#seriously we've gotten through the entire war

[purpleprincessonfyre]

Okay so apparently it is not common knowledge that technically Ethan and I met outside the Tower...it's complicated. I knew who he was I just had never really...well you'll see. So here is the story of how we met. You are welcome @ask-missparker

Ethane - Who Could Stay?

Ship: Ethane aka Ethan Lensherr @gcthvile and Liane Felton

Mentions: Mia Parker @jackiequick, Rochelle Romanoff-Felton and Cole Lensherr

Setting: 2012, Battle of New York

IB: The Archer by Taylor Swift and Avengers (2012)

After only a few months of training, some straight talking from agents and a couple pep talks from her new friends, Liane Felton finally felt like she had a handle on this heroine thing. Granted she hadn't exactly planned on fighting an army of aliens in New York City while a trickster God taunted them with his power and menace but sometimes thems the breaks. Liane watched as the fliers started darting off towards an alleyway and looked around for anyone following them.

Everyone else according to the comms channel seemed to be otherwise engaged so she took it upon herself to deal with them. How hard could it be? She'd only seen three, maybe five heading that way. She ran towards the alleyway and her eyes glowed purple, preparing to incinerate her enemies and grinned. Easy peasy. But as she started the number of chitauri was suddenly growing quite rapidly by the minute. Soon she was almost entirely surrounded.

"Easy they come, easy they go,

I jump from the train, I ride off alone,

I never grew up, its getting so old,

Help me hold onto you."

Her fear was starting to overcome her anger and that fury fire in her belly no longer felt very strong. She tapped her comms very swiftly.

"Ummmmm help? Anyone? I um I can't do this..."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, Felton." Came a second voice as someone from up above swooped down, his eyes glowing with green energy, a smirk of slight superiority. Liane knew she recognised him but couldn't quite place where she knew him from.

"Look there was not this many when I entered the alley."

"Obviously. But if you're gonna put a target on your back, might I suggest you actually follow through?"

Liane scoffed but knew he was right. She still didn't quite have a handle on her abilities despite her best efforts. Ever since joining this team and moving into the Sandbox her anger had started to subside which had given her the impression she had gotten the hang of things. When in reality she just had less to be angry about.

"Darkside, I search for your darkside,

But what if I'm all right, right, right here?

And I cut off my nose just to spite my face,

Then I hate my reflection, for years and years."

"You shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, none of us signed up for a war."

"I know that, trust me."

"Why can't you use your fire?"

"Cause...I'm not angry. I'm scared."

"Huh. Oh I'm Ethan by the way, we've met before but I doubt you've even acknowledged my existence yet."

Ethan! Of course, that's who she was talking to.

"Yeah I know who you are."

"Really? Cause you had a deer in the headlights look like I have never seen when I landed." He blasted a few aliens that were approaching her effortlessly. He smiled at her, tossing her a gun.

"You know how to use one of these?"

"I'm a Felton. Yes, obviously."

"Great. Use it."

Liane scowled, she wasn't a fan of being shown up by this guy. Her eyes started to change colour again as she started shooting. Ethen flanked her, attacking aliens at her back while she covered the ones approaching her. Then she ran out of ammo.

"Oh...I did not check if that was fully loaded."

"Seriously!"

"Hey not my fault you have trouble performing under pressure."

"You shut up!"

"Sorry, sorry. You could probably try screaming at them? That might piss them off."

"You absolute mother-"

"I've been the archer

I've been the prey

Screaming who could ever leave me darling?

But who could stay?

(I see right through me, I see right through me)"

But before she could finish her sentence, Ethan grabbed her from behind, lifting her up into the air and holding out her hands to the remaining chitauri, incinerating them all instantly as her eyes blazed and furious lavender flames hurtled from out of her hands in quick succession. The whole alleyway was ablaze, the sounds of chitauri screaming as the flames destroyed their bodies. Ethan smiled.

"Nice one, turns out there is an off and on switch for your powers."

"You did that on purpose!"

"You. Are welcome. I figured out your trigger and you killed some aliens. Thank me later."

"I-"

He wasn't wrong. She had managed to channel her rage into a burst of flame and taken out the enemy very easily. She looked down at her hands that were now scarred with purple swirling patterns from her fire and sighed as the fire left her eyes and the street was no longer ablaze. She could control it. It just took a little extra thinking time. Ethan held her tight and flew away from the carnage and helped her land on a rooftop with him. There was a long pause as she got her bearings.

"All the king's horses, all the king's men

Couldn't put me together again

'Cause all of my enemies started out friends

Help me hold onto you."

"Thank you, Ethan."

"No worries. Now we know what pushes your buttons, we just need to figure out if there's a healthier way to trigger your fire."

"But not right now?"

"Correct. Right now we need you to take all that unchecked rage and use it to burn up a few dozen aliens apiece. You got that?"

"Just for the record, I did remember you."

"Okay now that's a lie."

"Why?"

"Because the last time I spoke to you, you called me Cole. That's my brothers name."

"Oh..."

"It's okay. I know we're all just serfs and peasants to you."

"How dare-"

"Hey!" Came over the comms, a very frustrated sounding Agent Parker from back at SHIELD. "If you two are quite down with your Lovers Quarrel, the team need a hand capturing Loki!"

"I'm sorry what?"

"No no that is not-"

"How could you even-"

"That's just-"

"You heard me. Save the flirting for later."

Liane sighed and looked at Ethan. Then she looked off into the distance and saw the fray awaiting them.

"You go high, I'll stay low?"

"Sounds like a plan, Felton." He grinned and picked her up carefully and flew back towards the STARK Tower and dropped her off carefully before heading upwards to try and catch Loki. Liane landed beside Rochelle who was furiously slicing at aliens with her laser blades.

"And just where have you been?"

"Got sidetracked. Won't happen again."

"Good cause we're getting our asses handed to us. You mind?"

"Sure thing."

Liane's eyes turned purple as she started blasting through the aliens with her fire, back in the fight. Maybe it wasn't so bad being in control. And maybe, just maybe, it was fun working as a team. Her eye caught Ethan's as they were both fighting and she swore she saw him wink at her as they took at chitauri and the battle wore on. It wasn't Liane's worst meet cute to say the least. Ah shit. She was catching feelings. It had been ten whole minutes. And that made her a bit angry. At least her fire was doing its job again. Shit.

"You could stay

You could stay

You...

Combat, I'm ready for combat..."

There! That's the true story. Weirdest part is that you were there Mia but I guess it didn't occur to you that that was the spark that made us fall in love...

Tagging: @askstevella @ask-missparker @ask-starrk @therealdaydreamstark @thechoooooosenone @wizzzardofoz @finlayholmes @rickb-chaos @luna-d-marsh @jackiequick @gcthvile @blueboirick @cherrysft @meiramel @missstrawbs2001

[moragmacpherson]

Bodhi Week, Post-Scarif AU

General Audiences, Bodhi/Luke It comes down to a simple issue of supply and demand: the Rebel Alliance has very few supplies, which translates into little demand for cargo pilots after the Yavin evacuation. Which is sort of fine with Bodhi: he has developed a few other skills in his time, and once they've all resettled on Thila the skill the Rebellion seems to need is his gift as a mechanic. "Red squadron just put in a petition to rename themselves 'Rogue squadron,' in honor of your team, would you mind being assigned to them?" Bodhi can't help but feel a bit honored, so he agrees and sits down with several pots of caf and the technical specs for the T-65 X-Wing, determined to learn everything there is to know about the ships that managed to exploit Galen's sabotage and destroy the Death Star which destroyed his home.

Compared to their Imperial counterparts the T-65s are marvels of durability and simplicity. There are a few… interesting design choices that Bodhi notes here and there, but they're definitely not seemingly-disposable death traps like most TIE fighters. Which is an especially good thing because Bodhi starts to get attached to the Rogue Squadron pilots pretty quickly, from helping Janson with a few pranks to wiping the smirk off of Antilles' face during a sabacc game to…

Well, Luke's different. He's the Hero of the Rebellion, the poster boy, and even Bodhi has to admit that the Alliance has lucked out in that because there's something eminently likeable about Luke Skywalker that's apparent from the start to pretty much anyone lucky enough to meet him. Luke's the one who destroyed the Death Star— everything in Bodhi's life up to now seems to have happened so that Luke would be allowed to take down the Empire almost single-handedly, and Bodhi's… okay with that. Luke's a nice enough person— he'd been so sweet when they first met, he'd been excited to meet Bodhi, which is something Bodhi still doesn't quite get, and ever since Luke's done nothing but go out of his way to be kind and helpful, even bringing Bodhi caf when he's up late making repairs to Luke's X-Wing.

Which is a blasted good thing, because Luke's X-Wing… Bodhi understands that Luke is a Jedi, has an ability to manipulate the Force in ways beyond even Chirrut, but still: technology has fundamental limits. Luke appears to have no regard whatsoever for these limits, yet somehow manages to fly his ship home in… close to one piece every single time. Somehow. Not even Wedge's perpetual dings in his armor due to an overly light hand with his deflector shields causes Bodhi quite as much dismay as the number of times he has to replace the power couplings and rerouters in Luke's sublights, or the day Luke comes back in missing the better part of an s-foil but nonetheless emerges from the cockpit with a grin on his face, even as Bodhi rants at him about how it shouldn't even have been possible to fly the blasted thing in space, much less land it in atmo.

Making the situation even more infuriating to Bodhi, the Rebel Alliance is not exactly in the position to purchase as many replacement parts as Bodhi would like. But he and his mother hadn't had a lot of money when Bodhi was growing up, and if there's one thing that Bodhi's become an expert in during his short life, it's making do.  After the first few weeks, Bodhi's datapad is a mess of revised schematics detailing exactly how he's completely rebuilt Luke's T-65, with all of the modifications and customizations he's made along the way. The other mechanics don't even bother looking at it any longer, because it takes less time for Bodhi to just finish whatever else he might be working on before running Luke's maintenance and diagnostics than it does to explain why the fuel lines are in a completely different place or whatever else has them totally stumped. Artoo seems to tolerate the changes, and Luke's ship continues to return, mission after mission; all in all, it's an arrangement that works, and Bodhi's happy with that. Besides, if anyone else works on Luke's ship, they might move the notes.

Bodhi likes the notes. He tries not to think about how much he likes the notes. It's right up there with not paying attention to how much Luke seems to grin at him when he's ranting about physics, the cost of power couplings, and the tolerances of durasteel in the pantheon of things Bodhi tries not to think about too much.

See: especially in the weeks right after Scarif, Bodhi has had some… memory issues. They're not a huge obstacle in his work, but especially when learning how to maintain a completely new spacecraft, it sometimes helps to have visual reminders more immediate than yet another tab on his datapad. So he carries flimsi, a pen, and tape with him as well and isn't shy about labeling things he comes across— just little reminders to himself at first: things he's changed, things he's done, things he needs to do, that sort of thing. Bodhi's usually very thorough about making sure he's cleaned them all up when he goes, but there's this one note, less a reminder to himself and more just an exclamation to himself, "Is he using his 4L4s as engine brakes?" that he truly does forget to pick up out of the cockpit one day.

The next time he sets down to start diagnostics, the note's still there, but with a reply written beneath it. "Yes." Just the one word, but definitely not in his own hand, Bodhi isn't imagining it, and Luke has wandered off elsewhere, so Bodhi doesn't have the chance to explain to him face to face exactly why that's such a horrific idea. Instead he pulls out another little bit of flimsi, tapes it to the bottom of the existing note and scrawls out: "This explains so much. Knock it off."

And things sort of devolved from there. While Bodhi might have some residual guilt about yelling at the golden boy Hero of the Rebellion to his face (not that it ever seems to stop him from going off on his rants in the moment, but still, Luke Skywalker is also the reigning king of the kicked puppy look as well any time that Bodhi goes slightly too far and— that's just more guilt than he can handle), he has no trouble continuing the arguments through the notes. There are several tails of them now trailing through the cockpit of Luke's T-65. Some of them include little diagrams Bodhi's drawn to explain why Luke's breaking the laws of physics as well as the Rebellion's meager budget— Bodhi's sometimes tempted to add 'and my heart' but he doesn't because… well, because he doesn't want to see the kicked puppy look again and maybe because it's a little too close to certain truths that he's not quite comfortable admitting to himself yet, much less to Luke. Luke's added a few drawings as well— he's a better pilot than an artist, but Bodhi treasures every single one nonetheless. Bodhi likes the drawings and the notes, and they feel sort of… private, and so he's a little territorial about Luke's X-Wing, and has managed to fall asleep in it in the middle of repairs more than once, because fixing it is his job and no one else's.

Bodhi watches it fly into the hangar and finishes another mug of caf before grabbing his datapad and walking up to meet it.  Luke's handing off that Artoo unit of his— it's a snippy, fiesty little thing that seems to thrill in getting into fights with Kaytoo over… whatever it is that droids could get into fights with each other about, Bodhi's not sure. What Bodhi does know, judging by the sounds of Luke's engines winding down, is, "You're using your 4L4s as engine brakes again, aren't you?" he groans, grabbing a diagnostic kit from his tool chest.

Luke winces and turns to face Bodhi, his hair a sweaty mess, cheeks flushed bright red, and those blue eyes of his twinkling without a hint of actual remorse, blast him.  "I don't do it on purpose... usually," he adds, just to infuriate Bodhi a little bit more because it's one hell of a maneuver to be pulling off on instinct— though Luke's turning off his targeting computer at the Death Star was apparently instinct as well, but— who knows, it's still infuriating.

Bodhi has the total cost of rerouters that he's replaced thanks to Luke's bad habit pulled up on his datapad already, had been planning to add it to another bit of flimsi, but Luke's here now, may as well show him. "No one else shares your habits, and you're going to bankrupt the entire Rebellion on those rerouters," he says, pushing the pad into Luke's hands.

"I am not," says Luke, his face starting to turn a bit more red as he starts to read.  If they were in the Imperial Navy Luke's habit would have more than just Bodhi getting after him about it… but the Rebellion isn't the Imperial Navy, that's why Bodhi's here in the first place. Luke finally looks up at him, "I promise I'll stop, okay? Kind of hard to forget with all the notes on my controls, now," he adds, a teasing grin on his face.

Bodhi shakes his head and grabs the datapad back. "Didn't stop you today, and those are supposed to be temporary— I'll clean them up, I promise." Luke actually reaches out and grabs Bodhi's shoulder. "No, no— I don't mind them," he says, ducking his head a little.

Bodhi blinks— apparently he's not the only one who likes their little notes— but they're still against regulation and Bodhi's trying to impress a little discipline on Luke. He breathes out a sigh. "Well, do you still need the reminders?"

"Clearly," says Luke, pointing at the datapad, the look on his face almost shy, which doesn't make any sense. It's enough to make Bodhi smile despite himself.

"Fine, flimsi's cheaper than most parts anyway," he says.

Luke grins at him again. "You should leave me as many notes as you'd like, then."

Bodhi shakes his head, turning around to start climbing into the cockpit— he's not really ready for a full dose of the Skywalker charm, not when he has so much work to do. "Oh, I'm sure I'll find something new you've managed to fly this ol' girl home in spite of," says Bodhi.

"Oh, I bet you will." mutters Luke from the bottom of the ladder.

There's something about his tone that strikes a note of fear in Bodhi's heart as he clambers into the cockpit, and he peeks back out of it almost immediately. "That's not-- please don't take what I said as a dare," Bodhi calls out. Skywalker's already looking up at him for some reason and Bodhi frowns. "Is there something wrong?"

Luke blushes a little and snaps his gaze away before ducking his head. "Nope! Fine, everything's fine..."

Bodhi shrugs— he really has no idea what's going on inside that man's head, does he? Rather than focus on the incomprehensible, he focuses on what he does understand, surveying the damage. "Oh, that's a rich thing to say, I'm starting to understand why that Artoo unit of yours is such a snippy little thing, how does he even survive this?" He glances down and picks up a doodled bit of flimsi, holding it up outside of the cockpit. "And is this supposed to be a sarlaac?" he asks.

It's several long seconds before Luke replies. "Uh... sure, yeah," he says, followed by a long sigh. "And hey, I always do my best to make sure Artoo doesn't get hurt, he's my friend, you know."

"Survive, sure but he must be going completely nuts rewiring this thing on the fly, he'll be crazier than the Falcon's mainframe soon if you keep this up," says Bodhi, tucking the sarlaac back where it had been perched.

Luke lets out a sound of disgust and calls up, "Please don't even joke about that."  

Bodhi grins— apparently there are some impossibilities, like trying to talk to the Falcon that are beyond even Luke's understanding: albeit it seems like Han and Chewbacca are the only other mechanics around who can assist Bodhi in his rebuilds and actually contribute.  Bodhi feels the need to give Luke a little credit.  "At least you seem to have a dim idea of what your deflector shields are for, unlike Antilles..." Bodhi's voice trails off as he reads the addition to the engine brake note: "Your eyes  are even prettier when you're complaining about the cost of re-routers," he reads aloud, all but dumbfounded. He peeks out of the cockpit.  "Luke?"

Luke appears a little startled, all but frozen with his own eyes looking very bright as he stammers out. "Well... they are." Bodhi's 'pretty' eyes feel very wide right now and his cheeks are redder than Luke's. "Please don't bankrupt the Rebellion because you like my eyes when I complain, I'll find plenty of cheaper things to complain about, okay," he blurts out before he can stop himself, clamping his hands over his mouth for a couple of seconds before adding, "Could you go get me a cup of caf, please, it looks like I'm going to be in here awhile."

Luke's eyes widen a little as Bodhi rambles at him and he grins after a moment, pushing away from his position against the ladder and throwing Bodhi a lazy salute and a wink. "Yes, sir, whatever my favorite mechanic wants," he says because apparently he wants Bodhi to have a heart attack.

"You outrank me," Bodhi calls out as he settles back into the cockpit— oh, Luke's going to be the death of him. But still, as he pulls out his diagnostic tools, Bodhi can't help but look at the notes and smile.

[chocolatecakecas]

Rockin' the Suburbs: Destiel Fic Chapter 1

Chp2 Chp3 Chp4 or read on ao3

Pretending to be married to his best friend who he's secretly in love with? Dean's totally got this under control. But pretending to be married and raising an actual toddler with his best friend who he's secretly in love with? Yeah so maybe he doesn't have it totally, under control, actually he's screwed. Fake married case fic+actual baby Jack? What could go wrong?

This was all Sam's fault.

Sam had strolled into the war room yesterday afternoon announcing that he had found a case in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Six people died, all parents, all with one kid, kids lived, but the parents, they weren't so lucky. It was in one of those Stepford gated communities where every house looked the same, "Pleasant Acres", or some crap like that. Meaning, Jody, Donna and Claire were all set to take the case, but they called twenty minutes ago saying they got caught up on a hunt in Montana. So now they were all shifting through their contacts, trying to find hunters with kids, since whatever it was only seemed to target families.

And Dean's been feeling well, weird, ever since Sam brought up the case yesterday. Something itching in the back of his mind. He's of course been  trying to ignore it, but now that he's reading over the case it's getting stronger, making his twist in way he definitely doesn't want to unpack.

He glances up across the room, eyes quickly finding Cas and Jack. Cas is seated across from him on Jack's blanket, helping him build unstable block towers, just so he could knock them down.

(read the rest under the cut)

Dean's stomach twists again, and an all too familiar feeling washes over him.

Yeah, he definitely doesn't want to unpack it.

"Hey, I think I got something" Sam calls pulling Dean from his trance as Cas stands, making his way back to his chair.

"So Sarah and Mike Johnson? Jody met them, and their daughter, Katie on a hunt last year. They live somewhat close by, so I'll try to give them a call" Sam continues, reaching for his phone.

And now, Dean doesn't know why, but he felt that thing squirm deep inside him, and the next thing he knew, he was talking.

"Why don't we take it?" Dean practically shouts startling everyone, including himself.

Sam paused, cellphone halfway to his ear and Cas' head snapped up so quick Dean's worried he has whiplash.

And so Dean freezes, mouth suddenly very dry.

What the hell was he doing, why was h-

"Why don't we take the case? I mean the thing is only going after families right, and we-we've got an 18 month old super baby right here. So we cou-two of us could take Jack for a week, play house for a week, and gank the thing" Dean somehow chokes out, watching as Sam and Cas' stare with increasingly disbelieving looks.

Dean’s heart began pounding against his chest.

Dean could barely believe the suggestion to take the hunt came out of his mouth, let alone bringing the kid? Completely out of the question, way too dangerous. He's not just gonna put the kid directly in harms way, on a hunt for godsake! And yet the suggestion had rolled off his tongue anyway? Dean didn't know why.

God what the hell was wrong with him today?

But it's not like he can just take it back now that he practically screamed it, so in favor of looking like an idiot or delving into the reason behind why he said it, Dean sat in his own silent panic.

From across the table he watched Sam's face contort into about three different emotions, finally landing on something that looked like agreement.

Shit.

"Well, that might actually be a goo-" Sam started with a sigh

"You can't seriously be suggesting we bring Jack along on a hunt? It's too dangerous, we've barely even left the bunker with him" Cas immediately cut in and god Dean could kis-Dean was very relieved.

And Sam surely wouldn't argue with that. So he was in the clear. He could just forget about this whole stupid conversation like it never happened, and never have to think about it ag-

"Exactly, I mean you guys have barely left the house and Jack has barely even seen the world. I hate to say it, but I think it'd be good, for all of us" Sam replied reluctantly.

And there goes Dean's heart rate.

"Sam, we don't even know what we're up against it co-"

"I know Cas, but he'll be with us. And besides, it looks like whatever's doing this, is only taking victims with young children, not a single one is over the age of five. So it's probably better if we end up taking the case anyway, rather than Sarah and Mike, or even Jody and the girls. We're the only one with a kid under ten. Plus he's half angel, we're probably at greater risk than Jack is" Sam reasons carefully.

A tense silence fell over them, the only sound was Jack babbling to himself on the other side of the room. Dean wanted to say something, wanted to say he doesn't know what he was thinking and it's crazy and they shouldn't take the case, but his mouth wasn't exactly on his side today.

He snuck a glance at Cas who has his eyes trained on Jack.

The tension was killing him, Dean had to say something. He couldn't just let this happen because his stupid mouth started talking nonsense.

So he swallows thickly, opening his mouth to take it all back, so they could forget this whole conversation ever happened, so he wouldn't have to think about why h-

"You're right" Cas sighs, looking as if his answer deflated him.

And Dean couldn't agree more with that sentiment because suddenly all of the air was knocked out of his lungs. He must have looked like it too because Sam met his eyes across the table, leveling him with a look Dean can't decipher.

Then suddenly, a smile spread across his face, which in his experience, is never a good sign.

"Alright so, Dean can stay at a nearby hotel, while Cas and I take the nei-"

"I'll go with Cas" Dean blurted before he even realized what was happening.

He snapped his jaw shut, but apparently not quick enough. Again, Dean didn't know why he said that, but that thing was back swirling around his stomach so he assumed it had to do with whatever the hell that was. And his mouth must have a mind of it's own today because he's pretty sure he didn't tell it to start moving, let alone say that.

Dean's heart beat against his chest, face burning. He forced his eyes to look up at Sam, not daring to even glance in Cas' direction. He can't handle any look that might be on his face. What if he'd rather go with Sam? What if he's ang-

"Okay it's all settled then, I mean so long as that's good with you Cas?" Sam asked, smile turning into a smirk.

"Yes, that's good with me" Cas replied, tone unreadable.

Was he really okay with it? Was he creeped out by the way Dean cut in? Was he actually annoyed that he'd have to be with Dean?

All great questions, with sadly no answers. Because Dean would have to actually look at him, if he wanted any insight to what Cas was thinking, and that was so not going to happen. Not with his face still on fire.

"Alright perfect! I'll call the real estate agent, about setting up a house tour, you guys start packing? And oh, don't forget to think of your backstory so you're both on the same page! We can leave in the morning" Sam said with a too wide smile, as he pushed himself out of his chair. Sam stopped for a moment, giving him a look that Dean definitely didn't want to think about right now, before turning down the hall with a skip in his step.

Yup, this was definitely all Sam's fault.

Heart still racing in his chest, Dean braves a look over at Cas.

And a bit of relief floods through him when he catches those blue eyes. Cas seemed fine, doesn't look angry or disgusted at the thought of doing this thing with Dean. So he counts that as a win, and his heart rate slows a bit, but he still doesn't know what Cas is thinking, and he needs to know.

But he doesn't dare say anything, because at this point anything could come out of his mouth, and that's definitely not a risk Dean's willing to take after the mini heart attack he just suffered. So, awkward silence it was until Cas decides to speak up.

Eventually, after what feels like hours, Cas slumps forward folding his hands on the table as he stares over at Jack. Dean follows his gaze, watching Jack knock over his lopsided block tower with an excited shriek. A small smile tugs at his lips.

"Dean, I still think this is reckless" Cas sighs and Dean turns back, finding his eyes trained on him, filled with worry.

Dean's smile slips at the sight, his heart clenching and he pretends not to know the real reason why.

Things were already...weird between him and Cas lately, and now his dumbass had to go and make it worse. Because what the hell was he thinking suggesting they take this hunt, bring along the kid, and practically beg to pretend to live with Cas. Jesus, Cas is probably beyond creeped out and angry.

Dean has to fix this.

"Cas, listen I'm sorry it was a stupid idea-I don't even know why I said it. Because now we're putting Jack in danger-and it's not fair that you're gonna have to be stuck pretending to be married to me because I-I'm gonna go find Sam and we can just call the whole thing off, and he can contact that other family an-"

"Dean, no stop I want to do the hunt" Cas cut in quickly, effectively stopping Dean's rambling.

"But yo-"

"I said I still thought it was reckless, and it is-to bring Jack along I mean. But Sam's right he's barely gotten out of the bunk-we've all barely gotten out of here, so I think it'll be good for all of us. And besides Jack has his powers" Cas replied, gaze shifting back to Jack.

Dean let out a breathe he didn't realize he was holding. Cas wasn't angry at him, he wanted to go on the hunt. And he didn't seem too torn up about doing it with Dean so-

"Jack will have us to protect him the entire time. And I'm glad it's with you, I feel safer about the whole endeav-not that Sam isn't a phenomenal hunter. He is, but let's face it he isn't the world's best babysitter when it comes to Jack" Cas said turning back to Dean with an amused smile.

He's of course talking about the last time Sam watched Jack, where they walked in to see Sam trying to coax Jack off the ceiling into a laundry basket piled with blankets.

Dean couldn't help crack a smile at Cas' little joke. The squirming feeling had disappeared, leaving Dean feeling much calmer about the whole thing as he relaxed in his chair.

They'd be fine, this would be just like any other hu-

"So, Sam mentioned a backstory? Should we come up with that now, so we aren't caught off guard when someone asks?" Cas suggested, eyes staring into Dean's.

And just like that, Dean's calm had left the building.

"Uh yeah sure. Let's do th-let's start with how we met" Dean managed, now that his throat had gone dry again.

"Well, we met September 19th, 2008 in a barn in-"

"Okay September 2008, we can use that-but let's turn the barn into a bar instead? I saw you sitting at the bar alone, bought you a drink, we started talking, boom the rest is history" Dean raced, wanting very much to be done with this conversation.

"Dean, people always seem to be interested in these kinds of stories. We're probably going to need more information if anyone is going to buy it"

Damnit. Cas had a point, stupid angel always has to be right. So he puffed out a breathe, unclenching his fists under the table.

Breathe Winchester. It's just some fake story.

"Alright alright, so I saw you at the bar, you looked lonely so I bought you a drink and we got to talking. You uh...just got out of a long relationship with a bad ex, and I had just been through hell and back with my job-"

"Oh I see, like me rebelling against heaven, and you literally going to hel-"

"Yeah genius how'd you crack that cod" Dean quipped only to be cut off by a swift kick to the shin. Cas shot him a smug smile causing Dean to roll his eyes, and his stomach definitely did not flip.

Get it together Winchester

"So you helped me through a terrible breakup, and I helped you through the stress of your job. In a way we saved each other, which isn't so different from our real story" Cas continues.

And Dean swears his friggin heart stopped, Cas' words knocking the wind out of him.

God Dean should have stopped thi-

"By the way, what is your job going to be?" Cas questioned with his usual tilt of the head that definitely did not send Dean's heart racing even faster.

"Don't care you pick" Dean managed to force out, as he tried to gain control of his anxiety.

"A mechanic, I think. You love working on Baby, I think you'd enjoy getting to fix and help other people's cars for a living" Cas suggested in the most sincere tone Dean's ever heard. And how Dean somehow managed a nod of approval through his internal breakdown, he'll never know.

"Alright, so you pick what my job is then" Cas smiled softly, either not noticing Dean's panic or clearly ignoring it. Dean was grateful for either option.

Dean managed to reign in his stupid freak out long enough to get his brain working.

"A college professor-maybe like English lit or something. I know you like to read, and you always like to talk to about the books after you finish them. That is if you wa-"

"I think that's perfect, it sounds like a nice career"

"Great, so met in September 2008, mechanic and English Professor helped each other through their crap. Now they're moving to the suburbs to grill burgers in the backyard and fight to get the kid into a good preschool. Sounds like we've go-"

"Oh, we need a wedding anniversary" Cas cut in.

And yeah Dean's 100% sure his heart stopped this time.

How could Dean be so stupid, they wouldn't have to just pretend to be together (which was difficult enough within itself, for reasons he'd rather not discuss), they'd have to be married. Of course he knew this logically, but since his mouth had a friggin mind of it's own, he wasn't really thinking about the implications.

Married. To Cas. With a kid. A family.

And god, Dean couldn't even sa-no he's so not unboxing that right now.

"Uh, got married in our backyard. Just pick any date" Dean said weakly once he found his voice.

Cas was silent for a moment, expression unreadable. Then he nodded to himself

"November 2nd, 2017"

And that was the final hit. Dean was sent spiraling, losing any control he had regained.

The day Cas got out of the empty, the night he called Dean, the night Dean tried to-

"Alright, good. Sounds like we've got everything covered. I'm gonna get a start on packing, why don't you put Squirt over there down for his nap" Dean said jumping to his feet and quickly made his way to his room without a glance backwards. He feels like shit for leaving Cas just sitting there, but he had to get away before he really lost it.

Dean carefully tries not to slam his door and flops down on his bed. His thoughts buzz around in his skull, while about ten different emotions wash over him all at once. With a groan he reaches out and punches his mattress, which doesn't do much of anything seeing as its memory foam.

God what the hell had he gotten himself into.

He just agreed to be fake married to his best friend and live in a house in the suburbs with a 18 month old child.

He was crazy. He didn't even know why he said anythi-god who was he kidding. Of course he knew why he said it, he just didn't know why he let himself say them out loud. Now he's gonna have to play house with Cas and Jack for at least a week, when he can't even admit to himself th-

No. He can't let any of that get in the way. He can't throw himself a pity party just because Cas doesn-this stupid hunt was his own stupid fault, also partially Sam's (Dean's still sticking to that, thank you very much)

This is still a hunt, there are lives at stake. He can stow it. For everyone's sake.

So Dean sighs running his hands through his hair as he racked his mind for what he'd have to pack. On autopilot he began grabbing his clothes and usual crap, shoving it into his bag. As he zipped it up, his eyes landed on a box in the top of his closet.

In a flash he had the box down, lid off, sitting on his lap. Dean reached inside, pulling out two rings and his stomach flipped at the sight.

Yeah, it was gonna be a long night.

The next morning they were all in the garage packing up the trunk, getting ready to leave for their two day drive. Sam said the real estate agent was ecstatic that they were interested in the house. Must be a hard sell since the last three owners died inside.

Dean was strapping Jack into his car seat, rings weighing his pocket down, like a boulder.

"I'm gonna grab the last bag from the kitchen" Sam announced as he jogged out of the garage.

Well, it was now or never. So Dean drew in a shaky breath and walked around the car.

"Uh Cas, here" Dean said lamely, holding out a ring between his fingers.

Cas tilted his, eyes widening at the object.

"We're uh, supposed to be married right? So we need rings ya know" Dean continued unsure of how to proceed.

Cas nodded in understanding, carefully taking it from Dean's fingers, and slipped onto his left hand.

Dean gasped, and quickly tried to cover it up

"Uh yeah sorry of it's too tight, it's mind from years ago. I used to wear a few of them all the time, but they hurt like a bitch when you gotta deck someone" Dean rambled, face heating up.

"It's perfect, thank you" Cas smiled, meeting his eyes.

The squirming feeling was back, and squirmier than ever.

"What about you?" Cas asked looking at Dean's empty fingers.

"Oh! I've got my mom's old wedding ring. Had it resized to fit years ago, so I figured it would work" Dean rushed, pulling the second ring out of his pocket and slipping it onto his finger.

When he looked up again, Cas was staring at him with a look Dean had never seen on him before. It made his heart skip a beat in his chest.

"Alright! You guys ready to go?" Sam called as he walked back through the door, causing both of them to jump.

Moment ruined.

Without a word, they quickly climbed into the Impala. As Dean went to turn the key, his eyes traveled to the rearview mirror.

Jack giggling in his car seat as Cas wiggled his stuffed rabbit right above his head. Cas suddenly looked up catching his eye in the mirror, giving him a soft smile, which Dean found himself easily returning.

His eyes slid over to Sam, who was staring at the ring on his finger. Then Sam met his eyes, offering him a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

So Dean quickly snapped his attention forward, and turned the key a bit too hard.

Yeah, Dean was fucked.

Tag list:

(Please let me know if you'd like to be added or removed💛!!!)

@wormstacheangel @smiledean @shelikestv @chaoticdean @midnightwings-deancas @jellydeans @sunshine-jack @archervale @wikiangela @organicpurplepants

@writtendevastation @tkdwolf2012 @doemons-blog @rolling-stoned-girl @skylerkernaghan @shadowywerewolfqueen @the-cookie-navy @thelahatiel @thefantasyfiend @castielle-deanna @aestheticflyer26

@multi-fandom-imagine @x-mypeopleskillsarerusty-x @wellofwoes @becky-srs @multi-fandom-dark-lord @perfectkoaladream @castiel-for-lunch @it--hurts--to--become @bowtiesandneckerchiefs @dakiaty @feraldean @teamfreebees @keshetcas @hrh-princess-bea @martymar1963 @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @midnight-sparks-studio @slipper007 @winchester-novak

[wereallydobevibing]

Manhatten Heroes [2]

{Percy Jackson & Avengers Crossover}

Prompt - When the Second Titan War is being fought, the sudden chaos is, naturally, brought to the attention of the Avengers. They find that Percy and his sister, (Y/N) Jackson, are leading Camp Half-Blood and find themselves fighting alongside the demigods to help defend New York. Once the war is won, the Jackson siblings are taken into custody for interrogation.

@a-studying-narnian-demigod (you requested, I figured you'd want a tag!)

Part One can be found on my profile :)

"First things first—what are you?"

Percy and I sat frozen in our seats—we'd been brought into some kind of conference room and sat at a table. The rest of the Avengers sat surrounding us, and Nick Fury was currently taking the lead on this one.

I looked to Percy, and he looked to me. From our level of understanding, we knew that the Avengers weren't regular humans. They themselves had special abilities and had a god or two on their team.

"Demigods." Percy answered, sitting lazily in his seat.

"From Asgard?" Tony Stark asked in disbelief. "Thor, Loki, the Nine Realms, that kinda thing?"

"What?" Percy freaked, eyebrows furrowed. "N-No, who the Hades is Thor and Loki?"

"They're Norse gods, Percy." I said, "And, no. We aren't, in any way, consulting with them. We're Greek demigods—The son and daughter of Poseidon, to be exact."

"Wait, wait, wait," the only other woman in the room joined in—I remembered her to be Natasha. "You're telling us that the Greek gods are real, too? Zeus, Poseidon, Hades–"

"Names have power," I glared. "You don't go throwing them around like that, it's dangerous."

The room fell silent at my warning, and I hadn't realized until then that my glare had turned into a wolf stare. I hadn't meant to become so hostile, but I didn't exactly plan on fighting an angry god or two.

"But I thought Poseidon made some kind of oath not to have mortal children," Banner said. "How could you be children of Poseidon?"

"There's a smart man." Percy murmured, "He broke his oath. Twice. He fell in love with our mortal mother—the first time creating me, the second time creating (Y/N). Zeus and Hades broke their oaths as well."

"There's more of your kind?" Clint asked.

"Many." I responded. "All the Olympians have mortal children except for Hera and Artemis. Some of those children go on to live normal lives, never truly knowing what they are. The rest of us aren't so lucky."

"Lucky?" Tony said. "You're children of one of the most powerful gods in Greek mythology, and you don't consider yourselves lucky?"

"We grew up with an abusive step father, were bullied our entire lives, were forced to take on dangerous quests when we were barely twelve, and just fought a war in our mid-teens." I listed, "Our lives are dangerous. Monsters sniff us out and attempt to kill us everyday. Because of our bloodline, we have ADHD and Dyslexia—the other kids in school look at us and think we're stupid, they don't know that we just saved every single one of their lives."

The room was silent as they comprehended the dangers Percy and I had faced as kids. And I knew they felt bad for us, purely because we were kids. They didn't have to, we didn't need pity, we needed food.

"Why does your bloodline include ADHD and Dyslexia?"

"Ugh, seriously, Stark?" Natasha scolded. "That's what stuck out to you the most in what (Y/N) just said?"

"The Dyslexia is because our brains were hardwired to read Ancient Greek, not English." Percy said. "And the ADHD is our natural battle reflexes—we weren't made to sit still and learn about George Washington, we were built to fight wars."

"I'm not gonna lie, that's pretty cool." Sam said, earning a smack on the back of his head from Natasha.

"Hey!"

"Being children of the gods must mean you come with special abilities." Fury concluded, "What are they? Are they the same for everyone?"

"No," I responded. "Your abilities depend on who your godly parent is. As we've just told you, all demigods have heightened senses, I guess you could say our senses are godly. But Percy and I being the son and daughter of Poseidon means we can do things like—control water, breath underwater, talk to horses and marine animals."

"And when we absolutely need to," Percy continued. "We can cause earthquakes and hurricanes, start storms. Poseidon is the stormbringer."

They gawked at us, which was to be expected. For the most part, they were handling the news pretty well and I was thankful they weren't going crazy over it like most mortals would.

"What could, lets say, a child of Athena do?" Fury asked, hypothetically.

"They're really smart, really good at coming up with battle strategies quickly. They don't have any actual powers, but they're really smart."

Fury hummed, "Next question."

"Great," I muttered.

"That war we found you two finishing, what was that all about?"

All eyes were on us now, everyone, as always, expecting our answer. But now that they knew what and who we are, they were probably expecting it to be, like, amazing or something.

So we went on to explain everything about Luke, and how he teamed up with Kronos to destory the gods and take over the world. We told them everything leading up to the war, too—how me and Percy first found out about who we were, being accused of stealing the lightning bolt, having to navigate through the Labrynth, etc. Throughout the story, they occasionally asked questions and sat in awe as we told them everything we had to go through just to save the world: everything we've lost while we did it as well as the very few things we've gained. We even told them about Zeus' offer to make me and Percy immortal gods—which we had declined.

By the end of our explanation, some of them refused to make eye contact with me and Percy, while others looked at us with softened facial expressions. Fury was the only person with a hardened expression, but even his face had slightly softened. The room, once again, was quiet, but at this point, I knew we had earned their respect.

Clint Barton was the first to break the silence, "you kids have done real good by your father." he said. "I'm sure he's proud."

"Er, thanks," Percy shuffled awkwardly. We weren't used to being praised—things like that never happened.

"Well, it's gotten pretty late," Captain—Steve—said. I turned my head to glance out the window, finding myself being greeted by the nighttime sky. "You should stay here for tonight. As you've told us, it's dangerous for the both of you out there. I can't imagine when it gets dark."

Percy was about to excuse the offer, but I was quick to intervene. My body ached from the fight and my mind was unbelievably worn out—if a monster were to attack on our way home, I think I'd lay down and let it tear me to shreds.

"Thank you," I said, earning a look of confusion from Percy. "We appreciate it, really."

————

So here's Part 2 of Manhatten Heroes!! If you want a Part 3 just let me know!

[melonlordheroes]

Garon vs. Xander, Take Two (Part 2/FINAL)

Quan: Seems the king's taken a liking to you, Olwen.

Olwen: Fitting. I've taken a liking to the thought of splitting him open with Thunderhead.

Quan: (seriously) We promised, Olwen. Leave Garon for Prince Xander.

Olwen: I know, I know... I'll keep drawing him in then. And attend that Armor once it gets close enough.

Veronica: And I'll patch up Xander- you shouldn't try to fight while wounded like that!

Xander: (soft laugh) This is nothing, Veronica. Don't worry.

-Quan and Olwen back up a bit, baiting Garon away from his soldiers as Xander takes down the axe infantry that's left. The Lance armor resolutely marches toward Xander as a second axecav bolts toward him, only to be smashed away by Siegfried as he gets into range. Garon continues to pursue Olwen, a menacing laugh rumbling deep in his chest as Quan moves Olwen right behind him.-

Quan: There, take your anger out on that armor over there.

-Olwen does some quick mental math.-

Olwen: No.

-And repositions him out of Garon's range. Xander moves to rejoin them, wincing as he holds a bleeding cut on his side from the earlier axe infantry's return fire. Veronica carefully steps up behind him to heal the cut, earning a grateful smile and headpat from the eldest of the Nohrian siblings. With the team now reunited and Garon split off, the Lance Armor advances on them seemingly resigned to his fate... Olwen and Veronica both nod at each other and raise Thunderhead and Hliðskjálf high to attack. The sheer power of the magical blast causes smoke to flood the room, but as it clears...-

Olwen: What... the...

Veronica: FUCK!

Xander: (sternly) LANGUAGE.

Veronica: How did-- we-- HOW DID HE LIVE?!

Olwen: Distant defense, perhaps...

Quan: Fortunately, Gae Bolg is effective enough. Get back into position for Garon's return and I'll take down THIS lout!

-The Manster lord spurs his horse forward to finish off the armor as Garon emerges from the left. Realizing his entire force has been decimated, the Nohrian king screams with anger and runs forward only for Veronica to charge ahead of everyone else with her staff raised.-

Veronica: I THINK NOT!

-The magical blast interrupts Garon's charge, sending him to his knees with a cough but only briefly before he roars and begins to transform with intent to kill Veronica...-

Quan: Damn it-- PRINCESS VERONICA!

Olwen: I won't have time to move her, she's going to have to take that hit--!

-For a brief moment, all of Xander's world goes dark and memories come oozing up from the inky places he'd banished them. A familiar scene is playing in his head of another sibling unfortunate enough to end up in Garon's path. He remembers being told to watch closely as Bolverk came down on one of his treasured sibling's heads... one of the first casualties of the concubine wars. He remembers Garon explaining someday this will be Xander's duty, and he remembers the body being gone before he had time to come back to it. He remembers all of it, but now it's Veronica who's in the crossfire.-

Xander: ...

-He promised to protect her. He promised to protect all of his siblings, but could only hold onto four of them.-

Quan: --YOU NEED TO RUN--

Veronica: --I CAN WITHSTAND IT, I'M SURE OF IT!

-He promised each of them he'd care for them when their father could not. He looked after them, practically raised many of them who would later fall under Siegfried's weight.-

Olwen: --VERONICA, STOP BEING RIDICULOUS AND GET OUT OF THERE!

Veronica: IF I MOVE, HE'LL GET A HIT ON XANDER AND I WILL /NOT/ ALLOW THAT!

-He promised never again.-

Xander: ...

-In that last split second before Garon can reach Veronica, Xander bursts by her with an angry scream. Quan jolts in place, throwing his arm in front of Veronica to keep the Emblian princess from charging after him. Siegfried is glowing with power and rage as Xander slams the sword into King Garon with all the force he can muster. The dragon shrieks with pain but is still able to nail Xander with his breath- the pain eats at him, but Xander is still able to cleanly rip Siegfried through the side of Garon's chest. He's badly injured, barely clinging to life even, but Garon detransforms and hits the floor as little more than a corpse. The group holds their breath as the battlefield door clicks and a red orb takes the place of the fallen king.-

Quan: My god.

Olwen: That was-- Prince Xander, that was amazing!

Veronica: (smile) I knew you could do it.

Xander: While I'm thankful for your attempts to protect me... (huff) Veronica, that was very reckless of you. Please don't risk yourself on my account like that again, all right?

Veronica: You have my w--

-The Battlefield doors crash open as Corrin, Corrinne, Mystery, Robin and Siegbert all fall through it. The dragon twins scramble out of the pile to rush over to Xander while Robin tries to gently kick Mystery off of him. Siegbert leaps to his feet as well, only to wobble and fall back on his butt.-

Corrin: Big brother!

Corrinne: Big brother, are you okay?! We came as soon as we heard from Chrom!

-Xander winces as he dismounts, but still opens his arms for Corrin and Corrine to charge into them. He hugs them both tightly, leaning back to show them the orb.-

Xander: I'm just fine, little royals. ...I'm just fine.

Corrin: Oh, wow, you really did it...

Corrinne: We always knew you could, but still! You really defeated him!

Xander: As I should have all those years ago. (wince) Forgive me, it's going to be a while before I can return to the battlefield with these wounds.

Corrin: We'll take you to Ethlyn and Elise right away--

-Siegbert has finally gotten up and across the floor. Corrin moves out of the way slightly so Siegbert can get in on the hug.-

Siegbert: Father!

Xander: (laughs, reaches around Corrin to ruffle his hair.) Easy now.

Siegbert: I-I'm sorry I couldn't be here in person to witness your victory, father! From what I've been told, my grandfather was--

Xander: (pat) Let's not speak ill of the dead right now. Besides, I'm rather glad you /didn't/ have to see that battle.

Veronica: Considering you charged into a dragon's direct line of fire--

Siegbert: It must've been amazing to see! Painful, I'll grant, but incredibly heroic! Things like that are why I look up to you so much, you know.

Xander: (softly laughs and kisses him on the top of the head before clearing his throat.) Mystery?

Mystery: (now detangled from Robin) Yessir?

Xander: Catch.

-Xander tosses her the Garon orb. Mystery catches it and then proceeds to hold it as if it's hazardous. Robin rolls his eyes.-

Mystery: Ew. Garon ball.

Robin: Really, you had to call it-- (sigh, smile) Congratulations on your victory, Xander. Any opinion on what to do with the orb?

Xander: Dispose of it however you see fit, I suppose. (sigh) My apologies, I'm rather winded from that fight.

Veronica: I'm sorry, if I had more energy I'd heal you myself...

Quan: (leans Gae Bolg on his shoulder) I'm sure Ethlyn can handle it. She and Lachesis both are masterful healers.

Corrin: Guess that settles it- we'll shoulder you.

Siegbert: I'd like to come too, if I may?

Xander: Of course.

Corrinne: (to Mystery) Well, guess it's up to you how it's done but get rid of that orb!

Mystery: Settled, we'll feed him to someone. HEY SAIAS, WANT DISTANT DEFENSE?

Robin: Wh-- WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS! SKILL INHERITANCE DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT, NOBODY IS EATING ANYBODY!

-The assembled group leave the Grand Hero Battlefield, Xander being carefully shouldered by his siblings while his son and (sort of) little sister Veronica look on adoringly. Quan and Olwen bring up the rear with relieved smiles, and Mystery has already charged out the door with Robin giving chase. Garon is well and truly defeated, but Xander wasn't the only one who wanted a shot at the king of Nohr...-