#pinpointer for metal detecting

[jehad2008]

Pinpointer: what is it for and how is it used?

Mineral exploration is a craft that has been practiced for many years. Nowadays, there are high-quality professional devices that greatly facilitate the task itself and make the whole process much more efficient and shorter. The device known as Pinpointer is one of them. What is an Pinpointer? A precision indicator is a portable metal detector used to determine the exact location of a metal…

[lucalicatteart]

-- Poorly Constructed Enchanted Tool --

A small tool carved from a fruit tree seed. Energy to power the enchantment has seemingly run-out long ago, and the method of recharging is unknown - but, based on the appearance, it's very likely that this was once used for detecting magic. Usually, looking through the glass center would highlight areas of higher magical energy concentration present in the viewer's environment, even if they were otherwise obscured to the naked eye. While this form of enchantment itself is highly advanced, the craftsmanship of the item is far less neat or complex than what might be typically seen in similar devices. It may have been made as part of training/practice, or as a hasty replacement for a previous tool that had broken.

[joelswritingmistress]

Neighbors With Benefits: Part 1 (Joel Miller x f!reader)

Part of the #hotdilfsummerchallenge (I will be adding more and tag the Masterlist) Thank you @hellishjoel for putting on this contest. It's a lot of fun!

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Word count: Roughly 5000

Warning: Dilfy smut, age gap (23 & 42)

Mid-June, 2024. The first summer back home upon college graduation. You knew there would be an adjustment period and while you didn't necessarily feel unhappy, there was a strangeness that left you with feelings you couldn't quite pinpoint. This was your childhood home, your hometown, your room - but still, somehow it felt foreign.

You hung up the maroon cap and gown that showed off the primary color of Texas A+M, the college where you had spent the last four years studying your ass off to get a degree in criminal justice. At twenty-three years old after spending the last few years in a little off-campus apartment with some friends, you were feeling both aggravated and nostalgic upon returning to your parents' house in the suburbs. They were great and you got along just fine; but the freedoms that had gone along with renting your own place were now reeled in a bit tighter. At the very least you knew your mother would likely stay awake on the nights you were out late. Still, you appreciated how much they cared about you.

You moved to your bedroom window and flung it open to let in some air to get rid of the stuffiness that lingered in the house. Immediately, your eyes landed on a man next door standing behind a grill as smoke filtered up above him in a faint, little cloud. He flipped a burger with a pair of metal tongs and took a sip from what looked like a bottle of beer.

"Hey, honey."

You jumped at your mother's voice as if you'd been caught doing something wrong. "Hey." You pressed your eyebrows together and motioned out the window as she entered the room. "Who's that?"

"Oh, I guess it never came up in conversation," your mother said with a shrug, "That's our new neighbor. He moved in back in January."

You glanced back out the window.

"He’s a bit too old for you,” she teased with a laugh.

You whipped around and made a face. "I'm not... I'm not checking him out. I'm just asking why there's a stranger in the Wilsons' backyard." You smirked and raised your eyebrows, "Maybe if my mother told me things I wouldn't have to play detective."

"Isn't that what you got your degree in criminal justice for?"

You chuckled, knowing she would most certainly outwit you in a verbal battle. "And I'm 23 years old. No one's too old for me anymore."

"Well, in that case I hear they just built a nice, new nursing home down the road with plenty of widowed men. I can drive you there if you'd like."

You let out a hearty laugh. “I’ll pass."

The two of you giggled and your mother continued, "Will you be joining your father and I for dinner tonight? We were thinking of just going to Chili's and then heading to a play at the little theater downtown. The kids are putting on Grease."

You smiled as your phone vibrated with a text from your best friend. "It's Holly."

"So, I guess the answer is going to be no," your mother suspected. She smirked and got the hint. “Keep in touch.”

"Okay," you agreed and then cleared your throat when she turned to go. "Mom, what's his name?"

"Huh?"

"The neighbor," you went on, "I should probably introduce myself since I'm going to be a resident of 45 Harding Drive again."

"Joel," her mother replied, "Joel Miller."

Your parents left soon after and so you wandered out to the back steps, waiting for them to take off first before popping open a beer. The ice cold beverage tasted better than normal because of the incoming summer heat that was supposed to really strike the following morning. With a content sigh, you leaned your elbows back on the top step of the set of four that led from the back door into the oversized backyard.

"Jennifer?" a deep, scratchy voice made you jump for the second time that night. You put a hand on your chest and glanced off to the side when you realized a man had called out your mother's name.

The neighbor, you thought, feeling your stomach knot up.

You cleared your throat and rose to your feet, leaving the beer on the top step. "No… I’m (Y/N)." You took a few steps in his direction though he made his way almost all the way to the steps.

"(Y/N)?" His features became clear when he stepped into a small, back light beside the door. The man flashed a friendly, boyish grin from beneath a trim beard. "Tim and Jen’s daughter?"

You looked down sheepishly and smiled before lifting your eyes to meet his stare. "Yeah."

He’s hot, your inner monologue informed you, as if your cheeks hadn't suddenly grown hot.

His eyes shifted to the beer and his grin widened even more before he extended a hand. "I'm Joel... your neighbor."

"Nice to meet you." You gave a closed-mouth smile and took in his appearance, consciously telling herself not to stare. His plain white t-shirt showed off his broad chest and shoulders

Joel cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," you assured him and then cleared your throat, "Do you want a beer or something?"

A smirk twisted onto his face., "No thanks. I was actually just coming over to see if I could borrow some butter."

"Oh..." You glanced over your shoulder at the back door and then back to Joel.

"You don't have to," he said reassuringly, unable to keep the grin from his face. "You don't even know me yet so-"

"No.” You cut him off, "No, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Joel's voice cut through you like a knife and he kept his eyes firmly locked on yours.

You nodded, unable to look away for a moment and then waved him inside.

"Don't forget your brew here, honey." He reached down and scooped up the beer as you flung the back door open.

You smiled again, "Thanks."

Joel nodded and followed you in, before glancing around at the modest but modern kitchen. "You, uh... you even old enough to drink this shit?" He motioned to the beer.

You rolled your eyes, "I can show you my ID if that makes you feel any better." You flung open the refrigerator, "I know my parents are going to treat me like I'm in high school again."

"Well... they're just trying to protect you," Joel said. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-three." You glanced over her shoulder at him, somewhat pleased to catch him staring - or so you thought. It prompted him to look elsewhere.

"Here." You removed a stick of butter and crossed the room to hand it to him. When the butter landed in his hand you decided to be bold and didn't immediately let it go, "How old are you?"

He chuckled before holding a wicked smirk and again held her captive with his playfully intense eyes. "How old do you think I am?"

You stared back, somewhat used to gaining control over the guys you had dated or been interested in in the past. Already, this time you felt a bit outmatched and part of it was your instant attraction to him. When Joel took one step in her direction, you swallowed hard and gave a random answer.

"Thirty-two?"

Joel laughed a little louder, putting a hand on his stomach. He ran the other hand through his messy brown hair and pointed. "You're so full of shit."

You smiled at him, "I was thinking more of thirty-eight, thirty-nine."

He sucked his teeth and gave you a look up-and-down before smiling wide again. When he didn't say anything in response you flat out asked, "Am I right?"

"Forty-two," Joel finally informed you after a long pause.

"Over the hill then?"

He snickered and then motioned to the fridge, "Ya know... I will have that beer if you don't mind."

You smiled before reopening the fridge to fetch one for him. When you placed a bottle of Bud Lite in his hand he used the counter to pop the top rather than twist it. When the dented bottle cap fell to the floor and danced in circles for a moment you glanced back up to find him continuing to stare as he took a long swig from the bottle.

Joel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Your dad going to notice that a few of these are missing?"

"They're mine," you informed him, "And I'm not-"

"A kid, I know..." Joel rolled his eyes now and the two of you shared a laugh, "Believe me when you're my age you'll love that someone will accuse you of being younger."

"I'm sure I will."

He reached down and scooped up the cap from the ground and then held it out in his palm. When you went to reach for it he closed his hand and smiled playfully.

"I'll take it," Joel offered, "Don't want you to get caught drinking these things when your parents come home." He continued to tease you about your age.

"You know, I could've guessed you were fifty."

He laughed out loud. "Smart mouth on you," Joel flashed his index finger at her with the hand that held the bottle, "I like it."

You looked down and laughed again, feeling your cheeks grow hot again from his remark.

"Anyway, I should be getting back." Joel continued to smile, almost triumphantly and winked. "It was nice meeting you."

"It was nice meeting you too.”

He held your gaze for an extra second, forcing him to smirk a final time before heading out the back door.

"Thanks for the beer," he said casually, "I'll see ya around."

8:15 pm - the following evening

"Sorry I couldn't make it out last night," Holly said to you. The two of you sat side by side at barstools down at one of the local bars in town. "My boss can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

"It's fine. I had the house to myself so I kind of just had some time to chill and binge watch some old shows."

"Sounds terrible."

You laughed and shrugged. "It was alright."

"Well, here's to... summer?" Holly raised her martini glass and you tapped her beer bottle gently against it.

"To potentially the weirdest summer of my life."

"Why's that?"

You shrugged, "I don't know. Being back home doesn't feel so 'at home' anymore."

"Give it time." Holly sipped her drink, "In a month it'll feel like you never left."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Hey, it's not so bad. I'm here." She smiled and raised her eyebrows, "Jill and Molly should be home within the week too. We can get the old crew back together before we all get real jobs and have to do shitty adult stuff."

"I'll drink to that," you agreed, taking a longer swig of the beer. You sighed and began to peel at the blue Bud Lite label, letting your mind drift to the night before with Joel. You envisioned him snapping the cap off the top of the beer bottle, using the counter. A smile crossed lingered on your face.

"Ooohh... someone's checking us out," Holly commented, "Or maybe they know you..." Her eyebrows pressed together and she motioned using her head toward a table in the corner of the bar.

"Oh shit." You couldn't contain your response but realized it must've sounded out of place.

"What?" Her friend asked, "Do you know him?"

"That's my neighbor," you informed her, "New neighbor."

Joel smirked and gave a wave but quickly entertained a conversation he was having with two other men at the small, corner table.

"He's kind of a Dilf."

You snickered and shrugged, unable to take your eyes off of him. When Joel glanced back in your direction you looked away and quickly took a sip of your.

"You think he's hot," Holly suspected with a laugh.

"What?" You shook your head, "No... I mean he may have some Dilf qualities or something like you just said but…” The sentence drifted off.

"Mm-hmm..." She continued to stare at her friend with playfully accusing eyes.

"Stop," you joked, "I just met him last night."

"Last night?" Holly perked up, "And..."

"And what?"

"You tell me."

You laughed again, "He came over to the house because he needed some butter."

"More like some sugar," she winked and glanced up toward a television that had a baseball game on in front of them.

You let out a hearty laugh and shook your head.

"He keeps looking over here." Holly’s voice perked out, "Oh! He's getting up," Holly whispered, stalking him for a moment with her eyes.

You glanced over and felt your stomach twist in knots when he headed in their direction.

"So you are over twenty-one," Joel cracked a wide smile and tapped the back of her chair as he continued to walk by.

"Twenty-three," you called after him, smiling wide.

He glanced over his shoulder, winking once before continuing on around a corner toward the bathrooms.

You let out a sigh and Holly turned back around.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" her friend asked. Before you could attempt to plead your case Holly went on, "He's hot... and he's totally flirting with you."

"He's not flirting with me."

"That was a Frank Sinatra-worthy wink."

You shook your head, laughing again. "Where do you come up with these things?"

"You're glowin. You're crushing on this guy. Who cares if he's your neighbor. Get on that."

"He's forty-two," you lowered your voice.

Holly raised her eyebrows and glanced toward the doorway where Joel had just walked through before returning her attention to her friend.

"Forget it." You sipped your drink and tried to pretend like you were nterested in the game on the television.

"At least admit you're crushing."

She turned to her and shook her head, "Fine... he's hot. Okay?" You focused on the screen for as long as she could and tried to pretend not to notice when Joel rounded back into the bar. You let out a deep breath as he crossed behind you and felt a rush when he came up beside you to flag down the bartender.

"Another round?" the middle-aged bartender asked, already reaching for a beer.

"Please,” Joel said with a nod, "You can put it on the tab." He turned to you, "Any interest in playing darts over here?" He nodded toward a dart board in the corner.

"Sure."

"Don't feel obligated." He forced your eyes back to his and continued to stare into them.

"I don't." You felt that intense paralysis again and couldn't turn away. When the bartender came back with the round of beers for Joel, you felt relieved and let out a breath.

"Get these two what they want," Joel added to the bartender, "Next round's on me when you finish those."

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"It's fine. I owe you one from last night." He headed back to the small table with his friends and Holly finally snapped you out of your daze.

"I thought you just gave him butter," she whispered with a giggle, "What was last night?"

You swallowed hard and rose to your feet, prompting Holly to do the same. "I offered him a beer and he took it," she said, "It was nothing... believe me. If I had anything interesting to share I would tell you."

Your legs felt heavy as you crossed the dark bar that was scattered with only a handful of other people. While the two other men began collecting darts and erasing the chalkboard to the side, Joel stood staring with his elbow on the table. For a moment everything else was in the background and you could only focus on him.

Shit... Any wit she had going for her had betrayed her. The instant, intense attraction you had to him was completely clouding your judgment. You felt like you were about to enter a wolf den, though you didn't at all mind playing the part of Little Red Riding Hood.

The anxiety-ridden feeling you had had leading up to the game of darts diminished as the night went on. You played a few games, swapping teammates several times, beginning with a 'boys versus girls' theme and then pairing off randomly when one game ended.

"He's going to fuck it up, you watch," Joel taunted as his friend lined up, closing one eye as he released the dart, only sending it clunking off the board and to the ground. "You didn't even hit the fuckin' board." His words drew laughter from everyone and the man that missed stumbled to retrieve it, chuckling as he went.

"I'm fucked up," Skip, the older robust man, remarked as he struggled to pick the dark up from the floor.

"Ya think?" Joel joked, continuing to sip on his beer.

"It's about time I get this man home to his wife and let her deal with him," the other man, Charlie, chuckled from behind a pair of alcohol-induced crimson cheeks. "Can't hold his liquor."

Skip huffed a breath and closed his eyes with a hand on his head. "The old lady's going to be mad at me. Especially when I tell her we've been hanging out with these lovely ladies." He motioned to you and Holly, laughing at himself and making the others do the same.

"I'd leave that part out if you knew what was good for ya," Charlie informed him with another laugh. "Come on Skippy. It's past your bed time."

"Game over?" Holly asked you.

"I guess so." You raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Charlie, you guys to get home?" Joel asked.

"It's just a quarter mile down the road," Charlie waved a hand. He smiled, "Good night ladies."

"Goodnight," you both said at the same time before Holly turned to you.

"I'm heading to the bathroom. Be right back." She raised her eyebrows, noting it would give you and Joel a moment alone and you tried to play it off coolly.

"Okay." She watched a moment as Holly made her way down the bar and around the corner.

"Hope I didn't kill your girls night," Joel said.

"No." You turned back to him and leaned an elbow on the table, "We were just bored. Had to get out of the house."

"Mmm..." He slid back down into a seat and you took upon herself to join him as you waited for Holly.

Joel leaned both elbows on the table to straddle his beer, "You're probably used to night clubs filled with young guys just dying to buy you a drink. This has to be fuckin' lame."

"I was over that scene by my junior year," you told him with a laugh as you shook your head. "They were all the same with their cheesy cologne and gelled up hair."

Joel huffed a laugh and took a sip of his drink. "Sick of that shit huh?"

"Very." You mirrored his position and continued to sip on the beer you had been milking for the better part of an hour, "I'm kind of over the party scene... and the being at home scene."

"You've been home for one fuckin' day." He raised his eyebrows, "Get over it. You're saving money."

You nodded, "Yeah... yeah you're right."

"I know I am." He smiled, a charming arrogance radiating out of him.

When your phone buzzed in your pocket you jumped and quickly removed it, finding a text message from Holly.

I'm getting in my car. Snuck out the back. Have fun. You'll thank me later.

When you looked back up Joel was grilling you with his eyes. You wondered if he had managed to read the message or not. You cleared her throat. "Holly," you said simply.

"You guys need to go?"

You opened her mouth to speak, still unsure if he had seen what your friend wrote but decided to chance it and lie. "She... got sick. She's on her way home."

"She okay?"

You nodded. “Just a little embarrassed I think and decided to go." You took a sip to buy yourself some time in case he asked any more questions. When he didn't you tried to change the subject. "This place is dead."

"What's so bad about the college scene?" Joel asked.

"Huh?"

"The young guys, the night clubs..."

"Oh... nothing, I guess." You cleared her throat feeling like he was trying to read your mind. Again, your face felt flush with heat and you continued, "They're just... all the same. There's no appeal anymore. When I was eighteen I thought it was cool sneaking into bars and all that." You smiled and shook her head before looking him in the eye. "This is more my speed."

Joel stared back and didn't immediately say anything.

You almost couldn't take the quiet stalemate. The sexual attraction for Joel burned in your chest and in that moment, in the quiet corner of the bar, it was hard to fight it. All the same, you felt like you had to be reading his body language correctly in assuming he was feeling something too. Still, the fact that he was your older neighbor, who you didn't know very well, lingered in the back of your mind.

Getting involved with Joel would satisfy your instant craving for him but beyond that you knew it could only lead to making both of your lives more complicated.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," you told him, when you couldn't contain your feelings any longer. It was the only thing you could say without leaping across the table and initiating a make-out session that played out animalistically in your mind.

"You gunna disappear on me too?" he joked, though you could see there was a hint of seriousness in his piercing eyes behind the wicked smile that hadn't left his face all evening.

"Not a chance." You felt embarrassed by the bold nature of your words, but took a deep breath and made the long walk across the bar into the restroom area. When you pushed open the door you felt relieved that no one else was in there and quickly made your way to the sink to pat some water on her face. You let out a breath, leaning both of her hands on the counter and then took in your appearance to make sure you was satisfied with the way you looked.

I'm being ridiculous, you thought. I'm too old to feel this out of control over a guy... or a man.

Joel was a man. He wasn't at all like the college boys you had been surrounded by who loved to crush beer cans on their heads, brag about how many consecutive beer pong games they'd won and worst of all when they threw the cheesiest lines at you and your friends to try to get laid. Joel didn't have to say or do anything in particular. He could simply look at you the right way and you found yourself ready to obey any request or demand he threw your way.

I’m in over my head, you thought, but I don't care.

You took in another deep breath and felt like you had the quick break that you needed to hold a sensible conversation with him without the constant interference of your out-of-whack hormones.

"Okay," you whispered to yourself and fiddled with your hair before pulling the door open to head back into the short, dark hallway. When Joel rounded the corner at the same time from the bar both of you stopped abruptly.

His eyes stalked the length of your body before finally re-settling on your gaze.

"Checking to make sure I didn't bail?" you joked, nervously laughing just after. Your tongue danced along your bottom lip, and you couldn't help but look him up and down the way he had just done to you.

Joel swallowed hard, tipping his mouth up into a half-smirk before walking past the men's room door in your direction.

You didn't have time to process all of the questions in your mind because he marched up and planted his lips against yours, immediately penetrating them with his tongue as his hands successfully shoved you up against the door to the women's room. It opened a few inches beneath the force.

You felt an explosion of adrenaline filter through your body as you kissed him back even more savagely than in your daydreams.

Joel pushed the door all the way open with one hand, not separating himself from you as he gripped your ass with his free hand and pushed his hips firmly against yours.

You tangled a hand in his hair, kissing him back with a heated passion that you didn't bother to try masking now that he had initiated the fantasy that had been playing out in your mind since you had him.

He moaned into your mouth before taking a breath and crushing his lips back against yours. Your back collided with the tile wall at the back of the bathroom, and you arched your neck as he began to ravage you, sliding a hand down the front of your pants while gripping your face with the other to kiss you hard again.

It all was happening so fast. You struggled to keep up but couldn't process a conscious thought when his first two fingers slid inside of you.

You bit down on your lip in a break in the kiss and spread your legs wider to give him more access.

Joel left a single kiss on her lips and spoke against them in a husky whisper, "Let it out honey," he kissed you again, "Let it out."

You knew the bar was nearly empty and there wasn't another woman that had been there. Even if there had been you didn't know that you would have cared. When his fingers twitched, arcing perfectly in his technique to make your entire lower body shiver with pleasure, you groaned.

"Fuck Joel," your whined his name, desperate for his tongue to dominate your again as he continued to finger you relentlessly until you felt like you were going to explode.

Joel's arousal heightened when he traced your lips with his thumb of his free hand, prompting you to take the tip of it into your mouth.

"God," he closed his eyes relished in the feeling, pushing his fingers deeper into you.

You whimpered again, writhing beneath his touch and attempted to reach for the belt buckle on his pants. "I want you."

He removed his hand from beneath your slick panties and placed his hands against the wall on either side of you as you managed to undo his buckle and shove his pants down off his hips.

Instinctively, you dropped to your knees, taking in as much of him as you could. Joel moaned and bucked his hips once as he grasped the back of your head with one hand. You looked up, watching his head fall back as his closed eyes pressed shut tighter. Joel allowed you to have your way with him as you continued to go down on him like you might never get another opportunity to do so. "Fuuucckk." He drew the word out, encouraging you to continue as he grabbed a fist full of your hair. "Ohh shit..."

Had anybody walked by the door there would have been no way to mask what was going on. Joel didn't hold back and felt an additional jolt of pleasure when you stroked him with your hand before quietly demanding him to come.

He opened his eyes, letting his mouth hang open as he glanced down, making eye contact with you as you engulfed him again.

"Jesus..." Joel's eyes closed and he felt an unmistakable buildup brewing below his waist. He couldn't ask you to stop, not when he was on the verge of exploding. "I'm gunna come." He shouted the words so loud that you thought for sure that someone had to have heard your encounter from somewhere in the bar. Still, you didn't let up and allowed him to push deep into you, gripping the back of your head with such force that you couldn't have separated your mouth from him if you tried.

He groaned, not attempting to hold back what he was feeling, alternating different curse words in between uneven breaths that ultimately left him panting as you finished him off. With a final breath he released your hair, letting his hand drop toward your face as you wiped a hand across your mouth and slowly rose to your feet.

Joel stood there for several seconds, breathing heavy with his pants at his ankles and a hand still on your face. When he finally came down off the high enough to speak, a chuckle left his mouth and ran a hand through your now-messy hair. "Shit honey... you didn't get yours." He let out another breath and then retrieved his pants from the floor and straightened out his appearance.

"It's alright," you told him with a sly smile, noting the heat that was still brewing between your legs.

He huffed another breath and adjusted himself over his pants before regaining your gaze. Joel smiled and drew his thumb gently under your eye, "Mascara's running. Sorry honey."

You closed her eyes as he continued to wipe the stray makeup away from your face. When you reopened them, Joel sported a half grin and he raised his eyebrows.

"Guess I fuckin' owe ya one."

You snickered, pleased to know that he wasn't at all expecting this to be your only encounter. "Yeah... you do."

Joel took a final, deep breath. "Well... you know where to find me."

"Next door."

"If you see me outside come on over to... borrow some butter or something.”

"Butter..." You snickered and then swallowed hard when he took a step toward her and slid a hand back down the front of your pants.

Joel touched his lips to yours as he spoke and this time gently began to massage up and down your wet center. When your mouth twisted up in a smile and you closed your eyes again he grinned and removed his glistening fingers. "It's a shame this is going to go to waste. Too bad you're so damn good at giving a blowjob. I had all the intentions of fucking you but I could just not ask you to stop.”

"Damn," she said quietly, but smiled, praying he might have it in him to continue.

Joel smiled, reading the disappointment on her face. "I'll be in and out tomorrow," he claimed, "You see me and you feel like bringing me over some butter…”

"I think you’ll definitely need some."

He looked down and made his way to the sink to wash his hands before turning to her with a smile. He ended the night the same way he had the night before, "I'll see ya around."

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2

[weltschmerz-cairn]

Lore drop for myself, but I'm (technically) an archaeologist! I've had this idea in my head of Aradia wearing actual archaeology field school clothes, brought to you by outfits I've actually worn while excavating! Featuring a sifter and our metal detection pinpoint wand (lovingly called The Carrot). I also made a list of what I wear and bring while excavating, for your reading pleasure.

[eeriepromis]

ANOMALY DETECTED: MEET YOURSELF, COLONEL

Caleb had thought he'd seen it all. Years of missions in the Farspace Fleet, brushes with death, being experimented on and battles with forces beyond human comprehension had numbed him to surprises. Yet nothing in his meticulously disciplined life could've prepared him for the walking disaster smirking at him from across the dimly lit hangar.

She stood casually, like chaos wrapped in human skin, her tousled hair a defiant mess, eyes glinting with a reckless humor that instantly irritated him. Her patched-up colonel combat suit bore the scars of countless battles - strips of mismatched fabric and improvised repairs speaking loudly of desperation and resourcefulness. Caleb immediately disliked her relaxed stance, hands on hips, utterly unconcerned about the gun pointed straight at her head - she must be even more twisted than him.

She gave a low whistle, unimpressed. "Seriously? You always greet yourself at gunpoint?"

He narrowed his eyes, finger tightening on the trigger. "Who are you? Clone? Shapeshifter? Another twisted Ever experiment?"

The woman - so frustratingly familiar yet utterly alien - chuckled, raising an eyebrow in mock innocence. "Relax, Colonel. I'm you - but better. From the future, though admittedly one that’s slightly on fire and falling apart."

Caleb scoffed, suspicion curling in his gut. "Convenient story. Why should I believe you're anything but another one of Ever's twisted experiments?"

She raised an eyebrow, stepping forward casually until the cold muzzle pressed firmly against her forehead. Her eyes, fierce yet playful, locked with his in silent challenge.

"Because I know things no clone could fake," she said, her voice dropping conspiratorially. Caleb could practically feel the smirk on her lips growing sharper. "For example, Colonel, remember that One Direction phase you buried deep, deep down?"

Caleb froze, pulse pounding uncomfortably loud in his ears. He desperately wanted to deny it, but the look on her face left no room for lies.

She grinned, voice dripping with glee. "Oh yeah, I know all about your Tumblr blog too. About you writing Imagines while listening to their songs - picturing her in every one of them."

He fired a shot instinctively, embarrassment overcoming his judgment. She dodged effortlessly, laughing like she’d expected it.

"Ohhh, big boy brought out the gun already? We didn’t even have dinner first. Still a touchy subject, huh?" she taunted, sidestepping smoothly. "Guess some things never change."

Chaos erupted the instant the trigger clicked beneath Colonel Caleb’s finger, the air around him crackling with raw energy. Bullets sliced through the abandoned hangar, each round warping space as Caleb commanded gravity itself. Fragments of metal and concrete floated eerily around him, spinning like satellites as his violet eyes blazed with focus.

His impossible, gender-flipped counterpart merely laughed, eyes sparkling with wild delight. She moved like liquid, weaving between gravity wells and bullets alike. Her boots barely touched the ground as if physics held no power over her, a twisted ballet performed with reckless abandon.

“You’ve gone soft, Colonel!” she taunted, springing off a rusted cargo crate, soaring into the air as she returned fire mid-spin. Her shots ricocheted with pinpoint accuracy, forcing Caleb back a step. He snarled, raising a wall of distorted gravity just in time. Bullets flattened against the invisible barrier, falling harmlessly to the floor.

“How?” Caleb snapped, frustration and awe warring in his voice. Each strike, each bullet fired, perfectly countered and dodged, as if fighting a twisted reflection. Her style was reckless yet effective. It infuriated him how she anticipated every move, as though she'd studied him for a lifetime.

“Future perks, sweetheart,” she mocked, launching herself at him once more. This time, she flicked a wrist and a pulse of blue energy exploded outward, shattering his gravity field instantly. Caleb staggered, eyes wide in disbelief.

Before he could recover, she was on him, close enough for him to feel her breath on his cheek. Her fist connected with his jaw, and he reeled back, tasting blood. His vision blurred briefly as he wiped the trickle from his lip.

She smirked. “C’mon, Colonel, you fight like it’s your first apocalypse.”

Caleb growled, rage sharpening his focus. He slammed his palm to the ground, unleashing a devastating pulse of gravitational force. The concrete shattered, cracking open the floor as the shockwave hurled her backward.

But instead of crashing, she twisted gracefully in midair, landing softly on her feet as if gravity had personally favored her.

“Cute,” she taunted, brushing dust off her shoulder. Then, with a wicked grin, she flicked her free hand again, revealing a glowing band of light around her wrist. “But let me show you something really fun.”

She did something, and instantly multiple holographic duplicates burst from her position, each indistinguishable from the original. They surrounded Caleb in an instant, weapons raised, eyes glinting with identical amusement.

Caleb stood frozen, heart pounding with adrenaline as he spun around, his instincts overwhelmed.

“Cheating,” he accused coldly.

She and her clones all laughed in unison. “Survival of the fittest. Also a handy little gift from a close ally.”

Caleb clenched his fist tightly, focusing the full strength of his gravity Evol inward. A shockwave exploded outward, knocking the holograms back. Most dissipated instantly - but one remained, materializing solidly, stumbling to one knee.

Caleb seized the opening, sprinting forward to pin her down. His hand closed around her wrist, pressing her firmly against the floor, face inches from hers.

Breathing raggedly, Caleb glared down at her. "If you're really me," he demanded between strained breaths, "then explain yourself."

Her smirk didn’t falter, despite the blood now trailing down her temple. She merely tilted her head slightly, eyes defiant yet oddly resigned. “Nice move. You almost had me worried.”

“Why are you here?” Caleb hissed through clenched teeth, his grip tightening painfully. “Why now? And why the hell are you-”

“-Female?” She finished for him, laughter returning to her voice despite her vulnerable position. “Aw, Colonel, I thought you’d never ask.”

He scowled, irritation flaring again. “Answer me.”

She leaned in closer, her voice dropping conspiratorially. “You ever try punching through a collapsing chronorift? It’s like diving headfirst through a cosmic blender. Sometimes you lose more than your sanity. One little slip-up, and boom-” She gestured to herself with mock flair. “Hello, Callie.”

Caleb stared at her in incredulous silence, words momentarily lost. He finally released her, stepping back with a heavy sigh. “You’re a walking catastrophe.”

She rose gracefully, brushing dust from her suit and grinning wide. “Aw, you flatter me.”

He scowled deeper, rubbing his temples. “So why come back?”

Her playful mask slipped for the first time, something haunted flickering behind her cocky demeanor. She put away her guns, gaze distant. Modified guns with crow emblems, Caleb noticed, 

"Because in my timeline," she began softly, voice rough with suppressed emotion, "she’s already dead. Everyone's dead. Her, Zayne, Gideon, every ally - gone. Linkon's in Ashes. There's nothing left. Just ruins and memories, Caleb. And me."

A cold chill crawled down Caleb's spine. The weight of her words pressed heavily, resonating deeply within him. It felt real - painfully real. Her eyes were tired, burdened by tragedies he couldn't yet fathom. “What exactly went wrong in your timeline?”

She turned serious, the mischievous glint dimming in her eyes. “Everything. And unless we fix this mess together, yours is next.”

He hesitated, tension loosening from his shoulders as he put away his guns too. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

She huffed, annoyance resurfacing. "If I were a fake, Ever would’ve made me a hell of a lot more compliant - and definitely hotter."

Caleb’s mouth twitched. Despite everything, her sharp tongue and irritating smirk were strangely comforting. The unsettling familiarity made him uneasy but, oddly enough, less alone.

She crossed her arms, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Look, you're stubborn, paranoid, and emotionally traumatised - I get it. I’m you, remember? But we're running out of time, literally. If we don’t sort this out, neither of us will exist."

Caleb’s eyes darkened, irritation warring with reluctant trust. "Fine. Temporary alliance. And if you’re lying-"

She waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah. You'll shoot me. Been there, done that. Now- can we get on with saving our tragically messed-up timelines or what?"

He sighed, resisting the sudden urge to smile at her irreverent confidence. "I’m already regretting this." Callie smirked, her chaotic energy practically radiating. "Oh, buddy, you haven't even seen how bad this can get yet. You’re not gonna like what I have to say.”

[huffelpuff210]

Fighter Dark Alpha Tony Stark X Dark Alpha Steve Rogers X Dark Alpha Bucky Barnes X Reader

Fighter

Warning:This is a dark fic may contain violence, Noncon, and other dark elements keep in mind all events and characters are fictional you have been warned!

Dark Alpha Steve Rogers, Dark Alpha Bucky Barnes, Dark Alpha Tony Stark

Not: Please to feel free to leave comments.

Summery: In a world where Alpha’s and Beta’s exist one is rare to come by, Omega’s and what happens when they find a rare Omega who has been in hiding. 

You walked through the market looking over you’re shoulder every now and again a habit you always seemed to have, You seemed to always on edge and on the lookout, You were an Omega, but you were also on suppressants  making sure no Alpha would be able to detect you, 

You refused to be dominated by an Alpha you were a fighter,No Alpha or Beta told you what to do, not if You could help it. You’re father and Brothers made sure of that from constant years of abuse, without it known to them they were preparing you for a fight with any sort of Alpha, You’re mother died after giving birth to you you’re father blamed you for killing her and not being an Omega, after running away from home at the age of seventeen, you knew it was only the beginning of you’re fight for survival, 

As soon as you learned of the suppressants that existed blocking you’re Omega smell you didn’t hesitate to purchase them, sure they were highly illegal but you refused to become a mate to an Alpha who would decide everything for you, tell you how you are supposed to think, and you’re only purpose is to be bred it wasn’t going to happen not if you were going to help it. 

You purchase you’re food from the fruit stand when a smell hit you’re nose, It smelled musky, with a hint of pine, You slowly turn towards the smell and see a man with Dark hair and blue eyes, he had a metal arm, He was looking directly at you smirking, the way he was looking at you sent a shiver up you’re spine, 

You could tell he was an Alpha and that terrified you even more, 

you casually walk out of the market and make you’re way home, looking over you’re shoulder making sure he didn’t follow you, as far as you could tell he didn’t but the way he was smiling at you was making you very uneasy, 

Did he know what you are? 

Could he smell past you’re suppressants? 

All the questions going through you’re mind were making you more and more anxious, You finally made it to you’re apartment locking all the windows and bolt locking the door, shutting all the curtains you were anxious and nervous you just didn’t like the way the man was staring at you. 

Bucky returned home where Steve and Tony were lounging on the couch watching TV, 

“Did you get the food?” Tony asked 

“No but you two are never going to believe what I stumbled on.” He says 

They both look over their shoulder at him, Looking quite puzzled 

“An Omega.” Bucky says with a smirk 

“That’s impossible Omega’s are rare finding one is like 1% chance.” Tony says 

“Well I found one, and she’s on suppressants I could smell her it was there but faint.” Bucky says 

“Well if she’s on those drugs I doubt she’s registered.” Tony says 

Everyone nods 

When you are an Omega you have to register to let the world know of you’re existent so an Alpha can claim you. 

“And here I thought Omega’s didn’t exist anymore.” Steve says with a smirk 

“Shall we go find our Omega?” Tony asked 

Everyone nodded with a smirk

Bucky led them to a run down apartment complex in a bad part of town, They follow him as he pinpoints her apartment on the fire escape, being super-solider enhanced his abilities to smell past everything and smell a further distance. He stops on the third floor where the curtains were closed, 

“She’s smart.” Tony says smirking, 

They can hear you rustling around in the apartment, You’re heart beating about a mile a minute, 

“Something’s got her spooked.” Steve says smirking at Bucky 

That night you couldn’t sleep that night, you felt on edge, You could smell that Alpha all night, You arrived at you’re place of work dead tired, You worked for a law firm crunching numbers, you were very smart and good at you’re job, But You just couldn’t seem to get the look of that Alpha out of you’re head, The way he smirked at you, You were seated at you’re desk when You see two Alpha’s walk in, 

You keep you’re eyes trained on you’re computer thank goodness you were not a receptionist, 

You peek up at them, they looked oddly familiar, One had blonde hair and blue eyes, He had some muscles to him, he was drop dead gorgeous  the other man, He had dark hair a goatee and dark eyes, You looked back down just as the blonde looked you’re way, Not wanting anything to do with these Alpha’s. As you continue you’re work Someone knocks on you’re desk. You slowly look up, It was the two Alpha’s 

[blueiscoool]

Roman Coin Hoard Found in England Sells at Auction

A hoard of Roman coins discovered by a metal detectorist scouring farmland has fetched more than £15,000 after going under the hammer.

More than 430 coins were found buried in the village of Colkirk, near Fakenham, Norfolk.

A collection of 73 pieces, including an extremely rare coin featuring a phoenix on a globe, was auctioned in London.

The anonymous finder had shown "perseverance", said coin specialist Nigel Mills, from Noonans auctioneers.

"Some of the people I've spoken to recently, who have found some amazing finds, are spending a lot of time detecting - hours and hours - and they don't give up," he said.

"They keep going and that's the secret in so many things - don't give up, keep looking."

The Colkirk hoard, believed to date back to the early 5th Century, was spread out across a third of an acre on arable farmland, although the majority of finds were discovered in a 1.5m (59in) radius.

It was a lucky find for the detectorist, who had no idea the soil held such treasures.

They were out searching a field in January 2020 when they spotted a silver coin, which they recognised as a siliqua - a small, thin Roman coin.

It sparked a haul of 40 coins that day, with a further 40 found on the following one.

Covid lockdowns meant searches became more sporadic, but each discovery was logged with a portable GPS unit to accurately pinpoint the hoard's distribution.

In all, 315 coins were found in 2020, 114 in 2021 and three in 2022.

Some of the coins had been damaged, while others were fragmented due to farming processes.

A commemorative Third Miliarensis coin issued by Emperor Theodosius, decorated with a phoenix on one side, was only the fifth one of its type known to exist, with all the others in museums.

It reached £3,400 at the sale in Mayfair.

Mr Mills said: "The hoard had [been] spread out over a third of an acre through disturbance by ploughing and has been recorded under the Treasure Act.

"The hoard is likely to have been deposited at the beginning of the 5th Century AD, with the latest coin of Honorius dating no later than 402 AD.

"Other Roman treasure finds of gold and silver also from East Anglia, such as the Hoxne and Thetford hoards, reflect the wealth and importance of the area."

[my-marvel]

How I'd Make The MCU: 2011's Captain America: Heil HYDRA

1. Movie flashbacks to the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp, where the Big House was unshrunk and several villains escaped, among them being Arnim Zola and Zemo. They escape to HYDRA Island, where they find Reaper and Von Strucker leading HYDRA. Zemo declares his return and his intent to use the Tesseract to bring back the Red Skull from... wherever he was zapped off to in the first Captain America. 

2. Back in the modern day, Black Widow and Hawkeye are on a mission in Budapest taking down the Russian mafia in the city. They find in the storehouse of the mafia crates of weapons and advanced tech labeled as from A.I.M. "to HYDRA." Clearly this is bigger than the Russia mafia if HYDRA is active again. 

3. Steve Rodgers is at a movie theater in Washington DC. He's only been unfrozen for 2 years, and has been spending his time catching up on everything he's missed when he was in the ice. Today he's catching up on Star Wars. After the movie, he meets Sam Wilson, an Iraq War veteran who works as a councilor for veterans with PTSD. The two have crossed paths before, here they have a real conversation before Cap is called away by Nick Fury with a simple text: "HYDRA's back, Triskelion at 1630."

4. Back on HYDRA Island, Arnim Zola has been using the advanced tech like those found in Budapest to build a device to bring back the Red Skull. However, they require two things: A way to find the Red Skull and the Tesseract. Arnim Zola deduces if they search for the chemical makeup of the super soldier serum throughout the galaxy, they can pinpoint his location. Luckily, they know the Tesseract is in the Triskelion. So Strucker decides to send in their most effective operative after he's recently been defrosted: The Winter Soldier. 

5. Meanwhile, Captain America arrives at the Triskelion and meets Black Widow and Hawkeye. Maria Hill briefs them on their new mission, figure out what HYDRA is doing and stop it. Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier has infiltrated the Triskelion and is disguised as he goes through the facility to find the Tesseract. He makes his way to the basement, but not before Cap catches a glimpse of him and gets a heavy hit of deja vu. The Winter Soldier finds the Tesseract and begins escaping the Triskelion, but is stopped by Cap, Widow, and Hawkeye before he can escape. They fight, Bucky overpowers Widow, and at one point catches Cap's shield with his metal arm and throws it back with even greater force. The Winter Soldier escapes on a HYDRAbot which emerged from the Potomac to pick him up.

6. The Winter Soldier returns to HYDRA Island, giving the Tesseract to Arnim Zola, who has figured out what to do to find the Red Skull. Scanning the galaxy, they can look for the chemical signature of his super soldier serum, which was the same one Captain America had taken, so they just need a sample of the Captain's blood to calibrate the scanner. Zemo offers the Captain's head as a sufficient sample, and goes off with the Winter Soldier to collect a sample. 

7. S.H.I.E.L.D. is able to track the cosmic radiation of the Tesseract, and with it determines the location of HYDRA Island. Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Maria Hill go in a Quinjet to the coordinates to find it. When they reach HYDRA Island, Zemo and The Winter Soldier are there waiting for them. They fight, Zemo gets the Captain's blood, and Cap manages to rip off the Winter Soldier's mask, revealing him to be Bucky, which throws Cap for a loop. Refusing to fight his best friend, Cap is captured by the Winter Soldier, though Zemo protests. He REALLY wants to kill Cap, but Bucky denies him, claiming the Red Skull will want the honor. 

8. As the others figure out a plan to rescue Cap and thwart HYDRA, Cap is brought before Strucker, Reaper, and Arnim Zola, who have completed the portal to the Red Skull. Cap isn't paying attention at all, he's still focusing on Bucky. Before the ritual can begin, Strucker detects Bucky is distracted, Bucky is indeed confused. Bucky asks why Cap called him Bucky, which Strucker ignores. Arnim Zola flips the switch, and the portal opens. Out comes the Red Skull, and all of HYDRA heils their returning Supreme Leader. 

9. The Red Skull is delighted to see Captain America at his feet, and revels in monologuing to Cap about how he's been stranded in space for almost 70 years, spending every moment pondering what he would do if he returned to Earth. Now he knows what to do, kill the Captain and restore HYDRA to it's former glory. It's then when the the HYDRA base begins to be bombarded. Turns S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent an "aircraft carrier" to attack HYDRA Island following Cap's team. HYDRA counterattacks, and the carrier erupts out of the water revealing itself as the Helicarrier. Black Widow, Maria Hill, Hawkeye, and SAM WILSON AS THE FALCON (he was given the suit by Fury) enter with a small army of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to attack HYDRA. Cap is freed and fights the Red Skull.

10. When HYDRA begins losing, Red Skull demands retreat, ordering the Winter Soldier to kill Captain America and cover his escape. Bucky finds Cap, who tosses away the shield and refuses to fight his friend. He and Winter Soldier have a "Fight" where Bucky is trying to kill Steve and Steve is on the defensive. Steve calls Bucky his friend, his brother, Bucky calls him his mission. Steve says, "Then finish it, cause I'm with you till the end of the line." This causes Bucky to snap out of it, running away from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and stealing a HYDRA escape jet.

11. After the battle, HYDRA Island is decimated. Reaper and Strucker are captured, and Bucky is MIA. Steve wakes up in the hospital with Sam, Natasha, and Clint in the room with him. Steve's first words to Sam are, "Where'd you learn how to fly?" (referring to the Falcon suit). After getting discharged, Steve is approached by Fury one more time, who end the movie saying, "This was just a pilot study, you'll be working with Widow and Barton again in the future, maybe even Wilson if I'm feeling generous. The world needs Captain America again, more than ever." Then gives him a card with the Avengers logo on it.

My idea for some dialogue when Steve and Sam first meet:

Sam: So did you find a place in Brooklyn now that you’re back? 

Steve: I don’t think I’ll ever afford a place in Brooklyn again.

Sam: Yeah, ain’t always easy coming back home, but I bet the parade helped. 

Steve: Oh I missed the parade, remember? 

Sam: Right, human popsicle. 

Steve: *chuckles* 

Sam: Yeah, I didn’t get a parade either? 

Steve: Where’d you serve? 

Sam: Iraq. 

Steve: Why the hell were we in Iraq? 

Sam: long story.

[ollypopwrites]

From Depths Unknown; Part 1

Rolan x F!Tav (AFAB, she/her) *Tav is a Storm Sorcerer, but no actual reference to her appearance.

Rating: M

Tags & Warnings: [18+ MDNI] Language, Canon-typical violence, drinking, sexual content (very brief, very not detailed BUT slight dom/sub dynamics), slow burn, slightly enemies to lovers but not quite, background Bloodweave, the use of ‘idiot’ as a term of endearment.

Series Summary:

The entire first half of Rolan’s life was spent feeling helpless and angry. Even after escaping his childhood home, Elturel and then the Grove, fate seems to be intent on reminding him of how small he really is.

Tav is the gallant hero, always swooping in to save him and it is infuriating. To add insult to injury, despite himself, he actually likes her.

Notes: hooooo boy. This got crazy. It was supposed to be vignettes leading to some smut and now we have a whole multi-part fic exploring both Rolan’s character as an outsider of the tadpole crew but still closely acquainted and the weight of responsibility on Tav during the entire narrative of the game. Smut will happen, promise, but first — some light whump and heavy yearning.

Read below or on Ao3

“Did you lose something, darling?”

Tav had upended her pack, a huge pile of random junk, valuable magic artifacts, potions and rations by the fire. She was

Frantically digging through it, sorting through jewelry and shoving it aside.

“You haven’t seen my necklace laying around have you? The one with the pearl pendant?”

“I haven’t stolen it if that’s what you’re really asking,” he replied.

“Sounds like something someone would say if they did steal it.”

“Ha-Ha,” Astarion snarked. “Last I saw it was when I fed from you last night,” he sighed, “such a lovely chain wrapped around an even lovelier neck.”

“It was a gift from… someone special. I can’t find it.”

“When did you last remember having it?”

“I wear it everyday,” she groaned frustratedly. “I noticed it was gone when I got dressed after my bath upstairs.”

“And before that?”

“We fought off that horde by the lake,” Tav frowned and then gasped. “Shit. It must have broken during the fight.”

In her mind’s eye she could imagine when it may have happened. She had been positioned directly in front of the portal in which Halsin had gone into the Shadowfell. Gale and her kept directly in front of it to hold off stragglers, while Karlach and Shadowheart flanked in front of them. A flock of undead Ravens had descended upon her and Gale, clawing a scratching and she had lost her balance careening into the water. Some undead Harper’s had made an effort to keep her from climbing back up on the stone outcrop.

She had made it back to her position, but only barely. Tav still felt herself tense and worn down after what was the longest five minutes of her life. The dead just kept rising, new apparitions of horror springing up when they finally had the upper hand.

“I’ll be back.”

Tav stood and left the camp they had set up near the docks below the Last Light Inn. Her feet took her to the same edge of the lake where even now there were remnants of their battle littering the ground. She checked up on the stone outcrop where the portal had been, dancing lights guiding her eyes as she scanned for a glint of metal from the lights.

Nothing. She danced the lights closer to the water but it was impossible to see through. Tav dug for the last dredges of her magic to cast detect magic, she felt something below. Not too far but hard to pinpoint exactly where with her magic so spent.

Tav examined the water. It was just as dark as the rest of this place, and who knew what lingered below its surface. With a sigh, she took off her shoes and stripped down to her small clothes. She dipped her foot in, the water was as cold as it was when she was pulled in earlier that day.

Then she leapt in. Darkness surrounded her, the muffle of the water creating a sense of pure nothingness around her. In a way, it was peaceful, and quiet, but she had to find her way to the bottom and find that necklace. It was not too deep, but she had to fully submerge herself to reach the floor and when she did she tried not to think about what she was grabbing as she blindly felt around.

With only the vague sense of detect magic to guide her, she grabbed blindly. She felt the metal of armor, maybe a rock or a long rusted weapon, but nothing that felt like a thin necklace chain. She had to thrust herself up to the surface to gasp a breath of air.

Just as she went to dive under again she heard a shout, “what the bloody hells are you doing?”

Her head whipped around to the stone she had jumped from. Tall and lithe, standing rigidly straight with fists balled at his side and eyes glowing slightly in the dark. It was Rolan.

“Are you insane?”

“I lost something!” She said back. “Just a minute!”

His call of, “wait!” Was cut off as she dunked under again. Her hands frantically searching, focusing on the detect magic spell that would fizzle out any moment now. She let it lead her, let it show her the pulsing of the magic it was picking up from the bottom of the lake. There was no way of knowing if it was her pearl, but she had to try.

Her hands dug into the muck of the bottom of the lake, pulling some up and bringing it back to the surface. She could barely see, but there in her hand the pearl sat amongst rot and mud. She choked on a gasp, her eyes stinging either from tears or the grime that no doubt was in the water. The chain was long gone, but the pendant was there.

The gold of the delicate clawed setting that held the Pearl of Power was dirty and dented, but the pearl itself seemed to be in good shape.

“I found it!” She called.

“For the love of — get out of the water!” Rolan yelled.

Carefully she tread towards the stone again, reaching it and dropping the pendant onto the stone so she could pull herself out. Just as she lifted herself up, something caught on her foot, and then tugged. She hit her chin on the stone, teeth clacking together and then she slipped into the water again, skin scraping against rock and her vision going dark as the depths.

Rolan’s hand delved deep into the water, clutching at whatever piece of Tav he could get a grasp of and pulled. Her hand emerged, his hand tightly around her wrist as he grunted with the struggle to lift her above the water's edge. When her face emerged she gasped for breath.

“Something’s pulling me,” she yelled.

Rolan had little time to think, and just kept pulling as Tav’s free hand grasped at the rock and started to get herself onto it. As she did, the rest of her torso was revealed, then legs where he saw a long dead, gnarled and rotten hand grasping her calf. He let go of her with one hand to cast magic missile, the angry red jets of magic landing each hit until the hand let go of her.

Tav crawled onto the rock, coughing up water, and catching her breath. She stayed on hands and knees, her hand coming out to grab the trinket she had dived in for.

Rolan turned on her in a rage. “What in the hells is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” she breathed, “thanks to you. Appreciate it.”

“Weren’t you telling me not to go wandering off into the curse just yesterday?” He seethed.

“I told you not to go alone,” she clarified, “but I guess your point still stands.”

“Thank you,” he said sarcastically. “I watched you and your friends hold off an undead army just here earlier, another truly noble venture I’m sure — “

“We were trying to help lift the curse—“ she stood.

But Rolan’s ire was truly raised and he trampled over her words without acknowledging them. “You cannot truly be this stupid,” he spat, “you know what lurks in this land, what could possibly be so important you need to jump into the accursed lake?” Despite himself he found himself saying, “another hero’s errand, no doubt, the long lost heirloom of a poor, pathetic creature that will simper and whine your praises.”

Tav looked like she might hit him. Instead she grabbed her discarded clothes and started to walk away.

“You’re welcome,” he called after her.

“I already said thank you,” she turned to snarl at him, a spark of lightning curling off of her in her anger. “Would you like me to stay so you can yell at me more or can I go? Will that make you feel better? Will it bring Cal and Lia back?”

Rolan was charging forward before he could stop himself. “They are only gone because you can’t keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

Tav’s angry expression faltered, something he couldn’t quite parse flashed over her face. “Rolan -“ she started and then sighed, shoulders slinking into a hunch.

For the first time he noticed that she looked tired. The kind of tiredness that not even a good night's rest would fix. Bone -deep, mental and physical exhaustion written in the bags under her eyes, the downturn of her mouth. His stomach dropped, his jaw clenched and a new anger flared in him.

Prick, idiot bastard is what you are, Rolan, the thoughts set off in his mind, taking the flashing of rage with them. Can’t save the only family you have, and you kick the one person who can while they’re down. Useless. Idiot.

“Tav? Darling, are you alright?”

Both of them turned to find Astarion, accompanied by Gale who had a suspecting frown on his face. “By the stars, Tav, you’re soaked,” the other wizard said, coming forward, removing the cloaked cape he had and wrapping it around her shoulders.

“And quite underdressed,” Astarion quirked an eyebrow, “not taking advantage were you, little wizard?”

Rolan had hardly thought about her state of undress. Had purely been driven by whatever it was that made him run up when he saw her dunking into the lake. The worst case scenario had crossed his mind, she had fallen to the curse and it was pulling her under. It very nearly did.

Now he was very aware of it. Embarrassment and pure concentration to not look at her legs which were still bare kept him from saying anything in response.

“Rolan helped me, I fell into the lake.”

“You jumped into it,” he found himself saying.

“Why on earth would you do that?” Gale scolded.

“My pearl!” She held it up. “Chain must have broken earlier.”

Gale hummed thoughtfully, eyes slinking towards Rolan, then to Tav. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I believe another bath is in order.”

“Probably best,” Tav sighed, pulling some grime out of her hair. “Goodnight, Rolan.”

Rolan said nothing in return as Gale walked with her back to the shore, his eyes flicked up to the elf waiting for them. Astarion and him never spoke much, he was around and had a smart remark to provide at someone’s expense but they had rarely ever spoken.

There was something unsettling about the elf as he peered at Rolan while he waited for his companions to make their way. A stillness of his body that was unnatural, a look in his eyes that was half warning and half challenge. A predator, guarding its territory that almost immediately softened once Tav and Gale were next to him and they began their walk back to the inn.

Rolan rubbed his hands over his face, and made his way back to the inn. He needed a drink.

Tav had smiled sheepishly at Jaheira after requesting another tub of water. Gale and Astarion had slipped away after whisking her away from Rolan, and now that she was alone she found herself truly feeling exhausted. She bathed and went back to camp, found a chain from the endless piles of jewelry she had hoarded to sell for camp funds and slipped her pearl pendant back on.

The weight of it on her chest was comfortable, a sense of normalcy in a place that was far beyond her everyday life.

Tav played with the pendant as she laid in her bedroll, despite the tiredness her mind was reeling.

Rolan had been so angry with her. When they had rid the path of the goblins and held their little party she had comforted herself in knowing that the two of them parted on friendly terms. Her encouragement of his siblings to stay and help their kin had paid off, and she had spent a good chunk of the night talking with them.

The last time she saw him he was full of laughter, showing off his prowess which landed him a position as an apprentice with a well-renowned wizard.

Her mind played over their interactions. His drunken fury after Cal and Lia were taken, his resigned anger after they saved him from the cursed wraiths near moonrise - he was always so angry with her.

Perhaps he had a right to be. They had rid the path of the goblin threat and sent them straight into a horror beyond imagining. All her talk of doing the right thing, helping who you could and ‘playing hero’ as he put it was for nothing.

Laying in the dark with her eyes wide open became too much and she got up from the bedroll. She could grab some wine from their wares and head inside, not wanting to take anymore of the Last Light’s limited supplies.

“And where are you off to?” Shadowheart asked. They technically did not need a watch shift due to the Harper’s having their own but it was routine now.

“Need a drink,” Tav said. “I’ll be back.”

“No more dips in the cursed lake, if you please,” Shadowheart called after her.

Tav waved her off and headed inside. The Last Light was always somewhat active. Everyone’s sense of night and day was off kilter, at least one shift of Harper’s and the Fists were milling about at any given time. Healers were needed at all hours for returning scouting parties, and the bar with its meager offerings always had someone behind it.

She sat close enough to keep an eye on the children behind the bar, and look out at the space. There was still damage from the attempted kidnapping of Isobel, winged horror guts and blood stained the walls. Tav uncorked the wine in her hand and took a swig.

“You’re cut off for the night!” Umi said, head barely coming above the line of the bar with his hand pointing upward.

“I’ve had one glass, you little brat!”

Tav’s eyes slid towards the tiefling at the bar, robes still a little wet from fishing her out of the lake, and wearing his typical grumpy frown. At least he did not seem belligerent and the irritation in his voice held no bite for the child. Not like it had for her earlier.

“Give him a glass of mine,” Tav held out her own bottle. “He earned it.”

Rolan’s head snapped up and she immediately regretted speaking. It was meant to be a last ditch effort for a truce, but the way his face curled into snarl made her want to shrivel up and die.

“I don’t need any more charity from you,” he snapped.

Her heart dropped, her face got hot and she took a deep breath. Turning on her barstool, she leaned her back against the bar. She never could win with him. She wanted to apologize, she had been out of line by bringing up his siblings before. He had started it, but she was not too proud to own up to her own part in it.

It was clear he wanted nothing to do with her, so she turned her back to save him having to even look at her. She took a long swig of the wine, it was cheap and bitter, but it was what they had.

The scrape of wood made her look over. Rolan had sat in a stool on her side of the bar, not right next to her, an empty seat between them. He faced the bar, not looking at her as he held a tin cup out towards her. Tav leaned over to share some of her wine.

He was quiet, and that was better than yelling. And watching the activity in the inn was better than staring up from her bedroll all night. It would have to do.

“No chaperones with you this time?”

“They went off to… “ Tav trailed off, she didn’t know what Gale and Astarion were doing. Just that they slipped away as they had been doing more often lately. “Well, it’s not our business what they went off to do.”

Another stretch of silence. Tav played with her necklace in between sips from the bottle. They had to make their way to moonrise again tomorrow, finally entering the belly of the beast to figure out if they could free any prisoners and find a heading towards finishing all of this.

“What’s so special about it?”

“Hm?” She turned to Rolan.

His eyes flicked up from where he was watching her toy with her necklace. “The pearl.”

“Oh,” she said dumbly. “It’s a pearl of power.” She looked down at it, “an heirloom. Passed down from my father.” Her thoughts trailed off again, “when I thought I’d lost it…” she shook her head.

There was no world in which she imagined he wanted to know about her or her family. This was a truce, and he was being more gracious than she expected. She thought she may as well keep it as neutral as possible to prevent an argument.

Rolan was quiet again. For a long time neither of them spoke, at one point she heard the clack of tin on the wood and found he had put his cup out again. She poured him some more wine, and she felt at least relieved he was not unwilling to sit with her. Albeit quietly and only with her offering him wine, but it was something.

They sat quietly until the bottle was done. Tav felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. She thought she may finally be able to sleep if she laid down. Her heart still felt full of the weight of guilt, her body weak as if it knew only more horror awaited her the next day. But she didn’t get to rest more than one night, the chain of events of her life recently had made that very clear.

There was a lot she had to make up for, and a storm to weather before she could find harbor.

“If Cal and Lia are alive in Moonrise, I’ll bring them back,” she said, not having the courage to look at him. “I promise.”

She felt him staring at her but she still couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. Guilt weighed too heavily on her, the weight of the journey ahead looming over her in the face of yet another promise she was not sure she could keep.

Bidding him goodnight, which was met by silence, she walked away from the bar.

Tav had left with a small group to head to Moonrise, leaving behind the Archdruid who was dead set upon helping out around the inn. This encouraged others to pitch in, Dammon was lending strength to fixing up the broken railings and doors at the inn. Rolan made himself useful, he had magic to spare and nothing else to do.

He employed two mage hands to help lift a beam of wood to repair one of the holes that had been created by winged horrors dropping through during the attack. Isobel chanted out on the balcony, while he and Guex worked. Tav had been in the room when it happened, he thought to himself, always in the right place at the right time.

Except by the lake. Even now he had no idea what possessed her to strip out of armor to get inside waters full of bodies in a place which undead walked so freely. In his mind’s eye he could see her bare legs, and though at the time he had not thought about her state of undress now he found himself trying to piece together any snippets in his subconscious of what the rest of her had looked like.

“Rolan,” Guex called. “Bit higher, mate.”

“Sorry.” He said, the mage hands lifting the wood up.

His mind kept drifting to her. The way she played with the pearl she had so desperately been trying to find. Her laughter as it carried over the sounds of the crowd from her camp. More annoyingly the glimpse of her legs he had gotten just a couple nights ago. She was pretty, objectively, he had noticed immediately, but he wasn’t a naive boy so easily distracted by a pretty face.

The storm behind her eyes as she had gone toe to toe with him at the lake seemed to haunt him. what she said had hurt, yes, but he was a little distracted by the vision of her soaking wet and looking at him with so much feeling.

“Rolan, if you need a break just say so,” Guex said.

��No,” he growled, shaking his head, “no, I’m fine.”

He was a wizard. He could control his own mind. He focused on the weave, the sensation of it taking shape into the mage hands before him. Rolan made it a point to close the door on any further thought of her while he went about his business.

Until the second day with no word from any of the party that had ventured into Moonrise. He had even gone as far to venture into their camp, where the remaining four of her companions were sitting around the fire.

“Rolan,” Wyll greeted him warmly. “How are you?”

The Blade of the Frontier was an invaluable asset during their time on the road into the grove. Rolan liked him, although he preferred him when he wasn’t doing his folk hero act.

“I’d rather not say,” he said. “I didn’t come here to dampen your mood.”

“Have the Harpers seen any sign of our companions returning?” Halsin asked.

“Not yet,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. Your tadpoles, they can transmit to each other can’t they?”

“There’s quite a distance between here and Moonrise,” the half-elf Shadowheart said. “I’m not sure our tadpoles can connect to each other so far.”

“Unlikely,” the Githyanki grumbled. “Attempting to do so is an unnecessary risk.”

“How?” Rolan asked.

“The ghaik tadpole could reach anyone, and give away our location.” She explained, haughty as if he was an imbecile for not realizing it.

“If anyone can get your siblings out of Moonrise, it’s Tav,” Wyll said, making eye contact with him.

“If they’re even alive.”

“Take your self-pity elsewhere,” Lae’zel replied. “You chose to save the offspring.”

“Should I have let them get taken?”

“No.”

A strange pause happened, Lae’zel expressionlessly staring directly at him .

“I think,” Shadowheart said, “what Lae’zel means is you made the right choice. Your brother and sister would have done the same.”

The only confirmation was a single nod from Lae’zel. “Your offspring are weak. Untrained. In order to maintain the continuation of your species you must protect them.”

“That’s her version of a compliment,” Wyll clapped him on the shoulder.

“Chk.”

Shadowheart laughed softly, and Wyll stifled a smile. “Join us,” he offered, “we have plenty of room by the fire.”

On the third day, Rolan was at the bar. Not drinking, well, not drinking as much. He liked to sit around with Umi and Ide, it felt sometimes like watching them play a game of pretend. Acting like grown up barkeeps, as if they’d been running the Last Light for more years than they’d even been alive. Everyone was willing to play along, and Rolan found himself playing the part of the grumpy regular.

“Hey arsehole!”

Rolan’s hackles went up at the sound of Lia’s taunt. Prepared to be annoyed at his sister — until he realized that it was Lia. A rush of relief spread through him so thoroughly that it made him shudder as he looked over.

“Oh, thank the gods.”

Lia was beaming, and behind her Cal had a goofy grin. They were there, in front of him. Alive and whole as far as he could tell, no trick of the curse making them strange and hollow. Just as quickly as relief came over him, anger flared. Nights and nights of constant worry not even dulled by multiple bottles of wine.

“Is that all you have to say, to me? Did you enjoy yourselves while I battled that wretched darkness? What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry, we got captured by murderous lunatics.” Lia was just as ready to fight.

“I thought you were dead, you ass,” Rolan seethed. “Both of you!”

“We’re all safe, Rolan,” Cal finally said, trying to keep the peace as always. “That’s what matters.”

“Good thing you’re back!” Ide shouted from behind the bar. “He’s been drinking about it for a week straight!”

“I was just…”

Worried sick, grappling with the thought that I nearly lost the only family I had, rendered helpless and faced with my own failings.

“Overwhelmed.” He settled on. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sorry,” Lia folded first. “We should have been here.”

And how would they have done that? It wasn’t their fault they were captured.

“No - no,” Rolan winced. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have shouted. I’m sorry.”

Lia came up to hug him then. They were never very affectionate physically. Even when he had moved into their home he had shared a bed with Cal, Lia always teased them for the way they had to struggle for space as Cal grew stocky and Rolan grew ever more lanky.

But this was a comfort, to hold his little sister in his arms. Safe, and whole. Not even his pride could overpower the gratitude he felt to have them back, and as Cal’s bulky arms wrapped around them both in a steel tight hug he had to laugh.

“We thought the curse got you,” Cal said. “When Tav told us you were alive —“ his brother’s voice cracked and the rest of the sentence died.

Tav. He opened his eyes, half expecting to find her and her crew watching on as she seemed to be in every major upheaval of his life lately. But the only new faces were some deep gnomes, and a few other tieflings from their caravan from Elturel.

“Where is she?”

“Who?” Lia asked, rubbing Cal’s back as he tried to maintain his composure.

“Tav.”

“They needed to save face in Moonrise. Her and her friends had a big fight with the warden as a distraction while we got out.” Lia replied. “Apparently they’re posing as cultists.” His sister’s eyes narrowed, “why?”

“I — “ he started. “I owe her an apology. And thanks.” He cleared his throat, “but that can wait. I have a room upstairs and there’s baths, you two reek.”

“You’re such an arsehole.” Lia grinned.

“I’m starved,” Cal groaned, the only evidence that he was crying were some trails in the muck that coated his face. “They have food here?”

“We do!” Umi called. “But it'll cost you!”

The light of the inn was in sight. It had been a rough couple of days, but they had found their next heading. Tav was ready to debrief Jaheira, take a bath and sleep.

“The inn will be bursting now,” Gale said, “with the deep gnomes and the tieflings.”

“I hope they all made it okay,” Karlach said. “They’ve been through enough.”

“More than enough,” Tav agreed. “We will check in on them. Add that to the list.”

“Noted,” Gale tapped his temple.

As they passed through the barrier of light around the inn a weight lifted off of them. Traveling through the cursed lands was always exhausting, it was a suffocating darkness that covered the land and something always felt like it was lurking nearby.

After discussing with Jaheira and the rest of the camp, Tav took some time to check in with the rescued deep gnomes and tieflings. Barcus had bounded up to her before she could even take a mental count of who was present, dragging her over to Wulbren Bongle.

The leader of the Ironhands brushed both her and Barcus off, as if the former hadn’t just broken him out of a prison and the latter hadn’t begged so earnestly for her to do so. If she was not so tired she may have made a comment about it, but Barcus looked mortified and Tav didn’t have the energy.

As she moved on, she nodded to Lakrissa who was glued to Alfira’s side at the bar. There was no sign of Bex and Dannis, but she could only imagine their reunion was something they wanted to have in private. She saw the back of Cal’s head at the bar, heard Lia’s loud laugh and approached to find Rolan with them, leaning over the bar.

The two she had saved seemed better than she had found them. Clean, smiling and animated. Rolan’s shoulders were still an even line, but they seemed to have dropped a few inches, no longer settled up to his ears in tension.

“It’s you!” Lia grinned.

“I’m glad you lot made it back alright,” Tav smiled. “He’s been a pain in the ass.”

“Yeah,” Cal grinned. “But he’s our pain in the ass. Thanks for dealing with him while we were gone, we’ve got it from here.”

Tav just nodded. Rolan was staring at her, but she could not decipher his look. She awkwardly shifted and then said, “well, I was just checking in. I’ll leave you to it.”

“Wait,” Cal turned. “Thank you - for saving me. And the two idiots. I never thought I’d see them again.”

“It was nothing,” she shrugged.

“That black eye you're sporting says otherwise,” Lia said seriously. “I saw those hits you took. It wasn’t ‘nothing’. I’m not the best at showing it, but I love Rolan and Cal to death. They’re family - thanks for bringing us back together.”

Tav felt suddenly uncomfortable with the praise. Rolan had suggested before he thought she got off on playing the hero. His siblings' thanks felt like it would only prove his point further.

She just smiled, “I’m just glad you three are together again.” Clearing her throat, “I ought to check on my camp.”

Rolan stood suddenly as she turned, “Tav.” She waited, half expecting another comment about her heroics. “I’ve lashed out at you. Drunkenly and otherwise, and you helped anyway. You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry. And thank you.”

With a nod she took off for a bath. She checked in on camp, hearing any intel and updates she needed from those left behind. Everyone quickly began discussing strategies and next steps, they needed to find their way to this Balthazar and find Ketheric Thorm’s weakness. There was also the matter of finding Art Cullagh’s lute, seeing if they could find any hint that Arabella’s parents were alive and figure out how to finally put this curse to rest.

Even after a victory there was still so much left to do.

She slipped away to sit on the outcrop of stone by the lake again. Everyone at camp meant the world to her, but every once in a while she needed her space. It was dark and creepy, but if she closed her eyes she could hone in on the lap of the water against the rock. A soothing sound.

“Not thinking of taking a swim, are you?”

Tav jumped, and turned. Rolan stood not far off, a bottle in his hands and to her surprise a small smile on his face.

“Gods, you scared me,” she placed a hand over her heart. “I wasn’t expecting —“ she cut herself off. She wasn’t expecting anyone, let alone him and smiling no less.

“I’ve got a bottle of Arabellan dry, if you’re up for it.” He walked up and sat down next to her, showing her the bottle.

Tav considered him for a moment. “Is it poisoned?”

“Very funny.” He said sarcastically. “I would not waste poison in a wine such as this.”

“And where did you find it?” She looked at the bottle.

“I stole it from the cellar, the last bottle,” he said, popping the cork. “I brought cups, but I know pulling straight from the bottle is more your style.”

“I’ll try a cup,” she hummed.

He poured them each a cup, and held his up to clink against hers before the first sip. Rolan hummed in pleasure. “Gods, that’s so good.”

“It is,” Tav agreed. The flavor bloomed on her tongue, smooth and without the bite of the cheap stuff she had been drinking of late. “What’s the occasion?”

“An apology. A proper one,” He muttered. “You went out of your way to help us, it’s only right you get something in return.”

“You don’t have to —“

“You were right,” he said before she could finish. “I wasn’t really angry with you. I was angry with myself. Angry at the gods awful hands we’ve been dealt on this journey.”

“It’s alright if you were a little angry with me,” she admitted sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have used Cal and Lia against you.”

“That was rather wretched of you.”

“It was,” she agreed. “But I think I more than made up for it.” She was teasing, testing the waters in this new peace they had found.

“I thanked you once already,” he said haughty tone overdone and just as playful, “don’t be greedy.”

Something about the tone, about the smile on his face and the words themselves spurred her imagination into overdrive. Him above her, wrenching an orgasm from her only for her to ask for more. Don’t be greedy, she imagined him saying it again, condescending and admonishing. A truly mortifying high pitched giggle escaped her. She took a gulp of wine, her body hot and shocked at the instantaneous reaction.

She was very glad he did not have a tadpole.

A silence stretched between them that made her itch, he did not seem to mind but she felt like she would start to fidget if she didn’t say something. Luckily, he spoke while she floundered for something to say.

“I never asked, are you alright?”

She did have a black eye and possibly a concussion. She had left camp before Shadowheart could offer some healing. “Bumps and bruises,” she said casually. “Occupational hazards, nothing to worry about.”

“Hm,” he huffed. “That’s what you get for being a meddlesome hero. But I shan’t say more, you’ve done too much for me lately.”

“Karlach, Astarion and Gale were there too, you know,” she said.

“Yes, well, I won’t be sharing my favorite wine with them,” he said stiffly.

“Oh, and what makes me so special?”

He took a drink of wine, looking into his cup. “You are — “ he started, “particularly infuriating.”

“I’m special because I’m infuriating?”

He grimaced. “Yes.”

“You don’t make a bit of sense,” Tav laughed in disbelief.

“I make perfect sense,” he said haughtily. “You’re the one jumping into cursed lakes. Or risking your life for someone who has never been particularly nice to you.” He drank the last of his cup, pouring another as he added, “top up?”

She offered her cup for him to fill. “I told you why I jumped in the lake. A precious family heirloom was at the bottom.”

“And the gallant rescuing?”

Tav frowned, taking a drink. “I don’t know. I just… if I can help, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”

Rolan didn’t seem to find that worth responding to. The silence stretched on again. He cleared his throat and held out his hand. For a moment she thought he was asking her to hold it, and she felt a strange tingle throughout her body. On his pointer finger was a ring, old and a bit scratched up, but with some kind of inscription in a language she couldn’t read on the flat surface.

“This was Cal and Lia’s grandfather’s ring.” He said looking at it. “Their mother gave it to me when I came to stay with them for good. It’s not enchanted, nor is it worth much but it — it’s proof. We’re a family, bound by something stronger than blood.”

That sunk in slowly for Tav as she pieced it together. She had questions: if Cal and Lia were not his biological siblings what happened to his parents? How long ago had he been one of their own? These felt invasive, and they had been getting along so she chose not to voice them; happy to have been trusted with a small tidbit of his past.

Delicately her fingers came out to run over the inscription. As she did her fingers brushed over his, and perhaps it was the wine, but she grabbed his hand to bring it closer to her face. The writing was maybe infernal, with some sort of emblem.

“What does it say?”

Rolan didn’t respond.

Tav looked at him, finding him very intensely focused on her. She dropped his hand, “sorry, I shouldn’t —“

“It’s fine,” he replied tersely.

An awkward silence filled the gap and she kicked herself internally.

Rolan cleared his throat. “It’s his title and rank, he was a Hellrider.” He pointed it out on the ring and she ran her eyes over it. “The Hellriders protected their lodges with wards, and could only be accessed with ward tokens. This was his.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Elturel?”

“Yes.”

“We had nothing there, even before it fell,” he said.

Tav nodded her head. “So, Baldur’s Gate was always in the plan?”

“An apprenticeship, regardless of where it was, that’s what I was after.”

“Gale says Lorroakan is a well-renowned wizard,” she left out the part where her friend called him a ‘cad.’ They were talking and getting along and she didn’t want to ruin it. “You must be excited.”

“When I get to the gates I'll be excited,” he sighed. “The journey so far has been one disaster after another.”

“We’ll get you there, Rolan.”

He looked at her for a long while. “Another promise, little hero?”

“I know how much you love when I’m gallant,” she smiled.

“That’s the problem with you,” he pointed at her with a smile playing on his lips. “I believe you. I believe you will get me there.”

Tav wasn’t sure what to say. Her face warm and her smile wide as she felt the need to look away from him. She drank the rest of her wine.

“So,” he said, “what’s the promise this time, Tav?”

“Rolan,” she began, “I promise that when we get to Baldur’s Gate, I’ll buy you a new bottle of Arabellan Dry. since you so generously shared yours with me even though I saved your ass from the Shadow Curse. It was rude of me to come to your rescue, and you’re being just so gracious about it.”

He laughed a rich deep sound that made her heart flutter, and the rest of the night her only goal was to get him to laugh again.

Part 2 will be out very soon! Thank you for reading 💜

[colourstreakgryffin]

Hi! I don't know if you write for Haganezuka, but can I request for Haganezuka being big tsundere (but a big simp) for hashira! s/o? I love pining. Tsundere + pining = muah 👍

If not, then maybe headcanons about Rengoku having a crush on s/o is fine too!

Naaah. I can totally do Haganezuka, I have never written for him before but once again, his personality is very easy to pinpoint down!

Hotaru Haganezuka- I Don’t Like You

Hotaru will never admit that he likes you! He just ignores you and goes back to working on his beloved weaponry masterpieces but you run marathons in his head, and it’s driving him mad

Hotaru hides his affections for you behind a metaphorical mask and a physical mask. Nobody will ever know he is the one sending you all those presents and is the one sending you the most refined katanas you’ve ever seen

Hotaru is actually a huge simp for you, his rescuer. He simply loves to watch you battle from behind his mask and he can’t help but draw you on his spare time. He is madly in love but the only person who knows this is himself

Hotaru always fakes that he doesn’t care about you when you approach him and back pedals a lot anytime you manage to trick him into saying that he missed you or was worried about you. He can’t express his love for you, he doesn’t deserve somebody so angelic like you

Hotaru grumbled furiously as he whipped his head to the right with wondering eyes, thank goodness that his signature mask hid every inch of his face and you couldn’t detect his flustered cheeks. You flashed a soft smile at the tall stubborn swordsmith, causing him to internally explode in blush and grip onto the built katana in his calloused palms. As your personal swordsmith, Hotaru was required to fix your katana after your gruelling battle with a Upper Moon

With anybody else, Hotaru would have sent outraged death threats letters to them and proclaim he will never create another katana he poured his blood, sweat and tears into but with you and your situation, he silently produces a perfect recreation of your weapon and personally travelled from his mystery village to deliver his hardwork to you on his own two feet. When he rose the blade to sheathe it, he had pressed a gentle kiss on the metal as a good luck sign. Something like a charm in his head that’ll help you when you use it in battle

“Awww~! You’re so sweet, Haganezuka” You purr gently and excitedly, raising a hand up to pick out your brand new belt weaponry from the hyper-aggressive swordsmith. From behind the ceramic material as he readjusted his flashy sunhat, Hotaru traced his lovestruck eyes over you and your bouncing frame. You’re so eager and joyous to meet him once again and it enabled his intense crush on you. In that moment, Hotaru realised he was letting his feelings bleed out with the way he remained silent

Covering himself up as fast as he possibly could in fear he would ruin his entire image, Hotaru barks harshly at you in response to your gratitude and decides to bring his front of his face mask to face you. “Ugh. Shut up. It’s not for you! It’s my job and my lifeblood to produce the greatest katanas so don’t let that stupid little brain think you’re special or something!” You gently giggled in response to his smoothly-lacing cruelty, the glimmer of your uniform’s golden buttons reflected off the sunlight and seemingly made your beautiful expression shine even more as Hotaru felt his cheeks burn up more intensely now

“Oooh, okay~! I suppose I should say that you truly create the best katanas in Japan~!”

[secret-smut-sideblog]

Please Be Rude

short and indulgent introduction to my rook and lucanis' dynamic. written pre-release so forgive ooc or contradictions

PG-13 - implied self-harm, mage killer tension, chronic pain, jealousy, rivalry, ANGST

-

"Slow down..." The detective raised her hands, narrowed eyes fixed on his dagger. "We're here to help, Crow."

She could be taken care of, too, if need be. The mage in front of him was his first priority. Blade pressed to her throat.

The air was coiled with magic. It crackled around her, rolling off her in a twitching miasma. Topaz yellow eyes set in dark sclera, animal and locked on him. Her arms did not raise, no panicked shuffle backward. Only the slightest twist of her head, a slow fluid movement.

Something was deeply wrong with her, the type he was trained to put down. And yet, his blade held. Staring up at her, transfixed. There was something terribly hypnotic about her, beauty arrested between fear and awe.

She held his gaze, her pupils tight pinpoints. Breath even against metal. Just the slightest extension of her neck in invitation was enough to break the spell.

He stepped back, swiftly stowing his dagger. Shoulders tight and breath strained.

What just happened?

Spite was over the moon with this development. Nearly bouncing in malicious excitement.

'Let me talk to her. I want to talk to that one!'

Lucanis shook his head, resting his hand on the hilt of his dagger. Eyes still narrowed on this dangerous stranger.

Spite growled in frustration, edging toward her regardless.

Haunting eyes slid to the demon's proximity as her pupils widened out into saucers. Not quite focused on his face but slowly scanning the place where he stood.

Even Spite froze. How strange the mockery of his form looked next to her. Only then did Lucanis really take her in and felt an involuntary jolt of his heart.

Long legs and wide hips that led into the dip of a waist. Full spiraled hair that fell to the small of her back, a fascinating rose gold. A regal face with pouted lips, an aquiline nose, and high cheekbones. Eyes slanted and mysterious as a hawk, the amber of them nearly glowed in the low light.

Angular pointed ears gouged with holes. A fractal scar struck at her temple and scattered through her cheek and jaw. A winding rope of a burn scar circled her swan neck.

Empathy struck him at her state. Elves didn't lead easy lives.

"You have someone with you." Her voice finally rose. Calm as a summer lake, and lilted as a loons lone call with a Navarran accent.

Her eyes settled on him again in curiosity.

Nevarra. He eyed the medical utility of her mage armor.

It suddenly all made sense. A Mortalisi.

His grip loosened on his blade.

"It's complicated." He offered.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" He held her in suspicion again. Though, curiosity overrode that more than he would care to admit.

"Caterina sent me."

Caterina?

He sized her up again.

The stillness she stood with was uncanny. A statue only broken by the slightest flexing in her long fingers. He was trained to know intentions just in the way a person stood. He was getting nothing from her.

It was plausible.

"You're not a Crow."

"And you're not human." She stated, a neutral blunt.

A smile nearly cracked his face. It didn't slip him that she hadn't offered her name yet.

"We need a mage-killer." The lilting of her voice was so melodic it bordered on a lullaby.

"I can still work." He assured.

She nodded and turned, done with their conversation. Apparently, the matter was settled.

A fondness rose in his chest, and he quickly stamped it down. He took up the stride of her walk.

"They have my blood, and a contract unfulfilled on my end."

Her step didn't falter.

"We'll settle it."

That fondness reared again.

"Excellent."

-

It had been three nights now at the Lighthouse, and he hadn't seen her.

It settled an anxiety in his gut that wouldn't stop gnawing. Everyone else was accounted for, but his new companion was a shadow he only saw maddening hints of.

She would make an excellent Crow, but she wasn't one. So, the behavior set alarm bells off in his system. Was she avoiding the others?

Quieter, in the back of his mind.

Was she avoiding him?

He shook his head. There was validity to that thought, but her reasons ultimately didn't matter. She was an invisible outlier that must be accounted for.

So that night, in the late of the witching hours, he set out to find her.

Spite jovially trotted at his side, reveling in the absurdity of his hunt.

'Looking for our terrifying beauty, are we?'

Lucanis ignored him, and the hackle raised at his possessive word choice. Ducking his head around doorways, step silent in the dark.

His stride took him up the winding staircase that led to a library. A further circular wing extended to his left.

Once the whole wing was searched, and he was preparing to rise to the next floor, a scent lifted in the air.

He paused, breathing it in. The unmistakable smell of petrichor. Impossible in this setting. There was no rain in the Fade.

His fingers probed along the wall. A seam hidden in wood. Searching further, he found a latch. A small door popped open.

'Oooh, secrets, secrets!' Spite cackled.

The door opened to a dark wooden staircase, risen up high beyond his vision. Rickety and heavy with newly disturbed dust.

He took the stairs, climbing higher and higher into an attic crawlspace. Eyes cresting over the edge of the warped wooden floor.

It was very dark, but the scent was heavy here. More defined. A bouquet of rain, ozone, a hint of sea salt, and something more. Lavender?

The calm of the heady aroma nearly unfocused him, but he finally found his target.

A long form was curled in a corner. The low spectral light from a crescent window fell in slants across her.

She was turned into the wall, laying on her side. Her bicep was the only pillow for her head, no blanket over or bedroll under.

He studied her in confusion, then familiarity. He could recognize the feign of sleep in her even deep breathing. Still facing the wall, but with eyes he knew were open. Waiting for him to make a move. Both held in charged silence.

Familiarity slid to regret. Well, not regret, he needed to find her. Remorse was closer.

How he knew the act of folding yourself so small you could fit into a crevice. Only safe tucked into the cracks.

He had only just learned her name through some digging, her true name beyond the title of Rook. Rassou. A name he had repeated quietly to himself, enjoying the way it hissed and rolled over his tongue. A secret he inexplicably couldn't resist coveting.

Would she respond to it now if he whispered it?

But that was far too intimate. Too much for him and for this figure hiding in a cold attic.

He stepped forward, and she curled tighter into herself. Legs tucked into her chest, breath stilled.

He paused. Sorrow tight in his chest.

He wanted to...

What did he want?

I don't want to hurt you.

A dangerous feeling. Only the surface of a rippling well of emotion that he refused to stare into.

His jaw clenched.

He removed his overcoat as he stepped closer. Her eyes remained on the wall. Draping it over her, he retreated silently back downstairs.

-

She rubbed her cursed hands on her knees to no avail. The tingling pain cramped the muscles stiff, and no amount of coaxing would recede it.

A lifetime forced her to know this. But desperation was not a sensible thing.

"Come on, not now. Not here." She hissed, closing her eyes tight to the torrent rising behind her breast bone. Frustration was a very effective catalyst. One she couldn't afford to indulge.

Trained deep breaths filled her lungs, released through pursed lips.

One... two... three...

Focused slow. Body slow, breath slow.

As long as she was quiet.

Four... five... six...

It will pass.

As long as she was still.

Eight... nine... ten.

They would be safe with her.

She was in control.

"Okay..." She hushed as her eyes slowly opened.

Stolen sleep was not the end of her tether. It never had been. She was stronger than her body, no matter how it tormented her.

But the pain had never abided being ignored. Pain spoke, but it could not listen. Lightning flashed deep in her veins, and it would never heed to her exhausted requests to just stop. Sleep would be held above her reach until it was expelled.

The easiest release was to call a storm. Rising her arms to the heavens to strike from deep in her marrow. A tempest struck from the core of her person.

But this was the Fade. The upper atmosphere was something she wasn't confident in testing.

Option two was a royal elfroot balm. She used to soak up to her forearms in the salve until she was numbed from the elbow down. But she had run out weeks ago, scraping the corners of the tin she had stretched far past its end.

Option three...

They already gave her neck stares. And her thighs were fully wound in scars. Maybe her ankles could take the burned flesh, but it would be excruciating to chafe on her boots. There would be questions.

She sighed, rising to feet. Striding quiet up stone.

A tucked away corner of a stairwell had become her new home. Colder than the crawlspace, but she had slept in worse. She considered keeping up a rotation to avoid further discovery, but there was too much pain to consider anything right now.

There had to be herbs stockpiled somewhere in this sprawling place. The pantry was a good bet.

Except... the Crow tended to haunt the kitchen.

She had returned his overcoat immediately. Leaving it neatly folded on a chair near the cabinets. Of all of them, he should have the sense to stay away. It was hard enough to dodge Bellara's offers of comradery. The girl seemed fixated on winning her over.

Listening at the door for far too long, her hands started to seize again. With a silent huff, she edged her way in.

Searching shelves in the dark with unwilling limbs, she gave rare thanks to her ancestry. Elves had uncanny vision in low light and with eyes that reflected like a predator in the dark. Her inhuman eyes had been accused of stalking villages in the night during her travels.

Good. They should be afraid of her.

"Those are organized by spice group."

Her hand seized, knocking a jar to shatter on the floor.

Lucanis stepped forward from the wall he had been silently leaned on. She stepped back into the opposite wall. Pressing her back flat against stone.

"Easy..." He soothed, hands stretched open in assurance. Taking another step forward.

Her hands clenched shut hard at her sides, and the pain intensified so high it brought tears to her eyes. Doubled over into her forearms, a whimper of pain caught pathetically in her throat. Heart a kicking, cornered animal.

His shoes quickly filled her vision.

Thunder rolled in her chest.

Her ears popped as the air pulled.

Lucanis paused his hands above her. The change in the atmosphere palpable.

"No..." She whispered.

I don't want to hurt you.

Run.

"Shut up!" Lucanis hissed over his shoulder.

The spirit.

Her eyes raised.

It had been so long, she had nearly forgotten. There was a fourth option.

Rassou raised her shaking hand above her head, holding her palm as flat as she could manage. Breathing shallow through a building scream.

"What are you doing?... Don't -"

But a terrible warm met her palm eagerly, interlocking over her knuckles.

An exhausted smile split her face. She released.

A burst of lightning shot from her. Tension melted in the limb like sugar on a tongue, her head lolled forward.

The mirrored form of Lucanis lit for a brief moment in front of her, made manifest in electrocution, as the real Lucanis looked on.

"Again?" She smiled, raising her other hand as her body released from its tight curve. It was immediately taken by the same fervent heat.

She sent another torrent of shock, more intense this time, pulled from deep in her chest. The near constant knot between her shoulders unwound. A small moan of relief left her.

A sigh exhaled from deep in her belly. The heat nearly vibrated with demand. Again.

"Okay, last one for tonight." She planted her feet and pulled from the base of her spine. It arced out in near ecstasy, fluttering her eyes up into lids. Her lower back unfurled, and the muscles in her hips almost gave out. All the tight in her body unwound as a tapestry fast pulled by a thread.

She fell back against the wall loose and stretched, experiencing the transcendent relief only found after the quell of a great pain. Breathing in full pulls of her diaphragm.

"Thank you." Hushed from her lips.

Ducking back out of the door, she rubbed her trembling hands. Massaging her thumbs into her palms, working out the deep ache that still lingered.

-

"What are you reading?"

She looked up from her curl in a nook of the library, always hidden away in some tight corner. It was shameful how often he found himself unconsciously searching for her lately, a one-sided game of hide and seek.

Topaz eyes stayed stony on him, staring him down. Looking at him through tendrils of softly pink tinted spirals, fallen loose from the full golden bundle on the top of her head.

He had never seen someone who looked quite like her before.

There was a long moment of silence that he tried not to squirm through. Intent on showing his intrusion was friendly, leaning against a shelf as a token of vulnerability.

It had not gotten past him that she was on closer terms with his demon. In fact, it had been tormenting him. The actual gloating from Spite didn't help one bit.

'She likes me! Hah! I helped her AND touched her soft skin, and you haven't! When you walk in, she looks for me first!'

It was made worse in the truth of it. Spite would bound over to her like a gleeful imp, and she would turn and give a little smile to the aura of her invisible pet. Greeting him in a soft voice.

"Hello Kakό."

He eventually worked out a translation from a book on Nevarran language he had scrounged from a dusty shelf.

Mischief.

The first time he saw her smile was looking at Spite. Her Mischief.

He tried to stamp down the sickening coil of jealousy in his stomach. Not backing down from her maintained stare for a moment.

She finally held up the book, the cover revealed to him, then set in back on the crest of her knees. Eyes fallen back on the page.

He had barely taken in the cover, some historical tome he was unfamiliar with.

"What's it about?"

She looked up at him again, somewhat incredulous through a blank stare. Sizing him up after a moment with her eyes.

He had pursued targets since he could work. He knew how to feed into someone's benefit of the doubt. How to soothe and coaxe, to slip into the hairline cracks of a targets good graces. Here he was nearly strangled with anxiety. Desperate to reintroduce himself properly.

Hi, I really enjoy your company. You're really interesting, I'd like to be around you a lot more.

Her posture finally opened somewhat begrudgingly, uncurling to lean on folded legs. The book was still held in front of her within an elegant hand. "Cannibalism." She offered in a monotone.

That piqued his interest.

"And are you a fan...?"

She cracked the smallest smile, and his heart roared with triumph.

"I haven't partaken, if that's what you're implying. But the sociology surrounding it is a broader subject than most realize."

He blinked. That was the most he had ever heard her speak and was mildly distracted by how her accent played within the sudden eloquence of her words.

The thought of receiving a passionate lecture from her on the nuance of cannibalism thrilled him. Slowly stretching on the balls of his feet in excitement.

"What could the broader subject be on eating a corpse?" He scoffed.

The book snapped down onto her thighs. He had to clench his jaw to not smile. Success.

"That is only one very limited aspect of cannibalism." She held her fingers up, bending them down with her opposite hand as she reprimanded his feigned arrogance. "There's nutritional, ritualistic, post-mortem and living. Symbolic. Auto. What you're referring to could fit into many categories, including mortuary consumption."

His heart soothed as she went deeper and deeper into the subject. Her passion and clear education on the topic was intoxicating. Spellbinding in her winding through subjects. He took in every word as researched truth, even as she reiterated that she was not as learned as her peers. Maybe even more so because of that. Fully enraptured.

She had just started down an anecdote about a case of impulsive cannibalism brought on during a vicious attack, her posture leaned toward him, fully locked in on her impromptu student. Then Neve called out from far below them.

"Rook! Enough skulking, we've got a lead!"

His heart fell.

"Gamό gia chari..." She muttered under her breath. "Heard!"

"I've wasted your time." She hopped down from her hideaway.

"Time is never wasted in good company. I'd like to hear the end of that story." He rushed, trying to reign in his enthusiasm. Desperate to not spook her again. "It's cruel to leave such a tale unended."

She paused her stride, turning to him with arms crossed. Analyzing him again.

Neve's quick whistle broke the silence, and Rassou snapped her fingers at her in return. Shushing her with clear and precise authority.

Fully ignoring the lust that rose in his belly at that, he waited for her verdict on his character as her eyes returned.

"Would you kill me if I asked you to?"

That question paused him, but only for a moment. Certainty filled his voice.

"Absolutely."

She was quiet for a moment more, then nodded. Beckoning him forward with the curve of her long fingers.

"Come, Crow. We have work to do."

~

Next Chapter

[crazyunsexycool]

My little love

Chapter 24

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x enchanced!reader

Word count: 5.7k

Warning: angst!!!!! Some fluff, scared kids, crying kids, mad Charlotte, implied/mentioned sexual assault

A/N: I’m sorry… 😬😬😬

Series Masterlist

Swish.

“Nothing but net! Look at you go, little man.” Sam smiled as he dribbled the basketball. “If you keep going like this you might end up playing in the NBA. Just make sure you get me courtside seats.”

Henry giggled as he caught the ball Sam had bounced his way. He shifts his weight from foot to foot as he bounced the ball. The court was empty except for Sam and Henry who started spending some time together in the afternoons.

“Alright little man, let’s see what you got.”

Henry fakes a move to the right before turning and going left, side stepping Sam. He runs closer to the basket before launching the ball and again there’s nothing but net.

“That’s how you do it!” Sam raises his hand for a high-five. “Now how about first to 10 points wins?”

“Ok. But when I win I get to brag that I beat you.”

Sam quirks an eyebrow. “Is that how it is? Don’t make me have to kick your butt in basketball.”

“Can’t kick it if you can’t catch it.” Henry quips back before moving around quickly and making another basket.

“You’re a trash talker just like your dad.”

Henry laughs before Sam manages to make a basket himself.

****

“Alright sugar, you have heightened senses now. I think the serum also gives you more strength when it comes to your ability. So we need to figure that out.” Bucky’s hands were on your hips and he squeezed lightly before turning both of you away from the target he’d prepared. “Now, I want you to close your eyes and focus. I’ve hidden a few pieces of metal around here. Try to find them and use them to hit the target. The challenge will come in you not hitting me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to stand somewhere in the room and you have to avoid me. But you can’t look and to make sure you don’t, I'm going to blindfold you.”

“Uuhhh, kinky.” Say over your shoulder.

“Yeah well if you do a good job maybe I’ll keep it for later.” He whispers in your ear before trying the piece of fabric over your eyes. “Take a deep breath and concentrate. Take your time.”

“Ok.”

You hear him move away from you. His footsteps echo within the otherwise quiet room. You take a deep breath and concentrate. Bucky was right, with the serum your sense is heightened. It’s easier to attune your ability to detect metals better. You can pinpoint where he is based off of his metal arm. The screws holding together the glass panels that separate the room from the hallway and the small chunks of metal Bucky hid.

With another deep breath you will the pieces to hover and you pull them in your direction. The dance around you as you concentrate and shape them into pellets before sending them in the direction of the paper target. They swerve around Bucky, who’s standing directly in front of it, and hit the bullseye.

“Impressive but you missed a piece.” Bucky says after inspecting the paper.

“No I didn’t, the last piece is in your left hand.”

“Then why didn’t you take it?”

“Because I promised I wouldn’t use my ability on you without your consent.”

Bucky smiles as he holds up his hand and holds the last piece on his palm. It starts to hover before the shape starts shifting. It becomes a blob then a disc, a heart and finally a pellet. It flies from where Bucky is directly into the target before hitting the wall behind it and falling with a small thud.

“Show off.” He murmurs as he walks towards you.

Bucky takes off the blindfold and turns you. His lips find yours in a needy kiss.

“Are we still on for that date tonight?” You ask when you pull back from the kiss.

“Absolutely, I can’t wait to get you alone.”

“We’re alone now.” You murmur as you smile into another kiss.

“Hhmm. We should definitely take advantage of that.” He says as he pulls you into the small office that no one ever uses.

****

“If you’re going to be my assistant there are three very important things you need to know.” Tony stood with his arms behind his back, a serious expression on his face as he paced side to side. “In this lab we work hard, we create and we have a good time. Now,” he stops pacing and turns. “Your job as my assistant is simple. When I ask for a flathead you give me this.” He pulls out a flathead screwdriver from behind his back. “When I ask for a Phillips head you give me this one.” He pulls out a Phillips head screwdriver from his other hand. “And when I say rock on?”

“Wock on!” Lottie says from her place on his table. Both her little hands up in the air with her pointer finger and pinky up, her thumb holding down the two middle fingers.

“That’s right rock on. Now let’s get to work on this new suit, but first safety.”

He pulls on one of the drawers and pulls out Charlotte sized safety goggles and lab coat. She puts on the glasses and then Tony helps her with the lab coat.

“Flathead.”

“Fathead.” Lottie repeats as she hands over the screwdriver Tony asked for.

They work like this for a few minutes before Tony sits up straight, Lottie mirroring his actions.

“Is weady?”

“It’s ready. Let’s test it out.” Tony reaches for her and Lottie goes happily before he sets her down in the safety zone of his lab “Stay behind the safety glass.” He says and puts on noise canceling headphones.

Tony goes back to the table where the project he’s been working on was at and the new arm to his suit wraps around him. He moves around the lab and stands looking at the target across the room. Tony lifts his hand to test out his updated equipment.

“Hell yeah.” He says after the test is successful. “Rock on Lots.”

“Wock on!”

“Alright, let’s fix the other arm. Get over here, you’re the best assistant I’ve ever had.”

“Weally?” Lottie looks up at Tony, her eyes bright and full of joy.

“Absolutely. I might have to give you a job permanently, Lots.”

“Kay.”

Tony chuckles as Charlotte gets up on the table and sits down in the same spot as before.

“Fathead?”

“Fathead.” Tony confirms as he grabs the screwdriver from Lottie’s hand.

Lottie watches him work for a while, every so often handing him a tool or holding something for him. Suddenly she sits up and blinks quickly.

“Tony?”

“Yeah Lots?”

“Bad man is coming?” She says as she points to the glass doors of the lab.

Tony’s head snaps up and looks at the doors before picking her up.

“Intruder alert.” Friday announces. The lights in the lab dim and some of the suits that Tony has on display in his lab activate.

“Friday, lock down any main entry point to the compound and this lab. Alert the rest of the team and keep these suits in defense mode. Have any agents available gear up and be ready to defend.”

“Five armed teams have entered the building. Lockdown activated as of this moment.”

“Tony, want dada.” Charlotte whimpers as the suits move around and stand in front of both of them.

“I know Lots but we can’t go out there just yet. I’ll get you to your mom and dad soon ok. Just promise you’ll do as I say?”

“Kay.”

****

Just as Henry jumps to shoot the ball Friday announces the alert. He tenses as he turns to look at Sam.

“Five armed teams have entered the building. Lockdown activated as of this moment.” Friday announces.

“Is it the bad men? Are they going to take me away?”

“No matter who it is, I’m not going to let that happen ok. I need you to trust me and do as I say.”

“Ok.” Henry blinks back the tears as Sam ushers him into a hidden room made for this exact purpose.

Sam pulls out some weapons and pushes Henry into the small space before kneeling to be at eye level with him.

“I need you to stay here ok? This room is bulletproof and they can’t get to you here. The only people that can open it are you and the team. Friday won’t let anyone other than us open this door.”

“Don’t leave me in here please.”

“I can keep you safe like this ok little man. I know it’s scary but I promise no one can hurt you in here. Then I’ll take you to your parents.”

“Ok.” Henry says between sniffles and Sam gives him a quick hug before reluctantly closing the door. He turns to find a team fully armed and dressed head to toe in black heading his way. Guns trained on him.

“Put your hands up where I can see them.” One of them instructs.

“Identify yourselves. Who do you work for?” Sam says back, a gun pointed at them.

“I will when you cooperate.”

“Might as well get comfortable because I won’t follow your orders.”

****

Bucky had just shut the door to the office and pushed you up against it when you were alerted to what was happening. You both pulled away from the door and walked back out. Bucky grabbed the knife he always kept hidden in his boot and you pulled the metal that had been discarded at the other end of the room.

“Who were the kids with?” You ask as you walk out of the training room and into the hallway.

“Lottie was with Tony in his lab and Henry was with Sam in the gym.”

“We have to split up. I’ll go to Tony and you go to Sam.”

“No, we stay together.” He says in a low voice. “First to Sam. Tony has his suits and he can protect Charlotte. Sam will need the back up, he’s out in the open.”

“And you say you don’t care about him.”

He shoots you a glare over his shoulder. You both stop when you hear the otherwise quiet footsteps and you meet face to face with the intruders. There’s a face you recognize amongst the others, it makes you stop your attack before it begins.

“What the fuck is going on?” Steve had his hands on his hips and he was furious. “I want answers now.”

Wanda, Nat and Vision stood behind him ready for a fight. They had been confined to one of the shared living rooms when everything happened.

“It’s ok Steve.” You push past the group of agents that were blocking the door. “I mean it’s not ok but we’ll get answers soon enough.”

The whole compound was on high alert. Shield agents had already begun to fight back outside and some had even made it into the building to provide support to the avengers, it was a mess.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

“Not really.” Bucky didn’t have to push through, everyone stepped out of the way in pure fear. But it was the person that was behind him that got Steve’s attention.

“Sharon? What are you doing here?”

Sharon stepped into the room and gave everyone an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry for all of this but we received very disturbing reports. It was out of my hands. I was only added to this mission a few minutes before we were set to show up.”

“What reports? What are you talking about?”

“Where are Sam and Tony?” You ask as you look around and don’t see them. “Where are the kids?”

“That’s exactly why we’re here.”

Someone else says and everyone’s attention is on the shorter man with gray hair at the door.

“Agent Ross. What exactly is happening and if I don’t get an answer we are going to have a problem.” Steve says as he steps forward.

You can hear Charlotte’s piercing cry in the hallway and you breathe a sigh of relief. Tony walks in with her in his arms followed by Sam holding Henry’s hand. They both give you apologetic looks as they get closer to you.

“DADA!” Lottie wails as she reaches out for Bucky but agent Ross stands in the way.

“Move or I will move you.” Bucky says through gritted teeth.

Ross hesitates but takes a step back and Bucky grabs Lottie who holds on to him for dear life. He soothes her as best he can.

“Mama.” Henry says quietly and runs to you, his arms wrap tightly around your waist and you can feel him trembling.

“It’s ok sweet boy, you’re safe.”

“Care to explain why you think the CIA has the right to just waltz into my property and attack us, you hobbit?” Tony was fuming. Maybe it was because he didn’t like not knowing they were able to get past the gates without him being notified. Or because the kids were upset.

“We received a distressing report saying that the Avengers were experimenting on children. We had no choice but to come investigate. This was the only way to do it. Ambush you so that you couldn’t get rid of any evidence.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I’m sorry I scared them.” Everett holds up his hands. “But we will need to search the compound and speak to these children.”

“Like hell you will. What you’re going to do is get the hell off of my property before we rip your heads off.” Tony says calmly as he serves himself a drink.

“We can’t just ignore the call. It’s a serious accusation. Believe me when I say, I’m on your side.”

“Who called?” Steve asks.

“We don’t know who. The call was anonymous and from an untraceable number.” Sharon answers.

“Friday, play the call recording.”

“I’d like to report a crime for child endangerment.” The person is putting up a great act. There are sniffles and whimpers and even whispering. “I have it on good authority that children are being experimented on and tortured.”

“Ma’am could you tell me who you think is responsible and where this is taking place?”

“Yes, it’s in upstate New York. It’s the Avengers. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

The call cuts off and everyone is fuming and confused. But not you, your chest tightened and so does your hold on Henry. You blink back tears but Nat catches you.

“Y/N, What’s wrong?”

“Friday, play the recording again.”

The A.I. does as you ask and plays it again. You close your eyes now that you’re sure.

“I’m so sorry.” Everyone perks up at that. Your eyes go to Bucky.

“Sugar, why are you sorry?”

“That was my mother.”

“Ok hang on, your mother called to report possible child endangerment, why?” Everett asked, his brows high and his eyes wide with surprise. He looked around the room waiting for an answer.

“Because she’s an evil person.”

Ross brings one hand to his hip the other to his forehead, two of his fingers rubbing lightly as he thinks things through.

“Ok, why was she targeting the kids and the avengers if she has something against you?”

“Because these are my kids. Mine and Bucky’s.”

“Since when do you have kids?” Sharon questions.

“Listen, we’ll answer any question you want but can you get your men out of here. They’re scared enough as it is. We’ll calm them down and then I can answer everything you want.” Bucky says.

“We’ll still need to speak with the kids.”

Charlotte finally calmed down enough that her crying wasn’t bouncing off the walls. She still held on to Bucky though. It made both you and Bucky incredibly angry for the whole situation. Now the kids didn’t feel safe in their own home. All because of that vindictive woman that you were unfortunately related to.

“Henry baby, are you ok?” You ask softly as you move hair away from his face.

He nods but won’t look at you.

“It’s ok if you’re not ok. You don’t have to tell me but I’m here to listen if you want.”

“They’re not taking us away?” He finally looks up at you with pure fear in his eyes. It makes you want to go down to where the agents have gathered and kick their asses.

“Not at all. I’m so sorry baby. I never wanted this to happen to you.”

Henry doesn’t say anything, he just shifts in your lap and hides his face in your neck. He’s closing himself off like when he first arrived at the compound and you hate it.

“Is kay bubba.” Lottie says as she also finds a way into your lap and cuddles into his chest. “Dada an mama keep safe.”

You look up at Bucky unsure of what to do. He just sits next to you and wraps his arms around all three of you.

“I can’t believe Bucky has kids.” Sharon whispers. Her eyes go from the scene before her to Steve who was leaning against a wall next to her.

“Yeah, we were very surprised by it as well.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t agent Y/L/N their mom?”

“Yes she is.”

“So what is going on? The boy looks no older than eight and the girl looks around five. If I’m correct in their ages there is no way they were together back then.”

Steve looks at the four of you and then at Sharon. He studies every inch of her face unsure if he can trust her. He sighs because he knows he can.

“They were Hydra's experiment. They used Bucky’s DNA and some prisoner or volunteer. Hydra killed them seconds after they gave birth and the kids were started in the program to become the next generation of winter soldiers. She was found on an operating table when we raided a detention center hydra had. He was found chained in a dark room at a different hydra base weeks later.” He sighs as he thinks back at when the kids were first brought in and how different they are now. “We have everything documented. Wait until you see how they were treated, where they were kept, the things that were done to them.” Steve shakes his head. “It will make you sick to your stomach. Don't even get me started on the three that didn’t make it.”

Steve feels a pat on his legs. Both him and Sharon look down to find a tear filled Charlotte looking up at him.

“Can habe uppies?” She asks with her arms raised and a quiet voice.

“Of course you can sweetheart.”

Steve picks her up and she immediately hides her face in Steve’s shoulder. Her little hands gripped his shirt. Lottie turns her head slightly and finds Sharon looking at her.

“Hello little one. My name is Sharon and I’m friends with Steve. What’s your name?”

Lottie scowls at Sharon and turns her head in order to avoid the blond’s gaze.

“Oh sweetheart, Sharon is good, she can be your friend.” Steve says softly which prompts Lottie to pull back and look at Steve.

“Is no bitch?”

Sharon’s eyes widen in surprise and she covers her mouth so as to not laugh while Steve just scoffs.

“Charlotte what did I say about that word?” Bucky asks from across the room where he was still sitting with you and Henry.

“No say it?”

“That’s right you don’t say it. It’s a bad word.”

“Kay.”

“Can you apologize to Sharon for saying it?”

“Sowwy.”

“Apology accepted sweetie.” Sharon smiles at Lottie.

Lottie yawns and lays her head on Steve's shoulder again. The experience has worn her out. The same thing has happened with Henry who is currently asleep in your arms. He still has tear stains on his cheeks and it makes you so angry.

“Can you take him?” You whisper to Bucky who nods and maneuvers Henry into his hold.

You get up with the intention of going into the hallway but Sharon stops you from leaving the living room.

“I’m sorry but I can’t let you leave.”

“I’m only going to call my father. I need to know where that woman is, she can’t get away with doing this to us.”

“I’m under orders to keep everyone here.” She shoots you an apologetic look.

“Look, you can come with me and listen to the conversation. I don't care but please I need to make this call.”

“Ok, let’s go somewhere more private.” Sharon nods before turning to everyone in the room. “Please stay in this room, if not for you than for the kids.”

You lead Sharon into a small room down the hall and pull out your phone before dialing your dad’s number. It only rings twice.

“Hey Kitten, how’s it going?” He sounds rather happy.

“Hey dad.”

“What’s going on?” He knows something’s wrong just by the sound of your voice.

“Dad, I need to ask you something and I need to know the truth.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you, kitten you know that.”

You sigh, “Dad, have you heard from mom recently?”

“No. I told you on Sunday, when I got home after Lottie’s birthday she was already gone and so were her things. What’s wrong?”

Sharon shakes her head letting you know that you can’t give him any information. However you don’t care.

“She tried to get to me by hurting the kids. If she reaches out could you let me know?”

“Are they alright?”

“Yeah they’re fine, just shaken up.”

“Ok, I’ll let you know the minute I hear anything. Is there anything else I can do? I can be there in a couple of hours.” He offers.

“No It’s ok, I’ll keep you updated. Bye dad.”

“Bye kitten.”

You hang up and tuck the phone back into your back pocket. “How have you been Sharon?”

“Good. I can’t complain, you know. But how about you? When did you and Bucky finally happen?”

“A few months ago. Just after we found Charlotte.”

“And she calls you mama?”

You can’t help the smile that appears on your face as you nod. “It just kind of happened but we’re really happy.”

“That’s good. Buck deserves it, so do you. I wish I would have met the kids under better circumstances.”

“Yeah, this is fucked up and it’s Henry’s worst fear. That hydra will show up and take him away.”

“I’m sorry about that.” Sharon shakes her head. “I really didn’t know anything. I think they just brought me along because they think I have some sort of relationship with the team.”

“You do. You know that if you needed us we’d be there.”

There’s a knock on the door and it opens before either of you can say anything.

“What’s going on here?” Agent Ross asked.

“I was calling my father to see if he had heard from my mother. They’re in the middle of a divorce and my mother blames me for it hence the call to report us for child endangerment.”

His eyes dart over to Sharon who confirms your explanation and nods but holds the door open anyway. You walk out first and are met with Tony and his lawyer.

“Mr. Harris is going to represent us. He’s going to sit with each of us during the interview process.”

“You mean the interrogation process.” You give Ross a small glare.

“Oh you’ve poked mama bear. This is going to be so much fun. I can’t even wait to see what Barnes is going to be like. I hope you had a great life Ross.” Tony chuckles as he walks away toward the living room everyone else was at.

The interview process took hours. It was you then Bruce followed by Steve and Nat. After that it was Tony, Wanda and Sam. Bucky was left to the end since they were his kids biologically. Everett Ross even though you knew he was only doing his job, every question that Bucky was asked made you want to go in there and punch him.

Did he willingly participate in having children? No.

Did he remember if he was forced to be with these women? No.

Did he willingly give his DNA sample so that these children could be created via IVF? No.

“Was your DNA sample taken against your will?”

Bucky’s jaw tightened at the last question. The answer was yes, he knew it was. But having to say it out loud made it feel more real to Bucky. Has what he been through not enough? Did he have to also admit out loud that hydra also took advantage of him in a sexual way?

“Yes.” He says quietly as he stares at the metal table in front of him.

Your heart broke as you watched him from behind the two way mirror. Bucky gets up from his chair and walks out of the interview room. You follow suit and meet him in the hallway. He won’t look you in the eye and you don’t want to get to close or touch him, especially if he’s reliving a memory.

“I’m going to go check on Henry.” He says as he walks by you.

“Buck-“

You watch as he walks away from you and this interrogation. There’s a little tornado rounding the corner that gets your attention though. Made up of pink tulle and fury. Charlotte’s eyebrows are pinched and the corners of her lips turned downward. She stalks her way down the hall like a girl on a mission. You can’t imagine what she’ll be like when she’s a teenager.

Steve is hot on Lottie’s heels and just gives you this lost sort of look. Behind him the rest of the team scurries into the viewing room. Lottie doesn’t wait for any help. She opens the door to the interrogation room and if she wasn’t so little the people inside would be more scared as the door slams against the wall. Charlotte Barnes is not someone you want to piss off apparently.

“Hello, Charlotte.” Everett greets even though he’s a little startled. “How are you doing?”

“Woss.” Charlotte says as she pulls the chair out for herself and pulls herself up. She places her pink teddy bear on the table and she kneels on the chair to have a better look at the people across from her. “Am mad. Make bubba sad an no wike it an no wike you.” She says with the signature Barnes’ scowl on her face.

“I’m sorry but who is bubba?” Everett looks over at Sharon who is smiling at the little firecracker they’re interviewing.

“I believe she is referring to her brother Henry.” Mr. Harris informs Everett.

“Habe to say sowwy.”

“I really am sorry Charlotte.”

“No.” She puts a hand up to stop him. “Say sowwy to bubba.”

“Oh, I see. Well I will apologize to Henry, ok. Can I ask you a question?”

“Mhm.”

The team, who had been watching in the other room, chuckle at Charlotte’s attitude.

“Do you like living here?”

“Lobe it.”

“What do you love about living here?” Sharon asks.

“Habe dada, an mama, an bubba an a-pine.”

“What is an a pine?”

“She means Alpine, the cat.” Mr. Harris clarifies.

“Mhm. An Steebie. Am Steebie’s best girl.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Is good, is famiwe.” Charlotte nods.

“Do you feel safe with your family?”

“Mama an Dada keep safe. Make happy an habe fun.”

Everett smiled at the child across from him.

“Habe to say sowwy to bubba.” She reminds him as she gets down from the chair. Taking her bear with her and effectively ending the interview.

Charlotte opens the door for herself and finds you standing just outside waiting for her.

“Hi sweet Angel.”

“Hi mama. Lobe you mama.”

You scoop her up and pepper her face with kisses until she’s giggling.

“I love you too.” You say as you walk down the hallway.

“I think it’s time we end the interviews, don't you think Ross? We’ve put a dent into whatever safety they were feeling here. It’s obvious those kids are taken care of and loved. Especially when you look at their medical records. Everything checks out. I don’t think we need to make Henry feel more afraid by interviewing him either.” Sharon says.

“I agree. But first I must apologize to Henry.”

“Are you afraid of a four year old?”

“No.” Everett scoffs as he grabs his things and starts heading toward the door.

You were in the shared living room with the kids as you waited for Ross to ask to speak with Henry. The former sat on the couch with Alpine in his lap and his sister by his side. Lottie had made it a point to stay as close as possible and cuddle when needed.

Ross walked in quietly. He shot you an apologetic look as he got closer to the three of you. He could see and you could feel the way Henry tensed at the sight of him.

“Henry, is it ok if I get closer?” Ross asked halfway into the room.

Henry’s fearful gaze moved from Ross to you.

“You can say no and he’ll stay right where he is or he’ll move back.”

Henry didn’t dare look at Ross but shook his head denying the older man’s request. Ross gave a quick nod and stayed where he was.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry for scaring you. It wasn’t my intention. It’s obvious that the person that called was doing it to be mean.”

“Ok.” Henry whispers before looking down at Alpine, continuing to pet her.

“I’ll be right back, I’m just going to the hallway.”

“Kay.” Lottie answers for both her and her brother as she rests her head on his shoulder.

****

“So what now?” You ask as you cross your arms over your chest.

“Now there is nothing for you to do. We have enough evidence to know that the call was done with ill intentions. I’ll be in contact with Mr. Harris if we need anything else and we will be tracking your mother.”

“Sounds good to me. It was good to see you again Ross just not under these circumstances.”

“I know but trust me when I say that I did it with the best intentions. Secretary Ross wanted to come in here with as many soldiers as he could find.” He informs you. “You know he’s always looking for a way to get rid of the Avengers or at least control you. If he were here right now I don’t doubt he would have done something horrible to try and push Barnes and get a reaction out of him.”

You nod because you remember the whole ordeal when Bucky was brought in.

“I’m leaving now but if I hear anything else I’ll let you know.”

With that Everett Ross is walking down the hallway.

****

The others checked in on you once you’d brought the kids back to the apartment. The only thing you were really worried about was where Bucky had gone. Steve left to find him after you voiced your concern. That left you alone with a child that was scared and one that was still pissed off. Henry clung to you like a koala which made things a bit difficult but you managed. If he needed to be held to feel safe then you would hold him.

After getting them something to eat, giving them showers and dressed with pajamas the three of you finally plopped down in your bed. Alpine was curled up next to Lottie who was petting her softly. You sat against the headboard playing with Henry’s hair, he sitting in your lap and his face hidden against your chest. A movie played but you were too distracted to pay attention.

The day’s events wore all of you out because the three of you fell asleep just as you were in bed. But when you instinctively reached out for Bucky on his side of the bed you were met with fur. That made you more alert and you looked to his side to find Henry, Lottie and Alpine all cuddled up together which doesn’t make sense. Henry was on top of you and you had fallen asleep sitting down. Your first thought is that Bucky walked in and moved you around but why hadn’t you noticed?

You get up and check the bathroom first but he’s not there. Then you head out toward the living room where you can see the glow of the tv in the otherwise dark apartment.

“Dad?” You call out in disbelief.

“Hey kitten.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Bucky called me and asked me to come down.” He patted the empty spot beside him and pulled you into his side once you sat down.

The tears you’d been holding back all day spring up. Eddie comforts you and reassures you that everything is alright. The kids are safe and so are you.

“I thought we were going to lose them. I thought that hydra had been the ones to break in.” You say through tears.

“I know kitten, but they’re safe now. They aren’t going anywhere.”

You allow yourself a few minutes to cry before pulling back and looking at your father.

“Have you talked to Bucky?”

“Just when he called and asked me to come down and when he met me outside but he didn’t say much.”

“It was horrible. The interview.”

“Just give him some time. He needs to sort out his emotions.”

You nod and rest your head against his shoulder again.

“How about we watch that new episode of The Mandalorian?”

You chuckle but nod your head. Soon enough Henry comes out of your room followed by Lottie. Both of them settle either on your lap or next to you. You give them more cuddles and kisses as the episode plays.

You decide to do as your father said and give Bucky some space. Hopefully he comes back soon because you’re still worried about him. But for now you focus on the one thing you can do which is make sure your kids feel safe and protected.

Ch. 25

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[icaberries]

KidLaw Angst.

With Kid's Devil Fruit, he can detect nearby metal no matter how small. Over the years, he's learned to tune out the humming of metal. Only in battles does he let loose. Otherwise, it's a practice of self-control not to listen.

But then he meets Law.

Law who carries a sword taller than him with metal that sings and hums with energy. Law with his pierced ears, tongue, and other hidden piercings covered up by large coats.

It's always there in the back of Kid's head, the humming of metal all over Law's body. No matter where they are, no matter how much metal is around him, Kid can pinpoint Law's presence among the crowd.

And when they're in close quarters, when he has Law pressed against a wall, panting against his throat, lips wet and bitten red, Kid can feel that metal tremble from Law's shuddering breathes.

Everyone knows of Law's pierced ears and tongue, but only Kid has the privilege of knowing all of the other piercings. He can sense the metal on Law's chest, on the dips of his hips, and in between his legs. "All for you," Law would say, and it does something to Kid's heart, knowing that Law would put metal on his body that only Kid could see.

And then, after they separate from Wano, Kid feels Law's hum grow distant until it suddenly drops. As if Law has fallen in the ocean.

That's the last Kid feels of Law before his ship crumbles all around him.

[missamyrisa2]

Shrill little electronic voices chitter away in unison. "Sub"Sub"Sub"Subject identified."

You see a clutch of small metallic spheres, hovering in midair, something between inviting and ominous. "Voice sample analysis complete." You're surprised to hear a tinny speaker play back your escaped giggle. "Elevated stress patterns detected. Initiative directives recommend enforced relaxation protocols." Panels slide open on the surfaces of a pair spheres, seams so perfectly-machined they were invisible until now. From inside each one, a dextrous, segmented length of cable unfolds, twitching with purpose. "This recommendation is binding. Request subject compliance."

You haven't even necessarily processed the situation enough to decide whether or not you're going to resist, but the sight startles you, and you instinctively lean away. Maybe that's all it takes, or maybe these particular machines have the sensitivity of their resistance-detecting algorithms turned all the way up.

"Subject is non-compliant. Beginning restraint protocol."

The mechanical hum jumps in pitch as the spheres dart forward to surround you. One writhing cable wraps around each wrist, and the machines holding them converge, pulling your arms above your head. A quiet plea escapes your lips, and the machines ignore it completely. It's easy enough for them to catch your ankles, now that they're almost lifting you into the air, making you stand on tip-toe--

"Subject response category: 'blushing'. Counter-response directive: engaging privacy screens."

One of the machines produces a bevy of miniature spheres, maybe a tenth the size of their parent. You count eight, as they zip into position: four in a square hovering above your bound wrists, another four in a matching square on the ground beneath your feet. There's a crackling sound, and suddenly you're staring at what looks like the inside of a perfect crystal of quartz. Some kind of force field? It would have to be. You have to assume you can't be seen. You don't know whether you can still be heard.

"Conferring with control unit. Setting: outdoors. Clothing removal: dispreferred. Begin sensitization analysis."

The spheres that aren't restraining you each produce a little pair of prongs - they look worryingly like taser contacts, until they begin spinning, producing a barely-visible energy field a few inches wide. They move in towards you, and you yelp as the fields wash over your body - it tickles! It's like they're little radio stations, sending out a broadcast to every one of your nerves, and your nerves are oh so very tuned in. You giggle and squirm as the fields probe down your arms, to your armpits (another yelp), past your ribs (is that a yelp or a squeal?), to your sides (definitely a squeal. Yelps don't last that long). You try to suck in your tummy, but it's no use, that's where the machines are headed next.

A real laugh escapes you as the field moves in a wide circle over your helpless, stretched-out belly. You almost don't notice the fields grazing your thighs while your belly jumps and twitches, both from laughing and in a futile attempt to escape. And then, the fields flicker and fade and the prongs all retreat into their spheres.

"Analysis complete. Ready to begin enforced relaxation." Wait, what? That wasn't the treatment? But--

"Heightened sensitivity detected. Pinpointing target areas."

You're looking down when the red dot appears on your belly button. Three spheres hover into place down each of your sides, and you know they're aiming similar crosshairs at your pits, ribs and sides. You can even feel the anti-grav from the ones that must be drawing their beads on the backs of your thighs. And then, as if for emphasis, an array of terribly ticklish tools begin emerging slowly. Spinning brushes for your armpits. Spidery mechanical fingers for your ribs. Stationary brushes at your sides. You feel the tip of a stiff feather on each thigh, and you see the longest, softest feather drawing ever closer to your belly.

You realize, too late, that the tame little energy fields were just mapping you out.

The brushes, still just barely not touching skin, start to spin. The fingers wiggle. Oh no no no WAIT -

"Enforced relaxation begins in three."

please please please

"Two."

i'm so ticklish PLEASE

"One."

It's going to be a very thorough session.

(Ooooohhh my gosssh ohh my gossh I looove love love thissssss ~~~ the glitchy machineyyyy the processing the toooolsssss everything about it is just sooo ticklehotttt thank youuuu dear one!)

[etherealvoidechoes]

[Prototype] AU - Torn Apart - Chapter 2: Reconnaissance - Searching for Clues

Alex returns to Manhattan to find his sister and investigate what Blackwatch is currently up to.

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“Times Square.”

The major commercial intersection was bustling with life. People walked to and fro, chatted, yelled, and laughed. The cacophony of cars driving by and horns blaring added to the ordered chaos. Billboards lined just about every building, spectacularly illuminated even under the sun, all displaying an assortment of advertisements. It was like the Redlight infection had never hit it a year ago. Almost.

“Never thought I’d come back here.”

Alex Mercer was taking in the sights. Taking in part of his work. Barely any traces remained of the hellscape that terrorized the city for weeks, which was followed by a few months-long recovery. He could vividly remember the ever-shifting war zones that consumed the various parts of the city. 

With each breath of relatively clean air he took in, savoring the myriad of urban scents to a pinpoint degree that would drive a normal human mad, there were brief flashes of that horrid past. Thick, choking smoke-filled air that was constantly tinged with the smell of rot, burning flesh, and overly metallic blood. So much of that red flesh sprawled across the streets, creeping and consuming everything it touched. Buildings became the breeding grounds to produce more infected, especially those Hunters. A chaotic branching network of massive tendrils dug deep, cracking and tearing up asphalt and concrete buildings like it was the most flimsy paper in existence.

And now, there was none of that. 

“Wonder how much was spent fixing up this mess? Taxpayer dollars down the drain…” He chuckled to himself as strolled along, taking in the sights. “Hm?” But something caught his eye.

Flying high above the roofline was one of those UAVs, or viral detection drones. Lights shining green, the drone sauntered through the area several times before disappearing over some buildings. Then his eyes caught faint, shimmering glints on a rooftop. A viral detector. And not just one. There were several strategically placed throughout the area. 

“Huh. Have those things running all day and night.” Just how many of those things did he disable or destroy when he had to snoop around those military bases? “Smart.  I see that they still have some “good” brains running in the “Green Zones” He tapped his chin, taking note of each one. 

He had been back in the city for about a week. Slowly scoping things out, seeing if Blackwatch was still around. They were. In a more ‘discreet’ manner — he’d be paying one of their outposts a visit soon to see what they had been up to. It seemed like the organization had taken permanent residence in the city to monitor all traces of the outbreak. He had a feeling it was their way of continuing their usual bioweapon research and development nonsense, besides keeping tabs on any lingering patches of Redlight that refused to die. He had detected a few as he moved about. Dormant spots waiting for the right time to spring forth and establish a new leader for the hive mind. He took care of the ones he felt had been festering for too long and a prime opportunity to sample what had changed. New mutations and genetic lines were to be expected, but nothing he couldn’t overcome. He even picked up faint traces of antibodies used to fight Bloodtox. Something new for his body to memorize and prepare itself for, just in case Blackwatch the newest formulas would affect him again.

“A little dangerous to let those little hives fester… unless?” His mind delved back into memories, many not of his own, dealing with Carnival projects. He pursed his lips before laughing at the insane thoughts crossing his mind. “No, that’s too dangerous to let a “natural” test happen. That’s asking for the virus to spread to the other islands and the world. But… but… we humans can be rather dumb.”

Humans can be idiotic, short-sighted creatures. We are much smarter than that. Much better. More than human. A faint voice in the back of his mind scolded him. It did and didn’t sound like his. There was a faint hiss that trailed the words. A slight pitch change, shifting lower every other word, before realigning to how it should sound. He ignored it. He had been ignoring it for a long time after some events months ago. Just a part of the viral self he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Continuing his walk, he passed by a building with a viral detector installed just by the edge of the roof. Tuning in his ears, and watching from the corner of his eyes, he watched it as he slowed his stroll. One second. Two. Four. Ten. He grinned. Those lights stayed a nice and solid green. He picked up his pace.

“Still not picking me up. Good. Must be tuned only for Redlight.” He mused. He had been gone for a long time and maybe they thought he was dead after taking care of the nuke. Reflexively, his body shuttered remembering that. That hurt… piecing myself back together and finding my other remains… but not as much as that parasite. He would take a nuke again rather than deal with that cancer of a parasite eating him alive.

Just ask his thoughts were slowly spiraling down that painful time, the hum of another drone buzzing by caught his attention. His eyes quickly found it. He grinned again. “Remember, those weeks you lingered around as the last of the infection was being burned out, you evolved to a point where you could suppress your viral signature. At this point, I may be able to fully mask it. I’ll have to test that later.”

Alex was back in New York for a reason. His sister. His creator’s sister… Ever since he left once Blackwatch and the military had a handle on things, there was always a heavyweight in his heart that he had a hard time ignoring. Guilt. He should have waited for her to wake up from that coma. But there were so many things racing through his mind. So many thoughts and memories — many that weren’t his. He needed to leave once his work was done and do some soul-searching to figure out what he was now and what he was going to do. And now he was back.

A few days into his return, he visited the last place he had left Dana. New York Hospital and Medical College. And searched for the person he asked to care for her after rescuing her from Greene. Dr. Bradley Ragland.

It didn’t surprise him that the doctor was long gone. Retired is what one of the workers there told him. After all the chaos, and Blackwatch was still around, Alex didn’t blame the doctor for leaving. He just hoped the retirement was by the doctor’s hand and not Blackwatch’s. He faintly remembered they were keeping an eye on the good doctor. Thankfully, he was a ‘low-priority’ risk, despite Dr. McMullen’s thinly veiled threats. He hoped he still was.

To his surprise, the doctor left something behind for him. A hidden contingency of sorts. It was about Dana. A hefty folder containing her health record. He wondered how much trouble the doctor had to go through to keep this out of Blackwatch’s hands.

As Alex read them, a few of those shackles in his heart lifted. Dana had recovered and was fine. No signs of infection from any of the Redlight strains. Yet that detail bothered Alex. Why didn’t Greene infect her when she had the chance? Before his mind spiraled off into several theories that maybe she had been infected with a strain that hid itself well, one note from the doctor caught his eye. 

“Possible natural resistance or immunity to Redlight may explain the lack of infection. Note: Reference her ‘brother’ Alexander J. Mercer and Blacklight. Possibly the genetic structures are at play?” Relief washed over him. Yet, it made him curious once more. 

As he read the documents further, he learned a few days after Dana awoke from her coma, she bolted from the doctor’s care shortly after he told her what happened and some words Alex wanted him to pass onto her. And just in time, as Blackwatch came around shortly after she left. And there was another note. 

“Blackwatch is looking for her. Godspeed, Alex.”

“And now I’m searching for her.” Alex tapped at his lip, thinking back to the documents. So far, visiting familiar areas and old stomping grounds of his sister’s led to nothing. She was gone like the wind. He had a feeling she hadn’t left the city.

“You’re somewhere here. Being a journalist. Breaking stories under a few pennames. Not your style to leave things alone. Hope you have some allies…” He chuckled. He was thinking of a news report he saw not too long ago. The “origins” of the infection. 

“That’s still hotly ‘debated’ on who’s truly responsible. Shadowy government organizations, illegal pharmaceutical trials, a rogue agent… Yet…” His voice trailed off as he slowed his walk until he stopped in front of an opaque window. He looked at his reflection. At one of the many faces, he wore to pass through the city undisturbed. Today, it was an unassuming middle-aged man with some salt and pepper hair wearing an overly cozy black turtleneck sweater and plain jeans. He chuckled, adjusting the glasses on his face before he continued walking again. 

“They still put the blame on Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. A sociopathic and paranoid scientist.” He could agree to that. “The man had ‘a mental breakdown and tried taking the city with him’.”

Though most of the memories of his creator continued to be forever distant, and he felt he would truly never regain them, he didn’t deny how the news described him. From what he recalled, from what he absorbed from former co-workers, it was true. The man knew how to mask those unsavory personality ticks to appear “normal” most days. A man who was “positive and full of life”, but every once in a while, he would slip. But he did have the capacity to love. His ex-girlfriend, Karen Parker. His eyes narrowed just thinking about her. But his features softened as he thought of Mercer’s other love. His sister, Dana.

Don’t think of the former. She failed him by getting arrested. She betrayed your trust by working with Blackwatch. That faint voice in the back of his mind hissed. He ignored it.

He refocused on Dana. Dana. There were times he questioned his creator’s memories of dealing with her. Did he ever truly care for her? Or was she a means to an end?

There were faint glimpses of their childhood, he could recall. An absentee father. A drunken mother. He shielded her many times from their mother when they were in her care. How he much preferred those foster homes over her, but whenever she was out of jail, the system always put them back with their mother. Despite their 9-year age gap, the brother and sister were close until Alex couldn’t take the constant abuse and sought a way out through his one passion, science. Selfishly sought a way out, but was there any other way? As soon as he could, he went off to college. Their contact was sparse. Eventually, he graduated and worked for various corporations before being headhunted by Gentek and ended up in New York. Some years later, in her own desperate bid to get a fresh start and reconnect with him, Dana moved to New York as soon as she was accepted into NYU.

Their conversations were tentative and in-person meetings were few, and she desperately wanted more. Over time, and through her sheer stubbornness, it seemed like something was slowly budding when he genuinely apologized for leaving her behind so suddenly. He even provided her with some support for her studies. Just when it seemed like they were truly reconnecting, communications went dark for some months. Whenever she tried to strike up a conversation, he would just tell her he was busy with work and had no time. Then he contacted her. 

The bastard roped her into this mess. She could have been killed with all the snooping she did. She’s a good journalist, but he did not need to drag her in. And then… then… what he did at his end. He could see the Penn Station incident play clearly in his mind. Feel every bullet hit his creator before he dropped on top of the shattered vial and the final vestiges of life faded from his pathetic corpse. 

That action to throw the vial made him call into question his love for his sister. Did he truly care for her?

She could become something better. Something like you. That voice whispered. Something was pulling at his mind, bringing back up what those medical documents theorized. He ignored it. All of it, shoving those files back into the depths.

“She nearly became a statistic… several times.” He mumbled. 

That lingering guilt reverberated through every cell of his being. Before he grew a semblance of consciousness, he was using her just like his creator had. He had the excuse of “amnesia” when in truth he was the virus piloting a corpse, so he used her to help fill the gaps and point him in the right direction for more answers. It wasn’t right.

His mind was diving down that dark pit until another drone buzzed by.

“Focus, Alex.” He mumbled to himself. “You’ve got work to do. A sister to find.” He watched the latest drone fly by and disappear in between some buildings. “Hm… Think I’ll scout an outpost or base tonight. See how they work and put some of my new abilities to use. See what Blackwatch has gathered with their hunt.” 

Finding a fairly secluded place to sit, he raised his hand to his face like he was going to adjust his glasses again; instead, he looked at his palm. The flesh in the center of it quivered and shifted as a yellow about the size of a golf ball rose to the surface. As it reached halfway, several dark red to black tendrils slowly crept out around its base. A second later, the flesh around his wrist rippled like the water before several small bulges rose and fell. It continued to do with the bulges working their way up his hand and around the cyst until several centipede-like creatures broke through his flesh. They squirmed about, snapping their tiny mandibles. He grinned. 

“Both can be invasive, but considerably less lethal than my usual methods. With a faint risk of infection.” With a mere thought, the creatures and cyst merged back into his flesh, causing it to look normal once more. He finished the motion of adjusting his glasses. “And nicer for my brain. Fewer headaches from all that screaming in those memories of death.” He had grown tired of those. It had taken him forever to sort out the memories of all those he consumed and lock them away.

He got back to his feet and continued his stroll. “Just a little more sightseeing. Still haven’t seen all the changes to the city and need to keep in touch with my ‘human side’.” He hummed to himself. “And maybe I’ll spot some Blackwatch-affiliated buildings and checkpoints. Think I’ve seen some of those new mobile communication vehicles they’ve been fielding around the city. May try hitting one of those. A little less security and those buildings may have detectors that may catch me. And that Bloodtox. Ugh.” He knew he would eventually have to test his immunity to that poison sooner than later. He didn’t want to find out the hard way if he was deep within a base that only had one way of getting out.

A flock of pigeons passing by caught his eye. A twinkle of excitement filled them. 

“Hm, think I can infect the local animals and have them do some snooping for me.”

———————————

As he continued his sightseeing, Alex put his abilities to work to aid his reconnaissance. With a few cysts here and some centipedes there, he infected some of the birds and local rats to create a small hive mind network to track Blackwatch movements and to see if more eyes could find any traces of his sister. He had more luck with the former compared to the latter. His sister was still a ghost in the wind. His hope lay with Blackwatch, if they were having any luck tracking her.

Eventually, day turned to night. Alex found himself returning to a familiar Lower Manhattan location—a hub of Blackwatch activity.

——————————

“Huh, would have thought they would have torn down this building after everything. But knowing Blackwatch and the government…” 

Alex’s eyes were transfixed towering spire responsible for part of his birth. Gentek. Many memories flowed through his mind; his own, fragmented pieces of his creators, and so many others. Compared to how it looked during all the chaos a year ago, it barely showed any damage. It looked like Blackwatch had done a deep clean, routed out every inch of infection, and reinforced the building and surrounding blocks.

“And looks like Blackwatch took over a few blocks. Massive outpost and research facility setup from the looks of it. A solid fortress. Don’t want a repeat of something escaping. Smart. The bastards”

Currently, he was perched high on a rooftop a good distance away. Through a set of binoculars, he was carefully surveying the outpost and streets below, taking note of the automated security, drones, viral detectors, guard patrols, and vehicle traffic. The compound was fairly active as he watched various heavy-duty container trucks come and go, offloading what he could only assume was gathered biomass into one of the buildings.

“Wonder if that came from an underground nest? My little ‘drones’ stumbled across one Blackwatch was actively clearing some hours ago.” He lingered on the sight for a little longer before he turned his attention back to the base as a whole. “Don’t think about it for now. Need to borrow a brain to see what the setup is here. Going in blind and they could have a few detectors that may pick up me.” That was a risk he didn’t want to take. He was currently enjoying the fact Blackwatch had no clue he was back in the city and wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

“Busy as ever…” His voice trailed off into a tuneless whistle as he continued to search. His gaze seemed to wander around aimlessly, subconsciously taking in information, until he suddenly locked onto a target. A grin crept across his face. “But I think I found the brain I’m going to borrow. Possibly brains. Follow them, snag ‘em, and come back if needed.” 

He spotted a set of Blackwatch soldiers and Gentek scientists decked out in PPE loading up into a small convoy of heavily armored vehicles.

“New threads for their soldiers.” He mumbled as he watched them. Their new uniforms ditched the old black for a dark blue. While still form-fitting, now included pauldrons and a hood, a new mask with blue lenses for the googles, and then there was what could best be interpreted to be a knife-like blade attached to one forearm. They also looked a tad bulkier.

“Interesting design. Like the old black better. Question the changes, but who knows to what extent the remaining infection I haven’t encountered has evolved.” His mind drifted off to that Supreme Hunter. His whole body undulated in disgust, partially breaking his human disguise as his face rippled and contorted into a mess of shapes before falling back to his default form. He was glad no one else was on the rooftop.

I still wonder when that thing consumed Cross… played me like a damn fiddle, but it still lost in the end. Sometimes his mind would wander back to his precarious alliance with Captain Robert Cross. Did the man truly have an ounce of moral compass questioning his superiors’ “last resort” if they couldn’t halt the spread of the virus? Or was it all a carefully crafted ploy to pull on Alex’s need for answers and vengeance, waiting for the right moment to strike and lay him low?

Either way… we would have had to kill each other once the deed was done. Part of me feels some sympathy for the man. Made sure to find that Hunter’s corpse and burned it. And burned everything Blackwatch had gathered from the USS Ronald Reagan once I put myself back together. It took him some time to track down all the leads to find it, but once he did, there were no survivors.

It was a smart thing. You should have consumed it like its MOTHER once we beheaded it. That voice deep in his mind whispered. But we had a nuke to worry about. It sighed before it transitioned to a dark chuckle. Took some time for all the pieces to come back together, but we did clean up that mess and so much more. Heh. So much more.

Alex ignored the whisper. Or tried his best to ignore it. Another wave of disgust coursed through him, twisting the flesh of one leg into jagged, hardened, segmented silver and black shapes akin to his armored form. He could feel another wave coming, one he had to bring his mind back into focus to bring his disguise back in order. Focus. 

He wasn’t sure why that subject was bothering him more than usual. There was a strange feeling to it, one he just couldn’t put his finger on. Focus.

That convoy was just about finished loading up and ready to go. He slowly got up from his perch as he watched one vehicle after the other roll out of the compound.

“I wonder if you’re going to that nest one of my bugs found in the sewers?” He watched the direction they were heading. “And you’re bringing along one of those communication vehicles. Perfect. If that’s connected to your entire database, that’s less infiltration I have to do that may blow my cover.”

Stashing his binoculars away into himself, he took a few steps back. His feet dug into the concrete of the roof, causing several cracks to spread out, as his biomass shifted and stored kinetic energy. He then broke out into a blinding sprint, the first few steps tearing up a few chunks of the roof before he took one last spring of a step off the edge of the roof and soared.

——————————

Alex followed the convoy as they headed towards Lower Manhattan, making sure to steer clear of any UAV drones buzzing about.

A cordoned-off block, swiftly evolving into a “temporary” quarantine zone according to a few plastered signs.

Alex found a roof not too far away he could perch on. He brought out his binoculars again and scoped out the sight. 

“This must be new or has recently grown into a bigger problem.” He took note of the growing security as a few viral detectors were being set up while another group was inspecting the ladders and ropes set up on the enlarged sewer entrance. There was another group of armed soldiers head down an alleyway. He assumed they had made another entrance to go underground there.

“Ugh… Bloodtox. This must be bad.” He spotted an all too familiar modified US Military M270 MLRS that was now a Bloodtox Pumper. “I may just find out tonight if I’m still immune or not.”

He continued to scan the area. 

 “Think I can slip in if I act fast enough. Seen the new uniform enough times to mimic it, still need to grab a fresh one to copy it just right and get my hands on a radio. Let’s look like one of the grunts. Less questions.”

As his sight bounced from one soldier to another, with barely a thought, his body effortlessly shifted and twisted to look like one of the Blackwatch soldiers. 

“Hope they don’t ask questions with me missing a weapon…” He took one last look at the site. “Hm, think I know who to grab. The new officer uniform lacks a hood.” He spotted what he assumed was an Officer by one of the communication trucks relaying information over to another Officer who was barking out orders as the soldiers and scientists were about to go down.

With carefully plotted paths and dashes, he slyly made his way closer to the quarantined block, making sure to time his inhuman movements in such a way he wouldn’t catch the eye of any patrols on the rooftop or a stray drone buzzing by. He found himself on a rooftop adjacent to the alleyway he saw some soldiers go down earlier. Another entrance had been made. A few soldiers stood guard. Steam and a faint shimmering haze exited the hole.

“Distraction… Hm… yes. This may draw more attention, but should be enough. And have a few linger back so they can ‘sweep up’ the mess.” He didn’t have to raise a hand. Shifting his boot to the edge of the roof, a horde of his centipedes emerged from his flesh and skittered down the building, with a few falling into the trash piles below. 

The soldiers were oblivious to the small horde skittering towards them in the dim alleyway. It wasn’t until a few of them were about halfway up the pants of one did they finally reacted. The soldiers had enough sense to not shoot — themselves — and quickly knocked off the bugs as they swiftly backed up. With some distance made, they shot off a few rounds. Several bugs splattered into a spray of giblets before a tidal wave of more gushed forth, sweeping up the fallen.

“We’ve got a breach!” One soldier barked as they let loose a volley of shots.

Like moths to a flame, more soldiers came charging down the alley, taking aimed shots at the swarm. With a few signals, Alex had his centipedes strike at the soldiers a few times, mainly glancing bites, before having the mass back off as it “grew smaller” with each volley of bullets. The swarm broke into three before each darted down other alleyways. A round of curses sounded off from the soldiers, followed by reports of the breaches as they separated into groups and gave chase.

Waiting for the right moment, Alex stepped off the rooftop with a faint leap, before shifting all his mass downward, causing him to drop like a boulder. A blur slipped right past the last set of soldiers running by — like they would have noticed with them chasing down their skittering foes.

Slipping through the opening, just before he hit the sewer floor, Alex quickly shifted his mass, evenly distributing it through his body before releasing a burst of energy to change his trajectory, thrusting himself forward. He repeated the shift once more to adjust his angle and speed until his boots hit the ground and he came to a skidding halt.

He straightened himself up and tapped his boots against the ground before shaking his hands. “Been a while since I’ve had to do that. Missed it.” He let out a hushed laugh.

Head whipping back and forth to survey his surroundings, he sent a few signals to the centipedes on the run to scatter and go underground to meet back up with him as soon as possible. He sent out one last signal to the ones that were hidden to clean up all traces of Blacklight before returning to him.

 So far, he saw no signs of infection in this part of the tunnel. His vision and senses shifted, muffling most of the world as it all turned red. A faint viral trail unraveled before him.  He followed it.

Hm. His body trembled, taking in all shifting the information. Like old times. He could sense a large mass nestled deep underground. Sense that there was something large moving. He didn’t like that. Those cautious footsteps picked up in pace.

Shifting his senses back to “normal” he heard screeching, gunfire, and those all too familiar military barks. It sounded dire.

Alex came to the edge of the tunnel opening and pressed against a wall before peering in. Glowing red and yellow pustules lined the ceiling and walls of some old substation, all filled with malformed forms of infected, all encompassed by an ever-pulsating mass of red, glistening flesh and gore.

No Hunters yet, good. He thought as he examined the area. Or so he thought.

An inhuman screech of a roar followed by the harsh sounds of concrete being torn up and flesh tearing. The pained cries of a soldier had his eyes quickly following the source. He caught sight of the poor, bleeding soldier flying through the air towards his direction before crashing into the ground in a broken heap; their weapon clattered on a few feet ahead of them. Another roar had him find the source.

“Fall back! Fall back! Back to the main entrance! Team Alpha is deploying the Bloodtox and fans!”

There was a Hunter, more malformed than what Alex remembered a year ago, with several cancerous growths misaligning its spine, hounding the task force now down three men as those massive rending claws struck another slow soldier, sending them flying. Their body twisted around a broken generator.

“That’s not good.” He didn’t like the sight and didn’t want to test his Bloodtox immunity this soon. A few of his centipedes had come back and rejoined his mass. He sent out a signal to the others to find their way back topside, but to stay close. Best to keep them away from the gas. “But I may be able to use this chaos to my advantage.”

Hearing a faint groan and noticing some infected shifted from the mass, chasing the retreating soldiers down the tunnel. They were heading to that one soldier the Hunter had thrown earlier was still alive, if barely. Perfect.

Before the horde could finish the job, Alex dashed from his cover. Breaking out into a slide, he snatched the fallen soldier’s gun and made quick work of the infected who were closing in with precision shots. With them taken care of, he headed over to the soldier, grabbed their collar, and dragged them behind some debris. 

The soldier grabbed his arm, their grip was shaky but somehow still strong. “T-t-thanks. Get me back on my fu—”

A foot to the throat silenced him. “Sorry, it broke your skin.” Shifting his head ever so slightly, Alex saw some tears in the soldier’s armor. It was several layers thick, with vital areas reinforced, but even that didn’t stop the three angry slash wounds wrapping around their side. Blood was pouring from them, pooling around the soldier. It was miracle they weren’t deeper. With a shift of his vision, he could pick up the faintest traces of Redlight seeping into his wounds.”You’re infected.” 

“Impo—”

 Before the soldier could react, Alex shifted his mass just enough to smash their neck like it was a grape before they could even make a gargled gasp. Blood sprayed out. Several tendrils burst forth from his leg and made quick work, breaking down and integrating the soldier and their gear into him. He shuttered as a wave of memories hit him. Another bastard. They haven’t changed much. And it was better safe killing him with that hint of infection eating through their boosters. They assuaged the guilt.

As his body integrated the gear, he quickly tuned into the radio to check the situation. The team was down another man, but they were nearly at the entrance. Alpha team had made it back and had their own horde and Hunter problem, but the Bloodtox had been deployed. 

“Guess I’ll find out soon. Let’s see how good my acting skills are.” 

Fighting off a few infected, he checked his rifle, reloaded it, pilfered what he could from the other dead soldier, and headed to the action.

It didn’t take long for him to find that thick cloud of poison. His stride slowed down for just a moment before pushing forward. Every cell of his body shuttered as he passed through the curtain. He could feel it eating at him, flesh dying and necrotizing for just a few seconds before his body remembered what it had experienced and what it had newly learned before it quickly adapted to the formula and shunted it out.

Good. Good. Must be close to the original batch. But still need to be careful in the future. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. His vision split between Infrared and Infected, and his mind quickly separated the infected from the soldiers. A majority of the horde had slowed down once they had hit the cloud of death with most of the ground. The stronger variants trudged through it like the rabid animals they were looking to kill and spread. 

They’re going to need some help with those Hunters. The Bloodtox is slowing them down, but it’s not enough. Alex picked up the pace and began to fire aimed shots at the beasts.

“Hey! Watch your fire! Watch your fire!” Voice perfectly mimicking the dead, Alex barked as several bullets whizzed past him, with a few clipping him. 

“Imp?” The Officer sounded bewildered. “The fuck you still alive?”

Alex faked a few pained sounds and coughs. “Some broken ribs won’t put me down and I want to cave that damn freak’s skull in!” He let out a few more curses as he dodged around a few of the infected.

“Got him in my sights, sir.” Another soldier said. They saw their “fallen” friend moving towards them with a limp in his step, quickly gunning down any infected that came close. “Fuckin’ Impulsive!” They laughed.

“We survive this fucking mess and those boosters hold, I’m buying you a few rounds tonight.” The Officer said.

Alex laughed. “You’re on!”

As the last of the Walkers dropped, they all concentrated fire on their Hunter; the other team seemed to be fairing fine with their problem as someone brought along some heavy weaponry to cripple the beast.

Following squad tactics, and living up to the callsign of the man he was impersonating, Alex assisted the team in putting down the Hunter. It was a chaotic dance of letting loose a wall of bullets whilst dodging mad charges and rending claws. Alex even took a “hit” meant for a teammate but rolled out of the claw swipe just enough to make his continued survival believable. The other team swung around and with their heavy weaponry, they put down the Hunter.

“Vector! Take your squad and sweep that substation clean. Burn it. My teams thinned, taking the injured up, and will be back with fresh bodies.” The Officer barked to the other Officer. They acknowledged and ordered his men down the tunnel. The one with the flamethrower let off a few blasts.

The Officer went over to Alex, who was being assisted to his feet by another soldier. “Son of a gun.” He looked the man up and down, taking note of his appearance. Blood and other viscera caked him from head to toe. Several parts of his uniform and gear were tattered. And then those claw marks. The layers of reinforced armor ripped through like butter, revealing three searing angry wounds. The flesh still looked healthy, even with the blood still seeping blood. With a firm hand, he smacked Alex’s shoulder. Alex gave a pained grunt. “I’m still writing your bone-head up for breaking cohesion charging the damn thing.”

Alex let out a pained laugh. “It killed Striker, sir. Had to.” Shifting his rifle to one hand, he drew back and punched the Officer just around the collarbone, just enough to mask the pain of him injecting one of his centipedes. The Officer cursed and gave him a hard gut punch making Alex double over, “vomiting” in his mask.

“You’re still getting your beers minus two rounds, idiot. But good work.” The Officer said, rolling their shoulder. “Get him topside and to the doctors for a quick check-over. Same with you.” He ordered. 

While they headed topside, he lingered around a little longer, waiting for a few fresh soldiers and scientists to come down to secure the area. He watched the scientists grab their samples and take readings before they were escorted back topside.

The Officer cursed under their breath as they rubbed the spot Alex had punched earlier, swearing they would beat Impulse if he fractured his collarbone with that brick hand of his. That centipede was slowly making its way towards the Officer’s spine, causing some irritation along the way. Once along the spine, it attached itself with several tendrils and began to tap into the nervous system and its synaptic pathways. 

Let’s see what you know. Alex felt the centipede send him a signal it was burrowed deep and ready to trigger. He had to balance his signals carefully to not break his human mask as he let the medics and scientists examine him. With a mere thought, he had the centipede dig deeper and subtly take control of the Officer. They already had reports on their mind and he just guided them to that communications truck. Alex made sure to take note of his credentials and passwords used to log onto //BLACKNET for the future. He let the Officer send in a field report and a request for additional men before he subtly began to direct him to do some searches for Dana.

At first, the searches brought up information he already knew until he found a connecting link. ATHENA. An alias of an individual who was a minor thorn in Blackwatch’s side concerning everything that happened last year and was still happening. The alias was swiftly associated with Dana Mercer, but Blackwatch was not 100% sure it was just her and not a collective as Alex noticed several names of people they were keeping tabs on or seeking to silence. He quickly memorized them before refocusing on his sister. She was on that silence list. All the information he read explained the walls he had been hitting trying to find her. It seemed Dana had been jumping islands every few months when Blackwatch would close in on her. Smart. But it looked like they were closing in on her again. Her last known location was somewhere in the heart of Brooklyn. Then he finally saw a picture of her. 

Dana… Still the same, but somehow looking a little more put together. More… mature.

Alright, got the information. Delete these searches, go back to the reports and finish those up, log out, and loosen control for now. Alex thought as he let the centipede work before he loosened his control. He was still going through the motions of letting the medics work on him, carefully adjusting his nature to allow them to remove his gear and “respond” positively to the boosters they were giving to him to fight off the Redlight that lingered. Part of his brain was guiding those other lingering bugs in the area back into the sewers and through the Bloodtox to possess some of the fallen infected. The other part of his brain was processing the new information concerning his sister and the dangerous game she was playing. He knew he needed to find her fast before Blackwatch did or before she jumped islands again.

Hm… Not enough necrosis has eaten through the Walkers and those Hunter bodies are hardy as ever, even if malformed. We should give them a show? Don’t you agree? That whispered spoke. At first, he didn’t pay attention to it. It was just background noise he had to live it. But he felt a shift. Two larger minds connected to him. 

Alex’s eyes widened. Wait what—

Two thunderous roars caused the very ground underneath them to shake. The bark of gunfire erupted from the sewer entrance before it suddenly went dead silent. Several soldiers, guns at the ready, rushed to the entrance. A second later, the severed halves of a soldier flew out of the hole. Then a gnarled clawed hand emerged before slamming down into the pavement, tearing into it before a Hunter heaved itself up and out. The soldiers let loose, quickly backing up as the thing seemed undeterred by the gunfire. Several shambling Walkers emerged from the hole, bodies falling apart due to their extended time in the Bloodtox, and threw themselves at the soldiers, throwing the cohesion into chaos.

An Officer began barking out orders to protect the samples and kill the infected.

And he needs to shut up. The voice chuckled darkly. There was another shift within himself that made Alex freeze. Before he could react, he felt a part of him order that centipede within the Officer to strike.

In between barking orders and returning fire, the Officer went stock-still, rifle clattering to the ground, before they dropped into a heap. Their body began to twist into shapes that standard bones and ligaments couldn’t support as they violently convulsed. Another other Hunter soon pulled itself up and attacked the Bloodtox machine, knocking it aside and over and rupturing several tanks. Red, hateful clouds rolled out, spreading throughout the area.

 What the hell? I didn’t do that. Before Alex had a moment to process the chaos, the first Hunter tore into the tent where he was being treated. Bodies and equipment scattered.

This will hurt just a bit, but will clear us from suspicion. Play into it and concentrate. The worms will scatter once we’re gone. The voice whispered. He felt more shifts within against his will making his body more “solid.”

“Oh fu—”

A meaty claw swiftly wrapped around his bare chest, rending his back with deep gouges. Alex let out a pained grunt as he slammed a fist against the brick wall of an arm. It pulled him in close, roaring into his face before an unimaginable force caved his chest in with one hard squeeze. Alex gasped before all the air left his lungs. A horrendous pain radiated through his body. He had to use all his will to keep his disguise. His mind linked with the Hunter for just a second, allowing him to prepare for the second strike. Another squeeze and hard flick of its claw and it “snapped” his spine. He went limp — he was partially knocked out but held his form. The Hunter roared again before it pulled back and pitched his corpse far and high before turning its attention to the rest. More bodies to rend. More chaos to spread.

The fight didn’t last long once that other voice determined Alex was far enough from the fray. The centipedes made their exit and quickly disappeared to rejoin their host.

——————————

Alex was out for several hours, but some part of his body, whether it be instinct or something else,  had picked himself up and reconstructed itself before continuing on his mission. He hunted down a few more communication trucks across Manhattan for a few hours to do some more data digging — and somebody snatching — before the fallen Officer’s credentials were frozen.

With some more careful digging before the network was locked down, he found some more details concerning recent sightings of his sister and allies, narrowing it down to five potential apartments, ranging in habitability. The net was cast far and wide. He needed a way to narrow it down or else he would be searching for her all month. With that information, he started a new hunt before heading for Brooklynn. The names of those allies. Ones that had fresh kill orders.

[whispersafterdusk]

Two Heads are Better than One

It was such an unlikely problem that neither he nor Nero had considered it at first, which had they it would have saved them three days and roughly seven additional hours of troubleshooting.

The main steering column's gears, which they had sworn were made of pure alloys and couldn't possibly be contaminated with anything...was, in fact, contaminated with minute traces of iron - amounts so small that they had gone wholly undetected during the manufacturing process because its presence was masked by the other metals and, for whatever reason, had not properly integrated into the alloy itself.

Which, ordinarily, shouldn't have even registered as a problem it was such a minuscule amount.

However... When one considered that the tiny, tiny flakes of iron within those gears heated at different rates that meant that unexpected surface wear was happening on a level that couldn't be detected until finally they ran an analysis on the oil and found traces of magnetic particles.

Those were it. Those were the source of the damned steer-slip issue. Incredibly small magnetic particles that were coming loose from the column, getting caught up in the lubrication system, and being deposited at the universal joint where they were causing that ever-so-slightly-perceptible 'slip' in the steering. They'd finally, finally, pinpointed the damn issue.

Now that they had their culprit they needed to figure out the 'why' and 'how' because next they needed to determine where in the process things had gone wrong and allowed this to happen, but for tonight? Tonight they were both heading out for a well deserved drink - it had taken both their brains to get to the bottom of the mystery and to safeguard against this again would take new processes and possibly a new way to analyze their alloys (along with possibly changing merchants -- they couldn't risk this happening again, whether the contamination was knowingly sold or purely accidental).

He was going to make his drink a double. ((References prompt 1))