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after-witch · 3 years

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White Room White Walls [Yandere Overhaul x Reader]

Title: White Room White Walls [Yandere Overhaul x Reader]

Synopsis: He’s going to come back soon. When he does, you’ll be waiting.

Prompt: Overhaul + “No live organism can continue for long to exist under conditions of absolute reality.”

Word Count: 1939

Notes: yandere, kidnapped reader, starvation/malnutrition, implied character death

He’s going to come back soon. When he does, you’ll be waiting.

Waiting for what is a little difficult to decide. Waiting for his praise? Waiting for his attention? Waiting for his mere presence, something to break up the monotony of the days that you’ve been in this room, all alone?

Four walls, all white. Decorated with a few hard-earned personal touches, tiny pops of color that make you far more grateful than you’d ever imagined they could. Your bathroom is adjacent, thank goodness, but quite sterile; he didn’t want bacteria building up on the pictures you’d asked to hang up against the white walls.

Every morning starts the same: you wake up to the sound of your alarm, you make your bed as neatly as possible before showering and changing into something clean.

It’s very important to be clean. Overhaul told you so.

Though, it’s a shame your room doesn’t have laundry facilities; after a while, with no clean clothes left in your drawers, you realized that you had to wash them by hand. Then you threw them over the curtain rod in the bathroom to drip dry. Some of them smell a bit mildewy now, but it’s nothing that another rub-down with your scented strawberry shampoo can’t cover up, right?

After you’re clean, you can officially start the day. Your schedule is blocked into exercises for your body and mind. Reading time and puzzle time and journaling. When Kai gets back, he’ll probably want to read your journal, so you keep it up even though there’s not much to say anymore. You’re running low on books, but it’s all right; you limit yourself to a chapter a day to stretch them out and, in any case, when he comes back he’ll surely agree to buy you new ones.

He has been gone longer than he originally said he would be, but you try not to mind. You try not to let it wheedle at you. He is so busy, after all. And he’s trusting you to take care of yourself while he’s gone. You don’t want to disappoint him.

In addition to schedule blocks for entertainment, you’re expected to keep up your health. This means eating and exercises on time, every day, and getting to bed early.

It used to feel good to exercise, but lately all it does is make you feel dizzy. Probably the stale air, you think, when you’re bracing your hands on your bed and waiting for the wooziness to pass. Once, you thought about skipping your exercises, thought that maybe it would be better not to use up the extra energy, considering--but the thought was quickly smoothed over when you remembered that he expected you to do it and you’d better stick to the schedule he laid out for you.

Besides, he was coming back soon, and you’d be able to ask him about the dizziness. Maybe he’d know what was going on. He liked to give you check-ups, even though you once insisted that he wasn’t a doctor, you learned to let him touch and poke and record numbers in the chart pinned to his clipboard without a fuss.

You hope he’ll give you a check-up when he gets back, because you just aren’t feeling like yourself lately.

It’s not his first trip away from you. It’s not the first time he sat you down and told you in his patronizing way that he was going away for a while, that you needed to be good until he got back.

But it is the first time you were given so much responsibility all for yourself. Before, there was always someone else who came in to bring you food and take your laundry and anything else you needed.

But this time, no one showed up the next morning. He told you someone was coming, but they didn’t.

It took you a while to realize that it was clearly a test. Kai wanted to know how well you could take care of yourself, how well you could follow routine, without him there to hover over you for most of the day.

If you want to pass, you need to keep going. Stick to the schedule. Stick to his expectations and everything will be fine.

Today, your alarm didn’t go off. The batteries must finally be dead. But it’s okay, you woke up at just the right time, anyway. Old habits and all.

You grab one of the least mildewy day dresses from your drawer and head into the bathroom.

The mirror in the bathroom is all white, muddy-streaked with soap so you can’t actually see yourself. The sight is startling, but only for a moment. Silly you. You must have forgotten to rinse it off with water while you were cleaning it, that’s all. But the thought of wetting down a rag and wiping it away makes your stomach clench--it always feel clenched, lately, tight and hurting--so you walk by the mirror and prepare to step into the bath instead.

The shower is cold. But you like cold showers. They’re the only kind you’ve had for quite some time. It’s another thing you’ve added to your list, to tell Kai when he gets back--hot water’s broken.

You have to remember not to make it sound like you’re complaining, though. You don’t want to seem ungrateful. Especially now that you realize just how much he does for you. You understand now what he meant when he called you ‘spoiled,’ the last time you acted out. You were spoiled. Now you know how hard it is to be without Kai, to be without his direction and guidance and overbearing need to keep you going.

But it’s not all bad. You still have your favorite shampoo. It’s been watered down a few times now, but there’s no more left in the cupboard and you have to make do. You’re resourceful; another way for Kai to test you, right? To see how you can keep yourself clean without all the pampering.

Besides, in a way, you like it watered down: you’ve noticed less of your hair on the bottom of the tub now that you’re not lazily rubbing thick gobs of strawberry shampoo into your hair every day. It doesn’t seem to stop the hair from lining your brush after you comb it dry, but that’s fine, you’ll take the little victory.

For a moment as you scrub yourself with your thinned bar of scented soap, you think too much about your body. About how strange it looks as you scrub your skin red. Certain parts are just too pointy now, hollow even. Like your stomach and the space between your hips and--you toss the soap back in the little dish and let the cold water run over you. You think about how you get dizzy when you sit up too fast or do your exercise or sometimes for no reason at all.

Then you remind yourself to stop thinking about those things.

Best not to think about silly things like that at all. Best to just get clean and get on with your day. When Kai gets back, he’ll figure out what’s going on with your body. Probably a cold or a flu or something. Or maybe your vision is a bit wonky, and that’s what you’re seeing when you glance over your stomach, your hips--maybe your depth perception is off and you need glasses. Kai will know.

After dressing, it’s breakfast time, so you pad back into the bathroom with your water cup and fill up the glass as fully as possible.

Gingerly, you carry the full glass back to your table and sit down. You glance at the clock and wait for it to get to just the right time before you take your first sip.

Water from the tap is cold but refreshing. You have water for breakfast and water for lunch and water for dinner. Sometimes, you mix in paper from one of your journal pages and stir it around the glass with your finger. It’s mushy and pulpy but paper is tree bark, isn’t it? And tree barks have some sort of nutrients, you think, so you’re doing the best you can to stick to your schedule--three healthy meals a day--with what you have.

Will Kai be mad that you’re drinking paper smoothies instead of normal meals? He’ll understand that you couldn’t exactly get a fork or spoon from thin air. He’ll understand that he forgot to put food in your room for your test, so you had to make do.

When he comes back, you’ll just have to explain that you didn’t have any other options.

Though, you confess… you are eating much quicker than the designated blocks for meal-times that he generously created for you. It’s not that you want to deviate from the schedule. But eating too slowly makes you miss the meals you used to have, mounds of steamed vegetables and freshly cooked fish and so many things that get your mouth watering and your stomach growling. It makes you worried that you’ll spend another night in the bathroom, stomach cramped and pain, crying out into your hands, begging for the pain to stop.

You won’t tell him about these things when he returns, except maybe the bathroom stuff, because you would like for something--a pill or special diet or treatment--to make that go away. You wish knew what was causing it. But that’s why Kai’s the expert and you’re just you.

So you sip quickly and grab a book from the shelf as soon as you’re done, and curl up on your bed to start reading today’s chapter. If you focus hard enough on the story, you can forget a lot of things.

You can forget that you’re so, so hungry. You can forget that it’s been days and days and days and he still hasn’t come back, even though he promised he would. You can forget that one of the light bulbs in your ceiling went out a week ago, and one day they’ll all go out and you’ll be here in the dark. You can forget the deep, deep fear that one day you will turn on the bathroom faucet and nothing will come out.

If you try hard enough, you can forget all of that. And when reading time is over, and your bleary eyes glance at the wall, you can focus on the next thing to help you forget: journaling.

You sit up, slowly, carefully, to avoid feeling too dizzy. But instead of grabbing your journal from the shelf, you make your way to your bed and pull back the warm, slightly musty covers.

The strap of your gown falls down your shoulders as you go to lay down. They keep doing that, lately. You had to stop wearing pants altogether, because they just wouldn’t stay up. You like the billowy gowns more and more, because they cover up all the parts of your body that make you uncomfortable, lately. You feel okay when you wear them. Just as long as you don’t look down in the ever-widening gaps created by the loose fabric on your chest.

It’s true that there are no naps on your schedule, and Kai might not like you inserting your own decisions into the fray. But you’re just so tired lately.

Wouldn’t it be okay if you napped, just sometimes? You’ll write in your journal tomorrow. You’ll confess that you eat too fast and you worry too much and that you hope Kai will come home soon, because this test he’s putting you through is confusing and hard and you might be losing.

You feel dizzy again. Must be the air. Or maybe the book was too exciting. It’s just too hard to figure out.

He’s going to come back soon. If he does, you’ll be waiting.

#yandere overhaul #yandere kai chisaki #overhaul x reader #yandere #yandere bnha #afterwitch writes #aw horrorfest

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bastart13 · 3 years

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Unfortunately I couldn’t help but think through a few ironic implications of Portia’s Reversed ending

Fic below the cut

[1.5k words, tw character dying, set in Portia’s Reversed ending so spoilers]

A decade or so after their story ended

Isha let their head fall back with a rattling, haggard sigh. They closed their eyes, letting the gentle rocking of the docked ship lull their heart into a calm pace. It was almost enough for them to forget their troubles if it wasn’t for the sharp aches in their hip or the sheer effort it took to take a breath.

They’d never been good at listening to their own discomfort. They’d lived with discomfort all the life they remembered, whether it be from minor inconveniences with their arm, or the ever-present fatigue since magic left their world. But now, their body screamed at them everything they’d been trying to ignore. Everything they’d kept from Portia.

A chipper, rhythmic knocking on the door took them out of their thoughts. Despite everything, Isha couldn’t help but smile.

“Welcome back,” they called.

The door swung open with no hesitation as their wife bound into the room. Her sunny smile lit up the room, emphasising the wrinkles around her mouth and eyes. A true smile, reserved for Isha and their children alone. She kicked off her worn boots, shutting the door behind her as she waltzed over to the bed.

“I’ve been missing you,” she teased, leaning in for a quick kiss. “We should be ready to undock soon. Jasna’s grown up to be a fine bosun. I swear, soon they’ll be rigging the boat with their hands tied behind their back just for the challenge. Right after we—”

Portia’s eyes locked onto their bedside table. A half-finished tankard of beer sat over an unfamiliar note filled edge-to-edge with scrawling ink. Her eyebrows tensed, frowning.

“Was Ilya here?”

“Yes, he just left,” Isha said. “He was sorry he couldn’t stay to see you, but he needed to get back to his partner before dark.”

“Did he at least squeeze in a ‘hello’ to his nieces and nephews?” she asked, her voice lightening to a dangerous cheer. Isha shook their head, looking back to the note.

“No…”

They needed to tell her.

He’d written everything she’d need to know but she didn’t deserve to hear it from Julian’s letter.

Portia stroked through their dull curls, pushing them away from their face before gently cupping their cheek.

“Are you feeling better from this morning?” she asked.

Isha took a short, weary breath.

“I’m not well, Portia,” they said softly. “I went outside for some fresh air this afternoon, when I ran into Julian and I had one of those attacks. He helped me back to see what was wrong and it’s getting worse.”

Hurt flickered across her expression before she slapped on a determined smile.

“But he told you how to treat it, right? That’s what the note is. I know we’re charted to sail down the Strait of Seals but if we don’t have what you need or the cold would be too much, we can change course,” she reassured, picking up a pace with no intention of stopping. “And look on the bright side! Now Ilya’s seen you, we might be able to get you back on your feet. You’ve been feeling low for a while now, think of all the places we can visit once you’re better. You can get back off the ship and travel inland. I’ve heard it’s really settled down in the north and I’d love it if we could visit Sun lake again—”

“There’s nothing to treat it,” Isha asserted, but Portia barrelled past.

“—And if we’re passing through Galbrada we can meet back up with Lavi. In his last letters, he was so excited about his travels—”

“I’m dying.”

Portia’s voice cut out.

The ship creaked and drummed with the distant movement of the crew above deck but to them, the quiet hung in the air like a dense fog.

“You’re not dying,” she insisted, the shine in her eyes fracturing. “You’re not dying, you’ll be okay,” she repeated. “I’m the Ambassador of Vesuvia! Along with Prakra, we’re one of the most powerful cities in the land and I have ships in every port in the five seas, loaded with imports. Ilya just must not know what we have access to. Even if—if you’re as ill as he says, we can find a cure. He could look again o-or we could go to Nazali. I know they’re older now, but they’ve trained so many medics, and if that doesn’t work, I know the leader of Urdangabil. They’re one of the leading pioneers of new medicine and if I look through my silvered book, I’m sure I can find something to get her to—”

“No.” Isha gripped Portia’s hand, staring deep into her eyes. Their gaze softened, their care hurting her more than any blade. “I’m dying, Portia

She frantically shook her head, her lip quivering.

“Don’t say that.”

“I’ve been dying ever since the magic left.”

“You’re not going to die! You’re going to be okay…”

“I was never going to live that long. It was borrowed time.”

“You told me you were okay!” Portia sobbed. There was nothing else she could say. She broke.

Pearly tears streamed down her cheeks and she collapsed into Isha’s embrace. She gripped their nightdress, holding onto them like a drowning woman to driftwood. Helpless sobs wracked through her body and Isha held onto their wife in return, gently rubbing her shoulder with their stump. It felt unfair. They were still so warm. Their heart beat the same reassuring patter as whenever Portia curled up against their chest. How could they… How…

But she knew how. She knew why and the thought only made her choking cries harsher.

“I’m sorry…” Isha said softly. “You deserved to know sooner… I wasn’t okay.”

Their chest grew wet from Portia’s tears and they only held her closer.

“It’s… gotten worse over the years,” they explained. “The first few were just this tiredness, but then my headaches came back. Tiredness became exhaustion. I felt… hollow. Like I was using myself up from the inside with every breath and step. It wasn’t until Julian saw me that I recognised it… You know me; I’m useless at asking for help.” They tried for a smile, even if Portia couldn’t see it. “I’m thankful every day I didn’t put that promise in my vows.”

Her crying hitched with a hysterical laugh before slamming her fist against their chest.

“STOP IT!” she yelled, her voice cracking. “J-Just stop it… Stop being s-so stupidly calm! How can y-you just—just accept this?! We’ve done so much… so much… All together. How could I have missed it? I have secrets on every city’s leader. I have ears and eyes everywhere. How—How didn’t even know my own spouse was d-dying!”

“I didn’t know,” Isha whispered, “and I didn’t tell you. It’s not your fault.”

“But it is! You know it is more than anyone. I was the one who chose to kill Aunt Tasya! I could have talked to her. I could have done anything to convince her, I could have…" She stilled under Isha’s arm. Tears dripped from her wide, unfocused eyes.

Moving like a stiff puppet, she fell out of their embrace.

“...The Arcana,” she whispered, the words barely leaving her lips. “I know Asra looked into it and found nothing… but that was just the first year. We have access to so much more… That’s it. I… I could try and call on them. On the other world. Even on—”

Portia jolted out of her daze with Isha’s iron clasp around her wrist and their amber eyes boring into her with a fire she hadn’t seen in years.

“You can’t,” they ordered. “Whatever happens, you can’t repeat Tasya’s mistakes. When we killed her, we accepted the consequences, and I don’t regret it. I can’t let you fall down that path. No matter what happens to me, you need to remember that. I’m not saying you can’t grieve, but you have to let me go.”

More tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks. Isha let go of her wrist, reach up to hold her face and brush them away with their thumb.

“You’ve done everything you can for me and more,” they said. “You’ve given me a goal, friends, a family. It means more than I could ever say, and I’m glad I’ve had this time with you, but it was always a half-filled hourglass.” They inhaled sharply, their chest suddenly feeling too empty until they breathed through the pain. Their eyes fell closed as they rested their forehead against Portia’s. “I’ve died once before. I don’t remember anything about the life I had before it, but as hard as it is, I know it’s different this time. I don’t want to die. I’m scared. I hate upsetting you. I want to see our children grow up and know the lives they’ll lead. But I’ve accepted it. I can’t ignore it or put it off.”

They pulled back with burning eyes and a tight throat.

“You’ve made my life worth more than I ever thought it could be. I love you, my light. Thank you for loving me.”

#the arcana #the arcana game #portia devorak #the arcana spoilers #portia x apprentice #isha the apprentice #fanfiction #art #tw character death #or discussions of death #a decade is both an entire lifetime and far too short

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keilemlucent · 3 years

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pretty eyes & starshine: iii

(Mostly SFW)

hawks | takami keigo x reader

ao3

part i || part ii || part iii (epilogue)

word count: ~2.2k

Nothing ever really ends. It just grows in different ways with different parts.

warnings: description of post-injury, reader and hawks being traumatized but coping, a soft epilogue

the ending folks :’^) thank you for reading this far. here is something gentle for all of us, with some future, past, and the present for sweet starshine and keigo :’^)

enjoy loves 💞!!

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Keigo doesn’t break promises.

He loves white lies, the silly kind where he can rib you for a minute or two before soothing any ruffled feathers with quick kisses. He never leaves big wounds, nothing gaping or jagged, just loving pokes in your sides to get you to laugh and quip back at him.

He never goes back on his words that count.

His journeys out of the house remain short and rarely surprising. He never leaves without a goodbye, whether that’s a sleepy fuck or two, or a hand-written, tooth-rotting note on a scrap of paper next to a steaming cup of coffee on the kitchen island.

Keigo’s used to the open skies, rolling forever. The curve of the horizon is his primordial friend that he never got to say goodbye to, but he still chases it a few times a week. Little drives he takes by himself, hikes, and things that he let him feel a bit of that free wind in his shaggy hair.

It takes you a while, but you don’t look forlornly at the door anymore.

The awareness that of his absence from your little bastion lingers as you move throughout your day, but you know he’s good for his word. He always returns, bearing a toothy grin, and usually an armload of snacks or takeout.

It’s better, and you’re both a bit more alive.

...

Spring in the mountains reminds you of something you can’t place.

The memory of it is foggy, far-off and untouched. Probably a bit dampened from, you know, a year of trauma, but the feeling of it makes your quirk burst to light without fail.

It comes when you notice the little patches of wildflowers that spring up in new grass that rings around the porch. Heat flares in your eyes when you see the little seedlings you and Keigo planted into the window boxes begin to bud and flower.

The days get longer, sweeter, and the summer comes easily.

...

The bad days never cease, but you both learn to cope to some degree.

Your scar... cracks one day. You’re doing some half-assed stretches in the living room (mostly arching your back so Keigo gets a good peek of your ass) when it happens. Your right leg bends at the knee, and a resounding ‘crack’ and shatter echo off the walls of the cabin.

You both panic.

Keigo instantly urges you on the couch, trying to soothe your own panic with little coos from the back of his throat. You feel numb as Keigo shoves up your pant leg, looking for any damage.

The scar looks relatively unchanged. It hasn’t writhed since your days at the hospital, and its edges have only faded a shade or two with time. It’s long, obtrusive, and something you still avoid looking at.

All the same, Keigo traces the gnarly flesh, nimble fingers searching for the source of the sound. Any bit of pain he can identify and soothe, ideally, remove. The pads of his fingers drift to the crook of your knee, pressing against the shiny, black seam of the scar.

His eyes go wide before awe shines through, without a lick of fear.

He warns you to take a deep breath, ‘breath with him’, before pinching at the glassy center and pulling. There’s a bit of resistance as he pulls, you’re not sure what he’s doing, and you see ‘it’ before you really put it together.

Keigo holds ‘it’ up for you to see.

The inky glass of the scar.

Literal rock. Inky obsidian pulled from your flesh, about the size of your pinky and painfully jagged.

“W-what is that?” You asked, grabbing his wrist to examine the bit. “That’s... the scar?”

Keigo nods his head, scrutinizing it with you, pinching at it, “Weirdest scab I’ve ever seen.”

Scab.

You have never thought about calling the ugly root of the scar a ‘scab’ but looking at the way it so easily was pulled away, it makes sense. After a bit of examination and tender prodding, the tissue around it looks healthy, albeit thick and burned. The scar goes deep into your flesh, feels raw to the touch, but the skin that’s beneath it is somewhat alive. Maybe too alive, given how sensitive it is.

Nonetheless, you marvel at the little piece of volcanic glass that Keigo had pulled from you like it’s the most precious stone in the world.

...

It takes a long time to convince both of you.

Keigo never receives another call from Suits, ‘president’, what the fuck her name is. Thank fucking god. His snap seemed to have scared her and her crumbling organization away. You can only hope that it was for good.

The potential return comes from kindness rather than demands.

Calls from both Endeavor and Miruko, ‘Enji’ and ‘Rumi’ as they insist you call them. Rumi chatters on the phone for hours with Keigo every few weeks, puts the phone on speaker, and has you give your piece as well. You like her, she’s funny and loud and Keigo smiles when he talks to her.

Enji actually visits.

Once or twice, maybe more. You stop counting when the extra bodies in the cabin don’t have you breaking into a cold sweat anymore. It had taken a great bit of coaxing, but you opened your cabin up for the former pro and his entourage.

He brings along his daughter and the ‘Three Musketeers,’ as the media calls them. The boys train in the mountains nearby, never lingering too far based on the shouting from the blond one that echoes against the hills.

The rest of you settle into the walls of the cabin whenever they come to visit. It feels warmer than normal; it makes sweat gather under your arms and in droplets on your forehead. Even if you wanted to attribute the heat to the old flame hero’s presence, it wouldn’t account entirely for your thumping heart.

You work through it, slowly.

You like watching Keigo and Enji. They both look worn. Keigo’s a bit too young for grey hair, but Enji has more than his fair share around his temples. The beard around his jaw glints silver in the lowlight of the cabin whenever he tilts his head to sip at his tea.

They smile like old friends, talk like it too.

You end up in the kitchen a lot during their talks, distantly cooking and observing. You’re always listening to their stories, the banter. It’s hard to keep up with, a lingering vestige of Keigo’s old persona that clings to him and his mannerisms.

You don’t mind it, even if it feels foreign.

...

“Can you pass me that honey, dear?” Fuyumi asks, voice sweet and close.

You nod, sliding her the jar across the corner top. She carefully spoons a glob of the thick liquid into the four waiting mugs, humming just under her breath.

The cabin feels warm, and it’s not just the ambient heat Enji gives off.

The ‘three musketeers’ plan to camp in the mountainside and ‘rough it’. You couldn’t imagine the freshly-greened hills giving them too much trouble. They bicker, you have found, constantly. Blunt jabs from Enji’s son, met by explosive remarks from the blond one (why is his hero name so long? You can never remember it well.) Consider your growing aversion to loud noise, you like Deku the best. He seems like the peacekeeper (and peacemaker) of the trio and compliments your cooking. What a gem.

The guest room has been polished into an actual guest room. Fuyumi takes it, and Enji, bless his heart, takes the creaky fold-out couch. He doesn’t mind, he tells you, something about enjoying tending to the hearth at night.

Keigo calls the nights where they fill the house ‘sleepovers’, and he adores them.

They’re a bit overwhelming for you if you’re being honest. But Enji is far less intimidating now that you’ve seen him nodding off and slack-faced on your couch. Fuyumi has patience you’ll never fully understand, and babies you a bit, which you don’t welcome but don’t refuse either.

She does just that, scooping up three mugs after pushing your own toward you. You regather and sit next to Keigo at the kotatsu, slipping your legs under the thick blanket and sagging with the heat. You rest your head on his shoulder, and he presses you into his side, pressing a few kisses to the top of your head. It’s an idle action, habitual and welcomed as the conversation flows.

(Something about one of Keigo’s old sidekicks. Another about Endeavor’s agency, still chugging along with him at the helm, albeit not as an active hero. The new hero charts, the new rules established, legislation. Things are getting... safer, a semblance of order being re-established now that much of the League has been apprehended.)

(Things are settling, as horrifying as the change is.)

The thought of so much makes you sleepy, long-standing exhaustion heavy in your bones. You nod off at some point to the kind, safe voices.

Keigo coaxes you awake once the conversation dies down.

“Love,” he purrs, rubbing your side, “let’s get up now and get you to bed.”

You follow him, the way he rises and guides you to the bathroom to help you ready for bed. Enji is settling on the couch, tugging a few throws over himself on the futon. You give him a shallow wave with half-lidded eyes, meeting his own.

Eye contact feels hard, but you manage to hold it for a few seconds.

In the bathroom, you pop onto the counter and slowly brush your teeth. Sleep clings to you, and you know it’ll return quickly, but the process of moving and interacting wears you down so easily. Your toothbrush almost slips from your grip.

“Just a little more, and then you can rest, dove,” Keigo urges, reverent as he finishes his own routine in tandem. You watch as he splashes water on his face, wetting the tufts of hair that fall around his face.

The cabin feels warmer.

You notice it as you enter the bedroom, Keigo already hopping into bed to assemble the ‘nest’ as both affectionately refer to it. The old throw, a few extra soft blankets, and a buttery soft duvet must be arranged just right before he is satisfied.

Keigo knows it’s a remnant.

He carries plenty of them, little chunks of him that are old and worn, old and unused. He can shake them, can’t bury them, they just simply are.

The birdish ones are nice, he thinks. He likes that he can preen you. He loves that you can preen him. That you’ll indulge him in that way, running your hands through his overgrown hair. You detangle any knots, soothe the snarls and rub at his neck until he’s liquid in your lap.

He likes nesting. The cold of the cabin can be almost forgotten in the little nests he makes. The mountains of bedding and pillows that you both can settle in. It’s peaceful, and it's shared, and things are okay.

It’s all slow, and a bit tedious, things that the remnants of ‘Hawks’ scream and thrash at. But, really? Keigo has no reason to listen to a ghost. He tries not to let himself be haunted.

He indulges himself for the first time in his life, probably.

As Keigo nestles you into the sheets beside him, he gives you a bit of room to get comfortable. Adjusts your pillows how you like, tangle your legs together in the comfiest way. Your own version of nesting that makes his palms sweat and his words turn to mush.

You settle together, chest to chest, Keigo’s chin hooked over the top of your head.

“Did you have a good day?” You ask, soft and sleepy.

Keigo nods easily, “I did. Enji doesn’t seem to quite as much of a square as he was a few years ago.”

You snort, muffling a giggle into his chest, “He’s definitely a little bit of a square. But I like him.”

“He offered to host us at the estate if we ever want to go back.”

You swallow, thick and slow, and try to bury yourself deeper in him, “... Do you want to go back?”

“No.” He pauses. “Maybe. Not yet, and not anytime soon. But the offer is on the table. It’s nice to have, even if we don’t take it.”

It’s insurance, somewhere else to tuck yourselves away if the mountains stop favoring you.

The thought of the future makes your head spin, as it tends to. The scar aches, but maybe it’s a tad duller than it was a few months ago. The pains only last a few moments, only stab so deeply. The place where the little chunk of obsidian fell out doesn’t feel quite as tender.

You lay your cheek on Keigo’s chest, your breath coming in time with his.

“‘M tired,” You murmur into his chest. “Can I sleep?”

“Of course, starshine.” He pushes back your hair, clears your forehead to press his lips to the skin, lightly. Little kisses piling up on top of each other. “Get some rest.”

“You too, pretty eyes.”

You both need it. For more than just a day with the folks who stuck around. You and Keigo need more rest than a being can responsibly accumulate during a human life. There are things to be stitched, worn parts of you that need tending to, and burns that’ll need salve until the day you die. It’s not any less than it was in the month’s past.

But it’s easier to manage.

You snuggle into Keigo’s chest, drifting off to the thought of fresh coffee and crackling heat.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

thank you for reading!!💞

ko-fi

#salem writes #hawks x reader #hawks #takami keigo #takami keigo x reader #my hero academia #mha fanfic #mha x reader #hawks imagines #wow :'^)#thank y'all for reading

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dinosaurtsukki · 4 years

Text

being the MSBY Jackals’ physiotherapist

anon: HEY BOO! LISTEN BEING THE BLACK JACKELS PHYSIOTHERAPIST! I can imagine a lot of damage I- bye 😽 I could I please have that as a headcanon 👉👈 thanks! ❤️ (that is a If requests are open..)

they are most definitely open and OH MY GOD THIS IS SUCH AN AMAZING IDEA WHEN I GOT THIS I COULDN’T WAIT TO START. i’ve been watching a lot of vids on what physical therapists do too and i hope you like this it was so fun to write !!

Bokuto Koutarou:

he deadass got you mixed up with the sports psychologist

when he walked into your clinic he was all ‘ah, hey there’ before lying faceup on the cot and just talking about his problems

and at first you were alright cause good to make conversation and everything until you realized.... “this guy thinks i’m the therapist”

bokuto: people always assume that i’m really naive and i kinda am but--

you: bokuto,,,, i’m not the therapist

bokuto: oh 👁👄👁

you: does it, um, hurt anywhere?

bokuto: *points to his heart*

after directing him to therapist’’s office, you finally clear up his misconceptions on what you’re supposed to be

you did hear about bokuto but what you didn’t expect was that he was An Actual Ray of Sunshine

whenever he comes to your office for his weekly check-ups, he always brings some sort of present

he likes to bring a package of cookies and the two of you eat them while you have your session

bokuto still uses the term ‘ouchie’ and it’s adorable

he takes really good of himself and his body so he isn’t prone to serious injuries. as soon as he knows something feels off, he’ll stop himself from working and come to your clinic

except,,, he comes way too often

bokuto: I WAS FLEXING MY FINGER AND THEN IT SUDDENLY MADE A CRACK SOUND WILL IT FALL OFF???

you: you’ve... never popped your fingers before?

bokuto: you can POP your FINGERS???

in interviews, bokuto loves to mention all the people who helped him on his journey and ngl it’s a REALLY LONG LIST but he always, always mentions you as ‘the best physical therapist ever!!’

and it makes you so soft you love your job so much

he actually ends up recommending you to his friend, akaashi keiji, because bokuto knows his shoulders and back hurt

akaashi comes into your office and just goes: “can you crack my back and shake me like a glowstick?”

you: i think you’re looking for a chiropractor

akaashi: ...

you: okay, lie down. i’ll see what i can do

Hinata Shouyo:

he got LOST TRYING TO FIND YOUR CLINIC

like, you were checking your watch wondering where your client was before he burst into your clinic thirty minutes late

also for some reason he was really nervous to see you poor baby he had the misconception that you were there to find what was wrong with him and then after he wouldn’t be able to play again

so he was genuinely surprised after you just made him do a few stretches for him, recommended some ways to move his body to utilize it better, and just sent him off

hinata: just... just like that?

you: yeah, pretty much. unless you feel that something else is wrong

after that he’s not so afraid to visit your clinic. in fact, he enjoys it quite a lot!

hinata really takes note of the advice you gave him (he brings a notepad and everything) and he likes to call you up to let you know that they worked

he actually calls you A LOT, like you’re probably the person he texts and calls the most other than natsu

at one point he was calling you every single day asking about what to eat until you decided to make a whole-ass weekly meal plan for him to just cycle through

he’s actually quite flexible (not as much as sakusa though) and he’s so proud of being able to reach farther than his toes

when you’re not looking though he measures himself against the height chart on your wall and you think it’s absolutely adorable

hinata knows how to take care of his body and TRIES not to overwork himself but sometimes he gets really impatient about wanting to improve so he’ll stay late in the gym, practicing his spikes and serves

BUT since his teammates know hinata listens to you they’ll threaten to tell you when he’s overworking

sakusa: hinata, if you don’t leave the gym right this instant i am calling y/n

hinata: just five more minutes!!

sakusa: *pulls out his phones and presses some random numbers in*

hinata: OKAY OKAY I’M GOING

it’s kind of like the adult version of your parents calling the doctor when you don’t want to eat

also you have no idea that this happens

even though he’s moved on from it, hinata still gets a bit paranoid about playing a major game while being sick

you’re always at their games as part of their medic crew and before it starts, hinata always comes up to you and asks if you can take his temperature

you didn’t know why until atsumu explained everything so now you make sure to always have a temperature on you for hinata’s peace of mind

Atsumu Miya:

someone who actually knows what physical therapists actually do thank god

ngl you’re kinda shookt at how large he is in real life when he walks into your clinic

he also assumes right away that you want an autograph so he gifts you a signed picture of himself which you always have on your desk from now on because come on you are a fan

atsumu’s really nice to talk to, he does flirt quite a bit but he genuinely asks about how you are too or if your family is doing alright

such a sweet boy

atsumu’s the one who visits your office often but for reasons that are actually relevant to your job because this man just overexerts himself too much

and he keeps brushing it off and saying that he’s alright but you know better you’re a physical therapist for god’s sake

atsumu: i’m telling you. it’s just a sprain!

you: *pokes his ankle*

atsumu: aaaAAAAAAHHHH

he’s the one that you have to constantly keep tabs on and thanks to the help of his teammates and a spare key, you’re able to drop by his apartment once in a while

but no matter how much of a pain in the ass he is you still can’t help but want to take care of him. whenever you make yourself dinner you find yourself making seconds for atsumu

before you know it, you’re making dinner for your favorite MSBY boys because you don’t want them to feel left out

you also have to stop atsumu from overdoing on the protein shakes and drinking vitamins

because he’s addicted protein shakes especially the strawberry-flavored one but you’re the only one who knows that so shhhhhh

atsumu: if one vitamin capsule makes me healthy, does that mean drinking more will make me even more healthy ??

you: NO STOP. STOP WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING. RIGHT NOW.

one time you got a call in the middle of the night from atsumu saying that he ate an entire container of gummy vitamins and you had to run to his place in your pajamas

idk you just see him so much because he keeps getting injuries and it’s hilarious

atsumu, walking into your clinic: hey, doc! they sent me here cause my back hurts from carrying the entire team!

you: atsumu, you dislocated your shoulder

Sakusa Kiyoomi:

probably your most normal client among the four of them but that doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy his visits to the clinic

well, actually when he first visited your clinic, everyone else stalked him because they wanted to see his Flexible Wrists in action

you had to chase them out

sakusa is SO HAPPY that you just took one look at his Flexi-Wrists and noted it down without going batshit over it

you always spray the cots and your instruments with alcohol before he comes in and sakusa knows cause he smells it and he appreciates that so much

one thing that you do notice is that sakusa,,, frequently glances at the jar of lollipops you keep on your desk and give out to your kid patients

and after a session he just lingers for a bit before saying good bye and leaving so one day you just take a chance

you: would you,,, like a lollipop?

sakusa: .... yes please

he chooses a cherry flavored one and is about to leave when he sits back down on the chair

sakusa: they’ll never let me hear the end of it if they see me

so you let him stay in your clinic for a bit longer before deciding to also get a lollipop and that’s how the two of you end your sessions

no talking. just lollipop eating

(i know how it looks but pls don’t add sexual connotations i jus want sakusa to enjoy a fricking lollipop)

he actually likes to remember the scientific muscle names and everything just to impress you

also, he doesn’t want to give you a hard time but he also likes visiting your office and talking to you (and eating the lollipops) so he makes up all these excuses to come by your clinic

sakusa: i hit my toe on the table

you: okaay, do you need a bandaid?

sakusa: it was the small toe

sakusa’s quite selective about the people he’s with so he’s kind of attached to you now. like it or not, you’re his personal doctor

prepare to receive texts like ‘y/n, i have a cough. what should i drink?’

you: sakusa, i’m a PHYSICAL THERAPIST

you: also, ginger tea is supposed to be good for you

he’s actually your eyes and ears when it comes to monitoring the team. kind of like the kid who tattles to the teacher in pre-school

sakusa: y/n, atsumu’s overdoing it again

you: is that so?

atsumu, in the background: NOOOOO NOOO I’M NOT !! SAKUSA’S LYING

you have such a soft spot for sakusa. when he had to be confined at home for breaking his ankle, you sent him a whole jar of lollipops

he ate them all in one day

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

taglist (still open to anyone who wants in!): @montys-chaos @miyumtwins @strawberriimilkshake @pocubo @sugawara-sweetheart @akaashisbabydoll @laure-chan @therainroguefanfiction @atetiffdoesart @stephdaninja @oikaw-ugh @charliefredb @dramaqueenweeb1469 @tremblinghearts @applepienation @doodleniella @haikyuu-my-love @waitforitillwritemywayout @kattykurr @tpwkatsumu

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scuttling · 3 years

Text

(You Want To) Make a Memory

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairing: Aaron Hotchner/Latina Original Female Character Word Count: 19,858 Chapters: 5 of 5 Complete Tags: 18+, NSFW, Amnesia, Anxiety attacks, Sex dreams, Dom/sub, Daddy kink, Praise kink, Unprotected sex, Vaginal fingering, Dirty talk, Choking, Biting, Hickies, Oral sex, Making love, Angst and feels, Shower sex, Size kink Summary: Sophie gets amnesia while working a case and forgets everything from the last two years: her friends, her job at the BAU, and her boyfriend, Aaron. Note: This is a reformatted, previously published work. :)

Link to AO3 or read Chapter 1 below!

The thing Sophie finds most complicated about her work at the BAU is that it’s their job to predict the unpredictable. Yes, they are all highly educated, knowledgeable profilers, with decades of experience between them, and human behavior typically follows patterns that are easily discernible if you have the right training. But even armed with all the information, all the statistics, all the data, there’s one thing they can never really know for certain: what a desperate person will do in the heat of the moment.

The unsub they are looking for is a white male, aged 25-35, who lives alone, has a steady daylight job, drives a red pickup truck, and has a problem with older female authority figures. Sophie could go on and on about this particular type of unsub—she could tell you where he shops, how he spends his evenings, his favorite sport/team/player, probably even what he’ll eat for dinner tonight—but there’s no way she can know how he’ll react to the FBI at his door, or the consequences his actions will have.

The team is canvassing the neighborhood they believe the unsub resides in, and she and Spencer were assigned the four hundred block; they each take a separate side of the street, and work their way down house by house trying to find someone who fits the profile, or knows someone who does.

“Any luck?” Sophie asks Spencer when they meet back up at the end of the the block. He grimaces, uncertain.

“There was one guy, but…” She gestures toward the SUV and they walk toward it together.

“What happened? Profile didn’t fit?”

“He was the right demographic, the vehicle fit, but he wasn’t disorganized. In fact, his home looked like it belonged in a catalog: photos on the walls, decorative items, nothing out of place.” She frowns a little, because it’s clear this guy has raised some red flags for her partner, and she trusts his intuition when it comes to stuff like this.

“And he lives alone?” she asks, confirming. That’s a pretty big part of the profile, considering what he does to the victims. He nods.

“Yes, no indication of a girlfriend or wife living there.” Sophie blows out a breath, leans against the side of the SUV.

“Okay, let’s brainstorm. Maybe... he hires a housekeeper.” Spencer shrugs.

“He didn’t seem like the type, but I guess it’s possible.”

“Alright, well… Okay, so our profile is of a man who kills older women because he has an issue with an older woman who is an authority figure in his life. We thought maybe his boss, but what if it’s his mother?” she asks, face lighting up a little. This theory makes more sense, actually. “What if she comes over while he’s at work, cleans the place up, redecorates, just takes complete control of his life, even his private space, and he loses it?” He nods enthusiastically.

“That is extremely more likely. Now that I think of it, all the photos were of him and an older woman who could be his mother.” Sophie pulls out her phone, gestures over her shoulder with her thumb.

“Let’s head back there; Hotch and JJ are just around the corner, I’ll let them know we might need backup. 412?”

“Yeah—hey, that’s the truck. That’s the truck,” he says with more urgency, pointing down the street at a rapidly approaching red pickup truck that matches the description of the unsub’s. Shit.

“Okay, get in the car, call Hotch,” she instructs, and they both barely make it in before the truck rear-ends the SUV on the driver's side; Sophie’s head hits off the steering wheel hard, and the car rocks, and she looks over at Spencer, a little disoriented, to make sure he’s okay. He’s holding his wrist, like maybe he hurt it bracing himself.

When she gets her bearings, she starts the car, throws it into reverse, ready to apply a little force and potentially keep him from striking again, but he backs up, speeds up, and cuts the wheel to go around them, striking her door and driving past. It’s then that another SUV cuts him off, and Hotch and JJ jump out, guns drawn; the unsub raises his hands, surrenders, and it’s over as quickly as it began.

“Sophie?” She can hear her name, but her head is swimming. She touches the cut above her temple, pulls back a hand covered in blood, but she knows head injuries bleed heavily, so she’s not worried. She’s more worried that she can’t tell where that voice is coming from. It’s like she’s in a fun house, sounds echoing from all sides. “Sophie, can you hear me?” She hums in response.

Kind hands are on her face, turning it toward the sun, and she scrunches her eyes at the brightness. She knows the hands are trying to help, but her head already hurts, and the light isn’t doing her any favors.

“Gotta… get up,” she mumbles, and the hands hold her waist, help her out of the car. Her left foot hurts when she puts her weight down on it, and she almost folds, but the hands hold her up, and she thinks she smiles.

“Reid—is she okay?” That voice is a voice that makes her want to answer immediately, even if her brain hasn’t quite caught up. She stumbles over her words.

“‘M okay. Just my… head.” A different pair of hands hold her up, and her brain is working enough to recognize that she loves the smell of the person attached to the hands. They are serious hands, and one of them sweeps gently over her face.

“Can you open your eyes for me, baby, please?” that good voice asks, and she wants to do anything the voice asks, but her eyes really hurt. She must say that out loud, because the voice says softly, “That’s alright, don’t strain yourself. Medics on the way. You’re going to be fine.”

“Tell him…” She is placed back in the car, can feel the softness of the seat against her back, and it’s nice. “Tell him that was mean… and not to do it again.” She feels lips on her face, turns toward them, sighs when they brush over hers. “Mmm. Or I’m going to… tell his mother.” When Sophie wakes up, she feels like she’s been repeatedly punched in the head, thrown down a flight of stairs, and then run over by a truck, so, naturally, she groans. She doesn’t dare open her eyes at first, can already see the fluorescents flickering through her eyelids, but her mouth is dry, and since she knows she must be in a hospital, she knows that there’s a little plastic pitcher of water somewhere within her reach.

Cautiously, she cracks one eye, finds the pitcher and a kind looking woman with fair skin and dark bangs staring back at her.

“You’re awake!” she whispers excitedly, and she leans forward for a hug, which Sophie does not return, because she doesn’t know the woman. The woman must feel the tension in Sophie’s body as she sits, arms at her sides, and waits for the hug to end, because she pulls back, concerned. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she begins, unsure of how to put this politely. Her voice is dry, rough, and the woman pours her a glass of water, which she takes gratefully. “I’m sorry, I just… I don’t… Do I know you?” Her face falls, and she looks confused, and then abruptly worried.

“My name is Emily. Prentiss. Does that ring a bell?” Sophie thinks back, tries to navigate around the pounding in her temples, and ultimately shakes her head.

“No, I’m sorry. And I mean no disrespect—I meet a lot of people for work, so sometimes it’s hard to keep track.”

“Where do you work?”

“I work for the FBI. Intelligence.” Sophie takes in the woman’s outfit—black turtleneck, gray pants, boots, government issued handgun—and tilts her head curiously. “And you?”

“FBI. Behavioral Analysis Unit.” She pulls her bag closer on the seat beside her, pulls out her credentials, lets Sophie hold them. “Have you heard of it?”

“Sure, of course. I have an interview there next week, actually.” She hands back the badge with a smile. “Small world. Uh, do you think that what happened to me occurred because of a crime, or something? Is that why you’re here?"

Agent Prentiss gives her a sad smile, then stands, pulling out her cell phone. “You know, we’re really not sure what’s going on. Excuse me for one moment, I need to make a call. I’ll get your doctor while I’m out there.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Sophie calls as she heads out of the room, and she pours another glass of water.

When the agent returns with the doctor, she looks tenser, but the doctor just shoots her a kind smile. “Hello, Sophie. I’m glad to see you’re awake.”

“Thank you; I’m glad to be awake. How long have I been out?”

“About two days. You were in a car accident, do you remember that?” She’d catalogued her injuries while alone—laceration to the head, some pain and swelling there; aching wrist, sore but unbroken; bruised ankle, tender but okay to put pressure on—and they are consistent with a car accident, but she shakes her head.

“No, ma’am, I don’t remember.” The doctor frowns, an expression the agent behind her mirrors.

“What’s the last thing you do remember?”

“Um.” She closes her eyes, thinks hard for a moment, but it hurts her eyes. “I was driving home from work, I think? Or about to leave for the day. It’s kind of blurry.”

“That’s alright, don’t press too hard. It should come back to you in no time.” She steps around the bed to pull her chart off the wall, skims it briefly. “We’re going to have to run some scans; I’ll give you a moment with Agent Prentiss, and then I’ll send someone in to take you down to the lab, okay?”

“Sure. Thank you, doctor.” The woman smiles and walks out of the room, leaving her with the clearly unhappy agent. “Is everything okay, Agent Prentiss? You look about as bad as I feel.” The woman sighs, drops back down into her seat, folds her hands in her lap.

“The doctor believes you’re suffering from retrograde amnesia. You don’t remember some things you should remember. Quite a bit of time.” Her throat goes dry again, her heart beats rapidly in her chest.

“That’s not possible. I remember driving home from work… or, getting in the car to drive home from work, just the other day.” She shakes her head like she’s not sure what to say.

“I know, Sophie, but that’s not a recent memory. You don’t work at the Grant building anymore.”

“What do you mean? I’m the Intelligence liaison. I mean, I applied for the BAU job…” She’s wanted to work there since she found out about it, to put her degrees to good use; to get an interview is almost unheard of, everyone told her, but she made the cut, even bought a new suit to wear. It’s still hanging in her closet.

“And you got it,” Prentiss says gently, reaching forward to take her hand. “You and I have been working together at the BAU for almost two years.”

Sophie can’t be blamed, she doesn’t think, when she leans over, reaches for the wastebasket, and promptly vomits. “So I’m a profiler, and I’ve been one for two years. I work with you and we’re friends,” Sophie repeats as a bit of a recap. Prentiss nods.

“Yep. Those who profile serial killers together, stick together.” She says it with a smile that doesn’t touch her eyes.

“Wow. Okay. I’m really sorry I don’t remember you.” She shrugs it off, and Sophie sighs. “Any other major life events I should know about? Did I get a cat, go vegan?”

“You don’t have time for a pet, and you like cheese too much,” Prentiss jokes, but that does sound like something she’d say. Her face gets serious after that, and she even looks nervous. It makes Sophie nervous, too. “You have a boyfriend.”

That raises her eyebrows.

“I have a boyfriend.” She smiles softly, nods.

“Yes. He’s… it’s funny, because he’s actually... our boss.” Sophie blanches. Talk about a close-knit group.

“I’m sleeping with my boss? That is not like me.” She barely sleeps with anyone, too busy focusing on her career and not that into one-night-stands, but her boss of all people? That’s just plain stupid.

“It’s really not like that, trust me. You two are in love.” Okay, she’s heard enough. Maybe Prentiss is a prankster, playing some wildly hilarious joke on her amnesiac pal.

“I’m in love. Did I actually say that?” She knows herself pretty well, flaws and all, and she’s been a vehement skeptic when it comes to love for… god, as long as she can remember—no pun intended. Prentiss nods, looks very serious.

“Yes, I’ve heard you say it many, many times. You two live together.”

“We live together? For how long?” This can’t be right; one of the things she values most is her privacy, her solitude. She lives a quiet, simple life, aside from being an FBI agent, and she likes it that way.

“About six months,” she answers carefully.

“We’ve lived together for six months? How long have we been dating?” Her voice sounds a little shrill even to her own ears. Prentiss is being very cool about it all, doesn’t so much as blink.

“It’s a year next week, actually. He’s been trying to come up with a surprise for your anniversary.” Sophie feels a little lightheaded.

“Anniversary. Fuck.” She squeezes her eyes shut, which hurts, opens them only so the pain will go away. She knows they’re teary, can’t help it, but she doesn’t want Prentiss to see her like this. She hates being vulnerable, always has. “I can’t remember two years of my life. I can’t remember my own boyfriend, my own job. My friends.”

“I can tell you about them, if you want,” she offers cautiously. “The doctor said it could help, but if you feel like it’s too much, let me know.”

Sophie nods carefully. She wants to know, she needs to know.

Prentiss—Emily—is so genuinely kind. She sits there for an hour, tells Sophie about work, and their team—their friends, because the group is very tight, gets together for dinner and drinks, and they all support each other’s non-bureau endeavors, and she feels so sad that she can’t remember them, can’t recall anything Emily is rattling off so easily it’s like she doesn’t even have to think about it.

She talks about some tough cases they’ve worked on, and how they always end with a cookout or a family dinner so they can remember why they do the hard things, why they keep fighting. She talks about people they’ve helped, saved, brought comfort to. She talks about flights home on the jet, how sometimes they sit in quiet, companionable silence and other times it’s all teasing and laughter and the good things in life.

Then she starts talking about Aaron—the boss/boyfriend—and Sophie does cry, a couple of tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. She’d never imagined in her life that she would be as loved as she is, if Emily’s stories are true, and the fact that she can’t remember any of it is like a knife to the gut. She wants to scream, to make someone pay for what she’s missing, but she knows none of that will bring her memory back, so she dials back the rage as quickly as it came—huh, that’s new.

Usually, her particular brand of anxiety attack would happen right about now, always worse when she’s afraid or angry. She anticipates tightening in her chest, shortness of breath, ringing in her ears that takes forever to go away, but it doesn’t come. She’s able to calm herself with a deep breath, and despite the fact that the rest of her life is a dumpster fire right now, this feels kind of good. It feels like progress, not a story told through someone else’s eyes, but a tangible feeling she can hold onto and think, I am a different version of Sophie than I was two years ago. A better version, maybe. But at least different. That, above everything else, makes it real.

A nurse walks in to take Sophie down for scans, and Emily just smiles, a bit sadly, and tells her she’ll be there waiting when she returns.

It’s a small comfort, something she holds onto as she’s taken down to the lab. When Sophie makes it back to her room, Emily is waiting there as promised, and she has a duffle bag sitting on the bed. “The doctor says you can go home while they wait for the scans,” she says with a smile; she probably thinks it will make Sophie happy, and it does, but the idea of going to a home she’s never been to is a little unsettling. Still, it’s nice to know there are people who care about her who will help her through it, that she’s not alone. That’s not something Sophie of two years ago would have been able to count on.

She smiles back, and Emily helps her change into clothes that somehow still smell like the hospital, but it feels better to be dressed and not stuck in the flimsy hospital gown that always makes you feel weaker and sicker, more injured than you really are.

She hears a voice from out in the hall, a voice that catches her attention immediately, and she walks over to the door, peeks her head out to see if she can find the man it belongs to.

She does, and he is almost too good-looking to be real. Somehow, she both instinctively knows that this man is Aaron, and can’t see how that could possibly be true.

“Emily. Is that Aaron?” she asks to confirm, pointing to the tall, serious-looking, frankly smoldering hot man having a conversation with her doctor at the end of the hall. She peeks her head out the door too, looks toward him with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s him. Do you remember him?” Her tone is guarded but hopeful, and Sophie sighs.

Remember him, no, not in the way she means, but every cell in her body feels alive and on fire just from catching a glimpse of his face, so she’s pretty sure Emily is right and she’s crazy in love with him. And his suit. Who looks that good in a suit?

Her boyfriend, apparently. Who she lives with. Who she’s been with for a year. Her mind is still a little blown.

“I don’t recall any memories of him,” she whispers, as if he can hear her from down the hall, “but, uh. I think my body remembers him.” Emily looks at her, eyebrow quirked, and she blushes. “Or, you know. Parts of it.”

Realization dawns, and Emily grins. “Okay yeah, that tracks. You two are kind of all over each other. It’s an intense vibe.” Sophie takes a moment to imagine that, what it would be like to be in a relationship with this man.

He looks intense, which can be good or bad, with the kind of mouth you could kiss forever, smile against. He’s taller than her by about a foot, which thrills her, and broad, as evidenced by the jacket stretched across his shoulders, which really thrills her. He’s older, maybe early forties, which she doesn’t feel particularly strongly about one way or another, with gorgeous dark hair and eyes, and when he shakes hands with the doctor, silver wrist watch gleaming under the fluorescent lights, her mouth practically waters.

“Earth to Sophie. You’ve got a little drool, there,” Emily teases, pointing to her own mouth, and Sophie groans.

“You didn’t prepare me. You didn't tell me he was hot.” Aaron turns away from the doctor, starts walking down the hall toward her room, and she ducks out of the doorframe, Emily following suit. She puts a hand to her forehead, not in physical pain, but mental pain for sure. “God, this is going to be so awkward. I’ve got a total lady boner for the guy I’m in love with that I can’t even remember.”

“It might be a little awkward at first, but you guys are sweet together. He’s going to be so caring and understanding, give you all the time you need.” She puts her hands on Sophie’s arms, grounding her. “We’re going to focus on trying to get your memories back, but the doctor said you shouldn’t stress.”

“That’s easy for her to say,” she mutters, crossing her arms, “she didn’t forget her big sexy boyfriend.” She hears a soft chuckle from behind her and instantly flushes, which makes Emily grin.

“Sophie, this is Aaron.” She physically turns her, and Aaron is smiling gently, which makes him look even better than when he was serious and expressionless. Her heart thrums in her chest.

“Hi. I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I want to.” She sticks out her hand for a shake, feels dumb instantly, but he takes it anyway, holds it for a moment. His hand is rough, so much bigger than hers, and part of her hopes he never lets go.

“That’s alright. Dr. Bracken is confident you’ll recover all of your memories in time. She’s given me some instruction on ways we can try to jog your memory, but no stress, like Emily said.”

“I guess we’re not considering the fact that losing two years of your life is a little stressful,” she counters, and he laughs again.

“You haven’t lost anything. Just misplaced them for a while.” He steps toward her, like he wants to touch her, comfort her maybe, but freezes, thinks better of it. She’s torn between wanting to get to know him better first and wanting to jump into his arms immediately, so she decides to let him set the pace. “So… Do you want to come home with me?” His voice is soft, hopeful, matching his eyes. “Garcia—our friend, another coworker of ours—has offered to put you up at her place if you’re not comfortable with that, so no worries either way. You have a place to go.”

Her stomach sinks a little at the thought of being anywhere but home, even though she has no idea where that is, and she looks back at Emily, who smiles encouragingly.

“I think I want to go home,” she decides after a moment, and she turns back to look at Aaron. “Is that okay with you?” He nods seriously.

“Yes, of course. I want you home with me. I just wanted you to know you had other options.” Emily slips past her, a hand on her elbow, and finishes gathering up her belongings while they talk. “The rest of the team is going to come over for a little bit, if you’re okay with that. The doctor said it would be a good idea, since you spend most of your time with them, but if at any point it gets overwhelming, let me know. No hard feelings if we send everyone home.”

“Okay,” she breathes, her head already swimming a bit just from talking to Aaron, and he does step forward, then, giving her her space but indicating that he wants to come closer, if she’ll let him.

“May I put this on you?” he murmurs, and opens his palm to display her rose necklace, the one she wears, must still wear, everyday. At least that hasn’t changed. “The EMTs gave it to me when they brought you in. I’ve been holding onto it for safekeeping.” She nods, turns around, and he slips it around her throat, clasps it, brushes a careful hand over her neck to move her hair out of the way. “That’s better,” he says, his breath ghosting over her skin, and she sighs, wants to sink back against the heat of his body; she just knows how comforting it would be, how safe she would feel. Instead, she turns and smiles softly.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” They hold eye contact for a moment, and then Emily appears at her side, making a face like she knows she’s interrupting something.

“Ready to get going?” she asks, handing Sophie’s duffle bag over to Aaron. “I’m going to stop at home and then I’ll head to your place.”

“Absolutely. Thank you, Emily,” Sophie says sincerely, stepping forward to pull her into a tight hug. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I hope I remember more about you soon.”

“I’m happy I could be here, and I know you will. Just give it some time.” She pats her on the back, and then leaves the room.

Aaron carries her bag and leads her out to the parking garage, toward a standard federal issued SUV, and he opens the door for her, closes it behind her with a gentle smile.

Time to go home.

Taglist ❤️: @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix @meghannnnnn @disgruntledchowchow @azenpal

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner fanfic #aaron hotchner x original female character #aaron hotchner x female reader #aaron hotchner/original female character #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #aaron hotchner x reader #hotch x female reader #hotch x reader

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athenadione · 4 years

Text

‘you are mine (and I am yours)’

In which you can find out the hard way that demons don't like sharing. @vi-la-vi

AthenaDione and I did a thing! Everyone loves jealous Damian, but hear us out....jealous Raven? Hope you enjoy! -Vi

I’m so incredibly honored to participate in this collab. Vi practically paved the way for me to give you all the delicious demon Raven smut that ensues and did a superb job writing the majority of this piece, as always. If you enjoy and feel so inclined, you can leave a kudos HERE on A03. Vi— thank you for allowing me to be a part of your writing process. You’re such a talented writer and I’m happy to have found you :) -AD

She couldn’t stop staring at him. Not just because it had been years since she last saw him, but because ever since she met him, Anna Vandergilt had thought of little else.

Damian Wayne.

They’d met at a benefit when both were sixteen years old, and it had been love at first sight. The elusive heir finally returned to Gotham after five years abroad, doing god knows what. She’d collected every bit of information she could about him, academic transcripts, tabloids, medical and legal records. Vandergilt influence ran deep and she had no compunction about using it to fuel her obsession. Securing an internship at Wayne Enterprises as Tim Drake’s assistant was just the latest step.

And now he’s here, and I won’t let him get away again.

Damian had to remember her, the spark when their eyes met, the unbreakable connection they’d made. He didn’t acknowledge it when they were introduced, but that was fine. He was an intense, secretive man and likely just didn’t want to make a scene.

Green eyes flashed to hers and narrowed, catching her staring. She willed herself to keep it together, sitting up straighter and crossing her legs in an attempt to draw his attention to the slit in her pencil skirt. Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and leggy, she knew how to make men stare.

Or so she thought. Damian had turned his attention back to Tim’s presentation, arms crossed and expression impatient. So serious. She planned ways she might be able to get him alone, with no one and nothing to distract him from her. After today, I’ll have more than just fantasies. She’d been looking for an opening to approach him all day and was sure she couldn’t wait much longer.

They broke for lunch, but just as she moved towards him she was intercepted by Tim.

“Hey Anna, can you run up to my office and grab my blue flash drive? I forgot to bring it down earlier.”

Get it yourself! she wanted to snap. An assistant position was well beneath her pedigree, and she hated taking instructions from common-born Tim Drake. Swallowing her irritation, she smiled and nodded.

When she finally returned, Damian had already gone, apparently having had a lunch appointment with someone else. Anna sighed. I’ll speak to him after work, I’m sure he wouldn’t say no to dinner and drinks. No man had ever refused her.

She spied him later as she was returning to the conference room, speaking to a dark-haired woman she didn’t know outside of his office. She took a moment to admire him in his suit, noting curiously that the girl with him was only casually dressed in black jeans and an off-shoulder top with a band logo. Unprofessional much? He’s probably scolding her about the dress code.

Just as the thought solidified, she leaned up and pressed a kiss to the underside of Damian’s jaw, tugging his tie playfully as she did so.

It was as though a bucket of freezing water had been dumped over her head. Anna stood stock-still, mouth falling open in horror. Who the fuck...how dare…?

The woman whispered something in his ear, kissing his jaw again as Damian rolled his eyes and smirked. She continued to stare, waiting for him to shove her away, glare, do something. She heard someone approach from behind.

“Ugh, those two,” Tim groaned.

“Who is that?” Her voice was tight and strained, and the man next to her gave her a curious glance.

“That’s Rachel, Damian’s girlfriend.”

“Oh,” she said, at a loss for anything else.

It’s not fair. I planned...I’ve been waiting…

She shook her head, determination moving in. A minor setback. He just needs to know there’s something better on the market. Vandergilts were practically royalty, after all. Her beauty and breeding were no doubt superior. She bit back her anger as Damian dropped a kiss on the other woman’s forehead before walking away.

Just a minor setback, she mentally repeated.

Tim’s assistant had a serious staring problem, and Damian was relieved when he was finally able to retire to his office. Annoying. The older man had joked earlier that Damian’s constant absence in Gotham and avoidance of the public eye elevated him to mythical status among some of his father’s employees. He longed for this week to end, eager to be back in Jump and away from the Wayne gawkers.

His phone buzzed, distracting him from the revenue charts in front of him.

“Stephanie is insane.”

Damian smiled, eyes darting to his watch to see how much longer he’d be stuck in this office. As necessary as it was that he be here for the audit, he felt bad abandoning Raven to his siblings. Next time they came to Gotham he’d make sure it was purely recreational and personally show her the sights.

“A half hour more, then I will come rescue you.”

Then two days more, and they would be home.

A knock on the door called his attention. “Mr. Wayne? Could I borrow you for a moment. I need a second pair of eyes on this file.”

He looked up, raising an eyebrow at the worshipful expression on her face. The scent of expensive perfume assailed him and Damian fought the urge to wrinkle his nose. She looked at him hopefully, blinking rapidly.

“Ask Drake.”

She shifted, reaching up to toy with her platinum blonde hair. “Oh...he just has so much on his plate. I wanted to avoid bothering him,” she replied, voice high and lilting.

Strange woman. Damian wondered where his older brother had found this one. He hadn’t really been paying attention when they were introduced, Vander-something or other.

He sighed. “Fine.”

“Oh, thank you,” she breathed.

She circled around the desk to stand next to him, laying the file in front of him and bending low. A fall of blonde hair brushed his shoulder and Damian shifted slightly to put some distance between them. He spent so little time in normal society it was easy to forget how bad most people were with personal space.

“What exactly did you need help with?”

“This.”

Without warning, she sat on his lap and pressed her lips forcefully against his, throwing one arm around his neck for good measure. Damian completely froze, protests firing rapidly through his mind. She tugged on the waistband of his pants and it was enough to break his paralysis. He shoved her off of him violently and she caught herself on the desk, shifting it several inches back.

“What are you doing?!”

The alarm on her face lasted only a second before being replaced with a coy smile. “Don’t be shy, I know you remember me. It’s been years, but you’re all I’ve thought about, Damian. I swear.”

“I - don’t…” Damian felt uncharacteristically frazzled. “I have - no. I’m not interested,” he finally managed.

“Please, Damian.” She tried to take a step forward and he instinctively backed away. He hated the way she said his name, he realized distantly.

“I have a girlfriend,” he said, hard edge in his voice. One who would kill you and probably me if she was here right now. Raven did not share.

The woman sniffed. “Her. Don’t be ridiculous, you’re a Wayne. She can’t possibly-”

“Enough.”

He glared fiercely, daring her to try and continue. Tears swam in her blue eyes and Damian felt a touch of relief that he finally managed to get through.

“I...hmph, fine. Keep her on the side if you must. My father had a mistress. Just keep her out of my sight.”

She’s insane. What the fuck kind of vetting process do you have, Drake?

He closed his eyes and exhaled before meeting her watery gaze once again.

“Listen very carefully. I. Am. Not. Interested. I want you out of this building in the next five minutes or I’ll call security.”

“I - but - we…” She straightened, eyes glassy with disbelief as she tried to compose herself. “I see.”

Damian kept his glare on as she left the room, feeling a headache build behind his eyes. He grabbed his phone again, feeling a pang of guilt when he saw Raven's name, and called his brother.

"I fired your assistant. You're welcome."

"What? Damian, you can't just show up and start firing people!"

"I'll...explain later." Vaguely, and with as few details as I can manage.

The hint of discomfort in his voice must have given him away. "Seriously? No wonder she was staring at you all day.”

"Drop it."

"Alright, alright. Her dad's going to be pissed though, he pushed Bruce for months to take her on here. Sounds like you got your very first stalker."

Well that was a disturbing thought. Damian shook it off. "Just tell him it didn't work out." He didn't want any rumors getting back to Raven if he could help it.

Lying to an empath is easier said than done.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.”

"I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She snorted disbelievingly, eyes glued on the book in her hand. “Why do you feel so guilty?”

“It was a long day. I felt bad for you.” Half-truths were the only semi-effective way he’d found of getting around her lie detector. Normally Damian would smother inconvenient questions with lips, hands, and other parts of him that Raven was always deliciously responsive to, but touching her would have felt wrong right now. She deserved to know the truth before she decided how near she wanted him.

She rolled onto her side then, burrowing down against her pillow and studying him curiously. “You don’t have to spend every second with me, Damian. I’m pretty self-sufficient, in case you haven’t noticed.”

He shrugged, laying back and closing his eyes. “I’ll just be glad to get out of here. People in Gotham are a different breed.”

Raven hummed. “Fine, don’t tell me what’s actually bothering you.”

With that, she leaned over to kiss him goodnight. Damian flinched at the contact before responding in kind, and pretended he didn’t see the confused look in her eyes.

“I love you,” he said, focusing the emotion to make sure she felt it as well.

She closed her eyes, slightly mollified. “I love you, too.”

I'll tell her when we get home, he promised himself. As much as he hated keeping secrets, he knew she was going to be upset and preferred a controlled setting. Damian remembered an incident shortly after they began dating when the ticket-taker at the theater had slipped him her phone number. Raven said nothing at first, but the night ended in a supply closet instead of a screening room.

"I don't share," she whispered dangerously, legs tightening around his hips to draw him in deeper. Red flickered across her purple irises. “You’re mine.”

He smirked at the memory. We never did get to see that movie.

Definitely safer for all involved to wait until they'd left Gotham.

Anna stared at her discreetly from the park bench. He’s loyal, that’s all. And I wouldn’t have him any other way.

She grudgingly admitted to herself that the other woman was pretty, if unconventional. Pale purple eyes and dark purple hair - hadn’t anyone told her the punk rock look was out of date? She had nothing on the blonde’s classical beauty.

A hefty bribe to the Wayne's chauffeur had given her knowledge of the woman's - Rachel's - movements throughout the day. She was ordinarily accompanied by Tim's banshee of a girlfriend and one of Bruce's orphans, but had separated from them earlier in the day to visit Gotham’s Arts District. Anna waited until she saw her enter the nearly empty arboretum before making her move. If Damian couldn’t be persuaded to break things off, this one could. An affair with the office hottie - tale as old as time.

“Pardon me?” She adopted a nervous affect as she approached, eyes downcast. “You’re Rachel, right?”

The other woman tore her gaze from the plaque in front of her, violet eyes locking on baby blue. “Do I know you?”

“Anna. I work - worked at Wayne Enterprises. I’m really sorry to do this, but...there’s something you need to know.”

She regarded her silently and the blonde fought the urge to fidget. There's something off about her. What were you thinking, Damian? Finally, Rachel nodded once, crossing her arms. Anna smiled internally and fiddled anxiously with her hands, doing her best to look miserable.

“I was Tim’s assistant until Damian fired me yesterday,” she began, voice weepy. “Tim’s the one who told me about you, I swear I didn’t know before.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed, something dark and inscrutable flashing in and out of her gaze. “...Excuse me?”

Anna took the low anger in her voice as an encouraging sign and continued. She dropped her eyes again and let out a harsh sob. “I’m not the kind of person who fools around with other women’s boyfriends, and-"

A massive burst of black and red interrupted her thoughtfully planned speech, demolishing the stone plaque next to them and knocking her to the ground. She screamed, covering her head with her arms. A bomb? What’s happening?

Before she could get her bearings, something hauled her up by the throat, slamming her painfully against a tree. She blinked against the white spots in her vision and the dust in the air, squinting to see what held her.

Four slitted golden eyes met her own, radiating fury so thick she could almost taste it. I’m seeing things. I hit my head and I’m seeing things. The devil tightened its hold on her neck and stepped closer, heat pouring off its red skin. Terrified beyond anything she’d ever felt, Anna felt her bladder let go.

“Did you fuck Damian?” it - she - asked in a deadly calm voice.

“Wh-what?” she croaked. No way...what the fuck is she?!

“Answer, mortal.”

She sobbed in her grasp, all her carefully crafted lies flying away in the wake of her terror. “No! I just kissed him!”

The claws (claws?!) around her neck tightened and she felt warm trickles of blood start to seep down into her collar.

“That - that’s all! That’s all I did! I’m sorry!” she cried, “I’m so sorry! It won’t happen again!”

“I know.”

Shadows wrapped around the two of them and she screamed.

Stupid, stupid woman, Damian thought furiously, raising his eyes from the weeping figure on the floor. He’d put it together fairly quickly after walking in the door, and was currently kicking himself for not considering this possibility. She’s clearly deranged, I shouldn’t be surprised she approached Raven.

The woman in question sat in a nearby armchair, looking every bit the queen of hell she was. Her demonic appearance and the regal way she carried herself in this form lent their mundane bedroom at Wayne Manor the feel of some macabre court.

“Something to confess?” his demoness asked lowly.

“I was going to tell you when we returned home. This is the exact situation I was trying to avoid.” Sparks of black and red magic at her fingertips told him that was the wrong thing to say.

“You think a couple hundred miles would have saved her from me when I found out? I would cross entire universes.”

The woman before her seemed to curl in further on herself, as if trying to become a smaller target. Prayers fell from her lips, whispered and unintelligible.

“She’s not worth it. I would have made you see that.”

“That’s not your decision to make. You are mine, this was a challenge to me. A proper demon would have brought just the head.”

A loud wail met her words and golden eyes flicked downwards, oozing contempt. Damian felt a thrill race down his spine. He'd never seen her this angry - possessive. The idea that he was the catalyst, that his composed, serene Raven was burning so brightly over a stolen kiss made his blood tingle.

Apparently feeling the weight of the demon’s stare, she covered her head with her hands and tried to choke back her cries. A prey-like instinct to hide taking root.

He swallowed before speaking, mindful of the thin ice he was on. “I know you’re upset, but you can’t kill her.”

An amused sound escaped her, and Damian wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret it. “Beloved?”

She finally met his eyes again, clearly unhappy with the situation. “Fine. But if I ever see or sense this creature near you again, I will tear her apart slowly. Testor ego eam.”

With that, she waved a hand and the other woman vanished in a rush of black. He didn’t bother to ask where, not wanting to push his luck with Raven right now. Hysterical as the other woman was, no one would believe anything she had to say anyways.

The demoness crossed her arms, studying him silently. She seemed to have no intention of changing back to her human form. Oh.

“I suppose I’m in trouble as well?”

“Lies deserve punishment. And you need to be reminded who you belong to.”

“You, habibti. Always.”

Her smile offered nothing but trouble and his heart started to pick up. "That’s a start."

“Oh?” he asked her, not moving from the spot where he stood. It seemed that court was still in session, and her final judgement on his own transgressions had not yet passed.

She picked at a claw unhurriedly, hooded eyes flicking over his figure. Not one to back down, he met her appraising stare inch for inch.

“Did you know that demons mate for life?” she asked without warning.

“No, beloved,” he breathed. The information was new but it hardly mattered. He had already decided that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her long before they ended up together. He just wondered why she felt it necessary to mention now.

“It’s a sacred bond. Actually sacred, unlike human marriages. Challenging it is the worst insult one demon can deal to another.” Her eyes narrowed, and her claws seemed to sharpen before his eyes.

“She wasn’t a-”

“No one will threaten our bond. Do you understand, mate?”

Dear gods.

He resisted the urge to lick his lips, instead pressing them firmly together. “You should know that you will never be at risk of losing me, beloved.”

“I know. I also know you will never lie to me again.” The demoness waved a clawed hand before resting it underneath her chin. She was waiting for him. He swallowed again.

“What can I do to make amends?”

Her grin widened, boarding on malevolent, as if she finally found the answer she was looking for. Lifting effortlessly from her chair, she began to stride across the room to him with measured steps.

“I have a few ideas.” She purred.

“Oh?” he asked again, displeased at how out of breath he sounded.

Golden eyes held his own, and she didn’t speak again until she was just an arm's length away from him.

Then she pointed at her feet. “Kneel.”

He felt his jaw go slack. She wants me to do what?

She cocked her head at his hesitation. “You will not kneel for your demoness?” She clicked her tongue in distaste. “Don’t you want to remedy your indiscretions?”

He set his jaw, barely suppressing a wince. When she put it that way, there was no reason not to kneel before her, even if the thought of doing so went against every instinct in his body. He did, after all, lie to her, and if this was what she wanted from him then who was he to deny her?

Besides, there would be an opportunity for her to return the favor. I’ll make sure of it.

Revealing nothing, he stared at her impassively and slowly dropped to one knee, biting back a scowl as her smirk grew.

Then, he watched as a slender leg poked out from the slit of the dress she was wearing, and a strappy, black heel. He gave her a simmering look, then took it in his hands without a word, and pressed a kiss to her ankle, trailing up the side of her calf.

“That’s very nice, mate.” She murmured, resting a clawed hand onto this shoulder. “What else are you willing to do for me?”

A light smirk replaced his features. She was asking him to seduce her. To fuck her. That was something he would be more than willing to oblige.

He promptly stood to his feet and grabbed her wrist, pulling him into his chest. To his amused delight, she went pliant in his arms— nearly purring as he captured her lips with his. He kissed her thoroughly, drowning out the memory of the other gods-awful kiss that’d been forced upon him.

Then a clawed hand traveled his cheek lightly, moving its way to the back of his head. She suddenly grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged downwards, tearing his lips from hers. He hissed when sharpened teeth latched themselves on his neck, nipping at the exposed flesh there before soothing it with her tongue.

Then she began to walk forward, forcing him to step with her— until the back of his knees touched the mattress of their bed.

“Meus es tu.” She said lowly, and she pushed at his chest, sending him backwards.

It turned into a battle for assertion. One that he admitted he thoroughly enjoyed— and intended on winning.

He took her with him, grabbing her waist to position her underneath. His smile was smug when he peered down into four golden slits, obviously dissatisfied at the turn of events.

Ignoring her bared teeth, he nudged open her legs with one knee before settling between them, then rolled against her in one swift movement, taking pleasure in the way she threw her head back with a growl.

He continued his ministrations, trailing hot kisses down her neck, just as she did to his moments before. One hand reached up to graze her breast as his kisses went farther down the middle of her chest, while his other hand roamed over the swell of her hips.

Raven in turn, was growing more frustrated with every second he kept her distracted with his teasing, light touches.

“Enough.” It was a command.

By the time he managed to blink he found himself on his back and she was straddling his waist.

Her hands encased with her dark magic. “Alliges duplicia.”

His arms lit up with her magic and they were forced above his head. When he tried to bring them back down he was met with resistance. What the hell? When he looked up his eyes widened with realization. She bound my fucking hands to the headboard.

“Raven.” He snarled in warning, tugging on his bonds. The demoness was unperturbed by his outburst.

“You will submit to me, mate.” A dangerous red swirled in those golden irises, and he clenched his jaw in response, then bit back a groan when she brushed against his length.

“Let me go.” He glared.

“I will not. This is your punishment. You will stay like this until you beg for me.”

“Tch.”

He detested how painfully hard he was. His erection strained against his trousers, and he couldn’t contain his next groan when she palmed him.

It didn’t matter how much he wished she’d slip her hand underneath his belt. He would not beg.

She began to strip slowly, until she was completely bare before him, and then she peeled off his pants carefully— and then his shirt. His full erection was on display for her, and he released a strangled noise in the back of his throat when she settled her heated core against him.

She chuckled darkly when he twitched underneath her. “Say please.”

“No.” he gritted out, breath hitching when her mouth latched onto one of his nipples, nipping roughly. Her tongue flicked it right after, mixing the pain she had caused with pleasure.

“No?” Her claws wrapped around his throat, squeezing in warning. “You are in no position to deny me, mate.”

He just glowered.

“Fine.” She relented, retracting her claws. “You will break eventually.”

Her fingers lifted to her full breasts, reddened from her true form, and her fingers began to tease one darkened nipple into a tight peak. The bonds went taut when he pulled at them roughly in an attempt to reach out to her. She noticed this and smirked as she teased her other nipple, then rocked against him. They groaned together.

He watched as she then slipped one hand down to her core and began to tease herself, parting her folds before slipping a finger inside while grazing against his cock.

She moaned, mouth parting slightly and he growled again in protest. That should be his fingers inside of her.

“If you insist on not obeying me, then I will use you for my own pleasure.” She sunk down onto his cock and his head hit the wall with his groan. Fuck, she felt so damned good and the pace she was setting set him on a steady course towards an impending orgasm, regardless of how much he despised not being in control.

“Beloved.” He growled when she brought him to the brink all too soon, then slowed back down while teasing her clit with her own fingers. Quick, circling motions that revealed her own need to him— that she was nearing her own orgasm.

He caught her hitched breath. She was losing resolve, caught in her own wave of pleasure.

“Release me.” He tugged on his bonds again and bucked his hips into her for good measure. “I want to be the one to fuck you when you come.”

She gasped and clenched around him, drawing him even deeper. “I will come soon. If you want to fuck me, you must beg now.”

He cursed. Goddamn her.

“Please, habibti. I am yours.”

With a victorious smirk, she waved a hand. That smirk was short-lived however, because as soon as the bonds disappeared he lunged for his little demoness, twisting them both before pulling out of her to roll her onto her stomach.

“You are mine too, Beloved. I will also make sure of that,” he snarled into her ear, teasing his cock at her entrance. His hands held her pressed against the bed.

The demoness laughed, then inhaled sharply when he pushed into her with one swift movement. They were both right at the edge, only a few more thrusts was all it would take to throw them both over.

“I can feel how close you are,” He reached a hand underneath her to press his thumb directly against her clit, “Come with me, now.”

She cried out— a sound that was more animalistic than human, and she fluttered around him. He fell shortly after, nearly seeing stars. He continued to thrust languidly, drawing out their orgasms. Vaguely, he watched as Raven’s skin turned from red to flushed ivory. One pair of eyes turned to peer up at him instead of two, and the color of her irises receded to lavender.

For a moment he watched her transform, breathless.

She smiled up at him as her breathing returned to normal and he returned it before dropping his face to her neck. “I’m going to have to make you jealous more often,” Damian murmured into her skin.

Raven snorted, lifting a hand to run through his sweat-soaked hair. “Unwise. Not only will I definitely kill the next one, it will hurt the entire time she is dying.”

“Green is a good color on you, habibti.”

She said nothing, but he could feel her contentment in the gentle run of her fingers across his hair and skin. As post-orgasmic clarity continued to take hold a question popped into his mind and he leaned up to regard her.

“When were you planning on telling me we were essentially demon-married?”

She flushed. “Eventually. Are you...did you not want…?”

He silenced her with a kiss, letting his actions and strength of his emotions answer her question. As though he could ever give this up, or stomach the idea of either of them being with someone else.

After all, Damian didn’t share either.

#damirae #damian x raven #damian wayne #raven #teen titans #fanfic

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youarejesting · 4 years

Text

Mad

[MASTER LIST] Beta: @fluffy-fluffu Rating: 18+ Pairing: Taehyung x Reader x V Genre: SMUT, mature, angst, fluff, mystery, thriller Words: 4.9k WARNINGS & TRIGGERS: psych ward in a mental asylum from back in the 1920’s, misguided medical practices; Electroshock therapy etc. Multiple personality disorder/alter ego’s/Dissociative Identity Disorder, Sex, Dirty Talk, Masturbation, Fingering, Exhibitionism, Voyuerism, blow jobs, Yandere V. If you squint for a split second there is like a slight hesitation in the reader but they consent. Nurse sleeps with the patient. Sad boy Tae, Tae vs. V, Talks about cum, Restraints, Sedation.

Summary: Taehyung from room 10 on the ward is being haunted by V a mischievous sexual deviant. Taehyung likes puzzles and his friends which includes you. But V likes you, your hair, your face and the warmth between your thighs. It’s a fight between Taehyung and V who will win?

Authors note: This is in no way shape of form a diagnosis of DID or multiple personalities nor is it an accurate depiction of said mental disorders or illnesses. This is purely fictional. If you are triggered by old medical horror please don’t read. If you identify anything you think should be added to the warnings and triggers let me know so I can warn others.

“The patients on this ward are docile, they won’t hurt you” the nurse explained, smiling softly. It was your first day, you were a fresh new nurse and it was safe to say you were a little scared of your new working environment. “The only one we want you to look out for is um, the patient in room number 10”

“Number 10?” you repeated.

“Let me introduce you to some of them.” You had already met some, there was a group who thought they were kittens and puppies and it was adorable. “Hyuka, don’t scratch the mattress” the head nurse chided before guiding him to the bathroom.

You heard a noise from room 10. It sounded a lot like something fell. You walked over and quickly scanned over his chart. “Patient is manipulative, he can do whatever is needed to get what he wants, compulsive sexual behaviour, the patient has two prominent altering personalities, Taehyung and V. When the patient addresses himself as V it is best to leave.”

You unlocked the door, peering inside you saw him cuddling his pillow in deep slumber. He seemed to have knocked something off from the bedside table in his sleep. You sighed softly before walking over, trying not to wake him while doing so.

He had a beautiful face. It was honestly making you feel self conscious to be around him, you fought the urge to brush your hand through his soft curls and crouched down to pick the book up off the floor.

You stayed crouched whilst examining the book. It seemed to be a comic book you concluded, a famous one that you knew of. You moved to put it back to its original place. As you were about to stand you turned to the patient to see his eyes open, staring directly at you.

“Hello?” He yawned rubbing his eyes “I am Taehyung”

“Hello Taehyung, I was just picking up your book, how are you feeling this morning?”

“I’m tired, who are you?”

“I am the new nurse” you smiled as he sat up rubbing his hand over his arm casually scratching an itch.

“You are new, that’s exciting” he smiled sitting up properly on his hospital bed showing his impeccable manners “What’s your name?”

“My name is Nurse Y/L/N,” you said with a soft smile trying to appear friendly. From the hall you heard the head nurse call out.

“Kim Namjoon, please don’t try to escape this morning. We are about to serve breakfast okay? You know breakfast is important to fuel that big brain of yours, so sit back down while I will get you a book. How does that sound?”

You turned to look at the door which was still a fraction open, when a hand touched your hair. Your body went stiff, heart racing in fear. You had turned your back on him. One of the most important things to remember on your first day and you had to let him get the upper hand.

“Your hair is really pretty, I like the colour” he smiled and you turned, giving him a polite and gentle smile.

“Thank you Taehyung, you are so sweet” you smiled. “Are you hungry? I can bring your breakfast in, if you would like?”

“I have to shower first, I have a schedule; shower, breakfast and then I get to do some activities” he said

“Nurse y/n?” The head nurse said “is everything okay?”

“Yes of course Taehyung and I are just talking, he is telling me about his schedule” you smiled

“Well aren’t you nice this morning Taehyung,”

“Hello Taehyung, are you ready for your shower?'' the male nurse appeared at the door smiling. Stepping past you he uncuffed the patient's ankle chain that restrained him to the bed, there was raw skin where the metal dug into his flesh and some blood stains on the corner of the sheet.

“You must be the new nurse. I am Jihoon, a resident nurse on the ward, if you need any help, or there is something you're not comfortable with you can call me,” he grinned, shaking your hand. You thought you heard Taehyung scoff which made you blink up at him curiously. You shrugged it off thinking maybe it was all in your head.

“My name is Y/n,” you prompted yourself to move on, “it’s nice to meet you”

“Nurse Y/n, could you get some spare clothes and bring them back?” Jihoon asked softly, “Tae’s clothes are in the green cube on the shelf.”

You went along the corridor and found the cubed shelves. Each cube seemed to have a coloured basket, the green one had Kim Taehyung written on it. “Hello?” A voice called behind you, you turned to see two young men sitting playing cards at a table.

“Hello, my name is nurse y/n, What are your names?”

“My name is Hoseok” the man laughed

“And I am Jungkook-ah” the other said sweetly “we are roommates, will you sit with us at lunch?”

“I will have to see if I am allowed. I don’t want to get in trouble,” you grinned before waving and heading back to Taehyung’s room where you heard the sound of banter coming from the bathroom.

“You don’t want to miss breakfast,” Jihoon said standing in the doorway, keeping a lookout for any sudden movements. “Oh Y/n! Thanks, you can leave the clothes anywhere”

You took it upon yourself to make the bed and tried to disregard the blood and other intimate stains on the white sheets. You looked up and caught sight of Taehyung in the reflection of the mirror, he was watching you. His eyes were not wide with curiosity as you thought it would be, no rather they were hooded with something darker.

“Nurse Jihoon, I am almost finished with my shower” he moaned, still staring at your reflection, you saw how his arm shook and how his lips fell open in ecstasy. “I just have to finish this, it would be quicker if it wasn’t my own hand for a change”

Once the bed was made you ran off into the hall trying to ignore the sounds and clear the images from your head.

You helped serve breakfast and smiled sitting with the two young men from earlier. The nurse who showed you around had approved of the two boys, saying they were harmless. She did however have a bit of a laugh, “this one is Hoseok and that one isn’t Jungkook, his name is Jimin, they are roommates one has narcolepsy and the other is a pathological liar”

You sat down, talking with them about their card game and laughed at some of their jokes. Jimin promised you the world and told you sweet nothings. He even proposed to you several times, you concluded he was a shameless flirt.

“Hey Jiminie?” Taehyung said walking over, and brushing his fingers along Jimin's neck, “you want to play a game of cards?”

“I can't, I have to go to a photoshoot today.” He said before standing up, “I should get ready.”

“What a shame, maybe next time?” He smirked. The boy across the table started to draw frantically. You looked over and saw it was a general shape and the clothes and hair were that of Taehyungs but the face was distorted. You hummed at the boy's work.

“Nurse, the young ones are going to play outside.” The head nurse in charge of this ward announced, eyeing Taehyung carefully. “Would you be so kind as to watch over them? Please make sure they don’t eat anything strange.”

“Of course. I will be back in a little while,” You told the boys, they were so cute, it was like playing make believe but there was no turning it off. They really thought they were cats and dogs and you loved them already despite it only being your first day. You wanted to protect them while they were in this headspace no matter what.

Looking up at the second floor of the hospital you saw Taehyung pressed against the glass looking down at you. He seemed to be angry at the fact that you were playing with the boys. You saw him get dragged away from the glass and you could not help but feel concerned, hoping he hadn’t gotten hurt.

You didn’t see him for the rest of the day he had been confined to his room and when you walked past all you could hear was crying and begging. You went to open the door but Jungkook, the silent patient grabbed your wrist gently. He handed you two sketches one was labeled Taehyung and it was him smiling and looking happy and genuinely adorable. The other was labeled V and it was the distorted picture from the morning. You flicked through the rest of the book and saw the others drawn, they looked a little different from real life but you knew who was who. The five young boys were drawn as cats and dogs making you smile.

The next day started a little differently, your shift started at lunch and you saw Taehyung sitting at the table looking forlorn, he was bandaged and looked weak. “They sedated him yesterday”,one of the nurses gossiped, “apparently he was trying to come onto one of the nurses working yesterday”

“I wish it was me, I would let him do whatever he wants,” Another nurse whispered back, you ignored them as you walked over and smiled “Good afternoon, how are you all feeling today?”

“Nurse y/n! You are here” Namjoon said, “Tell me, do you have any books to read at home?”

“I have a small bookshelf, why?”

“Well, I am bored and I would like some more books to read” He said and you hummed, “How about instead I tell you a story little by little so you have things to think about throughout the day?”

He reluctantly accepted and you started the story. There was a small giggle at one of the jokes made by Taehyung and you smiled, he looked so tired and soft in his little blanket, his wrists and ankles bandaged.

You were there for a while and the group began playing different card games, you had to explain some of the games and they picked up the concept quickly.

Taehyung left after a while, yawning while stating he was too tired to continue playing and the boys waved goodbye to him.

Jimin who just yesterday was afraid of him, walked him to his room, practically carrying Taehyung on his back while singing that they were soulmates.

It was odd because Taehyung didn’t seem that strange and when he did it wasn’t as extreme as people made it out to be. You had noticed Taehyung was a sweet boy, whilst V was just a little more forward and flirty.

Sure he still had his tendencies to do inappropriate things but you tried to ignore those moments and be professional at all times.

The problem was they began haunting you at night and you were finding it hard to keep your fantasies at bay. He was charming, flirty, and pleasing to the eye, could you really be blamed for being attracted to him?

The first time you met V and you mean really met V was when you were greeting him one morning and he sat there smirking at you.

“Hey there bad kitty, you want some milk?” He had his hand wrapped around his hard shaft. It was thick and the tip was an angry red, oozing out precum. “I want to give you all my milk, but you're a bad kitty and won’t take it”

You tried repressing the images from your head, squeezing your thighs together for some sort of friction, nothing has ever aroused you and made you this wet so quickly. Ignoring him as he jerked off on the bed you continued your act of nonchalance at his actions. You picked up his clothes off the floor and placed them in the wash basket.

You dodged his hand reaching out to grab you and he frowned before going back to his previous task. You cleaned his bedside table, he was becoming very vocal and more profoundly dirty as time went on. He had resorted to explaining everything about what he wanted to do to you in great detail.

Your underwear was soaked at this point and you were finding it hard to breath. You had to leave right then, you didn't know how long you could remain professional. You moved to pick up the book that had fallen off the bed, losing focus of your distance from the bed. You were briskly reminded when he took a firm grip of your hair.

Fuck.

You cursed at yourself, you made a huge mistake letting your guard down. Stupid stupid stupid. He pulled you up by your hair. “Open your mouth.” He growled as he came on your face. You watched him as his face contorted he growled and came hard as you kept your mouth firmly shut. When he finally finished he let go of your hair.

“You wasted my milk bad kitty” he huffed watching you clean your face in the sink before you promptly rushed out of his room.

Taehyung sat confused after breakfast. He took a puzzle and started working, “You okay Tae?”

“Oh hey, yeah I am just working on this puzzle, I am just a little confused” he smiled as the two of you sat and started working on the puzzle. It was a basket of kittens.

“This one looks like you” he laughed “you are a kitty”

The words and context were so innocent but you couldn’t help but remember what happened that morning and you glanced at the young man from the corner of your eye.

“What did he do?” Taehyung asked

“It was nothing you should be worried about” you smiled patting his head. “We should only worry about finishing this puzzle”

The night shift was different, you ate dinner with the residence and you all sat and watched a movie afterwards. It was a general audience movie with nothing bad in it.

Taehyung leant his head on your shoulder as everyone else including the other nurses sat watching the movie as well. The male nurse was sitting with the five young boys. They laid their heads in his laps and he gave them pets on their backs, trying to give all of them equal attention, otherwise one would whine and rub their heads into his arms.

The female nurse sat with Namjoon painstakingly discussing the movie instead of actually watching it. You and Taehyung were wrapped up in his blanket and you felt his hand start slithering down towards one of your thighs rubbing it tenderly. You glanced at him to see him smirking at you, “You’re such a bad kitty aren’t you?”

His hand slipped under your dress and into your underwear. His finger grazed your clit gently making you shift in your seat. Taehyung snickered as you bit back a moan, he moved inconspicuously a little closer and whispered in your ear. His voice was deep and barely audible, his breath brushing the shell of your ear.

“You are a bad kitty aren’t you?” He pressed his nose against your neck and inhaled deeply, “Bad kitty smells nice”

Your mouth fell open, a silent gasp escaping as he pushed a single digit inside of you, “Taehyung, stop” You warned him and he chuckled darkly.

“I am not Taehyung, I am V” He took your free hand under the blanket and brushed it against his dick, letting out a small satisfied moan. He tried to pry your fingers open but you refused, he growled lowly and pushed another digit inside you. Whilst you were distracted he slid himself into your closed fist letting it mould around his shaft.

Unintentionally your fingers clenched around his boner as he gently guided your hand along his length back and forth. You kept your mouth firmly shut but it didn’t seem to stop the feelings from building, you were panting softly, the wet sounds coming from between your legs becoming more audible to you and you sighed in relief when you sawa loud action scene was underway in the movie.

He pumped his fingers and moved your hand faster as his breathing became sporadic. V turned to you, biting your shoulder hard and coming into your hand. Without hesitation V pressed his thumb against your clit as he pumped his finger into you harder and you came, your body almost doubling over in pleasure.

“You are a bad kitty” He grinned, pushing your hand to your mouth “Lick your milk.”

“No,” You muttered seemingly uninterested and his smile disappeared.

“Bad, bad kitty” He watched as you got up and left.

As the days passed you understood more and more the difference between Taehyung and his counterpart V. You loved Taehyung, he was such a sweet boy who could do no wrong, but, you longed for the thrill of V, it took everything in your power to refuse his advances.

An easy way to establish who you were talking to was their nicknames for you, Taehyung called you a Kitty after that fateful day of doing a puzzle together. Whereas V called you Bad Kitty for reasons unknown.

One day during the night shift you heard Taehyung crying. Stepping into the room you saw how he wiped his eyes quickly, feigning that he was okay. “Hey, Taehyung, tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing please, you can go?” He sniffled, choosing to ignore his request you got closer and sat on the edge of his bed concerned.

“I am here now, I want to know what has got you so upset?”

He looked up at you innocently. The bedside lamp was his only source of light and it was quite dull. It made the room feel small as the shadows waited on the edge.

“I remember less and less, V is taking over and I can’t remember things, the boys sometimes get really nervous with me, Jungkook’s pictures are horrific.” He sniffed, “I have never been with a lady, let alone kissed someone and he has done such vulgar things”

You leaned over and kissed him before leaning back and smiling softly, “You have kissed a girl now”

He was frozen, fingers slowly pressing to his lips in shock, “Wait, nurse can I um, can you kiss me again a real kiss, I want to know what it feels like”

You knew you shouldn’t have but you let him. Yet you kissed him and he kissed back, it was soft and timid. He pulled back, “That was amazing, if I was just a normal person. Would there be a chance that you would ever like me, Kitty?”

“I would.” You smiled brushing his hair back and smiling at the innocence in his eyes.

“Would you let me take you out to dinner?” He asked softly, you nodded “Would you let me kiss you and maybe even spend the night together?”

You nodded and he frowned, “I wish I was normal, I just want to be normal” He cried into your shoulder hugging you and as you held him he kissed you softly. You didn’t have the heart to stop him with how gentle and kind he was. He pleaded sadly, “Please, just once, just tonight”

You were helpless to the look in his eyes and you shut his door climbing onto his bed where you kissed him, touching his body as he did the same. The light tinkling of his ankle cuff was the only thing keeping you alert to any possible dangers. But he was gentle. Taehyung wasn’t V.

“Does this feel okay?” He whispered “I am not hurting you?”

Riding him was like a dream, he guided you with his hands on your hips and you felt his heart racing against your hands that were on his chest. Right before he was going to finish, you got off and took him in your mouth, you weren’t going to take any risks without any condoms.

“Yes kitty,” he whispered as he grabbed your head and came. You managed to pull away and he came all over the two of you causing him to frown, “bad kitty you got us all dirty”

Alarm bells rang but he still looked so innocent and carefully wiped your face with a tissue, apologizing the whole time. Taehyung helped you dress and even helped you tie up your hair. “I am really thankful that you helped me experience something, I won’t tell anyone, I don’t want you to lose your job or anything”

“It’s okay, Taehyung, I trust you.” He gave your hand an affectionate squeeze and you slipped out the room before people would start to suspect something.

You and Taehyung spend the next few days bonding, he warns you when he feels himself slipping away and you have enough time to prepare before V emerges. Whilst painting in the garden Taehyung is talking about all the things he loves, his favourite style of music and his favourite colour and the two of you talk about what you would do if you could do anything.

On your way back Taehyung is telling you about a new electrotherapy that has been said to remove alternate persona’s from one's mind. “It is worth a shot don’t you think?”

“It sounds a little scary, what if something goes wrong, what if you die?” you asked

“I would rather die than spend my whole life in this ward trapped in my own body because someone else is taking control of me, making me do things I don’t want to” He exclaimed, laughing almost bitterly.

“Sorry Taehyung, I didn’t know” You whispered “It’s not something I can truly comprehend.”

“That’s right because you are perfect and everything is normal,” He hissed getting aggravated, he was being restrained when he panicked and started apologizing. “Wait I am sorry, I am sorry, please let me go.”

He was taken to his room and your heart felt like it was breaking, he was afraid of himself and he wanted to get better. He was alone, longing for someone to love him for who he was. Could you be that for him perhaps?

After dinner you went to the room to see him, he was hunched over his shoulders shaking as he sniffled, “I’m sorry,” his voice was small. You stepped over and touched his shoulder, his hand came up and squeezed yours. “You should go, I am not the person you should be with”

“I want to stay, I want to be with you. If there was a way, I would love to get married, have a family and live happily ever after.”

His grip tightened and the sniffling turned to laughter, you were pulled on top of him, his grip was harsh, “You want to get married, my bad kitty, you want me to put some babies inside you?”

You were grabbed and one of the male nurses sedated him, you were crying and you left the room, “I just tried to comfort Taehyung, I am fine I was just startled and scared. I will go for a shower and I will head home for the night.”

You came back to work the next day but you didn’t step foot into Taehyung’s room. You spoke over meals with everyone and he was his usual nice and gentle self. He told everyone that he was getting electroshock therapy. He was saying if it all went successful he would be allowed out of the asylum and allowed to live like a normal human again.

It took three whole weeks before you had willingly stepped into Taehyung's room, it was his first interview about him and his illness they were recording data to compare with afterwards. You walked him to his interview and walked him back, opening his door and stepping inside.

The door shut behind you and you knew he was behind you. The number one rule is don't let the patient block your exit. And here you were stuck in the room blocked in by Taehyung.

“Hey Taehyung, you want to play another game of cards” you said, watching him look at the door shoulders hunched over. He slowly turned, looking up with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“I’m not Taehyung.” he said,his face void of any expression.

“Who are you, then?”

“You know who I am!” He shouted before reigning himself back in, “I am V, I am the one that scares you bad kitty, that day when they sedated me, I almost had you”

“You liked what I said though didn’t you, you pressed your thighs together and the sweet scent of arousal filled the room. You want to get fucked and you want it hard” he said, gripping you by the hair and pushing you so your chest is flat against the bed.

You wanted it, god you wanted it and he knew it, but you would get fired. As if reading your thoughts V softly whispered into your ear, “you can blame me if they come in sweetheart, no one has to know you were willing, just tell me you want it”

“I can’t” you whined into the bed cursing that you couldn’t.

“You let Taehyung fuck you but not me?” He pressed himself against you letting you feel how hard you made him.

“Because Taehyung was sweet,” and upset. You were trying to comfort him and had forgotten you were at work, but you didn’t say the last bit out loud.

“Listen to me. Taehyung doesn’t control me but I can control him, that was all me, you know it because I called you by my nickname. Didn’t he call you bad kitty that day?”

You looked at him in shock as he continued, all the while lifting your dress and pulling down your soaked underwear, “That’s right it was me all along so what’s the harm if we try it again?”

“Fuck me, please” you moaned throwing caution to the wind, if you lost your job then so be it.

He pushed himself into you in a single, hard thrust and you felt your walls stretch around him. He felt bigger then Taehyung but that had to be impossible.

Where one was timid and soft, he was rough and ferocious, his hips pistoned in and out as he fucked you hard. He was vocal and unrefined, he didn’t have any other thought except the primal urge to fuck you. The lewd sounds bounced off of the walls as he pounded into you. He thrusted deep, you could feel him deep inside in your inner walls.

You were drooling, biting the blankets on his bed clutching them between your fists trying to muffle the sounds you were making.

Taehyung had thrust hard one last time before you felt heat spreading inside you and your eyes shot open, “Fuck, Tae what about a condom?”

“You are mine.” he growled, punctuating each of his words with a thrust as he went, leaving you a writhing mess.

You quickly got dressed and stormed into the staff bathroom and took a shower.

You changed your clothes and hurried home. You spent the night huddled in your blankets crying yourself to sleep.

You left for a while after that incident, you spent christmas and new years with your family and when you came back you went back to working right away. The shift was awkward as Taehyung kept staring at you, you didn’t know what it meant but you tried to pay it no mind. The end of your first week back was the day Taehyung would undergo Electroshock therapy.

When it came around you walked him to the theatre and stayed in the hall, you didn’t want to witness it but you wanted to be there by him as soon as it was over. What you didn’t expect was the screaming. What felt like after an eternity but was only half an hour later they stepped out wheeling Taehyung on a gurney, he didn’t look so good.

It took awhile but Taehyung was starting to grow stronger and he would chat and seemed to be getting healthier and there was no sign of V. You were extremely happy and a month later he was reviewed and approved for discharge from the asylum. He was finally moving in with you and you two were going to live together and start a family.

He waved to the boys but they hadn’t stopped crying all morning, they didn’t say a word, only sobbing more when Taehyung hugged them before leaving. “I wish I could take you all with me,” He said, wiping his eyes.

Taehyung moved in and you two started decorating the apartment to make it more homey. You were cooking dinner for him one night, everything was going well so far, it had been two months since his discharge and the two of you were happy.

“We could try for a baby, if you wanted?” Taehyung shuffled his feet looking at the ground. You giggled, grabbing his hand and leading him to the bedroom, he undressed you and laid you on the bed before undressing and settling in between your legs. You hadn’t been intimate since Taehyung had been discharged from the asylum and it was just as amazing as you remembered, slow and sensual just like your first time with Taehyung.

Taehyung lifted your hands above your head, kissing and licking your breasts. Panting against you when his hands tightened his grip around your wrists. His hips drove deeper inside you, he was soon going faster and harder pounding into you with all his force and you whined in pleasure. “Yes please.”

“Do you like that bad kitty?”

If you enjoyed this story don’t forget to Like | Reblog so others can enjoy it too.

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fallingstarnovel · 3 years

Text

Chapter One

Evan Golightly didn't consider himself an unlucky kind of guy. It wasn't like he was wandering around winning the lottery, but he also wasn't getting hit by chunks of blue ice from the sky from a passing airplane.

This week was just like every other week he had experienced so far. As he walked to his lecture across the university campus, he saw the same people he usually did and went to the same places as always. He didn't step on any cracks in the pavement, and he didn't walk under any ladders. He didn't find any four leaf clovers either, and he didn't have a lucky rabbit's paw on his key chain. He had a coffee cup in his hand – medium sized, not big and not small.

He was a little late, because he had stopped to pet a black cat that lay on the pavement in front of him, but that was okay. The lecturer was very forgiving, and most people were a few minutes late anyway due to a clash in timetabling.

Evan couldn't remember if seeing a black cat was good luck or bad luck. As the kitty purred and rubbed itself up against his fingers, he couldn't help but smile and talk to it quietly.

"Oh, you like that? You like the scritches? You're so handsome, such a handsome boy..."

Someone behind him coughed disapprovingly. A little embarrassed at getting caught, Evan straightened up and kept walking, forgetting all about whether black cats were lucky or not.

As he approached the building where his lecture was held, Evan started climbing the concrete steps up to the entrance.

If luck could be charted on a bell curve, with some people being extremely lucky, and some being extremely unlucky, then Evan considered himself to be slap bang in the middle. If he entered the lottery, he might win one of the smallest prizes, but not very often. If he got onto a crowded bus, there would be a seat available, but not a very good one. If he chose answers at random on a test, he would get a 50% grade at the end.

There was a meow from down by his feet. The black cat was following him. It had big green eyes which were staring at him as it meowed again.

"I'm sorry, I would love to play with you, but I'm late," Evan said. He knew the cat didn't understand, but he still felt like being polite.

The cat meowed very loudly and then started walking in between Evan's feet as he climbed the stairs. He started to worry that he was going to trip, slowing down and trying to shoo it away with his foot. It meowed again, but ran away, standing at a distance and staring at him.

Evan had always been weak for cute things. He bit his lip. "Ahh, I'm sorry! Wait until my lecture finishes, I'll come back and give you scritches then!"

He was almost at the top of the stairs now. Evan turned away from the cat – only to see a small black shadow out the corner of his eye down by his sneakers. He felt something brush against his leg, and then he tripped over something, and before he knew what was happening, he was falling backwards down the stairs.

Evan let out a sharp cry, his arms windmilling around him as he went into freefall.

Not the stairs... not the stairs! This was why he hated stairs! He always knew they would kill him one day!

Before he could fall any further and roll down the stairs and smash like a boiled egg, he felt someone grab his arm and hold him still. His bag hit the ground and his coffee cup went flying, bouncing down the steps and spilling coffee everywhere, but Evan...

Evan was being held up at the top of the stairs by a strong, sure grip.

He looked around in surprise. Holding his arm was a smiling youth with curly blond hair, tumbling in cherubic whorls around his ears. The youth looked just as shocked, his eyes big and wide as he stared at Evan. As he stopped Evan from falling.

There was a moment of silence. The youth pulled Evan forward onto the flat ground at the top of the steps, and let go.

"You..." Evan said in a rush. "You saved me! Thank you so much, I thought I was a goner..."

The youth hesitantly smiled back, his eyes flickering down the stairs. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just tripped on a–" Evan said, gesturing to the cat.

The cat was no longer there. It had disappeared.

"... Huh. Guess I tripped on nothing. Um, thanks. Oh, man, my coffee..."

The youth picked up Evan's bag and handed it over to him. His eyes were wide, like he was recovering from a sudden shock. "Sorry. I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault," Evan said with a laugh. "I owe you for saving me. I should buy you a coffee!"

The youth looked at Evan. He couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were light grey, bright and cold, crinkling at the corners in a warm smile. "There's no need to thank me. You don't owe me a thing."

Evan had heard those two sentences before many times in his life. He had heard it from friends who had done him a favour, and from customer service workers who helped him get a discount for his broken laptop, and from the nice woman in the corner shop who sent his mom flowers when she heard his grandfather had died.

They had always been said with varying levels of sincerity. A lot of people said "no need to thank me", but secretly wanted to be thanked very much. If you didn't thank them, they wouldn't help you in the future. People were weird like that.

But when this guy said it, for some reason Evan understood that it was the absolute truth. Like it wouldn't matter if Evan thanked him or not – he would still help him.

Feeling a little flustered, Evan scratched the back of his neck. "Well, I have a lecture now, so I better... uh, you're sure you don't want a coffee afterwards?"

The youth seemed to think about it for just a second too long, before shaking his head. His smile was apologetic. "It's fine. Enjoy your lecture." He started walking away.

"Ah, uh, you too," Evan said in a panic, before quietly smacking his own face. He had no idea if the guy even had a lecture. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

The youth came to a stop. He slowly turned around, an angelic, apologetic smile on his face. "Actually, I'm a little lost. Could you tell me where room M42 is?"

"That's – that's where I'm going now! That's where my lecture is!" Evan gave him a wide grin. "Astro 228, right?"

The youth nodded. "Right."

"Just follow me, then. Huh... I didn't know we shared a class, sorry I didn't recognise you!"

"That's okay," the youth said quietly from behind him as they entered the lecture building together. "I tend to stay quiet."

Watery winter sun did its best to shine through the floor length windows of the lecture building. It shone off the back of Evan’s pale neck, the black hair that fell in every direction. It reflected off the otherboy’s grey eyes, making them seem more luminous, more pallid, as they watched Evan with keen, unwavering interest.

Evan walked slightly ahead to lead the way. "Well, I definitely won't forget you now. You saved my life! What's your name?"

The youth was quiet. Evan waited for an answer for an uncomfortably long time, before wondering if he had spoken too quietly. He was about to repeat the question when a soft voice from behind him said "Ruth."

Ruth? Wasn't Ruth a girl's name? Was this guy actually a girl? "Oh, Ruth? Ahh, that's a cool name."

"You don't think it's weird? That a guy has a girl's name?"

Oh, thank god, he didn't have to try and subtly ask awkward questions about pronouns. Maybe the guy was used to this kind of thing and anticipated the awkwardness. "No, I don't think so. As long as you like it, then that's all that matters. I'm Evan by the way."

The youth hummed. "I know."

Now Evan felt guilty. He didn't even remember seeing this guy around, but he remembered Evan's name. Ah, this was too bad. He would definitely make an effort to remember him now. "Well, here it is. Just in time–"

"Actually, you go ahead," Ruth said suddenly. "I need to use the bathroom."

Evan turned around and blinked at him. "Oh. Sure. I'll see you in a bit, then."

The youth nodded. He hesitated, before speaking again.

“It was nice to talk to you.”

He gave Evan one last beatific smile, before walking away and disappearing around the corner. Evan quietly let himself into the lecture and scurried to the back, mouthing "sorry" at the lecturer, who ignored him.

He made sure to keep the seat next to him free for Ruth even as other students trickled in.

The lecturer coughed several times to get the attention of the class.

"So, last week I opened the lecture with the following quote: God does not play dice with the universe. This is oft quoted and attributed to Einstein himself in a letter to a friend criticizing what he saw as the unacceptable flaw in quantum mechanics, that is, the possibility of unpredictable random events on a molecular level. In many ways, he was right. We have been learning how to chart the movement of objects in a vacuum – predicting the orbits of distant planets and stars around the insatiable black holes that are, themselves, in a perpetual state of movement. I know that most of you have grasped the basics of this particular module very quickly. Predictability is a magnetic lure – one gets lulled into the false sense of security knowing that we can work out the trajectory of some far flung meteor to a high degree of accuracy. As if space can be imagined as some unfathomably large clock, each cog in place, every heavenly body caught in an eternal, rational, predictable waltz to the swing of a baton that, if only we have the numbers, might one day understand the rhythms of. If you turn your attention to the notes we made on how you can work out the speed of rotation of a planet..."

Evan tried very hard to concentrate and make notes. There was always a buffer at the start of the class where this particular lecturer went on a long tangent about random things he thought were interesting, and he usually zoned out through them, but once the actual maths was brought in, there was no possibility of daydreaming and letting it slip by. If you missed anything, you ended up being more confused down the line when the more complicated stuff got brought in.

The poor girl next to him was doomed. She fell asleep almost immediately, and Evan lit a candle in his mind for her. RIP your grades, you snoozy bitch. At the same time, he was envious. Why couldn’t he take a nap instead of doing work?

He tried to concentrate, but all through the lecture, Evan couldn't help but keep looking at the doorway, wondering when Ruth was going to appear. How long did it take to use the bathroom? Did the poor guy have a stomach upset?

By the time the lecture was over, Evan had accepted that Ruth wasn't going to appear. He lit a candle in his heart for the guy's bowel system. Clearly, he had been having some kind of toilet trouble and decided to skip the lecture.

What a shame. He seemed so... interesting.

After the lecture was over, Evan slowly clambered out of his seat. The lecturer had set a bunch of exercises to do at home, and the library was calling for a study session. Time to shuffle into Tesco to get a £3 meal deal and sit down for several hours to pound his brain into submission!

"Hey, Evan," someone called out as they left the lecture. "Evan, wait up!"

There was a girl chasing after Evan. She had warm brown skin and an infectious smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Oh, sorry Aliya," he said, slowing down so she could catch up. "Did you enjoy the lecture?"

Aliya pouted. "No, are you insane? Enjoy it? Why did I do an astrophysics course again? There's so much maths. I genuinely think I would drop out if I didn't think my mum would kill me."

Evan nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I think about switching to an art degree instead. I won't do it. But I just think about it sometimes."

"Wait, wait, I wanted to ask you something," Aliya said, slapping his arm lightly. "House party. I've been invited, but I don't want to go alone. It's a bunch of people I don't know very well, and..."

Evan rolled his eyes. "If you don't know them, why are you going?"

"Because I don't know how to say no!" Aliya moaned. "It's a pretty casual thing, don't worry. You know I don't drink, so I'll probably be dipping early. Please? Please please please? Please just come for a little while, just to keep me company..."

Evan wasn't a prude. He liked a good party. The thing was that he liked a good party with people he knew. "And I don't know anyone there?"

"Probably not, they're all from netball club. But hey – you'll know me!"

"I don't know you. Who are you. Why are you following me."

"Evaaaaan. Please! I'll do anything."

There was a long silence as they exited the lecture building together. Evan watched the students stream out of the building on their way to other classes, or the library, or their rooms to go back to sleep.

He wasn't exactly great at making friends. Aliya was the only person on his course that he talked to regularly. It was why he was pretty excited to get to know Ruth, except he disappeared, so that was a bust. He tried a few clubs and societies, but none of them had really clicked so far.

He hadn't been to a party in ages. He was wasting the best years of his youth in university, and he wasn't even going to parties. What was the point? He was living like a grandpa and he was only twenty one!

He wasn't an old man yet! He didn't have a pension! He still liked electronic music!

Maybe this was the chance Evan needed to make new friends. How hard could it be?

"Sure, why not."

Aliya cheered. "Yay! Thank you, big guy. I owe you one. Oh, wow, watch your feet, it looks like someone spilled their coffee down the stairs... haha, poor them..."

Contents | Next Chapter

#chapter

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shutteredislands · 4 years

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REYLO MODERN AU FIC RECS

Hi!! I spent my entire winter break reading reylo fics and I feel like I’ve found some gems! I’m boring and don’t like angst, so most of these are pretty fluffy, however, always read the tags before reading. Anyways, happy reading!

Already Home - College, Roommates, A/B/O, Soulmates AU - Complete - Rated E - 79k

“Oh stop being all Alpha-y.” She flexes her foot, rolling her ankle as if to prove a point, and he doesn’t miss the wince that crosses her expression. “You aren’t my Alpha, and you definitely aren't my soulmate,” she mutters.

He can’t help but let out a dry laugh. “Thank god for small mercies.”

Okay so this is a trope fest but it was so good! I’m not gonna explain the plot in depth because I think going in blind is best for this!

Baby, It's Just Biology - Professor/Student, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 113k

For Rey Jackson, trying to finish your degree in Biomedical Science at Harvard is difficult enough when you're one of the few Omegas on campus.

It's made even more difficult when your Professor is the one to trigger your heat. You can't help it, it's just your biology.

An Alpha Omega love story.

This is the perfect balance of angst, fluff and pure smut. This one Is a lot angstier than anything else on this list, but you can see every stage of this relationship and I loved it so much! Please read the tags on this one!

I’ve got you (under my skin) - Nanny/Single Parent AU - On Hiatus - Rated E - 81k

“Hi, I’m Rey. I’m here for the—”

“Nanny,” Ben blurts out dazedly, still trying to remember how to form coherent thoughts. “You’re the nanny.”

Her smile hitches up a little wider. “Well, I might be.”

Suddenly, Ben thinks he might be in for a whole new world of problems.

Because Rey Johnson is still most likely the only thing standing between him and disaster, that much hasn’t changed, not by a long shot.

And Ben can’t seem to stop staring at her mouth.

In which Ben hires Rey to watch his son... but he can’t seem to stop watching her.

Okay so I almost never read WIPs, but this one was left off in a pretty good place so don’t worry about cliffhangers or anything. I am a sucker for single dad!Ben so expect more of these. I loved this fic so much and get ready for a SMUTFEST.

Light My Fire - Rivals to Lovers, College, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 20k

When rivals Ben and Rey break into a professor's office together, it comes out that Rey might not be the Beta she thinks she is.

I’ve never been the biggest reader of enemies to lovers, until this. This was so so so good! I loved their banter so much, and this is another smutfest lol.

Peacock - Fake Dating, Enemies to Lovers, Neighbors AU - Complete - Rated E - 72k

Thanks to a series of misunderstandings, failed attempts at flirting, and loud Katy Perry music, Ben grows to hate his new neighbor.

Proposing to her wasn't the best solution to his problems.

This is, hands down, one of the funniest fics I have ever read. I cried actual tears because of how funny this is. Slowish burn, but their banter will keep you engaged the whole time. I love this so much!!

An Unexpected Vacation - Scientist, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 62k

“You don’t care that someone, that people will watch you fuck?” He looks two seconds away from puking. “Like multiple, multiple people will be able to describe your vagina. They’ll probably analyze it in a boardroom. Someone will feel proud about a shitty PowerPoint full of annotated pictures. They will use words like ‘arousal fluid’ and consult charts and these things will never not be digitally saved. That doesn’t bother you?”

“Are you suggesting my vagina is unworthy of analysis?”

In which Rey attempts to bolster her bank account by volunteering to fuck an Alpha in a scientific study. Plans go pear-shaped when she accidentally triggers scientist!Ben’s first Rut.

This was a really funny smutfest and I loved that. I loved Rey and Ben so much, and Ben was the perfect “I hate everyone but you” boyfriend! I love this!

She Doesn’t Normally Bite - Single Parent/Teacher AU - WIP - Rated E - 37k

Ben Solo is a single dad to 6-year old Ellis. Her teacher isn't the old-cat lady that he expects and naturally, sparks fly when they meet. Rey helps show Ben that he is allowed to be happy and the romance is DELICIOUS. There will be the happy ending we all deserve.

Both Ben and Rey have a lot to navigate, and of course - things are never straight forward.

Tw: Bens wife died when their daughter was born - whilst it is mentioned periodically, it does not form a significant part of the story. There'll also be warnings in the notes for the particular chapters it'll be mentioned in.

THIS THE ONLY WIP I WILLL EVER READ REY AND BEN ARE SO FREAKING CUTE AND ELLIS IS SUCH A CUTE KID AHHHHHHH! That is all.

Down an Inch, Up an Inch - A/B/O, Soulmates, Gym Rats AU - Complete - Rated E - 60k

Omega instructor Rey has always been the master of her domain at Rebel Belle Barre and wouldn't dream of dating an Alpha.

When her new neighbors at Supremacy Bootcamp start ruining her classes with their terrible music, she storms over to give them a piece of her mind. She challenges the beefy ex-Marine owner Ben Solo to a plank-off and the loser has to take the other's class. When they spark an unusual connection, can Rey stay away for long?

Has she bitten off more than she can chew with the gentle giant Alpha with the warm, sad eyes?

SMUT FREAKING FESTTTTT. Okay but I loved these two so much, even though I am opposed to working out in any shape or form! I love the non-traditional soulmate part, and I really loved Rey in this.

Tea for Two - Enemies to Lovers, University Setting AU - Complete - Rated E - 67k

'"This is a tea house, you know." The plummy, ultra-posh voice startled Rey Kenobi from her day-dreaming, almost spilling the scalding hot coffee over her chest.'

Rey, an American former hacker, turned cyber security expert, has been commissioned by Oxford University to protect their systems from hackers. Unfortunately, she has to work closely with Professor Ben Solo, Merton Professor of English Literature who also happens to be Lord Ben Solo, member of the English peerage. And an unmitigated snob.

She drinks coffee. He drinks tea. He only reads classic literature. She reads Marvel comics. He is nobility. She is a nobody.

Things should go swimmingly, shouldn't it?

SO. MUCH. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. I loved the slow burn aspect because I sat in bed because I was waiting for them to bone for so long. And after they bone its a smut and fluff-fest I loved this so much!

And They Were Roommates - Roommates, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

“This isn’t going to work.” He points a finger between the two of them. “This arrangement.”

Her eyes narrow. “You didn’t put any specifications on who could apply.”

“Yeah…” He rubs the back of his neck then, the action making it look longer, making her wonder what it might feel like under her fingers. “You have to know that this isn’t a good idea.”

She knows what he means, she does—but she’s so tired of being brushed aside for her designation that she challenges him anyway. “And why not?”

His eyes bore into hers, his expression blank as he says, “Because I can tell how much scent-block you put on—and I can still smell you.”

In which Rey’s new roommate turns out to be a lot more than she bargained for.

EVEN. MORE. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. Like these two would be eating cereal and I would be chanting, “bone! bone! bone!” the whole time. I loved these two, and the family aspect of this one was so good.

Imprints - A/B/O, Boss/Employee AU - Complete - Rated E - 74k

“I was happy you’ll be working with someone you know. He’ll take good care of you.”

Take good care of you.

The words send a shiver down her spine, sparking memories that flood her with embarrassment. She feels a strange itch just below her ear, her gland giving a phantom pulse as if her body remembers the incident even still.

Suddenly her triumph fades into dread, the idea of working here leaving a hollow pit in her stomach. Poe is still talking, but she doesn’t hear most of it. Her mind is firmly trapped in the vivid memories of six years ago— in a moment she wishes she could forget.

By the time she hangs up the phone— she isn’t sure anymore if she can do this.

Okay so this is pretty popular so I wont say too much, but it lives up to the hype. Smutfest, fluff and angst rolled into one beautiful fic!

Bespoke - Enemies to Lovers, Boss/Employee (?) AU - Complete - Rated E - 38k

When new stylist Rey Jackson receives a request to dress the hottest (and most unfashionable) new actor in Hollywood, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.

Mentally AND physically.

Because Ben Solo is freaking massive.

THIS WAS SO HOT OMG! Smutfest but also super cute. Another “I hate everyone but you” version of Ben I fell in love with. Loved this!

Incognito - Coworkers AU - Complete - Rated E - 30k

“Somehow Rey’s coworkers find out about her Daddy kink. They all kink shame her for it, except her coworker Ben. He has something else in mind.”

This was so funny! Ben and Rey were so cute, and I love Finn and Rose in this too! This was great!

A Home For Christmas - Single Parent, Sugar Daddy AU - Complete - Rated E - 109k

Rey is a struggling single mother who needs to do right by her daughter, even if it means she needs to steal. Ben is sad and lonely, recently divorced for the second time. When Rey's daughter picks him to help her find her mom, their paths cross and their Christmas becomes a little more bright.

This was so freaking cute OMG!! I know I say that a lot, but this was so adorable! I loved Ben and Rey so much, but Nova was obviously the star of the show. I cannot recommend this enough!

Unsuppressed - Office, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

Rey had only ever encountered two Alphas in her entire life that had been unsuppressed. And now this third one that stunk up the entire building. Not that it stunk, his scent. In fact, it was the most delicious thing Rey had ever smelled. ///////////////////////////////////// Ben Solo closed his eyes as he rode down the elevator from the 40th floor to the lobby, trying not to reach up to his glands to scratch them. Somehow, it felt like he always caught the elevator that was dripping in the Omega’s scent. The one that wandered around the building without any suppressants. The one that smelled better than any Omega he had ever smelled before.

STRAIGHT FLUFF AND SMUT OMFG!!! I loved this so freaking much! This was whatever the opposite of unresolved sexual tension and slow burn. Like Ben and Rey tried to make this a slow burn but they could not keep their hands off of each other. I loved this!

Sunshine and Gunpowder - Hitman, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 48k

She’s a teacher who would do anything to protect her student. He’s a glorified hitman with a heart of black gold.

Together, they make up odd halves of a beautiful whole.

THIS WAS SO CUTE!! Like, yes, I know Ben is a hitman, but when I tell you he was the softest hit man I have ever read, Temiri was so cute in this! I loved Ben and Rey, and their UST made me love them even more. Han and Leia are also hilarious in this!

It Takes a Village - A/B/O, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 40k

Who knew that all it would take for Rey Johnson to interact with her enigmatic Alpha neighbor without wanting to melt into a puddle of hormones was a baby being abandoned at her doorstep?

Not her. That was for sure.

THIS IS THE CUTEST ONE YET! I REREAD THIS QUITE OFTEN! LIKE AHHHHHHH SO FREAKING FLUFFY! NOT EVEN A WHISPER OF ANGST AND A LOT OF SMUT I LOVED THIS SO FREAKING MUCH AHHHH! AND THE EPILOGUE MADE ME CRY!

Sensual Storytime - Office AU - Complete - Rated E - 23k

When Rey Johnson starts a new job, her initially antagonistic relationship with Ben Solo from IT turns into friendship... and maybe something more.

Little does she know he also moonlights as Kylo Ren, the creator of her favorite audio erotica. One day at the office, worlds collide, and she realizes the sweater vest-wearing nerd of her dreams is also the tattooed fantasy man she listens to while getting off every night...

THIS IS MY FAVORITE REYLO FIC EVER. I RECOMMEND THIS TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T EVEN LIKE STAR WARS! THIS IS COWORKER BANTER LIKE NO OTHER. AND THE SMUT ? UNPARALLELED. READ THIS NOW!

That is all I have time for right now, but I’ll make another list later if anyone would like that! Please take care of yourself and have a great day!

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fridayfirefly · 4 years

Text

Cowboy Like Me

Read Cowboy Like Me on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 5 - Last Time

Now I know, I'm never gonna love again

Marinette was a terrible sentimentalist. After such a bad breakup it might have been cathartic to tear up the pictures of them, but Marinette just couldn't do it. No, she could bring herself to destroy the evidence of her six-year relationship. Marinette kept all the pictures, all the movie tickets, all the handwritten notes and put them in a shoebox at the top of her closet, somewhere that she couldn't reach without the help of a stepstool. Maybe the pads of her fingers could brush against the smooth cardboard if she stood on her tiptoes. But Marinette could never open it again. Inside that shoebox were the memories of being in love, kept safe, locked away, just out of reach.

As Marinette boarded the plane, she looked back on everything that had gone wrong. Though the cause of all the destruction in her life was uncertain, Marinette could pinpoint the effects exactly. There were a few things Marinette knew for certain: Marinette would never fall in love again, the city Marinette once loved now only held bad memories, and once the plane took off, Marinette would say goodbye to Paris for the last time.

Never wanted love, just a fancy car

The socialite scene of Gotham was dreadfully boring in the winter, Marinette learned. The weather was so brutal that anyone who could afford a second house in Key West or Malibu left as soon as the first snow-fall hit. Marinette stayed inside her penthouse apartment for weeks, designing her wardrobe for the next few months. It had been so long since she had been able to design for herself, without input from anyone else. It was freeing, to work with the colors, the patterns, the styles that she wanted. Marinette had forgotten what freedom felt like. For so long, she had worked for the whims of others, crafting to someone else's design.

Marinette made her first friend two weeks after the move. Silver St. Cloud was Marinette's neighbor in the apartment to the left. Silver was a model and influencer, and a self-proclaimed expert on all of the rich single men in Gotham. Upon their first meeting, Silver offered to show Marinette around Gotham and introduce her to the socialite scene. Marinette, hesitant but hopeful, accepted.

"Bruce Wayne is the best that Gotham has to offer," said Silver as they leave Starbucks, lattes in hand. "But there are plenty of men who are worth your attention - women too, if that's what you prefer."

"Bruce Wayne is the best?"

Silver nodded. "The Waynes have owned this city for as long as Gotham has been on a map. I wouldn't set your sights on him completely, though. Bruce Wayne doesn't date anyone, not even a former member of Kitty Section."

Kitty Section was known around the world, the biggest band to come out of France in the last decade. Their songs topped charts. Their albums won awards. Their well-crafted image of reclusive, mysterious artists led to a media sensation over the members of Kitty Section. Everyone wanted to know them - Luka Couffaine and Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the lead vocalists whose relationship enchanted their fans. Rose Lavillant, the backing vocalist and keyboardist, and Juleka Couffaine, the bass guitarist, who were unashamed of their love for each other. Ivan Bruel, the mysterious drummer who had the name Mylène carved into his drumsticks. They were famous. They were at the top of their game. They were unstoppable.

Marinette ruined it all when she left the band. Her split had been big news, exposing a dark side of Kitty Section that their fans were never supposed to see. But after their breakup, Marinette quickly realized that she never loved music. She loved Luka, and once that love faded away, she loved nothing.

"I guess I'll find someone else," said Marinette, but it was a lie. There was Luka Couffaine, and after that, there was no one else. She might be able to love fancy dresses and expensive cars, but Marinette would never love a person again, not the way she loved Luka. When it came to love (deep, true love, not just the infatuations of childhood) Luka was her first time, Luka was her only time, and Luka would be her last time.

Perched in the dark, telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Marinette quickly learned the art of charming everyone she met, either through her impressive resume (founding member of Kitty Section) or through her newfound ability to flirt. It turns out, once you turn off your feelings it becomes very easy to pretend that you can still love.

Marinette and Silver became thick as thieves. The girls became a popular pair, charming every birthday brunch and charity dinner. For Silver, it was all about networking. As she explained to Marinette, "I'm trying to create a brand. I'm trying to turn my own name into something that can be sold, and for that, I need connections.

For Marinette, it was something to do. As long as she used her money wisely, Marinette had enough saved to comfortably live out the rest of her days. The real problem came in finding something to pass the time. Marinette rarely felt joy in living her life, the way she used to back when she was a child, the bright-eyed girl who aspired to be a designer. Now, everything from charming a billionaire to designing a new dress felt like a chore.

"Come meet Bruce Wayne," urged Silver as she grabbed Marinette's hand. "He just got back from Nepal. It's his first time in Gotham in six months. He skipped his own New Year's Gala to go soul-searching in the Himalayas. It's my job tonight to convince him to stay in town for longer than a week."

There was a determination to Silver's voice. From everything she had heard about Bruce Wayne, Marinette doubted that Silver could make him change his ways. However, that wouldn't stop Marinette from helping her new-found friend.

Silver's whole body-language changed, shifting from a determined march to a delicate float as she made her way over to a dark-haired man in a well-fitted tux. "Hello, Bruce. It's so nice to see you again."

"Silver." Bruce acknowledged her, sounding bored. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was the lead singer of Kitty Section before the band split up a few months ago."

"Kitty Section... I might have heard of them before. The band was... French?"

Marinette nodded. "Yes. All the members were born and raised in Paris. Have you heard of any of our music?

"I'm certain now that I have. It was very... commercial."

Marinette ought to have slapped him across the face right then and there. Not only was commercial not a compliment, but it also wasn't even true. It was the biggest criticism of Kitty Section, their reticence to work with popular music trends. Despite her overwhelming desire to assault the most wealthy and influential man in the ballroom, Marinette instead steeled her face and gave Bruce a pleasant smile. "Thank you. So what do you do for a living, Mister Wayne."

"I travel."

Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He spoke two words to her. The conversation was anything but interesting. "How interesting. Have you ever been to Paris?"

"I'm not a tourist, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I travel to much more interesting places."

Marinette officially gave up on the conversation. She would let Silver (who looked to be itching to have her turn to talk to Bruce) try and fix the train-wreck of a conversation that Bruce created. "You sound like a man with a lot of stories to tell. I hope you can tell me them over lunch someday."

"Perhaps."

Marinette gave Bruce her politest smile. "I have to excuse myself. Silver, why don't you tell Bruce about your new sponsorship from Lululemon."

Silver lit up. "Oh, you have to hear about this email I got last week. It was amazing, it's so good for my brand..."

Marinette walked away, letting her distaste towards Bruce leave her. Secretly, a little part of her hoped that Bruce would leave Gotham, as he was well-known for doing. Though Silver was her friend, Marinette didn't think she could pretend to like Bruce.

"He's intolerable, isn't he?" joked a voice from beside Marinette.

Marinette turned to face the stranger, a beautiful woman, taller than Marinette by quite a few inches, with dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. She wore a dress of royal blue silk, so elegant it reminded Marinette of the sort of thing she always dreamed of making. "Who?"

"Bruce Wayne. Who else would it be?"

Marinette let out a quiet laugh. "He is quite unpleasant. I take it you know him."

"I accompanied him on some of his travels. Bruce is a good friend of mine, but these parties tend to bring out the worst in him. He hates this city and he especially hates the wealthy of this city." The woman grabbed a glass of wine off of a server's tray and handed it to Marinette, who gratefully took it.

"Then I doubt Silver will have any luck convincing him to stay." Marinette tried to keep the satisfaction out of her tone, but the woman laughed anyways, an indication that it didn't work.

"You're quite funny..." The woman paused for an introduction.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And you are?"

"Diana-"

The sound of shattering glass interrupted Diana's introduction. The crowd started to get frantic, and Marinette was pushed one way while Diana was pushed the other. The glass of wine was knocked out of Marinette's hand, staining the fabric of her dress. Marinette struggled to stay on her feet, desperate to not twist an ankle in her four-inch heels.

"Listen up!" shouted an oddly-dressed man. "You're all going to listen to me, and no one will get hurt."

Marinette had a very odd feeling that this would be a moment she remembered for the rest of her life.

Never thought I'd meet you here. It could be love

"They're calling him a supervillain. Apparently, his name is The Riddler," reported Marinette, looking up from her phone, where she was reading about the events of the night before.

Silver glanced up from her seat on the sofa across the room where she was painting her nails a delicate shade of pink. "It's about time Gotham got its own supervillain. Metropolis has had Superman and all the villains that follow him around for years."

Marinette snorted out a laugh. "You think that a supervillain is a good thing?"

"Sure. It means that Gotham will be getting a superhero of its own soon." Silver brightened up. "Plus, the hostage situation from last night meant that I got to spend a whole two hours with Bruce."

Marinette groaned. "I can't believe that you two are going on a date. Bruce Wayne is one of the most insufferable men I've ever met."

"It's not a date. Bruce specified it as just dinner between friends. You should come too, Marinette. I'm sure that once you spend some time with Bruce you'll warm up to him."

Marinette gave Silver a skeptical look. "You want me to come with you on your date with Bruce?"

"Again, it's not a date. Bruce said that he would be bringing one of his friends along as well."

Marinette finally understood Silver's intentions. "You want me to come with you so that I can partner up with Bruce's friend, and you can get some alone time with Bruce."

"Well it doesn't sound very nice when you put it that way," huffed Silver.

Marinette giggled. "I love devious plans. We'll just have to make it look natural."

It took a little time to get all the details, but Marinette and Silver got their plan in order. Silver would arrive first and meet Bruce and his friend. Marinette would arrive later, strike up a one-on-one conversation with Bruce's friend, and spend the night engaging Bruce's friend in conversation so that Silver could flirt with Bruce. Marinette's only concern about the evening was that Bruce's friend would be just as unbearable to talk to as Bruce himself.

The restaurant that Bruce picked out was very fancy, but Marinette didn't mind. It allowed her to wear her new dress, a pale blue and silver creation meant to mimic the shimmering quality of ice. Marinette thought it might be a little too experimental for the old-fashioned Gotham society, but Silver approved of it, and Marinette trusted her friend.

As soon as Marinette walked through the doors her eyes caught sight of Silver's white-blonde hair. Then she noticed Bruce sitting beside her friend, his eyes trained on Silver with an odd intensity. Finally, Marinette noticed Bruce's friend. She was shocked to see that it was Diana, the very woman that Marinette had met at yesterday's gala, the very woman whose introduction was interrupted by the untimely arrival of the Riddler. For a second, Marinette was shocked into stillness. The chaos of the night before had overshadowed her meeting with Diana to the extent that Marinette had forgotten how very charmed she had been by Diana. Now, it seemed Marinette had the perfect opportunity to get to know the charismatic woman from the night before.

"Marinette," the surprise in Diana's tone told Marinette that she was just as blind-sighted by their meeting.

"Hello, Diana. Fancy meeting you here," said Marinette with a smile.

Bruce raised one eyebrow. "I didn't know you two knew each other."

"We met last night," explained Diana. "I wanted to let her knew that you aren't usually so insufferable."

Bruce looked affronted. "I wasn't insufferable."

"You lied about having listened to Kitty Section," piped up Marinette. "There are a lot of valid criticisms of Kitty Section. However, our music being too commercial is not one of them."

Bruce had the decency to look guilty. "I apologize, then. I'll make sure to take the time to give your music a real listen."

For Silver's sake, Marinette was willing to forgive him. "Maybe next time you can give me some real criticism."

Bruce nodded graciously. "I'll do that."

Diana took that moment to bring back up their introduction the night before. "So Marinette, I don't believe we got the chance to finish our introductions last night. I'm Diana Prince, newly a curator at Gotham's Art and History Museum."

"I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, former member of Kitty Section, currently taking a soul-searching sabbatical."

"Soul-searching for what?" asked Diana.

"I suppose I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. When I was younger I was so passionate about fashion. I made my own clothes, entered my creations into design contests, spent years creating a portfolio. I'm trying to rediscover that passion."

"Maybe you could show me your designs some time," offered Diana.

"I would like that," agreed Marinette.

"Actually," chimed in Silver, "Marinette made the dress she's wearing right now."

"Really? I would have assumed that it was professionally made. It's a gorgeous dress," praised Diana.

Marinette blushed, a warm fluttery feeling stirring deep within her. The rest of the night passed in a blur, with Marinette hanging on Diana's every word. It was easy to talk to Diana. She was so naturally charming that Marinette couldn't help but enjoy herself. As the evening winded down, Marinette felt only regret that they would have to part so soon.

As Marinette stood outside the restaurant, waiting for a taxi, she felt Diana's hand settle on her shoulder. It had been a while since Marinette had felt such an intimate touch. "I had a nice time talking to you tonight." The feel of Diana's fingers gently trailing down Marinette's arms was almost more than Marinette, touch-starved and hungry for more, could bear.

Marinette smiled. "I did too. I hope to see more of you."

"I'm sure you will." Marinette took comfort in the certainty in Diana's voice.

And in the back of her mind, Marinette began to rethink her policy of never falling in love again. Something about Diana made Marinette think that Luka wouldn't be her last time after all.

And the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up

Marinette could not believe he did this. After everything they had been through together, Marinette's one final request to Luka was that he not release a song about their breakup. But there it was, top of the charts, the lead single of Luka's new solo album, Different Cities. And if it wasn't bad enough that Luka broke the only promise she asked him to keep, included in the song was a snippet of the last voicemail she sent to him. She left it for him weeks after they broke up, as an explanation to him, to let him know she was leaving Gotham.

In the last few seconds of the song, Marinette's voice is hesitant as she speaks. "I know that you wanted me to stay so that we could work things out, but I don't think that our relationship is fixable. So I guess I'm calling to tell you that I give up. I'm leaving Paris next Friday. I've already bought the plane ticket. You can't change my mind. Goodbye, Luka."

It was the rawest emotion Marinette had shown since the breakup, and Luka exploited it for his own gain.

Marinette spent the day joylessly deleting emails from various news outlets begging her to tell her side of the story. As if she would give Luka the satisfaction of giving free publicity. Everyone loved drama, so Marinette was going to make her reaction - or lack of reaction, in this case - as boring as possible.

Every time her phone rang, Marinette ignored it. The voicemails started to stack up, and eventually, Marinette found herself going through them one-by-one. One from Alya, letting Marinette know that she was there for her when she wanted to talk. One from Adrien, more joking in tone, trying to cheer Marinette up. One from Ivan, directly threatening to punch Luka in the face if Marinette wanted it (and that was the only voicemail that actually brought her spirits up). One from Juleka, an apology.

In the voicemail, Juleka's voice was rough, like she had been crying. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I begged Luka not to release it, but he wouldn't listen to me. He said- he- he said-" Juleka broke off into a sob, and Marinette couldn't help but sniffle along with her. "I can hardly recognize him anymore. Rose and I aren't on speaking terms with him now. He's no longer my brother."

Marinette wished that she could pick up the phone and tell Juleka that it was okay to forgive Luka, but Marinette couldn't. The wound was still fresh, still bleeding out.

One step forward, one steps back. Two days after Marinette considered the idea of loving again, and she was right back where she started - in too much pain to even consider friendship, let alone love.

Speak of the devil, Marinette's phone rang, Diana's name lighting up on the screen. Part of her wanted to throw her phone across the room and curl up under her blankets. The other parts of her answered the call. "Hello?" spoke Marinette, wiping away the moisture at the corner of her eyes.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Diana's voice was soft. It was the most comforting thing Marinette had ever heard.

"Not really. I can't decide if I want to punch Luka in the face or if it would hurt too much to ever see him again."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Marinette sighed. "I met Luka when I was fourteen. He was my classmate Juleka's older brother. Luka had his own band, so all the girls in our class thought that Luka was so cool, but he mostly ignored us. Then one day his backing vocalist got bronchitis and he needed someone to fill in. I was a soloist for the school chorus, so I volunteered. Luka was hesitant to let me join his band until he heard me sing. He told me I had the voice of an angel. Two days later he kissed me, and I fell in love with him so hard and so fast I didn't have a chance to consider if he was really the one."

Marinette took a deep breath, then continued, "It was a whirlwind after that. We started dating. We started a new band and named it Kitty Section. We started writing songs together. The weird part was, he never asked how I felt about any of it. He never asked me if I wanted to date him, he never asked if I wanted to join the band, he always assumed that I wanted what he wanted."

"And what did you want?" asked Diana.

"Back then, I thought I wanted a future with Luka. Now, I guess I just want to feel passion again. I've felt so empty since I left him."

"You might feel better with some company. Do you want me to come over to your place?"

Marinette looked around at her empty apartment, at the way the shadows filled the room, at the way seemed to lurk in every corner. "Sure."

"You could show me some of those designs you were telling me about the other day," suggested Diana.

Marinette glanced over at her sketchbook, which had laid empty for months. "That sounds good."

As she hung up the phone, Marinette realized that talking to Diana had made her feel a bit better. The knife wound that Luka had left in her heart had begun to close up at the edges. Marinette took a deep breath and picked up her sketchbook. If she wanted to rediscover her passion, she needed to work for it.

Now you hang from my lips, like the Gardens of Babylon

Marinette let out an appreciative noise as Diana re-entered the room, modeling one of Marinette's creations. "Give me a little spin."

Diana turned herself around, letting the red fabric swirl around her legs. Something about the way that the dress looked on Diana made it so much prettier in Marinette's eyes. Suddenly the fabric wasn't just red, it was carmine. The dress wasn't just being worn, it was being modeled. It didn't just move, it flowed. "It's a gorgeous dress," complimented Diana as she looked over her shoulder at the mirror behind her to admire it.

"It is nice, isn't it." Marinette had been so caught up in her head she had forgotten to truly admire her creation. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. "You should keep it. One of Bruce's charity galas is coming up in a few weeks. You could wear it there."

"I couldn't," protested Diana.

Marinette shook her head. "It looks best on you. I could never pull off such a vibrant shade of red." There was a second part to the sentence that was left unspoken. If Marinette made the dress knowing that it wouldn't look good on her, she must have made it for another reason. She must have made it with Diana in mind.

Diana smiled, seeming to have caught those unspoken words. "Well if I'm going to wear the dress, you'll have to put up with me gushing about how talented you are all night long."

Marinette flushed. "It's no big deal. It's just a dress."

"It's not just a dress. It's your passion." There was truth in Diana's words that Marinette couldn't deny. It was so much more than a dress. It was the passion for design that Diana had helped her rediscover. It was the newfound friendship with Diana that chased away the loneliness and despair that had taken over her life. It was the glimmer of hope for a future with Diana.

Takes one to know one, you're a cowboy like me

Diana looked beyond gorgeous in that carmine dress. Marinette could keep her eyes off of her as they mingled around the ballroom. Marinette's dress was nice, made with the same passion that Marinette had in her younger years, but it paled in comparison to Diana. However, Diana made up for this disparity by gleefully explaining that Marinette was the creator of the dress every time it was complimented. By the end of the night, Marinette had spent so much time blushing over compliments that she worried her face would become permanently flushed.

The gala was a complete success for everyone involved. The charity, which happened to benefit Gotham Child Protective Services, raised twice their goal amount. Marinette got to spend time with Diana. Even Silver had spent the night looking very pleased with herself, her hand resting on Bruce's forearm as they walked through the ballroom together.

As the night winded down, Marinette and Diana found themselves walking out of Wayne Manor towards Diana's car. Diana had offered to drive Marinette there and back, and Marinette had eagerly accepted. Marinette hated driving in Gotham, as Gotham was known for its aggressive drivers and high rates of automobile accidents.

Marinette sat down in the passenger seat with a sigh, kicking off her heels. "Tonight was nice."

"It was nice," Diana agreed. "We'll have to attend galas together more often."

"You just want an excuse to get your hands on another one of my dresses," teased Marinette.

Diana laughed. "I wouldn't say no to another dress. But really, Bruce's rich friends are much more bearable when I have someone to make fun of them afterward with."

Marinette shuddered. "And to think I thought that Bruce was bad. His friends are intolerable. I never want to talk about golf again in my life."

The two women chatted as they drove through the dark streets of Gotham, back to Marinette's apartment.

"Thanks for driving me home," said Marinette as the car pulled up in front of her apartment building.

"It was no problem." Diana hesitated, before continuing. "I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night."

"Dinner sounds good," Marinette replied, strapping her shoes back on.

"I'm asking for this to be a date." Diana finished.

Marinette looked up at her, surprised. Her friendship with Diana had been so easy that Marinette had forgotten that it could be anything else. She had half a mind to decline, to stay in the familiar, but that little bit of hope in her heart urged Marinette to take a leap of faith and accept. "I would like that. What time will you pick me up?"

Diana smiled, her whole face lighting up. "How does six sound?"

Marinette smiled back, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years. "Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow."

And as Marinette got ready for bed, she realized that all of the sadness that lingered in her heart since the breakup had gone away. All that was left for her to feel was hope for the future.

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribat #MaribatMarch2021 #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Diana Prince #wonderbug #dianette #my work

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potionsprefect · 4 years

Text

Innocence

Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x Victoria Clarke

Word count: 3.2k

Summary: An incident brings up painful memories for the Ramsey’s

Category: angst

Warnings: mentions of violence, do not read if you are not comfortable with this topic

Luke and Lily Ramsey grew up knowing just how important their parents were at that their jobs made a difference to a lot of people. It inspired them to pursue a career in that path, something Ethan and Victoria had no say in whatsoever.

The twins wanted to help people the way their parents did, knowing how what they did was a worthwhile job. Luke had chosen the path of his parents and wanted to become a doctor whilst Lily opted for an E.M.T path, the excitement and adrenaline thrilled her. They had already made their plans.

Today was just another day, Luke and Lily were at school and were going to meet their parents at the hospital. Luckily, it was Friday and the weekend was nearly upon them. Just a few more hours and they could get out of this uniform. Victoria always used to pick them up but the older they got, the more they nagged her to let them make their own way home. And at sixteen years old, having your mum turn up to pick you up from school was embarrassing in their eyes.

Lily walked to her locker before reaching inside for her science book and pulling it out. Just one more lesson, Lily kept telling herself, then it will be the weekend. As she went to shut her locker, someone got there before her, slamming it tightly. The sensation made Lily jump before she looked to her right.

Anna Martinez was glaring at Lily with such fury, Lily wouldn’t be surprised if she spontaneously combusted.

“What do you want Anna?” Lily sighed, hugging her book to her chest.

“Don’t ask questions Ramsey. That’s not your job. Remember the last time you asked a question.” Anna glared.

Lily winced uncomfortably, her hand clutching her side where a large bruise currently was, still not fully gone away. That was 2 weeks ago.

“I’ve come to ask you if you’ve completed the little task I set you.”

Lily shifted uncomfortably. Anna Martinez was Teresa Martinez’s granddaughter, the woman who died after being given a potential cure for Rhodes disease by Lily’s mum. Anna never got the chance to meet her as she was born after Teresa had died and she wanted to learn more about what had happened. She had asked Lily to get her old chart which was filed away deep in the hospital drawers.

Lily knew she would be breaking all the rules if she did and her parents would be in a lot of trouble. She wouldn’t risk her parents careers for anything or anyone, not even Anna Martinez. When she refused, she had a rough encounter with her fist.

Lily hadn’t told anyone about what happened. Her attitude had definitely changed however, she became more short tempered and snappy than usual and brushed off several concerns with a simple “I’m fine, I’m just stressed about school.” Lily didn’t want to cause a fuss, she never had before and she certainly wasn’t going to now.

“No I haven’t and I’ve already told you I’m not going to.” Lily said.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s unethical, mad and downright stupid, just like the person who came up with the idea.”

Anna gripped Lily’s arm tightly, her face red with anger. “Nobody calls Anna Martinez stupid.”

“Oh am I the first one. What an honour.”

“Shut your mouth Ramsey.” Anna sneered.

“If you want the information you’re gonna have to kill me.” Lily hit back.

The anger in Anna boiled over and she gripped Lily with both hands and pushed her up against the lockers, the sound echoing throughout the hall. “Don’t tempt me Ramsey. You’re not as strong as you make yourself out to be.”

“Please let go of me.” Lily tried not to let her voice tremble but a slight whimper left her lips.

“See? Not as strong.” Anna said before letting go.

Lily let out the breath she was holding as Anna backed off.

“Why do you only pick on me? Why not my brother?” Lily asked.

“Because Luke Ramsey doesn’t care about anyone but himself. And Lily Ramsey is too much of a chicken to stand up for herself. Watch your back.” Anna sneered before stepping away and walking down the corridor and round the corridor.

Lily could feel tears threatening to spill from her eyes, she quickly wiped them to avoid anyone asking any questions. She then quickly hurried to her lesson, not wanting anyone to wonder if anything was wrong.

— — — — —

“Lily are you alright?” Lily’s best friend Ashleigh asked her after the lesson had finished.

“Yeah why wouldn’t I be?” Lily replied.

“You looked tense all lesson. Has something happened?” Ashleigh asked as the two girls walked to their lockers.

“I’m fine honestly.” Lily said with a wide smile even though it was fake.

“Damn I’ve just realised I left my pencil case back in class. I’ll see you later.” Ashleigh said heading back the way they came.

Lily continued to the lockers where she put away her remaining books. She then text Luke to meet her outside the entrance so they could head to the hospital. As Lily headed towards the doors, she suddenly felt a hand grab her arm and yank her into a empty classroom.

Lily whipped her head around and saw Anna alongside two other girls who all looked at her with fury in their eyes.

“Bad move to mess with me Ramsey. Very bad move.”

Everything then went black very quickly.

— — — — —

Luke knew Lily wouldn’t appear on time. She never has been one for being punctual, which was unusual considering she had inherited every trait from their dad and Ethan was always known to keep a tight schedule.

Luke just wanted to get to the hospital so they could meet their parents and then head home. He didn’t know why his mum and dad wanted them to come to the hospital when they could just go home and wait for them there. Sometimes, they could end up being delayed and Luke and Lily will be sat at the hospital until at least 8 or 9pm.

Luke sent a text message to Lily before deciding to go back inside the school to see if he could find her. It wasn’t like Lily to avoid answering messages on her phone, she was always on the bloody thing.

“Luke! I was just about to message you! Have you seen Lily?” Ashleigh, Lily’s best friend caught up to Luke, out of breath.

“No I was just about to go look for her. She was supposed to meet me outside so we could go to the hospital. Do you have any idea where she might be?” Luke replied.

“She was heading to the lockers. I had to go back and get my pencil case and when I came back she wasn’t there.”

“Let’s search for her. She has to be here somewhere.”

The two looked round the corridors for any sign of Lily, checking in empty classrooms and passing by teachers. Despite an extensive 10 minute search, they hadn’t found Lily.

In a corridor in another part of the building, Lily Ramsey was stirring. She was lying on the floor, it was impossible to get up.

Every inch of her body was screaming in pain yet Lily couldn’t muster the energy to cry out. Instead she just gave a small whimper.

Her head was pounding and she could feel something sticky trickling down her face. But as much as she tried, she couldn’t move her arm.

“Any sign?” A voice outside the door said.

“No none.” Another voice said. Lily recognised that one immediately. It was Luke’s.

“Where else could she be? Did she have a detention to attend?” The first voice said. Lily then realised it was Ashleigh’s.

“Not that I know of.”

Lily needed to get their attention. With as much energy as she could, she tried to slide closer to the door. Her voice was cold and raspy, they wouldn’t have been able to hear her.

Her right wrist was in a lot of pain and as she looked down at it, it was bruised and bent at an unusual angle. With her other hand she tried to knock against the door as hard as she could, the sensation causing a lot of pain, Lily cried out in anguish.

“Did you hear that?” Ashleigh’s voice said.

“Yeah. It sounds like it’s coming from this classroom.” Luke said. Lily heard footsteps get nearer and someone on the other side tried to open the door. “It’s locked.”

“I could’ve sworn I heard a noise. Wait here and I’ll go find someone to bring a key.” Ashleigh said and Lily then heard retreating footsteps.

It wasn’t long before the footsteps came back and Lily could hear the sound of a key being put into the lock. The door swung open.

“Oh my god! It’s Lily. Go and get help NOW!” Luke hurried over and crouched down beside his sister. Ashleigh’s face was a mix of horror and despair as she hurried back down the corridor.

“Luke...” Lily managed to draw a slight breath, she could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness.

“No Lily no. Don’t you dare fall asleep. You have to stay awake you hear me? You have to stay awake. Who did this to you?” Luke trembled, his hands cradling his twins head and his eyes stinging with tears.

“Anna...” Lily whispered desperately trying to stay awake. “Tell M-Mum and D-Dad that I’m s-sorry.”

“What? Who’s Anna? And why would you want me to tell Mum and Dad that?” Luke asked.

“M-Martinez.” Lily said. Her eyes then flickered shut.

“Lily? Lily stay awake!” Luke shook her but she didn’t wake up.

Ashleigh came running back with the Principal Joseph Banks.

“What’s happened?” The Principal asked, his eyes wide.

“I don’t know. I asked her who did this and she said someone called Anna Martinez.” Luke replied, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“Right I’ll call an ambulance.” Principal Banks said pulling out his mobile.

“It’s gonna be alright Lily. You’re gonna be alright.” Luke said looking down at his sister.

He knew there was gonna be hell to pay. He would make sure of it.

— — — — —

The emergency call came through and Sienna, who just so happened to be near the phone picked it up.

“Bloom Edenbrook go ahead.” Sienna said making notes for the emergency coming in.

As the words were relayed to Sienna, she nodded her head, writing on the chart. She put the phone down and put on the protective gear as she headed out to the ambulance bag to wait for the patient. She didn’t have to wait long before the ambulance rolled up and the doors flung open.

“16 year old female found beaten in a classroom, multiple injures...” The paramedic explained but Sienna’s eyes were solely fixed on the young man getting out of the ambulance with the patient.

“Luke?! What’s happened?” Sienna said but as her eyes trailed to the patient, her heart stopped. “Oh god.”

Lily Ramsey was lying on the gurney, battered and bruised.

“Aunt Sienna! I found her in a locked classroom. I don’t know what’s happened. Please Aunt Sienna, help her.” Luke cried.

“It’s okay, we will I promise.” Sienna laid a comforting hand on Luke’s shoulder to try and stop him trembling. “The Ramsey’s are upstairs. Take her inside.” Sienna nodded to the paramedics who continued on into the hospital. “Can you tell me what happened?” Sienna put an arm around Luke’s shoulders as they walked into the hospital.

“We we’re meant to come here after school to meet Mum and Dad. I was meant to meet her outside the school but when she didn’t turn up, I went looking for her. That’s when her friend and I found her.” Luke explained as the two walked into the hospital.

“What’s going on? I’ve just seen Lily being wheeled in.” Jackie came up to the pair of them.

“She was attacked. Can you go find them?” Sienna replied. Jackie nodded before heading to the stairs.

“I don’t understand why this is happening.” Luke said, fresh tears rolling down his face.

“It’s all going to be okay. Your sister is strong. She wasn’t even scared when she had to have her appendix out all those years ago.” Sienna comforted him.

“Luke?” A voice said. The young boy looked up and saw his parents rushing towards him, concern and panic on their faces.

“What’s happened?” Ethan asked.

“I found Lily beaten up in a locked classroom. She said it was someone called Anna Martinez.”

Ethan sat down next to Luke and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“I need to see her.” Victoria said striding to the room where Lily was being treated.

“Victoria you know you can’t treat her.” Sienna raced after her.

“She’s my daughter!” Victoria whipped her head around, tears in her eyes.

“And she’s been looked after by the best.” Sienna reassured her. Victoria, feeling the stress fall upon her sobbed into Sienna’s arms.

“She’s my baby Sienna.” Victoria cried.

“I know.” Sienna rubbed her back soothingly. She looked over to the trauma room where doctors were moving fluently to treat Lily.

Just why would someone want to do this to her?

— — — — —

Victoria glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 12:56am. She hadn’t left her daughters side all evening and was determined to stay until she woke up.

The doctors that treated Lily said she had sustained multiple injuries but should wake up soon. She had broken her right wrist and had multiple bruises all around her body but luckily, she had no head injury and so was expected to make a full recovery.

What Victoria couldn’t understand was when the doctors explained that she had old bruises on her body that were not sustained in the attack. That meant someone had done something to her before and Lily hadn’t told anyone.

“You need to sleep.” A voice said from the doorway. Victoria looked round and saw Ethan walking into the room.

“I’m not leaving until she wakes up.” Victoria said, wiping the tears from her cheeks furiously.

“You won’t help anyone if you don’t rest, least of all Lily.” Ethan laid a hand on her shoulder.

“She needs someone to be here when she wakes up.”

“She’ll wake up in the morning. It’s been a long day. Come home.” Ethan wrapped his hand in Victoria’s and gently pulled her up out of her seat.

Victoria sighed, knowing Ethan was not going to give up and that she wouldn’t win. “Okay fine. Where’s Luke?”

“He asked if he could stay round Ben’s tonight to clear his head and I said he could. He said he’d come by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay that’s fine. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like seeing her like that.” Victoria sighed tears falling again.

Ethan wrapped her up in a tight hug before heading towards the car and driving home.

When they both sank into their bed that night all the events of the last few hours caught up with the couple. They were both so exhausted they don’t remember how long they were awake for.

— — — — —

Victoria and Ethan made their way back to the hospital at 6:30am, Luke joining them not long after wanting to know if his sister had woken up yet.

“How is she?” Luke asked as he entered the room.

“She’s not awake yet. Are you ok?” Victoria stood up and gave her son a hug. Although it was more like him hugging her because he was so tall.

“Yeah. Just tired.” Luke gave a faint smile.

“I know it can’t have been easy for you. I’m proud of you for how you’ve handled all of this.” Victoria smiled.

“Thanks Mum.”

“Looks like someone else has something to say.” Ethan said from Lily’s bedside.

Victoria and Luke looked towards Lily’s bed where she was stirring, trying to open her eyes.

“Lily? Lily can you hear me?” Victoria said stroking her daughters head.

“W-what happened?” Lily squinted at the bright light.

“You were attacked sweetheart do you remember?” Ethan asked getting out his stethoscope.

“Yeah I r-remember that. I mean how d-did I get here?” Lily tried looking around but grasped her head in pain.

“You were brought here in an ambulance. Lily what happened?” Victoria asked.

“I... I was heading out to meet Luke and then everything went black.”

“Do you remember who did this to you?” Luke asked. For the briefest of moments she was conscious she has told Luke who did this to her but he wanted to hear it in front of his parents.

“I... yeah I do. It was Anna Martinez.” Lily sighed.

“Who is this girl?” Ethan asked.

“She-she’s Teresa Martinez’s granddaughter.” Lily began to cry.

Victoria and Ethan looked at each other horrified. Luke looked between his parents waiting to see who would react first. But before either could utter a word, Lily spoke again.

“She asked me to get access to her file so she could understand what happened to her grandmother. The first time I refused, she punched me in the ribs, the second time, she trashed my locker and the third... she did this. I’m sorry Mum, Dad.” Tears were rolling down Lily’s face.

“Oh Lily.” Victoria leaned forward and gently pulled her daughter into her arms as the young girl sobbed into her shoulder. Ethan gently ran a hand through Lily’s hair as he comforted her.

“You don’t have to apologise for anything Lily. None of this is your fault. You did the right thing refusing to listen to her.” Ethan said as Lily moved to hug him.

“Ethan? Can I have a word?” A voice said from the doorway. Sienna was looking at Ethan as he walked out the room.

“You gave me a big fright sis. Don’t ever let me see you like that again.” Luke sat down in the empty seat next to Lily’s bed before hugging her.

“I’m sorry. On the bright side at least you got practice for the real thing.” Lily winked.

“Lily!” Victoria cried out.

“What? If I can crack a joke I’m definitely feeling better.” Lily laughed a little.

“That you definitely are.” Ethan walked back into the room chuckling. “Although don’t you ever scare me again like that young lady.” He said in a serious tone.

“I’ll try not to.”

“What did Sienna want?” Victoria turned to Ethan.

“Just that Lily’s vitals are all normal and that she’ll be kept here for observation. And that the police are round at Anna Martinez’s house. Sounds like someone tipped them off.”

“She can’t hurt you again, don’t worry.” Victoria squeezed Lily’s hand.

“It’s not that. What am I going to do all this time in here?” Lily teased.

“Trust you to make a joke out of all of it.” Luke rolled his eyes.

“I think you’ll find it’s sarcasm. And there’s only one person who I learnt that off.” Lily looked at Ethan with a grin.

“Well at least you’re feeling better.” Ethan rolled his eyes with a small smile.

Lily smiled. With her family by her side, she knew she would recover from this. Anna would be punished for what she did and everything would go back to normal. Lily might have the scars to tell a story in the future, but at that particular moment, none of it mattered.

All would be okay in the end.

— — — — —

I promise I will write family fluff next time! I had another brain wave at 12am and this was the idea 😂🥺

Hope you enjoy this. Let me know if you would like to be tagged

Tag list: @ohchoices @openheartfan @queencarb @genevievemd @iemcpbchoices @choicesaddict5 @schnitzelbutterfingers @alina-yol-ramsey @stygianflood @malakemads-blog @gryffindordaughterofathena @magicalshepherdtreeprofessor @openheartfanfics @rookie-ramsey @sophxwithers

#open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #play choices #pixelberry #fanfic #open heart fanfiction #angst

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queenbirbs · 4 years

Text

I was the son you always had | Ethan x MC

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x MC

Warnings: discussion of drug use, language, neglect

Word count: 4.9k

Summary: Ethan confronts Louise. Post chapter 13.

Notes: Title taken from the Bear’s Den song “Above the Clouds of Pompeii.”

------

The years have not been kind to Louise Ramsey.

If that’s still her surname, of course, Ethan isn’t sure. It’s what he gave Marlene for the admission forms; she had the wherewithal, at least, to not even bat an eye at the name. He’s always liked Marlene, even if attempting to curb hospital gossip is like trying to put out a fire with an eyedropper. Having been fourteen hours since she was admitted, it’s no secret that Doctor Ramsey’s mom is the OD in room 532.

It’s the same room he’s standing in front of, trying to gather his wits. The rest of the staff look on from behind their pillars and charts, as if the art of discretion is lost on them all. Ethan stamps down on the reflex to bark and snarl at them. It’ll only stoke the flames if he does.

“You have to turn the knob to open it.”

That tight feeling in his chest eases up a fraction. He turns to see Sloane, propped up against the wall beside him. In a sea of a thousand curious faces, her expression of concern is a welcome sight. Resisting the urge to reach for her, he opts for a look of disappointment at the joke, or attempt thereof. She answers with that gentle smile of hers, the one where the left corner of her mouth crinkles up and her dimple appears. Her gaze drifts from his and over to the window; on the other side is Louise, the pallor of her face covered in a light sheen of sweat. The hands that used to hold his as they crossed the street tremble around the pages of whatever magazine she’s pretending to read.

“I don’t know why I’m bothering. I already know why she’s here.”

“No, you think you know why,” Sloane says, and he hates it, but he knows she’s right. “The only way to know for certain is to talk to her.”

“And what would that conversation sound like? Hi, I’m Doctor Ramsey, the son you left without a backwards glance when he was eleven years-old. How was the turkey sandwich you had for lunch?”

She leans her temple against the wall, her eyes glazing over in that familiar way that tells him she’s deep in thought. After the eleven hours she’s been here, thick strands have come loose from her messy bun to settle against her neck. The urge to sweep them away, to settle his hand there and massage at the tight lines is a fierce one.

“Treat her how you would a patient. Ask her about her pain management, about her next steps once she’s discharged. That will give you a feel for her attitude towards you, and towards herself in general. It’ll give you a foundation to start with.”

Reaching out, Sloane squeezes his arm once, then twice, before letting her hand fall away. He misses the warmth of her immediately.

“Alright,” he sighs. “Yes, thank you, that… helps. Truly.”

Before he can work up the nerve, she beats him to his next question.

“I’ll be in the office when you’re done, if you--”

“Yes.”

That smile winks at him again as she pushes off the wall and heads down the hallway. Ethan watches her for as long as he can, until the throng of staff swallows her up. Turning back to the door, he catches Louise watching him before her eyes dart back to her magazine. She hasn’t turned the page for quite some time, and he doubts the full-page cologne ad is somehow keeping her attention. Before he has to resort to a pep talk, he turns the knob and steps inside.

Louise looks up as he closes the door behind him.

“Oh. Hello.”

“Hello,” he greets through a throat stuffed full of cotton. “I’m Doctor Ramsey. I’m here to perform a check up and see how things are going.”

Her mouth opens and closes, her eyes growing wide beneath her bangs.

“Well, okay, yeah, but -- I mean, I know you. I know who you are. You’re my son.”

The angry retort he prepared never comes, drowned out by the roaring pulse in his ears as he picks up her chart from the foot of the bed and reads through it.

“Yes, I’m aware.” He brushes off her words and continues in a forced monotone. “We’ve got you on lofexidine to help reduce the detox symptoms. Even with the assistance, those symptoms will likely peak in the next day or two, depending on how heavy your usage is.”

“I know.” She toys with the magazine as she speaks. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”

Ethan lifts his gaze from the chart and looks -- really looks -- at his mother for the first time in twenty-six years. The dark brown hair she used to tease with her can of Aqua Net, making the hallway outside the bathroom smell of chemicals, is now a sallow gray. The warm arms that would hug him tight are gaunt from malnutrition. The bright face that he remembers smiling down at him, or blowing raspberries against his cheek, or peeking around his door to call him down for breakfast is no more. Pockmarks mar her skin, more visible now without the thick coat of makeup. Deep grooves circle underneath her eyes and along the curve of her cheeks, carving at her skin.

“When did the drug use start?” he asks.

“We were at the tail end of the nineties recession, but layoffs were still happening across the company. I was lucky to keep my job, but with a forty percent cut of staff, those duties had to be distributed elsewhere.” She heaves out a sigh, a weary chuckle following after. “Being the finance manager, I was elsewhere. My coworker, Brenda, she’s the one who got me started, going on and on about how it made her feel relaxed and on top of things. I grew up in the seventies, so I’d taken an occasional trip or two with LSD. It didn’t seem so bad just to try it out. At first, it was a line or two to get through the fourteen-hour work day. Then, after a few weeks, two lines became five. And then…” she drifts off, her hand dipping from side to side.

“Not that working those long hours helped in any way. I never got to spend time with you -- that was your father.” It’s impossible to miss the bitterness in her tone, the downward turn of her lips. “He got to play stay-at-home dad until you turned two. He got to hear your first words, watch you take your first steps. He’d tell me all about what I’d missed when I got home: how much fun you had at the park, how well you did in the spelling bee, how high you placed at the science fair. He got to be the parent, and I was just the moneymaker.”

The dull roar in his ears changes to a shrill pitch, drowning out every sensible thought inside his head. The sob story was to be expected, but the jealous jabs at his dad are a step too far. How dare she walk back into his life and insult the man who raised him? She knew nothing about that first year. How Ethan would come home from school and spot the late notices on the kitchen table. How Ethan would creep down the hallway at night and see his dad sitting on her side of the bed, going through photographs and crying. How, three days before Christmas, the electric was shut off and his dad made the living room into their own campsite, complete with a roaring fire to cook beans on and flashlights to tell make-believe stories.

“So you decided to skip out and miss twenty-five more years of my life?” he snaps.

“Oh, Ethan,” she sighs, “it wasn’t like that.”

“Bullshit.”

“I had to--” she stops and drags in a breath. “I snapped, that day. I’d worked there for thirteen years, right out of high school. I got called into the boss’s office. I thought I was getting a promotion. Instead, I was reprimanded for not performing well enough. That if I didn’t shape up I’d find myself without a job at all.” Her fingers tremble with effort as she pushes her bangs aside, her glare set firmly on the tiled floor. “And then I came home -- early, because I was crying in the bathroom to avoid making a scene -- and your father… he stopped me in the kitchen. He told me that I was working myself too hard, and that I should try to take some time off to be with you two.”

She looks up at him then, sympathy for her misdeeds plainly written across her face. Ethan wonders if he’s still that good at reading his own mother, or if she’s that good of an actress.

“Then you went to the store,” he finishes for her. “And you never came back.”

“I went to the bank,” she corrects, as if, in the grand scheme of things, it matters. “I took out my money and got in the car and drove. I made it all the way to Richmond before a state trooper took note of my tags. After I made it clear that I’d left of my own volition, he let me go, and that was that.”

The flippant way she describes those harrowing days feels like a slap in the face. His next words are spoken through clenched teeth, as he attempts to reign in the anger that burns through him.

“You could’ve… why didn’t you leave us a note? We both thought something terrible had happened. He never said anything in front of me, but I wasn’t stupid. I watched the news. I saw what happened to other moms who disappeared.”

He remembers sitting in Mrs. Lemon’s living room, their next-door neighbor and his babysitter while his dad was out searching. He remembers the ticking of her crochet needles and the smell of the litter box that needed changing and the feel of the corduroy couch under his flannel pajama pants. He remembers Unsolved Mysteries playing on the box television in the corner, the host stepping out from behind a shadowy pillar to ask for his help solving a mystery. He remembers asking for a pen and paper to write to Mr. Stack and see if he could air his mom’s case.

“I… like I said, Ethan, I just-- I snapped. I had to get out of there. Every day it felt like I was drowning, but then, seeing you, coming home to you, gave me enough air to breathe.” A wistful little smile appears, but soon falls away as she continues. “I made it all the way to Tampa and lived there for a few years with an old friend. After that, I moved around some, changed my name, tried to make something of myself.” She gives a hapless little shrug and reaches up to pull at the dry skin on her lip. “But I was hooked. Still am, I guess. And that always kept me from reaching out -- because I did think about it, Ethan. I did.

“I tried rehab a few times, and the other moms -- their children wrote them letters and came for visiting hours. They talked about all the wonderful things they were going to do together once they stopped using.” Louise yanks at her lip again, cursing when her fingers come away flecked with blood. “But when I thought about writing to you, the thought of you seeing me like that stopped me. And the longer I stayed, the more I watched those families stop visiting and the letters stop coming. And it seemed… pointless.”

Odd, he finds, that she refused to reach out over fears that he would abandon her. He wonders if she rehearsed her lines beforehand, or if she’s this good at ad-lib. The misty eyes and pitiful expression only serve to enhance the performance; she wears a mask, and her face grows to fit it. Buried underneath all that disappointment and resentment, though, is the what if. What if she’s telling the truth? She could have easily been another dejected workaholic that fell victim to her vices and sacrificed her relationships in the process. As a physician, Ethan knows how tight of a hold addiction can have on a person.

“It’s different,” Sloane had said in the on-call room, those bright eyes of hers shadowed with experience, “when it’s not an article or a case study, but your own parent -- someone you’re meant to rely on.”

But he can’t -- won’t, even -- play devil’s advocate, not now. Not with the mother who walked right out of his life and never looked back.

Wandering over to the window, Ethan watches his city move below him; people and cars and buses and trucks going and going while he wastes time here.

“For four days, I didn’t believe Dad.” Unwilling to turn back to Louise, he searches for city hall as he speaks, finding an odd comfort in the ugly, familiar structure. “I thought he was lying when he said you left. He told me you were okay, but that you decided you needed some space from him. I think that early on… we-- he thought you would come back. Then four days became a month, then three, then school started, and when I had friends over I had to explain how it was only Dad now and that you’d left. That no, we hadn’t heard from you, but no, we didn’t think you were dead.”

Though, in his weakest hours, during that first year of her being gone, Ethan had thought about it. Would that look of pity be easier to handle if the concept of choice was taken out of the equation? If cancer or a car accident had taken her away, would that be more palatable for his friends to understand, rather than her choosing to abandon him? He could’ve been the kid making lame dead mom jokes, instead of the kid hiding his tears and fumbling his way through an explanation on why he didn’t need to make a Mother’s Day card this year, Miss Riddleberger.

“You can imagine my surprise,” he says, “when Dad told me you were back in town and wanting to reconnect.”

“Because I -- I do want to, Ethan,” she pleads, her voice cracking over his name. “I’ve spent all these years wondering about you. But look at you! You’ve done so well for yourself. Your father, he told me about how well you did in college, that you graduated the top of your class at medical school.”

“That was nice of him.” The reply is sour in his mouth, bitter and painful. “Did he also tell you that when I was thirteen, I fell off my bike and broke my arm and, despite everything, I cried for you? Or when everyone else was getting graduation photos with their parents, Dad had to stop another family to get our picture taken?”

Louise’s breath hitches artfully; he imagines that she’s clutching a hand over her heart, the picture of a distraught mother.

“No, he… didn’t tell me about any of that.”

“No,” he agrees with a humorless chuckle, “no, I don’t imagine he would have. I imagine he also didn’t mention that I saw you leaving your motel.”

She makes a noise of interest at that. “Then,” Ethan continues as he finally turns back to face her, “my friend was in a nearby market and watched you shoplift. Oh, but before that, she overheard your interesting phone conversation.”

Louise studies him for a long moment and he feels eleven years-old again, sitting on that corduroy couch, hoping and hoping and hoping his mom would come home safe. Some small part of him wants to be wrong about her. But Sloane has taught him time and again that gut feelings can’t be brushed aside.

“That call had nothing to do with you,” Louise tells him.

Crossing his arms across his chest, Ethan settles his shoulder against the window.

“I’ve been a physician for almost a decade now, which means I’ve gotten rather good at knowing when patients are lying to me.” He holds up a hand to stall her immediate protest. “I also know that standing here and arguing with you is a waste of my time. There’s someone out there who I care about a great deal, who I treated horribly earlier because of you, yet here I am. So, here is my offer: once your three days are finished here, I’ll help you secure a spot with a rehab facility. One of the country’s best is right outside the city and I know the director there. Once you’re in recovery, you can decide what you want to do with your life.”

“I don’t think I can afford--”

“All expenses during your stay will be paid for by me.”

“Oh.” Her eyes grow wide and her lower lip trembles. “That’s-- thank you, Ethan, that’s--”

“Let me be clear about this, though,” he interrupts, straightening to his full height and pinning her down with his gaze. “This is the only financial help I will give you. This isn’t an act of forgiveness. I still don’t trust you, and right now, I’m not sure I ever will. But you--” he clenches his teeth against the sudden wave of emotion that batters at him, “--you’re still my mother.”

From his coat pocket, he pulls out a thick, crinkled envelope. Crossing the room, he hands it to her; she pops the tape and slides the card out. It’s been twenty-six years, but he can still remember the glittery flowers on the front, the curly font of whatever silly poem he read aloud to his dad in the card aisle when choosing it.

“You held onto this for all these years?” she asks, tears spilling out onto her pale cheeks. As she opens the card, the dried husk of a flower falls out and onto her blankets; a daisy, her favorite. He remembers sneaking onto Mr. Taylor’s lawn to steal it.

“You left before I could give it to you.”

It’s the last thing he has of hers. Something settles deep inside his sternum at the notion that he’s free of it. “Do you agree to the terms I’ve set?” he asks after a moment.

Louise looks up from the card and smiles at him.

“Yes.”

------

“You didn’t have to come with me.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.”

This late in the evening, with most of the patients fed and medicated, the only sounds are the low murmur of televisions and steady beeps of monitors; the white noise of second shift.

“Did you manage to get any sleep?” Ethan asks, unable to stop the quick once-over he gives her.

“I took a nap on the couch. When I woke up, someone had covered me with a blanket. It was sweet.”

Sloane side-eyes him, that little smile making its appearance for the third time today. He wonders when he’ll stop keeping track of something so silly.

“That was very kind of them to do,” he says.

“It was.”

They make it to room 532 and Ethan stops to shift the tray of food in his hands. Sloane lets out a grumble about men and opens the door for him. He’s forced to a halt right inside the doorway when Sloane stops and flashes him a concerned glance over her shoulder.

“Wait, where’s your mom?” she asks.

“What?”

Nudging her forward, Ethan steps into the room. He takes in the freshly-made bed, the chemical smell of a hospital-grade disinfectant, and, most alarming: the lack of his mother or her things. Turning on his heel, he beelines to the nurse’s station and slams the tray down onto the counter. The plate cover pops off, sending potatoes and green beans into the floor. Kendra glares at him from her seat behind the computer.

“What crawled up your--”

“Room 532 -- where’s the patient?” he growls.

With a huff, she moves to the keyboard and pecks at the keys. Ethan watches the realization spread across her face and hates seeing her anger turn to pity. He’d rather have the former.

“Says here patient discharged herself around four.”

“Why wasn’t I informed?”

“I’m sorry about that,” Kendra replies in a cool tone, then doubles down when he scoffs. “Really, I am. But you’re not listed as the primary attending, and shift change happened right about then. It fell through the cracks.”

Something wet slides across his hand. Ethan looks down to see apple juice dripping over the side of the tray and into the floor. Awareness of the mess he’s made shakes him out of the haze of outrage.

“No, I’m the one who--” he clears his throat and tries again, “--I’m sorry, Kendra. There’s no excuse for my outburst. I’ll get this cleaned up.”

“I can page for a janitor,” she offers.

Ethan shakes his head and crouches down, scooping up the cold food with his hand and dumping it back onto the tray. Before he can stand and start to locate the closest cleaning cart, familiar orange sneakers appear beside him. Sloane crouches beside him and hands him a roll of paper towels, spraying down the counter and floor as he tears off a few sheets. They pile the used towels onto the tray, now covered in a mountain of food scraps and trash. If Ethan were a metaphorical man, he would consider it an allegory for the day he’s had.

Kendra waves them off when they move to pick up the tray.

“I’ll have one of the dietary aides pick it up on their way through.”

“Thank you,” Ethan murmurs.

A nudge at his side pulls him from the slippery slope of his thoughts. Sloane tips her head down the corridor, the invitation hidden away in the lift of her brow. He answers with a nod and follows her towards the elevator.

------

Ethan drops down onto the couch, unable to quiet the weary sigh that escapes him. Jenner hops up to join him, knocking her big head against his shoulder as she snuggles close. He wraps his arm around her and rubs the white patch on her chest; Jenner settles her nose against his chin and lets out a chorus of happy grunts.

Circling the couch, Sloane takes her spot beside him and hands him a tumbler.

“How are you feeling?”

It doesn’t escape his notice that she completely skipped over asking him if he wanted to talk in the first place. The response to that would have been an emphatic no. His throat feels full of all the vague answers he could give instead, of all the ways he could brush aside her question. He thinks about sitting on Mrs. Lemon’s corduroy couch that first awful, terrible night; remembers Mrs. Lemon asked if he was okay; remembers how he boxed up all those new, scary feelings and lied.

A great, shuddering breath escapes him.

“What’s wrong with me?” he rasps.

“Oh, Ethan--”

“I’m serious, Sloane,” he interrupts, clenching his fist tight around the glass. “There has to be some explanation, right? Because that’s-- that’s twice now she’s left without even bothering to say goodbye. And she didn’t-- she never even said she was sorry, for any of it.”

He’s unaware of his own tears until he tastes the salt of them on his tongue. His chest aches from the uneven breaths he takes, his lungs burning from the effort. Jenner whines and licks at his jaw, sensing his distress.

“Why didn’t she stay?” he chokes out, unsure of which time he’s referring to.

Sloane slides her hand under his and takes his glass. Placing it on the coffee table, she turns back to him and wraps her arms around him, guiding him back into the cushions. He settles his head on her shoulder, where she runs soothing fingers through his hair.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. I could list your accomplishments until I’m blue in the face, but I know all that doesn’t mean shit to you right now, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll remind you that you’re loyal and honest and hardworking and, despite the losses you’ve experienced and despite the ways you try to hide it, you care more about helping people than anyone else I know.” She kisses the crown of his head and hums. “Well, besides me, of course.”

Her intended effect works; despite it all, he feels a laugh slip through his aching throat -- it’s feeble, but it’s there.

“She’s the one missing out on knowing you,” Sloane assures. “We can’t choose who our parents are. You and I happened to get stuck with the short end of the stick when it comes to our mothers.”

Ethan knows the gist of her issues with her own mother; knows she left Sloane and her little brother at their grandparents when she was nine.

“Tell me,” he requests, to which she hesitates. “I want to know. This isn’t some tactic to… I’m not trying to avoid my own troubles, I promise.”

Her fingers resume their movement as she heaves out a sigh.

“Most of the time, it was me and Milo by ourselves, waiting for my mom to come home from work or from the club. She would come in and pass out on the couch. I knew how mad she would get the next morning if she stayed there, though, so I’d wake her up and guide her to her bedroom, make sure she took her contacts out and took some ibuprofen. On the weekend, she would have her friends over and they would fill our little apartment. But it was exciting, being around so many people, watching all of them, talking to them, fetching beer or cigarettes for them when they were too drunk to stand. Sure, sometimes they would get violent, or steal, or fight, and I would hide Milo with me under my bed until the cops left. But she threatened to drive down to Indiana and leave us in a cornfield if we got her in trouble, and I believed her.

“Then Milo started school and cut himself on some playground equipment. He has hemophilia, so the blood wouldn’t clot, and they called her to come pick him up. When she called back to tell the school nurse to ‘staple the fucking wound shut,’ the school called CPS. The morning after that first state visit, my mom packed us a trash bag each and loaded us up in the car. She told us we were going on vacation to see Gramma and Grandpa. When we got to Virginia, she kissed us on the cheek and told us she’d be back in a week. I never saw her again.”

Ethan reaches up for her hand and holds it in his, warming her fingers that have since turned cold. He can feel the small hitch in her breath as she clears her throat to continue.

“Thankfully, Milo doesn’t remember much. But he was the one who sought her out when he got old enough. He tracked her down when he was in college, found her and her new family. She lives in Corpus Christi; she’s the wife of a lieutenant. They have two kids, a boy and a girl, both in high school. After she dumped us off, she started a new life for herself.”

“Did your brother reach out to her?”

The humorless chuckle tells him all he needs to know. He lifts their joined hands to press a kiss to her knuckles.

“She told him he was mistaken. Milo sent her a photo as proof. She countered with an offer for hush money.” Ethan can’t see from his position, but by her tone, he knows she’s rolling her eyes. “Some things never change, I guess.”

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“Me too.” Sloane squeezes him tighter to her for a beat. “But I’m telling you my little sob story only because it makes me more appreciative of the people in my life who care about me. At first, that was my grandparents, who never once made me and Milo feel like a burden, who loved us unconditionally. Then, my friends at school, and my friends in college, and my friends now. And you have Naveen, you have me -- you even have your ‘boys,’” she teases. “But you also have your dad, who’s proud of you even when you burn pancakes. Just know that you can feel angry and hurt at her, but her walking away doesn’t diminish the love others have for you.”

Ethan closes his eyes at her reassurances, drinking them in. Unable to work up a response, he lets go of her hand to slide his arm around her waist and pull her impossibly closer. His heartbeat slows at the soft circles she rubs along his back, sinking easily, readily into his embrace.

“I don’t burn pancakes,” he says after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“What?”

“My dad, he said that?”

“Oh, my god.” Sloane barks out a laugh; he enjoys the sound of its return. “Out of all that, you would focus on that?”

“Since it was a testament against my cooking ability, yes.”

“I don’t think he meant literally. More like metaphorical.”

“Metaphorical pancakes?”

“No, you’re-- oh my god you’re the worst.”

“I thought I was amazing and caring and thoughtful?”

“You are, but you’re also the worst.”

He moves out of her embrace and up to meet her gaze. Her kiss is a gentle one, a brush of her mouth on his.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“I think I know just the thing.”

------

Author’s notes and what-have-yous:

I barely googled AMA discharges or protocol for those, but I know that since she is his mom, Ethan would not be allowed to be her actual doctor.

“He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it” is a line from George Orwell’s Shooting An Elephant, changed slightly for this fic.

#open heart #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #Kaila writes things #f: I was the son you always had #okay second time's a charm right?

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dccomicsimagines · 4 years

Text

What’s Lost is Found - Batfamily Imagine - Part Seven

Warning - Depressive Thoughts, Angst Content

Note from Anon - I absolutely love your writing! You're definitely one of my favorite fanfic writers. I love What's Lost Is Found, but I just thought I might suggest adding some sort of warning for depressive thoughts or something. I really love how your writings are realistic and that I can relate to them, but it was so similar to the depression I had a couple years ago, I felt myself become a little depressed for a couple days afterward. Either way, it's still amazing and I can't wait for the next part! ❤❤❤

Author’s Note - I am truly sorry for any harm that this story might have caused due to the lack of a warning of depressive thoughts. I will try to include these warnings on the other parts as well and I’m sorry they weren’t there in the first place.

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Six.Five Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven

Requested by Anon - I love your work! Can the next part of What’s lost is found be her first encounter with Jason tim and Damien! Love the series

Requested by multifandoms916 - Can you write a part 7 for what’s lost is found where the reader gets closure from Bruce’s death All so where the adults and Lian actually apologizes like genuine

Requested by Anon - part seven of what’s lost is found? where the reader and damian finally meet again? and the reader gets like injured and he freaks? i love ur stories!

Requested by many other Anons as well.

***

You flipped over the last mugger and wrapped your legs around his neck. He choked. You chuckled, using the momentum to flip him onto the ground.

“I wish I could do that,” Jon laughed, flying over to scoop you up into his arms. He soared into the sky as the cops arrived on the scene.

“You could if you worked on your flexibility.” Your arms wrapped around his neck as you kissed his cheek. His cologne tickled your nose.

“Will you help me with that?” Jon smirked.

You nuzzled his cheek. “Maybe.” Your phone beeped from your pocket. Jon landed on the roof of a office building and set you down. Only then, did you take your phone out of your pocket. One phone dropped forty feet was enough. “Crap, I’m supposed to be home in ten minutes. Dick texted me a warning.”

“Well, we will have to fly fast then.” Jon took off his coat. “It’s only like fifty miles.” He wrapped the coat around you. You smiled, putting your arms through once your phone was safely back in your pocket.

“Remember we went to see the new Disney movie,” you warned as Jon scooped you up again. You snuggled into his chest, loving how warm he was.

“Yep, and it was okay. We went to pizza afterwards.” Jon floated off the roof and high into the sky. “At least that’s not a lie.”

You snorted, but stayed quiet. Jon picked up speed, flying faster than what was comfortable for you. You hid your face into his shoulder so the wind wouldn’t bite your face.

A few months had passed since Christmas break. You went back to school, and the normal humdrum of life. However, this time you had a spark of excitement. A spark named Jon.

Jon and you had dates every weekend. They started out slow as Dick had a crisis with the idea of you dating. Those first few dates were at the house under Dick’s watchful and annoying eye. Eventually, with Kori’s support, the dates were allowed to be out of the house and without supervision.

Thus, without supervision, the dates took a different turn. Jon and you would often go on patrol in different cities, stopping for dinner at some point during the night. You never went far from home, but far enough that your activities wouldn’t appear in local papers for Dick or Kori to see.

You dared to say that these patrol nights with Jon were the first times you felt like yourself since your dad died.

Jon slowed down. You looked out to see the big top of Dick’s circus in the distance. “Are you cold?” Jon whispered as he floated down to land in the woods a few blocks down from your house.

“Nah.” You kissed his lips before he set you down. Your lips tingled at the pressure. Jon pulled the mask off your eyes. “You’re keeping me warm.”

He smirked, leaning down to kiss you again, but you took the opportunity to rip off his mask. The two of you had a debate about what to patrol in. Jon wanted to be Superboy and you Robin, but when you informed him about the price on Robin’s head, he changed his mind. Therefore, you settled with plain civvies and simple face masks.

“No fair.” Jon pouted. You kissed him on the lips to wipe the pout off his face. “That’s better.” He panted slightly.

You took off Jon’s jacket and handed it back to him. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.” The mask went into the secret pocket you had sewn into your jeans. Luckily, you did your own laundry, so you didn’t have to worry about Dick or Kori finding out.

“You’re so paranoid.” Jon put on his jacket before taking your hand to lead you out of the woods.

“Better paranoid than dead,” you said automatically. Jon flinched, looking at you in surprise. You realized what you said, swallowing hard. “Sorry, it’s something Dad always said.”

Jon smiled at you sadly. He kissed your temple. “That’s okay.” He squeezed your hand. How could he be so warm all the time? You wondered if it was a Jon thing or a Kryptonian thing. “So are you worried what people will think if they catch us leaving the woods all the time?”

“Yes, but I’d rather have people thinking we’re messing around in the woods than...doing what we’re doing.” The two of you walked down the street. You could see the front light was on at your house. Dick would be watching. “Have you asked your parents about spring break?”

“I’ve mentioned it. Apparently, they’re talking it over with Dick and Kori.” Jon swung your arm playfully. “I let them know how much I would like to go, even if it’s mostly to see you.”

You snorted. “I know you want to go to Disney World too. You’ve been talking about the new Star Wars ride all the time.” Jon kissed your cheek.

“True, but I think it’s funny you want me to go so bad.” Jon winked at you. The blood burned to your face.

“Well, I don’t want to get trapped there with just Dick and Kori.” You shivered. “Kori is planning everything, because she’s determined to get the most of her first time at ‘the Disney World’.” Jon chuckled. “She wants me to wear ears, Jon. Like mouse ears.” Horror chilled your heart. What would your dad think of such a thing? “Even Dick didn’t try to put those on me last time we went.”

“I don’t know.” Jon shrugged, smiling at you teasingly. “I think you’d look cute.”

You smacked his arm. He laughed. Your hand stung as the hit hurt you more than him. “Watch it, Superboy or no more kisses.” You narrowed your eyes into a batglare.

Jon bit his lip, trying to stop laughing. The two of you finally reached the front steps of your house. You could see the shadow of Dick watching from the window. “I’ll text you when I get home,” Jon whispered, tensing as he sensed Dick’s eyes on him.

“You better.” You pressed a quick kiss to his lips before going into the house. Once at the door, you blew him one last kiss. Jon caught it with his hand and pressed it to his heart. Then he jogged away until he was in a safe place to fly home.

Three, two, one. “How was the movie?” Dick asked, hovering behind you. You sighed.

“It was okay.” You took off your coat and shoes. “How was your date night?”

“Good. Got home before you.” Dick crossed his arms. You could feel him studying you.

“Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” you muttered, getting some water from the fridge.

Dick frowned. “What was that?” He closed the front door and locked it securely.

“Nothing.” You headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Remember we have that meeting with the guidance counselor tomorrow,” Dick said, following you up. You hummed. When you were almost to your room, Dick caught your arm. He kissed your forehead. “Good night, honey.”

“Good night.” You pulled away. “Good night, Kori,” you said, raising your voice to be heard through the bathroom door.

“Sleep well, baby,” Kori shouted back. You went into your room. The click of the door was soothing. You leaned against the door and sank to the floor. Your phone beeped.

“I’m home,” Jon texted. You smiled.

“Good. I was getting worried.” You slowly got to your feet and dressed in your pajamas. Once you were settled into bed, you went back to your phone.

A smile pulled at your lips. “Dad says it’s a go.”

“Awesome. I won’t have to suffer alone.” You added a relieved emoji. “Good night, Jon.”

Jon sent a picture of the night sky. You smiled when you could recognize the stars due to the star chart Jon had given you for Christmas. “Good night, (Y/N). Pretty, beautiful you.”

You blushed. “Damn you,” you whispered. He could make you blush even though text. You heard Kori leave the bathroom and got up to brush your teeth.

***

“I don’t like this,” Dick said as he moped to the car. “(Y/N) should stay in high school at least another year.”

“Dick, you remember what the guidance counselor said. The school can’t offer the academic challenge (Y/N) needs, besides, (Y/N) wants this.” Kori soothed, taking his hand.

Meanwhile, you trailed behind them. You wanted to cheer, jump around, maybe do a backflip. It was the first time in a long time you felt so happy. You were going to graduate this spring, and then you could do whatever you wanted. Dick looked back at you and you did your best not to appear like you had won the lottery.

“This doesn’t mean you’re an adult.” Dick narrowed his eyes, hurt. “And you’re still going to school nearby.”

“Aww, no Yale?” you teased, taking out your phone to text Jon the news.

Dick opened his mouth, but Kori cut him off. “Not yet. Maybe after a year or two?” Kori rubbed Dick’s back. She gave you a look to tell you to take it easy. You pouted slightly. Why couldn’t you be happy about getting what you want?

You all got into the car. Dick shook his head as he drove out of the parking lot. He came to his own conclusion. “No, (Y/N) is not going to college. They’re too young.”

“I’m not too young.” You scowled at him when he glanced at you through the rearview mirror. “I want to go, Dick. Why do you have to hold me back all the time?”

“I do not hold you back.” Dick turned into the driveway quickly. “You don’t know what’s best for you.”

Rage filled you. “I know what’s best for me.” Your voice took a dangerous tone. Kori peered back at you worriedly. Dick spun to face you.

“No, you don’t. Damn it. You aren’t ready.” Dick’s mouth twitched, temper flaring. What right did he have to get mad over this? You were finally getting what you wanted. More freedom.

“Shut up!” You exploded, barely stopping yourself from punching Dick in the nose. Dick’s eyes widened in slight surprise when you jumped out of the car. You needed to get away from him.

“(Y/N).” Kori got out of the car and put a twenty in your hand. “Go get some ice cream and come back later. We’ll all talk once we have cooler heads.” She gave Dick a pointed look. Dick had gotten out of the car, ready for a battle of wills. His shoulders sank at her look.

“Fine.” You spun on your heel and walked down the street, not actually going toward the ice cream place. Dick started to follow you, but Kori stopped him. You broke out into a run as your heart boiled with frustration. You had never wanted to go to school, and the only reason you didn’t throw more of a fuss is because you knew you could graduate this year. Now that it was decided for sure, Dick threatened to take it away.

Tears stun your eyes as you ran faster. A car honked at you when you ran out into the middle of the street. However, you kept running until you reached the woods where Jon always took off from. Once inside, you took out your phone and dialed Jon’s number.

“Hello, beautiful.” Jon laughed. Your lips pulled into a smile at the sound of his voice. You sank down to sit against a tree.

“Hi.” You sniffled, brushing away tears with your hands.

“Woah, hey. What’s wrong?” Jon’s voice instantly turned into that soothing soft tone he always took when you cried. Embarrassingly, Jon saw you cry a lot.

You swallowed hard. “You got my text about how I’m graduating, right?”

Jon chuckled. “Yeah, congratulations. I know you wanted to.” He paused. “Don’t tell me you’re going to miss high school?”

“No.” You laughed a little. “Dick didn’t like that I’m graduating. He said I’m too young and that I don’t know what’s best for me.” You picked at a piece of grass. “I almost punch him, but I walked away before I did. Kori told me to go get ice cream.”

“Ooo, what flavor did you get?” Jon asked, excited like a little puppy. “I’m trapped at school for another hour.”

“Why?” You giggled. Your stomach buzzed happily.

“I got detention for skipping class.” Jon snorted. “It’s not my fault. There was a car who’s brakes gave out and was about to crash into a crowd of people.” He sighed like he was dying. “Life is so unfair. Mom already sent me a “we’re going to talk when you get home” text.”

You relaxed. The anger slipped away. “As long as you can still come for spring break, you’ll survive.”

Jon laughed. “Yeah, and we can ride the new Star Wars ride every day.”

“Well, there’s is a catch with the new Star Wars ride, but we’ll try to ride it when we can.” You remembered Kori explaining how it worked. It seemed like a lot of work, but for Jon, it was worth it.

“As long as I get to ride it once, I’ll be happy.” Someone snapped at him in the background. “Oops, got to go. It’s time for me to sit and think about what I did.”

“You bad boy.” You blushed as you said it.

Jon choked slightly. “Yeah, says the naughty little bat.” He chuckled. “I lo...” You froze, eyes wide in surprise. Jon stopped, clearing his throat. “I look forward to see you later.”

You sighed in somewhat relief. “Bye Jon.” Was he about to say he loved you? It kinda sounded like it. You shivered, putting your phone back in your pocket. Were you ready for him to say that? Would you be able to say it back to him?

Your mind went around and around for a while until you forced yourself up to go home. When you reached the front steps of your house, you realized that you could indeed say it back to him. However, you were too scared to be the one to say it first. You would wait for Jon to say it.

Kori was in the kitchen, frowning at the pot on the stove. “Oh good you’re home.” She took the pot off the heat. “I think I messed up.” You frowned, taking off your coat and shoes before going over. There was noodles in the pot that were black, burnt to a crisp.

“Oh.” You pursed your lips. “Yeah, that’s not good.” Kori sighed, her eyes filled with tears. “How about you clean that out and I’ll make dinner?”

“Thank you, baby.” Kori kissed your cheek happily. “Dick went in to work, but he’ll be back for dinner. We’ll talk during dinner about everything.” She went to try to scrape out the burnt noodles.

You watched her, confused. Why would Kori cry over burnt noodles? A twang of guilt hit your heart. You must have stressed her out too much. “Are you okay?” you asked quietly, moving to check the fridge to see if you could throw something together.

“What?” Kori looked back at you with a tear running down her cheek. “Oh, it’s nothing, baby. Don’t worry about me.” She came over to kiss your cheek again. “I’m going to lay down for a while.” You watched as she went to lay down on the couch with her hand over her eyes.

She was emotional and tired. You eyed the pot with burnt noodles. She was also forgetful as she must have left the pot on the stove for quite some time for it to burn like that. If you didn’t know any better, you would say she was pregnant. Your eyes widened. Oh god, she was pregnant. You shook your head. No wonder Dick was stressed. You started to pull out ingredients to make stir fry. Dick should be happy you were graduating. You could move out then. They would need your room for the baby.

Your eyes burned with tears at the thought of leaving, but then you thought about how you could go to school near Jon. A smile pulled at your lips. Maybe the talk over dinner wouldn’t so bad.

***

“I’m sorry,” Dick said softly. He wrapped his arms around you, pushing your face into his chest. “I just can’t stand seeing you grow up so fast.”

You grunted. “Fine.” Dick let you go, studying you.

“What’s wrong?” He ran his hand through your hair. Kori smiled at the two of you as she took another serving of stir fry. That was her third plate.

“I was thinking I should try to apply to Gotham U or Metropolis U. They are still accepting applications.” Gotham would be a long shot as you were sure Tim or Damian would do everything in their power to block your application. You eyed Kori. Kori noticed your look, swallowing wrong. She coughed hard.

“Woah, Kori. Slow down.” Dick rubbed her back. Once she recovered, Dick moved his attention back to you. “Honey, we want you to stay here.”

You frowned. It didn’t make sense. He should want you to leave with a baby on the way. You met Kori’s eye, and the realization chilled you like a bucket of cold water. Dick didn’t know yet. “Why don’t you think about it?” You said, looking Dick in the eye. “I’ll apply and then we’ll decide.”

Dick raised an eyebrow, sitting down at his seat to finish eating. “As long as you apply to some schools nearby.” You stayed standing. “Sit down. You aren’t done already, are you?” Dick nodded to your chair. You looked at Kori for a long moment. She wouldn’t meet your eye.

“I’m done.” You took your dish to the sink. “I want to start on applications.”

“Okay, but like I said, apply to places close by too,” Dick reminded, making the ‘you’re so difficult when I’m being nice’ face. You admitted you would be happy to get away from his guilt-causing face.

“Sure.” You quickly left the room and went upstairs. Dick talked to Kori, expressing his concerns about you. It only confirmed that Dick didn’t know. He would be more focused on the future if he knew he was about to have a baby. You fought the urge to text Jon about it, but you stopped yourself. It was possible you were mistaken.

***

Your applications were in by the end of the week. As you said, you did apply to Gotham and Metropolis as well as two local colleges only twenty to thirty miles away. Dick seemed satisfied. Kori kept her secret, but the signs were becoming more clear as the days went on. You couldn’t believe Dick didn’t notice yet, but then again, Dick was always blind to the obvious.

Meanwhile, you started to have nightmares again. One night, you woke from a nasty one involving your father and Bane. So deeply disturbed and needing to escape, you started packing up your room. You reasoned to yourself that you were going to be leaving soon, so you might as well be packed.

“Honey, what are you doing up?” Dick asked, knocking on your door. You froze, just about to place a shirt into a box. The light was off, and you were moving as quietly as possible. How did he know?

You wiped the sweat from your brow with a shaky hand. The nightmare was only a few thoughts away. Your eyes widened when you realized you didn’t answer soon enough and Dick opened the door. He turned on the light, blinding you momentary. The tense silence that followed make your hands shake harder. Your carefully folded shirt fell to the floor in a heap. You couldn’t look at him.

Dick took several deep breaths before coming over to you. “What’s all this about?” he soothed, picking up your shirt from the floor. You eyed him, flinching when you saw how calm he was.

You opened your mouth to speak, but only a whimper came out. A tear ran down your cheek. Your eyes stayed on the floor.

“You’re okay.” Suddenly, Dick’s warm arms wrapped around you. He rocked you back and forth. Sobs ripped out of you. The nightmare took over your thoughts again. “Hush, I’m here. You’re okay.”

“No, I have to go.” Your voice broke. “I need to leave.”

“Honey, you don’t have to go. We want you here.” Dick rested his cheek on your head. His arms tightened around you. “You said you’d stay, so you’re going to stay, okay?”

Everything was so confusing. Why were you crying? The nightmare flashed in front of your eyes. You screamed, flinching at the sight of the light leaving Bane’s eyes.

Dick jumped at the scream. His arms pulled you even closer to him. “No, it’s not here. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t here. You’re okay. I’m here. Nothing is going to get you.”

Your body trembled. You closed your eyes, turning to hide your face into Dick’s shoulder. Dick kept soothing you. His hand ran through your hair in a gentle rhythm. Time passed before you finally stopped shaking. Dick’s shirt had a giant wet spot from your tears, but he didn’t care. You wondered how many of his shirts you had done that to.

“Here you go, love.” Kori came into the room with a cup of tea. Dick took it and held it to your lips. You drank it. The smell of it warned you it was Alfred’s special tea. The one that could knock your father out for hours.

The drowsiness hit you almost immediately. “I’m sorry,” you mumbled, slumping against Dick. Dick scooped you up and tucked you back into bed.

“No need to be sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed your forehead before the tea dragged you into a dreamless slumber.

***

You woke to find your room back to it’s pre-packed state. The sun streamed through the window, meaning you must have missed school for the day. You sighed, rubbing your eyes that were slightly swollen. It was the last day before spring break anyway.

Slowly, you got yourself ready for the day and stumbled down the stairs. People were talking in the kitchen. You went in, rubbing your eyes again.

“Well, look who’s awake?” Jon teased, getting up from the table. You froze, eyes wide.

“Jon?” You ran to him and jumped into his arms. He laughed, spinning you around. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re here for spring break.” Jon kissed your cheek after he set you down. Your eyes widened at the “we”.

You spun to see Lois and Clark sitting at the table with little smug smiles on their faces. “Hi.” Your cheeks burned in embarrassment. “Where are Dick and Kori?”

“Dick had to go to work, and I believe Kori is running errands.” Lois got to her feet to get more coffee for herself. You wondered if Kori was at a doctor appointment. “Do you want something to eat? We have leftover pizza from lunch.”

You smiled, going to get a plate. “Wait, so you’re letting (Y/N) eat pizza for breakfast? Why is it when I want to eat pizza for breakfast, I get shamed and told to go eat oatmeal or something?” Jon whined.

Clark sent him a warning look. “Because (Y/N) was raised by Alfred. We already know they know that pizza for breakfast everyday isn’t a good thing.”

You took a slice from the box on the table and heated it up in the microwave. “So why are you all here so early? I thought you were supposed to meet us at Disney World?”

The Kents all shared looks with each other. You shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. “We figured we’d come early before Clark had to stop a forest fire or something,” Lois teased, trying to lighten the mood.

The microwave beeped. You took out your slice of pizza, no longer hungry. “Well, I still need to pack.” You headed upstairs with your pizza in hand.

“I’ll help.” Jon followed like an excited puppy.

“Remember I have super-hearing,” Clark called after Jon.

“I swear they have dirtier minds than we do,” you mumbled, smiling to cheer Jon up.

Jon chuckled. “They do.” You reached your room and set the pizza on your desk. Jon looked around your room with interest. “Is this new?” He pointed to a picture of the Gotham Skyline.

“Yeah, I found it when I went shopping with Kori.” You pulled the suitcase from under your bed and started to pack. Memories of last night triggered a tiny headache in your temple.

Jon wandered around your room, looking at things as you packed. You noticed things were in the wrong places, meaning Dick and Kori must have put all your things back after you packed them last night. Jon remarked on a book on your bed stand.

“Jon, you’ve seen everything in here. Stop acting like you haven’t been here before,” you said. Irritation sparked. Your headache throbbed. You hoped you weren’t getting sick again. Biting your lip, you were determined to not get sick again.

“Sorry.” Jon sat on your bed next to your suitcase. “I’m nervous, I guess.” He studied you. You sighed, knowing what was coming. “Dick told us about last night.”

“I don’t know why he thought it was okay to tell you my business,” You snapped harshly. Jon flinched. A wave of guilt crashed into you. “Sorry.” You looked back down at your suitcase.

“It’s okay.” Jon pursed his lips. “I’m here if you want to talk about it though.”

“Why does everyone always want to talk?” You ran a hand through your hair. “My dad never wanted to talk, and it was great. We would deal with things on our own.”

Jon’s eyes followed you as you went to grab a sweatshirt out of your closet. “Yeah, but you don’t have to do that anymore.” The glare you sent him made him choke. “Sorry...I just want you to know I’m here for you.”

You felt like you had been punched hard in the stomach. “No, I’m sorry.” Hugging the sweatshirt, you finally faced him. He gave you sad little puppy dog eyes. It was worse than Dick’s ‘you’re being so mean when I’m trying to be nice’ face. You swallowed hard. A traitorous tear slipped down your cheek. “I don’t want to put that burden on you. I’m a mess, Jon.”

“(Y/N), beautiful. I already took that burden when I kissed you for the first time.” Jon came over to kiss you gently on the lips. Your entire body tingled like an electrical current zapped through you. His arms slipped around you, pulling you into his warm body. Warm as if you curled up in a patch of sunshine.

“I love how warm you are.” You nuzzled into his chest. Contentment filled you, safe and secure in his arms.

***

“That was amazing,” Jon gasped, shaking his head in amazement. “My mind is blown.”

“Of course it is.” You laughed, taking his hand as you both exited the new Star Wars ride Jon had been talking about.

“Now he can stop talking about it,” Clark said from behind you.

Lois laughed, leaning into Clark. “No, now he’ll talk about it nonstop.”

“But it was so cool.” Jon turned back to face his parents.

“I do admit it was cool,” Lois said, kissing Jon’s cheek as they past. “We’re going to find Dick and Kori. Remember we’re meeting for lunch in about an hour.”

“Don’t eat everything,” Clark said with a wink. They disappeared in the crowd. Dick and Kori slept late. You happened to know that Kori was sick this morning from the vomiting sounds you heard coming from the bathroom. Part of you wondered if Dick knew yet or did he think she had the flu?

Jon looked around the Star Wars area eagerly. “So what now?” He squeezed your hand.

You shrugged. “This is your thing. You go and I’ll follow.”

“I knew I loved you for some reason,” he said naturally. Your heart skipped a beat. Jon’s eyes widened a millisecond later. He looked at you. “You...I mean I like...I can’t fix that, can I?”

“I love you too.” You laughed when Jon’s jaw dropped open. “I just didn’t expect you to say it now.” You kissed his cheek. “Come on, we only have an hour before we have to meet the adults.”

Jon blushed before a big dopey smile grew upon his lips. “Yeah, only an hour.” He laughed and pulled you off into the direction of the other Star Wars ride. You squeezed his hand, floating on air.

***

“I want you back by midnight,” Dick insisted as he buttoned up his shirt in the hotel room mirror.

“We’ll leave when the park closes, but I can’t promise we’ll be on time. The buses are slow,” you said. You were sitting on the foldout couch that was your bed, putting on your shoes.

Dick frowned. “(Y/N), midnight.”

“Dick, I’ll try.” You narrowed your eyes at him. He glared back at you. Just when he was about to scold you, Kori came out of the bathroom. She was beautiful, wearing the fancy dress she had bought the day before. Dick lost his breath. You smiled, glad for the Kori distraction again.

They were going out to a special dinner alone. You suspected Kori was going to drop the baby bomb, and you didn’t want to be around for the aftermath. “Let (Y/N) stay out. They’ll be with the Kents,” Kori soothed, adjusting Dick’s collar.

And Dick instantly changed his tone. “Okay. Just make sure you stay with the Kents.” He kept looking at Kori with compete adoration. You hoped you never looked at Jon like that. It was embarrassing enough seeing Dick do it.

“Fine by me. Have fun you two.” You waved and rushed out of the room. A funny feeling settled in your stomach. Would that be the last time you would feel like a family with Dick and Kori? You quickly forced those thoughts away as you hurried to meet Jon by the bus station.

***

Jon and you headed out of the park toward the buses alone. Clark and Lois left earlier, trusting the two of you. You wondered if they informed Dick that they would be doing so.

“Oh no,” Jon whispered, tilting his head like a dog trying to listen for something.

You blinked. “What?” You pulled Jon out of the crowd that was heading to the buses.

“I think my dad just flew off somewhere.” Jon smirked.

“So?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we can go patrol a little bit. I mean you have your mask.” His eyes went to your jeans. You smacked his arm. Your hand throbbed at the impact. “Come on. We’re at Disney World.”

You snorted, looking around. The crowd was dying out. “Okay, fine.” Jon pulled you off to a private place and scooped you into his arms. “But only for a half an hour and if you hear your dad, you have to zoom us back here. We can’t get caught.” You stole a quick kiss. Jon chuckled into the kiss and flew up into the air.

***

After three muggings and one car chase, you were two hours overdue. Jon kept convincing you to stay out longer. You knew you were risking it, but then you thought about how Dick and Kori were probably celebrating. The urge to go back disappeared. Eventually though, Jon and you landed in the woods a little ways from the hotel.

“That was fun,” Jon whispered, kissing you sweetly. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” You ran your fingers through his soft hair. It took so much willpower to pull away from him. You took off the mask and hid it back in the secret pocket of your jeans. Jon did the same with his.

“It’s so dark.” You stumbled over a stick. Jon caught your elbow.

“Let me float us out of here.” Jon put his hand around your waist and floated you safely out of the woods. The hotel shined in the distance. He set you on the ground, but kept his arm around your waist.

“Did your dad come back yet?” You leaned into him, his warmth seeping into you.

Jon shook his head. “No. Mom’s asleep.” He closed his eyes. “Dick and Kori are asleep too, I think.”

“I hope so. He’s going to kill me,” you muttered, shaking slightly. “Kori was going to tell him she’s pregnant tonight.”

“What?!” Jon jumped away from you.

You rolled your eyes. “Come on, Jon. You’re telling me you haven’t notice how Kori is sick every morning. She cried yesterday, because her ice cream started to melt.”

The blush on Jon’s cheeks showed you he didn’t. “Well, no. I thought maybe it was that time of the month.”

“Are you kidding me?!” You narrowed your eyes into your best impression of your father’s batglare. Jon paled. “I’m telling your mother you said that.” He stopped in his tracks. You kept walking, shaking your head in disgust.

“Wait, I’m sorry. Don’t tell my mom.” Jon ran to catch up to you as you reached the lobby. The desk attendant frowned at the two of you. You sensed they were judging you for coming in so late. “I’m not the detective you are.”

You snorted. “I’m not really a detective. Dad and Tim are better at it.” You stopped at the elevator. The Kents’ room was on the second floor while yours was on the first. “Good night, Jon, and never assume that again.”

“Yes, boss.” He saluted you, laughing in relief. You kissed the corner of his mouth before slipping away. “Good night, beautiful.”

Your heart glowed, heading down the hall to your room. Slowly to a tiptoe, you unlocked the door and slipped inside. The room was dark, but enough light came through the window to reveal where you were going.

You got undressed quickly and slipped on your pajamas. Just when you were about to crawl into your bed, Dick sat up and clicked on the light.

“Where the hell have you been?” Dick hissed. He got to his feet and came over to you. You sighed, cursing how he was a light sleeper. At least Kori was still fast asleep.

“Dick, come back to bed,” Kori moaned. You looked over to her only to see her naked breast. Your face burned, quickly looking away.

“It’s three in the morning. I told you to be home by midnight.” Dick grabbed your shoulders, shaking you. “Lois told me they left you and Jon alone. What did you do?”

You groaned. “No, no, no. We didn’t do anything. We were hungry, so we went to Denny’s.” Luckily, you and Jon settled on a story. “I would have called you, but I didn’t want to wake you up.” You pulled away from Dick. “I know tonight was a big deal for you and Kori, so I didn’t want to interfere.”

Dick blinked, glancing at Kori. He blushed when he saw her bare breast. “So you knew this whole time?” His eyes shot back to you.

“It was kinda obvious.” You climbed into bed, dismissing him. “Good night, Dick.”

“This isn’t over,” Dick whispered with a sigh. He sat down on the edge of your bed. “You know that Kori being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to leave, right?”

You hummed, keeping your back to him. Dick’s hand rubbed your side.

“I love you. Nothing will ever change that.” Dick’s other hand ran through your hair. You closed your eyes, having a flash of your father doing the same thing. A hole pierced through your heart. “You’re still my kid, even if another kiddo is on the way.”

“I know.” You suddenly felt better, even though your heart ached.

“Good.” He kissed your temple. “But I still want you to call me if you’re going to be late like that.”

“Okay.” You felt yourself drift off. Dick got to his feet and soon the light clicked off. Keeping the memory of Jon’s I love you in your head, you fell into a blissful sleep.

***

If you learned one lesson the next morning, it’s that you should have never listened to Jon.

Dick, Kori, you, and the Kents were sitting down to breakfast in a restaurant somewhere in Disney World. Jon sat next to you, giving you looks that you could only describe as stressed.

“You know what’s funny,” Lois began, a dangerous glint came to her eye. “I heard on the news this morning that two superheros stopped a car chase last night.” Your stomach dropped to your feet. That’s what Jon was trying to warn you about.

Dick and Kori shared a look. “That wasn’t you, was it?” Dick whispered rather loudly to Clark.

Clark cleared his throat. “No.” He eyed you carefully. “Do you know something about that, (Y/N)?” All the adults turned to look at you. You took a deep breath, playing it cool. Although, Jon was quickly losing his cool in the corner of your eye.

“No, we didn’t see anything when we went to Denny’s.” You took a sip of water. Dick’s face went blank, his month twitched in anger. Kori was close to tears, having to dry her eyes with a napkin. Oh dear.

“Oh look at this.” Lois took out her phone. “I happen to have the clip the news showed.” She stuck it in your face. You could see a person with a body shape similar to Jon’s jumping in front of the car. Another figure quadruple somersaulted over the other and crashed through the windshield to kick out the driver. Damn, Dick would recognize that move. Anyone who knows anything would recognize that move. How could you be so dumb?

“It was me.” Jon had his honest face on. You kinda wanted to kill him. “I convinced (Y/N) to come out with me.” However, judging by the look Dick gave him, Dick might beat you to it. Jon pressed a hand to his chest. “Blame me, not them. (Y/N) was safe the whole time.”

You rolled your eyes. “Jon, shut up.”

Jon looked at you. The hurt little puppy dog look. “How about we talk about this after breakfast?” Clark suggested, ever the peacemaker. The waiter came over to take orders. You only ordered toast, your appetite gone. Jon tried to take your hand, but you pulled away from him. The only thing you felt was exhaustion.

***

“What were you thinking?!” Dick screamed at you once you all got back to the hotel room. He shook your shoulders violently. “You have a price on your head! Someone is going to recognize that move and know you’re in the area!” He stopped only because his phone rang. “It’s Tim. He’s probably already seen the footage.” Dick went out into the hallway to talk to him.

You sat on your bed, staring blankly ahead. Jon was next to you, pale. He took your hand. Clark and Lois were talking among themselves while Kori sobbed away.

“So much for spring break fun, huh?” Jon teased halfheartedly. You didn’t react. Your body felt lifeless.

“Jon, we are disappointed in you,” Clark said. They came over to stand over Jon with frowns. “We told you that (Y/N) couldn’t be involved in hero life anymore. It could endanger their life.”

“Who’s gonna notice that, Dad?” Jon squeezed your hand hard. “I mean a lot of people can flip like that.”

You found yourself shaking your head. “No.” They looked to you. “That was a quadruple somersault. Only a few people in the world can do it. Dick can, so can I.” You wish you could be proud like you were when you first mastered the quadruple somersault. No other Robin had besides Dick. Unfortunately, it felt like you weren’t allowed to be proud of anything. “Tim noticed. That’s why he’s calling Dick.”

Lois laid a hand on your knee. You looked at her, surprised by the sympathy in her eyes. “I know it’s hard. You were trained to help the world in a way that most people don’t and now you aren’t allowed to do that anymore.” She paused, cut off by Kori’s sob. You saw Kori make a run to the bathroom which was followed by gagging sounds. Lois winced. “I know it hurts, but you need to know that everyone here wants to keep you safe, (Y/N). This isn’t punishment.”

“Everyone says that, but it is punishment.” You looked back at her emotionless. The worried looks from Jon and Clark pounded into you, but you ignored them. Damian’s words fell out of your mouth. “I broke Father’s one rule. The one he held throughout his life and to make it worse, he died the night I broke that rule. I murdered Bane, and by default, what my father stood for.”

Silence filled the room. You looked away from Lois to see Dick standing in the doorway. His jaw dropped open. “Did Damian tell you that?” he whispered. The blood drained from his face. All the anger from before was gone.

You blinked, dumbfounded by his reaction. Of course, you knew Dick didn’t agree with the others, but he knew what they thought. Why was he so shocked? “What do you think?” you said. A familiar headache blossomed in your temple. You were getting sick again, and you weren’t sure you could push it away this time.

The smell of smoke and rotting fish consumed your nose. Your hands shook. “No, no you don’t. Don’t go there.” Suddenly, Dick’s hands cupped your face, looking you in the eye. “Honey, stay with us. I know it seems bad right now, but it’s not your fault. Remember what your father’s letter said, it’s not your fault.” The sickening crack echoed in your ears along with a scream that sounded like your own. “(Y/N). Don’t make me do this.”

Slap

Your cheek stun. The smell and the sound disappeared in an instant. “Ouch.” You touched your cheek, knowing there was an imprint of Dick’s hand.

Dick sighed in relief. “Did you just hit them?” Jon pushed Dick away from you, hovering protectively in front of you. Dick fell onto the other bed. “How dare you?!”

“Jon,” Clark warned, stepping in front of Dick. “Calm down.”

“You don’t hit them. Everyone hurts them, but not anymore. I won’t let it.” Jon reached back to take your hand. You held his, trembling.

Kori came back into the room. She saw the situation and you knew what was coming. Letting go of Jon’s hand, you grabbed Lois and pulled her and yourself over the bed. You both crashed onto the floor on the other side just to hear a star bolt hit Jon in the chest.

“Thank you,” Lois said, getting to her feet. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Everyone froze. “Calm down. Let’s focus on the main issue here.” She helped you up. Jon was rubbing his chest. The star bolt left a smoky hole in his shirt. Clark and Kori were standing off again. Dick sat with his face in his hands.

“Right.” Dick pushed himself to his feet, looking older than his years. “The issue is that (Y/N) exposed themselves to assassins that will come for the price on Robin’s head.” He took out his phone. “Luckily, the footage is from Jacksonville, so they won’t be looking for Robin here or at home.”

“That’s a relief,” Kori said, breaking her stand off with Superman to come over to you. She hugged you tightly. “You scared me, baby.” You melted into her arms.

“However, you went against our rules, broke our trust,” Lois added, judging Jon seriously. Jon grimaced.

Clark relaxed and went over to check Jon’s chest. “What were you thinking, Dick? We’ll follow your lead on this.”

Dick exhaled slowly. He regarded you with exhausted eyes. “No more unsupervised dates.” Jon started to protest, but a look from Clark shut him up. “No more leaving the house without someone with you. You go to school and you come home. That’s it. Nothing else.”

He stopped, waiting for you to speak. “Fine.” Your cheek throbbed from the slap. Jon’s eyes met yours, still hopeful. Somehow, that look made you love him even more.

***

A month later on a Saturday, Jon’s head was in your lap as you both lounged on the couch. Kori was banging things around in the kitchen, attempting to deep clean the fridge.

“I still can’t believe how many movies you haven’t seen.” Jon wrinkled his nose when you tapped it.

“Well, I didn’t have time to watch movies until now.” You glanced back at the TV and started to search through Netflix again. “What do you want to watch?”

“Indiana Jones.” Jon smirked at you. You tapped his nose again. “I can’t believe I made you go see the stunt show before seeing any of the movies.”

You rolled your eyes. “It’s fine. I don’t remember that much anyway.” Your relationship with Jon suffered for the first week, but soon you were back to the way you were before. Jon sat up to kiss your lips. You sighed, enjoying how soft his lips were on yours.

The doorbell rang. “(Y/N), can you get that? I can’t get up,” Kori called. Both you and Jon sighed at the same time. He moved so you could stand up.

“I got it.” You shuffled to the door and checked the new peephole Dick installed. The sight of a worn, brown leather jacket made your heart skip a beat. You opened the door to see Jason Todd on your doorstep with a duffel over his shoulder.

“Hey, (Y/N). Long time no see.”

***

Part Eight will be coming soon!

#what's lost is found #batfamily #batfamily imagine #batfamily imagines #batman #batman imagines #dc comics imagines #dc reader insert #jon kent #jon kent x reader #jon kent imagine #dick grayson #dick grayson imagine #kori anders #kori anders imagine #koriand'r #koriand'r imagine #nightwing #nightwing imagine

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a-bang-for-your-bucky · 3 years

Text

Playin' With Fire: The Morning After

Summary: Santiago and Dani deal with the fallout of their actions the night before. Dani starts preparations to leave for South America with Santiago. We get to dive more into Dani and Santi’s relationship, and Santi learns something about Dani’s past.

Warnings: 18+, Implications of smut, suggestive language, explicit language, ANGST, mentions of a car wreck and death (no descriptions), Dani does experience some anxiety and self-consciousness.

Word Count: 5,851

A/N: This whole series is a wild ride of emotions, and as I proof-read for posting, I find myself wanting to go in a whole different direction than originally planned. After this part, we start getting into the events of the movie, which is separated into three chapters. There are cameos in this chapter from another favorite show of mine. I know it’s unlikely that these characters would ever meet, but fuck it, it’s fan-fiction.

Dani’s alarm went off at 5:00am. Groaning, she reached over to press snooze. The light of her phone made her squint. She twisted the switch on the bedside table lamp, emitting a small glow across her room. “Shit,” She cursed, her body deliciously sore from the events of the night before.

She was never good at dealing with “the morning after’. She almost hoped that Santiago had snuck out while she was sleeping, but the warmth of the space beside her told her he was still there. What did I do? She thought. Guilt washed over her as she rolled over to face the man in her bed. She studied the features of his face, memories of the night before flooded her mind. Just the thoughts made heat pool in the pit of her stomach.

“Staring is rude, sweetheart.” Santiago’s words startled her, making her gasp. “Sorry, Teq.” He chuckled, his eyes still closed. How did he even know? Right, trained soldier.

“You’re still here?” She asked him, surprise thick in her voice. His eyes snapped open to look at her.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You know you were more than a one night stand.” He explained, bringing a hand up to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. “In fact, I really wouldn’t mind if last night happened again.” He suggested with a smirk.

Dani was speechless, staring at his sexy, sleepy, face. “I, uh, um, I have to shower. My shift starts at seven.” She stuttered over her words, trying not to let him see the effect he was having on her. She moved to get up, only stopping because she remembered she was naked. “Could you, um, not look when I get up?” She blushed nervously, pulling the sheet tighter around her.

“Really Teq? Yeah, I won’t look.” He promised, then added, “Even though I already know you have a little birthmark that looks like a heart on your ass.” he teased her, and she smacked him with a pillow. Santiago shut his eyes and squeezed them tight.

Once she was sure he wasn’t peaking, she rushed up and over to the chair in the corner of her room, wrapping herself in her fuzzy robe. “Okay, you can open them.”

He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the sight of her. Her dirty blonde hair was a mess of loose curls. If this was how she looked every morning, he wouldn’t mind waking up with her. He knew he should feel bad. If, when Frankie finds out that he slept with her, that he is taking her to South America, he’s gonna be pissed. It might just ruin their friendship, but in this moment, looking at Dani, he didn’t care.

Dani felt self-conscious under Santiago’s gaze. She pulled the robe tighter around her body, trying to cover herself more. He noticed immediately, and all but jumped off the bed toward her. “Dani, you are absolutely beautiful. You don’t have to hide from me.” He complimented her and he meant every word. He embraced her face with his hands, his thumbs, lovingly brushing over her cheeks. Slowly, Santiago lowered his lips to hers. Gently, he coaxed her lips apart with his own, taking the opportunity to slip his tongue past them.

The kiss wasn’t hurried like the previous night. He took his time, tracing the contour of her mouth, memorizing the feeling of her lips on his. The kiss gradually grew more fervent, needy. It was almost as if they separated, they would fall to pieces. Santiago released her face, moving his hands to the tie of her robe. Dani groaned as she pulled away, his hands falling to her hips, to keep her close. “I have to shower.” She said, reminding herself more than Santiago.

“I’ll join you.” He countered, fiddling with the tie again. She shook her head.

“Santi, I have to go to work. And you do, too.” She pointed out, grabbing his hands away. Their fingers laced together as he moved to place methodical kisses to her neck.

She whimpered as he nibbled her ear and he whispered, “I’ll make it quick. Let me make you feel good, querida.” How could she say no to that?

Forty-five minutes later, they exited Dani’s room and walked into the kitchen. Benny was already up, pouring a cup of coffee. “Morning,” He greeted them with a raised brow.

“Morning, Benny!” Santi beamed with a huge smile, all but telling Benny what had transpired between them. Benny tossed a knowing look at Dani.

“Don’t say anything, Benjamin.” Dani warned him with a pointed finger, “I have fifteen minutes to get to work.” She added, as she poured the liquid energy into her travel cup. Santiago handed her the creamer with a wink.

“Oh, Danika Kate, we are so talking about this later.” Benny teased, as she flew by him, grabbing her bag and keys. Santi threw Benny a ‘bye’ over his shoulder as he quickly followed behind her.

He walked her to her white Camry, opening the door for her to slide in. She started the car, rolling down the window, and closed the door.

“Can I at least get a goodbye kiss?” He pouted. All Dani could think about was biting that bottom lip. She acquiesced to his request, nodded her head ‘yes’.

He leaned into the window, giving her a sweet peck. Dani felt her stomach flutter. She knew she was in trouble. “I’ll call you later. Maybe we can grab a late dinner and talk about Colombia, yeah?” He hoped, not really wanting her to leave.

“Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” She smiled, taking a quick glance at her watch. “Shit, I really have to go.” Santiago gave her one more quick kiss before telling her bye, and she drove away. The two of them were too caught up in each other to see Frankie’s truck stopped in the road, where he saw everything.

Dani had gotten to the hospital right on time. She barely made it through the ER doors before she was being called, “Dr. Reid.” She spotted the head nurse waving her over to the nurse’s station.

“Hey, Rebecca. How was your night?” Dani asked with a smile, sitting her stethoscope down on the counter to toss her messy hair into a bun, and then threw it back around her neck.

“It was hectic. We got slammed with a four car pile up after you left.” Rebecca sighed, handing her a tablet. “Bed four is ready to be seen. He came in with a complaint of ‘his worst headache ever’. BP is 185/100 with a long history of hypertension.” She presented to Dani as she looked over his chart.

Dani thanked her and moved toward the occupied bed. “Mr. Turner, this is your third time here this month. I thought we talked about this?” Dani chided, checking over his vital signs machine.

Mr. Turner shifted in the bed, “I know, Dr. Reid, but those meds made me feel so bad. I can’t take ‘em. Can’t you just give me something for the headache?” The patient requested.

Dani shook her head. “What good will it do you if we don’t treat the cause? Mr. Turner, your blood pressure is severely uncontrolled.” Dani paused, pinching the bridge of her nose, “If you don’t get this under control, you can die or have a stroke.” She explained to him, but could tell she was getting nowhere.

She pulled the rolling stool over to his bedside, taking a seat. “Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna treat your blood pressure first. Once we get that down, if the headache doesn’t go away, I’ll treat it. Deal?” She bargained with him. Mr. Turner grumbled an ‘okay’ knowing he wasn’t going to win. “Perfect. Rebecca or Nicole will be back with your medicine.” She patted him on the shoulder, flashing him a sweet smile.

Walking back over to the nurse’s station, she gave Nicole the medication orders. Dani made sure to tell Nicole to get her if the patient gave her any trouble. Dani liked working mornings in the ER. Usually, it was pretty slow.

She sat behind her computer, working on chart notes, when she heard a commotion in the ER lobby. “I’m looking for Dr. Reid. I’m her so-called best friend.” She knew that voice. Dani rose from her seat so fast she knocked it to the ground as she ran out of her office. She rushed around the corner to see Frankie being held by two security guards. “Fuck,” She mumbled, stomping toward him.

“Tequila!” Frankie boomed, trying to move past the guards. “Come on, Teq. Tell ‘em to let me go.” He told her as they continued their hold.

She shook her head, “Frankie, stop. Let’s go talk somewhere that isn’t in the middle of my ER” She looked around at the growing crowd as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her office. She closed the door behind them. Dani walked around her wooden desk, picking up the knocked over computer chair. “What the hell are you doing, Frankie?” She questioned him, taking a seat.

Frankie scoffed, “I could ask you the same damn thing.” Frankie sat in one of the other chairs, crossing his arms.

“I’m trying to fucking work, Fish.” She hissed at him. His nostrils flared, a quick sign that he was mad.

“I saw you and Pope.” He confessed, and Dani’s heart dropped. Thoughts raced through her mind. She wasn’t sure how to explain it. Then again, after everything Frankie has done in the last twenty-four hours, did she care?

“That’s none of your business.” She replied calmly, sitting forward in her seat. “You have no right to be upset.”

Frankie rolled his eyes, “You fucked my best friend, I think I do.” The words flew from his mouth before he could stop them. Dani’s eyes widened and she stood up.

“Get out. This conversation is over.” She demanded, pointing toward the door. Frankie didn’t move. “Get the fuck out, Morales, before I call security.” Frankie conceded, standing up, opening the door, and walked out.

Once she was sure he was gone, she let out a shaky breath, falling back into her seat. She cradled her head, thinking about how everything had gotten so messed up. Frankie had no right to be mad at her, right?

A knock at the door drew her out of her thoughts, and she lifted her head. “Shit, you okay Reid?” The doctor in the doorway asked.

She wiped the stray tears that had fallen and sniffled, “Yeah, I’m good, Karev. Have you seen the Chief? I need to talk to her.”

Dr. Karev studied her face for a second before answering, “Last I saw her, she was in her office. Are you sure you’re good?” He asked again, concerned. She nodded, and he went on his way.

Dani left her office, walking toward the Chief of Surgery’s. She stopped outside of the door, the sign read ‘Dr. Meredith Grey, Chief of Surgery.’ She took a deep breath to center herself before knocking on the door. A muffled ‘come in’ filtered through the wood. She opened the door and stepped inside. “Ah, Dr. Reid, just who I needed to see.” Dr. Grey welcomed, gesturing for her to have a seat, which she quickly took. This wasn’t good.

“I heard there was an incident in the ER lobby this morning. What happened?” She questioned her. Dani gulped, unsure of how to answer.

“I’m so sorry, Mere. It was my friend, Frankie.” Dani sighed. She wasn’t going to need to put in a leave, because she was going to get fired.

“Frankie, like the best friend with the coke addiction, Frankie? Why would he be screaming in the lobby?” Meredith wanted to know. Dani had talked to her some about what he had been going through, trying to get advice on how to help him.

“It’s a really long story. The short version is: He did something stupid, really stupid. And then I did something that may or may not have as equally stupid. He found out, and threw a tantrum about it.” Dani explained, realizing that maybe that wasn’t the short version. Meredith cocked an eyebrow at her, shaking her head.

“I swear, you residents are going to be the death of me. Keep your drama at home, Reid.” Meredith groused and rubbed her temples. Dani didn’t want to mention South America now, but she had to; A month would go by faster than she could blink.

“Um, there was actually something I needed to talk to you about. A friend of mine got me connected with a hospital in Colombia, South America. They offered me a position, and I really wanna take it.” Nervousness was radiating off of Dani as she finally spoke these words out loud. Meredith was the first person she had told that she was going. If she couldn’t tell her, how was she going to tell Benny and Will? How was she going to tell Frankie?

“That’s, that’s great, Dani. You should go. I will work on getting the paperwork you will need. And you will always have a spot here at Memorial.” Meredith promised her. Those words lifted a weight off of her. She quickly thanked her, and got up to leave. “Hey, why don’t you take the day off? You’ve been working a lot lately. You can’t save lives if you’re tired.” Meredith added.

“Thank you, Chief.” Dani said sincerely

before walking back to her office to gather her things. She quickly typed a text to Santiago. Hey, Grey is letting me off for the day. We need to talk, Frankie showed up at the hospital. She pressed send and exhaled sharply.

Santiago responded when she was getting into her car. Fuck, is everything okay? Do I need to come to you?

No. Just meet me at the house.

Santiago was sure he broke a hundred laws getting to the Miller house. He didn’t know what Frankie had done, but if Dani had left early from work, it couldn’t be good. She was already home when he pulled into the driveway. He was inside the house and in her room before he recognized he even got out of his truck. “Teq?” She was sitting on her bed, staring at the doorway.

“Frankie knows, Santi.” Was all she responded. Santiago cursed under his breath, moving to take a seat next to her. “He showed up at the hospital, caused a scene.” Dani continued to tell him everything.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Santiago groaned. This wasn’t how he wanted Frankie to find out. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. He turned to look at her. Her face was void of any emotion. “Are you okay?” He asked. She nodded and it wasn’t entirely a lie.

The events of the day showed her that she needed to go. That she wasn’t doing anyone any good here. She knew that if she stayed, she’d destroy herself trying to save Frankie. It wasn’t her responsibility to save someone who didn’t want to save themselves. It would break her heart, but broken hearts are easier healed than broken spirits.

“So, you’re really going with me?” Santiago’s cedar eyes bright with happiness as the words rolled off his tongue. He slung an arm around her shoulder. Pulling her into him, so she could rest her head against him.

“I’m going, Pope.” She sighed, content with her decision. “Meredith is already working on my travel papers. I”m gonna finish my shifts for the next two weeks, that way I’ll have plenty of time to pack.”

“Pack?” Will’s voice made their heads whip toward the door. “What do you mean ‘pack’?” Will asked again, widening his stance, arms crossing over his chest.

“We’re going to have to tell’em eventually, Cariño.” Santiago said, placing a kiss to her head.

Dani sat there staring at Will. He had been her rock for years. The entire Miller family had taken her in after the accident. When Will joined the army, it was her he wrote letters to. When Benny joined, it was the same way. The two men quickly took over the role of ‘older brother’ teaching her how to defend herself; Their father taught her basic car maintenance; Their mother taught her to cook.

“Okay. Someone tell me what the fuck is going on.” Will cured, “When did this happen?” He gestured between Dani and Santiago.

“You have missed a lot in the last twenty-four hours, hermano.” Santiago told him as he removed his arm from around her. Dani shifted, creating some space between her and the man beside her. Will moved further into the room, taking a seat in her corner chair.

Dani fiddled with her fingers, not even sure where to begin. Santiago noticed her nerves, offering her his hand for comfort. She accepted, lacing her fingers with his. The warmth from him flowed through her, causing her to shiver. Feeling like she could face anything holding Santiago’s hand, she took a deep breath before telling Will what happened with Frankie. By the end of the story, Will’s face had his emotions written all over it.

He was pissed. How could Frankie do that to her? How could she run away with Pope? “So, you’re just gonna leave?” He asked, voice low and gravely. “You think that’s the answer?”

She shook her head, “No, I don’t. But I’m not thinking about me. I’m thinking about the good I can do there. I’m thinking about the people I can save.” Dani put emphasis on ‘can’ to try and get her point across.

Will nodded, understanding where she was coming from. They had a similar conversation when he left for the army. “If this is truly what you want, then I support you, one hundred percent.” Will gave her his blessing. Dani launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle.

“Thank you, Will.” She chirped as he squeezed her tightly. She released him, straightening herself up.

“Don’t thank me yet, sweetheart. You still have to tell Benny.” Dani’s eyes widened. Benny was going to be crushed.

After the conversation, Will had left Dani and Santiago, but not before threatening that he’d hunt Santi down if Dani didn’t make it back. Santiago promised he’d protect her as if his life depended on it, which it did.

Not long after, Santiago left. His lunch break was long over and his boss was blowing up his phone. Dani used the time to herself to sit and think about everything. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she was making the right choice. She contemplated on how she was going to tell Benny. She decided to make his favorite dinner; His mom’s famous chicken pot pie. Thankfully, she had everything she needed.

Benny entered the house right as Dani pulled the meal out of the oven. “Holy shit. Tell me that’s what I think it is.” Benny grinned as he dropped his keys to the counter.

“Yep! Momma Miller’s chicken pot pie!” Dani answered him, putting the piping hot dish on the counter. “Why don’t you go clean up while it cools?”

Benny walked around the island to hug her. “You’re the best, Tequila. What did I do to deserve a best friend like you?” He questioned out loud before walking back through the house. Dani’s stomach dropped. She wasn’t ready for this.

Benny came back into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later. Dani had the table set for just the two of them. “What about Will?” Benny asked at the sight of the two plates.

“Date. Probably won’t be back tonight.” Dani replied, grabbing a beer out of the fridge. She handed it to the blonde man in front of her, gesturing for him to sit.

“Alright. What’s up, Teq? I know you well enough to know when something’s wrong.” Benny called her out. The two of them have never had secrets. Will always joked that they were more like siblings than he and Benny were.

Dani told Benny all about Frankie while they ate. She explained everything that happened between her and Santiago. “Santi, he, uh. He’s asked me to go to South America with him. And I said yes.” She whispered, and Benny almost choked.

“You can’t go to South America.” Benny said in between coughs. He cleared his throat. “Teq, you can’t go. I feel like I just got you back.”

Tears welled in her eyes, “Oh, Ben. You never lost me. You are always going to be the pain in the ass brother I always wanted.” She reached across the table to him. “I’ll text and call whenever I can. I'm not gonna be gone forever.” She promised him.

Benny stood up, his chair scraping against the tile. He pulled Dani to her feet, embracing her in his arms. The hug told Dani everything she needed to know. He was silently giving her his approval. They sat back down and finished eating, Benny asking the occasional question about what she would be doing there. She honestly didn’t know, but she was excited to see where this path would take her. When they were done, Benny helped her clean up, loading the dishwasher while she put away the leftovers.

The two of them dropped to the couch, turning on a movie. Benny hit pause and turned to her. “I gotta know. Is the sex that good, that you’d follow him to another country?” He jested, his voice playful.

Dani rolled her eyes, “Wouldn’t you like to know. Looking for tips, Miller?” She chuckled, throwing him a wink. Benny huffed a laugh, sticking his tongue out at her before he un-paused the movie.

Week by week, the days seemed to pass by a little faster. As their departure date grew closer, Dani grew more nervous. Not nervous, like she was regretting her decision, but nervous like she couldn’t wait to see what the future held for her.

Although they completely supported their friend, Will and Benny tried to get her to stay. They hated that she was leaving. They even tried to get their mom to convince her to stay. Boy, did that backfire. Momma Miller was nothing but excited for her, telling Dani to take complete advantage of the wondrous opportunity.

Dani laid in her bed, sparing a glance at her phone. 6:30am. Santiago would be there soon, coming to take her to get her stuff from the hospital. She finished her last shift days ago, but put off getting her things. A piece of her wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Carolina Memorial had been her home. She experienced all of her ‘real doctor’ firsts there.

Pulling herself together, she slithered out of bed. Throwing on her robe, she tip-toed to the kitchen trying not to wake Benny. She started a pot of coffee. As if on cue, Benny shuffled into the room as the liquid began to drip. His blonde hair a mess, sleep still heavy in his eyes. “Good morning, Benjamin.” She said sweetly. He grumbled a response that she only assumed meant ‘Good morning’. Dani never understood why Benny still got up so early, even though he was not a morning person.

Luckily for Benny, Dani knew just how to perk him up. “Coffee, black, no sugar.” She said as she handed him a cup. Benny hummed in appreciation, taking the drink. Dani poured her own coffee, gazing out the kitchen window.

In true North Carolina fashion, the weather changed almost instantly. The day before had been beautiful, but today rain moved in, fog blocking out the sunshine. Dani hated days like this. Benny, who had drained his coffee, noticed Dani staring out the Window. He knew what was going through her head; He was the one who picked her up after.

“Hey.” Benny called out to her, and she turned to look at him. He didn’t need to say anything else, he just opened his arms.

“I’m gonna miss you, Benny-boy.” She spoke into his chest, and Benny chuckled at the nickname. He hadn’t been called that in years. Benny squeezed her tighter, only pulling away when loud bangs resounded through the house.

“Must be Pope.” Dani shrugged, pouring Benny another cup of coffee. Benny took it, going to open the door for him.

“Reid, I know you’re up. ¡Vamos!” Santiago yelled through the wood.

He jumped when the door swung open to reveal a very annoyed looking Benny. “What the fuck, man?” He groaned, taking a swig of his coffee.

Santiago smiled, “Sorry, Benny. I’m here to take Tequila to get her shit from the hospital.” He apologized. Benny mumbled something under his breath, moving to the side to let his friend in.

“She’s in the kitchen.” Benny said, gesturing toward it. Santiago slapped his shoulder as he passed by him, hastily making his way to her.

Santiago knew something was wrong when Dani hesitantly climbed into the cab of his red Ford. He recognized the look on her face, the anxiety. He’d worn that look many times. He didn’t press for information though. He just gave her hand a squeeze, reminding her that he was there.

As they drove along, something had dawned on Santiago. “So, we’ve known each other for what two years now?” Santiago asked Dani. She nodded in response, keeping her eyes on the road. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

She nodded again, “Santi, you’ve seen me naked. I think we are past ‘personal’.” She replied, fingers doing air quotes around personal.

Santiago bit his lip at the memory. It was only one night, but it was one of the best nights of his life. “You’ve met all of our families, right? Why haven’t we met yours?” He wondered, never recalling her even mentioning her family. Dani sucked in a breath at the question. She knew this day would come. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to tell him, it just wasn’t a pleasant memory.

“You guys are my family.” She whispered. “Well, the only family I have left. My parents died when I was seventeen, right before I was supposed to graduate. The Millers took me in, basically adopting me.” Dani paused, feeling Santi reach over to grab her hand. “I’m an only child, so Will and Benny are the big brothers I never had. No aunts, uncles, or cousins either.” She told him. The look on his face was the reason why she never told people, the look of pity.

“I’m sorry, Teq. How? If you-” He apologized, but she cut him off.

“It’s okay. They, uh, they wrecked their car. On a morning just like this. It was horrific. The hospital that they were transported to wasn’t a trauma center. They did their best to stabilize them for transfer, but it was too late.” She felt a tear drop as she sniffled.

Santiago wanted nothing more than to pull the truck over and take her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, Dani. Is that, is that why you became a trauma surgeon?” His words faltered, not wanting to push for too much information. She nodded; All she ever wanted was to do her best to prevent anyone from going through what she did.

The two gathered Dani’s belongings from her office rather quickly. Dani didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Meredith had stopped by, warning Santiago that he better take care of Dani or else and gave him the glare. Once they left, he told Dani that Meredith reminded him of Medusa, icy stare and all. She laughed so hard her stomach hurt, telling him that’s what the interns called her.

Dani remembered the night she first met Santiago Garcia. She had just graduated med school, completed her internship and was looking for a hospital to complete her residency. She reached out to the Miller brothers, who she grew up with, and stayed very close to. They welcomed her into their North Carolina home with open arms.

It was her first week there and the boys mentioned that they were having a friend coming in for a visit. “Pope is a good guy, one of the best, but will flirt with anything that has a pussy.” Ben warned her. She laughed at her friend’s crudness.

“Benny, you know I can handle myself. There is a reason y’all call me Tequila.” She reminded him, and Benny just nodded. “Besides, that is the last thing I need. I have a residency to focus on.”

Friday quickly approached. Benny went to meet Santiago at the airport while Dani and Will stayed to prepare for his arrival. Dani was helping Will cook dinner, when he came in from the back yard. “So, uh, I burnt the steaks.” Will confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. Dani threw a kitchen towel at him.

“Will! I marinated those steaks all day! How did you burn them?” She asked him, laying her head on the counter. “What are we going to feed your friend now?” The words were mumbled into the granite, but Will still heard her. He walked around, rubbing her shoulders.

“Santi will be fine with burgers from Luanne��s. You don’t need to impress him.” Will assured her and she groaned, standing up straight.

“Yes, I do. Aside from me, he’s one of your oldest friends. I want to make a good impression.” Dani knew she sounded whiny, but she really did want to impress Santiago. Will just gave her a look. “Fine, I’ll go ahead and call in an order. You think Benny will want his usual?” She asked, reaching for her cell. Will nodded and asked for his usual too. Dani quickly ordered their dinner, telling Will it was on him because he fucked up the steaks. Will laughed, tossing her his card and keys.

“Go get our food, Tequila.” He said teasingly. She shot him a quick middle finger before grabbing her bag and walking out the door.

Luanne’s was packed that night, so Dani ended up waiting a lot longer than she thought she would. Will had sent her a text saying that Benny was back and Santiago was asking where the mysterious Tequila was. She replied promptly, letting him know that she was leaving the diner now and that Luanne threw in a few slices of her apple pie for the wait.

Dani pulled Will’s jeep into the driveway. She slid out of the driver’s side, walking around to get the bag of food. She walked into the house, yelling that she was back. It was like a stampede through the Miller household. Benny rounded the corner first, followed by Will. Santiago came around last, calling Benny a “fucking cheater”.

“Guys, slow down.” Dani chuckled, walking the rest of the way into the kitchen. “What are you cheating at now, Benjamin?”

“Fucker thought he could pull a quick one. That was my fucking mushroom and you know it, Benny.” Santi explained, flashing a bright smile in Dani’s direction. “So, Tequila, I presume?” He stretched out a hand, introducing himself.

“Nice to finally meet you, Santiago. I’ve heard so many things about you.” She replied, shaking his hand. She pulled her hand back, and Santi shamelessly let his eyes roam over her.

“All good things, I hope? And Please, you can call me Santi.” He flirted, tongue swiping out to wet his lips, before sucking his bottom one back between his teeth. Dani scoffed and shook her head.

“Well boys, you were right. He didn’t even last five minutes.” Dani snorted, handing out the to-go boxes.

“Let’s eat. Then I can go back to kicking your asses at MarioKart.” Benny joked, before ripping into the container and taking a bite of his burger. “God, I swear Luanne makes the best burgers.” He groaned. The four of them ate, chit-chatting comfortably. Dani was surprised at how easy she fell in with Santi. It was like they had known each other forever.

Dani smiled fondly at the memory. Her and Santi stayed in touch after that weekend. She never imagined she’d find herself here, moving to another country with the man.

Even now though, when Santi had taken up so much of her time, she found her thoughts drifting back to Frankie. She was leaving in less than 24 hours and she still hadn’t told him. Dani picked up her phone, thumb hovering over the call symbol in Frankie’s contact. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed it. The line rang once, before going straight to voicemail. You’ve reached Frankie Morales. Leave a message. “Fuck.” Dani sighed out, tossing the phone to the bed.

Maybe it's better this way, maybe I should just go. Dani knew it would be hard, not saying goodbye. So she wrote him a letter. A letter telling him she was leaving, that she was sorry, and she would see him again.

Dani and Santiago opted for a midnight flight; The airport was almost empty. "You can still stay, you know? I won't hold it against you." Santi whispered to her. He could see the hurt in her eyes. He knew leaving would be hard on her, especially after everything with Frankie.

"You're stuck with me, Pope. My name is already on the apartment lease." She smiled at him. She was more than ready to go. Ready to make peace with her past and embrace her future.

Frankie woke up and started his normal morning routine. Vanessa was already in the kitchen making coffee. "Hey, this was stuck to the door." She told him, handing him an envelope. His name in her hand writing. He ripped it open, pulling the paper out. His eyes roamed the page, reading every word.

"No. No. No." Frankie mumbled, "fuck, I have to go." Frankie grabbed his keys and rushed over to her house.

He banged on the door, not relenting until Will opened it. "Tell me she isn't gone. Tell me Dani didn't leave." Frankie cried, still gripping the letter in his hand.

Will shook his head. " I'm sorry, Fish. They flew out last night."

Frankie's heart stalled in his chest. He dropped to the concrete of Will's porch. She was gone. He never got to apologize for anything. She was gone.

Catfish,

I hope this finds you well. I tried, Frankie. I tried to call. I tried to come see you. After everything that’s happened, I figured that this way was for the best. I’m leaving , Fish. I’m going to South America with Santi. By the time you get this, I’ll already be 35,000 feet in the air.

I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. I’m so fucking sorry. I wanted so bad to help you, to be what you needed, but I wasn’t. And that’s okay.

Frankie, when we meet again, I hope things are better. I hope you are better. I want nothing but happiness for you. You will always be my best friend.

Love always,

Tequila.

TAGS: @danniburgh @speakerforthedead0 @221bshrlocked

Translations:

Querida- dear, lover

Vamos- Let’s go

Hermano- Brother

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