#probably how Billy ended up in a wheelchair

[ellynneversweet]

The real difference between the first time I read Twilight and now is that I keep going ‘don’t you need a parental signature to do that? You’re seventeen.’

[chezzywezzy]

Yandere Jasper Hale (1/10)

Word count ; 3.9k

*Dedicated to @plumes-de-nuit. This'll definitely be the longest series yet. I... didn't realize I loved him so much.

*Also : R & Jacob & other love interests are 18. Jasper… y’all already know he ain’t a teenager.

*Edited:3

I stared out of the car window, watching as the trees passed by. Bella was beside me, and we were currently riding in dad’s police car. He’d picked us up from the airport, as we were moving here for our last few years - or, for me, a year - of high school. While Bella pitched the idea, I jumped in on it. I was eager to see the world, even if it was just Forks, after all these years. I had grown bored of Phoenix. Not just the weather, but the boys. There were no cute boys that I hadn’t already gotten or attempted to get with. 

I also really wanted - no, needed to catch a break from mom’s strict rules. She thought I was a troublemaker just because I went out a lot and occasionally got detention.

Oh, and I’d literally follow my dearest sister to the ends of the earth. But I’d never tell her that.

It was already raining. I knew that Bella hated the rain, but I loved the new scenery. 

Charlie pulled into the front lawn of a pretty standard house. It was white and green and is a two-story. I knew that it probably had a basement, though. In Phoenix, we had a flat one-story home surrounded by cactuses. I hated the weather, but I’d developed a darker tan for my s/c.

I stepped out of the back and raised my hands up the air. “Woohoo! Glad to be home.”

Charlie sent me a smile, appreciating the enthusiasm. Other people would see this scene as awkward, but that’s just how the family was. Bella was like dad, demure and introverted. And I was like mom, outgoing and extroverted.

Charlie insisted that he'd get our bags for us. I enjoyed the help, since I had a pretty hefty suitcase. Not to mention, I had a large backpack already strapped to my chest. Dad led us inside, allowing us to kick our shoes off, before showing us our rooms. 

He must’ve been going off what he knew of us when we were younger, because I knew without a doubt that Bella’s favorite color was green. However, her room was themed purple. Mine, though, was perfect. I loved pink as a kid, and I loved pink now. Was just about to get settled in when Bella hovered in the doorway.

“Hey, some people are out front. Charlie’s calling us.”

I blinked in confusion, but trailed behind her. I was already starting to get comfy, throwing my clothes all over the room. However, I knew dad was a straight-to-the-point kind of guy. As Bella commented on the plane, 'One of the best things about Charlie - he doesn’t hover.’ It was odd wording, but I knew exactly what she meant.

As we exited through the front door, I threw an arm around Bella’s shoulders. Sitting by the side of the road was a rustic red truck. I could already tell Bella was eyeing it enviously. Yet, my attention was more fixated on an older man in a wheelchair and a former childhood friend who I recognized instantly. Jacob.

We made eye contact, and I immediately sent him a smile. He smiled back. I noticed how he’d grown his hair out and he was a lot more mature than he was a few years ago. 

Charlie waved us closer. “Bella, Y/n, you two remember Billy Black.”

“Yeah!” I exclaimed, dashing forward to shake his hand. Bella seconded my statement, although in a much chill-er way. 

“Wow, you’re looking good,” Bella commented.

“Well, I’m still dancing,” Billy replied with a chuckle. “I’m glad you’re both finally here. Charlie, here, hasn’t shut up about it since you told him you were coming.”

“All right, keep exaggerating. I’ll roll you into the mud,” Charlie muttered playfully.

Charlie took a few steps away, but Billy began wheeling after him. “After I ram you in the ankles!”

“You want to go?” Charlie bickered, and as they eased around, it left Bella and I with a chance to greet Jake. 

“Jake! It’s been forever,” I cheered, pumping my fist into the air. His grin widened even further, and I opened my arms to welcome into a hug. He took it, quickly hugging, while Bella watched in amusement.

“Glad to see you’re just as energetic as ever,” Jake laughed. “How do you do it?”

“Lots and lots of coffee. And, of course, Bella’s here, too. Bella, you remember Jake, right? Or were you too tiny?”

Bella slapped my arm playfully. “You’re only a year older than me, geez. Yeah, I remember you, Jake. It’s great to see you again.”

Jake nodded to her. “Yeah, uh, we used to make mud pies when we were little.”

“Gross,” I commented. 

Bella shook her head. “You weren’t as cool as Jake and I were. Eating mud is, uh, definitely a healthy past time.”

I crossed my arms, pouting playfully.  “I just have etiquette. I am the eldest out of you two, after all.”

Jacob looked at me incredulously. “By a few months.”

Bella tilted her head over to Charlie and Billy’s antics. “Are they, uh, always like this?”

Jake bared his teeth while nodding. “It’s getting worse with old age.”

Billy and Charlie finally joined us again. Charlie patted the truck. “So, what do you think?”

“Of what?” Bella asked in confusion. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her shoulder, peering at Charlie with equal bafflement.

“Your homecoming present.”

Bella’s jaw dropped. “This?”

Charlie shrugged. “Just bought it off Billy here.”

“Yep!” Billy seconded.

Bella detached to me, and we both went to hug the car. “Oh, my god!” I exclaimed.

“I totally rebuilt the engine for you,” Jake spoke up.

Bella was gasping for breath, and she hopped into the truck. “Come on, seriously? This - this is so cool! Oh my gosh!”

“This so-o-o perfect —“

“Actually,” Charlie interrupted, "your mom gave me a head’s up that you’re a reckless driver. This is Bella’s homecoming gift. Your’s is still inside.”

My jaw dropped. “Wh a-a-at? You’re kidding me! I’m the best driver in the world!” I huffed leaning against the car.

Charlie shook his head, chuckling. “Your mom informed me of how you had to retake your driver’s test more than two times. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your present inside a lot more. Besides, I’m sure Bella can drive you where you need to go.”

Jacob weaved around the front, laughing at my repugnance, and hopped in beside Bella to show her the works. I was left pouting while Billy and Charlie talked. I was only a little insulted that I wasn’t trustworthy enough to sit behind the wheel, but fair enough. I’d be satisfied as long as my gift was just as cool.

“I told you they’d love it,” Billy joked. 

To be fair, though, I knew that Bella really loved cars. She’s loved them ever since we were kids. While I wanted to be a princess, she wanted to be a race car driver. Of course, both of our ambitions had changed, and now she planned on being a mechanic.

“I’m down with the kids!” Billy added, motioning ‘coolly.’

“Oh yeah, dude. You’re the bomb.” I snickered quietly at dad’s sarcasm.

I leaned into the open window when the car started up. “…Do you want a ride to school or something?” Bella inquired. I also wanted to know the answer.

“Oh, I go to school on the reservation,” Jake answered.

I pouted while Bella sighed, "Right, right. That’s too bad. It would’ve been nice to know one person.”

“You’ll be fine, Bella. I bet you’ll be friends with half the school by the end of first period,” I spoke up.

Bella laughed. “I’m pretty sure that’s you you’re talking about.”

I tilted my head innocently. “Oh, is it? I must’ve forgot.”

~~~

Bella and I hopped out of our new car. Technically her’s, since dad bought me a cool gaming console, but we’re sisters so I’d undoubtedly steal it from time to time. Luckily, the school year was just starting, so we couldn’t have stood out too much. Well, except for the fact that our truck was bright red. And my clothes were equally flashy. I loved being the center of attention, although I knew Bella loathed it. Somehow I wondered how we came out of the same vagina.

Bella and I walked side by side into the school. The weather was dreary and dismal, just how I liked it. We pulled out our respective schedules. Bella had been responsible and circled her’s, while I was only vaguely aware of what classes I’d signed up for.

Suddenly, a black haired, Asian student who was well dressed saddled up beside Bella. I dropped the schedule to my side, waving eagerly. “Hello!”

Bella jumped, meeting the boy’s gaze. “You two are the Swan sisters. The new girls,” he greeted. “Hi, I’m Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Which of you is Isabelle and Y/n?”

“Bella, actually,” Bella tittered. “This is Y/n.”

I waved again, and the guy grinned charismatically. “Nice to meet you, Eric.”

“Anything you guys need? Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on?”

I could tell Bella was petrified. She could barely release coherent words from her lips. However, she needed to learn how to be socially inept. “Uh, I’m really kind of the more suffer-in-silence type. Y/n’s the one you should be asking.”

His gaze flitted over to me, and I switched hands, wrapping an arm around Bella. “Don’t mind her. She’s shy. A lunch date sounds great. Right, Bella?”

Bella nodded anxiously. Eric continued, not noticing her discomfort. “Good new for your feature. I’m on the paper, and you’re news, babies, front page. The title can be something freaky, like ‘opposites attract in the womb.’”

Bella looked utterly mortified. She halted in her steps. “Uh, no we’re not. I’m not. You… Please don’t have any sort of…”

“Woah, woah, chillax.” Eric waved his arm dismissively. “No feature. Unless you, Y/n, want one.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll pass. It would be rather difficult to write an article and not mention my other half.”

“Cool, cool. Anyways, I’ll be off. See you two at lunch!” Eric really was off. He disappeared into the flood of people immediately, leaving me to Bella. 

She exhaled anxiously and I patted her back before looking at my schedule. “P.E. What a grand start to my week.”

“Oh, thank god,” she sighed. “Me too. At least we share one class.”

I chuckled, grabbing her arm. “Let’s get going, then. I can’t wait to meet new people. Eric’s cool, but we - more so, you - need some gal pals.”

Bella sighed, allowing me to drag her off to P.E. I knew I wasn’t the best at sports, but Bella - she was god awful. I knew she’d make a few friends from just being an athletic train wreck. As much as I loved her, she was way too perfect. Athletics was certainly her downfall.

We walked into the gym and changed quickly. The uniform was cute, a quaint tank top and shorts. Bella specifically brought sweat pants from home, as I knew she had some body insecurities. I, though, was more than glad to show some leg.

We walked out, still attached to each other’s side. I immediately waved to two girls who were playing volleyball. They waved back, motioning for us to join their team. Class hadn’t started, but the students were clearly basking in the new school year energy. The pair of girls had just been playing, but we separated into teams after a brief introduction. Needless to say, it was Bella and I against Sabrina and Jules.

“Bella, get it!” I called, too far away to get the ball. I was carrying the team, pretty much two against one, while Bella lingered behind me. 

She punched the ball, sending it into the net. I sighed, going to pick it up, while Sabrina and Jules said they were going to use the bathroom. That was code for them waiting a different partner. We waved them off. I picked up the ball and started making my way to Bella. Suddenly, a volleyball came flying past me and collided with Bella’s face.

Out of instinct, I burst into laughter, dropping our ball.

“Whoa!” a boy with dirty blonde hair exclaimed, running over to us.

Bella recovered, having caught the ball after it hit her face. She sent me a glare and threw it back at me, but I caught it, sending her a coy grin.

We both turned to the boy. He was slightly taller than both of us, and from his garb, he was probably on the school’s basketball team. “I’m so sorry about that,” he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. “Basketball’s more of my forte, not volleyball.”

Bella stuttered, waving dismissively. I interrupted, "To translate, she means it’s fine. I’m Y/n, she’s Bella.”

“Yeah, hey, I’m Mike Newton.” He held out his hand for me to shake, which I accepted. I sent him a wink, mesmerizing him further. Bella clicked her tongue, coming up behind her and placing her forehead on my shoulder.

“More like Mike Haw —“ 

I was interrupted by a girl with light brown hair, hung in a pony tail. She skipped over to us, standing beside Mike. “He’s got a great spike, huh? I’m Jessica, by the way. Hey, you two are from Arizona, right?”

“Jessica, hi! You’re so pretty,” I answered, sending her a smile. “Yeah, we are.”

“Aren’t people from Arizona supposed to be, like, really tan?” She quickly corrected herself. “No offense, though, Bella.”

“None taken. Uh, yeah. Maybe that’s why they kicked me out. Y/n, uh, definitely got out more than I did.”

Both Mike and Jessica laughed, and I couldn’t help but snicker. Mike pointed while stating, "You’re good.”

“That’s so funny,” Jessica chimed in.

Bella held up her hands, waving, as she backed away. “Uh, nice to meet you. Y/n’s planning to teach my volleyball, now so…”

“Right. See you around, Arizona,” Mike directed, more so at me.

“Right back at you, Washington and Jessica!” I winked and let Bella drag me off the a more deserted area of the gym.

“They seemed nice,” I commented optimistically.

“…Sure. But boy, are people scary.”

“Girl, get used to it. I’ll indoctrinate you into my way of life whether you want to or not.”

~~~

“It’s my pleasure, madam,” Mike suavely eclair, having taken my tray for me. Bella trailed behind me, quiet and demure as always. Bell plopped down next to Jessica, while I situated myself between Mike and Eric due to unfortunate seating arrangements. Eric was previously droning on about some project, and our appearances interrupted the conversation.

“Hey, Mikey, you met my homegirl, Y/n, eh?”

I quirked a brow, while Bella waved to the girls.

“Oh, your girl, eh?” Mike hummed.

A laugh bubbled in my throat, but in that moment, a boy appeared beside me and planted a kiss on my cheek. I gasped as he declared, 'my girl,’ before dashing away. A blush rose to my cheeks, and Bella looked more than happy to not be in my situation.

Mike’s chair was pulled from under him and I covered my mouth in surprise. “Sorry I had to mess up your game, Mike!” he shouted as he disappeared amongst the other students. Mike took off after him, leaving me mentally exhausted.

“Oh-h-h my god,” Jessica gasped. “It’s like first grade all over again. You’re the shiny new toy.”

I clicked my tongue. “It’s shocking Bella isn’t getting the attention. I mean, just look at her! Absolutely stunning. Plus, she’s got brains.”

Bella laughed, waving dismissively. Suddenly, an Asian girl with glasses and her hair done up in a pony tail leaned across the table with a camera. “Smile!”

I was caught off guard, but grinned anyways and gave a peace sign. Bella shrank away instantly, making me lose focus since it made me laugh. The girl shrunk away, muttering out an apology. However, her gorgeous smile didn’t fade.

“I needed a candid for the feature,” she explained, plopping in her seat.

“The feature’s dead, Angelia,” Eric sneered, rather hardly. I quirked a brow. Eric rose to his feet and grabbed my shoulders, leaning over. “I got your back baby.”

I was glad that it was just us girls left and Eric went off to do whatever the hell he wanted. “It’s fine…? I’m starting to think all the guys at this school are crazy,” I chuckled.

Angela scoffed. “I guess we’ll just run another editorial on teen drinking.”

Bella spoke up, clearly feeling bad for causing drama. “You know, you can always go for… eating disorders. Or speedo padding on the swim team.”

“I vote the latter,” I eagerly remarked. I slid down the bench and took my rightful place beside Bella, now that the boys had disappeared.

“Yeah. Actually, that’s a good one,” Angela agreed.

“Kirk, right? That’s exactly what I thought,” Jessica gossiped. “We’re talking Olympic size.”

“There’s no way. He’s so skinny. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I mean, how big are his hands? You know what they say about big hands,” I teased.

The girls laughed, but I noticed that Bella’s attention was strewn elsewhere. I followed her gaze, seeing that a cliche of incredibly pale and insanely good-looking people walked into the cafeteria. I noticed that Bella was most focused on the latter, the one that wasn’t paired up. There was a blonde and black haired couple holding hands, an awkward guy and a hippy and slash or tomboy bickering, and the last was silent, seemingly just as fixated on Bella.

“Who are they?” Bella spoke up, nodding to them.

“The Cullens,” Angela answered.

“They’re Doctor and Missus Cullen’s foster kids,” Jessica continued in a hushed tone. “They moved down here from Alaska, like, a few years ago. They kind of keep to themselves.”

“Yeah, ‘cause they’re all together. Like, together-together.”

“The blonde girl, that’s Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmet, they’re, like, a thing. I’m not even sure that’s legal.”

“Jess! They’re not actually related.”

“Yeah, but they live together! It’s so weird. They’re legally family. And, okay. The little dark-haired girl is Alice. She and Jasper, the guy who looks like he’s in pain, aren’t actually together. Apparently, Jasper has some anxiety problem or something.” I glanced back at them, noticing that even with how stoic Jasper looked, he was quite attractive. “Um, Doctor Cullen’s like this foster dad slash matchmaker.”

“Maybe he’ll adopt me,” Angela sighed dreamily.

However, that information wasn’t enough to satiate Bella. Her eyes were glued to the final assumed family member. “Who’s he?” Bella asked.

“That’s Edward Cullen. He’s totally gorgeous, obviously, just like Jasper, but apparently, like Jasper, nobody in this school’s good enough for him.” Jessica snickered dryly. “Like I care, you know? So… yeah. Seriously, though, Bella, Y/n. Don’t waste your time.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Bella chided.

“Well, I might. That Jasper fella’s pretty cute for a, and I quote, 'guy who looks like he’s in pain.’” Angela snorted, and I followed Bella’s gaze. I peered over my shoulder, seeing that her and Edward were making intense eye contact. 

I couldn’t help but stare, and Jasper glanced over at us. I sent a smile, holding up my hand and waving. I noticed his mouth twitch before Alice stole his attention away. I returned my attention to the table to see that Jessica and Angela were both looking at me.

“Don’t tell me you just waved at him,” Jessica gasped. “You’re seriously wasting your time. You know that, right? What, are the guys falling at your feet not good enough?”

Bella clicked her tongue, and Angela teasingly followed up, "You’re totally a player.”

“Wha-a-at? No. I’m just friendly,” I chimed. “Besides, I’m not interested in guys like that. I have no idea why I’m the ‘shiny new toy’ when Bella’s right here.”

“It’s because I don’t make a scene,” Bella noted.

“Well, Jessica, if you’re asking if I’m interested in Eric or Mike, definitely not. I’m not blind, girl. Mike’s for you, dearest girl, and Eric’s obviously into Angela.”

Angela gasped. “You really think so? But he’s never been that friendly or flirty with me.”

I shook my head. “Nonsense. He’s just trying to make you jealous.”

Jessica laughed. “And what about Tyler?”

“Who?”

“The guy who kissed you on the cheek earlier.”

I scrunched up my nose. “No-o-o way, José. I know a cute guy when I see one, and Tyler’s not it. Jasper, though… He’s definitely my type.”

“Well, good luck. They barely talk to anyone outside their clique,” Angela sighed. “Believe me, we’ve all tried to talk to them.”

“It’s because they’re all freaks.”

I frowned, but in that moment, an arm wrapped around my shoulder. I looked up, seeing that Eric and Mike decided to rejoin the group. Eric attempted to steal the seat beside me, but Mike shoved him aside, sliding beside me with ease. He threw his arm around my shoulder, shaking me excitedly.

“Not at all, actually. And give it up, guys,” Jessica groaned. “She already has her he’s on the prize. And before you chase Bella, she’s enamored by Edward Cullen.”

“We’ve returned. I’m sure you all were dying for us to bless you with our presence,” Mike announced.

“Dream on,” Eric sighed. “Ne-e-ever going to happen. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them talk to anyone but each other or the teachers.”

Mike removed his arm and Eric sighed. “Damn, really? Oh, you’re breaking my heart, baby.”

“I’m not like my sister,” Bella tittered. “I just… think he’s interesting.”

Bella unsurely glanced over her shoulder. I did so as well, noticing that Alice and Jasper were chatting while looking at our table. Japer’s gaze flitted over to mine, and he raised his hand, giving me a curt wave and smile. My heart jumped in joy and I grinned.

Mike wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer. My expression immediately morphed into a displeased pout. I directed a glare him way, and he teasingly remarked, "Hey, I’m not going down without a fight.”

I shrugged off his shoulder. “Have fun with that, buddy.”

[cute-bag-of-bones]

Can't Trust A Supe

Part 12: Homelander Apology

Masterlist

Warnings: Just general obsessive behavior and some abuse.

        

    My hand shook as I held the note. I was so delicate with it like it might disintegrate in my touch. It was written on a flimsy napkin. All it said was left couch cushion. 7777 Love uncle Billy. It was short and sweet. I knew if I got up now Homelander would hear. The wait for my captor to sleep was always the worst. I never knew if he was going to come into my room to just stand and stare. 

         Soon I was pretty sure he was asleep. I couldn't hear his footsteps in his room. My crutches were nowhere to be seen and my wheelchair was at the table. I was going to have to crawl. 

          The humiliating act was worth seeing what Billy had done to the cushion. I got to the living room with minimal noise. I patted the cushion and nothing happened. So I lifted it, taped on the bottom of the cushion was a smartphone. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. How did they get in his penthouse? It had to be when we were at the party. 

          I crawl back to my room and close the door fully. Naively I pull the covers over my head as if it would hide me. It had a pass code, I typed in the code on the note and the phone opened. Inside there was only one contact, it was one number under the name (Limey Prick). I sent it a text.

        "Hello?"

        "Turn your phone on silent then facetime." I turn the ringer off and then I call. It rang for 3 rings then picked up. In the frame was a shady looking ceiling. The phone shook as Billy came into frame. He just grinned and ended the call. 

         It was probably just to check I was the one they were talking to. I received a text shortly after. 

       "We are working on something big. Are you whole?"

       "Mostly, when can you get me?" 

       "We are working on it. I saw the news. I need you to do a little undercover work for your uncle Billy. 😈" Oh God, who taught him how to use emojis? Was he serious? I can't stay here for one second longer.

        "No, I need to get out of here. He broke my ankle. He's going to do alot worse. I need you to get me out."

        "No can do. Your name is public, to millions of his cocksucking fans you are his daughter. We can use that to undermine all of Vaught, not just him."

       "I'm not his daughter though!"

       "I know that cunt, you have a golden opportunity. Homelander America's hero, isn't going to hurt his daughter who's in the public eye. His need for power and frame just handed you your biggest weapon against him." I hated that Billy was making sense. I knew where this was going. 

       "You want me to stay with him. You are going to leave me with this animal?"

        "I didn't give you to him. You got caught. I'm looking at the silver lining, we can't get your ass out of there yet. It's too risky. Play the public against him, kiss ass till I say. I promise you we will pull you out before anything goes to hell. Trust your uncle Billy. Only use this phone at night to update me and the boys, better hide it well you're not getting another. Delete all of the conversation as soon as we get done talking. Text me tomorrow night." I wanted to cry, I had built my hopes up so high. I thought this was my saving grace. I thought I was getting out.

        With tears in my eyes I deleted all our texts and looked for somewhere to hide the damn thing. I thought about just calling the press. I had the phone, I had the ability to but I'd have no protection. Only the boys could stop Homelander and if I fuck up Billy's plans there is no way he'd hide me. I'd just have to play along for a bit. Even if it killed me.

        Using the wall I shuffle my way to the desk. I take some tape from the art kit in the room and tape the phone under one of the drawers. My cast started to slip out from under me and I pulled down a cup of pencils as I fell. I froze in place. Homelander's bed frame creaked as he rolled over. 

         "Simone?" He called from the other room. I had to think of something quick. If I made him get out of bed to check he'd be pissed. I dragged myself to the hall and used his door frame to pull myself up. My ankle was a blaze with pain as I put weight on it. I pushed his door open and looked into his dimly lit room. 

         "I had a nightmare." I say softly. He was laying on his side looking at me. I could tell he was trying to see my game. "I'm going to go back to bed sorry for waking you."

       "If you are scared you can sleep in bed with me. Come lay down." He pulled down the covers for me to get in. He even slept in his suit. What a fucking weirdo.

        "No, I'm fine. I'm not scared I was just startled." 

        "I said come lay down." His tone darkened and I knew he wasn't offering, he was demanding. I couldn't argue with him but sharing a bed with this unstable individual didn't sound like a good idea. He patted the spot next to him growing impatient. 

         I nod and use the wall to hobble my way to the tall bed. It was huge. California king, it was at least 3 ½ feet off the ground. It was a bitch to climb up in. Finally I was able to hoist my leg high enough to roll in. One good thing about such a big bed was I could have lots of space from Homelander.

         The far right side of the bed, facing away from him seemed like the safest spot from him. I took the pillow I was using and put it between us. He chuckles and puts it back at the top of the bed.

        "Don't be so dramatic, I'm not going to hurt you." He says as he pulls me to him. I try to dig my fingertips into the edge of the bed but of course that does nothing to stop him. He wraps his arms around my body. One across my waist and the other just under my arms around my chest. 

        "This is too close." I say as I try to wiggle free from him. He buried his face in my hair and took a deep breath. He wasn't trying to be subtle about his creepy behavior, he didn't have to be. How was I going to stop him?

         "You even smell like her…" He whispers as he nozzles his face deeper. I froze up yet again. I was fairly sure he didn't want me in any other way than as a daughter, but the way his voice sounded made my stomach drop. 

          Crying was all I could think to do. He seemed to not want me near him when I cried so maybe he would have the same reaction this time. 

          I start to sob and he lifts his head from my hair. I thought it had worked.��

          "Poor thing that nightmare really did scare you. It's alright, your Homelander is here." My sob became a gag as he spoke. He laughed a little and let go of me. "Goodnight, angel face." He said as he rolled over and gave me some space. He was just fucking with me again. My nerves couldn't take much more of his games. 

        Even though I was freezing there was no way I was going to get under the covers with him. 

        At some point I fell asleep. It wasn't a restful night, I kept waking up half panicked and checking where he was in the bed. He never got closer than his back touching mine. 

        The next time I woke up to look for Homelander he was gone. There wasn't a trace of him in the room. I heard voices in the living room speaking. My crutches were resting against the nightstand. Those were not there last night. 

        Using them I made my way to the living room. Homelander was talking to an older man. 

         "Oh good Simone, this is Stan Edgar. He's the big cheese around these parts." Homelander was trying to sound cheerful but I could hear the venom in his words. 

        "Good to finally meet you Simone, your father here seemed to have been hiding you away for some time." Edgar said this like it was a joke but he had no idea how right he was.

         "You could say that." I say with a chuckle as I shake his hand. He looked down at my cast. 

         "Wow you really don't have your father's strength." I look down at it as well. 

          "Oh yeah, it should be healed soon though. Is it a problem? I was looking forward to getting out there and doing my part as soon as possible." I say as I take a seat at the table with the men. Homelander gives me a look. He was likely wondering why I was so eager all of a sudden I needed to tone it down a bit.

       "No, not at all. You are polling great with teens and young adults, actually and no one's even seen you in your suit yet. I think the cast works for you. Real underdog story, you are more fragile than the average supe, it's relatable, inspirational almost. The child of Homelander can get a broken bone. It gives an element of danger when you go out there. The creative team is very excited to flush out your image more." Edgar said as he poured himself some tea. 

        "Sure, the kids got a bit of a glass jaw but do you really think marketing her as just like a human is a good idea. She's powerful, she has so much potential as a full fledged 7 member. She's a real killer, Stan." Homelander was quick to question the idea. Something about his pseudo child being portrayed as an everyday Joe rubbed him the wrong way.

        "Oh I have no doubt She's a killer given who her mother and father are." His friendly exterior dropped as he sipped his tea. It was like someone pressed pause on Homelander and I. It was funny seeing him get tripped up the way I do. 

        "I don't kno-"

        "Don't play dumb Homelander, it's pathetic. Did you really think I didn't recognize her? That's Alphonse Bishop's kid through and through. Luckily for her I don't believe that the sins of the father should affect the child. That being said I'm sure she is not against a little blood shed to get her why, just like her thief of a mother." Both Homelander and I had a physical reaction to his slander of my mom. 

        "Are you going to tell on me, Stan? She should have been my kid. It's only right I took her in." Homelander said, getting defensive. Edgar looked across the table at me. He didn't seem pleased. 

         "No, don't be so short sighted. If I sell you out the press might start looking deeper into the unpleasantness at the bishop family compound. I'd be implicated in a massive cover-up. I can't have that. I don't care what you are doing with her. So long as she is there with a smiling face for the camera's. What I don't understand is; You have a biological son, why keep her around? Don't tell me it's because of her mother." This asshole talked so callously about a slaughter. I wanted to pop his ribcage in but I knew that wouldn't help me any. Not yet at least. There was a more pressing matter. 

        "You have a son?" I ask looking up at a seething Homelander.

        "It was supposed to be a surprise, Stan. She was going to meet him today. And why I keep her is between me and myself."

          "This is very messy, Homelander. Very foolish. I expect better of you. She's not Diana, you killed her remember? Like a pestilent child you threw a tantrum. That we all had to clean up for you." Was Edgar trying to get him to snap? What was he thinking? 

        Homelander picked up his fists to slam on the table but stopped himself as he stared at Edgar. He slowly brought them down and rested them on his thighs. 

         Edgar didn't look worried in the slightest. He was just a man, how could he feel safe talking to Homelander like that? If I didn't hate him so much I'd almost admire him.

        "If you guys hadn't fired her she would have never ran off with that Unabomber wannabe." Homelander say through gritted teeth.

         "Oh please, you know as well as anyone she was seeing Alphonse long before we had to fire her for stealing vials of compound V. You couldn't stand the idea of someone not wanting you anymore so you killed her. That's on you." Edgar didn't mince words when speaking. I wanted to interject to defend my family but  he was starting to fill in some pieces of information I never knew.  

          "No! I had to! She was throwing away her life with him! I told her to come back with me. I begged her,  sh-" Edgar interrupted him.

         "And she decided she would rather die than be with you. I know it all is probably so tragic for you. My heart bleeds for you, honestly Homelander but that doesn't change what you did. It was no one else's fault but your own." Homelander's eyes glowed red. I was sure I was about to witness a murder. Edgar just looked at him. 

          He had to have some kind of fail-safe put into place otherwise he wouldn't be so bold. I wasn't sure what it could be but it had to be solid. No sane man would talk this way to Homelander without an airtight plan in the event of his death. 

          "He's not worth it. You might win the battle but the war would be his." I say softly looking over at Homelander. He must have agreed because his eyes went back to normal. 

       "Look at that she's got her mother's wit as well. Lucky you." Edgar said as he stood up. "I'll be in touch. Everything is all set for her to join Vaught officially." He pulled a pen from his suit jacket and got out a contract of some kind from his briefcase. He laid it down in front of me and handed me the pen. 

         "Go ahead, my team already looked at it. Mr. Edgar was very generous on the conditions." Homelander says never taking his eyes from him. Homelander's face twitched with anger. He wanted to kill him so badly it was palpable. 

         Edgar didn't seem to care death himself was chomping at the bit to end his life. He was a poisoned piece of meat just waiting for a rabid dog like Homelander to eat it. I was certain killing him would cause a bigger problem for us both. 

          I signed as soon as Homelander gave the okay. Edgar took his pen and contract and tucked them away. Part of me couldn't help but to feel like I just signed away my soul. 

       "It's going to be a pleasure working with you. We are going to make a lot of money together." Edgar says as he shakes my hand. 

        Stan Edgar left soon after thanking Homelander for the hospitality. I have never seen Homelander look so helpless. If it was anyone else I might want to root for him. That Edgar guy was so pompous and sure of himself it made my skin crawl.  

        Homelander just sat looking out the window for a while. I wasn't sure if I should act like nothing happened. I wasn't sure I could. 

         "So you have a kid? Like one that's related to you?" 

         "Yep" He said with a slight nod. He was thinking about something. Probably fantasizing about how he'd kill Edgar if given the chance. 

         "You said I was going to meet them? That might cheer you up." I said as I leaned back in the chair. He finally gave up on his staring contest with himself in the window's reflection and looked at me. 

        "You are interested in meeting my boy?" I just nod. If he was treating him anything like me, maybe some solidarity between victims would be good for us. I could get this kid some help if Billy ever gets me out of here. 

          Homelander smiled at me and nodded back. He stood up and handed me my crutches. "Go get around. We can leave as soon as you are ready." I was so surprised by how his mood changed just by offering to go see his son. 

          I took the crutches and got around like I was told. I couldn't help but wonder what a son of Homelander would be like. What if he was as cruel as his father, as if that was even possible. 

          We left once I was finished. He said we could have breakfast at his boy's house. He seemed so excited by the idea. We flew over a certain point and Homelander covered my eyes. 

          "No peeking, it's kinda a secret." He said with a playful tone. It wasn't long before he descended from the sky. He pulled his hand away and let me see again. It was a normal house. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. "I don't have to tell you not to act like a bitch right?" He asked as we walked to the steps. 

           "Of course, I'll behave." I say with a fake grin. He seemed satisfied with my promise and opened the door. The house was so normal. The kind you see on TV in a sitcom. 

         "Honey I'm home!" He called through the house. A woman poked her head around the corner. 

         "I thought we talked about you not just dropping by. Who's she?" She asked as he looked me up and down. 

         "This is my daughter Simone. Remember when I told you I had experience with kids? I figured she and Ryan should get to know each other." He said as he walked further into the living room. The woman looked scared and uncomfortable. She folded her arms and looked at me. She was trying to figure out what I was; can she be trusted? 

        "Why would they need to know each other? Who's your mom?" The last part was clearly directed at me. 

         "Because they are half siblings, Becca, that's why. And don't worry about who her mom is. She was the love of my life. That's all you need to know. Now where is my boy?" He asked as he looked around the general area as if his son might be hidden somewhere.

         Whenever Homelander would turn his back Becca and I would stare at each other. It was becoming increasingly obvious she was just as much of a captive as me. 

          "He's in the back." Becca finally answered. She turned and opened a sliding glass door. Homelander and I followed. Outside playing with a ball and mit was a young blonde boy. He looked just like Homelander; it was almost uncanny. 

            "Hey Ryan. I want you to meet someone. This is Simone, my daughter. Simone, this is Ryan." Homelander said with a big grin. I look at Homelander then back at this boy. He seemed hesitant as well. 

           I have to take the initiative and hold out my hand. 

            "Hey, nice to meet you." I say as I look at him almost pleadingly. I knew Homelander would get restless if we took too long. 

          "Right, hi." He said as he finally took my hand. 

          "I like your shirt." I say trying to make small talk. Ryan looks down at his shirt then back to me with a wide grin.

         "Thanks, it's my favorite show! You know it?" 

          "Of course I do!" I say with a chuckle. I didn't have a clue what cartoon was on his shirt but he seemed to be happy so I wasn't going to pop his bubble. 

        "Look at you two! Already best friends. Ryan, she's like your big sister. She just has a different mom." Homelander said as he patted me on the back. Ryan looked up at me with stars in his eyes. He looked like he was actually happy to have me as a sister. It felt kinda nice. 

        "Sweet! Wanna play catch with me and hom- I mean dad?" He seemed a little embarrassed he almost called him Homelander. Before I could answer, Homelander stopped me. 

        "Oh no kido she's not like us. She has different powers. We don't want her getting hurt any more." He said as he pointed down to my cast and crutches. 

          "Oh…. What can you do?" He asked, sounding disappointed. I hated that fucking question at least there wasn't many people around for him to make me demonstration on. Come to think of it, this culdesac didn't have any people walking around. It was eerily quiet. It was a gorgeous day out and the next door neighbor wasn't in their pool, no one was walking any dogs. 

          "Well champ she has a really cool power she'll show you some other time." Homelander said, looking down at me. He was trying to protect Ryan. He really seemed to care for him in his own fucked up way.

       "I'm making pancakes. You wanna help Simone?" Becca called from the sliding glass door. I looked at Homelander who looked a little annoyed but he still nodded. 

        "Yeah sure, I'll talk to you later Ryan." I said as I walked inside. Ryan waved before starting to play with his dad. 

        Becca smiled at me and motioned for me to come closer. I gave her a strange look but obliged. She held her hand down to her side. Inside was a little bit of paper. I make sure Homelander was still focused on Ryan before taking it. 

          Written in shaky handwriting, the note was simple.

         You here willingly? It confirmed my suspension, he took them as well. I shake my head no as I stare at her. She looked like she might cry. She nodded slowly and lit a blunt on the stove top. We turn our backs to the window as she takes a drag then hands it to me. We didn't have to say much. There wasn't a lot to say. Not a lot we could say either with him right outside. 

        We passed the blunt around a few times before she snuffed it and finished up the pancakes. They had blueberries just like the ones he made in the morning. 

        "Oh you like blueberry pancakes too?" I ask out loud deeming it inconspicuous enough.  

         "Fucking hate them. But him and Ryan like them." She says as she hands me plates to set the table with. She waves her hand at me to get my attention then mouths "You really his?" While motioning her head towards Homelander. I shake my head no again. Her nose wrinkles up a bit in disgust as she shakes her head. "Sick bastard." She whispers just as Homelander and Ryan walk in. 

        "What was that?" Homelander asked as he took a seat across from Ryan. 

         "Nothing, just chatting. Here, sit down, Simone." She says as she kisses Ryan on the forehead before giving him a pancake. I sit down next to Homelander begrudgingly. At least Becca wouldn't have to if you did. 

         Homelander talked while we all ate. Even Ryan seemed hesitant around him. On some level he could tell his dad was a monster. Kids are smart, they pick up on when one parent is scared of the other. 

         It probably wasn't right but I had to know it's it was probable. looked through Ryan using my vision. He seemed to be in perfect health. I wonder if he was as strong as Homelander. I knew he had his dad's powers but maybe because he wasn't fully grown I'd be able to do something. I quickly closed my eyes, what was wrong with me? Was I seriously considering trying to hurt this innocent kid just for a shot at escaping Homelander. 

         "You alright sweetheart?" Homelander asked as he patted back back a bit too hard. My eyes pop open as I nod.

        "Yep, just a headache."

        "Oh no. Ryan, why don't you get your sister an Aleve?" 

         "Sure dad. I'll be right back." He said as he hopped down from his seat and ran to the bathroom. Once he was out of earshot Homelander's face changed. 

         "So why am I a sick bastard?" He asked, looking between Becca and I. She didn't seem shy once her son was out of the room. 

        "Because you kidnapped someone's kid!" Her tone was a mix between a whisper and a shout. Homelander looked at me, I knew I was in some deep shit.

        "Is that what she said? I kidnapped her." 

        "No, of course not. She's not stupid and neither am I. I could see it in her eyes. Where and who are your parents, Simone?" She asked, looking at me. Homelander had a self assured smile. 

       "No go on, tell her. Don't let me stop your guy's little girl talk."

        "They are out of the picture, I'm 18." I say trying to ease her mind as much as I could. 

        "That's even worse Homelander what the fuck she's not-"

         "Found it!" Ryan said as he ran back into the room holding out two Aleve.

          "Thank you so much." I say with a big grin as I take them. He smiled and walked back to his seat. 

           "Good job baby" Becca says as she rubs his back. She kept her eyes on Homelander. She was pretty brave when Ryan was out of the room. She is just trying to protect him, keep him out of it all. She seemed like a good woman. I hated that she was pulled into something like this. I couldn't imagine a lady like her falling for Homelander, well I guess my mom did.

         After breakfast we all played monopoly. We couldn't finish it because Homelander was losing so he decided we all should play battle ship. When Ryan sank his cruiser he quit that as well. It would have been funny if I wasn't scared he'd flip on us all. 

        It was almost time to leave. We were all outside saying our goodbyes. Ryan was pretty sad. I'd imagine so he's probably lonely there doesn't seem to be many kids in the neighborhood. 

         "Alright buddy we are gonna get going. I'll be back soon" Homelander said as he hugged Ryan.

          "Will you bring Simone?" He asked looking up at Homelander. 

        "Well I don't know I'll see. Her leg is pretty bad. Maybe once it's all better." He said as the corner of his lip twitched. Was Homelander seriously mad Ryan wants to see me again?

        "I'll miss you Simone. Make dad bring you along." He said as he gave me a big hug. He almost lifted me off my feet. The little guy really was Homelander's kid. I squeeze him back and laugh. 

       "I'll try, you know how he can be. But I'll miss you too, kid." I say as I look up at Becca. She looked like she was gonna cry again but forced the tears back when Ryan came over to her. 

        "I want a hug too. It was good to meet you." She said as she hugged me as well. Being tormented by the same manchild God will make you bond fast. 

        "Good to meet you too. I'll see you around." I say as I pat her back. 

         "Alright come on its time to go." Homelander said as he grabbed me and lifted off. He wasn't quick enough to cover my eyes and I got a pretty good look at the neighborhood. It looked like it was walled off. He was keeping them insome kind of compound. He covered my eyes after a few seconds and I couldn't see much else. His grip was tight as he flew. I could feel his hand over my eyes tighten ever so often.

        Soon we were home. He sat me down and stood in front of me. He looked pissed. I knew my mistake was being too well liked by his other victims. 

         "Well you three were cozy. The way you girls laughed when I had to pay taxes on monopoly. Really sweet." He had his hands on his hips. I would have laughed at him again if he didn't scare me so much. 

       "I thought I was supposed to behave. Isn't it good Ryan and you ex like me?"

       "She's not an ex we had sex once." He said as his foot tapped. He looked like a mother who just caught their kid sneaking a cookie. 

         "Okay so? It should be good Ryan likes me. Are you jealous?" I asked as I lean back and lift my foot up on the chair in front me to elevate it. Without warning Homelander pushed my leg off the chair making it slam down onto the hardwood floor. I scream and fall out of my chair to hold my ankle. 

           "No of course I'm not jealous of a weakling like you. How dumb are you. I'm his dad. He could never like you more." He sounded horst. I don't even listen to him as I cry and hold my ankle. Walking on it all day made it sore enough but this sent me over the edge. 

         He sucked his teeth as he looked down at me. He picked me up under my arm pits and put me back in my seat. 

         "Stop being such a baby. It doesn't hurt that bad, let me see." He said as he sat down across from me and grabbed my cast and rested it on his leg. 

         "No just stop! It hurts enough!" I yell as I try to pull my leg from him. He used his X-ray vision to look at the bone. I was too busy crying and squirming to watch him. 

        "It doesn't seem broken anymore then before. I'm gonna have the doc come in and suspend this thing from the ceiling so it can be elevated properly. Maybe he'll even put a bolt in the thing to make sure it stays in place."

        "My cast doesn't need a bolt just stop please." I beg as I reach to hold my ankle again. 

         "No I meant a bolt in your bone to hook the suspension up to." He didn't seem to realize why I wouldn't want that.

          "Absolutely not! Just get me a pillow I can elevate it myself no bolt needed. I'm sorry you think your kid likes me more then he likes you but that doesn't mean you can mutilate my ankle further!" He gave me a strange look as I spoke. He shook his head slowly. 

          "I'm not doing this to mutilate you. I want to make sure this is healed up for you." He said as he rubbed a spot below my knee just above the cast where it had been swollen. I squirmed a bit more but gave up on trying to get my leg back. The steady pressure against the swelling almost felt nice but it also was so sore. 

        "Just stop acting like you care. I know you just like to see me suffer." I say as I lean my upper body against the table. He looked almost hurt. 

         "Is that what you think? I mean sure it feels good to hurt you but I don't like that. I really do want you to get better. I don't like seeing this cast on you." He says as his eyes softened. I couldn't take his head games I just lay my head down on the table and give up.

        "Oh and the doc has to come tomorrow anyway. Stan wants you to be chipped." He says as he reaches down to my other foot and takes my shoe off for me. I lift my head up. 

         "What? Like a dog? Why am I getting chipped?"

         "All of the 7 are. It's just for insurance. It goes in your arm." He says as he lifts me up and carries me to my bed.  

         "You have one?" I ask as he gently lays me down. 

         "Nope, my skins too tough." He grabbed a few pillows from the couch and lifts my foot up with them. Vaught really seemed like they had trust issues. I guess I wouldn't trust the 7 either.

          "I meant it you know, I don't like seeing you suffer." Homelander said as he crouched down next to my bed. He's completely ignoring the part where he said he likes to hurt me. I don't want to start a fight so I just agree.

          "Yeah alright."

          "I'm going to watch a movie want me to put it on in here and we can watch it together?" 

           "No thanks. I'm going to just play on the switch or something." I say as I pull out the gift from A-train. Homelander walked to the door before stopping. 

           "Hey you um you did good today. And I'm sorry about your ankle… not the breaking it part but I mean when I pushed it off the chair. That wasn't fair, sorry." I looked up at him stunned. This was the first apology I ever got from him. It wasn't the best, kind of a Homelander apology but he sounded like he meant it. I just nod at him wide eyed. 

        "Yeah no problem no harm done." I say with a small smile. He nods back and grins before walking out. That wasn't like him, it almost scared me more then his normal self. 

        I had to wait till he went to sleep before I could update Billy. He's going to loose it when I tell him about Homelander's kid. Maybe they can find the location and get them out.   

          I looked through my leg. I had to do something about this as well. I'm vulnerable enough, I don't need to be bolted down to a bed for a few weeks. I wasn't sure how good I'd be repairing bone. I stare at the crack in my ankle and try to get the bone marrow to seal it. It feels like a hot poker was pressed against my bone. It never hurts when I heal a cut. I wince and have to stop.

         The fracture did seem to be a bit smaller. If I did this slowly enough I could have this thing fixed in no time. That's not so bad. As always Homelander was my biggest threat. 

        His kindness tonight scared me. He seemed so genuine. He wasn't like that before. What happened?

[variousqueerthings]

hi, do you have any plans of doing a review system similar to the measurement when you get to the chibnall era of doctor who? I think you said that you didn’t watch it, but i could be wrong

SoooOOOOOoooo first of all hi friend!

second of all: back in the day of uh... whenever the first season of jodie came out, I did watch that season and enjoy it, it was a fun first season. I then promptly forgot everything that happens in it, because my brain works that way, and then (because my brain also does this) was like "well legally I can't watch the second season of jodie unless I rewatch the first season of jodie because I can't remember what happened in it, and I can't watch the first season of jodie, because I don't remember what happened in capaldi's seasons, and I can't watch capaldi's seasons because then I'd have to rewatch matt smith's seasons and if I watch those from beginning to end again I will lose all joy in my soul"

third of all: I no longer feel that way, I have grown as a person who deals with my brain being a silly-billy, so not only could I legally watch whatever I wanted to without the brain police nee-nawing, I also um... well I have a system of how to watch matt smith's seasons so that I find them enjoyable, so actually maybe on second thoughts I didn't quite outrun the whatever-the-heck-my-brain-does laws, so much as... rewrite them a little to work for me (crucially I did in fact... watch all of matt smith's seasons and capaldi's seasons to get back here, so hopefully I can implement a more holistic watch in future, where I just engage with the episodes I noted down with commentary and rankings that I enjoyed!)

fourth of all: I'm not sure if this rating system works for chibnall's era (I mean, maybe it does, I genuinely don't know, but my gut says no). the reason I wrote it in exactly the way that I did was mainly because of very specific noticeable recurring things I dislike in m*ffat's writing across several shows -- misogyny, making all of his main guys cruel because they're "intelligent" (which absolves them of the need to be not-cruel), those men being the most important thing in the universe of the story, "sexy" dialogue, amatonormativity, and overly complex plotlines that often spring up out of nowhere and go nowhere

fifth of all: so maybe what I'll do is just note down more simply what I'm getting out of (or potentially not getting out of) jodie's run. I obviously know the reputation of that era, I've seen a couple of oof moments, but there are definitely oof moments in rtd's and m*ffat's runs, so those alone aren't dealbreakers so much as "I see you"s

sixth of all: actually my main question with regards to chibnall's era is whether he understands that diversity is about more than casting. this in particular with regards to yas being a police officer, and how that may or may not create a difficulty in discussing the limitations and cruelties of systems, such as those propped up by... police officers. (this, by the way, speaking of rtd, so many people of colour and of course shirley anne who's a wheelchair user represented in UNIT, but that is a whole other tangent -- shirley I am manifesting a liz shaw type arc for you where you get to go "hold on, this whole thing is sus")

seventh of all: I think it's much harder, probably, to discuss chibnall's era with such a simplistic system, because from the outset it's a much more complex thing than what m*ffat was doing -- that is m*ffat's was still essentially casting a couple of white guys who were travelling with white women until s10 (which noticeably is... just a better season, in my opinion). this not to say I'm not critiquing it, but I wouldn't want to make a ranking system out of "how well does chibnall do diversity," I feel like that would be crass of me, because these stories opening up like this is already such a fascinating space to play in, vs me in m*ffat's era actually being able to track the almost complete absence of diversity in s5 (vampires in venice and hungry earth have my back) just... as a whole... to where we got to in s9 and s10, and using this measurement system to go "yeah this era got noticeably better on several fronts later on" -- I note btw on this point, that bill is waaay more proactive in her first three episodes that amy or clara usually got to be. her questions also aren't just essentially "and now what are you going to do doctor," they're more her trying to figure out how she's navigating her environments and then working with the tools she's getting

eighth of all (conclusion): probably not a review "system" but yeah, I'll still review for sure and maybe find a way to structure that, I want to be consciously interacting with the story, it's the best way for me to engage and actually remember it afterwards. I won't have the benefit of foresight with these seasons either -- that is, I won't know where certain things are going and how I feel about those trajectories (for example, although I don't remember s10 I do remember liking it!) + what I do know, I'll be filtering somewhat (with the flux for example) through the three specials we just got, so I'll know there's some form of through-line of emotional arc that perhaps wasn't felt as much when it was first being aired? all suppositions

ninth of all (epilogue): I am eager I tell you, eeaaager to see sacha dhawan in action!

tenth of all (nothing in particular): I remember s11 starts in sheffield, which is wonderful to me. since the time it aired I've just been in sheffield so many times, it feels so very familiar to me. wonderful to get out of london for a bit

[turquoiselover-99]

Flufftober Day One

Hi, hello! I'm not a first-time participant of flufftober (on a different account), but this is my first time using just my original characters. Mostly using different October events as a means of character study and slice of life! Enjoy!

@flufftober

Some days were better than others; Carlos could be home in time for dinner, provided he was caught up on casework, and other times, he was staying at the office for days at a time due to work.

… and sometimes, like today, Joshua was picking him up from the hospital because he got hurt on the job.

“—it’s not that bad, really, Bill, I can get home on my own—”

“Son, you got thrown through a window and landed on a pile of palettes. You’ve got a broken arm and ribs, and a concussion. You are in no condition to be by yourself, let alone drive. I’ve already called—ah, Josh, there you are.”

Carlos turned his attention to the doorway when Bill spotted the writer, looking worried.

“You got what?” the redhead demanded, having heard the end of the two agents’ conversation.

“I’m fine, really, you didn’t have to come get me—” Carlos began to protest.

“You heard right,” Bill sighed, giving his younger colleague a pointed look. “We caught the guy, but this one had to be reckless about it.”

“I don’t hear you complaining that we got our child murderer.”

Joshua pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I can handle it from here, Bill, thank you,” Joshua said, giving the older man a grateful look.

Bill nodded once and gathered his jacket off the back of a nearby chair. As he passed by the redhead in the doorway, he muttered, “Go easy on him; I’ve already chewed him out enough.”

Joshua nodded and once Bill was gone, turned his attention back to his partner, letting his worry show completely. He made it across the room in three quick strides and took Carlos’s face in his hands; he ran his gaze over the line of stitches over Carlos’s cheekbone, the sling his arm was in, and the obvious way he was sitting to try and relieve the pain from his broken ribs.

“Are you insane?” Joshua murmured, “I nearly had a heart attack when Billy called me.”

“I’m fine, carino, really,” Carlos murmured, reaching his good hand up to curl it loosely around Joshua’s wrist. “It was an accident.”

“Accident?” Joshua hissed, “How?!”

“… okay, maybe not so much of an accident. I was just really focused on getting the guy—he’s done a lot of bad things and needed to be caught.”

“Sound like my father, damn it,” the redhead muttered. “C’mon. Let’s get you out of here. You look terrible.”

“Si, I would like to get out of here,” the agent agreed, and hopped off the bed. Almost immediately, all the color drained from his face, and he swayed on his feet.

Joshua was quick to grab him by his good arm, steadying him.

“Easy now,” Joshua murmured. “I’ve got you.”

For a moment, Carlos looked like he was going to faint; Joshua was ready to call a nurse, until Carlos moved to sit back down.

“Okay,” Carlos groaned. “Moved too fast. Just… give me a second.”

“Need the doc to check you out?” Joshua asked, worriedly.

“No, no, not that. I just got to get my bearings about me.”

“… Why don’t I get you a wheelchair?” the writer suggested, gently, recognizing that a) now was not the time to press the issue, and b) he wanted to get Carlos out of the hospital as much as Carlos probably wanted out, “I parked down in the ER.”

“I…” Carlos began, but then seemed to think it over, “Si, that’d be nice.”

Joshua pressed a kiss to Carlos’s forehead.

“Stay here, babe. I’ll be back in a minute. Then we can go home.”

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Bad News Bears (2005)

If you didn’t care for the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears, it was probably because you deemed it inferior to the original. But what if you didn’t see the original? My rating may change once I finally see the 1976 sports comedy but until then, I say this one has a lot of laughs, a perfectly cast Billy Bob Thornton and a pitch-perfect ending.

Liz Whitewood (Marcia Gay Harden) hires washed-up alcoholic former baseball player Morris Buttermaker (Thornton) to coach the Bears, a children’s team whose players show little promise. Whether they’re constantly fighting each other, displaying no sports skills, making you question if there might be something wrong with in their heads, or wheelchair-bound, they stand no chance of winning anything. Even less with the dispassionate Buttermaker leading them.

Made two years after Bad Santa, this is basically that film but with less of a foul mouth, and for kids… kinda? There’s certainly no shortage of cursing, name-calling and terms that will make anyone who cares about political correctness woozy. No nudity though, and the sex jokes are likely to go over the kid’s heads - I mean that’s what happens to his young baseball players, so probably. If you show this to the young ones you may have some awkward questions to answer about strip clubs… but it’s not R-Rated, so aim for teens and up? The point is this material was made for Thornton (it may have literally been, come to think of it). Even once you’ve figured out the movie’s central gag, it remains funny thanks to the many ways director Richard Linklater shows us just how trashy Buttermaker is. One of my favorite jokes comes right at the beginning and it tells you everything you need to know about him but I was still surprised by what came later.

Along with the coach, we get enough of several players (played by Ridge Canipe, Tyler Patrick Jones, Aman Johal and others) to be both amused and somewhat frustrated (in a good way) by Buttermaker’s disregard for the team. You like seeing him not care but you'd like the rascalls to learn something, maybe even win some games. With some star players brought in (played by Sammi Kane Kraft and Jeffrey Davies), it's certainly possible. This keeps you invested in the story. That gag about not caring can only go so far, after all. The introduction of a villain - a coach who cares too much about winning, played by Greg Kinnear - helps. If he gets taught a lesson, it’ll feel like a win.

Though I enjoyed the film and laughed consistently, I can also kind of see where it might be a disappointment. You can picture the way The Bad News Bears could do more, push things further and be even more outrageous than it is. It’s another reason why I’m curious to see the original but for now, I’ll endorse this film. Mostly for Thornton’s dry, acidic humour rather than the sports story itself but that’s more than enough. (On DVD, September 27, 2021)

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #11:

Ragged Glory Part 2: Smell the Horse

Judging by the impending release of Fu##in' Up (a live version of Ragged Glory recorded live last November by Neil and Crazy Horse) it seems likely that Young will focus on songs from that much storied LP when I see him and the boys play live next month in San Diego.

That sounds pretty damn good to me. I'm more than ready to hear Neil rip through everything from Over and Over to Country Home (I see that, in true Shakey style, every song has been needlessly retitled for the new record by cherry picking lyrics from the songs; Country Home is hopefully now called Pickin' Someone Else's Potatoes; Over and Over should hereafter be named Ha! Ha! Ha! after the background vocals that follow the line "time was just a joke").

But if I had my druthers... well, that would be weird. What the heck are druthers? Where would I keep them if I had them?

Anyway, says I, Neil should shelve both Love and Only Love and Love to Burn for those upcoming shows; he should keep them safe at home with his own druthers while on tour. What he should bring is his giant wind machines. I want to see those things at full blast.

As I wrote a few weeks back in my first post about Ragged Glory, Young's epics on the attributes and flammability of love are great, sure, but compared with everything else from that era I find them a tad dull and definitely overplayed. Stephen Stills is probably planning reggaelishious versions of each track for his next record, the working title for which is I Suck Up The Dollar Bin. What's more, Neil has an entirely alternative version of Ragged Glory to consider for his set list: the aptly titled Smell the Horse.

Neil puts out about 16 new things a month, all of them on 480.6 kilogram clear audiofile vinyl, or whatever, so you are forgiven if you missed this one. Smell the Horse is an extended version of Ragged Glory which features four additional tracks. That doesn't sound too impressive, but I'm here to argue that it's a pretty big deal: hear about Smell the Horse is definitely worth a few minutes of your fine Sunday and I'd love to see it take up a healthy chunk of Neil's upcoming tour.

Let's start with the song that serves as inspiration for the extended version's title, a song which I think should been chosen to end the original record instead of the plodding and overly earnest Mother Earth.

We're talking about about Don't Spook the Horse:

I love how slow everyone plays here, holding onto their sonic and vocal notes alike for as long as they damn well please. Neil, Frank, Pancho and Lefty (that would be Billy Talbot) had plenty of reasons to slow down and savor everything at that point: Neil's wacko 80's were finally over, they already had a great album in the can and everyone was clearly stoned out of their minds in Neil's barn.

Saying "barn" here isn't quite right; we should say "one of Neil's barns." Apparently he had a bunch of them. On was filled head to toe with about 65 million dollars worth of toy trains. Seriously. Neil had employees dedicated to maintaining those trains, and he'd invented cordless and accessibly adapted remotes for running them all with his wheelchair bound son. Neil was clearly the richest, best and wackiest dad on the planet. I've got kids of my own and a shed behind my house too. Guess what I keep in it? Rusted and broken nonsense, of course, plus a few remaining battered and original Hoth-era plastic Star Wars toys that I simply can't justify throwing away; suffice to say that my kids would prefer Neil Young as a dad when it comes to finding pleasures in a barn.

Anyway, Neil and the boys play this song at a glacial pace because where the hell else have they got to be? "Let's play it even slower next time," I picture Neil telling them. "This one's never gonna be on the record anyway. Plus, if we play it slow enough, I can make up some lyrics as we go."

And how about the collage Neil assembles of those throw away lyrics at 3:20 mark. He's already introduced the characters and repeated their attributes for us: there's a horse who spooks, a dog who tends to roll in its own feces and a pretty little girl worth courting. But then Neil puts all of them in his homebrew lyric blender:

If you're gonna mess around with that chick,

Be sure to close the barn door;

Try to not spook the horse,

Make sure she ain't rolled in shit.

Just who exactly are we concerned about the smell of here Neil, your dog, your horse or the pretty little girl? I sincerely hope he means the little girl, 'cuz that's the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Next up in the song, Neil references "the valley of hearts", a rather boring image he plucks nonsensically from the aforementioned Love to Burn. If not for that song's somber, dull lyrics and the preachy Mother Earth, we'd include the word preface the word"gnarly" with "hilariously" when describing Ragged Glory. After all this album opens with Neil telling us that his car only starts if it's pointed downhill and then he goes on to make this song the record's only cover:

I had no idea until this moment that there was yet another silly, never seen by anyone at the time, video for this song. This one's even dumber and more ridiculous than the other videos from the record Neil made, which we spent time with a few weeks back. The visuals here, including Pancho's pants, basically prove my argument that this whole album can easily be taken as a joyful joke. Is that lady dancing with corn on the cob? And watch for when Farmer John himself shows up, first with a pitchfork, then with a shotgun. Neil was clearly cracking himself up.

And how about the fact that Neil passed over every song in the Western popular catalog from Sister Ray to Respect and chose instead to cover what is perhaps the least poetic and simplest song in history, a song which asks the Horse to hold down the beat and go "Whoa-o-o" over and over again while Young makes the least compelling case anyone has ever made for dating another human being and freaks out on his guitar. (So it's in writing: Neil, if you ever want to date one of my daughters, or, for that matter have one of them appear in one of his videos, the answer is hell no.)

But back to the whole "valley of hearts" thing: by referencing that dull valley in the delightfully sloppy Don't Spook the Horse, Neil effectively makes fun of his overly earnest writing at spots on the record and puts us even more at ease. Somebody, we think, ought to get me some of that stuff they're smoking while I check my dog for suspicious scents.

So are you with me? Isn't this whole thing a big, wonderful joke if you set aside Love to Bun, Mother Earth and Love and Only Love? I'm telling you, Neil could have completed the record's fantastically silly leap to unbridled joy by including Don't Spook the Horse from the get go.

But Smell the Horse does a lot more than add levity to the original record. It also adds some big deal beauty. Check out one of the most tender, spacious and shimmering album outtakes from Shakey's entire 60 year career:

Man, I just love this. Name another song that makes such loud and lovely use of the squeak fingers can make across the fretboard; name another song where Neil sings with this much care.

Interstate shows the vast breath of what Young was doing during the Ragged Glory sessions. Sure he could have made a comedy record. But if Interstate were on the original record instead of Farmer John we might call the whole thing introspectively soulful. Bob Dylan, it turns out, isn't the only genius who tended to cut the very best songs off his records in this era.

It initially makes sense that Young recorded Interstate a few weeks after the brilliant, hillbilly toss-off that is Don't Speak the Horse. Surely, he couldn't have achieved such disparate tones on the same day, right?

Well, don't be so sure about that: after all, 15 years earlier Young recorded one of the most hopeless songs of his entire career, Borrowed Tune, on the very same day he recorded one of his most hopeful, Traces.

That's Neil Young: from heartbreak to hope in sixty seconds flat.

The third outtake featured on Smell the Horse is Boxcar, a bouncy, strident track with some pretty questionable lyrics about Young's skin color (he says he's like a white man, which is a pretty obvious metaphor. Hey Neil, I'm a lot like a white man too. That because I'm a white male. But then Young goes on to tell us he's like a black man too, and a red man, whatever that is. Um, okay Neil...) that he wrestled with on and off for 20+ years before finally releasing on Chrome Dreams 2. The song could have added a much needed tasty note to the nothing-burger that is Old Ways; but it has no real business on the plate of swordfish, greens and hominy that is Ragged Glory. Sometimes Neil leaves the right songs off his records.

And finally, there's one of the weirdest songs in Young's entire, wonderfully weird catalog: Born to Run. No, this isn't Neil covering the Springsteen track. Young wrote his song first, supposedly, and initially recorded it in the summer of 1975 during the Zuma sessions, which just so happens to be the same summer Bruuuuuce released his own anthem by that name.

This all reminds me of my own summer of 89. I was 13 year old and about to get world famous through a song I'd just penned and recorded with my band, The Thurmanistic Paul Barrs, entitled Freefallin'. But then, bad luck came my way: Tom Petty beat me to it and put out his own, vastly worse, song with that very same name. My own Freefallin' was a stirring account of the time I fell off my bike and straight into the arms of a stunning middle school lady, but it remains on the shelf to this day because I didn't want to deal with persistent questions from the press about the possibly Pettyish origins of my own hit record; I'd seen my good friend, the incomparably talented Vanilla Ice, get unfairly pummeled by that very same media for the bass line he most certainly did not steal from Under Pressure in any way whatsoever, and I did not want to go through all that myself.

(Okay, you got me. Obviously, none of that is true. But I really was in a middle school band with that name. I sang lead.)

Anyway, I'm not accusing Neil of any plagiarism here; his song and the Boss's have nothing in common beyond their title, and Young surely would have left his own Born To Run off Zuma regardless because, well, it's a bit of a mess. Here, take a listen:

Don't get me wrong, this song still rocks. There's a fun, boneheaded hook, and everything recorded for Zuma is freakin' awesome. But I think we all get why, in addition to the Springsteen issue, the song went unheard until Archives 2.

But just listen to where Neil and the boys take that same song on Smell the Horse. The riff has new texture and less clunk. Plus there are about 16 different tempo shifts and about 48 different instrumental sections, and Neil breaks out some serious wailing in the vocal department during the chorus alongside his trademark snarl in the verses.

This track is a total and glorious mess. Clearly the plan was to have Neil's coked-up genius of a producer, David Briggs, edit the hell out of this, patching together the best 5-7 minutes of their 12 minutes of wandering through variations of the chorus and primary verse. Briggs would have definitely used the guitar work in the 7th and 8th minutes as the song's centerpiece: listen to Neil discover sounds in the neck of his Les Paul that he, and everyone else on the planet, has never heard before or since, while Billy Talbot thumps away (12345, 12345 goes the bass...) doggedly underneath him; my guess is someone had to punch Billy in the arm and tell him to stop already long after Neil was ready to wrap things up.

I'd argue that Neil made the right call again here: this song doesn't belong on Ragged Glory. Its tempo and mood swings are too symphonic, too complex and bizarre. Rather, Neil should have figured out how to play Born to Run with this much energy and ambition for either of his 80's Crazy Horse records, Re-ac-tor or Life, instead. Both of those records are filled with equally complex, ambitious and boneheaded songs, most of which somehow fail to miss their mark. Had Neil told us that he was born to run during either of those records Ragged Glory might not be viewed today as the renaissance for the band that it truly was.

So start running, or get out on the interstate, or, better yet, mess around with someone you love in your barn on this Shakey Sunday. Just remember to check the dog, or the person your fooling around with, for foul odors.

[steveisagay]

How to fix the damage

Disabled Munver

No warnings other than internalized homophobia (I'm pretty sure) Taglist: @shieldofiron @ebbiemunson

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 6.5 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

When Jason finally got to highschool he immediately tried out for the basketball team, he wasn't the greatest, but he managed to make it. After a few practices struggling to keep up one of the sophomores finally asked to help him practice. After practice they walked to one of the parks together and played a few rounds of one on one, the sophomore giving tips every now and then. These one on one practices continued until the end of the school year, where Jason finally said thank you.

Five years later and he was stuck in the hospital reading the same three books over and over. Meanwhile that same 'sophomore' was now visiting the hospital every other day with his boyfriend and a gaggle of kids. Yup, Steve The Hair Harrington was still taking care of kids younger than him. That part didn't even surprise him, but the part that did was that... Well... He was the king of Hawkins High and he was gay?!

The shock had mostly worn off by now but it still threw Jason off a bit when he walked in hand-in-hand with Billy Hargrove. It kinda made sense that Billy was gay, he always seemed to eager to play with Steve, then they would be up and on each other and it looked like some sort of wet dream. Plus his hair was so well taken care of, not in the way Steve's was, but in a way that made sure that every individual curl had it's own place.

The two visited on one of the rare days where Eddie had therapy and Jason didn't. Since he'd been making improvement he was allowed days off from therapy so he could focus on other things. Their proof for him doing better was that he was happy with other people and that he figured out how to get into his wheelchair by himself. They even took him off of two of his medications, including his sleeping meds. Eddie still had nightmares a lot, but they slowly became less and less frequent, but still more often than not one of the nurses would go to wake them up in the morning to find Jason in his wheelchair sound asleep next to Eddie.

Jason was left with the two boys and only one question plaguing his mind. "Hey, Steve? Billy?"

The two turned their heads, obviously they were waiting for Eddie, Jason could be a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. "Yeah Jay, what's up?" Steve replied, he had the same smile as when he first invited him to practice in the park.

Suddenly his mouth felt dry, his words were stuck in the bottom of his throat. He reached for his water on the little table that was between his and Eddie's bed. "You two are the only, uh, the only... Well, gay couple I know." He felt frozen. Steve just seemed confused but Billy seemed like he was pissed.

"Yeah and?" Billy almost snapped, what the fuck did he have to say about it? Whatever it was didn't really matter to him, he'd heard worse.

Jason on the other hand had been panicking for probably days before today. His breath started to quicken, he stayed silent for a moment, trying to calm himself down.

Steve got up from where he was sitting, almost kneeling on the side of his bed. "Jason..." His tone sounded like one of a concerned mother, "Jason what's wrong?"

That pushed him over his limit, tears started to fall down his cheeks. Steve moved to hug him, to try to comfort him some way. He sobbed for what felt like hours (which was really only 20 minutes). When Steve asked what was wrong again he finally was able to muster up an answer, "I... I-I think I'm gay..." His sobs wracked his body once again.

"Jason- hey, hey look at me, look at me for one second." Jason turned his face to meet his, "Jason, there's nothing wrong with being gay-"

"Yes there is!" He was practically yelling at this point, "If I'm gay then that means that I never really loved Chrissy and I swear I did," If Steve wasn't right next to him he would've never been able to understand what he was saying. "I really really loved Chrissy but if I'm gay that means I didn't, but I promise I did. She meant the world to me but if I'm gay then I really didn't."

Steve kept his voice soft, "Just because you like guys doesn't mean that you didn't love Chrissy, remember me and Nancy? I loved Nance so much and just because I like guys doesn't mean that I didn't. Who knows, maybe you could be bi?"

"What's that?"

He let out a little chuckle, "Bisexuality is when you like guys and girls, just because you like one doesn't mean you can't like the other. Look at me, I'm bi, I have a smoking hot boyfriend and have slept with many girls. It doesn't mean that all of those girls were a phase, it just means that I needed to grow and accept that I like men."

So that was him, "I can be that?" He was in a sort of disbelief, Steve nodded.

"So," Billy finally spoke up, "what kind of guys are you into, Carver?"

Jason was caught off guard, there were certain things that he thought he would never admit to, but here he was. "uhh, well, I would have to probably say tall, loud, metalheads." Billy chuckled at that, which granted there might've been one or two dreams about him but that stopped after everything. Or maybe just after he got close to Eddie.

Steve spoke again, "Does that mean that you actually do like Eddie?"

"Yeah, I-I think so," He paused for a second, "Wait what do you mean 'actually do'?"

"Cause Max owes me 5 bucks," Billy answered.

[spice-and-fire]

PARTIES: @spice-and-fire TIMING: Right at the start of the Overflow plot LOCATION: Worm Row, Wicked’s Rest SUMMARY: Devi, and a few others, help evacuate innocent civilians during the onset of the black goo’s consumption of Worm Row. CONTENT: None

A scream pierced through the night. Devi struggled to make sense of where she was. She had been fast asleep, that’s what she could remember. Dreaming about—what was it? Something about a dog and tacos? She couldn’t quite remember, though she thought nothing of it. She wasn’t big on dreams, and dreams never made the most sense to her. Devi preferred reality over dreams, even though hers wasn’t all that good.

Like at that moment in time, her vision was no good. All she could smell was smoke, and the scream—the screams were giving her a headache. Screams? She looked up, her eyes finding a set of stairs. Who was upstairs? Whose house was she in? While those thoughts tried to muddle her brain, her body didn’t waste a second, didn’t even hesitate, dragging the rest of her up those very same set of stairs. 

When she got to the end, her eyes widened in horror. What greeted her was a house doused in flames. She turned around, looked all over her, realizing she was somehow back outside. Out of the house whose stairs she had just gone up. 

Above her, the night sky that was blanketed with stars was soon besieged by the disgustingly thick smoke emanating from the fiery house. She returned her gaze toward the house as the screaming continued, but it was now nothing more than a burnt frame.

“Penny for your thoughts, soldier?” Kara dragged her back to reality, waking her up from a recurring nightmare with a plate of food. 

Where was she? Where were they? Devi looked around them as she absentmindedly accepted the offered grub, realizing the answers to those questions came much quicker this time. And were one and the same: Ah, yes, a party. Well, sort of. 

They were in a house. Lonely and empty. Apart from them. Her. And Kara, one of the girls staying back at the D’Arden House. And Liesel, another girl residing at their building, this one much grumpier than Kara. And of course Billy, whose father owned this lonely house, where they were now.

All three of them, the girls, were there to try and help Billy convince his stubborn old man to move out of his rackety shack of an aged house to somewhere safer. Liesel had a thing for Billy. It was obvious. So even though she hated the thought of doing something like this, of leaving the comforts of her settled place, she had to. She wanted to. And without even directly asking Kara, the gym girl already said yes, also volunteering Devi because why not? That reality made the tempered phoenix smile.

“Ah, sorry,” Devi winced at Kara, taking the fork on the freely given plate and stuffing her mouth with Billy’s father’s grits. Food was a luxury for her, and good food was almost a dream. “Spaced out there for a bit.”

How long has she been having the same recurring nightmare? Devi couldn’t even tell. When did she have it the first time? She couldn’t remember. Was it after drinks with that geology professor at the Wormhole? Nah, probably before that. Definitely even before that night at the Grit Pit with the grumpy wolf guy. Mmm, that grumpy wolf guy… 

Devi moaned, “This is so good!” She hasn’t had shrimp and grits for a long while, especially not shrimp and grits that good.

“Dad, please,” she could hear Billy groan at his old man. Stealing a glimpse of the living room, she could see him on one knee, pleading to the frowning senior on his wheelchair. Mister…Billy Sr. couldn’t even look his son in the eye. Devi smirked. Just like her late dad. What is it with old men and not listening to their very smart, very attractive kids? “Something’s happening in Worm Row… I need to get you out of here before—”

…that something happened? Well, something is happening now. A frowning Liesel was just about to open her mouth, most likely going to complain about how she should be back at D’Arden House working on her sixth novel attempt, when the ground shook beneath them. Devi dropped her plate, opting to catch the grumpy girl and her grandma-fashion shawl instead. 

“What the hell was that?” Kara voiced her displeasure just behind Devi. It had stopped as abruptly as it came. A minor glitch in the system? A quick reminder of everyone’s mortality? Or a warning shot that should be heeded as soon as possible?

With a nod, Liesel thanked her savior’s effort before picking herself up and turning toward the house, just in time to see Billy and his father holding each other close to the floor. “Billy?” Liesel began to walk toward the house, more concerned than anything this time. “I think you and your dad should get out here now.”

As if on cue, another rumble occurred, this time more violent and not that short-lived. Liesel screamed, instinctively dropping to the ground. So did Devi and Kara. And Billy and his father. But Liesel’s undirected scream didn’t last long. “Billy!” Despite the furious terrain, Liesel ignored the shaking earth, doing the one thing earthquake drills tell you not to do: head inside a house. 

“Get Billy and his dad out of there!” The retired soldier inside of Devi blurted out as she followed right behind her grumpy friend. Kara nodded in agreement behind Devi, even though no one saw her do it. Adrenaline was gushing inside of everyone involved. 

As soon as Liesel could, she grabbed Billy, who was very surprised to see her. “What are you doing here? Stay outside!” 

But it was already too late.

A furious Liesel screamed back at him. “What are you still doing here?! Come outside!”

If Devi had the time to spare, she would’ve enjoyed the scene. Billy and Liesel were two people who would never admit they cared for each other, even though that was obvious beyond the occasional flirting when intoxicated. Unfortunately for Devi, she had other things to worry about. Like whatever the fuck was making that strange sound further inside the old man’s shitty house. “Are those the pipes?”

As if on cue, something gross gushed out of the house’s plumbing. Most of it flooded out of the toilet area. Or at least where Devi assumed the toilet was. She peed at her place before they came here, so she never got the opportunity to check the toilet. But Kara did. “Yep, those are definitely the pipes. Come on!” 

The muscled miss didn’t waste time pondering the strangeness of the liquid that was pouring out of that area. Instead, she grabbed the old man’s wheelchair, with the old man still on it, and yelled at both Billy and Liesel to get the fuck out of her way, knowing the two were more capable of saving themselves than the senior. Devi herself only had a few seconds to steal a glimpse at the invading goo before her more powerful sense of self-preservation dragged her out of there.

The goo. She didn’t know much about it. Only heard and read a few things here and there about the damned thing. For all she knew, it was just a prank. Some sort of viral marketing scheme. A campaign by conservationists against the mining corporation or whatever. Between those two sides, Devi would choose the former, only because her knowledge of both were basic: Nature is good, money from danger is bad. Basic.

What wasn’t basic was what they saw when they finally got out of the old man’s house. More of the goo, the ooze, was dripping from cracks in the ground, potholes, even the crevices that already existed as well as the fissures newly made. “What the fuck is going on?!” Liesel screamed, more pissed off than usual.

Before Devi could throw an uneducated guess at her friend, they heard screaming. The first one came from the right side of the old man’s house. A child. Devi found a mother already outside, being held by an older woman—the mother’s mother? She screamed her daughter’s name, and Devi felt her feet already moving toward their house.

But then a second scream came from the left side of the old man’s house. That of a woman. And the barking of a dog. “Shit,” Kara scowled, her hands already freed of the old man and his wheelchair. Billy was now preoccupied with his father, trying to make sure he was all right. When Kara’s eyes met those of Devi’s, they simply gave each other a nod. Liesel joined in before quickly moving closer to both Billy and his father, holding them together.

Devi wasted no more time. She ran into the house on the right side of Billy's dad’s house while Kara ran into the house on the left side of Billy’s dad’s house, the latter giving Devi an unnecessary salute that the latter didn’t even notice. Not that Kara noticed her gesture went unnoticed. There were more important things to notice.

Like the ooze that was eating most of the first floor of the house that Devi ran into. She hopped her way onto the stairs, narrowly avoiding the gross liquid as it tried to have a lick at her feetsies. Gross. Once on the stairs, Devi steeled herself, grabbing the railing so as not to fall back down, straight into the waiting ooze’s gooey surface. She used her own momentum, from preventing her slip up, to launch herself upward, straight into the second floor. 

“Great,” she mumbled under her breath when she realized the same oozing goo was already spurting into this floor through the toilet’s pipes. “Nothing grosser than getting thicker piss all over you.” It wasn’t piss, of course. Devi knew that. But the disdain was the same, if not worse. She could’ve gone with the word ‘poop’, too, but she was starting to get pissed off, and her brain wasn’t that big. “Where are you, kid?”

The child in question answered her with a scream, pleading for her help. Devi beat the ooze, the goo, to her, but with the stairs already swallowed and the door to the child’s room barely liquid-free, there was only one way out of there. Devi turned the girl around in her arms, making sure their faces met. She needed her to look her in the eye, distract her from everything else. “Listen to me: You like superheroes?” She didn’t wait for the girl to answer. Kids like superheroes. Even the kids who don’t. “Well, we’re going to play superheroes, okay? Just for a bit. When I say ‘close your eyes,’ you close your eyes and imagine Superman flying you off to safety, okay?”

“I hate Superman,” the kid replied despite sobbing like a snot-nosed, ungrateful kid Superman would not hesitate to save.

Devi smirked, “Everyone does… For some reason.” 

The tempered phoenix whispered assurance to the girl that she would be safe, told her to close her eyes, and held her head close to her chest. With one final look at the goo, the ooze, that was slowly making its way toward them, Devi clenched her jaw, and carrying the kid with her, crashed out of the room through the window, making sure to fall on her back, the back of her left shoulder, to keep the kid relatively safe. 

The adrenaline wasn’t enough to keep Devi safe, however, and the fact that she had fragile bones, well, both of those things combined to ensure that as soon as she hit the ground, she felt everything hurt and everything faded to black.

“...completely overtaken by the mineral…” 

“...emergency protocols…” 

When Devi came back to consciousness, slower than she would’ve liked, she felt herself being dragged somewhere, through her arms, a pair of hands latched on her pits, as her back and butt felt the scraping lawn try to resist her. 

When Devi looked up, she saw a scowling Liesel grunting, obviously not a fan of all this. The former soldier smirked, and when the unsuccessful novelist noticed her catch was now conscious, she stopped dragging her, mercilessly leaving her on the ground. “You need to lose weight, Devi,” the woman with the scrawny arms callously pointed out. “I can’t save you when you’re this heavy.”

Devi groaned, chuckling, as she pulled herself off the ground. “Where’s the kid?” She looked for her, and it didn’t take her long to notice she was with her mother and grandmother. Kara was with them, and with her, was another older woman carrying a dachshund like it was her baby. 

“She’s fine,” Liesel needlessly answered, going down on her knees and taking out her shawl to try and use it to wipe stuff from Devi’s face. “And so are Kara, Billy, Billy’s annoyingly pigheaded dad, and most importantly, me.”

Liesel went on a rant about everything, but even though Devi had a smile on, mostly because of the fact that everyone was safe and sound, that smile quickly turned into a frown when she slowly noticed the horrors around them. Some of the houses had now been swallowed by the sludge, and worse? There were statues inside of them—on their balconies, through the windows, in their yards—statues that looked like people, statues that were positioned like they had tried to escape but weren’t able to. 

“Liesel… What are those…things?”

Liesel swallowed air. She suddenly couldn’t speak. Devi turned to her, eyes still wide with fear. She had an inkling of what the answer was but couldn’t confirm it for herself. Wouldn’t. “We need to go,” Billy suddenly appeared behind Devi. He then walked closer to Liesel and put a hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure her that everything would be alright.

“N-No…” Devi protested, suddenly feeling the pain all over her body magnified as she forced herself back to her feet. Her shoulder was definitely broken. And if it wasn’t, it sure felt like it. She turned around her, unintentionally spinning in place. “W-we still need to help others… How do we… How do we save the rest of the town?”

“Devi, please,” Liesel held her right arm, pleading. She was almost crying now. Close to, or her eyes were already too tired to pour, no one would’ve been able to tell. “We need to get out of here.”

Devi shook her head, which was still spinning, before freeing herself from Liesel’s grasp. She can’t just go. She still had people to save. She can’t quit now. People need her. But Kara soon joined them, agreeing with the other two. “Talked to everyone else and they’re ready to go. Come on.”

Kara tried to help Devi by holding her arm but the latter pulled away. “No, we still need… There are others left… We need to—”

“We need to regroup, soldier,” Kara interrupted the disoriented soldier with her steely eyes and an even steely pose. “And you need to rest. You just jumped out of the second floor, landed on your ass. You can’t save everyone, not when you’re all banged up.”

Devi tried to protest, to resist, but Billy chimed in. “My dad needs to get checked by a doctor.” He didn’t, but that was a good enough reason for Devi to acquiesce. One life, the life of many… All life is sacred. Her friends were right. They needed to go. They can’t save anyone else, especially not in her current condition.

As they got inside Billy’s car, with the rest of the survivors following behind in their respective vehicles, Devi found herself in a haze. Billy was driving, which meant his old man was beside him, in the passenger’s seat, while the girls were seated together in the back. 

Devi struggled to keep herself awake, her eyes open, but caught glimpses of the Row’s current state, parts of which seemingly inaccessible now, once open alleyways and paths fully consumed by the black goo. There were more statues in places once devoid of them, too. She could hear bits and pieces of alarmed updates and concerned news from the phone conversations in the car: Kara was telling people to get out of the neighborhood while Liesel was checking in on their building’s status. 

“...completely evacuating Worm Row until…” 

“...stabilized.” 

The last thing she heard was Liesel telling everyone in that car that D’Arden House was unscathed. Then everything around her was also consumed by a (less icky) blackness.

Devi found herself back in the dream, the nightmare. Only this time? She was also on fire.

[cringefail-loser]

The Art of Screwing Up, by Mike Wheeler

SUMMARY: Mike Wheeler, (an absolute idiot), stupidly decides to procrastinate asking Will to senior prom, before it's too late. Watching his childhood crush dance with a girl is absolutely heart wrenching for him, but there's nothing he can do about it now... right? NOTES: Hey !! This my second ever byler fic, so soz if it kinda sucks. I'm in a really shitty mood because I said something horrible to my (ex) boyfriend and now he hates me, so I figured that writing fan fiction about it would get my mind off of things. Hope you enjoy !! Also, the song that plays at the end is "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol :)

warnings: mild language

words: 1.7k

also read it on AO3

I screwed up. It was as simple as that. I didn't ask Will to the dance in time, and now he's dancing with some random girl I don't even know. He looks like he's having the time of his life, and I'm standing over here in the corner of the room, shuffling my feet awkwardly while Dustin, Lucas, Max, and El are all laughing and drinking fruit punch. I'm such a loser. "But there's always next year, Mike!" You might be thinking to yourself. No. No no no no. This is senior prom, which means that it's the last dance of my life. At least, probably. Unless I become, like, super famous, and get invited to a bunch of super fancy parties or whatever, there is no other dance I can ask Will to. This is it.

I figured that, as much as it seemed like my only option in the moment, moping around wasn't the best plan of action, and maybe I should just, y'know, go talk to my friends like a normal person who doesn't have a prom date would do. 

I awkwardly make my way over to the snack table, and nonchalantly grab one of the mini bottles of water out of the plastic material that they're kept in. You know what I'm talking about. (If you don't, that's super embarrassing for me, and I'm sorry.) I tried my best to make my presence known to the rest of the party, but Max is the only one who does, and all she does is give me a little wave. Even Lucas, the friendliest member of our little group, doesn't even look my direction. My logical mind is saying that they're just too distracted with whatever they're talking about or doing to notice, but my emotional mind is saying that they're purposefully ignoring me because I did something to piss them off. The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. I guess I did make that one slightly mean joke to El about how she needs a haircut, when I know full well that she's very sensitive about her hair. Whatever it was, they were clearly pissed with me. 

Except for Dustin, apparently. 

He's chatting with Lucas about our most recent campaign (the one where I was clearly flirting with Will, but he didn't seem to take notice), when he spots me. He waves me over to where the pair is standing together. I awkwardly make my way over to them.

"Mike! Hey, man! I feel like we haven't seen you in forever," Lucas smiles. He gently pats me on the back. I don't know how to reply, so I just smile. "How have you been?" He asks, but I'm too distracted at the sight of Will, laughing and smiling as he dances and twirls with the brunette. Dustin takes notice and elbows my arm. 

"Are you really checking out Will at senior prom, instead of asking him to dance?"

"Look at him! He's having the time of his life with some random girl," I groan. "And why would he want to dance with me anyways?" 

"Because... you're super awesome and cool? And he clearly loves you?" Lucas suggests. I'm not sure about the second part, but the first part is totally accurate. 

"Thanks, man." I smile weakly. 

"So, are you going to ask him to dance, or what?" I hear Max from behind me. She's managed to roll her way over to us without me noticing. It's been a while since we've hung out. Ever since she's been using a wheelchair to get around, her mom never lets her leave the house. I mean, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Although, she did get her hair cut short, and I will admit, it looks pretty rad on her. 

"I-I mean-" 

"Just go do it, Mike." She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms "I'll help you, even." My eyes go wide.

"Really?" I ask. There is just no way that Max Freaking Mayfield is willing to help me. She basically hated my guts when we first met a few years ago. And for good reason. 

"Yes really, dumbass," She rolls her eyes once again. "c'mon, let's go!" She pulls on my arm with her one free hand, and drags me across the room, making her way through the crowd. I'm closer to Will than I have been in like a week.

"Ok." She speaks. "When I say to, you're going to go up to Will, and say 'Hey, do you want to dance?', got it?" I nod in response. I look over to Will again. He's sitting on the wooden bleachers, smiling and nodding to everything the girl he was dancing with says. A lump in my throat forms. Sure, most people at this point know that I like men (and women, but that's not really important right now), but still, asking another boy to dance in front of someone I don't know? What if she like, yells at me or something? You really never know with people. 

My heart is beating faster, palms covered in sweat, like I dipped my hand in a bucket of grease. I can feel myself heating up, the feeling boiling in my chest and sending a tingling sensation throughout my body. It's uncomfortable, but it only gets worse.

"Mike? Mike!" I hear Max yell. I look over to her, she has a concerned look twisted on her face. "Are you ok?" she mouths. My quickened breathing slows down to a light pant. "Dude, you like, totally zoned out there. It was weird. Is everything ok?" She asks. I nod like an idiot. "then get yourself out there, and ask Will to dance!" It's obvious at this point that she's tired of my shit, and honestly? Me too. I'm tired of my own bullshit. I've spent the past five months pining over Will, and doing literally nothing about it, basically clinging to him like a wet kitten, and always talking about him. But apparently, I don't even have the courage to ask him to dance? What's wrong with me? I'm going to take a deep breath, puff out my chest, go up there and ask Will to-

"Hey, Mike!" Apparently, Will had made his way up to me without me even noticing. Maybe I fell in love with a ghost instead of a real human boy. 

"o-oh! Hey, Will! Wh-what's up?" Why am I stuttering? I've talked to him like a bajillion times.

"Oh, not much, just, y'know, waiting for you to ask me to dance?" He grins. Wait. Did I hear him correctly? He wants me to ask him to dance? He's waiting for me to ask him to dance? Am I going insane?

Will notices my pause, and how I nearly choke on the air trapped in my lungs. "I-i mean, only if you want to? We don't have to dance. Sorry if that was weird."

"No!" I yell, maybe a bit too loudly, as a few people turn their heads my way. "I do want to. I do want to dance with you." His slight frown turns into the biggest smile I've ever seen on a person, and I swear to God, his eyes were glistening a bit. I turn to Max. She's motioning wildly to the dance floor.

"Go, you idiots!" She yells, playfully shoving us to the center of the room. Will looks at me. He places his arms on my waist.

"Wait." I furrow my eyebrows.

"Yeah? What's up?" He asks. 

'I've never danced with anyone before." I hate to admit it, but it's true.

"Honestly, I haven't either. At least- I've never slow danced with anyone. But I'm sure we'll figure it out." He grabs my hands and puts them on his shoulders, then he wraps his hands around my waist. He steps one foot backward. I'm not sure what to do, so I just stand there. He tugs on my arm a little bit, causing my to nearly topped forward on top of him. "Mike. you're supposed to dance with me, not just stand there." he laughs. But I'm nervous. There are dozens of couples surrounding us, and none of them are two boys or two girls. Or two of whatever. To make matters worse, a few of them are staring at us like we've just formed into one being with two heads. I can feel myself starting to panic again. 

"Mike, come on and dance with me! Everything's going to be fine." My head immediately snaps towards Will's directions once the words leave his mouth. "Just dance with me!" He smiles. I nod. "All you really need to do is shuffle your feet a little bit." I do as I'm told, and move my feet like I need to piss, but in slow motion. I can see Will is trying to stifle his laughter. I'm a little bit embarrassed at first, but once I watch him move around, I get into the flow too.

Right as I finally feel like I've got it down, the music is changing and all of a sudden everyone is jumping up and down and dancing at a fast pace. I feel disoriented and like all of a sudden, I'm all the way across the world at a different party. The whiplash doesn't seem to affect Will, though, as he's grabbing me by the hands and yelling at me to dance with him while he moves his body around, not exactly to the beat, but also not exactly to a different beat either. He's just moving around and having fun.

On the floors of Tokyo, or down in London town to go-go 

The crowd is singing along, and Will is screaming with them. You only live once, so why not join in?

When there's no one else in sight, in the crowded lonely night

Now we were having the time of our lives together. I had successfully danced with Will at senior prom. I didn't throw up, I stand in the corner all night, and most importantly, I didn't chicken out like I thought I would.

Maybe there were some things I could do right in life.

[sheinthatfandom]

Finally wardlow gonna have a real fight next week

The one time since acclaim and assboys teamed up that the rap turned me off really of all the way to bring attention to flint????

DANHAUSEN!!!!!!!! Hook or wardlow gotta be his partner

FTR!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! OMFG YESSSSSSSSSSSS

FTR FTR FTR FTR!!!!!! FTRHAUSEN!!!!!!

Lmaoooo I know Anthony happy like I’m in a chair don’t involve me in this shit lol

Got the amount of glitter is excessive

I love how taz and them are like how did danhausen get them to agree… cause EVERYONE loves danhausen if you say you don’t you lying to yourself

The man is a baddie (his wife is supposed to be a baddie tonight) he’s hooks partner wardlow is friends with him kingston likes him Britt baker sells him teeth like he’s cool with everyone

Dans in the ring and doing pretty good, I take it back colt laid him out and now max is throwing him around

I really hope his leg is back to normal cause I’d love for him to suplex the shit out of all of them

Uncle Dax calm down everytime you come into the ring and ref got her back turn they’re ganging up on my gremlin baby

Who I gotta blow to have hook come down with a jar of teeth????

Danhausen ducks under and gets Dax inside yes!!! Rest up baby

There go my boys!!!! Cash and colt outside the ring Dax is kicking Austin’s ass

Oh shit no did Austin fuck up and hit Dax in the back of the head for real

The go to sleep!!!!

Bowens can walk!!!!!

Danhausen curses Bowen who hits max with his crutch!!!

Ftr destroy the wheelchair… I mean I know a few people who could use a wheelchair but it’s probably a rental

The end of the acclaim and gun club? That sucks they worked so well together. Wait so billy dumped his sons for the acclaim??? Holy shit I knew it was coming but I thought the build would be different

[musingsofvenus]

To All the Monsters I’ve Loved Before

*ahem* Jacob x Bella fake relationship AU? To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before but it’s the Twilight remix?

AU rules: vampires and werewolves are Known. Billy is not in a wheelchair. The Cullens who appear have their original surnames.

taglist: @redrosebloom @teamjacobthot @leahcee @rinnderella @teambellaxtherapy @howlonghaveyoubeenseventeen @twilightofficial

Chapter 1: the one that got away

“Did you guys have to choose schools that are the furthest from Washington?”

Rachel and Rebecca roll their eyes at Jacob’s complaints.

Of course, he’d known about this for months. He had the entire summer to prepare. He even helped his sisters back box after box, suitcase after suitcase. One half was labelled for Hawaii, and the other half was labelled for New York. His sisters were moving to opposite ends of the country while he and his father would stay behind on the rez.

He and his father drove the twins to the airport, three hours away from home, all for a ten minute goodbye. 

“One more year and you can choose a faraway school, too,” Rebecca says.

“You’ll have so much fun in school you won’t even miss us,” Rachel adds. “We’ll be back before you know it!”

“Sure, until one of you meets some guy and runs off with him into the sunset,” Jacob snarks.

“Hey! I wouldn’t run off with some guy!” Rebecca argues. She taps her chin. “But if you mean a Hawaiian lifeguard…”

“Baywatch has ruined you,” Rachel says dryly.

“The Rock has ruined me.”

“Oh, so that’s why you decided on Hawaii!”

Above them there’s an announcement that the 10 am flight to Hawaii will depart from gate 17.

“Alright, bring it in,” Billy says roughly, holding his arms out. The rims of his eyes are suspiciously red.

Rachel’s lip wobbles. She grabs Rebecca when she continues to stand off to the side, staring at them all hugging with a grimace on her face. Rebecca was never one for hugs, but she would have to make an exception this time.

Even Jacob feels his eyes burning at the thought of his sisters leaving, moving on to bigger and better things without him.

“Facetime me every week,” Jacob demands.

“All we have to do is phase to talk to each other, Jake,” Rebecca huffs.

“We don’t know if it’ll work from that distance!”

Rebecca raises her brow in surrender and sighs. “Fine.”

The twins bid them a final “see you later” and head toward the security lines. They fist bump each other and step into separate lines that wind in opposite directions.

Billy and Jacob watch until they disappear from sight.

The drive back to La Push is long and quiet. The house is even quieter for the rest of the summer.

When September finally rolls around, the morning Jacob gets ready for his first day of junior year is an odd experience. Neither of his sisters are there to hog the bathroom or fill the quiet morning with the usual sounds of their petty arguments over borrowed clothes.

Still, he can’t help but hunch over his plate of peanut butter toast as if his sisters would pop out at any moment and steal a slice. His father sits across from him, covering an amused smile by taking a sip of coffee.

“Got everything you need? Lunch money? Enough gas?”

“Check and check.”

Billy nods. “Don’t forget to pick up Leah and Seth on your way.”

Jacob scoffs. How could he forget? Leah would have his head if he did. That, and she was blowing up his phone since the crack of dawn to make sure he woke up on time. Not to mention the death threats if he made her late to their first day of junior year.

His phone chimes. “Speak of the devil…”

I wanna get dunkin, Leah texts him.

Jacob glances at the time. that adds 10 mins to the drive

OK? and? see you in 5 mr. chauffeur

Jacob sighs, shovelling the last piece of toast in his mouth as he stands. “I’ll see you later, Dad.”

“What’s the rush?”

“Leah.”

“Right,” Billy laughs. “Well, enjoy your first day!”

“It would probably be nicer if Leah would get her own freakin’ car,” Jacob grumbles under his breath. He snatches his keys and backpack from the door, heading to the Rabbit parked in the driveway.

The drive to the Clearwater’s could hardly be considered five minutes. They live in a white, two story home at the end of the same road Jacob’s house is on. A two minute drive would be more accurate.

Leah and Seth are standing on the porch. Seth is eager this morning, a grin spreading on his face when he catches Jacob waving at him through the windshield. He runs down the dirt pathway that leads to the street while Leah walks behind him at a leisurely place.

“Hi, Jake!” Seth shouts as he yanks the backseat door open.

“Hey kid,” Jacob responds. He turns his attention to Leah still taking her sweet time down across the lawn. “Are you trying to make us late?”

Leah sticks out her tongue. “You’ll just have to drive faster!”

She climbs into the passenger seat and shoves a brown paper bag in his face. “Mom made you a snack.”

Jacob takes a whiff. “Snickerdoodles?”

“Mom added extra cinnamon on top of yours,” Seth chirps.

“I feel seen,” Jacob sighs happily, setting the bag in his lap.

“I feel starved,” Leah snarks. She unravels her seatbelt with more force than necessary. “Can we go now?”

Jacob glances in the rearview mirror, catching Seth’s gaze. He raises his eyebrows as if asking, What’s her problem?

“Hangry,” Seth mouths back to him.

Leah flicks Jacob’s nose and smirks at his squawk. “Don’t have silent conversations about me! Let’s go, let’s go! I need a doughnut like yesterday!”

Jacob throws the shift into drive. “Yes, your highness.”

He pushes the limits of the Rabbit’s clutch, but they make it to the school parking lot with several minutes to spare and with a half eaten box of a dozen jelly filled doughnuts.

Leah unbuckles her seatbelt with a smirk smothered in powdered sugar.

“Pleasure doing business with you, as usual.”

Jacob wipes the sugar from his own mouth. “Sure, sure.”

Leah reaches back and ruffles Seth’s hair, ignoring his loud complaints. “Get to school, punk. I’ll see you at 3.”

“Bye, Lee! Bye, Jake!” Seth chirps, scooting across the seats and jumping out of the car. He’s immediately met with high fives and playful nudges from his classmates Collin and Brady.

The driver’s door is abruptly yanked open, and Jacob’s eardrums threaten to explode when Embry yells a greeting in his ear. On the passenger side, Quil leans through the window and snags a doughnut for himself.

Jacob grasps his poor ear. “Embry, c’mon man,” he half-heartedly complains. A grin spreads across his face as he smacks Embry’s offered hand.

“Junior year,” Embry crows. Quil throws his head back and howls with excitement, laughing around a mouthful.

“Ugh, get me out of here,” Leah groans.

“Yes, you need to get your schedule! I’m praying you have physics with me because I am going to fail,” Embry says.

“You’re gonna have to pay up for my test answers, Call,” Leah says. “With interest!”

“She’s cruel,” Quil whispers over Leah’s head.

“I heard that!”

Leah snatches Quil’s final bite and shoves it in her mouth. When he shouts with indignation, she ignores him in favor of opening the passenger door to push him aside.

They all walk across the parking lot and up the stairs to the entrance of the school. A range of students greet them with nods and shouts as they pass.

Jacob nearly breaks his neck when he catches the familiar scent of strawberry shampoo. He turns and finds the source standing on a ladder in front of the main hall’s bulletin board, struggling to pin a neon pink sign to the wall.

Bella. Isabella Swan.

She and Jacob were childhood friends– but really, acquaintances might be the better word. While their fathers went fishing together, Jacob and Bella would make mudpies in his backyard.

They grew older, and their old rituals faded away, but Jacob has always had a soft spot for Bella.

And by a soft spot, what he really means is: an unrequited crush.

He could never pinpoint one particular thing he liked about Bella. Was it her chocolate brown eyes? Her pretty smile? That endearing clumsiness?

As if he jinxed her, Bella teeters on the ladder.

Jacob rushes forward and steadies her before she could kiss the floor. Bella glances up at him with surprised eyes and red cheeks.

Oh, he definitely liked her blush, too.

“Hey, loca,” he breathes. “Still clumsy as ever, I see.”

“I’m eternally cursed,” Bella jokes.

Jacob helps her down from the ladder, but she still stumbles on the last step. Behind him, Leah stifles a laugh.

Bella’s blush spreads.

“S-So how was your summer?” she asks.

Jacob shrugs. “The usual. Garage, beach, cliff diving and more garage.”

A secret smile lightens Bella’s expression. “The usual,” she repeats.

“What about your summer?”

Bella grimaces. “I was in Florida with my mom for the summer. Well, more like mom was with Phil and I was just… there.” She shrugs. “She’s, you know…”

Unwilling to be a parent? Jacob wants to say.

“Busy?” he suggests instead.

Bella sends him a strained smile and curls her hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Busy,” she says lamely. Her gaze falls to her feet. “Every summer.”

A pale hand sheathed in a tan leather jacket coils around Bella’s shoulders. Bella immediately perks up as she glances behind her, catching a kiss to her cheek.

Jacob and Leah stiffen when golden eyes, full of arrogance, turn to them.

“Hello, Jacob. You’re looking shaggy. Shall I call the groomers?”

Edward Masen. Bella’s boyfriend. Self-proclaimed vegetarian vampire (whatever that means). Jacob’s archenemy.

Jacob scowls, wishing today of all days he didn’t forget to bring a hair tie. Edward would use any excuse to harp on him.

Leah beats Jacob to a response, shouldering her way in front of him.

“You mean the shop where you usually go to pick up your next chihuahua happy meal?” she asks in a snide tone.

Edward hisses, raising his shoulders like a distressed cat. “I do not-”

“I think Jacob looks good with his hair down,” Bella interrupts, smiling over her shoulder at Edward. “You know you shouldn’t say things like that, Edward.”

Edward’s face pinches. “Sorry,” he says insincerely. He looks to Jacob’s left and perks up. “Rosalie just walked in. We should say hi.”

As he pulls Bella away, she glances back at them with a grimace and mouths ‘sorry’ before she’s whisked away into the crowd.

Leah rolls her eyes after them. “Who told him wearing that much beige in one outfit is acceptable?”

“She likes my hair down,” Jacob says stupidly. Maybe he’ll forget his hair tie more often.

Leah rolls her eyes even harder.

“She runs with vampires, Jacob,” she points out.

That’s not enough to deter him. “So?”

“And she’s taken.”

“I know,” Jacob grumbles.

But a guy can dream.

.

.

Next chapter

[leafy-peyy]

Christmas Special!

Merry Christmas if you celebrate!! Here’s a little something for you all <3

Brahms

Would be the type to wake up at 3 in the morning to open presents

You will be shaken awake by this man, and as much as you beg to go back to sleep there is no hope

There will be no order when it comes to opening presents, just complete chaos

He would shred wrapping paper

He would make you something! He doesn’t go out so buying something for you is out of the books

You bought a few Christmas records so that the house would be filled with festive music

He has a Christmas jumper, nothing super cheesy, just red with green accents! If you buy him a cheesy ugly Christmas sweater though he would wear it

Imagine staying inside with this man-boy and watching Christmas movies while opening presents

The amount of chaos would be unlimited

Bonus points if y’all are drinking spiked eggnog tbh

I bet you 100% Brahms would build snowmen with you, I mean he is a big child

Poly!Ghostface

You all have a sleepover on Christmas Eve so you can be together Christmas morning

Stu would wake up first and would try to get everyone to get up

You would be fine with getting up, but Billy wouldn’t be moving anytime soon

Billy would just pull Stu and you close to him and tell Stu to shut up (he doesn’t mean it though he’s just sleepy)

Starbucks is definitely getting bought before anything else- coffee is a requirement!

When you open presents you all take turns, wanting to see the reactions when gifts are opened

Billy had a genuine smile the entire time you guys were opening gifts, he’s so grateful for the two of you

You’re probably going to be piss drunk with these two or sober af, no in between

Bonus points if it’s spiked hot chocolate

Stu’s invested in the Hallmark movies as you and Billy scoff,, not surprised honestly

Billy’s the one who tries to buy y’all everything… then complain about how broke he might be

Stu’s our favorite lil rich boy, he definitely goes all out, literally buying whatever y’all look at in secret, how he does it? Nobody will ever know

They both cuddle up with you on the couch, it’s their favorite

Michael Myers

This man doesn’t like Christmas, but if it makes you happy, he’s down

I’m ngl this man is written so cruelly but deep down he does care and he does love you

Will steal you anything you look at, he has 0 chill

His wRAPPING SKILLS ARE WEAK TBH BUT IT’S ADORABLE

You get him a knife set; why not? Man likes knives!

Jason Voorhees

Did you spend the week leading up to Christmas decorating your shared cabin? Hell yeah you did

Jason cut a tree down so you both could decorate it!! It’s not exactly a typical Christmas tree but it works

He also snatched some ornaments from his latest victims so the tree can be as pretty as can be!

Christmas morning you can sleep in as late as you want, Jason doesn’t mind

Having breakfast before presents, just listening to Christmas music and basking in each others presence

You had gotten him a new jacket (The ones he had are a little torn up)

He gets so excited when he opens a gift from you, he will hug you after every present

Cuddles all day long, just cozying up by the fire

Hot cocoa for days, no alcohol though because that isn’t Jason’s cup of tea

Poly!Lost Boys

You arrive at their cave before sunset

The boys haven’t gotten around to decorating, so you decided to do something special for them

When they wake and come into the main room they are s h o o k

Christmas lights? Garland? Christmas tree? WHERE DID THIS ALL COME FROM??

When they see you sitting on David’s wheelchair grinning at them, I think they get the idea of what happened

You are engulfed immediately- Marko and Paul dart as quickly as they can at you (Dwayne and David follow suit, it's Christmas lmao they gotta group hug at least once)

Alcohol? Alcohol

Y’all are going to get hammered I don’t make the rules

Spiked eggnog, Spiked hot cocoa, Spiked EVERYTHING

It’s a party, Paul is singing at the top of his lungs, Marko is dancing to said singing, Dwayne is debating on joining the dancing, and David is still drinking

Marko will pull you into dancing with him and Paul

Ends with you all cuddling

When it hits midnight, a lot of screaming in excitement

Gift exchange time!!

It’s such a positive atmosphere

You sure do love your boys <3

[phases--ofthemoon]

PHASES CH. 12

Warnings: Some language, mention of adult content

P.S. Sorry this one took so long! I have the next 8 chapters outlined so I'm hoping writing will go a little faster. The spice is coming don't worry ;)

Emerson

The rest of Sunday flew by after Jacob and I had breakfast at my house. I had driven him back to his house so he could shower and change and then he spent the whole day showing me around La Push. I loved getting to see the house he grew up in. Sure it was tiny and could probably use a little fixing up but it felt so warm and homey and I loved everything about it.

We stayed down at First Beach until the sun started to set, walking back to his house hand in hand. It had been such a perfect day that I didn’t want to end.

“My Dad must be back.” Jacob said noticing that the porch lights were on. “Would you like to meet him?” Nerves filled my stomach I hadn't expected to meet his family today but of course I wanted to meet the man who raised him. I guess by the deer in headlights look on my face he could tell I was suddenly uneasy. “Don’t be nervous, he’ll love you.” He smiled reassuringly.

“Okay, yeah of course.” I smiled and he led me through the front door.

“Hey Dad.” He called out into the house. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He squeezed my hand as we stood in the living area. From the hallway a middle aged man wheeled himself into the living room and looked from Jacob to me smiling. Jacob hadn’t mentioned his dad was in a wheelchair, we hadn't talked in too much depth about our families just the very basics. It was a touchy subject for me so I didn’t pry about his. All I knew is that he lived with his Dad and has two older sisters. All he knew about me was that my family and I lived in North Carolina prior to me moving and I was an only child. I was curious about his mom though and what had happened to his Dad but it wasn’t something I was going to press. I was in no rush unload my history on him.

“And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?” He said stopping his wheel car in front of us as he glanced at our hands still enclasped. He had dark long hair that came to his shoulders and the same warm eyes and copper skin as Jacob.

“Hi, I’m Emerson Blake.” I said smiling shaking his hand. It was warm but not as warm as Jacob’s.

“It’s wonderful to meet you Emerson. Billy Black. I guess you're the reason Jake’s been in a frenzy this past week.” He said giving Jacob a playful look.

“Thanks Dad.” He said sarcastically, a blush crept up his cheeks and I giggled.

“It’s really nice to meet you Mr. Black.”

“Please call me Billy.”

Billy asked me to stay for dinner and I happily agreed. He put Jacob on grill duty to cook the burgers and I helped Billy in the Kitchen with some side side dishes. We chatted idly and I was shocked at how comfortable I felt helping out in the Black’s kitchen. Billy was great, I instantly liked him, he had such comforting presence about him and I could see how much love he had for his son and family in general. He told me a little bit about the reservation and the Quileute Tribe, it was amazing to hear about their heritage and the rich history their Tribe had. I hadn’t known much about my family history, both my parents had been only children and their parents had passed before I was born, all I knew is my dad was from Forks and my mom Wilmington but other than that I had no clue.

“So Emerson, why did you decide to move all the way out here. Did you come for school?” He asked casually sipping his beer. We had finished up the sides, a simple pasta salad and some baked potato wedges and were now sitting at the table waiting for Jacob to come in with the burgers. Billy like Jacob was really easy to talk to and honestly seemed like the kind of person you could tell almost anything to.

“Not exactly…I am interested in starting classes here though. I took a little break from school, I had never really traveled anywhere prior to this. My Dad actually grew up here so I felt like it was a good opportunity to see more of the country.” He nodded taking in what I said.

Jacob came in with burgers on a plate setting them down on the table before taking a seat next to me.

“What did I miss?” He said smiling at us.

“Emerson was just telling me about her move.” Jacob nodded and I gave him a small smile.

“Is your Dad John Blake?” Billy asked after a moment. He knew my Dad too? I guess it really was a small town.

“Umm yeah. You knew him?”

“I did, he went to high school with a really good friend of mine and we would all hang out when they came down here. He was a great guy, a real jokester.” He chuckled.

I smiled. I wished I could remember him. All I had were some pictures of him, no home videos no momentos. It was hard since my mom really never talked about him but the fact that I was meeting people who had known him made me happy. Maybe I could press Billy for some stories at some point.

“It’s nice to hear good things about him.”

“You’ll have to ask him if he remembers me. How’s he doing these days?” The familiar pit in my stomach appeared at the question.

“He actually passed.”

“Oh I’m sorry Emerson I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay..it was really long time ago, I was really little and unfortunately I don’t really remember him…thank you for your kind words about him though.” I said with a small smile.

“I know how hard it is losing a loved one. I lost my Sarah when Jacob was around nine.” Jacob lost his mom too? I looked over and could see sadness flash in his eyes and he squeezed my hand under the table we shared a look of understanding both having experienced the loss of a parent. Little did he know I had lost my mom as well. I was so thankful he still had Billy and his sisters.

“I’m so sorry you lost your wife, and you your mom.” I looked between both of them. Thinking about their family experiencing such a hard loss broke my heart, especially a young Jacob without a mom.

“Alright enough with the heavy stuff, let’s eat.” Billy said trying to lighten the mood after our moment of silence.

We continued with light casual conversation for the rest of the meal and after we finished up I volunteered to help Jacob clear the table and clean up the kitchen. I was seeing so much more to him, he had more on his plate than I knew and I couldn’t help but admire him even more. He took care of his Dad, worked a full time job and overall had this positive outlook on things.

Once the kitchen was back in order I said goodbye to Billy who was watching TV. He thanked me for all my help this evening and reiterated what a pleasure it was to meet me and that he hoped he would see me again soon. It warmed my heart that his Dad seemed to like me. I wave and Jacob led me out the front door walking me to my car.

“Thanks for staying for dinner, I’m glad you got to meet my Dad. He definitely likes you.” He laughed.

“I’m glad I got to meet him too, he is really great. I am really sorry about your Mom though. I know what it’s like.” I felt emotion bubble up inside me. Jacob could see it written on my face and grabbed my hands squeezing them gently. Instantly I felt calmer with my hands in his.

“Thank you. I have a feeling she would have really liked you too.” He gave me a soft smile. “I’m sorry about your Dad.”

“Thank you.” I nodded and we just stared at each other so many emotions between us. The feelings I was already feeling for him were so strong it was almost scary. I really didn’t want to leave him but it was getting late and I did need to get back home.

“What are your plans this week?” He asked looking down at our hands.

“Probably need to start some job hunting, maybe help out Mary at the Inn. Why?”

“Well I’d love to see you again. Maybe I could take you out for dinner one night?” He smiled warmly.

“I’d love that.” I smiled back. He let go of my hands and pulled me flesh to him wrapping his arms around my waist, my hands were resting on his first chest. He slowly bent down bringing his lips to mine, I hadn't realized how much I had missed them. We lost ourselves in each other until we both broke away for air.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for hours.” He said his breath against my neck, the feeling gave me chills in the best way.

“Me too.” I said catching my breath. We pulled away from our embrace all too soon and Jacob opened my door for me closing it behind me. I turned on my car rolling down the window to say goodbye once more.

“Drive safely, please let me know when you get back.” I could see genuine worry on his face.

“Will do.” I smiled and headed home.

The next couple weeks were a whirlwind. Jacob and I spent as much time together as physically possible. After our first real date where he took me out to dinner in Port Angeles and since then we had been pretty much inseparable. We fell into a pretty consistent routine, during the day he would have work and I would go to the Inn and help out Mary since I was still on the job hunt and then we’d have dinner together almost every evening, mostly at my house but sometimes at his with Billy.

Every night after dinner we’d have lengthy conversations learning more and more about each other. I learned that his Mom passed from a bad car accident, also what had paralyzed Billy. A car accident was how my father had passed as well, it was comforting to have this commonality between us and to be with someone who understood the loss of a parent.

We continued to really test our self control usually ending up cuddling until one of us almost fell asleep. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to have sex. I definitely did… Mutually we had decided to wait a little while and to get to know each other a little more first, at least that’s what we both said. Neither of us were virgins, we both had some experience when it came to sex. For me it was becoming more of a big deal just because I had never liked someone as much as I liked Jacob. I had liked my ex a lot at the time but I knew I was never in love with him, we were just having fun. I hadn’t know Jacob all that long but I did know I was starting to fall for him, what I felt for him I had never felt for anyone else. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.

Despite our late nights together Jacob didn’t spend the night again after the first night when he had helped me move in. I guess I understood it was more of a pain when you had work the next day but even during the weekends he would head home no matter how late it was. I had offered him to stay, but every time I asked he had a reason he couldn’t. I was little disappointed but I reminded myself he also had Billy to help take care of and he had some other responsibilities on the Reservation as well.

Part of me felt like there was another reason though and there was more he wasn’t telling me. I tried to push it off because there were still things I hadn’t shared with him but one of the things we hadn’t really had an actually conversation about was if we were exclusively dating…With the amount of time we had been spending together I had just assumed we were at this point but it was still something we hadn’t specifically discussed. I felt silly even worrying about it since Jacob was pretty honest and open especially with his feelings. He hadn’t given me any reason for me to think otherwise so for now I would have to and hope that we were on the same page.

It was now Friday afternoon and the weekend was almost here, even though Jacob and I didn't really have anything specific planned I was just excited to spend time with him. Per usual I was at the Inn helping Mary out with where I could, today we cleaning the linens and doing a deep cleaning of the rooms since there weren’t any guests at the moment and the next ones would be arriving in the morning.

Mary and I stood at the dining room table sorting and folding the linens that had just come out of the dryer, it was little things like this that reminded me of my Mom. Sharing normal everyday tasks and daily conversations with her, it was something I missed dearly. I grateful for Mary though, she didn’t know that me being here and helping was as much for me as it was for her.

“Are you seeing Jacob this evening?” Mary asked looking over at me across the table from her, she was thrilled Jacob and I were hanging out so much.

“Probably.” I said blushing a little and she smiled.

I felt my phone buzz, I pulled it out seeing a text from Jacob. “Working late tonight, I’ll let you know when I’m home and maybe you can come over? :) My Dad’s gone for weekend on another fishing trip.”

“That him?” Mary asked.

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help the huge grin on my face. “He’s working late but wants me to come over later.”

“Aww young love.” She sighed happily. “Do tell him I said hello and to not be a stranger.” She said picking up the pile of sheets and pillow cases she had been folding.

“Will do.” I laughed and quickly texted him back saying that sounded great. I picked up my pile and followed Mary upstairs to remake the beds.

Around five I said goodbye to Mary and headed home. I wasn’t sure if I should wait to eat or not Jacob hadn’t mentioned dinner plans and I wasn’t sure how late was “late" for him to work. I decided I’d have a snack and relax on the couch with some TV to keep me entertained while I waited. I thankfully had cable set up now so I had more than just the ten free local channels. I flipped channels for awhile settling on the food network.

A few episodes of “Diner’s, Drive In’s, and Dives” later and still no messages from Jacob, it was now a little after seven. Was he still at work? Hopefully he would be off soon. I decided to go freshen up a bit putting on a little perfume and checking my hair and my minimal daily make up. Staring at my reflection in the mirror I felt like I looked so different from the girl I knew back in North Carolina.

My curls were tamer here, not as much heat & humidity that fueled the constant frizz I had back home. I was slowly losing the little tan I did have and the few freckles I had were fading. Thankfully all the exploring and hiking I was doing with Jacob was keeping me in good shape. I used to run the beach everyday back home but I hadn’t ran at all since I came here. I think the biggest difference in my appearance was I was really happy. Happier than I had ever been maybe. I couldn’t have even imagined me moving here turning out this way, the friendships I had already made, the house I now lived in, the little town I actually loved and Jacob. Never in a million years did I expect to meet someone like him. I was still dealing with grief and sadness but being with Jacob helped me feel whole again.

Walking back into my room from the bathroom I decided to pack an overnight bag, Jacob had said Billy would be gone, so we would have the house to ourselves... Maybe I could spend the night with him? A whole night together, just the two of us…The thought gave me a nervous excitement that made my heart race a little. I grabbed a couple toiletries, a clean pair of clothes for tomorrow and my phone charger throwing them in my little duffle bag. I opened the second drawer of my dresser that housed my pajamas contemplating what to bring. My hand hovered over my flannel set until I saw familiar delicate white lace of my poking out from underneath it. Without thinking anymore I grabbed my favorite night gown, put it in my bag and headed downstairs.

It was getting closer to eight now and still no word from Jacob. Maybe I should just head over? Be waiting for him as a surprise? maybe with dinner? Would that be weird? I made a quick call to place an order for pick up at the local pizza place. Hopefully he liked surprises…I knew I was taking a bit of a chance here and I didn’t want to overstep or seem clingy but for whatever reason I was feeling particularly confident tonight. Maybe it was the thought of all the possibilities tonight held or maybe I was realizing just how strong my feelings for him really both made me feel breathless and exhilarated.

I swiftly locked up, duffle bag slung over my shoulder as I walked to my car in the cool night air. After picking up the pizza and some soda’s for us I made my way down the road to La Push. The more I thought about tonight the more excited I was, we had said we wanted to wait a while but honestly I didn’t want to wait anymore. I just hoped he felt the same way.

I came up to the familiar little red house noticing Jacob’s rabbit was parked in front of the garage. Maybe he took the bike? I parked behind him and got out leaving the food and my bag in the car for now. I noticed the lights were on inside as well. Maybe he just got home? I felt nerves growing in my stomach as I approached the house. What if this was a bad idea? Suddenly I felt anything but confident but proceeded toward the front door.

Through the front window I could see Jacob. Okay he was home…But he wasn’t alone. My heart immediately sank. He was talking with a woman who was other worldly beautiful. She had pale creamy skin and long silky reddish brown hair that curled at the ends, her smile was breathtaking as she looked up at him with her strange golden eyes, they embraced for a hug and I could hear their muffled voices. “I really did miss you Jake.” The young woman said.

“I missed you too, Bella.” He said smiling. Bella.

Jacob and I had briefly told each other about our previous histories. With mine there wasn’t much to tell, other than my most recent ex, there were a couple guys I dated in high school but none of them were really serious. Jacob told me there were a few girls he casually dated and years ago there was one girl he cared for seriously, Bella. From his words they were never really officially “together”. He had had a long time crush on her, then they became closer friends and somewhere along the line they both developed stronger feelings for each other but ultimately it didn’t work out. He didn't elaborate much more than that but I was still curious. Had he loved her? I asked him if he was ever in love with her and he said at the time he thought he was but he was just a kid back then.

I just stood there completely frozen. This was Bella?! This was the girl who he had a crush on years ago and might of loved?! I felt panic go through me, last he had mentioned to me they hadn’t been in contact for a long time and she was married now. So why was she here? With Jacob’s strange nightly behavior lately I just didn’t know what to think. It could be completely innocent, or…I couldn’t bare to think about it. I had a feeling there were things he wasn't telling me but I didn’t expect them to have anything to do with his seriously beautiful ex.

I tried to quietly back away, I had no idea what to do and my head was spinning but I needed to get out of here. My eyes didn’t leave them as I backed up slowly trying to get out of their field of view, suddenly I felt something behind my foot as I tripped losing my balance and falling onto my butt in the wet grass. Glancing behind me I saw the culprit, a wooden stump. Just great, as if this couldn’t get worse. I looked back towards the house and now Bella and Jacob were both staring right at me through the window. Shit. They saw me.

[onlysarah235678]

 A Little Bit Part 14

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x female reader

A/N: Two in one weekend again? That better not be a thing…I hope you enjoy. As always the gifs are NOT mine. These next two…or more are illuminated-blue’s.

Warnings: some hurt/comfort, angst and brief mention of physical assault

For the entire drive to Billie’s house, you sleep soundly in the front seat while Billie stresses about how these next few days are going to work out. You had been too out of it to walk to the car, so Billie had pushed you in a wheelchair to the parking deck. You’d hated it and grumbled the whole time but it was so nonsensical that she didn’t even bother trying to follow what you were saying.

Now that you were at Billie’s, the medium hoped that she didn’t regret her decision to decline to take the chair with her. You’d convinced her that you could walk. You just needed a nap and then maybe some dinner first. You were starving. Billie hadn’t argued because she didn’t want to waste your energy, but as she tried to get you out of the car, she realized that maybe she should have.

“Come on, Y/N. Can you stand for me?”

You just groan under your breath still too tired to do much more than open your eyes. You looked to Billie on your right and whine in frustration when you realize what she’d asked. You shake your head before reaching out for the blonde. You were going to try. You were determined to not just be dead weight to the woman who had waited for way longer than you expected, just to see you.

With this in mind you grit your teeth—but then stop immediately because wow that hurt-before grabbing Billie’s offered hand. You could do this. You weren’t an invalid, your head just hurt a lot and you were exhausted.

“Woah.”

When you make it to your feet you sway slightly, but Billie is there to steady you. She catches you and closes the door behind you, shooting you an apologetic look when you cringe at the sound. She is about to offer you her hand, in case you want to try walking on your own, but you just cling to her arm before muttering under your breath.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Billie nods and you make your way towards the house. She lets you set the pace and you can’t believe how far away her front door is after only five steps from the car. You feel like you should be there already but you’re going so slowly it’s maddening. You sigh as you close your eyes and try to move a little faster. This results in you feeling like your brain is rattling around inside of your skull, so you slow back down before groaning under your breath in frustration.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Take your time.”

You sigh before opening your eyes and trying to focus on Billie. It’s too dark to really see her, but you’re close enough to smell her perfume and you hate how it makes you slightly nauseous. You keep this thought to yourself; however, as you squeeze Billie’s arm before taking another step.

“I’m sorry, I hate this.”

Billie smiles slightly at your petulant tone before her expression turns darker. She has already started working to figure out who did this to you and she was determined to make him pay for it. She wasn’t sure how yet, and she had to talk to you first, but she didn’t want to let this slide. You could have been seriously hurt.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, Y/N. None of this is your fault.”

You want to argue, but you just stay silent as you and Billie finally make it to the front door. She has to loosen her grip on you a little so she can find her keys and you catch yourself leaning on her, so you try to stand up a little straighter. You reach out for the door to hold yourself up and you realize immediately why that was supremely stupid.

The door disappears out from under you as Billie opens it, and you close your eyes as you prepare to fall on your face. You’re lucky that Billie is right there to catch you, otherwise you would have fallen for the second time in one day. You don’t count passing out at work.

“Shi-!”

“Here, hold onto me.”

You reach out for Billie in answer and you lean into her once again as you cross over the threshold with a groan. The house was quiet which you were grateful for, but you didn’t have much time the bask in the silence before Billie’s speaking. You don’t have it in you to ask her to be quieter because you already owe her so much, so you just follow her and hold back the urge to cringe.

“Are you hungry, or do you want to just go straight to bed? I can set up the guest room for you so it’s as quiet as possible.”

You nod slowly before you look toward the stairs. They seem like such an obstacle and you nearly groan at the thought of having to walk up them. You smile slightly before looking back to Billie with what you hope is more of a grateful expression than a grimace.

“Bed please.”

Billie nods before directing you towards the stairs, and you want to try on your own just to prove that you can do it, but you know it’s not a good idea. So you let Billie lead you up the stairs and towards the guest bedroom. You’d never seen it before, but it was similar to Billie’s except for the bed. You didn’t really care though, you only wanted to sleep so you nod when Billie asks you if it was alright.

You watch as she gets things ready, offering to help, but she doesn’t let you. Once everything’s done, you shoot Billie a grateful look before sitting down on the bed with a sigh.

“Thank you, Billie.”

Billie just smiles at you before letting you know that she’ll be downstairs if you need anything. You look to your phone that’s on the bedside table but decide not the bother right now. You weren’t supposed to look at screens too much. It would certainly aggravate your headache.

As you watch Billie leave, you wish you would have been more specific when you thanked her. You sigh as you get a little more comfortable. Despite how much you slept you really are tired, and you could probably sleep through the night. At least what’s left of it. Once under the covers you close your eyes and try not to focus on anything but sleep. You don’t worry about work right now, or Milo despite wondering where he is. The only reason you hadn’t asked yet was because you trusted Billie to make sure he was taken care of.

Despite your efforts, you find your mind drifting back to your dog and work and how you thoroughly fucked up. You should have listened to Billie, but you hated making others pick up the slack for you. You also didn’t think it would be this bad. You shift again under the covers to try and cover your face with a groan. The room was dark and quiet except for the sound of your thundering pulse behind your eyes. As you laid there trying and failing to sleep you start to realize that Billie must be cooking something.

The smell of food reminds you that you are very, very hungry. You don’t think that you ate at the hospital, but honestly up until Billie showed up, it was all a blur. You may have answered questions and you had a few tests done, but you honestly couldn’t say what they told you. Were you in the clear?

Almost 30 minutes pass of you trying to find the best position to keep your headache from worsening before you give up. You can’t just lie here and overthink. You need to do something.

After Billie finishes making dinner, she considers bringing you some for almost ten minutes. She eventually decides not to and to just let you sleep, but she can’t help but be restless as she tries to find ways to keep herself busy. She checks on the kittens and ends up taking Mickey downstairs as she considers texting Erin. Eventually she decides that the younger woman was probably still up. Midnight wasn’t that late. Also, she believes that she might appreciate being kept in the loop. Billie texts her a quick update before moving back to the kitchen.

She’d changed clothes shortly after getting you into bed, and now she was walking around with Mickey in her pocket again. He was doing much better and hadn’t been at the bottom of any kitten piles recently. He was getting so big and was doing so much better at getting around on his own. At least compared to what he had been since his fall. He was almost as big as his brothers and sisters, and although this is mostly because Billie’s been feeding him more, she couldn’t be happier.

Billie is cleaning up the kitchen when her phone vibrates from the living room. She finishes up what she’s doing before drying her hands and going to see what Erin said.

Billie had simply told her that you were fine and then thanked her for taking care of Milo. She didn’t want to consider all of the logistics of getting Milo back, and possibly some of your things. It had been an exhausting day stressing about you and then stressing even more about you. Billie was ready to sleep, but she needed to stay up in case you needed anything.

Of course! I’m glad to hear she’s doing better. Is there anything I can do to help?

Billie smiles slightly at this because Erin seemed like such a sweetheart. She was reminded once again of how glad she was that you had Erin at work with you. She clearly cared about you and Billie was grateful that she had been at work with you today.

No thank you. You’re doing enough already by taking care of Milo. Is he causing any trouble?

A few messages later Erin asks how she wants to get Milo back. Billie’s tempted to wait and ask you, but she knows that’s not going to work. Even worse she’s sure you’ll want to get him yourself and go back to your place in the morning. Once you were up and hopefully a little less confused, she would tell you exactly what your doctor said about taking it easy.

You weren’t supposed to drive for the next couple of days at least. You couldn’t work, watch television or any screen really, or exercise much. Billie figured you could stay here for a couple of days until you were better, and she would be fine with Milo coming here too. Billie honestly didn’t have anything that couldn’t be put off. At least until the interview on Wednesday.

All thoughts about how she was going to make that work left her mind when she heard her name from the other room. She’d returned to the kitchen for a drink and sat at the counter to text Erin. She hadn’t heard you coming down the stairs, but as she walks back into the living room to see you sitting on the bottom step, she wonders how in the hell she had missed it.

“Y/N, what are you doing out of bed? Do you need something?”

You just groan under your breath because now your head was spinning. You had known that trying to get down the stairs on your own was dumb, but you’d done it anyway in the safest way you knew how. You’d sat down at the top and scooted in a very undignified way all the way down. You just couldn’t lie in bed any longer not sleeping. You were thinking too much and you wanted to do something.

It didn’t take long for you to decide that you wanted to see Billie.

“Not really. I just couldn’t sleep. Was getting restless.”

You open your eyes and look up to see that Billie has changed clothes. You haven’t seen her so casually dressed and you smile at her before trying to stand up. You plant your hands on the stair beneath you before trying to push yourself to your feet.

“You look cute. I probably look a mess.”

You don’t make it to your feet because your head throbs at the sudden change, but Billie grabs your hand to steady you. You sigh as you move in to hug her but you stop short as you do a double take at the tail sticking out of her pocket. Oh.

Mickey.

“Nonsense, sweetheart. You’re adorable with bedhead.”

You sigh because rolling your eyes is too much effort before you squeeze Billie’s hand. You go to say something snarky when your stomach growls loudly. You blush before muttering an apology that Billie just smiles at. It’s late and she’s not surprised that you’re hungry. She starts heading for the kitchen before she remembers to slow down.

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I made dinner if you want some.”

Despite your protests to help, you sit patiently at the counter and wait for your dinner. You watch through squinted eyes as Billie moves around the kitchen with Mickey in her pocket. You smile as Billie places a plate of food in front of you before moving to start putting everything away again.

“Do you want something to drink other than water?”

You look to the glass that you haven’t touched before smiling slightly at the subtle reminder. You know that Billie isn’t going to let you drink anything else. At least not until you finish this.

“I’m fine. Thank you. For this and, well everything else you’ve done tonight. I’m sorry if I didn’t say it sooner.”

You suddenly fear that you hadn’t said anything at all since you got here and you panic. You don’t get a chance to keep apologizing however before Billie responds as she finishes up and comes to sit next to you.

“You did, Y/N, and you’re welcome. I’m more than happy to.”

Billie scoots her chair closer to yours and you sigh before nodding to yourself and grabbing your fork. You look back to Mickey who is now peeking out of Billie’s pocket. You smile at him before reaching out to scratch his head with a sigh. He makes you think of Milo, and even though you promised yourself you wouldn’t ask you can’t help it. He’s your baby and you can’t help but want to know how he is.

“Billie?”

Billie knows what you’re going to ask before you even say it, but she doesn’t interrupt you as you turn back to your food. You take a couple of bites before you turn to her with a curious look.

“Is Milo still at work?”

Billie could see how hesitant you were so she didn’t waste any time shaking her head. She tells you that Milo is with Erin and that he’s behaving like a good boy. You smile, happy to hear this, but you can’t deny the guilt you feel at having left him without any warning. You know that you can’t blame yourself and agonizing over it would be silly, but you miss your dog.

“He’s fine, Y/N. Erin offered to bring him over tomorrow morning.”

You smile gratefully before you go back to your food. You’re starving, but after a couple of minutes you feel your headache getting worse. Billie isn’t talking much, just petting Mickey and watching you as you start to eat slower. Eventually you stop with a groan and cover your eyes with your hands.

“I’m exhausted. I think I need to lie down.”

Not twenty minutes later you’re asleep on Billie’s couch because you didn’t want to go upstairs. Billie was resting beside you, but was quickly fading as well. It had been a long exhausting day and it was definitely catching up with her. She had put Mickey with the rest of the cats, so she really had nothing keeping her from falling asleep next to you.

She didn’t realize that she had truly fallen asleep until the doorbell rang the next morning. She sat up slightly sore and only a little panicky as she hurried to get up and answer the door. She glanced over to you, grateful that you were still asleep before checking the clock in the kitchen. It was almost 8 in the morning. How had she slept so late?

Billie practically runs to the front door barefoot with her hair looking a mess. She glances at the mirror by the door and just groans before running a hand through her hair uselessly.  She opens the door looking a little more frazzled than she’d like, but she knows it doesn’t really matter. It is Monday morning and she was up until almost 2 am.

Billie opens the door and sees Erin standing on her porch with Milo sitting next to her practically vibrating in excitement. Billie smiles as she moves to grab the top part of Erin’s impressively large stack of supplies that she’d brought for Milo.

“Hi, Erin. Thank you for coming over. I’m sorry I didn’t realize how late it was.”

Erin smiles before thanking Billie for taking Milo’s food and bowls so she could better balance his bed that she’d gotten from your office. She had run to work this morning when she realized that she hadn’t brought enough food for Milo for the unforeseeable future. She had also gotten the bed that you kept under your desk for whenever Milo napped up there with you. It didn’t happen often, but Erin was glad to see it was still there when she ran up to your office to see if there was anything that could be of use.

“Not a problem, Ms. Howard. I hope I didn’t wake you up. Milo, wait!”

Billie steps aside to let Erin and Milo in and the brunette has to tighten her hold on Milo’s leash as he tries to dart inside. He is sniffling like crazy and he’s trying to break free, but Erin isn’t sure where you are and doesn’t want you to be ambushed by your overexcited dog.

Billie smiles as she shuts the door behind the pair and shakes her head with a laugh. She manages to fix her hair, but her wrinkled, very casual clothing will just have to do. It’s not like she really cares that much. Erin seems like a nice girl who has your best interests at heart. Hopefully that meant that she wouldn’t do anything to embarrass you. Or her.

“Don’t worry about it, dear and you don’t have to call me that. Billie is just fine.”

Erin fights back the initial urge to squeal and just nods in agreement as she follows the blonde into her house. She takes off her shoes as she looks around briefly until she sees the living room. Specifically, you sleeping in the living room.

“You can put that anywhere.”

Erin’s attention snaps back to Billie before she just nods dumbly before dropping Milo’s bed on the carpet. She nudges it out of the way before she has to grab Milo’s leash with two hands. He had realized you were here and had jumped on the back of the couch to find you. His front feet were only on it for a second before Erin cursed and pulled him down.

“Milo, no. Get down.”

Billie watches as Milo starts to yip and whine and try to get to you. You’re rolling onto your side with a groan as you wake up and realize your headache was still with you. You should have known it would be, but you had held out hope, foolish, useless hope that it wouldn’t be. Still, soon that is the second thing on your mind when you sit up to see Billie watching you. It takes you a second to realize that you’re not alone, but when you hear Milo whine you turn suddenly and see him nearly pulling Erin’s arm off.

“Erin you’re here! It’s not already time for work is it?”

You miss Erin’s confused look and Billie’s sigh as you turn back to your dog. Milo barks and yanks again before you roll your eyes. You shake your head before sitting up slightly as you prepare for the onslaught.

“You can let him go Erin.”

Erin shoots you a concerned look before glancing to Billie briefly. You speak before Billie has a chance to shrug and Erin drops Milo’s leash hesitantly.

“It’s okay.”

Milo doesn’t run around the couch like you thought he would. Instead, he leaps over it and jumps into your lap with another series of whines that make your head hurt.

“Milo! Jesu-.”

You grab Milo’s shoulders but don’t stop him as he licks you frantically and steps on your legs. You sigh as Milo licks your face before you push him back a little bit. You finally calm him down before getting him to sit at your feet instead of on top of you. He won’t get off the couch though and you don’t have the energy to fight him on it. You look back to Erin when she speaks up to clarify something that she’s not sure you realize yet.

“Well Milo was getting antsy so I thought I’d bring him a little early. I also don’t have work today. Neither of us do.”

You take a second to realize this before shaking your head with a smile. You suddenly remember why you’re here in the first place, and you feel a little embarrassed as you try to figure out what to say. You’re not sure if Erin realizes this, but Billie certainly does and she speaks up to fill the slightly awkward silence.

“When is Y/N expected back at work?”

You turn to Billie before looking back to Erin who is considering the question. You smile at Billie, shooting her a grateful look that she misses as she watches Erin pull out her phone. She quickly pulls up the email that the lead doctor sent to both of you.

“Dr. Stewart says you can have as much time off as you need and that she’s cleared your week. Here’s the email if you want to read it.”

Erin walks over to you and hands her phone over with a smile. She can see your confusion, but figures that is due to the fact that you’d been sleeping and hadn’t checked your email yet. Billie opens her mouth to say something, but you beat her to it.

“Dr. Stewart cleared my whole week?”

It is a rhetorical question and Erin just nods in response as you read the email. By the time you finish you squeeze your eyes shut for a moment before handing Erin back her phone. You’re glad that your boss had the foresight to send the email to her as well, knowing full well that you wouldn’t check your own. You hadn’t even looked at your phone since you’d called Billie yesterday.

“That’s great news.”

There’s a pause as you close your eyes again to try and will away your headache, but it’s short lived as Milo starts to lick your hand.

“Thank you by the way. For yesterday and today. Just everything.”

You smile awkwardly and Erin just waves you off before saying that it’s fine. You had scared the hell out of her yesterday and she isn’t sure she’s ever been so stressed in her life, but she wasn’t going to say that. She was just glad that you were okay, and that Milo was well-behaved. He had just slept the whole time he was with her and only scared her cat once.

“Of course, Doc.”

Billie smiles at the exchange between the two of you before she remembers her manners. She’s a little tired still, or at least thrown about not having any time to wake up before having company over. She’s looking to the kitchen before glancing back to the brunette who is pocketing her phone.

“Would you like anything to drink, Erin?”

Erin was quick to shake her head despite the fact that the idea of hanging out with Billie Dean was making her slightly faint. She had to get back home to her cat, but mostly she could tell how tired you still were and she didn’t want to linger. She sighs before motioning to the door behind her with a smile.

“No thank you. I should get going. Unless there is anything that either of you need?”

Both you and Billie smile before shaking your heads. You cringe as a result, and neither Billie nor Erin misses this. Billie frowns before smiling back at Erin. She let’s her know that she’s done more than enough before watching as she leaves. You thank her again before moving to stand up, but you don’t get far. Milo jumps up too, messing up your balance and you fall back down on the couch with a curse.

“How am I still tired?”

You groan as you try to get Milo off the couch again, but you are about a successful as the first time. You watch as Billie circles the couch before coming to sit next to you. She takes Milo’s spot as the shepherd finally jumps down and plants himself practically on your feet. You sigh but can’t help the small smile at the sight of your dog so happy to see you again. You’d missed him too but you didn’t have the energy to communicate that properly.

“That’s normal after an injury like yours. Or so Dr. Skinner says.”

You turn to Billie with a smile, immediately recognizing her ticked tone. You don’t remember much about last night, but you had easily picked up on Billie’s less-than-happy tone when she’d been talking to your doctor. You sigh again before leaning against the medium with a chuckle. You ask despite not really knowing whether or not it’s a good idea to bring it up.

“Not a fan I’m guessing?”

Billie scoffs as she thinks back to the man who had the gall to suggest that she’d taken her time getting to the hospital, or that you weren’t a real doctor because you treated animals instead of people. Billie didn’t think you had picked up on any of this so she just shook her head before saying something vague that didn’t really answer your question.

“No, he was a little too arrogant for my taste.”

You frown as you try to consider what Dr. Skinner could have done to piss Billie off. You had learned early that it was difficult to ruffle Billie’s feathers. She was usually so unflappable, but if someone pushed the right buttons, they would find themselves in a very unenviable position. You could only hope that you never did anything to wind up in such a position.

“He did raise a good point though.”

You open your eyes slightly as you meet Billie’s gaze. At least you try to, but she’s looking at Milo who is still watching you intently.

“What do you mean?”

You wait as Billie sits back against the couch with a sigh. You follow her and she wraps an arm around you as you move closer to her with a yawn. You haven’t showered and after being in the hospital, you feel dirtier than you have in a while. You don’t care about this right now though, all of your attention is on Billie as she sighs again before mentioning what she’d talked about with a nurse. You’d been unconscious and apparently had missed a lot.

“He asked whether or not you wanted to file a police report about what happened.”

You don’t answer immediately. You hadn’t really thought about this even after Billie reminded you of what happened last night. You still couldn’t remember most of it, but the medium had told you the gist of the incident and you were miffed of course, but didn’t really think about taking action against him. Doug was an asshole that had been mostly harmless in the past. You hadn’t really feared for your safety around him, but you guess that’s no longer that case.

You frown and think about why Doug had pushed you down the stairs in the first place. He clearly had it out for you and wanted you to know it. If you ever crossed his path in the future, would he try this type of thing again? It was a lot to think about and you could feel a headache coming on as you squeezed your eyes shut.

“I don’t know, Billie. I-.”

You trail off as you take a deep breath and try to finish your thought. You lose it somewhere between seeing Milo’s head resting on the couch next to you and feeling Billie pull you closer.

“I don’t know. I don’t--. I don’t want trouble. I probably won’t see him again.”

Billie is prepared to argue with you on this when her phone vibrates on the table nearby. You jump and cringe and Billie curses as she reaches for the annoying device to silence it. Billie briefly wonders who is calling her before 8 on a Sunday. Then she remembers that it’s Monday.

Still, it seems too early.

She sees it’s Michelle and she answers with a sigh as she shoots you an apologetic look.

“Hi, Michelle. How are you?”

You lean back against the couch trying not to eavesdrop, but it’s not hard to pick up on what Michelle is saying in an otherwise silent room.

“Hi Ms. Howard. I’m fine thank you. I wanted to check in after your night. See if you needed anything?”

You perk up slightly at this because Billie does too and it only takes you a few seconds to realize that she hadn’t told Michelle about what happened last night. Billie sighs as she immediately starts thinking about the damage that had been done in the media with last night’s incident.

“I’m fine. Thank you, Michelle. Unless you’re going to tell me that TMZ did a bit on Y/N’s hospital visit?”

There is an audible silence as Michelle figures out how to break the news to Billie. There had been numerous reports about your hospital visit and a couple of reporters had even gotten footage of you being wheeled out of the clinic and into the ambulance. She tells Billie this and you can feel her stiffen in anger with each word Michelle says.

“They are speculating wildly as usual, but no one has anything other than theories at this point. Would you like me to have Jeff make a statement?”

You are shaking your head the same time that Billie is. Although you’re not sure about filing a police report, you want to make that decision before you share anything with the media. Billie is on the same page as you and she tells Michelle to say nothing for now and to get back to her if anything changes.

Billie hangs up the phone, and not two seconds later you’re cursing.

“That didn’t take long.”

Part 15

[adrenaline-roulette]

Four Eighths

Pairing: Four x Eight (Reader) Word Count: 8K+ (She’s a doozy!) Warnings: Language, angst, very basic medical procedures *Disclaimer: Hey again guys, so sorry about the delay with this chapter. But I’ll admit, I actually got this posted a lot sooner than I thought I would! So kudos to me I guess? I just want to say a huge thank you to all of those who have been with this story since the beginning, and those who have joined us along the way. This isn’t the end of this story, but I just want to let you all know how much you all mean to me.  And please remember, if you read this story and you like it, give it a like, a comment and maybe even a reblog if you think your followers may like it? I know there isn’t much happening in the 6 Underground fandom these days, but the only way to keep it alive, is if people keep reading and writing for the characters!

All my love my dudes ❤❤❤

Probably best if you check out the other chapters first..... One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

Chapter Eleven: Don’t let me fall, at least not alone

“Four? Can you hear me?” Billy felt weak, and highly disoriented. His head was spinning, as if he actually was fighting a migraine, unlike the one he was supposed to be faking…. Faking, why was he faking a migraine again? “Four, stay with us!” The voice continued calling out, though why was this person yelling out a number? A name sure, he could understand that. But calling out random numbers? That just served to confuse him more.

“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!” This was a new voice now, one which sounded just as Billy’s eyes had slowly drifted closed against the harsh fluorescent lights above him. How strange, surely these people weren’t addressing him were they?

“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?” The same voice from before was firing orders, her voice holding an edge of fear and concern. Suddenly a shadow appeared above his closed eyes, and carefully he peeled them open, relieved to not be greeted with bright lights, and instead by a shadowed figure. “Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.” She was whispering to him, or at least that’s what it sounded like. Though it was hard to be sure, especially as he struggled to keep his eyes from falling shut once more.

How had things turned out like this? The last thing he could recall, was speaking with a woman dressed in white at a reception desk. Then it had all gone blank for him.

*****

You paced around the small living room of the house you had all been calling base for the past few weeks, sucking in deep breath after deep breath, all the while clutching your arms around yourself in a tight embrace. “Nope, I can’t do it. I cannot do this guys!”

Two looked up at you from her gossip magazine, having taken great pleasure in the abundance of French reading material. She was the only one of you in the group to have settled into your temporary accommodation, and was fitting in with the locals perfectly. Rolling her eyes at your outburst, she returned to her reading. It wasn’t that she was being unsupportive, far from it actually. It was just that she had reached her limit of words of support, forty odd minutes ago, at the beginning of your breakdown.

“Yes, you can. You know you can! We’ve been over the plan hundreds of times now, everything is in place. Weapons are stored in the hospital, the Lushnick’s are there, we’ve seen them! Everything is working out according to plan. Four will be on his way to Emergency within a few hours, then it’s all up to us. We can’t leave him.” It was One’s turn to play reassurer this time around, and he was the first to raise Four as if knowing it would get a rise out of you.

You whirl on the spot, eyes growing wide and pupils blown. “I never suggested we leave Four! I ju– I just don’t know if this mission is a good idea is all?”

One sighed, squaring his shoulders before smoothing his hands down his turquoise scrubs. “Eight, if you had one shot, or one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would capture it? Or just let it slip?”

You stare at One, blinking slowly as silence fills the room. “Is – Was that Eminem?” You stammer, shaking your head gently, as if to clear the fog which had settled there. Surely you were mistaken, One couldn’t be quoting Lose yourself, right?....

“Does it make it any better or worse knowing this isn’t the first time he’s used that as a motivational speech?” Seven grins, winking at you impishly.

“I think what makes it worse is knowing that no matter what reaction he got last time, he still decided to try it again!”

“Touché, and dude, get yourself a better speech already!” Seven smirks, patting One on the shoulder as he walks by and towards the kitchen. His uniform shirt half buttoned as he goes.

“Why does everyone know that song straight away?” One groans, looking genuinely confused.

“Because it’s the bloody 2020’s! And not to hate on Slim or anything, but for the love of god, replace your ipod shuffle, and listen to some new music. Please!” You plead, as the startling thought of One thinking lose yourself was a new song creeped its way into your mind, causing you to shudder.

Five steps out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam billowing out behind her. Looking like the absolute goddess she is, with her hair wrapped in a fluffy towel, and a robe concealing her, she fixes you with a strong look. “Eight. You are ready for this. Upon our first mission, we were all terrified. But we pulled through, one way or another we did what needed to be done, and look where we are now. I know what you’re feeling, we all do. We’ve all been there, trust me. But the only way this will work, the only way we will be able to get to the Lushnick’s, is if we stick together and work this mission just as we’ve planned. That means all of us. We can’t be a member short, not this time.” Without waiting for your response, Five walks away, closing a bedroom door behind her.

You have no response, no witty retort. Nothing. Not that it would matter, Five wasn’t there to hear it anyway. Chewing on your bottom lip, you turn back to One, who still looked somewhat put out by your ipod comment. “Has anyone seen my uniform?”

*****  

Just after 11am, Billy made his way to the hospital and into the Emergency department, cradling his head between his palms, and groaning in mock agony. His earpiece was safely tucked in his ear, providing him contact with his team. Contact which he had been severely missing these past few weeks. At first it had been bearable, what with your secret texts on your burner phone. But when One had arrived at the safe house, it had been harder to sneak messages, until finally they had ceased all together. But hearing your voice now, ringing through his ears, he felt like he was home. Despite walking into a hospital.

“Genevieve Lushnick is on the move. Last seen leaving Ward 11A.” You advise everyone.

“She finished her rounds in Paediatrics much earlier, not sure where she’s headed now.” Five recalls, the sounds of crying infants in the background of her voice.

“Usually her roster would have her checking on Geriatrics in Ward 7B next. But She’s already been there. That was her second visit of the day.” Seven advises, though he sounds confused. To be fair, so does everyone else. Genevieve was changing up her routine, something she hadn’t done at all during their surveillance of her. So why now?

“Hold on, let me see if I can track her down through the live camera feeds.” You suggest, the sounds of your fingers flying across a keyboard breaking the silence which followed.

Billy’s concentration on the conversation happening in his ear is cut off by a woman dressed in white sat at the Emergency reception desk. A nurse from the looks of her. “Bonjour, comment puis-je vous aider?” She blinks wide amber eyes up at Billy, who stares back confusedly.

“Uh, En-English?” A part of him wants to chastise himself for not learning French for this mission. But knowing he was playing the part of a tourist he allowed himself some leeway in the preparation department.

The nurse smiles further, though the more teeth she shows the more forced it looks. “Of course. How may I help you today sir?”

“I just flew in a few days ago, and I have an awful headache. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. All lights are too bright, I feel weak, my head is pounding, and I feel nauseas.”

“Has this just begun, or is this an ongoing issue?”

“No, it just started this morning. I took a couple of paracetamol to help when I woke up, but they’ve done nothing.”

The nurse nods her head, looking down at her computer, as Billy adds in a groan for effect. Just as the nurse asks for personal details, One appears from the behind the desk. “Goodness, what’s wrong with this man? He looks like death on two legs!”

Billy repeats what he had just told the nurse, with One nodding along, and playing every part the good doctor. “You need to be seated immediately. Someone, bring me a wheelchair!” One calls in the direction of the wardsmen who are stood around the waiting room. “Jennifer, you need to be more familiar with signs of a migraine. This young man, what was your name sir?”

“James.” Billy moans, falling back into the wheelchair once it appears behind him, laying his head back for added effect.

“Yes, James could have collapsed at any moment. Please be more mindful next time.” One warns, a harsh glare in his eyes directed at the young nurse.

“O-of course Doctor Cleavers. It won’t happen again.”

Billy can barley contain his smirk at the sound of One’s alias, covering his attempted chuckle with a well-timed groan.

“Does anyone have eyes on Gregory?” Two whispers harshly into her earpiece, causing Billy to flinch slightly, just as one does the same. Christ, Two needs to keep her tone down!

It’s Three’s turn to respond first now, who sounds quite proud of himself as he speaks. “He’s up in theatres, doing God knows what to God knows who.” The sound of a trolley filled with rattling dishes being pushed, barely making his mumbled voice audible.

One moves around behind Billy, kicking up the brake on the wheelchair, and pushing him towards the swipe pass activated doors, leading to the Emergency treatment area. The deafening silence flowing through both his and Billy’s earpieces cause the two men to glance at each other nervously.

“How long ago did you see Gregory heading to theatres?” You ask, an edge of worry hinting at your tone.

Yet another long pause, until. “During breakfast rounds… I suppose two hours ago, maybe?” Three no longer sounds sure of himself, which sets in a sinking feeling in all those on the team.

“He was scheduled to finish surgery one hour ago. Has anyone seen him this past hour?” You snap back, perhaps more of a bite in your words than you had intended.

“Negative.” Replies One in a quiet voice, while smiling at fellow doctors as he pushed Billy.

“No.” That was Two.

“Nope.” Five now, who had been awfully quiet so far.

“Neither.” Three mumbles, likely feeling as dejected as he sounded.

“Well you know I haven’t.” Billy smirks. It was a risk him speaking to the group like this, but currently with his head tilted back, and staring up at the ceiling as he was being wheeled down a corridor, no one really paid any attention to him.

“I’ve only seen Genevieve. The two haven’t been together all morning sorry.” Seven whispers.

“Fuck me…” You breathe out, slamming your fists down on the desk. “I can’t see either of them on the live feeds!”

Carefully, Billy lifts his head once again, turning over his shoulder to peer up at One, who was frowning and staring dead ahead.  “Is there a problem Doctor Cleavers?” He mumbles, keeping the act up for anyone who may pass.

“There very well may be.” One mutters, only glancing down at Billy for a brief moment.

The two continue down the corridor for another few minutes, the bright clinical lights beginning to bring on a genuine headache for Billy now. Finally, they come to a stop in a large treatment room, multiple beds lining the walls, all encircled by blue curtains. Some had been drawn for patient’s privacy, while others remained opened. In the centre of the room was a large desk where Nurses and Doctors hurried to and from, collecting and depositing various prescriptions and clinical orders. “James, are you able to stand to bring yourself over to the bed?” One asks, raising his voice enough to somewhat put on a show for those nearby.

The temptation to ask One to pick him up is almost too great to pass up, but knowing that somehow it would come back to haunt him, Billy opts for standing himself. “I think I can manage, thank you Doc.” Standing slowly, Billy pivots on the spot, and shuffles over to the bed, hoisting himself up and laying back.

“We’ll need to bring your fluids up, I’m worried about you becoming dehydrated. We’ll need to cannulate you. Have you ever had a cannula before?”  One asks, waving for a nurse to come and assist him.

“No, I don’t think I have.”  

“Not to worry, it’s relatively quick and painless.”

The nurse hurries over, and listens as One fires orders at him, orders which he had picked up from watching medical shows, mostly scrubs…. “We need James on a drip ASAP, get that started now!”

“Right away Doctor Cleavers.” The nurse agrees, before moving off to grab the necessary equipment.

Billy turns his attention to One, raising his eyebrows in concern. “Are you seriously going to stick a needle in me?” He hisses, emerald eyes flashing in fear.

One shrugs lightly, turning away from Billy to keep an eye out for the nurse. “Well, I’m not going to be injecting you. Can’t say the same for the nurse though.”

Billy wants to scream, at no stage during the briefings had there been any mention of him having a needle jabbed into him! Hell, if there had been any discussions of such a thing, he likely would’ve backed out! Perhaps that was why there was no mention? The nurse reappears, and preps his work station, all the while One, or Doctor Cleavers stays around to supervise the proceedings, occasionally chiming in with his theories as to what the cause for his sudden pain could be.

“Four! One! They’re coming!” Your voice breaks through the stinging sensation of the needle, panic flying through Billy’s veins. “The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for-” Your voice is broken by puffing breaths, and the sound of your feet pounding on the tiles as you sprint from somewhere else in the hospital.

“Emergency.” Billy finishes, as the two people who he had been staring at photographs of for months now, strut into the treatment room, patients and doctors alike parting like the red sea as the couple head towards Billy and One. Four sets of eyes meet, and no member of either team is willing to break concentration.

“We’ve been expecting you.” Genevieve grins, her canine teeth almost too pointed, like fangs brushing against her ruby painted lips.

“Thank you, Eric, you’ve done a wonderful job here.” Gregory turns to the nurse and nods his head, the nurse returning the gesture and leaving the group.

“Eight for Four, come in Four!” Your voice shouts in his ear, causing Billy to flinch away.

“Ah, that must be the rest of your team I take it? Not to worry, we have our people taking care of them as we speak.” Genevieve shrugs, before turning to One. “Seeing as you’re so good at playing Doctor, you’ll be pushing your friend. He won’t be awake much longer. I would hate for him to collapse.”

At these words, Billy shoots up on the bed, his head spinning as he does so. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Genevieve waves him off, her nails painted the same shimmering ruby as her lips. “Surely you don’t expect me to give away our secrets? That’s not how people like us work.”

One steps behind Billy’s bed, and begins driving it forwards, following behind the Lushnick’s with a scowl. Billy could see the wheels in his mind turning, as he tried to formulate a plan of escape, though from every way he looked at it, they were pretty well fucked. He could feel his body growing tired, and his mind becoming clouded and dazed, whatever they had given him, it was taking over his body quickly, and any minute now he would be useless to the team.

*****

Fuck! The entire team had lost the Lushnick’s! How did that even happen? Seven was supposed to be trailing them, he had been doing so every other day perfectly, but what the fuck had gone wrong today? Your fingers fly across the keyboard, frantically switching between all the cameras in the hospital. Some provided a live feed, while others only offered playback, but at this point in time you would take what you could get. Window after window pops open on your monitor, squinting at the slightly pixelated images to try and identify who was being filmed.

“There!” You practically scream, causing one of the guards walking past your office to jump, turning a concerned look your way. “Sorry, just uh – finally got a fly that’s been harassing me all morning.” You blurt out, though with a shrug, the guard walks on, either having bought the lie or not caring enough to question it further. You gaze back at the image on your screen, it was from one of the playback cameras. Both Gregory and Genevieve were spotted seven minutes ago in one of the staff only corridors, leading between the imaging department and emergency. “Seven minutes…. How long does it take to get there?”

“Three! Come in Three!”

“Bloody hell, no need to yell Eight. What is it?”

“On your delivery route, how long does it usually take to get between X-ray and Emergency?”

Three pauses to think, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he does so. “Roughly twenty minutes.”

“We’re fucked.”

“What? What does that mean?!”

You ignore the frantic questions streaming from Three, the others shortly joining in with their own confusion. But you didn’t have time to address their concerns, right now there was only one thing on your mind. Beating the Lushnick’s to the Emergency room. With your heart hammering in your chest, and breathing coming out in desperate gasps you turn back to your computer, snaking your way into the hospital power grid.

You know how to do this, it’s just like what you did for your museum heist way back when you had met One. But for some reason, your brain can’t seem to summon the image of what you need to do. You could try a keyboard smash now that you’re in the controls, but that could seriously damage literally everything… “Come on, just think dammit.” You snarl at yourself, clasping your hands into fists, and pressing them against your temples.

Eyes springing open, you fix a harsh glare at the blinking screen before you, asking for a password. “Y’all Lushnick’s are fucked.” The password it simple to guess, trust the Lushnick’s to use their fucking last name as a password. They may be smart in what they do, but they sure as hell know nothing about internet security. The screen turns black, with a 3D model of the hospital slowly building itself on your screen. With each scroll of your mouse, the model shifts, and enlarges to a new section of the hospital.  A blinking blue bar in the top left of the screen offers a text space, and going on a hunch, you type in ‘Geriatrics’ and press enter. The model disintegrates into tiny pixels, before rebuilding just the section you had searched. “Brilliant…” You whisper to yourself.

The geriatrics ward of the hospital consisted of one main power source, with a backup which would boot up and provide energy to the most necessary equipment and lights in the event of the main grid failing. “Five for Eight, come in?”

“Eight here, what’s going on?”

“I’m being followed. There’s security blocking off just about every exit on this floor, and no matter where I go, there’s someone behind me, or waiting for me.”

“Has anyone else got this issue?” You call out, eagerly awaiting replies. There’s a resounding yes in response, with the only discrepancy coming from Seven.

“A couple of guards caught up to me in 11B, they’ve brought me along to help catch the infiltrators.”

“So they don’t know you’re a part of this?”

“Seems like it. And from what I gather, they aren’t onto you either…”

“Perfect, Seven stay with your team. There’s about to be a Code Blue in geriatrics. I’ll put the call through to all security to get to the ward, that should give the rest of you time to escape. Rendezvous in Staff corridor D.”

You don’t wait to hear the replies from your team, once again your body working quicker than your mind. Your hands already working on shutting down the power to the Geriatrics ward. You should feel worse than you do, you were putting innocent people’s lives at risk. But the one thing which had been drilled into you from the begging was, the team comes first wherever possible. It was Seven who insisted on this. But who were you to argue with him?

Your eyes are glued to your screen as you watch a warning light appear over the 3D model you had been working with. ‘WARNING! Main power grid will be turned off. WARNING!’ It was rather polite of the system to warn you of the damage you were about to inflict, however the flashing red image did little to stop you. With one final mouse click, a new pop up appeared on your screen. This one somehow even more urgent, despite no red flashing lights. ‘WARNING! Main power grid for geriatrics has now been turned off. Back up system now operating.’ An alarm was blaring throughout your office, warning you and all security who remained nearby of a system failure. “All units. Repeat, all units to Geriatric ward immediately. Power failure. All units report.” You instruct through the P/A system.” Instantly, you watch as two security guards’ race past your office, down the hall and towards the stairwell.

“Five, have they gone? Can you get out?” You ask carefully, keeping your voice low in case of any security stragglers.

“Yeah, they’ve all gone now. Jesus Eight, what kind of a system failure did you make?” You can hear her laughing now, though you know the doctor side of her is genuinely concerned as to what chaos you had caused.

“Nothing that should cause any real harm, but it’s done the trick.” You smirk, locking your computer and stepping out of the office.

You knew the security alert wouldn’t deter the Lushnick’s, hell even if the building was on fire, you doubt they would stray from their current target. But if your calculations were correct, you still had at least five minutes to warn One and Four of their impending arrival. Your heavy combat boots pound against the tiles, sprinting your way towards corridor D, praying the others would already be there, or at least arriving soon. Pressing your index finger against your earpiece, your voice sounding frantic even to you. “Four! One! They’re coming!”. They had time, they had to have time….. But with no response from either, you try again. “The Lushnick’s! I finally found them on the cameras, they’re headed straight for Emergency!”

Nothing, not a single word from Four or One. This wasn’t right, they were supposed to have time still, plenty of time to get out of Emergency and meet you and the team. But as you round the corner to Staff corridor D, there’s no One, and sure as hell no Billy. “Thank God you got here alright!” Five gasps, running over to you and wrapping her arms around you. You had never known her to be much of a hugger, but you suppose high stakes situations like this could change a person. Checking over her shoulder you spot Three, Seven, and Two all talking amongst themselves. “Where’re Four and One?” You ask timidly, stepping away from Five’s embrace slowly, and looking between her and the rest of the team.

No one seems inclined to answer you, which only serves to send a deep chill down your spine, and for a solid mass to feel as if it had been lodged in your throat. Pressing on your earpiece again, you try calling for the two again. “Eight for Four and One, come in both of you.”

There’s again no reply, and your heart feels like it’s being strangled. “I heard some of the guards talking. There was talk of a couple of intruders being found…” Seven begins, his dark eyes meeting yours, with a look which could only be described as true sympathy.

Sharp, electric static echoes through your teams ears, all earpieces but yours going haywire for five seconds, before silence once more. “What the fuck was that?” Three snarls, ripping the piece out and glaring at it between his large fingers.

An all too familiar voice speaks slowly now in your ear, but as you look around you realise this voice was only speaking to you. No one else could hear her. “Well, who do we have here. You’re not the Doctor, I would recognise her voice anywhere. And you’re obviously not the French one, unless you’ve managed to disguise your accent, which I truly doubt. So who are you…”

“I’m not playing any of your sick little games Genevieve. Where is the rest of my team?” You hiss, causing the others to look up and over to you.

“Eight? What’s going on?” Two asks carefully, stepping towards you slowly.

“Who are you talking to? Three asks, lifting his brows up.

“Ah, see. There’s the French one! I knew you had to be someone else! Eight was it? Oh how interesting. So what, did another one of your team die? Is that why you’re here?”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about! I’m not someone’s replacement.”

“Oh aren’t you? Well that just makes this even more special then doesn’t it? Tell me, which one of these charming young men is Four who you seem so concerned about? Is it this ruggishly handsome tall fellow who keeps glaring at me? Or is it the pretty blonde, with the gorgeous green eyes, who’s having a hard time staying awake right now?” It’s an involuntary reaction, but at the mention of Four, your breath catches in your throat, causing a small gasp to escape your lips. “Ah, the blonde it is..”

“What have you done to him? What can’t he stay awake?”

“My my, so many questions! If you didn’t want anything to happen to him, then maybe you shouldn’t have used him a bait silly little girl!”

“Where the fuck is he?”

“I suppose I could tell you, it would be rather enjoyable to see the look on your face as we operate on him, while there’s nothing you can do about it…”

You don’t wait to hear anymore, ripping the earpiece out and throwing it as far down the corridor as possible. “Theatres. The Lushnick’s have Four and One. They’re about to do something to Four.” You gasp out, barely able to catch your breath, as tears prick the backs of your eyes.

“Shhh, Eight it’s going to be fine, I promise.” Five offers, soothing her palm down your back gently.

“Don’t you dare make empty promises.” You growl, shaking her off and racing down the hall, towards the stairwell.

*****  

“What have you given him?” One growls, glaring between both the Lushnick’s and Four who lay on an operating table, barely moving and occasionally groaning. He rattled his arm against the handcuffs which kept him bound to a side railing. He was completely useless, both to himself and to his teammate.

Genevieve turned to him now, regarding him with a cold stare. “I hardly see why that matters now? You can’t do anything to help him, especially not in your current predicament.” She chuckles darkly, before turning her attention back to Gregory. The man barely spoke a word, but the sick sadistic smile which had been growing across his lips these past few minutes, was enough for One to get a better sense of his character.

“At least tell me what you’re going to do to him!” One tries again. He was running out of questions, and by the looks of things, time too. He had hoped he would be able to keep the Lushnick’s occupied long enough for you and the rest of the team to get here, but ever since Genevieve finished her conversation with you, she seemed all the more eager to get this started.

“Well that’s the fun part. Greg doesn’t know yet! Here’s how this works. Greg cuts the patient open, has a bit of a poke and prod around. Takes out what he wants, and then stitches ‘em back up! You never know what will be taken!” Genevieve grins, pressing a red kiss to Gregory’s cheek, who only grins broader.

One has to fight back to urge to both vomit, and throw punches, instead opting to glare at the duo. “You’re both sick, and you’re going to rot in hell once we’re through with you!”

Genevieve waves him off, turning her attention to Four, who was more unconscious than conscious now. Though he occasionally made a slight jolt, or mumbled a quiet sentence. “Should we wait until he is a bit more under before beginning the procedure?”

Gregory turned to her, lifting a brow in curiosity. “And risk the others getting here, before it’s too late for them to rescue him?”

Just as his words die off, a loud crash against the operating theatre door causes both Doctor’s to glance towards the sound. The crash was quickly followed by another, before a gunshot can be heard echoing throughout the circular room, the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground following. “Greg…..” Genevieve whispers, turning to the Doctor, as the double doors slam open. The metallic hingers screeching under the sudden movement.

“Where the fuck is my boyfriend?” You scream, pistol raised, and aimed directly at Genevieve Lushnick.  Seven and Three stand beside you, each holding a gun of their own, with Three aimed at the nurses in the theatre, and Seven poised to fire upon Gregory. Two and Five stand either side of them, aiming at the guards behind them who were writhing on the ground, though they both remained vigilant for any further arrivals.

Gregory lifts a scalpel and hovers it directly above Four’s abdomen, poised and ready to cut. “Ah, you must be Eight.” Genevieve grins, taking a careful step towards you, as Gregory lowers the scalpel closer to Four’s bare skin.

Seven aims at the wall just above where Gregory stands, the bullet ripping a hole in the sterile room, causing Gregory to jump back almost an entire foot. “Don’t even think about trying that again.” Seven hisses, fixing the Doctor with a glare.

“Now now, there will be no need for violence.” Genevieve begins, before taking a look at the guards who were slowly bleeding out in the entry way. “At least, no more violence that is.” She steps forwards again, fixing you with an interested eye. “My goodness you look familiar. Have we met before?”

“I’m positive I would recall meeting someone as wicked and vile as you.” You spit, keeping your pistol trained on your target, your eyes following her every step.

“Hm, yes I suppose so.” You were now engaged in an odd type of dance, Genevieve was slowly circling around you, and you followed her every move, moving in a circle on the spot. “This is where the negotiations begin, I imagine.”

“There will be no negotiations. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we take you to the authorities who will make sure you both rot in a prison cell for the rest of your sorry lives.”

Genevieve shakes her head no, still walking in her slow circle around you. From an outside perspective, it was that of a lion circling its prey, though to your perspective, you had the upper hand. Or at least, you had the weapon. “No, you see that doesn’t work for us.”

“Fine. You tell us what you gave Four, you let him go, and we kill you both right here, right now.”

Genevieve shakes her head again, looking over to Gregory who was clutching the scalpel for dear life. “Eight, something’s wrong…” One calls, looking over to Four. The young man was beginning to convulse on the operating table. His skin was flushed in tiny pinprick sized red dots, and his chest was rising and falling in rapid laboured breaths.

You chance a glance over to Four, and your heart stops. Something was horrendously wrong. “Five, go check on him!” You screech, turning your full attention back on Genevieve as Five races past you. In a split second, you pocket your gun in the back of your jeans, and lurch forwards, fists griping into the collar of Genevieve’s shirt. You hold the fabric with such ferocity the seams popping in her shirt is almost audible, but your blood is pumping too loudly in your ears for you to hear. “Tell me what you gave him!” You’re practically screaming now, directly in her face, yet Genevieve doesn’t seem phased at all. She was used to outbursts such as this, granted they were typically from a grieving mother or father, and not someone threatening her life, but none the less, it felt like just another day in the office.

“Not until we strike a deal!”

There’s only one thing running through your mind as your eyes lock onto Genevieve’s, the training fight you had had with Three all those months ago. Only this time, there was no one fighting back, you had the power. Your leg steps behind Genevieve’s left, and you sweep out with your entire weight, releasing her collar just as her knees gives way and buckle beneath her weight, and she crumbles to the ground bellow you, her back smacking the hard tiled floor with a crack. Instantly, you’re on top of her, kneeling down against her stomach and pinning her to the ground.

“You bitch!” She shrieks, coughing as she attempts to regain the breath you had knocked out of her, though with almost your entire weight leaning into her now, it was unlikely she would.

“I’m terribly sorry. I guess I lost my footing.” You smirk, pressing your knee harder against her. Causing Genevieve to cry out in pain.

Gregory races forwards, his scalpel dropping to the ground in his haste. “Get off of her!” He calls, wrapping her palms over your shoulders and attempting to tear you away.

Three steps in, shoulder barging him in the stomach and sending the Doctor crashing to the ground beside his wife.

“Guys! I think Four’s having a severe allergic reaction to whatever concoction he was pumped full of!” Five yells, a stethoscope looped around her neck, as her frantic eyes meet yours. “Is he allergic to anything you know of?”

You stare back at Five, your mind going completely blank, you feel like a deer caught in headlights. Surely Four would’ve told you if he had any allergies, right? And perhaps he had done just that, but standing here now, with all hope resting on your shoulders, you couldn’t think of a single thing which may be useful in this situation. Shaking your head, a growing sense of dread filling you, as the rest of the team remain silent. “I- I don’t know….”

“I can give him an Epipen, but I need to know what he’s either had, or what he’s allergic to so I can get him the proper antidote!”

Tearing your eyes away from Five, you look over to One, who not only felt but looked entirely useless, chained to a handrail on the opposite side of the room. Your eyes searching his for an answer. Your mission was to capture the Lushnick’s, and right now, that was exactly what you had done. But if you kept them as they were now, as prisoners, Four could die….. Was that a sacrifice you were willing to make?

All One could offer was a gentle half smile, shrugging his shoulders slightly in his compromising position. He couldn’t offer you an answer, hell you couldn’t even offer yourself an answer….

Carefully, you release some of the pressure from Genevieve’s stomach, just enough for her to look up at you in surprise, blinking wide eyes up at you. “Tell me what you gave him, and we’ll let you both go.” You mutter, fighting back the urge to swallow back your own words.

A wicked smirk unravels over Genevieve’s lips. The kind of smirk which one would associate with a wicked stepmother, or evil queen from a Disney film. “Deal.” You release more pressure from your hold on her, until she can breathe properly once more, and Three steps away from Gregory, giving the man a swift boot to the hip just to make his point. “We gave him a combination of penicillin, general anaesthetic, codeine…” Genevieve stands, as does Gregory, both stepping backwards towards the door. Your team moving out of their way upon looking at you for clarification. No one wanted to move, that much was obvious in the frantic looks the others were throwing your way. But at the same time, they all knew the price they would have to pay if they kept the Lushnick’s as they were now. A price no one was prepared for.

“There was some paracetamol mixed in too….” Genevieve continues. They were at the doorway now, hand in hand, gazing behind themselves to make sure the way was clear. “Hm, what else?”

“Gosh, I just can’t recall.” Gregory shrugs, an evil smirk crawling its way over his lips. His eyes glowing with malice. “I simply have no idea what ese they’re may have been!” He calls with enthusiasm, before both pivot on the spot, racing from the theatre.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” You shriek, your sight going red as you sprint after them down the corridor, pulling your gun out as you give chase. Genevieve looks at you over her shoulder as they reach the stairwell, regarding you with a look of familiarity.

“Eight! Eight, it’s not worth it!” Two yells from the doorway, watching you with a deep concern. She knew what you were capable of, your whole team did, but not the Lushnick’s. And from the looks of things, they didn’t care either. You stop halfway down the corridor, releasing the safety on your pistol and firing three shots at the door Gregory hand his hand pressed against. He jumps backwards in shock, glaring back at you, pure fury masking his features.

“Yes Eight, listen to your friend. She seems to be the brains of this group. We wouldn’t want you getting hurt now would we?” Genevieve snarls, baring too many teeth to be considered even remotely friendly.

Aiming the pistol once more, you line up your sights, finger hovering over the trigger. One shot, that’s all it would take. A bullet to the middle of Genevieve’s forehead would kill her instantly, and Gregory would have no choice but to surrender. “Are you going to kill me? Shall I say hello to Kellie when I see her?”

You stare at Genevieve, her words ringing through your ears, and sending a jolt of shockwaves straight down your spine. In that moment of hesitation, the Lushnick’s push through the stairwell door, and flee.

You’re paralysed on the spot, staring after where the Lushnick’s had stood moments ago. They recognised you. They knew who you were and why you wanted revenge. But how? It had been years since you last saw them, you had been a child! Surely you looked different now from back then? But they knew you! They remembered Kellie… A gun shot rings down the corridor, the sound of metal clanging to the tiled floor following directly after.

“Eight! What happened?” One yells, now free of his handcuffs, and jogging down the corridor to meet you. You hadn’t moved. Still stood with your arms raised, and gun pointed to where Genevieve had stood.

“They – They knew me.” You gulp, putting the pistol away with shaking hands, and turning to look up at One. Tears were brimming in your eyes, though you refused to let them fall. At least not yet.

“What? But how?”

“I don’t know! That’s the fucking problem.” You hiss, storming away from One back towards the theatre. Once back, chaos surrounded Four, with everyone racing around him handing various different equipment and medications to Five, as she prepped some kind of antidote perhaps. “How’s he doing?”

Five looks up at you, regarding you with a careful mix of sympathy and hope. “The EpiPen gave him enough adrenaline to wake up again, though he’s extraordinarily groggy. Now I’m just tyring to figure out exactly what to give him to counteract the other shit that’s pumping through him.”

You nod your head in thanks, knowing you would find the time to thank Five properly once all of this was over. “What can I do to help?”

“We need to try and keep him awake, he keeps coming in and out of consciousness.” Three replies, as he passes Five a vile of clear liquid.

“Four? Can you hear me?” You ask carefully, stepping over to him and squeezing his hand tightly. His warm fingers curl around yours in reply, before falling limp against your palm.

“He’s out again! Wake him up!” Five yells to those in the room.

“Four, stay with us!” You plead, pressing a soft kiss against his knuckles. To hell with anyone seeing the act of intimacy, if One wanted to give you shit for it, he could do so when you were all in the clear. Though checking the room, you can’t find One or Two for that matter, they must still be in the corridor where you had left them?

Slowly, Four blinked his eyes open, frantic emerald flickering around the room and searching for something, or someone. Just as his eyes landed on yours, they fell shut again, and his body spasmed once more.

“Four, god dammit! Keep your fucking eyes open!” It was Seven yelling this time, his voice booming above all other noises in the vast room.

“Four, please just stay with us a little longer! Five, how are you going with those injections?” You can hear the tears in your voice as you beg for him to open his eyes again, but they remain closed. Turning to look at Five, she looks frazzled. Her hair which had started in a neat, slicked back bun, was now hanging loose down her back, and was wild with frizz. She looks up at you, not quite in a glare, but with enough ferocity behind the look that you know better than to bother her anymore.

Leaning down, you card your fingers through Four’s blonde curls, brushing away a few stray locks which were plastered to his forehead with sweat. Barely more than a slit, his eyes open and stare directly up at you. “Billy, please just keep your eyes open for me. You’re going to be fine, I swear.”

Three looks over at you, his ears perking up at the use of his teammates real name. It was one thing to use names in privacy back home. But during a mission, however failed that mission may be, now that was new. Shaking his head, he spots One and Two heading over, but with grim looks on their faces. “What’s the plan?” Two asks, her eyes locking with Three’s.

“There isn’t one, not really. We just need to keep him awake.” Five sighs. “I think I know what to give him to help, but I want him awake when I administer it. If it works correctly then it should knock him out for a bit. If he’s already unconscious when I give it to him, then I won’t know if it’s doing more harm than good.”

One turns his attention over to you now, lifting one brow as you meet his gaze. “Any idea what will keep him awake?”

You pause, clutching Four’s hand tightly, and staring blankly at One. “Trivia. He loves random trivia facts!” You blurt out after a beat of pause. All eyes turn to you in surprise, no one quite knowing how to respond to this information. You shrug lightly, averting your gaze from One’s. “We play a lot of trivial pursuit back at base.”

Seven is the first to break the silence, though not to mock you as you had thought would be the case. Instead, he looks down at Four. “Hey mate, did you know high heels were originally invented for men. Imagine Three chasing down the Lushnick’s in stilettos.” He laughs, which causes Four to stir slightly, his eyes opening just a tad.

“Fuck, you’re right. That did work.” One blinks in surprise, running a hand through his short hair.

“Of course it did. I know Four, I know what works on him.” You mutter quietly.

Without looking up, Five smirks to herself. “You sure do kid.”

There’s no fighting the embarrassment which claws within you. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to be making suggestive comments… “Alright, keep ‘em coming guys!”

“Um okay…. Uh, Canada has more lakes than anywhere in the world.” Seven offers unsurely.

“Those greedy fucks….” Four moans, causing everyone to pause, before laughing quietly. Good, his sense of humour was still intact, that’s surely a good sign!

Two steps closer, and looks down at Four in deep concentration, before leaning back slightly. “David Bowie, he did not in fact have two different coloured eyes. One of his pupils was permanently dilated after he was punched in the eye during an argument over a girl.”

“Bugger me, really?” Five pipes up, both brows raised in surprise. “I always thought he had one blue and one brown eye.” She shrugs, priming a syringe carefully.

Slowly, Four was waking up. Granted he wasn’t exactly moving very much, but his eyes were opening, and he was grinning somewhat at the facts that were being thrown at him.

Staring down at Billy, something pops into your mind, a fact which you had learnt years ago at school but never shared with anyone else. “Okay, here’s one for you. Madonna’s like a prayer, is actually not about praying, it’s about giving someone a blowjob!”

Silence follows, and you swear you could hear crickets chirping. “Why the fuck is that something you know?” Four groans quietly, his eyes searching all over your face, before finally meeting your own.

“Shit, I don’t know… I also didn’t think that would be the fact that would wake you up the most! I was hoping someone else would say something after me!” You grumble through a grin.

“Nothing could possibly beat that fact.” Four chuckles weakly, squeezing your hand as tightly as he could muster.

Five turns around, holding a full syringe in her right hand, and a sterile swab in the other. “Glad you’re awake. What I’m about to give you however, is going to send you right back to sleep. Sorry about that. But I assure you, next time you wake up, you’re going to feel amazing.” She grins, ripping open the swab, and swiping it over the inside of his elbow.

For the second time that day, Four winces in pain as a needle plunges through his skin. Squeezing his eyes shut against both the sight of the injection, and the stinging pain. Whatever Five had given him was fast acting, and soon enough Four finds it nearly impossible to reopen his eyes now that he’s closed them.

“Move him into the wheelchair there, it’ll be easier than carrying him out of here.” You suggest, pointing to the blue cushioned wheelchair in the corner of the room.

One, Three and Seven all nod their agreement, and move around the operating table, getting into position to lift Four. “Count of three…. One, two, three.” Three instructs, as the men lift Four who simply groans in protest. You watch his limp body be carried across the room, your heart aching at the sight. ‘It could be worse… He’s just asleep.’ You repeat to yourself, once again fighting back the tears which had remained ever present at the corners of your eyes.

Three pushes the wheelchair as you all follow in a daze. Your mind felt as if it were a million miles away from the current situation. For the briefest of moments, you had genuinely considered murdering Genevieve. Never once had you thought yourself capable of doing such a thing. But yet, there you had been. Gun poised, and trigger finger rearing to go. If it hadn’t of been for her words, then she would be dead…

The escape route was an easy one, especially with security still trying to figure out what had gone wrong on the geriatrics ward still. Swiping the keys to an ambulance at the docking bay, you load Four inside the back with Five to monitor him. One drives, Three and Two sitting beside him up the front. While you and Seven sit quietly in the back. Occasionally your focus returns to Four, but mostly you stare out of the back windows, watching as traffic zips around you. You nearly killed someone today… What sort of a person were you becoming? And did you even like the person you were turning into?

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