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thebucketpail · 7 months

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When You Accidentally Kill a Clown pt 14.

Pt.1 pt.13 Ao3

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Jason had alot on his mind.

For starters, apparently his boyfriend had a kid, which, great! She seemed awesome and that was totally okay. But then there were the concerning things he had overheard from the phone call. Like the bit about cloning, which would make Dani- well at least it was somewhat better than the alternative. Suffice to say, he and Danny had alot to talk about later.

All this had led to the very strong urge to find this 'Vlad' character and shoot him where it hurt. (Well it would probably hurt no matter where he shot him but the point still stands.)

Luckily, Jason didn't have to spend long trying to hide this fury before getting an alert from Oracle about some super-powered lunatic tearing up the upper east side. Now that usually wouldn't be his problem, but beating up bad guys is, shockingly, a really good stress relief, so he took the out.

Hopefully Danny didn't take him leaving so suddenly the wrong way.

Unfortunately, Jason didn't really have the mental bandwidth to actually think all these thoughts while also getting shot at by a green floating maniac.

"Oracle, please tell me you have something on this guy, I'm almost out of tricks," he yelled, not waiting to watch the round he unloaded sail right through the guy, before diving behind a half melted car.

"Tt, you may be out of tricks, Todd, but I am not," Robin called as he vaulted over Hood's makeshift shelter. Giving him a satisfying view when seconds later he sailed back overhead and crashed into a storefront, as a chorus of, "Names, Robin," crackled over the intercomm.

"Lucky shot," he grumbled, stumbling over to Jason who had to stifle a laugh at how the kid's face was scrunched up in annoyance. "Not a word. Oracle?"

"Sorry boys, nothing yet. I'll keep trying but all I'm hitting are dead ends."

Robin scrunched up his nose and sighed in annoyance, "So what's the plan then?" He asked.

Hood was about to snap back that 'how should he know' when someone else spoke.

"The plan is: you focus on getting civilians out of the way while we take out big, mean, and corrosive over there." Okay, Red Hood would never admit that he jumped, but to be fair, Robin did too. The voice had come from directly over his shoulder and no one should be able to sneak up on two trained vigilantes that easily. Especially not Damian.

They turned in unison to find two floating teenagers, no more than 17 and 13 each, with floating white hair, and green, green eyes. They were nearly identical, all the way down to the black and silver jumpsuits emblazoned with a flaming D insignia, or were they p's? It was hard to tell.

They were clearly heros of a sort, but Jason didn't recognize them so they were either really small time and in Gotham for a visit, or they chose the wrong city to jumpstart their heroing careers.

"Why are you dressed like a traffic light?" The younger one asked, blowing and popping a blindingly pink bubble as she floated closer to Robin, "I thought the bats were supposed to be discreet."

"That's none of your business," demon Brat growled, "Touch me and you're dead." The girl's hand paused, halfway outstretched toward Robin's cape. She didn't back off, though, until he pulled a birdarang.

"Woah there," she said, holding up her hands and floating backwards as if to calm him, "You're a little late on the dead part, but let's go easy on the knives, eh?"

The guy, now standing next to Hood as he watched the scene play out, snickered.

Robin scowled, "Who are you?"

The guy beamed and raised his hand like he was waiting to be called on in class. "Ooh! I know this one! Uh, hi, my name's Phantom," he gestured grandly to himself and, grinning, took a small bow, and that's Stray," he continued, "We are ghosts, like you, but we're here to help with that." He finished off the whole thing by pointing at the guy stomping around the streets and shooting acid.

The little one- Stray- nodded and popped another bubble. "Yeah, basically, our job is to beat up the ghosts who escape the zone and cause mayhem. We're just cool like that. But don't worry, y'all aren't causing to many issues so you're good."

"We are alot more expirienced than you though, so you guys should just stick to evacuation while we take care of the combat part," Phantom added as he flipped a -was that a soup thermos?- in the air.

Somehow Robin's frown managed to get deeper.

"We do not need you're assistance with combat," he scoffed, "and I find it unbelievable that you two have more experience than I do."

Stray's eyebrows shot up. " Oh okay, sorry didn't relise you were good on your own. I guess that's probably why you just flew through a window and can't seem to land a single hit," she sassed back, hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Tt, a slight miscalculation. Besides, I have no doubt I could take you in a fight easily, much less the flying green bozo over there."

"Oh yeah?" She replied, her nose twitching slightly, "You wanna go traffic light?"

"Bring it," he growled, dropping into a fighting stance.

Then they were at each other's necks. Damian was tackled off his feet almost immediately, making it less of a standard fight and more of a knock-down, drag-out brawl, and Phantom was just watching. No, not even just watching, he was cheering them on, meanwhile Jason was still trying to wrap his head around what they had said.

"Wait, waitwaitwait. Rewind," he said, causing the ghost to turn toward him distractedly without pulling his eyes from the wrestling demons. "What do you mean 'ghosts like you'? Were not ghosts" At least as far as Hood knew he wasn't a ghost. Zombie plausibly, but he had gotten better, so not a ghost. No walking through walls and spraying people with goo, and he definitely didn't float and/or glow like these people.

Phantom snorted and turned toward him fully with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't mean like ghost, ghost," he snorted, "at least not what most people think of ghosts. But you've both clearly died before, and you have cores, however small, so- ghost," he explained, trailing off with awkward jazz hands.

what?

"What?"

Phantom looked like he was about to respond, but was cut off when a large glob of plasma careened into their makeshift shelter and melted the remains into the ground.

The demons, now rolling on the ground, froze, and Phantom let out a low whistle.

"Right, forgot about that. Stray, come on." The girl popped up from the ground, sporting several new bruises and a manic grin.

"Time to kick butt now, Dad?" Hood's brain froze. 'dad?' Phantom just let out a drawn out sigh as he mussed up her hair in a way that seemed oddly familiar.

"Oh so no I'm 'dad'," he grumbled before turning back to Hood. "You're good on the plan, yeah? Cool, see you in two shakes of a ghosts tail." He punned, then they were off, shouting insults and throwing punches that actually managed to hit.

Hood took a few seconds to process what the fresh hell just happened as Robin stood up and spat some blood from his mouth. He was also sporting fresh bruises, aswell as a small cut on his forehead. Impressive.

"Tt, they are adequate," he muttered, turning on his heel and heading for the nearest building where civilians were still trapped.

Hood sent a quick message to Oracle and B that they had help and to focus on civilians, before following as the fight raged on overhead.

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"So is it just me or does Red Hood seem kinda familiar?" Dani asked, ducking an ecto blast and moving in to land a solid hit.

Danny raised an eyebrow and shot a widely at their opponent. "What do you mean?" He asked in response, frowning as the shot missed.

"I don't know, I think it's his core? I feel like I've met him before, but I'm pretty sure I would know if I had."

"Huh, strange. Hey Acid Breath! When was the last time you took a shower? You're stinking up the whole street." The Ghost roared in response as they showered the area in corrosive ectoplasm. "Damn, sorry, didn't mean to strike a nerve. How'd you get here anyway?"

"AAACCCEEE!!" now what could that possibly mean?

"Sorry I don't know anyone called 'Ace'," Danny called, stopping long enough to keep their attention off Dani as she went in for another attack. "You wouldn't mind introducing us, would you?"

"RAWR!!!" Okay, that was a no then. Finally, Dani struck, landing a solid hit to their back before getting smacked to the pavement twenty feet below.

Danny yelped, fumbling with the thermos on his belt before promptly souping the poor sap and flying down to his clone.

"You good kid?" He asked, wincing as Danny scowled up at him and spat out her wad of gum.

"Just peachy," she replied with a sarcastic smile as she took his offered hand. "I thought you promised me a fight."

Danny squinted at her and looked around at the carnage and smoking crater they were currently standing in.

"Was that not? A fight?"

The kid snorted and rolled her eyes, "I meant like a fun one, like with Ember or Skulker. This guy was no fun, no finesse. The closest thing I got to a fight was that brawl with the traffic light."

Danny sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Sorry? We'll see if Robin's still up to fight, either that or we can spar later?"

"Hmph, fine. But don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're old and you're bones are creaky."

Danny gasped, old? Him? "Oh you're going to so pay for that comment kid."

"Oh yeah?" She asked, planting her hands on her hips and raising an eybrow.

"Yeah," Danny grinned back, with equal levels of Fenton sass.

Their standoff lasted about twenty seconds before Dani's gaze focused on something behind her original.

"What's with the guy in the leather furry suit? He's staring at us."

Ancients, could he not do one thing in this city without attracting this guys attention? Apparently not. Batman stared at Phantom and Phantom stared back. Danny groaned.

Unfortunately, with the fighting now finished and most if not all civilians safely removed from the street still dripping with ectoplasmic acid, Danny probably should, *shiver,* talk with the local heros, including the Bat himself. There was no way Danny would be able to walk out of this without setting up several more flags for the furry brigade to hunt down.

But as much as he dreaded it, for some reason Danny obeyed when Bats stared him down from a nearby roof, his eyes communicating a clear talk now or I will make your life hell, though he would probably do that anyway.

"Ugh, here comes the hard part," Danny mumbled as he motioned for Dani to follow him up to the roof. "Batman," he greeted with a curt nod when they landed. At least they were on equal ground now and it didn't feel like he was being looked down upon.

Dani landed behind him, just as Robin, Red Hood, and Red Robin materialized next to Batman.

"Hey, Traffic Light!" Dani beamed, pulling an arm across her chest to stretch her shoulder, "You wanna go again? That fight wasn't too enriching."

Robin scowled at her and shared a look with his- father? Partner? Boss?- whatever their relationship was, Batman had a hard set to his jaw, but Robin looked, not exactly pleading, but more that he wouldn't back down. Somehow Batman lost the stare off.

"Very well, your form could use improvement and I am an excellent teacher," he said, taking a few steps away from the group. In no time at all they were fighting again like they hadn't even stopped.

Robin tried calling out the flaws and tactics in the fight, but was quickly, fully, engrossed on not losing his ground or footing as Dani attacked with more brute, unrelenting, strength than with tact.

Batman stared very dissaprovingly, seemingly ignoring Danny. Danny cleared his throat in an attempt to, Ancients forbid, draw the Batman's attention back to him.

"Don't worry, Stray won't hurt him, at least not more than some bruises or maybe a small sprain if he's not careful." Shit, maybe he shouldn't have said that. The stare Batman gave him chilled Danny to the bones.

"Sorry," Danny muttered, with a sheepish grin he held out his hand, "I'm Phantom by the way, I don't think we've met."

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There was something about Phantom that felt vaguely familiar, Hood just couldn't quite put his finger on it. Aside from the fact that he could've sworn he'd seen this guy before, the ghost felt familiar. The vibes that seemed to exude from the glowing teens somehow felt cozy, in a way.

It was so weird. There was no way to explain it. It felt like- finding someone who was just like you, someone who shared your interests and tastes. It felt like community, like people you can rely on and a place to come home to.

The feeling was so sudden and out of place it made him want to punch something. But like in a positive way. Like when he used to wrestle with Dick or B, way back when. Something in Jason's chest seemed to sing, or more like contentedly rumble. It was something he was used to feeling around-

Hood watched as Phantom ducked his head with a nervous smile, his outstretched hand wandering back to rub at the back of his neck as he avoided Batman's glare.

"Not much for social niceties then, eh?" He asked, shooting honest to god finger guns at The Batman, personification or 'revenge and 'the night'. B's mouth drew into a tight line as he studied the ghost.

"Uhm, sorry for like, invading your territory and stuff, I'll try not to let it happen again," Phantom said, attempting to bring his eyes to meet B's gaze.

"Hn," B grunted, "Gotham is no safe place for meta's, besides, we've got the heroing thing taken care of. We don't need help."

Finally Phantom managed to lock eyes with the bat, he looked taken aback.

"Yeah, sorry. No. You kinda did need help with this one, thank you." Phantom's confidence grew as he proceeded to explain just exactly why he and Stray were needed there. Citing the Bats' underpreparedness, as well as a bunch of ghost politics stuff that was hard to follow.

Batman listened raptly.

And yeah, no. Jason had to be entirely wrong. This couldn't be him, sure the face shapes were nearly identical, and the same freckles, and actually if it weren't for the color change and differences in age they could be the same person. But they couldn't be.

Sure Jason's boyfriend could be a bit... odd, and boisterous sometimes. But he really couldn't imagine him being able to scold motherfucking Batman with that much confidence.

But still it nagged at his brain. It really was a long, long shot, that was really, very, highly, unlikely. And Jason really, probably shouldn't have said anything, but he did.

"Danny?" Phantom faltered and the way he froze at the name was almost confirmation enough. His green eyes flicked around the rooftop, then fixed on Red Hood. For a moment his mouth pulled to a slight frown and his brows furrowed, even the noise of the kids' fighting ceased as Stray- come to think of it, that was probably Dani- stared dumbfounded, with a hint of surprise. The two 'ghosts' shared a look then melted into.... laughter?

One double take later and sure enough they were laughing. It was actually kind of unsettling, all echoey and reverberating as if they found the statement absolutely hilarious. If he didn't know better, Hood would've thought they had gotten Joker gassed or something, but he did, and suddenly felt very awkward at even entertaining the notion.

Batman grumbled.

So yeah, whatever, he gad been wrong. He shouldn't have said anything. But did they really have to keep laughing like that?

Phantom was doubled over and clutching his stomach, while Stray went intangible and rolled out from under Robin, who'd had her pinned, giggling uncontrollably.

Eventually, Phantom managed to straighten out and wipe a tear from his eye.

"Who's Danny?" He asked with a few residual giggles tainting his voice. "I don't know a Danny," it was said with such ease, but something felt forced, and his eyes kept flickering around.

"Pft, yeah," Stray snorted, floating a bit to lean her elbow against her partner's shoulder, "His name's Bill actually. Y'know, like inviso-Bill?"

Phantom sobered up completely and fixed her with a glare as the kid devolved into another laughing fit.

"Its not," he said seriously, "I've been going by Phantom for thousands of years, that one nickname is not going to stick." Yeah, if there was any doubt left that he'd been wrong, allegedly existing for thousands of years probably blew that theory out of the water.

"You wish," Stray forced out between giggles, causing Phantom to sigh.

"Anyway," he emphasized, clapping his hands together as he forced a smile, "Ghost problem solved, so we should probably get going then. Right, Stray?"

"Sure thing, Bill," She snickered, but followed as he slowly drifted away form the rooftop, "cya around traffic light!"

Phantom rolled his eyes once more before they both shot off. In seconds they were gone.

B turned toward Hood, mouth already open to ask a question, but he was already gone too. He'd done his part and he could debrief later. For now he had a boyfriend and his kid to get back to.

Fifteen minutes later, Jason was back outside Danny's door with a whole new set of emotions swirling about in his head. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Danny turned form their game to look at him with his ice blue eyes, and smiled. He patted the spot on the bed next to him as Dani threw a card down with a small shout. She followed Danny's gaze and twisted to look back at Jason, blowing a strand of black hair out of her face and grinning.

"Ay, welcome back! Glad to see I'm not a deal-breaker!" Jason chuckled and took the seat, cuddling up into Danny's side. What gad he even been thinking. There was still alot of concerning things to talk about, but being a ghost/superhero was something he could cross off the list.

-even if their similarities still nagged at his brain

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Woop, finally did it! And with Jason's suspicions successfully waylaid, we're going to take a (planned) break, while I get swamped down with all my other projects + school.

Hope you liked.

#dpxdc damian wayne #dpxdc #dpxdc red hood #dpxdc danny phantom #dpxdc batman #dpxdc dani phantom #dead in main ship #when you accidentally kill a clown #bucket writes things #long post #fic

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sasheneskywalker · 22 days

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dc/marvel crossover fic recs

Dark Matter by mysterycyclone The last thing Peter sees is Tony's horrified, heartbroken expression leaning over him. The guilt in his eyes is almost worse than the burning pain that's taking Peter apart piece by piece. The world starts to go dark.

There's a flash of gold and green. For one moment, he finds himself standing amongst the Guardians and others. And then darkness again. It feels like blinking; an extended period of nothingness that ends as abruptly as it begins. One moment there’s nothing, the next there’s light.

“Easy,” a woman says. Her words are gentle, and carry a slight accent that he can’t place. "I'm called Wonder Woman. What's your name?"

Not Rated | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Clark Kent & Peter Parker, Diana (Wonder Woman) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Gotham City & Peter Parker, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Batman & Spiderman

Revenge is a Word I Haven't Yet Defined (I’m not sure I’m worthy of such theatrics) by OliOcelot After the Lazarus Pits and a year of training with the League, Talia sends Jason to Gotham for revenge. Except Jason isn’t as deep as she thinks. The thing is, he expected to see Bruce - Batman - and be livid. He let him die, replaced him. He should be mad.

He isn’t.

In the end, it’s hard to think of yourself as being replaced when you died. So yeah, he’s angry, but he’s not angry enough for revenge. Not like Talia wants him to be.

So he focuses on Red Hood and cleaning up Crime Alley, and scraps any ideas of revenge he had left. They’re unnecessary. Counterproductive, in fact, because now that he’s actually seen Bruce, all he really wants is to go home. Maybe have a conversation or two about how bad Bruce and Dick messed up, but at home.

Instead, he gets caught up in world altering magic from some criminal in over his head, and Jason finds himself tumbling through universes into a New York filled with heroes that he’s never even heard of and a lack of Gotham and Metropolis that can only mean one thing. This isn’t the world he knows.

All he wants is to get home, to make amends, to try again. Too bad none of them know he’s gone. Not that anyone would think to look for a dead boy.

T | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Batfamily Members & Jason Todd, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark

To Dig a Grave in Winter by OliOcelot The Winter Soldier isn’t the only Asset that Hydra has. This will be their downfall.

Or, Jason Todd rose from his grave only to be taken by Hydra and turned into a living weapon, known as the Gravewalker. Meeting the Winter Soldier might just make it worth it.

T | Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply | James Bucky Barnes (Marvel) & Jason Todd (DCU), James Bucky Barnes (Marvel)/Jason Todd (DCU)

in labyrinths of reflections by blackkat With the incursions imminent, Khonshu steals his avatar away to another dimension, where there's little risk of the universes colliding.

Marc is unprepared for Gotham, but it's probably safe to say that Gotham is equally unprepared for Marc.

M | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Bruce Wayne/Marc Spector, Marc Spector & Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Marc Spector & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne/Steven Grant

no map to my own treasure by blackkat “I think this is yours.”

Bruce doesn’t even have to look up. He already knows precisely what this is about. Containing a sigh, he rubs the bridge of his nose, and says, “If he bit you, I can pay for the emergency room visit—”

“I did not bite him,” Damian says, outraged.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Marc Spector/Bruce Wayne

Knaves All Three by Ginevra_Benci After Ultron, Avengers Tower hosts a good-will gala to fundraise for post-Incident NYC.

Local lawyers Nelson & Murdock, fresh from saving Hell's Kitchen from the ravages of Wilson Fisk, get an invite.

And.

Bruce Wayne’s in town.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Tony Stark & Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Bruce Wayne, Steve Rogers/Bruce Wayne, Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson

The Spider and the Samovar by Ginevra_Benci There's a new player in Eastern Europe: the Spider has been making a name for himself and has caught the attention of the Outlaws.

Jason Todd makes contact.

Well. He tries to.

G | No Archive Warnings Apply | Roy Harper & Koriand'r & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Natasha Romanoff

Bats Out of Hell by Jedi_Olympian Dick and Tim find themselves in a bit of trouble. Multiversal trouble. Needless to say, their boyfriends are not happy about it, and the universe they find themselves in is unlike any they've found themselves in before.

Or Dick and Tim get thrown into the MCU and meet the Avengers.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne

If It's A Highway by there_must_be_a_lock Bucky’s been running for a week when the supposedly-untraceable burner phone he stole from a HYDRA warehouse starts ringing. He’s in a gas station bathroom off a remote highway close to the Croatian border, getting ready to bleach his hair; the ringtone bounces shrilly off the bare tiles and makes his jaw clench tight.

[Or: the one where Bucky is hired to train Jason, and he ends up learning a thing or two himself.]

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | James "Bucky" Barnes/Jason Todd

There but for Grace go I by AutumnHobbit Frank Castle comes to Gotham on the trail of some human traffickers who picked the wrong city. Imagine his surprise to find he isn’t the only one out for their blood. When things turn sour he decides to get involved, which leads to a lot of unexpected drama.

And he thought New York’s costumed paraders were bad.

Not Rated | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne & Frank Castle, Dick Grayson & Frank Castle, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Frank Castle

The Five Stages of Neighborly Affection by AlannaLioness, phonecallfromgod, youshallnotfinditso Between Matt being back from the dead, Nelson & Murdock 2.0 and a fancy Manhattan apartment from his (former) sharky boss, Foggy feels like he's doing pretty well keeping the vigilante nonsense in his life to a minimum.

Or he was until he moved next door to Tim Drake.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Matt Murdock/Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake (Minor), Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent (Minor), Minor or Background Relationship(s)

running in the shadows by dukeaubergine Jack Drake dies during one of Tony Stark's "taking responsibility" phases. The Bats aren't happy about this.

Tim is pushing to come home, and in the meantime be an NYC vigilante right under Stark's nose, when the Sokovia Accords knock over the whole board.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Batfamily Members & Tim Drake, Avengers Team & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Tony Stark, Tim Drake & Wanda Maximoff

Shake the Devil Out of Me by thepartyresponsible The first time Jason sees Phil Coulson, he sees him in the soft, flickering light of a warehouse fire. It’s romantic, he thinks, later. Like candlelight.

E | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Phil Coulson/Jason Todd

The Dawn Will Break Before You by thepartyresponsible “Okay, heartbreaker,” he says, “how much to put the tires back on the car?”

Jason rolls his eyes and gestures at him with the lug wrench. “Why don’t I just beat you up and steal your money? Is this the first time you’ve been to a bad part of town? Don’t show me your wallet, asshole. Come on.”

The man heaves a heavy, aggrieved sigh and starts pulling out bills. “Five hundred?” He tries. “Six? We can go to an ATM.”

“You are mugging yourself,” Jason says, oddly impressed. “Holy shit.”

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Tony Stark/Jason Todd

birds fly (why can't I?) by SafelyCapricious The apartment in Gotham that Natasha gets — all cash and no ID required — is a shithole.

But it’s her shithole.

Well, hers and the cockroaches’, she supposes, as she turns on the flickering light in the bathroom and at least a hundred of them scurry out of view.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Jason Todd, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Jason Todd

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call-memissbrightside · 2 years

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TW: NSFW, yandere!Izuku x Reader, noncon

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, than we wouldn't have to wait so long!"

You wake up with a jolt, eyelids heavy still as you let out a groan. The soft glow from the television is the only light source in the living room, windows also dark and telling that you've been asleep for a while. The rom-com playing was bright and rich of color, as the male protagonist realizes he still has a shot of love and returns to his female counterpart.

"Are you tired, we can turn it off and go to bed?" Izuku mumbles against your neck, where he laid behind you on the couch. Yet, his hands move from their place around your stomach to slip in your leggings, cupping your cunt and you feel like throwing up.

"Izuku," You're too tired to keep the bite out of your voice. "You promised you would watch the movie with me."

He groans, but alas his hands move to cup your stomach again, laying back down. "I don't know why you insisted on watching this one, you already know it by heart."

You don't answer him, instead choosing to ignore him and his stupid attitude to pay attention to your favorite part: the declaration.

"You erased me from your memories because you thought you were holding me back from having a full and happy life. But you made a mistake. Being with you is the only way I could have a full and happy life. You’re the girl of my dreams—and apparently, I’m the man of yours.”

The words make your heart squeeze, and the sweetness of the scene makes you stupidly tear up.

Growing up, you use to scrunch up your nose at the cheesiness of these movies. Rom-coms, chick-flicks, whatever you call the movies where boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, a falling out happens, than the declaration of love towards the end helps secure a happy ending... those types of films were the only thing keeping you sane.

What was it now? Seven months? The days blurred easily when you had no outside contact with the world anymore, Izuku making sure of that by keeping you trapped in his house. There were tears and sore throats from screaming at all hours of the day, disbelief making your senses sharp for any opportunity to outsmart Izuku and get the fuck out. But this was the number one hero you were up against, you never stood a chance.

So, you gave up too quickly for your liking but being angry and scared was just exhausting. Instead, you indulged yourself in these early 2000 movies where love could fix everything wrong and they lived happily ever after.

You weren't sure if you loved Izuku.

You knew you hated him, hated what he did to you and how he just chose to take you away from your life and force you into this new one with him and only him. But love? That feeling was harder to place.

He did force himself on you, making you feel good when you didn't want to and he made you moan his name like a prayer as he fucked you. That wasn't love, no, in the movies where the main characters have sex it's romantic and consensual. Yet, Izuku claims he loves you.

That would make sense, why would he do all that he's done if not for love?

Izuku was a collector, of All Might figurines, movies, books, and you found the box of items he took from you while he was courting: used underwear you hadn't seen in a while, a used tissue, and hundreds of photos of you living your life. It sickened you to find that, and no matter how much you begged for him to throw all of that out, Izuku wouldn't. He encouraged you to find a hobby, maybe look through his vast collection of movies and books to keep you occupied while he left and you stayed, not like you had a choice. That's where you saw them, your light in darkness, a reminder that true love exists: rom-coms.

Everyday, you'd watch as many as you could fit in the wee hours before Izuku came home from hero work. He liked confessions, he wanted to hear you praise him and say you love him, so you learned how to do so from the movies. Sure, the words you spoke sweetly to him weren't original, but they worked. You pretended you were in one of those films, and that Izuku and you were truly happy and in love and getting a happy ending. Right? You'll get your happy ending soon, this is just the climax where it gets bad before it turns good?

The ending scene is happening now, and the main characters kiss passionately on a boat in Alaska or maybe it's Antartica? It's an outrageous ending but you ache for that kind of life, where you're happy and in love and safe and-

"Okay, bedtime," Izuku said, sitting up and clicking off the TV the moment the end credits are shown. You groan in discomfort when he carries your body in his arms like you weigh nothing, your cheek squished against his hard chest.

No words were exchanged as Izuku undressed you, than himself, making your tired body sweaty and drenched in cum as the clock ticks and the night drags on.

Izuku grunts above you, where he slips in and out of your heat as you move higher up on the bed with each thrust. Your arms are loosely wrapped around the back of his neck, and you can't stand to look at him when he's moaning your name so breathlessly.

No, you have the stupid song stuck in your head from the movie to distract you from it all. Where you dream that one day, you'll get your happy ending.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up, In the morning when the day is new?

#yandere izuku #yandere izuku x reader #yandere izuku midoriya #yandere midoriya x reader #yandere midoriya #yandere bnha #bnha izuku midoriya #izuku mydoria #izuku midoryia smut

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seeds-and-sins · 10 months

Text

Light My Fire - Part Three

Pairing: Ben "Soldier Boy" x F!Reader

Rating: M (Crude Language, Graphic depictions of violence, Mentions of depression and death)

Description: Soldier Boy is dead. And his absence affects you more than you expected.

Tagged: @tonixe, @chernayawidow, @mrsjenniferwinchester, @deans-spinster-witchs-favorites

Part Two

Author's Note: Apologies for the long wait. I have had a lot going on, but I am always ready to dig back into my writings. I have a few other stories I am in the process of catching up on as well.

"What?" You could feel yourself on the edge of your sickness, having recovered almost fully to excellent health. You waited then, and waited, and waited, and you waited because you found yourself excited to show Soldier Boy that you had gotten better. The last time you were together, for some reason, it made you wish he had never left. You still found him infuriating, but the reality of the situation was that you tended to enjoy the odd ball conversations and quips that teeter tottered between you two, despite that. "What do you mean?"

They chose Countess to give you the bad news. You didn't know why. You hated that they chose her. Although, there was no one that could inform you of this tragedy that was free from your wrath.

"He-" She had tears in her eyes, but they didn't feel very genuine, did they? "He didn't make it."

"You're lying!" You jumped up from your seat in the meeting room, nearly everyone flinched aside from Stan Edgar. Edgar remained suspiciously calm at his seat at the head of the table. "You're lying to me!"

"Phoenix, he's gone. I watched it with my own two eyes." The Legend was standing at the corner of the room, you looked to him for an explanation, even knowing that he never would have witnessed what your fellow team members had. He shrugged at you, the pity filled and morose expression on his face made you heat up with rage.

"I don't believe you. I want to know everything. What happened? It's impossible!"

"Phoenix. Honey." The Legend was unable to stop you as you began to pace, eyeing up the others like they were fresh meat and all of them were about to be thrown in the fire.

"He saved us. He saved all of us." Mindstorm ducked his head after speaking those words and it was in that moment you knew something was wrong because the air thickened with a harsh tension. Mindstorm was never a good liar.

"Then where's the body? None of you got the body?!"

"How could we? W-We would have died." Gunpowder cried out, his bottom lip wobbling, but he too couldn't meet your eyes.

"Then I will." Your white cape swung out behind you as you booked it for the doors. It would take you a couple hours to get to Nicaragua, but you could do it, you would do it for Soldier Boy.

"One moment, Phoenix..." Stan Edgar's calm voice penetrated you from afar, you didn't face him. "Think rationally. If Soldier Boy did not survive that minor nuclear blast, then neither would you survive it's remnants." You closed your eyes, a wetness rippling down your cheeks that turned into steam off your lashes. Your fists clenched at your sides and you bit down on the inside of your cheek. "You are not the only person mourning a great loss, the world is mourning for a fallen hero, and they need the remaining members of Payback to stick together and rise up."

"How can we rise up? We don't have a leader." You glared back at him, unable to hide the red burning in your irises.

"We don't need him, we just need each other." Even more proof that they were lying, Crimson so swift to give up on Soldier Boy, so swift to forget his importance.

"I should have gone, I should have been there. Maybe I would have done a better fuckin' job than you shit heads."

"Hey!" Tessa protested, you were at the other end of the table, glaring back at Stan Edgar.

"Perhaps..." His next words would haunt you for ages to come. "But you weren't."

...

1994...

You stood before a lengthy window that spanned the entirety of one side of your home. The view of a New York skyline, metal structures reaching toward a crystal blue sky. The sun bled through, your shadow cast against a pristine marble white floor. You were wearing your hero suit, which had changed over the years. It was mostly black, with red accents that followed the curves of your body. Your former suit was all white, but Vought claimed you had been wearing that suit for too long. You needed to rebrand. This new suit still had a cape, it was slanted off one shoulder and it was cut shorter than your last, ending at your lower back. The boots were knee high, with latches of vibrant red.

They started having meetings about your name too. The board hadn't come to a consensus. They wanted to keep you, relocate you after Payback finally disbanded. The issue was no one could ever get ahold of you. The Legend called nonstop, he could barely get your attention at scheduled events. You were never in your penthouse, never available for a quick conversation. You knew what they wanted, but for nearly an entire year you had been avoiding it. In fact, you had been putting all of your energy into a separate project. Outside the knowledge of twisted Vought executives and nosy journalists.

Where was Phoenix? They all asked.

What is the former Payback hero up to? Newspapers read.

The other members of Vought became bought out poster children for big corporations. Vought occasionally had them doing shows and special appearances. Crimson Countess became the face for a nationwide insurance company, the TNT twins had rights to their very own movie franchise, Mindstorm was an author of a New York Times bestseller, Noir, despite his impairment, continued doing signings and attending Vought funded events, and Gunpowder's fame dissipated into nothing as he grew older. There was the occasional memorial for Swatto. And then, of course, the annual Soldier Boy celebration of life. They even put up a poorly crafted statue in his honor, directly in front of the ever-rising Vought tower.

Phoenix knew that this was the only chance she had at rounding up all of Payback's former members. It was the only time of the year that all of them weren't scattered about at different parts of the country. Phoenix-You, were determined to gain their audience. You were more than prepared for it.

So, you called them to your penthouse. Unlike them, Vought didn't immediately kick you out from the tower's many different living accomodations. Vogelbaum and the Legend spoke on your behalf numerous times about your quality and significance as a hero. The others had seemingly died down in popularity, but for decades you could pride yourself in keeping an endless following. You used these facts to your advantage.

Your penthouse was usually filled to the brim with vintage furniture, little war trinkets from the old days sat on black wooden shelves. Today, you ensured it was mostly empty, or out of the way. You had a solid floor plan, no walls aside from the ones that bordered the penthouse. The walls were white, the kind of jarring white that matched the floors. Expensive paintings and photos of a distant past litered your walls, colorful decorations hung from the ceilings. The kitchen was to the far left, it was rounded with a bar counter and an island in the center, fully stocked. Your flat screen television was at the far opposite wall, accented by nothing. The couches, the mahogany coffee table, the end tables, your bed, everything was pushed up against that same wall. It made the entire center of the home barren. Not that it didn't already look somewhat empty, but there was certainly something off about the sight.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Your head tilted, ear turned toward the door that was far out behind you.

"Come in." You prompted in a sickeningly sweet tone. The door creaked open, in entered Crimson Countess, a smile plastered on her lips.

"Ah, Countess." You faced her, approaching with sure strides. You enveloped her in a strong hug, which she lightly returned. You could see the discomfort on her face, despite the smile she wore to hide any suspicions from you. You held her at arm's length. "Let me get a good look at you." You smirked, giving her a once over. "You look just as good as I suspected." The offhanded insult caused her to frown for a moment before she returned to her appeasing demeanor.

"Phoenix, you look..." Countess looked you over from head to toe, cocking her head and blinking away the initial confusion. "Not a year older."

"Trust me, Countess. It's a curse more than anything." Your gritted teeth betrayed your curved lips and bright tone. "Please. Let me get you something to drink." You quickly moved from her toward the bar, while she slowly twisted around and took in the appearance of your penthouse.

"What's up with the furniture?" She rose her voice a little to reach you, words echoing off the high ceiling.

"I'm making a few changes." You went behind the bar and began making her a drink. You were mixing and stirring, grabbing things from the fridge, working with a startling fluidity. "What's your poison?" She followed up to the bar counter, tentatively placing herself at it's edge.

"I'll take whatever you got."

"Sure." You both made eye contact, and you knew that Countess' uneasiness was well-founded then. "Something troubling you?"

"Well, uh-" She snorted nervously, "What have you been up to?"

"Not much, really. The usual."

"Hmm." You shook the cocktail you were making, procured two tall glasses from below with the other hand. You placed them down in front of her and then poured, a stern glare now adorning your face.

"You nervous?"

"No. Of course not. Just uh-" She shrugged, "You haven't talked to us in years."

"Sure." You immediately grinned, another knock at the door followed.

"Come on in." Black Noir and Mindstorm were the next to enter. "Wow, we got a buddy system going now."

"Phoenix, my dear, so good to see you." Mindstorm greeted, Black Noir was his usual quiet, observing behind the protection of his mask.

"Ah, Dan, how ya' doing?" You gestured Mindstorm to come closer and embraced him in a hug. He sent you a raised brow before you attempted the same to Noir, who stiffly stood there in waiting. "I expect the twins will be late as usual. I don't mind waiting. Want something to drink, Dan?"

"Sure." His eyebrows were furrowed and he was eyeing you in suspicion. "I'll take a glass of scotch on the rocks."

"Of course." You rounded the counter to continue serving your guests.

"Is there a reason you invited us here?"

"Oh come on, a girl can't want for a family reunion?" Gunpowder was invited, but you knew he wouldn't show. Moments later the twins came in, with their false smiles and their flaunty hero personas. The general vibe though was that something was off, and they were perfectly right in thinking that, you didn't invite them for nothing. But even after everybody got their drinks and things started to get comfortable, you were waiting on one more guest. He showed up excruciatingly late, entered your home with a placid expression. You knew his tardiness was purposeful, considering that the entire fiftieth floor of Vought tower was his hunting ground.

"Stan Edgar." Your former team had remained congregated around the bar, but there was an immediate shift in their energy the moment they saw Edgar. You hovered at the opening in the bar counter, drink still in hand as you eyed the man with a steely glare.

"Phoenix," He greeted, eyes lifting and examining every other hero that stood around you. "You invited your former teammates as well, I see."

"We, uh..." Countess gulped, standing straighter, "We didn't know she had invited you too, Mister Edgar." Everyone looked at Phoenix, your eyes were flashing red and your glass was turned orange from the heat of your hand. You inhaled a deep breath and placed it down on the counter.

"The annual celebration of life is tomorrow. It's the only chance I had to get all of you losers together." You stepped into the open space where Edgar now stood. You stopped directly in front of him, you stared into his eyes. He didn't flinch, his face didn't wrinkle in fear, he didn't beg. He knew exactly why you called him here.

"Where have you been Phoenix?" He asked, a casual way about him, you swore that even the edge of his lips curled into a half smirk. He crowned his fingers in front of him. You had seen him here and there around the tower, he had aged significantly since he was in charge of the teams affairs. Now, he was promoted, an executive, taking charge on Vought's boards and in all of the slimy crevices where Vought hid their darkest secrets. He wore a business suit now in contrast to the laid back, expensive garbs you recall him wearing when you first met him. He looked as corrupted as his soul, a real life devil. "For months, the top floor has been trying to get in touch with you."

"Vacation." You stalked away from him toward the window, your boots making deafening thumps in the stark silence that followed.

"Have you forgotten that it's been my word that has kept you here all this time?" You gritted your teeth and tilted your head away from the view, eyes squeezing shut.

"Do you think I want to be here?" The venom was practically dripping from your teeth with every word, back still turned.

"Hmm," Edgar pretended to sound surprised. "You've given us no reason to think you don't." You didn't reply and your quiet forced Edgar to continue with a sigh. "The remaining members of Payback have been moved around, they have adjusted nicely to their new roles, but you remain, why do you think that is?"

"Vought is afraid of me. They're afraid of what I can do. Someone like me doesn't just get to walk away."

"Arrangements can be made." Edgar offered and then the realization of what he was doing came to you in a rush. You spun to face him, unable to contain your growl. The others were a distance away from you and everyone, aside from Noir, flinched. Even Edgar had a fear in his eyes that made you very pleased.

"You want to know where I've been, Mister Edgar?" Your demeanor shifted again, you clasped your hands behind your back, under your cape and chewed the inside of your cheek. "I've been thinking about all those years ago..." Your eyes met his. "When my team told me that he was dead."

"I know." Edgar replied firmly, he shrugged. "And what for? Why trudge up the past?"

"Because..." You glanced at Payback, at their confusion and fear. "They were lying. YOU..." You pointed at him, your eyes flashed. "Lied to me."

"Phoenix..." Countess started, "We never lied to you." Her words were practically a whisper, but it was so deathly quiet that everyone could hear what she said.

"Ya'know..." You closed your eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. "I have been alive for sixty-four years and I have seen some fucked up shit, but this? This might just be the worst."

"What are you talking about?" Tessa, one of the twins, spat, but her body language betrayed her. She was afraid too. They all were.

"I was foolish enough to think it was a coincidence that I got sick. Right before one our first missions in a combat setting too." You faced Payback. "And then I thought some more..." You tapped your temple, "It was a really big coincidence that Soldier Boy ended up dead on that very same mission, the one that I wasn't there for." You cocked your head from side to side. "Me. The second strongest member on the fucking team."

"Phoenix-" Dan tried to interrupt, you continued.

"And then, I thought some more..." You paced. "Noir approached me a few weeks before that mission, before I was sick, and he asked me how I felt about Soldier Boy. Isn't. That. Weird?"

"You're overthinking this, Phoenix." Edgar lifted his chin, "Clearly, Soldier Boy's death has taken it's toll on you. Perhaps some therapy. We take the mental health of our heroes very seriously."

"Clearly..." You began fierce, your toes gently lifted from the ground, but you lowered yourself again. "I'm not as invincible as I thought. It took a lot of digging, but I figured it out."

"Okay, this has gotten out of hand!" Crimson had the bravery to step forward.

"Carbon Monoxide!" The room was drop dead again. You had caught them at their own idiotic game. "You fuckers were pumping it into my room. That's why no one ever visited me. And that's why when Vogelbaum came around he was always wearing a fuckin' mask."

"Phoenix, I think you should calm down." Edgar calmly suggested, you flared.

"Calm down?!" Your fists clenched, you had enough of this. "Soldier Boy has been somewhere in fuckin' Russia this whole time and you're telling me to calm down?!"

"We did what we had to do! He was out of control!" Dan explained, you could see he was shaking.

"He was the only person who understood how I felt and you fuckers took him away."

"He didn't care about you!" Countess shouted, "He didn't care about any of us!"

"He cared about me. He did."

"So, what's your plan then, Phoenix? What are we doing here? You found out what happened, what now?" Your eyes turned red for real this time, flames engulfed your fingers and Edgar was casually stepping back as if it was a day like any other.

"I'm going to kill you. All of you."

The first hit wasn't made by you. Crimson Countess threw a beam and before you could brace yourself you were being throw back into the heap of furniture at the far corner of your penthouse. It splintered and creaked, the flames from your body catching on fabric. You flew to the high ceiling and it crackled beneath your feet as you pushed off and darted down to her. Noir pounced on you after you tackled Countess, you easily threw him off and he went sliding into the corner. You could make out Mindstorm trying to get a good read on you and you knew you needed to focus on taking him out first, otherwise he'd be the one to put you out in seconds. Your fist put a hole through the marble floor when Countess rolled away from your punch. Noir kicked you in the head, you barely flinched at the blow despite the crack that sounded. Noir and Countess were more hands on, while Tessa and Tommy stayed away near Edgar, hands clasped between them as they waited for a good shot.

Noir got you into a neck lock, you were swinging about. When you flew up off the ground, Countess grabbed your ankle and yanked you down with what strength she did have. None of them could pin you for long though, you kicked her in the face and she was sent flying through the counter top of your kitchen. You spun rapidly to get Noir off your back, even bursting your entire body into flames, but he held on tight.

"This isn't going to resolve things, Phoenix." Edgar called from the seemingly safe spot that he had curled into. You removed a hand from the arm bar that Noir had around your neck and you threw a ball of fire to Stan, he dodged with a wide eyed and shocked expression, practically throwing himself to the floor to get away.

You managed to toss Noir off again, he smashed into the window and fell out, finding a grip at the edge. The high winds burst through, shattered glass spread out across the floor, your cape fluttered behind you and you faced the Twins, Dan, and a recovered Countess. Your chest heaved and smoke exited your lunges with every breath, you glared evilly at your foes.

"Don't make us do this!" Countess warned, your eyes turned red and flames rose up your arms.

"I'm not making you do anything..." You husked out, "You can just sit there." As you were whirling up a heavy wave of flames, the twins and Countess cast their beams at you. Noir jumped you from behind and held you in place. The entire penthouse went up in a massive explosion, smoke flowed from the open window, everything was destroyed, the marble floor filled with dents, cracks, and smudges of black. As the smoke dissipated, the dust cleared, you were rising slowly up from the floor. Noir was laid out flat, unconscious perhaps, you glanced at him to be sure. Countess was squatting, hands still branched out, blood dribbling from one nostril. The twins were propped back against the wall and Dan was hunched forward, arms shielding his head. Edgar was laid down in the corner, legs spread. He eyed you, scurried himself deeper into the wall. You scowled, with rushed strides you made way for him, about to fill your fists with his blood. Just as you were nearly there...

Mindstorm jumped out in front of you, your eyes caught his, the world disappeared around you.

You fell into the abyss.

...

"Phoenix..." His eyes raked over you like he was hungry, and not the kind of hungry where your stomach growls. "Not what I expected." You accepted his offered hand, you gave it a firm squeeze that even made his eyebrows lift. "Vogelbaum told me about you, a real spitfire."

"Soldier Boy. Vogelbaum told me about you too."

"Good things I hope?" Your hands returned and you both walked side by side through the sea of rich socialites that crowded the room. Light jazz music played in the background, you both were wearing your hero suits, visually putting you apart from the dozens of others dressed in expensive suits and sparkling dresses.

"As good as our profession would allow."

"Spoken like a pro."

"Well, I have been doing this for a while after all." He stopped and cocked his head at you, you turned to face him and smiled at the confusion written all over his face.

"Wait, what?"

"I got my first hero gig in the 60's. You're not the only one that's been around." He chuckled in disbelief, shaking his head.

"That's impossible. That would mean that you're-well-" He squinted at you. "How old are you?" You laughed, then twisted yourself and slowly began walking away.

"It's not gentlemanly to ask a lady her age." He followed after you like a lost puppy, immediately taking the space at your side and keeping a slow traipse with you.

"How come I've never heard about you before?" Soldier Boy was fascinated, wide eyed, intrigued beyond his own belief.

"Before Vought came up with this..." You stopped walking with a shrug. "Team up idea, I was operating on the West Coast."

"So, California?"

"Sometimes." He blinked at you, reeled back.

"Sometimes?" He questioned, you rolled your eyes but you still had that coy smile on your face.

"Vought sends me all over. If I fly fast it takes me about three hours to go cross country. I go where they need me, I guess." This time, he looked you over again with an entirely different energy about him. He nodded his head with approval and lifted his chin.

"Damn, not even Lady Liberty could fly that fast."

"Lady Liberty can't do half of what I can, hun." You were bragging, flirting, laying on all the charm. He was a hot piece, you weren't going to deny yourself a little taste.

"That would make you the most powerful woman on the planet."

"Most powerful person." You corrected slyly, he bit his bottom lip, the action made your toes curl in your boots.

"Oh, I'm sure we could put that to the test if you'd like." The both of you held a deep stare and just as you were about to reply, red manicured fingers were curling around Soldier Boy's bicep, interrupting the moment.

"Phoenix, I see you've met Soldier Boy." Soldier Boy didn't look away when you did, staring intensely at you as you directed your attention to a beaming Crimson Countess.

"Countess, it's good to see you. You look amazing!" You reached for her and the both of you embraced in a hug. Your stomach immediately dropped when you saw how clingy she was being with Soldier Boy and how he was unflinchingly accepting it. You trained your disappointment not to show, instead keeping a sweet rapport with someone you considered a good friend.

"Thank you! You too." You both fell into easy conversation back and forth.

In the distance, past waves of people, conversing, drinking, swaying to the music, you watched. Your heart was pounding in your chest, sweat beading on your brow. There was a blurry haze that clouded your vision, but your focus was solely on the scene playing out leagues ahead of you. You could hear every word, understand every cue. Meanwhile, your presence was absent to all others around you. No one saw you: the obvious dark aftermath of the Phoenix they knew. Lonely. Completely devoid of life. With an uncontrollable desire to die. Numerous people had passed through your being as if you were a ghost, a mere image, a shell of your former self. This was a dream. That was the only explanation you had. A cruel, cruel dream.

"Ben." You whispered to yourself, watching your separate visage deflate as Crimson told you about Soldier Boy and her being an item. The former Phoenix forced a smile, collected herself and patted Crimson on the shoulder in congratulations.

"You guys make a cute couple."

"Aww, thank you, you're too sweet." She stepped toward you and wrapped her arm through yours. "I'm so excited for us to work together. The Legend is already talking about getting a photoshoot with you, me, and Tessa." Soldier Boy defensively crossed his arms, his demeanor taking a major shift.

"If you ask me, women don't belong in the hero world." Countess scowled, you were slowly starting to notice the animosity between them.

"Are you seriously going to start this again?"

"Just saying..." Soldier Boy looked between you both. "Women are really only good for cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children..." He tilted his head and his shoulder twitched. "Sex." He added with a finishing smirk and a wink in your direction. Countess went to make some nasty comment in response, but Phoenix was already speaking up.

"That's the old ways talking. This is the new world. Female heroes are the future."

"Keep telling yourself that, hot stuff."

The bantering continued, entering into a more political discussion that you recall being very one-sided; With Soldier Boy making outrageous claims and you immediately disputing them with facts. Countess was silently standing there after that. Upon her first entering the space that Soldier Boy and you shared, you had been the third wheel. After a few minutes of talking, it became very evident that the third wheel had become her.

You stepped closer to the scene, the distant memory, the dream, whatever this was. You looked so much brighter then. You were practically glowing with life and happiness. Things seemed simpler. You had a job, you did your job, you were happy with your job. You felt supported and stronger than you had ever been. Those times, you missed desperately, to only feel as you had in your younger self. As you were taking tentative steps toward the past, another figure invaded your path with swift and confident strides. You immediately recognized the person as a young Stan Edgar.

"No." You spat, the sight of him unleashed a venomous reaction you hadn't anticipated in yourself. "NO!" You shouted, following after the man. You realized then that all of your powers were gone. You couldn't fly or shoot flames from your hands or, in this case, beat Stan Edgar to a pulp. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" He burst the invisible bubble forming around Soldier Boy and you, reminding both of you that you weren't alone or in a private setting.

"Hope you all don't mind my interruption."

"YOU DO! HEY!" You waved your hands around, swatted them at Soldier Boy. They ran through his image as if he was fog. You didn't exist to them.

"Stan. Not at all." Soldier Boy greeted, Edgar sent him a half nod and then continued.

"We were hoping to gather up Payback for a team photo."

"Of course, that would be so nice." Countess answered for the three of you. She grabbed onto Soldier Boy's arm.

"Perfect. Follow me."

"Ben!" You were backpedaling directly in front of Ben with every step he took, your former self and Countess at either side of him. "PLEASE! YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM! You can't trust-" You inhaled a sharp breath, tears ran down your cheeks. "BEN!" You stopped walking and the images ran through you, you dropped to your knees and your palms shot up to cover your face. Your sobs were muted, wracking your body with harsh twitches and shakes. The world vanished around you, and another image took it's place. You sniffled, wiping your tears away as you lowered your hands to get a better look at your new surroundings.

It was your old apartment. From way back in the day. Your first home inside a growing Vought tower. They didn't even have fifty or so floors at the time, but the board was determined to go taller than the Empire State Building. Everything was as you remembered it; 70's styled furniture, peach colored wallpaper, the eyesore of a tv in your living room, the fluffy yet itchy carpeting. You could hear muffled conversation, only growing louder as you watched your older self enter the home. You stood to your feet, eyes narrowed on the man following you in.

You remember him, you thought, he was a Vought executive. Someone with a big name. But you didn't care about any of that as much as you cared about getting a quick release. It was always easier to date or sleep around within company borders, you didn't have to worry about someone spreading rumors to the paparazzi or the news. They had to look out for their necks as much as they had to look out for yours. And Vought was very, very particular about news that traveled and where it traveled from.

"Wow, they set you heroes up big time." He commented, adjusting his tie. He was of average looks; slicked back hair, a nice smile, a freshly shaven face.

"You think this is nice? Wait until you see my mini-bar." You bit your bottom lip, closing the door behind him and giving him a lusty once over.

"Oh yeah?" He snorted nervously.

"It's in my room..." You closed in on him, grabbing him by the tie and yanking, he had no choice but to come forward. "If you want?"

"If I want?" He repeated back, "Like I would ever say 'no' to you." His hands fell to your hips, you pulled him closer till your lips were touching. You were moving fluidly together, lips parting over one another, tongues mingling together, swapping spit, a little awkward on his part, but enough to draw a low moan from you. As things were getting heated-

CRASH!

The door to your penthouse broke entirely off the hinges, falling flat onto the floor, splinters of wood exploding everywhere. Soldier Boy stepped over the door, fists clenched at his sides, jaw tight. The Vought exec was clinging to you for safety, putting your body between him and the door. You blinked at Soldier Boy in shock, before anger fell over you like a blanket.

"What the fuck?!"

"Who's this prick?" Soldier Boy hissed, gesturing at the man curled up behind you and using you as a shield.

"That's none of your fuckin' business! What do you think you're doing?!" You stepped forward, the man kept directly behind you, fingers clenched at your shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Ben shot back, grimacing when he followed your movements and approached as well.

"I'm trying to get laid, which is none of your business! Now get the FUCK out." Your eyes flashed red, the man winced and darted away from your body, he held at his hands. His palms were sizzling from the immense heat that had risen in you. He screeched and dropped to the floor. Neither Ben or you reacted, instead keeping your rage.

"Considering you turn me down at every turn, I'm thinking it is my business."

"YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!" You yelled in his face, at the top of your lunges, getting an inch too close.

"IT'S AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP!" He yelled back, Ben and you both knew that was a lie.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" You pointed at the door, shoving his shoulder, he only budged a little.

"HELP!" The man was rolling around on the floor, wiggling his burnt hands about.

"Look what you did!" You pointed at the poor guy, literal steam was coming off your skin you were so angry.

"What I did?! That was your fault!"

"Oh. There you go again! Always blaming it on me!" You stormed away toward your kitchen. "Can't take any accountability, can you? Ya' fuckin' asshole."

"You should take accountability for being a whore." He stomped after you, watching as you pulled a handle of cognac from beneath the countertop.

"Because I won't fuck you. Real classy!" You retrieved two glasses, pouring the orangey liquid into each glass.

You snatched up your chosen glass and sprawled forward into the counter, downing the glass in one go. Soldier Boy grabbed his glass, he eyed you with a sour expression, then sipped. Holding the empty glass up to your forehead, you sighed.

"We should probably do something about this guy."

"You don't want to know what I would do to him." Soldier Boy sassed, downing his own glass he limply dropped it back onto the counter.

"Fuck you." You grabbed the phone on the wall and made a call.

As you were intently following the movements of the past, the visage changed once more. You were surrounded by police cars, news trucks, standing in front of a bank. The alarms were going off, people were screaming inside as gunshots sounded. You were twisting around, trying to find out where you were. Instead, you spotted Soldier Boy conversing with the police chief. As he stepped toward you, a loud whistling split the sky, it went silent and everyone looked up. Soldier Boy kept walking, your former self was appearing from the clouds above, dropping down to the ground with a startling swiftness. He halted and you landed directly beside him, boots meeting the pavement with a thud.

"I fuckin' hate you." You growled, crossing your arms. Soldier Boy ignored you completely, squinting at the entrance to the bank.

"Seven hostages, three perps. We can go straight in, or we can take'em by surprise."

"I'm not really in the mood to prolong this, so let's just get it over with." You both calmly walked side by side up to the bank, Soldier Boy kept his shield posed at his side and a steely seriousness on his face. You trailed after them, desperate for another memory, for another feeling. Upon entering, Soldier Boy and Phoenix were both immediately bombarded with threats. Heavy duffle bags were stacked up over by the check-in desk, each perp had a handful of hostages. One of them had their gun held to the head of a woman, a bank teller, her eyes were red, filled with tears, makeup smudged down her cheeks, and gagged at the mouth with a tie. The robber's breathing was ragged, chest heaving with each pump of adrenaline, finger held on that trigger.

"Take one more step and the bitch gets a bullet!" He shouted, Soldier Boy and you froze, you glanced at each other. He was the first to shrug and look back to the robber.

"Okay." He said, completely nonchalant to the threat. The gagged woman whimpered at the prospect that she might die in that moment. That not even her heroes would save her. You couldn't find words, dumbfounded that Soldier Boy would even say such a thing. You stared at him for confirmation, he nodded to cue you in. He was going way off script that day.

"Y-Yeah..." You placed your hands on your hips and stood tall. "Go ahead and shoot." The robber did fire the gun, but next to her head and you knew her eardrum was blown out for it. You flinched, whereas Soldier Boy remained planted and terse.

"I'm not fuckin' around!" The robber yelled.

"And neither am I, stop being a pussy and keep to your word." The robber's eyes widened, you mirrored the man's expression and immediately sought to deescalate.

"The way I see it, you have two choices..." You gestured at them, "You kill the hostages and we kill all of you, or you let the hostages go and we take you in." Soldier Boy smirked, scoping out the men as they all shared uneasy glances.

"And either way, it's all the same for us."

"Except..." You emphasized the word through clenched teeth, directed at Soldier Boy, then added. "We much prefer that no one dies today."

There was a tense quiet that followed, a precursor to the chaos that erupted out of nowhere. All perps began unloading their magazines on Soldier Boy and you, little clinks and jingles sounded as the dented rounds fell to the floor one by one. The hostages that weren't gagged, screamed for their lives, ducking down as bullets seemingly came from every direction. Loud clicks started to sound, soon all of them were on empty. Soldier Boy and you looked down at the puddle of lead at your feet, then to each other. He smiled.

"They don't make dumb fucks like you anymore, do they?" Soldier Boy commented, you held your hand out to him and he grabbed it with his free hand.

"Our turn." You prompted, just as Soldier Boy twirled and easily took you with him, he tossed you at the main assailant. Your body was rolling through the air, landing directly against the criminal with a sickening crack. Soldier Boy jerked his hips and threw his shield at another. The last perp was trying to make a run for it. You had already killed the main one by breaking his neck and Soldier Boy's shield definitely left a mortal injury on the other. Usually, the two of you would keep one of them alive for the press opportunity of standing in front of a camera and smiling, like two hunters showing off a prized stag. But Soldier Boy made a dead sprint for the third, he had different intentions.

"Soldier Boy! Last one lives!" You reminded, but it was too late and he was tackling the man to the floor, pummeling his masked face in with a barrage of fists. After a few beats, he came to stand, blood spattered all across his face and the chest plate of his suit. "Was that really necessary?!" You shouted to him in annoyance, voice bouncing off the high ceilings of the bank, whimpers and sobs sounding in the background.

"I'm in a mood today, sweetheart, so shut your pretty little mouth."

"You think I wanted to be here either!" Neither of you anticipated a fourth male shooting up from behind the counter with a bomb vest and a trigger in hand.

"I'M LEAVIN' WITH MY MONEY OR NO ONE IS WALKING OUT OF HERE!!" Soldier Boy and you had moved ahead to stand beside each other. Your hands were on your hips, his bloodied fists dangled at his sides, you both carried a stone coldness about you.

"Listen, kid, did you not just see what happened?" Soldier Boy gestured at his three dead accomplices. "If you don't put that trigger down that will be you."

"If I push this button, everyone is gonna' die." The man was shaking to the core, you could see sweat collecting on his skin through the eye holes of his mask.

"Not us," You spoke up, "We won't feel a fuckin' thing. So, just put the trigger down. You're not accomplishing anything with this."

"Fuck you!" He yelled, lifting the trigger in the air. You weren't thinking, you flew fast and gathered him up in your arms. You shot up and crashed through the ceiling of the bank. The bomb went off just as you cleared the building, blood spattered all over, you were holding bits and pieces of a mutilated body in your hands. The fiery explosion disappeared in a haze of black smoke. After the initial shock of being covered in blood and guts, you were lowering yourself out in front of the bank. Your hands were still clinging to dead pieces of the perp, hostages were exiting the double doors behind you and sprinting into the safety of police officers and EMS.

"Phoenix!" Soldier Boy barreled out of the bank, nearly destroying the doors and pushing aside an innocent woman that was in his way. He cupped your cheeks and held you there, staring down at you, investigating you for any injuries.

"Soldier Boy, I'm fine!" You ground out, grabbing his wrists and prying yourself from his clutches.

"Don't ever do that again! Do you understand?!" He pointed an admonishing finger in your face, snarling at you.

"What?! It's not like I felt anything, I'm fine, okay? I saved everyone."

"You didn't communicate at all?!"

"There was no time to!" You chuckled in disbelief, palming your face. "Besides, you're the one over here not giving two shits about the hostages."

"You didn't actually think I was going to let those fuckers hurt them." He cocked his head at you, the corner of his lip tilted up in a charming smirk before he rolled his eyes. "Seriously, I would never allow that."

"Well, this isn't the first time." You elbowed his shoulder, then looked to the crowd. Aside from the officers and the hostages, news reporters were bursting at the seams to cross that tape and rush to Soldier Boy and you for an interview. They were already taking photos, despite the hefty distance, shouting your hero names. "I'm leaving." He grabbed your wrist, tethering you to the earth.

"Now hold on a sec, why don't we go get a drink? Unwind."

"I'm covered in blood..." You tore yourself away. "And the last thing I want is to be anywhere near you." He frowned, tonguing the inside of his cheek. The wind whistled as you ascended into the sky at full speed and disappeared into the clouds. His brilliant eyes followed after you.

Meanwhile, you were drifting through the bank doors, watching every aspect of these dreams that were swirling in your head. Soldier Boy faced you, he looked directly at you, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion and you looked behind you.

"You." He spat, taking those few steps till he was within arms reach. The space that separated you both burned, your head began to throb.

"Me?"

"Yes. You." His strong jaw clenched and his eyes darted up and down your figure. "You can't trust them." He muttered under his breath, "They're lying to you."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

"Wake up..." His words bounced inside your skull, you were hunching forward, clutching your head. "Wake the fuck up..."

Everything surged toward you, a heavy breath filled your lunges and you were jolting upright on a metal examination table. You were struggling to catch your breath, a palm naturally finding purchase at your chest to ease the pressure.

"Phoenix." Your eyes darted in the direction of the voice, Vogelbaum and a nurse were standing a safe distance away at the corner of the room. "Calm yourself." He smiled, it turned your stomach. "Everything is okay."

"W-What-" You were wearing a hospital gown. Your double vision focused until you were staring at Vogelbaum again. You blinked at him, eyes drifting shut, out of your control. "What happened?" You groaned, he turned his back to you.

"A gas valve went off in your penthouse. It's making headlines right now. You missed Soldier Boy's celebration of life."

"Gas valve?" You sat up straighter, weakly so, glancing around the room. It was all white, a lab of sorts, familiar to you from experiences that you had ages ago. You tried to prop yourself up on an elbow. "Soldier Boy?" You wiped your hand down your face. "W-What?"

"The blast knocked you unconscious." He turned to you, then started placing a bunch of stickies on your body, starting with your temple, then your collarbones, then your wrists and onward.

"What's going on?" Your voice trembled.

"Stay calm." Vogelbaum expressed, he cupped your cheek when he was done and smiled at you. "You're safe. This isn't like when you were sick."

"But how did I get knocked out? I-I-I've taken countless explosions."

"Well, you're getting old. It's normal to experience some wear and tear."

"Hmm..." You dropped your head into a palm and sighed. "I missed Soldier Boy's celebration?"

"Yes," He grabbed a clipboard, the nurse that was with him began clipping on a bunch of wires to the circular stickies, they were attached to a machine on a rolling cart. "Do you uh-remember him?"

"Soldier Boy." You propped your chin under your fist and nodded your head, a vision came over you and you were staring off into nothingness. "Yes." You gulped, shaking your head.

"Could you..." He waved two fingers at you. "Describe the day he died to me?" As you tried to collect yourself, flashes of lights and blurs filled your head.

"I uh-" Your eyebrows furrowed, the nurse flipped a switch and a short whizzing noise sounded. "Only recall bits and pieces." You shook your head, narrowed your eyes on him. "Why does that matter?"

"You were comatose for several days. You experienced a concussion," He dismissed. "I'm making sure that your brain is functioning to it's fullest capacity." He pulled up a stool and plopped down in front of you. "Phoenix, tell me what you remember about that day."

"Um..." You bit your tongue, itched your temple. "Soldier Boy and I went on a team-up. One of the Nuclear Power plants in Ohio. We saved as many people as we could. Ben told me to..." You felt a lump form in your throat. "He told me to go on ahead. The plant exploded and when I found him, he was a shell of himself. He died in my arms."

"Fascinating..." Vogelbaum mumbled, head buried in the clipboard as he scribbled notes. You glared at him and he got the message.

"What I mean is..." He tapped his pen at the paper. "It's fascinating that your brain recovered so much from the incident." You blinked at him, confused by whatever he was trying to hide. You knew he was lying to you, you could feel it. You just couldn't figure out why. "When you were under, your brain activity was off the charts. What was going on?"

"I-" You inhaled a deep breath. "I was dreaming about the past, I guess..." You snorted, shaking your head, eyes widening. "But it was like I was looking in, I wasn't apart of those memories."

"Interesting." His pen raced across the clipboard as he jotted down his thoughts.

"Look. I don't want to be here. When can I leave." He stood up, patted you on the shoulder.

"Sadly, we'll have to keep you under observation for a few more days." The nurse turned the machine off, it powered down with that same whizzing sound.

"I'll break out of here, then." Vogelbaum held his hand up, it did little to keep you from getting off of the metal table.

"Now, there's no need for that Phoenix. What's a few days to make sure that you're okay?" You sent him an uneasy grimace, then crossed your arms.

"Fine, but only a few. I'm not staying here longer than a week." You began unclipping the wires, "Scratch that. You've got two days."

"Okay," Vogelbaum nodded, scribbling something on his clipboard again. "I can do two days. Mind if I run a few more tests?" You collected the wires in your fist and tossed them to the nurse, who fumbled catching them all as they hit her chest.

"Not at all. I love being violated in every which way." Vogelbaum snorted, you sent him a sardonic look. His chest rose and fell with a deep breath, he waved at the nurse.

"Jenny, would you give us a moment." As Vogelbaum passed you, you caught a reflection of yourself in the mirrored glass; two way, you were being watched. Nothing you were new to, you had been in this same position before. The metal door creaked as Jenny rolled the machine out of the room. It made a resounding thump when it shut behind her. The door must had been heavy, inches thick even. For something so minor as a bump to the head, Vought was taking some serious precautions.

"Phoenix, let's talk. Just you and me."

"This another test?" You itched the side of your neck, your fingers catching on one of the stickies on your skin. You began to peel it off, feigning a calm and collected outward appearance. Inside, your body was screaming, your head was pounding, you could feel a weight heavy in your chest. Your anxiety was getting worse with each passing second and you couldn't figure out why.

"Perhaps." He sat on the stool again, clipboard forgotten in the crook of his arm. "I know it's been a tough year-"

"Okay, we're done here." You rose to your bare feet, about to take your leave, removing stickies aggressively as you went.

"I'm trying to help you, but you have to work with me." You stopped at the metal door, with your back to him, you squeezed your eyes shut and shook your head.

"I'm tired."

"I know." You rested your forehead to the metal. "The depression hasn't gotten better, I'm assuming." You turned to him, arms crossed in a defensive stance, then shook your head. "I've created something that might help." He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and procured a bottle of pills.

"Don't you know by now that medicine doesn't work on me." You said lowly, eyeing the orange bottle.

"This will. It's more potent than any drug you've ever taken, I tuned it specifically to you." He offered it toward you, "And I guarantee, it's going to make you feel very, very relaxed." You accepted the bottle, looking between his all too friendly smile and his creation raveled in your vice grip. "Try. For me?"

"Okay..." You bit your bottom lip. "I'll try."

Return to Master list

#soldier boy x reader #reader #soldier boy x female reader #soldier boy #payback #oc hero name #mindstorm #gunpowder #the boys #crimson countess #vought international #tnt twins #black noir

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perspectivestarters · 2 years

Text

Perspective's Sentence Starters; MIDNIGHTS by Taylor Swift (Part I)

LAVENDER HAZE

"Meet me at midnight."

"You don't ever say too much."

"You don't really read into my melancholia."

"You handled it beautifully."

"All this shit is new to me."

"I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me."

"I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say."

"I just wanna stay in that lavender haze."

"All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride."

"The only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife."

"I find it dizzying."

"You weren't even listening."

"Talk your talk and go viral."

"I just need this love spiral."

"Get it off your chest."

"Get it off my desk."

"I just wanna stay."

MAROON

"We lost track of time again."

"You were my closest friend."

"How'd we end up on the floor anyway?"

"I see you every day now."

"I chose you."

"So scarlet, it was maroon."

"How the hell did we lose sight of us again?"

"Ain't that the way shit always ends?"

"Carnations you had thought were roses, that's us."

"I feel you, no matter what."

"I lost you."

"Looked up at the sky and it was maroon."

"I wake with your memory over me."

"That's a real fuckin' legacy to leave."

ANTI-HERO

"I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser."

"Midnights become my afternoons."

"My depression works the graveyard shift."

"All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room."

"I should not be left to my own devices."

"They come with prices and vices."

"I end up in crisis."

"Tale as old as time."

"I wake up screaming from dreaming."

"I'm the problem."

"I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror."

"It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero."

"I'm a monster on the hill."

"Pierced through the heart, but never killed."

"Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism?"

"I've realized all this time."

"Life will lose all its meaning."

"She's laughing up at us from hell!"

"It's me, I'm the problem, it's me."

SNOW ON THE BEACH

"I saw flecks of what could've been lights."

"It might just have been you."

"Life is emotionally abusive."

"Time can't stop me quite like you did."

"My flight was awful, thanks for asking."

"It's like snow at the beach."

"Weird but fuckin' beautiful."

"This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen."

"I've never seen someone lit from within."

"To hide that would be so dishonest."

"It's fine to fake it 'til you make it."

"I can't speak, afraid to jinx it."

"I don't even dare to wish it."

"Your eyes are flying saucers from another planet."

"Can this be a real thing, can it?"

"It's comin' down."

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, KID

"Summer went away, still the yearning stays."

"I play it cool with the best of them."

"He's gonna notice me."

"We're the best of friends anyway."

"You're smoking with your boys."

"I didn't choose this town."

"I dream of getting out."

"There's just one who could make me stay all my days."

"I waited ages to see you there."

"I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that you never cared."

"You're on your own, kid."

"You always have been."

"I picked the petals, he loves me not."

"Something different bloomed."

"I'll run away."

"I called a taxi to take me there."

"My dreams aren't rare."

"I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this."

"The jokes weren't funny."

"I took the money."

"My friends from home don't know what to say."

"I saw something they can't take away."

"There were pages turned with the bridges burned."

"Everything you lose is a step you take."

"You've got no reason to be afraid."

"Yeah, you can face this."

"You're on your own, kid. You always have been."

MIDNIGHT RAIN

"He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain."

"He wanted a bride, I was making my own name."

"He stayed the same."

"All of me changed like midnight."

"My town was a wasteland."

"But for some, it was paradise."

"My boy was a montage."

"I broke his heart 'cause he was nice."

"He was sunshine, I was midnight rain."

"But for him, it's every day."

"All the love we unravel."

"The life I gave away."

"I guess sometimes we all get just what we wanted."

"He never thinks of me except for when I'm on TV."

"I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted."

"I never think of him except on midnights like this."

QUESTION...?

"I remember."

"We had one thing goin' on."

"I swear that it was somethin'."

I don't remember who I was before you."

"You painted all my nights a color I've searched for since."

"One thing after another."

"Fuckin' situations, circumstances, miscommunications."

"I just may like some explanations."

"Can I ask you a question?

"Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?"

"Then what did you do?"

"Did you lеave her house in the middle of the night?"

"Did you wish you'd put up more of a fight?"

"She said it was too much."

"Do you wish you could still touch her?"

"It's just a question."

"Did you realize out of time?"

"She was on your mind with some dickhead guy."

"It was one drink after another."

"Fuckin' politics and gender roles."

"You're not sure and I don't know."

"I just may like to have a conversation."

"Does it feel like everything's just like second best after that meteor strike?"

"What's that that I heard?"

"That you're still with her?"

"That's nice, I'm sure that's what's suitable."

#rp sentence starters #rp sentence meme #rp sentence prompts #sentence starters #sentence meme #sentence prompts #lyric sentence starters #lyric starters #music starters #rp meme #rp memes #rp prompts #ask meme #*mystarters #*midnights

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redhead-batgal · 1 year

Note

can I request you do a Tim Drake x reader where the reader is a spider-like anti-hero that is infamous for getting on batman's bad side due to their methods (i.e. hurting bad people like r*pists, etc.) as well as criticizing him for his techniques, and Tim one day bringing them to the manor after a night of patrol and how the batfam reacts? [can you use 21, 8, 15, 28, 31, 32, 19, 35, 26, 17, 3, 1 & 25 from the neutral prompts; 23 from the angsts prompts; and 1, 27, 34 from the fluff prompts]

I'm so sorry this is pretty long, you can cut out any prompts if you'd like wefhsdkj anyways, have a nice day/night & I love your writing!

Pairing: Anti-Hero! and Gender Neutral! Reader x Tim Drake/Red Robin

Prompts: ϐ1: "“Hmmm, what if-” “Oh no, don’t you start that sentence, don’t you dare make that face." ϐ3: "Go on, keep calling me names, see what happens." ϐ8: "FINALLY! Someone who gets me!” “They literally just breathed.” “It was a sigh and fuck you.” ϐ15: "Are you fucking kidding me?” “No, not in the slightest” ϐ17: "She is my favorite sister.” “I’m not even your sister.” “Not yet.” ϐ19: “Are you insane?” “Most likely.” ϐ21: “You’re late.” “You see I would have been on time, but I was kinda keen on not dying.” ϐ25: “You, my friend, are going down a very dark path.” “Well, the light is broken.” ϐ26: “Get the fuck off of my car.” “Say please.” “Please get your fucking ass off of my fucking car” “that’s not very nice” “I’m done.” ϐ28: “And here I was thinking you were dead.” “As if death could be so lucky to be blessed with my presence.” ϐ31: “IS THAT A KITTY!” “Be quiet, we are supposed to observe and report!” “But the kitty…” ϐ32: “Shock me,” “I would but I’m afraid it’d kill you, old man.” ϐ35: “You know it’s very nice to be wanted.” “NOT BY THE FUCKING FBI DAMN IT!” ✢23: “Heroes die young anyways, might as well live as a villain.” ☙1: “I honestly don’t think there’s anyone I ever loved as much as I love you.” ☙27: “I love every damned piece of you no matter what anyone else says.” ☙34: “Damn you smell really nice.”

Content: Cursing, fluff, antics and Batfamily shenanigans. (This is technically what you asked for but also not. I just couldn't help myself with the chaotic batfam scenario sorry if this isn't what you were expecting!"

Word Count: 2,132

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life is complicated, especially since people are so bizarre. They have the capability for good and, unfortunately, for evil. And evil tended to rein from what you had seen in life.

It was part of the reason why you decided to become a vigilante of sorts. Part of the reason why you went out in the middle of the night and fought for justice for those who couldn't fight back.

Batman and the rest of the bats wouldn't do what it takes to keep the people of Gotham safe. The vulnerable people of Gotham, the working girls, boys and in-betweens... the people who don't follow the social norms with gender and career.

You chose to help others in a way that the bats couldn't. Killing of course wasn't something you did, that would defeat your purpose. These people- how could you even call them people? These scum, needed to be taught a lesson. And you would make sure it got through, even if it meant you ended up with some bruises and broken bones as well.

This, of course, put you on the big bat's bad side. He didn't see you as an enemy, but he certainly didn't like your actions. However, this did not apply to all of the bats.

"You're late." He sighed.

Rolling your eyes, you tilted your head back. Shrugging you smiled at him lazily.

“You see I would have been on time, but I was kinda keen on not dying.”

He turned to you and a wicked smile slid onto your face. Even with his mask on you could see his seething glare. Rolling off of the heating unit, you flipped to land on your feet before walking towards him.

"Come on Red, can't you take a joke?"

Red Robin did not reply, and you sighed. Maybe you should have tried to take this more seriously. After all he wanted you to officially meet the rest of the bats.

"Alright," You began, "I'm sorry."

Red Robin sighed; eyes narrowed as he looked you over before shaking his head.

"Are you insane?"

Instantly speaking before he could continue, "Most likely?"

He laughed slightly and you bounced a bit before speaking once again, “Hmmm, what if-”

“Oh no, don’t you start that sentence, don’t you dare make that face."

Hopping closer to him you leaned in and opened you mouth to say something, noting the slowly appearing smile on his face. Before opening your mouth, however you took a breath in, and words spilled from you.

"Damn, you smell nice."

He paused for a moment, and you met his gaze before smiling at him and leaning in even more. It hadn't been long since your friendship had officially morphed into something more and every little since of affection seemed to make Red Robin- Tim, it made him nervous.

“I honestly," You began looking at him a mischievous smile on your face, "don’t think there’s anyone I ever loved as much as I love you.”

He took a step back and you looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong Red? You want me to meet them because we're together, right?"

He didn't reply, in fact he looked away from you and you paused. All jokes aside you did love him. You did care about what he said and how he felt. It hurt a bit, him ignoring your question.

"Or" You began letting your mind speak before you thought it through, "do you want to know how they seem me before you decided how you feel?"

He paused again and you sighed, you knew he didn't always know what to say to your antics and fears.

"Please tell me that I'm wrong, Red. I-i want you to reassure me. Say things- things like... I love every damned piece of you no matter what anyone else says.”

He finally looked to you and nodded slowly. Clearing his throat, he took a step towards you, and you smiled.

"I do, I do. I'm- I'm just-"

"Nervous?" You asked watching as his hands fluttered and his body twitched.

"Yeah."

Moving so there was no space between you, you leaned against him.

"It's okay, I get it. If things don't go well, you can just say it's your rebellious phase."

Tim laughed and you smiled at him, grabbing onto his arm you began pulling him across the roof top.

"Come on lover boy, we've got somewhere we need to be."

It did not take long for the two of you to arrive at the vast estate of the Wayne family. Nor did it take long for you to reach the front door. Opening it, that was another matter though. Voices seemed to blast from within and you had to bite your lip to keep your composure.

"Go on, keep calling me names, see what happens!" A voice yelled.

"As if you can do anything Thomas!" A younger voice replied, and you almost turned to Tim who sighed before yanking on the doorknob.

You peeked your head into the manor to see dimly lit rooms and straight ahead a tv screen blazing. Wandering in you found two boys sprawled across the couch just in front of the tv.

“Get the fuck off of my car.” The young Wayne boy, Damian remarked.

A controller pinned in his hands as he glared at another boy.

“Say please.” The other remarked and you recalled his name, Duke.

Damian glared before seething, “Please get your fucking ass off of my fucking car.”

“That’s not very nice.”

Throwing the controller down, Damian shook his head scowling, “I’m done.”

"Where on earth did Robin hear that language?" You snorted.

"Jason probably," Tim sighed.

There was silence before a voice shouted in reply sending you into a pearl of giggles.

"You're one to talk pretender!"

Tim rolled his eyes as he gestured to the boys in front of the two of you.

"These are some of my family members. Duke is a daylighter so you probably haven't seen much of him, and you already know that Damian is Robin."

Duke looked up before blinking a few times, you smiled and waved, and Duke's face went blank as he waved back. Damian raised his head for a second spotting you and scoffing.

"Hello, L/N. Still wasting your time with Drake I see."

Tim's hands were on your make moving you towards the kitchen as your jaw dropped at Damian's comment. Clearly, he did not want to deal with his younger sibling today.

Tim pushed the kitchen door open and sitting on the counter a carton settled in her lap was an unfamiliar girl. She blinked before smiling upon noticing the two of you.

'Hi' She signed, and you tilted your head.

"This is Cass, you probably know her as Black Bat though."

Your eyes nearly popped out of your head as you looked to Tim your jaw dropping. Her? Black Bat? Wow. You had been dying to meet her.

"Wow," You breathed out stepping forwards, "Uh Hi! I'm Y/n. Woah, yeah uhm sorry. I've just heard a lot about you and- and I'm a big fan."

Cass blinked; her pale cheeks being tinted with the slightest pink as she tucked her hair behind her ear hiding part of it from view. Suddenly, she quickly began signing and you shook your head trying to keep up but being unable to.

"Huh, yeah. You're right Cass. I should show them the cave." Tim muttered, he then looked to you and weakly smiled, "Do you want to see the bat cave?"

You nodded rapidly. While you wanted to stay and talk with Cass, you doubted you'd be able to keep up an actual conversation and you really didn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, this way. And just down the stairs."

“IS THAT A KITTY!” Spoiler's voice echoed through the comms.

“Be quiet," Batwing hissed "we are supposed to observe and report!”

“But the kitty…”

A sense of surprise raced over you. You really didn't expect to hear things like that. You were almost certain that patrols were serious and yet, here was Spoiler surprising you. Continuing your descent, you made it to the bottom of the stairs to find an unmasked Batman at the computer with a civilian Red Hood behind him waving his hands.

"Shock me." Bat- no Bruce sighed.

"I would but I'm afraid it'd kill you, old man." Red Hood snorted.

You laughed and he turned to you before laughing as well, “And here I was thinking you were dead.”

“As if death could be so lucky to be blessed with my presence.”

Bruce ignored the two of you, eyes locked on the screen and Red Hood- no Jason, looked at you.

“Heroes die young anyways, might as well live as a villain.” He said reaching his fist out, "right?"

"If anyone's like a villain between the two of you it's gotta be Y/N." Bruce mumbled.

"What? Why? I was a drug lord and killed tons of people." Jason questioned his nosed scrunched up in confusion.

"They castrated a man in broad daylight," Was Oracle's calm response that echoed through the cave cleaving it into silence. A smile nearly jumped onto Jason's face as he turned to you.

"Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No," Tim sighed, "not in the slightest.”

"You castrated a man?"

Heat flushed your cheeks, and you waved your hands spitting out a defense, "He was using his dick for bad things! He deserved it."

"It was more than one, and you are now wanted." Bruce Wayne sighed rubbing his temples.

Your reply was instant, “You know it’s very nice to be wanted.”

“NOT BY THE FUCKING FBI DAMN IT!” Tim bellowed turning towards you his eyes wide.

A sheepish grin was on your face as you batted your eyes at him, and Tim let out a groan. Shaking his head, he gestured towards the stairs.

"I think we're done with the Batcave."

You sighed before scowling and moving towards the stairs. However, before you could even raise your foot to the first step you heard Bruce Wayne's booming voice.

"It was nice to meet you Y/N. I hope you keep making Tim happy."

Looking over your shoulder you smiled brightly, meeting the bat's face before nodding.

"Oh, trust me. I will."

Jason burst into a fit of laughter and Tim suddenly was pushing against your back and forcing you up the stairs. You had just made it into the hall when, yet another bat began coming your way.

“You, my friend, are going down a very dark path.” Harper remarked a phone tucked into the crook of her neck.

“Well, the light is broken.” You heard someone reply and you sighed.

Harper turned to look at you before her eyes lit up, "Gotta go, I'll see you later."

She then abruptly hung up before spinning towards you and Tim. She pointed at you and then at Tim her eyebrows raised. Shaking her head, she smiled brightly.

"FINALLY! Someone who gets me!” Harper exclaimed.

Tim looked to her an eyebrow raised, “They literally just breathed.”

“It was a sigh and fuck you.”

"She is my favorite sister.” You snorted.

Harper looked at you confused, “I’m not even your sister.”

You smiled before turning towards Tim, “Not yet.”

A delighted look appeared on Harper's face as she looked you over before turning towards Tim.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well-" You began a wicked grin on your face.

Tim grabbed your arm and began pulling you towards the door, "I think that's enough for tonight. Bye Harper!"

Harper giggled in reply and Tim continued pulling you towards the door. Only to be stopped by a request from Alfred Pennyworth.

"I do hope that you will bring Mx Y/N for Sunday dinner Master Timothy. It will be a far better setting for them to get acquainted with everyone."

Tim sighed, his head hanging as you held back a laugh. He nodded and half turned towards Alfred with his hand weakly waving.

"Of course."

"Goodbye Alfred!" You shouted causing the butler to turn towards you a small smile on his face.

"Farewell Mx Y/N. I do hope you have an enjoyable rest of your evening!"

You continued to wave as Tim pulled you out the door. Finally, the door closed, and Tim let out a haggard sigh.

"So," You began causing him to look at you, "Sunday dinner? I'm pretty sure I didn't get to meet everyone after all."

Tim closed his eyes before pressing his hand to his face, "Damn it."

Another giggle escaped you and you grabbed onto his arm patting it slightly before shaking your head a smile stretched across your face.

"Damn it!" He said again and you laughed.

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kilojulietsierra · 2 months

Text

Finders Keepers - Capt Ronald Speirs x Nurse!OFC

Summary: Lt. Elaine Walker is apparently the only nurse in her unit not terrified of the new Easy Company CO. As such she gets to know him just a little bit better than anyone else.

Warnings: All of my content is considered 18+ only, slow burn, fluff, eventual relationship, secret relationship, not so secret relationship, flirting in the middle of a war, smoking and drinking, allusions to sex canon typical language, violence and events.

Disclaimer: this work is based on the HBO series Band of Brothers and is in no way meant to disrespect the real heroes of Easy Co.

~~~~~~

She woke up all but burrowed under the covers, warmer and cozier than she'd been in longer than she could remember. On the verge of sleep and waking something was nagging at her. Fighting to stay asleep she wrapped her fist tighter around the edge of the blankets, giving them a tug.

The blankets came freely and she burrowed deeper into her pillow. The one hand she had out in the cool air of the room reached out to the other side of the mattress and stretched out the stiffness. That was when she realized what had awoken her in the first place.

Cigarette smoke.

Reluctantly she cracked her eyes open, it was still dark, the night air was cool and quiet.

"Over here." Ron broke the silence. HIs voice was smooth and quiet, barely disturbing the darkness.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light Elaine saw the cherry red end of his cigarette, "Come back to bed."

"Go back to sleep." HIs voice stayed just as hushed as before, the end of his cigarette glowed brighter for a moment.

"I will." She stretched her entire body and chased after sleep once again. "When you come back to bed."

Across the room he huffed out a silent laugh and took one last, long drag on his cigarettle. In the dark his steps were noiseless and only the faintest shape of him was visible, a silouhette as he passed in front of the moonlit window.

Her eyes had slipped closed once again, only opening when the bed dipped with his weight. She sighed contently as he slid under the blankets beside her once again. Once he was settled he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "You enjoy bossing your CO around Walker."

Eyes closed and a sleepy smile on her face she rested her head on his chest. "Technically, you're not my CO."

That earned her another huff, a laugh, or as close as it would get. "That so?" His fingers stroked up her bare back. "Pretty sure your chief is reporting to me while your unit is still attached to Easy."

She felt his eyes peering down at her, could imagine the look on his face. Keeping her own eyes closed she chose not to respond.

The next time he spoke the words were whispered directly in her ear, "That would make me your commanding officer," He ducked his head to place a kiss behind her ear, "Technically."

Laney chuckled and pressed herself tighter against him, dropped a kiss of her own against his chest. Followed quickly by her teeth nipping at his pec. "Wise ass."

Ron hissed a little at her sharp teeth, but only retaliated by rolling them over so he was on his side and her back was flush against his chest. "Thought I told you to go back to sleep." He whispered against her ear again,

She settled back against him and hummed. letting her eyes slip closed. "What woke you up?"

His arms around her and his face pressed against the back of her neck he kissed her there. "Just a dream."

"Same one?"

Behind her Ron only hummed.

During the day he was a man of few words for the most part. Being promoted to Captain apparantly hadn't changed that much from what she heard. But, here in Austria, especially with her, he would losen up some. One of those times, late at night, laying in bed together he had told her about his nightmares.

Most of the men had them, she knew that all too well. The boys that came into the aid stations, the hospitals, they all trembled, moaned, sometimes screamed in their sleep. She had seen it plenty of times. They would startle awake. Their sleep haunted, dreams of earth exploding, shells raining down, the images of their friends bloody and mangled beside them..

Captain Speirs was no exception.

"Go back to sleep." Rons voice was even softer as he pulled the blankets up closer around them and settled in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Captain Speirs, Sir?"

Speirs turned around, "What?" he snapped, already sick of people coming and asking him stupid questions.

"SIr, the nurse corps is asking where to set up." The soldier standing in front of him stared blankly as he waited for orders.

Speirs breathed deep through his nose and glanced out the grimey, half shattered window, "Take three men and clear a building across the street."

"Yessir." The boy left to do as he was told.

Less than an half an hour later, as he leaned on the back of the couch talking to a shivering, coughing Lipton, Speirs was once again interrupted.

~~~

When the chief nurse came to them they were unloading the last of the supplies. "Captain Winters is requesting someone to report to company E CP, they have men there that need attention."

Elaine and the other nurses stopped what they were doing. One of them spoke up, "Why can't they just come here? We are almost set up."

The chief nurse simply stared back at them, "Apparantly they're too busy."

"Isn't that what medics are for?" Another girl asked.

"Will one of you please, just go report to Captain Speirs. Don't make me order you."

The girls all exchanged a look. "Captain Speirs, ma'am?" Even the nurse corp had heard the stories. Boys coming into feild hospitals and aid stations were full of them. The nurses had all heard of the infamous Captain Speirs by now.

"Yes, Captain Speirs. He's the Easy Company commanding officer."

Glancing amongst themselves the nurses remained silent. After a long, tense moment Elaine jumped down from the truck with a humph and grabbed her kit, "I'll go Teresa." She slung her bag over her shoulder and took a look around at the wide eyes staring at her. With a snort she added, "I could use a cigarette anyway."

Laney ignroed the snickering and whispering behind her as she jogged across the street. Stepping quicker at the sound of artillery screaming overhead. Once she made it across the street to the company CP she ducked inside as a shell hit somewhere nearby.

The men looked up as she entered. One of them standing behind the couch looked her over as he stood to his full height, "Aid station is set up across the way."

Laney squared up to the Captain from across the room, "I'm well aware SIr. I've been sent to see to someone here."

The man on the couch sat up a ittle straighter, fighting back a coughing fit. "See who?" A shiver rolled through him as soon as he finished talking.

With a snort and a hint of a smile Laney shrugged out of her satchel and walked over to the couch, "I'm willing to bet that'd be you Sargent." Kneeling down beside him she gave him a quick once over and felt at his cheek and forehead. "You should be laying down somewhere trooper."

"Exactly what I said." Speirs spoke up from behind the couch, his eyes meeting hers and his lips twitching the slightest bit as though he may smile if he weren't careful. "In the back. Let her take a look at you Lip, that's an order."

With a cough and a little help, Sargent Lipton got to his feet, taking the blanket with him. "Yes Sir."

Speirs nodded to Lip and then looked back to Laney, "What's your name, Nurse?"

Laney shot him a look, "Lieutenant."

"Your name is Lieutenant?" His lips twitched again.

"My rank." She wrapped Liptons arm over her shoulders and picked up her bag. "If you'll excuse us, Sir?"

Speirs' eyes were dark and he did finally crack the barest of smiles as he nodded his approval, "Lieutenant. Lip, get some rest."

"Sir." Lip nodded and together he and Laney headed for the back of the building.

At the door Laney tugged Lipton to a stop and turned back to Speirs, "Say Captain, got any cigarettes?" Lip jerked his head up to look at her in surprise.

Back in the main room Speirs met her gaze with an honest to God smirk, "Fresh out."

~~~

Later that evening, when Laney had finally finished with the officers and non-coms and their multitudes of 'minor' ailments they'd all been dutifully ignoring, she was surprised to find that Speirs was still there.

He sat in relative darkness, save for the one kerosene lamp turned down low in the corner. His eyes were closed and he was slouched back in his chair, one muddy boot kicked up on the desk. Laney thought he must be asleep so she stepped quietly past him.

"Lieutenant Walker." Laney stopped in her tracks, not questioning how he'd gotten her name, and turned back towards the desk he'd moved into the corner and away from the windows. Now his eyes were wide open but his posture remained the same. "Captain."

Speirs seemed to be studying her intently for a long moment. "How are the men?"

Taking a breath, forcing herself to relax, Laney kept her voice down to match his, "Wore out." She took a few steps closer, "To say the least."

He nodded. "A little out of uniform aren't you Lietenant?" His eyes held hers, a hint of something in them. He looked her up and down, taking in the state of her dress.

A pair of hand me down jump trousers and a four pocket jacket a size or two too big over layers against the cold. She carried a bag like a medic, noticeably emptier than it was when she arrived, a battered helmet with the red cross peeling on one side . He saw a pair of fingerless gloves tucked in the utility belt she had cinched around her waist and noticed that the brown leather was stained darker with blood.

Laney rolled her eyes and cocked her hip, "Well, Sir, a white dress and stalkings don't fair too well on the line."

Speirs chuckled. "Appreciate you taking care of them."

"It's what I'm here for." She spared him a smile. "How 'bout you Captain?"

"How about me?" Foot still propped on his desk he crossed his arms, smirking again like he had earlier.

"Need me to take a look at anything?" She nodded his direction for emphasis.

Speris shook his head, "I'm doin' just fine Lieutenant." He held her gaze for a moment and eventually bobbed his head towards the door, "Go get some rest."

"Yes sir." She hiked her bag higher on her shoulder and turned to leave, "Good night Captain."

"Good night Lieutenant." At the door she stopped, and dug through one of her jacket pockets until she pulled out a crumpled pack of Lucky Strikes. She tossed them to the Captain and chuckled when he had to quickly uncross hs arms to catch them. "Laney."

Speirs held up the pack of smokes in thanks, "Ron."

He watched her smile and then disappear out the door. Once she was gone he chuckled to himself and pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. He was still smiling when he stuffed the pack in his pocket, recrossed his arms and closed his eyes again.

~~~

When Easy moved out of Haguenau, Laney and the other nurses hung back with the rest of the support staff. At least until they could receive word from Easy and the rest of the battalion that Sturzelburg was secure enough for them to enter. Once they had received the all clear they rolled in with their jeeps and trucks.

At the center of town they dismounted and it was Lieutenant Elaine Walker that was once again sent to the CP. After their group of nurses had linked up with Easy on the other side of the French/German border Lieutenant Walker had been designated the unofficial go between for the Nurse Corp and Easy Company. The other nurses were still hesitant to approach the Company CO.

They apparently weren't so scared of him that they didn't gossip about him plenty. Speirs, Nixon, Winters... Of course any of them would volunteer to go to Nixon or Major Winters in a heartbeat, bicker for the chance even. Captain Speirs on the other hand, well, Laney was the lucky one. Not that she minded all that much anymore, if she were telling the truth. Her interactions with the Captain were limited but they got on well enough. Quite well actually.

Laney approached a group of soliders congregated on the steps of one of the shops. "Any of y'all seen Captain Speirs?"

The lot of them stood up a little straighter. One with southern accent, much thicker than her own, spoke up, "Yes ma'am, he's clearing houses down that way." He pointed down the street.

With her thanks Laney headed down the street. She finally found him in the fourth house she checked. He was jogging down the stairs with a trayful of treasures. "Lieutenant Walker." Speirs spared her a fraction of a smile as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Laney chuckled as she walked over to see what he'd found. "Captain." She plucked the silver tray dangling from one hand out of his grasp and studied it. Flipping it over and over watching the way the sun bounced off the surface.

"Have they set you up somewhere yet?" He moved to prop a hip on the table.

"Not yet. We just rolled in." She set the platter down and continued to peer through his newest collection. "You've been busy." Laney picked up an intricate, decorative hair comb and admired it. Her fingertips tracing the delicate, silver flower petals. It was the kind that was too pretty to be used.

Speirs huffed out a laugh, "I'll have the boys clear a house for you. Help you ladies get up and running."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Told you," He ducked his head slightly to catch her eye, "Call me Ron." He was grinning when he said it and he grinned a little wider when he caught her smiling down at the floor.

Laney looked at him out the corner of her eye, "Right... Ron." She turned to face him, still holding the silver comb. "How much of this stuff you sent home already?"

His face remained the same as he shrugged. "A little here and there."

She chuckled, "Mhmm, a little." Laney took one last look at the comb and set it down carefully back on the tray. "Who should I find? To get us a building?" She noticed the way his eyes flicked from the movement of her hands back to her face. The fact she could get away with snooping through his loot without retribution pleased her more than it should.

Speirs smirked, stood up straight and situated his grip on the tray full of treasures. "I'll grab some men."

"What about your treasures here?" She pointed.

His face sobered slightly, "We'll stop on the way." He nodded toward the second tray she'd left on the table, signaling for her to make herself useful.

When she reached for the empty tray a noise upstairs caught her attention, stopped her in her tracks. Her head tipped back she looked up at the floor above them. It was pretty obvious what the source of the noise was and Laney pulled her lips between her teeth, trying not to laugh. "Glad everyone else is enjoying themselves."

She walked towards the door where Speirs was waiting and she tried not to turn too red when her gaze met his for a second too long. She felt his eyes on her as she walked out of the building in front of him but him nearly getting ran over by the jeep broke the tension as she tried and failed not to laugh.

His scowl was half hearted but no less effective as he pointed her towards the APO.

Laney also couldn't help but notice the way the soldiers jumped out of his way or the looks they gave her as she followed him in. She was still staring them down on their way out the door when Ron sat his loot down on the counter for the private.

WIth one hand he set the two packs of smokes down and with the other deftly grabbed the comb off the tray to sneak it back in his pocket. "Laney."

She spun around and chuckled when he pointed to the tray she still held. Laney handed it over and stayed in the same spot as Ron conducted his business.

When he was done he turned to leave and had made it to the door, his hand settled on her back to guide her out when the private had spoken up.

Laney had stiffened slightly under his hand. He'd never touched her before and while it was unfamiliar it was not unpleasant. His hand stayed there as he looked back to the Private and had given him that unsettling smile. "Finders keepers." Rons fingers had flexed at her back as he'd said it and then he had ushered her out the door.

~~~

Laney had followed the low murmur of mens voices and smell of cigarette smoke down the stairs where battalion had set up HQ.

When she found the source Lipton was the first one to notice her, "Evening ma'am."

Speirs looked up from his cards, lips twitching as he gave her a nod.

Harry gave her a big smile, "Lieutenant Walker! Lovely night ain't it."

She chuckled as she stepped further into the room, "Isn't it past you boys bed time?"

"Mom said we could stay up late, as long as we finished our schoolwork and brushed our teeth." Harry giggled at his own joike.

Laney glanced around the table. Harry had quite the collection of bottles beside him, Lip a single bottle of half drank beer and the Captain had an empty bottle and a coffee cup in front of him, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers.

Speirs was the one to question her, face unreadable but his eyes searching hers, "What brings you by Lieutenant?"

Hands braced on the back of Harrys chair she shrugged, "Dropping of requisition forms, hard to get paperwork done furing the day." She held Rons gaze a moment longer before she broke away, "So, who's winning?" She looked over Harry's shoulder and gave him a consoling pat on the arm, "Obviously not Lieutenant Welsh here."

Harry groaned as Lipton laughed and Ron raised again. "I'm out." He dropped his cards face down on the table. "That's just plain rude."

Laney laughed and threw the other two men a wink. "Y'all stay out of trouble." She turned to leave but Liptons voice stopped her in the doorway.

"You play cards Lieutenant?"

She turned to look back at him, momentarily distracted by watching Rons hand shuffle the deck of cards. "Better than Harry." They all shared a laugh and she watched as Ron started to deal. Harry grrumbled but Speirs and Lip both smiled.

"Have a seat." Ron flicked his eyes up to hers as he dealt.

"Don't have any cash."

"Use Nix's." Ron had already dealt her a hand at Nixons empty seat. He quirked his lips into a smile, cigarette dangling between them as he spoke, "He won't miss it."

After a moment of hesitation she smiled, "Sure." and made her way around the table to take Nixons empty seat.

Lip stood up, "Care for a drink ma'am?" already on his way to grab her a beer.

"You can call me Elaine, you know that right?" Laney smiled as she sat down, and couln't help but catch the look on Ron's face.

He hid a smile by taking a long drag on the end of his cigarette, obviously pleased he was still the only one that got to call her Laney. Hands dealt, fresh cigarettes lit and a bottle of beer in front of her, Ron looked up and gave her smirk, "Ladies first."

A couple hours later Laney collected her most recent winnings with a giggle much to the disdain of the men around her.

"This is your fault." Harry stabbed a wavering finger in Liptons direction.

"Not his fault you're a shit card player." Laney smiled as she straightened out the dollar bills and added them to her stack. The couple beers she'd had were hitting her and she was enjoying herself.

Lip was glassy eyed and grinning as he collected the cards to reshuffle.

Ron had finished his coffee then had one more drink himsefl. His eyes were still sharp but he was slouched back in his chair and had run his hand through his hair enough it was hanging over his brow as it sometimes did. "Don't be a sore loser Welsh."

"Easy for you to say, she didn't take all your money." Harry groused as he scowled at his empty beer bottle.

"Not all of it." Ron smirked at her as she folded her winnings neatly and pushed back from the table.

"Wait, where you going?" Lip looked up mid-shuffle.

"Gentleman, it's been fun, but I think I'm gonna call it a night." Laney smiled wide as she pocketed the cash she had collected.

"Not gonna walk off with Nix's money are you?" Ron looked up at her, still with a smirk on his face.

"Like you said, he won't miss it." She pushed her chair in and waved them all a, "Good night."

Ron sat up straighter, "Where are you billeted?"

Laney leaned on the back of the chair, tipsy enough she had to think for a second, "We have a house, other side of town."

WIth a glance at his watch, Ron pursed his lips and snubbed out his cigarette. "It's late, I'll walk you."

As the two of them left the room Lip and Welsh exchanged a look, a long and knowing look.

~~~

The girls were exhausted, all of them sitting around the long, dining room table eating in silence. After the things they had seen that day outside of Lansburg, none of them had much to say. Or much of an appetite for that matter.

Laney was sitting about halfway down on one side. Staring at the meal they had scrounged together for themselves. She couldn't bring herself to eat any of it though. Not after that.

All of them startled slghtly at the sound of the heavy front door opening. They all seemed to hold their breath while they waited. A moment later Captain Speirs and Lieutenant Lipton appeared in the entryway. Both of them just as exhausted as the rest of them.

Their chief nurse stood up to greet the officers.

Lipton offered a brave attempt at a smile. Speirs merely nodded, "Ma'am. Can you spare one of the nurses?"

Teresa, the chief nurse, asked "Has something happened?" The fear of what else they could possible have found evident in her voice.

"Nothing ma'am." Captain Speirs removed his helmet and shoved his sweat soaked hair back, "Our medics are all still at the camp and, well," He exchanged a glance with Lip, "I'd just feel better if someone could take a look at a few of my men."

WIthout a single word every eye in the room turned on Elaine. With closed eyes she took a deep, fortifying breath. Then she pushed back from her untouched plate and stood on tired legs. "I'll go." She didn't spare a look at her fellow nurses as she walked past them all to grab her coat and bag from the hooks by the door. Shrugging into the jacket she turned to Speirs and Lipton, "Lead the way." The men both nodded and replaced their helmets on their heads.

~~~

If Laney thought she was exhausted after a day of assisting at the camp, then she was well and truly done for after the evening of taking care of the shocky servicemen.

There was no class or training they had been given to know how to care for the young men that saw the atrocities that had been found that day. She had done the best that she could but it felt wholly inadequate.

She had stopped in the sitting room of the home in use as the CP and dropped her bag and helmet on the floor by one of the overly ornate sofas before dropping herself onto it with a pathetic groan. Her intention had just been to sit for a moment, but then as she sat her muscles turned to jelly and her eyes became heavy. Almost without thought she stretched out to lay down.

Laney jumped awake a short while later with a start. Heart pounding in her chest and blood rushing in her ears, her eyes flew open. What had awoken her was the weight of a blanket settling over her. Once her vision cleared she saw that it was Speirs who was laying the blanket down.

"What's wrong?" She started but was cut short.

Speirs shook his head. "Nothing." and then put a firm, reassuring hand on her shoulder to keep her from sitting up. She had a fleeting thought that his eyes looked softer, almost sweeter than she'd ever seen them.

He was also closer to her than he'd ever been before. His hair was still a disheveled mess and his face looked as tired as she felt. For some reason, possibly the exhaustion, she did not argue or ask futher questions. Instead she closed her eyes and sunk back into the couch.

Before she drifted off to sleep again she felt the blanket as it was pulled back over her and the warmth of a hand smoothing over back.

When she woke she could tell she had not moved an inch, the blanket wrapped tight around her as she huddled on the couch that wasn't nearly as comfortable as it had felt when she first dozed off on it the night before. As she sat up the thin wool blanket pooled around her waist and every bone in her body ached.

Without much of a thought she draped the blanket over the back of the couch, collected her bag and helmet off the ground, and left to head back to the building where they had set up the hospital. It was when she ran into one of the other nurses in the street that she learned Hitler had committed suicide.

The end was in sight at last

~~~

Later, in the back of a jeep following along behind Easy company on their way to Berchtesgaden, Laney sat with with her knees bent and her boots braced against the back of the seat in front of her.

The country was beautiful and the morning chill in the air invigorating to their tired bodies and souls. For somethhing to do more than anythng she shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and tipped her head back, intending to take a nap.

There was something in her pocket she didn't immediatly recognize. At first she thought it might be a pair of scissors she forgot to put back in her bag. The touch of cool metal against her fingers led her to believe, but it didn't feel quite right. When she pulled the item from her pocket her breath actually caught in her throat.

In her palm lay the beautiful silver comb she had been admiring from among Captain Speirs loot back in Sturzelburg. The one with the intricate flower adorning the handle.

On reflex she cloesd her fingers around the comb and shoved it back in her pocket before the other girls in the jeep could see. The whole rest of the way to Germany her mind spun. Had he given it to her? When though? Surely she'd remember. Last she had seen it she had laid it carefully on the tray with the rest of his haul. He must of snuck it in her pocket. Then she remembered.

The night after they had found that camp, she had fallen asleep on the couch and woken up to him, Ron, giving her a blanket.

Inside her pocket she couldn't stop running her fingers over the intricate engraving on the body of the comb. She also could not stop herself from thinking about Captain Speirs.

Once they were in Berchesgarten everything went fast. Once the town itself was clear, an easy feat for the boys as it was mostly abondoned, the nurse corp got to work setting up the aid station in a floor of the hotel.

Laney hadn't seen Speirs since they arrived but she tracked him down easily enough that afternoon. She found him on a balcony of the hotel smoking a cigarette with his back to the railing and his thompson leaned up beside him. He looked up at her as she came out onto the balcony.

For a moment he looked like he was going to say something but with a smirk laney just leaned against the door and held the comb up for him to see. Instead of whatever he had been about to say he just smiled and dragged on his cigarette. "Where'd you get that?"

Her eyes flicked to the back of her head quickly before she put the comb back in her pocket. "That's what I've been wondering." She crossed the small balcony to lean against the railing beside him.

He held her gaze for a long moment. Smirking when she didn't look away from him. "Finders keepers."

Finishing the rest of his cigarette Speirs stood up straight. He was closer now and she had to look up slightly to look him in the eye.

Rather than say anything else Laney placed one hand on his jaw and stood on her toes to kiss him on the opposite cheek. "Thank you Ron."

When she pulled back Ron still had that easy smirk on his face as he gazed down at her. Rather than admit to anything he gave her a wink and headed back inside. At the doors he paused and turned back to her "We're down a medic."

Her blank stare was her only response.

"Easy is going up there." He nodded towards the Eagle's Nest and then back down to Laney. "Wanna come with us?" Speirs shrugged, "Just in case."

He was doing that thing again. Where his stare was dark and calculating but the very corner of his lips twitched like he was holding back a smile.

Laney slouched back against the railing, "Just in case." She repeated his own words back to him.

With a nod Speirs said, "C'mon." And so that was how she found herself in the back of a jeep as it climbed its way up the switchback roads of an Alpine mountain. Creeping ever closer to the supposed last Nazi stronghold.

At the top of the mountain the first few men of Easy company were at the door staging to enter by the time Laney jumped down out of the jeep behind Speirs. Halfway to the door Speirs put a hand to her elbow and stopped her in her tracks. "Here. Stay close," He left his hand on her a moment longer than necessary, "Just in case."

Laney snorted, "Yeah. Just in case."

Speirs gave her a nod, nudged her behind him and the others. After the first group of soldiers were through the door she followed them in.

For her part Laney just looked around. Keeping within sight of at least one of the men at all times. It was almost on accident that she stumbled upon the room with the three dead Nazi officers. She wasn't sure how long she had been standing in the doorway when Speirs appeared behind her.

She flinched a little, snapped out of her daze, but stilled when she felt his hand in the middle her back. He guided her further into the room so he could step past her and one by one kicked over the bodies, his pistol at the ready in one hand, though it was obvious he wouldn't need it.

As he knelt down by one of them Laney circled the room. She came to a stop in front of a desk to one side and decided to take a hint from the others, so she started rummaging. Not much caught her eye other than a silver cigarette case she found with the Nazi eagle on it and a set of fountain pens. The others could take the big stuff. At least this way she could say she brought something back with her.

When she turned back towards Speirs he was digging through the last German's pockets, but his eyes were on her and he had a smirk on his face.

Laney shoved her trinkets in an inside jacket pocket and shrugged, "Finders keepers. Right?"

WIth a nod he jerked something out from under the dead mans torso and stood up. Speirs took his own sidearm and slipped it into its holster before holding the luger up between them. As he walked back towards her he dropped the magazine out of a Luger he had apparently found, checked the chamber and slammed the magazine back home. "Here." He came to stand directly in front of her and offered her the pistol.

She must have looked as uncertain as she felt because he spoke up. "How many nurses you think get the chance to take a German officers sidearm home as a souvenir?" He nodded to her and gestured to the handgun again.

It felt strange in her hands. She was smart enough to know that the officer Ron had found this gun on had used it to take his own life. It felt wrong, but Ron was right. "You don't want it?"

He smirked, "I've got plenty." and took the Luger from her before grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around so he could stow it in her bag for her. When he spun her back around he kept his voice down, "Don't let anyone know you got that."

Laney nodded and without another word between them he led her out the door. At the door a loud, echoing pop caused Laney to flinch. Her hand jumped out to fist in Rons sleeve and she took half step backwards.

Ron tensed slightly but breathed out a sigh of exasperation, his right hand smoothing up and down her back as he coaxed her forward into the main hall. Where they found Malarkey swigging straight from a champagne bottle.

She couldn't help but laugh at herself as Ron sent the trooper out to guard the entrance until WInters could arrive. For a moment Laney couldn't help but get lost in his eyes and the way he turned back to look at her. There was something in them she couldn't put a finger on. She knew what she hoped it was and for a moment she felt her body lean in, caught the way those hard eyes softened, and then another loud pop had her heart jumping up into her throat again. Once again she flinched and grabbed ahold of Rons jacket, the front of it this time as she broke into giggles.

"Your boys are gonna kill me, I swear." She berated herself for being so jumpy.

Ron put his hand on her again and looked unmistakably irritated, "Not if I kill them first." He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he gave her side a comforting squeeze. When he saw her still smiling he relaxed a little. He heard Welsh and Nixon, their voices carrying well through the castle like halls. Eyes still just as dark, but with a little less murder in them, Ron spared her a grin. "Stay and celebrate?"

Her heart in her throat again Laney released her death grip on the front of his jacket and returned his smile. "I better head back. They were still setting up BAS when I left."

WIth a slow blink, as if to collect himself, Ron nodded and seemed to wait until the last possible second to remove his hand from her waist. He had just let her go when Nix entered the room to order all champagne bottles be rounded up for questioning, at once.

Laney chuckled and shook her head, "Y'all try not to have too much fun." She smiled at Ron and then turned to leave, patting Nixon on the shoulder as she passed by.

~~~

Ronald Speirs was not the kind of officer made to sit at a desk. He despised it and tried to avoid it at all costs. Now that the Nazis had surrendered however, he found he spent much more time doing exactly that than he did running into the fire. He'd prefer that.

He was leaning on his desk, staring at reports when there was a knock at his door. "Enter." He didn't look up when the door opened. He didn't look up until whoever had come into his office had gone a long moment without speaking. So, annoyed, he stood up straight to address them.

The sight of Lieutenant Elaine Walker in her dress uniform stopped him with his mouth hanging open. The scowl wiped right off his face.

She was biting back a smile by the time he squared himself away.

"Good to see you in proper attire finally, Lieutenant." If his gaze lingered a little too long anywhere she apparantly wasn't going to call him out on it.

"Glad you approve, Sir." She nearly chuckled as she stood before him.

It wasn't that Speirs wasn't used to seeing other nurses on the line in scrounged, patched, borrowed gear. It was also plenty common to see them running around in the more practical uniform of trousers and shirts. So common that Ron hadn't really stopped to consider the alternative.

"God, you are beautiful." He threw pretense out the window. The war was as good as over. They were safe in Austria.

To her credit, as surprised as she appeared to be, Laney laughed. Smiled bright with flushed cheeks. "Glad you finally noticed."

Speirs chuckled, leaned back to sit against the edge of his desk like he had been when she had first entered his office.

"Oh I noticed before but..." He trailed off, honestly not sure how to finish his thought.

Across the room Laney leaned against the doorjam, still smiling. "Amazing what a skirt and pair of heels can do. Isn't it?"

Ron licked his lips and looked down to the floor, chuckling softly. "Unless you prefer your girls in boots and baggy pants." She was poking fun at him now, enjoying her upperhand.

"Come up here just to torture me Lieutenant?" He looked back to her out the corner of his eye, doing his best to sound stern.

She stood up straight, "No Sir, but it is fun." Laney approached him and his desk. She came to a halt a respectable distance away. "The others are still too scared to talk to you." They shared a smile. "Came up to see if Easy was going to require our unit full time or if we could help out the hospital they have set up in town. They need help prepping wounded to relocate or ship back to the states."

Speirs sobered slightly and crossed his arms. "Don't think second Battalion will be seeing much action anytime soon. Surely the hospital needs you more than we do." He seemed regretful to say it, "I'll check with Winters, but I see no harm in it."

"Yes Sir, thank you." Laney nodded and stood up straight, gave him a small, sincere smile. "It's been an honor Captain. For all of us."

Speirs nodded. Looked her in the eye and returned her smile. With a final nod and a click of her heels she turned towards the door and headed to leave.

Ron decided to push his luck just a little further. He stood up straight and called after her, "Laney."

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, but didn't say anything. Just gave him that same, easy smile.

He closed the distance between them and appreciated the fact that even though his strides were purposeful she stood her ground. When he stood in front of her finally he looked her over once more and then settled his gaze on hers. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to.

By the time his hand had moved to cup her jaw, her gorgeous green eyes had slipped closed and her lips parted for him as soon as his mouth covered hers. He was about to pull back, keep it brief, when she moaned. A tiny, sweet little sound in the back of her throat and Ron decided he wasn't done yet. He slid his hand around from cupping her cheek to hold her by the back of the neck.

That action caused her to lean into him, her hands braced against his chest as their kiss escalated. Finally regaining the little bit control he'd let slip, Ron pulled away from her. Keeping her close with the hand still cradling the back of her neck.

WIth her eyes still closed Laney whined the slightest bit at the loss, the fingers of her right hand fisting into the fabric of his shirt. Ron had to close his eyes and breathe deep.

He allowed himself one more, a soft pass over her lips as he held her chin by his thumb and forfinger. This time when they seperated her eyes were open and she was smiling.

Her eyes locked on his for a moment before she licked her lips and chuckled, "I should go before they start to worry what you might have done to me."

All Ron could do was chuckle and nod. Then kiss her one more time.

"Ron..." She returned the kiss and then chased after another, "I really should go."

He hummed an affirmative just as he pulled her back into him. Smiling into this one, final, kiss as she started to laugh. "You better go."

Laney nodded, rolling her eyes a bit as she pushed away from him. "Y'know..." She backed towards the door, "It's only a five, maybe ten minute drive into town from here."

Ron wached her like a hawk as she backed away from him. Her pupils still dark and wide, her cheeks a pretty pink. He pursed his lips and nodded, "Good to know."

God help him and his unholy thoughts as he watched her wink and turn away from him to finally walk out of his office. He kept his eyes on her backside until all that remained was the sound of her heels clicking down the halls.

Mind spinning with the possibiliies he reached into his shirt pocket for his smokes and frowned when he came up empty handed. He swtiched and reached into his other pocket but no luck. He finally cracked a wide smile and laughed quietly to himself as he looked out the empty doorway. With a shake of his head he walked back around his desk and dropped into his chair, already formulating a plan to go steal them back.

~~~

Laney smiled up at him as soon as she opened the door. "Captain, odd seeing you here this late."

"Your friends downstairs think you're in some kind of trouble." Ron cocked his head at her, keeping up the charade of a disgruntled CO.

"Am I?" She leaned against the door and looked up at him expectantly. "Depends on if you used up all my smokes." He cracked a small smirk.

Laney stepped back, leaving the door open, and walked across her small hotel room to pick up a pack of cigarettes off the dressing table. She held them out at arms length and Speirs took the hint to come rest the way into the room.

He swung the door shut behind him and took the smokes from her. After a quick glance at the pack he looked back at her. "You didn't take any."

She shrugged, "Don't smoke."

Ron scoffed and tossed the pack back where she had grabbed it. Then he reached for the sleeve of her shirt. Tugging her closer as he looked her over.

She'd removed her jacket and tie, kicked off her heels and was walking around in stocking feet. Her hair was down too and Speirs realized he'd never seen it that way. It was a pretty auburn color and hung just past her shoulders.

Laney came easily when he pulled her to him, resting her hands on his torso as she stepped in close. Her voice was soft as she asked, "How long can you stay?"

His hands settled on her waist and pulled her the last little bit closer. "Awhile."

This time when he kissed her she stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. And this time he didn't have to stop.

~~~

Ron found he couldn't tell her no when she asked so sweet, voice soft and sleepy with her eyes fighting to stay open, for him to stay. She felt so good; naked and warm and relaxed as she lay beside him.

Laney had laid her head on his chest while he smoked a cigarette, her leg hooked over his and her fingers tangled in the chain of his dog tags.

He smiled when he felt her breathing get shallow and the unmistakeable twitches as she fought sleep. Ron switched his cigarette to the other hand and tipped her face up to his. His own eyes were growing heavy as he smiled at her softly, fondly. "I'll have to get up early."

She huffed out a snicker and pried her eyes open, "As long as you're quiet about it."

WIth a shake of his head Ron rolled his eyes and dropped his head back into the pillows, more relaxed than he'd been in too long. He took a long drag, hurrying to finish the last of the cigarette, "Oh you're waking up too, sweetheart,"

"No Sir." The humor in her voice was as thick as the exhaustion and the southern accent. "Not a chance."

Ron smiled around the end of his cigarette and let smoke roll out with his chuckle. He stretched one long arm out to snub it out in a dish on the table and tipped her face back to him as he settled into bed fully. "Darlin," He kissed her firmly and thouroughly and when he finished his sentence he did it a breath away from her lips, "If I wake up in bed with you I'm gonna have to have you again."

Ron kissed her again, before she could form a response and so it came out as a pleased little moan in the back of her throat. When he did pull away she was smiling, "I'll allow it."

God she made him smile. He had started to realize that, when it was just the two of them, he couldn't help himself. Especially now that they were kissing and falling into bed together. Speirs ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her neck to kiss her once more, "Good night sweetheart."

Laney smiled into the kiss and her whole body seemed to melt, "Good night." She was asleep as soon as her head laid back on his chest and with a content sight Ron let his eyes fall closed and followed right behind her.

~~~

A few days later Laney was in a jeep with three other girls heading around the lake and up the hill to Batallion HQ. The hospital that had been set up was immediately flooded and was already low on supplies. They'd volunteered to make a run to batallion mostly just for an excuse to get out of the wards.

The nurse driving slowed down as they came to the guard gate. While the guard checked their papers Marge, the girl riding shotgun, pointed to a field ahead of them and off to the side. "Would ya look at that?" The guard let them through and they all looked where Marge was pointing.

Out in the field Easy Company was doing morning PT. Even from this distance Laney could recognize Ron standing at the front of the formation. As their jeep came closer they could hear him too.

Back in the jeep they had slowed to almost a crawl, all of the girls staring on with no shame. Marge spoke up, "Man what I'd give to be down there."

"Doing pushups?" the girl driving asked.

"No, on my back under one of those paratroopers." Marge joked, eyes still fixed on the company as they kept up their pushups.

"Jesus Christ Marge." Laney and the girl beside her both laughed.

Marge continued, "Have you seen some of these guys? I mean I can see their muscles from here."

Down on the field Speirs was yelling again. He had the men holding on an up and apparantly some of the replacements weren't performing up to his standards. From their spot on the road the nurses could see the backs of some of the men shifting, the strain of holding that position for too long too much on them.

Claire, usually one of the quieter ones, spoke up. "I'm half scared of him, but boy that Captain Speirs..." She didn't finish her thought beyond that.

Claire was a new addition to their unit, she hadn't been around for the early days when Speirs was more often covered in sweat, mud and blood. She only knew the clean cut, squared away Captain.

Up front Marge snorted, "I don't know what's got him in a mood today, but I tell you what, I'd let him yell at me like that all he wanted."

Laney laughed, "Marge you got somehin' wrong with you, y'know that right?" She knew it was the replacements that were grating on him. He had complained about them the night before. The newest of them had barely seen real combat and as far as he was concerned that meant they'd never be good enough. The training they'd received before shipping out was nowhere near enough and it showed.

"All I'm sayin' is, if he wanted to... he could." Marge winked at them all and left the rest up for interpretation.

Again Clare surprised them all a little, "I'd just be happy if he came in to get stitched up, even once. Just to see him with his shirt off."

She was glad none of them were looking at her when she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. "You said the same thing about Nixon, and Major Winters."

"And Bull, and Lieutenant Lipton." Marge added on with a laugh. "But come on Elaine, you sayin' you wouldn't want to get some exercise with one of those strapping, young men?"

The jeep was moving again and Laney spared one more glance at Speirs, up on his feet again and giving orders. "I can't stand push-ups."

The girls all laughed and continued on towards the HQ. Laney thought to herself, still fighting back a smirk, she wasn't one to get overly crude or share gratuitous details with the girls, but there was a little part of her that would get some real enjoyment out of wiping that smirk off Marge's face.

Marge and Laney were two of the four nurses that still remained of their original unit and so they had known eachother since the beginning. They were good friends, but certainly had their differences. Marge had never hidden that she liked certain things about her men, and enjoyed certain activities in the bedroom other girls would balk at.

Laney knew this about her and one of these days she fully intended to ruin Marge's daydreams about Captain Ronald Speirs.

Her friend Marge had made poor Claire blush so red the other night Laney thougt they might have to get the poor girl a bag of ice and a rosary. Recounting a story of a rendevous she'd had with an RAF pilot that involved some ropeburns, plenty of bruises and if Laney were honest, if a man had said the things to her that pilot had said to Marge, well... she would have pistol whipped him. That was Marge though, she liked that kind of thing.

When Laney sat there in that jeep and thought about being with Ron the the last few weeks, especially the night before, she smirked.

He'd been waiting in her room for her when she'd come back from her last rounds of the night. She found him sitting in the chair by the window with his boots up on the sill and a cigarette in his hand. He hadn't even said anything when she came in, just watched her as she kicked off her heels and walked over towards him. WIth one last drag on his cigarette he tossed it out the window, then reached out for her waist and pulled her down onto his lap.

"Hey." She leaned down to kiss him. It was almost habit already.

His kissed her back and gave her hip a squeeze. Watching her as she immediately settled her weight into him and closed her eyes. "Tired?"

"Mhmm." was her only response.

Of his own accord Speirs began pulling the pins from her hair until he could comb his fingers through it. For such a violent and intimidating solider, with her he was a gentle man. Sure he'd given her a swat on the ass here and there if she talked back and he could certainly manhandle her around the bedroom, but he'd never hit her or hurt her, she knew that. They'd tease eachother, he'd whisper things in her ear that made her cheeks bloom red but he'd never disrespect her.

As she had sat there in his lap, his fingers combing out her hair Laney couldn't help the feeling that overtook her. The way he looked at her so intensely, so intently. He was a hard man, all muscle and backbone, no fear of death. He was a leader of hard men. An animal. A killer. Yet, as she leaned down to kiss him she had felt his hand so soft and careful at her cheek, his rough thumb stroking her delicate skin.

She was certain then and she was certain now, she was falling in love with Captain Ronald Speirs. The only reason that didn't scare the absolute hell out of her was because she was fairly certain he was falling in love with her too.

~~~

Laney lay in bed on her stomach, snuggled in blankets and her arms wrapped around the pillow where she rested her head. She was beyond comfortable and watched with a slight smile on her face as Ron reassembled the handgun he had just meticulously cleaned.

He sat on the couch across the small apartment from her, wearing only a pair of trousers he had pulled back on and his dog tags. His hair a dishevelled mess, a cigartte hung from his lips and smoke rolled out his nose as his steady and practiced hands moved through the pieces of his sidearm until it was whole again. Shiny, spotless and in perfect working order. He blew out a puff of smoke as he worked the slide back and forth a couple times, then squeezed the trigger and let it snap forward with finality. His thumb released the hammer before he set the .45 down on the table and grabbed the cigarette from his mouth to knock the ash off into a tray. "You're staring." His voice was soft and low and he grinned without looking her way.

Laney smiled wider and stretched slightly under the sheets. "You're fun to stare at."

Speirs snorted out a laugh as he reached for the rag and jar of polish also on the table. "Why don't you get some sleep sweetheart?" He prompted as he popped open the tin of polish and swiped the rag through it. Setting the tin down and picking up one of his boots.

"Mmmm, not all that tired yet." Finally Ron looked up at her, barely turning in her direction, with a hint of a smirk on his face, "Sayin' I didn't wear you out enough?"

Laney giggled and felt her cheeks flush. "Oh that's not what I'm sayin' at all." She bit her lip when Ron gave her a smile and a wink. "You just shine your boots and let me enjoy the view." He snorted out another chuckle and went to work polishing his boots while Laney burrowed in deeper and did just that.

She didn't think she'd ever get tired of seeing him like this. Half naked, skin still glowing with a sheen of sweat in the lamplight, scars and hard earned muscle on display certainly, but also relaxed, smiling, teasing. She also found she enjoyed when she got to watch him in his element, even when it was something as simple as getting himself squared away for the ceremony tomorrow.

"Ron?" Laney broke the silence a bit later.

"Hmm?" Was his only response. "You have any books to read?"

"Tired of the view already?" He poked at her as he worked a brush back and forth over the leather of a boot.

"No just askin' is all." She caught the look he gave her, a sideeyed smirk, and she bit her lip.

He had mentioned before how he liked that her southern accent got a little thicker when she was tired. Proof he had worn her out after all. Attention back on his boot Ron answered her, "Had a couple one of the boys loaned me, gave 'em to Lip the other day though."

Laney groaned a little disappointed.

"Just down the hall."

"I'm not gonna just knock on his door in the middle of the night." Laney scoffed.

"He's not there." Ron examined the boot carefully before going back to it, "Filling in at the checkpoint tonight." Laney stayed silent for awhile, weighing her options. "Just put some clothes on and go get one." Before she could respond Ron tossed his other boot at her, it bounced on the bed right in front of her and he grinned, "Either that or lend a hand."

She didn't see Ron stop what he was doing to watch her. Didn't see the way his eyes tracked her the second she was out from under the covers, as she walked to pick up the shirt draped over the back of a chair and then buttoned it as she padded to the door on bare feet. It wasn't until she was at the door that she stopped and caught him looking.

He gave her an easy smile for being caught out. "To the right, door across the hall."

She felt silly as she snuck the short way down the hall in nothing but a collared shirt. At the door she stopped and listened for a long moment. When she didn't hear anything she knocked softly and waited again. When there was still silence she twisted the doorknob and poked her head inside.

The room was dark so she had to flip the light on and a part of her still expected to accidentally wake up Lieutenant Lipton. That was not the case however and all she found was empty room and after some searching a small stack of books on a table by the bed. Carefully she picked one up and turned to head back out the door.

Only to be stopped dead in her tracks by the solider himself standing in the door. "Ma'am." For Liptons part he looked more embarrased the Laney did. His eyes darting everywhere but her.

"Lieutenant," Laney gave a smile and shuffled her feet, "Sorry to snoop, but..." She held up the book, "Tryin' to find somethin' to read."

Lip nodded meeting her eye finally, "Not a problem." He unslung his rifle and gestured to the stack of books, "To be honest with you though, the other one is better."

Laney chuckled at the awkwardness of it all and nodded, taking his advice she switched out the books and moved to sneak back out of the room. "Night Lip."

Behind her Lip smiled, "Night Elaine."

She lingered in the hall until she heard his door shut, and then she scurried across the hall and snuck back in to Ron's quarters. She barely had the door closed before she was laying into Speirs. "Why didn't you tell me he would be on his way back?"

Ron looked up, confused at first, and then chuckled. "Laney..."

"I'm glad you think it's funny!" She continued as she stalked across the rooms towards him, "I had to hide in the hall until I knew for sure he had his door closed. So, he didn't see what room I went back to!"

Still grinning Ron set his boot down on the floor and tossed the rag on the table. "Come here." He waved her over and she came, even though she was scowling. Once she was close enough he took her by the hips and pulled her down to straddle his lap. Ron held her there and gave her a kiss, "Baby," he gave her another kiss and then caught her eye, "Shirt you're wearin' still has my bars on the collar." He reached up to tug at the collar of his shirt for emphasis, unable to hold back his shit eating grin.

Laney turned bright red again. "Oh my God, wipe that stupid smirk off your face!" She smacked him in the chest, "I could literally kill you right now." She twisted her neck, first to look down at the bars in question and then to the shoulder to see for herself, the screaming eagle patch, the combination as good as a dead giveaway.

Ron just grinned and and pulled her to him for another kiss. "Looks good on you."

"I'm serious." She mumbled against his lips.

"So am I." He continued to kiss her, his hand at the collar slid up the side of her neck and carressed her there.

She relaxed a little, let herself sink further into him. When she pulled back her eyes were softer, but she still grumbled, "I'm mad at you."

Ron chuckled and dropped both hands back to her hips , "I know." He tugged her hips tighter against his own and kissed her slowly, "Someone must have relieved him early." With another soft, slow kiss he looked her in the eye, still with a smirk on his face and promised her, "Lipton won't say anything sweetheart."

Laney smacked him half-heartedly on the chest with the book. "Would you care if he did?"

Licking his lips he held her gaze, "Would you?"

He kissed her again, neither of them needing to answer the question outloud, before she laid down on the couch beside him, tucked her feet into his lap and picked up the book. Ron stroked a hand up her long, bare leg and watched her for a moment. Taking his turn to the enjoy the view, more than appreciating the sight of her in nothing but his shirt, captains bars and all.

"Boots aren't gonna polish themselves trooper." Laney admonished from behind her book, a smirk evident in her voice.

Speirs grinned and gave her calf a squueze before reaching for his boot and polish again.

That next morning when Laney woke up she was warm and comfortable in bed, light shining through the windows and Ron sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. He had his hand on her back to coax her awake. "Time to get up sweetheart" His voice was hoarse, like he hadn't got enough sleep.

Laney groaned and squinted against the sun. "What time is it?"

Ron repeated, "Time to get up." then gave her another shake.

She grumbled again, and wondered how late he had stayed up the night before. She didn't remember, but she must have fallen asleep on the couch. Which would mean Ron must have carried her to bed. That thought made her smile and she rolled over, stretching out her tired muscles and looking up at Ron.

He was freshly shaved and his hair was combed. His eyes still tired but his face looked soft, at ease. "You look good." Her half awake brain betrayed her and she let the words slip out aloud.

Ron smiled, breathed out a quiet chuckle, and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "Sweet. You still gotta get up."

Laney chuckled a little at herself as she sat up with a groan. Her new position put them face to face and she smiled. "I'm up."

"Mhmm." His eyes looked her over before he kissed her again. With the last pass of his lips he reached up to the collar of his shirt she still wore and unpinned his insignia. "Need these." He stood up from the bed then and turned to go to the mirror.

"Here," Laney stopped him as she crawled out from under the covers. She took the pins from him and straightened his collar before she snapped them into place. FIrst his infantry insignia and then his captains bars. As she adjusted the bars Rons hands settled low on her hips, and then he slid them down to cup her ass with a smirk. Laney returned his smirk and looped her arms around his neck.

They stayed that way for a moment until Laney broke the silence. "Why'd you let me sleep so late?"

Ron pulled her closer, his eyes darted all over her face until he settled them on hers. "I like keepin' you here long as I can." When that made her smile he gave her one more kiss. "Get dressed. I'll call you a jeep up."

~~~

Laney sat at the end of the couch reading a book she'd got second or third hand from one of the girls. One hand kept the book balanced on the armrest while the other rested on Rons chest. Her palm tucked inside his partially unbuttoned shirt with her fingers stroking idly back and forth as she read.

Ron laid stretched out over the length of the sofa, his head in her lap and his eyes closed. He'd dozed off with a cigarette still smoking in the ashtray.

It wasn't even midnight yet when pounding on the door startled them both. "Captain!" Bang! Bang! Bang! "Captain Speirs Sir!"

Laney's heart thudded in her ears as Ron shot up from her lap, "Jesus Christ," He laid a hand on her thigh as he stood up, "Stay."

Ron got off the couch and strode to the front door. "What?"

"It's Grant Sir, he's been shot. It's real bad Sir."

"Fuck. Give me a minute."

"Sir!" "

What?"

"I think it was one of our own guys." Speirs swung the door closed and went to grab his jacket and cap.

"Ron, what's going on?" Laney had walked out to the entryway behind him and was watching Ron with wide eyes.

He grabbed his gun belt off the chair, "Someone's been shot. Stay here."

"Jesus...I'll come with you." Laney moved to grab her jacket but the tone of his voice stopped her cold.

"No."

"Ron, I can help. I should go."

"No!" Ron stopped her as he strapped on his gun belt, "I said stay here."

Laney shrunk slightly, but did not argue. This was Captain Speirs, not Ron, giving her an order "Okay."

Once Ron made it down to the jeep and saw Grant however, he changed his mind. He grabbed the private that had driven the jeep up, "Go get Laney. Now!"

"Laney, sir?"

With one hand holding the plasma bottle for Doc Roe he grabbed the private by the collar with the other, "Liutenant Walker. She's upstairs, in my quarters. Go get her, now!"

As soon as the private returned with Elaine in tow her mouth dropped open at the sight of the man now laid on a stretcher on the hood of a jeep, "What the hell happened?" Without waiting for an answer she jumped in to help Eugene.

"He been shot." The cajun deadpanned as he tried to start an IV.

"God...." Laney stared at the mangled side of the boys head for a moment before she grabbed for Roe's bag and dug for a bandage, She turned to Ron, "The surgeon, they're set up at the school in town."

WIth a short nod Ron hoisted her up onto the hood of the jeep and turned to the privates, "Find Talbert, tell him where we're going."

In town the men had carried Grant inside while Laney ran to find the surgeon. She had found him asleep at his desk with an empty bottle of schnapps still in his lap. Throwing rules and regulations out the window she all but drug him to the gymnasium.

Where she stood there and watched Ron hold his young Sargents hand. "Jesus,"

"What?" Ron looked up at the surgeon.

"He's not gonna make it." The surgeon mumbled around a cigarette.

Roe questioned, "You can't operate on him?"

"Not me, you'd need a brain surgeon." The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose already walking away, "Even then I don't think he stands a chance."

Laney stood beside Doc Roe and watched their faces fall, watched Ron clench and unclench his jaw. As the surgeon walked away she breathed deep and caught Rons eye, "Ron."

He looked up, eyes hard and jaw set, even as he still stroked a thumb back and forth over Grants unmoving hand.

"There's a hospital, a German hospital, in the next town. A real hospital."

~~~

Unsure what else to do, Laney had gone back to Rons room and waited. She sat in the dark, in a chair in the corner of the room, and stared out the window until she heard the door knob turn.

Rons eye's were cold and distant when he walked through the door. His frame rigid and his stride very much that of the stoic commander and not his somestimes causual swagger. His eyes jumped to her briefly but did not stay. He first shut the door behind him and turned the lock and then unbuckled his gunbelt to hang it on the hook.

Speirs did not speak as he walked over to the table beside her and grabbed a cigarette from the pack he had left there.

It was when he raised the lighter to the end of the cigarette that she noticed the red on his hand. "Ron, there's blood on your hand."

She reached out to grab his wrist but he carefully tugged it away from her. "Let me see."

"It's not mine." His voice was low and as cold as the look in his eyes.

"Grant?" She probed, looking down at her own hands briefly. She did not think the blood was his either.

Ron inhaled a deep drag off the cigarette and finally spared her a look, "Kraut doctor says he'll make it."

Her gaze slid back to the blood on his hand, "Did they find the guy?"

He did not answer right away. Instead he walked to the wash basin and scrubbed the blood from his hands, cigarette hanging from his lips the whole time. Ron didn't even bother drying his hands before he shrugged out of this jacket, tossed his cover on a table and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt. Finally, as he sat on the bed to unlace his boots, he paused and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Yeah." After a moment he resumed unlacing his boots, "We found him."

Laney watched, mesmerized as Rons hands flew through the laces. The steady, back and forth motion of him unlacing first one boot and then the other gave her something to focus on. Rather than think about the blood on his hands. Once his boots were off and tossed towards they're normal spot Ron leaned his elbows on his knees again and hung his head. "MPs have him."

She did not expect the wave of relief that poured over her. Laney stood up then and moved to stand in front of Ron. She carefully, with a featherlight touch, stroked a hand over his dissheveled hair. She couldn't describe how grateful she was that Ron had not done something to the man. As much as he certainly deserved it. There was no doubt in her mind that Ron would murder the man for what he had done to Grant. The problem was they weren't on the front now, something like that couldn't just be written off as a tall tale anymore.

Ron hummed slightly at her touch and so she thredded her fingers through his hair and combed it back from his face. After the third or fourth pass he sat up straight and with one last, long drag he pulled the cigarette out of his lips. He tipped his head back to look up at her and with the hand not holding the cigarette he pulled Laney closer.

Unsure what else to do she combed her fingers through Ron's hair one more time and spoke softly. "Should try to get some rest."

His eyes closed briefly as her fingers passed through his hair and then he opened them again and nodded. He said nothing as he stood up. He moved to step away from the bed and Laney but he stopped, his hand still on her hip, and leaned down to press a kiss to her temple.

Later, in the early morning hours, once Laney had finally fallen asleep, Ron laid in bed and smoked the rest of his pack of cigarettes. The whole time he had stared at the far wall, seeing nothing, and stroking his free hand over Laney's bare shoulder.

~~~

"How come you've never asked?" Ron interrupted the silence one evening, letting smoke roll out through his nose as they lay in bed together.

"Asked what?" She had to tilt her head up to look at him from where she lay on his chest. Her thumb absentmindedly stroking a scar low on his hip from a machine gun round he'd caught while still a platoon leader with Dog Company. His second purple heart.

He looked down at Laney, eyes soft behind the hair hanging down over his brow. "If the stories are true."

Laney put her head back where it had been, her ear resting over his steady beating heart. "Well," She started out, "The way I see it, you shooting one of your guys is...unlikely, the Germans though. I figure that's probably true, whatever number it actually was."

His hand strocked up and down her back once before he settled it low on her hip where it had started. "That's it?"

She pushed herself up on one elbow so she could look him in the eye. "Am I wrong?"

Ron took another drag on his cigarette and turned his head to the side to exhale the smoke away from her. When he met her eyes again he reached up and swept a strand of hair out of her face. "What would you think of me if it was true?"

Laney plucked the cigarette from his lips and leaned across him to put it out in the bowl he'd been using as an ashtray. Though his hand smoothed over her bare back as she did so he looked less than pleased when she settled back next to him which just made her grin. "Little late to ask that now, don't ya think?" She leaned down to kiss him but pulled back before they could get carried away again.

They'd been in Austria long enough now Speirs was getting used to having a warm bed to sleep in everynight and a beautiful woman to share it with. There'd been plenty of times during their time on the line and then travelling through Germany when he'd wondered why she never seemed uncomfortable around him when so many others did.

These last few weeks when they'd been spending more time together, getting closer, sleeping together, the thought had been nagging at him more. "Kept expecting you to bring it up." He sat up a little further against the headboard, reached up to push some hair behind her ear and pulled her down to kiss him again, a little longer this time.

With a deep breath Laney licked her top lip and made certain he was looking her in the eye. "Ron," She paused to kiss him again, "You smoke like a chimney, you're a kleptomaniac,"

Ron snorted, "Kleptomaniac."

"You enjoy terrifying people, a little too much if we're being honest, you have no sense of self-preservation," She paused and tipped his chin back towards her as he had tipped it up and away to stare at the ceiling. Once he was looking at her again she added one final thing, "and you have this tiny little scar on your face right here." She poked at it, teasing, "But that's kinda growing on me."

His eyes were hard when he arched his brow at her, waiting for her to make her point, but the hand on the small of her back was still gentle as he stroked it up and down the base of her spine.

"These are all things about you that bother me."

Ron rolled his eyes again and shook his head.

"The fact that you are a soldier that has to do things, that has to follow and give orders, that I... and people like me could never imagine living with... that will never bother me. Doing what you had to do to survive this thing and to be a good solider, that will never bother me."

He didn't say anything at first. Just held her gaze intently. When he did speak it was under his breath, "Kleptomaniac." Followed by a snort of derision which just made Laney giggle as she settled back against his chest.

"That's the one that got you?" She toyed with his dog tags as she chuckled to herself.

With one arm wrapped around her waist to hold her firm he responded, "If it bothers you why don't you give it all back?" He pinched her side, taking the opportunity to tease her back. Ron knew good and well she had a stash in her foot locker of the trinkets he'd been acquiring for her. Including the silver comb wrapped safely in a silk scarf.

Raising up again to look him in the eye she feigned outrage, "Now Sparky, there's no need to be drastic."

"Oh," Ron nodded dramatically at the drop of the nickname, "I see how it is." He cracked a smirk and flipped her over onto her back and kissed her while she laughed. "Well, for the record..." He waited for her to focus up, "You snore."

Her eyes flew wide, "I do not!" She shoved at his chest and shoulders, his laughter only stoking her irritation.

His muscle and bodyweight was no match for hers and so he continued to keep her pinned down, one hand keeping her hands at bay. "You do too, sweetheart. Mouth open and everything."

Laney struggled to get a hand free or any sort of leverage to push him off of her, even as Ron began kissing from her collar bone, up her neck to her ear. She had calmed down quite a bit by the time he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. When he heard her let out a soft sigh he kissed behind her ear and whisperd, "But that's ok, it's kind of growing on me."

She was giggling again and as soon as he released her hands they were on his back and pulling him closer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This time when she woke up the sun was peaking through the windows and Ron was still in bed with her. He'd fallen asleep with his arms around her and had kept her pulled close the rest of the night.

Laney could barely remember ever sleeping so good as she had the last month or so. Whether she came up to the house he and a few other officers had commendeared or Ron snuck off to the hotel in town where her and the other doctors and nurses were staying. Nobody that knew batted an eye anymore. It all felt a little surreal if she thought about it too much. Where they were, how they'd come to be here and what had brought them together. Something else she tried not to think about was what would happen when the 101st got shipped off to the Pacific and Ron would leave. Part of her sometimes feared that would be the end of this.

"I can hear you thinking." Rons voice was rough and gravelly. It often was when he first woke up. Too many cigarettes.

Laney scoffed and closed her eyes, pushing back into him and snuggling as close as she could before he'd have to get up for the day.

Behind her Ron coughed and then twisted her around until she was draped over his chest, her leg hooked over his waist and his hand stroking her thigh. "What's on your mind?"

For a long moment Laney didn't answer him. Ron just held her close and continued to play with her hair.

After she took a deep breath Laney shuffled up a little higher so her face was burrowed against his neck. The stubble on his jaw scratching pleasently against her temple. "You're going to stay in the Army aren't you?"

Ron took a deep breath of his own and when he answered his voice was stil rough, his lips brushing against the hair at the crown of her head. "Yeah." He nodded and then dropped a kiss there. When she didn't repond further, Speirs added. "That's what you're thinkin' about."

It wasn't a question and so she didn't say anything.

"Sweetheart, look at me a second." Ron kissed the top of her head again before tipping her chin up to look at him. "It's where I belong."

Laney was annoyed that her eyes were burning and she had to fight back the tears, "I know." She closed her eyes, trying not to embarass herself.

"Will you wait that long?" HIs voice was almost a whisper and Ron didn't even try to make her look at him.

Her eyes snapped open though as she twisted her head to look at him, confused.

"Until I get back from Japan?" His expression was unreadable and he continued on in her stupified silence. "I'd prefer to buy you a ring, do the church, class As, white gown and all that." His lips twitched but he fought it and kept going, "If you don't wanna wait I understand. We can always find a chaplain. I'm sure I can find a ring that'll fit but I figure you'll give me hell if I steal our wedding rings."

"What the hell are you talking about?" It came out much more aggressive than she meant but Laney was sitting up now wideeyed and staring at Speirs like he was delusional.

Licking his lips all he could do was smile, pry his eyes away from her exposed breasts as he sat up and leaned back against the headboad. The sheets pooled in his lap. His smile grew a touch wider when he watched her eyes dart from his face to the spot where his dogtags hung against his chest, then lower and then back. Once she was looking at him he clarifed, "Would you rather get married now, before Easy ships out to the Pacific or do you want to wait until I'm back? Do everything the right way?"

Laney could not stop staring at him blankly. This was not how she imagined this conversation going. "Don't you think you should be asking a different question first, Captain?"

Ron knew the title was a dig, payback for the trouble he was putting her through.

"Oh no, I already know the answer to that question sweetheart."

He looked so smug she wanted to smack him across the face. But as she sat there in bed glaring at him his words sank in, really sank in. Once she started to smile she couldn't stop it. Even as she shoved her finger in his face, "Ronald Speirs, if you steal me a wedding ring I will kill you. Do you understand me?"

Breaking out in laughter Ron reached for her and pulled her so that she straddled his lap. "Understood." He pulled her in for a kiss. Keeping her there until his hands on her hips coulld pull her tight and close. His chuckle was almost a growl when she rocked her hips against him once only for her to slip away and shake her head at him.

"No sir," She crawled off his lap, batted his hands away as she tugged the covers up around her, "You're still in the army so no funny business, you have to get up and report to PT." She pushed and shoved him out of the bed with laughter and a smile on her face ear to ear.

Accepting his fate Ron stopped at the edge of the bed and leaned over her. "Laney,"

Her smile softened as she looked up at him, eyes darting to the side as he twined his fingers through hers.

"I love you and I am going to marry you."

~~~The End~~~

#band of brothers #hbowar #ronald speirs #captain ronald speirs #ron speirs #ron speirs x ofc #ronald speirs x ofc #band of brothers fanfic #band of brothers fanfiction #matthew settle

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soulmate-game · 10 months

Text

I guess I have to make up for AO3’s crash by dipping into my google docs and uploading every chapter of The Heroes’ Game on here for you guys. Once I run out of reruns of The Heroes’ Game, I’ll just have to start cranking out new chapters/fics/one shots.

Sigh. Look what I do for my your boredom.

—*—*—*—*—*

Chapter 1

Soulmates. That gooey, gushy, over-sentimentalized, overly relied-upon concept that was unfortunately (or fortunately, for romantics) very real. But unlike stories or movies, it was not uniform. There was not one universal soulmark or set type of soul bond. There were romantic soulmates, platonic soulmates, even familial soulmates (a subdivision of the above platonic, more specific yet stronger due to the distinction). But not only were the types of soul bonds broken into three separate categories, but the variety of types of soulmarks that a pair (or triad, in some rare cases) could end up with was still being discovered. Already, there were almost a hundred different catalogued forms that a soul bond could come in. All of them studied and confirmed by both science and magic as being valid. Even the timing that a soul bond chose to reveal itself could vary individual to individual.

Which led to the current dilemma.

A certain half-Asian girl with her blue-black hair up in pigtails was forced to watch as a blond boy and Japanese girl gaped at one another. As everyone present watched, bright spiraling designs that seemed to be made of light itself etched themselves on one arm of both teens, starting from where their hands gripped one another. The blond had tripped down the stairs, only for his hand to be caught by the smaller Asian girl and bright light to erupt from their palms.

The half-Asian, half-French girl at the bottom of the stairs could only observe in mute dismay as a swirling foil of pulsing maroon light sank itself into the right arm of Adrian Agreste, bright neon green markings adding detail to the stylized weapon. A matching symbol, orientation flipped and colors inverted, etched itself in glowing light on the right arm of Kagami Tsurugi.

They were soulmates.

The only person in Marinette’s class other than herself without a visible soul mark or completed bond (until now), the only person Marinette had believed herself capable of being with, had a soul mate. And by the way they stared into each other’s eyes even as Adrien continued to dangle perilously over the concrete steps, it wasn’t platonic.

Marinette felt cold, as if someone had stuffed a funnel down her throat just to dump ice directly into her stomach.

When Chat Noir immediately stopped hitting on Ladybug only to apologize in private and reveal he had met his soulmate, Marinette connected the dots. The magic of the Miraculous helped protect the identities of the wielders, but could not hold up against significant hard proof. That, and Marinette was getting more and more immune to the lesser Miraculous magic as she trained to become the next Guardian.

On the rooftops, Chat was still her partner. Despite showing up less often during Akuma attacks or nightly patrols due to having dates, he was still reliable whenever he showed up. But as Adrien Agreste, he and Marinette had never been further apart.

—*—*—*—*—*

“Still sulking?” The all-too-familiar voice of Chloe Bourgeois cut through Marinette’s intrusive thoughts, the usually haughty tone surprisingly gentle. After quite a bit of time, introspection, and character development, Chloe had become a good friend of Marinette’s. Still incredibly hard to tolerate at times, but dependable.

The black haired girl just groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “He was my first real crush, Chloe,” the girl complained, clearly still hurt. “I loved him. Or I thought I did, anyway. You can’t expect me to heal from it all that quickly.”

“Of course not,” The blond heiress agreed easily, shrugging even as she put a forkful of food in her mouth. Maybe trying to have girl talk with Marinette on the fourth floor of a five-star hotel wasn’t the best idea, her short friend being incredibly uncomfortable in the atmosphere despite her personally made clothing being more than acceptable for the environment. “But it’s been two months, Mari. It’s time to straighten your spine, and get out there looking again! You don’t need Adrien, just like you don’t need Alya or sausage-hair or any of the idiots that flock with them in our class,” the girl reasoned. “Adri-kins is sweet, but he has the entirely wrong approach to Lila, you know. Convincing you to stay quiet was the worst advice he could have given. Staying quiet would never have allowed me to change or see that what I was doing was wrong,” Chloe pointed out. “Why would it work for her?”

“Adrien is just being careful,” Marinette defended weakly, pushing her salad around her plate disinterestedly. Knowing he was Chat just made her sympathize with his motives even more. He didn’t know Ladybug was in his class to back him up instantly, after all. But still, Marinette knew Chloe was right. Adrien might have good intentions, but his execution of them left a lot to be desired. “He doesn’t want another Akuma.”

“We get Akumas every week, he should just suck it up. We get even more Akumas from her lies than we would if everyone knew what she was doing,” the blond girl continued easily, not giving in to her friend’s weak excuses. “Besides, telling you to be quiet just puts you at the most risk of Akumatization. He should know that. It’s a miracle it hasn’t happened to you yet,” Chloe’s perfect babydoll-pink lips thinned as she stabbed a piece of chicken on her plate. “Lucky for all of us, not that he knows that.”

Marinette just sighed in agreement. “Can we just, you know, stop talking about this?” The meeker of the two asked gently, finally managing a mouthful of greens. “This is supposed to be our girl time. Ever since you transferred schools, we’ve had less and less time to just hang out.”

Chloe frowned, but gave in with a nod. “Sure, sure. Oh! Daddy told me about how you won that Wayne Enterprises competition for your class!” Chloé suddenly perked up, leaning over the table in newfound enthusiasm, her suddenly exclamation making the rich crowd around them side-eye the two teenage girls. Marinette flailed her arms in an attempt to get her friend to calm down and be quiet, an attempt that she should have known would be futile. All Chloe did was lean slightly back towards her own chair. “Well?! Are you excited to be going to Gotham?”

“Of course I am,” Marinette finally stopped trying to calm down her excitable friend. “Being able to travel to America, study the fashion of Gotham City, be inspired by the foreign landscape—“ Marinette sighed dreamily, not unlike the way she used to sigh over Adrien. Her hands even cradled her cheeks as she lost herself momentarily to her daydreams. Her hands dropped as the illusion was ruined by the memory that— “The whole class is going though, so it’s going to be an uphill battle to avoid Liar Rossi spoiling the whole trip.”

“Nope, you said you didn’t want to talk about her. This conversation will be sausage-hair free until dinner is over, at the least,” Chloe chided lightly. “I heard Bruce Wayne himself is inviting your class to a charity gala at the end of the trip, and that you will be presenting a speech as an honored guest and owner of the winning submission!” Chloé gasped suddenly, dropping her fork onto her plate with a cacophonous clatter. “Oh. Em. Gee. You’re designing your own dress, aren’t you? Who am I kidding, of course you are!” Chloé squealed in delight. “MDC, strutting her skills overseas, it’s glorious!”

“Shh, Chloe!” Marinette went right back to flailing her arms uselessly. “There’s a reason I haven’t publicly come out as MDC yet! Someone will hear you!” The short blue-eyed girl was looking around the room frantically. The waiters wouldn’t dare kick out the mayor’s daughter, but other patrons were already leaving early or requesting a different floor in order to escape the infamous Chloe Bourgeois Chaos. On the bright side, none of them seemed to be paying any attention to what the young rich girl had actually said.

“Oooh,” Chloe leaned over the table again with a wide, mischievous grin. “What if you finally meet your soulmate?” Her smile widened impossibly. “Of course you’d have an American soulmate. Someone blunt, maybe, to combat your constant worrying. He’d have to always tell you upfront exactly how he feels or else you’d constantly be worried about misinterpreting them,” the girl mused, completely ignoring Marinette’s groaning and moaning about how embarrassing she was being. “And everyone knows that nobody does Blunt quite as well as Americans. Ooh, I wonder what your mark is gonna be!”

“Hopefully something invisible,” Marinette finally spoke up, her remark a mere grumble as her nose scrunched up. “It would kind of ruin the whole secret identity thing if it was noticeable, right? Do soul bonds even care about secret identities? Oh no,” Marinette blanched, spiraling in true Marinette Dupain-Cheng fashion. “What if it’s on my face? The magic can’t hide something that identifiable! Everyone will know who I am, and then Hawk Moth will attack my family and isolate me and attack me out of costume or akumatize me, and then he’ll make his wish, and then world war three will actually happen, and—“ The ramble was thankfully stopped by perfectly manicured hands slapping over Marinette’s mouth, one blond eyebrow raised at her as Chloe kept the word vomit from continuing stubbornly.

“No. Stop catastrophizing, the worst-case scenario doesn’t always happen, girl. La—“ Chloe glances around the suddenly half-empty room and lowered her voice. “You know who is such a deep part of you that there’s no way your soul bond will ignore that. I seriously doubt it will cause your identity to come out.”

Marinette’s shoulders slumped in relief. She waited until Chloe removed her hands and sat back down before saying softly; “I just wish you could come with me. Then it would be bearable.”

Chloé gave one of her oh-so-rare soft smiles to the smaller girl, nodding. “I know. I wish I could go too, but I can’t miss a whole month of school. But you’ll have Alix with you, which is better than nothing. And besides, everyone in Paris knows I’m Queen Bee,” Chloe flipped her hair haughtily, making Marinette grin. “I wouldn’t want to intimidate Gotham’s heroes.”

“In other words,” Marinette started slyly, a teasing grin overtaking her lips as she avoided Chloe’s gaze playfully. “You don’t want to risk attracting the attention of Gotham’s rogues because you couldn’t handle them, right?”

Chloe spluttered in denial, tossing her napkin at Marinette in false anger. “How dare you! The Queen Bee can handle any villain!” Chloe became serious again. “Be careful while you’re over there, yeah? Me, Ryuuko, and Viperion can keep Paris safe while you’re gone but you will only have Alix.”

And Chat, Marinette thought to herself, but Chloe doesn’t need to know that.

“It’s better if Ladybug doesn’t appear in Gotham at all,” Marinette agreed, “So I’ll be as careful as possible. The less evidence anyone has to connect me and Ladybug, the better.”

Chloe nodded. “Of course. Now, did you see Clara’s last music video?” The blond heiress/superhero was turned into a common teenager again as she squealed in delight. “It. Was. Fabulous. And the dress you made her for it? I want one.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Of course this would happen. Marinette stood in the lobby of the hotel where her and her class were staying while in Gotham, with no classmates or teachers in sight and the bus she was supposed to board already gone. At least I’m fluent in English, or else I’d be screwed, she thought to herself. Resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to catch up to the bus, Marinette instead went over to the hotel information desk and asked for directions to the Gotham Museum of History, where her class had left to visit.

At least she had money for a cab.

A cab that apparently decided to kick her out two blocks from her destination in favor of picking up a couple that were positively dripping in expensive jewelry. Marinette dusted herself off, adjusting her purse on her shoulder with a frown. She couldn’t blame him for looking after his own finances, but he didn’t have to chase after tips that blatantly. The girl didn’t even bother arguing with the man, simply handing over the cash she owed him before turning in what she thought was the right direction, if she was reading the map on her phone correctly. It was already dark out, not surprising considering how their plane had arrived in the afternoon and they only got a few hours to rest before visiting the museum as their first activity of the trip.

Quickly memorizing what she thought was the right route, Marinette tucked her phone back into her purse and smiled at Tikki, who hid inside it. “Alright,” Marinette whispered to her Kwami. “I hope I haven’t missed too much!”

Quickly closing her bag, the girl started off towards her destination.

And promptly got lost.

“I thought I saw it this way…” she groaned to herself when she realized she didn’t recognize anything around her, and it had only gotten darker in the past half hour she had been walking. At least being Ladybug keeps me in shape.

Marinette straightened her shoulders, resigning herself to retracing her steps for the twentieth time. She turned on her heel, walking forward as her bright blue eyes scanned her surroundings for anything that might lead her to the museum.

Until she realized the street was oddly empty, and a soft crunch of glass sounded from behind her. Marinette had prepared for this, at least. I’m being followed. Careful to remain calm and keep on walking as if nothing was wrong, Marinette strained her ears and eyes. She managed to catch a glimpse of her tail in a window— tall, broad shouldered, biceps like hams. The girl frowned. She could easily outmaneuver someone twice her size, but it would draw a lot of attention.

Firmly in Ladybug Mode, Marinette slowed down just enough to let the guy come a bit closer, before she veered sharply into an alley. Risky? Yeah, but it would be much less likely to make a spectacle of herself when she handed the guy his ass.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the guy to attempt to grab her. As soon as she felt his hand reaching for her though, Marinette easily clamped onto his wrist and used her momentum to hurl the assailant over her shoulder. The large body hit the gravel roughly on his back, letting out a moan that was half pain and half anger. Marinette backed up just enough to stay out of the man’s immediate range, her eyes continuing to dart around.

He hadn’t been alone.

His boots are good quality, so are his cargo pants. No gun, but several knives on his belt. Professional, not out to kill. Capture? As soon as Marinette saw two other guys dressed identically to the man now pulling himself back up to a standing position come out to surround her in the alley, she put it all together. Each newcomer had a tranq gun trained on her. Traffickers.

Ever the improviser, Marinette quickly rolled out of the way of the first few darts shot at her and grabbed a misshapen hunk of wood from the ground to block the next two projectiles like a warped shield. Lunging to her feet, she whipped the chunk of wood at one man with deadly precision, the plank hitting him square across the forehead hard and fast enough to knock him out.

One down. The guy she had initially thrown over her shoulder took advantage of her distraction to wrap his large arms around her, trapping her own against her torso. Not one to be trapped for long, Marinette jumped up and flipped herself upside down so that her legs wrapped around the guy’s neck, and twisted so that her body weight unbalanced him. Combined with his sudden lack of oxygen and field of view, the guy stumbled just enough for Marinette to get one arm free and slam her elbow into his most sensitive area. The guy released her with a howl, and Marinette twisted into a three-point landing. She paused only long enough to slam the side of her arm into a pressure point on howling man’s neck that knocked him out before springing up to face the—

Marinette paused. The last attacker was already tied up, a much different muscular form holding the cursing man a few inches above the ground.

Batman.

“You know, you shouldn’t walk around Gotham at night,” a casual voice sounded from behind her, making Marinette swing around to face Nightwing. The blue vigilante was leaned against the wall, with the first guy Marinette had knocked out already tied up at his feet. “But that was pretty good fighting. You made a few unnecessary moves, but overall not half bad.”

A third figure dropped down from a nearby roof, making Marinette whip her head to the side for a third time. Ugh, I’ll get whiplash at this rate. How are they able to move so noiselessly? The last figure was Robin, who made short work of tying up the last guy before standing and staring straight at Marinette. He crossed his arms, and the French girl suddenly had the feeling she was about to be scolded.

“What were you thinking, leading them into an alley? Are you an idiot?” Were the first words Robin said, instantly making Marinette puff her cheeks out in indignation. How dare he?!

“Robin,” Batman interrupted whatever retort Marinette had been about to make. “Ducking into the alley made it less likely that anyone else would be caught in the fight. It was not necessarily bad a move. That being said,” the most experienced hero in the alley turned to the girl in pigtails. Marinette gulped. It was really intimidating, having Batman’s state focused solely on her. She forced herself to stand as straight as possible. “It was still incredibly reckless. You had no idea how many people were following you, or what their skill level was. I highly suggest you act with much more caution next time. Or better yet, don’t travel Gotham alone even during the day.”

“I’ll be careful,” Marinette agreed, the three heroes instantly picking up on her French accent. “This wasn’t exactly my choice. First, my class left the hotel without me even though I’m the one who applied for the contest that even allowed us to come here in the first place. Then, my cab driver kicks me out a few blocks from where I asked him to take me, and then I got lost. Merde!” Marinette threw her hands up. “It’s not my fault I have bad luck. And you,” she turned and pointed to Robin, about to give him her two cents about his critique of her. That is, until when fingertip actually made contact with his chest and both teens visibly jumped.

It was like static the moment they made contact, but nothing visual happened. Marinette was about to shrug it off as nothing when—

Her vision split in half, like a TV screen when someone was playing a two-player game. Suddenly she could see her normal perspective, with Batman to her left, Nightwing to her right, and her finger straight ahead pushing into Robin’s chest, but she could also see a second perspective.

A perspective where she stared straight at herself.

She watched as her own blue eyes widened in disbelief. She watched as she stumbled back a few shocked steps, and as Robin did the same in front of her.

“Mon dieu,” Marinette cursed breathily, unable to move her eyes from Robin or acknowledge the frantic questions being posed to both of them from Batman and Nightwing. The teens just stared at one another. “Of course my soulmate would be a vigilante.”

“Shit,” Marinette had no idea which of the three heroes said that, but they all seemed to share the sentiment. Shit, indeed.

Nightwing shifted and said; “At least all the traffickers are knocked out.”

—*—*—*—*—*

#maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #damimari #marinette x damian #platonic jasonette #damian x marinette #daminette #romantic daminette #soulmate au #ao3 stuff #ao3 fanfic #ao3 author #ao3 writer

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blueparadis · 2 years

Text

❝ WITH YOU ❞ + Hawks aka Keigo Takami

⌗ tags —› @chaos-night @decayish @zoraedits

⌗ tap here to view more !

+. CWs—» afab!reader, fluff, milf!reader, soft dom!hakws, OCs, explicit and non-explicit smut, sub/dom dynamics, kissing, angst undertones.

+. SYNOPSIS—» Life wasn't kind, especially after you moved with your daughter to a new place but a certain blonde boy made sure it was entertaining.

+. NOTES—» this is my first time writing on him...and please don't ask me why I chose milf!hawks. Something about young boys being attracted to matured body and mind makes me swoon over. word count — 1.8k

This is new and definitely odd. Keigo exhaled heavily shifting his gaze from the phone screen to the ceiling full of stars and celestials. How long has it been since he felt his cheeks so warm that it could fog his glasses? He licks his lips diving deeper into your thoughts before clicking his tongue weighing his options whether to text you back or give in to his fatigue. He shouldn't be so worried about a simple text; heck, it’s not even worth giving this much thought.

“Thank you for the food. It was delicious.”

The sound of notification woke up Akira. She has become a light sleeper lately since her father wasn’t the hero, she thought he would be. And it escalated after you shifted to this new place with your daughter. You lightly palmed her forehead grazing her golden locks and putting her back to sleep. While you secretly wished that the text would be from your next-door neighbor not some dull notification from any of the socials, a tiny part of you was irritated since you forgot to put the phone on silent. Another call and all this work for putting Akira to sleep would be in vain.

Keigo couldn’t believe that he was tossing from one end of his bed to the other waiting for a reply. Even though he has dated, dumped, and had enough hook-ups to brag about, never before in his life he has waited so eagerly for a reply. He jumped out of the bed, grabbing his phone from the corner table at the sound of the notification.

“Thank you.” Yeah. just that. Only two words. Thank you. Keigo’s lips went flatline like a weeping Holter machine. Putting the phone onto flight mode he covered himself with the quilt pushing himself to sleep.

Seen. A yawn of exhaustion escaped your mouth gaining some stares as you stood in the metro gazing at his chat. It’s silly to expect any kind of response. Moreover, checking won’t bless you with some miracle. Two more stations and you’ll finally be home to relax the first weekend in this new place.

“Well, Hello! Fancy meeting you here”, a male voice perforated your ears having your senses vivid awake. No one talks with you like that unless they’re close. Your head shifted to find the source only to find none other than your next-door neighbor, Keigo Takami. “I could say the same.”, you quipped as he stood beside you even though there was a seat available. With a quick scan over his stature, you understood he doesn’t know how to cook otherwise why would he have a takeout?

You’ve noticed him taking the deliveries on the day you shifted; while that day was an emergency for you, it was a routine for him. The phone call brought you back from drifting off to the far shore of roses and bursts of sunshine, something that might never see the light of day, something that is better to keep buried in your heart.

“Honey, I’m just a station away. I’ll be home soon Aki”, you uttered with a worry in your tone since you could feel her voice breaking. Damn the network!

“Any problem?”, Keigo asked in a feeble tone. “No. yes. It’s my daughter. She’s sick, skipping school and I can’t take leave from the office…

Nothing after that seemed to register in his mind. There was an awful buzz as he tried to regain himself from drowning in guilt. He is everything but not a cheater and neither would be a passive one. “I’m sure you’ll get through all of these soon”, was all he could manage to mumble before rushing out of the metro. Your eyebrows grew closer in shock at his behaviour but you too don't have time to ponder over that.

As soon as you entered the apartment, you noticed Aki sleeping on the couch tightly hugging the plushie that her father gifted on her birthday last year. She’s five now. Even though she witnessed all of it, she missed her father.

You checked her body temperature. Fever was gone but she was sweating buckets. Bad dreams probably. You washed your hands; planned to feed her and then go to bed. But a knock distracted your thoughts.

As soon as you opened the door Hawks began to explain himself without even posing a look at you. “I’m so sorry. I was just tired and not being myself. I shouldn’t have walked away like that.” And then, his eyes fell over you standing in absolute confusion in a camisole with a serape over your chest to cover your modesty.

Still, hawks couldn’t avoid it. His eyes took a notice of your figure and the thought of sucking those matured nipples crossed his mind in a flash. “Yeah, I figured.”

“You did, huh?”, he swallowed running his fingers over his nape eyes darting on the ground as he tries to decompose such thoughts. His eyes scanned your room which made you aware that he was searching for something or someone.

“I’m a divorcee”, you uttered gaining his rapt attention. He almost stiffened. “Divorce looks good on you.”, his eyes shone in a gleam full of want and affection. Hawks hated this, hated how you have bewitched him but was ready to dive in to deep waters since he just can’t go on with more late nights.

“Mom, the food is getting cold. Eat with me”, Akira’s chime startled both of you. She was already tucking behind your figure holding your dress with his soft small palms while the other held her favorite plushie. She looked at hawks and smiled widely probably because she thought that she got a new playmate.

Well, she wasn’t wrong. She was smart enough to understand that mom can’t really play with her. She has job to do, bills to pay, and sing to sleep. And somehow, that became an arrangement.

Hawks reached home earlier than you and it was a blessing that he got along with Akira otherwise that would be another hassle. He even started to pick her up from school, drop her safely at home and wait until you were home.

Sometimes he behaved like a child too. He would buy candies for your girl and it was sweet and heart-warming, especially when Akira gave you your share with a grin on her face exclaiming, “Kei told me you’d like thwese.” Akira was sure a father’s daughter, a rule breaker for sure but how on earth she didn’t take those alcohol-based sweets is still a wonder.

Sometimes he’d come over weekends to keep Aki busy while you did the chores. You’d occasionally catch him staring at you and instantly focusing his attention on to Aki. Even though he was quite intimidating he took all the touches he could get from you, accidental or coincidental;

He never crossed the line or maybe he’s still working on that since he never resisted when you ruffled his hair, rested your hand over his shoulders, or pinched his arms lightly when he was being a baby under Akira’s influence.

A month passed with merriment and laughter until that day you had to come home early since you got a call from Aki’s school. She fainted while playing, probably due to a heat allergy. You texted hawks that he didn’t have to pick her up.

It is agonizing that Keigo can't get you out of his mind. Every night he thinks that he'll finally take the initiative tomorrow yet is not here yet. He thinks, at this rate he'll go mad.

He wants to kiss your knuckles as he tells you how much he likes your cooking. He wants to wrap his arms around your chest resting his chin on your shoulders to absorb all your worries away. He wants to let his lips roam all over your body, until you scream his name, only his. He just wants you.

But right now, watching you taking care of Aki, tending to her, putting her to sleep is just encouraging all these thoughts. His burning desire to feel those soft hands over his skin is nothing but a sinful prayer. “Kei!”, as his eyes settle on you, you continue, “What’s wrong? Bad day at work?” You sit beside him adjusting your legs on the sofa, laying your body against the headrest. Probably, I don't know. “No. Is Aki all right?”

“Yea, she fell asleep quickly.”, you smile at him before extending your hand to ruffle his hair saying, “Thank you for taking her out today.”, but he instantly holds your hand preventing you from touching his hair. Keigo doesn't move, eyes focused on your surprised brows and parted lips.

“Just say that you don't like it. I'll stop.”, you utter with a hint of doubt not sure if it was for this particular moment or for pinning Aki's responsibility on him even though it was just for a few hours. His touch is ice-cold, unlike his presence.

“It’s not that, y/n”, and he takes your palm close to his face placing it against his warm cheeks. You try to read his eyes but he closes them while his lips slip on your wrist. He is nervous. His lips are warm too.

He takes a glance over your body and pulls you closer to him placing a chaste kiss at the bottom of your ear-lobe. At that moment, the inexplicable urge to pull him into your embrace overtook you and as you did you realized his heart was pounding just like yours.

“oh Keii ! ”, your whisper doesn't stop him from slipping his hands under your shirt, feeling the warmth of your skin. The way your voice rolled out his name makes him recoil. His hold loosened. “It’s late. You should go to bed.”, he murmurs against your ears. Lips almost brushing your skin.

“Wait. Just wait. I'm too excited to calm down.”, you admitted earning a short smirk before he does the oddest. “As you wish!”, his lips are now nudging the nook of your shoulders before you react to him. Keigo's lips are already on your neck sucking your pulse point, licking at intervals. You jolt when he bites you making him pull away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn't hav-

You grabbed him by his collar pulling him into a kiss. There weren’t any resistance rather low hums blessed your ears. Your grips tightened, sucking his dry lips until you feel his hands against your skin. It's not cold anymore.

He swiftly pulls you towards him before pushing you down onto the sofa. He brushes his knuckles against your cheeks mumbling, “Just tell me if I hurt you.” A smile tugs up along your lips. “I’ll be fine.”, you said. That's right. You'll be fine. He could never hurt you, he never would. “You made me wait so long, so it might hurt.” Keigo still warned with a smirk on his face so that he doesn't have to feel bad about marking you all his.

networks — @tokyometronetwork @downtown-roponggi

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exhaustedpirate · 5 months

Text

parent for hire

finally, the next instalment of this adventure! only another one to go (and an epilogue)! once more, major thanks to @kmomof4 for being the best beta!

Chapter Six - Camelot

word count: 9,372 words

rating: Teen and Up

tag list: @cocohook38 ; @bluewildcatfanatic ; @piraterefrigerator ; @sotangledupinit ; @booksteaandtoomuchtv ; @teamhook

They were summoned to the throne room the next morning. There had been new clothes laid out in their room and a bath prepared. Killian chose to explain it with magic and not think about the fact that there had possibly been someone in the room without him noticing.

Their bags had been delivered to their room the night prior and he was happy to note that their things were all present and accounted for. There wasn’t much he needed from it except for the drawing of his brother and his compass - a gift from Nemo. And his sword, of course.

Emma and her parents were already waiting for them in the throne room. Emma looked as beautiful as she had before. Her hair had been pulled away from her face, a blue leather vest and a white shirt she wore fit her like a glove, and the dark trousers complemented her form.

The three seemed deep in conversation, and the royals’ frowns told him that they weren’t happy with the course of it. He wasn’t a betting man anymore but he would wager he knew the subject.

“Even before we appeared on the bank of Lake Nostos, we promised we wouldn’t leave you again. We won’t go back on it now,” Snow tearfully explained.

“You can’t go. You said last night that you were ready to be the people’s ruler again. You have to stay here.” Emma’s tone had a hint of panic, of fear. “This is my mission, I need to go.”

“We can’t change your mind?” David almost begged. “We only just got you back…”

Emma took a deep breath. “I need to do this.”

The determination in her eyes blazed like fire and Killian watched as Snow looked at David, and gripped his hand in a tight grip, an entire conversation being held within their gazes. They turned watering eyes and sad smiles on their daughter, and Killian thought his heart would break.

“We know,” Snow said, her hand on Emma’s cheek. “You’re so grown, a hero in your own right.”

“I-I’m not-” Emma stuttered, her eyes shining in the morning light.

“You are,” David interrupted, pulling Emma and Snow to him for a tight hug.

Killian wondered how many years Emma had longed to be held this way, to be loved this way, and his heart went out to her while his mind traveled to the only parent he still had.

“Y-You don’t have to go, Emma.” Henry’s quiet voice next to him broke him away from his thoughts and the three-person hug in front of them as they finally noticed their audience. “You can stay. You should stay.”

His shaking voice had Killian’s hand tighten on his shoulder.

“Henry,” Emma kneeled in front of the boy, her hands cupping his cheeks. “I want to go with you. I want to make sure you’ll be safe.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Henry.” Snow’s voice shook just as much as the boy’s. “This family will always find each other.”

Snow stood close by, her hand back in her husband’s and he nodded. “There have been many times when Snow and I were separated from each other but we still held on to hope.”

“We were separated from our daughter all those years ago, but we had hope that we’d see her again,” Snow added with a watery smile.

“And look where we are now,” David finished.

“Never lose hope, Henry. Even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.”

Henry nodded, tears running down his cheeks but a hopeful smile on his lips. He threw himself at Emma, burying his face on her neck as they both held on tight to each other. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Hope.

Maybe they were on to something.

After all, it was abundantly clear to him how much his life had changed ever since he started having hope.

David cleared his throat and Killian took the distraction to wipe away the tears that had escaped down his cheeks. “Since you’re off on an adventure, I wanted to give you guys something.” He gestured with his head towards the throne at the end of the room.

Henry and Emma followed him holding on to each other’s hands. Killian made to follow, when a hand on his chest stopped him. Looking down, he saw Snow’s watery eyes hiding a fire behind them. Emma’s fire.

“I have something important to ask of you.”

Killian nodded. “Of course, your Majesty.”

“That’s my daughter.” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat. “That’s my daughter and I want her back in my arms. I am prepared to give you anything you wish to protect her and make sure she lives. Gold. Jewels. Anything.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline the offer, Your Majesty.”

“What?” Her eyes were wide open with shock, her lips parted.

“You see…” He trailed away for a moment, his smile towards her nothing like his usual smirk, there was too much swirling through his chest to allow for such arrogance. “I have no need for your gold or your jewels. All I need is for Emma to be safe.” He couldn’t help the way his eyes drifted to her, the way she smiled at her father, the way she shined.

When he looked back at the Queen, she was smiling, a soft smile that lit up her eyes.

“You love her, don’t you?”

Killian looked away, scratching behind his ear. Was it so obvious?

“I’m starting to,” he confessed. “It creeps up on you, doesn’t it?”

Snow laughed and he couldn’t help but smile.

“It does, yes.” She nodded, watching him for a few seconds and sobering up. “When we left the castle yest- I mean, that day, we had hope that we’d see her again, yes, but I also had hope that, even if we didn’t, she’d be loved. She’d be okay.”

The Queen cleared her throat, trying to stave off the swelling sadness.

“She told us it wasn’t anything like I’d hoped. I regret that we weren’t able to give her that happiness and love.” She took a deep shaky breath. “But she’s strong. She pushed through and she became more than we ever expected. Seeing the way you and Henry love her, makes it all a little easier. Thank you.”

“Believe me, Your Majesty, loving them is, without a doubt, the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

The smile on his face melted into shock by the Queen’s tight embrace around him. He hadn’t felt such motherly affection in years. His arms went around her slowly, his eyes closing.

“Killian, look what I have!”

Henry’s call broke their hug, Snow grabbing onto his arms to look at him with a smile. He could only smile back and let her hope fill him. Killian cleared his throat.

“What do you have, lad?”

“A knife!”

“What?!” In a flash, Killian’s smile again turned into shock as he strode over to them.

“It’s not a knife, Henry. It’s a dagger,” David corrected, a smile on his face.

“Why does he even have a dagger?”

“For protection,” David answered like it was obvious. “But only as a last resource, remember?”

“Yeah!” Henry’s reassurance didn’t mean much when the boy was pretending that he was in an imaginary fight with his dagger.

“Henry?” David crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow.

Henry looked up quickly, his eyes wide and mouth agape before nodding. “Right, last resource.” Sheepishly, the boy sheathed the dagger on the new scabbard on his belt. “Look, Snow. Look at my dagger!”

Despite his concern over the boy, he guessed David was right, Henry should be able to defend himself without his magic. Just the thought of the boy in danger, however… Killian didn’t want to consider it. He looked away to find Emma’s attention on the sword in her hands.

It looked nothing like her old one. This one looked heavier - more of a royal’s sword than a pirate’s, he guessed. The hilt was golden and the cross-guard was curved, a masterful build.

“Looks like a perfect fit, don’t you think?” David asked, having followed his gaze, a look of pride in his eyes.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Since we can’t go with you, I want to know you’ll have a piece of me with you. To help you.” David’s voice was shaky despite his best efforts.

“Thank you.” Emma’s voice matched her father’s as she smiled back. She sheathed the sword on the equally detailed scabbard on her belt.

“Killian!” Henry called as he approached them with Snow. “Have you told them where we’re headed next?”

“No, lad.” He smiled. “I thought you’d want to do the honors.”

“So, last night, Killian checked Cygnus. You know, the star we’re following.” Henry looked between them and, like the avid listeners they were, they nodded. “It’s telling us to go West, to Ca-”

“I’m glad you’re all here.” There was a flash of blue magic after the sound of the Blue Fairy’s voice and Killian couldn’t help the surge of annoyance that rose in him at her presence and interruption.

“Is there something wrong?” Snow asked with a confused frown.

“No, no, I’m here to open a portal for Emma and the Truest Believer,” she answered matter-of-factly. “They’ll be heading to Camelot.”

Henry deflated next to him and Killian frowned. “How do you know that?”

The Blue Fairy sighed. “Camelot is where Merlin will be waiting for the Truest Believer, to fulfill the prophecy.”

“What about Avalon?” Emma asked, taking a step forward. “I’m supposed to take Henry there.”

“Avalon is a myth, dear. It doesn’t exist. It’s merely a sailor’s tale.” Her tone was patronizing as she glanced unimpressed at Killian.

“Tinkerbell told me that the prophecy said that’s where I’m supposed to take Henry.”

“You should know better than to listen to that girl. She has disgraced her role as a fairy and has no business interpreting the prophecy.”

Emma frowned at the fairy’s haughty and indifferent tone. He agreed with the sentiment. Killian watched as Henry took a deep breath and approached the fairy. He couldn’t help the step he took towards the boy, the instinct to protect rising fiercely in him, stopped only by Emma’s reassuring hand on his arm.

“Blue, I need to-”

“Ah, yes, Henry, I have something for you,” the fairy interrupted.

His face lit up expectantly but Killian had already learned to expect the worse from her.

“Tiger Lily asked me to give you this.” In her hand was a vial of sparkly dust. “It's fairy dust.”

Henry frowned as he reached up to take the vial, only for the Blue Fairy to pull it from his reach.

“I was against giving this to you, given your age, inexperience, and its power, but she was adamant that you have it. Tiger Lily is a… special fairy, and she knows how to get her point across.” The frown on her face told Killian there was more she was leaving out of the explanation, but given how secretive the fairies were - and the Blue Fairy in particular - he doubted any of them would ever know what it was. The fairy raised her eyebrow expectantly. “She assured me that you’d use it wisely.”

“Of course, you can trust me.” The boy clutched the vial carefully, reverently. “Did she say anything else?”

“No.”

Henry cleared his throat. “Then maybe you can answer some of my questions.” Killian was proud of his strong tone but the Blue Fairy’s unchanged expression didn’t give him hope that she’d answer.

“No time for that.” Blue waved him away and the boy’s crestfallen expression was heartbreaking. She turned to the others. “Say your goodbyes quickly and I’ll open the portal.”

As soon as Henry got close enough, Killian pulled him close. “I thought they cared.” The boy’s whisper had him tightening his embrace.

Pulling away, Killian caressed the boy’s cheek before patting the hand still clutching the vial with his hook. “I think they still do, my boy.”

Henry looked down and nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

Killian pulled the boy in for another tight embrace, his hand on the back of his head.

“Be careful.” Snow spoke behind them, her hands on Emma’s cheeks, her voice shaky. “Trust your companions and please, don’t do anything reckless.”

“That might be hard, considering how much like your mot-” Snow gave David a silent glare, causing a watery smile to bloom on Emma’s face. “Like all your family you are.”

Emma smiled wide. “I promise I’ll be safe.” She was the one to initiate the hug now, her eyes closed in happiness, her hands gripping her parents’ clothes. “I’ll be back.”

Henry and Killian watched as they slowly released each other and Snow placed a kiss on Emma’s forehead. There was an insistent throat clearing from behind them that Killian completely ignored but broke the peaceful moment between the other three.

Snow and David made their way to Killian and Henry next, David pulling Henry into a big hug that lifted the boy’s feet from the ground and made his giggles echo in the large room. Snow’s hand was on his arm with a reminder of his promise in her eyes. He nodded.

They switched next and while David’s handshake wasn’t as emotional as Snow’s hug, Killian still saw the emotion in the man’s eyes, pleading for the same promise the Queen asked of him. Killian tightened his grip on the man’s hand and nodded, an unspoken agreement between the two. Snow was peppering kisses all over Henry’s face making him laugh once more. That was definitely a good start to an adventure.

The Blue Fairy’s impatience grew too loud to ignore and they all turned to her.

“Now that you’re all done,” the fairy pointedly remarked, “it’s time to go.”

With a wave of her wand, a bright orange portal roared to life.

“We love you, Emma,” Snow called over the noise of the portal.

“Come back to us,” David added.

Emma nodded vigorously, lips thinned in overwhelming emotion. She held onto Henry’s hand. Killian held on to the other as they approached the swirling portal. They all turned back to look at the royals they were leaving behind for one last glance.

Not waiting another moment to change their minds, they all crossed through the portal.

---

The first thing that came to Killian’s mind once they came out on the other side was the lack of nausea. Which was a very happy and welcome reprieve.

Second thing was the silence.

They stood in the middle of a pathway, stone walls standing tall in front of them. Killian turned around to an empty village. Houses were closed, streets were clear, shops were shut.

He was getting really tired of desolate kingdoms.

But this silence was different. There were people here, he could feel it. Unlike Misthaven, there were no signs of disaster. People were just gone. Hidden.

“Another deserted kingdom?” Emma sighed, her voice quiet.

“It seems our little adventure has a theme.”

“I feel something inside those doors,” Henry whispered, his finger pointed at two large wooden doors embedded into a tall stone wall.

“Last chance to turn back,” Killian teased, even with an anxious cadence to his voice.

Emma rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile while Henry chuckled before pulling the two adults towards the doors. Taking a deep breath, they pushed the doors open.

The doors gave way to a large courtyard lit by the midday sun. On the other side of the circle, stood a man in shining silver armor. His hair was dark and his terrible grin shone in the sunlight. Next to him, sat a woman. Hair as dark as the man’s but her expression spoke of an immense sadness, regret and fear, all the fight taken out of her.

“He told me you’d appear,” The man said, his voice echoing in the courtyard.

“Who are you?” Killian asked, standing in front of Henry who grabbed onto his sleeve.

“I’m King Arthur of Camelot and I’ll be taking the Heart of the Truest Believer from you.”

“Just you, mate?” Killian asked, a smirk on his face and eyebrow raised. “I have to say, I like our odds.”

Arthur’s grin widened before he whistled. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly, a large lion-like creature crashed into the courtyard - its mane and tail was made of fire and it was easily twice the size of an actual lion. Its roar shook the ground they stood on.

“You had to ask,” Emma grumbled next to him, unsheathing her sword.

“At least it’s just one this time,” Henry commented from behind them.

Killian sighed in exasperation, shifting on his feet as he armed himself.

The creature sat next to the king, his fiery eyes on the three strangers. While Killian was a man of bravery, the creature’s size was enough to make him reconsider his initial plan.

“Alright, mate, we might have started on the wrong foot,” Killian started, trying for a disarming tone.

“Give me the Heart of the Truest Believer or I will take it from you. It's as simple as that, mate,” Arthur interrupted.

“Why do you want it so much?” Henry asked, taking a step forward. Both Killian and Emma stepped closer to the boy at Arthur’s hungry stare. He knew it was Henry.

“Why?! My kingdom is broken, and your heart will make it whole!”

“And you’d kill an innocent boy for your kingdom?!” Emma asked, angrily.

“Please, Arthur,” the woman next to him pleaded. “You don’t need to do this, we can still be happy.”

Killian watched as the madness in Arthur’s gaze eased, his eyes shifting from his queen to Henry. There was something hidden behind his eyes - recognition. A fast blur flew over them and he felt as if they were being watched, a tingle on the back of his neck. Any progress he thought they had made with Arthur seemed to shatter, a shadow shuttering his eyes once more.

“For years, I lived for Merlin’s prophecies!” Arthur shouted. “For years, I was mocked, ridiculed, for believing that I would be king! And when it finally happened, I’m given this, this broken kingdom! But with your heart, I will make it whole! Your heart will make me a king!”

He raised his hand then, the beast standing on four feet, its fire burning bright and angry.

“No more talking, the Heart is mine!”

Without any further warning, the beast leapt forward, its thundering steps unsettling their footing. Henry threw his hands up, a strong magical shield stopping it in its tracks. The shield wouldn’t last long, with the beast charging it again and again.

“What are we going to do?” Killian asked, watching Henry.

“Arthur is controlling the monster,” Emma answered, focused on the creature. “We need to split up.”

“What?”

“Like we did in Arendelle,” Henry added, with obvious difficulty. The strain of holding the shield against the monster’s attacks was wearing on the boy.

“Henry and I will deal with this beast, you’ll get Arthur,” Emma delegated. “On three, Henry will lower the shield, I will hold the creature back while you run to Arthur. Ok?”

Killian nodded. “Be careful, both of you.” His eyes lingered on his companions, hope burgeoning in him for their safety.

“You too,” Henry said, Emma nodding in agreement.

“Alright, one, two, three!”

Henry’s shield came down followed immediately by a blast of white magic from Emma’s hands. The beast was thrown a few feet, letting Killian use that distraction to run towards where Arthur watched the fight. Expectedly, Arthur saw him coming and armed himself in time to block Killian’s attack.

The beast focused back on the magic users. Killian kept an attentive ear on the battle next to him, hoping that he wouldn't hear Emma or Henry get hurt.

Killian and Arthur’s swords clanged in tune with the beast’s growls. Arthur didn’t fight like any royal he’d fought against before but then again, neither did Killian.

“Call off your beast,” Killian grunted, as he managed to lock Arthur’s sword against his. “You won’t win!”

Arthur’s determined gaze spoke louder than any words as they forced each other’s swords.

More than willing to play dirty, Killian kicked at Arthur’s leg, ruining his balance and causing him to fall. While on the floor, Arthur grinned even with Killian’s sword pointed at him. But he wasn’t looking at him. “I disagree.”

Killian’s heart beat louder in his chest as he turned to look at his companions, even knowing how dangerous it was. Turning to them, Killian saw Henry laying down, looking terrified as the beast’s large paws pinned him to the ground. The beast bellowed loudly.

He couldn’t see Emma.

“Henry!” Killian called, turning towards the boy, blind with his need to protect him.

“Not so fast.” Arthur’s smug voice reminded him of his ongoing battle. “We are not done yet.”

He was glad for his years of practice as he managed to side-step a swipe at his head. A white glow and a loud whine had him hoping that Emma had managed to save Henry. Arthur’s angry expression confirmed it.

From then on, his mind was torn. Killian tried to focus on Arthur’s fighting techniques, on learning and avoiding them, but he knew most of his focus was elsewhere.

There was a lull in the magical battle next to him. A million scenarios paraded through his mind and he hated all of them. His sword swipes became faster and more intense and he relished the frown on Arthur’s brow. Their swords locked and he put all his strength behind it.

“Now!” Henry’s shout surprised them both and they turned at the same time.

Killian watched as Henry jumped to the side as Emma used her hands to direct water on top of the beast. Amazingly effective, the fire was extinguished and the beast fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

“No!” Arthur shouted and Killian quickly focused on stopping any thought of intervention by holding his sword against the king’s neck.

Unflinchingly, Henry approached the beast and fumbled with something on his clothing. From where he stood, Killian saw the sparkle of what he assumed was the fairy dust Henry had been gifted fall on the beast.

A blinding light encompassed the large monster. When it was gone, they were all surprised to find a man lying where the beast used to be. A man wearing a knight’s outfit.

“Lancelot!” The queen called from where she had been sitting restlessly before rushing towards the waking man on the floor. “I thought you had left.”

Despite the distance between where he stood and the tender scene in front of him, Killian still heard the relieved sigh of the man. “I could never leave you, Gwen.”

Never had he thought they would be reuniting long-lost lovers with this adventure, but then again, he never thought he’d be in this adventure in the first place.

His eyes immediately found Henry and Emma, who appeared unscathed even if tired. The relieved feeling in his heart was overwhelming, and he couldn’t take his eyes off them. Killian could only look at Henry’s proud and happy expression, at Emma’s hand on the boy’s shoulder, and her own look of joy. It looked simply beautiful on her.

“Killian! Look out!” Henry called loudly and Killian moved just in time to miss Arthur’s swipe at his head. A bright white light threw Arthur against one of the stone columns, rendering him unconscious.

A word of gratitude was stopped on his tongue at Emma’s look of terror and Henry’s matching one. A breeze blew through the courtyard making him aware of a cold sting on his throat. He dropped his sword to touch the left side of his neck. When he looked at his hand, there was an alarming amount of blood on it for a mere scratch.

“Oh.” Killian’s knees wobbled under him as he knelt to the ground. In seconds, Emma and Henry were in front of him.

There was pressure on his neck. Emma’s green eyes came into focus and his heart shattered at the worry and fear in them. He wished they would never look that way.

“Killian?” Henry’s quiet call squeezed his heart. He had promised that Henry wouldn’t feel that way again. “Can’t you heal him, Emma?”

Emma shut her eyes and he mourned the loss. There was only the sound of his labored breathing.

“I can’t!” Emma shouted in frustration. “Come on, Killian, stay with us!”

He wanted to tell her that he wouldn't leave - that he would never leave them - but the pressure on his throat stopped him. Their faces turned blurry and he could feel his mouth open and close, wanting to tell him that it was okay, that all that mattered was that they were okay. That he loved them.

Emma’s face became even more blurry as she shook her head.

“No.” Her voice sounded far away but never more clear. “We are not losing you, not now, not ever.” He felt her deep breath in his own chest.

The warmth on his hand disappeared and Killian watched as Emma grabbed Henry’s hand and placed it over hers on his neck. “We’ll do this together, like we’ve done everything so far. What do you say, kid?”

Killian could hear the desperation in her voice and he wondered if Henry could hear it too. The pressure on his neck grew and he was finally able to take a deep breath.

“Let’s do this.” Henry’s voice was less confident than he no doubt intended, too wrapped in despair, but it didn’t make Killian trust him any less.

There was a sudden burning feeling on his throat and he howled in pain. He felt as though his wound was being cauterized from the inside. There was a tight grip on his arms, barely felt over the pain.

He remembered the way Nemo held his only hand as the blurry face of a shipmate burned his stump. He remembered wanting it to stop, wanting everything to stop, wanting the peace and quiet of death. He remembered the way he held onto revenge when he woke up days later.

This pain, however, he bore it, cherished it, welcomed it because he knew that it would allow him to live. It would allow him to be okay. It would allow him to see Emma and Henry again.

“Killian?”

It did.

His eyes fluttered open to find the worried faces of his companions, his family. Killian only had a second to witness the look of relief and happiness on Henry’s face before the boy threw himself against him in a tight hug, the feeling of holding the boy in his arms better than any magical remedy.

With his arms wrapped around the boy, he finally looked at Emma. There were tears in her eyes but the most beautiful smile on her lips. How he loved her smile.

“You aren’t getting rid of me yet, love.” His voice was hoarse and quieter than he expected but it was worth it for the quiet chuckle she gave.

“Good.”

He felt the warmth of her hand on his face, the light stroke of her thumb on his cheek but all he could see were her eyes. The happiness, the relief, and something else he hoped would be there for a long time to come.

“Is he okay?” A familiar female voice sounded from behind Emma.

She nodded, without taking her eyes off him, a soft smile on her lips. “Yeah, he’s okay.”

Henry’s head lifted from their embrace to smile brightly at the two of them and Killian could only laugh. Laugh at how stupidly happy he was to have met them. The way they joined in his laughter warmed his heart, and reminded him of how happy he was to be alive.

Killian held on to Emma’s arm, sadly staining the white shirt with his blood - not that they cared much - so he could sit up. Henry’s hands were on his arms, a worried frown on his forehead. But Killian only smiled. He was alive, he was okay, he was ready to carry on his life with them. His hand tightened on Emma’s arm as he bumped his forehead with Henry’s.

“Thank you,” he whispered before he moved back to look at the two of them. “Thank you for saving me.”

Henry’s smile was wide, his small body crashing into him for a second time. “Thank you for staying.” The boy’s whisper sounded loud in his ears and he wished he could stay in this moment forever.

A loud scream interrupted them.

They looked towards the source to find the queen with a horrified look on her face as she pointed towards the far side of the courtyard.

“Arthur…” Lancelot whispered with the same expression.

They all turned to see Arthur’s body standing in front of the pillar Emma had thrown him against. That would be alarming all on its own, but the truly shocking part was the fact that his head hung forward, the man still clearly unconscious. The king’s body took stumbling steps towards them, his head lolling from side to side.

As Arthur continued his lumbering approach, Killian noticed a second shadow on the floor. A much less fumbling figure from Arthur’s unstable form.

With Emma’s help, Killian stood from the ground, pulling Henry behind them. From the corner of his eye, he could see Lancelot - even in his weakened state - try to shield his queen.

And then, Arthur stopped.

They watched as his head was thrown back, his whole body following suit and so precariously unbalanced that Killian wondered how he was still on his feet.

A bright gash appeared in the middle of Arthur’s chest without any response from the man, not even a small whimper, even when a hand burst out from the rift. One of the shadows reflected on the ground began to convulse until it disappeared.

“Take her to safety, now!” Emma yelled towards the other two people in the courtyard, forcing Henry further behind them, hoping to block his view.

They heard the urging voice of Lancelot and the frightened voice of the queen before the couple’s rushed footsteps reached their ears.

Their full attention drawn back in front of them once Lancelot and the queen were safely away, they watched as a second hand joined the first, widening the tear in the king’s chest. Killian could only hope he could spare Henry the nightmares that were sure to follow the gruesome scene. It was only moments before a blonde head emerged from the fissure. And then the figure stepped out of the former king’s carcass to stand in front of them, Arthur’s body crumbling to the ground.

“When you want something done, you have to do it yourself.” The surprise guest’s voice was eerily peppy given the macabre scene surrounding them and Killian struggled to keep his jaw from dropping.

He looked only a few years older than Henry, even though his face told of decades of existence and he was dressed in a green outfit that reminded Killian of Emma’s old one. He’d seen him before. Emma gasped.

“Pan…”

“Hello, Duckling.” Pan was grinning and his voice lacked surprise. He knew they would be here. “Didn’t think you’d seen the last of me, did you?”

“H-How is this possible? You can’t leave Neverland!” Emma’s voice trembled. She looked terrified, a panic in her eyes that he’d only seen once before - when they sailed too close to the island aboard the Black Pearl. A lost girl.

“Our dimwitted king helped me with that,” Pan said smugly, pointing towards the body. “His failure gave me enough time to get the Heart of the Truest Believer myself.”

“You’re just as dimwitted if you think we’ll let you take the Heart.” Killian took a step forward, inching himself closer to Emma and covering Henry more.

“Ah, Captain Hook, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Emma tensed up next to him and Henry placed a questioning hand on his arm but he didn't stop directing his glare towards Pan. “I had expected a bounty hunter like you to have been more interested in the deal I offered.”

“You were wrong.”

“Pan was the one who sent you after me?” Henry’s quiet question pulled his attention off Pan.

“I didn’t know who he was when we spoke.”

“Lucky for you, I’ll give you another chance.” Their eyes followed Pan’s casual pacing, the feeling of prey watching a predator settling on them. “Give me the boy and you can leave. Go back to your life.”

Killian glared at Pan’s knowing and confident grin, as if he knew Killian would take the deal. Henry’s hand tightened on his left arm, and Emma sent him a sidelong glance. But Killian couldn’t take his eyes off Pan.

“And what makes you think I would accept?”

“It’s like you said,” Pan replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “you’re a survivor.”

A shiver ran down his spine. He’d never said that to Pan or anyone else besides Emma. Not for the first time, the feeling came over him that they were being watched.

“I have been watching you three for a while.” Pan’s eerily calm demeanor became even more disturbing. “So, I’m going to sweeten the deal. Give me the boy and I’ll even let you take someone with you. Emma.” His penetrating stare landed on her and a small, utterly depraved and evil smile lifted the corner of his lips before he spoke again. “My sweet duckling. We both know how much you would love that.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’ll kill you all.”

The demon’s nonchalant attitude as he made the statement made gooseflesh erupt on Killian’s skin, but he just hummed, as if considering the proposal. “That’s an interesting proposition.” His hand tightened on his dagger. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.”

Killian was grateful for his connection with Emma as his thrown dagger was matched by the whistling of her short arrow. The weapons traveled towards their common enemy, only for a dark blur to stop them.

Pan laughed, a terrible laugh that made his ears ring. “You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?”

They didn’t have time to answer before they were being pulled back by the arms. Killian felt the tight grip immobilizing him but when he tried to escape, he couldn’t see anyone. Looking towards where Emma was caught in the same struggle as he was, he noticed a dark shadow behind her, a shadow holding the arms of her shadow. It occurred to him that this might be a battle they wouldn’t be able to win.

Pan approached with slow, confident steps where Henry stood helplessly looking between his two companions. The lad looked scared but Killian’s struggle to escape was useless.

“Get away from the boy!”

“Leave him alone!”

Killian and Emma’s voices were angry but they were laced with desperation.

“You had your chance.” Pan shrugged again with a wide grin. “Now, you’ll get to see me kill the boy. And then, you’ll see me kill my runaway Swan. Only then will I kill you. Nice and slow!”

Killian’s struggle grew more violent as Pan got closer to Henry. From the corner of his eye, he could see Emma was doing the same.

“Why do you want my heart?” Killian could hear the fear in Henry’s voice, but there was bravery in his eyes.

“Have you learned nothing? I want power! I want the power your heart will give me!” Henry had to look up as Pan approached, but he didn’t back down.

There was pride mixed in with Killian’s fear.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I thought you were smarter than that, laddie,” Pan grinned. “A prophecy told me about you, a baby born in a night with no moon or stars. Your parents knew it too, so it took me a long time to find you.”

“You saw my parents?” Henry’s voice was quiet, like the young boy he never got the chance to be. Killian’s frown matched the one on Emma’s face.

“No. But my Lost Ones did, the last ones to see them alive.” Pan’s fake pout had Killian’s hair stand at attention. “But that’s only because they’re the ones who killed them.”

The heartbreak coming from Henry nearly brought Killian to his knees. The boy knew he was an orphan but to hear it spoken of so callously and with so much certainty was the height of cruelty. It was clear Pan was enjoying inflicting this pain on the boy. He was feeding off it.

“They told me your father was the first to go, trapped in the house when my boys set it on fire-”

“Stop it!” Emma shouted.

“But your mother?” Pan continued, ignoring the two adults’ struggle, his grin widening. “She escaped, ran away with you, but she didn’t go far-”

“Don’t listen to him, lad!”

“Your mother abandoned you and ran away. You should be thanking me for having had her killed, she deserved it. We even celebrated!”

“He’s lying, Henry, I remember that night!” Emma’s voice broke through Pan’s sadistic game, bringing it to a screeching halt.

Henry turned to her and Killian saw the tears streaking down his cheeks and his begging eyes. Killian’s struggle intensified.

“Remember your place, Duckling,” Pan warned but she ignored him.

“That was the night I escaped, I remember the screams on the island. They weren’t celebrating,” she explained feverishly, “They had failed.” Her eyes were on the boy, a hint of a smile on her face, a smile meant only for him. “They were after you, but they didn’t find you. She didn’t abandon you and deep down you know that.”

Pan growled and Killian watched as another shadow joined the one behind Emma to pull on her hair. An involuntary whimper of pain escaped her lips even as she tried to stifle it. Henry took a step towards her but she shook her head the best she could to stop him. The boy turned back towards Pan.

“She didn’t abandon me.” Henry spoke clearly and with his head held high. “She protected me from you, she saved me. Your games won’t work on me.”

There was a moment when Pan’s frown marred his young face where Killian foolishly thought they could win, that Henry’s bravery would be enough. But then Pan smiled.

“You’re right, no more games.” His voice was soft and calm but it only unnerved them. “I’ll be clear, give me your heart or they die.”

Pan grinned as he snapped his fingers. A black figure appeared in front of Killian, there was no face, no body, merely the shadow of a person. That’s what it was, a shadow - he’d never seen one up close and he suddenly feared it would be the last thing he would ever see.

Without warning, the shadow grabbed onto his shoulders and began to slowly pull. This pain was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before, including the one he had suffered only moments ago. It felt like his insides were being pulled out of him - as if his very essence was being removed.

His screams of pain were echoed by Emma’s, who was clearly suffering his same fate.

“Run, Henry!” Killian yelled. “You need to run!”

“No! I won’t leave you, I won’t let you die!”

“You need to go, Henry!” Emma urged him between screams of pain.

“No!” Henry unsheathed his dagger to point it at Pan. “Let them go!” Henry looked so frightened, his dagger held in a shaky grip.

“Even if you could kill me, they would still die,” Pan gloated with a shrug. Henry’s arm lowered in defeat. “What’ll it be, Believer? You or them?”

“No!”

“Don’t listen to him!”

“I’m sorry… This is my fault, but I can still save you.”

Time stopped as they watched Henry’s hand shine with a white light before he shoved it into his own chest. They watched as Henry removed a golden heart, his knees wobbling.

“Please, Henry!”

“Don’t do this!”

Henry glanced towards them with a brave and hopeful gaze. “I love you.”

They watched as Henry pushed the golden heart into Pan’s chest before collapsing to the floor. Pan’s victorious laughter surrounded them, but what truly mattered was that suddenly there was nothing restraining them, nothing pulling the life out of them anymore.

Before he could take a proper breath, Killian was kneeling next to Henry’s unconscious body, Emma on the other side. His hand touched the boy’s neck, his chest, hoping for a heartbeat he knew wouldn’t be there. His skin was still warm and Killian remembered another one he loved who laid in his arms the same way.

“Is- Is he dead?” Emma’s voice was quiet and Pan’s laughter grew louder and stronger.

Killian’s mouth opened and closed silently, unable to answer her question, unable to admit the truth they both knew.

“People will do the stupidest things for love,” Pan pouted, a fake mournful tone to his voice.

“You did this!” Emma growled but Killian grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“Actually, he did it to himself,” Pan shrugged, an unconcerned smile on his face. “You saw it, he took out his own heart, but don’t worry, it’s in a safe place.” He patted his chest with a smug grin.

Unable to look at Pan’s face anymore, Killian turned back to the boy. He looked like he was simply asleep, like he would wake at any moment. But Killian knew he wouldn’t. He felt Emma’s anger-fueled grief under his grip as he heard Pan take a deep satisfying breath.

“I finally have the Heart and now the world will be my Neverland!” Pan held out his arms in triumph. “Thank him for me. I’m sure you’ll be seeing him soon enough.”

Killian let go of Emma’s wrist as his hand went to the boy’s chest, feeling the still chest when his own heart was hammering against his. It wasn’t fair.

“Take my heart.” Emma’s words matched his own as they both spoke at the same time, the same expressions on their faces - determination and hope.

Killian glanced towards Pan, hoping the villain was too distracted to stop them. He stood a few feet away focused only on the new power in his chest and the bright golden light of his stolen magic, victorious.

“Emma,” Killian started in a quiet voice. “I promised to return you to your parents. If we’re going to use anyone’s heart, it should be mine.”

Emma shook her head. “No, I won’t take you from his life. You’re too important to him.”

“So are you!”

“I don’t even know if this will work for us and then you will have died for nothing.”

“If it’s to save Henry, it won’t be for nothing.”

They looked at each other, their faces both stubborn and hopeful.

“Together?” she asked, her voice wobbly.

“Emma-”

“We’ve done everything together since we met, Killian. We should do this together, too.”

Killian took a deep breath, focusing on her green eyes. He nodded and the way they brightened with hope was enough for him to nod more vigorously.

“Together.”

Emma laid her hand on his chest, but where there had been confidence, now there was fear. “I’ve never done this before.”

He placed his hand over her wrist. “I believe in you.”

Emma nodded and pushed her hand into his chest. He stifled a grunt of pain when she pulled it back out. He hadn’t expected the surprisingly red heart that she now held in her hand, a small dark blob in the center of it. Maybe he wasn’t as lost as he thought.

The world was dull around them and there was a feeling of emptiness in his chest. He still felt the love for the two people in front of him but it felt muted.

She took a deep breath as she looked between his heart and him before she plunged her own hand inside her chest. With her own groan of pain, she removed her hand, now holding a bright red heart.

“Hmm, I should split them.”

“Aye, that should work.” A weak chuckle made the corner of her lips rise.

Emma placed her heart confidently in his hand. Killian held it reverently as she focused on his. He felt the magic in her fingers, her careful grip, like a warm fire in his chest. Her heart beat fast in his hand and he hoped she felt the same warmth that he felt.

He winced when she finally jerked her hands, successfully splitting his heart. “That was interesting.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes were wide in concern.

Killian shook his head. “We need to hurry.”

They traded hearts and he held on to his split heart as Emma focused on hers. He glanced at Pan to see him floating a foot off the ground, hands raised. Killian noticed how the courtyard appeared darker, despite the high sun in the sky. He watched as a couple of shadows already circled Pan’s feet. They really needed to hurry and get out of there.

He heard her whimper and turned to see her holding her halved heart. She quickly placed one half back in her chest, a shiver running down her body as she got used to the feeling.

“Now, you.”

She grabbed one half of his heart and placed it in his chest. It was a strange feeling. It was a relief to be able to feel again, no longer the muted experience of before, but there was still a sense of being incomplete, of something missing.

They looked at each other, an unspoken question between them. He nodded.

He held his breath as Emma joined both halves together, as they stitched themselves to form a complete heart. They took a deep breath when it worked. Their surroundings were darkening and the glowing red heart was like a beacon.

Killian grabbed Emma’s wrist. Their hands holding the constructed heart hovered over Henry’s chest and with a last deep breath, they pushed.

“Fight, my boy.”

“Come back to us.”

It felt like years before Henry took a gasping breath. A powerful wave of multicolored energy passed through them and then they heard it.

“No!”

Pan’s scream caught their attention and they watched as he came back to earth, turned towards them, and began to approach with angry steps before falling to his knees. A bright beacon began to form on his chest and Pan’s screams turned from fury into pain.

They watched, dumbfounded, as Pan burned from the inside out until there was nothing but ash where he once stood. He wouldn’t be missed. They looked up as the midday sun began to shine brightly in the sky again.

“Henry?” Emma called softly, her voice watery.

The boy finally opened his eyes. Glancing between the two adults, he seemed to understand exactly what just happened. His lips curled in a small smile.

“Guess I have another great story to tell, huh?”

Emma let out a startled laugh before she pulled Henry into a tight hug, Killian shaking his head amusedly before joining. They all took a collective breath.

Killian could feel his beating heart echo, feeling twice the love, no longer incomplete. He cupped Henry’s head and placed a kiss on his forehead, completely unconcerned over his wobbly voice.

“We thought we lost you, my boy.”

“But you didn’t lose hope.” Henry smiled before burrowing his face in Emma’s neck.

Emma chuckled, running her fingers through the boy’s hair. “We learned from the best.”

Henry is the first to break the hug but he doesn’t go far, his hands holding each adult’s arm in a tight grip. “I love you.”

Killian shouldn’t have been surprised by the sentiment, considering the great lengths they had all gone for each other in the time they’ve known each other, but it’s still surprising to see someone give their love so instantly, so freely. His heart felt too large for his chest even with its reduced size, but he cherishes it.

Emma’s smile widened and she stroked his face. “We love you, too.”

“You know we do. I’m sure you can feel it.” Killian tapped the boy’s chest with his hook, with a smile.

Henry smiled widely, eyes watering before nodding vigorously and pulling them both close for another hug. Killian can only hope to feel this love everyday for the rest of his life.

“Are you all alright?”

The familiar female voice broke their quiet moment. Not giving up much of their personal space, the three of them turned to see the Queen approaching slowly with a steadier Lancelot, his arm around her shoulders.

Killian took a deep breath. “Aye, and I’m pleased to see you safe and sound as well.”

“We wanted to help, bu-”

“This was our battle,” Emma interrupted Lancelot’s apology with a kind smile. “You two were in no shape to fight.”

“Besides,” Henry turned to them with a smile of his own. “Camelot needs its queen safe and sound.”

Despite the Queen’s smile, they could all see the guilt in the furrow of her brow. “I knew he was obsessed with the prophecy, but I always thought I would have my Arthur back.” She paused for a moment. “I never thought he was so…mad.”

“Gwen,” Lancelot interrupted. “Arthur was lost to us a long time ago. We tried our best to help him, he just wouldn’t listen.”

Killian stood first before he helped Emma and Henry stand next to him. “He’s right, there was nothing any of us could do.”

“Pan is- was a demon, he corrupted whatever good Arthur had in his heart. Like he does to all things.”

Emma’s tone had Killian placing his hand on her arm, Henry leaning back against her in a gesture of comfort.

Gwen nodded, wiping her tears. “Now, Camelot can return to its former glory.”

“With a wonderful Queen to rule it,” Lancelot added with a soft smile.

As Gwen’s cheeks reddened, Killian turned away with an amused smile mimicked by Emma, while Henry watched them with bright eyes. Killian’s eyes found Emma’s and he cherished the reddish hue on her own cheeks.

Gwen cleared her throat hoping to move away from the moment but they noticed the way her hand found Lancelot’s as she did. “We would like to thank you. If there’s anything you need…”

“We wanna know where to find Merlin,” Henry burst out, Killian’s hand on his shoulder doing little to ease his excitement.

The way Gwen and Lancelot looked at each other quickly told Killian and Emma that they wouldn’t find the answers they hoped for there.

“Merlin has never been here.”

“At least, not while we’ve lived here.”

Henry’s silence was deafening and he looked up at his two companions with a worried frown.

Killian sighed as he squeezed the boy’s shoulder in comfort. “Do you know where we can find him?”

Gwen was quiet for a moment. “When we were children, Arthur used to speak to a tree in the kingdom grounds that he believed Merlin had been trapped in. That’s where he was told of the prophecies.”

“When he came into power, he cut down every tree around the castle grounds. So even if Merlin had been here, I suspect he no longer is…”

Killian nodded, trying not to let his frustration show.

“We should carry on our way, then. There’s still a lot we need to do,” Emma answered with a tight smile.

“Are you sure we can’t give you anything? You can rest here, eat.” Gwen frowned.

Killian felt Henry’s questioning stare on his face but ignored it. “We should really get going, but thank you.”

They made quick work of grabbing their things and walked out of the kingdom’s gates under the confused stares of the Queen and her knight. Both Emma and Killian ignored Henry’s confusion until they were a safe distance from the castle. By then, the Camelot people were leaving their houses with questioning gazes and curious questions.

“Why did we leave so fast?” Henry finally asked.

“We don’t know them, lad.”

“They might not have been on Arthur or Pan’s side but there are always dangers around,” Emma added, holding on to Henry’s hand as they made their way through the crowds.

“But they were good people, we could have asked them what they know.”

“We did, and they didn’t know anything, lad. They were victims just like us and they now have to deal with a whole kingdom wanting answers.”

“So where are we supposed to go now?”

Killian and Emma were quiet at that. The truth was they didn’t know. This was the first time they didn’t know where to go. Pan was defeated, that should have been the final piece.

“You don’t know, do you?” Henry asked with a raised eyebrow and a smile creeping up on his face.

“Well,” Emma stuttered, causing Henry to chuckle and Killian to smile. “I know we need to get to Avalon…”

“We just don’t know how to get there,” Killian finished with a teasing smile.

“It’s not like Cygnus is available to give us directions.” Emma gestured towards the bright afternoon sky pointedly.

Henry laughed. They had reached the town proper. They stood in the middle of the emptying market, everyone had followed the news towards the castle, only the merchants left behind, worried over leaving their wares.

“We should find somewhere to wait until evening,” Killian told his companions. It was the only permission Henry needed to begin exploring the market under their watchful eye. “We’ll check for Cygnus then.”

“I agree.” He watched Emma’s smile from the corner of his eye and couldn't help but match it.

They could breathe now. Their journey wasn’t over but they defeated Pan. Henry was alive and so were they. The more he looked at her and the more he heard Henry bombarding questions at the merchants, the happier he was for being with them now, for having made the decision to protect Henry when they first met.

Her eyes found his and his breath hitched in his chest. Their last conversation played through his mind. They hadn’t reached Avalon yet, but after what they just went through, a part of him didn’t want to hold back any longer.

“Emma-”

“Killian-”

They spoke at the same time, pausing to look at each other with a shy smile.

“You go first,” Emma allowed with a nod.

“Emma, I-”

He'd recognise that ship anywhere. The rigging he climbed time and time again, the hull he begged to help clean with Starkey while they flew forty thousand feet in the sky. The ship he tried to escape from so many times. The ship that turned out to be the home he never had.

Nemo would be there. He would be there and so would his disappointed eyes. His anger. At that moment, he felt just like the troubled teen he hadn't been in a long time.

Emma looked at him with expectant and confused eyes as his silence and stupefied expression lasted longer and longer. He looked once more at the ship but saw no familiar faces looking out but that wouldn’t always be true.

“We need to go.”

“What?” Emma frowned, defensiveness taking over.

“Where’s Henry?” Killian looked around. “Henry!” The boy’s dark head of hair quickly turned to where they stood in confusion. “We need to go now.”

“What happened?” Henry asked as he approached. “Is someone after us?”

“Killian Jones!”

The familiar booming voice echoed through the emptied market. Emma turned around first to see an imposing figure in a pristine naval outfit. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the man’s crossed arms. Killian wasn’t sure he could face an expression of sorrow on the face of the man he considered a father.

“I have been looking for you.”

#parent for hire #carolina writes #the actual big villain fight #shtuff happens #tw character death #killian jones #captain hook #emma swan #henry mills #captain swan #captainswan #once upon a time #ouat #captaincobra #captaincobraswan #king arthur #peter pan #cs ff

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written-in-ink · 3 months

Text

Hyacinthus

To love a god is to live a tragedy.

The poets’ ballads of love and heartbreak rarely ended with laughter. Patroclus never saw the end of the Trojan War. He died on the battlefield with nothing but his lover’s armour — nothing was strong enough to protect him from War’s wrath. The Fates showed Patroclus no remorse as he died at Hector’s hand.

The Fates never pity us mortals. Ariadne, Megara, Daphne - what became of their lives? How many souls have been lost for the gods’ pleasure? Even Psyche, who found peace with Eros, didn’t find it without any suffering.

Everyone knows this.

Everyone knows that no good comes to those who become entangled with the gods.

I’ve known this ever since I was a small child, roaming freely through the palace. Back then, I thought I was invincible. I thought no sword nor monster could ever make me fall.

If only I knew better.

Perhaps I could’ve done more with my life — something worth remembering. I could’ve become a great philosopher whose ideas are taught for centuries after my death. Or perhaps I could’ve lived to inherit my father's throne and ride proudly into the battlefield. Even if I was killed in battle, I would be remembered as a hero. My people would honour me.

Yet I chose to stay with Apollo.

I was a naive boy — a fool, even.

When I woke up each morning with him by my side, I had no regrets. He was my Sun; I couldn’t live without his warmth. Every morning, his hand was entwined with my own. His grasp was tight, so tight that it felt like he had no plans of letting go. I would run a hand through his golden hair as he peacefully slept. Apollo’s hair was soft like a bird’s feathered wings. He was perfect in every way.

His bare chest rose and fell with each breath. I loved the freckles that were littered across his sun-kissed body. Some days, I would try to kiss each one as Apollo let out a quiet laugh.

I would give anything to hear that laugh once more.

I would give my heart to have that soft laugh echo through my ears again. There is no one in the world who sounds like him. His voice was angelic, almost musical. Every word he said was alluring. He had a siren’s voice. If he told me to, I would dive into the murkiest waters to follow him.

Our routine stayed the same for months. We would awake together, fulfil our respective duties, and meet once more at dusk.

I was a fool for thinking it would always be like that.

One morning, as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, he asked me a question.

“Hyacinthus,” he said with a mellow tone. I loved the way he said my name; it made me melt inside. “Do you love me?”

I did not hesitate. “Of course. And you?”

I smiled as he traced a finger along my bare chest.

“I love you like the Stars love the Moon, Hyacinthus.”

A voice lingered in the back of my mind, telling me I was unworthy of a god's love. It laughed harshly as it mocked me for falling for Apollo. You are nothing but his plaything, it whispered.

I opened my mouth to tell Apollo that perhaps I am undeserving of his love despite my better thoughts. He pressed a finger against my lips as if he knew what I was going to say. Gently, he pulled my hand towards his chest and laid it upon his heart.

It’s a known fact that the gods of Olympus do not their need hearts. Nor do they need any of the organs that we have within us. That is one of the many things that marks us as inferior to the gods. They are not like us; they are not human.

“You are my Sun, Hyacinthus,” Apollo said softly. “I couldn’t live a single day without you, just as the world cannot live without light.

I feel more love towards you than Aphrodite herself has ever felt. Do you feel that?”

His heart was pounding beneath my hand. I thought it would burst at any second.

“No one has ever made my heart wild with such ardour. Hyacinthus, you’re the only true love I have in this world.”

His words were everything to me.

My voice wavered as I spoke. I could no longer deny the truth.

“Your heart beats for love, Apollo. My heart—” I swallowed my words and shuddered at what I had to say. “My heart beats to live. One day, it will stop. One day, I will run out of time and I will find myself at the foot of Charon’s boat.”

Apollo’s face tightened into a frown. I cupped a hand around his cheek and looked into his bright, sky-blue eyes. Tears welled in his eyes and threatened to fall at any moment.

“You’re very dear to me, Apollo. I love you more than words can say. That’s why I want you to find someone worth your time, someone who—” I hesitated once more. Apollo’s frown became an expression of pain and discomfort. His sky-blue eyes were like a storm now— his tears were like rainfall. Only now did he truly understand the fragile nature of human life. I don’t blame him for it; I too struggled to accept the fate of mankind. “Someone who is not destined for death. Apollo, my time on this earth is short and you—”

He pressed his warm lips against mine and I forgot all my past worries..

“I don’t care,” he muttered as he nuzzled his face into my neck.

The god cried silently as I ran my hand through his soft, feathery hair. This wasn’t the same god I had seen in the tapestries around the palace. There, he always had a triumphant smile on his face as he posed with a lyre in hand. Yet here he was, distraught by his mortal lover. Apollo, the Sun god, was more fragile than I had thought. Perhaps the Olympians have more humanity than the poets say.

“I will never leave you, Hyacinthus.”

A harsh wind roared outside the palace as if it was angered by Apollo’s words.

“Are you sure we should do this today?” I asked him, raising my voice as the wind blew loudly.

“We’re already here,” he replied as he fiddled with the discus.

Apollo had insisted on having a game of discus. Did he want to distract himself from the day before?

I shivered as the wind roared once more. The cold pricked at my skin until it felt numb.

No man with a shred of common sense would play discus in these conditions.

Apollo held both my hands and rubbed circles into my palm with his thumb.

“It will be fine,” he reassured me. I sighed and watched as he gracefully threw the discus. His sun-kissed skin glistened under the light and his blue eyes shimmered like pearls in the clearest sea. The god laughed proudly as the discus flew to the sky. The throw was so powerful that it seemed to split the clouds. Perhaps it even saw the lights of Elysium.

His laugh was contagious. I laughed until my throat hurt as we ran to chase the falling discus.

Time seemed to slow down as we ran without a care. The wind felt refreshing as it blew against my face. I looked back to see Apollo trying to keep up. His golden locks were pushed back by the wind and a bright smile was plastered on his face. My run slowed to a light jog as I admired him. He was like a statue — perfect in every way. It was as if he had been crafted carefully by the finest sculptor in all of Greece.

Beautiful.

He quickly caught up to me as I stared at him. Before he could say anything else, I wrapped both my arms around his necks and pulled him into a kiss. Flowers of warmth blossomed within my body as Apollo placed a hand on my chest. His lips were so soft, softer than any pillow in the palace. I never wanted this moment to end. His hands travelled along my body, caressing me softly.

I only pulled back from the kiss when I needed to breathe.

Apollo was never the first to pull away; he never needed to.

“The discus,” I rasped as I turned towards the direction of the discus.

The wind shrieked. It was worse than before. Each gust of wind seemed angry. I thought back to rumours of an angry god. What had we done to anger anyone? Surely no god had the power to scare an Olympian.

“Apollo, we—”

A sharp pain in the back of my head interrupted me.

I don’t like thinking about what happened next. In fact, everything was a blur by then. My knees buckled beneath me as the world spun before me.

Overwhelming.

It was all too much.

I fell to the floor soon after, landing harshly on the dry ground. It felt as though someone had enhanced each and every one of my senses. I could feel everything — especially the pain throbbing in my head.

A golden figure crouched down beside me.

His voice was familiar. I’ve heard it somewhere before. Just who—

A sudden cry brought me back to my senses.

Apollo. Of course it was Apollo. Who else would it be?

I couldn’t think straight anymore. The pain in my head wasn’t helping. It sliced through my thoughts like a dagger. Each time I felt it pierce my mind, it felt as though sparks of lightning had been sent through my body.

The god weeped beside me as he held my head up. His hands were red — a hideous, sickly shade of red. What had happened? Surely it couldn’t be Apollo’s blood—

It was getting harder to think.

“Don’t leave me yet,” Apollo cried as he caressed my cheek.

His hand was so warm.

Home. It reminded me of home.

The hearth in the palace was warm too. I don’t remember the last time the fire died out. Is that fire waiting for me to come home?

“Hyacinthus?” Apollo’s voice had been reduced to a meek whimper.

I hated it when his voice became hoarse. It always meant he was upset.

“Hyacinthus?”

I didn’t have the strength to open my mouth. Fuck, I could barely keep my eyes open.

“I love you.” Apollo pulled me towards his chest. “Please stay with me, my love,” he whispered into my ear.

It was too much.

I couldn’t hold on for any longer.

I heard a gut wrenching cry.

There was one final blossom of warmth in my chest.

Then it became cold once again.

#writing #writeblr #hyacinthus #apollo #greek mythology #teen writer #creative writing

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tamaruaart · 3 months

Note

YOU

Grant us your oc’s delicious lore, anything that comes to mind first-

Ah tysm for asking

(btw I apologize for this being long af 😔)

So I feel like I should prep this by saying before I figured out about LMK I was super into OPS's jttw series. So I made Zhao with the context of the book, and the book doesn't sugar coat things so Zhao's backstory is a bit uhhh, mature? There's no nsfw stuff but there is a lot, lot, loottt of angst (even though the backstory is kinda "simple"), so forgive me :'(

I did change up her backstory a bit for the LMK version because it is a kids show and I don't feel like the creators would stick with the dark tone of the original. Whenever I write OCs for sertant shows I try to write it with the context of "How would the creator tackle this if my oc was a Canon character?" Yk? You don't write a depressed, emo, Greek hero for a light hearted magical girl show.

So ye, this first segment will be her JTTW backstory sum-up and I'll note what is changed in the LMK version at the end👍

JTTW/original backstory(this is long, read at your own risk)-

-Zhao wasn't raised in the best household.. Not only was her father a total womanizer with 3 wives (at the time of her birth, by now he has 7) and who knows how many mistresses, but her elder family member were pretty verbally abusive. I mentioned before but Xiaotian and Biao-Qi (Zhao's father and grandfather) wanted Zhao to be born as a male because in their clan its essential for the first born of every generation to be a boy, so when they found out about Zhao being a girl they were really salty and thought of her as "The disgrace" of the family. (hence why Zhaoyan is a name generally given to Chinese boys, which yea Xiaotian is the type of douche-bag to chose the name of the child at the start of his marriage without the mothers approval)

-Zhao was the one basically raising her younger siblings because her parents couldn't be bothered to, Pangfua (Zhao's mom) couldn't even bare to look at Xiaotian's face so the last thing she cared for was some random children of him and his mistresses, and Xiaotian's other wifes didn't really care for the children either. However, Zhao ADORED her siblings because she was always good with little kids. But as time went on and on, with so many children coming in to the household she started getting tired, but what could she do? At the time she was barely a teenage girl, if she complained to her father she could legitimately be at risk to lose her head. Like I said, Xiaotian couldn't care less about Zhao, he doesn't give a damn if she likes taking care of her siblings or not.

-Eventually Zhao grew too tired of her family, and decided to leave. This might seem selfish but holy frick, the girlie felt like a maid, and it's not like she doesn't care for her family, it's that they couldn't care less about her. All of her siblings were old enough to take care of each other and the other family members treated them well, why shouldn't she be able to "go live her own life"?

- The first place she went was to a temple dedicated to the Chinese tiger spirit- Hu Ye. The reason she went to him specifically was because he was sort of the protector/symbol of Zhao's family (for context think about how Apollo was the protector of the Trojans in the Iliad), she prayed to him all night, she asked humbly to become a Jade Maiden that serves Guan Yin (because that was probably the best option. Also just so you have context- Hu Ye blessed the girls in Zhao's family with a healing gift. So basically they could heal any illness, wound, missing limb etc...). But to her surprise Hu Ye saw what she did as "unforgiving". You shouldn't leave your family who loves you so much, not cool >:( (cut him some slack tho, whenever to family would worship him they would make them self's seem like the most perfect people ever). And so in short he gave her flaming orange hair so she never forgets that she is a Tiger Maiden (bcz orange=tigers and he just be petty like that bro).

-Eventually she went to the woods but she was found by Lánhūa- a forest spirit. Lánhūa took pity on her and decided to take her in as one of her nymphs. Because Zhao had the healing gift she was a great addition to the palace Lánhūa lived in, Zhao was always the one making sure everyone was healthy and the worst someone suffered was a common cold, and even those wouldn't last long.

-However one day while she was collecting fruits for the palace she stumbled upon a strange noise near a mountain, she went to check what it was and wouldn't you have guessed its good ol' Sun Wukong. The pair fairly quickly became friends, Zhao would often tell him stories and keep him company and Sun (who was under that damn mountain for 346 years by the time he and Zhao met) would listen and tell her his life stories.

-At the early stages of the jttw Monkey actually did try and convince Zhao to come with him and the other pilgrims, she would be the one taking care of Tripitaka and making sure he stays healthy. Zhao refused at first but after some time she agreed. Her and Tripitaka were very close because they were both kinda the "sane ones" of the group and Zhao took her position very seriously. Sanzang eventually noticed that this was a bit weird considering how layed back the other pilgrims were, so he confronted her and Zhao opened up to him. And that's how I'd show her backstory in the book.

So in short: Girl leaves abusive family and prays to god, god makes her a ginger and she gets adopted by a hot forest spirit. A monkey befriends her and convinces her to give free health care to his friend **emotional**

Holy crap that took so long to write/ Notes on how her backstory would probably be changed in the lmk version:

In the lmk version I think they'd tone down how bad her family was just a bit, again it is a kids show. I think the start would generally be the same but that Hu Ye would grant her wish. But instead of a disciple for Guan Yin I think they'd change it into a Peach Maiden, so that she could meet the brotherhood and befriend Wukong like she did in the original backstory. They'd probably remove Lánhūa as well (because she is a very minor character in Zhao's backstory). So yea in short of what I think the creators of LMK would do with her character: -Hu Ye grants her wish of becoming a Peach Maiden. -Orange would be her natural hair color(bcz tigers woo). -I honestly think they'd give her a sort-of survivor's guilt because of the whole "leaving your family" thing instead of "Ama give u tiger hair so you never forget how you left your family >:(" -She meets the brotherhood through their lil' rebellion -Healing powers would probably be toned down a bit so there's still some risk

So ya-

Again thank you SO much for the question and thank you for coming to my Ted talk

#monkie kid #lego monkie kid #lmk oc #jttw oc #lego monkie kid oc #monkie kid oc #journey to the west #oc lore #I'm sorry this is so long lol

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myfanwymusings · 10 months

Text

TAYLOR SWIFT - MIDNIGHTS (COMPLETE COLLECTION)

These lyrics come from Taylor Swift’s 2022 album, Midnights. It is her tenth studio album, and the fifth that she has owned fully. Lyrics may be modified to better fit roleplay situation, please feel free to adjust to your needs. Additionally, two solo tracks that were released in this era. This meme includes all standard tracks, Three A.M. tracks, The Late Night Edition vault track, the Til' Dawn Remixes, and any lyric changes in remixes. "Snow on the Beach (Feat. More Lana Del Rey)" was excluded due to no new lyrics.

LAVENDER HAZE

Meet me at midnight

You don't ever say too much

You don't really read into my melancholia

I find it dizzying

They're bringing up my history

All that shit is new to me

I feel that lavender haze creeping up on me

I'm damned if i do give a damn what people say

No deal

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride

The only kind of girl they see is a "one night" or a bride

You weren't even listening

Talk your talk

I just want this love spiral

Get it off my chest

Get it off my desk

MAROON

We lost track of time again

You were my closest friend

How'd we end up on the floor anyway?

Your roommates cheap-ass screw-top rose, that's how.

I see you every day now

I chose you

You were the one i was dancing with in New York

It was maroon

How the hell did we lose sight of us again?

How the hell did we lose sight?

Ain't that the way shit always ends?

I feel you no matter what

I lost you

I wake with your memory

I wake with your memory over me

That's a real fucking legacy

ANTI-HERO

I have this thing where i get older but just never wiser

Midnights have become my afternoons

My depression works the graveyard shift

I should not be left to my own devices

I wake up screaming from dreaming

wake up screaming from dreaming one day, I'll watch as your leaving

I wake up screaming from dreaming one day. I'll watch as you're leaving cause you got tired of my scheming

You got tired of my scheming

It's me, hi

I'm the problem, it's me

It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby

Did you hear my covert narcissism might disguise as altruism?

Did you hear my covert narcissism might disguise as altruism, like some kind of congressman?

Life would lose all it's meaning for the last time

I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money she thinks I've left them in the will

She's laughing up at us from hell

SNOW ON THE BEACH (FEAT. LANA DEL REY)

One night, a few moons ago, I saw flecks of what could've been lights but it might just have been you passing by unbeknownst to me

Life is emotionally abusive

Time can't stop me quite like you did

My flight was awful

Thanks for asking

My flight was awful, thanks for asking

I'm unglued, thanks to you

It's like snow on the beach - weird, but fucking beautiful

You wanting me tonight feels impossible

It's coming down

It's all around

This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen

I searched "aurora borealis green"

I've never seen someone lit from within

Your smile feels like I've won a contest

To hide that would be so dishonest

It's fine to fake it til you make it

I can't speak, afraid to jinx it

I don't dare to even wish it

Can this be the real thing, can it?

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, KID

Summer went away, still, the yearning stays

It's okay, we're the best of friends

I hear it in your voice, you're smoking with your boys

I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out

There's just one who could make me stay here for all my days

I waited ages to see you there

I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that you never cared

You're on your own, kid

You always have been

You're on your own, kid. You always have been

I see the great escape

I picked the petals, he loves me not

I'll run away

I called a taxi to take me there

I search the party of better bodies, just to learn that my dreams aren't rare

I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this

I hosted parties and starved my body like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss

The jokes weren't funny,

I took the money

My friends from home don't know what to say

I saw something they can't take away

Everything you lose is a step you take

So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it

You've got no reason to be afraid

You're on your own, kid. Yeah, you can face this

MIDNIGHT RAIN

He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that pain

He wanted a bride, I was making my own name

He stayed the same

All of me changed like midnight rain

My town was a wasteland, full of cages and full of fences but for some it was paradise

For some, it was paradise

My boy was a montage in slow-motion, of love potions and jumping off things into the ocean

I broke his heart cause he was nice

He was sunshine, I was midnight rain

He was sunshine

I was midnight rain

He wanted comfortable

I wanted that pain

He wanted a bride

I was making my own name, chasing the fame

It was the life I gave away

I guess sometimes we all get just what we wanted

He never thinks of me, except for when I'm on TV

He never thinks of me

I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted

I never think of him

I never think of him except on Midnights like this

QUESTION ...?

I remember

We had one thing going on and I swear that it was something

I don't remember who I was before you painted all my nights a colour I have searched for since

It's one thing after another

I have to say, by the way, that I just may like some explanations

Can I ask you a question?

Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?

Then what did you do?

Did you leave her house in the middle of the night?

Did you wish you'd put up more of a fight?

When she said it was too much, did you wish you could still touch her?

It's just a question?

Did you realize out of time?

You're not sure and I don't know

I just may like to have a conversation

Does it feel like everything is just like second best after that meteor strike?

What's that, that I heard? That your still with her?

That's nice, I'm sure that's what suitable and right

BEJEWELED

Baby love, I think I've been a little too kind

I think I've been a little too kind

I didn't notice you walking all over my peace of mind in the shoes I gave you as a present

Putting someone first only works when you're in their top five

By the way, I'm going out tonight

You best believe I'm still bejeweled

When I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer

Do you have a man?

I don't remember

Familiarity breeds contempt

Don't put mе in the basement, whеn I want the penthouse of your heart

I polish up real nice

Baby boy, I think I've been too good of a girl

I did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curve

I think it's time to teach some lessons

I made you my world, but have you heard that I can reclaim the land

I miss you but I miss sparkling

I miss you

I miss sparkling

Sadness became my whole sky

Some guy said my aura's moonstone, just 'cause he was high

You can try to change my mind but you might have to wait in line

What's a girl gonna do?

A diamond's gotta shine

VIGILANTE SHIT

Draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man

You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie

They say that looks can kill and I might try

I don't dress for women

I don't dress for men

Lately, I've been dressing for revenge

I don't start shit but I can tell you how it ends

Don't get sad, get even

On the weekends, I don't dress for friends

She needed cold, hard proof, so I gave her some

She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?

Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride

Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife

She looks so pretty driving in your Benz

Lately, she's been dressing for revenge

She don't start shit, but she can tell you how it ends

So on the weekends, she don't dress for friends

Ladies always rise above

Ladies know that people want someone sweet and kind and fun

The lady simply had enough

While he was doing lines, and crossing all of mine, someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI

Someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI

I don't dress for villains or for innocents

I'm on my vigilante shit again

LABYRINTH

It only hurts this much right now

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

I'll be getting over you my whole life

You know how scared I am of elevators, never trust it if it rises fast

It can't last

Uh-oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?

It only feels this raw right now

I'm lost in the labyrinth of my mind

You would break your back to make me break a smile

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back.

Just like that

KARMA

You're talking shit for the hell of it

Addicted to betrayal, but you're relevant

You're terrified to look down cause if you dare, you'll see the glare of everyone you burned just to get there

It's coming back around

I keep my side of the street clean, you wouldn't know what I mean

Karma is my boyfriend

Karma is a god

Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend

Karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Karma is a cat purring in my lap, cause it loves me

Me and karma vibe like that

My pennies made your crown

Don't you know that cash ain't the only price?

It's coming back around

Ask me what I've learned from all those years

Ask me what I've earned from all those tears

Ask me why so many fade but I'm still here

Karma is the thunder rattling the ground

Karma's on your scent like a bounty hunter

Karma's gonna track you down, step by step from town to town

Karma is queen

Karma takes all my friends to the summit

Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me

SWEET NOTHING

I spy with my little tired eye, as tiny as a firefly, a pebble that we picked up last July down deep inside your pocket

We almost forgot it

Do they ever miss Wicklow sometimes?

They say the end is coming

Everyone's up to something

I come home running to your sweet nothings

All that you've ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

On the way home, I wrote a poem

What a mind!

This happens all the time

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth talking hucksters are glad handing each other

All the voices all implore that I should be doing more

I'm just too soft for all of it

MASTERMIND

Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned so that you and I would end up in the same room at the same time

The touch of your hand lit the fuse for a chain reaction of counter moves to assess the equation of you

Checkmate, I couldn't lose

What if I told you none of it was accidental?

The first time that you saw me, I knew that nothing was gonna stop me

I laid the groundwork

Just like clockwork, the domino's cascaded in a line

What if I told you I'm a mastermind?

Now you're mine

It was all by design

I'm a mastermind

All the wisest women had to do it this way

All the wisest women had to do it this way cause we were born to be the pawn in every lovers game

We were born to be the pawn in every lovers game

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails and the liquor in our cocktails

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid, so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since to make them love me and make it seem effortless

No one wanted to play with me as a little kid

I've been scheming like a criminal ever since

This is the first time that I feel the need to confess

I swear that I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian cause I care

I told you none of it was accidental

The first time that you saw me I knew i wanted your body

You knew the entire time!?

You knew that I'm a mastermind

I'm a mastermind and now you're mine

THE GREAT WAR

My knuckles were bruised like violets from sucker punching walls,

I cursed you as I sleep-talked

I was spineless in my tomb of silence

I tore the banners down, and took the battle underground

Maybe it was the egos swinging

Maybe it was her

The flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur

All that bloodshed in crimson clover

The sweet dream was over

My hand was the one you reached for all throughout the Great War

We'll always remember

I vow not to cry anymore if we survived the Great War

You drew up some good faith treaties

I drew curtains closed and drank my poison all alone

You said I have to trust more freely

Diesel is desire, you were playing with fire

Maybe it's the past that's talking, screaming from the crypt, telling me to punish you for things you never did

I justified it

The bombs were closer

My hand was the one you reached for

All throughout the Great War

I'll always remember the burning embers

I vowed not to fight anymore if we survived the Great War

It turned into something bigger

Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed

But you looked up at me with honor and truth

I called off the troops

That was the night I nearly lost you

I really thought I'd lost you

We can plant a memory garden

Say a solemn prayer

I'll place a poppy in my hair

There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair

We will never go back

BIGGER THAN THE WHOLE SKY

No words appear before me in the aftermath

Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness

It's all over now, all out to sea

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

You were bigger than the whole sky

You were more than just a short time

I've got a lot to pine about

I've got a lot to live without

I'm never gonna meet what could've been, would've been, what should've been you

Did some force take you because I didn't pray?

Every single thing to come has turned into ashes

It's all over, it's not meant to be

I'll say words I don't believe

PARIS

Your ex-friend's sister met someone at a club and he kissed her. Turns out, it was that guy you hooked up with ages ago. Some wannabe Z-lister. And all the outfits were terrible. 2003 unbearable. Did you see the photos?

Your ex-friend's sister, met someone at a club and he kissed her.

It was that guy you hooked up with ages ago

All the outfits were terrible

Did you see the photos?

No, I didn't, but thanks, though

I'm so in love that I might stop breathing

No, I didn't see the news

We were somewhere else

I was taken by the view

We were in Paris

The privacy sign's on the door

Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours

Sit quiet by my side in the shade.

I wanna brainwash you into loving me forever

I wanna transport you to somewhere the culture's clever

I want to confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters

HIGH INFIDELITY

You said I was freeloading

I didn't know you were keeping count

Put on your records and regret me

I bent the truth too far tonight and I was dancing around it

Put on your headphones and burn my city

Your picket fence is sharp as knives

Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?

Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?

Storm coming, good husband

I dragged my feet right down the aisle

I'd pay if you'd just know me

It seemed like the right thing at the time

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love

Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

It's never enough

GLITCH

We were supposed to be just friends

You don't live in my part of town, but maybe I'll see you out some weekend depending on what kind of mood and situationship I'm in and what's in my system

You don't live in my part of town

Maybe I'll see you out some weekend depending on what kind of mood and situationship

What's in my system?

I think there's been a glitch.

I'm not even sorry

It must be counterfeit

I was supposed to sweat you out

In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else's playground

It's been two-thousand one-hundred ninety days of our love blackout

Our love is blacking out

The system's breaking down

I'll go back to wanting dudes who give nothing

I thought we had no chance

That's romance.

Let's dance

WOULD'VE COULD'VE SHOULD'VE

If you would've blinked, then I would've looked away at the first glance

If you tasted poison, you could've spit me out at the first chance

And if I was some paint, did it splatter on a promising grown man?

If I was a child, did it matter, if you got to wash your hands?

All I used to do was pray: would've, could've, should've

If you'd never looked my way, I would've stayed on my knees

I damn sure never would've danced with the devil a5 nineteen

The God's honest truth is that the pain was heaven

Now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts

Memories feel like weapons

Now that I know, I wish you'd left me wondering

If you never touched me, I would've gone along with the righteous

If I never blushed, then they could've never whispered about this

If you never saved me from boredom I could've gone on as I was

Lord, you made me feel important until you tried to erase us

You're a crisis of my faith

If I'd only played it safe

I would've stayed on my knees and I damn sure never would've danced with the devil at nineteen

God rest my soul

I miss who I used to be

The tomb won't close

I regret you all the time

I can't let this go

I fight with you in my sleep

The wound won't close

I keep on waiting for a sign

I regret you all the time

If clarity's in death, then why won't this die?

Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts

Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first

DEAR READER

If it feels like a trap, you're already in one

Get out your map. Pick somewhere and just run

Burn all the files

Desert all your past lives. If you don't recognize yourself that means you did it right

Never take advice from someone who's falling apart

You should find another

Bend when you can, snap when you have to

You don't have to answer just cause they asked you

The greatest of luxuries is your secrets

When you aim at the devil make sure you don't miss

I wander through these nights

I prefer hiding in plain sight

These are desperate prayers of a cursed man, spilling out to you for free

Darling, darling, please

You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking

I'm walking to a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there

I pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care

No one sees when you lose when you're playing solitaire

You should find another guiding light, but I shine so bright

HITS DIFFERENT

I washed my hands of us at the club

You made a mess of me

I pictured you with other girls in love, then threw up on the street

They say that if it's right, you know

Each bar plays our song and nothing has ever felt so wrong

Oh my, love is a lie

It hits different

It hits different this time

Moving on was always easy for me to do

It hits different 'cause it's you

I used to switch out these Kens and just ghost

Just rip the Band-Aid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw

Freedom felt like summer then on the coast but now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings

I never don't cry at the bar

My sadness is contagious

I slurred your name 'til someone puts me in a car

I stopped receiving invitations

I found the artifacts

I cried over a hat

Curse the space that I needed

I'll trace the evidence to make it make some sense

Why's the wound is still bleeding?

You were the one that I loved

You don't need another metaphor, it's simple enough

This is why they shouldn't kill off the main guy

In the good in the world, you once believed in me

I felt you and I held you for a while

I could still melt your world

I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway

Is that your key in the door?

Is it okay?

Is it you?

Have they come to take me away?

KARMA (FEAT. ICE SPICE)

Karma is that girl

Karma is your chеck about to bounce

Karma is a fire in your house

She's about to pop up unannounced

She is never leaving you alone

Now your switching up your behavior

It's okay, baby, you ain't gotta worry

Karma never gets lazy

Keep your head up

I won't let up

Karma is a beauty winning that pageant

YOU'RE LOSING ME

I don't understand

I know you don't

We thought a cure would come through in time, now, I fear it won't

I remember looking at this room, and loving it cause of the light

I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time

Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?

I'm getting tired even for a phoenix that's always rising from the ashes and mending all my gashes

You might just have dealt the final blow

Stop, you're losing me

I can't find a pulse

My heart won't start anymore for you

You're losing me

Every morning, I glared at you with storms in my eyes

How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dying?

I sent you signals

My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick

The air is thick with loss and indecision

I know my pain is such an imposition

You know what they all say

You don't know what you got until it's gone

How long could we be a sad song?

We were too far gone to bring back to life

I gave you all my best me's and my endless empathy

All I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier fighting in only your army

Don't you ignore me

I'm the best thing at this party

I wouldn't marry me either

I'm a pathological people pleaser who only wanted you to see her

I'm fading

Do something, babe, say something

Lose something, babe, risk something

"Choose something, babe,

I got nothing to believe, unless you're choosing me

My heart won't start anymore

ANTI-HERO (FEAT. BLEACHERS)

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is an art bro lately

I just judge them on the hill

Maybe I'm the problem, it's me

____, you'll be fine

#taylor swift lyrics.#inbox memes.#roleplay starters.#rp memes.#rp starters.#roleplay memes.#rph #myfanwy sources.

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