#so i wanna do a perimeter in survival first

[imabeautifulbutterfly]

congrats on 450!! I've just gotten back into my star wars hyperfixation, tis the season I suppose, and your fics have been LIFE SAVERS and so I am here to congratulate you on an incredibly well earned celebration! and to request:

7. "you're not as bad as everyone says."

28. "maybe there's a universe your there where we're friends."

with either Wolfe or Cody x fem/gender neutral (whichever you prefer)?

Thank you so much and congrats again!!! <3

Awww @hxad-ovxr-hxart that's so sweet. I'm so glad my fics have helped. That makes me so happy, and I hope you'll like the fic. I wrote with Wolffe in mind. Enjoy.

Love oo,

Friends

Warnings: Crashing, angst, death, fluff, comfort, I think that's it. If I miss anything please let me know.

Main Master List   |  Star Wars Fic Roulette

Commander Wolffe was never a man who suffered fools, he didn’t appreciate tardiness, he hated chit chat, and worst of all he hated personal questions. And somehow you managed to do all four on your first day on the Triumphant, which made you public enemy number one in Wolffe’s book. 

Every day you saw him, he simply rolled his eyes and growled each time you passed. 

You tried your best to fix it, but no matter what you did or said, it didn’t make a difference. You gave up after months of constant growls and eye rolls. Now you simply made a point to arrive on time for your shift as a communication specialist. You performed your role to the best of your ability, and did your best to stay out of his way. 

Things were going well, that was until your shuttle crashed, and the two of you were the only survivors. 

“Anything broken?” Wolffe asked after he checked on the two pilots and made his way over to you.

You shook your head, “No. I think …” you tested out each of your limbs, “I think I’m alright” you groaned as you tried to stand.

“Easy. Here,” he held out his hand to help you up, “alright?”

You nodded and followed him out of the crashed gunship, “Hmm… where are we?” You looked around trying to become aware of your surroundings.

“We dropped out of hyperspace somewhere in between, the Triumphant and our destination. Don’t worry they’ll come for us, I sent out a distress beacon.”

“How long do you think we’ll be here?”

“A day or two… maybe a week.” He went into the ship, and grabbed the emergency gear, passing one backpack to you and keeping one himself. 

“Are we going somewhere?”

“To a more defensible position, we don’t wanna be out here in case there’s Separatist droids nearby or in case there are any dangerous animals.”

You nodded and followed him, keeping pace as best you could. It was about three hours later, when you were panting and gasping for breath, “Wait … Commander, please I … I need a break.” You leaned against a boulder. 

“Alright …” Wolffe nodded, “take a break, we can rest for a minute.”

You nodded, thanking him, as you took a break, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, you’re a civilian. You’re not used to this.”

You looked up at him as you regained your breath and took a sip of water, “You know, you’re not as bad as everyone says you are.”

Wolffe, let out a laugh, “And how bad does everyone say I am?”

“That you have a short temper, you don’t suffer fools, you don’t like civilians really…”

He turned to look at you, “Really?” You simply nodded your answer, “I wouldn’t say I don’t like civilians, I’d say … civilians don’t appreciate the sacrifices me and my brothers make.”

“I know” you answered solemnly, “I’ve heard them, when I walk around Coruscant. I’m sorry. It’s not right or fair.”

“My life has never been really fair. But, thank you.”

You stood brushing off your pants, “I’m good, we can continue.”

Wolffe simply nodded as he led the way to a cave that would provide the right shelter, he set up a defensive perimeter, while you started a fire, when you were finished he came and sat beside you nodding at your achievement. 

“Good job, didn’t think civilians knew how to start a fire”

“Well I did take basic survival training, when I first joined the GAR.”

“Impressive.” He took off his helmet and his gloves, keeping the comm alert on high in case the rescue team was trying to get a hold of them.

“Commander” you looked into the fire, lost in thought, “Do you think maybe there's a universe out there where we're friends?”

“I don’t know” Wolffe answered as he kept his own gaze on the fire, “but I can tell you, you gained a friend today.” He smirked as he looked at you, “Listen, I don’t know what I ever did to make you think I hate you, civvie. But I don’t. I am actually impressed by you. It’s not easy joining the GAR to begin with, not as a civilian, certainly not as a woman, but you continue to work harder than everyone else. You’re prompt with your reports and always pleasant with your co-workers. I’ve heard nothing but praise from everyone you work with, and even today, you put up with a lot, with barely a complaint. That’s impressive.”

You tried to hide the smile that wanted to creep on to your face, “Thank you, Commander.”

“Wolffe.”

“I’m sorry?”

“When it’s just us, you can call me Wolffe. After all, we’re friends, right?”

“That’s right … Wolffe.”

He didn’t know why but hearing you say his name, brought a smile to his lips. “Close your eyes and try to sleep” he motioned to the ground, “I’ll keep watch. You’ll be safe.”

You nodded and leaned down against the ground resting your head on the backpack, wrapping the emergency blanket around you to stay warm. “Wolffe, do you think someone got our distress signal?”

“Don’t worry civvie, Plo’buir isn’t about to leave us behind.” He looked after you and smiled, “Just relax, and close your eyes. It’ll be okay.”

You nodded, closing your eyes, “Thank you, Wolffe”

“For?”

“For being my friend,” your voice trailed off as the exhaustion from the crash, the hike, and just the anxiety of the day pulled you under. Soon enough you were snoring. 

Wolffe smiled as he watched you sleep, his heart fluttering as he took in your features. He always wondered why you had kept your distance from him, but to think you thought he hated you, made his heart hurt. It was so far from the truth. However, it was too soon to point that out. Instead, for now, he’d be your friend, and hope that in the future, your friendship could progress to something more. Maybe one day. 

“Goodnight, cyar’ika. Sweet dreams.” He whispered as he put his helmet back on and kept his blaster on his lap, keeping guard, making it his job to protect you. 

Main Master List   |  Star Wars Fic Roulette

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[jsinfulhate]

Stars around my scars- Daryl Dixon

The prison had settled into an uneasy quiet. Night cloaked the yard in a shroud of stillness, the sounds of crickets and distant, mournful groans from the undead forming a strange symphony of survival. High in one of the guard towers, Daryl Dixon stood watch, his crossbow slung over his shoulder, eyes scanning the perimeter with a practiced intensity.

Beside him, Gen leaned against the cold metal railing, her gaze shifting between the dark expanse outside the fence and the man standing next to her. The silence between them was comfortable, but tonight, Daryl seemed more restless than usual, his shoulders tense, his jaw set tight.

“Dar?” Gen’s voice was soft, almost tentative. She reached out, brushing her fingers lightly against his arm. “You okay?”

Daryl didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes dropping to the floor. “I got somethin’ I wanna show ya,” he finally muttered, his voice rough around the edges.

Gen watched him closely, concern flickering in her eyes. “Alright,” she said, stepping closer, her hand slipping into his. “You can tell me anything.”

With a deep breath, Daryl pulled up the hem of his shirt, revealing the scars that marred his back and sides. They were an ugly, jagged testament to his past—raised welts and faded lines that told a story of pain and survival. Gen’s breath hitched at the sight, her heart breaking for the boy he must have been, the man he had become.

“Dar…” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. She reached out, then hesitated, her fingers hovering inches from his skin. “May I?”

Daryl nodded, a quick, jerky motion. “Yeah… yeah, go ahead.”

Gen’s touch was feather-light as she traced one of the longer scars. She felt him flinch under her fingers, his muscles tensing as he adjusted to the unfamiliar gentleness. She took her time, allowing him to grow accustomed to her touch, to the sensation of being cared for.

Minutes passed in silence. Then, with a soft sigh, Gen moved closer, wrapping her arms around him, pulling his back against her chest. She held him there, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered words of comfort and love, her voice a soothing balm against the harsh memories etched into his skin.

Daryl closed his eyes, leaning into her warmth, his breath coming in slow, measured waves. For the first time in a long while, he felt the tension in his body begin to ease, the tight coil of anxiety loosening its grip.

“Do you trust me?” Gen asked after a while, her voice barely more than a breath in the quiet of the tower.

Daryl didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” he replied, the word slipping out before he could second-guess himself.

Gen smiled against his shoulder. “Lie down for me?” she asked gently, guiding him to lie on his stomach. He complied, stretching out on the floor, his face turned to the side, eyes half-closed.

“Is it okay if I do something?” Her hands hovered over his scars, waiting for his permission.

Daryl took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Yeah… it’s okay.”

With infinite care, Gen began to place gentle kisses along the lines of his scars, her lips brushing over the damaged skin with a tenderness that made Daryl’s heart ache. She took her time, tracing each mark, her affection a silent promise that he was more than the sum of his past.

When she had finished, she pulled him back into her lap, cradling his head against her lower waist. Her fingers threaded through his hair, a constant, soothing motion. “You’re still my everything, Dar,” she murmured, her voice soft but firm. “This changes nothing between us.”

Daryl’s eyes stung, a wetness gathering at the corners. He had spent so much of his life hiding, hardening himself against the world. To feel such softness, such unwavering love—it was overwhelming.

A tear slipped free, then another, until he couldn’t hold them back any longer. Gen watched, her heart aching for him, and then she lay down beside him, her arms wrapping around him, pulling him close.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, her lips against his temple. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Daryl didn’t have words for what he felt in that moment, so he simply held onto her, letting her presence soothe the wounds that no scar could ever show.

[travoltacustom-translates]

TOKYO GANG SURVIVAL

Want to read along, but don’t have the game? Here’s a link to the event recorded!:

Event Period: 15 of May - 29 of May 2023

FEATURED CHARACTERS

Featured cards: Keisuke Baji / Ken Ryuguji

Event box: Kazutora Hanemiya

Event pass: Chifuyu Matsuno

CLICK READ MORE TO VIEW THE EVENT STORY or

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE EVENT STORY on Google Docs.

STORY TRANSLATION

EVENT - PART 1

DRAKEN

これで全員揃ったか

We’re all here now.

BAJI

思ったより人数集まらなかったな

We didn’t get as many people as I thought we would.

KAZUTORA

場地とドラケンの人望が足りねぇんじゃね？

Maybe Baji and Draken aren’t popular enough?

CHIFUYU

オレ、今からもっと集めてきます！！

I’ll go get more people now!

BAJI

別にいーよ。4人でも出来ねぇことはないだろ

Don’t worry ‘bout it. We can still do somethin’ with the 4 we have now.

KAZUTORA

急だったよな～。いきなりサバゲ―するから集まれってさ。4人集まっただけでもすげーよ

It was pretty sudden though~. It’s amazing that we even got us 4 together.

CHIFUYU

なんでサバゲ―だったんすか？

Why’d you guys wanna do a survival game?

BAJI

あー。ドラケンがどうしてもやりたいって言うからよー

Ah. Cause Draken said he really wanted to play one.

DRAKEN

それはオマエだろーが

That was you who said that.

BAJI

まぁ、ただのノリだ！2チームに分かれて勝負すっからグッパーやんぞ

Well, it’s whatever. We’ll do rock, paper to decide the teams.

。。。

BAJI

決まったな

ドラケンと一虎のチームRED！

オレと千冬のチームBLUEだ！

Then it’s decided.

Draken and Kazutora will be Team RED. 

Then Chifuyu and I will be Team BLUE.

DRAKEN

今回は4人しかいねぇし。特殊ルールでいくぞ。

弾に当たっても1回は無効相手の陣地にある「フラッグ」を先に奪ったチームが勝だ

There are only four of us, so we should play by special rules.

The first team to take the flag that the opponents have set up wins, even if they get hit.

CHIFUYU

へー。面白そうっすね！

Hehh. Sounds cool!

KAZUTORA

なーなー。勝ったチームに優勝賞品とかあんの？

Hey, hey! Is there a prize for the winning team?

DRAKEN

賞品・・・特に考えてなかったな

Prize… Didn’t really think about that.

BAJI

じゃあ、こういうのはどうだ？勝ったチームは負けたチームへ１つなんでも命令できる

Then, how about this? The winning team can give an order to the losing team and make them do whatever they want.

KAZUTORA

いーじゃん！！！めっちゃやる気出てきた！！絶対勝つぜ、ドラケン！！

Sounds good!!! I’m totally pumped!! Let’s win this, Draken!!

DRAKEN

おぉ

Yeah.

CHIFUYU

いやいや。勝つのはオレらですよね、場地さん！！！

Nah, nah. We’re gonna be the winners, right Baji-san!!!

BAJI

あぁ、全力でいくぜ。ついてこい、千冬。

Yeah. We’re goin’ all out. Follow me, Chifuyu.

CHIFUYU

はい！！！

YES SIR!!!

_ _ _ _ _

AROUND MAP

KAZUTORA

ぜってーオレらREDが勝つぜ！

RED’s definitely gonna win!

_ _ _ _ _

BEFORE BATTLE

[ BAJI and CHIFUYU strategise via their comms ]

CHIFUYU

こちらスノー、ブラックキャット、応答せよ

This is Snow. Black Cat, come in.

BAJI (COMMS)

こちらブラックキャット、スノーどうぞ

This is Black Cat, go ahead, Snow.

CHIFUYU

敵アジト付近まで潜入完了周りにチームREDはいません

このままフラッグ前まで進行予定、どうぞ

I’ve infiltrated the enemy hideout, and Team RED isn’t on the perimeter.

Heading over to the flag. Over.

BAJI (COMMS)

OK. BLUEアジトの守りはオレに任せろ

ぜってぇ、REDのフラッグ持って帰って来いよスノー

OK. Watching over BLUE Hideout.

You better bring back RED’s flag, Snow!

CHIFUYU

はい！任せてくださいば・・・ブラックキャット！

RIGHT! Leave it to me, Ba-... Black Cat!

BAJI (COMMS)

検討を祈る

Good luck.

CHIFUYU

うっし！場所さんの期待に応えるためにもぜってぇフラッグを奪ってみせる！！

Right! I’m gonna get that flag and live up to Baji-san’s expectations!!

KAZUTORA

���合十分なのは分かったけど声、でかすぎじゃね？

I know you’re all hyped up, but ain’t you too loud?

CHIFUYU

っ！！！

Gh!!!

[ KAZUTORA fires at CHIFUYU ]

KAZUTORA

お、避けた！反射神経やべー

Woah, you dodged! Nice reflexes!

[ CHIFUYU fires back at KAZUTORA ]

KAZUTORA

うおっと！避けながら撃つ！？

Yikes! You’re shooting back while dodging!?

CHIFUYU

そっちも油断しすぎねぇほうがいいんじゃね？

Shouldn’t you be more careful, too?

KAZUTORA

ハハ！たしかに。じゃぁ、こっからは本気でいこうか

Haha! You’re right. Well then, I’m gonna get serious from now on.

CHIFUYU

望むところだ！

You better!

_ _ _ _ _

AFTER BATTLE

KAZUTORA

はぁ・・・はぁ・・・まじか・・・

Hah… Hah… Seriously?...

CHIFUYU

はぁ・・・はぁ・・・

Hah… Hah…

BAJI (COMMS)

こちらブラックキャット。スノー、応答せよ。

This is Black Cat. Snow, come in.

CHIFUYU

こちら、スノー。ブラックキャットどうぞ

This is… Snow. Black Cat, come in.

BAJI (COMMS)

どうした？何かあったのか？

What’s up? Did something happen?

CHIFUYU

チームREDの一虎くんと遭遇してやりあってました

I encountered and fought Team Red’s Kazutora-kun.

BAJI (COMMS)

一虎と！？やったのか？

Kazutora? Did you get him?

CHIFUYU

はい、2回ヒットさせて。戦闘不能にしました

Yeah, got two hits in. He’s downed.

BAJI (COMMS)

よくやった！！！これで2対１、かなり有利だぞ

Good job!!! A 2 to 1 advantage is great.

CHIFUYU

はぁ・・・っ・・・すみません！

Hah…gh… I’m sorry!

BAJI (COMMS)

どうした？

What’s up?

CHIFUYU

相打ちだったんです。オレも2回ヒットしました

It was a draw. I got hit as well.

BAJI (COMMS)

そうか・・・それでも一虎を止めたんだ。十分な活躍だ

オレがドラケンを仕留めればオレらの勝ちだ！

I see… You still stopped Kazutora. That’s good enough.

If I can finish off Draken, we win this thing.

[ Gunshots are heard over the comms ]

BAJI (COMMS)

っ！！！！

GH!!!!

CHIFUYU

場地さん！！！！大丈夫ですか！？！？

BAJI-SAN!!!! ARE YOU OKAY!?!?

BAJI (COMMS)

あぁ、でも話してる場合じゃねぇようだ。また後でな！

Yeah, but I guess this ain’t the place to talk. See you later!

CHIFUYU

ウッス！

Right!

KAZUTORA

ドラケンがアジトに到着したんかな？様子見に行こうぜ

Wonder if Draken’s gotten to your Hideout? Let’s check it out!

CHIFUYU

あぁ、もう何もできないけど、せめて遠くから応援だけでも・・・！

Yeah. I can’t do anything more from here, but at least I can cheer him on from afar…!

KAZUTORA

おぉ・・・そうだな

A-Ah… Right.

_ _ _ _ _

EVENT - PART 2

DRAKEN

守りは一虎に任せてきたが・・・やっぱり逆にすべきだったか？あいつぜってぇ守り向いてねぇよな

・・・今さらか、オレが秒で向こうのフラッグ奪えばすむ話だ

I’ve left the defense to Kazutora but… shouldn’t this be the other way around?

…But I’ll be taking their flag in a second.

KAZUTORA

なにブツブツ言ってんだよ

The hell you mumbling about?

DRAKEN

あ？なんでもねぇーよ。それよりちゃんとふらっぐ守ってんだろうな

オマエ！馬鹿か！フラッグから離れんなって言ってだろうが

Huh? It’s nothing. Hope you’re guarding the flag properly.

You! Are you stupid?! I told you to stay close to the flag.

KAZUTORA

でも、千冬発見したぜ？たぶんオレらのフラッグ奪いに来たんだ

ちょっとぶっ殺してくるわ！じゃあな！

But I spotted Chifuyu? Think he’s here to take our flag.

I’m gonna go kill him. See ya later!

DRAKEN

唐突に話しかけてきて唐突に終わりやがった

ま、アイツなら心配はねぇか

千冬があっちに行ってんならBLUEアジトに居るのは場地ってことか

・・・面白れぇ

He comes talkin’ outta nowhere, then he ends it outta nowhere.

Well, guess I don’t gotta worry about him.

If Chifuyu’s over there, then that means Baji’s at the BLUE hideout.

…This’ll be fun.

_ _ _ _ _

AROUND MAP

BAJI

千冬と一虎が相打ち残りはドラケンか・・・面白れぇ

Chifuyu and Kazutora are going head to head, which means I’m up against Draken… This’ll be fun.

_ _ _ _ _

BEFORE BATTLE

BAJI

・・・

DRAKEN

場地発見・・・千冬と話してんのか？

Baji spotted… is he talking to Chifuyu?

BAJI

オレがドラケンを仕留めればオレらの勝ちだ！

If I can finish off Draken, we win this thing!

DRAKEN

言ってくれんじゃねぇか

What are you talkin’ about?

[ DRAKEN fires at BAJI ]

BAJI

っ！！！！

Gh!!!!

DRAKEN

よぉー場地

戦場でくっちゃべってるなんて。えらく余裕じゃねぇーか

Yo, Baji.

Yappin’ away on the battlefield. You got a lotta time on your hands, don’t ya?

CHIFUYU (COMMS)

場地さん！！！！大丈夫ですか！？！？

BAJI-SAN!!!! ARE YOU OKAY!?!?

BAJI

あぁ、でも話してる場合じゃねぇようだ。また後でな！

Yeah, but I guess this ain’t the place to talk. See you later!

CHIFUYU (COMMS)

ウッス！

Right!

BAJI

・・・待たせたな、ドラケン

…Sorry to keep ya waiting, Draken.

DRAKEN

こうやってオマエとタイマンはるの久しぶりだよな

Been a long time since we’ve been in a fight like this.

BAJI

そうだったか？オレとやりあうのにビビってたのかよ？

That right? You scared to go up against me?

DRAKEN

バカ言え

こんなワクワクするタイマンそうそうねーよ

Quit playing.

There ain’t many exciting fights like this.

BAJI

だよな。ボッコボコにしてやるよ！！！

Right? I’m gonna beat the shit outta you!!!

DRAKEN

上等だコラ！！！！

BRING IT ON!!!!

_ _ _ _ _

AFTER BATTLE

[ GUN SHOTS FIRE ]

KAZUTORA

おぉーめっちゃ白熱してんな！

Woah! It’s getting heated!

CHIFUYU

場地さん！！！くそっ、コイツに負けてさえいなきゃ加勢できんのに！！！

Baji-san!!! Shit. If only I hadn’t lost to this guy, I could’ve supported him!

KAZUTORA

野暮なこと言ってんじゃねぇーよ。二人の顔見て見ろよ

Don’t say such things. Just take a look at their faces.

DRAKEN

そろそろきついんじゃねぇーか！？降参してもいいんだぜ！？

Shouldn’t you throw in the towel? Why don’t you give it up!?

BAJI

はっ！寝言は寝て言えよ！！！！

Hah! In your dreams!!!!

CHIFUYU

二人とも、すっげー楽しそうだ

Those two… they’re having a blast!

KAZUTORA

オレも戦いたくて体ウズウズするけど、ここは大人しく応援しとこうぜ！

ドラケンには勝ってもらわねぇとオマエらの命令に従うなんて死んでも嫌だからな！

I’m itching to get in there too, but let’s just pipe down and cheer ‘em on!

Draken’s gotta win this cause I’d rather die than follow one of your orders!

CHIFUYU

それはこっちのセリフだ！アンタ、ロクなこと言わねぇだろ

That’s my line! You don’t get to say that to me.

KAZUTORA

ニシシ。それはどうでしょう？

Nishishi. And what of it?

CHIFUYU

場地さん！！！！絶対勝ってください！！！

BAJI-SAN!!!! YOU’VE GOT THIS!!!

KAZUTORA

ドラケンなにやってんだよ！！さっさと終わらせろよー！！！

DRAKEN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!! JUST FINISH THIS ALREADY!!!

DRAKEN

うるせーな。いいから黙ってみてろや！！

SHUT IT! ZIP YOUR MOUTH AND JUST WATCH!!

BAJI

今すぐ終わらせてやるからよ！！！

I’M GONNA END THIS RIGHT NOW!!!

DRAKEN / BAJI

勝つのはオレだ！！

THIS IS MY WIN!!

BONUS LINES

1ST TIME

BAJI

まだまだこんなもんじゃねぇだろ？

This ain’t all you got, is it?

2ND TIME

BAJI

肩慣らしはこんなもんだろ。次からパワー上げていくぜ！

I’m just getting warmed up. I’m gonna put on some pressure!

3RD TIME

BAJI

そうこなくっちゃな！お互い本気でいこうぜ

This is how it should be! Let’s get serious with each other.

[ EVENT END ]

_ _ _ _ _

You can view all my translations for Tokyo Revengers: Puzzle Revengers & Hypnosis Mic: Alternative Rap Battle in my discord: HERE.

[csprslvt]

you and i and her, pt.13

Chapter twelve

Summary: You journey to Hillcrest, and it gets messy. The other sides of Ellies fractured personality make you wonder what will be left of her when she realizes your association with Abby and all you left behind for her.

Warnings: Descriptions of violence, murder and foul language.

That night, when you slept it was in Ellie’s arms and the crippling loneliness you had once felt dissolved into the feeling of being loved. You were sure from the way Ellie looked into your eyes that she was in love with you. And it wasn't fair to her that you were unsure on where you stood, emotions as big as love scared you. Despite that, you kissed her back. You didn't have a lot of time as Abby got closer and closer. Eventually Ellie would realize how much of a fraud you were, but you were sure of one thing, you cared about Ellie so deeply and passionately. And that was enough for now.

In the morning, Ellie once again woke up first. She felt a weight on her chest, it was you laying on top of her, and arm around her waist while the other rested by your side. She reached up and stroked your hair, her mind filled only with thoughts of you. You woke up soon after looking up and Ellie and smiling, her heart fluttered.

“Hey Els.”

“Hi.” Ellie said, grinning like a total dork

You got up and stretched, Ellie watched you the way you cracked your knuckles and rolled your neck trying to relieve the pain from sleeping on a tiny old couch. Ellie sat up and yawned.

“So, Hillcrest”

“That's where we’re heading to next right?”

“Mhm” Ellie nodded.

“Do you think Tommy is out there too?”

“I think so, he wouldn't have stayed in Jackson, he was Joel’s brother. They were a team.”

“Yea, well we should find him before the last of the WLF comes for him.”

“I'm sure they're already looking after the stunt he pulled at the Hotel” Ellie responded, you cringed remembering the sights of those beaten up WLF members.

The two of you prepared, walking out of the theater with intertwined hands.

Hillcrest was a suburb. It was probably the ideal place to settle down before the Cordyceps took over. Now it was abandoned and overtaken by flora. You could hear gunshots, confirming that you were in the right place.

“That had to have been Tommy,” Ellie says.

“I hope he's okay.” 

Ellie only nodded in response. She was in survival mode and you were following, right beside her, like always. You wandered into several stores and old buildings looking for clues or hints or Tommy himself. The air was so thick and sticky. Moss thrived in the moisture of such a habitat, it covered the walls. No infected in sight. At least not yet. However while you wandered, you heard the voice of a WLF soldier once again.

“This is dumb, we should be pushing in.” One spoke

“We hold the perimeter until we hear otherwise.” Scolded the other 

Ellie looked through a crack in the boards of the building you were in, There were two people and a dog.

Shit, a fucking dog?

It immediately spotted Ellie, barking

“I got something!”

“Shit!” You and Ellie started to run

“Infected?”

“Let's get in there!” 

You both hid in a room, closing the door watching through a window.

‘Okay girl, sniff him out” One soldier spoke.

This bitches dog is about to die if it gets any closer.

The dog started to follow the scent of Ellie, getting closer and closer.

“Smell something in there girl?” 

Fuck I really dont wanna kill a dog.

You both rounded the corner, trying to lose the damn thing but it kept following. You knew the WLF dogs, you had patrolled and played and bonded with them. And Ellie would probably kill this one. You felt a twinge of guilt. 

“ You think this guy is connected with the girl from the school?” one soldier questioned the other

That girl is right here.

“It'd be a hell of a coincidence if they werent.”

You were tense, but remained calm, following Ellie’s lead as she crept out the building into another. 

“Fuck these WLF” she muttered hatefully, you said nothing, simply nodding along.

It was stressful, sneaking away trying to not be seen. You let go a breath you didn't realize you were holding when you finally had barricaded yourself into a safer place.  Traveling up some stairs you stayed silent letting Ellie take the lead. This was her time, her thing, her plan, her revenge. You just wanted to be by her side.When moving a gate open a large dumpster rolled out making a loud banging sound.

“Shit Ellie”

“Fuck” she groaned.

“Anybody hear that?” you could make out from a distance.

Quickly evading the area, you'd both stepped into a store. The shelfs were empty. A shambler was nearby you could hear its deafening groaning sounds as it moved.

Ellie pulled the pin of an explosive and threw it at the shambler. Not the most subtle attack but it worked. You shot its face like flesh soon after until it fell to the ground, vibrating in its steps. There was really no point in going into that building but you didnt wanna aggravate Ellies focus by questioning her. There was an explosion in the area and you'd both had the bright idea of walking towards it. Dark,soot filled smoke rose in the air.

“Hope you did that Tommy” Ellie mumbled

Quite a few clickers walked around, hunched over. There wasn't time to deal with them. 

Into another shed you went, Ellie conveniently found an entire bow. She nodded approvingly at it and you continued on.

The one thing you hadn't expected to find, was Jesse, he spotted the two of you in the midst of a fight with the WLF and joined in. It was comical, almost perfect how he happened to be there with the same purpose, he was the lone male traveler the WLF was searching for. The three of you hopped into a WLF car, Jesse stole the keys, and your heart was racing with the need to get out, to get somewhere safe.

“Jesse fucking drive!” Ellie screamed more infected and WLF coming your way. You didn't say a thing, too overstimulated to speak. You hopped into the back seat aiming your shotgun out of the rear window, shooting while Jesse struggled to start the car.

“Jesse please!” You groaned, more and more were crowding. He was suddenly nearly pulled out the side driver window when another WLF member attacked but Ellie shot him as if he wasn't even a person.

The car started. Jesse started driving chaotically while you held off people shooting at the tires, learning to pick them off one by one. They weren't human to you anymore, they didn't have lives or lovers or families. They were simply threatening Ellie and you would betray anyone to save her. And thank fucking god you knew how to swim because before you knew it the car was plunged into a reservoir. Ellie immediately grabbed your arm and pulled you up with her. Jesse followed quickly. Water filled your lungs and you had the bodily urge to open your mouth, it subsited when you made it to land. Hacking your lungs out, hurling up clear lake water. Breathless the trio of you all rested for a moment on the land. 

“y/n you okay?”

“Im alright”

“I've never been better, thanks for asking” Jesse chimed in despite not being asked. Still managing to be sarcastic despite the pain in his lungs from inhaling liquid.

“I think we are in the clear” Ellie spoke, ignoring Jesse’s comment. You brushed your wet hair out of your eyes. 

“C’mon Jesse here” You leant him a hand, helping him get up as he was the most affected by the sudden swim.

“Thanks y/n”

You let Jesse lean on you a bit as Ellie was busy leading you back to the theater which was an uncomfortable walk in wet cold clothing. 

One thing you noticed about Ellie was her difference on the battlefield. She was quiet, her face as stern as stone, the emotions that once clouded her vision were completely cleared. She was a weapon, she was trained to be that way. Most likely from her surroundings. And as you settled down at the Movies, you wondered what her upbringing was like realizing that you genuinely had not spoken much about it. But you wouldn't shove with her. She was difficult to read sometimes, retracting into herself and pushing you away sometimes. But on the other hand she was so kind and soft and loving it was hard to see her go from one extreme to the other.

You wondered how heartbroken you would be when that caring side of her went away. You were truly awful at living in the moment. There was nothing more that you feared that seeing the love from her fade into resentment.

Then you would be alone. 

[trashpandafiction]

We Survive (12)

Summary: What happens when the Behavioral Analysis Unit comes across a situation they weren’t trained for? When the dead begin to roam the Earth, it challenges the BAU to something they’ve never dealt with before: the apocalypse. Along their journey for survival, they come across Rick Grimes and his group of survivors. Among the survivors is Jocelynn Russo, who thinks that the new group could be helpful to them. Things seem to go well until an unexpected enemy appears. Will Negan and the Saviors be the one thing to break the groups, or will they be able to defend themselves? All anyone knows is they have one common goal; to survive. Pairings: Rick Grimes/OFC; Aaron Hotchner/OFC Word Count: 2,385 Warnings: None A/N: I hope you guys are enjoying this! If you’d like to be tagged in future updates, just let me know! Please do not redistribute my work without my permission! Reblogging is fine with credit intact.

Twelve - Adjustments

          The next morning, the council met and agreed to let Emily, David, and Derek stay in Alexandria, and offered a second house so they could be a little more comfortable. Spencer, Hotch, David, and Derek all took the extra house and the girls stayed in the first house. They had all talked about what had happened, and while Hotch and JJ hoped it would ease the tension, it only seemed to make it worse. Everyone understood why JJ said they were dead, but it didn’t make them feel less betrayed or hurt. Hotch was getting some short responses because he was the one who had the group move on. Emily, David, and Derek were trying to keep the peace, but they all had their own frustrations and reservations about a whole new community and group of people.

          After lunch, Emily was helping Maggie on a guard tower, David was in the armory with Glenn cleaning weapons and counting ammo, and Derek was doing a perimeter check with Michonne, while Penelope, JJ, Spencer, and Hotch took up their usual shifts. Everyone was friendly with the new members, and they managed to get the hang of things quickly.

          Jocelynn had offered to take care of Judith for the afternoon, so she was sitting on a picnic blanket with her outside of Rick’s house. They had eaten lunch and now were drawing pictures. As they colored, Hotch walked by, stopping when he heard a small giggle. He looked over at Jocelynn and Judith and smiled a bit, watching them coloring.

          Jocelynn looked up and smiled when she saw him. “Hey.”

          “Hey.” He said and walked over to where the two were seated. “What are you two up to?”

          “We are currently coloring pictures of…” she looked at the papers and hummed. “I think that might be Carl…maybe.” She laughed softly, looking up at him. “How’s your day going?”

          “Uh, it’s going alright.” He said with an unconvincing smile.

          “I’m not an FBI profiler or anything, but I think you might be fibbing just a bit.” She said and smiled some.

          “You might be onto something.” He said with a small shrug.

          “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked, letting Judith climb into her lap to continue her picture.

          He hesitated a moment before walking over and sitting across from them. “I think I’ve got a few minutes to talk.”

          Judith continued to color while Jocelynn nodded at Hotch’s words. “Shoot.”

          “There’s just been some tension in our group since yesterday. I’m hoping it’s a temporary thing and that we’ll all adjust, but I guess time will tell.” He said.

          She wanted to ask what he thought about them being reunited with people that they were all led to believe were dead, but she wasn’t even sure how to bring it up. “I think it’ll take a little time to sort of un-grieve them. When all of this started, Carl and his mom were told that Rick was dead, but he found them and it was a bit of an adjustment for them, and for his friend that told them Rick was gone.”

          He nodded, smiling as Judith held out a crayon for him. He took it and scribbled with her, continuing his conversation. “I know JJ has a lot of guilt, and Reid feels lied to. Garcia wants to keep the peace, and the others are trying to adjust to a life here.”

          “And how do you feel about it all?” she asked, smiling at him joining in on the coloring.

          “I don’t know. I think trying to focus on everyone else has kept me from thinking about how I feel.” He handed the crayon back to Judith and smiled when she handed him another one, then got back to scribbling.

          “Well, if you need someone to talk to about anything, my door’s always open. I’m not great at advice, but I can listen.” she offered.

          “Thank you, I appreciate that.” He replied, attempting to draw a flower.

          “You know, if your other shifts here don’t work out, you could be an artist.” she teased.

          “I don’t want to make anyone jealous of my scribble skills.” He chuckled. “Anyway, I should probably go see how everyone is and see if there’s anything else I can do.”

          “I’ll make sure we frame this beautiful collaboration.” She teased, watching him stand up.

          “I appreciate that. Maybe we can put it up in city hall.” He teased back. “You two enjoy the rest of your day.”

          “Thank you.” She said and looked at Judith. “Can you say bye to Aaron?”

          Judith waved at him with a smile before getting back to coloring.

          “Bye, ladies.” He smiled and waved back before heading off to check on the rest of his team.

          Once he had left, Jocelynn looked down at Judith with a smile. “Are you tired yet or are you still coloring?”

          “Dada!” she smiled, pointing ahead.

          Jocelynn looked up and saw Rick coming over with a smile. “Hey Sheriff.” she smiled.

          “Thought I’d come over and see how things are going.” He replied, picking Judith up as she got up and walked over to him. “Hello, sweetheart.”

          “Just planning world domination as usual.” Jocelynn teased, getting the coloring pages and supplies cleaned up and put into the bin they were kept in.

          “Exactly what I expected.” He teased back. “I saw you talking to Hotch, is everything alright?”

          She looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” She stood up and held the bin on her hip. “I guess things have been a little awkward since yesterday, but he’s pretty sure it’ll be fine.”

          “Well, they were all under the impression that their friends were dead, so to see them walking in here probably messed them up a little.” He said.

          “Yeah, I can’t imagine.” She shook her head. “Do the new guys seem to be handling things well?”

          He nodded, swaying with Judith slightly. “They’re picking things up quickly, but you can see they’re all a little hesitant. Hotch and the others were the same way, so I’m sure they’ll be more comfortable as time goes on.”

          “You’re probably right.” She nodded.

          “I’m always right.” He smirked.

          “Okay, I think it’s time for you to go get some humble pie.” She teased, holding her arms out for Judith. “And I think it’s nap time for a certain someone.”

          Rick chuckled and handed Judith back to Jocelynn. “If you need anything, you know how to find me.” He leaned in and kissed Judith’s head gently. “Love you, sweet pea.”

          When he leaned in, Jocelynn’s stomach fluttered, calming down when she realized what he was doing. “Don’t work too hard.” She smiled some.

          “I never do.” He teased, patting her shoulder as he headed off.

          Jocelynn walked Judith back inside and got the coloring bin put away and Judith down for a nap. She ended up staying at Rick’s for dinner, and after they ate and cleaned up, she headed home. She was almost there when she heard Hotch calling her name. She turned and saw him, walking her way.

          “Hey.” She smiled, coming to a stop.

          “Hey.” He replied, stopping when he got to her.

          He looked like he needed to talk to someone, but she didn’t think he was the type to outright say it. “Out for a post-dinner walk?” she asked him.

          “Something like that. Heading home?” he asked her, knowing it was a ridiculous question.

          “Something like that.” She smiled softly. “Is everything okay?”

          He hesitated a moment, trying to think of the right thing to say. “You said I could come talk to you about anything?”

          “Of course. Do you wanna walk and talk? Or we could go inside.” she offered.

          “I don’t want to impose.” He said, knowing that she had roommates.

          “You won’t be. We can sit on the porch and chat if that would make you more comfortable.” She compromised.

          “Yeah, that sounds great.” He agreed.

          He walked with her the rest of the way to the house and when they got to the porch, they both sat down on the porch swing. It was quiet for a few minutes before Jocelynn spoke up again, “What’s on your mind?”

          “The team is having a hard time with everything, and instead of making it better, I feel like everything I try makes it worse.” He started. “You were in the cabin that day. What did you see?”

          She tried to put her words together before speaking, but she figured since his friends really were alive, she wouldn’t have to spare details. “The door was on top of the coffee table, and there was a pile of walkers on top of it.”

          “Were there any bodies underneath the door, or in the kitchen?” he asked.

          “No, just a lot of blood.” She waited a moment before taking a breath. “Hotch, can I be honest?”

          He looked over at her and nodded.

          “The bodies that were there weren’t…you could tell that they had been out there for a long time. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I could tell that those walkers weren’t fresh.” She explained carefully.

          “If you could tell that they weren’t there, then JJ would have known. She checked the scene after you did?” he asked.

          “Yeah. I went in first so if it was bad, I could give her a warning.” She looked at him and bit her bottom lip gently. “I didn’t want to make any assumptions, and I’m sure she had her reasons for saying they were there. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you sooner.”

          “You had no reason to. You didn’t know us, and accusing JJ of lying would have complicated things with Rick and the group.” He said simply. “I understand why she did it, she’s explained it over and over again, and we’ve had to keep things from each other one time or another when we were working.”

          She nodded and looked at her hands until he started speaking again.

          “What happened with Rick’s friend? The one who said that he was dead.” He asked her.

          “Things were a little weird for a while, but they started to level out. That wasn’t exactly a fair example though, Shane was…he tried to kill Rick after some time. Glenn was actually presumed dead after a run went badly, but he showed up here and things have been fine since.” She said and looked over at him. “I don’t see JJ randomly trying to kill anyone, so it’ll probably be the latter outcome for you guys.”

          He nodded, looking at his lap before looking back at her. “I know it’ll be okay eventually.”

          She cocked her head to the side slightly, “Then why are you worried?”

          He looked at her a moment before answering, “I don’t think it’s worry; I think it’s guilt.”

          “What are you guilty about?” she asked him, turning slightly so she could face him better.

          “I think the anger and hurt towards JJ should be aimed at me. We could have gone back to the cabin to help them out, I was the one who said we should push forward and assume the worst.”

          “You guys didn’t have the ammo to take them all out on your own.” She reasoned.

          “The three of them were able to escape on their own, if we would have just waited and come back later, we could have found them.” He shook his head.

          “Or there could have been more walkers and you could have been outnumbered. You can’t dwell on the ‘what ifs’, or the ‘could haves’, or it’ll drive you crazy. You did what you thought was right, JJ did what she thought was right, and now you’re all here and safe. It’ll take some time to adjust, but I’m sure everyone will be back to normal in no time.” She said, putting her hand on his arm. “It’ll work out.”

          The hand on his arm caught him off guard, but he didn’t pull his arm away. It felt calming in a strange way. “You’re probably right.”

          “I usually am.” she teased, wanting to lighten things up a little.

          He smiled some and nodded. “Humble too.” He teased back.

          “Always.” She smiled.

          “Thank you for talking some sense into me and listening to me.” He said sincerely, putting his hand on hers. “It means a lot.”

          She ran her thumb along his hand and smiled. “Anytime.”

          He squeezed her hand gently before letting go and letting out a breath. “I suppose I should head home.” They both stood up from the swing and she walked him to the porch steps. “You know, this goes both ways. I know it’s hard to open up to people you haven’t known for long, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can come to me anytime. You can probably come to anyone on the team, really.”

          “I appreciate it. Just give it some time, and don’t blame yourself, okay? Easier said than done, I know.” She shrugged.

          He looked at her and smiled a little. “Seems like you’re speaking from experience.”

          She gave him a tight-lipped smile, “A story for another time.”

          He nodded, “Understood.”

          “Get home safe, okay? There could be weirdos out there.” She joked.

          “Besides you?” he asked, trying to hide a smirk.

          “Ouch.” She laughed softly.

          He laughed with her and hesitated before pulling her into a hug. “Thank you.”

          She didn’t expect it, but it was nice. She hugged him back and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

          He pulled back and looked down at her. “Night, Joce.”

          “Night, Hotch.” She smiled.

          She watched him walk back to his house, making sure he was okay. As she turned to go inside, she noticed Rick on his porch, looking towards her. She waved at him, which he returned, before heading into his house. Had he been watching her and Hotch the whole time? Maybe he went out for some air. He didn’t have any reason to worry about Hotch, so it had to be the latter. She headed inside and went up to her room to try and get some sleep, but her mind kept trying to wander to the little touches from Hotch on the porch. That wasn’t anything big, right?

[primis-marshmallow]

Two German Scientists

Chapter 1

Dr Brandt had been pleasantly surprised at a job offer to work for the secret government organisation Omega. However, things take a turn when her boss decides she’s more of a nuisance than a valuable member of the group. How will Dr Brandt survive when thrust into a new world, one where the actions of four men will dictate the survival of the universe?

Firebase z

6th January 1984

I had thought it might be difficult to get a job after I finished my studies. My PhD doesn’t lend itself to versatility; intense studies of human catatonic states and re-animation of organ systems, it’s obviously very interesting but not very useful to…anyone. Or at least that’s what I thought. Turns out my research wasn’t far off, at least according to some secret government organisations. I suppose the Cold War has made the Americans and the Russians research some strange things, and they both have eyes everywhere. They even managed to pick up on my little project. The day I graduated with my PhD, just as I left the hall I was accosted by some strange men in black suits. They asked if they could talk to me about some promising new research I could be involved in.

Today I actually get to start. So it turns out the Russian government got to me first, I now work for an organisation called Omega though I’m not exactly sure what it’s about yet. Something about different dimensions. They did say that my research was very relevant so I’m excited. I arrive at outpost 25 in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam at exactly 6 a.m., not too early for me, thankfully. I’m escorted from the helicopter by a soldier, I didn’t quite catch his name but I don’t suppose that matters really. “Dr Peck should be here to meet you shortly.” He salutes me before leaving me alone in the room. My first impression of the facility is that I’m not going to be living the life of luxury…the place looks like it was built in a few weeks with little budget and no regard for safety regulations. All the buildings appear to be made of corrugated metal sheets with a little bit of plasterboard for insulation. My eyes scan the perimeter looking for any signs of the actual work that takes place here, but the facility seems new, I’m not quite sure yet.

My thoughts are interrupted as I see a man in a white lab coat walk into the room, he looks quite a lot older than me, fine lines etched into the skin around his eyes, maybe from stress. He has brown hair, receding slightly. “You must be Dr Peck?” I ask, standing, moving my suitcase behind me and extending my hand for him to shake.

“Yeah, and you’re Dr Brandt? Little young?” He replies in a strong American accent, looking down at my hand, not reaching out with his own. I let out an awkward laugh, putting my hand back down to my side.

“Yeah I’m uh…25. I-is that okay?” He scowls back at me.

“I mean there’s no age requirement, I just want to know you’re qualified for this research project. I don’t just wanna let any little girl that waltzes in have access to my research.” God, someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning, still I try not to let it discourage me.

“Uh, well Dr Peck. I assume you have read my file and know of my research, if you feel I am under qualified to be a part of this project then that is your own decision. However I would appreciate being permitted to begin working here and prove myself to you. If after this time you still believe me to be of no value to you, then I will happily leave.” I cough, trying to keep my composure. He huffs before reaching out his hand to shake mine.

“Well I suppose you do have some balls kid, I’ll give you a chance.” I take his hand, he gives it a firm shake before gesturing to me to walk with him.

We exit the building, walking over to the next, labelled scientist quarters. “You’ll be working directly under me, along with Dr Kuhlklay. I’ll show you to your room and then I’ll have to leave you, busy job.”

He walks me over to a small room with glass windows facing the hallway. The sign outside says ‘Dr Alvarie Irina Brandt’, nice it's spelled correctly. He opens the door for me, giving me the key card. “Here you go, the next room over is Dr Kuhlklay. To close the window shutter it's this button here.” He presses a small red button next to the window, metal shutters crash down, blocking the view. I think I’ll just keep those down. “You should have everything you need, lab coat is over there or you can just wear one you already have, I don’t care. Name tag is on the desk. If you need anything, don’t ask me, I’m far too fucking busy for admin work.” He walks over to the door and leaves before poking his head back in. “Meet me in the conference room at 4pm, don’t be fucking late.” He finally leaves, closing the door after himself.

“Lovely.” I mutter to myself, throwing my suitcase down on the bed. I take a look into the wardrobe to see the labcoat, it's good quality but it definitely will not fit my figure…I’ll just wear my own, good job I brought it. I walk back over to the bed, opening up my suitcase to start putting some of my things away. They didn’t allow me to bring much, I’ve got some clothes: mainly turtle necks, shirts and suit trousers, there’s a few other items such as pyjamas as well as undergarments. I was permitted to bring through my own toiletries thankfully, I doubt the ones here are any good. They let me bring some documents of my old research but only paper, no digital files. I start to put away my clothes into the small wardrobe, still big enough to fit my small volume of garments. Next I put all my books in the cabinet underneath my desk, and place my toiletries in the little basket I brought to take to the bathroom when I need to. “Done, nice. Now what?” I mutter to myself, looking around.

Maybe I’ll have a walk around? I really need to find out where that conference room is. I pull out my lab coat from the wardrobe, slipping it on before attaching my new name tag. Next I go over to the door, opening it. As I walk out I immediately bump into someone. “Извините меня!” He squeaks out as my face collides with his torso.

“No-no, it’s okay. I didn’t look where I was going.” I reply quickly in Russian, shaking my head before looking up at his name tag. “Oh you’re Dr Kuhlklay!”

He leans back to have a look at my name tag. “And you’re Dr Brandt. I thought you were English?” I tilt my head in confusion. “You were just speaking Russian and you have a German name, you’re confusing.” I giggle awkwardly.

“Oh my family is German and uh..I learned Russian when I was given the job here. I wanted to be able to understand everyone better.” He nods, seemingly in approval.

“Well you’ve done more than Peck. I assume you’ve met him, our ‘boss’.” I nod.

“Yeah he just left, showed me to my room.”

“Sorry about him, he’s just a Мудак, but you’ll get used to it.” I give back a meek smile. “I can give you a quick tour if you like, the facility isn’t too big but it can be a bit of a maze.” Nodding excitedly I agree before quickly calming myself down.

“Yeah, sounds great! Sorry- I’m just a little excited. I’ve never worked anywhere like this before.” He gives a low chuckle, waving his hand as if to waft away my concerns.

We begin to walk. “I understand, is this your first time ever being evolved in something like this? A top secret project.”

“Oh yeah, I mean I only just graduated two years ago… I’m still not entirely sure why they let me on this project, I don’t even know what it is.” His eyes widen at this.

“You only graduated two years ago!? I thought you seemed young…” I look up at him.

“I know I am young but it doesn’t mean I won’t work hard.” He hums.

“Maybe it's what we need, a fresh set of eyes.” I smile back at him.

“Thanks for the encouragement Dr Kuhlklay.”

“Please-“ he interrupts. “Call me Dimitri, no need for the formalities.”

“Then you may call me Alvarie, but not around Peck. I don’t want him to think any less of me than he already does.”

“Sure Alvarie. Anyway, the meeting at 4pm is in the room right here. It’s actually right next to the kitchen so you can just come there to eat with me after the meeting if you would like.” I tilt my head, smiling.

“Sounds good Dimitri, thanks for being so welcoming.” We keep walking, he points out where the scientists' bathrooms are as well as some of the lab stations. After that we say goodbye. I head back to my room to do some reading before the meeting, trying to understand what’s actually going on here.

[trademarkhubris]

kind of undecided abt where to go from where i am in this game, i have full netherite and access to potions so i could try to fight the milf then go for elytra, a few shulkers, and an end experience farm, or i could go to various ocean monuments to gather sponges, or travel a bunch to find a warm ocean to build tnt dupers to do the perimeter i want ...

[philliamwrites]

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave {Masterlist}

And as the Titans begin to march, no matter how scared you are, you will not look away. Because there is love in every ending.

❀❀❀

When Wall Maria fell you lost everything: your home, your family, your childhood friend and first love. Haunted by his memory, you promise yourself to enlist for military service so that one day you can kill the Armoured Titan.

But feelings change, children grow up and you've known early on that someday dreams end. Now finally in the army, all you want is to survive the next three years and join the Garrison Regiment to find some peace and quiet within the walls.

That is until Eren Jaeger steps into your life with his purpose that blasts through rooms like a wildfire, hot and bright and beautiful, but also the sort you want to watch from a distance.

He won't let you stay away though, and once you're completely entangled with him, he will never let you go.

Until he does.

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x fem!Reader

Warnings: unreliable narrator, canon-typical violence, blood & injury, mild gore, slow burn, swearing, canon divergence, platonic jean & reader, angst, betrayal, enemies to friends (w/ benefits) to lovers, falling in love, falling out of love, fix-it while also making things worse, a.o.t.2 game elements,‼️18+, later: explicit sexual content!!‼️(i'm talking about all that good mean!dom eren stuff), warnings are listed at the beginning of every chapter

A/N: No words. Just Eren living rent free in my head. I'll try to upload every second Sunday.

Just DM me if you wanna be on the taglist!

○ ao3 link ○ SWYAATL playlist ○

[01]: Unsre grüne Au

• wc: 5.8k • warnings: mature; blood, mild gore, angst, death of family & loved ones • summary: He takes your hand, so warm around yours, and places the ring in your open palm. It’s cool against your skin. “This is how you know I’ll always come back. Because when we grow up … we’ll get married.” You stare at him as though you’ve seen a god and that god shares Emil’s name.

[02]: Dear Emil

• wc: 7.3k • warnings: introduction to PTSD and trauma, mourning the death of family & loved ones • summary: But just like one loose thread could unravel everything, the past day has completely disintegrated the foundations of this future. Now that it crumbles between your bruised, shaking fingers, do you try to rebuilt it? Or do you forge something new from the broken pieces even though that means cutting your hands bloody on the remains?

[03]: army⇒G♂

• wc: 6.1k • warnings: canon-typical violence • summary: “And what about you?” the boy says, suddenly swirling to you and you jolt in your chair. He sees you; sees you with striking, sharp eyes the colour of an empty bottle struck by sunlight. The colour of a dark, deep lake after a storm. “Didn’t you say you want to kill the Armoured Titan? You’re from Shiganshina too! You know what I’m talking about, right?” Put into the spotlight—no, on the offering table for slaughter like that, you do what you do best: you run.

[04]: τέλος

• wc: 8.5k • warnings: slight bullying, swearing • summary: Eren is like a pair of hot tongs; no one is sure where to put him or how long he would take to cool off, but if they just dropped him he might light the world on fire. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” You’re giving up. Let someone else put on kid gloves and mark out a careful perimeter of how safe it is to approach him. Armin volunteers, turning the crank to set Eren down again and inspect his wound, but Eren pushes him away, and you wonder how often Armin has burnt himself trying to help him.

[05]: первый снег

• wc: 10.2k • warnings: bullying, swearing • summary: The impact of his hard, toned body against yours sends you both flying. He’s got you on your back, elbow pushing into your throat. You swing with one arm, but Eren anticipates it and easily catches your wrist. You stare daggers at him. “Now this,” he says quietly, shaking your fist gently, “this is what you do. You fight back. You can only win if you fight back.” “Get off me, Jaeger.” “And don’t tuck your thumb into your fist.”

06: 飛べ

• wc: 8.4k • warnings: none • summary: You stare at Eren, unable to respond. Furious, angry Eren is easy to handle—there is no logic or reason behind anger, only hot-whipping emotion that can be easily excused and needs no further thought. But this vulnerability is so much more complex and profound, you want to look away. There is a forlorn, lost look about him, but his eyes search your face as if he might find himself there. Like you could be the answer. It’s like Eren’s forgotten Reiser’s lecture last week: You don’t give answers people want to hear. “We aren’t fairy tale heroes and knights. We can’t change the world…” Eren, you want to say. “Jaeger.” You immediately see in the shadow that falls over his eyes that you’ve lost him. “You’re only one person. What difference can you make?”

07: Apple Seed

• wc: 12.2k • warnings: canon-typical violence, explicit depiction of a dead body (none of the main characters), vomiting (not reader) • summary: You wait for Eren to let you go. He doesn’t. He looks conflicted over something—desperate even, but whatever he wants to say appears to be stuck in his throat. His tongue darts out and swipes over his lower lip, leaving it pink and glossy. You blink, dazzled. What is it that you want from me? you want to ask, but the answer frightens you.

08: 金継ぎ

• wc: 6k • warnings: PTSD, grieving a loved one's death • summary: He’s right, and as you take a look around camp, at the people you’re spending the next two years with, you fall a little in love with every single one of them: Jean, Jeanie, who is so protective of his honesty and pride, but gets even more protective when it comes to you. Mina and Marco who have turned M into your favourite letter because they both know that a gentle fire by the chimney is better at keeping one warm than burning down the whole house. Reiner and Bertholdt, two sides of the same coin: where Reiner is fierce, Bertholdt is yielding and together they are invincible. Mikasa and Armin, one shield and spear, the other a brilliant mind that will one day change the world, and together they are Eren’s right and left hand, the first his blade in hand and the other the one concealed in his sleeve. And Eren, even Eren Jaeger, who always looks at you like he knows you are so much more than all your scars and fears.

09: The Melancholy Heron Stands

• wc: 7.6k • warnings: descriptions of a wound • summary: “Yeah, yeah, we’ve had this already. You’d rather do nothing and then complain about it later.” His words drop like a cleaver. Something sharp and painful rises up the back of your throat. You swallow it down, squaring your jaw to mask your hurt. You tell yourself not to cry, not at the hands of someone like Eren who ploughs through a field towards his destination without a care for the flowers he tramples on. Who listens in on private conversations meant for the night and darkness only, and butchers at your vulnerability with his violent idealism. You change your mind. Emil would have liked them all, except for Eren.

10: The Forest of Hands and Teeth (pt.1)

• wc: 8k • warnings: DARK CONTENT! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. Minor character death, blood and gore, attempt at sexual assault (male —› female), implied child abuse, implied childhood sexual abuse • summary: It wasn’t common for you to doubt or question Emil. You trusted him with a ferocity that was nearly dangerous: if he’d said “Jump, I will catch you,” you’d jump and perform a pirouette mid-flight. Yet, this was different. This felt like a secret with sharp teeth and gnawing starvation for freedom. And it would wreak havoc. You didn’t know why, but you felt it. You felt it would destroy everything like the earth rumbling and splitting open, the very foundation of everything that you had known crumbling.

11: The Forest of Hands and Teeth (pt.2)

• wc: 8.2k • warnings: description of a decomposing body • summary: “If anything,” Eren says, and you can hear Armin’s quiet plea “Please stop talking, Eren,” because he knows Eren better than he himself, and if there is a chance to resolve the conflict without it blowing up, Armin will always throw himself in as canon fodder, “if anything, she got fucked up because you tried to run away. Because you tried to abandon us.” Jean goes still beside you like a statue. The glass shard nearly slips from your cold, clammy fingers and you bite your lip, tasting dried blood on your lips. “At some point,” Eren continues, “you’ll have to stop making excuses and stop running.”

12: Raised by Wolves and Voices

• wc: 8.1k • warnings: none • summary: “Wouldn’t that be something.” Jean sniffs, his breath coming out in white plums. “Erasing events from the past, making stuff never have happened. You’d have to be, like, God or something to do that.” “I don’t know. I get you’d want the unpleasant stuff gone, but it’s what makes you the person you are today, right? Even all the bad stuff, I don’t think I’d want that just taken away from me.” Especially without you knowing.

13: The Horror and the Wild

• wc: 9.6k • warnings: defence against an animal (no worries, the animal doesn’t get hurt too bad, definitely doesn’t die), injury, animal attack, self-suturing • summary: You scramble for your knife, digging through the snow until your fingers grasp the hilt. Pulling yourself up to your knees has never been this difficult, but thanks to the rigorous training Shadis has put you under after all those years, you stand on shaking knees, determined that you’ll see this through to the end. You’ll make your place in this world. You’ll fight for it, no matter who the opponent is. You’ll burn so bright you’ll blind them all—you’ll fight for yourself, and if that little, crying girl from five years ago screams for help, you’ll take her small hand and never let go, and you whisper to her “You are no longer a helpless child, you are the horror and the wild, and all the stones and kings of old will hear us screaming at the cold.”

14: The Happy Years (Upload: TBA)

• wc: ??? • warnings: none so far • summary: TBA

○ Masterlist ○

[parks-and-get-wrekt]

The Robins as moments from the Try Guys “try not to die alone” video

(Bat wilderness survival training)

Bruce: over the next 24 hours I’m going to be training you five. And if you don’t perform, you will die.

Stephanie: *eating a cookie*

Bruce: can I see that?

Stephanie: sure!

Bruce: *throws the cookie directly into the woods*

Bruce: you don’t fail, you either quit or you die.

Tim: and dying is just the body’s way of quitting

Damian: *deadpan* I’m excited to kill something

*Bruce demonstrating how to construct a simple shelter*

Jason: and is this the foremost point where you stick the head of a prized animal to ward off other survivors?

Dick: other survivors?

Tim: I know how to put sticks on sticks!

Jason: I think Timmy or Dickhead will probably die first. We may need to harvest them for food. I think Dick will be the tastiest

Bruce: empty your pockets

Dick: well I was gonna call Kori…

Bruce: that’s nice *takes his phone anyways*

Stephanie: *reluctantly hands over another cookie*

Bruce: is that all of them?

Stephanie: *pouts but produces a third cookie from god only knows where*

Tim: how many of those did you bring?

Bruce: I will be back in the morning to pick you, or your bodies up. Just remember that nature hates you and wants you dead. GO!

*Jason and Damian immediately take off in separate directions*

Jason: F*ck you demon spawn!

Damian: F*ck you Todd, f*ck you!

Tim: I would like a hug

Dick: yeah c’mere

Tim: alright, survive, don’t die

Dick: yeah I’ll see you or your body in the morning I guess

Stephanie: do I have to go this way?

Bruce: yes.

Stephanie: ok, this is stupid

Damian: here are my predictions: Todd is probably just running around screaming “what’s up” at plants. Grayson at this point has to have stripped down and tried to “become nature”. Drake and Brown will probably die.

Stephanie: *opening her pack* ooh kazoos! How many kazoos can I play at once? *kazoo noises* the answer: seven

Damian: god makes man, man makes spear, man stabs fish with spear!

Tim: let’s play a game of “can I eat you?” *poking at random plants* will this kill me?

Jason: gotta set a pee perimeter to keep the bears away

Damian: *finds a stuffed elephant in his pack* I will name you Stacy the elephant

Dick: puppy stickers? Oh good there’s kitten stickers too.

Tim: I miss coffee so much. I just wanna go home.

Stephanie: you take the fire starter cube, and you chop it up until it looks like a little pile of cocaine

Jason: I don’t know the “proper” way to extinguish a fire. *pees on the fire*

Tim: I found this beetle, and it’s the last thing that I absolutely didn’t wanna eat. But… *crunching noises* ewie ew ew ew

Jason: *gleefully* I found a gun!

Dick: well, time to go find other people

Jason: *from behind him* hey Dick

Dick: JASON! *sprints over for a hug*

Jason: I found a gun!

Dick: *already hugging him* Jason!

Damian: *introducing Stacy to his siblings* his name is Richard

Dick: what? But I, oh you’re talking to the-

Damian: I’m talking to the elephant yes.

Jason: so if it came down to it, if there was an apocalypse, and there were zombies,

Tim: *offscreen* there’s not gonna be zombies!

Jason: but if there were zombies

Stephanie: pack cookies! If nothing else pack cookies!

[thatrandomwriter]

Rooftop Romance

merle x reader

warnings: swearing, gore, sexual language

“You sure he’s worth it?” T-Dog asked, skepticism written across his face.

“Him and Daryl are our best hunters. They may both share about three brain cells, and Merle is about the biggest asshole I’ve ever met-“

“Hey, fuck you,” Merle cut in. I ignored him.

“But the fact is we need them to survive. We’ll make it out of the city, but you need to go before the others leave without you,”

T-Dog looked conflicted, but after a few seconds he dashed out of the door, racing down the stairs. I pulled the door shut, locking it behind him. There was a strong chance that I had just ensured my own death as well as Merle’s. The sound of the dead beating on the door almost as soon as T-Dog had left seemed to give Merle the same idea.

“Well fucking come on then princess, I ain’t getting any younger over here.” He had that god awful smirk plastered across his face. “You know, there’s a lot I can do with these hands. Maybe I can show ya once I’m free,” he made a crude gesture with his cuffed hand.

“Maybe if you didn’t say shit like that all the time, someone might actually wanna fuck you. You’re disgusting, you know that?”

Instead of waiting for his no-doubt even worse reply, I walked over to see what had been left in Dale’s toolbox. It was mostly screwdrivers and spanners, nothing of any use to me, but I noted a hammer and most importantly a hacksaw. Hopefully it would be strong enough to get through the metal of Merle’s handcuff.

“Call me disgusting all ya like, everyone knows you want a piece of this,”

My cheeks grew hot and I fumbled the saw, almost dropping it as I walked over to him. It was a humiliating feeling to know that he was right. To know that despite what a piece of shit he was, over the few weeks I’d known him, I had developed some form of feelings for him. Merle had found me while out checking the camp’s perimeter with Shane. Having just escaped the city, I was exhausted and terrified, and just about ready to collapse on the forest floor and give up. Of course, Merle’s reasoning for taking me back likely had more to do with wanting to fuck me than anything else, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that Shane would have taken me back if Merle hadn’t been there to bear witness. We weren’t exactly close, but we shared a fondness for drinking and he taught me a few things about using a crossbow. I didn’t fool myself into thinking he wanted anything more than a one time fling with me; he flirted with just about anything with tits. But some small, stupid part of me still hoped for more.

I sat next to him, pulling his hand toward me to get a better look at the handcuffs. When I looked up, he was staring into my face with another stupid grin. I sent him a glare back.

“Come on now, don’t be like that. Last I checked we’re all alone up here, no-one needs to know, part from maybe a few walkers,”

“Would you quit it? I’m trying to save your life.”

“Jus’ trying to lighten the mood. You should really try lightening up sometime, wouldn’t kill ya,”

I rolled my eyes, corner of my mouth twitching upwards slightly.

“Looks like cutting through the cuffs is gonna be a no go, but this pipe you’ve been cuffed too looks pretty old. It’s worth a try at least,” I lined up Dale’s saw, and began working at the metal.

“So I’m gonna be stuck with a friendship bracelet from Officer Friendly?”

The thought made me laugh a little.

“It’s not like you don’t deserve it; threatening everyone with a gun wasn’t exactly your best moment.” I teased. In his defence, he had most definitely been high as a kite when he’d started pointing the gun. Not that that really made it any better.

“I wasn’t gunna shoot em. Definitely wasn’t gunna shoot you, ya far too beautiful,” Merle said.

“And so’s Andrea, right? And Lori, and Jackie, and every other woman who isn’t trying to eat us,”

“I dunno, some of those walkers ain’t too bad,”

I hit him on the shoulder.

“Can’t I make a joke? Or are ya gunna get jealous, hmm?”

I stopped talking to him after that, focusing instead on trying to make any headway with the pipe he was handcuffed to. After an hour or so, I had only made a tiny dent in the metal. Merle was getting increasingly annoying, and the sun was starting to slowly set in the sky. If we wanted to leave today I’d have to hurry; travelling the city in the dark was a death sentence. At least the walkers at the rooftop door seemed to have given up, or gotten distracted by some other unfortunate souls. They had stopped pounding on the door some time ago.

The saw blade bent slightly, but I persisted, determined to succeed, speeding up. Under the strain of my sawing, the blade bent sideways, and suddenly snapped under the pressure, coming clattering to the floor.

“The fuck did you do?” Merle demanded.

“The blade wasn’t strong enough. It couldn’t get through the pipe. I’m sorry.” I felt suddenly numb. I couldn’t look at him. I’d failed. I’d failed him. He was stuck here, to starve or to be eaten by walkers.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m gonna fucking die up here, god fucking damnit. Look at me, the fuck did you do?” He grabbed my shoulder with his free hand, gripping me hard, shaking me, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” It was one of the first serious, genuine things I’d said to Merle, and it was a death sentence. Tears pricked my eyes. I didn’t have the energy to hide them.

“No. Fuck that, we’re ain’t done yet. You got a knife, right?” He was still staring into my face, but desperate anger had shifted to urgency.

“Yes, but it won’t cut through metal,” I said.

His grim expression told me that he had already figured that out.

“You can’t be serious. You want me to- I can’t,” There had to be another way.

“You got no choice. It’s my hand or my life.”

It took me a few seconds to process this. The only way out would be to cut off his hand. And I would have to be the one to do it.

“Fine. But I’ll do it first thing in the morning. We don’t have time to get out of the city before it gets dark, and I don’t want you bleeding out overnight.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you cared about me,” His shit eating grin was back. Only Merle could look this smug after discovering his hand was about to be cut off.

“Good job you know better then,” I smiled and sat next to him, looking out over the darkening city. At least we were stuck somewhere with an impressive view. The setting sun sent orange streaking through the sky, bathing buildings in a warm glow. I glanced to my side. Merle appeared to also be taking in the sunset in a rare moment of silence.

*

“I’d do the same for you ya know,” Merle said, breaking the silence after a few minutes.

“No you wouldn’t.” I replied. It wasn’t something that upset me, it was just a fact - if the roles were reversed, I had doubts that Merle would have stayed on this rooftop even for Daryl.

“Course I would. Yer one of the only people I can stand in that group, not to mention ya got a mighty fine ass,” He grinned over at me. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, course I do. I could stare at it all day,”

I hit his shoulder with mine.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I ain’t good with the mushy stuff, don’t push it,” He was still smiling, eyes looking into mine for once instead of straying to glance down my shirt.

“Sounds like you care about me, Merle. More than you usually let on at least,” I was teasing him but this moment meant a lot; in short, Merle was shit at showing anyone affection. For him, this was like a declaration of love.

“Yer not gonna make me say it again so drop it,” he huffed.

“I’m just kidding around. And I didn’t just stay here because you’re a good hunter,” I confessed, staring pointedly into the distance to avoid his eyes.

“Course ya didn’t, ain’t no way you’d let me die without getting a piece of this,” It seemed to be his way of lightening the mood, diverting the seriousness of the conversation.

“We should get some sleep, busy day tomorrow.”

*

When the hot sun awoke me the next morning, I found myself nestled into Merle’s side, head on his shoulder, his free arm wrapped around me. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling of his broad body against mine, before pulling away to wake him up. The sooner we were gone, the better.

“Mornin’ “ he grinned lazily.

“You ready?” I asked, and his expression dropped to one of determined focus.

“As I’ll ever be,”

I retrieved my knife and a lighter from one of the pockets of my rucksack. It would have to do as a means of sanitising the blade as I had very little in the way of medical supplies. Shrugging off the button down I wore over a tank top, I folded it ready to use as a bandage for Merle. I could have sworn his eyes slipped down to my cleavage, far more noticeable now the shirt was off, but I wasn’t in the mood to bring it up.

“Can I have your belt?” I asked.

“Don’t need to ask me twice,” He said, the implied innuendo obvious. He unbuckled it with his free hand and tugged it loose.

I strapped it around his forearm, tight as I could make it, a makeshift tourniquet that would hopefully do something to stop the bleeding. It had to be enough.

Merle reached inside his pocket, and withdrew a small bag of white powder.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” I asked, very aware of the dangers we’d face in the city even if he survived losing his hand. Merle being off his face wouldn’t do us any favours.

“Need a little somethin’ to take the edge off,” He tried to form his usual smug grin, but his mouth wavered slightly. I nodded. Who was I to make that decision for him?

I gave him a minute or so, and when he nodded at me, I took my knife to his wrist and began to cut. There was far more blood than I had thought. And despite Merle’s best efforts to remain stoic, and the effects of the drugs, he was in an unbelievable amount of pain. I had to fight the urge to just give up and cry in a corner, but I did it for him. Even when he begged me to stop, to just make the pain stop. His yelling had begun to attract walkers, a few were banging on the rooftop door and the longer this took the more there would be. He gripped my arm as I cut, hard enough to bruise.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I muttered over and over again as I finished, his hand dropping to the floor with a sickening thunk.

Merle was breathing heavily, gasping through the pain. I pressed my shirt against the wound, tying it tightly and leaving the belt in place. There was so much blood. On my hands, my pants, the rooftop.

“Stay there. I’m going to clear the stairwell, I’ll be right back.”

He nodded.

I unlocked the door and wedged my foot under the door to prevent it opening all the way, a walker slamming forward and right onto my knife. It slumped to the floor. Another was quick to take its place. I worked my way through several before they finally stopped coming. Hopefully only a few had been close enough to hear Merle.

I hurried back toward him. The bleeding seemed to be slowing slightly, though it still showed no signs of stopping. He was losing too much blood. But I wasn’t willing to face that reality.

“You think you can stand?”

“Course I can,” he replied through gritted teeth.

I grabbed his good arm and pulled him forward, helping him stand, putting the arm around my shoulders so I could take some of his body weight. He was heavy, but any help I could give him I would.

We walked to the door and I lead him down the stairwell; it wasn’t wide enough for the two of us side by side, but he leaned on my back and I did my best to steady him on the way down. He stumbled a couple of times, no doubt the blood-loss making him dizzy, but we moved as slowly as I dared, me supporting him when he needed it. At the bottom, another walker lunged towards us. It took me a moment to grab my knife and stick it between its eyes, and I kept the blade in my hand after that. One free hand would have to do to help Merle. It was strange, having to protect him like this. Normally I was certain he’d object to me coddling him like this, but he had no choice but to rely on me for once. We made it to a fire exit around the back of the building in a room with several gas stoves. Merle wasn’t looking his best, blood dripping through the makeshift bandage on his arm. He seemed to have the idea at the same time as me.

“Do it,” He nodded grimly and I grimaced, but didn’t hesitate to light the nearest stove, placing a metal tray on top on the flames to heat through enough to cauterise the stump of his wrist.

“We’re gonna make it back, you know. “

“I know,” He said, but it was easy to see the uncertainty in his eyes.

The metal tray seemed hot enough, and I could tell he was gathering the will to do it, slowly, reluctantly unwrapping the open wound. I wasn’t entirely sure Merle could bring himself to. Gently, I took his arm in my hands, unwrapping it myself. Instead of watching the shirt unravel, he stared down into my face. Despite the circumstances, he still made my cheeks hot with the intensity of his gaze which I somehow managed to meet. I reached up, hooking an arm around his neck and a smile tilted the corners of his mouth. He waited for me to move closer first, and when I leaned my face towards his, he wasted no time in bridging the gap between us with a searing kiss. He was perfectly distracted. It was a shame to waste this moment but I did what had to be done, and drove his wrist down onto the hot metal on the stove.

“Son of a fucking bitch!” He exclaimed, yanking his arm away from the stove, and I winced.

“Shit, I’m sorry, but the bleeding’s stopped, right?”

He glared at me through the pain. “You serious?”

“I said I’m sorry, and I did just stop you from bleeding to death,” I smiled tentatively, and he shook his head, still cursing.

“So ya kiss like that fer a distraction? I’d love ta know what the real thing feels like,”

Kissing him had been stupid. But I was in the mood to be stupid, and I couldn’t resist kissing him again. He somehow mustered up that stupid, endearing grin as I pulled him towards me, lips meeting as his good arm found my waist. I could lose myself in the feeling of kissing Merle, all teeth and tongues colliding with no need to be gentle. His hand scooped me in closer until I was pressed up against him, before drifting to my ass with a squeeze. I hummed in pleasure, forgetting to breathe as he kissed me harder. When we finally broke apart all I wanted was to lean back in and kiss him again and again, to stay like this, pressed as close against him as I could be, not thinking about anything else.

“Knew ya wanted a piece of this,” Merle smirked. God he was insufferable. But I was willing to suffer, so long as he kept kissing me like that.

[petrichoravellichor]

Title: A New Kind of Life

Wordcount: ~10k

Rating: T

Summary: What if, when Sam and Dean break into the Empty, Cas isn’t the only one they save? A post-15x19 fix-it fic in which Crowley gets a second shot at the redemption (and family) he deserves.

(Read on Ao3)

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

Chapter 1 (of 5) (Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Chs. 4 & 5)

“Crowley! Wake up, you son of a bitch, wake up!”

Crowley opens his eyes to Dean shaking him hard by the shoulders. Which is strange: the last thing Crowley remembers, he was dying, alone and forgotten in a parallel universe.

He isn’t there anymore. Instead, Dean is kneeling over him in a dome of golden light beyond which everything is dark, and for a brief, absurd moment he’ll chastise himself for later, Crowley thinks he’s somehow ended up in Heaven.

Then he glances past Dean and sees Sam with an exhausted-looking Castiel slumped against him; next to them is a younger man Crowley doesn’t recognize, but his eyes are molten gold, the same color as the dome surrounding them all. The amount of raw power emanating from the golden-eyed man makes every one of Crowley’s hairs stand on end, and not in a good way.

No, definitely not his idea of Heaven.

Crowley snaps his gaze back to Dean. “What—” he begins, but Dean cuts him off, hauling him to his feet.

“No time for questions!” Dean yells, and it’s only then that Crowley registers the roar coming from beyond the dome: it’s as though they’re standing in the eye of a hurricane as all around them things blow apart. “Come on, we gotta go!”

And then they’re all running, the dome of light moving with them like a shield as wispy black wraiths crash and burn against its perimeter and somewhere unseen, a hideous voice howls in rage.

*****

Once they’re safely back in the Bunker war room, Dean takes hold of Castiel and, along with the golden-eyed man—whose irises have faded to a soft, concerned blue—ushers him off in the direction of the infirmary, promising gruffly as he goes that he and Crowley will talk later.

Patience, however, is a virtue, and Crowley isn’t feeling particularly virtuous—especially not after seeing how tenderly Dean and Castiel looked at each other as Dean wrapped an arm around the angel’s waist and led him from the room. The sight had left a bitter taste in Crowley’s mouth, one he does his best to ignore. There will be time for that later; right now, he needs answers, and he’s not waiting on Dean in order to get them.

He crosses his arms and fixes Sam with an expectant glare. “All right, Moose,” he says, "out with it: what in God’s name is going on?”

Sam snorts, looking tired. “Um, yeah, about that...” He gestures towards the map table, then heads over to the liquor cabinet. “You...might wanna sit down.”

Crowley arches a brow, but he does as Sam suggests. Sam joins him a moment later and, after pouring them each a drink, spends the better part of the next hour telling Crowley all that’s transpired in the three years—three years—Crowley’s been dead.

Which is, it turns out, rather a lot.

Lucifer’s spawn survived his birth and is none other than the golden-eyed man Crowley saw when he woke up; his name is Jack, and for all intents and purposes, he considers Castiel to be his father.

An alternate version of Michael got a hold of Dean for a while, until Jack killed Michael at the cost of his soul, then, in a soulless rage, killed Mary.

God killed Jack. All Hell broke loose. Rowena, who’d apparently survived Lucifer’s last attempt to kill her, died to fix it and was now Queen of Hell.

Billie brought Jack back to kill God. Dean tried to kill Billie, so Billie tried to kill him. Castiel managed to take Billie out by admitting his love for Dean, at which point the Empty took Castiel—

Of course, thinks Crowley, the bitter taste in his mouth returning with a vengeance. Of. Bloody. Course...

The brothers had stormed the Empty not for him, but for Castiel. Good, noble, righteous Castiel, the wayward Angel of Thursday who’s been hopelessly in love with Dean for longer than Crowley has known him...and whom, it seems, Dean has finally admitted to loving back. Sam and Dean had saved Castiel because they loved him, because Dean loved him, but Crowley...They’d probably only rescued him because they’d figured they owed him for saving their denim-clad arses that day at the lake.

Now, as Crowley half-listens to Sam talk about defeating God, he glowers down at the map table and wishes they hadn’t bothered bringing him back at all, because it’s one thing to die unloved; it’s another to have to live that way. Crowley’s done both, and he knows which he prefers. At least in the Empty, he’d been at peace.

“Crowley? Hey, you okay?”

He looks up to see Sam regarding him from under a furrowed brow. Bollocks...

“Naturally,” Crowley says, leaning back in his chair with a dismissive smile. “That’s quite a tale, Moose. It sounds like you and Squirrel have outdone yourselves these past few years, even managed to pull one over on God; bravo. I’m sure Lucifer’s spawn will make a spectacular replacement: he is, after all, three.”

Sam’s eyes harden. “Jack’s nothing like Lucifer; he’s good, and he’s got us to help him, and Amara—”

“Oh, Amara! Now there’s a recipe for success if I’ve ever heard one: God’s evil sister and her Satanic great-nephew with billions of raw souls at their disposal. How could that possibly go wrong?” Crowley scoffs, shaking his head. “Honestly, there’s just no learning with you lot, is there? You just keep humming the same damn tune, then acting surprised when the notes turn sour, and it never even occurs to you to pick. A new. Bloody. Song.”

The frown on Sam’s face intensifies. “This is different. Jack, Amara, they’re on our side, and now that Rowena’s in charge of Hell—”

Crowley snorts. “Right. Care to wager on how long that lasts?” Then, at the look of sudden wariness on Sam’s face, he rolls his eyes. “Calm down, Moose; that wasn’t me plotting a coup. I have no plans to try and take back the crown.”

“You don’t?”

“Why on earth would I?” Crowley takes a sip of brandy, grimacing slightly at the flavor—for all the changes the past few years have wrought, the Winchesters’ abominable taste in liquor remains tragically consistent. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but I hated Hell as much as the blasted place hated me. If Mother thinks she can do better, she can have it.”

They sit without speaking for a moment; then Sam clears his throat. “You know,” he says quietly, “Rowena regrets how things ended between the two of you.”

Crowley stiffens, a stab of anger piercing his gut. “No, she doesn’t.”

“She does,” Sam insists, and how anyone can look so stupidly earnest is beyond Crowley’s ability to comprehend. “She told us so.”

Crowley scoffs. “And you believed her?” he demands, left hand closing into a fist at his side. “You know, for the longest time, I thought you were the smart one.”

Sam sighs. “Crowley...Look, I’m not saying Rowena’s perfect—”

“She’s quite literally the Queen of Hell, Moose.” Crowley manages to keep his voice level, but his fingernails are digging into his palm. “I’d say that’s about as far from perfect as anyone can get.”

“—but I think you two should talk.”

Crowley’s hand starts to bleed.

“I mean it,” continues Sam, when Crowley says nothing. “When I was a kid, my dad...he wasn’t there the way he should’ve been, and we fought a lot, and there were times I felt like I hated him, but when he died...”

A multitude of emotions flicker across Sam’s face in rapid succession, too fast for Crowley to name them all, but the final one, the one Sam looks back at him with, is regret. “When he died,” Sam continues, “I didn’t care about any of that. And maybe I should have. I know I should have. Believe me, I tried. But I just...kept coming back to the fact that what I was feeling, the good and the bad, I’d never get to actually say it to him, and if he was somehow sorry for the bad, that was something I’d never get to hear.”

Crowley’s anger flares white hot; his hidden palm is slick with blood. “If you have a point,” he growls, “I’d encourage you to come out with it.”

“My point,” says Sam, curtly, “is that you actually have a chance at some closure, and I think you should take it. For your own sake.”

Crowley clenches his jaw, looks away. “For my own sake,” he echoes, softly. As if his and Sam’s pain is the same. As if Rowena is capable of causing anything but. “Tell me, Moose: since when do you or your imbecile of a brother actually give a damn about my own sake?”

He raises his gaze to stare coldly at Sam who, for the first time since they sat down, seems at a genuine loss for words. Crowley snaps his glass down on the table and stands. “Thought as much.”

He shoves his hands in his coat pockets and turns to go—where, exactly, he has no idea—only to nearly crash headlong into Dean, and suddenly, Crowley’s anger turns to outright fury, because at the end of the day, it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter that Crowley had gone up against Hell and his mother and even his own better judgment for Dean more times than he could count.

It didn’t matter that the two of them had shared a bed when Dean was a demon, doing extraordinary things to triplets that Crowley would have kicked out in a heartbeat if he’d thought he could get away with it.

It didn’t matter that Crowley had sacrificed his life to save Dean and Sam and the whole bloody world.

None of it mattered, because for all the times Crowley had chosen Dean, Dean had never once chosen him. Then again, Crowley thinks, maybe it’s his own fault for expecting any different, his due comeuppance for stupidly believing he deserved to be loved. It doesn’t matter; he knows better now.

“Hello, Dean,” he snarls. “Come to look in on me now that you’ve seen to your angel? Well you needn’t have bothered; I was just leaving.”

Dean frowns, crossing his arms. “The hell do you mean, you’re leaving?”

“I mean get out of my way.”

“No.”

“And why not?” Crowley demands, voice rising. “Am I your prisoner? I’ve already told your oaf of a brother that I’ve no interest in causing any sort of trouble in Hell, so if that’s what this is about, then you can just—”

“Damn it, Crowley,” snaps Dean, “no, that’s not what this is about; it’s about where are you even gonna go. You got a place somewhere we don’t know about?”

“I’ll find one.”

“Or,” Dean counters, “you could cut the crap and just stay here.”

That catches Crowley off guard, but only for a moment; he gives Dean a hard look, determined not to let the surprise show on his face. “And why on earth would I want to do that?”

“Because you know it’s the smart thing to do,” says Dean, face impassive, “and last I checked, you were an asshole, not an idiot.”

And it’s not that Crowley doesn't know full well that running off half-cocked into a world whose dynamics have fundamentally changed is naive at best and suicidal at worst—that isn’t what makes him nearly scream in rage, because he knows it’s patently true. No, the infuriating thing, the truly mortifying thing, is that Dean knows him well enough to know that he knows it, and that if Crowley does leave, he’s only going to prove Dean right.

The thought is more than Crowley can bear; still, if he doesn’t get out of this room right now, he’s going to start shouting—at Dean, at himself, at everything. There are other, less crowded places in this godforsaken Bunker, and it’s past time he went and found one. He’s not going to give Dean the satisfaction of watching him break.

Crowley pulls his fury tight and close, stepping forward into Dean’s space and glaring up at him with every bit of defiance he can muster. “Funny,” he sneers, “because last I checked, you were both.”

And he vanishes before Dean can respond.

*****

Crowley finds an unoccupied room at the far end of the hall and decides to claim it as his own for the time being. He bolts the door and turns to collapse onto the bed...only to freeze dead in his tracks.

His mother is standing in the corner. As Crowley gapes, Rowena takes a step forward, face pale and incredulous. “Fergus?” she whispers. “Gods, is it really you?”

Her voice snaps Crowley out of his shock, and he narrows his eyes. “Mother,” he growls, the word like poison in his mouth. “What do you want?”

“Sam told me they were going to try and get you back,” Rowena says softly, eyes roving over Crowley’s face as though seeing him for the first time, “and I wanted...I needed to see if they’d done it, if you were all right.”

Crowley glares, making a mental note to have a word with Sam about this particular indiscretion. “Well, you’ve seen me. Now get out.”

Rowena recoils, and if Crowley didn’t know any better, he’d swear his words actually hurt her. “You’re angry,” she says. “You’re angry, and you’ve every right to be, but if you’d just let me explain—”

“Explain what?” Crowley snaps. He clenches both hands into fists, ignoring the burn in his left palm. “What could you possibly have to say to me that I’d want to hear? You hate me, remember?”

“I love you—”

Crowley barks out a laugh. “Really? Have you forgotten the last time we saw each other? You left on a bus after you sent my son to his death, all because you wanted to watch me ‘suffer the loss of a child’, of my child!” He stumbles towards her, half-blind with rage. “Tell me, Mother: did losing me bring you any suffering, or were you just sad you weren’t there to collect three pigs in exchange?”

Rowena looks as though she’s been slapped. “Of course I suffered! Do you have any idea what I went through trying to get you back? I faced Death herself; I begged her to return you to me, but she wouldn’t do it! Ask Sam, ask Dean!”

“They’ve already told me,” Crowley grinds out. “It doesn’t matter.”

“How can you say that?” Rowena is crying now, tears rolling freely down her face. “Of course it matters! I did it because I missed you, because I love you!”

“You’ve never loved me a day in your life.”

“That isn’t true! I did love you; I do!” Rowena takes another step forward and reaches out a hand. “If you could just find it in your heart to forgive me—”

“Forgive you?” Crowley snarls, and it’s all he can do not to spit in her face. “You don’t get to ask for my forgiveness, not after any one thing you’ve put me through, not after everything! What was it you said to me that day at the bus station, your parting words? ‘Who better than me to crush your shriveled heart’? At least I had a heart, once; you never did.”

“Fergus—”

And Crowley explodes. “GET OUT!” he screams, seizing the lamp off the bedside table and hurling it at his mother with all his might...only to watch as it flies right through her and crashes into the wall.

And then Rowena’s gone, just like she always is, and Crowley’s alone, just like he always is. He stands in the middle of the room and stares hollowly into empty space. “Astral projection,” he says, quietly; it always had been one of his mother’s favorite tricks. “Of course.”

He spends the rest of the night warding the room as many ways as he knows how, determined not to let his mother or anyone else get the drop on him again.

[aaronhotchstuff]

CAN YOU PLS TELL ME MORE ABOUT AUDREY’S STORY, WITH HARVEY AND EVERYONE ELSE TOO?? I just want to know EVERYTHING about my new daughter

AHHH YES OF COURSE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH THIS JUST MAKES ME SO HAPPY

tw: death and mentions of kidnapping

okay so i’ll start where this ask left off, and this is also by no means short lmaooo;

civil war happens after audrey’s sophomore year so since they moved to missouri, she had to switch schools again

fast forward to two years later, the three of them and possibly with barney & his fam (i really wanna include him i just don’t know how lol) are gonna have an outdoor lunch but they ran out of ketchup so audrey went to the market to buy some, along with other condiments just so they wouldn’t have to drive out again

and on her way, her car was ambushed on the road by naked eye (the organization i created), took her to one of their facilities and held her there for a couple days or weeks after the snap

but back to clint!!

so his pregnant wife (with twins!) and his brother are fixing the table and the food

his nephews are playing catch

while him and his sister-in-law (possibly another oc of mine, or maybe i’ll use laura — not sure yet!!) teaches his niece how to use a bow

he turns his back and everyone is just gone (i think i’ll have barney survive too but idk yet lol — his existence for now is really just an i don’t know afahaga)

in panic, he drives after audrey but everyone is also panicking, everything is all over the place and cars on the road are wrecked, etc.

he then finds audrey’s car that seemed to have crashed onto a pillar, which it did but as you know it’s not because she was dusted, but that’s what he assumed

as he takes on the ronin mantle in grief, audrey is being blackmailed into submission

unaware of the world’s current events, she agrees to do whatever they want since she literally thought that her whole family was still alive

so she trained every single day with her trainer who fed on her pent-up rage (x)

she had this training kind of similar to that of nat’s; where they train her to be cold and not feel anything when she takes someone’s life and that is probably the hardest part of the training for her

that has mentally scarred her for life, and that’s really what made her more apathetic and not the training itself :(

obviously she’ll figure out about the snap but by then, she’d already found a friend in a fellow hostage, francesca alonso

they butt heads a lot at first but eventually fall in love and start dating

which surprisingly wasn’t something naked eye was against,,, (i mean so long as it didn’t interfere with their missions)

they dyed her hair back to blonde, her natural color, and this is something that she’ll grow to hate

the red is super symbolic to her; her first ever family with blythe and daphne and also nat, her beloved godmother, which she was absolutely heartbroken to learn had died

however there’s just too much going on for her to have time to change it back

maybe two or three years later after she started, she’s sent out on missions as a vigilante; bullseye!

(partly because she says bullseye! a lot, even before she was kidnapped 😭)

anyway, on one mission with francesca (not as their alter egos), audrey handles perimeter while fran went in the building and since ronin was already inside before they even arrived, he killed fran once they crossed paths; thinking that she was part of whatever was going on in that building

audrey goes after her once she realized that something was wrong, but she was already too late and fran dies in her arms while ronin gets away (x)

in that moment, she swore to find ronin and not stop until he’s dead, so although naked eye was against this vendetta of hers, she still kept going

audrey encountered ronin on another mission and as they fight, clint immediately gets a feeling of familiarity from her, and hope builds up in his mind

this feeling is somehow confirmed when she says bullseye! as she shot an arrow to the tank behind him which also kinda mirrors the scene between him and tony in civil war;

“What do you mean? You missed.”

“Did I?”

and then the tank blows up

assuming he’s dead, she leaves and returns to base, but when her superiors knew about this, they sent her to isolation for about a month or so

in that time span, naked eye already had someone temporarily replace her as bullseye! just to throw ronin off their trail

not yet sure if i’ll make this someone important in the fic or not, but in another encounter, ronin pulls her hood and mask and when he sees that it’s not his daughter, he’s just super crushed

and i’m also thinking that he told nat about all of this, so that makes his “don’t do that. don’t give me hope.” line extra painful and emotional 😭😭 (x)

and obviously nat would’ve offered her help and had given it to him although he really didn’t want her to; so like she tracked him down but he had already moved on elsewhere when she arrived :(

ANYWAYS, audrey goes on to work for naked eye for about another year and on one mission, she encounters an undercover bobbi morse

there is some sort of contact between bobbi and harvey that i haven’t fully fleshed out but bobbi knows what audrey looks like as a redhead so it took her a bit before realizing who she is since she’s now blonde and much much older

bobbi takes it upon herself to help her out (kind of like her way of doing more good since she also lost her girlfriend to the snap; which i’ve yet to name but she is portrayed by meagan tandy), and after that’s done, she becomes audrey’s mentor; where she tried to reverse what naked eye taught her but obviously that’s gonna be a long process

whenever audrey makes the slightest bit of progress, it makes her super proud

a few months later, everybody was brought back and she returns to missouri to reunite with her family

she actually breaks down to tears the moment that she sees them; she runs up to clint with a hug then pulls her mom in, absolutely nothing but sobs from the three of them and what makes this sadder is the fact that this is the first time she’s cried since the snap (x)

but the drastic changes to her aren’t hard to notice, obviously

she chose to lie about it; she was confused about “suddenly being back”, she was in a hospital, stopped by a friend’s place to settle down, etc.

since i’m thinking it took clint a while to get home anyway, what with the battle in the compound and how far it is from missouri

and from that point forward she just straight up lied about everything

so they attend tony’s funeral and although she was upset, she was way more pissed that they weren’t having one for nat (x)

i’m thinking that clint probably wanted to be the one to tell yelena, melina and alexei because he knew they’d want to hold one for nat, but he didn’t really know that much about them or where to look for them so although he tried his best, he had no luck whatsoever

he also tried to contact hailey, harvey’s twin and nat’s girlfriend who didn’t survive the snap and the only other person who knew about nat’s fam, but she was nowhere to be found after she found out that nat and tony died

so after harvey gives birth to the twins, nathaniel pietro barton and natalia antoinette barton, audrey moves out and back to new york where she continued to look for ronin with the help of bobbi for like another year

but the only real lead she’s had so far is chatter in the dark web that his suit and sword are going to be on a black market auction (courtesy of abby)

thinking that he’d be there and try to get it back, audrey dresses up and attends the event where it will take place (she’s now twenty-four, by the way!!)

completely forgetting about seeing rogers: the musical with her family, who had visited her earlier and told her about said musical

at the party, she stands by kate (who she definitely stared at for a bit from across the room) as she gets a drink and kate strikes up a conversation about not really having that good of a time

and they don’t really realize who each other are because it’s been twelve years

audrey then went to the wine cellar thingy and once the sword has been sold, she actually thought for a sec that it was jack

kate sees her from behind the racks and is like 👁️👄👁️

when the explosion happens and she sees ronin, she immediately puts her suit on and also fought the tracksuits; which made kate think that she’s on her side

once the fight inside is over, audrey literally drags kate out, but they both get distracted by one of the tracksuit guys and lucky and they both yell “hey!”

after kate knocked him out, ran after the dog then saved him, audrey really just followed suit; getting the idea that this is most definitely not ronin but she still wanted some answers

audrey could barely keep up with her, but she had no choice so she just kept on following her and kate didn’t even stop her like 😭 they were literally on their way to her apartment afsjsgah

“Hey, is this your place?”

“Uh, yeah. This is my place. What, you don’t...you don’t like it—”

“Oh my god, this is your place?! You have a goddamn mafia after your ass and your first move is to go back to your apartment?!”

“Well, I mean, it’s...it’s kinda your fault, too, you know, ‘cause uh. You didn’t...you didn’t stop me.”

“What—” “I don’t even know who you are, how the hell was I supposed to know where you live?”

“I don’t—” “I don’t know?!”

THEY’RE JUST VERY CHAOTIC OKAY!! KATE MAKES HER WANNA PULL HER HAIR OUT AFAHSGSHSH

anyway after that she still follows kate because she doesn’t want the girl to get herself killed, especially since she figured she’s new at this stuff

and she was right; they saw armand’s body and kate kinda freaked out at her in the middle of the road, then they had to fight off the mafia again

audrey had her head bashed into the window of the car where kate got in so that was fun <3

she was still busy fighting the rest of the other guys so clint used that to his advantage and dragged kate’s ass

audrey managed to put them all down and followed suit, drawing her bow at him when she sees his fist aimed at kate

“Get off of her or I swear to god I’ll put an arrow through your skull!”

clint recognizes her voice almost immediately (which is unlike before because there weren’t really words then and were all emotions, and audrey was too far away for clint to hear her voice properly), turns around with a contorted face and says, “Audrey?” (x)

she immediately panicked, but she set that aside given the current situation they’re in;

“Don’t hurt her, dad. She’s got nothing to do with all this, she’s...she’s just a kid.”

“Yeah, well, last I checked, so were you.”

aaand then i’ll leave the rest to the fic, which hopefully will be posted soon!! i love them so very much and i’m so excited to write the thousands of things that i’ve got planned <3

tagging @come-along-pond @claryxjackson and @lizziesxltzmxn because i think that you’d enjoy this one as well!!

[impala-dreamer]

Wash Me Away

SPN FanFIc

~Being lost in Purgatory with Dean takes a toll on Y/N, but a night of rest might do them both good.~

Dean x Reader, Benny, Mentions of Castiel

2,729 Words

Warnings: NSFW. Purgatory Smangst!. Danger. Romance. Rain.

A/N: This is for my Purgatory!Dean square on @spnkinkbingo​​ 2020 and for my darling @covered-byroses​​ who wanted something about the rain. Hope you all enjoy!

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It had been weeks, a month, maybe, since they woke up there. A month of running for their lives, every second on edge, wondering if they’d be fast enough to escape the next monster, strong enough to fend off the next attack. And there was always another attack.

They got a few hours here and there to rest, but they were on the move now, day and night.

Funny how Purgatory could sustain even a human for days without sleep or food. Perhaps the universe was coddling them, keeping them alive just enough so they could find the portal and escape. Or maybe they were just getting used to it, adapting to their new existence.

Dean was harder here, she noticed. He never laughed anymore, never teased her like he used to. She understood, of course. There was no reason to laugh anymore, not with a thousand fangs aimed at their throats.

Y/N tried to keep some hope, tried to show him a smile whenever he needed one, but the darkness was eating at her too. Hell would probably be nicer, she thought, but then again, she wouldn’t be with Dean.

Maybe he was what was keeping her going. Surely, she’d have given up that first night, succumbed to the monsters in and around her after Castiel abandoned them. But, Dean was there to grab her hand and pull, forcing her feet to run, demanding she keep her shit together. And she did. For him.

It helped that they had a mission. They weren’t just trying to get out, they were trying to find Cas. Some days, trudging behind Dean and Benny, Y/N had to bat away the idea that Cas was already dead. If it took three of them working together to get through the minefield that was Purgatory, how could one lone angel survive? She didn’t like to think like that, but it was hard some days.

Then there was Benny. Part of her was absolutely disgusted that Dean had agreed to let him tag along, to make such a deal with a monster. He was a vampire for fuck’s sake, but she understood, in the end. Dean couldn’t keep her safe and look for Cas at the same time. Still, sometimes she felt Benny’s eyes digging into her and it chilled her Hunter’s spirit to the bones.

There were times when they could go no further, when even Dean’s strong legs started to give out. They would sit beneath a tree or hide behind some strangely arranged pile of boulders. Shelter was sparse, so when they happened upon the cave that night, Y/N nearly cried.

Dean didn’t even protest when Benny insisted they both rest inside for the night while he went on ahead. The area around the cave was clear, and Benny promised to patrol the perimeter while they slept.

It was cold and quiet.

The mouth of the cave was about six feet wide and four feet tall, but it opened up into a room big enough to get comfortable in. Dean took the left side, stretching out his long legs as he sat against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Y/N lay down opposite him, hands like a sorry pillow behind her head as she stared up at the rocky ceiling. There was a bit of pale yellow light coming in from outside, so it wasn’t too dark, and the cracks in the stone gave her something to count and focus on while Sleep ran away.

“This isn’t too bad,” she said, mostly to herself. “Ya know, if we don’t find Cas, we can just hole up here. Maybe excavate a little bit, add some bedrooms, a little kitchen in the back. Could be nice.”

“We’re going to find him,” Dean grumbled, his eyes still closed, lips barely moving. “I’m not living in a cave in this hell hole world.”

Y/N rolled onto her side, head braced by one hand. “Well, technically, this ain’t a hell hole. It’s a purg-hole. That’s a thing I just made up, but anyway.” She held her smile, biting her tongue between her front teeth, but Dean didn’t share her laugh. “Come on, dude,” she said, slapping his boot. “Smile.”

“No.”

“You’ll feel better if you do.”

Dean opened one eye and glared. “How?”

“Because I’ll feel better and that always makes you happy.”

She smiled sadly and he gave in, offering a meager smile that barely lifted his lips.

“See? Thank you.”

She left him alone then, rolling onto her stomach, cursing the world for not packing a sleeping bag before getting blown into another dimension. She should have had her go-bag with her. Would have made things a lot easier.

Thoughts swirled, the silence wrapped around her, and sleep finally came, closing her eyes before she even felt its approach.

She woke to rain.

A faint mist pushed in by a wayward breeze through the cave mouth kissed her eyelids and Y/N stirred, lifting her cheek from her hand and blinking into the dark. Raindrops danced a few feet away, collecting in shallow puddles where the rocks failed to meet in perfect seems.

Suddenly, it was all she ever wanted; the rain, the cool air, the heavy clouds. Her soul ached for it.

“Dean.”

She called to him gently but he was already awake, emerald eyes turned towards the same raindrops.

“Yeah, Y/N/N?” His voice was softer now, calmer after his rest.

“Come with me,” she whispered, lifting up onto her hands and knees.

Dean caught her left wrist as she tried to crawl out of the cave, shaking his head when she turned back, curious. “Don’t. You don’t know what’s out there.”

She sighed. “Benny’s walking the treeline. All that’s out there right now is rain. And I want to feel it on my face, Dean. It’s been too long.”

Her eyes misted over and something inside him gave in. His fingers released their hold on her wrist and he rolled to his knees, following her out.

They didn’t go too far; just a few yards away from the cave, but it felt like miles.

Y/N closed her eyes as she lifted her arms and turned her face to the sky. There was no Heaven up there, not anymore, not where they were, but for a moment, she felt it. Each drop of rain stung her face but she loved every one. It felt good, clean.

The water seeped into their clothes and soaked their hair, rinsing them clean of days of mud and muck. The dried blood on Dean’s cheek faded away and he lifted his hands, scrubbing them down his face with a sigh of relief.

“This feels amazing,” he said, finally cracking a real smile. He closed his eyes and let himself breathe; the first moment’s peace in a long while.

“Yeah.” Y/N’s voice broke, sadness creeping in. She dropped her head and the downpour massaged her neck with pounding pellets that trickled down under her collar. “It is.”

Dean heard her tone change and turned towards her, watching her shiver but not care to move. “What’s wrong?” His voice was tender as he came close; he was afraid for her, worried.

Y/N licked the water from her lips and looked up at him. Her eyes were as wet as anything else, but the reason wasn’t the same. “I don’t know.” She offered a lying smile but he wouldn’t have it.

“Tell me.”

His hand found her cheek.

She sighed deeply, shoulders dropping. “I just wanna stay here and let the rain wash me away.”

Dean pursed his lips, concerned dimples popping as he brushed the water from her cheek with his thumb. “Why?”

Y/N shook her head gently as she spoke. “It’s too much; I’m not gonna make it out here. You know that, Dean.” She took a breath as thunder rolled above them. “You should leave me in the cave. Go find Cas. Go get out of here.”

Dean’s chest burned at the thought; guilt stabbing his heart. “No.” He grabbed her face in both hands, holding her to him, forcing her to meet his eye. “I’m not leaving you, ever.”

Y/N tried to pull away but he refused, keeping her locked there, head in his hands, alone in the rain. He stared her down, hard, unblinking even as water crept into his eyes. His left eyelid trembled and she laughed.

“You’re an idiot,” she yelled, voice weak over the pouring rain.  

Dean smiled and bent his lips to hers. “Yeah, I am.”

They stood there in the downpour, not a single care for the first time in weeks. They kissed until the air between them was too thin, until their mouths filled with rain. Y/N tugged at the lapels of his leather coat and Dean’s hand slid up under her layers to lay on the small of her back. Any time she left for a deep breath, he pulled her closer, that big hand urging her to stay.

“We should go,” she managed after a long while, her breath heavy on his lips.

His eyes fell closed and his mouth reached for her. “No. Please.”

Y/N wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and moaned as he kissed his way across her jaw. “Take me back inside,” she whispered. “I need you.”

He let her go quickly, grabbing her hand as her boots sank into the mud. Together they climbed through the storm back up to the cave, desperate to settle down inside.

They stripped in a fury, no ceremony or tender hands. It was cold suddenly, and the dampness of their clothes was seeping in deep.

There was just enough room for him to stand and Dean used all of it, rushing to her and scooping Y/N into his arms once the sodden fabrics were kicked aside. They should have had a fire, but all they had was each other.

He kissed her harder, passion and desperation driving his tongue roughly between her lips. Y/N held on to his shoulders as he moved her where he wanted, absently walking her back until the stone shocked her skin.

“Fuck, that’s cold,” she laughed, turning her face from Dean’s kiss.

His hands slid around her, long fingers splayed out like a barrier over her back. “I’ll warm you up,” he growled, nipping at her pulse.

His kisses traveled downwards and Y/N ran her hands through his wet hair, sighing blissfully as his mouth closed around her nipple. “That’s pretty good…”

Dropping to his knees, Dean looked up with a smirk. “Oh wait,” he teased, sliding his right hand upwards to part her thighs. “There’s more.”

“I’m sure there is-” A gasp stole her words as Dean’s lips pressed against her pussy. She shuddered and sank down against the cavern wall, opening up for his tongue. He rolled it slowly across her clit, sending every bit of blood and thought straight down to it. She throbbed almost painfully as he fucked her open, fingers and lips working together to draw heavy moans from the back of her throat. She held on, fingers in his hair, hands tugging on his ears.

It had been too long since she had felt him, forever since she’d even had a thought to spare on pleasure, and her nerves were pulsing. Dean lifted her right leg to hook over his shoulder and the new angle gave his tongue more access than Y/N could stand. She shook almost violently as she came, her tight-lipped cry echoing down into the depths of their cave.

Dean pulled away, face shining with her slick juices, lips red and swollen. “Warm enough?” he asked, slowly drawing his tongue across his bottom lip, savoring her taste.

It took a moment for her brain to connect to her mouth, and Y/N took a deep breath as she dropped her leg from his shoulder. “Not quite.” She fell down to his level, knees crashing too hard into the rocky floor. “My turn.”

Her smile was delicious and Dean kissed her hard, humming into her as she ran her hands down his smooth chest.

“That’s nice,” he laughed, breath hitching as she tugged at his nipples. “Fuck.”

He was already hard between them and Y/N took advantage, wrapping one hand firmly around his cock while the other curled around the nape of his neck. She sucked at his lips while she stroked him, watching as the tension and worry melted from his face. Lines faded, his forehead relaxed, shoulders slumped as she worked him gently. When he wobbled, unsteady on his knees, she let him go, crawling over to the pile of damp clothes.

Dean watched in a daze as she lay down, opening her arms to him.

“Come ‘ere.”

He fell down against her, heavy body crushing her beautifully into the stone. He pushed between her legs; thick hips keeping her warm against the cool wind. “Fuck, I missed this.”

His whisper tickled her breast and Y/N cupped his jaw, urging him to look up. “Me too.” She traced his cheek with her fingertips, lightly skimming the slowly healing cut on his cheekbone.

“How?” she asked, suddenly melancholy once more.

Dean rolled against her, his cock pushing up across her slit. “How what?”  

Her body tensed as he nudged at her clit, forcing her eyes to close and her heart to race. “How- how are we even here right now?” She tried to focus on his weight, the heat of him pushing into her, but it was easier to let the pounding rain take her mind away. “Are we dead? Are our bodies back on Earth in pieces all over that lab? I don’t-”

Dean pulled away and locked his arms aside her head. “Do you really want to worry about that right now?”

Y/N let his voice pull her back and she stared into his eyes. He was just as worried, just as sad as she, but Dean was living in the moment. That was all he could handle.

“No,” she said finally, giving him a tiny smile as she cupped his face and pulled him down to her. She kissed away the worry and nibbled at his pain, afraid to let him go even as he pushed up on his knees to bury his thick cock deep inside of her.

They lay in the mouth of the cave, Y/N’s head resting on Dean’s arm like a pillow. He curled himself around her, knees behind hers, nose tucked in the crook of her neck.

The rain had eased to a drizzle and Y/N followed an errant droplet as it raced down the rocks. When it added itself to the puddle by her hand, she pulled it back and fit her hand inside Dean’s.

“You think he’s really out there still?” she asked on the end of a sigh.

“Yeah, I do.” Dean left a final kiss on her shoulder before rolling away. “I have to.”

“We could just leave now, you know.”

Dean pulled his arm away and sat up, reaching for his jeans.

“I love Cas, don’t get me wrong,” she explained, staring at the faint track the raindrop had left on the rocks. “I just...I’m not…”

“Hey.” Dean’s gruff tone pulled her out of the fog and she turned to him. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, you hear me?”

Y/N nodded but swallowed hard, fear heavy in her chest. “Yeah.”

“I mean it.” He grabbed her hand between both of his and squeezed. “I have two goals in my life right now. Find Cas and get us all home. I’m not giving up on either and neither are you.”

Emerald shone bright, even in the dark, and Y/N let herself believe him.

Dean dipped his chin to catch her gaze. “OK?”

Y/N smiled softly. “OK.”

He kissed her knuckles quickly and then let her go, pulling the wet denim up to his knees. “Good. Now, let’s get dressed before Benny gets back. I don’t need no bloodsucker peepin’ on my girl.” He winked and she rolled her eyes.

“You’re an idiot,” she laughed.

Dean licked his lips and shrugged. “I think we’ve already established that.”

2020 Forever Tags:

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[batarella]

The Commander - Part 13 (Arkham Knight x Reader)

ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES. I had so much fun looking back at Arkham Knight playthroughs and following the flow of this scene. HOPE YOU ENJOY.

WORDS: 3648 WARNINGS: SPOILERS FOR ARKHAM KNIGHT VIDEO GAME (CLOUDBURST SCENE) AND SOOOOO MUCH ANGST. I RECOMMEND WATCHING A PLAYTHROUGH IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED THE GAME 

Masterlist

THE COMMANDER - MASTERLIST

------

“Commander Y/N.”

It was Scarecrow’s voice in her communicator. They’d just arrived at Gotham. By now, he should be at Ace Chemicals. “I’m in the middle of something, Crane.”

“I thought of what you can do, so your relationship with the Knight will not be such a… predicament…”

“I have no relationship with him.”

“Didn’t you and the Knight share an intimate moment at the Dark Knight’s cave?”

She almost dropped the gun, her mouth slightly parted but was too horrified to speak. She was in the middle of taking her men into their base at the department store. And even so, she stopped walking. “I told you. I have eyes.”

“What the hell do you want from me?”

“You control the Cloudburst tonight.”

“We reached that decision days ago, you dirt rag.”

Crane’s voice sounded like he breathed into her ear even closer.

“But it shall be the Arkham Knight that the Batman thinks is manning the tank.”

Her rifle almost dropped to the ground. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I am the kind of man who wants every possibility planned out.”

“Are you even a man, Crane?”

“The Batmobile is not what we’d expected.”

“Expected?”

“It’s much stronger. It’s destroyed a number of my drones just outside my station at Ace Chemicals.  Tell me, Commander, what happens if the Dark Knight manages to destroy the Cloudburst?”

She remembered. They had this perfectly planned out. She, Jason, Scarecrow, and Deathstroke all agreed on the same.

First, before anything else, they kidnap Barbara Gordon. If the Cloudburst fails to release the toxin, the Knight will go after the commissioner, James Gordon, who will by then be looking for the Arkham Knight after taking his daughter.

They will then use the Commissioner to gain them access into the Panessa Studios, which according to Jason, is one of Batman’s many hideouts. Whoever is in the studios that they can use to their advantage, they will take them.

It goes on from there.  The commissioner will then serve as a hostage to force Batman to surrender, if everything else falls into place.

“Kidnap the commissioner,” she said.

“The Dark Knight destroying the cloudburst has become more of a possibility than what we’ve thought, but as way to counter that, taking Batman himself, injecting that fear onto his bloodstream whilst I unmask him for the world to see, that does just as much damage to Gotham as my fear toxin.”

“And how am I supposed to help you with that?”

“I’m afraid your Knight has miscalculated. He needs far more than a few hours to get Gordon and hack into the studios. If Batman thinks it is the Arkham Knight manning the Cloudburst, he will no longer be looking for him after it has been destroyed. It will give us the time we need to kidnap Gordon and his allies,” he said.. “Otherwise, Batman will track the Knight down before we’ve done so much.”

“You seem to have these awfully planned out, Crane. For someone who thought the Cloudburst was such a prize.”

Crane let out an eerie, maniacal laugh beneath his breath.

“I am a very calculated man, Commander. Engulfing Gotham City in my reign of fear can only hold so long if the Batman continues to defend her. Unmasking him, humiliating him for the world to see, that will be the assurance I need so that the next time I release my toxin, I will be sure no one can stop me.”

She could almost feel Scarecrow’s syringes against her neck, and she stood stiff, her eyes locked onto the abandoned department store.

“It shouldn’t make much of a difference. So unless you make sure the Cloudburst isn’t destroyed, give your precious Knight the time he needs to succeed.”

Xxxxxx

The Cloudburst drove out from the tunnels.

She was alone, and the air in the cockpit was eerily cold. The Commander pulled out from one of the compartments something she’d prepared earlier that night.

A visor identical to the Arkham Knight’s.

If all else fails, at least Jason will still have a shot.

She took off her white mask, looked straight into the optics, then set it aside.

The visor was heavy, and it weighed on her neck so much she could topple at any more movement. And it was hot. Y/N had trouble to even breathe. She stretched her shoulders and pressed on her communicator, the one Jason gave her.

“Jason.”

Her voice. It sounded precisely like his. Filtered, unidentifiable, and foolproof.

“Where the hell did you get that visor?”

“Calm down. If I were you I’d take off your own visor. Batman only needs to see and hear mine.”

Their two voice were hurtful to hear on each ends of the communicator. She heard him take off his helmet, and with his real voice, he didn’t sound any happier.

“What are you trying to do, Commander?”

“Ask Scarecrow. This was his idea.”

She heard him curse, then his comms turned off and the Commander continued with maneuvering the tank out onto the streets. Out of Founder’s, and into Perdition Bridge. This will be where she releases the toxin.

There were street thugs, running out of the way, while still keeping their eyes on what was about to happen. Other than that, Gotham was empty. The Cloudburst paraded across the bridge.

“Do it,” she heard Scarecrow’s voice.

She closed her eyes, and all she could see was her uncle’s face.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Commander Y/N turned off the ventilation, made sure the oxygen tanks were in power, then signaled for the Cobra tanks to stand guard.

Her hand sweating on the lever, the Commander pulled on the cylinder, turned it exactly 50 degrees, then pushed.

The visor did much to mask the noise. But she was used to it. What she wasn’t used to was the explosion that came directly in front of her.

It was much like a bomb, and the massive blow of the toxin, in the form of smoke, tore up into the sky and sucked up any form of air in its way. It blew out all across her, over the water under the bridge and out into all three islands of Gotham. It was like a sandstorm, crushing anything in its path and engulfing the city in a hellish red cloud of the Scarecrow’s toxin.

And it didn’t take too long. The storm subsided, and when she looked up, all she could see was darkness.

No longer was there a blank sky above her. It was the toxin in the form of a heavily concentrated gas cloud that covered everything from the streets up to at least five stories. Everything below it, suffered its effects.

The same thugs that stared at the tank were now ripping each other’s flesh with their own teeth, their eyes white and the noises they made inhumane.

This was it. This was Gotham. This was the City of Fear.

Xxxxx

“Commander, a serpent drone has picked up a giant plant growing out of Founder’s Island.”

“A giant what?”

Quickly, she searched for the drone’s footage, and sure enough a plant the size of three towers stacked together sprouted out of the ground and had Batman’s car in its vines. “Son of a bitch.”

“Sergeant, there’s a weed grown tall in Divinity Churchyard,” she said to the drone controllers. “Cut it down.”

“Sending drones in now, sir.”

She opened her visor and pinched her nose. Scarecrow’s plan worked, as of now. Batman thinks it was the Knight in the Cloudburst and not her. And that plan might actually be of use, with the Dark Knight getting closer and closer to ending the toxin’s hold on the city.

Scarecrow was right. Again. She hated that man to the bone.

She kept on the footage of the Batmobile destroying each of her drones. “I own these streets, Dark Knight!” she said. One after the other, they exploded.

“He wiped them out sir,” the sergeant said over her comms. “We’re gonna need more tanks.”

“No. Now he needs to face me.” She called Batman.

“Commander. Make sure he doesn’t survive. Blow up his stupid car and kill him,” Jason said. She heard his breath heavy.

She’s never seen his face up close before, but there he was. The Dark Knight. Ready to face her to the death. “YOU WANNA FINISH THIS? COME TO BLEAKE ISLAND!”

Her hands gripping tightly on the controls. “Commander,” she heard Jason’s unfiltered voice. “He’s blocked off the bridges out of Bleake Island.”

“I’ll be okay. Batman doesn’t realize he’s going after the best markswoman in the world.”

And with that, she called for the cobra tanks to surround her, her hands gripping onto the handles to move the tank into the center of the island.

The Cloudburst’s optics circled slowly around the perimeter. She searched for any signature, any movement out of place. There was dead silence, and the sky the color of blood.

“We’ve lost a Cobra Tank. Sending support.”

She growled into her communicator. “IT’S OVER BATMAN. GOTHAM’S DEAD.” There was buzzing, like tires screeching. Her optics picked up movement, and she breathed, quick enough not to lose its sight. He was slightly peering into from a building on her right. She locked onto the target, firing her missile.

And like that, Deadshot became the first to hit the Batmobile. The damage wasn’t too much, but it was significant. “Good job, Commander. Keep firing at him. Make sure he doesn’t come out of this alive,” Jason said.

“Cobra tank down. Holding formation.”

She would have cursed if Scarecrow’s voice hadn’t interrupted her. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Finishing the job.”

It was the Arkham Knight’s voice. But it was Jason’s line on the other end. She just listened.

“This is not the plan we agreed upon.”

“It’s a plan that works. Scarecrow can choke on his toxin, Batman. I just want you dead,” Jason growled.

Then she switched onto Jason’s communicator. “Are you sure about this?”

“Just keep going, Commander. Do not back down. I trust you with this.”

Another. And another. Three Cobras down in less than a minute apart.

“JASON.”

“I SAID KEEP GOING. BLOW UP HIS TANK. KILL HIM NOW.”

She was alone. No longer with any more tanks to support her. She kept her optics rotating at a faster pace. Batman couldn’t be far. He should be here. Somewhere.

Breathe in. Breathe-

She screamed, her head almost hitting the wall when the tank blew up on the right side. Her coolant systems set off an alarm, the Batman had hit her. The Commander turned her optics to that direction, caught the Batmobile just before it sped off, then fired.

Another hit. But at such a cost. She amplified the three remaining coolant lines and sped down the roads. Y/N slowed her heartbeat, slowed her breaths, focused on the sight in front of her. Focused on what was far.

The tank exploded again. This time from the back. “Knight, he’s trying to overheat the tank.”

“THE ISLAND IS BLOCKED OFF. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. I’M SENDING A SERPENT DRONE. KILL HIM.”

Those last two words, how she’s heard Jason say that to her more than just a few times.

The Commander turned her optics over to her side. He wasn’t there.

But she knew exactly where he was.

That road only led to one place. And on the other side was a dead end. He should pass by an alleyway in just a few moments. The Commander turned her launcher to that side, and waited.

Breathe. Follow the target. Keep breathing.

Her thumbs over the buttons, she kept her optics close. She waited and waited, facing the third coolant to that side to bait the Batmobile. There, he was coming closer.

The hood of the Bat’s tank, snaking to her side thinking she didn’t notice it. “FIRE,” she heard Jason scream into her ear.

She can end this now, it was much too easy. She pulled on the lever, her thumb hovering over the button. And then-

And then-

Uncle. He was at the front seat of the Batmobile. And he was looking at her. And he was so thin it didn’t even look like him anymore.

How many hundreds of lives has she taken?

How many thousands has she hurt?

How many daughters left without a father?

How many wives has she widowed?

How many millions will be left without hope?

How many in this city will suffer if she fires?

There have always been consequences, but none with stakes higher than this.

All that doubt, the guilt after pulling the trigger and leaving bodies left alone, it was all balled up in one. Crucial. Second.

The one second the Dark Knight needed.

Everything she’s worked for, trained for her whole life, thrown out into a deep dark hole. The Commander blindly fired at the Batmobile and slammed her head against the steel of the cockpit when the left side of the tank exploded.

And she had just one coolant left.

The alarms deafened her ears. And she was almost never deafened. It mimicked the panic of her heart racing, Jason’s voice violently screaming into her ear. The tank trembled immensely, and for once, she no longer knew what to do.

The Batmobile was alive. Somewhere in the island.

She missed.

She missed.

All the voices in her head. The Arkham Knight. Scarecrow. Deathstroke. Floyd Lawton. They all screamed at her. Her hands were shaking. She’s never missed a shot at anything for so long. Everything moved too fast, too strong for her to block off. She turned off her communicators, kept her heartbeat steady.

But she couldn’t hear Floyd’s voice any longer. He’d left her. And she was alone, shaking with the tank so close to giving out. She grabbed the handles and turned around.

Just for the Batman to fire at the last coolant. The one right at her front.

She hit her head. Again. Everything was too much of a blur. She couldn’t control her breathing, or her heart. She moved the cloudburst, finding someplace where the Bat couldn’t find her.

Five missiles locked onto her. The tank was barely holding up. Everything around her went red, and her head so painfully throbbing she couldn’t see or hear anything more.

She turned on her communicators.

“Jason…”

“I’M ON MY WAY, COMMANDER. STAY ALIVE.”

She heard him scream at Batman on the other end. And she felt three more missiles hit her from behind.

Sparks were emitting out of the Cloudburst and the whole tank was shaking off the ground. It no longer moved.

And she could smell it. The toxin. It was the worst thing she’s ever breathed in her whole life. The Commander clawed on her own throat, begging for some air. She hurried up the hatch, fighting the pain in her own head. She collapsed on the tank before she could breathe anything more.

Everything was dark. And her nightmares flashed like speeding pictures projected onto a screen.

There were ghosts, floating above and around her, mauling her body and pulling her up where she could no longer stand. And she couldn’t move. There were birds, screeching into her ear, and their claws were so sharp she could feel them scratch at her open flesh, pulling out her skin. And they flew over her fast, circling around her.

At the farthest end of the sky, something so miniscule, yet so visible. It was speeding right towards her and she could do so much as move her head to narrowly avoid it. It shined a glistening silver and it was burning. Y/N could just feel how hot it was from the speed. It was a bullet.

Being on the other side of the gun. That was what she feared the most.

Bullets entered her bloodstream, too many for her to count. Onto her chest, her stomach, her arms, her legs, her neck, her spine, her face. Every hit pierced through her like a thick needle and it froze her muscles at they made contact with her body. She screamed, a horrifying scream. Some settled on her flesh, on her skin, some resting on her head. She could feel the bullets enter her, her own blood spilling and her nerves so close to giving out. Every inch of her being tugged into a stinging burst, and the cold metal the bullets almost froze her muscles.

Y/N’s spine was hit, and she couldn’t feel anything on her lower body, even when so many bullets pierced her foot, she’d never be able to walk anyways. Her bones were shattered and her face, ruined by the explosives landing right at her cheeks.

She was laying on the ground. Y/N couldn’t move.

She’s seen this happen. And she’s caused this kind of pain to so many others.

Now she knows what it was like.

She screamed, openly at the abyss, at the birds flying above her like a tornado and her own voice painfully tugging at her throat. She saw Floyd, staring at her, and she couldn’t stop screaming.

Over. And over. And over.

She felt something carrying her up a rooftop, and the Batman crashing to the ground beside her. Her lungs gave out just as she saw the Arkham Knight get to her, leaving the Bat on the ground.

Xxxxxx

One. Two. Three.

One. Two. Three.

One. Two. Three.

She was unconsciously counting in her head. Just up to three, then she’d trail back to where she started.

It was like a knife was stabbing at her temple and went out the other side. Handle and all. Y/N felt her eyes about to open, but she wanted them still closed. She didn’t want to look if she was dead. Or worse, alive and hunted.

Everyone will be out to kill her.

Y/N’s eyes shot open.

She was in a room she didn’t know. And it was dark.

The department store. The Arkham Knight Headquarters. In an abandoned furniture store where none of her soldiers were staying in. It was small, barely enough for a closet, a dining table, and a couch, which was where she was lying on.

She had an oxygen mask strapped to her mouth. And every part of her ached when she sat up. But her body wasn’t ruined. She wasn’t shot. Only the sides of her arms and her head were bruised when she’d hit the cockpit walls in the tank after it exploded.

After she lost.

The door open. And the man that went inside looked out for anyone following him.

“Jason…”

He hurriedly shut the door. “Don’t fucking speak. If anyone finds you here, you're dead.”

Y/N immediately looked away. He didn’t even look at her. Jason pulled the visor off his head and placed it on the table, along with a large duffel bag.

He had his eyes closed shut.

“Jason, his tank was nothing like we’d expecte-“

“Shut up.”

She choked, looking straight at the wall.

“You knew how much he hurt me.”

Y/N hugged her chest, but even that was too painful to do. She just laid on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

“You knew how much I want him dead.”

“I…”

“I SAID SHUT UP.”

She stilled, feeling her wrists quake.

“I told Scarecrow you didn’t survive. Just so he wouldn’t come after you. Then I watched the footage on the Cloudburst…”

“I’m sorry-“

“You missed,” he cried. “He got away because you missed.”

It was something else other than her own hand holding her chest so tightly, because it was so painful she could feel it twist.

“All this would’ve been okay if I DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEVER MISSED A SHOT.”

His fist slammed against the wall. And the hole was large enough to almost collapse the ceiling above it.

“I TRUSTED YOU!”

He was screaming. Never mind what he said about being quiet.

And it dawned on her. Jason didn’t want Y/N on the Cloudburst, and she thought it was because he wanted her safe. That it would be too much for her.

But he wanted to be on the Cloudburst so he could guarantee Batman would be dead. It was never about her.

Stupid. Fucking stupid.

“That means that somewhere there,” he pointed at her head. “Somewhere, you felt guilty about all this. You hesitated. YOU HESITATED. Of all the times I’ve asked you to kill, YOU HESITATED WHEN IT MEANT THE MOST. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH HE’S MADE ME SUFFER. AND YOU JUST LET HIM LIVE.”

Jason knelt on the ground, and her muscles were too sore to move. She forced herself up, trying to reach for his head, but he pushed her hands away and she winced at the pain. ‘I love you,’ she whispered, but only on her own. ‘I would never let him hurt you again.’

Floyd’s protégé.

The Militia Commander.

Deadshot.

The machine she was raised to be. The assassin with the best aim. The world renowned.

Crying helplessly like a spineless nobody.

She wasn’t the best marksman in the world. She was nothing. Y/N failed at the most important job she’s ever been given.

“He thought it was me in that tank. We had just enough time to get Gordon.”

His voice was blank. He didn’t see much in her anymore. Y/N could tell by the look on his eyes. Jason dropped a large duffel bag on the ground in front of her.

“One point five million dollars. Take it and get out of here.”

He threw her white mask and gun optics on top of the bag. The tears wouldn’t stop pouring out of her. But she was no longer screaming. She looked blankly out in the open and heard the door shut.

And just like that, she lost everything.

-----

THE COMMANDER - MASTERLIST

-----

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[jbbuckybarnes]

Pedro Boys - In An Apocalypse

A/N: I planned this whole headcanon list before Pedro was cast as Joel Miller for TLOU, but I also gotta brag that I predicted it two weeks before it was announced and that felt crazy. So now more than ever I wanna post this one.

What kind of apocalypse are we talking about? I‘m talking something like out of „The Division“ or „The Last Of Us“, there are people to fight, no matter if it‘s zombies or just enemies. And the resources are limited. That‘s the only scenario I gave myself. Fictional!Javier - Protector/Hunter/Strategist He‘s a DEA agent, the man is a protector and hunter at heart because of his job. He‘ll be the first to protect any other people that can‘t defend themselves, hunt down any groups being a danger to the little settlement he‘s a part of and strategize how to make the neighborhood safer with the team leaders. Din Djarin - Team Leader/Hunter He has beskar armor, a beskar spear, the dark saber, and the mind of a hunter. Ideal to be the team leader standing up to bad things for his people. He‘ll gladly hunt down any crime boss for the safety of his settlement and make decisions in their favor. He‘s also not afraid to kick the ass of people within his group to do better.

Marcus Pike - Protector/Strategist He helps with strategy for attacks and resource runs and other than that he protects anyone gathering stuff and needing to be transported. He‘s also a father figure to several teens and teaches them a couple things to survive. The comfort person of the settlement. Marcus Moreno - Team Leader/Protector He‘s a born leader and he leads by example. Katanas, guns, punches. All of it works and is used to protect his little group of people. He doesn‘t hunt people down, but they will regret coming close to his little place in this empty town. Jack Daniels - Protector/Hunter He has the skill to protect and hunt and he will use it against others. Especially protecting people while they get resources. He loves randomly meeting these enemies on the street and getting it over with so there are less assholes in town. He will hunt them down if he has to. Nobody fucks with his people. Dave York - Infiltrator He‘ll be the first to offer spying on enemies from the inside. Doesn‘t matter how big and secretive the group is, he will join it and destroy it from the inside out. Oberyn Martell - Weapon Creation/Trainer You need poison? He has it. You need knives and spears? He gifts them to you. You need to figure out how to use all of that? He‘ll offer to help. The most charming weapons man in the apocalyptic world. He‘s also fiercely protective of the young women in the settlement and will cut throats of people making them uncomfortable. Frankie Morales - Protector/Strategist He‘s sick of fighting, but he will strategize and protect nonetheless. He likes keeping within the settlement and help with planning resource routes. His favorite place is the little house they use as a school for the children. When he needs to relax, he just stands in the door frame and watches them learn. Maxwell Lord - Diplomat If Max isn‘t dead, he‘s likely to be the diplomat of the settlement. He knows how to talk his way out of and into anything. He depends on his protectors and pretty much anyone else in the settlement, but he is an important asset to create allyships for food and electricity. Ezra - Gatherer/Hunter He‘s been hunting and gathering in space all this time, he has no problems holding his own in an apocalyptic world. He has his bag for gathering and his gun by his side for attacking. Sometimes he reads the kids bedtime stories or helps with the settlement‘s school. Max Phillips - Protector He is already undead, so he might as well use it to protect the people that are dear to him. He‘s great at keeping the perimeter around the settlement clear and thanks to his vampire abilities, he‘s a great early alarm system for people approaching the settlement. Joel Miller - Protector/Strategist The apocalypse dad of all apocalypse dads. He‘s a protector and a planner for survival first and foremost. He‘s more of a nomad and less of a settlement guy. Pero Tovar - Hunter I mean, come on, he’s born to fuck shit up. He’ll be the first to volunteer to hunt some idiots down and the first to bring back a ton of valuable stuff. He might be grumpy, but he’s here to help the people he secretly trusts.

[thetomorrowshow]

Slower Than Words Ch. 1

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

A/N: Welcome to my latest fic! I’m projecting about 10 chapters for this. If you’d like to be tagged, just leave a comment or shoot me an ask or send a request by falcon or w/e, I’m not picky!

Just to preface, I'd like to warn that there will be cult content in this work. I am in no way endorsing cults, nor am I criticizing anyone's religion. The intent of this work is to entertain, so please enjoy!

CW: Food, inflicted blindness, imprisonment

~

Virgil wasn’t expecting a roommate.

He’d only been here for a month or so, but he’d been alone for a while. He’d been quarantined for the past twenty days, and experimented on before that—Virgil didn’t want to think about that.

He hadn't known he had a roommate until someone brushed up against him as he curled up on the cold floor. He couldn't find the bed, otherwise that was where he'd lie. But something touched him and he reared back, ready to attack.

Whatever it was didn't touch him again, and Virgil slowly let himself relax. The sudden movement had sent a migraine to pound at the walls of his head. He groaned and let his head rest on the cold floor beneath him, before hearing some rustling. He jerked right back up, flinching again when something heavy fell on him. A blanket.

“Hello?” he ventured. No answer. For a moment, Virgil was certain he was making it all up, that he had gotten the blanket himself but had forgotten. Then another noise—a scuffle, the sound of someone sitting nearby. A hand touched his shoulder, and Virgil did everything in his power to not draw back.

“Who's there?” he asked, his voice quivering. “I can't—I can't see. I can't see you.”

Even after they'd taken the bandages off his eyes, Virgil had been unable to see anything. The first week, his eyes had burned and itched. He'd restrained himself from scratching, but now he wasn't sure if it would have made a difference. He had lost his sight, and with it his whole world.

The hand didn't leave his shoulder, and Virgil reached out cautiously. His hands met something solid—a person? Yes, a person, and Virgil's hands clutched desperately at their shirt. He hadn't had safe human contact in so long. . . . The person seemed to understand that, and gently placed his arms around Virgil. Virgil let himself be wrapped in the hug, arms awkwardly against his chest. The person smelled like soap and dust and immediately warmed him. Virgil relished the fiery contact, pushing his head up into the person's shoulder and sighing. For the first time in weeks, he felt safe.

The person pulled back and Virgil floundered, reaching again into the empty air. A hand caught his and held it still. Virgil frowned, confused. What was happening? Were they not supposed to know about each other? Was the person about to lead him back into that room, the bright one where they leaned over him and—

Virgil wrenched his brain away from that train of thought. He needed to focus on the here and now, not the terrifying past. Starting with who the other person in the room was. Said other person suddenly let go off his hand and pulled him close again. Virgil decided to not worry about who they were or why they were both here, and melted into the person's chest.

-

When Virgil woke up, he blinked blearily before remembering that he couldn't see. Someone—the person from the previous day—was still holding him, but his slow breathing indicated that he was asleep. At some point, they'd moved to a bed. It was nice, all things considered. He wasn't alone, he was in a soft bed with a soft person, and he had no need to go anywhere anytime soon.

A loud clang! interrupted his drowsy thoughts and he jerked up, feeling the person beside him stir in their sleep.

“Hello?” Virgil said, his voice shaking. No answer. His roommate sat up beside him and placed a gentle hand on his back, calm and reassuring. Then the person slid out of bed and seemingly vanished—Virgil could no longer reach them, no matter how far he stretched out his arms. He whimpered unwillingly, then covered his mouth. No use seeming weak. A little voice in his head reminded him that he'd certainly done worse than whimper when they'd taken his sight.

A terrifying moment later, a hand was on his arm and guiding him into a standing position. Virgil stumbled a bit, but allowed himself to be led across the room until the person eased him to the ground.

As it turned out, there was food there, laid out on a tray. Virgil felt his way around the tray before lifting what he was certain was a spoon, letting the other person place a bowl on his lap. It was full of instant mashed potatoes, Virgil soon discovered. He hadn't really been focusing on his stomach, but he realized some sustenance would be nice. While he ate, the other person traced seemingly random patterns on his wrist.

The bowl with mashed potatoes was pulled away from him, then returned but filled with canned beans. Virgil grimaced: he'd never been one for beans, but at least they were warm. It struck him as he ate that he had no idea what time it was. Was this an odd breakfast, or a poor dinner? It reminded him of something his dorm mate might have made—and just like that, tears were forming and his nose was burning.

Why did they take him? Out of every twenty-something person they could've kidnapped to fulfill their sick desires of blinding someone, why him? Virgil missed home, he missed school, he missed his obnoxious dorm mate, he missed his terrible paying job making terrible pizzas—

The bowl was gently pulled from him and Virgil willingly fell into the person's arms. He sobbed into their shoulder, lost and sad and homesick. How many times had he cried alone in the past month? How many times had he longed for human contact only to wrap his arms around himself? Now he cuddled closer into the warm weight of another human being, gripping as tight as he could.

The other person lightly placed a kiss into Virgil's hair and Virgil felt safe, and warm, and still so so awful but also okay.

Virgil pulled back and fumbled around for the bowl again, still sniffling as he took another bite. The person continued to trace the patterns into his wrist, slow and soft. Over and over. Familiar, like they had no meaning yet every meaning simultaneously. Over and over and over. . . .

That was—repetition? Did the pattern start over? Virgil set down the bowl and placed his hand on the other person's, who immediately stilled.

“Come on, do it again,” Virgil croaked. He gestured at his wrist, trying to get his meaning across. “I wanna feel it.”

Slowly, the patterns started up again, and Virgil traced along with them.

a . . . b . . . c . . . d. . . .

The alphabet. The person hadn't spoken at all thus far, and Virgil felt unbelievably ecstatic about this form of communication. He pushed his hand into the other person's, food forgotten in the giddy anticipation of someone talking to him. Old Virgil would have scoffed, unimpressed at his thirst for human contact. Old Virgil wanted to be alone. Old Virgil hadn't spent weeks alone in darkness.

Virgil could pick out some of the letters the person traced, but the rest felt like random scribbling. He definitely felt an 'a', and an 'o', and then an 'n', but the rest was unclear. He shrugged, then put his hand over theirs again.

This time he could feel the letters more clearly, as the other person carefully guided his hand.

P-a-t-t-o-n.

-

V-i-r-g-i-l, Virgil spelled. V-i-r-g-i-l.

V . . . i . . . n . . . y . . . l . . . l.

“No, Virgil, not vinyl,” Virgil groaned. V-i-r-g-i-l.

V . . . i . . . r . . . g . . . i . . . l.

“Yes, yes yes!” Virgil impulsively hugged the man whose arm he'd been spelling on a second earlier. His name was Patton, and through much trial and error, Virgil had discovered that Patton was about his age and could see. Why he wasn't talking was a mystery that he hadn't decoded yet.

Virgil and Patton had been curled up on the bed for hours, tracing into each others' arms. It was mostly the alphabet, over and over again as they tried to instinctually recognize the letters. It was slow going, but Virgil felt they'd gotten far enough for his name—and they had. It exhausted both of them, he was sure, so he wasn't surprised when Patton fell asleep, him following shortly.

The past few days had been too short, it seemed, after the unbelievable length of the month he'd spent alone. Hours of tracing and sleeping and eating and just touching helped the days fly by. Every day Patton held Virgil steady as the walked the perimeter of the room, one hand on the smooth wall, the other clenched into Patton's shirt. He was slowly beginning to envision their cell in his mind's eye. He knew how many steps it was from the door to the beds—because there were two of them, apparently, though Virgil spent most of his time on the same bed as Patton. When it was night, he couldn't bear to let Patton go, afraid he'd wake up alone again, not able to find anyone. On nights when the fear was particularly bad, Patton held him to his chest and wiped the tears away.

They were almost constantly touching, in some way. When they were both mentally worn from the struggle of communicating, they often lay on the floor, hands entwined. In those moments, Virgil let his mind explore beyond the room, sometimes imagining himself to be a great wizard or adventurer. He went on grand quests to retrieve lost treasures, journeyed into caverns that dripped with shadows. Most of the time, though, he imagined he was going about his normal life. He pictured his dorm mate, the paths he'd take to school. He thought about the tree that grew outside his window, the aloe vera on his desk that was somehow managing to survive. Those bittersweet thoughts always led to a wave of homesickness, and Virgil would find himself curling into Patton's arms to cry.

Now, though, Virgil woke up slowly, automatically squeezing his grip to make sure he was still holding Patton's hand. The man squeezed back, then spelled something onto his arm.

V-i-r-g-i-l.

Virgil smiled sleepily and spelled back: P-a-t-t-o-n. Who was he to break morning routine?

F-o-o-d-s-h-e-r-e, Patton spelled out slowly, making a slicing motion on his arm to indicate a space between words. Virgil nodded, forestalling the man as he began to spell it again.

“I heard, I heard.”

Over breakfast, Patton continued the alphabet lightly. Virgil tried to keep his arm free, but he needed one hand to hold the bowl and the other to eat the oatmeal, so it wasn't going too well. Soon enough, the tray was taken from them (by the morning food-bringer, Virgil was beginning to be able to tell their footsteps apart) and Patton squeezed him in a brief hug before taking Virgil's hand and placing it over his own, tracing more letters onto Virgil's skin.

I-a-m-d-e-a-f.

That couldn't be right. Virgil wracked his brain, trying to think of which letter he misinterpreted. Before he could pick it out, though, Patton was tracing again.

I-a-m-d-e-a-f.

~

Taglist (let me know if you want to be added/removed!): @enragedbees @gotta-love-alejandra @bunny222