#no worries! i get what you mean... i''ve felt the same with pretty much all my muses oof

[yandere-daze]

Can we talk about how the event point system in enstars is like hell on earth? 😭 You just have a lot of stuff to think about, especially the unit events, like how you're going to manage the BP, what team you should use, what song you should play and how many dias you spend. Especially on the jp server where there's no 2x bonus and autoplay feature. I spent my Sunday farming for hours on jp to get Leo's card and I felt my sanity levels decrease ejfhfi.

I think the boys in the self aware au don't like the event point system either, since the player is required to spend dia and put in lots of effort. The idols would feel really conflicted, because player is farming for their card, which means that they're loved and are worth the effort, but at the same time, they see how tired and frustrated the player looks, the irregular sleep schedules and if the player fails to farm enough points in time, the idols might see them sad and really upset.

I imagine they would comfort the player right away, especially the idol with the event card, popping up on screen and saying words of comfort like "you did so well!" and "make sure to rest!"

As for Leo (my precious baby-) maybe something like:

"Hey! Hey! (Name), (Name), (Name)~! Uchuu~ I'm still here, (Name)! So come on, please smile? I love it when you smile! Don't worry, I'll always be here waiting for you!"

(This ended up being pretty wholesome shdjdj but yeah, Leo was worth. Look at that adorable smile.)

First of all congrats on getting Leo! The card is really cute ( I also realy like the new knights song and can´t wait for the full version!)

But yes, farming event points can be so annoying, I know! I´ve only really tried to go for a card on jp but I do assume that it´s going to be easier on the en servers with all those quality of life improvements like auto play. Man I wish I had something like this when I was grinding for Ritsu and Mika. Playing miwaku geki 200+ times and having to do it manually every single time was not fun! And even then I often played on 10 bp just because it was faster. I don´t even want to imagine how much longer it might have taken to play with 1 bp

gn reader

tw yandere

How do the idols feel about the event system?

For the self-aware AU, yes I think they might not like the system much either. I mean one positive thing is that compared to gacha you´re at least guaranteed to get their card if you spend enough dia and so if you´re commited enough they can rejoice in knowing that you´ll get one of their cards. It makes them happy to know that they don´t have to fear if the gacha will be mercifull or not. You want them and so you´re going to get them.

On the other hand, they also don´t like to see you strain yourself so much. Yes, in a way it makes them happy to know that you love them so much that you would sacrifice so much of your time to get them but they also can´t help but worry a bit over your health as you endlessly grind songs. They appreciate it but please take some time to take breaks, okay? They don´t want to see you get too stressed out.

Also while yes, you´re guaranteed to get the card you want if you spend enough dias, they´re still a bit scared because it just takes so many of them. Are you going to have enough when their event comes around? At least with the gacha you could potentially get lucky and get their card on a single pull but in events the points don´t lie. There´s no luck involved here so in case you don´t have many dias they get very sad and frustrated because they know that there is no way for you to ge them.

The one you do go for is really happy though and they absolutely will greet and compliment you when you put them on your home screen. You did so well! They´re so proud of you!

[adaodinson]

I didn´t call you babe, I was asking what it meant

It’s been a while since I posted a story, I apologize, I´ve been like crazy cause I’m starting college this year and well, I haven´t had time.

I finally watched Bill and Ted´s trilogy and of course I now adore them and have the biggest crush on Ted. I thought of this while rewatching the first movie today so here it is. In this story Lizzie and Joanna are saved by Rufus like in the movie, but they don´t stay with Bill an Ted (they can still be a part of the band though).

Summary: When the guys go to London in the XV century, they encounter someone else who needs a hand.

Relationship: Ted x femreader, Bill x platonic!femreader

Warnings: none.

Oh you did it this time, you certainly did it. There was no way you would get away from this execution. You were being dragged by the guards, not that you would try to fight them at this point, you knew it was hopeless, but you weren´t going to make it easy for them either.

The wooden door opened with a loud creak as the light from the outside blinded you. You could feel the change in the floor, from cold stone to dirt. You weren´t precisely scared, you were hoping you would get out of this just like the past times but now they took you by surprise, and unlike the others, you didn´t have an escape plan now.

You felt dozens of eyes on you, looking in disgust. Everyone here knew you at this point: the young girl with the weird accent that had no family and only knew how to steal. It was partially true, but of course there was more to you. You didn´t bother trying to change their minds about you anymore, though.

-Aha! I encounter you again- yelled the king from his seat. You rolled your eyes at him and at the look of victory in his eyes. You really didn´t want to give him the satisfaction of killing you, and you didn´t want to die either.

As the guards settled you in place, you realized they were dragging two weird looking guys and tying them up next to you. They had clothes you had never seen before, and they looked funnily scared. The blonde one had a kind aura, he seemed sweet, and the dark haired one, as foolish as he looked, you had to admit was rather handsome. Well, you were clearly lying to yourself, he was beautiful.

-First time here, boys?- You asked with a giggle, still refusing to believe you were going to die.

-You’ve been in this situation before? Are you a ghost?- they asked at the same time.

-I’ve indeed been in this situation before, but I can guarantee I´m not a ghost- you stated.

-Well, how did you get out? We could use some help ya know, babe- The dark haired said with a cute and confused look in his eyes. You flinched at the nickname, you certainly hadn´t heard that before and didn´t know what to think about it.

-Babe?- you asked.

-Yeah?- The same guy asked, waiting for you to say something else. His expression suddenly changed as if he had realized something- Wait, did you just call ME babe?- You swore he was blushing.

-No, I was asking you what it meant…ARGH- you were interrupted by the burning sensation of rope around your neck. They were putting you all in position for the execution.

Behind you, you heard a man screaming nonsense “They fell from the sky!!” “This devilish red box!!”. He was being carried by a cart and was hugging the weirdest thing you had ever seen.

-This is it. Lord, I can´t believe this- You were getting ready to face your destiny when you noticed there where only two executioners. Before you could even realize what was happening, the executioners cut the ropes that were holding you.

-Billy! Socrates!- The guys yelled while hugging the men. You then felt a hand on your shoulder and quickly turned, ready to punch who you thought was a guard.

-DON´T- The cute boy said while covering his face.

-Come on, babe! Come with us, we can get you out of here- You didn’t even stop to think about it, you just jumped to the cart and screamed your way through the town. You were speeding up more and more, and you were not feeling ready to die again, so as you passed a bridge, you managed to grab a rope that was tight to a wooden structure and pulled so it would block your persecutor´s way.

-WOW That was excellent! - both boys said at the same time and then did a strange movement with their hands in the air while shacking their heads happily. They were definitely the weirdest people you had ever met, but you liked that.

As you reached the woods, the guys hurried all of you to get into the red rectangle. You saw the blonde guy going through a book and pressing some metallic thingies.

-Oh I´m Ted by the way, and that is Bill, Socrates and Billy- Ted said while pointing at each of them. You blushed at his attention.

-I´m Y/N- you said with a worried smile since the guards were getting closer.

-Y/N- Ted repeated proudly- Beautiful name for a beautiful lady- That made you blush even more, especially since you were pretty close to him because of the small space inside the red rectangle.

Suddenly all your surrounding changed and you could only see what seemed like infinite. You closed your eyes while screaming and hang on to the shirt of whoever was next to you. Spoiler alert, it was Ted. He didn’t even scream through the time tunnels since he was too busy looking at you.

The red thing finally stopped and Bill asked you to stay inside. You didn´t see much of what happened out there, you just heard Bill and Ted say: “Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!”. You didn´t know what that meant, but they said it with such conviction you assumed they were wise words.

After the guys returned, you made more travels to who knows where and then finally arrived to what Bill and Ted called home. You saw Ted´s house and your head was now hurting with questions, but you understood Ted and Bill needed your help so you would ask everything after that.

They took you to a place called The Mall. It was huge and filled with people. You were looked at weirdly, but to you, the weird ones were all of them. Bill explained what The Mall was and Ted never left your side, he was at the end of the line, guarding all your new friends, but always made sure you were feeling safe.

They gave you a Slursy? Slusfy? Oh whatever, it was the most delicious thing you had ever tried, and Ted smiled so widely just by seeing how happy you were with it. He mentioned they would have to go get another historical figure that they had brought before, and you didn´t want to be without them so you asked if you could go with them. They agreed happily.

You then met Deacon, Ted´s little brother, and before you knew you were at a place called a water park? You didn´t understand so Ted took you to take a look and explain while Bill went looking for Napoleon. You got lost in Ted´s explanation by looking into his eyes, and he realized you weren´t paying attention. He thought you were making fun of him in your head or that you thought he was an idiot. But what you blurted out (according to you, you said it in your head, apparently you didn´t) made him see that wasn´t at all what you were thinking.

-How can you be so cute and pretty?- The question was out before you could even think. You turned a bright red and looked at the floor, but Ted softly grabbed your chin and made you look at him.

-You really think that, Y/N?- His eyes were filled with so much joy, hope and a beautiful spark that you couldn’t bring yourself to lie to him.

-Well, yes, of course I do. I mean, you literally saved me and…- You weren´t allowed to finish, a pair of soft lips in yours interrupted you midsentence, but of course you didn´t care. You tasted and enjoyed every bit of it, just like Ted did.

-Okay guys, I found him… WOAH- Bill was carrying a man covered in a towel and was smirking at you both.

-DUDE- Ted said looking happier than you had ever seen him (and that was a lot to say).

-Awesome!- They both said and did what you now knew was an air guitar movement.

You headed back to the Mall and soon realized your historical friends had been taken to prison by Ted’s father. You didn’t really understand what was going on, everything was new for you and Bill had to drag you as you stood astonished looking at a bicycle (not to mention how many questions you asked about the car). The guys decided it would be best if you stayed with Missy and Napoleon in the car, Ted specified he didn’t want you to get hurt.

Missy asked you tons of questions and answered yours. She was really nice, and even though Napoleon was weird, he was really funny (because he didn’t understand anything).

Finally Bill and Ted returned with the others and you headed back to the Mall.

You weren’t a historical figure, so you got to watch the guy’s complete presentation from behind the stage and to clap like crazy when they finished. Ted had gotten you some clothes when you returned to the Mall, and you were the most comfortable you had ever been.

You decided to stay with them, but you did accompany the guys to leave the historical figures at their times, they ended up being your friends after all.

When you returned, Ted wanted to offer you to stay in his house, but he knew his dad wouldn´t allow it, so you stayed with Bill instead. You saw Ted all the time though, and when they discovered that you could sing they immediately asked you to join their band and be the lead singer. You couldn´t say no to Ted´s beautiful face, so you agreed, and of course their love for music was contagious and you were loving every new song they showed you. Rufus then confirmed you were a part of the band in the future, and so, that´s how your life in a different time began, and you couldn´t love it more.

[justice4canyonmoon]

for the blurb night one where reader gets a lot of hate but doesn't tell h just how much until she finally breaks one day? 💗💗

this prompt got me in my feelings 🥺🥺 I think it's pretty damned good, hope you agree!!!

warnings: angst, online trolling/bullying

wc: 560

She couldn’t take it anymore. Every time she opened her phone, her Twitter feed was full of it.

“She’s so fucking ugly.”

“What does he even see in her?”

“His exes are way hotter than she is.”

“What’s up with those lines on her stomach?”

“Gross.”

It was the same on Instagram and TikTok. Everywhere she went, it felt like people didn’t want her to exist. But she didn’t want to tell Harry about it. She loved him endlessly, and she knew he felt the same about her. But she didn’t want him to think badly of his fans because of her. So she kept it to herself for as long as she could.

But one day, he saw it. She looked at her phone for a few minutes with tears in her eyes. Her hands trembled and she shoved it back in her pocket.

“Are you okay, my love?” he asked quietly.

She looked at him, trying to blink the tears away, “Y-yeah. I’m fine, H, it’s nothing.”

“Yeh look like y’ gonna cry, lovie. Don’ seem fine,” tears filled her eyes again at his words, “talk t’ me, baby. Wanna help yeh feel better.”

A buzz sounded from her phone. She glanced at the notification, and the tears spilled over, beginning to coat her cheeks.

“Oh, love,” Harry cooed, pulling her into his lap and rubbing her back with his strong hands, “hate seein yeh like this. Please talk t’ me, honey. Let me help yeh.”

He peppered soft kisses on her hairline, soothing her until she was calm enough to talk to him.

“I-it’s the fans, H-Harry. Th-they say s-such awful thing a-about me. That y-you’d be better off w-without me,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes as best as she could, “t-the one th-that I j-just saw said I w-was the m-most hideous c-creature on the planet-” she cut herself off with another round of sobs.

Harry’s heart cracked in two. How could his fans be so cruel to the woman he loved? His grip tightened around her as he nearly cried himself, thinking of what his love had to go through.

“‘M so sorry, m’ love. Yeh don’ deserve anythin they’re sayin t’ yeh. Y’ the most incredible person ‘ve ever met. Yeh make me happier than ‘ve ever been. Y’ kind, gentle, intelligent, funny, honest, and beautiful. No one on the earth can compare t’ yeh. I’ll try t’ get them t’ stop. But even if they don’, I hope yeh know tha’ everythin they say isn’t true, and tha’ I love yeh more than words could ever say.”

He felt her smile against his shirt after his little speech, “You mean it?”

He pressed another soft kiss to her forehead, “Of course, m’love. Y’ my soulmate. No one else out there is as incredible as yeh.”

She pulled away from him, tears still staining her cheeks, but a wobbly smile on her lips, “Thank you, H. I-it’s not going to get better right away, but I’ll try to learn to ignore it. To know that their opinions don’t matter.”

“They don’ matter at all, baby. The only one who should care about yeh is, well, you. Yeh don’ need t’ worry abou pleasin anyone else. I love yeh to pieces, baby,” he replied.

She kissed him sweetly, “I love you too, Harry. So much.”

[laceymorganwrites]

Naruto girls smut

Word count: 2,041

Warnings: a lot of lesbian sex

Pairing: Fem!reader x Ino x Tsunade x Hinata

A/N: I´m sorry that I don´t have a more creative title for this but legit this is all that is

Days and nights were busy lately, but what else did you expect when such a horrendous war broke out? In your opinion it could have been prevented but what did you know anyway?

Yeah, you were quite bitter about it since your home has completely been destroyed and nobody did anything about it. It wasn´t like you were selfish either, there were so many people in the same situation as you and you were sick of it.

On top of that you couldn´t even earn money since there were no missions because everyone was too busy taking care of the wreckage.

It fucking sucked. And you were getting so tired of it.

You had no interest in playing nice or being polite, neither did you want to cozy up to anyone. Fuck that.

You were mighty pissed and so was everyone else. It was your right.

In the time of resurrection as you called it you just tried not to explode from anger, you just directed it all at Tsunade and her following.

Or so you tried. It was hard being angry at someone who was just as angry at you about everything, even more since she was in the position to do something about it but just couldn´t.

Those were tough times.

So tough that you found employment as one of her little helpers, underlings, secretary, whatever you wanted to call it, alongside Shizune.

You didn´t know how to feel about that to be honest. You were glad that you had an income again but still, it felt weird working with the person responsible for all of this.

However in your work you got to know her, better than anyone else. And that was the part that was truly surprising. She wasn´t a monster that people painted her as, she was just a tired woman with too much burdens to bear.

Tsunade was kind to you and always thanked you when you stayed overtime with her which you appreciated. And over time you grew closer to each other, you didn´t have to watch out for what you said anymore and neither did she. It felt so relieving to be able to speak freely and more importantly: hear her speak freely.

It made her more human than ruler.

“You know what, when was the last time you had a good fuck? You really look like you need one, you´re so on edge, that´s not good” you told her, today was an especially stressful day for her and it showed.

“And who the hell would voluntarily fuck someone like me? I think you´re forgetting how old I am…” she sighed, she appreciated your concern but over the years her experiences with sex got worse and worse.

“Oh I would. Definitely. No questions asked” you said sternly, though your eyes told the truth.

Tsunade blushed, it has been a while since someone was this direct with her without being disrespectful.

“Do you mean that?” she quietly asked, averting her eyes a bit, you´ve never seen her so shy, it was cute.

“I´m as gay as can be, of course I mean it. If I can make a beautiful woman like you cum my day is already great” you chuckled, coming closer to her and resting your hand on her cheek, making her look at you.

“Just say the word, sweetheart and I´ll make you forget about all those troubles” you husked, not even trying to hide the lust in your voice. You doubted she ever experienced pure lust before, lust without being objectified. You´d make her feel wanted, desired, treat her like the queen she was.

Tsunade nodded, looking up at you with her big brown eyes, a faint blush spreading over her cheeks, she was way too cute. “Please….” she breathed, a pleading look in her eyes. And that. That was all you needed.

Before she knew it you were on your knees, ready to worship her. You could tell how embarrassed she was but that only made it more enticing to you. Did she ever have sex with a woman before? You didn´t know. But if she did you´d make her forget all about her, and especially about the men. You´d show her a pleasure so unknown to her, she´d have a revelation.

Slowly you took her undergarments off and gently spread her legs to have the most beautiful sight in front of you.

You looked up at her with a smirk once your lips met her soft ones, your tongue exploring every inch and by the sounds of it she seemed to enjoy it.

So it really has been that long, huh? Your grip on her supple thighs grew stronger as she squeezed them around your head just right, not even holding back her moans. Tsunade gripped the table she was sitting on tightly and threw her head back when you started teasing and sucking on her clit, her tits bouncing beautifully.

Soon you inserted a finger inside her pussy, adding to the stimulation and the overwhelming things she was feeling right now. As if eating her out was enough, it certainly was for you but promised her to give her the best cunnulingus that there ever was.

You weren´t a woman that went back on her word.

Tsunade´s moans were heavenly as she struggled to find her thoughts, just hazily looking down on you, grabbing your head and the table, not knowing what to do with herself. It was all too much.

It was oh so good but she wasn´t used to this, she never came so hard in her life. It was all thanks to you.

And that was how it all started, your little arrangements. She was such a pillow princess which was so cute to you. But the best thing was: she wasn´t the only one who was in need of your help.

Tsunade and you were playing around with each other on a regular basis now. One day Ino caught you two and joined the fun, being so stressed from her recent mission. You two took care of her together from then on, dominating her but also teaching her how to dom. It was fun switching roles sometimes, Ino and you would take care of Tsunade sometimes too, depending on her stress level.

This particular weekend would look slightly different though. Ino wanted to invite a friend who wanted to try something new.

Of course you three were more than willing to help.

Hinata was a shy woman but it´s gotten better over the years, she was so beautiful. The way she tugged her hair behind her ear as she coyly smiled at you.

The four of you were meeting at your place, you had already prepared everything. Tsunade and you had some fun before the other two women arrived, leading to Tsunade being tied up in bed and you naked with a strapon.

“Go on, Hina, don´t be shy. You can tell her what you want” Ino told her, gently caressing her hips.

Both women entered your house and Ino already made her way to the bedroom, a route she knew blindly at this point. She smirked and joined Tsunade in bed, immediately undressing and kissing her.

“I...um..I´ve never been….o-….overstimulated...” Hinata´s face was red as she finally spoke those words, this wish she always had yet never got fulfilled. She has never had an orgasm before, she just thought she did, so what she really meant was getting an orgasm.

“No? Don´t worry, princess, we´ll take good care of you, yeah?” you smiled gently, stroking her cheek. “You´re so pretty, do you even know that?” you husked, leading her to the bedroom where Ino and Tsunade were making out.

Hinata sat down on the edge of the bed and felt her chest flutter, the warmth between her legs she squeezed together, whimpering slightly at the sight in front of her.

“You´re… pretty…” she quietly said, not being able to avert her eyes. “Oh? You like watching them? Keep going, you two, give our little princess a good show~” you grinned, joining in and sitting behind Hinata. “Touch yourself for me, won´t you?” you breathed into her ear, having her nod shyly and discard of her clothing. Slowly her hands wandered down her legs, circling her clit as she whined slightly at the contact, it´s been so long since anybody touched her like this, she couldn´t get off on her own so she never masturbated.

Her breathing picked up as she kept watching Ino fingering Tsunade who moaned loudly and grinned at the blue haired woman. Hinata felt her cheeks heat up at that, it was so… playful. Yet intimate. She really appreciated you focusing on her, it made her feel at ease and she could feel herself relax into your presence. “That´s my good girl, does it feel good?” you asked, resting your head on her shoulder and spreading her legs so you could see better, your one hand rested on her hips and the other one was playing with a nipple of hers, making her moan quietly. She nodded, just those small touches had her feel dizzy already, it felt amazing.

“You can touch the others too, you know?” you chuckled and she shyly crawled over to Ino and Tsunade, looking up from all fours, looking so fucking irresistible. Ino leaned down to her to kiss her, though it really was more tongue than anything, more than enough to make her moan into the kiss.

Your hands wandered to her ass, massaging it and grabbing her soft flesh, enjoying every single one of her reactions like when she leaned into your touch.

“You ready to lose your mind, baby?” you asked and Hinata nodded, staring down at Tsunade´s tits, gaining the courage to bury her head between them, kissing them all over and sucking on her nipples.

You grinned and slowly let your fingers wander between her thighs, rubbing against her folds. Ino was busy eating Tsunade out at this point, the room being filled with moans and soft sighs, whimpers and the sound of sex.

Hinata drooled onto Tsunade´s tits as you inserted your fingers, the poor girl was so wet you could put in two at once, immediately starting to move them too, not to keep her waiting too long.

You curled your fingers inside of her, making her make such lewd sounds, reaching points she never knew she had, Hinata threw her head back moaning loudly and you took the chance to slightly pull her hair and pull her in your lap, holding your arm around her tummy.

Ino stopped eating Tsunade out after she came and then laid back, her arm reaching down to finger the woman while she herself spread her legs for Hinata.

She was so dizzy and already overwhelmed, just the smell of Ino´s pussy drove her wild. She tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned forward, grabbing onto Ino´s thighs as if they were her lifeline and digging her face right in between. First she kissed her lips gently before spreading them with her tongue, tasting her slick and moaning loudly against her folds as you pulled out your fingers of her and replaced them with your strap, going deeper than before and stretching her just right.

You held onto her hips, slamming into her, not even being gentle anymore, her moans turned you on too much, the way her ass would shake and she´d arch her back for you so you could reach even deeper.

Hinata was such an obedient princess, sucking on Ino´s clit while looking up at her with this cute expression, a blush tainting her cheeks, not as red as her ass though.

All three women were moaning loudly, Tsunade getting up slowly to sit on Hinata´s thigh, proceeding to ride it, her tits rubbing against Hinata´s. Your thrusts got more intense, more punctuated as Tsunade´s thigh rubbed right against Hinata´s clit, making her legs shake and her moan loudly as the toy inside of her hit her g-spot at the same time, making her cum for the very first time.

She held onto Tsunade, resting her head on her shoulder as she loudly moaned and rode out her orgasm.

[feminaexlux]

Fall to Me

TBH I realize belatedly after writing this that Truth was fomenting chaos in my soul and it needed to be taken the fuck out with a proverbial shotgun

Anyway here's a fic that was based off of Truth and without knowledge of the rest of S4 so far, just in case nothing makes sense

I also know I promised smangst (smut + angst) but I got tired/lazy and @mintaka14 posted something I felt was eerily similar (or just reminded me I needed to get this done) so I wanted to get this out the door

Read on AO3 here!

Rated M for language I guess?

⁂

Luka was in a precarious situation. He was lying half-naked on Marinette's chaise, with Marinette herself lying half-naked on him. She let out a quiet sleepy giggle when she brushed her thigh against his raging hard-on, still unfortunately trapped under his over-tight jeans. His neck felt sore where she'd bitten him and he figured there'd be a pretty obvious bruise there soon.

His chest was also similarly marked.

He woke up like this. He had woken up when he had needed to sneeze because some hair got all up in his face. He then realized he had a whole-ass person on top of him. And that person was the girl he had been in love with for years. He had gently brushed away her hair and she had hummed out a "Mmmm, Luuuuka," that got him hot-and-bothered and unable to go back to sleep. He kinda didn't want to wake her in fear of this whole precarious situation blowing up in his face.

⁂

This all started a week ago with Dingo, that fucker. Well, sort of. Maybe. Maybe that was all circumstantial. But Dingo had 2 extra tickets to The Bondsmiths and Ding had given them to Luka. Juleka was busy with stuff, his Ma wasn't into this newfangled noise, Ivan wouldn't go without Mylene, Mylene was in Spain on vacation, Rose was "stuff," and if Dingo was involved most of Luka's other friends wouldn't be.

He'd just thrown it out into a group chat "Hey I have an extra ticket anyone want to come?" and Marinette was the one that said "me~!" Luka and Dingo had a tense stare off when Dingo handed over the tickets.

Her? Dingo's sharp brown eyes seemed to say.

Luka stared back coolly. Yes. We're friends.

Dingo fucking smirked. How much longer, eh? Cheers, mate. He gave the tickets to Luka with a smarmy wink.

The night of the showing Luka got stuck being the designated driver. He was used to it. The concert area was indoors and packed. Ding almost got shitfaced and Brielle had to keep him from falling over. At least the sets were fantastic. When the concert was closing at around 02:34 Ding and Brielle were having sloppy disgusting make-outs, making both Luka and Marinette ever so slightly uncomfortable.

That was when it all started getting weird. Weirder.

Brielle came up for air and told Luka that she and Ding would take a cab back, so all Luka would need to do was drop off Marinette. Luka shrugged and did just that, but Marinette invited him up to crash at her place because it was already so late and he looked so tired. He was about to pass on that when Marinette mentioned that her parents were on vacation in China and wouldn't be back for a whole month, just… out of the blue.

Before he could formulate any sort of coherent response she took his hand and pulled him up the stairs to the living room, sat him on the couch, started brewing some chamomile tea for the both of them, and talked about the concert. Marinette smiled at him after handing him a mug and short-circuited his brain again. "That was fun!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed," Luka smiled back, sipping his tea.

She sat down next to him and brushed her hair back over her ear. A shiny black earring seemed to glimmer with the light it caught. "I'm really glad I was able to go with you."

His head was empty except for noticing the light blush she had on her cheeks. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes, and somehow Luka got the sense that she was… expecting something? Oh, a response, duh. "Same. It's always nice to hang out with you."

She smiled, drank the rest of her tea and set it aside. "Luka, can I kiss you?"

… What? Wow, alright he was tired. He thought he heard her ask him if she could kiss him. He was already in the half-asleep pseudo-dream state and probably imagined that whole thing. Goddamn he was such a simp for her. "Heh," he said noncommittally.

Marinette blinked at him. "Is that a… a no?"

"Hmm?"

She scooted closer to him and he took a big gulp of his tea to hide his nervousness. "You… don't want me to kiss you?"

Oh God he heard that correctly. He sputtered and coughed, covering his mouth with a fist. "Wh-what?" He blushed hard.

She blushed as well. "Sorry! I'm sorry. I-I-I thought… um."

Several years ago they had tried to date but she'd always been… unavailable. So they kept hanging out as friends, which was… fine. It was fine. They'd never even gotten to really do anything together as a couple but as friends? It went better.

He wasn't over her. Never tried to convince himself he was. But he also honestly hadn't expected her to want to get back together. So… what changed? She sighed heavily, her complexion calming back down. "Nothing changed. Not really." She looked down toward the floor at her feet and he finally realized he asked that last thought out loud. "I… maybe I guess I did." She looked back up at him. "I've been thinking lately that I just want… to do something for me, for once. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She trailed off and stared back at the floor.

"I've never stopped wanting to be with you." Oh shit he said it. She looked back up at him and he awkwardly took another swallow of tea and looked away. "Sounds bad. I guess it is," he said eventually.

"But you didn't tell me?"

He met her eyes. "You were happy. You were with Adrien. I can't force my feelings on you."

She took a breath and let it out slowly. "I was, yeah." Her words hung in the air.

Luka hadn't figured out what happened to break up the state of Adrienette, but when he came back from touring with Jagged, Marinette and Adrien were "just friends" again. Luka wasn't sure how long ago the split happened and after 2 or 3 years apart did he even know Marinette anymore?

She had welcomed him back to Paris as a more grown up Marinette, not actually so different than he had remembered her. She had more confidence, less anxiety, a spine of steel. She was in charge of herself and it was so good to see her so sure.

He didn't want to mess that up for her in any way. So they remained friends for 2 more years. And for one reason or another they both kept being single.

He had somehow reintegrated back in her inner circle of friends. Luka saw for himself that Marinette and Adrien had a lot of history in their little in-jokes and double talk, dropping code phrases and making each other laugh at random. Maybe they'd reignite that spark and Luka didn't want to be caught in the resulting blaze. Even if they didn't, underneath it all he worried about being disappointed and left in the dark by Marinette like he'd been all those years ago.

Not that it did anything to change his attraction to her. He was a sucker for girls like her, except there had only ever been the one.

Marinette took his free hand and squeezed it gently. "I was happy, yes. And… I was hoping I could be again. With you?"

⁂

Slowly, Marinette thought, take it slow. She did spring this on him a little suddenly but hey, it felt right, and she had it on relatively good authority that it was time. At this point in her life she knew to trust her gut instinct and friendly advice. Although she felt more okay with this because her head was sliiightly impaired right now.

She also thought that he'd jump on… her, she supposed, given the opportunity - but he was uncharacteristically reserved. Was it uncharacteristic? Maybe not. He'd always been pretty laid back and easy going.

And observant.

Which meant he was thinking and had doubts about them. Well, shit. Okay. She didn't make it easy on them the last time they tried anything like this. Actually, Hawkmoth had made life difficult for her so there hadn't even been an opportunity for a them.

He sighed softly and squeezed her hand back. "I want… this. I do. But there's still something that worries me."

Alright, fuck going slow. "I'm Ladybug. I am now and I was then. That's why I kept disappearing." This was alright, it was kind of an open secret by this point in her superhero career. Her parents knew, her closest friends knew, and Luka was a close friend she wanted even closer, so he should know.

His mouth was slightly open and his eyebrows shot up. "Ah."

"Things are… okay now, aren't they? I'm not needed like I was before."

He smiled a little and his worried expression softened, understanding. "That… does explain a lot of things but that's not the only thing I was worried about."

That surprised Marinette. And actually now she started to worry herself. What other red flags had she given him? Shit. She'd been a basket case in her earlier teens but she'd left behind the Teenage Angst Things and graduated to Adult Things, hadn't she? Fuck.

He chuckled. "It's not --all-- a you thing, this is a me thing," he said.

"Oh please don't give me the 'It's not you it's me' talk when we haven't started anything," Marinette interrupted.

He snorted, putting down his empty tea mug on the table. "Yeah, I still want to give you some context," he continued. "First off, I'm not like Dad, I don't want to be a big rock star with all that baggage. I just wanna play music and do small gigs and have fun. I'm not gonna be rolling in money and I can't give you everything that you'd possibly want."

Marinette blinked. "I… already knew that?"

"Second, if you do want to 'start' things I promise you I'm not just going to let you go again."

Marinette bit back a smile. "Alright. Are we entering some kind of agreement here? Is this a pre-nup?" She stuck her tongue out at him.

"We're already getting married?" He laughed.

"Not if you don't want to kiss me!" He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

Soft, warm, simple. Real.

She placed her hands on his face and brought him in for another kiss, stopping him from pulling back all the way. "More," she breathed out.

⁂

"More?" Luka thought. It was… an odd ask but okay… He was sort of interested in more as well so why not? Except well, there were a few things clarified but he really meant to talk about things in detail before diving into… her mouth like he just did. Her fingers worked their way through his hair, her nails skimming across his scalp sending shivers down his spine. She gave back as much as she was receiving from him in their make-out and if he had to taste only one thing for the remainder of his life he'd want it to be her: sweet, warming, with notes of chamomile, bourbon, vodka, and rum.

This was getting a little too indulgent but most of him didn't mind. One part of him craved this from her, but… wait, shit. Bourbon? Vodka? Rum? She'd been drinking, dumbass. Shit. "Mm--" He tried to say her name to get her attention, maybe slow them down a bit -- okay, a lot -- but she had just leaned back on the couch and he was pulled down with her still relentlessly kissing him. "Mar--" he tried again, but she took that opportunity to take his bottom lip gently between her teeth. One of her hands went to his hips and she grabbed a belt loop and hooked a finger under his jeans, tugging him closer.

Oh boy.

He broke free from her a little reluctantly. "Hold on," he chuckled nervously after pulling back. "Wait a sec."

Her eyes went wide open and she froze. She pulled back her hands and stuttered out a "W-was that bad? S-Sorry! Oh I'm so--"

He pressed two fingers to her lips to stop the torrent of apologies. Apparently the penchant of apologizing for everything wouldn't change about Marinette even if she'd been drinking. "Marinette, you had a few drinks. I don't… I don't think…" He sighed, sitting back up.

"I only had 3?" Marinette squeaked.

"4. You finished off Brielle's."

"I-I think I'm pretty sober?"

"But you're not sure."

"I'm… sober enough, aren't I?"

"I'm not confident making that call."

"But I… I want this," Marinette said quietly but firmly. "I really want this."

The thought that kept mentally slapping Luka across the face was But will you still want this in the morning? Well. He had to be honest with himself. It was really Will you still want me in the morning?

Her knowing the general trajectory of his life and joking about marriage aside, she hadn't said anything about wanting him. Wanting a "this" and wanting to be happy again, sure. Having him along for the ride, sure. But actually wanting him and all he was? Still unclear.

And even if she said she wanted him, would he believe her? She'd been 14, yes, but she said she wanted to date and… never actually followed through, Ladybug duties aside. He sighed to himself. She hadn't been ready. That wasn't her fault. She couldn't tell him then.

But that time of being left behind didn't magically evaporate with an explanation.

He didn't think he was bitter or resentful but all of that was hitting him full-force now. Not again, his head warned him. Not again. You don't have to deal with that. And yeah, he didn't have to deal with that... Sometimes a heartbreak was worth braving.

He needed some time to think about if this was worth braving.

He felt Marinette shuffling at his side but he didn't give in to the temptation to look. He stared down at his hands, his elbows propped on his knees as he slumped forward.

"Can… Can I hear what you're thinking?" Marinette asked softly. There was a little bit of uncertainty in her voice. He didn't say anything for several heartbeats. "Luka?"

Well, at least she didn't call him Adrien. That was a plus. God that'd been once and it still left an awful taste in his mouth. "You should probably head to bed. We can talk later." Later. There was always later. Except he was tired of later. It'd been better when he didn't have to tell himself he could wait. It'd been better when he hadn't had anything to wait for.

Easier. Not better. He had to give her that.

"No," she said. "I'd like to talk now if that's alright. I'd like to… understand." Right, she was better at standing her ground. She wasn't 14 anymore. He wasn't 16 and naïvely hopeful anymore.

He probably wasn't going to sleep anyway. "I don't know how to trust you."

⁂

Shit. Shit shit shit.

Marinette felt the all too familiar cold panic settling on her shoulders like it always did. Of course he didn't trust her, she wouldn't trust herself fully now with how things played out back then. She was definitely getting a headache.

Fucking Cockmoth. Fucking Guardianship. Fucking… Adr--no, she made her peace with Adrien. They were past that now. Fucking… obligations and wrangling all those threads in her life to hold together. Marinette figured she was done with all that, but…

At the epicenter of all of these problems was her. She had to admit, it wasn't her fault but it became her responsibility to treat those around her as fairly as she could. And she hadn't been fair with Luka.

God, she spent hours staring at pictures of Adrien and drooling over every damn appearance. When she tried to get past the crush the whole universe was conspiring to push her to indulge it instead. And worst yet, she did indulge it while trying to date Luka! This was… she should have seen it coming. Who in their right mind wouldn't be at least a little bit wary of her intense obsession over Adrien in her formative years influencing her now? It defined who she was for a long time.

But she was different now, she grew up. She just needed to show it, right?

Wait. There was something about the way he said what he said. "You don't know how to trust me?" He nodded. "Do… do you at all?"

"Mostly." Okay, so there was still a tiny sliver of a chance? "I trust you with almost everything."

"Except?"

"Except me." He paused for a moment. "And you've been drinking."

But! But I… Yeah. "Okay." Her being slightly impaired did make things a little complicated. And maybe that was the reason why she was being a bit impulsive right now, the alcohol was fast-forwarding her decision making process. Marinette let out a breath she held in. "Will you stay here tonight?"

He raised an eyebrow but relented with a "Yeah."

"Come upstairs with me?"

He raised the other eyebrow as well, looking nervous. "Upstairs? To your room?"

"Yes, I wanted to--" It took a second but it clicked. What she asked didn't sound any less impulsive with how he probably interpreted that. "Oh I'm not going to seduce you or anything I just was thinking it'd be nicer for you if you were using my daybed instead of the couch here but I guess it could sound a little like I'm asking for sex which I'm not. I mean unless you consider making-out se--okay nevermind!" Wow, way to go, Marinette. Her face was burning with embarrassment. "I'll bring down a blanket!"

Okay, she had to admit it, she was definitely more than a little tipsy. She felt lightheaded when she stood up quickly. She tried to hide her disorientation as best she could as she walked away, heading toward the ladder leading up to the hatch. She'd been so focused on seeming not-drunk that she bonked her head at the top climbing up. "Ouch!"

"Are you alright?" Luka asked, and even tipsy Marinette could hear the puzzled amusement in his voice.

"I'm fine," Marinette muttered. She forced open the entry and it slammed open on the other side with a loud thunk. Fuck, she wasn't at all convincing him that she was sober. She slipped off her shoes and sat back down on her chaise/daybed, feeling incredibly embarrassed at herself. This was not at all going the way she hoped. He still felt betrayed at the things that happened when she was an idiot teenager. Should she have known? He never told her!

But he never told her because he never thought they'd get back together. That was obvious in the way he said all the things he said.

He did want to be with her. He did want her. But he'd been so hurt by what happened and… she never knew. No, of course she knew, he was akumatized by it. He'd carried that for so long and let her live her life without her knowing. Damn it, she needed to… she needed to make this right.

How could she make this right?

She was unsurprised as she felt the cool streaks of tears falling down her cheeks. In the morning, they'll talk. Ignoring the fact that it was already morning, she knew they both just needed to put this aside and get some rest for now. She heard shuffling and Luka making his way up the ladder. She quickly wiped her eyes.

"Hey, you doing okay?" He had a clear look of concern on his face, kneeling down in front of her. "Is your head hurting?"

"Oh no, sorry, I just spaced out."

"You hit your head that hard?" Luka asked, sounding even more concerned.

"No, no. I-I was… My head's fine, Luka." She sighed. "Just. Thinking, is all. Sorry, let me get the blanket."

He looked up at her a bit more keenly. "You've been crying." A simple statement.

"Yeah," Marinette said quietly, defeatedly. "But I'm okay." She pasted on a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She started getting up but he caught her attention and spoke with some hesitation.

"I don't need the blanket. I'm probably not going to sleep," he said with a half smile, sitting down on the floor in front of her. "Too much going on here," he tapped against his temple. "I'm guessing the same for you?"

"Yeah again," she said, smiling for real this time. "Can we keep talking?"

"We can. I thought it'd be better if you got some rest but sleep isn't coming for either of us anyway." The lights in her room were muted but she could see the bags forming under his eyes. He passed his hands over his chin, lightly scratching at the stubble coming in.

"I was really kind of… no, not kind of. I was awful when we dated before."

"You weren't awful. You just weren't there. I understand that you had Paris to save," he added quickly when she had furrowed her eyebrows. "But the fact remains that I wasn't able to spend any time with you. Juleka kept telling me to watch out and that you dated me only because Adrien wasn't available to date anymore. I was hoping you'd change your mind and you would want to be with me, but then you were making time for him and your other friends while I was left waiting. I'm a human being, Marinette, not a doormat. You forgot about me. It was miserable and I felt like shit. I almost regretted asking you out at all."

⁂

Ah, fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. There were none of his usual filters. He just spewed all that out there. It was all true but maybe he should've let it go? She was young and dumb, anyone at that age was capable of making stupid-ass mistakes. Luka himself made soooo many of them. It'd been like 5 years since their breakup, maybe he should just get over it already. Marinette was in his arms literal minutes ago and he had to go and get like this. And he made her cry again. Nice one, Couffaine.

This was the worst sort of crying. She went absolutely still with a solemn expression, being oppressively silent while the tears fell from her eyes. He felt his mouth go dry and he swallowed. "I--" he cut himself off.

Marinette nodded her head so slightly Luka almost didn't see the motion. "I didn't make time for you," she agreed, her voice tiny and broken.

He suddenly wanted to make a quip about knowing all about time and giving Second Chances to let them both recover but that would be disingenuous and corny as hell. He wasn't so sure he believed in them much anymore. And maybe the way this played out was better anyway, at the very least he needed to own what he said as he couldn't take back his words.

Marinette broke the silence. "I… I wasn't very happy with myself back then. I did make a lot of bad decisions. I didn't give you… much of anything I guess."

He smiled a little. "I still have that pendant."

"I could have given you more. I could have been doing so much more. And I didn't. I didn't," she repeated, a hitch in her voice.

Fuck. He could meet her halfway at least. "It sounded like you had a lot to deal with. You knew your friends better so it makes a lot of sense that you'd prefer to hang out with them. I was just some guy. The brother of a friend. I wasn't that important in the long run."

"Don't say that," Marinette cringed a little. She wrapped her arms around herself. "You were--are important. I was… I was scared. Of a lot of things. A lot of stupid things." She shivered slightly. "I was a little scared of disappointing you. I was scared that maybe I had used you to… make me feel better about myself. I was scared that you'd never see all of me. I was scared that Hawkmoth would use you against me and your family and Paris if you knew I was Ladybug and it happened anyway without you knowing about me. I was so stupid back then."

He sighed. "Hey, please don't beat yourself up. I didn't want to make you feel like you have to explain what happened in the past. I got too… wrapped up in how I felt back then. We didn't work out and that's just life." It hadn't been their time.

Did he still love her? Sure. But they'd been better off as friends. She even made a point of trying to hang out with him nowadays. She told him everything that was on her mind. She gave him small gifts here and there, made it to all of his gigs, invited him to all of her fashion showings. They saw the movies and concerts they wanted to see together. When she felt lost or sad he was the first one she reached out to.

As… friends?

There was this uncomfortable feeling tugging at the back of his mind. He felt it at the base of his skull, a slow dawning realization. But… he almost didn't want to acknowledge it as it could have been just some phantom hope that she would love him like he sometimes dreamed. It was way too easy to get lost in some fantasy.

Maybe he was just scared himself. Scared of being ghosted again if he picked up this hope and tried to make it real. In a roundabout way he was saying that, at least.

Okay. Time to bite the bullet. He leaned forward and put his hand on her elbow. "I know we're hanging out a lot more now. I'm sincerely enjoying all the times we get to do stuff together. I'm grateful that you're giving me all that." This is it. Just say it out loud. "I'm saying that if we want to be more than friends, I'm scared that you're going to leave me again."

Whew. Was that so bad? Actually yeah it was terrifying.

There was a grimace on Marinette's face. "I… I-I understand," she said weakly. "I understand why you'd be afraid of that. But I don't know how to prove to you that I won't?"

It felt like the world shifted, the same as the first time he ever saw her. That earlier hope was coiling around his heart, making it beat faster. "You won't?"

She kept looking pained. "J-Just so you know I t-totally get it if you wanna stay friends or… or something, but I-I want… I know I messed up and I get pretty crazy sometimes so maybe you don't want anything to do with me after this and it's completely your right to do that--"

"Hold on," Luka interrupted her, half anxious and half this is so Marinette. "I'm not--" She put her fingers to his lips to quiet him.

"B-But I have to ask if you could give me a second chance?"

⁂

Marinette pulled her head back a bit and got annoyed at herself. "Sorry, that wasn't supposed to be a pun. O-On your… history as Viperion."

Great, so not only had she made an ass of herself but she just unintentionally punned at Luka. Marinette intensely disliked when Chat had made those inappropriately annoying puns whenever moments were tense. She seemingly picked up the habit, ugh.

Luka laughed and the tension was cut a bit. Maybe Adrien wasn't so wrong to have joked all the time. Luka took her hand into his and pressed his face against her palm. "Alright, alright," he breathed out. Instantly Marinette's heart started beating faster. "I just wanted you to hear me out. You do hear me, right?"

Marinette nodded. "I hear you." There was a slightly rough and tickling sensation under her finger tips as she was able to feel some of his 5-o'clock-shadow (except what was it now, 4am?). Funny, she didn't notice that so much when she'd been kissing him.

"Then you should know that even though I've been scared, I could never stop hoping you'd warm back up to me." He gently folded her hand in his and smiled up at her. "Do you want to go out to dinner with me? We don't have to get married along the way."

"W-Well, yes to dinner, or maybe breakfast? But I mean," Marinette said, attempting for casual but probably still coming across nervous. "Don't throw that whole marriage idea out yet. I'm still not sure how to… prove things?"

He smiled. "Spend some quality time with me. That's all. It doesn't have to be big."

"Okay, breakfast and dinner. And lunch, too." She wanted to spend all the time she could with him. He wasn't asking for much -- to be honest he never asked for much, and this was something she wanted to give.

Luka smiled, probably thinking she was joking. "Think you can get some rest now?" He asked. "I can head back downstairs--"

"No! No, no, I mean, stay here with me. I-If you want."

"You're not trying to seduce me, are you?" He grinned.

"Well, I can," Marinette grinned back. "Can I?"

He seemed a little surprised by that. "Uh," he blushed.

How cute, he got flustered. Capitalizing on that, Marinette leaned forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders, her forehead against his. "I'd really like to," she whispered.

"How... inebriated are you?"

She sighed. "Do you really think I'd be having a coherent conversation with you if I was drunk?"

"You tell me, Ladybug."

"Luka Couffaine, you are a gentleman but I'm merely... warm and not even buzzed anymore. I would definitely still like to seduce you."

He blinked a few times. "Oh." He paused again, thinking it through. He gave a little laugh. "I'd really like that too."

[sixofpomegranates]

Rain in California - Act 1 - California

🥀Mini Series “Rain in California” Act 1 - Part 1 - California🥀

✨My Main Masterlist✨ | 18+ | AO3 | Wattpad

🥀Soundtrack🥀 | ✨Aestethic Trailer✨ |  🥀Masterlist🥀 | Words: 9.4k

A/N: The music used in this story is not owned by me (obviously) & I used it in the same style that 'Rock of ages' and 'Mamma Mia' used songs. I gave them a different meaning and context. The meaning and context are NOT representing the one that the ORIGINAL ARTIST had.

TW: ANGST, mention of loss/death/addiction/sobriety/murder, suicidal thoughts/tendencies, depression, addiction, substance abuse, drugs, alcohol, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP, stalking, death by overdose, mentions of OD, passive aggressiveness, arguing,

Songs in this Chapter: La di die – Nessa Berrett Going to Hell | My Medicine | Heaven Knows – The Pretty Reckless

“Spence?”

 Spencer looked up from his book.

Oh, so now he was allowed to talk with them about the case.

Since the briefing they hadn’t talked to him about anything. Spencer had to beg them, to let him work on this case.

He had really felt left out and why?

Because the stalking victim was a famous Rockstar with addiction issues. Spencer was hurt about his team not wanting him to be on the case because of this. Yes, he had struggled with addiction in the past, but he had been clean for over ten years now.

Was this unfair treatment…this distrust in his sobriety, ever going to stop?

It wasn’t like they had cared much about it when Emily had faked her death or when Maeve died, but this, for them, looked like a too high risk? Because there was a pretty girl involved?

He tried his best not to sound passive aggressive when responding.

 “Yeah, JJ?”, with success.

“I asked if everything´s okay.”

“Sure. Why should anything be wrong?”, the blonde shrugged a little, an apologetic look on her face.

“Well the case-“ “It´s just a stalking case. Nothing we haven’t already seen. I actually wonder why we even need to come. The stalker isn’t aggressive and hasn´t hurt anybody. Right now he´s just importunate. The police should be able to catch this unsub themselves.”, he had accidently let a little of his passive aggressiveness slip and Emily, who was sitting next to JJ, looked at him.

“The record label convinced the police to contact us. They seem worried about their artist.”

“From what I know…this girl can take care of herself.”, Luke snickered, earning himself a ‘Come on, really?’-look from Emily. “Sorry, but have you seen or listened to her music? She could probably beat Reid in a fist fight.”

“Just because she´s making rock music, doesn’t mean she´s tough. But we should talk a little about the case, Reid if you ever feel unco-“, he quickly interrupted her with a snappy tone.

“Why, because she´s an addict? I don’t care about that.”, Emily lifted her hands in a calming manner.

“Okay, jeez. Just the way you´re on edge, since the briefing, doesn’t look like you are okay.”, Spencer took a deep breath, trying to talk calmer this time, now almost pleading in tone.

“I-I know. But I´m clean since was twenty-six. I never touched anything again and I don’t feel the need to. I even regulate my alcohol intake, never drinking more than a beer, maybe two glasses of whiskey. Which means, that statistically all of you are at a higher risk, of becoming addicted, during this case, then I am. You guys need to trust me.”, the dark haired woman sighed and nodded.

“You´re right. I´m- We´re just worried. You´re our friend, Spencer.”, she handed him a file. “Just promise me you talk to one of us, if something changes.”

 He nodded opening the file. A picture of [y/n] looked at him. Dark heavy make-up, dark clothing and jet black hair with colorful streaks.

His younger self would´ve been as attracted as terrified of her.

He flipped through the pages. [y/n] [y/l/n]. Twenty-six years old. Stalker since approximately two years. Nothing extremely outstanding for a stalking case…which was kinda outstanding. No letters, no calls, no pictures, no break in, no threats…sometimes she would get random, expensive present delivered to her mansion, but that was it. Given that she was famous, this presents did not even have to be from a stalker.

 “Are we sure there´s even is a stalker?”, Spencer frowned at his own question, Emily shrugged as a response.

“According to the manager, Philip Schuyler, since the first time she played his concerns down, he gets these calls of a man asking for [y/n] and how she is doing. The label didn’t take it serious after he told them, but then the unsub stole the last finished album from [y/n]´s band ‘Shot Monarch’, before it could get released and distributed, also erasing every digitally existing copy. He then called the manager and send the owner of the record label a letter; typed on a computer, no fingerprints; stating that he wanted to be taken serious. Later [y/n] got the USB, containing all her songs, with a dozen white lilies, her favorite, back per mail with an apology letter; stating that she had done nothing wrong and didn’t need to worry, since he could never harm her or her carrier. That´s when the label pushed the police to contact us.”

“Because they are worried about the music…not the woman.”, JJ sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, that´s the industry. At least her manager is worried. Police states that he got himself a gun license after that and tries to be everywhere [y/n] is.”, Luke added.

“Something about that is off.”, Spencer whispered, rubbing his stubbles, before looking at JJ, Emily and Luke again. “There is nothing that indicates a stalker, but every time somebody doubts his existence, he does something noticeable. I know she is famous and that comes with the stigma of having crazed fans as stalkers, but most stalking in general is committed by someone known to the victim, such as an ex-partner or acquaintance. We should check that out.”, JJ nodded.

“It would also be smart if one of us stays by her site.”, Luke quickly raised his hand.

“I volunteer. I- Like- Really! If necessary I´ll sleep in the SUV.”, Emily raised an eyebrow.

“Can it be that you´re a fan? I heard you and Penelope freak out a little over the case earlier.”, a shy smirk appeared on his lips.

“‘Shot Monarch’ has really good music. Since my road trip a year ago, I love their stuff. Penelope actually tol-”, Spencer interrupted him determined.

“I´ll do it.”, Emily quickly shook her head.

“Reid, no.” “Why not?”, his voice got high, making him quickly cleared his throat. “Because-“ “Because she is taking drugs. Do you trust me that little, Emily?”, Spencer snapped at her and she leaned back into her seat. Sure the others from the team were older than him, but he was in his late thirties, and yet was treated like a child.

 “Fine. If you think you can handle it, do it. But stop being so sassy, I hate that.”, Emily looked at look in defeat. “Luke tell him what you know about [y/n] and the band.”, he nodded pulling out his phone.

“Okay so, [y/n] is the lead singer of ‘Shot Monarch’. She´s from a small town in Ohio and came to LA when she was eighteen, to become a singer after going viral. They are a band since five years, the name never really got explained by them, but it has something to do with the butterfly; at least that’s a fan theory I now from Penelope. Plus it makes sense, because [y/n] has a tattoo of one on the back of her hand.”, Luke flipped through some pictures of older man, reminding Spencer of bikers and insurance agents at the same time. Like middle-aged fathers that liked rock but still had a nine-to-five job.

“Hank, the guitarist, was a lawyer before and in a cover band with his high school friends Tom, the bassist, who worked for an insurance company, and Leroy, the drummer, who was history teacher and is also married to Hank. They met [y/n] at an open mic night and even though she´s twenty-six and they are in their late forties, early fifties, they got along so well, that they became a band. That´s ‘Going to Hell’ by the way. One of the more controversial songs.”, Luke pressed play on the video and already moved the lips to the lyrics.

  “Father did you miss me,

Been locked up a while.

I got caught for what I did but took it all in style.

Laid to rest all my confessions I gave way back when.

Now I'm versed in so much worse,

So I am back again, and he said

For the lives that I take, I'm going to hell!

For the love that I make, I'm going to hell!

Gettin' heavy with the devil, you can hear the wedding bells.”

  “The guitar you´re hearing is a classic Hank. That guy knows what he´s doing.”, Luke added, seemingly in his element, reminding Spencer a lot of Garcia when she was excited.

 Spencer nodded and watched the music video, the overall theme was dark and heavy. [y/n] voice was nice, a little smoky and strong, but everything just sounded so angry. Not really his style, although he preferred older, classical music in general over the ‘normal’ things ‘normal’ people liked. [y/n] wore tightfitting latex, while the men from her band mostly just wore black jeans and shirts, sometimes leather jackets. At one time, she was surrounded by snakes, only wearing white lingerie. She was really pretty, red lipstick making her look like a biting version of Snow White. Like a princess that would rather save herself, becoming the villain along the way, before letting someone else save her.

  “Father did you miss me,

Don't ask me where I've been.

You know I know, yes, I've been told I redefine a sin.

I don't know what's driving me to put this in my head.

Maybe I wish I could die, maybe I am dead!

And he said

For the lives that I fake, I'm going to hell!

For the vows that I break, I'm going to hell!

For the ways that I hurt, when I'm hiking up my skirt.

I am sitting on a throne while they're buried in the dirt.

For the man that I hate, I'm going to hell!

Gettin' heavy with the devil, you can hear the wedding bells.”

  The lyrics and symbolistic in the video mocked parts of the Christian belief system. Such as the bite Eve had taken from the apple, showing [y/n] taking a bite from the forbitten fruit. The last supper and the crucifixion were shown with a dark twist too. This could be a hint of rebellion, to cope with religious trauma, or simply be a way to cause controversy.

“Please forgive me father,

I didn't mean to bother you.

The devil's in me father.

He's inside of everything I do.

For the lives that I take, I'm going to hell!

For the laws that I break, I'm going to hell!

For the love that I hate, I'm going to hell!

For the lies that I make, I'm going to hell!

For the way I condescend and never lend a hand.

My arrogance is making this head buried in the sand.

For the souls I forsake, I'm going to hell!

Gettin' married to the devil, you can hear the wedding bells.”

As the video ended Luke took his phone and put it back into his pocket.

“Their earlier stuff had a little more emotion to it, was about heartbreak, suffering and made you feel. This is one of the more recent ones and you can hear that it´s now mostly just stuff like sex, drugs and anger. Most people think that´s because [y/n] writes all of their music and she´s…seen better days…”, Luke sighed, trying to make it sound as polite as possible.

“Because she started taking drugs?”, Spencer raised his eyebrows, but Luke shook his head. “Oh, no. She, according to many rumors and an interview with her father, has taken drugs since she was a teen. But at this point…she just simply seems to have given up, having chosen to not go deeper with her songs anymore. I mean, they still slap. They just don’t slap your heart anymore, you know?”

“Not so nice, when your father talks to the press about your addiction. Could her father be a suspect?”, JJ asked, making Luke shrug and shake his head at the same time.

“Most likely not. He said in that interview that he wishes her the best, but doesn’t want to speak to her again.”, Emily mouthed a silent ‘ouch’, the whole talk about the rockstars private life making Spencer think.

“Maybe that´s part why she´s taking drugs? Often people use them to cope with-“, Emily interrupted him, profiling [y/n] and her substance abuse, quickly.

“Reid. We´re not going there to fix her, just the stalking situation.”, he nodded, knowing that he had a savior complex, always trying to help and save everybody.

“Exes?”, Spencer asked and Luke shook his head.

“Just one is known, Dean Lennox, singer, now married with kids. He and [y/n] were together for two years and according to him it was toxic. Like, always fighting, jealousy, distrust, fear of being left but she still didn’t want him close at the same time, lying. After their last breakup, he told a gossip magazine, he just couldn’t watch her destroy herself anymore. She never commented on it.”, JJ looked at Spencer worried.

“She seems like a handful, are you sure you can handle her alone?”, he chuckled while nodding.

“I´ve been through worse. How hard can it be to watch a twenty-six year old? When she, like Luke said, really doesn’t want anyone close, I´ll just sit on her couch and let her do her thing.”

*****

After landing in Los Angeles and checking into their hotel, the team drove to police station. There already waited a massage for them with an address. It was from the manager, he wrote that he was terribly sorry, but they needed to come to the recording studio, since the band was on a tight schedule all morning. Luke had tried his best, but Spencer could see his excitement through his tough-guy-façade. He, JJ, Luke and Emily took one of the SUV´s and drove to the address.

 The building they entered was large and with great security. Expensive, white marble flooring in the entire entrance hall. They showed their batches to the lady at the front desk and the security, she called somebody and soon a short, pudgy man, dressed in a designer suit walked out of the elevator and up to them. He smiled at them friendly and shook everyone’s hand.

 “Ah, the agents. I am so glad that you´re here. Hi. Hello. I´m Philip Schuyler, the manager of ‘Shot Monarch’.”, Emily shook his hand and pointed at the team.

“Nice to meet you. I´m unit chief SSA Prentiss, those are SSA Jareau, Alvez and that´s Dr. Spencer Reid. He will take on the job as bodyguard for Miss [y/l/n].”, the man scratched his brown hair, avoiding the bald spot on top.

“Yes, uhm, please just call her [y/n]. She really dislikes being called Miss [y/l/n]. We also already have police and security around her house, so I don’t know how important a personal bodyguard is. I really want this case solved and it would be terrible if we would hinder your work.”, Spencer lifted a finger.

“Actually, it would be better if I´m able to stay close to [y/n]. Normal police and security could probably oversee minor details about the stalker, Mr. Schuyler.”, the man waved off.

“Please, Mr. Schuyler was my father. Philip is completely fine. Everybody calls me that.”, he started walking to the elevator and the agents followed him. “Right now the band´s having a little break. After that, we need to record one more song for the ‘live in the studio’-version of their new album, that just came out. Are you familiar with their music?”, they got into the elevator and Luke already nodded.

“Yeah. Really great. Big fan.”, Emily lifted her hand, silencing Luke.

“I´m sorry. If that´s a problem we can-“, Philip laughed, interrupting her.

“Oh, no, no. [y/n] will love that. She likes meeting fans and showing off her music.”

 They got out of the elevator, walked through the little hallway and entered the large double door in front of them. There was the recording studio. A lot of technical things, Spencer didn’t know much of, and a large glass wall in front of it, showing another room.

 The recording room was large, with a black leather couch and beanbags in it and nice, warm, wooden flooring. A drum set was placed on an vintage looking, red carpet and the overall lighting was warm and inviting as well. The door to the room was open and he could hear the three men, from the band, talking and laughing inside.

 “Guys, can you come out for a bit?”, Philip asked them and they looked up, walking up to them. “Okay, uhm, guys, those are the agents from the FBI. You know? The once coming because of [y/n]´s stalker.”, the largest man, a head taller than Spencer, smiled through his long grey beard that contrasted his bald head.

“Nice to meet you then, I´m Hank. That my husband Leroy,”, they shook hands with the dark skinned, skinny man, who in contrast to his husband was cleanshaven, with short black hair and glasses, “and that´s our friend Tom.”, the chubby, white, blond waved at them friendly.

“Why would like to talk with each of you individually, later at the police station, if that is possible.”, Emily said before introducing her team again, also mentioning Spencer´s duty as bodyguard. Leroy grimaced his face.

“Uh, [y/n] will hate that. The girl does not like being babysat.” “I´m not going to babysit her.”, Spencer answered, making Leroy chuckle. “That´s not how she will see it though.”, Hank sighed and put a hand on Spencer´s shoulder.

“Our girl is going through a lot right now. So it would be nice of you, to not take everything she´s saying personally, okay?”

“Personally?”

 Spencer raised his eyebrows. He desperately hoped [y/n] wouldn’t be a bitch the entire time, since he couldn’t promise to not give her a piece of his mind, if so.

“[y/n]´s a little belligerent…Easy to get triggered and then she blows up like a bomb.”, Tom said and JJ cocked her head. “Is the stalking getting at her?”, Leroy shook his head. “Not really. But her mother died a few months ago and since then…little rough patch. She´ll get better. We all hit rock bottom once.”

“Is she going to therapy?”, Emily asked straight forward, making Tom, the chubby one chuckle. “Not since she hit the last therapist a few years ago. We paid his medical expenses and he was nice enough to not sue her. But we are here to help her, once she´s ready to let us.” “Must be exhausting, for you.”, JJ said empathetic and all the men waved off.

“Because of the drugs? No, it´s not that bad. She´ll collect herself. I have seven kids. Four of them are going through puberty right now. Phil has a toddler and Leroy and Hank have three rescue dogs and a couple of snakes. We can handle her.”, Tom laughed and the rest of the men started too.

“And that little stalker…Imma just say, I´m gonna rip him a new one, should I ever get the chance of meeting him. Counts for all of us.”, Hank added with everyone nodding in agreement.

“[y/n]´s a really nice girl and she´s been through a lot. If you´re nice to her, chances are high she´ll warm up to you and you won´t have any problems.”, Tom said to Spencer making him nod.

“And if she doesn’t?”, the tall doctor didn’t get an answer and just witnessed the rockers share a look.

 Nice girl. Drug issues not so bad. Be nice and maybe she´s nice to you. For Spencer all of that sounded like he would have to walk around on eggshells, while she would blast through walls like a wrecking ball. The manager, Philip, checked his watch and looked around.

 “So, where´s [y/n]? One more song and we´re done. Would be great not to hold up the investigation for too long.”

“She went to the toilet thirty minutes ago. We just ate our sandwiches. She said she wasn’t hungry.”, Leroy answered and at the same moment [y/n] walked in.

 Spencer looked at her and for a moment forgot how to breathe. Short, high waisted, leather skirt, low cut, tank top and biker boots, all black, rounded off with fishnet stockings.  [y/n] looked like she had climbed out of a teenagers wet dream. The perfect, little goth-girlfriend. She stretched a little and Philip looked at her.

 “Bonjour, Philly.”, she said with a sassy undertone, while walking up to him and leaning on his shoulder. He was the same high as her, which wasn’t really tall, about 5,4, if Spencer had to guess.

“Hey, where were you?”, the pudgy man asked her.

“Took a nap in my car.”, she booped his nose and gave him a sheepish little smile. Spencer knew she was high. In fact the whole room knew it.

“You drove here?”, Tom asked shocked and [y/n] grinned sarcastically.

“I guess so, else somebody explain to me why my car´s here.”, Phillip patted her shoulder, looking worried as she took four pills out of an orange pillbox from her bag. He gave her a glass of water and she swallowed them. The men from her band looked at her concerned, making her give them a pearly white smile.

“Headache.”, she explained and they only nodded. Spencer couldn’t help but think, that she wasn’t having a headache and even if she had, it was probably a withdrawal symptom.

“You know that I don’t want you to drive when you´re…”, her manager looked at the agents and stopped talking, making her look at them as well.

“What? Why´d you stop talking? That the fun police?”, she started giggling at her own joke, making the band chuckle, since she clearly didn’t know how accurate she was with her joke.

“That´s the FBI, Princess.”, Hank told her and she made a fake shocked face and then laughed again.

“Officer- No wait, agents, right? I swear I did nothing wrong. Weed´s legal in Cali.”

 The team shared some looks and Spencer couldn’t help but roll his eyes. [y/n] was not just on weed. Most definitely not just on weed.

 “They are here because of your stalker.”, Philip explained and she shrugged almost disappointed.

“Oh, that guy. Well, then hello. Nice to meet you. I´m [y/n].”

 She shook hands with JJ and Emily as they introduced themselves. Luke couldn’t help but breathe in sharply, as he shook her hand and almost choked on his own spit as an aftereffect. She started patting his back with wide opened eyes.

 “Shit, you okay? Asthma?”, [y/n] reached into her black, designer handbag and gave him a bottle with clear liquid. Luke took a sip, quickly grimaced his face and began coughing harder.

“Vodka.”, he stated through his coughing. [y/n] quickly took the bottle from him and took a sip too, without flinching. She then started cracking up at her mistake.

“Whoops. Mixed up the bottles, the other´s probably in my car. Philly, can you bring him…?”, Philip nodded and gave Luke a fresh water bottle from the mini fridge.

 Wow. Vodka hidden in a water bottle. Spencer licked his lips, taking in the view of her bandmates looking at each other. ‘Not that bad’ looked different. ‘Not that bad’ would not have her sleeping in her car, midday, with a bottle of ‘water’ and coming back high as a kite. Luke, by now, had stopped coughing and [y/n] stepped away from him again.

 “You good?”, she asked him, watching him wipe away his tears.

“Y-Yeah. Sorry.”, the black haired girl waved him off.

“Nah, don’t worry. I had asthma till I was twelve.”, he shook his head.

“I- I- No asthma. Just a really big fan.”, she started laughing again and although the light was dimmed, Reid could clearly see Luke´s cheeks turning red.

“Oh, that´s cute. But ‘Take My Breath Away’ is by Berlin.”, that sentence actually made the whole room laugh except for Spencer, who didn’t understand the reference. “What´s your name?”

“Luke Alvez.”, she shook his hand again, this time he didn’t almost choke.

“Well, nice to meet you, Luke. What´s your favorite song of ours?”

“25, no doubt. Really amazing. Like a James Bond song.”, the bandmates chuckled.

“We said that too.”, Leroy snickered, patting Luke´s shoulder and [y/n] nodded.

“It´s also my favorite. Excited to hear one of the new songs?”, Luke nodded excited and she turned her head to Spencer. “We both don’t know each other yet. Hi, I´m [y/n] and you are?”

 She sounded quite collected. Clearly high, but able to think straight if necessary. [y/n] must´ve been doing this for a while now, seeming to have figured out, how much she could handle while working. Spencer had been at that point too once. You wanted to do your work and be good at it, but needed to be high, to make it through the day. So you just tried over a period of time, bit by bit, how much you were able to take before doing a shitty job. ‘Not that bad’ didn’t make you figuring out a system to be high all the time.

 “Dr. Spencer Reid.”, he shook her hand.

“Dr. Reid will be your bodyguard, [y/n].”, Philip explained and quickly earned an angry look, as she let go of Spencer´s hand instantly.

“What? I don’t need a bodyguard, we talked about this.”, she hissed at her manager, but then started laughing after looking Spencer up and down. “And then that guy?”, Philip nodded as she rolled her eyes at him. ‘Do not take it personally’, Spencer told himself.

“I am more than capable of protecting you.”, he stated as friendly as possible, making her giggle.

“From what? A difficult math question?”

 [y/n] mocking tone started to piss him off, but as Spencer felt Emily´s look on him, he played it cool. After all, he had to proof himself able to handle her.

 “Your stalker.”, he corrected her and she licked her lips, pulling out a pack of cigarettes, looking at Luke.

“Since you don’t have asthma, would you mind if I…?”, Luke shook his head and she smiled. “Nice.”, she looked back at Spencer, at his gun. “Philip has a gun too.” “But Philip isn’t an FBI agent.”, Hank told her, making her shake her head in protest, like a little child.

“That´s ridiculous. And all of that just because a stranger sends me stuff, people send me stuff all the time.”

“You should be more worried about this guy.”, Leroy said and Tom nodded in agreement. “Yeah, what if he´s dangerous?”

“What´s the worst that could happen, like honestly, Doctor?”, she cocked her head at Spencer, looking up at him with an almost flirty smile.

“He could kill you.”, he gave back objectively, making the rockers obviously worried. “Geez. You make that sound like it´s a bad thing.”, she snickered and looked over to Luke. “Luke, wanna hear some music?”, he nodded.

“It would be an honor.”, his sentence made her giggle as she walked past him.

“You´re really cute.”

 [y/n] walked into the recording room, Tom, Leroy and Hank following her. She put on her headphones and lit a cigarette, putting the package on the little table next to her mic. Philip closed the door and started pushing some buttons on the sound mixer in front of him. JJ whistled impressed.

 “You do the technical stuff too?”, he nodded, chuckling.

“Since the stalking started, I try having as little people near [y/n] as possible. Thought it might just be a little crush from a weirdo and when he doesn’t get to see her, he gets over it.” “We need a list of the people that worked here though.”, Emily told him and he nodded.

“Of course.”, then he pushed a button and started talking into his microphone. “You guys, ready? Last song. ‘My Medicine’, then we can go home.”

 They all approved of his words and started to playing. [y/n] relighting her cigarette and clearing her throat. Spencer couldn’t tell if that was her simply not caring or doing it for the feeling of the song. However, it seemed to fit the style.

“Somebody mixed my medicine

Somebody mixed my medicine”

“I love this already.”, Luke whispered and JJ chuckled.

“You haven’t even heard anything yet.”, she snickered.

“Doesn’t matter, the feeling is there.”, he lifted his arms, showing her his goosebumps.

“Well you hurt where you sleep and you sleep where you lie

Now you're in deep and now you're gonna cry

Got a woman to your left

And a boy to your right

You start to sweat so

Hold me tight 'cause

Somebody mixed my medicine

I don't know what I'm on

Somebody mixed my medicine

Now baby it’s all gone

Somebody mixed my medicine

And somebody's in my head again

And somebody mixed my medicine again, again”

Spencer watched [y/n] starting to move to the rhythm, swaying her hips and tapping her left foot to the beat, then looked to Philip pressing some buttons.

 “She´s gonna be happy with that one.”, he whispered almost to himself and the next time Spencer looked at the band again, it almost felt like she was attentionally singing in his direction.

“Well I drink what you leak and I smoke what you sigh

See you cross the room with that look in your eye

Got a man to his left and a girl to his right

You start to sweat so

Hold me tight 'cause

Somebody mixed my medicine

I don't know what I'm on

Somebody mixed my medicine

Now baby it’s all gone

Somebody mixed my medicine

Somebody's in my head again

And somebody mixed my medicine again, again”

She started moving her head in a way that made her long black hair fall in her face, framing her features almost delicately. While Spencer starred and earned some grins from [y/n], he could hear Luke whisper with Emily, who actually seemed to like the music too.

“There's a tiger in the room and a baby in the closet”

The room laughed and Spencer looked confused, having JJ tell him, that it was a movie reference. Sometime he felt like an alien, having such simple references fly over his head. Star Trek or Book references would´ve been easier for him…although he still didn’t know what that ‘Twilight’ book was Penelope and JJ talked about a couple of times. Or that other book all the women had talked about in their break….what was it called, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’? They had told him it was a romance novel, so he just assumed it was like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen.

“Pour another drink mom I don't even want it

Then I turn around and think I see someone that looks like you”

Philip pressed some buttons again, [y/n] now harmonizing with herself.

“Well you hurt where you sleep and you sleep where you lie

Now you're in deep and now you're gonna cry

Got a woman to your left

And a boy to your right

You start to sweat so

Hold me tight 'cause

Somebody mixed my medicine

I don't know what I'm on

Somebody mixed my medicine

Now baby it’s all gone

Somebody mixed my medicine

Somebody's in my head again again

And somebody mixed my medicine

Again, again, again

Again, again, again

Again, again, again”

The music started to slow down again, just like [y/n] movements, making Luke whisper words in awe.

“Somebody mixed my medicine

Somebody mixed my medicine

Somebody mixed my medicine”

Philip and the team applauded as [y/n] took her headphones off and the men put their instruments away.

 “I´m happy with that.”, she said looking at Philip. “You, Philly?”

“Sounded great to me.”, he gave back, happy to answer.

“What about my new favorite fan. Luke?”, Luke quickly pushed Spencer aside to get to the microphone.

“Loved every second of it! Like- Amazing! Really!”, she giggled, throwing her head back and came through the door.

“What about my new guard dog?”, Spencer pointed at himself, not knowing if she was talking about him. “Of course you. So, what do you think, Doctor?”

“I- I don’t really know.”, she raised her eyebrows at his answer.

“Okay? Was it the drugs or just the music in general?”, he felt himself go pale. “Ah, okay. You´re prude, get it. I mean you already have that whole tutor-thing about you, so…Bach or Chopin?”

“Pardon?” “Which one? Or is it Mozart, or the deaf bitch, Beethoven?”, she grinned snarky.

 [y/n] had a mocking tone in her voice, making Spencer feel embarrassed and like he was in school again, when the other kids in high school were making fun of him for not being cool enough. But he was too old to be bullied by a little junkie, who thought she was better than him.

 “I´m surprised somebody like you would even know them.”, her smile vanished.

“Little bitch.”, she snapped at him, stepping closer as he cocked his eyebrows at her. Philip quickly walked between the two of them and smiled.

“So, what are we doing next? The albums done. Taken care of. [y/n] have you eaten something today? You wanna go out for dinner?”

“No, I haven’t and no, I don’t want to, when THAT is around.”, with ‘that’ she clearly meant Spencer.

“Now don’t be grumpy, Princess. You started it.”, Hank told her and she started to pout, shoulders relaxing.

“Wasn’t worth my time anyways.”, she murmured and Spencer felt himself getting proud. This was the first person, trying to bully him, he had stand a chance against.

“So, we´re gonna need you at the police station, if that´s okay?”, Emily asked Leroy, Hank and Tom, who nodded. “And Spencer, you should take [y/n] home and check out her house.” “Mansion.”, [y/n] corrected Emily. “I have a mansion. Worked too hard to have it being called a house.”, Emily only nodded, not letting herself get bothered by her words. Philip nodded, completely ignoring his clients snappiness too.

“I follow you in my car.”, he told Spencer. “[y/n] give Dr. Reid your keys, please.”, she shook her head indignant.

“No. That guy is not driving my car. I´ll drive.”, the whole band now started saying no.

“[y/n], you´re not driving.”, Tom ordered and Leroy nodded. “You´ll get an DUI so quick, it´s not even funny.”, Spencer lifted his hand, waiting for the key. “Oh, come on.”, she groaned, looking at her bandmates like her childish behavior would change their mind.

 A nice sound. An annoying person, not getting what they want. Almost as beautiful as her [y/e/c] eyes, that actually were rather bloodshot, when Spencer thought about it.

 “Should the police pull you over and see that you´re high, they´ll look through your car and I don’t think you want be taking in custody for drug possession, right?”, she handed him her keys and Spencer couldn’t help it and whispered “Thank you”, in the most mocking tone he was able to.

“Fucking cunt.”, she whispered back at him and he just chuckled.

“I´ve been called worse. So your little words don’t hurt me…sorry.”, she then grinned.

“Things like Spencer?”, [y/n] asked him, spitting his name like poison.

 Spencer took a deep breath and watched her go out the door, telling himself to not answer her.

 “Hey, kid.”, Spencer looked at Hank and he just lifted his thumb.

“You held yourself better than we thought you would.”, Leroy added, Emily looking at Spencer concerned.

“You sure you can handle her?”

 He nodded, walking out the door and to the elevator which doors [y/n] was holding open for him.

 “Hurry up, bitch boy! I wanna go home.”

 *****

 Of course the rich, spoiled brat drove an imported sportscar. When Spencer got in, he firstly had to push back the seat, not having enough room for his legs and then tried getting [y/n] to tell him where she lived.

 “Try google, smart ass.”, was her answer and he sighed.

 [y/n] then rolled down her window and grabbed a joint from her glove compartment. Spencer quickly leaned over and snatched it from her hand, making her whine as she tried getting it back.

 “You´re such a bitch. Give me-“, he interrupted her whining.

“No. First tell me you´re address.”, she sat back into her seat.

“Fine. I´ll lead you there.”, [y/n] said, making grabbing motions with her hand and he handed her the joint back. She lit it and smoked out of the window.

 Spencer knew he should have questioned why she gave up and let him win so easily. After ten minutes they weren’t at her mansion, they were at a McDonald´s.

 “You´re fucking kidding me, right?”, he snapped at her and she began to giggle.

“You´re kina hot when you´re angry.”, her flirty grin and the way she bit her lip made him furious, because it was hot.

“What is wrong with you?”, Spencer almost yelled and she leaned back and pointed somewhere. “I´m hungry. Drive-Through. Over there.”

“No.” “Come on. Don’t be a bitch, dog.”, she snickered, resting her feet on the dashboard.

 He looked at her, for a second thinking about simply getting out of the car and leaving, before he could hurt her. Maybe she was really too much for him to handle, the drugs were manageable, but it was her personality that drove him mad, yet he wasn’t someone to give up easily. Cars started to honk behind them.

 “You´re holding up the traffic. I just wanted something to eat.”, [y/n] said, now almost annoyed because she wasn’t getting what she wanted. Spencer took a deep breath.

“Okay.”, she looked at him confused.

“Okay?”, he nodded, pulling into the Drive-Through. He was above this. ‘Give her what she wants, so she´s at least quiet.’

“You win.”

 She started clapping and hugged him, smelling like marijuana and something he couldn’t quite make out. When they came up to the microphone box, [y/n] crawled over Spencer´s lap, forcing him to look and think respectfully. She ordering a bunch of stuff and then looked at him.

 “What do you want? I only have booze at home, so…”, he looked at her a little startled. Was she trying to be nice to him?

“You wanna buy me something?”, she nodded like this behavior was normal to her. “Sure.”

“Surprise me. I never eat fast food, I don’t know what´s good.”

 She nodded and then told the voice from the box to double her order. Sitting back into her seat, [y/n] took out a hundred dollar bill from her purse, handing it to Spencer. When they pulled up by the window, taking their things, the woman in the window nearly lost it when she saw the rockstar, starting to cry. [y/n] was really nice to her and asked her if she wanted to take a photo in the parking lot. Of course the woman said yes and after paying, where [y/n] had left almost fifty bucks as a tip, Spencer had to park and wait till they had made the photo and given an autograph.

 “Okay, now drive before it goes viral. I wanna eat that stuff before it gets cold.”, she told him, taking a sip of one of the milkshakes.

“That was nice.”, she shrugged and then told him her address, telling him she´d scream when they reached it.

 *****

 Lo and behold, no twenty minutes later they parked in front of [y/n] mansion, next to another, more run down car, belonging to Philip. The mansion would´ve made Rossi´s mansion cry. At least twice as big and the property was enormous. In contrast to [y/n], it was very light and minimalistic from the outside and the inside.

 “Most rooms are empty. Too big.”, she explained walking straight into the open living area, that had a large terrace with pool and a view over the Hollywood hills. She put the paper bags filled with food on the large kitchen island and sat on a barstool.

“You could sell it and buy a smaller one.”, [y/n] shrugged and took out a burger, starting to eat it.

“Philip says I´m gonna grow into it.”, she answered, mocking the tone of voice her manager had probably had.

 Spencer watched her type something on her phone and a minute later Philip came into the room.

 “Hey, where were you? I got worried.”, he asked them and [y/n] handed him a salad.

“It´s the one you always have.”, he smiled at her.

“Thank you. You´re so nice.”, she shrugged at his words, not really caring.

“Yours is in here too, dog.”, she now told spencer.

 Ah, yes. She was being bitchy again. Spencer had only waited for it to happen. He said nothing, but walked up to the white kitchen isle and took the bag she pointed at.

 “Milkshake, burger, fries. Fast food essentials.”, she stated, finishing her small cheeseburger and getting up to her fridge, taking out a beer. She held it to Spencer who declined and then to Philip who did the same. “Lame asses.”, she chuckled, opening it and standing at the counter, watching Spencer eat. “So you´re here for…?”

“Technically it would be the easiest for all of us, if I just stayed.”, she raised her brows.

“Staying like, in my house staying?”, he nodded and she shook her head. “No chance. I enjoy my solitude.”

“[y/n]. If it´s easier for the agent and better for you…”, she sighed, opening a drawer and taking out some pills, swallowing them with her beer. “Fucking hell. But don´t expect me to be considerate of you.”, the rockstar told him.

“Should you consume them with alcohol?”, Spencer asked, taking a bite of his burger and she shrugged.

“I´m going to sleep…you guys…do what you want, I don’t care…”

“Do you need me to do your laundry?”, Philip asked and [y/n] shrugged again, it seemed to be her favorite motion. As she walked down the hallways and Phillip yelled after her. “Don’t forget that you have a gig tonight, [y/n]!”

“THAT`S WHY I`M GOING TO SLEEP NOW, DUMB ASS! WAKE ME UP WHEN WE NEED TO GO!”, she yelled back, followed by the smashing of a door.

 “She´s a nice girl.”, Philip said in the middle of the silence, as Spencer took place on one of the barstools.

“Like a car crash.”, the man in his fifties chuckled.

“I know she´s difficult, but in here she´s good.”, he pointed at his heart. “She has suffered a lot of losses in her life.”

“Then, just as a random thought, you should get into therapy before she OD´s.”, Spencer answered sassy.

“I know what you mean. But as long as she doesn’t want help or overdoes it…she has a system.”, Spencer let his head fall back and groaned.

“You know about that fucking thing?” “You too?”, Philip asked back in surprise. “Profiler. Took me no longer than the nap in her car, to figure that out.”

 Yes, a small lie from Spencer, but it sounded better then: Oh yes, I was addicted to dilaudid once. I had a system too!

 “Tell me, how does that train wreck of a system work?”, Philip leaned back from his salad.

“Well, she takes her painkillers in the morning and smokes some cannabis to get out of bed. When we´re touring or she has to be at shootings, interviews or anything else that needs her to focus, she only smokes and takes the pills all day, alcohol in water bottles is a new one though.”, Spencer sighed and thought if he even wanted to know more.

“And when she´s alone or not busy?” “Then she does the harder stuff.” “Harder stuff like cocaine, LSD…?”, Philip nodded. “Nothing with needles though…she´s scared of them.”

“She will not always be, if she continues like that.” “I know. That´s why I do my best to keep her busy. She even has her own recording studio here, knows how to handle everything herself. I thought it might make her spend more time making music than getting high. I also go out with her a lot, to a point where my wife starts to get jealous.”, he laughed bittersweetly. “Have you ever been to Disney World, agent?”, Spencer shook his head. “I take [y/n] there once a week, because she likes it there. I spend more time with her there then with my own daughter.”, [y/n] was famous, no chance people wouldn’t notice her.

“Does she even get to do anything there?”

“Not often. She mostly meets her fans there, but she loves that a lot. She is really sweet to them too, they mean everything to her.”

 That was the first time Philip had said something that was true about [y/n]. She had, not once been mean to a fan. The complete opposite actually. She had been nice and thoughtful, going out of her way to make the woman at the Drive-Through happy and was nice to Luke.

 “I know she was a little mean to you today, but she also bought us food, seeing it as a matter of course. There are two sides to every person, like a coin.”, Like a coin, just that [y/n] sides flipped as quickly like one too. Philip sighed and got up from his barstool. “I´ll show you around a little, if you want to.”

 Spencer nodded, getting up, following the short man around the house.

 *****

 [y/n] had been right.

It was way too big and many of the rooms were empty. When Spencer asked Philip about the necessity of such a big mansion, he told him, that he had hoped to motivate [y/n] to have a family one day. But now the only rooms in use were her bedroom, one of the five guest bedrooms, which Spencer got to stay in, the open living area with kitchen and living room, the recording studio and a little library. The latter made Spencer a little jealous. In the middle of the room even stood a white piano with notes on it. [y/n] also had a lot of books, all dusty, because she never read anymore. He would´ve killed to have his own library…she probably didn’t even value what she had.

 When they returned into the living area, Philip gave Spencer some spare keys, beginning to clean up a little and putting the food in the fridge. [y/n] didn’t lie, when she said, she only had alcohol at home. JJ came over and brought Spencer his go bag, asking him how it was going. Of course he said he was doing great, but couldn’t help but rant to her about [y/n]´s behavior.

 “Well, she is an addict, Spence. You know how erratic some drugs can make you.”, he nodded.

“Yeah, but she really tries pushing me and then, one second to the other, she´s nice and polite. Have you talked to her bandmates?”, JJ laughed.

“Way too long. We had interviews with them and then Luke just couldn’t stop talking to them, he has also taken about a million pictures with them and facetimed Penelope so she could meet them too.”, Spencer chuckled.

“Sounds like they had a good time. Anything else happened? Found out something?”

“[y/n]´s mother was an addict and left the family when she was younger. When she found out her daughter was famous, she got back in touch with her, to borrow money. [y/n] didn’t care and even got her to live with her, in one of the guest bedrooms. She overdosed a few months ago, since then [y/n]´s addiction got worse.”, Spencer´s eyes got wide.

“She didn’t die in the guest bedroom though, right?”

 Just as JJ wanted to answer, [y/n] walked in. Philip walking behind her with a duffle bag.

 “She died in the bathroom and she didn’t overdose perse, she drowned after falling unconscious in the bathtub, while being high.”, she answered cold, seeming to have overheard their conversation. [y/n] grabbed a beer from the fridge and continued calmly while taking some colorful pills. “I found her. The bathroom that it happened in is always locked. Don´t worry.”, Philip fidgeted a little with his hands, looking for his keys.

“Uh-Uhm. Agents? We need to go. The concert…”

“You coming too?”, [y/n] asked, looking at JJ and she shrugged. “We could also invite the cute one…Luke. It´s about 20.000 people so two more won´t hurt…right Philly?”, Phillip nodded.

“You´re all invited. SSA Prentiss as well.”, he said and JJ smiled at them.

“Thank you. That´s very nice, but I´ll have to talk to them first.”, [y/n] shrugged at that and drank her beer.

“You have my number, just call when you know. We start half past eight.”, Philip then took the empty beer bottle from [y/n] and threw it away. “Show time.”

 *****

 Half an hour into the concert Luke had shown up, completely hyped.

 “What did I miss? We had some ex-staff members to talk to. Did they already play ‘Going to Hell’?”, Spencer nodded. “Argh, dammit. Doesn’t matter, that song´s amazing too.”

 During the whole concert Spencer watched [y/n]. The music wasn’t that bad, a little harsh, but it was mix of hard and alternative rock after all. At least that´s what Penelope said, when Luke started facetiming her. After the last costume change, Spencer pulled [y/n] aside. He asked her to not be so ‘touchy’ with her fans. Since she would kneel down and hold their hands. He tried telling her about the risks of having the unsub in the audience, but she only laughed.

 “I´ll be as touchy as I want, bitch.”, he started to frown.

“At least don’t stagedive. Luke says you always do that and the risk of the unsub use-“, she interrupted him, wanting to go on stage.

“Fuck off, dog.”, he held her arm, trying to reason with her.

“Can you ple-“, she tried pulling away, like an angry child.

“No.” “Stop being so fuck-“, [y/n] interrupted him again.

“Stop trying to fucking babysit me.”

“I just want to hel-“, she ripped her arm away. “Yeah, fuck you too.”, the rockstar answered, not letting him finish and walked back on stage.

 Philip walked up to Spencer, having seem the ordeal of him trying to talk to [y/n] and him now  driving the heel of his palm into his eyes. This girl gave him migraines.

 “What happened?”, Philip asked and Luke answered for Spencer.

“He told her not to stagedive.”, Philip laughed a little and shook his head.

“Oh yeah. Never tell her what to do. She hates that and then does it out of spite.”

“You don’t say?”, Spencer answered sarcastically.

 On stage [y/n] took her microphone, saying something to her bandmates and then smiling sweetly, while talking to her fans.

 “This next song is for my lovely new babysitter, who thinks he can tell me what to do.”, the crowd started booing and she laughed. “I know, I know. But it looks like he doesn’t know how things work around here…So I think we have to help him out a little.”

 The music started to play and Luke patted Spencer´s arm.

“She dedicates ‘Heaven Knows’ to you! Penny have you heard? She sings ‘Heaven Knows’ for Reid!”

“NO! SHUT UP!”, the blonde on the phone squeaked.

 He and Garcia started to freak out while Spencer watched [y/n] clapping her thigh and stomping to the beat.

“Jimmy's in the back with a pocket of high

If you listen close, you can hear him cry

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

Sing it!”

She lifted the mic to her audience she started to sing for her.

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below, way down below, way down below

“Judy's in the front seat picking up trash

Livin' on the dole, gotta make that cash

Won't be pretty, won't be sweet

She's just sittin' here on her feet singin'

Oh, Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

Go!”

Again her fans obeyed her, Luke and Penelope freaking out next to Spencer. If it wouldn’t have been a moment, were he had to fear which move she had planned next to unnerve him, he might have even enjoyed this song and the involvement of her fans in it.

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

“Sing, oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below”

She now looked at him for a moment, while her audience sang. Before, again, walking around the stage, touching her fans hands.

Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below

Way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below

“I've had better days, man, I've seen better days

I've had better ways, man, I know better ways

One, two, three and four, the devil's knocking at your door

Caught in the eye of a dead man's lie

Show your life with your head held high

Now you're on your knees with a head on low

Big man tells you where to go

Tell them it's good, tell 'em ok

Don't do a goddamn thing they say”

Spencer was surprised how well her fans knew her lyrics. She would just have to point at them or lift her mic and they would instantly sing were she stopped. Not missing a beat.

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below

Way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below

“I've seen better ways, and I know better ways

I've seen better days, man, I've got better days”

[y/n] now stood at the edge of the stage, back turned to her audience. She smiled directly at Spencer, fingers held like a gun to her head.

“Gina's in the back with a pocket of high

If you listen close you can hear the cryin'”

At the last word she mimicked shooting herself and let herself fall back into the crowd. Her fans got wild and continued her song, while Spencer certainly not in a long time, if ever, felt so much spite and frustration against a woman, other than Cat Adams.

Oh Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

Oh Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below

Singin' oh, Lord, heaven knows, we belong way down below

Oh, Lord, tell us so, we belong way down below

The crown placed [y/n] back on her stage, where she walked up to her bandmates again, waving at Spencer and Luke with the sweetest smile.

Way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below

Way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below, way down below

 *****

 After the concert and the encores she and the band got behind stage, where Spencer for the least thirty minutes had waited to give her a piece of his mind. As [y/n] giggled and walked up to him and Luke. He grabbed her arm, a little harsher than planned.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”, she blinked at his yelling, answering with her innocent eyes blinking and a mocking tone.

“What´s the prob, dog?”

“What´s- Do you really care so little for your own safety?”, Hank came up to them, having seen Spencer´s grip on the girls arm.

“Hey! What´s going on here? [y/n], are you okay?”, Spencer quickly let go of her.

“Yeah, the dog is just pissing himself because I stage dived.”, he quickly took a deep breath.

“I´m not pissing myself, [y/n], but I told you not to do it. What would you have done when your stalker would´ve been in the crowd and lost it? Nobody would´ve been able to get to you fast enough and help!”, Hank looked at her in disappointed shock.

“Is that true, [y/n]?”, the black haired girl ignored her friend and just continued arguing with Spencer.

“Well, maybe I don’t want anybody’s help!”, she hissed at Spencer.

“Then why are we even here?”, Spencer hissed back. “BECAUSE I BRING MONEY! Else the label would let me rot in a fucking corner! GOD! You are ruining my after-show-high. I hate you!”, [y/n] yelled and Spencer tried not to yell back, tried to be the bigger person, only hissing back at her.

“Oh, trust me. That feeling is mutual.”, she swallowed hard and then turned around, stomping away.

 *****

After half an hour waiting, Spencer got a call from Philip, telling him that [y/n] refused to see him again and would be sleeping at his house tonight. He told him, that he should just let himself into the mansion and eat what´s in the fridge. It wasn’t from use, to try talking to [y/n], when she was that angry. Tomorrow Philip would call him and bring her back into Spencer´s care.

Spencer did as told, Luke driving him to the mansion, telling him that it wasn’t his fault. He then got into the large, empty mansion and grabbed himself a well-deserved beer. Being alone in this big house was depressing. After his third beer he stopped, walking into his room.

He pulled his blue and gold sobriety token, he had gotten for being clean ten years, out of his bag. Thumb rubbing over the golden X in the middle of it. He actually had deserved a twelve year token by now, but since prison didn’t actively attended the meetings anymore, having grown past it. Yet, he still kept the tokens he had, close to him.

They reminded him of his achievement, reminded him to be proud at himself.

Spencer never wanted to fall back into the dark hole he was in, when he was addicted, and even when [y/n] would throw tantrum after childish tantrum, she wouldn’t cause him to relapse. He was stronger than this. Stronger than her.

To be continued...

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[ghostgothgeek]

Chaos.

Another for the Phic Phight! This one kinda combines two prompts and I had so much fun writing it! In this, Danny and Tucker don’t know Sam plays video games yet. 5,063 words.

"What do you mean you don’t feel the same way? We´ve had a mutual crush on each other for years." Sam says angrily after finally confessing her love to him. But Danny´s heart was beating hard for someone else entirely. Prompt by phantomfana. 

Danny wants to ask his crush to the upcoming school dance. Prompt by Rikaleeta.

-----

It was another long night of ghost hunting for Danny. Technus took up the first part of the night, trying to take over the park’s new security system. Tucker was fortunately still awake to help him out with that. Then Johnny and Kitty rolled in, but they weren’t looking for trouble, they just wanted a date night and swore they wouldn’t be a problem. Apparently Fridays were their days off for “everything but each other”. Danny was a romantic, but he didn’t know if this was sweet or nauseating. Ember had put up a good fight, though. He was proud he only had one injury to tend to. He had dodged most of her attacks, but she was still a pretty advanced ghost. And, of course, Danny had caught the Box Ghost six, count them, SIX times. How did he always manage to get out?! He wasn’t difficult to take down, he was just a pest. 

Danny sighed as he sat down at his computer chair. It was only 12:30 am, and it was a Friday. He could sleep in tomorrow and he deserved at least a couple hours of fun. He logged into his online gaming account and saw Tucker was online. Figures. He pulled up the chat anyway. 

Astrohaunt: Hey Tuck. Still up?

Technopedia: You know it. Chaos signed on about a half hour ago and I’m not passing up the opportunity.

Astrohaunt: Dude is so good it’s unreal!

Technopedia: He goes to our school, I tracked one of his IP addresses and he logged in at school a few times.

Astrohaunt: Tucker wtf. That’s creepy!

Technopedia: I just want to make sure Chaos is actually a kid and not Lancer again!

Astrohaunt: I still can’t wrap my mind around Lancer playing Doomed…

Technopedia: Same. But Chaos IP is different from Lancer, so we good. Unless more teachers play Doomed.

Astrohaunt: I hate you for putting that image into my brain.

Technopedia: Sorry dude. But quick come join before someone else gets Chaos.

Danny, Tucker, and Chaos had made a great team. Whenever Chaos was around, they were actually able to progress through the game. They played several rounds until Tucker was caught by his mom and was forced to sign off, but Danny and Chaos kept playing. 

TeamChaos: Hey, what’s up?

Astrohaunt: Omg dude you’re so awesome. 

TeamChaos: Ha, thanks. Gotta blow off steam somehow. 

Astrohaunt: Tell me about it! Between Lancer’s three projects and midterms and...other stuff...this is my only time to actually chill. I’ve been so stressed!

TeamChaos: Same. I did finish one of the projects though. I’m always here if you need to talk, you know. 

Astrohaunt: Wow, I may just take you up on that offer. I’ve had a rough night.

TeamChaos: Lay it on me.

And so Danny, sparing the ghost hunting details, stayed up chatting with Chaos until 5 am. He got along really well with the guy, they had a lot of similar interests. This was just the first of many up-all-night conversations they shared. After a few months, Danny felt a special connection with Chaos, and yet, he didn’t even know his name! 

Astrohaunt: We’ve been talking all these months and I still don’t know your name. I’m Danny. 

TeamChaos: Oh, thought you knew. It’s Sam!

Astrohaunt: Hey! One of my best friends is named Sam! 

TeamChaos: You don’t say!!!

The next day at school, Danny pulled Tucker over to him, whispering, “Dude, help. I think I might be gay....” 

“What?!” Tucker shouted.

“Quiet, Tuck!” 

“Okay, well uh...why?” Tucker sent him a weird look and took a step back. 

“No, not you. Chaos. I think I have a crush on Chaos.” Danny ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do! I never thought I’d be...you know. Chaos and I just have good conversations and he’s always there to listen to me when I need to vent. I thought maybe I found another best friend but...this is different. Chaos is so cool and I’m crushing and I don’t even know who he is or what he looks like! Or if he feels the same way! Maybe I’m just stupid and-”

“Dude, chill. You’re jumping too far ahead of yourself. Whichever way you, you know, swing...I’m still your best friend.” Tucker pulled out his PDA. “Let me see what I can find out. I know Chaos goes to our school.”

“Thanks, Tuck. As if being half ghost wasn’t hard enough! Oh, and he’s in our class, because he’s talked me through assignments and knows what they are and stuff. He’s almost as good as explaining things as Sam. Crap...Sam. Don’t tell her about this!” Danny started fidgeting. 

“Well,” Tucker raised his eyebrows in surprise, “I can tell you with absolute certainty that Chaos is definitely a girl.” 

“You found out who Chaos is?!” 

“What, like it’s hard?” Tucker chuckled. “I traced the IP addresses she uses. I know who she is. So do you,” Tucker smirked, “It shocked me at first, but it makes total sense! And I can totally see why you like her.” 

“Really?” Danny let out a breath in relief. “Okay that makes me feel a lot better...hey, maybe I can ask Chaos to the dance next Saturday!” 

Tucker rested a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Go for it. Ask Sam. I’m almost positive she’ll say yes.”

“Okay, I will...wait, not Sam! Chaos!” Danny clarified. “Well, actually, I think Chaos told me her name was Sam. Ha, small world. I can’t wait to introduce Sam to Sam. I think they would really get along.” 

Tucker busted out laughing, “Oh, dude. You go ahead and do that.” He left Danny standing there in the hallway, still laughing all the way to his next class.

Danny, a bit confused by Tucker’s laughter, shook his head and smiled to himself. Okay, good. He’d had enough identity crises to fill a lifetime. Chaos was definitely a girl. Now if he just knew Chaos returned his feelings, things might actually work out for him this time and he could actually have a girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Sam was having an internal debate of her own. Sitting in a class where the teacher couldn’t give two shits about what the students were doing, she had always used this class as her thinking time. Usually her thinking-about-Danny time. She nervously clicked her pen as she thought about recent events. 

She and Danny spent so much time chatting online when they weren’t hanging out in person. Danny was a little bit more bold online, probably because he didn’t have to interact face-to-face or risk his pants falling down in public again. Online, they talked about everything. No topic was off limits. Plus, Sam felt like their friendship had only grown even stronger when they could chat online and not have to worry about blushing or getting teased by Tucker. Chatting online took away all the pressure and made it much easier to connect with Danny. 

Danny hadn’t said anything yet, of course. He was probably scared. Hell, she was scared. She was already so in love with him, and getting closer online only further solidified that fact. She had never been in love before, and even though she hunts ghosts, this was more terrifying! She was fairly certain he returned her feelings, but both were too chicken to actually make that final step. They’ve been best friends forever. She didn’t want to mess up their already great dynamic or force Tucker to be the third wheel, though he did insist he was more than okay with that and encouraged them to finally get together. 

Sam stopped clicking her pen as she suddenly remembered it was senior year. They hadn’t picked colleges yet, but whether they ended up going to the same school or not, things were going to change. Danny was very attractive, and going off to college meant girls may actually approach him when they didn’t know his parents were ghost fighters. The fact had never bothered Sam, but she did kind of like how it kept most girls at school from asking him out or giving him attention. Valerie had been a challenge, especially because she was a ghost hunter herself and probably wanted to get tips from his parents. Sam was glad that relationship ended relatively early. It was too hard on her. Joyous or not, though, she was still mad at Valerie for how she broke his heart. 

But that was 2 years ago. They had all moved on and friendships were more or less mended across the board. This made Sam glance at her favorite picture of her and Danny. Tucker had taken the candid picture and it was now her phone’s background. In it, Danny was giving Sam a piggyback ride. Her arms were lightly strung around his neck, legs looped around his waist. Danny had kept going in the opposite direction Sam told him to go, which frustrated her but also made her laugh. She had rested her chin on his shoulder, her face pressed right up against his. Danny was looking at her and Tucker had captured that rare moment when Sam had a huge grin on her face, still laughing. She smiled at the picture. They would be okay no matter what. Their friendship would survive.

Anyway, Sam also realized she had already come close to losing Danny, in more ways than one. Whether it was to other girls or a ghost, there was always that anxiety stirring in her head that she could lose him entirely some day. Life was too short. She needed to take the plunge for both of them and just get them both over this hurdle, and they could finally, finally, actually get together. 

Sam made her decision. It was now or never. She was going to tell him. Today. The trio was meeting up at Danny’s house later anyway, and if she got there early enough, she could talk to him before Tucker showed up and teased them about it. Sam firmly nodded her head to herself, a confirmation of her decision. It was finally time.

After school, Danny was pacing in his room, trying to figure out how he wanted to do this. Asking a girl to the dance wasn’t a huge deal, and yet at the same time, it was. He would rather ask in person, but he still didn’t know what Chaos looked like, so asking in person seemed to be off the table. He could look in the yearbook for all the girls named Sam at their school. He could already omit one Sam Manson from that list. How many Sams could possibly attend their school? It would be easier to ask Tucker, though. Tucker already knew who she was. Sam and Tucker were on their way over right now. When Sam wasn’t paying attention, he could ask Tucker for Sam’s full name. 

Chaos Sam, not best friend Sam. God, this was so confusing. Why were girls so hard for him? Freshman year, Paulina only liked his ghost half and wouldn’t give his human half the time of day. Sophomore year, Valerie hated his ghost half and that hatred was more important to her than her feelings for his human half. Junior year, he had been denying that he was in love with his best friend. And now that he had finally accepted that he did like his best friend as much more than a friend, a new girl entered the picture and he now found himself trying to choose between two Sams. Because it apparently wasn’t hard enough for him already to make the biggest and most important change he could possibly make in a friendship, let’s add another crush to the mix and give them the same name.

Sam. Best friend Sam - that’s who he was planning on asking originally, even if he chickened out and had to ask her as a friend instead. Plus, he and Sam had somehow gotten closer recently, and he was pretty sure she liked him. Sure, it was only because Tucker told him so, but it was a possibility. The thing was, he didn’t want to ruin things. Especially because he truly didn’t know how Sam, best friend Sam, felt about him. She was a tough and courageous girl, surely she would have said something by now if it were true. So Tucker must be pulling his leg.

But he did have another option - Chaos Sam, who may actually return his feelings. Sure, the feelings weren’t nearly as strong as what he felt for his best friend, but the feelings were still there. Plus, if he got rejected by Chaos, it would be less heartbreaking than being rejected by Sam, someone he had known for years rather than months. He could deal with losing a newer friend, but not one of his best friends. Sam was too important and he knew he needed her in his life.

Danny sighed. This was really hard, but he made a decision. It was easier to go with Chaos than risk ruining things with Sam. Danny had enough drama going on in his life already, he needed an easy win. 

He broke from his thoughts when the doorbell rang. He ran downstairs and opened it, only slightly surprised to see Sam there. She was usually early for things. He and Tuck were more prone to being late. 

“Hey, Sam. Come on in!” Danny moved so Sam could enter his house. He shut the door and followed her upstairs and back to his room as she returned his greeting. She was pacing the same path he just had, muttering quietly to herself. She looked nervous. “Something on your mind?” 

Sam was startled out of her thoughts. “Huh? Oh yeah.” She noticed his disheveled appearance, also noting he was fidgety. Was he going to do what she was about to do? “What about you, you look like you’ve been thinking a little too hard about something.” She smiled softly. 

Danny chuckled, “Yeah, but it’ll resolve itself soon. I’ll worry about it after the movies. Tuck should be here any second. Oh, but I’m glad you’re early. Can you help me with something quick?” 

“Of course.” Sam followed him to his desk, smiling and rolling her eyes when he pointed to a homework problem. “I should have known.” 

Danny gave her a lopsided smile and watched as she showed him how to do the problem in her perfect handwriting. It took no more than a couple of minutes. Now, they were just waiting for Tucker to arrive. 

Sam looked at the time. He would be here soon. She needed to do this now. She needed to tell Danny. She couldn’t wait until after the movies for him to tell her. She had already waited long enough and couldn’t bear another second.

“Danny, can I talk to you for a second?” She sat down on his bed and gestured for him to do the same. 

Danny could sense the seriousness in her voice, and nodded anxiously. He was scared when Sam was serious about things. It was usually something bad.

“Danny…” She decided to get straight to the point. “I like you. As in like-like you. More than like, and more than a friend. And we’ve been doing this dancing around for at least 4 years now and I’m sick of it. I just want to be with you already. What do you say?” Sam held her breath as she waited for Danny to answer. 

He stared at her with wide eyes before nervously rubbing the back of his neck and turning his attention to his shoes, avoiding eye contact with the goth. God, why him?! He had stupidly thought, for once, things would be easier for him this time. He had already sent an offline message to Chaos that he wanted to ask her something, and then Sam had to come along and tell him what he had wanted to hear for some time now. But he couldn’t blow Chaos off when he had already somewhat asked. Of course, his life just had to be complicated every step of the way. He really liked both girls and didn’t want to hurt his best friend. Regardless, he had to be honest. He owed Sam that much. “Well, I mean, yeah, but…” 

“But what?” Sam whispered, clearly already upset. Fuck. Fuck fuck FUCK. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. He decided to try going with Chaos so he could avoid heartbreak from his best friend. The very thing he had been so afraid of, he was doing to her right now. 

Danny sighed again. “But I can’t. I’m so sorry, Sam.” It was hard to choke out, but he said it, and he felt terrible. He pressed his lips together and kept staring at his shoes until Sam lifted his chin up, forcing him to look at her. 

“What do you mean you don’t feel the same way? We’ve had mutual crushes on each other for years!” Sam said angrily, feeling her heart break as her best friend and love of her life rejected her confession of love. She was so sure he returned her feelings! Especially after all the great conversations they had shared online these last few months. “Or, at least, I thought we did.” Tears swelled in her eyes. Did he lead her on? “I-I need an explanation, Danny,” she quietly stated after he didn’t continue. 

Danny frowned and his heart ached. He didn’t want to hurt his best friend like this. Hell, he really liked her! Of course their crushes were mutual! And if this had happened 6 months ago instead of now, he would have jumped at the chance. But now...now he had Chaos and already forced himself to stick with his decision. It was easy with Chaos; there was no friendship to risk, no denying of being lovebirds or brushing off kisses as fakeout makeouts. Plus, he couldn’t lie to his best friend. She would know if he was lying. And he already told himself she deserved the truth. “There’s...someone else…” 

“What?” Sam whispered before turning angry again, “Paulina? Valerie? Star?” she spat out. 

Danny shook his head, “Ew, no...it’s someone I met online...I’m so sorry, Sam. I like you a lot, I really do, but I think I’ve already come to the conclusion that I like this girl I met online, Chaos, and I have to try to see that through.” 

Many emotions crossed Sam’s face as she pieced together what he just said. At first she was upset, but as he explained himself, she felt disbelief, confusion, anger, and finally, hope. He couldn’t really be that clueless, right? “Show me.” 

“Huh? I mean, I don’t actually know what she looks like, but we message every night and she really understands me! I know it sounds ridiculous, but-” 

“Show me,” Sam repeated. “Show me her profile.” 

“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?” Danny questioned cautiously.

“No, of course not. Just shut up and show me the profile.” Sam was more calm now, and that was kind of scary. Even though Sam said she wouldn’t hurt Chaos, he didn’t want to give her the chance. But he knew how stubborn his friend was, and eventually in whatever way, she would force the information out of him. 

Danny sighed and pulled up the profile to show Sam. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m still your best frien-” 

“Shut up.” Sam scrolled through what Danny pulled up for her and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Closing her eyes slowly, she took a deep breath. “Didn’t Chaos tell you her name?” 

“Uh,” Danny thought, “oh yeah! She said her name was Sam, because I thought she was a boy at first and I had an existential crisis, but then Tucker told me-” 

“Danny. I’m Sam.” 

“No I know, and sure it’ll be a little weird cause you’re Sam and she’s Sam, it’s confusing, but I-” 

Sam interrupted him once again. She could hear Tucker’s footsteps approaching. She was running out of time to not make this a spectacle. “No, Danny. Chaos. Sam. Me. I’m Sam. I am Sam,” 

Tucker only heard the tail end of the conversation as he entered the room. Never able to pass up a comedic opportunity, he smirked and added “I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham!” 

It was suddenly silent in the room as his friends seized conversation and glared at him. Oops. 

“Oh, am I interrupting something?” Tucker could see the fire in Sam’s eyes. “Uh, oh wait I forgot my...sock. I’ll be downstairs!” He raced out of the room.

Sam turned her attention back to Danny. “No, you stupid fucking MORON. I am Chaos. You’ve been talking to me the whole time. I thought you knew that!” Danny stared at her blankly until she pulled out her phone and he watched her log into her account, proving it to him. Sure enough, it was Chaos’s profile. He could see all the direct messages between them, including his offline message about wanting to ask her something.

“Wait, you? You’re Sam? I mean, Chaos? I mean Sam?” Danny looked back and forth between the profile and his best friend. 

“UGH!” Sam shouted as she threw her hands in the air. “Yes, Danny. That’s me! Did you really not notice that Chaos was the same age as me and a girl who goes to our school? We have the same name and interests! Didn’t you wonder why it was so easy to talk right off the bat? I thought you put that all together and us just pretending to not know each other was a little bit you were trying to do or something!” 

Danny stared at her as he continued to piece it all together. He was definitely embarrassed. He felt so stupid. How could he not tell that Chaos was Sam, his best friend since 7th grade? Talk about being totally clueless. 

Wait. Clueless? Well, fuck! He got the nickname now! 

His eyes flickered back and forth as he thought everything through. Eventually, he started to crack a smile. “Wait, so I’ve had a crush on you and also you? You’re the same person! This is great! Do you know what this means?!” 

Sam slapped her forehead and began walking downstairs. “I don’t even know if this is worth it anymore…” 

“Wait, how come Tuck and I never knew you played video games! We can enter team tournaments! You’re so good!” Danny chased after her. 

Tucker watched as Sam grumbled about Danny caring more about video games than her. An excited Danny was right on her tail. 

“Tucker! Sam is Chaos! I’ve been in love with Sam this whole time!” Danny explained. 

“Tucker, I need you to refrain me from slapping his stupid clueless face,” Sam started. 

“Wait, you didn’t know Sam was Chaos? Dude! I thought I was obvious about that!” Tucker began laughing at Danny. 

“I know, so did I.” Sam crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Danny, you can calculate levels of rocket fuel and figure out how to get us to Mercury or something,” Tucker started. 

“Mars, actually,” Danny corrected. 

“But you can’t figure out that your best friend and your crush are the same person? You’re more than Captain Clueless, you’re like….Lieutenant Clueless? That’s like, bigger right?” Tucker continued. 

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Tuck,” Sam chimed in. 

“Shut up Sam, this isn’t about you,” Tucker immediately stopped his train of thought when he felt Sam glaring daggers at him. “Heh, uh. Except it does. It actually has nothing to do with me. I’m sorry I told you to shut up, please don’t hurt me!” He threw his hands up in front of himself in defense. 

“Relax, Tucker. I’m more angry with this fucking dingus,” she pointed her thumb in Danny’s direction. 

The halfa was about to protest, then closed his mouth. “That’s fair, I deserve that.” 

“I can’t even look at you right now. You scared me! I poured out my emotions to you. I thought you were rejecting me and that I would have to change my name and move to a different country! Wait, are you still rejecting me?” Sam stopped her pacing to look at him. 

“Of course not, Sammy!” 

“Oh don’t you ‘Sammy’ me! I told you I love you, you stupid fucking idiot!” Sam began throwing pillows at Danny, who expertly dodged them (though as a result, Tucker got hit in the face by one). 

“Technically, you didn’t say ‘love’ you said ‘like’”, Danny offered as Tucker shook his head and slashed finger across his neck, signaling Danny to stop talking. 

“Oh, I’m sorry! This is all my fault! I’m going to go jump off a cliff now!” Sam growled and Danny let out a small “oomph” as one of the pillows finally got him. 

“I’m out. Good luck, bro!” Tucker quickly slipped out the door, leaving Danny and Sam alone. 

Sam was about to follow Tucker out when Danny stopped her, “please don’t leave!” She still had angry tears in her eyes. He frowned. This was not how he expected things to go. She watched him for a few seconds before sitting down on the couch, refusing to look at him. “Sam I’m so sorry, this is just a huge misunderstanding.”

“No, Danny. It’s not. You were going to turn me down to go out with someone else.”

“But that someone was still you!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t know that! We’ve been friends for years, and you were more interested in someone you just met a few months ago! I don’t want to be anyone’s second choice, Danny! I’ve been standing by for years as you continuously chose other girls over me. I thought we were done with that, and that you were finally choosing me first, but you won’t and you never will and I’m so stupid.” Sam put her head in her hands as she tried her hardest not to let tears fall. 

And that was when he finally figured it out. It wasn’t just the moment of rejection, it was years of rejection, and at her biggest confession, she still thought he was choosing someone over her. Not to mention, Tucker witnessed most of the conversation. Sam rarely showed her emotions. She always had her heart guarded, and he knew this. Tucker knew this. Hell, she didn’t even tell them she was rich until after a few years of friendship. It took them a while to get her to open up to them. She was a pretty private person. She was probably already hurt like this before. And now, she was probably embarrassed.

“You’re definitely not stupid. I’m stupid. I should have known it was you. That was actually what I really liked about Chaos, she reminded me of you.” 

Sam forced a small sarcastic laugh, “Yeah, right.” 

“No really,” Danny sat on the couch next to her and grabbed her hand, placing it in both of his. “Sam, you’re absolutely incredible. How dumb would I have to be to not notice?” Sam gave him a pointed look. “Okay yeah but it’s not the way you think it is. I liked Chaos because she was a lot like you. She reminded me of you. And it just seemed easier to go with her because she was basically you, but she and I didn’t have a really great friendship that could have gotten ruined if we broke up or something. I could live without her, but I can’t live without you. You’re always my number one. Always have been, always will be. Even if I did just fuck everything up. I’m so sorry, Sam. I’m ready to be with you, if you’ll still have me.” 

Sam stayed silent and stared at her lap, processing this new information. Of course she would forgive him; she always did. She just needed a little time. 

Danny was getting nervous that he really did fuck this up for good. This was so fucking important! He couldn’t risk fucking this up! Sensing her hesitation, Danny tried one more thing to get her back. One thing he hasn’t done before. One thing he just learned how to perfect.  

“Sammy, I’m sorry,” a duplicate popped up next to her on the other side of the couch, startling her. 

“Please forgive me?” Another duplicate was floating in front of her, hanging upside down, hair flopping all over the place. 

“I know I’m a dummy but,” Sam snapped her head towards a third duplicate. 

“I’m only a dummy because I’m in love. With you,” the real Danny finished. Sam looked back and forth between all the Dannys.  

“We’re sorry, Sammy,” all the duplicates said at once. 

Sam was trying really hard to hold back a smile. “You learned how to duplicate,” she stated simply. 

Original Danny grabbed her hands. “Sam. I will make this up to you. I promise.” 

She could hear the determination in his voice and sighed. “You better.” 

Danny smiled and hugged her. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! I love you so much!”

Sam pushed him off of her. “I love you too, you fucking idiot.” 

“But I get to be your idiot!” Sam couldn’t hold her laughter back anymore. “Oh!” Danny shouted, “Will you go to the dance with me? Please?” 

Sam pretended to ponder the answer before saying “alright”. 

“Yay!” All 4 Dannys cheered. The duplicates on either side of her kissed her cheeks as the real Danny kissed her forehead tenderly. The final duplicate, feeling left out, squeezed his way in to give her a hug. 

Sam was now roaring with laughter before kissing the real Danny sweetly. “You know, duplicates won’t always get you out of trouble,” she warned. 

“Yeah, but they could come in handy for other things,” he wagged his eyebrows up and down suggestively before passionately kissing her, the duplicates kissing her neck and touching her in near-dangerous places. 

Sam bit back a moan, eyes lustful before smirking, “I think you just found a way to make it up to me.” She began dragging the real Danny and one of his duplicates back to his room. Fuck the movies.

[winterfluffs]

Santa Isn’t Real.....Right?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader

Summary: Someone has told your daughter that Santa isn’t real. Your husband is not too pleased. 

Warnings: Mostly fluff. A couple of swear words. Tiiiiiiiniest bit of implied smut.

Word count: 2.4k

Author’s notes: Thank you all so much to the people who have liked or reblogged the first story that was posted (I have now figured out how to make a cut!). It really means a lot!  This drabble, one-shot - whatever you’d like to call it was so much fun to write; just in time for Christmas! I hope you all like it as well. Also, it is a LONG one. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy Holidays!

(* “Honey, go to bed.”)

“Who told my kid that Santa isn’t real?!” A voice boomed through the halls, heavy footsteps quickly stomping through the quiet compound. 

“Shit. Hide.” Clint Barton's eyes widened as he looked around at the people spread out in the living room. The heavy footsteps came quicker causing everyone in the room to run back to their rooms fear of what was going to happen.

----

 “Daddy!” A tiny teary voice cried out from the hallway. 

Bucky Barnes groggily opened his eyes, his ears immediately picking up on the soft crying. “Whsm?” He grumbled before sitting up and rubbing at his tired eyes. It was only 2 A.M. and he had just gotten to sleep an hour and a half ago. 

“Buck?” He felt you stir, your hand reaching out to pull his body back to yours.

“Daddy.” The soft crying was closer, coming from the doorway of yours and his bedroom.

“Belley?” you mumbled sitting up next to Bucky. A yawn escaped both your lips as your sniffling four-year-old daughter crawled up the bed. “Honey, what’s wrong?” 

“Daddy.” Isabelle looked at her father with tear filled blue eyes, her bottom lip quivering as Bucky wrapped his arms around her. 

“It’s okay, baby. Daddy’s here.” He cooed sweetly in her ear his vibranium hand making slow comforting circles on her back. 

You watched as Bucky whispered sweet words in your daughter’s ear in an attempt to calm her down from whatever had shaken her; your heart ready to burst with love at the sight. 

“Belley, tell daddy what’s wrong.” He cradled her close, rocking her in a comforting sway. 

“Santa isn’t real!” the little girl sobbed, her tiny hands wrapping around her father’s neck while she cried into his chest. 

Bucky's jaw clenched as he looked at you with slight worry. James Barnes had always been beautiful to you; but right now, seeing his jaw clench and already knowing what was going through his mind, he was breathtaking. He was in protector mode – a way he had always been with you but became even more fierce when your daughter was born. The day he found out you were pregnant he swore no one would ever hurt his little girl. Ever. And if someone did, he would make them pay.

“Baby, what do you mean Santa isn’t real? Of course Santa is real.” You joined your other half in trying to soothe your daughter’s tears.

“No! Santa isn’t real!” she spat back at you before clinging back onto her father. 

Your mind went back to the day you both found out you were expecting. Bucky knew, without a doubt, the baby would be a girl; his princess, a complete daddy’s girl, the spitting image of the dark-haired, blue-eyed man that had stolen your heart.

 And she was. 

From the moment Isabelle Marie Barnes made her entrance in this world she had her father wrapped around her little fingers. Everything Bucky did was for you and your little miracle. All the late nights staying up to finish a report, the even later nights spent training, his reluctance to do missions that would take him away from home for too long – it all was for you and your baby. 

Bucky refused to be a dad that wouldn’t be there for his child, and to yours and Bucky's surprise, the rest of the team had agreed as well. Steve and Tony especially. 

You blinked away the tears that were forming in your eyes, shaking off the sudden emotions to hormonal changes due to your being six-and-a-half-months pregnant with your second child.

“Baby, you need to tell me what happened.” Bucky’s jaw twitched again. You saw the anger forming in his eyes and placed a loving hand on his arm, squeezing it slightly. He looked at you, his resolve coming undone as he met your gaze. “Honey, Santa is very real. How else do you think you get presents on Christmas Eve?” he spoke quietly, deep blue eyes looking into even deeper bluer eyes.

 Isabelle stayed quiet yet looked between you and her dad. “Sweetheart, did you have a bad dream?” you moved her long tangled dark hair away from her face. She looked so much like her father your heart ached. 

Isabelle shook her head pouting while doing so.

“It’s okay, baby. You can tell mommy and daddy what happened. We won’t get mad.” You smiled at her yet gave your husband a stern look. The super soldier rolled his eyes then kissed your little girl’s hair, his head resting on top of hers. “Right, daddy?” 

Bucky shot you a look then sighed heavily. “Mommy and daddy won’t get mad, sweetheart. We promise.”

Feeling slightly better at your admission, Isabelle sat down on her father’s lap, her tiny fingers running along Bucky’s vibranium arm. “I was in my room when I heard a noise.”

“Honey, that was just daddy going to bed.” Bucky let out a loud laugh, the tension instantly gone from his face.

“Daddy, let me finish.” She looked back at him with a stern look. The same look you always gave him whenever he was teetering the thin line between being stupid and wanting to sleep on the couch. 

“Sorry.” You both hid a smile; you still in awe at how formal your child was at the age of four. Maybe it was the enhanced serum in her veins, or maybe it was just your thickheaded stubbornness, but your daughter was an absolute force to reckon with. So much so that she even gave Black Widow a run for her money. 

 “I heard a noise and went out to see what it was.” She sniffed, her head resting against Bucky’s chest.

 “Honey, you know you should have been in bed.” You sighed suddenly feeling exhausted.

“Mommy. You promised.” Her dark blue eyes landed on you.

“Yeah, mommy.” Bucky smirked giving you a playful look. You rolled your eyes yet couldn’t help but smile as well.

“I went out in the living room and saw someone taking presents from the tree! I asked if he was Santa and the man said that Santa wasn’t real.” Isabelle’s bottom lip quivered causing your heart to ache.

Bucky’s face had gone hard. The twitch in his jaw told you everything you needed to know. 

“Honey, Santa is most definitely real. Right, daddy?” you urged your husband to smile, pleading with him not to say anything. 

“Yeah, baby. Santa’s real.” He spoke lowly, his eyes focusing on the open door.

 “How do you know, daddy?” Isabelle looked up hope filling her pretty eyes.

“Oh, I never told you before?” he snapped out of his trance and looked down at his daughter.

“No! Tell me what! Daddy!” she bounced in his lap; her previous worries quickly turned into curiosity.  

“I’m going to tell you but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone.” He whispered.

“Not even mommy?” her eyes widened.

 “Mommy already knows.” He gave you a smile as you rested your head on his shoulder. 

“What I’m about to tell you is very important. You have to promise me you won’t tell a single word to anyone.” 

“Not Uncle Steve?”

“Not Uncle Steve.”

“Not even Aunt Tasha?!”

“Not even Aunt Natasha.”

Isabelle looked up to face her father, the look of awe and wonder etched on her brow made Bucky almost break. He loved nothing more in his life than you, your daughter, and the little one growing inside of you; his heart clenched at the thought of any of you ever being unhappy. 

“Okay, daddy.” Isabelle nodded her head seriously. 

Your husband kissed you on the top of your head with a smile before turning back to your daughter. “I know Santa is real because I’ve seen him myself.” He whispered causing Isabelle to gasp out loud. 

“You…..ve seen Santa.” She whispered, her little mind spinning with the newly found news.

“Sure have. One Christmas Eve I was coming home late from work, even later than it is right now, and when I opened the door, there was a big man in a red suit with a long white beard. He had the biggest sack of presents I have ever seen. I tried to sneak away but he caught me.” Bucky’s eyes widened to match his daughter’s, her little body clinging to his every word.

“What happened next?”

“He looked at me and said, ‘James Barnes, I know what you seek in life, what you have always sought out. By midday today you will have found what you are looking for.’ And then with a smile and a wink, he flew up the chimney.” 

“Wowwwwww!” Isabelle gaped in disbelief. Her daddy! And Santa Claus! Clearly Santa was real because daddy knew everything and she also knew that daddy would never lie to her. Of course Santa was real! There was just one thing still bothering her. “Dad, what did Santa mean when he said all that weird stuff to you?”

“He meant that I would find mommy. He gave me your mommy. And then he gave me you. My best girls.” 

You looked up to find him beaming at the both of you. Your heart burst with love for him and your little family. Your one true love and happiness.

“I think it’s time we all get back to bed. We don’t want to miss Santa!” You gasped suddenly. “I think I hear footprints on the roof!”

“Oh no, mommy!” your little one gasped and flew off the bed racing down the hall to her bedroom. 

“I love you, Barnes. Thank you for always taking such good care of us.” You whispered your eyes meeting your husband’s.

“I love you, doll. More than you both will ever know.” He smiled and kissed you gently. “Let’s go make sure she’s actually in bed.” He laughed while wrapping his arm around your waist and hugging you close as you walked to your daughter’s room.

----

“Night, munchkin. Olive you.” Bucky kissed his daughter’s forehead then pulled away with a smile. 

“Olive you, daddy.” Isabelle giggled while hugging her favorite stuffed animal to her. 

“Tuck the little one in and I’ll meet you back in bed. I have something to finish first but I’ll meet you straight back there.” 

“Babe, you aren’t going to do something stupid.” You gave him a look. That same look your four-year-old gave him just a little while ago. When your husband refused to meet your eye, you tried again. “James.” His cool blue eyes stared back into yours, a hint of threat still clouding his vision as he quietly cursed himself for inability to hide his emotions from you. “Baby, please.” 

Bucky sighed then nodded. He hated to love when you used his first name to get him to calm down. No one else had that power over him, and there was absolutely NO ONE else allowed to call him by his first name other than you. And maybe Santa, if Isabelle was asking. 

“Thank you.” You mouthed before turning to your little one. “Night, baby.” You kissed your daughter’s head with a tired smile. It was just past 3 A.M. and you wanted nothing more than to slip back into your warm bed, your arms around your husband as the both of you drifted off to sleep. “I love you, kiddo. Get some sleep.” 

“I love you. Night, mommy.” She yawned sleepily. You quietly shut the door and went to turn back to your bedroom. You were halfway down the hall when you knew something wasn’t right. And then you heard the yelling. You swore under your breath and ran to the main living room, hoping you would be able to stop your husband before it was too late.

----

“Who told my kid that Santa isn’t real?!” Bucky Barnes’s deep voice boomed through the quiet compound, his footsteps heavy and quick.

 “Shit, shit, shit!” Clint swore as he tripped over himself as he tried to reach his room before he was caught. 

“If I find out –“ Bucky stopped himself mid-sentence his eyes sweeping over every inch of the room. “Barton, if it was you - so help me God! You had better run for your life!” 

“Bucky! *Дорогая, иди спать. [ Dorogaya, idti spat’].”

Bucky turned to face the voice that had just spoken out. A surprised look overtook him for a moment before he started to laugh. “Since when do you know Russian?” he smiled and walked over to you, his previous mission already forgotten as he slipped his arms around your waist.

“Since I married a really sexy Russian Sergeant. Had to know all those dirty words he was moaning in bed.”

“I’m from New York.” He moaned against your lips, pulling your body closer his striking blue eyes staring into your own. 

“Still moan dirty Russian things in bed.” You smile and bring your lips to his. Bucky held you there loving the feeling of how close you two are. “I love you, Sergeant Barnes.”

“I love you, Mrs. Barnes.” He smiled while hugging you close. “Let’s get to bed. Don’t want to be awake for when Santa comes.”

“I’ll be right there.” You kissed your husband and patted his butt with a smile as he walked off. You went around turning out the lights stopping at the beautifully lit tree when you heard a door creak.

“He’s gone, Barton. You can come out now.” You called out into the darkness with a laugh. “You owe me.”

“Oh, I’m not Clint, Mrs. Barnes,” a voice replied with a chuckle in their voice. “But I am sure he will still say thank you anyway.” The voice chuckled again; this time louder, deeper causing your eyes to widen. 

You hurried down the hall, trying your best to keep quiet until you reached your room.  

“Babe, what are you doing?” Bucky sleepily looked at you as you ran into the room and dashed under the covers.

“I think Santa is in our living room.” You whispered into the dark. You felt your husband chuckle, his body warm and inviting as he pulled you in closer.

“Get some sleep. It’s been a long day and our little one will have us up in only a few hours.” He yawned cuddling into your body.

‘Maybe I am going crazy.’ You shook your head with a smile as your eyes slowly began to close. Just before you drifted off you whispered a goodnight to Santa almost feeling silly to be saying the words out loud. 

Just then you heard a woosh and with a small chuckle a voice said, “To all a good night!”

[bemused-writer]

Vanitas no Carte Anime

It's... it's actually happening. We're getting an anime! I'd like to thank the three people (pinkpixxie, @thiective, and my sister @skylights422) who sent me an immediate notification to let me know this was happening; you guys understand exactly what I've been waiting for. XD

I watched it and I felt very emotional, not going to lie. I remember saying once Studio BONES would make good sense for adapting VNC, but I kind of... didn't think it would actually happen. I am perfectly happy to be proven wrong. Judging by what we're seeing in the video I think we're going to get to at least the beginning section of the Bal Masqué arc. I heard we're only getting 12 episodes (?) so I think we probably don't want to go a whole lot further than that if we want to avoid rushing things a great deal.

I now want to look at some of what the teaser has shown us and go into a few of my hopes and worries. The teaser itself seems to cover only the very first chapter of the manga. That might not sound like much, but we have to remember that the first two volumes of VNC are unusually large. As such, I think this season (and I'm really, really hoping there's a season 2) will cover the first two volumes of the series. This would actually be a pretty good stopping point as far as cliffhangers go: We get some of Noé's past and end with Vanitas's "betrayal" where he kills rather than save that girl at the Bal Masqué. Also,it would mean we get a whole season for the Catacombs arc, which is exactly what that arc deserves, so I'm very hopeful that's what they do.

As for the teaser itself, it's just covering the first chapter, which makes me think we might be getting a two-parter just for that? Here are a host of images to demonstrate this.

That last image took me a bit to find its parallel in the manga but it's this one here:

It's as Noé is falling and thinking about the blue moon he and Vanitas both witness and he remembers how it's a sign of misfortune and yet he's always found it beautiful. None of this really proves all this is a two-parter, but... maybe a really long first episode? I don't know, I have a hard time estimating how many chapters you can fit in an episode, especially when the chapters are kind of long. XD Anyway, the rest of the images depict Vanitas using the book, Amelia becoming a malnomen, and all the events on La Baleine.

Now that I look at the last shot a little more closely, it's odd that the anime changed the forest to a city. I wonder why. Maybe it's transitioning from the city of Paris to the forest of Noé's memories...?

Now for a few other thoughts: The voices match the archetypes really well! They don't sound quite how I imagined in my mind but they're also a lot closer than I thought they'd be, so I'm super excited. (^^) The animation is pretty good (well, it's BONES, so...) but it doesn't quite capture the nuance of Mochizuki's characters' expressions. Maybe a bit of a tall order for a studio. XD Really, the animation is excellent, I'm just feeling particular. The music is... cheerier than expected for a series like this, but I like the song. I wonder if this is the opening theme or ending theme or just a teaser choice...?

Overall, BONES is a great choice; they've done several anime I love. But they also have a tendency of making things... darker or edgier than they already were, which is sometimes a thing I like and other times not so much. I'm hoping they are faithful to the manga in this regard and don't try to toss in any extra fan service (they better not do Jeanne dirty) or alter things in any questionable way. I know I'm now sounding very critical, but I just... really want this to be good. I want to enjoy it so much and I am truly excited, but I'm trying to be a little cautious. (^^)"

Even if the anime isn't perfect, there are a lot of good things that are going to come of it: I suspect all the scenes with Noé and Vanitas will be excellent and we're going to get an influx of fans, which can only be good. Ahh, I really love that thought!

Overall, I'm super excited and this is all I'm going to be thinking about until summer. XD I mean, I'm already thinking about VNC all the time, but now I have even more stuff related to it to think about! I really can't wait to watch that first episode and then watch it again and again and again. :D

[aggressive-positivity-network]

How do you think the mercs would react to engineer getting really tired and doing something absolutely idiotic? Like Engie don't lick the soap it won't taste good sweetie (totally not inspired by the fact ive done this same thing while exhausted)

Also your hcs are great!! They all seem super thought out and they're a thrill to read! Your writing is... Ok no word seems sufficient to describe it! It just too good!

Askers like you make my day! Thank you so much! Sorry if this is a little short, but I’m still working on the relationship ones, which take forever to write.

Scout:

“Hey, uh, Engie...buddy...you good?”

“Listen, I’m the only merc around here that does stupid stuff like that...you’re one of the smart guys, remember?”

Pretends to yawn so that Engie will feel more tired and go to bed faster.

When that doesn’t work - Engie doesn’t pay much attention to his surroundings when he’s working - he asks Sniper for help.

Sniper:

“Aw, bloody ‘ell, ‘as he gone into one of his fits again?”

‘Fits’ meaning bouts of creative invention that can last anywhere from several hours to a couple weeks.

Sniper waves a hand in front of Engie’s face, but to no avail.

“Nah, mate, he’s outta this world. All off in his own universe. There’s nothin’ that can bring him out now.”

Suddenly Medic walks by, and the pair practically pull him in to help.

Medic:

“Hm...zhere’s only vun thing that can avaken zhis building beauty!”

Medic wraps his arms around Engineer’s neck. No response.

Head on the shoulder. Nothing.

Chin resting on top of head. Nope.

Tugging on his collar. Still nada.

Finally, Medic uses his secret weapon: the cheek peck.

Engie still doesn’t look up - in fact, Medic has to pull his arm away from almost putting his hand on a sparking wire, something that an alert Engie would never do.

“Ach! Engie! Dummkopf! Vhat are you doing?!”

Suddenly, Spy peeks his head in as he walks by, but Medic grabs him by the tie.

“I need zhis vorktable for my experiment, and ve have all tried our luck. Any bright ideas?”

Spy:

“Why must I always find myself in these situations? Surrounded by idiots, waiting for my assistance.”

A murmur of complaints all around, but no one contradicts him. They still need a pair of fresh eyes.

Spy snaps in front of Engie’s face.

“Laborer? Do you mind coming down to earth so the good doctor can commit his nightly atrocities?”

No answer. Not even a look.

Spy thumps Engineer’s hat several times. Then knocks. Then takes it off completely. Still no reaction.

Spy has been getting increasingly more frustrated, as he has been waiting to unwind all week, and this is keeping him from a glass of scotch and a good magazine.

“Did your Texan weed of a mother never teach you manners? Or did she not know any herself? She most likely had yet to learn her alphabet, much less any sort of etiquette.”

Scout cringed, Sniper pulled his hat over his eyes, and even Medic put a hand on his bonesaw. You never talked about Engineer’s mom. Scout almost got a wrench through his forehead when he walked into Engie’s workshop in the middle of a Yo Mama joke.

This happened to be an exception, because Engie still stared blankly at his project. This infuriated Spy, whose sharp tongue usually had a much bigger impact.

“LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU, YOU SLACKJAWED SCREW MONKEY!”

Spy gave Engie a stinging, backhanded slap.

Engie scarcely stumbled.

Spy roared in rage and walked out, using his cloaking device so he wouldn’t have to bear a walk of shame. He was also holding his raw hand, which was hurt from the slap.

Demo walked in right after, rubbing his eyes and looking really hung over.

Demo:

“Mmph...whasall this, then? Aye...onea those, eh?”

Demo, being the night owl that he is, had seen Engie in his zone before - in fact, he was usually the first to snap Engie out of it.

“Comere, I’ll show ya how it’s done.”

Demo took the empty beer bottle he was holding and cracked Engie over the head with it. It shattered on impact.

“Don’tcha worry, lads, that hard hat ‘a his is made for more than a strong drink.”

Demo laughed at his own joke, then slowly got serious as he realized Engie still wasn’t reacting.

“Lad? Are ya...did anybody check for a pulse?”

Medic walked over and put two fingers on his neck. After a few minutes, his eyes went wide.

“No bloody pulse?! How the hell-!”

Pyro suddenly walked in, holding a bag of gummy bears.

Pyro:

He mumbles excitedly, then goes over to Engie.

She takes a red gummy bear, which are Engineer’s favorite, and holds it out to him.

No response.

Pyro laughs good-naturedly, as if he was joking about how silly Engineer was being. He put the gummy bear in Engineer’s mouth.

It fell out, but Pyro giggled and put it back in again.

It tumbled out once more, and Pyro cocked their head.

This whole process went on a few more times before Pyro decided to tap Engie on the shoulder.

When that didn’t work, he walked over in front of the table to look at Engie’s face, and hopefully get his attention.

Pyro took one look, started, then backed away slowly. After they had gotten a good distance, he ran to Medic and hid behind him, starting to cry.

Sniper translated: “He doesn’t look good...he doesn’t look like Engie...he didn’t even look...did I do something wrong?”

There was a rattling from above, and Soldier popped his head out of the vent and looked around.

Soldier:

“Morning, maggots!”

“It’s ten o’clock, mate...”

“You shut your godamn mouth before I write you up for insubordination!”

Soldier leapt down, took one look at Engie, and grunted.

“Gone A.W.O.L, huh?”

Everyone nodded, albeit unsure.

“I’ll show you landlubbers what we did in the army...”

He very slowly crept up to Engineer, grinning. Everybody took a step back, just in case.

Finally, Soldier pounced, taking Engineer’s hat and replacing it with his own, whooping and laughing as he went back up the vent.

Everyone just stared at each other, and while they were all recovering, Heavy walked in, still in his nightgown.

Heavy:

“Team is all here...what is wrong?”

Everyone started talking at once, but Heavy just held up a hand.

“One at time. Doktor. What is wrong?”

“Engineer doesn’t have a pulse, he hasn’t reacted to stimuli, his facial expression doesn’t change...he is a dead man valking!”

Heavy just chuckled. “Engie just sleepy. Here. Heavy will take him to bed.”

Heavy picked Engineer up by the underarms, lifting him over his shoulder.

Before he knew it, Engineer was falling apart. Arms, legs, body. It all crumbled to the floor in a mix of wires and cogs.

Pure. Chaos.

Everyone was either screaming, crying, looking like they were about to vomit, or were trying to salvage the pieces.

Suddenly, they heard a yawn behind them.

“Well, howdy, y’all!”

Engineer:

After everyone had gotten over the shock and had made a huge hug pile, Engineer explained everything.

The Engie at the desk was a robot with a realistic skin suit on. In the dark and dusty workshop, no one had noticed the difference.

He was actually doing an experiment - something that resembled a “straight face” experiment they had done with children. He wanted to see how people reacted when there...wasn’t any reaction. His hypotheses were mostly correct - except for Soldier, put he was a random variable anyway.

Scout was mildly put off, Sniper and Medic came up with a logical solution, Spy was furious because of his job’s emphasis on reaction, Demo joked around until it wasn’t funny anymore and then just froze, Pyro was very upset, and Heavy tried to physically change the situation.

“It was all real interestin’...but it had to be a blind study. Sorry I had to worry y’all. It’ll never happen again.”

He looked down at his broken robot.

“Especially not with my Engiebot in pieces.”

Engineer told everybody goodnight, apologized one more time, said he’d make it up to them, and then went to his room.

Needless to say, everyone followed Engie to bed that night.

And he had a certain Frenchman to apologize to over a cold-shouldered breakfast.

***************

I’m a writer...can’t you tell? No, but seriously, by the time I realized it was spinning out of control, I had written too much to delete. I know it wasn’t exactly a normal response, but I just couldn’t resist! I just felt a really good story in this one!

Anyway, I’m sorry this took so long! I have an ask blog and a lot of requests coming my way, so I may be a little slower on the upkeep. But a lot of the requests are pretty short, so I should be able to knock them out.

@catbunblue302

[catharrington]

Strawberry Seeds and Love Potions. (T, 2.4K words)

@harringroveweekoflove day 2: LOVE POTION && MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES. Also including: witch Robin, post season 3 recovering Billy, flustered but giving it his best Steve, and cat boys. Or cat men? No, cat boys.

***

The coffee mug clicked onto the table with an otherworldly menace. Steve’s brown eyes darted to it, then back up to Robin. He furrowed his brows in a question. But before he could open his mouth, she held up her hand.

“It’s not poison,” she explained.

“Could have fooled me, Robs,” Steve hissed.

“It’s called a potion, dingus. It’s going to help!” She pushed the cup farther down the bar. The diner around them was mostly closed, and Robin was the only waitress in the place. Her peach colored apron brought out the green of her wide, devious eyes.

“Potion... poison... that’s like one letter different,” Steve leaned back in his stool away from the mug.

“Wow, so you know how to spell. What other skills will you showcase, The Amazing Harrington?” Robin’s lips curled up in an evil grin, leaning her body over the bar to dig the insult farther.

Steve just scoffed. Putting his elbow up on the bar and shielding himself as he tried to get back to the open College text book he was supposed to be reading. All the words were rushing together in swirls of black and white. He pushed his thumb into his curved bottom lip to try and force himself to focus, chewed on the pad of it, but he could swear the mug was mocking him.

Could swear he could smell that strawberry pink liquid Robin had poured for him when he ordered a simple black coffee.

“Drink it,” Robin snapped.

“No,” Steve growled.

“Are you going to grow a backbone and actually confess then?” She quirked one brow up.

Her face was so condescending. So smug. Steve hated how much he knew that look, how it made him sort of fond for her.

“I mean,” he sighed. His walls crumbling in defeat. His fingers coming up to join in worrying his bottom lip. “I mean I might?”

“It’s been a year Steve. A year of following him around like a little stray kitten! A year of ‘Oh Billy, I’ll give you a ride!’ ‘Oh Billy, how was physical therapy?’ ‘Oh Billy, pay attention to me!’—“

“I get it, I get it!” Steve turned towards her again to motion with his hand to keep it down. Waving his wide palm around until Robin’s pursed face cracked into a giggle. “Just keep it down, would you?”

And he turns over his shoulder to survey the empty diner before he’s got enough courage to look at her again.

“Yeah, okay. I’ve got a fat, stupid crush on Billy. And I know that I’m the most embarrassing and dumb guy you know. But...,” he trails off. Eyes wandering back down to the coffee cup. “It’s not the same as Nancy Wheeler or even Tammy Thompson. So much can— no, so much has gone wrong. If I... confessed right now, It would just make everything too much for him.”

His fingers nervously tick across the mint green bar. Wishing like hell he could cross them in front of his chest and make a barrier.

Robin takes a step forward. Her own fingers an inch away from his. She twitches like she can’t make up her mind if she wants to grab them. Like someone worrying their bottom lip if they are going to pick the last slice of pie in the diner’s glass container. But she does, reaching out to lay her skinny fingers and their chipping black nail polish over his own.

“Dingus,” she starts lovingly, “you don’t know any of that.”

Steve scoffs, rolls his eyes like he’s going to turn away, but Robin holds his hand tightly.

“You don’t know if it’s too much for him, or what he wants. And you don’t,” Robin took a second before continuing, her breath hitching, “you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Hawkins, Indiana is the poster town for unknown tomorrow’s. Steve knows way too well about that. The tunnels crawling with slime and vines that play host to the monsters of the world.

But Billy, he surely knows better than anyone. It’s been a whole year but noone’s going to ever forget what he did. What happened to him under the control of a creature called The Mind Flayer. How Billy used himself like a human shield and died to try to make up for it. Just to come back with an electric jolt to his tattered heart.

They had to stitch new lungs inside his chest. He called himself Zombie Boy now. Called the patchwork scars heavy metal.

Steve just smiled. Nodded his head as he watched Billy climb out the crumbled wreckage of his shell. Climb out a new man, a man Steve caught himself falling head over heels for.

“You’re right, Robs,” Steve exhales.

“Oh, what was that?” Robin giggled, leaning in to hear better.

Steve pushed her away by their joint hands. Wiggling his fingers afterwards as if cursed.

His breath quipped and held tight in his chest as he turned back to the coffee mug. It sat waiting for him. The light red liquid swimming with foam and black seeds at the top. As if no matter how long it sat, it was always freshly prepared.

Steve gripped the handle of the white mug hard. Thought about how quick Billy’s body hit the ground when he died. How quick it all felt to Steve who had to helplessly stand back and watch it all.

He lifted the mug to his lips and drank in desperate, greedy gulps.

And as he finished it and slammed the ceramic back down on the bar, he didn’t immediately feel different. His mouth felt strange, the red juice had a powdery after-taste and much more seeds than his gag reflex was expecting. But as he screwed up his face from the flavor, he didn’t feel changed. Or empowered. Or whatever Robin was trying out with this magic spell.

“I don’t—,” Steve started, but his voice stopped just as it started. His head pounded like a drum was beating right next to his ears.

Doubling over in his stool, he gripped at the sides of his head in a panic. His whole skull felt like it was vibrating. Shifting around even, his scalp moving at the top of his head as if something were to burst out.

Steve grabbed two fist fulls of his hair and groaned through the wave of pain. Burying his chin in his chest to try and stop the noises before they came. It was so painful, but somehow only lasted a second.

As sudden as it came, he felt fine again.

Steve jerked his head up to scream at Robin , when he noticed her eyes wandering to the top of his head.

He followed them with hesitant fingers, slowly running up his now messy head of quaffed brown locks under his fingertips brushed something new.

Giving an undignified yelp, he drew his hand backwards as if burnt. His eyes were wide and pleading with Robin. But she watched him right back with the same face. As if she didn’t make this, as if it wasn’t her poison potion that created this.

Steve timidly touched the new addition to his head again. This time he didn’t finch as his fingertips sank into hair that felt soft as fur. Following it up to a point, and then feeling as it curved inwards to softer peach fuzz.

He could feel something, as his fingers moved, he could feel them as easily as if he were touching the lobes of his ears.

Because he was touching his ears.

A quick glance to a dingy mirror hanging at the back of the bar confirmed it for him. There was a pretty pair of brown cat ears sprung from the top of his head.

“Robin,” he breathed. Unable to fully grasp how he felt. “What was that drink exactly?”

She blinked at him, gathering her thoughts before she cleared her throat. “It’s um, it’s supposed to be a charm. An aid, like-like an enhancer. It said it would bring out the traits that the person you craft the potion for desires the most.”

Then she stopped to laugh, her red lips caught between gaping open or turning up on the corners in a mocking laugh. “I didn’t— wow! I thought worst case scenario would be you’ll turn into an asshole like you were in high school. B-But this?”

Steve looked from her back to the mirror. Wrapping one hand around the pointed triangle of his ear. Pushing it down just to watch it perk back up again.

“I’m... I’m a cat boy?” Steve stutters out a gasping breath.

“Well, more like a cat man, really,” Robin tries to help. “Come on, you’re almost old enough to buy beer.”

“Really helpful, Robs, thanks so much for the curse and now the insults!” He shouts.

Holding up her hands in defense, her smile doesn’t drop. Even in her shoulders Steve can see she’s quivering with laugher.

He feels along the base of his new ears. How the fur is the same color and melts almost perfectly into his own silky hair. How it feels good, actually, to scratch his blunt nails there just like how a house cat would enjoy it.

“This isn’t some trait. Or some, something that Billy would find attractive in me.” Steve groans. “This is some freaky kink!”

Robin finally clasps her hand over her mouth to dam up the waterfall of laugher. It hits against her palm in a muffled, annoying, cruel noise. She shakes her head as if she wanted to argue but couldn’t get past how funny she found it.

“You must have mixed up the wrong stuff, Robin! Put the wrong magical thing in the mixture!” Steve tried to shake his head out to unstick his thoughts.

He runs his hands through his hair as he does when he gets flustered, and now his cat ears bend with the motion so they don’t get tugged on. Folding neatly onto his head before bouncing back up to attention.

It felt so weird, but somehow it didn’t feel very different at all. They acted as if they’ve always been there.

“Yeah, okay, that’s it,” Steve nodded to himself. “You gave me the wrong potion. It’s okay, it happens! Just whip up a new one that’s for reversing cat ears. That’s in your witch book right?”

Robin kept her hand over her mouth and kept shaking her head. She wasn’t replying to anything Steve said. And it was honestly making him more mad than the new ears on top of his head.

“Hey, is it really funny enough for all that?” he mused.

Then Steve looked back up at the mirror. He turned his head side to side to admire the way his ears moved with him. How they were his hair color on the outside then a flushed pink in the very middle. How there were strands of lighter brown between that and those reminded him of how highlighted his hair gets in the summer sun.

“I don’t know. I think they... I think they sort of suit me?” He shrugged.

Robin dropped her hands and her laugher was louder without it, but she managed to catch her breath to finally reply. “Oh, they suit you alright. You’re a natural at this stuff, Garfield.”

Steve furrowed his eye brows. Cat ears folding down on his head in defense. “I’m not orange,” he hissed back.

Robin opened her mouth with likely more insults and no actual help from the aspiring witch who caused all this mess, when she was interrupted. The bell above the entrance letting out a loud ding.

The front door, painted in matching mint green like the bar, swung open. And like he was summoned, like his ears were simply ringing so much from being talked about he hunted down the source, in walked Billy.

He was wearing a grey hoodie. One of many that he collected once he got discharged out of his hospital. This one Steve was familiar with, because it was his. Handed down with a coat and a couple other winter items as Steve feigned indifference over concern about Billy’s California blood staying warm. An old Hawkins High baseball league logo sitting right in the middle. It’s fading green and orange design still bright enough to make Steve’s breath catch in his throat.

“Hey, Harrington,” Billy greeted. He lifted his big, scarred hand to wipe the hood down from his head. Letting loose the wild mess of short curls that are regrowing on his head.

“Hey, Billy,” Steve croaked out. His voice was awkward. His face, he knew, must be blushing bright red.

He turned to seek help from Robin, but the swinging door that lead into the kitchen was rocking back and forth on its hinges. She must have run away as soon as Billy came in. And Steve was too busy watching his entrance to even notice.

Cursing under his breath, Steve racked his brain with an excuse. Some logical way to explain why he had sprouted two new fluffy ears off his head.

He felt like he was playing a pinball machine in his head. Flashing lights and jingling noises were going off. But nothing was coming to him. He couldn’t find any words to offer at all to Billy.

So he whipped his head to the side, watched as Billy stopped glancing around the empty diner to finally settle on Steve.

And he watches as Billy’s gorgeous, totally unfair pretty blue eyes lift to see the cat ears on his head.

“Woah, Harrington,” Billy exhales like he’s blowing a mouth full of cigarette smoke. “That’s really—,”

“I know, Billy, okay! It’s um, um?” Steve waves his hands around as if that can turn the wheels of his thinking some more. But he can’t think. Not well anyway, when Billy’s standing here looking so handsome, so warm, and so alive right in front of him.

“Yeah, okay, I can totally explain this—,”

Billy cuts him off with a soft chuckle. Just under his breath. Steve closes his mouth quick enough to make his teeth click.

“I don’t know, Steve. Ya don’t have to explain it. It’s kinda cute, actually,” Billy drawls out his words low and soft. And then smiles at him.

A second ticks by. Billy’s boots skid on the tile as he steps even closer. All the way until he’s right next to Steve. Grabbing the back of a stool right next to him.

And Billy hasn’t taken his eyes off Steve’s ears once. And he’s got a little sparkle in them like the first time Billy got a point over him during basket ball practice back in high school. And oh, oh.

“Cute?” Steve parrots back.

“Yeah, super cute,” Billy confesses.

[laceymorganwrites]

Dear daughter - chapter 11

Word count: 1,255

Warnings: swearing, mentions of violence

After the lunch break you walked Emma back to her classroom. She was quite surprised at what Baji told them earlier. She didn´t think you had it in you. To be honest, she didn´t know what to think of you when Mikey first introduced you two. You didn´t fit in with them at all, yet you were always tagging along. It irritated her.

You were the kind of girl that always needed protection, or so she thought. When she got to know you better she came to appreciate your kind nature but still, now she wanted to protect you too. You were the princess, the nickname fit more than anything, even if it was just teasing. She couldn´t wrap her head around you.

But now she understood.

You didn´t fight for fighting´s sake, you very well could defend yourself, even before her brother and his friends taught you their moves. In Emma´s world not fighting didn´t make sense, but you taught her that fighting was so much more than just brute force. And that was why she really looked up to you.

You were like the big sister she never had.

She waved goodbye to you and then sat down on her seat, getting out her things for the next lesson.

Baji and you were talking a bit more until you reached your own classroom. On the way you saw Mayu and her friends, their classroom wasn´t far away from yours. You smiled at her and she and her friends bowed to you, making you stop in your tracks.

“Um… you don´t have to do that, you know?” you said, a bit embarrassed about it, it felt weird having people bow to you. It didn´t feel right.

“I mean you did save her, so of course they wanna show their thanks” Baji noticed.

“Yeah but you really don´t have to, it´s no big deal. Everyone should have done what I did. But if nobody else is gonna do it, I have no other choice. I already told Mayu but I´ll beat up any asshole that crosses my path” you told them confidently. Don´t worry, I´ll protect you!

“Do...do you wanna hang out with us sometime?” Mayu asked you before she missed her chance. She had told her friends everything about you and felt ashamed that she never even looked at you before, you weren´t a delinquent like the others, you weren´t mean and controlling and bossing people around, you were protecting them.

“Huh?!” now that was unexpected. You weren´t really the type of girl to hang out with the pretty and popular ones, but then again, you also never would´ve thought you´d hang out and become friends with a literal gang.

“Sure why not” you smiled slightly, what did you have to lose? It was really nice of them to even ask you.

You exchanged phone numbers and then went back to your respective classes.

The rest of the day went by in no time, Baji and you went home to do your homework together and he told your aunties about what happened that day. Rather than being shocked and scolding you, they just laughed along with him.

“Well, you are a (Y/L/N) after all, it´s kinda in our blood” she chuckled and ruffled your hair.

“Just make sure to stay in school and graduate, okay? You can still do whatever you want in the breaks and outside of school, but don´t quit.” she urged you and then invited Baji to stay for dinner.

“Don´t worry, we´re not letting her get involved in our fights. We´re always gonna protect her if something happens but before it does we´re definitely going to prevent that” he vowed.

That was always what they talked about, as soon as you met the group it was clear to them to separate business and friends. It wasn´t because you were a girl, it was because they cared too much about you to let anything happen. This didn´t have anything to do with you after all.

Your aunties thanked them and were glad that they shared the same view on things.

“Oh! Before I forget, I´m going shopping on the weekend, Mayu invited me” you smiled and told your aunt, you also asked them if you could bring Emma along since she loved going shopping.

They said it wasn´t a problem and you looked forward to it, your first girls day!

You wondered what it would be like and just couldn´t wait.

They all seemed so tame in comparison with your own friend group but you quite liked the contrast.

“That sounds great, have fun” she smiled at you and then put the dinner on the table.

You all ate together and then said goodbye to Baji, you two decided to move your movie night to Friday after school.

The next day at school manifested yours and Mayu´s friendship. She greeted you immediately after you arrived with Baji, Mikey, Draken and Emma. Her and her friends followed you around constantly but not in an annoying way, they talked to you and got Emma to and from her classes and only separated from you when they needed to go to class.

You made them feel save, you could see that certain guys were distant and didn´t even dare to look at the girls, so the asshole spread the word.

Good.

That was just how it was supposed to be, they should think twice before approaching any of the girls. It was nice having a purpose now, feeling needed by people. You were finally going your own way.

Yes, you didn´t see the others as much anymore but that wasn´t a bad thing. You were too clingy anyways. You just now understood that you always kept them from their own business, when you were there they couldn´t be themselves. It was a sad realization but you were glad you came to it.

Of course you stayed friends with them, but you hung out with the girls in school now. And after school you did your homework with them now.

Mayu was in the crafting club in school, so you saw Mitsuya the most out of the bunch, getting to know him better in the club activities.

“So you´re a gang now too?” he asked you, everyone did. It was… confusing. And Mikey was pissed at you. He felt betrayed, they built you up and thought your bonds actually meant something only for you to ditch them to form your own gang? Draken was the one who had to calm him down all of the time, smacking him back to reality. After all it was normal that you had more than just one friend group and there was nothing wrong about it, it wasn´t like you ignored them now.

No, you just didn´t spend every waking moment with them anymore. And that was a good thing, it was very healthy in fact.

“I don´t know. I haven´t thought about it yet. But I don´t think we are, we´re not really doing any gang things” you thought out loud, looking around at the other girls and boys who were in your new friend group.

Well, to be fair this friend group was quite large, it wasn´t just the girls from school, it was their friends from other schools too and all of their boyfriends. Yeah… maybe you were a gang. A gang of what though? Was it really enough to beat up assholes to call yourselves a gang?

You supposed you´d find that out soon enough.

[meet-me-in-the-kitchen]

SIX CANDLES, ONE WISH (2)

part one

Harry misses his daughter’s sixth birthday, and some things can’t be undone.

— Recap of Last Part —

“You didn’t even call, daddy.”

“You have to understand that some things just are the way they are and in order to provide for our family—“

“Nevermind,” she muttered under her breath. “Forget I even asked you.”

— Recap Fin.—

Y/N knew what it meant to have a father who was willfully absent when it came to their child’s life.

Her father had been a man of great physical prowess coupled by a both thrilling and frightening lack of restraint resembling that of a wild animal in a kingdom that had never learned the rules. He was once a boxer renowned in a small town which multiplied in tourists whenever the ring flooded with the divinity of his strength. Somehow, somewhere, he had met her mother. After she had died while giving birth to Y/N, she had always felt the cruel truth of her father’s hate simmering somewhere in the back of her mind.

Harry wasn’t like that. She’d married him knowing he wasn’t like that, partly because he would never intentionally miss recitals, avert his eyes from his daughter- eyes that held anything but the palpable disgust y/n had been used to as a kid. He wouldn’t resort to alcoholism. she’d sworn her children would never be stuck in the cycle of worshipping their father most days, and wishing their bodies were drained of his vile, cursed blood on others.

“Forget I even asked.”

Yet, as her daughter, barely ninety centimetres tall, pushes the phone back into her hand while the receiver rings with excuses, she’s not so sure of who Harry is anymore.

“Y/N,” he starts, voice still flat. He doesn’t even know what he’s done wrong, she realizes with horror. “It was just a party. I’ll come home soon, and we can celebrate properly. It’s just her sixth birthday, any—“

“Six.” She repeats, voice choking with disbelief. “She’s six now, Harry.”

“What are you saying?”

Sighing, Y/N moves further back as groups of kids rush past in a game of tag, all with bright smiles on their faces, besides the birthday girl. A bit of anger stirred in her chest. Of course, he’d had to make her sad on this day.

“It lasts so much longer, you don’t even know,” y/n shakes her head. “Darcy’s six now, but she won’t be forever. She still waits up for your phone call, regardless of the fact that you’ve missed calling her for weeks. Do you know what it does to her, when I have to tell her own father chose a stack of documents and negotiations over her own birthday?”

“I wouldn’t if it wasn’t important—“

“That’s the thing, isn’t it? I’m afraid you’re forgetting that she is too.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he rebukes harshly. “Stop putting words in my mouth, Y/N. I never said that.”

“I don’t need to put words in your mouth,” she laughs bitterly, “your actions are enough. I don’t have to tell you what went through her mind when she blew out her candles, with everyone there but you. She’s a baby, Harry. Our baby. Her self-confidence is going to be in shreds if you keep this up.”

“I still call,” he cries, his voice lined vaguely with desperation. “She knows I love her more than anything.”

“The least you could give her is some consistency. On the rare occasion you call, it’s when it’s most convenient to you—she stays up till two in the morning some days, just to hear your voice. You know what she wished for? For you to either come back, or stay away.”

“I didn’t—“

“I’m not done,” she exhales sharply, swiping her hand over her tearstained cheeks. Her voice broke. “She asked me if you wanted to give her a divorce, Harry. What am I supposed to tell her?”

He’s sobbing at this point. Guttural cries harshly racking through his chest, and he’s never cried so hard that his rib cage felt it would burst from the image of his little girl blowing out the candles dejectedly, searching for her daddy’s face in an otherwise crowded room, only to come back empty. For fuck’s sake, she thought he wanted to abandon her. He had never hated himself more.

“How do I tell her you choose paperwork over her life? How do I keep her from thinking she comes second all her life or developing an inferiority complex. She’s six now, Harry, but I’m afraid of what happens when she’s not anymore. If she carries all of this with her. I still carry it with me,” she sniffles, “and it is not pretty.”

“You really hurt her.”

“I love her so much,” his hoarse voice insists unconvincingly, an ugly feeling spreading within him at who he has become. His fingers shake as they hold onto the phone. He glares at the fineprint in front of him as it blurs to meaningless, double-spaced diatribes. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“I know,” y/n says, looking down at the streamers that lay on the ground. The shattered tiara. Her voice lowers as people pass by. “I’m just afraid, one day, you’ll forget.”

Darcy watches her mother’s wet face crumple and then twist into an unconvincing smile as guests walk by her. She hears her father’s cries, rendered meaningless to her young mind by the simple fact that it measures meaning through who shows up. And he hasn’t shown up for quite some time.

Her wish echoes in her mind: for daddy to come back or stay away. Lifting herself off of the ground, where she sat quietly listening to her unbeknownst mother’s words, she decides the latter would hurt less.

—

“Hey,” Harry breathes, shrugging off his black coat and gently pushing the door shut in conjunction. His eyes immediately find Y/N, who shuffles a bit closer. She blinks blearily, confused and uncertain if he’s actually there, or if this is some sleep-induced dream.

Her worries are smoothened by a low “come ‘ere,” and his strong arms pulling her to his chest, twisting around her in an impossibly warm cocoon. She mumbles something incomprehensible even to herself, and feels his chest rumble as he chuckles, lips pressed furtively to her hairline.

“Miss me?” He questions, light humour in his voice, but sincerity in his green eyes. She rolls her eyes, are you kidding me? This brings a smile to his face; he leans in slightly, cupping her cheek with one palm, capturing her lips in a tender kiss, his mouth closed over hers, like she had been waiting for.

It was easy to get lost in the kiss. Her head was swimming from impact, the dizziness sending her knees buckling, his arms holding her up. She blames it on being exhausted, but internally knows it’s because it’s him.

“Sleepy girl,” he brushes a lock of hair back with his fingers, eyes lighting up with affection at the sight of her: with a bare face and blinking eyes, a yawn tugging at her lips.

“As much as I am not opposed to this sort of intervention,” she begins, rubbing her eyes with closed fists, “mind explaining why you’re here at—“ turns to look at the digital clock atop the kitchen’s oven, “—two in the morning?”

“Guilt?” He offers, sheepishly. She’s confused at first, but her eyes soon widen with realization.

“Right,” she sounds, pushing him back lightly. “You’re,” tap “a,” tap, “jerk.” (jab)

“I know,” he grouses, “but ‘m an apologetic jerk. I need to talk to m’baby.”

“I don’t know, Harry,” Y/N sighs, eyes flickering towards Darcy’s bedroom tentatively. “She’s really upset.”

His eyes are morosely swimming with guilt. “I want to make it better.”

“You will,” she promises, “you’re you, and she adores you. But, it’s not going to be a cake-walk, either.”

—

Darcy wakes up to the scent of buttermilk pancakes and the sound of bacon sizzling on the griddle. Lifting herself out of her twin-sized bed with a yawn, she squinted her pale green eyes as sunshine flooded into the room, signifying it was morning. Her stomach rumbles with hunger.

“Mumma,” she called hoarsely, waiting a few seconds before calling again, with a slightly higher voice.

When Y/N walks in the room, she quickly shuffles over, pressing her face against her leg, so her cheek is mushed.

“Good morning, darling. you hungry?” y/n asks, lifting Darcy up so she’s latched onto her hip, free fingers caught in her thick, chocolate brown curls, detangling them gently.

“Mhm,” she responded, clinging to Y/N like a koala while her mother took her into the washroom to brush her teeth.

“I have a surprise for you, Darc,” she hums, turning the faucet and testing the water for lukewarm temperature with her wrist. This causes Darcy to brighten a bit. “A belated birthday present.”

“Present?” Darcy asks delightedly while Y/N finally carried her freshly washed self to the kitchen, where the scent of stacked thick, syrupy buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and berries once again evade her senses. What causes her to shift slightly in her mother’s hold is the familiar man in the kitchen, his back towards them. He has chocolate curls just as she, and once he turns, those are her eyes on his face, the same dimples poking out as he grins.

“Hi, Darc,” he coos, setting the spatula down and walking towards them with arms wide open.

Darcy twists in Y/N’s hold, and Harry clearly doesn’t notice—he’s still smiling expectantly.

“Look! Daddy’s home, baby,” she urges, but Darcy just tightens her grip on Y/N uncomfortably.

“Momma,” she mumbles lowly, hiding her face in her mother’s neck when Harry comes closer. She lets out a low whine.

Beginning to notice a pattern, he frowns, stepping back a bit before forcing a smile onto his face. Harry gestures to the breakfast foods on the counter.

“‘ve made your favourite,” he tries half-heartedly. Y/N’s own heart breaks at the look on his face and the way Darcy’s hiding from him.

“You two should eat,” he finally says to Y/N, smiling at her reassuringly, although she can see the dejection in his eyes. “She’s hungry, and I don’t think she’ll eat if I...”

“H...”

“It’s fine,” he says, kissing Y/N soundly and then retreating to the bedroom. Her eyes follow him worriedly as he leaves, but her train of thought is disrupted with tiny fists tugging at the hem of her top.

“Pancakes,” Darcy instructs, and Y/N rolls her eyes, before following the command.

—

Harry likes to think he’s making progress when he sits by Darcy as she plays with her toys, and she doesn’t exit to the nearest room. Of course, he’s sitting quite still, just watching her and not really making much conversation as she conducts a tea party, but he can wait until she wants to talk.

Things are going fine, until he rises to step out for a moment and get something from his car. Darcy’s eyes curiously follow him, before being filled with dread.

“Daddy, wait,” she whimpers, carrying herself as fast as her legs could take her, before her arms finally latch around his left leg, catching him by surprise and nearly sending his clumsy self tumbling. He struggles to balance himself with the six year old at his leg. He’s quite alarmed to look down and find her wide, green eyes shining with tears, her bottom lip trembling just like Y/N’s does before she’s about to cry.

“Hey,” he croons softly, lifting his daughter up, smoothing his hand through her unruly curls as she hiccups a small cry. “What’s wrong, hm? Are you hurt?”

“Are you leaving again, daddy?”

His heart stops.

“Are you leaving for good, because I didn’t play with you? I promise I didn’t mean it when I wished for you to stay away, I take it back,” she cried, breathing unevenly and sniffling.

He lifts her up until she’s at eye level with him, and shakes his head.

“No,” he stresses, making sure he’s firm. “I am not leaving. Never leavin’ you, bug. Never think that.”

“But you didn’t come to my birthday,” she sniffles. “Y-you don’t even love me anymore.”

“That’s not true!”

“You don’t hafta lie,” she says softly, looking at the floor and shifting uncomfortably, sadness coating all of her cute features. Her eyes darken to a hazy jade, just as Harry’s do when he’s upset.

“I’m not lying,” he promises, expression softening as he sets her on the ground and then sinks to her level, on his knees. Her posture suggests she’s just gotten told off, back hunched and face crumpled.

“Love you this much,” he gestures, spreading his arms as wide as he could, “and more.”

Darcy peers at him skeptically, still not quite convinced.

“And I’m sorry,” he enunciates slowly, regret written all over his face. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there last night, or any of the nights before. I lost sight of who I was for a moment, but I don’t want anything if I haven’t got you. You’re the most precious thing in my life. I’m sorry I was being a shi— er, a bad daddy. I swear I won’t be anymore.”

“Pinky swear?” Darcy asks in a hushed tone, bringing a smile to Harry’s face. His hand reaches for hers.

“Pinky swear.”

MASTERLIST

[jamiedc-they-them]

Sibling Duty Part VII

Requested Imagine: Daisy does all she can to help you through the latest twist in your story.

“So, she’s healed?”

“Yes, everything seems fine.” Jemma answered her best friend. She didn’t mind the questions, if anything, she found them a bit comforting, she wasn’t the only one shit scared of what the newest twist to your tale would be.

“Seems?” Daisy pressed.

“Well, May was fine, but now she feels others’ emotions. I just….I can’t say what will happen with Y/N.” The brit explained.

Daisy took a moment, ideas running through her head in an attempt to make preparations.

“On three?” She asked, looking back to her friend. Said friend nodded.

“On three.” She confirmed.

They silently counted up to that magical number, before Jemma pushed the button. It took another second before they heard a gasp.

Your gasp.

Your hand shot up, slamming against the glass. You sounded panicked, you just didn’t look it.

“Hey, hey! Y/NN, you’re ok. You’re ok….Look – Look at me, Y/NN. Look at me. You’re ok.” Daisy, though keeping her voice soft, rushed through the words. She put her own hand on the pod, where yours laid.

At least, it did, until you let it slide off as you observed your surroundings. Your breaths started to calm. However, Daisy couldn’t help the small stab of hurt that hit her when you just let it fall.

It was like you didn’t care.

“Where am I?” You asked, voice almost monotone; it was devoid of any of that joy or underlying humour that they had known and loved you for.

It was devoid of emotion all together.

“On the Zephyr. We got you and May out. Jemma – well, Jemma’s a different Jemma timeline wise, but – the…same….Jemma.” Daisy looked to her friend, finding it hard to fully explain this to you.

Jemma took the reigns, stepping up and hovering over your pod, “I –” She stopped, not fully being able to remember, “—I can’t tell you. But, I’m still me at heart, Y/N. Just like you are.” She explained, or rather decided on. She then opened the pod, a SHHHH hissing from it as it opened.

Then, you helped yourself up, holding up a hand as they went to assist you, “I’m not broken. I’m fine.” You meant it in a firm, but loving way, it did not sound that way though.

You sat up fully, opening your eyes and seeing the rest of the team looking at you with a happy look that you were back.

Your eyes then settled on someone you thought to be dead, “….Coulson?”

He nodded, “Hey, Y/N. Resurrection does it’s thing once again. Well, kind of, I’m an LMD now. Still working out the kinks, but I’m here.” He shrugged, still having that same smooth smile.

You nodded, attempting a smile but failing to do so. You did, however, manage to raise your eyebrows.

However, you knew that you looked unimpressed.

“That was meant to be happy.” You confessed, voice still dull.

The sisters shared a smile before looking back at you, “You’re not….hiding them again, are you?” Daisy asked, feeling a bit bad for having to ask it.

Hurt hit you, but it didn’t – couldn’t show, “No, I promise.” You raised your voice, but it sounded like there should’ve been a crack in it there.

“Ok, ok,” Daisy’s voice was calm and soothing, “That’s ok, Y/NN. We’ll work on it. But, I’m sure Coulson knew, right?” She looked back at him, he nodded, “See? You’re ok, Y/N. That was ok. However you show it, it’s ok.”

“It’s not,” You argued dispassionately on the outside, but filled with annoyance on the inside, “I – I should….I should be able to not fucking talk about it.” You did not sound like the annoyed person you were in this moment.

“I know. May had a similar experience, Y/N, only…well, maybe it’s the same thing.” Jemma guessed, putting a hand on your arm. As she did, she gasped; she felt all the anger, frustration, rage, concern.

“Bloody hell.” She gasped, immediately removing her arm and taking a breath to calm herself after the wave that had hit her.

“I’m sorry.” You meant it, everyone could tell that.

“It – it’s ok, Y/NN, it’s not your fault.” She assured. Daisy put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, rubbing it in an attempt to help.

“What is it?” Elena asked, arms folded, but she did look concerned.

“Y/N does feel, she just can’t externalize it.” Simmons was blunt, but she had to be here.

The team all shared a look. It just made you look down.

“Great, so I’m fucking that up, too.” Daisy had never spun around so fast to face you when you spoke.

“You are not fucking it up.” She was firm, and she sounded livid.

“Daisy, face it, I was never the best at emotions; Coulson can attest to that when he first grabbed me to come on the team. He had to coach me about caring. I was always the shut off type, you know that from when we first met. Maybe this was just it’s natural conclusion. Reach an end point with my emotions where I only feel them and never show them like a normal person would.” You didn’t mean to have a speech, but here you were.

Daisy looked crestfallen, but the Quinjet shuddered as it came to a holt.

As the others ran up, Daisy grabbed your hand. You heard her groan a little at the weight of everything hitting her, but she kept a hold on your hand.

“Daisy, you can –” You started to say, but she cut you off.

“I’m not letting go, Y/NN,” She kept walking, but you heard the frustration, “I just got you back, I’m not losing you again,” – The desperation and concern – “I’m just not.”

 You had landed in the 1970s; 1973, to be exact. You had all been ordered out to find….something. You weren’t entirely sure.

Daisy put her hands on your arms, “I’ll be with you, ok? Every step of the way,” She felt the sisterly love; actually feeling it this time: the warmth, the care, the love, “There’s my sister.” She said, bopping you on the nose affectionately.

“Now, come on, we ‘ve go the 70s to conquer.” She quipped, leading the way out.

You sighed, a small one. You might’ve been broken emotionally, but the world wasn’t broken. You could stop that.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You walked out with your younger sister. You had just brought clothes from the shop you were exiting: You, a cream top and dark blue trousers; your sister: white type with a checkered jacket, same coloured trousers and black heels.

She observe herself in the window reflection, as you looked around the area. It was almost completely like how the stories sold it to you.

You felt a sense of nostalgia despite having never been in this time.

“Hey, looking sharp.” Coulson said to you both as himself and May approached you.

You both turned to him, sharing a nod with May; seemed you both were in the same boat, just on different sides of it.

“Thanks.” Daisy said for you both.

“Where’s Agent Sousa?” Coulson asked. Ah yes, agent Sousa, the man who was also out of time. A man that they had saved, a legend of SHIELD. Now, he was on your team. If you could, you would’ve shown a pretty excited side to yourself; a fanboy that would’ve rivalled Coulson’s.

Even though you couldn’t show it, Daisy’s intuition told her that you had something you wanted to express. She held your hand, being hit with the feeling of excitement, “Oh, wow. Y/N is very excited about having Mr Sousa on our team.” She announced.

You could talk, obviously. You just….didn’t want to seem like a dick.

The two parental figures looked at you, “I’ve read about him. Always been a fan.” You explained.

“Yeah, that’s fair, he is pretty cool.” Coulson agreed.

“Don’t you both start, now.” May groaned. Daisy laughed, she felt you wanting to as well. She gave your hand a loving squeeze as a sign: I got this for the both of us.

You hated putting this amount of pressure on your sister.

“Anyway, he’s still inside, picking out his threads.” Daisy answered Coulson’s question with.

“How’s he handling the transition?” May questioned.

“Honestly, the fact that he’s not projectile vomiting from the shock is a miracle.” Right as she said that, the man of the hour left the shop.

He was in a suit, the same suit he was in before.

“What happened to blending in?” Your sister asked, looking at his lack of choice.

“I just don’t understand the functional appeal of those…elephant, pants.” Sousa confessed. Maybe the vomit was coming.

“It’s the clothes of the decade. All full of over the top and extravagant things,” You gained a look from the others, “I like it.” You stated, bluntly.

God you hated this turn in your life.

“You mean bell-bottoms?” Daisy asked, slight teasing bite to her words.

“Sure. How do people in your time function with all the extra fabric around their feet?” Sousa continued to ask questions. You found it funny, a bit. The main feeling you felt was pity.

“We have a gym. We keep in shape to fit in the things.” You answered.

“I got news for you. This isn’t actually our time period.” Sousa looked panicked at Coulson’s words.

“Well, fortunately, there’s unfashionable squares in every decade. So, you’re set.” Daisy said trying to help his worry a bit, or her worry.

“And nobody seems to look you in the eye now.” Sousa seemed very annoyed at this.

“We do, just not as much anymore. That and –” May finished it for you.

“Wait ‘til they all get cell phones.” She did so as you all started to work down the street.

“So, I was thinking, how do you guys know I was supposed to die in 1955?” Sousa asked as you crossed a road.

“It’s in the history books.” Coulson wasn’t wrong. It was.

“Yeah, but…But what if you always plucked me out of time? Does that mean I always survive? And if we end up in your present, will we even be in the same timeline?” The agent out of time’s questions were starting to hurt your head now.

“I’d stop thinking about it. Your brains will spill out.” Daisy said, trying to apparently stop her’s from hurting too.

“Mine already are.” Daisy gave you a smile as you continued walking.

“Simmons can explain, sort of, but maybe you’d feel more comfortable staying back on Zephyr One.” Coulson suggested.

“No. No, no, no. I’m here, no going back. Might as well dive in and embrace the 1970s.” Sousa was addiment.

“There wasn’t any going back anyway.” Your sister grabbed your hand again to see what stance you were taking: it was a firm one by the feeling you had.

Still holding your hand, she pulled you back as a man on roller blades went past with a boombox resting on his shoulder.

“Starting now….” Sousa concluded as he turned around, “I can’t believe this old hideout is still running.” What he was talking about, was an old SHIELD hideout used in time in the 40s. Apparently, the team had already been inside of it.

“Did you ever stop by back in your day?” Coulson asked.

“Once or twice. Only the top brass knew about it. Good place to lie low.” The man answered.

“Oh, yeah? I wish I could’ve seen it back then. I heard Dooley had a reserved booth with one of those plaque things next to it –” Coulson was starting to fanboy.

“Ok, dad, let’s not keep Enoch waiting any longer. He’s been chilling for like four decades.” Oh yeah, Enoch was still around. That was nice to hear, even if you guys had apparently been forced to leave him in the forties.

Daisy led you down the stairs, but Coulson was the one who typed in the code on a panel that was horizontal instead of vertical.

“See? Flashy.” You said to Sousa, pointing to the way the keypad had been laid out.

“See you haven’t lost your wit.” Daisy complimented. You looked to her and she gathered that you meant to smile, grabbing your hand confirmed the playful emotion inside of you.

It was in full Seventies swing, the bar. From the looks to the soundtrack. To be honest, you should’ve been expecting it, but here you were.

“So much for laying low.” Sousa seemed to have a wit to him. Ok, he wasn’t as straight and narrow as you had pegged him for.

“Wonder what all this is about?” Coulson wondered.

“Maybe it’s a party.” You supplied.

“Happy birthday Richard.” Your sister joked. She felt the humour you held inside at it.

“Maybe Enoch will know what’s going on.” So, the search for your friend began.

May was walking back to you both with drinks, seemingly drunk already off the joy from everyone else, “Oh. Ok.” Daisy said, getting up and helping the older woman sit down, “Glad you’re enjoying yourself. Any word on Enoch?”

May seemed to be coming down from the high, “Oh, uh, negative.” She answered. The two women then looked at you as you surveyed the room, “How about you?”

You stopped and looked at them, “Nothing yet.” You said, before going back to it.

“I’m worried that it’s more serious than we think. Also, I might be drunk.” Ah, so it was an actual drunkenness, not just the emotions off of everyone else.

“Yeah, I think you might’ve discovered a new form of Contact High. Hmm. Because they’re all three sheets to the wind.” Daisy quipped as she took a sip from her drink.

“I’m at least one sheet to the wind. Give me a moment.” May said as she took a moment. She then explained that, after talking to the staff, they hadn’t seen Enoch in over a year.

However, a bigger problem came your way, a Malick was in play: Wilfred Malick. Some kid named Freddy, whoever the fuck he was, was still alive apparently.

Daisy moved tables, leaving you on your own for a bit. You wondered, kind of wishing you still had your drink to help calm the nerves.

“Hey,” You turned and saw Sousa approaching you, “You alright?” He asked, seeming genuine.

You knew you could lie, but you didn’t, “No, not really. Not like you or anyone else can tell.”

“Ok, let’s get a range on it,” He held out his free arm, “Can I?”

“So gentleman like….Sure, go right ahead.” You answered, holding out your arm.

He touched it, steeling himself as they all flooded him at once, “That’s a lot.” He admitted.

“Complex creature like myself does. Broken people tend to not be so straight and narrow.”

“Here,” He held out what was left of his drink, “Think you’ll need this more than I do.” He shook it, as if it would make it more appetising.

“How will we know if it works?” You asked as you took it.

“I’ll know. I’m not as straight and narrow as you’d think. Sometimes I need that to help get me through some nerves before a mission.” He confessed.

“So, you’re a bit drunk when you go on an op?” You drank some of it. It was sweet, but had a kick to it.

“A bit. See? It helps, don’t it?” He held his hand out for it, you gave it back.

“Sure,” You coughed a bit. You couldn’t lie, it had helped a bit.

“It’s not creepy, you know?” You looked at him to continue, “This. The whole, emotions thing. People express ‘em how they express ‘em. Course, some ways are wrong, but I think we both know we know what those are. But, you and yours, nothing wrong with it. Can almost be like a superpower, make people feel how you feel, turn the tables on ‘em.” He told you.

You went to speak, before he felt the emotions change, going into a protective fire. He followed your eyeline, seeing Daisy speaking to someone, and he wasn’t taking no as an answer.

“Come on, let’s go.”

You went to your sister, Daniel was forced to let go of your arm as he played the boyfriend card to get the man away. The man’s name was Gideon Malick. Oh no.

Actually, no, Sousa played the fiancé card rather than the boyfriend one.

Either way, it worked and it got you away, “What was that about?” Sousa asked as the three of you kept your voices hush.

“Long story, but apparently, Freddy’s son Nathaniel is still alive, and he was supposed to die in 1970.” Daisy quickly summed up for the two of you.

“Another change in the timeline. Get any intel?”

“No. But I did get a clue on where we could find some.” That led you three to the back room.

“Seems like there’s a story with you two.” Sousa said, hoping that only you would hear it.

“With me and Dais?” You asked, wanting clarification. He nodded, confirming it, “Yeah. We didn’t know each other for a large part of our lives, almost feels like we’re playing catchup now, really.”

“How’d you reunite?”

“By happenstance. Coulson pulled me out of the academy. Kind of wasting my time there: closed off and not making any friends. I was decent, though, at fighting and all that.”

“You were more then decent, Y/NN.” Daisy cut in with.

“Fine, good –”

“More.”

“Pretty good –”

“More.”

“Amazing at it.”

“There you go.” You rolled your eyes. Sousa didn’t have to fully feel the emotion you felt to know it was an affectionate one for your sister at her boost of your confidence.

“Anyway, nice play back there with the whole fiancé thing.” You told him, seeing him lose eye contact with you for a second.

“Quick thinking.” He defended it as.

“Sure.” You sounded dull, but he knew it was teasing.

Daisy managed to find a lamp, pushing it up. Upon being questioned by Sousa, she explained that she had been here a few days ago…in 1931.

Ah, so it wasn’t the 40s, but the 30s instead.

It was a back office, with computer equipment scattered around and only one on.

Now, you all had a mole, giving HYDRA names that were on a list that was shown on the computer. The list had names of people to wipe out.

As you went to leave, you saw Coulson and May cornered by Malick and Chronicoms. Daisy and you shared a look, “What are you thinking?” Sousa asked, not wanting to be out the loop.

“Trade.” You answered in sync.

It got you out, but now the Chronicoms knew you were in play as well. Now it was bigger than before, now they were hunting others. You couldn’t get anywhere at once.

Some of the Chronicoms followed you up. Your sister quaked one back, while you used the shadows to make a rope, pulling the Chronicom back and snapped his neck.

“W—What the –” Sousa started to say, astounded at what had just happened.

“We’ll explain later. Let’s go!” Daisy said, pushing you all onward.

She felt your anger for just a second. But she felt it.

She felt it’s power.

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Enoch had returned, drifting a car around the corner and stopping right where you were, “Enoch, you’re here!” Daisy said, breathless, as you all entered his car.

“Yes. As I have been for the last forty years,” He met your eyes in the mirror, “And it is good to have you back, agent Johnson.”

“Thanks.” You replied.

“Now, buckle up.”

 You all made it back to the Zephyr, all standing together and planning on where to go next, “So, HYDRA’s attempting Insight in 1973?” Mack questioned as you all walked to the main part of the ship.

“With no Heli carriers?” Elena finished the question.

“According to Malick, SHIELD has a system of satellites and lasers, which as I say it, sounds really cool, but it’s definitely not cool.” Coulson got through the sentence rather quickly, trying to not make himself sound made at the end.

“Coulson,” He looked to you when you spoke, “Now’s not the time to fanboy.” He nodded, but you saw how he seemed to fight a smile.

“And it explains the launch pad at the Lighthouse. Must be where they’re planning to send up the satellite.” Mack guessed.

“Any idea who the targets are?” Elena asked.

“We found a dossier of mostly SHIELD assets. Bruce Banner, Nick Fury –” Daisy started when Sousa took over.

“Peggy Carter –” And you added a name.

“Alan Connelly.” You got looks of confusion from everyone but Coulson at that moment, “…What?”

“Whose that?” Daisy asked.

“Dad of the kid I helped out when Coulson picked me out for the team,” You looked to your friend, who smiled at the fact you remembered the boy, “Kind of want to keep the kid alive. Timeline’s sake and all that.”

Coulson knew it was far more than that, however.

Now, this happy-ish moment was broken up by the Zephyr beeping at you. The clock was going haywire (the click would tick down to your next jump). Now, though? You were going to jump again, and even Simmons couldn’t override it.

It was Simmons who had realised what was going on: The Chronicoms had changed their plans and were jumping early, instead.

With that, there was a shuffle, before you had landed in your new time period: 1976.

“Three years? How the hell did we just jump three more years?” Sousa asked as you both followed Daisy.

“I told you, I don’t know. We can’t control it.” Daisy was growing frustrated.

“Well, who does?” That answer was simple: The Chronicoms did.

To stop insight, you had to flood the area. You had a job, get into the security feed. That was to make sure there was no one left behind.

“I’m going with them. I’d rather be out there working the problem than in here where we disappear at any moment.”  No one seemed to argue, so off you went.

It was an alleyway, a dirty one. However, the walk down did go with now issues. So, that was new; and nice.

“You do your thing, we got your back.” Sousa assured Daisy as she started to get the items she needed from the bag. He then looked to you, “You…do whatever it is she does?”

“Hack? Nah, not my thing. I was all about –“ You pulled out your pistol, “She was the flip side of that.”

“Now I’m a hybrid between the two.” Daisy spoke up as she pulled her laptop out.

“And I’m….less of that.”

“Still play a role,” He comforted, before looking back to your sister, “I’m guessing you don’t really carry a piece, do you, seeing as how you got that super serum power. I mean, Y/N does, which doesn’t make too much sense with her own power.”

Daisy opened the control box, “Yeah, it’s not really a super serum thing.” She said as she plugged wires in.

“Didn’t expect a straight answer out of you.” Sousa quipped as you both kept watch for Daisy.

You heard a groan from Daisy, “How is there a firewall already?” You both walked over to her, to try and help. So much for keeping watch.

“Seems things just get just get worse the later in time you go. I think this is my last stop.” The man was honest.

“It’s ok. This is just a setback. My software will crack it. It just needs a minute to load.” As she said that, the computer beeped, with the words: EXPLOIT SUCCESSFUL appearing on the screen.

“Maybe you need a bigger computer. That thing’s too small.” At his words, Daisy chuckled.

“What?”

She pulled out his phone and took a picture, “What’s that?” He asked, slightly fearful of the thing.

“This is a phone.” Daisy found humour in this moment, dragging on each word, “But only old people use it for calls.” She showed him the photo.

He looked amazed, “How did you do that?” He asked, amazement in his tone.

“Check it out.” She zoomed it in. She let him continue to play with the phone as she looked at you. Her smile dimmed a bit as she realised that you couldn’t emote.

You looked away from her vision, gulping a bit.

“Yeah, you look ok for a guy who just aged 20 years.” She pulled the phone away, putting it back in her pocket. However, those words seem to hit him, hard.

“Looks like I missed a lot.” It was meant to be just to himself, instead the two of you heard it.

“I’m sorry. This is just so weird and messed up, but the Chronicoms jumped, and we had to dive in after them. Without us, it’s….it’s way worse.” Daisy explained. You didn’t even think, you just put your hand on his arm. However, as soon as you did that, he jumped at the pity you felt.

“Sorry.” You apologised, moving the hand away right away.

“It’s ok, I get it. Just…wish I could’ve said some goodbyes.” He said. You both then went back to watching Daisy’s back.

May radioed to tell you that herself and Coulson were in, “Copy that. I’m working on unlocking the next checkpoint. Just give me a sec,” She turned to Sousa, “Hey, can you open that panel?” He moved over to do just that.

“How are you holding up?” Daisy asked, quickly looking at you before going back to the computer.

“Holding up as best I can, really…” You weren’t quite sure how to answer.

“Well, how are you feeling?” Daisy asked.

“Paranoid, scared.”

She looked, again, “Why?”

“Well, they could jump at any moment. We could be stuck here and –” As you rambled, Daisy approached you, putting a – what was meant to be – calming hand on your arm.

As soon as she made contact, she felt the fear. She tried to keep it out of her voice as she spoke, “It’s ok. We will be ok. We – Look out! —” She tried to warn you all, but you were shot before she could fully move you out of the way.

 “Good to see you move.” Sousa said as Daisy made some movement. She was conscious. Alive. So, that was something.

“Y/N….where is she?” Daisy was still barely conscious, yet she asked for you. It was definitely something Sousa had noted.

“Psycho? That’s unfair, and very well timed. Wow. Right as I’m walking in. Hi. Nathaniel. Uh, the three of you took me hostage and changed my life?” Nathaniel recapped for the pair, feigning hurt at Daisy’s choice of words as she ranted about him just moments before.

“Yeah. How about you unchain us, give me back my sister, and we hug it out? And HYDRA and SHIELD can be together at last.” She was sarcastic, but she meant the part to get you back. Or…at least know where you were.

“HYDRA? I look like HYDRA to you? Take a look at Ron’s suit. Guy’s here because he’s got mouths to feed, not because he worships a space octopus. No. Religion’s not really my thing.” Daniel explained what he actually wanted. He didn’t care about religion, just about them. About how they got here, and how you and Daisy got your abilities.

“Where. Is. My sister?” Daisy asked, running out of patience.

Nathaniel laughed as he lowered himself down, “We’re digging into her first. Now, I’ve never heard a scream with no passion behind it. No..raw emotion there. But, now I have. Guess I’ve heard everything. By the way, whatever she’s got going on beside her dark manipulation, that’s some series shit. I mean…damn. Somethings gone wrong with her brain waves.” Daisy lunged for him at that.

However, it had been what he was waiting for.

“There she is! There’s the fiery sister. You know, however Y/N feels on the inside, doesn’t matter. She yelled, kicked some of my guys, who were more angry than usual, has to be said. I mean, Christ, they beat her to a pulp. And that was before we even got her on the table.” Then, she was dragged away.

Entering the room, she saw you bloodied and bruised, “No!” She cried out, trying to fend them off to get to you. She was weakened, and tired. And shit scared, “NO!”

She was thrown against the table, “Hey, easy, easy! Neither of them die. Not yet, anyway.” Nathaniel stepped in before it escalated further. The man looked at Daisy, who was only looking at you, “Now, she’s alive. Stupid bitch can’t get a handle on whatever’s cooking up in there. She’s one angry person. She’s not very expressive, though. Seems to do that through action more than facial expressions. Don’t matter, though, I got what I wanted from her power. Now, I’ll get what I want from yours.”

Sousa had no choice but to watch. Watch through a tiny hole in the wall. Daisy was dragged out the room, but you were kept on your table, “Now, onto Y/N’s brain. Wanna find out how she infects you guys with what she’s feeling.”

“It’ll kill her.” One of his henchmen said. Seemed they weren’t all bad. Seemed that they were just genuinely in this to make money for their family, and hadn’t fully lost their moral code…yet.

“I’ll be careful. I just need a bit to get it into me.” Seemed Nathaniel wasn’t a remorseless killer either.

Daisy was dumped on the floor, and he was gone again.

Daniel tried to keep Daisy awake by telling her a story about his army days. However, he then turned the tables on her, “Tell me about Y/N?” He knew she was fighting with all she had to stay awake. And, in his time in the army, he saw how strong bonds between siblings or found siblings was.

“Y/N….wasn’t the most emotive when we first met. She was cold. Took – took a while, but we broke through. Now….now she’s back to square one in her mind –” Daisy managed to get through the sentence, stopping every now and then to let out a noise of discomfort or to catch her breath.

“And she thinks she’s broken?” Daisy managed a small nod.

You were barely awake, your breathing shallow. But, you were alive. Your brain trying to find something to comfort you with. The main thing was flashes of your time. If this was it, might as well have a recap, right?

It took you to Sousa, how you had started out a bit weary, but he had won you over. He was a good man. Good for your sister, if she followed through with the emotion her eyes communicated: a small bit of romantic attraction.

Then, it went to a particular phrase he had given you: “Can almost be like a superpower, make people feel how you feel, turn the tables on ‘em”.

“What’s she feeling?” Nathaniel asked. One of his men touched your hand.

“Fear, peaceful feeling…something else too.” He reported.

“How can she be both fearful and peaceful? What’s the other thing?” Nathaniel asked.

“It’s all building to something…” The man said.

“…What’s that?”

“….Rage.” At that, you shot up, biting into the man’s ear. You ripped it clean off, spitting it away, you pulled out his pistol and shot the guard. Nathaniel hid behind one, the man taking a bullet for Nathaniel as he ran away.

You ran after him, before you remembered that you weren’t alone here. You had a sister and a new, genuine, friend to help. To save.

The love you felt for them was greater than your desire to hurt Malick.

So, you turned back, going to save your family.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is she ok?” Was the first think you asked when you entered the room. Your face was blank and voice monotone, but your concern was still heard by Sousa as he picked your sister up and held her.

“She will be, when we get out of here. How about you, though?” He asked, his concern being heard both in his voice in expression, seeing the state you were in.

“I’ll be fine. We need to get out of here, though.”  He knew he didn’t have time to argue, so he just nodded and led the way.

The building started to shake, shadows started to almost ripple: he was trying to get to grips with your abilities.

You just kept your focus on getting the pair out.

“How are you able to even stand?” He was still on it, but still sounded concerned.

“Lots and lots of adrenaline. That, and fear, guilt, rage, love. All the cliché shit.”

“It’s not cliché, it’s emotion.” He argued.

“Granted. And I get that there’s probably people like me both inhuman and not. But, still, having to shout them out is –” You pushed, pushing him back as guards ran past you and to the rooms you were just in.

You continued on your way, “Is annoying.”

A gunshot hit the wall, you used your ability to pull Sousa back, “Protect her!” You exclaimed.

A bullet hit you in the shoulder, but your grabbed that guard with your ability and pulled him into the dark. The others dropped their weapons, running away.

They were hired to do a job, but if they couldn’t get home to their families, there was no point to it in the first place.

However, one remained, he was shaken, “Go,” He looked as if he didn’t believe you, “I’m serious, go.”

He didn’t move. So, you did the one thing you could think of, you approached him and grabbed him. He was instantly hit with your genuinely feeling of tiredness and the want for this to be over, “Go.”

He ran.

“Good job.” Sousa meant it, having a not-too-much bloody confrontation.

“Let’s go home.” You blinked, almost happy that it didn’t get any worse.

You felt relieved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So…back in the pod?” You asked as Jemma prepared it for it.

She looked back to you with a small smile, “Yes, I’m afraid. There is no other way. I’m sorry.”

You nodded, “Ok.” You went to get up to join in your sister (who was in her own pod) in a sleep as you healed.

Jemma and Sousa were instantly up to help you, but paused, “It’ll hurt.” You warned them.

“Y/N, you’re one of my best friends, seeing you in pain hurts me. But, if being in a bit more gets you to that pod that will heal you, then it’s worth it.” She was firm, but in her own loving way.

“…Ok.” You held out your arms, Jemma grabbed one, Sousa the other. They did cringe at the emotional pain, but they soldiered on. It seemed that two people holding you separated it between the pair.

They got you to the pod, resting you against it’s open shell. You looked to Sousa, “You gonna stay?”

He nodded, “I’m right where I need to be.” He assured you.

“You’ll be ok, Y/N. You both will.” Was Jemma’s reassurance.

“Ok. See you on the other side.” The two smiled.

You went back in, the pod door closing. Jemma put her hand to it as you felt your eyelids drop, you put yours where her hand was.

Then, once again, you were asleep.

[arthurflecksgirl]

Reader finds out she`s pregnant with Arthur`s child

@jaraysha1121 requested this one! Thank you so much for the lovely request!!! I really, really, really hope you will like the result :)

Arthur humming quietly into your ear was the perfect way to wake up in the morning. Smelling his hair, that felt tickelish into your face while he kissed you awake was. You just wished that all of this, his bed hair in the morning, him humming oldies in the kitchen while making coffee, his skin on yours at night, would never come to end end.

You have been together for one year now but it felt like you had known him before the beginning of time. Having him in your arms felt like holding the entire universe in your hands. Like anything was possible and there was nothing that you weren`t able to face together. Arthur was your muse, your inspiration. Your proof that no matter how cruel life has been to you, there is still hope to stay gentle at heart and to end up being loved. It was just the same the other way around. You ended up being Arthurs salvation. His soul mate. Everything he ever hoped for and daydreamed about. You and him. It was just fate.

"Hey Y/N. I made you some tea. I hope you feel better this morning? I noticed you couldnt find sleep tonight?" He handed you the cup "Careful, its still very hot." You took a careful sip and put it back on the table. " Arthur crawled back on the couch with you, so you took him under the green blanket. He softly kissed your cheek.

"Um...yeah well I feel better now" you lied.  You didnt wanted him to be worried about you, since Arthur worried about you a lot. Whenever he thought there was the slightest chance for you to get sick or cold or anthing that made you feel uncomforable. He would ask you every five minutes if you already felt better, which was beyond adorable, but still, you didnt wanted him to get worried, because after a while he tended to get nervous and anxious , and that wasnt good for his mental health and insomnia at all. So yo decited to try to hide it from him. But he just knew you so well.

"Are you sure, baby? You seem like there is something wrong? You didnt even ate your fave cookies yesterday. The plate is still full so... I got evidence!" He joked and pulled your nose. "No, I`m fine, Artie, really. I mean.I just woke up beside you. How on earth wouldnt I feel great?" You took another sip of tea.

"Yeah..." Arthur lit himself a cig and stared at the ceiling while his arm was wrapped around you "You know, I just wish we could do this more often. The sleepover.  But its very diffucult to hide you from my mother. I dont know how she would react if she knew that a girl was sleeping in the living room."

You nodded. It was obvious that Arthur loved his mum but he was also afraid to get into a confrontation with her. He would only confront her with anything if there was absolutely no other way to handle it. So you sneaked into his apartment when Penny was already asleep.

"Sooo what if she just wakes up and walks through the living room? She will notice me for sure."

Arthur shook his head while he took a deep drag of his cig "She will not wake up".

"What do you mean?"

"She took some sleeping pills yesterday. Well... I made her do it but...anyway..." he stroke your hair "Dont worry abut that okay? She will still be asleep for the next few hours for sure. And even if she will wake up, she would be so confused, you could just hide under the blanket and she wouldnt notice anything."

"I see... you thought of anything didnt you? I wonder what she would sayif she knew there was a girl on the couch."

Arthur leaned in to kiss your ear "Just think of what she would do if she knew what I did with this girl last night...?!"

You smirked "Yeah that was definitely helping with feeling better."

"So what do you think she would do?"

"She would tell you you`re a naughty boy"

Arthur put the cig in his pink ashtray and  kissed you passionately.

"Yeah...being naughty is fun isnt it?"

You nodded under the sweet pressure of his lips.

You tried to be as quiet as possible, even though he claimed that Penny wouldnt wake up.  She was still in the back of your mind. There was something about the thought of being caught that you really liked.

Arthur checked the clock "Oh. I gotta go to work now. I`m pretty late. " He got up from the couch and grabbed his clown gear. You stood up to change your clothes as you realized how your head was spinning. Arthur didnt noticed. He was distracted by checking his bag.  " We`ll see each other on Monday, right?"

"Yeah, sure. I will visit  when you get home from work. "

Arthur grabbed the keys "Great. I cant wait to see you again, sweetheart. Any plans for today?"

You opened teh door "Yeah I will visit my best friend over the weekend. We`ll be watching movies and stuff."

You both headed down the hallway and got into the elevator "Sounds like fun" Arthur smiled at you with so much love in his eyes. His tiney wrinkles made you want to cover his beautiful face with kisses.

"What?" he asked as he noticed you staring.

"Nothing....its just...I love you so god damn much!"

Arthurs cheeks turned red "Dito!" he said, gently touching your cheek before you said goodbye. You watched him running towards the subway station. He was really late.

Being in the elevator a minute ago made your dizzyness even worse. You closed your eyes for a moment, wondering if you might catched the flu. You felt sick to the stomach for about three days now and it didnt seemed to get any better.  Hopefully it wouldnt ruin the whole weekend. You knew that your best friend bought sweets and cake but you didnt felt like eating anything at all.

Thirty minutes later you arrived. Your best friend welcomed you with the warmest hug. She was the only one who accepted your love to Arthur. Most of your other friends thought he was weird for his laughter and for still living with his mother at the age of 35. You started to realize that some of those people didnt even deserved your friendship, especially they didnt deserved to get to know the wonderful man that Arthur was.

"Hey Y/N ! I`m glad you`re here. I`ve planned something for tonight. You will be excited to hear about it. How is Arthur doing?"

You got out of your jacket and sat down on the couch "He`s doing fine. Thank you for asking. He`s on some new meds and they are much better than the last ones he had."

"I`m happy to hear this. But you kno what his best medicine is? YOU. Imean it. He looks so much healthier since the two of you meet each other on a regular basis."

Hearing those words coming out of her mouth meants the world to you "Thank you so much. I appriciate that. The others dont understand...."

"Pffff" she headed to the kitchen and came back with a huge self made pizza "Dont listen to them. They are idiots. Every single one of them. Arthur is a nice guy and he is good for you. I can see the way you look at each other. There is so much love between you."

"Yeah. I really do love him. More than anything. I think he`s my soulmate."You smiled "I understand him.  And he gets me. We get each other. We dont even have to say anything. Its just....we know. We`re the same. "

"Heyyyyy check this out" she put the huge pizza on the table in front of you "Its self made. i`m kinda proud. We will kill this delicios thing this evening. What do you think?"

Just looking at the food made you feel sick again "Um.....yeah thats....great. It looks delicious"

Your friend put her hand on your forehead "Y/N. You look kinda pale."

"Yeah...I dont feel so well....its been this way for half a week now. I can barely eat something and I feel dizzy at times and just....weird. Like...I dont know my body and mind feel funny and....I dont know....I havent slept for days..." you started crying.

"Ohhh noooo why are you crying? Is there anything going on with Arthur you wouldnt tell me?"

You wiped a tear away "No. No really. He is fine. I`m just very sensitive these days. I`m not sure why.... maybe it was all to much with the others not respecting Arthur as my boyfriend. ...I dont know....Just stressed out emotionally I think.. But I will be fine."

Your friend told you  that you didnt have to eat anything if you dont feel like it, but two hours later you decited to give it a try and grabbed a piece of her selfmade pizza. After one slice you felt so bad you coudlnt hide it from your bestie anymore "Oh my god. I think I gotta go to the bathroom" you hurried up and closed the door behind you.

"Y/N? Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah....kinda....just...I`m just sick to the stomach. I think I catched the flu or something. maybe its better for me to go home. I dont want you to get infected."

Ten minutes later you got back into the living room again. She waited for you with a big grin on her face. Why would she make fun of you feeling sick?

"Feeling better?" the grin still lingering on your lips. It kinda hurt you to see her reaction.

"No. I think I`m gonna go home. I think I have to rest until I see Arthur again on Monday.  I dont want to cancel our date. He is looking forward to it. I`m sorry thatI ruined our weekend before it even started...."

She giggled.

"Why are you laughing? Cant you see I`m feeling like shit?"

She pointed at the empty place beside her "Si down Y/N. And calm down for a second. I dont think that you`re ill at all. You feel sick to the stomach, dizzy and emotionally sensitive.....Think about what it might be."

"I dont know what you are talking about!" you yelled

"Oh I see, currently very emotional with your  reactions."

"Yeah go ahead making fun of me" you replied with a dissappointed look on your face.

"Y/N. You and Arthur I mean....you want to stay together right?"

"Of course we do!"

"You love each other to death?"

"Yeah!"

She clapped her hands "So I think Monday will be even more special when he hears the news!"

"Which news?" you still didnt understood what she was all about.

"Y/N. My dear, you might be pregnant with Arthur`s child!"

The very second you heard her saying this your heart just stopped. You tried to think about the symptoms  but all you could think about was Arthur and how he would react if this was really true. You rubbed your dimples, tried to remember how one of your friends felt like when she got pregnant.  It really could be it.

"Oh my god..." you whispered.

"YES great news. I mean....if you really are this would be great news for you, right? Hopefully...I mean...did you talked about that? You and Arthur?"

Concentrating was hard "We did....I mean....a while ago he told me how much he loves kids and that he always wanted to have a family and .....I mean look at him when he is with kids. he would be a great dad. I know he would. "

"And how do YOU feel about it?" she asked.

"I...I`m not sure....I mean...I want to spent the rest of my life with him and...the thought of being a parent is stil kinda scare, isnt it? But...yeah I think I really want to have a kid with Arthur. He is the only man who ever made me feel this way. Its just overwhelming right now. The thought that it might happen NOW. But yeah...I would be happy about it for sure. " you started to cry. Your best friend hugged you tight "Shhhhhtt . Eighter way it will be good. What do you think about going to the pharmacy and get a test right now? So you dont have to ask yourself that question all day?"

You nodded. Knowing would help. You just had to know if your friend was right.

An hour later you couldnt stop your hands from shaking as you got back to your friends apartment. The pregnancy test in your hand felt surreal. You never did such a test before, so you sat down with her to read everything through.

"Are you ready?" she asked you.

You werent sure. How could anyone ever be ready for something like that? Deep down you knew that there was nothing to be afraid of. The more you thought about it, the more you wanted the test to turn out positive. You just felt deep in your heart that Arthur would be happy,too. There was only a slight chance that he would be too overwhelmed and scared. But then again, who wouldnt be?

"No. I`m not ready" you smiled while you said it out loud.

"But you are smiling! Thats a good thing. Take your time. We can do this tonight if you want."

You got up and headed to the bathroom "No. No. I really want to know now.  So I will have more time to think about how I will tell Arthur on Monday."

"Ha! You`re already talking like you are pregnant. I like that" her face lighted up.

And you realized that this was true. Somehow you suddenly felt like you already knew. Like everything was coming together. You imagined Arthur holding your baby for the first time. Imagined his big puppy eyes while trying to make his kid laugh. You already felt the love he was radiating as a dad. Your eyes started watering when you closed the door behind you. You followed the discriptions of the test and waited.

It wasnt long but it felt like a lifetime.

So many scenarios went through your head. Any possible reaction from Arthur. You checked the watch. It was time to take a look at the result. Your heart was beating fast. You didnt even knew how much you wanted a kid with him until now. You hoped for the test to be positive. So much it would even hurt you if it was not the case. This morning you didnt even thought of being a parent and suddenly it was all you could think about. Arthur as a dad. Arthur as the father of your child. What a wonderful life it would be! Not easy, but wonderful and worth living for.

Your shaky hand grabbed the test with eyes closed. One deep breath in. And another.

Okay.

Now.

Now you will know.

Postive. The test was positive. Arthur and you would be parents soon!

You wished for him to be here with you right now. A brief moment you felt regret for not making the test when he was there with you but anyway, you would make sure to surprise him in the sweetest way!

"Ohhh my god, you were right!" you screamed as you got out of teh bathroom "You were right!!!!"

Your friend ran towards you and held you tight "I knew. I just knew. I am so happy for you. Are you happy? You are feeling good, right? Oh my god!"

"Yeah, I...I am happy. So much happier than I thought I would be. I cant wait to tell Arthur the day after tomorrow. God, I dont even know if I can wait until then. But I have to because....I want the surprise to be perfect. And I gotta figure out how I will tell him the news!"

"You`re going to be a great mum Y/N. I just know. And Arthur is going to be the funniest daddy ever!"

You sat down on teh couch, dizzy but happy at heart "Wow,thats just...a lot to think about!"

Your friend told you to rest and made you a cup of tea to calm your stomach.  You realized that life would never be the same again after the kid would be born. But you wanted it. You wanted it all. With him. And him only.

It was so hard to no tell Arthur when he called you the next day. But you wanted to see his face when you told him. You wanted to feel his arms around you and this wasnt possible through the phone, so you waited for Monday evening.

You made sure that you arrived earlier than he would and put the pregnancy test into an envelope, so he would find it as soon as he checked the box for letters. He always did because his mum was waiting on a letter from Thomas Wayne for months now. Standing in the hallway was torture. You checked your watch at least twenty times until he finally arrived. Arthur was still wearing his clown make up. He carried his green wig and clown shoes in his big bag, looking tired. "Ohhhh honey. I`m so glad to be home. It was a long day at HaHas.  There was a kids birthday. I danced for at least three hours. But it was worth it. You should have seen the little boys face! God. I love making kids happy.....Y/N? Are you okay?"

"Arthur!" you jumped into his arms and felt him with all your senses.  "Yes I`m fine. Just so.....good to see you again and I missed you so much!"

A real smile was visible underneath his big, red fake smile "I`m happy to have you in my arms again,too. I missed you the moment you walked out of the elevator two days ago!"

Arhur grabbed his keys to open the letter box. That was the moment. In less than a minute he would know.

"A letter!" he mumbled "Maybe my mum finally gets what she was waiting for ."  He checked the envelope. "Wait....It says For Arthur....there is no stamp and....this is...your handwriting...?" he looked at you. The confused frown on his face made you want to kiss him so bad.

"Open it, darlin. please!"

Arthurs fingers felt that there was something in it.

"Darling, its not even my birthday." he joked "Did you got me a present?" he reached for what was in there and pulled it out.

Arthurs face froze for a moment. No reaction. Just him staring at the test and the little note that said "Soon we`re going to be a family! "

For a second your heart seemed to stop. Why didnt he say anything? Why wasnt he even moving? Was it bad news for him?

The envelope fell down to his feet as he covered his face with his hands. He was crying.

"A-Arthur? Darling?" you took a step closer to him. And another. Until you were able to put your arm around him. His tiney body was shaking.

"Arthur....please say something.

Seeing him cry now was torture. You were looking forward to this moment until you saw the test result and now he was crying in silence. He didnt even looked at you. His beautiful hands just covered his face while he was sobbing like a little boy.

"Oh Arthur, I thought....I really thought this would make you happy,too?!"

Arthur uncovered his face. His puffy eyes glanced at you with love "Are you kidding me Y/N? Of course I am happy. I was never happier in my whole life! Oh my god. I am....I never felt this way before. We are going to be a family! This is all I ever wanted in life. Thank you for making my dream come true!" Arthur fell into your arms. His head resting on your shouders  as tears of happiness ran down his face.

Now you started crying too.

"Oh god, I`m so glad. So reliefed. You`re going to be the best daddy ever. I love you so much, Artie! So incredibly much."

Arthur kissed you softly on the lips. Traces of his clown make up covered the corner of your mouth.

"You know what? Tomorrow I`m taking a day off and we`ll have a beautiful picnic in the park. Just the two of us. Out on a date to celebrate this! And when we`re back home, I´m going to tell my mum!"

You smiled "Your mum didnt even knew you had a girlfriend. She will be shocked."

"So what? Its our life! And our desicion. We will be looking for a new home anyway."

"Yeah" you wiped a curl out of his face.

"C`mon, honey, lets get in and relax for the night."

Arthur took you by the hand and soon you found yourself all cuddled up on the couch. Arthur on your side. Skin on skin. His breath behind your ear. His hand caressing your belly.

"So you think its going to be a boy or a girl?" he asked you while his fingers gently moved in circles. He lit some candles to make it even cozier for you.

"I dont know" you whispered "I would love a son who looks just like his father."

Arthurs hand on your tummy felt so calming. Like a charm that made your child feel loved.

"And I would love a daughter who is just as precious as her mother."

You smiled.

"I promise I will try my best to be a good dad. I will make our kid laugh as often as possible and teach him or her how to do magic tricks and I´ll dance to make the child feel better. I will try anything. to be.....good enough! I`m gonna take good care of our baby."

"I know you are going to be amazing. Who wouldnt love to have a funny clown as a father?"

Arthur leaned in to kiss you "I promise you, I will find a job as a stand up comedian so we can afford much more than now. I`m gonna make it work. "

"I know we will Arthur. The two....no. The three of us together."

Arthur pulled you even closer to his chest. The warmth of his body lulled you in as you drifted away into sleep. The last thing you`ve heard before your eyes closed was Arthur whispering "Sleep tight, little angel" while he placed his lips on your belly to kiss your child good night.

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 29

Okay, quick explanation of the next few days. I started writing Abandoned Part 2 for today's prompt. It's turning into a monstrosity. I ended up deciding that I was going to need some more time to finish it, and skipped to write the other 2 days first. So today's fic is actually the prompt for Day 30, and tomorrow's will be the prompt from Day 31. Day 29's prompt, the Abandoned sequel, will be on the last day. Everybody capiche?

Without further ado...Keith is an idiot, an ongoing saga.

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Day 29 (No. 30) - Wound Reveal/Ignoring an Injury

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: explosions, stab wounds, blood

The stitch in his side kept getting worse the longer they ran. It was odd, considering he didn’t usually have that issue, but he attributed it to some muscle he had pulled the wrong way when fighting with that Galra lieutenant and just kept running. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Pidge and Hunk had planted explosives all over the base, and they had less than a dobash left to clear the area before they went off.

Bursting out the front door of the building, Keith and Lance dove behind the boulders where Allura, Pidge, and Hunk were already waiting, just in time for the detonations to start. Heat washed over them as the ground shook.

“Cutting it a little close there, were we?” Pidge quipped.

Lance scoffed. “Maybe, but you have to admit that would have been an awesome action movie sequence right there.”

Still panting for breath, Keith cupped his waist where the pain was originating, only to feel a slight rip in the fabric. Startled, he pulled his hand back and saw that the fingers of his glove were wet. Huh. Guess that lieutenant got a knick in, after all. No wonder it had been hurting.

The base was fully obliterated, what hadn’t been blown into pieces now engulfed in flame. That took care of all the foot soldiers and sentries, as well as all the computers, weapons, and other technology that had been inside. However, it didn’t solve the issue of the fighters that had managed to escape just before the explosion and were now shooting down at them.

“Should we head back to the Lions?” someone shouted.

Keith turned to look for Shiro’s response and...everyone was looking at him. Right. He was the Black Paladin now. Everyone’s lives were in his hands, and he still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Actually, he did know how he felt. Wrong. This shouldn’t have been his job, it should have been Shiro’s. He was no good at leading. Why Shiro and the Black Lion had ever chosen him, he had no idea.

But it was his job, like it or not, and so he had to step up and lead. “Yeah. Everyone back in your Lions, and take on those fighters. Remember, they can still call for backup from their ships, so we need to take them down as fast as we can.”

With cries of agreement, everyone jumped up and ran off in their respective directions, holding up their shields and dodging laser fire as they went. Keith gasped involuntarily as he stood and pain shot through his middle unexpectedly. For just a scratch, that knife wound sure was acting up.

By the time he sank into Black’s pilot seat, it had gone from stinging to throbbing, and the pain seemed to be growing by the second. He pressed his hand up against it again. This time his whole hand came back wet, and he was pretty sure he could feel that same warm wetness leaking down inside his suit, too.

Apparently it was worse of a wound than he thought.

He had no time to worry about it, though. The other Lions had already launched. Shoving the controls forward, he ignored the way the skin pulled and steered Black into the thick of the fight. 

“About time you joined us.”

“Sorry.” Normally he would snap right back at Lance’s insults, but now that he was leading - and doing such a poor job of it, most of the time - he generally felt he deserved them. “Allura, you’ve got a fighter coming in at two o’clock.”

“Already got it handled,” Pidge announced as she swooped past and fired her laser.

Right. He’d just mind his own business and take out fighters, then.

They were down to the last couple of ships in a matter of minutes. Keith was looking forward to heading back victorious to the Castle and quietly slipping away to his room to check out his injury. 

But when had anything in his life ever gone the way he wanted it to? Someone had called for backup at some point, and now there was a cruiser and a whole new fleet of fighters to deal with. Immediately they were surrounded, and the cruiser was charging up its ion cannon.

“-ith! Sh-...-rm…-tron?”

Keith shook his head, trying to clear it. There was shouting over the comms, but it sounded like it was coming from underwater. 

“Ke-!...-eed...us...do!”

“Um.” The fighters looked like they were multiplying as he stared out his windscreen, wavering unnaturally. “I…” Glancing down at the video screens, he tried to gauge what was going on from his teammates faces, but they were distorted, too. “I don’t…”

“...nee-...-ze up...so…-pful…”

“Jus-...-mation…-ltron!”

The other Lions all took off suddenly, flying in a formation that seemed familiar, somewhere in the fog of his mind. Voltron. They want to form Voltron. His movements were sluggish, but he managed to send Black forward to join them, taking his place in the lead. 

Black...I need your help…

Voltron formed without him fully being aware of it happening. He wasn’t sure whether he had completely blacked out, or if his brain was just working so poorly that he couldn’t remember it after, but the next thing he knew was trying to steer the giant machine in the general direction of the cruiser. Easier said than done when said cruiser wouldn’t stay still, bobbing up and down and side to side like a yo-yo. 

The rest of the team was still yelling back and forth over the comms. Even if he couldn’t understand the words, he could still recognize the frustration in their tones, and was pretty sure it was directed at him. He didn’t blame them. He was letting them down, again. What could he say, though? He wasn’t sure whether he could even form words, and they seemed to be doing just fine without him directing. All he had to do was keep pointing Black in the right direction - and keep his shaking arms from going slack and slipping from the controls - and they were taking care of the rest, using Lance’s sword to slash a hole in the side of the cruiser, and Hunk’s shoulder cannon to take out multitudes of fighters.

They really didn’t need him at all. It should have been Lance or Allura who led. Not him.

He lost a chunk of time again just before Voltron disbanded, the disorienting feeling of his limbs being pulled away bringing him back. Okay. Just have to make it back to the hangar now. He thought he heard Black rumble in his mind, assuring him that they would get there.

The jolt of landing made him grit his teeth to keep from crying out. It felt like his entire side was on fire. He could vaguely hear the others leaving their Lions, mumbling to each other the whole time, but he couldn’t seem to find the strength to move.

“Come on, Mullet, you can’t hide from us all day!”

The sudden, echoing voice from inside Black’s hangar made him jump, then squeeze the arms of the chair in a death grip as he rode out the wave of pain. Maybe it was because of the lack of other distractions, but he found it easier to focus on the words now. And they weren’t at all happy.

“Keith? We need to talk. Come on out, please.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah. C-coming.” 

One hand pressed to his side. One hand gripping the steering control. Stand up. Don’t scream. Don’t fall over. Helmet off. Walk to the door. Wait for Black to lower the ramp. Don’t fall over.

“What the heck was that all about?” Lance screeched as soon as Keith was in sight. “I know we told you your leading was crappy, but that didn’t mean we wanted you to just stop leading!”

Keith wavered, still on the ramp, and found something unseen to lean against. There was still blood oozing out around his fingers.

Allura cleared her throat. “Yes, I...I think what Lance is trying to say is, we’re not sure what happened out there, but we were left floundering a bit without anyone giving us any direction. Thankfully, all turned out well in the end, but something like that simply cannot happen again.”

She was right. It couldn’t.

“It was like you just...froze up,” Pidge offered. He tried to look at her, but she and Hunk seemed to be dancing around each other, switching places. It made him even dizzier than he already was.

“Yeah, big bad Mullet, scared of a bunch of Galra fighters.” There was a pause where no one said anything. “Well, come on, man, don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

Keith opened his mouth, and left it that way for a moment as he desperately tried to force some words to come out. “‘m s’rry.” Spots swam in front of his vision. “I...think…’ve been stabbed.”

His knees buckled. Distantly, he thought he heard someone shout his name, but a second later the black spots had taken over and he was out.

When he next opened his eyes, it was to the sight of the front of a pod dissipating. He stumbled forward until a steady pair of hands latched onto his arms and stilled him.

“We really need to talk about your view of team leadership, Keith,” Allura’s voice said softly in his ear.

His heart sank. “I know.”

“Don’t you know that team leaders aren’t perfect, that they have to let their team take care of them sometimes?”

Keith froze, unsure if he was hearing correctly. Stepping back, Allura smiled gently at him, her hands still on his arms. “Next time, you should tell us that you’ve been stabbed before you’re passing out from blood loss.”

Ducking his head, Keith let his lips quirk up just a little. “Yeah. I’ll...try to do that.”

“Good,” Lance declared from somewhere nearby. “Because I want that to be the last time that I have to drag your unconscious Black Paladin butt to the infirmary.”

Pidge scoffed. “You so did not do the dragging.” 

“Did, too!”

“Yeah, man, that was definitely Allura,” Hunk commented.

“I helped!”

Keith’s smile grew, and he shook his head. If they were going to give him another chance to get this whole leading thing right, then he guessed he could give himself another chance, too.