#she could've taken down most of their attackers without help

[deadheaddaisy]

RIGHT? She was strong enough to throw a grown human male across the bridge, but did we get to see it? No!

Especially in Demons and Terra Prime, you think some piddly human men would be able to restrain an angry Vulcan? Especially an angry Vulcan repressing that emotion but unable to prevent it from bursting forth when they put her daughter's life in danger.

I'm binge-watching Enterprise (I know, I know) and am severely disappointed by the missed opportunities involving T'Pol's vulcan strength.

[nanenna]

This Meeting Could've Been an E-mail

Sleepy King (Nanenna ver.) Masterpost

---

Diana, along with several other members of the JLD, were sitting in a meeting room. John had stood at the head of the table, having just finished outlining the situation for them, and it was grim. She knew if worse came to worse they may have to sacrifice the boy to keep the Ghost King from emerging into their world and wreaking havoc on a scale only Darkseid had managed before, but she prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

“Would not the boy also smell my father’s blood?” Raven asked.

“Unfortunately. You an’ me are gonna stay back and help plan based on what everyone else reads from the boy.”

Diana nodded along, likely that was also her role.

Bruce, in full Batman gear, came stalking into the room.

“About bloody time,” John said with a huff.

“I would hope you have brought them all up to speed on what you know of Danny while waiting.”

John made an annoyed sound, then moved to sit in a chair near the head of the table. “`Course I did, just waiting on you now.”

Bruce stood in the spot John had just vacated. “Oracle.” The room dimmed and the holo-projector  in the table whirred to life. A picture of a small family standing in front of what appeared to be some sort of business run out of what used to be a family home (something fairly common in America, Diana had learned) took center stage. Obviously it was part of a website, Diana could see the web bar with several tabs across the top of the projection, but it was zoomed into the photo.

“This,” Bruce said, pointing to the teenaged boy in the photo from behind, “is Daniel “Danny” Fenton, the boy used in the ritual last night.”

Everyone leaned in closer to look the boy over. There was nothing remarkable about him, a bit thin perhaps but that could be due to the lankiness that comes with growth spurts.

“He’s from Amity Park, Illinois. The town advertises itself as the most haunted city in America, and from what we’ve gathered they earned it. Most pertinent is that last year they were under attack by the Ghost King.”

Oracle must have clicked to the next tab, the family picture was replaced by an online newspaper article titled “Ghost King Thwarted! Is Phantom a Hero?”

“I’m sorry, what happened?” Zatanna asked incredulously.

“There must be some mistake, there’s no way Pariah Dark got free without a single person feeling it,” Dr. Fate insisted.

Oracle scrolled down the page to show several blurry photos taken of a being that looked nothing like what they’d seen last night, alongside a sketch of the being. “Either this was well researched, or somehow this whole event was cloaked,” Bruce said grimly.

“Considering this wasn’t even the most recent attack on the town and a few of them sound like JL level threats,” Oracle’s modulated voice came from the table’s speakers as she quickly tabbed through a few more news articles before coming back to the one on the Ghost King, “I think it’s more likely something is blocking the whole town from us.” She scrolled down more to show several missing or broken photos. “Especially this Phantom person that keeps showing up in every article about ghosts. Even using the way back machine there’s not a single photo of him anywhere on the internet.”

“If the Ghost King has been out,” Captain Marvel asked, “where did he go? I doubt he’s spent the last year just hanging out in a small town in middle America.”

“According to this news article,” Bruce said, “Phantom, along with help from the whole town, managed to get the Ghost King back into the Sarcophagus and sealed him away again.”

John whistled, “That’s quite the feat, even with help.”

“Are you saying Danny was chosen as Pariah’s anchor because he’s from Amity Park?” Raven asked.

“Not just because he’s from Amity Park, his parents are also self proclaimed paranormal scientists and ghost hunters.”

Oracle tabbed to a few different pages, each one with a different picture of one of Danny’s parents proudly holding ominously glowing green weapons or with vials of glowing green goo. Sometimes one in the background of another.

John squinted at the photos, “Is that pure æther?!”

“How?!” Captain Marvel and Zatanna both asked incredulously.

“They call it ectoplasm,” Bruce stated.

John scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Ectoplasm is a word scam artists in the 1800s made up to steal money from grieving widows.”

“Nevertheless that is what they're calling it. Especially of note that the Fentons run their research out of their home.”

“Where their children live?” Diana asked, horrified at the implications.

“How are they still sane?” Captain Marvel asked incredulously.

“We're not sure they are,” Batman said grimly. Oracle tabbed to a street view of the Fenton home, easily identified by the large sign on the side. The strange addition to the home's roof was an… interesting choice.

The other attendees of the meeting were becoming agitated, several of them shifting in place as they got ready to speak.

“Before this goes any further,” Bruce stated firmly, “all this to say the cult that kidnapped Danny Fenton did so with intention. Amity Park certainly needs a full investigation, but it will have to wait until after this crisis with the Ghost King is dealt with.”

“Æther exposure might explain why the kid could handle being Pariah’s anchor.” John sighed then stood up. “Alright, if that’s all the info you got…”

Bruce grunted in acknowledgement.

“The clock’s ticking.” John left the room, the others all following after.

Diana hung back to speak with Bruce. “We’ll find a solution.”

Bruce just hummed to show he heard her. She knew he wasn’t handling the situation well, a child’s life was at stake and he had to hand the situation over to others. There was only so much she could reassure him, so she chose instead to go see the boy for herself.

The JLD members that had attended the meeting were all gathered in a kitchenette discussing logistics. Diana left them to it for the moment and simply went down the hall to the room she knew the boy was sleeping in. The lights in the hallway were already dimmed, thankfully, so she simply quietly opened the door and poked her head inside. Clark was sitting on a chair next to the boy’s bed. His posture was a relaxed sprawl, but his face was furrowed in concentration. He looked up and smiled when he saw Diana.

“How are you?” She asked at barely a whisper, knowing he’d hear her just fine.

“Guilty, now that I know he mistook me for his father.”

“Sadly this is an ask for forgiveness situation.” She gently pat Clark’s arm, trying to console him.

The boy himself looked like any other teenager, dead to the world while tucked safely into bed. She only hoped they would find some solution and tomorrow he would be tucked just as safely into his own bed.

[myimaginationplain]

This beautiful piece of fan art by @/stickymaelk on Twitter made my brain start whirling around an Arcane x Soul Eater AU that I'm sure I won't be able to get out of my head for a little while, so here are my fledgling headcanons:

Jayce & Viktor are obviously partners, with Jayce being the meister & Viktor the weapon. Viktor has a very closed-off soul & finds it near impossible to partner with anyone other than Jayce (ala Soul). Jayce has a very large, kinetic soul-wavelength that he can use to attack sans his weapon ala Black☆Star, though he wouldn't necessarily want to. He has an easier time pairing up with other people compared to Viktor, but most other weapons would find his wavelength overwhelming. Jayce grew up in Death City with his mother. They're probably the first of their class to make a Death Scythe. I absolutely see the two of them getting into a Maka-&-Soul-esque dilemma where Jayce develops a complex around needing to protect Viktor at all costs, despite it being the weapon's job to protect their meister. The handle of Viktor's hammer-form takes on the aesthetic qualities of whatever cane he's using at the time.

Caitlyn is the first meister in Kiramman family history (maybe she gets it from Tobias's side?) & her deciding to pursue this path has created a rift between she & Cassandra. Caitlyn & Jayce hit it off during their first week at the DWMA & she was extremely disappointed to find out he wasn't a weapon. Caitlyn goes through her entire first semester without having chosen a weapon before Death Scythe Grayson reccomends she pair up with Vi; the two of them never would have seriously considered the other before, but they work like a charm. Maybe they eventually have a little breakup arc where their partnership dissolves & Caitlyn picks up Maddie as her new weapon, but they can't resonate the same way she & Vi could.

Vi & Powder are kind of a combination of the Thompson sisters & the Nakatsukasa siblings. Like Liz & Patty, they're both modern firearms. But whereas Vi only has one form (a rifle) like Masamune, Powder is a multi-form weapon like Tsubaki; she can turn into a handgun, a canon, a grenade, a time-bomb, etc. Vi lowkey wishes she were a meister so that she & Powder could've been partners, & has a bit of an inferiority complex about not being a good enough weapon. The two of them were taken in & raised by the DWMA along with Ekko. Maybe their parents were all meisters and/or weapons who were killed by witches or something. Powder absolutely gets injected with Black Blood at some point. At some point before either of them had official partners, Jayce & Vi tried to pair up & it was an absolute disaster (their souls are like the immovable object vs the unstoppable force, lol).

Ekko is a meister & Powder's partner. The two of them decided to be a pair before they were even officially enrolled at the DWMA. Ekko has a grigori soul (ala Maka), which helps to counteract Powder's madness post-Black Blood infusion. If they ever formed a team of weapon-meister pairs like Spartoi, then Ekko would definitely be the leader. Powder worries that she's dragging Ekko's as a meister potential down with her.

Mel has a Stein-esque soul, in that she can meister any weapon with ease &, like Jayce, can fight without a weapon (she's more adept & eager to do so than Jayce is). Her most common weapon partner is Elora, & sometimes Sky (I definitely see Sky having Marie's healing wavelength). Maybe Elora is killed in battle (sorry girl) or decommissioned some other way, & Sky becomes Mel's primary weapon after that? The Medarda's are a long, unbroken line of prodigious meisters & weapons, & Mel definitely feels the weight of that legacy. Mel is revealed to be part witch ala Kim.

[kapithkanith]

Tws: MCD

Keegan had been under the federation for awhile now after having been taken in by Logan, forced to bend at his will and play the perfect pet that Logan had wanted him to be.

Keegan felt like his brain had been twisted and stretched like play dough, the cloudy thoughts becoming distant memories and all he can do is feel the need to run. He's aware they aren't many options of places for Keegan to run too, not with the Ghost's being apparently dead their skulls on a stand in Logans bedroom like some football trophy's.

Keegan had spent weeks of constant panic attacks the reality of being fully dependent on a man like Logan was scary.

Logan wasn't scary before, of course Logan was dry. He lacked empathy to an extent but the old Logan was still loveable despite those differences.

This Logan? The ones who holds the dead soul of Keegans friend? He's not so lovable. He's cruel. He's the perfect weapon that the federation could've asked for. He's obedient but still has his own path. Knows exactly where to poke the enemy to make them break. He's perfect and Keegan? Keegan is absolutely nothing.

He's reminded that every day, Logan makes sure Keegan is very aware of his worth. Which is nothing. Keegan is equally as worthy of a useless bronze coin that you can't buy anything with anymore. About as useful as a belt with no holes or a wheelbarrow without its wheel. He's dysfunctional. He's a mess and he's a liability.

But Logan had kept Keegan around for the most perfect entertainment and Keegan was a little grateful he wasn't one of the skulls mounted on the wall. Even if he was taunted every day, he wasn't dead. He should've been happy, he should've been grateful but honestly he wasn't.

Keegan wasn't happy, in fact he was angry. He fuckinh hated it here and he made sure everybody knew about it, if Logan wasn't around he was spiteful. Being a inconvince to everyone around him. And one of those days of being a major inconvenience did a light shine for him

The front door that the maid had opened as she cleans out one of the cars Logan kept for missions. Wide open. Ready for anyone to pass in and out, and since it was cleaning day that was perfect. Everyone was busy. Rushing around trying to get everything perfect before Logan is home.

None of them paid attention to Keegan, usually? He'd hate that. But right now? It's absolutely perfect. And without much hesitation Keegan passed through the door walking out into the world he hadn't seen for long.

Keegan Is quiet as he stares at the world around him, the last he remembers there was still some sort of..light to the world. Metaphorically speaking. Yes there is the sun but from what Keegan could tell everything was dark.

As he walks along the cobble path he can see that there was this energy in the air that was draining, sad and exhausting. No one that Keegan came across looked happy, there was a fog around the work place adding to the eery feeling in Keegans chest. From what Keegan could see it was exactly like those images of the great depression that Merrick would grumbled about thankfully never being in.

The more Keegan explores the more he can see how the federation had taken over once The Ghosts had been taken down. The world was an absolute mess and the entire time Keegan had been trapped inside, unable to help his fellow Ghosts. He was useless. Once again Keegan was useless even this own team which had been probably hoping Keegan would come back. But he didn't. He was unreliable. He was a bad friend. A bad dog.

Keegans tail was tucked between his legs nervousness and slight fear in his eyes as he walks around trying to find any sort of sign or map to create a proper destination. Leaving without any plan in mind was probably not the best idea but Keegan didn't have much time. He just jumped and took the opportunity, he'd have time to twiddle his thumbs about it later.

Keegan managed to walk for quite a long time, it was getting dark by the time Keegan decided he needed to rest his feet which were stinging. He didn't have proper shoes on, Logan said dogs didn't need those. Dogs just needed their owners but right now Keegan doesn't even have one of those. Not after he walked away from the house Logan kept him in.

If Keegan was honest he's not sure he even wants to think about the things Logan will do when he figures out that Keegan had escaped. He had threatened the maids life's before when he nearly escaped, he wonders if they'll get punished for his actions. Keegan wondered if Logan would remove his teeth like the last threat he was given for his bad behaviour. Maybe he'd get thrown back into the pit to rot alive or worse.

Keegan shakes his head scoffing slightly to himself rubbing a hand along his face as he grumbles about his lower back hurting and his feet aching. Not noticing the danger approaching behind him, not until he felt a stab in his lower hip. His body jolts as a yelp escapes his lips, a hand immediately rushing to feel a large dart had been injected in his skin.

Keegan could feel his legs becoming wobbly, he felt nauseous and dizzy. His vision was warping and spinning unable to focus he tried to get up, his first instincts was to growl and try lash out at whatever had hurt him. Keegan can see a group of figures approaching with strange hunting gear but before he could make out any sort of details his body collapse onto the ground.

When Keegan woke up he wasn't exactly aware of where he is and his mind felt foggier than ever. Most likely due to the dart that spiked him, when he fully registers where he is he noticed he was in a kennel of sorts. Around him were other people, people like..him? Hybrids. Hybrids all kept in cells like animals

Keegan panics, he's confused and he's now scared. He tries to move but his collar is chained to the wall every movement causing him to choke and gasp for air. His hands try to reach up to fiddle with the collar but even they had cuffs keeping them close to the ground

Keegan tried to look around a little more, thr other Hybrids were all shushing him trying to keep him quiet. Telling him to stop rattling the chains, that he'd attract HIM.

Keegan is clueless who they are talking about, who is him and why does everyone appear to be afraid of him. Keegans questioned though was answered for plot reasons as the large door opens revealing a large man in a white doctor looking outfit.

Keegan is tense, he knows this man is no ordinary doctor. He's a vet doctor. One that works specially within the pound. Keegan is freaking out, he is silently wishing he had just stayed obedient. That he had just stayed home but he didn't. Now he's stuck in the pound surrounded by other hybrids who were oddly enough staring at Keegan with pity hearing one mutter about behavioural problems.

The large man approaches Keegans crate and stares down at him with cold eyes and a malicious smirk

"This the new mutt?"

He asks a man at the door who's holding a gun. The man gave a nod

"I'd be careful, he's a biter"

The man grunts as the doctor gave a low chuckle

"Oh don't worry, I know how to deal with biters"

The man hums before continuing to walk past leaving Keegan with a look of fear and a sense of dread. Deep inside a little part of him was whispering, telling him that he might not make it out of this one. Or if he does, he knows its gonna be barely.

Over the next week Keegan learned a few things about the place he was trapped in, the sort of people that owned the establishment.

They were not friendly and were not to be messed with. After Keegan attempted to bite a few guys he was roughly muzzled the metal digging into his skin definitely going to leave some bruises and scars when it's removed. If it's removed that is.

He learned that sometimes the other Hybrids got adopted, the others would go into the back room and Keegan would never see them again. He just assumed they were adopted too. Even the aggressive ones.

Keegan thought was more than aggressive, barking, growling and snarling at whatever came close to him. Trying his best to defend himself against whatever came close which was usually doctors and guards. Keegan had wondered why a pound would need guards but after a while of Logans brainwashing he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed.

Keegan was in his crate, still chained down forced to be obedient. Forced to be submissive but this was different to how Logan would do it. Keegan was almost..missing Logan. A few times he even caught himself praying that Logan would come save him!

But Keegan was wrong, just like how Rorke was wrong begging for Elias to come get him. There was legit no hope. Keegan was being drained day by day watching people come in, stare as if they are nothing more than animals and "adopt" them. Keegan wasn't one of those lucky or maybe unlucky few

It was a cold morning when Keegan was roughly woken up being yanked by a large chain leash.

"Oi, get up!"

The man snarled, Keegan recognised him as the lead vet again. Keegan didn't even get to question what was going on as he was forced up onto his knees the collar slightly choking him.

And when Keegans eyes landed on a figure they widened with recognition and..hope. his eyes on Logan who was staring back at Keegan with disappointment. Anger. And disgust.

Keegan was a mess, dirty and clearly hadn't been taken care of. From fighting other Hybryids to the methods used by the owner of the pound he had scars raking his body too. Keegan wanted to open his mouth, to beg for Logans help. But dogs don't talk right? His voice is lost but his mouth open. A clear pleading look in Keegans face as tears whelmed up in his eyes. Lashing forward to try grab onto Logan only for the large chain to yank him back his claws digging into Logans thighs momentarily before he's yanked away

"Is this the one you are missing, sir?"

The man spoke with some respect, clearly he knew Logans role within the federation. Rorkes second in command, fearless and cruel. Everyone would've known Rorke and Logans reputation.

And Keegan had messed with them. He had embarrassed Logan, running away and causing such a scene. Logan had to kill some maids just so the story wouldn't escape. He had nearly put shame to Logans name, which could've put risk at Rorkes reputation too!

Logan had learned a week into the pit, that ruthlessness is mercy to ones self. So he shall show no mercy for a mutt like Keegan

"Unfortunately..that is not my mutt. But this one clearly has behavioural issues. You should get that in check"

Logan grunts, voice void of emotion as Keegans heart dropped into his chest

"Of course, sir. My deepest apologies we will fix this immediately!"

The vet said grabbing the clipboard by Keegans crate and sighs

"Seems this one has been an issue ever since he came in. Maybe more..extreme methods are necessary"

He says gesturing to two men who walk over and yank Keegan up by under his arms.

Keegan wants to scream and yell, he wants to beg Logan to take him back, that he'd behave. That he'd be the obedient pet he was designed to be. That he'd be Logans and nothing else, nothing less and nothing more.

But Logans show's no sympathy his arms crossing over his chest as he watches Keegans get taken into the back room.

"Waste of my time.."

He grumbles turning away, not before hearing the screams from inside the back room

Keegan is thrashing around as he sees the doctor preparing something that Keegan could've only recognised from those adverts merrick would show him to keep him safe. A needle filled of pentobarbital. They were going to euthanize him, like he's some dog!

Keegan is screaming through the muzzle ignoring how metal wire tore into his skin trying to shut him up. Logan is tense as he hears the pained cries, the fear and the horror before it all falls silent inside the pound.

When the door opens Logan can see through the crack Keegans body laying against a table limp, but he swears he can see Keegans cheeks soaked wet with tears. A singular tear still slowly rolling down Keegans cheeks landing on his shirt. The same shirt that Logan bought him.

Logan tries to keep quiet, telling himself that ruthlessness was the mercy he took upon himself. Saving the pain of taking care of Keegan, saving the future issues that could be caused by his behavior.

But to Logan there was a part of him aching at the sight, the limp body on the table as the men begin to clean up. Logan turned to one of the doctors and spoke

"Give his ashes to me when it's done."

He spoke in a firm commanding tone, one that was clearly meaning "no questions asked" and immediately the man nods rushing off. The door shuts behind him, the last memory of Keegan in Logans brain being the dead corpse laid beside a empty syringe. Wet cheeks and eyes closed. The screams still replaying but Logan shakes his head.

The last Ghost is gone. He's done his job. He knows Rorke will be proud. That Logan should be proud. Keegan was another burden to bare..another useless teammate that left him in the dust. Logan gave Keegan a chance to repent. To become better. To become HIS. And he refused. Causing so much fuss in the process.

It's better now. Things will be quiet. Keegans ashes in a nice urn by Logans desk, next to the bigger urn of Hesh's. A reminder that Logan had done what was needed, done what was necessary for the mission.

Just like his father would ask him.too.

[taoofshigeru]

Finished the True Vide fight!

I'm going to just talk about how it went for me below the jump.

Short version: This was so hard. I died so much. I had so much fun and am basking in the glow of octopathic euphoria right now.

---

My party: [Phase 1] Armsmaster Castti (level 82) Cleric Agnea (level 80) Merchant Throné (level 80) Thief Ochette (level 82)

[Phase 2] Inventor Partitio (level 80) Merchant Hikari (level 76) Dancer Osvald (level 80) Dancer Temenos (level 80)

---

There were lots of fun tricks to this fight, but by far the most glaring was the punishing power of the Hellbound each time a tentacle dies. Four of them each for 3-4000 on most characters even at level 80. You can't start attacking the core until all tentacles are dead, and if you spread out the tentacle kills by even a bit, one will respawn while you're busy finishing the others and the loop will never end. And, by the way, Vide can do 4000 damage flat, ignoring defense, if there's only one tentacle left, so you better get that break right after the tentacles die.

Divine Protection (which Hikari gets from the one 10-star difficulty nun in Canalbrine), which can be stacked 4 at a time on the entire party, can effectively block this for one phase. But there are two, and you have to use an entirely different party for the second one. I was hoping to use Temenos' Prayer for Plenty to heal for 9999 on the second phase and tough it out.

I tried this. The quad Hellbounds did 12k for a total party wipe.

Welp.

That and the end-of-everything spam attack (3 hits for 9999) that the second phase does about 4 turns in convinced me it was a significantly better idea to try and carry Hikari to the second phase so he could stack that buff on everyone. Getting there without burning it on the first phase would essentially trivialize the fight.

However, doing so meant I needed to figure out another way to tough it out in phase 1.

It ended up coming down to Castti, who I had fed all of my nuts throughout gameplay because she was my starter and I love love love her. Plus some luck with turn sequencing. I had Agnea cast Aelfric's Blessing on both Castti and Throné, and got the tentacles down to where one final Hired Help would finish them off. I also buffed elemental defense in one of the preceding concoctions, since that does seem to reduce damage taken from Hellbound.* Then I waited for a turn where Throné went first and Castti second. Throné used Foreign Assassin to heal from the Vide Wave (tm), then Castti was able to stay standing after the last one with like 600HP.

The doctor doesn't care if you're a wicked deity

She then did extreme doctor things (used an Almighty Olive to fully revive the party). Then I had a full turn to break Vide before the waves of darkness started coming.

When Ochette gets a full turn, Ochette breaks the enemy. It's what she does.

The rest of the fight was a walk in the park. Ochette's Peek-a-Boo summon plus Castti's Drastic Measures shredded through the phase 1 core, Osvald's One True Magic (II) plus assorted Almighty Soulstone usage from the rest of the boys helped break the second round of tentacles with the sidestep mixed in. Hired Help did the rest of the damage, and quad-stacked Divine Protections rendered the party essentially untouchable even in the face of that 9999 x3 barrage.

I loved this fight, and I'm saying that from the perspective of having fought Galdera. It really drew on all the disparate elements of vaguely and blatantly broken tools the game gave you, and I get the feeling it could've been solved in a half-dozen more ways depending on how one had built up their party. It was everything I loved about Octopath II.

…Next up. True Vide, the Wicked.**

------

*A point regarding the elemental defense buff and Hellbound. Information I found online has been sketchy but I set the above strategy up twice, once with the buff and once without. It does seem to have made the difference between Castti surviving to use the Olive.

**I have already died twice, but I've also made some decent progress and am interested to try some new combinations.

[waterforlorn]

@tiredanvilandmace; ...you asked for this ...so... yeah... i shall not be blamed

did he piss on a sacred tree? did he stomp on a snail without noticing? did he fuckin' do something to upset the gods?

because fuck if the quests lately didn't feel ridiculously one-sided, like someone had already written their story & lev was caught amidst the pages, trying very frantically to read ahead to save those he cared for. what good was he when he couldn't even do that? the one thing he decided to dedicate his life to.

the list .. was ever-growing. michele & jericho ripped from them behind their backs, kit & greyson vanished without a word - lev knew that didn't ...no, it couldn't mean anything good. both ... had surely secured a little corner of his heart & not knowing where they were - or if they even were alive was slowly, but surely taking its toll on the former soldier. to top that off, they failed rescuing london & miles, too. should they have fought? could they have won? lev had been against leaving london behind, he'd never let a comrade behind before, but ... he'd been outvoted .. again. even zayn had stung, he'd set out to help & got lost along the way, only for them to return empty-handed.

every time they left camp to chase another fairytale, lev felt his heart sink, felt dredge & anxiety creep up his spine in an attempt sink their fangs into his neck & mess with his performance in fights & ... he wasn't sure if it succeeded or not, although he felt he'd done decent. decent wasn't good. he could've done better. if he stopped at decent he wouldn't be here & yet he wondered .. what else could he possibly do? when he already trained most of the day, what ... could he do? how could he improve? how could he protect those he cared for?

again.

not strong enough.

not fast enough.

⸺ weak.

he mulled it over endless times, had tried to piece together how exactly that fight could've been handled better, but .. he didn't know. they'd taken down ulrik rather quickly, had kept kira at bay for most of that, but when she joined the fight... it all happened so fast. the focus was obvious early on, clear as day even to a mind less sharp than his - if that was even possible & lev had spent every drop of his inhuman sweat to aid the forge's greatest keeper & yet it hadn't been enough. lev didn't hit hard enough, he didn't move fast enough, his shield wasn't strong enough. he'd failed again.

having to watch hephaestus' son struggle to even stand on his own two legs & being unable to help... helplessness & hopelessness had taken over to drain him. the sunken-in face would haunt him until the end of his days - although he reckoned he didn't have too many of those left anyway. the way his clothes had seemed like someone put an adult's clothes on a child - oversized when once upon a time nico had filled them to the brim. he'd had to watch him decay right in front of him & seemingly nothing he did helped. talk about feeling helpless.

magic exhausted - especially because lev still struggled with using it in the first place, the only option he'd seen was attack. not too uncommon a choice for lev - at least not to those who knew his true visage, which... he'd been quite determined to hide from camp. could his bloodlust-fueled rage aid them in their endeavors? likely. but once he opened that door... closing it again would require time. time they tended not to have unless he planned to skip town camp until he was stable enough to betake himself back into the presence of the others.

nico's damn near croak of a request had been the last straw. feeling the blacksmith's power flood his system had opened himself up to the monster living within him & so lev went for the kill.

"get the fuck outta here."

but he'd underestimated the damage down to him, had seemingly been too blinded by rage & fear to see that nico ... was not going anywhere - not without help. would he ever know if that decision was right? no. but ... he knew he should've picked the blacksmith up & he should've ran. they had the fairy, they had no reason to keep fighting. but they did. they'd been foolish to let it go this far, but then again ... lev couldn't say he'd ever witnessed magic like kira's. he'd had no idea what it would do in the long run - if it was permanent or just fleeting. all he'd known was .. that nico looked dead on his feet.

together they took the necromancer down - both of them & for a short while, when lev's spear broke through the tender flesh of her thigh, feeling the slosh & crunch of bone & meat reverberate through his spear... god, he didn't think he'd ever felt this good. as satisfaction flooded his body, endorphins singing high praise to his skill in that moment & lev, eager to dip his hands in blood again chose to end kira as she deserved. she came for his heart, he might as well take hers.

"don't. touch. what's. mine."

was nico his? fuck if he knew, but it felt like the right thing to say, because ... he wanted him to be. did he, though? or was that just fear speaking? the fear of never getting to find out what it was he truly wanted. how could he tell the difference? when their eyes met again & lev found himself watching her face distort into a crooked version of a smile ... he did halt - the pike of his spear hovering her ribcage, breaking skin as he pondered, but how else to break the spell?

⸺ how else could he save his heart?

negotiations with himself were always one-sided. where reason should take hold, rage & anger prevailed - common sense a faint memory. oh, he'd wished for luck, had sent a silent prayer his father's way. those fives seconds between her cryptic threat & the moment his spear's blade forced its way into her ribcage & heart - sweat pooling on his forehead with the sheer effort it took to overcome the resistance of her body's defenses... that moment of pure bliss.

oh, it didn't last.

her body melted, shimmered & lev would've proclaimed the sight beautiful if not for the explosion that followed. being closest to the source, he saw it first, saw the glow intensify & he knew something was wrong.

"...and i'm taking one of you along."

no. no fuckin' way. light on his feet despite the heavy armor, lev spun around, barging back towards the dumbass of a man the others called his boyfriend (they were far from boys, though - weren't they?), bringing himself between the son of the forge & the blast from the explosion, but he can see it hit him nonetheless. maybe... not as ....hard? could he ... was he... could he ... hope? hope was dangerous. after he came to again, having taken substantial damage himself, his body ... not quite his own anymore - he ... had to ... it was... aj had come to sit by his friend, nudging his leg, soft noises sounding on the otherwise silent battlefield.

he wasn't moving.

well done, number eight.

lev couldn't even recall who said it out loud, he couldn't even remember the words, all he could focus on was the lifeless body in front of him - battered & broken. those beautiful scotch-glazed hues he could lose himself in dark - the usual shine gone, lost to the underworld & it wasn't until storm rested her head against the side of his that lev realized what had just happened.

nico died.

he killed him.

fuckin' fitting. the one good thing in that dumpster fire of a life he called his own & he killed it. maybe he deserved it. maybe he wasn't supposed to experience happiness, maybe he wasn't meant to escape the darkness within him - maybe he was meant to drown in it & returning to camp - if for noble reasons, had been in vain.

they say fear doesn't shut you down, no - it wakes you up.

lev ... wasn't awake when he crawled over to him - nico had collapsed only an arm's length from him, arms that had lost girth for sure, though that was the least of lev's concerns right now.... arms carefully wrapped around the forge's child, pulled his limp body against his chest to hold him ...one last time.

why? what the fuck did he do? why couldn't it have been him?

running from emotional commitment for his entire life, lev never thought he'd find himself cradling a corpse to his chest, rocking on on his knees with actual tears glistening on his cheeks. butterfly effect. one tear led to another & his chest closed up - as did the muscles in his body in a very feeble attempt to hold back an ...impending inevitable sob. a lifetime of suppressed sorrow & hurt breaking free - against his will & there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. he tried. he couldn't believe it, couldn't fathom what just happened.

don't go, please. nico, you stupid fuckin' idiot, come back. i'm gonna let you work on your stupid toys till it's my turn, i promise. please, open your goddamn eyes. nico.

dad?

please, dad. get off your fuckin' high horse & do something. i think i love him. please don't let them take him. do something fuckin' useful for once in your shitty life. please.

did he care they were the center of attention most likely? not really. he .. couldn't even tell how long it took. he couldn't ... really remember, he just remembered calming down, sitting back on his haunches with the dumbass still in his arms, trying to wrap his head around what just happened, which was when he sucked in the biggest fuckin' breath ever. out of nowhere.

tears had dried by the time nico seemed to understand where he was, so lev.... loosened his grip a little. but not much. "you're so fuckin' stupid." forehead against the other's. he was cold & lev could swear nico still smelled like death, but he was breathing. everything else... they could fix. they'd find a way. it didn't matter. "don't you dare doin' that again." he'd kill him & then himself so he could haunt him through the underworld. lev wasn't afraid of death, if ... listening to his survival instinct more often than not.

"home."

[sunnyie-eve]

14 || I Promised

Series: Trust | Maze Runner (Thomas x OFC)

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: none

A/N: Might be a few mistakes

| MASTERLIST |

"There you are." Newt says as I join them.

"Why are you crying?" Fry asks as I sit down with them.

"I just met my mother and I remember being taken from her." I give them a smile.

"Your mother?" Minho asks.

"The doctor, Mary, she's my mom. After talking to her, I remembered getting taken from her." I explain to them.

"I'm happy for you. Getting to see a family member and remembering them. Even if it's a little memory." Newt puts his arm around me.

"What happened when you three got separated from us?" Fry asks me.

"Got chased by cranks that were fully turned. Had to keep climbing up to get away." I laugh remembering the height.

"Bet you lost it being terrified of heights." Minho laughs, making me slap him.

"Not funny! You try being stuck holding on to a doorknob in a slanted room where if you slide down all the way you fall to your death. I was in tears and thankfully Thomas got me in time because I was having a panic attack." I explain making him apologize.

"And at Marcus's? What did you hallucinate?" Newt rubs my arm.

"Gally dead and you as a Crank." I tell them.

Soon Thomas joins us, "Is she doing better?" I ask him.

"Yeah." He sits down.

"You know, I wish Alby could've seen all this." I look at the whole place.

"And Winston." Fry adds.

"And Chuck." Thomas adds so in my head I say Gally too. He would have liked all this if he wasn't such a pain.

"He would be proud of you, you know Tommy." Newt tells him so he agrees.

"Hey where's Teresa?" I ask cuddling Newt for warmth.

"She went up there." Newt motions to her so we all look over at her.

"Weird." I say making Thomas look at me.

"I'm gonna go check on her." He gets up still looking at me before leaving.

"Are we missing something?" Minho asks, eyeing me.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"Did something happen between you and Thomas recently?" He asks me, causing Fry and Newt to wait for an answer.

"My mom told us we were super close before the maze. Something like most of time we were kept apart, but we always found away back to each other." I just tell them that part.

"You're not telling the whole story. I know you, Ellie." Newt says, making me look at the ground.

"At Marcus's we sorta kissed. He leaned in first and well I kissed him back. But when I leaned back, that's when I hallucinated Gally then you, rushing away."

"Do you have feelings for Thomas?" Fry raises an eyebrow.

"I-," get cut off as a Wicked aircraft fires at us.

Everyone starts to panic and the first thing I wanted to do was find my mom. "Where's Thomas? Where is my mom?" I shout as we rush down to what's going on. "Vince! Harriet!" I rush over to join them and the boys follow. "Where's my mom?" I ask, picking up a gun.

"She went back to help Tyson and they got her." Vince tells me, causing me to start shooting more. A soldier ends up throwing a shock bomb at us causing all of the to fall to the ground.

-

"Shit. Shit." Thomas watches his friends go down and dragged off.

"I'm sorry. There's just nothing you can do for them. If we don't move now, we won't be much better off." Jorge tells Thomas but he won't leave them behind.

"You guys gotta go right now. They're not looking for you. You'll be safe, but you have to go now. I can't leave without them... and I made a promise to Elizabeth years ago and I'm going to keep that. Go." Thomas tells him and Brenda.

"Good luck, kid. Bren, we have to go. Come on. Come on." Jorge tells her so they leave and Thomas sees a bag, getting an idea.

Wicked lines everyone up, all the adults together and all the kids together. Elizabeth looks over to see her mom and she mouths it's gonna be okay to her. Wicked soldiers scanned the back of everyone's necks to see how many kids they had.

"Where's Thomas." Janson finally takes notice he wasn't lined up.

"Right here." Thomas comes out, going up to Janson to get punched in the gut.

"Bastard!" Elizabeth tries to get up but is shoved back down.

"If you hurt her!" Vince gets hit for shouting about Elizabeth as Thomas is shoved down next to her.

"You're stupid for coming back. Why didn't you run?" Elizabeth asks him.

"Other than I'm tired of running and can't leave my friends behind... I made a promise to you years ago." He looks her in the eyes.

"You're still stupid." She says, making him nod his head.

The WICKED craft comes down and Ava walks out to the crowd. They start to load kids in while she gets Thomas to come to her. "I'm glad you're safe." Ava turns to Teresa as she walks up to her.

"What the hell? Teresa?" Fry says hurt as the group stands up, confused.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asks, eyeing Teresa next to Doctor Paige.

"She's with them." Thomas lets them know.

"Since when?" Minho looks away to Thomas.

"Oh, Teresa's always had an evoked appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time." Janson explains to the group.

Teresa sees the look of betrayal on everyone's faces, "I'm sorry. I had no choice. This is the only way. We have to find a cure." She tells the group, making Elizabeth laugh at her.

"Bullshit! You had a choice so don't use that pathetic excuse. Everyone has a choice when it comes down to shit. You just picked the wrong one." Elizabeth says with disgust.

"No, Teresa's right, Elizabeth. This is all just a means to an end. You never understood that and refused to, but you used to understand that Thomas. No matter what you think about me... I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure! No matter the cost. I just need more time." Dr. Paige tells them.

"More blood." Mary speaks up, making everyone look at her.

"Mom." Elizabeth says getting worried.

"Hello, Mary. I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances. Especially seeing that you reconnected with your daughter for a brief moment." Ava tells her.

"I'm sorry for a lot of things, too. But not this. Dragging my daughter away from me twice. At least my conscience is clear after the first time you did it." Mary tells her.

"Mine too." Ava says as a gunshot goes off. Everyone looks at Mary and Elizabeth breaks as she sees the blood spread on her shirt.

"Mary!" Vince yells her name over and over while Elizabeth screams mom trying to rush to her but a soldier shoves her back hard and she falls to the ground.

"You fucker!" She yells at Janson, crying out down on her knees.

As Ava tells the men to load them up, Teresa was speechless as to what just happened. She didn't know Mary was Elizabeth's mother until this very moment. She started to feel guilty watching Elizabeth cry over her mother getting murdered in front of everybody.

"Get back!" Thomas shouts pulling out a bomb making everyone point their gun at him and Minho pull Elizabeth up to him.

"Thomas, please stop. I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us." Teresa tries to calm him down.

"And I'm supposed to trust you now?" Thomas asks her, making Ava say that was her only condition.

Ava tells Thomas to think about how he really wants all his friends to die so Elizabeth moves away from Minho, joining Thomas. "Always find a way back." Elizabeth gives him a smile with tear-stained cheeks as the rest of the group join them.

"We're with you, Thomas." Newt tells him.

"Do it Thomas." Minho tells him.

"We're ready. Fry adds.

"We're not going back there." Thomas tells her grabbing Elizabeth hands with his free one as he put out his hand with the bomb. "It's the only way." He says making all five of them close their eyes ready for it.

[cvpiidbiites]

a-z for lomi :D

૮₍｡´ᴖ ˔ ᴖ`｡₎ა A/N: A-Z Fluff relationship alphabet For Lomi! I know I could've done it in general but I really wanted to do it for within arms reach!

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

♡ Adores taking his little remora out for a swim, stopping by market places to pick up snacks before ending their day on a nice flat rock. A nice picnic dinner, flat rock to sunbath on and their tail laying over their little guppy is how they normally end most peaceful nights.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

♡ From every scale on her face that Lomi will softly kiss to the finned tail that they brushes his against, he could explained why he loved every inch of their body in great detail if the sun allowed him that much time of day to do so. Lomi praises Remy for how strong they are for just waking up everyday and keeping their head held high. There is nothing in this planet that would tell you that he saw her as anything but beautiful.

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

♡ Always always always ask what blub needs first! Never touches them without asking incase it causes her to feel worse. If they're out of the house will swim them over to a calmer area before giving her a bit of space, offering her a small snack that Lomi got them to share before asking if she wanted to talk about it or go home early. If this were to happen when they are home he would softly talk to her, asking what she needs or if blub would like to be held. The type to cook you dinner and hold you like a baby till you feel better hell they would try to do both at the same time.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

♡ Love to think about them being able to explore more, visiting other worlds and maybe getting their own ship, not getting him a ship but THEM. Lomi sees them as a pair, what fin is theirs's and it will always be.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

♡ Lomi isn't necessary dominant but he is the one to do a lot of the dominant things like planning dates! Lomi sees them as equals instead of one more dominant than the other.

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

♡ "me & my girl don't argue she just tell me to shut up & I do." head ass. Lomi has never yelled at or argued about something with their little guppy, maybe playful bickering or a soft talking to if she gets hurts but nothing serious. Lomi could be a push over in puppy love but when these times do happen he will put his foot down and let Remy know that what happened hurts them both and blub needs to look out more. Overall Lomi forgive very easily.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

♡ Goes to bed every night and wakes up every morning whispering thank you's against their skin. He pays attention to everything they do so he knows how much (and more) to do for them.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

♡ White lies and secrete gifts are the only true lies he tells! Has a horrible guilty conscious so in the end he always admit his "faults" "I'm so sorry bubble,, the dish was really salty.."

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

♡ Loving Remy taught Lomi how to love and care for someone without being overbearing. They learned how to not accidently baby someone due to any struggles they go through.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

♡ Jealous no, over protective? Yes, a lot. Lomi trust Remy so much but is horrified of others and what they would do. If someone was making a move on Remy, Lomi would be more scared of what they would do or say when Remy says they're taken instead of being worried about Remy leaving. How he handles it is not the greatest! He thinks that if fin lurks around Remy that they will be there to save her from anything bad happening!

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

♡ You did not hear this from me but the only reason Lomi is a good kisser is because pubescent Lomi would kiss fin's pillow trying to practice for when they had the balls to properly ask blub out.

♡ Their first kiss was when they were kids and during a game of pretending to be knight and princess! Ever since then Lomi as a kid has thought they were married and vowed to be a great husband for blub!

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

♡ Lowkey- miscommunication. Lomi who as a child to mid teens thinking they have been together with Remy vs Remy who was paired up with Lomi being his friend + parents being friends. Lomi would let it slip out one day that "Oh yeah I'm just going on a date with my girlfriend later." Causing Remy yelling out "Girlfriend?!" Lomi then panicking going "Would you rather boyfriend?? partner?? Did I say something wrong?!" After that day they had to have a sit down and communicat their feelings, taking the next step to be ACTUAL romantic partners.

[kokyuchusei]

Being assigned to him had been something she wished for, she really wanted to help. And even if she had heard so many times about how useless she was before in her youth, it hadn't been the reason she overworked herself, because she put him over her own well-being always. It was her job, sure. But she also cared about him. Doing that was easier because of that. Less of a toll and more a desire to do him good.

It stirred something unfamiliar in her the idea of anyone other than her sister (or someone paid for that), choosing to take care of her in any way. He always did it. Always kept her alive, always prioritized her life over the mission. Unfathomably so. Her life meant little. Definitely not enough to risk their job. Yet, time and time, he did it. But that was out there, when people were shooting at them, attacking them with abilities. That was different. Higuchi was not used to being taken care in the way he was proposing to. Perhaps she should be. But what good example she had?

Brown eyes looked at his. He was right that she knew him more than most. And since that was a truth, the mafiosa also knew he would not lie. But that had nothing to do with him anymore. Rather, it became all her insecurities that fought to take control of her mind. That and the part of her that worried too much about his health. She knew he meant what he said, but she also knew that things weren't as easy.

She didn't fight nor protest as he pushed her down again to the couch. Without Rashomon and with her physically well -- not the case -- she could've. Not that she would ever fight him in any way. Because despite her preference for guns, that didn't mean she was useless at close quarters. And Akutagawa was so light she probably could carry him if he allowed her to. Higuchi cleaned her throat, trying to push away the pink that painted her face at the thought. Immediately becoming impossible for her to look him in the eyes, she turned her gaze. Had the weather always been that hot?

It was better to just submit to his wishes. Unfortunately they were both stubborn beings. But she knew she could not convince him of anything without a good argument. Even if knowing him, he would probably reject it as well. "I have nightmares." She finally admit it. It was something that she never told anyone and the only ones that knew were those who had the misfortune of sleeping close to her. And usually in missions, against her better judgment, she always took something so she could at least, have a dreamless sleep. "I don't want to interrupt your sleep." It was implied that those were not simple nightmares. And she knew he only got a few hours of sleep per day despite her attempts to make him sleep more. How could she do that do him when he already slept so little to begin with?

She's been taking care of herself since she was just a child. From a variety of wounds, there was little she didn't know in terms of first aid, because there was a need for her to learn that early. Having anyone to do it for her was a novelty, despite her being in the Mafia for so long now. Even though she knew she could count with their doctors, she would usually did everything by her own. Why bother them with minor injuries, they should be treating people in worst conditions. The only ocasions she went to them was when it was just too bad for her or in inaccessible place. Which had been her case that time. But this was far from his job. They had people for that.

"A-Akutagawa-senpai, I'm just --" Words died in her throat, the begining of a whimper cutting them short. Talking back wasn't really the wording she would use. That was not her being a brat about her situation. Instead, this was her doing her job, caring about him in the first place. As usual. And he should not put his own health in jeopardy, even more for someone like her. She had made so many mistakes she couldn't understand why he still kept her around.

Close. He was c l o s e. Even if his hands would not be enough to stop her, she was certainly that her body had stop working, unable to attend any order coming from her brain. The blonde knew that if he remained like that any longer, the pink that just had left her face would come back again to her complete embarrassment. And he was talking to her, she had to force herself to at least pay attention to that and not anything else, no matter how distracting and overwhelming everything felt.

"M-my hair..." She repeated, assimilating the idea that she had been called out for her untidiness. "I'm sorry, I didn't have much to time to fix myself after being attacked..." She wouldn't normally go around with a dirty face and unkempt hair. That was all the result of getting attacked. She even had the habit -- as probably most in the mafia -- of having an extra pair of clothes at hand in case she needed to change. Now, she couldn't do much about her sleep. She could have a proper night of sleep with all those nightmares. Suddenly, Higuchi cringed. There was no way she was going to close her eyes now that she remembered that. She was not about to become an inconvenience to him because she woke up screaming or crying. Or even worse: both.

"B-but senpai... I can rest at home. There's no reason for me to take any more of your time..." Her voice was almost a whine, panic starting to take control of her. At this point, she was starting to think that having to explain to Kuniko why she was hurt was a better alternative.

She couldn't avoid the warmth that fell over her at his words, lips betraying her own anxious thoughts and turning into a smile. That was not the time for that, she chastised herself. "You already did so much for me. You already take care of me even when I'm nothing but a nuisance. I don't want to cause any more problems."

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ scenario: connor losing his mind when you're hurt and charging into the fight recklessly.

♡ pairing: connor kent ( superboy ) x fem! reader

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i'm sorry but i'm living for these angst to fluff moments rn especially bc i rewatched reign of the superman and forgot how much i loved connor in it.

Connor watched as you were completely slumped on the side of the building, no longer clear headed and struggling to stay awake. what was supposed to be a clean and easy mission turned out to be more than what the league expected.

he had requested for back up and while they were already trying to fight off the thugs that were attacking Connor, he could still see that you were fighting to stay alive and he had no idea if you were even going to come out of this fight alive.

"what the fuck?" Connor whispered, seeing you now slumped on the ground. he turned to the person who attacked you, eyes fully red with no intention of holding back. Clark could sense his song was a second away from committing murder as he saw Connor charge into the heart of the battle with no game plan, just murder.

"SUPERBOY NO!"

+

you waved shyly to the group of league members as you hid behind Wonder Woman. you were new to the scene of sidekicks and had no idea how to even introduce yourself without sounding like a complete idiot.

"woah new girl!" you heard a male voice say as you stood in your place petrified. you had no idea who it was as Diana had yet to individually introduce you to everyone, "i call dibs!" you heard the same voice say.

Diana turned to you before grabbing the boy who was charging towards you by the head and tossed him back to Superman, "she's not up for 'dibs' Superboy. she's my newest apprentice and you will treat her as such," she threatened.

you giggled behind her as a few of the sidekicks introduced themselves. you knew them as the Young Justice team and although you weren't formally with the team, you figured Diana was training you to become apart of them in the future.

"( your hero name ), this is Superboy," Wonder Woman said, "he associated to the Super family," she explained as he pushed up his dark circled glasses and flicked his hair back, "pleasure is all mine," he muttered, shaking your hand.

you returned a tiny smile before she continued to introduce you to Robin and Impulse. you noticed how Superboy kept his eyes on you. you had no idea if it was because he liked you or he disliked you but every time you turned to look at him, he was already staring at you.

after introductions and the cliche 'your real identity is sacred' conversation ended, Diana felt it was for your own good to get used to your new 'teammates'. she wanted you to make sure you weren't uncomfortable around any of the YJ team even if that included Superboy.

"so, what do you like to do for fun?" Wonder Girl asked, sitting down next to you and handing you a bowl of popcorn. you shrugged, "uh, not much. I like to watch tv and read for the most part. no one really invites me to do things with them," you admitted, scratching the back of your head.

she laughed, putting her arm around you, "well that ends today! we should all do something fun! how about we go to the county fair? doesn't that sound fun?" she asked. you shrugged, not really opposed to the idea, "I call all the rides with ( your hero name )!" Jinny replied.

you smiled, following her and Wonder Girl out the door as Robin, Impulse, and Superboy followed behind you. Robin looked at him, "you like her don't you?" he asked, already calculating the minute Connor had fallen in love with you.

"well she's apart of the team, i'd like to hope we'd all like her," he replied as Robin shook his head, "no, you get what i mean by that," Robin pressed as he could see Connor's face fall with realization. he didn't reply but he could tell what he was tell Connor's real answer through his face.

as they arrived to the fair, they all booked it to the first food stand they saw. Robin offering to pay for everyone being Bruce Wayne's son had its benefits. you ordered a simple coffee as you didn't want Robin to spend too much on everyone.

"what ride should we all get on first?" Jinny asked excitedly. you pointed to the tallest ride, it was one of those high rides that sat two people at the top and had them spinning around, "oh I can't do that. it's way too scary," both Keli and Jinny said.

Superboy smiled at you, "I'm down if you are," he said as he grabbed two tickets from the worker, "cool," you replied as the two of you walked to the line, sweat already building up from nervousness.

once they sat the two of you and made sure you were both buckled in, you stared at Superboy nervously as the ride started up and pulled you up before immediately starting to spin. you stared at Superboy, screaming for you life. you unintentionally grabbed his arms, not realizing you were holding onto him as you continued to yell.

Superboy chuckled, finding your reaction cute.

+

after the months passed and you finally grew closer to everyone on the team, you were particularly close with Jinny and Superboy. you and Jinny shared a lot of common interests as she showed you how to shoot a gun and Superboy...well, everyone could tell the two of you were just seconds away from actually dating.

you walked into the YJ lair, sipping on hot chocolates with Jinny as the weather was turning cold. she was cracking some cringe dad jokes, trying to make you laugh as you tried to contain from choking on the hot chocolate.

"hey, where we yall at?" Keli asked. you turned to Jinny before giggling, "just doing a few errands we had to run before I had patrol with Superboy," you said, not really clarifying on what you both were actually doing.

although everyone could see how much you liked Connor, Connor himself thought you had a thing with Jinny. he knew she was particularly close with you and felt as though he was practically competing with her for your attention.

"do you have my phone?" you asked Jinny as she dug into her pocket and handed it to you. you grabbed your phone before quickly snatching her hat and putting it on, "yee-haw," you giggled into the mirror as Jinny started chasing you down the halls.

as you turned a corner, you bumped into Superboy and fell flat on your ass, "oh, I'm sorry Superboy, I didn't see you there," you groaned as Jinny grabbed her had and put it back on her, "you've yee'd your last haw," she said, making you laugh harshly.

Superboy's eye couldn't help but twitch as he gave you his hand, "ready for patrol?" he asked sternly. you looked to Jinny who crept away from the angry Kryptonian and left you to deal with him, "yeah, let me just freshen up again and I'll meet you outside," you murmured, going into the bathroom.

you quickly used the bathroom before checking if you had everything. you opened the door and walked into the lair's common area. Connor had yet to drop the angry attitude and everyone was eerily silent as you walked in. he grabbed you by the arm and practically rushed you out the door.

"weird," Jinny told Robin as he shrugged, "what isn't weird about him," he replied making everyone laugh.

patrol started extremely awkward. you hadn't felt this weird since you first started on the team and you had no idea what was wrong with Superboy since he wasn't telling you.

the two of you walked on top of roof, scanning the empty roads before you turned to look at him, "what's up? you seem bothered," you asked him as you both sat on the ledge, "seriously? you seem annoyed at me or something so at the very least you can try and tell me what's wrong," you pressured again.

he looked at you with eyes of determination before grabbing you by the collar of the shirt and pulling you into a very heated kiss. you were taken back by surprise but let him continue to kiss you. a part of yelled at Connor pulled you close but another part of him was still screaming at him that you still could've liked Jinny.

"I had to do that before Jinny officially took you away from me," your eyes fluttered in confusion, "uh, what do you mean by 'take you away from me'?" you asked, not knowing what he was talking about.

Connor sighed in frustration, "I see the way you're around Jinny and figured that she likes you and vice versa," he finally admitted as he stood up, not wanting to hear your response. you quickly stood up and grabbed him by the wrist, "hey wait," you said.

he stared at you, "I'm really not in the mood to get rejected ( your hero name )," he ran his fingers through his hair annoyed. you shook your head, "I don't like Jinny nor does she like me. we're just really close friends Superboy," you whispered, bringing him into another kiss.

this time, he was the one taken back but he melted into the kiss, all his negative emotions washing away as you continued to kiss him. he wrapped his arms around your waist as you him in closer by the neck. Connor was definitely not expecting this tonight.

"so does this mean that we're like....together together?" you asked playfully shy. Connor let out a laugh before lacing your hands together, "clearly. I can't let Jinny steal you away from me," he jokingly replied.

+

Connor ran to the three different henchmen as his strength was to the point of killing, not caring if he died in the process. he was recklessly dodging bullets, knowing they wouldn't do anything to him. he grabbed the first man and threw him against a wall as it collapsed around him. Connor only hoping that it did enough damage to unalive him.

the second one he managed to choke him out enough to the point where he passed out but that wasn't enough for him. you were on the brink of death and if he had to see you die, he was going to make sure the men who possibly killed you got what they deserved.

"SUPERBOY!" he heard his father scream again. Connor paid no attention to him as he grabbed the third henchman and slammed him to the ground, throwing punches left and right, "listen to me," Clark screamed at him.

he could see the tears coming down Connor's face as anger, fear, and sadness clouded his mind, "this is not you! pull out of it!" he yelled, shaking Connor's shoulder, "you're about to kill this man. I get that you're angry but you don't get anything out of hurting him. all you get it consequences and your girlfriend needs you right now more than ever!" he continued.

Connor finally shook himself out of his trance as he heard his dad telling him to go to you. Connor nodded and ran to you, seeing you unconscious and hardly breathing, "I'm taking her to the hospital," he yelled to Batman before hauling your body into his arms and flying towards the nearest hospital.

once he finally reached the emergency doors, he shoved everyone out of his way and to the front desk, "she needs help...NOW!" he yelled to the poor receptionist. the girl jumped up from fear but nodded and screamed for a bed and a few doctors.

the doctor asked Connor to place you on the bed before the doctor told him that he could follow them inside. a part of Connor wanted to straight up move the doctor to follow you into the OR but he knew that he'd get into more trouble with his dad and the MPD if he hurt anyone else.

for what felt like hours, he was waiting inside of the room they had told him you'd be in once you got out of surgery. he had already gotten the lecture from his dad about the consequences he would've gotten if he actually managed to kill the three men earlier.

"she's going to make it," the doctor told Connor as he walked into the room while they adjusted you to the bed. Connor nodded, "she'll be out of duty for months. she sustained a lot of injuries to her body that'll take weeks to recover and she got a nasty concussion so you'll need to play doctor for the next few weeks to make sure she's okay," he explained.

Connor nodded as the doctor told him that you should be waking up within the next few hours. Connor adjusted himself on the seat and got comfortable as he had no intentions of leaving your side until you were awake and ready to leave the hospital.

you woke up a few hours later, your body killing you from all over as you saw balloons all around the room. you knew you had landed in the hospital but you had no idea how long you were asleep or in a coma even. you turned to see Connor passed out next to you, his body slumped awkwardly.

"Kon, Kon wake up!" you whispered, shaking him softly. Connor jumped up in a fright as he immediately realized you were awake, "how do you feel? are you okay? do you need anything?" he immediately asked as you couldn't help but laugh at his frantic attitude.

"Connor, I'm okay, I promise," you whispered as you brought him in for a kiss, "my body just hurts and i'm still kinda tired," you murmured as Connor nodded. you managed to wiggle yourself enough to make space for him, "babe, it looks like you haven't slept in days."

"I had to make sure you were okay so i haven't exactly slept in a while," he admitted sheepishly. you shook your head, "you're too much sometimes," you giggled as you put your head on his shoulder, "but you love me regardless," he replied.

this was the first time the L word had came up in the relationship, "yeah, I guess I do but now you need to sleep," you said as you closed your eyes and felt Connor pull you closer to him, "I love you too by the way," you whispered, giving him another kiss on his partially exposed chest.

[rottmntrulesall]

How does Venus handle both the 24 hr Kraang invasion in the good timeline and the apocalypse in the bad timeline? What’s her reaction to her orange brother becoming the world’s most powerful mystic warrior? Also, how do Splinter’s siblings react to learning that Leo nearly sacrificed himself?

In the good timeline: Now a toddler, she takes an immediate liking to Casey, (calls him CeCe) who's overjoyed to see her as a sweet innocent child. She's with April and Splinter when they face off with the female Kraang. But while her brothers lost their mystic abilities, Venus still has hers, since she wasn't there when the Kraang took them away...and she and Donnie have been practicing with them.

The female Kraang has Venus in one of her tentacles. Seeing the alien attacking her sister and daddy so viciously, makes Venus cry...then get MAD. You know how bad a toddler's temper tantrum can be. Using her intangibility to get out of the Kraang's grasp, grow bigger than her to pop her in her mouth chew her up like a wad of gum and spit her out, smash her up with her harden armored fist, split up into numerous clones to dogpile on the pink blob; Venus basically nearly kills the She Kraang until Splinter calms her down with a lullaby. Venus sleeps until she sees Leo go into the Portal with the main Kraang. She bawls her eyes out, thinking her blue big brother is gone forever. When Leo is brought back, she's happy and squealing his name.

In the bad timeline: Throughout the apocalypse, Venus has mastered her countless powers and is truly a force to be reckon with. She's taken down so many Kraang, but using her powers so much for too long drains her energy fast. She gets killed before Casey is sent back in time, Venus was trying to protect April and the other fighters.

As to Mikey being a powerful mystic warrior, she's thrilled and the two were a dynamic duo. Venus had fond memories of Mikey using his skills to make her laugh back when their little.

The Hamato Fam's Reaction: After the Kraang are gone for good now, the Hamato clan drop by for a visit. They get the rundown of what happened while they were. They were pretty horrified finding out that their family went through such an ordeal- WITHOUT THEM THERE TO HELP!

Once Leo told them about what he tried to do, well...

Saki yelled at him for being so foolish, but was impressed with his resolve and strength. Still said he was an idiot for nearly getting trapped in the Dark Realm with the Main Prime.

Nori scolded Leo as well, though more in a motherly way, like "You could've been seriously hurt, please don't worry us again." Hugs him out of relief and nearly snaps him in half.

Kenji checks Leo over and over too make sure he's still in one piece. Asks if he needs anything or if he would like to talk about it. Tells him not to do sacrifices like that again, especially when he's still so young and has his life ahead of him.

(Saki, Nori, and Kenji are parents themselves, so it makes sense they would freak out the most after Splinter)

Hiroki and Hikari both sobbed hard and nearly suffocated Leo in a group hug and asked if he needed any comfort snacks.

Mei didn't really react much aside from taking Leo's head and pressing her forehead against his.

~Leo is glad that he and his brothers have such loving relatives~

[yuukichuuu]

The Attack on Titan characters: You hugging them (Gender neutral reader)

Warnings: fluff and some comforting scenarios that I thought were cute or funny theyre not really funny tho

Maybe I'll do a second part-

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

Eren

•Eren was making himself a sandwich in the kitchen, clearly not paying any attention to his surroundings

•You took the opportunity to quietly sneak up to the male, just to bear attack him from behind

•Eren was so taken by suprise that he struggled to keep his balance at first, with you clinging onto him like that

•Not to mention he nearly let go of his freshly made sandwich, which looked very delicious

•"[Y/N] what was that for?!"

•The male sighed slightly annoyed, while you just smirked to yourself

•"Well you know just revenge for earlier, when you left me alone to clean up the quarters after the mess you, Armin and Jean did. Captain Levi was about to kick me right out of the door."

•You leaned up to his ear, your upper body pressing against his back, and whispered into his ear

•"You know what that means.."

•A slight blush creeped onto his face not knowing what to expect next

•You let go of Eren, just to quickly snatch the sandwich out of his hands

•"Thats mine now!" You quickly ran away with the sandwich in your hands, taking a bite out of it

•"Mmmmmh sooo goood.."

•"[Y/N] GET BACK HERE THAT WAS THE LAST PIECE OF BREAD WE HAD!"

Armin

•"[Y/N] are you alright?"

•You just kept rubbing your head into his back, inhaling his scent

•"Mhm everything is alright.. I just had a tough day and wanted to be close to you."

•After you said that Armin felt the need to hug you back, so he took your arms off of him and wrapped his own arms around you

•He started to stroke your back as a way to comfort you

•"You could've just said that right away [Y/N].."

•He placed a small kiss on your forehead/cheek (depends if you're taller than him or not) causing you sigh out in relief

•"Tomorrow will be a better day, I will always be there for you."

•You were so thankful to have someone like Armin in your life

Mikasa

•Mikasa held her hands up not knowing who the person was, that was hugging her so tight from behind

•"Relax it's just me [Y/N]"

•You said it so casually, like it was the most normal situation that it caught her off guard so she let her hands fall down again

•"Ehm.. and why are you hugging me?"

•"Well I was playing truth or dare with Sasha and Connie, and they gave me the task to make you smile. Knowing damn well you rarely smile.."

•Mikasa was a little confused on why you would take part in such a stupid game but in response she just nodded

•"I'm sorry Mikasa, but I need to win this dare."

•You slowly loosened your arms around her, and started to attack her sides

•You knew she was ticklish so you used that to your advantage

•She immediately started laughing, that encouraged you to tickle her even harder

•You didn't only do this to win the dare but also to help Mikasa, taking her mind off everything that was happening in the past couple of months

•Not only did you win the dare, but you also had to apologize to Mikasa 1000 times before she started talking to you again

Hange

•You walked into Hange's office, they were clearly feeling down

•Hange has been working non stop to gain any new informations about titans that could give us a new lead

•You saw that she was visibly on edge

•"Hange-"

•"Maybe I should try and use the new tools I got, they could give me new insights.."

•"Hange-"

•"We do have new sources that some titans have a conscious, they're trying to communicate. Maybe I should go investigate that further. Get new titan subjects-"

•You desperately tried to get their attention, clearly without any success, so you just did the first thing that came to your mind

•You wrapped your arms around their waist, pulling them closer to you

•"Hange, take a break. Sleep and eat something we need you to be healthy.."

•Your head was resting against their back, as Hange went through the papers on the desk

•"[Y/N] I can't, we're so close, to-"

•"Stop it. How about we go eat something and then I'll escort you to your quarters?"

•You argued a little with Hange until they finally agreed and you both went your way to fill your stomachs

•Even though Hange couldn't show it at the current moment but they were very grateful to have someone like you looking out for them

Levi

•"Just what do you think you're doing brat?"

•He was clearly not amused, this poor man can't even get a minute just to relax

•You both were not only commands but also good friends, you shared a good amount of decent memories together

•"You looked like you could use a hug..? Or maybe I just wanted a hug from the famous captain Levi-"

•You threw the goofiest smile you had at him, hoping it would save you from Levi's rage

•Spoiler: It didn't

•Not only did he give you that emotionless glare that he always had on his face, he also kicked your ass out of his office

•Levi would never admit that he actually liked the physical affection you gave him from time to time

•He would rather keep that secret to himself

Marco

•It was a thing between you and Marco that whenever you saw eachother one would hug the other, as a form of greeting eachother

•Today was no difference

•He was on the training grounds together with Jean and Reiner, they just finished their training routine

•You ran up to him, wrapping your arms quickly around his waist as you tackled him to the ground

•"There is my absolute favorite person in the entire woooorld-"

•You snuggled your head into his chest, causing him to blush a little over the sudden affection

•"You scared the living hell out of me [Y/N]!"

•"I'm also very happy to see you Marco"

•You just grinned at him, coming closer to his ear

•"How about we ditch Reiner and Jean , and grab a warm bite to eat in the canteen?"

•Of course he said yes, so you got up took his hand and you both walked off into a different direction

•Jean and Reiner just stood there, too stunned to say anything to the situation they just encountered

I originally planned to write jean and erwin too but- I got lazy so they will come next time

[hot-wiings]

The One Where After His Recovery, Tensei Iida realizes Life Is To Precious And Short. 

Requested By: Wattpad User

Edited: 1-13-2021

"You can do it!"

You yelled out to Tensei Iida from the top of a hill. It wasn't very steep, it was a slow gradual incline. He was at the bottom of the hill in his wheelchair trying to push himself up alone. This was all part of his long recovery from the attack on him in Hosu. The attack that left him crippled. The attack that forced him to take early retirement.

He knew was never going to get his ability to walk back, he had given up on that long before his younger brother got Recovery Girl, his school nurse, to try and help him. Tensei knew how her quirk worked, and if the best of the best, the woman with the greatest medic type quirk couldn't heal him, nothing would.

"Tensei, babe! You got this!"

Tensei tried to push on the handles attached to the wheels of his chair and push up the hill. He knew he’d never get his walk back, all he could do now was work on adjusting to his new life. Adjust to wheelchairs, adjust to never using his legs again, adjust to getting taken care of for the rest of his life. He tried but it was futile, going uphill was just so hard on his own. He wasn’t there yet, wasn’t strong enough yet.

He hated this. He absolutely hated this. He hated depending on you. You were giving everything up for him. You barely worked anymore, you were always with him. You ran around and did errands for him. You went grocery shopping, you did his laundry, you did his dishes, you helped him get in the bath, and you wheeled him around. You were constantly accommodating your schedule and life for him. He was sick of it. You were his girlfriend, not his caretaker. He hated helplessly watching as people had to accommodate him, but he hated it most watching you give up everything.

"I can't do it! Can we find a smaller hill?!"

You jogged down the hill with a smile on your face. Why were you always smiling? Didn't you realize what a burden he was? How awful your life was going to be constantly taking care of him? You’d started to hate him, and your sex life wasn't going to be what it used to be.

"I don't see why you're in such a rush to push yourself around. The doctor said it’s going to take time to get used to it, besides we live together, I'm always gonna be there to help you. Getting sick of me already?"

You grabbed the handles on the top of Tensei’s wheelchair and turned him around. Further away from the hill he couldn't get over and closer towards the busy streets of Japan. Tensei clenched his fists as he tried to answer you. You'd been together since high school, years of your relationship taught him that there were going to be ups and downs, it taught him he needed to be honest above all else. He wanted to be honest, he wanted to tell you how much of a burden he was, but he didn't want to lose you. Not after all these years, not after how much you meant to him.

"I don't want to always depend on you. I... I don't like this. I don't like you always pushing me around, you should be focusing on your career. If I just push myself, then I’d be able to get groceries on my own, I could go run the errands instead."

"Don't say it like that."

You pushed the wheelchair up to a busy road and pressed the button on the street lamp. You walked in front of the chair and squatted down so you could talk to Tensei on a more equal level. You grabbed onto his hands as your eyes met and you gave Tensei a warm smile.

"You're not a burden, so don't act like it. I like running around and doing errands for you. We live together, and groceries are a need for us both so don't act like it's some inconvenience."

You stood back up and stretched out your body, tired limbs stretching as you arched your back. Pushing Tensei could get tiring sometimes, but only because you lacked the muscles to push all his body mass around.  

"As for my career, I'm a writer. It can done from home."

"You're a news writer. You need to be out in the streets, reporting news. Not on the couch, editing your college's work from a shared google docs document. They get all the credit, and you don't."

You crossed your arms and huffed at your boyfriend. He was being stupid. Stupid and unfair. After all the years you'd been together, after junior high and high school, after college and getting your first jobs. He should've known by now how much he meant to you. He should've known how important and priceless to you he was. He should've known you weren't letting him go, crippled or not.

"I am a news writer, but news gets boring very quickly. Maybe I’ll write a book instead. 'Love For Dummies', how is that for a title?"

"Just because you've been in a long stable relationship doesn't mean you can write that. People who switch jobs like that are unhappy."

"I’m referring to you, you dumbass!"

You and Tensei had begun yelling at each other, heatedly pointing and scowling, not even caring that citizens and bystanders were staring at you. In your heat of rage, you had stomped your foot and stepped on a pebble. It knocked you off balance and you began to slip back into the busy road. Without thinking, Tensei used his hands and with all his might he pushed his chair forward, grabbed your shirt, and pulled you onto him before rolling backward.

"You're so dumb. Are you trying to die or just get crippled like me? You should've taken the back streets, you could've ride."

"I slipped, it was an accident, I'm sorry."

Your body felt uncomfortable being sprawled out on top of Tensei haphazardly. You felt like you were crushing his legs, but you knew he couldn't feel them anyway. Your little sniffles drew Tensei’s attention to you. 

"Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry, you’re not dumb."

"It’s not that, I just... You think I'm unhappy with you?"

Tensei ran his fingers through your hair, and you tried to hold back your tears. It just hurt. It hurt knowing that your partner felt so hopeless and feeling so fruitless, and you couldn't do anything.

"I know you're unhappy, you just don’t realize it yet. There are so many news breaks that happened the past few weeks, and you couldn’t catch any of them because you were with me. You’re missing out on your dreams, you’re gonna realize it after all your opportunity is gone and you'll be so unhappy."

"You're so wrong. I'm not gonna be unhappy. I'll never be unhappy with you. I only ever became a news writer because you became a hero. It’s so stupid, I know, but after you told me you were going to be a hero I decided to be a news writer. That way, even if we broke up, I’d still be able to chase after you. I don’t care what kind of life it is, I want you Tensei. Tensei, you were my first love, and I’ll be damned if anyone but you is my last."

You tried to pull yourself up off of Tensei, sure your added weight must be hurting him somehow despite not having legs, but he wrapped his arms around you to keep you there.

"I wasn't planning on asking you this, but it appeared to me that life is short. Will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes. God yes. A million times yes. We're gonna have your brother as the best man, and we'll invite your old coworkers, and god, we have to tell your mom, she's gonna be so excite-"

Tensei presses his lips against yours frantically, you both smile into the kiss and pull apart before erupting in laughter. You were completely oblivious from the forming crowd. Oblivious to the people, the people who recognised Tensei Iida, the newly retired Ingenium. Oblivious to the crowd holding up their phones and recording your near death proposal, all that mattered was each other.

"Let's go home first, okay? Then we can start planning."

[hollowscreekrp]

group para: the search party

When: Sometime around January 28th Sinopse: A glimpse into the search party activity, while Jason, Sebastian, Axel, Zeke, Andy, Suzie, Erik and Seth tried to rescue their loved ones during the plot drop event of January 2022. Written by: B, Sandy, Mina, Anne and Max. Wordcount: 5.3k

Sebastian really hated to be the one with experience to know how to do this. He had hated it when it happened before when he was deployed but even more now when people he loved and cared about was involved. He took a deep breath as he walked around the room with a murderous look in his face, "I know everyone wants to just barge in and free them, me included, but in my experience that would only put them more at risk. Our safest bet it's a coordinated attack," he said as he looked at everyone there. If someone had told him he'd be teaming with the supernaturals he was supposed to be hunting, he would've laughed. Now he just knew he had the most powerful team he could've dreamed off. Wolves, sorcerers, an experienced hunter half, a vampire. Even two dragons and an angel. Nothing could go wrong if they did this right.

Andy had no problem at all trusting Sebastian, it was true he was a hunter, but the younger man had a lot more experience than Andy himself, he had come once he heard Sebastian's boyfriend was taken, Andy didn't want a supernatural war in the middle of a busy town, but...he feared it was a little too late for this. "Ya better tell that to wolves," Andy said, looking over shoulder, watching the man had mistaken by Sam's boyfriend, "he about to take off and run..." the hunter paused, leaning closer to the other, "Ya doing a great job," he reassured, him, knowing this was probably a lot of pressure for the younger man.

Jason was very close to just leave and bring Chris back on his own but deep down he knew the hunter was right as much as he hated it. He even snarled at the older man he assumed was Sebastian's friend by their closeness when he pointed that they were prone to act out on instinct. He hated a little how he couldn't say much in wolf form but growl and snarl his opinion. Not that he had much to say anyway. He kept on pacing back and forth. Sometimes getting closer to Axel to offer some comfort even tho he knew there wouldn't be any until Nate was back in his arms.

As soon as they found the place, Axel wanted to walk in, kick as many doors as needed to, until he found Nate, he was inpatient, they were so close! he looked at Jason as he heard the growl, "Yeah, I don't fucking agree either! how long as it been? and now we gotta act like fucking soldiers? fuck that, I wanna come in and find my husband, let the fuckers come at us, I don't mind killing a few," his eyes flashed, if he find the people behind this... God help them, he new he was being loud and annoying and he didn't care. He wanted to find Nate, that's all that matter to him in that moment.

Sebastian had enough. He walked towards Axel and looked at him right in the eyes, "You wanna do that without knowing if they have someone watching over them? Go ahead. The only thing you're gonna get is getting Nate killed because we have no idea how they're keeping them hostage. They could have a bomb. A fucking knife through their necks ready to slice if someone barges in. You wanna take your chances? Go on but if something happens to Chris because of that stupid temperament, I'm gonna have your fucking head," he said not caring if half of the people there were wolves and could end him in a heartbeat.

As the other moved closer, Axel didn't move, maybe he was in fact losing his temper was never like he fully learn to keep it check, especially when this was about Nate, he let Sebastian closer, a low growl escaping at the other's words, "You asshole," Axel spat back, moving closer, his finger pointed at the other as she eyes continued to glow, "I'd never do anything to hurt Nate, don't you even fucking suggest that! don't you even dare!" he warned, another growl, this time louder, "I'm fucking tired if sitting here! Waiting an hoping, if we know were they are we need to start moving now!" he pretty much yelling at this point, "Don't threaten, I'm not fucking scared of you, I care for Chris too, its not just you!" "ENOUGH!" Zeke yelled out to the both of them, "Stop it! both of you!" he placed himself in the middle of both man, "This is not going to help! Axel, try to calm down! you can't storm in like that, you're gonna get yourself and the others killed! I know you're worried but--He knows what he is doing," he turned to Sebastian, "What is your plan? what should we do," he turned back to the wolf, "I will make you sleep again and then you're not going anywhere, so behave!"

Sebastian was about to spit some truths on how Axel's attitude was exactly what could get them all hurt or even killed when Zeke got in the middle and stopped them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "you're right. Fighting each other won't help," he took a step back again, "look Axel, I know exactly how you feel. Trust me. I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't sure it's the safest bet to bring everyone home safe," he said softening his tone. "OK if we can get the blue prints of this place I can check the weaker points where we can break in. I'll find a hidden position to take down as many as possible clearing the path for the rest of you to get it. We just need someone who can sense them to figure out which part of the mansion they're in and a way to communicate where they can't hear us. I guess radios are not a go since they probably have enhanced hearing and I can't imagine the wolves wearing an eye," he tried to joke a bit to calm the tension.

Axel sighed, he knew both the men were right, he just wasn't good on the waiting part especially on something like this, if this was up to him, he'd just go and screw it, but they were right, if this mean he was risking Nate and his friends, then he had to try and breath, put his pride aside and work together. "Sorry," he said in a almost whisper as he run a hand trough his hair, "I know. Just... fuck, the waiting Is killing me, I was wanna... have him him back safe," he sighed again moving away to the back of the room standing near Jason and Dan. Zeke nodded as he heard the other, "I think I can help with that, a blue print of the place sounds like a good idea, and there's nothing magic can't fix," he winked , then adding, "Unless, you know, other magic is blocking it..." he pulled a face, shaking his head, "Sense them? I think wolves are good with tracking they can probably pick up a scent right?" he nodded, "How about... mental radio?" he suggested, "Sort of like the angels have... a private signal in each other's minds?"

This was exactly the kind of situation Seth should not be getting involved in. The rules were clear; he was instructed not to interfere in any human conflict. Humans should learn how to fix their own lives. The main loophole here was that this was not a human confrontation. That, and Chris being involved, were the main reason for the Grigori to be there. As everyone else talked and argue, Seth, refrained from speaking. His hand tightly held Erik's until he heard Sebastian's question, "I can sense them," those were the first words he spoke since they got to Suzie's club. Without hesitation, the angel let go of his lover's hand and walked towards Zeke, "if you can connect the blueprints to the actual place with your magic, I can tell you exactly where they are and how many others are in there," his words spoken with confidence. Nothing was holding Seth from doing everything he could to help this group of people even if he was only acquainted with most of them. This was what angels were supposed to do; help others without a second thought.

This was very odd for Erik. In his golden days, he and Eoin would probably be already with a sword on each hand, maniac grins on their faces as they kicked the door down and cut several strangers in half. Plotting wasn't his forte, so instead he stood by in the back of the room, holding Seth in his arms, hand in hand. His eyes were glued to Jason's big wolf form, his goals there were only two: keep Seth out of trouble and not let Jason do something he'd regret later. The dragon was glad he didn't have to work on either yet, but the day was still young. Seth's voice surprised him and he let him go when the angel stepped forward, a proud smile on his face. "That could work" he chimed in, eyes locking with Zeke "We can stay back as a basis to report. Let you all know where to go" He clicked his tongue "Do we know which kind of people we're dealing with yet? Species-wise?"

Sebastian nodded when Axel apologized and explained why he was desperate to just barge in and safe his fiance, " I know. I want the same thing. I promise we'll have them back safe and sound," he knew better than to make any promises but this time he couldn't help it. He looked at Zeke with an arched brow at the idea, "no, I think the wolves would need to get near to track them and we still don't know who we're facing or how many of them are there," he sighed frustrated until Seth spoke up. He smiled and nodded at the other's words, "that would be very helpful, Seth, thanks," he really didn't know how far an angel powers would go but this sounded effective. He turned to Zeke again, "mental radio sounds perfect. That way we could hear them too if they go in as wolves," he nodded toward Axel and the wolf gang, "once we have the blueprints and Seth's instructions we can move to the best positions. I'll take some from afar and with his help let you know where you can get in to get to them as fast as possible."

she stood behind the bar, watching them squabble like children about the correct way to go about things ; as if there would be one. suzie had only agreed to help to support her friend. that energy erik had given her had really given her a new lease on life - even if temporary. the dragoness didn't have any sets of skills other than being a natural with fire ; something that could be useful if used correctly. "if they flee," which, she was sure they would. "i don't mind setting up a perimeter a few metres away. setting the woods alight would drive them back towards the house for you to finish off," though, she'd probably need someone to put out that same fire. maybe that sorcerer; suzie hated the magic users being in her club but, said nothing, as it wasn't the most important thing right now.

Zeke nodded as Seth approached, so far the angel had been silent but it seemed he had a good idea and his powers were for sure going to come in use. "Not only can I do that, i can give you a 3D blue print of the house," he Said, "Just need a frew minutes," Zeke removed his jacket, rolling up his sleeves, "Do we want to start now?" He asked looking at the others. "Okay, so we have that set," he nodded, looking at Suzie, "I mean that doesn't sound like a bad idea but we need to be careful not to set the whole Woods on fire." Axel nodded at Bas, though he wasn't sure he would be in his Wolf form, he hand to hug Nate with his arms. That was first he was going to do, "Yes Brun the fuckers. But the whole fucking place once we get them out."

Erik bit back a grin at Chow's idea, seemed like that spark really went a long way huh. "I can help" he offered "It's a delicate job, but I'm sure we can manage a wall of flames without any forest fires." He smirked "Only calculated casualties."

It was clear when the mood settled. It seemed everyone was finally listening to what they needed to hear to calm down. There was a tiny smile on Seth's lips when Erik said they could sty back and guide them, "Yes, we can tell them where to go and what to expect, and I can also provide information on their species, but I must warn you, I might not get them all right," there was no need for them to know how the Grigori's powers weren't strong anymore. One look at Erik was enough for Seth to let him know what his words meant. His eyes moves from the dragoness to his lover when he heard him speak, "Do you have to be there to do that?" The angel knew that Erik would be of more help down in the field than staying with him, "I am sure Zeke and I can stay here safe. Once you are with them, I will appear us there in case someone needs healing aid." Zeke's idea of a 3D blueprint was fantastic, it would certainly give Seth the chance to be more accurate, "I am ready whenever you all are. Do you think you could add pins to where I sense someone?"

Erik reached for Seth's waist when their eyes met. He didn't want the angel to be using the last of his grace on something like this - on anything really - but he knew better than to try and convince him not to. So instead, he just gave him a comforting squeeze, because whatever happens, the dragon would be there. There was a groan at the idea of leaving, though. He huffed, annoyed, then rolled his eyes. "Fine" he said simply, then leaned to murmur against Seth's ear "I'll be the one looking over you from up there this time."

Zeke frowned a bit at the interaction, knowing that was probably something more going on with Seth, from the way Erik was acting, were his powers not as strong as before? "that's alright, honey," he Said smiling at Seth, "you do what you can, that's why were all here, to do what we can," he Said to his friend offering some comfort, though he was being honest here, of course. "I kinda wanted to Kick some butt, I didn't take ligthly on people talking my right arm," he muttered, he was talking about Nate, it was the first time Zeke had to actually close the club for a while, he'd drown without the vampire's help, not to mention he was of course, worried over his friend, he cared for man"but its needed so I'll stay here," he looked at Erik, "We'll be fine, sweetheart don't worry," Zeke assured the dragon with a smile. Zeke nodded, feeling as if he had channel all the Magic he needed, he lift his hands, gesturing around with them as a blue like fog began to come out of his fingertips, the model of the masion slowly taking form in front of them, "Yes, can even use colors for diferent species."

it was interesting, watching erik hold onto that little angel like everything depended on it. if suzie hadn't been convinced that the great dragon had changed - this was the final confirmation. the dragoness glanced over at the sorcerer who'd addressed her idea; zeke, or something. "woods grow back. people don't," she was perhaps too eager to show off her new and improved powers. speaking of powers...."i don't mean to be...we have an angel on side. surely grace is more powerful than anything we can put together?" suzie suggested, not understanding the other more private situation going on. "you know...poof in and out?"

Erik wasn't paying much attention to what people were saying, instead he was trying or line the perimeter in his head, figuring out how long he'd have to stay away. His mind was brought back when Chow spoke of grace, eyes burning menacingly right away as they met hers. "Grace is a very limited resource" he said, squaring his jaw, shoulders tight. It wasn't up for negotiation "Much better used to save someone from bleeding out instead of as transportation. Don't you think?"

she immediately put her hands up in defence, shrugging her shoulders ; she didn't have as much experience with heavenly bodies as erik did, seeing as he was sleeping with one. suzie came across a fowl tempered one in Rome, that was it. the dragoness felt there was something else behind erik's reaction to but...she wasn't privy to such information. "just a suggestion," suzie said quickly, immediately putting the situation to bed. she didn't fancy going toe to toe in her club, especially when the two of them had been getting along so well lately.

It was not the right time for displays of affection, but Erik's words brought a smile to Seth's lips. It was reassuring and the Angel was not immune to needing that. The only way the Grigori addressed Zeke's words was with a polite nod, focusing on the blue fog forming the image of the mansion where their loved ones were held. It was very rare for Seth to hate anything, but after Suzie spoke, the angel hated the position he was in. With his grace intact, he could have done exactly as the dragoness said, but now, it felt like an impossible feat for him. His hand quickly moved to Erik's arm when the dragon snapped, "I am not supposed to interfere directly to mortal matters," the lie falling smoothly from his lips when he addressed Suzie's comment, "healing others do fall into a loophole I can get away with."

Zeke looked over at the woman, fighting the urge the roll his eyes, "Animals and the rest of the creatures that live in the woods don't grow back either, not to mention someone can get caught and hurt, innocents who have no clue on what going on, there are humans out there too, we need to be careful, let's---put a hold on the wild fires for now," he wasn't trying to be rude, or difficult or anything it was simply how he felt, there had been already too many innocents involved he didn't need more of those. He looked at them as it went on, the little argument, kinda make Zeke wonder a few things, Grace? was this the problem here? he decided not to ask, it was not the time or the moment, yet he couldn't avoid the worried looked to his friends. "Come on children, lets not start arguing, we're all doing our best," Zeke told them as the mansion gained form in front of them, "There we go," Zeke said once he was done with the spell, "The best replica you will find!"

Bas had the feeling he probably should be worried about all the mess this could turn to but in that moment he really didn’t care about anything else than getting everyone back safe. Especially Chris. He didn’t even want to think about anyone’s status so he focused on what he knew. He looked at Suzie with an arched brow cause he didn’t think she would want to get involved like this to help. She had done enough already letting them all use her club as base for this operation but her offering to set a fire perimeter so no one could run away was beyond of what he expected. He looked at her and gave her a nod mouthing a simple ‘Thank you’ before focusing on the rest. Sebastian was about to stop the bickering between the dragons and what Seth could or couldn’t do but Zeke was faster than him and before they could start another argument, the blueprint was in front of them. He moved closer to look at the whole think, observing the doors and windows with an analytical expression, “I have an idea where they have more security but I think Seth will know better,” he gave a small nod so the angel could tell them what he could feel. Once they knew he’ll figure the best position for him to neutralize as many objectives as possible so everyone else could get in faster.

Erik felt it the moment Seth interfered, the hand on his arm instantly cooling off some of the fire running in his veins. He nodded to the angel and then towards the dragoness, as if to silently say they were okay. Not that he was sorry though, because he wasn't. He wondered however if she realized why Erik was so protective, if she realized Seth owned his heart. His mind was brought back when Zeke called him a child, and the dragon chuckled. He easily outlived all of them for at least a couple hundred of years. The dragon stepped closer towards Jason's wolf form as the magical beings worked, sitting on the floor beside him, careful not to touch him because he remembered something about Jayjay being against it when he had his fur out. "Do you think, if we add up the age of everyone in this room apart from me, I still win?" He joked, conversationally, then noticed Jason couldn't reply "Blink once for yes" he murmured before sighing "Have you eaten today?" Erik asked, sure the alpha would be too worried to take care of himself "Did you sleep?" Jason was trying his best to keep it together. He was worried, angry, hungry, and tired but his mind seemed to go in overdrive with just one goal in mind and he was not gonna rest or do anything until he was sure Chris was back safe and sound. He moved to a side of the room with Axel after Zeke called them out but he was still very tense. So much that he almost snarled at Erik when he came closer but relaxed when his friend sat beside him. He huffed at the silly age question. The downside of not being able to talk making him grumpier. He rolled his eyes in a very human move when Erik told him to blink once for yes but he did shake his head at both questions. There was no time to lose eating or sleeping. Not when they were so close. He growled and bumped his muzzle against Erik’s arm as if telling him he was fine.

"You know, for a wolf, you're very expressive" Erik joked with a roll of eyes of his own. The answer didn't surprise him in the least and he sighed. The bump spoke volumes and Erik shook his head with a shrug "Yeah yeah, right. You take care of people, people don't take care of you, whatever. Just be warned, if once this is over you're not taking care of you, I will, and we both know you're gonna hate having me as a nurse" he bumped the wolf with his shoulder, a small playful smile on his face.

Jason wanted to laugh at that cause he wasn’t sure what Erik had imagined h would be like as a wolf. Especially cause he had always been very expressive. He tilted his head towards Aiden when his friend said people didn’t take care of him. Jason had it clear he was not gonna be able to go against both Aiden and Erik so once this was over and he was sure Chris and everyone else was safe, he was gonna eat and take the longest nap ever. When he noticed everyone getting around Zeke and the blueprints, he stood up and walked towards them ready to listen what everyone had to say and how the plan was gonna work.

Axel looked at the other men as all of this went on, if he was he in a better mood he had in fact laughed, thought now, he couldn't even think of laughing, the wolf was exhausted, all he wanted was for this to be over. All he wanted was to have Nate there, and he was trying very hard to keep patient, so they could all decided how to do this, Axel had given his opinion on the matter, if it was up to him, he'd be going kicking doors and everyone in his way to get to Nate. That's all he could think of, get to his fiance. He moved closer as the others did too, looking over his shoulder at Jason, Aiden and Erik as he stopped by Zeke, "So? what now?" Zeke fought the urge to roll his eyes at the wolf, why were they such hot heads? "Now, we have a perfect model of the mansion, we know every entrance ,every room," he pointed out the model, "All we need is to figure out is who's where and what they are, then I guess we can start forming a plan?" he asked looking over at Sebastian.

It did not take long for everyone to gather around Zeke with the floating 3D map right in the middle of the room. The looks of eagerness and desperation to act already clear on everyone's faces, and that was the cue for Seth to step closer and walk around the blueprint, his energy focused on sensing every living being inside the mansion. A soft smell of flowers filled the place. Bright blue eyes scanned the smokey building for a few moments before speaking, "They are here," Seth's finger pointed to one of the rooms in the middle of the mansions. There were windows on that side of the structure, which only confirmed there must be a spell to keep everyone inside. A worried look flashed for a second in the Grigori's eyes as they looked for Erik's. They were injured, but everyone was alive. It would not be wise to mention that if they wanted everyone to stick to the plan. It did not take long to pinpoint all the aggressors scattered around the facility. There were two dozen points sprayed in different places, six of them guarding the room where their friends were captive. "Zeke? Can we please color these points red?" words followed by Seth touching different points, "Those are vampires. If you may, please change the colors of these to green," the following few points the angel touched were closer to the exits, "Those are fae and merpeople. I am struggling to differ them, but their energy is very similar. There are no humans involved," his words reassuring, primarily to himself since the last thing he wanted was any human to be caught in the conflict.

Zeke stood next to his friend, letting him focus on the task ahead, Seth probably needed a lot of energy to be able to sense what the captors were, he did noticed the worried look, its one of those things you learn as an empath, to read people, though that part of him had been shut for a while now. He was glad for it, right now it would be torture to be around all his friends with all the strong emotions they was going trough. He nodded his head, a snap of his fingers and the red pins appeared where Seth had asked him to place them, and repeating the process with the other colors, "Good, there are no humans its good," Zeke offered Seth a smile, "at least we know they aren't getting caught in this, and our friends are strong they have that on their side to defend themselves if need be," Zeke said his eyes going from Axel to Sebastien, knowing they were worried about their loved ones being hurt, at least Chris and Nate would heal fast, so Zeke hope. Poor Chris, he was such a sweet guy! "No humans only 2 halves," Axel muttered, refering to, of course, both Nate and Micah. "Okay, now that we know where they are, and who's keeping them, can se just fucking get the plan going?," He shot Bas a look, "'cause its taking every bit of me not to just Run out the fucking door and go get Nate and my friends," he huffed, closing his eyes for a second a Run a rand trough his hair as he tried to calm down.

Sebastian’s attention was fully focused on Zeke and Seth as they pointed the people inside the mansion. His mind was already running wild with different tactics they could use to make the rescue fast and effective. HE walked around the map when Seth finished but not before reaching to path his shoulder, “Thanks Seth, this is perfect,” he smiled a bit and then smiled at Zeke but he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at Axel’s lack of patience, “Alright…” he stood next to Zeke and pointed at the back, “I can take everyone on this side from the hill. It’s like a mile right? From the house to the hill?” he asked mentally calculating the distance, “There’s a lot of windows there and they won’t see it coming. I can easily take down the six watching over them and then these two on the entrances,” he pointed, “That would open the path for you to get to everyone faster,” he looked at Axel and the rest of the wolves, “they won’t be expecting us to come from behind so that’s our surprise factor and while they try to get there, “Suzie and Erik can set the perimeter so no one leave when they see they’re outnumbered. We’re gonna need someone to take an attack from the front tho…” he sighed waiting to see who volunteered. He was sure everyone wanted to just go to the room and free everyone. He wanted the same but he knew he’d be more helpful somewhere else and he hoped everyone else knew that too.

Axel began to pace around the others as he heard Bas' plan, it felt like, moving made his brain focus harder, and he just knew it was going to take every little bit of self control in him to not run pass everyone and get to Nate, for once in his life he didn't want to fight, he was angry at the ones that took his fiance, yes. But his main concern was Nate. If he was okay, if he was hurt, he couldn't stop himself form asking these questions, so if the plan was not so carefully layed out, he'd just run in and get Nate, maybe later he could give those vampire assholes a piece of his mind, but for now. He wanted to bring his fiance to safety and that was it. Andy was staying in the corner of the room as he heard all of that going on, he moved closer, planing his hand on Sebastian's shoulder, " Ya ain't gotta everythin' alone," it seemed like the man was taking most of it and didn't seem fair to Andy, "and if no one's willin' to do it. I'll be ya man in front," he squeezed the other's shoulder before rememoving his hand. Andy looked at Sam at other side of the room, hoping this was one of the times, the witch could understand why he was riscking himself like this. Andy still didn't want a supernatural fight, not with humans around, and he couldn't help to wonder what this was going to mean for the future of the city. It was not like anyone could run... And this was a big problem.

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

Augustus' burner phone is the key to locating Nero but the team discovers that it's more than just Nero that's behind all of this. Will the former 141 soldiers find out what Nero is up to? Will Alex rescue Samantha?

Table of Contents

Hello! Ray's Back in his game!

Chapter 16 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

My Damsel in Distress

"Alex"

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

On a plane off to somewhere

General Shepherd.

The name sent Alex's blood boiling from rage. He couldn't believe that a high ranking official would actually betray them and could still run away from it.

It's no secret that he wanted 141 out of the Nero scene. But why? He knew full well that Samantha doesn't have access over the address but he still took her? And he also knew that this little team won't walk away without her safe. Alex wondered what's running inside the snow-caterpillar-stache's little brain. He couldn't even say his name now.

He clenched his fists, feeling the thick leather gloves he wore for battle. It was a devastating day for him. They just bonded for a few moments here and there and now she’s already taken away from him. He couldn’t keep count how many times it happened. It was frustrating.

“So, which safehouse are you bringing us today?” Alex joked with his former CO. Jack looked serious as always, he never gets these kinds of humor.

“Same one in Brazil. It’s the most forgotten and spacious. No one’s going to come looking for us in South America.” Jack replied, looking worriedly at Alex.

“I know when you’re preoccupied Alex. What happened afterward?” Jack turned to him and Alex knew he had to open up. He deserved the truth anyway.

“I uh… I fell for her, Jack. I know I told you that I won’t but it just hit me.”

“Like a fucking brick…” Jack interrupted and chuckled.

“All I can say is that you’ve done a better job than I did when I fell in love. I could still see your determination towards your work. Or maybe because she’s still involved in all of this.” he added, causing Alex to relax his tensed shoulders.

“It’s good to have you back, old man.” Alex shook his hand and smiled. With all the problems around him, it was good to have someone close to him to talk to. He was glad Nero didn't kill him back in the Gulag.

“Yeah. Me too, and it looks like you’ve got yourselves a determined bunch. Especially that guy.” he noted, pointing to Soap who was sitting with France. Alex remembered how the two of them met at the Gulag and in that short span of time Jack was able to read the whole guy’s personality.

“Soap? Yeah, he’s an achiever. Heard he’s top of every obstacle course back at the base.” Alex mused, looking at the two. They were sitting together quietly but Alex felt jealous. He could've been doing that with Samantha right now. Now that she's ready to hear the truth about them.

"Yeah. He's got some fight in him. I'm sure we'll defeat Nero even with this little band right here. And I'll do my best to be of assistance to you." he patted Alex's shoulder and went back to check on Nikolai.

~

Safehouse 110197, Brazil

Alex remembered that this place was compromised, but then again that was the CIA mole's henchmen that found them here and they're no longer affiliated with Nero. Or he picked this place because no one would think of going back here after being compromised. The Reverse Psychology card. Either way, Alex didn't mind.

As the team slowly scattered around the house and prepared everything, Alex took note of some changes since his last visit. More beds were added and supplies got restocked. Even the bullet cache looked reloaded.

The team loaded off everything they salvaged, or stole, from the 141 and set it all up. Ghost prioritized the tech stuff while the women fixed the bedrooms. Alex offered help but was denied by Gary saying "Your face still hurts so don't over exert yourself, we can do this on our own."

So Alex plopped by the central couch as Ghost untangle the wires, putting them on their respective slots.

"You holding up okay?" The masked man asked as soon as Alex released a deep sigh.

"I'm worried about Samantha." he replied, resting his hands on the back of his head.

"She doesn't have the address, what does Shepherd want from her?" Alex added, his tone raised like a kid complaining.

"I have no idea. But I do have something else. Information on the surprise attack at the 141." Ghost said, as Jack and Price moved toward them and discussed the contents of Augustus' phone.

"That bastard gave away our location." Price cursed.

"So his plan to disband us would be successful." Alex added and Ghost nodded.

"Why get Samantha though? He knows we'll be coming for him." Ghost added and the rest of them speculated their theories.

"Augustus failed to get her so Shepherd did it for him? For what?" Jack noted, reviewing their whole mission for reference.

"Something bigger, I presume." Price spat and everyone fell silent. The rest of the team except for Gary and Maxine gathered for a short briefing. Everyone gave away their take as to why, some of them made sense while some reasons don't add up. And thinking about it was only making them more frustrated.

Everyone looked serious until they inhaled the fresh aroma of dinner from the kitchen. Alex turned and saw Gary and Maxine, smiling while serving up the team's dinner. He could sense something him and Samantha once shared in this place and it looked like the Safe house did it's charm once again.

"Now that's bloody good cookin'" Price announced and everyone laughed. He wasn't the kind of person to say those kinds of things, but he did, and it was all they needed to ease the tension of not knowing what's next.

They never gathered like this before, together, happy and noisy. The two oldies sat on the opposite edges of the round table while Soap, France, Gary and Maxine sat beside each other on the left. Simon and Alex sat on the other side, an empty chair resided beside them.

"Don't worry lad, we'll rescue her." Price muttered and Jack nodded. Alex smiled as they started to eat some food.

"Hold on a minute!" Soap exclaimed causing everyone to halt.

"Thank you Lord for thy blessings which we are about to receive. Amen." he muttered while everyone looked at him.

"Amen!" they all said in unison and wolfed down Gary and Maxine's delicious meal.

"This tastes so good! Just like Mom used to make!" Francine chewed happily. Maxine stared at her supposed to be sister and smiled.

"It does?" she breathed.

"Mmhmm.. I was always jealous that you two were so close together in the kitchen, everything I touch turns to a culinary mess." she frowned and made everyone else laugh. Soap stared at her in amazement.

"You and me both, France." Jack agreed. The gang bonded throughout dinner and enjoyed the company. Alex volunteered on the dishes and France offered to help.

"You think she's going to be fine?" Maxine asked as she checked the contents of the fridge, looking at Alex who looked very focused on the dishes he's cleaning.

"She's been kidnapped a lot of times now. I think she's used to it." Alex attempted to joke, but the tone of his voice was far from kidding.

"Aye, That lassie's a tough one. Don't worry Alex. We'll get her, Shepherd's bound to make a mistake anytime soon." Soap commented from behind him while leaning on the kitchen island.

"I told you I can handle assisting Alex on my own!" France giggled as she wiped the plates dry.

"Aye! I know! Can't a man just enjoy some time with his girlfriend?" he raised his hand mocking surrender. France turned back and crossed her arms.

"Ahem. Girl space Friend. There's a space in between." she scolded and MacTavish just chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Babe." he joked once again as he stepped out of the kitchen.

"Ugh. That guy's so full of himself." France groaned. Alex and Maxine exchanged glances and laughed, causing the female soldier to worry.

"What?" she asked.

"You two look cute together." Maxine chuckled, closed the fridge and walked away.

"We're not together!" France yelled, making sure Maxine would hear it wherever she went.

"We will be soon!" Soap exclaimed from outside, followed by collective laughter from the group of men with him.

~

Alex groaned and looked at his watch. It's already 3:36 am and he couldn't sleep. He slowly got up and looked around. On the huge bed, Jack and Price slept peacefully as evidenced by the loud snoring. Beside him on the floor was Soap, Roach and an empty spot where Ghost was supposed to sleep. The girls occupied the guest room.

Alex slowly got up and carefully assisted his metal leg, trying not to make noise as he waltzed to the balcony where he suspected Ghost to be.

And he was right, Ghost sat by the railings on the terrace, not a single expression of fear etched on his face. A face Alex saw for the first time.

"Can't sleep?" the former CIA asked. Ghost slowly turned his head and nodded.

"I'm just contemplating…" he muttered, the tone of his voice sound defeated.

"We caught ourselves in a crazy situation, huh?" Alex chuckled trying to make the best of the situation. Ghost didn't seem to like the vote of happiness as he clicked his tongue and sighed.

"I'm into France… but it looked like she's happier with John." he spat. From what Alex heard from Roach, Ghost was not the kind of person to open up. And this was all too surprising for him.

"I… uh…" Alex stammered.

"Look, I'm also sorry… You don't have to reply… I was about to vent to Gary about this but he seemed too preoccupied with Maxine and I didn't want to bother him."

"Look, it's okay. Ghost."

"It's Simon, Simon Riley."

"It's okay Simon. That's life. You win some, you lose some." he consoled. He tried to make it as positive as possible but he was also down in the dumps, like him.

"Thanks for the honesty. I just realized how devastated you must be. I never got to hear your story until Gary told me. It must've been tough losing her over and over again." Gary talked without looking at him.

"It's like I've been cursed to lose her and save her all over again." Alex complained.

"Like Link." Simon announced like it's a great metaphor which Alex didn't get.

"Link?"

"Like from the video game. Where this knight was always out to save her damsel in distress. It's got many different variations but it's always the same name. Generations have passed and Link was always destined to save Zelda." he said in amusement.

"My damsel in distress…" Alex noted and looked up at the stars, wishing that wherever Samantha may be, he hoped she's safe and also thinking of him.

Next Chapter : Delayed Flight

Notification Squad my beloved

@smokeywhalee @samatedeansbroccoli @enderio @whimsywispsblog @beemybee @ricinbach

[samtheflamingomain]

25.21%

I've been sober for 3 months today. 92 days. 25.21% of 2021.

I could've posted more updates, more milestones (it took a LOT not to post on Day 69) but I wanted to kind of save it up for a Big Day. It was also a decent way to continue to incentivize my continued sobriety: a full pass to do a shameless, hardcore bragging sesh.

Anyway, this post comes in 2 parts: the TL;DR for those who only want the gist, then more in depth on my ability to stay sober, the lasting effects of rehab, etc.

I tried my damnedest to pare this absolute novel down, but it's long, so feel free to dip out if you just get bored. Onward!

TL;DR: I went to rehab the beginning of July for 3 weeks and haven't had a drop of alcohol since. I've lost weight, I'm more healthy, my daily anxiety level went from 8 to 2, I haven't had an anxiety attack in 3 months, and everything generally just seems... easier. My memory and concentration have improved. I've been productive and I've been meditating every day. I'm saving money, and while I sometimes fantasize about getting drunk, that's usually all it is.

Honestly, it's been much easier than I expected, but I think a lot of that is because for the first 3 weeks, the time in which I would usually break down and start drinking again when trying to get sober myself, was spent behind a locked door. So far I haven't had any days where I was close to giving in. I haven't had many days where I've been depressed about it, missing it or really tempted. Maybe 3-4. I've basically just gotten on with my life as if alcohol doesn't exist.

To wrap up the short version for those ready to peace out, I'll leave it with a bit of advice.

I don't feel qualified to give any specific advice, because my story feels very unique to me, and I honestly don't think what worked for me will work for MOST people. Sometimes people spend a year in rehab and still drive straight to the liquor store on their way home.

That said, there's one thing that I've found pretty universally true: you have to really want it. For a while, I floated about without much of a "reason" to stay sober. I don't have a spouse, kids or a job I've been fired from, so I didn't see the point.

It's taken me a while, but after not being "convinced" by a few superficial "reasons" like weight loss and saving money, I thought I needed something more... permanent? Consequential? I now realize that my "reason" for getting sober at a young age after only a few years of alcoholism is that I don't want it to get to a point where I'm hurting other people, drinking myself into multiple lasting health problems... I don't want it to become permanent or consequential.

Anyway, that's my two cents. If you do have something like kids or trouble keeping a job, definitely use that as your reason. But for anyone who's a pretty "functional" alcoholic like I was, "not letting it go on long enough to become disfunctional" is a good enough reason.

This is going to get stupid long, so feel free to walk away now, just glad you read this much and it really does mean the world when people listen to what I have to say.

Now some more things in depth. I'll go in chronological order: what made me get sober, what I took from rehab (and what I left), and how it's been the past few months.

I started drinking when I got kicked out, manic out of my mind and homeless unable to sleep. It took a while until I was able to sleep without alcohol, but by then the addict brain had taken over. I'd tried a few times to get sober myself, but I never made it more than a week without, and always got back to daily drinking after a few months maximum.

Some people need a "wake up call", a "last straw" or a "rock bottom". Something external to make them realize they can't go on as they are. For me, the catalyst was my health, which is more of an internal reason I suppose. I didn't have a heart attack or liver failure, but my anxiety was getting uncontrollable and I knew it was directly tied to my drinking.

My life had been starting to feel tolerable, and I was more financially secure than ever before. Things were looking up... except for the alcoholism. This is a weird analogy but the only one that makes sense to express why, if I was doing so well on paper, I decided to go to rehab: you have to sweep before you mop. If I hadn't been in the place I was, I don't think I would've been successful at rehab. I had to sweep up the cat turds from the floor of my life before I was able to mop up the shit stains with sobriety. I know, I'm a true wordsmith.

When I finally called the hotline that hooked me up with a bunch of different rehabs, I knew I was in for a wait. It was about 5 months from that call to checking in, which isn't too bad considering I've been on the waitlist for a neuropsychiatrist in ALL OF CANADA for 4 years.

That brings us to July 12th, Rehab Day One. I've gone in depth in multiple other posts but to touch on it briefly, if I had to describe my experience in a sentence I'd say "the place I went to got very lucky with me".

What this means is that, of the 5 people in my group, I think this exact program was only ever going to help me. At the same time, I didn't even know what I would need, but this exact program was 90% of it. I didn't think 3 weeks would be long enough, but for me it was. The hours-long, repetitive, basic-ass CBT groups held 5 times a day 7 days a week was absolute torture for everyone but myself. While it was a drag to spend an hour on defining what a cognitive distortion is, the routine and repetition, something I've never gotten out of any outpatient program, helped me to really absorb the information and let it rewire my brain.

I've always said that I'm someone who should be spending an hour a day with a therapist for the rest of my life, and while that's not even remotely feasible, this was as close as it's ever gotten, and it proved me right, because it worked. I've done biweekly therapy for a short time but even that didn't come close to the way my brain changed in those 3 short weeks.

This program required absolute commitment and open-mindedness. This isn't because it was hard work or difficult concepts, but quite the opposite. While I hate the entire concept of art therapy being used as a cure-all for mental illness, I willingly got out of my bed, went downstairs and tried doing a dot mandala for an hour because I'm willing to try anything to get better. A lot of people might think they are, but really aren't. To use the mandala as an example, one guy was really into it, I wasn't, but we both finished. The other 3 tried, messed up a few times, and then scrolled through their phones. When I say this program necessitates complete engagement, that's not a compliment. It shouldn't be a chore to engage with the program. It shouldn't take me actively saying "I know I've known this basic concept since 4th grade, but maybe hearing it again will help" to get something out of a rehab program. So again, in every way, I got lucky, and so did they.

Before I finish with the rehab section, having had a few months to reflect on the whole thing, I now have an endless list of things wrong with it. I arrived, greeted by the most jaded and disillusioned of staff, and quickly became disturbed and at points concerned with just how negligent the staff are.

Maybe it's because I've been on the psych ward where they won't even let you have shoelaces and shine a flashlight on your face every half hour through the night, but it could've been so incredibly easy to sneak in alcohol. I brought 2 full water bottles, fully expecting to have to dump them out upon arrival, but they said "nah it's fine". Is it though?

Then there were actual counsellors there who were... okay. I recall one, the one I thought was the smartest, reading a handout aloud and coming across the word "delve" as in "let's delve into..." and stumbled, then said she doesn't know that word. The room was silent. As she pulled up Google on the screen I said, "it means to dive into it". She Googled it anyway. Synonyms include "dive in". If that was the only example I wouldn't mention it, but this was the first of at least 10 words she had do Google, none past a 10th grade level, from HER OWN MATERIAL. From that point on it became clear that they had no fucking idea what they were doing.

We had one last one-on-one counselling session before we left and the counsellor just filled in boxes to questions on her computer, rephrasing everything I said to fit into the buzzwords and "lessons" we'd "learned". Example. Me: I do think I'm better able to catch myself thinking 'oh I can just have one drink' and say 'no I can't'." Her: "Okay, so would you say that you can recognize negative cognitive distortions like permission-giving thoughts and counter them with a more rational and less emotional mind?" Like girl, blink twice if your boss is holding your family hostage. She gave me some papers, detailing all the online courses they were signing me up for and options for more treatment they'd be sending me, a phone number to call and a phone appointment for the next Monday. I never got that call, the phone number is a hotline, I never got a single email from them, and given how shitty they really are at their jobs, I didn't feel the inclination to try and get those resources. If they even exist in the first place.

In summation, it was a place where it was physically impossible to get alcohol. That's really all I can say in its favor. Oh, and they let you have your cell phone.

Now on our timeline I'm back home. I want to kind of analyze why it's been easy for me.

I often said that my main goal of going to rehab was to lock me away from alcohol long enough for it to reset my brain. Most people thought that was naïve, but that's exactly what happened. But I'm well aware that my experience of "instantly became sober and literally hasn't had a single hard day in 3 months" is absurdly unusual.

I put this down to a few things. Firstly, I'm on seven different meds for my mental health. Almost all of them have their effects dulled or even eliminated when you drink. So when I noticed my mood, fatigue, memory, concentration etc all getting better at once - right about as I left rehab, I don't think it would be a stretch to say that all those meds started working properly.

Secondly, I've been keeping myself busy, but that's something I've always been good at. Now I specifically choose to undertake projects that will eat up a lot my time and put me in a state of flow. I recently made an entire card game from scratch, and let me tell you, I didn't think of alcohol for a week.

Thirdly, my other goals now get in the way of alcohol. I'm getting old and my body is deteriorating. But I've always wanted to do just one last season of gymnastics. Well, I need to lose weight for that to happen. I've already lost 35 pounds, and after another 20 I'll be ready to go. Also, I used to spend more on alcohol per month than rent. Even though I've done a few shopping sprees lately, I haven't come remotely close to how much I was spending before.

I want it more than anything. I want to be sober more than I want one night of "fun" that will more likely than not lead me back to where I was a year ago. I never want to need anything as much as I needed alcohol.

Lastly, just a few more random thoughts.

A lot of people, myself included, worried about the fact that I work at a bar as a cook, but honestly the entire time I'm there I'm thinking about food, not alcohol. If I'm hanging out with some regulars before/after, I can watch them drink and be perfectly fine with my coffee, because the coffee is $2, and I used to spend $20 after every work shift.

I also decided in rehab to start taking better care of myself as best I could. This started with getting my second vax which I'd been putting off, then an eye appointment, then new glasses, then a dentist appointment where I was informed I need to do $3000 worth of work on my implant that's erroding my bone matter, so that sucks, but I caught it early. I've also been meditating every day. In just 3 months, I've made pretty big improvements to my self-care and my daily routine.

One of my fears about sobriety was "missing out" on "having fun". A few days ago, all my housemates got together to play Mario Party, and it was kind of my first night doing something social while sober. It was a breath of fresh air - I wasn't constantly running to piss, I didn't worry about running out of alcohol, I didn't get sloppy and obnoxious as I can sometimes do. I even came very very close to winning my first game of MP. When I reflected on the night, I realized that, if I'd been getting drunk the whole time, I would've sucked at the minigames, been a hindrance to anyone unfortunate enough to be teamed with me, and likely would've stopped caring about the game itself after the first few turns.

Yesterday I was making my 4th pot of coffee of the day when I realized there was a full glass of wine just sitting on the counter. I had absolutely no idea where the hell it came from - nobody in my house drinks wine. I shrugged and poured that sweet sweet bean juice. It was only when I sat down and took a sip of coffee did I find myself thinking automatically, "this tastes so much better than wine". I only realized then that it had been rose wine, the only kind I've ever been able to tolerate. It was the ultimate moment of possible temptation, and the thought of just chugging that glass - as I may've done in the past - didn't even cross my mind.

I'm so glad to be where I am. I'm about to undergo some serious financial changes - i.e. going absolutely broke - but drinking isn't gonna help that, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Stay Greater, Flamingos.