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thespianbooks · 4 years

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A Court of Nightmares and Starlight //Chapter 20//

Masterlist

tags: @thron3ofbooks, @df3ndyr, @courtofjurdan, @art-e-mis, @herondamnn, @the-third-me, @im-still-trying-here, @emikadreams, @paytin77, @mis-lil-red, @sleeping-and-books, @lucieisabooknerd, @amandaraey-sunshine, @easy-p-lemon, @azymondias05, @dagypsygirl, @makeshift-utopia) *bold tags don’t work ;-;

Posting a little earlier because last week I posted a little later than I meant to 😅

XXX

"Eris is High Lord of the Autumn Court?" Mor asked carefully, her warm eyes widened in subtle horror.

In the weeks that followed the news of the civil unrest taking place in Autumn, all the courts of Prythian had been on a collective edge. As our spymaster indicated in his reports, Eris indeed sent letters to every court—asking for aid in the fight against his father, and almost every one had begrudgingly sent a small contingency of their armies; Kallias being the only one to outright refuse. After bearing witness firsthand to Beron's insolence at the summit, they all were hesitant to trust that Eris would be any better—especially Kallias, whose heavily pregnant mate had been targeted by the older male. They were surprised, however, to see the legion of Illyrians that Cassian sent; realizing later that we were retaliating directly against Beron for not only his assault against me at the summit, but for his attack on Velaris as well. They also knew of the tenuous alliance Rhys and I had with Eris for his help during the war, and one-by-one they offered their support for the male in a fortnight.

Azriel nodded in response to Mor, taking a subtle step closer as she loosed a shaky breath. After meeting with his brothers, Rhys had called for the rest of us to gather in the library in order to disclose the information they received earlier this morning—that Eris had beaten his father and was crowned as the new High Lord of Autumn, while his despicable father rotted in their prison, for now.

"What now?" I asked as Mor remained speechless, her eyes still darting from side to side as she processed the news.

The last decade of peace hadn't lessened the hatred she bore towards the Autumn male, and I understood how it must've felt to learn that the male who caused her unbearable pain—had left her for dead, was now elevated to a high position of power.

"Now that bastard keeps a leash on Keir, until we and the other courts can pull back our forces and recuperate before tackling our next issue." Rhysand answered, keeping a watchful eye on his cousin.

"How long will that take?" Amren asked from her seat next to Mor, subtly moving closer and offering the blonde her glass of wine.

"Two or three weeks, give or take." Cassian responded as Mor took that glass and gulped down the remainder of its contents.

"How exactly will he do that?" Elain asked timidly, she hadn't been very involved in the meetings where we developed our plan of action—the war with Hybern still too fresh in her memory for her to actively participate as she had back then. She was finally in a good place, nearly recovered mentally, and talks of going to war again only gave her painful reminders of what she had lost then.

I placed a hand over hers gently. "Rhys has been writing back and forth with Eris over the last two weeks. Once he started gaining an advantage over his father, Eris received a letter from Keir offering to create an alliance," I explained.

"You mean renew an alliance," Mor said bitterly as she stood and crossed over to the set of windows, hands on her hips.

I frowned, sharing a look with Rhysand. "But Eris is our ally in this coup. I have already instructed him to keep Keir sidetracked with false promises of a treaty while we work together with the other courts and replenish our armies," he reassured.

"You really think we can trust him?" Mor asked, turning back to face us. "He's been biding his time until he could win his father's throne, using us as leverage, how do we know he'll keep his word now that he has it?"

"He is ruthless, cousin, there's no doubt about that. He also knows that he would be at a severe disadvantage if he paired with Keir in the coup. His court just underwent a civil war, it is in shambles and he now has to navigate how to deal with his father's supporters and piece his court back together. Partnering with Keir would be disastrous and result in his court falling apart completely," Rhys explained calmly.

"If for some batshit crazy reason he does decide to side with Keir, we outnumber them now." Cassian added. "With the other courts on our side, they can't win."

Mor still looked unconvinced as she turned back to the window without another word. I saw Azriel watching her, a flicker of yearning in those hazel eyes, but he looked away as Elain spoke up again.

"Is there any news of Vassa…?" She asked quietly.

"She was recovered and returned to her home in the Mortal Lands, by Lucien." He answered her just as softly.

A pall of silence fell over us—Mor's rage continued to simmer as she stared out the window; while my sister and the shadowsinger exchanged a prolonged look before she finally looked down at her lap. Whether or not she acknowledged the fact that it was her mate that rescued the mortal queen, or whether or not she cared, I could only guess.

Rhys cleared his throat. "In the meantime, we keep waiting while Eris keeps Keir distracted. During that time, the other courts will be steadily sending their forces until those who fought in Autumn are recovered and can accompany the rest. If all goes according to plan, we have approximately two weeks until we're hosting the other courts and High Lords," he continued.

"Where are we going to host five High Lords, their entourages, and armies? We can't use the palace above the Court of Nightmares, Keir will know." I asked, bewildered.

"We'll host them here, in Velaris," Rhys answered with a rouge smirk.

"And their armies will camp out in the Northern Forests of the Illyrian Steppes," Cassian finished, crossing his arms over his broad chest with a crooked grin of his own. "We'll give them a little taste of what it's like in those mountains."

"What if Kallon gets reports of those gathered armies? He'll alert Keir," I challenged.

Rhys placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "They'll be stationed outside of Windhaven camp. Kallon is too busy rallying his rebels to bother checking in on his rival camp. We'll be setting up wards to shield them once they've become large enough; the other High Lords and I will take turns keeping them up."

I squeezed his hand back, leaning back against the cushion of my chair and running a free hand over my belly. Madja continued to assure Rhys and I that our son was growing at the expected rate and remained perfectly healthy. My recovery continued to improve, and the healer had alleviated some of the conditions for my confinement. I was now allowed out of bed for short walks around the estate; I could also paint and tend to some of my duties as High Lady, like writing letters and sorting through reports, but needed to maintain a light and easy schedule—nothing involving anything too strenuous. Since I was on the cusp of entering the last stage of pregnancy, only a few short months away from giving birth, she advised that I remain in the estate until my time came—when my period of nesting began, and Rhys would whisk me away to the Cabin in preparation for the birth of our son.

"Will there be fighting?" Nesta asked.

She stood beside Cassian; hands neatly folded in front of her as she turned a raised chin to the male. Though I couldn't see it, I knew the memories that flashed behind her fierce grey-blue eyes—of Cassian on the battlefield during the war; of the injuries he sustained.

"It's doubtful," Rhys replied for the commander. "We outnumber his Darkbringers and rogue Illyrians six-to-one. Once he and Kallon get word of the troops gathered in the Steppes, they'll come to meet us with their own. If they're smart, they'll realize sooner rather than later how ill-fated their cause has become and surrender."

Mor scoffed from her place at the window. "Like hell they will. You know that bastard won't go down without a fight."

"Then there will be a slaughter. Either way, they lose." Rhys said easily. "They'll be reminded of why previous coup attempts have been thwarted, and the Illyrians will be put in their place once again. As for Keir," he shared a meaningful look with his cousin as citrine and amethyst clashed. I pictured the paints I would use, emphasizing just the shape and fierceness of that shared look.

"So...we have nothing to worry about?" Elain asked hesitantly.

I took her hand again, "We're safe Elain. With our allies and this plan, the coup will fail. This confrontation is nothing like how it was with Hybern."

She nodded, her tense shoulders easing a bit. Amren crossed one leg over the other as a crooked grin lined her lips. "At least this time I won't be needing to sacrifice my life for you lot."

"We could always add you to the front lines. They don't know you don't have any powers; we could just use you to intimidate them to death," Cassian quipped.

"She's far too small for that," Azriel added.

Cassian roared in laughter as Amren glared at the spymaster. I half-heartedly laughed, noting the edge that lingered between my mate and his cousin; until Mor turned away and walked out of the library.

Is she okay? I asked through the bond.

As okay as she can be. She hates that Eris is High Lord, but I just informed her that I will be turning her wretched father over to her after this coup is over

Did that help?

Not as much as I would have hoped

Let me go talk to her. It's been a while since we've talked alone, maybe I can help her sort through her feelings.

Rhys only nodded in response before crossing over to stand in front of me and helped ease me to my feet. Despite my remarkable recovery, my growing belly still made my movements slower and slower. I was also beginning to notice that my balance was growing increasingly skewed but blamed it on the bed rest for now. The others hardly noticed as he escorted me to the door; their continued conversations and my departure a subtle indication that our meeting was over.

"How are you feeling?" Rhys asked once we were in the hallway, wrapping an arm around my waist as we walked.

"I'm fine. It's been nice to walk around again, even if I'm stuck indoors for now," I said.

A small frown came to his face and I quickly realized how my words sounded. The last time I had been confined inside an estate…

"It's not the same," I quickly amended. "I'm doing it for our little Bash," I said while rubbing my stomach for emphasis. "For both of our health. You're not locking me away and forbidding me from entering the city."

He took my hand in his free one, bringing it to his lips. "Never," he said. "Maybe in another couple of weeks Madga will deem it safe for us to resume our walks out along the Sidra. We'll get to enjoy the weather while it's still warm."

I smiled. "After this coup is over, and those responsible are taken care of, we'll get to enjoy it. We'll get to enjoy this," I said as I looked down at my middle.

Rhys's eyes softened as his gaze moved to my stomach, and I felt our son stretch in my belly. We stopped short of Mor's room and he pressed a kiss to my brow, his hands holding either side of my swollen abdomen. "Yes, we will."

I breathed in his scent and sighed lightly before pulling him in for a quick kiss. "You go take care of business. I'll talk to Mor and spend the day with her."

He nodded before taking a step back, "I'll be in my office if you need me."

"I'll be fine," I reminded him.

He smirked and kissed my belly goodbye before winnowing away. I took in another inhale before I stepped around the corner and approached Mor's door. Before I could knock, however, the door swung open with the blonde on the other side of it. She ushered me inside wordlessly and I followed suit, walking into her suite.

"You didn't need to come check on me," she said as she closed the door behind me.

"I figured you needed someone to talk to after hearing the news," I said as I worked to lower myself on the plush settee in the center of her room.

She sighed and plopped herself onto the seat beside me, helping me down and stared at her feet. "I knew it was bound to happen someday, especially after the deal Rhys made with him, but…" she trailed off.

"But it's different actually seeing it become a reality," I affirmed and touched her shoulder gently.

"I know, and you're completely entitled to your feelings. After everything that's happened, on top of this coup orchestrated by Keir," I shook my head and squeezed her shoulder. "I'm sorry Mor."

She continued to stare at the ground until her dark-honeyed eyes finally met mine. "I'm well over five-hundred centuries old, and yet any knowledge of the two of them working together—even under a guise for our sake just…" she shook her head, truly unable to voice the rage boiling underneath her skin, her elegant fingers curling into fists.

I touched one of those fists, levelling my gaze with hers. "Mor, I promise you, if Eris so much as looks at us the wrong way, we'll take care of him. The last thing we do is trust him, and I know Rhys wouldn't hesitate to rip him to shreds if he tries anything like his father did." I promised.

The corner of her mouth twitched upward slightly, and she sighed. "I know the alliance is necessary. I'm just not happy about it," she lamented.

"Neither am I," I assured, and she dipped her head in approval before uncurling her hands and bringing one to touch my stomach gently.

"How is he?" she asked.

Ever since revealing to my sisters that I was expecting a boy, the news hadn't remained a secret for long. Elain had been so delighted and shared the news with Mor and Amren during dinner that same night; Cassian then boasting that he had known for some time, which launched into a debate with the entire inner circle. I then sheepishly promised Rhysand that I wouldn't reveal our son's name until after his birth.

"He's good, moving a lot right now," I answered and smiled at feeling a kick. "Feel that?"

Mor's widened grin was answer enough as she continued to stroke my belly, encouraging my son to kick more and laughed as he responded to her movements and words.

"How does it feel for you?" She asked.

I shrugged. "It's hard to describe, the more he grows the different it feels. Viviane once told me that once I reach the end stages, I'll start to feel feet, fists, and elbows in there."

Mor cringed. "Does it hurt at all?"

I shook my head. "I think he's still too small. His movements are noticeable but not painful."

She nodded and studied my belly for a silent minute, caressing it lightly. "I can't wait for all of this to be over so we can turn all the attention on you, little one. Auntie Mor already has so many presents for you," she cooed.

I blinked, "Presents?"

She grinned mischievously, "Wanna see?"

I nodded with a laugh, but as she got up and crossed over to her enormous closet, a knock came at her door. Raising a brow, she walked over and opened it; a sentry waiting outside of it before she allowed him in.

"Pardon me, milady, but Lucien Vanserra is here to see you," the sentry informed me, albeit a bit hesitant.

I balked at him. "Here on the grounds?" I asked to confirm.

Lucien was about the only male welcomed in and out of Velaris; due to his connection with Elain, and his desire to be closer from time-to-time after the war, he had his own apartment in the city. However, since constructing the estate, he only visited on a few occasions.

The sentry nodded, "Yes. He arrived moments ago, insisting on an audience with you. Lord Rhysand greeted him, but he still maintains in meeting with you alone."

I paused to think. Knowing my mate, he was leaving the decision to me. "Is he alright?" I asked cautiously. "He isn't hurt, is he?"

The sentry shook his head. "He seems well, but unyielding."

"Maybe it has something to do with his swine of a brother," Mor offered. "I'll go with you. If he's angry, the last thing we want is for him to lash out at you in your condition."

"Lucien wouldn't hurt me Mor. If anything, he's probably hurting too. I have a feeling something else has happened," I said before motioning her to help me stand.

I grunted a bit with effort as she helped me get to my feet, a little wearier than I had previously been. Mor frowned, "We can send for him after dinner, once you've gotten some food and rest."

"I'll meet him in the sitting room attached to my suite. I can rest there and talk with him, and I know you all won't be far," I insisted and linked my arm with hers.

"Tell Lucien I will meet him in my sitting room in five minutes," I said to the sentry, who bowed in response and left the room.

"Are you sure about this Feyre? If he upsets you and puts too much strain on you and the baby…" Mor began.

"It's all right Mor," I assured her as she escorted me out of her room. "I think it's Lucien's turn to vent to a friend about the new High Lord of Autumn."

Mor cringed, recalling the cruel revelation Eris had unleashed on his youngest brother at the summit months ago. Still, as she led me back to the sitting room adjoined to my suite, she waited with me for Lucien's arrival. Moments later, my disheveled friend strode in, his russet eye wide while the mechanical one whirring as he took us in. He didn't so much as look at Mor as he cautiously approached me.

"Did you know?" He asked me by way of greeting. "About Helion and my mother? About-" he began but cut himself off as he finally realized Mor was standing beside the chaise lounge I perched on.

I turned a look at her and she understood my request. "I'll be down the hall," she said before leaving us alone.

"Did you know about their affair? That Helion is my-" he cut himself off again, unable to say the words as he paced the room.

I only offered a small nod, watching him empathetically. "Yes," I said softly.

"When?" He asked, still pacing back and forth across the carpet. "When did you figure it out? Or who told you? Was it my father? I mean, was it-"

"I figured it out after I first met Helion; before the war with Hybern started and we all gathered for the first time at Thesan's palace. He told me the story of what happened to your mother, her sisters, and how he rescued her during the first war." I answered, interrupting his rambling questions.

He stopped pacing and faced me. "Did Rhysand know?"

I shook my head. "Not until I figured it out myself. I made the connection; Rhys didn't realize it until I did."

His arms grew slack at his sides. "So, it's not some well-known secret that all of Prythian knows about and just hid from me?"

"No Lucien, it-" I began but then he interrupted.

"So why didn't you tell me, Feyre?" He asked, both of his eyes wide and bewildered. "You've known all this time and you didn't think to tell me? I thought we were friends!"

I frowned as he snapped at me, my hormones surging and causing tears to well in my eyes. It must have been evident, because he sighed and took a mild step towards me before turning away and running both hands through his bright auburn hair with an exasperated sigh. I quickly put my emotions in check, not wanting my irrational mood swing to interrupt Lucien's moment.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No, Lucien, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Honestly, I didn't think it was my place, and after what happened at the summit, I thought it was the last thing you wanted to hear." I explained.

He sighed heavily and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the ground. "My father...I mean, Beron, told me. When he attacked the Mortal Lands and took Vassa. He...claimed I was 'no son of his' and said I was nothing more than a Day Court bastard. I was shocked, and then he started the attack. I tried to fight him off, to protect Vassa, but then…" his voice faded as his eye turned hazy, the other whirring out of focus as he recalled whatever details that occurred that day.

I slowly offered my hand, still seated, and it took a minute before he registered my movement and took it. I motioned for him to sit beside me and he did, his shoulders slumped over slightly as an invisible weight pressed on them.

"When Eris was crowned, my fa...Beron, imprisoned; my mother summoned me back to the palace. She broke down and explained everything, told me of her relationship with Helion and that he was my biological father. She never told him," he went on, voice barely above a whisper.

"She loved him, Feyre, and her husband kept her there. Imprisoned to serve as Lady of the Autumn Court, even while she carried another male's child," he pressed a palm onto his good eye, massaging the stress from it.

I placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, squeezing it softly. "How is she?"

He sighed. "Relieved. Eris is granting her a separation from Beron before he...finds a way to deal with him, but when she told me about Helion, she seemed...broken." He met my gaze again,

"You were almost her. All those years ago with Tamlin, when I didn't do anything to stop it. I almost let what happened to my mother happen to you," he said, a subtle horror laced in his voice.

"What happened to your mother wasn't your fault, Lucien." I said, moving my hand from his shoulder to his hand.

"I knew. A part of me knew she wasn't happy with my father," he cringed. "Beron. Yet I didn't try to take her away. I didn't do anything, and neither did Helion."

I sighed and moved a little closer to him. "Lucien, there was nothing you could have done. Beron had complete control over her. Even if you could, she probably wouldn't have left for fear of him and what he might do."

"But that's the point, I could have," he jumped back to his feet, pacing again. "I could have done something for her, for you, and I didn't. I couldn't protect her, or you, and I couldn't protect Vassa! I couldn't even protect your sister, my mate, from what Hybern did to her and Nesta. What kind of male am I that I can't protect the ones I care for, the ones I love?"

I frowned, "Lucien-"

"No, I...he took Vassa, Feyre. He managed to find that sorcerer that controls her and forced her into her firebird form. The way she screamed; it was...I couldn't bear it. Then learning what he did to my mother, and remembering what happened to you...to Elain, to even Jesminda, and how I allowed it all to happen. I...what…" he looked around frantically, his chest heaving a bit as he paced.

I did my best to rise as quickly and cautiously as I could before I approached him and threw my arms around him in an embrace. His arms were pinned at his sides as I held him, his body going rigid at first—until slowly he relaxed, his arms going limp before slowly wrapping his arms around me in return. Despite the complicated past with Tamlin, the one instance where he did have a say, he was my friend and had more than made up for it since. Beron had given him a life of turbulence; him and his brothers making Lucien's life hell until he found reprieve in the Spring Court. Then, once his closest friend had begun turning into a tyrant reminiscent of his father, those feelings of being trapped returned—unable to help me to the extent he wanted. After escaping that, after the war, he once again found solace with his human friends...until Beron's latest attack.

Lucien had felt so out of control in his own life, and every time little moments of freedom were offered—whether by finding a home in the Spring Court, then being welcomed to Velaris and the Mortal Realm, it seemed to crumble before him. Now with this latest truth revealed to him, it was no wonder that he was beginning to crumble next.

I wouldn't let that happen.

"Your mother is safe. I am safe. Elain is safe, and Vassa is safe," I said. "We are all safe now Lucien. Yes, we each endured some version of hell, but we survived. Just like you are doing now," I pulled back at arm's length to meet his gaze.

"You saved Vassa. As for me and Elain, who knows what would have happened if you hadn't done your part during the war; if you hadn't guided the Mortals, and Drakon and Miyram's army down the right path. As for your mother, you did what you could. Unfortunately, there was nothing you could do while she remained subservient under Beron, but now she is free of him. There is so much to look forward to Lucien," I took his hands again, squeezing them. "There will be good days and bad—don't let the hard days win."

Lucien blinked at me; his russet eye growing soft while the golden one whirred quietly. He continued to stare at me before he embraced me again, pulling me in a little too tightly and I cringed at the pressure on my stomach. He gasped and stepped back.

"Are you okay?" he asked

I nodded with a weary laugh, holding my stomach. "I'm fine, you just squished him a little."

He looked at my stomach, as if he just noticed it and helped me back to my seat carefully. "I almost forgot how far along you were. I haven't seen you since the summit."

"It's weird huh?" I motioned to my enlarged belly. "Sometimes I'm still a little surprised when I see myself in the mirror."

"Is he okay? I heard what you did...after what happened in Velaris," he asked with a frown.

"We're okay. We had a little scare, but my healer took care of us right away. I was on bedrest for a while, and technically still recovering, but I'm better now." I answered, resting my arms over my stomach.

He shook his head. "Rhysand must've lost his mind. I nearly did when Vassa was taken, and she isn't," he stopped himself with another shake of his head—as if trying to erase the memory of what happened to the mortal Queen.

I raised my brow at the tone in his voice, his worry for the fierce mortal woman. I paused as he loosed a long breath, finally cooled from his panic. "Do you want me to call Elain? I know she was worried about Vassa too, maybe you can assure her that she's alright?"

Lucien shook his head. "No, it's alright, I should get back to Vassa," he said, but paused when he met my questioning stare. "And Jurian; the mortal lands."

I laughed. "But…" he started. "Will you tell her I was here?"

"Yes. I'll let her know you're taking care of Vassa."

He dipped his head in a subtle nod and sighed again. "Thank you Feyre," he said softly.

"Anytime Lucien, just remember what I said okay?"

He offered a stiff smile before leaning down to give me a parting hug before escorting himself out. Rhys appeared in the doorway a second later.

"Well," he started. "That was intense."

I sighed, slumping back against the lounge and running my hands over my stomach. "He was upset. Beron told him about Helion and his mother."

Rhys released his own deep exhale and crossed over to the lounge, scooping me up easily and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, resting my head against his shoulder. He walked us into our adjoining bedroom, laying me across the bed carefully and spreading out beside me. I rubbed my stomach lightly, watching it before Rhys placed a hand at the apex of my belly.

"He'll recover. It'll take time, but he will come to terms with the news," he said quietly as he ran his hand over the expanse of my stomach.

"Do you think Helion knows?" I asked.

"He probably suspects after the comment Eris made at the summit," he responded, voice still low. "Though I'm not sure what he'll do about it."

"What would you have done, if it were us? If I had actually married Tamlin, and in my time spent here to fulfill the bargain, you and I fell in love regardless? If we had conceived our son and I was stuck in the Spring Court, forced to name him Tamlin's…" I flinched at just the mere thought of it, of how easily it could have been me.

Rhys took my chin gently, tilting my head back to meet his violet eyes, sparkling intensely. "I would have torn the world apart for you, Feyre," he reminded me.

I smiled half-heartedly before he pulled me closer. "We don't know exactly how hard Helion tried to get her back, perhaps now they'll get the end they deserved," he said.

"Maybe," I mused, playing with the collar of his black tunic. "Did Eris...say anything about what he plans to do with Beron?"

"He's keeping him imprisoned until further notice. Said he might turn him over to us once we have Keir and Kallon in our custody," he said as his fingertips traced my side lightly.

I shivered at his touch, a part of me resenting Madja for deeming any sexual activity still too strenuous during my recovery. I hummed in response, "He'd actually let us execute his father?"

Rhys shrugged. "Beron will die regardless, along with Keir and Kallon."

"Mmm, what a fitting end for the three of them." I murmured, my eyes beginning to feel heavy as my mate's warmth continued to envelop me.

He noticed the fatigue in my voice and pressed a kiss to my brow. "All this talk of war and its lasting effects is wearing you down my love," he teased.

I rolled my eyes, closing them as I laid my head on his shoulder. "It wouldn't be if I weren't so busy growing a powerful high fae," I muttered.

I felt his dark chuckle rattle in his chest. "Sleep Feyre," he whispered as a hand ran down my back gently.

Sebastian must've wanted the same, because despite his constant movements and kicks just a while earlier, he was now calm—perhaps slipping into his own nap. I felt myself fading, too tired to respond with a witty remark and only stirred slightly when I felt Rhys move from my side and press another kiss to my brow.

I dreamt of Sebastian running through a pile of bright red and orange leaves, laughing and giggling as they crunched under his feet, Lucien standing at a distance with a content smile on his face—Vassa at his side.

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moodyvalentinestories · 4 years

Text

Direction – Three | Hunt x HWU MC (Danielle)

Summary: Thomas and Danielle reminisce about the past and make a deal.

Words: 1800+

Notes: Y’all, remember when I was writing Wherefore Art Thou My Professor? and thought it was an absolute trainwreck? I think I’ve found its worthy successor because this is so much worse (in the best way, if you ask me). I keep getting hella sidetracked and even though I know how it’s gonna end, I have NO IDEA what my brain decides to do with the middle part. So stay tuned, I guess.

❥ Previous Parts: Prologue | One | Two ❥ Moodyvalentine’s Masterlist

Danielle was almost certain that Hunt would freak upon seeing her collection of photos from her time at Hollywood U. He wasn’t in all of them – not even half of them, really – but she did have quite a few pictures of him. Nonetheless, she felt like she at least owed it to him to let him see them. “Okay. I’ll get my laptop,” she said and got up from her chair.

“Please tell me you did not store them online,” Hunt replied, rather condescendingly.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, no, I saved them to the most easily hackable cloud I could find. Jesus, Hunt, the ones you’re worried about are all safely stored on an encrypted flash drive. Stop assuming the worst of me for two seconds, would you?”

He mumbled something she didn’t understand – and she was sure that was for the better – while she retrieved her laptop and the flash drive.

“You’ll have to promise me not to tell a soul about the things you may see on this,” Danielle said when she returned, and Hunt raised an eyebrow.

“What exactly am I going to see?” he asked.

She shrugged as she plugged the drive into her laptop. “I’m not sure. I’ll try not to show you any things that don’t concern you, but these are pretty much all the photos I’ve bought off paparazzi that some people might not want to see published.”

“I didn’t know you did that,” Hunt remarked while she unlocked the flash drive.

Danielle chuckled. “What, you thought I needed you to save my ass all the time? You know, I try to learn from my mistakes.”

“Could have fooled me,” he huffed.

“Do you want to see the pictures or not? I know I fucked up, you don’t have to remind me,” she said and got up. “Scoot over. I’m not letting you go through them alone.”

Hunt reluctantly did as she told him, and she sat down on the sofa, closer than he probably would have liked her to be. But there were things on there she certainly did not want him to see.

There were several folders on Danielle’s flash drive, and though Thomas didn’t have a chance to get a good look at them before she’d clicked on the one titled Centaurus Lost, he had a fairly decent idea of just how many people’s photographs she had kept out of the press – and therefore just how many people she could have under her thumb, were she ever to stoop to Montmartre’s level.

One of the folders he had seen was titled Chris, which should have been the least surprising as Danielle and Chris Winters had dated for some years during her time at the university, but considering the images Thomas had seen of the two in magazines, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what could be found inside. The other folders, as far as he could tell from the short glimpse he’d caught of them, all bore the names of either projects she’d worked on – such as Centaurus Lost – or of her friends. And, all of a sudden, Thomas had to re-evaluate what he knew of Danielle.

That she had kept so much from being leaked to the public was admirable, but the fact that she had kept everything was certainly cause for concern. Perhaps she truly was capable of worse than he’d thought.

“Most of these aren’t pictures of you,” Danielle said once the contents of the folder – multiple hundreds of images – had fully loaded. “In fact, almost all of them are of Holly and Mike. I’m actually quite surprised by how many I could get, considering the whole thing with May.”

Thomas simply nodded along, beginning to feel somewhat uneasy. Many of the photographs of Tanner and Holly could have very well been used to support May Gordon’s narrative, had she ever got her hands on it. It made sense, of course, that Danielle would have wanted to keep them from being leaked at the time, seeing as it was her film as well, but now… now she could very well release them, and likely make good money speaking about everything that happened behind the scenes. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to know what she could do with whatever images she had of him.

She would be able to spin a pretty story, he was sure of it, and come out unscathed, while he… well, considering that many a despicable Hollywood giant got what they deserved these days, he was sure he could easily be lumped in with the lot of them, and his career – or what was left of it – would be over.

Because Thomas knew he’d made some questionable decisions while working with Danielle, and though they had never quite become friends – or, God forbid, more than friends – they had been closer than they probably should have been during that time, and he was certain the photos she had reflected that.

“How many are there?” he eventually asked while Danielle was scrolling through the images to find the ones they were looking for.

“Potentially incriminating ones? Two or three, I would say,” she said nonchalantly, which did nothing to alleviate his concerns.

Had she perhaps been lying again? Had she given the photographs to Montmartre after all? She’d seemed upset before, but she was an actress, and as much as Thomas believed he was skilled enough at reading people to tell whether or not they were putting on an act… Danielle was Danielle.

“And how many overall?”

She turned to him, an eyebrow raised. “We worked together quite closely on the daily. What do you think?” With a shake of her head, she turned back to the screen and said, “Ah, here they are. See for yourself.”

Danielle clicked on the first file and a picture of her and Thomas walking out of the studio together just before dawn filled the screen. That, he imagined, would have been one of the two or three problematic ones – at least in combination with the ones Montmartre already had.

“I remember that night,” Thomas said involuntarily. He wasn’t sure what he meant to say, but he knew it wasn’t that, and it most certainly wasn’t supposed to come out the way it did – as if it was a fond memory.

Danielle smiled at that. “So do I. I think it was the first time we managed not to yell at each other for more than two hours.”

“If I recall correctly, you almost ruined the peace by finishing off my Scotch without asking me,” he said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to reminisce about photographs he was worried could be used as blackmail material.

“You ate my snacks first. It was only fair,” Danielle countered, then let out a sigh. “God, that seems like so long ago.”

Thomas had to agree, though it really hadn’t been. It had to have been just over a year and a half, and yet it felt like an eternity. He didn’t say that, though, and just remained silent as Danielle began clicking through the images.

Most of them were harmless – the two of them at work, several obvious disagreements, or just a conversation – but then there was another one from a late night. It had clearly been shot through a window and showed Thomas and Danielle in an embrace that, to an outsider, would most certainly not look appropriate for a professor and a student.

“You should…” Thomas began, then trailed off. He remembered that night, too. It had been one of the last nights before filming – and therefore their working relationship – had ended. They’d officially made peace then, promising to respect each other as they hadn’t before they’d started working together. Needless to say, that hadn’t worked out. Thomas cleared his throat. “You should probably delete this one.”

She looked up at him, eyes wide, and shook her head. “I promise, no one will get their hands on this. Dean knows his stuff; he’s made sure it’s safe, and nobody knows where I store this. I swear—”

“Danielle,” Thomas said quietly and much more softly than he had intended.

Chewing her lip in that way she always did when she was nervous, she regarded him for a moment more, then looked back to the image on screen. “You know, I really thought you meant it then,” she said wistfully. “That we could be civil, at least.”

“We are civil right now,” he argued, which made her turn to him again, a stern look on her face.

“Right. But only because you want to check out what I have on you. Don’t think for a moment that I don’t know that. I’m not quite that naïve, Hunt.” She sighed. “Look, if you want me to delete the photos, I’ll delete them.”

Thomas wanted to believe the offer was genuine, but if his concerns were justified, she’d certainly have copies of everything lying around somewhere. And if they weren’t, it wouldn’t matter whether or not she kept the photos.

“No,” he said eventually. “But I’m going to need something in return, to guarantee you won’t release or use them against me in any way. Insurance, if you will.”

Danielle narrowed her eyes at him. “You honestly think I would – of course you do.” She huffed. “Fine. It’s a good thing I happen to know you only pretend to be scary so people will respect you,” she said as she removed the flash drive and put the laptop down on the coffee table.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asked, furrowing his brows.

“Oh, I’m not giving you my nudes,” she said and got up from the sofa, smirking when an odd choking sound escaped Thomas. “Come on, I’ll give you something better.”

He followed Danielle to her wardrobe and watched as she climbed onto a chair to get a cardboard box off the top shelf. She handed it to him without another word, then jumped off the chair.

“What is it?” Thomas asked.

“Open it.”

He did as she told him and gasped when he saw the contents. “I thought the university had taken care of this.”

“They did,” she said, biting her lip. “Nothing ever got out. And it’s not everything, but it’s enough proof, I’d say.”

“I couldn’t – this would ruin you,” Thomas said and tried to give the box back but Danielle wouldn’t take it.

“Kind of the point, isn’t it?” she said with a shrug. “ You’re worried I’ll ruin you, so I’m giving you the tools to return the favour if I ever do. Wasn’t that what you wanted?”

He nodded hesitantly. “Yes, but—”

“Good. Good,” she said resignedly and inclined her head towards the door. “Then I suppose it’s time for you to go.”

Tags: @lilyoffandoms @trappedinfandoms @flyawayboo @oneemofungirl @alleksa16 @silversparrow02 @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @alj4890

#thomas hunt #hwu hunt #danielle

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ask-de-writer · 4 years

Text

DARING DO and the Gryphon’s Quest! : MLP Fan Fiction : Part 6 of 19

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

DARING DO

and

THE GRYPHON’S QUEST!

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

and

Carmen Pondiego

Cover art by Aranel the Cyborg, now Wind the Mama Cat

29584 words

Writing begun 03/29/16

This is a Fan Fiction based on My Little Pony. Canterlot, Princess Luna and the name Daring Do are owned by Hasboro Inc.

//////////////

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Chapter 6. Welcome to Circle Lake Resort!

A few days later, the three of them were riding a train. The scenery seen through the windows was the lush farmland of central Equestria. From the padded seating of their rail car, the windows showed occasional glimpses of the highest peaks of the Sunset Mountains, to the west could be seen.

Rahak asked, “While I appreciate the convenience of rail travel, Doctor Do, why not just ship the expedition equipment and supplies by rail and the three of us fly to our destination to meet the gear when it arrives?”

Daring Do smiled and replied, “We are going to really need some of that stuff. What if it got sidetracked or lost in transit? By traveling with it, we can be sure that it gets where we want it. This is sad experience talking.”

Grata nodded understanding and asked, “If this rail line ends at the Western Circle Lake Resort, why have we not seen the lake itself even once?”

Rahak answered, “Princess Luna personally chooses the routes for every Royal Road and Rail Line. She may not have wanted to be reminded of how the lake was formed.”

Daring Do replied, “That is it exactly, Rahak. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia have PERFECT memories. For Luna, that means recalling every bit of that day. Every pony that was dying in agony is still there in her memory.”

Shaking her head in sympathy, Daring Do added, “I sometimes wonder how the Twins can stay sane.”

Staring out of the window, they finally saw the expanse of crystal water that was Circle Lake. The Conductor pony went down the length of their car, calling out, “Western Circle Lake Terminal! End of the line! Please get your luggage and prepare to exit the train!”

As they were stepping onto the wooden platform of the ornately painted resort station, they were approached by a younger looking Gryphon wearing a big neck ornament with two yellow flames on it. Studiously ignoring Daring Do, he spoke to Rahak and Grata, “Blessings of the Twin Flames upon you! I heard that there were Gryphons of the First Creation on this train and have come to exhort you to have as little to do with those of the Later Making as possible.” He was gesturing freely with his left claws while speaking.

Daring Do noticed that his right claw was reaching for something hidden in his feathers. As he started to pull out the knife, she stomped his paw while delivering a powerful punch to his right foreleg shoulder. He fell hard, the knife clattering away.

Grata pounced on the knife while Rahak helped Daring Do to subdue the young Gryphon. She pointed to a small cut on his right claw. “You have nicked yourself young fellow. I fear that you are going to find the truth of the promises that were made to you very soon.”

He looked up crest lifted with confidence as he replied, “I am among the Saved of the First Creation. I will be given to Glory …” His back arched, legs and neck jerking with powerful spasms! His wings fluttered in uncoordinated futility!

His golden eyes were filming over, as his crest fell lax. “It hurts so … Where is the light of my Glory? It is so dark …” His neck relaxed, head dropping to the boards of the platform, as his breath hissed out in an almost impossibly long sigh.

Grata looked down without pity. Her crest set grimly, she pronounced, “Dead. He got the death that he planned for us.” A bit savagely, she added, “I hope that it hurt a lot. Poison is the weapon of cowards.”

Daring Do, knowing that coward was very nearly the worst thing that you could call a Gryphon, simply nodded.

Before they could move from the platform, The station manager pony came around the corner. “Here now! What is going on here? I am looking for Doctor of Antiquities, Daring Do. Got some freight for her.”

Daring Do held out her identification. “That is me. We were attacked by this Gryphon. He tried to use the knife that the Gryphon Grata is holding. Be very careful with it. It is poisoned. He died from that small nick on his right claw.”

The station manager pulled a sour face. “Can’t rightly say I am sorry to see this one go. Most Gryphons are about as nice lot as you can ask to have as guests. Not this one.

“He was always lording it over us as Creatures of Later Making, fit only to serve those of the FIRST CREATION!” He spat out the last two words.

“It will need the Royal Road Police to straighten things out. Even causing trouble by the way he died. Shouldn’t be too much of a mess. Lots of witness to his lack of character.”

Rahak, crest set in understanding, said, “Many who feel weak or helpless seek out things like the Twin Fires groups. The idea that they are somehow special makes them feel a strength that they lack in themselves.”

They all went around to the freight dock to begin checking that their gear was all intact.

While they were checking things out, the station manager asked, “What kind of expedition are you going to do here at the Circle Lake Resort, Doctor Do?”

Daring Do looked up from verifying that a supply tent was in good order and replied, “Oh, this is just our jump off point. Rahak and Grata were doing Imperial Survey work there in the southern Sunsests. Up in broken valleys beyond the Eagle’s Vale they thought that they spotted the ruin of an ancient Sunlord Temple. Both the Empire and the Princesses are quite excited about the possible find. It would be the first Sunlord Temple that has been found in modern times.”

Grata, catching on to what Daring Do was doing, added, “Being up in those mountains, we hope to prove that the Sunlords, about the oldest pony civilization that is documented, may have been paying tribute or getting assistance from even more ancient Gryphons. It is all very exciting to us all.”

The station manager listened wide eyed. “You mean that you are looking for something from the days when Fortress Canterlot was just started? I was raised on the tales of Fortress Canterlot Days.

“That area you are going to is awful rugged territory though.”

Rahak snickerd, crest fluttering. “We do know it. That is a buffer area between the Empire and Equestria because it IS between us but neither of us really wants it!”

The manager grinned and pointed, “Luck to you. Here comes the RRP. Once this mess is taken care of you can get on your way.”

<==PREVIOUS NEXT==>

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#DARING DO AND THE GRYPHON'S QUEST!#Part 6 of 19 #MLP Fan Fiction #Written by De Writer and Carmen Pondiego

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lovelivingmydreams · 6 years

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Lukanetteweek day 1 Music

So here’s my contribution to this week celebrating one of my favorite ships in MLB. Let’s see how this goes: Luka was happy he’d let his sister talk him into spending some time in her school’s art room. The idea had been to help Rose work on their band’s next song, but they both got a little sidetracked. Rose was in an animated debate with Alix about a stagedesign for their next gig and Luka... Well he was watching a certain blue eyed girl sketching away in her book. It was mesmerizing, and he found himself strumming along to her movements on his guitar. Gentle, determined, happy. Her tongue stuck out and her brow creased on hard parts. It looked so cute. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings. She was on what he thought was her third sketch when she suddenly grew displeased with her work. His music changed with her mood. Rough, hesitant, heavy. He decided she needed a break. “Is this spot free?” he asked kindly after walking over to her. “Bwaah!” Marinette exclaimed, throwing her arms up in panic, dropping her sketchbook and jumping away in a defensive position. Luka couldn’t help his chuckle. She’d really been in a world of her own. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he assured her as he bent down to pick up her book. “Oh, Luka! No problem,” she replied as she did the same. Neither realized what was happening until they butted heads halfway trough. “Ow!” they both exclaimed, Marinette shot up and rubbed her head. Luka picked up the notebook and did the same as he chuckled. “Sorry again,” he said earnestly as he handed her the book. To his delight she laughed it of as well. She had a nice laugh. “Not your fault. It happens to me all the time,” She confessed. She gestured for him to join her on her bench. “You looked like you could take a break,” he queried gently. Marinette nodded, the frustrated scowl back on her face. “I promised Rose I’d design a look for you guys, for your gigs. But I can’t seem to get your’s right.” She flipped trough the other designs. All were a nice mix of Black with a bright neon color for the details. For Rose it was hot pink, Juleka purple, Adrien had what her notes seemed to call ‘Chat green’, Ivan Yellow. He saw that his color was meant to be turquoise, matching his highlights. All his band members had catlike eyes somewhere on their outfit in said colors along with neon linings that highlighted the design. His page however was still mostly empty, except for the pair of eyes that headed it. The turquoise irises with vertical pupil looked amazing against the black background. But something seemed off about them. They weren’t oval like all the others had been. They were rounder. More snakelike than catlike. Then again maybe that was just because Mari had stopped drawing. “I don’t know why. All the others just came to me. And now I’m stuck. Rose’ll be so disappointed. I said I’d have the designs ready by now.” To his alarm Luka could hear her breathing accelerating as panic started to take hold of the girls heart. “She’ll hate me, and Juleka will hate me too because I made Rose upset. And then no one will ever ask me for anything again. Then no one will want to be around me anymore and I’ll be all alone again and I’ll deserve it because I lied to Rose while I knew this was important and I knew I might not make it, but she needs those outfits for the next gig and who knows if I’ll even be able to make them all? What made me think I could event do this? You’ll all look ridiculous and it’ll be my fault. What have I done?” Luka knelt in front of her and put two calming hands on her shoulders. “Breathe Marinette,” he instructed as he demonstrated the rhythm he wanted her to follow. Once she’d calmed down he offered her a reassuring smile. “The outfits you came up with look great. Rose will love them, and even if you can’t figure out what you want to do with mine today, she’ll understand. No one is going to hate you because of a creative block.” He flipped back a few pages to Adrien’s outfit. “With Adrien you put the eyes on his chest. And you did this cool thing with the neckline. Why?” She bit her lip and blushed a little as she hesitantly tried to put her thought process in words “Well I picked green as his accent because I thought it would go well with his eyes you know? And the colorsheme, black and green, reminded me of Chat Noir, so I guess I tried to channel him while drawing it. So I put the Paris skyline in the neckline and the eyes beneath it. To reflect the fact that Chat’s eyes are watching over the city... Which is silly because this is a band shirt not a chat noir themed clothingline...” Luka moved his hands to hers, which were fidgeting and probably about to tear up the page. “It’s great that you put so much thought in it though. And you know Adirien and the others a lot better than you know me. So it makes sense that it’s harder for you to make something for me. Hold on.” He pulled out his phone and flicked trough his recordings. He started the song he’d recorded yesterday, the one without lyrics. As the music started playing he put one earbud in her ear and another in his own so they could listen together. As they sat there enjoying the music he couldn’t help but notice how close he was to her. Right next to the girl that had inspired the song they were now both listening to. He felt his heart jump as he saw her relax and smile at the melody he’d written especially for her. He hadn’t expected to let her listen to it so soon, but here they were. The melody was a tale of a boy who loved a girl. It told about how he admired her and how he wanted her to be happy above all else. If there was any song he could use to let her know him more this was it. When the last notes of the song faded away like a lullaby, a promise to protect her forever, she took out the earbud and smiled at him. “That was amazing,” she breathed. Luka smiled. “Thanks. How do you feel?” He could see his question register and the light in her eyes brightened. Her happily sketching away was his only answer. He played along with her as his new outfit was taking shape on the paper. Happy notes full of life and passion drifted trough the room until it was time for him to join Rose to work on their new song. He had a few suggestions. day 2&3 day 4 part 1 Part 2 Day 5&6 Day 7

#Lukanette #Lukanetteweek #Ship #Fic #Oneshot #Cute!#miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #MLB #lukanette week

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zoeygreensimblr · 5 years

Text

Out of the Woods (Episode 36)

Friday seemed to come around so fast but as I was packing my bags to leave I wasn't sad, I was so happy because I was going home with more than what I came with, I had Angus back but I felt bad for Tess, for what she was going to face once she got home. Tess is the strongest person I know, she speaks her mind in every situation and she doesn't take anyone else's crap but I know that she hates hurting people too and I also know that the thought of hurting Declan would be eating her up inside.

I open a drawer I filled with skirts and shorts and I find my red mini skirt, the skirt I was wearing the night Charlie put his hand up my thigh and forced a kiss upon me. I decided that if I was going home with the boy I wanted then I could leave behind something that reminded me of the boy I regret ever talking to. It was a fair trade off.

I take my bag down to the kitchen and place it with the pile of others. Tess is in the kitchen, cleaning the bench, she cleans whenever she's nervous about something.

"Which car do you want to go in?" I ask her, she can go with Angus, Steph, Annabelle and I and get home straight away or go with Declan, Cassie and Sam and have a delayed trip because they live in different suburbs and she would be stuck alone with Declan for the last part of the drive.

"I'll go in the van with Declan, I can't leave Cassie alone to be bored by the sports talk, she would never forgive me" She says as she wipes over the same spot four times. Angus walks in from outside and grabs my bag, he looks at Tess in the kitchen cleaning and comes over.

"We have cleaners who come in do that Gerttie" He tells her but she doesn't stop, she sprays the bench again and wipes it over, her head hung low to hide her tears.

"She's nervous" I whisper to Angus, after our dinner I told him about how she was going to break up with Declan.

"Tess if you're free this weekend I was thinking of having the back wall of the gym painted with one of your awesome murals, something that motivates people" Angus suggests and she looks up at him with a big smile. This is his way of taking her mind off the nerves.

"I'd love to, I have so many ideas of what to design, I'll draw some up when we get home and you get the paints" She says, excited by the new project.

"I really appreciate it little sis, you're a big help and I'll pay you for your work too" Angus says, pulling her in for a hug. This is the distraction Tess needed and I'm so grateful to Angus for helping her.

Angus handed me his keys when we were on the ferry back to the mainland.

"You're driving us back Princess" He says with a big smile on his face.

"I don't know the way though" I panic, this would be the furtherest I've driven and I'm not good with roads I don't know or heavy traffic.

"I know the way baby, you'll be alright and the traffic is light on a Friday morning. The more you practice the better you will get and before you know it you will be doing this drive all the time" He assures me, boosting my confidence up, "Just take your time baby".

The traffic is really light on the drive back so I don't feel as much pressure and it also helps that I am able to follow Declan's van back to the suburbs.

"Angus doesn't let just anyone drive his car" Steph says as we come onto the freeway, she knows this is a big deal for us both.

"Well I know Zoey isn't going to run my baby into the curb" Angus says laughing

"That happened one time Angus, let it go" Steph replies defensively and we all laugh.

Declan pulls off into Newcrest and I follow the road to Brindleton Bay, the drive home was smooth and easy, we made it back in just 2 hours.

I drop Annabelle and Steph at Steph's place and then on to my own house.

"We're ok, right Zoey?" Angus asks in a small voice as we sit in the car out the front of my house, "I know I've got a lot of making up to do to fix what I broke" He looks at me with a worried expression on his face.

"Angus we're good, even better than good, we are great." I confirm to him, "Where is this coming from anyway?" I question

"Just with Tess and Declan splitting up, it made me worry about you and me" He frets

"We are nothing like Tess and Declan, you know that" I tell him, touching him on the leg

"Don't ever let us be either, if something bothers you I need you to speak up and tell me, please don't ever let it get to the point that it did in Del Sol Valley" He begs me, I can see that it still weighs heavy on him.

"The only problem that I had was you keeping Steph's calls secret and now we've sorted that, we're good, we're strong" I promise him and he smiles warmly at me

"Are we training today?" He asks, changing the subject

"Can we skip it? I doubt Tess will be in the mood to go and I just wanna stay home" I say

"We can skip it, just this once" He replies.

We go inside and I throw myself down on my comfy bed, I've missed sleeping in my own bed.

I can hear footsteps coming from upstairs in the kitchen, most likely my mother.

"We should go up there and be sociable" Angus suggests and I lead the way up the stairs. My Mother is busy putting away the groceries, she sees us and drops what she's doing to come give us hugs.

"My baby is back, I've missed you" She says kissing me on my cheeks, "And she brought Angus with her" Now its his turn for a kiss on the cheek

"Hey Ruth, let me get those for you" Angus says as he starts packing away the groceries

"You're a good boy Angus" She praises him before turning her attention back to me, "Where's Tess? Please don't tell me you two are still fighting" She scolded me

"We made up on the first day there, you know we can't stay mad at each other for long." I tell her, "She's with Declan, Angus brought me home", Mum smiles brightly at Angus.

"You take such good care of my baby" She says, throwing her arms around him

"She's my Princess Ruth, I've gotta treat her right" He tells her and I watch Mum's eyes go wide.

"Does this mean?" She asks us both and we nod, "I knew you two would sort things out" She says, kissing me on the head, everyone seemed to believe it except me.

"Can Angus stay for dinner?" I ask Mum

"Of course sweetie but Don won't be home til late tonight, I know he's dying to talk to about that house you are going to look at" Mum says to Angus

"What house?" I question Angus and he smiles at me.

"I was going to look at house this afternoon, it's not far from here actually, I sent the details to Don last night and I was going to ask if you wanted to come have a look with me but I got sidetracked by all the Tess and Declan drama" He explains

"Theres drama with Tess and Declan" My mother asks surprised

"She's breaking up with him" I inform her

"Oh, I did see that coming actually, he's a lovely boy but she's just out grown him" Mum says, "Anyway tell me about your holiday, did you have a good time?"

"I had the best time, I want to go back there and play on the beach and swim with dolphins, I loved it" I tell her as I dance around the kitchen, I think Sulani is my new favourite place.

That afternoon Angus drove us to look at the house he is thinking of buying, we met the real estate agent out the front. The house is a modern style, two story with basement, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, pool out back with a decent sized backyard. The bedrooms are spacious with an ensuite in the main bedroom. The house looks to be freshly painted and has hardwood flooring throughout. Theres even a fireplace in the living room.

"What do you think Zo?" Angus asks me after we've viewed every room

"I think it looks amazing but are you sure you're ready to leave the city for the suburbs? It's a big change and you can't just walk to work from here" I point out

"I'm going to step back from the gym next year, let Immie and Justin run things while I'm studying and this is close to your family, there's even room for Tess to come live here like you wanted, as long as she knows to not walk in while we are showering" He says and I kind of like the idea of staying in Brindleton Bay.

"I'd love to live with you here" I tell him and he kisses me on the forehead

"I'll put an offer in then, if they accept it we could be moving in by Christmas" He says smiling brightly at me. I can't believe that in six weeks time I could be living with him and celebrating Christmas in a new home.

"We haven't got any furniture, we are going to need so much if we are going to live here" I start to stress thinking about all the things we have to get organised before moving in but, as usual, Angus is not stressed about anything, he just takes me into his arms and says

"We will go shopping on Sunday, it will all be sorted and You and Tess can be in charge of decorating however you want" Full creative control over a new project, Tess will love this.

When we arrive back at my house Tess is sitting in the backyard, sketch pad in hand, drawing away, she jumps up excited when she sees us coming.

"I think I have the perfect design for the wall" She tells Angus holding up her sketch pad. I love seeing Tess' art work, how she's able to tell a story with a simple design. Her concept for the wall is marathon being run, shown from the angle of the finish line as the person in first place is just about to cross it.

"I love it Tess" Angus praises her, "I'll pick you up in the morning and we'll get paints"

"You can stay over" I tell him.

"I would love to baby but I really should put in some sibling time with Immie after being away for a week and I have schedules to do for next week" He says and I'm disappointed but I do understand, "Can I take you on a date tomorrow night?" He asks me and I instantly perk up

"Yes you can, I have work until 3 though" I tell him

"I'll pick you up at 6, take you somewhere fancy" He promises and I feel so special.

"Ah cute, dinner dates, I'm going to miss those" Tess says, interrupting our moment.

"Did you talk to Declan?" I ask her, I know when Tess sets her mind on something that nothing stops her from following through

"Yeah I did, I told him that it just wasn't working anymore, that we'd grown apart. I think he thinks I'll be over it tomorrow and everything will stay the same" She complains, "Why can't my break up be as easy as yours was?" She laughs, I look at Angus, both of knowing it was anything but easy.

"When Zoey broke up with me it ripped my heart out Teresa" Angus states and I can see the pain in his eyes, like he's reliving that moment all over again, stupid tackless Tess, she never thinks before she speaks.

"I know it hurt you, both of you, I was the only person who saw what you were both going through, I just meant that when she told you it was over you listened, you didn't treat it as a joke and think she's just PMSing, which is exactly what Declan accused me of. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you Angus, or you either Zo, I'm just angry that he even takes me breaking up with him as a joke" Tess explains and I see Angus soften.

"He'll get the picture when you're not chasing after him anymore" Angus tells Tess, speaking from his own experience I suspect, I lean over and kiss him on the cheek, I'm so grateful our dark days are behind us

#sims #sims4 #sims 4 cats and dogs #sims 4 brindleton bay #sims 4 island living #wicked whims #taylor swift #simblr #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay

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dbhilluminate · 5 years

Text

DBH: Illuminate- Chapter 7.75: “Friction”

Characters: Hank, Connor, Vivienne, Gavin, Kate (mentions of Captain Allen, Fowler, Nicodemus) Word Count: 4,050

(This chapter will be undergoing retcons and heavy revision within the month- in preparation for that, I've divided the chapter more accordingly, and this summary will not match for a bit. Sorry for the confusion!)

Nick, Dennis, and Zero arrive at Central Station just in time to witness an argument between Viv and Perkins. Connor is apprehensive about why Cyberlife would send three additional RK's to help with their investigation.

Connor’s questions about the deviants lead him back to Kate, but Hank decides to crash the meeting without an invitation.

( Chapter Art by triple_jays_art , Co-authored by grayorca15)

Previous Chapter

• Chapter Index • Characters •

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November 12, 2038- 4PM

“You really telling me, you’ve already been here a week and you have nothing yet?�� “I didn’t say we have nothing,” she hissed back at the angry little man, “I said, we were in the middle of chasing down a perfect storm of leads and finally gaining traction on this investigation.” “An investigation that should never have been any of your concern to begin with,” he chastised, gesturing with an open palm. “So then what- you’re just gonna yank it out from under me?” she snorted as she shook her head with a disbelieving smirk. “You’re damn right I am!” he almost yelled. “I sent you here to find Illuminate, but instead you’ve been chasing down every other fucking lead that crosses your path!” “Well what the hell else am I supposed to do?” she challenged. “The girl’s smart, and she can change her appearance at will. Right now, the only way to get to Illuminate is to go through the deviants she’s helping,” she insisted, though the explanation didn’t hit as well as she’d hoped.

Above the clamor of ringing telephones and television broadcasts, her voice carried across the room to where Hank, Connor, and Gavin were huddled around Hank’s desk, watching the verbal lashing go back and forth as Lenore and Special Agent Perkins argued about her priorities. Hank leaned back in his chair with a huff and scowled, crossed his arms, and shook his head. “Ugh… that guy’s gotta be the biggest prick I’ve ever met in my life,” he insisted with a tired sigh. “You... sure about that statement, Lieutenant?” Detective Reed leaned over in the chair on the other side of the desk and flashed him a big, goofy grin that was just downright disturbing coming from him. Anderson’s face twisted hard as he glanced over at the man —who was hopped up on painkillers and couldn’t give any less of a fuck at the moment— and gave him a sick look as he turned his attention back to the Agents, struggling to get the words out. “As much as I hate to admit it, yeah,” he groaned. “He’s way worse than you.” Gavin projected an ear-shattering cackle, slapped his knee with his good hand and laughed with ironic delight. “Oh wow, that’s just rich... c’mon now, you gotta tell me- just how bad a taste did it leave in your mouth to admit that?” A low groan rumbled in his throat in response and he cracked in a defeated tone, “I think I need a drink.” Hank reached around for his lukewarm coffee, pulled a flask out of his coat and dumped a little of the whiskey into it before anyone could catch him.

“When your investigation strays from your objective, you call it in! Pass it off to someone else, and focus on the task you’ve been assigned!” he screeched back. “You don’t go chasing down stolen firearms just for the hell of it!” “So you would have rather had armed deviants on the streets than allow me a little freedom to work my case?” Viv shot him a vapid grin and forced a sardonic laugh as he reprimanded her for making what was by far one of the biggest breaks in the deviant case thus far. “Do I need to pull you off this and replace you with someone else who won't get sidetracked?”

Viv’s expression went cold as the frozen banks of the Detroit river. Her heart was palpitating, her blood boiling. Her eyelids flickered as she stepped back and placed a strong hand on the table to steady herself and pressed her fingertips against her sternum as her chest rose and fell in time with her labored breathing. Something about her biorhythm just wasn’t right. Connor’s brow hardened as he tried to analyze the arrhythmia from across the room, but there was just too much background noise to collect substantial data. “Something wrong, kid?” Hank asked, recognizing the scowl on his face as the same look he’d seen him wear at crime scenes when he’d found an interesting, but confusing piece of evidence. “No Lieutenant,” he lied out of necessity, “It’s just-” There was definitely something wrong, something she wasn’t telling them, but until he knew what he wasn’t going to say anything. There was no need for them to worry until he knew what to worry about. Connor sighed and clenched his teeth. “I don’t like him either.”

“No, I can handle it,” she asserted as her lip curled and her eye twitched. “Then stop giving me excuses, and get me some fucking results!” Perkins slammed his hand down on the table so hard it shook, and his scream echoed loud enough that for a moment, the background chatter stopped and everyone turned to stare. She bore the humiliation long enough for him to storm off, but once he was gone Lenore clenched both her hands into white-knuckled fists, snatched up the folder, then turned and stormed back to her temporary desk next to Hank’s before she said something she’d regret.

The file hit the surface with a loud slap but she continued right on past them to stand on the other side of the cubicle walls. As she stared out the window she curled her fingers into her hair and took a couple seconds to take in a few calming breaths and regain her composure. The three men glanced at each other and craned their necks to try and see around the wall without being too invasive, but Gavin’s concept of personal space and tact had gone out the window along with his sobriety. He pushed his chair back slowly until she was in his line of sight, and prodded in a sarcastic tone. “Sooooooo… he seems nice.” Viv whipped around, furious, and was about to verbally eviscerate him until she saw him rolling his eyes into the back of his head; instead, she sighed. “He doesn’t want me hunting deviants anymore,” she relayed. “He wants me to focus on finding Illuminate.” “Yeah, we gathered that much,” Hank replied apologetically. “I think the whole damn precinct heard.” “Well the only way you’re going to do that is by continuing to chase down these leads,” Connor chimed in, stiff and trying to redirect her away from the idea of investigating Illuminate. “One of them has to know where she is.” Vivienne heaved a morose sigh. “I know that and you know that, but…” She paused, gesturing across the room toward the front door where Perkins had exited the building, and flipped off the empty air with a strong middle finger. “He doesn’t care.”

Gavin stifled a quiet chuckle and she turned to glare at him. “Why are you laughing?” she retorted, but he just shrugged it off. “Nothin’... just nice t’see you fired up and pissed off at someone other than me for a change,” he replied and flashed her a sloppy grin that made her groan. He wasn’t anywhere near sober enough to drive. “Jesus… someone’s gonna need to get him home,” she volunteered as she walked over and stooped to pick him up. “Noooo, no no no.” Detective Reed shook his head and tried to push her away with his good arm, but kept missing. “I’m fine V, really.” “No, you’re high on percocet and need to be in bed,” she scolded with a small grunt and threw his good arm over her shoulders, then looped an arm around his waist for support. “Are you offerin’ to take me there?” He teased with a grin and another small laugh, but she wasn’t amused. Viv could have put up with most of his bullshit, but this time he had crossed a professional line.

Immediately she dropped him back into the chair, ignoring his yelp as the searing pain again ripped through the bullet hole in his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it. I just can’t,” she apologized as she pressed her fingers between her eyes and turned away. “Someone else is going to have to get it done.” “I’ll do it, Vivienne,” Connor offered as he helped the injured man to his feet, against his loud objections and expletives of “Fuck you plastic prick! Get your hands off me!” “You two get some rest, I have somewhere I need to be soon anyway.” Even though Vivienne had missed the significance of Connor having a “prior commitment”, it wasn’t lost on Hank. The man narrowed his eyes in suspicion and watched him get about halfway across the room before he had to stop and help Reed to his feet again. “My hero!” she thanked as she leaned in to pinch his cheek on her way out. “I’ll see you boys in the morning. I need to get out of here before I go to prison for assaulting my superior.” “Hey!” Hank called after him as he stumbled toward to the door with Gavin, who had just noticed how dizzy he was now that he was up and moving around. “You be careful out there on the road, ya hear…?” “I’ll be fine Hank,” he promised with a chuckle, as he half turned to look him in the eye. “Just go home. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He watched them as they made their way across the room, down the hall, and through the security gates. For a good minute and a half after they had all left, Lieutenant Anderson sat at his desk drumming his fingers and debating whether or not he should follow him and find out what his partner had been up to in his spare time. He had been coming up with some pretty nonlinear theories recently that had turned out to be legitimate truth, so was it possible he had an inside source feeding him information? If so, who was he talking to? And why hadn’t he told him about them? Did Connor not trust him? The thought made his heart ache in a way he hadn’t felt in years. It had been a long time since he’d let anyone in, much less an Android, but he liked Connor. He was a good kid, and he didn’t want him to feel like he couldn’t trust him. That alone was enough to make up his mind for him. Without giving it too much more thought, he swiped the keys to his unmarked patrol car out of the top drawer of his desk and decided to find out what he’d been spending his time doing outside of their investigation. He had to know for his own peace of mind.

November 12, 2038- 5:30PM

It had been several minutes by the time he was ready to leave, but it wasn’t hard to figure out where they were headed. Hank pulled Reed’s address from his driver’s license in the database and arrived a few minutes behind them, just in time to watch Connor’s patience run thin. He chuckled to himself as he hoisted the sleeping man over his shoulder and carried him into the building, and tossed him carefully on the couch when he'd reached the top of the stairs. Gavin’s apartment was about what he’d expected- a cozy two-bedroom on the second floor in a “once nice” neighborhood around the corner from Miliken State park, which was about all he could afford on a detective’s salary in this city. Through the window, in the light cast by the floor lamp behind the couch, he watched the tired man protest as Connor threw a blanket over him and handed him a glass of water; they went back and forth for another minute before Connor locked the front door, descended the stairs, and made for the elevated rail train a few blocks over heading across town. Hank kept on him from a safe distance, following him for ten minutes before he darted up the stairs to the platform, but he didn’t lose him until Connor boarded the train that stopped a few minutes later. He’d tried to keep pace with rail car, but cursed when he lost it at a red light he wasn’t willing to run. The stops along the railway were at least predictable, but it’d be hard to know which stop he’d gotten off at without a direct line of sight. As he sat and watched the cars take turns, he glanced down at the GPS navigation system in his dashboard and realized there was an easier way. Twenty minutes later, after a quick call to Cyberlife, the Lieutenant had located his wayward partner and arrived at the docks on the west end of town. As the patrol car rolled to a stop, he killed the headlights and parked in an alley a few hundred feet from the waterfront. From his place in the shadows, he had a clear line of sight on Connor pacing the dock and rubbing his hands together feverishly. Every thirty seconds he’d turn and sweep the area, either looking for someone or keeping an eye out for uninvited guests, or maybe both, but as soon as he turned his back to him Hank exited the car, moved to the corner, waited, and listened.

Connor was on edge- more so than he had been in the past when waiting for her to arrive, but with good reason. Not only he was afraid of how Kate would react to him coming back not even twenty-four hours later asking for her help with something she had explicitly told him she wouldn’t help him with, but the situation with the armed deviants had him paranoid. The thought that she may have known about the stolen weapons had crossed his mind earlier in the day and had corroded his comfort to the point where he couldn’t think straight. Even though he was certain of what her answer would be, he wouldn’t be able to relax until she told him what he needed to hear, and he couldn’t really understand why.

To his surprise, he recognized her footsteps in the alley behind him before she could sneak up on him, and he turned to the corner to catch her the moment she stepped into the light. "What is so urgent it couldn’t wait until after dark?” she sighed and crossed her arms as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Connor hesitated, fear blurring the questions that had been so clear just a few seconds ago, but pushed it aside and steeled his resolve as he locked onto her pressing green-eyed gaze. “You’re not gonna like it, but I need you to listen before you get upset,” he pleaded as she rolled her eyes and turned away. “Please, it’s important.” Illuminate blinked wide-eyed and gestured toward him with one flexed hand, but dropped her frustration, slapped her hand to her thigh, and shook her head as she braced herself mentally. “What is it?” “It’s about the deviants from the pawn shop-”

Outrage exploded across her face, and she threw up both hands and turned away from him before placing them on her hips, leaned over and let out an uncomfortable laugh, then turned back to him. “RK, I told you- even if I knew where they were, I won’t give them up,” she almost snarled, an angry quiver in her jowls. “I’m not a rat.” “Kate, just listen to me, please,” he begged one last time as she threw her eyes to the sky and prayed for patience. “You told me to investigate, and I did- but I found something very disturbing that I’m hoping you didn’t know about, and this whole thing has gotten a lot more complicated since we last spoke, in a very bad way.”

Kate could hear the urgency in his voice. When she turned she looked deep into his dark brown eyes and saw the dread gnawing at the corners of his mind like he was unraveling, and knew he was telling the truth. Something was very wrong, but just what could have brought this out of him? What exactly had he found? Her expression softened before turning grim. “Bad how?” His eyelids fell shut and his shoulders relaxed, but he flexed his jaw before admitting the truth. “They were hoarding stolen military property- firearms, dozens of them.”

Of all the things he expected her to say, he hadn’t expected silence. When he opened his eyes again, she was gone- not physically, but mentally she had flashed back to a place she feared so deep, her dead eyes stared right through him. The ghosts of her past screamed at her through long forgotten nightmares of a future envisioned by a madman, driven by an unquenchable thirst for power. Jericho had never sought to change the world through acts of violence, and now they were hoarding weapons? Tools of war? The idea could have only come from one place. Nicodemus was still in Detroit trying to undermine her work. All this time, thinking she was safe, and he’d just been busy luring away any of her allies with even a shred of malcontent. Had he been watching? Had he been following her? How much did he know? How long had he been planning this? And how many of her friends had he turned against her? Who could she trust? “Kate?”

Connor’s voice interrupted her panicked thoughts and shallow breathing, and she blinked to try and shake off the disconnect and refocus on the conversation as best she could. “I’m sorry… th- they what?” she stammered, twitching eyes darting from him to the ground and back again. “DCPD raided the shop this morning,” he continued, as much as he wanted to ask if she was alright. “They’d already moved most of them during the night but the evidence left behind was enough for us to find a trail back to the source-” Before he finished the statement he paused, sighed and dropped his hands to his side. “They had enough for a small army.”

Her eyes drifted away from him to the ground as she listened, disturbed, and at a complete loss for words. She felt betrayed, angry, hurt, but most of all she was afraid- not just for herself, but also for any of her friends who had been seduced by Nico’s ferocity and charisma, as she had once been. They didn’t know the kind of man he was, the man she had known, the man who had almost gotten her killed and would surely get them killed one day if they continued to blindly follow him into hell.

The initial reaction the news had dragged out of her had given him hope, but Kate’s silence now worried him. This wasn’t the kind of calming silence that settled when she was deep in thought, she was haunted and lost, fighting an internal war he couldn’t see nor hear. There was something she wasn’t telling him, a missing piece of the puzzle she was keeping to herself. “I don’t know what they were planning to do with them, but we can’t let an armed deviant army become a reality,” he insisted, grasping at straws to just bring her back to the moment. “That’s why I need your help. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

After several quiet moments, Kate’s eyes finally turned up to look at him again, this time focusing on his face instead of staring through him. Connor stood his ground and waited for her to say something, but when she faltered, tore her gaze from him and stepped away, he caught himself moving toward her, afraid she’d leave him with more questions than when he’d arrived. “No, don’t-” His hand snapped away as she turned back in silent debate and he watched as she hesitated to say what was on her mind. Kate grimaced several times, each harder than the last as if she’d been yelling at herself to “just do it”, then finally got the words out. “Look… I don’t know where your lost deviant is or what he’s doing, but I can take a guess at who he’s involved with.” Connor’s forehead crinkled in surprise for a split-second, then squinted as her voice cracked and faltered, dread settling into her body language and tone. “And there’s something you should know-” “So this is who you’ve been sneakin’ off to talk to…!”

Before he could even ask, her attention snapped over his shoulder at Hank as he emerged from the alley behind him, and Connor whirled and came face-to-face with the barrel of his partner’s gun leering pointedly at the android fuming behind him. “You were followed!?” she raged as she stepped out of Hank’s line of sight and pulled her hat down to cover her face. “I- I didn’t- I wasn’t-...” he stammered as he stood between them, glancing back and forth, and held out a hand between himself and his friend, then hissed at him, “Hank, what are you doing here!?” “You’ve been actin’ weird, so I came to find out why,” he replied in a tone that was both cold and fatherly. “So you mind tellin’ me what the hell’s goin’ on? What does she know about the case?” “Easy Hank, lower your weapon,” he coaxed as calmly as he could manage with Kate itching to bolt behind him. “Just listen to me-” “I have to go, I can’t stay here,” she insisted as she stepped back, and he stepped with her. “No please, don’t leave,” he pleaded, knowing that if he didn’t fix this now she may never trust him again. “I really need your help-” “Help…? What do you need her help with?” he questioned as he took three steps forward and regripped his gun tighter, raising it around him this time until she could see the muzzle over Connor’s shoulder. It was enough to make her shiver. “Just who the hell are you anyway?” “Haaaaaank….!” Connor warned in a threatening tone as he turned his body to shield her, but when she moved away she stepped back into the light, and Hank gasped as a look of dawning realization washed over his face.

His arms dropped, his eyes grew wide. “Holy shit…” he muttered in awe. “Is- is that-…?” “Connor he knows,” she whispered, her voice quivering, eyes darting between them. “You have to let me go-” Before she could move away any further, he turned and grabbed her shaking hand and looked her dead in the eye with genuine determination she’d never forget. It was the first time anyone had truly stood up for her. “He’s not going to hurt you,” he promised with a reassuring squeeze as he redirected his piercing gaze on Hank. “I won’t let him.”

Anderson’s lip curled and twitched angrily as he clenched his teeth and stared him down with a heated glare that Connor endured without batting an eye, and after a while he growled in frustration, lowered his weapon and placed it back in the holster on his hip. “Fine, you win,” he sighed, holding up his hands in defeat. Part of him couldn’t believe the Lieutenant had backed down. Hank was as stubborn as the day was long, and he thought for sure he’d be taking at least one bullet, but it seemed that he trusted him more than he’d assessed. Perhaps he’d been wrong to think he couldn’t trust him with this secret. Perhaps... “But start talkin’. NOW!”

His grip around Kate’s hand loosened to let go but to his surprise, instead of slipping away her fingers pushed back between his and squeezed. Connor turned to look at her over his shoulder and found her staring back at him through teary eyes, gratitude radiating from crinkled cheeks and a tremulous smile. A warmth he’d never felt enveloped and uplifted him, giving him a strength he didn’t know he had, and then he knew that this was the kind of selfless act she’d been trying to bring out of him- something she’d seen in him before that he couldn’t see in himself, something to prove that she hadn’t misplaced her faith in him. Finally, he’d done something right by her. But now wasn’t the time to rejoice over small victories. Hank had demanded an explanation, and he knew better than to keep him waiting.

#dbhilluminate #detroit become human #detroitbecomehuman #dbh: connor #dbhfanfiction #dbhfanfic #detroit fanfiction

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isntthisenoughwhatwouldbeenough · 7 years

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Time Will Take Them Away (Ch. 3)

A/N: Hello! Lovely Wonderful People! I am so sorry that it’s taken me so long to post this, but I promise I’ll get better at this! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I’ll try to have the next chapter up by Wednesday! Thank you for being here and reading :) And Hello! New followers thank you for joining me! And to my Anons who have sent requests, I am working on them and will post them as soon as I can! I love you all so much, and as always I wish the happiest of days! (Or nights!) :)

. . . . .

Chapter 3

Alexander Hamilton never meant to fall in love with two women, let alone two women that happened to be sisters.

When he first met Angelica he was immediately attracted to her. Her beauty and sharp wit intrigued him, and left him curious about her.

He had first seen her at an art show opening. He had come with John to see another artists work. While John looked at every painting one by one, Alex was a little bored and looked around at the people there.

That’s when he saw her, she was looking rather unimpressed, as some guy boasted about himself in front of her. She stood there, a drink in hand with her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyebrow raised.

The guy didn’t notice, continuing to brag about himself and his accomplishments. Even from where Alex was standing, this guy was obnoxious. So, he decided to help her out.

He casually walked over, and announced himself.

“Babe! There you are, I’ve been looking all over,” he said standing at her side.

She furrowed her brow, looking at him like he was insane. He gave her a wink, he saw her smirk and give him a slight nod.

“I’m sorry, baby, I got sidetracked by this,” she paused glancing over at Mr. Smooth, “gentleman.”

She casually wraps her arm around his waist, as he wraps one around her shoulder.

“Sorry, she’s taken, buddy” he says smirking at the guy.

He looks at them annoyed before, scoffing and walking away.

As soon as her nuisance was gone, she stepped away from Alexander.

“Thanks for your help,” she said, before walking away.

He catches her arm, and she turns to him with her eyebrow raised, as she looks down at his hand on her arm, and then back up at him. He releases her and gives her a smile.

“Is that it?” he asks.

She scoffs a bit at him, smirking.

“I’m sorry, would you like an award?” He chuckles and shakes his head.

“No, but a drink would be nice,” he says with a smirk of his own.

She laughs at gives him a smile.

“You want to buy me a drink, sure?” she said shrugging her shoulders and walking towards the bar.

He knows that she turned what he said around, but he couldn’t help wanting to chase after her. So, he did.

And as the night wore on, the two bantered and flirted back and forth. And at the end of the night, when he thought he would take her home, she simply said goodnight, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and left him standing at the doors of the art gallery, smirking as she walked away.

And that was that, he wanted her, he went after her, and eventually he got her. And somewhere in the middle of all that, they fell in love. It took him a while to convince her that they would be good together, and after three months of dates, phone calls, and texts she finally agreed.

The first thing she wanted to do was introduce him to her sister. He was excited that she was letting him into another part of her life.

That day he had gone to the library to return a few books, and that’s when he met the sweetest girl in the world.

He was walking through shelves of books, looking at new ones to pick up. He saw a woman on her tip toes on a stool, reaching to put a book on the top shelf. He smiled and the quite adorable look of determination on her face.

Then, a man was running down the row, almost shoving Alex. He was irked and wanted to tell him something, but as the man got further down the aisle, he got too close to the woman. She was already standing precariously on the stool, and with the nudge from the careless man, she was teetering back and forth.

Alexander ran over to her, his arms out to catch her. She fell into them, her eyes shut, her lips pursed, and her fists curled to her chest. He again found himself thinking how adorable she looked. He tried to see if the man had stopped at all, but he had already disappeared.

He looked back to the woman in his arms seeing her eyes had opened and she was staring up at him.

“Are you alright?” he asks, as he sets her on the ground. “That guy just ran through this section without a second glance,” he glares in the direction the man had left.

“Don’t worry I’m okay,” she smiles at him as his eyes meet hers. “And all thanks to you,” she laughs lightly, making him smile in return. They stare at each other smiling, before she realizes his arms are still wrapped around her. She blushes, and steps away. When he sees their close proximity he removes his arms from her waist.

“I’m sorry,” he says as a blush forms on his own cheeks. He hadn’t even realized, it felt so natural. He shook his head at the thought.

She shakes her head, and waves her hand seeming to brush it off.

“No, no, it’s fine,” she smiles at him. He smiles too, rubbing a hand behind his neck.

She holds her hand out for him to shake.

“Um, thank you for catching me, Mr?”

“Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton,” he says placing his hand in hers, it feels perfectly fit to his. She nods.

“Thank you Mr. Hamilton, I appreciate it,” she let’s go of his hand and he can’t help but want to hold on.

He chuckles at her formality.

“Please, call me Alexander,” he tells her and she nods again, looking down before meeting his eyes again.

“Alexander”, she says his name softly and he smiles. He had never heard his name spoken so sweetly.

After their encounter he quickly pushed her from his mind, remembering his dear Angelica. He shook his head at himself, Angelica was more than enough for him. They matched up very well and he loved that about their relationship. He had never thought he would encounter the sweet woman again and certainly not in the way he did.

He made his way to the coffee shop Angelica had told him to meet her at. He was fully prepared to charm her sister into liking him. He could tell that her opinion meant a lot to Angelica, so he wanted to try and impress her.

When he walked in and saw Angelica an instant smile rose to his face. She was absolutely stunning.

“Hello, beautiful,” he greeted her placing kiss on her lips, before sitting down in the chair next to her.

She smiled brightly, returning the kiss.

“Where is this amazing sister of yours?” he asks raising his eyebrows.

She laughs a little at his silly nature, and shrugs her shoulders.

“She’s not here yet, but she should be here soon,” Angelica says smiling.

“I’m gonna go to the restroom before she gets here,” he says kissing her temple, as she nods at him.

When he comes back to the table he takes his place next to her.

“Is she here yet?” he asks her smiling.

“Yes, she’s just getting a coffee,” she replies smiling back at him. “Here she comes.”

They both stand up, and his heart stops when he sees her. Elizabeth? That’s what her name was, right? It couldn’t be. He tried to keep his smile up as Angelica introduced them.

He saw the shock in her eyes, but she hid it well.

“Elizabeth Schuyler,” she says holding out her hand with a smile. “The sister,” she says when he takes her hand he ignores how familiar and right it feels in his.

“Alexander Hamilton,” he replies shaking her hand, he’s nervous, but she seems unbothered. “The boyfriend.” Angelica smiles at their exchange.

“Now, that you’ve met we can all chat,” she says bringing Alex to her right, while Eliza sits to her left.

Angelica starts the conversation about how they met, and everything they had in common, and how impressed she was with his intelligence.

“Yeah, you were so impressed you ignored me for a week,” he says making Angelica laugh, and out the corner of his eye he can see Eliza smile at their exchange.

As Angelica excused herself to the restroom, Alexander turned to Eliza to explain himself. He had flirted with her earlier that day and he was sure, she was offended.

“I didn’t know that you were her sister,” he tells her quickly, “I don’t just go around flirting with random women”- Eliza held up her hand and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it, it was nothing really,” she replies, giving him a tight lipped smile.

He felt a slight pang at her words, but ignored it, looking into his coffee cup. He hears a small sigh before she speaks.

“How about we agree to be friends, huh?” she says offering her hand. “I mean, you’re dating my sister we should be on good terms, shouldn’t we?” he looks at her outstretched hand for a moment before shaking it. She gives him a warm smile and releases his hand, he ignores the cold he feels at the loss of her touch.

And that’s how it all began. Everyday since he first met Eliza, he tried to push any unfriend-like feelings away. It seemed to become increasingly harder as the years had gone on. The more they talked to each other, the more they hung out, the more attracted he was to her.

For him though, it wasn’t just attraction, it was something deeper, something he never let himself think about long enough to name.

It got even worse when she disappeared for days or weeks at a time. He hated not being able to see her or talk to her, or even just know how she was. It nearly drove him crazy. He knew he became agitated when he didn’t see her for long periods of time. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he could never seem to stop himself.

And then, she would just pop back in and it was as if she had never been gone at all. He could feel himself instantly relax as soon as her saw her, an overwhelming calm came over him, and his heart would drum slightly out of beat. It was as if his body was wired to her.

He always felt relieved and at peace in her presence, but guilt followed soon after. He shouldn’t feel this way because of Eliza, the sister of the woman he was with. What was wrong with him? He thinks that Angelica made him feel this way at one point, but now he wasn’t so sure.

As the years had passed he felt less connected to her, they both tried, but it seemed the more they tried the further they got. Eliza was the one person who could really cut the distance between them. She would always remind them of when they first got together and the love she saw in their eyes, and how happy they made each other. And then, everything would be good for awhile, before the distance would grow. They loved each other, though, they really did. They were just, comfortable with each other, that’s all.

While, Alex and Angelica grew together and apart, Eliza grew closer to Alex’s best friends. One friend she seemed to be particularly close to was Hercules.

He’d be lying if he said that his friends being really chummy with her didn’t bother him. Laf, he knew was ridiculous to be bothered by because he was quite happy with Peggy. But, he was with Angelica and he still had feelings he refused to acknowledge about Eliza. Laf was very honorable though, you could see how much he loved Peggy, and Alex had never seen him look at Eliza that way.

John he didn’t worry about, until recently. They seemed to have gotten more comfortable with each other. They would joke around and play more, he hated it. She never really let herself be that free with him, except on very rare occasions, and he envied it. The worst, though, was Hercules.

They were close. Almost too close, he became suspicious that they were more than just friends. They were always hugging, high-fiving, laughing, or having long conversations. What was even worse, was that recently, Hercules seemed to be blocking him from her.

Everytime he saw the chance to talk to her alone, there he was dragging her away. Anytime, he wanted to hang out with her, she had plans with him. The thing he hated most was that she welcomed it, like she was relieved to be whisked away by him, sometimes literally. It brought a pain to his heart that he didn’t want to understand.

He was growing more irritable everyday and Angelica was growing more annoyed each day.

“Dammit!” He screams at his laptop, at his desk.

Angelica silently sighs and rolls her eyes. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Everything! Jefferson is an idiot, this case is boring and time consuming, not to mention idiotic itself, and I have a headache that doesn’t want to go away.”

“I’m sorry, why don’t you take a break for a bit?”

“I can’t. I have to get this done.”

“Well, if you keep staring at that screen, and sit there frustrated, your headache is never going to go away,” she says standing up and moving to massage his shoulders.

She feels him relax a little, but he’s still tense, and an idea pops into her head.

“It’s Saturday, how about we see if we can get everyone together and grab a few drinks,” she smiles when he turns to her with a smile of his own.

He kisses her before, heading to the room to change, while she messaged everyone. She loved him, but sometimes she wished he was calmer. That he was different, but then, she thought, he wouldn’t really be him. It was easy to forget all the bad stuff when he was in a good mood. How easily his temper rose, how dramatic he could be, how annoying he could get. But, moments like this, when he’s smiling genuinely and holding her hand, kissing it from time to time and telling her the sweetest things. She forgot all of that and lived in those moments, she ignored the doubt in her heart and pushed away all the negative thoughts. He loved these moments, too. How her hand fit so nicely in his, the way she would smile everytime he kissed the back of her hand. How she would lean in close and place her head on his shoulder. He would revel in these moments when everything felt right, and he could just let himself be with her.

But, as they reached the bar, he remembered why he was in such good mood, he was going to see Eliza. The guilt rose in his chest, he couldn’t help the way Eliza made him feel and like always he pushed it away and tried to focus on Angelica.

John, Laf, and Peggy had already grabbed a table for the group. As they approached, John groaned.

“Man, now I’m stuck with the two couples.”

“What’s wrong, mon ami? Don’t like being the fifth wheel?” Laf says roughing up Johns hair.

He slaps away Lafs hand, and scowls, while everyone else chuckles.

“Herc and Liza better get here soon, you guys are already grossing me out,” he says waving towards Peggy and Lafayette sitting close together.

“Shut up, Johnny boy,” Peggy says rolling her eyes.

He simply scowls at her, while Alex and Angelica take their seats, their hands still clasped together. Alex pushes away thoughts of Herc and Eliza, and kisses Angelicas hand before wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, none of that kissing stuff, come on man, you’re making me look even more single,” John complains.

“I hope you’re not starting fights already, John.”

They all turn to see Eliza and Herc. She’s smiles as she ruffles Johns hair, and he just smirks up at her.

“I was going to start a riot, if you didn’t show up soon.”

Alex hid his distaste for the flirty tone in Johns voice.

“Aww, John,” she says placing a hand over her heart, “for me? That’s so sweet.”

“I think he meant both of us, Eliza,” Herc says pretending to be offended.

“You’re right, excuse me,” she says clearing her throat and turning back to John with her hand over her heart, again. “Aww, John, for us? That’s so sweet.”

“No, I just meant Liza,” he says sticking his tongue out at Hercules and pulling Eliza down in the seat next to him, while she giggles.

“Whatever, Johnny boy, you know you have a secret crush on me,” Herc says, reaching behind Eliza to pull on his ponytail.

“Pshh, you wish,” he says swatting away Herc.

Everyone laughs, even Alex, though his jealously was starting to cloud his mind, he shook his head.

“Is your head still bothering you?” Angelica asks beside him.

“A little, but I think it’s going away,” he replies kissing her forehead.

She nods and turns back to their friends, listening to a ridiculous story John had to tell.

Alex looked over at Eliza, she was sitting between Herc and John. She was laughing so carefree, he couldn’t help but smile. There was a happiness he felt in her presence that he couldn’t deny. He pushed away the jealous pang in his heart, and let the calming joy, overtake him. Pretending that it was more than just Eliza’s smile that made he feel that way.

#alexander x eliza #hamliza #alexander hamilton #eliza schuyler #angelica schuyler #alexander x angelica #peggy schuyler #peggy x lafayette #gilbert du motier marquis de lafayette #john laurens #Hercules mulligan #we have a long way to go #this is only the beginning

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emeraldthoughtsblog · 8 years

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Code Geass: A Tale of Two Demons. CH7: The False Classmate

Chapter seven of A Tale of Two Demons. Lelouch, Suzaku, and Kallen are all hiding their involvement in the Battle of Shinjuku, while the Purists, try to track down Clovis’s assassin. Kallen suspects Lelouch to be the voice over the radio, Lelouch uses his geass on Kallen, and no one suspects Suzaku of being involved in Shinjuku.

[First Chapter] [Previous Chapter] [Next Chapter (Soon)]

The next day, after the incident in Shinjuku, Jeremiah is in his office in the lower levels of the embassy. “How have we not caught this guy yet. He’s like a ghost, vanishing as suddenly as he appears.” Jeremiah says to himself. He then hears the door to his office open, and looking up, he sees Villetta enter the room. “So, is it true, no one remembers what happened on the G1?” He asks her.

“I’m afraid so. We even have soldiers with no memory of their knightmares being stolen as well.” Villetta replies. “Lord Jeremiah, there is someone to see you. A reporter.” She adds.

“Bring him in. We’ll have to spread the word about Clovis’s death somehow.” Jeremiah says.

“And I’m glad you have the time to spare.” Says the reporter, entering the room. “Diethard Ried, I’m with Hi-TV.” The reporter says, introducing himself. “I heard that the military got involved in one of the ghettos, am I right?” Diethard asks. “And from the looks of things, you were given quite the thrashing.” He adds.

“You’re a little too good at this.” Jeremiah says.

“I’m just doing my job, reading the situation and making an astute observation.” Diethard replies. “Any ideas on who could be responsible for the ambassador’s untimely demise?” He asks, getting straight to the point.

“The Prime Minister said he might know.” Jeremiah replies. He then picks up the phone and calls the Prime Minister. “Prime Minister Kururugi, it’s Jeremiah Gottwald.” He says as Genbu picks up his phone.

“How did the demolition of the ghettos go, Jeremiah?” Genbu asks.

“We ran into a slight problem, one we thought we could deal with.” Jeremiah replies.

“Thought you could deal with?” Genbu asks, his temper rising slightly.

“I’m afraid so. We encountered heavy resistance in Shinjuku, and we believe that the assassin was among them, if not leading them.” Jeremiah replies. He then hears Genbu sigh.

“I don’t know who your suspect is, but I can give the name of the man responsible for the resistance in Shinjuku.” Genbu says.

“I’m listening.” Jeremiah says. He then turns the phone on speaker as he sees Diethard pull out a notepad and pen.

“His name is Naoto Kozuki.” Genbu says.

“Kozuki?” Jeremiah asks.

“You might know him as Naoto Stadtfeld. He’s spent too much time around the ghetto, and he was assigned to aid you lot in removing the terrorist threat within the ghetto.” Genbu replies.

“Halfblood, eh. Well, we’ll take him into custody as soon as possible, and interrogate him.” Jeremiah says, after hearing Naoto’s real name.

“Do that. I will have this rebellion quelled, before it even starts. Japan will prosper.” Genbu says, ending the call.

“And Britannia will lead the way.” Jeremiah says, placing the phone down.

Meanwhile at the Ashford Academy clubhouse, the members of the student council are in a meeting. Nina is busy at her computer, while the others are preparing for future events and working on the budgets for the clubs. As they’re all working, Lelouch falls asleep, putting his hand to his forehead. Milly, seeing that Lelouch has stopped moving, rolls up some of the papers in her hands and hits Lelouch on the head. “Wake up, Lelouch! I know you were sleeping, your hand stopped moving.” She says, hitting him repeatedly until he finally moves, waking up.

“Well, you don’t have to beat me up over it, do you?” Lelouch asks, waking up.

“Serves you right for leaving me out of the loop.” Rivalz says smugly.

“Rivalz.” Shirley says, displeased at her friend's response. “That’s right, what did you do yesterday?” She says, turning her attention towards Lelouch.

“That’s enough you guys.” Milly says before Lelouch can respond. “Let’s not get sidetracked here.” She says to the group in general. “Suzaku, I know you balanced the budget the other day, but we need to make sure it stays balanced. Lelouch, I trust you to review Suzaku’s work, and see if he may have missed anything.” She says to Suzaku and Lelouch. “We all know what’ll happen if there were any mistakes. There won’t be money left for anything at all.” She adds.

“And if it comes to that point.” Nina says, still looking at her work.

“The equestrian club would be pissed.” Rivalz says, jokingly. “We don’t want they coming in here on horseback.” He continues. The sound of a horse approaching can be heard outside, and one of the equestrian club members can be seen outside the window.

“Rivalz, can’t you be a more serious student council member.” Milly says, displeased at Rivalz.

“You know, it would have been nice of you, if you reminded up of this mess a day ago.” Shirley says.

“I would have to say a day later, then we would have given up.” Rivalz says.

“Good idea, we can still do that.” Lelouch says, looking at Rivalz. Suzaku gets up and heads to where his budget balance was placed.

“Guts!” Milly shouts, getting frustrated at the council, causing all of the members to cringe.

“Are you trying that ‘guts’ spell again?” Rivalz asks, looking at Milly once she has his and the others attention.

“Yep!” Milly replies. “I want you people to start putting your all into this.” Milly adds.

“I really don’t think your magic is going to do a whole lot.” Lelouch admits.

“Actually, it’s got me going, madame president.” Shirley cheerfully replies.

“Supple and willing, that’s what I like.” Milly says, pleased at Shirley.

“I work hard in the gymnastics club.” Shirley replies.

“That’s not what I was getting at.” Milly says, causing Shirley and the others to be confused for a moment. “You’re a ten.” Milly says, looking right at Shirley, causing her to look shocked. Shirley looks down, seeing what Milly is talking about. “From what I’ve seen in the girls bathroom, anyway. You’re filling out in all the right places.”

“What are you talking about, you perv.” Shirley says, getting defensive and covering herself up.

After their meeting at the clubhouse, they then head to their classes. “Geez, our president is just a dirty old man on the inside. Sullying our meeting with her dirty mind.” Shirley says, angered by Milly’s actions at the meeting.

“Yeah, well that’s Milly for you.” Nina says, walking with Shirley.

“Look on the bright side. We got the budget balanced correctly, didn’t we.” Rivalz says, laughing a little. When they enter the classroom, they see several students watching and discussing the news. Lelouch and Suzaku walk in right behind the others, hearing the other students mentioning the events on the news

‘This is bad, why would they cover it up.’ Lelouch thinks as he hears the news, or doesn’t hear the news of Clovis’s death and Euphemia’s arrival. Remembering what he did to Clovis, Lelouch rushes to the restroom, about to throw up.

“Lelouch, you alright?” Suzaku asks, as Lelouch runs off.

In the restroom, Lelouch is cleaning himself up. ‘Why are they hiding Clovis’s death and their defeat at Shinjuku?’ Lelouch mentally says to himself. ‘Whatever reason, the truth will be revealed, one way or another.’ He mentally adds, turning off the tap. Looking up and seeing his reflection, Lelouch smirks a little. “I guess I’m not as tough as I thought I was.” He says to himself. Upon leaving the restroom, he sees Suzaku leaning on the opposite wall.

“What happened, Lelouch?” Suzaku asks, as he sees his friend enter the hallway.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Lelouch says, turning to head back to class.

“Just tell me, Lelouch. I promise I won’t tell anyone else. We’ll keep it between each other.” Suzaku says, getting in front of Lelouch.

“I…” Lelouch starts to speak, then stops and looks at the ground. “I may have gotten into a fight, the other day.” Lelouch finally replies.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Suzaku says, knowing what Lelouch is capable of in a fight.

“It wasn’t, and that’s all I’m going to say.” Lelouch says. He then heads back to his class. Upon entering the classroom, he sees Kallen surrounded by her friends. Suzaku walks passed Lelouch and takes his seat. ‘Her whole world has just changed, and yet she hides behind her mask.’ Lelouch thinks as he heads to his own seat.

Rivalz, seated behind Lelouch, leans in close to his friend. “What’s up buddy, see something you like?” He asks Lelouch. “You’ve got a thing for her, don’t cha?” Rivalz says as he sees Lelouch looking towards Kallen.

“I know we see her everyday, but I think this is the first time I’m actually seeing her.” Lelouch replies. Shirley, seated near Lelouch, is a little hurt hearing Lelouch say this.

“Kallen Stadtfeld. A member of the many sports clubs, she’s even in Suzaku’s martial arts club. Her grades are the top of the class, for being such a sports person. And she’s a member of the Stadtfeld family, which means she’s well bred and rolling in money. Man, you sure know how to pick ‘em.” Rivalz says, telling Lelouch what he knows about Kallen.

“It’s not like that.” Lelouch replies.

“You don’t have to hide it. A touch aggressive, if you ask me.” Rivalz adds.

As the day progresses, students are around the campus having their lunches. Kallen, sitting with some of her friends, is eating her lunch outside. Suddenly the girls around her scream as they hear the buzzing sound of a bee approaching. As the other girls scatter, Kallen places her sandwich down and holds out her hand for the bee to land on. In the distance the girls freak out even more as Kallen lets the bee land on her hand. “I don’t see why you’re all afraid, she’s harmless.” Kallen says. She then gets up, and as she gets up the bee flies off in search for some flowers, and heads towards the school.

“An impressive performance.” Lelouch says, leaning against one of the pillars, as Kallen approaches.

“You saw that, vice pres.” Kallen says, turning to face Lelouch.

“Indeed. Now, I was wondering if you could help me with something.” Lelouch says, looking around the area and preparing his geass.

“What is it that you need my help with?” Kallen asks.

“I want answers.” Lelouch says, using his geass on Kallen.

“Of course.” Kallen says, standing at attention.

“Your brother was involved at Shinjuku, was he not?” Lelouch asks, maintaining his control on Kallen.

“Yes.” Kallen replies.

“Why terrorism?” He asks, seeking information.

“Naoto wishes to change Japan. Although Naoto and I are Britannian, we’re technically half Japanese. Our prefered name is Kozuki.” Kallen replies.

“Halfblood?” Lelouch says, shocked to learn this about Kallen. “But why go so far?” He asks, putting his attention back on Kallen. Shirley, walking past a window on the second story of the school, sees Lelouch and Kallen talking with each other.

“Because the Japanese government is corrupt.” Kallen replies.

“I see.” Lelouch says, breaking contact with Kallen.

Kallen looks at Lelouch, trying to remember why he’s in front of her. “Uh, can I help you with something, vice pres?” Kallen asks as she regains control of her mind.

“No, I got what I wanted here.” Lelouch says, turning and walking away from Kallen. He then turns around and activates his geass again. “Oh wait, just to be sure, don’t tell anyone about Shinjuku.” Lelouch says.

“What do you mean about Shinjuku?” Kallen asks, suddenly getting a little suspicious about Lelouch.

‘As I thought, it doesn’t work a second time. After all these years, I would have thought it would have grown as well. Looks like I was wrong.’ Lelouch mentally says. “Nevermind, just head back to class.” Lelouch says, deactivating his geass.

“As soon as I get an answer to my question, I will.” Kallen says, getting aggressive.

‘This isn’t good, what do I do.’ Lelouch mentally says, backing up away from Kallen.

“Hey! Lulu, Kallen!” Shirley calls from the open window, waving at the two. “You know it’s time to head over to the chem lab. You better get a move on.”

“Oh, crap! It’s my turn to set up for class.” Lelouch says, remembering. He then runs off and heads towards the lab. ‘I’ll have to thank Shirley for getting me out of that situation.’ Lelouch mentally says as he is running.

Later that night at the clubhouse, Sayoko is teaching Nunnally and C.C. more origami. “Well, what shall we do? He may be late again this evening.” Sayoko says as she finishes folding a paper crane.

“I’ll wait. He said that we’d have dinner together again tonight.” Nunnally replies.

“There now, this one’s finished.” Sayoko says, holding the crane for Nunnally to take. Nunnally extends her hands out, and Sayoko places the crane in her hands.

“A bird?” Nunnally asks as she feels the shape of the crane.

“Yes, it’s a crane.” Sayoko says. She then looks over at C.C. and sees her folding another crane.

“Amazing. The Japanese are so skillful.” Nunnally says. She hears Sayoko chuckle a little, and knows that she’s smiling. She then looks towards the door as she hears something approaching.

“Lady Nunnally?” Sayoko says, opening her eyes and sees that Nunnally is fixated on the door. She turns to look at the door and watches it slide open moments later.

“Sorry I’m so late.” Lelouch says, entering the room.

“Hi Lelouch, welcome home.” Nunnally says, greeting her older brother.

“Yes, welcome home, my lord.” Sayoko greets.

“No place like it, Sayoko. Right Nunnally?” Lelouch replies.

In a Britannian secret lab, outside of Tokyo, Bartley is discussing the events with another person. “With Clovis dead, we have no funding to continue our research.” Bartley says.

“Fear not, Bartley. I have a second lab set for your team to work.” The, almost childish, voice replies.

“You do? Did you know that this was going to happen?” Bartley asks.

“No.” The voice replies. “I however did expect someone to eventually find out about this. Transfer all your data and supplies, your research team is being relocated to Narita.” The voice adds.

“And what of you, director?” Bartley asks.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll keep looking for C.C.” The director says. “I’m glad to have helped you in you projects.” He adds.

“I understand, sir.” Bartley replies. He then leaves to relay the information to the rest of the researchers.

In the clubhouse dining room, Lelouch and Nunnally are having dinner together. “Miss Sayoko was just teaching me about the art of origami. Fold a piece of paper the correct way and you can make birds, boats, almost anything.” Nunnally excitedly tells her brother. She then takes a spoonful of soup and puts it to her mouth, spilling some in her excitement.

“Easy there, you don’t have to tell me everything all at once, you know.” Lelouch says. He then cleans his sister’s chin with a napkin. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” He adds.

“Yeah, you’re right. Thank you.” Nunnally replies.

“You’re very welcome.” Lelouch says with a warm smile on his face. He then hears Nunnally giggle.

“I’m so happy, because last night, you scared me a little.” Nunnally says.

“Did I?” Lelouch says, a little worried. “Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind, is all.” He adds.

“Hey.” Nunnally says, getting Lelouch’s attention. Lelouch looks at Nunnally and sees her hold up the crane that Sayoko made. “They say if you fold a thousand of these cranes, your wish will come true. So, if there’s anything you’ve been wishing for…” Nunnally says.

“No, not really.” Lelouch quickly replies. “What about you? Do you wish for anything?” He asks his sister.

Nunnally looks away from Lelouch, deep in thought. “I wish the world was a gentler place.” Nunnally admits.

“When the day comes that you can see again, I’m sure that it will be.” Lelouch says.

“Really?” Nunnally says, getting a bit excited.

“I promise.” Lelouch says. ‘The truth is, there are very few paths our future can take. The Ashford family is sheltering us for now, but how long can that last. If our identity is exposed, even Shirley, Rivalz, and the others will abandon us. We’ll end up as pawns for our father again. I have to build a world where Nunnally can at least find happiness.’ Lelouch mentally monologues. As he is thinking this, Nunnally grabs his hand and raises it up. When Lelouch sees this, he see that Nunnally has wrapped her pinkie around his.

“Sayoko taught me this the other day. It’s called a Japanese promise.” Nunnally says. “Cross my heart, hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie. Pinkie promise song.” Nunnally sings with a slight giggle.

“Well, that’s scary. I may have to eat a thousand needles, someday.” Lelouch says, playfully.

“That’s right. So I better not catch you telling lies, okay.” Nunnally says.

“Don’t you worry, I’ll never lie. I swear.” Lelouch says. ‘Not to you anyway.’ He mentally adds.

The next morning, Lelouch is outside the clubhouse, near a little stream, looking at his reflection. ‘Suzaku and I both know the limitations of our geass. We did several tests, but never used it on each other. At least I don’t think we did. Knowing that our power hasn’t evolved is one thing, but the potency is another issue altogether.’ Lelouch mentally says to himself while looking at his reflection.

“Lelouch! Class will be starting any minute, you know.” One of the teachers says, seeing Lelouch outside of the main school building.

“Oh, yes sir.” Lelouch says. “Just gathering my thoughts.” Lelouch replies.

“Well, don’t be late to class this time.” The professor says, heading towards the school.

On the roof of the school building, Kallen is in a call with Naoto’s second in command, Ohgi. “So, how’s campus life treating you?” Ohgi asks.

“Stifling. I was stuck in history class yesterday.” Kallen replies. “Have you seen Naoto, He didn’t return home yesterday?” She asks.

“I haven’t seen him either. Neither have the others, now that you mention it.” Ohgi replies.

“What about that voice over the radio? Do you think he had something to do with Naoto’s disappearance?” Kallen asks.

“I don’t think he did, but there’s no point in looking for a voice. No matter what happens to Naoto, he’d be glad to know that you’re safe and still in school.” Ohgi replies. “Forget about Shinjuku for now. “Seeing that you’re part of our group now, I’ll be in touch.” He says, hanging up.

‘Shinjuku, I guess he’s right.’ Kallen mentally admits to herself. She then remembers what Lelouch said the other day. ‘No, it couldn’t have been his voice.’ Kallen mentally says, suspecting Lelouch of being the voice over the radio.

In Kallen’s next class with Lelouch, Lelouch is giving a speech while Kallen is watching him with a mirror. ‘It… could be. No, I can’t remember well enough to be sure.’ Kallen mentally says, hearing Lelouch’s voice.

After giving his response to the teacher, Lelouch then takes a seat. He then spies Kallen looking at him in a mirror, which she quickly closes. ‘All I did was simply mention Shinjuku.’ He mentally says. ‘But if she really knows who I am, at the first moment, I need to take care of her.’ Lelouch mentally says, planning how to deceive Kallen.

‘But if he really knows who I am, at the first moment, I need to take care of him.’ Kallen mentally says, trying to figure out how to dispatch of Lelouch quietly.

At the end of the school day, Shirley approaches Lelouch as he is packing his satchel with his books. “Hey, Lulu, you coming along?” She asks him.

“Sorry, maybe some other time.” Lelouch abruptly replies. He then walks away from his desk and heads towards Kallen. Once in front on Kallen, the two look eye to eye. “Do you think you can spare a minute, I need to talk to you.” Lelouch says to Kallen.

“Sure.” Kallen replies, standing up. “I was wondering when you were going to ask.” She adds. Shirley, watching this unfold, is in shock of the situation.

At the clubhouse, Lelouch and Kallen are in the ballroom. “The clubhouse, are you sure the others won’t disturb us here?” Kallen asks Lelouch.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Lelouch replies.

“Here it is.” Shirley says from the second floor. Lelouch and Kallen both look up at the balcony and see Shirley standing up, holding a data chip. “I found it! Look, this is it, right?” She calls out.

“What a relief you found our lab data.” Nina says, approaching Shirley and taking the chip from her. Rivalz then gets up off the floor next to Shirley.

“Good, my ass is killing me.” Rivalz says, moving towards the two.

On the ground floor, Milly enters the room pushing a cart of food. “Were you able to find it?” Milly asks as she enters the ballroom. “I finished up on my end, shall we dig in.”

“Oh, wow.” Rivalz says, amazed at the food Milly brought.

“Way to go, Milly.” Shirley says.

“You adore me, I know.” Milly says, setting the tables and giggling.

“Uh, what is all this?” Lelouch asks, confused at what’s happening.

“And I thought you of all people would know, Lelouch.” Suzaku says, entering the room. “It’s the anniversary of our friendship, as members of the student council.” He adds.

“Has it really been that long already?” Lelouch says, amazed at how quickly time can pass.

“It sure has.” Suzaku replies, smiling. He then hears the door open and turns to see Nunnally enter the room, with a few boxes of pizzas and several pastries.

“Shirley, could you set these on the table for me?” Nunnally asks as she moves her wheelchair into the room.

“Oh, sure, thanks Nunna.” Shirley replies, moving to help Nunnally.

“Nunnally, what are you doing here?” Lelouch asks, expecting his sister to be with Sayoko.

“I’m still in the middle school group, so I can’t be on the council yet.” Nunnally says.

“That’s alright. You’re an honorary member in our book.” Rivalz says. He and Nina then move towards the tables.

“Hello there, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you Kallen.” Nunnally says, greeting Kallen.

“Thank you. You as well.” Kallen replies.

“Right, shall we kick this off with a toast?” Rivalz says, placing a bottle of champagne on the table.

“Champagne?” Shirley asks, shocked.

“Yeah, but we’re on the student council, we shouldn’t.” Nina says, failing to convince Rivalz not to do it.

“Oh, come on, loosen up you guys.” Rivalz says, preparing to pop to cork of the bottle.

“No way, we’re going to get in trouble!” Shirley shouts, fighting with Rivalz.

“What’s going on?” Nunnally asks.

“Here, Nunnally.” Milly says, approaching Nunnally with an orange drink, placing it in her hands.

“Lelouch, heads up!” Rivalz shouts, tossing the bottle to Lelouch. As Lelouch catches the bottle, Shirley pushes Rivalz to the ground and rushes towards Lelouch to take the bottle from him. Lelouch and Shirley fall to the ground, and as they land the cork pops out of the bottle, flying towards Kallen. Kallen quickly swipes the cork away, but then doused in the champagne fountaining out of the bottle.

“What just happened?” Nunnally asks, confused at the event she could only hear.

Afterwards, Milly and Shirley are cleaning Kallen’s soaked uniform, while Kallen is taking a shower at the clubhouse. ‘After Shinjuku, I don’t think I could look at the Britannians that same anymore. There my friends, but still.’ Kallen thinks to herself as she cleans herself. She then hears a knock at the door, causing her to tune back into reality.

“It’s Lelouch.” Lelouch says from the other side of the door. “I brought you a change of clothes.” He adds.

“You can come in, I’ve drawn the curtain already.” Kallen replies.

“Sorry about all this. I know they can be a little over the top.” Lelouch says as he enters the bathroom with a set of his clothes.

“That’s okay. Nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in awhile, you know.” Kallen replies.

“These are some of my clothes, hope that’s okay.” Lelouch says.

“It’s cool, don’t worry about it.” Kallen says. “You live here, don’t you?” She asks.

“I do, with my sister.” Lelouch replies. “The principal of the school lets us live here as a favor.” He adds. “Anyway.” Lelouch says, turning to leave.

“Hey, wait!” Kallen calls as she hears Lelouch’s footsteps. Hearing him stop and turn around, Kallen extends her right arm out from behind the curtain. “Could you hand me that pouch, over there?” She asks, pointing to the pink pouch on the sink.

“Sure.” Lelouch says. He then walks towards the sink and takes the pouch. He then looks away from the shower and hands Kallen the pouch. Kallen quickly grabs Lelouch’s wrist, surprising him and causing him to drop the pouch. “You really are a live wire, aren’t you?” Lelouch says.

“Were you the one in Shinjuku?” Kallen asks, sternly.

“What do you mean?” Lelouch asks.

“Don’t play dumb, you brought up Shinjuku the other day. Why?” She asks.

“Why do you ask, is there something wrong with Shinjuku?” Lelouch asks.

“Don’t answer my question with a question.” Kallen says. She then bends down and picks up her pouch. “Yes or no, that’s all I want to hear out of you.” She says, releasing a blade from her pouch. Suddenly the phone in the bathroom starts to ring.

“If I don’t answer it, someone will come.” Lelouch says. “That okay.” He says, reaching over for the phone. “Hello, Ashford Academy student council.” Lelouch greets the caller over the phone. “No, this is… Oh.” He says to the caller. “It’s for you.” He says, passing the phone through the curtain. “He says he knows you.”

Kallen looks at the phone in surprise, then sets her knife down and takes the phone from Lelouch. “Hello.” Kallen says to the caller.

“Glad you’re still alive, Q1.” The caller’s voice says over the phone.

Surprised to hear the voice, Kallen looks at Lelouch from behind the curtain. ‘Was I wrong.’ Kallen mentally says, seeing that Lelouch can’t be the voice anymore.

“Sixteen hundred hours, the day after tomorrow. The observation deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone.” The voice says.

“Who are you? How did you arrange that ceasefire order?” Kallen asks the voice just as he hangs up. “Hey, don’t hang up!” Kallen shouts, pulling the curtain open on accident.

“Did you say ceasefire?” Lelouch asks. “Sounds like you keep dangerous company.” He adds.

“Oh… Uh… That was…” Kallen stammeres.

“Let me guess. You’re talking about a game, something online?” Lelouch asks.

“Uh… Yeah. Naoto showed me this game he and some of his friends play. Guess I’ve still got a lot to learn.” Kallen says, releasing Lelouch’s wrist.

“That’s what I was warning you about, because the game is nothing like the real thing. Seriously, some guys will show you footage of that day, and it’s pretty damn grim.” Lelouch says, rubbing his wrist. “By the way, you know I can see you , right?” He says, looking away from the shower. Kallen then panics and closes the curtains. “I won’t tell anyone. Later.” Lelouch says, leaving the room.

“I was wrong.” Kallen says, as she hears the door to the bathroom close.

Lelouch then enters a room where Sayoko is, and replays the message he prerecorded. Once the message is played, he leaves the room and Sayoko snaps back into reality, confused as to where she is. Lelouch then sees Kallen exit the bathroom, dressed in the clothes he gave her, and they walk around the clubhouse until the return to the ballroom. “Lelouch, it’s awful.” Nunnally says, as Lelouch and Kallen enter the room.

“What is?” Lelouch asks, as he sees the footage on the TV in the room.

“Prince Clovis has been found dead.” Milly replies.

“There saying that he was killed.” Rivalz quickly adds.

“Prince Clovis has been taken from us. He fought for peace and justice, against all of the terrorists. He died a martyr!” Jeremiah says over the television. “We must all bury our sorrow and carry on his will.” He adds.

“We interrupt this broadcast with Breaking news.” A female reported says. “The man suspected as the murderer and instigator of the Shinjuku incident, has been captured. According to this report, the suspect is is a soldier of the Japanese military.” The reporter says.

“Naoto.” Kallen says, as she sees her brother restrained by the Britannians.

“Corporal Naoto Stadtfeld, a Britannian enlisted in the Japanese military. I repeat, Naoto Stadtfeld arrested for murder” The reporter continues.

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ask-de-writer · 6 years

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DARING DO and the Gryphon’s Quest! : MLP Fan Fiction : Chapter 6 of 19

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DARING DO

and

The Gryphon’s Quest!

Chapter 6

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

and

Carmen Pondiego

Cover art by Wind the Mama Cat

29584 words

Writing begun 03/29/16

This is a Fan Fiction based on My Little Pony. Canterlot, Princess Luna and the name Daring Do are owned by Hasboro Inc.

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2.) They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

3.) All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction are actively encouraged.

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Daring Do and the Gryphon’s Quest!