#plus my doc said I should train my wrists more

[beesinaskirt]

Someone: You wanted this thing for ages now, why dont you just buy it?

Me: *flashbacking to all the times I wanted smth and my mom told me "do you really need that tho", proceeded to complain about where I wanted to order and then what way I was going to pay for it and then lectured me about it being a waste of money and why I shouldn't buy it*

Me: Idk man

[wannabe-fic-writer]

Natasha Romanoff x Reader : Prove Me Wrong

Summary: She can trust you, even if she doesn’t know it yet.

Warning: 18+ Mental Health, Mentions of Death, Mentions of Violence, Smut

Chapter 2

****** 

Coffee. You use to drink it every morning but that became a bad combination with the wave of emotions you took on. In which you switched to tea. It doesn’t have the exact same effect as the coffee did but it worked perfectly in it’s own way.

Pouring the hot water on the teabag causes a swirl of transparent brown to fill the mug. The steam that rises warms your hand and you release a sigh.

Being distracted means you get startled when dishes start clattering behind you. You jump, spinning around to see who came into the kitchen without you noticing. Only to instantly relax when you see Steve and Rhodey.

“Hey guys.” You smile and wave.

Both men give you a smile and say good morning. 

A small conversation breaks out about some threat over in San Diego. Not knowing anything about it, and it being none of your business, you just fix your tea and a bagel while they chat. And when they’re done Steve is more than willing to get his session started.

Your last session with the man ended with him heartbreakingly sad. The topic of Peggy arising and being addressed.

He’d admitted to you that he considered going back. After Thanos, when he had the stones, he considered staying in the past to be with her. 

When you asked why he didn’t, he told you a number of things. Two important ones making the decision for him. One, when he found her, she was on a date with a man who would later become her husband. And two, despite his regrets over the past, he had things waiting for him in the future/present.

He had built friendships with Tony, Natasha, and Sam. And he had Bucky, his best friend since the beginning of time, or at least Steve’s time.

During this session you ask him how it felt to move on, not just from his second chance with Peggy but even before that, when he woke up from being frozen.

He’d started to tell you how hard it was and how he still doesn’t think he has. But he’s interrupted when his phone rings.

Much to your dismays, he has a mission he’s been called on and has to leave.

Before he walks out you stop him,“ you want some happy?” You seriously ask with a joking smile.

That’s how you’d described your powers to him, after he didn’t get the broader description the second time. You told him that you could take away his hurt and pain and give him happy.

Steve shakes his head,“ I’m good actually. Thanks though.”

Usually, with the busy schedules and occupied minds of the team, you have to go in search for your next patient. With Bucky you don’t. In fact you find him waiting just down the hall when you step outside your office.

Even though he wasn’t eager to be sharing his memories and feelings with you, he always made it a point to show up. You appreciated it.

You wave him over and he’s quick to walk down the hall. Bucky steps in behind you and sits on the couch as you shut the door. Despite the comfortability of the furniture he sits up straight, hands rubbing his knees.

When he glances up at you, you smile comfortingly. You sit in your chair, crossing your ankles as you hold on to your fresh cup of tea.

Like always, the super soldier remains nervously silent. It was a few sessions ago that you came to understand why. He isn’t nervous because of you, it’s the idea that he should know what he’s feeling and felt.

The man hasn’t processed an emotion properly in decades only to just recently be introduced to the concept of explaining his emotions. Plus the added anxiety of letting it all in.

Knowing he won’t be the first to speak you ask him,“ you want anything to eat or drink?” 

He’s quick to shake his head. Then looks directly in your eyes, for the first time today,“ do you, um, have any cracker jacks?” 

“I do actually, they’re in the cabinet to the left of the mini fridge.” 

After he’s gotten two boxes, he turns away, before grabbing a bottle of water and then going to sit. 

If it weren’t for Steve you wouldn’t have had any. The man said it reminded him of the “good old days,” getting cracker jacks when he went to see baseball games. Steve usually eats his with a Coke.

“Me and Steve use to buy a bunch of these and sneak them into baseball games. They were always cheaper at stores than the stadium.” 

A fond, nostalgic, smirk plays on his lips and you smile as well.

“Are you also a Dodgers fan? Steve spent our whole first session talking about them.”

When he chuckles you feel good about yourself and focus on his answer.

He nods,“ yeah, I like the Dodgers, but I think the Cubs are better. I used to like the Yankees simply out of loyalty to New York.”

“Do you not like the Yankees anymore?”

A sigh falls from his lips,“ no. They’re not the same. Then again, nothing else is either.” Before you can ask anything else he continues.“ I didn’t really know how to feel about missing decades of time. For a while I just pushed it aside, especially since I didn’t remember anything.”

His long pause makes you a little anxious. He’d started to open up without much from you and you didn’t want that to stop, you couldn’t help if he chose not to continue.

You ask,“ what changed?”

“Steve.” It’s a quick answer. Obviously he’s given this particular topic some thought.“ After my memories started to come back I realized I wasn’t alone in being so out of place. Steve missed just as much time as me and after I got better, after Thanos, it was nice to have someone to remember with.” 

Throughout the session you let him do most of the talking. Every so often he starts to shut down so you prompt him with an easy to answer question that seems to guide him into opening up even further.

By the time it ends, you’re incredibly happy with the progress. Seeing Bucky’s troubled and stressed expression drives you to asking him if he’d like you to take it away.

He was hesitant at first, you know it’s because of his experience with mind altering tricks. You assure him that it’s nothing like that. You don’t take his memories or thoughts away, essentially you pull everything he has to be happy about to the forefront.

Your powers aren’t permanent on anyone but it helps.

The man accepts and while he doesn’t leave with a bubbly smile on his face like Peter does, you can see that his eyes are lighter.

“Thanks for the chat Doc.” He smirks playfully when he mentions your title.“ And thanks for being patient with me.”

You shrug,“ thanks for letting me.”

After he’s left, you sit back down and finish off your tea. 

According to you schedule, your next patient should be Natasha, but that hasn’t been a thing for months.

You can’t help but wonder if it was something you’d done that made her not want to even try. Thinking about it, you’d done nothing but be kind to the woman, offering your help at first but then just telling her you would only listen if that’s what she wanted. Each attempt at reaching out failed miserably with the woman’s emotionless denial. 

One long glance at her name written in your notebook lit something in you and you knew you couldn’t just give up on her.

******

Natasha moves her body effortlessly. 

She uses attack combinations and take down moves that at, one point she thought was too hard to execute, without even thinking.

Which is good. If she, even for a second, allowed too many of her thoughts to break through she’d never stop. She’d become distracted and give her opponent too big a shot to take her down.

If she focuses on anything but doing these moves perfectly she’d fail and she can’t have that.

Yet another groan from the person underneath her causes a smirk to form on her lips. 

“Jesus Nat, we’re sparring you’re not trying to kill me.” 

She lets his wrist go and rolls off his back before offering him a hand.“ I think your retirement is setting in Barton.” She teases.

Rolling his eyes, he rubs his wrist,“ what? I’m in the best shape of my life.” The man mockingly pulls a karate pose.

Natasha laughs, making Clint smile widely. 

With him knowing her so well, it’s good to see the woman happy. Still he hears the heaviness in the laugh and knows that there may always be something holding her back from being genuinely, completely happy.

Part of him wonders if talking about everything would help her. He knows it helps him and he doesn’t miss the light air that’s seemed to encompass his other teammates lately.

Clint formed a greater appreciation for you over that fact. It was about time the team took a shot at healing themselves instead of ignoring their issues to fix the world’s. 

He wasn’t pleased, and still isn’t, to see his best friend so opposed to the help. Natasha is strong but she’s still human and holding everything in the way she does isn’t healthy. 

“Alright,” with yet another groan, he steps off the mats,“ I need to get home or I won’t have a good spot for movie night.” 

He salutes to Natasha’s wave, figuring the woman is going to be in the gym for a while. 

The door almost slams into him with the force that it’s thrown open. Stepping back, he just barely avoids getting hurt.

You stand on the other side, your determined expression slipping to one of shock when you realized you might’ve hit him.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t know you were right there, are you okay?” You rush out.

Chuckling, he nods,“ all good, didn’t even graze me. What’s got you in such a rush?”

As if remembering why you’re there, you go back to being determined.“ Is Miss Romanoff in here?”

“Uh, yeah, she’s over on the mats.”

Nodding with a smile, you march past him further into the gym. 

Clint presses himself against the wall with every intent to listen in, whether Natasha knows he’s there or not. 

The woman is already looking at you when you step into view, trained eyes watching your every move as you approach. An eyebrow quirking in question when you stop at the edge of the mats.

“You didn’t show to our session Miss Romanoff.” 

She’d never heard someone’s tone be equally as warm as it is accusatory. 

She makes no effort to reply.

Moving forward, you step on to the mat, her eyes flickering to your shoe covered feet, then back up to your eyes to see how close you are now. Far enough away to not be overstepping any boundaries but close enough for her to see the fire in your eyes.

Admittedly Natasha is fascinated with seeing the emotion in your eyes. Ever since you got here she’d seen nothing but your perky, optimistic, “everything is going to be alright” attitude. Like this, she feels as though she’s seeing a new, slightly intriguing side to you.

“I know exactly what game you’re playing Natasha,” the way you say her name nearly makes her shiver. She’s not intimidated, but she could be.“ I’m sure you sized me up and categorized me as a certain type of person the second I got here but I can tell you now you were wrong.”

Her head tilts in the slightest, amusement flickering through her eyes. 

You continue,“ I am not going to accept you giving up on yourself.” That right there erases the amusement. Her expression hardens.“ I don’t know anything about you but the fact that you actively avoiding coming to see me is very telling.”

For the first time, since maybe your third day here, Natasha speaks to you. And you’d be lying if you said her voice isn’t as sexy as it is scary.

“Whatever you think you’ve figured out, you haven’t. And this power move that you’re trying to pull isn’t going to work.” Despite her control over her words you feel the emotions pouring from her statement.

The agitation radiates off her and sets your powers alight, almost enough to make you back off. Until you feel it. The smallest, microscopic, bit of fear. It’s buried behind her annoyance with you, and a mountain of other things, but you feel it.

“This isn’t a power move Miss Romanoff. This is me letting you know I’m not giving up on you. I don’t know what it’ll take to get you to come to your sessions but I’m going to try everything I can until it happens.” She’s glaring now but that fear hasn’t left.“ Tony gave me your very detailed file,” she stiffens,“ but I didn’t read it.” Que her surprise.

Her frown this time is a mix of curiosity and annoyance.

“When you come to see me I want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to think I see you as whoever is on those papers. You will simply be Natasha Romanoff and I will accept whatever you’re willing to give.” You smile softly at the woman and step away.“ I’ll schedule you to come see me on Friday’s, that day is free for me so I will have more than enough time to chat. And you can try avoiding but I will come find you.”

Not leaving even an inch of room to argue, you turn and leave, giving Clint a little goodbye on the way.

It’s quiet for a moment. Natasha and Clint both processing what just happened. Clint gets it first and steps around the corner to look at his best friend.

“I didn’t want to push you into seeing her but after that,” he puffs out some air,“ I think it would be really good for you to go see her. She obviously cares, if that whole thing was to go based off of. She just wants to help, at least let her try.”

With one final smile, he leaves.

Standing on the mats, Natasha thinks. 

You were right. She did categorize you as the type of person who would just accept that she wasn’t coming. And if what you just did was any evidence, she was wrong.

******

taglist: @username23345 @muffliat-o @nat-km-mh 

[geniedocroe]

ONLY YOU

(eugene roe X reader)

wc: 2000

request:

being involved in the war was never ideal to you. however after fleeing from france to america in may of 1941, you thought you would be safe. you knew that you wanted to help people but you didn’t know how. becoming a medical assistant wasn’t your brightest idea but it would have to do. you were surprised that they even let you in the military. helping american soldiers would be your calling. you knew it was what you had to do.

when you arrived in georgia it was clear that you were the only female in your company. that terrified you. however, you didn’t have much time to fret because you were almost immediately introduced to the medic that you would be assisting. now he made you feel a little less terrified. and he had nothing against you being female. he was actually very kind.

you had followed a man into the “medic building” when you first arrived at camp toccoa. inside was a very pale man with incredibly dark hair. once he saw you, he stopped what he was doing and stood to greet you. you were intimidated at first because of how tall he was. he towered over you. you timidly stretched your hand out to shake his.

“doc, this is your new medical assistant.” the man that escorted you to the “medic building” stated. you thought he had a very funny accent. when you asked him about it, he said he was from philadelphia. you didn’t have a clue where that was but you also didn’t catch the mans name.

“thank you.” doc said to the funny accent man. the two of you watched your escort leave before doc turned to you. “my name is eugene.”

“y/n.”

“nice to meet ya. what do you think of guarnere?”

“huh?” you looked at eugene with a dumbfounded expression.

“guarnere . . .” eugene motioned to the shrinking figure of the funny accent man.

“his name?”

“yes.” eugene gave you a quizzical look. “you aren’t american?”

“no, no. um . . . france?”

“you’re from france?”

you nodded hesitantly.

“pourquoi es-tu ici?” he asked you in perfect french.

why are you here?

“ma maison n'est plus en sécurité. ma famille a été tuée mais je me suis échappé. je suis là pour aider.”

my home isn’t safe anymore. my family was killed but i escaped. i’m here to help.

he could read the shock on your face when you realized he spoke french. he felt sorry for you. fleeing your home could never be easy.

“je suis désolé.”

i’m sorry.

“for what?” your french accent was strong as you spoke. “you did none.”

eugene’s gaze shifted to the floor. he thought you seemed nice and he was glad that you would be his assistant. he knew you wanted to help people. the soldiers of easy company were lucky to have you. both of you.

———

after jumping into normandy you had unfortunately lost easy company. without you they were having trouble. they were having trouble because eugene was so worried about you. every couple of minutes he was asking someone if they had seen you and the answer was always no. some soldiers had tried to reassure him but it was no use. it was like he had lost his other half.

you were not having a great time to say the least. you had landed in a tree and slashed open your leg. you quickly patched it up with shaky hands before climbing down from the huge tree. you definitely had a visible limp. a part of you knew there was scratches on your face but it didn’t hurt enough for you to care.

you felt like you had been limping around for hours when you came across someone you recognized. joe liebgott. you weren’t close with joe and you didn’t think you ever would be but you were tired of being alone. if you were being honest you were a terrified of joe. after the fight he had with the funny accent man (bill guarnere) on the boat, you strayed away from the other men.

the only other man you liked (apart from eugene) was donald malarkey. he was always very kind and there for you when you seemed uncomfortable. he had tried to get you to warm up to the other men but failed. you were very shy and perfectly fine with two men being close to you.

“flash!” liebgott whispered, pointing his gun in your direction.

“thunder!” you responded quickly. joe immediately shifted his gun to the ground.

“doc y/l/n?” he questioned.

you nodded and stepped forward hesitantly. you wished eugene was around but he wasn’t. joe was scanning you for injuries and you did the same to him.

“your leg . . . you were limping.” joe pointed out.

“i am okay.” you said slowly. everything you said in english sounded like a question because you didn’t understand the stupid language. “you . . . are not injured?”

“i’m just trying to find easy company. come with me. i think i’m getting close.”

you reluctantly followed the intimidating man. you were struggling to keep up because of your limp. besides joe was a lot bigger than you so it made sense for him to move faster. occasionally joe would glance back at you to make sure you hadn’t fallen too far behind but you never noticed him doing so. you were to wrapped up in your head.

by the time the two of you found most of easy company your leg was burning. you knew you had a gash but you didn’t know how deep it was. when you had patched yourself up the first time it had been very dark but you did the best you could. however, as you sat on the floor, pulling up the bottom of your pants you could see the blood seeping through what you had previously done. before you could even pull away your bandage, eugene came running over. he didn’t even say anything to you. he took one look at you leg and sat down next to you. your hands were already covered in blood from messing with the bandage so when he slapped yours away, the blood transferred to his own hands. little did you know that your hands wouldn’t be free of blood for a long time.

you watched as eugene quickly stitched up your leg and bandaged it back up. you winced every time the needle pierced your skin. it was a very uncomfortable feeling so you decided to focus on something else. for a minute or so your eyes followed passing soldiers. your gaze soon shifted to studying eugenes face. suddenly all the pain in your leg faded away. you never noticed how much you liked eugenes face. in some weird way it calmed you. apparently you spaced out as eugene finished applying the bandage because soon he was looking up at you. he didn’t say a word as he stated back at you until you snapped out of your daze.

“done?” you glanced down to your leg and back up to eugene’s face.

“uh . . . yeah. don’t put too much pressure on it. you might make it worse.” eugene stated, eyes still trained on your face. you gave him a puzzled look. eugene’s accent made it difficult to understand him sometimes. he often had to repeat or explain things to you. “rest.”

“medic!” someone yelled towards the two of you.

“how do i rest here?” you asked, using eugene’s arm for assistance. you knew this is how things would be. how could you rest when others need your help?

a soldier had fallen onto a sharp rock. it had pierced his abdomen. there was a large wound where flesh should have been. the other soldiers watched as you and eugene worked quickly. it put a lot of pressure on you but you did what you needed to do. in the end the soldier couldn’t be saved. knowing that you failed at saving someone’s life weighed down on you.

eugene wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you away from the corpse. blood stained your hands. nothing could take away how much guilt you felt in your gut. that soldier would never be returning home to his family and it was because you couldn’t save him. you didn’t know how eugene felt but you were sure it was the same as you.

eugene shared some words with a few other men. you trailed after him, gripping onto his arm. you were always following him around. that wasn’t anything new. when eugene spoke with bill guarnere and joe toye you shrunk back a bit. they were tough men and they scared you.

“are you okay?” guarnere asked, motioning to your leg.

you nodded slightly and hid behind eugene’s shoulder, hand still wrapped around his forearm. your small frame was completely hidden behind him. toye and guarnere gave each other an odd look before thanking eugene for whatever he had done and began to walk away. you now stood beside eugene. your hand was creeping closer and closer to his. you didn’t know if you wanted to hold it or not. why would you anyways? eugene had to have been thinking the same thing because he shook your hand off his wrist and took it into his own. the two of you shared a smile before hearing shouts for a medic once more.

———

war was tough. there was no doubt about that. people died everyday but it was different because now you had to save them. it had definitely taken an emotional toll on you. your heart constantly felt heavy. you didn’t know how to feel. occasionally it felt like you were back in france, trapped in a prison of your own fear. other times it felt like you were back in camp toccoa, dreaming of what life would be like without war. you couldn’t help but dream of how things would be when the war ended. where would you go? who would you know? you couldn’t even begin to imagine how difficult life would be. a part of you counted on eugene. you hoped you could go wherever he was going after the war.

eugene had realized very quickly that he was always gonna want you around. he appreciated every moment with you and honestly he knew he had fallen in love with you. every single thing about you was perfect to him. even your flaws. he loved your accent, the way you followed him around, how you could calm someone with just one touch . . . you truly were an angel.

you couldn’t help but feel the same way about eugene. he would lay down his life for a lot of people and you admired that. he did what he could to please everyone and when it wasn’t enough it was okay. he was so nice to you. he had been quick to become your friend. you truly did love him. you loved him from head to toe. and somehow . . . he knew it.

“y/n?” eugene asked, sitting down beside you.

you didn’t look your best. the events of bastogne and foy truly messed you up. every inch of you was caked in blood and dirt. nearly everything made you jump. your hands had bern shaking since guarnere and toye lost their legs. eugene placed his hands on top of your own. the shaking was driving him crazy.

“oui?”

yes.

“je t’aime.”

i love you.

“je t’aime aussi.”

i love you too.

the two of you shared a radiant smile. your smile had been vacant from your face for too long and eugene was glad to be the one that brought it back. he brought you back. maybe you did know what you would be doing after the war. maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

@kyra3155

[broke-n-bitchy]

Wicked Dreams

Part Three

Nikki Sixx / OC 

http://broke-n-bitchy.tumblr.com/post/184255512272/wicked-dreams Part One 

http://broke-n-bitchy.tumblr.com/post/184267030842/wicked-dreams Part Two

-

Part Three

Warnings: Drinking, drugs, alcohol, cursing, shit gets a lil steamy 

Nikki Sixx / OC

-Lucy’s POV-

It had been three weeks since that day at the studio, we kicked off the tour last weekend. But the beginning was fucking brutal, and amazing at the same time.

My band and I busted our asses every single day, fifteen hours a day, perfecting our performances until we got it right. We sounded good, but it was the pizazz that Doc was worried about. Seeming as Motley Crue always put on a show that people would always remember, their opening band had to not be absolutely boring.

None of us minded, though. We got our chance, we took it and we gave everything we had to get here. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I have a lot of things I miss. But this? This was different. 

We’ve also been getting along extremely well with everyone, see, I grew up with my cousin and when we were in high school, he was always in trouble. There were countless moments when I had to cover for him. So, the fact that Motley Crue was insane, meant they all got along very quickly.

I, however, enjoyed my quiet time every now and then. I mean, I loved my band, they’re my brothers. My family. But I’m the only girl on this tour and I liked a little time to myself.

It was always ruined, though.

“LUUUCYYYY!” I heard screaming outside of the tour bus and I looked up from the music lyrics I was going over for a possible new song.

“What the hell?” Standing up, running outside and busting out the door, I saw my lead singer, Alex, running past me butt ass naked. Vince was behind him, also naked.

“Why are you guys’ naked!?”

“We burned them in the trash can in the lobby! The COPS ARE CHASING US! LET US IN!”

We have been stopped off at this hotel room for not even ten fucking minutes. Doc was still getting our rooms signed in and set up.

Without responding, because honestly, I had no words. I stepped back into the bus and left the door in so they could run inside.

Sitting back down, and refusing to even look up for a second, I jogged a few more things down before closing my journal and shoving it into my bag.

“Hey, give me some of that,” I mumbled as Nikki followed behind shortly with a bottle of Jack in his hand, but without giving him a chance to answer, I snagged the bottle and took a few swigs. Feeling the burning sensation flow down my throat, and sighing in relief, he snatched it back.

-Nikki’s POV-

It’s been three weeks getting to know System Insomniac, and honestly, the guy’s were pretty cool. So was Lucy, she was a pretty good musician, not to mention she was hot. But the only thing was that every night, after getting off stage, she’d grab her smokes and her booze and just go back to her hotel room.

It was weird, she never partied. Everyone else did, hell, even Doc joined us a few times. Not to mention she always looked so fucking serious and was always writing shit down, I’ve never seen her relax once.

“Get your own.” Grumbling in frustration, I took my bottle back.

“Alex drank it all.” She retorted without looking up, I wish she would. Her eyes, goddamn. For some reason, I couldn’t get them out of my fucking head and it was annoying.

“Alright, I’m going to go to my room and take a shower. See you guys later.”

We were off for the night and our show wasn’t until tomorrow, so me and the guys were about to head out and party. Which, thank god. I’m out of blow.

“Hey, wait-” Grabbing her by the wrist, she turned to face me, there they were. I lost my train of thought for a second.

“What’s up?” She questioned, and snapping out of it, “Uh, we’re all going out, even your band. Why don’t you come and join us? I promise you, it’ll be a good time.”

I know she can handle her alcohol, she always has a flask tucked in her boot or bra, if not just carrying around the bottle itself. So, why didn’t she ever just come with us?

She hadn’t answered yet but she gently moved her hand over mine and removed it from her wrist, her brows were furrowed together and her nose was slightly scrunched, I noticed it did that when she was thinking.

Lucy always had something on her mind.

“Um, sure. But I’m still going to go get changed and freshen up.” She had finally agreed. And with that, she turned around, walked off the bus and headed into the hotel. Ryder, Sami, and Tommy all stepped onto the bus to grab their bags,

“Hey man, your cousin finally agreed to go out with us,” I told Sami while stepping off of the bus myself, taking a swig out of the bottle before passing it to Tommy while they followed behind.

“I don’t know why she hasn’t been coming out with us before, she was insane in high school. Never home, on benders, hardly ever sober. Hell, she’s still hardly ever sober. She just coops herself up. Even before we got here, she partied harder than we did. I guess she’s taking the tour a little too seriously.” Sami confided in me about his younger cousin. I thought it was kind of weird how they lived together since kids, and how they’re now in a band. But then again, that might be because I don’t really have any family of my own except for my bandmates, my brother’s.

“Hm,” I couldn’t help but smirk. Lucy used to party, I knew she fuckin’ had a wild side. Maybe I can help bring it out of her tonight.

We headed to our rooms, I changed into some leather pants, a halfway buttoned-down shirt, and put some cologne on before stepping out.

The guys’ were waiting for me in the lobby and I picked my head up to see Lucy coming out as well.

She was wearing this backless tight little black dress. Goddamn. Her hair was down in curls, her little feet were actually in a pair of heels. I was teasing her the other day about how my heels were higher than hers, I didn’t think she owned a pair. She always wore sneakers or boots.

But Lucy looked fucking gorgeous, no, not just gorgeous, she was sexy. Curvy in all of the right places.

“Hey,” She smiled once she saw me, “Ready?” She asked me and I nodded at her, “Cool, let’s go.”

“You look hot,” I blurted out, I was gonna tell her she looked beautiful but my mouth had other things to say.

“Why thank you, Sixx, you don’t look so bad yourself.” She winked before walking past me and I quickly followed behind her, watching her hips sway back and forth while my eyes trailed down to what I can only describe as a smackable ass, gazing upward to the flawless, fair skin on her back and that’s when I noticed it. She had a tattoo right below her left shoulder blade. All I saw was the petals of a rose, I wonder what the rest looked like.

-Lucy’s POV- 

It had been about half an hour since we’ve gotten to the party, I didn’t know anyone here except the people I came with. It smelled like alcohol and sweat in here, music blasted throughout the place. I think we were at someone’s house? I’m not sure.

Everyone had disappeared so I don’t know where anyone is, I was standing in the kitchen, making myself another drink. Originally starting off with a few beers, it got boring, so I figured some hard liquor would help me loosen up.

There was a bottle of scotch, I couldn’t pronounce the name on it so it must’ve been expensive. Pouring some into a glass and taking a sip, “Oh my god, that’s so fucking smooth.” Finishing off the glass before just setting it down and taking the bottle, I made my way towards a different room.

“Hey, Lucy! Come do a bump with me!” I heard Tommy yell over the music, him and Nikki were settled next to each other on a couch, Tommy had his arm wrapped around some redheaded chick, and Nikki was leaning back with some brunette leaning into his ear.

Nodding, I made a Beeline over there and nestled myself between Tommy and Nikki, I’ve never snorted anything before unless you counted nasal spray.

I did party, a lot. But my extent was drinking, weed, and the occasional happy pills.

“I’ve never done blow before,” I told Tommy as he handed me the same dish I saw Nikki with on the first day I met them, even lines of blow spread across and there was a little black straw.

“I can show you,” Tommy said but I shook my head, “It’s just shit going up my nose, can’t be that hard.” I shrugged, sometimes I was too independent for my own good.

Leaning forward, I placed the straw barely in my nostril and placed the other end over the beginning of a line, snorting until I reached the end of it.

Handing the plate over to the redhead, she had her hand out for it, I waited a moment before wrinkling my nose and sneezing four times in a row. Everyone started laughing at me.

“Fuck you guys.” I flipped them off before picking up my bottle, tilting my head back as I chugged. My eyes were watering a little from the blow and this scotch was helping me feel better in every way. Plus, I think the drugs were starting to hit.

“Whoo! Thank you, Tommy,” Wrapping my arm around his lanky shoulders, I gave him a little squeeze,

“You’re welcome!” He responded, but then Nikki smacked his arm.

“You should be thanking me because I’m the one fuckin’ who fuckin’ paid for it!” Nikki told me, I turned to look at him, I didn’t deem him for a touchy-feely person unless it was with his girl for the night. But, I wrapped my arms around him anyways, “Thank you, doll.” I told him before leaning back, crossing one leg over the other. I fell quiet, taking a swig out of my bottle before Nikki snatched it from me.

He took a drink, “Shit, that’s good.”

“Fuckin’ right? I love scotch. I love scotch more than I love myself, but I checked the label, 500 dollars. That’s worth more than my car.” I randomly babbled, oh yeah, I got chatty when I was buzzing.

“Well, maybe if you’re nice to me I’ll get you another bottle later on,” Nikki said while making eye contact with me, I tilted my head to the side. I was always nice, a little sarcastic but never rude.

“I am nice,” I responded, a little confused. 

“That’s not what I meant,” His free arm snaked around my waist and tugged me closer, the brunette on his right was giving me a deathly glare. I leaned in, tilting his chin upward until my face was barely centimeters away from his. I wouldn’t deny it, Nikki was fucking hot. His hair was messy and his makeup from yesterday’s show was faded across his cheeks, his lips were taunting me, and his cologne was fucking intoxicating. My eyes trailed from his down towards his bare chest as I licked my lips before meeting his eyes with my own again, “Never going to happen, Sixx.” And with that, I shoved him back, giggling to myself.

“We’ll see about that, Lovelace.” His voice was right in my ear, whispering to me while his fingers trailed ever-so-tenderly down my back. Fuck.

“I need some fresh air,” I said quietly before getting up, making my way outside so my entire body wouldn’t feel like it was going to burst into flames.

Nikki had a different girl with him every night, I wasn’t about to be another one on the list. It was never going to happen.

Or was it?

@slowandangry @rxsesinjune @fandomshit6000 @knightwhosaysnii @prettysureimgayxo @carmineharry @triplehaitches

[nitewrighter]

Do you have any Mchanzo fluff? Love the way you write Nite,がんばり続ける❤💙

Thank you!!! I hardly ever get requests for them and I’ve been meaning to continue my “Hanzo on the Watchpoint” fics.

…I guess this is less “Fluff” and more of “Two Grown-ass dudes realize they have a lot in common in regards to their fucked up lifestyles and weird combinations of flightiness and devotion to their families.”

This fic takes place after Take 2 but before A Conversation.

—-

It was 2230 hours, and the Watchpoint was in the midst of shutting down for the night. The mess hall was cleaned up and locked up. The training grounds were dead silent. Bastion and Orisa were running their evening patrols, ever the vanguards with Omnics not needing sleep. Mercy was still hard at work in her lab, of course, with Genji hanging around and helping drain her coffee to make sure she made it to bed at a semi-human hour as he was wont to do. Sleep, however, was a precious resource on the watchpoint, and one the agents of the reformed Overwatch had to take advantage of when they had the chance, and they were more than happy to with the previous night’s interruption.

After a lengthy tour of the Watchpoint, Hanzo was relieved to see his sleeping arrangements weren’t in a cell like the night before, however his new arrangements he also found questionable. 

Hanzo folded his arms, staring at the bed. “Is this really necessary?” he said, looking up from the bed.

“Somethin’ wrong with it?” said McCree, leaning against the wall next to the stairwell, “I mean you could ask Genji and the doc if you could crash on their couch–I’d love to see the Doc’s reaction to that.”

Hanzo remembered the coldness in Mercy’s eyes and the tautness of her voice from earlier that day and suppressed a shudder. “No, no I am willing to sleep down here.”  He gave a skeptical glance to another bed in the opposite corner of the Watchpoint dormitories, the walls surrounding it plastered with newspaper clippings and a tattered ‘Six Gun Killer’ poster.

“’Fraid that bit’s non-negotiable,” said McCree, walking over to his own bed, “Me being your probationary agent all. Plus I’ve already been sleeping down here.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Watchpoint apartments didn’t feel right. Felt like I’d just trash the place on my own, to be honest,” said McCree with a shrug.

“Also minimalist. Easy to leave if you have to,” said Hanzo, glancing over at the few possessions McCree kept near the bed.

“Well y’know, if the Watchpoint itself ever gets compromised..” said McCree.

“You also positioned it so that you have a clear vision of the exits,” said Hanzo.

“Well that’s just common sense,” said McCree.

“…You’ve been on the run as well,” said Hanzo, looking over at McCree.

“I did mention the bounty on my head earlier, didn’t I?” said McCree.

Hanzo blinked. “To be honest, I had forgotten. I was just… noticing the signs,” said Hanzo.

“There go the backhanded compliments again,” said McCree folding his arm.

“You picked a dormitory where you were able to act the quickest when there was an infiltrator,” said Hanzo.

“Well you were the infiltrator,” muttered McCree.

“First to defend it, but easiest to leave it,” Hanzo said a bit mindlessly.

“Did I ask you for a psychoanalysis based on my sleeping situation?” said McCree, folding his arms.

“Should we not get to know each other if you’re going to be my ‘probationary agent?’” Hanzo arched an eyebrow.

“Well you could ask, like a normal person. Not play Sherlock Ass-Holmes.” McCree muttered under his breath before walking over to his own bed and taking off his hat and serape.

“You’re going to sleep already?” said Hanzo.

“Well as you recall, last night someone got everyone on the watchpoint up at three in the goddamn morning so he could attack two of our agents and yell at the rest of us like a nutjob. Orisa’s fine, by the way, thanks for asking.”

“The security drone?” said Hanzo.

“Her name is—Ugh,” McCree rubbed his forehead. “We’re all just background noise to you, ain’t we? You’re just here so you can stop kicking your own ass over Genji, and then you’re going to dip, and us, the people who care about Genji, the people Genji cares about, mean jack shit–That’s the deal, ain’t it?”

“I don’t know,” Hanzo’s voice was low.

“Well, figure it out before you hurt him again,” said McCree, taking off his shirt.

“I will try,” said Hanzo. McCree’s back was to him as he undid his belt, set the belt aside, and unceremoniously shuffled out of his pants. Hanzo noted the point on his arm where the metal of the prosthetic ended and the remains of his organic arm began. An image flashed in his mind of the bloody stump of Genji’s arm, the red stain eking across the tatami, the sound of Genji struggling to breathe echoed in his ears. Panic clawed at the interior of Hanzo’s chest. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be here. Run. He had to run.

“Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer,” said McCree. Hanzo was suddenly thrust back to reality, his breath catching in his throat. McCree was standing in front of him in just a tank top and a pair of briefs and Hanzo immediately cast his eyes downward from the sheer whiplash of his mental image and the physical one before him.

“Sorry, I was just… thinking,” said Hanzo. He gestured at McCree’s arm. “How did that happen?”

McCree looked at his own prosthetic arm. 

“It was during the disbandment,” he said with a shrug, “Pretty shortly after I ditched… I guess maybe a part of me was still assuming I’d have a team at my back when… I didn’t,” he brought his arm down, “But that was on me.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hanzo.

“Eh. I’m pretty used to it at this point,” said McCree. 

McCree didn’t seem to want to go further into details than that, so Hanzo let the subject drop. 

“Welp, better settle in for the night. I guess Winston and Jack’ll have a better idea for what you can do here tomorrow.” McCree slouched down onto his own bed and picked up a pair of reading glasses and a well-worn paperback, lighting a small lamp clipped to the headboard of his own bed and reading. Hanzo wasn’t sure if he was making a big show of reading out of politeness to give him some space to disrobe for bed, or if this was just part of his own nightly rituals, then again, Hanzo was becoming increasingly aware of how much of a disruption his own presence was. Hanzo had folded his own clothes and set them on the footlocker at the foot of his own bed when he glanced over to see McCree still reading.

Probationary agent, Hanzo realized, He can’t let himself fall asleep before me.

McCree’s eyes flicked up from the page of his book at Hanzo, made eye contact, then calmly flicked down again. A still-spiteful part of Hanzo considered staying up as late as he possibly could, wearing the cowboy out physically and mentally. in retribution for the beatings sustained from the night before, but as Hanzo sat down on the mattress and felt it sink slightly with his weight, that desperate survivalist part of him said, They won’t kill you. Not yet. Sleep while you can in case they change their minds later.” He also knew sleep would put more distance between him and the residual nausea from being sleep-darted the night before. Hanzo’s eyes warily flicked back at McCree again. 

McCree licked a finger and turned a page and Hanzo laid down and pulled the sheets over himself. As soon as he was laying down, an exhaustion washed over him, his body leaping at the opportunity to make up for years and years of nights awake to the gray hours of dawn, kept going only by adrenaline, spite, and a desire for redemption. That same spite and stubbornness though, kept his eyes fixed on the cowboy, still reading his stupid little book, looking far older than he actually was with those reading glasses. He could stay up later than the cowboy. He knew he could. He could definitely, absolutely–

McCree glanced up from his book to see Hanzo had fallen asleep. McCree closed his book, took off his glasses, set both on the footlocker and turned off the lamp. 

Maybe it was a blessing that the night terrors only really kicked in at 5 AM.

McCree woke up to muttering in Japanese, the sound of Hanzo talking jerked him awake, and it took a few seconds for the haze of sleepiness to lift slightly for McCree to realize Hanzo was still in bed. McCree slid out of bed, his bare feet padding across the cold concrete floor of the watchpoint dormitories over to where Hanzo slept. McCree took a knee next to Hanzo’s bed as Hanzo continued muttering and thrashing in his sleep. That grayish-blue dawn light was lighting up the stairwell, and in its dimness McCree could make out beads of sweat glistening on Hanzo’s forehead, shoulder, and at the dip of his collarbone. Hanzo was on the edge of hyperventilating, his eyes squeezed shut, his knuckles white with his sheets in a death grip. He muttered something in Japanese again and his breath suddenly quickened and he flinched and tossed and turned.

McCree took a deep breath.

“Han–” he started and Hanzo suddenly flinched awake hard and moved to strike him on pure reflex. McCree managed to catch his wrist in his prosthetic and there was a half-beat where Hanzo was moving to counter, still on reflex, when McCree spoke and Hanzo barely managed to stop himself, “Easy!” he held Hanzo’s wrist, “Easy…”

Hanzo was still breathing rapidly, his eyes flicked around the dormitory, and then flicked to McCree, and then flicked to his wrist caught in McCree’s hand.

“Are you gonna hit me if I let go?” said McCree.

“No–” Hanzo seemed to be getting his breath under control, “No–I–I’m sorry.” 

McCree released his wrist. “Look, wherever the hell you were, you’re not there anymore,” he said, “You’re here now, you hear me? You’re here.”

Hanzo rolled his wrist, before looking back up at McCree.

“Do you need to talk about it?” asked McCree.

“I… not now,” said Hanzo. 

“All right,” said McCree, getting up to his feet.

A long pause passed between them.

“Nothing to say?” said Hanzo.

“What can I say? I’ve been through that shit and it sucks. Genji went through that shit and it sucks. It’s hard to see anyone go through that shit. No matter how much of an asshole they are.”

“It’s a torment well-deserved,” said Hanzo, wiping some of the sweat off of his forehead with a frown.

“Oh for fuck’s–There’s no ‘deserve’ about this shit, Hanzo. Genji wants the two of you to try and put what’s left of your family back together, try and heal from all that Yakuza shit. If you’re just gonna lie down and take the shit your brain hands you, how’s that going to help anyone?”

Hanzo was quiet.

McCree huffed. “Look, we don’t need to go opening up cans of worms right away at…” he glanced over his shoulder at the clock, “…5 in the morning…” he sighed, “But my point is I don’t think you’re here so you can keep doing the… up-your-ass stoic thing you’ve been doing to stay alive the past…”

“Decade,” said Hanzo.

“Decade,” McCree repeated incredulously. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, half the watchpoint’s going to be up in an hour anyway, you want to sleep in more, or should I pick the lock on the mess hall and fix us some eggs?”

Hanzo’s stomach growled. Admittedly the aftereffects of the sleep dart had killed his appetite for most of the previous day, but the prospect of actual food was welcome at this time. And it might provide a bit of mental distance from the nightmares. 

“I can fix my own breakfast,” said Hanzo, grabbing his folded clothes off of his footlocker.

“Yeah, but I fix the best breakfast,” said McCree.

“Is that a challenge?” said Hanzo, pulling his pants on.

“Genji did say you were competitive…” said McCree with a wry smirk, “It’s me being nice, asshole.”

“Yes, I could tell by the ‘asshole.’” said Hanzo.

“Come on,” McCree pulled on his own pants and shirt. “Let’s get some food. Winning omelette cook doesn’t have to do dishes?”

“I hope you enjoy doing dishes, cowboy,” said Hanzo, ascending the stairs after him.

[diinofayce]

Like A Whisper In The Night - 7

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC | Word Count: 4,904 | Warnings: Swearing, drinking, more swearing | Songs: After Midnight & Whiskey Fever by Dorothy | GIF: Dorothy Martin from Dorothy | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Layne sat next to Bucky in a black armored car in the parking lot of First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. She looked out the window at the black painted building a let out a shaky breath, smiling softly when she felt Bucky’s metal fingers trace along the knuckles of her hand in comfort. The bricks were covered in silver painted stars, the names of performers who graced the iconic stage written in big black letters in the stars. One large golden star stood out from the rest, PRINCE written in the middle and purple flowers taped to the wall, a candle sat undisturbed on the ground below it.

It had taken Layne two days to call in all her favours and make a solid mission plan before they could come out. Clint, Natasha, and Steve were working security and bartending at The Myth fifteen minutes out of town. Wanda, Vision, and Loki were at The Pourhouse eight blocks down. Sam, Tony, and Bucky were with Layne at First Avenue. Marcus, the owner of First Avenue and Seventh Street Entrance, called for a big price when Layne called him up. They had a night with no band and a Dorothy reunion would sell out the venue. It didn’t matter that she said that her employer, Tony Stark, was the VIP; Marcus was a man who always got what he wanted. This forced Layne to bite the bullet and call up the best friend and bandmate that she abandoned without a word. Layne did a lot of apologizing, a lot of crying, and then spent a whole three extra hours catching up with her guitarist like they had been speaking every day since Layne left. The band agreed to get back together for the show and First Avenue indeed sold out, causing Marcus to close Seventh Street so that he could have enough staff on First Avenue.

And that’s what puts us in this dingy parking lot that was already housing a large beat-up red pickup truck that had the tailgate open and amps ready to be brought in. “Those idiots are going to get their shit stolen like last year,” Layne grumbled unlocking her door and stepping unceremoniously into the freezing Minnesota wind. Despite it being almost March the city was still frigid, icy, and blanketed in a thick layer of snow.

“At least it’s cleaner than New York,” Layne heard Sam say from his and Tony’s car behind her. “About as dreary, though,” Bucky replied. “Who the fuck uses the word ‘dreary’ in real life?” Sam shot back.

Their bantering was lost on Layne as she stood staring at the open doorway to the back of the club. A woman in her mid-forties came stomping outside. Bucky and Sam silenced instantly and Tony lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at her. She was all tits and ass in a tiny black tank top with a Harley Davidson leather coat, ripped up black skinny jeans and high heeled motorcycle boots. Her red hair rivaled Natasha’s and was swept back into a red bandanna. Her persona oozed power and control and dared everyone in her path to fuck with her, no seriously, please fuck with her.

“Now, I know that trash bag, Layne Hardin, did not just step out of some foreign piece of shit that costs more than my house.” The bark that came from the woman was unabashedly northern Minnesota.

“Well, I know only one gutter hoe that drives some rusted piece of shit Chevy and leaves fifteen hundred dollars worth of equipment out in the open to get stolen. Must be fucking Susanna Sweet.” Layne called back, hands on her hips, hair falling down over one shoulder.

Susanna took her aviator sunglasses off and stared Layne down sternly before her face broke into a large smile, a jovial laugh ripping out of her. “Girl, get your skinny white ass over here.” Layne ran at Susanna and jumped into her arms.

The three men just looked at each other with wide eyes full of concern and confusion. Tony stepped forward, straightening the suit jacket he was wearing over his vintage AC/DC shirt, which Layne had already threatened to steal.

“Um, yeah, hi. Excuse me? What’s happening here?” Tony asked pointing between the two ladies.

Layne giggled as Sue put her back down on the ground. “This, gentlemen, is Minnesota’s, no the entire fucking tri state area’s, best and most in-demand guitarist. Ms. Susanna Sweet. She’ll fuck you up,” Layne added, her face going very serious. “Suzu, this is Bucky, Sam, and Tony.”

“Girl, you flatter me. And still curse with such a wonderful eloquence and fluidity, only good thing to come out of you being a Navy brat. Now grab your shit and help unload the truck,” the biker babe laughed and grabbed a large Marshall stack amp.

“You’re a Navy brat?” Bucky asked, him and Sam looking at her with mild disgust. Layne sneered at the Army boys and stuck her tongue out.

“Does it make you like me less? Honestly, the Army ego coming out of the three of you could choke a horse. Can we least agree that at least I’m not Air Force and get some fucking help with heavy shit?” Layne scoffed. The boys looked at each other and shrugged in agreement before going over to the truck to help with the cabs and amps.

Layne grabbed her guitar case and a garment bag from the car and led the boys into the venue. Sue caught up to her and threaded her arm into Layne’s. Layne didn’t know if she was ready for this and she knew she had to keep herself toned down if she wanted to keep some semblance of professionalism after this was said and done, but this Minnesota air brought a lot back for her.

“So, Ms. Sweet, you were in the Army?” Sam asked sidling up to the two of them.

Sue smirked. “Mm, are you offering to buy me a drink and swap war stories?” 

~*~

There was a half an hour before doors open and the stage was all set up and sound tested. Layne had introduced her boys to Cass and Taylor, her bassist and drummer. Cass was a tiny pixie of a thing, barely scraping over five feet and had a shock of short purple hair. She was decked out a red leather dress with black knee high, fur lined Demonia’s to give herself an extra six inches. Taylor was taller and stockier, she had well defined muscles from constant drumming as she worked as studio drummer now for a living and filled in with different bands as needed. She always dressed simple for shows since it got hot and she was behind a kit, she wore one of their old band tank tops and a pair a black biker shorts under a black kilt with white Converses, her thick blond hair was up in pig tails.

Everyone was milling around the main center bar when Layne approached, wearing an ostentatious tan faux fur coat that brushed around her knees, it was clasped shut so you could only see the torn fishnet stockings and blood red Doc Martins. Her makeup was her traditional over smoked eye and bright red lips and her hair was curled and coiffed with probably an entire can of hair spray.

“Well, that’s a look, rock star,” Sam said staring down his nose at her. Layne rolled her eyes and waved at Dave, the bartender.

“We keep Layne around for the tight ass and sex hair,” Sue joked handing out shots of whiskey as Dave passed them to her.

“No drinking on the job, Hardin,” Tony started and tried to take the shot from her only to have three Minnesota ladies block his hand.

“No, no, no. You do not get to stop this train wreck, this train wreck gets us paid. It’s a sold out show and besides, we bought you one too.” Cass waved a finger at Tony before presenting him with his shot. Layne winced at the multiple accounts of being called a train wreck, but let it go. Taylor raised her shot and was met with shots from the other girls. The boys shared That Look again before shrugging and raising their glasses up as well.

“SKOL!” Taylor called slamming her shot on the bar before tilting it back down her throat. The girls mimicked followed by three very confused boys.

“What job are you working that you can’t fucking drink at? Sounds like piss,” Taylor cussed tapping the bar for a refill. Dave obliged and the girl pounded that shot as well.

“I am…working in the genetics lab for Mr. Stark,” Layne supplied carefully. Layne wasn’t ready to tell her friends that she was an Avenger. She didn’t want to let these two lives leak together, they were oil and water and they needed to always be separate.

“Fucking told you she’d lie about it. Ah, well.” The blond drummer deflated. Layne looked at her girls sadly as Cass and Susanna both frowned at Layne.

Susanna shook her head placed her elbow’s on Layne’s shoulders and her chin on top of her head. “Doors open soon. Let’s get backstage and look at that notebook of yours. Plus you need to tell me which one of these three you’re sleeping with, because I know it’s one of them.”

Bucky choked on his water and Sam and Tony gave him a reproachful look. Sue, Taylor and Cass headed towards the back snickering to themselves.

Layne sighed and dropped her elbows on the bar top. Dave handed her a 1.75 of Jack, as per normal, and Layne smiled tersely. Pulling a silver Sharpie out of the top of her boot she scrawled her name across the front and stuck the Sharpie back in place.

“Gonna stay level up there, kid?” Tony asked suddenly clapping her on the shoulder.

Layne smirked and caught Bucky’s eyes. She wanted to make sure he heard her. “Oh, this isn’t for me. You’re in for quite a show boys. And Bucky, you better be damn good on that front line because you’re going to have a rough ride.” Layne moved to head to the backstage, catching the flush on Bucky’s cheeks and smirking, but Tony kept a hold of her shoulder. He pulled a wooden box about the size of his palm out of his inner suit pocket.

“Stark, I’m flattered. But it’s not me, it’s you,” Layne joked holding her hand up in a stop motion.

“Ha. Ha. You’re adorable. Here,” he opened the box and inside were two silver bangles about an inch thick. He pulled them out and clasped them around her wrists. “So, ideally, these are grounders. They should let you half project, again ideally. We haven’t had time to test them obviously. It should be able to let you still see auras, but you wont be leaving your body. Which also means you can’t actually project into someone else, so you’ll need to hit this button to deactivate them. But you’ll still hit the dirt. I don’t know what to do about that.” Tony looked at you anxiously as you admired the simple bands on your wrists, rotating your hands so they glinted in the overhead lights.

“Thank you, Tony. They’re perfect. They’ll work perfect on the stage, too.” Layne reached over and gave Tony a peck on the cheek. She nodded to the boys and took off after her girls.

~*~

There was nothing between Bucky and 800 people except for waist high metal fence that wasn’t even latched to the floor. It was those grates and two other security guards that were separating the screaming fans and the stage. Bucky’s eyes flashed around to all the exits and doors and bars anxiously. There were too many people and he had no clue who he was looking for in the sea of bobbing heads and crashing shoulders. There weren’t enough exits to not make a dangerous situation even worse in case of a stampede. His tongue flicked out over his lips and he was slightly reassured by Redwing hovering above everyone - not that he would ever admit that to Sam. His blue eyes cast up to the balcony where Tony sat on the long leather couch with a glass of amber liquid, a few girls in tiny dresses, and one of the house security guards (purely for appearances at this point).

The two guys on either side of him had warned Bucky of Layne’s shows. They told him of the two times the show got so crazy they had to call half of the Minneapolis police department because the party spilled into the streets after the show. They warned him about how she liked to jump into the crowd. They warned him that she could drink like a fish, puke off stage during a guitar solo, then come back and keep drinking. All the bartenders called her Puke’N’Rally with a fondness and they had two cases of Jack Daniels tucked up off stage for the girls and the crowd. They warned him that Layne would probably mess with him, she messed with all the stage security, but the new guys always got it rough.

Bucky tried to reassure the men that Layne wasn’t drinking because this was for a Stark work event, but they just gave each other a look that Bucky could tell meant they didn’t believe him.

“Lesser men than Tony Stark have tried to get that girl to quit drinking,” the large black man to his left, Darren, said. “I’ve carried that girl out into a cab more times than I can count.”

“Well, she’s fucking sad and just a kid,” said the guy to his right, Mike. The man was all long grizzled silver hair and beard and sounded permanently stoned. “Like, you can hear it in her music. No one taught her how to cope. I’ve been there, man.”

Bucky looked between the two men who knew her so much better than he did, then any of the Avengers did. He felt tense in his chest, was she just placated him back in the kitchen when she promised she would moderate herself? And Bucky understood that she wanted to hit the pause button on whatever they were doing, but even with the plane ride to Minnesota and in the car to the venue she had barely said two words to him. He knew what it was like to be trapped in your own head and he probably wasn’t the shining example of healthy coping, but anything was healthier than what she was doing. He found himself extremely worried that she didn’t care enough about how much she was hurting herself.

The opening band was another local three piece girl band called Kloud. They sounded fast and angry, Sam told Bucky through the ear piece that it was called punk and that they were pretty good. He wasn’t a fan, he definitely preferred the more blusey stuff. He peeked over his left shoulder and saw Layne standing off to the side stage with the rest of her band going over something in a notebook. The last of the stage hands finished setting Dorothy’s instruments and the lights lowered in the room. The crowd started going nuts, they surged forward and Bucky placed his foot against the bottom of his rail to keep it place.

Cass, Susanna, and Taylor strutted out onto the stage, fists in the air, and took up their instruments. Cass hits the first chord on her bass and the note shakes the entire building. She picks a beat, a steady dum-dum-dum, and Taylor follows in march behind on the bass drum. Its to that beat that Bucky’s ears pick up the stomp of Layne’s gait onto the stage, he sees Sam’s eyebrow raise on the second floor and takes a peek over his shoulder. Bucky’s heart stutters in his chest as he took in the sight of Layne’s lithe form being hugged by a black silk and lace negligee under her billowing fur coat. It ended maybe inches below her ass, the small straps barely holding up the swell of her breasts. A black velvet choker wrapped around her neck, a flat black stone nestled in the soft of her throat.

Her brown eyes cast around the crowd and into the balcony - finding both Sam and Tony, a small smirk gracing her face before she punched her fist into the air. “Minne-fucking-apolis!” She called and the crowd just roared triumphantly. She poured a few shots out of her bottle of Jack into little plastic cups and carried them to the front of the stage, standing behind the security guard to Bucky’s left.

“How is everyone feeling tonight?” The crowd roared back. “Oh no, that doesn’t sound good enough. Let Momma make it better my wild ones.” Layne carefully stepped on the guard’s shoulder and he held onto her ankle as she reached forward and handed out the shots. The fans who got them cheered and slammed them down. Bucky tried to hold down the acidic taste of jealousy that burned in his stomach as he watched Darren’s large hand wrap around her shin. It was done so casually that Bucky knew that wasn’t the first time those hands had been there. “That’s better! I want you bitches clapping!” Layne pushed gracefully off of Darren’s shoulder, her fingernails dragging slowly over his cheek and made her way back to the center of the stage, sliding her microphone in it’s stand.

“Oh, Set me on fire Oh, Kerosene eyes Oh, Lookin’ right through me Sellin’ my soul for one night”

She spread her arms out to the side, baring herself wide for everyone in that venue. Every time Layne opened her mouth it was like Bucky could hear further into her soul.

~*~

Layne missed this, being surrounded by her girls and the music and the screaming crowd. She would often sit back at Avengers Tower and wonder what her life would be if she had signed that record deal instead of agreeing to keep the world safe. If she hadn’t let her parents break her spirit, she really thought she could have been something.

Layne grabbed her bottle and ripped her microphone from the stand. Walking to the front of the stage she fell to her knees behind Bucky and carded her fingers through his hair. She felt him stiffen slightly and turn his head to look back at her with a warning glare. She winked and licked her lips at him.

“Oh, Doin’ me dirty Oh, Tellin’ me lies Oh, You are not worthy Tellin’ myself it’s the last time”

Layne flung one leg over Bucky’s shoulder, hooking him at the knee and pushed her other foot off the front of the stage so he’d lean forward. He held her leg close to his chest and gave her a furious look as she held her bottle out to pour the amber liquid into the mouths of the people on the other side of the barricades.

“Cause nothing good comes after midnight Ain’t no good love come from pain Nothing good comes after midnight When you play the Devil’s game Oh, after midnight.”

Layne pulled back from the fans and Bucky took that as his sign to help her back onto the stage. Layne leaned down, her hair creating a curtain between them and the rest of the venue, and brushed her lips across his cheek. Layne straightened and pumped her fist in beat with the drums and guitar. “Hands in the fucking air!” Layne clapped along to the beat, getting the whole venue into her motions.  

“Susanna Sweet, everyone,” she called out, and the crowd cheered as Susanna stepped forward - her black Les Paul with lime green cobwebs shining in the stage lights. Layne stepped back and sat down on the drum stand, setting down her bottle of Jack and grabbing a bottle of water. Sweat was running in rivulets down her neck and into her cleavage already. She looked down at the bangles on her wrists and made sure they were turned on before taking a deep breath and feeling herself start to float.

It felt like there were chains binding her consciousness to her body, but she could see everyone’s auras like if she was separated. She could feel her head turn as she scanned the crowd, counting the yellow auras of enhanced individuals. There were more than she expected, at least forty that she could see on the main floor and about twenty up on the balconies. Layne settled back into herself, blinking slowly as her vision readjusted just in time for the guitar solo to end. She strutted back across the stage finishing the song and sending hand signals to Tony and Sam about her count.

The song ended and the crowd cheered. Layne gave a brilliant smile and motioned up at RedWing hovering above everyone. “Everyone smile for the cute drone. You can buy the DVD of this performance next month on our Facebook page.” Layne winked up at Sam as he sent RedWing down around the crowd taking facial scans of everyone that looked into it’s camera. All the intel was being sent direction to Agent Hill back at the compound.

The next song started and Layne switched back from undercover agent to performer. Halfway through the show she shed her coat entirely, she definitely noticed Bucky keeping a sharper eye on her when she got close to the other security or stretched over to the crowd. At one point she got tired of his side looks and poured half a bottle of Jack over his front, making the ladies in the audience hoot and holler as his black shirt stuck to his chiseled form. He growled at her angrily and snatched the bottle from her hand, lobbing it into the crowd who cheered and the other security guards looked at him with “I told you so” stares. Layne had simply cracked a new one from the box next to the drum stand. It was common for them to go through at least ten bottles a show.

During the solos Layne would take the opportunity to recount auras. She had noticed a definite five were missing, but at a whiskey peddling rock show that could be for any reason. It wasn’t until towards the end of the night that she noticed a yellow aura and a blue aura towards the back in the shadows pull another yellow aura towards them and fight them towards the front door. Layne sent a quick signal to Tony and Sam, who immediately went on the move. Layne moved to Susanna and whispered in her ear that she had to go do work. Susanna looked into Layne’s eyes for a moment before nodding and starting the opening to their traditional show ender.

The crowd started to dance and clap to the beat. “Whiskey in the air, Minnesota. You know how we end this shit!” Layne nodded at Bucky who looked back at her with steely blue eyes. She knew that either Tony or Sam informed him of the problem over the comlink, but he didn’t know how he was going to get Layne off stage to go after them. Layne gritted her teeth, having left that part out of debriefing Bucky because she knew he would argue her on it.  

Cracking a new bottle of whiskey, she signaled for the security guard to Bucky’s left. Darren had been stage security at all of their shows, he knew what was about to happen. He held his hands palms up for her as she carefully stepped onto his shoulders, holding one of his hands gently as she stepped down onto the barrier. Bucky was about ready to rip her back towards the stage but she just signaled him with her chin to meet her on the other side of the main floor. He glared at her and licked his lips before darting out to the side stage.

“Oh, mama, don’t you leave me alone No tellin’ what I’ll do on my own Oh, mama, there’s a pit in my soul So deep I gotta fill it up now, fill it up now FILL IT UP NOW!”

Layne stepped carefully onto the shoulders of the man on the other side of the barrier, she poured a shot from her bottle into his mouth as she stepped to the man behind him.

“Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey fever You’re my evil, you’re my evil Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey fever You’re my evil, you’re my evil love”

Layne made her way across the room on the shoulders of the crowd, pouring shots down their throats as she went. The crowd crammed together on her path, she could see Bucky’s frustrated blue eyes at the end. His gloved fingers were twitched for the weapons he kept hidden on his person, ready to give chase with the rest of them.

“Whoah, mama, can’t you say that I’m wrong Bad habits been bustin’ my bones Hell, mama’s gonna swallow me whole God knows I gotta fill it up now, fill it up now FILL IT UP NOW!”

Layne made it to the end and hopped down into Bucky’s arms, smiling as his whiskey damp shirt smacked into her sweat drenched face. “Up,” she whispered to Bucky who rolled his eyes and lifted her up. “Thank you Minnesota. I love you so much! Make sure you all get a beer and put it on Tony Stark’s tab!” Bucky set her down and Layne left her microphone with Dave behind the bar. She grabbed Bucky’s hand and pulled him out to the door with the crowd chanting ‘Dorothy’ as they ran out into the cold Minneapolis air.

Bucky handed Layne her com and she placed it in her ear. “Whisper online,” she said, her eyes darting around the dark night looking for a sign of Stark or Wilson flying around.

“Hey, rock star! That was quite a show. We’ve got tail on a white laundromat delivery van. We watched two males shove a woman inside. They’re approaching Hennepin Street,” Wilson said and Layne turned in the direction of the corresponding street.

“This way,” Layne said breathlessly and took off at a run, Bucky close on her heels. “Get team Pourhouse out here. They’re on Hennepin, might catch them faster.”

“Layne, you have no weapons or armor. You should go back to the venue,” Bucky yelled, watching as her slip slid up to just underneath her butt. He flushed crimson and tried not to focus on where he was running.

“Maybe don’t stare at my ass, Barnes, and it wouldn’t be a problem,” Layne looked at him over her shoulder briefly with a wicked look in her eyes. She reached up to the choker on her neck and pressed the black gem, a ripple passed over her body as her black cat suit spread out down her arms, torso, and legs.

“Loki already hooked me up,” Layne laughed as she took a sharp turn into an alley and hopped onto the grating of a parking garage, pulling herself up to the third level and running to the side that faced Hennepin. Bucky came to pause next to her and looked down the road, ignoring the fact that she was panting heavily next to him clearly out of breath from sprinting. 

“Hey, thanks for keeping your word on the whole drinking thing. Granted, you could have not poured it all out over me,” Bucky said softly, pulling his Glock out of it’s holster. 

Layne looked at him sideways for a minute while pulling her long dark hair up in a ponytail. “Um, well, I told you I don’t drink on missions. I mean, that one shot excluded. Did you think I was lying to you?” 

Bucky shook his head, his brown hair tied into a loose knot on the back of his neck. “No. I mean, I had heard you’ve tried to stop in the past and it not working out but, I mean, I…don’t…know” Bucky’s words died in his throat as he watched realization dawn on Layne’s face. She clicked her tongue and nodded, a smile of disbelief on her face.

“Here I was thinking you were going to be something different,” Layne said harshly, more to herself than to Bucky. The white van came into view, stopping at a red light below them. Without giving Bucky a heads up she pushed from the shadows of the parking ramp and landed on the roof of the van, rolling to lessen the impact and hopping off just as she felt the van lurch with a crash signaling Bucky’s landing on the hood. 

Layne wrenched the back doors open and eight sobbing girls came into view. They were all wearing bar clothes, makeup smeared across their faces from their tears. Their hands and feet were bound and a cloth was tied in their mouths. She could hear the sounds of running footsteps behind her and the jets from Tony and Sam.   

A man was in the back with the girls, his brown hair shaved short on the sides contrasting with long thick curls on the top, his brown eyes the same shade as Layne’s. He stood quickly and rushed at Layne, shoving her back into the ground. He smirked at her as she stared up at him with shock. 

“Danny?” she whispered before her youngest brother vaulted off of her and took off into the alleys. 

NEXT CHAPTER

TAGS:

@tilltheendwilliwrite @inumorph @vaultingphilosophy @this-kitty-has-claws @suz-123 @fiveftofury @hippie-taco-lady @magellan-88 @winterbuttmunch @part-time-patronus @amandarosemire @lloeppky @ruinerofcheese @antares1980 @lbouvet @epicbooklove @sarahp879 @champion-ofthe-sun @youngmoneymilla @oddone92 @reids-curls @zombienaomi

[not-close-to-straight]

Letters to Bucky (Part Two)

MASTERLIST HERE

----------------------------------

To: Tony

--Valentine’s Day is just another day here. Some of the men on base try to keep up with the local girls, but I don't. Cultural differences and all that. Plus with my assignments the best I could manage is a one night stand, and that doesn't really go over well this side of the world with guys or girls.

--Why did I come back overseas? Because I'm a soldier, Tony, that's what we do. Also because I didn't really want to be home anymore.

--Alright, things about me. I am thirty. Dark hair, blue eyes. About six two, I guess.  I kind of have a beard kind of since we've been out on patrol for so long. Being in this unit means the rules are a lot more relaxed. They don't care what we look like as long as we get the job done, you know?

–...And if it matters at all, I've been in the military since I was 18 and it shows, if you catch my meaning. Nobody ever complains when I get undressed at least. What about you? Tell me what you look like.

--So pain pills make you flirty and sexual? Is that all it takes? I'll start mailing you some with each letter to keep things interesting.

--A phone doesn't really work where I am, unless it's a sat phone and I don't have one, any calls that come through for me are routed through our squadron's CO and down to me.

--Letters will work. It's kind of nice to physically write something instead of tapping on a keyboard. Feels more personal I guess. Intimate, right? I dunno, having to search for a pen and a quiet spot to write and all that makes it seem like a bigger deal then just sending off an email.

--You don't really have to say anything when you write, Tony. just whatever. Tell me about your room, or about your annoying nurse or your favorite color. I don't care. Stop crossing shit out though. Or at least only cross it out once instead of scribbling at it. I want to know what goes through your head. All of it. Even the stuff you consider in bad taste. I mean, I'm a soldier. It's not like you're going to shock me.

--I am safe today. We all are

--Write me back

******************

******************

To: James Buchanan Barnes

--Why didn't you want to go home? Where is home for you? How are three consecutive tours overseas better than being home?

--I feel like you are just shockingly understanding about how hard this whole thing is for me and I don't get why. I'm not complaining, I just don't get it. Most people act like the power of positive thinking will get me through and I seriously thought that was bullshit until we started talking.

--At the risk of sounding sappy I really do think this is helping. At least now I have something to look forward to every day? I know its must take weeks to get to you and weeks for you to write back but now when the mail comes I'm at least hoping for something other than some outrageous hospital bill. And there is something therapeutic about hand writing letters. I am starting to enjoy it, or at least I'm enjoying hearing from you, so--- yeah. Take that however way you want.

--If you send me more pain pills they WILL have to put me in a drug rehab. I'm already only taking half doses. And for the record it doesn't take pain pills to make me flirty. Comes along with the good looks and money, honey.

--By the way, tall dark and handsome absolutely does it for me, so I can say you'd at least hold my attention for a night and most of the next morning.

--that seemed rude after I wrote it but I'm trying not to cross stuff out so there you go.

--Stay safe ok

Tony

*****************

*****************

To: Tony

--I didn't want to go home because all that's back there is bad memories. A crowded house. A neighborhood that I wanted to escape. Memories of being poor. My Captain and I actually grew up on the same street, and when we saw the chance to get out, we ran and haven't looked back. Brooklyn is only romantic in the musicals, in real life it sort of sucks.

--Of course I'm trying to be understanding of what you're going through, Tony. I haven't ever had an accident like yours, but being a soldier comes with it's own set of experiences, you know? Besides isn't the whole point of the penpal program to help you work through some of this stuff? What kind of pen pal  would I be if I wasn't at least sympathetic? I'm glad you think it's helping, thought. I know getting letters from you is something I look forward to.

--Fine I won't send you more pills, but keep taking yours, I kind of like what they do to you. In fact pop one right now and tell me about these good looks of yours. Inspire me and I'll send you some poetry wall paper.

--I'm safe, we all are

--write me back

********************

********************

To: James Buchanan Barnes

--I think we have lived opposite lives. My house has been too empty my entire life, and yours was full. I have good memories of growing up, even if my parents were gone a lot. But let's be real, all of New York is romantic in the musicals, and all of it sucks in real life. Right now I'm in Manhattan, but I have a place California too. Are you and your Captain still good friends? How did you ever end up in the same special unit? Sounds like a conspiracy to me, soldier.

--trust me when I say I appreciate your letters. Gives me something to smile about, something to look forward too.

--I was kind of joking about my good looks. You’re taller than me by at least four or five inches, so no standing directly next to me ok? My ego can't handle being that much shorter than you. Dark hair and I wear it spiky because when i was twelve someone told me it made me look like a punk and...well I was a total punk. Probably still am. They just stop saying things like that after you turn 35.

--Oh yeah, I'm a little older than you. Don't get any thoughts about a sugar daddy though-- good Christ I can't believe I just wrote that, do not judge me by my letters, I'm much more put together in person.

--Is it weird that we are kind of flirting? Or is it too late to ask that? Is it weirder that we never had the “are you gay” talk before we started dropping sexual innuendos? For the record… it's fine. It's nice. I like it. I like you, as much as I can over a letter. This is like a note in third grade: do you like me? Check yes or no.

--How long does it take to get a letter there? Sometimes it seems like i get a response within a couple weeks, other times closer to a month. Not that I'm counting the days or whatever. Because I'm not, I swear.

--stay safe soldier boy

****************

****************

“How does your arm feel Tony?” the doctor asked, eyeing the limb critically. “We had to do some fairly impressive reconstruction there.”

“Still hurts.” Tony rotated his left wrist slowly, wincing when it sent sharp pains up to his elbow. “But not terribly. I can live with it.”

“It's impressive you can move it at all.” the doctor admitted. “I was really concerned about you regaining function. Ribs seem to be healing nicely as well. Now lay back, let me take a look at your chest.”

Tony lay back flat and tried not to breathe as a nurse began helping peel the bandages off.

The extensive bruising had finally faded, and now all that was left was rows of stitches keeping his skin together over his nearly shattered sternum. Fresh scars from where they had had to pull pieces of glass and fiberglass littered his chest, trailing over towards his heart, and the long, jagged red line where a piece of windshield had nearly punctured a lung looked just…

Tony swallowed hard and dropped his head back onto his pillow.

He was a mess.

“I look like a disaster.” he said, putting an arm over his eyes so no one would see the tears. “Frankenstein was pieced together better than this.”

“Now, Tony.” the doctor said comfortingly. “You didn't lose any limbs, and we don't see any long lasting heart damage from having to bring you back twice. All of your scars, besides the few where we put pins in your forearm will be covered by a tank top, and a long sleeve will take care of the rest. How is your physical therapy going?”

“As well as can be expected.” Tony flinched when they started re-bandaging his chest, the pressure of all the gauze and padding making it difficult to draw a full breath. “I can walk comfortably now, other than the shortness of breath it's fine.”

“You should be able to work on strength training here soon to get your arm back to where it needs to be” The doctor made a few notes on his chart. “And after the stitches come out of your chest you can be released home. We just have to make sure your sternum stays strong. A healthy diet and moderate exercise will bring your heart back to full power very soon, and a few years from now, this will all be some vague memory, alright?”

“Right. A vague memory. Thank you.” Tony sat back up, rebuttoning the few buttons on his shirt he could. “Really doc, thank you. I know you worked a miracle on me.”

“It's my pleasure Tony. I'll check in again at the end of the week”

Tony waited until both the doctor and nurse had left the room before reaching for the letter lying unopened on his nightstand.

*******************

To: Tony

--So is your house empty now? No one lives with you? stepmother? Faithful butler? Evil twin? Don't you get lonely?

--I think it takes around two weeks for me to get a letter. But if I am gone on a rotation I am off base for weeks at a time, usually three weeks, sometimes closer to six, it just depends. I write you back the day I receive your letter though, if that matters at all.

--I could handle California. Do you surf? Or just lay around like a bum? I'd be down for either. Sunshine and ice cream and you know... pretty people showing a lot of skin? Down for it.

--You remember I said Steve and I grew up together and joined the army together? Well when he was selected to head a special ops group, he got to hand pick a few of his men, and he chose me to go with him. We keep each other right, keep each other safe. He's always got my back, and I've always got his.

--When we were younger he was scrawny so I was the muscle and now that we are both big guys he thinks its funny to try and beat me up. It doesn't usually work, but I've got a few scars from him I guess. He's still just a punk ass kid with a smart mouth, though.

--It don't matter if you’re shorter than me, Tony. I'd still stand right up against ya anyhow. Marking my territory and all that. You sound cute as hell. I could just pick you up and carry you around with me. What color eyes do you have? I bet they’re puppy dog brown.

--Is it weird to flirt with me? I can dial it back. I'm pretty bad about it apparently. Steve always tells me I'll flirt with anything with two legs, and then I met a girl with one leg and proved him absolutely wrong. He's a good guy you would like him.

--I like you too Tony. You didn't leave any boxes to check but if you had I'd be checking yes.

-- I'm heading out on rotation, but I'm safe, we all are

--write me back Tony

PS. my friends call me Bucky, so call me Bucky. James is too formal. Reminds me of being in trouble at school or church.

******************

******************

To: James Buchanan Barnes.  Bucky

--I have literally never surfed in my life, but we could give it a shot. Come to California and we can do... you know, whatever surfer guys say when they hang out. Surf, party, smoke. Still got some years before I turn forty and boring so it should be fun.

--You and Steve just friends? Can I ask that? Do you like him like you like me? Did I just sound like a teenage girl? Yikes.

--My eyes are just brown. Just dark brown.  Not a big deal. But thanks for the cute comment, I think it's been twenty years since someone called me that.

--I feel like it's unfair to tell me you’d mark me as your territory, and then say that you can dial things back. Pick a side soldier. You either want to mark your territory or watch from a distance. You either like me or you don't. Have I mentioned I'm kind of an asshole when I'm not drugged up? At least that's what my assistant Pepper says. She is equal parts lovely and terrifying and I wouldn't make it more than two hours without her, I swear.

--really? A girl with one leg? Please tell me about ;that. Actually please tell me you didn't sleep with her because I feel like I'd be jealous which might be whoops, look at me crossing shit out again. Ignore that. Blame it on the pain pills.

--Stay safe

***************

To: Bucky

--I know it hasn't been two weeks yet so you haven't even got the first one, but I have news.

--My too happy nurse Patricia is pregnant and I feel like it's the physical therapists kid. In fact I'm almost positive it is, because I have seen them doing “physical therapy” a few times when I take walks late at night, and let's just say, those particular exercises weren't included in MY pamphlet of what this rehab facility offered.

--Juicy right? Or maybe it's not, but I've been in this damn hospice long enough all that entertains me is TMZ level gossip.

--Save me from this boredom.  Write me back.

--Stay safe

******************

To: Bucky

--So no more casts officially. My left arm is back working pretty much like new. Technology is amazing. Ribs are unbandaged and I can breathe all by myself. It's exciting. Not really exciting but then again that's how boring my life has become.

--Waiting for stitches to come out of the sternum then I can go home. Sounds like just another week and I'm good to go.

--should I be worried that you haven't told me if you and Steve are just friends or not? Is it weird that I'm kind of possessive about my pen pal? Yeah that's weird. I kind of wish i hadn't written that.

--write me back soldier

--stay safe.

********************

To: Bucky

--I haven't heard back from you yet. You must be on one of those long rotations? Or I made things awkward right? Sorry about that. Social niceties aren't really my thing. In fact when I'm off all the drugs I'm kind of an asshole. I said that already but I'm reiterating so you know what you're getting into. Fair warning.

--Nurse Patricia has the worst morning sickness. But she still smiles afterwards. It's unnatural. I don't see how women do that crap. No wonder my mom only had me.

--Be safe soldier

Tony

****************

To: Bucky

--are you safe, Bucky? I'm worried and I hate that. Write back please

******************

To: James Buchanan Barnes

--yeah I used your full name

-I'm gonna do something drastic if I don't hear back from you soon. It's been over two months and I'm going crazy

------------------------------

[zombierunfiction]

Abel 20K Race Mission: Jeffro Complex

*Both 20Ks Happen During The Same Day*

The following morning Charlotte was setting Maxine with a headset and her pack while Sara talked to Janine.  Sam was watching them worriedly.  

"It's just that, with the Major away-"  Sam starts as Maxine sighs.

"I know, I know!  She has her rules! 'Don't risk the doctor'.  It makes sense, it does, but just this one time."  Maxine countered.

"Well, that's what the old Runner Seventeen said about going to that old abandoned carnival that everyone said was haunted, remember?"  Sam reminded.

Maxine sighs as Charlotte snorts.  "Well it wasn't haunted obviously."  Charlotte said as she tightened the headset onto Maxine's head.

"Yeah... but still it wasn't a good idea though, was it?" Sam questions.

"I guess we learned that zombies are attracted by the smell of really old candy floss."  Maxine said as Sam sighs heavily.  

"Not a lesson worth knowing.  What I'm saying is, these rules are there for a reason.  You might get bitten! But, you know, you might also get attacked by wild dogs!  You might... tangle with some roaming cannibals!  You might get attacked by unicorns-"  Sam started to list off other things that could happen.

"You've been reading The Road again, haven't you?  I told you not to read that before bedtime!"  Maxine said as Charlotte took Sam's head into her hands turning him to look at her.

"Sammy..."  Charlotte cooed making him stop and look at her still paniced.  "She will be just fine... you trust me right?"

Sam breathed deeply nodding as he rested his hands on her wrists.  "Besides we've checked the whole sector.  There are no zoms within several kilometers of Hertston.  And I'm the only one who can try to identify what's left of that lab equipment, in the lab that we thought was Simpson's Corner Shop, and try to see what's going on down there."  Maxine said softly.

"I still think it's-"

"We're going to be fine!"  Maxine said exasperated.  "There and back before you know it.  Plus, we always say, runners are safer than cars.  Make no noise, attract no zoms.  It's only a few kilometers, Sam.  Hardly a marathon.  It's not as if I'm insisting on going to the Jeffro Complex."

Sam laughs hollowly as Charlotte let's go of his head.  "Well, you wouldn't really insist on -"

"No no, I know the risks.  We'll find out all we can, and then maybe, eventually, we'll go to Jeffro.  But for now, just a little run down to Hertston to visit that lab."  Maxine said almost sadly.

"Mm... well, if you're sure.  Be safe out there."  Sam said giving Charlotte a quick kiss before going into the comms shack.

"Thank you Charlotte.  Sam is a little hard headed."  Maxine said as Charlotte smiled.

"No problem.  I agree why he's worried but between Sara and I we will make sure your safe."  Charlotte said as Sara walked over and put her arms around both of them.

"Sure.  Don't worry Doc.  We got you covered."  Sara said with a smile.

"Okay... Runner five? Runner Eight? Doctor?  Ready?"  Sam asked.

"Ready."  They call in unison.

"Raise the gates!"  The siren goes off with the gate going up.  "Covering fire!" Gunshots rang out.  "Short run to Hertston... go!"  The three of them ran out of Abel and headed towards Hertston.

After a while, a still nervous Sam came back onto the headsets.  "Look, is there anything you can really learn from that place in Hertston?  It was on fire the last time we saw it!  Can you learn a lot from a pile of ashes?"

"As long as there's some equipment left intact, we might be able to reconstruct-"  Maxine starts before Sam jumps in.

"Oh!  Oh, what, like CSI?  Are you going to enlarge a single fragment of ash until you can tell exactly where it was bought and how old the person who bought it as and what bubblegum they were chewing at the time and-"

"No!  i've told you before, CSI was never very accurate about forensic science.  And even less so when I don't have any equipment, and I'm not... how can I put this?"  Maxine thought for a moment.

"Not a forensic scientist?"  Sara supplied.

"That about covers it.  we're hoping to find something I recognize.  Something that'll tell us something.  And if we don't find any equipment that I recognize-"  Maxine says as Sara continues for her.

"That'll tell us something too.  We know our patient zero worked there. We know it wasn't a corner shop.  We have to find out everything we can about what it was - medical, scientific research, terrorists..."

"Terrorists?"  Sam questions.

"It's a possibility."  Charlotte says as Sam gulpped loud enough for them to hear.

"Tell me about Van Ark again.  How did he seem?"  Maxine questioned.

"You heard him.  Frightened, mostly.  And brace in the end.  He died well."  Sara said almost proudly.

"But not crazy, right?  He didn't seem like he was making stuff up."  Maxine asked softy.

"You're thinking about Paula."  Charlotte said softly.

"Yeah..."  Maxine sighs softly.

"I wouldn't have said he was making stuff up, no."  Sara replied.

"Thanks... thank you."  Maxine said softly as the low rumble of a motor made Charlotte look around.  Sara seemed to pick up on it as well.

"Uh... guys.  Do you see that?  At your three o'clock?"  Sam questioned.

"Zoms?"  Maxine questioned.

"Not unless they've learned how to mark in formation.  And drive Jeeps."  Sam said.

"Only people around here with more than one Jeep are New Canton.  How many do you see, Sam?"  Sara questioned.

"Um, around forty of them.  Armed.  Three vehicles."  Sam said.

"A raiding party.  Atleast they're headed away from Abel.  This time."  Sara said as Charlotte took a deep breath.  She knew Amir might be one of the people in that party.  If she did see him during the raid she wasn't going to let their past stop her from keeping him out of Abel.

"Three Jeeps.  That's a hell of a risk."  Maxine said as they continued to run.

"Yeah, they've picked up a small tail of zoms, quite a distance back."  Sam said as Sara looks at Charlotte.  

"We'll bear left and steer clear.  If you get any idea what they're up to, let us know."  Sara said as Sam confirmed.

"Are you sure this is the best day to be out, Doc?  Don't want to head back, now?"  Sam asked.

"We're almost there, Sam!  We're really almost there."  Maxine says as they continued to run towards the corner shop.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm staying here until the doc's back!  Tell Jack and Eugene they can have this shack when I go for my rest break! If their listeners are that loyal, they'll wait for them, won't they? No I'm sorry.  Sorry!  Shouldn't be much longer."  Sam says a while later in the background.

"We've been running for four kilometers.  We're near now.  It's just there in the distance.  You see it?"  Sara said pointing at it.

"Uh that building.  Simpson's Corner Shop?  The sign's still on it.  there's some smoke damage, and the roof's gone."  Maxine says.

"Yeah, but it doesn't look too bad."  Charlotte said.  "Fire must have burnt itself out.  There should be plenty there for you to look at, if you're careful."

"Hey, hey!"  A voice shouted at them.

"New Canton?"  Sam asked.

"No, it's... looks like someone who's made up camp near the burned-out building. Lone guy, rifle."  Sara said as Charlotte moved in front of Maxine looking at the man.  

Standing roughily 6'3 with a lanky build.  Her blonde hair was scattered with flecks of gray and was thinning on the sides.  He had on a black shirt and jeans with a straw hat hanging on his back from a cord around his neck.  His rifle was trained on the building as he looked over at them.

"Don't come in that way!"  He said with an accent that was a cross between southern english and irish.  "In the store, there are-"  Suddenly zombies broke through the door making Charlotte grab Maxine.  

"Too late!"  Charlotte shouted pushign MAxine ahead of her as she took off with her.

"Eight zoms close quarters!  Looks like they've been feeing on a dead cow!  Run!"  Sara shouted pulling out her shotgun.  Charlotte and Maxine ran down the side walk with Sara taking up the rear and the mystery man running with them.  The two of them fired at the zombies taking them down one by one.  

"Four down!  Come this way - it'll get us to higher ground!"  The man shouted.  "You armed?" He asked Charlotte.

"No!  We're, uh-" Maxine stammered.

"I am.  Not too much ammo to spare though."  Sara said continuing to run and shoot when she could.

"Better aim for the head, I guess."  The man said as he also fired.  

Several shots later the last one was blown apart with Sara's shot gun as Charlotte helpped Maxine to slow but keep her guarded.  "Last one, good.  There more about?"  Sara asked.

"All over town.  They were drawn by that fire.  Been picking them off when I can."  the man said.  

"Well Five, it seems like you and me need to run a little defense while the doc takes a look around in the burned-out shop.  Five, you go with... sorry, I didn't catch your name."  Sara said.

"Name's Ephraim.  Ephraim Whately."  He said as Charlotte nodded to him as they rounded back towards the shop.

"Sara.  But we go by runner numbers at Abel.  I'm Runner Eight.  This is Charlotte, Runner Five.  You two circle that way, I'll go this way, and Doc?  Make it quick!"  Sara said quickly as MAxine nodded and ran to the shop while Sara went off to the right hand side.  Charlotte and Ephraim ran to the left side.

"You're not from New Canton, huh?"  Ephraim asks.

"No I'm not."  Charlotte said as Ephraim nodded.

"Can't say I'm sorry.  them New Canton people are hard.  Mean, you know?  Tel you what I know that they don't know, though."  Ephraim reaches onto his belt and pulls out a handheld radio that had static coming through.  

"Runner Five and... Runner Twenty..."  Nadia's voice was coming in and out.

More static came up before the radio went quiet.

"They keep on changing that frequency, but I keep on following them.  Don't trust them.  They lock people out.  Locked me and Patty out when we were running from a pack.  Would have watched us die."  Ephraim said bitterly.

Charlotte sighed softly.  "I'm sorry Ephraim..."

Static appeared again on the radio as Nadia's voice is heard again.  "Runner Twenty, that's a confirm.  We have a hundred and thirty on their way to the Jeffro complex.  Confirm, that's the full platoon."  The static returned and made the radio go silent.

"That's mighty interesting."  Ephraim said as they continued to run back towards the shop once the zoms has been cleared away.

Little while later Sam and Maxine were argueing back and forth with each other.  "No!"  Sam shouted.

"We're out here now.  it's not even that much further."  Maxine countered.

"This isn't the - it's not the mission, MAxine!  This is not the mission!  I've seen it before!  This is how people get killed, you know it is.  You know it!"  Sam stressed.

"There's nothing conclusive here at Hertston anyway.  Beakers, lab equipment.  Something was going on here, but there's no way to know what, and we are so near to Jeffro now.  We have to warn them, Sam!  If New Canton are coming for them, we have to let them know.  They don't answer radio transmissions, you know that yourself!"  Maxine shouted.

"We're safer sticking together."  Sara concluded.

"Yes, yes!  Stick together and come back!  Right now!"  Sam pressed.

There was stattius on the raido followed by NAdia's voice sounding incoherent but Ephraim put the radio to his ear.  "New Canton are moving.  Heading south and east of us."

"They're directly across the path of home anyway."  Maxine said.

"Only for now!  Wait a while, come back later!"  Sam suggests.

Maxine snorts.  "After dark?  Oh yeah, that's going to be safe."

"I would rather not do another night run Sam."  Charlotte said as Sam sighed heavily.

"Maxine I know you miss Paula-" Sam starts.

"I have to see what they're doing at Jeffro, Sam, it is not that.  If they're close to a vaccine there, if what we've learned could help - Sam!  The human race, imagine it!  A day when a zombie bite is nor more than a dog bite.  tetanus shot and you're done!  Imagine."  Maxine stressed.

"We don't know enough to-!"  Sam sighs heavily.  "Jeffro won't communicate with the outside world, we don't know if they're even still out there!"  

"Sara, If I go, will you come with me?"  Maxine asked

"We should find out what New Canton are up to."  Sara replies.

"Charlotte?"  Maxine looked at the red head who sighed heavily.  

"I've gone this far trusting you Maxine... no reason to stop now."  Charlotte said.

"We'll just go a little further okay?  The four of us."  Maxine suggested.

"I'll show you the back roads.  If I come, we're radio silent.  New Canton can pick us up if you're talking to Abel."  Ephraim said.

"Radio-?  Oh, no!  That's - no!  That is absolutely-"  Sam shouted.

"Radio silent.  I'm sorry, Sam.  You'll be able to see us on the scanner most of the way."  Maxine said.

"No!  that's totally-"  Sam protested before MAxine turned off the transmitter between the three of them.  

Charlotte closed her eyes as she thought about how angry Sam was going to be when they came back.  "Let's get going now."  All of them headed out following Ephraim.

After a while of running more static came from Ephraim's radio as he listened in.  "They're everywhere!  New Canton soldiers to the east, south, southwest, and west.  What are you planning, you crawling cockroaches?  What in the hell are you planning?"  Ephraim hisses as a tone starts to waft through the air.  Charlotte looked up hearing that tone was become a reaccuring thing.

"Maybe Sam's right, this has the feeling of something..."  Maxine whispers to Charlotte.

"Something big.  Which makes me want to see what it is." Sara said.

"How far are we from Jeffro now?"  Charlotte asked.

"About half as far again as we've already come.  Doc, I have one duty: protect Abel.  That means find out what's threatening it and keep it's doctor safe."  Sara said seriously as Maxine nodded slowly.

"If you want to turn back we will come with you.  We'll send someone else out here."  Charlotte said looking at her.

"And if we're too late?"  Maxine questions as some zombies began heading towards them.  "Do they never let up?" She sighs as they tried to keep ahead of the zombies.

"Nope."  Sara said with a grin.  "Coming from the south."

"Cutting off our direct route home."  Maxine said sighing heavily.

"Guess that answers that question.  No way out but forward."  Sara said

"You armed Doc?  Runner Five armed?"  Ephraim asked.

"No, we, um... I don't travel armed.  Not with guns, anyway.  Never have.  I wear my red Cross badge on my sleeve.  I don't want to get into any fights.  Not with the living."  Maxine says softly.

"I got a fire axe."  Charlotte said.

"I have weapons. Me and Patty picked them up when that military transport got eaten just by the statium.  Got them hidden in the cellar of a house not far from here.  Want a gun or two?"  Ephraim asks.

"We wouldn't say no, I'm sure."  Sara said as Maxine bit her lip.

"Well, I, uh.."

Sara takes her hand looking at her pointedly.  "We wouldn't say no.  Bet you picked up a good haul, there. Some interesting stuff?"

"It's the good Lord's bounty.  A ripe harvest.  Guns, ammunition, grenades, flashbangs, body armor.  He wanted me and Patty to be safe, right enough."

"Flashbangs."  Sara said looking at Charlotte with a smirk. Charlotte got the same smirk as she continued to run with them.

"Can't let you have ought but a pair of pistals, though.  But since the Lord sent you my way, reckon it's my duty to keep you safe too.  It's this way." Ephraim said as there was static on the radio again.

"That's right.  Runner five's there..."  The rest of Nadia's words were garbled.

"See that?"  Ephraim pointed in the distance.  

"I see them.  New Canton soldiers, about a mile ahead, right the way we're heading."  Sara said as Charlotte breathed.  

"Can you tell me if you can see what they look like?"  Charlotte asks softly.

"Looks like a dark haired man and a curly haired woman maybe.  Hard to tell from behind."  Sara said looking at Charlotte.  "You think it's him don't you?"

Charlotte breathes slowly.  "If it is it changes nothing."  She said determined as they continued on.  "We've been going for about 10 k now.  You holding up okay Maxine?"

"I'm fine!  I could do another 10k easy if we needed.  But those New Canton soldiers are facing away from us, heading away."  Maxine says looking at them.

"Can't take the chance." Sara said.

"We'll go the long way around.  The good Lord will show us the way.  My ammo store's not far."  Ephraim said as they ran in a semi circle before coming to what looked like an old cottage with a large lock on the front.  Ephraim unlocked the door and stepped inside with them before shutting the door.  He turned on a switch which started a generator which turned on the lights of the room.  It was filled almost as much as the Abel armory making Sara whistle impressed.  

"Nice collection of arms you have here.  Expecting an army?"  Sara questioned.

"No time for dilly-dallying!  Here's what you need."  Ephraim said picking up two pistals and loading them up.  "A pistal each."

Sara was looking around the room as Ephraim looked at her.  "I think Runner Eight's just, uh, admiring your weaponry."  Maxine explained as Charlotte looked around walking over to Sara.  Sara looked down at the flashbangs that were laid out on the table.  Sara looked back at Ephraim who was talking to Maxine as Charlotte looked back to him as well.  They looked at each other before Sara took out a pocket knife and gently set it next to one of the flashbangs.  Charlotte gave a slow nod to Sara before turning away and going back over to Maxine.

"Can't stay away from some good ammo."  Sara said as Ephraim looks at her.  

"Don't be touching what's not yours!"  He snapped as Sara held up her hands walking away.  

"Not after all your kindness." Maxine saids with a hint of sarcasum. Charlotte and Sara took their pistals and attached them to their sides before helpping Maxine get hers attached.  As they walked towards the door Sara turned to Charlotte.  "I think I dropped my knife back there.  Charlotte go back and get it for me." Charlotte nodded and turned walking back in.  She heard the others step out of the house as she got to the table.  She picked up not only Sara's knife but also one of the flashbangs and put it into her bag.  She turned and walked out quickly joining back up with the others.  Ephraim locked up the house as they resumed their course for Jeffro.

A little while later Ephraim spoke up.  "Didn't think to come out this far again.  Not after the last time."

"You've been out to Jeffro before?"  Maxine questions.

"Many times.  Me and my sister Patty, well, we was never what you'd call 'friends' of Jeffro, but they'd pay us to gather for them, to fetch and carry.  Paid us in food, and clean water, and good medicine.  They're rich men in Jeffro.  Rich men who can't fit through the eye of a needle, you know.  That's why they're still here, on earth."  Ephraim said as they continued to run.

"I can tell you're a religious man, Ephraim.  I was a Catholic myself, back when I was young." Sara said as Charlotte and Maxine hung back a bit.

"Anyone with eyes in his head believes now.  Ain't no explanation for all of this but the wrath of God!  Me and Patty, we took on the Lord's work, walking from town to town, spreading the good news.  We kept outselves separate, never stayed overnight in a town.  That's how we were spared when the Lord called His own to Him."  Ephraim said with great conviction that made Maxine move closer.

"You think the Lord did all this?"  Maxine questions sounding almost flabbergasted.  

"Not a sparrow falls but that He sees it, ma'am!  Not a man dies but the He knows it!  This is His judgement upon the human race!  We've been weighed in the balance and found wanting, and those who died early, they're His blessed ones, who He gathered toHim at once.  And we who live on through this hell... we're those who needed to be punished before He decided to let us into heaven.  That is why I help you!  That is why I help all who ask me!  Because the Lord is watching.  He's watching us now more than ever before!"  Ephraim said with even more conviction as Charlotte gave him a hard look.  There was something about this guy that just rubbed Charlotte the wrong way.

"And um... how far are we now?"  Maxine asked.

"Not far, ma'am.  Not far at all."  Ephraim said softly as they continued on their run.

Soon enough they came past some trees and saw a large complex with guards stationed around the perimeter of the grounds.  A high chainlink fense circle the grounds that was also covered with barbed wire on the roof.

"There is it... Oh wow, it's..."  Maxine breathes.

"Yeah... it's big."  Charlotte said softly.

"If we head for the main gate, they'll stop us.  Might even shoot us if we get too close."  Ephraim said.

"Shoot?  But I thought they were working on a vaccine here."  MAxine asks softly as Ephraim looks down at her.  

"A vaccine?  Against the judgement of the Lord?  They're doing some science work, but it won't help them, no.  I'll get you into the compound, and then I'll leave you to find your own way."  Ephraim said as he starts to lead them away.

"It's not a stupid idea to go in quietly.  We don't know what we're heading into.  This way, if there's anything we don't like the look of, we can beat a swift retreat."  Sara said as Charlotte grabbed Sara's sleeve making her fall back.

"Sara... something about this is making my stomach twist.  I don't trust this Ephraim as far as I could throw him."  Charlotte whispered.

Sara looks at the back of Ephraim's head.  "I know... I got that same feeling but it might just be his religious determination that your feeling."

"It's not that Sara... something just feels wrong about this."  Charlotte hisses as they continued around the fence.

"We will just have to be careful."  Sara said as MAxine sighs.

"But they're a research station."  Maxine states.

"We don't know anything until we get there.  Stick close to me."  Sara said as MAxine hung back so she was between Sara and Charlotte.

"You all stay close behind me, you hear?  We need to keep moving.  Me and Patty worked out a route that'd keep us out of their cameras if we just keep moving.  She was a smart girl, smarter than me.  Even though she was my little sister.  She kept watch on the camera movements here, figured out the blond spots.  Don't stop!  We're nearly at the spot where the fence is loose."  Ephraim states as they moved quickly.

"Was Patty bitten?"  Charlotte asked.

"She's with Jesus now.  There it is."  Ephraim said as they arrived at a hole in the fence where they slipped inside the perimeter.  "Quickly now, off to the left.  It'll take you through and show you the way to the science block.  but then, you're on your own."  He said as they ran.  

"Sure, we understand."  Sara said running with them.

"Alright follow me.  Quiet as mice, remember?  Quiet as church mice.  It's just down-"  A loud horn sounded through the intercom made them stop and look around.

"What the-?"  Sara asked as a voice came onto the intercom.

"I wouldn't try running, if I were you. You're completely surrounded."  Charlotte breathed deeply as she reconized the voice instantly.  

"I brung them to you!  I brung them, just like you said to.  Here they are!  Now give me what's mine!"  Ephraim yelled as Charlotte looked at him rage beginning to fill her.  

"Very well done!  And radio silent for the past three miles.  Jolly good work."  The man said with a laugh.

"Is that..." MAxine whispered to Charlotte as the red head nodded slowly.  Maxine's jaw dropped slowly.  

"I don't care who it is!  You got that thing I asked you to pick up Char?  Give it to me now.  When I say run, run!  To the left and Close your eyes."  Charlotte reached into her bag and pulled out the flashbang handing it to her.  

"Drop your weapons!  Hands up, now!"  The guards said pointing their guns at the group.  Charlotte kept MAxine close to her as she glared at them.

"Now!"  Sara shouts and set off the flashbang as Charlotte closed her eyes tight when the bang went off with a blinding light making Ephraim shout.  Charlotte grabbed both MAxine and Sara's arms and raced as fast as she off to the left.  The soliders began to cough from the bang as Charlotte ran trying to get MAxine to keep up quickly.

"That's it, they're disoriented, now.  Come on, open your eyes and run!"  Sara said as Charlotte opened her eyes and let go of the two women racing away from the soldiers.

"You heard who that was Charlotte..."  Maxine breathes as Sara leads them around the building to a bushed area near a rear wall.

"Keep quiet and stay low.  I kept my eyes open as we came in.  There should be some low lying sections of the building here that we can climb to the top of.  They're near enough to the perimeter that we can escape over the roof.  They'll expect us to double back and head for the entrance."  Sara breathed as they started over towards the low lying building.

"But you know who that was..."  MAxine said almost desperately as Charlotte grabbed Maxine's hand looking at her.

"I know Maxine..."  Charlotte said looking at the scared face of Maxine.

"Please... tell me who you heard..."  She asked almost desperately.

"It was Professor Van Ark."  Charlotte said softly as Sara moved towards a window.

"I can see him inside.  He's sporting a healed bite wound on his arm."  Sara said as they turned and resumed their movement to the building.

"And that's not possible."  Maxine said quickly.

"Must be possible, we've just seen it.  Stay low.  We're heading for those buildings to the left, the ones with the skylights."  Sara said as they climbed up to the roof where they laid low on the roof crawling over to the sky light.  

Suddenly a voice came over the intercom.  "Commencing second phase, on my mark."

"Over here!  Look that way!"  The guard said running off in another direction.

"Did you hear that?"  Maxine said suddenly.

Charlotte looked up slightly then moved to Maxine.  "I... yes I did."

"Coming from that building over there."  Maxine said pointing towards another skylight.

"Sequence Initiating."  The voice said again.

"Char... you know who it is, that's Paula!"  MAxine said fast and went to stand up.  "Paula!"  She started to shout as Charlotte and Sara both pulled her back down covering her mouth.

"Are you crazy!?" Sara hissed.  "There are soldiers everywhere looking for us!"  

MAxine let out a whimper as they let go of her mouth.  "I know... I just, I have to-"

"We can go and look in the skylight, if you want.  But that's all we can do.  It'll take us out of our way as it is."  Charlotte suggested as MAxine sagged against them.

"Thank you."  Maxine breathed as they started to crawl over to the other skylight.  They looked in and saw the room was an office but not a single person was in there.

"There's no one in there.  It's just a recorded voice."  Sara said as Paula's voice appeared again.

"Commencing plasma cleaning."  Paula stated.

"But if it's a recording, it means that Paula was here, that she might still be alive, and..."  MAxine said as she crawled to the other one again.  "What in the hell are they doing in there?"  She asked as Charlotte and Sara crawled after her.

Inside the room was several enclosed beds that had what looked like people asleep with several tubes into their arms with soldiers and doctors milling around.  

"Looks like a bunch of zoms in deep freeze units."  Sara said.

"They're not zoms.  Look!  They're connected to IVs cleaning their blood.  And it's blood coming out not that grayish fluid."  Maxine said.

"There are names on each unit."  Charlotte said pointing to a unit that had a blonde young woman, she couldn't have been older than 19.

"No one writes a zom's name on anything!"  Maxine said softly.

"Patty Whately.... Well I guess we know what Ephraim was hoping to get from them."  Charlotte said giving Sara a look.

Sara sighed dramaticly.  "Alright alright you were right and I was wrong so just beat me up with it and let's get moving."  

"How about later."  Charlotte said with a smirk.

"We don't have time to waste.  Come on, along this building, then the following one.  After that down and up the next.  Char take point. Go!"  Sara hissed as they got up and ran low across the roof.  They dropped down from the roof once they got to the other side of the building.  "Dammit, they've posted soldiers at the perimeter, the way I was heading.  Come on, double back around the side of the building maybe there's another way."  Sara said as they went around the corner only for soldiers to come towards them.

"That's them there!  After them!"  The soliders shouted as Charlotte pulled them another way.  

"Run!"  Charlotte shouted.  

"Halt or I fire!"  One soldier shouted as several joined them surrounding them.  Charlotte and Sara stood on either side of MAxine with their backs to each other.

"You have led us quite the merry little dance, Maxine.  Up hill and down dale..."  Van Ark said almost laughing under his breath.  "My advise is to stay where you are.  With all these zombies around they're quite... trigger-happy."  He said as Charlotte looked at them slowly.

"We saw you!  We saw you get bitten!"  Sara shouted.

"Oh, this little thing."  Van Ark laughs softly.  "We've got far worse than that in store for you, I'm afraid.  Far, far-"  Suddenly one side of the building explodes with a black ploom of smoke.

"What?  Was that you Sara?"  Charlotte asked.

"Not it!"  Sara shouts as several more explosions begin to follow around the perimeter making several soldiers race away in fear.  "But I know a good distactionw hen I hear one!  Run!"  Sara shouted as the three of them raced away from the building.

"Hold them!  Take them!"  Van Ark shouted as the soldiers ignored him in lew of running for their lives as the explosions continued for a bit.  

The three of them ran for the main enterence leaping over the bar that stops vehicles from coming in heading for the tree line.  After a good 10 minutes away from Jeffro Sara grabbed Charlotte's arm.  "There... Char... here.  You can stop."  Sara said as the three of them stop panting heavily as MAxine fell against a tree putting her arms above her head.  "You're okay, we're okay.  We got out... Looks like our new best friend blew a hole in that compound."  She said looking back at the building.

"Did they blow up Van Ark?  Or whoever it was?"  MAxine breathes deeply as she looked over when footsteps drew their attention.

Charlotte looked up and felt her heart stop.

Amir was walking towards her with a stern look that shook her to the soles of her shoes.

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