#my guy started to rethink his decisions when he realized he killed off the one character that tops charts every poll

[okwonyo]

✴︎ LET ME LOVE YOU.

PREC𝒾S ⠀⟡​⠀​ seven minutes in heaven with your ex boyfriend.

( 엔하이픈 희승 ) ୨୧ f .. r 1800 university au slight angst fluff exes to lovers getting back together ── flirting heavy make out skinship use of profanity ⠀ ｡｡ ⠀ recue𝒾l

ˊᗜˋreblogs&feebacks。C𝑙𝑖CK

DED𝑖CATED to ✶ to my puppy riri @isoobie mwah 🎀

a good portion of your life decisions has to be rethinked. half of the said portion needs to be modified, or even, destroyed with your bare hands.

starting with the one that let you here in the first place; agreeing to go to your friend’s party. leading you to end up in the middle of young adults drenched in sweat added to the scent of pure alcohol and other substances, loud music buzzing all the way to your brain, the ground vibrating as bodies jump up and down along the beat. not that you are shaming anyone ─ it is not as if you weren’t on the dance floor as well. vibing to the music after one of your friends dragged you to it with her, you bumped into a few people you could recognize the face or name’s first letter of. some you knew way better but decided to ignore until you were ready to face.

without even realizing, the simple fact of letting yourself loose around your friends made you stay at the party, that you were originally planning on staying for one hour to, much longer. as all your favorite songs were playing on the speakers, you didn’t even notice most of the people leaving. then when you did, the couch was too comfortable to get up just yet and quickly a bunch of people gathered around you until forming a full circle with you in it.

the second decision you should have made was leaving as soon as you saw a guy that you can’t reckon the name or existence of finishing his bottle of beer eagerly before putting it flat on the center of all of you. not because seven minutes in heaven is a silly game, although it is, there is a more important reason you should have avoided being in this circle or this party as a whole.

now, the bottle landed on you, heeseung being the one who spinned it in the first place. you find yourself trapped in a ridiculous closet with your ex boyfriend. which you haven’t seen in the flesh since he left korea during a whole year. and no, not even when he came back three months ago.

(not because you resented him. most likely because you were too nervous to confront him about your relationship’s current situation.

everything was too complicated, acting as if he was your ex boyfriend made your heart lighter and slowly became a reality as the months passed by.)

you could practically hear the grin growing on his face as you walked into the small piece, you wanted to kill him when he opened the door for you.

arms crossing themselves under your chest, you watched heeseung close the door behind him. his grin being ten times bigger than when your eyes met in the circle, “so─”

he got cut off as soon as he started talking, “we are not,” you emphasize on the last word. “kissing”

he fakes a saddened sound and a little pout, it doesn’t last long, though. his beautiful smile is back on his lips when the thought that you saw right through him runs in his mind because of course, he was ready to for it. he steps in front of you, “why?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. his voice is deep and slowly goes into a whisper, “are you getting shy? we already did that plenty of times before.”

the sound of his voice solely makes you court-circuit. you can feel your whole face getting red at the memory of his hot mouth on yours, the way he sighs in your mouth after a long time being away, his tongue traveling inside of it, his hands all over your body like he wants to make sure every part of it is still there, you remember it well. your eyes shot back and forth between his lips and his eyes ─ panic quickly settingin.

heeseung seems to notice your state of mind because he tilts his head to the other side, his smile turns into a playful smirk and he cocks one of eyebrows. a hum leaves his chest and vibrates in his throat as his mouth is still closed, silently asking you for an answer.

you cringe when you finally make your heart beat normally again, “we─we are exes!”

instead of ‘we haven’t seen each other for more than a year’, because it would be too weird, this is the only excuse you can come up with.

“is that all?” he chuckles, he takes another step towards you. for a second; he seems hurts, you brush it off. you furrow your eyebrows deeper at his movements as well as at his question. your excuse should be enough, alas it seems like it isn’t, “are you going out with anyone else these days?”

his body was beginning to be too close to yours for you to keep eye contact. you huffed anyway, as if you weren’t too busy mourning your semi-failed relationship with him to fall for somebody else. his stares is insistent on you and you can’t help but drag your gaze anywhere but on him.

you released a breath you didn’t know you were holding, “no, i am not,” there is no reason, for why you didn’t just tell him it was none of his business, not one you can wrap your head around at least. maybe you are not so petty anymore or maybe you don’t want heeseung to think you are in a relationship.

heeseung head falls, looking at his shoes. he stayed silent for a worrying amount of seconds, so much that you looked up to his face just to see him fighting a smile from spreading all over his face. he nodded while fighting for what seemed to be his life, slowly going back to looking at you. his tongue poked his cheek, despite all his efforts, he was still smiling.

he steps closer to you again, now you have to tilt your head up to look at him, “good,” he affirmed with full confidence, like the way he carried himself in front of you, “you don’t need anyone else,” there rest of the sentence is unspoken but still written all over his pretty face: other than me.

these simple words make all your control over your mind vanish. all the thoughts in your head vanishes in a few seconds, getting quickly replaced by the sugarcoated words of the man in front of you, who keeps on coming impossibly closer to you. he slowly is cornering you between the small closet’s wall and himself — before you can touch it, you almost trip over your feet as you walk backwards, his strong hand hold your lower back to prevent you from falling. your hands hold onto his biceps, you can feel his skin under your palms, your fingertips sinking in the muscles beneath them.

your heart is racing so much that you can feel it in your feet, warmth floods through all your body and you feel embarrassed by the thought of how red your face must be at this exact moment.

“are you okay?” he asks you gently. and hell, you could make a mess of his mouth right now.

you only press your lips together and nod, letting out a weak sound of ‘mhm’. then you just stare at him for a while, your chest rises and falls, your breath is heavy, the tension is building and heeseung is very close from combusting, you know it. however, he doesn’t lean in just yet, he wants you to make it ─ he wants to make sure you want it.

he speaks up again but his words are barely registered by you, “the only reason you have been feeling alone is because i wasn’t there,” nodding your head, your gaze too focused on his biceps. “i have been feeling the same as well,” he whispers, your thumbs rub against his skin, your mind is empty. he tucks a hair strand behind your hair, “but i’m here now,” he assures. “hm?”

you nod, although you didn’t really listen. there is only one option left.

your hand goes up to his shoulder, brushing against his neck to the back of it before reaching his hair. you lean him down as you put yourself on your tiptoes, heeseung lets you do whatever you want.

softness closes over your mouth. as usual, heeseung sighs into it, as if he has been craving this for months, and maybe he did. you could feel your body getting weaker. his arms hugging your waist gently the same way yours hug his neck ─ you both pulled each other as close as you could. your mouth fell open and he gently licked into your mouth.

he kisses you softly, carefully and kindly. heeseung always kisses you like that when he has missed you. his hands grip into your shirt as if he doesn’t want to you go away from him, bringing you closer and closer as the kiss goes on, he wants to melt into you.

he pulls back quickly, feeling himself losing it, “i missed you so much,” he tells you. his breath brushes right against your mouth. you can only look at him, not knowing what to say, with your gorgeous eyes and flushed cheeks. he whines, “don’t look at me like that,” and his tongue goes back to working in your mouth.

he wants to devour you.

you mind completely clouds over when heeseung tilts his head to the side in hope to get better access to your mouth, and his wish is given to him in a silver plate. you let out a song you are too embarrassed about to not throw into the bin of your deepest and darkest memories. you release a shuddered breath against his mouth when his hand drags itself from your waist to your nape, sending you chills through it. heeseung’s hand on the back of your head made your lips press even more against his.

you don’t know how long heeseung kisses you breathless but suddenly he slowly leans back up, his grip on your waist getting tighter. you slowly gets lifted off the floor for a hug-kiss. the joy bubbles up in your chest, threatens to burst out off your chest, and heeseung has to stop the kiss because you are smiling too hard.

you hug him tightly, hiding your face in his shoulder while his lips travel on your neck, leaving kisses here and there while you giggle. you missed him so much.

for sure, you could stay like this forever and you would if it wasn’t for the loud banging against the door. the seven minutes are over, still heeseung kisses you ─ a few quick pecks before putting you back on the floor.

he stares at you for a moment, a curse gently leaves his mouth and weirdly because it’s him, it doesn’t sound so be, “you are so pretty.”

you fight the urge to roll your eyes. feeling so soft and flustered, suddenly even more shy than earlier.

heeseung dragged you out of the closet with his hand in yours. you put a lot of effort in avoiding eye contact with your friends, which happened to be the majority of the people present here. with an arm hugging your waist when you both reached the couch, heeseung made you both sit on it. his arm lay heavy on your shoulders while he swooped in to kiss you softly on the cheek.

everyone groans loudly. you are both so back.

ㅤㅤ𓈒ㅤㅤ𓈒 taglist open !

(..◜ᴗ◝..) thank u for reading ! ^^

[bohnsky]

I am not happy at all. No I am but also I'm not. I did not wake up at 6:30 in the morning on a sunday just to watch my favorites dnf and listen to Ralf Schumacher rant about my love Checo (at least he knows that Checo fans dislike him). Only the McLaren double podium makes this race okay (not really but I'm happy for them) and Ferrari didn't fuck up which is good.

So anyway here are my favorite drivers 4,5 months into liking f1:

Because he was in the paddock this weekend, I have to include Seb again. My one and only. I love him, he deserves the world, protect him at all cost. When he said it hurts to watch instead of driving himself because Suzuka is his favorite track. Emotional damage.

But he seemed so happy to be back in the paddock and to teach the grid about bees. He's so passionate, it's beautiful. And we got Sewis content.

1. Alex Albon

This (hopefully) won't change as long as I put Seb in a different category (the Seb category).

Just today I saw a comment saying that you simply can't hate Alex and that he is the least disliked driver and I love that. He deserves all the love.

My heart broke when he retired. I am not okay with how things turned out here. Everyone said they love Suzuka, why is it so mean to me?

2. Sergio Perez

I hate to admit that I almost put him on third this week because I wasn't as obsessed with him as I was during the last few weeks, but omg did I get mad when Ralf Schumacher started ranting about him, which made me rethink that decision. I love Checo my precious. This whole race was a disaster for him (and me) and yes some of it was his fault, I realize that, but I refuse to think about it. Just as I refuse to think about his seat. And I refuse to talk about it with anyone who doesn't agree with me. (I don't mind people who don't agree with me, I just don't want to hear it, not when it comes to Checo my love)

I just hope he is okay mentally and can enjoy the celebrations with the team.

Also I usually drink a red bull for every race but I didn't want one at 7 in the morning, so that race must have been the punishment for me not drinking my racely red bull.

3. Charles Leclerc

My man, again on 4th must suck. So close to the podium. But honestly I'm just happy that Ferrari didn't actively try to fuck up his race again.

4. Lewis Hamilton

Sewis content yay :D

Lewis always seems so happy when he's with Seb and that makes me happy. These two are my f1 comfort ship, they never fail to make me smile.

But also unecessary Merc bitch fight, I hope they are civil about it off track.

5. Lance Stroll

This time I had to put Lance here. I just adore him and it literally breaks my heart that he has such a bad season. To me he seems like he always stays true to himself even with all the bullshit he constantly gets and I love that for him. And even if I want more Lance content I love that he stays away from media as much as he does.

He was doing really well this race and I thought this could be a good one for once, for my little Lancy shaped heart, but no. Everything went wrong today just kill me already.

Honerable mentions:

Lando. I'm so happy about the McLaren double podium and that Lando has so many podiums lately. Also I've been watching a lot of Quadrant lately and I'm totally digging it.

Oscar. Obviously, I'm so happy for him. He is an amazing driver and a precious little baby. Go McLaren!

Valtteri. He's really gone through it today. I like him a lot, he might even be in the top 10 and I just want him to be happy. This race was not it. Also it took me ages to learn how to spell Valtteri. I always wrote Vallteri or Valterri. But now I know.

Max. Congrats my guy. I was thinking, I'm a little sad that I joined f1 during his peak. I wish I could've watched him grow and become the driver he is now. Also his fucking hair. Please I just want to touch it.

Hulknussen. I just want to talk about them because it seems like no one else does. To me they are peak enemies to friends (to lovers). But I don't like Haas the team. The drivers are great.

The Alpha Tauris. Listen, I am not okay with the whole seat situation in Alpha Tauri or even all of Red Bull. I love that Yuki and Danny get to drive next season, but what about Liam? He is literally outperforming Yuki. He should get a permanent seat. Why aren't they giving it to Liam? What are they planning? Please don't scare me and my Checo heart. Why can't everyone get a seat? Why did I get into a sport where there are only 20 fucking seats? Why does everyone have to be so lovable?

George. I was thinking about George getting Alex this his seat and I am thankful. That's why George is here on this list today.

The 2nd William seat. Is not a driver but it stresses me out. I don't think that Logan will get it again. I want Mick to get it. Please give me your opinions. Who will get the 2nd Williams seat next season?

[savnofilter]

364 MHA/BNHA LEAKS****

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im sorry but aside from the other poorly written bits of the series, bakugo being revived has to be one of the shittest. this isnt in a way to knock hori's writing as whole, but its just so obvious when things are written and catered for fans and not for plot.

youre telling me that bakugo diet-died so that someone ELSE dies?? wtf was the point in the first place im losing my mind. even tho it was pretty predictable that theyd somehow find some stupid way to pull a, "wait guys hes alive!!!" its still so annoying to watch.

context: first pic best jeanist is checking his (bakugo) pulse and trying to help him. edgeshot comes to the scene and transforms into a fucking heart.

really, what was the point?

[cherrybombfangirl]

Sacrifice

Ninjago Angst Week - Day 4!

@ninjago-angst-week

(my fanseason) Amy knows what she has to do to save her family from the monster she could become. But there’s just one tiny issue with what that entails.........

Warnings: Hatch gets his own warning, death death and more death, major character death, violence, description of lethal injuries, depictions of blood and wounds, guns and gunshot wounds, thoughts of and attempt at suicide, and ANGST so much ANGST I'm not even kidding I really loaded this up with all the ANGST-

This one’s a bit longer than my other ones. Enjoy!

~~~

They finally met up with Nya, Jay, and Cole, who were also very relieved to see Amy alive and in one piece.

Amy gave Jay a suspicious look, "What did you do?"

Jay laughed nervously, "I think we did OK!"

Behind them, a huge explosion went off, triggering alarms.

A tired smile crossed Amy's face and she shook her head. "Missed you too sparkle Fingers. Let's go guys."

They finally made it to the upper levels, where a bunch of Andys were waiting to stop them. Not willing to back down, the ninja jumped fists up (despite everyone being pretty banged up).

They didn't have much in way of weapons, so they all just fought hand to hand or used their powers.

Amy was in barely any shape to fight, but she did what she could.

Jay's lightning and Kai's fire set off more explosions, and gunfire forced them all to find cover behind concrete columns.

Amy launched a small forcefield around the column she and Lloyd were hiding behind, and pain flashed behind her eyes. She hissed, forcing herself to not collapse right there, and leaned against the column.

An Andy dropped dead next to her feet, and she snatched up his gun. It wasn't loaded all the way, but better than no weapon.

"Someone get that crazy doctor guy!" Jay shouted.

"I blasted him with my fire like three times!" Kai said, "How is that psycho still alive?"

Zane quickly peeked around his column and scanned Hatch. "He's been injected with some kind of super-healing immortal serum. It will take much more than some flames to kill him."

"Great," Kai groaned, "As if killing this guy couldn't get any harder with the dozens of person bodyguards swarming him!"

Amy squeezed her eyes shut.

~

They were losing.

~

They were losing and she was going to be turned back into a monster and forced to hurt her family if she didn't do something.

But what?

~

She felt the small syringe stuffed in down the front of her jumpsuit, cold against her tender, torn skin.

Amy reached down her shirt and pulled it out.

The syringe had a horrifying gleam in the firelight behind her.

The image of herself she'd seen back in the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb came to her. She looked exactly the same in that reflection as she did now.

In the back of her mind, she saw the image of a purple panther sacrificing itself to save the other animals- a maroon phoenix, a red lion, a blue octopus, a black gorilla, a white wolf.......... And a golden dragon.

A purple panther.

Her animal symbol.

And all the other animals.......

The animal symbols of the others.

Amy had never seen the image before, yet the image was familiar and she somehow knew it was true and real.

Her fist closed around the syringe and she took a deep breath.

She knew what she had to do.

~

Amy looked around at her friends- her family- fighting to get out of here. To get her out of here.

But if Hatch won, Amy would go straight back to getting brainwashed and hurting her family.

She couldn't do this to them.

But she also couldn't let them get hurt by her.

Amy looked from her family to the fight behind them, torn. Finally, she made her decision. She took a deep breath, grabbed Lloyd, and pulled him into a kiss, making it as long and deep as possible. Letting the kiss give her the strength and courage she needed for what she was about to do.

Lloyd was very caught off guard and surprised, but kissed her back anyway.

She pulled away from a little, whispering, "I'm sorry, I love you, I'm so sorry." Then she broke away- racing into the fray. Lloyd shouted after her, but she was already too far.

"HATCH STOP!" She shouted, the gun aimed at his heart (if he in fact had one, still up for debate).

Hatch turned at her warning, looked at the gun, and scoffed. "Oh, dear Seven, I can't die. I sure you've seen what my new super healing serum can do."

Amy forced herself to put on a brave face and breathe normally. "Maybe you can't die," she said, loud enough for Hatch to hear. Then in one movement, dropped her weapon, pulled out the syringe, and held it to her neck. "But I can."

Hatch's eyes widened with realization, he regained his composure and ordered the Andys to stop. The fighting screeched to a halt, and he chuckled, raising his gun and aiming it at Amy. The Ninja team erupted with fury and started to charge, but Amy held up a hand to stop them.

"Oh, Seven, this is a bit rash, don't you think?" Hatch asked, "Maybe you want to rethink what is at stake here. Consider what you are facing if you use that."

"Oh, I've considered it," Amy said, "I know you need me in order for your plan to work, and that I'm the one thing that will bring you down if I'm gone. So the only way to stop you is to stop me."

Her free hand, the one with a broken arm, shook violently, and not just from the pain. She took a deep, shuttering breath to calm herself.

Hatch desperately tried to defuse the situation. "Now Seven-"

"NO! I AM NOT A PIECE IN YOUR GAME AND I NEVER WILL BE!" Amy shouted.

Hatch snarled then finally snapped, raising his gun and aiming in less than a second. One, two, three bangs, and three red stains began to grow on the already bloodstained white jumpsuit. One on her stomach, one on her shoulder, and one on her leg. Hatch smiled evilly as he lowered his gun.

Then the syringe fell from Amy's hand and shattered to the floor. Empty.

Amy looked up, directly into Hatch's eyes, glaring. "You.......lost......." She ground out before crying out with pain as the poison coursed through her veins like molten lava.

Hatch roared with fury but was cut off by Kai who yelled with anger. There was a huge column of flames (combined with the other's powers), and the evil scientist was gone forever. Andys started dropping immediately with their leader or fighting to kill them all off.

Luckily, the others were able to keep them back with their powers.

Amy let out a gasp of pain, clenching her teeth as she felt her legs give out under her and she stumbled backward into Lloyd. She clutched one hand to the gunshot wound in her stomach and the other to her neck where she had injected the poison in an attempt to stop the pain. Lloyd gently lowered her to the ground, desperately trying to stop the bleeding from the wound on her shoulder.

Amy couldn't hold it any longer as the poison reached her brain, and let out a small cry of pain, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm- I'm not gonna make-"

"No," Lloyd whispered holding her in his arms, "No, no.........no, don't say that," he whispered as his eyes burned with tears. "You're gonna be fine, you- it's fine, you're gonna be fine, we just gotta-" His hand, trying to stop the bleeding in her shoulder, was now slick with blood.

Black blood.

The poison was turning her blood black.

Amy opened her mouth to say something but grimaced with pain. When she tried again, it came out in a whisper between gasps of pain. "Lloyd, I-........." She winced, unable to finish.

"No," Lloyd said, "You can't do this to me, Amy you can't- you can't do this, please, you have to stay, you have to stay with me-"

Bolt, who had been sitting next to them, whined and nudged his owner's hand.

Amy smiled weakly and softly rubbed his head. "Bolt........... You did a great job buddy. I-" She paused, interrupted by coughing fit, hacking up more blood, now turning black. "I....... want you to take care of Lloyd for me until I see you again.............. Alright boy? Will you do that for me?" Bolt whined again and slipped his head under her arm so he could rest his head on her stomach.

Amy looked back to Lloyd, who had tears threatening to spill. Lloyd swallowed hard, trying to keep his tears at bay. She brushed a lock of hair out of his face, and let him take her hand in his.

"No," Lloyd begged, "Please you can't leave me, Amy, please."

"Lloyd............" Amy murmured, "It's OK-"

"No!" Lloyd said again, "No, no, You can't- I can't do this........ Please..........." His voice was shaking, "Amy, please, I can't- I can't lose you too! Please, no......"

"I'm sorry," Amy whispered, "I'm sorry, Lloyd. I'm so, so sorry- I..........." She trailed off, not having enough strength to finish. She pulled him down to her and kissed him with the last of her strength.

The kiss was over as fast as it started, even though for a second, it felt like an eternity to both of them. Amy let her head fall back as she closed her eyes. Her arm slipped from Lloyd's grasp, falling to the ground, lifeless, and she didn't move again.

~~~

[cmzucchero]

a love for the ages.

summary: g/n reader wants to take a break from spencer, but things turn out to be more difficult than expected. uses (altered) lyrics from cornelia street, death by a thousand cuts, and i wish you would by taylor swift

requested: yes!! (and requests are still open!!)

warnings: tv 14 cussing, bar scenes and mentions of alcohol

———————————————————————

You make your way back home from the restaurant, alone. This did not surprise you, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t disappointed. This was your two year anniversary. You knew his job came first, and that was one of the things you loved about him- he was loyal. Unfortunately, you picked a man that had an aggressively demanding job he needed to be loyal to as well.

You sat in your car, passing streets, and stopping for red lights. You hopelessly look up and ask the traffic lights if things will be alright. Subconsciously, you think you hear them say ‘I don’t know’. The red glow fills your car as you quietly chuckle. ‘Great Y/n, now you’re really losing it.’ you think to yourself. After some time, you finally make it home. As soon as you walk into the door, you take off your shoes and throw the keys onto the small coffee table a few feet away from you. Finally, you sit down and let out a long sigh. You start listing all the times Spencer had stood you up, neglecting to inform you the plane was late or that there was a case.

Spencer did not like technology, and the thought of texting rarely crosses his mind. However, that did not mean you never crossed his mind. There is hardly a moment he doesn’t hear your voice instructing him to grab something to eat, that he would get more done if he rested, that it’s not okay to mix patterns with his shirt and tie; or that he passes a spot that somehow mimicked your aroma perfectly. 

He had a damn eidetic memory, so he cannot believe he forgot about the date. By the time he remembered, he had already boarded the plane and lost cell service. ‘Okay, well, at the rate of velocity the plane travels at, we will be landing by 10:30. The flower shop closes at 11 and her favorite book shop closes at 11:30. The flower shop is 13 miles away-” Spencer’s thought process was interrupted by Derek asking if Spencer could move so Derek could get some “grub”. Spencer just moved his legs over in response, allowing Derek to cross. 

“Hey, Reid, what’s on your mind?” Emily asked from across Spencer. “I- uhm- I forgot to let Y/n know that I can’t make it to our dinner tonight.” JJ and Emily share a look. “Spence, isn’t this your two year anniversary?” JJ asked, her voice laced with sympathy and bewilderment. “I know, I screwed up.” “Yeah, you can say that.” Emily said with a bit of a chuckle, but losing it as soon as she noticed Spencer’s reaction. “How do I fix this one?” Spencer asked a bit too helplessly. The girls shared a look again, ending when Emily looked back at the Doctor. “I’m not sure you can.” He just hopes he never loses you, he hopes it never ends.

It was no surprise you became bitter after listing off all of the times Spencer stood you up or stretched you thin. You began to pack your bags and leave Cornelia street, Hopefully you’ll be done before he even knew you were gone. That plan did cut out the rough confrontation.

He told you about his co-worker’s divorce, and you felt for the guy. His wife did not give him a lot of room to wiggle. Now you’re starting to think that was Spencer warning you what this job entails for the romantic partners of the team. You stood looking at the half full suitcase that laid on your bed you share. You want to run and hide, but he makes you turn right back around. 

If you were right, Spencer should be over Kentucky. This gives you an hour and thirty minutes to make a decision. You needed a break, but this boy has had everyone leave him in this way, but he answer was clear… you’ve been stretched too thin.

The plane finally landed and Spencer did not take any time to get out of the plane and run to his car.

“I mean, yeah that plane ride was a bit too rocky for my liking, but didn’t pick the kid for a fear of heights type of person.” Rossi said while watching Spencer. “Hell, I would be running like that too if I had an angry Y/n to come home to.” Derek said smoothly walking to get his bags. Rossi made a “I know that story” face and followed Derek. 

You didn’t even hit the tunnel before your phone started to ring. You knew it was him without even glancing at the screen. You decided against answering and just turned around. You waited a little bit after making your decision from earlier to test the universe. If Spencer came through that door, you would sit and talk about how you felt, but if not…

You made it to the door and started to look for your key. Spencer pulled open the door before you could fully get the key out. Your face remained unfazed, but you saw how full of worry he was. You’d be just lying if you said you didn’t feel a wave of guilt wash over you. 

You push past him and stand between your breakfast bar and living room, facing him. He shuts the door and begins to apologise. You have to fight back the scream you felt bubbling up. You knew it was unfair, but damn it, tonight was supposed to be special! 

You see flowers and a book lying on the same coffee table you had thrown your keys onto a few hours before. Damn, he’s playing all the cards in his hands. 

You notice he had been quiet for a minute, so you turn and walk over to the window on your left, above the couch. Spencer watched you climb onto the couch and crawl out of the window, onto the fire escape. 

You guys took every chance to sit out there for reading, eating, talking, anything. It had a nice view and had a way of calming the both of you rather quickly. Spencer followed you out. You both sat on the roof in silence before he said “I’m so terrified of you walking away, Y/n.” You sat, calming yourself and trying to find the best answer before you settled on “I think we both need to step away for a minute. Nothing permanent yet. I just think that would be the next step for right now. I just can’t pretend everything is okay when it’s not.” Neither of you looked toward each other, but you both knew you shared the silent tears streaming down your face. 

Not much time passed before you got up, crawled back into the apartment, grabbed your stuff and left. You wanted to say something more, but you couldn’t bring yourself to it. Saying goodbye was already death by a thousand cuts. You drove back home with tears in your eyes, threatening to spill over. You had trouble sleeping that night due to all the flashbacks you kept getting of your time with him. You knew this was probably not the best decision, but at this point he probably thinks you hate him because he still has no idea what you never said. 

Spencer walked into work the next morning, clearly off his usual game. Derek and Emily realized this and started saying some things that they knew Spencer would correct. To no avail, the Doctor still stared blankly at the papers on his desk. “Hey Pretty Boy, what’s got you head in the clouds?” Derek said, now turning his body towards Spencer. No response. Derek bumped into Spencer's chair, snapping him out of his trance. 

“Wha-what?” 

“Reid, are you okay?” 

Derek asked now matching Emily’s worried features. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Has Hotch said anything about a new case?” Derek’s eyebrows are still furrowed as he slowly says no. After his response, Spencer stood up and announced he would be going to lunch early, and walked off. 

“It’s 10:38.” Derek said more to himself than Emily. Emily nodded in response and walked over to JJ’s office.

Before your shift at the library, you went back to Spencer’s apartment and grabbed anything you thought you needed. Hopefully he wasn’t there. Why would he be? I mean he’s been out and at work for about two hours. You stuff some clothes, hygiene products, and books into a bag. For the past couple of years, he had always been at the back of your mind. Hell, he still is. Your heart, your body, your hips, your love..you're trying to find a part of you that he didn’t touch. Your time, your wine, your spirit, your trust..trying to find a part of you he didn’t take up. You begin to rethink your decision until rushing out before you have an unwelcome meeting with Spencer.

Spencer didn’t quite know where to go. His body and mind just followed his feet. Before he knew it his nose was hit with a musty and sour smell and his eyes had to adjust to the contrasting dark room. He was at a bar at 11:15 in the morning. ‘...great’ he said to himself. He slowly walked up to the almost vacant bar and climbed up onto the seat. 

“Hey sugar, what are you having?” Spencer slowly looked up “Just a water please. I’m still on the job.” The bartender curtly nodded and slid a glass of water and a small cookie to Spencer. She sweetly smiled and turned around to top off the only other customer he saw in the bar. Spencer took a sip of the water and stared at the cookie, starting to smile a bit to himself. The sweet bartender came back and started talking to Spencer. 

“So who was it? You still got a job that you’re loyal to. You seem too put together to be a regular day drinker. Wasn’t a death. So, who was the one who broke your heart?” Spencer looked at the bartender for a few seconds before answering. 

“I can’t blame them if I’m being honest.” He said, diverting his eyes down to his glass of water. He chuckled to himself about what the bartender said about his job “And yeah, you can say I’m loyal to my job. That was the thing that caused the ‘break’” The bartender looked Spencer up and down “The only job I can think of  that is that demanding would be the police force, but, no offence, you don’t look like you belong there.” Spencer laughed, picking at the cookie. “Yeah, I’m sorta the police. I figure out the psychology behind why people kill and my team and I help solve cases with that knowledge.” The bartender raised her eyebrows. “Intense” was all she said. Spencer nodded and dropped his eyes back down to his water. 

After an hour or two, Derek walked into the bar. He looked around and moved towards Spencer. It wasn’t that hard to spot him since he was the only other person at the bar besides a trucker on the other end. 

“Hey kid, you okay?” Spencer didn’t acknowledge Derek. They sat in silence until Spencer finally said “I gave them so much but it wasn’t enough.” Derek nodded and ordered a glass of water for himself. He knew they would be there for a while. 

“Do you want my advice?” Derek said after a sigh. ‘No, I really just want her back.’ Spencer thought, but decided to remain silent. They stayed in the bar for a bit longer. 

“Sure.” Spencer said meekly. 

“You’ve got to win her back.”

 “And how do you suppose I do that, Derek?” a more snappy response from the Doctor. 

“Well, you could go to the library. She’s working today, right?” 

Spencer nodded but was still confused about how going to their work and suffocating them when she wanted a break would win them back. 

“I’ll go with you and we’ll say we need a book for a case.” Derek said, hopeful. 

Spencer sighed. “They’ll know it’s an excuse.” 

“No they won’t. What makes you think they will?” 

“I have an eidetic memory.”

“And you’ve never read twilight.” 

“What?”  

“You’ve never read twilight. If they asks, we say that one of our unsubs is mimicking something from it.”

Spencer was quiet for a moment, then gathered his coat and bag and made his way for the door. 

“Alight!” Was all Derek said, grabbing his coat and following Spencer.

 You were talking to your coworker about Spencer, not noticing the bell ringing from the front of the door. 

“I mean it hasn’t even been 24 hours but I already miss him too much to be mad anymore.” you say, shaking your head, thinking you were being just a bit too pathetic. 

Your coworker tried getting your attention by tapping her pencil rapidly. She wishes she chose a  better distraction cause you kept going on while the certain FBI agent kept getting closer. Suddenly, Spencer ducked behind a bookshelf, leaving derek looking around confused after realizing his friend disappeared. 

“I just have a feeling this will be the kind of heartbreak time will never mend, you know. I don’t know, I just wish he was right here, right now, and it’s all good again.”

“Well your last wish is granted!” Your coworker whispered, slightly agitated.

Your eyes grew as you looked around, looking for Spencer. The only thing you saw was Derek Morgan approaching the check-out desk with an alarming smug look on his face. 

You felt your face heat up and turn red while you grab the book he slid over the counter.

“Hello Derek, what brings you in.”

“Oh, Pretty Boy and I have to get some books for a case.”

Your heart dropped. ‘Shit! He’s in here!’. Alarms start going off in your head. Derek leans over the counter and whispers “Don’t worry, I don’t think he heard.” Your eyes widen, but you are slightly relieved knowing Spencer didn’t hear your pathetic rambling. 

You clear your throat and ask if that was all Derek was getting. He looked around, what you guessed was him looking for Spencer, and nodded. “Good bye, Pretty.” he said with a wink, then turned around toward the door. You continue to watch and see Spencer practically run out of the aisle closest to the door, following Derek out. You can’t help chuckle, despite the pain in your heart. 

“Thanks for the warning.” you said to your coworker, Anne, while you were still facing the door 

“I tried to tell you!” 

“Yeah, sure” you chuckle, finally turning towards her.

“You wanna grab a drink tonight. No offense, but it seems like you need it.” 

“Jee, thanks. I will take you up that offer.” 

Anne was the only person you thought would have room to have you as a roommate until you find another apartment. You felt bad for barging in, but you didn’t think your car would suffice. Besides, she owes you for all the shifts you picked up. 

Spencer ended up going back to work with a stupid book and a large dent in his pride. The rest of the day was slow. There was no case and the other members apparently took most of his files. He didn’t argue with them, though. He was drained and thankful they took that load off of him. He finished his stack about an hour before he was supposed to leave, but Hotch allowed him to leave. He felt weird about going back to the bar, so maybe he’ll just camp out at his apartment. After a moment of thought, he decided just to ride around in his car. He knew the apartment would remind him of you too much. It’d be like sitting in a haunted room, waiting for a sign of you coming back.You haven’t even been gone for 24 hours. How could he feel this raw and vulnerable?

“What are you wearing?!” 

“Uhh, some clothes.”

“Those aren’t clothes for the bar!” 

“I mean they do sorta meet up the dress code. I’m not trying to get any guys. I don’t want a rebound. Just want to forget for a while.”

“The only way to really do that is with another guy, Y/n.” 

“No, Anne. By the way, you’re wearing two different earrings.”

“Oh- thanks!”

Anne rushed back into the bathroom while you stood in the middle of the living room. You felt a bit awkward, so you pulled your phone out of your jeans. ‘What does she mean ‘these aren’t bar clothes’?’ you thought. You were wearing jeans, converse, and a jacket over a shirt. What else are you supposed to wear? 

You were broken from your thoughts by Anne walking out and hollering. You two weren’t very similar, whatsoever, but she was your closest friend in D.C., besides Spencer, but that doesn’t really count right now, does it? Anne was ushering you out the door with her, only pausing to lock her apartment door. You had no idea how this night was going to play out. 

“C’mon, you came here to forget- shot.”

Anne was persistent trying to help you forget Spencer. You would’ve complied if you knew that you getting drunk wouldn't be enough. Once the morning came, you would be hit with the realization that he was not yours. 

You endured a few more shots before sneaking away from Anne. You left her in a booth while you climbed up into a bar stool. 

“Hey hon, whatcha want?”

“Just a water please”

The bartender gave a nod and slid the water over. She tended to a few other customers before she circled back to you. 

“So what’s got you in the slumps?”

You’re a bit taken aback from her blunt demeanor, but at least she wasn’t giving you shots.

“I asked my...my boyfriend? I don’t know, I asked for a break.”

“And now you’re upset?”

“Yeah, I am. Sounds so stupid, but I think it’s too late to go back to him. I just got so frustrated! He’s more loyal to his job than to me. I mean, it’s a noble job, I’m not that upset about that, he just doesn’t communicate well!”

The bartender looked like she knew something when you talked about how Spencer was loyal to his job. You brushed it off as her being familiar with the same situation. 

“I don’t think it’s too late. I actually think he might be just as down in the dumps as you are.” 

“I don’t know. What makes you think that?”

“Cause there was a tweaky little guy in here earlier today. Eileene gave him a glass of water. I was eavesdropping from the booth. He barely talked- just poked at his cookie.” 

You felt your heart start to race. Spencer was upset! ‘Of course he is, idiot.’ you cursed yourself. 

You looked back up to the bartender, thanked her, slid a 10 across the bar, and rushed over to find Anne. 

Spencer had been driving for a while now and he figured he should probably brace himself to enter the apartment. 

He felt a painful ping in his chest when he passed the street the apartment complex rested on. All the memories started flooding back in. The dinners- cut to the break up. The Doctor Who marathons- cut to the breakup. All the whispered questions asking what someone meant in a movie- cut to the breakup. He knew he wouldn’t be able to pass the bathroom without smelling you. 

Spencer opened the door and stood in the doorway for a minute, taking in the picture. You weren’t cooking, or dancing to Dean Martin; you weren’t lying on your stomach, reading; you weren’t hunched over your laptop, writing; and he didn’t hear your soft snores from the bedroom. It was colorless, silent, and empty. 

After a few shaky steps towards the living room, he shut the door. He felt like a stranger in his own apartment. Without you, it was so bland and different. He couldn’t stomach any food, and he had already completely marked out the idea of going anywhere near the bathroom for a shower. 

Spencer fell onto the couch and just stared. Your shoes weren’t by the door with your socks kicked several feet from them. Your keys were missing from their usual spot. Your presence was gone. And until yours came back, Spencer’s was gone.

You have two choices. Keep your pride and learn to live without Spencer, or, you would swallow your pride and go back home. Between the pain in your heart and the rain, you chose the latter. 

He was upset, he skipped work, he came into your library. You stopped in your tracks. They had a case. He shouldn’t be home. He wouldn’t be there. If he’s not then maybe that’s just the universe- ‘No, Y/n, last time you thought the universe would choose for you it was wrong. It’s the thing that got you into this shit show.’ You began to walk again, quickening your pace every block you pass. 

Spencer didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard a knock on the door. He slowly got up, trying to piece himself together for Derek or anyone else on the other side of the door. He had gotten to the coffee table when he heard keys jingling. His entire body halted, then jerked forward. He swung the door open as soon as you stuck the key into the lock. 

You and Spencer stare at each other before, in unison, you practically leaped forward. You missed his smell. You have gone weeks without seeing him, but you never missed him as much as you have in these 24 hours. Spencer felt his spirit recharge the longer he held onto you. It made no sense to him, but he didn’t question it. He just wanted to stay like that, with you, forever. 

“I probably smell like a wet dog.” you say, muffled, into his chest. 

Spencer let out a laugh and pulled you out, arm length away, and still holding onto your shoulders. “Yeah, but I don’t really care right now.” You both break into ear-to-ear smiles while he pulls you back in to shut the door. He wanted both of you to stay in that apartment forever. 

Both of you awkwardly stood in the hall between the living room and kitchen. 

“I’m sorry.” you practically blurt out “I was just mad and childish. I wanted to be alone but I didn’t necessarily want to break it off. I think that was the anger. I don’t know. I just want that to go away. I’m sorry-” your rambling was cut off by spencer. 

“Y/n, it’s in the past. It’s over now. You’re back. I’m back. It’s fine.” 

You weakly laugh and just step back into him, tucking your head into his chest. He wraps his arms around you.

Spencer had always said it was a great love you two shared. You’re just so glad that the pages are still being written.

AN: Hello, thank you so much for reading!! I hope you liked it!! I always accept constructive criticism!! This one was a challenge! Between making 3 breakup songs have a happy ending, and all the technical difficulties, it was a bit hectic, but SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE!! I love challenges, so if you have any requests, send them my way (guidelines are in masterlist)!! Hope everyone has a day/night!!! <333

[your-local-bnha-writer]

cookie deliveries | shoto todoroki

pairing | todoroki x reader

word count | 1707

warning | a couple swear words lol

genre | fluff wOW so original

a/n | I was bored, and I was attracted to Todoroki, need I say more? also lol i got this from a prompt here neighbour au

gif by @rattios

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You look at the mountain of assignments on your desk and sigh. Everyday, more and more work has been piling up. It was getting too much so with a huff you walked over to your kitchen and pulled out your phone looking up recipes for chocolate chip cookies.

Finally finding a reliable recipe you grabbed the ingredients and got to work.

Eventually you finished a dozen cookies and wondered what you were going to do with all of them, when you suddenly remembered your neighbour.

Shoto had moved in 6 months after you did, he was quiet, a little intimidating but minded his own business. Though, occasionally you heard shouting from a gruff voice telling him to 'die you half and half bastard!'

You shrugged it off because he seemed fine when you went out to check your mail. He seemed kind enough and didn't bother you. Yet, you wanted to know more, what was going on with your reserved neighbour?

One day the workload was unbearable, deciding to bake more cookies you realized you made too many. An idea popped up in your head and you made your way to Shoto's front door with a bag of snickerdoodle cookies.

"I made too much, take some," you shove the cookies to his chest and he looks at you surprised. There was a pause.

"Uh, thank you? What was your name again?" He asked scratching his head and slowly took the cookies in his hand.

You thought about his question, did I not tell him my name? You came to the conclusion that he simply forgot, you introduced yourself -again- and pointed to where you lived at which he nodded at.

"I see, I'll...see you sometime then," he coughs awkwardly and you could feel the tension quickly rethink your decision with giving him cookies in the first place.

"Yep, I'll catch you later," your lips press into a line and you swiftly walk away back to your own apartment.

Ever since that encounter you've given him cookies and other sweets whenever you stressed-baked. He always accepted, never once turning it down, perhaps he was too shy to speak up.

As more time passed you two eventually got more relaxed around each other, sometimes even participating in small talk here and there. Although, he was still a stranger to you. Your occasional cookie deliveries weren't enough, you needed more.

Arriving at his door you raise your hand to knock but couldn't bring yourself to it. Huffing at yourself you felt your chest sink. You couldn't help but yearn for more interactions, longer ones with Shoto. He might be very awkward and not one to engage in much conversations with random neighbors, so why was he so intriguing to you?

"Did you need something?" A deep voice asked from behind you. You hesitantly turned around to meet his mixed matched ones, you tried not to stare.

"Oh, Shoto. I didn't realize you were out," you giggle hoping he didn't hear the edge in your voice.

"I just wanted to drop off some more cookies," you state and hand him the bag. He blinks at you before taking the cookies and giving you a warm smile.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," he thanks you with a slight bow, although you thought that was a bit much, you didn't say anything.

"Haha, no problem," you laugh and turn to head back to your own place.

"Y/n," he calls out and it was hypnotizing. Your body moved faster than you could think, and within seconds you were facing him once again.

"Why is it that you bake me cookies?" He questions and you pause to think back to your first encounter with him.

"Well I bake when I'm stressed, but I make too much for myself so I give them to...uh you I guess," you reply with a small shrug of your shoulders and you could only hope he didn't question why you chose him specifically.

However, he seemed satisfied with your answer with a quick nod he waved goodbye and headed into his home. You smiled and waved back.

The next day, more work and the next day and the next and so on and so forth. You were losing your mind, rolling your shoulders that were tight, you stood up and stormed to your kitchen for the 3rd time that week. More cookies.

You practically memorized this recipe and moved with ease grabbing each ingredient and utensil like how the river flows smoothly.

This time you didn't stop at a dozen, you made more. The stress was eating you up and you needed it out of your body instantly.

Finishing up the last batch you sighed softly feeling your once right joints loosened up. Packing up the cookies into a basket since a bag was too small you strolled over to Shoto's home and knocked on his door, without hesitation this time.

You didn't expect a green haired boy to greet you, and you certainly heard the loud voice that had been screaming at Shoto's apartment all this time.

"The fuck did you say?! I'll kill you!" It shouted and the boy in front of you sweatdropped.

"Kachaan! Do be quiet, will you?" He sighs and turns back to you.

"Hi sorry about him he could be a little loud, I promise we'll keep him in check. Did you need something?" He asks and tilts his head.

"O-Oh! Is Shoto here?" You ask flustered. The boy smiles and calls for Shoto before telling you to wait at the doorstep.

Moments later Shoto comes out greeting you politely.

“More cookies I see,” he laughs and gives you a sly grin making you embarrassed.

“Yeah, y-you don’t have to take them if you want!” You say straight away, not wanting to force him to take your dozens of desserts but he waved you off and took the basket in your hand.

“No it’s okay, they’re delightful,” he replies, giving you a soft smile that made your insides flutter.

“Are you sure? I can take them back if you want, you really don’t have to do this,” your face heating up.

“I insist, don’t hesitate to give me more of your sweets, I like them,” he simpers and with a nod along with a quick goodbye you were off.

Now, you would deliver Shoto cookies at least twice a week. But those deliveries became more frequent and the stress was getting too much for you to handle, Shoto noticed that.

How could he not? He’s received so many cookies from you his friends are starting to question why.

“They’re from my neighbour, the one that came over that one time,” he told Deku as he ate the remains of the sweet treat.

“They’re delicious! You’re so lucky to have them as a neighbour,” he replied and Shoto blushed.

Oh he was lucky, he was very lucky indeed. Not only were you extremely gorgeous and were very kind despite being strangers, but you made him cookies? I think that’s a win-win.

Though, you did only make cookies because you were stressed, and the size of the deliveries only grew as time passed, Shoto started worrying.

Every time you came by the amount of cookies increased and he noticed you looked disheveled. He tried asking you about it but you brushed him off, telling him not to worry about it.

The next time you came to his place he stopped you.

“You bake when you’re stressed and sometimes you give me cookies, but recently you’re giving me whole baskets each day, now I’m not complaining but are you okay?” He asks with genuine concern in his eyes while grabbing your shoulders staring into your hues.

You smile brightly and put your hand over his, take a deep breath.

“No I’m not, Sho I’m going insane there’s so much work, it’s piling up,” you deadpanned with a crazed look into your eyes.

Shoto blinks at you and pulls you into his apartment, sitting you down on his couch.

“Sho, what?” You ask but he walks away leaving you. Looking around you spot the basket of cookies on his coffee table along with crumbs surrounding it.

“C’mon, we’re watching a movie, eating your delicious fucking cookies along with ice cream, and getting your mind off of those things,” he comes back with his laptop and a large blanket.

He spreads the blanket over you and hands you the basket of cookies plus ice cream. Shoto sets up the movie and slips under the covers with you.

You look at him in awe not knowing what to do, he turns to you.

“Hm?” He hums in confusion.

“Why’re you helping me?” You chuckle at the situation making him bashful.

“You’re always making me cookies, I wanted to do something nice for you as well,” he mumbles and turns away in embarrassment.

Catching onto his actions you put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” you smile softly, as Shoto nods.

The next morning you and Shoto were found entangled together on his couch, surrounded by blankets while his laptop lay abandoned.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, Izuku, Kirishima and Kaminari were trying their hardest not to wake you and Shoto up while they munched on the spare cookies.

“Hm, never thought Shoto would end up with someone,” Kirishima states tilting his head the yours and Shoto’s sleeping figures.

“Right? I thought he would die alone, never interested in anyone,” Denki chuckles as Izuku tried to shut him up.

“Shut up,” Shoto mumbles sleepily.

“What’re you guys doing here?” He opens one eye lying still, careful not to wake you up.

“Izu said you had cookies,” Eijirou grins and takes another bite.

“Go away,” Shoto grumbles, making you stir in your sleep. All four boys stood still and Shoto prayed to god you wouldn’t wake up.

Once you stop, Shoto glares at the others and whispers a soft ‘leave’ making the guys laugh.

“Have fun Sho,” Denki winks and quietly closes his apartment door.

“Sorry about that, darling,” Shoto sighs and runs a hand through your hair. You only smile and snuggle into him more. Who knew this whole thing started because of stress baking?

[bisexualdaemon]

I came to some realizations after Azriel’s bonus chapter.

a) it took place in the middle of the book, not the end. This was also relatively close to the time where Elain kept stating that she wanted a human mate, not a fae.

b) I think Azriel is extremely desperate for love. Do I think he feels some sort of attraction (whether sexual or romantic) towards Elain? Yes. Do I think that he’s also just extremely needy for love after seeing his two brothers find their mates in quick succession and now he sees his chance to find a partner himself after lining after the same girl for 500 years? Yes.

c) Azriel needs to fix his damn self because I don’t like the fact that he said he hadn’t thought further then bedding Elain when she seems like a sweet girl who has a whole lot more character exploring to come (or at least I hope so). Also dislike how Lucien respects Azriel and the 2 seemed to get along quiet well throughout the book, yet Azriel was ready to legit kill Lucien who is an absolute gem to me.

d) I find it interesting how the bonus chapter started with Elain and Azriel and ended with Gwyn and Azriel. Might be foreshadowing, might be a build up for angst, idk.

e) I can’t wait for that necklace re gift to blow up in Azriel’s face.

f) I don’t like how Elain is treating Lucien. It may be the fact that she doesn’t want to accept that she is now Fae and has a Fae mate, but at least talk to the man or at the very least be civil to him. Lucien is one of my favourite characters and that dude just can’t catch a break. I’m not saying she has to accept him (because no man is entitled to Elain, she is her own woman and should be treated as such) but don’t string my poor fox boy around. And especially don’t entertain the idea of sleeping with another guy under the same roof as him. Either reject him or talk it out with him.

g) there are so many different ways these next books can go but my main concern is how sjm is gonna find new worldly conflicts (not romantic ones because holy shit we have enough of those) because it kinda feels like the storyline is just being dragged a bit.

h) I’m a Gwynriel shipper but I’m not completely opposed to Azriel and Elain getting together. As long as Gwyn and Lucien don’t get fucked over (especially Gwyn considering her past with men) and both Az and El don’t have to sacrifice integral parts of their characters to be together then I’m cool with it.

I really liked ACOSF and there are so many different paths that the storyline could now go. We got 2 different cliches that could be done too lmao. SJM is a talented writer and I do want to see all my favourite characters get a happily ever after and while I’m excited to see what’s to come, I can’t help but be worried that I might be let down. This series is a great one, but it’s going on for a while. I sometimes feel like it should have just ended after ACOWAR, but I still have faith in the next couple of books. I also wish that this fandom wouldn’t be so nasty when it comes to something as trivial as ships, but oh well! Sorry for the ridiculously long ask, but I had so many thoughts about that bonus chapter!

okay okay so I’ve been on my phone for a couple days and when I read this I was like WOW THIS NEEDS A FULL KEYBOARD RESPONSE BECAUSE SEVERAL POINTS WERE MADE--

first off, I totally agree that this stuff is just discourse and like no one should be fighting or like idfk sending weird death threats over ships or the simple fact that they liked a book or a chapter like it’s not that deep it’s just speculation let people like what they like....but back to the Az bonus chapter...

I specifically want to talk about points B, C, and F. 

B-- so I think you’re so right about Az being desperate for love. like he’s gone so long feeling that unrequited shit for Mor and before maybe it wasn’t a big deal to him because his brothers were seemingly unattached too. but now that Rhys and Cassian are both mates and fucking head over heels for Feyre and Nesta, I think he’s feeling his separation from that happiness acutely and it just seems like star-crossed fate shit that there should be three brothers and three sisters (as cheesy as it feels and sounds and how trope-y it is) so maybe the lust he feels for Elain is just that base need to feel SOMETHING in the face of what he can see and hear and fckn *smell* at the River House and the House of Wind every damn day. and Elain is frankly an easy target. she’s quiet with a sense of humor and a fuckload of trauma....she’s someone for Az to be gentle with and nurture. and when he says “maybe the cauldron was wrong” like you feel the pain and resentment there...that the other sisters were seemingly made for his brothers and he should be left out. I feel bad for him but at the same time....

C--DUDE WHAT THE FUCK ABOUT KILLING LUCIEN AND HOW EASY IT WOULD BE....like that’s some Class A territorial fae bastard shit right there...not seen since the likes of Rowan Whitethorn (though in truth I do love it on him but he was that way for AELIN, HIS MATE)...I don’t think Sarah breathed life into the idea of the cauldron making a mistake for nothing, but I also just don’t think she belongs in the Night Court...all those comments about how much Elain would love Spring Court and sunshine and light....I’ve said this before but the Court of Nightmares solstice scene where Cassian basically calls Elain plain in her Night Court black dress was a huge yikes for me. like the Night Court clearly dims her spirit. it doesn’t fit her aesthetic, you know? anyways I’m getting off track...Azriel’s preoccupation with Elain right now from his POV seems almost entirely sexual so maybe like rethink that bro. 

F--okay yes, while I don’t think Elain is “beholden” to anyone and no male should feel entitled to her or be FIGHTING BLOOD DUELS OVER HER WTF???? I do agree that she has treated Lucien pretty much like shit. she hasn’t tried to understand the situation or the history (at least from what we’ve seen) of the mating bond and how neither of them chose this. like Lucien is as much a victim of the situation as she is, he just has the benefit of understanding what it means in fae culture to have a mate and the pain it causes to reject it. like she just avoids him instead of out-right saying no so he’s just being strung along. like let him go if you don’t want to be with him. and while Lucien has made some shitty decisions (I will never forgive him for his complicity in ACOMAF), this kind of pain shouldn’t be his punishment...like Rhys wouldn’t have to deal in absolutes with Azriel if Elain would just MAKE THE DECISION because then it’s not a challenge for Elain. it’s Elain making a choice, just like they’re fond of allowing women to make in the damn Night Court. my problem with Elain has never been with her femininity or her perceived lack of personality (which is canon now pls) it has always been with her lack of action and the inner circle enabling her to sit and do nothing--EVEN WHEN SHE MIGHT WANT TO. yes I’m talking about that moment where everyone is all up in arms about “exposing” Elain to the darkness of the dread trove and all but throwing Nesta to the wolves...I screamed when Cassian was like “BUT NESTA SHOULD???” ugh pissed me off so much. 

anyways clearly we both have a lot of feelings lmao I will scream about this series until I die I s2g 

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Book One: Gold (Prompto x Reader) Chapter X

Making their way up the Rock of Ravatogh, the royal retinue and the guardian prepared themselves for the long trek ahead of them. As they proceeded up the rocky, jagged path, Gladio spoke up. "Just think about what's waiting at the top."

"Lemme guess: one aching back and two very sore feet," Prompto sarcastically replied.

"Like you couldn't use some meat on those legs of yours," the shield scoffed.

"They work for me."

"But what about the lady?"

Being the closest person to Prompto and the only girl in the group, (Y/n) knew the brute was referring to her. "...Excuse me?"

"You like muscle or chicken legs?" Gladio asked.

"I don't hate nor like either. Besides, I love Prompto the way he is."

"In your face, big guy!" The marksman cackled victoriously. "My lady isn't shallow and doesn't judge a book by its cover."

The spirit groaned at their childish behavior and continued to follow Noctis up the Rock of Ravatogh. They encountered some saphyrtails, which they easily disposed of. They proceeded up the path made of hardened molten lava where they eventually stumbled upon diverging paths. What caught their attention was how vast the area opened up and the horde of spiracorns and saphyrtails fighting against each other.

(Y/n) watched for a few seconds as the creatures fought one another and failed to notice their presence. When they all gathered together to attack each other again, she conjured a large fireball and tossed it at the creatures. Not only did she set them ablaze, she caused their corpses to turn to ash. She winced when seeing her spell was a little too powerful. "I may have gone a little overboard with that..."

"A little?" Gladio chuckled. "You turned them into ash."

"Well, you did say your magic was more powerful in hot environments," Prompto said.

Noctis glanced at the guardian. "Thought you didn't want us to "miss all the fun"."

"That one was a freebie because they were already injuring one another. I just sped up the process," (Y/n) retorted. "Anyway, pick a path. Let's find this cave and royal arm as quick as we can. You four already look exhausted."

Noctis glanced down both of the paths before deciding to go up the right one. Luckily, he picked the correct way and avoided another battle down a pathway that led to a dead end.

Continuing up, the pathway was getting steeper. They all could feel the muscles in their legs aching at how steep the path was becoming as they went up. Prompto glanced up as he exhaled heavily, but he couldn't see the end of the path. "Did we hit the top? Feeling past my peak."

Gladio also took note of how steep and long the path ahead was. "I'm afraid you've still got a ways to go."

The blonde wandered over towards (Y/n), smiling with a faint blush. However, his red cheeks weren't due to their close proximity but the heat of the volcano. "Oh beautiful goddess of fire, could I possibly ask for a lift to the top?"

She stopped and crossed her arms. "You want me to transform and carry you to the top?"

He nodded, coming to a halt in front of her with his hands clasped together. "Yes! I'll do anything you ask!"

"Hmmm..." She looked around, noticing the others had stop to listen to their exchange. Tapping her chin in thought, she finally came to a conclusion. "Why don't we all share the love and suffer together?"

"What? No!"

She nodded, faking an innocent smile. "Oh, yes. Get those legs moving, Prom. The longer we stand around here, the longer it'll take us to get to the top." She walked around him and made her way up the extremely steep slope.

Prompto gaped at her back as she ascended the volcano, leaving him and the others behind. His shoulders slumped forward with a dejected sigh. Reluctantly, he followed Noctis up the steep slope. He could feel the muscles in his legs screaming. "Killer climb, dude."

"It's killing me," Noctis groaned.

"Feeling a steep pain," Ignis said, unable to stop the joke from slipping from his lips.

"One false step and you won't feel anything ever again," Gladio commented.

Halfway up the steep path, Prompto had to stop for a brief second to catch his breath. His legs were a little shaky from the intense climb. He breathed out heavily, hunched over his knees. His hands rested on his thighs. "I think my legs are gonna give... Don't even wanna think about how sore I'm gonna be tomorrow." As he tried to regain his bearings, he saw how close he was to the edge of the cliff. Curious, he peaked down at the rocky ravine below. He thought he saw something twinkle in the light of the setting sun.

Not realizing how weak he was, Prompto lost his balance and screamed as his body started leaning forward. He tried to quickly step back from the ledge to prevent himself from falling, but he blinked in surprise when he noticed his fall was halted. That's when he felt a hand latched around his belt. Looking over his shoulder, he saw (Y/n) was the one who saved him from falling.

"You really are reckless sometimes, Prom," she sighed, pulling on his belt. She tugged him away from the ledge and released her hold on the accessory. "C'mon, you're almost to the top."

The group reached the top of the slope and crossed a rocky overpass. As they made their way down another path, Noctis tugged on the collar of his shirt with a groan. "The hell's with the heat?"

"As we climb, so does the temperature," Ignis commented.

"Well, this is a volcano," (Y/n) stated.

"Hey!" Prompto shouted. "What are the chances of it erupting while we're here?"

"Who knows," the girl answered.

"Bright side-you won't suffer long if it does," Gladio chimed in.

Reaching another junction, they came across more spiracorns and saphyrtails. Noctis glanced at the spirit in hopes to get another freebie, but groaned when she waved innocently at him. He performed a warp-strike and joined the battle. The others summoned their own weapons and joined the prince.

After the battle concluded, Noctis chose the right path. Molten lava covered the ground, causing the boys to rethink the prince's decision. (Y/n), on the other hand, wasn't bothered by the hot ground. Her clothes were fireproof and she welcomed the heat when she stepped onto the molten lava. She turned to the boys, placing a hand on her hip. "We should try searching every path, right? Vyv wants that picture."

Gladio folded his arms across his broad chest. "How do you expect us to follow you, short stuff? We're not fireproof like you."

"I only need one person to come with me." She jammed a finger in Prompto's direction. "C'mon, sweetheart, you're coming with me."

He blushes faintly at the term of endearment as the girl transformed. He jogged over to her and climbed onto her back. When he had a secure grip on her fur, she turned and proceeded up the molten lava path. A little ways up, they came across a flock of thunderocs. Prompto summoned his gun and easily disposed of the birds by himself.

Reaching the end of the path, they stumbled upon the cave Vyv mentioned. Prompto stared at the pit and waterfall of boiling lava. "That looks like lava so we definitely don't wanna go down there." He raisies his camera and aimed it at the cave. "Could you get a little closer, (Y/n)?"

The fox took a few steps closer to the molten edge. "Oh, that's much better!" Prompto chanted. He took a few pictures before lowering his camera and patting the top of the spirit's head. "I got the best pics! Now we can head back." The guardian turned away from the cave and trotted back down the path.

Once they reached the bottom and Prompto was off her back, (Y/n) reverted back to her human form. "Well, we can check one thing off our to-do list."

"You were able to locate the cave of which Vyv spoke of?" Ignis asked.

"Yep. Now all we have to do is find the royal tomb."

Noctis was fanning his face, groaning, "We need to hurry. I'm burning up in here."

"And I'm sweating buckets," Gladio added. He then gestured to the (h/c)-haired girl. "Short stuff here hasn't even broken a sweat."

"Like I said, this is my kinda place," she giggled.

The group wandered down the left path. There, they found a flock of wyverns and thunderocs. Making quick work of the creatures, they easily cut them down and climbed up the cliffside. Up top, they discovered Owlyss Haven.

"This place is practically begging to be camped on!" Prompto cheered.

"You are aware we've no camping equipment, correct?" Ignis asked.

"Yeah, but look at the time! The sun's setting and my legs are killing me..."

"I could just flop down on the ground and sleep right now," Noctis said with a large yawn.

"Guess we're camping without the camping gear," Gladio said.

"I could fetch the camping gear," (Y/n) offered. "With help, of course. It might take a few trips, though."

"I'll go with you," Gladio offered.

Prompto, who'd been analyzing the pictures of the lava cave on his camera, overhead the shield. His head snapped up. "I-I wanna go with her!"

The brute already knew why the blonde intervened. "You afraid I'm gonna steal your girl?"

"Wha-no!"

"Then sit that scrawny ass of yours down. Let the men handle the heavy lifting."

Before Prompto could retort, (Y/n) interrupted. "Okay, that's enough. Prom, you stay here. Gladio, you come with me."

"What?" The blonde gasped. "But (Y/n)-!"

"This isn't about who's strongest or who I like the most. This is simply just trying to get the camping gear up here. Gladio offered first so he'll be the one accompanying me. Are we clear?"

Prompto hung his head with a dejected sigh. "Yes..."

"Great! Now then, let's go, Gladio." The guardian transform and allowed the shield onto her back. When he was comfortable and had a hold of her fur, she ran back in the direction of the Regalia.

Prompto watched them leave with a childish pout. "He better not do anything..."

<--------------<<<<<

It took (Y/n) and Gladio three trips to bring all the camping gear to the top of the Rock of Ravatogh. Thanks to her multiple tails and help from the shield, they avoided a fourth trip back to the car. They even brought up Ignis' ingredients so he could prepare dinner.

Once the tent was pitched, Prompto crawled inside and hid from the others. He scrolled through the pictures on the camera, but his attention was drawn away from the small screen when the tent flap opened. He watched (Y/n) enter the tent and sit beside him. Not saying a word, he looked back down at his camera.

Folding her legs to the side, the guardian rested her head on Prompto's shoulders and watched him flip through the various photos on his camera. He tensed slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl. She lifted her head from his shoulder with a sigh. "Do you really think Gladio made a move on me?"

"This is Gladio we're talking about..." Prompto muttered under his breath.

(Y/n) carefully took the camera out of his hands and set it aside. She placed her hands on the floor of the tent and crawled towards him on her hands and knees with a stoic expression. Prompto swallowed nervously, backing away from the approaching girl. He wound up slipping and falling on to his back. His eyes nearly popped out of his head the moment the girl crawled over his body and hovered above him. Her (h/c) locks fell over her shoulders as she looked down at him. Her hands came to a halt by his shoulders. "Gladio didn't try to hit on me. He talked to me about his family."

Prompto swallowed the lump in his throat, cheeks turning slightly red. "R-Really...?"

"Why would I lie to you?" She retorted. "What could I possibly gain by doing that?"

"Th-That's..."

"There's no way I'd leave you for someone like Gladio. You're the man I love, not him." She gently lowered herself onto him and rested her body against his. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his racing heart. Curling up against him, she sighed contently and closed her eyes. "I kinda wish we were at a hotel so we could have our own room."

"Yeah. Me too." Prompto gradually wrapped his arms around her. One hand entangled in her (h/c) locks while the other was placed on her lower back. He closed his eyes, basking in her warmth and gentle touch. Her pleasant scent wafted into his nose, making him smile. "Sorry for earlier. I-I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you of lying."

"It's okay. I forgive you," she giggled. "As payback, we're gonna stay like this until dinner's ready."

"You won't hear me complaining."

As intended, the couple remained in the same position until dinner was ready fifteen minutes later. They exited the tent and ate dinner with the others. Once their bellies were full and it was time to call it a night, they put out the campfire and crawled into the tent. It was somewhat cramped, but everyone was able to get comfortable and fall asleep.

<--------------<<<<<

The following morning, the group got up early. (Y/n) and Gladio returned the camping gear to the car before they decided to proceed forward. They wandered down a side path, but they didn't make it far before the shield stopped them. "Hold up-down there. What is that?"

(Y/n) followed his line of sight and saw what he was talking about. "It almost looks like a giant nest."

"Please don't let it be," Prompto whimpered. "If it's big, then there's an even bigger thing that made it."

Noctis continued to lead his companions down the rocky path towards a horde of wyverns and killer wasps. They slew the creatures before exploring the rest of the path. At the end, they dropped into a large nest.

"Wow. It really is a big nest," Noctis commented, stepping over a large feather.

"Yeah, but...where's the thing that made it?" Prompto shuddered.

"No idea."

Prompto kept looking at the sky for any sign of a large creature. He thought they were clear until spotting a large object flying around the Rock of Ravatogh. He gasped before leaping at the prince, grabbing his leg. "Noct, there it is!"

Noctis grunted as his body fell to the ground, the blonde yanking on his left leg. "There what is?"

"Giant...BIRD!" The sharpshooter shrieked. "And it's coming right at us!"

(Y/n) looked up at the sky to see the large winged creature closing in on them. "Uh-oh..."

"Oh no!" Noctis yelled.

"Get away from there!" Gladio bellowed.

The prince tried to shake Prompto off his leg when seeing the large bird was descending towards them. "Let go!"

The blonde hugged Noctis' leg tighter. "I can't!"

Ignis ran over and used his own body to push them both lower to ground. "Get down!"

The zu swooped in, targeting the three. Gladio and (Y/n) stepped back to avoid the bird's large form as it landed in the nest before taking off again once seeing it was unable to grab Noctis, Prompto, or Ignis.

The strategist adjusted his glasses. "Seems we arrived at feeding time."

Prompto stared up at the sky as he laid on his back. "We're not staying for the meal, are we?"

"Let's just get out of here before it decides to grab one of us again," (Y/n) said. "If we do plan on fighting that thing, we need a place that isn't so constricting."

"Let's go," Noctis said, hopping down the nearby ledge. The others followed and entered the vast area. There was just enough room to fight the mighty zu. They watched carefully as the large bird swooped around the sky one last time before landing with a thunderous screech. Noctis warped to its beak and started attacking. Gladio and Ignis focuses on the feet while Prompto and (Y/n) targeted the wings.

The spirit's attention was drawn to Noctis when one of the wings located on the zu's head swatted him like a fly. She transformed and caught him on her back, placing him back on the ground before jumping onto the creature's back. She dug her claws into its flesh and used her fire breath to burn a portion of its back.

The zu cried out in pain as some of its feathers were set ablaze. It went on a small rampage, stomping around and knocking the boys back. Ignis, who took the heaviest blow, fell onto his back with a groan. Prompto fires a single round at the zu before rushing to the advisor's aid and handing him a phoenix down.

(Y/n) unlatched her claws from the zu's back and leapt to safety when it spread out its wings and shook its body. After it knew she was off its back, it set its sight on the boys. It used its heavy body and large size to deliver heavy damage to them. The spirit tried to distract the bird, but she couldn't gain its attention even if she hurled a fireball at it.

After struggling for nearly half an hour against the zu, the boys had gone through many curatives. (Y/n), who was barely injured, knew this battle was too much for them to handle unless they had more help. Reverting back to her human form, she shouted at the prince. "Noctis, a divine intervention would be great right about now!"

Noctis dodges the zu's talons and glanced at her. "H-Hey, I'm trying here!"

"You have no idea how you did it before, do you?!"

"Exactly!"

She groaned, deciding to take matters into her own hands. She didn't want them to find out this way, but they'll be killed at this rate. She conjured the Creator's Blade, holding the hilt with both hands. She pointed the sharp tip at the ground, inhaling deeply before exhaling. "God of creation, use my body to do your bidding for I am the conduit," she whispered. The sword began glowing, grabbing the boys' attentions.

"(Y/n), what're you doing?!" Prompto shouted.

She glanced at him with an apologetic expression. "Ending this battle."

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter || Masterlist

[itzagothamcitysiren]

There’s Only Us Left Now

I wanted to post this over the weekend but we kept having issues with our internet and whenever I had the time to post I had no connection of course :( but here’s chapter two! 

I Had a Dream I Was a Vigilante’s Side Kick pt. 2

           The look on Halley’s face was almost unreadable as she stared down at the boy’s outreached hand. She looked at it before looking back up to him. She was silent and didn’t make any indication of shaking it like he hoped her too. Instead she reached back to unzip her backpack and placing the folder she thought she would have need of inside. She let the bag drop onto one of the two chairs placed in front of the desk before taking a seat in the other.

           Crossing her arms against her chest, Halley eyed the February snowfall off to the side and outside the window. She turned her attention back to this Tim Drake with an expectant look.  The boy’s eyes widened slowly retracting his hand awkwardly. He sat up straight, almost fumbling in his chair as if to make himself appear taller.

           “Right, um-,” He cleared his throat. “Like I said, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been-,”

           “Stalking me?” Halley cocked an eyebrow up, cutting him off. She sank back into her chair and let the venom drip out of her mouth. “Yeah, I noticed.”

           “Only recently,” he mumbled to himself. He’d been tailing her for weeks, waiting for the right moment to finally reveal himself. He caught Halley’s glare at his words and looked at her nervously. It was as if she’d pounce on him at any moment. He cleared his throat again, giving her a defensive smile and placing his hands on the desk, “I’m sorry. I’ve never done this before. Let me start over,”

           “Let me stop you right there Tim Drake.” She waved her hand to break his stumbling. “I can see that you’ve never done this before,” she agreed with him. “I’ve got some questions of my own so I’ll go first and show you how it’s done.” She let her hands grip the armrests, squeezing them to try and keep her mind straight. “Who do you work for? Why are you following me? And tell me about that notebook you had back at the café?”

           “You saw it?” Tim gasped but pulled a straight face on when she shifted. “Right, back to business,” he nodded trying to sound serious. “Well in that order,” he started casually as if he was answering the simplest questions in the world. “I work for myself. I’m following you because 1.) You were the easiest to get too and 2.) You also seemed to be the most approachable but I’m starting to rethink that with the way you’re looking at me-,” Tim trailed off, catching himself as her glare only grew as he rambled off again. He coughed into his fist and sat back again. “And that’s my research notebook. You see I-erm, I know about you and the others.”

           “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” She didn’t know why she was going to try to deny it. She knew he knew. Why else would he go through all this trouble to bring her here? She for sure knew what she saw in that notebook.

           “I won’t say it out loud. I get it; secret identities and all.” Tim promised leaning in and hushing his voice as he spoke.

           “What do you want?” She rolled her eyes begrudgingly; the kid was smarter than she thought apparently. “Money? Revenge?”

           “Oh god no. That would be so obvious.” Tim chuckled, haven’t thinking about how his actions could be interpreted that way. “I want neither of those things.” He held up his hands and gave them a shake. He placed them back on the desk, folding them together. “No, I just want in.”

           “I’m sorry?” Halley squinted at him, “You want what?” Giving her head a shake, she looked as if she didn’t hear him properly.

           “I want in. You know? Like in the family business.” He said leaning in further. He hushed his voice even more as he clarified. “I wanna be like how you were; like Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. I want to be a Robin.”

           Halley let her mouth drop open and stared at the kid speechlessly. She felt her heart pump up and out of her chest and throat. The back of her neck started to sweat and the hairs on it raised. She looked around the room feeling the walls close in as she wished he’d gone to Dick or even Bruce with this. She probed at her ear as if to clear it out.

           “You want to be what?” she asked softly, knowing damn well what he had said but couldn’t stomach it.

           “Robin.” A wide smile appeared on his face as he repeated what Halley really didn’t need to hear again. “Robin; I want to be Robin and I want to work with Batman.”

           It took Halley a couple of moments until she found herself able to respond with words but even then it was just none coherent curses with a couple of questions thrown in. Who the hell was this kid? And who was he to think that he could just follow her around for days and then trick her into this. Who was he to think he could just request to be a Robin? Robin wasn’t something you could just ask for. No, it was something that was fuckin’ earned.

           “Look kid,” she started, standing up from her chair. She towered over him making him shrink back into the chair. “I don’t know what you’re on about but no. You can’t be Robin.” She cut her hand through the hair to get her point across further. “I’m not even the one to make that decision. But I know the guy who is and I know that he would also say no.” She looked down at him baffled. She bit her lip before looking off to the side and continuing. “I don’t know how you found out about us but believe me it’s a waste of information. Take it from me when I tell you it’s not worth it to be a Robin.”

           “Batman needs a Robin!” Tim stood up, raising his voice slightly. He slammed his hands onto the table causing Halley to look up at him. “And he needs you.”

           “No he doesn’t.” She shook her head firmly. She took a step forward, daring him to speak again. She get her voice steady and strict, not raising it like he had, “Batman shouldn’t have a Robin.”  

            “Robin keeps him balanced and grounded,” Tim did dare. “Even the people who are grateful for Batman noticed how he’s more violent and reckless now; for the last two years. Ever since Nightshade and Robin disappeared.” He bit his tongue when Halley looked up at him dangerously for mentioning her and Jason’s former names.

           “Jason Todd didn’t die in a skiing accident did he?” Tim pressed, knowing he was already walking on a very thin line but decided not to back down. “It was something Robin related wasn’t it? That’s why you stopped being Nightshade and why Batman is the way he is now?”

           “Enough,” Halley slammed her own fists down onto the desk like he had but much, much, harder.

           The objects on the desk shook and unsettled the boy. Halley raised a hand to grip the bridge of her and let out a shaky breath. She tried to calm herself having not wanting to elevate the situation any higher. She looked up at him. The notebook she saw days ago caught her eye. He left it placed in front of him. Without hesitation and in a blink of an eye she snatched it up as he let out a cry of protest. She held it tightly in her grasp and out of his.

           “You’re going to drop this,” she pointed an accusing finger at him. “You’re never going to seek any of us out again, you hear me? Trust me kid, you have no idea what you’re talking about and need to just drop it.” She said before reaching for her bag.

           She began to head towards the door but stopped with a sigh. Her hand was about to touch the doorknob before she turned around to face him again. She frowned, seeing how his face showed an array of emotions. He looked genuinely defeated. She let her shoulders drop but kept her firm demeanor while at the same time showing some compassion.  

           “You’re right; Jason didn’t die in a skiing accident.” She swallowed hard. “He died because of the Joker. The Joker kidnapped him. He tortured him, made him suffer, and then he killed him.” She said, trying to keep the anger out of her voice but struggled. “That’s what happens when you’re Robin. You’re just a pawn to use against Batman.” She frowned bitterly. “So when I say Batman shouldn’t have a Robin I mean it. Batman should not have a Robin.”

           Halley’s body was in autopilot. She didn’t wait or give a chance for Tim to respond, ending the conversation right then and there. Her feet pulled her out of the room and out of the wing of the building only stopping when she reached the outside of the building. Her movement picked up again after a minute of collecting herself and steadying her ragged breathes.   She aimlessly walked through campus, shaken by the conversation and replaying it over and over in her head. How could such a naïve kid figure out about Bruce Wayne being Batman?

           She thought about it until she found herself in a park that was near the college. She sat down at one of the benches, feeling more than mentally exhausted. She felt a spark of energy when she realized she still held onto the notebook in her hand. Her body was starting to not feel so numb but still felt heavy as she cautiously opened it. She scanned through the sloppy penmanship until she came across the page she caught a glimpse of back at the café. She used it to backtrack through the kid’s train of thoughts until she found out what outed them.

           “Dammit, Dick.” She swore as she let the notebook close.

            Of course the kid had to have seen the Flying Grayson’s years ago. Of course he seen Dick perform the Quadruple Somersault way back when. Of course Dick fuckin’ Grayson was one of the only people in the world able to do the move. And of course Dick fuckin’ Grayson was dumb enough to still perform the move today but as Nightwing.

           Halley brought her thumb to her lips gently gnawing at it in thought. It really wasn’t that hard to put together if she really thought about it. She was honestly surprised that Bruce was able to hide this secret for as long as he did. Once Tim figured out that Dick Grayson was Nightwing it made sense to look to Bruce Wayne who was really the only one rich enough in Gotham to be the masked crusader. Bruce Wayne also happened to have two children, a boy and a girl, who also happened to be around the same age and build of Batman’s Nightshade and Robin. It was quite obvious if you looked past Bruce’s well-acted playboy-billionaire persona.

           “Ugh,” she groaned, letting her head fall back in frustration.  

           She knew she should tell him about this or at least give the information to Alfred. What if this kid didn’t listen to her? What if he somehow got to Bruce? And what if Bruce was foolish enough to actually take him on. She groaned again, knowing that she would have to look into this Tim Drake. She had to figure out why he would want to risk being Robin.

           She stood up from the park bench and instead of heading back to campus headed in towards the city. She remembered the way to her destination like she’d been there yesterday even though it’s been years since she’d actually step foot anywhere near the place. She knew she still had access knowing that even with her hanging up the cape and tights Dick would never restrict her access from his safe house in Gotham.

           She quickly entered the code to get in. Once she was in it lit up showing off the display of extra Nightwing gear and tech. She smiled fondly at them but only for a moment. She had to get to work knowing that Dick would be alerted that she used her code to get in and would probably be calling her within the hour. Cracking her knuckles she started the computer and started her search on Tim Drake.

[thorne93]

Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 19)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 2043

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy​​​​​, @carryonmyswansong​​​​​, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​ - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong​​​​​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

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

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded as soon as you met at the apartment. “Killing? Really?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” you softly said.

“Are you at least a little remorseful?” he asked.

“Is that really what you want to know? My level of guilt? Is that what’s going to make this feel better?”

“Maybe, I don’t know! All I know is the woman I love is a serial killer, and a federal agent and I don’t know how to process this!” he shouted, his eyes wild with anger. 

You just sat there quietly while Spencer paced in front of you. You had no idea what to say or do at this point. The truth was out, what more did he want from you? 

“How did you even decide you wanted to do it?” 

“When I realized it was Dexter, and who his victims were… I realized I wasn’t entirely unhappy with it. Then I remembered how much anger I had for Rochester getting let out and all the other dozens of bastards that were found innocent, or evidence was lost, and I just got so mad that… that I thought he could teach me.” 

He stopped pacing to sit in front of you on the coffee table. “Has he brainwashed or manipulated you in any way?”

“No. I did this on my own. I found out he was the killer, and confronted him.”

“And you’re just okay with this? You’re his… student?”

“I like to think I’m his friend. He was very helpful and supportive when you were missing.”

“Oh for fucks’s sakes that right.You brought him to the office. Jesus, you had a serial killer in the building. And you’re calling him your friend? What the hell happened to you down here?” 

“You getting targeted by one too many unsubs,” you said in a low voice, solemn lacing every word as you stared at him. “Spencer, I may be a killer, but I still love you with every atom of my body. You’ve been kidnapped, tortured, shot, forced to take drugs, and abused by so many unsubs, I just can’t stand it any more. I wanted some justice for those bastards who did things to you. Tell me you haven’t wanted to kill people before, some of our worst unsubs. Foyett, Scratch, Cat?” 

“Wanting to and acting on it are two different things, Y/N! We don’t chase fantasies, we hunt people who actually act on them!” he cried out, his face getting red. “If you didn’t feel bad for what you did, you’d be a lot more defensive right now. Which means you know what you’re doing is wrong.” 

“Well which is it? Am I a cold-blooded psychopath, or am I a misguided agent, someone who lost their way, like Elle?” you demanded.

“That all depends on how you felt when you killed them,” he stated coolly.

“What do you want me to say? What? That it didn’t feel good? That it didn’t feel like some sort of accomplishment or victory getting some of these people off the streets? Do you want me to tell you that I feel guilty?” 

“Do you?” he asked, accusation in his tone. 

“Not particularly no. All I did was skip some bullshit and red tape. You know what it’s like to work in this job. You know how god damn hard it is to watch a killer go free after we put in hours and effort to get them off the streets, they sit on a stand, lie, take plea deals and they’re out in five, ten years, doing it all over again. All the red tape, all the laws, all the restrictions, and for what? So someone can go out and murder a little girl again? So someone can brutally torture a family before slaughtering it? Sorry if I don’t particularly feel any remorse for stopping them, for good.” 

“Tell me what you felt when you killed them,” he demanded, almost as if it were a plea. 

You threw your hands out to the side, a gesture of giving up. “I...I felt relief, knowing they wouldn’t hurt anyone else, alright? It didn’t feel satisfactory, it didn’t feel sexual, it didn’t feel euphoric. I don’t get high doing it like Dexter does, okay? I just do it as a means to an end. I just do it because the way the FBI works is too damn long with no guarantee, so I took matters into my own hands. I did what every agent dreams of doing.” 

Spencer eyed you up and down for a moment, and you couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. Perhaps he was about to turn you in. Maybe he was rethinking the marriage. Maybe he was finally understanding you. 

“Are you worried that maybe getting inside killer’s heads that now maybe they’ve gotten into mine?” 

“No, I don’t. You’re smarter than that.” 

“Then profile me, Spence.” 

He made an anguished, frustrated expression. “Y/N, don’t do this. We’re better than this.” 

“No, I want you to do it. What do you see when you look at me? An unsub, or your wife?”

He took a few steps towards you. “I see both, don’t you get that? That’s why this is so hard for me. I understand where you’re coming from, I do, but I can’t justify what you’ve done. As much as I may love you, I can’t pretend this is okay.” 

You nodded, your chest getting tighter as you started to feel colder. “I understand that. You do what you have to do, I won’t stand in your way. I never have.” 

“But you aren’t going after the people who hurt me,” he noted after a moment of quiet. “You said you were doing this because of the things that happened to me, but you aren’t killing them.”

“You’re right. I’m going after surrogates. You know who I kill?” 

“Does it matter?”

“To me it does… Spence, I kill animal abusers. People who use animals for personal gain. People who run unsanitary farms. People who hurt an innocent creature. I honestly do try to do this to uphold the oath we took. I know it’s messy, I know it’s not the way you’d do it, or anyone should do it, but life was starting to feel a little… pointless. I felt like, what’s the point in doing the investigating, going through red tape, following protocol, if all it gets us is a guilty man back out on the streets? I’m not saying we deserve forgiveness or a pass. I’m just hoping you can understand why I did it. I did it for people like you who are just doing their job and wind up victims to sadistic, cruel people.”

He sat there and his eyes drifted down to the floor. 

“I watched you turn into a shell of a man in prison thanks to some psycho with a vendetta, and even worse, you came pretty close to becoming what I am.”

He nodded for a moment. “I...That was--”

“I’m not faulting you, Spence,” you assured, putting your hand on his knee. You were thrilled when he didn’t cringe away from you. 

“No, I mean, I’m not any better. I laced those men’s drugs with poison. I wanted them to die. I saw them kill Luis and I guess I snapped…I had no excuse to do that.” 

You bobbed your head. “Do you see now, how I can do what I did?” 

“I don’t know. It’s such a big leap. I mean, I killed because they murdered my friend. You don’t even know these people.”

“I don’t have to know them to know their victims didn’t deserve it.”

“This goes against everything I stand for as an agent, and worst of all, you’re doing it. If you were anyone else, I would’ve called this in by now. But it’s you and I can’t… can’t watch you go through what I did.” 

You bit your lip. “I’ll respect any decision you make. If I’m being honest, I told you the truth because having you believe I was unfaithful and losing you that way would hurt a hell of a lot worse. At least this way, I hope somewhere you can find it in you to see where I’m coming from. After eight years of dealing with lost battles, almost losing you, and watching the injustice in this world, that’s where I stand. But if you left me because of a lie, a lie that could never, ever be true, I couldn’t live with myself. You knowing I am faithful to you, that I love you, means more to me than anything else. I hope you can see that.” 

“I do. I know the toll this job takes.”

You nodded. “If you can think of it like dilaudid, it’s kind of like that. It’s really an addiction for Dexter, not so much for me, but it is… a bit of a stress relief, to know those people won’t be hurting anyone any more.” 

For a moment you two sat there in quietness. The silence killed you, and while the next words out of your mouth were agonizing, you felt they needed to be said, for his peace of mind. 

“I understand if you don't love or trust me any more. If you want a divorce while you decide, I would understand. It would kill me, but I would. I just hope you know I honestly did this all to protect other people." 

He peered at you, something… kind deep within his gaze. 

“Right now… I don’t know what I want. I don’t want to make any rash decisions. Like I said, I’ve tried to murder people too, so I can’t exactly play the superiority card right now. Let me just think on it. I’m going to go back home to D.C. while I figure out what I want to do. You can wrap up your semester here, and then by the time you get home, I’ll let you know what I decide.” 

You nodded, your chest tightening. This was it, wasn’t it? He was going to go home, file for divorce, and send you and Dexter off to a maximum security prison. 

“What about us in the meantime? Should I not call you or…?” 

“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want my decision to be made by any emotional attachments.”

“Understood,” you said, fighting the lump in your throat. 

“Could you do me a favor though?”

“Anything.”

“Don’t… kill any more?”

“I won’t,” you promised quickly. 

He nodded and stood up from the coffee table. 

“Are you going to stay here?” you asked as you stood, hugging yourself. This was so god damn painful. Watching your husband treat you like a criminal. No touching, hugging, kissing. No kind or sweet words. No nicknames. Just cold, calculated interviews. 

“I’ll be at a hotel, and I’ll leave in the morning.”

“You could always stay here,” you offered. 

“I don’t think I can do that,” he said solemnly. “I… I can’t be in the same room with the woman I love, and the woman who kills.”

All you did was nod. 

He didn’t do anything but bob his head once, then he ducked out of your apartment. 

You stayed awake all night that night, not a minute went by that you weren’t crying. Not because of losing your freedom, or losing your job, or damning Dexter, or failing at just keeping a secret. You could live with all that - but losing your marriage, Spencer… That was the kicker. 

The horrible part was that it was worth it though. To know those animals got out safely from those dog fighting rings. To know that those innocent people at that chef’s restaurant weren’t going to suffer any more. As much as it ached, down to your very bones to lose the one man you’d ever loved, the one man who was perfect in your eyes, at the end of the day, people and animals needed saving, and you did that. You gave them that justice. 

Now, you had two weeks to live the rest of your life. You wondered what you would do with it.

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

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ITCM

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[vagrantblvrd]

Superhero/supervillain AU where Jeremy’s power is shapeshitfing something along the lines of Mystique.

Pair that with his incredible ability to mislead/lie/etc., and there’s an amazing AU of superhero!Jeremy who is recruited by government agencies/superhero teams for undercover work and so on.

Spends 99% of his adult career in the superhero field as someone else - guy has henchpersoned for the most vile superheros on Earth (and other worlds, because why not) and all that?

Maybe his bosses take advantage of his skills/abilities - God knows younger Jeremy wasn’t super bright - and maybe he’s responsible for a few injustices. (Wrongfully convicted people that begged him to think about what he was doing and he just thought they were trying to flip him?)

And you know at some point one of his bosses is sekritly a baddie and frames Jeremy for some horrendous incident.

A bus of nuns chaperoning orphans on their way to adopt kittens and puppies rescued from breeding mills that featured in a news segment with  Sarah McLachlan in the background because someone on the news crew forgot to put their phone on silent and it’s their ringtone because they love sadness or some shit, idk, but it makes Jeremy look awful, okay?

He has to go on the run and the only one he can turn to is, you know, this supervillain type in Ryan?

Former superhero0ish government agent/whatever Jeremy was who got burned the same way and fakes his death to come back as a masked supervillain.

He was supposed to be Jeremy’s next assignment but Ryan got a new head henchperson in Gavin instead, and just.

Yes.

The three of them working together to expose the baddie who framed Jeremy because common enemy/goals?

And Jeremy realizing how he’s been used all this time.

Ryan is like.

Obviously doesn’t trust Jeremy, but he knows what it’s like to be in his position? But he can’t go easy on Jeremy so he and Gavin basically haze him?

Send him off to do the grunt work when something like that needs doing. (Lol at him over the cameras they’ve got watching him as he has to slog through the sewers looking for an entrance to some facility or other they plan to infiltrate. One not on the blueprints - and doesn’t actually exist because someone gave them bad intel and the knew that? But they don’t let Jeremy in on it until he returns to the base/lair and is like no success, guys.

AND.

Sparring sessions with Gavin on the sidelines on his laptop or whatever and Jeremy and Ryan really going at it?

Ryan intentionally provoking Jeremy, needling him about all his past missions and how many times did he do the baddie’s dirty work for him? How many lives has he ruined and so on until Jeremy mcfreaking snaps.

Has been trying not to think about that until they stop the baddie and he can wallow all he wants? But Ryan won’t let him.

Ryan totally lets Jeremy pin him, this close to actually killing him in his anger?

But then Gavin’s there, calm and cold and ruthless with this knife or what have you at Jeremy’s throat and a polite, “Perhaps you should rethink things, Jeremy,” or “I don’t think so,” or something else super cool sounding my brain won’t cough up right now, but like.

The first time Jeremy sees Gavin as the threat he is and not just this somewhat bumbling henchperson?

Also.

He looks at Ryan and the isn’t gloating like he thought he would be? Hes just. Got this look on his face that’s a bit satisfied because you know the same thing happened to Ryan before, something that made him take a good long look at his life and the things he’d done thinking he was in the right and just, idk.

Then that whole sequence of Jeremy really re-evaluating his life up to that point. All the shit he did as a government agent/superhero/??? and how everything went wrong when he was framed.

Even the way he’d been looking at Ryan and Jeremy as temporary allies, useful in the moment but no real reason to give a fuck about them once everything was over? (Except there was this part of him that had grown to like them, even if they were bastards to him at first?)

While this is going on one of his old bosses finds him and offers him a deal - help them put a stop to the baddie and they can clear his name. Reinstate him, promote him, whatever, because they’re desperate and think Jeremy’s just going to fall in line that easily now. (Oh, and when Jeremy mentions Ryan and Gavin he’s told they  have to be stopped as well because supervillains??? Duh, Jeremy.)

Anyway, Jeremy tells them he’ll think about it and goes back to the base/lair.

Ryan has this look on his face like he knows something happened, but he doesn’t mention it. Turns back to Gavin who’s briefing him - and other henchpersons - about some new intel they got while Jeremy was gone.

Gavin glances at him, and Jeremy has the feeling he knows something is up too, but like Ryan doesn’t bring it up.

This intel that will help them get the baddie for sure this time and everyone works on some plan to that end.

Jeremy feeling guilty as hell the whole time because on one hand he could have his life back, get a damn promotion he should have gotten ages ago in the bargain and all that?

And all he has to do is betray Ryan and Gavin and the others who took him in when his life got all fucked up.

He keeps getting these looks from Ryan and Gavin - and like. Other henchpersons, but no one says anything.

The sparring sessions and whatnot continue and one day Jeremy’s like oh, fuck me, because Ryan and Gavin are going at it in the training room, right?

All Ryan’s power and strength up against Gavin’s speed and agility and it’s the cliche of it looking like they’re dancing rather than fighting?

Because, look.

There’s probably some history between them too, you know?

Former agent/superhero Ryan and this absolutel fucking bastard in Gavin who’s some internationally renowned thief/assassin and their flirty/sexual tension-filled encounters over the years?

Gavin being the one to help Ryan when he was betrayed by his bosses/whatever and all this trust and the whatnot, and of course they know one another’s fighting style forwards and backwards and all that.

Anyway.

They’re having a fucking blast, trading quips and pithy one-liners and it’s like. Jeremy doesn’t even know because it goes so far beyond the oh, no, he/they’re hot thing into something completely else.

And then!

The day of the Final Battle and the three of them at the forefront and Jeremy being forced to choose between getting his old life back, or....not.

Baddie’s been stopped/killed by his own hand because of course, and now it’s this one last choice on Jeremy’s part.

Ryan took a bad hit in the fight and Gavin protecting him with his body and -

He’s not even giving Jeremy a pleading look, with Jeremy standing there and choice to save them or destroy them in the pal of his hand (to be all fricking poetic about it), no.

He’s just watching Jeremy like hey, no, he gets it, he does, and also after all this, what’s your decision gong be, hmm? like he’s expecting Jeremy to betray them.

So of course Jeremy gets angry, fucking pissed, because he didn’t do all this personal growth shit for nothing, you know?

Turns his back on the people who went to him for help, expected him to fall in line like a good little sheep or whatever and tells them to fuck off.

Causes a distraction and calls in some of the henchpersons for a emergency exctraction and they hightail it to a sekrit bunker or whatever Ryan ha set up somewhere.

Jeremy sticks around long enough to make sure everyone’s going to be okay and then gets the hell out of there. (Guilty as hell and thinking he’s more than worn out his his welcome with Ryan and Gavin and it’s just better this way?)

Roams aimlessly around for a bit, does acts of superheroism and whatnot when he runs into a bad situation and then moves on.

And then, of course, there’s this time he superheroes his little heart out abd gets abducted by these henchpersons?

Doesn’t know who they work for because nondescript clothing/armor, and gets taken to some base/lair and put into your standard interrogation scene?

Uncooperative as hell with the asshole using the voice modulator asking him all these questions? (Kind of thinks this is it, this is how he dies in some assholes hidden base/lair/bunker like a loser.)

But then!

One of Jeremy’s answers is just an incredibly creative way to tell someone to fuck off an die? And the asshole with the voice modulator fucking loses it, starts laughing like an asshole and the modulator gets turned off or something because after a moment Jeremy recognizes the laughter.

Fucking Gavin.

Wheezing and squeaking until he turns the PA or whatever off, and the enforce type in the room with Jeremy sighs.

Looks up at the observation window that goes does cool high-tech shit to go from foggy white/reflective mirror to see-through glass and Gavin waves down at them, stupid grin on his face and still laughing.

The enforcer type sighs again and reaches up to pull off the mask/helmet/whatever and of fucking course it’s Ryan.

Him and Gavin looking all over the damn place for Jeremy all this time.

Well, okay. They gave him a few months to get his shit together, but when he just went on with his moping and it stopped being productive/whatever, they decided enough was enough.

Which is how they got to this little point in time.

Ryan sits down across from Jeremy and just. Looks at him.

Jeremy who hasn’t been taking the best care of himself and all that and just.

“You’re an idiot.”

Which Jeremy knows full well?

Doesn’t get the feeling Ryan and Gavin are going to kill him, because nah, but. There’s probably some yelling in his future.

Which, yes?

But also smooches.

First though, long involved talk. Awkward flirting with Jeremy  - fucking finally - realizing Ryan and Gavin are all oh, no, he’s hot about him and have been for a while. Didn’t do anything about it before now, because no way to know if he’d turn on them or not, and best not to complicate things further?

Once Jeremy picked them/their side over getting his old life back they thought it might be okay to test the waters and see if he was likewise interested in them?

But then he ran, and they were like, well okay, thinking that was as good as an answer? (And then they found out he was just. Getting himself in deeper and deeper in all the moping and going nowhere good, and just. Yeah.)

But now!

Awkward flirting and awkward dates and someone being daring enough to kiss someone goodnight on the cheek and all the dumb idiots in love shit I love.

And then the smooches and the whatnot.

Also the three of them being ~supervillains and the whatnot, because yes.

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 55)

Summary: After being sent down on Earth with the other prisoners from the Ark, Y/N Reyes faces series of events and learns about survival. With new things happening around her, she is now starting a new chapter in her life.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 1061 words

Warning: swearing, mention of death

Note: I have a made up Tridegasleng in there so bare with me :’)

Down Below Masterlist

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

6 years later

The toughest years I’ve ever faced. Hell, living in the Skybox was better than this. Even after a whole year without radiation, Wonkru was stuck in the bunker.

Everything in here has been turned upside down, maybe that was for our own good. Octavia and I tried to shape Wonkru the best we can. Looking at the results, it could be the best result we had. Perhaps, it could’ve been the worst result.

Either way we are surviving and that’s all that mattered.

The crowd of warriors went wild as they circled the fighting pit, watching over their fellow Wonkru fighting for their chance to live. They were desperate to win, trying their hardest to be the last man standing.

Jackson approached me with a worried face, ‘Y/N, you need to stop this.’

'Why should I stop these criminals from punishment?’ I replied.

'Because Kane is fighting in the pit. You know you don’t want that.’ Jackson grabbed my hand. 'Octavia won’t listen but I know you will. He’s your family.’

Swiping my hand away, I eyed him. 'Marcus Kane is not family. He betrayed Wonkru and he chose to be the enemy of Wonkru. This is the price he has to pay. You know that.’

Two of the four criminals have fallen as Kane and another warrior fought their possible final battle. Jackson stood still, knowing that there wasn’t anything else he could say to sway my decision.

Then a loud scream echoed through the fighting pit as Kane fought off his last person. He breathed heavily, looking up at us as the crowd booed his performance.

'Did Marcus Kane earn his freedom, Blodreina?’ Gaia asked.

'Hm, I’m going to have Skafaiya determine his fate.’ Octavia said as she turned to me and smirked.

I looked down on Marcus as he kneeled on the battleground with bloody hands. Making eye contact with me, his eyes started to show tears.

With my fist balled up, I shouted. 'Marcus Kane fights again tomorrow.’ The rest of the Wonkru warriors surrounding the fighting pit cheered as they heard that Kane had to battle once again.

Turning around, I exited the arena and walked away. 'Y/N!’

'What do you want?’ I noticed Jackson’s voice calling for my name.

'Why are you making him fight again? He was the last one standing.’

Stopping to walk, I faced towards him. 'He had the crowd going until he hesitated to stab the warrior. He showed fear and therefore he goes again. You know how the fighting pit rules are, why are you so intrigued today?’

'Because it’s Kane.’ Jackson starred at me with a sad face, 'Your family, someone you rely on. He’s like a fath-’

'I haven’t relied on Marcus for 6 years. He is not family and he is definitely not my father. The difference between my father and him was that my father never pretended to care.’

'Y/N, lets rethink this. He was able to fight off these warriors but what if tomor-’

Stepping closer to Jackson, I tried holding my anger in. 'I said what I said. He fights tomorrow and I’m sure Octavia will agree with me too. Stop defending the criminal or I’ll throw you in there myself too.’

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

With Octavia and Indra by my side, we walked to Marcus’ holding cell. While Indra and I waited by the door, Octavia approached him.

'You almost had it yesterday.’ Octavia commented on the fight Marcus won. 'If you do me a favor, I’ll let you go tonight.’

'And what is that?’ Marcus questioned.

She sat next to him, 'Tell me who stole the medication. We both know it wasn’t you.’

He sat still with his hands over his face, sighing. Octavia starred at him for a while then continued to persuade him, 'You shouldn’t have to fight if you didn’t commit any crime.’

'You kept us strong, alive, well and I’m proud of you for that Octavia.’ Marcus ignored the question and praised her. 'What happened during the dark year that you and Y/N-’

'One more word about the dark year and I swear-’ Octavia cut him off, her tone of voice changing to anger.

'That me and Octavia did in the Dark Year, eh?’ With a straight face, I stomped into his holding cell. 'Enlighten me, Marcus. Why are you defending this asshole that took our precious medication? When you couldn’t even be there for us?’

Realizing my voice, he quickly turned to me. 'I tried to be there for you guys but I couldn’t.’

I chuckled, 'You’re lousy as a liar as you are fighting in the pit.’

'Monkey, you have to believ-’

Biting my lip, I tried keeping all all the rage I had inside. Hearing the nickname he has been calling me all these years had my blood boiling. 'It’s Y/N or Skafaiya to you, traitor.’

'Skafaiya, huh.’ Marcus got up from his seat and stood in front of me. 'Princess of hell. Is this what we really want? What you want?’

'It doesn’t matter what I want or what we want. We survived and we still are, that’s what matters.’

He shook his head. 'It was for survival, yes but you lost your way. Octavia and I did too, we all did. The arena, the killing it’s all outrageous.’

'Funny how you didn’t say that the last 6 years and now, going into the pit you mention it.’ I crossed my arms.

'Y/N, what would Bellamy say?’

Pulling out my knife from my boot, I gripped it tightly and placed it right on Marcus’ neck. 'Mention his name again and I’ll promise you, fighting in the arena will be the least of your problems.’

Octavia tapped my shoulder, 'Y/N. That’s enough.’

'All I see is pain in your eyes.’ Marcus looked right in my eyes, 'I’m sorry for whatever made you like this.’

'We’re done here.’ I glared at him and turned my face away.

Before I exited the cell, he spoke once more. 'I’m not fighting.’

Octavia raised her eyebrows, surprised. 'You know the rules if you don’t fight.’

'Again, I won’t fight.’

Indra looked at me then mouthed, no. I knew she tried to defend Marcus because of their friendship, but I didn’t care. He was enemy of Wonkru.

'Then you die.’ I said without hesitation before I left the cell.

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

tag list; @jodiereedus22, @coffeebooksandfandom, @bellamyblakemorley, @wisestydia-15, @dbtvluv , @hurricane–amelia , @lexalexy , @olkathefoxi, @lena-davina, @kellbell44, @thehakunamatara, @akelly4477, @morgannope, @littlegirl-fox, @captainam-erika-trash, @greygarbage, @nathaliabakes, @eternallyvenus, @rauwz, @broco8

[spn-safeandsound]

06. Strong Abilities

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x09; Home

Word Count: 9, 163

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore

Author’s Note: Hope you enjoy! Don’t forget to reblog and like!

Masterlist in Profile Description!

Julia loved blue and purple. The bands that she used to tie up her hair were royal blue. Her toothbrush was turquoise. Her hunter's journal was navy. Her luggage was dark purple. Her favorite sundress was lavender. Her sexiest bra was lilac.

So, it made sense that her absolute favorite color was periwinkle—the perfect shade of blue and purple together. The problem was that it was hard to find anything that came in periwinkle and that frustrated the hell out of her. So, when she saw a bottle of periwinkle nail polish at the store when they went to pick up some supplies, she got three bottles. Sam had given her an incredulous look but she very pointedly ignored it.

She was just finishing up the second coat on her nails when Dean spoke up from the other side of the table, having done a search for cases all morning.

"All right, I've been cruising some websites and I think I found a few candidates for our next gig," he told her and Sam, who was sitting on his bed sketching. "A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali. Its crew vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas."

Julia hummed. Calf mutilations? Lovely.

"Hey," Julia looked up when Dean spoke but he was looking at Sam, who didn't seem to be paying attention. "Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?"

"No, I'm listening," Sam assured him while continuing to draw. "Keep going."

"And here, in Sacramento man shot himself in the head three times," Dean held up three fingers at his brother but when Sam didn't look up, he waved for his attention. "Any of these things blowing up your skirt, pal?"

Sam didn't answer as he flipped back to the other drawings he had sketched, so Julia shrugged, "I think the last one is interesting."

Dean nodded, satisfied that she had answered him at least. "I guess we're going to Sacramento then, shortcake."

Julia gave him a small smile and screwed the periwinkle top back on the bottle of the polish before grabbed the clear coat, brushing it on her nails. She was getting better with Dean after all that happened in St. Louis with the shifter that took his face. It was slow-going but it took about a month until they were mostly back to normal. The usual things he did, like poking her dimple or patching up her injuries were done with hesitation but he slowly got back to the regular intervals. She returned the favor by tapping him on the back or playfully punching his bicep. She still had nightmares but they were getting better, especially since things were getting better with Dean.

"Wait, I've seen this," Sam declared when he turned to his very first drawing of the same old creepy tree.

Dean gave him a weird look. "Seen what?"

Sam rolled off his bed and walked across the motel room, digging into his duffel bag. He pulled John's journal out of it and slapped it down on Dean's bed so he could go through it.

"Sam, is something wrong?" Julia asked, sensing that something was off about him. He was jumpy and kind of frantic as he searched through the photos in the front flap of the journal.

Sam absentmindedly nodded and finally pulled out a picture, comparing it to the notepad he had sketched on. He turned to Dean with wide eyes. "Dean, I know where we have to go next."

Dean eyed him curiously. "Where?"

"Back home. Back to Kansas."

Dean scoffed. "Okay, random. Where'd that come from?"

"All right, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right?" Sam handed the picture he took from the journal and handed it to Dean; the photo was of Dean and Sam when they were a child and a baby, respectively, with their dad and their mother, Mary. "The house where Mom died?"

"Yeah..."

"And it didn't burn down, right?" Sam went on quickly. "I mean, not completely. They rebuilt, right?"

"I guess so," Dean looked a little overwhelmed at Sam's questions. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Okay, look," Sam sat at the seat in the middle of Julia and Dean. "this is gonna sound crazy but the people who live in our old house? I think they might be in danger."

Julia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why do think that?"

"Uh...it's just...um," Sam grimaced nervously; Julia instantly knew that he had been keeping something from them—something important. "you guys have to just trust me on this, okay?"

"Sam, of course we trust you," Julia gave him a concerned look as he jumped up and crossed the room, starting to pack his bag. She really hoped that she didn't sound condescending because she didn't mean to. She was genuinely worried about him.

"Woah, hold on," Dean narrowed his eyes at his brother. "I think you gotta give us more of an explanation than that."

"I can't," Sam shoved his phone and laptop charger in his bag after he was done with his clothes.

"Well, tough," Dean got up to walk over to him. "I'm not going anywhere until you do."

Sam sighed heavily and paused his packing, turning to face him. "I have these nightmares..."

Dean nodded. "I've noticed."

No kidding, Julia thought. There had hardly been a night that she wasn't woken up by Sam's tossing and turning while he had his nightmares. She didn't blame him, of course, because she had her fair share, too. She just wished their bad dreams would sync up so they wouldn't wake each other up at different times.

"And sometimes they come true," Sam dropped a bomb.

Okay, that was unexpected. He had never given any hint that he was experiencing visions. She honestly wondered what it was like; she didn't see the things she knew, she just knew them.

"Come again?"

"Look, Dean," Sam sighed at Dean's look of disbelief. "I dreamt about Jessica's death for days before it happened."

That would explain why he had said that Bloody Mary would come after him. He wasn't to blame but if he actually thought that it was his fault Jess died because he didn't do anything about the nightmares he had, the spirit would have gone after him. And it did.

"Sam, some people have weird dreams," Dean tried to explain, sitting at the end of his bed. "I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything," Sam elaborated. "and I didn't do anything about it cause I didn't believe it. Now, I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started, man, this had to mean something, right?"

Dean bowed his head, shaking it slightly. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know, Dean?" Sam sat on the bed across from him. "This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica!"

Julia watched the brothers silently, not knowing what to say or whether she had a right to say anything at all. The air in the room was tense, making her spine stiffen, and both Sam and Dean were getting riled up. Sam was urgent; he wanted to go to Kansas and he wanted to go now. There was nothing that was going to change his mind. From the set of his shoulders, Julia could tell that Dean was struggling with the concept of returning to the only home he ever really had. He was just as sensitive about Mary Winchester's death as John was and he mourned her every day.

"All right, just slow down, would you?" Overwhelmed, Dean snapped at him, standing up to walk toward the table to get some space from his brother. "I mean, first you tell me you've got the Shining and then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when..."

Dean cut himself off sharply, his breath hitching. Julia felt her heart ache at the despair that practically wafted off of him.

"When what?" Sam asked.

"When I swore to myself that I would never go back there."

Dean abruptly turned around, hiding his grieved expression from his little brother. He didn't seem to realize that he was now facing Julia until it was too late. His face went blank—though his green eyes were still so sad—and she gave him a sad smile to show him that she was there for him if he needed her.

It wasn't the same kind of situation, but Dean had been so supportive of her over the past month. She owed it to him to be there for him, too.

"Look, Dean," Sam's tone softened significantly, realizing why his brother was so reluctant about going back to Kansas. "we have to check this out. Just to make sure."

Dean swallowed harshly, the muscle in his jaw working. "I know we do."

-

They arrived in Lawrence, Kansas around nine the next day. The ride was very quiet even with the rock music playing and Dean definitely didn't blast it like most days. The closer they got to the Winchester's old neighborhood, the more tense Dean got, the air shifting around him anxiously.

Dean pulled over to the curb across their old house, shutting off the Impala. He stared at the house, where there was no sign of the fire, dread. He was clearly rethinking the decision to come here.

"You gonna be all right, man?" Sam asked, noticing his brother's stare.

Dean pressed his lips together. "Let me get back to you on that."

The three of them got out of the car and crossed the street to the house. Julia hung back to walk with Dean, ignoring her slight uneasiness to briefly grab his hand and squeeze reassuringly. Dean's lips quirked slightly and he returned the action before pulling his hand away to stuff it in his jacket.

As Sam knocked on the door, she saw the tree that he had been drawing the day before.

A blonde woman older than all three of them opened the door. "Yes?"

"Sorry, to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal—"

"I'm Sam Winchester," Sam cut off Dean to introduce them politely. "this is my brother, Dean, and our friend, Julia. Dean and I used to live here. You know, we were just driving by and we were wondering if we could come see the old place."

"Winchester," the woman breathed thoughtfully. "That is so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other night."

Dean looked surprised. "You did?"

The woman nodded. "Come on in," she invited them into the house. "I'm Jenny."

"Nice to meet you," Julia smiled politely as she and the brothers entered the house and followed her through a hallway. "Thanks for letting us take a look around."

"No problem," Jenny nodded as they entered the kitchen. There was a little girl around six or so sitting at the table coloring, while a blonde toddler jumped up and down in a playpen, cheering for juice.

"That's Richie," she told Julia and the brothers as she took a sippy cup of juice over to the little boy. "He's kind of a juice junkie. But hey, at least he won't get scurvy."

Julia smiled and waved at the little boy, watching as he smiled in satisfaction when he popped the sippy-part into his mouth and started drinking. He was such a cutie.

"Sari," Jenny put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "This is Julia, Sam, and Dean. The boys used to live here."

Sari smiled shyly. "Hi."

"Hi, Sari," Julia grinned at her while Sam and Dean waved.

"So," Dean looked to Jenny. "you just moved in?"

"Yeah, from Wichita."

"Do you have family in the area?" Julia wondered. Lawrence was kind of a small town, so it was hard to believe that someone would move here out of nowhere. Then again, Wichita was only two hours south.

"No," Jenny frowned. "We just, uh—we needed a fresh start, that's all. A new town, new job—I mean, as soon as I find one—and a new house."

"How are you liking it so far?" Sam asked as Jenny grabbed the empty plate by Sari's coloring book and took it to the sink.

"Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home—I mean I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here—" Jenny started hesitantly; Dean smiled weakly. "—but this place has its issues."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just getting old," she shrugged. "Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly."

"Oh, that's too bad," Dean said. "What else?"

"Um, the sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement..." when Dean grimaced softly, she trailed off. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

"No," Dean waved her off. "Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

"Just the scratching, actually."

"Mom?" Sari spoke up quietly. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

Julia frowned in concern. "What, Sari?"

Hesitantly, Sari elaborated, "The thing in my closet."

"Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets," Jenny assured her daughter before looking up at Sam and Dean pointedly. "Right?"

"Right," Sam nodded. "No, of course not."

"She had a nightmare the other night."

"I wasn't dreaming," Sari insisted indignantly. "It came into my bedroom and it was on fire."

On either side of her, Julia felt the brothers stiffen.

-

"Did you hear that?" Sam asked Dean as the three of them quickly walked out of their old house. "A figure on fire."

"And Jenny was the woman in your dream that needed help?" Julia asked him while Dean stared down at the ground as he walked, keeping quiet about what he had heard. He definitely did not want to believe that whatever killed his mom had stuck around afterwards.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed. "and did you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights...both signs of a malevolent spirit."

When Dean looked up, Sam was looking at him expectantly. "Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are coming true."

"Well, forget about that for a minute," Sam insisted as they crossed the street to the Impala. "The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?"

"I don't know!" Dean snapped.

"Well, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" Sam matched the volume of his voice, becoming heated.

"Or maybe it's something else entirely, Sam!" Dean stopped by his door and faced his brother head-on, his eyes hard. "We don't know yet!"

"Those people are in danger, Dean! We have to get them out of that house!"

"And we will."

"No, I mean now."

Dean scoffed. "And how are you gonna do that, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe?"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!"

"Guys!" Julia stepped in between them, looking around to make sure no one around the neighborhood was watching the brothers freak out at each other. "Stop shouting at each other."

She gave them pointed looks and got two angry glares in return.

"I know that this is difficult but you can't turn on each other," she advised, ignoring their ire. "We should leave and figure out what the hell is actually going on."

"But—"

"Stop talking, Samuel William," Julia gave him a hard look; Sam's face fell and Dean smirked at him. "I can first-and-middle-name you, too, Dean Jonah."

Dean scowled.

"Get in the car," she ordered as she opened the back door and slid into her seat.

She didn't like going all mom-mode on two grown ass men but she didn't know how else to get them to calm down and look at the case rationally. They were emotional about it and she didn't blame them but if they were going to save Jenny and her kids, they needed to pull themselves together.

If she could do this case by herself to save the boys the heartache, she would. But she couldn't—Sam and Dean knew way more stuff than she did and, knowing them, they probably wouldn't stay out of it anyway.

Thoroughly chastised, the brothers got into the Impala. Minutes later, they were pulling up to a gas station so Dean could fill the tank. Thankfully, the ride had given them time to think and calm down, which led to Dean to make a realization.

"We just gotta chill out, that's all," he told Sam and Julia as he pumped gas into the car. "You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do? Any ideas, Junior?"

Julia knew that he was testing her and she was going to rise to the occasion. "We'd try to figure out what we're dealing with," she answered. "and dig into the history of the house."

"Exactly," Dean nodded. "Except this time, we already know what happened."

"Yeah but how much do we know?" Sam spoke up as he leaned against the car. "I mean, how much do you actually remember?"

"About that night, you mean?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Not much. I remember the fire...the heat," Dean recalled quietly, his gaze far off in the distance like he was watching it in his head. "and then I carried you out the front door."

Julia frowned; so much responsibility had been placed on Dean at such a young age. From the moment he carried Sam out of that house, he had become his brother's caretaker and hadn't stopped since. Julia wished that the boys had a normal childhood like she had but, despite the fact that they didn't, they turned out to be great men.

Sam looked at Dean, surprised by his admission. "You did?"

"Yeah," Dean confirmed, looking over at him. "What, you never knew that?"

Sam shook his head. "No."

"Oh," Dean pressed on. "and, uh, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was...she was on the ceiling and whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her."

"And he never had a theory about what did it?"

"If he did, he kept it to himself," Dean said quietly, pulling the gas hose out of the gas tank to put it back on the pump. "God knows we asked him enough times."

"Okay, so, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now, we have to figure out what happened back then," Sam sighed.

"And see if it's the same thing," Julia added.

"Yeah," Dean confirmed. "We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time."

Sam scoffed softly and gave his brother a sad look. "Does this feel like another job to you?"

Dean didn't answer him, his lips quirking into the smallest and saddest smile that Julia had ever seen on him. "I'll be right back," he said instead. "I gotta go to the bathroom."

He walked off around the side of the gas station before Sam—or Julia, for that matter—could say another word or ask another question. Julia turned to Sam with a sad, sympathetic smile, and wrapped a supportive arm around his waist.

"How are you feeling?"

With Sam, she had always made more headway if she asked him how he was, rather than start right in. Sam could express his emotions far better than Dean could but he had to be in the right mind frame and ready to talk on his own. Sam did the same thing with her—it was cheaper than paying for therapy since they were both empathetic and gave good advice.

Sam sighed heavily. "I'm dealing," he told her. "I'm worried about Dean."

"Me too," she leaned her head against the top of his arm.

"You should talk to him," he suggested; Julia pulled away and gave him a confused look. "He would talk to you more than he would me."

"He's your brother, Sam."

"Well, you're his friend," Sam pointed out. "and he doesn't like talking about his feelings."

"What makes you think he would talk about them with me?"

"Because you're Julia," he said simply.

It didn't make a whole lot of sense but she agreed to talk to Dean anyway. She left the Impala to make her way around the gas station to wait for Dean outside of the bathroom. To her surprise, Dean was leaning against the brick wall, eyes clenched shut and his phone pressed against his forehead.

"Dean?"

Dean's eyes blinked open and he straightened himself, putting his phone in his jacket. "Yeah, what's up?"

Julia's chest tightened when she saw that his eyes were tinged a little red. She sighed sadly and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him. She rested her head on his chest as he slowly returned the gesture, his chin sitting on top of her head.

"It's gonna be okay," she rubbed circles with her thumb on his back. "It hurts, I know."

Dean was quiet but she could feel his heavy breathing blow against her hair.

"It's okay to be sad."

Like a switch flipped at her words, Dean unwrapped himself from her and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I wanna be there for Sam."

"I know you do," she nodded, smiling softly up at him. "but Sam wants to be there for you, too, you know. I do, too."

The dimples at the corner of his lips deepened in emotion. She was pretty sure he wasn't going to say much but from the way his shoulders relaxed only slightly, she knew that he heard her and appreciated what she was saying.

"Come on," she grabbed his hand and tugged. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"Uh, probably the garage Dad worked at," Dean sighed as they started walking back to the car. "He co-owned it. Pretty much all of his friends worked there."

"Okay," Julia nodded, seeing that Sam had slid back into his seat to wait for them to come back to the car. "Do you remember where it is?"

Dean nodded.

The auto repair garage that John used to own with Keith Guenther was only a couple streets away from the gas station. Keith was a nice man with a belly and receding hairline who easily agreed to answer questions as they posed as state police.

"So, you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" Dean asked as Keith led them through the garage where a couple mechanics were working.

"Yeah, we used to a long time ago," Keith confirmed before hesitating, "Matter of fact, it must be, uh, twenty years since John disappeared. Why are the cops interested all of a sudden?"

"We're re-opening some of our cold cases," Julia informed him with a polite smile. "The Winchester disappearance is one of them."

"Oh," Keith bought her lie. "Well, what do you want to know about John?"

"Well, whatever you remember," Dean told him. "You know, whatever sticks out in your mind."

"Well," he put his hands on his hips. "he was a stubborn bastard, I remember that," he chuckled. "And, uh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It's that whole Marine thing."

Dean and Sam nodded, exchanging a knowing look.

"But, oh, he sure loved Mary," Keith's smile fell. "and he doted on those kids."

Sam seemed surprised by that. "But that was before the fire?"

Keith nodded. "That's right."

"He ever talk about that night?"

"No, not at first," Keith answered Sam. "I think he was in shock."

"Did he eventually say anything about it?" Julia cocked her head curiously.

"Oh, he wasn't thinking straight," Keith shook his head slightly. "He said, uh, something caused that fire and killed Mary."

"Did he ever say what did it?" Dean wondered.

Keith shook his head. "Nothing did it. It was an accident—an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or something," he sighed. "I begged him to get some help, but..."

"But what?"

"He just got worse and worse."

"How?" Dean insisted.

"He started reading these strange old books," Keith recalled. "He started going to see this palm reader in town."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "Do you know the name of the palm reader?"

Keith scoffed. "No."

"Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Guenther," Sam shook his hand politely. "We'll see ourselves out."

"No problem."

-

"All right, so, there are a few psychics and palm readers in town," Sam sighed, looking down at the local phone book that was supplied at a public phone. "There's someone named El Divino. There's uh—" he laughed. "—the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky. Uh, Missouri Moseley. Some dude named—"

"Wait, wait," Dean interrupted, his face lit up in recognition. "Missouri Moseley?"

Sam gave him a curious look. "What?"

"That's a psychic?"

Sam looked back to the phone book. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

Dean opened the back door behind his seat, pulling out John's journal. "Dad's journal," he told Sam. "Here, look at this."

He opened the journal and went to the first page, holding it out to Sam. Sam set the phone book back down by the phone and walked over to Julia and Dean, taking the journal to see what Dean was talking about.

"First page, first sentence," Dean informed him, pointing at the page. "Read that."

Sam's eyes landed on the sentence. "I went to Missouri and I learned the truth."

Dean shrugged. "I always thought he meant the state."

Julia wrinkled her nose and took the journal from Sam, reading the entry for herself. It could be nothing but she found herself agreeing with Dean. It was too much of a coincidence that John had started seeing a palm reader in town and there happened to be one name that matched the first sentence of his hunter's journal.

She looked at Sam. "Was there an address?"

There was an address in the phone book and, luckily, Lawrence wasn't that big. Dean found the house where Missouri lived easily without stopping for directions. There was a cute little business sign in front of the house and a cozy waiting area for them to sit in while she finished up with her current appointment.

A black woman with the softest voice that Julia had ever heard escorted a middle-aged man out of her living room only ten minutes after they arrived.

"All right, there," she told him as she opened the door for him to leave. "Don't you worry about a thing. Your wife is crazy about you."

The man gave her his genuine thanks and, when the door was shut firmly behind him, she turned to Julia, Sam, and Dean. "Poor bastard. His woman is cold-banging the gardener."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked her, slightly amused.

"People don't come here for the truth, they come for good news," Missouri told him, pausing on her way to the living room. "Well, Sam, Dean, Julia...I ain't got all day."

Julia raised her eyebrows, impressed. "She knew our names," she whispered excitedly to Sam and Dean, standing from her seat on the couch. "She knew who we were."

"Calm down, shortcake," Dean grunted as the three of them made their way into the living room.

Julia rolled her eyes at him and turned to Missouri, already finding the woman staring at them.

"Well, let me look at ya," she laughed joyfully, looking between the three of them. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome. And you—" she pointed at Dean. "—were one goofy looking kid, too."

Julia's mouth fell open in amusement, looking over at Dean with bright eyes. Dean grimaced, looking uncomfortable, but relaxed when Missouri moved onto Julia.

"You look like your momma, girlie," she observed Julia carefully. "Petersen dimple and all. None of your daddy in you."

"You knew my dad?" Julia looked at her in shock.

"We've kept in touch over the years. He and Hannah used to live the town over," Missouri said; Julia's eyebrows furrowed—Hannah had been her dad's little sister who died a year before she was born. "Ooh, you got something special girl. I can feel your sensitivity."

Julia was quiet from the shock of all that Missouri knew about her. She hadn't known that her dad lived in Eudora because he hadn't said anything about it before. It was so strange that the Alexanders lived only a town over from the Winchesters but only met a few years later.

"Sam," Missouri touched his hand as Julia and Dean shared shocked looks and gave him a sympathetic look. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry about your girlfriend...and your father...he's missing?"

Another shock. None of them had said anything about John or the fact that they were looking for him—and Sam certainly hadn't shared about the death of his girlfriend.

"How'd you know all that?" he asked her, surprised.

"Well, you were thinking it just now."

Sam raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Well, where is he?" Dean asked hurriedly. "Is he okay?"

Missouri furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "I don't know."

"Don't know?" Dean repeated. "Well, you're supposed to be psychic, right?"

"Dean!"

"Boy, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half?" Missouri snapped at him. "You think I'm a magician?"

Dean went to defend himself but she kept going.

"I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in the room but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please," she said in one breath, nodding at the couch. Julia, Dean, and Sam all sat on the couch, the oldest man thoroughly chastised. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table I'm gonna whack you with a spoon!"

Dean's eyes widened at the finger she pointed at him. "I didn't do anything!"

"But you were thinking it," she retorted; Dean raised his eyebrows and Julia and Sam shared a smirk, amused that someone was setting him straight.

Julia looked around the living room with interest, taking in the homey decorations. She felt a little odd, like there was a sort of nostalgia that she couldn't place. She chalked it up to being in a stranger's presence.

"Okay, so," Sam cleared his throat. "our dad...When did you first meet him?"

"He came for a reading a few days after the fire," Missouri looked uncomfortable speaking about her encounters with John. "I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say I drew back the curtains for him."

"What about the fire?" Dean asked her seriously. "Do you know about what killed our mom?"

"A little," Missouri admitted. "Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of the thing."

Julia bit her lip nervously. "And could you?"

"I—" she cut herself off, shaking her head.

"What is it?" Sam asked softly, looking at her with pleading eyes.

"I don't know," she confessed. "Oh, but it was evil."

"Mrs. Moseley—"

"Please, it's Missouri," the older woman told Julia.

"Sorry...Missouri, we came to Lawrence because..." Julia trailed off, giving Sam a hesitant look. How could she explain why they were in Kansas when they couldn't have known about what was going on at the Winchester's old house.

"Because Sam had a vision," Missouri finished for her, not needing a rundown when she could hear their thoughts. "So, you think something is back in the house?"

Julia nodded. "Yes."

Missouri sighed. "I don't understand..."

"What?" Sam gave her a confused look.

"I haven't been back inside but I've been keeping an eye on the place. It's been quiet," Missouri told them. "No sudden deaths, no freak accidents...Why is it acting up now?"

"I don't know," Sam looked down at the carpet covering the floors. "but Dad going missing, Jessica dying, and now this house all happening at once? It just feels like something's starting."

Dean pressed his lips together. "That's a comforting thought."

-

Julia knocked on the door of the Winchester's old home, tapping her foot as she waited next to Missouri on the front step. Now that they were back at the house, Julia felt a little off. She didn't know if it was because Missouri's presence was strengthening whatever sensitivity—as the older woman called it—she had but she felt a weird energy around the house that didn't seem human.

It was making her anxious.

Jenny opened the door, looking upset and clutching Richie tightly against her chest. "Sam, Dean, Julia," she greeted them in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Jenny," Sam greeted her gently, noticing how upset she was. "This is our friend, Missouri."

Missouri nodded at her in greeting.

"If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house," Dean requested. "You know, for old time's sake."

"No, you know, this isn't a good time," Jenny denied them politely, her eyes sparkling with tears. "I'm kind of busy."

"Listen, Jenny, it's important—"

Missouri smacked Dean on the side of the head, causing him to grimace and grunt in pain. "Give the poor girl a break. Can't you see she's upset?" she snapped at him before turning to Jenny with an apologetic look on her face. "Forgive this boy, he means well but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed...but hear me out."

"About what?" Jenny asked, confused.

"About this house."

A flash of fear flickered in Jenny's eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"I think you know what I'm talking about," Missouri said knowingly. "You think there's something in this house. Something that wants to hurt your family, am I mistaken?"

Jenny stiffened. "Who are you?"

"We're people who can help," Julia spoke up, giving her a supportive smile. "We can stop this thing but you have to trust us a little."

Jenny reluctantly let them in. Missouri explained a little about who she was and what she did to Jenny. When Jenny was able to absorb that something was going on in her house that she didn't understand, she allowed them to go upstairs so Missouri could see if she felt any energies that didn't belong.

Missouri led them to the last room in the hall; it was painted light blue with stickers placed here and there on the walls and a butterfly comforter on the bed. Julia assumed that this was Sari's bedroom.

"If there's a dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it," Missouri told them as she looked around the room carefully.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"This used to be your nursery, Sam," she answered him. "This is where it all happened."

Julia's eyes immediately went to the ceiling like she was expecting there to be a mark or sign of Mary's horrific death. There was nothing and it was had a nice beam design, which relieved her. When she saw Dean look up, too, she grabbed his hand and gripped it tightly.

Dean pulled his EMF device from his jacket with his free hand, taking the comfort Julia offered. As the device buzzed and lit up, Missouri looked over at him.

"Is that an EMF?" she asked. Dean nodded, causing her to scoff. "Amateur."

Dean glared at her and Sam nudged him, silently warning him to behave and get along with her.

"Come here, Julia," Missouri spoke up, looking over at the youngest of the group who was fidgeting nervously. Julia gave her a confused look, let go of Dean's hand, and walked over to her. "I can feel your aura reaching out. You can sense something, can't you?"

Julia nodded jerkily, briefly glancing back at Sam and Dean to see that they were looking at them with confusion. Missouri was right; she did sense something. It was faint but it made her scared.

She didn't know exactly how to explain it but it was like she could feel the darkness in the room. It was pulsing with negativity and wickedness that had her scalp tingling and her hands shaking. She had never been afraid of her abilities—if that's what they actually were—but this made her afraid.

Missouri gave her a knowing look. "I want you to take a deep breath in," she instructed her. "and then slowly exhale. Really focus on what your mind and body are telling you."

Julia did as she was told, closing her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and slowly letting it out. She flinched from the violence she felt—whatever was here wanted to kill and it was stubborn. But...there was also something else. It was hidden by the dark presence but she could feel a slight gentleness from it.

When she opened her eyes, Missouri nodded at her before turning to the brothers who had been silently watching both of them.

"I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved," she told them. "but this ain't the thing that took your mom."

"Wait, are you sure?" Sam stiffened, sure that there was something bad among them; Missouri nodded. "How do you know?"

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here," she explained. "It's something different."

"What is it?" Dean pressed her as she walked over to the closet and opened it.

"I think there's more than one," Julia spoke up hesitantly; Dean and Sam's eyes flashed over to her. "I mean, that's what I felt."

"Well, you'd be right," Missouri confirmed for her as she stood in the middle of the walk-in closet.

Dean stiffened. "What are they doing here?"

"They're here because of what happened to your family," Missouri informed Sam and Dean. "You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaved wounds and, sometimes, wounds get infected."

Sam shook his head. "I don't understand."

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy," she elaborated. "It's attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one that won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead."

"And you and Julia said that there was more than one spirit," Sam pointed out, hoping that the other spirit was something that would be taken care of easier than a poltergeist.

Missouri turned to Julia, gesturing for her to explain herself to her friends.

"It's hard to make it out," Julia intertwined her fingers and squeezed her hands together. "but I don't think it's as bad as the poltergeist."

Sam and Dean were quiet after Julia's observation; Missouri walked out of the closet, making her way back over to them.

"Well, one thing's for damn sure," Dean said firmly. "nobody's dying in this house ever again. So, whatever is here, how do we stop it?"

-

Julia, Dean, Sam, and Missouri arrived back at Jenny's house just around sunset. They were armed with hex bags full of angelica root, van-van oil, crossroad dirt, and more ingredients that Missouri didn't elaborate on. They needed to put the bags in each of the four corners of the house—north, south, east, and west—and they would be able to destroy the spirits hanging around unwanted.

While Missouri ushered Jenny, Sari, and Richie safely away from the house for the night, Julia, Sam, and Dean split up the levels of the house. Sam and Missouri would get the basement and hit up the south and east ends while Dean got the north end on the main floor and Julia was appointed the west corner on the second floor.

Julia firmly held onto the mallet and plastic pipe in her hands as she walked up the stairs and to the room furthest to the west. The room was clearly Jenny's—the walls were covered in dark floral wallpaper and had a king-sized bed shoved against the most western wall.

She walked to the side of the bed nearest to the window. Tapping the plastic pipe against the wall to find a spot where there were no studs, she kneeled down to get to work. She found a place close to the floorboard to put the hex bag and went to smash through the drywall with the mallet when something slid around her neck.

Julia squeaked in pain as the lamp cord tightened around her neck, harshly pulling onto her back. She hit the floor with a hard thud, reaching up to try to pry the wire from around her neck. Her air was running out as she tried to dig her fingers under the cord but it tightened and tightened until there was no room for her fingers to slip underneath.

Her lungs ached and she was sure she let out an inhuman noise as she struggled to reach for the hex bag in her cardigan pocket. She gasped loudly, trying to get more air into her trachea but it was too hard.

She could feel her pulse pounding behind her eyes as her body fought for the oxygen it was deprived of. She had heard before that suffocating to death was peaceful but she thought it was bullshit. Every part of her body hurt from lack of oxygen, especially her lungs and the muscles around her neck where the cord was practically attached to her skin.

Nothing was peaceful about it and she had a morbid thought as her body went slack. This was what it felt like for her mom when she was suffering from her lung cancer. The horrible disease had made it so Naomi couldn't breathe and was forced to use a machine that did it for her.

"Julia!"

Julia wheezed loudly as Dean collapsed at her side, reaching for the cord wrapped tightly around her neck. She tried to help him, Dean grunting with effort but the poltergeist was too strong for both of them.

Knowing that the cord wasn't going to budge as long as the poltergeist had its power, Dean pulled away from her weak body and searched for the flimsy pocket he saw her put the hex bag in before she went upstairs. He moved the cardigan over and found the bag, pulling it out of the pocket and lunging at the wall.

Dean kicked the wall a few inches from the trim, making a huge hole in the drywall. He hurriedly placed the bag into the enclosed area, making the room flash with a bright light that had him turning away to protect his eyes.

Julia wheezed again as the cord relaxed against her throat. Dean hurried toward her and knelt down, quickly unwrapping it from around her neck where a dark red line was forming.

"It's okay," Dean pulled her up toward his chest so he had easier access to the cord that somehow knotted behind her neck. Julia breathed deeply, her lungs aching and feeling bruised as they expanded with air.

She almost fell back against the floor, completely exhausted and too weak to move, when Dean had to take his hands from her to throw away the cord but he quickly caught her again. His hand was on the back of her head, pushing her face into the crook of his neck; Julia inhaled his intoxicating scent, relieved that he was there to help her in time.

Julia blinked sluggishly and finally closed her eyes, falling into a slight sleep.

When she woke, an hour had passed. The spirits were supposed to be gone, with all four hex bags in their places in the walls, but Julia still felt uneasy. Something at the back of her head told her that they weren't gone but waiting for them to leave so they could attack Jenny, Sari, and Richie.

Sam felt the same; he turned to Missouri. "You're sure this is over?"

"I'm sure," Missouri confirmed as she looked around the kitchen that was messy from Dean's confrontation with the poltergeist. "Why do you ask?"

If Missouri was sure that the spirits were gone, Julia had to believe her, right? She didn't have the experience that the older woman had so there couldn't be a way that she was right about the spirits still being in the house.

Sam shook his head. "Never mind. It's nothing, I guess."

Julia leaned her head against Dean's upper arm and he allowed her to stay, neither of them minding the company and the comfort that it brought them. She eyed Sam curiously, wondering if he felt the same way as her, but he didn't speak up.

That brought something to mind, though; how did Sam know all of this stuff? How did he have visions? Before today, Julia had signs that she had special knowledge and abilities but Sam? According to him, he'd been without these visions his whole life until a few weeks before Jess died. So, what the hell was going on?

The front door opened. "Hello? We're home."

Within seconds, Jenny and Sari walked into the kitchen—Richie being in the former's arms—and looked around wide-eyed at the mess they had made.

"What happened?" Jenny asked, shocked.

"Sorry," Julia croaked hoarsely in greeting. "We'll pay for all of this."

"Don't you worry," Missouri assured her. "Dean's gonna clean up this mess."

Dean gave her an affronted look, not moving a muscle.

Missouri wasn't having it. "What are you waiting for, boy?" she shrilled. "Get the mop and don't you cuss at me!"

Hours later, after Dean cleaned up the kitchen—Sam reluctantly helping a little bit—the three of them sat in the Impala outside the house. Missouri had left, confident that everything was over, but Sam and Julia silently conferred and confessed that they felt differently.

They convinced Dean that they needed to keep watch just in case something happened, not entirely being truthful about the reason.

"All right," Dean spoke up among the chirping of crickets. "So, tell me again, what are we still doing here?"

"I don't know," Sam sighed, staring at the house. "I just...I still have a bad feeling."

"Why?" Dean gave him a confused look. "Missouri did her whole Zelda-Rubenstein thing. The house should be clean; it should be over."

"Maybe," Julia rested her head against the cool window. "but I have the same feeling as him. That can't be a coincidence."

"We just wanna make sure everything is all right."

"Yeah, well, the problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now," Dean grumbled.

"Dean."

For some reason when Julia said his name in that tone, he always quieted down.

"...Shutting up."

"Dean, Julia, look!" Sam suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the house.

The two of them quickly looked over, spotting Jenny pounding the window in her bedroom on the second floor. They scrambled out of the car, running toward the house at full speed.

"You two grab the kids," Dean ordered as he ran up the front steps. "I'll get Jenny."

He kicked down the locked door after a few tries and they rushed upstairs, heading to Jenny, Sari, and Richie. Dean went straight to Jenny's room, where the door was inexplicably locked while Julia went to Richie and Sam went to Sari.

Richie was sobbing in his crib, clearly scared out of his mind from the pounding sounds coming from his mom's room next door. Julia made rushed soothing noises as she hurriedly picked him up out of his crib, grabbing his blanket so he wouldn't get cold outside. She ran back out of the room with the toddler in her arms, almost running into Sam and Sari in the process.

"Let's go!" Sam urged her as he went downstairs.

Julia was on his heels, being careful not to trip at her high speed. When they made it to the foyer, Sam put Sari down and gently pushed her toward Julia, giving his best friend a pointed look. Julia nodded in understanding.

"Sari," she got the little girl's attention, grabbing her hand with her free one. "you and me are gonna run outside as fast as we can, okay? Don't look back."

Sari nodded and looked back at Sam, screaming shrilly when she saw that he had been grabbed by the poltergeist. Julia tugged on her arm and they took off, sprinting out of the house and into the front yard where Dean and Jenny were waiting.

"Dean," Julia handed the kids off to Julia. "It got Sam!"

After getting his sawed off and some salt rounds from the trunk of the Impala, Dean and Julia ran back to the house. The door was forced shut as they approached and it took both of them together to kick it down in two tries.

"SAM!" Dean shouted as they ran into the house.

By the time they got to the kitchen, Sam was forcefully pinned against the cabinets, unable to move. Across the room, an invisible figure surrounded by fire approached him. Julia didn't feel the evil energy of the poltergeist from it but Dean aimed his sawed off at the figure anyway.

"No, don't!" Sam stopped him.

"What? Why?"

"Because I know who it is," Sam told him. "I can see her now."

As the figure stepped into the kitchen, the fire around it disappeared. Mary Winchester appeared, her long blonde hair floating with the nonexistent wind. She looked at her sons with fond, loving eyes, wearing a long white nightgown.

As Julia gaped at the beautiful woman who birthed two of her closest friends, Dean lowered his gun. He stared at his mom in awe, his eyes stinging with tears as she smiled softly at him.

"Mom..."

Mary slowly walked toward him, her smile growing. Dean looked a lot like her; he got his green eyes, nose, freckles, and dirty-blonde hair from her.

"Dean," she breathed lovingly, giving him a proud look.

Julia's own eyes filled with tears as she grabbed Dean's hand and squeezed tightly, gulping at the smile that Mary gave her as she passed them. She slowly walked up to Sam, who was still in the poltergeist's hold.

"Sam," Mary greeted him; Sam laughed breathlessly, tears falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "For what?"

Mary didn't answer as she stared at him for a long moment. She silently turned back toward the living room, disappearing and reappearing a few feet forward. She stared at the ceiling with a dark glare.

"You," her voice trembled angrily. "get out of my house and let go of my son."

Dean tightened his grip on Julia's hand painfully as flames surrounded Mary once more. The fire flared brightly and raised to the ceiling, spreading and then disappearing all together.

"Mom?" Dean looked around frantically.

Julia sighed, feeling the relief from Mary's lighter energy colliding with the malevolent energy of the poltergeist. "It's done," she whispered as the force holding Sam fell away. "They're gone."

Dean frowned sadly and Sam breathed shakily, both of them devastated to see their mom for a last time before she suddenly disappeared again. Julia's heart ached so badly for them but she hoped that maybe seeing Mary could be a start to giving them some closure.

"Come here," Julia reached out for Sam's arm, tugging him toward her. She untangled her hand from Dean's and wrapped that arm around his waist, bringing both of them in for a hug at the same time.

When Sam rested his head on top of Julia's, his forehead reaching the tip of Dean's shoulder, he sighed in comfort. They were his family and he was so glad he had them around. Dean felt the same way; for the first time ever, he joined in on a group hug.

-

Julia and Sam sat side-by-side on the front steps of Jenny's house the next morning, watching as Dean looked at the photos of the Winchester family that Jenny had found in the basement. They had called Missouri to tell them about what happened the night before and she had rushed over to the house so she could check to make sure that everything was all right.

She did a quick walk around, trying to feel for the energies she felt the day before, before stepped out of the house.

"Well," Missouri sat on Sam's other side. "there are no spirits in there anymore. This time for sure."

Sam looked down at his feet sadly. "Not even my mom?"

"No."

"What happened?" he looked at her, hoping that she would explain how his mom had gotten rid of the poltergeist. Julia had said that she felt them both disappear at the same time, so he was pretty sure it had something to do with Mary.

"You're mom's spirit and the poltergeist's energy canceled each other out," Missouri explained. "Your momma destroyed herself going after the thing."

Sam pressed his lips together, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Why would she do something like that?"

"Well, to protect her boys, of course."

Julia smiled and patted Sam's knee comfortingly. Throughout their whole friendship, Sam had confessed many times that he felt disconnected from his mom because she died when he was only an infant. He didn't have the memories that Dean had of Mary and that rightfully upset him. Julia was glad that Sam knew that his mom would have done anything to protect him and his brother because she loved them so much.

"Sam, I'm sorry," Missouri apologized hesitantly.

Sam gave her a confused look. "For what?"

His mom had said that, too.

"You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't," Missouri stated, her eyes darting between both Sam and Julia. "Both of you did."

Julia nodded silently while Sam grimaced.

"What's happening to me?" he asked the older woman, fear coloring his voice.

"I know I should have all the answers, but," she shook her head slightly. "I don't know."

"Sam, Jules, you ready?" Dean called from the Impala as Jenny started walking back up to her house.

Julia and Sam got up from their spots on the stairs, giving Jenny smiles when she thanked them. The two of them and Dean gathered at the back of the Impala as Missouri walked over to them.

"Don't you three be strangers," she warned them.

"We won't," Dean promised.

"Julia," she called; Julia perked up at her name. "You take care of those boys, okay? They need you."

Julia looked at Sam and Dean, smiling softly. "I need them," she declared; they both grinned back at her. Looking back at Missouri, she nodded in a silent promise. "Bye, Missouri."

Missouri waved at the three of them. "See you around."

They all got into the car and settled in as Dean started the engine. Sam and Dean each gave their old house one last look. Dean pulled away from the curb, leaving the house behind in his rearview mirror.

(Gif is not mine)

[dat-town]

CODE Z3RO | CODE 09

characters: BTS & Red Velvet genre: thriller, futuristic au warning: death summary: The twelve most ambitious and promising university students are welcomed in Choego, the world’s first entirely artificial intelligence-driven city, to compete for five job contracts that could change their life. But what if something goes wrong? What if they get trapped? What if the city suddenly turns against them? Can they find a way out before the countdown reaches zero? words: 4.5k tagged: @philosopher-of-fandoms​

➼ Chapter Index

After Yerim’s cries died down, the silence was deafening. Climbing down the ladder one by one to the dimly lit sewerage system felt like descending to the deepest pits of Hell. Hoseok's horrified expression burnt itself into each of their minds haunting their thoughts as the artificial light shimmered around them. It didn’t take long and total darkness welcomed them as the lights above went out. They had no choice but to hold back their breaths in the awfully stinking odour coming from the pipes and the sewage disposal area under them. But nobody whined because they knew they had no other choice but to follow this route. They couldn't go back nor sit around waiting for help to come. Their only chance for survival was going forward.

When Yoongi's feet reached something concrete with his next step, he let go off the ladder tentatively, not knowing what to expect in the dark. Tapping the ground under his feet, the metal's clanking sound echoed around them.

"The ladder’s end is here. Come down carefully," he spoke up voice firm even though he was panting hard only a few minutes prior. His asthma decided to act up at the worst time possible, so he was thankful to the group for not leaving him behind in such a state. He felt sorry for Hoseok who hadn’t had any help and it had brought his end. But he felt even worse for the loved ones of the fallen fellows, for their parents, friends and lovers. They had no chance to know they were waiting for them to return home in vain.

And if they all died who would tell them the truth about this killing city?

It made him rethink his choices and decisions, edging him to apologize to his mother whom he treated unjust just because she didn’t support his choice of major. Ever since he had said no to becoming the family’s third-generation lawyer, their relationship had gotten worse. It seemed like they weren’t able to understand each other’s point of view. His mother had even called this Smart City Project a waste of time and looking back, she might have been right. He shouldn’t have turned his back on her without any word of goodbye. If he ended up dying in this hell on Earth, he knew he would regret his childish impulsiveness. But oh, youth always thinks death cannot reach it.

Yoongi narrowed his eyes trying to make out what was around him down there somewhere half-between the ground and the trap door. He heard water running and some machines working from under but other than that he only heard the noise of others' climbing. He reached for the wall searching for a switch to light up the space around them again but he found none. It probably used automatic sensors but they seemingly didn’t work. So it took awhile but when his eyes got somewhat used to the dark, he saw fences on two sides on the metal bridge they were standing on and he spotted a red flashlight on the other end of it quite far away.

"What is that noise?" Namjoon asked once he set his foot on the metal too right after his girlfriend. Soon they all gathered there, still shaken and uncertain because of the darkness fallen upon them. They could only see silhouettes, so telling each other apart was easier by the voices.

"I think the sewage water is getting cleaned under us. I read in one of the marketing documents we got that the used water is recycled for watering the plants but it needs to be filtered and thoroughly cleaned before adding it to the hose pipes. I think it's the sound of the extruding machine," Jungkook enlightened them as he accompanied Yerim to the fence and helped her wrap her fingers around the metal to make sure she kept herself steady.

"And why is it so hot and humid? It won't explode, right?" Wendy chirped in, worry evident in her usually confident voice. After elevators broke down and doors got shut without warning, they couldn’t be sure of anything.

"They boil and cool it too before reuse, so I think it's that," the young engineer answered and Yoongi was glad at least someone had thoroughly read the materials they had gotten. It came handy now because he liked to know what kind of problem he was facing before starting a fight.

"So it means, be extra careful! I will go forward first on the bridge but make sure to get a grip on the fence," Yoongi gave the orders and this time even the limping Taehyung had nothing to say.

The IT guy strictly followed the red light ahead which seemed to be the sign of a door to another room. Behind him he heard some unsure steps following him and Yerim's faint voice asking for water. He guessed that with her, Wendy and her boyfriend also lagged off because the noises sounded from farther away as he got closer to the light. It was hard to tell how much time passed, it could have been minutes or hours for all he knew but they walked for quite a while and the little group split into smaller groups. Only one person could keep up with him who led the row and Seulgi's quiet, shallow breathing gave his heart a rest. At least he knew he wasn't alone when he reached for the door handle.

It was Joohyun followed by the slow-paced Taehyung who closed the line, hand sweaty as she wrapped it around the cold fence. It was nerve-wracking, barely been able to see anything, much less their teammates ahead of them. Once or twice she even though they lost them when the faint echo of steps were suppressed by the sound of sewage water running below. The alarming silence over the noise and the lack of human contact, even just hearing or seeing them, also ticked her nervousness off. Maybe that’s why she slacked back staying with Taehyung whose steps were remarkably loud due to his injury. Sticking to him meant she knew that at least someone was close by and oh, she wanted nothing less than to stay alone.

Taehyung pulled one of his legs but he refused any further help. It must have been because of his pride or competitiveness. He didn't want to seem weak. As someone who studied psychology over the years it wasn't hard for Joohyun to guess why. He was distrustful towards anyone since he probably never received love so unconditional to make up for the loss he encountered.

"How is your ankle?" she spoke up not letting the silence stretched too far between them.

"What? Suddenly you care?" Taehyung rasped out, voice full of spite. Was it how he reacted to every question that was intended to be kind? With full of suspicion? Joohyun just wanted to be nice but now she wasn’t so sure anymore. 

She gritted her teeth, not letting the hurt be heard in her tone as she answered. 

"If you're being a deadweight and hold us back, there was no point in saving you over Hoseok," she remarked just as dryly even though her throat closed up speaking so harshly about the dead boy like he was nothing else than an asset to choose. It would have been a lie to say she had liked Hoseok even just a bit, he had been too whiny and he’d had not much use but he had been a human being and nobody deserved to die such a cruel death. No one, not even Taehyung despite his impossible personality.

"I never told you to save me or to wait for me. I can make my way out of here alone. I don't need any of you idiots," he scoffed, all too mighty if you asked Joohyun. 

"Keep telling yourself that," she rolled her eyes but in the dark it couldn’t have been seen.

She wasn't too keen on boosting the Marketing guy's ego though he really did seem like the type who would have survived all kinds of obstacles and could have even lived on the surface of ice just fine. But it wasn't a game made to be played alone.

"Anyways, you owe me. Don't forget that," she reminded him firmly.

She liked fairness and believed the universe always found its balance. So she knew she might get punished one day for leaving Sooyoung alone in the dorms like that but back then she had no idea what her actions meant. But knowing the consequences, would she have acted differently? Would she now? And what would it tell about her? She knew very well that emergency situations brought out people's inner selves. The way they behaved when something life-threatening happened made all the difference between the selfish and the selfless ones. But she also knew that her unsaid alliance with Taehyung could make or break whether she survived, so she intended to make the most out of it. Did it mean she was self-absorbed, only caring about herself? Or rather that she knew her way in this harsh, cruel world?

“Whatever,” Taehyung scoffed with a low grunt as they continued walking forward in silence. The boy's panting became louder as they kept going, the long tunnel seeming never-ending after the first dozens of steps. So it happened between one frivolous moment and another, it might have been Joohyun's carelessness or just a bit of misfortune, but in the end it didn’t matter, the result was all the same: she lost her balance and fell.

She could tell that the metal was slippery under her slippers but it was too late by the time she realized the consequence of her misstep. She slipped on the water – that probably Yerim had poured out accidently with her shaking hands when she had drunk – and it would have been fine if they weren’t walking on a bridge over nothing. As her bottom landed on the cold hard ground she automatically tried to find her balance again by placing her hands down. But one of those found nothing and ended into the emptiness. She misplaced the edge of the bridge in her mind and it seemed to become a deadly mistake on her part. As her hand found no concrete there the force of momentum tilted her body towards the void. As she fell she barely had time to blindly grab on the metal pole of the fence. Gasping, she clutched onto it with sweaty hands, forehead fitting close to the material of the bridge while her legs dangled in the air.

"What the fuck was that?" Taehyung, who only heard the fall, questioned as his steps halted. The darkness brought paranoia out of even him. 

"I'm down here, Taehyung, help me up," Joohyun forced her mouth to form the words even though she felt like she was wasting her precious energy needed to hold herself even by just breathing too loudly.

"Oh so you need that favour back already?" he mocked her way of asking for help as he knelt down towards the source of her panicked voice. His knees hit the metal hard, hand following the handrail.

How could she be so stupid to let go, he must have thought but Joohyun knew very well that in the moment of danger most people didn't act rationally, they let their instincts take over just how she wanted to lessen the impact of the fall by putting her hands down. The possibility of the bridge's edges being all too close didn't even occur to her in that moment. The same as she didn't even care about her pride now when it was a matter of life and death.

"Don't be an asshole and pull me up," she growled at the boy who didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation. It wasn't him who hung over an unknown depth after all and it wasn't his hands that kept slipping from the metal that even scarred her palm.

"What's the magic word?" he hummed all too calm and Joohyun swore she would punch him in the nose once she was safe. How did he dare to play with her life as if she was nothing more than a puppet on strings?

But maybe for him that's all she was. 

"Please… please," she panted, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

She really didn’t think she could hold on for much longer. Though according to her studies her body should have kept on until her last breath because during a crisis like this the human body and mind was capable of things otherwise it wouldn't have thought possible. The saying about holding on with tooth and nails really made sense now. She never wanted to live more than in that moment.

"Alright," Taehyung sighed heavily as if it was such a generous decision of him and he reached down with his free hand.

As his fingertips grazed Joohyun's shoulder she grabbed onto him with one hand. Once she was sure he held her firmly enough she let go off the metal pole in order to push herself upwards on the bridge. However, the boy wasn't too much of a help. He didn't made any effort to lift her, pulling her into safety, he just held her and let her struggle.

"You know, you were so close to the top 5," he remarked in a scornful tone which confused the girl for a moment, just one before she put the puzzle pieces together. But by then it was already too late and she felt herself fall into the abyss.

Her scream got cut off as she disappeared in the hot sewage water waiting to be processed. Yet the betrayal hurt more than the burn against her smooth skin. It hurt even more because despite what she had been taught about human behaviour during her academic career, despite all the signs she should have noticed, she made the stupid mistake of trusting and laying her life in the hands of the wrong man.

"Did you hear it?" Frightened, Yerim whipped her head backwards and clenched onto the fence even firmer.

"It sounded like a scream," Namjoon whispered but his premonition didn't receive objection nor agreement. They continued their walk towards the door that was now opened thanks to the ones at the front. Through the gap between the frame and the door it shed suspicious red light over the bridge, painting the shadows of the duo standing by the threshold onto the dark metal. Their figures appeared side by side but while the boy tried relentlessly to figure out why the bracelets stopped working, the girl just stood there, almost unmoving.

Kang Seulgi had always been an odd girl. Quiet and smart. She had been often picked on by her former classmates and since she’d had a hard time making friends, there had been nobody to protect her from the bullies. No matter how uncomfortable a task was, saying no wasn't her cup of tea. She liked to follow what she was told because the route taken like this was deemed safe in her eyes. But in Choego only she seemed to know where to go in order to stay alive. If only she dared to speak up. But wouldn't it be too late by now? Wouldn't the deaths of those who were left behind be blamed on her? The burn on her hand was already enough of a reminder about her mistakes. Under the red light it was even angrier burgundy and she hissed as she touched the wound drawing Yoongi's attention to it. Feeling the burn of the guy's gaze on her skin, it prickled and she gulped, remembering the way he looked at her when the fire alarm went off.

"You should put some cream on it before it gets infected," Yoongi advised quietly and the girl's head snapped towards him. Her long brown hair fell into her eyes, covering her sight.

"I don't have any on me," she whispered not daring to meet his eyes. It was useless to pretend dumb and ask what he meant by it, it was obvious he had it already figured out. Just how he should have known that they weren't in the position to run to pharmacies with every little injury. They had just left the hospital which was probably their last chance to get medicine of any kind. But she was okay with the burn mark, it wasn't the first time it happened anyway, she was used to scars, be it physical or mental.

Yoongi hummed at her answer since he couldn't offer any other kind of remedy either. He turned his head, looking into the distance, narrowing his eyes to make out the silhouettes of the groups of four and two following them. Seulgi looked the same way, hoping they would arrive soon, so they could get going, out of this dark and inauspicious place but they were still quite far. Probably because of the scared Yerim and the limping Taehyung.

Seulgi thought they would wait for them in silence, letting it cover them like a warm blanket on wintery days but Yoongi didn't turn back to his bracelet and his computer. He kept his eyes on the abyss but his words were directed at her without a doubt.

"You caused the fire drill, didn't you?" he asked but it didn't seem like he needed an answer. He was confident enough but his voice was just slightly stern. it didn't feel like he was calling her out on it or that he blamed her for any misfortune it might brought. He sounded almost understanding as he added: "You're a smoker."

"I–" Seulgi's already faint voice broke off as she tried to find an excuse. Gosh, this is just what she wanted to avoid, being questioned about her bad habit. She just didn't think it would be by the IT guy.

Taking notice of her self-conscious silence, he looked at her, searching for her eyes under the ominous lights and for the first time since she set her foot into this chaotic place, Seulgi truly felt like she wasn't alone.

"It's okay, I know the signs," Yoongi probably intended to reassure her this way, implying that he only figured it out due to his knowledge but Seulgi couldn't help but wonder what kind of sign it was. Was it the smell of smoke, the burn itself or perhaps the twitch of her fingers when she didn't get nicotine for too long? And how could he know? Was he also one of those who reached for this kind of drug to forget about their problems?

As if he heard her internal question, lowering his head he answered it without pushing her limits.

"My dad was smoking too," he said, tone changing too abruptly to end the sentence properly.

Until lung cancer took him away, the unsaid confession hung between them like a string waiting to be cut off by the Moiras.

Seulgi didn't know what to say to that, so she did what she did best: she stayed silent, words not reaching the tip of her tongue, not even when the steps were getting louder and the arrivals asked whether it was just the two of them.

"Finally! I thought we would never make it here. What's over there?" Namjoon grunted as he peeked over the threshold into the red room. It was lack of any helpful device but it had four doors with different numbers written on them on small metal tags. It meant nothing for most of them, just a random combination of five digits of numbers and characters.

"Nothing really. We should wait for the others and decide which way to go. I don't want to hear Taehyung whine because he didn't get the chance to butt in the decision," Yoongi remarked bitterly and the snort coming from the younger engineer guy signalled that he wasn't the only one whose nerves had enough of the Marketing guy's quirks.

"Do we have to stay in the dark for long?" Yerim spoke up with voice trembling like ravaged leaves falling during windy autumn months. Poor her, it hadn't been long since she lost her brother and now she was forced underground with an obvious fear of dark. However, she held on, she didn't give up or hold them back and Seulgi respected the young girl for her strength.

"I hope not. These passages branch throughout the island like a web of spiders, so I bet there are multiple ins and outs," Namjoon stated, although he was also confused because of the long journey they had to take without seeing any exit. What kind of architectural decision was it by the founders? But sooner or later they should have found a drain grate above them, leading to the surface... right?

"Can anyone tell how much time we have till the next zone shuts done?" Jungkook asked looking around as his own digital devices acted up with no wifi around. His question was reasonable since none of them wanted to walk into a trap.

"It's a few minutes past midday," Wendy checked the analog watch she wore on her wrist. "Gosh, time really flew by. How many zones can still be active?" She wondered aloud because it was around ten when they got into the hospital at the cost of the countdown's accelerating.

Being good at Maths, it didn't take too much for Seulgi to calculate the correct answer. From midnight to ten in the morning ten zones shut down, Two hours passed since which meant four more down at the current speed. But the number of the active ones didn't matter as long as they were within the safe border of these.

"There must be a pattern in the order they close off," Jungkook claimed and the quiet girl were surprised how talkative he became suddenly. Maybe it was Yerim's presence, that he had to constantly murmur comforting words to her.

"If I were the researchers I would have left a path leading to the main computer last, so if we head that way we should be okay," Yoongi added to their discussion and humming, everybody agreed with his reasoning. However, it didn't help their case too much without the knowledge of the exact arrangement of the city.

"Sure, but how we know where that is?" came the logical question from the tall boy beside him but Yoongi wasn't taken aback by it.

"We don't know. But she does," he pointed at Seulgi. Dumbfounded, the girl could only blink, not understanding what he meant.

"What?"

Yoongi tilted his head, watching her from under his dark lashes. There was a challenge in his voice and fire in his eyes as if he told her to step up for herself, to show them she wasn't just a gray little mouse following the horde.

"You said before we were safe. How did you know that?" he asked and oh, it all made more sense now. She didn't think anyone heard her.

"Fucking finally! I thought I was going crazy," an angry voice snapped closeby and everybody turned towards the lilac haired guy catching up to them.

However, he was alone no matter how hard they tried to gawk behind him in the dark. It stirred up uneasiness in their insides.

"Taehyung, where is Joohyun?"

The fear was all too clear in the Med student's voice as she asked about the eldest girl. Her question however was followed by deep silence. It had cuts and claws, scratching their throats, hungry for their dread. The pause before Taehyung's answer was like the quiet before the storm, safe that it didn't bring rain and thunders but guilt and grief afterwards.

"I don't know how it happened. She was in front of me in one moment and then she fell down in the next. It all happened so fast. I could barely see anything," the guy said in an emotionless voice and for some reason it sent shivers down Seulgi's spine. Even if there was no dead corpse in front of their eyes, they all knew what it meant.

There was something very wrong about this place. With every passing moment she hated being here more and more. She hated that they couldn't let themselves mourn properly because they had to focus on their own survival. It felt like losing a part of their humanity.

"Let's get the fuck out of this zone before we all die here," Taehyung passed by them, rushing into the red room, only to stop a few meters before the four doors. He didn't know either which one would have been the wise to choose.

None of them knew, except for one.

"Seulgi..." Yoongi's deep but smooth voice reached said girl's ears and curiously she looked the boy in the eyes. She had no idea what to make of the hope he saw in those dark orbs. "You know where to go, right?" he asked, almost pleading and Seulgi was more than surprised. She was used to being invisible, going unnoticed by others. But how much did he notice about her?

Bashfully, she cleared her throat, not knowing what to do with all that attention on her.

"The numbers, there are all over the city... they are zip codes," she spoke up, voice a little rough and too quiet to be heard at all through the roaring of the water. "The first number is for the region, like one for Seoul postal codes. The second and third are the number of the districts... the zones here as we called them. So the route behind each door is probably follows the sewage system heading towards those districts."

Always searching for something wrong in everything, of course, Taehyung snorted.

"And how do you know that?"

"She's an architect, don't you remember?" Yoongi answered instead of her, shielding the girl with his body from the lilac haired guy's rage. He didn't seem to be in a good mood at all and the IT guy wasn't planning on letting him blow their chance now. Annoyed and angry at the world, the Marketing major didn't realise it wasn't him with the upperhand in this situation.

"Then can she tell us why the hell we had to walk kilometers in the dark?"

"We crossed the canal from beneath," Seulgi replied in a quiet voice staring straight ahead, gaze burning holes in the back of Yoongi's black shirt.

Astounded oh sounds filled the sphere and for once Taehyung had no more annoying questions either. Their non-appointed leader turned to the girl inquiring further.

"Which way should we go now?"

She pointed at the door with the label 522NN.

" I... I saw a map and the numbers are increasing in a spiral, the last one is twenty-four, it's between the twenty-third and twenty-second zone," she explained and for the first time in forever she experienced the impact of her own words as everybody moved forward to the 22th district of Choego.

[flowerpowell]

The Boy Next Door (Colt x MC / Logan x MC)

PART NINE

A/N: Surprise! Another chapter because @desiree-0816 keeps asking me to post more so here it is (thank you for all your support, Des!) I hope you’ll like it and dont forget to leave me some feedback if you do! Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Rating: PG-16 (just in case)

Word count: 1118

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @lovehugsandcandy @desiree-0816 @walkerduchess @liamzigmichael4ever @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @hellomynameisdevi @client-327 @badchoicesposts @blackcatkita @pixel-thirsty @drakeismyweakness @donutsgirl36 @miss-raleigh-carrera @i-bloody-love-drake-walker ♥

Ellie woke up very early that Sunday morning. She felt super nauseous and tired and her whole body felt swollen, same as for the past couple of days. Not wanting to wake up sleeping Riya, she slipped out of her room. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen to drink some water (surprisingly coffee made her want to throw up even more) she noticed Logan sitting on a couch in the living room. His eyes were glued to his phone and he was biting his nails. Carefully, Ellie approached her boyfriend and sat down next to him. He raised his head and smiled weakly at her. He looked really tired.

“Hey, you,” she said and Logan wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her up to him. He kissed her temple and murmured “hey” into her hair.

“Is everything okay?” she asked noticing the dark circles under his eyes.

“Yes, everything is okay, love.”

“Come on, Logan. I know you,” she moved slighly to face him. “Is it because you had to sleep in Colt’s room?”

He chuckled, “No, I slept here, in the living room. I’m fine.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes scanning the room. “Where’s Colt though?”

“He went out somewhere,” Logan replied. There was something weird in his voice and Ellie needed to know what.

“What happened? I know something’s wrong, just tell me what.”

Logan sighed before answering. “I got a great job offer. They would pay for my college so I could get a diploma and design cars professionally for their company.”

“That’s great! You’ve always wanted to design cars!”

“It’s in London.”

“Oh...” Her heart broke a little. Him being in California almost ruined their relationship, she didn’t even want to think what would happen if he was in Europe. But on the other hand... that was his forever dream. And he was really good at that.

“I declined,” he added and she turned to him.

“What? But... why?”

“I meant what I said, Ellie. I’m not leaving you again. They told to me rethink their offer but I’m not gonna change my mind.” He kissed the top of her head and Ellie suddenly felt bad. Logan already sacrficed so much for her, she couldn’t let him sacrfice that too.

“You should take the job, Logan,” she started.

“What? No, Ellie, I’m not going anywhere without you. I’ve made my decision.”

“Then change it. I don’t want you to waste such a great opportunity because of me.”

“I can’t Ellie. Unless...” he trailed off.

“Unless what?”

“Unless you come with me... We could look for a university you could tranfer to. We would get a house together, just like you wanted. And we would be together.”

“I don’t know... leaving my life here, my dad, my university...” Leaving Colt...

“You don’t have to make your decision now. Just... think about it, will you?” Logan asked and Ellie nodded.

This is going to be a tough decision.

~~~~

A few hours later, Ellie wanted nothing more than Riya going home. She spent all of Saturday flirting with Colt despite Ellie forbidding her to. And the worst part was – Colt was clearly enjoying it and flirted back. She knew he did it out of spite, because every time he was about to flirt back he locked his eyes with Ellie’s.

It was Sunday afternoon now and she had to listen to Riya being all flirty and annoying during their walk – Colt offered to show Riya the neighborhood so of course Ellie had to go too. Even if Riya clearly didn’t want her to. Her feet were killing her, her ears probably too; she never realized it until today but Riya’s voice was really annoying when she talked all the time. She couldn’t even complain about it to Logan because he had his own problems and probably wouldn’t understand hers. And on top of that, Riya just asked Ellie to make tea for her and Colt.

As if she couldn’t do it herself. Or Colt. Real gentleman I see.

She glanced at them talking in the living room and rolled her eyes. At that moment, she hated them both.

I need to find better friends. How can Riya flirt with my—

No, Colt is not my anything. I’m just trying to save Riya from a heartbreak. Because Colt will break her heart anyway. And this is how she thanks me for being a good friend. Really mature, Riya!

“Do you need help with that tea?” Ellie heard Riya’s voice and she nearly dropped the tray.

“I’m good,” she replied, gritting her teeth. She carried the tray to the living room and handed Riya her cup of very hot tea.

“I hope the tea is as hot as you, Riya,” Colt said smiling at Riya. She blushed and almost choked on her tea while Ellie rolled her eyes. I swear, one more and I’m killing him.

Ellie faked a smile while handing the tea to Colt, spilling it “accidentally” all over his pants.

“Whoops, I’m so, so, sorry!” Ellie leaned down to give him a tissue but only spilled more tea on him.

Colt looked at her face and raised his eyebrows suggestively before answering. “It’s okay, it’s not the first time I had something hot between my legs.”

Ellie’s eyes went wide while Riya spit out her tea.

That’s it, I’m killing him tomorrow.

She opened her mouth to say something back but Riya was first.

“I’ve always known you were a hot guy,” she said and winked at him.

“You have no idea,” Colt smirked at her, completely ignoring Ellie’s presence.

She wanted to throw up. She didn’t know if was the nausea she had in the morning or she ate something bad but she wanted to throw up. Throw up and cry. She smiled weakly at them and ran to her room.

Logan was already there and she threw her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer without any questions and let her sob for a while.

“Are you okay?” He asked when she stopped crying.

“Yes. I think I’m just PMSing, I’m so emotional,” she snuggled closer to him.

“I thought you were PMSing when you broke up with me on our anniversary,” he chuckled.

They were silent for a while and Ellie was thinking about her life, about Colt, about Logan, her school and everything. A few minutes passed before she turned to Logan and spoke again.

“Logan? I’ve made my mind. I-I want to go to London with you.”

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Birds of Prey“

*in best Roman Sionis impression*  WHOOO!

Figured I might as well FINALLY watch it.  On with the show!

*silently jams to the opening logos*

This animated intro is great.

*snorts at the little animation of how an egg gets fertilized*

Why is this animated Joker a different (and actually better) character design than what we got in Suicide Squad?  Were we robbed of Letoker in full Joker suited glory?  I think we were.

“Behind every successful man is a badass broad.”  *points at screen in agreement*

I love Harley’s freaking rainbow apartment

The hyena!

This movie has the same amount of color saturation as “Pulp Fiction”

Freaking Bernie the Beaver is holding her tissues!  We stan supportive friends!

*gasp* Cass!

This guy [Roman’s driver] looks an awful lot like Jon Hamm and that is never gonna go away

“It’s not a party without a little drama!”  I love Ewan McGregor

*snorts in hilarity when Harley turns to address the audience about how much she doesn’t like Roman in front of Roman*

“Do give the Joker my [Roman] best.”  Uhhh....

*jams the crap out to “Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat*

*laughs at Harley drunkenly giving relationship advice to a female bust in the club*

“Some people have the Eiffel Tower.  Or Olive Garden.”  Can we please hear the stories about Gotham’s Olive Garden?

Oh that shot [of Harley walking away from the Ace Chemicals explosion] is great

[Four Minutes Ago]  *snorts in hilarity*

So far I actually really like Rosie Perez as Montoya.

Huntress!

*Huntress kills the mob people in the flashback*  That was awesome.  And the way Montoya steps back and forth to investigate the body is great.

“Harley Quinn just called open season on herself.”  And oop.

God, seeing Ewan as Black Mask is really gonna throw me off but man this is gonna be a great performance.

*jaw drops in horror when Zsasz removes someone’s FACE*

JESUS CHRIST HOLY SHIT RATED “R” HUH?!?

“Is that a snot bubble?”  Shit!

OHHHHH THAT SHOT OF ROMAN WITH THE MASK ON!!!  AAAAAAHHHH!!

The SATURATION IN THIS MOVIE

Also the soundtrack and aesthetic in this movie is very... “Suicide Squad”-esque

Man that sandwich looks good

*jaw drops when Harley accidentally throws her sandwich into the road*

Also they de-saturated everything again hahaha

Oh my gosh that guy [”Happy”] is HUGE

[GRIEVANCE:  COSMETIC VANDALISM]  Yeah, that sounds about right

“Par-ley??”  *snorts*

Her [Montoya’s] shirt....

Also why is she wearing that shirt at work?

This movie is giving me huge Tarantino vibes

Why does the actor that plays Montoya’s boss looks familiar?

Oh!  He’s Rufus in “Supernatural.”  Bobby’s kinda buddy!

“Ms. Montoya, we do have a dress code.”  There we go.

They are really just going back and forth in the timeline to cover everything, aren’t they?

Harley’s using nonlethal rounds?

The action set pieces in this movie so far are awesome.

*says “Run, piggy, run!” along with Harley*

Of course Dinah is singing “This Is A Man’s World”

Also I’ve seen like a 20 second Twitter compilation of Roman saying the f-bomb and it’s glorious

“We could make our own family.”  Oh snap.

WAIT THAT’S THE GUY WHOSE FACE ZSASZ REMOVED!

Does... Roman... like Dinah?  Like... that?  Or is this manipulation?

*chuckles when drunk Harley slides up next to Dinah at the bar*

*gets very uncomfortable at a guy trying to take advantage of a drunk Harley*

C’mon Dinah...

What’s the song playing here [when Dinah’s beating up the guys in the alley]?

Uh whatcha doing in the corner there, Zsasz?

“Oh sooongbirrddd?”  Noo...

Did I just see a street sign that said “ANUS”?

So is Cass faking a broken wrist or does she actually have a broken wrist?

So far my favorite characters are Montoya and Dinah.  Not gonna lie.

*has to muffle laughter when Roman does the mmkay hand sign* 

“I mean, I like crossbows!”  *giggles*

Holy shit, Zsasz is jealous of Dinah.

“Look at his little ears, the little haircut...”  *insane giggling*

ZSASZ IS DYING IN THE BACK I LOVE THIS SONG

Dinah is clearly rethinking some life decisions while looking at that statue of Roman

*jams out to “Sway with Me” by GALAXRA*

*Cass robs Zsasz of the diamond*  WHOOP!

*winces when Roman does acupuncture*

“SHE’s a chILDDD!!”  *laughs*

ZSASZ

Ho shit that shot of Roman on top of the stairs looking down at Harley

“VOTED FOR BERNIE” HAHAHA

*Harley completely derails Roman’s villain monologue*  THIS IS AMAZING

HE [Roman] GOT A BOWL OF POPCORN

*Zsasz licks Harley’s cheek*  EEUUUGGGHHH!!

Did that goon just pull a tampon out of Harley’s pocket?

I’M SORRY CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE PICTURE OF NUDE ELEANOR ROOSEVELT?

*gasps when Roman backhands Harley across the face*

OH HERE WE GO

HOLY SHIT THIS IS GREAT

ROMAN IN THE STRIPED SUIT

THE CHOREOGRAPHY

WHY WAS IT SO SHORT I LOVED IT

Where is this cover at on the official soundtrack?!?

“I’ll give you ‘til midnight.”  Hold on, hold on, what’s the timeline for this movie?

Harley’s just booking it in the background

Aaaand we’re back at the beginning!

Aaand there’s Harley!

Wait there’s about an hour left and we just now got to Harley meeting Cass?

CONFETTIIIII!!

Is she just using paint bombs on all the guards?

Harley, trying to enter the cells:  I AM PRESSING.  EVERY BUTTON.  I CAN FIND.

Why would they put Cass in the cell block with all the adults?

OH HALSEY!  COME THROUGH!

*Harley slides across the floor to knock a guy down*  OHHHH!!!

Daniel Pemberton’s orchestral score for this movie is reminding me an awful lot of “Into the Spiderverse”

Is that Katana’s sword?!?  How the hell did it get there?!?

WAIT SHE’S GONNA HUFF THE COCAINE?!?

Jesus, now THIS is Harley’s fighting style!  Holy crap!

*gasps when Harley gets kicked back and knocks off a car door off its hinges*

*jaw drops*  SHE JUST SET THAT DUDE’S BEARD ON FIRE

How does everyone seem to know where Harley is?

*Smash cut to Harley buying laxative for Dinah in the store*  Hahahahahaha!

“I do not care that you’re [Cass] a kid.”  Yeah, Harley, didn’t you uh... assist in the murder of Jason Todd in this universe?  Hmmm???

Wait so how long ago have Harley and the Joker been together?

Doc calls Harley “lotus flower”!

Those are the nuns from the school in the beginning!

She is actually... talking to the beaver

“[Joker] Sounds like a dick.”  I mean, yeah.

Also I just realized that Harley drew an actual dick in the Joker drawing’s mouth

HUNTRESS!

OH NOW WE’RE GETTING INTRODUCED TO HELENA!

*eyes widen in shock at the Bertenelli massacre*

*chuckles at the smash cut to Helena practicing in the mirror*

*Roman sees someone laughing in the club*  Oh no.

“Get on the table.”  Uh.

Oh no what is he doing?

“DANCE, ERICA!”  Ohh.  Shit.

“Take your dress off.”  *jaw drops in horror*

God, I cannot watch this.  Holy-

*has to avert eyes*

*Roman stops Dinah from leaving*  NO.

“You soothe me, little bird.”  AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-

OK, I can take a breather now.  Ohhhh my God...

They’re [Harley and Cass] really just having a girl’s night

BRUCE, NOOOOO!!!

“No one knew we were here except-”  DOC SOLD THEM OUT!

“This next bit ain’t very pretty.”  Oh boy.

“I [Roman] own this town.  You have my protection.”  Mmmmm... no?

Whoa this super dramatic cover of “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”

OH HE’S [Zsasz] GONNA SEE THE TEXT SHE [Dinah] SENT [to Montoya]!

*Roman starts to break down*  Oh.  Shit.

OH THIS MUSIC

*Roman puts the mask on*  OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

OH THIS IS GREAT

Also of course Joker and Harley had a hideout in Amusement Mile

*winces when Montoya punches Harley right in the boob*

*Harley kicks Montoya out the window*  Oh she dead

*gasps*  Zsasz!

Man that sideways shot of him is terrifying!

OH FRICK NO

JESUS I DON’T LIKE THIS

So is it implied that Zsasz only kills women or what?  I thought he was an equal opportunity killer?

“That’s why he [Roman] needs me [Zsasz] to look after him.”  Dude.

...did they just kill Zsasz?

Everyone except Harley is pointing guns at each other and all I’m thinking of is that scene from “The Office”

*snorts in hilarity for Harley clapping for Helena completing her kill list*

Oh Roman just brought a whole freaking army

OHHHH HE’S GOT THE MASK

Oh this music *chef’s kiss*

Oh my God is Roman gonna find Zsasz’s body?

Oh that crane shot out of the lair and back outside?  That’s some good shit.  Cathy Yan, I see you.

“I [Helena] DON’T HAVE RAGE ISSUES!”  DINAH’S FACE!

*Helena pounces on a goon in the slide down and kills him*  Geez that’s awesome

This whole set is great

*Helena gives Cass her old toy truck*  THIS MAKES ME SAD

Yeah when did Harley have time to put on her skates?

Some dude just gets shanked then leaps back up

That fight scene just went by real quick

*gasps when Roman shoots Montoya*

*jaw drops when Dinah does the Canary Cry*

*Harley gets sideswiped by one of Roman’s goons*  Yeah no there’s like half a rib cage gone

*Harley works on overtaking one of Roman’s goons’ car*  CRAZY TOWN BEEP BEEP!

*Harley backflips onto the top of Roman’s car*  OHHHH!

Founders Pier... geez that looks great

Wait are those all Roman’s goons just lining the dock or are those just statues?

Oh they’re all statues.  That’s creepy.

“exCUUSEE me?!?”  *snorts in hilarity*

*jaw drops when Cass tucks a grenade in Roman’s coat and activates it*

*still shocked when he FREAKING EXPLODES*

I’M SORRY THEY JUST KILLED OFF BLACK MASK

*Cass finally goes to the bathroom*  Finally!

“Does she always [Montoya] talk like the cop in a bad 80s movie?”  *laughs*

Guys Helena is great

*laughs when Helena laughs at the fact that Harley stole Dinah’s car*

“They call themselves the Birds of Prey.”  Yay!  Lemme see them again!

Harley’s jacket has a bedazzled vagina on the back of it

Look at Cass with her jacket and sunglasses!

“Yeah, I made the kid my apprentice.”  Yeah, that’s not gonna last long.