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florrickandassociates · 3 years

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TGF Thoughts: 5x04- And the clerk had a firm...

You can tell I’m enjoying this season when episodes air on Thursdays and I’ve written a recap by Friday night. More under the cut, as always.

I woke up very early on Thursday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to just watch this episode on my phone (I write these on rewatch). I’m sure the show was hoping that the upside-down clips of fake!Love Island would be disorienting, but wow, did this work on me. Between the lack of sleep and how plausible it would’ve been for me to accidentally have my phone upside-down with rotation lock on... I truly thought it was an ad for Love Island and also had to pause the episode to check my phone settings. Good job, show!

It turns out, however, that Carmen is doing a headstand and watching reality TV on her laptop. Very happy to see Carmen at home. It would be easy for the show to have her just be a mysterious presence at the firm, so even seeing her do perfectly normal things is a good reminder that she is a whole person and not just Associate Who Will Defend Anyone.

(I wouldn’t have expected Carmen to enjoy reality tv, but then again, I love Big Brother so...)

Carmen lives in a studio that doesn’t look like it is brand new!!! I’m ridiculously excited to see an apartment that actually looks like a place someone fresh out of law school might live. I’d believe it if Carmen lived in a studio in a luxury building or a one-bed on the salary she’s surely making at RL, but it’s very refreshing to see a character who isn’t super-wealthy on this show that tends to be about, well, very wealthy people.

Carmen is smarter than every other character on this show and on most TV shows: instead of opening the door without taking any precautions, she puts the chain on first. Remember how people used to just show up at Alicia’s door when she was the governor’s wife, and she’d always just open the door and look surprised?

Charles Lester is at Carmen’s door even though it’s nearly midnight. She tries to get him to leave, but he insists on staying. She closes the door to undo the chain, and uses the privacy of the closed door to grab a makeshift weapon, just in case.

Carmen explains her apartment by saying, “student loans.” So she doesn’t come from (excessive) money. (Or she was cut off by her family, but I feel like the early character description of Carmen said something about her family not having money.)

Lester has something very important to tell Carmen, but all his notes are on different scraps of paper and, even though he says his information is time sensitive, he takes his time looking for the right piece of paper.

He says Carmen can’t say she heard the info from him, blah blah. He’s there to share that in ten minutes, someone at the firm is going to be searched by the FBI. This info comes, of course, from Rivi.

Do we think Lester has to reference his notes to remember that the FBI is searching a name partner of Carmen’s firm? Or do we think he’s fucking with her? I think the latter.

Carmen was doing exercises to help with migraines, btw.

Carmen calls Diane to tip her off. Diane and Kurt are already asleep, but luckily, Diane has her phone on full volume and takes the call. She’s not happy about it and asks if it can wait until tomorrow. Asks is the wrong word—she instructs the caller to hang up if it can wait.

Even though Carmen can’t say where she got the information, Diane knows it must be from Rivi. Seems obvious enough.

Kurt gets out of bed and starts locking up guns and getting to work; Diane calls Liz. Liz is in bed with a guy we’ve never seen before and she does not really want to talk.

Liz notes that the info also could’ve come from Wolfe-Coleman, since Carmen is “tangled up with some rough characters.”

I’m sorry, fake Netflix CEO man... WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO KISS AND PLAY WITH LIZ WHEN SHE IS ON THE PHONE TALKING ABOUT PURGING FILES AND THE FBI????

I don’t even hold this against the character. This is one of those things the writers of this show LOVE doing to heighten tension. They think people behave like this in real life and that it’s funny to have a million competing priorities at once, so they insist on doing things like this. In reality, I would be concerned about any person who did not hear “FBI” and go, “um, what the hell is happening? I should stop trying to fuck rn.”

Kurt starts burning papers. Is no one going to point out that maybe being on the phone (after you KNOW you’ve had NSA issues) talking about tips from powerful criminals and asking questions that are pretty clearly about document destruction... is a bad strategy?

Dude, why are you STILL GOING after Liz clearly tells you to stop!? Do you want me to hate you?!

Liz adds Jay to the call. He is asleep and also his hallucination from the premiere is (sadly) back. I still don’t get what they’re going for with this, so I’ll just be happy that (1) there is only one hallucination this time and (2) it’s only on screen for a minute.

This dude is really chanting “Let me see ‘em!” at Liz while she is on a frantic work call! This is how we are introduced to him! This is not funny! If this weren’t being played for laughs/to raise the stakes by having a lot going on I would be calling this man misogynistic!

Liz remembers that Diane has full boxes of files! They spill onto the floor as she tries to hide them! Drama!

And then the FBI arrives, so Diane asks Liz to take her 9 am with Wackner

The FBI enters, accompanied by... Nancy Crozier! Nancy is now an AUSA for some reason!

Nancy has graduated from “just a girl from Michigan” to using her pregnancy for dramatic effect. I guess she’s aged into being Patti Nyholm, or something. (I would LOVE to see Patti Nyholm show up on TGF.)

I know the client files are top of mind for Diane, but isn’t it kind of obvious that the FBI would be there about Kurt, given that the FBI was talking to Kurt days earlier?

9 mins in is early for credits!! (This first act flies, too—did not feel like 9 minutes.)

I say this once an episode, but isn’t it so fun to see all the characters from season one of TGW pop up in season five of TGF?

Liz sees her new man, Del Cooper, in reception. He’s a client. They try to be professional with each other. Liz remembers Diane’s 9 am with Wackner and asks the receptionist to tell her when he arrives. She dismissively says it’s “Some judge guy.” Wackner is, of course, already there and watching the interaction with interest. He uses this as an opportunity to “look for the restroom,” observe Liz meeting with someone else, and walk down to the associate floor.

He asks associate Leah (we’ve definitely seen her several times before) where he’s supposed to go for the staff meeting. She asks if he means the partner meeting or the associate one—he wants whichever is more interesting. She says she only knows about the associate meeting, and so he tags along.

Leah and Lucy (the associate from last week; Michael Boatman’s daughter) talk and assume that Wackner is from STR Laurie and thus in charge of the fate of their careers.

The associate meeting is fairly small—Leah refers to it as their “daily” so I wonder if it’s more like a team meeting than a meeting of all the associates.

The COTW is about a comedian who isn’t always PC. FakeNetflix is getting a lot of Twitter pushback.

“Ah, so you’re worried about being cancelled,” Liz notes. “Don’t say the ‘C’ word,” Del jokes. Then he asks the firm to do a sensitivity read of the comedian’s act.

Liz asks why them. David doesn’t get why she’s asking, though obviously Liz knows he won’t be offended by her question since they have a relationship outside of work. Del thinks that RL is the right firm for this task because they are a black firm, and also because this can be an audition for the rest of their legal business.

This seems like it is better for a PR firm or image consultant? Not a law firm? But sure.

Diane explains the whole January 6th situation to Liz. Liz immediately understands that if Kurt is in trouble, Diane is the one representing him. Because Kurt is Kurt, I’m willing to accept the “spouses-representing-each-other" trope here. But let the record reflect that, as always on this show, it is a TERRIBLE idea to have your spouse represent you! Just pick someone outside of the firm! JUST PICK ELSBETH, KURT.

Diane asks how her 9 am went; David Lee interrupts to ask Liz why she is being so casual with Del. “David, I am on the phone,” Liz responds. I love that she doesn’t really answer him.

Leah and Lucy try to turn the associate meeting into a showcase of how great they are; the other associates catch on quickly and all are happy to answer Wackner’s questions. He wants to understand jury trials.

Nancy’s pregnancy act does not work on Judge Farley, yet she keeps it up anyway. Court doesn’t go well for Diane, but it also doesn’t go well for Nancy.

Some of these interactions remind me a little too much of Peter’s trial at the end of TGW, like this one where Nancy goes to Diane with information about Kurt.

Leah gets off the elevator as Diane and Nancy talk, and to Diane’s surprise, Wackner is shadowing Leah! She takes a moment to look surprised before we return to the scene with Nancy.

I like all the little interactions within this Wackner plot. Diane asking Liz to meet with Wackner both connects Wackner to Liz AND shows that Diane would turn to Liz for back-up, and having Wackner/Leah run into Diane in court is a good reminder that even though Diane is dealing with a pressing issue, Wackner hasn’t just disappeared.

Diane encourages Kurt to talk. She wants to know if he’s not telling her something because she’s his wife or because she’s his lawyer. This is maybe why you don’t hire your wife as your lawyer.

Kurt says it’s because of politics—Diane doesn’t like that, since this is one issue where their politics should be shared.

“Diane, this works between us because we don’t let our political judgements overwhelm our respect for each other,” Kurt explains. But... is that relevant to this particular issue?

Diane asks the same question, essentially, noting that January 6th changed “everything” for her and she can’t treat this like a “chess game” anymore. Kurt wants to know what she’s calling a chess game. She says their marriage is the one thing that’s not a game.

On one level I understand exactly what Diane is saying and on another level I have no clue what this dialogue actually means. She can’t treat things like a game anymore, but also their marriage is the only thing that isn’t a game? So does that mean she can treat everything else like a game, then? I think what she’s trying to say is that the time for seeing political disagreements as a calm and rational game of strategy is over, and that she values her marriage and won’t play around with it.

Kurt tells her what he burned—a list of people in his little group. He says he’d protect them just like he’d protect Diane’s book group friends. Oh, wow, I was not EVER expecting to hear about that arc again! This is a pretty perfect time to mention it, though, since Kurt DID protect book group for the exact same reason he’s protecting the members of his club.

Other than “winning over a new client is important,” I have no idea why Liz and David Lee would gather together a group of partners to do the sensitivity read. I don’t know who IS the appropriate person to do the sensitivity read, given that this is a law firm, but I know this is a bad call.

Oh, they are going to go through line by line dissecting each joke in a group. They get through one joke before Madeline notes that the comedian is “objectifying black men.” A black male partner says he doesn’t mind. Madeline says that doesn’t matter because the joke is racially insensitive.

Overlapping chatter ensues, and the partners try to make changes to the comedian’s jokes, like substituting Norwegian for Nigerian. This... is not what law firms do. The joke isn’t funny with the substitution, but it also wasn’t funny before. It was low hanging fruit and the correct answer is to just cut it entirely. (Also, if you’re a comedian and all your jokes are about common stereotypes of groups to which you do not belong, you are probably not a very funny comedian!)

Diane has Jay do some more investigating. Jay looks up when Diane says, “ringleader of the insurrectionists,” and Diane is just like, “I know.” Then Carmen walks in.

Diane congratulates Carmen on “hitting the ground running” and then asks again how she knew about the warrant. Diane says she’s covered by the same attorney-client privilege, so Carmen should be able to share. Carmen notes the warrant was actually about Kurt, which does not answer Diane’s question. “So this came from Rivi?” Diane asks. Carmen says she can’t confirm.

“Carmen. You have been here three weeks. You have two clients: Wolfe-Coleman and Oscar Rivi. It’s one or the other!” Diane notes. Yep. I love that they didn’t forget that this isn’t much of a mystery. It’s more about principle than anything. If Diane knows it’s one of two sources and needs more information, I’m sure Jay can figure it out.

Carmen knows she’s stuck, so she asks if she can make a phone call. “I think that would be smart,” Diane says.

I’ve noticed that Liz and Diane are both being quite firm with others this season—and I like it. They're spending more time with lower-level characters, and both Diane and Liz have reasons to be more curt this year. Diane is under a lot of stress and it’s showing in all of her interactions; Liz is making a point of seeming in control to establish herself as the leader of the firm.

Then Marissa walks in. “What is going on with your crazy court judge?” Diane asks. “My?” Marissa asks. “Marissa, I am in no mood for defensiveness,” Diane insists. She mentions Wackner missing his meeting and shadowing Leah. That’s news to Marissa.

Marissa heads to Wackner’s court to figure out what’s going on.

Wackner is now experimenting with juries. This is interesting to me—I'd wondered before how smart it was to just have Wackner make all the rulings, so exploring the idea of having a jury shows he’s thinking about that, too. Also, it’s another sign that Wackner wants his court to have many of the same structures as a real courtroom. There are still judges, juries, witnesses, trials—he's starting something new, but it feels more like he’s testing out improvements for an imperfect system. I wonder if his end goal would be to set up separate courts, or if he’s more interested in shaping laws/reforming the system? Surely Wackner has ambitions of scaling up whatever conclusions he comes to. So what are they?

The reason for the juries is that the associates told him that juries are racially biased, so he’s trying to correct it. He also explains how he ended up shadowing Leah, and advises Marissa to go exploring whenever she’s kept waiting. (I have a feeling Marissa doesn’t need to be told this, but then, that’s why she’s Wackner’s “muse.”)

Marissa notes that Wackner’s court is looking nicer—there must be money coming in from somewhere new. Wackner confirms there’s been a sympathetic donor.

Wackner is dealing with a case about NFT fraud. Marissa says she doesn’t know what that is. I’m going to assume that Marissa is using Wackner’s strategies against him (she had just accused him of playing dumb to get others to talk) because I cannot believe that Marissa, who always knows random facts, ESPECIALLY ones that involve weird corners of the internet, would not know what an NFT is.

Marissa hears the case is about $4 million, and she’s shocked because this raises the stakes a little more than even she is comfortable with. Wackner has a signed and notarized document saying that both sides will honor the verdict. It is, as Marissa points out, notarized in 9 ¾ court by Wackner about a fictional case. “About a fictional crime,” Wackner adds on.

I’m a little surprised this is all these writers had to say about NFTs! Maybe they knew that by the time this aired, the actual topic would feel dated.

Mandy Patinkin is just SO GOOD as Wackner! I’m watching a fictional show about a fictional crime in a fictional court and even I am starting to believe in his ludicrous court!

Wackner’s jury selection process involves catching potential jurors in traps, like pretending to know the national anthem when they don’t. Smart. Probably super problematic if you think about it too hard and put it in the wrong people’s hands and people start to know the system. But smart, for now.

Diane is now in the sensitivity read meeting, for reasons passing understanding. They are still talking about the first joke. Jay calls Liz out of the meeting and notes that everyone in the room is old and no one is funny. “I’m funny!” Liz argues. Diane tries to leave the meeting, and Liz tells Diane Jay’s idea about needing younger people. “Oh god yes,” Diane agrees. I’m glad she sees it and a little alarmed that Liz doesn’t! I feel like they should’ve sent the tape to everyone interested in participating, then asked them to write up (separately) anything they found questionable or offensive, and gone from there, ending with a close review of anything that wasn’t previously flagged. If you debate every single line for hours you’re going to get nowhere.

I don’t know why Liz is so concerned that Jay thinks she’s not funny? But she is.

Diane asks Liz to join her meeting with Carmen and Lester. This is a scene I’ve been waiting for! Diane and Liz are both there and so the scene FEELS important. The plot advances. And, most importantly, they address why Carmen is staying at RL!

Lester reiterates that Carmen is super important to Rivi, so if Carmen says she can’t share info, then she can’t share info. Liz and Diane do not accept this. “I am a name partner. Carmen is a first-year associate,” Liz says. “Now, Carmen is free to resign and hang her shingle wherever she’d like. She can even go and work for you. That is up to her. But while she is here, she is subject to the rules and the mentoring of this firm.”

Lester tries to take Carmen out of the meeting. Liz and Diane won’t let him: They need to know if Carmen is staying with the firm, now.

“You have a lot to learn, Carmen. And you can only do that here,” Diane pitches. I don’t think that’s exactly true, but it’s not untrue.

Here is a question I have about Carmen: she is WILLING to represent drug dealers and rapists. Does she WANT to? She chooses RL, so I’m guessing her interests lie in big law and not in aiding criminals.

Lester leaves, but not before saying Kurt is about to get a grand jury summons. Diane gets one too. It’s not the usual guy! Too bad.

A bigger group is now deciding on if jokes are offensive or not, and they’re doing so with paddles that are red on one side (offensive) and green on the other (funny). I’m sure this is going to go well.

The group sees the replacement jokes and they are confused. Marissa wants to see the original joke. Julius shows the room, and everyone laughs. The joke is funny—and offensive. Someone from the mail room notes that he would be the butt of this joke, but he finds it funny, so he thinks the comedian should be able to continue with her set.

Here is where I think I fall on this: Get sensitivity reads to get ahead of any huge issues (like, don’t be Pepsi with the ad with whichever Jenner it was who solved racism). Be aware of the potential issues. Let viewers decide what is and isn’t offensive, and make informed decisions rather than arbitrary rules about what content to show. You’ll KNOW if you are indulging the tendencies of someone with a history of making the same type of problematic jokes (for example, maybe if you are reviewing something by Tina Fey and she tries to write another edgy plot where racial stereotypes are the punchline, you advise her to not do that because, I mean, why WERE there so many episodes of 30 Rock that involved blackface??). You’ll KNOW if you are giving a platform to someone who is actively trying to spread misinformation and be cruel to others. Someone’s going to be offended by everything, and it may be a huge deal and it may not be. IMO, it doesn’t really matter that I can’t make an exact set of rules about what is/isn’t smart to air. I don’t think anyone—not networks, not creators, and not audiences—would benefit from that. Lawyers might, though, for all the billable hours...

“You can’t tell a joke without offending someone,” Jay notes. I do not think this is true! Puns don’t offend anyone!

David Lee’s counter-example to Jay’s point is Gilbert & Sullivan. Of course it is.

As always, the argument devolves into overlapping chatter. These episodes exhaust me. At least this episode has some fun with the topic of the week and seems to have more of a point of view than some of the past episodes where the only conclusion is, “Wow! Controversy is controversial!”

Marissa ends up in the mail room with Jay and one of the mailroom guys (captions say his name is Jimmy). They are mocking the partner’s ideas of comedy. Jay and Jimmy agree that the best comedy is mean. But, Jay says, now it feels like you need “a permission slip to tell a joke.” Is... this true? This feels like one of those things people who would never actually get “cancelled” worry about because their fear overtakes their ability to understand what really gets someone cancelled.

Then again, this episode was written by professional writers who would absolutely know better than I am if people are really hesitant to tell jokes.

Jimmy has started making literal permission slips to allow people to tell jokes about specific groups. Jay and Marissa are down.

Jay asks Jimmy to make a card for something so inappropriate he wouldn’t joke about it... and Jimmy prints a card that says Greta Thunberg. No one wants to joke about that.

And you know why this joke lands well for me? Part of it is that the vibe of this scene is very fun and laid back. But mostly it’s because Younger tried to make a Greta Thunberg joke this season, and it was quite possibly the worst, most embarrassing thing I’ve seen a TV show do in ages. It wasn’t funny, just mean, over the top, lazy, and never-ending. (Poor Younger. That show had an awful final season.)

Liz is still worried she’s not funny. She asks Del if she’s funny and mentions Jay’s comment. He says she’s funny, but she’s not convinced he’s being honest. He points out this is a discussion no one will win. Del ends up accidentally saying “I love you” to Liz, which is a big deal for a relationship we’ve seen for all of two seconds. Liz says they don’t have to talk about it, but Del insists on explaining that he meant “affection,” not love. I’m glad they’re talking about this.

“Then maybe we should get married,” Liz says as seriously as possible. She stares at Del and smiles. He laughs and admits that was funny. It was VERY funny!

Grand jury time! Yet Another Ham Sandwich: The Sequel: The Musical: The Series. (Am I funny? Pls tell me I’m funny and hip with the teens!)

It’s Diane’s turn first. She does well, but there’s not much to say when Nancy plays the recording of Diane phoning the FBI with the rioter’s name. I did not need the clip from last episode in here. Diane is calm in court, but rushes to tell Kurt immediately. Nancy predicted Diane would do that, so she calls in Kurt before Diane has a chance to warn him.

So, wait, Kurt thought all of this was just a COINCIDENCE? Diane didn’t tell him earlier?! I don’t love this choice, but okay.

Liz finds a joke permission slip on her desk. Julius has one too. “Did you use it?” Liz asks. Julius doesn’t understand what that even means. Then they trade clothes, because Liz does want to tell a joke about white girl clothes.

Julius suspects the cards are a way to make fun of the partners for being unfunny. The associates are also chatting about the cards, having lots of fun, so it’s clearly not about the partners.

I think now is an appropriate time to mention that TGW and TGF have both been consistently hilarious shows and have been on the air for a combined twelve years. Neither rely on the types of jokes that these cards permit. This is a kind of interesting thought experiment, but... doesn’t it say something that the shows never use these jokes as crutches and still manage to be funny? This is what I meant earlier about people being afraid of cancel culture when they’re not actually really at risk of coming under fire. These writers know how to write things that are funny. They know how to make comedy out of absurdity and subverting expectations. And yet they’re worried about how to have jokes that aren’t mean? Really?

The first laugh out loud funny TGW moment that comes to mind right now is the episode that ends with that obnoxious talk show guy trying to out Diane as a lesbian. That joke deals with identity. But it still holds up 12 years later, because the joke isn’t that Diane could be gay... the joke is that Diane DOES NOT GIVE A SHIT what this pest is saying about her on TV, and so she laughs. And because the tension of the talk show guy’s BIG DRAMATIC REVEAL is cut with Diane’s dynamic, loud laugh, we laugh with her! I’m not really sure what I'm trying to illustrate with this example. I’m just noting that you can be topical, funny, and entirely appropriate at the same time... and these writers are great at finding that balance.

HR starts, like, texting (they TEXT Marissa!!!) employees about the joke permission slips? It’s so bizarrely done that I thought this was going to be a prank.

Jay decides they won’t go to HR, and Jimmy decides they’ll delay. Why wouldn’t HR just come down and take away the cards?

For this week’s dose of Wackner Wackiness, witnesses will be fully costumed, and it goes without saying that the costumes will be as over the top as possible.

David Cord is the mysterious donor. Marissa spots him and instantly puts the pieces together. Cord explains he met Wackner on the elevator. I can’t say enough how much I like that this season has a lot of moving pieces that feel like part of a whole. Cord showed up as part of a case that caused internal debate at the firm and had a thematic parallel to an ongoing plot, then crossed over into Wackner’s plot once he was established as a character!

Cord says he’s interested in “disrupting things” so he’s interested in Wackner. I did not need the still photo of where they founded HP that’s used to illustrate humble beginnings, I guess.

Nancy mentions Kurt’s unfortunate last name—she so would. Kurt takes the fifth. Was this thing about needing a reason to take the fifth true in the earlier seasons and just not mentioned? Didn’t Kalinda and Will use this strategy?

Nancy, obviously, plays the recording of Diane reporting the rioter. Kurt conceals his reaction for the grand jury, but he’s pissed.

Diane tries to apologize and Kurt asks for another lawyer. This is the right move. I can’t be all that sad.

The partners have collected all the cards and are trying to do damage control with HR. (Interestingly, there are certain topics the cards we see don’t touch on. Like, where’s the rape joke card? Aren’t rape jokes what we usually talk about when we talk about comedians getting cancelled? And where are the jokes about minority groups (aside from little people, referred to using the PC name instead of the names that would probably be used in most offensive jokes about little people) not represented in the TGF cast? I find this little bit of self-censorship quite notable, especially given that the writers seem to be arguing in favor of not regulating humor. These omissions, which MUST be intentional, tell me the writers do have their own lines they won’t cross...)

(My larger point there, and where this funny-but-unnecessary subplot fails for me, is that this whole episode feels like a bit of a panic over cancel culture and winds up being a strawman argument. I don’t disagree with the conclusions the writers come to and I do find some of these scenes funny. But at the same time, I don’t think Cancel Culture is actually about coming after every single joke that makes fun of any person or group (if we must do a cancel culture plot, why not do one about someone who is an odious person and yet still has a following even after they’ve been “cancelled”). And I don’t think that showing HR as a very stern, strict, humorless body is helpful. I’m getting ahead of myself, but all that accomplishes is having Liz win on a point that pretty much everyone can agree on, because no one is actually as humorless as STRL’s HR department! Humor has so many gray areas and if you try to make it black and white, obviously the side that’s saying YOU CANNOT MAKE JOKES ABOUT ANYTHING is going to be the one that is wrong.

I did just remember that all of these writers have probably dealt with unfun and strict standards & practices departments, and I like the way HR is portrayed more if I try to imagine them as Standards & Practices.

Liz decides she is going to see HR so she’s seen as an authority figure, not someone subversive. But first, Liz has to meet with Del and the comedian.

Wackner and Cord are in Diane’s office. Diane’s skeptical of their alliance. She also points out that it is corrupt for Wackner to be financed by Cord and decide on Cord’s cases. This is true. Cord says he has no vested interest in any of the cases. And Wackner says he’s the “most untouchable man on earth” and quotes a song again. Yet another example of how this court only works if Wackner is in charge.

The comedy meeting does not go well. David Lee is already trying to pitch their other servicces. The comedian finds the censored version hilarious in how terrible it is, and then she starts making fun of it, loudly, and for way too long.

David thinks it went poorly; Liz isn’t concerned. David is all, “you failed” and Liz asks him to cool it and notes that David isn’t the highest-ranking person at STRL, so he should “stop the shit” and work with her. She’s already sounding more like a boss.

Julius complements her on being “Boseman-like,” which is true (though I wish she didn’t need to be compared to her ex-husband). “I know,” Liz says quietly, likely because she hates that Adrian is still influencing her this much.

Del joins Wackner and Cord in the elevator, and this isn’t the end of the episode but I’m going to pretend it is so all the episodes can end on elevators this year. It’s close enough.

Kurt’s new lawyer is Julius. Ah, yes, choose the corrupt judge Trump pardoned who works at your wife’s firm to represent you. Seems smart.

Liz walks past Diane’s office and the camera follows her up to HR. She tries to get HR to understand humor. They do not. And that’s the episode.

So, a few thoughts to conclude. First, I went into this recap thinking I’d have a lot more to say about cancel culture and the way this episode handled the debate. But I ended up liking this plot—and this episode-- more the second time around. I still don’t think this episode said anything groundbreaking about cancel culture, because I don’t think it actually engaged with the topic beyond the surface. As I noted earlier, coming to the conclusion that jokes should be allowed because we’re all human isn’t really a resolution the real topic. What about accountability? What about allowing for some jokes to be too far without taking the teeth out of every joke? What about the way people panic over cancel culture when they’re not being canceled (this episode felt a little bit like a panic over cancel culture, which is why I reacted negatively to it the first time through) or about how cancellation doesn’t always stick or have meaning? There is SOMETHING to explore here, but I don’t think this episode found that something.

Second, because I didn’t find a way to work it in above... is it me, or is it actually HELPING the show to not have Adrian or Lucca around!? This season feels so much more focused than the past several, and I think it might be because the writers (who are, as always, very good at adapting to curveballs) had to restructure the show. Lucca always had her own subplots that were separate from everything else, and Adrian’s charisma tended to overpower others’ presence (especially Liz’s) whenever he was in the room. It didn’t help that the writers seemed to LOVE writing Adrian plots, even if it meant neglecting others.

Don’t get me wrong—I love Adrian and Lucca both. But there’s something to be said for a tighter show with three main interconnected pieces (Liz/firm drama, Diane/FBI and Kurt, Marissa/Wackner’s court) that carry over from episode to episode. Like the titles of the season, these episodes build on each other.

Also, there’s the right amount of every character this season. David Lee is used sparingly; Jay and Julius are supporting players who sometimes get the spotlight; Wackner is a huge presence but his plot feels like part of the show; Carmen feels important but isn’t being given screentime for the sake of screentime; Liz is finally the type of lead she should’ve been from the start; Marissa has nicely grown into a role closer to leading than supporting; Diane remains a clear lead.

5x05 next week!!! I am expecting some Hitting the Fan level quality and at least one fan-service-y reference. (Not really, but wouldn’t it be fun?)

#tgfthoughts #the good fight

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whoslaurapalmer · 3 years

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so i never do this but i put a lot of thought into really specific details about the structure and scene layout of (the three-part folding mirror) and i really really really want to talk about it so here are some of my notes and some general commentary

-the crux of the fic, at least the way i had envisioned it, is what vfd does to family, how it becomes biological family vs the family created by vfd

-what vfd did to specific families: -physically separated the calibans -morally separated the denouements and the snickets -somehow brought the anwhistles closer together

-in terms of ramona and olaf, ramona was there to stress the distinction of biological family vs. vfd family but also how they’re so inextricably intertwined with each other, and olaf, this is harder to tell bc he doesn’t have a point of view here, but olaf is scoping out potential candidates for his personal group of firestarters – his own sort of “family” (ramona bc she’s a duchess, ernest because he has a similar line of thought, josephine because her husband is working with the mushrooms, the white-faced women because, well they wind up in his troupe and I have very vague headcanons about how that happens)

-related; the reason frank asks olivia about miranda at the end is because, at that point in the fic, frank feels so terrible about what he said to ernest that he’s trying to reassure himself that his family is still okay because (dewey’s right) at least they’re together, compared to the calibans, who haven’t seen each other in years. it was one of the first ideas I had when I was jotting ideas down in april and it stuck with me the whole way through. I really wanted it in there. I went back and forth before I got to this plot, though, on whether or not frank or ernest would be the one asking it. but I think it fits frank. -(ahahahahahaha the kicker being that miranda really was at the party the whole time and olivia didn’t recognize her) -anyway

-the parallels in the fic were: -the denouements start the fic together, and end the fic alone (by being honest about how they feel about each other) -the snickets start the fic relatively separated, and end the fic together (by being dishonest about what happened during the party) -the denouements start the fic by playing their game, and the snickets end the fic with theirs -frank is mistaken for ernest, ernest is mistaken for frank -frank pretends to be ernest on accident, ernest pretends to be frank on purpose -dewey has never slammed a door in his life; towards the end of the fic he slams the tray -i….think that’s all of them. I think

-character-wise, jacques and frank both see themselves as the people holding their families together; when in fact for the denouements, it’s dewey, which I think is clear in this, and for the snickets it’s lemony, which is less clear here? but definitely something I agree with -dewey and kit see themselves as the most ‘normal’, and they both have relatively solitary positions of acquiring information -ernest and lemony clearly both vibe on a ‘question vfd’ wavelength -i was also interested in kit and ernest, as siblings who feel stifled by an older/perceived older sibling, and dewey and lemony, who are sometimes unnecessarily protected by their siblings because they are the youngest/perceived youngest -this doesn’t show up in the fic bc olaf’s parents are still alive, but I thought ramona and olaf were also interesting foils re: reacting to their parent’s deaths

-some narration notes: -frank never refers to ernest and dewey as his brothers, except in the scene where he argues with ernest. because frank doesn’t necessarily see the split of biological family vs vfd family but has definitely swayed more to vfd family -ernest and dewey always refer to each other as brothers. -similarly, frank refers to the members of vfd as associates, most everyone else refers to them as friends. -ernest refers to vfd as strictly VFD because he’s distanced himself from it, while everyone else calls it ‘the organization’ -frank doesn’t swear even in his narration when he’s thinking them and not saying them because it’s, still his narration. he still wouldn’t quite completely say the words. (oh, he’s like gansey, like that. the raven cycle is still on my brain. i had so many scene sketches where ernest and frank were way too callous to each other bc they kept coming out like ronan and declan.) -kit’s line at the beginning is “someone in this very room has betrayed us” which is jacques’s line from the building committee meeting in unauto. the clock saying wrong afterwards is because the someone who really betrayed them (lemony) isn’t in the room.

-the costumes, which i did decide very arbitrarily: monty: clearly a snake. olaf: sigh. wolf ramona and olivia: oh, there was actually a slight distinction that just no one notices because none of them have looked at an insect (and also because describing clothes properly but succinctly is the hardest thing. i've written fic for a long time!!!!! i did my time in block paragraph clothing description hell!!! it haunts me!!!!!!!!!!), but ramona was the butterfly and olivia was actually a dragonfly. their masks are roses because, well 1) I thought that would be cool 2) butterflies and dragonflies land on flowers…. jacques: the boxwood, but a lion otherwise. josephine: ocean widdershins: the octopus with the pirate hat jacquelyn: the gold star suit (because gustav said she should do it for a play on. star. like. actress star.) miranda: uranus’s moon named miranda. it was very vague and I put that in the fic before I decided to have her in the little scene with esme. and then i thought i would put her in that scene too. gustav: phantom of the opera. haruki: tree frog hector: tree (not because of haruki’s costume but because i literally could not think of a damn thing for hector to be) lemony: uhhhhhh I had vague ideas he was. a cloud or something. like a stormcloud???? couldn’t pan out though. I like him in grey anyway. kit: I really just wanted her in red. with a big cape. and i spent so much time mentally deciding if i wanted her to have glasses or not in the archives that i forgot to mention her mask. everyone has one i swear to god white faced women: did anyone recognize that was them? :) it’s not mentioned in any way at all but in my head they were all dressed identically as flappers

esme actually doesn’t have one, because I, forgot, to give her one. I’m taking suggestions.

-references to lyeekha’s fics: -“that which is essential is invisible to the eye” is what frank says to jacques at the end of edge, and also the title of their snicket/denouement series -it initially wasn’t in there, because I was worried it wasn’t, like, in the right tone, re: what happens in edge vs how I was interpreting jacques and frank? but i liked it a lot. so i put it back in. -“frank quit smoking, but you didn’t” is a reference to frank smoking at the end of rigged -guess the guest and the clock alcove are from the end of fragments, with dewey and ernest watching hotel guests. this is my favorite thing in the whole world and something i actually keep forgetting is not canon because it is SUCH the perfect beethoven parallel -kit’s tattoo, which I was specifically imagining as the giant bombinating beast tattoo from ink on her back, which is definitely not around her neck but that was the only spot of skin she was showing so it was available and my thought was, it was kind of a low-cut in the back dress, and she was wearing the cape to cover up the giant tattoo on her back because beatrice was not there to cover it up with makeup (also bea picked out the dress.) (bea: if I can’t be there you have to make a statement) (kit: I have to what) -lemony being a “powerful, mythical figure” to the sugar bowl gen was actually something I wrote a long time ago, back in 2013, and I put it in the fic because I thought it fit, and then happened to reread double edged VERY late into the rewriting, literally THE DAY after I wrote that line in, and i saw a similar line of thought, and I was like “*cooper voice* sometimes you just get lucky ~ ” -jacques being in a lion costume, from the masquerade outfit sketches

additionally – -yes I am still cackling about ‘angel of my apple’ -angel of my apple -ANGEL OF MY APPLE -writing olaf is constantly like, he can say the funniest fucking things. and then turn around and say the absolute cruelest shit and the balance can be difficult. -but, angel of my a p p l e

-i can’t believe that out of all the people here, frank and jacques are the ones having the most semi-successful romantic relationship. well, ramona and olivia, too, but frank and jacques actually kiss so good for them -i know it was very vague and it’s because writing romance is physically embarrassing, but yes that last line was supposed to be them kissing, i’m so sorry

-undercover underwater was a last-minute addition because I didn’t want to take the time to try and google something real and good because I didn’t have the time. my guilty pleasure is super shitty hallmark murder mystery movies (I like good murder mysteries as well, thank you.) and my mom’s been reading terrible murder mysteries during lunch (where I was sitting across from her, also eating lunch, but also hiding behind my laptop and writing the fic) so I just came up with undercover underwater on the spot, but my mom came up with the tagline. it was originally ‘sleeps with the fishes’ (especially because i love the godfather movies which also, clearly has a very big stress on family vs The Family) but I thought ‘diving for the truth’ was funnier. -my mom and my brother (who has no interest in shitty murder mysteries, but loves to verbally smack them down with me re: their predictable tropes) and I decided that the plotline was something like, single woman scuba dives and keeps running into stuff (you know, hidden treasure, dead bodies, the like); her love interest drives the boat; her overbearing family member is an aunt; this is definitely like, book four in the series. there’s probably twelve books or something. (she goes on vacation on like book six and still finds a dead body, come on it practically writes itself.) (she probably owns a little fish tank......it’s a small sunny beach town.........etc etc.........) (it’s so easy to do this.) -oh, fixer upper is the worst hallmark murder mystery series, murder she baked is the best. in my opinion.

-dewey and lemony were supposed to have an actual conversation at the hors d’oeuvres table but every time I tried to put lemony in earlier he just wouldn’t work. it didn’t feel right. so he got saved for the reveal. -but i’m still delighted by the idea of lemony literally doing the shot of gazpacho. -dewey uses a spoon because he doesn’t have the composure or the guts to do a shot of cold soup -lemony was also supposed to have a scene with kit and one with jacques, i’m pretty sure, to lead up to the gazpacho conversation and the commiserating re: siblings. but again, didn’t work out. so then dewey had to fare alone in the scene. -oh!! the line about how lemony hides, in the least likely places, was actually something that was in my initial write of lemony’s scrapped pov of my ellington fic. jacques being responsible for sending olivia to the hinterlands was from a scrapped jacques fic. -steal from your unused fic.

-because I had to take scenes with lemony out, I had some, gaps in the night that I had to fill in (especially because this is a party more people are there than the snickets and the denouements), so that was how esme, the herpetology squad, and olaf and josephine came to be. (also olaf needed to show up again somewhere else otherwise he kind of, disappeared awkwardly, I thought?) -also because initially there was going to be a scene of bea and bertrand, elsewhere, but I wanted to keep the fic contained to the hotel, because one of the ideas I wasn’t able to put into the fic all that much was the sense of the hotel being its own world -oh, bea and bertrand don’t know that lemony used them as cover. the assignment they were working on instead of being at the party? planning the opera. the scene would’ve come right after ramona and olaf’s conversation. -the herpetology squad not only serves to highlight that people can’t tell the denouements apart (part of the foreshadowing that ernest would pretend to be frank), but was also me roasting myself because writing like a million different characters I had never written like this before had me very concerned about if their characterization was consistent, specifically for kit. (specifically, her with dewey.) also defining a character down to one base trait can be helpful when writing and creating characters, but for people no it’s not ideal. -haruki’s estimation of the denouement’s traits were not how i was mentally keeping track of them, because i definitely do do the ‘one base trait’ sometimes, but i had a lot more going on when i was thinking of them -but yes dewey is kind. in the way that bertrand is kind, but bertrand’s like, way more smooth about it.

-lemony does not have his own pov because, for me personally, I can’t fathom writing him in any other way besides first person, and it just would not do to have one scene out of the whole fic not in third person. unless he was secretly narrating each scene, which, he clearly was not. i would’ve had to do it in a whole different style.

-i love that dewey and kit are like ‘ahaha we’re the normal ones though’ and their normal conversation is them literally going ‘hey these creepy fish are AWESOME THOUGH’ -i looked at so many fish. for hours. -ALL BECAUSE I came up with the phrase ‘oceanic intrigue’ as a fun phrase and decided I had to commit my soul to it and never look back. -oh, the fairy shrimp are really very cute though. and i think the cookiecutter shark is, fucked up but a neat little guy.

-i’m eternally going to be laughing about this too kit: where the fuck is frank frank: /three floors down, making out with jacques

-oh!! 40-49 is unassigned in the dewey decimal system (which I googled. many, many times.), and was previously biographies. there’s another section for biographies now, but because biography was the closest I could come to like, some sort of, identity category, I thought it was more fitting if it was the section that used to be biography but was now as blank as frank felt.

-dewey is the one responsible for the clock sounding like it does. he just thinks ‘wrong’ is a fun word. that, and frank recognizing jacques by sound, were from my earlier scene sketches for this when i thought this fic was going to be much, much shorter.

#lulu talks about the sad lemon man

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tsipasce · 4 years

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Same Difference Ch.17

A/N: Here is your reward for enduring last week lmao. This one is a bit long, but cutting it up just didn't seem as gratifying so I hope you guys enjoy.

Also, thank you so much for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks on AO3 and FFN-- you guys are too kind :'). I'll try posting more regularly on Tumblr too if ppl wanna read it here. Let me know what y'all think~

There was darkness, then flickers of lights and the occasional overwhelming flow of noises before it ebbed to silence and darkness yet again. First, she felt she was on a hard surface like concrete, then cold metal, then something cushion-like… a bed? Her thoughts were incoherent, presenting more as disjointed words and feelings. Anger, regret, hurt, with a sprinkle of sadness on top. Her body was heavy, every limb feeling as though the blood had been replaced with lead. Her head lolled and she heard someone suddenly shift at her side, the bed dipping under the pressure of said someone leaning on it and over her but was too out of it to open her eyes. Acquiescing, she fell back into unconsciousness.

An indefinite amount of time passed while she was in the darkness before her senses began to return fully. She heard typing, now able to feel a presence nearby. She wanted to open her eyes, but the task seemed too daunting still, simply listening would have to be enough for now.

“I can stand watch for now, if you’d like.” One voice offered, softly.

“What I’d like is to be left alone.” The other replied curtly.

“I see. We’re going to leave in the next few hours, I’ll get everyone ready.”

“You do that.”

Well this guy sounds like a treat… Nanami thought, her sarcasm unsurprisingly returning before the rest of her senses and memories. There were footsteps and then a soft thud, like a door being carefully shut. A couple moments passed before she heard what sounded like a laptop being closed, then footsteps coming towards her, and then silence. She desperately wanted to wake up, but her body refused to cooperate, causing her eyes to flutter behind her eyelids as she struggled in vain to move. She could sense the presence hadn’t left and she felt anxious as to what might happen next before hearing a sigh. She felt a sheet being pulled up to cover her arms, where goosebumps had been forming from the draft in wherever she was.

“I’ll deal with you when I get back.” The voice said with a hint of annoyance, though it was betrayed by its gentle tone. Hearing footsteps growing fainter, a door opened and closed once more. The words themselves were threatening but the way they were spoken, she felt oddly comforted. Falling back into the darkness, she decided to cultivate her energy and try her luck at waking up again later.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Emerging from the darkness again, the pain began immediately. Her head throbbed and she reflexively tried to groan but found her mouth and throat painfully full. Instantly recognizing the feeling, panic set in, the only other thing she could perceive being the desperate need for it to stop. She grabbed the tube, disassembling and reassembling it outside her body. The large obstruction dropped unceremoniously to the floor and she coughed, glad to be rid of it.

“Don’t be so rough with the equipment.”

She rolled her head to the direction of the voice, a bright light hitting her eyes as she struggled to open them for the first time since… Damn. It all came rushing back to her at once, the voice no longer a mystery. Her vision focused and she found herself looking at Overhaul as he sat at her bedside. His mask was on as he stared at her blankly. She stared back for a beat, not knowing how to begin speaking about what brought them to this point. Deciding she should be fully awake and rested for that conversation, she mentally tabled it, opting for their usual banter instead.

“It’s still intact isn’t it?” She cleared her throat, massaging it as she continued, “How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

“THREE DAYS?” Her eyes shot wide, another coughing fit beginning as she raised her voice after not speaking for days.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” He grimaced, moving back a bit at her sudden outburst, “Cough in the other direction.”

“No surprise that your bedside manner could use some work.” She sighed as she adjusted to raise herself up, wincing as her sore muscles tried their best to comply. He promptly rose, putting a pillow behind her as she sat up, his expression blank yet attentive, “Thanks.”

He nodded as he took his seat again and the silence continued, painfully. It felt like their first meeting all over again, neither knowing how to broach the awkward topic. Looking back, Nanami was angry at how insufferably rude he could be but couldn’t ignore her own part in this. A pang of guilt sat heavily in her chest when she remembered how easily she let her emotions get the best of her; she hadn’t told someone off like that in ages. In her mind, it in no way absolved him, but to say it was all his fault would be a lie. In that moment of rage, she… What did I do anyway? She glanced down, now more confused than anything, her brows furrowing before looking at him.

“Let’s chat.”

He readjusted in his chair, leaning back as he crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest, “Let’s.”

His body language oozed condescension as though she was about to be scolded like a child and she hated it, “Why’d you attack me. Again.”

His eyes narrowed, displeased with how she was beginning their talk,” That was going to be my question to you. I thought we had a deal.”

“What are you talking about? We did—we do—I did not attack you.” she defended. Nanami knew they were both wrong for getting so worked up, but she wouldn’t stoop that low over an argument. “I was wrong, we both were for getting so heated, but I wouldn’t just start throwing hands like that. So again, why did you attack me? I thought… I thought we got passed all that.”

His brow furrowed at the implication, his jaw clenching uncomfortably at the hurt in her voice, “We are. We’re far passed all of that.” He intoned with a level of sincerity that seemed foreign to him. Having spent the past three days chastising himself for putting her in this position, wishing the exchange could be taken back, it was difficult to sound detached. He’d been angry, but harming her had been something he’d put out of his mind some time ago, “I didn’t attack you either…”

They both shared a moment of sincere confusion. Overhaul hadn’t come out unscathed either, having to heal his own head injury as well as a cracked vertebra from the impact once he came to. “Then what the hell happened?” Nanami asked, speaking the question they were both wrestling with. She looked around the room for her bag at the same time Overhaul reached for his laptop.

“We should run tests.” They said in unison. He handed her her notebook from the bag and a pen as they began noting exactly what happened leading up to the explosion. As she recalled the events, there were a number of theories that came to mind, as well as ideas on how to safely perform reenactments of what transpired, but she also remembered the argument beforehand. He was somehow even more quiet than usual, and she could tell his gears were turning that morning, but the hostility seemed so out of the blue. Putting down her pen, he glanced up at her, noticing the sound of her writing had stopped and she was staring down thoughtfully.

“Did you think of something?”

“…Yeah. I did. Why’d you pick a fight with me that day?”

He looked back down at his keyboard and continued typing, “I don’t know what you mean. That little tiff was a joint effort.”

“No, no, no. It may have ended up that way, but you blew up at me after an entire week of solid teamwork. I expect the snide comments and the general air of grumpiness, but that was different… What happened?” He made the mistake of making eye contact with her. She didn’t look angry, just hurt.

Taken aback, all he could manage was “… I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that “emotion” nor did he have any plans to discuss feelings. If he was being honest, he wasn’t even sure why he did it himself. Perhaps it was self-sabotage and he was pushing her away, but to accept that would mean acknowledging they had gotten close; that he had, at some point, made the subconscious decision to stop viewing her as a pawn or even just a colleague, and to indulge the need for far more than their formal arrangement. He wasn’t ready to come to terms with the possible loss of his objectivity when it came to whatever went on between them, but he knew he’d have to confront the undercurrents of their relationship at some point. Right now, they had discovered a possible breakthrough in their research and there was no room for delay. With a ghost of a plan in mind for how to move forward with Nanami, he decided it would be more logical to smooth things over in the immediate moment with Dr. Watanabe; separating the two identities giving him the illusion of control. He continued” But I do know it won’t happen again. That was…unprofessional. How is your head?”

She bit her lip and exhaled, seeing the switch flick in his eyes knowing the wall had been put back up. “It’s... it’s fine. Just a little—no, really sore.” She confirmed with herself, rubbing her hand over the source of the pain to find stiches. Why wouldn’t he just overhaul this? “So, you decided to fix this the old-fashioned way, huh? The stitchwork is impeccable, but why go through the trouble? You could have just—”

“I didn’t want to touch you.”

“… Ouch.” She winced, glancing away as the abrupt response hurt a bit more than she expected.

Realizing it hadn’t been received how he planned, he clarified,” I meant I…didn’t want to use it on you. I was under the impression we had somehow attacked each other and assumed you might not find the prospect of me handling you in that way all that appealing.”

“…Oh. Well, thank you... I don’t mind if you touch me now” he rose a brow at this, “—I mean like to heal or—Oh you know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and continuing, “Just… just do it, please.” The last word tacked on with a mumble.

Letting out an amused breath, he rose, motioning her to turn so her back faced him as he removed his gloves. She quickly brushed her hair to the side, missing a few strands. She tensed as he was much closer than she was prepared for, feeling the warmth of his hands against the nape of her neck as he gently gathered the stray hairs and handed them to her to gather in front. Smoothing down the part, he leisurely ran his hands through her hair, losing himself for a second before noticing the tops of her ears had reddened and her breath had quickened at his ministrations. Refocusing, he disassembled the stitches before immediately healing the wound knowing even a millisecond of delay would prove very painful. “Done.”

Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders, she felt normal again and ready to get out of bed as her muscles had been unused for the better part of three days. Checking the time on her phone on the nightstand she saw it was only 6 am, “So, you wanna go for a run?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Fine, fine. But on a serious note, I think we should head to the lab. I know the deal was 2 weeks bu—”

“You don’t have to bargain. Get cleaned up, I’ll start preparations for testing tomorrow.”

She turned to him, brows raised in surprise, “Well okay then. I’ll see you back at the house.”

“See you there.” He said before exiting her room, shutting the door softly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After a thorough scrubbing and stretching, she felt ready to get back to her remaining paperwork, putting on her favorite chunky turtleneck and sweatpants effectively pulling off the lazy-but-still-fashionable look. Brewing herself a cup of tea and pulling out her workbag, she thought it best to not dwell on all the Feels ™ that had continuously threatened to surface, which was undoubtedly exacerbated by their current living situation.

She was woman enough to admit she stared just a little too long, smiled just a bit too enthusiastically, and was way too excited by even the smallest bits of physical contact with him… But it’s just a crush. She lied to herself as though he hadn’t been the most intellectually stimulating person she’d had the pleasure of talking to. As though she’d ever felt silence more comfortable than their time in the lab or simply sharing meals together. As though— Girl if you don’t concentrate... She chastised herself before attempting to neatly compartmentalize her feelings, refusing to acknowledge just how much more difficult keeping them in check had become. It’s just because you’re all up under each other, it’ll pass.

Refocusing on the task at hand, she opened her laptop and pulled out a well-worn file folder, her gaze turning somber as her fingers traced the bend of it; evidence of the many nights she’d revisited it only to close it when the answers didn’t come. In the past month she’d taken on a patient who seemingly had nowhere to go. Many of her colleagues had turned him away, seemingly too jaded to go through the trouble of dealing with such a case. Nanami herself was puzzled when she reviewed his file, but she knew there was no other option; she had to at least try.

Kenta was a very jovial, large person with a personality to match. Built much like a strongman with tusks not unlike a walrus, he was hard to miss. Before he became her patient, she’d see him making small talk with the other patients, encouraging them though he himself was on the way to chemotherapy, his weight dwindling by the day. The previous doctors told him that he had osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. It was seemingly exacerbated by his quirk that gave him dense bones; they were perfect for diving, but apparently came at this very high price. The treatment had shown mild success, but her predecessors had decided his condition was becoming too advanced and an amputation was in order. After that visit, he attempted to keep his jovial nature, but his physical appearance continued to deteriorate, the medication and tests taking their toll. Full-hardy laughs were interrupted by coughing fits, round cheeks flexed into a habitual smile were replaced with gaunt hollows. Nanami couldn’t help but feel was cruel to be given such great power and still be unable to solve this problem.

She agonized, sincerely perplexed as to why someone as healthy and active as Kenta could have developed such an aggressive and rare form of cancer so quickly. It didn’t helped that after the first doctor’s diagnosis, the subsequent three doctors took little to no efforts to confirm said diagnosis, so she remained thoroughly unconvinced. She was a prodigy in her own right, but that alone couldn’t negate seniority. To go against the other doctors, she would need substantial proof of her theory—and also a theory to begin with.

Nanami was stirred from her thoughts by the sound of the silo being activated, as Overhaul stepped out. It had been hours since she had last gotten up as day turned into late night, too engrossed in her task. She glanced up for a moment, giving an absent-minded “hey” before returning to her work. It was unlike her to brush him off so quickly, and he assumed there were still hard feelings from earlier. Approaching her, he was about to speak before he caught a glimpse of her screen and notes, the file folder and its contents now haphazardly splayed on the coffee table, a few with drops of moisture on them.

“Didn’t I tell you no drinking in the living roo—” he stopped short, hearing a small sniffle escape her, before she attempted to cover it up by clearing her throat.

“Sorry, yeah, no drinking in the living room.” She laughed emptily, gathering the papers that were stained.

Seeing people cry was usually... uninspiring to him, to say the least; he couldn’t understand it, the need for such dramatic displays as an adult. But he found himself making exceptions more and more; she wasn’t one to throw herself on the floor in a tantrum—at least not seriously. Her tears were stifled, indignant, and his curiosity—yes, we’ll call it “curiosity”— got the better of him.

“What are you doing? Crying?”

“No!... Maybe.” She stubbornly corrected, further averting her gaze, hoping to use her hair as a curtain to obscure her face. Pausing for a beat, his attention turned to what he presumed was the source. He read over it as she attempted to fix her face. His brow furrowed, and Nanami turned back to see what he was doing. “Why do you care?”

“Osteosarcoma seems like an odd diagnosis for someone with his age and history.” He noted, choosing not to answer her question.

“That’s what I said!” she instinctually replied before remembering herself, “I mean quit snooping, this is patient-doctor information. It’s illegal to share.”

“Yet you brought it outside your office, to a yakuza base.” He deadpanned, pointing out the hypocrisy, taking a seat next to her on the couch. She pursed her lips, continuing to mull over theories, assuming he’d get bored and leave her be. “If not osteosarcoma, what do you think it could be?”

Knowing discretion was one of his strong suits, she decided to humor him. “I’m not sure. The tumor grew extremely fast and they began chemo almost immediately, so I didn’t get the benefit of a fresh diagnosis. He’d been perfectly healthy otherwise and his line of work kept him pretty active.”

“What’s his occupation?”

“He’s a commercial diver, it’s pretty fitting since his quirk gives him a lot of walrus-like qualities.”

“Sounds hazardous.”

“You’re one to talk. He’s practically made for it so drowning or being crushed under the pressure is near-impossible for him.”

“I was referring to all of the equipment. The fact that he’s kept all of his limbs up to this point is impressive.”

Slowly turning to him, a tired look on her face, she replied “… Your compliments are so very strange.”

Shrugging he continued, “It’s not that odd. The number of divers and sailors I’ve seen at port with mutilated legs is not small.”

Nanami was mid eye-roll when an epiphany struck her. Her eyes went wide, and she began frantically rummaging through the paperwork. "Shit-- wait, online!" grabbing her laptop, she began typing in a frenzy as Overhaul watched calmly. Finding Kenta's online records in the hospital database, she read a file from a month before his diagnosis stating he had been in a diving accident that severely fractured his leg where his tumor now was. She let out a shaky breath of excitement, "MO. It's fucking Myositis Ossificans! This explains why the 'tumor' grew so quickly. It's because it wasn't even really a tumor, just his body's response to a traumatic injury-- This is amazing!"

He felt the corner of his mouth tug upward, as she practically wiggled in genuine excitement. “That diagnosis sounds much more appropriate.”

Facing him on the couch, she reflexively grabbed him by his shoulders, lost in excitement, before realizing what she was doing. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to just grab you like that,” she hurriedly removed her hands before he waved it off. “It’s just... I’ve been poring over this since I got this case but hadn’t thought to make that connection since he never mentioned the injury.” Thinking back for a moment, it dawned on her, “... how did you know to ask?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.”

Smiling, he rose, walking to the kitchen, “Would you like a cup?”

Very aware he was evading her question, she rolled her eyes smiling in kind “Sure. Of what?” She wrote down her final notes before putting away the files, tucking them and her laptop away as she waited for an answer.

Bringing over two cups of sake and the bottle, he sat next her with his own before sliding over her cup. She gave him a look and he sighed, “Consider it your reward for your work today. But don’t get used to it, my living room consumption rule still stands.”

She raised her hands in surrender, chuckling before taking a sip. “Oh! Let’s play a game.”

His brows furrowed as he continued to face forward still enjoying his drink,” Do I seem like a man who plays games?”

“Well, judging by the shogi board, I’d say yes.”

“… Just set the board.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit before starting the odd conversation, chatting and playing until they were on their fourth cup. Nanami was admittedly tipsy by this point and decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while now with the aid of her liquid courage. If ever there was an opportunity, it was now, “Hey, why didn’t you ever become a doctor?” The question caught him off guard as he stopped drinking and peered off into the distance thoughtfully. His lips parting for a moment to speak before closing again to consider his answer.

“It would be difficult to treat people you can’t touch.”

“Hm… sounds like a copout. I wear gloves on the job at least 80% of the time and a lot of the non-surgical work that requires touching could easily be done by a nurse. So, what’s the real reason?”

“Well, you’re awfully bold tonight.”

“Eh, it’s your fault anyway,” she reminded him, toying with the sake glass. “So, are you gonna tell me or not?”

He considered her for a second before answering, “Win this game and I’ll tell you.”

“Easy.” She shot back before considering another outcome, “and what if I lose?”

He smiled easily, her stomach flipping as a glint of mischief was evident in his eyes, “Just try your best to win.”

Nanami was determined, or at least she convinced herself she was, not wanting to confront her curiosity at what he would do if she lost … or what he would do to me… Ok, let me put down this sake before I get a life sentence to horny jail. Recomposing herself a bit, she observed the board, stifling a smirk when she saw her path to victory. It was a moderately long game, but the outcome was in her favor as she took his king. Raising the piece betwixt her fingers, she smirked, “Now spill the beans.”

He stared into the proverbial abyss, slightly peeved at the loss, priding himself as a more-than proficient player before tonight. “Give me a moment.” He said casually raising a finger as he cleared his throat. Taking a measured sip from his cup before locking eyes with her, “I have a duty.” Nanami shot him an unsatisfactory look before he clarified, continuing, “Pops took me in when I had nothing to offer. This,” he began as he leered at his hands, recalling the destruction they regularly wrought, “is what I was meant to become in order to repay him. Bringing the yakuza back to their former glory and carrying on his legacy are my primary objectives. My time is limited since he’s not as young as he used to be. The years of schooling it would take to reap the benefits he deserves would prove much too long. Indulging in a dream like that is not in my nature, even if I did have the time. That is why.”

Her smile dulled as she processed his response. She wasn’t self-righteous enough to impose her own ideals on him, but it seemed like such a waste. His leading questions tonight were just one of many examples of his expertise. Even without the formal schooling he had a level of mastery that could easily earn him a degree, and coupled with his research skills, he could do a world of good. But instead here he was, content with just the opportunity to pay his debts. For someone so arrogant, he thought surprisingly little of his own nature. Maybe someday someone could convince him he didn’t have to carry around this weight all the time. Still very tipsy, she responded,” Well, if it’s a dream of yours to begin with, your nature can’t be all that bad now can it?” At this he knitted his brows, trying to accept the possibility. Seeing his hesitation, she continued, “You can do both, you know. Give yourself some more credit, bird brain.” She slurred the last insult, finishing her sake off with a gulp, not wanting to sound too soft. Feeling the consequences of her actions, she swayed sleepily in her seat before closing her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she felt herself being nudged awake, “Come on, get up. You need to get into bed.”

“But it’s sooo comfy here. Why are you being such a buzzkill, Kai?” she whined as he grasped her forearms, encouraging her to rise from her seat.

Stopping in his tracks, he asked a bit taken aback, “Where did you hear that name?”

“Your Poppy Pops told me” She almost sang, a grin plastered on her face.

“…Do not ever use the phrase ‘Poppy Pops’ again. Also, if couches were meant for sleeping, beds wouldn’t exist.” He responded irritated, though he handled her like porcelain, still remembering how unpleasant the last three days had been. Guiding Nanami to her room, he finally got her to lay down after tuning out a slew of other ridiculous nickname proposals, the drowsiness setting in as soon as her head hit the pillow. Knowing it would be too much work convincing a now drunk Nanami to get under the covers, he begrudgingly put a spare blanket over her. Before leaving, he looked back at her sleepy form. As much as they could grate each other’s nerves, no one had ever thought to encourage him or challenge his own thinking besides his father. He had never been a warm or sentimental person, having to try thrice as hard to grasp emotions that came so naturally to others, but she had planted a seed of doubt. Having always been so confident in his own lacking, he found a part of himself excited to be proven wrong for the first time. Before closing the door softly, he spoke “Thank you, Nanami.”

#overhaul #kai chisaki #chisaki kai #bnha #mha overhaul #overhaul fanfiction #mha fanfic #overhaul x oc #bnha fanfic #mha oc #overhaul x nanami #nanami watanabe #same difference #mc fanart #multichapter #fanfiction #fanfic #overhaul fanfic

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star-spangled-steve · 5 years

Text

His New Partner

Chapter 31: The Nine Long Months

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: 2877

Warnings: Pregnancy, child birth, some angst, some fluff, cussing.

A/N: I feel like this kind of sucks, and I’m so sorry! I’ve been having a bit of writer’s block recently, but I hope that it’s not too bad for you guys. Also, the italicized words are flashbacks.

“Seriously?” Y/N groaned, dramatically throwing her head back onto the pillow behind her. “No food? No water?”

“Come on, N/N. It’s not too bad.” Tony failed to hide his grin. “You still have these delicious ice chips.” He shook around the tiny styrofoam cup that was filled to the brim, watching as the girl got more and more annoyed.

She rolled her eyes. “Mmm, delicious.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. But it’s for serious reasons, and I know you that know that.” Dr. Madeline Bennett, one of the top OB-GYNs in America, spoke with an apologetic smile. “These next several hours are not going to be easy, but you’ve been preparing for this for the past nine months. As long as you cooperate, you’re going to do great, sweetie. ‘Kay?”

Y/N nodded her head, sheepishly placing her hands on her extremely large belly. “Okay. Thanks, Doc.” She watched as the other woman walked out of the room, letting out a heavy sigh once she knew that she was completely gone.

“Y’okay, kid?” Tony asked her, seeing the nervous look that was painted his friend’s face.

She dismissively shook her head in response, trying to break herself out of the nervous trance that had currently taken over her mind. “I’m fine.” The girl rubbed her hands up and down her midsection, wishing that it could be filled with something other than a baby. “Just hungry, that’s all.”

“Ewww!” Y/N groaned after taking a bite of the pancakes that Pepper had just made her. She made grabby hands towards the paper towel roll, a sour look completely taken over her face. “‘Gimme, ‘gimme.” Her articulation was horrible due to the massive clump of barely chewed food that was just sitting in her mouth.

Pepper frowned as she handed her friend a rectangle of the paper towel, watching as the younger girl spit the mushy piece of pancake right into it. “What’s wrong with them?”

Y/N took a long drink of her water, gurgling to get the taste completely out of her mouth. “You didn’t tell me you put banana in there!”

The strawberry blonde furrowed her eyebrows. “I didn’t think I had to. You love my banana chocolate chip pancakes.” She placed her hands on her hips, remembering something that happened way back. “Actually, you were the one who suggested putting the bananas in-in the first place! You said it would be a healthier option!”

The three months pregnant woman shoved her plate away from her. “Ya, well, I don’t like bananas anymore!”

“It’s true.” Tony agreed nonchalantly as he walked into the kitchen, taking a large bite of his apple. He walked up to Pepper, who he had recently got back together with after their brief ‘break’, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek after swallowing.

“They make her sick now.” Vision added from his seat at the kitchen table.

Rhodes nodded from right next to him. “Ya, she can’t even smell them.”

Pepper sighed, grabbing the basically full plate and beginning to dig in herself. “Well, if anyone has a manual to pregnant Y/N, that’d be greatly appreciated.”

“I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. send it over.” Tony replied, and no one could tell whether or not he was actually joking.

The girl in discussion just gave a small shrug Pepper’s way, taking another sip of her water. She then placed the glass down with a frown, noticing how nobody was moving to get her anything different. “So… do I just not get breakfast now?”

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!” Y/N wailed. “Oh, god. Shit!” Her hands were clenched in fists, and her head was back and aimed towards the sky, silently asking whatever God or Gods were up there to help her out. As the large contraction finally began to calm down, the girl took a deep breath in hopes to relax herself. “Those things hurt like a bitch.”

“The little one’s just eager, that’s all.” Tony spoke from his chair right next to her bed.

Y/N quietly chuckled. “Never stops moving; just like-” She stopped herself from finishing her sentence, knowing that it would hurt too much to say the name of the man who broke her heart. “Never mind.”

Tony gave her a sympathetic nod. “I know, sweet pea.” He placed a hand on her forearm and gave her a comforting squeeze, not wanting her to be under anymore stress than she already was. “You and your little boy are fighters.”

“You ready for the big reveal?” Dr. Bennett asked with a smile as she walked into the small Avengers Compound office that had been set up for her appointments with Y/N.

The girl, who had wanted to keep this whole ordeal out of the press, had insisted on not going out for doctor’s visits.

“A bit nervous, if I’m being honest.” She responded.

“Why?” The older woman questioned. “You want a certain gender over the other?”

Y/N shook her head. “Nope, just... I don’t even know. I guess I’m always nervous for these things.”

“Well, there’s no need.” The doctor spoke while grabbing the jelly to rub on her midsection. “This is just going to be a little cold; you know from the last time.”

The five months pregnant woman winced as soon as the substance touched her belly, making Dr. Bennett chuckle.

After several seconds of scanning Y/N’s belly to get a good view, the doctor had finally figured out which sex it was. She turned to her patient with a smile. “You for sure want to know, right?”

“Yup.” Y/N responded shakily. “Tell me.”

“You’re having a boy!”

The girl let out the breath that she didn’t know she was holding, grateful to have at least one mystery now solved. “Oh my goodness, I’m so excited. How is it that you know?”

Dr. Bennett pointed to the screen. “Well, you see this little protruding thingy right here?”

“Hey, sweetie.” Pepper greeted as she walked inside of the small room, Rhodes trailing directly behind her. “How you doing?”

Y/N sighed. “Not too bad. Pretty uncomfortable, though.” She rubbed her hands up and down her large stomach, noticing that Rhodes was carrying a paper shopping bag. “What’s in there?”

“We, uh, went out and bought you a little something.” The man answered with a grin, before pulling a small brown teddy bear out of the bag. He watched as Y/N’s eyes lit up, her hands going over her mouth in awe.

“You guys!” She beamed as they placed the plush toy in her waiting hands, hugging it tight to her chest. “Thank you so much. You know how much I love stuffed animals.”

“Uhm… ya, N/N… it’s actually for the baby.” Rhodes said with a sheepish look.

Y/N’s face instantly dropped. “Oh, um… sorry. I didn’t know that.”

The man began to laugh at her reaction, realizing that his little joke probably wasn’t very funny to her right now. “No, no, I’m just messing with ‘ya! It’s for you, honey.”

The girl let out a heavy breath and shook her head at his antics.

“Ya,” Pepper added, “the baby couldn’t even play with that anyways. The plastic eyeballs are a choking hazard.”

Y/N’s eyebrows drew together. “They are? Well damn, I didn’t know that either.” Her bottom lip began to quiver, almost comically, as she squeezed the teddy bear tighter to her body. “I could’ve ch-choked my baby. I-I’m ’gonna be such a terrible mother!”

“Oh, boy.” Tony frowned, walking towards her to stroke her hair. “No you’re not, sweetheart.”

“N/N,” the other woman spoke kindly, “you’re going to be an amazing mother, and you are amazing with these kinds of things. I’ve seen it.”

“Oh goodness, all this stuff is so cute!” Y/N smiled while she and Pepper sat on the couch, scrolling through countless baby websites together. They had originally planned on going to the stores in person, but opted out because Y/N didn’t want to be seen pregnant in public. Who knew what the paparazzi would do if they caught sight of it?

“I know right.” Pepper agreed before flipping her laptop towards the other girl, pointing at two small blue objects on her screen. “Look at these little booties!”

“Aww!” Y/N giggled. “Those are so adorable.” She turned back towards her own computer, continuing to scroll through. “There’s a huge onesie selection on this one site. Like, they are all so nice, and they look like they’re good qual-”

Pepper looked towards her friend, wondering why she stopped mid-sentence, only to see a heavy frown painted on her face. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” When Y/N wouldn’t answer, Pepper decided to peer over her shoulder, slightly gasping at the sight in front of her.

Right in the middle of Y/N’s laptop screen was a navy blue onesie, a big Captain America shield placed right on the front of it.

“Oh, honey-”

“It’s fine.” The seven months pregnant woman interrupted, discreetly wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “Let’s just keep shopping. We’re not nearly done.” She technically was correct, as for obvious reasons they hadn’t done a baby shower. There was still a ton of things to purchase. “What about a breast pump?” She sniffled. “I need one of those, right?”

“When is this going to be over?” Y/N groaned, dramatically running her hands down her face. Or, at least any man would’ve said that she was being dramatic. Any woman would completely understand the pain that she was going through. “I’m sick and tired of this!” She glared down towards her protruding belly, pointing a stern finger at it. “I swear, when you get out here young man, you are in very big trouble!” She instantly felt a sharp pain come from her womb and gasped in response. “Wha-? Little guy just kicked me!”

Rhodes tried to hide his chuckle with a fake cough. “I guess it’s payback for you yelling at him.”

“Ya.” Tony nodded along. “He clearly knows his mom’s voice by now. That’s a good thing.”

The girl shrugged. “I guess.” She began thinking back to all the long nights that she spent just speaking to him and him alone. “Still doesn’t make my cervix hurt any less, though.”

“Buddy,” Y/N sighed as she laid on her bed, rubbing her nine months pregnant belly, “you’ve ‘gotta calm down. It’s getting late, I want to sleep.”

She got a kick in response, much like the ones that she’d been getting for the past hour or so.

“Oh, I see how it is.” She lightly chuckled. “So stubborn, eh? Hmm… how can I get you to go to bed?” She racked her brain for any ideas that would work, before finally stumbling upon one. “How about I sing you a lullaby? Okay? ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’?”

An additional kick to the womb alerted her that he was probably okay with that.

The girl cleared her throat before beginning, ready to sing her little boy a song that she’d most likely be singing to him for the next several years.

“Come on, Y/N.” Dr. Bennett urged in a calm and collected tone from between her patient’s legs. “One more push, that’s all.”

“That’s all, N/N.” Tony repeated from his friend’s side, her hand squeezing the living daylights out of his own. “One more and he’s here.”

She gave them a strained nod before beginning that final push, her screams so loud that they could’ve probably been heard throughout the whole Compound.

Though, they were interrupted by a sudden high-pitched cry; one not of an adult, but of a newborn baby.

“I-Is that-?”

“Yes.” The doctor interrupted Y/N with a grin, slightly holding up the boy to show her what he looked like. “He’s here.”

A huge smile took over the girl’s face as she laid back on her bed, her muscles finally relaxing after many tedious hours.

Dr. Bennett cut the umbilical cord herself, knowing better than to ask Tony because he wasn’t the father, and wrapped the baby up before bringing him over to Y/N’s waiting arms.

“Hi, baby boy.” The mother cooed as she brought him close to her chest, taking in just how beautiful he was. “You’re finally here.” Tears began to mix with the sweat that was already coating her face, and she sniffled.

“He’s gorgeous.” Tony spoke from beside her, making her glance up to smile at him.

“Isn’t he?”

Y/N looked back down at her newborn son and began to lightly bounce him in her arms, causing the boy gurgle in response. “He’s so precious.”

“Do we have a name yet?” Dr. Bennett questioned the girl.

She nodded her head before making eye contact with Tony, getting ready to drop a huge metaphorical bomb on him. “The first name is Anthony, and the middle name is James.”

Stark’s heart felt like it stopped beating for a second. “W-What? You can’t be serious.”

Y/N nodded. “Well, I am.” She turned back towards the doctor, a big smile on her face. “That’s the name.”

“N/N-”

“Tony, I want this.” She interrupted him firmly. “You and Rhodey have been with me every step of the way through this pregnancy. This is my way of saying thank you, and that I love you guys.”

The man nodded, feeling tears spark into his eyes at her words. He definitely didn’t feel deserving, but if that’s what she wanted, he wasn’t going to argue.

“Is there a last name that you want me to put?” The doctor spoke again. “You can decide later if you want, that’s totally fine.“

“Rogers.” Y/N stated, her tone leaving no room for discussion. She knew that she was about to get heckled for it, but had already made up her mind many months prior.

“Are you sure about that, N/N?”

“Yes, Tony.” She gulped, stroking her son’s soft face. “I am.”

“So, I’ve been wondering…” Steve spoke as Y/N sat on his lap with her back faced towards him, the television in front of them playing a movie that neither one of them were actually watching.

“So, you’ve been wondering…?” The girl repeated playfully, turning around in his lap to face him.

The man took her left hand in his right one and began to toy with the large diamond ring on her finger. “We’ve been engaged for a few months now, and you still haven’t told me what your last name is going to be.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked, tilting her head to the side in the way that Steve found so adorable.

“Like, you know, are you taking mine? Are you keeping yours? Are you hyphenating?” He listed off, very curious of what her answer was going to be. “I know that there’s a lot of new ways of doing things these days, and I know that with your fame you might want to keep your own. Whatever you do choose, though, it’s fine by me.“

The Captain’s words were followed with a loving kiss from his fiancée, which he immediately melted right into. His large hands firmly gripped Y/N’s hips as he groaned lowly into her mouth.

“Was that supposed to give me some sort of an answer?” He asked after their lips parted.

Y/N gave him a sweet smile. “I want to take yours.”

“Really?” Steve questioned.

“Yes.” She nodded, hands resting at the nape of his neck and massaging gently. “I want to be a Rogers. I always have.”

“And you’re absolutely sure about this, doll? Because from what I’ve read, most celebrities hyphenate or just keep their own.”

“I’m not them, though.” The girl stated. “Stevie, I’ve been scribbling ‘Y/N Rogers’ in my notebook since the night of our first date. I’m very sure about this.”

The mother and son sat in silence, her lightly stroking his little face with the pads of her fingers. She watched as he repeatedly opened and closed his eyes, crystal blue irises that were very much like his father’s melting her heart already.

Her family was currently on their flight in, ready to meet their newest member, and her friends from work we’re going to drive up right away. Y/N had politely asked Tony, Pepper, Rhodes, and Vision to step out of the room, as she had wanted a moment alone with her baby before all of the commotion. And for the first time in a very long time, Y/N had gotten the chance to just breathe.

She had been so worried, so incredibly nervous for the past nine months that she had almost forgot to actually enjoy the experience. So scared of her and her baby being alone, that she really forgot to cherish his company. But now, holding her precious little creation in her arms so lovingly, Y/N knew that she and her son were going to be okay.

“Ya, sweetheart.” She spoke softly to him, rocking him in her arms. “We’re going to just fine.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead and let it linger, basking in the presence of the person who was now most important to her. “Just fine.”

Baby Anthony James Rogers murmured a couple incoherent sounds in response. He had not a single clue that he was missing out on meeting his father, the man who should’ve been sharing this very exact moment with them.

Next Chapter

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 4 years

Text

Riverdale 4x18 Review, Analysis and Theories

I’ve finally watched the episode and I’ve got alot of thoughts about it. To be honest it went pretty much the way I thought it would, mostly. We’ve been given some more information and a whole lot more questions. There were four plotlines in the episode, two main ones and two sideplots, so I figured we could go through each one and unpack them to see what clues we’ve been left this time. So if you want to read an analysis of the episode and get my opinions and theories then read on below the tag. As always these are just my own opinions you are welcome to disagree also there are spoilers obviously.

Jughead, Charles and the Video Tapes.

So the first plotline I want to talk about is the one where Jughead and Charles are invesitgating the tapes. The episode starts out with Jughead showing Betty, Alice and Charles the newest videotape that he found at the end of the last episode. A couple of sidenotes here which aren’t all that relevant but I figured I’d mention anyway. I love how protective everyone was of Jelly Bean. Even Charles who stood up to block the her view of the tv. But also where was FP? I feel like this is something he should be included in so it was a bit odd that he was missing from the scene. They could have at least mentioned him like said he was investigating it from the station or something. Anyway getting back to it. Jughead asks Betty if she wants to help him look into the tape but Betty says she doesn’t want to get pulled into another mystery. This is when Charles decides to suggest that Jughead and he could investigate it together. I loved that Charles called Jug little brother. I just thought it was really sweet. Also I would like to see more of the Jones/Cooper/Smith family interactions. Whilst we’ve gotten a decent amount of Charles/Betty and Charles/Jughead sibling bonding moments we haven’t gotten as many with Charles and his parents and other than this brief one I don’t think we’ve had any with Jelly Bean and Charles so I wouldn’t object to seeing those relationships developed a little more. Also I would like to point out that while it was really nice that Charles is always offering for Betty and Jughead to help him out with the investigation, I can’t help but think that Charles has an ulterior motive for this. I mentioned in my theory post about Charles and the video tapes (which you can read here if you want) that I think Charles sees Betty and Jughead as loose cannons. When they first meet Charles he says something like ‘I hear you two are quite the detective duo.’ Or something along those lines. I actually think Charles keeps asking for their help so that he can keep an eye on what they’re doing and make sure they don’t do anything to mess up the FBI’s own investigation into the tapes. I mean think about it, if Charles gets them working with him then he knows where they are and what they are doing, so he knows they aren’t gallivanting around town getting themselves into all kinds of mischief, classic big brother move.

Through Charles we learn that there are two drop off boxes where people can turn in the tapes they recieve. One at the Sheriff station and one at the FBI office. They are both monitored with cctv cameras but there are hours upon hours of footage so Jughead and Charles decide to make some popcorn and go through all the footage in the hopes they can find some clue as to who left the murder video tape. Also can I just say that this episode made me remember why I love Jughead there were just so many little moments that were, well I don’t know how else to describe them other than they were very Jughead. Like I don’t know what was funnier that Jughead’s response to facing hours of footage seraching for a potential killer is ‘do you have popcorn?’ or the fact that yes the FBI does have popcorn. Maybe its just me but I just got a chuckle out of that. Anyway while going through the footage Jughead does spot someone he knows and decides to follow the lead alone. Of course we learn that Ethel is the person he sees leaving a tape behind. But before we get into that I want to talk about something else I noticed. When Jug is leaving the camera pans down to show us Charles’ laptop with the cctv footage. Now they had to have done this for a reason there had to have been something in that segment of cctv that is important to the plot. The footage is very grainy and sped up but we see a woman enter the building. She walks down the hall, appears to stop briefly to talk to whoever is at the desk at the end of the hall, This person seems to gesture around the corner. The woman disappears around the corner and then a few moments later reappears, walks back towards the camera and leaves. I managed to grab a couple of screenshots of this footage.

If you’ve read my last theory post where I talk about theories around both Charles and the Voyeur (the one I linked above) then you will know I have a theory that Donna is the one behind the tapes and also the one who is wearing the Betty mask. Now I know the image is really grainy but to me this looks like a female with long dark hair who is wearing a jacket and trousers very similar in style to what Donna wears. Her build also seems very similar to Donna’s aswell. I mean...

I’m just saying the woman in the cctv, the woman in the betty mask and Donna all look real similar to me. As for why Charles didn’t recognise her, well as we can see the image isn’t the best, it was sped up and he could have been distracted by Jug saying he saw someone he knew. We don’t see where he is looking so for all we know he might have been watching Jug leave and not at the computer screen, point is he could have just missed it. Also another thing worth noting is that right before the footage is shown Charles asks ‘do you recognise someone?’ Obviously he is directing the question at Jughead but it could also be the writers way of asking us the same question, do we the viewer recognise someone in this footage.

So Jughead goes off and talks to Ethel about the tapes and she says she was just dropping off the tapes that had been left on her doorstep, that they contained the same as all the others, static footage of her home. She gets upset when Jughead tells her that one of the tapes was different and asks if she knows anything about it. One thing I will say is her line ‘I’m just trying to make it out of Riverdale in one piece.’ really resonated. Like it really makes you think how much crap these kids have gone through with all the murders and cults. It is almost like its more of an achievement for them to reach adulthood than normal because so many of them could have been killed by one of the many serial killers that have rampaged through the town. Also I feel like a lot of the kids in Riverdale see college as being a way to escape from Riverdale.

After talking to Ethel Jughead comes up with the idea that maybe the Voyeur is a film maker, so he and Charles hit the video store. I do love the store owners line when Charles asks if any of his customers were acting suspicious and he replies ‘they all act suspicious.’ I do think the writers might be having a little laugh with us here because its very true for Riverdale as a whole, like every character on this show acts shady as hell most of the time. The store owner gives them their records and they discover that Ethel has rented the horror movie Friday the 13th sixteen times. Charles then tells Jughead that he considers Ethel to be a prime suspect as she has a predilection for horror movies, was seen dropping off a tape and as per Jughead’s admission an obsession with him. But Jughead clearly doesn’t want to upset the progress Ethel seems to have made and points out that he doesn’t think she would have the equipment for it and tells Charles to drop it. When he’s next at school Jughead goes to the office to get info on the AV club, the members of which would have access to the equipment needed to make the video tapes. He not only learns that Ethel is the president of the club but that Charles had already been there asking questions and had already left with Ethel. Jug goes back to the FBI office to find out what happened from Charles and finds out that Ethel had somehow got ahold of the sex tape of him and Betty from Stonewall prep. Now I have seen some comments saying that they think Charles going after Ethel alone was really shady and that it could mean he has something to do with the video tapes. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have something to do with the tapes, its could be a possibilty, but out of all the shady behaviour we’ve seen from Charles in my opinion this wasn’t shady at all. I think because we see everything from Jughead’s point of view its easy to forget that its not a case of Jughead is leading an investigation and Charles is helping out but the other way around. Charles is the lead on the investigation into the tapes, he’s the FBI agent. So if he thinks someone is a suspect he’s not just going to drop that lead just because some teenage kid said he should, even if that kid is his brother. Also can I say that this is such a Jones/Cooper thing to do, they get told not to do something and then the next scene you find out they did the exact thing they were told not to. We see it with Betty and Jughead all the time so it was kinda funny to see the same thing happen to Jughead in a role reversal. It was a good thing he didn’t drop it too as if Charles hadn’t gone and searched Ethel’s home they probably wouldn’t have found out about the Scarlet Room.

So speaking of the Scarlet Room it shows that there is an even darker side to Riverdale if that was even possible, this is a definitely x rated room in the back of the store where they have home made videos. The store owner says sometimes people sell the videos and sometimes they trade them. But these tapes consist of some sex tapes, rougher ones and weirder ones but also more sinister than that snuff films which Jug finds. I was able to catch some of the titles which could be clues as to which other murders might be re-enacted next. The one of Jason Blossom is called a Maple Murder which is pretty self explanatory. There is one called Black Hood Unmasked which I think could be Mr Svensons death. The Blackhood Diaries is another self-explanatory one. There’s another called Carrie the... I can’t make out the rest of the title but that one is clearly Midge’s death. Then there’s one called Pop’s After Hours which I reckon is from the Halloween episode where Veronica kills that serial killer in self defense. The curious thing about Jason Blossom’s murder being there though is that as far as we know there are only three copies of that footage. Betty has one on her laptop and Cheryl has the other on a USB. The third from what I remember was given to the police, I can’t remember what happened to it after that but I think the Blossoms asked for it to be destroyed? Sorry if I’m wrong about that. So if only those copies existed then how did one end up in the store. Well I do have one theory for that. We know that Betty gave Chic one of her old laptops, now I’m going to assume she wouldn’t have been careless enough to leave that footage on the laptop if it was ever on that one but you never know, we also know that Chic was in the house alot when Betty wasn’t there and he liked to sneak into her room. It’s possible that Chic found the video and took a copy to the store to get some extra cash. But the Scarlet room as a whole is a very creepy idea, that people including Students like Ethel are going in there and renting footage of people being brutally murdered, I mean no wonder there are so many serial killers in Riverdale cause that’s just messed up. On a side note I thought it was absolutley hilarious when the store owner came in and told Jughead that only over 18′s were allowed back there. Like dude you are being invesitgated by the FBI and they’ve just found your highly illegal collection of homemade sex and snuff films and you think telling them that only 18 and overs are allowed in this section is going to save you. So anyway the FBI confiscates all the videos so lets just say the FBI have now got a ridiculous amount of video tapes at that office what between these ones and the ones collected from the town residents. But I do feel like the Scarlet Room tapes are going to be important to the plotline in some way like they’ll find some kind of clue in them.

The episode ends with Jughead getting a call from Cheryl who says she just got a tape. When he and Betty go over there they find out its the same kind of thing as the one Jughead found. Two people in masks re-enacting Jason Blossom’s murder. There is something I want to cover quickly before we analyse the tape itself but there does seem to be some confusion over whether these tapes are actually real or just acting. I mean Jughead calls the tape he got a faux snuff film and talks about how whoever filmed it went through the trouble of hiring actors. It also does seem like the person wearing Jason’s mask in the newest video is acting along. If they aren’t real it would also explain why there haven’t been any bodies showing up or missing people reported. Yet I get the feeling that these are real, I mean they look very real to me, particualrly the one with Jason. As to why it looks like the one wearing the Jason mask is acting well they either could be under duress told this is the script play along or else, or it could be that they didn’t know what was actually going to happen, maybe they thought that the gun was fake or that the other person wasn’t going to actually pull the trigger which is why they seem so relaxed and calm right before they are shot. I don’t know though maybe it is all fake? What do you think?

But the discovery of this lastest tape raises some more questions. Once again we have two masked individuals which begs the question who are the people behind the masks? One thing we do know is that its not the same people as the first video. The attacker in the first video was definitely a woman and was much shorter than the attacker in the latest one. Also the murder victims in both are also definitely different people, the one in the first video who was dressed as Jughead was much more muscular than the one in the Jason mask who had a much slimer build. This could also maybe be evidence that its possible these really are murders going on. I mean if the first guy really was killed then obviously he can’t be in the second video. To be honest I don’t have any idea who could behind the Jason mask, at all.

Ok but who do I think is behind the Cliff mask. Well here I do have a theory and it ties in another of the plotlines from this episode. The tickle ring one. I don’t think its a coincidence that its in this episode that Terry, the one who approached Kevin and who films them, suddenly turned violent. I mean up until now he’s come across as a decent guy by Riverdale standards. Now he’s threatening to break peoples fingers and issuing threats. Also it is worth noting that when Jughead says maybe the voyeur is a film maker the very next scene is the one where Terry comes out the room and pays Kevin, Fangs and Reggie. The writers are being very obvious with the message here I mean its like Jughead: Maybe its a film maker? Riverdale: Look its a film maker! I mean they couldn’t be more obvious if they put a neon sign above Terry’s head that said guilty. So is there anymore evidence to suggest Terry is the one in the Cliff mask? Well I grabbed some more screenshots.

So we have that same old problem of the qualtiy of the images in these tapes that are being left aren’t great, it does take me back to the good old days of vcr oh the nostalgia but I’m going off track. Despite the bad quality we can still get some clues from the image. Now it is a little differcult because of the lighting in the video tape is bad but take a look at the top two images in the grid above. As it was with my Donna behind the Betty mask theory its the hair that I think is the biggest clue here. There isn’t really anyone else we’ve seen in the show that has this style of hair where its longer on top and fades at the sides. I mean I don’t know about you guys but I do think the hair of the guy in the Cliff mask is very similar to Terry’s. Now obviously we can’t just convict a man based on his hair style. If we look at the two bottom images. I know it is hard to see the video tape image all that well but I have watched it over and over on slow motion and they do seem to be similar in build and height. The other problem we have comparing the two images is that while its useful that we’ve got a shot of Terry standing next to someone seated like the people in the tape, the sofa that Fangs is sitting on is much lower than the chair the masked Jason is sitting on, plus you have to take the height of the individuals themselves into consideration. But taking all that into consideration lets look at a bigger image...

As I said the difficulty we have is that Fangs is sitting on a much lower surface than the masked Jason. But lets have a bit of fun and do some estimations. Lets say the blue line on the picture on the right is the approximate height the seat of the chair masked Jason is sitting on. The black line is the length of Fang’s torso from his seat to his head. The green line is the height at which the top of his head would be if he was sitting on a higher surface. Now I know this is very much an estimation and not all that accurate its more just to give us an idea. But I think Fangs and the masked Jason seem to be of similar height so when we compare the two images we can see that the height difference between masked Cliff and a seated individual is roughly the same height difference as Terry when standing next to a seated individual. Also something else that could suggest Terry might be involved is that he would be able to get the actors who are playing the victims. He already has a client pool he could pull from. It wouldn’t be that much of a leap to think that he might approach one of his tickle boys and say do you want to get a little extra cash? I’m working on another project if you’re interested.

What if it isn’t Terry though. Who else could it be? Well the other person we are shown acting suspect in this episode is Mr Honey is shown to be someone who visits the Scarlet Room and it seems he does this regularly. I did think there was something about the way the masked Cliff moved that reminded me of Mr Honey but in my opinion I don’t think the hair style or height of the indivdual fits with Mr Honey as well as Terry. Also we know the person in the mask is imitating Cliff and so is mimicing the way Cliff would move which I think just happens to be similar to Mr Honey. However I don’t think that necessarily means Mr Honey is innocent and I’m going to cover my theory on that in a bit. The other person I thought it could potentially be is Bret. As I said in my theory about the Stonies having something to do with the tapes, we don’t know when these tapes were filmed or even where they were filmed. It could be that this was filmed before Bret was arrested. However while I think height wise it could be Bret the hair style is completely different from Bret’s who has much longer hair.

Now going back to my previous theory post where I said I was pretty certain that it would turn out to be Donna behind the tapes, you could say that this newest tape derails that theory as there is no link between Cheryl and Donna. So why would she bother making a re-enactment of Cheryl’s twin brother’s murder? Donna might have had a motive with the previous video depicting Betty and Jughead its no secret she hates them both. But on the contrary I actually would argue that the appearance of this tape further confirms my theory. While it’s true there is no link between Donna and Cheryl there is a link between Donna and the Jason Blossom murder. When Jughead wrote his first draft for the Baxter Brother novel, the one that originally won him the contract it was based on Jason’s murder, it was called The Boy in the River. Later they tell Jughead that they don’t think its good enough after all and he starts writing one based on the Black Hood instead. But he finds his original draft based on Jason in a envelope saying ready for publish. He discovers that it has been rewritten but that it is the same story. Dupont later tells him that all of his classmates had a go at rewriting it, this includes Donna. This means that Donna became real familiar with Jason’s story. The premise of my original theory was that I believed that Donna was upset that she wasn’t able to commit the perfect murder. Especially as she was so close, I mean Jughead says himself that it would have been perfect if it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t actually die. I think Donna then decided to have another go at the perfect murder. A do over so to speak. Like I said we don’t know when that first copy cat murder video was filmed. If it was quite a while ago then its possible that Donna believed she had got away with it and so she looked at other imperfect murders that she could make perfect. I mean if you think about it like Jughead’s attempted murder Jason’s murder was very nearly perfect. Cliff so very nearly got away with it, from killing Jason after he was already reported missing by Cheryl, to having FP clean up and then take the wrap for it. The only reason he didn’t get away with it was because of one tiny detail, the fact that the footage of the actual murder was out there and the USB was found. If my theory is right then I think Donna is only going to continue looking for murders to redo. I think she’s going to become addicted to it and we’ll start to see more and more of these copycat murders. Also I had a thought about why if these are real murders there aren’t any bodies. We’ve been told on a couple of occasions that you can dissolve a body with Lye. As Donna says to Betty ‘No body, No crime.’ It’s possible she’s been dissolving the bodies with lye so there isn’t anything to find. Also if she is picking the victims right then there won’t be any missing person reports espicially if she is choosing people from out of town and then releasing the videos in Riverdale. The authorities might not be making the connection.

So if I’m sticking with my its Donna theory how do I explain that it definitely wasn’t Donna in the latest video. I mean it was without a doubt a male right? Well we know that Donna works with a group. She’s the mastermind but she needs her disciples. I think she started this with the Stonies where they released the videos of peoples houses, most likely this started out as a prank. We know that the Stonies liked to pull some pretty crazy pranks like locking people in coffins overnight, we also know there seemed to be a little bit of a rivalry between Stonewall and Riverdale high schools. We also know that they were filming their fellow classmates, it wasn’t just Betty and Jughead and Moose. There were tons of illegally recorded tapes it seemed like quite the extensive operation. We also know that some of those tapes ended up in the Scarlet Room. But Donna’s got a problem now. Her disciples have either left the country are dead or are in jail. So she needs to find new ones. I think she’s formed a new group and I think this group consists of Terry and Mr Honey. I think Terry helps out by getting the victims. He’s got a wide pool of employee’s who do films for him, he could easily get people from out of town who would sit down in a chair and be tied up and think nothing of it just assuming its part of some weird kink, because I refuse to believe innocent tickle porn is that only kind of video that man shoots. I also think that he was the one in the Cliff mask. As for Mr Honey I’m not as sure on what his role could be. But we do know that Donna has worked with a teacher for nefarious reasons in the past so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that she could be doing it again. He could possibly be the delivery guy. Maybe he’s the one going around putting the tapes on doorsteps now. It would be much less suspicious for someone to see Mr Honey about Riverdale than Donna or Terry. He could also be dropping some off at the Scarlet Room. Speaking of I do think this could be where they all met/ connected. I mean as a film maker it wouldn’t be unusual for Terry to sell some videos to the store. We know Mr Honey visits the Scarlet Room. As for Donna while Jughead assumes the tape of him and Betty was put there by Bret, Donna had admitted to seeing the tape so its just as likely that it could have been her that put it there.

Maple Rum Snoosefest.

So I figured I’d cover Veronica’s and Cheryl’s Maple Rum storyline here as to be honest I don’t have alot to say about it. Unlike the tickle ring stroyline which could potentially have some relevance to the main plot, I just don’t see how this one fits in. To be honest I find the whole thing boring. I mean its just another plotline with Veronica being at war with her Father. Plus the whole Veronica thinks her dad has changed because he spared someone only for us to find out he had murdered someone. Like we get it Hiram is a horrible, manipulative git you don’t need to keep showing us that at this point. I suppose the purpose of it was also to show that Hiram’s illness is really starting to have an effect on him because he never would have been beat up like that before, its this idea that Hiram is finally starting to get weaker so we might be coming up to his downfall. Also I found the whole scene after the thugs break into the Maple Club and Cheryl is all like poor momsie and Veronica is all apologetic to Penelope absolutely hilarious. Like this woman is a murderer, you had her on trial a few episodes ago and then you locked her up and now have her in forced labour as punishment but all of a sudden we’re suppose to be concerned for her. We’re suppose to believe that these two girls are concerned for her? Really? Being brutally honest here I kinda feel the same way about Penelope as I do Hiram which is I just don’t care. I don’t care about the rum storyline, I don’t care that Hiram is ill and I don’t care if Penelope nearly gets beat up by thugs, I just don’t have any sympathy for either of those characters seeing as they’ve been painted as truly terrible people and parents so far so why is the show trying to get me to care about them now. Sorry but its just not going to happen.

Barchie

Ok so the other main plotline and the one I think its the one most people are talking about. Now let me start out by saying that I don’t think for one second that Barchie is over. In fact I think this is just the beginning. The episode in regards to Barchie pretty much went the way we all thought it was going to go with Archie being much more willing to persue something than Betty. So lets go through all their scenes and analyse every little moment of them because you know its fun.

We first see Barchie away from each other. Betty is refusing to get caught up in another mystery and while some of this might be because she’s got too much else on her mind with what happened with Archie, I do think some of it is that she is just tired of it all, she’s going to Yale in a few months and I think she wants to just leave all that murder stuff behind her and focus on her future outside of Riverdale. When we first see Archie we see him playing his guitar and it looks like he might already possibly be working on the song for Betty. While he is playing he flashes back to the kiss. He then walks over and looks at the form for the Naval Academy and then out the window towards Betty’s room. I do think this is suppose to show that Archie is torn. He’s torn about whether to go to the Navy and hes torn about what to do about his feelings for Betty. I also think the two are linked, he unsure of whether to join the Navy because of Betty. Also I think the writers have left another little clue for us in this scene. When Archie picks up the form underneath it are some dominoes. I do think this is symbolic of the situation they find themselves in now. That kiss was the first domino and they’ve knocked it over, now thanks to the domino effect all the others are going to come crashing down too, its only a matter of time.

After Archie looks out his window we switch over to see Betty in her room reading her diary. This entry is talking about the day she first fell in love with Archie and we get a flashback to Mini Barchie waving at each other through their windows so know we’ve got another iconic window scene to add to our gif sets. It’s worth noting that while reading this entry she is smiling so we know she is thinking of the memory fondly. Howver when Alice comes in and they start talking about the future and getting teary eyed, Alice asks what Betty could have to cry about it Betty flashes back to the kiss and gets teary. It shows that while Betty might be looking back on the past fonly she has lot of guilt and uncertainty about the more recent kiss. She’s very confused about her feelings.

The next time we see them is the first Bunker scene. Here we see them laying on the bed together and they start out by telling the other where their significant other is at. Betty tells Archie that Jugead is with Charles and Archie replies that Veronica is with Cheryl. I think in this moment wher ethey are lying close together and its intimate and all these feelings for each other are welling up they bring up Jughead and Veronica to remind each other that there are two other people involved in this, who are going to be affected by this. It’s at this moment that Betty asks what they are doing there? She is trying to figure out her feelings and what all of it means, whether its real, she’s despesrately trying to find the answers. But Archie doesn’t have an answer for her as he as just as confused by situation as she is, there is one thing he is sure of though and that’s this feels nice. Betty then admits that yes it is but that they can’t do anything more than this. This is very telling because it tells us that not only is Betty thinking about doing more with Archie she clearly wants to. It almost like shes saying it as a caution to Archie and herself, she saying this is nice I like this but we have to be careful because it would be far to easy to get lost in each other and go further. I did think Archie’s response to this was kinda funny, he’s like we’re just hanging out. It is a typical Archie/ teenage boy response and again its very telling because it actually shows that one Archie is a little in denial here, there is obviously more going on here than them ‘just hanging out’. It also seems like Archie is trying to find a reason for them to keep doing it by painting it as being more innocent than it actually is. He trying to justify them being alone together by thinking well we’re not doing anything romantic or anything. But while it may seem fairly innocent, I mean they are just laying on a bed, on top of the covers, with their clothes on, the reality is they are both having romantic thoughts about each other and this moment is actually a very intimate moment on an emotional level. The might not be physically cheating but they are being emotionally unfaithful and deep down they both know it. I think this is why Betty says she loves Jughead at this moment. She needs to say it out loud because she’s getting overwhelmed by her feelings for Archie, she needs to remind herself of Jughead who she could really hurt. Archie’s reply is actually really interesting firstly because he pauses for quite a while before answering, his response doesn’t come automatically to him but also because all though he also says he loves Veronica he adds a but. Have you ever heard that saying that nothing a person says before the word but really counts? I think its from Game of thrones. I think that is relevant here Archie says he loves Veronica but this feels nice. So if we’re saying nothing before the word but counts then what Archie is really saying is this feels nice. He also adds a question to the end of it. This feels nice, right? Again this is important because it is telling us that Archie needs that confirmation from Betty. He needs to know she feels the same that he’s not in it alone. Although Betty doesn’t give a verbal response to this I do think we can safely say she does feel the same as we see her turn to look at him and they spend some time staring into each others eyes before taking each others hands. I think in this moment they needed to make some kind of physical contact with each other, their feelings are drowning them but they know that at any moment they could knock some more dominoes and cross the line. But handholding is safe right? I mean they’re just hanging out right?

The next time we see Archie he has gone to his Father’s grave. Like I said I do get this feeling that Archie is just really confused and at a loss. He talks about how he wonders what advice his father would give him. That it would probably something like follow your heart. Archie admits that he doesn’t know which way it is pointing and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He is at a crossroads right now. He’s got several paths in front of him that he could take and he doesn’t know which one is the right one, and even scarier than that he doesn’t know where any of them lead, what could be hidden round the bend? Does he stay with Veronica, something he is familiar with and a person he loves and has a lot of history with? Does he stay in Riverdale after high school and focus on the center and his dad’s business? Does he persue his feelings for Betty another person who he has alot of history with but who he now has new romantic feelings for? Does he join the Naval Academy and get an education? There are so many possibilties in front of him but so many unknowns too. Its no wonder why he’s really missing his dad right now as thats the person he would ordinarily talk this all out with.

And then we were back with Betty. Again she is reading her diary, this time its about the proposal. She describes this day as the happiest day of her life, which is just super adorable. She again flashbacks to Mini Barchie and the proposal and can I just say that red heart ring is so cute and I do think it might pop up at some point again, they did take special effort to give us a close up of it and I can’t help but wonder what happened to it. Did Archie still give it to Betty anyway as a kind of promise ring? Did he keep and its in a draw somewhere? Who knows but I do think itll eventually end up with Betty. Kevin interrupts Betty’s thoughts when he asks if she ok and when she answers yes she was just thinking, he asks if she was thinking about simpler times to which Betty agrees. The thing is if we look at it from Betty’s point of view it really was a simpler time. Back then she was certain about what she wanted. She wrote in her diary ‘I know I want to marry Archie but I know we’re too young.’ Little Betty knew exactly how she felt and exactly what she wanted. There was no boyfriend whose heart she could break, there was no best friend who she could utterly destroy with her betrayal. There was only her and Archie. Fast forward ten years and shes in a very different situation then what her younger self thought. As a child she believed this was the time when she and Archie would be getting engaged, when they were 18 and in high school. Now all those feelings she felt then are back but its far from a simple situation.

I don’t think its at all surprising that when we return to Archie he is working on a song. Archie has always tried to work his feelings out through songwriting and music. We can see him smiling throughout the entire process of wrinting this song. Now I was going to wait and talk about the meaning of the song later when going through the second bunker scene but I actually think we should cover it now. I mean if Archie has written a song for Betty then obviously we need to study every single line in great detail just because what else would we do with it? So lets first start with the title. According to the video I found on youtube its called ‘Carry the Torch’. Now if this is the official title then this is very intersting as the phase means to love something for a long period of time. Us Barchie shippers have been saying all along that Barchie never lost their feelings for each other and I do think this confirms that. The first line of the song is ‘There’s no warning when everything changes’, pretty obvious that Archie is talking about the sudden emergence of their feelings for each other here. I also think its interesting that for Archie everything has changed. Literally nothing is the same for him anymore, not his feelings for Veronica, not his plans for the future, his feelings for Betty, literally everything is up in the air.

‘You let down your guard and I saw something strange, I thought she’s not made for this world and neither am I.’ The part about her letting down her guard I think is in reference to how previously in season 1 after he broke her heart she became more guarded with Archie to the point where when he tried to talk about his feelings with her in the season 1 finale she shut him down. Now though she’s let that guard down, she’s kissed him and she’s met with him in the bunker, she admitted she was feeling something for him. As for the part about seeing something strange and thinking she’s not made for this world I again think this is a throw back to how he used to see her. I’ve said before that I always thought a huge part of the reason why Archie rejected Betty in season 1 is because of how he saw her as this perfect girl next door and so much more than he ever would be. I think he’s now realised thats not true. That she’s not the same person anymore and neither is he. The line about not being made for this world is a little more ambiguos to me but I think he means they aren’t made to fit into a box, they both a little different. I mean I think they have had similar paths, they both have struggled with a dark side that was brought into exisitence by the same man, the black hood. Archie’s anger at the black hood lead him down some pretty dark paths, Betty got the calls from the black hood that also took her down a dark path.They were both manipulated by someone they thought they could trust. Archie was manipulated by Hiram and Betty was manipulated by Chic. They have both lost their Fathers suddenly. I think Archie is trying to say that whereas before he saw them on different levels now he recognises that they are on the same, that they match. It could also mean that they aren’t meant for the world of Riverdale, this world that’s steeped in blood and violence, Archie has always seen their relationship as being something pure, that childhood innocence, maybe he’s saying that their love is being blocked because of this world where they can so easily be corrupted. How he feels for Betty is so pure that it doesn’t belong in this world of evil and corruption its on another level it doesn’t fit in with this world, its just too good if I’m making sense here.

‘Cause you make me wanna be stronger than I am.’ Another fairly obvious one Archie wants to be good enough for Betty he wants to be worthy of her. She inspires him to better himself and again we this alot throughout their relationship. She supports his music and encourages him to persue it, we know that story of how she helped him get caught up as children so he wouldn’t have to repeat a grade, we also know that she helped him with his schoolwork when he got out of prison. She always believes in him and he always listens to her advice and lets her guide him. The next line is ‘Maybe I’m reaching, misplacing a feeling. There’s no way to know but to try.’ This line is really showing Archie’s confusion. But it also tells us alot about how Archie is thinking. He recognises that isn’t certain of his feelings that he just be mistaking nostalgia but he also says the only way they can know is to try. This is kinda what I’ve been saying myself. The only way Barchie are going to get closure is if they explore their relationship otherwise they are always going to wonder, they’ll always be a what if. It seems from these lyrics that Archie thinks this too that he wants to try and see what they could be.

Ok I do want to point something out real quick here. We know that Archie didn’t sit down and write this song all in one session. This song was written over a couple of days and as I said I do think Archie uses music to sort through his feelings. All of the lines above come from the first verse of two. Here’s the thing there is a huge change between the two verses. In the first it is very much about new, tentative and unsure feelings. However as you will see as we go through the second verse it is much more sure and certain. Archie has made up his mind about what he wants and its reflected in this second verse. “So give me tonight, I don’t know much but I knoww this feels right.’ Archie might be a bit clueless most of the time, he might make mistakes and he might not have all the answers but in all that uncertainty one thing he does know, beyond a shadow of doubt that what he feels for Betty is right. I mean if you compare the line ‘maybe I’m reaching mistaking a feeling’ with this line ‘but I know this feels right.’ This is such a huge turn around. Those lines couldn’t be more different. From the line give me tonight it does make me think that the first verse was written sometime after the first bunker visit but before he goes to see Betty and arranges to meet her at the bunker tomorrow evening. I think the second was written the next day when he knew that evening he was going to sing the song for Betty. In that time he had recgnised that his feeling were real and that they felt right.

‘So give me tonight, If you carry the torch, I’d follow the light, I’d follow the light.’ Here again Archie repeats give me tonight. I think he understands that Betty is unsure and so he’s asking her to hear him out, to keep an open mind to come to this conversation he wants to have. It seems to me like Archie very much wants to talk about how they are feeling and have that conversation that lets be honest they should have had the last time they kissed. When he says ‘if you carry the torch I’ll follow the ligh’t this is huge. He is literally saying that if she says that she has feelings for him, if she wants him too then he’s all in. He wants to be with her, its as plain as day in those lyrics. Like without a doubt if she had said she wanted to be with him he would break up with Veronica and be with Betty and does come across as what he wants.

One thing I will say real quick is that I do think Archie needs to break up with Veronica anyway. Irregardless of whether Betty is willing to be in a relationship with him or not if he is having feelings as strong as what he is portraying in this song that its not right for him to continue with Veronica. As much as it would suck for her and as much as I’d hate to see her hurting, I think Veronica is an amazing woman and person and deserves a heck of a lot better than to have someone settle for her.

When we go back to Betty the diary entry of the day is talking about how they used to listen to records together. Again I don’t think its a coincidence that right after we see Archie working on a song Betty flashes back to them listening to music, music has always been a predominant part of their relationship. Again child Betty describes it as the best day ever. Betty seems to be trying to work through her feelings by looking back at old memories everytime we see her shes got one of her diaries in her hand. What I do think is interesting is that while Archie seems to be looking forward, looking to their furture Betty has chosen to look backwards. I kinda get the sense that Betty is frightened of the future and so her tactic for dealing with that is to just not think about all the much. So she’s getting lost in the past. Archie then shows up and can I just say I love Archie he’s so adorable, like he literally spent the entire episode writing songs and trying to think of ways to hang out with Betty. When he says that he’s there to help her with the year book it is so obvious that he is looking for any excuse to be around her. Definitely had th esame vibe about it as ‘we’re just hanging out.’ Bless ya cotton socks Arch. Anyway Betty sees right through Archie and points out that he’s not there for the yearbook. This is when Archie confesses that he can’t stop thinking about her. She says that they can’t do this but then after looking at him for a moment continues with ‘not here’. Naturally Archie gets very excited at this little bit of hope and Betty admits she can’t stop thinking about him either. Now the next couple of lines of dialogue I think are very important. They arrange to meet at the Bunker but Betty doesn’t want to meet that night but the next. The reasoning she gives for this is so that they have time to think about it and ‘make sure this is what we really want.’ The reason why this is such a big deal is because of the implications behind it. Betty is basically saying that in this moment at least she wants to be with Archie, this means that in this moment she had pretty much decided she was going to leave Jughead for Archie. The intersting thing is that she asks for that delay. I think some of it is yes so that she herself can be sure that it is what she wants and that she isn’t going to change her mind. But more than that I think she wants to make sure Archie won’t change is mind. I mean look at it from her perspective he has broken her heart before. Not only that but after they kissed last time when she next sees him after that night he is kissing Veronica and its obvious their back together, we know that Barchie hadn’t talked about the kiss at this point and they shared a look when Archie spotted her and realised she had seen him kiss Veronica. This must have hurt Betty too its possible she hadn’t spoken to Archie yet because she was working up the courage, unfortunately Archie could have seen the fact that she hadn’t tried to talk about it with him as indifference on her part which is part of the reason why he goes back to Veronica. I think Betty is thinking ok he says he can’t stop thinking about me now but lets wait a bit and see if that cools off and it changes because if we start something up for real then not only have they hurt the people they care about for nothing but Betty’s heart will be broken again.

Betty continues to read her diaries in the meantime and the next entry we get is acutally really telling given what comes next. In this entry Betty is talking about how much she hates Cheryl for kissing Archie. This is relevant because unlike the others this isn’t some happy memory of childhood love, in this memory she is remembering what it feels like to see someone you love kiss someone else. I suspect she is then recognising that this feeling is what Jughead and Veronica will go through if she does persue things with Archie. These thoughts and feelings are fresh in her mind when Cheryl comes in. This part of the episode does seem to have split some opinions in the fandom and caused a bit of a stir. Alot of people feel like it was really out of character for Cheryl to say that what Betty feels for Archie isn’t real and that she is in love with the idea of him considering she was the one saying that it looked pretty real to her just a few episodes ago. I agree with that I was very confuse myself by it when I first watched the episode. But since then I’ve gone back and watched the scene again and I’ve got a few things I think we should think about with this scene. Firstly we need to remember that Cheryl unlike the audience, doesn’t have all the facts. She doesn’t know about the kiss, she doesn’t know that Betty fantasized that dance, she doesn’t know about them meeting in the bunker. Betty straight up denied anything had happened between them when Cheryl asks. I think in these instances its really important that we look at it from the character’s pov. We can actually learn alot from studying Cheryl’s facial expressions during this scene. They are very subtle but if you look closely enough it can make you understand Cheryl’s thought process also it gives us an excuse to look at Cheryl’s beautiful face so its win win. This is Cheryl’s face when she first realises that she was right and Betty is having real feelings for Archie.

She is clearly excited and happy at the news. This is much more in line with what you’d expect from Cheryl after her comments about it looking real. However her demenour changes after Betty says she thinks a part of her had been in love with Archie for the last ten years and she suddenly looks alot more sombre and well sad to be honest...

So why the sudden change? Well her expression also seems really sympathetic to me as well as sad and her expression makes alot more sense when you see what she is seeing. She is looking at Betty in this moment and this is how Betty is looking at that moment.

I mean look at her, she is so devastated, she is clearly hurting and struggling. Now again we have to look at this from Cheryl’s pov. While she might put on an act alot of the time and while its true she seems to enjoy chaos, she isn’t a heartless person. In fact on many occasions we have seen a softer side to her an example of this with Betty is when Betty suspected that her dad was a serial killer she went to Cheryl and she was supportive of Betty and gave her some really good advice. Well they might not be bosom buds Betty is still Cheryl’s cousin, her family. Again if we look at it from her point of view not knowing about the kiss or any of that then Cheryl likely sees it as Betty has started to have feelings and the idea of it is really upsetting Betty. If Cheryl did know about the kiss she might have given different advice but she doesn’t. It’s also possible that Cheryl may be feeling some level of responisibilty for Betty feeling upset now because she was the one who put the idea in her head that she had real feelings for Archie. I actually think Cheryl is trying to find a way to cheer Betty up, to comfort her when she gives this explanation that she’s just in love with the idea of Archie.

I went to a body language class once and the guy told us that when a person lies or is trying to tap into their imagination they look up and to the right because its the creative side of our brians. If a person looks up and to the left they are trying to tap into the memory side of their brains. The interesting thing about Cheryl in this scen is she actually does both, her eyes flick from one side to another. Now I’m not an expert in body language I only ever went to the one workshop that covered the basics but to me this would suggest that Cheryl was searching for something to say here whether it comes from her imagination or a memory doesn’t matter she just wants to think of something to say that will cheer Betty up that will make it better.

If you look at Cheryl’s face right before she says false and then goes on to explain that she’s in love with the idea and that what she has with jughead is real, to me it has that lightbulb look. You know the one I mean, when you’ve just had an idea pop into your head? Yeah I think this is Cheryl’s that’s it, that’s the solution to the problem moment. You can see it alot better when you watch the scene you can see the moment where it pops into her head. So I do think this was more Cheryl’s miguided way of cheering Betty up. I mean like I said she doesn’t even have all the information about the situation all she knows is that Betty is feeling hella upset right now. I think Cheryl meant well but that she didn’t give the best advice at this moment. Also there’ another much simpler reason for why Cheryl said this. The writers. I think they want to draw this Barchie storyline out and play on the angst a bit and so they are using Cheryl here to throw a spanner in the works and delay Barchie getting together.

However that doesn’t mean that what Cheryl said doesn’t have some merit. In particular I think the line about being in love with the idea of the perfect romance is important. You know I actually half agree with Cheryl here. Only half though because I think this used to be true in the past. I think back in season 1 when Betty was more innocent and naive she was in love with the idea of the perfect romance with Archie. However now, when you think about it, it’s not possible for her to be. Mostly because she can’t have the perfect romance with Archie. By this point Archie has already broken her heart once, what’s perfect about that? They have already kissed and then hidden it from their significant others while pretending it didn’t happen in season 2, again what’s perfect about that? Now they’ve kissed again only this time its worse because they’ve actually cheated and now they know that if they do decide to be together alot of people are going to get hurt, yeah there’s definitely nothing perfect about that. My point is their relationship is already flawed, its already gone through the wringer and they already bear the scars from it, its not perfect so how can she be in love with the idea of a perfect love story with Archie? It not perfect but it is real. I need to point out as well that in this scene Betty admits that she has been in love with Archie the whole time. Yet when she talks about Jughead she says ‘I love Jughead’ not in love, love. I do think they’ve done this deliberately, this difference between the two phrases but I haven’t figured out what the significance of it is yet.

So now we’ve gotten to the second bunker scene. It starts off with Archie playing the song for Betty. What I do think is significant here is that whilst he is playing she flashes back to that scene where he was playing for them all and she gets overwhelmed and runs off. Like before when she was reading the diary entry about Cheryl she has remembered a time when she felt hurt and in pain because the person she loved had kissed someone else (Veronica in the cupboard this time) again she is thinking about how much that hurt her and how that’s how Jughead and Veronica are going to feel on top of that she’s got everything Cheryl said spinning through her mind and all just overwhelms her and she was to stop Archie. Another thing worth pointing out is when Archie asks if she doesn’t like the song she replies ‘it’s us, it’s us’ again here she is admitting that they are real, they are right because that’s what the song is about, so if she thinks the song is them that she must believe that. Yet I think in the end as she says she doesn’t want to hurt or lose Jughead. Ultimately that’s what it comes down to. It’s not that she doesn’t have feelings for Archie, its not that she doesn’t think they are right for each other, it not even that she doesn’t want to be with Archie, she just doesn’t want to hurt Jughead. She doesn’t want to face the consequences and so instead she just ends instead trying to convince them both that its just nostalgia and fear of things changing.

The immediate scene after shows that Archie is still playing the song and his mother comments how it must have been written for someone special, she assumes that its for Veronica. This is the moment when Archie says that he wants to join the Naval Academy and says he thinks it’ll be best to just have a fresh start. I mean this poor guy is so heartbroken that he’s decided that the only thing left to do is join the Navy. I do think being in the Navy is going to drastically change Archie in some ways it might be good for him as it will give him more control over his emotions and discipline but it also might make him a much harder person. We won’t know for sure until after the time jump but I do feel like we should prepare ourselves for seeing a very different Archie. Again though we are being shown Archie looking forwards to the future as a way of dealing with his current situation.

In contrast Betty is still focussed on the past, mainly on burning it away. But I do think its interesting that while one of them is obsessing over the future as an escape the other is losing themselves in the past in an attempt to deal. The thing is though neither one of them is focussing on the present on what’s going on right in the moment and so I feel like they are missing out. Its obvious that in this scene Betty still trying to convince herself that her feelings for Archie aren’t real. When her mother asks what shes doing she says she’s ‘exorcising her demons’ and then later after Alice points out that they are her childhood memories and that they are precious, Betty replies that they are just memories. I do think she is trying really hard to convince herself that what Cheryl said was true. I do think its interesting that its Alice in this scene that saves the last diary. I do think this diary is going to be an important plot point. I am very curious about whats in it. But I do find it ironic that Alice was the one in 3x01 who was trying to convince Betty to burn all her diaries but now shes the one trying to save them. Also it could be significant that Alice is the one to do this considering her past. When she was Betty’s age she too was in love with someone, FP. She too, like Betty is now, decided to not face these feelings and instead went for the safer option in Hal. As a result alot of bad things happened to her. While her life wasn’t necessarily terrible there was still something missing for her, the same can be said of FP. That decision to not face there feelings for each other had a direct impact on there lives. It had a domino effect. Like Betty and Archie Alice and FP had other opportunities to be honest with themselves and each other but didn’t.

As I said before I don’t think that Barchie’s story is over yet. There are too many things left undone. We still haven’t heard the whole song in the show yet. I do think its possible that Veronica will somehow discover the song, whether because she hears a recording of it, or hears Archie playing it or becuse Mary asks her what she thought about it. Then one of two things will happen. Either Archie will be faced with the awkward situation where he either has to admit the song isn’t about her or pretend it is and play it for her. Or when she hears it Veronica realises right away that it isn’t about her. Maybe Jughead also hears the song and also gets suspicious. I also think that diary is going to come back into it, maybe Betty reads something in it that makes her realise Archie is the one she wants and so she rushes over to see him and tell him only to find that he has already left, she gets to his room and there is a letter for her on his desk. Inside the envelope is an explanation that he’s left for the Navy, a loves confession and the heart ring is in there too. Then we’ll have the 5 year time jump where we find out they’ve been longing for each other the entire time. Oh the angst. The other thing is that Jughead and Veronica still haven’t found out about the kiss and with these video tapes popping up all over the place its only a matter of time before that one comes out. Also its worth saying that technically Archie and Betty still haven’t had a proper conversation about their feelings. While they were better this time around and they did touch on the fact they couldn’t stop thinking about each other their conversations were more about what they didn’t want then what they did. They don’t want to hurt Jughead and Veronica. So at the moment they are kinda at a stalmate.

Well thank you to everyone who read all the way to the end of this. I know it got real long, like I said a lot of thoughts about everything. Again I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. I’m not sure how much information we are going to get from the next episode as its going to be a revenge fantasy from a story Jughead is writing but you never know, either way I’m still excited for the episode. So until next time.

#riverdale #barchie #riverdale theories

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ladybug-writes-spn · 4 years

Text

Guardian Angel

Sam turns out to be reader’s guardian angel.

Warnings: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Starvation, Nightmares, AnGst

Word Count: 2820

Characters: Sam, Dean, Reader

I’ve been locked in this attic for what feels like forever. This chain around my ankle connecting me to the radiator is really starting to hurt and chafe. The days seem to run together. It’s cold up here and it stinks. The smell of mold and dust makes me want to retch. The room is only big enough for me, this radiator, and a dilapidated wooden chair.

Sometimes, when I have the strength, I crawl to the tiny window to peer out. The house is a ways from the street. The people on the street look small from way up here, but I scream at them for help anyway. I scream until my lungs burn and I lose my voice. Nobody seems to hear me. Why can't they hear me? That’s when the tears start. I cry until I’m completely exhausted. I curl up into a ball on the cold wooden floor and wait for sleep to finally creep up on me. That’s when I heard it.

“Sam? You sure we have the right house?”

Sam rolls his eyes. “Of course, Dean. This isn’t my first salt and burn.”

The two hunters continue their sweep of the old mansion. It was once a beautiful home, now covered in cobwebs and graffiti. Sam and Dean came here to, Winchester, VA, on a hunch. A local 12-year-old kid, Dylan, was found dead in his bed after sneaking into the house with his buddies the night before. The coroner couldn’t find a cause of death.

According to Sam’s research, a textile tycoon, Julian Van Buren, built the mansion in 1880 for his wife, Emily. And according to every piece of information Sam came across, the man was a terrible human being. His wife died mysteriously five years after moving into the house.

“I don’t know, Sam. Shouldn’t he be jumping from around the corner and slamming me or you against a wall by now?” Dean asked, shining his flashlight around one of the many bedrooms.

Sam furrowed his brow, his flashlight illuminating the graffiti on the wall of the hallway. “Maybe we’re looking for the wife?”

Another fifteen minutes of careful searching turns up nothing. “Alright. Let’s just go burn everyone’s bones and be done, huh?” Dean finally declared, done with the whole ordeal already. “Yea. The family cemetery is out back under the oak.” Sam closed the drawer he was rifling through. He noticed something under the desk he hadn’t before. It was an old, yellowed photo of Julian and a girl that looked no older than 21.

“Huh. Wonder who this could be?” he mumbled to himself. Slipping it into his jacket pocket, he followed Dean to the Impala to grab the salt and lighter fluid.

They still couldn’t hear me. I was for sure the tall one would hear me. He found the photo I placed at his foot though. The one of Uncle and I. He took it with him. Maybe he’ll hear me yet.

Sam found himself on the ground. He was on a wooden floor of a house that looked oddly like the old mansion he and Dean were just investigating. He checked himself and found no injuries. Nothing bleeding or broken. “Where the hell am I?” he mumbled. He tried to stand, finding his legs not wanting to cooperate. Sitting back down, he waited for his vision to clear.

He heard muffled voices down the hall from where he was. One sounded like a man and the other a young girl.

“What did I say, child? You do not sass me, girl! And in front of my guests!” the male voice boomed. “I’m sorry, Uncle!” the young girl squeaked out through tears. Then Sam heard a thud as if a punch was thrown and someone falling to the floor.

Slowing inching toward the doorway of the bedroom, he saw a large man looming over a girl. Looking closer, he realized it was the girl from the photo he had found. Sam gasped as the girl was staring straight at him. The man didn’t seem to notice Sam there as he turned to hunt through a desk drawer.

Sam recognized him as Julian Van Buren. The man produced a thick leather strap from the drawer. “How many times do I need to teach you this lesson?” He paused, shooting daggers at the girl. “Now. Turn around and be still or you get twenty more lashes, girl.”

Sam felt nauseous. He wanted to leap into the room and knock the bastard’s head off of his shoulders but his limbs felt like jelly. He stood there and watched as the poor girl was whipped across her back until she bled. She turned her head, looking at Sam through watery eyes.

“Help me. Please,” she mouthed to Sam. “Stop your noise! You did this to yourself!” The man lashed the girl with an, especially hard smack. Her scream rang in Sam’s ears and he bolted awake in his bed at the crappy motel room he was sharing with his brother.

He was sweating profusely and tears were running down his cheeks. Trying to calm his panicked breathing, he looked around the room. Dean was still snoring in the next bed. The red neon sign from outside lighting his features.

Staring blankly at the peeling wallpaper, his mind raced. Julian didn’t have any kids. Who was this girl? And why was she there with him? What happened to her? There were only three graves in that family plot. Julian, his wife, and Julian’s only sibling, a brother. It was like she was trying to reach out to him through a dream.

Sam stood, grabbing his jacket off of the chair next to his bed. He took the photo out of his pocket, taking a closer look. By the light of his laptop, he studied it. The poor girl looked so sad. She wasn’t smiling. Of course, back then nobody smiled in pictures, but she looked so haunted. It felt like she was staring right into his soul.

“Who are you?” he whispered.

Dean grunted. “Who are you talking to?

“Myself. Go back to sleep,” Sam scoffed. Dean cracked an eye open. “Alright then. Keep your secrets.”

“Dude. Have you been on a meme binge again?” Sam asked, half-smirking. His answer was a snore.

He wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon. Closing his laptop, he headed to hop into the shower.

Sam sat on his laptop searching for anything and everything, trying to figure out who this girl was. The sun was starting to rise, the oranges and pinks creeping through the blinds next to the table. Standing, he stretched the kinks out of his back and slid his jacket over his shoulders. “Mornin, Sammy,” Dean mumbled into his pillow. “Hey, I was about to head out for some breakfast. Coffee and burritos?”

“Uh-huh.” Sam huffed a laugh.

Walking through the door of the motel room, Sam noticed Dean sat at the table with the picture in his hand. “Where’d you find this?”

“I found it yesterday at that old house. It was on the floor,” he explained, not too sure he should share the dream he had last night. He knows how Dean acted last time he was having crazy dreams. “I think we should look into it. I can’t seem to figure out who she is.” Dean just stared at his brother. “....why?”

Sam hesitated. “Because...I had a dream about her. Like she was crying out for help.”

“Ok…” Dean started before he was cut off by the ringing of Sam’s phone. Saved by the bell. “Hello. Agent Crosby.” Dean watched as Sam’s face fell. “Thank you for calling.”

“Well, what was that?” Dean asked. “The sheriff. She says one of the other kids that were with Dylan was just admitted to the hospital. Something’s definitely going on.”

“Yea definitely. I’ll go interview the kid’s parents.”

“I’ll go to the library and try to dig up something about this girl or the property that maybe we missed.”

Sam had been at the library for hours. He read through every book and newspaper article he could find. She had to be Julian’s brother’s daughter, that much he figured out. She called him Uncle in his dream and Julian only had one sibling. According to some articles he found, his brother, James, had a wandering eye. Maybe Mystery Girl’s mom was one of his mistresses. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. This was gonna be harder than he thought.

The librarian walked past noticing what was on his computer screen. “Excuse me?” she whispered. He turned around although he almost thought he had imagined it.

“I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but notice what you’re researching. Are you trying to find out about James Van Buren’s illegitimate child?” Sam’s eyes widened. “Yea I think so,” he spluttered. The librarian reached over, typing in a few words into the search bar.

“Eleanor McNamara’s obituary. The girl’s mother. They tried to keep it secret but nothing ever stays that way,” she added, clicking enter.

“Thank you so much.” She nodded, walking back to her desk. Sam read the obituary. Eleanor, the girl’s mother, died three days after giving birth. She emigrated from Ireland to New York, moving to Virginia within a few months. It named the ladies’ parents, Mary and Gerald McNamara, also from Ireland. He also looked up their obituaries. Nothing.

Sam took a deep breath. Why is this girl so hard to find? His phone rang just then. He slid his finger across the screen, answering it. “Dean?”

“Hey man. Ya know the kid in the hospital?”

“Yea?”

“Well, he’s catatonic now. All he’ll say is ‘Y/N’ over and over again. Mean anything to you?” Dean asked.

“Maybe?”

“Meet me back at the hotel,” Dean said before hanging up.

Back at the hotel, Sam shows Dean the info he found out at the library. “How much do you wanna bet this Y/N chick is your girlfriend?” Dean retorted, grinning at Sam’s bitchface. “Dude. She’s not my girlfriend. And yes I think you’re right.” Sam paused.

“But why would she hurt those kids?”

“I don’t know man. You know how ghosts are. The longer the person is a ghost, the crazier they become.”

Sam sat back in his chair, pondering. “She didn’t seem crazy to me when she was in my dream though. It seemed like she was crying out for help.” Silence fell over the brothers. “Well, either way, we have a problem.” Dean finally said. “Yea. Where are the bones?” Sam finished his brother’s thought. “Maybe we’re looking for an object she would’ve been attached to.” Sam’s brain was going over a million possibilities. He thought back over his dream, still vivid in his mind. He felt the desperation and fear she must have felt. Then, he noticed a necklace she was wearing. “She was wearing a necklace. It looked like a locket.” Sam picked up the photo of the girl and her uncle. “She’s wearing it in this picture. Maybe it would happen to be in a drawer or jewelry box somewhere in the house.”

“Alright, well, Ima head out a grab some grub. Guess we’re going back to the house tonight.” Dean announced, taking his keys from his pocket, walking out the door.

Sam sat at the small table with the photo in hand. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. Something’s missing and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was exhausted from the rude awakening the night before. Lying down on the bed, he told himself he’d take 20 minutes to refresh for tonight. Not even realizing he’d fallen asleep, he found himself back at that mansion but it seemed like brand new. It was actually a beautiful house, masking the evil that lived inside its walls.

There was nobody to be found. It was deadly silent, except for the loud ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. He felt a pull toward the cellar. Making his way through the kitchen to a red-painted wooden door. The door let out a harsh groan when Sam opened it. In front of him was a long, steep stairway leading into a dark abyss. Sam searched his pocket, hoping to find the small flashlight he usually kept in it. Amazingly, it was there. Flipping it on, he could make out many shelves full of jars filled with various foods. Stepping onto the cool, dirt floor, he realized he was barefoot.

…and wearing a filthy dress that was probably white at one time. The girl must be showing him something through her eyes. Looking down at his/her arms he noticed they were littered with bruises of varying colors. He felt a pain in his stomach. Starvation. Her uncle must have starved her aside from beating her.

Sam felt anger building up in his gut. He wished the bastard was still alive so he could do the same to him as he did to her. He walked toward a far wall where the boards of the wall looked different than the rest of the cellar.

Y/N appeared before him, staring Sam in the eyes. Her wide, desperate, Y/E/C eyes bore into his. She spoke but he couldn’t hear her with his ears. He could hear her in his mind. Y/N. She pointed to the wall. He glanced at the wall and back to her. She suddenly appeared closer to him, almost touching him. Y/N. She banged her fist on the wall.

A booming growl came from the top of the stairs. Sam felt her utter fear, helplessness and a twinge of anger. He turned to her but she was gone. He looked back at the stairs seeing nothing but red eyes. “Sam,” it growled. “Sam. Sam!” The red eyes got louder and closer.

He jerked awake in his bed with Dean standing over him. “Having another dream about your girlfriend?” Dean chuckled and pointed to the brown paper bags on the table. “I got the grub.”

“Yea ok. Umm… Lemme. I’ll be right out.” Sam sputtered, dashing to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.

Five minutes later, he walked back out. “Well? What was it about this time?” Dean questioned. “I think I know why she’s still there,” he replied, taking a sip of his drink. “I think her bones are in the cellar. She showed me exactly where in the dream.”

“Good. We can put her to rest so we can get some rest.”

They ate their food in silence. He felt so sorry for this poor girl. Her mother died right after she was born. He definitely could relate to that. Her father rejected her. Just to be sent to live with her abusive asshole of an uncle. He wondered if she ever had anything good happen to her that she could hold onto. Sam was tortured by the devil himself but he was also a grown man when it happened. He had Dean and Bobby for support as well. But she was just a young girl. Did she even have anybody she could call an ally or even friend?

A few hours later, they found themselves at the old mansion once again. Both of them heading straight for the cellar, Dean with a sledgehammer and Sam with an ax. They immediately started tearing down the wall. It didn’t take long to find the cramped hole she was tucked away in. Her bones were huddled in the corner like she was cowering. Dean carefully wrapped her up in a sheet and started to carry her out back to the pyre they had built.

Sam wasn’t far behind Dean when he saw something fall out of the sheet to clink on the stair. He bent down to pick it up. It was her locket she had been wearing. Dean continued up the stairs not noticing that Sam had stopped following. Opening the locket, it was a tiny picture of a baby on one side and a tiny picture of a beautiful lady with long, wavy hair on the other. He figures this must be her mother.

Looking back into the cellar he saw Y/N standing there with the lady from the picture in the locket. They were both smiling. He just smiled back, dropped the locket into his pocket and walked on.

“Thank fuck. I’m so ready to get back to the bunker,” Dean declared hopping into the driver’s seat of his Baby. “We are taking a breather for a while for some much needed R&R.” Dean started up the car and sped off into the night. Sam sat in the passenger seat thinking about all that transpired. He fiddled with the locket he still had in his pocket.

“I don’t blame you. I could use a break too.”

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #Supernatural fanfic #supernatural fic #guardian angel #Sam Winchester #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x ofc #dean winchester #physical abuse #emotional abuse #starvation #angst #nightmares #ladybug fic

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saiilorstars · 5 years

Text

The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 11: A Battle of the Dead

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: The Originals

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

No real warnings for now!

Requested tag: @queenmj10

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: The Quarter is submerged into a battle between the Originals and witches. And just as it comes to an end, so does Maleny...

Riley wasn't in the best moods when Cami entered the room he was forcefully trapped to. There were shackles around his wrists that prevented the use of magic from being used. One moment he was talking with Cami out in the street and the next thing he knew he was outcold. Cami had slipped in some of his own herbs to knock him out enough time for Elijah to chain him with shackles from Cami's newfound arsenal of dark objects. Cami had thought of Maleny's information on Kieran's secret apartment to be a streak of luck. The shackles were exactly what they needed to make Riley defenseless.

All that had happened three days ago.

Riley was furious with his newfound situation.

"Good morning," Cami greeted casually as she entered the room, acting as if they were sitting down for coffee. She set her laptop on the table between them along with her trusty notepad and pen.

Riley stared at her blankly, "It wouldn't be so good if you were being forced against your will," he muttered to her, "But then again, you really don't have much on your plate anymore ever since..." he swayed his head around, unable to hold the teasing smirk on his face.

Cami unintentionally gripped the edge of the table while her teeth gritted at Riley's comment, "The more you make comments like that, the less I'm inclined to defend you," she flashed a smirk of her own, though not as strong as Riley's.

"Well if we talked rationally..." Riley jingled the shackles around his wrists.

It was at that moment that Elijah came into the room, "Well if you decided to speak with honesty all of this could have been avoided," he countered the human's remark, letting the door shut behind him with a loud thud.

He'd secured a small room in the heart of the Quarter, the quote 'hidden in plain sight' never serving so true. While Maleny remained at the compound with Klaus, Elijah and Cami took it upon them selves to question Riley as much as they needed to know the truth. And, since Riley refused to do so, Elijah found it necessary to keep the man captive until he decided to cooperate.

"I don't get it," Cami said, staring at her computer screen with furrowed brows. The screen held a photograph of Riley's grandmother, "If this is your grandmother-"

"She is not my grandmother," argued Riley for the umpteenth time.

"See, it's this kind of behavior that has kept you here," Cami shot him a look.

"And it's your uncle's death that's kept you here," Riley snapped back, succeeding in silencing the blonde, "You've got nothing better to do now, right?"

"That is enough," Elijah spoke up, setting a hand on Cami's shoulder, "I wonder, how did I fall for your 'sincere' behavior around Maleny? Do you think she would appreciate you using her uncle's death as an advantage against her cousin?"

"First of all, he's not her uncle," Riley looked to the side, "And Cami is nothing of hers."

"Maleny is family," Cami clarified, slowly recomposing herself from his remark, "Just like you and this woman..." she turned around her laptop for him to see the young Emily Cordera on the screen, "...are family."

"I already told you," Riley began but Elijah intervened.

"And as we told you, we believe otherwise," a clean smirk began spreading its way over his lips, "And do you know what is the best part about keeping you here for days?"

"Oh, I know this one," Cami looked up at him with a bright smile. She cleared her throat and turned her head back to Riley, "Riley ingested vervain, meaning we couldn't force him to tell us the truth, buuuut..." she rested both her arms on the table and leaned forwards, "...since it's been days, the vervain's all gone..."

Riley seemed to have forgotten that small detail by the way he was now frantically looking around the room for a means of escape. That alone told Cami and Elijah there was something to discover.

"And since my patience is terrible nowadays," Elijah moved over to the human and compelled him, "You will answer any and all questions asked to you in pure honesty."

Cami's smile widened after that. Her hand reached for her notepad and flipped to the first page, "Your grandmother is Emily Cordera, correct?"

"Correct," Riley answered instantly.

"She killed Maya Sterling, correct?"

"Correct."

"Why?" it was Elijah who asked that time, unable to remain calm after hearing that confession. Maya had been with them for several years and Elijah recognized the woman had managed to control his brother in ways he hadn't seen for quite a while.

A sinister smile took over Riley, "Why is there always bloodshed?" he began, "For power, Elijah. People always want power. And that's exactly what my bloodline's been getting for centuries from her."

"So I was right then, the reason for the mysterious disappearances of several of Maleny's past bodies have been because of sacrifices," Cami felt her blood go cold. She knew witches did weird, sacrificial magic (like the Harvest) but somehow she still felt stunned by what measures they could reach just for...magic.

"How long has this been going without our knowledge?" Elijah demanded from Riley.

"The story goes our ancestor performed the spell when Maleny was human," Riley answered fast under the compulsion.

"The day she disappeared," Elijah realized in a whisper. He could remember that day fairly easy for it was one of the moments in which Klaus had completely lost it. He ransacked every part of the village and even the woods...but he never found Maleny. She had vanished into thin air.

"She's been jumping bodies since you were human?" Cami was staring at Elijah with shock, already making the mental calculations, "But that's like...thousands of years ago..."

Elijah shot her an unamused look but nonetheless agreed. He faced Riley who remained silent until the next question was asked, "You listen to me and listen well, you are going to tell us how to break the curse, now."

Riley languidly looked at him, "Even if you wanted to, I can't. I don't know the way - don't even know if there is a way."

And because Riley was under his compulsion, Elijah had no choice but to believe the human. Still, for Riley's sake, he better come up with something because when Klaus found out...Elijah was sure there would be no stopping his brother from cruel revenge.

~ 0 ~

Inside the compound, things were more tensed than ever - especially with one looming labor getting closer and closer. Still, Maleny thought distracting Hayley from what was approaching was a good idea.

"Check mate," the brunette happily cheered as she took Hayley's piece off the chess board. Hayley made a face and swiped all the pieces off the table, leaving Maleny to blink rapidly, startled, "You win..."

"Sorry," Hayley said after a minute, looking down at the pieces on the floor. She knew her emotions were getting the best of her and she was taking it out on anyone near her.

"It's okay," Maleny got up to pick the pieces off the floor, "You're about to pop out an actual human being - you can throw whatever you want."

"I get the feeling it would be easier if she was actually a human being," Hayley mumbled, rubbing her stomach.

Maleny chuckled and looked up, "Right - mortal, vampire, witch, wolf. Is there anything else I'm missing?"

"Shut up," Hayley nearly begged. Maleny chuckled again and put all the pieces back on their table.

"I suppose our chess game is over, then," she gave a small sigh. She should've figured a chess game wouldn't do much for them. Elijah had taught her how to play in one her past lives and she thought perhaps Hayley would like to learn.

"I'm tired," Hayley admitted and rose from her chair.

"Maybe get some rest and you'll feel better later on," Maleny suggested. She also knew part of Hayley's agitation was from the long wait they were all under. Jackson and Oliver were supposed to be coming in to hand over the stones that would enable wolves to be free of their moon curse.

"I think so," Hayley agreed and started for the threshold of the living room, "But please wake me up if anything new happens."

"Got it," Maleny gave a thumbs up as the woman left the room. She made a face afterwards and went too pick up the chess game and return it to its place. The last thing she needed was a scolding from Elijah for not putting away his game.

Once finished cleaning up, she made way for her room but before she even made it out of the living room she saw Genevieve walking by carrying a single page of what Maleny assumed was the moonlight spell. Without thinking, Maleny hurried out the living room, no idea of what she was doing when she called out, "Is that for the moonlight spell?"

Genevieve stopped at the sound of Maleny and slowly looked back, "Yes, it is. And I'll be staying around for the day so don't be too happy I'm going out for a moment."

Maleny frowned, "I don't care where you stay. I care that you're gonna perform a spell that'll help Hayley."

Genevieve let out a small laugh, "You think the spell is only for Hayley? Does Klaus tell you nothing? He has eyes on creating a whole army of wolves," Maleny blinked in shock at the news. Genevieve smirked, "Oh, he didn't tell you? I'm sure he would have...maybe..."

"Screw off," was Maleny's response, "You're just angry with me because I cut off any deal you offered. You're angry I double-crossed you."

"You made a mistake, Maleny," Genevieve shook her head, "I could've helped you. Now you'll be stuck in that body forever - well, until you're killed again, anyways."

Maleny stepped forwards, agitated the conversation had turned into that direction, "I will be free of this curse, you'll see."

"And tell me," Genevieve also took a step towards her, acting innocent, "in the meantime you're out searching for a solution, do you think Klaus is going to wait for you?" she laughed again, "Cos I think by now you've seen he hardly waits a day after you 'die' before he goes and finds himself someone new."

Maleny would not let Genevieve's taunts get to her, or she would at least try not to let it. She pursed her lips for a minute, debating how to respond, "Even if I'm dead he wouldn't go back to you."

Genevieve smirked and started backtracking, "He came to me when you were alive. Now imagine yourself dead," she gave a wave with a wiggle of her fingers and turned around, striding off triumphantly.

Unable to keep herself from feeling hurt, Maleny released a shaky breath and made way for her room in haste. She silently scolded herself when she slammed her bedroom door shut for being so...emotional. She shouldn't be feeling hurt at all. But then her mind wandered to last week when Klaus had bought her her favorite type of dessert and their moment at the park.

"I mean...do you still...feel anything?"

"That depends," Klaus perfectly evaded the question.

"On what?" Maleny whispered.

"If my answer would make any difference in your life..."

Slowly, Maleny walked away from the door and repeatedly took breaths. But no matter how much she tried to forget she could not stop thinking about that day, nor any other moment they had. It was difficult to believe what Genevieve said, as well as struggling so that it wouldn't hurt as much. There were memories of her past lives where Genevieve's words had proven to be right. Heck, there was even one moment where Klaus never even laid eyes on her in the way she would've wanted him to.

Maleny went for her window and looked out, now really wishing she could talk to someone. Hayley was probably fast asleep by now, Cami was off doing some task of her own and she hadn't really seen Riley for a couple days. Davina was way out of the question since the teen heavily disagreed with her potential love life. Maleny felt alone. Her hand slowly reached to her golden chain necklace on her neck, suddenly thinking that perhaps her mother would have been a fine person to talk to right around then. No matter how old she may really be, Maleny believed Abigail would advise her like no one else would. She wished she would at least have some place to talk to Abigail - even the Mikaelson's had a place for Esther.

On a whim of an idea, Maleny turned around and went for her bag laying near the bed. Just because her mother wasn't buried in New Orleans didn't mean she couldn't go talk to someone from the other side. The cemetery was free range by now and even she was allowed in. Besides, she was a witch in the end and not all ancestors hated her so she heard.

She had made it down the stairs and was about to finally leave the place when she heard the distinctive call, "And just where do you think you're going, Maleny?" Klaus stood upstairs leaning on the rails, curious of where Maleny had been so hasty to leave to.

Still crossed from what Genevieve had said to her earlier, Maleny was in no mood to speak to him, "Out," her cold tone rang through the courtyard, "Don't you see?"

"Oh, I see. Let me rephrase my question, then: do you not see leaving on your own can lead to your very death?"

Maleny turned around to see him, "Frankly, right now, I could care less."

"Mal, what's going on?" Klaus frowned, by now unused to hearing her so irritated with him when he was pretty sure he'd done nothing wrong so far.

"I don't know," Maleny sarcastically shrugged, "I saw Genevieve a while ago," she slowly made deeper into the courtyard, "She said some interesting things..."

"Did she do something to you?" Klaus asked, his eyes narrowing in thoughts against the ginger. He'd been very specific to stay away from Maleny in their earlier encounter.

"No, well not physically anyways," Maleny shook her head, "Now enlighten me a little bit because I'm lost, why would you tell that woman your plan when I have asked you millions of times myself and received a bare sentence?"

"Is that what this is about? You're annoyed because I told Genevieve what my plan entails?"

"She is the freaking enemy, Klaus!" Maleny exclaimed, "I think I have proven myself to be more of a friend than she has. Now I'm sorry that I don't follow your orders nor stay quiet but at least I'm not plotting revenge on you behind your back."

If Klaus didn't know it any better, he would've said he saw jealousy in the woman. Amused, he made way for the stairs to better explain himself, "Mal, believe me, if it wasn't her that was doing the spell she wouldn't know the plan either."

"Why won't you tell me, then?" Maleny frowned, further disappointed she was still no where near the people he would reveal his plan to, "It's a plan for your daughter and you know I would help if I could. Or...are you scared I'll do something against it?"

"Not in the faintest," Klaus replied as he finished down the stairs.

"Then?" Maleny released a big breath, openly displaying her pain, "Am I untrustworthy?"

"No," Klaus shook his head, "I didn't tell you because the plan also extends to you and your protection."

Maleny looked at him for a minute making a face of confusion, "Me? Why?"

"Because I don't intend on losing you again - I thought I'd made that clear long ago. The army is not only for my daughter but for you as well."

"Does Hayley know you're gonna use her pack for one of your ex's?"

"Hayley knows I'm going to use her pack to keep you safe," Klaus cleverly revised her words, "As well as Elijah and Jackson...and Oliver, even."

Still doubting, Maleny crossed her arms and shifted, "Are you telling me the truth? You're not just doing this so that I'll go on all happy on my way?"

"I'm telling you the truth," Klaus assured her, "So now, can I please know where you were headed off to?"

"I'm still crossed with you," Maleny informed him but never of the reason why, "And I was going to the cemetery to talk to someone."

"Riley?" Klaus immediately guessed and frowned.

Smirking, Maleny cheekily answered, "Well if you were talking to your wicked girlfriend why shouldn't I have some fun?"

Now Klaus knew there was nothing between Maleny and Riley but he wasn't going to risk the stupid warlock wooing Maleny. Without warning, he took hold of Maleny's hand, startling the brunette, "Can we change those plans and instead go to the park again?"

Maleny raised an eyebrow, "Um...honestly, I wasn't going to talk to Riley," she said beforehand, "In case that's the reason you wanted to accompany me."

"It's not, I assure you."

"...but what about Hayley? She's napping and-"

"Mal, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were making these excuses to get me away from you," Klaus flashed her a smirk.

"Well," Maleny crossed her arms, "I'm still crossed with you and Genevieve. Don't think I'll forget it all with some pretty words you have for me."

"Then what would you like me to do?" Klaus settled for her requests seeing her agitation was growing and without hint of why.

"Leave me alone for now," Maleny replied and went past him, making way for the street.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, love," Klaus turned and went after her. If she was going to leave the compound then he would leave with her, whether she wanted it or not.

Maleny knew he was following her down the street and groaned, "Yes, you can, actually. It's this thing where you turn around and walk back to the compound," she sped up her walking, "Quite simple if you really look at it!"

While amused, Klaus just continued to follow her until it drove her mad. That was usually how he would get her to talk in the old days.

~ 0 ~

Cami had the lovely - but not really - chance to stumble into Francesca Guerrera inside Rousseau's who was clearing out the customers with her 'brothers'. Once alone, Francesca turned directly to Cami just as the door was locked.

"Well...what's going on here?" Cami tried remaining calm and not to continuously glance back at the locked door.

"I am the new owner of this," Francesca gestured to the place, "gumbo shack. Ink's not dry on the contract, yet, but I can tell you I got it cheap. Business is not what it used to be since Sophie Deveraux kicked the bucket."

"I don't want any trouble," Cami moved over to the bar where she set down her purse and laptop.

"I don't really care what you want," Francesca snapped, "Let's talk about what I want."

"My uncle's key," Cami remembered the last time the woman had appeared to her for the same damn key. Now that she knew what that key contained she would never let anyone besides Maleny take it, "You said you were going to use it to protect the innocents of the city? Seems pretty ironic, considering your line of work."

While the statement was completely true, Francesca ignored it and walked towards Cami, "I'm a legitimate businesswoman who's never been convicted of a crime. And, as leader of the Human Faction, that key is mine. I gave you time to mourn. Now, time's up!"

"Right, the place that doesn't belong to you," Cami crossed her arms and looked to the side, still rather peeved, as Maleny, that the leadership hadn't been handed to her or Maleny since they were both O'Connell's.

"I've spoken to your cousin, and it was agreed that I would take the place-"

"No, no it wasn't," Cami corrected her, "Elijah made that decision without us. And you know what, since I'm more than capable to take over I think I'll have a word with him," and that was something Francesca did not like to hear.

The woman stepped closer to Cami intimidatingly, "My family's been in New Orleans a long time, Cami. Even longer than yours! And we've learned it's a very hard city to get by in if you don't have any friends - allies. I think you and your cousin want me to be in this position. Neither of you know what it could do to you-"

Cami raised an eyebrow, "Well, I think that's where you're wrong," it wasn't as if her uncle or twin brother had died because of the factions, not at all, "I'm done being pushed around by every damn faction. I don't have the key. And you better get ready because I will take over that position you seem to love so much."

Francesca backed away, clearly contempt, "You have until tomorrow or your 'pushing around' days are going to get a lot worse - for you and your cousin."

Cami released a breath after Francesca had left and turned to the bar to catch a break. Only a couple minutes later did Elijah come in, clearly having heard everything.

Cami glanced at him with heavy irritation, "You cannot trust that woman, and most certainly leave her in the position you gave her. I was serious, it's my rightful place."

"It would appear so," he agreed as he reached her, "And we will discuss the matters of you taking over if that is what you truly wish but for now, I think we have bigger problems. I finished talking to Riley and made him forget everything."

"Is there a way to break the curse?"

"Yes, we just have to find it."

Cami sighed, "Gee, because I hadn't thought of that one before. Is there anything useful you collected?"

Elijah excused her sarcasm for the tiredness of the day and of the death of her uncle, "There's some sort of loophole, Riley mentioned but apparently didn't know it."

"How could he not know the loophole?" Cami frowned, clearly doubting it.

"Elders are smart about these sorts of things. Riley's still young and only barely learning himself about this curse - he won't know much about its content."

"So we have to decipher the puzzle," Cami bit her lip and glanced at her shut laptop on the counter, "I have the time...do you?"

"For Maleny, I always have the time," Elijah smiled at the blonde.

"Good, just like me," content, Cami walked to retrieve her laptop to begin their work once more.

~ 0 ~

Maleny had made it just around the corner to where the cemetery was when she finally lost it as Klaus had expected and turned to him, "Are you seriously going to follow me?" she frowned at the hybrid who was slowly catching up with her.

"Well since you're going for the childish moves then I have to resort to this," Klaus gestured to their current spots.

"Maybe I just want some alone time? You know that thing where I'm...alone?" Maleny crossed her arms, "I just...want to be alone to think, okay?" her voice lowered as her eyes drifted to the near cemetery, "I came to talk to someone..."

Klaus followed her gaze to the cemetery and stared confusedly, "I don't recall you burying someone here. Perhaps Kieran..."

Maleny dropped her arms to her sides with a deep sigh, "My mother, Klaus. I came to talk to my mother. And before you say 'shes not here' I know that, okay? But this is the closest place I have and since the witches have dropped the boundary rules with me I can go in safely. I just wanted to talk."

"I'm...sorry," Klaus managed to say without one of his usual long pauses. He was never good at apologies after all, "But if you would have explained from the start then maybe none of this would have been necessary."

"You would have let me come on my own?" Maleny raised an eyebrow, doubtful of that being his point.

Her confirmation was the loud scoff given back, "Never," Klaus shook his head, "But we could have done something to help you feel closer to Abigail."

"There's not much one can do," Maleny admitted the difficulty, "My mother was buried centuries ago..."

"In the now town of Mystic Falls," Klaus finished with a smirk as Maleny processed his knowledge.

She blinked, frozen in her spot with shock, "You know where she is?" she whispered, coming back to him, "You know where her body would be now?"

"I don't know her precise location but I know our old village is the current town," Klaus clarified. He didn't want to get her hopes raised up then have to be the one to bring them down.

It still seemed to cheer Maleny up, "Is it...is it far from here?"

"A couple hours..."

"Do you think we could go? Not today I know, but...sometime?" Maleny asked, full of hope, "Or maybe you can tell me the directions and I can go or-"

Klaus raised a finger to her lips, "I can't give an exact day but maybe shortly after Hayley's given birth?" the sparkle in Maleny's eyes told him she agreed to his terms, "Now do you still want to visit the cemetery? I can wait for you out here."

"So we're still doing the 'following you' thing?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

"You're still in danger, love," he smiled at her, "You'll be within my hearing and seeing vision."

She rolled her eyes and glanced at cemetery, "I can handle the hearing thing but I'm going to have to ask for you to keep your ears out of my conversation. It's private."

Klaus could deal with that and so gave her his nod, "Fine. But don't try to escape or anything. My eyes will be glued on you."

"Whatever," she waved him off and headed for the cemetery. She didn't exactly know what she was going to do, much less who to even talk to. There was no one related to her anywhere...then she passed the O'Connell's area of plots. Out of anyone there she supposed they were the closest to what she could call a family. Quietly, she came towards the plots and sighed, "Hello," she whispered, giving a languid wave, unsure if this was really going to solve anything, "Gosh, I feel so...lost," and she gave a small, bitter laugh, "That's the understatement of the year. I've been lost for centuries now and even now I still can't find myself," she bent down in front of the plot, picking up a couple of flower pots that'd been tilted on their sides, "No matter what I do, what happens, I'm still...uncomfortable with myself. I'm lost - and confused. And I guess I'm troubling you all because I've got no where else to go. To the world, you're my family...and I could really use some advice. What do I do with him?" her voice turned into a secret for fear Klaus was breaking his promise of not eavesdropping, "I'm so confused, I'm...angry," she admitted shamefully, "And I shouldn't be because we're nothing right now. He can go to anyone who wants, do what ever he wants with them...because it's fair. But how do I make it so that it doesn't hurt? I've got no right to tell him anything and especially when I'm like..." she looked down at herself and sighed, "...this. What do I do? What can I do?"

"You shouldn't be here," a voice behind said and startled the brunette. She quickly rose to her feet and turned around to find Monique glowering at her from across.

"Genevieve has lifted the boundary rules," Maleny awkwardly said. She knew the girl was just as bad as Genevieve but the fact Monique was still just a girl made it hard to be rude, "Besides, I'm still technically a witch."

"With no power," Monique added with a smirk, "Don't forget that."

"I know," Maleny rubbed her arm, "I only came to talk, okay? I don't want any problems."

Monique raised her head as if to feel superior to the brunette, "You may be a witch but you are not one of us," she declared, "I don't care what the ancestor says you don't deserve to remain alive..." her eyes drifted past Maleny to where Klaus was coming up to them.

"What seems to be the problem?" Klaus asked the two with suspicious looks.

"Nothing," Maleny said fast before anything bad started. She'd only came in for some ventilation and that was all she intended on getting.

"Your girlfriend shouldn't be here," Monique informed in a sneer-like way, "I know she's just itching to die again but this is too much - even for our coven."

"I'm not trying to die," Maleny defensively replied.

"Hm," Monique scoffed, "And how are you doing that exactly? Oh, right, by staying with him?" she gave Klaus a once-over, "You don't get it, do you? By staying with him and his family you're signing your own death sentence."

Klaus was quick to lose his temper with the girl and made to charge for her when Maleny grabbed his arm, "Don't! That's exactly what she wants. You hurt her and Genevieve won't do the moonlight ring spell for us."

Monique smirked, half confirming Maleny's suspicions but adding the rest of the reality, "I mean what I say, regardless of what Genevieve is going to do. You're gonna die if you stay with him," she told Maleny, sounding so sure of herself it put Maleny on edge, "I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up doing it himself-"

That was the last straw for Klaus. He shook Maleny off and pinned Monique against a wall, his hand tightly clasping the girl's neck, "Watch your tongue before I tear it out," he hissed.

Monique budged under his hold but of course it was to no avail, "You can...act..." she kept gasping for air to speak, "...but...I can see it..." she smirked, "...you're afraid I'm...right..."

"Klaus, let her go!" Maleny exclaimed, panicked he'd commit a stupid act.

It was becoming difficult for Monique to keep struggling but even then she would not desist in her accusations, "Kill me, but...I'm right. She'll die...and you'll remember..."

"Klaus!" Maleny ran up to the two and tried prying the hybrid off the teen, "C'mon! It's not worth it! I don't believe her!"

Monique's eyes drifted to the brunette, "Mistake number one..."

"SHUT UP!" Maleny screamed at her in frustration while still trying to get Klaus away.

Eventually, he let the teen go and backed away with Maleny, "The only one that's going to die is you," he pointed at Monique, "If you make any other remark of yours in regards to my family."

Monique was coughing as she felt the air return to her lungs. She flashed another smirk to the pair nonetheless, "You'll remember me..."

"Let's go," Maleny nearly pleaded Klaus in the end. She just needed to get the hell out of there and forget everything said. Klaus finally listened to her and sped them out of the place.

~ 0 ~

"You're not actually going to believe what that girl said, right?" it was now Maleny who was trailing after Klaus on the streets. But with each silent response she got back she knew he already was considering the idea of it, "No, absolutely not!" she grabbed his arm and turned him around by force, "You are not gonna stand there and tell me you're actually believing what the stupid teenager is telling you?"

"It's a bit hard not to, love," Klaus admitted, his voice troubled as his mind was, "How many times have jumped bodies exactly?"

"The curse falls on me, Klaus," Maleny gestured to herself, "because I'm the one who chose this pathway. While I didn't know what exactly I was getting myself into Ichose it. No one else. Even Lilith didn't force me."

"But you cannot deny it was because of our argument that you even considered the woman's deal. I influenced you to take it without asking anyone else."

"I was angry," Maleny tried to explain coherently, "I wasn't thinking straight. I was just...sad...because you didn't want to turn me. Put yourself in my shoes. If roles were reversed and I didn't want to turn you wouldn't you try to do something yourself? Would you blame me then?"

"Of course not," Klaus mumbled under his breath, avoiding her looks at all costs.

"Then why are you doing it to yourself?" Maleny gestured to his frustrated self with a shake of her head, "We all make choices and we all have to own up to them. I'm owning up to them right now. What Monique says has no truth in it."

"Does it really, Mal?" Klaus asked, his voice turning soft, "The Mikaelsons' are cursed - anyone we happen to care for somehow always ends up...leaving."

Maleny smiled at him and stepped closer, "I'm not going anywhere. I happen to like the Quarter...and the people in it. And as long as they say I can stay, I will. Can I stay?"

It only took a minute for Klaus to cool off after seeing her honest face, "You can most definitely stay here," and surprising her, he took her head in his hands and kissed her forehead, unknowingly giving Maleny that same tingly sensation she'd felt before. For a minute she imagine what it would feel like if his kiss had been on her lips instead. And for that, she blushed red.

She smiled and looked a him with a nervous smile, only more nervous when she took notice of their closeness; her blush was truly inevitable, "Then I suppose there's no point in wasting another thought on that witch."

"Maybe just one," Klaus responded with, his common smirk plastered across his lips. He too was aware of their closeness and felt more than pleased with the situation. It was few moments like those that would remind him of their early days as humans. The only thing that would make it truly one of their moments of the past was if they shared a kiss - but of course that was out of the question...unfortunately.

Had he just thought about that?

"Who!?" Maleny nearly shouted before she realized what he meant and flushed, unknowingly bringing Klaus out of his thoughts, "Oh my God...I'm an idiot."

"Well..." Klaus began but Maleny shook a hand at him and made haste to get walking.

"Nope!"

Klaus laughed and hurried after her, easily grabbing her arm and pulling her right back to him. His arms remained around her waist to prevent her from fleeing again, "You're not going anywhere except with me back to the compound."

Maleny made no attempt to budge from her spot as she silently admitted to herself she liked it. Instead, she gave a small smile and calmly said, "Actually, I was hoping to go visit Cami instead."

"What for?"

"Haven't you noticed she's been acting a little strange lately? She's up to something and I want to know what. But don't worry, I won't need your bodyguard services there. I can make it on my own."

Klaus scoffed, "You're out of your mind if you think you're going there alone."

"Well you're not gonna eavesdrop on us either," Maleny countered, "So we can do this: you accompany me there and leave me at the house. I'm safe there."

"Mal-"

"Don't you 'Mal' me, it's either that or I stalk off on my own. Take your pick."

And on cue, Klaus' cellphone went off in his pocket. With a small sigh, he paused the conversation with Maleny to answer it. Maleny watched his facial expressions shift from irritated to mildly upset and she knew she wasn't the cause of it. After hanging up, she received a surprising agreement from Klaus.

"You stay with Cami for one hour and that's it - and you don't leave for any reason until I or Elijah come for you. Understand?"

Maleny raised her hands in agreement, "Got it. But what's wrong?"

"Jackson and Oliver are missing along with the stones for the moonlight rings."

"Oh," Maleny knew Hayley wouldn't like to hear that, "Well then go! We have to hurry!" she wouldn't have reached Cami's so quick if it hadn't been for Klaus speeding them over - he needed to know she would be out of the streets before he could focus on anything else.

~ 0 ~

Hayley was attending to a beaten Cami in the study room of the compound when Klaus returned, very much surprised to see the blonde woman in her state.

"What the hell is going on?" was his first brilliant question upon entering the room.

"Ask her," Hayley nodded to Cami as she brought over an antibacterial cloth for Cami's cuts, "She was like that when I woke up."

"Sorry," Cami apologized to her for abrupt entrance. But at that moment she didn't know what to do only to go find Elijah. Instead, she'd woken up Hayley from her nap.

"Cami?" Klaus turned to the blonde who in no mood for a questionnaire. Her head was still pounding from all the beating it received, "Mal is at your place, waiting for you I should add."

"Why?"

"She believes you've been acting strange for the past couple of days to which I agree. Of course now that I'm seeing you like this," Klaus gestured to her, "I can say she was right. What happened?"

Cami groaned and let her head rest back, her eyes closing momentarily as Hayley dabbed one of her cuts on her arms, "I pissed off Francesca Guerrera earlier so she sent one of her goons after me."

"Francesca did this?" Hayley looked at Klaus with concern.

"Well, I'm not 100% sure," Cami admitted and opened her eyes, drifting to Hayley beside her, "but I'm about 80% sure. She wants the stupid key to my family's dark objects' room, remember?"

"And who would be the other 20%?" Klaus asked.

"No idea, but I'm willing to bet it was Genevieve who also dislikes me and Maleny."

"Well regardless of what you think, I need you to be civil with Genevieve," Klaus informed, only irritating Cami more.

"What? Why?" the blonde scowled.

"She's doing the moonlight ring spell, remember?"

"Which we can't even do at the moment," Hayley reminded with a long sigh, "because said moonlight rings are gone."

"Gone?" Cami asked, remembering something about that earlier from what Elijah mentioned but her mind was too foggy to recall completely.

"Well they disappeared," Hayley sighed, "and we don't know where they could be."

"More or less," corrected Elijah as he entered the room, making all heads turn to him instantly, "I've spoken to Davina. Marcel's at the docks."

"How'd you manage that one?" asked Cami, knowing Davina's strong hatred towards the brothers.

"Charming, persuasive," Elijah dismissed as he came up to her and studied her wounds, "And you are…?"

"Better, thanks," she waved off and received a scolding from Hayley who'd been tending to a wound on the arm she chose to move.

"Don't move!"

Cami sighed and slowly sat up, "Klaus said Maleny is at my place so I should go and meet her there."

"Care to elaborate why Maleny even left the compound in the first place, brother?" Elijah turned to Klaus in genuine curiosity, "You were very adamant in keeping her locked up."

"Well I changed my mind," Klaus waved him off, preferring to leave the part out of where he followed Maleny all over the Quarter.

"Bad idea," Cami tried standing up only to feel whoozy and fell back to the couch.

"Cami, you can't go anywhere," Hayley scolded her for the abrupt movement.

"I will," Cami declared and moved to stand again when Elijah stopped her then, "Elijah, I'm going," she warned him.

Elijah merely motioned with a hand for her to wait as he went for a glass from the bar counter. Cami watched him bite his own wrist and let his blood spill into the glass. He returned for her with the glass of blood and held it out to her, "If you insist on leaving then you will only do so in a good health condition."

Cami half-smiled and took the glass from him, drinking down the entire contents. Immediately she began feeling the effects, "There," she handed back the empty glass.

"You and I will go to the docks," Klaus said to Elijah afterwards, "Cami to retrieve Maleny, Hayley will stay here-"

"And wait?" Hayley crossed her arms.

"There's not much you can do, love," Klaus reminded her of her current state, "It's agreed, then, so let's go. Time is of the essence."

~ 0 ~

Night fell but while the brothers managed to find Jackson - and learned of his friend's Olly's safety - they were incapable of retrieving their moonlight stones. Genevieve had arrived later in the day but received the news of the missing stones. Marcel had taken good prevention of that and stole them from the werewolves. His location was unknown and it would be unlikely if they learned of it before the full moon of that night. In the compound, Hayley was relieved to find Jackson safe, with minor injuries but safe. Her time alone with Genevieve had been no walk in the park and after conversing with Elijah over the phone and overhearing an explosion, her blood pressure skyrocketed. Both women had been waiting for Cami and Maleny to return since the moment Cami left the compound, but neither had returned yet.

Elijah and Klaus were not too pleased about hearing that detail either. It was simply another problem to attend to along with everything else. Fortunately, Klaus had a resolution for one problem: the moonlight rings. And luckily enough, Cami had been witness to the resolution being put to action. She had just come into the compound when she saw Francesca Guerrera and her workers having a little greeting with Klaus.

"What the hell is this woman doing here!?" she demanded of the hybrid, and everyone else with sane minds, "Did you forget there's a good chance she's the one that had me beaten up earlier?"

Francesca feigned offense at the accusation, "First of all, I did no such things," but Cami scoffed, "and second of all, you don't look that shaken up to me."

Cami angrily shook her head, "Unbelievable! What is she doing here?"

"She's my backup," Klaus announced and went up to Francesca, "Marcel stole our original moonlight rings so I asked Francesca."

"And you let her!?" Cami looked at the others.

"We didn't know," Hayley sighed, equally distraught as the blonde.

"I asked her to come," Klaus announced, "though I didn't think she'd bring company," he eyed the several men around them.

Francesca smiled fakily, "These are my brothers. I always include them in delicate business matters," she turned to her 'brothers', "Fellas, meet Mr. Mikaelson."

Klaus smirked, " Please, call me Klaus. All my friends do."

"I don't know if I'd call us friends," Francesca reached into a briefcase one of her brothers held, taking out a small black drawstring bag, "But, if you and Marcel are planning on having a little throw-down, I'd prefer my family to be on the same side as the inevitable victor."

"Then, you have what I asked for?"

Francesca turned to the hybrid holding the bag out, "Not enough for an army at such short notice, but it's a start."

"Strange, I wasn't aware that she was familiar with our plan," Elijah bitterly remarked to his brother.

"My price for doing business is full disclosure," informed Francesca, "Your brother complied"

"And what does the Human Faction stand to benefit from all of this?"

"I only want us to solidify our allegiance to the ruling class. It's good for business."

Klaus was busy studying the stones in his palm, "If only everyone shared your capacity for reason."

"Sadly, they don't. Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after me, or my family, just for meeting with you. It might be in our best interests if we combine our efforts."

Klaus looked up with a wide grin, "So be it!" he declared, "The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better. Let's get started, shall we?"

"I can't believe this," Cami declared with a shake of her head.

Klaus handed the moonstones to Genevieve and motioned for her to get a move on with the spell. Francesca and her brothers followed after the ginger without another word.

"Where is Maleny?" Klaus asked, having noticed they were short one brunette since Cami walked in.

Cami sighed and looked at them all with disappointment and concern, "I couldn't find her," she answered quietly.

"What?" Klaus frowned, "I left her at your house. I literally walked her inside and locked the door myself."

"Well it wasn't enough!" Cami exclaimed, now expressing her true panicked feelings, "I looked everywhere but she wasn't in the house. Did she leave or something?"

"No, she would've called," Klaus hook his head, "I told her she shouldn't leave the house until someone came for her. Of course I was counting on you being there."

"This is bad," Elijah recalled Riley's words from earlier, "Cami you should've called!"

"I know, but I just kept looking thinking I might find her at places we used to go to but…" Cami sighed, "...she's no where."

"We could use a locator spell," Hayley offered in hopes.

"We've already got Genevieve working and we pissed off Davina," Klaus reminded, growing frantic himself. He was now fully blaming himself for such a careless move on his part. He should've never allowed Maleny to stay on her own!

"I can go ask her," Cami offered herself up but was also shot down.

"No, it's best you all stay in here, one of us can go and convince Davina," Elijah looked at his brother for agreement.

"No, but you both need to stay here," Hayley scolded them for their lack of thoughts, "anything goes wrong and we're screwed. Genevieve only listens to Klaus and Francesca only to the leader of the head of the factions."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing," Cami sighed.

"I can do it," volunteered Jackson who'd remained quiet among the group, "This witch hasn't got any reason to hate me yet. I could go ask."

Cami soon got to considering the idea, "Well, he's not wrong. We can't call Davina over and he's the only one who can go."

"Jackson, are you sure?" Hayley seemed concern and wasn't afraid to voice it, "You literally just got back from an explosion and being kidnapped."

"So going to some witch's place to ask for a locator spell is nothing," Jackson smiled, "I can do it. Make myself useful."

Klaus wasn't going to shoot down the only opportunity to find Maleny, "You'll need something of Maleny's for the spell," and he went up to Maleny's room to retrieve an item.

As Hayley conversed with Jackson, Cami pulled Elijah to the side and quietly spoke to him, "Aren't we going to tell them what Riley said? I mean, this could be it, this could be their final move to kill her."

While Elijah knew that was very true he preferred to be optimistic, "Perhaps Mal is simply taking time for herself."

"Elijah-"

"Let's send Jackson to do the spell and if anything bad comes back then we'll tell them," Elijah suggested, "There's already many things to take care off. Why alarm them for nothing? Maleny's always escaping from Klaus' lockdown."

"Fine," Cami begrudgingly crossed her arms, "but the moment Jackson says something's up we tell them," she warned.

"Understood," Elijah agreed with a nod.

Klaus returned to the group holding one of Maleny's brushes in his hands. Jackson was given directions to Davina's and was sent off to get the locator spell done.

~ 0 ~

"Set her down there. And be careful."

Maleny felt a cold stone hit her back which served to stir her awake.

"She's awakening," someone else said.

"What do we do?" a third asked.

"Nothing, she can't leave," the first voice replied, "You, on the other hand, can. Go now."

It was then did Maleny open her eyes and see the dark crypt she was in.

"Evening, Miss Woods," spoke an elderly woman who stood beside Maleny, "I apologize for the roughness of my boys. However I doubt you'll remember your injury in this body by tomorrow."

"Where am I?" Maleny groggily asked and tried sitting up only to realize she was being tied down, "What the hell is going on?"

"What do you think is going on, my dear?" the woman lightly chuckled, "It's time to die again - for our coven."

Maleny's eyes widened and immediately starting wriggling within the ropes, "No! No! No more! I don't want to!"

"You made your choice a long time ago, says the story, so why put up a fight now?" the woman raised an eyebrow, "This is how it's been for centuries now."

Maleny saw she was on top of a ceremonial table, tied down by several ropes, "Shit," she mumbled and fiercely tried to escape, "I don't want to die! Not again! No!"

"Oh, the pleading will do you no such good," the elderly woman moved around to a small, circular table that held knives.

"Who the hell are you?" Maleny demanded, wanting to take note of who she was going to kill the moment she managed to escape, "How'd I even get here?" the last thing she remembered was being at Cami's house when someone knocked on the door, and thinking it was her cousin she'd foolishly went to go open it up.

"Cara," the woman glanced at Maleny with a crooked smile, "Cara Dawson. I presume you've met my nephew."

Maleny raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me? Nephew?" it was then that the name registered in her mind, "Hold on...Dawson?"

"She means me," Riley came into the room with a casual smile, "She's my auntie Cara, sister of my mother."

"Riley, what are you doing?" Maleny weakly asked, her eyes following the man as he went to his aunt, "She's going to kill me..."

"Hm? Oh yes, yes, I know about that," he nodded and feigned a pause, "I actually knew about this long before. Kind of my sole mission if you get what I mean. Also the reason why my family members subdued you at Cami's earlier in the day."

"No...no, this...this isn't right," Maleny shook her head slowly, "Cos you were helping me. You - you wanted to help me. They have you under a spell, Riley, fight it!"

But Riley laughed along with Cara, "Did you hear that, aunt Cara?"

"Spell?" Cara laughed again, "She's pretty but I thought she was a little more intelligent."

"Screw you!" called Maleny who continued to fight against the binds holding her down, "Riley, this isn't right! You were my friend. I trusted you - I even defended you against Klaus!"

"And I thank you for that," Riley turned to face Maleny, "I can only imagine the face he'd make if he knew he'd been right about me all along."

"Riley," Maleny whispered, completely heartbroken to see her friend...as her enemy, "All this time you've been trying to kill me? The poisoning? The knife? That was all you?"

"Oh dear, they were never attempts to kill you," Riley rolled his eyes, acting as if he were indignant of the accusations, "I'm no murderer - they were only meant to subdue you."

"Subdue me?" Maleny repeated in a shout, "YOU THREW A KNIFE AT ME!"

"It was a magical object," Riley explained calmly, "It would only leave you unconscious enough time for me and others to sneak you out of the place and bring you here. I can't kill you so simply, Maleny. There are rules. You cannot be killed unless properly sacrificed."

Maleny couldn't recognize the sinister man in front of her as the friend she thought she had in him, "I trusted you…"

"And that is what made it so much easier," Riley smirked, "I knew the day you bumped into me I'd have to worm my way into your life, earn your trust, so that we could be here today," he gestured to said room, "I should get an award because you're not an easy case to handle. I tell you, I give honest props to Klaus for having to deal with you for a lifetime."

Cara chuckled as if it were all amusing, "Oh please, your entire family's been at this for centuries now. We all deserve a damn award not just the crazy hybrid."

"Why are you doing this?" Maleny tried lifting her hands but the rope burned her skin and forced her to stay still.

"For power," Cara glanced back, "The ultimate sacrificial spell. We kill you, we harness power for our coven for the entire current generation. You jump into a new body in the future and thus begins the hunt for you again by the generation in that time."

"I'm like cattle to you people," Maleny scowled, "Something to increase your power supply, are you kidding me?"

"You signed up for this-"

"No, I didn't!" Maleny snapped, "Lilith tricked me! I thought I was going to help her and in return she'd help me but that wasn't the case at all. She found the loneliest of the village to use for her own evil purposes. She promised me eternal life so that I could spend it with-"

"With a man that can't even admit his own feelings?" Riley scoffed at the idea, "C'mon Maleny. You've been at this cycle for centuries and when exactly has Klaus Mikaelson ever declared his love for you? Hm?" he leaned forwards and put a hand behind his hear.

Maleny glared at him, gritting her teeth in frustration and anger, "You don't know anything about me nor him."

"I don't need to have known you for centuries. I learned plenty from what I saw in this short amount of time," Riley laughed to himself and straightened up, "He'll never love you again, Maleny. You will leave this place and he'll move on and find himself someone else, just like he always has in the past. Face it: you're a nuisance to him. You're the past and you should've stayed like that for him."

Maleny could feel the hot tears pricking her eyes with every word Riley uttered to her. She didn't want to believe in any of those things. If she was truly a nuisance for Klaus why would he spend so much time protecting her? Why would he offer his own home for her? She would not give Riley the satisfaction of seeing her broken down and in tears. That's exactly what he wanted.

"When Klaus realizes I'm gone and he knows it was because of you he is going to kill you," she warned in a low voice, "And I'm going to enjoy watching him do so."

Riley smirked, "Oh trust me, he'll have bigger problems to deal with than little ole you," he wondered if he should tell her as a parting gift what was about to happen to Klaus, Hayley and even poor Elijah if he got in the way.

"You're not getting away with this," Maleny repeated as she once again tried to fight the ropes.

"My dear," Cara turned around holding a very sharp, silver knife in a hand, "it's already in progress."

Maleny swallowed hard at the sight of the knife she knew was meant to plunge through her body.

~ 0 ~

Hours passed by in the compound and Genevieve seemed to be making progress on the spell. However, Francesca came rushing into the room looking panicked, "My people say Marcel is on the move, and he's bringing friends," she announced.

Klaus was still waiting to hear on Jackson so his mind barely had time to think, "Get Hayley and Cami to safety," he told Elijah before rushing off to tend to Marcel.

"Oh I am not going anywhere until I get word about my cousin," Cami raised a finger before Elijah could take a even a step towards her.

"And someone's got to watch Genevieve," Hayley moved beside Cami, both standing their ground against the Original.

"You should help Klaus," Francesca suggested to Elijah, "My brothers and their security detail won't be much against a vampire army. I'll stay with them."

"Just go," Cami sighed, "None of us are moving so don't waste time. Help your brother," Elijah had no choice but to leave them and go help Klaus. It wasn't long before they could all hear the fight going outside, "Is there reception in here?" Cami asked Hayley while frantically pacing back and forth.

"Yes," Hayley nodded, "and Jackson promised to call the moment they knew where Maleny was.

"Then why aren't they calling!?"

"Has your cousin gone missing?" Francesca asked, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Yes, got anything to do with that?" Cami turned on the woman.

"Absolutely not," Francesca shook her head, "I have no interest in that woman. She's a problem ready to happen."

"Why do you say that?" Hayley suspiciously asked.

"Because there's been several attempts of murders against her, clearly," Francesca shot her an irritated look.

Cami would've replied back if she wasn't too preoccupied thinking of Maleny's whereabouts. Hayley noticed it and moved to her side, "Cami, it's going to be okay - Maleny will come back."

But Cami had enough of just waiting around, "Riley," she spoke up, feeling her head get dizzy just at the thought of what the guy could do to her cousin. Riley had no memory of being detained by her and Elijah but it didn't mean Riley wasn't continuing with what ever plans they had.

"What is it?" Hayley raised an eyebrow.

"Riley's bad, he's very, very bad," Cami breathed rapidly, "He's going to kill her! We need to go!" but before she could make it to the door Francesca stopped her, "Let me go!"

"You go out there and you die," Francesca nodded to the ongoing fight on the other side, "or at the very least cost Elijah some injuries which will weaken him."

"I can't just stay in here when my cousin is in danger," Cami snatched her arm away from Francesca.

"But you don't know where she is either."

"The cemetery," Cami assumed and looked at Genevieve who was chanting the spell for the moonlight rings, "at a guess, anyways."

"A guess," Francesca repeated, "is not going to get your cousin back. You should wait for that call."

One of her guards entered the room, "Ms. Correa, we need to go. Your brothers are already headed out the back."

Just as Francesca turned to Genevieve, the ginger finished with the spell, "The stones are finished. I've done my part. Now, it's up to you."

Hayley took that as a go and went up to the table for the stones, "I'll get them to the Bayou."

"Actually," Francesca also moved up but with a hand held out for Genevieve, "she was talking to me."

"What's going on?" Cami knitted her brows together, "What are you-"

"Call it a side deal," Francesca shrugged as Genevieve gave her the stones,, "The point is, I'm taking the stones."

"You must be out of your mind if you think the humans will back you up against Klaus," Cami snapped.

"No," Francesca turned around and suddenly slit her guard's throat, "but I'm not human," she smirked before doubling over in pain.

Hayley recognized the symptoms and when Francesca looked up with yellow eyes and fangs, it wasn't hard to conclude, "Werewolf…"

"You've got to be kidding me," Cami blinked.

"I'm like you, Hayley. And now, I'm gonna take back my town!" Francesca laughed.

"Like hell you are!" Hayley charged for the woman but was knocked out by a spell from Genevieve's part.

"Oh my God!" Cami went up to Hayley and tried to help her but was caught by Francesca with a hand at the neck, "Let go-"

"No," Genevieve spoke up, "she's mine," she declared firmly, "Your cousin owes me and I know just how to take my revenge."

"All yours, then," Francesca dropped Cami carelessly and took the rest of the stones with her before she left.

"You've seriously lost it," Cami declared as she stood back up, angrily facing Genevieve.

However the comments didn't seem to harm Genevieve in any way, "It's a shame Maleny will never see what she caused," she slowly approached Cami.

"What do you mean?" Cami started backing away from the approaching ginger.

"I don't know anything, honest, but I'm pretty sure your cousin is either dead already or going to die," Genevieve extended a hand towards the blonde.

"Genevieve…" Cami began.

But Genevieve balled her hand into a fist and swung to the side, making Cami's neck snap and killing the blonde instantly.

~ 0 ~

Everything on the other side of the room had gone to hell. Elijah finally been overpowered by Francesca's newly triggered werewolves brothers. Klaus had inexplicably been taken down by a spell cast by Genevieve during a fight with Marcel, which then allowed for Marcel to return to the compound. All his guys who'd signed up to fight had been bitten down by Francesca and her group. He eventually found Elijah inside the side room placing down a lifeless Cami on the table.

"I would think before you step towards us," came the snarkish threat from Elijah, "Hayley is missing, care to elaborate?"

"It wasn't me," Marcel promised, "I only had interest in the moonlight stones and you know it. But Cami…" his eyes rested upon the blonde who seemed very dead, "...what...what happened?"

"I imagine it's the work of Francesca or Genevieve, doesn't matter which one because they'll both die for this."

"But she's…" Marcel finally came inside the room and stopped on the other side of the table.

"She'll be okay," Elijah whispered, "She had my blood in her system from earlier. It'll just take some time for her to wake up."

"So she'll be okay," Marcel managed or genuine smile for his innocent friend.

Elijah took a moment to study Marcel's appearance and frankly he became disappointed the man was still with a beating heart and walking, "Where is my brother?"

"I don't know, he started acting all hybrid crazy like he was in pain," Marcel shrugged, "Didn't look normal to me but I took my chance and ran."

"You will pay for this," Elijah warned as he headed out the room, "but first I must find Klaus and Hayley."

"And Cami?" Marcel came after him.

"Will wake up and realize what's going on," Elijah finished with the obvious, "I have missing family to find. You wouldn't happen to know about Maleny?"

"No, but I did hear about some sacrifice happening sometime at morning - although maybe that's for Klaus's kid."

"I've got to find them," Elijah muttered and hurried on his way.

~ 0 ~

Morning rose and the unfortunate had happened. Hayley had gone into labor and was quickly killed by Monique. All this Klaus had been forced to watch and yet unable to help neither Hayley nor his daughter. After the baby had taken, he was released from the spell keeping him away but was knocked out until Elijah found him and Hayley's corpse.

At the cemetery, sacrifices were being prepared.

"You evil bitch!" Maleny screamed as Cara dragged a knife down her arm, "I'm going to kill you!"

"It's only to begin the sacrifice," Cara was unaffected by the threats thrown at her and finished with the knife at the base of Maleny's palm, "Such a refined voice and such a foul language. Any person who knew Karina Sage would be able to tell she wasn't herself."

"Who's Karina?" Maleny raised an eyebrow, momentarily distracted from writhing pain.

"The actual owner of this body," Cara moved to the other side of the table and poked Maleny's forearm with the tip of the knife, "She's an actual - distant cousin - of the O'Connell's."

Maleny scowled at the revelation, "But I've seen the photos for myself and this body was not in any of them."

"Like I said, she was a distant cousin," Cara sighed, "Actually adopted, if you like the ironic's. But barely in touch with her family."

"And then I stole her body," Maleny said quietly, the guilt immensely rising.

"And then we found you," Cara said casually, "It's the cycle, sweetheart."

"How do you even find me?" Maleny looked around the awful room, "It's doubt some stupid spell can tell you a body's been infiltrated by another soul."

Cara lifted Maleny's golden chained necklace, "Hidden in plain sight and placed with a perception filter only our coven can detect at first glance. Every body you go into, this little thing follows. Call it a beacon if you'd like."

"So anywhere I end up, you'll find me," Maleny whispered, her eyes narrowing, "What would it take to stop it?"

Cara laughed and finally dug the knife down the surface skin of Maleny's wrist, careful not to hit any veins. Maleny screamed as the knife tore through her skin and the fouled the language escaped her lips once more.

~ 0 ~

The cemetery became center for the world of chaos and magic. The Mikaelson brothers found themselves stuck within an illusion spell making the tombs like a maze in which they would probably never get out. Their belief was the baby was the only thing left to save - Hayley was dead, and Maleny was still uncalled for. Frustration and anger were taking over when they repeatedly passed the same tombs and gravestones.

It skyrocketed when they heard the screams of Maleny echoing from the tomb room she was in.

Klaus got himself on top of a nearby tomb, overlooking the almost infinite number of tombs, "MALENY!?" he screamed in an equal volume, anxiously scanning the area.

~ 0 ~

Maleny finally stopped screaming when the knife left her shoulder, and just in time to hear Klaus's call. Cara also heard and immediately turned around to the entrance of the room.

Maleny tried fighting out of her restraints, shouting back, "Klaus! Klaus, I'm here!" she relentlessly called, "I'm here! Please, I'm here!"

Once Cara checked the immediate perimeters of the tomb, she returned with a clean smirk on her face, "He's nowhere to be seen. There's a spell in the air," she set her hands on the edges of the table and studied the oozing blood dripping from Maleny's arms, "I believe the sacrifice of Klaus Mikaelson's child is about to he begin."

"What?" Maleny frowned, "That's not possible, Hayley's not due yet."

"And yet here we are," Cara smiled wickedly, "There's a spell cast to keep unwanted visitors stuck in a maze, so the chances of being saved are very low," she had a good laugh, a sinister one at that, "Oh, if only they knew," she shook her head.

Maleny narrowed her eyes at the old woman, "Knew what?"

Cara came to a stop in front of her, "It wouldn't matter to you anymore, my darling. What I'd tell you would simply break your heart and for what? You wouldn't remember by tomorrow anyways."

Maleny let her head gently rest back on the table, no longer putting up a fight, "If the baby is here and in danger then I don't want to be saved. She's the priority."

"How heroic," Cara feigned a pout.

"Just because I probably won't be saved doesn't mean you'll get to live," Maleny informed with her own wicked smile, "because when Klaus eventually finds me, or my corpse, he'll know who to blame. And then you'll want to run. But running won't save you, none of you…" and she was 100% sure there would be revenge taken if she were to die again. She only wished she could be a part of it.

~ 0 ~

"Maleny! Mal! Maleny!" Klaus kept calling but the screams of said brunette had vanished minutes ago.

Elijah sighed, his patience barely a thin line anymore, "Klaus, stop, she obviously can't hear you."

"But she's here," Klaus dropped on his feet to the ground, "and we'll find her."

"Of course we will," came the assurance of a new voice, that of Davina, "because I know where she is," she strolled in confidently.

"How did you get in?" Elijah soon questioned the mystery and even glanced around her to see if there was a way around the maze that perhaps she'd left behind.

"I've paid my dues to the ancestors," Davina replied with hands on hips, "I can walk through the spell cast here."

"Can you undo it?"

"That is a problem I prefer not to get into, but no, I can't. But I can take care of Maleny on my own while you go to the baby," Davina assured.

"How do you plan taking down a coven bent on sacrifice?" Klaus demanded.

"I'm a Harvest Girl - with a plan," she smirked.

"Then get to it!" Klaus pointed for Davina to get a move on, "I can't possibly split myself into two and save my daughter and Maleny so I am choosing to trust you because I know your genuine care for Maleny," he also knew Maleny would never forgive him for choosing to go after her rather his own daughter. He was, unfortunately, going to follow Maleny's wishes and not put her above his daughter.

Davina gave a nod, for once on the same page with him, "Then let's split," she declared and started moving. She made it a couple steps ahead when she suddenly stopped and glanced back, "By the way, there is one loophole for this type of spell; a sire - as well as killing the witches."

"Davina this is no time to be cryptic," Elijah scolded her.

Davina just shrugged and gave a small point to something behind them. The two brothers looked back to find a very distraught and weary Hayley standing feet away from them.

"I want my daughter," she declared in a trembling voice, both of anger and tiredness. She remembered everything that happened during labor. She remembered the girls and Genevieve taking her daughter from her right before killing her without mercy. They needed to die, and they would.

"How are you here?" Elijah was baffled by the sight.

"I woke up in the church. I felt this hunger…" Hayley placed a hand over her flat stomach, "...I knew what I needed. I can feel her. She's here. I can feel my baby."

"You died with the baby's blood still in your system," Klaus began to piece the puzzle together, "She's in transition."

"Which means she has to drink the blood of the child if she is to survive," Elijah said, feeling uneasy about that idea.

"To be reborn a hybrid."

Hayley sighed, thinking all this as a waste of time, "I don't care about me. I'm gonna go find our daughter," and she went on her way before either brother could say something more.

~ 0 ~

In no time had Davina reached the Dawson's tomb property and was just in time to see the sacrifice begin, "STOP!" she yelled.

"Davina!" Maleny exclaimed, stunned to see her coming to the rescue.

The entire living Dawson bloodline stood inside the room and promptly turned their attention to the young witch interrupting their sacrifice. Riley, who stood by Cara, went around the table to greet their new visitor, "Welcome, Davina, come to see the show?"

Davina gritted her teeth angrily and balled her fists, "I knew there was something bad about you."

"You know what they say, it's always the quiet ones," Riley shrugged and flashed a brief smile.

"Davina, just go," came the pleads of Maleny from the table, "I know Klaus's baby is here too. Go help them instead. I don't want to be saved."

"Well tough," Davina straightened up, her voice firm, "because I'm here to save you whether you want to or not."

"You?" Riley lifted an eyebrow, "Against all of us?" he gestured with an arm to his entire family who stood with their hands towards Davina, prepared to battle.

"Me," Davina held her hands out towards them all, "against all of you," she declared.

"Davina," Maleny managed to get a word in before a fight sprung in the room.

~ 0 ~

As only a mother would, Hayley managed to find her newborn daughter within only minutes after arriving at the cemetery. And the moment she saw where her daughter was, her blood went cold - even if she was already technically dead, "NOO!" she screamed as Genevieve lifted a knife over the baby.

Elijah wasted no time in grabbing urn nearby which he then threw directly at Genevieve. Her hand was forced to drop the athame to the ground. The two young witches with her, Monique and Abigail, gathered together against the nearing intruders and brought in their ancestors to block the way.

"You fools!" Monique sneered, "To come against us in our place of power in our strongest hour? You don't face three, you face us all!"

The trio were able to see hundreds off the ancestors blocking their way, but it didn't discourage them from fighting against it. Klaus and Hayley took opposite directions to get near Genevieve at the altar while Elijah continued going straight against the ancestors. On her way, Hayley saw Genevieve picking up the athame again and rushed to stop her in a fist-sight. Hayley managed to win and knocked the knife out of Genevieve's hand.

On the other side, Klaus found himself cornered by the twins of Papa Tunde, the ones he himself killed so long ago. He was thrown into a tomb, shattering it to pieces, and landed on the ground.

Monique and Abigail weren't getting any weaker as they successfully blocked Klaus's and Elijah's way to the altar. Klaus had enough of the nonsense and broke off a spike from an iron fence. It was plunged through the ancestors and impaled Abigail against a tomb wall through the stomach. With the severed connection, Monique lost as well. She still attempted to get to the altar to finish the sacrifice herself when she was impaled next.

Genevieve was left.

And while she inflicted telepathic pain to Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah, she headed back for the altar to finish it once and for all.

"Nooo!" Hayley cried as Genevieve raised the athame with her free hand, ready to plunge it through the baby.

Then a gunshot was fired and Genevieve went down to the ground with a bullet through her head.

"I'm never one for revenge, but this was for my cousin," the newly transitioned Cami declared and lowered the gun she'd acquired on the streets, "and a little for myself too."

Hayley was then able to finally get to her daughter and take hold of her. Klaus went up himself to see if everything was alright with the baby, and when he was sure he was able to shift his attention to something else - someone else.

"Cami, how are you feeling?" Elijah was questioning the blonde with concern, the first thing he'd done was to check for the daylight ring she'd clearly needed to be outside.

"Well, to be frank, not very good," Cami looked around, "I woke up and none of you were there, which was to be expected since Hayley was going to be taken, but then I found Marcel and he gave me human blood...and he's pretty badly shaken, you know."

"He deserved it," Klaus declared as he joined them.

"I know, I know, but he helped me and he helped Davina get here. He also said he'd help Maleny, now that he really knows about her."

"I'm going to go find her," Klaus muttered and began his way down tombs.

"You don't even know where she is, brother," Elijah called and managed to stop Klaus, "Illusion or not, you don't know where the Dawsons reside."

"Then I will look through every damn tomb if I have to," Klaus declared and turned to start the task. Of course he would only focus in on where a fight was originating from through his hearing.

"I'll come with," Cami offered herself up fast, "I came here to help and if my cousin is still out there then I have to keep going," Klaus was in no mood to have disagreements so he simply nodded, "Be careful," Cami warned Elijah and Hayley, "Francesca is taking charge in the city and we're probably not on her good list. Plus, witches will be looking for your baby."

"We'll be fine," Elijah assured her and Klaus, "Go get Maleny."

And with that, they all split.

With the spell now broken, the cemetery was easier to navigate through. While Klaus wasn't able to tap into any loudness, he was able to pick up the scent of blood that easily led them to the correct crypt.

"Davina!" Cami called as she and Klaus went around the dead corpses on the ground of the entrance, "Maleny!"

"Maleny!" Klaus shouted and hurried down the entrance.

"Oh God," Cami saw Davina thrown on the ground, hopefully only unconscious, "Davina!" she rushed to the teenager.

"Maleny…" the name came out in a light breath from Klaus. His mouth went dry as he got view of the corpse laid over the table.

Maleny's chest was covered in dried blood, though fresh blood was still oozing out of her other cuts on her arms. It appeared a knife had gone through her chest which killed her. The rope that had once been around Maleny's body seemed to be ripped and dangled on the edges of the table.

"Davina, wake up," Cami shook Davina gently after knowing for sure the girl was still alive, "You have to tell us what happened here."

Klaus brushed a strand of hair from Maleny's face and for the first time in the day hr felt real tears welling inside his eyes. She'd come asking for his help and the one time he actually wanted to help someone...this happened. His daughter was saved, but Maleny was gone again.

"Davina, wake up, c'mon," Cami sighed as she relentlessly shook Davina.

"Forget it," snapped Klaus, taking one last look of Maleny before turning away from the table, "it's over."

"What?" Cami looked up from Davina, confused.

"Maleny's gone, the curse continued."

"No," Cami stood up and looked around, finding nearly everyone on the ground either dead or close to it, "She can't be gone. She isn't...Davina fought-"

"And she failed," Klaus interjected angrily, "I trusted the girl for once and look what she did?" he gestured to the catastrophic room, "Maleny was sacrificed and she's gone now."

"But she can't be..." Cami looked around the unconscious people on the floor, able to hear their heartbeats as proof of their life still being intact.

"Maleny was sacrificed, we lost!" Klaus shouted at her then also took a glance at the remainder of the living Dawsons, "and it's their fault..." he balled a fast.

Cami knew better than to keep arguing with Klaus when he was anger - and by now he was furious. For the first time he seemed heartbroken, and it was honestly a sight to see. In the silence, Klaus took his leave and never once looked back. But she knew what that eerie silence meant: revenge. He knew there were still people alive in the crypt and she was sure that a revenge plan was already forming in his mind. And it would be a cruel one. He would never let them die so easily.

Cami sighed and moved up to the table where her cousin laid dead. The more she looked at Maleny, the more tears pricked her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Mal," she sniffled, "I failed you," behind her, Davina began to stir awake, and overheard the words of Cami, "We should've done something more. I'm sorry. By now you're probably in the future, inhabiting some other body…"

"No…" Davina mumbled and fluttered her eyes open, "...Cami…" hearing her name, Cami turned around fast and returned to Davina, "...Cami," Davina slowly sat upright with Davina's head.

"Hey, it's alright, take it easy," Cami studied a small cut on the side of Davina's head, "What happened here?"

"I fought..." Davina let her eyes drift around the room as her memories rushed back to her mind, "...and I won."

"But Mal's dead," Cami helped her to her feet, "She was sacrificed again."

Davina went up to the table and studied the corpse of Maleny, however she didn't look sad like everyone else. Cami felt a bit indignant to see the girl smiling like nothing had happened.

"I did it," Davina proudly glanced at Cami, "I broke the curse."

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Cami demanded, "Maleny is dead. I'm looking at her right now!"

"No, you're looking at the body," Davina turned her attention back to the corpse, "Maleny Rowan, is very much alive," while Davina grinned Cami could only stare in confusion.

~ 0 ~

"You're sending her away?" Cami was in distraught watching Hayley pack clothes for her newborn daughter.

Cami brought Davina to the compound to explain what really happened. Unfortunately, Klaus was finishing up with some loose ends with Marcel and couldn't yet here the story. So, it was Elijah who was hearing what Davina had to say in the study room meanwhile Hayley took care of the baby.

"There's no other way," Hayley excused the idea everyone had agreed with earlier, "We infiltrated and we heard the remaining witches talk about the 'decree' of the sacrifice."

"So?" Cami raised an eyebrow, still not understand what possibly could take over Hayley to give up her own child.

"It was Esther," Hayley dropped a blanket to the ground as she turned to the surprised Cami, "Esther wants my baby dead and she'll have witches in the city on alert. My baby will become the prey for some ridiculous hunt game and I will not allow that!" by the time she finished there were tears in her eyes, "I grew up unloved and in a warzone. I'd rather die than let her go through the same things."

"Okay, I get it," Cami promised, "but about the 'dead' thing...did you…"

"A prick on the finger," Hayley mumbled and picked up the blanket from the ground, harshly folding it, "and a drop of blood, worst thing I had to do in my life."

"I know," Cami made a face as she thought of the first taste of human blood she had to take earlier, "not exactly the highlight of my day. But at least we're all okay now - in what fits."

"I'm sorry about Maleny," Hayley said after a moment of silence, "The little Klaus told us earlier was enough to...well…"

"Actually, there's something he really needs to know," Cami stepped forwards, "because we didn't lose."

Now it was Hayley's turn to be confused, "What? But he said she was sacrificed."

"I know, and that's what I believed in the beginning but Davina had a plan and she did it."

"Okay," Hayley sighed and placed the folded blanket on the bed, "you're going to need to explain everything."

"I think I can do a better job at it," Davina called from the doorway, still wearing her wide grin from the cemetery.

"And look who arrived," Elijah came up behind the girl with Klaus.

"I am in mood for such," Klaus declared and went on his way, "Marcel agreed to our terms, the stillborn was delivered and I healed him. Now we must give up our daughter for everyone to think she's dead-"

"You have to listen!" Davina came out of the room chasing the hybrid, "Listen!" she called but Klaus kept going, "I saved her!" she spilled there and then, "I saved Maleny, I swear I did. She's alive. I don't know where she is but she's alive."

Klaus stopped and turned around, his anger and pain still struggling to fade, "If I were you I'd watch your words because one wrong thing and I'll k-"

"And you'll kill me, yes I know," Davina let the comment pass without argument because she knew he was in actual pain, "but this is serious and I'm being honest. Maleny didn't die."

"Brother you should listen," Elijah urged from behind with the others, "I've heard what she had to say and believe me, Maleny lives."

Klaus wasn't one to listen to people a lot but if Elijah said Maleny was alive then he would trust his brother, "Talk," he told Davina.

Davina nodded, "Jackson got to me last night and told me about the disappearance. It took a while but I got the spell to work by morning. Still, I couldn't take the Dawsons without a plan so I had think - and then it was weird. It was an ancestor, she helped me. She helped me figure it all out."

"An ancestor helped you?" Klaus was beginning to lose that trust in Elijah.

"Look, I know what they did to your baby but for some reason one of them helped me figure it out. So Jackson and I got to work on it - and it worked. I went into the Dawson's tomb and went up against them all. It wasn't easy…"

"Take her down!" Riley ordered his remaining family with a scream.

Davina had managed to bring down numerous of the family members with mind pain but she knew eventually her own power would begin to fade against the entire family.

"No! No! Get away from me!" Maleny cried as she saw Cara nearing her with the knife in hand, "Get the hell away from me!" she wanted to be brave but in the end she was terrified for dear life.

Davina felt powerless against the cries of Maleny and just when someone managed to grab her arm a new sense of strength filled her surroundings. She felt an ancestor with her, not one of the Dawsons, but a very strong one - the same one who'd showed her the way. With it, Davina created a blow of powerful wind that slammed everyone against the walls - save for Cara and Riley.

"Davina!" Maleny couldn't help the cry she gave out when Cara raised the knife over her body.

"NO!" Davina screamed and thrust her hands forwards, slamming Cara had against the table which had consisted of the tools for the sacrifice. Cara's head was the first to make contact with the table making it difficult to survive the plunge.

Riley looked between his dead aunt and Davina, confused on his next moves. Davina, on the other hand, felt quite at home with her new ancestor buddy. Suddenly, Riley dashed for the fallen knife intending to finish the sacrifice himself.

"Get away!" Davina ordered and flung him to the ground, successfully knocking him out.

"Woah," Maleny studied Davina curiously, "what are you channeling?"

Davina felt the ancestor finally leave her and so hurried up to the table, ripping off the ropes with her bare hands, uncaring how many burns and pricks she received, "It's okay, I've got a plan."

"Davina what are you-"

"Davina, hey!" Jackson came running in with a young woman behind him, looking pretty lost, "I got one!"

"This is seriously not what I expected," a blonde woman gazed upon the room full of unconscious people on the floor with only mild surprise.

"Who's she?" Maleny frowned at the woman.

"We know how to break the curse," Davina declared with a wide grin, "It's more of a loophole but still a definite way to get out."

"You mean it?"

"Yes, you have to die in a human way at the hands of a human," Davina pointed at the young blonde, "and she's going to do it."

"Hi," the blonde gave a wave as she came up to the table, "You make one werewolf friend and you enter the world of magic."

"She's a good friend," Jackson assured as he ripped off the ropes binding Maleny, "and she's willing to do this for us."

"Thank you, Jackson," Davina said, "You can leave and go find your friends whom I'm sure need you a lot right now. Hayley will be alright, I know it."

"Good luck," Jackson said to her and gave a nod to Maleny before leaving.

"Are you sure, Davina?" Maleny was sitting up facing the two women on either side of the table.

"Would you rather live in this body forever?" Davina countered with.

"No…"

"Then prepare to die," Davina motioned to the blonde to get the knife on the ground, "Now when you wake up, you'll be in your body. I have no idea where that may be but wherever you are, come home."

Maleny nodded, "Okay. And if it doesn't work-"

"It's going to-"

"But if it doesn't," Maleny raised a hand to stop Davina, "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. It's mine for starting this stupid cycle."

"It's Klaus's fault for not turning you," Davina tried humoring through her sad smile and shiny eyes.

"I suppose, back then, he loved me too much," Maleny shook her head then paused, taking a deep sigh, "But if this doesn't work and I just...die, then when you see Klaus, tell him I...I'm glad he has his baby, because I know he'll get her back. Tell him that I'm happy for him. And..." she smiled to herself as she spoke her last words, "...I think I would've liked to have heard more of his pretty words for me..."

"But Mal-"

"One more thing," Maleny pointed at her warningly, "And this one's for you, Davina, if I do die, then consecrate this body here so that I can become an ancestor and look after Klaus' baby from beyond. She's not gonna have many ancestors on her side so I want her to have at least me."

"Mal," Davina sniffled as the woman continued to talk about such things.

"Promise me you'll tell Klaus all that I have said. Promise me."

"Okay," Davina finally agreed and nodded her head, taking a deep breath to begin their task. She looked over to Jackson's friend, "Okay, then, I'm going to chant the spell and you're going to, um, you're going to..."

"Kill me," Maleny sighed, "Yeah, get on with it."

The blonde finally picked up the knife from the ground and Maleny relaid herself back on the table. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, praying to everything she believed in that it would work. And it if it didn't, the only consolation she needed was that she would finally be free.

The blonde raised the knife while Davina fiercely chanted her Latin words, both ignoring the strong wind around them the spell caused.

The knife plunged down through the chest.

"You had some stranger murder her!?" Klaus nearly yelled at Davina, almost charging for her as well if Elijah had restrained him back.

"No!" Davina quickly interjected, "Well, yes, but...we didn't murder her, we...we broke the curse, didn't you hear? Maleny's alive."

"Don't ignore that," Cami quickly cut in, "Maleny is alive and we need to find her."

"But she could be anywhere," Hayley reminded, "How do we begin?"

"I volunteer to go," Cami quickly raised her hand, "Anywhere, I'm there."

"First we need to send the baby away," Klaus reminded, slowly recomposing himself from the story. He shook Elijah from him and started racking his mind for a perfect solution.

"Ooh, I can go," Cami blinked as if she'd just gotten an idea, "Ooh, yeah, this is good. Klaus, who were you going to call to take the baby?"

"...Rebekah," the hybrid admitted quietly, though received no complaints for the chosen.

"And I imagine she'll go somewhere far, like Europe?" Cami stepped towards him.

"I suppose so."

"Then I'll go too," Cami declared and looked back at the others who were staring at her waiting for an explanation, "Maleny can be anywhere and none of us have a way to get some spell to locate her. Rebekah will always need to be on the run which is perfect to find someone. I can go with her and look for Maleny there."

"And we can search here," Elijah was beginning to understand and agree with her.

"Here," Davina walked towards Klaus holding out Maleny's gold necklace, "I think, though I know I'm gonna regret it tomorrow, that you should hold onto this. She told me to tell you a lot of stuff in case she died but I guess now I don't need to because she'll be able to tell you herself when she comes back."

Klaus gently took the necklace into his hands and swallowed hard, "We need to get moving," he told the others and looked up, "Now," clearly he had no patience to wait for Maleny to show up and absolutely no one was going to call him out on it.

Maleny was somewhere out there and he intended to find her no matter what.

~ 0 ~

In a neatly-kept room with opened windows laid a dark brown coffin at the center. The top of the coffin was glass which allowed the viewer a clear look inside. It was there that Maleny opened her eyes in her original body. She was groggy but she saw the small, confined space she was crammed in.

She put her hands on the cover and tried pushing it up, "Hello?" she called, her voice cracked and almost a whisper from disuse. She realized the coffin was locked so she mustered enough strength to call again, "Hello!" she started hitting the glass to create noise and attention from whoever was nearby, "Someone get me out of here!" she managed to shout in a hoarse tone. She furiously hit the glass harder, "HELP ME!"

#klaus mikaelson #the originals #the originals imagines #ocappreciation #ocapp #klaus mikaelson x oc #klaus mikaelson imagines #the originals fanfics #tvd imagines #elijah mikaelson #Camille O'Connell #hayley marshall #davina claire #marcel gerard #tvd #oc: Maleny Rowan #fic: the girl in the forest #noblecrescentedit

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kekethegoddessme · 4 years

Text

Teach Me Too Love You

Chapter 6

A/N: Because you asked here's another chapter…

Happy Reading!

For almost an hour Liv sits in the large bedroom thinking. How did she get here? Was she in a dream? Was this Fitzgerald guys serious? She looks around her and realize every bit of it is real. She needed to find a way out. She leaps from the bed and tries the door. To her surprise it's unlocked. She peeks out looking left then right. Not seeing or hearing anything or anyone she runs back towards the living area and right out the front door.

Fitz on the other hand was dealing with a problem. Cyrus being one of them. "Fitz this will be a problem. This will cause conflict with the Banetto family. Zoey is his daughter. She will not take this thing with Olivia laying down and that can ruin the business."

Fitz swiftly turns facing Cyrus "Mind you own business. I run this not you. My personal life is my concern."

Still standing in one spot as Fitz walks away Cyrus tries to reason "I'm doing that you are my business. It's my duty to protect the family and you. Even from yourself."

Fitz pulls out his gun pulling back the clip. For a moment Cyrus thinks he's about to shoot him. "You're going to kill me?" Fitz just looks at him with a blank expression due to the stupidity of the question. Placing the gun back behind him. "Get everyone here and worry about things that concern you. Olivia…doesn't concern you."

Once all Fitz closest men were present, he wasted no time getting down to business. "Someone has been stealing from me. If it's not you then remain quiet, but if you are the one then it's best you speak up and explain to me why when I pay you more money than you've ever made in your entire life only for you to steal from me?"

The men including Tom, Diego, and Cyrus remained silent and that's when it happened. Fitz lifted his gun and shot his biggest distributor Jake in the head…twice. In that same moment Liv was looking for a way out. She saw the entry gate and ran towards it but was stopped in her tracks by the sound of a muffle gunshot and flash. To the right of her as she stepped out into the opening was Fitz holding a smoking gun as a man's body falls to the ground. The site of a man being killed startled her causing Fitz, Tom, Cyrus and Diego to turn in her direction.

Fitz saw it coming before it could happen and started walking in her direction. Just before she hit the concrete pavement she fainted in his arms. "Fuck!" His angered expression spills out

He lifts her and carries her back to her room as his men rid of the dead body. He calls for the maid to change Olivia into sleepwear. He then sits in the chair and waits for her to awaken chastising himself for causing her yet again to faint.

The following morning Liv slowly awakens. Fitz is sitting behind her as she takes a moment to focus and slowly begin to sit up. The moment she turns and looks behind her she hears him. "How are you feeling?" She quickly sits all the way up. "Again, I apologize. You shouldn't have seen that." She drops her head after looking at him with sad eyes "But you have to know that he deserved it. He's been doing unthinkable things Cheating and stealing from his family and me. We don't forgive it. He killed himself with what he had been doing. Some of the thing I don't care to mention but it goes against everything I stand for and since he was part of my organization, I had to take care of him."

Liv still doesn't speak but finally notices her cloths have been removed and replaced with a silk spaghetti strap black nighty. She quickly pulls the comforter up to cover herself feeling exposed.

Fitz notices this "It wasn't me who changed your clothes. It was the maid."

With trembling lips "You have people for everything." She candidly expresses still not looking at him

"It's…It's one of the advantages of being a boss."

Liv finally looks at him then pulls back the covers and places her feet on the floor "Since you're such a boss, tell one of your many servants to bring me my cell phone and laptop."

Fitz jaw clenches as his sits shirtless with only pajama bottoms on in the chair. Enticement is the game, but he's pushes hard to not become frustrated "I can see you've got your strength back." She looks off into the distance "You will have your cell phone and laptop when it's the right time."

Liv internally chastises herself as she tries not to look at his chiseled chest, strong defined arms, and his ripped stomach, legs spread wide and print visibly noticeable, It was all throwing her off. She's supposed to be angry, scared even. Why wasn't she? She just saw him kill a man. His dark, dominant, sexy, mysteriousness was completely turning her on. She needed to bid her time until she found a way out before she ended up spread out wide before this man allowing him to fuck her senseless.

"Now…If you need anything Diego is here to help you." He uses his strong arms to lift himself from the chair allowing them to fall to his side "Be ready in two hours, because we need to buy a few things before we fly out."

With a sense of panic, she nervously pushes her hair behind her ear "Fly out? To where? What-where are you taking me? I'm not flying anywhere unless it back to the US."

Fitz voice drops "It wasn't and offer; It was and order."

"Listen to me Fitzgerald. You can't just drag me from place to place wherever you want without my permission. I am not your property. If this is your idea of how and what falling in love with you looks like your sadly mistaken." She finishes her statement by chest checking him with her finger

He quickly grabs her wrist and she shove him. He grabs her shoulders pushing her onto the bed straddling while trying to control being turned on by her feistiness as she struggles to keep him from pinning her hands down. All the struggling set him between her leg with his print directly on her center. She slaps him for the second time since meeting him and they both pause. She really didn't mean to do it this time and is shocked at her own behavior.

Both have a moment staring into each other's eyes. The moment is undeniable with bated breath they rhythm of her own beating heart. The desire to kiss her, the desire to kiss him is not lost on either of them. The room becomes silent as they are lost in the moment. "Olivia, If you hit me again…"

"What? You will kill me?"

"Is this what you call a temper? How come you're not Italian?"

"How many black girls do you know?"

"It looks like one is all I need to know." He states lifting up off her onto his feet "Look Olivia it will be a good year. I just need to not react so quickly, because I lose my vigilance when I'm around you." He walks towards the door as Liv sits up and watching his every move. Diego brought your things from the hotel. You have a very impressive amount of shoes for a five-day stay."

Liv roles her eyes and looks off as he walks out of the room. Liv finally takes a break as she falls back on the bed. What is wrong with you Olivia. This man is holding you against your will and all you can think about is sleeping with him. She thinks to herself before deciding to get dressed to check out the grounds since it appears this is where she will be staying for the next year.

An hour or so later Liv is dressed and makes her way out back where she sees Fitz standing talking on the phone. Diego and Cyrus are there as well standing next the table with a large spread of fruit bagels cheeses, croissants and many different juices. "Your breakfast is ready Ms." Diego meets her as she made her way past Fitz. He couldn't take his eyes off the red v-cut dress that tied around her neck. It was backless and had a spit for days and earth tone wedges with wrap around leg straps. She was enticing him and he knew it.

Fitz turns and watch her as she walks past him without a word. Cyrus just chuckles to himself before pulling Fitz disappearing inside of the home. Liv takes a seat. "Enjoy your breakfast." Diego encourages

"I think your boss wants me to gain weight. This is too much food for one person."

"I think he just want to take good care of you- you know. Make sure you have everything you need."

"But he said you were here to help me with everything I need, so I need you to sit down and help me to enjoy this food, so I don't have to eat alone." Diego takes a seat and does as he's asked

Liv and Diego enjoyed the platter of food followed by him showing her around the grounds. She learned that he wasn't much of a talker and was very loyal to Fitz. So after about and hour she decided to sit in the outside lounge area and take in the sun giving Diego a break. Within minutes she was asleep.

She woke to Fitz sitting across from her staring at her. "That's really creepy how you're always watching me sleep."

"You're beautiful. What can I say? I've dreamt of moments like this over the last three years but anyway today I have some business to take care of. You will be accompanying me."

"I told you Fitzgerald I wasn't going anywhere with you."

Fitz jaw tightens and he looks at Tom and Diego and nod. Giving them the go ahead to bring the car around. He stands and pulling Liv from her laying position to her feet and makes his way to the front of the home. Liv is like a pouting child being dragged along.

The drive was long, so she just admired the view and continue to pout. Fitz decided to start up a conversation "You know Italy is a place of love. Atna, known also as "Momgibello, 'beautiful mountain." Fitz shared as they drove past the scenery of the mountains. "There's an old legend about Zeus and Typhon and of course love." He continues but Liv has her smirky come back "It bet Typhon didn't fall in love with Zeus in a year of her birthday." It was a statement not a question.

It also caught Fitz off guard that she knew about the legend shutting him down momentarily with a smirk on her face.

"This gets easier Olivia if you just cooperate a bit more here."

"I really don't have a choice now do I?"

Fitz remains quiet the rest of the ride. Liv continues to watch him out of the side of her eye as he admired her dress, legs and yes her. She didn't notice that he too watched her admiration of him.

Twenty minutes later they arrive at their destination. Liv didn't know it, but Fitz was taking her on a shopping spree. Unfortunately, Fitz thought this was a way to her heart. After seeing she had beautiful clothes and shoes he came up with this idea. It was downtown section of Italy and had many expensive shops. They stopped at all of them.

At first Liv refused to try on any of the clothes. She quickly changed her mind because he threatened to remove her clothes for her. After about ten different stops and the security arms filled with boxes and bags of clothes purses jewelry and shoes, they made a final stop in the lingerie store following Fitz as he walked inside. Liv figures what the hell she might as well get this over with but what she didn't expect was Fitz to walk into the dressing room while she modeled the underwear. He completely ignored her in the other shops as she tried on the many dresses and pant's set in all the other stores at least she thought he did.

She had on a black lace bra with straps that crossed over the chest and cheek-less panties with the same design. She immediately felt his presence when he walked in. "Get out Fitzgerald." Fitz looks her up and down as he leans against the mirrored wall. "Get out, or else I—" He cuts her off "Or else what?" Still checking her out

She inhales as she watches him unable to take his eyes off her lower region. She then seductively walks towards him stopping directly in front of him running her finger over his exposed chest where his top buttons where open. "Or else I guarantee you…this will be the last time you'll see it."

Without thinking and feeling a sudden erection from her closeness he steps forward and backs Liv into the opposite mirrored wall and gently palms her neck. "If I order it, I will see it. I decide when I'm going to see it." Liv roles her eyes and pushes his hand from her neck but doesn't move from her position. Fitz looks down at her lower half again before exiting the changing room.

Liv is livid. She quickly removes the garments before her juices expelled from within. Something about the way he placed his hand around her neck aroused her. His dominance turned her on more than she'd like to admit. Why did she not feel like she was in danger with this man? Why did she want to straddle him right there in the dressing room? Why was she playing hard to get?

Here she was being held against her will. No communication with anyone outside of his world. Told that she had to be here for a year before she can choose to leave…and yet she desired this man in the worst way. Yes, she was angry more at herself then him. How is that even possible? How dare he threaten her? Test her boundaries. Push her buttons. Admire her to her face and still manage to turn her on. The irony of it all made her livid. Who did he think he was? Her man.

Liv quickly dresses grabbing the garments she just took off and storms out of the dressing room. She throws them in Fitz face. "See it on yourself!" She growls out before walking out of the store. His security team is about to go after her, but he raises his hand to stop them.

Once outside she looks all around before running away. She ends up on a balcony off the water where she sees two Italian police officers. She runs up to them. "Help please, I need help. I've been kidnapped and being held against my will. I'm American and not from here. Can you help me?

The two officer's look past her and speak to Fitz in Italian saying, "Good morning Mr. Grant." Liv doesn't even have to speak Italian to know what they just said. The officer's walk off and Liv slowly turns to see Fitz standing there looking sexy dressed in all black, almost Italian like with his hands in his pockets. "Are you lost pretty lady?"

He slowly walks towards her "If you plan on running you should where different shoes. Sometime fighting us futile. You just have to accept the situation. The faster, the better for you. You can either make it hard for both of us for the next year, or…take part in an adventure that fate has given you."

"It wasn't fate; it was you."

"Sometimes we have to make our own luck Olivia."

Liv takes a moment to take in what he's said before walking closer to him "Is it true what you said earlier?"

"What did I say earlier?"

Tilting her head to the side "That you won't touch me without my permission?"

"I'm not the monster that you think I am."

She brushes her hair out of her face "I want my cell phone and my laptop. Now…and something normal for dinner…like spaghetti. This is Italy after all…right?" She turns and walks away with a smirk on her face

Fitz has a smirk as well because he knows he has just won round two.

Until next time…Keke

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kyliehorsegirl · 6 years

Text

The Langdons (Michael Langdon x Reader) Finale to Black Wedding REQUEST

A/N: Long awaited prequel to Black Wedding This COMPLETE the Black Wedding series. I hope you enjoy!

Requested By: @ophelialangdon

Warnings: Death

Word Count: 1733

BLACK WEDDING: If you have not read the series or want to get caught up read them here Part 1 & Part 2

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

“We are the Langdon’s and we represent the Cooperative.”

Langdon. It’s a powerful name. A name that people fear, a name that people respect. One Langdon is powerful, two Langdons are dangerous, but three, three are living nightmare. It breeds for chaos, destruction.

It had been almost 4 years since Y/n was offered up to Michael. He loves and adores her more than anything. Except their child, he would do anything for his wife and son. And Y/n would do anything for Michael. She finally understood why Cordelia wanted her to learn about Michael. She knew everything about him. Everything. He allowed her to enter his mind, to feel his emotions, the pain, to see the memories and she understood him. She felt his pain in her own.

She would never betray him. He was her everything and now, so was their child. A beautiful child at that. He reminded her of Michael. Unbelievably beautiful for a child. She knew why Michael hated the world and she didn’t blame him. She wouldn’t consider herself evil, but she was not good by coven standards.

The Outpost. Full of incredulous, obnoxious humans, undeserving of having safety. Y/n knew why they were here. She could sense them from the minute she walked in. There were more supernatural beings in here then she realized. Witch; Coco, Dinah and Evie. Mallory, Y/n wasn’t sure what she was, but her power was very strong. It was reserved however. The others she couldn’t quite tell. Andre, Mr. Gallant, Emily and Timothy.

People grew to like Y/n. When she married Michael and became respectable, she let go of her sarcastic and viper-like personality. She began to open up just a bit. More or less a tactic of theirs. Y/n would make them feel comfortable and Michael would strip that away with a mere look.

Michael felt exasperated just being in the outpost. These moronic people with a small brain capacity. He was happy to have his beautiful and loyal wife by his side. He would watch as their child would draw on the floor with the fire crackling behind him. Y/n sat on the floor with her son, a glass of wine next to her on the stone work. It brought him joy to watch them interact. His beautiful wife and his beautiful child.

He allowed Y/n to be in on the interviews. Their son nestled safely in bed. Michael basically wanted Y/n in his lap at all times. To feel her. She advised against that, seating herself at the fireplace. She watched from a distanced. Michael was able to elicit fear in every person he interviewed. They would often glance to Y/n with the hope a reassurance, and all they would get is a dark look and a flash of white eyes. To say it scared them was an understatement. The occupants never spoke to each other of how the Langdons were to them in their interviews. Now, they feared all of them. If Michael and Y/n were like this, who knows how the child could be. That was risk they didn’t want to take.

The Langdons, they made people fear them, love them. The old saying was people either want to be you, kill you or fuck you. Everyone at the outpost felt that way. They were a force to be reckoned with. Ms. Venable did not like the Langdons. She felt they were haughty with their behavior. Waltzing around her outpost like they owned the place. (well, they did.) She always watched them. They were mysterious and elusive.

The Langdons. The anti-Christ and a powerful witch. Their child was nothing short of remarkable. Excelling fast in all talents. He was the balance. An equinox. Just enough bad to balance out the good, just enough good to balance out the bad. This made their life as a powerful family stupid easy.

Michael had told his darling wife of his plan to poison everyone.

(Side note: We are going to pretend the apples are already poisoned because you can NOT be POISONED by a snake’s VENOM. In the show they used an Eastern Indigo which is not a venomous snake. Venom is INJECTED into the bloodstream and poison is INGESTED! Sorry I am an animal educator and so that scene trig-gered me. So, in case you didn’t know that, there is a science lesson for you)

She couldn’t agree more. They knew the witches would come for their sisters. Why not let them suffer? The coven casted an identity spell on the three witches. Mallory, Coco and Dinah. They didn’t know that they were witches, but the Langdons did.

Michael inducted his plan into Ms. Meade’s programming, knowing that she would tell the plan to Ms. Venable, the rotten woman would happily poison everyone in sight. A selfish, greedy, troll-like woman. On Halloween night, Michael was typing away at his computer, their son in bed and Y/n sitting by the fire in content. Turning away from his laptop he sees his beautiful wife, adorned in the light of the fire. Everyday he falls in love with her all over again.

“Come here darling.” She looks up to him a look of true love ever present on her face. She gets up from the fireplace and glides over to him. He brings her to sit on his lap. He rests hands lovingly on her thigh and lower back. He closes his eyes and breaths her in. She could tell he was getting a little tense. If he didn’t already want to feel her presence, he needs to feel her when he is stressed. Y/n is like a drug for him, she can keep him calm or help him relax.

She watches as the tension in his shoulders is lifted away, the shoulders fall back down to earth. His eyes open, hooded and lazily looking at her. A smile, one that doesn’t leave is swiped across her face. Y/n curls herself into his chest. He brings both arms around to hold her tight. His face laid in the nest of her hair. He breathes her in.

“It’s Halloween.” He mumbles in her hair. She plays with the fabric of his pants.

“I know, I love Halloween.” He looks out into their open room, seeing all the space. Pushing her slightly, he looks into her eyes.

“Dance with me.” It wasn’t a question; not like she would’ve denied anyway. Her smile grows, she dismounts from his lap and offers a hand to him, he cocks his head at her hand. He grins and reaches out for her hand. Y/n pulls him to his feet, giving a quick bow. He shakes his head and chuckles at her silliness. They glide to the center of the room. A hand at the small of her back, pressing her closer to him, a hand on his strong shoulder and their hands intertwined.

“We don’t have music Michael.” She looks into his eyes, they are mischievous. He gives a glance to the record player.

I Put a Spell On You- Annie Lennox

She looks from the player to him. Shaking her head, she grins at him wildly. He can be just a silly as she can. The average person wouldn’t know this is his way of being silly, but she knows and that’s all that matters.

I put a spell on you

Because you’re mine

They sway to the rhythm of the music.

You better stop the things you do

I tell you I ain’t lyin’

No, I ain’t lyin’

He extends her our and spins her back into him.

You know I can’t stand it

You’re runnin’ around

You know better daddy

I can’t stand it cause you put me down

Oh,oh

She looks at him in the corner of eye before he spins her back out, allowing her to face in front of him again. They dance all over the room. Fading from their room, the occupants of the outpost play bob for apples, poison apples little do they know.

I put a spell on you

Because you’re mine

Oh, oh

Venable watches as everyone gets their own apple. She waits for them all to take a bite together. All dressed in Victorian, the occupants begin to bite pieces of their apples.

You know I can’t stand it

You’re runnin’ around

You know better daddy

I can’t stand it cause you put me down

Oh, oh

Michael and Y/n continue to twirl around the room, smiling at each other knowingly as they sense the occupants dropping like flies. Her dress floats around the room, his hair ever so slightly bounces in movement.

I put a spell on you

Because you’re mine

Choking, gagging and vomiting. The lot of them begin to fall as death overtakes their bodies like a cruel lover.

You know I love you

I love you

I love you anyhow

And I don’t care if you don’t want me

I’m yours right now

They foam at the mouth as the fall to the floor. Dead. Venable smirks as her and Ms. Meade make their way to the Langdons’ room.

I put a spell on you

Venable enters the room without permission, seeing the two lovers dancing without a care in the world.

Because you’re mine

“I’m making the decisions now.” Venable is cocky. Michael stops dancing with his wife. An arm around her waist as he brings her close to him, protectively. He doesn’t have to, nothing will happen to her, but its an instinct and a good one to have. He laughs at her and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry I wanted to let you have your moment, I just couldn’t hold it in.” Y/n smirks, and flashes her white eyes to Venable. Venable takes a small gasp before composing herself.

Because you’re mine

“Ms. Meade?” Venable stands tall as Meade aims a gun at the Langdons. They smirk in unison, tilting their heads eerily to Venable.

“Ms.Meade!” The gun points to Venable. Venable looks at the Langdons with wide eyes. A loud bang. Blood pools at Venables chest, staining her white blouse. She falls to the ground, dead.

Because you’re mine

Ms. Meade looks to the Langdons, their eyes trained on Venable’s body, before two sets stare at Ms. Meade. Her eyes wide, in shock. Her memories flow, knowing her purpose now. To serve the Langdons.

Ooooh yeah

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

Hope you guys enjoyed! This COMPLETES the Black Wedding Series. Snakes is still an on going series, I am still writing one-shots as well as going through my requests. Read more fics on my MASTERLIST

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ladynonsense · 6 years

Text

A Royal Disgrace (TRR/PM Crossover) Part 3

Catch up on my masterlist

Pairings: Liam x Riley, Damien x Riley (past), Damien x m!Kai

Rating: M (no smut but a little sexy in parts, violent themes)

Summary: Everyone tries to make sense of what happened to Tariq and what it might mean for Riley’s fate

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @annekebbphotography @choiceslife @descendants-mylife @blackcoffee85 @pixieferry @hustacks @wannabemc2 @nazariobae @zaffrenotes @sleepwalkingelite @ritachacha @h3llostrang3r @hopefulmoonobject

Words: 2348

Bastien sent a car for them immediately, but Liam and Riley didn’t speak on the way back to the hotel. Her mind raced, unable to settle down on any one thought.

Tariq was dead; any chance of him releasing a statement to clear her name -- the one thing she’d been counting on to allow her to be with Liam for real -- was gone.

Tariq was dead, and he didn’t deserve that. He wasn’t perfect but he hadn’t meant to hurt anybody. He was set up just like her, and someone had felt the need to silence him for good.

Tariq was dead, and he was Liam’s friend. One of only four people to come to New York with him to celebrate the beginning of his social season. They’d known each other since they were small children. Liam surely hadn’t been happy with him after the scandal, but he must be hurting now.

Tariq was killed; was she next?

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Damien sat at the high kitchen counter that served as his dining table, frantically scribbling in his notebook. He wrote down everything he could remember of Liam and Riley’s stories while it was fresh in his mind, then went back and noted his own thoughts and first impressions. He was just pulling out his laptop to look for any news stories around Tariq’s murder when he heard someone try to turn the knob of his apartment door.

Poised for a fight, he walked silently to the door, checking the peephole.

No one there.

He was almost ready to chalk it up to his imagination when he heard a familiar voice muttering profanity on the other side of the door.

“Kai?” He opened the door to find him on his hands and knees, searching for the key he’d dropped. “What are you doing here?” Damien asked, helping him to his feet.

“Damieeeeeeen.” Kai collapsed into his arms, making him struggle to keep the larger man upright. “You...you...were supposed to...” He smelled terrible, like alcohol and sweat and a mixture of other peoples’ colognes. His eyes closed as he nuzzled into Damien’s neck, letting his entire weight collapse into him.

“Whoa there buddy, let’s get you off your feet.”

He started to lead him towards the couch but realized it would be too small and uncomfortable for him to spend the night on, and he certainly wasn’t going to deal with moving him again later. “Come on Kai, let’s get you to bed.” He perked up a little at that, cooperating enough to be easily led into his bedroom.

Kai grinned as he sat on Damien’s bed, kicking off his shoes and pulling his sweat-stained shirt over his head before flopping backwards into the soft pillows. “Mmm, I knew you’d take care of me.”

“Of course,” Damien whispered, reaching his hand out to stroke Kai’s hair before stopping himself. His eyes were closed anyway, already drifting off to sleep. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it tonight.”

“Mmm...s’ok.” His eyes still closed, Kai reached out and grazed his fingertips against Damien’s forearm, holding on to the small spark of a touch as he drifted to sleep.

————————————-

“So what do we know?”

Liam paced his hotel room as Bastien filled him in on the details, as far as they knew them. Riley leaned against the wall, feeling awkward and out of place. For all their sneaking around, she’d never actually been in one of his hotel rooms before. It was fancy — very fancy — and she was feeling like she was intruding on his real life as a king, where she didn’t belong just yet. But tonight, he’d been insistent on her not leaving his side. And so she stayed.

“I contacted the LAPD two weeks ago, when I received a tip that Tariq was hiding out in Los Angeles. It was simple due diligence; as expected, he hadn’t had any encounters with the police, but I asked them to contact me if they heard anything.” Bastien told his story without emotion, but even Riley could see him stiffening with barely-concealed anger as he braced himself for the rest of it.

“Last night I received a call from a homicide detective. They’d recovered a body from an apartment that was rented under a fake name, but a passport and other documentation at the crime scene identified him as Tariq. He was able to tell me that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest, and that it appeared to be a professional hit. He was hoping we would have some insight on motive and who may have had reason to hire somebody to do this.”

Liam finally sat down, burying his face in his hands. “So what did you tell him?”

“I told him about his involvement in the scandal with Lady Riley and its wide coverage in the Cordonian media. They think there may be a connection.”

“And what do you think?” Liam’s eyes were red and tear-streaked, his voice shaky. Bastien glanced nervously at Riley before answering.

“It seems likely the two incidents are related.”

Riley bit her lip, trying to stay calm. Between Liam’s naked grief and the growing pit of fear in her stomach, she just wanted to curl up with him and cry in peace.

As if reading her mind, Liam stood and led Bastien towards the door. “Thank you for the information. We’ll work out a plan of attack in the morning. For now, it’s late and I need to get some rest, as does Lady Riley. I think it’s best she stays here where you can protect both of us until whoever is responsible for Tariq’s death is apprehended.”

“Of course,” Bastien nodded. “We’ll keep you safe, Your Majesty.”

Once the room was clear of the king’s guard, Liam started undressing as if he were all alone.

“Um...I don’t have any pajamas with me,” Riley said shyly, still wearing her usual pink dress.

Her voice seemed to snap him out of his daze as he crossed the room to wrap her in his arms. “I’ll find a T-shirt you can borrow, if that works.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You own a T-shirt?”

“Of course. I just don’t leave my room in them.”

“Obviously,” Riley teased, “that would be quite the scandal.”

“Obviously.” He smiled as he tossed her a plain black T-shirt from the dresser before changing into his own silk pajama set.

“Can you help me out?” Riley gestured towards the zipper of her dress, as if she couldn’t reach it herself.

“Of course.” He gathered her hair and draped it over her shoulder as his other hand slowly slid the zipper open. Kissing her gently behind her ear, he slid the fabric off of her shoulders. She sucked in a breath as he continued to unhook her bra and slid the straps down her arms, letting it fall to the floor. He cupped her breasts in his hands, nuzzling against her neck as he took a deep inhale of her coconut-scented shampoo.

“Liam?”

“Mmm.” He grabbed the dropped T-shirt and slipped it over her head, reluctantly pulling away. “We should get to bed.”

Riley sighed, turning to face Liam and taking his hands in hers. “We should.” She glanced at the couch, then at the king sized bed. “Can I...with you...?”

Liam chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Of course. I don’t care what anyone thinks of us tonight. I...” his face fell as his voice cracked. “I need you where I can protect you.”

They solemnly climbed into bed, holding each other tight. “I just want to hold you,” Liam whispered next to her ear. “Is that OK?”

“Of course,” Riley answered, but it wasn’t. More than anything she wanted him to distract her from the sick feeling in her gut, to distract her with his mouth and with his hands and his... “I love you, Liam. So much.”

“I love you too, Riley.”

————————————-

Damien woke up before dawn, stiff and disoriented. Still in his rumpled clothes, he sat up and rubbed his red eyes.

Kai. He was sleeping on the other side of the bed, still blissfully dead to the world. His mouth hung open, a small pool of drool collecting on the pillow. Damien resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to curl up against his warm body and go back to sleep. He’d stumbled here drunk because he knew he could trust his best friend to take care of him, and the last thing Damien wanted to do was betray his trust by taking liberties with him.

He moved himself to the couch and set up his laptop and notebook on the coffee table, reading over Liam and Riley’s story one more time before looking up news on Tariq.

It was bad. The story had been picked up by the press even sooner than he’d anticipated, and suddenly everyone was talking about Cordonia and the American Mystery Woman and the scandal and, now, the murder, being described consistently as a “professional hit.” Riley was mentioned by name in every single article he come across, with some of the trashier gossip rags including the incriminating photos of Riley in her underwear with Tariq all over her.

He closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the couch as he considered the situation. He needed more information. Who were the players here? Who would stand to benefit from Tariq’s silence? From what he knew already, there was Adelaide, who seemed harmless enough but could’ve been hiding something.

Then there was the king’s fiancee, Madeleine. Neither Liam nor Riley seemed to care much for her, but he obviously thought her trustworthy enough to be in his inner circle.

Even the king father, Constantine, was known to have conspired to keep Riley from becoming queen. But could he really be capable of murder?

He rubbed his forehead, sinking further into the couch as his brain kept trying to work things out but coming up against a lack of information.

When he opened his eyes again the apartment was flooded with sunlight and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Kai was standing over him, smiling brightly. “Good morning, sleepyhead. Fell asleep on the job?”

Damien groaned, sitting up and noticing his notes and laptop sprawled across the coffee table. “Guess so. What time is it?”

“Almost 11am. Guess we both needed our beauty rest.” Damien watched Kai as he poured two cups of coffee and two bowls of cereal. He’d changed out of his jeans from the night before and into a pair of Damien’s sweatpants, but hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt. His thick black hair was messy and wild from sleep, but the bedhead look was surprisingly adorable on him.

“I can’t remember the last time anyone made me breakfast,” Damien mused, rearranging the notes in front of him to make room for the cereal and coffee that Kai brought him.

“Well, I thought I should repay your hospitality by bringing out my master chef skills,” Kai winked as he plunked himself down in an easy chair and dug into his own bowl of cold cereal. “So whatcha workin’ on?”

“Uhh...I’m not entirely sure what I’m dealing with yet, to be honest. It started out as an infidelity case but now there’s been a murder, and...”

“Hold up, you’re investigating a murder? Isn’t that a little...outside your scope?”

“It is, and it’s not really the job...but...it’s personal.”

Kai raised an eyebrow at him. “Personal how?”

Damien sighed, pulling up one of the news stories on his laptop. It was a celebrity gossip blog, complete with the infamous Riley and Tariq photos. “Here...you have to see it to believe it.”

Kai skimmed the news story quickly, shoveling cereal into his mouth as his eyes got wider and wider. “Hold up, Riley? As in, your ex Riley? As in, slutty waitress from Brooklyn Riley?”

“She’s not...ugh...come on man.” Damien closed the laptop with a sigh. “I don’t know why you always had it out for her.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. You know I’m just protective of you.”

They finished their breakfast in awkward silence, each staring off into space, lost in his own thoughts. Finally Kai spoke, pushing his empty bowl away. “So, hey, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I’m pretty...foggy...on how I ended up here last night. Did anything...” He scratched the back of his neck, staring at the floor. “...Happen? Between us?”

“Oh!” Damien stiffened, leaning back and away from Kai. “Of course not! I would never even consider...”

“Right, of course not...”

“Because we’re just...”

“Yeah, sorry, it was such a stupid question...”

“No, I just mean...”

Kai stood up, carrying the empty dishes back to the kitchen and dropping them into the sink with a clatter. “Uh, I’m just gonna change and I’ll be right out of your hair.”

“Yeah...OK.” Damien ran his hands through his hair, feeling like he’d somehow fucked up again, always disappointing his best friend in the world.

A few minutes later Kai emerged from Damien’s bedroom, fully dressed in last night’s clothes. “Thanks for letting me crash here again. Maybe next time you can come out with us?”

Damien stood up to see him off, wishing he could think of the right thing to say to make him stick around. But I need to get back to work anyway...

“Yeah...I’ll try. Next time.”

“Well...” Kai paused for a moment before hugging Damien awkwardly. “Next time, then. See ya around.”

“Yup...see ya.”

————————————-

Liam woke up with a headache, something that was becoming all too common. Not so common, though, was waking up to Riley curled up in his arms, her long dark hair spilled over the pillows as she dozed peacefully.

He kissed her forehead and carefully extricated himself from her embrace, sneaking out of the bed to find himself an Aspirin and his phone. He downed the pill as he typed out a message to the new number in his phone.

Damien, it’s Liam. Could we meet today? I’ve got a proposition for you.

#trr #perfect match #choices fan fic #damien x mc #liam x mc

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southside-vixen · 6 years

Text

Fire and Ice (Sweet Pea) 5

Chapter 5. Red Spray Paint

AO3

Adrianna Rivera has just made a difficult move from Arizona to the southside of Riverdale. With the history of her life in Phoenix behind her will she be able to find a new family in the Southside Serpents? Or will a certain tall, dark, and rage inducing Serpent cause issues?

A few days had passed and thankfully things finally started to quiet down. School was finally starting to return to normal and Adria still hadn’t heard a thing from her father. It was discouraging to say the least. Thoughts raced through her head ranging from ‘maybe he’s just getting released soon’ to ‘maybe someone placed a hit on him and I’m the last to hear he died from a shiv to the gut’

She couldn’t focus on anything, not like that was out of the norm lately. She was stressed to the point where her morning runs weren’t helping, she couldn’t stomach eating most times, and she would return after school to watch old reruns of telenovelas. Ness was worried to say the least, but despite all the distractions she could think of nothing seemed to help. She knew nothing would improve until Adria heard from the person she needed to most.

Ness placed a heaping plate of tamales in the center of the table, smiling at her own work. It had been ages since she last made a meal at home as she hated cooking for one. When Adria came to live with her it just became easier to order takeout. Seeing her niece depressed for the few days was making her desperate enough to cook and she figured what better than to try to make an old favorite. Tamales.

“Dinner’s ready” She called out to the living room. Adria quietly pulled herself off the couch and placed herself at the dinner table. Her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of the giant stack on the table.

“You took a break from your cooking hiatus to make tamales?” Adria stacked a few onto her plate “Very ambitious.”

“I think I did pretty well. I followed a blog about Mexican cooking. It’s a good read”

Adria’s face lit up for the first time in days and it was enough to make Ness’ heart swell. She watched as her niece took the first bite, and her face immediately fell.

“Oh wow. It’s great, Ness.” Adria tried to choke down the rest of her bite. It was absolutely terrible. She wasn’t sure if she even soaked the corn husks before steaming them. Ness followed her lead and immediately spat the bite back out

“This is awful. Wow.” She broke down laughing “I guess this is what I get for not cooking for years. Don’t eat that, I’m gonna order pizza.” Ness took her plate and immediately scrapped the contents into the garbage.

“Thanks, Aunt Ness.” Adria got out of her chair and helped her aunt clean up the mess “The thought really means a lot. Also, Maria’s cooking is a tough act to follow so don’t feel bad.” Her father had the same cook since she was a child. Maria was basically family. It was another thing she missed so much from Phoenix. She never gave it a second thought until now, but she didn’t want to know how many people lost their jobs when her father was carted off to prison.

The mess didn’t take long to clean and soon both were munching on slices of pizza, watching Halloween. Adria had her eyes glued to the screen as Judith watched her boyfriend leave her home, not knowing that her murderer was already in the house. The tension was building as Judith turned around to see-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Adria screamed and jumped nearly a foot into the air before she picked up her phone. The caller display read ‘UNKNOWN’

“Can you press pause? I need to take this” Adria asked, feeling her heart rate starting to return to normal levels.

“Yeah of course, I’ve already seen this like five times.” Ness smiled, shooing the younger girl off

Adria returned to her room and shut the door behind her. She glanced at the screen once more before accepting the call “Hello?”

“Hola mija “her father’s voice came through the speaker and it was like the clouds finally cleared.

“Papá!” She nearly yelled “Where have you been? It’s been weeks.”

“Talking to my lawyers. I can’t say much more than that but I wanted to call you sooner.”

“Are you getting out? Please tell me you are. Aunt Ness tried to make tamales tonight and it just reminded me of how much I miss home.”

The line went quiet for half a minute before Alejandro replied “I wish I could say I was. My lawyers are doing all they can but…it’s not looking good.”

Adria tried to process it as best as she could but it just didn’t make sense. Her family’s lawyers were the best money could buy, there was nothing they weren’t able to do.

“But Papi…” Adria pleaded, hearing a chuckle from the other end of the line

“Papi or no, Mija. I promise you I will be out by your 17th birthday. I’ll even get you a new McLaren to replace the one they seized.”

Adria smiled to herself “Better be the Spider. You know I like to go fast” Maybe a little too fast, it was a good thing none of her speeding tickets ever stuck.

“I do not need to hear that” her father laughed again “You’re nearly a grown woman and I’m missing so much. Tell me about your biker aunt and her home town.” Adria rolled her eyes

“Aunt Ness is great, Papá. She even tried to make tamales tonight to make me feel better. They were terrible but the thought was there. School’s…terrible but its school. I’m making friends! We even have movie nights. They somehow roped me into watching terrible quality old films.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my daughter? The Adrianna I know would never tell me ‘it’s the thought that counts’. As much as I hate to admit it this seems to have been a good choice for you. Although I know your tíos would have loved to have you in my absence.”

There was a small series of beeps on the other end

“Unfortunately, Mija that’s my time. Te quiero. You’re growing into a strong woman and I couldn’t be more proud.”

“Te quiero, Papá”

Just like that, the line went dead. Adria placed her phone down on the night stand and flopped onto her bed. Every time her feeling of homesickness seemed to disappear it would come back with a vengeance.

“Fuck everything” She whispered to herself, staring at the ceiling.

------------------------------

The next day life went on as usual. She rode with Fangs to school, suffered through her classes, and sat down with the Serpents at lunch. When she sat down, no one even paid attention. Which was always a relief. This time, however, Sweet Pea had placed a laptop in front of them. One that was covered in duct tape. Classy.

“Ads, you’re here” Toni smiled “You’ve got to see this, the Northside’s gone crazy and now they’re making snuff films.”

“What?” Adria scooched over to Toni and glanced over her shoulder to watch some red head with an army of well-built shirtless guys behind him. Talking about some Black Hood and how they’re going to take him down.

“Snuff film?” She looked at Toni “This looks like the start to a really weird porno.”

“Hey guys.” Jughead walked up and stopped apprehensively “I guess we’re not watching funny cat videos”

Sweet Pea turned the laptop around to show him and pressed play

“We were just talking about how Fangs can earn his Serpent stripes by bringing us the head of the Northsider that posted this” he gave Fangs a pat on the back as he smirked at Jughead, as if he knew this would get a rise out of him.

“Don’t” Jughead sighed “I know this guy. He’s a football player, kind of a lame target is you ask me.” Just like that his demeanor altered “If you want to prove something, you go after the black hood”

Adria saw Toni’s eyes narrow out of the corner of her eye as Sweet Pea spoke up again

“Why would we do that? The Black Hood is only targeting Northsiders”

‘Thank God for that’ Adria thought

“As far as we’re concerned the Black Hood is doing our work for us. They’ve been blaming us for their problems for years. We’re sick of it.” Sweet Pea finished

Jughead sighed in defeat and walked off, leaving the table in a brief silence.

“Are you sure we need him here?” Sweet Pea scoffed “He’s less of a Southsider than Princess over here.”

Adria rolled her eyes.

“Not only is he blood, he’s FP’s blood. He’s one of us whether you like it or not.” Toni said “As for Adria she’s already proven herself to everyone but it seems like you didn’t get the memo.”

“Yeah. Let’s not talk about that night ever again.” Adria forced a smile, although it probably looked more like a grimace.

“Finally, something we agree on.” Sweet Pea locked eyes with her, as if daring her to say something. For once she didn’t rise to the bait.

“Shut the hell up, Sweet Pea” Toni groaned “No one’s in the mood.”

Thankfully the bell rang and released her from her what could have easily turned into her own personal hell. Adria watched as everyone picked up their bags and slowly started meandering toward their next class.

“Thanks, Toni.” Adria said as most everyone had cleared out of the cafeteria

“No problem. He’s being a huge douche and frankly I think everyone is over his shit now.” She put a hand on Adria’s shoulder “You’re one of us and everyone else thinks so. Ignore the idiot.”

Adria laughed “That really does mean a lot. Anyway, Ness is making one of her ‘specialties’ since her tamales were terrible. So if you want to come over for spaghetti tonight you’re always welcome at Casa de Rivera-Allen”

Toni made a face “Ads, I would love to but I already promised Jughead we would work on the cipher the Black Hood put out…”

“Oh…” Adria’s eyes widened “Well awesome. I hope that goes well for you.” She gave Toni a wink

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anyone with eyes can see you’ve got a thing for the new boy. I don’t blame you, he’s cute.”

Toni blushed “It’s not like that. He’s got a girlfriend. If you looked up ‘Girl Next Door’ in the dictionary you’d find a full page picture of Betty Cooper”

“Wow. Girl Next Door, huh? Definitely not what I expected from Mr. Dark and Mysterious. I’m sure you’re more his type anyway. Only a matter of time before he sees it too.” Adria nudged Toni in the shoulder “We’ll miss you tonight but definitely tell me how it goes!”

------------------------------

That night Adria passed the time by chopping up mushrooms for her aunt’s ‘special’ spaghetti sauce. Although she wasn’t sure if Ness was allowed to call it special when the base was a store bought can of tomato sauce.

“Fuck!” Adria heard Ness grumbling with her face inside the pantry. She pulled out a can of sauce and examined it “This expired a year ago. I really should clean this whole thing out.”

Adria stopped chopping up mushrooms to look at her aunt “Anything you need me to do?”

Ness sighed “Can you stop by the bodega and pick up a couple cans of sauce? See if Fangs will go with you. I don’t want you out alone after dark.”

Adria sighed and threw on a coat “I’ll be back”

Just as she was told she paid a visit to her neighbor, pounding on his door. For a second she thought about if Fang’s parents would answer the door. Then again, that never happened. It seemed like everyone on the southside was either working multiple jobs to make ends meet or running errands for the Serpents. She probably only saw Ness as much as she did because of child services looming over their heads.

“Fangs!” She yelled

Fangs opened the door, confusion all over his face “What? Miss me already?”

“Terribly. I need someone to walk to the bodega with me. Apparently I’m too frail to go by myself.”

Fangs laughed “Have you seen yourself? Anyway what’s in it for me?”

“Ness’ spaghetti and my appreciation?”

“You got enough for 2 more? Sweet Pea and I are playing video games.”

Adria stopped in her tracks. “Sure…” apprehension was apparent in her voice, but considering she liked to consider herself sane, the idea of a serial killer out and about made her not want to go alone. Even if the bodega was a fairly short walk from the trailer park.

“Awesome!” Fangs smiled “I’ll grab Pea.”

Adria waited outside, rubbing her arms to keep herself warm. Regretting every decision she made up until this point.

Fangs exited the trailer with a disgruntled Sweet Pea following shortly behind. She wasn’t sure how to feel as he looked equally as upset about the arrangement. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how Fangs even convinced him. Especially in that short of a time.

The walk to the bodega was eerily silent. There wasn’t really anyone out on the streets and the company she kept didn’t say a word. Which was concerning but not necessarily surprising. She and Sweet Pea weren’t one to talk to each other by choice and Fangs must not have felt like keeping the peace tonight. Or maybe he was trying to avoid the fact that the awkward silence was his fault for inviting Sweet Pea in the first place.

Adria was now determined to make the trip as quick as possible. In addition to practically running to keep pace with the two boys, she quickly grabbed a couple cans of sauce from the store. She shot a quick text to Ness letting her know they would have two additional people for dinner tonight. All she got back in return was a string of smiley face emojis.

Adria met back up with Fangs and Sweet Pea outside, both of which seemed significantly less tense without her. The two were throwing play punches when they saw her.

“Ready to go?” Fangs smiled “I’m starving”

“Yeah of course” Adria raised the bag for both to see “Got the goods right here.”

The trio rounded the corner only for Sweet Pea to stop all of them

“What the fuck is this?”

Not even 20 feet away from them was the redhead from the snuff/porn video spray painting something onto the side of the bodega. Fangs looked and Sweet Pea and both of them seemed to reach a silent agreement. They weren’t leaving without showing this kid who ran this side of the tracks.

Adria followed the two as they stormed up to the red head and squared off. Adria wasn’t sure what was going to happen but she knew it wasn’t anything good. She stood next to Sweet Pea and Fangs ready to watch the entire scene play out.

“What do you think you’re doing” Sweet Pea shoved the guy’s shoulder so he was facing the group “Southside’s Serpent country.”

“Back off” The guy said “This doesn’t involve you.”

“Yeah?” Sweet Pea smirked “And who’s this for then? Hell, don’t tell me it’s for the Black Hood” he chuckled

The red head tried to walk away but both Sweet Pea and Fangs shoulder checked him, keeping him in place

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sweet Pea continued “You think you can just come here and tag our turf? Go back to the Northside”

“Move before someone gets hurt.” His eyes moved from Fangs, to Sweet Pea, and then locked onto Adria. Almost like he didn’t notice she was there until just now.

Both Sweet Pea and Fangs looked at each other and laughed. Adria was in awe of this kid. Didn’t he know that messing with any sort of gang was usually a bad idea?

Sweet Pea pulled a switch blade out of his coat pocket and released the knife “You’ve just made a big mistake” his smile was easy to see, even in the dark. It was clear he was in his element. As much as Adria would never admit it to a living soul he looked really good doing it. She scolded herself internally.

The guy’s eyes narrowed as he reached into the pocket of his hoodie. None of them expected him to pull out a gun and wave it in their faces

“Who made a mistake?” His voice grew louder to the point where he was yelling. All three were in a state of shock, Adria worst of all. Fangs immediately put his hands into the air, while Sweet Pea lowered his knife.

Adria, however, froze. She never in a million years imagined herself in this position, even with her father’s profession. She always had a sicario or two with her to keep watch but even then no one who wanted to live would dare threaten Alejandro Rivera’s only daughter. Even people who had a death wish didn’t want a death as painful as what waited for them if they so much as looked at her the wrong way.

Before she could even process how to react Sweet Pea grabbed her arm and moved her behind him

“Woah, Woah” he took a step back “In front of the lady?”

Sweet Pea gave her a quick push and whispered ‘run’ before the three of them took off. They didn’t stop running until they were in the safety of Sunnyside Trailer Park.

Adria was still in shock over the whole ordeal. Fangs took the shopping bag from her and led her inside. Adria quickly walked off to the bathroom as Fangs and Sweet Pea talked to Ness in the kitchen. When the bathroom door was shut she turned on the fan and ran over to the toilet, throwing up everything in her stomach. When she finished she walked over to the sink and splashed her face with cold water. The face she saw in the mirror barely looked like her own. She looked broken, her skin red and eyes puffy.

She was quickly brought out of it by a knock on the door

“Ads? It’s me. You good?” Fangs voice came from the other side “Ness wanted me to tell you dinner’s just about ready.”

Adria slowly opened the door to face him, trying her best to look normal. Judging by the look on Fangs’ face it clearly wasn’t working.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Thankfully Ness didn’t ask too many questions with the guys there. After dinner Adria went back to Fangs’ with both boys. The three sat in silence on the living room floor for what seemed like an eternity. Until Adria finally spoke up

“Thanks for not saying anything to Ness. I’d appreciate if we could keep it that way.”

Both Sweet Pea and Fangs nodded

“Are you okay though, Ads?” Fangs asked “You’ve been a mess since it happened.”

Adria let out a small, sad chuckle “That bad, huh?” She brought her knees up to her chest “Needless to say I never thought someone would have the balls to point a gun at me.”

“Even with your dad?” Fangs asked

“Especially with my dad. He’d have them gutted alive. Do you deal with this a lot?”

“No. Not usually.” Sweet Pea broke his silence “We have to retaliate. If we don’t we look weak.” He looked to Fangs

“You’re right. What’s the plan?” Fangs asked. Both of them were far more serious than she had ever seen them. Given the circumstances it shouldn’t be surprising and yet it still was. She felt like she was seeing a brand new side of both of them and it was fascinating to watch.

“Whatever it is I want in” Adria inched closer to be part of the conversation

“Absolutely not.” Sweet Pea snapped “You froze there. Who’s to say he won’t have it again?”

Adria sat there quietly for a moment. She didn’t have anything close to a good response. She glanced over at Fangs who silently shook his head

“He has a point, Ads. Just let us handle it.” He stood up from where he was sitting “Let me walk you back home” Adria was about to argue as it was literally 20 steps away from his door but he spoke again “I insist.”

Adria groaned and followed Fangs the short distance to her front door; he stopped abruptly and put his hands on her shoulders. Adria raised her eyebrow, waiting for him to reveal whatever was going on in his head.

“I’ll tell you everything. I swear.” Fangs removed his hands from her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she started to ease up a bit “If you ever need to talk about what happened tonight I’m just a few steps away.” He let go and flashed her a large smile before turning around and walking back to his trailer.

Ashe watched him disappear into the door and let out a large sigh, sitting on the front step. Once again she felt alone looking to the lit window of Fang’s trailer. She could only imagine what they were planning. She thought about calling Toni before remembering she would be at Jughead’s. Good friends didn’t interrupt quality time with the guy their friend’s trying to bang.

So Adria rest her hands behind her and looked up to the sky, for the first time in a long time able to see stars.

#sweet pea #sweet pea x oc #sweet pea x reader #riverdale #fanfic #fireandice

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linyi-is-dreaming · 6 years

Text

One Way Out - Part 4

Part 4 of ?

Story: Hoseok // Y/N // Yoongi // Namjoon // Taehyung // Jin

Category: Smut, Mystery, Abusive Relationship, Crime

Summary: After Y/N’s last break up, she tried to get her ex off her mind. Parties, one night stands, nothing helped except only one thing that helped her the most: her now boyfriend Hoseok. They became from friends to friends with benefits and after a while they both confessed their feelings for each other and started dating. But the calculation was made without her ex, Yoongi. Who does not come back on good terms.

Chapter 4: Deal with the devil

Y/N’s phone was quite for at least 14 hours since she met Yoongi. She holds her cup of tea in her hands as she leans in the doorframe, looking at Hoseok. Hoseok was working on his laptop, going through the files. Checking everything twice, maybe there was still something he might have overseen. How she wished things would get back to normal. He looks so stressed which urges Y/N to be a good girlfriend. She felt as she had failed to be the good girlfriend he needed. “Hey.”, she says with a smile. Hoseok still starring at his laptop.

“Oh hey, Y/N. I thought you wanted to take a nap.”, he says as he looks up at her.

“I couldn’t sleep, but I wanted to thank you for the tea.” Y/N walks over to Hoseok to kiss his cheek. “Are we alone?”, she says as she put her cup down and sits down on Hoseok’s lap. She wanted to give him the attention he is supposed to get as her boyfriend.

“Yes. Namjoon drove off to the police station. Do not worry, because we still have some police officers outside hidden. Are you worried? Do you need something?” She leans her forehead to his. He puts one hand on her waist and pulls her closer.

“No. I want to thank you.” She kisses him, but he does not react. Y/N started to worry. “Is something wrong? Do you not want to kiss me back?”

“I am sorry. It’s just...”, he sighs. “He kissed you.” Y/N’s face expression was clearly showing her confusion about his words. They hurt her and kind of were proof to her, the truth changed their relationship.

“What are you trying to say, Hoseok?”

“Y/N, after everything he told you yesterday, do you think you fall for him again?” That she was shocked by his thoughts would have been underrated. How could he think that? Was she giving him the vibe of not loving him anymore? Hoseok is searching for answers within her eyes. The silence which came after his question, made him nervous. Could he lose her? Hoseok’s mind is on a race.

“I love you. I do not feel a thing for him anymore. Please, believe me!” He only nods. “Hoseok, I know I was not there for you as a girlfriend. Let me make it up to you.” She places kisses down his neck.

“I do not understand what you are trying to tell me. But if it is, what I think it is, we should not be doing it.” He pushed her softly back by her upper arms. “You do not have to do it that way.”

“Then let me show you. I’ll be a good girl, daddy.”, she whispers in his ear as she touches his thighs. Her hands are making their way slowly to his dick. She tries to kiss him as passionately as she can, but she notices something is holding him back. “Baby, please relax. You said it yourself, he is at the police station and nobody else can disturb us now.” She kisses his lips one more time whilst she repositions herself on his lap, this time he kissed her back. He felt as he should not let it happen, but at the same time, he wants to show her how much he still loves her. That her past does not change a thing about his feelings for her. Her lips were already on his neck again. “I will not leave a love bite. I just want to make you feel good.” The fingers of her opening his pants as he starts to relax, she takes his member into her hand. Slowly she started to jerk him off.

“Baby, do you want to?” She does not answer, but she looks at him with lust. “Do you want to have fun or is it the feeling of losing me if you do not to this for me?” Her hands stop immediately. She sits herself back up. “Y/N, I know you are under a lot of stress, but I do not want to make you feel like you have to do that.”, he assures.

“Hoseok, did I do something wrong?”, sadness was the one thing he could find in her eyes. Her voice not as confident as it was a few minutes ago. Her eyes moving away from his body. As she licks her lips, he puts his hands below her chin to make her look at him.

“What are you talking about? No, you did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing. Look, we are both under stress, I do not think that this would be helping us right now.”

“You are not turned on by me. I was right, wasn’t I?” Hoseok eyes gotten bigger at her words. How could she think that? Did Yoongi already make her feel this low again? Did he say something that is getting to her that he did not know of? Hoseok was trying to find answers for the questions he has, with the knowledge of not pressuring Y/N. “You might say it does not change the way you feel about me, but it changed the way you think about me.”

“No, baby, no. You are perfect, and I do not care about your past. I want to make sure that nothing bad happens. As much as I want us to be intimate with you, I want to have them off your back.” Suddenly the doorbell rings. “Babe, wait here. I will check if it is Namjoon. Hoseok picked through the door viewer. A man from a flower delivery service stands at the door. He opens the door slowly with his right hand on his pistol.

“Good Evening Sir. We have a delivery for Y/N Y/L/N.”

“I will take them. Who ordered those flowers from you?”

“Sir, I am sorry. I am not used to get this question, but I do not get this information anyway.”

“Do you have a card of your company?” Hoseok says as he showed him his police ID. “Give me a card of your company, I will need this information.” The man gives him the card and the flowers. Hoseok takes them and looks around before closing the door. In the bouquet was a card, which he wanted to read, but Y/N came up to him. “Did I not say, stay in the dining room?” She walks closer to him.

“Those flowers are from Yoongi.” Hoseok looks surprised at her. “Whenever I had a bad day, he used to bring me the same exact bouquet.” She takes the card out of the bouquet.

“Wait, he always send you the same one?”

“Yes. For different moods, different meanings… a different bouquet.” She starts to unfold the card and starts reading it.

The card says: Queen, there must be leak within his team. Jungkook must know someone who gives him the information. I sent you this bouquet because he hacked into my phone. Please be careful, I will call you with a new phone number or text you when possible. I am not sure, but it will not take him long before he figures out your address, just as I did. Love, Yoongi

Y/N gave the card to Hoseok, so he can read it for himself. The front door opens.

“Did I not say, do not forget to lock the door? For f’n sake.”, Namjoon curses.

“Whatever. This is more important.” He hands him the card. ”These flowers just came with a message. I think Yoongi is ready to cooperate.”, Hoseok smirks. “Told you, Y/N is a smart girl.” He pecks Y/N on her lips as he puts his arm proudly around her waist.

“Well, that is good for you. Problem; how can we make sure, he does not do anything stupid?” Hoseok looks past Y/N when his eyes slowly wandered to Namjoon. “What if there really is someone who give Jungkook all the information he needs?”

“We never had a leak, nor can I imagine anyone who would be willing to do so.” Namjoon’s face showed no emotion. “Namjoon? Are you drifting off?”

“I never do, but can you be sure that this card is from Yoongi?” Y/N walks to the kitchen and lays the flowers on the kitchen counter. She tried to ignore the thought of someone from Hoseok’s team, could be willing to let her be caught. As Hoseok and Namjoon are still discussing at the front door, she stares out of the window. She looked out of the window and looked for the police men who were supposed to watch over her. She could not see them, but she could see someone with a black hoodie, black jeans and black sneakers. This man looks at her, as he noticed she looked back at him, a grin formed on his face. He picks his phone out and calls someone. She takes two steps back. “Hoseok! Come here! Hoseok! Namjoon!” She screams when she turned away from the window. The feelings of fear and being lost are making her skin crawl. Hoseok and Namjoon are running to her. Y/N was leaning against the couch with her hands shaking in front of her face. She moved one hand in front of her face and one on her stomach. Her stomach turning, from all the thoughts. It made her sick, sick of knowing she would not be able to rest.

“Why were you screaming like that?”, Namjoon asks. Y/N’s legs gave in. As she sinks down, she looks at Namjoon. Both of them looking at her, waiting for her to say what she saw. “Y/N, breathe. It’s okay. Just tell us what happened.”

“The second guy from the night in the basement… This one guy was standing outside the kitchen. That is why I screamed. It’s someone I only saw around Jungkook. I never spoke with him, I do not know his name. He knows I am here now. He looked at me!” She looks at Hoseok. “Where should I go? They find me everywhere!” Hoseok tries to calm her through touch, but she pushes him away. She gets up slowly. “You told me there are police men outside. There was no police man in sight! Where are they?” Namjoon nods and looks out the window she was pointing at.

“Shit! Hoseok stay with her. I have to make a call!”

“What!? What is going on?”, Hoseok asks. Y/N jumps forward to grab Namjoon’s arm.

“Please tell me what is going on! I have a right to know!”, she screams. “I beg you, tell me.” Namjoon saw the worries in her face but he decides to look at Hoseok. “Namjoon?” Namjoon nods and moves his eyes back at Y/N.

“These police men which are supposed to stand there are not there –“ Y/N interrupts him.

“I knew it would be worthless! No one can protect me.”, she starts to cry. Namjoon pulls her in for a tight hug.

“Namjoon, do not tell me I think what might be the case, why they are not there anymore, could be true.” Namjoon says nothing. He only nods and Hoseok takes a look by himself. He is thankful that Y/N has not seen what Namjoon has seen. The police men who were meant to watch over them, were laying in the private car of the police station. Y/N must have overseen the fact that there was blood. It is very obvious for skilled eyes that there was a blood trail. Somebody worked clean and tried to make it very clear, they are not here to play. Y/N was crying in Namjoon’s arms heavily. “I make the phone call. We need a new address to go.”

“Ask them also for a new phone, at least a new phone number.”

“Why?”

“Someone was trying to hack our phones since Y/N met Yoongi in the side street.”

“When did you plan to inform me?”

“Our colleagues were checking, if that is true. Therefore, I did say nothing yet. Use Y/N’s phone. We will destroy her phone card afterwards.” Y/N does not recognize any words, she has gotten in to her own world of doubt. Hoseok nods at Namjoon and walks into the bedroom. When he enters the bedroom, he notices two things: the window was wide open and there was a red black lingerie on the pillow with a red rose. Yoongi’s bouquet was white, it could have not been Yoongi. He looks around the room and notices dirty prints on the floor. It looked like someone walked on bags, or at least bags over shoes to leave no trace. It had rained last night, therefore shoe prints would have had to be there. He follows those prints only to figure out that whoever it was walked in over the window towards her bedside to place the lingerie and the rose and to just walk out right after. But when? He left her alone in the bedroom when he started to work on his computer, she would have never kept a window open while she was asleep. There was a detail he saw, which he did not see at first. A picture. A picture of a passed out Y/N. He takes pictures of the scene and sends it via Mail to his team. He closes the window and locks it. One of his team mates has send him an answer to tell him that he will send some colleagues over. Hoseok wrote him about the dead police men, in the private car to inform him about it. He walks back to Y/N. Y/N and Namjoon were sitting at the kitchen table with glasses filled with water in front of them. He did not destroy her phone card.

“Y/N, are you okay?”, Hoseok asks worriedly. She nods. “Did you leave the bedroom window open before you came to me?”

“No. I did not open a window today at all. Why?”

“Namjoon, check your mails. We need to move. Y/N, do you still have everything packed up in the suitcases?”

“Yes, I do.” Hoseok collects all the suitcases and brings the suitcases to the kitchen. “Namjoon showed me a picture of that guy Yoongi mentioned. It was him. He was here, it is the guy Yoongi mentioned.”

“Do you do everything on your own now?” Namjoon looks up at Hoseok. “I am her damn boyfriend! Why in this world can you not tell me your plans ahead?”

“What is wrong with you? If you are mad, that is fine. Do not let it out on me!”

“Maybe you are the leak! I start to think that.” Namjoon gets up and puts himself in front of Y/N to put her out of his sight. “It is kind of weird that you do everything alone. The phone calls, the research...”

“Do you not trust me anymore? Ay, it is me! Your buddy since police academy. I know you are worried, but do not let it go above your head.”

“I am trying so hard to protect her, but I fail. Do you not see that! I am going crazy.” Y/N tries to push Namjoon to the side, but he only pushes her back in the chair. “Please promise me, you are not the one!”

“I promise you, it is not me. If you have forgotten, she is my friend. You should know me better by now. I might be emotionless sometimes, but you two became my family. I would never, ever, trade it in for anything else.” Hoseok walks closer to Namjoon, seeing the damage he just did. Hoseok is overworked, stressed and in a mood to go against anyone who would try to hurt her. Namjoon says nothing as he sees Hoseok struggle with himself. He gives him time to cool down.

“I am sorry. I just do not know what to do. This case is so personal, and I do not want to make any mistake. I am sorry Joon.”

“I forgive you! It is okay. I would probably think similar to you. You are my friend, my brother. This is why I was surprised that you want to be a part of this team. I knew it will hurt you, you will overwork yourself. We will make a plan from now on, when one of us is taking a nap the other one will stay awake. We cannot go two ways, you are right. I will speak with you more directly before I do anything else, promise.” Hoseok nods in understanding. He turns to Y/N to hug her. He puts his palm on her head to push her on his shoulder and mumbles an apology to her. She puts her arms around his shoulder to tighten the hug. Namjoon’s phone vibrates. “We have a new address. But the message also says that the phones of the lap dog and his owner are also near us. We have to be careful.” The door bell rings and Namjoon walks to it as soon as he hears it. He looks through the door viewer, as he only sees his colleagues, he opens the door. He opens the door and asks them if there is anything to know. After a few minutes, Namjoon came back. “Guys, we are ready to go.”

Y/N slept almost the whole drive, that is why Hoseok picked her up bridal style to bring her inside their new safety. He puts her on the couch and takes off his jacket to use it as a blanket for her. In the meantime, Namjoon brought the suitcases inside the house. There were two big couches, on one did Y/N sleep on and on the other Hoseok and Namjoon sat to look at her.

“We still do not have our new phones.”, Hoseok whispers. “Do you think they figure out where we are?”

“You forgot I am ahead of you, didn’t you?” Hoseok sighs. “Because I felt like they might find us in the other building if they figure out where we were hiding. I already made sure that we will get another building where there is no possibility of tracking us. We can only email from now on or use the emergency number – which cannot be tracked, except by the police.”

“When did you plan that?”

“Right after I have seen that they gave us a house with no fence. The next phone network server was only along the street, which made it real clear to me, that they will appear. You did not destroy her phone card.”

“It is the only way to stay in touch with that bastard.”

“You are probably right. The lingerie on the bed fitted to the one she wore on the photo. Do you think he wanted to remind her?”

“Sure.”

“We might have to ask her that.”

“No, we saw that the underwear on the bed was the same as on the picture. Let this wound be untouched.”

“Alright… This time.”

“Are you not scared? Scared for her?”

“Hoseok, I am. Why do you think I give so much into this all?” Hoseok leans his elbows on his knees. “I care for her like a brother. I do not know what you are going through, but it feels like hell to me. Any corner is a turning point. Every turning point turns out to be exchanged with a wall. I almost feel like I will be crushed by those walls and honestly, I do not know when I will break. But one thing is for sure, we have to keep her safe. So, no more mistrust, okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just, what Yoongi wrote on that card, it freaked me out that we are the ones who have a leak.”

“Do you trust him?” Hoseok looked at Namjoon with disbelief. “Do you?”

“I do not. But I know she feels something for him.”

“I do not think so. She loves you and after everything that happened, it might different from what you think it is.”

“She might love me, but there is something that makes her listen to him. It cannot just be about that one deal. Maybe you are right, they have a connection on some level.”

“Do you think she is hiding more? Do you think that there is something she did not tell us?”

“I am sure about that.”

When Y/N woke up, she smelled coffee and croissants. She sits herself up to find Namjoon eating at the kitchen table. “Hello.”

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. It looked like you were finally able to sleep.”

“I think I was too exhausted to not sleep. Is there anything for me too?”

“Yes.” He smiles. “Right here, come sit next to me.” Y/N gets up to fill the empty mug with coffee. “No croissant? Eat at least one, I will even spread it with jam or hazelnut cream if you like.” She nods. “So, hazelnut cream it will be.” As he spreads her croissant Hoseok comes to the kitchen. He leans down to her to kiss her cheek. “Not when we have breakfast guys.”, Namjoon says jokingly.

“I try to keep it as normal as I can for Y/N.” He checks her plate. “You made her eat. That’s good. Does it taste good, Honey?”, he smirks as he sits down on the opposite side of her at the table.

“It is really good.” A phone in Namjoon pants start to vibrate. “Someone from your team?”

“I am sorry, I forgot to mention that I took your phone Y/N. I wanted you to take a good rest. Your phone vibrated.” Hoseok stops eating as he looked at Namjoon’s hands. “It is a message from Yoongi, he has a new phone number now and you should save it.”

“That is it?”, Y/N asks. Namjoon shakes his head. “Oh.”

“The lap dog attacked Yoongi, after you left, but he is doing better now. He knows he has been at the old safety spot, he received the photo of you standing at the window. He already called up his best friend, Jin. Do you know this guy?”

“Jin? Yes, of course.” Namjoon studies Y/N’s looks as she takes a sip of her drink. “He used to be the one to watch over me when Yoongi went to work. He was also the one who made sure I do not interfere their conversations anymore, so that I won’t be beaten up again.”

“Do you know his full name?”

“No, apparently not. He never wanted to give it to me.” She leans back and looks at both. “Jin is not like Yoongi. Yoongi has an aggressive side, Jin is so not like that. He can be overprotective, but he would never hurt someone.”

“So, you are saying Yoongi would?” Namjoon tried to twist her words to get information out of her. If Hoseok mistrusts her words, so he does too. Hoseok usually never mistrusts, but when he mistrusts someone he truly cares about, then there must be more than a surface.

“I.. I don’t know.” She looks on the table. “I told you about the sentence ‘the person is done’ right? Well I thought maybe sometimes he did worse then that selling, buying as he mentioned.”

“Did you know Yoongi is in the drug scene? “ She shakes her head. “You do not seem to be shocked. Did you know about it?”

“I did not know he was in that scene, I knew he was having something hidden from me in that one room in his house that he kept lock. It smelled weird sometimes, but I never dared to ask him.”

“So, you also did not know which circle Jungkook is in?” Hoseok does not interfere in his questions. Y/N shakes her head again. “His nickname is Joker, does that ring a bell?” She nods.

“Yes, when the phone ringed and he said yes or no, he said, that they should make sure that Joker has all needed information.” Hoseok looks at Y/N.

“Y/N. Look at me please. Do you know what he was doing?”

“He was getting the people done. After that night, I thought he meant raping.”

“You thought? So, you think there is more?”

“I highly doubt that there is not more when you ask me like this.” Namjoon nods.

“He is a headhunter, that is why his lap dog found you in no time.” Namjoon tries to fill her in all the information they have.

“Maybe it is also because of the leak in your team?”, Y/N asks. “Maybe Taehyung knows someone from your team. Have you thought about it too?”

“Y/N, what are you saying?”, Hoseok asks. “Do you believe Yoongi’s card more than us?”

“Of course not, but what if he is right. Just, what if. Can you say that for sure, there is no one in your team you would doubt?” Namjoon shoots a glaze at Hoseok. “You even doubted Namjoon. You two always came as the double trouble no matter where or when. You mistrusted even him, are you mistrusting me now too?”

“Y/N, answer my question. Do you believe in his words? Yes or no.”

“Yes.” Hoseok looked helplessly shocked about her answer towards Namjoon. “I believe everything I hear right now, because it all feels wrong. Everything feels wrong.” She started to scratch her lower arm repeatedly. Namjoon hold her hand to make her stop the movements. Her arm was already red, her tears were in her eyes.

“Namjoon, may you can write Yoongi if he wants to cooperate and what he wants in return.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” He asks Hoseok while still looking at Y/N. “Do you think it will be a clever move?”

“Yes, let’s text him.”

Message to Yoongi: Do you want to cooperate? Tell me what you want in return.

Yoongi: You delete everything from my files. You won’t charge me for anything in my past which will be discovered through our cooperation. I want to see Y/N, without any disturbance. You delete also everything from Jin (Kim Seokjin) – we both want to get out of this lifestyle, we help you and you help us. Deal?

Message to Yoongi: Deal

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