your shoulder. 

“Ew, they’re pda-ing,” James whined. 

“I’m with Natasha, shut up, Jim,” you snarked with a roll of your eyes as you walked past him. 

Once you were all out, Steve locked up the museum space and the four of you went outside. A breath of fresh air was all your body needed to remember that you hadn’t taken a break in hours and you actually were quite hungry. Natasha led the way to a small sandwich shop near campus. Your group easily got a table and ordered after a quick scan of the menu. Natasha anxiously checked her watch as you all waited for your food to come. 

“Nat, it was your idea to get food. Calm down, we have time,” James nudged her with his elbow to get her to look up from her wrist. 

“I know, I know. I don’t know why I even care. Literally who will miss us if we aren’t there when it starts? Well, maybe (Y/N) will be missed since she’s giving that overview of the exhibit...”

“I’m doing what now?” you asked, your eyes quickly snapping back to your own table and away from the tray of food being delivered to a table across the restaurant. 

“Tony had us print off little programs and you’re on there right after his opening speech to give an overview of the collection on display,” Natashsa replied. 

“You’re shitting me?” you took a deep breath, your mind already trying to piece together something coherent to say about the collections you had spent over a month looking at.

“Fucking Tony,” Steve muttered under his breath, the anger in his eyes lessening when he saw the anxiety in yours. 

Steve pulled a small notebook and pen from his pocket and set them down in front of you. You mouthed him a ‘thank you’ and flipped the notebook open, immediately scribbling down the main points of each part of the exhibit. You focused intently on organising your thoughts, shutting out the conversation James, Natasha, and Steve continued to have without you. Just as you were finishing up your last talking point, the server arrived at your table with food. 

You flipped the notebook shut and slid it back to Steve, “Will you hold on to this so I don’t forget it here?”

He nodded in response as he took a large bite of his sandwich before picking up the notebook and putting it back in his pocket. 

The four of you ate in relative silence, the food in front of you serving as a sufficient distraction to thinking about the night ahead. When you all finished eating Natasha checked her watch again. 

“Shit! We should probably get going. It’s almost 7!”

James let out a long groan as Natasha nudged him to start moving. You and Steve got up and followed them out of the restaurant. 

“So, (Y/N), know exactly what you’re going to say?” James asked.

“Yes, I plan to start out by saying a big ol’ thank you to Tony for all of his support in the project,” the sarcasm dripped from your words, “You know, Steve, maybe you being Chair wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

Steve almost looked like he thought about it for a minute before he shrugged his shoulders in response. 

“All in favor of Steve taking over as Chair?” Natasha asked. 

“AYE!” you and James yelled as you reached the back door of the building. 

“You three need to compose yourselves,” Steve huffed as he opened the door. 

Natasha and James walked in first. Steve stopped you by the arm before you could follow them. 

“Don’t forget this,” Steve said, pulling the small notebook from his pocket, “Or this,” he said before leaning down and giving you a soft kiss. 

“Now you’re going to have me go in there blushing!” you mocked annoyance at him. 

“Blame it on the anxiety of last-minute public speaking,” he grinned at you. 

You rolled your eyes at him and took the notebook. You walked into the lobby and saw it was already very packed. Tony was standing to the side, ordering catering staff to different areas to set up tables of wine, beer, and appetizers. 

“I swear to God if someone spills in my new exhibit,” you clenched the notebook tightly. 

“Unleash the beast!” James chortled. 

“Your exhibit?” Steve asked with raised eyebrows. 

“I mean….the exhibit,” you quickly tried to backtrack. 

“God, you two are annoying,” Natasha rolled her eyes at you both before walking away to greet Bruce, who had just arrived. 

“Barnes, come here!” Tony yelled at James. 

“My pleasure,” James said through gritted teeth before walking to Tony and getting a clipboard of instructions shoved into his hands. 

“I really didn’t mean it’s my exhibit,” you were still dwelling on that slip up earlier. 

“(Y/N), it’s ok. I know you put a hell of a lot more time into it than I did and even more than Tony, and I’m sure he’ll take even more credit for it then he’ll give.”

Just as you were about to agree, Tony yelled your name and motioned for you to walk over to him. 

“Good luck,” Steve winked at you. 

“Yes, Tony?” you asked as you walked up to him.

“(Y/N), totally slipped my mind to tell you this earlier, but you need to give an overview of the exhibit after I do the welcome.”

“Yeah, Natasha let me know, so I have something written up.”

“Ah! Excellent! Well, let’s get this show on the road then!” Tony led the way through the crowd to the podium set up right in front of the exhibit’s entrance. 

“Hello, hello!” Tony announced into the microphone, the noise in the room instantly died down, “Over the past few months, our team of renowned anthropologists have been hard at work creating this new addition to our department: a museum of anthropological history. Behind these doors are artifacts from society’s past. I oversaw the rigorous planning, researching, and other efforts that went into this amazing accomplishment and can assure you all that you will greatly enjoy and be educated by the artifacts and text found here, which Dr. (Y/L/N) will elaborate on in mere moments. As I’m sure you are all waiting with bated breath to see the fruits of our labor, let’s get this party started!” 

Tony took a pair of scissors from the podium and used them to dramatically cut through a ribbon that had been strung in front of the doors of the exhibit, with cheering and pops of flash coming from the crowd. Tony waved to the crowd, before gesturing you to stand in front of the microphone. You stepped up to it and pulled out the notebook you had written notes in. You cleared your throat and looked out to the crowd. You couldn’t help the smile that broke out when you saw Steve beaming at you and giving you a thumbs up from the back of the room. 

“Hello all! Thank you for joining us on such an exciting time for the Department. What you will find in the exhibit is a culmination of the research done by all of the faculty in the Anthropology Department. From Paleolithic arrowheads used in the original paleo diets studied and recreated by Dr. Clint Barton to bonds from World War II reused as shopping lists by Recession Era Americans, you will journey back in time and around the world as you walk through the space,” your eyes scanned over the crowd and you choked on your next words when you saw her. 

Sharon Carter was staring at you from the center of the room with a giant grin on her face. 

CHAPTER TWENTY

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[the-caffeine-hero]

To Hault An Icarus

Kurapika has never been one to waste time, even at his own expense. Perhaps a phone call from a friend can change his mind?

Cross Posted on AO3

The night was quiet as week-old death. The only semblance of noise was the click of a computer mouse and the squeak of a desk chair. How long had it been since he had gotten up? Hours? Perhaps even days? No one would be able to tell. The layer of dust around the room stood as a symbol of time past. In most situations, dedication of this magnitude would be considered impressive, even inspiring. The young blonde with undereye bags that seemed to overflow with more than just lack of sleep continuously scanned his eyes across the lit-up screen. His eyes momentarily darted to the on-screen clock only to see a stark 4:00 AM taunting him. The sun would rise soon enough. He leaned back in the chair while running a hand through hair that upon closer inspection had seen better days. Split ends, sporadic tangles, and a light covering of grease was a telltale sign of the young man's lack of care and loss of time. Time was a curious thing for the man as there wasn’t nearly enough of it. He didn’t want to waste a minute, there weren't enough seconds in the day for him to slow down.

Slender fingers lightly grazed the dangling red earring in his left ear. It was a traditional piece, crafted from the brightest ruby one had ever seen. The young man had very little left physically of his clan as they are long since gone. Even his clothing that fitted loosely over his body were that of a more metropolitan kind. His eyes trailed to the traditional Kurta clothing hung up gently in the closet which too carried a thin layer of dust on them. The young man could only think of the inevitable dust that the remains of his clan have become. His eyes clenched shut, his nose scrunching up as well before he shook his head before returning to the screen in front of him. He had not a single second to waste. Not when his clan had their seconds snatched away from them.

Before the young man could fully fall back into the seemingly endless void that was his research, a soft vibration buzzed against his thigh. He seemingly tried to ignore the sensation only to feel the vibrations over and over again. The young man took a deep breath, seemingly centering himself before begrudgingly pulling his phone out of his pocket and leaning back in the office chair, holding the phone above him as the light poured over his soft yet cracked features. The time was 4:03 AM and he had two missed calls from a certain med student. A small and almost sad smile graced the man's chapped lips. His arms slowly moved to his sides, about to slide the phone back into his pocket before that familiar vibration shook through his hand. Once again, the persistent med student called. The blonde stared down the phone with tired eyes. Who was he to answer? Did he deserve that right? Slowly the young man's fingers maneuvered into a tight fist, clenching tightly at his left side, seeming to ground him. He brought the same hand up to the phone in the other as it shook, hovering over the accept icon on the screen. If almost taunting the young man, just as his finger hit the screen, the call was dropped. The blonde's jaw clenched and his lips pursed into a tight line. The phone screen only showed another missed call and the time in a bright white reading 4:04 AM.

A new sound was the soft thump of his phone falling to the ground as he returned to the hunched position over the laptop in front of him. The screen had grown slightly dark from the lack of use over the course of just a few minutes. The top of the screen was littered with multiple open tabs with no discernible order. Each tab contained a news article or perhaps a local auction with even the slightest link to the coveted scarlet eyes. There wasn’t much on this version of the internet, yet it would be a waste not to try. Internet cafes closed and being tracked by a Hunter’s License really wouldn’t be the smartest move for anyone, nevermind a young man chained in a web of constant underworld doings and dangerous situations. As his eyes scanned the most recent news article, he reached for a scrap paper and a pen to write down a reminder to verbally pursue one of his many leads. There were many of these scrap papers littered over the desk, the handwriting varying from neat to nearly illegible. As he hurriedly wrote down a couple of words, a jarring and frankly generic ringtone rang through the air causing him to jump in his seat as his head whipped towards the phone taunting him from the floor. He quickly swooped the phone up and to his ear, pressing the accept symbol on the way up.

“Hello?” He answered with clear aggression laced in his voice.

“Kurapika, it's Leorio. Are you okay, man?” A voice responded seemingly not acknowledging the malice in the blonde's voice. For a moment, it was silent. Was he okay? He was alive and that was enough, right?

“I am. Is this an emergency?” Kurapika responded formally as he stiffened in place involuntarily preparing for the groan that was about to come from Leorio.

“I can’t just call to check up on you? You didn’t respond to any of us last week for your birthday so I personally think it’s reasonable for us to be a little worried.” Leorio said, each word growing in volume as if he was trying to drill the words into Kurapika’s mind. At the mention of his birthday, his shoulders dropped from their tightened position. He hadn't even noticed.

“My apologies for concerning you. I am fine. If that’s all you needed..” Kurapika began, responding as he always did to these types of calls before he was cut off.

“I don’t believe you. The last time I saw you, you looked like a walking corpse for God’s sake!” Leorio exclaimed through the phone, the volume causing Kurapika to pull the phone away from his ear slightly. “When was the last time you ate or slept? I know damn well you haven’t been keeping up with yourself hygienically either. Even if I wasn’t your friend, I’m gonna be a doctor one day. It would be insane for me to let you just kill yourself like this.” Leorio scolded over the phone, each word rushing out with the knowledge that the call could be ended at any moment. A slight wave of shame washed over the blonde. How long had it been since he ate? He wasn’t sure. That previous silence held in the air again, neither one knew how to respond. It was Leorio that broke the silence. “Listen…” he began, his voice unsure. “I know you like to do things on your own but you’re gonna burn yourself out. I’m not saying you need to stop. I’m just saying you gotta take a second to breathe.” He continued with a voice laced with a subtle pleading tone. “I don’t care how many times you try to push us away. Gon, Killua, and I care about you, man.” Leorio added on with a once again hurried voice. Kurapika stood silent, his eyes almost glazed over, as he felt his free hand twitching. He pulled the phone away from his ear, his eyes quickly scanning the phone for the time. It was 4:08 AM. His eyes trailed back to the laptop screen which has once again grown to the darken energy saver mode due to the lack of use. He was wasting time.

“Your concern is appreciated but not necessary. I am perfectly fine, Leorio. I will talk to you another time. Get some sleep yourself.” Kurapika mindlessly responded before hanging up the phone and returning to his seated position, quicking jogging the laptop awake. There wasn’t a moment to waste yet he continued to clutch the phone in his hand while trying to return to the task at hand. He couldn’t let the phone fall out of his hand again, it somehow was glued to him. Even as he maneuvered from website to website, the phone did not leave his palm.

It was 4:10 AM when he felt a buzz in his hand. It took only a moment but he pulled his tired eyes away from the laptop screen to see a text message from Leorio. It was long and had typos scattered through it yet the last clearly written phrase took him back.

“I know your revenge is important to you but don’t you think that your clan would want to see you live instead of just survive? The life you’re living isn’t really living, Kurapika.”

At first read, he felt anger building up inside him. The look of betrayal quickly flashing across his face only to quickly fade upon another text coming through.

“Don’t take it the wrong way man. I’m all for finding your clans eyes and kicking that Phantom Troupe into next week but what’s the point if you’re not alive at the end of it? I don’t want another friend to die.”

The anger that came from the first text was replaced with guilt. He wouldn’t die, would he? The blonde’s hands once again clenched his fists as he remembered how Leorio lost a friend due to something preventable. Was this the same thing? He looked back at the text for what seemed like an eternity. What would he say to that? Kurapika let out a sigh as he responded.

“You don’t need to worry, Leorio. I will take better care of myself. Thank you for your constant care.”

He hesitated to respond. Was he giving his friend false hope? Did he deserve to call Leorio his friend after all the worry he put him through? These questions banged in his mind as he quickly pressed send and shut his phone off in one quick motion. Kurapika sat for a moment. He glanced at the laptop. It was 4:15 AM. Perhaps, for tonight, he could go to bed early. For Leorio’s sake, if not his own. The blonde stared longingly at the laptop and its collection of open tabs before gently closing it before ghosting into the bedroom. The bed was still made from the last time he slept in it. It had been about a week since he generally would find himself asleep in the office chair after exhaustion took control. He looked around, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror in the corner of his room. The person he saw looking back at him was tired. For the first time, he saw the unhealthy pale skin, under-eye bags, and unkempt hair. Perhaps tomorrow, he would take advantage of a day off.

As he changed from the same suit he had worn the past four days into actual sleeping clothes, he glanced at the clock. It was 4:30 AM and he could not escape the thought of wasted time as he pulled the covers up and slipped into his bed. Leorio’s text flashed into his mind. What would his parents say if they saw him like this? Was he doing the right thing? Would he even be able to sleep in this state? He gripped the comforter tightly as he tried to expel the thoughts from his mind. For just once, he shut his eyes and allowed his body to relax into the mattress, bringing the comforter around him tightly. It felt nice though the blonde doubted he deserved to feel any form of comfort. Those thoughts tried to force themselves further into his mind yet the embrace of sleep took the blonde over. No one could see but for the first time in months, the young man had a genuinely calm look plastered to his face. His quiet breathing was the only sound that could be heard in the room. This may only be a temporary stop on this Icarus-like man's journey but perhaps, if even for a moment, he could prevent his flight directly into the sun and just revel in the light.

[newstfionline]

Friday, January 29, 2021

Seafarers stuck at sea ‘a humanitarian crisis’ (BBC) The fate of more than 200,000 seafarers who play a crucial role in keeping global trade flowing is being labelled a “humanitarian crisis at sea”. More than 300 firms and organisations are urging for them to be treated as “key workers”, so they can return home without risking public health. More than 90% of global trade—from household goods to medical supplies—is moved by sea. But governments have banned crew from coming ashore amid Covid-19 fears. Shipping firms are warning global leaders that ignoring the risk to crews’ mental and physical wellbeing threatens global supply chains, which are crucial to vaccinating the world from coronavirus. Seafarers usually work 10-12 hours shifts, seven days a week to man ships, on four or six-month-long contracts, followed by a period of leave. But due to the coronavirus crisis and travel bans brought in by many governments to combat new variants of Covid-19, hundreds of thousands of crew are spending extended periods at sea, far beyond the expiry of their contracts.

US terrorism alert warns of politically motivated violence (AP) The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks. The department did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular event or date, such as July 4. But this particular bulletin, issued through the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism.

Biden embraces order and routine in his first week (Washington Post) Almost every day of his young tenure, President Biden has entered the State Dining Room, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln looking down and wood burning in the fireplace. He speaks on the planned topic of the day. He sits at an undersized desk and searches for a pen to sign his latest stack of executive orders. Within 30 minutes of entering the camera’s frame, he has left it. It is all plotted and planned. Little room is left for the unscripted or the unusual. Biden’s first full week in office has showcased an almost jarring departure from his predecessor’s chaotic style. The result so far is a 9-to-5 presidency—a tightly scripted burst of activity that was charted over the past few months, as Biden seeks to avoid heated conflict and stick to his plan of lowering the political temperature to a level that many Americans can tune out. The question to be answered in coming weeks, however, is whether Biden’s orderly presidency matches this moment of national urgency, and whether it’s sustainable in the face of multiple crises. Biden himself said last week that the government was on a “wartime” footing—then took the weekend off from public appearances. While former president Donald Trump’s chaotic presidency was unsettling for many Americans, it is unclear for now whether Biden’s more restrained style is an antidote or an overcorrection—and whether he can protect his agenda from being engulfed by the political wars raging around him.

Biden Re-Examining U.S. Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. (WSJ) The Biden administration has imposed a temporary freeze on U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and is scrutinizing purchases by the United Arab Emirates as it reviews billions of dollars in weapons transactions approved by former President Donald Trump, according to U.S. officials. The review, the officials said, includes the sale of precision-guided munitions to Riyadh, as well as top-line F-35 fighters to Abu Dhabi, a deal that Washington approved as part of the Abraham Accords, in which the Emirates established diplomatic relations with Israel. U.S. officials said it isn’t unusual for a new administration to review arms sales approved by a predecessor, and that despite the pause, many of the transactions are likely to ultimately go forward. But in line with campaign pledges made by President Biden, Washington is seeking to ensure that American weapons aren’t used to further the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, where its conflict with the Iranian-aligned Houthis has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and widespread hunger.

Congress and social media use (Pew Research Center) Though not especially productive in passing bills, the 116th Congress set new marks for social media use. Voting members of the 116th Congress collectively produced more than 2.2 million tweets and Facebook posts in 2019 and 2020. That means the median member of Congress produced more than 3,000 posts across their profiles on the two social media platforms during this span. In total, the 116th Congress produced roughly 738,000 more social media posts than the 114th Congress of 2015-2016, the first one for which the Center has data.

Battling COVID-19 proving deadly for Peru’s doctor corps (AP) Black-and-white pictures of dozens of men and women, some in their 30s and others much older, line the perimeter of a bright yellow building overlooking the Pacific, a two-story-tall black ribbon covering part of the facade and a Peruvian flag at a half-staff near the door. The makeshift memorial is for fallen “pandemic soldiers”—doctors who have died since the coronavirus struck this South American nation last year and unraveled the public health care system. More than 260 doctors have died from the virus in Peru. Their colleagues blame the deaths on a lack of proper personal protective equipment and what they say is the government’s abandonment of the health care system. The Andean country was one of the worst-hit in the region by the pandemic during 2020 and is now experiencing a resurgence in cases. A revolving door of patients, long work shifts, shortage of medical supplies, including oxygen, and lack of protective equipment at hospitals across the country has affected the mental health of doctors. Doctors now warn that Peru could face a crisis of physicians if the government does not take the appropriate steps. Health care professionals have been mounting an open-ended national protest for weeks to press their complaints about inadequate salaries, poor benefits and other working conditions.

English lockdown set to last until at least March, Johnson indicates (Reuters) Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Wednesday the COVID-19 lockdown in England would last until March 8 when schools could start to reopen as the government announced new measures to clamp down on travel to and from Britain. A highly contagious new variant of the virus, which emerged in southeast England at the end of last year, has led to a soaring number of infections across Britain with cases and deaths reaching record levels. England has been in lockdown since the start of January with schools, pubs and restaurants closed and people told to stay home as much as possible. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, whose governments decide on their own measures, are also under various restrictions.

Portugal is in ‘terrible’ phase of pandemic, PM Costa says (Reuters) Portugal is in a terrible phase of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said, warning that it would be some weeks before things might start to improve and only limited help could be expected from abroad. With a total of 668,951 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11,305 deaths, including a record 293 dead on Wednesday, Portugal has the world’s highest seven-day average of new daily cases and deaths per million inhabitants. The situation was not “bad”, it was “terrible”, Costa told the TVI broadcaster overnight. “There is no point in feeding the illusion that we are not facing the worst moment,” he said. “And we’ll face this worst moment for a few more weeks, that is for sure.” More than 20 ambulances with COVID-19 patients queued outside Portugal’s largest hospital on Wednesday evening as they waited for beds to become available, while doctors in other hospitals warned of a risk of the oxygen support system collapsing.

China sharpens language, warns Taiwan that independence ‘means war’ (Reuters) China toughened its language towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning after recent stepped up military activities near the island that “independence means war” and that its armed forces were acting in response to provocation and foreign interference. China believes that Taiwan’s democratically-elected government is moving the island towards a declaration of formal independence, though Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly said it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name. Asked at a monthly news briefing about the air force’s recent activities, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. “The military activities carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait are necessary actions to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty and security,” he said.

Unrest grows in crisis-hit Lebanon amid coronavirus lockdown (AP) Lebanese security forces fired volleys of tear gas at rock-throwing youth in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday amid outrage over the country’s coronavirus lockdown and inaction of the political class in the face of economic collapse. The unrelenting protests in Tripoli, now in their fourth day, came as Lebanon grapples with both the pandemic and the worst economic crisis in its history, with only a caretaker government in charge. The protests resumed shortly after Omar Taibi, a 30-year-old who was shot by security forces during protests on Wednesday night, was laid to rest in Tripoli. More than 220 others were injured in the overnight clashes as frustrations boiled over. The demonstrators denounced Lebanon’s extended shutdown that has exacerbated already dire conditions. The confluence of the crises has posed the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the end of its civil war in 1990.

Ultra-Orthodox unrest threatens Netanyahu re-election hopes (AP) As he seeks reelection, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to a straightforward strategy: Count on the rock-solid support of his ultra-Orthodox political allies and stamp out the coronavirus pandemic with one of the world’s most aggressive vaccination campaigns. But with ultra-Orthodox communities openly flouting safety guidelines and violently clashing with police trying to enforce them, this marriage of convenience is turning into a burden. Netanyahu has watched his political partners undermine the country’s war against the virus and spark a public backlash that threatens him at the ballot box. “Netanyahu’s hope is that Israel will be the first country in the world to be vaccinated, that he will be able to open the economy to everyone, ultra-Orthodox and secular, and then the problem will be forgotten,” said Moshe Klughaft, a campaign strategist who has advised Netanyahu in the past. If the current troubles persist, he said, “Netanyahu will be in big trouble.” “Israel’s facing a Haredi insurrection that’s making it impossible to fight COVID,” wrote Yaakov Katz, editor of the Jerusalem Post, using the Hebrew word for the ultra-Orthodox.

How far from GameStop to game over? (Reuters) The battle between small-time traders and hedge funds that has shaken U.S. and European stock markets moved into Asia, with surges in several Australian companies squeezing another batch of financial institutions that have bet on the stocks falling. The war began last week when famed short seller Andrew Left of Citron Capital bet against GameStop and was met with a barrage of retail traders [egged on by Reddit users angry at hedge fund profiteering] betting the other way. Consequently, the video game chain rallied as much as 1,700% in two weeks, costing some large short hedge funds billions. The squeeze has made Reddit required reading on Wall Street. Discussions on the social media forum fueled the action around individual stocks. Wall Street saw its worst sell-off since October as funds scrambled to sell their positions in stock market darlings, such as Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, to make up for surging losses from bets made against struggling smaller companies.

[alolanrain]

Ash was often cast out by his teachers during Elementary and Middle school for being “ to rowdy, loud, and disrupting the class as a whole “ and “ unable to keep up with the class learning pace “ when he had a severe case of ADHD, it wasn’t until being shown about the Pokemon School by Mallow did Ash really want to get back into learning.

But what Ash didn’t know was that Principal Oak had access to almost all his records, that means his school records and his trainer records.

 his school records if printed out was a good size stack because most of it was nasty comments his past teachers had about him and there was a good chunk that came from teachers that he never had. His trainer records quadruple in size, making the other stack look like a few flimsy sheets of paper to the monument that was the accomplishments that he had acquired over the past few years. 

Thankfully Principal Oak had taken his time going through both stacks, highlighting what he himself think are key details, and scanning it into two PDF’s and adding the video links also. adding it to an email he CC’d the teachers that cold hold one more student in their class at such a short moment. it was only five teachers, and Professor Kukui was one of them. 

“ Hello all, I would like to state that I am sincerely sorry for reaching you all so late into the night, but I've got a particular student wanting to join our school and you five are my only teachers that have a spot available. in these links are the students School records, notes, and comments from past teachers and their Trainer records - note that I had highlighted details that I myself had thought were important in both documents but feel free to send me any notice or concerns about said student and it would be much appreciated if you all talked about what classroom would be the right one for them so that we can reconvene tomorrow. Sincerely, Principal Oak. “ 

Kukui was working on other scientific paperwork when he got the email, he had a feeling that he already knew who the trainer was but nonetheless he opened the email and the two docs on separate tabs. immediately he was taken back at how many notes and teacher comments from the first document that were all underlined in yellow highlighter. 

“ Ash had somehow had bribe the visiting Lucario and Riolu from interacting with his other classmates, and when confronted about this had denied it until going into a crying fit and brought to the Principals office where we called his mother and viewed the tapes. “ 

the first comment had left something incredibly sour in Kukui’s chest that curled between his ribs, his mind supplied that Ash hadn’t gone into a tantrum but actually pushed to the point of crying by a teacher. the comment didn’t even say if Ash had actually bribed the Lucario and Riolus to him or not. 

scrolling down the pages some he stopped at another comments. 

“ Ash couldn’t sit still during assigned reading time and when faced openly about it he said that he ‘ couldn't consintrate on his book because it was hard for him ‘ he was promptly sent to the Principal’s office and would be retrieved once reading time was over. “ 

now Kukui could understand that sightly, if one of his students acted antsy then it would slowly spread about to the rest. But asking him openly in front fo everyone else in the classroom instead of pulling to him to the side? that was just a dick move right there. 

he scrolled down more until he got to the section of his last year of Middle School. 

“ Ash is incredibly lazy and doesn’t work during most of the class hours. he would approach my after school asking for help with last weeks homework, I asked if his mother helps him. he replied that she’s been busy with her work at the deli shop. I asked about his father and he mumbled something that I had to tell him to repeat it louder, maybe if Ash had a father figure in his life he could actually get some school work done. “ 

Kukui couldn’t believe what he was reading on his computer screen, how can these people be teachers!? you don’t just say that to one of your students that was actively coming after school hours for help. The disgust was slowly started to thicken inside him, but he ignored the document for the email conversation that was happening instead. 

“ I personally don’t want a slacker in my class, all these notes from these teacher must be true! “ ah, good old Amy. Kukui is all for productivity but he know’s that if a student has a bad day, their going to be slower than normal - or in Kiawe’s case, faster and sloppier. 

“ You have a point Amy, but a lot of the comments accusing Ash never stated if they were right or wrong. so you just can’t go assuming that their all right. “ Victor was always apart of the neutral spot, his place next to Kukui since both of them had experienced bad teachers personally and actually worked with them. 

“ Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt, it say’s that he stopped going to school over 6 years ago, Ash probably wasn’t mentally prepared for school and Kanto does grade harder than we do. this might be really good for him! “ Kukui couldn’t help but figure out who his hackles rose at Petunia’s words. it maybe because Kukui had traveled Alola and Kanto himself, and he didn’t go to collage or any kind of further studies for a while after he got back from Kanto. 

he didn’t bother with a reply because he hasn’t seen the other PDF and so he couldn’t make a full judgment, and he knows Jackson won’t answer until morning because that’s just the type of person he is. 

looking over to the other screen he started from the yellow box surrounding the basic info of the trainer, only to stop and squint at his big screen. 

“ Name: Ashton Ketchum. Class: Pokemon Trainer. Starting Age: 10 - Current Age: 17. Titles: Orange Island Champion; secondary Champion to Kanto and Johto’s Champion Lance, reserving spot for Frontier Brain - though unlikely. Starter Pokemon: Pikachu {through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos}. Relatives: Delia Ketchum [Mother, Alive], -Unknown Father-, Kanto Champion Red Ketchum [Older Brother, Deceased], Kanto and Johto Champion Lance Wataru [Uncle, Alive]. Doctor Notes: has a severe case of ADHD and has quite the larger appetite for a boy his age and size. “ 

Kukui ha heard about Orange Islands and Secondary Champion during passing, but he never knew it was an actual thing. but he miraculously passed that information over to focus more on the Frontier Brain title, he knows from passing boring students that come from Sinnoh that the Battle Frontier doesn’t hold a spot for a person that was undecided - but apparently for Ash they did. 

getting over his initial shock he was hit by a different wave of emotion when he read through the relative section. He had personally met Delia, she was such a sweet woman during their short meeting and he he couldn’t help remember their last name for some reason. 

this kid - or young adult now - has been dragged through the mud as a young child by his teachers, doesn’t know who his father is and his brother is dead. pursing his lip’s he leaned back into his chair, Kukui pulled his glasses off to lightly chuck them onto the cluttered desk, his hands coming up to press the palms of his hands into his eyes. 

he was honestly fighting himself. 

Kukui had a good reputation with the kids he taught and watched graduate from the Pokemon School, but this year he noticed that Principal Oak had given him... he really shouldn’t call them special kids and those weren’t the right words in any way. 

Lillie comes from a small family, but a family with privilege and wealth, her mother sends over donations for the school to do big projects and that also help pay for any big field trips that they have. Lana’s father is one - if not - the best fishermen in Alola, he helps out the other Scientist if their work is surrounding marine Pokemon and they pay him a very big check every time he brings them the Pokemon on their list. Kiawe’s farm gives a bunch of free food for the kids that usually can’t bring their own lunch and is one of the most sought out brand for certain foods on all four Islands. Sophocles is the younger cousin of Molayne, and is a growing mastermind at technology. Mallow’s father runs one of the best restaurants in Alola and had been featured on many TV shows and some that even went international. 

but unlike them who were placed in his class for one reason or another by Principal Oak, none of his students have the same vibe like Ash. just being in the same room as the young adult Kukui felt like all the colors around him had turned more vibrant, more colorful in general. and watching him practically sink up with Kiawe during the battle between those three team skull kids was amazing, he spoke the commands to Pikachu in such a way that you just imidieatly know that he had been doing this for some time. and from how he interacted with Mallow, they acted like they already knew each other for quite sometime even though they haven't known each other for probably more than two hours. 

but the question rises, where would he stay? The empty loft sitting in his house collecting dust pushed forward in his brain and he knows for a fact that the other teachers wouldn’t give one of their rooms up in their house to a complete stranger. so it was perfectly clear to Kukui. 

ignoring the conversation still going on between the other three teachers he types out his answer to the Principal. 

“ Give him to me, I have a loft in my house since he’s going to need a place to stay and he had already met all of my students. “ he leaned back after he sent the message, chewing on his bottom lip as his mind flashed through the basic paragraph, he should start searching what could help ADHD people learn better. 

[this-lioness]

Another bullshit update on life in general

Work has kept me busy, and I’ve been trying to get more done creatively and around the house, as well.

This was the first weekend in awhile I didn’t do any (or much) meal prep, since we had enough in the freezer to last us for all the dinners this week, and even a few lunches for Marc.  I made a dozen eggs, cut up and roasted almost 5 lbs of potatoes, and called it a day.

I cancelled the physical therapist, because between work, gym, housekeeping and trying to do something other than being a machine I did not have time for an additional two rounds of exercises every single day.  We were getting up at 5 AM, leaving for work at 6:30 AM, leaving work for home at 5 PM, getting home from the gym around 7, then eating for a half hour.  It was not going to happen.

We ended up cancelling the gym membership, because -- as much as we want to go -- we are just too tired and hungry after an hour-long commute to be like, “Yay, let’s do something tedious and exhausting for a half hour!”

The long term goal was to cancel the membership anyway, however.  I told Marc I want us to concentrate on finishing the sheetrock in the former “cat room” this coming weekend so that we actually use it for its intended purpose, which was exercise.  I have that barre I bought last year that I haven’t had time or room to use even once, and the treadmill and hand weights is just sitting and collecting dust.  So anyway, that’s the plan for next weekend.

We will also be fostering two cats in the next couple weeks, and trying to find them a home.  Long story short we met an artist at one of the galleries downtown, very nice guy, and his friend or nephew or I forget has recently knocked up his girlfriend and decided, “Well, we need to move and get rid of the cats I guess!”

So they’re two year-old sisters, and he wants them to stay together, which is fine.  Like Rosie, they actually look very young, like maybe only 5 months old.  They have never been to the vet in their life, so no shots, and neither of them are fixed, which means it will be on us to take care of all that before they get adopted out.  I’m sure he’s going to be a great Dad [/sarcasm].

When Marc found out that the cats needed a full vet workup, including spay, he was initially resistant due to the cost.  I said okay, if you’re not comfortable with it you’re not comfortable with it, and went upstairs to investigate our options.  The Walmart just opened up a “Vet IQ” clinic that does basic veterinary care, and we can utilize a local spay clinic for about $50 per cat, so on that end alone we’d be shelling out less than $300 (there’s always food and litter, of course).

After awhile Marc came up and was like, “I think I was a little hasty, I’m sure we can make it work.” After I told him the anticipated costs he was much more into it, so that’s good.  Hopefully we won’t have any trouble finding a home for them.

Rosie is doing well at feeding time in her crate!  It has not stopped her from being an absolute maniac spaz about food, but there is almost no growling at all while she eats now.  She goes in her crate, Marc covers it up with a towel, and she eats with seemingly less hysterical anxiety.  I’ll call it a tentative win.

Rosie, by the way, loves Bones. Bones can usually take her or leave her, although his tolerance level is much higher when she’s not acting the spaz, although you see moments of affection for her as well.  She greets him with a nice long body rub when they cross paths, and yesterday Marc caught him grooming her head.  It does my heart good.

At the risk of jinxing myself, I’ve been doing much better at bowling for the past few weeks!  I did decently at league on Friday, and when we went for our Sunday practice I had a series of something like 145, 106 and 140.  Considering I was lucky to break 100 a couple months ago I’m feeling very encouraged.

What has worked for me, honestly, is throwing out a lot of convention wisdom.  Marc has always been very patient with me, explaining game theory and approach and all that, but no matter how much I tried to put it all together it just wasn’t working.  And I was really, really trying.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was chatting with someone about Dyscalculia, and did a bit more casual reading about it.  I was reminded that it often causes issues with spatial awareness, something I can absolutely vouch for (I actually suspect it’s part of what’s caused me to have such persistent problems with perspective and anatomy over the years, although that’s a discussion for another time.)

So I started keeping that in mind when we play: I used the techniques that I knew were helpful, but in any aspect where I was supposed to do one thing, but consistently got unexpected and problematic results, I tried to go more by “feel”.

It’s hard to explain why this works, but it has so far.  Basically, I had to throw out the notion of bowling at “angles”, and became more of a straight-shooter, keeping in mind that my ball does have a tendency to hook left.  I got something like 3 or 4 strikes in one game on Friday!

Which is not to say that I’m suddenly a good bowler, because I’m not, but I’m better, which is what I wanted.  What’s annoying is when (admittedly well-meaning) people are like, “Here’s what you’re doing wrong!” and try to teach me about techniques which I already know, but which just don’t work for me.

This happened two weeks ago I think, and I’m sure the lady meant well, but she also was ignoring me when I said multiple fucking times, “I understand, but I have spatial awareness problems, that doesn’t work for me.”

Like, repeating something at me over and over is not going to make it any more true.  I hear what you’re saying, you’re just wrong.

So in other news I finished two more of the Mori Girl Cats, and that dumb little werewolf thing that was strictly for my own amusement.  (Someone was like, “That would make a great t-shirt,” and haha, I’m not fucking falling for that one again.)  I also organized the office / computer area of the Geek Room, we stashed away the last of the convention stuff, and it feels much more clean and open and neat.  A place I actually want to hang out, and not anxiously work while avoiding the pile of shit sitting behind me!

Last night I also installed Sims 3 and treated myself to a handful of expansion and “stuff” packs.  I only had enough time to create one Sim last night, but I already look forward to giving him a cold.

…*cough*...

Unrelated, but I meant to talk about something that happened last Wednesday, when I was out running my Mom around to her appointments and whatnot.

So… for anyone who didn’t follow me on Facebook or my old Tumblr, the short version is that my Mom and I have a very long and complicated history. She was not a very good mother, she is a textbook covert narcissist.  She was an alcoholic for many, many years which caused serious and life-altering problems for me as a teenager and young adult, and after she got sober she transitioned to a prescription drug addiction which further deteriorated our already tenuous and fraught relationship, and landed both her and my stepfather in financial ruin.

About a year and a half ago, to help save them from the road to homelessness, we helped them sell their old house and moved them to Bucks County to live about 10 minutes from us, in a mobile home park.  We helped them get it fixed up, we help with maintenance, running errands, etc.  It’s a very cute little house, and although it took some time I think they see that now, and that their lives are better off.

When they first moved up here my mother was still on prescription drugs, but she very quickly found that it was impossible to find a new doctor to continue prescribing her the same pharmaceutical cocktails she wanted.  And boy did she fucking try. She’s already changed doctors at least three or four times since moving here, whipping out her favorite refrain of “I don’t think this doctor knows what they’re talking about!” every time they’re like, “Yeah, you don’t need to be on a steady stream of opiates.”

Eventually the lack of drugs caught up with her, the withdrawal passed, and for the past year or so she and I have actually gotten along okay.  She is still, and always will be, a difficult person, and I worry about whether or not she’ll find a doctor to start filling prescriptions again, but until then things are… okayish.

Anyway, that’s the long back story.

Back when they were still living at their old house, Marc and I would periodically go to visit them.  My Mom was always drugged out of her gourd, so I fucking hated going, but I had to do my duty, and she made every excuse imagineable for why she couldn’t come visit us.  So once a month we’d pack up, trek over to her house, order take-out, hang out for a while, then go back home again.

Except my Mother would do this thing where, after the food arrived, she would put the plates out, and then she would continue to gather plates and reorganize the kitchen while everyone was sitting down, serving themselves and eating.  

Like, the food would be on the table, we’d all be halfway through our meals and well on our way to being done, and my Mom would still be in the kitchen sorting around in the drawers for a mystery spoon or bowl that she needed, then finding it, washing it out, drying it, realizing it was the wrong one, putting it away, etc.

Eventually she would come out while everyone else was finishing up, serve herself a tablespoon of food, eat half, and then talk about how full she was.

For a while we would be like, “Mom… everyone is eating. We have everything we need. We literally don’t need anything else. Just come in and eat,” and she would ignore us.  Eventually I just stopped caring, and let her do her thing while the rest of us ate.  The sooner we finished the sooner we could leave.

I don’t know how else to describe her behavior apart from manic.  Like, when it was time to order, if I asked her for a menu, she would bring me the menu, and for fifteen minutes after I had called to place the order she would still be rooting through the drawers looking for more / other menus.  She would get herself so worked up that sometimes while we were sitting downstairs hanging out she’d have to go up and be sick.

All this just to give you a sense of what she used to be like.

Anyway.  I’m driving her home from an appointment on Wednesday, and she’s commenting how all of us just naturally turn into their mothers as we get older, even though we don’t want to.  In that I stayed dead silent through this observation I think she recognized that I disagreed.  So then she moved on to how different some daughters are from their mothers, especially in the kitchen.

And she said to me, “Like when I cook, I have to clean as I go along, I can’t just put everything in the sink until later.  Remember when you used to come over to eat, and you’d say to me, ‘Mom, come and eat, the food is ready!’ and I’d be so busy cleaning up that I wouldn’t even realize!”

And I’m like, “....”

Because that’s not what happened.  That’s not even fucking remotely what happened.  So she has spun the reality where she is an out-of-control manic drug addict and spun it into a funny story about how she’s such a neat freak that she doesn’t realize it’s time to eat.

I was sorely tempted to correct her, but at the last second realized it wouldn’t make a difference either way.  She is never going to look back on her behavior with any kind of clarity, and trying to force her to do so would just make the day end on a sour note.  If she wants to live in delusion, that’s on her.  I can tolerate it, but I’m certainly not going to feed into it by saying something like, “Yes, that’s precisely how it happened.”

She’ll have to learn to interpret the silence on her own.

Anyway, I guess that’s it.  Greatly looking forward to getting home and having a nice night on the couch, or maybe playing Sims some more.  I may even make some tea.

I hope all of you are doing well <3

[teamhook]

CSSNS 2019 Rionnag Dorcha Gorm (Dark Blue Star)

Hello all!

This is my contribution to this year’s @cssns

I know my other story is still going on and it will find it’s ending, but since I cannot say no to @kmomof4 here I am, once more.

I wanna thank the lovely ladies at the CSSNS Discord. I love chatting with you all.

I wanna thank the mods of CSSNS19, my lovely very patient Beta @searchingwardrobes and my artist for the event @hollyethecurious

|AO3 from the beginning| |AO3 current|

|FFN from the beginning| |FFN current|

A/N: Killlian goes home.

Tag: @hookedonapirate @searchingwardrobes @let-it-raines @profdanglaisstuff @revanmeetra87 @ilovemesomekillianjones @snowbellewells @seriouslyhooked @kymbersmith-90

Killian decided it was time to confront his fears. He called his boss and asked for some vacation time. Nemo gladly agreed.

Killian got on the first flight out of Vegas to Boston. He had stopped at the Boston office for some supplies since he could not make the drive from Vegas to Storybrooke in his own car with his supplies due to time. A little after 6 hours he was finally driving a rental to Storybrooke.

When he finally drove past the Storybrooke sign at the entrance of the small quaint town, his anxiety kicked in.

Bloody hell, I'm truly back he whispered.

The scenery slowly looked familiar. He had loved the little town when they first arrived. Things were different then: he had a loving family. Now he was alone.

He had his best mate, Smee, and his boss who was more like a father than his real father had been for the last half of his life.

Killian parked in front of Granny’s. The place looked exactly the same. It was as if time had stood still. He swiped his sweaty hands on his dark jeans. He pulled his backpack from the back seat and worked up the nerve to walk inside. He heard the bell announcing his arrival and approached the desk.

“Hi, welcome to Granny’s my name is Ruby. How can I help you?” the tall brunette asked with a smile.

“Hello lass, I would like a room. I hope you have one available,” Killian asked as he put his bag on the carpeted floor.

Ruby searched his face. “Yeah, we still have rooms available. Do you have any preferences?”

“No, lass. As long as it has a bed I’ll be good.”

“You can call me Ruby,” she sighed. “How long will you be staying?”

“At least a week, I do need to get back to work.” He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket.

“Okay, it’s gonna be $280.00, will that be cash or credit?” She smiled as she handed him the guest sign-in sheet to fill out.

“Credit is better.” He handed her the card to swipe and turned to fill out the paperwork.

She stared at him. One. Two. Three seconds later she turned to grab the key from its hook. “You’re in room 26, the diner is through that door.” She pointed to the door next to the stairs that lead to his room.

“Thank you, lass.” He cringed when he noticed her glare. “Thank you, Ruby.” He picked up his bag to go to his room. He could still feel her eyes on him.

“Hey, don’t I know you? I’ve been trying to place your face, but I know for sure I’ve seen you before.” She bit her bottom lip.

He scratched behind his ear and it clicked for her. “Wait, aren’t you the other Jones kid?” Now it was his turn to cringe. “Aye, Killian Jones.” He pointed to the sheet she was holding.

“Oh,” she blushed, “sorry, I knew Liam and Emma is my best friend. She still talks about you a whole lot, and she has pictures of you two together. It’s kinda cute.”

His heart fluttered even after all these years, Emma still made his pulse race and he smiled. “You knew Liam too?”

“Yeah, he loved you so much. His dream was for you to come home. I’m sorry for your loss. I was sent here right after you left. The moment my mom died and I was shipped here. My granny is the only family I have now.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry about your mum.” His smile didn't reach his eyes."

“It’s okay, happened a long time ago. So are you here to visit Emma?” Her eyes fluttered.

“Yes, do you know where I can find her?”

“I think she is at the hospital with Leo.”

“Thanks. I’m going to put away my things in my room, and then I’ll come back for the address to the hospital. It has been a while.”

“Sure no problem.” She smiled.

He went to his room and quickly back to the car to get his supplies. It was a good thing he was fit because he finished quickly. He was soon back at the front desk getting the address to the hospital. He smiled at Ruby as he left.

He arrived at the hospital within 10 minutes and entered the lobby.

Killian walked to the information desk, and he noticed a woman holding a small boy’s hand as they emerged from the elevator. The little boy shook loose of the woman’s hold and ran away. From the entrance of the hospital he heard a voice he would recognize anywhere. “Liam, come here son.” His father, Brennan was standing by the doors as the little boy rushed to him. “Papa!” The boy giggled as his father picked him up and tickled him.

The woman walked by to meet up with Brennan and the boy, Liam. She smiled at Killian. Brennan noticed the exchange and was about to exchange pleasantries with him. He froze as he recognized him, yes it has been years since they last saw each other, but the familial resemblance remained. Brennan was frozen in his place and gave Killian an awkward smile.

Killian's gaze met Brennan’s eyes and he snapped. “It’s bloody good to know how replaceable we were. Father.” he spat the last word. “Mum, Liam. I guess I didn’t make the cut.” Killian’s attention turned to the woman, “word of advice, lass. You are not family. You are simply the replacements.” With those final words he stormed out of the hospital, the door slamming behind him.

Emma was coming from the cafeteria with a coffee in hand. She froze in place at the sight of Killian standing there. He had told her he couldn't help, but he was back. He came back for her.

Once her surprise was over she rushed after him. She barely caught up to him. “Killian?!”

He stopped and turned slowly. Their eyes met, and she couldn’t help the smile that crept across her face. His jaw clenched at the sight of her. She walked towards him without breaking eye contact. He stood still with closed fists.  

“You came back,” she stammered. “After our talk, I didn’t think I would see you again.”

“Emma, why didn’t you tell me about Brennan’s new family?” The hurt was evident in his voice.

“Killian, I’m sorry. How could I mention it? I thought you weren’t coming.”

He relaxed a bit, “I’m sorry, love. Not your fault, I was just shocked. How could he name the lad, Liam?” The disgust in his face was on full display.

Emma couldn’t help but stare at her friend. He had been a good looking kid then, but now he was beautiful. His dark hair, trimmed beard, and those eyes she could never forget. She can admit it now, she had a major crush on her childhood friend. Then and now too. Some habits are hard to break.

He scratched right below his ear. “I hope you understand I cannot go back in there. With that man. Emma, he just gave me away like if I was nothing. I’m sorry, love.”

“Oh, Killian.” She approached him and gently pulled him in for a hug. “I’ve missed you so much. I’m sorry, I couldn’t be there for you.”

“That’s in the past now. How is your little brother?”

”Well, he is afraid. I’m the only one that he told about her.”

“I don’t blame the lad for keeping that bit of information from the doctors. I told the truth too, and all it got me was a collection of medications.”

“I have to go back inside, I can meet you later. Where are you staying?”

“Granny’s, I have a room there.”

“Okay, I can meet you there in about an hour.” She hesitated walking away from him.

“I’ll be at the diner.”

“Okay, see you soon.” With a smile she turned to jog back to the hospital.

~~~

Killian went back to his room at Granny's. He began pacing the room like a caged animal. His father had a new family. He had a little brother. It was too much to process, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. Instead, he decided to make his time useful and set up the flashlights with the motion sensors any movement, and the lights would turn bright. He then glanced at the nightstand and noticed that his pill bottles almost completely covered the top of the wooden stand.

There was a loud pounding on Killian's door, and he was taken out of his thoughts. He looked at his watch only to realize he had gotten distracted. It was slightly past the hour. He quickly walked to the door, and was greeted with a bright dimpled smile from Emma.

"Hey, Killian. I hope you don't mind. I asked Ruby for your room number."

"That's fine, love. Where's Leo?"

Her smile only got brighter, "He is at the library. I asked a friend to keep an eye on him while I came to get you."

"Oh, I thought we were going to enjoy a grilled sandwich together." His disappointment was clear, and the growl that escaped his stomach didn't help.

Emma giggled, "We are going to enjoy a meal together. At the library. I'm doing some research."

Killian smiled in agreement, "Research? I'm surprisingly good at research."

"Yeah, you big old nerd. I guess some things never change. I've been looking for any clues to what attacked you.” she hesitated for a second, she was really thinking on what killed your mom, “Come on the food is probably ready."

The duo quickly went to retrieve their food at the front desk. Ruby winked at Emma as Killian held the door for her and they exited with their food on hand. The walk to the library was quick and filled with silence.

They entered the library and Emma guided Killian to the back room.

The room was small with a large table in the middle and chairs surrounding it. There was a cart with many books, newspaper clippings, and anything they could find about sightings, mysterious deaths or disappearances.  

Emma introduced him to her little brother Leo. The poor lad had dark circles around his green eyes. He looked much like his older sister with the exception of the dark hair. He was a shy boy who lingered near Emma.

Emma handed her brother a book and sat him at the small table in the corner. She sat on her chair and leaned forward to keep their conversation somewhat secret from the boy.  

"Killian, this is my friend Belle. She is also the librarian and research extraordinaire." Behind a mountain of books the petite woman appeared.

"Hello, lass. Nice to meet you." Killian extended his hand to shake hands.

"Belle, have you found anything?" Emma asked her friend.

"Sorry, Emma.” Belle replied as she kept flipping through pages, “No, I haven't. There have been many disappearances of children, but I've yet to find the origin. I'm afraid."

"We are running out of time. My parents want to proceed with the next step." Emma confessed.

Killian looked at the boy, "Emma, did he lose a tooth recently?"

"Yeah, he lost his last baby tooth. That is why I tracked you down. It reminded me of that night. He won’t sleep with the lights off." Emma answered, “and the doctor is urging my parents to continue to the next step of treatment.”

"What's the next step, Emma?" Killian asked.

"The doctor diagnosed him with a form of night terrors. He also said that because he is not sleeping he has suffered a psychotic break, and he can't tell what is real and what is not. The doctor also said that Leo may hurt himself because he believes the dream is real. Since he feels something is after him to hurt him, his self-inflicted wounds

are consistent with this fantasy. There is a procedure they can perform and according to the doctor it has a great success rate. It isn't surgical. They would place Leo in a sensory deprivation chamber.

He faces his fears and realizes there's nothing to fear. The alternative would be aggressive medication coupled with counseling.

There are no guarantees, and Leo might hurt himself.”

“So basically putting him in a dark room where that thing can do whatever it wants to him, and your parents are okay with that?” Killian asked.

“My parents are considering it.They think it’s for the best.” She shrugs, “It's not like I can tell them not to. What am I supposed to say to them?

I’m I supposed to say something otherworldly is hurting him? That he is afraid to sleep because this thing wants to hurt him. He has been lucky that the attacks have been interrupted.”

“Aye, he has been lucky. Light is very effective at deterring it, but darkness seems to give it strength.”

Belle was still engrossed in the books trying to find something helpful, and Emma and Killian return to their own research material. They wanted to leave the library while there was still light outside.  

Belle had suggested adding some occult books to their research, and Killian and Emma quickly agreed. It couldn't hurt and maybe they could come in handy. Killian had found an occult book on how to cleanse a home. He wondered if it would truly help, but right now the only thing that mattered was saving young Leo. He made a list of some items that might help.

After a couple of hours of research at the library, they finally decided to call it a night. Leo had fallen asleep on the sofa in the room. Killian suggested for them to go to his room at Grannys since it was closer and it would soon be getting dark. Belle had promised she would continue at home. Killian took a few books for him and Emma to read while Leo slumbered in Killian’s room at the inn. They decide to eat dinner while the little boy rested his eyes under the protection of Killian’s system. He had cameras linked to his cellphone. The room hummed from the electrical lanterns, flashlights, lamps and the motion sensor lights. Emma was surprised the kid could sleep with the brightness of the room, but she was not about to complain. Her little brother was sleeping and for the first time in weeks he was not afraid.

Emma and Killian sat on a booth at Granny’s while they waited for their food. Emma admitted, “I’m surprised Leo fell asleep in your room, I think he feels safe around you. Thank you," she smiled as she covered his hands with hers.

Killian looked at her hands on top of his, and butterflies took flight, “Ahem, I think he was just tired, love. How are your parents taking this situation?"

Emma smiled, "Well, they're my parents. I don’t know. Mom is so optimistic, and dad just wants to protect us at all costs. I'm surprised they let Leo come with me."

Killian shook his head in disagreement, “I think they know you are a great older sister. You're a lot like Liam. loving and protective."

Emma blushed at the comparison, “I'm sorry about Liam, he loved you so much, and all he ever wanted was for you to come home. I'm also sorry for not telling you about your dad.”

Killian’s face falls for a second and then he scratches behind his ear, "It’s alright, how were you supposed to know I'd show? I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about coming here."

Emma nodded, “After Liam, your dad focused on making sure that the owner of the negligent company paid for his loss. After that, he lost his will to live and almost lost the company, drinking his way down the coast. My dad barely managed to keep the company afloat. Your dad met his new wife, and he was like he used to be. I'm sorry. I’m not defending him, but it was either he moved on or he dies slowly."

Killian scoffed, “He always thought mum coddled me. He adored Liam; he was his golden child. I can't believe he named his new son after Liam. I was just a spare."

Emma sighed, “Killian, he loved you. I could see it. I think he was broken after your mom’s death and since there was no one else he could blame, he blamed you."

Killian laughed, "did you know Liam was named after mum’s father? I'm the one that was named after his grandfather. I’m the one with his family’s name. Sometimes it feels like a curse. I haven't been able to have a serious relationship because all the women I date think I'm a paranoid schizophrenic because of the drugs and the lights."

Emma looked at their hands, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, the ghost of you has made dating pretty hard for me. I just wanted that connection we had again and never found it" until now she whispered hoping he didn't hear her confession. He wasn't back to stay.

Killian smiled, “I missed you so bloody much," her soft hands still firmly on top of his.

The diner's bell chimed. Ruby walked to their table with a refill of their drinks and whispered to Emma “incoming" Ruby lingered nearby not-so-subtly eavesdropping. Killian was confused, and then a man about their age with a big smile arrived at their table.

“Good evening, Emma. I tried calling you earlier to ask about Leo, but I kept getting your voicemail." The man’s smile faltered when he noticed Emma's hand on top of Killian's. Emma smiled uncomfortably, “Yeah, sorry Graham. Oh excuse my poor manners, Graham Humbert meet Killian Jones" she waved her hands between the two, and continued, “I forgot to turn the ringer back on after we left the hospital. Sorry. Leo, he is doing as good as can be expected."

Graham nodded, “Killian Jones, any relation to Jones Jewel Shipping?"

Emma's hands had inevitably returned to their previous location on top of Killian’s, and she gently squeezed Killian's hand. Killian shook his head, “no, no relation."

Graham tilted his head, "Oh, you just resemble Mr. Jones." Graham turned to Emma, and missed Killian’s clenched jaw, “Emma, I know you've been busy with Leo, but I was hoping you'd be my date for the Founders Gala."

Emma smiled,  “I wasn’t planning on going. Leo needs my complete attention."

Graham grinned, “Your parents are attending, I don't understand."

Emma replied, “Yeah, I know it's a big deal because of my mom’s family, but I'm not gonna let some inexperienced kid babysit my little brother. Especially since he is going through a hard time. I'm not going."

Killian quietly stared at her hands still on top of his. She hadn't moved them.

Graham nodded, “Okay, I understand, but if you change your mind you'll let me know?" he asked in a hopeful voice.

Emma turned to Killian and ended the conversation, "Actually if I decide to go to the Gala, I have Killian to escort me. I'm sorry, Graham."

Graham turned red at the dismissal and left. Emma turned to Killian with big wide eyes, “I’m sorry, my parents keep trying to set us up, and I'm not interested. He is nice, but there's no spark.”

Ruby giggled and retorted, “Ems, you never gave him or any other guy a shot because of all the pining."

Emma scoffed and blushed profusely under Killian’s gaze, and slowly removed her hands from their spot, “I don't pine."

Ruby rolled her eyes and sing-songed as she walked back to the counter, “if you say so."

Emma was still red due to all the teasing, “I'm sorry for putting you in the middle."

Killian tilted his head, "It’s okay, what is this Founders Gala? I’ve seen signs all over town, and I had been meaning to ask."

Emma snorted, “It's this big party celebrating the anniversary of the founding families establishing the town or something like that. Your family was one of the families too."

Killian simply responded, “Oh,” he scratched behind his ear, "love, I don’t know if I can stomach seeing my father again. I assume he will be there?”

Emma sighed, “I imagine he will be there. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I said that so he would stop asking me out.”

Killian was unable to hide his disappointment, “I see.”

Emma added quickly, “I meant we don’t have to go. I’m perfectly happy just spending time with you. I know you are here for Leo. I just shouldn’t have said that.”    

“I’m here for both of you. I don’t know how much I can truly help, but I’m with both of you for the long haul.” Killian smiled and turned to look out the window. “Emma, I think it’s best if you spend the night in my room.” he stopped talking and cringed, “I meant you and Leo should stay in my room, it’s dark out already. The lad is already comfortably asleep, why move him?” to reassure her, he added, “It’s for the best, love, and besides, if the sensors pick up anything it will light up the room.”

Emma nodded, “Yeah, I get it. I agree on one condition: you take the bed and Leo can sleep on the sofa. I can ask Ruby for one of those foldable cots.”

He stared at her, “Are you bloody crazy? That sofa is too small. You and Leo take the bed, and I will take the cot. I’m a gentleman after all.”

Emma stared back at him. She shouldn’t agree, but he does have a point. Leo is already asleep in the room. “Okay, give me a second. I’m going to ask Ruby for the cot and to let me borrow something to sleep in.”

She got up from her seat, went to the counter, and had a quick conversation with Ruby. She walked back with a smile. “Okay, she is going to get the cot and the clothes.” There was a bit of color to her cheeks.

Killian smiled at her as he got up from the booth, “Is everything okay?” He took his wallet out and pulled some cash to pay.

”Yeah, it’s just Ruby being Ruby.” Emma blushed. “I could have paid for the food, we are taking your room.” She pulled some money out of her pants pockets.

“Emma, how about this? You pay for our food tomorrow.” He smiled brightly at her.

“Okay, fine. I’m sleepy, all that research made me tired. I don’t know how Belle does it.”  Emma tried to hide a yawn as they make their way back to Killian’s room. He took out his phone to temporarily disable the sensors, so they didn’t go off as they entered the room. Leo was still safely asleep under the protection of the humming lights lullaby.

“Killian?” Emma asked as she sat on the sofa. Killian was in the restroom, getting ready to go to sleep as soon as the cot was delivered.

Killian emerged from the restroom wearing some sweats low on his hips a well worn Nautilus Security t-shirt. Emma just stared because her childhood best friend was hot. She couldn't believe he was not in a serious relationship or at least dating someone. It couldn't be because women weren't attracted to him

“Did you need the restroom?” Killian asked as he put his dirty clothes in a plastic bag and gave her a very nice view of his ass.

“I’m just waiting for Ruby. She’s going to bring the cot and some sleeping clothes for me,” she answered as she tried to distract herself from her inappropriate thoughts.

There was a knock on the door. Emma rushed to answer it. Ruby stood there with a wolfish smile. “Here you go Em, one cot, and some sleeping clothes for ya. I still say you go commando and you and that hottie spoon each other.” Ruby waggled her eyebrows.

Emma stood there dumbfounded as she grabbed the mentioned items from her friend’s grasp. “Thanks a lot, Ruby. Goodnight.”

Emma was afraid to face Killian because there was no way he didn’t hear Ruby.

He greeted her with a wide smile. “Your friend is really something, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, something embarrassing. I’m sorry, she has no filter.” She gave him a small smile as she grabbed the PJs and headed to the restroom.

It was his turn to admire her behind. He was not going to lie, as the years passed by, he wondered about her. Did she miss him, hell, did she even remember him? She had been beautiful when they were young, but now she was bloody gorgeous. She took his breath away, and if that would lead to his demise, he would gladly go that way. He smiled as he sat down on the sofa. While waiting for Emma, he took out his phone to check his emails.

Finally, Emma emerged from the restroom and unceremoniously dropped on the small sofa next to Killian. She smiled at him. It was reminiscent of their childhood. They used to stay up late talking, their knees touching, feeling each other’s warmth. It felt like home.

Emma leaned closer, “Las Vegas, huh?”

Killian smiled, “What?”

She sighed, “It’s just of all the places I’d thought you’d end up, Las Vegas was not one of them.”

He scratched behind his ear, relaxing into the cushion of the old couch, “And why is that, love?”

She relaxed into the contours of their shared seat and smiled, “Well, for one, you love the water, and it’s so hot there. You enjoyed the snow. When I think of Vegas, all that comes to mind are hotels and gambling.” She scrunched her nose.

Killian snorted, “Ah, I’ll have you know love, that about 30 minutes away from the Vegas Strip is Lake Mead. If memory serves me, it is twice the size of Rhode Island,” he smiled, “but I was in Boston for some time. I admit, I jumped at the chance, when my boss decided to relocate the company headquarters to Vegas.” He shrugged, “The majority of our clients are over there, he offered to take me with him, and I didn’t even think twice about it. The man has been like a father to me; he practically adopted me. Plus the pay is good, and the place never sleeps.”

Emma stared at him, “Why didn’t you call me? I mean, when you were in Boston, I could have come out to visit you or something.” It hurt to know that he was so close and chose not to reach out to her.

Killian sighed, he noticed the sadness that covered her lovely face. “I’m sorry, I have no explanation. No excuse.” He lowered his head, “I suppose it was self-preservation.”

“I get it, I wonder if you were there at the same time I was at UMass Boston. I was getting my Associate Degree in Criminal Law to join the Police. I came back about a month ago.”

He was impressed, “Criminal Law? Oh right, when you called, you mentioned it being your job. To find people or am I not remembering correctly?”

Emma snorted, “For a drunk guy you have a pretty good memory, but yeah. I worked for a bail bonds company. I got some experience tracking people, it was good.”

Killian nodded, “Are you going to join the BPD?”

Emma shook her head, “No, I’m actually staying home. The sheriff’s office is hiring a deputy. I was going to join the BPD, but I missed home, Leo, and my parents.” she shrugged.

There was a silence broken only by their combined yawns.

“I guess it's time to say goodnight.” she fought to prevent another yawn.

“I have to agree.” He got up to set up the cot.

Emma lingered on the sofa for a second. She got up to walk to the bed, but paused. She turned to look at Killian. He had just finished setting up his bed for the night. He turned to face her, and tilted his head, “Goodnight, love. Everything will work out. I know how bloody amazing and stubborn you are.”

She rolled her eyes, “I know it will because you’re here to help. I don’t think I’ve thanked you properly for coming to help.” She took a couple of steps to him and pulled him from his shirt and kissed him.

He stood still: was he dreaming? Nope, Emma was kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her back. It was slow and fluid.

She pressed her hands against his chest and gently pushed him away. He chased her lips for a second and then settled his forehead against hers. They stayed like that for several moments not wanting to break the spell.

“Goodnight, Killian.” she sighed and turned to go to bed.

He whispered, “Goodnight, love.”

He fell asleep wondering if he could truly come home.

She fell asleep thinking it was a bad idea to kiss him. He was going to leave soon. Storybrooke was no longer his home.

[benjaminjofaiho]

The Captain Next Door Ch.5

Summary: You’re a doctor who also just so happens to be a fan fiction writer. You love lots of fandoms but Captain America is by far your fave, so what happens when you get a new job, move to Brooklyn and realize that the brownstone you bought is right next door to Captain America? Obviously shenanigans ensue.

Warnings: Swearing.

It’s worth noting that I do not care for or abide by the timeline, there are some people mentioned that haven’t technically been brought together yet [ As per Winter Soldier ] but I did it anyway.  P.S. I do not currently have a beta and the ‘f’ and ‘u’ keys on my keyboard are messed up so incase you see repeating letters anywhere they aren’t supposed to be feel free to let me know.

AN: I had so much fun writing this chapter. Please reblog and share. Your feedback is always welcome and I love hearing from y’all.

You looked at his back muscles and not to mention nice ass as he walked up the steps to your house. Yeah. This was definitely going into a fic. The world needs to know about this physique. He turned back to you and asked you if you were ready with that milliwatt smile. You were ready alright. Ready to jump his bones. Just as he was about to turn his keys into his house your phone started to ring. You lifted it to see The Bone Man’s smiling face.

           “Boner, what’s up?”

           “Hey babe, Do you got time for a couple consults?” A couple? Usually it was just the one or two.

           “What do you mean a couple?” You hesitated, putting your finger up to Steve, you were completely taken out of your flirty and laid back mood it was work time. He turned to completely face you and lean on his front door.

           “Yeah I know you’re not working today but there was a freak accident on the highway. I have about 10 patients that need to go into surgery but I need your okay and the on call doctor isn’t answering his phone.”

           “Fucking Daniels. I bet he’s golfing with members of the bboard. I’ll be there, gimme 20.” Ending the call and biting your lip you looked at Steve. You were going to get to go into CAPTAIN AMERICA’S house but Dr. Daniels was in absentia so you were the next call.

           “Listen I’m really sorry but I have to go, there’s emergency at work.” Looking at your watch you absent-mindedly said “I told him 20 but it’ll be more like an hour, I totally forgot it’s rush hour. Alright Captain, duty calls.” Turning and running to go to your brownstone and get your workbag and change your clothes you heard Steve calling out for you.

           “Y/N! Wait!” You turned to see him jogging up to you “Where do you work?”

           “Mount Sainai. Why?”

           “It doesn't have to take that long.”

           Scrunching your face you told him “ I know about the subway,  but I don’t know it that well and I don't want to risk getting lost. Plus I heard the MTA is really unreliable and I don't have time for any delays right now” Spinning back around your continued to your house but you were stopped by an arm around your bicep. It felt as if your body came alive. Usually when you were thinking about work you had a really one track mind. Work was still on your mind while your bicep burned, it just wasn't at the forefront. You looked down and saw a large hand that you would have imagined was very rough but was actually soft and then looked up to Steve’s face. For a moment he was staring down at his hand too. Snapping out of whatever haze he was in he let you go.

           “Sorry.” His hand shot up. “I can get you there in 15.”

           “15 minutes?” You asked, confused. It took 20 minutes to get to work without traffic. How was he going to get you there faster than that? You decided to voice that particular concern.            

           “Just trust me, Go get your stuff and I’ll be waiting for you when you get out.” Knowing you had no time to argue you just turned and ran up the steps into you home. Within ten minutes you were back with your hair up in a bun and jeans with a blouse. All signs of Saturday rest and relaxation were off of you. And there he sat. Atop a fucking motorcycle. You almost tripped over nothing and your eyes were bugging. You were sure of it..

           “Absolutely not.” You began.

           “You’ll be fineeeee” He started to persuade. “ Think of all the people you could save. And potentially loose if you call an Uber. Come on. Get on.” Realizing he was right you were about to get up behind him and then you stopped again.

           “What’s up Doc?” He smiled. Under normal circumstances that would have gotten a light chuckle out of you. But aren’t weekend Y/N. Weekend Y/N had checked out and Work Y/N was here and in complete control despite her faltering 10 minutes ago.

           “I can’t get on that death trap without a helmet” You shrugged pulling out your phone about to open the Uber app.

           “Hey” He said and he was in front of you in an instant. “Of course I would get you a helmet. We have to protect the precious cargo.” Handing you an all-black helmet. How many times would he alone you make you grateful for your melanin that a blush you could feel was creeping up behind. He took your bag from you while letting you put the helmet on.  He sat on the bike and waited for you to get on. This was the closest you’d been to him in your almost 3 months of knowing each other and you weren’t touching him but you might as well have been. You could feel the heat radiating off his back. Flipping the face shield up you asked how you wouldn't fly off. Was there some sort of mini motorcycle seatbelt or something?

           “Yeah of course look at the end of your arms” He laughed. “You can either wrap them around me or hold on to that little railing on either side of the back.” You looked back and indeed there was a little railing, then opting to respect his boundaries; hold on to those. The engine come alive beneath you and you let out a little squeal you hoped he didn't hear.

           “Ready? He shouted.

           “Yeah” You shouted back trying to sound as normal as possible. You were off and zipping through your borough and were on the highway in 4 minutes. Shortly after you pulled up behind a sedan where you stayed for almost a full minute. Traffic was no joke and you started to think maybe it would have been better for you to take the subway. Moving  closer to Steve so he could hear you began to shout over all the engines around you.

           “Traffic is worse than I expected! I think I should have gotten on the subway”. In lieu of responding he just shook his head. You heard him saying something from behind the screen shield of his helmet. After asking what several times, he annoying flipped up his visor and said “I said hold on!” You were the closest you'd ever been in your months of knowing each other.  You were able to see his eyes weren’t all the way blue actually, they had a bit of gold flecks in them. Only being able to manage a strangled ‘okay’ he flipped his visor down.

           Grabbing the handles behind you and clenching your teeth you closed your eyes and prepared for the worst. But you weren’t prepared for what happened. The world started to fly by you and all you could see the back of Steve and the your blurred surrounding. Before you knew it you were screaming and found your arms all the way wrapped around Captain America. Boundaries be damned, this man was trying to kill you. Did you he know you belonged to people? Did he know you were someone’s child? You both made it to the hospital in 9 minutes and you got off the back of his bike with shaking knees.  

           “Steven. It feels like my esophagus dropped through my chest knocking my heart into my stomach causing a ripple effect that made my uterus fly out of my asshole.” Before being able to stop yourself your hands shot up to cover your mouth. “Excuse my language. I appreciate the ride but that was crazy.” Meanwhile Steve was keeled over his handlebars laughing enough for the whole island of Manhattan.

           Between fits of laughter he managed “Y/N, you know to call me Steve come on. And plus it was my pleasure, you've been feeding me well for months so this was honestly the least I could do. By the way what time do you get off work?”

           “Oh Steve, you don’t have to do that-” he cut you off immediately.

           “I’ll  be in the area. I was supposed to come down here during the week but since I’m already here I might as well get stuff done. Plus, I’ve been hearing a lot about global warming, and that its my generations fault and how we can help emissions by doing communal rides and such which, so I’m picking you up because it’s my civil duty, and to collectively lower our…carbon footprint?” you couldn't help but smile. You were had no idea the great Captain America was a rambler.

           “Okay.” And you both looked at each other smiling small and you turned to walk away. Turing back around “Oh! By the way, if you happen to finish your…stuff before I’m done take Sonia’s number. She’ll be able to direct you to my office where you can wait and if you’re hungry she can grab you something to eat as well. There’s a TV in there so you can watch the news or whatever old men do” You ended laughing and his smile got bigger as well. Turning around and walking through the automatic doors of the hospital Work Y/N was back. It was game time.

           After quickly changing into your scrubs and lab coat you paged Boner and were able to find him near intake with a patient.

           “Bone man, talk to me” You began. You heard a patient laugh and question Bone man?

           “Excuse me ma’am, Dr. Y/L/N. knows my name is Dr.Siriboe she just likes to joke.” He leaned in close to her like he was about to reveal a top secret and put his hand up to the side of his mouth. “You know I heard she wanted to be a comedian at first, but she didn’t have the chops so she settled for being a doctor. Not as funny but I guess it keeps the lights on” He ended with a shrug. The patient began to laugh. You knew Boner was funny but he wasn't tears in your eyes funny. This was because he was a handsome surgeon. You were woman enough to admit his good looks. Keeping it as professional as you could with someone you’d known for so long, you got started.

           With a smile still on your voice you asked “So, what do we have here?”

====================Steve’s POV=======================

           He had nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. But when he felt her arms wrap around him like that? He knew he was hooked and was looking for any way to get a fix. So he pulled up to the place he would always go when he needed time to think. The Met.

           The Met served as a sort of mental relief and motivation/inspiration, depending on his head space when he decided to visit. But as of late, he hadn’t needed to visit because. He didn’t know he just felt, satiated. He looked around at various exibits and found himself staring at a portrait of an open field of flowers. Physically he was staring at that painting but in reality he was looking through it, and thinking of you. He spent the next few hours wandering around the Meuseum for hours. Around 6 he decided to head back over to the hospital to see if she was ready to go.

           Upon arrival he texted Sonia and got the instructions to your office. Finally walking in he saw the smile on your assistant’s face welcoming him and asking him if there was anything he needed.

           “I’m fine thank you ma’am, although, would you be able to help me turn the news on in Dr. Y/L/N’s office?”

           “Of course Sir.” she replied. “And please, Sonia is fine.

            After a few minutes of silence with her setting up the TV for him he asked “Please don’t take this the wrong way. But why aren’t you acting more nervous? Not that I want you to or anything…just curious.” Sonia let out a light laugh.

           “To be honest I kind of know of you a bit. I speak with Sam a lot and you’ve come up in conversations plenty of times seeing as how the both of you are in some type of love affair” She began to audibily laugh and then absentmindedly added “Plus I can’t the good Doc to shut up about you, so I sort of feel as if I know you already.” She continued to search for the right channel. Before he could stop himself he found himself asking

           “Really? Y/N talks about me? What does she say?” All he heard was a distracted ‘hmm?’ in way of response.

           “Excuse me, Sonia” He began again. “What does she say about me?”

           “I’m sorry what?” Sonia turns her face in his direction with her eyes still glued on the screen. It was clear she was responsive but not present.

           “Sonia?”

           “Yes! Oh I’m so sorry! I always get confused by this TV.” She said landing on BBC and finally turning to give him her full attention. “What was your question again?”

           “Y/N? What does she say about me?” He’d never thought it would be possible to see the color drain from a person with such a rich complexion but he was witnessing it.

           “I don't think I said that, Captain”

           “Oh yes you did. You said, and I quote ‘To be honest I kind of know of you a bit. I speak with Sam a lot and you’ve come up in conversations plenty of times seeing as how the both of you are in some type of love affair. Plus I can’t the good Doc to shut up about you, so I sort of feel as if I know you already’ Actually. By your words it seems as if she talks about me a lot. So, what does she say?” Sonia started backing out of Y/N’s office.

           “ You know the usual…nothing unscrupulous…You know her, shes a sweetheart. Only good things and you can believe me about that” She answered nervously.

           “Can’t you give me any specifics?” He turned the Captian America charm on 3000. Who was he becoming? Since when did he imagine doing sinful things to beautiful women and it was getting out of his control. Since when did he try to do anything possible to get closer to a woman ? Physically and otherwise? Since when did he draw the same subject over and over for God’s sake? He was a disciplined, responsible, respectable man. Who was Y/N turning him into? Even in the midst of this mental crisis he knew she wouldn't be able to refuse the Charm.

           “ Nothing much. You’re really friendly and helpful, and brave because of your job and all that ya’know? And that you have a nice smile but your eyes. Good lord when she starts on your eyes I know to take a seat because we are gonna be here for a while.” She began to playfully mimick your accent “Oh my God Sonia, I’ve never seen eyes so blue” and then as if noticing she was spilling all the beans her hand shot up over her mouth. “You never heard that! You never even spoke to me! In fact I’m just the pretty lady with the beautiful accent to you!”

           He couldn't help but laugh. And he was happy for it because before her little outburst he was feeling something that he was sure other people would deem as shy? Or was he blushing? He had no idea but he didn’t like the feeling one bit so laughter was a nice change of pace.

           “Hey” He said grinning as he shot his hands up “ No one will ever get a word out of me.”

           “Thank you” she breathed a sigh of relief  “That would have been my ass.” With that she left him in the office. He had a little while to think to himself it didn't last long because he could see the profile of a man talking to Sonia out in the little reception and shortly he turned and walked into her office.

           “Hello Sir, it’s such an honor to meet you. I’m Dr.Siriboe, I work in a different department than Dr. Y/L/N, but when Sonia told me you were here I couldn’t pass up the chance to meet you. Thank you for all your service and sacrifice. My grandfather fought in WW2 so I grew up hearing stories about the front line and I know the tax it takes on a person. Your hard work does not go unnoticed, Captain.” He smiled. Steve smiled back

           “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Siriboe. I’m just a guy that decided to put on a uniform one day but you, decided to put on a white coat and save lives. That is an equally if not more taxing and hororable carrer so the pleasure is mine.” Simling widely Dr.Siriboe gave a small nod in way of accepting the comment and asked the captain to sit down with him.

           “So” He began “You like 2k?”

           “Love it!” Steve replied with a big smile.

           “Wanna play? You know what matter of fact I can’t do that to you. I’m sure whopping your ass would be considered treason or something.”

           “To be commit treason you would have to be in possession of some type of threat.” Looking around the office Steve continued “But I don't see anything threatening in here.”

           “Ohhhh Cap’s got jokes!” Kofi said laughing with Steve. “But its not gonna be so funny when I decimate you in this game. Then Imma be the only one laughing.”

           “Now son, If I go in on you it would be considered heroism in defense of our great nation”           Steve snapped back laughing. “You don’t want these problems.”

           “Son? Sir. Sir. Excuse me, sir. If I were to really get started by the time I was done witcha they’d arrest me on elder abuse and I’m liable to catch a case.”

           Before he knew it they had been playing a game of madden for about 30 mintues and between the little conversation and a whole lot of shit talking he really took a liking to Kofi. He enjoyed his company and he was always looking for new friends that weren’t attached to S.H.E.L.D. in any way possible. He seemed down to earth, and a happy go lucky fellow. Obviously he was smart to be able to become a doctor so he had that going for him as well.

He seemed like the type of guy that would already had been Steve’s friend if they hadn’t just met, he had a friendly personality. Then he wondered why he had never heard of this man before. This is the type of man Y/N should hang around, not that Boner fellow. They seemed as if they would be good friends and he decided then, that he would introduce the two. As if she was a genie and manifested though her doors.

           “Oh! Hey! Steve! You’re here!” She said looking winded.

           “Yeah I am. I’ve been here for a little under an hour just chilling with-” turning behind him to gesture to Kofi “Dr. Siriboe. Dr. Siriboe officially meet Dr. Y/L/N, Dr. Y/L/N, meet Dr, Siriboe, he works in…well actually I didn't even get his department. I’m sorry what department do you work in? You never really mentioned it.”

           “He’s in ortho” She said, cutting him off. Kofi and Y/N stared at each other for bursting out laughing leaving Steve uttlerly confused.

           “Steve, this is the Bone man!” Steve felt something sour in the back of his throat. This? This was dR. bOnEr? THE dr. Boner? That she wouldn't ever leave out of important decisions? The one that helps her when she needs it and doesn't know who to call? This is the guy she was referring to as ‘sort of her work husband and sort of her husband husband?’

           “Oh.” Was all he could manage. He was sure if he could see his own face in that moment it would look something like a 6month old who was constipated. He’d been on the couch fraternizing with the enemy?! Why would he be the enemy? Why would he even think of that? Why had he been internally monologuing this whole day? Again what the hell was she doing to him?

           “Well” He began trying to recover “Are you ready to go home?”

           “Oh! You came to give her a ride? I thought we were gonna split an uber and Rate the Pache as usual and maybe pick up some Thai?”

           “Shut up about Rate the Pache boner! Damnit that's supposed to be between just me and you!” She whisper shouted. He couldn't help himself and asked.

           “What’s rate the pache?” He asked turning to Kofi knowing you wouldn't give him an answer.

           “Well,-” Kofi started

           “Traitor!” She shouted and to be honest it startled Steve a little. He had never seen this playful and mischievous side to her before. He’d seen glimmers of it with Sam but never this full out and raw. He assumed it was because of their old friendship, but that didn't stop the little green monster coming to life within him. Who was he becoming?

Laughing Kofi continued “Rate the Pache is something we started doing back in med school. At the end of the day we get together and rate the patients we worked with on that day. Who would we bone, if there was no repercussions to our careers.” Looking over to you he saw your hands covering your face with what he thought was embarrassment. The practice was a little iffy admittedly, but he couldn't help thinking that she just looked so damn cute acting shy like that.

           “Anyway!!!” She shouted and turned to him. “Steve, I just have to get a couple things done here iff you don't mind waiting like 20 minutes and then we can head home.”

           “Sure, no problem” He said.

           “Well, we can try to finish this game” Kofi said interrupting his train of thought.

           “Ahh I didn't know you were open to public beat downs Kofi, lets do it!” Steve laughed.

           After about 15 minutes of playing, she asked Sonia for a cup of tea and Sonia told her it would be ready in a few, however the next person to open her door was not Sona, but a man instead.    

           “Dr. Daniels” She started, “How nice of you to answer your page” looking at her watch “hmmm… 6 hours too late. People could have died.” The room went silent and everyone turned to look at the late doctor.

           “Dr. Y/L/N, I’m terribly sorry. It started off with me trying to just have a meeting with some of the board members and then they refused to let me leave without playing a round. But I promise the meeting was worth while. I was able to get cardio 3 million dollars for research!”         She let out a squeal.

           “Really?! Damnit Daniels! I was really prepared to rip you a new one but I can’t be mad at this. This money will change so many lives and help preventative care so much. Thank you.” She ended quietly.

           “Of course. Meanwhile I swung by my house and got you something.”

           “Is it what I think it is?”

           “Your blueberry tea leaves as requested. And I threw in some blueberry scones just as you like them. Try one now. I added something new and I want to know if you can taste a difference.”      

           Biting into one she moaned which was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. If he weren’t so busy being something in the neighborhood of jealous he might have actually started to feel aroused. Why the hell was she surrounded by all these…Men? Men who had eyes just like him to see how wonderful she was. Men who had dirtier minds than him imaging all sorts of things.

           “Is this lemon glaze drizzled overtop?” She asked.

           “Good pallete! I call them blueberry lemonade.” He replied.

           “I mean this with all repect daniels, if things don't work out here in the hospital and I fire your ass for something you do to annoy me, you could definitely make it as a baker.”

           That pulled a laugh for a quiet Kofi which made this Dr. Daniels aware of his presence as well as Steve’s as well as if he didn’t notice the both of them before.

           “Kofi, what’s up man? Sorry I missed the pages.” Daniels said nodding to Kofi.

           “Don't worry about it man. You know Y/N zoomed in to save the day as usual.” Turing to face Steve it was then he noticed who he was. Steve could always see the change in people when they recognized him. He noticed the Dr. stood up a little taller, and cleared his throat lightly. Oh, he was a fan.

           “Hello, my name is Dr. Gerald Daniels, It’s a pleasure to meet you Captain America.”

           “Nice to meet you Dr. Daniels, likewise.” Steve said giving a patented smile. “Congrats on your new research money by the way.”

           “Thankyousomuch” Daniels rushed out. Then zipping back to her “Enjoy the tea and deserts. See you Monday. I’ll go round on the patients you had today, so you can get home.” With that he was out of the office and left a bouncing Y/N at her desk happy as could be.

           After she finished her scone, Steve watched her walk out of her office and go talk to Sonia. He watched her throw her head back in laughter and couldn't help but imagine yanking her hair back and burying his face in her neck taking in her sweet smell. He wanted to bury something else in her too but then he heard Kofi aggressively clearing his throat.

           “You like what you see?” He started.

           “Sorry?” Steve decided to play stupid.

           “ I mean any other day, I would let you be distracted and continue to score on you while you look in a completely oppsite direction just as I have in the last 2 mintues already scoring 3 times but...” He paused the game “ That’s Y/N. I’m protective over her.” He said seriously.

           “I really don’t know what you think you-” Steve started but Kofi interrupted him.

           “Listen man, I’m not blind. What are you trying to do with her? You know what? That’s none of my business. Whatever it is, make sure you’re clear about it and don't hurt her. Because at that point you’re gonna have more to worry about than aliens falling out of the sky.” With that he unpaused the game and continued to play as if nothing happened between them. Steve turned back to Y/N and Sonia to see Sonia walking out of the office and Y/N looking out the big window. All of a sudden she turned and looked directly at him and gave him a small smile that felt like an ember lighting a fire.  It was a smile he returned.

           “Alright people.” She started after walking back into her office. “I’m just about ready to go and Sonia’s gone for the day, apparently she has a date to get to.” She said wiggling her eyebrows and laughing. Kofi stood.

           “Okay I just got a page myself, so I have to run.” He stretched his arm out to steve. “Nice to meet you man.” Kofi had that easy go lucky smile but his grip was telling another story. It said if you fuck this up I fuck you up. Steve didn’t know where he stood with Kofi. Thiking of him as boner he didn’t like him at all but getting to know him as Kofi he knew he was someone he could befriend plus him sticking up for Y/N like that really won him points in Steve’s book as much as he hated to admit it. He sorta liked the guy.

           Turning to Y/N kissed her cheek and jogged out the door and she looked after him. What the hell was going on with those two?  He couldn’t place his finger on it. Was she maybe into him? Before he could even think of the situation further. She sat on the couch next to him while putting her feet up on the table and let out a big sigh.

           “So how was your day Steve?”

            “Well” he began mentally scrambling. “ I finished those errands I told you about but I ended up at the Met as I usually do.”

           “Usually? What do you do there usually?”

           “I look through Picassos stuff, they’re permanently on display. Then I go through the current exhibits. I like looking at things from all over the world and from varying time periods. Sort off broadening my artistic palette if you will” He said with an easy smile.

           “I’ve never been to the Met! It’s on my list of to-dos before I officially become a New Yorker.”

           “Then I have to take you down there one of your free days. We can. Make a day of it. Remember, doing my civil duty and all.”

           “Sounds good, I’ll let you know” She said quietly. Off course. She was back to her normal self now, trying to let him down easy. He didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was and suggested they go home.

           She turned off her light in her office and her stomach let out a noise that demanded for attention and she let out a laugh.

           “I’m a little hungry, can you tell?”

           “Right!” Steve said snapping. “Kofi mentioned something about Pad Thai? I know the best Thai restaurant in all the boroughs.”

           “I have to stop ya there chief. If it’s not New Saigon then you are sorely mistaken. Me and boner have been eating there since I used to visit him here in the city and lived back down south. He’s something of a foodie and I’m inclined to believe him.”

           “Hey! I know something or two about food as well. I promise you you’ll like it.” He stared at her while she stared at him and the both of them had a silent battle of wills.

           “Fine! But if I don't like this place, I get to choose where we eat from now on.” Now on? Does that imply that we’ll be doing this more often? Steve decided not to over think it and just live in the moment. He told her wait at the front of the hospital while he pulled the motorcycle around. He couldn't help but notice a pep in his step and it all began with him thinking of having her arms wrapped around him again. Pulling up to the hospital he saw he nervous face in view and let out a little laugh. She was the cutest. He handed her the helmet.

           “Where are we going anyway?” She said taking the helmet from him.

           “It’s this little hole in the wall called Jai-Yen.

           “Jai-Yen” She repeated quietly. “I’ve never heard of it.”

           “Well you have now.” Steve smiled. “Let’s get going.”

           “Alright, take me on your devil machine” She said putting on the helmet. Steve laughed and shook his head. As soon as she was stable on the back of the bike they were off.

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