#rewatching for an AU fic

[petricorah]

for @lesmiserablol​ and their great fic now that i see you 

so i was going to do what you suggested but this expression reminded me of the smolderTM and i just decided to uhhh tangled au instead

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

There is a voicemail on the answering machine when Steve gets home that night. It's from his Uncle Phillip, stumbling through a clumsy message about Chrissy's death, all while he can hear his Aunt Laura wailing in the background. He cuts the message off halfway, rewinding it for his parents to listen to when they return from wherever they've been. Whenever they return.

He picks up the phone, dials Gareth's number, and immediately hangs up before anyone can answer. This is a phone call that needs to wait. Even though all of Steve is itching to reach out to the family that still matters to him, he can't. He can't offer comfort or kind words or even offer to just be there. He's got the Upside Down to deal with first.

The Upside Down has returned and they don't have El and her powers. They don't have Hopper or Joyce. What they have is Steve. Steve is the only adult left in Hawkins that knows anything. It's his job to protect them all, somehow. Someway.

He's the adult.

Fuck. He can't think about this anymore tonight. He's so fucking tired. Instead of climbing the stairs to his room, he flops onto the couch in the living room, falling quickly into sleep plagued by nightmares.

Meanwhile, across town, Gareth has finally pried himself free of his mother's grip and slunk to his room. He flops on his bed and rolls to stare up at the ceiling.

He feels numb.

Chrissy is- she was- and in his best friend's house. And now Eddie is missing. What if whoever killed Chrissy kidnapped Eddie? Is something worse going to happen to Eddie?

And his mom and dad. They wouldn't say it to his face, but he can tell they blame Eddie. Maybe not blame, as in think he's the murderer, but certainly blame, in that, they think it's his fault Chrissy's dead. That whoever murdered Chrissy was really out to murder Eddie and Chrissy was an innocent bystander turned victim.

When his uncle called with the news it was unbelievable. His parents had seen the news, knew about the murder, but the police hadn't stated a name yet. He'd been asked so many questions, mostly about who Eddie knew that could have been over, but Gareth didn't have answers. Eddie hadn't mentioned anyone that was going to go to his house.

The police didn't take long actually identifying Chrissy, because they're reached out to next of kin and then Uncle Phillip had called, spoken to his dad and it's-

Well, it's all unbelievable. Hawkins has always been so dull and boring. Nothing happens here! Well, beyond that time the Byers kid went missing, then was dead but then not or whatever. And the fire at the brand-new mall but that was an accident, so even though a lot of people died, it was- it wasn't a murder.

Eddie is missing.

Chrissy is dead.

And Gareth is here, finally alone, in his room. His parents hadn't let him out of their sight since the phone call, and he can't really blame them. The death of someone in a family always makes his parents cling tighter to him but never before has the person who's passed been younger than his parents. He's been to the funeral for an uncle on his mom's side, which was her older brother, as well as for both his grandparents on his father's side.

Steve's side, he thinks. He knows Chrissy's dad called Steve's house, but his aunt and uncle probably aren't even in town. They barely were when Steve was a minor. Now that they can legally abandon him, they probably won't hear about Chrissy until Thanksgiving.

Jesus. Is Steve doing okay with the news? He knows he's got a best friend who stays more nights than not but are they there now, or is Steve alone?

Tears build in his eyes again as he thinks about when they were all younger, each just a year apart in school but all each other's first best friend. It used to be Steve, Chrissy, and himself against the world. Why had that changed?

Oh.

He knows. He changed it, heading into his freshman year. He told them he didn't want to hang out with them in high school.

And now Chrissy's dead and he realizes he no longer knows her -knew her- well enough to know why she'd be at Eddie's. Were they friend? Was Eddie her dealer? Did Chrissy even smoke weed? He knew she was dating Jason Carver but- was she also into Eddie? Chrissy had never seemed the kind of person to cheat, but what did Gareth actually know about her at the end of the day?

At the end of her life?

He rolls onto his side and sobs, curling into himself with all these unanswered questions running through his mind until he cries himself to sleep.

Steve has been awake for maybe ten minutes before Dustin is calling. The Upside Down waits for no man, so Steve finds himself picking up Dustin, Robin, and Max, and then they go to Cerebro to eavesdrop on the police.

Dustin talks him into handing his wallet over so he can run into the store and buy Eddie something for breakfast.

They deliver bad news to Eddie, follow a police car, meet up with Nancy, Robin and Nancy go to the library, he drives Max and Dustin first to Ms. Kelley's house, then the school. Once Robin and Nancy join them, Max fills them in on some depressing news before noises from the hallway draw their attention.

It turns out to be Lucas, here to warn about Jason.

Steve isn't meaning to eavesdrop when Lucas saddles up next to Dustin on the way to Steve's car and says, "Jason. He, uh, he went to Gareth's. Looking for Eddie. And he. Did you know Gareth and Chrissy Cunningham were cousins?"

Steve stumbles but if anyone noticed they don't call him on it.

Dustin says, "no. Oh, no. Don't tell me-"

"Yeah," Lucas confirms an unspoken question, "he's joined Jason's hunt for Eddie."

"Shit," Dustin and Steve say at the same time.

Unlike Steve, Gareth wakes late. It's almost noon before he drags himself from bed and to the bathroom.

A half hour later, he's clean and fed, and dialing Steve's number for the third time in a row, to get a third answering machine pickup.

"Answer the goddamn phone, Steve!" He snarls into the receiver this time, not having left messages the first two times. Just hung up and dialed again, then. "Have you heard about- I need you, so answer your fucking phone."

He slams the phone back into its cradle. His parents are still lost in their own fear and sorrow, because neither of them scold him for his language or the treatment of the phone.

He calls Jeff, and then Frankie, to cancel practice. They're worried but don't push when Gareth blames his mom. Then he spends another two hours trying to get a hold of Steve, and even Wayne a couple times, but no one answers.

He is surprised, and a little annoyed, when he mom comes to his room a bit later in the day to let him know he has guests at the door. He hauls himself from his bed, ready to tell the guys to fuck off, but when he steps outside to Chrissy's boyfriend instead of Jeff, the words die on his tongue.

Carver, some other guys from the basketball team, and Lucas Sinclair standing in the way back, are waiting for him on his lawn. Gareth closes the front door before slowly stepping off the porch. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Eddie. He here?" Carver asks.

"No."

Carver nods, hands shoved into his letterman lifting and dropping, like he was going to make a 'what can you do' gesture but forgot his hands were in his pockets. "Know where we can find him?"

They're looking for Eddie. This is -was- Chrissy's boyfriend. He probably knows the truth as much as Gareth does. And, he wants to know more. He's sure, judging by the tension in Carver's stance and how Lucas is shaking his head no behind them all, that Carver's probably convinced Eddie did it. So, if Gareth wants the truth, he needs to find Eddie, too. "You try Dustin Henderson's house?"

Carver looks surprised by the freely given information, and Lucas looks betrayed. "No. But we will. Thanks."

"I'm coming with."

Carver, who had turned away, turns back slowly. "You think so?"

"She's my cousin. Chrissy. So, yeah, I think I'm coming," Gareth hopes it's enough to get Carver to agree. If Eddie's innocent, Gareth wants to be there to help him. And if- if the fucking worst has happened and Eddie did it.

Well. He wants to be there to help with that, too.

[jessicas-pi]

Local Smuggler Extremely Disappointed By Boring Reality Of Hyped-Up Love Story: More At Seven

Sabine gives him a knowing smile. “Han, be honest. Are you just looking for advice on how to date a girl who’s cooler than you?”

“No!” he lies, holding up his hands. “I’m curious! I mean, Bridger seems like a nice guy, but… he’s one of those wizards, and from what I’ve heard, your people don’t exactly get along with them.”

Sabine is quiet for a minute, apparently reminiscing.

Finally, she speaks.

“So, Ezra has always liked me. He was almost fifteen when we met, and he was—” She laughs to herself. “He was such a flirt. Cocky, full of himself, overconfident… but he was sweet. Sometimes he was even funny.”

Han gets the feeling she might be fonder of the Jedi in hindsight than she actually was at the time, but he doesn’t interrupt her to point it out.

“We became friends, after a while,” Sabine continues sentimentally. “Best friends. And then some of Ezra’s friends bet him money that he wouldn’t ask me out, and more money that I wouldn’t say yes. So… Ezra and I decided to swindle them.”

Han sits up a little straighter. “Swindle? Antilles and Klivian said—”

“Wedge and Hobbie don’t know,” Sabine cuts him off, grinning. “They think we actually went on a date. And then… to avoid other people constantly asking us out, we kept fake dating. It was our big secret. Our bit.”

“Then, what?” Han asks. “Don’t tell me getting married was fake, too!”

“Yeah, but just for a couple months. But I couldn’t hide my feelings for him anymore, and so I ‘fessed up. And… the rest is history.” She brushes a strand of her hair out of her face and smiles. “You know, I could probably get the girls to bet Leia won’t ask you out, if you wanna give it a try—”

“Who says this is about Leia?” Han demands, bristling.

Sabine just smirks. “It’s nice to see someone who’s worse than me at lying about their feelings.”

“Hey!”

[tending-the-hearth]

i love you reunion scenes in movies and books and tv shows i love you fix-it reunion scenes in fanfictions i love you reunion scenes where the entire world falls away from the person realizing the person/people they love most in the entire world is still alive i love you reunion scenes that have little inside jokes mixed in i love you reunion scenes with crushing hugs and sobs of relief i love you reunion scenes with joyful laughter and hugs that lift people off the ground i love you reunion scenes where you can see the person melting into the hug i love you reunion scenes that heal the bad that's happened during the time of absence i love you reunion scenes that show just how much people mean to each other

[kindlythevoid]

AU where Luke successfully makes it off the Death Star II with a slightly charred, mostly intact ex-Sith Lord

[jade-of-mourning]

Tenzin stares down at the scowling, scrawny kid. He's dressed in a patched grey shirt bound hastily at the forearms, equally-patched trousers hanging off his frame despite the long length of his skinny legs, and his feet are currently bare aside from some more dirty wrappings around the arch and heel. A shockingly red scarf loops around his neck, several times too-big and frayed at the ends. He's maybe fourteen or fifteen despite the heavy grey lines underscoring his features, because there's a familiar despair written in the recurring story — prominent cheekbones sticking out of his thin, pointy face, lips chapped and pale from the freezing winter nights of Republic City, gold-flecked brown eyes glaring back at him defiantly. 

And he's in a pair of handcuffs.

"So this is the one, you say," he addresses to the woman standing next to him. Her arms are crossed against her chest, a glare plastered across her face — precisely mirroring that of the scrappy boy handcuffed to the table in front of them. They're having an intense stare-down.

If he didn't know any better, he'd almost think this was her kid.

(But he knows all too well that he's not.)

Lin Beifong scowls. "Fucker tried to hit Jian with lightning after spotting her during a stakeout on a Triple Threats warehouse. He then managed to single-handedly fight off three officers while the rest of the gang bailed, looking like a feral, lightning-happy pyromaniac while at it —" The feral, lightning-happy pyromaniac looks pleased for a moment, before promptly dropping back into a glower "— and when I sent a cable at him from the back, he shot a pillar out of the concrete ground to block it."

"How do you know it was him?" Tenzin asks. 

"I know the motions. I am an earthbender, in case you forgot."

"Perhaps there was another man waiting behind to assist his escape, who earthbent the ground upon seeing his comrade in danger."

Lin grunts. "The team split when the cowards scrammed, and managed to capture a few of the accomplices. None of those fleeing were in the vicinity by the time the incident occurred."

"There could have been more of them involved than just the ones you saw fleeing the scene," Tenzin suggests.

"We were in the middle of a stakeout, Tenzin. If you need a definition, a stakeout is a period of time where the police conduct surveillance on —"

Tenzin cuts her off, conceding before she can keep going on at him. "Understood. But how can you know for certain that there weren't other members coincidentally passing through who elected to lend a hand?"

Lin acknowledges the point; the outside world doesn't come to a standstill when there's a fight inside. "One of the captured men said that the kid is Zolt's protege, which adds up with the frequency of which I see him in the aftermath of incursions. They're shamelessly bitter about him being the boss' favorite, and they clearly don't hold any well-regards towards him, so they don't have reason to offer assistance, aside from attempting to curry favor from a fourteen year old — and no faces were shown to that point, so that's out of question. Besides, they're gangsters. What sense of loyalty to each other do you really think they have?"

"More than you've got to the city." Both Tenzin and Lin whip their heads around in surprise at the low, raspy voice, having forgotten of the boy's presence during their back-and-forth. He looks almost like he wants to curl inwards on himself, but instead raises his chin higher up and manages to glare at them with even more force, if possible. "You police ain't done shit for us. You're all the same purposefully ignorant bastards. That's how we get here, but you knew that." The subject of we goes unsaid; all three of them in the closed metal room know precisely what he's talking about.

"So are you saying that one of your loyal friends stayed behind and bent that earth for you?" Lin demands, ignoring the jab at her dignity. Tenzin knows she's retracted the heel of her uniform, searching for a heartbeat.

The boy leans back in the chair flippantly. "Nah," he says curtly. "They're smart enough. None of 'em would stick 'round for me." It's contrary to the earlier claim of mutual loyalty, but unsurprising.

"So it was you," Tenzin concludes.

"I never said it was."

"Then who else could it have been?" The frustration is bubbling up in him, the way it always has since he was a kid; Dad had always laughed and said that he must've gotten it from his mother, quick to anger and full in force, but Tenzin has never been able to quell the feeling down despite his best efforts to be more like his father.

"Bet it was one of your cop cronies." There's something intense and unhinged and wild in the kid's half-pyrite eyes, almost glowing in the gleeful challenge. "Pro'ly got bored of the metal rod permanently stuck up your ass n' thought it'd be funny if —"

"Young man! You will not speak of —"

"I'm jus' sayin' —"

"Enough." Lin slams her fist down on the table, and the light in the boy's eyes dims in an instant. "I've had enough of your hog-monkey shit. Either you be straight with me and we can settle this quickly, or I'm holding you here as long as I deem necessary."

Which can be a very long time, goes unsaid.

Tenzin inspects the kid carefully, sees the minute way his shoulders slump down, and suddenly, all he can see in front of him is Jinora, hunching in on herself as her parents lecture her about not feeding her dinner to the sky bison. He doesn't know why — after all, this is a lightning-bending gangster, almost certainly raised by the streets in poverty and desperation; he couldn't be further from Tenzin's family.

But.

He's still just a kid.

Beneath all that bravado, those bitter, biting words, the degenerate behaviour that brought him here in the first place, the skin stretched too-thin over bones jutting out of his face — the harsh exterior is made to protect a kid who's seen too much. Tenzin knows that for certain.

And Tenzin is suddenly tired, because the boy is right. There's a reason that kids like him run with gangs, learn to fight dirty and low and vicious, and he's not naive enough to believe that it's not in-part due to their own failure as adults in power. He places a hand on Lin's shoulder — a silent request for her to step back and trust him. She looks over at him, green eyes meeting blue, and he's struck by how beaten down she looks by this conversation despite her infallible presence. Despite their time away from each other, despite the inevitable fallout that halved their world together like a splintering ravine and left no chance of reprieve, she knows him. 

She steps back.

Tenzin seats himself at the table as Lin moves to the corner of the room. Takes a deep breath to steady himself, tries to channel the way his father always made people feel like everything would be alright. "Young man," he says in a reasonable tone, "please, let's try again. Would you be willing to tell me your name?"

"It's —"

"Mako," the boy interjects before Lin can finish for him, take his autonomy, eyes dropping to the table. There's an unmistakable air of defeat around him, one at total odds of the snapping, feral boy described and seen from before. "My… My name's Mako. Why's it matter to you?"

Tenzin nods resolutely, ignoring the question. "Well, Mako. I have a proposal for you — one that should keep you out of the police station." 

A raised eyebrow.

Once it's out of his mouth, he can't retract it. He knows that there will be consequences for speaking without consulting Pema, Lin, his kids.

But his heart is telling him that this is right. Not just that it's the right thing to do, but also that the kid sitting handcuffed to the table in front of him is the Avatar. He can see it in his eyes, hard and resentful and gold-brown and so different from his father's, yet still the same in some inexplicable way. Reconciling the idea of this lightning-bending gangster of a street kid with the man who co-founded this city is… overwhelming, and Tenzin would almost rather blow this situation off and let himself live in remembering his father for who he is, not for whoever Mako turns out to be. But Tenzin has a duty to the world, and a duty to his father, and so he will ensure that he does the new Avatar right.

"I would like to invite you to stay on Air Temple Island for the time being. We can discuss the objective after I am able to gather the resources necessary to run an evaluating test. Do you accept?"

Mako glances over at Lin; Tenzin resists the urge to do the same. He doesn't need her approval for this — it's his home, and he knows what he's doing. He can't read the thoughts behind the boy's eyes as they flick between the two adults who hold an infinite amount of power over him, can't follow what internal strife might be occurring in his head.

Then Mako shrugs, an abrupt, jerky motion. "Sure."

Lin Beifong throws her hands up in the air, and leaves the interrogation room. She can't be bothered to deal with this; it's five in the morning. She needs some fucking sleep.

my ao3 (but it's not posted there)

sorry this was a crack idea i had while practicing piano and i had to crank it out. i Might write a series of oneshots on this if i get too inspired lol (similar to what empty shores was supposed to be)

yes bolin is alive in this au, yes i have an unfortunate amount of ideas, yes i'm still writing my normal conceivable-to-complete fics.

if tenzin thought korra was hard to work with, he is going to have a blast with mako, who comes pre-packaged with fifty times more trauma that korra had when she pulled up to air temple island. (and is also prone to stealing, and running away, and murder as necessary, probably.) (this is going to be so terrible on all sides until it gets better!)

[chlodriendump]

My imagination's current obsession: Golden Trio Treasure Hunters AU (of course there's Chlodrien in this)

My brain can't come up with a good way to summarize this now, but basically:

Adrien - archeologist

Chloe - museum curator

Felix - history professor

On one of Adrien's expeditions, he encounters familiar symbols and discovers that it was part of his late father's research about "The Miraculous" which is said to have magical properties, granting whoever holds it a wish.

It was all believed to be a myth, but Gabriel became obsessed in order to save his wife. Feeling neglected as a child, Adrien resented him for this; more so when it appears Gabriel had killed himself. Soon after, Emilie had passed away from her sickness.

Wanting to be a hero while redeeming his family name, he persuades Chloe and Felix to join him on a quest to find The Miraculous, but a selfish thought to bring back his parents remains at the back of his mind.

When the trio all decide to investigate further, they encounter Papillon, a military group in search of ancient artifacts including The Miraculous. They used to do it only for the money it brought, but now they have a chance to make the world "better."

They also meet Wang Fu, a descendant of one of the guardians of The Miraculous, who warn them against the dangers of using it.

With new enemies willing to kill them in exchange for the artifact, things just got a whole lot complicated.

[zoeweee]

I NEED A STEDDIE WHAT A GIRL WANTS AU FIC

Like but focused on the parents relationship. The dad henry is steve right cause obviously and the mum libby A MUSICIAN is eddie. Daphne would be Max. It would have everything steve and max dad daughter bounding but also steddie as exes reconnecting 😭😭

[nachosncheezies]

People like Bill Jr. got all kinds of things wrong about Scully but probably none moreso than thinking it was tragic that Mulder was dragging her along on some descent into madness, when actually the real tragedy was how few of the people she loved ever realized it wasn't a descent.

(It couldn't be bc 1. it's not madness and 2. she was already there.)

[cadmusfly]

Funny thing about previously being into Napoleonic Royal Navy fiction and stuff and then switching sides to obsess over the Napoleonic Marshals is returning to things I read and then spotting Mentions Of Marshals that I disregarded before

Like “hey, the boys were here all along, I just didn’t care about them back then!”

oops tag rambled about dragons

[bluuscreen-png]

bit of an experiment using (a rough design of) janus from an au of mine that i’ve barely touched since like 2019. he’s a witch :]

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i only just found your au and i need everyone to have a happy ending so badly im gonna cry ;-; sally is gonna be so freakin upset when she wakes up for real and sees she decimated barnaby.

oh, Barnaby already has his arm stitched back on when she wakes up! and really, even if he didn't, that'd be the Least of her worries. she wakes up into a Real nightmare - partially of her (unintentional) making

[svtellify]

a cure for death by 4419

“They’re trying to find a cure for it,” Kira reminds them.

Liam frowns. “For a world that’s dying?”

“Decaying,” Theo corrects. “There’s no cure for something that’s already dead.”

read the fic here!

[zibulon01]

Got tagged by @kstbj thank you! (hi, feel free to ask about more details or snippets for each of them if you want)

[eldritch-thrumming]

“Tell us about your duties, Steve,” Dustin prompts from behind the camera.

“Um, okay,” Steve shifts nervously. “I mean, uh. I do the shopping, the cleaning, the cooking, most of the repairs around the house…” Steve trails off.

“Cooking?” Will asks, eyebrows raised.

Steve swallows. “Okay, well. Yeah. Cooking.”

“Cooking,” Lucas deadpans, shifting the camera on his shoulder.

“Cooking,” Steve looks directly into the camera as he says it.

“Okay, and uh. How do you usually… prepare the food?” Dustin asks.

Steve clears his throat. “Nancy and Robin like virgins. They say they taste better. Eddie’s not as picky. But there’s this, uh. DnD club at the local university… pretty easy to… invite them here.”

Steve is clearly uncomfortable by the line of questioning.

“So you—” Lucas starts but Will elbows him right between the ribs. He shares a look with Dustin.

~*~

“Okay, so usually I don’t have a camera crew with me…” Steve’s voice is low and his hand is planted firmly on the classroom door in front of him. “Just. Don’t be, like, weird, okay?”

Dustin, Lucas, and Will shift on their feet. “Yeah, man, we’re cool,” Lucas tells him from behind the camera. Steve pushes open the door, plastering a bright smile on his face.

“Steve!” Someone calls out the minute they walk through the door.

Steve turns to the boy sitting near the head of the table. “Hey, Gareth.” The two perform some elaborate handshake. Dustin and Will share another look. “Hope you don’t mind, my friends are working on a student film, they’re just gonna, like, hang out. Get some footage, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, dude, no worries,” Gareth says, grinning towards the camera. “Hey, did you bring any more of those cookies?”

Steve smiles and holds up the grocery bag he’d carried from the mansion. He shifts a look to the camera and quickly looks back toward Gareth. “You think I’d show up empty handed?”

Dustin, Will, and Lucas set up toward the back of the room as the club members take their places around the table, sharing Steve’s cookies and setting up their notes and figures.

“Okay, we’ve got some new members tonight,” Gareth stands and gestures toward the two chairs next to him. “Alex and Truman are gonna try it out with us for this one-shot and we’ll see if they have what it takes to join the party.” Gareth grins at the group.

Gameplay takes a few hours. They’re going to have to cut the footage almost completely, besides maybe the beginning and the end. Lucas actually wants to die a little just thinking about the tape he’s wasted during all this.

Once gameplay wraps, Steve comes over to them, shrugging on his jacket.

“Hey, so Alex and Truman are gonna head out with us,” he whispers. “Don’t be weird, okay?”

~*~

“Once they’re in the basement, it’s out of my hands,” Steve says to the camera, rubbing his palms together. He twitches a little when there’s a scream from downstairs. “I don’t, you know. Kill… anyone.”

“And… how often do you do this?” Dustin asks.

Steve clears his throat. “Well, the DND group meets once a week, but, uh. Generally, I only bring home new members. And then there’s the LARPers that meet on Saturdays, but there’s a lot of overlap. Then there’s the Mathletes. And the debate team. So. I mix it up.” Another scream drifts up through the floorboards.

more wwdits steddie au here

[ask-missparker]

Nice to meet you, where’ve you been? / Once Upon A Time AU fic ⚔️

—> Inspired by the Pilot episode of the series to give a quick glimpse of our characters, well some of them.

Summary: In Fighter-Town, Maine everyone is cursed to believe they are normal people. However there are certain things that are left unclear and to be discussed. So Riley and Belladonna, are on the case suggesting if a change would start to stir things up?

Context: Riley is the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood (Rick Banner) and Belladonna is the biological daughter of Ethan & adopted daughter of Liane

Pairings: Snow!Amelia x Charming!Nikolai, Prince of Hearts!Ethan x Maleficent!Liane, Red!Rick x Huntress!Luna

Note: I changed some last names cause of the curse lol

~~~

It was the late afternoon in Boston, as the dimly lit apartment shined with beer bottles and the sound GTA video game playing in the background, as Ethan lay across the couch. He had a week off from work and wanted to enjoy it when suddenly there was a knock on his door, as he stood up to answer it.

Once he opened it, he was met with a short tan Latina with bangs and a black coat. She held a serious face, raising an eyebrow as she held her hands behind her back and asked, “Are you Ethan Long?

“Yes? Are you here for something?” He replies, holding the doorknob.

“You’re smarter than you look. I’m Belladonna, you’re daughter.”

“I..huh?”

She didn’t give him a moment to collect his thoughts as she walked inside the apartment hearing him saying a couple of things. She sighed and turned around to ask, “More than a few years ago you gave up a baby girl for adoption and that was me. And no, I’m not here for money. It’s not worth it.”

“So why are you here? Where are your parents?” He asked narrowing his eyes, picking up his cell phone.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’ll tell them you kidnapped me if you call the cops.”

“And they’ll believe you cause I’m your birth father. Clever. What do you want?”

“I need you to take me downtown to an address, to pick someone, and then I want you to come home with me.”

“You’re good, real good. Look you’re not going anywhere expect the police station because I can tell your lying.”

“I ain’t. Don’t call the police, just come home with me and then you’ll never want to leave.”

“Why’s that?”

“My town has one of the best diners in Maine.”

“Alright let’s go.”

After a short ride downtown, Ethan stopped at a apartment building and watched his daughter get out of the car. Belladonna looked at her watch, as she knocked at the door of the apartment knowing time was ticking and Riley wouldn’t hold them occupied forever. She sighed and waited to notice a tall teenager around 2 years old than her opened the door.

He raised an eyebrow and looked around the hallway for a moment before facing her. He was confused not recognizing her from anywhere as a shiver of fear came into his spine, he’s been on the run for a few months now trying to lay low wondering if the agency sent her here.

“Hey eyes over here, dude.” Said Belleadonna with a short half smile, trying to be kind here.

“Look, I uh, don’t want to cause an trouble here..” He replied, as he tried to regain his composure quickly.

“Good to here. I just want to give you something and then ask you a few questions.”

“Are they drugs?”

“No. Do I look like a pothead to you?”

“No…?”

She opened her black bag and handed him a note. It said ‘Baby boy left the doorstep of a adoption house. I know who you are but you need to trust me.’, referring to Joshua Nolan’s small new article within the small note. He awkwardly stood there eyeing the young girl who seemed to know more than she lead on.

“What is going on?” He asked, leading her inside his small rental apartment that belonged to a friend of his.

She glanced over the place and responded, “Do you believe in fairytales Mr. Nolan?”

“I read my fair share of them. Why?”

“What if I told you there is more to the tales.”

“Okay I’ll bite. I spend my life watching tv and movies, anything to escape reality.”

“Then you’re coming with me.”

He raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry?”

“You’re living on your own and you just said, you rather escape this time. So either you come with me or you’ll regret it.” She commented with a serious tone, “Names Belladonna, and your Joshua Nolan. We’re very different yet but somehow alike. There’s a place called Fighter-Town, in Maine, where I’m from and you’re welcome to come with me on the fact that you’re from there.”

“From there how?”

“Our parents used to be friends but then some stuff happened and well..here we are.”

“My parents are gone.”

“That’s what they want you to believe. Eh, well not all parents are the best..but do you believe in the case of hope in what I’m saying?”

“…yes? Don’t take this for granted, Belladonna, but, you’ll always want your parents around even if they aren’t the best..”

They were silent for a moment. Belladonna wasn’t one for sympathy but she could tell he was alone for a good part of his life, as she stayed nodding. Telling him to grab his coat as she explained along the way down to her birth father’s car a few of things as the young teen just hummed in response.

Ethan was a little more than surprised that he had 2 teenagers in his car, driving them to Maine but he just shrugged what else could he lose? To be honest, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him that week. Belladonna held onto a copy of her book, as Ethan asked what is it in her hand as she bluntly that they are fairytale. It may sound stupid but it’s true, the whole town where they are going to is unlike any other because of the secrets they hold. Joshua heard her the whole time and wondered a few things but stayed silent.

“You got problems kid.” Ethan said driving with a small chuckle.

She nods and adds, “Yeah, well, we all do. And you’re gonna fix ‘em.”

——

Meanwhile in Fighter-Town, Liane was pacing back and forth between the front yard of her home. Rick was watching her, sitting on the couch with his daughter who was pretending to mind her own business but he knew Riley was covering for Belladonna. The town sheriff, Erik, was trying to calm her down asking for answers but got nothing in return.

“How could she do that? Just run off and not say anything!” Liane said stopped in her tracks when the sheiff put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a mini glare, “..sorry. Where could she have gone?”

Erik rolled his eyes and scoffed, “She’s a teenager, Felton. They rebel more than most.”

Riley was playing with her nails and shrugged, “..maybe she’s at the library. We all know she loves to read.”

Rick scoffed with a half hearted comment, “Sweetie, your not helping. You kids are always up to something, for the 8th time where is Belladonna?”

“Well..”

“I’m right here..” They all turned around hearing the young brunette voice, being accompanied by Ethan standing on the sidewalk with Joshua who was playing with the pieces of paper in his pockets.

Liane ran up to them, almost breaking her kitten heel and pulled her daughter into a hug as the young brunette have her a pat on the back calling her mother dramatic. Liane asked, “What happened?! Where did you go? I was worried sick..”

“I found my birth father..and a uh, pen pal.” Belladonna repiled, glances over her shoulder to look at Joshua and then nods at Riley.

“Y-your Bella’s birth father?”

Ethan half smiled and shrugged sheepishly, “Hi.”

Rick was looking at the young boy who was mentioned to be a pen pal raising an eyebrow. Erik looked at Ethan and felt something striking familiar wash over him but couldn’t place it as he said, “Hey. Uh, how about I take Belladonna inside then go about my rounds? I’m Erik Lawson by the way.”

Ethan nodded, “Ethan Long sir, nice to meet ya. And this is uh, Joshua.”

Liane eyed the guy for a moment, something shifted in the way he presented himself as she smiled, “Well thank you for bringing her back, I guess. Would you like to come inside? Get a drink?”

The two eyes met as the man nodded following her and the sheriff inside the the house.

However. Joshua waved shyly with a grin, he bounced around foster home to foster home before meeting a lot of people but his confidence wasn’t ever this low, he was mainly trying to take it all in. He glanced at Rick who was eyeing him for a long moment, as if he was suspicious of the young boy.

The young brunette straighten up and gave a small smile, “Hey. She came all this way to meet me I guess..I thought it was best Belladonna went home..”

Rick could tell he was being somewhat honest and asked, “You agreed to come along to see her come home? What’s in it for you kid?”

“N-no, nothing sir..I have nowhere else to go and she uh kinda invited me..”

“I have a bit of a superpower, we can call it that, I can tell when a kid is lying. Why are you really here?”

“Like I said, I have nowhere else to go, living on my own with a old friend..and it’s been a weird night.”

Rick wasn’t just a father but a teacher, he has seen students of all kind walk in and out his doorstep to his classroom. By the look in the young brunette’s eyes and how odd his daughter has been acting, he could tell they wanted to be cautious yet kind to him. This kid was alone but yet he doesn’t seem to want to go back home anytime soon, maybe make a friend.

“Okay.” The blonde simply said, “I don’t trust anyone and I know for a fact you ain’t Belladonna’s boyfriend.”

“No sir i uhm. I ain’t that..” The brunettes said, fixing his backpack and then noticed the young blonde girl eyeing him as well.

The blonde had a tiny smirk on her face and asked, “He can stay at Grandpa’s diner, right? The bed and breakfast.”

Rick nodded and lightly pushed the young boy into the direction of the diner, telling him to stay out of trouble or else. Rick walked walked away with Riley, passing by the record store to notice his favorite short pink headed girl who shyly waved at him. And her son who was playing with the record in hand. Riley just grinned to herself.

As Ethan and Liane were chatting at her house that night, Joshua found himself wondering the town as he lead to the direction of the diner. There was something cozy but chilling about the town so late in the evening, he has been on the run for a few years now never staying for too long or just not finding anything that called him name.

And here is he is, wearing a coat and carrying his backpack being invited to visit a new place. Never done better. He had nothing going on for him back in Boston, he was never once to stay in school too often. It was new and freshly made but he didn’t want to get his hopes up just yet.

As he walked into the warm Diner also known as The Bed & Breakfast, he sat down pulling out the piece of paper left by Belladonna eariler and silently smiled softly seeing she left a phone number just in case. He quietly asked for a room and then went downstairs to get something to eat from the diner, hearing the plenty of people talk.

One of the workers there, Melissa smiled asking, “What can I get you kid?”

“Uh, um..a glass of water and um what do you got?” Joshua asked back with a kind smile.

“Hm it’s a school night and on Thursday’s our meals are half off for teen, how about some fries?”

“And a milkshake to dip it in?”

Melissa was entertained by his response with that being a classic move and chuckled, “My kind of kid! Coming right up, uh..?”

“Joe.” He answered, giving her his nickname growing up instead of his real one.

“Joe. Short, sweet and quick to say.”

“Yeah something like that..”

She returned with his milkshake and smile, returning back to the counter to toss some M&Ms into her mouth. She looked at the kid noticing that he might be new, she did see a dark navy brown car drive into the town earlier but didn’t suspect he drove it. She shrugged.

———

The next day at the sheriff station, in came a blonde followed by the blonde from last night, Liane, shouting that Belladonna left again as Erik tried to calm her down again.

“She left again! Cassie tell him! Oh god—” Liane yelled then stopped noticing Ethan standing there behind a cell door and she gasped, “Oh my what happened to you?”

“It was raining, I hit the side of the road..and saw a wolf. Yet, you’re Sheriff thinks I was drunk.” Ethan explained, leaning against the bar and sighed, “..where did the kid go?”

“I was gonna ask you the same thing. I swear it’s hard raising a teenager. I thought she was in school! Did you have something to do with it?”

“Me?! Honey, I have not seen or heard of her since I dropped her off at your place. Not even her little friend. But I can help you find her.”

Erik looked back at Ethan and furrow his brows, “You’re gonna help find her?”

“Uh yeah, I was an officer for a while. I track people down for a living and used to bring them back to the building.”

“She was probably with her little friends or her favorite place. You can look there if she’s not at school.”

Cassie was watching Ethan for a few short second then spoke up, “You can try the library..if students aren’t volunteering or hanging out at the mall, some at the library or the park.”

After a few moment of strong brickering between Erik and Ethan, he let the man go find the kid as Cassie went to bring Liane over to her flower shop for some tea to calm the nerves. Ethan went to the park first and didn’t find anything then decided to take a look at the library which was hugely interesting to him. He was always a bit of a bookworm and guessed Belladonna was the same way.

He looked over to notice a young man sitting at the front set of tables reading, who looked annoyed to be distracted from his book. Ethan noticed the man just pointed to the 5th row of books in the corner as that’s where he found his daughter.

Belladonna was reading a text and looked up to notice her birth father and groaned, “Can’t I have 5 minutes of silence please?”

“And here I thought you were happy to see me.” Ethan responded, taking a seat behind her, “Why aren’t you in school?”

“Because it’s boring, the teachers are decently nice but it’s not as interesting..you stayed?”

“Yeah, well, I was knocked out cold last night and woke up in a cell. Go figure. Why do you keep running away? You’re mother, despite her dramatic flares of action, seems pretty nice.”

“…she tries. She’s busy with work at the jewelry store and uh, she’s not who she says she is.”

“Who is she then?”

“…uh, Maleficent. She’s alright. Kinda strict and drama, uh she can be happy at time but always on edge other.”

“Because you can away.”

“No one gets it.”

Ethan paused taking a moment to think and looked directly at her, “I do, believe it or not. When your young, you feel like you alone and no one completely understands it, but yourself so you tend to stay in your own lane instead, parents can be tough at times may not always make the right decisions..so, as bad as you think she may be, she’s trying her best here, she wants you. That’s all anyone could ever ask for. You get where I’m getting?”

She thought she could ease him into the fairytale thing as she nodded, “..yeah. I do, i see what your saying. In the book, she’s a hardass but sorta nice when you get to know her. You know her.”

“I just met her.”

“Yeah, you just met her..but sometimes you meet someone you feel like you know ‘em.”

“Whatever, kiddo. I just met her and yes she’s seems like a piece of work but give her a break her.”

They decided to back to Liane’s place to smooth things over. Belladonna picked out a couple of books aside the women she already carried with her, going to the front desk with Ethan. The same guy from earlier, was at the checkout process, who they found out was named Cole stood there. Ethan decided to buy a couple of books for her.

As he was ringing him up, the guy Cole, asked, “Name?”

“Uh, Ethan Long and Belladonna.” He repiled with a nod handing his card as he looked around the room.

Cole blinked and paused for a slight moment, taking a peek of a breather as he smiled, “Ethan and Belladonna. I heard of her..but you, are you new?”

“Yeah, uh I’m new. Just here for her.”

“Alright good. Enjoy your stay.”

The father and daughter walked out of the library as Cole waited to stumbled into his chair, almost letting out a cough at the wave of realization hit him. That was his brother. A couple of memories came flowing back as he did as he took another breath. He remembered his father pushing his brother into a wardrobe, well hearing about it, as he was confused and slightly worried. Which is rare cause he was never worried for his brother.

Then it clicked for him what Erik did back then and the fact that he had a daughter.

He remembered that he casted a memory tickling curse on him to snap him out of it if and when he heard one of the children’s name. But, what he didn’t expect was it to be his own freaking niece?! Oh god—he’s related to Maleficent legally! Cole thanked the fact that he owned half of the town’s library because then he was able to slip out of there and go to his shop to pour himself a long ass couple of drinks.

He was gonna need all that information to sit in for a while.

~~~

Joshua was on his own at the park, watching a couple of kids after school play as he snacked on bag of blueberries when he felt a pair of eyes spot him. He looked up from his phone and almost jumped out of his pants as the same pair of eyes from the night before was staring at him.

This time she was alone, a part of him thanked god because he was kinda scared of her father but won’t admit it. She sat down on the park bench beside her, wearing her school uniform as her feet dangled above the ground. She must’ve been 8 years old, maybe even 10 because she looked kinda older. But he could be wrong. He noticed she was holding a stuff rabbit in one hand and a book in the other.

“Uh..hi?” Joshua asked, giving her a tiny smile as he eyed her movements.

“Hi! You are welcome.” She replied with a soft little grin, “..for recommending Grandpa’s diner, i mean.”

“Oh right, thanks for that. I would’ve just slept anywhere but thank you..whatcha got there?”

“Oh! My storybook! D-did Bella tell you?”

Riley held it up with a smile that made her look younger than most that moment, almost full of sweet memories and spirt, holding up the front page with such determination. She explained how theses stories are real, well they feel very real to her, especially the ones about her parents. She said her daddy was little red riding hood.

He stopped her for a moment, “You’re father is little red..riding hood? Like with the red cape, the grandparents and big bad wolf?”

“Yup!” She replies like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “..well um..Bella is better at this than i am..”

“Try to explain it to me then..in your own way, of course.”

“Well she says that the stories here are very different from the movies. Not very simple or tr-trad-traditional..they have twists to them..like Red Riding Hood is a guy and he has a grandpa who is very sweet!”

“Uh honey, how do you know Red is your father?”

“I just do. I believe it.”

“Hmm..”

“Red Riding Hood is very kind, strong, cool and protective of everyone. Like he knows a lot. But a little silly and goofy! Just like my daddy.”

What Riley said all was true, she just believes it to be true. One of the sweetest and most beautiful gifts children of all ages have is this sense of hope, of belief in something, a strong feeling in their heart. You can’t always take it away from that but it will come back no matter what.

Joshua kinda wanted to believe what she did and he didn’t have the heart to break her spirt, seeing how much her eyes sparkled with pride. So he simply nodded, “Hm, alright I’ll humor you sweetie, anything else about your book?”

“Well I’m in it. Cause he is my father..” She said with a smile, confidence laced in her movements and continued, “A lot of people are in it..like you! You’re in this book.”

“Yeah right. I don’t think I’m in a fairytale sweetie, i think i would know that.”

“Well duh! You don’t remember cause you were a baby.”

“Huh?”

“I think time in this town is frozen for some people here. It’s why everyone looks so young, they all age slower.”

“Hmm..let’s say i am in this book, who am i?”

“You’re parents are Snow White and Prince Charming.”

Joshua snorted and his body softly shake with laughter but noticed Riley was serious, a look similar to her father but her eyes were of someone else. Possibly her mother, who he doesn’t know about yet.

“O-oh you’re serious?” He asked, as he stopped laughing as he started to grow curious.

“Mhm!” She replies with a loud hum.

“But I’m not as white as snow or have jet back hair..?”

“Duh! Different types of story, it does look like the normal thing.”

“I’ll see it when I believe it, sweetie. But I’ll keep an open mind.”

“Good! I gotta go we are have chicken fingers tonight.”

Before he could ask anything else, she was off the bench and running away to say goodbye to her friends, being a set of redhead twins, as she went on her merry way. He chuckled seeing her and the other kids, he then realized he hasn’t had anything to properly eat yet then rushed off to Grandpa’s diner for lunch.

As he made his way to the center of the town, passing the streets and stories buzzing with children, teens and adults, he realized he stepped on something. He picked it up, realizing it was an earbud. A set of blackberry colored earbuds, as if the someone was rushing off and it fell out of their pocket. He looked up to see someone a few feet away from him jogging, as if he was late for something.

He called out to them, jogging up to the guys at a similar pace calling out him again, until he turned around to face realizing he was talking to him. The moment he turned around he was met a brunette with short styled curls, a jean jacket, black jeans and a white sweater underneath. His brown eyes were dark yet rich with color, as he pulled down his hoodie a hint of a tattoo could be seen. He was holding a stake of paperwork underneath his armpit and a coffee in the other, as a backpack swinging over one side.

“Yeah?” He asked breathless from his running, a soft smile on his cheeks.

Joshua could help but return the soft smile, “You dropped this? Your headphones.”

“Oh shit. I didn’t even realize it, thanks man.”

“No problem. You should be lucky I didn’t break them with my boot.”

“Yeah, well it’s not the first time i lost theses headphones and won’t be the last.”

“That I can relate to. When you headed off to in such a hurry..? Don’t mind to ask.”

The young man huffed and gave a slight crooked smile, “Errands to run. I have to drop stuff off at town hall, then pick up some food and uh, buy some more gasoline.”

“Yikes, tough break. Sorry about that.” Joshua replied offering him a kind smile, understanding he must be busy.

“Yeah well, gotta make a living somehow. Shouldn’t you be in school or something?”

“Uhh yeah, not a student—here. Not a student here, kinda out of town.”

“Out of town, that’s odd…ohh, you’re the one kid i heard Melissa was telling me about.”

“Come again?”

“Don’t worry, she’s a waitress who is very observant, she likes to gossip a tiny bit.”

He felt a little at least with that part, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself. The guy smiled, something about this kid made him not feel uncomfortable or anything, like a familiar feeling. But then the thought quickly rushed away, as he noticed something in his eyes.

He spoke up, “Oh hey, like i said don’t worry about her. She’s all good! If your not at school, are you here with your parents or something?”

“Nope. I’ve been on my own, it’s cool.” He repiled with a shrug feeling at ease with him for a moment, “Just staying for a while.”

“Well if you do, then you will love our record store and bakery.”

“Duly noted.”

The man was about to say something else when he got a text message on his phone that he ignored for a second and looked back at him with a apologetic smile. The teen seemed to get the sign and nodded with understanding. He apologized betting they might cross paths again, just as he was about to walk away he realized something. It was silly but still.

The older brunette softly shouted, “Hey?”

“Hm?” Hummed the younger brunette in response.

“What’s your name?”

“Um, Joshua Nolan.”

“Nikolai. Nikolai Hawkins.”

Joshua smiled, “Nice to meet you, Nikolai.”

“Nice to meet you too, Joshua.” He replied before running off to answer the message he got a couple of minutes ago.

———

—> Sooo I may or may not gotta a little carried away with the fic (sorry if it’s a little all over the place oops 😅 ). What did you think?

=> I really wanna do some inspired by moments from episodes like ‘Snow Falls’ and ‘Red-Handed’, idk just trying to remember my favorite episodes. Idk yet let’s see how fics I will roll out 🤷‍♀️

—> Tags: @missstrawbs2001 @purpleprincessonfyre @meiramel @gcthvile @rickb-chaos @gaminggirlsstuff @wizzzardofoz @mallowbee4 @thechoooooosenone @luna-d-marsh @rooster-84 @thecavalrywife and etc